The Japanese Beauty Magazines I got this month

As you may know already, we have a few monthly beauty magazines in Japan. Voce, Maquia, Biteki, BiST, bea's up and some magazines fully dedicated to nail designs etc...you have some to choose from. I tend to buy Maquia and Biteki the most because they are targeting women in the same age group as myself which means the articles and products they are showing are very familiar and useful for me. Voce is also a very nice magazine that I still like, but it's targeting younger readers meaning sometimes their articles aren't informative enough for me. This month I got Maquia and Biteki as usual, so I thought to show you inside!

This month's issue of Biteki is much thicker than usual. It came with a little booklet showing Christmas Coffret from 109 brands in total. I was looking forward to this but to be honest, the layout of the booklet is really boring and it was truly disappointing. Other than that, the articles teaching how to make the most of your 30's are so-so, and some makeup tips are pretty useful.

Maquia did a much better job when it comes to showing Christmas Coffret in a nice layout, but to be honest Voce did the best job in my opinion. So if you want to enjoy discovering all the Coffret for this year, buy Voce!

I loved the fact they've got quite a few pages dedicated to makeup in this month's issue, you can keep up with Japanese trends by reading it. And also I found the one showing many red lipsticks in different undertones pretty helpful.

Next month, most of the beauty magazines will be revealing the beauty awards 2015, which I cannot wait for! I find Japanese beauty magazines the best, I enjoy them much more than I enjoy allure!

Japanese Drugstore Haul!

About a week ago, Alanna from UK2Tokyo and I went to Veggie Food Festival at Yoyogi Park. After we enjoyed Vegetarian Kebab and wandering around the park looking for treasures, we dropped by Ainz Tulpe in Harajuku. If you live in Tokyo and haven't been there before, you need to go there as soon as you can. Because I guarantee you that you will find amazing products you have not seen before. It's quite a big drugstore that has 2 floors and we actually spent 1.5 hours there as long as I can remember. Today I want to share my thoughts on the products I got from Ainz Tulpe as well as the ones I got to review!

Non Kuma
It contains 4 sheet masks for under the eyes that you can use multiple times.  I admit that I was attracted to the cute packaging at first, then I read that it reduces the appearance of dark circles which I am always conscious about. So when I found out it was only 500yen or so, I didn't hesitate to buy one. Far infrared slightly warms them up once applied, which they claim to improve circulation. I have used it once and I wish the sheets were a bit softer, but it feels relaxing to have slightly warm sheets under the eyes. My undereye circles are pretty dark so it might not erase them completely, but I am hoping them to fade a little so that I can reduce the amount of concealers to apply to hide them...

Rafra Balm Orange / Yuzu Honey
Rafra Balm Orange is my favourite cleansing balm in the world. I will write an in-depth review on this product because I have been enjoying it a lot, but this is such a lovely cleanser that makes me excited to remove makeup. Usually they only have the orange-scented one, but they just came out with a limited scent which is a blend of Yuzu and Honey. The scent is much weaker than the original, but it's more lemon-y and refreshing.

Pantene Extra Damage Care Hair Mask
This hair mask is given to me to review on my blog. As it's packed with silicone, it makes my hair feel absolutely silky smooth. My fine hair gets tangled very easily, but I don't even have to comb it in the morning when I have used this hair mask the night before.

Asience MEGURI
Though I cannot share my thoughts on this yet, the concept seems very interesting and unique. Asience, one of the most popular (and classic) hair care brands in Japan which I was obsessed with when I was younger, just came out with this new range called MEGURI. I got the trial set to see if I like them, and I believe it was only 500yen. There are 3 different scents, and I assume there is no difference between them besides the scents. I got Bergamot and Neroli which is the feminine yet refreshing scent, and they also have Lavender and Lemongrass, and Geranium and Mint. Starting with shampoo like you normally do, succinic acid removes calcium built up in your hair. Then apply the gel which supple your hair, and move on to the hair treatment without washing the gel off. I will write an in-depth review once I have tried them!

Ce Parfait Loose Powder / The City Matte
This is another product I got to review. I usually prefer pressed powder (I have been loving the pressed powder from Me Me Me Cosmetics, which makes my skin look like porcelain doll) rather than loose powder, because loose powder is a little too fine that completely disappears on my skin. But this loose powder maintains the matte skin for hours, which is a big PLUS for me! It looks a little bit cakey at the beginning, but once set on the skin, it makes it look flawless. The only downside is that it's a little too pigmented and makes me look pale. I much prefer a transparent powder.

L'Oreal Super Liner V Sculptor / Soft Bronze
I believe this product isn't available in the UK nor the US, but I hope they will bring it out there soon! I use it as an eyeshadow stick rather than an eyeliner, and it is absolutely beautiful. The sponge tip applicator isn't necessarily practical and the powder is pretty loose that falls off on the cheeks, but it looks so pretty on the lid! It's so pigmented and blendable, and the metallic finish is gorgeous.

What is your favourite Japanese drugstore product? Any recommendations? Let me know!

Exclusive in Asia? L'Oreal Lucent Magique Cushion Foundation

L'Oreal Lucent Magique Cushion Foundation  3,200yen
L'oread just came out with their version of Korean Cushion Foundation in Japan. It's already sold in Hong Kong and Thailand I suppose, and might be coming to other countries soon considering the fact this kind of foundation is getting more and more popular over there.

The case and refill come separately. The case is 1,000yen, and the refill is 2,200yen. Meaning once you've used it up, you can repurchase the foundation for 2,200yen which isn't too bad. The shade I've got is N2, which is the lighter shade out of two and another is N3.

You can see how liquidy the texture is, but the puff controls the wetness of it by absorbing the excess water (or whatever it is making it liquidy). It evens out the skin tone when applied on the skin by the cushiony puff, but it has very little coverage that you definitely need a concealer if you have blemishes or dark circles. I don't personally think this is a downside because I don't want my foundation to cover literally everything that I don't even need a little bit of concealer. That would be a scary look as if I am wearing a 'face mask made with foundation'.  Foundation is to even out the complexion, not to mask everything.

If you have dry skin, you will like the finish of it because it makes your skin look naturally healthy and dewy. If you have oily to combination skin like me, you might find it a little too shiny even if you set it with a powder.

This foundation is for those who have normal to dry skin, have no concerns and troubles with it that a foundation isn't even needed -but want something to even out the skin tone to make it look slightly better than bare skin. It also has SPF29 PA+++ which is perfect for a daily use.

Cushion foundation gives this beautiful and natural glow to the skin without making it look heavy and cakey. The texture is pretty unique that you might need some time to get use to -I was like 'EW!' when I tried for the first time because it feels cold and wet, which in't necessarily a pleasant feeling. But I definitely recommend it to younger people in their twenties, including my younger self at the age of 18.