Three Winter Outfits

Hello lovelies !

I've decided to change the layout and format of my blog posts because I want to step up my game in the internet world. Of course, that would require me actually getting on the internet every once in a while but I've been trying!

Winter is in full force here, although there are some nice bright days. My problem with winter is how do I balance layers and still show off some skin and look cute? My answer to this problem is crop tops. I bought a lot of long sleeved crop tops and pair them with cute patterned skirts. I try to avoid black during the winter as well because it is my immediate "go to" color when its cold outside, but I don't want to wear black every day! So I try to add bright colors with a few black items.

Here are some outfits that I put together. Enjoy!

Class for the working class...(plus 'the Avengers' nails)

Okay I don't really know what "class" has to do with anything here, but it's a catchy title right??

Anyways, I've been back at work for 2 weeks now and as a manager I can finally wear something other than that ugly uniform. To go with my work-casual look, I also want my makeup to look perfect and fresh everyday! I don't have a full body mirror at my mom's house so I can't show you pictures of what my work-casual outfits look like, but as always I can share my makeup :)

This is how it looks like. I tried to go for a natural, bright look which contrasts how I feel when I'm actually at work. I didn't used to do my full makeup everyday but ever since I did, people have been commenting that I look "happier" and "brighter" so I'm going to say its because of the extra time I've been spending in the morning to get ready. I wake up around 7am and finish in about half an hour which gives me time to make coffee and then head to work!

These are the products I use: (** products are ones that are unique to this look)

Face:
-KMA foundation powder
-MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Gold Deposit
-E.L.F Studio Cool Bronzer
-Sheercover Duo Concealer
-Canmake Shading Powder #01

Eyes:
** -Pop Beauty Goddess Clutch Day to Play 
-Mary Kay mascara
-NYX felt tip pen eyeliner
-NYX jumbo pencil in cottage cheese
-Urban Decay Naked Palette- Buck (for eyebrows)
-Dolly Wink eyelashes No.1
-Princess Mimi Sesame grey circle lenses

This is the color that I used for my eyeshadow from the Pop Beauty Goddess Clutch: Day to Play palette

(image from Dermstore.com)

Its a shimmery bronze/copper kind of color and I absolutely love it it gives my eyes like a certain glow to them. I put it on the bottom of my eyes and on my eyelids.

I've also started using the E.L.F Studio cool bronzer because I ran out of the Bare Minerals one that I used to use. I SUPER love this bronzer though and it was only $3 USD! So cheap and I think the quality is alright. It lasts like all day. It looks like this:

There are 4 colors but for this look I only used the right half of the palette. I like the darker shade to contour and then I use my mineralize MAC bronzer for the apples of my cheeks for a nice glow! And here is a swatch of all the colors in this bronzer:

They are pretty pigmented and like I said it lasts like all day! I highly recommend this product if you are looking for a cheap bronzer that really works. There are more shades to choose from as well and you can check that all out on eyeslipsface.com :)

Here are more pictures of my look:

Close up of the eyes

Cute but not too much right? This is how I've been wearing it everyday and I really like it ^^

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BONUS.

I did my nails "The Avengers" style (the movie). It took me like an hour :)

 The top one is the left hand and the bottom is the right hand. The right hand was so hard omg because my left hand is retarded and cannot be controlled. But I think it turned out rather nice! Unfortunately my nails are all weak and flimsy from using acrylics all the time so these nails only lasted like 2 days QQ but I'm glad I got pictures of them at least lol.

Okay that's all! :)

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As always, if you want to, follow my twitter and instagram, both @xsakisaki and my tumblr is xsakisaki.tumblr.com

Let's Practice Japanese!

I've decided that I really need to start blogging at LEAST once as week as it gives me something to do and something to focus on other than work and school. Plus, I love blogging- it's very fun and relaxing ^^

Today's topic is Practicing Japanese because school is starting up for me real soon and I've realized I've gone the whole entire summer without even having spoken one Japanese word. (Which is terrible because I'm going to be thrown right into advanced Japanese classes this coming semester! >_<) So I've been gathering up all my resources and coming up with ways to enjoy practicing and reviewing Japanese! Let's start!

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So what I find most difficult about this language learning process is practicing and applying things that I have learned in class to things in real life context. What I mean by this is, for example, I can study a grammar point until I think I've mastered it, but then I still feel unfamiliar with it when I hear it being spoken out loud in a different context or when I'm not expecting it. Which is how the real world works right? To help with this I recommend 2 things- anime and youtube videos!

~~Anime~~

Yes I know this is a common one, watch anime if you're learning Japanese which I would normally NOT agree with because they use such weird and obscure words sometimes, and I mean jeez what's up with those voices? BUT with reviewing I've come to learn that it sometimes is helpful to pick up an anime to watch.  I also have a short attention span and don't like watching something really long on my computer like a movie or drama, so I find this super refreshing since anime episodes are usually no more than 30 minutes long. I also try to find series that are uploaded without subtitles too sharpen my listening and see how much I can pick up!

**I recommend: Mamegoma anime because I think this one is great for listening practice. Its a story about children and their small seals (aka mamegoma) and their adventures! It's a kid's show and relatively normal so they use simple language and nothing too obscure! Plus its so cute I mean look:

---> Link to watch Mamegoma online for free without english subtitles!

~~Youtube Videos~~

Talk about real life, youtube is the perfect place to get great videos because there is such a huge variety of them and you can basically find anything you're looking for! I think it's easier to understand a scripted anime, but if you're looking for practice with the real thing, watch a youtube video with actual Japanese people talking in it.  You can practice listening to native speakers talk and see how much you understand! I have so many Japanese youtube channels that I love watching.

**I recommend: Popteen TV and Kawaii.i youtube channels. Of course I recommend these channels because of their awesome gyaru fashion >< I think they are helpful because you get to hear what language teens are using now in Japan and more specifically, gyaru teens! I've been able to pick up a few words and some useful things here and there. These may not be the best channels with reviewing since they don't talk as much as like vloggers do, but they are super interesting and entertaining!
--Popteen TV has short videos of the Popteen models doing their thing, hanging out and just being cute. I don't think many people know it exists, hell it took me a long time to find it but its so awesome and cute!
--Kawaii.i follows Jelly model Mana Honda as she explores Japans and tells foreigners about great places to visit and explores different kinds of Japanese fashion styles. Not only is it helpful and makes me want to go to Japan again SO bad, but it has a variety of cool things that you can learn about Japan and Japanese culture. The only downsides are they have stopped updating and there are subtitles (which could be an upside if you're not that comfortable with the language yet!) but there are plenty of existing episodes to watch so no worries there!

---> LINK for Popteen TV
---> LINK for Kawaii.i

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For serious- get down to business- type reviewing, what helps me is to go through a few lessons, meaning, I focus on let's say one grammar point or set of vocabulary words. By doing this I feel like I am using the "divide and conquer" technique! I start building my way up one step at a time. I like to pick out lessons that on things that I know I've had trouble with in the past (such as keigo and kenjougo -shudder-) and go from there. Or even picking out random lessons is fun too! You can do this by picking a chapter in an old or current textbook, or if you are not learning Japanese in school, any book that you can find on learning Japanese from a local library or bookstore! ....OR you can enjoy listening to a 20-30 minute podcast which is what I love to do! Download one on your ipod or from online and listen anytime you want! I like to listen mostly before I go to sleep (I've heard that it helps stick hearing something right before you go to bed) or when I'm driving because driving is so boring and it keeps my brain on!

**I recommend: JapanesePod101.com These podcasts are AMAZING. They have different series that you can download that range from "absolute beginner", to advanced! You can pick whichever level podcasts you are comfortable with and start listening. Most of them are stand alone podcasts, meaning you don't have to listen to them in a specific order, but it is also good to follow them from the start because they structure their lessons super well.  They range from around 20-30 minutes but I've seen some that have been shorter. Perfect for my attention span hahahaha.
--If you have an ipod/iphone or whatever, you can just search "Learn Japanese" in iTunes on your computer and it will be the first podcast! Or if you want to download directly from the site just go to JapanesePod101.com and sign up for a free trial and download podcasts there! The only downsides are that if you want to use the website with the podcasts (which they will recommend to you over, and over, and over), you do have to pay to join but if you've never been before you can sign up for a 7 day trial and hurry up and use as many resources as you can! The ones on iTunes are always free though (to my knowledge) so that's a good bonus if you are only interested in the podcasts :)

---> LINK to JapanesePod101.com

Alright well that's all I have for tips! I realize this doesn't help if your focus is on reading or writing, but I struggle so much with listening practice so I thought I'd just share some of the things I like doing.  I hope this helps someone out :)

Until next time~~~~

(yes old picture but I just found this in photobooth lololol)

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As always, if you want to, follow my twitter and instagram, both @xsakisaki and my tumblr is xsakisaki.tumblr.com

Purikura On The Go!

So since I've been doing absolutely nothing at home, I decided to check out some apps for my iPhone! And I have found two MUST haves for the purikura fans! If you don't know, purikura in Japan are sticker pictures that you can take in a photobooth, and they are fancy machines that look like this:

(image from google search)

I have seen these booths in malls and they are absolutely FUN. You take pictures with your friends and decorate them! Cool right? Well I'm sure 99% of you know what purikura pictures are so I'm going to stop, but here is what the pictures out of the machine look like.

 There used to be a store with the machines where I live, but then it closed down T~~T SO I've had to find alternatives! I've already reviewed an app called the Princess Camera in this post HERE but I have two more apps that I think are absolutely PERFECT and wonderful that everyone with an iPhone and loves decorating pics should get :P

The first one is called Girls Camera and the second one is called Rakuga-Cute (楽画cute). I'm going to review Girls Camera first because it's my favorite!

This app is free so keep that in mind!

Okay so basically the app starts off with you can take a picture right then or you can choose to decorate a photo that you've already taken. I've chosen to do the latter. The main menu screen looks like this: 

Then after you've chosen your picture, you decorate it just like you would in the purikura machine! There are stamps, pens, frames and backgrounds that you can use to decorate your picture as cute as you want to ^^ here are some screen caps to show you how awesome it is.

AWESOME RIGHT? And here are a few pictures that I have decorated with this app :) 

What do you think? Isn't is so cute? And its completely FREE! Yes so go download it now iPhone lovers :)

The second app is Rakuga-Cute (楽画cute) and it's basically the same thing, but I had to pay $3.99 USD to unlock the decorations and pens. The actual app is free, but they only give you a few stamps and a few pen colors, etc. I really wanted to see the other things so I sucked it up and paid the 4 bucks to get more!

Its the same concept, where you either choose a pic or take one there and here is the menu screen:

What I love about this app in particular is that it looks like the program in the purikura machines! Like the font, the layout and the style. I'm just a sucker for presentation so because it's presented so well, I just love love it.  Here are some more screen caps that I took for y'all :)

As you can see its basically the same, but look at the layout! If you've been in a purikura machine, doesn't it look exactly the same?? I'm so happy with it and this is definitely an app I would recommend. Here is some pictures that I decorated:

Lol okay ignore my face in those I look horrible, but basically the decorating is so much fun with this app :P

Thats all I have, hope you guys enjoy checking those apps out! Download them if you have an iPhone ^^

And if you want to, follow my twitter and instagram, both @xsakisaki and my tumblr is xsakisaki.tumblr.com

Hello hello in summer reds!

What is the cutest print of the summer? Floral! I just love love floral print clothing and its what I've been rockin' all summer. I bought this shirt from Love Culture on sale for $3 USD. Isn't that a steal?! I love the pink and orange flowers blending together to great a perfect balance. Its bright and colorful which is perfect for summer! Its also a high rise so that I stay nice and cool in the heat :) Here's a preview of everything today!

To go along with my summer look I also decided to try out this new Victoria's Secret eyeshadow palette that I bought at the semi annual sale. It was about $10 USD when I got it and its so pretty. Its got a lot of vibrant colors along with some darker colors so that you can blend the two together. Its also SUPER pigmented like seriously, a little goes a long way. I love the quality and the packaging is also super cute. Win!

For this look I used the top two colors on the right (the deep red and the brown) to create this blend of colors that goes perfect with my shirt! I'm not very daring so I'm too afraid to use bright colors, but that's why I love this red so much its only like a tint. You can see it, but from far away it doesn't look so vibrant and gaudy.  

Here's a list of all the makeup I used for my look (and its seriously just copied and pasted from my earlier blog post because well, I use the same face makeup everyday! The only thing thats really different are the eyes and lips ^^; I starred the ones that are key!)

Face:
-KMA foundation powder
-MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Gold Deposit
-Bare Minerals bronzing mineral powder
-Sheercover Duo Concealer

Eyes:
** -Spring Shimmer Eye Kit by Victoria's Secret eyeshadow palette
-Mary Kay mascara
-NYX felt tip pen eyeliner
-Canmake Coloring Eyebrow in Honey Gold
-Dolly Wink eyelashes No.1
-Princess Mimi Sesame grey circle lenses

Lips:
**-NYX Black Label Matte Lipstick in Diva

And more pictures of my look:

 ... I'm totally pulling a Kotobuki Rui face in that first picture... doesn't she always take her pictures like that?? 

Anyways...Very cutesy style! Yes back to my comfort zone. But hey that doesn't mean I can't try a sexy pose with it too :P

 Yep lol I'm lame I only have one 'sexy' face. It looks like I'm about to cry or something. But anyways I hope you enjoyed reading this! Happy summertime ^^

OH and if you'd like, follow my instagram ans twitter! both @xsakisaki kk bye!

...and my tumblr is xsakisaki.tumblr.com k goodbye for real xD

Long time long time..

So it has been a pretty long while since I made a post, part of the reason being that I was travelling and part because I'm so lazy!! But lazy no more! (at least for this moment)

First some pictures of what I have bought in Thailand. Sadly, only a few things but I haven't been in the shopping mood lately... GASP! I know, world coming to an end right? I ALWAYS feel like shopping!

CUTE hand bag- white satin(ish) feel.

Pink/Magenta makeup bag

Fabric quilt design notebook

Wallet (to match the purse!)

Newly deco-ed ipod case!

Now, pics from today and outfit!

Eh-hem, excuse my messy desk, LOL. But yeah, I went crazy with the hair curling today (you can blame popteen!!) I was reading a popteen mag all night and looking at beautiful, bouncy curls and wanted them for myself! Hahaha

Speaking of which, there is now a Popteen Thailand!! YESSS don't have to go all the way to Japan for my favorite mag now, whoohoo! Its pretty new though, I think there are only 2 editions so far. They feature both Japanese models along with some new Thai ones. Here are what the covers look like!

Yay so cute I love them and I am so happy with them! They keep the same good ol' format of the Japanese Popteen but with a little twist. Even giving some stores of where to shop to get some cute stuff! (YESSSS!!)

Kay thats it,  but as a bonus, here are my current nails! Well this pic was taken a week or two ago but this is what they look like!

Cute right?? 4 hours in the nail salon lmfao but so worth it! :)

Kay thanks for reading! Peace :)