perfume is on its way

I'm excited. My order of five perfume samples has been shipped! It should arrive in a couple days. I'm hoping the package will fit in my mail box.

I ordered:
(Anna Sui) Secret Wish Eau de Toilette
(Issey Miyake) L'eau d'Issey (for women)
(Estee Lauder) Beyond Paradise (for women)
(Guerlain) Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune Eau de Toilette
(Chanel) Cristalle

The only one I've smelled before is Secret Wish. For all the others, online reviews intrigued me so I thought I'd try them out. Approximately $2 for a 1 ml sample and $1.40 for shipping from kousui shop (perfume shop). I wonder if my mom will like any of them.

fasio lipstick RD 481, and vicious cycles

Fasio is a Japanese brand with BoA as the image model. Since I'm not a big fan of BoA's music, I have avoided the cosmetics until now.

Today, I bought the Shine Star Rouge lipstick RD 481, which is a pinkish red, semi-sheer lipstick. It's actually a little darker than is probably suitable for daily use, but would be fun for night time. Or I could use less lipstick during the day. It suits me fairly well. At 672 yen, it's fun to sample (smaller than normal size so cheaper). I like the consistency and the scent is light and discreet.

Now I want to try a different color. Ugh! No good!

I have got to stop reading all these blogs. The more I read, the more products I want to try. Yesterday I investigated Lush's body creams, searching for the Japanese equivalent of "Smitten." There is a product called "肌の愛情" which roughly translates as "affection for the skin." It contains almond, so I gave it a sniff. A faint almond scent; pleasant but not enough to make me want to buy it. At 1800 yen, it's a little expensive considering I have absolutely no need for body moisturizer. I'll wait for the popular "Snowcake" soap to appear (Nov. 29?) and give that a try. Soap is a little more useful, and much cheaper.

I wonder if Lush has gone public. They have a killer business model. I need to find a cosmetics index fund.

wed. status

I tried the Pantene Smooth and Sleek straightening mousse that I picked up in CA. It works pretty nicely. I should have given up on that Mods styling cream more quickly. It's useless on my hair, but I like to use up whatever I have. I need to get a proper brush for blowdrying my hair straight.

Lip shimmer as usual. A little powder too. I put on a little mascara, but it doesn't seem to make up for the fact that I need more sleep. Imagine that. Tried the Chanel Chance that my friend lent me. It's quite a strong fragrance, but doesn't seem very exciting to me.

Wearing my new silver ring. Rings are nice when bracelets don't go with my clothing.

Have spent two days shopping around for samples of In Love Again (Yves Saint Laurent) and Secret Wish (Anna Sui). No single store carries both, of course. I was on the verge of ordering In Love Again, but the site registration requires credit card information, which annoys me in principle. So here I am, stymied again. Maybe I'll buy the full size perfume from Rakuten (which has a slightly less annoying registration process). If I don't like the perfume, I can always give it to my friend.

a couple hours later:
I solved my dilemma by compromising. Now the only question is, when to order? I'd like to order now, but I should be studying. Oh well, ended up ordering a bunch of samples, including Secret Wish! Excited.

jamelia at hmv japan

I guess it makes sense. British (I think) music store carries British artist! Woohoo! Cheaper than the U.S. import price, naturally. Yay, I'm going to buy Jamelia's Thank You album (2004 Japanese release). Kinda curious about her live DVD, but eh. I don't think I need to watch her perform, even though I'm sure she's good.

I never realized that there are HMV stores in Shinjuku alone. They're hidden in the MyCity and Takashimaya department stores. I only knew about the huge HMV in Shibuya. Maybe I'll check them out today.

weekly grooming

Laf. Grooming has the nuance of pet care, doesn't it?

Anyway, after my recent (er long term?) apathy, I finally trimmed my eyebrows a bit, and tried out a nose strip. Nose strips are really fun when they work. Probably really gross for the observer, but really fun for me. I also applied Biotherm D-stress lotion, which smells lovely. A nice, clean, relaxing scent. I looked online but it doesn't appear to be carried anymore! Ironic. I could have the name wrong. I'll have to check. The bottle looks like the packaging for Biotherm Biopur Melting Moisturizing Marifying Fluid for C/O but it's hard to say.

Trying out Givenchy Only perfume today. It hasn't made much of an impression on me. Wearing zero hair products, and Shu Uemura Lip Shimmer in Strawberry Compote (discovered via Berta). It's lasted me two years now. I can't wait to use it up and start playing with the Shiseido clear lip gloss I bought. Suckered in by the limited edition lip gloss. It's wonderfully light and glossy though.

Ooh, Shiseido Garden C has a free eyebrow consultation available for visitors until the end of this month. I will have to take my mom there. Perfect timing, as she was curious about getting her eyebrows done. Should be fun!

2005-10-26 note:
The Biotherm lotion that I like is actually Biotherm D-Stress Nuit, apparently no longer part of their product line. Oh, the irony.

tofu dinner

I had a very elegant Kyoto kaiseki dinner of various types of tofu and seafood. It was very nice, but not quite delicious enough for the approximate $35 price. My friend and I went to the kaiseki restaurant on the 14th floor of Takashimaya(高島屋) in Shinjuku (新宿). The staff were very pleasant and they take credit cards (important for my friend). The view from the 14th floor is very nice too. The moon was low on the horizon and a pretty yellow that evening.

Speaking of nice views, the 20th floor lobby of the Hotel Century Southern Tower has a very nice view of the city. Quite lovely. There's a lively bar there which looks like a pleasant place to spend an evening. The hotel looks modern and stylish. It's a bit surreal to see all these Americans in the hotel lobby though. I bet lots of techies stay at the hotel because it's in the same building as one of the Microsoft offices. Ironically, my friend from Apple was staying there. It's certainly in a convenient location. Just 3 minutes from Shinjuku station.

I bought some rice crackers as a little souvenir for my friend, and a set of nicely wrapped shrimp crackers for my parents. Although I believe my parents are on a low sodium diet. Maybe I'll have to give the crackers to someone else. I adore shrimp crackers.

oddity

I find it odd that I love reading makeup reviews and such, but am still too lazy to wear makeup on a daily basis. I wear sunblock and that's about it.

I supposed that I really know how to kill time.

ehow really has everything!

They even have articles on "How to Cancel a Date at the Last Minute" and "How to Get Rid of a Housemate You Don't Like."

Valuable knowledge!

Actually, the housemate one is merely tips from eHow users.

scruffy

I am feeling pretty scruffy today. When I am sleep deprived, I have zero interest in my appearance.

I really need to start ironing my clothes or get clothes that don't need ironing.

Want new clothes. Want to get rid of the clothes I don't wear. But just spend a lot of money on a pair of shoes, so shopping embargo for at least a month. In the meantime I can get rid of the clothes I don't wear.

too much stuff

I spent all of Sunday (yay for 3 day weekends) cleaning my room. Obviously, I have too much stuff if it takes that long to clean my room. Well, I reorganized and made my room neater. I also filed a bunch of receipts that have been sitting around for half a year in various paper bags.

I need to reorganize my closet so that my hamper can fit inside it once again.

I have a pair of sneakers and a pair of stack-heeled shoes that I need to give away. The sneakers are too big for me, and the heeled shoes are too tall for my knees. Yesterday I bought a cute pair of black shoes with a nice moderate heel. Very happy about them, but the true test of whether they are comfortable will be when I wear them for a day. They were rather expensive too. Sigh, shoes in big sizes are hard to find in Japan. I won't need any other shoes for a long time if this new pair proves to be comfortable though!

today's character face

ヾ(´ー｀ )ノ


another one:

...ρ(..、)ヾ(^ー^;)ﾖｼﾖｼ

another:

p( ｀o´ )q ｵｯｽ！