I Love Korean Face Masks

When I went to Korea a few years ago, I remember that the beauty counters in the department stores were all about snail cream and skincare. At least here in Japan, Korea is known for cheap spas ("esute"-esthethics), good skincare, and good food. All the ladies at the counters in the department stores offered samples and asked if we'd like to try out their creams. When I finally gave in, I didn't realize that what I tried was snail cream., and could not believe that it was so popular! I mean...it's SNAIL cream.

...Click on the link below to read more...

Are You Making This Mistake, and Helping Your Foundation Melt Off?

If you are like me, you've probably made this mistake over and over and not realized that you are actually causing your foundation to melt off. You might notice that certain products break you out, or make you oily, but are you really using them correctly in the first place? I am a fan of mixing and matching, but products made in sets are made that way for a reason. It makes the process simple for us, but let's face it, we don't always want to buy all of the products for all those steps with those prices. Especially if you already have the same product from another brand. Now that's fine and all, if you know how the products work and how to read labels.



...Click on the link below to read more...

My Favorite Fall Lipsicks

All of a sudden the temperatures dropped this week in Tokyo, the leaves have started changing colors, and I had to bust out my heavier coats and jackets. I had already started using darker lip glosses, but now that it really feels like fall, I had to bust out my more dramatic lipsticks as well.

I thought I'd share some of my favorite lipsticks for fall. Oddly enough they were all either NYX or MAC. Many of the lip colors were really similar though, so I narrowed them down and these are the winners. I also included my favorite lip liners. since they do change the color and also help lipsticks last longer. Again, most of them are NYX and they are really great quality, especially for the price! A great site to get NYX makeup is cherryculture.com . They seriously have great deals, which is great because they hike up the prices here in Japan, and they have international shipping. The only downside to that site is the long wait to get the products, but it's definitely worth it in my opinion.

...Click on the link below to read more...

NOTW - Nails of the Week -

I have started working again, and still volunteer at the hospital every week. That means I can no longer have my bedazzled, bright colored nails like I used to. I do not mean to quit them for good, if anything I'll just take them off after two or three days in time for my volunteering. So now I actually have bare nails most of the time, or just nude polishes.  

The sad part is, the end of the year is when I get the most excited about my nails. It's the holiday season! First it's halloween, then we have Thanksgiving in November, then Xmas, then New Year's Day. Each month I have fun themes to work around, and it's just such a festive season! 

I already see Christmas decorations up here in Japan, so I decided to kick up my nude nails a notch with some gold glitter. Since I can't do too much with nail art, I kept it fairly simple with the sideways french manicure.

...Click on the link to read more...

Japanese Bento, Anyone?

When I used to work at a kindergarten here in Japan, the kids would come in with the most intricate, cutest lunch boxes. Princess inspired lunch boxes, super hero characters... They diabolically masked vegetables and boring finger foods in fun disguises and tricked their toddlers into enjoying them. I mean, the moms made something as simple as a carrot cute and appetizing. I hate veggies but I gotta admit, even I wanted to try some of their lunches.

...Click on the link to read more...