Japan: The future of vending machines

Something almost everyone notices on a trip to Japan is the vending machines, they are quite literally EVERYWHERE you go that includes places like the top of Mt. Fuji!

(image from google image search)

This past weekend on my way home from Shibuya I came across this in Shinagawa station. Its a touchscreen vending machine!! Or as my BF and I like to call it the iVendingMachineTouch! We were so entranced by it, that we actually ended up buying a drink from it. After you make a purchase a big smiley face comes up on the screen and it says "thank you" in English. Sadly I wasn't fast enough to take pictures of that. After we made our purchase we walked around Shinagawa station and I noticed there was a line to use the machine when we left.

TNOTW: Eyeko Saucy Polish

Its been a long time since I posted some new toes, this week I am wearing Eyeko's saucy polish. Let me first state that generally I steer clear of bright reds, I think its because my complexion and red don't go well. This is not to say I don't enjoy other shades of red, you will just probably never see me rocking MAC russian red in a FOTD on this blog anytime time soon. So when I saw that eyeko had released a red polish that wasn't as red as some others on the market I decided to give it a try. I really like the color and with two coats you get this nice opaque red.



What are some polishes you have been into lately or are interested in for fall?

Blogger Love : from Kat of Mai-Kat Oshaberi

Over the last month or so Kat of Mai-Kat Oshaberi and I have been chatting over twitter, via email, and our blogs. During one of our conversations on twitter about the urban decay naked palette, the MAC shadow Amber Lights came up. Amber Lights is one of my favorite shadows and is in fact my first MAC e/s, which explains why even though mine became a crumbly mess that I keep in a tiny zip-lock bag unable to clean out the pot for back to mac. Kat graciously offered to back to mac some of her extra containers and grab me a new one. In addition to my new amber lights she sent me these wonderful things!

First my sad looking amber lights:


Then compared next to my new one:


The cute card she included, which I am pretty sure she made!


A MAC quad (my first pro quad, time to depot my e/s!) with Mylar e/s:


Some items great for makeup storage and on the go!:


New tweezers from avon:


an NYX cupcake lipgloss in "apple" (fitting if you know my lastname!) and a color design lipstick in "love it":


and finally.....I don't know how she knew I loved macadamia nuts, but I am so happy she sent these!


Thanks you so much Kat!!! You really spoiled me! I am glad to have made such a great friend from beauty blogging! I look forward to chatting more with you online and maybe one day I can make it to Hawaii (still haven't been there!)

I definitely hope you all check out her blog!

Nails : Chanel Les Khakis De Chanel

(image courtesy of Chanel)

For the recent Fashion's Night Out (FNO) in New York many brands created items for the event, Chanel was no exception. Their special limited edition FNO items were nail polishes in three different colors called Les Khakis De Chanel. The three shades are named khaki brun, khaki rose, and khaki vert and are three very beautiful shades. On the actual night of FNO here in Tokyo I didn't have a chance to check out the Chanel store to see if they were on sale here, so I stopped in last Friday while visiting my BF on his break from work. It turns out I am in luck because these polishes will be released here on October first and will only be for sale in the store in Omotesando. I had wanted to put a set on hold to purchase on 10/1, but was told due to the fact that its limited edition and they don't know how many of each they are getting at the moment they were not letting people reserve them and that probably next week (this week now) they would be able to do so.

For swatches of all please check out the review on swatchcat's blog here.

So Which one do I buy!?! What are your thoughts on the best of the three? Right now I am leaning towards khaki rose and khaki vert.

e-Mooks!

At first you maybe asking yourself, "What is an e-mook??". To begin allow me to explain what a "mook" is, its a book and magazine hybrid. Here in Japan an e-mook is one of these book/magazine hybrids that includes a free gift. I love this idea of getting free gifts with my magazines, I only wish that I could read everything in the magazines I buy here! If only the US would pick up on this trend, perhaps it would save the magazine industry!

I bought my first e-mook the other day after browsing them in my local bookstore and might I add there are A LOT of them in the bookstore at the moment. The one that seemed to be the best value for my money and served my use was the one for the Kitson 2010 Autumn & Winter collection (980¥/$11.50USD). It includes a nice sized cosmetic pouch and a very soft tote bag. I was really in the market for the pouch as I wanted something I could bring a few items of makeup in that was a) water proof and b) fit in my bag without taking up too much space. I really like it so far, my only wish it that it came in other colors! I like pink, but a nice blue or turquoise would have been nice as well.


The Kitson e-mook set.

The mook/catalogue.

The free gifts.

Fashion: Fashion's Night Out Tokyo

Two days ago many of the beauty and fashion bloggers I follow on twitter started raving about the Fashion's NIght Out event in NYC. Reading all of their tweets made me do a little googling and I discovered what exactly the event was and became so envious, not because I wanted to buy tons of brand name items but because it just looked like a fun chance to experience a night of beauty and fashion in NYC. The morning news program I watch in Japan even did a little spot on the event in NYC. I then started to notice that they said it was a worldwide event and that the event was actually taking place on 9/11 here in Tokyo. I had become really curious about going and even posted to my facebook about it on the morning of the event. My friend Jo (Hi Jo!) replied with intrest and joined me in checking out what it was all about.
The event here in Tokyo took place mainly in the Omotesando, Harajuku and Aoyama areas of Tokyo, and the base for the presentations and ceremonies was at the Omotesando Hills Building.

Here are some pictures from the event here in Tokyo!
(warning its a bit picture heavy)



The Omotesando Hills Building





Outside La Floret in Harajuku, they had this interesting guy on stilts, a fire breather and various other acts as part of their electro circus.

The freeze models in the windows at F21 Harajuku



Jo and I with our free F21 balloons!

The closing ceremony in the Omotesando Hills Building, Anna Tsuchiya was the host/MC


The only thing I purchased that night was a T-shirt where the proceeds were going to charity. Overall I had a fun time with my friends checking out stores and brands and enjoying music and drink. Am definitely up for it again next year!

Did anyone else make it out to the FNO in Tokyo? Or in your closest city?

Fashion: Decisions Decisions

Despite that its still around 35C (95F) here daily, I am already planning for fall. I think in part because I can't wait for the fall weather! With that being said, I have decided that oxfords are going to be my new shoe purchase for this fall as I already have boots I love and booties too. I was browsing stevemadden.com and came across two pairs that I really like, but the problem is I can/only want to buy one. Here is were you my friends and loyal readers come in, please help me decide which to buy! Here are the two shoes I am considering:

(all images from stevemadden.com)

The Trouser style:
*point, they have no laces.
*considering them in either black or brown, but other colors are available like grey or navy.

Trouser in Brown

Trouser in Black

or

The Tuxxedo style:
* has laces
* again considering them in black or brown.

Tuxxedo in Brown

Tuxxedo in Black

So ladies which would you choose? Which do you think I should choose?

Thanks!!

Hair: Coppola Keratin Complex Treatment

In general I love my hair, it was only after I moved to Japan where it is extremely humid in the summer that I noticed how frizzy it can get. For the past few years one of the ways to tame my frizzy mop was to get a Japanese straight perm. I loved the way it looked and felt, but usually after a few months I would get bored with my hair having almost no volume. In addition during that time, I couldn't dye or highlight my hair due to the amount of damage that the straight perm had done. This left me with straight hair and really obvious roots each fall.
So when I heard about the Brazilian Blowout and Keratin Complex treatments earlier this year I was very curious to try it out because I could have my color and also tame hair. I would say from about April till August I spend many hours trying to find a salon here in Tokyo, Yokohama or any other place in Japan that offered the service. I had almost given up hope in trying to find a salon, that is until it came up when I was having lunch with the ladies. My friend Karen (Hi Karen!) said that she had recently read an article in a magazine called "Being A Broad" (a magazine for female foreigners in Japan) that had advertised something similar to the process I was describing. When she got home later that day she sent me the link to the article, and I checked it out. It was an ad at a local international salon called Sin Den. I had heard about the salon before, but never been there. I initially contacted them for more information and a price quote, then after a bit of consideration I finally decided this was a chance I couldn't pass up.


This salon used the Coppola brand Keratin Complex treatment, which overall took about 3 hours to do on my hair. It began with getting my hair washed 2-3 times with a clarifying shampoo. Then afterward my hair was dried to the point that no water/moisture remained in it. It was then time to apply the keratin, while the smell was not as bad as your average perm smell it the fumes did get to my eyes. After the keratin was in my hair I got to enjoy a coffee (complementary of the salon) and read the latest British In Style magazine while I waited the 20 minutes for it to process. When the 20 minutes was up they then flat-ironed all of my hair in small sections, this is probably the most time consuming aspect of the process. Then I was done at the salon, at this point my hair felt very heavy and brittle. The stylist assured me that this was normal and that when I could finally wash my hair (3 full days later), I would have the silky smooth hair I was after. So I waited 3 days, I'd like to add they were 3 days of hell. In general I wash my hair about every other days or every 2 days, so 3 days is pretty hard for me. In addition the heat was really bad during those days and I became paranoid that the copious amounts of sweat from my head would void the process. Finally that Friday morning I woke up and ran into the shower to wash my hair, I was in heaven, my hair was exactly what I had wanted.

Here are some pictures to compare:


Before:



After:


The Pros:
* Soft/silk hair as promised.
* Can still color my hair if I want.
* Lasts for 4-5 months with the proper care.
* My hair is straight, but not so straight that it looks un-natural.

The Cons:
* Expensive! It was about double the price of a Japanese straight perm here in Japan.
* Have to use special sulfate-free shampoo and conditioner.

Overall I am really pleased with the results, it is a great alternative to the Japanese straight perm and is very gentle on processed hair!