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Introducing: Lisa Angel

A selection of items from Lisa Angel
Today I want to introduce you to an amazing company that comes from my hometown.
Lisa Angel is based in Norwich, where she has a stand-alone store in Chapelfield Mall and a store on Lower Goat Lane. 
The stores offer a variety of items, from jewellery to stationary, homeware and more. 
It’s not cliche to say there’s something for everyone.
The stores carry a selection of Lisa Angel’s original designs, as well as other brands such as Big Baby Jewellery.
I love Big Baby Jewellery for their girly, fun designs and the high shine acrylic they use to create them.
I have one of the ‘Large Rose Flower Necklaces‘ in my personal collection, which I adore for it’s chic Chanel feel.
I’ve known the brand for a long time, and I really think it has amazing potential!
When I was choosing my favourite items to feature, I had to stop myself because I’d probably kill everyone’s bandwidth if I featured all of them. I think my wishlist of items equals to about £100+! Two of the items being these amazing ‘Owl Cushions‘ and the ‘Big Baby Goody Bag‘. I’ll have to resist though…for now.

You can browse Lisa Angel’s store here.
The store offers free shipping to the UK, and ships internationally.

My readers can also receive 10% of their purchases until June 30th.
Just enter code: bloomzy 
bloomzy /

Food and Architecture in Tokyo, Japan | Photo Diary

Food and Architecture in Tokyo, Japan

Looking through my photos from my times in Japan you will see a lot of food & architecture. Those are the two main things that I go a little crazy about when visiting another country, especially when it’s for the first time. Well these pictures were taken on my second trip to Tokyo (before I moved there), when the fiancé and I went wandering around Tokyo Tower, through back streets and temples. The food pictured above is a ‘traditional’ Japanese breakfast, with rice, miso soup, bacon, egg, salad and natto. If you ever get the chance to try natto, then do, because Japanese people love to know whether you’re a fan or not – it’s basically the Marmite of Japan. The second photo is of a bowl of ramen and gyoza, if I remember it was from a cheap-ish chain restaurant. Japanese ‘fast-food’ is similarly priced to the UK kind but doesn’t feel anywhere near as bad when you’re eating it – ramen, rice & meat and noodles are probably the most popular. I’d recommend Yoshinoya, Ichiran Ramen & Coco Ichiban Curry (my favourite!).

All these photos are making me crave Japanese food.
I think I will have to start cooking it more often…or head back soon!

 

 

bloomzy /

My Favourite Asian Beauty Products

After being asked over the weekend about my favourite Japanese beauty products,

I thought it might make a change to post about some of my favourite Asian beauty products.
I know I have done it in the past, but I hope this will help my new readers and those who don’t know much about them.
I’ve decided to make it simple and pick my favourite make-up brands, for certain products.
I have chosen items that I use everyday. I don’t use items such as bronzer etc. so they won’t be included. 
It’s also worth mentioning that even though I have used a lot of Asian beauty products I haven’t tried out every single brand, and I do prefer Western brands for certain products so where there are gaps, this is why.
Also, I have not only chosen Asian brands, but brands that are also popular in the Asian beauty market.
A lot of the ‘Western’ beauty brands that are popular often carry lines that are only available in Asia.

I have linked each product to where you can purchase it online.

Face

Concealer: Candydoll / Sana
BB Cream: Skin79 Hot Pink / Skin79 Diamond Collection
Contouring: Diamond Beauty / Canmake
Loose Powder: Diamond Beauty

Blush: Canmake
Highlight: Canmake

Eyes

Primer: Canmake
Eyeshadow: Dollywink / Canmake
Eyeliner: KATE / Dollywink
Eyelashes: Diamond Lash / Eyemazing
Mascara: Dollywink

Lips
Lip Care: Paul & Joe
Lip Gloss: Candydoll / B & C
Lip Balm: Happy Bath Day

Nude Lipsticks: Candydoll / Canmake
Other Lipsticks: Anna Sui
I hope this has helped a few people who want to venture into the Asian beauty market.
I don’t know everything about Asian beauty products but my time living in Japan, and importing products from Asian companies has helped me a lot. My favourite place to shop online is Sasa, the prices are reasonable (not marked up as high as other stores), they offer a very large selection and are reliable. Alpha Beauty Store on eBay also offer a wide variety of Asian Beauty products, including most of those listed above.

Source; 1
bloomzy /

Gift: Iconemesis Gemma Correll Cat iPhone Case

The Gemma Correll Cat Print iPhone 4 Case, from Iconemesis
The amazingly wonderful people at Iconemesis sent me a surprise this week.
They knew I had been after the Gemma Correll Cat Print case for my iPhone, as I’d been gushing about it all over the internet. So when I received a surprise package from them, I couldn’t contain my excitement!
The case is superb quality, as was the Fifi Lapin case I bought from them.
It fits the iPhone 4 very well, and is also easy to remove – for those who might worry.
But it’s the print that I adore. The quality and colour is gorgeous, very true to the photo on the site.
You can purchase the case here, or check out their other cases here.
A cat party will surely lift anyones spirits, no?
Thank you so much Iconemesis!
I am beyond happy with this case!!
Iconemesis are hosting a giveaway in collaboration with Mon Rabu.
It’s open internationally, and ends on 10th April – click here to find out how to enter.
bloomzy /

Photo Diary; Adventures in the World of Amélie

Café les Deux Moulins, Montmatre, Paris

On one particular day during my time in Paris, the fiancé indulged me and we went to Montmatre.
That’s a pretty normal tourist thing to do in Paris, I hear you say. Well yes it is, but as some of you may know by now I am a bit of a Francophile, and my favourite movie is Amélie. Sooo you may be catching on that we went to Montmatre to…visit the places used whilst filming Amélie.
I took a lot of photos around the locations in Montmatre during that day.
So I choose to post these ones first. Probably the most iconic location in Amélie: Café les Deux Moulins.
This is where they filmed the scenes of Amélie and her friends at work, where she choose to eat her favourite creme brulee, and where several of the major storylines take place. I always remember Amélie staring at Nino through the glass screen longingly as she wrote the day’s specials ♥
The cafe itself, is a lot smaller than it looks in the movie. Nor does the front of the cafe look the same as in the movie, and it isn’t in the location they filmed the outside from, so be careful as you could easily walk by and miss it! 
Tables and bar stools take up most of the space, which is filled with tourists (mainly Japanese) and the odd local. 
The bar & toilets have been kept the same as in the movie, whilst bits of memorabilia are dotted everywhere.
Our waiter was hilarious. He laughed and helped us with our pronunciation and chatted with me about Amélie and my love of Macarons. He even tried to get a kiss from the Japanese girls beside us, but the cultural barriers were just too strong.
If money isn’t an issue I would suggest grabbing a bite to eat, so you can soak up the atmosphere.
I had a salad, white wine and macarons for dessert, whilst the fiancé had a burger and beer.
At €40+ this is expensive, even for Paris, and it’s obvious the little cafe is cashing in, especially as the food is average.
However I had been waiting for this for a long time and the atmosphere was wonderful so I didn’t mind at all. 
Trivia: For other Amélie fans out there, remember the scene where Nino finds all the ‘Ou et quand?’ posters?
That was my metro station! La Motte-Picqet-Grenelle, located in central Paris, a 10min walk from the Eiffel Tower. 
It’s a small world.
bloomzy /

Photo Diary: The Breakfast Club, London

The Breakfast Club, Hoxton, London

Whilst I was in London, the fiancé’s sister (who very kindly put us up for the weekend, thank you) decided to take us for breakfast in The Breakfast Club. I hadn’t been before, so the whole experience was wonderful.
It reminded me a lot of the places I had gone to for breakfast in America. The menu was packed full of a variety of amazing dishes, whilst the ‘smallest disco in the world‘ in the toilets, acted as entertainment. Like the ‘Fraggle Rock’ wallpaper? I did.
The 3 of us all choose very different breakfasts: 
The fiancé – Breakfast Burrito, his sister – french toast with chunks of apple and eggy bread, and finally me – The All-American. I allowed myself to forget about my diet that weekend, and I’m so glad I did. 
The All-American was like the breakfast I remembered having when I was 16, on my first trip to America to visit my family. Tasty and filling; I didn’t eat until dinner!
We left around 12, and the queue outside was massive!
It’s a popular place, so if you do decide to visit then you should probably do it before the rush.
They always say Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and if you’re starting it at TBC you really can’t go wrong!