Aloha my dear~it is officially Jan 1 2014 here in Tokyo
I hope you had a fantastic 2013 and look forward to this new year :)
If you've been on the internet long enough, you've probably seen the cute year jar where people get an empty jar and fill it with memories that are important to them that had happened within the past year (ie for 2013, etc.) I decided to do it too and I will definitely do it for 2014!
My jar wasn't that full, I mostly put good memories in it, but I think for next year, I will also include important life changing moments and other things that I want to. The jar is supposed to be used for a time to remember all the great and happy things that had happened in the past year, and I think it's a fantastic idea!
So anyway~ I just wanted to share a little bit of what my jar looked like!
2013 was quite a busy year and of course there were some sad times...but I am glad that I can reflect on 2013 with a more positive feeling because of this jar ^__^! so happy
my jar before opening ^__^
lots of purikura hahah!
It was my first snow day since coming to Japan! super fun!
Early 2013, I went to Legoland in Odaiba with a special friend and it was extremely fun! They also have Madame Tussades and an awesome game center in Odaiba! Well Madame Tussades was only open after feb 2013 but yeah >w<
one of my favorite memories of 2013 was getting passed the first round of the Japanese magazine CanCam's new age model contest! I was so happy, it was the first time I did anything like that so just getting passed the first round meant so much to me and I hope to do more modeling things like this!
Oh also some of the purikura hahhahaha
I hope you have an amazing 2014! May your year be full of great memories :)
If you didn't know, I have been living in Japan for a little over a year now and I absolutely LOVE christmas/the holiday season! In America, I know we all have our own respective religions and based on our religions, we celebrate our own style of holiday season, and the same for people who don't have a religion ^__^ But all in all most people in America celebrate the holiday season their own cool, awesome way :) I have only celebrated christmas my entire life, I do not know much about other peoples' holiday fun times, I wish I did though ^_^ feel free to comment how you celebrate your winters! I'd love to hear it!
Anyway, so how is Christmas in Japan?
1. Do they even celebrate Christmas?
Yes they do ^__^! I have asked many, MANY students why people celebrate christmas in Japan, whether they may or may not be christian. A lot of my students responded that it was from American influence, it isn't a national holiday (they kinda still have to work on christmas I heard :( but no school!) but they do acknowledge it as a special day
2. What do they eat?
Surprisingly a lot of modern families eat KFC! (again, american influence) In fact, a lot of my students asked me "you don't eat fried chicken for christmas in america?!" You need to reserve for KFC early if you want to get food! In fact KFC Japan's most profitable day is Christmas Eve :) fun fact! They also eat CHRISTMAS CAKE!!! Isn't that the best thing you've ever heard?! yes. I don't know about you guys, but in Hawaii we don't have christmas cake, there is dessert, but no specific, fancy christmas cake :( I think this needs to be changed. Some of the students I talked to said that since KFC gets too crowded and troublesome to bother to reserve, they instead buy or reserve roast chicken in other places like big department stores like Isetan, etc. ^__^
KFC Christmas Campaign page 2013
Cozy Corner Bakery Christmas Campaign Page 2013
ALSO, theres みかん(mikan) which is just little cutie tangerines which can come in sizes: small, medium, and large. which is super popular in winter time ^__^ what they do is buy a bunch of mikan and just hide under their cozy kotatsus and eat mikan ^__^ its AWESOME. trust me
also cats
3. Christmas Lights?
YES. omg. I absolutely LOVE Tokyo around this time because theres tons of "illumination parks" which are basically parks or areas where everything is decorated in christmas lights and other christmas deco :) It's absolutely stunning and beautiful and theres tons of places to go! So far my favorite places are: Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Dome. Roppongi Hills is quite big and there's so much to see! Tokyo Dome has a theme park! A lot of theme parks like Disney or Yomiuri land are also very beautiful I've heard but both are quite far for me so hehe ^_^;; (just quickly google イルミネーション and you will see so many awesome things, I promise)
Tokyo Dome
rurubu's site promoting the many illuminations all over Japan!
pretty right?
4. Christmas Characters? Songs?
Santa and Rudolph are super popular :) there are many stores like Tokyu Hands or Don Quijote that offer costumes for Santa & Rudolph, also them santa hats >w<! There even the Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer song in Japanese >w<! It's so cute! Also every single store in Japan will play sooooo much christmas music. I think I've heard like 5 different versions of Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas is You" so far
Sign Language with BoA's Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer
in Korean, Japanese, English
(i know she's kpop but i LOVE her ok)
side story: I was telling one of the families that I teach and I was telling them about how in America lots of kids put out cookies and milk for santa, and that naughty kids get coal! They were so interested that they want to try it for next year ^_^!
5. Presents?
I think so! I am not too sure because I have asked around and half of my students said yes, but the other half said no. (but there are TONS of christmas specials and sales in like every mall hehe)
Here is an interested thread I found from japantoday: You can read many peoples (who live in japan) perspectives on christmas :) It's a very interesting read!
Spend a lot of money and get some free stuff! Yeah I know, we have these in America too, but I think the ones in Japan are a bit more worth it to spend money on >w<! There's actually TONS of great sales around christmas and new years. but we'll get to the new years ones on another post ^_^
Hmmm, what I find kind of strange about Japan's christmas is that it is very couple-focused. So many of my japanese friends and students were telling me that christmas is no fun if you're single..but I told them that in America, christmas is mainly focused for family/loved ones and about being with the people you love whether it is family, friends, etc.~ And they thought that was weird..So it's more couple focused, that's pretty interesting I guess.
How will you celebrate your Christmas ^_^/Winter Holidays ^_^?
I love this lotion in particular because it is so light and the smell is so very sweet and subtle I can use it daytime and nighttime ^_^! Moisturizing your skin - no matter the skin type - is so very crucial to your skin care routine! try not to skip it ^_^
HERE Discovery Health explains why, it's mostly about the face and why it's important to moisturize your face, but the rest of your body is just as important!
How do you know if your skin needs some loving? Take your nail and make a small scratch on an area of your choice, if said area turns white, then you need some lotion ^__^ - tip from my mama bear
This year's winter trend is super red, red, red, lips! Why? I'm not sure to be honest. I think it is because red contrasts nicely with the usually white image of christmas (like snow). Or maybe because the christmas colors are red, green, and white? Not too sure, but I LOVE IT! I really like Etude House's tint because it's really cheap and easy to apply, and lasts quite long ^_^
3. Brown Eyebrows!
My favorite:
Heavy Rotation's Eyebrow Coloring
Brown eyebrows and RED lips! quite a combination huh~? Did you know? Lighter eyebrows make you look younger ^_^! I didn't know that but it's a thing apparently! I really like heavy rotation's because it's easy to use and even if I make a mistake and accidentally get my skin, then I can easily wipe it off with my nail or a damp cotton ball ^_^
4. Great Brush~!
My Favorite:
Sephora Collection: Pro Flawless Light Powder Brush #50
I recently got this as a gift and I absolutely love it! The bristles are just so soft it leaves a super smooth, natural finish that doesn't make it look like I caked on a bunch of makeup, and doesn't show my dry skin when I have that x___x. Looks like I have an airbrushed finish! I really didn't think that the brush quality was so important but WOW I'm amazed!
5. BB Cream!
My favorite:
Smashbox's Camera Ready BB Cream
** I think on my tumblr someone had asked what makeup I use and I accidentally said Makeup Forever >__< I actually meant to say smashbox, need to go change that!
The package is quite small and the sunscreen smell is really strong in my opinion ;-;
but other than that, I really love this BB cream! It's about the same price as the Banila Co. one I usually use, but I think this BB Cream is easier to apply and doesn't show my dry skin, which is great and goes on so smoothly it really is awesome ^__^!
What are your favorite products this winter season~??
So 2013 is coming to a close and I thought I'd talk about my favorite cell phone apps for this year! If you did not know, I absolutely LOVE fashion, makeup, cute things, etc. I especially love japanese fashion since there are so many different styles and I love seeing them! It's been an incredible first year in Japan and I hope there are many more ^__^
Anyway on to the apps!
1. Mercari
The first app I would say is one I've talked about before, mercari! (free to download by the way) I pretty much use this app for almost everything from clothes to kitchen appliances, and I haven't had much trouble using this app so I really love it! Also because you don't need to like sign in through facebook because that really irritates me >_< But if you live in Japan, you should definitely try this app! It does require a bit of Japanese language skills, but it's very user-friendly and I absolutely recommend it! I always buy second-hand LizLisa stuff because I LOVE the brand but I am poor LOL!
You can enter the code: AmY094 to get some free points to buy stuff!
2. CodeNote
If you love Japanese fashion and want to see the many different style there are like lolita, dolly, gyaru, street, 109, casual, etc.~ then this app is great :) I check this app every other day to just see the amazing fashion! The app is free to download, and you need to know a little bit of Japanese - not much though! I love this app because it's free, there are so many different styles, it's user-friendly, and there are even official brands on it! You can see top japanese brands like Lip Service, Liz Lisa, WEGO, EGOIST, and so many more! Even famous runway show Tokyo Girls Collection (TGC) has a page, and I love it so much! It's great to learn about different brands and the different types of outfits (coordinates) that you can make! If you love Japanese fashion, I would definitely recommend this app ! AND! you can post your own outfits! It's a lot of fun ! ^__^
3. [+]icon
I think you can find this app by typing +icon, but I am not sure if it is available in other itunes places, so you might have to change your store location, not exactly sure of that however >___< But just go to my tumblr post HERE and you will see why I love this app! The app lets you change up your phone background and icons to kawaii-fy your phone! I do love this since there are official brands that have made backgrounds/icons for this app, but even though it is free to download, everything else is not really free >__< it's not expensive but I don't really like to pay.......... (im a poor college student ok TwT ) but they do have a lot of cute icons and backgrounds and if you want to give your phone a makeover I highly suggest this application!
4. Cameran Collage
Making collages have recently become so popular :) you can fit so many different things in one picture! I absolutely love cameran collage because it is very easy to use and you can create collages that look like legit magazines! Also they include cute brands/magazines in the app so you can also see Japanese magazines which is pretty neat! The app is very easy to use which is great because I have no patience - ain't nobody got time for that! - ^_^;; also it is another free download type app so yay :) There isn't much else to explain about the app except that they have lots of cute purikura-esque things and it's fun to use, try it out for yourself ^__^
5. All Women Stalk (aws)
The last App I love for 2013 is all women stalk, I know the other 4 applications are Japanese but I really do love this app and I check it every time I'm in the train ^__^ All Women Stalk is an app made by women, for women type ^__^ There are so many articles ranging from buying cars, eating healthy, to beauty tips ^_^ I have learned so many things from this app and I just HAD to share it with my mom and friends! And they absolutely love it, and it's for people of all ages! If you need beauty advice, motivation for dieting, anything really!try this app out ^__^ I mean c'mon, who DOESN'T want to be fabulous!? oh yeah and it's FREE to download!
Thanks for reading! Mahalo~!
Do you have any phone apps that you LOVE? please comment ^_^
If you saw my review on the Too Faced Palette you'll know that it came with 3 little makeup tutorials!
I wasn't too excited about the tutorials because 2/3 suggested putting the bronzing veil on my nose bridge..and since I have a very small nose, I didn't want to do that =3= Also it is very hard to do contouring tutorials (I think) because everyone's face shape is different and naturally the makeup will not look the same on everyone~ anyway~ I ended up deciding to try the Supermodel Sculpt card that was provided.
I decided to try the supermodel sculpt ^_^
my face no makeup ...good morning by the way
with the supermodel sculpt!
I think I should have made the colors darker, I layered all the powders twice but it I don't think it can be seen in the pictures
* casually listening to selena gomez and my camera went off, I am not a model *
LOL is this still a thing?! xwx
I showed the makeup to my friends and they all commented that they like my regular everyday makeup better...although I like the luminizer on the cupid's bow in this picture ^___^
But anyway just something I wanted to try ..I absolutely LOVE the luminizer in this palette! still love it lots, but don't much care for the tutorial cards x__x
It's 5:30 in the morning here in tokyo and I can't sleep ^_^
so I thought I'd write a quick review about the
Too Faced Natural Face Palette!
I was originally looking/hoping for Michelle Phan's contouring stick to be sold in sephora so I could get some points even though there's no sephora in Japan..but sadly she doesn't have her line in sephora :(
so I decided to find another contouring type thing to try :) I decided on the natural face palette!, it's a little pricey (about $40 x_x) but i have had my share of bad makeup used for contouring (you'll see later) and this was worth the investment!
I always love the simple elegance look of Too Faced products :))
it comes with 3 cards for makeup tutorials, I haven't tried them yet, not sure if I will..these cards were so hard to take out haha, after putting them back in, I'm not sure if I want to even attempt to try to take them out again...
So top palette is the palette I used to use for my contouring..and bottom is the too faced palette..
I feel like the too faced palette is a massive improvement to my contouring makeup xwx!
The Too Faced palette comes with: bronze veil, powder blush, creme blush, cream concealer, cream luminize, and finally a cream brightener. For the cream things I use my fingers to apply and I absolutely love it!
The bronze veil is lighter than what I am used to but it definitely helps the more natural look:)
Again, using the bronze veil on one side, can you see the difference :)?
contouring my nose & face done~!
I don't really care for the blush colors, but I don't really use blush either so I guess it's not really a big deal.. I absolutely LOVE the brighten and luminize cremes! I use them both for contouring my nose bridge and it makes such a difference ! The concealer is not too bad, but since I use this palette mostly to contour I sometimes forget about the concealer haha!
It's definitely on the pricier side but I think it is worth the money. I have a small nose and chubby cheeks so naturally I want to make my nose look higher and my cheeks look smaller, this really helps make that possible, but also very natural! So I'm very happy with this and would definitely recommend!
Have you tried this product? I'd love to hear your experience too!
because the eye doctors were really nice in the Shibuya Biccamera place, they gave me all three colors to try out^_^ however I only have pictures of my favorite one hehe.
The colors that the contacts come in :)
accent style
vivid style
☆Natural Shine☆
My friend Sona really likes accent style since it has more of a grey tinge and makes her black eyes more grayer and she likes it :)
Also I think famous j-pop idol Tomomi Itano uses them sometimes, when I see her commercials or poster ads then I can def see that vivid style ^_^
DIA: 14.2
BC: 8.5
I have brown eyes so I really thought I would have loved the vivid style...but I ended up not liking the vivid style because theres no line that borders the eye, so it looked really weird imo x_x and I just wanted a more natural color that made my eyes pop a bit more x3
hi
Daylight ^_^
right eye has the lense in it no eye makeup ^_^
Indoor ^_^
right eye has the lense in it no eye makeup ^_^
little bit makeup :)
I have tried quite a few circle lenses because I do admire that dolly cutesy look, but for some reason I felt that the lenses did not match me and it made me look weird >< so I really like these because it is so natural and cute! I also didn't care for the regular circle lenses you wear everyday because you need to clean them often and my eyes would get irritated of them so easily >< but with these, its one pair per day for 30 days! so its great to use and good for the eyes ^_^
You can also check out my Dolly Makeup using these lenses if you like :)
So far I used the entire 30 day pack and I've had no problems with these :) no complaints! these are great for people who want more dramatic eyes but also a more natural look !def recommend:)
Thanks for reading ^_^ have you also tried these lenses? I'd love to hear about your experience too! please feel free to comment below~!
Today I want to share something I like using as a fun and VERY effective mask !
I use this mask at least once a week :)
I originally had it on my japanese blog, but I wanted to discuss it here too!
I was inspired to do this after reading about how some actresses use rice water to keep their skin very pretty! So I decided I would try it too. I use to just use rice water to use as a face wash..but then I started using it as a mask and I like that better :)
I used Michelle Phan's idea of the cotton mask :) instead of using the skin conditioner, I decided to use rice water, which works perfectly !
I do this every time I make rice haha! since it doesn't really cost money and it's so easy to do! My skin feels so great after :) ! I usually do this right before I go to bed so I can get all the benefits of rice water overnight! oh! and I leave the mask on for about 15-20 min ^__^
thanks for reading!
don't forget to follow/subscribe to the blog to get regular updates ^_^
I always knew about tightlining, but I was always so scared of poking my eye >< but after watching a lot of makeup gurus do it for their tutorials I decided to give it a shot
Sorry these photos are kind off diff angles and one is zoomed in so my face looks diff><
but i think this is a good example!
Left: Tightlined eye
Right: normal liner
As you can see the tighlined eye...pops out more without having too thick-looking eyeliner :)
After doing tightlining for a while now, I prefer to stick to just lining directly on top of my lash line instead of also doing the underside of the lash line. Because every time I do my underside of the lash line too..if theres too much liner..then I get panda eyes ><..if I just line my lash line, I don't get panda eyes at all and my eyes still look very big and dramatic ^_^ just the way I like it hehe <3
So lately, I have been OBSESSED with lip plumping things because if I smile too big, my upper lip gets soooo thin it looks really weird >____< so I wanted to find lip plumping lipsticks/stains/etc :)
I went to Etude House to just see if they had anything:
I found a Plumping Lip Tint :))
it kind of reminds of their old lip stains in the same type of packaging
the smell:
omg it was so terrible >< usually Etude House products have this cute, light sweet smell...but this one..omg I gagged a little >< has anyone had liquid medicine that was either "cherry" or "bubblegum" flavour?? but it made you want to gag every time you had to take it ><
that very potent fruity smell was in the gloss ughhh
it has a straight wand
very cut and glossy
There isn't much of a lip plumping factor I think...the gloss also gives a very cooling sensation..I thought that was pretty neat :)
Overall I would rate this
2/5
the gloss didn't last very long at all and I reaaally couldn't stand the smell >< also the lip plumping part that it is marketed as..wasn't really there..so I'm definitely not buying this again..nor do I recommend it >____<
Since the lip plumping tint was really cheap, I decided to also get their little face patches :) I am also interested in getting more collagen or cooling/calming things for my eye baggies >< but instead I decided to get this since they didn't have anything much for under eye baggies :) The patch is supposed to make your skin more bright and less dull, and sooth irritated skin
Directions:
Remove patch from pouch and remove white film
place patch over nose and cheeks and remove blue film
Leave patch for 10-20 min
The patch smelled heavily of alcohol >__< so I was really scared to put it on my skin..the mask felt ok, it was really..watery and slippery but cooling, I left it on for 15 min and my skin felt clean :) so I guess thats good! However not much of a difference in my skin after taking off the patch nor the next morning..
It is definitely fun to try masks and these types of patches for the skin sometimes ^__^ but the smell was quite strong and I didn't care for it >__< also I do not think it was effective at all :((
