Yay, my travel diary for my first day in Osaka, Japan is here!
Everything is in Japanese.
It's almost 4am now, I only had 4 hours of sleep the day before and I have to wake up in 2.5 hours for school so I'm not going to post the translation till I get home tonight from school & work [which will be around 10pm so check back at 10pm if you can't understand!]
I've updated with English translations below each collage!
Chapter 1: From Kansai Airport to Osaka
First Shinkansen Ride
During the ride, I was super excited!
This is my travel partner, Karmun. You will see a lot of her backview in my photos!
Chapter 2: New Osaka Hotel to Minoh Park.
A small incident happened during the Hankyu Train ride. We thought we board the wrong train. Actually, it was the right one...
(I forgot to mention in the collage that we got down from the train and changed to another train when actually, the first train was also correct)
We have arrived! Why were we so happy? The reason is simple~
It was snowing! You can't really see it in the photo... I am satisfied though!
Chapter 3: Minoh Park
Chapter 3: Minoh Park. First Stop: Cafe and Bar Hashimototey
My Matcha Cake was a new item! Delicious!
My friend had New York Cheese Cake. It tasted very fluffy. Tasty!
Chapter 3: Minoh Park
I love the vending machines! Super convenient! I can have the milk tea that I love anywhere thanks to the vending machines!
Freezing! That temperature that day was 2 degrees! I felt that this place will look nicer if it was Spring.
Snow~ That was my first time seeing snow! I can die without regrets now.
Finally, we arrived!
It was really pretty! I forgot all my tiredness when I saw the waterfall. Can you spot the rainbows?
How is it? Pretty, isn't it? I want to go back~
Ah! Before you leave Minoh Park, remember to try the fried maple leaves! Very tasty!
Chapter 4: Umeda and Shinsaibashi
The truth is, I was really beat and hungry after Minoh park. I was not in any mood to take photos at all. Sorry! The items in the photo above were bought in Umeda and Shinsaibashi. The bag was really cheap (50% discount!) but the cosmetics were really expensive!!
Chapter 5: Minami (Namba)
One Piece Exhibition!! I was surprised when I saw the poster! It was such a pity because I did not have the time to visit the One Piece Exhibition...
Kani Doraku and Glicoman!
Takoyaki was super delicious. Really, really tasty! This is no doubt the best Takoyaki I've had so far!
Okonomiyaki and Yakisoba! It was not extremely tasty but as compared to Singapore, it is still much better here. I forgot what I drank though...
Chapter 6: Hozenji Yokocho - Last stop: Meotozenzai
The last stop for the day was Meotozenzai! We went to Hozenji Yokocho just for the sake of the zenzai. I felt that it was too sweet so I didn't really liked it.
There, all done for the first day! I'm sorry if some parts of the translation sounds stupid or didn't make a lot of sense (this is directed at the grammar nazis out there) because I tried to phrase them as close to the Japanese version as possible. For example, in the collage with the cakes, first I used "Umai", second I actually used "Oishii". Direct translation from Japanese to English can sound quite stupid at times because it can't convey the true "emotions" behind... I'm sure those of you who understand Japanese know what I'm saying!
Anyhow, short and sweet! I know I said I will be doing a FAQ Post for my trip as I received quite a few emails asking me about how I got around Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo but that will have to wait as there are quite a lot of grounds to cover and I figured if I want to do it, I might as well do a more comprehensive one so it can help any readers who want to travel to these places in the future.
Packaging: 8.5/10 - Packaging is very no frills, which is something I observed with Korea Skincare Products. Comes in a squeeze tube form, nothing out of the norm.
Scent: 4/10 - There is a prominent scent, which smelt pretty much like the generic cleanser smell but when lathered and spread over my face, I realised that the scent smells a little different, though still as strong. The scent is not anything bad though.
Product Efficiency: 8.5/10 - From the claims it made, I can verify that claims 1 & 2 perform up to expectations. My skin felt really clean and smooth after cleansing, yet not tight and overly dried out.
Moisturizing Efficiency: 8/10 - After cleansing, I noticed that my skin looks supple, which I believe is partly due to the moisturizing effect of the Sugar Maple that pumped up my skin.
Texture: 9/10 - It is gel based so it is not hard to handle at all. It gets spread all over your face very easily and does not drip from your hands.
Ease of Use: 9/10 - I really don't know how hard a squeeze tube can get.
Availability: 7/10 - It is available exclusively at 29 Watsons outlets Islandwide [listed below]
Price: 8/10 - It cost SGD $23.90/150ml and I don't think that is steep at all as compared to other cleansers from Korea [available locally]. I've been using it for a week and it barely depleted.
Repurchase: Maybe. I am more towards combination and sensitive skin, just a little acne prone, therefore this product might not be that suitable for me. However, I did not face any breakout while using and it does a good job at performing its claims so, maybe!
Overall Rating: 8/10
I've been trying out more Korea skincare products as I've became more confident in them after trying a few, which changed my initial opinions of Korea skincare products. So don't be surprised if you see more Korean products in my blog in future!
Here is the list of stores that carry the AC Stop Basic Line from Leaders:
So, I was going to blog about my Japan trip part 1 (trust me, there will be SO MANY PARTS cos I took over 700 pictures) which is basically a short post with pictures which I took the liberty of making into collages. I don't want to spam pictures like my last September post for my Malaysia trip so it's gonna be really short and sweet for each part, or rather, chapter. But as you can tell from the way I am blogging, it is mobile blogging again. My bro took the laptop with him and so I can't possibly upload with the mobile app because the pictures will become so tiny that you can't read or see (well, since collage means the pictures are all pretty small). Just a word of warning though - I did my collages purely in Japanese so far but I will write the English translation below each picture! I thought it looked better in Japanese since it's, well, photos from a Japan trip.
Anyway, here's a photo which I've uploaded on my Facebook Page (or was it my personal account?) from part 1 so you get an idea of what is coming.
I know I said I have a lot of things to give away, which I really ought to be getting to soon else everything will expire...
But before that, I have newly [okay, fairly new] launched product to share and give you guys first!
That is... the Bio-Essence Bio Miracle Water!
I'm sure the whole spring water spray is not new to many of you and it looks like Bio Essence has finally came up with one of their own, hurray!
I've actually been using such Spring water spray for a long time so I was definitely glad to see Bio-Essence coming out with one. Now, why do you think so many companies want to produce such spring water spray?
Simple - because our skin NEEDS it.
Of the many uses this Spring water has, I am going to focus on the main reasons why I personally love spring water sprays.
Let's face it, our skin tend to be dry, especially in Singapore where air-conditioning is everywhere. Therefore, despite the skincare products we nourish our skin with, we might need that instant "perk my skin up" every now and then. That is one of the reasons why spring water sprays sell like hotcakes.
Another reason is because they give you an instant relief to the unforgiving heat, which is again very relevant here in Singapore. I really hate it when the sun is being a big jerk and shining like it's spreading joy but in actuality, it is just making me sweat more and feel icky.
I'm sure you can tell from the picture above that the size makes it really convenient to carry around and it is pretty much idiot proof when it comes to product dispensing (it's a spray...)
My favourite part has got to be the fact that it can be used on top of make up!
^Make up on but still...
Spritz, spritz!
Ta-dah! After spraying, my make up is not only unaffected but it actually helped to mattify my make up!
When I have good things, of course I want to share the love with you guys.
I have with me three travel size Bio-Essence Bio Miracle Water to give away!
I was supposed to submit this during the period when I was in Japan so I requested for an extended grace but then I slumped into a post holiday plus upcoming exams depression topped with blog template problems so I delayed till this late!
Terribly sorry
Cut the chase, let's get started right away!
That's right, as the title suggest, I will be talking about the new products from Biore.
Biore now has a new Skin Purifying Technology which promises to:
Provide high cleansing efficiency
Will not damage the skin
Will not irritate skin
No residual
I was given a choice of what type of facial foam I preferred so I chose the mild one.
Look at the texture of this facial foam
While it is a product which can lather easily, I cannot stand for that claim in my review as I do not lather my facial cleansers, ever.
Reason is because I use my Clarisonic Mia 2 to clean my face after I spread the product over my face like this:
Then, the lazy me will let the Mia 2 do its job for the next minute.
At the end of the cycle, I did see the brush of my Mia 2 looking pretty foamy though.
So... what do I think about the Biore Mild Facial Foam?
I felt that the claims it made were simple and straightforward - back to the basics as to what cleansers should do. Therefore, it did a good job at fulfilling its claims too. My skin feels more supple and smoother immediately after wash and does not make my skin feel tight/overly dried out after rinse. Oh, I also noted that the scent is not that strong in this cleanser. I will give this an 8/10.
Next, we have the scrub.
Texture of scrub:
See those little pink beads? Well, they are not the kind of beads in scrubs that will cause slight abrasive when in contact with your skin. I actually couldn't feel them at all. Now, my verdict.
I like how the scrub is really gentle on my skin. After using the Mild Facial Foam, I thought this scrub will not be able to make my skin feel any smoother than it already was but it did! Considering how gentle it felt on my skin, I really wasn't expecting it to exfoliate that well! I will give this a 9/10, had to take a point off for the fairly strong scent. I don't hate the scent but I thought some of you might.
I've been using these products for about a week now (Biore Facial Foam - Mild for 7 days while Scrub for just 2 days as I use scrub once every 3 days) and here's the latest condition of my bare face (left cheek) before cleansing.
After using both the Biore Facial Foam & Scrub
You can actually see the immediate effect on brightening from the pictures above.
Will I repurchase these products again?
Maybe - reason being I have way too many products (I can hear you saying "that reason again?" but it's true!)
However, if you are looking for a new gentle cleanser that does a good job at an economical price, I definitely will recommend you to go for Biore's new facial foams!
Get your silky smooth skin now!
xoxo
Himeko
[P.s: before and after cleansing photos are 100% not enhanced to reflect in favour of products, only editing did was resizing and watermarking.]
just a really quick update before I head out. gonna be having a string of post over the weekend holiday. The pictures were taken before I went Japan so I still sport dark hair color for the top half of my head. Currently, I am...
if you follow my other channels, you would have already know I went back to being a blonde because I get mistaken as a small girl less often and some how I keep getting associated with the "small, kawaii" image. I was quite surprised when I was in Japan that I still keep getting comments by retail assistants as "Kawaii/cute" when the way I dress is nowhere near that T.T I know it's like very thick skinned to say this myself but seriously, I was quite sad! I mean, I was dressed like this and still get recommended cute stuff!
So I figured since I am short (which I believe is one of the important criteria to being "cute" since petite size gives a natural advantage to that image), I should not stay with "good girl" hair colors or style -_-
Okay, I'm heading off to school for revision. Just wanted to rant a little since I am waiting for my sunscreen to be absorbed into my skin!