Sometimes a lipstick is just a lipstick...

In November's Voce, I got a Shu Uemura booklet with their new lipstick: Rouge Unlimited. As usual, the super-cool minimalist packaging so characteristic of the Shu Uemura line. I love the simple shapes and astonishing colors - and the quality of course. Their eyeshadows and lippies are the best!

Here it is, for your sheer delight...

Pure Beauty: Shiina Ringo

From Tokyo Jihen's DVD "Just Can't Help It". Wonderful song, beautiful mise-em-scène. Shiina Ringo is a gem of a singer. This DVD is worth getting. I got mine from CDJapan - as usual!

Yukiguni

Nure yuki ya Odawara de waraeba yokarou
Minami wa mou kobore ume

"Kitai nado shite imasen."
Ima mo hodoita te no naka nani mo nai mama

Onna ga nakeba otoko wa nigeru
torikaesu you na busui wa shinai koto sa

"Oboete wa inai deshou." Ano hi tsunaida te no naka saita yakusoku

Onna ga mateba otoko wa damaru
Tokedashita nara isoide hora
Wasurete shimae
Otoko wa korosu no sa
Hayaku tate
Kogoete shimawanai you ni

More Keroro Gunso

I tried to order the ending song for Keroro's episodes 52-78 on Yes Asia, but unfortunately, the CD is out of stock. I could not find it in CDJapan either.
That would be "Katte ni Shinryakusha" by Naoya Ogawa and Mayuko Iwasa. Here is the cover of the CD, which is actually a single:
No problem, it's in my wish list nonetheless. And here it the clip for the ending theme, taken from the anime series. It's very catchy!

Another Clip: Weapon of Choice

This weekend, I am kind of obsessed with cool musical clips. Fat Boy Slim's "Weapon of Choice" with gawjus Christopher Walken ( to think that he is 62 now, huh?) is just amazing, a classic. That man is a great dancer - although mostly renowned by being a great actor. Irresistible...

Ok go

This is an amazing clip. Mark showed it to me on MTV this morning and I just love it. These guys are really skillfull, and look like really cute geeks, he he! I am glad I found it on Youtube!

Need to rant a bit now...

Sunday is general elections day in Brasil. As a Brazilian Citizen living abroad, I also need to vote here, in the Embassy of course. Just for President at least.

Every year those people from the Embassy send me an email confirming details for the day. Not this year though.

Since I like to have everything confirmed an so on, what did I do? First thing in the morning called them (yes, today). Follows the painful dialog:

Me - Good Morning (all in portuguese)... I would like to confirm about the elections on Sunday.

Satan's minion - What about the Elections?

Me - Ehr, hmmm... if they will happen, if they are confirmed?...

Satan's minion - Of course! Don't you see that everywhere in the newspapers and TV etc?

(Moment of silence, I was shocked... For Chrissake, I do live in Ireland now, not in Brasil! Which newspapers is he on about? Which TV? Sesame Street Expatriate News??? Just to confirm if everything was OK there, times, blah blah. The basics, really)...

Me, after-shock, intimidated- It's just because every year you send me an email to confirm and this year you did not, and I... I'd like to confirm that it's OK, just that.

Satan's minion, with a condescending tone of course - Yes, from 8am to 5pm.

Me - O-OK then. T-thanks...

Aaarrghh... I wish I haven't been so shocked or perplexed and replied accordingly at the time. I mean, treating him like a "fellow eejit", but I could not. Seriously, what could I expect? No wonder Brazilian civil servants have a bad reputation. They can be very, very obnoxious and have this icredible power to make you feel as if you were owing them a favour, or as if you were a helpless, pitiful, terminal moron. Mind you, not all of them are like this, of course. But there's something about having a bureaucratic sort of a "mystical aura" with some of them. As if you were just a pile of worthless dust in comparison, and they the Almighty-Chosen-Ones.

They certainly have no Customer Services training, or nothing of that sort. Because, we citizens are their Customers in the end, no?

I expected that, by living here, at least I would be spared that kind of awkward situation. But no. No. I also expected that, somehow, they would have become a tad more educated, polite, helpful. No again. It's all the same. All the bloody same!

And then, I need to vote for President. Who will probably be - again - the same one we have right now, the same one who apparently likes to send money (that Brasil, let's face it, doesn't even have), to terrorists (or so it's said). The same one that admires figures like Hugo Chávez. Nice, no??? See, things will never, ever change up there, and it's so sad. I would love to go back, but those things just freak me out. And all that ancient, almost chronical bureaucracy. I start to get stressed just to think about it. I feel really bad. It's not even the violence that scares me, but that kind of behaviour, which seems to be turning into a standard.

(By the way, is something like "free speech" still allowed? I hope so.)

Facial Recognition Web Gimmick

Look at this thing. Facial recognition software. You upload your photo and they come up with your celebrity "look-alikes". Meh... Well... It's fun, because some of them may make sense. It seems to take into account the visible bone structure, which pretty much depends on your position in the original photo, or the angle it was taken from. I tried with several pics, here's an example (this pic from 2 or 3 years ago, full of makeup and different haircut):


Now, the one I could kind of agree there is Winona Ryder, for some people say they think of me when watching her in Coppola's Dracula, ha ha! But I think it's just because she loved a vampire and I have this attachment for horror films and stuff like that. And I would befriend a Vampire, if that was possible in real life, why not?

As for Michelle Branch - who the hell is she by the way? Anyway, we have the same hair colour at least, ha ha! Kate Bosworth?? Ah, yes, the white of the eyes this time, of course! Anna Paquin, I can see some similarity, especially when I was younger. Fernanda Tavares, well, she is Brazilian at least. However, she is a giant of a lady and has a nice tan, while I am just, ehrm, just pale mini-me...

Another celeb I get a lot is Rachel Weisz, and that fella, Orlando Bloom, as well as the guy that plays Ross Geller in Friends. Also, Itzhak Perlman, the violinist. However, if I look like any of these people at all, that would be for sure Paloma Picasso, or Lúcia Veríssimo (Brazilian actor/singer). There is no picture of them on that database though. I even was mistaken by Lúcia once in the streets by no one less than Leiloca, ex-Frenética-turned-astrologer (Brazilians will know what I mean here!), ha ha! Embarrassing, huh?

It's something about the nose and chin, that are quite strong features of mine, it seems (in the sense of "big": prominent chin, and significantly developed nose). At least I did not get Dumbo... Well, I also do not absolutely look like an anteater, of course.

Speaking of which (I mean, Dumbo, not my nose - or ears for that matter) I decided to try it with pics of animals, just to see what would happen. You never know! Well, I should know... I got error messages, needless to say. I tried Cookie's pic (my Siberian Husky, now deceased, boo-hooo...), for I used to think she looked like me (that's serious, not joking, we had the same brown eyes). The system could not read it.

What was I expecting when entering Cookie (a dog) into that FR thingy? I expected that she would get the same celebrity look-alikes as me, of course! Since the site does not allow me to compare, say, my picture to a friend's, for example, but just User against Celebrities I decided to try that "common celebrity matches" technique! Clever or what? It didn't work though.

Yeah, I know, call me silly or a big eejit even, but wouldn't you try??? I know, you probably would not tell anyone about it, he he... But I have nooooo secrets...
:P

(I should try with some nice pictures of chimps, maybe?)

Which Negima Character Are You?

Ken Akamatsu strikes again! And here are the results for my Negima personality test! I think it's very appropriate! Nodoka-chan is the librarian of Mahora Academy... Mark and I are reading this manga at the moment and it's quite funny and cute, I'm loving it!

Which Negima Character are you?

Woot! You're mostly like Nodoka. You are very quiet and intelligent. You hang out with a small cluster of friends that understand you, but getting to know new people can make you nervous. You don't talk to many other people besides friends and family. You love to read books and can be very responsible.
Take this quiz!








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YSL Signes d'Orient Palette

I bought the new Yves Saint-Laurent palette Signes d'Orient last weekend, while in the House of Fraser.

I would give it a 8/10 rating.

It can be used on both eyes and face and it's composed of 3 colours: 2 lighter shades (baby pink and light beige with shimmers) and a lovely neutral brown, also a bit sparkly (golden flecks).

I don't think the brown could be used on the face as a blusher - but then again, maybe a darker complexion could do it - but it works beautifully as a contouring ayeshadow on the lashline and crease. It is very pigmented, that's why I think it would not work as a blusher, since it may look "streaky" on the face.

The lighter shades are great as both face highlighters and eyeshadow, providing a good base for darker shades and giving a nice glow when set over the brow bone. It is a great palette for everyday use, since it's neutral and subtle, very understated, easy to apply. I love it. Also, the embossed Chinese design on the pan is a must, however you feel a bit sad when you use it for the 1st time and realise it's not going to be there forever!

There are two things I don't like about it though:

- The golden shiny case with the YSL logo in matte gold looks pretty but is a magnet for fingerprints and other stains and marks. I really have this problem with the YSL golden cases and, moreover, they tend to oxidise over time;

- As it commonly happens with multi-task makeup palettes, it comes with a velvet black pouch (again, a magnet for fluff and dust-bunnies) and two applicators, being one for blusher (a small brush) and the other for eyeshadow (a double ended sponge applicator). These are useless. The brush is kinda cute but tiny (maybe it would work better as a shader?) and the spongy thing is flimsy and, again, tiny. Why they do still insist in pushing us those things, I don't know. Except for the Japanese compacts, which come with the best applicators, the compacts in general (European brands) come with these little useless contraptions that add to nothing in the end. I believe nowadays people have real brushes to apply makeup (I do, at least!): a nice fluffy brush for blush and a variety of different brushes for eyeshadow and liner - either from Shu Uemura, Bobbi Brown, or whatever! But quality brushes, and not doll-house artifacts!

Shiseido Beautiful Ad

This ad is just perfect. I think the model is Itoh Misaki. The ad for Shiseido's Skincare products, which simply are the best. Music and photography are perfect. The whole ad is a real gem and makes you want to try all their products. I especially love the part with the oritzuru (paper cranes), it's so colourful and delicate...