More adventures at the Japanese dollar store...

I know I just got done saying that I don't normally post pics of items that can't easily be found in most areas, but I know that a lot of you enjoy seeing what I purchase at my local Japanese dollar store (Diaso) and, since I purchased some LA Colors products (widely available at Dollar Tree and other places) at Daiso in addition to the harder-to-find items, I figured what the heck!

So last week the boyfriend and I went to Daiso and Marukai Living. Daiso is a dollar store (actually everything there is $1.98) and Marukai Living has a TON of Japanese makeup and skincare products (some are very expensive while some are quite reasonable).

So at Marukai Living, I finally broke down and bought one of the zillions of glitter polishes they have on display by a company called Dear Laura. Dear Laura has a nail polish line called "pa" and the bottles are tiny and ADORABLE (even the packaging is adorable). One of my lovely readers, jbrobeck, just let me know that there is a website where you can see all of the colors in the pa line (click here to see them). The color I purchased is AA32, and it is from the "Lamé Grande" collection (the glitters). AA32 is a clear base that is packed with round holographic glitter and also holographic microglitter. The price of this polish was $5.98 at Marukai Living.

At Daiso, I purchased two LA Colors metallic nail polishes: Metallic Pink and Metallic Green (retail: $1.89 each). These were my first LA Colors metallic polishes and I have to say that I love them so far. I've washed the dishes twice so far and not even one chip. They're wearing like iron! (Of course I used my holy grail combo of Orly Bonder base coat and Sally Hansen Mega Shine top coat.) The pics above were taken with just one coat of LA Colors Metallic Pink and Metallic Green (these are super opaque!) and one coat of AA32 on each of my ring fingers.

Another thing I love about these LA Colors metallic polishes is that they do not feel gritty to the touch. At first they seemed streaky, but everything leveled out once the polish dried and I applied my top coat. If you see these at your local beauty supply or dollar store, definitely check them out.

Also at Marukai Living, I purchased this long-wear automatic pencil eyeliner (my favorite kind of eyeliner ever!):

Koji-Honpo Spring Heart Long-Lasting Eyeliner in Dark Brown (retail: $6)

I could not resist getting this Koji-Honpo Spring Heart Eyeliner for a number of reasons. First of all, you know I love my long-wear automatic pencil liners. Second of all, look at this cute packaging! Third, and most importantly, look at the pencil! The end of the pencil has not only the exact same smudge tip that the new Cover Girl Liquiline Blast eyeliners have(!) but there is also a sharpener on the other end of the smudge tip! And the entire thing fits snugly into the end of the pencil. Japanese design is amazing in general, and cosmetics are certainly no exception (another example? The L'Oreal Scrublet is a knock-off of Japanese facial tools, and the Japanese versions have a far better design, in my humble opinion).

Lastly, I purchased an LA Colors eyeshadow single at Daiso ($1.98):

I absolutely LOVE all of the LA Colors Eyeshadow Palletes I've purchased from Dollar Tree, but this is the very first eyeshadow single I've ever tried. I will let you know how it goes--I'm really hoping the texture and quality are as good as the shadows in the palettes.

So after Mr. G so patiently waited while I purchased my beauty products, we headed over to Mitsuwa to eat lunch and do some shopping:

Ramen from Santouka. I got the regular size (on the right) and Mr. G got the large. We also got a side of rice with leeks and it came with a pickled egg (I don't eat the egg but Mr. G likes it).

If you're in San Diego, you must try the ramen at Santouka (located inside of Mitsuwa). There's a reason why it's got 171 ratings with an average of 4 stars on Yelp. It's authentic and it's deeeelish.

Then we went shopping and got in not one, but two minor arguments. The first was over which brand of nori to get (we like to make our own sushi). Looking at the variety of nori offered at Mitsuwa, you can understand why we argued. I'm not complaining, but there are just TOO many choices:

This pic shows only half the assortment of different brands of nori they sell!

Fight number two erupted when we tried to decide which green tea to buy. I am obsessed with finding the perfect genmaicha tea (green tea combined with roasted brown rice). I love the flavor of the roasted rice mixed with the green tea, but it's hit or miss with certain brands. So looking at the assortment of green tea available at Mitsuwa, I think you can understand why another small fight broke out:

Again, this is only half the selection that's available.

If anyone has any suggestions as to their favorite brands of nori or genmaicha for me to try, I am all ears!

Thanks for reading about my latest adventure at the Japanese stores in San Diego. Do you like to shop at Japanese markets in your town? What are your favorite goodies to purchase?