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.

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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.



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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.

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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.

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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.

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Japanese McDonald's Egg Burger

I tend to forget how unusual some things can be that I see everyday here in Japan. Seeing that I visit McDonalds occasionally  (ok let's get real) a little more than I'd like to... I got used to their unique menu  which includes shrimp burgers. The fact that their chicken burgers are filled with grease and made with dark meat (because they are juicy) became the norm, and their seasonal items like the Tsukimi burger are things I may have already tried once, or twice...

This year, I saw that the burger also had bacon, and that they also had the chicken Tsukimi burger, and though, "ew..." and figured I'd share it with you. Now the main difference between a regular burger and a Tsukimi burger is an egg. They Tsukimi burger also has some special sauce...(mayo? and something?) but that's pretty much it.

Now that, added to the breaded chicken (I'm sure dripping with oil on the inside too) just seemed weird to me, even though I see no logic as to why the first should be any less weird...

Honestly though, they put eggs over everything! Spaghetti, beef bowls, ramen, raw horse meat... the list goes on and half the time the egg's not even cooked (or just soft-boiled)... I just  can't....

Yet here is the video of me eating it haha!

What are some interesting things you've seen people eating?

Counting Down to Halloween - Plants Vs Zombies Nails

This year, I didn't even realize it was October until the first week passed. I usually have my Halloween plans already set by September. I know what I'm dressing up as, and seeing that I was a teacher, I had decorated my classroom, got crafts, and fun activities all planned out for October. This year, however, I am not teaching anymore...and so sadly, I didn't even realized when it was until someone asked me if I was dressing up this year or not.

Well, to be honest, I probably won't be dressing up this year, haha. I do live in Japan, and even though Halloween started getting big these last two to three years, it's still no where near as big as it is in the US. Costumes here are expensive, and they all seem waaaaaay to skanky (if I may say so) especially since they are just from "Donki".

Anyway, I figured doing my nails was one thing I can still do (even though I'd have to take them off before volunteering at the hospital). I had been so addicted to the PVZ2 game recently, I figured it would be perfect for kickstarting my Halloween nail series for 2013.

I hope you guys like it, and maybe even give it a try.



What are all your plans for Halloween? And do you have any more suggestions for Halloween nails?