Monday 30 June 2014

♡ SHO-BI Romantic Minnie Eyelashes in Dolly Eye + Dollywink Eyelash Glue ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

Today is quick two in one review day! These two products do tie in together in the long haul so, in reality, it's just silly to do two separate blog posts.

I don't know if anyone has seen any of my previous posts about the collaboration eyelashes SHO-BI and Disney had done together some time ago, but this range of eyelashes has been on my "to purchase" list for ages and ages and ages until my penpal surprised me with a couple of styles! She also sent me a packet of Dollywink lash glue to try out as this is apparently her holy grail of eyelash glue so, why not?

SHO-BI Romantic Minnie Eyelashes in No. 3 'Dolly Eye'

First impressions; how pretty are these eyelashes?! I love the flare of the thicker outer corners followed by the few clumps of the inner corners. This design is perfect for a dramatic eye look!

Comfort; extremely comfortable to the point where it feels like that they're not there? They are extremely light, like feathers, and the clear band is uber thin to make bending to your specific eye shape easier than other lashes. Also; the inner corners didn't need as much trimming as from previous brands, on average I'd have to trim two/three clumps but this time only one clump to make them fit.
Durability; I think these pretties could last a good 5-10 times like other lashes if they were taken care of etc. Unlike Diamond Lashes, they were glued to the pot in two places so getting them out of the packaging has been the easiest compared to the other times, so minimal damage there.
Design; absolute one of my favourite designs ever. They're dramatic but not too dramatic? It's almost like a cross between Dollywink lashes and Diamond lashes in a way.

Overall Verdict; ★★★★★
Just absolute love with these beauties. I am so glad that there are black and brown versions of the designs because now I can choose between a natural look and a dramatic look whenever I feel like it!

Dollywink Eyelash Glue in Standard

First impressions; intrigued. It reminded me more of a lipgloss bar with the packaging than an eyelash glue (sorry I have lipgloss/lipsticks on the brain!) The colours on the packaging is cute as well, I love the polka dots on the lid but it was surprising to see them because I thought that, like the eyeliner, it would have the signature flower print pattern... but polka dots make a refreshing change!

Overall Verdict; ★★★★
I actually find this lash glue ten times better than my usual eyelash glue (DUO in clear) as it's not too thick and doesn't gunk up the band as much. Also with the small brush tip, it makes application way easier and doesn't make any wastage like you would with a squeezy tube. Also, I loved how I could keep placing my lashes without the glue tacking up too fast like it does with DUO. I'm glad that I got sent this product and I can understand why it's my friends holy grail lash product!

Thanks for reading!
xoxo

Saturday 28 June 2014

♡ June Wishlist ♡

1. Secret Key Snow White collection
2. Dollywink No. 9 'Natural Dolly' Eyelashes
3. Candydoll Cheek Duo in Pink Flamingo
4. Candydoll Make-up Base in Aurora White
5. Candydoll Crystal Powder
6. Too Cool For School Milk Talk Tints Collection
7. TONYMOLY I'm Real Tea Tree Sebum & Pore Lotion
8. TONYMOLY I'm Real Seaweed Aqua Moisture Lotion
9. TONYMOLY I'm Real Rice Smoothe Toner
10. TONYMOLY I'm Real Lemon Brightening Lotion 
11. TONYMOLY I'm Real Aloe Soothing Lotion
12. TONYMOLY I'm Real Avocado Rich Cream
Thanks for reading!
xoxo

Tuesday 24 June 2014

♡ Food Glorious (and lots of it) Food ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

As the titles of this post suggests... I'm going to ruin you all with a lengthy food post. Why? Because I have no motivation to do reviews as I'm in the middle of sorting, throwing, cleaning and everything else to my room ready for redecorating. Plus over the past few weeks I have been doing what I do best, eating. 
So, the other weekend it was my parents 30th wedding anniversary and we celebrated by having a family get together, but as my family is rather small it was only a lunch/dinner get together kind of thing but, the food involved was buffet style food. I actually didn't get a chance to take many pictures of what we had except for a Norwegian cake... marzipan... thing my brother's girlfriend made for the party as well as the puddings because... yeah I got distracted by all the cheese we had at the table.
Last week whilst I had the house to myself (parents on holiday, brother at work most of the time) I decided to take some 'me' time and enjoy myself... and enjoy food that I don't normally have;
I'm not going to lie... I ate a lot during that week and last Friday was no exception when I met up with Sharan for the day. Oh my, what normally happens when I meet up with Sharan? That's right... eating. It was actually scorching hot in London last Friday, so we walked most of the time enjoying the sunshine and each others company without the struggles of suffering the heat in the underground and the home time rushes etc. Our first pit stop was 'Burger and Lobster' in Soho;
True to its name, the 'Burger and Lobster' only have three items on its menu; a whole lobster, a burger or a lobster roll all served with fries and a salad. Before then, I had never ever eaten nor tried lobster in my whole life so this was a new experience for me and so I chose the whole lobster for my meal. We were given the choice of having our lobster either steamed the whole way through, or having it finished off on the grill and we both went with the second option. Oh my days, lobster is actually to die for! I am physically kicking myself for never eating it before! I had a watermelon iced tea to go with my meal and this is a restaurant I will definitely return to again in the future... just because.
As we were in the Soho area, we couldn't resist going into Paul's bakery for one of their giant macarons to share as well as getting bubble tea at Chatime. Soho is honestly a great place as you get so much variety in one area.
After; we headed over to Chancery Lane to meet Monique, where she wanted to take us to a little Japanese cafe called 'Necco' and we just couldn't refuse! The area is so cute and vibrant and had a sort of homely feel to it? It sounds weird but I felt really at home there. Once arriving at 'Necco', we all ordered different foods to share between us and I ordered the Japanese Afternoon Tea platter which consisted of; a selection of sushi, wasabi stick and peanuts mix, a cake of my choice (mont blanc), a pot of tea of my choice (green tea) and a mini matcha latte to wash it all down. Sharan had takoyaki, fruit cream cake and a matcha milkshake whilst Monique had curry rice, fruit cream cake and a full matcha latte. I only got pictures of my one in the end as... well food doesn't really last long enough in our group gatherings.
I was so glad that we finished eating at this point as by then, I was starting to feel a bit too full - which doesn't normally happen but when it's hot my appetite shrinks. I'm sorry for such a shoddy blog post but I will get out of my review funk soon hopefully and back on track with things... I hope ;uuu;
Thank for reading!
xoxo

Sunday 15 June 2014

♡ Etude House Woo Baby Plumping Tint ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

I have been on a bit of an Etude House fix recently... I need to go back to expanding my horizons with make-up and beauty products but goddammit Etude House stop bring out things that appeal to me seriously! Otherwise I'm going to have to apply for a job at your HQ...

I was intrigued by this gloss at first site because. even though I haven't been in the market for a lip plumper gloss, I thought that it would be nice to branch away from the usual glosses, tints and lipsticks I generally go for. Like most Etude House products, this is more packaging than product but it was only a couple of pounds at the end of the day so why not?

Instead of a material wand end, there is a rubber spatula thing in its place and it's certainly an interesting experience using that as it's rather flexible and doesn't have much strength when pressure is applied so it kind of flops about when trying to apply the plumper to my lips. I actually find the little rubber spatula a lot easier to apply the plumper onto my lips in a nice, even coat than with a fluffy material wand that makes all the little pieces stick to your lips. I liked how it was clear with a pink tinge, so it could be used over the top of either lipstick to give a lipgloss effect or just by itself for a neutral lip if you opted for a colourful eye make-up.

left; photo taken on Google Nexus Tablet, right; photo taken on digital camera

The main reason that irks me about this product is that no plumping or plumping effect happened on my lips whatsoever. I wasn't expecting a dramatic difference that turned my lips into Angelina Jolie's luscious ones but I was expecting something? The only thing that happened was a tingling sensation on my lips until the gloss disappeared completely. Major disappointment.

Pros;
↑↑ rubber spatula makes it easy to put on lips
↑↑ nice tingly effect once on lips

Cons;
↑↑ more packaging than product
↑↑ doesn't last long on lips
↑↑ no plumping effect
↑↑ rather thick and gloopy texture despite the spatula being helpful to put it on

Overall Verdict; ★
Rather unhappy with this product in the end. It'll probably get used as a gloss over lipstick but that's probably about it as now I do understand why I've never been in the market for a lip plumper.

Thanks for reading!
xoxo

Tuesday 3 June 2014

♡ Sakura Hatsune Miku Nendroid ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

The one thing I wanted to purchase at the expo last month was a figure. At one point, I didn't mind if it was a figma or a nendroid but I knew that I wanted a figure and holy shit (excuse my language) I was going to get my hands on a figure. That was, until, I heard from my best friend that Good Smile Company was going to have a booth at expo and when I saw the list of what they were selling, I instantly knew what I was going to get and going to get it I indeed was (wow, I am so sorry)
Good Smile Company (グッドスマイルカンパニー) specialise in hobby products, specifically figures from animes, games and even popular tv series, and they seem to be pretty much one of the biggest companies to ship these products to customers outside of Japan. All of their products are of the highest quality from the moment they are planned to the moment they are released. Heck, I'm not going to lie, but Good Smile Company (other than J-Box/J-List) will be the only company I will ever purchase/pre-order future figures from because they're... just the best from what I have heard to what I had experienced at expo.

I had my mind set on two figures, the Sakura Hatsune Miku Nendroid and/or the Magical Snow Miku Nendroid... it depended on the price really but when seeing the figures in person, there really was only one clear winner and that was the Sakura Miku version. I actually loved how on the side of the box, there were different examples of what you can do with your nendroid and all of the pictures were so cute I honestly don't understand how people can choose!

I actually wanted to take like a gazillion, bajillion pictures of this gorgeous little figure, but on the last decent picture a massive, steel grey rain cloud descended upon my house and covered my room into darkness so alas I only have these few lovely pictures for now!

I don't know which is the best part about her... the fact that she has different coloured sakura prints on her hair or that she has two interchangeable mics - one covered in sakura and the other her usual version. I love how you can put a single sakura in her hand or make her eat an onigiri ball. You can also stand her up in a large sakura... type... stand thing (I don't know how to describe it) or sit her down on a stack of cushions. And the face, oh my god, the face.

The choice of three faces is a nice surprise. I honestly believed that you could only have, like, two interchangeable faces but no. She has her ecstatic face (pictured above), her 'emoji' face and then her "oh shit, I've done gone fucked shit up so I'm going to cry and look cute as fuck" face

Just... omg. Oh, one thing I did find out, the cherries you can put over her pigtails are quite honestly the most skinniest and fragile things I have come across and I did accidentally snap one when I was putting the pieces all back in the box... so now she is never leaving the box ever again for fear that I'll kill her. OK that's a lie, the cherry piece shall be fixed and she will emerge from the box again but once my room has been redecorated or when I've moved abroad... I haven't decided quite yet but jfc stupid gorilla paws breaking something immediately, I honestly cannot have anything nice again ever.

I do believe that I will have to take some more photographs of this little angel, when the weather stops being such a temperamental bitch! As I don't own a lightbox or any fancy lighting equipment, natural light is really my only source for things for now... but I'm excited to take some more pictures of this little beauty! Also, it's sad really, but I love the fact that my best friend and I got the same nendroid at expo! Do we have amazing taste or do we have amazing taste? Ok I'm shutting up now before you all want to punch me...

Thanks for reading!
xoxo