DIY Printable Kawaii Rilakkuma Planner for February

Sorry I didn't make one for January! I actually had a bad cold last month after the holidays > , <.  Instead, I've been focusing on editing all the Japan vlogs. They are almost all uploaded!

Hope you enjoy this month's design! Happy *early* Valentines Day! : )

♡ Kawaii Back to School Haul ♡ WalMart, Target, Office Max!

This year there is a lot of really cute things in stores!! Each year I make a series of videos about back to school DIY's, fashion, lunches/bento ideas, and kawaii hauls. Here is this year's back to school haul video!

WalMart has a nice selection of sparkly notebooks and cute panda folders/notebooks. It's best to start early because the cute stuff always goes so fast.

Panda design and sparkly notebooks at WalMart 

Cute sparkly pen cases at WalMart 

I also spotted some very cute Japanese style erasers at Office Max! I was very surprised. See the video for the whole selection.
Target also has some interesting cute memo pads and really pretty looking notebooks. 

Kawaii pens and highlighters at Target 

Have you seen anything super cute in stores for back to school? Leave me a comment if there's anything I missed out on :3

Cute fox cold pack at Target

See everything I bought and all the cute footage from inside the stores I shopped here:

Check out my other back to school videos for more kawaii inspiration!

PEEP NAILS: 2 Ways ♡ Kawaii Easter DIY ♡

When I was shopping for cute Easter things, I saw this Peeps nail kit at Marshall's! (See my Kawaii finds for Easter here)  Each color is scented, but my favorite scent is the green one, which is supposed to be lime.

I normally keep away from nail art. Even though it looks cute, I always end up frustrated and unhappy with how it turns out. But this time, I thought I would give it another try. 

It ended up working great!!! :D

Here are the two designs. The first one is the plain bunny head and the second is the whole bunny peep. The bunny head is the easiest. You can use a normal brush for both actually. I did use a fine tipped black polish for the eyes though.

The most important thing is to let them dry! If you can do the base coat on one night, and do the Peeps the next evening that would be best. I like to use a mock gel top coat that I got from Sephora. It makes it look really shiny and last a long time!

Also, at one point I did mess up on the pink bunny head's ears. I touched up later with some white in between to separate them more. In general, make the peeps round and fluffy! They looked best that way.

Hope you like it!!

--Mary--

I also have two other #KawaiiCart blog posts, so click here for my Peeps Shopping Guide and here for my WalMart Easter Finds. 

Aloha Rilakkuma Collection (Hawaii Series) アロハリラックマテーマコレクション

I have really had a great summer so far but I can't believe how fast it is going by. I'm trying to cook all kinds of fun summer recipes especially with seasonal ingredients because I know fall is coming soon!

I gave my normal plush some leis to wear : )

I'm going back to school, (and probably more excited just to do office supply shopping than for school haha) are you guys going back to school too?

I saved my Rilakkuma Aloha collection videos for summertime. You can see my plush collection video here, and my stationery collection video here. I also have some decor pictures of how I'm decorating with Rilakkuma for summer on my Facebook page too.

Here's some pictures of my collection so far.

This is a picture of when I first got my normal Aloha series plush in the mail. At first I wasn't sure I would be collecting them, but once I had seen them in person I had to order them! The grass skirts are so cute.

I also got the Lawson Aloha version. I love this set so much, but it took me a while to find it at a good price. It comes with so many little details! Lawson (if you don't know) is a popular convenience store in Japan. It actually started in America...My dad used to go to Lawson when he was young and was amazed to see it when we visited Japan. Lawson often has fun collaborations with anime or Rilakkuma so they often have special Rilakkuma goods.

Kiiroitori looks so cute with his change purse sitting in the cart!

It comes with a Lawson shopping bag, cookies and coffee. Makes me want to go to the Hawaii Lawson!!

I love to put my Hawaii inspired lotions from Bath and Body works inside the cart!

I collect a lot of Rilakkuma stationery, and for this series I have all the mini memo pads. It's nice to use them in the summertime. I keep forgetting how cute the details are! 

Kiiroitori's face is adorable in this one. "It's a relaxing time in the paradise. Why don't you join us?"

I wonder why they chose pancakes to go with the Aloha series? Rilakkuma loves pancakes though.

I love this pattern so much! (I'm a big fan of shaved ice or kakigori) It says "Aloha" in the first pattern. I also like the nighttime beach pattern a lot too.

Here Rilakkuma says "Hawaii is delicious, isn't it?"

I put my two folders up on the wall near my collection. I think my folders are the Lawson version.

Surprise! I found authentic Hawaii Rilakkuma fabric on Etsy. I made some curtains!

I got a coupon book in the Hawaii pattern from a Japanese magazine a while back. It has been really handy!!

I have the big Hawaii towel and also a small hand towel. They were from my good friend Isabel!! (Usagiichigo on YouTube)

So below is how I have decorated! I use the cubby shelf from IKEA on its side. I really love it for summer!!

Thought you guys may like to see my summer decor : ) I recently posted my Hawaii Aloha Rilakkuma series collection video, so you can watch that to see more of these plushies : ) 

Thanks for reading!! Hope to continue collecting more from this series. 

Rilakkuma Halloween 2015 Pumpkin Series! ♡

I was just looking at the new Rilakkuma Panda series, and I happened to see that there will be a new Halloween set for Rilakkuma this fall. They are all cute little pumpkins!

Photo from TaoBao seller. Please click link below to view their shop! 

I saw this on Taobao, a shopping website in China. I'm guessing when it gets closer to the release, MiraPlush will most likely offer them for preorder. I'll post updates here as I see them!!

Here is the Tao Bao page.

Will you be preordering?

Talk to you guys again soon!

♡ Mary

♡ Getting Ready for the Chinese Wedding: Hair, Makeup, and My Chinese dress! ♡

Preparing for the wedding in China was a little different than what I did to prepare for the Catholic wedding. Bo's mom handled all the planning of the Chinese wedding before Bo and I arrived in China. In America, everything has to be booked a year ahead, but in China not that much time in advance is necessary.

We decided to have a traditional Chinese reception so that I could experience the Chinese wedding customs. My favorite part was the dress of course! It was really hard for me to buy one while I was in America. Bo's mom tried to go shopping for me and take pictures, but sizing is just too hard. Sizes in China are really small too...So, I ended up buying my dress on TaoBao LOL. It's kind of like a Chinese ebay but they custom fit it to my measurements.

Buying on Taobao let me see many different kinds of traditional Chinese clothing and I chose the Hanfu style. Qipao are another traditional style for weddings, but I preferred the long, flowy style of Hanfu. It is said that Hanfu in China was a major influence on the kimono in Japan.

Bo told me from long ago he was not going to wear a funky traditional hat or anything and he insisted on only wearing a red patterned top with formal Western black pants. Haha.

Bo's mom also shopped for a silk veil to match the color of my dress (which apparently was hard to get a perfect match.) When I got to China, I finally could try on my dress and I was so happy with it. I brought along my own red flats because I'm not going to find size 11 in China!!

Bo's mom also prepared some goody bags for all the guests. Each bag included special wedding candies. She also prepared raffle prizes, similar to bridal shower customs in the US. Also, she made these little raffle tickets that had our Rilakkuma wedding logo on it.

Bo's mom hired a company to handle the photography, video, stage, and coordinate the wedding. It was much like a big "show". They had a huge banner with a photo from the Catholic wedding near the entrance.

The day before the wedding we headed to the hotel where the wedding would take place and practiced the ceremony. Earlier that week, I also had a "test" hair do.

The day of the wedding, I headed to the beauty salon, which was actually across the street from Bo's house (very convenient). I had my hair washed and styled into an updo with flowers. Bo's mom got her hair curled and makeup done, while Bo got his hair super poofed for the wedding. I laughed when I saw him!!

I did my own makeup because Bo's mom said that I may not like the style they would choose. Traditionally, makeup would be very very white for weddings, but luckily I am already very pale. Plus, I'm pretty comfortable with makeup and I was happy how it turned out.

Bo wrote down the vows for me to practice. Omg..his handwriting...

Then we all rode to the hotel, me and Bo checked into our room, and I did my makeup over there, and got dressed. When, I was ready had the photographer come in to take pictures too. A little strange for them to come up to the room LOL.

Guests all sat around round tables and could begin eating during the ceremony. Fun fact..Bo and I barely got to eat the wedding food. We were busy on stage, toasting at everyone's tables and pictures afterwards so we amazingly were barely at our seats. The hotel said they would provide us with a snack beforehand, but it turned out to be a bunch of sweets right before we headed down. This sugar buzz was not good for our nervous energy!!


Here's the video with some great footage of getting ready. Next video will be about our vows and another of the whole ceremony!

Thanks for reading!! Until next time!

♡ Mary

My Kawaii Wedding blog posts:

♡ Our Kawaii Wedding(s)!

♡ DIY Kawaii Rilakkuma Stationery

♡ DIY Wedding Polaroids with Rilakkuma 

♡ My Kawaii Lolita Rilakkuma Bridal Shower

My Kawaii Wedding videos:

♡ ALL My Kawaii Wedding videos ♡

Sephora: Japanese and Asian Beauty Brands and Products

In the past, I often found myself searching google for forums or blog posts about good Asian beauty products that I could buy at Sephora and I couldn't find very much information. I've noticed a lot more products at Sephora recently! Let me share what I have found.

Asian Beauty Brands at Sephora

1. Shiseido (Japanese)

High end brand from Japan. In Japan, you can buy many "drugstore" Shiseido branded products with cheaper formulations. Unfortunately, you won't find those at Sephora (it is Sephora though, high end is the norm!!). You can find those products at places like Amazon or eBay quite reasonably. (See my review of the Perfect Whip Shiseido series here.)

Sephora offers a wide range of Shiseido's products, including the IBUKI line which is targeted for younger buyers in their twenties. (IBUKI review here, and blog post here) I most like Shiseido's sunscreen, cotton pads, makeup cleansing oil, and makeup wipes. Sometimes you can find these at your local Marshall's or TJ Maxx if you are lucky.

It's nice to get a gift set so you can try things out. Shiseido can also be found at many department stores, like Macy's. Keep an eye out for their free gift with purchase that comes several times a year.

2. SK-II (Japanese)

High end skincare brand from Japan. I haven't tried any SK-II products but they are very well-known in Asia. There are plenty of YouTubers I have heard mention their products.

3. AmorePacific (Korean)

AmorePacific also has a lot of high end skincare products available at Sephora. I received a sample with one of my purchases, and I remember being amazed by how great the lotion felt on my skin! Really expensive though!

4. Yu-Be (Japanese)

This brand has many different skin creams at Sephora. Oddly, I never really saw this brand in Japan. I must have just been not looking in the right places, but it didn't seem to be very popular. However, the reviews on Sephora rate the products very high!

5. Perfume brands from Asia

Sephora also has some Asian designer perfumes like Issey Miyake and Hanae Mori, but that is the extent of the products you'll find from these brands.

6. Tony Moly (Korean)

I am so excited for the Tony Moly products at Sephora! I saw soo many cute fruit shaped lip balms and hand creams online. If you are on tumblr a lot, you have probably seen the adorable packaging from this brand. My store did not have any in stock during the Sephora VIB sale, so make sure you check online (and they have been selling out too!).

Screenshot from my favorites list on Sephora.com 

7. Hello Kitty

Every so often, a line of Hello Kitty beauty products is released at Sephora. (I have several videos and blog posts about it) Sometimes the quality of this brand is a problem; especially when high prices are to be expected at Sephora! However, most of the time these products get clearanced out to nearly half of what they were originally posted to be. (For example, there was a Hello Kitty compact selling for $50 when it was first posted, that now is on clearance.)

Many of the Hello Kitty makeup products I would recommend, especially if you get a deal on them or find a gift set. They generally have fun colors, glitter, and cute packaging that is hard to find at Sephora sometimes!

Hello Kitty gift set (Screenshot from Sephora.com) 

8. Boscia

Boscia is a North American brand owned and produced by FANCL which is a big Japanese beauty company. There is a really interesting story about the man who created the company for his wife, who was having bad reactions to ingredients in cosmetic products, read here. Boscia is all natural and does not test on animals. They have a new product called the Konjac facial sponge, which is made from a root vegetable called konnyaku (it's really yummy in Japanese hot pot--the vegetable, not the sponge!).

Lingzhi (mushroom) face mask, hmm.. 

In addition to these brands, Sephora now has sheet masks! I haven't tried them out, but it is a very good sign to see sheet masks growing in popularity! My favorite masks are still My Beauty Diary (review and video here), but I think I'll give them a try sometime!

Another item to try is the Shiseido cotton pads! Cotton pads in Asia are a bit different and I really like these Shiseido ones if you are up to splurge a bit. ;-)

I also want to mention a few brands that aren't truly Asian beauty brands brought to Sephora. Tatcha is a brand that carries products "inspired by geisha". They have cleansing oils and blotting papers--and are rated pretty well.

I'll be doing a new blog post very soon all about kawaii products to check out at Sephora!

Mary ´◡` ♡

Sephora and Macy's Kawaii Haul(Video)

Shiseido Ibuki Review (Video)

Sephora at Hello Kitty (Video)

☆ Kawaii Purse from Japan: Samantha Thavasa Haul サマンサタバサ☆

In the US, it can be hard to find super cute purses like the ones I see in Japanese magazines. In China and Japan you can find cute designs and pastel colors easily. Many of the bags are cheap too!

So when I am looking for a new bag, I usually check Macy's or Marshall's/TJ Maxx for brands like Juicy Couture, Betsey Johnson, or Hello Kitty. (I did a Kawaii What's in My Purse & a Kawaii Purse Guide video if you are interested ^.^)

When I was in Japan, I noticed so many girls with lovely bags. I loved the shapes of the bags, the pastel colors, and the keychains! (Though I hate when my keychains fall off...)

Finally, I discovered that many of the bags were from a brand called Samantha. There is a ton of different categories of Samantha stores based on different age groups and styles (like Samantha Thavasa, Samantha Kingz, Samantha Vega, Sweets, Anniversary, Deluxe, Petit Choice, to name a few!).

I visited several of the Samantha stores--a couple at Skytree Solomachi, several in Shinjuku, and Omotesando. The bags are quite expensive so I wanted to see all different styles before I bought one. I don't have a really expensive designer bag so it really meant a lot to me to use my savings to buy a purse I would wear for a very long time! : o )

I finally found my purse at the Omotesando store! They have a lovely selection (with several floors) of purses, wallets, keychains, and JEWELRY. Next time I will go back!

The keychains displayed on the purses don't come free! Mine was around $30 o_o; but I had to get it!

It comes with a lovely bag (you choose the color!) and a soft protective bag too. Make sure you bring your passport so you can buy it tax free $$$! (When you exit the border, you show them your passport, and they remove the paper that Samantha put in. If you mailed your purchase you may need to show a post office receipt, but he didn't even ask to see my purchase.)

Korilakkuma loves my bag too! It fits so much inside! 

Someday I hope to buy a nice wallet from Samantha, but many are just as expensive as the purses! Also... I have a couple Rilakkuma wallets that I am in love with (currently using my Rainbow Rilakkuma 2010 wallet). Also, next time I would seriously consider one of their jewelry pieces. There is nothing kawaii like their designs in the US!

Unfortunately, there is no longer a Samantha store in NYC, but there is one in Hawaii. If you are looking for these bags, check ebay! I saw a lot of great deals on used ones and also plenty of new bags too.

I take my bag everywhere! It goes well with summer and winter clothes--with pastels and also darker clothes too. I love pairing it with the pink pastel coat I bought from Rakuten last winter.

Yum Yum! Breakfast at Ikea. I love my Kuma keychain! And my fuzzy keychain I call "little friend". 

Here are some links for more info:

Samantha's Japanese website--> http://www.samantha.co.jp/index.php?nomovie

Samantha's global website--> http://global.samantha.co.jp/en/

My video all about my purse!

Kawaii Mall Haul: Shiseido at Sephora & Macy’s かわいいホール

So it took me awhile to post about this, but I thought it would still be fun to blog about. ^o^

Last November, my local Sephora had a VIP party that included a 20% discount and free snacks! I took Bo along and we did some shopping together.

They opened the store an hour or two early for the mini party and had juice and cookies..and some cute Sephora style napkins.

Bo enjoyed the snacks while I took a look around. Normally I do any Sephora shopping online so I can see all the products, get the ebates discount, and get the freebies that come with it. My store doesn't always have all the Hello Kitty or Shiseido section that is like the online one.

I only go to Sephora when I get a coupon and have my gift cards, so I picked up a few things at the event!

So happy to wear my Samantha purse out~~ It really works for any season!! 

I bought the Shiseido Perfect Cleansing Oil because I wanted to compare it to the Perfect Whip Perfect Oil (the 'drugstore' Shiseido line in Japan) that I had reviewed previously. 

So far I really love it! I will do a review of this.

If you don't want to spend a lot of Shiseido products check out your local Marshall's, TJ Maxx or Homegoods. Mine often has Shiseido in their clearance! Sometimes even for $10.

~~~~~♡~~~~~♡~~~~~♡~~~~~♡~~~~~

Luckily, Bo ALSO had some leftover gift cards to Starbucks! So we had some hot chocolate and I got lemon bread! (I really want to make a good lemon bread myself at some point.)

We stopped by Macy's and it turns out that Shiseido was having their gift with purchase! There is a new line of products called Ibuki that is meant for girls around my age. Its purpose it to protect skin from damage and rejuvenate it. I later bought it online (for all the max freebies of course) and selected a starter set, as well as the Shiseido Honey Cake soap. The gift with purchase had lots of Ibuki samples. 

The combined Shiseido Haul!

It's fun to refresh your skin regimen. And I love re-organizing my bathroom with all the new stuff. 

So far I'm loving it! Review to come!

Here's the video!