Hello Hello!

Recently, I went to Japan to experience their culture and represent my city. My closest friends came with me and we got to explore Futtsu, Tokyo, and Kyoto. I spent 10 days in Japan and I was so in love. The country is absolutely beautiful and so are the people!

It was a big surprise to me that Japan was so much different than the United States. You could easily tell the difference in style, makeup, and way of life. I was blessed to have the opportunity to go around Tokyo on my own to see the various shopping districts.

The main shopping districts where I saw a lot of Japanese youth were Shibuya and Harajuku. I had the chance to see what the modern Japanese woman preferred to wear and how they styled their makeup. 

After seeing Japanese style for 10 days, I believe there is one word that captures the essence of it all: Kawaii. Kawaii means cute in Japanese. Japan is very much into the doll faced look instead of something sultry, like America. I felt I was right at home with Japan's style because I cannot pull of sultry. But I can definitely pull of "kawaii". 

Today, I am going to show you how I achieved this Japanese Style Makeup that is inspired by all of the beautiful Japanese girls I saw at Tokyo's shopping districts. Let's get started!

Step 1: Japan LOVES fair skin. Most girls carry a parasol with them to keep their skin fair like porcelain. When I went to makeup stores you could only find 3 shades: Pale, Light Medium, and Medium. To mimic their porcelain skin, I went with a CC cream that is slightly lighter than my actual skin tone. Cushion compacts are a big thing in Japan too. Although Korea was the actual creator of CC cushion compacts, Japan has adopted a lot of their makeup styles too. So, using a cushion compact, tap the cc cream all over your face and make sure it blends well. I am using Missha CC cream which is rated as the second best cushion compact in Japan. 

Step 2: Japan is also all about dewy skin. To mimic glowy, dewy skin, apply highlighter. Instructions on how to apply highlighter on your skin is in my post: Glo Up>>>.

Step 3: Let's move on to the eyes. Japan is all about minimalism. For eyeshadow, sweep a light peachy shimmery color all over the lid. Since double lids are a really big thing over there, make sure to put the shimmery color a little bit over the lid too. This is to mimic a double lid so that the eyes appear slightly bigger.

Step 4: Place a bright light shimmery color into the center of the lid. This is to give the look of larger eyes. I used my highlighter since it has a lot of shimmer and shine. Sweep the shimmer to the lower lashline to add some brightness to the eyes. Add it to the inner corner of your eyes as well for an instant wake-me-up. 

Step 5: To elongate the eyes, apply a thin line of liquid eyeliner. A small flick for a wing is okay. Don't be too dramatic with this. 

Step 5: Wispy curled lashes are a big deal in Japan. So, with a light hand, apply a coat of mascara. Curl those lashes. Make sure to apply it to the bottom lashes as well to give a more dramatic effect. 

Step 6: If you have colored contacts, now is the time to put them on. A majority of Japanese women put on colored contacts to make their eyes appear bigger and doll like. I did not purchase any colored contacts for this look. It's totally optional. As much as I love this blog, I am not going to splurge. 

Step 7: Since a lot of Japanese people have sparse brows, they like to use a brown brow pencil to fill them in. Mine are naturally dark already so I decided not to do my brows for this look. 

Step 8: Blush is super important. In Japan, a lot of blush is applied. Typically, people apply blush on the apples of their cheeks. However, in Japan, it's a different story. They like to place blush on the upper parts of the cheek by the outer corner of the eye. Although the look is all about minimalism, this part requires a heavy hand. 

Step 9: Now for lips. Lips should be small and pouty. Just like Korea, matte is not a thing. Use the classical popsicle lip. Shading is key to adding dimension to your lips. Concentrate a bright coral color in the middle and inside of the lip. Blend it out into your natural lip color. Then, top it off with some lip gloss. 

You are finished! Those are all of my tips to achieving Japanese style makeup. I hope you enjoyed reading this tutorial. I am no expert on Japan's style. This is all of the information I got from the observations I made during my travels. 

As always, here are some additional photos of the finished look:

Big Fashion Trend: Pineapple coin purses

Peace signs are a big thing over there!

See you soon!