WeHaveIt43 Has Been Revamp!

My favorite beauty online shop wehaveit43.multiply.com has been revamped much to my surprise!

And I'm loving the new look! <3

Bon has been telling me she wanted to change her site's look so the customers could navigate easily on the site and it has finally happened.

On the center of the page you could check her best sellers 

On the right side you could click on the list of brands she's also selling on a pre-order basis

Don't forget, she also has on hand products ^.^

This really makes online shopping easier, I thought Bon was selling a handful of brands but when I checked the long list out I didn't realize she's really selling a lot! This makes me appreciate her site even more <3

Victoria Restaurant: A Taste of Hong Kong in Taiwan

One of the things we're scouring for when travelling is good food and Hong Kong has good food indeed! 

We went to Taiwan but that doesn't mean we can't get a great taste of Hong Kong cuisine ^.^

My father really really wanted to go to Xi Men Ting not for night market shopping but we want to eat at Victoria Restaurant

We ate at Victoria Restaurant before while shopping at Xi Men Ting night market, we didn't know what it was or how the food was, we just followed our nose and stomach's instinct and it lead us to Hong Kong food delight!

Two years later, we flew all the way from Manila to Taiwan to eat here again.

Victoria Restaurant is famous in the internet I was told by my aunt, perhaps it's famous among the Chinese language internet crowd so I can't find good restaurant reviews in English. This review might be the start!

Victoria Restaurant is owned by a Hong Kong family, two years ago the resto was very simple, the son takes orders and serves the food, the father cooks the food and the mother is at the cashier counter. 

Now they hired a handful waiters, business is booming ^.^

Let's go on to check out the food

Here's my small serving on my own rice bowl, take note that this is just a small portion of a big pot <3

Their specialty is rice cooked in earth pots or hotpot

This is Yen Tsiang La-ah Peng(fan/po/rice) 

This rice is cooked along with the Chinese sausage and salted dried duck meat

After cooking, they will add a drizzle of Hiu ko tau yu or Mushroom soy sauce on the hotpot and mix it all together. I know it looks dark and scarily salty but mushroom soy sauce is more on the dark color and less on the taste.

I love the rice on the bottom of the pot because it's burned to a crisp; in Filipino we call it tutong 

We usually don't eat tutong but when you're eating rice hotpot, tutong is what you're really after because all the flavor seeps in at the bed of rice at bottom of the pot. I love how they cook it to perfection because the burned rice is not so hard, it's actually very crispy!

I forgot what this soup is called but it's also good
Taiwan was cold that night with a bit of drizzle, it was around 13 degrees if I'm not mistaken so this is good for warming up the tummy

This is a complimentary bread worth NT$60 (If my memory serves me right)

The restaurant's matriarch gave this to us ^.^ She said this is their specialty Hong Kong bread, butter is inserted in between

We had a bit of a chat, I know we were in Taiwan but ironically I spoke more Cantonese words than Mandarin here because they're very friendly <3

Here's the calling card's back, they have the new version with a Facebook fanpage but I lost the new one =(

You may ride the MRT and drop off at Xi Men station

You'll go inside Xi Men Ting night market which is great for shopping sheer, frilly blouses for cheap prices

Victoria Restaurant is located in an esquinita, it's a very narrow street. What's eye catching is the second hand Louis Vuitton bags shop in front of the Victoria Restaurant. You know you've hit the jackpot when you look up and see the 'street sign style' of Victoria Restaurant (for reference check the very first photo above)

L'oreal Renewal Lash Serum

Oops, I might have a memory lapse,

Before I forget, I also bought L'oreal Renewal Lash Serum in Taiwan =p

This is the only thing I bought in Watson's in Shu Lin

The boxes are fully sealed with tape and L'oreal Taiwan placed small sensor bar code plastics so if you steal them the Watson's  alarmed would go off and you'd get caught. 

This shows that these are the same products shipped to Japan because there are also instructions in Japanese and Chinese. This is different from the batch Philippines receive because we get product boxes in English.

It says "Made in China"

But that's okay, it's L'oreal and they have quality control.

I wonder where the L'oreal products in the Philippines are made, I better check the counter soon and check the boxes!

Here's how it looks:

It looks like those test tubes you used to play with during science classes
The entire tube is made out of plastic which is very typical of lash products, but it would be cool to have a glass tube, eh? 

Here's how the wand looks concave view

Here's how the wand looks convex view

The wand is made out of plastic with a thin coat of sponge applicator tip material- the one you often use in lipglosses

The wand is pretty much okay, it reaches the roots of my lashes well because it's very thin

It's also very easy to brush your lashes with this one and it coats your lashes with the serum well in one stroke

Love it!<3

Pardon me but I don't really have a before look because I started using this when I was in Taiwan so I didn't have the time to snap some photos up but for reference, this photo was taken last year around October 2009, I just curled my lashes here without any mascara

Here's another photo, hopefully you'll see my super thin and sparse lashes pulled up for you to see =p 

Here's how it looks now

I've been using this since Holy Week so that's roughly around 2-3 weeks already

I don't religiously apply this everyday and night, I usually skip twice a week because I want to give my lashes a breather but the serum is still effective in my case.

I did notice that my lashes are lengthened up to a certain point, I also apply this on my lower lashes and the fine baby hair grew! It became thicker and longer! <3

It doesn't sting my eyes even if I apply it on my lower lashes but I read some reviews where they said it stings their eyes =( You may also try it but apply with caution as L'oreal didn't actually recommend to apply this on your lower lashes, it's just that it works well for me ^.^

I know I love my Majolica Majorca mascara because it gives me longer lashes but after using L'oreal, putting on mascara becomes more effective, it makes my eyes look more dramatic more than ever! I can't help it but to look in the mirror and say 'Wow' 

Don't worry, L'oreal Renewal Lash Serum doesn't change your mascara's formula even if you layer this on first before your favorite mascara.

On the down side, if you're planning to acquire this don't apply too much serum especially in the morning because when it dries, it flakes. However that's not such a big problem as long as you don't apply excessive serum on your lashes ^.^

Jill Stuart Mix Blush in Fresh Apricot Review and Swatch

As a follow up to my previous Jill Stuart Mix Blush in Fresh Apricot post, I'd be writing the review on this post and let's proceed with the swatches.

Here's a swatch of the Jill Stuart Mix Blush in Fresh Apricot

Colors are labelled carefully and it matches the exact numerical label on the first photo showing the mix blush pan.

If you'll notice there's no evident glitter on the pan itself but when swatched, you'll see some shimmers sparkling <3

The color is very sheer and it's fool proof to use. I used this when I was in Taiwan hurrying up every morning; whenever I hurry up I tend to use more force when applying blush but the result is always a nice barely there pink flush.

Jill Stuart sales attendants usually recommend Little Bouquet over Fresh Apricot because Lil Bouquet is more pigmented than Fresh Apricot but in my case Fresh Apricot is just right. Fresh Apricot is more of a light pink blush with a slight hint of peachiness thanks to the light orange shade.

My cheeks are already rosy on their own way, I just need a light blush to even out the rosiness (nature and genes ain't always perfect =p but rosy cheeks is still a gift from God)

Here's how Jill Stuart Mix Blush in Fresh Apricot looks on the white brush

You'll see how it looks like when mixed together

I can't do a cheek swatch because it provides a natural rosy cheeks look and the camera washes the color out- it doesn't appear much on the camera so to speak. 

It lasts well the whole day and there's a hint of Jill Stuart's trademark floral scent- it's just a hint and unlike other JS products where the scent is stronger. I guess Jill Stuart takes into account that this is brushed on the cheek area which is very near to our olfactory senses and we wouldn't want an overpowering floral scent near our nose.

The brush itself is so soft! This is the first makeup brand whose built in brush applicator is at par with other expensive brushes. It's very soft and dense at the same time; this is perfect to be used with the mix blush formula. I tried using my own blush brush but the result isn't the same so I recommend use the brush <3

I'm loving it! <3 

Oh by the way, if you're lemming for JS you might want to hurry up and ask Bon about JS before it's too late!

I'm drawing up my last Jill Stuart order, it might be my last Jill Stuart purchase from Bon =( 

Low End Authentic Shiseido Products and History in Taiwan

In other posts regarding Shiseido products unknown here in the Philippines, some are wary that my Shiseido products are fake but here's a proof it's not fake.

This is taken inside Watson's guerilla style =p 

I've taken a snapshot of Shiseido's de luxe Eau de Carmin on sale for NT$90 from the original price of NT$100!

Surprise surprise, later on I'd find a history of Shiseido in Taiwan!

Shiseido's logo hasn't changed over the years, amazing...

Here are some snapshots of the old Shiseido packaging such as this face powder

Excuse the poor photography- lighting was bad and I'm shooting guerilla style

More Shiseido bottles, doesn't this remind you of my Shiseido de Luxe Eau de Carmin?

That's because this is one of the first few Shiseido de Luxe products! I was surprised to find out it has been around before I was born!

And if you'll check the English words written above it states 'WHOLESALE CHAIN'

which means that Shiseido is primarily a mass cosmetic company and you can get products for wholesale price; sadly Philippines just get the pricey lines so we often think Shiseido is mainly a high end brand. It's sad that we don't get to enjoy the other low end and mid range brands from Shiseido. =(

Here's a close up of Shiseido's de Luxe line, cute bottle! ^.^

There, hope I've put an ease to my dear readers' worries regarding cheap Shiseido products in Taiwan. Don't worry about buying fakes in Taiwan; as long as you're buying from legitimate stores and not from the streets you're safe. 

Also, I purchased my first Shiseido eye lash curler that's made in Taiwan and I've been using it since 2008. It's housed in a simple green box but it's NOT fake. It's made in Taiwan for local distribution; I think this is a great strategy because they could keep the prices really really low if the country produces the products on their own instead of importing in large volumes. I got my Shiseido eye lash curler for NT$100! That's roughly around Php140-Php150 only but I like it better than Shu Uemura because of the sturdy rubber and sturdy heavy metal- heavier than the ones distributed in posh Shiseido counters in the Philippines! 

Beauty Stores in Taiwan

In the Philippines, when we think of beauty finds we usually go to big malls just to get assurance that the product we buy is authentic; that's how we are, we prefer going to malls and we're not accustomed to small house shops lined up on the streets for the fear that the products might be fake- however I disagree with it since growing up in Chinatown I'm used to buying things from small house shops (ground floor shop and the rest of the floors upstairs are the business owner's house). When I go to Hong Kong and Taiwan they have the same concept so I didn't feel different nor did I had the hard time to adjust to their business culture. However, those who are used to buying products in malls might be wary if it's your first time to buy in small house shops.

In Taiwan, you don't have to go so far to get hold of nifty little things we call makeup.

I didn't get the time to go to Taipei's famed upscale department store Shin Kong Mitsukoshi so I just lurked around my aunt's place in Shu Lin, Taipei County. Shu Lin is located just below Taipei.

In my observation Taiwan has a lot of 'marts', on the first ground they would house all the beauty finds, on the second level you would find plastic wares and other random things or abubot such as slippers, socks, wide range of ball pens and school supplies, and on the third level you would often find food products.

Multi story marts can vary-on the average there would be three levels but sometimes there are bigger marts that would go for five floors.

PoYa House is one of the cutest marts I've went into ^.^ I forgot what street it is but it's a walkable distance from Da-An Road in Shu Lin. I think this has only 2-3 levels but the first floor is already packed with beauty stuffs such as Coffret D'or, Kanebo, Majolica Majorca, Nature & Co., Kate, Lavshuca, Tiffa, Maybelline etc. 

 A more famous landmark that is parallel to PoYa is Mos Burger- a Japanese burger place which is pretty much the same as Agno's Nomimono burger. I prefer Nomimono's taste over Mos'.

I remember in one of my post explaining my BB cream from Taiwan is not fake, somebody asked me where I get my bargains at like the Elizabeth Arden 100ml perfume for around NT$500.

It's in Jmart and it's located in Sihde Street- this place is a wet market actually that's near Shu Lin Train Station.

Jmart's logo isn't that clear but luckily it's beside Baleno and a few blocks away is Taiwan's famous NET clothing brand.

P.S. Elizabeth Arden Green Tea 100ml is now at NT$399! We asked the SAs how they could price it so low when other seemingly big malls in the Philippines price it so high, they told us they're getting it in bigger volumes and Taiwanese consumers buy in volume too. Well, it's true and it's authentic, I've been using my Elizabeth Arden since 2008. 

The last stop is hypermarts, Carrefour is located at Da An Road and it's huge so you don't have to squint your eyes to find it. Beauty stuffs are found on the third floor- they've got US drugstore superstars like Revlon and  Maybelline and they also carry Asian drugstore brands such as Kanebo's Tiffa and a pricier drugstore brand Nature & Co. 

My Taiwan Mini Haul

Here's my small Taiwan mini-haul, I call this mini because it's nothing comparable to the haul I got in Hong Kong this January. My Taiwan trip was mainly searching for plastic wares and food processing machineries so it's understandable there's very little time to shop around.

Nevertheless I'd like to share these brands and items with you in case you're going to Taiwan, you'd be more familiar with the products and brands there. ^.^

I got these from a friendly neighborhood hypermart Tsia Le Fu or Carrefour, PoYa and Jmart that's located in a wet market. Did I get anything from Watson's? =/ No I don't think so...

I'd be creating a different post on where to find beauty stuffs in Shu Lin, Taipei County, Taiwan ^.^

First on the list are Neutrogena oil free Acne Stress Control Power Foam Wash and Neutrogena Pore Refining Toner.

Neutrogena products are scattered everywhere and I got these from Carrefour.

These are from PoYa

I originally got two boxes of Nexcare acne care (the peach colored boxes) and surprise surprise it was on a promo! Buy a set and you'll get another box for free. Sweet deal ^.^

I wanted to try My Beauty Diary Face masks first before buying a whole big box, luckily I found out there are smaller boxes with 2 mask sheets inside so this is a pretty pragmatic deal for me too

I got these from Jmart.

Due to my cousin's ravings I got Biore Cleansing Gel, I got this from PoYa

I love that it removes makeup instantly but if I have extra strong mascara AKA Majolica Majorca so I need the aid of cleansing oil or Etude House Mascara Remover One Shot Clean

My Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Body Mist Sunblock with SPF 30 is almost running out. I wanted to buy the same sunblock in Taiwan but I find the prices jacked up compared to the Philippines. I think I got my bottle for Php400+ but in Taiwan you'd get it for NT$400+ too! That's roughly around Php600+

So I got Biore instead, I'm not sure if this is lightweight like Neutrogena but it might be worth a try too! I got this at Carrefour.

I got this cute fruit nail art at Jmart for NT$59! 

Here's a close up

There's apple, orange, watermelon, kiwi, dragon fruit, strawberry and so much more! ^.^

This is a breather from the usual gemstone nail art I always see... I'm not much of a nail polish person but this is too cute I have to get one when I'm in the nail polish mood.

Perhaps the only thing I can consider as makeup from my haul is Majolica Majorca Lash Enamel Glamour Volume Mascara I got from PoYa =p

This is the latest mascara released by Majolica Majorca for their Spring 2010 collection.

Mentholatum Acnes Medicated Sealing Jell I got from Carrefour is a lil bit of a disappointment for me considering their creamy medicated facial wash works wonders drying up my zits but nevertheless the Jell works slowly but surely in drying my zits up ^.^

My aunt from Taiwan gave me this fringe clip, it's actually my cousin's spare fringe clip she got for free when she bought Mod's volumizing shampoo. They gave it to me so I could save a few NT$ because it's around NT$30-40 in Jmart.

Here's a close up; I'm not sure if you're familiar with this one but you use this to aid reshaping your side swept bangs when you're blow drying your hair. You clip this on your fringe and blow dry your hair so there are a lot of holes in this clip and the shape is curled inward. I have stiff straight bangs that go awry sometimes so this is a great aid for me.

What's Inside Sweet Magazine April 2010

I also got this from Taiwan, I think it's on sale for NT$275 because May 2010 already came out and it retails for NT$299.

These are the magazines I got from Taiwan with a freebie Jill Stuart Cafe bag

Sweet is really really thick compared to VoCE if you'll check the comparison

here's my little thumb also for comparison

So far this is my heaviest magazine with a whopping 470 pages (not including the cover flaps)

Sweet is mainly a fashion magazine with a bit of makeup laced on the sides

This is one of the few makeup section

Sheer dresses seem to be all the rage now in Taiwan, I heard dresses are accumulated in China, Korea and Hong Kong, of course you're better off to buy clothings from Korea and Hong Kong but China dresses aren't that bad if there's quality control.

I'm loving the white wedding dress with a delicate ribbon tied on the waist!

Footwear! I love the elf boots

MAC Lightful powder compact-

it's exclusively available in Asia, you won't even find this in maccosmetics.com!

I'm just not sure if MAC Philippines carries this permanent line (I think)

I haven't seen this yet but I'm sure it's not fake, it's in Sweet Magazine! ^.^

I love lace blouses and tunics

Floral prints seem to be the rage also

This might be my favorite tunic in the magazine

More bootsies! I love boots

The provide the comfort of rubber shoes but it looks more fashionable

More lace tunics

Has lace tunics and floral blouses arrived in our tiangges?

Tiangge is Philippine's version of night market-only that it operates whole day and night 

My cute Jill Stuart Cafe bag!<3

Jill Cafe has opened in Daimaru Department Store in Osaka, Japan

Here's the interior- it's not cushioned but it's okay 

There's a divider flap also so you could place small nifty things in.

The bag feels like towel cloth though =/ 

but what the heck, the magazine itself is a bargain at NT$275 considering how thick it is