I moved to Japan! | Update

The first shrine (jinja) I've seen

Combini (corner shop) ramen /// Daiso buys (these two were around under £1 together (!)

Raisin bread for breakfast, literally so delicious // Fruit sandwiches! 

Nagasaki udon, which was interesting // Pocky that was more chocolate than bread stick

So, an explanation for the long blogging absence! I've moved to Tokyo for study abroad for a year, and the month before my family moved to the coast so I've been super busy. I've been in Japan for 4 days now and it's amazing, very different to England. Some first observations are that there are very few bins around in public but the streets are uber clean, there's pretty much no littering in Tokyo at all as people would feel ashamed if others saw them dropping rubbish - something we could maybe learn from! Also you can pretty much find a cute  version of anything - I bought a mini kettle yesterday (it's literally smaller than my head) and it's pretty adorbs.

 I've been dashing around buying things for my room (experienced Japanese Ikea already), and using vending machines like nobody's business. I've also discovered I don't like grape flavoured things in Japan, and that regardless of how good you think your Japanese is before you leave, you will probably spent quite a lot of time smiling and nodding and having absolutely no idea what the cashier just asked you. I also had an interesting experience trying to flush a loo at Narita airport, managed to make the loo do a flushing noise (so people can't hear you pee) multiple times but couldn't find the flush button so gave up haha.

It is ridiculously humid (and mosquito-y) as Japanese summer isn't quite over so after leaving a pretty autumnal England I am having a seasonal wardrobe crisis, and having to go sans foundation as it just melts off my face. I'm off to study for my placement test in the Japanese language classes, more soon! xx

Tapas at La Tasca | Eating out

The other day I had what is probably a 'farewell' dinner of sorts with friends before I head off to Japan. We chose La Tasca as one of us had a discount there but it still ended up being pretty expensive. The best way to describe my opinion of La Tasca is good food, but shit service. The place wasn't very busy at all yet we had to go out of our way to get someone to come over and serve us. And at the end we were slapped with a service charge of £10! A waitress actually cornered one of us after we'd paid the bill and were leaving the restaurant to tell us we had underpaid by not paying the service charge in full even though apparently it was not mandatory...very strange.

Anyway the food was pretty good, if pricey. My friend and I shared a jug of mango sangria, and then we had a few dishes of Paella carne between is which was delish. I still don't understand the concept of tapas though, having grown up with two younger brothers the concept of sharing my food does not appeal haha. I think if I went again I'd have preferred just to get a load of the typical tapas dishes (and learn to share) rather than get the paella - as I did leave the place with a massive food baby from trying to finish up the leftover paella (I hate leaving food). Also I tried churros for the first time, and omg I have been missing out! Have you been to La Tasca before? xx

5 beauty favourites | August 2014

Umberto Giannini Mend My Hair Conditioner - I recently realised that my usual Tresseme bulk buy conditioners were not doing it for my hair which has suffered/does suffer a lot of bleaching, so I went on the hunt in boots for something specifically for my damaged hair type. Boots had an offer on Umberto Giannini products so I picked up a couple of products. This conditioner is seriously good, the longer you leave it in the better, I'm far too impatient though to leave it very long so I probably don't use this product to it's full potential.

Guinot Pure Balance Cream - This was recommended to me after I went for my first facial the other day, it's definitely not on the cheap side (the cheapest place I've found it in the UK is Click Fragrance here), but I've found it's the best moisturiser I've used for my very oily but sensitive skin.

Garnier Express 2 in 1 eye make up remover - Picked this up the other day and it has seriously good removal power, it removes extremely stubborn long lasting make up (i.e MAC liquidlast liner) very quickly - and I also like the fact the product is purple haha.

17 Supreme Shine lipstick in 'If you please' - An old lipstick fav I started using the other day, I'm not sure if 'supreme shine' is the best description for this lipstick line as it's selling point is definitely how moisturising the product is, glides on very smoothly and this colour is super glam.

Umberto Giannini Mend My Hair Damage repair protein spray - Another one from my Umberto Giannini splurge, anything with 'protein' in it is going to be good for repairing the hair and it definitely does the job. I use this after washing my hair and before blow drying, sometimes even skipping drying my hair and just using it as a leave in treatment.

What products did you guys love in August? xx

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