Japan Buys (Beauty/Stationery)

3.14.2023

This trip to Japan, I was thinking I would definitely buy so many cute things, since I normally invest in a lot of Japanese products. However, I ended up spending way less than I was expecting which is probably a good thing, but it actually made me more worried on top of my trip’s stress… like who is this person who isn’t shopping like crazy?? can’t be me?? I’ll try to talk about it a bit more after the haul chat to keep the feeling talk in its own area, but I still wanted to talk about the cute stuff I brought back here!

For beauty products, I picked up a few things that I had already been eyeing for a long time, repurchases, and something new to try. To be honest, I already have a lot of good products that I really like so I didn’t want to buy something just to buy something if I knew I wouldn’t feel like using it.

Eyeing for a long time:

♡ Jill Stuart Fabric Fragrance, Treatment Hair Mist, Jill Stuart Deep Head Cleanse - For many years I waffled on getting these or not since I feel like if you like the fragrance, you can just get the perfume to use (which I already have). However, seeing them in store, I figured it was one of those buys that I could allow myself to have some fun with. The cleanser is one item that I saw show up on the US site, sell out instantly, and sell out in Japan too, so I was really curious to try it since I use a lot of hair products daily.

♡ Jill Stuart Eye Jewel Dew in peace loving - A cute eyeshadow colour that I was hoping to try. It’s super light and really glittery! I really wanted to swatch this and the other shades in store to see what they looked like, but I felt shy in front of the store attendant…

♡ Milbon nigelle smokydry cream - This is a styling cream that’s popular for edgy hair styles. I’m not sure why this caught onto me for several years making me itch to try it… I’m not edgy at all I’m excited to try this for something different!

Repurchases:

♡ SANA excel Skinny Rich SR06 Sensual Brown - My favourite eyeshadow. I think this must be my 4th or 5th rebuy of this palette. I don’t have much to say except it’s very versatile, flattering, and lightly glamourous and can be used day and night.

♡ Shiseido fino hair mask - My favourite hair mask. I don’t like the packaging, so I’m going to scoop it into my Jill Stuart hair mask container (I’m almost done with that one so yay, well-timed refills). It’s a very lightweight mask and the only one I’ve tried out of many that doesn’t weigh down my very fine hair.

♡ Matsuyama Cleansing Gel - I love every product I’ve tried from this line. I don’t think it’s very popular overseas because it isn’t easy to find due to its naming and understated design. It works like a hot cleansing gel and is very effective as a gentle cleanser that doesn’t make my skin feel dry.

♡ Muji Mild Cleansing Oil - Another favourite (surprise), by far my top choice oil cleanser. I’m sad that while Muji has a US store it’s only sometimes stocked. When I consistently use this cleanser, I feel like my skin is in such good condition!

Something new:

♡ Miche Bloomin eyelashes no.34 / no.44 - I’ve actually tried Miche Bloomin eyelashes before and found them very comfortable and rather natural, but since my favourite lashes seem to be discontinued , I decided to try a few newer styles to me that still looked girly. I’m not sure how I’ll like them since the last time I wore MB lashes they’re a bit short (not wide enough) for the look that I like… but hopefully they still look nice!

♡ SANA excel Skinny Rich SR10 Peony Brown - Since I love SR06 so much I thought I’d try another colour from the line that I’ve eyed. I didn’t put this in the first category since I chose the colour on a whim while I was at the store and it wasn’t something I pre-planned to buy.

♡ Hair curlers - After my jumelle gave me a curler I found them sooo helpful for fixing your fringe while going about your day!

♡ Seria Kuromi & My Melody Comb - Recently, I read that it’s nice to apply hair products during your shower with wide tooth combs, so I picked this up at Seria. I hope it won’t break while I’m using it, it’s really cute!

For stationery, I only bought a little for myself! Mostly, I picked up memos from the new sumikko Kuma Cafe series and ghost related stickers. I found this Halloween themed Rilakkuma memo block that must have like at least 300 sheets! Overall I found that I couldn’t focus on stationery since I wasn’t able to browse comfortably in the stores due to stress, but I’m still really happy with what I got, especially the Honyagurumies memo… so cute!

Also picked up this very cute ghost bear pencil pouch to hold stationeries.
Please enjoy this sight of shirokuma bathing in a coffee.
Catisserie series sumikko cup for eating snacks in

For more kitchenware fun, I picked up this set of melamine sumikko-themed plate and utensils. They’re for children, but I’m really bothered when using metal utensils inside porcelain or other bowls/plates because of the sounds it makes, so I actually use these kind of plastic based utensil often instead. My current set is from Daiso and getting quite… old after using it a few years

I’ll put some of my stress related thoughts in this expandable section.

During this trip, I felt a lot of guilty feelings because I was really looking forward to buying lots of fun things and treating myself, but I kept feeling a lot of hesitation to buy things which made my guilty feelings worse. I wasn’t sure if I had just matured to a point where my value of investing in only products that I know I really like was stronger than a curiosity to try new things or to have something fun to share to friends so I didn’t seem boring.

Another thing that kept me hesitating is, as much as I love how beautifully and carefully Japanese products are packaged, it ultimately feels very wasteful to me. However, if I still buy these same products overseas, once put on a plane, it causes even more environmental damage. Just thinking about it makes me really exhausted - because I’d like to try something fun and new, but everything that you buy comes with such a feeling of wastefulness. And if I don’t end up using or enjoying it… that feeling can become worse. For someone who struggles to consistently keep habits or remember that I have some product or other (so I end up double purchasing), it makes me really sad to have to cause more waste than I could if I were able to keep on top of my consumption instead of forgetting and letting things pile up. It’s a challenge that I struggle with a lot!

I realized another source of guilt was coming from feeling really privileged that I could take this trip. I know things do not work this way, but it feels so unfair that people I care about currently can’t go shopping with me while I’m on the trip, so I want to bring a lot of cute things back for them. Doing so already fills up what I feel like is some invisible quota of consumption and creating waste… so I don’t want to buy more beyond that. To be honest, I already feel like I have many things I like but can’t use. A part of me wonders if I deserve to use good things. I want to share the feeling of things that are cute with people I care about, so I honestly would prefer to give them something nice so we can have the experience of enjoying something together.

But in the end, I still have the urge where I wish I took care of myself a little more. It’s a really confusing feeling, because I also believe strongly that I don’t need more material goods - but maybe it’s part of growing past the thought that I need to buy something or have to bring something back, own it as mine, to be happy. It took me a very long time to realize before that I didn’t need to own something to be happy, but I still struggle with it - I think now, the difficulty has moved past the thought of needing to have it, but whether or not I deserve it.

Overall, after giving it some time, I think I’m understanding it a little more. Writing this all out feels very silly, but I actually do feel better thinking through it! Maybe it is part of the growing process… I still adore cute things and collecting as part of my hobbies, but I think I need to do some additional reflection on what it means to me and how I approach my interests (and that I should let myself enjoy things more often )