Review: Lush Dark Angels!

This is a review on Lush Dark Angels!

From the Lush Japan website - this product is called "Black Diamond" in Japan.
(I took the pic from Lush Japan because all the other sites made it look like poop)

What it does:
Deep dark cleansing facial scrub for young, dark and oily skin. A lovely black squidgy scrub made with charcoal to absorb oils and give you pretty efficient exfoliation. Add nutritious avocado oil to soften your skin, glycerine to keep the moisture in, black sugar soft scrub, anti-microbial, deeply cleaning Rhasshoul mud, soothing sandalwood and rosewood essential oils and what you get is a feeling of smooth, clean freshness that is pretty hard to beat. It’s our new favourite (even if we aren’t very young). Just be a bit careful that you wash it off properly (and to clean the washbasin after you)
 (from Lush UK)

Note to self - if the official website hints that the product is messy, it is probably going to be REALLY messy!!!

Price:
UK - 5.25 GBP (about $8.60)/ 100g
US - $10.95 / 3.5 oz (99.23 g)
Japan - 1080 JPY (about $11.80)/ 100g
Wow, for once the Japanese price is cheaper than the US price!!! It's a miracle!!!


Pros:
- smells like sandalwood...which I like
- the charcoal absorbed the oily parts

Cons:
- the sugar scrub is too harsh for me
- is like a hard paste. Be sure to add enough water to make it smooth enough to wash with.
- MESSY.  It left black blotches in my sink!  I can wash them off, but still!
- leaves some moisture behind... which to me, feels like an oily film.


I am SO glad that I got this as a sample!  I used the sample size up in 3-4 uses, which was MORE than enough for me to realize that I didn't like this!


Maybe I would have liked this better if I had tried in the middle of summer.  Since it is getting a little cooler and drier here in Japan, my skin needs to be pampered a lot more!!  This is definitely not a product for more mature skin!

I heard separately that Black Angels is great if mixed with Angels on Bare Skin!  Maybe I should have tried that!!

xoxo, K

Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

Most of you know that I never join in the giveaways where you are supposed to post a link to the giveaway. I don't really have anything against those giveaways, but they just aren't my thing.

BUT...

Important causes call for exceptions.

Wuzzy is GENEROUSLY hosting a contest/giveaway to promote breast cancer awareness.

I have not heard about Breast Cancer Awareness Month anywhere in Japan, but 40,000 women here are diagnosed with breast cancer EVERY YEAR!

You can find more info (in Japanese) at http://www.nyugan.jp/

Here's a quick pink look (eyes and cheeks) using stuff I got from Wuzzy in my very first swap!

Have you had your mammogram? I wanted to get one, but I was refused because I'm under 30...  Does that tell you how low the awareness is here??????

xoxo, K

PS: Izumi at Moto Jewelry is hosting a wonderful special.  Buy anything from her this month and she will donate $10 to either the Philippine Red Cross or Breastcancer.org!!!!  

Quick Love from Kathi / FOTD!

I got some quick love from Kathi!

She offered to send me some samples - how kind of her!

What cute stationery!!

Skin Food White Grape Fresh Foundation

Banila Co Let Me Finish Prime BB cream

Banila Co Let Me Bebe Naked BB cream

Banila Co Primer

Thank you so much, Kathi!

Here's a quick FOTD!

Oh dear, this lighting is really washing me out!

Slightly more realistic!!

Here are the main items I used!

EDM intensive coverage foundation in Golden Light
EDM Natural Reflections finishing powder
Etude House Precious Mineral Makeup Essence (I really like this!!  I'll do a review soon!)
Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush in Soft Plum

MAC shadestick in Shimmersand

EDM eyeshadow in In the Garden & Mystic Night

Barry M Super Soft Eye Pencil No. 1

L'Oreal Glam Shine 6 hr Lipgloss in Eternal Beige

(I forgot to take a picture of my mascara!)

By the way, has anyone else noticed that Blogger now has a new editor?

You need to change your settings to enable it, but I really like it!

It especially makes it a lot easier to post pictures!!

Now I don't have to type code to put pictures side by side!!

Hope you are all having a great day!

xoxo, K

Truly organic BBQ!!

I went to a friend's parents' house this past weekend, where we had a great barbecue!

Here is ONE of the grills...

My friend's parents' grow their own vegetables, and they are all 100% organic and pesticide free!

Here are some of the things we had:
Wagyu beef
spareribs
roast beef
chicken
sanma (a kind of fish, a fall delicacy)
Lots of vegetables such as peppers, pumpkins, onions, etc...

Yummy side dishes as well!


OH MAN everything was SO good!!!!
The meat was good, of course, but the vegetables!
The roast peppers and onions tasted so sweet, it was almost as if there was sugar on them!
Any kid who hates veggies should eat these!!

Their dog had the time of his life!

Isn't he cute? He's a corgi/papillon mix!

This area is also famous for their edamame!
They let me take some from their FIELD!!

Each edamame was so big and plump and really delicious!

Here's my lunch this past weekend!
Spaghetti with seafood and organic edamame and peppers!

I also changed my layout this past weekend!

I'm still working out a few bugs!
I hope you like it!!

xoxo, K

HUGE LOVE from Anastacia!

Anastacia sent me this big bag of love!!!

I won Anastacia's giveaway!!!
Wow, this is the first time I've ever won a giveaway!

I opened the huge box and was greeted by a bag... which was filled with LOVE!

LOOK at all of this!!!

Let's take a look!

Young Sheet Masks in Potato, Red Jinseng, Herb, Seaweed, and Cucumber!

The Face Shop Sheet Masks in Collagen and Q10
The Face Shop Black Head Charcoal Pore Strips

(I just ran out of the pore strips!!! Thank you!!!)

The Face Shop face cream samples!

Peeres Natural Cleansing Tissues

The Face Shop Eco Therapy Toner/Moisturizer

The Face Shop Oil Free Sun Cream
The Face Shop Oil Free BB cream

This BB cream is something I wanted get when I was in Korea, but I just couldn't find it.
Anastacia, THANK YOU SO MUCH for including it!!!!

I am so excited to use all of this great stuff!
Thank you, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!

xoxo, K

Earrings from WatHOB and haircut!!!

I got these beautiful Dark Heart Earrings from Worship at the House Of Blues!

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!!!

Ever since Yasumi started making these earrings with the chains connected to the backs, I've been wanting them like crazy!!!
Now I've finally got my hands on a pair of them!!!

The star of the show is this Sleek Palette in Storm which I got in London!
This is a STEAL at 5 GBP (around $8)!
All of the colors are so pigmented!!
Each color is a little bit small but I like that so much!
Now the Original Palette is on my wish list!!!!

(The colors I used are marked with an X)
Light Beige color in inner corner
Light Blue on lid
Dark Blue on outer corner

On the rest of my face...

MAC Rubenesque Paint Pot
Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush in Soft Plum
Maybelline Intense XXL Volume + Length Waterproof Microfiber mascara
Maybelline Water Shiny Pure Lipstick in 432 Poppy Beige (this was my HG color but it has been discontinued!!!)
L'Oreal Infallible Never Fail Lipgloss in 107 Eternal Beige (I LOVE THIS!!!!)

I also cut my hair A LOT recently!!!
I cut my hair to around my collar bones, and got a darker color!

What do you think?

xoxo, K

Tags: Over the Top / Awesome Girl!

The lovely Mona made me a new banner!
I didn't name my blog after the Bihada Ichizoku line but the girl is certainly cute!!
Now I have to find a new layout for my blog... someone want to help me???

TAG: Over The Top!

I was tagged by Amy Naree ! One word answers to the following questions!

Where's your cell phone: purse

Your hair: cut

Your mother: called

Your father: overprotective

Favorite Food: dumplings

Dream last night: bestie

Favorite drink: water

What room are you: bedroom

Hobby: traveling

Fear: robbery

Where were you last night: work

Something that you aren't: athletic

Muffins: small

Wish list item: here

Where did you grow up: NYC

What are you wearing: Uniqlo

Your pets: none

Friends: LOVE

Something you're not wearing: socks

Favorite store: random

Favorite color: black

Last time you laughed: yesterday

Your best friend: LOVE

Place you go to over and over: USA

Person who emails you regularly: work

Favorite place to eat: random

TAG: I think you are an awesome girl!

I was tagged by Anastacia for this one!

I'm supposed to share 10 facts about me... so I took a look at my previous tags to see what I hadn't yet shared! I'll share 10 random things about me and beauty blogging!

1. Most of my posts are scheduled posts. Sorry!!!! I work more than 12 hours a day on weekdays (closer to 14 hours most days...) so I try to make blog post when I'm inspired!

2. I've been reading beauty blogs and watching youtube videos for such a long time! It still amazes me that the girls whose blogs I've been reading for so long know who I am and leave such kind comments!!! Wuzzy, Mona, Diana (Paperdoll Revenge and Mayaari), Anastacia, Nikki, Yumeko, Elvira, Jamila, Sarah, and so many more girls!! I'm still in shock when I get an email / tweet from you girls!! I'm just a fangirl!!!

3. I'm making it my personal mission to meet as many bloggers as I can! I've met up with bloggers from Tokyo, NYC, Guam, and London so far! Too bad I didn't start blogging a few months earlier than I did - I went to Hawaii and Hong Kong just before I started!

4. My makeup collection has grown from one bag to three boxes over the past 6+ months. I blame traveling and beauty blogging!

5. Beauty blogging introduced me to MAC, Skin Food, The Face Shop, VOV, mineral makeup, and so many other great things! At the same time, I'm so surprised that all of the American girls know about Kate/Visee/Sekkisei/Canmake/etc!

6. Speaking of MAC, I have 5 MAC brushes. 6 months ago I had none!! Ooooh the power of blogging!

7. I recently broke my no-buy. Shhhh!!!! I'll go back on it soon!

8. I haven't done a blog post about my favorite skin routine. I had been planning to since I started blogging, but for some reason, it hasn't happened yet!

9. That blue striped background you see on most of my pics? Yes, it's my blanket! It's a more interesting background than the floor!

10. I STILL haven't mastered taking a good EOTD picture! The picture always washes me out!! I really want to learn how to take good pics!!

I tag: Blair, Izumi, Eki, Tammy, Lane , and anyone else who wants to do this!!

review: Lush Brazen Honey Fresh Face Mask

This is a review for the Lush Brazen Honey Fresh Face Mask!

(from the Lush website)

I got a sample of this when I was in London!

What it's supposed to do:
Refreshing herbs and fruit juice are blended with warming Ayurvedic herbs and spices. With almonds to polish and moisturising honey, this blend leaves the skin vibrant and re-visited.

Price: 6.45 GBP ($10) for 75 g (in London), 1650 yen ($18.50) for 50 g in Japan



Scent: (I strongly suggest you smell this in the store before buying it since scent is a personal preference and Lush products tend to smell very strongly)
This products smells like honey and herbs. I liked it, but I can understand why people wouldn't!

Pros:

• The almond bits left my skin feeling EXTREMELY smooth!
• The sample was VERY generous! I used it almost 10 times!
• It's a little bit hard to apply to my face, but it's fine when I added a bit of water!
  

Cons:

• more than twice as expensive in Japan as in London (about 14 cents/g in London vs 38 cents/g in Japan... wow, with the current exchange rate, it's almost 3 times more expensive in Japan!!!!!)
  
• Like all Lush Fresh Face Masks, this needs to be used up within 3 weeks or it will go bad
• Like all Lush Fresh Face Masks, this is not sold on the Lush USA website due to the expiration date
  

That really summed up how I feel about this product! I loved it, I loved how it smelled, I loved how it made my skin feel, but I would not buy it in Japan because it is just so much more expensive here. I'm not willing to spend $20 on an exfoliator when I can get something almost as good for half the price!

I blogged about this before, but I wish that Lush sold their Fresh Face Masks in smaller containers. The 75g packages that I found in London were too big for me to use up in 3 weeks (I did kind of find a way around this which I will blog about soon!). Seriously, this sample size was exactly right for me to use up in 3 weeks!

I'll leave you with a scary pic of me!




What is your favorite exfoliator?

xoxo, K

Quick EOTD - Guerlain Ombre Eclat

I got this palette a long time ago, but I had forgotten to feature it!

Here is the Guerlain Ombre Eclat 4 Eyeshadow Palette in Bronze Dore!

Many people such as Mona, Nic Nic, Yumeko, and Diana (Mayaari) have it,
so I know I'm in good hands!

This eyeshadow quad is VERY pricey - $58 on Sephora, around 8000 JPY (more than $80) in Japan! Even at the duty free in Japan, it is around $55! I bought mine online from a seller on Rakuten for about $40!

The texture is LOVELY! All the colors are buttery smooth, they don't crease, and they have a very lovely sheen!

I like to wear the cream color as a highlight, the dark green in my outer corner, and either the light green or the bronze as a lid color (and blend with the other color).

A very quick FOTD!

Oooooh black roots! I need to go color my hair pretty soon!!!!

Hope everyone is having a great day!!

xoxo, K

Tag: Dinner party!

I was tagged by the lovely amy naree and Anastacia

1. What books are on your favorite shelf?
Japanese mags like ageha!

2. What DVDs are on your favorite shelf?
SATC!

3. What are your two favorite cookbooks?
I get most of my recipes online. My favorite sites are Cookpad for Japanese recipes, and Smitten Kitchen for American recipes.

4. Select 1-3 recipes you will cook for your special guests.
Temakizushi (hand rolled sushi) since everyone can make them by themselves!

5. What will we be drinking that's available?
Shochu / tea


I tag:
Wuzzy - because I want to eat Cheese's food!
Diana (Mayaari)
Mika (Beauty Snap)
Zoe (13 December)

review: Skinfood Peach Sake Silky Finish Powder

This is a review for the Skinfood Peach Sake Silky Finish Powder.

This is (yet again) one of the recommendations I got for my Korea shopping list giveaway!

What it does: (according to the Skinfood Singapore site)
Contains ultra-fine micro-silica powder, which immediately tightens the pores and controls excess sebum. This unique loose powder sets your make-up with a matt finish, leaving skin smooth and clean.

Price: (I'm not sure, but probably less than 10000 Won, or $8)

Pros:
- smells like peaches - fantastic!
- does a good job of making my face matte
- very finely milled
- the puff is very soft
Cons:
- it's a WHITE powder. Blend it very well!!!
- the container is tall and takes up a lot of space.

While I really like this powder, I wouldn't use it on its own since it is white. I mix it in with my normal finishing powder so that I get the shine control benefit without looking pasty white.

But... where have I seen this powder before? The minute I touched it, I knew I had tried it before somewhere...

Here it is!!!

(from MUFE's website)

Or should I say, this?

(from coastalscents.com)

I'm not surprised, since most powders that boast oil controlling properties contain silica.

SOOOO...

MUFE HD powder = Brand name pure Silica
Coastal Scents Silica Powder Spheres = pure Silica from a website with bad customer service (in a container that leaks)
Skinfood Peach Sake Silky Finish Powder = Silica with a great smell

It's good to have options, isn't it?

xoxo, K