On 11th April, I went to see L'Arc~en~Ciel in London. It was a dream come true. I love love loved them during my teenage years and early 20s, and always dreamed of seeing them live. Of course, I dreamed that would happen someday in an arena in Japan... never thought it would be a club in London!
They were so close it was amazing. After the performance, I was tempted to follow them to Paris for their next concert, but my credit card bill arrived at that very moment and brought me back to a different reality. But it was when I saw some pics from their live in Paris that I discovered this photo (not mine btw) and much to my joy I found that I have the same hat as Hyde. :D Epic fangirl moment.
Yep, that's the hat in all it's glory on Hyde's head.
I'm sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. I've been unbelievably busy, but I will be back soon.
I will leave you with another L'arc clip - Ophelia, where Hyde plays the sax as well as sings :) because I think music is another form of beauty. Enjoy!
Okay, for my American visitors this may not be too exciting, but for everyone else, hold on to yer hats.
J. Crew is currently offering free international shipping, free international returns, duty-free shopping now through 30th April 2012. Plus, you can shop in your local currency.
Amazing. Just what I needed. To spend some money at J. Crew!
Well, one thing I did need was some new swimwear. My last few swimwear purchases have been £6 bikini sets from Primark, which I have to say I have been pretty impressed with, but I have been a even longer fan of the swimwear at J. Crew.
The more I swim, the more I can induldge in treats, like my favourite biscuits/cookies - double chocolat au lait from YokuMoku.
Actually I'm off to London today to see L'Arc~en~Ciel at the O2! I am so excited. I have always wanted to see laruku, and never imagined in a million years that I would *in London*! I thought I *might* see them one day in Japan... but wow. Anyone else going to see them?
It was hard to find a good clip of my favourite Laruku song from its release - Niji (Rainbow), the clip quality isn't brilliant, but hopefully the beauty of the music still comes through.
And cos I love them so much, here's another song - Anemone with English subtitles. Enjoy!
Did you ever play with press on nails when you were a kid?
Well, I did, and when I saw these beautiful nails at an anime & scifi con in Paris (yep, I'm that cool) for only 5 euro, I decided I couldn't pass them up.
The pack came with 24 nails, but only 8 were completely decorated (i.e. had gems and other doo-dads) - they all were decorated with the white and pink flower motif and in a variety of sizes.
Luckily, all the super bling decorated ones fit my thumb, index, middle, and ring finger on both hands. So I used 'plain' for my pinky fingers.
I glued them on and, tada!
Okay, so I'd never used nail glue before and I was a bit hesitant. My nails are really short and not in the best shape at the moment, so I thought this was the best time to give it a go.
They look pretty gothic lolita/gosurori, don't they? Okay... maybe more gyaru... >_<
Actually applying the nails wasn't too difficult, but for some of the nails, they felt like they were shaped or shaped differently than my natural nails, so when gluing them on, I did feel a slight amount of pressure.
The glue did not hold up for me. At. All.
I put these on around 9pm and by the time I was getting ready for bed at 11pm, my first nail popped off. Then in bed, I lost a few more. By the morning, I only had 4 left - 2 on each hand! After my shower, where I did not wash my hair, I only had 2 left. Then on my way out the door on the way to work, one of the final 2 fell off and I was left with only one. So in about 12 hours only 1 nail survived my ruthless routine of lounging around my house and sleeping...
So, I wasn't impressed. It was fun while it lasted, but perhaps I needed to use more glue? It's been a couple of days now and I still have remnants of the glue on my nails. So I'd say these were pretty much an epic fail for me.
Pretty they are, but I think I'll stick to decorating my own nails.
Have you had any experience with glue-on or press-on nails? Good, bad, ugly?
I'm going to leave you with a clip from L'Arc~en~Ciel because I am so excited about finally seeing them in concert next month in London. I can't wait! I also picked a live video that someone has kindly subtitled in English, so enjoy! For those who don't know, L'arc are an amazing Japanese rock band that are currently celebrating 20 years of amazing music with a world tour. They also are the first Japanese band to headline at New York's Madison Square Gardens!
