Japanese Whispers: Part 2 - Miyajima, Koyosan, Kyoto

Continuing on from the last post with the theme of animal islands, on a particularly dreary day in Hiroshima we caught a ferry out to Miyajima. I was lured out with the promise of deer but other, less mad, people might recognise Miyajima as the island of temples festooned with the famous behemoth red gates erupting from the shallows on the shoreline...

... unless, of course, you accidentally visit at low tide, in which case the gates rise majestically from the mud and washed up coins visitors throw into the water. I weep at the number of Yoshinoya lunches I could have bought with those discarded coins. The temples and pagodas were adorned with characters whose significance, as an ignorant Westerner, I am unaware.

I think it's an especially wise fox. In robes.

En route, and yet very much out of the way of, Kyoto, we trekked up into the mountains for a monastery stay in Koyasan. The dreary weather and mountain mist perfectly offset the beauty of the rural village. If you ignore the hundreds of other wonderstruck tourists ambling down the streets, you do really feel as though you've discovered a little piece of ancient Japan.

Our first day in Kyoto was spent answering the many questions of dozens of Japanese school students with English homework at various temples and attractions. Buckle attempted to win the school kids over with jokes which he said wouldn't translate well in English, but didn't seem to translate too well in Japanese either, judging by the kids' reactions. Kinkaku-ji Temple was the most picturesque of the bunch with its towering Golden Pavilion glistening in the afternoon sun.

Come night we headed out to Gion to experience Kyoto's nightlife (a tame, in-bed-before-11pm sort of experience). The lights of the restaurants reflecting on the river made you want to swoon into the arms of the closest attractive man (I have a ring which ensures one is always readily at hand). The streets of Gion are so bright and alluring, welcoming but mysterious and alien.

One of the Transformer movies is playing as background noise as I write this so I have to end before Shia LeBeouf tolerance reaches maximum saturation, but my next post will be all about Tokyo and its many, many pop culture gems.

Japanese Whispers - Part 1 - Osaka, Hiroshima, Okunoshima

I have just returned from the land of ramen and polite bowing and I feel like Bill Murray in Lost in Translation without the overwhelming sense of loneliness and pervading sense of ennui. Buckle lived in Japan for two years almost ten years ago, and he's been eager to get back and who am I to stand in his way (provided I get to go along for the ride)? 

The first week of our trip was spent travelling around the south - Osaka, Hiroshima, Kyoto and we even made a stop in the mountains at Koyasan. We had been planning to visit the Ghibli Museum while in Tokyo the following week but as it turned out the museum was closing for maintenance the day after we arrived so we had to make a dash to Tokyo for the day to catch it before it closed for a few months.

The entire building was specially built to house all the whimsy that Ghilbi Studios can churn out - it was filled with spiralling staircases, tiny archways, illustrations and a giant Catbus. You weren't allowed to take photographs anywhere inside the museum so this was all we could manage but Buckle got a great shot of a woman walking her cat in a wheeled bag in the bag surrounding the museum.

Buckle's Japanese skills made it much easier to take photos of people's pets.

We spent a few days in Osaka visiting Osaka Jo (which I imagined to be a loud-smouthed American with connections in the black market but which turned out to be an enormous castle), and the Instant Ramen Museum.

Yes, an INSTANT RAMEN MUSEUM.

Where you got to make your very own Cup Noodles.

By far my highlight of our time in Hiroshima was visiting Okunoshima. The Japanese govern t built a poison gas factory on the island in 1902 and produced gas for wars up until the end of the Second World War. When the factory was abandoned the island was overrun by the rabbits which were kept on the island to test the poison. 

When you step onto the island rabbits coming running from everywhere and climb all over you to get at whatever tasty morsels you have on or about your person. It's adorable in a hope-I-don't-catch-a-disease sort of way. The factory itself is incredibly eery and beautiful, and casts almost sculptural shadows on the landscape.

This post is so laden with photographs that I'm going to split the first week into two posts, but in the meantime enjoy the photographs and some wanderlust while I sit quietly and lament my return to the mundanities of everyday life.

My Travel Makeup Bag

Two very exciting things are happening this weekend: 1. Eurovision is on! 2. I'm going on holiday to Japan! Both of those things induce the sort of unbridled joy in me more typical of toddlers; however, only one requires me to spend a good few hours deciding what makeup I'm going to need for the next two weeks.

As I've previously lamented here my skin does not travel well which means some of my usual makeup just doesn't sit right on my face. Along with the requisite skin rescuers, I pack all of the cream products sanity will allow because they meld with my skin nicely despite its arid surface. 

Face-wise, base-wise I've packed the Dior Glow Maximizer primer and Chanel CC Cream in beige 20 (I'm usually beige 10 but this only comes in beige 20 or beige rose 20 but it's fine once I blend it out). It's SPF 30/PA +++ and that can't be bad, right? To cover my dark circles and blemishes I'm employing the services of the Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Flawless Wear Concealer because well, the name says it all. And to set everything, or for touch ups, I'll be carrying around the BareMinerals Mineral Veil setting powder.

For all things eyes I'm relying on the Maybelline Colour Tattoos in Barely Branded and Bad to the Bronze - the cream formulas are long lasting and there's ne'er a crease to be seen. Also along for the ride because of its lasting power is the MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack. I'm on a bit of a navy kick at the moment so I've also packed Rimmel's Scandaleyes waterproof kohl kajal pencil in Deep Blue. I've never had much luck with low-end mascaras but I'm trusting in Maybelline's The Colossal Volum' Express mascara to change my mind because it seems to get such good reviews. I haven't tried it yet so this could all go horribly wrong. Speaking of trailing low-end products, I'm still deciding how I feel about the BYS Brow and Eye pencil - it's great for bold brows but maybe a bit much for everyday? That's why I've also packed Benefit's Gimme Brow as a lazy option.

Finally! Lip options! This MAC Hello Kitty Tinted Lip Conditioner is getting on now but I still love it as something I can throw in my bag which provides both hydration and a pretty pink tint. The YSL Rouge Volupte Shine in 16 Orange Impertinent is a great peachy colour for everyday wear. Lastly, Nars matte lip pencil in Cruella is the ultimate red for dinner and those crazy robot karaoke nights. 

And if that's not enough, there's always all of those beautiful duty-free counters and Japanese makeup displays waiting for my patronage. 

Skincare Travel Guide

My skin is a very poor traveller. My skin is the travel companion who complains about visiting to many museums, drags behind everyone else and gets lice from the hostel bed linen. So, on an attempt to make my skin a little more amenable to to my holidays, I have concocted my own travel regime of sorts. I'm going on holiday to Japan for two weeks on Saturday and desperately praying that this will all be enough.

First of all, testers are your friends. Who doesn't love to have a small treasure-trove of testers at hand to dive into line Scrooge McDuck? I personally enjoy making it rain and watching those little single serve sachets float back down to me; and holidays are the time I make that happen. Of course it's also convenient and space-saving, and the above Estee Lauder samples will replace my beloved glass (not travel friendly) bottle of Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate. Pictured above are the Kiehl's Clearly Corrective White Skin Brightening Exfoliator, Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair and Estee Lauder's Idealist Even Skintone Illuminator.

I've learned to simply my regime. The bare essentials plus a few "emergency" products for blemishes, congestion, what have you...

When far-off lands beckon I decant and depot lotions and potions like a medieval crone. This time round I'm favouring the Lancome Bi-Facil Eye Makeup Remover, Garnier's Micellar Cleansing Water, as well as small pots of Clarin's Lotus Face Treatment Oil and the Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight mask for my inevitable bout of travel-induced dehydration.

Travelling (aside from festivals) is the only time when I truly embrace the cleansing wipe and my personal preference are the Ole Henriksen Truth to Go wipes.

Finally, there are the essentials. The only moisturiser I'm packing is the Kiehl's Clearly Corrective White Hydrating Moisture Emulsion. It's a lightweight but incredibly hydrating lotion which evens out skin tone and brightens the face. The Origins Spot Remover Anti-blemish Treatment, Indeed Laboratories Pepta-bright serum and Eysilix also make the cut.

That's everything so let's all take a moment to collectively will my skin into good behaviour. Nice.

Tie-dye Nail Tutorial

Many a time (well, maybe twice) I have been left unreasonably frustrated, a floor strewn with nail art tools before me after a litany of attempts at tie-dye nails. It seems simple enough - take a few colours and use a toothpick to swirl them around on your nails; and yet, it always seemed to end in a gloomy mess.

A few weeks ago I saw this tutorial by Wah Nails and everything changed.

What you will need:

• Three nails polishes (preferably three shades of the same colour as they will mix nicely. I used Lime Crime Parfait Day, and Colour Club Flamingo and Warhol)
• Toothpick
• Topcoat (as always I use Seche Vite)

Firstly, paint one coat on your nails in your lightest colour, and wait a few minutes for them to dry.

Next, using all of your shades, place a few dollops of polish on each nail. 

Then, taking your toothpick lightly place the thin end on the surface of the wet polish and begin to gently create swirls, mixing the colours into one another. If you apply too much pressure with the toothpick you with reveal bare nail go gently.

It's important to work on one nail at a time because the polish needs to be very wet when you go in with your toothpick. Also, don't be tempted to create too many swirls or the colours will just mix all together to create one colour.

Easy. Well, maybe practice a couple times first to get the hang of it, but after that - wa-hey, psychedelic nails!