Cherry blossom girl...

My post is Ume-inspired...... This week I received two Ume or Japanese Cherry blossom related items: one was included in a sasa order, and one from Etsy.

I stumbled upon this purple ume wallet when I was browsing wallets with japanese prints on etsy. I really love the cuteness of the Sanrio inspired wallets, and ordered some small Sanrio inspired prints as well.

For my more mature-appropriated days I was looking for something lovely and florally: this wallet fitted the bill (pun intended). I bought it at THIENTHANH in the sale section, and there was also a free shipping deal...he he.

This is such a cute and well-made wallet. Have you seen the little fishy that holds the zipper?

So sweet: she (Bibi) makes the wallet with her grandma...

It also arrived really fast! I really enjoy fast shipping...

The only small con is that it is a bit small for my daily shopping, and all of these pesky card you have to use - for the library, the bookstore, discount at the supermarket, etc etc.. I think it will make an excellent wallet for international currency...e.g. pound sterling, or dollars (hopefully soon ;D).

My other happy Cherry blossom item came from sasa.com..... It is from Bison.

This is also a cute and small size. Think about 3 times smaller than the Pear shaped lipbalm of B&C. It also has really similar texture as the B&C Pear balm, which I absolutely AdOrE...It smells like a slightly artificial cherry, or a bit like cherry flavored lemonade. I really like this scent...

The colour is incredibly cute as well....a soft baby pink which sheers out on your lips...

I made a swatch on my arm. The upper part is the balm concentrated, and I sheered it out to the bottom. One reviewer on Sasa described it to be slightly lightening on her lips, which is true. However, it is still a lipbalm and nothing too pigmented...

I still smell a hint of cherry after half an hour, but nothing obtrusive (and the regular readers know I am really picky with some scented products).

This theme makes me dream about a Japanese vacation walking under real Cherry tree blossoms....

crafting hair deco

All of the browshing on Etsy made me hungry for a bit of creativity on my own...I love buying things, and I love creating some of my own thingies. I was so enamorated with the various hairpieces and clips I saw on Etsy, and especially the ones with a Flapper/art deco-esque vibe (eg this and this piece).

So I bought a couple of appliques (sort of sparkly and sequinned forms -flowers, bows, butterflies, etc that you can add on your clothes etc), found a piece of copper beading thread, a needle and a haircomb and started crafting:

These are a couple of the appliques I bought: I bought a golden fan, the flower you saw above, a butterfly, and you can see a tiny part of a coral applique on the bottom of the page...

I sewed the copper thread manually through all of the hairpin holes. I checked the front if the thread was not visible, and VOILLA...a gorgeous hairpiece for a fraction of the normal price.

The front...no thread visible from the sewing...

Here is the piece in my stick-straight hair...I love hairpieces for giving my hair a bit of 'unboringness' (is that a word? it is now...LOL)

(Jamilla Camel, if you read this...yes, I still have quite pale skin...LOL)

Totally credit crunch friendly and very sassy for the summer season of flirting and flaunting ;P

Kanebo Kate Lasting Color Eyesl in GY-1: grey colour??

I have not seen that many reviews on Kanebo Kate latest Eyeliner pencils yet: actually, I have not found a single one before ordering this sweetie from adambeauty.

I am still looking for a really good and smooth, but not smudge-tastic grey eyeliner pencil. This pencil actually sells like a hybrid between eyeshadow and pencil. I picked the colour GY-1, because that normally corresponds with a grey shade.

That is the colour I picked: GY-1

I had to check the label, because as you can see on the next picture, it looks not grey or slate/greylike at all. There are some golden glitters in the pencil, and it actually looks more dark green/khaki than grey.

The pencil has a twist-up mechanism, which means that you do not have to sharpen your pencil constantly. I do not like sharpening big pencils, as you always spoil so much product.

The colour is quite nice, although it has nothing greyish in it. It looks like a dark brown with lovely golden sprinkles in it. It is a nice creamy texture, which makes it suitable for a soft and somewhat 'dewy' application.

This picture is an even closer close-up (click on the picture for more detail).

It can work as an eyeliner pencil, or as an eyeshadow. I smudged the pencil a bit so you can see how it looks in a smudged form (as a eyeshadow or eyeshadow base). Ok, it looks more slate-like now, but I still find the golden flecks to alter the colour from its (hardly existent) greyness.

Ha ha, I am complaining a bit about the colour, but I actually love the product a lot for using on my eyes. I like the creaminess of the product and I found it to hold up all day, without a base. I did not experience any irritations from it either.

I bought this pencil for $10.50 on adambeauty. I think I am going to pick up the black one as well, or perhaps the white for putting into the waterline (and look awake when I am not).

another week in hauls

Hello again, another week has gone by. How has your week been? I had a fabulous start! My last grade of a course I took in the last term came back, and I was really delighted with the outcome. I considered my essay to be moderately good, and my dear teach ever gave me a more positive grade than I expected...WOOT!


My weekly mail-hauls were pretty good as well. I already posted about most of them, and I want to show you the rest.


A couple of weeks ago I had ordered some tea from a British teashop that was raved on one of the local forums. They can be great enablers as well. Teapigs.co.uk (what's in a name? glowchaser changed her name in Old cow; I have Moo cards and I drink from teapigs: I think I will name myself happyHorseHickups?) sell they tea in sample sets as well, which come in a tin that contains 3 teabags. It was a wonderful opportunity to try six of their flavours.



My picks were based on my lack of energy and the need for indulgence. The teapigs site has a small 'mood-o-matic teafinder' on the bottom left of the homepage, which makes choosing easy (and with a good dose of British humor). I kind of was tempted to click on all moods, especially 'old and wrinkly' or 'generally rubbish' (which was my mood a couple of weeks ago).







I ended up with:

Chocolate Flake tea;

Super Fruit;

Yerba Mate;

Tung Ting Oolong Tea;

Mao Feng Green Tea;

Lemongrass Tea

My absolute fave is the Lemongrass tea: it is extremely refreshing and taste like real lemongrass...yummmm


The tins are stackable. The labels are too cute: I love the tuk tuk on the Lemongrass, and the surfer on the Tung Ting tea

Non mail-retail therapy:

I had to go to the capital this week for a important lecture of a writer I really admire. Before that, I visited the Mac counter and picked up the Tinted Lip Conditioner SPF 15 in Gentle Coral.

As if I do not have enough lipbalms, -glosses, and sticks....



I love the corally orange colour, and the typical vanilla scent from Mac is always a favourite of mine. (picture is made in shadow, so the colour is probably not really representative)



I went to the poshest shopping street, and only bought a Chanel lipstick.


But it is from their summer 2009 collection! I loved a variety of their latest Aqualumiere colours, and ended up with the flattering Ishia. I love their Sun Protection, which was another motive for picking it up ;D

Chanel should update the Aqualumiere lipstick in the same form as the gorgeous Rouge Allure form. That is the one with the Click tube...I still like this design, but it is a bit Blah... (it is still Chanellll, dahling)

This picture came out darker again. The colour looks like a MLBB (my lips but better) colour, or the colour after I have been drinking wonderful Cava in Barcelona (ahhh, can I dream?)

I adore the multiglitter in the lipstick, which came out all right in this close up: I see blue, copper, gold...

I have already blogged about my Paul & Joe haul. (ici et ici)


The Kawaii-ness of the Yumeko/Bittenbefore brushroll!!! (here)

And the wonders of the Japanese Magazine world (here)

tadaaah....Those were my hauls....

Paul & Joe Dual Protective Foundation UV in 10

On monday this week I blogged about my new Paul & Joe goodies that arrived from Beautybay.com. I already looked at the Bronzer in Deity 01 (here), and I have to say that I tested it on my face, and it looked quite natural, even though I was afraid it would turn up too orangy. The thing is, that P&J makes their powder so fine and sophisticated, that you can dust a light layer over the face (the places that the sun hits your face: cheekbones, nose, forehead), so it does not look like I have been tangoed...

I promised to take a look at the other Paul & Joe product as well: the Protective Dual Foundation UV in 10. Today I road-tested it in sunny weather, and I have been quite satisfied with it, so far so good :D



It has SPF 20 PA++. I have a sunblock in my moisturizer, however, I always like to have extra protection. Click on the next picture for the ingredients.

The case is so pretty in ivory creamy white with all the artdeco-esque flowers on top.

P&J included a sponge with their foundation. It is, indeed, sold as a powder foundation. I prefer to dust it on like a powder-like product: with a powder brush. The powder is so incredibly fine, and gives a light to medium coverage.

The colour can be described as NC20 colour: it is a tad too light right now, however, I am sure it will make an excellent companion in my bag during the Autumn and Winter months.

I will update this post with a swatch on my arm or piece of paper soon

My first Japanese Magazine...

Bloggers can influence each other so much: I have been oogling the blogs that posted about the Japanese magazines and their incredible Gift with Purchases they included. Innerchild, Rouge Deluxe and Makeupstash have been regular posters tempting me with the unattainability of Japanese magazines.

The great thing is, that I found a Japanese bookstore that sells some incredible selection of magazines. The owner is so nice to order the ones that they do not retail, for example, they offered to order Spring if I wanted to.

My very first Japanese magazine I bought was based on the GWP I received: the Baila.

I found myself to be a bit daft when I realised that the magazine has to be read from the other side than Western magazines...he he, I am not a regular Japanese reader.

The GWP is a sturdy scarf from See by Chloe, a yellow scarf with blue polkadots.

The fabric reminds me of the fabric I sometimes find at vintage shops...those dresses from the 1960s or 1970s...it is a bit stiff, though, but very lovely indeed.

As I said earlier, I cannot read a word of Japanese, but the beauty instructions are really wonderful: they have a special for applying blush and highlighter...the girl has PERFECT skin.

A bronze special with Chanel Makeup:

More highlighting tips:


The clothes are really mature: I always connect Japanese women and magazines with the girly cuteness (kawaii), however, I love the matureness of Baila. I already found some wonderful inspiration for new combos and outfits.


Beige clothes-special on clothes: very work-appropriate

I LOVE this dress, and love the curly look of the model. The ethnic print and bow on the dress is so cute.

I am already looking forward going back for the July selection of magazines. Makeupstash posted the upcoming GWP with the magazines! I really aiming to buy the Smart issue that has this Stussy duffle bag with it:

Or the Mina makeupbag that Rougedeluxe already bagged (here)