Looking for a MAC lipstick dupe at the Narita International airport Duty Free. A new Amazon order arrived (2 DVDs and 1 book), 10 serrano chili plants arrived too. Plus the rice Noah grew at school...

I wear makeup about 3 times a week. However I like my makeup to not *look* like I'm wearing makeup. Do you know what I mean?  Everyone has a MLBB out there. Some of you have found yours, some of you maybe haven't found yours yet. And maybe you're more so a bold red lips fan and hey that's okay too. But as for me...I have always avoided a strong lip. Strong makeup. In high school and college, I would just use a clear lip gloss and call my lips done! I just don't want my makeup to mask or overpower my face. And then I was listening to a beauty Vlogger and she said..."my lips but better" and explained it as a shade "just" like your lips but just better. And she's a brunette and is about 1 shade darker skin color than I am. But since her hair and coloring isn't too off from me and I trust her suggestions anyways. I wrote a few she liked down from the drugstore and tried them, when we were in Hawaii last time. I think I tried about 3 or 4. They were all from the drugstore. And while I did like all her suggestions. The one that was truly my MLBB was this...the Loreal Glossy Balm in the shade Lovely Mocha. She too said this was her closest match too. And it's mine too. I have since gone through a full one of these and this one is nearly out too. I do have 1 brand new spare upstairs. And I will forever repurchase this one. Because #1 it's affordable. Plus it suits me the best. The only down side is... after a while the tube looks old. And my lipsticks stay in my small cosmetics pouch in my bag...meaning they don't float all over my purse. So it's weird it looks this scruffy. My high end lipsticks look like new, but this one looks...well...like it's seen better days. And add to that...it's a tad embarrassing to touch up my lips with this scruffy lippie on important days like graduation day or entrance ceremony day. So, while this is my ride or die shade. I will use for typical normal days. I knew I needed to find a dupe. Except...where as most people look for cheaper dupes of higher end products. I was looking for a dupe in reverse. LOL. I needed an exact 100% identical dupe that I can use on important days and the tube won't look all old and busted.  

Yep color #200 but also has a name and it's Lovely Mocha. 

On our way to Guam last week. We had about 2 hours to kill before our flight. And the reason we wanted to get through the TSA at Narita Airport and go to the Duty Free area is because there is a Tiffany and Co. Free-standing shop downstairs (meaning not inside a duty free store but an actual Tiffany store all by it's self, a free standing shop, but everything you buy, would still be duty free) and Noboru was set to buy me my present from Tiffany and Co. From a month beforehand and considering buying at the actual free standing store and considering it was 20% off, was a fantastic deal. We had already knew what I was going to be getting. Noboru had phoned them at Narita airport twice to make sure they had my ring size I needed in stock. And so when we went in there, they had my size and 1 size smaller and 1 size larger set aside for us. They took us to a nice table and chairs and I picked the right size, that I felt was a perfect fit, the lady checked and said that was her pick for the size for me too and Noboru agreed too, he thought the same and then Noboru paid and that only took about 25-28 minutes. It didn't take too long at all. We thought we'd be in there longer, which is why we ended up with so much free time. So...after we exited Tiffany's. A fabulous cosmetics Duty free was right near with Addiction (a great brand) and may other brands but they had Mac. And I love Mac and I asked Noboru and Noah to help me find a lipstick dupe of my Loreal one and I pulled my Loreal out. And the Japanese makeup artist. An amazing wonderful makeup artist. Asked me if she could swatch my Loreal? And I said "of course, please" An she swatched it and she went through about 30 MLBB shades and she said this ones too orange... this one leans too dark.. this one leans too pink. I mean she was relentless. She even said...this one is close, but not an exact match. And she went through every shade and if you know Mac they make hundreds of shades. And then she had a hit! And she said compare these. She also said, I think this is a match. And I swatched both on my wrist too and sure enough. An exact match. This lady was like the best lady. She has no idea, how much I appreciated her help. Also at the duty free in Narita airport all their Mac stuff is in English. Where as if... you buy in a regular shop in Japan the names are in Japanese. So a plus buying at duty free plus they're loads cheaper. 

Cosmo. I have heard of this shade before on YouTube and would have never guessed this would be the perfect dupe for Loreal Glossy Balm in Lovely Mocha, but it is. Go figure. : )

I'm really glad to have a dupe. : ) Next time I fly out of Narita airport and I have some time to kill, I will definitely be hitting the makeup counters again. They rock at Narita airport and they're so helpful too. : ) 

One of my Amazon.com orders arrived. Two more are on the way too.

Fools Rush In with Mathew Perry and Salma Hayak, this is such a cute movie, I have loved this movie since it first came out. Rogue One (right on) And sadly...can't believe it's been a full year since Prince died. His ex-wife Mayte Garcia wrote a book about her life before Prince, during Prince and after wards. I watched her on a reality series, I think it was canceled a few years ago, but it was called Hollywood Exes. I really liked that show. And she was always pretty quiet about Prince. When I heard she wrote this book, I was curious what she had to say since she's always been super quiet about him, even when he was alive. And I read on Amazon that so many people thought she was so respectful of him. In the way she wrote this. And I thought...wow! I should read that. And so yep, I will start reading this, this coming weekend. : ) 

Ya'll know we live in a real rural town here in Japan, right? Online the term "rural" usually only applies for folks who live in a town with less than 15,000 people in it. The fact our town has barely 5 thousand people in it. Means yes...we live in a *real* true rural town. Anyways...all 5th graders in our elementary school plant rice. Branden planted rice when he was a 5th grader. They even helped cut it down. Anyways Noah also planted it last year and they looked after it for the full rice growing season...they even cut it down... it's been drying. And was finally ready to be given to the kids who planted it and looked after the schools rice field all last year. All the 6th graders received a bag of the rice they grew. 3 cups of rice for each child/student. : ) Noah proudly brought this home last Monday. And I made it to go along with our dinner... that very night. Good thing because I was just about to make the rice after I brought Noah home. : ) The rice is very white and such high quality. The kids did such a good job with their rice crop!

What beautiful rice. Yep Noah and his class did a great job. It's little things like this...that make me love living where we live. I love living in rural Japan! The kids get such a fun upbringing! These cool smart country kids! : )

In other news our chili's came. 10 serrano chili plants! These are supposedly hotter than jalapenos. And we need the heat for my pork green chili. Noboru and I spent about 30 minutes outside together this morning planting the 10 into bigger planters. 

A random pic of Noah about to hop on his very cool mountain bike (used to be his brothers) and go and play with about 3-4 of his classmates. As long as the weather is good. And his homework is finished. He is more than welcome to go and get some country kid play in! Which means being unplugged and not screened on any device. It means actually riding his bike...or playing tennis up at the tennis courts in our housing community. Just being a regular kid in the outdoors, getting plenty of exercise. This summer more than likely they'll be off trying to catch zarigani/crawdads in the streams or beetles in the trees. Typical inaka/rural boy stuff. : )

What's in my makeup bag, March 2016...

Good morning! I haven't shared what makeup products I have been using and loving in about 8 months or so. So, I figured what a perfect time to update you all right now real quick. Every morning, I wash my face with my cleanser and a hot wash cloth and then I moisturize and put my sunscreen on for the day. Sometimes I stop right there and don't wear any makeup (about 3-4 times a week). If I am staying at home all day, I won't wear makeup. But usually if I am even heading to the one and only grocery store in town, I will at least put on some foundation and concealer and powder and some brow mascara you know, to be a bit more presentable. Just depends where I am going each day really. But imagining I am going out with a friend for lunch or going to the small city nearest me. Let me show you what I do every day, for days like that. My going out and about all day long face. After face lotion, I wait a few minutes to let that sink in. And then I use my primer. I use one by Benefit, called The Porefessional, pictured here. For those of you with normal to dry skin this is a wonderful primer. It covers all pores and creates a nice base before you put on foundation, I like this. For those of you with oily skin though, Benefit just came out with a new version for oily skin. It's getting a bit of buzz on YouTube but since I am normal to dry. I won't be needing that new primer geared for oily skin since that's not the skin type, I have. I wait a few minutes for my primer to set and then I put my foundation on. Since July 2015, when I picked these both foundations up in Honolulu, Hawaii. These are my 2 favorite at the moment foundations. Naked Skin by Urban Decay is a high end foundation, I bought it at Sephora at the Ala Moana shopping mall. The color match it perfect. It feels super light. I really like this. I usually use this, if I am going out to lunch with friends. I use this on observation days. When I met my in-laws at New Year's. I know this personally gives my face a really lovely look. It isn't drying and doesn't look cakey. Would I repurchase the Naked Skin? Maybe. But, I still want to try other high end foundations too. So while the Urban Decay is a wonderful foundation. I am still going to try other high end foundations. So good, but not sure I would repurchase, just because I'd like to try other high end foundations too. I will use it all though because I do love it and it looks really good. The Neutrogena Healthy Skin foundation. Is my favorite drugstore foundation. I bought, 4 drugstore foundations this past July, while on Oahu. And out of the 4, this one is my most favorite. You know, to be frank with you. Living in Japan. And with having western skin coloring and stuff, it is hard to buy foundations and whatnot. And with only going on vacation once a year. It's like, I *better* research. I better know *exactly* what I am buying. It's like pressure you know. Because that 10 day vacation... goes by in a blink. So, I do have to bring my A-game with me research wise. So, I decided last year I wanted to find 1 holy grail ride or die drugstore foundation and 1 holy grail ride or die high end foundation. And then they would be chosen. They would be... best for my skin type (meaning dry, normal, oily, ykwim) and the search would be done and over with. It seems that everyone who KNOWS cosmetics rec'd the Neutrogena one. It was compared to the Nars Sheer Glow. Everyone basically said it doesn't break out anyone. It gives this wonderful look to skin. And so, I had written that name down. And I made sure to throw it in the cart at Target while in Oahu last July. How do, I feel about the Neutrogena Healthy Skin foundation? I love it! Would I repurchase it? Absolutely in a heart beat! I love the shade/color match. I love how my skin looks while wearing this. It does not break me out. And I have skin that does break out to certain ingredients. When I am just zipping here or there, or to the small city nearest me or even to my one and only grocery store in town. I am 99% of the time wearing this. I love this. I can understand why everyone loves this. This could be holy grail status for me for the drugstore foundation. Granted, if you have oily skin the Neutrogena one wouldn't be for you. However, if you have normal skin or dry skin. This makes your skin look radiant and amazing. There is so shimmer or glitter particles. It just makes you look amazing though.I will definitely be repurchasing the Neutrogena Healthy Skin for sure. After my foundation is on. I put on some concealer. I use and love this Maybelline Instant age rewind. It doesn't look drying near my under eye area and I appreciate that. The coverage is amazing and I frankly don't see the need to buy a high end concealer when this does the job so well. To powder, I just pat on some Mac Mineralize Skin Finish Natural. This is perfect for normal to dry skin, it is a powder that won't dry your face out to looking like a cakey mummified person. Your skin will glow and look healthy. Again no shimmer particles in that either. 

The shades, I use. I'm a Mac NC 20-25 for reference. Neutrogena Healthy Skin in the color nude shade 40. Urban Decay foundation in 3.0. If this helps at all. Urban Decays shade numbering system is easy. 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 etc... the numbers that end in point 0. .0 are yellow toned. The colors/shades that end in point 5. .5 are pink based. So if you are pink toned look for a .5 if you are yellow based look for a .0 shade. I'm yellow toned so I wear 3.0.

Okay, so after my skin is done and I just have on primer, foundation and concealer and setting powder. I then, do my eyebrows and line my top lash line. For my brows, I use a brow mascara by Nature Republic (Korean brand) and Dolly Wink, liquid eyeliner in the color dark brown, I think dark brown looks less harsh than black. Looks more natural. And that brand is Japanese. I then do my cheeks with Too Faced blush in a really natural neutral shade. I don't like overly bright pink or red blushes or bright orange blushes either. Just very muted neutral blushes. I don't want my makeup to scream at anyone, if you know what I mean. I then do my eyes with either the Naked original palette or the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette. The eyeshadow palettes and blush were bought from Sephora. I love the Chocolate bar palette because it reminds me a lot of the Avon lip balm packaging when I was a little girl growing up. So for that reason alone, I *love* this. But the color pigment is really great too though. So, the chocolate bar palette makes me smile. And it smells like chocolate by the way too. : )

Close-up of my brow mascara and my liquid eyeliner.

The shade of blush I use. 

Just a very neutral natural color. Nothing over the top. And while some people use a blush and contour every day. I don't, I just use a neutral shade of blush. I find, I don't use contour at all. I have one, I just don't use it. The blush is plenty enough for me. : )

For mascaras, currently I am using Kate Long Lash and the Lash King by Majolica Majorca. My first impression of the Lash King was hate. Serious total hate. But after getting a paper towel and wiping my wand of all excess stuff. It has been fine now. Am, I in love? Meh. They're okay. I'll switch brands and types until I find my HG. Holy grail. However these aren't bad. And I am enjoying using both. 

Black eyeliners for my waterline. I very very rarely use black eyeliner for my waterline. Seriously maybe 5 times a year? I just don't find myself doing it much anymore. A few years back, I did. But now days not so much. I think it's just a little intense for me. However, I do have 1 high end one, the Nars one in black. And I have 2 affordable drugstore ones. And I'll just say it, like it is. The 2 drugstore ones are *way* better than the Nars one. Why? Because the Nars one smudges and doesn't stay put! Where as the Maybelline Master drama one and NYX Tres Jolie gel pencil liner one stay put! So many people on YouTube say the Maybelline one or the NYX one in silver is their straight up holy grail. And I see that and I agree. Those go on your waterline and stay there.  

I have so many lipsticks here at home. Many Mac, Nars, Too Faced. However, these 3 are my favorite everyday shades and these live permanently in my bag. Loreal Glossy Balm in 200 Lovely Mocha. NYX in the shade Tiramisu and an Urban Decay one. So 2 drugstore and 1 higher end. 

In the color, naked. Clearly I like a barely there lip. A naked lip, so to speak. : )

Yep, MLBB lippies are my ride or die shades. "My lips but better" shades. Again, I just don't ever want my makeup to scream at any of you. I prefer a subtle, less is more type a look. 

The Makeup Geek. Is fantastic and I love her videos. And look at those numbers. Over 2 million people watched that video. Best drugstore makeup of all time! See the picture? Yes that is the Neutrogena Healthy Skin foundation. And so yes over 2 million people know how good that Neutrogena foundation is. The Healthy Skin one. And it really is an amazing foundation! This Neutrogena foundation can compete with any of the high end foundations even. It's THAT good. And again? Am I suggesting any of you to buy it? Nope, but I'm saying and just mentioning...I did my research and yes. This is a very well known drugstore foundation. And I will most *definitely* be repurschasing it. This could actually be my holy grail drugstore foundation. Seriously you guys. It's THAT good. I know Milani just came out with a new foundation a month or two ago and it is getting lots of buzz right now. Sure I could have Noboru pick me up one of those. And sure that Maybelline Dream Soft Matte Hydrating is also getting lots of buzz too. But honestly. They sound interesting. But from what I hear only about 65% of the ladies, like the Milani one and I hear it oxidizes too (gets darker as the day goes on, yikes). @_@ And frankly...drugstore foundation wise, I am just really happy with the Neutrogena one. So I really am not feeling like trying out any other drugstore foundations right now. The Neutrogena one... just has me totally content.

The gorgeous and amazing Serein Wu. She's one of my all time favorite beauty vloggers on YouTube by the way. I also would highly recommend anyone interested to watch her videos. She is amazing. And deserves more subscribers. hopefully more of you will check her out since I am rec'ding her. Now she prefers high end foundations. She says that on her channel. However, as far as drugstore foundations goes, she too loves the Neutrogena Healthy Skin. Her opinions are honest and she wouldn't say it, if she didn't feel that way. I will be linking all my favorite beauty vloggers that I mentioned today. But, again I am crediting them. Saying how everyone should definitely check them out. And what wonderful beauty gurus they are...and hey..if they like this Neutrogena foundation and give it the thumbs up. It's definitely worth a try. So credit given 100%. And if she strongly prefers high end foundations yet gives this Neutrogena one the green light. Then yeah...it is good.

These were the other 3 foundations I brought back from Honolulu last July. The one of the far left. It's more geared for normal to oily... to combo skin and I felt it made me look dry and cakey a tad. The one in the center the Loreal Lumi.  My skin twin picked this shade. And it is Loreal's most yellow shade, but for me personally, I felt it was still too pink toned for my skin, I feel the center Lumi one is too pink for my skin tone. And I won't be repurchasing the 2 on the left. The far left one is too drying for my skin type and the center one was way too pink for my yellow toned skin. The Revlon Color Stay for normal to dry skin which is also highly rec'd. And it is a good foundation and the staying power is awesome. The look on my skin is awesome. However, again, I feel it is a bit, a pinch... too neutral and not yellow enough for a perfect shade match for me. It's a 95% color match to me, but I'm really picky about getting a 100% color match so, I might repurchase the Revlon one but it's not a total home run for me. Would I repurchase any of these 3? Umm, maybe...maybe the Revlon Color Stay for normal to dry skin, the one on the far right. But only maybe though. I wish the color was a bit more yellow toned. For me personally the Neutrogena one was a perfect match for me, color wise and skin type wise. 

If you are lucky enough to live in America, you probably do not need a skin twin at all. Meaning you can waltz into Target any ol' week you'd like for infinity. However with living in Japan, I realized last year that I actually have a skin twin. What do I mean by a skin twin? Same color skin (color), shade and tone exactly. And I do mean spot on exactly. It's this amazing person right here KathleenLights. And same same exact skin type (dry). I have watched her videos for a few years but it didn't really hit me... until last year in January 2015. That hey!!! We're skin twins. It's a bit weird I didn't realize it until then. She has dry skin. I have dry skin. And she's got light skin. Not fair skin or porcelain. and same for me too. I have light skin, but I'm not porcelain either though. And her skin tone is yellow. And so is mine. Yet, I sat there for a good 2 years never...clicking in my head. It wasn't until last year. When someone asked her... her Mac shade. And I thought quietly, wow that's the same...as I am. And then I thought, hmm, I use the same Urban Decay Naked skin shade as her too. And then another foundation..I thought hmm...I use this same shade too. And blammo it clicked. And then she was going on about her dry skin. And I thought... me too. And then I thought! I am so lucky. I have an actual skin twin! Why is that lucky you ask? Well because she buys a lot of foundations a year. For her dry skin. Same shade exactly as me. If she likes one. And strongly recommends it. I don't have to wait at Ala Moana mall at Sephora to find a good makeup artist to shade match me. I can just go into the store.. throw it into my little shopping basket and done and done, Head to the beach. Without spending hours determining a color match. Thank you KathleenLights. You are now even 200% more awesome and cool. So for me...thank the heavens I have a skin twin, color, shade and skin type (dry), yep me without makeup on, my skin tone and color is exactly this. This just saves me heaps of time. Thanks to my skin twin. : ) 

Luckily for me... my skin twin made a video showing all her favorite foundations for her dry skin. She had said on the video, this is her dead on perfect match. And I said, thank you for saying that! And yes, Noboru picked me up the same shade. Thank you skin twin... for helping me get my birthday makeup goodies. See? Totally awesome having a skin twin. : )  Serein Wu has skin 1 shade darker than me and she has normal to combo skin so again, not a match. But I dig her videos, I dig what she likes, what she says and she's straight to the point. She's worth watching, she's fun to watch. Young Wild and Polished, I love her videos but her skin shade is about 4 shades darker than mine and she has oily skin, so again not a skin twin. However, I still love her videos, she makes me laugh a lot. But, I do take them with a grain of salt since we have very different coloring and a different skin type. MannyMUA, has the same coloring/skin shade as me, but he has oily skin, so an almost skin twin but more like fraternal twins, lol. : ) And again, I am not copying their pictures saying they're mine, you know I'm not like that at all. If anything... more people will see here and click and subscribe to them since I also am mentioning them here. I know you all know exactly what I mean. I am just saying how amazing these folks are. And again I will be linking them all at the end.

Yep, I happen to have this same exact color, she uses. 

One of her most favorite drugstore foundations. The Neutrogena one. And again they wouldn't be saying this, if it wasn't good. And this foundation the Neutrogena Healthy Skin is really truly a fabulous one. Beauty guru's are pretty honest. If they love a product they will say it and if they hate it, they'll say that too. Seriously though for a drugstore foundation this Neutrogena healthy skin is perfect for normal to dry skin. 

And she's not a stingy vlogger. She wants to help anyone with the same coloring as her and she lists all her foundation shades. So if there are any possible skin twins, they can get her help. And this list right here. It pretty valuable to me. Please definitely check her out. Vloggers mentioned. KalthleenLights. Serein Wu. MakeupGeek, and MannyMua. They have no idea how much they help us ladies living overseas who don't always have access to a Target, Walmart or Walgreens. So a huge thank you and a huge...please check them out. And subscribe if you haven't already. : )

The beautiful and gorgeous Rose Byrne, actress not beauty vlogger. She always looks gorgeous and her makeup is always flawless. Very natural and low key, the same type a look, I strive for.. just very low key. And she's a brunette. So a definite thumbs up. : ) Anyway, so those are the makeup products I am currently using. In a nutshell, I really like my current high end foundation, the Urban Decay one, called Naked Skin. And I am flat out *loving* the Neutrogena Healthy Skin drugstore foundation. Quite possibly holy grail status, for me. I'll keep you updated. : ) And I will be trying 3 new to me, high end foundations as soon as Noboru gets back home to Japan. 

What's in my makeup bag! Cosmetics, I'm currently using, April 2015

Hi everyone! I always really enjoy when people post on their blogs or when I watch on YouTube when folks share, what sort of makeup/cosmetics they are using. I haven't done this type a post in forever. So, I thought it would be sort of nice, to just do a post like this. : ) I'm not only going to share what I use, but I'm going to give it, in the order I put my makeup on. Also important to note, I don't wear makeup everyday. If I have an observation day, or am going to Costco or the local grocery store, I will use some makeup. But if I'm going to just be home or cleaning house or prepping for dinner, I won't wear anything but sunscreen.  First thing, I do after I wash my face in the morning, is I prep my skin with a facial moisturizer and then after waiting a couple minutes I put my sunscreen on my face and wait a couple extra minutes. I use the time, by throwing in a load of laundry, or brushing my teeth, combing my hair, cleaning up breakfast mess. You know what I mean. There's lots to do, so, the 2 minutes passes in a snap. : ) So, after my skin is prepped, I put the tiniest dot of my makeup base on. I use Benefit's The Porefessional. I use about a pea amount size or less for my entire face. I just use a tiny dot on my nose and an even smaller dot/amount on each cheek area. I don't really have gigantic pores. But, I want whatever is there, to be invisible. After I put this on, I wait a couple minutes and as I want to wait a few minutes for the Porefessional to set, I do my brows while I wait. 

My second step I do, while I am waiting a few minutes for the Porefessional to set. Is I do my eye brows. If anything needs tweezing, I tweeze. If anything needs trimming, I'll trim. Otherwise, I'll quickly brush through my brows and do a quick coat of the Nature Republic eyebrow mascara, in brunette. I love this eyebrow mascara so much, I reordered it. What makes this eyebrow mascara my favorite is the brush. The brush is so small. Before this, I used Anastasia brow mascara. And while the Anastasia Beverly Hills one is good. I find this one better. The brush is way better and the brunette color from Nature Republic is my favorite and it's only like $5 bucks. So super affordable. My Origins, eyebrow brush I got about a billion years ago and have honestly had this brush for about 15 years. But the quality is so good and I just wash it weekly. My Tweezerman tweezers, are dull and if I lived in the US, I'd send them off to be resharpened. But I might just end up buying a new pair this summer. The eyebrow scissors, I have honestly had since college and I love them, they're just a no brand type scissors. But my favorite eyebrow scissors. I have since bought scissors at Sephora, but I prefer these pictured here. : ) 

Concealer. For my undereyes, I use a liquid. It just looks nicer and is less dry looking for your undereye area. I also only use it in the middle of my undereye to the center of my nose. I don't use eye concealer on the outside part of my under eye. Also, I feel, stick concealers tend to look very drying when used on women over age 35 on their undereye area in my opinion. I do have a stick concealer though that I keep on hand, if I happen to have a pimple or blemish need covering (I don't use it for my undereyes at all). However, I haven't needed the stick one, in like 3 months, so while I have it, it's not used too often (The Sonia Kashuk stick concealer, is very good and very creamy and super good, just not for my undereyes). : ) The Maybelline Age Rewind liquid concealer is cheap as chips and it's much loved by many many big and famous beauty bloggers, for good reason. Like Essie Button and EmilyNoel. Because it's truly THAT good. That liquid concealer is Amazeballs! Hands down best concealer ever ever! Covers up all undereye sins and for super cheap. : ) The stick is Sonia Kashuk (can be found at any Target) : ) 

Next step, is I, line my upper eyelid lash line, with Dolly Wink liquid liner in dark brown. I am seriously considering switching to black though. And I line my lower lash, water line with Nars black eyeliner. 

I use powder foundations and have for 20 years. I like them because they're quick. And my time to spend in the mornings, is usually limited. I have used Studio Fix by Mac the longest. I love it because it is medium to full coverage. Meaning it covers up all the things you want to cover up. If you have ever bought a powder foundation and have been disappointed because the coverage is such crap, that it's like you used a setting powder versus using a powder FOUNDATION. That won't happen with the Studio Fix. It covers. I use it very light handed, I rub my puff in the foundation powder twice at the start and won't dab mine in the powder foundation at all after that, for my entire face, 2 swipes is all. 2 swipes of the foundation is more than enough for my entire face. I am color NC20 and I also have NC15 in winter when I am paler. Tarte powder foundation on the right and Shu Uemura powder foundation on the left. I have been seriously thinking about trying a Korean cushion foundation lately though, so I might try one of those next. I'm considering Hera Or Sulwhasoo brand in the cushion foundation though. But I'm still debating about it though. : ) I'm leaning more towards the Sulwhasoo Everfair though. : )

Okay by now, my eyebrows and liners are done and my face is all even and my foundation is on. If I am just going to go for a walk or go to my local grocery store in my town I will stop there makeup wise and go no further. However, let's just imagine it's observation day for sake of argument. : ) Next steps are color. I do my blush. The blush I use if by The Balm and the color I use is in Frat Boy. 

While I own only 2 palettes, this Urban Decay Naked palette in my most favorite. It definitely lives up to the hype. : ) 

This has all colors a girl could ever want or need. All very natural colors.

These colors in particular are my most favorites.: ) 

Just a very healthy peachy pinky color. It is very pigmented and so I just use a little.

Lips. Lipsticks and lip butters are my weakness. This Benefit and Lesportsac cosmetic pouch, is always found in my bag. : ) It contains just some lip products and some blotting papers.

Two Urban Decay lipsticks, colors are Fiend and Naked. Too Faced Spice Spice Baby. Mac Syrup and Bite brand in Pepper. 

I keep 5 high end brands and 5 low end ones, in my small makeup pouch pictured above. But all are super good. Revlon gloss, Loreal, Revlon Butter lipstick, Dr Pepper Lipsmacker and Rimmel.

Yes, I do favor, the YLBB colors. (Your lips but better colors) to me they just look natural and not so harsh.) Very easy on the eyes. Wearable everyday shades. : )

If, I were forced to pick my top favorite 5. These would be the 5. : ) Colors down below.

The last thing, I do is curl my lashes. Put one coat of mascara on and I'm good to go. Shu Uemura eyelash curler, which I love. And the mascara, is a Korean brand. For mascaras, I really don't care which mascara so much. I like my mascaras cheap though, because I toss mine every 4 months. 

Blotting papers. I'm nearly out of the Face Shop ones, that I bought at Aeon here in Japan. So, I put a pack of Clean & Clear in my little makeup pouch now, just in case. : )

I'm sure every one of us has, their own "Ride or Die" products! These are mine. Meaning I'll purchase this product forever and ever unless it's discontinued. : ) My ride or die product is the liquid concealer. I have 1 empty to the left. One half used in the middle and 1 brand new and unopened waiting to take it's place. That concealer is *that* good, it really really is. And my other ride or die product is the Loreal Glossy Balm in lovely mocha. It's such a pretty color. It's very YLBB. : ) I have this one waiting in line as a replacement already. : ) Those are my only 2 ride or die products, that I can think of. I have purchased about 15 Mac Studio Fix powder foundations though, in all my years. Could even be more. And while I'll keep one here...I am always searching too. For something better. Studio Fix is also, that good...so whatever I find has... big shoes to fill (meaning being compared to my beloved Studio Fix) : ) But I'll keep an eye out, just in case. : )

Yep, told ya, I was a ride or die, Anastasia Beverly Hills eyebrow mascara girl. For years. But sometimes things change. If you don't know this brand. Anastasia, is like the most famous eyebrow waxing genius person ever. There is also an Anastasia Beverly Hills waxing place in Tokyo too. The Kardashians, famous models. All sorts of people go to Anastasia for an eyebrow wax. She has made brow products and sells them at Sephora. And her products are indeed amazing. And deserve the hype. However, her products are also pricey. And however her eyebrow mascara brush is humongous. Since Sephora left Japan ions ago. Whenever I am near a Sephora, I bought these. And I will use these, because I dislike wasting money, so yep, I have been using this. However I find the Nature Republic brow mascara better, the color is perfect (way prettier than the other brand) and the brush is so tiny, it actually is perfect length and width for a human eyebrow. The Anastasia brush size would best fit, Burt and Ernie from Sesame Street. It's seriously just absurdly too big for an eyebrow. But again..I will use them up. I have 2 and a half tubes of this left. But I do now prefer the Nature Republic one.

Brunette. Yep, I am a brunette. And the color is very pretty. However, I just prefer the Nature Republic one, sorry, because the color is just prettier and price is like heaps cheaper. And the brush is way better. 

The product, I keep for days like, graduation ceremony or entrance ceremony is this. It's a Korean BB Cream. By Lioele. This product is like an Instagram filter in a tube! This gives the most flawless face. I'm telling ya, I know I just said it, but it's so true that I have to say it again...it's truly...an Instagram filter in a tube! 

American BB creams are nothing more than just tinted moisturizers, calling themselves BB creams. But they were invented in Korea. And your skin actually looks nicer after using it. It's got SPF, they all seem to be anti wrinkle. @_@ Which is a good thing, I guess. And they all seem to be whitening. 

It actually takes me 20 minutes from start to finish, to put my full makeup on, if I have an observation day or whatnot. And in the end I look as natural as this beautiful lady. I don't want any makeup screaming at people. I just want people to know I'm wearing makeup obviously, but...that I look natural. I'm not a green eye shadow girl or bright color eye shadow girl. Nor am I, a bright red or black color lipstick girl either (nothing wrong with those looks, just not for me though). Just very understated makeup. That's all. : ) Phew. So anyways that's what's in my makeup bag! : )