Needed to explain my recent hiatus. Will be back in a couple of days when we settle down in the new location.

With much remorse I noted today that my supply of Sakuranoyu or better known as Sakura Flower Tea, is at its' end. I only have enough for 1 serving left. Or 2 if I'm lucky ^^;;

I have a pension for salty pickled things ^^ I love pickled Ume (plums) as well, particularly the one with akajiso (red perilla). Not vinegary(althought that is okay too) Salty is important! Anyone know where I can get some Sakura tea? I had to get a friend to sneak out of a buddhist camp in Japan to run to a supermarket an find this for me XD

I also drink this, Ume Kombu Cha (plum flavoured Seaweed Tea). I know that it is usually used as a stock base and makes a good flavouring for friend rice ^_^ I treat it as a savoury soupy drink on days that are too cold in the office.

I love tea ^___^ I'd take some pictures of my other teas but I'm in the midst of packing up my office and moving so some of the stuff I like I have not stocked up on yet. I can't wait for our new office pantry. I'm going to rule with tea!

Last week coincided with a major holiday here in Malaysia. Needless to say I had some much needed free time to do some "ME" things. Shopping, Tea with friends, Movies... and cleaning out my room -.-

I'm a big supporter of recycling. I don't usually throw away stuff into the bin if I think it can be used elsewhere. I like sample containers because they are fabulous for traveling. What I don't need I put aside for my bi-monthly(sometimes after 3 months, if I'm lazy) trip to the recycling center. I know it's not much but I like knowing I'm doing my little part for the preservation of the planet's natural resources.

Anyways, I was collecting, arranging and cataloging all the different recycables in my room when the Boyfriend sorta walked in. I never show anyone my recycling collection. Generally, chinese people will just assume you are hording trash. Close... but not quite. So it was kinda like a 'deer in the headlights' kind of moment. Me... surrounded my cardboard boxes and glass bottles...the Boyfriend... staring down at me, bursting out laughing...

He then proceeded to take pictures of the collection, insisting I show to people who read my blog about my strange abnormality...sighs... So this are the items I've bought and used up since July.

I picked up a copy of VoCe earlier in the week and was pleasantly surprised with the amount of samples in it. There was Paul and Joe's primer and the new light cream foundation N (in my colour too!) and generous sampling of Est's new line up. I picked it up because I noticed the paul and joe zip bag in it that was a rather cute purple colour. There was a fantastic article on how they tested out 10 of the newest foundations that were available on the market from the various brands. Very informative. I was quite impressed as some of those brands I wouldn't have thought of picking up, seeing their attributes done quite scientifically was very amusing and enlightening.

Another happy thing that happened this week was the arrival of my new phone on tuesday. I rushed off after work with the Boyfriend to pick it up. I haven't stopped playing with it since. I'm so happy! I haven't had a new phone in a while because I couldn't decide on which. I had wanted this particular phone for the longest time. I first say it on youtube at the tradeshow and struck it off as being only a concept model. I almost fainted when it was announced in May that it would be released here. I waited and waited and waited... until they did a soft launch at 1Utama (local shopping mall) for the holiday season and I snapped up one from the first shipment! Haha! Mine at last!

I'm proud to present to you, my LG GD900, fondly known as Crystal.

Look what was waiting for me when I got home yesterday evening (okay okay... night... late night). I was starting to think it got lost in the mail due to all the public holidays we were having.

I have to admit something. I tested this right away last night. The eye serum is a clear gel while the lotion is a milky... lotion! Both absorb really well into the skin with little or no residue left behind. Definitely no stickiness whatsoever. Because of the absorbency rate you might be tempted to slap on more of the lotion. I would suggest you put on another cream instead because to lotion's hydrating properties make it a good base for other nice skincare to go on. Both products contain fragrance; a light watered down rose syrup smell. It's not cloying like the occasional Anna Sui product an not cheap like a drugstore brand. I get the feeling that it's more of an aromatheraputic addition. You know, just to relax you. As they say, happy people have happy skin.

Something so juicy I couldn't keep it to myself. I just had to share with all your lovely ladies.

Out of the blue Nancy shared with me her 'special' Paul & Joe Marketing and Sales kit! It was a huge stack of printouts of all the P&J products, particularly the new releases that are coming out soon!

It's confirmed. Stocks for the Fall Base Makeup collection will be at the counters from the last week of September. The new Light Cream Foundation S, Stick Concealer N(with new shades) and the new Undereye concealer. I can't wait for that last one.

A new lip moisture treatment (balm in a lipstick tube) will be out on the first week of October. They are staggering all the new products so there is always something new every month right up till next year. New lipglosses in squeezey tube form will also appear. We were talking about how I was going to keep my old lip gloss brush thing and squeeze the new one into it so that I can keep using the brush applicator.

I also got a sneak peek at... the 2009 Holiday Coffret. Yes! Paul and Joe has one on the way! For the life of me as I'm typing this I can't remember exactly what's in it but it's two products and one is in a tube(maybe skincare) and these items come in a lovely black box with lid embossed with the paul and joe name and new christmas design. So happy! Nancy is going to alert me when stocks are ready for pre-order or for buying. Malaysia is not really into pre-orders at counters for some reason. All I know is that when that shipment leaves Japan for Kuala Lumpur, one of those boxes will have my name on it!

I get the feeling that the pictures in this post are all self-explanatory. these are all my Pen type liquid eyeliners. I like these more than my dipping brush types or the pencil types. I do however prefer gel liners to these as the gel liners have a softer look to them. But these are fabulous on the go ^_^-b I keep the HeroineMake one in my makeup bag with me.

So without further ado, Automatic Liquid eyeliners...

These are the swatches below. I didn't swatch the PN one because it's dry. I kept it anyways because it was one of the first liquid pen type eyeliners I bought and I still have trouble matching that colour ^^;; I found the replacment Maquillage one not quite the same.
These are the brush tips.
Overall verdict: I like the HeroineMake one for the stiff thin brush that is extremely comfortable to use. The Majo ones are thicker and like my Neo Automatic, tend to split after a while (I've seen it happen on quite a few testers - I thought it was just girls being rough with testers but I had a similar fate too). I also noticed that the fomulation for the Perfect Automatic Liner is not as 'thick' as the Neo Automatic one. Perfect seems to flake off faster in smaller bits. The Neo one stayed on longer and came off in chunks.

What about you girls out there who have these, what say you?

My camera seems to be shooting everything with a slight yellow overtone. I need to go reset my white balance again.
This is OR322, one of the first Majo blushers I picked up when their brand first launched in KL, hence the palette. It's a nice matte orangie-coral tone that has a nice warmnest to it. This gives a very natural flush to most asian faces. Good staying power and very pigmented colour so go easy and blend well. The pan is quite narrow tho as is with all Majo blushers. Paris B has compared this shade to NARS Orgasm. Seems that's it's a valid dupe ^_^

This is PK333. A matte cool toned pink. This makes that dolly pop look that was very popular last year and earlier this year. The pigmentation helps because you don't need that much of product for an outstanding blush on your cheeks. I use it on days that I feel girly ^_^ It's good to layer this over OR322 as well for a very cute night look.

This is the newly released 88. It's a shimmer glitter muted icy pink. I think the pink is more like a brightener type colour ( think P&J's pressed powders) instead of actual colour. There are obvious glitter bits in this one. Not big, but some enough to 'highlight' my pores on my nose. I must remember never to put this on my nose. Works great under the eyes and on cheeks. I'm trying very hard to find a purpose for it in my collection. It's pretty in the pan, I must admit.

The above picture are the items I picked out, the SA at the 1Utama outlet was super sweet. I didn't catch her name but I would definately look for her again when I go and buy stuff. I was looking for a replacement of my blush brush as I felt the current one I had was a little ... too efficient? I picked up alot of pigment so I had to be very lighthanded with my application. I felt that it was more suitable as a big blending brush for my eyelids of a highlighter brush.

I also bought on of their hand masks as you can see from the picture above. This one was so intriguing I had to get it. It's their Rich Collagen Hand Mask Pack. I was already using a hand cream that was pretty good so I didn't think using it on my own hands was going to be any use.

*Lightbulb effect*

I'll use it on MUM!

I decided to reward myself today for finishing a one-man project in less than a week. When I walked over to KLCC to pick up my copy of Popteen I swung by Watsons on the way up and peaked at the Majolica Majorca display.

LOW AND BEHOLD! The new autumn items were in! My fingers dived for the cheek customize blush I have been eye-ing for the longest time since I read about it on Haru's Blog all those months ago. My face lit up with glee. My fingers were twitching. My lips curved into a huge smile. My toes were doing a little happy dance in my ballet flats. My money in my wallet were inching their way out to aid our stagnant economy.

Now, these two lovelies. The new perfect automatic liner. I always loved this particular Shiseido product in most of its incarnations from back in the day when Shiseido PN was still around. Their Automatic liquid liner was the best I've ever used at that point in time ( err... 7-8 years ago?) Literally love at first sight. Was utterly heartbroken when PN was discontinued and Maquillage wasn't available in Malaysia yet for a while. The shiseido The Makeup line didn't have those liners yet. I choose BR601(brown) and BL603(blue) becuase I needed a replacement for my Neo Automatic Liner in BR662 ( the brush tip was spliting-no nice thin lines anymore). When I swatched the blue on my hand I was quite taken. It was a shade that was work safe and yet quite funky in its own dark and fairly sadistic (pun intended) way. I didn't need another black liner because I can not find one that is as good as my KissMe Heroine Make Liquid Eyeliner pen ( I will have to do a review and show this one to the world soon). Sadly Heroine Make only comes in black.

Sighs... shopping is such a rewarding exercise. The boyfriend eyes bulged out when he say the price run up on the till for those 3 items. But he barely made a comment on it, just like how I don't comment on the prices of his car parts and upgrades. We have such a good relationship together ^__^