Howdy, everyone! My Japan trip was over, it was tiring, it was fun. I met a lof of people that I haven't meet since I finished my study last 2014, and really wish I could stay there a little longer just so I can talk more with them. Anyways, I'm proud to say I managed to stay in budget! I bought all things I wanted, drop some that didn't turn out great, and was left with enough money to buy some more. There were some things I failed to pick up (coughnarscough) because I thought I could still encounter them at the airport (where everything is cheaper), turned out they're not available there. However, I'm generally pleased with my purchases! This post is gonna be long, and probably image heavy as well. I will try to keep it as simple as possible, add price and where I bought them when I remember!
Non-beauty Haul
Stocking and socks fromTutu ana; I came to know about Tutu ana back in 2012 and tried them first on 2013. I never turn back from them ever since. I'm not a fan of their underwear but I truly love their other sleepwear, and their footwear! They have the most affordable and cute, plus comfortable socks and stockings ever. I've long since getting rid of my stockings that aren't Tutu ana, their 60 denier stocking is my absolute favorite! I remember I still don't have that one in black color, and they have this buy 3 for 1000 JPY deal, so I snatched one of them and two socks with ribbons on the back. They're absolutely comfy and gorgeous, I am in love! with a pair of socks. Yes.
Tutu ana can be found at Shibuya, Shinjuku Alta, Harajuku Takeshita Street, and Kichijouji.
Gold bobby pins from Claire; Claire become friggin expensive in my country (I don't even know why), so even if I've been eye-ing this for months in local mall, I never have a heart to buy them. They're only 300 JPY so of course I did not resist. These bobby pins are more for photography purpose than practical purpose, since my hair is too thick for them. I already use them for some pictures, really stunning!
Claire's can be found at Harajuku Takeshita Street, Shinjuku Alta.
Greeting cards from Plaza; Plaza has so many cute and affordable greeting cards to the point I was too overwhelmed. In the end, I picked this one with glittery pink ribbon and pink stripes envelope because they're the most 'classic' compared to the rest.
Plaza can be found at Shinjuku Lumine 2, Ikebukuro Parco.
Captain America Tsumtsum from Disney Store; my Captain America obsession is not over, pal! I bought this hoping that I will encounter Winter Soldier's tsumtsum in the way but to my horror, it's sold out everywhere! I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that they have it in stock somewhere, because poor Captain will be lonely without Bucky :(
Disney Store can be found at Shinjuku, Harajuku Takesita Street, Shibuya, Ikebukuro Sunshine City.
Hair pin from Lattice and Necklace from Forever21; when I was looking for hair pins for my sister, I was attracted to this one. In the end, I got my sister the similar one with this but in pink and white. The necklace was bought because for someone who's totally obsessed with moon, I have no moon accessory with me (I know, the blasphemy!). When it comes to necklace, I choose the one with simple pendant so this crescent moon necklace is really perfect for me.
Lattice can be found at Ikebukuro Sunshine City
Drugstore beauty haul
Shiseido Senka Perfect Liquid; I'm running out of my Perfect Liquid at home so I added this to my wishlist for obvious reason. This is my favorite makeup remover ever, not gel, not water, not oil, just liquid. Unlike oil that feels lukewarm (and sometimes greasy) on the skin, Perfect Liquid gives a cooling sensation and pleasant smell. It does absolute great job at removing my makeup without stripping it from moisture.
Majolica Majorca Lash Aesthetic Mascara; Majolica Majorca's greatness when it comes to eyelashes is already well-known. I'm sure you have heard about it once or twice when people talk about Japanese mascara. Despite wanting to try this for so long, I never buy it simply because I heard they're hard to remove (had bad experience with benefit it's real mascara, so, nope. No, thank you). However, this one is marketed as easy to remove so I bit the bullet and purchased this. HOLY, I was not disappointed! This mascara gives my lashes everything it needs from volume to length. I'm absolutely smitten, especially considering how cheap this mascara is; 1200 JPY.
Mentholantum Water Lip; for some reason, my dry lips refuse to befriend readily available and easily accessible lip balm like Nivea or TBS. It decides to be picky by choosing Kiehl's or L'Occitane, and as much as I love those two, hello, that's a lot for just a lip balm?? I remember using this cheap as chips lip balm ( wasn't even 200 JPY) back in winter 2013, and it did a great job at keeping my lips moisturized.
Alice Body Mist in Fresh Raspberry; I bought this one in Disney Store half on a whim (half because I wanted to get any Alice things while I was at Disney Store, so this was not entirely unplanned). For someone who's quiet picky with scent, I'm glad this scent with Alice theme didn't turn me off. I used this to keep myself smelling fresh throughout the trip, which was necessary since I was practically out for almost 12 hours everyday while I was there.
Jill Stuart
I visited Jill Stuart counter 3 times. The first time to buy the blush and crystal lucent powder, I dropped the later because I didn't like how it looked like on my skin. The 2nd was to buy my mother's perfume and hand cream. The 3rd was to get the nail polish. As always, Jill Stuart's BA are so friendly, they gave me lots of samples. I'm not sure I can ever finish them since I still got some samples from last year left.
Jill Stuart can be found at Shinjuku Lumine 2, Shibuya Parco, Ikebukuro Seibu.
Layer Blush in 06 Old Rose; Jill Stuart blush has been in my wishlist since forever, probably even before I started crushing on Jill Stuart itself. The only thing that put me off from buying them was my inability to try them myself. I know they're not the most pigmented blush around , I'm worried they won't show up on my deeper skin tone. The BA kindly let me try this one and even then she needed to pile this up few layers until it show up, but, oh boy, the result is so pretty; a faint blush that gives a very natural flush to my skin. And the packaging, just look at that gorgeous packaging, I really can't fault Jill Stuart when it comes to this department.
Nail Lacquer R in 04 Pink Drop; I have enough glittery Jill Stuart nail polishes to last me a lifetime, so this time, I wanted the one with no glitter/shimmer. After choosing between this one and the other in 05 Love Potion, I decided to go with 04 Pink Drop because this one is more pink than Love Potion (which is redder and I already have a deep red polish). Under certain light, this polish shows up peachy-pink that it flatters my skin nicely.
Burberry Beauty
lo and behold, I finally got my hand in my favorite makeup brand ever. Burberry beauty is my - excuse my language - makeup
wet dream. They can come up with crappy products (not that they have)
and I will still proclaim my thousand of years love for them. The counter I visited was at Seibu Ikebukuro. While the BA was not as friendly as The Nars' or Jill Stuart (understandable since I'm obviously a foreigner), she was helpful and I had fun trying out different eyeshadows.
Eye Colour Wet & Dry Glow Shadow in 001 Gold Pearl; I was in serious lack of inner corner color in my eyeshadow stash, most of my eyeshadow are deep brown or chocolate which is more appropriate for outer corner, lid, and crease color. The camera didn't do the color justice, in real life, the eyeshadow is vibrant color of gold. I haven't try them on myself since I returned but I can tell I will love this because as far as I tried this on the counter, it's soooo buttery soft.
Eye Colour Wet & Dry Silk Shadow in 102 Pale Barley; the cult classic, the cult favorite. I don't think I need to explain more about this holy grail of one swipe wonder eyeshadow. I cannot describe exactly how it looks on my lids; not too vibrant but my lids just glow in very subtle, beautiful golden-taupe color. It will be perfect for the day when I want to feel classy yet too lazy to make an effort.
Other high-end beauty haul
The Nars counter I visited was at Ikebukuro Seibu, Lush at Shibuya (very, very cramped). Bobbi Brown and Gucci was at Haneda Duty Free Store, and Chanel Polish was purchased at KLIA.
Nars Velvet Matte Skin Tint in Cuzco; first, let me tell you my completely wonderful experience at Nars counter in Seibu Ikebukuro. The BA was very friendly (she thought I was foreigner who live and grew up in Japan), she helped me choosing the right shade, apply everything to my face from skincare to finishing powder, engage me in very friendly conversation. I truly regret not getting her name because she was truly a God sent! Under her tender care, I managed to last without touching up from morning to night (well, she applied everything from skincare to primer to finishing powder and concealer). After using this for a day, I have to say I absolutely love the lightweight texture and coverage, it wasn't as sheer as people made it to be, and managed to conceal the problematic areas fine. I'm excited to get more use out of this!
Lush Lip Scrub in Bubblegum; I keep hearing great thing about Lush' lipscrub so for me it was logical to snag one of this while I could. I had thought it was 1000 JPY without tax so I was pleasantly surprised to know it's the price with tax. The smell was too sweet for me but doesn't mean I don't like it, it smells more like fanta than bubblegum, tho? I'm yet to try this one because I need to take proper pic of this before I use it (blogger problem).
Bobbi brown Natural Brow Shaper & Hair Touch Up in 7 Brunette; let me make a confession; I never tend to my brow until recently (Tannya jabbed me at this on my last post lmao). I just wasn't sure about my brow since I always had bangs but since I changed my hair style, I realized why people are making fuss about brows. They are absolutely vital to your look (I was years late to realize this). I wasn't sure what to get for my brow, left with spare time at the airport (pretty much down because Nars wasn't available at Haneda Duty Free), then wandered to Bobbi Brown Counter. The counter was empty so I had the luxury of trying so many products without being bothered. I ended up with this brow mascara(?) which was easy to use for beginner like me yet still leaves my brow polished.
Gucci Guilty Pour Homme EDT; God, I know I told myself that I won't buy anymore perfume this year but after tying this last February at local Sephora (each time whenever I visit that certain Sephora), and this was sold 7400 JPY in Japan, almost half the price in my country,I cannot possible resist. Despite the amount of people who said this smells generic, I naturally cannot resist any perfume with Amalfi Lemon as its top note.
Chanel La Vernis Nail Color in 665 Vibrato; this one is probably the only impulsive purchase. I had about 13.000 JPY left to spare when I was at KLIA on my final transit and had the urge to buy something! For some reason, no makeup interest me, not even Bobbi Brown and Laneige andMAC conter. I kept being drawn to Chanel and Dior counter, mainly their polishes rack. At first I was about to purchase either one of Dior's Masai, Wonderland, or Mirage. But after trying them one, they just weren't right. I left Dior counter to Chanel's and saw this vivid blue polish, then remembered for the overwhelming amount of blue clothes I owned, I only have one blue nail polish, and that one is with glitter, and is really hard to remove. Long story short, I ended up with Vibrato since this can go with deeper blue or even bright burgundy that made up my wardrobe.
Those are the things I bought in Japan, I hope I'm not missing anything beauty related (tho I know I miss things I bought in Muji, some snacks, and that one clothes I bought at Earth Music and Ecology). Have you been to Japan? What do you want to buy there?
psst, I recommend their mascaras!
acceptance over understanding
