Sunday, November 6, 2016

Nordstrom Fall 2016 Beauty Trend Show

Thanks to Mai's planning for something to do to celebrate my birthday (which was last month), we were able to attend this year's Nordstrom Fall Trend Show.


She arranged appointments for us to do Kate Somerville's HydraQuench Oxygen treatment, which was a real treat in more ways than one.


Kate Somerville is renown for her work with many celebrities. This complimentary treatment is actually a $270.00 value! Mai had actually gotten one done earlier in the week on Sunday, at the start of Beauty Trend Week. She enjoyed it so much that she was able to get it again. The young man who did her treatment was Sheldon and she highly recommends him. She made sure that my treatment was done by him.


After cleansing your face, the oxygen therapy is done and then some product is applied to your skin and massaged in. 


The massage felt really nice and being worked on by a cute guy was a bonus. Shhh!   :)

One hint that was given to us by Justine of Kate Somerville counter was to not sweat or get your face wet until the next day. This will allow the treatment to really work into your skin and reap the benefits. Even if you do put makeup on, then remove using makeup wipes and mist or pat on toner before going to sleep, just do not wash until the next morning. 

Next we went over to MAC to get our makeup done. Mai had actually made all of our arrangements for the day with Pie of Mac. We were fortunate enough to meet her that day and have our faces done by this beautiful and awesome young woman.We kind of let her decide and be creative on what colors to use.



She spent at least an hour on each of us and was so much fun. Mai and I commented that we think we've finally found another Beauty Advisor that we really like. We are looking forward to going back to visit and work with her. If you are ever in Hawaii and looking to try something new and exciting, we highly recommend Pie Chun, Beauty Advisor for MAC Cosmetics at Nordstrom Ala Moana.

We are looking foward to seeing Pie again and testing out other skin care lines and try out other MAC eye looks.

*Kat*

Friday, November 4, 2016

Purchase Review: Kanebo Evita Beauty Whip Soap

A couple of months ago, someone that I know from a different group had put out a request asking if anyone knew where to purchase the Kanebo Evita Beauty Whip Soap. While researching it, I found that it was probably not released yet. Since I was going to Japan, I offered to pick it up for her since it looked very interesting to me. 



It is a light, whipped soap which when you press down the two sides, the foam comes up in the shape of a rose. It is also rose scented. I was afraid that it would be strongly scented but fortunately it is very lightly fragranced and is quite pleasant. I was told not press down evenly but lightly. If pressed too hard, too much product would come out and it would be a waste.



I was able to find this in a department store. The total price was 1375.92 yen (1274 + 101.92 tax), which I felt was relatively reasonable. I think that this might be an limited edition item because I can't seem to find it online except at gouged prices on ebay. Even Amazon Japan has very limited listings but at a much higher price. I believe that Sheila from Maddy Loves was able to pick this item up last week in Japan but it was by luck that she found it. 

It is a nice cleansing foam. Very light, lightly scented and doesn't leave my face feeling too squeaky clean and stripped. It is a nice novelty item to have and I do like it enough that I would purchase again if able to.

EDIT: I discovered that there is much more information out there than when I looked for it a couple of months ago. This product is designed for women with mature skin although it is very popular with all skin types just because it is so innovative and cute. Main ingredients are royal jelly extract, soluble collagen, two types of hyaluronic acid, sake and rosewater. These are key ingredients providing anti ageing properties and prevents dryness. 

I still don't know if it's a limited edition item or if it's just super popular that demand is higher than supply. It's difficult to find in Japan.


*Kat*

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Reflections


It's been a long time since I last blogged. I'm not even sure if anyone checks back here to see if I've written any updates. During this past year or so, I've done some reflecting on whether or not to continue writing. Another blogger had written a post about a year ago asking why do we blog? Is it to please others and that determines our content? Is it still personally satisfying? As I pondered this, I realized that I had kind of deviated from my original intent of blogging, which was originally set up as a way for Mai to see what I've been doing and trying out since at that time, we were not able to get together as much. However blogging changed to one based on trying to be honest about my feelings of products while trying not to do many haul posts because I didn't want to appear as if I was being a braggart saying, "See what I bought and how much I spent."

So why do I blog? It's definitely not to show off what I've bought and how much I've spent. It's mainly to keep a personal record of what I have bought and liked and/or disliked. I have often gone back to reading past posts of something that I tried to see if it was worth repurchasing or not. Some items I could not remember what my thoughts on it were. If in the process of writing these posts, readers find it helpful to them too, then that is an added bonus for me.  With this in mind, as I continue to blog, I will now not hold back on not posting about items that I've purchased or received as gifts. Granted, most things that I purchase are not expensive, high end items but there may be one or two of those from time to time.

I may also throw in posts that are not beauty related. I will also not stress about making sure that I have so many posts a week or month. I'll write when I feel inspired and have time. Real life has gotten busy and with the holidays ahead, it will continue to get busier. 

I hope that all has been well with everyone.

Kat