Smile

Darnit… I broke a nail today while trying to lift out suitcases to find my winter clothes… I think they may be in the garage. And I thought I have enough calcium! I drink 2+ glasses of milk every day.

I adore sticker pictures (aka Print Club = Purikura -- プリクラ) – it seems it's like such a waste of money for something so small, but they’re cute and it’s perfect for me ‘cause I’m such a poser (haha!). Decorating them is half the fun! I remember the first sticker picture I took was when I was around 8 or 9 at Aberdeen Centre with my mom and brother. They definitely weren't as high tech as they are now - they came out in rows of the same pic. I picked a rabbit background. And then in Grade 8 and 9, we started taking some more... and then stopped for a while. I don't think I've ever taken a card picture though. B and I took sticker pics in Taiwan.. it’s cheap there! In Taiwan’s Ximen Ding, they have a 4-floor pink building dedicated to JUST sticker pictures! They should have one in Richmond. I want a B&W photo booth and a sticker picture booth in my house haha. It’s sort of like those people who have pinball machines and those stuffed animal claw things in their house.I just realized that I could be totally Jap and write things in Japanese! Next time...

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Oh wow I just found this site called Puricute where you can decorate any picture like a sticker picture! I'm having so much fun!

B and I took this pic in Taiwan on this HUGE ferris wheel @ Miramar.

I'm thinking of dessert lol >>>
I look so orange b/c I forgot to change the settings on my cell...

Here's my cutie-pie, Corey. He's winking at me while eating blueberries.

Yesterday I realized that I’m such a bad friend. I hardly ever initiate things – I always seem to wait for people to tell me that they want to do something with me… and I have been very lucky and I’m very grateful that people always do ask me out to do things and that my weeks are filled with fun times hanging out and trying new things. (I adore my friends!) Now that I realize this, it’ll try to be a better friend.

Anyway, in order to eventually tackle my cream/cleanser collection in an organized manner, I'll do it by brand.

Skin Food

Skin Food (1952) originated in Seoul, Korea. It's a lot like TheFaceShop (1962) in size and types of products, except I don't believe we have Skin Food here in Vancouver. I don't know much about this shop, but most of their products are based on food. Their slogan is: treating your skin with all natural goodness.

In Taiwan, I went shopping for a couple hours by myself at the night market (the largest in Taiwan) 10 minutes away from our campus b/c Bern had to go to dance practice. Actually, this was in the afternoon so the night market wasn't even open yet - only the regular all-day stores were. Skin Food was one of them. The sales associate greeted me warmly with an "anyonghaseyo" - I said "anyong" back to her and she was surprised and asked if I was Korean. I shook my head and then she started speaking to me in Mandarin and I told her I didn't know any.. so she tried in English. She was surprisingly understandable. I just looked around. There were so many products and I've never heard of the brand before I came to Taiwan so I asked the lady which products were the most popular and she directed me to:

Peach Sake Emulsion [approx. $15CDN]
This stuff smells SO GOOD. If you like the smell of peach, definitely take a whiff of this stuff. The lady said it's a great summertime moisturizer as it's an extremely light cream and minimizes large pores that tend to get larger in the summer. On the back of the package, it says "Fresh emulsion with 'sake', traditional Japanese wine brewed with rigidly selected rice, and 'peach' extracts rich in vitamin A and C to remove greasiness due to enlarged pores and excessive sebum". The packaging for this product is definitely not cheap. It's made out of a thick, heavy frosted glass that keeps the product cool all year round... and it just looks pretty on your counter. I'm not disappointed, but I don't think I would repurchase this product because it wasn't anything amazing.. and I don't have large pores to begin with. Also, it's a bit hard to get the cream out without a pump - you have to shake it out.. and only a little comes out at a time. It just smells good and it feels great on for about 10 minutes after you apply.
Lettuce and Cucumber Toner [approx. $15CDN]
I bought this one because (1) it smells really good - fresh.. I can't describe it, and (2) b/c I was looking out for Burt's Bee's Wild Lettuce Toner (which I bought almost a month later in HK because it's discontinued in North America) and this seemed close enough. The packaging is the same as the previous product except the top is made out of a thin metal. On the back of the bottle, it says "This hydro-balancing toner makes your skin clean and clear, and contains vitamin-and-mineral-rich lettuce and cucumber extracts". This stuff is decently good. Not as good as Burt's Bees Wild Lettuce Toner or Mario Badescu's Special Cucumber Lotion (a toner), but pretty decent for its price. It does keep my skin more hydrated than if I didn't apply it and does an good job keeping my skin relatively clear. However, I don't find that it actually takes off all the excess dirt and grime my face has like Mario Badescu's does. It does feel really great and refreshing on for about 10 min (same as the Peach Sake Emulsion).. but again, I know that there are other toners out there that do a better job so I would not purchase this toner again.

So all in all, I'm not amazed by these 2 products and don't think I'll buy from this brand again unless it was something small like nail polish (they made me do this scratch and win thing and I won purple pedicure nailpolish.. but I haven't tried it yet).
(Oh the lady also told me that it's cheaper in Taiwan than HK - Taiwan is 2nd cheapest compared to Korea... I was a little skeptical, but I did check out the prices in HK and they are cheaper in Tw by a little)

"Sleep Well",
N