THINGS TO DO ON MY DAY OFF

Hi, all! How have you been?
I'm pretty exhausted from my work! I always think that I would like to take a mental break. So today I'm going to write about what I did for a change of my pace during this summer.

1. NAIL PAINTING
Each day off I tried to have time to nail my fingers. I think nail painting gives the spice to my fashion (as you know I prefer to wear clothes which were based around the colour black.)
Essence Nail Polish and Barry M Nail Paint are my favourites. They have good colour selection and they are inexpensive. When it comes to Japanese brand, I like Sweets-Sweets nail polishes. I was into earth colours (I'm not going to collect anymore.)
However, I feel so sad when I have to remove the polish from my nails. It means ''Ah, my day off is almost over. I have work again from tomorrow!''

2. WEAR LIPSTICK
Lipstick is very important to me. It helps my feeling and fashion tie together.
My current go-to is Rimmel London Lasting Finish Lipstick By Kate in 48. It's my favourite lipstick ever! It's a beautiful dark nude colour what I've been looking for!

3. WEAR PERFUME
I think fragrances are like personalities.
In my early twenties, I really loved very sweet scented perfumes like Fantasy by Britney Spears, Amorito by the Body Shop, Chocolat Matt by Masaki Matsushima and so on. I still like them, but sometimes I think they are for young girls...
About two years ago a friend and I visited 北野異人館 Kitano Ijinkan in 神戸 Kobe, and I got my original perfume at 香りの家 オランダ館 Kaori No Ie Oranda Kan. I answered some questions like 'what kind of music/fashion/colour do you like?', and then perfumers blended perfumes referring to my answers. At that time I felt the scent is to classy for my age, but it's growing on me. I also like Alien by Thierry Mugler. I would like to figure out my signature scent.

4. WATCH FOREIGN MOVIES
I'll write about it some other time!




What do you do for a change of pace?



Matsuri
(Thanks for stopping by and reading! I love hearing your comments:) I'm not good at English! When finding mistakes in my English, will you correct them if you don't mind?)

I KILLED MY MOTHER - XAVIER DOLAN

Xavier Dolan... He is a young talented person as a director, an actor, a writer.

It was 2014 that I saw his works for the first time. I've seen his four works (Heartbeats, Laurence Always, Tom At The Farm and Mommy) so far.

And about two weeks ago I had a chance to watch his first film 'I Killed My Mother' at cinema finally.
Xavier Dolan described that I Killed My Mother as semi-autobiographical. The story is focusing on relationship between Hubert Minel, 16-year-old homosexual highschooler and his single mother.

To be honest, this wasn't a heart-warming story in my opinion. Because their relationship seems like me and my mother. It was something like frustrated, depressed, emptied...

My mother and I often fight over trivial things, ignore each other. It's not that I hate her (and I hope that she doesn't hate me too.) I don't know why our relationship is so complicated.
But some words that Hubert says in the film touched my heart.
'It's crazy. If someone hurt her, I would kill that person. Absolutely.'


Have you ever seen Xavier Dolan's movies? What do you think about his works?


Matsuri
(Thanks for stopping by and reading! I love hearing your comments:) I'm not good at English! When finding mistakes in my English, will you correct them if you don't mind?)

SUMMER BEAUTY ESSENTIALS 2015

SUNSCREEN/SUNBLOCK
Yes, Sunscreen is one of my must have stuff of summer. I'm using Sekkisei Sun Protect as a makeup base almost everyday. I used up the first one so I repurchased. I like the texture of it. It's a gel-type sunscreen. Of course you can use it on your body, too. Incidentally I'm using a milk-type of the same range for body. I'll use up it soon. But I don't know if I'll repurchase or not.

MAKEUP BASE FOR OILY SKIN
I'm suffered from oily and shiny forehead all the time. But Dejavu Control Serum saved my makeup life! It prevents my skin from oily and shiny. I've been repurchasing it for many times so far. But unfortunately the great product is no longer produced now. I have some in stock. And I'll have to look for other product which is similar to Dejavu product.

FACE POWDER
I don't use neither powder nor liquid foundation. I use the only two things- makeup base (includes sunscreen) and face powder. I prefer transparent shade. So I often use Rimmel London Stay Matte Powder or Shiseido Baby Powder. They work very well for oily shiny skin. They keep my skin matte but not cakey.

HIGHLIGHTER
I'm obsessed with highlighter at the moment! I like applying highlighter along the top of cheekbones. Barry M Radiant Rod is a interesting stuff. I apply it directly to my cheekbones and blend with finger tips. Rimmel London Good Glow is also interesting. It gives dewy glow. I recommend that you apply it before face powder.

BRONZER
I don't want to get a suntan, but I want a healthy look. So I use bronzers. I prefer a matte finish to a shimmery finish. But I have a problem...when I want to apply both of bronzer and blush naturally, how should I do?? Please give me some advice!

NON-STICKY LIP GLOSS
I'm a big lipstick fan. But sometimes I feel I want to wear lip gloss. A sticky texture makes me feel dull. Barry M's lip glosses are always my favourites. They give super mirror shine with lovely scents. They have longwearing fomula without sticky.

LIP BALM WITH SPF
I think lip balm is one of skin care and makeup essentials that you can find easily at your local drugstores.
Carmex Ultra Moisturising Lip Balm moisturises my lips really well without sunscreen taste and smell.

SUMMER SCENT PERFUMES
I really enjoyed sweet, delicious scents like chocolate, caramel and vanilla during winter. And now I switched it up with more summery scents. I've been looking for some coconut scent perfumes. At first I tried the Body Shop Coconut Body Mist, but it smells like a wax or a crayon... And finally I found! Comptoir Sud Pacifique Coco Extreme is my ideal summery/coconut scent. I'm going to enjoy the scent this summer.




Are you ready for the summer?

Matsuri
(Thanks for stopping by and reading! I love hearing your comments:) I'm not good at English! When finding mistakes in my English, will you correct them if you don't mind?)

NEW HAIRSTYLE

I didn't put my hair down. I usually put my hair up in a messy bum...


Today I've got my hair cut at beauty salon for the first time in this 15 months.
I've got my hair cut by about 20 centimeters! It became more easier to wash my hair:)
Incidentally, I ask beautician to thin my hair out each time when I go to beauty salon:)



But my hair is still badly damaged. The colour of my hair looks strange!

I don't like to use hair products except for hair shampoo and hair conditioner. But now I think that I need something makes my hair so soft...
Do you have any hair products you recommend me?




Matsuri
(Thanks for stopping by and reading! I love hearing your comments:) I'm not good at English! When finding mistakes in my English, will you correct them if you don't mind?)

UPDATED-CAT EYE

As usual, I like cat eye makeup. About two weeks ago I finally found an ideal colour eyeliner- QUEEN'S KEY × BETTY BOOP WONDERFUL EYELINER IN CARAMEL BROWN. It was purchased by me.
It's devised by four popular reader models of Japanese fashion magazines (honestly I don't know about them well. There are so many reader models in Japanese fashion and beauty magazines world nowadays. I think it's because it's easier for many reader to imitate their fashions and makeup than professional models.)

It's a creamy caramel brown colour, very pigmented and smudge-proof. I also like the kinds of felt-tip eyeliners.
This brown colour suits the colour of my eyes I think. Of course the packaging is pretty. But unfortunately this item is a limited edition. 

I use SLEEK BRONZE BLOCK IN LIGHT as eyeshadows. These colours are matte finished type. You can use the pink part as blush.
By the way I don't apply mascara these days. Because when apply it I feel like I have something like sand in my eyes...


Have you ever tried Queen's Key Eyeliner?
What kinds of eyeliners do you like? 

p.s. Movies, books, fashion... I have a lot of things I want to write on blog!


Matsuri
(Thanks for stopping by and reading! I love hearing your comments:) I'm not good at English! When finding mistakes in my English, will you correct them if you don't mind?)

HANAMI-CHERRY BLOSSOM VIEWING

This time I'm going to write about my hanami experiences of 2015.


Cherry blossom viewing is called 'hanami' in Japanese.
In Kyoto, cherry blossoms come out between late March and April. And there are many good cherry blossom viewing spots around Kyoto City. Temples, shrines...I think you can have both of the sense of the seasons and historical parts of Kyoto at the same time.


On the 30 of March, I met up with Payton who is one of wonderful friends. We met for the first time in about two years! We walked around Kyoto City and visited Yasaka Shrine (Maruyama Park) and Heian Shrine.
And on the 31, I visited Nijo Castle with two wonderful people from workplace.

There are various styles of hanami. I saw many viewers and street stalls. And I also saw many people enjoyed talking, eating and drinking under the cherry blossoms in full bloom.
Of course, some people enjoyed eating and drinking rather than the cherry blossom viewing. We call that attitude 'hana yori dango' in Japanese (dango is sweet rice dumpling.)


By the way, I've been feeling a little down these days... I was transferred to a different post due to personnel changes in April. And now I'm spending a very stressful time...
Ah, I want to go back to the great days off!



Matsuri
(Thanks for stopping by and reading! I love hearing your comments:) I'm not good at English! When finding mistakes in my English, will you correct them if you don't mind?)

タダシクイキ・・・(IN JAPANESE)

正しく生きるという映画を観た。

最初、観賞チケットを買った時にビーフンをもらった。



映画が始まった。

なんだなんだなんなんだ。






映画が終わった。


ものすごい疲労に襲われた。



子どもへの虐待、暴力、窃盗、命を奪う行為、テロ。


こうやって文字化することでさえなんだかしんどく感じてしまうことが、


普段は新聞やニュースで間接的に触れることが、


日本列島のどこかでとか、世界のどこかの国でとか、とにかく自分からはかなり遠く離れたところでの出来事なんだと思い込んでいたことが、


これまで『正しくない』と認識していたことが、まあまあ狭い空間で、まあまあ近いタイミングで起こっていたのだから。



他人事であり、自分はおそらく生涯経験することはないはずだと確信していたつもりなのに、とてつもない生々しさを感じた。




そもそもどうしてこれらのことを、正しくないと認識しているのか。

誰かに教えてもらった記憶は多分ない。

自分から発する言葉のボキャブラリーが増えたことによるものなのか。



誰かの言葉や表情から、悲しみとか怒りを感受する能力が知らない間に身についていたのか。

うん、そういう自分だから、スクリーンの中の、自分が思う正しくないことをしている人たちのことを完全に否定することはできなかった。





とんでもない作品だな。

みなさんも機会があればぜひ。




正しく生きたい。
正しく生きるべきだ。
正しく生きなくてはならない。
正しく生きたくない。
正しく生きれない。
正しく生きる必要はない。
正しく生きてはいけない。



なんだなんだなんなんだ。





ビーフン、いつ食べようかな。






まつり