♡ What I Got For Christmas 2019 ♡

Hello everyone, it's been a while! >< ♡

Occasionally I get the inspiration to write on here again, and now is one of those times; I can't promise that I'll continue after the next few posts that I have planned, but one can always hope!

Firstly, Merry (late) Christmas! I hope those of you who celebrated had a nice time with your loved ones ♡ I really love the holiday season and always look forward to it, this year was no exception (though I do feel like it passed by really quickly!)

I'm really happy and thankful about all the gifts I received this year, and since I always like seeing what other people got (and for my own reference, since I like looking back at what I got in years past), I thought I would post a little Christmas haul! I'm very thankful to my family for always getting me such thoughtful gifts ♡

Let's start!

My absolute favourite makeup brand is Jill Stuart-- both for the beautiful packaging, and the amazing quality! I got a lovely blusher/highlight duo, as well as a really pretty dark red lipstick~ I haven't used any Jill Stuart lip products before (and I have yet to try this out), but I've heard good things about them! I've been wanting a nice dark red lipstick for a while, and I thought the colour of this one was so pretty~ (Plus, the flowers on the cap lift off to reveal a small mirror- how cute and useful!)

In the realm of beauty/self-care type things, I also got some nice bath products! The apples are both from Lush; the silver one is a soap, and the big white one is their "So White" bath bomb~ I got one a few years ago and really loved it, so I'm looking forward to using this one! The salt block should also be nice, it smells like lavender and is so fragrant~

I'm not sure how well the print is visible on this, but I got this gorgeous ginkgo-leaf patterned shift nightgown from the Australian shop Papinelle, which makes the most beautiful sleepwear! It's made of silk and feels so divine, I can't wait to wear it ♡

I have several cookbooks from LEON (their "happy salads" and "happy soup" ones), and I was overjoyed to see this "Happy Curries" one!! Curry is one of my absolute favourite foods and this book has a lot of really nice recipes, I'm looking forward to making things from it! I also got this beautiful Cardcaptor Sakura collector's edition, which I've been wanting for the longest time because it's just too pretty ;v; To tell the truth I've never actually read Cardcaptor Sakura, so I'm looking forward to reading this iconic magical girl manga!

This is possibly one of my favourite gifts-- Rammstein's book of piano versions of their songs! Rammstein has been one of my favourite bands since I was very young and I wanted this book for ages, but they stopped making it rather quickly after its initial release 4 years ago ;-; They recently rereleased it however, yay! It's such a beautiful book of sheet music (and it comes with a CD too!). I have yet to start learning anything from it, but I'm excited to do so~

We slowly move on to somewhat more miscellaneous items, with this lovely bottle of gin! Gin is without a doubt my favourite spirit and I'm always interested in trying different blends of herbs; this one is definitely very unique! It has acai, which stands out very prominently in the flavour profile. I don't think I've ever tried anything quite like this!

To some of you this might seem a bit boring, but I've wanted these double-walled glasses for ages, I just thought they looked so pretty! The nice thing about them is that the double layer of glass provides a lot of insulation so that your drink stays warm and so that your hands don't burn~ 

Some small things; cute nail polish with heart-shaped glitter, and some nice relaxing aromatherapy gel~

Lastly, some sweets! ♡

Again, I'm very grateful for everything my family got me; and I look forward to using it all ♡

Lastly, is a Christmas gift to myself! Some of you might know that I recently started working, and with my first paycheck I decided to buy myself something I've wanted for a while: a Vivienne Westwood wallet!

My mum got a similar one last year for Christmas and it held up very well over the course of the past year, so I could tell that it was nice quality and decided to make the plunge and purchase it ^^ It came in the mail the day after Christmas-- perfect timing! I love it so much and can't wait to use it; I've never had such a nice wallet and all the details in it are just so perfect ♡

Thank you for reading! I hope you liked seeing the things I got; I always love reading/watching/seeing people's holiday hauls~

See you in my next post!

♡ Holika Holika Sweet Peko Hard Cover Perfect Cushion Review ♡

もしもし！♡
 Today I thought I'd do something I haven't done in quite some time: a cosmetics review!
For those of you who have been following this blog for a while, you might remember me starting out as a beauty blog!
I would be surprised if anyone from that long ago still read this blog though ^^"
In any case, when I purchased this item, I got several messages on Instagram asking me to review it. I finally ran out of my old product, and was able to open this one at last! I had been super eager to use it, but at the same time, didn't want to open it prematurely ^^"
In any case, the item I'm being so vague about... is the 
super cute Sweet Peko Perfect Cushion from Holika Holika!

If you're interested in Korean cosmetics, you might know that a little while ago, the brand Holika Holika released an absolutely adorable collaboration collection with the character Peko!

For those of you not familiar with her, Peko-chan is the mascot of the Japanese sweets brand Fujiya; you can sometimes find her face decorating sweets packages, or even chocolate lollipops in the shape of her head! She's a really cute and iconic character, and I thought this entire series had such a charming retro feel to it ♡

The entire collection was adorable, so I knew I wanted something from it the moment that I saw it! It just so happened that the item whose packaging I found cutest was the one I needed the most! ♡ I had been running low on my cushion compact for a little while, and figured it was about time to get myself a new one.
I guess I didn't use it that often though, because it still took me quite a while to finally run out of it officially...



In the collaboration, there are two different cushion compacts: the Perfect Cushion (the one I got) and the Glow Cushion (which in the above photo, you can see in the red milk-carton packaging!)
The Perfect Cushion is meant for oily skin, to create a smoothing finish, improve skin texture, and absorb excess sebum. The Glow cushion is for drier skin, as it claims to leave your skin moisturized and glowing. I often struggle with my makeup feeling a bit greasy at the end of the day, so I figured the Perfect Cushion would be the best choice for me ^^

Before I continue my rambling, let me share some photos of the super cute packaging it came in!

I think the milk carton packaging is so adorable and unique-- honestly, I find it hard to resist cute packaging, and I found the design of this absolutely charming! 



Before I move on to more photos, some more details about the product~
This cushion has SPF 50+ PA++++, which is fantastic! I always apply sunscreen before my makeup, but still, it's nice to have that added layer of protection ^^ It comes in four different colours (although unfortunately like with most Korean brands, it doesn't seem that they would be suited for anyone with medium-dark skin). I normally have the issue of face makeup being too dark for me, so I appreciated the availability of light tones. I got the palest shade, "01 Warm Ivory" (which ended up being perfect!)

Inside the box, you get the compact, as well as the actual cushion (which comes separately, so that when you run out, you can just purchase a refill instead of getting a whole new set!)

Here's what the refill looks like when you take it out of the bag~

It's just a little plastic container that you snap into the case-- it's quite easy to do! 
Also, isn't the puff it comes with just the cutest? ♡ 

The case itself comes with a mirror, which is very convenient, of course~ 
The cushion itself is covered by a piece of plastic underneath the lid, which is good because it prevents the product from drying out before you get the chance to even use it ^^" After you peel it off...

You see the cushion itself! I've never seen a 'patterned' cushion before, I think it's a really cute detail ♡ 



Like with all cushions, you just gently press the puff onto the cushion to collect some product (please be cautious when first using them though, since the sponges are super saturated with product initially!), before using that to apply it on your face. 
I took some before and after photos, so you can get the idea of the coverage/colour!
The before photos are of my skin after my usual skincare+primer application, and the after photos are with just the cushion, no concealer or anything like that (a fairly light application though, since I generally don't wear too much foundation for fear of it looking too 'heavy').

The most striking thing I noticed about this product was its mattifying effect! It had fairly decent coverage too-- I'm sure it can be built up even more, but again, I try to avoid wearing too much foundation. It managed to cover up the majority of my acne scarring/small blemishes, which is good enough for me! ♡



And here are some photos after I did the rest of my makeup (for my face, I didn't use any concealer after this-- just my usual setting powder).

I'm very happy with the coverage of this-- it's exactly what I need! It has a smoothing look too, which I find perfect (as you might be able to tell, the surface of my skin isn't very smooth, so I'm always looking for products which will even out the texture ^^" )

Despite being mattifying, it didn't seem to cake/clump when I applied it, which is great! Often, with mattifying foundation, I've found that it can get into fine lines and generally make your skin look a bit bleh, so I was relieved that this was not the case with this product. In addition to that, it applied just fine over the rest of my makeup, and blended into my skin very smoothly!
I wore this product all day, and found that it looked no different at the end of the day than at the start! Which is quite impressive given that I wore it ice skating, as well as for a fairly long walk (usually, products tend to fade a bit after exercise, but I didn't find that to be the case with this!)

On the whole, I'm very very happy with the Holika Holika Perfect Cushion! It has lovely coverage, wonderful texture, good staying-power, and of course... is super cute!
I would definitely recommend this cushion, especially if you have oily/combination skin like me! If your skin is on the drier side, you might want to try out their Glow Cushion, since it probably has a texture more suitable to your skin. 



I purchased my cushion on YesStyle {here} for $18.65 (but that's with the discount I have as a gold member on there, plus a sale they were having at the time-- it normally retails for $25.90). I've also found this eBay listing for it for $15.20. 



I hope you found this review helpful! Please let me know if you have any questions about the product-- I'd be happy to do my best to try to answer them! ♡
♡ Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a lovely lovely day ♡
Until next time!