Hajimemashite, Aya desu. It's my first blog!

Hi everyone! So this is my very first blog on this site. This blog is solely dedicated to my loves; makeup, and ranting about makeup. Of course I will often rant about other things, since I tend to complain more so than others do...I'm the kind of person who says things out loud that everyone in the room is thinking, but is too chicken (or rightfully considerate) to say out loud. I never worry about whether my opinions are kosher/politically correct. I AM a nice person though, I swear!

Anyway, I'll be sharing my thoughts on my favorite high-end cosmetic products...and the low-end ones too...gotta love the Japanese 100-yen store faux lashes and lipglosses! I spend WAAAAAY too much hard-earned cash on makeup and other beauty products. I LOVE M.A.C and Stila anything, and Nars eyeshadows and lipglosses. I hate the pricetags that come with these products (especially since I live in Japan, they jack up the prices a bit from the retail prices in the U.S./Canada), but I am an avid collector.

I got off work today around 10 a.m. (NO I am not a hooker/hostess/bartender thankyouverymuch), and headed to Daimaru Department store right by Tokyo Station. I bought a M.A.C Lipstick in High Tea (a muted frosty/opalescent beige-pink). I also bought a bunch of makeup from NYX. They officially started selling NYX again in Japan. I think almost every Sony Plaza store here carries NYX now. I used to hate NYX because the quality was CRAP 7 or 8 years ago, but how times have changed! I now believe that NYX is a high contendor of M.A.C or Urban Decay. Okay, maybe not that high, but believe me when I say NYX is GOOD STUFF! The eyeshadows and blushes are finely milled, so the colors show up great on your skin. Again, the prices are a tad bid high for a drugstore brand, but it's imported, so what can I say? Here's what I bought today: (I'll add pics tomorrow since le boyfriend has hijacked my camera this week.)

• M.A.C Lustre Lipstick in High Tea (LOVE the name...reminds me of that line that Tay says in Clueless "I could really use an herbal refreshment, if you know what I mean!")
• NYX 3 Color Eyeshadow in White Pearl, Silver and Charcoal
• NYX The Ultimate Pearl Eyeshadow in Golden pink Pearl
• NYX Blush in Peach
• NYX Tinted Lip Spa in Copacabana
• NYX Lipliner Pencil in Beige

I wanted to try out gray eyeshadow again. I used to wear gray back in my blue-eyeshadow phase a few years ago, but this time around, I wanted something more contoured, gradient, and ZEXY. If you haven't noticed already I am wearing all eyeshadow colors (except White Pearl) in my self-depreciating photo above. Again, I'll add better pics and brief demo tomorrow! I will get a LOT of use out of this palette and single shadow. The Silver shadow I used on the lower half of my lid, has teensy silver flecks in it, and never gets too white/frosty after you pack it on. It stays true to it's color. You really need to pack on the Golden pink Pearl shadow with a heavy hand for it to appear pink against all the dark grays, but I think the effort paid off. I added this to the middle of my lid, and contour. The Charcoal is a tad bit darker than I thought it'd be, but that turned out to be perfect. I didn't need that much of this darker color to achieve a smokey eye quickly.

The beige lipliner is pretty...It's a frosted beige, so any lip color you add on top won't appear flat. The Tinted Lip Spa in Copacabana is a sheer baby pink with blue undertones. Matte baby pink lipcolors are hard to adjust to my skintone...I have a really pale complexion, with yellow undertones and rosy cheeks. I have full lips so pale pink lipcolors make me look like old-school tennis/beach volleyball athletes who wore white/neon sunscreen on their lips back in the late '80s and early '90s. GROSS! Anyway, this NYX Copacabana is sheer enough to work for me. Yay! It also smells (subtly) of spearmint gum. My lips felt smooth even after 3 hours, and they weren't peeling or burning. I have uber-sensitive lips, and the wrong product can make my poor kissers flake and crack like no other.

The Peach blush was not really a true peach tone, which is a GOOD thing, since I wanted more of a soft and wearable pink blush. The color has peach/yellow undertones which makes the color very blendable and believable. No one wants to look like they colored in their cheekbones with a pink sharpie. The color isn't exactly sheer, so I didn't need too much, just a stroke along the cheekbones, and a single swipe on the apples. All in all, I achieved the gray-pink look I wanted at a reasonable price.

I'll post pictures tomorrow, if I ever get my camera back :) Oyasumi (Good Night)!