NOTE: Tomorrow is the day I choose the winner, so this is the last day to post your comments!

I wanted to have some fun and have a teeny-tiny little contest so you all can enjoy the kawaii cosmetics that I have been using lately. My favorite new brand is Eyeko and I have to tell you that their 3 in 1 Cream has changed my make-up life!

I reviewed it previously but now since I’ve been using it daily for about a month I really can tell you the benefits of using it. It is billed as a moisturizer, highlighter and eye cream but it is so much more. It could really be a 4 in 1 truth be told, or a 5 in 1 cream!

I don’t use base so this acts as my moisturizer and primer. That is what it is most brilliant as truly – this cream goes on super silky, leaves a subtle glow but more than that primes your skin for the next steps in your regimen. It is lightweight and I can safely say it does not cause blemishes. It is also superb for your skin with vitamins A, E and a special vitamin C boost. I really have no idea what that means but whatever it is it really gives my skin a lovely glow.

I have often had difficulty with face creams being too heavy for my skin but this one is perfect. It is whipped like marshmallow fluff and your skin just drinks it up without leaving a trace of greasiness.

Since this is such a great product (the fifth use is as a neck cream and for your decolletage!) I am having a little contest and here are the prizes:

Eyeko 3 in 1 Cream ( see above).

Eyeko 3 in 1 Tinted Cream (gives you a subtle bronzey glow).

All three flavors of Fat Balm lip balm (Strawberry is my personal fave).

It will all come packed into the cutest silver shopper tote.

And what do you have to do? Just answer this one question in the comments below (and make sure you include a way to get in touch with you thru email or your blog):

“What is the cutest cosmetic product you own and why is it so darn cute?”

The contest is for 2 weeks so it begins today (September 27th) and ends on October 11th when I will pick a winner (using a random number generator to be fair).

This contest is only open to those in the US & Canada.

Get commenting!

I love Mika the way I haven’t loved any musician since Freddie Mercury. There are similarities here; the level of talent, the classical piano training, the Arab ancestry (Mika is half American too though raised in England and France, Freddie Mercury was Indian of Arabic descent, raised in England), the swarthy and somewhat pretty good looks, the balletic physique, the love of theatrics, the voice that caresses the ear like a lover’s whisper. Freddie had a secret dark side though and Mika (real name Mika Penniman) wears his dark side on his sleeve.  Hi songs are wistful perhaps and sometimes sad and deal with dark subjects with a cartoonists deft hand. For the most part Mika is kawaii, dancerific and relentlessly positive in that he embraces the ugliness of the world by accepting it.  You know, he’s actually very Buddhist in a lot of ways which makes a Buddhist like me relate pretty well.

His art is definitely kawaii ( oh you know he would absolutely love Gloomy Bear for instance!) and he works on the designs of his CD’s and shows with his talented artist sister Yasmine (his family is very involved in his musical career). He is talented beyond his years (he is 26 years old) and has just released his second album called “The Boy Who Knew Too Much”. I love the title of this album since it reflects experience that Mika has gained since his last record 2 years ago called “Life in Cartoon Motion”. That was a fresh-faced look at pop music and “Boy”  is more mature, more theatrical and discusses love, loss, sex and sexual identity.

Sometimes I feel like I’m hearing Freddie Mercury’s falsetto, especially on the tune, “Pick Up Off the Floor” which is a torch song reminiscent of Freddie’s tour de force on “News of the World” called “My Melancholy Blues”.

There have been comparisons to Scissor Sisters front man Jake Shears but he has nowhere near the vocal range and quality of Mika (or Freddie Mercury) though he  is also talented in his way but  not as accessible as Mika. Jake is always openly gay and Freddie Mercury was only so in later in life and Mika has said he is bisexual(actually he didn’t really SAY he was bizexual, rather that others could refer to him as bisexual if they liked) recently to a Dutch magazine though he prefers not to label himself or others.

Another Queen song tie-in is Mika’s “Lover Boy” which is terribly  like Queen’s “Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy” from “A Day at the Races”.  It’s like Freddie has been resurrected and he’s young and fresh and well – not Freddie anymore really – he’s Mika, he’s a completely different take on a similar theme and for me it is dream come true.

My favorite song on the new album is “I See You”; that is heartbreak in a song. And yet you don’t feel destroyed at the end, just that you have acknowledged something you could no longer deny. Somehow Mika captures beauty in the fact that there is no hope.

This song is one of the most sad on the record, for the most part Mika makes you want to sing and dance with shameless abandon, even if some of the lyrics have a razor sharp edge and are slightly macabre.

Mika himself is mercurial (take that how you want), tormented to a certain degree and yet filled with what can only be called the unbearable lightness of being. He is one of a kind, even with comparisons to others (you will hear The Beatles, Queen, Scissor Sisters and Billie Holiday influencing his tracks); he is truthfully more like water than reflection. His music flows and transforms that which it flows over turning stones into art and parched earth into life.

We need Mika. We need to lay back in his musical waters and float toward the promise of hope, understanding and the deep chords of love that vibrate through his transformative beat.

Just found these new items from Re-ment – dig the Hello Kitty Stationery! You can see the individual items by clicking here.

This is the Hot Springs Ryokan series. For close-ups click here.

It’s no secret to those who know me that I adore cupcakes. I especially like mini-cupcakes but I will not turn away from a big cuppie with tons of frosting and sprinkles.

These are actually bath bombs! How cute!

Another set of adorable bath cupcakes.

These are little charms - unbelievable!

Can you stand the mini cupcake candle holders?

Real mini cupcakes. Yum!

More adorable springtime mini cupcakes.

A selection of mini cupcakes.

I especially like vegan cupcakes. How do they make them taste so wonderful? There are many genius vegan bakers out there. (Just so you know: I am vegetarian so I do eat dairy but also eat a lot of vegan foods too).

There are great books like the following:

This is my favorite vegan cupcakes book of all time. If you buy only one vegan cupcake book this is the one. It will astound you and amaze you and is from the authors of Vegan with a Vengeance. I love all of their books. It has amazing reviews on amazon.com , so click here to buy it. And no I don’t get a kickback or anything. I just love cupcakes!

This has desserts of all kinds that will blow your mind. From the bakery in NYC of the same name, this allows fans from all over the world to dig into gluten-free, dairy-free and some sugar-free recipes of noms! Is a picture worth a thousand words? Well the cover should be edible or at least smell like chocolate! Check out their website and buy the book too.

I love this book and the author has a seriously awesome blog too. Interestingly that is how I originally found the book. Heather also has a couple of awesome e-books too available from her blog. Her photos will make you drool. Buy the book here.

I have long had a deep obsession with the world of faerie. Since magick plays a huge part in my profession, especially magick having to do with faeries (and many other creatures of magick like dragons), I have been on the prowl for representations of my dear little friends. These faeries may not truly qualify as kawaii in the more colorful sense, but to me they are adorable and twee and that is a big part of kawaii. This is how I came to know and love Amy Brown’s Fairy Diva’s.

Amy Brown is a fantasy artist who began painting faeries in the 90’s and is considered one of the best faerie artists in the world (along with other artists like Jessica Galbreth and Nene Thomas). The 37 year old artist (who looks much younger) has her own empire and looks like she is right out of the faerie world herself (or at least perhaps from Twilight as she bears a striking resemblance to actress Kristen Stewart who plays Bella Swan) is a  mother of two litte faerie girls and lives in Washington state.  Check out her website.

My first Fairy Diva was this little lady:

I decided then to collect every single diva there was and make a Fearie Tree for Christmas. Here are some of the other lovely ladies I collected:

Finally here is my Faerie Christmas Tree that I do every year.