My favourite drugstore in Tokyo -Ainz-Tulpe Harajuku Quest

In Japan, we have quite a few drugstores. The most famous one I believe is Matsumoto Kiyoshi, which you might stumble across often walking around Tokyo. Matsu-Kiyo -which is what we call the drugstore- is a traditional drugstore, where you find medicines, medical equipments, toiletries and some beauty products. It's not bad if you intend to buy tissue boxes, contact solution and a mascara -you know, commodities. But if you are a tourist who's visiting Japan for a few days and make the most of an opportunity to buy tons of Japanese drugstore beauty bits, then I recommend Ainz-Tulpe rather than Matsumoto Kiyoshi.

Ainz-Tulpe has multiple branches but I believe the one in Harajuku is the biggest and simply the best. They have the basement as well, full of skincare, body care and makeup products. Only a couple of minutes away from both Harajuku and Meiji Jingu Mae Station, the location is very convenient that you can drop by while exploring Shibuya, Harajuku and Omotesando areas.

You find some displays of newest products at the entrance. It usually boosts my excitement -which is a good thing and a bad thing at the same time, because it means I tend to lose control!

There are more displayed of new products near the entrance.

They have the whole shelf dedicated to showing what the popular products are in rank order, which is very helpful when you are overwhelmed. I also love how accurate the ranking is. The products displayed on the shelf are definitely the ones being raved about.

There are so many different types of false lashes as well....!

I couldn't take photos of all the sections because I was afraid to get told off, but there are haircare section, oral care section, medicine section and a small duty free section as well.

When you go downstairs, you find the skincare section, natural & organic section, health care section and quite a few drugstore beauty stands including Majolica Majorca, CANMAKE, Rimmel, Maybelline, Revlon, L'Oreal, Integrate, Kate and the list goes on.

The funny thing is that they have quite a big section for foot care. The average working hours in Japan tend to be longer than other developed countries, and most of them take more than 2 hours a day for transportation. What does it mean? It means their feet are abused! That is why the food care items such as the foot detox mask, some kind of disgusting peeling mask for feet, compression socks and cushions you can insert into heels to reduce the pain, sell very well.

There is nothing you cannot find at Ainz-Tulpe. I go there no matter what when I'm in the area, and end up with a bagful of beauty products to leave there. Story of my life.

Ainz-Tulpe Harajuku Quest
Address: 1-13-14, Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001
Phone: +81-3-5775-0561

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!

The eyebrow pencil creates trendy thick eyebrows : CANMAKE Dual Eyebrow Stick

CANMAKE Dual Eyebrow Stick 600yen
Wow, it's been more than a month since I wrote my last post here. I apologise for the absence, it was just overwhelming to juggle 3 blogs, my job and dealing with the family issue that I'm currently having. I'm not going to write about my life stuff here but it's been tough and I didn't feel like writing in English -obviously because it's much harder for me than writing in Japanese. I'm kind of back on track now (hopefully) and decided to start blogging again! 

Today I'm introducing you my current favourite eyebrow pencil. It's a new item from my favourite drugstore brand CANMAKE, which came out in June I believe. The idea behind this thick eyebrow pencil is that it has two shades in one. 01 has beige brown and dark brown, and 02, the one I've got, has orange beige and ashy brown. So for example you can draw an outline with the darker shade, and fill in the small gaps with the lighter shade. Or simply mix them together as you wish.

You can see that the left half is the ashy brown, and the right half is the orange beige. I have to be honest, it's really hard to draw an outline with this pencil simply because it's too thick, and I tried to use the edge to draw the end of the eyebrow which I ended up making it look so messy. I use KATE eyebrow pencil in BR-2 to draw an outline, including the ends, and fill in the gaps with this pencil mixing both shades. It creates thick eyebrows that have been in style in Japan for a while. Thin eyebrows are kind of old fashioned now in Japan, everyone wants thicker and lighter brows rather than bold and dark brows.

This pencil is perfect for creating such trendy eyebrows. The top swatch is the darker shade, the middle is the lighter shade, and the bottom one is when they both are mixed together. It looks like powder on the eyebrows, giving such a soft-focus-effect. I thought it was a little too hard when I tried at the drugstore on the back of my hand, but when used on my eyebrows it glides on perfectly. I haven't used my eyebrow powder since I got this pencil because it stays longer on my brows and works kind of better than the powder in my opinion, as it sticks to the skin rather than sitting on top of the brows if that makes sense! It's a must-have item if you are aiming for thicker and softer-looking eyebrows.

Well done CANMAKE for another great product with an affordable price tag!