The Face Shop Haul

I was in Santa Clara today, so I decided to stop by The Face Shop to get a new sunscreen. My Etude House one gets oily over the course of the day and emphasizes flaky skin. The color is too light for me, even though I have pretty pale skin. Tinted sunscreens probably aren't right for me, which is a bummer because I like multitasking products ㅠㅠ

Of course, I couldn't help but pick up a few more items when I was there.

Clockwise from top left: Natural Sun Super White Sun Cream SPF 50+ PA+++, Milky Moisture Tint in #01 Strawberry Pink, Pro Eyelashes #04 Wild, Lovely me:ex  Pastel Cushion Blusher in #04 Pink Cushion

And of course, the lady gave me a bunch of samples and free gifts.

Clockwise from top left: Green Tea Toner and Lotion Kit, Seaweeds Moisturizing Sleeping Pack, Flebeaute White Crystal Diamond Peeling, Chia Seed Moisture-Holding Seed Cream, Deep Firming Cleansing Oil, Face It Aura CC Cream

The two free gifts she gave me are 30 ml each, which is a lot. The sunscreen I purchased is 50 ml.

Natural Sun Super White Sun Cream SPF 50+ PA+++

I know I just got this, but I already love it. It doesn't leave a sheen or white cast, which is extremely important for me. It's super easy to spread, has a matte finish, and naturally whitens the skin even though it isn't tinted. Most importantly, it's thin and feels like there's nothing on my skin. I can easily reapply this during the day in a few seconds.

Milky Moisture Tint in #04 Strawberry Pink

I haven't had the chance to test this out fully, but I like it so far. The color is buildable and long-lasting. It also lives up to its claims about being moisturizing, which is great because the Tony Moly lip tint tends to dry out my lips. The packaging is adorable too. I mean, they even managed to make an udder look cute.

Lovely me:ex Pastel Cushion Blusher in #04 Pink Cushion

I never had much of an interest in blushes, since I didn't really care about how rosy my cheeks were. But lately I've been noticing how washed out I look when I wear BB cream. I thought this would be a nice start, since the packaging makes it so convenient to apply.

The whole idea of having a puff included reminds me of the Etude House Cookie Blushers.

I was worried how the light pink would show up on my skin, but it's surprisingly natural. Although I'm happy with this overall, I do think that it will be difficult to control the amount of product I want to use. The puff also makes it harder to apply the color accurately. But I didn't expect much from the puff in the first place, and it's so cute that I really don't mind.

Pro Eyelashes #04 Wild

The back has detailed instructions in Korean.

These are average. The lashes look realistic and aren't shiny, but the band is pretty hard and thick. But then again, I'm used to Dolly Wink lashes, which barely even have a band. I got these because I wanted to find dramatic lashes for cosplay, and didn't want to spend $20 on Dolly Wink lashes that I probably wouldn't be wearing ever again. It came with its own glue (isn't pictured here), the kind that applies blue and dries clear.


I may write in-depth reviews of these products in the future if I feel strongly about them. But for now, I haven't used them enough to form any deep opinions. (I do really like the sunscreen, though. I'll be using that everyday ^^)

The Gintama Anime Returns! (Spring 2015)

GINTAMA IS FINALLY BACK!!

They said the anime was gone forever, but deep inside, we all knew that they were trolling us yet again. I mean, I love the manga, but I love the anime too. They're two separate things that deserve equal amounts of love. I have to admit that I usually prefer the anime, though. The anime has a controlled pace, voice acting, BGM, color, etc. And it's pretty faithful to the manga so I have nothing to complain about.

2 hours until the new episode comes out.

I'm just killing time before that happens. I finally watched the Lake Toya OVA, and now I'm rereading the Time Stop arc, which is expected to be the first episode of the season. I'm just so excited. It has been years since Gintama aired episodes for a long period of time. And I have a strong feeling that this time, it will go on for a while.

It has been a long and painful wait, but now it's almost here.

*          *          *

UPDATE:

That was amazing. Some of the staff changed, including the director, but they managed to keep the Gintama spirit. I was impressed by how they executed the whole thing so it could follow the manga. They had to change a few details for it to work in the anime, but they managed to pull it off.

However, it was a bit bittersweet for me. I realize that this is an unpopular opinion, but the unfamiliarity of the new art and OSTs made me feel uncomfortable. Like I was meeting and old friend, and found out how much she had changed. She's still the same person and she's still fun to be with, but it's different from before. I guess I'm just being sentimental. There is no doubt in my mind that I will grow to love this new style, but that doesn't mean that it won't take me some time to get used to. (And the anime is so bright now! And the quality is so good! The perfection is almost unfitting of Gintama, which emphasizes its own flaws.)

I am not saying that I dislike the new style; it's just that I'm unsure of how it will keep up with the old episodes. Above all, I'm just super happy that the anime is back, despite all the changes.

Gintama Otome Game (Yuehua) Guide

Gintama has this fanmade otome game called Yuehua (月华). It's Chinese and came out early 2013, I think. The art is really good and looks official.

I played it during the summer of 2013, but I decided to play it again (and maybe try a different route heehee). But I got a new computer last month, so I had to download it again on my new one. And I remembered how difficult it was to download last time. While I was looking for the download link, I saw that a lot of other people were having trouble downloading it too. So here's my little guide!


HOW TO DOWNLOAD

Download link: http://dl.vmall.com/c0394abvnh
Click on the button that looks like this: 
Then unpack the .rar file and open it to find this: 

When you click on the file, you might see an error that says "could not open boxfile." This happens if you're not in China, where the game was made. Solution: Control Panel -> Region and Language -> Administrative -> Change System Local -> Chinese (Simplified). Then restart your computer and it'll be ready to play!

But doing this might create problem with programs that are American or whatever country you're from. You can solve that by changing it back to English/your language.You can only play the game when it's set to Chinese. So after you're done playing, remember to change it back to your language!


BUT I DON'T KNOW CHINESE D:

There's no English patch for the game (yet).

You can translate the game by doing some tech-y stuff, like this: http://princemakerproject.wordpress.com/2012/04/07/play-chinese-games-with-online-translation-tools/

...but I'm really bad with technology, and Google translate isn't very accurate anyway.

Thankfully, there are some super nice people who translated it online! It's much easier to play and understand this way.

This one has detailed translations for up to Chapter 1 on Gintoki's route: http://yuehua-project.tumblr.com/

And this one is from the Yorozuya Soul forums: http://forums.yorozuyasoul.com/index.php?topic=1609.0This one doesn't translate every sentence like the first one, but it's complete. Just scroll down and look for the comments by the awesome Gin-san aka GinSoul.

Thanks to everyone who translated! Without you, I wouldn't have been able to understand anything.


WHERE'S THE REST OF THE GAME?

The game ends on Chapter 4. If you end on Takasugi's ship and it takes you to the home screen, you finished! I think the second part of the game is supposed to come out, but I'm not sure.


So yeah. That was my little guide. Have fun!