Hey there!

It's been a while since I've last written a public entry. Sorry about that.
But I doubt there are many people still reading my journal who aren't on my f-list anyway.

In one of my previous entries I shortly mentioned that I bought a few Japanese beauty products based on recommendations like this or that.
I promised to write a short follow-up, so here it is.

Japanese Beauty Products



In the photo above you see some products I bought.

The Cure Natural Aqua Gel was recommended by so many. It's a great exfoliation product. Even for sensitive skin it works fine. It mainly consists of water and is very mild. You just rub it softly onto your face and you'll quickly see small pieces of dead skin coming off.
This works really well and I'm not breaking out after using it at all. No blemishes.
However, what I noticed is that some of the stuff is rather stubborn, sticking to my facial fluffy hair especially around the chin, but maybe that's just me.

The product next to it is based on soy milk. This company has a lot of products (cream, toner etc.), but I bought a cleansing product. You use a sponge to create a fluffy foam before you put it onto your face. It's very mild and doing it like that will make sure you get it into the tiniest pore as well.

I really like it, so I also bought an eye cream from the same company (not on the photo). I used that one every night around my eyes as it should reduce wrinkles .... and yes, being 33 I do have slight wrinkles under my eyes already! ;___; .....

Next to this product you see a smaller white / pink one. That's also an eye cream, but I don't like it that much. I have the feeling it doesn't do anything other then moisturizing my skin.

In the front on the right you see a face lotion. I'm loving it. It's great for my dry skin and it's not too heavy for summer. Just the right product for me. It also contain hyaluronic acid which is known to have anti-aging effects. I'm definitely buying this one again and I'm tempted to try the company's other products as well.

Last but not least I finally bought the facial mask sheets everybody is talking about. You look like a ghost / zombie or simply really stupid when you have them on, but they're moisturizing and so refreshing.
I started out with the Vitamin C one (blue box). And because I liked it so much, I finally bought a few more the other day:



I haven't tried any of them yet, but I'm looking forward to doing so.
It's great for relaxing a few minutes after work and now in summer I can put them into the fridge before using them, so it's also very refreshing! :D


Do you have any beauty products that you absolutely LOVE???
I'd like to hear about them!~



Whitening Your Teeth

I also tried to whiten my teeth for the first time in my life.
At first, I tried it using natural ingredients such as rubbing strawberries and banana peel onto my teeth, but that didn't help.

I've also started oil pulling with coconut oil. That's supposed to get rid of all bacteria in your mouth, so you should do it first thing in the morning before you eat or drink anything. Keep the oil in your mouth and squish it around and through your teeth for about 20 minutes. Spit it out. DO NOT SWALLOW as it contains all the bacteria that were in your mouth.
I don't think it did anything in terms of bleaching, but my teeth feel smoother by doing so.
Apparently you can use other types of oil as well, but coconut oil has this antibacterial characteristics and is not disgusting at all. I can't imaging doing this with any other kind of oil.
Have you tried this yet? :)



In the end (and after researching a lot) I purchased CREST Whitening Strips. They're an American brand, so you can't buy them in Japan, but luckily there's Amazon. They're not that cheap, but I was lucky to get them while they were discounted.

You're supposed to stick the strips for 30 minutes on your lower and upper teeth every single day for 20 days and it claims to remove stains from the last 14 years.

One big negative point that a lot of people had mentioned in reviews were that the strips made their teeth super sensitive. I only had this when I first tried them and then maybe once more after 10 days or so. It was really not a big deal.



Wearing the strips looks kinda like this. You cannot eat, but you could drink water if you need to. You can also speak if you have to.



I only have 3 strips left and my teeth look like this right now. I did take photos of them before I started, but I noticed that the lightning was different and so it's impossible to compare.
Like the photo above was taken by daylight and the photo before with the strips on at night with artificial light.
I wish the strips would have come with a teeth color wheel to compare like some other whitening products have.
I do think they got a bit whiter, but I can't see a HUGE difference.
I also have no idea how long this will last. You're not supposed to do this more than twice a year.
It's still much cheaper than doing a professional bleaching at your dentist's.

Have you ever tried whitening your teeth?
What method(s) did you use and how well did it work?

I don't want to destroy my teeth, so I wanted to stay away from too aggressive methods. The whitening stripes aren't very strong, so you can't do much wrong with it. And as you only do it for 20 days (twice a year if you want), it shouldn't be too harmful.


My Nails Always Crack



My nails keep cracking all the time. I never have long nails. I know that this ALSO has to do with my job. If you work with little kids and run around all day with hasty movements that's just what happens.
I mean, they don't break just like that. I do hit my hand / nails every now and then and that's when it happens, but still .....
I decided to increase my Biotin intake and bought supplements. This should also help with growing my hair faster. But I read it takes up to half a year until you really notice any effects.

If you have any good advice what I could do with my nails so that they won't crack so easily, LET ME KNOW!! :/
I also use nail hardener every now and then ..... but that doesn't help, either.
And I do use hand and nail cream every single day, even in summer to keep everything moisturized.



Hope you enjoyed this entry.
Thanks for reading! ^_____^