my "come on Japan" pic of the day

I was out checking out shoes when I saw this sign. I honestly didn't even know what they were trying to say and read the Japanese writing and busted out laughing.

It basically says feel free to ask the staff for your size... but that is NOT what you'd get from that...

 Seriously, "please ask staff for help" would have been enough and that's not too hard (... especially when they learn English at from grade school -> high school... smh)

LoL

Retail Therapy!

This was something I had wanted to post last week but procrastinated and now I have even more...

But I'll keep this shoes only and keep the clothes off this post... Feeling way too guilty for my purchases....

So anyway, I got off my "makeup" obsession and on to shoes this month. 

Here are my favorite new purchases from this month =)

The first stop was Esperanza, one of my favorite shoe stores in Japan =) These were part of the new arrivals, and I have been looking for something that either had a platform, low heel, or chunky heel because it's hard wearing heels all the time when you don't drive... and have to walk everywhere (or use trains).

These had a bit of a platform, heels aren't too bad, and well they were just cute =) 

Then after being disappointed that they just sold out of the cute ankle boots that I wanted in black, I went to another store (Oneway) where some other pair of boots caught my eyes ***

These also had a platform and they were pretty comfortable and 10% off if I got another pair of shoes from that store... Perfect excuse for me to buy them and another pair ;)

So I got these, and they were already on sale to begin with. They are very "Japanesey", but I thought they were cute, especially because of the deal and went for it!

The last pair I got wasn't from Oneway but I threw out the bag and forgot what store it's from...

It's still in the same 109 shopping mall but I don't remember what store...

They DO have a platform but the heels are ridiculously high!!! 

Seriously, look at it compared to my wii remote controller... 

Anyway, that's it for today =) Hope you all are having a pleasant week!! I am definitely feeling the urge to go shopping, so let me know if you guys have some online stores that you like! 

Nails of the week

It's summer!! I have graduated from University, but I still find that I have no time to day anything =(

Well now that I'm done with school, my work hours increased and well.... I basically only have free time on Sunday. YET I made sure to do my nails today like I do every Tuesday, so I figured I'd post this =)

I've also been wanting to show the pedicures, because I've been doing a lot of nail art with them as well, but it always seems weird to show feet, especially with feet like mine...::sigh::

Anyway, this is what I did today. Just something with summer colors like gold, orange, and blue; and also flowers =)

Hope you guys like it. What have you been up to this summer??

Smooth Feet for the Summer time!

So we all want smooth skin all the time, but honestly we all know our feet can start looking busted once summer rolls around. Why? Sandals. Wearing sandals and flip flips has definitely taken its toll on my feet... and so before I start feeling ashamed the next time I go to get my feet massaged, I decided to do some damage control.

First things first, yes, I lotion my feet everyday. But during the summer sometimes parts of my feet gets hard, or gets callouses I guess. My heels might look a bit ashy or dull... and well, it's just not a cute look to have.

So you can use a pumice stone, exfoliate, etc etc,
but here are my favorite things to do when I feel like things are gonna start getting outta hand.

For major damage control, I use this:

I'm sorry it's crooked, but even when I rotated it before uploading it just keeps getting uploaded this way...

I can't figure it out! anyway, as you can see by this gross close up below, it's like a foot peel.

All you do is soak your feet in the plastic sock provided full of some liquid for an hour or so, and then rise it off. In a few days, your skin just starts peeling off.. I know this may sound gross to some of you, but it doesn't hurt and your old dead layers of skin just come off like ::snaps:: that!

So after you feet are baby soft again, for the upkeep, I just moisturize it daily as usual but I also use this scrub from lush. It's called the volcano foot scrub in English.

It's great for those days when you wear heels or sandals because it's just sooo soothing. I leave it on my skin for sometime and wrap it in saran wrap. Then after a few minutes I use it like a regular scrub and rinse it off!

What are your tips for keeping your feet soft during the summer?

My first gig being a "mua"

So it was really crazy, as you can imagine.

I did the make up for the models in a promotional event a few weeks ago. I've been meaning to post about it, but so much has happened in the last few weeks.

Anyway, 

the location was really nice, the people were cool, music was pumping, etc....

But before all of that, it was a fiasco getting things together. 

Of course, it was a great learning experience for me and I am now prepared to handle things better the next chance I get! 

The product were were promoting, if you cannot tell are these slippers full of bubbles that are all the rage in Korea and other parts of Asia. And now it has come to Japan!! lol

Yea, at first I thought the bubbles were a bit O.D.... but they have indeed grown on me now. So anyway, I was told to do a "bubble inspired look", to make it dramatic, and colorful....

So here were the looks that I had practiced/played around with a few weeks before the event.

They were "rough drafts" so please don't mind the eyelash that's falling off etc lol!!!

Unfortunately, somehow as with all events, the schedules got a bit mixed up and crazy and I was given about an hour to do a dozen girls' make up!! Luckily the girls were all so helpful and helped out =)

It was fun and I'm definitely thinking about doing this more often!

Here are some pictures from the night!

....setting up.....

these are the slippers!

everyone's having a good time!

fierce!!!

Hakuhodo Brush Giveaway

SO I decided to do a Hakuhodo Brush Giveaway. I've raved about this one brush of theirs and got comments about how it's not cheap or easy to get outside of Japan. Although I'd like to give everyone a brush, I'm no Oprah....I can only afford to give out one brush at a time...lol

So anyway, I explained the 2 simple rules in the video, so I hope you enter!

Random Haul

I'm not sure if I have told you this, but I'm going to be doing make up on about 12 girls for an event next week.
So for the last week I have been stocking up on things that I think I will be needing for the whole event. It's definitely a bit nerve racking when I think about the amount of girls I will have make up in a given time and that... well it's my first time being the make up artist for a event lol!
So I have hauls from camera ready cosmetics, coastal scents, cherryculture, and professional makeup supplies some time soon!

Today is a bit of a random haul of things from donki ho-te, (not sure how to spell it in english)

I have some old favorites and new things that I'm happy with!

So first I got these makeup sponges, I thought the English text was too funny!!! 

I've been having a hard time finding make up supply stores in Japan, as in places where I can get disposables, etc. So i thought it was funny that they mentioned makeup artists like these... So I thought I'd give it a try.

The next two things were actually in the nails area, but I needed a spatula (again, so hard to find) to scoop up foundation, concealer, etc. The dotter is gonna be used for glue (will be putting on gems on their faces) and also I've been wanting one for my nail art =). 

Next, I needed make up removers and some type of cleaner. I looked through so many things, but didn't want a big bottle I wasn't gonna use up (for a lonnnnnng time at least) and I needed something that I can use with out a sink. So I read all the labels and found that these wipes can actually be used to remove all make up, then from there you can simple move on to the toner and moisturizer. BAM! No need to wash face, or wash off the make up remover. It also says it that doesn't leave that sticky feeling etc, so I will be testing them out to see whether they will be good for that event.

The next thing I got isn't for the event: it's a "hair cologne/fragrance" as they call them here. So basically especially in summer, we all sweat. I have fairly long hair, and I work with kids (we go play outside, etc) and so throughout the day I don't like it if my hair goes from smelling like shampoo to stank. yes, stank. 

So I used to use this hair cooling spray last summer, but I can't seem to find them in stores yet. So I settled for this "hair fragrance". It doesn't leave my scalp cool, but my hair should smell good and sweet all day now =)

Here is my old favorite deep conditioning hair mask. I decided that since it's summer, I'll go back to using this one because I feel like the scent is so summery and of course, I love the way my hair feels when I use it.

This may be a bit random, but they are cotton pads. Believe it or not, since I came to Japan, I've been using American cotton pads. For some reason, the Japanese one's didn't cut it and they were pricey! but I saw a two pack for about 3 bucks and thought I'd finally give it a try because I'm running out of my American ones. 

and I love it. It has these really smooth covering yet can grip onto and wipe off the dirt/whatever you are wiping off. I don't know how to explain it, but it feels way better than what I used to use! New fav!!

That sums up my haul and mini review/description. I'll be posing on my other hauls soon. I'm still waiting on my cherry culture order =(

And of course, I still have more to buy =P I'm such an addict, this is not good!!! 

I have a question for you guys though. I need a train case or something, but I'm not sure I want to spend 100 bucks on it, especially if I'm just doing 1 event and don't know if I'll ever be doing another. Any type of alternative bags or recommendation would be really appreciated!!!