LunaTu Shop Review

I rhymed.

That's always a good start.

LunaTu is an online store based in the UK that offers Japanese and Korean beauty products. I've been waiting for so long to try them out (parent problems), and on Monday I took the plunge and made an order. I chose a Pure Smile Choosy Collagen Lip Mask and two Beauty Lucky Bags.

 

In said lucky bags, I received a Majolica Majorca eyeliner (BK999) and a 3 Concept Eyes lipstick (#602).

Website 5/5
The site is clear and laid out beautifully, its so easy to find what you're looking for.

Prices 5/5
Considering all of their products are imported, the price range is fantastic; I managed to get £24 worth of product for £12 thanks to the lucky bags! Plus if you're looking for Shiseido, I suggest going to them - they're much cheaper than Boots and other stores in the UK.

Customer Service 4/5
I didn't have any problems with my order, so I didn't have to contact them, but my order was processed and shipped so quickly that I had to give this a high rating. The only problem I found is that other than the initial order email, I didn't get any subsequent emails to tell me my order had been dispatched.

Shipping/Packaging 4/5
There were three shipping options: Second Class, Second Class Recorded and Next Day. I would prefer to have a First Class option - the Next Day was super expensive considering I was only buying three small things - because I'm so inpatient. Saying that, they offer free delivery over £50 (which I will totally spend next time). It was also packaged really well, all in bubblewrap so it was nice and safe and snug!

Would I order from them again? HELL YES. I love Japanese and Korean products, there isn't a brand I've encountered so far that I haven't loved. And if you're into skin care at all, you have to try Korean skin care - they put so much money into cosmetics and beauty in Korea, everything is amazing.

Would you order from here? Let me know!

*I have not been paid or endorsed to make this review, all products have been bought with my own money and all opinions are strictly my own.

How I'm Learning Japanese

     I've been teaching myself Japanese since January 2014; safe to say, with having two children, its taking me a while. Today I'm going to show you guys how I've been doing it, and where you can start to learn right now. Remember this isn't a definitive list, there will be plenty more places you can learn Japanese, and they may even be easier for you to learn from than my way. Its up to you to take this advice or not.

     First thing's first - I've been watching anime for years now. Like, 13 years, and most of it in Japanese with English subtitles so from a young age, I've known what the language sounds like when natively spoken etc. Pronunciation is often the hardest thing for you to learn, and you're never going to be perfect, but I think the best way to get the pronunciation as accurate as possible (unless you have a friend or teacher who speaks Japanese natively) is to watch anything, or listen to anything in Japanese. YouTube is also a good place to do this, especially channels like Rachel&Jun, Sharla In Japan and Texan In Tokyo - people who either are Japanese, or speak Japanese day to day, who speak in both English and Japanese in their videos.

     To start learning the actual language, I began watching the JapanesePod101 videos on YouTube. In these videos, you get to learn key words and phrases: things you'll actually use regularly when you speak Japanese. Chika from the YouTube channel Japanagos is actually one source I found invaluable for vocabulary! She taught me loads of greetings that aren't in books - ones that you'll actually end up using more often than not!

     For book learning, I went for YesJapan.com's Japanese From Zero series. The information is layed out simply, its broken down into chunks so you're not cramming huge paragraphs of words into your brain that are likely to not make sense afterwards. Its also interactive: they encourage you to write in the book and make notes everywhere to help with your learning. The books introduce the writing system slowly and effectively, so you don't get too overwhelmed. You can also use the website as your learning tool instead of the books (I use both), and the whole first course is free if you have a members account - which is free too. I supplement my JFZ learning with studying the Kanji grade by grade, because even though some people find it easier to learn everything else first and then dive into the Kanji, I like to learn them alongside.

      I've started to compile a list of all my favourite resources on the main bar so you can get to it easier!

     I'm sure this will change, the further I get through my studying, but just for starting out, I completely recommend these sources. Are you learning Japanese? Let me know how you study!

Black, to Blonde, and Back!

     If any of you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that about two months ago, I went from black hair to a nice dark blonde in three days.

     At home.

     With peroxide.

From this

     I know, I know! Don't shoot me - I know that what I did to my hair was ridiculous and damaging. I'm not by any means going to be like "Oh, you should do this if you want lighter hair quick!". You shouldn't follow my example. But anyway, this is how I went from black hair to dark blonde hair in three days.

     The first thing I did was to make sure that I was bleaching two-day-old hair. That way, my hair had some built up oil to help protect it (even if it was only a little bit). The bleach I used was called Garnier Nutrisse Truly Blonde Ultimate Lightener D+++ (try saying that five times fast), and I had to use two boxes on my mid-length, thicker than the New Forest, black hair. Two boxes weren't actually enough after all, but I hadn't bought any more so I was stuck with a huuuuuge black patch on the left side of my head until the next day, when my saviour bought me some more! After all the bleaching, my hair turned out kind of orangey toned, but a copable dark blonde. Anywhoo, I had blonde hair so I was happy!

     So the third day, I attempted to dye over my bleached hair with the Nice 'N' Easy #7 Natural Cool Dark Blonde. It came out quite well, it was pretty much the colour I wanted, but it was still quite brassy. Not as dry as you'd expect though, but I'll get to that in a minute.

To this! 

     To keep my hair from turning the colour of an old doorknob, I religiously used Touch Of Silver Silver Shine Shampoo Weekly Treatment every single time I washed my hair. I used my trusty Aussie Mega Shampoo for the first lather to avoid build-up, and the treatment for the second.

     After the treatment, I used the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Reconstructor and left it on for 5-10 minutes - that was absolutely vital in order for my hair not to shrivel up and die. I owe my life to Aussie. I'm not being melodramatic. Honest.

     But as the title of this post suggests, yes I am back to my dark brown. I'm a creature of habit, and while the blonde was nice for a while, I really really missed my dark hair! I got my hair cut on Monday as a birthday treat too, so now my hair is back to its lovely old self.

     Have you got any hair horror stories, or tried going from dark to light hair?

'Til next time!

I'm Back!

     So, this is my fourth attempt at blogging! I've been doing a lot of soul-searching lately, and I've come to realise that I've really, really missed writing. I've absolutely loved writing, ever since I was little - I'd always be hurriedly jotting down story ideas or scribbling my opinions about things on our old family computer if I had a spare five minutes.

     When I first started blogging a year ago, I really loved what I was doing, but I didn't realise that I was writing for other people, not myself. I've always felt the massive need to fit in, so naturally when I started blogging it was all about the latest fashion trends and biggest western beauty fads.

     That's just not me; it never has been! I've always had a fascination with asian culture - starting out with Japan and most recently South Korea - so why haven't I been focusing on that?! Looking back on it, it seems silly that I spent so much time trying to be someone else (haven't we all been there anyway?), and trying to please the masses.

     It was one of my favourite bloggers, Helen (Loves and Loathes), that made me realise that I'm allowed to like asian culture and still be a blogger. Another blogger that I completely love is Nicole (The Beauty Maniac In Tokyo), she's inspired me so much to follow my dreams. She's a Japanese woman, who also dabbles in a lot of Western brands and ideas - and I've aquired a lot of style ideas from her! It sounds so silly, but I've always been in the mind that you can have one or the other. It never occured  to me that I can like more than one thing.

     Now don't think what you're thinking, I know its totally stupid - of course you can like multiple things! Blah, blah. But you've got to realise, that I've always been SO conflicted, I've never known just who I am, so this is a really big thing for me. But now I've waffled way more than I wanted to...

     Anywhoo - this is my little introductory post to say that I'm back! Hope you've all been well my lovelies.
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