Visée Lash Volume Mania Mascara in Burgundy

Visée Lash Volume Mania Mascara in Burgundy 1,400yen
It's actually a while ago, but a popular drugstore makeup brand Visée launched the winter collection includes glittery face powder called Innocent Veil Powder and some limited shades of lipstick and eyeshadow palette. But the only product attracted me was this mascara. They brought out two limited shades of the mascara, one is navy blue and another is burgundy. As I am a warm-tone kind of girl, I picked up burgundy.

Before I start my review on this mascara, I must tell you one thing -I am not a big fan of Japanese mascara. Most of Japanese mascaras have fibres that tend to make your lashes wonky, and most likely pretty wet that stick the lashes together which makes you look like you only have 5 lashes each eye. For that reason I gravitate towards western mascaras. The only Japanese mascaras that separate my lashes are Integrate Matsuiku Girls' Lash Otemba Curl and Heroin Make Long & Curl Mascara Super Water Proof. But for some reason, Japanese people LOVE this kind of formula -both Mote Mascara and Dejavu Mascara, the best-selling mascaras in Japan, stick the lashes together.

So bear that in mind that it might just be my personal preference, but I am not a huge fan of this mascara though the shade is gorgeous! The brush is a traditional mascara brush which looked promising when I had a look at the store, that gave me confidence that the mascara would be separating. However, it instantly sticks the lashes and even a little comb wouldn't help to separate them.

Though it's called 'Volume Maniac', I don't find it volumising at all. It makes my lashes look longer, but definitely not voluminous. However, I LOVE the colour of this mascara -not bold that you can wear on your top and bottom lashes on a daily basis, but gives a little something to the whole look. It's truly a shame that the texture isn't my favourite, because the shade is absolutely gorgeous. I tend to wear it on my bottom lashes only, and use a different mascara on my top lashes (my favourite mascara at the moment is Better Than Sex Mascara Waterproof).

I am glad to try out this mascara, but still wish the formula was a little different! Do you like coloured mascara? Let me know on Twitter or Instagram!

The year I will remember forever

2016 became the year I will remember forever. It passed in the blink of an eye, but it was a very hard one at the same time. No wonder, because it was my Yaku year. Yaku means badluck / unluckiness in Japanese, and Yaku year is an unlucky year as you may imagine. For a girl, the age of 19, 33, 37 and 61 are Yaku years but bare in mind that you must add one year to your actual age -don't ask me why because I have no idea. So I was 32+1=33 in 2016, meaning it was my biggest Yaku year. 

Which kind of explains why quite a few upsetting things happened throughout the year -there was an incident that affected my financial situation massively, I got mugged and lost my phones, camera, all the photos taken in London by then and beautiful makeup products I was carrying around, then my father passed away while I was away from Japan, I was taken to hospidal by ambulance and I decided to leave the company I worked for quite a few years due to harassment. What a year.

It sounds like a horrible year but to me, it was 'the year of change'. Many things ended and the same amount of things started. I finally was able to spend enough time in London to judge whether I really liked the life in the U.K. which was my dream of 17 years. That costed me a fortune and my bank is empty at the moment but I have no regret because now I am 100% sure the U.K. is where my heart belongs and where I should be living in. I made an objective analysis of my life and reached the conclusion which I wouldn't have been able to do in Japan. So now, I am even more ready to strive for my goals this year. It might take a while for me to save up but I will try my best so that I can move to the country my soul shines. 

...until then, I will try my best to write one or two posts per week on this blog, constantly!

One of the most popular lip balms in Japan! Curel Lip Care Cream

Curel Lip Care Cream  850yen*
This lip balm, apparently, is one of the best-selling lip balms in Japan. The brand Curel is known for their products developed especially for those with super sensitive skin caused by dryness. The brand is easily accessible at the drugstores in Japan, and the price isn't too high for a brand for sensitive skin.

When it comes to lip balm, I swear by Carmex and Uriage, nothing else. I have tried many lip balms in the past but 90% of them did not work, or made the condition of my lips even worse for some reason, which is why I only buy Carmex or Uriage. So when I received Curel Lip Care Cream, I was pretty skeptical. I was not expecting anything spectacular. But I must tell you, this is such a basic but good lip balm.

The key ingredient is "creamed' that holds and locks moisture into the skin. It also has another ingredient that coats the surface of the lips so that the moisture stays. It is completely fragrance-free which is suitable for those who are sensitive to fragrance and essential oils.

The texture is very light that you can't even tell that i's on your lips. The lip balm itself is pretty hard which is a good thing because you don't accidentally apply too much of it, and also it makes a perfect base for a lip stick as it leaves a very thin layer of the balm which don't disturb the finish. I noticed my lips weren't as dry after a couple of days and now I am hooked. I still like Uriage but Curel Lip Care Cream is slightly cheaper (Triage is 1040yen I believe, and Curel is 850yen) and works as good -what is the reason for me to go back to Uriage? Now I am fully convinced why this is so hyped up.