Swap with Winnie from All Styled Up

It all started with an eye shadow trio! Winnie from All Styled Up and I were chatting on twitter one day about the newly released eye shadow trios from Wet n Wild, more specifically the one named "Silent Treatment". She kindly offered to pick one up for me as her local Walmart had them in stock and send it to me. As shipping rates from Canada on just one trio were a bit pricey I suggested we do a swap as she had earlier expressed interest in trying some Japanese cosmetics.

Luckily I sent my portion of the swap to her just before the earthquake struck Japan and she received it in a timely fashion. If you are curious as to what I sent her, click here.

Now on to what she sent me! First of all there is the trio that started it all:
Wet n Wild trio in Silent Treatment
MAC matte-ifying creme
MAC Pro Pan blush in the color Clove
MAC Bronzing Powder in the color Refined Golden

B&BW lotion and anti-bac in the scents: Apricot, Cucumber Melon, Black Raspberry Vanilla, and Midnight Pomegrante. I totally missed B&BW lotions!
MAC Pigment samples in various colors. I was very excited to see these as I haven't used pigments before! I am definitely looking forward to playing with these.

This package definitely brought a smile to my face in a time when smiles have been rare for me.
I am really happy that I did this swap with Winnie, it was a really good experience and I look forward to more swaps in the future. Thanks Winnie!!

I will write more about each of these items as I use them, so look out for more blog posts.

Japan: Springing Back

After all of the events of the past month, spring has finally arrived in Japan. I just hope all of the growth and renewal spreads to those who really need it. The last few weeks have been really tough and I was not very inspired to write here, but things are improving (at least in Tokyo/Yokohama) and I've actually left my house and started to get back into doing things.

One of these things happened this past Friday, my husband and I went to the Ueno Zoo which had just reopened that day. The zoo just got two new giant pandas earlier this year and the cherry blossom trees in the area have also started to bloom.

Here are some pictures from our day.


The Ueno Zoo entrance

The entrance to the Giant Panda exhibit

Shin Shin the female panda

Ri Ri the male panda

Some of the cherry blossoms in Ueno Park

Me, lol I look tired.

Hope you are all having a wonderful week, I have more posts in the works.