Aicha Amano

Hi everyone! Here again to feature a new make up item, just to get out of the skincare-centric posts my blog seems to be infested of lately :D I'd like to introduce a product from one of the Korean beauty brands Tony Moly , Pink Beam Crystal Highlighter . It's straight-up just a simple highlighter enclosed in a pretty and shiny bottle. I have a couple swatches for you to view, but I have to point out one crazy thing, though. It is marketed and named as a PINK highlighter, but it's weird since when you blend it all in, there isn't really any pink pigment left. It turns white, like any normal highlighter, with just a really pretty sheen. Swiped for swatching (not yet blended) I don't want to say has glitter on it, since upon application and blending there's nothing glittery about it. And even if it has glitter, it's so fine that a couple of blending strokes wouldn't correct. Here is what the highlighter looks with 2-3 blending strokes: It's not recomm...

Hi everyone! I'm going start a series called Purse Staples. Starting... RIGHT NOW! :D In this installment, I will share with you the two staples from my purse that has never left my bag since the date I purchased it. These are just a few of the items that I carry with me wherever and whenever. Bear in mind though that I mainly carry "necessities" in my bag, well, I view them as leaning towards "necessities" than "for vanity's sake"! 1. First is my favorite lip color from Nyx, the Indian Pink round lipstick . I ran out of this earlier this year and was experimenting with local brands so I stopped wearing it for a while. Several weeks ago, I pooled a Nyx lipstick order along with my co-workers: I made sure to get Indian Pink. Along with Electra, Pumpkin Pie, B25, Peony, Mars and another Indian Pink for my co-workers. I've already posted before that this specific shade is one of most worn, favorite lipstick . 2. Second is the Avene Eau Thermal. I...

Over the course of the week I received two packages with a lot of books in them. Don't we just love receiving books in the mail? Well, you and me both! I had the honor of receiving books from Andy Batangantang and Iyadls who are totally generous and without compare. From Iyadls I received John Fuller's The Memoirs of Laetitia Horsepole and Nedjma's The Almond: The Sexual Awakening of a Muslim Woman both of which I really love! I especially am looking forward to start reading The Almond, because it has been a year since I started to look for it. A couple of days after the previous book parcel, I was surprised it was followed up with a bigger one! I almost rolled around in complete glee. Andy gave me David Borgenicht's Worst-Case Scenario Almanac , Kim Edwards' The Memory Keeper's Daughter , Nicole Galland's Revenge of the Rose and finally Brenda Rickman Vantrease's The Illuminator . I added all the books I received in my to-be-read pile. As you...

Happy Tuesday everyone! Thought I'd share what's new with my daily/weekly skin care routine. I have been taking extra measures about using skincare products now, even more cautious than before. I've stopped using most of the old brands I used in my previous skin care routine . I have made a lot of discoveries along the way when it comes to drugstore brands (with a little Korean/Japanese products on the side of course!) and I'd like to think I learned a lot during those experimental times. I'm currently following the Pond's Flawless White series . You may have heard of The Pond's Challenge ; several of their products have found their way to me. Personally, I am not an advocate of artificial skin lightening at all, but I'm not one to judge anyone. If they want to, they can. I just think that we have to love the skin we have and just take care of it, and not alter it to make it appear something that it is not. I love my "golden" skin! Some call m...

X-Posted at my tumblr account, strawberryshortcut.tumblr.com - You should drop by sometimes. ;D

I've been slacking off in the blogging department but let it not be said that I remain the same when it comes to reading books! I am currently reading Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino , who may have just earned a spot in my very exclusive Favorite Author's list. :) Read my earlier review about her novel, Out by Natsuo Kirino . I haven't finished reading the entire thing yet, but my interest is very piqued! The book starts in a bizzare narrative tone: a woman looking at men and herself in terms of how their baby would look like. She dissects a man's wide nose, another's strong chin, a male neighbor's beady eyes, or her co-worker's pudgy stature and matches it with her own appearance, to create the image of how their son or daughter would look like if they would ever have one, however unlikely it might be. But she continues to narrate and introduce us to the life of a "halfsie" in contemporary Japan. Most of us have the idea that a mixed race offs...

I've been using Shiseido Tsubaki since mid-2009 when my sister bought it for me. See my post about Shiseido Tsubaki Damage Repair here. Ever since then I have loved it to bits! It lives up to the hype because it smells delicious like a Camelia flower, and it makes your hair super silky and simply soft and manageable. I love using Tsubaki and getting that silky-soft feeling once my hair dries. It's so nice to run through my hair and feel like I have the fluffiest hair in the world. It is great too because a Tsubaki set lasts you for a good while. The shampoo I use as a daily hair wash, the conditioner probably at most thrice a week, and the head spa tube I use once every two weeks since it's similar to a deep conditioning agent. It has repaired and revived plenty of dry and overly treated hair all over the world. Some swear by it to death, and although I heard that the price of the set is overly jacked up in some countries, there are still some people who look for it eager...

Hi Everyone! I would like to introduce my NEW best friend, Cattle-brie ! Hehe, funny name, eh? She was given to me as a surprise gift by Greencross last week. I've developed a weird affinity for Rilakkuma since last year, and recently I have grown to love this San-X soft toy character more than any thing! Other San-X / Sanrio softs ain't got nothing on this kawaii-blank-face-kuma XD I love Rilakkuma more than Hello Kitty or other popular soft-toy icons. I didn't have the money to buy Rilakkuma merchandise from stores, so I just go to the San-X website and save pictures from there. The only thing I have are a bunch of Rilakkuma pictures on a folder in my computer =______= But now.... I have Cattle-brie! Rilakkuma in a cow costume! IT'S SO KAWAII I'M GONNA ROLL OVER AND DIE :) SO FREAKING CUDDLY. And yeah, the name is derived from a character in the Forgotten Realms saga by R.A. Salvatore that I am into. I know, it's a bit nerdy, yeah, but the word play is s...