How awesome is this?? You can't really see the seashells that well,  but I don't care. I know they're there. I love my accent nail, and I LOVE all the glitter! My friend was saying, "So sparkly!" as she was doing my nails lol I love them! 

We got let in a bit early, but had to stand in line anyway. On our way to the park, we were greeted by the Anglia! 

And then the Hogwarts Express!

The very first thing we did was get a butterbeer! The thing that I was most excited about trying. Because it was hot, they had frozen butterbeer! I got that one (in a souvenir glass) and Kevin got a regular one (also in a souvenir glass). It was SO. GOOD. 

It tasted like butterscotch and a cream soda mixed together. Exactly how I imagined it!

We pretty much opted not to do any of the rides because Kevin doesn't do roller coasters, and I can't handle those rides where you are in front of a screen and you get moved around. I know, I know. No rides? Lame! But we were so stoked to just BE there, it didn't really matter to us. We did do the Hogwarts castle walkthrough, which was neat. 

Some of the portraits talked and moved, it was neat! We then popped into Ollivander's Wand Shop. There were wands everywhere, sorted by either character or type of wood.  We didn't get any since we got wands last year. 

We popped into the Three Broomsticks to have a spot of lunch. I opted for the cornish pasties, and Kevin got the shepherds pie. We both got some of the Boar's Head Ale! 

We got to see the Hogwarts Choir. 

So, pumpkin juice. I don't know what I was expecting. It tasted exactly like what you would get if you pureed a pumpkin pie. Wasn't a huge fan (even though I like pumpkin pie). 

 I'd say we spent like three or four hours at HP, and then moved on to USJ to check out the Universal Cool Japan attractions. 

The attractions included Monster Hunter, Evangelion, Biohazard, and Attack on Titan! We were mostly stoked for Attack on Titan. The Cool Japan event was supposed to end in May, but because it was so popular, they extended it until the end of June. They have fun themed food! 

Attack on Titan food, including a POTATO! lol 

I had to laugh at this, because it is the colossal titan's head, which is a mousse, and you slice it with one of the swords. lol 

Then, we saw the actual titans! They were amazing! 

You got to take a picture like you were getting eaten by a titan. We HAD to do it, paid the money for it. No regrets. 

After that we checked out the Monster Hunter stuff, even though we don't play it. But the attraction had no timed entry, so we went in anyway. 

You basically walk through "caves" and see life-size displays of stuff from the game, including armor and weapons, and then this guy! 

No idea who he is, but he moved and it was cool! 

I didn't really want to spend $50.00+ on eye shadows, so I opted to get two lipsticks. I had ample time to check them out while I waited to be helped (it wasn't even that crowded, there was like one girl ahead of me, and two clerks). When I picked out my two lipsticks, the clerk brought the boxes, asked to open them, and checked that they were the right color and were in good shape (I appreciate that about Japan. Many places do that for many different kinds of products). And as usual, after my purchase, I was walked with my package to the exit. 

The lipsticks online are listed at ¥2,800.00, but I got them for ¥2,300.00 each, which comes out to just over $18.00. Not much different than MAC lipstick prices. 

I thought that was it for my Jill Stuart purchases, but when I got to the airport the day we left, I saw that she was in the duty free store, so I had to check it out. I was surprised (and stoked) to see that there was a special travel set, the lip blossom trio flower cruise collection! I had to have it. It was ¥6,000.00 for the set, which came out to about $48.00 or $16.00 per lipstick. Slightly less than what I paid at Daimaru. Yay!

The packaging is much cuter than the department store-bought packaging, it's very springy and floral. Here are some swatches from the lip blossom trio:

And swatches from the two I bought at Daimaru: 

Petit Cherry

Precious Gerbera

Ranunculus Veil

French Tulip

Brilliant Lily

Brilliant Lily is probably my favorite color, followed by Petit Cherry. I'm partial to the redder, bolder colors. I like the bit of shimmer in the lipsticks. The other three, well...they just kind of look like each other, with varying degrees of coolness or warmness. Of those three, I like French Tulip the best.

What I've noticed about Japanese lipsticks, not just this brand, is that there isn't very good color payoff. Lipsticks feel very slick, the color is very subtle, and gloss and shine is a high priority. With these lipsticks, the colors are very subtle on the lips, and have a slight shimmer to them. Some of the color goes on slightly blotchy at first (which you can see in the swatch picture) and needs to be blended out, and it can sometimes feel a bit oily. When I want a deeper color, I apply lip gloss in the same color family. But you definitely don't need gloss over this because thy're plenty glossy on their own. I'm used to deep colors with good color payoffs, so this is definitely a change for me, but not an unwelcomed one. The staying power, however, is poor.

Let's talk about the product packaging, which is what caught my eye in the first place. Yes, it is very cute. But it's made out of a very light plastic that I feel could break very easily. I was actually a little shocked by how cheap it felt. As I was showing my friend the lipstick, she wound it out slightly, and it got stuck and wouldn't go back in. So now with that lipstick I need to push it down. So overall quality could be improved, in my opinion. So here is my breakdown:

Pros:
-Adorable packaging
-Sweet colors
-Nice shimmer

Cons:
-Difficult to obtain (exclusive to Japan)
-Cheap feeling packaging materials
-Poor color payoff
-Pricey

Is it the greatest quality lipstick? No. Is it the sturdiest packaging? Definitely not. Are there better lipsticks out there? Of course. But is it damn cute? You betcha.