By the way, zapgrab2 is an easy-to-use screen capture tool.
Very convenient for adding screenshots to documents and email.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
velcro in Japanese
Do you know what velcro is called in Japanese?
Magic tape! Quite appropriate, I believe.
Magic tape! Quite appropriate, I believe.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
did you know there's a yakisoba express?
I thought my friend was joking when he mentioned it, but there really is one! I wonder if they serve yakisoba...
http://www.fujikyu.co.jp/shizuokabus/highway/highway_yakisoba.html (Japanese language link)
http://www.fujikyu.co.jp/shizuokabus/highway/highway_yakisoba.html (Japanese language link)
Monday, April 06, 2009
materialism: eyeliner update including Fasio liquid eyeliner review
The eyeliner update. Thanks to makeup alley and lots of beauty blogs, I've found using eyeliner to "tightline" the eyes to be a great technique for subtly making my eyes look bigger. However, I have very oily eyelids, which has made the search for a non-smudging eyeliner extremely difficult.
Summary:
Liquid eyeliners: Only liquid eyeliners seem to avoid smudging on me.
Maybelline Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner: could be a winner here!
Lunasol eyeliner (the glittery one): probably will not repurchase.
Fasio liquid eyeliner: will not repurchase
M.A.C. liquidlast eyeliner: will have to try it out again; it's a bit difficult to use but if it doesn't smudge...
Majolica Majorca Neo Automatic Liner: will not repurchase
Iroha dual pencil and liquid eyeliner: will not repurchase
Pencil and gel eyeliners: all fail. They uniformly smudge, so I give up on them, for tightlining. Above the eyelash, I can prevent smudging by putting eyeshadow over the eyeliner, but it doesn't help with tightlining.
Silky Girl Eyeliner: smudges, but really nice above the lash line if you apply powder on top. Inexpensive too, but not available in Japan.
Bourjois clubbing eyeliner: smudges
Kate gel eyeliner: smudges (it won't budge on my hand, but is gone quickly from my eyelid, obviously a challenging spot)
Iroha dual pencil and liquid eyeliner: smudges
Mac automatic pencil eyeliner: smudge city!
Rimmel eyeliner: smudge city!
Shu Uemura drawing pencil: smudges
In the end, Fasio liquid eyeliner went in the trash. It comes in lovely colors (mine was a gunmetal grey with bits of fine green and pink glitter - perfect for a smoky look), but the liner smudges on me, which is simply unacceptable. It's ironic that one of the common complaints in reviews for this liner was that it doesn't budge and is hence terribly annoying to remove. Not for me!
For now I'm going to use up my Lunasol liner (clumpy though it may be). Lunasol comes in the loveliest colors and is reasonably easy to use, but it gets clumpy very easily and the liner is tangible on my skin as a tight feeling. This gets annoying as the day goes on. It's okay if I only apply a bit, but for the price it's not worth repurchasing unless I can't find anything better.
I broke out the Maybelline liquid eyeliner last week. It is doing quite well on my demanding eyelids. No noticeable smudging, although there is some fading as the day wears on. Fading is okay with me; I merely cannot tolerate any smudging. The felt tip is a bit difficult for me to use, as it doesn't glide on my skin unless there is a lot of liquid, but too much liquid makes too thick a line for my taste. It takes a bit of getting used to; at the moment I can usually only get one eye nicely drawn.
When I use the U.S. Maybelline liner up, I will see if Maybelline's Line Allure in Malaysia is the same as Maybelline Nonstop Eyeliner in Japan, as Jojoba seems to have had a good experience with Line Allure. I may also give M.A.C.'s liquidlast eyeliner a try, but all of the M.A.C. sales assistants I have met in Japan have been either unpleasant or bad at applying makeup (or both), so I am rather unwilling to buy anything from M.A.C.
After that, perhaps I will check out Kate and Integrate's pen liners, although I fear that they will peel off as Majolica Majorca does. Peeling off is better than smudging but it's still not ideal. The K-Palette 24 hour liner might be good too.
Summary:
Liquid eyeliners: Only liquid eyeliners seem to avoid smudging on me.
Maybelline Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner: could be a winner here!
Lunasol eyeliner (the glittery one): probably will not repurchase.
Fasio liquid eyeliner: will not repurchase
M.A.C. liquidlast eyeliner: will have to try it out again; it's a bit difficult to use but if it doesn't smudge...
Majolica Majorca Neo Automatic Liner: will not repurchase
Iroha dual pencil and liquid eyeliner: will not repurchase
Pencil and gel eyeliners: all fail. They uniformly smudge, so I give up on them, for tightlining. Above the eyelash, I can prevent smudging by putting eyeshadow over the eyeliner, but it doesn't help with tightlining.
Silky Girl Eyeliner: smudges, but really nice above the lash line if you apply powder on top. Inexpensive too, but not available in Japan.
Bourjois clubbing eyeliner: smudges
Kate gel eyeliner: smudges (it won't budge on my hand, but is gone quickly from my eyelid, obviously a challenging spot)
Iroha dual pencil and liquid eyeliner: smudges
Mac automatic pencil eyeliner: smudge city!
Rimmel eyeliner: smudge city!
Shu Uemura drawing pencil: smudges
In the end, Fasio liquid eyeliner went in the trash. It comes in lovely colors (mine was a gunmetal grey with bits of fine green and pink glitter - perfect for a smoky look), but the liner smudges on me, which is simply unacceptable. It's ironic that one of the common complaints in reviews for this liner was that it doesn't budge and is hence terribly annoying to remove. Not for me!
For now I'm going to use up my Lunasol liner (clumpy though it may be). Lunasol comes in the loveliest colors and is reasonably easy to use, but it gets clumpy very easily and the liner is tangible on my skin as a tight feeling. This gets annoying as the day goes on. It's okay if I only apply a bit, but for the price it's not worth repurchasing unless I can't find anything better.
I broke out the Maybelline liquid eyeliner last week. It is doing quite well on my demanding eyelids. No noticeable smudging, although there is some fading as the day wears on. Fading is okay with me; I merely cannot tolerate any smudging. The felt tip is a bit difficult for me to use, as it doesn't glide on my skin unless there is a lot of liquid, but too much liquid makes too thick a line for my taste. It takes a bit of getting used to; at the moment I can usually only get one eye nicely drawn.
When I use the U.S. Maybelline liner up, I will see if Maybelline's Line Allure in Malaysia is the same as Maybelline Nonstop Eyeliner in Japan, as Jojoba seems to have had a good experience with Line Allure. I may also give M.A.C.'s liquidlast eyeliner a try, but all of the M.A.C. sales assistants I have met in Japan have been either unpleasant or bad at applying makeup (or both), so I am rather unwilling to buy anything from M.A.C.
After that, perhaps I will check out Kate and Integrate's pen liners, although I fear that they will peel off as Majolica Majorca does. Peeling off is better than smudging but it's still not ideal. The K-Palette 24 hour liner might be good too.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
materialism: quick review: eyeliners
Iroha dual pencil/liquid eyeliner pen (pencil on one side, eyeliner on the other):
* very easy to use
* very black
* creases a bit
* reasonably priced
I tried the black pencil/black eyeliner version. The pencil smudges pretty quickly, so as usual it was pretty useless for me. The eyeliner was nice -very fine tip; very easy to draw with. The black is very black, so actually brown or grey would work better for my purposes - it looks pretty unnatural against my sparse eyelashes. However, formula-wise it is not as good as Majolica Majorca's eyeliner. In the Singapore heat Iroha creased more quickly.
For people who don't have oily lids, this may not be a problem, so I would recommend it for those who are looking for an easy to use black liner.
* Summary: not good for my purposes
Fasio liquid eyeliner (the version in the little pot, rather similar to Maybelline's liner):
* pretty color
* a bit messy to use (line itself is easy to draw, but eyelashes are collateral damage)
* smudges a little (not terrible like pencil, but a little irksome)
* reasonably priced
The metallic black is quite pretty and works out as a nice gunmetal grey, so color-wise it is good for my purposes. Unfortunately it's a little difficult to apply without also coating my eyelashes in the formula. Otherwise it's not difficult to use (Kate's pot liquid liner was just the most difficult to use ever!) but rather messy for my eyelashes. The line you draw is nice, but the eyelashes get coated too. The color is quite lovely, but sadly this stuff also smudges a bit as time goes on. It doesn't peel off like MM will, but it smudges. The Japanese reviews all talked about how this stuff is impossible to get off, but I guess my oily lids defeat it handily.
* Summary: may repurchase if I don't find anything better. Nice selection of colors too - they have a pretty teal and a nice burgundy.
Lunasol geminate liner in a pretty metallic brown:
* Very easy to use
* pretty color
* flakes off a bit late in the day
* expensive
The color is lovely; a metallic, sparkly brown that is still wearable for work. Easy to use brush, very little mess on the eyelashes. However, as the day wears on, bits of the eyeliner can flake off if you touch it. The formula dries so that it as a bit clumpy on the skin - it's not flat like the other eyeliners I've tried. The flaking is not as bad as MM, but it's still an issue for me - if it starts, reapplying won't really fix it so you really need to start over on your eye makeup.
* Summary: will probably not repurchase because of flaking. At this price, I won't compromise on the flaking, and I prefer a little smudging to the flaking - smudging is easier to fix. It's too bad, because it really is easy to use.
The only other eyeliner I have on my list to try is Maybelline's liquid eyeliner. After that, I'm at a loss for what to look at. Gel liners usually seem to smudge on me (Kate, Bobbi Brown) so I don't think the formula works very well. Maybe I'll try MAC's liquid liner.
* very easy to use
* very black
* creases a bit
* reasonably priced
I tried the black pencil/black eyeliner version. The pencil smudges pretty quickly, so as usual it was pretty useless for me. The eyeliner was nice -very fine tip; very easy to draw with. The black is very black, so actually brown or grey would work better for my purposes - it looks pretty unnatural against my sparse eyelashes. However, formula-wise it is not as good as Majolica Majorca's eyeliner. In the Singapore heat Iroha creased more quickly.
For people who don't have oily lids, this may not be a problem, so I would recommend it for those who are looking for an easy to use black liner.
* Summary: not good for my purposes
Fasio liquid eyeliner (the version in the little pot, rather similar to Maybelline's liner):
* pretty color
* a bit messy to use (line itself is easy to draw, but eyelashes are collateral damage)
* smudges a little (not terrible like pencil, but a little irksome)
* reasonably priced
The metallic black is quite pretty and works out as a nice gunmetal grey, so color-wise it is good for my purposes. Unfortunately it's a little difficult to apply without also coating my eyelashes in the formula. Otherwise it's not difficult to use (Kate's pot liquid liner was just the most difficult to use ever!) but rather messy for my eyelashes. The line you draw is nice, but the eyelashes get coated too. The color is quite lovely, but sadly this stuff also smudges a bit as time goes on. It doesn't peel off like MM will, but it smudges. The Japanese reviews all talked about how this stuff is impossible to get off, but I guess my oily lids defeat it handily.
* Summary: may repurchase if I don't find anything better. Nice selection of colors too - they have a pretty teal and a nice burgundy.
Lunasol geminate liner in a pretty metallic brown:
* Very easy to use
* pretty color
* flakes off a bit late in the day
* expensive
The color is lovely; a metallic, sparkly brown that is still wearable for work. Easy to use brush, very little mess on the eyelashes. However, as the day wears on, bits of the eyeliner can flake off if you touch it. The formula dries so that it as a bit clumpy on the skin - it's not flat like the other eyeliners I've tried. The flaking is not as bad as MM, but it's still an issue for me - if it starts, reapplying won't really fix it so you really need to start over on your eye makeup.
* Summary: will probably not repurchase because of flaking. At this price, I won't compromise on the flaking, and I prefer a little smudging to the flaking - smudging is easier to fix. It's too bad, because it really is easy to use.
The only other eyeliner I have on my list to try is Maybelline's liquid eyeliner. After that, I'm at a loss for what to look at. Gel liners usually seem to smudge on me (Kate, Bobbi Brown) so I don't think the formula works very well. Maybe I'll try MAC's liquid liner.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Ostu （オストゥ） Italian restaurant
Some of my favorite restaurants in Tokyo include Brasserie L'Oasis (they have quite possibly the best bread ever), Roy's Tokyo Bar & Grill (their appetizers are insane! main dishes can be hit or miss though), and Ostu （オストゥ） (http://www.ostu.jp/), an Italian restaurant in a quiet corner of Yoyogi-park.
I haven't got pictures, but their website has a few.
An Italian/Japanese couple introduced my friend and I to the place, where the girls tried the set menu and the guys ordered a la carte. The restaurant itself is elegantly simple, and the staff are friendly and attentive.
Everything was fantastic. Of course, the price rather reflects it, but I definitely want to go back.
Tel: 03-5454-8700
Yoyogi Matsuura Bldg.1F 5-67-6 Yoyogi Shibuya Tokyo
東京都渋谷区代々木5-67-6 代々木松浦ビル １Ｆ
Hours:
営業時間
11:30～14:00(L.O)
18:00～21:00(L.O)
Closed:
every Wed., third Tues. of every month
水曜日、第3火曜日定休
Seats 20 people, non-smoking
総席数 20席 禁煙
I haven't got pictures, but their website has a few.
An Italian/Japanese couple introduced my friend and I to the place, where the girls tried the set menu and the guys ordered a la carte. The restaurant itself is elegantly simple, and the staff are friendly and attentive.
Everything was fantastic. Of course, the price rather reflects it, but I definitely want to go back.
Tel: 03-5454-8700
Yoyogi Matsuura Bldg.1F 5-67-6 Yoyogi Shibuya Tokyo
東京都渋谷区代々木5-67-6 代々木松浦ビル １Ｆ
Hours:
営業時間
11:30～14:00(L.O)
18:00～21:00(L.O)
Closed:
every Wed., third Tues. of every month
水曜日、第3火曜日定休
Seats 20 people, non-smoking
総席数 20席 禁煙
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