I don't usually wear fake lashes ..but when I do..it doesn't turn out well...
**but that doesn't stop me from buying more hehe**
lately i've been growing more and more interested in natural looking eye lashes~
so I decided to try out these lashes ^_^ they're quite long, but it looks natural to me
very cute packaging! I'd expect nothing less from Tsubasa ^__^
very cute circle lens and eyelash combo~!
The lashes are so very soft! they feel almost real! I really like how real they feel and look!
I also really like that the lashes are longer and more concentrated at the ends to make the eyes look bigger ^_^ they make my eyes look so big and I don't even have to use lenses! I actually never noticed how much fake eyelashes would accentuate the eyes! O,O ~! woohoo
The glue that came with the lashes is actually really good!
Here is what the lashes look like - sorry the picture is blurry x_x
Anyway~ in Summary~
♡Likes♡
natural texture - so soft!
very natural looking
long ~!
makes the eyes look bigger
glue that comes with it is great!
Have you ever tried Dolly Wink Eyelashes? What do you think of them?
If you didn't know one of tokyo's bigger shopping malls, shibuya 109, has a HUGE sale in the beginning of the new year, most of the items are the previous years unsold clothing line..BUT they also have these special bags called 福袋 (fukubukuro) or lucky bags / happy bags. cute name right!
Oh and some stores can go up to 80% off! that's a lot!
but since as I said earlier, this sale is mostly to get rid of the previous years clothes that didn't sell well, a lot of the items I didn't really care for >__<! Also the lines were insane and every single store staff was yelling sooo much trying to attract customers I couldn't handle much TwT i know, i'm weak.
But I guess it was ok since I ended up buying 2 items: 2 sweaters since I only have 1 currently form H&M ((I'm from hawaii! I don't own much cute winter stuff!) TwT!
First Sweater from Ingni which I bought at HALF price! woohooo!
Still a bit expensive at about $20 but it was still half price ^^!
What the sweater looks like, I think it would look great with a white or black skirt!
Then the second sweater I bought from emsexcite, one of my favorite stores!
(I bought 2 of the same tops - different color - from them cus I loved the top haha!)
The sweater wasn't really on sale, I think I bought it for $15 but it was originally $17. Still a penny saved right?
Well all in all, even though it was completely chaotic and there was so much pushing and scary ladies, it was a fun experience - I'm not sure why - but I'd love to do it again next year!
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 ^_^?
You'll basically see the same set up: 3 color nail polishes, that you need to layer 3 times...
...
Etude House basically did a reprise of their "Christmas Miracle" nails, repackaged them into SLIGHTLY different sets, then changed the name haha
It's a smart business move nonetheless, but looking at the sets...
(when I went there was one other set which was a dark blue with silver glitter tips)
they weren't that impressive, and since I already had a blue themed nail set from them I decided to get the more festive look..I think my friend bought the same multicolored polish last year actually haha!
But anyway, in the Delight Holiday set comes three colors:
gold (Delight Gold) , red (Delight Deep Red) , and green&red (Delight Red&Green Pearl)
Considering it's Etude House, the packaging is absolutely adorable!
The little house idea is soo cute! since I've never seen any other brand do this I was so excited when I saw it!...before I analyzed the contents haha!
(not saying the contents are bad..just not that impressed
with the color choices since they are too similar to last years line)
but they did include stickers which was cool!...but again their other sets have that...
a little side note: for those who have read some of my other reviews..and know a little about me, you'll notice that even though I live in Japan right now, I still buy tons of korean makeup...esp. Etude House...if you're asking why..well..it's because the Etude House store gives SO MANY samples! And I can't help but go back whenever I'm in the area! I love korean brands because they give tons of samples! (kind of like sephora!) not many japanese stores do that...partly because most brands rely on drug stores to do most of their selling and they don't really have their own store.. i think ...
ok! enough of my blabbing *sorry* >__<!!!
on to the review!!!
Etude House's new bag! sooo cute!
Packaging for the Shining Dream holiday nails :)
veeeryy cute! I love the house theme! the unique, adorable packaging
totally makes up for the color choices!
contents: 3 nail polishes and a silver sticker sheet! very cute :)
close up of the stickers!
(please ignore my terrible painting skills xwx!! i didn't have q-tips with me at the time to clean!)
I was so surprised by the thickness of the polish!
I thought the color would be similar to last years, I think I remember having to use about 5 or 6 coats!
this one is only 3!! I'm greatly impressed! Etude is stepping uppp!!! >w<!
the dark red reminds me of the red part of a candy cane haha!
since I was thinking about last years set of christmas nails, I thought the second coating (the gold)
would also need more than 3 or 4 coats of polish! I was soo wrong, I only needed one or 2, the gold was very thick, so much glitter x_x! so I messed up on my first two nails haha!
1: my thumb, when I first tested how thick the polish is, first coat
2: my index finger when I made sure to put a VERY light coat
3: index and middle finger after a VERY light first coat
4: all fingers except thumb with very light first coat
5: all fingers except thumb with a very light second coat!
be careful about that gold >w< very thick! but thats good :))
1 coat of the green&red mix polish :), I think I used two coats..but I didn't take a second pic >< sorry!
I even put a cute sticker >w<!!! but even with two top coats..the sticker fell off after the next day or two ><
finally after letting everything dry and getting off the excess:
finished nails :)) I like em!
The house shape box is too adorable!!! and ofc the cute art and girly style is also very cute!
for less than $10 this is a great buy! I really love etude house for their cheap and cute products!
since I was expecting the same troublesome nail polish as last year I was so surprised and happy to find out that Etude House has greatly improved the quality on this polish :)
I think even though the colors were nothing new, the quality of the product was so great! And definitely worth trying out if you have the time! would definitely recommend :))
Thanks for reading ♡ mahalo to you !
if you like the review please follow the blog for more :)) thank you!
for about 1980yen ($20) you can get an all you can eat (食べ放題/tabehoudai)
awesome experience! a little bit on the pricey side, but it's all you can eat for like an hour and a half.
Depends on which course you choose, there are different courses, like the amount of time you want and the type of food you want. Nabezou is in a lot of places in tokyo, I think the best one is in shinjuku since its the cleanest and most organized one I've been too!
Tsukemen is a japanese dish similar to ramen, but instead of the broth and noodles being in the same bowl, they are separated! Neat, right? haha! I only get one type of tsukemen from there (cost 950yen)
and its really yummy! The restaurant is like a food ticket machine where you put your money into the machine and press the button of the food you want! I am not sure if they can speak english but when you get a ticket you can choose between two sizes: nami-mori (regular) or oo-mori (big). Since they both cost the same price, I usually get the big one haha! It's always crowded, especially at dinner time, so it's best to go before 5pm!
Guts international is another cheap restaurant! If you like yakiniku....or lots of meat for cheap, then this is a good place. Usually it is quite crowded with quite a range of people who visit the restaurant, but it's definitely fun to experience the atmosphere of the place since it's quite opposite of tokyo's cold business world! Especially a great place in winter time too since it's so cold outside :)
We have one in Hawaii! If you like udon (thick noodles) and cheap prices, Marukame Udon is a really great place to try! It's really easy to order too! You just grab a tray, tell the chef which udon you want (and you get to watch them make it!) and then just follow the line :) you can also get drinks and later go to a separate counter for toppings for your noodles! I believe the restaurant is cash only tho! Most of the items can be served hot or cold, and are less than 500yen! Really great to try if you have the time!
In Shimokitazawa Station's 南口 ((minami guchi)) South Exit - follow the middle road straight down the hill, you can find this restaurant easily ^__^ If you look at the site provided, you can see lots of pics, and don't listen to that low rating! The restaurant is really great! I love their Pork Okonomiyaki which is usually made in the Hiroshima Style ((with noodles)) and it's super delicious! And the prices aren't too bad! Shimokitazawa is also a great place for cheap & second-hand shops ! A fun getaway from the busy tourist areas !
I first discovered this restaurant in Osaka when my friend told me to try. I've been in love ever since. Fried chicken is one of my favourite foods >w<! The single serving シングルサイズ is abut 500 yen if I remember correctly? and if you cover it with the Original Sauce （オリジナルソース）it is super delicious! I've seen this stand in shibuya (near 109 and adidas), and shimokitazawa (at the end of the main street). It's really great if you want to eat but don't want to stop anywhere. I always get it if I want to keep walking around but am a little hungry ^__^!
