SHMUBERRY

FAKE Koji Dolly Wink eyeliner

2012-02-06T12:26:00.001-05:00

I really love Dolly Wink products: most of the time, I get them from this great eBayer for a decent price, including shipping fees. Earlier this year, I saw another offer on eBay from a different seller for the Deep Black eyeliner and I thought: “Mhmm I need to stock up on this eyeliner” so I purchased it… to my surprise, I received a cheap, counterfeit Dolly Wink imitation!

As soon as I got the product, I messaged the seller saying that I had received a counterfeit product and that I wanted my money back since I had paid for a KOJI Dolly Wink eyeliner. The seller, alrocku2007, claimed that this was the “Hong Kong” version of this product and that it was the real deal. Clearly, this person doesn’t know what they are talking about so I reported the item to eBay and I wanted to show you pictures of what the counterfeit looks like compared to the real deal.

Left: fake Dolly Wink eyeliner

Right: Koji Dolly Wink eyeliner

The fake eyeliner packaging has a lot of difference from the original one: the shade of pink on top of the box is darker. On the original box, the English text says:

“ Every girl can become a doll! For the girl who wants to be “Otona Kawaii”, it’s a present from Tsubasa".”

However, the fake box only has the first part of the text:

“Every girl can become a doll!”

and is centered instead of being aligned to the left. Also, the back of the box contains different information at the bottom. Japanese make-up imported in Hong Kong usually don’t have a redesigned packaged but instead will have a sticker with translated information regarding the use of the product and its ingredients and a product code. Oddly enough, the product “made for the Hong Kong market” contains information only in Japanese.

What really made me question the product that I received that the fact that Tsubasa’s picture and the text “ Produced by Tsubasa Masukawa” was replaced by a 24h logo and the text read: “water strong liner” instead. The design of the bow is also very flimsy and off and somewhat cut off.

That really made me realize this was an imitation was the fact that they erased the KOJI logo and replaced it with “Fairy Girl”. KOJI is a well known Japanese make-up that is still up and running and it hasn’t been bought or been replace by “ Fairy Girl”. Surely if they were to market this product in other countries and adapt the packaging, they would keep the name KOJI is on it and Tsubasa’s picture as well otherwise, what’s the point??

BUT all of these could simply be a new packaging for a product but let’s take a look at the eyeliner pen itself. The design of the pen is fairly similar but upon looking at it closely, the dots, bow and logo are blurry: it’s not my camera! Usually when product are repackaged, it’s for the better, the quality of the design isn’t reduced! The cap is also pink and dotted instead of black.

After realizing this a fake product, I would have to be crazy to bring this eyeliner anywhere near my eyes so I tested it out of my hand and on a tissue: the texture of the brush is completely different. The real Dolly Wink eyelier is a fiber brush that’s very flexible and that allows you to make very thin lines and wing your eyeliner perfectly.

The fake eyeliner has a very stiff felt brush that only produces a somewhat thin line if you place it at 90°!

So obviously, this is an imitation and I could have avoided getting this by reading the reviews this person had because despite a majority of positive reviews, negative reviews stood out.

Lesson learned!

Stick to the eBayers I know and have ONLY positive feedback! I hope this post helps someone to NOT buy a fake one by accident!

Betsey Johnson <3

2012-01-27T22:04:00.001-05:00

I’ve also love Betsey clothes but I don’t know why, I was always too intimidated to visit the store we have right next to my work… probably because I’m aware of the prices and I know I can’t really afford it… nonetheless, I ended up visiting the store today.

I was greated by the two shop staff and they were so nice: they were quick to compliment my hair and say it was very Betsey-like hehe. I started browsing and one of them asked me if they could dress me up so I accepted!! I always wanted to shop staff to just bring me clothes and let me try them on!

Dress: (I couldn’t find it on the website!) Sweater: Rosebud Jacquard Pullover
Tutu (under): Crinoline Petticoat

They were both so sweet and adorable and took a picture with me!

I have to say, I was a bit self conscious because the outfit they picked out for me was really nice but quite expensive BUT, the young man had a back up plan and showed me a lovely silk dress he thought would look really good on me AND it happened to be on sale! So I gave it a try and I was surprised to see how flattering and adorable it was!

Midnight Floral Puff Sleeve Dress

I love it so much, I bought it on the spot and left the store wearing it. It’s the first time I buy something so expensive but I thought of the cost per wear, like they always talk about in make-over shows, and this item was definitely worth the price. Originally at 405$, I paid 100$ for it!

This post really seems materialistic but this dress and the care these two gave me tonight really made me happy and I hope every shopping experience could be like that!

50% off the last price!

Pink Pink Pink !

2012-01-24T23:44:00.001-05:00

In the spur of the moment today, I decided to get my hair bleached at a salon near my house so that when I would put the pink dye back, it would turn out lighter. My hair has been turning peachy pink and it really annoys me!

Since I didn't go to my regular, I was a little but anxious to let a stranger play with my hair. Turns out the stylist who did my hair had black and pink hair and he was familiar with funky colors so he knew why I wanted him to bleach my hair nearly white. Plus, he recommended a few göt2b products he loves even though he wasn't supposed to because those are te products sold by the salon ;D

Left: Fresh out of the salon Right: after toner

I had a bottle of toner at home so j saved a few extra bucks and tones it myself :) once that was done, I mixed my dye using Special Effects in Cupcake Pink, Manic Panic Cotton Candy Pink and half a bottle of condition! Let it sit around an hour ( I don't know.... I fell asleep in my bed lol) and voila!

DIY pink dye :)

I'm do happy that I finally reached the tone of pink I've wanted all this time!!

White to pink !! :D

It’s a good day when your hair looks finally the way you wanted it to <3

Barbie Eye Super Nudy Blue

2012-01-16T21:32:00.001-05:00

Recently, I’ve been hanging out a lot with my friend Marie and she’s pretty much the queen of circle lenses so I decided to get myself new lenses from Candylens.

First off, super cute packaging: someone who pays so much attention to matching the free cases to the colour of the lenses that I’m ordering is a winner: definitely buying from them again. Plus, they wrote me a sweet hand written card:

Isn’t that super sweet? I’m all about customer service and this my friends, is great service! But what about the lenses…

I always wore GEO, Neo or EOS but Marie has told me good things about Barbie Eyes… plus the pattern was super cute and the blue extremely vibrant!

Diameter: 16.00mm Water content: 48% Base curbe: 8.6mm

I find that they blend with my natural eye colour quite naturally. They are really comfortable to wear event though my eyes are extremely sensitive… I was able to wear them at work but they became uncomfortable after a few hours since the air at my workplace is extremely dry…

Design and colour: ♥♥♥♥♥
Comfort: ♥♥♥♥♡
Price: ♥♥♥♥♥

Inspiration

2012-01-06T17:31:00.001-05:00

I have to admit, lately, I haven’t paid a lot of attention to what I wear and how I accessorize it: I’ve been wearing the same over and over again. So I was glad to see the following shoot in January’s edition of Vivi :)

I hope I can create that many looks with the same top as well!!

Are you fucking serious, Ricardo?

2012-01-02T14:28:00.001-05:00

So earlier tonight I was contacted by the friend of a restaurant I reviewed last year concerning my pictures… Actually, let me show you the e-mail.

So I kindly replied:

You may have noticed with my template changes that a lot of widgets have disappeared from my side bar and the mention: “ All content of this blog is copyrighted and protected. Redistribution of any content in unlawful. Powered by Blogger.” Combined with that and my reply, I was mind blown when I read this response:

WTF WHAT PART OF “YOU MAY NOT USE MY PICTURES FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES” DID YOU NOT UNDERSTAND???!!! I’M NOT “OKAY” WITH THIS!!!! You’re making a “website” (on tumblr…) to advertise a restaurant so this IS commercial purpose. You’re going to get money from this (or your friend) by using my pictures… then fucking pay me.

Don’t just take six of my pictures, resize them so the point that my watermark is no visible on half of them and put them on your blog without even linking back WTF.

So by at at point, I was spitting fire, yet I still managed to reply is a polite way:

But Ricardo here clearly has no clue of what respect is and sends me this gem:

Ricardo, if you’re starting in website creation, you should check out the acts that I mentioned in my next reply:

Then, finally, the most incoherent email:

So if you’re not owner and fan, wouldn’t you do your best to NOT put shame on that restaurant by angering past customers with your lack of respect for their intellectual property??!! They didn’t serve me generously, I paid for my meal like everyone and shared my thought because I liked it.

Indeed, I’m a very intimidating blogger (sarcasm) as just don’t want you to use my pictures, you ~~prick~~.

Like I mentioned earlier, I took pictures and no one came to me asking me to not do so. Also, there were no signs or mentions on the menu that could have led me to thing that taking pictures in this restaurant was prohibited.

That’s right, you’re not the owner, how dare you sully his name and his restaurant if you are such a fan?

That part of the email killed me. Why are you bringing the issues of Congo into this? Anyone see a link between his using my pictures against my wishes and Congo because I don’t see it. All I see is someone trying to use one sad situation so that he and his friends can benefit from it which is extremely lame and wrong on so many levels.

So Ricardo, I understand that you are a rapper and have used controversial topics such as Fredy Villanueva, racial tensions and other heavy topics for your songs.

How would you feel if I emailed you, saying that I would like to use some of your lyrics for a songs that I’m writing for Katy Perry. Although the idea is probably sweet and it would mean your name being mentioned in Katy Perry’s album, you fucking hate her music and don’t want to be associated with her. So you tell me not to do it but I think “ whatever, this dude doesn’t understand how famous he’ll get”… see what I’m doing here? It’s the same fucking thing.

Just as much as your lyrics are your intellectual property, my pictures are my intellectual property as well. The fact that both are available for the public to see and listen to does not make it public property for everyone to use for their own benefits.

Have some fucking respect for others and don’t take it upon yourself to decide what to do with other people’s photography if you know shit about copyrights.

UPDATE:

Alright so he finally took the pictures down and we’re cool but this post is staying because the point that I’m trying to prove is not “omg what a jerk” (although it could come across this way…) but how I care about how my content is distributed and how all bloggers should. In the past, I have allowed my pictures to be used for businesses because we had mutual agreements, especially when it came to circle lenses reviews. I would review the lenses for compensation and in return, the owner of that business had the right to use the content of the said review of advertising purposes.

I don’t care if you think this is slander because it’s not: I displayed how rude you were to me by asking consent and not respecting my choice. For it to be slander or defamation, my claim would have to be false which is not the case as I have published our conversation as is.

I’m glad that you learned a lesson and hope you will be more careful in the future.

December~

2011-12-29T20:11:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone, sorry my blog layout looks like a mess… I recently started playing with it (we all know I can’t keep one layout for too long…) and I just got busy/lazy/tired all at once haha.

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas (if you don’t celebrate, I hope you had a nice day on December 25th!). I went to my parents’ chalet in Sutton and relaxed with my family. We all opened our gifts at midnight and as usual, it was a lot of fun! I received a 16gh white iPhone 4S that I have been using since to spam on instagram (I’m sorry if you follow me on Twitter… I’m just so excited about the 8 megapixel camera haha).

Before Christmas vacation started, I had ordered a few things online and they have been favourites ever since!

Spots Print Pink Jumper from Romwe

Garden of Roses Sweater Tunic in cream from Ruche

Both sweaters have been by favourite of the month and my friends and coworkers are probably already sick of seeing me wearing those… but they are so comfortable, warm and pretty!

I also refreshed my pink hair and added a few sparkle extensions that I got on ebay. They are extremely hard to capture on camera but they look amazing in real life! I got a lot of compliments at work, friends said I either look like a mermaid, a fairy or a little pony LOL.

In the meantime, I’m waiting for the last days of 2011 to quickly pass and to finally start 2012! I don’t have definite plans for the 31st yet but I already know what I’m wearing hahahaha!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
See you all in 2012!

Pink hair care and tips

2011-12-14T02:55:00.001-05:00

Having pink tips for a while and pink hair for a bit now, I thought it might be nice to finally share how I take care for my hair and keep it healthy and shiny without having the colour fade, all DIY! I hope this will answer a lot of your questions!

Pick the right dye

Most people I know with coloured hair go for manic panic but from experience, it’s not the best when it comes to long lasting results. I tried Amphygory Special Effects and it’s amazing! I have on several forums that in order to get the same long lasting results you can get with Special Effects, you have to leave in Manic Panic in your hair for hours or even overnight, as suggested by some users. I would, personally, never recommend anyone to leave hair dye for such a long time (omg… the damage). Follow the instructions and if you wish to dilute the dye with a conditioner with no colorant and do a test strand and see if you like the result before applying it.

Bleach or no bleach

It is a well known fact that funky colours take better to hair that has been freshly bleached however this will cause a LOT of damage to your hair. I decided not to bleach all my hair and to simply retouch my roots. I also decided to bleach 1 inches strand of my hair on my bottom layer so that I would get various shades of pink, as if I had “natural pink highlights”. Smart move imo: it really gave my hair a lot of dimension and it is a lot more interesting to look at!

Commit and put a ring on it (sort of…)

Pink hair is going to need A LOT of care. You will have to shampoo your hair less often and change your shampoo to one that is formulated for dyed hair. I also shampoo my hair once to twice a week: in between, I use dry shampoo or rinse my hair with cold water and condition it. I have replaced my regular conditioner with L’Oreal Total Repair hair mask mixed with pink dye that I leave on while I shower. I then use Biolage detangling solution before blow drying my hair (air drying is not an option in winter). I also use a leave in conditioner at night and avoid using hairspray as much as possible.

Embrace the damage

Your hair will be damaged and there is no way to revive it. Conditioner and hair masks can only do so much. Reduce how often you use heat tools and if you have too, make sure you use a good heat protectant. There is no way to repair split ends so I like to use small scissors and cut them while I watch Judge Judy on Youtube haha. For curly and wavy hair, there are many many ways to can achieve these styles without heat, just find good tutorials on Youtube.

Get ready for reactions

If you’ve been a wallflower your whole life, that time is over. You will get a lot of compliments from strangers and friends alike but your hair will spark arguments as well. Make sure it’s ok for you to have bright coloured hair at work/school before you damage your hair for nothing. Some people will stare at your as if you were about to mug them while kids while come up to you and say they love your bubble gum hair. Be ready for positive and negative reaction

Adapt your style and make-up

This goes for every major hair colour change; your make up and clothes will have to change a bit. Outfits that looked great with blonde hair will not fit your new hair and you will have to adjust your make-up a bit as well. Don’t be scared to experiment and find what is right for you.

Have fun! Love your hair and play with it! Pink hair is so fab to just let it sit like that on your shoulders. I find myself playing a lot with my hair these days and I enjoy dressing up a lot more since coordinating my hair with my clothes is not something I have ever done before but it’s so much fun!

I even match my drinks with my hair…

It’s all about confidence

2011-12-07T18:54:00.001-05:00

I was really second guessing myself yesterday. Something about that personality that doesn’t really cross over the Internet or on my blog is that I’m a perfectionist and when things don’t exactly go the way I wanted it to, I sometimes freak out a little bit. I went to sleep, not sure if I liked my hair or not since my original idea was for a much lighter colour (hence why I diluted the dye with so much conditioner!).

I woke up this morning and read all of your nice comments and I feel much better. I curled my hair and now, I think I like and that I can work this colour! I will let it fade and see if it’s nice, then maybe had extensions as well! Anyway, I’m excited now so I want to thank you all for your nice feedback!

oh BTW this picture was edited with the 楽画cute app! Probably the best “purikura” editing app out there imo! The lighting in the library is weird so my hair looks orange but it’s not O.o

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Sachie’s recent post inspired me to blog about my Christmas wish list. When I was a kid, I was always too shy to tell my parents that I wanted for Christmas… it always felt wrong for me but with time, I have come to understand that making a wishlist is not asking for people to get you these things but rather give them ideas of what could make you happy!

So basically, anything pretty and cute right? haha I added the shoes because I love shoes, but I would probably be too scared to wear them since they are so pretty hahaha.

You don’t know until you try

2011-12-06T23:31:00.001-05:00

Humm that goes for a lot of things but tonight, I’m feeling really uncertain about my hair. Recently, I had dyed my ends in pink and LOVE it! I have always wanted to have pink hair and that turned out not to be enough so tonight, I dyed ALL of my hair pink.

I’m second guessing myself: I have always (or most of my life) been blonde and maybe I’m feeling this way because it’s such a big change?

Arg I’m torn right now. Honest opinions please ;_____; and if I keep it, should my brows be pink too? I naturally have one black and one blonde eyebrow so either way, I have to maintain them… mhmm

Fall gets

2011-11-25T00:11:00.001-05:00

I’ve been doing a little bit of shopping here and there lately and I thought it might be fun to share my latest gets! I've been a good girl, Black Friday is becoming more and more popular in Canada so I will drop by a few shops tomorrow after work, see if I can snatch any good deals!

FAKE cropped top: Forever 21
Grey Top: Forever 21
Lilac asymetric top: Olivia

Leopard top: Forever 21
Tan SCHILK bag: Spring
Black WYLLIE bag: Spring

Black Chiffon dress: somewhere in Seoul
White sweater: Forever 21
Hello Kitty cropped top: Forever 21

Damn… I really have a lot of stuff from F21… there’s a 4 stories F21 right next to my workplace so it doesn’t really help haha! I usually never go to Dynamite but, today, between work and school, I stopped by because a leopard jacket caught my eye. The jacket turned out to be really expensive for the quality of the material BUT I found 2 beautiful hats that were originally priced at 25$ each for 10$!

I got them in both beige and black!

Mmhhmmm my hair has been looking pretty awesome lately and I think I’m going to blog about how I take care of my pink ends. I’m also thinking of dying all of my head light pink :) I’m still young and I can have any hair colour I want for work so… why not right?

Oh and one last camwhoring picture, it’s been a while hahaha

When enough is enough + November Fashion

2011-11-15T23:35:00.001-05:00

I had a really bad start this week: long time readers will probably remember the girl who kept sending messages to tell me she disliked me. She had left me alone for a while but recently, I’ve been receiving anonymous comments on formspring insulting me; I had no proof it was her until she left one under her username and later tried to hide it by changing her name.

Last time, I had told her if she kept this up, I would bring everything she had sent me to the police so I finally did yesterday. I was extremely nervous: I have never been in a police station before but the two female officers I met where very kind and helpful: from now on, any contact she has with me can and will be held against her in a formal complaint.

To be honest, when I left the police station, I felt extremely relieved. I thought they wouldn’t take me seriously: that after all, being a blogger, I have to expect people to hate me at times but it wasn’t the case. They looked carefully at the messages she sent me, even the anonymous ones that couldn’t be tracked to her and decided to take action. I’m very thankful for the SPVM.

If you are facing a similar situation, don’t hesitate to go to your local police: just because you are a blogger and this is happening online doesn’t not make the rules any different for you.

This was a serious topic… now time for something a little bit less serious and on to my fashion pics for November! LOTS of knits! I can’t satisfy my knit envy lately so I have taken up knitting again, I want to be able to make my own knits from now on!

JELLY

POPSISTER

POPTEEN

Glimpse of a social life

2011-11-07T20:07:00.001-05:00

I have to admit, lately I haven’t been seeing my friends a lot. Being busy with work and school, I didn’t have much time… plus I do enough socializing at work to count it as social life…sort of XD

Friday night, Dominique and I had fun night and watched H.O.T. and Shinhwa DVDs! We couldn’t finish them but it was so much fun to sing along and make silly comments while watching those :D On Saturday night, Ray and I dropped by our friend Yuji’s place for his birthday!

Finally, Ariane was visiting Montreal so we met on Sunday at Imadake, a restaurant that I have been really curious about that’s right next to my school.

If there is one thing that we are good at is drinking and playing drinking games loudly. We sure made a lot of noise, especially on a Sunday night when most people are usually more quiet since they have to work the next day.

At one point, we made Young Jin go up to a guy, flirt and ask for his phone number. Ariane had to sing a Japanese song really loudly, Keum Yeo had to flirt with one of the cooks and Ray had to go up to owner, apologize for our group being so loud and offer him a shot (which he accepted!). We were later offered Sake Bombs on the house:

On top of the staff being totally awesome, the food and atmosphere were very nice, the best on the menu were wasabi octopus, okonomiyaki, beef tongue, mayo shrimp. The chicken karaage was decent but filled with oil. Definitely check out Keum Yeo’s review has she is spot on when it comes to reviewing restaurants XD

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T21:14:00.001-04:00

I was going to dress up as Baby Doll from Sucker Punch and party this week-end but I ended up working nearly 30 hours so partying was out of the way. Hope you guys had fun on Halloween! I just wore this cape and make-up at home; I was too lazy this morning to dress up haha (I really need to touch up my pink ends…)

Oh and make sure to check out Bonjour Glow Halloween’s post!

October Fashion

2011-10-24T23:16:00.001-04:00

Lately, I haven’t paid a lot of attention to what I wear: it’s getting colder everyday and I’m so busy with both school and work that I always end up with black skinnies, a shirt and my leather jacket… which needs to be spiced up a bit!

Here are a few outfits inpiration that I picked from October magazines! Hopefully, I can get back to a good fashion sense and shop for nicer outfits!

BLENDA

JELLY

HAPPIE NUTS

Rilakkuma iPhone backgrounds

2011-10-20T23:31:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone! Midterms are finally over, yay! More time to few and finish my Halloween costume :)

My mom is helping me make my Babydoll from Sucker Punch costume so in the mean time, here are adorable Rilakkuma backgrounds for iPhones! The format is 640 x 960 so there my be good for other phones as well!

You can download the whole set here! Password is the name of this blog, no caps!Enjoy!

HongDae themed cafés: Minto

2011-10-15T20:25:00.001-04:00

On August 11th, my brother and I met with my friend Justin in Hongdae, Seoul. I hadn’t been to Hongdae and I was really eager to walk around since it a well know area for entertainment, clubbing and shopping!

Another thing Hongdae is famous for is themed coffee shops! You’ve got the Coffee Prince cafe, the Hello Kitty cafe, Cat Cafés… there is basically a coffee shop for every theme you can think of!

My friend Justin knew how much I liked the drama Secret Garden so after giving us a short tour of Hongdae, we sat down for a drink at a cafe called Minto based on Secret Garden!

Adorable decor ( I spend an horrible amount of time editing that pic of me >> horrible face + hair day but wtv…)

The cafe is very cozy and adorable! Any girl will find her happiness as both the decor and staff is cute: waiters and waitress not only look good but are extremely polite and nice. Girls looking for a healthy dose of flower boys can also find it at this café since waiters were beyond cute!

Aside from a general sitting area, you also have private rooms which are great for study groups :)

Now this café wasn’t exactly my brother’s thing of place… but who cares, go there with a bunch of girls and enjoy! Although I can’t remember a thing about how much it cost, it was fairly cheap with free refills for our drinks and a nice variety of food at a good price.

Address information:

369-10, Mapo-gu, Seoul (서울특별시 마포구 서교동 369-10)
Metro: Green Line, Hongik University (Hongdae) exit 5.
Phone: 02-333-6986

map credit

If you’re in the Hongdae area, definitely stop by! It’s a nice place to take a break from Seoul’s fast paced life!

Gyeongbokgung Palace

2011-10-02T20:48:00.001-04:00

Gyeongbokgung Palace is the second palace that I visited. After visiting Chandeokgung Palace with a tour guide ( for a really expensive guided tour…), I realized we could visit every palace in Seoul for 2000W to 3000W each or 10000W for all five (more info here). So on August 13th, my brother and I met up with my friend Michael and headed to Gyeongbokgung station and visited the palace with an English guide that was free and provided by the Palace!

It was extremely rainy that day… taking pictures was a bit of a challenge, as Michael is demonstrating haha.

Unlike a lot of people who were already at the Palace before we arrive, the rain didn’t stop us from visiting this beautiful Palace: it was crowded at first the the more we explored the Palace, the less we saw people around.

I thought this young woman in a hanbok fit perfectly in the decor and atmosphere of the Palace!

“ When King Taejo founded the new kingdom of Joseon in 1392, one of the first orders of business was to move the royal capital from the ancient city of Kaesong (now in North Korea) to Seoul. A royal capital needs a palace, so in 1394 work began on a residence fit for a king. A prime site was selected in accordance with the laws of feng shui at the foot of Mt. Bugaksan, Seoul’s guardian mountain to the north. The new palace was named Gyeongbokgung, or “Palace Greatly Blessed by Heaven.” It was the heart of Korea for much of the early Joseon era (1392—1910), including the golden age under the brilliant King Sejong the Great (1418—1450). […]

Along with Changdeokgung Palace, it is considered one of the jewels of Joseon architecture, with its grand wooden halls, beautiful ponds and spectacular scenery set against the backdrop of Mt. Bugaksan. It is one of the most visited tourist destinations in Korea, as well as home of two of the country’s most important museums, the National Folk Museum and National Palace Museum of Korea.” Official Site of Korea Tourism

This picture is my favourite picture from my whole trip: the Hyangwonjeong Pavilion. Although I am convinced it looks wonderful on a nice sunny day, the weather that day gave it a nice gloomy and nostalgic vibe.

Just like for Chandeokgung Palace, it was easy to get lost and relax despite the weather we had that day. Definitely worth visiting, especially for 3000W!

New Hair + My New Haven

2011-09-30T00:09:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone~ I recently decided to update more regularly and talk about my life instead of waiting for a topic to pop-up in my mind and always saying that I’ve been busy haha

Yesterday, I dyed my hair!! :D

Half blonde and half pink! I’m really happy with the results, it was a long process because I wanted my blonde to be lighter and less yellowish so Carlos bleached it (ammonia free thank god)and toned it before adding the pink!

It looks so pretty when it’s curled!! :D

On Tuesday, after an extremely bad day, I called off for work and went to the stables with my mom to see her horse. It was really nice to get away from Montreal, pet the horses and play with the dogs.

My mom’s horse is the brown one ^ her name is Eva :) I used to horsehide when I was a kid but I stopped because I got really scared of my mom’s previous horse Kenny. He was nice but very agitated and I could barely control him. However, Eva is much nicer and already likes me. Maybe I’ll start horse-riding again, it would be fun.

Plus, that stable is very peaceful. It helped me clean my mind that day~

OOTD–Retro Polka Dots

2011-09-26T20:35:00.001-04:00

Lately I’ve been shopping a lot… but barely bought anything, I feel like whatever I see in store doesn’t please me enough but this week-end, I FINALLY found a long skirt that not only fit me but looked really cute!

*Basic Cream V-neck, Unknown necklace, F21 skirt and belt, Spring Wedge sandals*

The only thing that annoys me with long skirts or dresses… is the wind! You always picture long skirts to fly away from your body but it’s always the opposite… the wind always blows my skirt between my legs which is annoying haha . In any case, I thought this outfit was really nice, a guy in my bus complimented me on my look! This is the first time this happens (and that it wasn’t creepy!)

The only unfortunate thing that happened today is that I forgot a bag in the bus which contained a really nice top that I got from Olivia!! Original price was 40$ but I got it for 10$! I’m so sad because it was the last lilac top but I’m going to go back to Olivia and see if they still have that one in another colour… in the meantime, I have called the bus lost-and-found line and they told me to call everyday until Friday so check if someone was honest enough to bring it to them…

Which I highly doubt…

Take a look at my card!

2011-09-25T21:00:00.001-04:00

Recently, I’ve been meeting bloggers from all over the world while working and every time, they gave me their blog card! Whenever asked for mine… I would write down my URL on the back of my job business’ card, which I found kinda meh… so after seeing the nice card that Emily sent me with her beauty package, I decided that I should also get cards from Moo.com!

Here’s what they look like!

I put my family name on the card but I’m still hesitant when it comes to publishing it online ^^’ Even my email and personal Facebook don’t display my family name…

Mmhmm isn’t something odd about these cards? That’s right! These are actually MINI CARDS!!

Here is what the size is compared to my job’s business card! Mini Cards from Moo.com are 70mm x 28mm which I think is a very nice and unique size for a blogger’s card!

I ordered the a pack of 100 cards (16.99$) on September 14th along with a pink Mini Card Holder (4.24$) with regular shipping (7.50$) for a total of 28.73$ after first order discount :)

You might think “mhmm that sounds quite expensive for only 100 cards” and frankly, I thought it was to until I got my hands on the cards. According to MOO, I was supposed to received my order on October 13th… but I received it on September 23rd! I took a little bit over a week to print and reach my home.

The cards came in this nice box :)

Not only did my cards arrive way before I expected them to, the quality of the paper and the image is simply amazing. The paper is very thick which makes the card very solid: should someone bend it, it bounces right back to its original shape! As for the design, I decided to go with the picture that I use as my banner… which was taken with an iPod Touch.

While you are designing your cards on Moo’s website, there is a tool that allows you to enhance your picture for printing: it made my design come out beautifully and you can’t spot a single pixel at all, even if it was taken with a 3MP camera!

Overall, MOO did a great job on my cards and I would recommend every blogger to get their cards from them! The fun thing is that if you have no idea what to do for your card design, MOO has tons of designs to chose from :)

And just to inspire to create your own cards, MOO added a few codes to share with my friends… well readers are friends too so go ahead and use these codes!

So… who wants to exchange cards

(play from 1:27 hehehe~)

Delicious Korean Food Diary [pics heavy]

2011-09-20T17:54:00.001-04:00

If you are hungry, I recommend you read this post another time because today I’m going to share with you pictures of the best food that I ate in Korea! Those who follow me on instagram might recognize some of these pictures hehe

August 9th 2011

This is a large soup that my friend Doyoon, his friend and I shared for dinner. Doyoon described it as a soup that consisted of beef ligament (?) which grossed me out a little bit at first but I ended up LOVING it!

For dessert, we had Patbingsu at a popular coffee shop: Tous les Jours. Notice how all, or mort, coffee shops nowadays use French in their name. I was asked often what did that or that coffee shop name meant haha.

August 10th 2011

On the 10th, I met up with Braeden really early in the morning but it was way too early to find a good place to eat: Korea is not really a breakfest place so we ended up at another cafe branch; Paris Baguette. The employee there messed up the dirnk Braeden had ordered for me even if it wasn’t a bother because I liked the other drink he had made too but he replaced it and offered us more sweets to apologize (not picture). A few minutes later, the employee who had made the mistake came to our table and apologized and bowed so many times, I was worried his back would be sore! Culture shock #1 !

We later met with two friends of Braeden and had delicious BBQ for lunch. Oh the meat… I still remember the taste!!!

Later that night, my brother and I ordered to eat on our own without a Korean friend to help us for the first time. I spotted a small restaurant that looked like a street cart embed into a wall. Their menu was composed of very simple and popular street foods that I recognized so we decided to order 떡볶이 (tteokbokki) and 오뎅 (odeng) were foods that I love haha. Turns out that I ate at of the best street food restaurant in Hongdae; Gukdae Tteokbokki! No pictures, unfortunately.

August 13th 2011

After exploring another palace, Michael, my brother and I entered a random restaurant in Hongdae for lunch and used the useful “point at a picture” technique to order our meal. Thankfully, Michael and I both know a bit of Korea so we had an idea of what we were getting! I had cold noodle, my brother a bulgogi dish and Michael had seafood ramyun.

August 14th 2011

On the 14th, we joined my friend Angela and her childhood friend JongWon for diner! We had AMAZING 닭갈비 (Dak Galbi). My brother was amazed that the restaurant staff used a paddle to stir everything in front of us haha.

We then headed to a more traditionnal style Korean bar in Gangnam to try 막걸리 (makgeolli), a liquor made out of rice. Turns out I wasn’t a big fan or makgeolli alone but with a bit of soda in it (commonly known as 사이다 hahaha) it was really good! We had a few side dishes with that as well: in Korea, you do not drink without eating something on the side. The egg rolls were DELICIOUS!

August 16th 2011

On the 15th, we met Michael and his girlfriend for Shabu Shabu which was really good! I especially like the fish cakes that had cherries designs, the cheese rice cake and the super refreshing water kimchi! We later headed to the Han River and drank with my friend Yeon Joon who later joinded us!

August 17th 2011

On the 17th, I met Yeoun Joon and Ruda, two girls that I met in Seoul. They brought me to School Food in Sinsadong. We shared beef risotto-style rice, kimbap wrapped in a sheet of egg and tteokboki… in carbonara sauce!!! Smartest mix between Asian and Western cuisine ever!!

Since this was going to be our last night in Seoul, my brother really wanted to have more bulgogi so Yeon Joon brought us to a place that served it :) I was so delicious, I haven’t had bulgogi since I have been back because I can still remember the taste of that one haha

August 18th 2011

We spent most of our last day at Incheon Airport: our flight was delayed then undelayed and redelayed… so to be safe, we were at the airport so early, our counter wasn’t even open. I wasn’t really hungry so I had a nice sandwhich from Paris Baguette.

Until I spotted the most delicious hot dog shop once we went through security and had this amazing “Bulgogi burger French style on baguette”. Best. Hot Dog. Ever. Korea even rocks at making food that’s not ever theirs… haha

* * *

I hope you liked this post! Many lunches and snacks were not pictured. For snacks or small lunches, we often opted rice balls or bread sold at 7/11s. On the 15th, my brother and I were both tired and simply ordered room service, which was good but not worth writing about haha.

It is SO CHEAP to eat in Korea and portions are quite big so it’s easy to share with a friend and both be full. I’m drooling as I’m about to publish this post… oups…

September Fashion

2011-09-13T22:30:00.001-04:00

It’s been a while since I blogged about fashion and I thought it might be nice to take a break from the Korean themed posts and head back to Japan for a little while for some fashion eye-candy! I caught up with the September issues (even if some magazines already have their October issues out) and picked out my favourite outfits! I love how a lot of summer items are mixed with a few autumn classics! A nice way to extend a summer wardrobe into fall… and very budget friendly haha!

Instead of separating all of these magazines in different blog posts, I thought it would be nice for a change to just do it all at once! So here goes!

POPSISTER

Maxi skirts <3

Love the “Who is this chick?” shirt hahaha

POPTEEN

BLENDA

Seoul Beauty Haul

2011-09-08T20:59:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone! I’m back to school and I’m already looking forward for Christmas vacation haha Maybe because this is my last year before I can finally attend University! I should be in university already but I got stuck in college after a major seizure a few years ago that pretty much screwed everything for me so I can’t wait to FINALLY be done with this! Everyone is so young in college…

In any case, I’ve been both busy and lazy but Emily’s recent beauty haul post reminded me that I should show you what I go in Korea as well!

Shopping for cosmetics in Korea is amazing even for girls who aren’t koo-koo about make-up: you find Etude House, Missha, The Face Shop, Skinfood, etc. EVERYWHERE YOU GO! I was shopping in Myeondong at one point and there was 3 different Etude House store in the same area. You find these shops in the metro and in the street, sometimes not even 500m from each other!

I think I was quite reasonable for make-up but I really went bananas for sheet mask! Etude House had an event sale 35 masks for 30 000W. I also stocked up on Missha and My Beauty Diary *koff not Korean koff*. As for the other masks on the pictures, these were “samples” given!

There you have it! I should post about the clothes that I also got in Korea although I didn’t get that many~

Changdeokgung Palace

2011-08-29T22:46:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone! I’m feeling so much better: I went to see my chiro today and he fixed my hand, yay! Turns out it was a nerve stuck in my arm which was making my hand hurt at times and numb at other times. It’s now back to normal!

Today, I thought it would be nice to show you one of the first attraction I visited with my brother in Korea: Changdeokgung Palace. Since it was our first visit, we opted for a guided tour… it turned out to be quite expensive but our guide was really knowledgeable. It was nice to have a guide for our first visit in Korea but we later discovered that we were able to learn just as much but on our own (and minus the cost of the guide!)

“Changdeokgung Palace was the second royal villa built following the construction of Gyeongbukgung Palace in 1405. It was the principal palace for many of the Joseon kings and is the most well-preserved of the five remaining royal Joseon palaces. The palace grounds are comprised of a public palace area, a royal family residence building, and the rear garden. Known as a place of rest for the kings, the rear garden boasts a gigantic tree that is over 300 years old, a small pond, and a pavilion. […]
Though it has been treasured by Koreans for centuries, the Changdeokgung Palace was not designated a World Cultural Heritage by the World Cultural Heritage Committee until December of 1997, at the committee meeting in Napoli, Italy.” – Official Site of Tourism Tourism

Chandeokgung Palace is one of those places that you can just walk around and take your time to visit. I wish I could go back again but this time, without a guide so that I can take the time to wander around the palace more. This Palace is not as crowded as Gyeongbokgung Palace so it’s a nice place to get lost and picture yourself in your favourite historical drama.