Lipstick Paradise

Hi all! Another weekend is about to come to an end, and I hope you have all had a restful time! So today I decided to play around with the lipsticks I own. These lipsticks are on Mac NW45 skin with L'Oreal Nut Brown highlighting under base. Instead of spamming my post with a billion photos, I decided to Photo Grid the pictures based on each color and far view/close up. I hope you enjoy!

410 Blissful Berry - Maybelline (Favorite)

540 (Moisture Renew) Burgundy Lustre -Rimmel

900 Red Alert - Rimmel

Confession - Urban Decay

All Heart - Clinique (probably my least favorite because it's too shimmery)

If you have any lipstick recommendations for darker skinned individuals, please let me know in the comments below.




Till Next Time!

-Hachi

"Yes to." Product Review

Hi all!

Sorry it's been so long in between blogs, I have been rather busy this week with work, and an online class I am quite "over". Since I am due for another blog anyway, and I just tried out a product for the first time, I will give a product review on it.


So if you remember in my old blog about my Target Super Mini Haul, I purchased the Yes to. Cucumbers Soothing Hypoallergenic Facial Wipes. I haven't had a chance to test them out until today so I did and have a bit to say about them.

Stock Photo of Yes to. Cucumber Soothing Hypoallergenic Facial Wipes

Firstly, the moistness of the towels is really good. To reiterate, it didn't come out of the packet mostly dry after a while like some do when purchased.

You could also really smell the cucumber in it. Intensely. In fact, almost overpowering. For some, that might be pretty awesome, but for me, it was a little too much.

Finally, application of the towel in makeup removing. It removed make up quite well, but remember how I said this is supposed to be hypo-allergenic? The reason I bought it in the first place? Well unfortunately, I guess it wasn't hypo-allergenic enough for me because soon after I applied it to my face, my whole face started to burn and itch. Hopefully I don't get a rash, but I have Benadryl just in case. I was so disappointed with what happened, that I can't even use the other nine towels.

Rating: 1/10, point going for moistness. The smell and the itching/burning of my face made my rating go way down. I would like to try their other products, but now I am a bit worried the same thing will happen again. Hopefully not.


So I decided to check the product reviews on their actual website and I am not the only person who got mild skin irritation from this. Other reviews discuss redness, burning, itching, rawness. I hope if you have or will try this product that it does not happen to you as well. So far, thirty minutes have passed and my face still itches. Sigh.

Update: One full hour has went by and I have applied my anti-itch cream. It took some of the irritation away, mostly natural, as well. Maybe I'll do a review on it later.




Has this ever happened to you before? Where something hypo-allergenic caused minor, mild, or major skin irritation on you? Also, what hypoallergenic skin care products do you recommend? Let me know in the comments below.



Till Next Time!

Hachi

*Cough, Cough, I'm sick* Cold Remedies on the Cheap

Hi everyone! (Cough, cough, I'm sick.) Or at least, it seems like I might be getting sick. Tis the season though, and I do work at a community college after all. I don't typically take OTC medicine, but on occasion, as some happens to give me nightmares. So while I wait for a normal prescription to be filled, I am doing my typical remedies in the meantime. They do help lessen the blow, at least I have noticed. (I am not a doctor, nor do I claim to be so do not attempt some of these remedies without a doctor's approval. Especially if you are already taking medicine.) Most are natural remedies anyway, but I just wanted to put that out there that you should always get doctor approval when doing new health related things. Regardless of how simple they are.

Stock Photo of a woman sneezing

Humidifier!

Humidifiers come in two types: warm mist and cool mist.  It's basically just heated water in a machine that comes out as steam to clear the airways and allow for restful breathing. I happen to use a Children's cool mist humidifier, that I purchased at Target, a few years ago for about 30$. I also add to it what I will mention in the next category.

Essential Oils!

Essential oils can be bought at most health stores, for relatively cheap. You only need a couple of drops at the most for usage in your diffuser or humidifier. Never handle them on your skin directly. Some do come diluted in a base oil like almond, or jojoba, however, many are pure oils. I do advise to dilute them in the water without touching it. Less is more. Too much and it will be very over powering. Oils that are good for colds include : Lavender, Mints (Rosemary, Peppermint, etc), Eucalyptus, and Camphor.


Lemon and Honey!

This combination is awesome! Honey is a natural antioxidant. Some people use it in salves, I use it as an antibacterial cough soother. It also helps with sore throats. To make a very thick cough syrup out of it, mix equal parts lemon juice and honey into a table spoon and take it like that. Some people (like me) find that to be too sweet and prefer to add it to hot water as a sort of tea. (I sometimes add a shot or half a shot of Brandy and turn it into a Hot Toddy (folk remedy), but I am of age. If you are not of legal drinking age, just don't. Seriously. lol)

Salt Water!

This combination can be used as a warm soothing rinse to aid in a sore throat's healing process, or as a nasal irrigation rinse. In both cases, do not ingest the salt water. I also hate netipots, might I add. I do use saline to moisturize the nose, but nasal irrigation makes me feel weird.

Chest Rub!

Vicks Vaporub is quite nice too, but it is really expensive, unless you find it on sale. Store brand chest rub works just as well.

Warm Moist Towels/Hot Packs!

If you have sinus pain, a warm towel or a warm hot pack can help relieve the pain in your sinuses. The hot pack will stay warm a lot longer than the towel by the way. Test the temperature, and do not leave it on for long periods of time.

Vitamin C!

You can take some tablets, multivitamins, or just eat or drink your vitamin C if you are very anti-pills.



That's all for now! If you know of anymore useful and relatively safe/legal remedies, please feel free to comment below.


Till Next Time!

Hachi

Sales, Savings, and Groceries! Oh My!

So you guys know I love a good sale. There were amazing sales for this week's ad at Ralphs (a Southern CA grocery chain owned by Kroger). Although I bought 15 items at 53$, which seems not so good until you realize what I got for that price. With further ado, here is this week's grocery haul. For the record, my kitchen counter is a bit small (with my Kruger machine and my microwave in the way), so I tend to take the pictures on my stove. Not pictured (1 pk of store made sushi for lunch, watermelon slices)

12 pk Natural Brown Eggs, 1 lbs of ground beef, 1 pk of salmon

8 pieces of chicken breast, 18 pieces of chicken drum sticks, 5 lbs of St. Louis style spareribs

Ignoring the chicken in the back, 1 large bottle of teriyaki marinade, 5 pks of frozen veggies, and 1 lbs of large shrimp.

When thinking about the price of each individual item, based off of the amount purchased and spent, each item was about 3.53$ each. I consider this a purchase well done since everything aside from the veggies individually cost over 5$ each. According to Ralphs, I saved about 25$ and I consider that a win in my books.

Do you guys love supermarket sales? and how do you save at the supermarkets? Let me know below and if you have any tips to save more. :)



Till Next Time!


Hachi

Sweater Weather Tag

Hi all!

So sorry for the delay in blogs, I have been so busy with work, traveling back and forth between Northern CA, and Southern CA. I am back though! So I will do something a bit different in this blog and do a tag. Also I will be tagging all of my readers, that are also bloggers to do this tag. :)


Sweater Weather Tag:



1. Favorite candle scent? 

I really like Vanilla Bean scents. They are usually subtle and considering most candle scents make me sneeze my head off, these are heavenly.


2. Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?

I am not a big fan of chocolate, so that would be the lowest point on the totem. I would have to choose tea, hands down. I used to have fourteen different flavors of tea at one point, but drank most of them. Coffee is ok on occasion, but tea is still my love. Green tea, especially <3


3. What's the best fall memory you have?

I think my best fall memory was when I was a little kid in elementary school off on the countryside in my hometown in the Central Valley of Northern CA, and I would play with my friends on the playground. We would gather all the leaves up and jump and roll around in them. Good times, good times. I still jump in leaves, btw. I enjoy the crunching sound they make when I step on them.  :)




4. Which makeup trend do you prefer: dark lips or winged eyeliner? 


I would have to say winged eyeliner. Mostly because I don't wear lipstick all too often, and all my lipstick is rather dark.




5. Best fragrance for fall?




I don't like seasonal smells, it goes along with things always making me sneeze. I can tolerate some Victoria Secret sprays though. Sweet Daydream is my staple. 


6. Favorite Thanksgiving food? 

Ham, because I am not a fan of turkey, to be honest. I also love sweet potatoes and marshmallows. Cannot stand stuffing though.


7. What is autumn weather like where you live?

It is currently hotter than the blazes here in Southern CA. Today it was 103F degrees (39C). Normally it's windy, with mild weather in the 50s-70s, depending where you are in California. It can also rain, and we actually have four days of rain in this coming week's forecast. Everyone knows we need the rain here in California.


8. Most worn sweater? 

My Lucky Brand jacket with Japanese artwork and graffiti all over it with Osaka and Tokyo written on it. I have had it for years. It's always covered in holes that keep being sewn up, but it's cozy and nostalgic.

9. Must-have nail polish this fall? 

No go-to's but I do like blues and purples.


10. Football games or jumping in leaf piles?

I like both lol.


11. Skinny jeans or leggings?

Leggings, because I only like boot cut jeans.


12. Combat boots or Uggs? 

Not a fan of Uggs, my feet get hot enough in normal shoes. I don't need all that extra fur making me overheated. Cowgirl Boots would personally be preferable for me. Norcal countryside lady, I am.


13. Is pumpkin spice worth the hype? 

No, but it's ok on occasion. I had a tall PSF today with soy. Not bad, but annoyingly overpriced.




14. Favorite fall TV show? 

Downton Abbey (since it originally comes on in the fall, although January in the US -_-)




15. What songs really gets you into the fall spirit?

All of the Nujabes beats because I love primarily instrumental music, and his music makes me feel at peace like fall does. "Horizon" is one of them :)



Hope you enjoyed my tag, and like I said I tag all of you readers to do it as well. :)



Till Next Time!

Hachi

September Favorites!

Hi Everyone! Happy September! We are inching closer to the greatest season ever! Fall, or autumn as I typically call it ! :) So I decided to do something a little different and list my favorite things about September.




PSL (Pumpkin Spice Lattes) -

Yes, I'm one of those lol However, I kind of prefer making my own drinks, so I think this year I will bet making my own. I know there isn't real pumpkin in it, because it's pumpkin pie spice haha (I'm a baker)

stock photo of PSL

Pho -

Well...technically it still feels hot as the blazes here in California, but I associate the coming of the autumn season with pho.  I actually had some yesterday because I was sick. Rare Beef Pho, please!

stock photo of pho

3/4 sleeve shirts -

They're really good for when it's not too hot, but not freezing cold. That'll probably be more useful as we get closer to the latter end of September.

stock photo of 3/4 sleeved shirt

Cardigans -

They are awesome go to's for those days, when you might want to cover up, but don't want to over heat.

stock photo of a cardigan

The changes in the leaves -

I love when the leaves change and fall to the ground. The crunch, crunch, crunch you hear as you walk on them or jump in leaves. Yes, I might be 24, but jumping in leaves never gets old haha.

stock photo of changing leaves

So that's a few of my September/start of autumn favorites.  Do you have any September favorites? Let me know in the comments below :)



Till next time!

Hachi

Cars, Cars, and More Cars

Hi All! So sorry I have fell a bit out of the loop with my blogging. This week was my first week of work. I have been relying on bus travel for the past 5 years down here in Southern CA, and let me tell you, these bus systems are HORRIBLE. The drivers are pretty good, although you get a few sour apples in the bushel, but it's the timing, the excessive amount of stops, the lack of more express buses. Now, I have to do a bus commute in between two counties for work. Imagine how much more trouble that is, dealing with two different bus systems. I have done my "Google-sensei" lessons and have discovered, the distance between home and work by car is only 19 minutes away. Get this, 19 minutes. However, with my buses of doom route, it takes me 1 hour and 48 minutes at the least to get to work. This is by taking one of the few express buses in the system. So this brings me to my current, and far more necessary need than ever, wanting a car.

There are only two cars I have a real interest in because I want to do far more with it than just go from point A to point B. I also want to join a car club, because back home in my Northern CA town, car culture is rather huge. So I want to be able to do car meet ups with other enthusiasts. I do not want any Hondas or Toyotas. The cars are really nice looking, but my area makes them EASY targets so I do not want to exactly risk that. I want to also do street legal races at the tracks down here, and street legal mods. As much as I love those movies, no Fast and Furious-ness up in here. So below I will list stock photos of the cars, (not exactly the specific looks I want, and I am asking for pros and cons of each.) So please help me out with that. :) The two cars I am currently looking at, based on the best used cars list from Consumer Reports are: the Mazda 3 (aka MZ3) and the Subaru Impreza.

2008 MZ3

Subaru Impreza Wagon WRX

So here's my task for car enthusiasts. Can you guys give me some pros and cons about the two cars mentioned. For instance, which generation is best, keep in mind, I tend to not go for the newest crayon in the box lol Also, in the future (when I choose a car) mod tips will be welcome. Thank you all! Also please be respectful of each other's opinions. In the semi-distant future, I'd like some American muscle too. :)

Update, I'll probably end up with a Kia for grad school, but then trade up in a couple of years. We'll see. (1/13/15)

Till next time!

Hachi

Thank You!

Wow, it's been two consecutive "work" weeks that I have blogged. So far so good. I even have received over 85 views in these two weeks. I know that doesn't sound like much, but it is a lot for me. The first time I started to blog was at the beginning of the year. I did it for literally the whole month, and only got 70 views. So I ended up burning out on blogging, and deleted the whole thing. Since it was the summer, I decided to start blogging again. This time, however, my new goal was two Monday through Friday weeks straight of blogging. If I ended up with at least 40 views, I would continue my blog. Since I actually went a little over double that in nine days, I decided to continue my blog. The only real change I will be making is that, since I am starting up a job and an online class soon, I will have to blog a tad bit less. So instead of Monday through Friday, I will be blogging on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (or Monday and Friday, depending) to see if that is a good fit for me. I would like to thank everyone so much for reading my blog. My long term goal is to get at least 50 followers by New Years. Even if I don't make that amount, just having exponential reader growth is good enough for me. With that being said, thank you all once again so much for reading my blog and I hope you enjoy my future blogs to come! Also blog topic suggestions are always welcome, if they are in reason, so let me know in the comments below! :) 

Till Next Time!

Hachi

Travel Nostalgia

Wow, I look back at old photos of my time in Japan and realize it has been exactly eight years since I was last there. Kurume, Fukuoka was the city and prefecture. I was sixteen and a 2006 summer student ambassador for Sister Cities International as a representative of my hometown. We spent part of the time with our host families in Japan, and then our high school aged sibling would come spend time with us and our families in our American city. We'd go to various castles, and temples in Japan. We even got to participate in this awesome water festival in August where at the end of the festival, we got hosed down with water. It felt great given the intense humidity of Southern Japan. The food was AMAZING! My host mother made amazing Japanese curry and I think fueled my Japanese curry obsession, which during college I would make for my old friends. Also, we saw an apprentice geisha perform, which I had video taped and posted on Youtube. You can see that video by clicking the link. One of my favorite times in Japan was when my older sister (nee-chan) played the piano and my younger sister (imouto-chan) and I danced around. We all had a good time doing that. Even though it has been over eight years, it barely feels like five. I do still keep in contact with my host family on occasion and consider them a part of my family, and they do of me. Flash forward to 2014, I am currently on another sister city committee, this time for Sendai, Japan. I am working to connect high school students in both cities together to do high school exchanges, or at least a group skype conversation session with one another. I do hope this works out and that future high schoolers get the chance and experience that I did. In fact, I might get to visit Sendai in a couple of years. I am looking forward to it, and I am looking forward to meeting my host family again, and my friends/former conversation students in Japan again. Here is another picture from my time in Kurume. Sorry for the quality, other people took these pictures for me. :)

Have any of you traveled? If so where, and how long? Did you do an exchange, study abroad or for work?  Let me know in the comments below. I enjoy discussing travel. :)



Till next time!


Hachi

Cinnamon Roll Recipe! :D

Home-made cinnamon rolls

Hi! So today I am writing about a very popular cinnamon roll recipe I use often, yet modify a tad bit. My mods will be in brackets

You'll need:

A baking sheet [9x13-flat would be fine]
Parchment paper

Ingredients

Original recipe makes 12 rolls 

         Rolls:

• 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 eggs, room temperature [I use brown eggs]
• 1/3 cup margarine, melted [I use salted butter, so I will either omit the salt, or use 1/2 teaspoon]
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour [All purpose flour works just as well)
• 1 teaspoon salt [If you use salted butter, you will not need as much salt]
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
•   1 cup brown sugar, packed

• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
  
  Frosting:
  
  
  
•   1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened [I use 4 ounces]
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt [I use salted butter, so I omit the salt]
  PREP: 20 minutes, COOK: 15 minutes, and READY IN: 3 hours (due to letting the dough rise)

  Directions

• Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
  
  [For those without bread makers: Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl. Mix in the sugar, margarine, salt, and eggs. Add flour and mix well. Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.-credit: ANDYTAMI]
• After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
• Roll dough into a 16x21-inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.
  
  
  That's it! It's pretty simple, and tastes just as good, if not better than Cinnabon. If you have the time to make them, go for it! You won't be disappointed :)
  
  
  
  Till next time!
  
  Hachi

Review: myCharge Energy Shot - Portable Charger

Hi all! Today, I'm doing a review on the portable phone/tablet charger I got at Target, last week. I first mentioned the charger in my "Super-Mini Target Haul" blog I did on Thursday, the 7th. A bit of background info on the charger: myCharge Energy Shot - Portable Charger is the name of the model, I got it in a light blue with polka dots. It was $19.99 and boasted 9+ hours of talk time and 7+ hours of data browsing at 3G levels. You get one month to return it as well if it does not work out for you. However, I am not quite sure what this would translate to for my phone. Most phones have 4G/4G LTE now, which means that the hours will vary depending on your data plan. The technical information is: Capacity - 2000mAh, Input - 5VDC, 1.0A , & Output - 5VDC, 1.0A

So I waited until my phone got to 15% and plugged it in. Before it got low and died on me, it got my phone back up to about 56%, which was great for what I needed it for. It did not overheat and is compact enough to conveniently carry in a handbag. Not sure I would keep it in my pocket though, considering it is actually a battery inside.It does however boast that it has multiple levels of battery protection, such as from overheating, or short circuiting.  Also, this is review is based off it's pre-charged levels. The pre-charged level starts on green, but green can mean anywhere from 71-100% charged. For now, I am giving this a 7.5 out of 10, just because I thought it might have recharged to a bit higher than 56%.  I will do an update when I fully re-charge it and test it out again. I'll post some photos below of what you should expect to see or deal with while using the charger.

This is what the package includes: charger, small instruction manual, a carrying pouch, and the recharging usb cable

This is what you will see on the top of the charger, when you plug it into the large usb port, you are charging your phone/tablet, and when you plug it into the small usb port, you are recharging your charger,

This is what it looks like when you plug the usb in for recharging.

There are three ways to charge with the usb recharger: computer, usb compatible car charger, or usb compatible wall plug. While it is charging, it will either flash red, (maybe yellow), or green to show it is charging and at what level it currently is in.

To test to see if the charger is full, or mostly full, give it a shake and it will shine green. The levels are as follows: red 0-40%, yellow 41-70%, & green 71-100%.

Hope my review helps! If you own this portable charger or any other kind, let me know how it is going for you. :)


Till next time!

Hachi

Random Scenery Photos!

Hi there! So I was searching my phone, looking through old photos to make room for new ones until I get a new microUSB for my phone and came upon all my cloud, Amtrak train, and sunset photos. I love looking at the clouds and the sky so I have a tendency to take photos of my surroundings wherever I might be. Mind you that these aren't those amazing SLR or DSLR camera photos every would be photographer does, these are just lazy Samsung Galaxy S4 photos I take when I feel interested. So please don't judge them too harshly. With that said, I present to you some photos of Northern and Southern CA taken with my Samsung Galaxy S4.

Inland Empire, CA

Santa Barbara,CA (Paseo Nuevo)

Central Valley, CA (Amtrak San Joaquin)

Central Valley, CA (Amtrak San Joaquin)

Central Coast (on the way to Santa Barbara), CA (Amtrak Pacific Surfliner)

So I hope you liked my random photos, I apologize that they aren't amazing. It's just a random hobby of mine. Do any of you like photography? If so, what kind? :)


Till next time!

Hachi

Super-Mini Target Haul!

Hi there! So yesterday, I went to the mall to find some clothing for my new job that starts later this month. On that score I came up short due to all the people at the mall and stores buying things up for "back to school" shopping. However, I went to target and picked up a few items and got one work shirt in a medium from Merona. I would have gotten more, but just about every medium in every color I liked was sold out. I will be checking online later to see if they have more colors later. A few other things I picked up will be useful for work too either appearance wise, or practicality so I will do a mini haul of the few things I picked up from Target. Once I get more things, I will do a bigger haul. A few of the items used I will make separate review posts about them in the near future. Without further ado, here are the items I got at Target:

Merona Women's medium ultimate V neck black and white striped shirt.

.

Rimmel London- Eyebrow Pencil 004 (Brown Black)

Sally Hansen - Strengthening Top Coat nail polish

Yes to Cucumber - Soothing hypoallergenic facial wipes

myCharge Energy Shot- Portable Charger

Hope you enjoyed my super-mini haul! Reviews to come soon!


Till next time!

Hachi