YouTube FanFest + Music Matters!

A little bit late, but it was a great week! I'll try go in chronological order, though it might jump about a bit^^ Best saved for last! ♪(*´ω｀*) The YouTube FanFest was a two-day event (May 20-21) featuring appearances and performances by 18 YouTube acts; followed by Music Matters (trade conference May 21-23, performances May 22-24 at Clarke Quay).

Special colored wristband that let us sit in the front 2 rows mwahahaha.

Day 1, first up was Steph Micayle.

Next was Chonny!

David Choi!

He also performed at various pubs in Clarke Quay from Wed-Fri, caught the Paulaner perf on Friday.

Hikakin, awesome Japanese beatboxer!
He can do amazing stuff and make sounds that don't sound human :O

Cooking with Dog!
The food always looks sooo good and drool-worthy...

Mighty Car Mods and Namewee.

Chester See! He was the last act for Day 1. 

My favorite song of his is Who am I to Stand in Your Way, which was the first song he performed, yay. He also belted out a few lines of Bromance, and sang God Damn You're Beautiful and Nice Guys (requested by the audience!).

First act of Day 2, JV Joseph Vincent! 

 Surprise appearance by Steve Tyler from Aerosmith!
Aerosmith was performing at the Social Star Concert on May 24.

Simon and Martina / Eatyourkimchi! ♥ They're so adorkable :D 

They're one of my favorites on YouTube!

GAC from Indonesia and The Viral Fever from India. 

Nicko's Kitchen, who had a live demonstration/hands-on segment for some audience members!

Dome Pakorn Lam from Thailand, whose song was super energetic and catchy! 

 Boyce Avenue!

They're wearing different clothes because photos are from two performances. In addition to YTFF, I got to catch their showcase at the Music Matters Conference, which was a few days after. Also caught them a while before they entered the lift. They were in a rush so only got a group shot!

 Also caught the YTFF host, Dom Lau, who's super tall. 

I'm wearing 4-inch heels and he's still so much taller!

Some interesting presentations by Barks and Livenation at the Music Matters Conference. 

 Back to Day 2, Ryan Higa!

The young screaming fangirls were craaazy loud!

Special appearance/performance by Andrew Garcia during his segment.

And a surprise (short, 30-second) appearance by Wes from Wong Fu Productions!

Wong Fu is probably my favorite channel on YouTube, These Four Walls and When Five Fell are my absolute favorite videos ♥ I love how simple objects can be used to tell wonderful, meaningful stories. Couldn't stop crying the first few times I watched them (T___T)

These Four Walls ♥

When Five Fell ♥

Wes held an impromptu meet-and-greet a few days later, sooo many people turned up but he was really nice and stayed till everyone got a picture. He is really, really, super nice. I kinda felt really old being there because most of the people that showed up were almost a decade younger than me (ﾟДﾟ)

So, that was a loong but fun week (May 20-25)! The weekend before was the Audi Fashion Festival and Wine Voyage, so I was out till late every single day. I had tickets to see the Aerosmith concert, but the night before I fell quite sick, high fever for next few days, and a bad bout of the flu (>A<).

Too Cool For School Twin Color Eye Crayons ★

One of my favorite Too Cool For School products, the Twin Color Eye Crayons! ♥ There are 5 color combinations available, and I got 4. Each crayon is supposed to have a "base" color and "main" color, though I don't actually use them like that. To me they're like 2 "main colors". So I have 8 colors in total! ♥

Each crayon retails for 12,000won, and they each come adorably packaged in a triangular prismy brown paper box ♥

The "base color" ends: #3 Gold Beige, #1 White Pink, #2 Pearly Red and #5 Metallic Grey. 

The "main color" ends: #3 Warm Green, #1 Dark Purple, #2 Pearly Brown and #5 Dark Navy. 

I actually prefer the colors of these ends to the "base" ends!

 

The Eye Crayons are soooo smooth and creamy, and go on like a dream. They're all extremely pigmented and pearly, and are super easy to blend. My only complaint is that since they're so thick, they're hard to use as eyeliner at the outer corners, especially if you want to make sharp edges or cat eyes. So I use these as color eyeliners/eyeshadow, and use a black liquid/pen liner over it because I like sharp-edged eyeliner.

I don't think the Eye Crayons fit regular sharpeners, you have to get the sharpener from Too Cool For School. The Eye Crayons are the same thickness as the Lip Crayons, so the sharpener is the same, but for hygiene purposes I bought two sharpeners, one for the lip crayons and one for the eye crayons.

 #1 White Pink + Dark Purple 

My favorite crayon of the lot, because the dark purple is my absolute favorite color! I don't know why it seems more brownish/maroon in the photos, but the actually color is really more like the crayon than the swatch. The White Pink is a very sweet color, and looks like the "without flash" color, though slightly more pink in real life.

#2 Pearly Red + Pearly Brown 

For this it's the opposite, the color of the pearly brown is actually more like the swatch than the crayon.

#3 Warm Green + Gold Beige 

I didn't buy this at first, but after leaving Seoul I kept thinking about the green and how unique it looked, so I asked my friend to help me get it^^ I like using the gold beige for highlighting the inner corners of the eyes, it's not too white and doesn't have huge glitter chunks.

#5 Dark Navy + Metallic Grey 

I really like the navy! 

I like the Metallic Grey too, though I think I'd like it even more if it were slightly darker?

These were part of my Too Cool For School haul from Seoul last year. 

Other posts on Too Cool For School stuff:

★ Too Cool For School Blending BB Series

★ Too Cool For School Lip Products

I don't think I can describe how much I love Too Cool For School! I love the fun, quirky designs of the products, they're definitely an unconventional cute, but cute nonetheless and oh-so-fun! And the products themselves are amazing ♥♥ The Blending BB Cream is one of my absolute favorite products from Too Cool For School, and so is the Lip Tint~

za 15th Anniversary ♡

2013 marks za's 15th anniversary, and what are birthdays without parties and cake? 

The theme was pink and yellow!

I remember my first encounter with za, waaay back in the year 2000, when I was just 10. The first za product I ever used: their Two-duo Lip Gloss. Each large tube of gloss had two colors, and as a 10-year old I was so fascinated because when you squeezed it, a bit of both colors came out, and you got a magical mixed color! ♡ (Credits to Google for these images of the gloss, I don't think I even started using the Internet or had a digital camera in 2000^^)

Instead of cake, there was a lovely selection of pies and drinks at the event, which was held at Window Sill Pies, a quaint little cafe with an amazing selection of pies~ ♥ I tried the Funny Apple Pie and Banana Brittle Pie, yumms. 

Dangling from the ceiling of the cafe were adorable decorations featuring illustrations by Naho Ogawa!

A Tokyo-born freelance illustrator, Naho Ogawa graduated from the prestigious Parson's School of Design in New York. While still in college, she collaborated with Anna Sui to design T-shirts! I love her illustrations, they're so sweet and delightful, and I love the style of how her colors sometimes exceed the black "outlines". Her works have also been featured in Vogue Bambini Italia and Vogue Girl Korea.

To commemorate its 15th birthday, za will be releasing a super cute, limited edition foundation case designed by Naho Ogawa...can you spot it amongst the sea of cuteness?

Awesome pink handmade "cake" decorated with some of za's current best-selling products.

And topping the cake, the lovely foundation case!

The foundation casing is for za's Perfect Fit Two-way Foundation, which is formulated with hyaluronic acid and collagen for all-day moisture and hydration. It provides decent UV protection with SPF20 PA++. It also has pore and oil control properties to keep skin matte and fresh. 

The 10 functions the foundation claims to provide:

★ Spreads lightly ★

★ Applies smoothly ★

★ High coverage ★

★ Even finish ★

★ Reduces pore visibility ★

★ Evens skintone ★

★ Corrects dull skin ★

★ Non-greasy over time ★

★ High staying power ★

★ Retains brightness ★

Close up of the uber cute limited edition 15th anniversary foundation case.

Love the colors, illustrations and girlishness of the design ♥ I'm definitely a girly girl, so anything this sweet, pink, colorful and pretty gets my stamp of approval ☆ Mark your calendars for 4th July 2013, for that's when the adorable foundation case will be launched in Watsons stores island-wide. It will retail for S$9.90, so grab it while you can as it's limited edition! 

Albion Skin Conditioner Essential ♥

Working like medicated toners/lotions, skin conditioners are an amazing invention! Been using the Hadalabo Skin Conditioner on-and-off since 2011, when I totally hoarded it. (Good decision, it's still not available in Singapore).

The most well-known skin conditioner is the one made by Albion, their Skin Conditioner Essential, and it's so famous that when people say スキコン (ski-con), they mean the Albion one. I've been wanting to try it for a long time, finally got it, and ohemgee the wonders it has done so far! ♥ My skin has become noticeably clearer and smoother, the redness has reduced, pores have become smaller, and dehydration lines have disappeared. This is really amazing...plus it smells wonderful too! ♥ 

The bottle and the box. Apparently the basic packaging hasn't changed since the introduction of the product in 1974...which is why the packaging and font kinda look old-fashioned. Up till a few years ago I only ever knew Albion as the company that made Paul & Joe cosmetics (I love Paul & Joe, their packaging is sooo floral and pretty and the quality is great. It was like "the" Jill Stuart before Jill Stuart started). A stark contrast in image, but because of the prestige/ history of the product, I guess the "trusted" old-fashioned image sells.

The effects of the skin conditioner: 

★ 肌荒れ・荒れ性/ Targets rough, dry skin

★ クリアな肌/ Clears skin

★ 日焼け・雪焼き後のホテリを防ぐ/ Prevents flushness after sunburn or snowburn

★ 肌を引き締める/ Tightens skin

★ ニキビを防ぐ/ Prevents pimples

★ みずみずしい肌/ Fresh, youthful skin

My awkward translation: "The skin conditioner supports the skin, and is a lotion that leads to moisturized and healthy skin. It is a lotion aiming for long-lasting, true beauty; a lotion that can be used for all seasons and ages, for whatever skin problems: to treat irritable skin, to prevent flushness from sunburn and snowburn, and to prevent skin troubles like pimples."

薬用 means for medical use/pharmaceutical, so this is kinda like a medicated toner. The product is vacuum-sealed at the top for hygiene purposes, always a plus point for me. I love products that come with sealed openings.  On the back of the bottle you have the product description, it's a lotion/toner, for sensitive skin. I got the 165ml bottle, which costs 5,000yen (5,250yen with tax) in Japan. Good news is that Albion is available in Singapore (Takashimaya Cosmetics Dept), though it costs S$82 for the 165ml bottle.

There are 3 sizes available:

110ml - 3,675yen with tax

165ml - 5,250yen with tax

330ml - 8,925yen with tax

The instructions say to use it after cleansing and emulsion/moisturizer, but I like to use it as the first step, before emulsion/moisturizer and essence/serum. I guess you could use your hands (like the Hadalabo one), but the instructions recommend pouring it generously on a cotton pad, and patting in all over your face. 

I love the smell, and because of the menthol there's a cooling sensation after patting the product on. It's not an extreme mentholly cooling feeling, but rather it's a nice, gradual, fresh feeling? I use the cotton method, though sometimes I'll soak a few cotton pads and leave them all over my face for about 15 minutes, kind of like a mask. The result is amazing! ♥ The brightening effect is instantly noticeable, and right after application my face feels sooo smooth, plus the heavenly floral scent stays for awhile.

Ingredients: Dipotassium glycyrrhizate, Water, Alcohol, 1,3-Butylene glycol, Gluthathione, Witch hazel extract, Horse chestnut extract, Job's tears extract, Menthol, Carrageenan, Sesquioleate sorbitan, PEG castor oil, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Methylparaben, Fragrance.

The product itself is milky-colored, of a very liquidy consistency. The product contains no coloring, I guess it's milky color is due to the Job's tears (鳩麦/hatomugi, similar to barley). It kind of does look like barley water, doesn't it? It smells amazing ♡ Kind of floral, kind of powdery; a very lingering, luxurious scent, I love it! ♥ The makers were aiming for a floral bouquet scent that leaves a deep impression, and they totally nailed that! Some people might find the scent overpowering though, but for me it's a wonderful scent (♥´౪`♥)

 The Albion logo, a simple AL. 

The tagline for the Skin Conditioner is 365日、好き。スキコン。(Sanbyaku-rokujuu-go nichi, suki. Sukikon.) Which means "365 days, I like it. Ski-con." It's a pun hahaha.

An interesting fact about the company name: Albion is an old name for Great Britain, which derives from words meaning white and land. The company took this name because they feel that whitening/brightening is the starting point in the pursuit of feminine beauty, which is quite true for many Japanese/Korean skincare companies, as many products are created to achieve fairer and clearer skin. Fair not in the sense of white, but in the manner of glowing/translucent.

More of the pretty bottle. The Skin Conditioner Essential is Albion's star product. There's a flower embossed on the body of the bottle, it's really pretty! I know that sounds superficial, but having things with nice packaging makes me feel happier when using them (*´ω`*)♪ Isn't that the reason why so many people like Jill Stuart and Paul & Joe? But of course, the products themselves are great too, which is what makes people love them even more! ♥

Comparing it with the Hadalabo Skin Conditioner, I absolutely LOVE the Albion one! ♥ The smell is sooo amazing, it seems to work faster and has more visible improvements, and I like the texture/ feeling it gives more. The Hadalabo scent is a medicated scent, which I also kinda like, but the Albion scent leaves me feeling all dreamy and happy too~ ♬

Buuuut the down-side is that the Albion one (5250yen for 165ml) costs about 3 times as much as the Hadalabo one (1575yen for 170ml). However, for availability, the Hadalabo one is not available in Singapore, though the Albion one is. But, if you're young, the Hadalabo one is good enough, since you don't have that many problems when you're younger too! If you're older, indulge! Your skin will love you for it, or at least mine does ♥ Anyway, both have the same active ingredient: Dipotassium glycyrrhizate.

I cannot fully describe how amazing this skin conditioner is; I love how much clearer and more radiant my skin has become, and the bottom line is that I'd definitely repurchase this~ ♥ One bottle can last a really long time (unless you use it as a mask everyday), so it's definitely a worthy investment.

Hair adventures! ♡

A chronicle of the states of my hair since my experience with self-bleaching it 3 years ago...definitely don't try this, it's damaging! Though my hair has mostly recovered now, (and I miss the color), I probably won't try bleaching by myself anymore ^^ Don't judge! I was young and stupid and...adventurous? (･ｘ･)

One day during summer break in June 2010, I decided to try bleaching my hair. What better time to try than when in university? High school had restrictions on hair dyeing, while after graduating job interviewers won't take you seriously, so university is the best time. Salon bleaching was very expensive and at that time they didn't really have that  "creamy" color I wanted, so I figured, I'll just do it myself. 

So I went to the pharmacy and bought 2-3 boxes of Palty bleach (it had Tsubasa on it! I had long, thick hair so I needed more boxes) and bleached my hair at home. The result was the center picture...kind patchy and orange. After a week to recover, I dyed over it with 2 boxes of a dark blonde color from Schwarzkopf, and it became a "creamy" gingerish blonde, yay! ♥ This was summer 2010, the first summer after starting university, when we went on a trip to Europe - Italy, Monaco, southern France and Spain, fun times!

Okay, so while in Rome, we saw this dye in a grocery that looked really nice, and we bought it. The logo looked exactly like Schwarzkopf, though it was called Testanerra instead. But the dye was awesome, I loved the dark brown color! ♥ The amazing thing was, it's a 10-minute dye, you just leave it in for 10 minutes then wash it off, but the color was great. Though as the days progressed the color faded and faded. A few days later in Firenze, it faded to a creamy orange brown? And a few more days later, it was an ashy yellow brown in Marseille. Loved this color though! ♡

From that week on, I loved my hair color everyday! ♡

(Don't mind Monaco, the camera's vignette made it more orange)

It kinda stayed that same color thereafter, though roots started to grow out. By end August 2010, the roots were getting too long, so I bleached my whole head again...with 3 boxes of Gatsby Men's Bleach :x It was stronger than the Palty bleach. This time, after bleaching it came out more yellow/platinum instead of orange like the first time. Though this was when I started to realize that bleaching was really troublesome to maintain. But my hair was still soft after the bleaching, so I didn't feel the damaging effects (grave mistake!!).

A few days after (recovery time), I dyed over it with a dark blond from Schwarzkopf, and the resulting color was like the first 2 pics, and it stayed that color. My hair was becoming as dry as grass though...Then in mid-October I went to a salon to dye it darker cos I was tired of bleaching to maintain the color, because after bleaching I'd still need to dye over with a darkening color, otherwise it would be that weird, uneven, bleached color. At the JYJ concert! ♡

By end November it kinda faded to a dark brown, though I like this color! ♥ Self-bleached my whole head again in mid-December? And dyed over with a mixture of the 3 boxes below. The Igora was bought in Bangkok in July (stopped over on the way back from Europe, kept it ever since) and the Blythe dyes were from Gmarket.

The result was a super nice ashy green brown (no photo)...that faded to the middle pic after a week. I didn't touch my hair anymore for a while because the bleaching+dying totally killed my hair...With a severe loss of elasticity, my hair was like cotton. When wet, it broke whenever there was a slight tug. Normal hair has elasticity, but mine had none, and was so brittle that it just broke. Terrible experience because the drain would be covered with my hair after every shower, so I was kinda scared, no more bleach!

Went to a salon and dyed it dark in the end of March 2011 because of the roots, but a week after the color started to fade. And only the ends faded! Because my hair had been bleached a few times already, it's hard for it to retain dark colors, so whatever color it gets dyed, the color will fade away to an orangey blonde.  The difference between the first two pictures? All due to fading only! Which I totally didn't mind...except maybe the pudding hair that resulted^^ (Pudding hair = dark top, light ends)

Dyed a dark ashy brown in early June 2011 (I really liked this color!), 

but like always it ended up fading, which I didn't really mind... 

 ...then it faded even more. Still didn't mind... (In the last photo my hair is curled)

...and then it faded even more! But I actually liked the faded color! You can see that my ends are always lighter than the roots...because of the previous times bleaching. My hair gained back elasticity so by now it wasn't cottony anymore, yay!

End-March 2012 I went to a salon to cut off quite a bit (damaged dry bottom half due to the bleaching) and dyed it darker. Hair grew out a bit by June 2012 (photo taken in Seoul!), though by July 2012 (in Kyoto!) the color faded to a reddish brown. Red is not a good color on me, that's why I don't like reddish browns :(

Cannot remember what I did to my hair anymore, though I think I trimmed a bit and the bangs? Think I dyed it too cos the color looks more even/roots not showing hahaha. But now the color stays cos most of the bleached portion has grown out/been cut off.

Quite sure I went to the salon to dye it in the first pic, because it looks like an "after-salon" photo^^ Now the color stays though I kinda miss my fade-y hair. A few days after the middle pic I dyed my hair (13 Feb 2013). Haven't dyed it till now, so in the last pic I'm covering the top of my head because of the roots^^

Moral of the story: If you want to try bleaching, go to a salon or you might end up killing your hair like I did^^ But it was a fun experience and I really liked my "fading hair color". It's like a magic color that changed over time. Anyway, now my hair is normal, hurray. But now that I've graduated, no more colorful hair adventures! T_____T 

I've wanted to try ombre pink/purple or blue/green, though I don't think I'd have the guts to to it!^^ One thing I would never do though is short, short hair, because when I was younger my parents made me have really short hair, so short that people always thought I was a little boy :( They dressed me in shorts/pants too instead of dresses... I didn't get to start growing my hair past my chin until I was 15. So...I'd never cut my hair short. I actually thought the March 2012 one was kinda short for my liking, even my friends were shocked by the length when they saw pictures^^ Short hair does look great on some people, but it's just not for me (*´д`*)

So what are some of the drastic/ crazy/ fun things you've done to or want to try on your hair? 
Let me know! ♡