Life Update: In Japan!

Hello everyone! It has been... Awhile. I've been neglecting my blog and I know it, I painfully know it. I think it may be because I started my YouTube channel and that didn't go well for my blog because I started talking about products instead of writing about them, but I'm definitely going to keep up with my blog for the sake of both of us.

As you can tell from the title, I'M IN JAPAN! I've been here for about two weeks now, in Kyoto, and I've been site-seeing all the temples and shopping districts. As a foreigner, it's a bit tough to figure out cosmetics items in Japanese, though it does help that I can read some Japanese. I did do some research on Japanese skincare terms because that's where it gets tricky. I feel like make-up is a lot more straightforward with what product goes where but skincare is a-whole-nother story. In my reviews I'll note the Japanese name and translation, but here's what I've found most useful when searching for skin care items:

化粧水　　　けしょうすい　keshousui                  Toner

しっとり                                          shittori                       "Moisturizing"

さっぱり                                         sappari                       "Refreshing"

乳液　　　　にゅうえき       nyuueki                      Emulsion

メイク落とし　メイクおとし     meiku otoshi              Make-Up Remover

Terms found here.

It was a struggle finding these terms because all the ones I found at first were all romanized and were basically English said in a Japanese manner, but not all Japanese people use those words or understand English. Luckily lots of skin care items have these characters printed on them--though tough to find at times--which makes identifying them easier.

Another thing about my shopping life in Japan is that returns and exchanges are nearly impossible. I haven't tried to make one myself, but all my Japanese professors tell us the same thing, "If I don't like it I just have to give it to someone else." It's also difficult because Japan doesn't have free WiFi so I can't just look a product up at the drugstore. There are hot spots at bus stops that offer city WiFi, but that doesn't help me in the cosmetics section of the store either... Ha ha. With that in mind, all my purchases become gambles. (Perk points: Japanese drugstores carry brands from Maybelline to Kose and even SK-II, but that doesn't depreciate the value, it just makes everything accessible. There are also makeup testers for EVERYTHING, even cheaper, drugstore makeup)

I'll be blogging more frequently, especially since it's a whole new playing field of testing out products and just buying things on a whim. Stay tuned! xx