♡ July Wishlist ♡

1. POP! Funko Thundercats Collection

2. Majolica Majorca Makeup Puff de Cheek Blush in Peach

3. Majolica Majorca Makeup Puff de Cheek Blush in Cherry

4. Yamashita Tomohisa "Short But Sweet" 2009 JAPAN TOUR PROGRAM PHOTO BOOK

5. Yamashita Tomohisa "Super Good Super Bad" Official Pamphlet Book

6. Good Smile Company 'Date A Live' Yoshino figma

7. Black zipped combat boots

Thanks for reading!
xoxo

♡ Hyper Japan ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

It's rare for Sapphire and I to see each other so close together after a visit from whichever person but as we both wanted to go to Hyper Japan this year, how could we both pass up such an opportunity? We only went on the Saturday with a dual pass ticket (as the day was split into two sessions) but honestly, it was the best decision to go then!

The difference between Hyper Japan and MCM Expo (personal experience here) is that I find HJ less crowded than Expo... even on a Saturday and the fact it's now the beginning of summer holidays here. Even though there are many similarities and differences between the two events... Hyper Japan is just more my thing. Yes; it's nice at Expo to get the variety of movies, games and more cosplayers where as at HJ you just get a small handful of cosplayers, no real movie promotions and a small selection of recent games to check out... it's the cultural side of things that draws me towards HJ. You get to find out about studying in Japan, learning the language, the food, travelling, what is popular and what is traditional etc etc. All in all, the experience at HJ as just made me want to go again and indeed I shall. Luckily they have a Christmas version in November so I have officially decided to skip October Expo this year and just go to Hyper Japan for the weekend in November. Sorted.

The only problem I had with Hyper Japan was the heat... recently in the UK the weather has been absolutely dreadful with high humidty and scorching sunny days with no signs of rain anywhere. Saturday was no different, and it was just so horrible travelling through London on the tube because of the crappy air-con. Plus there seemed to be no air-con at Earls Court either, except for a couple of cool spots, but other than that... I was using a programme to fan myself most of the day!

Despite the heat, I loved looking around all the different stalls at HJ. There were different section dedicated to special genres of what HJ is trying to promote - so there was a section for food, for languages/studies and a section for "kawaii" stuff such as fashion, make-up, deco etc. The 'Fringe Market' was also extremely interesting to look around, as it's an area dedicated to small, independent shops/stalls selling whatever they do in their trade - so there were manga artists, wig sellers and jewellery sellers in that area.

Gosh there were so many highlights of the whole day. One being seeing friends whom I haven't seen (for what feels like) years! Finding an actually Diamond Lash stall in the 'Hyper Kawaii' section and talking to the stall owner for like 20 odd minutes about eyelashes and make-up (yes I get happy over that) The fashion show towards the end of the day that showcased Ayumi Seto's new fashion line;

Don't all the clothes look so freakin' adorable?! I honestly cannot decide which is my favourite piece... oh and all of the models are so cute and friendly just GAH! I'm so glad that I stayed to watch this show! Also seeing NEEKO was an amazing highlight as well!

Another major highlight of the day for me was seeing ONE NOT'E! After being told about them from my penpal and that they would be at HJ... how could I resist going? Also, the last official gig I went to was wwwaaayyy back in 2012!! Listening to them perform, it made me realise how much I do miss going to gigs and if there are any happening between now and before I leave for China, well I'm definitely going to make the effort! Also about ONE NOT'E, someone commented to me about the guitarist, Takato, looking extremely familiar and he really did but at that point I couldn't quite put my finger on it to where I had seen him before until I got home and googled the band... he's ex.VIRGIL! Don't you just hate it when you recognise someone but you just never remember until the moment has passed?! That was me...

Honestly, they were sooooo good performing live that I wished I had snapped out of my daydreaming and recorded some footage of them performing ahhh! I really hope in the future they'll do some more overseas gigs... if not I'm sure a quick trip to Japan won't hurt! Oh, what is a day out without food involved? My life would be incomplete without food, even though it felt like that all I had done was consume liquid most of the day because of the heat wwwaaahhh.

Oh and must not forgot about what I purchased throughout the day. You'll be able to see how truly happy I was about the Diamond Lash stall in the end! I think I picked up some amazing bargains though as well as finding out about some new shops that are worth checking out again in the future!

All in all, the day was fabulous and I'm glad that I went. I will definitely stick to my plan of going for the full weekend at Christmas time for a bit of fun (and as it's on my birthday weekend... a birthday treat!) All the above picture kind of sum everything up on how it all went on as I have nothing else really interesting left to say except for that the company was amazing, the atmosphere was brilliant and already I wish it wasn't over even though I still ache. As that is really it now, I'll just finish this post off with a couple of face pictures;

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

♡ Etude House Dear Darling Lip Tints ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

I should dub July as a dedication to anything Etude House... mainly in the region of lip products and the next few ones (including this post) is based around Etude House products and lipsticks / tints etc. Ooops?

Product details; Etude House Dear Darling tint is a jelly lip tint that will give a natural color to your lips without the stickiness that will surely keep your lips hydrated and pucker worthy. This definitely give your lips long-lasting moisture while giving you the versatility of controlling how light or vivid you want it to look like. It has an excellent lasting power and does not easily transfer. You can simply go from an everyday look to a glam look with this amazing product. You now can get that vivid yet natural color that every girl out there is craving to have. It gives high versatility as a few dabs can give a healthy look while more dabs can give an instant night glam for night dates or partying with the girls.

First impressions; a rather plain looking product, especially for Etude House's standard of all things cute! I'm surprised at such a boring looking tube but oh well. I do like, however, how you can see the colours of the liquid through the tube so you know exactly what you're getting. I was instant drawn to the 'Vampire Red' colour because of how dark it looks in the tube and I was worried about the 'Orange Red' as it comes across more orange than actual red in the tube but hey, first impressions can (and usually are) be wrong.

Berry Red

Real Red

Orange Red

Vampire Red

Pros;
↑↑ Can build up colour to either do a gradient lip or full coverage
↑↑ Nice smell (like lollipops almost)
↑↑ Non sticky
↑↑ Lasts a decent amount of time when you're not drinking / eating etc
↑↑ Pigmented after build up of colour

Cons;
↑↑ Messy
↑↑ Can't control where you want the liquid to go unlike lipsticks
↑↑ Drying and shows cracks in lips

Overall Verdict; ★★★☆☆
Tints are not as bad as I thought they were. Yes, the main problem I have with them is you can't control how to place the colour on your lips so some places look more pigmented in colour than others but hey, you win and you lose some. I absolutely adore the 'Vampire Red' colour out of this line because with the build up, you can have a really gorgeous lip colour that works if you're aiming for a doll-like make-up look with either gradient lips or full coverage. I also must admit that the smell of these tints were rather inviting as well... a sweet jellybean/lollipop kind of smell, that would send any sugar addict into overdrive (unlike myself but it still was a lovely smell) I will definitely practice more with these tints and maybe one day in the future, they might grow on me a bit more.

Thanks for reading!
xoxo

♡ Etude House Dear My Blooming Lips Pink Talk Series ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

"Pink to make the boys wink" is the first thing that always pops into my head whenever I get a new pink lipstick for my ever expanding lipstick collection. I honestly have no idea where that line originates from but it's always been a quote that has stuck in my mind no matter what!

Now; since I have heard about the 'pink talk' series of the 'Dear My Blooming Lipstick' line, I have been after these particular five lipsticks but alas as per usual, I have been distracted by other pretty things. So when I was finally able to purchase all five lipsticks in one go (yes, one go!) thanks to honestskin.com's summer sale (up to 30% off on certain products and an extra 20% off as a member, bargain!) I, quite literally, jumped at the chance. Also recently, I've been feeling rather bleurgh about myself whenever I look in the mirror and it's strange but putting on new lipsticks helps? So if you wonder why I look pretty much the same in a few future reviews... it's because I had a good face/make-up day so I took the opportunity and tested as much make-up as possible.

Product details; Etude House Dear My Blooming Lips Talk has various colours that can suit everyone.  It contains Feather Creamy Gel to create soft and clear color for beautiful definition on your lips. Its matte and smooth texture gives 2013 SS Trendy Lip makeup. It glides on your lips and instantly makes your lips beautiful.

PK011 Confident Pink
Want kissable, lovely pink lips? Choose Confident Pink! If you have pale skin tone, this Baby Hot Pink lipstick will create lovely make-up.

PK012 Wanna Have Pink
Once you try this, everyone will want to have this 'Wanna Have Pink' lipstick! This lipstick will create a Dolly-look make-up you've always wanted.

PK013 Heart Pounding Pink
Are you afraid to wear Hot Pink Lipsticks because it doesn't match your warm-toned skin? You don’t have to worry with this Heart Pounding Pink! You are gonna look steaming hot with this lipstick!

PK014 Astonished Pink
If you want real hot pink, this colour is it! This hot pink will create trendy and chic urban look.

PK015 Dizzy Pink
This deep hot pink lipstick will give you that cold but sexy city girl look. If you want to look like smart, sexy, ice queen, this is the lipstick to go for!

Pros;
↑↑ creamy lipstick which makes it easier to apply
↑↑ vibrant colours in the tube as well as on lips
↑↑ good pricing (around £3-£4 wherever you tend to buy from online)
↑↑ cute packaging
↑↑ smells yummy like vanilla sweets

Cons;
↑↑ becomes too soft when the weather's humid so it smushes
↑↑ THEY ARE JUST TOO DAMN CUTE BYE MONEY (not really a con but I needed one...)

Overall Verdict; ★★★★★
Right... where to frickin' start with these amazing lipsticks?! First off; the colours shown online in the promo pictures do not give these any justice because, you look at them on the screen and you'd think "ok wow that won't suit my skin tone whatsoever" just like I did when I saw them bbbuuuttt, upon receiving and looking at them in person you will quickly change your mind. They do, kind of, remind me of crayon colours when you first look at them but that is such a good thing because the vibrancy continues from tube to lips, major plus in my books. You might look at my pictures above and think that a couple of the colours look the same, and they slightly do but you can see that they are completely different in their own way. I want to say that my favourite is "this, this and this one" but it's just not true... in all honesty, I have no idea which colour is my favourite because I love them all the same! I'm now wishing that there were two extra lipsticks in this line so I could wear a different shade of pink every day of the week!

Thanks for reading!
xoxo