Hello, everyone! ♥

I haven't done a blog post in a little while, since I have been busy again with work, university, lots of appointments to the dentist and doctors as well as preparing FOR BIG BANG'S CONCERT IN SYDNEY. Woo hoo!

As soon as I heard that Big Bang were coming to Australia, I was at the dinner table when my friend messaged me the news, I was jumping up and down screaming internally. Australia, for a while now, has been this giant island in the southern hemisphere that gets little recognition by KPOP companies, but this year we have had solo artists and BTS come and perform, and for a huge group like Big Bang to come, in my opinion, it means a lot, because this could potentially show that Australia is marketable enough to hold lots of concerts here.

Seungri swore just before his solo and I may have let out the biggest dolphin scream, omg. 

Hello, lovelies! 


Today I will be doing a crazy set of reviews in this post since I recently went on a spending spree with skincare, again. I recently saw the Innisfree Super Volcanic Pore Clay Mask popping up in a lot of recommended reviews and Youtuber's favourites, so I thought, sounds good, I want to give it a go! Especially, since my clay mask came from ALDI, haha, so I doubt the ingredients are doing much for my face.

I went to the shop after my university class and they were out of the small clay mask and only had the big tub. The girl helping me suggested the whole set (the set had more value in it). At first, I was really hesitant to spend so much money in the one go since I had an eyeliner to pay for as well, but after a series of "Ummms, maybes, and I don't know.." I agreed it had more value and just went "Sure, I'll take it!" At least I can see if I like all three products.

It also inspired me to go crazy and really treat my pores to some rejuvenation by using the whole set and follow it with one of my TonyMoly pore sheet masks, and see what the result is. That would be an interesting thing to see and review, right? Let's go! 

Hello! ♥

I made a post about online stores that stock gyaru-like clothes, and now I am writing another one about something that I have been using to grab onto some cheaper gyaru clothing, and that's forums!

One that I have been using a lot very recently is GYARU Community Sales. It's definitely a different way to shop, but a great way since it seems more real, if that's a way to describe it. You know, since with most sites you rely on just a stock photo of the product and the description of it, but with sites or forums like these, the photos you look at were taken by the seller personally. 

The sellers are quite reliable in my experience since they communicate well and provide photos and tracking. It's also great because a lot of these sellers are westerners, which can give you an idea of the size and measurements of the clothes and whether it would be suitable for you.

I'm not sure if there are many forums out there such as this one, but it does lead me and a lot of other buyers to consider different ways of purchasing clothing.

Have you got any experience with forums? Were they good or bad?

Enjoy life!

Nina

Hello, everyone!

So, this year I will pursuing Japanese even further since I'm going to study it at university, so I thought I'd share a few ways I learn or stay motivated.

Hello, chummies!

Today, I will do a post I'm excited to write, and it is about face/sheet masks! I've heard about them in almost every skincare post and they are incredibly popular, widely used by celebrities.

I wondered, what makes these face masks so special, do they really make a difference to the skin? Fan BingBing apparently uses one everyday! So, I wanted to try a few and see what they are like.

I kind of dragged my friends to a DAISO store in the city on ur last shopping trip there, and when I walked out I saw there was a shop, stall kind of thing. When I went past, I saw all the cute Tony Moly containers for hand creams and realised the whole store selled Korean and Japanese cosmetics and skin care. I could hear the *hallelujah* song in the background. Best discovery of the year. Now, I can easily get products without worrying about shopping online.

I decided to take it one step further with this review and see if the effect changes depending on whether they are cheaper or dearer. I wrote expensive in the title because it sounded better than "dearer", but the difference between the brands are only a few dollars, as far as I saw, they ranged from 1 to 5 dollars or so.

Hello, everyone!

Since I've been making some recent purchases on different sites of Liz Lisa and other Asian brands, I thought I'd write this post to help and give some tips in judging what kind of size would fit or be appropriate for you. 


A common question my mum asks me when she finds outs that I bought a particular item of clothing online is: "How do you know what size to buy?"At first, I was quite lazy with sizing and went with my gut feeling since I know my upper body fits medium sizes quite well, and normally chose that for tops. But, that's not very reliable. Don't do that :')

Especially remember: Clothing brands from other countries might have very different sizes that what your are familiar with. Especially, ones from Asia, as it tends to be a lot smaller.

Hello, everyone! ♥ How are you?


I'm asking that, because I should really ask myself that more often. 


I'm writing this since one of the biggest parts of my life right now is study, or university. I remember how excited I was and I had imagined how perfect it was going to be and how my life will fall into place. That kind of dramatically changed recently, haha.

You see, sometimes, or well most of the time, it's just not that simple. I look at those people who have achieved success and am envious since they are sure of what they want and how to get it if they haven't gotten it already. I was also jealous of my high school classmates who had their career and schooling sorted and planned, knowing exactly what they wanted to do in the future. Meanwhile, most of the time I felt like:

That's why when I chose my course, without even seriously thinking about it, I had fabricated this illusion of me being on the right track and me being happy, that even if I was second guessing myself, I ignored that feeling and forced myself to stick with it, because it felt like I was doing what everyone wanted me to be doing.

I look at myself last year, and I remember I was so positive and full of energy, and giving that energy to others. But now, the energy and life has been sucked out and it's gotten worse and worse, and I let it until my mum saw how much I changed and asked, is this really what you want to do? During the last holiday break, I actually had an epiphany about what career I wanted to pursue, a year late, I know, haha. That realization kind of fueled me to become more and more upset though, barbecue I felt like I was trapped in this course and I was being useless.

This is kind of depressing to talk about, so let's move on, but I wanted to say that and explain my feelings so that I can justify me telling you this : If you're unhappy with what you're doing, and it's seriously affecting you and changing your outlook on things, then leaving it is much better than staying. It's kind of the same as how people give advice on how it's better to leave a toxic person'/relationship than to stay.

There is always a way out - another path you can take, new steps you can take to achieve what you want. Most of all, there is always people to support you, support your happiness. I didn't tell anyone my feelings, but when my mum noticed, and was the only one to notice, she really helped me to take action and remind me that it's okay if I wanted to leave or change courses, and she is the type of mother who wants their child to go to university and stud, so by her saying that the only thing a parent really wants for their child is happiness, it really helped me, which I'll talk about in another post. 

So, whether it's your mum, dad, sibling, other family members or close friends, talk to someone about your options always when you are having second choices, make a plan, find alternatives. You can do this!

Enjoy life!

Nina

Hello, lovelies!

Oh my gosh, long time no see everyone. I'm sorry for being away for so long. I had a one-fifth life crisis that needed sorting out, haha. To show I'm still alive, I wanted to quickly post this and hopefully begin to post my reviews in the next couple of weeks, asap! 

This post I am writing, I'm writing just because there have been so many good song releases in the KPOP world that I had to share! Let's go~

Hello, everybody!

Recently I bought a sweater to show my love for one of my favourite KPOP groups, VIXX! Just thought I would do a quick review in case everyone is thinking of buying something like this~

I bought the sweater off of eBay, from the user koreapopfan:

I got a bit excited and took it out of the packaging as soon as I got it, haha. It was neatly folded inside a plastic packet and that was inside a hard paper package:

It was such nice quality and very clean! If that counts towards anything, you never know with Internet purchases!

I always wash new clothing before I wear it, but I made the mistake of putting this jumper in the wash instead of hand washing it. What was even worse is that my dad put the clothes through several washes because he accidentally put detergent in it. Why is that bad? Well, the letters and logo on the jumper started to peel a little and crinkle - I was so sad! I haven't had a chance to wear it and I was already in a position where I thought I might need to buy a new one.

Luckily, it wasn't so bad, still wearable. I just need to find a way to flatten the lettering and make it neat again, but it's still disappointing. First and last time I put clothes like this in the wash.

You'll see my face one day, I promise, haha.

Remember to be careful when washing your clothes guys! Especially stuff that is handmade or ordered online.

Despite that, I still really love it. I wore it when I stayed over a friend's house with a group of people and even though most of them didn't know VIXX, they said they loved it (and despite it being ruined by the washing machine as well) and one of them even recognised the group! Music brings people together, haha~

If you're looking for a KPOP merchandise seller on eBay, I recommend you try koreapopfan!

Enjoy life!

Nina

Hello, friends! ♥

I know for sure how difficult it is to easily access fashion from other countries, such as gyaru clothing from Japan. Sometimes, we have to compromise and make do with what we have access to. I think there is always a chance of finding clothes that match the style you want. 

Depending on the style of gyaru you are looking for, you can always find items that fit that style and build a collection from which you can pick from and use to layer on top of one another. Starting from basic clothing items, layering, is a good start.

Looking at some photos for inspiration - it's very easy to build a gyaru style from clothes you would find in any store. I find blacks, whites and pinks to be very common. Again, depending on the type of gyaru you are going for, you would be looking for statement pieces that are quite fitting. Or, if you're looking for the more hime or girly gyaru style, you would be incorporating a lot of lace, frills, flouncy fabric and floral patterns.

I think something important that can help sway your fashion style is accessories. As I said before, you can find some basic clothing pieces and then layer more clothing and choose socks, shoes and jewellery to compliment your outfit and make it complete. I mean false lashes, socks and fake nails are also found here, right? Makeup plays a huge part as well.

This post is a bit of a trainwreck, but I'm writing this post just to say that, if you have a set style in your mind and know the clothes you want for it, you can look for it in stores and begin building your dream wardrobe! Good luck!

Enjoy life!

Nina

Hello everyone!

I feel terrible - my posts are not coming as frequently as I would like to. It's winter now so taking photos for the clothes I have ordered is a little harder, I'm scared I will freeze. But it will happen!

There will be a lot of reviews coming up since I've been holidays and worked a lot - and then went on a little shopping spree, whoops. But I was incredibly motivated to order new skincare products and try them out as soon as possible to see if they make a difference. I am writing this post to kind of introduce that idea onto this blog - that I will be trying lots new products and reviewing my progress. That way you will know what to expect.

I remember clearly sitting in History class in high school and had two girls complimented my skin, and how also, I've always dubbed my cheeks as those 'rosy red cheeks', without realizing how much care my skin actually needed. I am grateful for the skin I have, but I am now realising that skin change over time depending on how you treat it. With all the research I have done, I realize how much I now want to improve: my clogged  pores, managing my combination/sensitive skin (which is one of the worst skin types) and trying to solve the issue of my flushed cheeks, which I don't even know the condition of.

I mean, it doesn't hurt to try? Especially, since what I find to solve my problems, I can share that and help other who have the same problems.

So! I have decided to try different products and change my routine to see if I notice a difference, which will take time to see, but if I do, I want to share it in case it will help someone else!

Right now I am trying/going to try:

MIZON: All In One Snail Repair Cream

The Face Shop: Rice Water Cleansing Oil

Etude House: Wonder Pore Freshner Toner

SKINFOOD: Argan Oil Hair Treatment Mask this isn't skincare but I want to look after my hair too)

TONYMOLY: Pocket Bunny Moist Mist

SKINFOOD: Egg White Pore Foam

I am looking to try some charcoal/volcanic clay masks, some new moisturizers and essences. If anyone has any recommendations, please let me know! But I wanted to write this post to make a star ton my skin journey~

Enjoy life!

Nina

Hi, everyone! ♥ 

After ordering the Apricot Rose Print Flare Skirt, and loved it (see my review here), I thought I had to get it's monochrome equivalent, the Black Rose Print Flare Skirt!

Black Rose Print Flare Skirt

Size I ordered: Medium

Measurements: Length (46 cm) Waist (76 cm)

I decided to order the black one as well since, well, black goes with everything, and I thought it would be perfect for circumstances where you need to look professional and classy. I wore my apricot skirt to interviews and felt that a black one would have been more suitable.

Quality: I was actually surprised when I grabbed the skirt out of its packet that it was so smooth and shiny. I don't remember having that reaction with the previous skirt, maybe because this one is a dark colour so it might be more noticeable?

But, yes, this skirt again is fantastic! Since it was shipped in a packet and the material is stiff (to give it flare), it did come crumpled, but I expected that. Nothing a bit of ironing can't fix! I was going to wash it before wearing it anyway.

Overall: I am very happy with this skirt! It's a good length with plenty of flare and the material is of good quality and is so pretty. It might need ironing after each wash, but it's worth it. I give it a 5/5 rating!

Enjoy life!

Nina