祭り・花火の時期！ Fireworks and Festivals!

Summer in Japan is often hot and humid, but it's terribly fun because of all the fireworks festivals and other festivals going on. Summer kicks off mid July and goes until the end of August, coinciding with the school calendar.

It's a great time to wear yukata ゆかた (Japanese summer kimono) and eat festival foods and fish for gold fish 金魚すくい.

The big fireworks festivals are on the weekends but some smaller ones are even held on weekdays.

If you go to a big fireworks festival bring cash and go early with a sheet to claim a place to sit. People will start grabbing spaces the night before or even earlier.

update on MAC Rapidblack Penultimate Liner and Headliner Lipglass

I think Rapidblack Penultimate Liner is going to have to go in the trash. It smudges terribly! Defeating the point of a liquid liner. It's very black, but that's about the only thing it has going for it. If someone has any advice for how to make it work, I'm all ears. Primers don't seem to make a difference, it just smudges after a couple hours. Maybe I can wear it on my lower lids, but I usually keep the makeup there pretty light.

In contrast, I love the pigmentation in Headliner Lipglass. I'd love a less sticky dupe, but this gloss is great for lightening some of my darker lip colors. It is a bit sticky though, so I'll use up but not repurchase. Quite possibly a limited edition color anyway.

blush inventory

I've accumulated quite a collection, although mostly it's quite inexpensive blushes.

* inoui id dusty rose + beige blush
* bobbi brown rose blush
* mac tan-rose blush

* canmake red-brown blush (shimmery chocolate gradation)
* majolica majorca red blush

* majolica majorca peach blush
* canmake pink peach blush

* majolica majorca pink blush

* canmake orange blush
* cezanne orange blush
* rmk tan blush

I'll just get a mini bourjois blush in a cool pink/mauve and my stash will be complete.
I'm nowhere near finishing any of the above blushes. Only the Inoui ID blush has seen any significant use.

my two cents

I feel that Wesley Snipes' sentence of 3 years in prison for tax evasion is excessive.

"Moreno cited the cases of former Washington mayor Marion Barry and singer/actor Marc Anthony, who avoided prison after failing to file tax returns, and singer Willie Nelson, who remained free despite owing $17 million in back taxes."

The response of the appeals court seemed to imply that they were trying to make an example of him; that seems unfair. Why do these other people avoid prison?

mini reviews: MAC paint pot, MAC penultimate liner in rapid black, Maquillage lipstick

Paint pot: it's pretty, but it creases on me, so it's not really all that useful for me.
Penultimate liner: it's weird; it's very black and you can draw a thick line, but it's not that easy to control the felt tip liner. My KATE supersharp liner is much easier to use. I guess I'm not used to felt-tip liners. Also, it seems to smudge in places. Really weird. Maybelline's liquid liner doesn't smudge, I'd expect the same from MAC!
Not so impressed with my foray into MAC.
Maquillage lipsticks are so pretty! I'm trying one that's a bit sheer, but still pigmented; very flattering and cover up the pigmentation in my lips. If I ever use up my other lipsticks I'd like to get a Maquillage lippie for work. I'll probably start with an Aube lippie first though, as they're a bit cheaper.

upgrading

I wouldn't mind upgrading my tv, microwave, and washing machine. The tv is feeling rather small, and the microwave and washing machine are approaching 7 years of use. All perfectly usable, but the microwave is on the weak side and similar for the washing machine.

I'll just keep an eye on the garage sales around.