Paris Kids 'Nail Tip - One Touch Type'

Ok so it's no secret that I have an addiction to all things cute and nail polish/art so these caught my eye immediately! I have actually bought fake nails from this brand before 2 years ago and loved the easy one touch process to get them on and they were so pretty and sparkly!! *.* 

 I got these from a chain store called Sanki in Japan, but you can also get them at various stores that stock Paris kids products and Paris kids stores like the one I went to in Harajuku on Takeshita Street.  

Because I was in Harajuku I wanted to embrace the 'Harajuku Style' of crazy, cute and fun so I picked these up!

 They come with 24 nails of various sizes so that you are guaranteed to find the right fit for you. The top layer is embellished with little pearls, flowers and strawberries and the bottom layer is just a pale pink ombre glitter nail. The instructions and information are all in Japanese but don't worry, there isn't much to them, just match your nail size to the fake ones and stick 'em on!

 So many nails! <3

Although when I got back from Japan and looked at these I thought "how tacky" but they actually look super cute on and people actually thought I got my nails done at a salon! I chose to mix my nails up with some plain glitter nails and some with embellishments. The one touch type glue is sort of like a gel sticky adhesive attached to the nail which makes application easy, mess and hassle free! 

Even though my nails were pretty secure, after a couple of days they felt a little flimsy and like they were going to fall off, so I used a nail glue from Daiso to reattach them and they stayed for a week! And  I was super impressed that they didn't fall off at work- my nail polish has a reputation of chipping badly at work. Also, after a week of rough treatment by me it was understandable that some of the strawberries fell off and a couple of the petals of the flowers fell off but other than that I loved these!

And these are SUPER cheap at only 324 yen ($3.20 AUD)! And I must add that they aren't just cheap ones of poor quality... they are inexpensive, great quality, cute and are the perfect way to spruce up your nails for spring!

That's all for now,

Sayonara! xo

 

Japanese Snacktime #3 – Gari Gari Kun Ice Blocks

Gari Gari Kun is probably the most popular brand of ice blocks In Japan and it has been around for many years (since my mum was a kid) and they pretty much represent summer in Japan. They are super cheap delicious ice blocks that come in the classic Samurai Blue flavour (soda flavour), many different fruit flavours and also various limited edition flavours (some very very strange). 

This is the classic Samurai blue flavour which tastes like soda flavour and is just very refreshing and delicious! While I did not eat this one, the price is pretty low at 62 yen (60 cents AUD) and it is a classic, I give this snack 8/10. The other one pictured is Japanese pear or nashi pear flavour and it tastes EXACTLY like a nashi pear! The resemblance is extraordinary! One thing I’ve noticed with Japanese snacks and Gari Gari Kun in particular is the match of the true flavour of the food and the ice block form- I don’t get how they do it but it blows my mind! I give this snack 8.5/10. 

I should also explain the unique texture of Gari Gari Kun ice blocks- the outside is like a very hard ice block- like a regular ice block you’d find in Australia, but the inside layer is kind of like a snow cone- it is less dense than the outer layer and is very easy to bite through!

A couple of limited edition flavours I saw while I was in Japan were the Kiwi Fruit flavour and the Gari GaReeeeN flavour.

I really enjoyed the Kiwi flavour although it tasted more like a sweet green apple flavour to me – if you ever see it I definitely recommend trying it! I give this snack 9/10.

 

 

The name of the other flavour is a very funny pun that combines the two names of ‘Gari Gari Kun’ and the famous Japanese band ‘GReeeeN’ – I totally thought it was a great play on words and made me want to buy it- as well as the great packaging combining the GReeeeN logo (smile) and the well-known wide mouth of Gari Gari Kun. Gosh the packaging and advertising in Japan is crazy good! Anyways I didn’t enjoy the ice block as much as the packaging – it was a green apple flavoured ice block with little coloured sherbet drops through the middle. It was kinda fun to eat but nothing too special with regards to flavour. I give this snack 6/10 – but the packaging would have to score a 9/10. 

And let’s not forget that this is the brand that created the infamous Corn Potage (corn soup) flavoured ice blocks, continuing with stew flavour and now - *DUN DUN DUN* Neapolitan (spaghetti with tomato sauce). Having tried corn potage flavour 2 years ago out of curiosity, and not minding the flavour (although it was very weird to eat something that tasted EXACTLY like corn soup in the form of an ice block), I decided to try the Neapolitan flavour this time.

Warning signal #1- it was reduced to 30 yen at the supermarket (30 cents AUD)… not a good sign considering Japanese people eat a lot of crazy things and this was reduced drastically to try and sell them.

Warning signal #2 – all the tasting videos on YouTube all pretty much saying that it’s disgusting.

…Aaaand then I bought it and ate it…

Not the best idea I’ve had. It tasted like tomato juice and it even had little bits of tomato jelly through the middle- YUCK! So then I forced my family to try it as well *mwahahahaha*. One of the most foul things I’ve ever tasted, I give this snack 1/10… It gets one point because of the company’s bravery to release this flavour and the whole experience- like when are you ever going to eat a spaghetti flavoured ice block?... and the answer is now NEVER AGAIN!

I hope you enjoyed my very long post about Gari Gari Kun ice blocks– thank you if you made it this far! If you’ve ever tried Gari Gari Kun I would love to hear what flavours you've tried and your opinions on them!

That’s all for now,

Sayonara! xo

Japanese Snacktime #2 - Drinktime!

Ok so you may or may not have heard that Japan has a ridiculous amount of vending machines, apparently there is one vending machine for every three people in Japan, crazy right? Well it’s not hard to believe because everywhere you go you’ll probably be no further than 100 metres from a vending machine. And it’s super cheap (compared to Australia anyways) with the average 500ml drink like Coca Cola, Fanta or Aquarius being 150 yen (around $1.50 AUD). 

I’ll start with my all-time favourite Japanese drink, it is my first point of call when I get through customs at Narita Airport, and it is none other than the sports drink, Aquarius. I think the flavour is lemon and lime, maybe a bit of grapefruit? I don’t really know but it tastes amazing. With a taste similar to Pocari Sweat, it has been part of a never ending debate in my house: Aquarius vs. Pocari Sweat. 

In my opinion Aquarius is less sweet and more refreshing than Pocari Sweat making it an ideal drink in the summer, but it’s just one of those debates like Coke vs. Pepsi and McDonalds vs. Hungry Jacks (or Burger King depending on where you live).  

Please excuse the blurry photo - Aquarius usually comes in a 500ml bottle but I forgot to take a picture :(

I give this drink 10/10, I’m literally obsessed and I think that the Coca-Cola Company should release it in Australia!

Other variations of this drink include Aquarius Zero - zero sugar and Aquarius Refresh Ice - acerola and mint flavour. Aquarius tastes very similar to the normal Aquarius just less sweet and a little watered down. Aquarius Refresh Ice is something I’ve never seen before and I stumbled upon in my local seven eleven so I decided to try it. As I was walking in really hot weather and boy it was humid, this drink really was refreshing, especially with the mint and acerola. However it is a bit of a unique taste and I would probably just stick to the regular Aquarius. I give Aquarius Zero 8/10 and Aquarius Refresh Ice 6/10. 

 

Until next time!

Sayonara! xo

Japanese Makeup Haul!

Since becoming interested in makeup in the past year or so, I've been dying to try some Japanese makeup because of all the amazing reviews I've heard. So on my recent trip I made sure I'd done some research on the best brands and products to narrow my purchases down to the best of the best, seeing as there's an overwhelming amount of beauty products in Japan!

*sneaky photos* Look at how cute and vast all the displays are! I was truly in heaven!
Now without any further ado, here is what I bought!

From left to right, top to bottom:
eye mascara protector - Daiso
Fasio Smart Curl Mascara C in 'BK001' by Kose
1 Day Tattoo Waterproof Liquid eyeliner in 'Super Black' by K-Palette
Pore Putty BB Cream SPF 50+ by Sana Keana Pate Shokunin
KATE unlock one shade eyes eyeshadow in 'RD-1' by Kanebo
Heroine Make Volume and Curl Mascara
Clear eyelash glue - Daiso
Canmake Cream Cheek in '05'
False Eyelashes Natural Style in 'No. 2 Brown Mix' - Daiso
Maybelline New York Hyper Cosmos Trio in GD-1 'Lunar Gold'
Aqua Lip Gloss in 'Cherry Blossom Pink' - Daiso
Cezanne Mix Colour Cheek in '02' (pearl and matte)
Chifure Lipstick in '153'
*Not pictured* OMI Nourishing Anti UV Non Scented Medicated lip balm in 'Sakura Pink'

Woah... didn't realise how much I actually bought! Beauty shopping in Japan is definitely fun, but a lot of the time I was distracted by the super cute packaging of everything... KAWAII! And while I managed to resist buying things just for the packaging, it took a lot of will power! For the most part 'drugstore' beauty products are fairly cheap compared to Australia, however the Maybelline eyeshadow trio I got is similar to the pricing expected in Australia (this Maybelline product is not currently available in Australia, hence why I bought from a 'western' brand in Japan). Just an example of the price differences: the average price for mascara in Japan is around 1200 yen ($12 AUD) compared to an average of $20 in Australia. As expected, it's cheaper to buy Japanese cosmetics in Japan to avoid import mark ups, whether they be drugstore brands or higher end brands such as RMK, Shu Uemura and Shiseido. But don't be fooled, as with anywhere else Japan still has it's fair share of expensive cosmetics brands such as RMK, Shiseido and Shu Uemura.

While I have only tried a few of these products and have loved them so far, I want to give them all a good try and then maybe post a review of some products in the future!

That's all for now,

Sayonara! xo

Japanese Snacktime #1

About a week ago I returned from a 3 week holiday in Japan! During that time I ate a LOT of food and I brought home a whole lot of unique and classic Japanese snacks. This is a new segment I hope to continue updating once a month, inspired by the CRAZY Japanese snacktime series by one of my favourite YouTuber's 'Sharla in Japan' (who I actually met while I was there... more about that in another post).

Here is a link to Sharla's CRAZY Japanese Snacktime videos

My version of Japanese snacktime will include classic Japanese treats loved by many, limited edition snacks, my favourites and even some crazy weird snacks!

Without further ado, I present the first installment of Japanese Snacktime!

Salt Vanilla Caramel Corn

 For those who don't know, Caramel Corn is an age old classic snack amongst the Japanese! The traditional flavour in a red package is a sweet, caramel flavoured puff of corn that also contains peanuts in the bag (I'm pretty sure the rich salty peanut taste is to break up the sweetness of the caramel corn). This is a special summer edition of Caramel Corn I found in Daiso. In Japan in summer they usually bring out many snacks with salt in them (the Japanese are really smart in that they know that they need to replenish the salts lost from their body in the heat). This snack was quite sweet but the flavour was so moreish that I ate it all... and how cute is the Hawaiian themed packaging? Still, nothing beats the classics, so I still prefer the traditional flavour.
I give this snack 8/10.

Vanilla Ice-Cream Kit Kat

On my first day in Japan I found this interesting flavour of kit kat, but what I didn't know was just how unique it was. According to the packaging, in a cute little cartoon illustrated on the back, the kit kats taste better when they are frozen before eating! While it was a fun novelty to freeze the bar and the idea of vanilla ice cream, the taste wasn't extraordinary and reminded me of white chocolate (I'm not a fan of white chocolate at all) so it isn't something I'd buy again.
I give this snack 6/10.

Haagen-Dazs 30th Anniversary Rose Ice-cream

 When I was in Japan I went a little bit ice cream mad... I had an ice cream or ice block pretty much everyday but it was oh so worth it because I found some delicious treaties like this one! While the idea of rose flavouring may put you off, the combination of the concentrated rose jelly on top and the smooth and creamy perfumed ice cream is a match made in heaven! Seriously, this needs to become a permanent flavour and Australia needs to get some Haagen Dazs!!
I give this snack 9/10.

That concludes the first installment of Japanese Snacktime! Hope you enjoyed this, it's something new but I would like to post more about Japan and Japanese things in the future.

Sayonara! xo