Pikachu 3DS XL! ♥

 I got my Pikachu 3DS XL this past Tuesday, 2 days after it was released!  

It's supposed to be for my graduation present c: but I'm taking

pictures and posting about it now because I really wanted to take a look at it.

This is a really big deal for me because I don't usually go in for updating my game console
every time a new one comes out (usually the new one plays the previous console's games anyway),
& when we do buy a console it's been the larger ones for multiplayer games (aka PS3).
I'm so glad I decided not to get a 3DS back when they came out - originally I didn't like the 3D aspect because it made mea bit dizzy, so I'll probably play with the 3D setting off/super low.  The big thing on this
imo is the really nice large screen, and the longer battery life.  My sister got the Legend of Zelda special 3DS back in 2011 for Christmas.  As pretty as that edition was, I was a Pokemon kid so I'm biased toward this one!
  

(With school starting on Monday I'm not really going to be able to play much anyway, 

so it's not so hard to wait until June to open in - I wouldn'tve played until summer vacay!)

I was worried they were going to sell out of it everywhere since I waited so long,

and I saw the kerfuffle on Tumblr... but luckily a store in El Cajon had ONE more left 

and the lady there put it on hold for me. (  .u.) b

Here's everything that came in the box: charger cord, instruction manuals, & AR cards.

Here he is!  I did sort of see how people were saying the camera lenses looked like nipples..

but it's not (too) obvious!  It's a nice size - my sister has a standard 3DS and it's way bigger

in comparison (more than I was expecting).  It's also really smooth - it's fun to pet hold it c: I guess

it goes with the XL being designed for kids, or so I've heard?
(I'm getting a clear shell to help prevent scratches .x. )

& here's the case I got with it - Princess Peach c:

(they were out of Mario, but I would've liked either Mario or Peach)

so now my 3DS won't get scratched, hopefully (I'm

the kind of person who always has that happen to me, so

I've learned my lesson the hard way ^^; )

It has a bunch of pockets for games, and a really cute pattern 

on the inside too.  Plus it came with two styluses 

(the flower is my favorite ;u; ).

And a bunch of illustrated AR cards to access games 

(I like the Kirby one myself,  but I have a feeling my sis 

would like the Link card c: )

I don't have any 3DS games - all of mine are regular DS games.  But I'm excited now

for the Pokemon XY coming out c: (now that I can actually play it).  

& I want to play TWEWY on the larger screen, yay!  Also I want to try out

the 3D camera, I wonder if you can view the photos in 3D on a laptop or such?

Also on the subject of games: expect a few game reviews coming up - 

I've been playing Bayonetta and Resident Evil 6 over spring break.  

( ps. Bayonetta's AMAZING. ♥ )

My bag contents c:

Here's a few of the things I usually carry around with me c:

This is what I bring to go generally anywhere - shopping,
on dates, out with friends & family, and errands.  

I've realized I don't use 3/4 of what I usually load up with in the morning,
so recently I've been narrowing down what I take with me.
My bag's much lighter c: (and my posture's gotten better - or maybe it's
just easier because I don't have a rock on my shoulder?).

< ahcahcum muchacha cat tote! >

I got my bag on Ebay, it was originally given out in ahcahcum muchacha's

fashion lookbook but it was much cheaper on Ebay (& the same quality, I hear).  

I didn't usually use totes on a regular basis before but this one's great, 

it fits everything and it's just the right length to carry on your shoulder OR in your hand 

(I'm 5'4" and the bottom doesn't brush the floor when I hold the handles).

The material's really strong canvas with plastic coating on the inside, and a little pocket
for phone/lipbalm/whatnot.  I've even put my laptop in this bag and it was fine (granted
it's still probably not a good idea to put anything too heavy in here like textbooks or w/e).

< large things! >

I have sunglasses in my bag now all the time - since it's spring 

and much sunnier,it's really great to have them for when I'm driving.

I always have tissues for makeup touch-ups, nosebleeds 

(I get them a lot inwarm weather :c ) and any spills.

The red cloth square is actually a giant bandanna scarf - since the bag

doesn't have a zipper up top I use it for covering the top if it drizzles 

(I used it to cover from RAIN last quarter at school x_x).

I also use it as a normal scarf, a headscarf to cover my hair, as sun/wind/rain

protection, dust faceguard a la cowboy style, to wrap or carry things, 

as a bento box furoshiki, & more...it's extremely useful and multipurpose!

This is a sketchbook I got a couple of months ago.  It's not full yet

but there's a lot of doodles in there from during class/periods of

boredom (drawing professors is problematic but funny).  It's also

great as a notebook to write down ideas/lists - it's lightweight

& unlined blank inside, so it was exactly what I was looking for.

& my phone, with numbers and things inside of it, and a Yui outside of it. 

(I also usually have my DSlite with me, but I just recently got a Pikachu 3DS!  

I haven't opened it yet - I'm making a separate post later after I open it. c: )

< All this stuff usually gets piled into a pouch together. c: >

Squishy nice pen (it was a present and pricy for a pen :c so I've been

most careful not to lose it!) for writing / drawing in my notebook.

Makeup Forever gel liner & mac liner brush - I changed my old one from highschool

finally for sanitary reasons (5 years is probably a good time to get a new one).

LUSH Karma solid perfume, it smells like heaven and flowers and warm sands

and incense and something sweet & exotic.  I love it so much.  

(it also smells of ancient Egypt 

and reminds me of a certain pharaoh)

Some lipbalm/lipcolor products (I'll probably write a review on the makeup I've switched

to recently, & new things I've tried).  

Tide pen - this thing is a lifesaver, it removes EVERYTHING.

Small flash drive just in case...well I don't know |D I feel like I should have one with me.

Eyedrops for shrivelly contact-lens dry eyes

.

Hair things, collapsible hairbrush, & tiny lotion bottle.

iPhone plug just in case my phone starts to die (if I can find an outlet).

My brass mirror, I've carried this everywhere with me whether pocket or bag, EVERY DAY.  

I'll redo this when I go back to classes after spring break - I'm using a different bag because I don't want to break this one!  I also bring a lot of other things with me because I commute 40 minutes drive away (!), and it's hard to need something and not be able to just go back to a dorm/apartment nearby to grab it.  

Recent 2013 OOTD's!

I've been wearing cardigans and light sweaters a lot recently, since the weather's warming up.

I have long socks but it was too cold to wear them with skirts/shorts this winter!

(I went to OB with my biology lab partners for plankton sampling!  

Comfortable and worry-free (aka sand-ok) outfit.)

(This was what I wore for the Cherry Blossom festival at Balboa Park this year,

so it sort of counts as an "outfit" - I'm surprised it was warm enough for yukata~)

Dry Shampoo (Spray type, Tresemme)

Dry shampoo used to be a little hard to find, but recently it's become more common and popular!

 It can be bad to shampoo your hair every day depending on your hair type.  Not washing every day may also help your hair grow & keep your scalp healthy by not stripping it of its good natural oils too often.  Personally I found that if I wash every other day, my hair's a lot softer and shinier (I have slightly coarse, curly hair & it's not very thick) - but I also get greasy pretty quickly. :c

I picked up Tresemme's dry spray shampoo about a month ago to test it out. 

Dry shampoo soaks up any extra greasiness weighing down your hair, & helps volumize hair and refresh the scalp in a pinch.  They come in both spray and powder forms - I tried the spray out because it's less messy and more portable than a powder.  You just hold the can FAR away from your head and spray very sparingly at your roots, then comb through your hair.  (As opposed to powder where you have to either sprinkle your roots or sprinkle a brush/comb, then run that through your hair).   

I heard that it's best to use only a little bit with dry-poo sprays, and it wasn't a joke - overspraying just caused my hair to get clumpy and stick together.  Also if you have dark hair like me and spray too concentrated in one spot, you'll look like you have grey patches.  I also would use this at most up to 2 days since the last shampoo - 3 days onward and it doesn't seem like it would help much in terms of deodorizing or de-greasing, since the effect is pretty mild.  

But besides that, it's really nice - it has a very light, fresh scent, nothing overpowering/unbearable, & it's not residue forming or hard to wash out.  

I generally use it in the morning if I don't have bedhead and I'm in a hurry before class.  

I've also brought it in my bag on long days/days with high humidity, it really helps calm down my hair if it gets greasy or flat (not sure if anti-humidity is a use for dry-shampoo, but it seems to work).   

There are various brands of dry shampoo out there, spray and powder.  You can get Tresemme pretty cheaply at Target & Walmart.  A similar product is Dove's DS spray, which I've also heard good things about.  Target also sells some of the more high-end brands, like  Bumble & Bumble and Fekkai.  

TYPO by Cotton On (Fashion Valley)

So this is a review for Typo by Cotton On, in Fashion Valley Mall.
(first long post in a while, yay!)

*inside of the store from the back*

Typo's a lot like what would happen if you took a bunch of tags from tumblr and made them into a store.  

I felt like I'd fallen into the hipster tag.  It's mostly stationary and cute kitschy/gift things, as well as some nice DIY and scrapbooking items.  A lot of the merchandise there can appeal to both guys and girls.

*Typo's Woodland Collection.*  

(There's some really nice-looking vintage notebooks - they look like actual books, 

& have really highquality binding and stamped "titles".  I wanted to buy the black owl 

one, but it was lined inside & I like plain-pages.)

The store's attached to the main Cotton On shop, but it  

looks like a separate store because it has its own shopfront.  

*pencil/makeup pouches in pretty much any design or color you would like*

*Pens, shaped paperclips, different stamps, staplers, rulers... lots of well designed and cute 

stationary items - I think I might actually go here instead of the Asian market to get school 

supplies, because a lot of these cost the same/less and are better quality.*

*Notebooks and more pouches.  I'm fond of the "let's blog some shit" pouch.*

They also have little "themed" sections like this one:

based around different "personal style" types or color themes.  They even have a French-themed

section, and a comic-book/newspaper themed section.  All the "personal style" sections

had school supplies and room decoration items, too - really nice if you're looking around for

inspiration to redecorate your room a little~!

I didn't know this place existed (I think I might just be behind on the SD scene, though).    

Anyway, I really like it and I hope I get to go soon.  

Check it out if you're in SD or planning a trip to Fashion Valley, 

or just getting ready for the next quarter/semester!

  

And we're back, folks!

It's been a few months since I posted - I'm sorry!  School and life pretty much took over all of my time. :c

I just had my last final on Wednesday and so it's now early Spring Break for me~!

I'll be posting soon some new stuff - Gabs & I visited Typo by Cotton On in Fashion Valley mall, and it was really interesting, so expect something about that.  Other upcoming things are updated OOTDs, recent activity/a "places" post, and hopefully a bag meme (I've meant to draw one for a long time, but I'm probably going to just photograph it ( .u.); being out of practice).

I'm going to try to post something new almost every day over spring break - hopefully I can do it~

Finally I also updated the blog design/color theme a little bit - plus a URL change (previously INKYUUBEYTOR).  

Till next time~

+Isa

Update on Water Washing - ONE WEEK LATER! c:

Hi again!

It's been about a week since I posted about washing my face with only water - I actually made a mistake last Wednesday and washed with soap (it was early and I was a bit out of it), so I started over to round out a full week.

I ended up just not using Cetaphil, cleansers etc at all, though I did have to use a bit of oilfree moisturizer in the mornings due to dry winter air.

I managed to follow through to Monday but then I had to wash with Cetaphil.  My skin's somewhat oily during the warm months but for some reason it got pretty oily about 4 days into it.  I actually didn't notice much of a change in terms of acne, though my skin did get very soft and smooth on my cheeks/areas without acne.  The main problem was the pores on and around my nose began to get pretty clogged. :c

So far I've been washing with water in the morning, and then diluted Cetaphil at nights - my skin's still getting the benefit of being pretty soft from the natural oils, without getting any cloggier.  My acne -very- slightly improved, but barely at all...and I actually got 2 very tiny new pimples so I don't think this method works for me. :c
BUT for those who want to try it - I would say it's probably better to wash lightly at night.  There's also the danger that the dirt that accumulates naturally on your face during the day will combine with the built-up natural oils, and cause acne.  (Which is what probably happened to me since I didn't wash at night for a while.)

I would recommend trying this if you already have relatively well-balanced skin.  Personally I would use an oilfree moisturizer anyway, since unless your skin is extremely oily you'll still probably feel a bit dry/tight (especially during winter conditions when the cold air is very drying).  And if you have extremely oily/blackhead or clogged-pore prone skin, it's probably best to switch to a non-harsh cleanser like Cetaphil once a day, rather than washing with only water.

TIP:  If you feel like you want to ease up your face-washing routine but don't want to completely skip the cleanser, it might help to try washing only ONCE a day with a gentle soap-free cleanser.  Using a cleanser at night before bed should rid you of any dirt or dust that accumulated there during the day.  In the morning your face is honestly still clean from last night - so splash a bit of lukewarm water to freshen up and you're ready to go!

Water Tx Update: Day 1

Hello guys! Here's an early stage progress report c:

This morning I took a shower and used only warm water on my face, & pat dry when I got out. My face felt a little bit tight, so I took a peasized drop if oilfree moisturizer and LIGHTLY patted it on to get my skin going.

Then at night I washed most of my face with only warm water, and a very small bit of Cetaphil for around my mouth (hey I had a pretzel and those things can be oily - I don't want to have food oil building up thanks!). I didn't follow up with moisturizer because it didn't feel like I needed any!

So far at the end of the day I noticed my complexion seemed a bit more even than usual, and the bumps on my cheek and forehead less pronounced/protruding. It's just one day so It probably needs more time to show anything significant, but it looks promising!

(I will probably update this again come the weekend so I have something significant - hopefully - to show!)

~~~~

A quick note though - I don't actually know if this is recommended for very oily skin, simply because I haven't read anythig anywhere specifically about an oily skinned person's experience.

It does logically seem like an acne problem / clogged pores may worsen with this routine, but all the reviews I went through were full of people surprised that this didn't happen!

That being said: for you who have majorly oily skin and want to try this, but you're worried that not washing with soap will cause serious shine. It should be okay to pat the excess off with oilblotting paper or tissue or the like, since that won't be unbalancing your skin's pH (which is what we're working for here!).

I get oily around my nose, so what I do is rub gently on my nose instead of just patting dry. It helps remove some oil - just do NOT scrub so hard that you remove all of that natural moisture!

~~~

The Water Treatment

Hi guys!  It's been a while since I posted anything, sorry!  Uni's been crazy lately.  

I do still plan on doing the streetsnaps thing, but...so far I haven't been able to work myself up to actually -ask- someone if I could take their photo.  (fear of rejection perhaps?)

Meanwhile, I found possible interesting experiments to try!  

& an extralong post to make up for being gone!

the water treatment

I've had mild acne & blackheads on my forehead since I started uni in 2008.  

Thankfully my acne's not anywhere near the typical inflamed, throbbing, red sort (think Proactive ads); 

still it's not the greatest thing to have had it for 5 years on and off and be 21.  

I had a brief period in summer 2012, where my skin was pretty much flawless and even toned 

for about 3 months...then began breaking out once fall, and school, began.  

Since I spend most of the day out of the house, I switched back to a 0.5% salicylic acid cleanser

Just around the end of December I developed small, hard, round "bumps" under my skin - a little cluster of them on one cheek, another on the left of my chin/jaw, and a third cluster on one temple. :c  I was surprised because I thought I was doing pretty well and keeping my face really clean - apparently not?

So pretty much since mid-September I've used everything - Proactive, stronger salicylic acid cleansers, masks, scrubs, etc.    Nothing I've tried yet has worked.  I also tried going back to what I was using in summer, but it was either too oily or something, as it wasn't effective at all and ended up making my face greasy and sticky. :c  (I quit before THAT gave me extra spots to worry about.)

About Proactive... It's a case to case basis.  It has helped my sister immensely - she uses it as soon as she sees anything and it goes away in 1-2 days.  For me, looked like it was working the first week I used it, but from the second time onwards the bumps just seemed to first look irritated, and then not change at all (no spreading though, whew).

However Ace, my boyfriend, on the other hand, is 23 and has quite good skin with only very occasional breakouts, and then only ever one or two spots that disappear within 1-2 days.  Though he did have mild acne during highschool, same as I did.

I asked him what he used to wash, and he said he doesn't soap his face every day - only ever when he showers, & just with a bit of shampoo left after washing his hair.  Super low key routine.  (Also he's not the type to spend a lot of time examining spots in the mirror - less tempted to pick/squeeze at spots.)

This sounded incredibly gross and lazy at the time.

But after reading around on the web and a few books, it seems like this is actually effective - just washing your face with water, and occasionally a gentle/mild cleanser.

Skin has its own natural "acid mantle", which protects against bacteria etc. and allows the skin to maintain its own health.  But of course, if you use soap/cleansers, you're throwing off the pH of this mantle ...or completely washing it off.  And if your cleanser is something for acne (aka super drying), it'll really rough up your skin.

So starting tomorrow I'm going to wash with 

ONLY water, morning and night, 

and use a gentle soapfree cleanser (Cetaphil) every other day.  

I don't know about using moisturizer but I'm assuming you probably won't need to, as you'll have your skin's natural oil buildup after a couple of days.  (I'll probably use oilfree Neutrogena for the first day though, to get a head start.)  

Now let's consider makeup & water-only washing.

I don't wear foundation/makeup other than eyeliner, so I don't really have to worry that I'll be leaving foundation on my face day..after day...after day, which is a TERRIBLE idea & will almost certainly backfire this whole routine on you.  I'm planning to use oilfree moisturizer to remove the liner, since that's a pretty limited area it shouldn't throw off the water-only routine.  

If you're going to try this then I recommend going without foundation/powder for a while!  I know a lot of girls who do use a lot of foundation to cover up their acne, and to have it exposed is pretty embarrassing.

BUT -- if your face clears up from this, then you won't even need to use that makeup anymore - you'll save money on both acne treatments and makeup, AND you'll be naturally glowy and radiant.  Whyever not?!

More info can be found
here
and
here
(it's also called the "caveman" routine/regime, though I doubt Ace knows this)

Besides washing with just water, I basically cut out soda/junkfood/sweets

and anything really fattening.  Also I'm trying to drink more water & 

unsweetened tea, + more veggies and not as much meat.

I'll make a small update post day by day as I do this. c: 

From what I've read, results show up between a week to 3 weeks, 

so hopefully it works out well!

♡ISA

Adminny things c:

Hi guys! I know I said I'd update more but I haven't run across anything interesting lately. Sorry!
That being said I may change the direction of this blog a bit - there's been a rise in snazzy dressers here at my uni, and I'm considering putting street snaps & ootds as the central point. I don't try very many kinds of makeup or washes simply because I made a post on that already, and the stuff I'm using works so I'm not about to change it anytime soon. C:
Please look for changes coming as 2013 gets going!

~Isa