Monday, January 10, 2011

Haul from Taipei!


I didn't get to do much shopping while in Taipei -- the one department store I went into, my mother glared disapprovingly of me every time I picked up a bottle of nail polish -- but I did raid a drugstore on my last day there. And that was more than enough for me.

Well, not really. But I got some good stuff! And picked up some Japanese and Taiwanese nail magazines at a bookstore!

(While in the department store, my mother would say, "You must have a HUNDRED nail polishes by now!" And I'd say, "Uh. No." Because I don't have a hundred nail polishes. I have... many hundreds of nail polishes.)

Canmake 17, 18, 25, & 35
The first three of these are sheer but the last one may be more opaque. I never know if this is supposed to be pronounced using three syllables or two syllables.

Shiseido Majolica Majorca BL555, BE115 & BL501
The one on the left might be a nail art brush, not quite sure. The one on the right is the really gorgeous one: dark blue jelly with teal and light blue glitter!

OPI Sugarplum Yum, Merryberry Mauve and I Love the Holidays!
Way overpriced but I preferred to pick them up and regret the purchase later rather than not pick them up and regret not buying them while I could. These are names of polishes released in the US awhile back (if I recall correctly, they were shimmer+glitter duos) but I don't actually think the glitters corresponded to these glitters. At least, not Sugarplum Yum, which is gorgeously holo and sparkly...

Integrate RD701, RS361, BL321
Never heard of this brand but they had a few pretty polishes. Mmm glitters. This company is also Japanese, I believe. A LOT of the nail polish brands in the drugstore I was in were (that or American). Very few were Taiwanese or Chinese it seemed.

Missha VL04, Bourjois unnamed, Bourjois Bleu Violet, Neuve (can't read the name) & Kanebo Kate PK22
The Missha looks likes a Claire's Magic dupe (and is available in the US for relatively cheap from their US website). No idea what the Neuve is numbered because Japanese companies actually seem to stamp the production date (and, haha, expiration date) onto nail polishes. Bourjois is, of course, a French company that used to be more widely available in the US but seems to be harder to come by these days since Sephora stopped carrying them. I don't think I've ever seen the nail polishes in the US though.

Nail Venus 2011 Winter issue
I LOVE these nail art magazines. First of all, they're huge and feel nice and heavy, printed on thick paper with bright colors. Second, they've got TONS of nail art ideas inside: literally hundreds and hundreds of designs. Too bad I can't read Japanese.

Lovely Nails Vol 4
This is the lone Chinese language nail art magazine I found. It looks like it's put out by the Japanese magazine, Nail Up.

Nail Up Winter 2011
This one came with a pull out calendar for the year: a nail a day! :D


Now... really, if only I could read Japanese. Or Chinese. Or any other language besides English...


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17 comments:

Rory said...

Haha! You did better than I when I was in Japan...I didn't find any of these neat magazines although I did score some Canmakes. And I feel you about your mother, every time I dragged my bf into a drugstore to sniff around, he wore a pained expression!

Unknown said...

I wish I could find some of those nail magazines here in the US... I have yet to see any magazine devoted solely to nails but maybe I'm not looking in the right places--they look so awesome.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Laynie said...

OMG, such a wonderful haul!! I am SO happy for you! Man, I'd be swatching my little heart out right now. And I know what you mean about the glaring looks... people just don't understand collecting!

Now I want to see what they all look like on! :D

Violet said...

love all the polishes and the magazines!!

Marika said...

Just gave you
"the Stylish Blogger Award"
on my blog!
Please visit
fashionista-marika.blogspot.com
to pass on the award!
<3
Would be gr8 if you could also follow me!

Silva said...

Wow, great haul! I have exactly the same Neuve polish XD

M said...

Those are actually the same as the US holiday glitters! I have all three from the US release and they are just like the ones you posted. Nice score!

Anonymous said...

just FYI Integrate is a Japanese brand. It's actually a cheaper sub-brand of the more well known Shiseido :)

Lucy said...

Isn't it ridiculous that our Mother's can reduce us to children with just a look. You work hard for your money. It's your right to spend it on all the polish you want. It's too funny! At least you did get a nice haul of polish and magazines. Can't wait to see them all.

cheetah_pita said...

I had no clue nail art magazines existed! I wish I had picked some up the last time I was in Japan :( And if you ever need a translator, I'm sure some of your faithful readers would be more than willing to help out!

jbrobeck said...

Flinty, I have the Majolica Majorca BL501 it is awesome! But it needs a LOT of coats, so be warned! I am definitely going to layer it next time.

AnNa said...

I want those magazines! *sigh* Does anyone know how to get them without moving to Japan?

Sandi said...

100...ahahahahahahahaha.

We just won't tell your mother or my sister how many we >really< have.

Anonymous said...

I love Japanese and Chinese magazines. XD They're so fun to browse though!

Man, this post makes me regret not buying more nail polish in Taiwan...reminder for when I next go back!

According to the tag, the Neuve one is "Metal Peas Green"...I THINK. Metal and Green are definitely in there, but I'm not sure what "pi-zu" is. The closest I can think of is peas...so um. Yea.

Amanda said...

Oh, those magazines look so awesome. And the calandar, too!

Jesi said...

Looks like a great trip you had.:)

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