Popteen x Cando Collaboration Lashes

Hello dear readers! How are you today?

Just a small post this time about a new range of false eyelashes I came across the other day.

I expect many of you will know the gal magazine Popteen. They recently produced a collection of false lashes, eyelid stickers and lash glue for 100yen shop Cando. That's the 100yen shop I most frequently visit since it's closest to my house!

There's lots and lots of different styles in the range, including top and bottom lashes, half type and full type. I decided to try out the half type lashes because that's my favourite style but I can seldom find much variety. These are styles 03 and 04.

The lavender on the left is 04, the yellow on the right 03.

I've yet to try 03, but here are the results of 04 (top left is before putting lashes):

In spite of being half-type they are actually quite huge, and I felt a bit self-consious of them when I went out. Having said that the actual sensation of wearing them is comfortable because they are on a clear, flexible band and the lash hairs are soft and feathery. They do have a really nice impact in photos (in my opinion anyway) so maybe I will keep them for photoshoots and big meetups.

As for the quality, obviously it's not fantastic but for 105yen it's fine. I have a lot of those Daiso lashes that come in pink boxes and I think the quality of those is kind of better in that they are sturdier and shed less fibres, plus they come with glue and I think the Popteen ones didn't. I use a different glue anyway so it doesn't make a difference to me but it's worth noting. 

However, I really prefer the style and variety of the Popteen ones. Although the quality is lower they mimic the look of more expensive eyelash brands with cute and imaginative styling and matte, natural looking lash fibres. 

 I'll show you the other pair next time, they are smaller so I think I'll prefer them. Do give this range a go if you see it, these lashes are definitely worth a try!

CANMAKE Candy Wrap Lip

Hello dear readers!

Do you know the cosmetic brand CANMAKE?

It's a popular Japanese brand, with cute packaging and reasonable prices. 

Since we got into the often grey days of autumn I feel my complexion looks a bit dull, so I went shopping for some lip gloss to cheer it up. I haven't tried CANMAKE before, but I always thought their products look very pretty. This red gloss (the colour is Lady Strawberry) caught my eye. Red lipstick is quite difficult to pull off, at least in my experience, but somehow a gloss is much easier and has a far softer effect. 

What do you think? The top picture is without the gloss, and the bottom one is with. I definitely think my complexion looks brighter with the lip gloss! You only need to apply a little to to get this colour and it has a nice moisturing effect since it's formulated with hyaluronic acid, honey extract and shea butter.

I'm sure I'll get something form CANMAKE again, perhaps an eyeshadow set since they also look so cute! Here's their English website, if you are interested:

http://www.canmake.com/en/index.html

****

I've been working on a few things lately, for example a new hair tutorial, photoshoots, and an autumn themed hat for the Triple Fortune Tea Party! Aviva and I are going this weekend, I'm so excited! Please look forward to these future posts :)

See you next time,

Sapphira

xxxx

The name of the ROSE

Hello readers! How are you enjoying your weekend?

I'm having a photoshoot with Lauren Pinhorn Photography tomorrow, I can't wait! I'll share the photos with you as soon as possible.

Today I will tell you about ASAGI of D's original bath salts!

My friend Yami No Geisha recommended this product to me. She has written a very nice review of it which you can read here. I love to take baths, and I love roses, and I love D, so I had to try it!

As you can see, it's called "The name of the ROSE" like D's album and the pretty packaging features lots of beautiful red roses. The scent is "rose garden".

In the box you get five sachets of bath salts. Also included is a photocard of the band wearing their Schwarzschild costumes which is very nice apart from the awkward photoshop of poor Ruiza! He could carry a tea tray on his head if it was really that flat.

The ingredients include rose hip oil, rose water, wild rose essence, hyaluronic acid and collagen. Lots of lovely things for your skin! The last two seem to be very popular ingredients in Japanese skincare at the moment.

Since my friend had praised this product so much I couldn't wait to use it! I wasn't disappointed at all. As she said, the scent is very natural, a kind and gentle rosy smell. Sometimes rose scents can be too sickly sweet, like rose syrup, but this was very delicate.

However, it does rather look like rose syrup (Malaysian and Singapore readers- it's like taking a bath in bandung!) Luckily this pretty shade of pink does not leave any trace apart from a delicious rose smell, but at the time I was worried that my mother would see the water and accuse me of ruining her bathroom! 

Although the colour looks strong, the bath was pleasant and mild on my skin and had a nice moisturising effect. Of course, everyone's skin is different but I do think that this is a high quality product. I had a lovely and relaxing bath and felt so pretty afterwards with this beautiful scent!

So there you have it, not only is ASAGI a talented musician but he makes wonderful bath salts too! Many thanks to Yami No Geisha for the tip.

You can buy The name of the ROSE bath salts from cooljapan store here, or if you're in Japan from ASAGI's brand Rosen Kranz.

Thanks for reading! 

Vintage Shopping for the Lolita Part One: Where to go in England

Hello dear readers!

How are you this weekend? I hope you're having fun.

Some time ago I asked for some suggestions about how to improve this blog, and there was a request for some more information about where I get my vintage items from. If you read the rundowns of my outfit posts you'll notice a lot of vintage pieces listed! I have always bought second-hand clothes and appreciated their history, and nowadays I think they lend themselves very well to the antique style of classic lolita.

Since this is a subject I have a lot of enthusiasm about I've decided to make a series of posts about Vintage Shopping for the Lolita. Of course, due to my personal taste I can't help things being more geared towards classical style, but I hope that these posts will have something to offer to all lolitas and also to any person interested in vintage clothes.

This first post is about my favourite places to go vintage shopping here in the south of England. I've managed to go to second-hand shops in more exotic locations too but I'll leave that for another time.

1. Brick Lane, London

This area has a huge number of vintage boutiques as well as weekend markets which are great places to find a bargain. I like Rokit which has a couple of shops close to each other. There's a mix of different styles and eras, the clothes are in good condition and are cleaned before being put into the shop (this is not always the case in Brick Lane!) and the prices are reasonable. The selection of dresses and bags is particularly nice. If you are looking for a really stunning vintage piece, I highly recommend This Shop Rocks. Their speciality is ladylike clothing, from beautiful, delicate Edwardian gowns to adorable 50s circle skirts. 

Rokit

101 & 107

Brick Lane

London E1 6SE

This Shop Rocks

131 Brick Lane

London E1 6RU

This polka dotted dress was bought at a Saturday market in Brick Lane

2. Lewes, East Sussex

This historical town boasts a number of flea markets, antique shops, antiquarian bookshops and a Norman castle. I like to go to The Needlemakers, where in the basement there are several antique/vintage shops. There's usually a Judy Garland record playing, another good reason to go! As well as clothes from every decade there are also ornaments, perfume bottles, books, records, make-up, costume jewelery and so on. 

The Needlemakers

West Street

Lewes BN7 2NZ

Black handbag from a flea amrket in Lewes

3. North Laine, Brighton, East Sussex

I grew up and live just outside Brighton, so this is my home ground. North Laine is quite a famous area filled with unique shops of every kind as well as cafes and even a toy museum. My old favourite is Snooper's Paradise, a flea market. I think it's getting nicer and nicer in terms of vintage clothing! The upper floor is now filled with lovely dresses and blouses and skirts and there are several clothing stalls downstairs too. In recent years there have been more and more vintage shops springing around North Laine. One of the nicest I think is Kate & Aud, which has lovely feminine items. The shop itself is rather pretty and classic lolita-ish inside. 

Snooper's Paradise

7-8 Kensington Gardens

Brighton BN1 4AL

Kate & Aud

27 Trafalgar Street

Brighton BN1 4ED

Bag from Kate & Aud

4. Charity shops, everywhere

Charity shops are a fixture in most British towns, and I love them! You never know what you might find- some days it will be nothing but sparkly tops with half the sequins off and giant bobbly sweaters, another day your heart will skip a beat when you discover among those sweaters a blouse with perfect lace or a beautiful summer dress.

I found this pretty dress among the Halloween costumes in a charity shop!

I hope you enjoyed this post! I know that not all my blog readers live in the UK, but if you have the chance to visit perhaps this might come in useful. The next time I write about vintage clothes I think I'll share some general tips for vintage shopping, what do you think? Is there anything you'd like to ask?

Thanks for reading and see you next time!

Sapphira

xxxx

Nekorobi Cat Café

This is the next in my series of Japan write-ups!

Now reader, have you heard of such things as cat cafés?

This idea came to Japan from Taiwan some years ago. At these establishments you can play with cats while enjoying some refreshments. 

Being what is commonly known as a cat lady, I had to visit one! After some research I settled on Nekorobi in Ikebukuro.

Here's my outfit:

So, off to Nekorobi!

When we entered, there was a small gate and then a glass door. This is to prevent cats from running out and getting lost! On entering we were greeted by the sight of a huge cat asleep on the counter! His playmates were also around the peaceful-looking room, sleeping, lounging, and chasing each other. Before we could join them, we had to exchange our shoes for slippers, put our things away in lockers and wash our hands thoroughly. 

Haruki-chan (centre) was stretched out on the till counter when we arrived

As well as playing with and observing the cats, you can play with the wii or iPad. I used the iPad to email a lot of people saying "I'm at the cat café!!!!"

The cats are beautifully looked after, with bright shining eyes and soft fur. They are all exceptionally lovely to look at. Well, lovely might not quite be the word for Kiyomori-chan, but he has his own very special charm!

Definitely one of my favourites. I'm also a fan of Haruki-chan, the prince of the place! He's very big and very handsome, and he played with me for some time, chasing the fishing rod. At one point he grabbed it and ran off, dragging me behind him! He's so strong, I had to let go!

I had liked Burt-kun (named after the Mary Poppins character) from his pictures on Nekorobi's website , but he unexpectedly turned out to to have a yanki attitude! He strode around with a tough-guy walk, starting fights and sniffing at things loudly and disdainfully. When I tried to pet him, he totally snubbed me!

 Burt-kun sulking under the table. Shortly after this picture was taken he attacked the cat above him.

Just the same he couldn't disguise the fact that he was cute! My friend took a liking to Kuririn-chan, the huge, milk-tea coloured, emerald-eyed Persian. He looks like a lion! 

In spite of having so much fur, he didn't have a single knot! He must take to grooming a lot more kindly than my Persian, Nikita.

Since our stay was enough to almost fill the points card, we got the feeding bonus. We were given a little dried fish and kibbles to feed the cats with. I gave all mine to Kuririn, since he looks like the sort of chap who appreciates food. Haruki-chan was rushing around to hoover up the leftovers!

This little fluffy thing is Aisha. I have to admit, I totally fell for her! She's very small, with very soft fur, and the most delicate little face. Most of the cats (a notable expection is Haruki) don't interact with the human guests so much. This is understandable, being the nature of cats. However, I think Aisha-chan and I made friends! We had a good game, me tickling her and she grabbing my fingers. I'm afraid I was too busy playing with her to take any good pictures, but if you check this section of Nekorobi's website you can see the all the cats' biographies and plenty of pictures (English page here).

I hope you enjoyed hearing about the café, and I hope it wasn't cat overload. The next installment will be much more Classic Lolita-related (shopping!!!!)

I'll leave you with a few more pictures.

Bye bye!

Happy New Year at Asakusa and Ueno

Hello everyone! I'm back in England, having returned yesterday. 

Thanks very much for your comments while I was away. I have read your suggestions carefully and I'll do my best to improve!

I had a wonderful time in Tokyo, and I spent a bit of time in Yokohama too. Today I'm writing up the first post about my trip!

I arrived on the 31st of December. I managed to do some shopping right away- I picked up a yukata and the latest Gothic and Lolita Bible in the airport! The yukata was on sale in Uniqlo. I've been meaning to get one for ages, so I grabbed it. I wasn't expecting them to be sold in December, even at a reduced price!

It took a couple of hours to get to the hotel in Shinjuku from Narita. I saw Kikirarashoten from the train as it passed through Shibuya!  When I got to the hotel I had a nap, and got up to have dinner and see the new year in. 

I wanted to have an authentic Japanese new year as possible, so my friend and I watched Kouhaku (Red and White), a variety music program that's on every 31st of December. The colours represent two teams of performers, and at the end there's a vote to decide which team did the best. The team leaders/presenters were Arashi for the white team and a very pretty actress for the red team, with performances by Kouda Kumi, Wada Akiko (who seemed to be on Japanese television for the whole of my two-week stay), EXILE, Lady Gaga, AKB48, a lot of enka singers and of course SMAP. And lots more besides! 

As well as Kouhaku, the sun rising over Mount Fuji was broadcast on live on tv, and I ate soba! So that was my fairly authenic seeing-in of the new year. By the way, my Chinese horoscope is Dragon, so 2012 is my year! 

I got up at six o'clock to go to the famous Sensoji temple complex in Asakusa. Going to a temple is new year tradition. 

This is the main entrance to the complex, Kaminarimon. After you pass under the red lantern, there is a long street filled with stalls and shops selling souvenirs, dolls, wigs and hair ornaments, sweets, snacks, leather goods, clothes for your dog etc. Rather different from going to church! Further up there are lots of food stalls, which I particularly enjoyed. 

After browsing the shops, we went to get o-mikuji (fortunes). At the place where you get them there is a little box of long sticks which each have a number on, which corresponds to one of many little numbered drawers containing papers on which your fortune is written. You make a donation and shake the box until a stick drops out of the little hole, then check the number and collect your fortune.

I was not fortunate!

Ouch! To dispel the bad luck, you must tie the slip of paper to a special frame.

A bit tricky with cold fingers, but I tried to tie it as tightly as possible. I hope it stays put! On the left of the picture you can see some of the little drawers containing fortunes. After that we went to the main temple to make an offering and new year's wish. I also got an o-mamori, which I'll show you later.

Then it was time to attack the food stalls! I had sweet sake, takoyaki, yakitori, yakisoba, and one non-fried and oily things, a miso-y, nimono-y thing that was very delicious. I enjoyed the food ever so much! I also felt the need for a cup of tea, so we found a nice little cafe just outside the complex.

Having warmed up a bit, we went back to Sensoji for another look around. It's pretty, and very large, so there's plenty to see. We met a very handsome fellow there!

I think perhaps we met before, when I visited Sensoji for the first time about five years ago. Maybe he remembered me, since he came over to say hello.

He must have felt quite relaxed in my company at any rate, deciding to have a lie down.

This little boy decided to join us! He looked very cute in his puffy green coat, like a pea in a pod.

When we had finished at Sensoji, I suggested we go to Ueno park, since nearly everything was closed that day and at least we could have a nice walk. We actually did a lot of walking that day because we tried to go to Ueno-koen on foot. It turned out to be further than expected, so we had to give up and take the metro, but at least we saw some interesting sights along the way:

Lots of tanuki! Do you like tanuki? I'm very fond of them now, though I recall the first time I saw one of these ceramic ones I wondered what on earth they were supposed to be. In case you are also wondering, tanuki are little sharp-toothed furry mammals native to Japan. In mythology, they are also mischevious shape-shifters, who like drinking lots of sake. I recommend the film 'Pom Poko' if you'd like to know more about them! 

I tried to pose like the tanuki, but I think I rather failed. I just look like a giraffe as usual!

Ueno Park has a small but rather nice shrine, which you can get to by walking through these red gates:

I always think these gates look so impressive!

Even the drain covers are pretty in Ueno!

On the way from the station, we found one lively street with a lot of shops open, including a Matsumoto Kiyoshi (it's a drug store), so I did a bit more shopping!

Let's have some materialism after all that culture! 

1. Bioré Marshmallow Whip I saw this in Singapore and was very attracted by the name, but it was quite expensive so I decided to wait until I went to Japan. It was a little discounted at Matsumoto Kiyoshi, so my patience paid off. I can report that it's definitely a good cleanser! It doesn't dry your skin, but still gets it very clean and leaves it soft and smooth. Just one pump is enough for your face and neck; it's very foamy!

2. False lashes I wanted to try out these separated-type lashes, since they seem to really open up your eyes. These were only 315 yen, but they are very soft and not too shiny. I don't think they look that great on me though!

3. O-mamori This is a charm my friend bought me at the temple. If I return to Japan next year, I'll take it once again to the temple for it to be burnt. I do hope I will return!

4. Bioré oil-in sheet refill I used to just wash my face with foam cleanser to get my make-up off (horror!) but after reading articles about how dreadfully that practice it will age you, I started to use make-up remover. This oil-in sheet remover was being promoted in Singapore, so I picked it up there. There's a cute pink case that dispenses the remover wipes; this is a refill.

5. Esprique Aqua Drape lipgloss I'm keen on Japanese cosmetics, thanks mostly to the attractive packaging! As well as that they're effective for me personally since I'm Eurasian and have a more Asian skin-type and colouring. I've been trying for ages to find a nice lip gloss that looks natural but gives a bit of freshness and colour to my face, and when I saw this coral one it looked just right. Esprique is a slightly pricey brand but I was totally sick of looking for lip gloss in England so I treated myself. I'm glad I did because I'm really happy with it!

6. Lavshuca eye palette Lavshuca has lovely packaging! I liked this set of natural colours. You can create quite a few different looks with this colours, and they all work well together. The middle colour is super sparkly!

I hope you've enjoyed this first post about my time in Tokyo. I'm looking foward to writing up all the rest! Next up is the first day of sales shopping~

Until then,

Sapphira