Mini Jolse Haul No.2~

Back again with a fairly short post~
I recently purchased two items from Jolse, which, if you don't know, is a store which sells many different Korean cosmetics at fairly low prices. I purchase from them pretty much whenever I need more makeup~
I actually got these items before leaving for New York, but I didn't have time to write a post. So, I'm writing it now!~

The stuff and the samples~

I needed a new BB cream, as well as a new mascara, so I ended up getting two products from Holika Holika~ They were the Magic Pole Mascara (waterproof version), and the Aqua Petite Jelly BB cream~

In the box~

The two main products were bubble wrapped, but I unwrapped them before taking the photo. Oops >.<

Unpackaged~

I notice that the Aqua Petite Jelly BB cream comes in different packaging than it previously did- not that I'm complaining~ I think that the newer version is quite cute~ And like the old, it comes with a makeup sponge, which is useful. The mascara has super pretty packaging, and the top is holographic so it looks cool~ I'll have reviews of both of these products posted sometime soon- but so far I'm liking both quite a lot.

The samples~

I also like the samples they sent out this time- the pore strip worked especially well ^_^

So yeah, that just about sums up this post. I'll have reviews posted soon!~

Ciao <3

Do you guys have any experiences with these products? What did you think of them?

New York/Birthday~~

Hi lovelies!
Today I returned from my three day long trip to New York City (which was in my opinion, too short of a trip). I ventured there in order to celebrate my birthday, so I figured I'd write a blog post about it c:
Hope you find it interesting!
Firstly: birthday OOTD!

Yesstyle.com tights and dress, Urban Outfitters scarf, Dr Marten shoes (though they aren't visible)

The first place I went that day was the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). They have a very beautiful collection of art there, albeit some of it is difficult to understand due to how modern it is (such as a green plank of wood.) I could easily have spent all day there, but that would've been a sort of bad use of a day x3 I really like the MoMA because they have one of my favorite paintings: The Starry Night by Van Gogh. I know it's a somewhat cliched favorite, but up close it's a very beautiful painting. 

I also stopped by two of the gift stores there (they have three .-.) and picked up these two things~

Wallet and postcards~

I never send postcards, but they were by an artist which I like quite a bit (Yoshitomo Nara, as it says on the cover~). In addition to that I got a bunny mimi Pochibi, which is really cute~

Close up!

After that I headed to a Japanese tea house called Cha-an Tea House. I went there because I once read about them having an afternoon tea service. Unfortunately though, they didn't have it when I got there. But, that's okay~ Because it was a very amazing place anyways :3 They serve lunch in addition to tea and desserts, but I had already eaten, so the family and I just split a dessert sampler, an appetizer sampler, and several teas.

Appetizers~

From top left going clockwise, it's a seaweed and edamame salad, smoked haddock (I wasn't a huge fan of it- a bit too dry), shrimps, celery, and egg in some sort of mayonnaise dressing; fried tofu with some sort of vegetable on top, dried tofu, and raw salmon on some kind of leaves with a dressing on top. The last three were my favorites- they were delicious <3

Desserts!

I took very many photos of the deserts, so here are some brief descriptions of each, as well as photos~

Black sesame ice cream with a black sesame tuile

The ice cream was very, very good. There wasn't enough of it, in my opinion x3

A parfait with puff pastry, berries, and lemon cream

This was okay, a bit average, but still pretty good.

Matcha shortbread cookie and chocolate shortbread cookie

I really liked the presentation of this dessert~ Shortbread isn't my favorite, but this wasn't bad.

Yukimi Zenzai (with a maple leaf on top~)

I think this was my favorite of the deserts. It was a red bean 'porridge' type thing, with bits of soft mochi in it. In addition to that, on top there was some sort of fluff. The combination of everything was delicious; I wish there were more of it xD

Black Sesame Creme Brulee

This was also a surprisingly good dessert. Creme Brulee is a custard dessert with caramelized sugar on top. The fact that it was black sesame makes it much more interesting than traditional creme brulee.

The tea!

There was also a very large selection of teas. I got an oolong tea that was called 'Golden Dragon'. It was very nice, had a flowery scent and tasted pretty good. Was quite pricey though >.<

So yes, if you're ever in NYC, I suggest you visit. It's a pleasant experience~

After that I headed to a store in China town called oo35mm, which is a small shop which has Asian cosmetics, and various cute things. If you're interested, they also have an online shop which sells the majority of the things they have in the store. The prices are generally higher than what you'd find on ebay, persay, but it is a nice store.

I mainly got beauty related things there. I also got a cute folder, but silly me, I forgot to take a photo >n<

My Beauty Diary Face masks

I got four of these masks, in pearl powder, arbutin, birds nest, and collagen. I really like the new packaging of the masks, it's much cuter <3

I Love You Bath

These are bath salts made for couples, which I didn't realize until I bought it, but I don't think it makes much of a difference whether you bathe alone or with someone xD I just thought the packaging was cute, so I bought it~ Plus, it's strawberry scented!

Innisfree 'it's real' Masks

Some more, pricier masks, these by innisfree. I've been wanting to try this line of masks, so I took the green tea, royal jelly, and rose ones.

Naris Up Nose Pore Clear Pack and My Beauty Diary Orange Blossom and White Lotus Sleep Concentrate

The nose pore clear pack I think is an interesting product- it's like a typical nose pore strip, except you can put it anywhere since it's in a mask form. Whether it works or not is a question unanswered yet, but I'll make a review of it once I actually use it. The sleep concentrate smells amazing, and in addition to that, it works fairly well too. My skin felt very hydrated after using it for the first time, and it seems to have caused no negative effects on my skin (yet)

After that I had my dinner

Jasmine green tea and shrimp tempura sushi

I originally wanted to go to this one sushi buffet which seemed nice, however there wasn't enough time. After dinner, I went to Broadway's "Phantom of the Opera" which was the best show I have ever seen. The music, the singing, the scenery; everything about it was perfect. 

So, that about sums up the day, and what I did in New York.

As a conclusion, here's a pic of a plushie I got which is a collaboration between tokidoki and Sanrio

Hello!

He's a bit spiky, but still huggable~

So yep! Hope you found the post entertaining~ Bye beauties <3

What's in My Travel Makeup Bag (New York!)

Hello jelly beans~
Tomorrow I'm heading out to New York for three days with family to celebrate my birthday, so I thought I'd write about what I put in my makeup travel bag (I feel as though there should be some shorter phrase for that...)

The bag! I purchased it in my back to school/end of summer haul

I got this bag at Sephora about half a year ago, but I've pretty much just used it for storing makeup in. It's not huge, but it's not very tiny, so it has spacious amounts of room for what basic things I'll need for 3 days. Let's start!~

Stuff~

Face Stuff

Skin 79 Supper BB Cream Samples (1 gold, 1 pink)

Very often BB creams/foundations come in large, heavy, bulky bottles, so I figured that it would be much easier to just carry that in the form of sample packs. I have these from quite a while back, since I don't find much of a point in using sample packs for a product you already have (I have the pink one, already). In any case, it's much more space efficient to just carry sample packs, I think~

Skin Food Peach Sake Pore Pact {review!}

This is definitely my favorite pact that I've tried. It smells amazing (Peaches~ <3), plus it's convenient that it has a mini puff/brush, so I don't need to bring along an extra brush.

Benefit's boi-ing concealer and bareMinerals Concealer Brush

I like this concealer because it's nice and small, plus has good coverage (though it is a bit pricey.) I'm sort of running out, as you might be able to see, so to reach the edges I brought along a brush (and to make application more efficient~)

Tokidoki's Luminosa Powder in Kabuki

This packaging is super pretty, which is one of the reasons why I love this. In addition to that, it's a pretty, pinky/silver luminizer which doesn't look perfectly natural, but, it is pretty. The packaging is a bit bulky, but I don't have many luminizers and so I decided to go with this one.

Lips

TokyoMilk Dark Lip Balm in Salted Caramel (yum)

A good lip balm is always essential, and this my absolute favorite, so I couldn't imagine bringing it along. However, I do suggest taking something in a tube form if you're traveling- it's a lot more convenient, and unlike with this one, your fingers won't get lip-balmy from the application. I just think this one smells super yummy, so I had to take it x3

Benefit's Benetint

I don't use that many lip products, but this one is  fairly versatile since you can use it as both a cheek tint, and a lip tint. It smells like roses~ and since this is a smaller size of the tint, fits nicely into my bag.

Makeup Forever Rouge Artist Natural Lipstick {review}

This is a pretty, useful lipstick which is versatile and matches many different types of makeup (it's pretty much just a more vivid version of my own lip color). Plus, the packaging is small, so it's convenient for travel~

Eyes

Lime Crime Palette D'Antoinette

My absolute favorite eyeshadow palette ever- I couldn't imagine not bringing this. It's big, but the colors (though they don't seem it), are fairly versatile.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion

Since the eyeshadows which I'm bringing are matte, they rub off easily. This is avoided though if I use a primer, such as this one. It's also travel sized (many of the things that I'm taking are travel sized, it seems .-.) so it doesn't take up much space ^.^

Benefit Badgal Lash Mascara

A typical black mascara, but I like how it separates and lengthens my lashes. I'm not sure how much volume is given, but I think it's much better than the other benefit mascara, the 'they're real' one, I want to say? I can't recall the name .-.

Super Pinky Green Circle Lenses

It would be boring to have plain hazel eyes the entire time, so I figured I'd bring along a pair of some fun lenses x3 I like these green ones (which I have yet to review...)

Skin Care (sorta)

Clinique Makeup Remover

I always forget to take off makeup remover properly (with makeup remover), so when trying to remove makeup and ending up with raccoon eyes, I often just give up and go to bed like that (which isn't good). I'm trying to break that habit, and thus, am bringing along a proper makeup remover~

Skin Food Platinum Grape Cell Emulsion and Toner

I didn't have much room left for full sized skin care items, but these two products are very nice so I took them along (plus, they're small!)

Things which didn't really fit into other categories (oops)

TokyoMilk Dark Perfume in No. 62, Tainted Love

This is my alltime favorite, signature perfume, so I couldn't imagine not bringing it >n<

Tokidoki Scent Sticks in Adios and Siberia

These are solid perfumes in the shapes of crayons- you just twist and glide them on, sorta like a lip balm except not on your lips and it doesn't exactly moisturize xD It's convenient for on-the-go perfume application, and unlike a rollerball, it won't leak everywhere.

Random bits and bobs

A mirror, because mirrors are often necessary; bow shaped hair-velcros, because when washing my face it's convenient to have hair back; and tweezers, because sometimes eyebrows are unruly.

So yep! That's about it. I still have yet to pack a face wash of some sort (I can't find one that is small enough to fit >n<)

I might post some photos of New York when I get back.
Take care!

Ciao ciao~~

February 2014 Ipsy Glam Bag!

First of all: Happy valentines day loves! Even if you're single (like me), I still think it's a fun holiday to celebrate with friends~ Hope you enjoyed yours!

Also, today I received my February Ipsy glam bag, which was a bit of a surprise considering how it doesn't usually come until the 15th. So, it was a nice Valentines day present, and I decided to do a review of it since Valentines day and all~

The bag is boring, but the inside is cute and pink leopard print (I forgot to take a photo :c)

Time for individual reviews~

Hair Mask

This is the only product which I haven't tried out yet, due to the fact that I'm afraid of doing anything deep conditioning to my recently dyed hair. I've noticed that when I do anything that strongly conditions my hair, a lot more than usual of the color washes out, and I don't want to do that just yet.

The packaging it came in (it's only trial sized, after all)

NuMe Intense Renewal Hair Mask: 20 mL (about $3 Value)

I don't have much to say about this, aside from the fact that the scent is very nice. I'm a bit scared to try it out, but once I do I'll update this. Now, moving on~

Nail Polish

Zoya!

I was so incredibly happy to see that the nail polish brand in this month's bag was Zoya. I love Zoya nail polishes, but since they're a bit expensive for me, I never get them outside of Ipsy bags.

Zoya Nail Polish in 'Odette'- $9

This polish is a very pretty orchid maroon color from their recent 'Naturel Rose Tone Nudes' collection. I can't say that this one is nude, but it is dull (not in a bad way). It looks natural, that is, if having natural purple nails is your thing. I do think it looks nice though.

Only one layer of the polish- I was too lazy to do two.

It's a nice color, and a fairly versatile one. I'll probably wear it often.

Blush

City Color Be Matte Blush in Fresh Melon- $3

This is the cheapest priced, cheapest quality blush I think I've ever encountered. Not that it's a bad thing, though. It's huge- close to 9 grams of product. I can't see myself ever using it up, considering that it's very pigmented when on my face. Aside from that though, it's a nice, apricot color.

Or, as they say, "Fresh Melon". Melons in my experience have been either orange or green; why's it like this? xD

Lip Gloss

Pop beauty Plump Pout Lip Gloss in Peony Petal ($8 Value)

That photo was an unfortunate capture of the color; it's really a lot less red. The swatch on my lips shows it better.

Pardon the badly applied lipstick and strangely opened mouth. I often have trouble applying lipstick because the colored part of my lip doesn't extend to my lip edge, if that makes sense. There's a ridge which I never fill in >_>

It's supposed to be plumping, however I didn't notice all that much of a difference in my lip plumpiness. I do like the color though, and the finish. It's extremely pigmented, so it's more of a lipstick  cream than a lip gloss.

Eye Shadow

Eyetini Cordial Shadow and Base in Spiced Rum- $18

I've noticed that products which are eyeshadows in cream form that act as both a base and as color are becoming more and more popular recently. This one is in a pretty bronze/gold color, and is applied with a doe foot applicator.

Ze applicator~

This is VERY pigmented. Only a little bit is needed for a shimmery base, however more if you want full on color. Some swatches of the previous three items:

The blush is on the far left, lip gloss in the centre, and eye shadow on the right

So yep! I'm quite satisfied with this month's Ipsy bag (with a total product worth of $41). The bags have been getting better for me, so I'm content~

Hope you guys enjoyed your day!

And I'll be back again soon~