A very pink present…

Canmake; powder cheek, cheek&cheek, melty nude lip, lip care essence
& Bath Roman salts

One of my closest friends, the always gorgeous Alanna, visited Japan recently and whilst she was there she was kind enough to pick me up a few things…and also send me a couple of surprise items. Such a sweety!!

Lush Cupcake Event

In October a few friends and I went to a specially arranged ‘Cupcake Event’ at our local Lush store. I’m a big fan of Lush, as you already know, and cupcakes, of course. The event drew us in with it’s offer of a free facial, make your own face mask and decorate your own cupcake.
And of course a nice chat with the Lush shop staff, always a pleasure.
Click ‘read more’ for the full post.

Friends getting facials, their colourful array of bath bombs & some cupcakes
&& the sparkly cupcake I decorated!
Shhh…it’s supposed to be a rose.
The chocolate & peppermint face mask I made & I also bought some toner tabs and a shower bomb.

The event was so much fun, and perfect for a girly evening out. My tomboy-ish friend even commented on how she had ‘enjoyed being so girly, but it had probably filled [her] quota for the month’. Girly-ness aside, the facials were very relaxing and it was so much fun making our own face masks and decorating cupcakes. Not to mention I chatted for ages with the lovely shop staff. We discussed; shopping trends, Lush in Japan, their latest gift boxes and how they were designed, and much more…

I can’t wait for the next Lush event!

New Dollywink products

As there are several images I have put them under a cut.
As always, please click on the images to enlarge them.
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3x upper lash sets – 1260円 each

3x lower lash sets – 1260円 each

2x eyelash glue; clear & black 945円 each
3x eyebrow mascaras; milk tea, mocha & cocoa – 1050円 each

1x eyelash case – 420円
3x eyebrow pencil; honey brown, chocolate brown & dark chocolate – 735円 each
3x eyebrow powder; honey brown, chocolate brown & dark chocolate – 1260円 each
The new line of Dollywink products by Koji & Tsubasa Masuwaka

When producing this new line Tsubasa said she did it with a cute, but not fake or artificial look in mind. She wanted to create something for an ‘Otona’ (adult) look, that would still allow girls to be stylish.

I know the new eyelashes have not been greeted well, but I personally like them. I think they’re simple, adult and will add that little something extra to a girls make-up, without looking too OTT – which I believe is what Tsubasa had in mind. I don’t really use eyebrow products so those aren’t of interest to me. The only thing I’m a little upset about is the design on the eye lash case, I feel it’s lacking slightly.

Source; 1

Candydoll brush sets

Candydoll have now added brushes to their collection:
Bases brushes; for use with powder & liquid foundation
Cheek brushes; a loose & tight brush set for colouring

The cheek brushes are around £11 ($18) & the base brushes £17 ($27).

English Rose or Japanese Cherry Blossom?

Skype sessions with my best friend in Japan always make for fun discussions;
A few days ago we were contemplating why Rose flavoured & scented items are popular in Japan, and why Cherry Blossom products are popular in the UK. 
We didn’t really come to a conclusion, but we did decide that ‘Rose Jam’ was just taking it too far. Although I am tempted to try it.
Japanese Cherry Blossom shower gel & lotion; The Body Shop.
Wild Rose lip balm; Cath Kidston.

Garnier BB Cream Review

During September, Garnier were offering customers the chance to try out samples of their new BB Cream. I applied straight away, as I was so excited to finally see this product hitting the shelves.

The samples came very neatly packaged in a small fold-out pack, which included info on BB Cream and a money-off voucher. The pack came with three regular sized samples – I went ahead and potted one of the samples…

Not a bad amount, definitely enough for 2, maybe 3 applications.

On the brush…I used a foundation brush to apply mine, although a sponge would probably be better.

Before I show you the results I will quickly mention that I asked for, and received, the ‘light’ version of the cream. I consistently find it difficult to match foundations etc. to my skin tone so I was looking forward to seeing the outcome.

As you can see the BB Cream didn’t match my skin tone (check out the difference between my face & neck) and was visibly more yellow…even my fiancé commented on it.

Did it work?
Skin tone aside, let’s look at what Garnier’s BB Cream claims to do and whether I felt it worked or not.

“light texture that instantly melts into your skin”
“skin feels more supple, smoother, softer”

It was definitely light, but I didn’t feel like it ‘melted’ into my skin. In fact it kind of felt sticky, like a lotion that hadn’t dried properly. I disliked the feel and look so much that I applied a generous amount of powder on top to try and get rid of the sticky, greasy look.

However my skin did feel supple and smooth.

“sheer coverage; imperfections look blurred…your skin looks luminous, smoother and more even”

My skin did look smooth and it certainly evened out the redness around my cheek and nose area.

‘Imperfections’? Well I don’t feel my freckles are imperfections to be honest, but it didn’t cover them. You shouldn’t really expect this from a simple BB Cream anyway, but for those who might be interested in it for those reasons – sorry, it may not be the right product for you.

Overall
I wasn’t very pleased with the outcome. I think my opinion is slightly biased though, as I felt the cream was far too dark for my skin tone.

Don’t take my word for it though! Find out more at the Garnier website.
Those in the UK can still apply for a free sample here.

Momoko Premium Vol.2

Pictures, not scans, of my favourite pages from the book/magazineMook
Click ‘read more’ for the full post.

Top to bottom; Coquettish girls, Twiggy-style code sketches, Celebrities in Murua, Shop-staff codes, Momoko’s – story, favourite pieces, home, make-up, hair & codes.

Where to buy: CD Japan