Life

Japanese Makeup Shopping: My Experiences

~ stashy ~ 82 Comments

Today I’ll discuss some of my observations and experiences in shopping for makeup in Japan. Hopefully this will help someone out there who might be taking a trip to Japan.
Japan_makeup_shopping_2016_20
First thing. There are SO. MANY. BRANDS.
It’s overwhelming! In an average Canadian drugstore, there may be about 8 key brands. In Japan, there’s at least double that amount. And some of them look so similar, it’s hard to distinguish between them (cue joke about how all Asians look alike 😛 ) I spent some visits in the beginning just surveying my options and noting down potential buys without buying anything – I didn’t want to buy things I’d regret. As far as I know, there are no returns on makeup in Japan.

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Japanese Makeup Haul!!!

~ stashy ~ 106 Comments

Yeah you were all waiting for this, weren’t you! 😛

Personally, I didn’t think I went completely overboard with makeup shopping. For one thing, I was supremely worried about wandering around Tokyo at night by myself to go shopping. Why I had to go shopping in the evenings was because my days were filled with sightseeing! And then, by the evening, I was so tired from walking around all day, I didn’t spend too much time shopping.  Also, I was shopping rather critically: lots of Japanese makeup is super sparkly and sheer. If it wasn’t something I’d truly use, I passed on it – so that left me with a more narrow band of items I’d spend my money on (not to mention, haul home).  Here’s what I got:

CANMAKE
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• Marshmallow Finish Powder in MO Matte Ochre and MB Matte Beige Ochre
• Cream Cheek in #05 Sweet Apricot and #14 Apple Cream Red (I swear I had another shade in my basket but it didn’t make it home with me!)
• Gokubuto mascara (volumizing)
• Gokunobi mascara (lengthening)
• Colourful Nails polish in #33 Pink Glitter
• Lasting Multi Eyebase WP (eye shadow primer)
I had some ideas of brands I’d want to look at when I was in Japan. I originally glossed over Canmake as being too girly for me. But it turns out their products are quite well reviewed and very reasonably priced! I ended up researching a lot on @cosme awards (which seems to be the Japanese makeup Bible) to find out which items to try and several of these were award winners. I do wish I’d gotten more cheek products – they have so many cute ones to choose from.

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More Japan Trip: Food and Culture

~ stashy ~ 75 Comments

Japan is such an interesting place to a foreigner like me. No matter what you hear about Japan in the media, it doesn’t prepare you for what the reality is.  Here are some photos and observations I took note of during my trip.

Food

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Sushi was very fresh. They do not offer any rolls with avocado (so no, there are no California rolls).

I had already been advised that sushi is not the mainstay food in Japan. In fact, I only ate sushi 3 times while I was there.  The food we came across the most were:
• ramen
• donburi (beef rice bowls, think Yoshinoya)
• “curry” (which is like a brown gravy with a little bit of spice)
• tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet)
• yakitori (chicken skewers)
• tempura
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Japan Trip Photos!

~ stashy ~ 77 Comments

Helloooo, I’m baaaaack! 🙂
I’ve been back since last week and getting back into reading blogs a bit here and there… it’s always a challenge to get back into blogging for some reason. I think it’s about routine. Having 2 weeks of unstructured time really makes it difficult to follow a schedule again.
Anyway, this post is about my trip! I debated about the level of detail to include about my Japan trip – this isn’t a travel blog and I’m no travel writer. So I’ll devote a few posts to the trip itself: today will be an overview of where we visited with photos. I’ll do another post on random stuff like food and cultural stuff. Then, the MAKEUP!!! 😀 😀 😀

We started our trip out with a 5 day stay in Tokyo:

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Our first stop was the Tokyo Skytree

Warning, picture heavy!

Sayounara!

Image ~ ~ stashy ~ 57 Comments

Baymax
Bye for now! I’m off to Japan for 2 weeks. 🇯🇵

I will try to post on Instagram and Twitter (@stashmatters on both) while I’m there, but it depends on the wifi situation.

I’ll also be taking an additional week off from blogging to recover from my vacation, so I’ll be back mid-June. 😉

See you later! (jaa mata!) 😙

What I’m Bringing to Japan (Travel Makeup)

~ stashy ~ 50 Comments

I’m a very light packer when it comes to makeup during vacation. I’ve learned over the years that I end up not using at least half of what I pack when I give myself too many options. While on holidays, I essentially stick to one makeup look.  Here’s my makeup menu for the next 2 weeks:

Base:

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• Lorac Behind the Scenes Eyeshadow primer

• Shiseido Sheer & Perfect Foundation in O20 – I debated about which foundation to bring (the Vincent Long Water Canvas was a contender) and this one ultimately won out because it contains SPF, wears well, and can be applied with fingers.

• Becca Under Eye Brightening Corrector – the glass pot is too cumbersome to pack with me so I’ve scooped out a little bit into this tiny sample container (review here)

• Shiseido Natural Finish Cream Concealer in #2 Light Medium – I also debated about which concealer(s) to bring. At first I was going to bring a separate one for under eye and another for general face concealing. This one is a good all-around concealer – I don’t love it for under eyes but it’s workable. Unfortunately, I think this concealer is discontinued.

• MAC Chromagraphic Pencil in NC15/NW20 – I compromised by bringing a concealing pencil – I like this concealer pencil for pinpoint concealing and it’s handy for highlighting the brow area or inner eye.

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What I’m Bringing to Japan (Travel Skincare)

~ stashy ~ 53 Comments

While I tend to pack light for my makeup, I don’t skim when it comes to skincare when I travel.  I am fastidious in my skincare regime and I still maintain separate products for day and night time.
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This is why it’s important for me to hoard travel sizes of my favourite products when I find them! If not, I just decant them into travel size containers.

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Japan Makeup Shopping List

~ stashy ~ 54 Comments

As you may know, I’m leaving soon for a 2 week vacation to Japan! You guys can’t even imagine the excitement of preparing a shopping list for freakin’ Japan! 😀
drugstore makeup
😮

Before Korean cosmetics took the world by storm, Japanese makeup was the main Asian makeup game in town. I remember pouring over online resources to learn about the various Japanese brands and subsidiaries (Kanebo, Shiseido, Kose and Sana own the lion’s share of brands – Shiseido has so many sub-brands, it’s hard to keep them straight), and placing many orders online for Japanese cosmetics. Now, I finally get to see this stuff firsthand!

Feature image source

Warning, long post…

Taking a Blog Break

~ stashy ~ 83 Comments

Hello! I’m taking this week off blogging to give my wrist a rest.

 

I’ll still be around commenting, I just won’t be posting! Have a great week – see ya!

The Easter Tag

~ stashy ~ 49 Comments

This isn’t anything official – I pulled these questions from several blogs and YouTube videos and chose the questions I like best!

1. Do you celebrate Easter?
Yes. Although the root of Easter is a religious holiday (and some would argue even more significant than Christmas), I feel it’s such a cultural / commercialized holiday, most people seem to “celebrate” Easter simply by stuffing themselves full of chocolate. 😛

Source.

2. What is your favorite thing about Easter?
The chocolate! 😀

Feature image source.

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