Monday, January 31, 2011

Aagra Indian Restaurant and Bar in Hakusan: Update

An update on Aagra in 白山 Hakusan; it should be noted that it's a casual place. Good for kids. There are about 6 tables that seat 4 each, and a tall counter/bar area that seats about 5 or 6 people.
The main attraction is the food.
The servers speak decent Japanese, and some English.

My coworker gives it a thumbs up too!

Sunday, January 30, 2011

some recent winter items

I was inspired by Nic Nic's post to write a post.

I've been visiting onsens in Tokyo lately, as I'm too lazy to use the bath at home. There's a really nice one in Sugamo called Sakura, but there are a lot all around Tokyo, it seems. Until now I've only visited the sento in Tokyo and Oedo Monogatari Onsen. Sakura was really nice - the whole process is very smooth. You pay at the end, no money required for the shoe lockers, the locker room is on the spacious side. There are 2 indoor baths - one with jets so it's like a hard massage. 2 sauna rooms. 3 outdoor baths - a small milky one - they generate fine bubbles so it looks milky. 2 regular baths - one stone and one lined with wood. All a little on the hot side for me - around 42 degrees outside. The indoor ones are a little cooler.

I need to exercise too... classes would be good but the few trial lessons I tried I felt very out of place - too shy I guess. I only liked one of the teachers, too, and she was temporarily filling in for the regular one!

I tried a cosme de corte AQ mask last night. After a long sleep, my skin feels soft and moisturized today! The mask is probably quite expensive though, I don't know if I'll buy it regularly.

tea chocolatesMy friend's family's tea chocolates. Aren't they cute?










Shopping at Narita is dangerous as I spend easily there. This Maquillage lippy is pinker than I would have chosen, but it's a pretty color and rather wearable, with a good deal of sparkle. It looks and feels great. I haven't paid proper attention to the wear.




Inspired by Nic Nic again, I succumbed to this lovely nude face creator from Maquillage. It's quite subtle and really easy to use. Even the center highlight is not over the top. It is a bit expensive though, so I wouldn't say it's a must have.





Last but not least, I've been wanting to buy this Majolica Majorca Majolook Trick On pallette for ages! I might go and get the other one too. It's sad that they're only selling 2 of them now. My only concern is the wear; the shadows usually fade on me. However, I don't use a eyeshadow base, as I'm lazy :)

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

materialism: review: Legere's Water Drop BB cream

Legere's Water Drop BB cream
- light coverage

pros:
- light-weight feel; I don't really notice that I'm wearing it
- natural finish
cons:
- average to poor oil-control. I need to blot after a few hours
- I think I break out a little from this.

It's a big bottle and I use about a pearl-sized drop of it, so it's taking a while for me to use it up. I'm going to try out Missha's BB creams and see how they compare to this one.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

not smudgeproof: Max Factor's waterproof Volume Couture mascara

Sadly, Max Factor's waterproof Volume Couture mascara smudges on me. I love the brush, so I'll be checking out other mascaras that use the same brush. Maybe it's time to try out Shiseido's famous mascara primer to see if it can turn this mascara smudge-proof :)

Beauty blogs are such a bad influence on me; I bought so much stuff on my trip home this year. Although most of it was bath products, so I guess I wasn't too bad in that respect. And Nordstrom and Sephora's sample policies are so cool! I'm testing out Cartier's Eau D'Orange now. Next I have Delices de Cartier and Kenzo Amour Indian Holli to try.
I'm going to focus all my shopping at those stores from now on. It's just so convenient! Also, the salespeople at Nordstrom were really nice.

Friday, January 07, 2011

mcdonalds texas2 burger

is meh. It's alright, but nothing special. The chicken burgers are a lot better.

Thursday, January 06, 2011

Favorite products of 2010

It's been quite difficult to compile, but here is my list for 2010.

Aromatherapy Soothing Temple Balm by deserving Thyme - delightful, relaxing lavender and mint scent. Love this little balm.

Fancl cleansing oil still seems to work well for me. I'm still searching for good, reasonably priced facial waters (softeners) and moisturizers. Nothing seems to leave much of an impression on me. At this rate, I might go back to DHC Acerola Lotion and Q10 cream, but I wish the formulas had nicer scents! Ah well, I'm picky like that.

Old standby Inoui ID eyebrow pencil has not been supplanted yet (not that I've been looking): I still have one refill left, so this will probably last me through 2011 with no problems.

Kate Supersharp Liner was again my favorite liquid liner of the year. Reliable; I've been using the black brown version for more than a year and it still hasn't dried up! I'm rather impatient to start using my backup at this point.

SilkyGirl Funky Eyelights Eyeliner pencil: colorful and inexpensive, and I can set it with eyeshadow.

Canmake cream blush: the packaging is functional, the product is easy to use, and it's cheap. I can't comment on the lasting power as I haven't noticed, but it's useful for me!

MAC beauty powder: it doesn't show up at all if I swatch it on my hand, but on my cheeks it's wonderfully subtle yet contours and adds a sheer wash of color to my cheeks. Wonderfully easy to use! And huge; I wonder if I'll ever use it up.

美禅 Be-zen x Chigira Keiko lip treatment: a sparkly glossy treatment scented with lavender, it's soothing to wear. Cosme.com reviews point out that it doesn't last that long, and it's not that moisturizing, which I would have to agree with.

Dior addict lip polish: a light comfortable gloss that's easy to wear.

I stuck to old favorite Opera MyLash mascara. I plan to do more experimentation next year, as there are a lot of reasonably priced mascaras getting good reviews from bloggers.

I've been using bb creams on an almost daily basis, but mostly as tinted moisturizers as I don't skip any of my skin care steps, and have not found them particularly bad or good. I just have a lot of them and I'm trying to use them up.

Vera Wang Anniversary was a surprisingly easy-to-wear perfume. Drawn in by the promise of gardenia, I find the bottle gorgeous, the perfume pleasant, but in the end, not terribly memorable. Still, I will happily use this up, as I don't get sick of it.

Honorable mention:
YSL Golden Gloss is such a pretty, pretty gloss and very wearable. I love the scent too, but texture-wise it's a bit too sticky for my taste. As such, I probably won't repurchase, if I ever happen to finish this gloss.

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Max Factor mascara, SilkyGirl eyeliner

Happy New Year!
新年明けましておめでとうございます!

Am liking Max Factor's waterproof Volume Couture mascara in Black Brown so far. I love the rubber comb! It makes it easy to remove clumps, and the formula seems to be fine for adding a bit of curl. I'll have to test the formula after curling my lashes next time.

I've also found that SilkyGirl Funky Eyelights Pencil 01 Olive Green works pretty well if I set it with another eyeshadow. I've been using Majolica Majorca's Shadow Customize lately and the combination works well. I'll get #4 Pure Purple next time.

MAC's penultimate liner doesn't set no matter what eyeshadow I use on top though, so I've practically given up on it except when I don't care if it smudges (which is almost never).

I'm working on a Best of 2010 post, to come later.