Hobonichi Techo 2018 Line Up

All images used here are from Hobonichi’s website.

Yes, it’s that time of the year already! My favorite planner brand has revealed its new line up at their website. Unfortunately, I have to say that the designs for 2018 don’t really pique my interest. I only have my eyes on three planner covers for this year’s, which I still don’t know if I’ll purchase, yet.

Hydrangea cover from the A6 Color series

I don’t know why but simple and calm colored covers always catches my eye more than anything. The Hydrangea cover has a similar color pattern with this year’s Sherbet which involves a mix of blue and pink. The only difference would be the darkness and paleness of the color. I do love this one better compared to Sherbet because it gives off a sophisticated feel to it. The book and cover set cost ¥3780 which is probably the cheapest of all other cover combinations.

Makoto Kagoshima’s Bird, Flower, Willow A6 cover

Different from Hydrangea, the “Bird, Flower, Willow” cover is made from linen which makes it more special compared to the other covers. The downside is that you don’t really want to put a plastic cover on cover to protect this original linen cover since it’ll just erase the uniqueness. It sells at a higher price for ¥5400 for the book and cover set. I’m afraid of staining the cover if I use it (since I’m so clumsy), but otherwise, this cover is gorgeous on its own.

“Irma” might be the only cover from the Weeks series that I fell in love with. Since this is a wallet type cover, it doesn’t include the main journal inside. This is also the most expensive cover that I liked which cost ¥12960 (yes, hella expensive, I know). If I were to purchase this cover, I wouldn’t use it to store my journal, but rather use it as a wallet. I know this is probably not worth the money, though. Haha.

That ends my whole rambling about the new 2018 Hobonichi line up! What do you think about the covers for next year? Which one caught your interest?

Mini announcement

I was so busy with moving out and taking care of my mom and aunt who came to visit me so I didn’t really have enough time to update the blog. I was just too exhausted to do so, mentally and physically.

Anyways, I think my finals went pretty well in the end. I just need to wait for the results to be announced later in September. I probably won’t be able to post anything until past mid-August because I’m going on a trip to Fukuoka and then back to my country until then. I’ll try my best to upload photos and write an entertaining blog post when I do have the time lol.

See you!

P.S: Hanako, your blog images seemed broken to me, I can’t see the images in your posts 😦 I mentioned this in a comment previously but I don’t know if you’ve received that comment or not. I’ll catch up with the rest of your blog posts soon! ♥

Entering the week of finals

I apologize with (almost) a month of absence here. I’ve been busy taking care of my moving out and in procedures as well as purchasing and scheduling my new furniture for my apartment. It was hectic and stressful but exciting nonetheless.

I spent A LOT. And when I say a lot, it’s really … a lot. I’ve never spent this much money (well, basically my scholarship) for furniture and such. I felt like I need to purchase a lot of things for my small apartment. I originally planned a room layout, but after giving it some thought, I decreased most of the items I had planned to purchase and just went with a simpler and more minimal furniture for the entire room.

I got this simple mattress from a Nitori (a general furniture store). Paying around 18000 yen for that set (does not include the boxes below) is not that cheap but I still think it’s a pretty nice deal rather than getting a separate mattress and frame. Of course, there’s another option of getting second handed goods from upperclassmen who are graduating this year, but the idea of using a used mattress is just a no for me. Sorry for being a clean freak!

A little rant (or complain) here: People do ask me how much I have to pay for my new apartment and whether if I got my furniture second-handed or new. However, every time I answer them, they always have this similar reaction such as “Oh my, that’s so expensive! or “Woah, completely new furniture!” It’s like these people are so against the idea of spending extra money for something nice and beneficial for yourself. Firstly, my rent is not cheap because I live alone, not sharing. Secondly, if I can get things new, why not? I know people will think that I’m wasting a lot of money when I can get the same furniture, second-handed, for a way lower price. But when I think about it, you’ll be selling all of these things to someone else and get half your money back anyway, so why bother? Also, cleaning a used furniture is not fun. I feel like money is just something for you to use when you really need something. I don’t buy all those new furnitures because I want to feel luxurious, it’s because I need them. My needs and other’s needs are different so I don’t think there’s a need to make a wuss when someone purchases something that’s beneficial for themselves.

Well, I did write ‘little’, but it ended up quite long for a rant.

Anyway, I’ll start receiving my furniture on 29th this month and will completely move out on 31st. It’s gonna be super busy from now on, especially with my mom and aunt coming over on the 1st of August! For now, I still need to focus on my finals. I have internet, math and accounting finals left. Wish me luck!

Review: Daniel Wellington Classic Petite Melrose

I’m not a fan of wristwatches. In fact, I only have one with me every time. Unfortunately, my old little white Swatch kinda stopped functioning properly. No matter how many times I adjusted the time and changed the battery, the time will eventually get delayed. I told my mom about it and she said it’s time to get a new watch.

The problem with wristwatches was, of course, my wrist. As you can see in the featured image above, my wrist is extremely small, so I had to search for watches with adjustable bands and a not-so-big dial.

And so, I found this elegant-looking watch by Daniel Wellington on Amazon. Moreover, it had a 56% discount at that time, so I jumped on the offer and paid around 9000 yen for a 21000 yen watch.

The packaging was really nice and thoughtful. The seller prepared a gift-wrapped box for every wristwatch they sell in their online store. At this point, I was already delighted and hurried up to open the box only to find something rather disappointing.

This box made me a thousand times more suspicious that this product is not genuine. The watch that I bought came out as a new series this year, and so the packaging is all supposed to be remodeled and new. However, what I got here was a very old version of the Daniel Wellington box. Suspicious much?

Take note that the picture I took was after I used the watch, so the plastic protectors for the dials and the tags have been removed beforehand.Underneath the foam padding that holds the watch, lies the manual and other guarantee cards. It upsets me more because all the contents are different from what the real Classic Petite series packaging would have. The manual versions, as well as the guarantee cards, are different. I didn’t take a picture of it here, but I also noticed that the papers were all yellow, just like an old aged paper.

Another detail that made me sure this product (at least the packaging) was not genuine was the tag that came with the watch. On the tag, the materials, series numbers, and such were written down. The watch that I got has a stainless mesh material for the bands, but the tag said synthetic leather. Uh-oh.

The whole packaging and contents were really disappointing, but I do think the watch alone is still genuine. I even went to DW’s website and checked the product details. I also watched a lot of Youtube videos that shows the unboxing of the watch. The materials for the watch also felt really nice and lightweight. The details also match with what was depicted and described, which is why I think that the watch is still real. It’s just the packaging’s that quite … awful.

So far, the watch is working fine. Even though I’m happy that the watch still somewhat genuine, the fact that the box was switched out still a huge disappointment for me. I didn’t know that Amazon would sell these kinds of ingenuine products to the customers. Luckily, they do accept refunds and replacements, so I’m planning to do so when I get the time to go to the post office next week.

I hope they’ll send the correct product next time.

Review: Clio Kill Cover Liquid Founwear Ampoule Cushion (#4 Ginger)

I’ve mentioned this product on my Missha cushion review but then I realized I’ve never got the chance to give this product a shout out, yet. I’ve taken photos of when the product was still fresh and new but eventually forgot to post about it because … well, reasons.

So now I’m gonna review my currently favorite cushion for you!

I got mine from Amazon (as always) for ￥2580 with the darkest shade, #4 Ginger. This box comes with the cushion and an extra refill and puff, which I think is really nice since it makes the price all more worth it! An extra puff is always nice in case you’re too lazy (like me) to wash the puff before changing into a new cushion refill.

Cushion and refill nested inside the box

Ok, let me be honest. The packaging isn’t the most beautiful among all the other cushions I’ve known, but it’s got its own aesthetic. Lol. I’m also going to note that this cushion has a pretty thick container and it is the thickest among all the other cushions I have (two of the others being Missha cushions). The overall diameter of the cushion is also wider than the Missha’s so this might be a little bulky for you if you have a small makeup pouch. Otherwise, I don’t think it’ll cause a problem for the size!

As you can see, this cushion is just normal like all the other cushions out there. In contrary to Missha’s Tension Pact, Clio still uses the original cushion puff to deliver the products, which I admit could be a little bit troublesome when your product’s about to run out because you’ll have to press so hard to get every single drop of product out.

Okay, let’s focus on the coverage and longevity.

As the name suggests, the Kill Cover line is literally killing the cover (in a good way). This cushion could cover almost all of the imperfections on my face, except when I have a severe acne that’s as red as a tomato. The shade also matches my skin pretty nicely with a yellowish undertone. However, this cushion can get cakey if you’re not careful during the application process. It also accentuates dry patches (which is horrible during winter), so beware if you have concerns regarding those.

Longevity wise, I’d have to say it’s average, which sadly contrasts to their claims of being a 24-hour long lasting cushion. It stays put for the first 5 or 6 hours for me when I use a primer (new primer review coming soon!) and powder my face, but then it could also depend on the weather and other factors. Sometimes it breaks down faster when it’s hot and humid and when my skin is producing too much sebum.

One (or two) good things from this product are that it doesn’t feel heavy or transfer after it settles down. I usually just apply a thin layer over my face and that already gives so much coverage so I don’t need to layer it and make my makeup feel heavy instead. Also, once you finish applying the cushion, it won’t transfer or smudge easily (still beware if you use white clothes) so you don’t need to worry about retouching your makeup every now and then!

Verdict

For acne prone and face with lots of scarring like me, this product does it’s job quite well to cover those things! Though the longevity might be an issue for others, it could be tackled by applying primer and setting powder. Moreover, you can get the cushion and refills for a good price and still be happy with the overall quality of the product! Absolute fave!

Life so far: June

June has been so hectic to the point I forgot to update my blog posts. All the previous posts before this were scheduled from last month so I was able to somehow keep my blog running automatically. I haven’t written and posted directly for awhile now since homework and weekly exams were killing me.

Japan has entered the rainy season since this week. It rained so hard and the winds were really fierce that I kept getting ‘blown away’ here and there. It was a chore going to class every day in this kind of weather. But what can I do?

Moving out

It has been decided that I will move out on 29th of July, which is next month. I’m moving to a small studio apartment since I’m gonna live alone. I’ve probably mentioned this in my previous posts, but the location is quite strategic and the rent isn’t really that bad for living alone. People keep telling me that my rent is so expensive but the price that I pay is actually quite reasonable since it’s never cheap to live alone, duh.

I will probably spend a lot of money next month to buy new furniture and such. I hope the expense won’t be too excessive.

Hobby

I started to pick up watercolor again this month after I saw a good deal for watercolor sets on Amazon. Even though I suck at art, I just can’t stop drawing and painting. They’re kind of my third stress reliever after online games and dramas/anime. Haha. I also bought several watercolor artbooks for references, and they have really helpful illustrations and techniques inside!

Reads

I’m still reading ボクラノキセキ (Bokura no Kiseki), so I bought the 16th volume when I saw it in the local bookstores. I was really hyped because this volume has a lot of thrilling scenes. I really wanted to purchase the one with the CD drama version but I realized I can’t benefit much from it since I don’t have a built-in CD player inside my laptop. I also started reading 思い、思われ、ふり、ふられ (Omoi, omoware, furi, furare) which is written by the same writer of Strobe Edge and Ao Haru Ride. I’m loving the conflicts and misunderstandings (as always), and I can’t wait for another volume update!

Watch

I’ve been following Little Witch Academia for the anime series this time. I don’t know why I keep watching this children’s show. Maybe it just has that nostalgic art style and plot. Haha. It has good overshadowing, though. I’m also happy with the ending that they gave. I think it’s a good anime for a change of pace.

I also just finished watching Another Miss Oh (Korean drama) last week. It was a long ride and finishing the episodes felt like a chore because I had so many homework and tests to overcome. Haha. But finally, I managed to finish the whole series, and I must say it’s worth it to watch. The story line was really realistic and the romance is literally everywhere. Thumbs up to TVN for always airing good dramas. Haha.

I’m thinking of starting to watch Healer. I heard it’s a really famous drama as well.

Music

I don’t really follow artists, but I always appreciate those long looping relaxing music in Youtube. I’m currently addicted to Joey Pecoraro‘s music. They’re so relaxing and gives off happy vibes!

Coming up

I’ll have a ton of final exams in June and projects to finish such as presentations and report papers. I also have a lot to do before moving out from the school dorms. It’s gonna be a super busy month. But after that, I’ll have the whole two months of holidays! Can’t wait to go back home again!

Review: Missha The Original Tension Pact (Shade 23)

I wanted to give this cushion a shot after I watched several Youtube videos and blog post reviews about how wonderful this cushion is. Another reason was that my first cushion brand was Missha, which I am quite fond of. This retails slightly more expensive than the original Magic Cushion and has more variety as well.

Can we talk about the packaging? I have to say that the packaging actually lured me in to purchase this cushion. The cover is topped with another glass to give that slightly holographic look, which is cool. They also have the rose gold metallic edges which makes this cushion aesthetically pleasing.

Ok. Onto the details. I got the Perfect Cover type with the shade 23. I usually get the darkest shade because it matches my skin tone well. However, I have to say that this cushion has a slightly lighter shade compared to other number 23 cushions that I have purchased. But the difference isn’t too visible, so it’s still okay for me. This product also has a lower SPF compared to the Magic Cushion (SPF 50 / PA+++) with only SPF 37/ PA++.

This tension cushion is different compared to the normal Magic Cushion by Missha because of the delivery system. The tension pact uses a net filter to deliver the foundation evenly onto your puff so you don’t need to dab too hard to get your products out. Just one light tap could provide enough product to cover (it has a decent coverage) your entire face lightly. Overall, I think the new mesh system is quite a nice change from the usual sponge type, but here comes the downside.

This cushion foundation won’t stay still. It transfers so easily that it leaves marks if you accidentally swipe your face or something. I found it very hard to apply it to the crevices of my nose because every time I apply dab a little harder on my face, it will look like that I’ve just stamped a circle shaped foundation onto my face. I have to blend out things several times before I get the desirable results. I’ve also tried setting it with a loose powder, but it didn’t work that well.

Longevity wise, I think that it didn’t have that much of a lasting power. It wears off really fast, especially near my nose area because I wear glasses. It kinda melts under the heat as well …

Verdict

The only good thing I can say about this cushion is probably the packaging and coverage. There are too many downsides so I don’t think that I will be repurchasing this cushion in the future. I still like the Kill Cover cushion by Clio better for the overall results.

Review: April Skin Turn Up Color Treatment [Peach Pink]

This is my first time trying out a hair dye. I’ve never had the courage to try it because I was afraid it would ruin my hair instead. But then I discovered this supposedly wonderful product that tints your hair instead of bleaching and coloring it. April Skin’s Turn Up Color Treatment‘s complete information of the product can be seen here.

I heard a lot about April Skin products but I was never interested in their makeup line because I heard not so good reviews about it. And then I saw several Youtube videos that featured this product and said this temporary dye worked quite well. My mom wouldn’t let me dye my hair, but I’m in Japan right now and I thought if I dyed my hair for two weeks, it wouldn’t be so bad!

So I bought the Peach Pink color of the dye just because I like how lovely the color is. The image shows how the colors will show up on bleach and dyed hair. My hair is way darker than the image so for a split second, I thought of the possibility that the color might not show up on my hair at all. I ended up buying out of curiosity, though.

The box comes with a plastic gown and gloves for convenience. The dye (or ‘treatment’) is stored inside the tube so I had to squeeze it all out onto a paper plate so I could access it easier when I dye. The product has a paste-like consistency so I had to work on my hair a little bit longer to spread the dye evenly. You’re supposed to shampoo your hair first and apply the dye onto your damp hair and wait for 20 minutes before rinsing it off with warm water.

Results

This product is a no, unfortunately. While it had made my hair really smooth and had this nice strawberry fragrance that still lingers even after two days after the application, my hair stayed completely black. I even tried going out to see how it looks under the sunlight, still a nope. Probably it would’ve worked if I had bleached my hair beforehand, but I wanted to avoid bleaching at all costs. It was really unfortunate that it didn’t work. I guess I need to try other brands or a more pigmented color from this product.

I really think that this would be way better as a shampoo or normal treatment product, though. Too bad, April Skin.

Winsor & Newton Cotman Water Colours

I recently just purchased this new watercolor set because the brush from my previous set had some … problems. The brush wasn’t that good and even though the whole set came with a place to put water, it wasn’t really that efficient and just made things messy when I tried to adjust things.

I did several searches on Youtube and other websites and found out that this watercolor set is good for beginners (I started watercolor at 10 years old but I still am a beginner until now, lol.) It comes in 12 basic colors, the main body compartment, and a small compact brush.

The whole thing, still new and untouched

The palette does come with the basic ‘Chinese white’ color but there’s no black, unlike the Kuretake set, which I find it a little bit inconvenient sometimes when I need to achieve a darker shade. However, I think most artists don’t use black and white that often because they use other darker colors to achieve the colors they want.

The pamphlet with shades (not all colors listed are in the palette)

There’s also this handy color chart that came in with the box itself. But in the end, I always make my own color chart on a piece of watercolor postcard because it’s more reliable. Haha. I can always mix and match the colors to make new combinations as well!

The brush is only 10.5cm when extended, which I think is really small even for my tiny hands. It’s hard to paint huge areas with this brush (obviously). This led me to purchase a really cheap but nice water brush from Kuretake which I will feature in my next post.

I was quite surprised when the paint came off from the mini tray while I was unwrapping the labels. This didn’t happen to this particular color only. In fact, 6 colors came off from its tray. Sometimes I also find one or two trays get stuck to the ceiling of the box when it was closed because the paint was ‘sticky’. 😆

Unwrapping the watercolors one by one was definitely time-consuming, but it is the most exciting part of getting this palette. Haha. I tried to find out as well if the company sells specific color trays for when people run out of it, but it seems they don’t. Well, or at least I couldn’t find it on Amazon.

Comparison of Kuretake (left) and Winsor & Newton (right) set.

(More) Skincare Haul

Let me be honest with you. I have been sucked into the black hole of Korean skincare world ever since I tried the Innisfree products. It worked very well for my skin and so I became more and more interested about other products. This haul is the result of me watching too much Youtube videos and browsing Amazon (I feel sad I couldn’t resist the temptation). As you may see on the preview picture below, I have tons of COSRX products that I wanted to try. I’ve heard great reviews for this particular brand and I thought my mom would also love to try some of these, so I gave them a shot. Several other products are from Tony Moly, April Skin and Son & Park.

These serum samples were given to me as a freebie. It’s for anti-aging, so I guess I will just give those to my mom later on.

These are the pimple treatment patches from COSRX. From what I’ve read, they could minimize the appearance of pimples that has already surfaced and suck all that yucky gunk out of it so you don’t need to dirty your hand to pop it or irritate your skin for doing so. Placing this stickers over your pimple also prevents you from touching it and further more irritating it.

I personally am not a fan of Tony Moly products, but I love their packaging because they always create cute designs of it. This one in particular is the Panda’s Dream So Cool Eye Stick (again, the long name). It’s job is to moisturize the under eye area and give it a cooling sensation when applied. It comes with a stick form and it glides easily under the eye. It also has a protective cap to prevent it from drying off.

Another COSRX product to keep blackheads at bay

I’m actually new to this kind of chemical exfoliant product. Until recently I’ve been using the foaming scrub prescribed by the clinic in my country for exfoliation, but apparently, I read somewhere that it’s not effective and actually makes your skin even more irritated. Using chemical for exfoliation works better because it works under your skin, which is what this BHA Blackhead Power Liquid is supposed to do.

Useable as normal moisturizer or as a sleeping mask

I didn’t have any sleeping masks so I thought I’d give this one from COSRX a try. It’s quite popular as well among people. However, not everyone gave great reviews for this particular product. Some said that they experienced little breakouts after using. I’ve done a patch test for this and it doesn’t look like my skin is reacting to it. Hopefully it won’t break me out!

Jumping into the snail fest (although late)

I think I shared the same point of view with most people who heard about snail extract inside a skincare product for the first time: ‘Snail? Ew!‘. That suspicion soon turned out to be raved constantly, though. Snail extracts are proven to be able to minimize scarring and basically heal your skin as a whole. It also helps with wrinkles, so I thought I’d give this to my mom to try later on!

(Another late) controversial and cult product

Actually, I’ve read so many great reviews about this product and no one labeled this product as controversial. I called it ‘controversial’ because of the ingredient list inside this ‘Beauty Water’ toner. It contains a bad form alcohol which is denaturated alcohol (usually written as Alcohol Denat.) that can really dry and irritate your skin. (Note that there are good and bad types of alcohol.) But perhaps no one really made a big fuss about it because the alcohol was written at the bottom of the ingredients list, which shows that it’s the least used ingredient. I hope this does nothing bad to my skin, though.

I’ve never tried April Skin’s skin products, but this will be my first time trying out their hair product! I’ve been wanting to dye my hair ever since I graduated high school, but I was so scared that I’ll just end up destroying my already-weak hair if I do it, so I didn’t. This Turn-up Color Treatment is supposed to give temporary color to your hair with treatments instead of bleaching and damaging it. The color will fade after two weeks upon application (depends on how frequent you wash your hair) if you stop using the product, which makes this a great choice for someone who wants to try dye their hair without worrying it will go wrong.

That’s it for the whole haul! I hope you enjoyed reading them as I enjoyed writing about them. I will probably post a specific review for the hair treatment after I use it (I’m super excited and scared, to be honest) as well as a short review on the Beauty Water. I’m not sure if I should post about the COSRX products because there are tons of detailed reviews out there. So yeah, hopefully these products will turn out great for my skin. 😉