Eliza says "Let's review!"

(53) Love Child!

nobody@vox.com(Eliza) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:40:16 -0230

I love Baby Pink! I love the brand so much! Like many Japanese pharmacy brands(shelf-top/budget) the packaging and concept is so cute and appealing. The target concept is pretty much for any girl who wants to take care of herself and just baby soft skin/appearance. At least that's what I think the concept is all about. If not then, then the model baby they use on their products is really cute!

I honestly was browsing online beauty shops and rekindled my love for Baby Pink. I once owned their eye jellies(which isn't sold anymore online) and those were in cute sized tubes that came out in cream shadows. Colours aren't really great that you would wear them to school or to the office as I do believe this brand is aimed mostly for the younger audience with some products that can be for the more mature, like their lip products. I decided to try the Baby Pink Glossy Lip in Orange and Pink. Reading the description, I was thinking of how glossy and watery my lip would turn out. Putting that and the pale orange and pale pink colours made me think of a wonderful lip sensation. Actually, it's just a mere lip balm that could possibly just as great as good old lip smackers. It doesn't taste like anything and it doesn't have that much colour. The colour is there but it's not entirely noticeable. Despite being said, it's cheap(like most of our budget lip balms), it has some colour, it's glossy(yes!), and it's bigger than the average sized chapstick! It's just that awesome! The glossy lip also comes in clear and pale red colour as well.

Baby Pink Glossy Lip in Orange and Pink!

Official Site: Bison | In Japanese
Product Listing: Bison Baby Pink | In Japanese
Where to Buy: Sasa.com | Ships Internationally!

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(52) Camomile? Chamomile?

nobody@vox.com(Eliza) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:28:21 -0230

The Body Shop Chamomile Gentle Eye-Makeup Remover

I received a sample of The Body Shop Chamomile Gentle Eye-Makeup Remover when I bought a couple of body butters. It came in a set with their new collection of makeup. The sound of makeup from The Body Shop didn't sound quite appealing because I didn't think the company did anything better for body since the skincare lines weren't so great. However, I do own one of their discontinued tinted moisturizers and that's awesome. So I guess there are exceptions.

The eye-makeup remover is really gentle on the eyes. It doesn't really exactly says it removes waterproof makeup but I use waterproof and it seems to remove quite well. It's on the same level as the bi/duo oil-like eye makeup removers(from Dior, Lancome, etc..). It removes just like them in the same easy steps. Dampen cotton pad, press on area and gently sweep across. In my opinion, I think it's even better than the bi/duo oil-like eye makeup removers because I'm currently using the Dior one(and I once used the Lancome one) and I am truly tired of the oily substance. I would for sure buy The Body Shop Chamomile Gentle Eye-Makeup Remover in full size once I'm finished my Dior one. They also have a cream eye-makeup remover for waterproof makeup but I honestly wouldn't recommend unless you like using creams to remove makeup. But I don't understand why they would make a waterproof cream one when the non-waterproof one can do it all.

Official Site: The Body Shop
Where to Buy: The Body Shop
OR your local Body Shop store!

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__5

nobody@vox.com(Eliza) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 00:46:04 -0230

It's been awhile since I've last been here. A whole school year(2 semesters) have gone by and now I've just started a new one. It's been a really long time! I never stopped the compulsive shopping though I would love to review the ones I like sometime. With that being said, I'm still in chef school and I'm doing the culinary management program now. It's been fun studying but as the time of employment comes closer, I am getting a bit scared. Sigh.

I hardly take pictures of myself with makeup on and I hardly ever post those pictures of myself(in makeup) online but I just recently decided to be vain. =)

Back to Basics(makeup).

Eye Makeup:
1) AVANCE Super View Long Mascara
2) DIOR DiorShow Waterproof Mascara in Black
3) Shiseido pN creme shadow in pink sparkle((PK206) - the pN line is no longer available.

Lip:
1) CARGO Lip Gloss Duo in Chattanooga - I left the tin in the car one day and came back to find both colours mixed into one huge blob. Still a great product!

Now one must think that a girl who has so much makeup is still sticking with the basic neutral colours.

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Monthly Product Spanking - April '07

nobody@vox.com(Eliza) — Tue, 29 May 2007 23:00:12 -0230

(49) PinkyStreet KiraKira*Music Hour for DS - After beating the game for the 2nd time around, I still don't have all the clothes. Which tells me that I must play really bad to earn so little cash. It's still cute and enjoyable even though it takes forever to get all the clothes. But if you're not interested in getting the clothes then it's a real short sweet game.

(50) Nodame Cantabile for DS - Although I beat this game within a few hours, I must say the graphics are awesome and well developed. The only downside to this game is that it's just too short! Praying for a highly-unlikely sequel!

(51) Osu Tatakae! Ouendan for DS - After playing and beating the insane mode I was hoping there was a sequel. It's just too addicting to have no sequel! But now there is one and I probably will play and review that one sometime. This game is still great to go back to play for the songs and funny animations.

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(51) Ouendan!

nobody@vox.com(Eliza) — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 18:24:32 -0230

Osu Tatakae! Ouendan for DS

When you first look at the cover for 押忍！闘え！応援団 (Osu Tatakae! Ouendan) you would never think it was a music game unless you knew Japanese of course. In fact, it is a very well-made game that is challenging yet addictive. The storyline of this game is about a cheer team that goes around Japan cheering on troubled people. By completing the song, the troubled people will then have the courage, motivation and power to face their fears.

Like all music games, the player is awarded points depending on the accuracy of the beat and by completing the song. So what's so hard about that? The second you start playing your bar will be slowly going down and it's only if you start tapping the beats accurately at the highest accuracy(300) that your bar will slowly rise. The 3 levels of accuracy are 50, 100 and 300. There are also 4 different beats that you can play in a song if available. They are the normal tap beat, tap and follow beat, tap follow reverse beat and the spin as fast as you can beat. They are all relatively easy to learn but using them all in one song back to back is pretty hard. As you progress through the stages and complete the levels, new songs will appear for you to play. As you finish a song for one particular mode, you will unlock harder modes to play. The two modes that come first in the game are easy and normal. Normal is the default with the cover character. Only normal mode can unlock hard mode which will unlock insane mode. Each mode has a different team of cheerleaders for you to control.

Although I haven't finished this game, I can't believe I got so far! I'm only about 2 more songs away from the ending of Normal mode. When I first started this game, I didn't even pass the first song in 5 goes. It looked incredibly hard but as addicting as it is, it makes you want to play more and get better. The songs are famous Japanese pop songs so a knowledge of how they sound like would probably benefit more. Most songs are rockish but there is one love story that is quite touching. This game is pretty enjoyable at a point that you want to beat it so bad that you want to thrown your DS when you can't beat the song! They even have an American edition(featuring Amercian problems and songs) and a sequel to the Japanese version with newer jpop songs! Try this game if you're tired of the easier music games!

Official Site: 押忍！闘え！応援団
Additional Links: TV Commercial(Youtube)
                         Gameplay(Youtube) | This is not me playing insane level.
                         Elite Beat Angels | The US version.
                         燃えろ！熱血リズム魂　押忍！闘え！応援団２(sequel) | Japanese sequel.
Where to Buy:

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(50) Fifty!

nobody@vox.com(Eliza) — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:57:52 -0230

Nodame Cantabile for DS

More music madness!

I love the Nodame Cantabile story! I love the characters so much because they are each so different. I've only watched the drama and it was done so well. The story is basically about 2 main students at a music college who are both completely opposites: a slob and a perfectionist. They meet unexpectedly one day and the girl(slob) falls in love with the guy(perfectionist). And then the story goes on...

The game has none of the love story in it. It's another music game where you poke at the screen while the "beats" go by. That's one of the most played game out of the 5 other games included. The other ones include the taiko drum game, the super-mario-like game, the food memory game and the clean-up Nodame's(slob girl) room game. All of these are mini-games so they are pretty easy to beat. I would have to say I hated the super-mario-like game the most. You have to get the little boy across the moon to his spaceship avoiding all obstacles(rabbit, bears, craters, meteriods, rolling rocks) while still being in the time frame. Thankfully there were only 2 levels of that because I had a hard time passing the second one. I really don't like those rabbits in the level. It's a really short game that only took me about 3 hours of nonstop playing to finish the entire game. I wish it was longer though! I really enjoyed the main music game a lot. Lots of famous classical music pieces that you can play. There is also a language barrier here but it's not really serious because you don't really need to understand the text in order to play. But, I must warn, there will be loads of tapping to skip the conversations between the characters! Check out the actual tv commercial to see how fun it is!

Official Site: のだめカンタービレ | In Japanese.
Additional Links: Nodame Cantabile Anime(wiki)
                         Nodame Cantabile Drama (wiki)
                         TV Commercial(YouTube)
                         Gameplay(YouTube) | This is not me playing.
Where to Buy: Play-Asia
                      YesAsia
                      Japan Video Games | On preorder?

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(49) Kira Kira!

nobody@vox.com(Eliza) — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 14:52:14 -0230

Pinky Street Kira Kira * Music Hour for DS

Well, I haven't gotten my computer back yet but I've realized that I have a laptop at home as well. A very slow and broken down laptop that can't be used to do anything but type and surf the net. So what have I been doing these days? I've been chilling, watching tv, going out and playing video games nonstop. I've been playing some major music games these days. I've never been good with the music games because I can't follow the beat at all. And to say this while having some experience in music!

First up is the ピンキーストリートキラキラ★ミュージックアワー(Pinky Street Kira Kira*Music Hour) game available on DS. What is Pinky Street/Pinky:st? I should probably know how to answer this one since I did collect them at one point in my life. They are basically collectible plastic figurine dolls with customizable parts. I'll post a link later about Pinky:st below so you can see what it's all about.

Now about the game, it's really surprising that the makers would want to use the doll in a game. I guess it's aimed at the younger generation(10-12 year olds). This game is like many music games where you have to tap "beats" according to the music score. In this game there are only 3 beats which makes it really easy. The point of the game is probably is to beat each music level for every genre of music and earn some cash for new clothes and accessories.

The prices for clothes are like in yen amount so they are pretty expensive. For example: a new hairstyle will cost you $8000 but you only earn around 200-500 a song. Although there are some "p-coins" that you can win after playing a song so that you can play slot machine to randomly get new clothes, you would still have to play a whole lot of songs in order to get all the clothes. The songs are pretty easy to ace but sometimes the opponent will throw you a super move and will make your bar go down so you have to work your butt to win. Raising your bar is a pretty slow process because you have to hit several notes accurately but if you miss a note, your bar will go down so fast that you wouldn't believe it! I guess that is the only challenge in this game. Overall this game is pretty average even with it's language barrier, I think it's pretty easy to beat within a few hours. But hey! It's easy and cute!

Official Site: ピンキーストリートキラキラ★ミュージックアワー | In Japanese.
Additional Link: pinky-street.com | A very informative english site on Pinky:st!
                       TV Commercial(YouTube) | You don't really get much from the cm...
                       Gameplay(YouTube) | That is not me playing.
Where to Buy: Play-Asia | Has a summary of game as well.
                      Japan Video Games | Seems reliable for Japanese games.
                      YesAsia | The cheapest of the 3 linked!

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__4

nobody@vox.com(Eliza) — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 11:40:56 -0230

So I will be on hiatus for awhile because my computer broke down on me yesterday. There's something wrong with one of the outside fans that cool down the computer when it's running. I think it's because of all the dust located behind my computer. I tried to take my computer apart to wipe the fan but it's not the typical fan that you can take out. It's located in a box that can only be opened part way and covered by a mother-board chip like thing that needs to be unscrewed. Because the box can't be opened up all the way, I don't have the right angle to unscrew the chip off. So I have to now go fix my computer at either Future Shop(store I bought it from) or the company. I have 1 year warranty that hasn't expired so I have to see what they are going to do about it. Thing is that I haven't backed up a single file on this new so I don't want a completely new computer. I rather get new parts or have them exchange the hard drive. I have a HP Pavilion Media Center TV m7680n.

The only internet access I'll have is from the library at school. But school ends in 2 weeks so I have no idea if I'll have my computer back then. So I guess I'll see you guys around =)

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(48) Good Times.

nobody@vox.com(Eliza) — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:59:30 -0230

w-inds. - Single Mega-Mix(2007)

Ahh.. w-inds.! My first ever full-blown Jpop boy group. I think I started getting into them when their first album came out. That was a preeetty long time ago. I tried and failed at collecting their stuff unlike many of my online buddies. There were too many singles, albums, dvds and merchandise just to collect. I was dead broke almost every month just trying to catch up with their new stuff. However with that being said, w-inds. will always be in the back of my head.

Long story short, I was on wFL forums and met a girl in Hong Kong who announced that there were concert goods being sold. Being a mini hardcore fan, I had to go and scoop up the goods! Then somehow, I got to know this girl and we were supposed to go meet up to sweep the goods together. I was so hardcore that I skipped summer school for it. Sadly, we couldn't find each other on the day of the sale but ended up buying stuff. Later that day, we met up AFTER the sale just to gush about our goodies. I think we both almost spent up to $150 USD each that day. Crazy fangirls that have now become great friends. The End. What a great story! =)

Now, I don't exactly like w-inds. anymore since their voices have changed a lot but I do try to catch up with some of their new stuff sometimes. I think I stopped at one of their last bestest singles "Long Road". After that it was downhill for me. w-inds. have now put out 21 singles, 1 remix single, 1 collab single, 6 albums, 1 Best album and 1 remix-collab album. That is pretty impressive for 3 teenage-turned-adult men. Today, I'll only be talking about their newest remix single known as "Single Mega-Mix".

First of all, I don't even know why they wanted to do this. It's squeezing out more and more money out of the fans. You think I was bad spending so much on concert goods? You should think about the other fangirls who pre-order limited things every month. At first I thought this was a remix album and thought w-inds. had gone mad. But then I found out it was a SINGLE which sort of makes it easier to swallow. It's a 32 minute single that includes snippets of all the chorus parts OF their entire collection of singles as well as an added bonus song. I don't think it's a great idea to spend your money on this but if you are a newbie then it's a great way to catch up. But if you aren't a newbie, you will find that you have stepped into a very long commercial of preview songs. It's almost like those previews on itunes where you only get the good parts of the song. So think that multiply 26 + 1 full song and sadly 5 of those songs are like radio edits(practically the same as the original remix). Now, don't even get me started with the remixing. All the upbeat songs are the same and the slower songs have just stepped up a notch in tempo. So it doesn't really make it thaaat remixed. Usually remixes are cool but this is just a high tempo medley. Bottom line is that I would only buy it if you were really collecting and desperately in need of more w-inds. goods or if you're just a newbie.

Oh yes, if you're looking for a BETTER remix album, I would go for the Buddies album they had with 2 other groups under their label: FLAME and Lead. Full length remix songs that actually sound different from the original.

Official Site: w-inds.tv
Info Site: wiki | Pretty accurate but they are missing the collab single.
              Feel to w-inds. | First fansite of google.
              wFL forums | best place to discuss the group.
Where to Buy:CDJapan(Mega-Mix) | Limited Edition still available!
                     YesAsia(Mega-Mix) | Limited Edition only.
                     CDJapan(Buddies) | Cheaper and faster!
                     YesAsia(Buddies) | Requires 7 days to ship.

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(47) Take me to the Paradise!

nobody@vox.com(Eliza) — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:25:52 -0230

LUSH Avobath Bath Bomb

I have some friends that are totally obsessed with LUSH and have told me that they can spend all their money there. I didn't believe them then but now I understand why. It's not my first time trying and buying LUSH products. I don't not like them or like them to my friends' extent. I'm just ok with it. Instead, I am a huge fan of taking weekend baths. I have this whole routine where I take a bath while wearing a mask. After I've removed the mask and gotten out of the bath, I will then apply cream and do my nails. Unfortunately, I haven't done this much lately as I am too busy with school. Only this weekend, when I walked by a LUSH store after a job interview that I desperately wanted a relaxing bath. I normally go for the honey and sweet buttery bath bombs but I decided to try one of their other best selling ones.

Avobath comes in a nice fresh green grass coloured ball. It has a strong lemongrass scent to it. It also has bergamot and fresh avocado and olive oils in it.

I love the colour green so when I saw how the bath bomb turned my tub all green, I was really excited to jump in! It looked so awesome! I could also smell the lemongrass citrusy aroma spreading around the bathroom. Well, going in was definitely fun but it wasn't much fun being in the green bath. First of all the scent sort of wasn't as strong as before I stepped into the bath. It faded so rather quickly that it made me think that the whole "ride" was over already. So when you consider the price and how fast the smell fades... it seems like you've been cheated. I just sat in my tub for a few extra minutes than usually just to get my money's worth. Of course, I came out all pruney. Pruney and smooth! It is indeed really really moisturizing because of the avocado and olive oils. However, I just don't like how the smell didn't last that long. I guess that is the same with the rest of the bath bombs because LUSH uses natural ingredients. I probably won't stop buying stuff from LUSH but I probably won't be buying the Avobath again. I think I'll stick to my honey and sweet buttery ones.

Official Site: LUSH | You can order it on the site as well!
Where to Buy: Amazon
OR you can check your local LUSH store!

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