Want to know a magic trick?

You guys, I'm really tired. Early train, lots of walking, busy weekends so I can't sleep in. I seriously don't know how other people do it.

Luckily, it's much less obvious lately that I'm dragging my feet all the time. I have added something new to my routine: the illuminating concealer (fanfare!).

The classic illuminating concealer is the YSL Touche Eclat Radiant Luminizer, which beauty editors and make-up artists and celebrities swear by. And I always thought, "Man, that is expensive, I don't know..." Plus the fact that I'd have to go to a counter and ask to test it... I opted out. Mistake? Probably. But then Sephora started to carry YSL this fall, and so I thought, why not? It was my first weekend in the city, I'd spent all day moving, and I was meeting some of my coworkers for drinks at a swanky bar. Why not swipe some fancy shimmery concealer under my eyes? (Because it could have turned out gruesome. Luckily, this is not a story where things turned gruesome.) Instead, I blinked in amazement and wonder. Oh, I get it now!

But I didn't jump and buy the Touche Eclat. For one, they were out of the color I wanted. For another, I already had the Dior SkinFlash Radiance Booster Pen, which I'd bought at a Dior makeover event earlier this year. I'd seen Lilan of the Daily Cookie's post about visiting with Nordstrom's Beauty Director about Dior products, and so I asked the artist to show me SkinFlash. I wound up taking it home, but didn't actually use it until this fall. I like it a lot (I have it in 002, Candlelight), but it occurred to me that it's actually technically more expensive than Touche Eclat -- yes, it's less expensive overall, but you get .05 oz in SkinFlash versus .1 oz for Touche Eclat. Yeah, you're paying seven bucks less... for half the product.

That said, I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of click-pen products, whether it's a concealer pen or a lip gloss. I always wind up clicking it forever just to get the initial flow going, then get a big gooey mess when it suddenly starts oozing out the brush all over the place. (I'm not the only one that happens to, right?) Plus dropping at least $33 for an illuminating concealer is a lot of money, even if you do use it every day. Stila has an illuminating concealer as well that comes in a non-click format -- it's a tube with a little brush, like a lip gloss. Plus it's cheaper at $22, and comes in a wider variety of colors. How it holds up to Touche Eclat and SkinFlash, I'm not sure, but I'm curious.

So yeah: illuminating concealers! Magic! (Illusions!) Thumbs up from Jeanne.

image from sephora.com

Science Fair for December 29th-January 4th

Hi everybody, did you have a lovely New Year's? It was tame here in the Bay Area since the sky was covered in fog and clouds--no fireworks for us! What a shame. Otherwise, I got to watch Kouhaku, eat delicious Japanese New Year's food, and work all though the vacation time. I can't complain, it is only my first six months at this job, right?

This week's Science Fair is classically eclectic as you'll see, only the best of the past week's news, music, crafts, art, and fashion. What can I say, I share only what I love with you all!

-Business Week, a publication not often utilized by those of us here at Periodic Style (we are all about Jezebel for our daily business news, hello), had an interesting article about the new economy of blogging. Will Work for Praise points out the amazing business innovation that is blogging for profit...except for when you don't get paid to contribute. Fascinating! It says a lot about the "new" fame phenomenon in America, when a short video or blog post can give you your fifteen minutes in the spotlight for minimal effort.

-For a broader spectrum review of the past year, Newsweek has their list of the Most Overlooked Stories of 2008. Overlooked, really? I was paying pretty close attention to all of those, Newsweek. What are you saying here? Am I addicted to news that I shouldn't know about these things happening? I was particularly concerned about those missile nose-cone components in Taiwan and the missile defense system deal in India, it may not be my specialty but it is certainly my field! What stories do you think the mainstream media really missed out on in 2008? Care to share?

-As you may recall, I have a newfound love for the country of my paternal grand-forefathers, Sweden. This Sverige passion was particularly sparked by Hello Saferide and its members, Annika Norlin, Maia Hirasawa, and Firefox AK. Check out Hello Saferide's blog for their new music video! The transcribed dialogue is great. Hello Saferide, will you be my friends forever?

-To satisfy your weekly historical-loveliness quota, I present Miss Philadelphia 1924, Ms. Ruth Malcomson!

-Did you know that you can cover your bare walls, contribute to a good cause, and support independent artists? WallBlank offers neat-o art and photo prints on high-quality paper, I've been checking them out. I love the story behind this Bowl-O-Rama photo. I also am quite good at bowling, FYI.

-Now on to the girly stuff! I've read DomestiFluff's tutorial on hwo to make the most adorable pom-pom flowers a thousand times over, but I can't imagine mine would turn out that CUTE! I love that she adds one to a simply-wrapped present, sometimes those are the little touches it takes to make something really special. Lovely!

-Only Style Remains the Same presents, for your approval, a week's worth of date night outfits. Personally, I only ever have first dates and then I am bored, so all five are not an issue. What would you wear for a blind date VS a friend-date VS a group date, pray tell? This may become a Polyvore challenge, so put your thinking caps on, ladies!

Have a great week, everybody--coming up we've got our Favorite Things from 2008, Jeanne shares all about her under-eye problems, and true crime book reviews from me!

Jeanne's top post picks of '08!

Yes, it's all retrospective around here lately! Here's a list of twelve of my favorite posts from 2008!

January: It's got to be the original steampunk boots post. Yes, I'm going to do another one! So don't you worry!

February: Soon the daphne's going to be blooming again, and so I'm thinking of nymph-chasing again. (Still haven't found that perfect daphne perfume...)

March: For a great post that all three of us contributed to, it has to be the top ten basics.

April: April was my first trip to Sephora University, so it makes the list!

May: May is when I went through my biggest change: going platinum blonde.

June: Only at PeriodicStyle will a product review feature LOLcats. (Well, maybe not only PS, but...)

July: I'm not only picking my own posts, yo: Kati wrote a bikini post about how dumb it is that bikinis go on sale at the end of June... right when summer's still just getting started.

August: And I loved the photo/Polyvore Karen put together for this post on heel heights. I would like all of those shoes, please and thank you.

September: Man, it is hard to choose what I love more: dinosaurs or nail polish, so I'm linking both.

October: Next year I'm definitely gathering up Etsy Halloween costume pieces and ideas much earlier...

November: We started up with our gift guides much earlier this year, and our first one, handmade and homemade gift ideas, was a fun post to put together with Karen. (I didn't wind up knitting anything for anyone this past Christmas, which was good.)

December: Yeah, December was kind of a sparse month for posting for us, since we were all so super-busy, but Karen and I managed to put together another gift guide, this time for dudes and such. (My subtitle for it is "Dudes And Other People Who Like DVDs and Books".) Also, soap stache.

All right, now you tell me -- what post of '08 do you think I should have included on this list? And, if you think there's a particular post that you really like (future or past), please go ahead and click one of the "add to kirtsy" or "stumble it" links at the bottom of our posts to share it!

We <3 you! xoxo

Highlights from a New Year's Battle Royale

On New Year's Eve, you won't find me in Times Square with a glass of champagne. Nor will I be shivering on a rooftop to watch fireworks and drink wine. No, I spend my New Year's Eve with a belly full of Grandma's soba, fried fish fillets, chirashi sushi, and mochi, glued to the TV screen. From one o'clock in the afternoon to six at night, our local Asian programming station gives my family the gift of music, ridiculousness, reminiscence, and total hilarity--yes, it is time once again for the Kouhaku Utagassen (紅白歌合戦)! Now in its 59th year, Kouhaku is essentially a humongous, staged battle of the bands, only the bands compete on behalf of their gender as a whole. Women represent the red (紅, kou) and men represent the white (白, haku). All of the top-selling artists of the past year perform, and it is an honor to do so. The preparations take an entire year for costumes, scheduling, stage design, choreography, you name it. It's a massive, internationally broadcast singing-dancing-costumed battle of the sexes!

NHK's website has an appropriately festive website for its 59th annual Kouhaku. That's the official NHK (Nippon Housou Kyoku, or Japan Broadcast Station) website, with a full list of the artists and songs performed. Listen Japan even has a page chock-full of songs featured in recent Kouhaku competitions for your sampling pleasure!

Personally, I love seeing how Japanese music has (or hasn't) changed over the years. Compared to the Kouhaku five years ago, this year's songs incorporated influences from rap and hip-hop and had a far more international sound. With live broadcasts from Sao Paulo, Brazil's Japanese quarter and an awkward lip-synched performance by Enya beamed over from Ireland, Kouhaku is starting to embrace the outside influences in its pop music.

My parents, who lived in Japan in the 1970s and '80s, remember the pop music of that time and are big, big fans of Fuse Akira, Maekawa Kiyoshi, and Mori Shinichi. My grandmother, who believe she is the last "real" Japanese person on the planet because all of those young Japanese kids don't know what it is to be Japanese (I get this lecture a lot, despite the fact that I am her mixed-race grandchild) loves all of the traditional enka songs. She remembers taking the trolley to downtown Kobe as a teenager to the only record store that sold Western music. So really, what could be a tedious five-hour torture chamber of J-pop is a funny, memorable family affair. My mother has an incredible knack for singing along to songs she's never heard, helped by the naturally predictable melodies and transcribed lyrics on the TV screen.

Once upon a time, I was heavily into J-pop, and let me tell you it helped my Japanese-language vocabulary acquisition like no other. That was about seven years ago, so I've moved on, but once a year, I get to experience the glory and splendor of five hours of Kouhaku. Here are some of my favorite highlights:

-The adorably diaper-wearing techno-pop girl group PERFUME performing "Polyrhythm":

I love them! So manufactured, so upbeat and club-kid-esque, so well-coordinated! This is how J-pop should be.

-American-born enka singer Jero made his first appearance on this year's Kouhaku with a touching performance dedicated to his Japanese grandmother:

I have a special place in my heart for this guy, seeing as we are QAPA brethren. (QAPA is a term my brother and I invented when we were little to identify as, meaning "quarter Asian part American". Spread it around!) See his mother in the audience, weeping? Check out Jero's grandma's smiling face painted on his shirt! Way to go, buddy!

-My most favorite songs of all are the traditional enka performances. The singers are so impassioned and obviously moved by the lyrics, which have actual meaning compared to J-pop. Enka is mostly about longing, leaving your loved ones behind, the ocean, crying, mothers, and really just a lot of drinking. In the world of classic enka, sake is the purest expression of emotion possible for men. For women, it's all about the kimono:
This is the lovely Godai Natsuko performing "Kyoto Ninen-zaka" about an old district of the city. Doing an adorable dance to accompany her are twins Kana and Mana. I love Ms. Godai's peacock-themed kimono and matching oversize-pattern kimono! Did you know that the peacock features in the Jataka tales, stories of the Buddha's previous incarnations? Like Aesop's fables, Jataka tales end with a moral and pause for reflection. The peacock is also associated with Kannon-sama, the Buddhist goddess of mercy. Believe me, I took a class on this in Japan. Even the colors and patterns of Kana and Mana's kimonos evoke meaning and emotion. For now, we can just enjoy them aesthetically!

This dramatic performance featured infamous sixteen-year-old kabuki onna-gata Saotome Taichi (in the white kimono), with Fuji Ayako singing "Akai Ito," or "Red String." Here's a close-up of her ensemble, complete with obi tied in the front. Befitting the kabuki performance in the background, Ms. Fuji's kimono is evocative of Edo-period fashion.


Here is Sakamoto Fuyumi in a lovely East-Meets-West kimono, rainbow on the top and woodcut style foamy waves on the bottom.

Also big this year were decorative hairpins--coincidentally, our favorite accessories here at Periodic Style HQ! Traditionally, women in kimono will accessorize with kanzashi in similar themes to the patterns on their kimono. Wisteria, cherry blossoms, pine, plum blossoms, maple leaves, and all other manner of seasonal flora are popular hair adornments. Like all great wardrobe accoutrement, kanzashi began as functional hair-pins and quickly turned into a full-blown art form. Here's a few examples from this year's Kouhaku:

Nagashima Miki wove her dramatic white feather-laden hairpiece into a thick braid--Etsy seller Marissa Joanna Rojas has some lovely feathered hairpins to show off your combined Japanese-chic/flapper style!

Taiwanese-Japanese actress/singer Hitoto Yo always has large hair decor, this year it was a tulle number that matched well with her ethereal, bird-like dress. Does it overpower her short hair, though? What do you think?

Singer Aiko's flower has a zesty Spanish flair, tucked behind but under the ear. Simple, cute, and elegant! With a matching wristlet, it's a little prom-ish and adorable.

If you want to recreate these for yourself, grab some bobby pins, your computer mouse, and check out our friends here:
Hanatsukuri, Little Cookie, Atelier Kanawa, Mizusugi, Gochemoche, and Peachy Pan is Jeanne's favorite from Down Under!

Ultimately, this year's Kouhaku was won by the men's side. I disagreed, the ladies really pulled out all the stops, but you can't contest the men's side when they have a whole chorus line of samba-dancing transvestites on their side. Ah, well. I'll leave you with this lovely reminder of good times past, a celebration of one of Japan's most vibrant, food-crazed cities: OSAKA.

Wishing you all beautiful, fun, and joyous 2009!


Images from Sankei Shimbun, MSN.co.jp.

2009 resolutions!

First off, Happy New Year! Yay, pandas!

For the last two years, I've started off the new year with my resolutions. In fact, I started off the blog itself with resolutions -- so PeriodicStyle is now two years old! (Hooray!) And little did I know last year, when I said I'd go somewhere and report on something in '08, that it would be New York Fashion Week itself! So big things can happen if you just set a goal.

Thus, here are my goals for 2008:

- Use what I have. Beauty-wise and fashion-wise, I need to do a better job of using what I have and playing with it more, versus dashing out and buying something new every time I have a special occasion or a new collection comes out. I need to curb the "buy! buy! buy!" impulse, especially now that I'm a Big Girl Living In The City (with Big City Rents).

- Take care of myself, physically, mentally, and emotionally. I'm going to take dance classes, go out and have fun, and not let myself get snagged up in stuff. Brightness and lightness and fun, yesyes.

- Donate more. Clothes, money, time and energy.

- Write more! More blog posts! (Yes, for real!)

- Comment more and reach out more! (Yes, for real, again!)

- Cook more -- I'm very much a boil-or-microwave type of cook, and so I'm hoping to break myself of my bad habits and actually cook for real. (Yeah, I'm not a food blogger, but I do like food!)

- And yes, as always, work on my skin. It's actually doing reallyreally well right now, so I just need to keep hydrated, keep my hands off, and keep doing what I'm doing because it's actually working... (!!!)

What are your goals for 2009?

image from muryousozai.com