Overdue Japan Haul!

I know I've been back for a while, but after getting comments and tweets about interest in Japan and their make-up, I decided to do a video on my "repurchase list" that I always do when I'm back, and also show you some bits that I picked up for the first time. Hopefully this will help for those of you who love East Asian skincare, make-up or for those of you who are hoping to visit in the future :)

If you are interested in looking at websites that sell Japanese make-up, I found a post/list on Musings of a Muse that may help you out. Be warned - make-up is a totally different thing in Japan, and a lot of products wont be the consistency or have the effect that you may be used to if you are accustomed to Western make-up - it's all part of the fun really! :) If you have any questions I'll do my best to answer - but I'm not that knowledgeable on Japanese make-up either :P

I'm still yet to try the big brands like RMK, Addiction, Cle de Peau, Shiseido and Paul & Joe - but they are just so bloody expensive :P I'm a pretty hardcore drugstore girl when I'm back in Japan ;P

Have you tried any Japanese cosmetics/skincare?

Which is your favourite? :)

<3yu

Haul: Back From Kyoto :)

Before I start my post, I just wanted to say thank you to all my readers - I've reached 1,000 while I was away, and it was the best thing EVER to come home to! :) My blog means so much to me, and to know people want to hear what I have to say means the world! So thanks to every single one of you :)

So I got back yesterday from my 5 day holiday with my mom to Kyoto & Nara. They are located in Western Japan (Kansai), and are also the two previous capitals before Tokyo - and as usual, I picked up some local beauty goodies :) (I would say exclusive but these lot have branched out quite a bit - however their reputation as a Kyoto brand is still very much alive!)

This time the products are from a brand called Yojiya that started in Kyoto in 1904. They are famous for their blotting papers (pictured above) that initially became very popular amongst 'maiko's (apprentice 'geisha's) in the 20's, but today they're probably the best known blotting sheets in the country! These were originally made from the paper that is left behind when stamping gold-leaf onto art and other fancy things, and have been developed/improved since then :)

The brand has loads of make-up items too, but I decided to purchase the 2nd and 3rd most popular products: the mini-sized handcream made from silkworm.. stuffs? (left) and the full-sized lip balm made with 'yuzu' (right), which is a type of citrus.

I've only tried the lipbalm as of yet, but it smells LUSH and does a really good job as far as I can tell :) Not the cheapest of brands, but these two weren't too bad - the two tub set was about £10 and the blotting sheets for one booklet of 20 sheets is about £3. But what kind of a beauty blogger would I be if I didn't think illogically at times? :P

Here are some of my favourite shots of Kyoto and Nara :)

Arashi-yama station

Fushimi-Inari: torii gates built as gifts to the gods by those who want their wishes to come true :)

 Inside Tenryuuji - those signs telling people not to roll around was definitely aimed at me.. how tempting does it look?!

Gardens of Tenryuuji

Nanzenji 

Todaiji Entrance in Nara - with lots of wild deer :P 

Being bullied by a deer into giving her some food lol. 

 Toji Pagoda (and a pretty white bird.. very picturesque/cliche :P)

A very Kyoto-ey lunch! :)

Some goodies I picked up while I was there - I know, the hippo is probably the most pointless thing I've bought in years but she was too cute to not get! :P

Most of my mom's side of the family is from this area of Japan and to be honest - I have no idea why anyone would pick to live in Tokyo over Kansai - to me, it's much more chilled out and interesting!

Also, the peaceful elegance of old Japan never ceases to impress me. I only wish I knew more about Buddhism and Japanese history so I could really understand the significance of the temples, the statues, the national treasures and the buildings that I saw!

I know those were a lot of pictures of travelling for a beauty blog but I couldn't help myself! :P

And thanks again for helping me reach 1,000 readers! :)

<3yu

Blogsale for Japan Earthquake/Tsunami 03.11.11

Hi guys,

I'm sure you guys have heard so so much about the earthquake in Japan that happened on the 11th of March, and I will be the first to admit that when it happens in someone else's country, I forget about it in a few days. But this time, I went through the stomach-dropping process of wondering whether my family was injured or even alive, and the love for the people in my country that I never knew was there became evident.

Now this is a cliche excuse, but because I am a student and only have a part-time job, I don't have as much dosh as I would like to donate to the people in the northern parts of Japan. And I know many who follow my blog are in a similar situation, but I just want to do the best I can to help the people in the worst hit areas by making my blogsale into a fundraiser where all proceeds go to GlobalGiving. I know it's always easier to give when you get something back - I'll be the first to admit!

I will be updating my blogsale constantly as I scrummage through my stash, so please keep checking and I will update on Twitter everytime I add something new. I know I don't have much, but with this motive, I'm sure I will be more willing to give up some items that I know would benefit the people of Japan in the long-run.

I don't want to bore you with sympathy-mongering pictures and videos, but I just want to share with you some testimonials by my friends and teachers from Tokyo that have been going up on Facebook. I will slowly add more as I get permission. These are only from Tokyo - I cannot imagine the devastation going on around the nuclear plant and the northern area.

"Just so everybody knows- we're all okay, although we had quite a scare. It began as a normal tremor, which usually lasts less than 30 seconds. Instead of letting up, it just kept getting worse and worse. When it began to feel like I was standing on the bow of a ship in heavy weather, I told the kids to protect their heads under the desks. Then it really got rough; it would have been difficult to remain standing. Parts of the ceiling were coming down and the kids began to lose it a bit. Finally after a few minutes, it slowed down a bit and we got everybody to the football field. The aftershocks were pretty intense; the light posts were swaying like palm trees. It's unsettling to the core when the ground you stand on becomes so unstable. We're still getting tremors. None of the trains are running and the roads are chockablock. We've got two gigs tomorrow, one at Kawasaki Stadium and the other a few hours away at Canyons Alpine Lodge in Minakami. I wonder what's happening. Mobile phone service is still down. It could be much worse."

"hello. Tokyo around fuchu and mushashi is not damaged. during the quake the earth was like waves for 2-3 minutes. all the building just swayed, not breakage. the cars hopped around like they were attached to springs. after a hour on the schools football field we all went home except for the train riders. they would have to wait another 10 hours or so for the trains to start. the Japanese population here is calm. very polite and orderly. with no trains, hundreds of people waited in perfect, quiet lines for buses and taxes, an example of a harmonious society. up north the whole world has seen the power of the tsunami. right now in this neighborhood, food supplies on shelves are a bit low because of a slow down in delivery and maybe a little more active buying by the population. but we here in Tokyo are very very lucky. up north its the opposite story. tomorrow, Monday, school has been concealed for the students and the teachers will meet for a information meeting on the crisis. school will begin on Tuesday and the school is 100% intact. chaiken.
P.S.   Watch the news about the reactor.   people playing with atoms and mother nature will never turn out good.   humanity never learns, we go to places not meant for us.  we need to humble ourselves."

"Tokyo is seemingly getting back to whatever 'normal' is. Fuchu Starbucks was packed as usual."

"About 5 o'clock I went to buy some batteries. Inageya, Don Kihote, Wellspoint, 7-11, Lawsons, Sun Drug, a mom and pop electronics store, Siems. Nothing but the very small batteries. I wanted some medium sized ones. I would not say that panic buying is going on in the stores, however it was bordering on that in some ways."

"There has been a creepy blackout of television since the quake. I don't watch but the spousal unit does and, according to her, all commercial broadcasting has been suspended to a degree that has not been seen since the last emperor died and the country descended into full-on "where do we go from here" mode (Jan. '89). All earthquake coverage all the time. Will there be even more disturbing fatality statistics?"

Here are some pictures my Mom sent me of one of the rooms in our house:

I will never EVER judge anyone for not buying from the blogsale or not donating - again, I'm the first to admit that I don't always give to charity, and I don't always pay attention to those who are suffering in other parts of the world. But if you see something you like, just remember it's for a good cause :) Here's the link - it can also be found near the top of the blog under the videos.

If you would, please link this post or retweet the following on Twitter to spread the word of this blogsale:
"Fundraising Blogsale for Japan http://tinyurl.com/63nvt97 Please RT :) #PrayForJapan"

If you would like to donate something to sell, please email me at makeyuup@gmail.com and we will make it work :)

Thank you for your time, and thank you especially to those who showed sympathy to me over Twitter - it meant so so much.

<3yu

update !!

I have been talking a lot  lately about the Asian cup so I guessed that it would be palatable if I post an update in case you have been following my posts :)
Yesterday, Japan won the AFC after a great game against Australia to make a record of a 4 time winner of the Asian cup.. well deserved Japan !!

S.Korea vs Japan.. what a game !!

I have been looking forward to seeing this game and it was worth watching !!!

Both teams were extremely strong and played very well until the last minutes; Korea opened the goals through a penalty in the 23rd minute but Japan was able to equalize it before the break !! The second half didn't change the final scores but it was pretty exciting since the players from both sides were fighting to score a goal and win their place  in the final of the AFC Qatar 2011.

During the first minutes of the extra time; Japan took the lead through Hajime Hosagai. And right when everybody lost hope that Korea would score ,in the very last minute of the second half of the extra time, 

Hwang Jae-won scores an amazing goal to prove that the red devils never give up !!

But sadly ; this spirit wasn't there when the penalties took place; Korean players couldn't score any goal and I should admit my impression by the Japanese goalkeeper . Hard luck for Korean  team,they played wonderfully and that was the best game I've watched since long time . 

In contrast; Uzbekistan vs Australia game was ridiculous. It didn't seem like a semifinal game and I really think that luck was the only thing that qualified the Uzbekistan team to the semifinals ; I actually stopped watching the game when Australia scored their third goal because I thought it was too boring and I was right since obviously the game finished with an astonishing success for Australia 6_0 Uzbekistan. 

I  really don't know what got me into soccer again !! haha 

Update for going off Benzoyl Perxoide--a month later

I'm still in Korea, still with little time to post, but I just wanted to share my progress on going off Benzoyl Perxode with you, since a lot of people emailed me about it. You can see the original post here
I would like to stress once again that the fact I get post inflammatory hyperpimentation from benzoyl peroxide may not be a universal experience, but I think a lot of people experience it since 90% of my friends who went on benzoyl peroxde reported the same to me. Secondly, I do put on sunscreen while using benzoyl peroxide, since I use sunscreen religiously anyway. Thirdly, I'm not on any birth control pills or any other things that is prone to cause hyperpigmentation.
Okay, now that that's clear, I would really like to share my progress with you! :)
When I posted last time, I got mostly clear skin, but now my skin is even clearer, kind of similar to when I was using benzoyl peroxide. When I am really stressed out or stay up late for several nights in succession, I would get breakouts (which I also did while on benzoyl peroxide), but the breakouts would be about 1.5 more than when I was on benzoyl peroxide. The happy news, however, my skin is finally able to let all the acne mark traces fade within 5 days. For example, I got a big pimple three days ago, while staying up for another board meeting, and now you can't really detect it. I hope that by tomorrow morning, no traces of it will be left.
I also experienced some other things while going off benzoyl peroxide, but I wasn't sure that it was purely coincidental. However, now after I asked several of my other friends who are also trying to go off benzoyl peroxide, they told me the same thing: hands and necks, which touched benzoyl peroxide before seems to be much more acne prone for a month. I got those tiny tiny white heads on my hand even though I never did before. It wasn't a lot or really gross or anything, just bizarre. :)

Oh, and in my last post, I teased you with the promise that I got of lot of stuff in a neighboring country, that country is Japan! I got a lot of skincare items, sekkiso, horse oil, sofina jenne, curel, etc. :) I'll be reviewing them soon! Japan also has a lot of very very exciting makeup that I want to share with you too.
The upsetting part is that I feel so old when I was in Japan...I don't know why since I'm probably one of the youngest in my firm. I think maybe the mini skirts, cute hairstyles, and kawaii tops got to me...I was wearing this boring business suit while girls around me are so flamboyant, even the few business associates I met with! I have undyed waist long black hair which is un-banged, unlayered. At worst, people say my hairstyle is archaic, and at best, classic...This business associate I met with insisted on introducing me to her stylist, and she had quite fashionable red tinted blond hair with long layers, and cute bangs. I was really tempted to have her go at it, but when she told me I should have shoulder length hair, I found an excuse to say that I have to go, etc And so I dragged this friendly associate with me to the department stores to do a lot of shopping! :)