Biwa and sento

I ate some refreshing 枇杷（びわ） loquat today, and being prompted to wonder if there was a popular way to eat them, I found some information online.  I didn't know that the seeds had amounts of cyanide in them!

In other news, I went to my local sento recently.  Relaxing, even in this hot weather.  As I was leaving, I noticed a Caucasian lady also using the busy sento.  I was half inclined to make a casual comment to her in English, but wasn't sure if she would be disturbed to be addressed while naked (as everyone is).

So I went on my merry way home.  That was the first time I visited the sento feeling like I knew what I was doing, and able to look the cashier in the eye.  As I left I also said thank you without feeling particularly self-conscious.  Milestones!

Would you buy it again?

One of the strictest measures for whether you should keep something or not - would you buy it again?
Would you pay the purchase price (or more) for that thing again?

Aomori Hiba Incense

Aomori Hiba is a type of cypress, a rather strong smelling wood.  The wood smells rather sharp, so I was surprised that this incense has a lovely, mild scent.  I would definitely recommend this to incense lovers (although it's quite light as incenses go), and plan to repurchase when my generous box runs out.

ADDICTION eyeliner pencil

ADDICTION eyeliner pencil comes in a lot of lovely colors but after wearing Brown Bunny for a while, I'm not really impressed by the wear time on my oily lids.
Pixi and Shiseido INTEGRATE's liners give me much better cost performance!  THREE also wears better on my lids.

Mini review: Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Even Finish Foundation SPF 15 (Sand 2) and Addiction Dewy Glow Foundation (#3)

Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Even Finish Foundation SPF 15 (Sand 2) 

- Emphasized dry patches of skin
- Not much coverage of reddish areas
- Definitely too pale for me
- a little itchyBecause of the poor coverage and bad color match, I won't bother to continue testing the sample.

Addiction Dewy Glow Foundation (#3)

- Some coverage of reddish areas
- A little pale on me
- a little itchy
I like a foundation to cover up red areas so I probably won't continue to test this one out.

SUGAO Air Fit CC Cream SPF 23 PA+++ Pure Natural

The texture is like mousse; quite similar to Maybelline's mouse blushes.  It feels quite dry on the skin, which is a texture that I personally don't like.  The Pure Natural color is also too light for my skin and the color pools in my pores, looking quite unnattractive.

Not a fan because of the color and texture so far, but other people may like the whipped mousse feel.

lipstick musings - Canmake Stay-On Balm Rouge

キャンメイク　ステイオンバームルージュ￥580(税抜) [02]スマイリーガーベラ

I tried Canmake Stay-On Balm Rouge in Smiley Gerbera [02]スマイリーガーベラ and I enjoy the shiny pigmented effect.  For whatever reason, I prefer this finish over KATE Rouge HG - maybe I'm not much of a creamy lipstick fan.  However, the Balm Rouge doesn't stain in any way, so I probably won't pick up any other colors, as I'm slowly weeding out products to make my makeup collection a low maintenance one.  I love makeup, but I only rarely have the time to indulge, so high maintenance products just don't make sense.  There are currently 7 colors, but [01] has been discontinued so when stock runs out it will be gone.

A Dream of Tokyo's review is pretty much spot on for all the details about the Stay-On Balm Rouge.