Recycle Store In Japan

When the best friend told me that she just got back from a recycle store in Japan - I was telling her - about time Japan had one too - but when she showed me pictures of it - i had dropped my diet pills hahah! as you can see - why i did from the picture above.  Now if the recycle stores looked like this here - we don’t have to go to the mall no more.  Heck ! our malls with brand name clothings don’t even looked half as good.

Pass the Baton is a high end recycle store as far as I can see.  Dealing with previously used goods but all high end stuff as you can see - and the owners I hear are top designers/stylists themselves.  Located in  Omotesando Hills - you can check it out yourself - if you are heading to Japan anytime soon.  Definitely a new type of recycle store - awesomeness - the Japanese are.

Gadget Savvy Japanese Gals

If you think or in your mind think that all Japanese girls are demure and shy - then you are wrong - those that i know are very gadget and tech savvy and knows all about  car insurance and unlike me - who needs to wait for the spouse to do that for me.   When i was a kid, i had an exchange student in my class and she had all the cutest looking thing one can ever dream of.  And now - that same girl that I’ve known all my life - is the most tech and gadget savvy japanese gal I know.   The classic japanese gals in Japan has a HP notebook, and ipod touch, cellphone, digital cameral and of couse the USB key but of course they had to be cute looking - quality to a Japanese gal is more important than quantity - no wonder the Japanese has new stuff every year to satisfy the needs of the tech and gadget savvy Japanese gals.

Japan Fashion Week

Japan’s Autumn/Winter Fashion week ended in early April and the best friend who lives in Japan, showed me some pictures, she had taken during the Fashion week.  You see - she married someone there and albeit the fact that there is no social security disability in Japan - she still loves the culture there so much that she decided to stay for another few years before heading back to the West.

The above were from designer Keiichi Muramatsu who graduated from the Bunka Fashion College with a major in knitwear and worked for Lineapiu Group in Italy as assistant designer shortly after. He showed his first collection in 2005 for S/S Tokyo Collection Week. This season he held several knitting seminars during Japan Fashion Week.  I have been following designer Keiichi for a long time now - therefore I was really glad to see his work once again.  I so wished i could attend Japan’s Fashion Week every year but alas, being so far from Asia - sure doesn’t make it easy to just hop on a plane and take a mini-break like I used to.   But some day - some day i hope to revisit Japan with my daughter.

Japanese Magazines

You can find wrinkle serum in all the departmental stores in Japan but finding an English magazine - now that’s a hard one.  And if you are in Japan looking to find some girlie magazines - note that they are not sold openly either.  Well, not that i found it in the ordinary magazine stands in Tokyo but big bookstores like kinokinuya have some but not a lot either.  It’s kinda hard some 20 yrs ago - when i first arrived in Japan and just couldn’t find anything in English to read except the hotel’s copy of USA today - but I wasn’t interested in USA today !  i was interested in reading about where to get around in Japan and the best places to eat and to shop.  But my best friend who lives in Japan now  - tells me things are a lot different now.  I hope to visit Japan once again but this time armed with more info to carry with me to get the best outta Japan.

Japanese Boys Fashion

The new japan trend for the boys in Japan?  wearing skirt is the in thing i supposed these days and the skirts ain’t cheap at all from what i read.  So skirts are not for girls only in Japan they are for the boys too.  These “skirts” are not the ordinary skirts and not even brand new I heard - they are made by JP Gaultier..?? and Vivian Westwood.  You can see these Japanese boys wear them in Tokyo like Harajuku and Aoyama.  Now whats next eh..?? day cream for boys too..?? i wouldn’t be surprised at all.

Beauty Trend In Japan

We love the Japanese women - they are all so beautiful and petite and reading www.skinidreviews.com makes me wonder what else the Japanese women would go to - just to stay petite from head to toe.  For example I hear of a unique J-Body resculpting massage technique that is supposed to shape and shift your bones to make it smaller.  Japanese women also focus on shrinking other parts of their bodies, even their faces, with this face mask in the drugstore’s body-shrinking section.

Modern Kimono

Modern Kimono or lingerie type of Kimono was the controversy that was caused by Japan’s representative for the Ms Universe Pageant.   Representing the national costume in leather - one would have thought Ms Emiri Miyasaka was representing an anti aging product instead eh.

The costume was designed by Yoshiyuki Ogata, the designer/owner of the designer brand “Yoshiyuki.”

Kimonos are supposed to be the symbol of the “Modest Japanese Woman.” But ,this is reminiscent of the costumes worn by the girls from “Soap Land” in Yoshiwara. Yoshiyuki Ogata has gotten more than 1000 protests over this all leather kimono costume and is albeit reveling in the publicity. The biggest complaint comes from the company in Ginza that donated the “obi” belt for the kimono without knowing the designer’s full intentions.

Japanese Girls Are Trendy

I’ve always been asked by friends here in Canada if the Japanese girls are as cute  and trendy as they see in magazines and tv shows and how they stay so slim - do they have some sort of  natural diet pills for women or are they are just super kawaii.Japanese women are super nice - but they have a wild side too - if you think for a minute that all of them are demure and sweet and you want to bring them home with you - because of that - just remember .. that a lot of Japanese girls are well - traveled and it’s only because they are in Japan - they have to act the way that is expected of them - but when they are outta their country - they certainly are wild and fun.  Of course, having said all that - i’m not saying that Japanese girls are not good nor trendy - they are - but make sure you really know them - even before thinking of bringing them home.

Hot Stone Bath

As much as I dislike undressing in front of strangers.. albeit professional,  this detox spa in Japan is to die for.  Why ..?? because it really does make one skin looks shiny and glossier if there is such a way to describe it.  A very relaxing atmosphere .. you are placed on some hot stones.. and you get to sweat out those awful toxins inside you.  There are no tv or tv stand to interfere in this almost sacred ritual.  Everything is very serene… and so calming to the body and soul.

The ladies there were really polite.. and had given me some towels.. and some kind of pjs to wear.. the towels are to give myself.. a wash.. before entering the hot stone room.  I was told by my friends to drink plenty of water.. and you lay on those hot stones for 15 mins… and try to sweat it out.   It wasn’t extremely hot or anything.. i didn’t sweat right away.  You get a few mins break in between.. for you to replenish your fluids.. and then try and sweat some more.

Did i like it..?? absolutely..! it wasn’t expensive either.. so i will definitely recommend this to all ladies..  if you want smooth and radiant skin.

Eyelash Essence

You think you’ve had it all .. the moisturizer, the perfume.. and anything wierd.. you can definitely find in Japan.. but t his new eyelash essence which is supposed to make your eyelash strong.. and thicker.. definitely tops it all and a lot cheaper than buy breeches for my kids.

This is a Japanese product from the cosmetics company Canmake Tokyo. Since I do not read Japanese, I don’t know what’s in this product. However, after searching Google for the ingredients, several sites have listed the main ones as being Panthenol and Lavender. Another Google search reveals that Panthenol is basically a moisturizer, and it’s used in mascaras and other eyelash treatments, along with hair shampoo and conditioner.  At $13 .. it’s not a bad buy!