Sally Hansen's Salon Effects - Kitty, Kitty

A while ago, my mom picked these up for me from the drug store~ I was really eager to try them out!

Sally Hansen Salon Effects
Real Nail Polish Strips

"Kitty, Kitty"

These no-hassle adhesive strips are made of real nail polish.  With no drying time and 24 fashion-forward designs to choose from, now it's easy to get a salon effect at any time or anywhere!   

They take a bit of patience and precision to apply at first, but by the time I finished five fingers I had the hang of it.  Each package contains 16 nail strips in many different sizes, so even if you make a mistake it's okay!  The nail strips stretch and cut away easily, for a perfect fit.

I was worried about damaging them, so I started to apply a topcoat but right away I noticed that it had a bit of an adverse effect so I stopped.  The top coat settles into the bumps of the design and makes it appear crinkly...you can actually kind of see wrinkles on my index finger in the pictures.  Really, a topcoat isn't necessary at all!  I'm really impressed by the durability of these nail strips, in fact there was no difference in longevity between the fingers that had topcoat and the fingers that didn't.

These are supposed to last 10 days, but I wore them for a good 15!  I started to see a little bit of noticeable chipping at 8 days, but they were still totally wearable.  I got tons of compliments on them the whole 15 days of wear.

They also helped to protect my nails and keep them from breaking.  My nails really grew a lot, which is awesome!   

Overall: 5/5

I'm really satisfied with these, they totally exceeded my expectations!  I loved having such effortless, beautiful nails.  Available at most drugstores at just around $10, they're cheaper than a regular manicure at some salons!  They can't be beat~

I really want to try some of the other designs as well!

End of Summer Sunglass Warehouse Giveaway

The end of summer is drawing near...I'm so not ready for it, feeling a bit depressed.  Anyway, I hope your summers have all been great!  Whether you've had a good summer or not, I think we could all use a little end of summer pick-me-up~ don't you?

Lucky for us, the folks at Sunglass Warehouse know that sunglasses aren't just for summer!  No matter what the season, sunglasses are the perfect functional accessory to complete an outfit.  Whether you are looking for sunglasses for women, sunglasses for men, or sunglasses for kids...Sunglass Warehouse has them all, for under $20 each!

I was kindly sent the SW Celebrity Aviator Style #8150.  I wore them in my last post!

I love them!!  The colors are so pretty, and unlike other aviators I've bought in the past these are really sturdy~

As always, Sunglass Warehouse has great customer service and super fast shipping!

 And since they are so wonderful, they are sponsoring another giveaway for one of my United States readers~ One lucky reader will win a $20 gift certificate to Sunglass Warehouse!

RULES

Mandatory entry:  Comment with your name and a valid e-mail!

For extra chances to win, you can...

-Tell me which pair of sunglasses from Sunglass Warehouse is your favorite 

-Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect, bloglovin', etc

-Follow me on Twitter @hachidork

-Follow The Sunglass Warehouse Blog

-Follow Sunglass Warehouse on Twitter @sunglasswarehse

-Tweet the following message on Twitter: "Hachi's having a @sunglasswarehse giveaway! @hachidork http://tinyurl.com/3lq3hup #win #giveaway" (you may do this once daily)

-"Like" Sunglass Warehouse on Facebook

-Blog about this giveaway

-Comment on any of my other blog posts

Be sure to do the mandatory entry first!  Each method of entry should be submitted in a separate comment.  ANY COMMENT NOT FOLLOWING THE RULES WILL BE DELETED!

The giveaway ends on Wednesday, August 31st at midnight EST.  Winner will be chosen via random.org and contacted by e-mail.  If the winner does not respond in 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen.

Disclaimer:  I received a product in exchange for this post.  All opinions stated here are 100%  my own. 

She Wore the Colors of the Sea

Bought this maxi dress and wore it to the matsuri last weekend, but didn't get a chance to take any good photos of my outfit...so I met Mike at the beach this afternoon for a little photo session~ I'm a little late getting into the maxi dress trend, but I love this one and I'm so happy to have found it.  This was the last one in stock!!

 DRESS; Urban Outfitters SANDALS; Spring ACCESSORIES; Charlotte Russe, H&M, Forever 21

We went to Long Beach boardwalk, there was a lot going on!  I had no idea about this, but apparently the Quiksilver Pro Surf Competition is being held at Long Beach in September.  When we went today, preparations were already being made.  I've never seen the boardwalk so lively.  It's going to be a huge deal, with lots of big names and fun things happening...I'm super excited!  I love festivals, and it'd be so cool to go to one right on the beach~ can't wait!!

At the moment I'm not feeling well, I think I'm coming down with a cold...what a way to end the summer, right?

Skin Food's Mushroom BB Cream

I had some samples of Skin Food's Mushroom Multi-Care BB Cream lying around, so I decided to finally give it a try~ As many of you know, I adore Skin Food's skin care products but this was my first time trying their makeup!

"This triple-function BB cream provides UV protection and deep moisturization to skin with aloe and mushroom extracts, while arbutin and adenosine make skin clear and resilient."

The shade that I tried was #2 (Natural Skin).  This shade was a bit darker than my skin, and had a slight yellow tint.  It actually worked pretty well since I am tan right now, but it definitely would not work for me during the winter when I am pale.  #1 (Radiant Skin) might be better, although I wonder if it would still be yellow-tinted.

It's super thin and even more lightweight than Missha's BB cream.  The coverage is nice and it applies easily, creating an even skin tone.  Coverage lasts all day without any primer or reapplication.

I was able to comfortably wear it all day while at work.  In fact, my skin felt so comfortable and naked that I didn't even bother to look in a mirror the entire day.  So...you can imagine my surprise when I returned home from an 8 hour shift only to look in the mirror and see that my face was a complete oily mess!  I couldn't believe it!  My skin didn't feel oily at all, but by the end of the day it just looked so horrible.

PROS:
thin
lightweight
easy to apply
made with natural ingredients

CONS:
yellow-tinted
gets really oily!

Overall: 2/5

While this product has some really nice qualities, the oily end result just isn't worth it to me.  I really don't want to fuss over my makeup all day, worrying about trying to keep it from getting oily.  I'll stick with Missha's BB Cream, it's the best I've used so far!

Summer Matsuri

So yesterday I went to Mitsuwa's annual summer matsuri in New Jersey with Ain & Eden~

This year we got there really early so that we didn't miss any of the fun!  It wasn't super crowded yet either.  There were lots of games, and so much good food for so cheap!  Every year one of the things I look forward to the most about summer matsuri is the food...they make the best gyoza ever!  I really wanted to try the soba noodle pancakes too, but the line was a mile long...

Here are just a few photos from the festivities~ 

After checking out the matsuri we did some shopping around the book store, souvenir shop, and supermarket.  I picked up tons of new stickers for my purikura book, and I had to really stop myself from buying anything else!

It was super hot yesterday and we started getting matsuri'd out.  Ain had dance rehearsal, so Eden & I went back to Flushing.  We met up with Kassie for some purikura!  It's been a while since we took some~

What a great summer day!

What's in My Bag? ★ Summer Edition

I recently entered a contest over at the Solestruck blog to spill the contents of my purse~ (the prize is a mini bag from Jeffrey Campbell's new handbag line, "GIRLS WE HATED IN HIGH SCHOOL"...I hope I win!)

I've always wanted to do a "What's in my bag?" post here, so I've decided to share my contest entry with you all!

My cher tote!  When I first got into gal style, I just had to get myself one of these totes because it seemed like ~all~ the Japanese gals had one...silly, hehe.  I've been using this bag a lot this summer.  The perfect bag for my many trips to the beach...it's really big and roomy, so I can just toss everything in there!  Sometimes I use it for school & sleepovers too.

What's in My Bag? ★ Summer Edition

in my bag:

leopard hairclip

Hello Kitty hairbrush

first aid pouch (with Hello Kitty band-aids!)

SPF 15 sunscreen

SPF 12 tanning oil

Bumble + Bumble surf spray

hand sanitizer

BlackBerry Curve 8520

"A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin (I'm addicted to the Song of Fire & Ice series)

Tide-to-Go stain stick

sunglasses

Mimobot USB

 iPod

car keys

coin purse (from my trip to Japan!)
makeup bag
Coach wristlet

in my Coach wristlet:
Softlips SPF 20 Vanilla chapstick
Harajuku Lovers G (my favorite fragrance this summer)
rhinestone hair pin
Starbucks gift card
Visa debit
Sephora Beauty Insider card
Stride Spearmint gum
assorted coins
hair elastic
Hello Kitty mirror
Princess White ID holder
$8

in my  makeup bag:
Missha M BB cream in #21
MAC lipstick in Myth
Too Faced Glamor Gloss in Pillow Talk
Rimmel London Glam'eyes mascara in Black
Avon Professional kohl eyeliner in Black
Dolly Wink liquid eyeliner in Deep Black
Too Faced Absolutely Invisible translucent powder
MAC mineral blush in Giggly
baby buki brush
bling tweezers
The Face Shop lipgloss in Fresh Juice

So there you have it, all of my summer essentials!


I'm off to the beach now on this beautiful day~ summer's almost over and I want to make the most of what we have left!