First Time Buying Liz Lisa in a While

Hi,

After a long time of not buying any Liz Lisa clothes, I rekindled an interest in the brand and bought some pieces on Mercari (with Japonica Market). I still love fashion from the 50s and 60s, but I felt like I missed LL's cute preppy looks. Not that I really dressed preppy in the past, though that was a mistake since I came to realize that fall colours fit me best.

I remember in my previous post wanting to downsize my wardrobe and live on like five pieces of clothing, but then I would get bursts of wanting to dress in a specific style and didn't have the clothes to satisfy my urge. :'D By the way, I was looking at my blog posts back from that period and saw how shitty were some (vintage) pieces I bought. Not only did I buy them, but I went on to take the most hideous pictures and had the audacity to post them on my blog for everyone to see lmao.

OK, back to the haul. Here are the three OPs I bought.

Liz Lisa Fairy Pattern OP
フェアリー柄 ワンピース

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I've liked this OP since I began to buy Liz Lisa, but never got the chance to get it, either because no one was selling it when I was ready to pull the trigger or because I would prioritize other pieces in my purchases.

This print has such pleasing colors and I absolutely love the lacing at the front. I know there's a version with navy blue flowers and I was also – if not more – interested in it, but they were all sold out on online flea markets.

I love the overall fit and the length of the sleeves is perfect. <3 Nothing bad to say about it.

Liz Lisa Heart Check OP
ハートチェックワンピース

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Another dress I liked but never got the occasion to purchase. My main hesitation was the shoulder frills which I tend to stay away from. One, because I often find them too over-the-top, but mostly because I have broad shoulders and these make it worse.

For this dress, the shoulder frills were the right volume, not OTT. So, my only fear was how they would make my shoulders look. This one worry would've normally deterred me from buying the dress, but the tartan and the colours were too enticing.

The heart cutouts are so cute.

The material is some wool and definitely not my favourite, but thanks to the fabric being on the lighter side, the dress isn't terribly heavy to wear.

The fit is OK. I should've thought about it, but maybe because it's an older Liz Lisa dress, there's no zipper, so it's a bit of a hassle to put on. The absence of a zipper also makes the dress less fitted at the bust and waist. As for the shoulder frills, they accentuate my shoulders so much. x_x (It's not that noticeable in the picture.)

If I had had the chance to try the dress first, I would've probably not bought it, but that's the risk when ordering secondhand from Japan. There are, however, ways to fix both problems by adding a zipper and removing the frills. I could also wear the dress with a cardigan at all times, but it's a bit of a constraint.

The pumps in the picture are Liz Lisa's. I bought them secondhand NWT just before I started to dwell away from the brand. Despite selling lots of LL pieces back then, I couldn't part from these pumps. I loved their look and hoped to wear them one way or another. I'm glad I kept them.

Liz Lisa Lace Yoke Frill OP
レースヨークフリルワンピース

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This is a more recent design from Liz Lisa. I was surprised to like it since I'm not a fan of jirai kei and I hate bib dresses, but it was love at first sight with this piece. The amount of details is just enough and everything is arranged so harmoniously.

The dress is missing two little black bows on the bib (it was mentioned by the seller in the description), but I actually prefer it without them.

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The lace trim at the bottom is a light blush colour. I initially thought it was a defect, but found it blends better with the skin which gives a nice effect. And a close-up on the sleeves because I love the two dainty bows.

I'm not pleased with how loose the bust area is, as you can see under my left armpit. On a positive note, I don't raise my arms often. Apart from that, the fit is top-notch.

Pumps in the picture are from Ank Rouge, bought them secondhand on Depop. I love the patent material and the cross straps, but the sizing is a wee bit too big. I can insert soles, but it would've been nice for them to fit as well as my Liz Lisa' (both pairs are a size M).

With the haul now finished, and just to keep my blog up to date (it's been more than a year since my last blog post), I thought I'd share some important stuff that happened:

• February 2022: I changed jobs (different employer). It has helped me to grow significantly while making me busier than before.
• August 2022: I cut a big chunk of my hair, as you may have noticed from the pictures. My hair was a little below my knees by that time. It had been a major part of my life for the past 10 years, but I no longer enjoyed taking care of it and considered it a burden.
• September 2022: I adopted a red toy poodle.

Let me talk a bit about my poodle. Her name is Rose and I adopted her on September 1st 2022. Long story short, I had planned to get gerbils, but I ultimately went with a dog after talking about it with my parents (that change of mind doesn't make any sense I know). I got lucky since the breeder had told me she would not have any potential adoptees at least until 2023, but one month later, she contacted me to see if I was interested in Rose after a cancellation... which of course I was. Three weeks later, I was bringing her home.

First day at home

On the day of her adoption, she was 11 weeks old and weighed a little less than 2 pounds. Whenever I'd sit on the floor, she'd come hop on my legs. It was so cute and I didn't expect her to be this affectionate, especially on day one.

Two days being at home. Sleeping soundly.

Looks innocent but goes demon spawn from time to time.

Picture taken one week ago.

She's now 1 year and 2 months old. She enjoys napping on our legs, our neck, our back, basically as long as she can feel one of our limbs. She loves playing but is also fine with just lying next to me.

I definitely have moments when I'm fed up, but I receive endless support from my parents and get to evacuate my frustrations to them. They help me not to obsess over stuff and remind me that I don't need a perfect dog. This was such an important reminder during the early months of training.

Bringing a pet into your life truly makes you experience unconditional love. When I get back from work or feel moody or tired, she's still happy to be with me... even when I scold her, she comes to cuddle with me minutes later. *teary-eyed*

Finally, my blog underwent a much-needed look makeover. This was among the first things I had planned to do once I got back here.

Before (October 13th 2019 – September 2nd 2023)

Now (September 2nd 2023 – )

I'm using the Watermark theme and lightly customized it. I wanted something journal-like and minimalist that draws attention to the content of my posts. I'm satisfied with how it turned out.

Okay, I'm done for now. Bye!

Attempting Heatless Paper Towel Curls

One of the reasons I want to grow my hair long is to curl them. I've always admired long and curled hair idk why, it's just very beautiful.

Some throwbacks...

I can't recall if I ever talked about it on my blog, but I tried heatless curls in the past; a couple of times with foam rollers, and I believe one time with socks. I always felt so-so with the results of both methods.

January 2013:

My first time trying heatless curls, using foam rollers from Walmart. I remember not being happy with the results.

I don't remember the exact length of my hair at that time, I think it was tailbone, or between tailbone and classic. Though now that I look at the picture, I think the curls actually look fine?! Sure the top of my head is flat and some curls are weird and thin-looking, but these can be fixed somehow – which I didn't know at the time. Also, I was flabbergasted at how short my hair was when curled and I hated it.

August 2016:

The foam rollers in this picture are the same as the one from 2013.

Btw, I don't really recommend these, there are better products on the market today.

I still don't really like how the curls turned out. Most of them have a weird shape and my hair looks thinner, from the middle to the ends. I remember my hair was very damaged during this period, so I understand why the curls wouldn't look their best. Maybe they could've improved with a brush to soften them though.

August 28th 2021

During my quarantine, I finally decided to make heatless curls with paper towels.

Let's see how it went. ( ´ ▽ ` ๑)

I got the idea from a video by Haartraum. Her video seems to focus on heatless curls using Jumbo Curlers. However, at 6:25 in the video, her friend is seen with paper towels and there's a quick demo of using them to curl your hair.

I didn't have a satin cap or scarf to put over my hair, so I just let it be.

Making the curls...

I used 23 paper towels for my hair.

Making the curls was a tedious job. After the first few ones, I got bored of having to roll a paper towel each time.

At last, all of my hair has been wrapped.

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Front and back of my head.

I didn't follow any "curl pattern" which is why it's so messy and asymmetrical.

Personally, I didn't find the curls comfortable to sleep on. One would think that because of the thinness of the paper towels, it would be fine to sleep on these, but it wasn't.

The morning after...

First, this is what my hair looked like when I got out of bed:

So many flyaways!

And the result:

Note that even after two trims in the past months (against my will), my ends still look ratchet. I'm not sure what to do, but another trim is definitely not considered this time. At this point, I think I'm just gonna let my hair grow until it reaches a little bit past my knees, and then I'll look into my ends.

To add to that, because I didn't always start a curl from the tip of the strand (arms too short/hair too long), some curls' ends ended up a bit weird. 🥴

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High luminosity and normal lighting

Besides the ends, I think the curls look pretty okay considering that I totally went completely freestyle with the paper towels. I was expecting something worse.

The ends  →  (╯ಥ□ಥ）╯︵ ┻━┻

The same day, in the afternoon...

Fast forward in the afternoon, the curls were still pretty much as tight as when I had unravelled them in the morning. So I decided to oil them with Moroccanoil and brush them lightly to relax the curls.

I shouldn't have done that. Even though I was quite gentle, there was a lot of frizz.

I find that my hair in the above pic appears thick, while it's actually pretty thin:

From the back – I preferred the tighter curls more:

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High luminosity and normal lighting

I got some of these knots. x_x

The aftermath. Paper towel turds.

After trying heatless curls with paper towels, I will not use this method again.

Granted, the paper towels surely curled my hair, and the curls lasted (my Asian hair tends to be incapable of holding a single curling iron curl). Also, they'd look very cute styled in a half updo or a ponytail.

However, it wasn't easy to wrap a hair strand around a paper towel from the tip, and the paper towels are quite uncomfortable to sleep with. Furthermore, you end up with a pile of them that you need to make use of.

All this to say that the experience wasn't entirely bad, but the tiresome making of the curls and the uncomfortable sleep just weren't worth the result. I admit my hair is on the longer side which explains the weirdly curled ends, so I guess it's just not the right method for my hair.

Thankfully, other techniques seem to work as well and don't have these drawbacks, such as the bathrobe curls that I still haven't tested with my hair.

Sporadic Life Update #3

Heeello

A little over three weeks ago, I handed out my last paper of the winter semester! As for my summer semester, it started last Monday. (I am enrolled in two courses.)

This post is only an update on some important stuff to me or just random things that I was able to photograph.

🎕 I tried a strengthening hair mask from a hair salon (and used it up).

I had gotten tired of trying DIY hair masks that kept deceiving me and thought it was time I invest a bit more in my hair since it's dear to me. I got this reconstructing hair mask by Wella Professionals.

A lady at the hair salon recommended me this mask after I explained I was looking for something that strengthens my hair.

I wasn't too enthusiastic about her suggestion, because I had never heard of the brand (plz don't throw rocks at me if it's well-known), but especially because the lady proudly told me it didn't have sulphates – and I become immensely suspicious when a brand claims to be bio, vegan, silicone/sulphates-free (i.e. a saint).

Alas, my choice was limited to the Wella hair mask or another one by Kerastase that was very costly. As someone who isn't used to buy professional hair products, I thought it'd be wiser to start "smaller" with a 23 $ CAD hair mask, which was Wella's.

Here are my general thoughts on the product.

• Smell: ★★★★★
  The smell is really nice. It doesn't linger for long after my hair has completely dried, but it isn't a reason to rate the mask lower.
  
  
• Quantity: ★★★★★
  I applied the mask religiously every week, from my hair ear-length to the tips. Considering I first used the mask on March 21st, and that the last day was on May 22nd, the mask lasted me two whole months! I thought it would last me a month tops. My hair was down to my upper knees when I used it (so it's pretty long), but I don't have thick hair, so I guess that helped.
  
  
• Results: ★★★★ ½
  This mask gives me all the results I wish for and for a fair price. I give it 4 stars and a half because I feel it's unrealistic to give something 5 stars out of 5?

In a nutshell, I am extremely satisfied with this hair mask. I'll probably buy it again next time I want to treat my hair.

🎕 I started using professional shampoo and conditioner.

After months of thinking about it on and off, I switched from drugstore brands to hair salons' for my shampoo and conditioner. (Though I may switch back in the future, I really have no idea.)

I went with Paul Mitchell by the lady's recommendation at the hair salon. I had told her that my hair was prone to grease and that my scalp had started to itch (again). For info, my scalp usually itches one day after washing my hair, which is the same time that it starts to get greasy (already!).

The shampoo is clear and smells very nice – just like lemon pie. As for the conditioner, it looks like custard but smells like sunscreen. I don't dislike it, but it's the first time I use a hair product that carries such a scent. However, it goes away pretty rapidly once my hair has dried – at least in my case.

I tried to show the consistency and colour of the conditioner (╥▽╥)

I can't say I'm in love with the conditioner. It makes my hair, from the ears to the tips feel a bit waxy and thicker. Though I prefer this over greasy hair, the wax-like texture makes my hair subject to tangles.

Since using Paul Mitchell, my scalp itches less and my hair sheds less. It's a difference big enough so that I noticed it. However, I've been using the products since April, and because my hair sheds less during the summer, my observation could be due to the season's change instead of switching to Paul Mitchell.

🎕 I had my hair trimmed.

My last trim was in September 2020.

Every time after a trim, I vow the next one will be once my hair is under knee-length. Well, once again, I broke my promise. Last weekend, I impulse-asked my mom to trim a good chunk of my hair. I don't know how much exactly (see picture below), but my longest tips went from touching my upper knees to going back to a solid mid-thigh length.

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Both pics above are before the trim; only difference is that the one on the right is brighter to see better (and I don't know what's up with the vertical white streak in the middle of my hair!).

What my mom has cut!

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After the trim. Disliked the first pic on the left, so I took one myself.(We had already taken so many pictures and had to put an end to the photoshoot.)

I miss my longer hair, but the trim was a necessary evil. And I must admit, it's nice to have thicker ends.

🎕 I bought hair accessories.

I found these cute hair ties at Simons.

A white lace hair bow and a simple knot made out of burgundy satin

I saw a video on IG with a girl wearing an accessory similar to the one on the right, and the ribbons hanging on both sides of her bun made the hairstyle look so pretty. I'm not sure if I can make the same with mine since the hair tie is pretty tight, but maybe once it becomes looser with use.

Edit Sept. 19th 2021: Here are pictures of me wearing the white scrunchie. It's my favourite and goes well with everything. ♡

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I also bought my first hair fork! It is from 60th Street on Etsy.

Front of the fork

Back of the fork

Here is the fork's listing for anyone interested. You can also read the review I posted – it should be just under the listing's picture. I'm really satisfied with the fork. It's very solid and holds my hair in place all day long.

The only problem – and that's not the seller's fault – is that I can't make a nice-looking bun with the fork. Every time I try to, I always find an issue with it (too tight/loose) which prompts me to remove the hair fork. And yes, I did watch YouTube videos on how to make a bun with a hair fork. I'm a lost cause.

The bun pictured below is the best I could do with my non-existent talent in hairstyling.

This is the same pic I posted in my Etsy review (despite countless tries,

I only have pics of the one nice bun I managed to do lmao).

I think I just rolled my hair on itself, then rolled it into a bun and pricked the fork into it. Unfortunately, the hair fork was getting hidden by my hair which was slowly getting loser. I had to remove the fork pretty rapidly because the bun would have eventually collapsed. A shame since it didn't look too bad.

Another shot of the bun; you can see my hair creeping over the fork even more.

I was left with a dilemma: either I do pretty buns that don't last long, either I do ugly buns that stay on. I chose the latter, so I've been constrained to wear the fork when my hair has become greasy or when I do cleaning (so only when I'm at home). It's not absolutely bad cuz I get to wear it at least, but its primary use wasn't intended for that. TT

🎕 I bought the reMarkable 2.

A bit of context: During work, I often have to take notes rapidly, so they end up being quite disordered. On top of that, I get confused easily, so if I don't do anything and reread them the next week, I will have forgotten a lot of info and won't be able to recall it correctly. In the end, it affects my efficiency and quality of work.

Like most people, I rewrite my notes when I want them to look neater. However, rewriting my notes is definitely not part of my responsibilities at work, nor do I want to rewrite my notes from work in my free time.

While I was writing in my work notebook's last pages, I thought how the next notetaking tool I'd buy would help me organize my notes better. I ended up buying a Filofax notebook. I thought being able to move the pages was the solution to improve my content organization.

Unfortunately, I had to rewrite my notes after each meeting... and because the Filofax looked prettier than my former notebook, I was wasting even more time rewriting even more stuff to make everything look nice. Plus, when I wrote something spontaneously (e.g. an idea popped up), I would think a lot before writing to make sure to cover every info and in the right order.

During this short period of time, I wasted time rewriting stuff that didn't need to be rewritten in the first place, and wrote down stuff as if I was composing a final copy every time. I was the opposite of efficient with a Filofax, so I had to give it up. Nevertheless, this experience taught me that organized and usable notes didn't need to be necessarily aesthetic.

A couple of days later, I started looking for a tablet specifically made for writing. I had gotten the idea from my Explore page on IG – which often shows me pics of beautiful handwritten study notes on iPads. However, I didn't want a tablet with an array of options (I wouldn't use most of them), especially as they tend to take up a lot of battery life.

A few hours later, I had ordered the reMarkable 2 on the official website (t'was pretty much an impulse buying). I received it within a week or so.

I did hesitate before getting this tablet, notably because of the price, but also because of the limited colour options for the ink (only black, white and grey).

However, I came to the realization that I don't even need colours – I favour blue or black ink 99 % of the time when writing, depending on the pen I have on hand. Moreover, having the possibility of adding colours to my text would DEFINITELY be counter-productive, as I'd waste time on the aesthetic of my notes.

I really like the carton x paper packaging.

I think the tablet is wrapped in vellum paper?

For the case, I chose the book folio in polymer weave.

On the right side of the tablet, you can see the pen (it is magnetic!).

I went with the marker plus as it has an eraser, unlike the normal marker.

You can flip the front of the case completely under the tablet.

Again, very practical and makes it easier to carry around.

I've been using this tablet for about one month and I am LOVING it. It suits all of my needs perfectly. I like how the device is meant to be simple – just like pen and paper – but with functionalities that make it worth more than pen and paper. As an example, here's a situation where technology comes in handy.

A normal page of written text. (Btw, I believe this page layout

is "Margin small", but you can choose among lots of others.)

Suppose that I just thought about writing the paragraph at the bottom,

but it's meant to be under the bullet "Diapos 23-24 : SHITSUKE".

By using the Selection tool, I am able to move

my paragraph easily right under the bullet in question.

I typically use the Selection tool to copy a cluster of text and move it (either on the same page, on another page or in another document). My example may seem silly, but it is exactly the kind of functionalities I need in order to organize my ideas simply and efficiently.

At the moment, I'm only writing stuff on my tablet, but I'm thinking of importing lots of PDF readings. I would have way fewer books to carry with me when visiting my parents or going to work.

In my opinion, the tablet's major weakness is that you can't use it in the dark since the screen doesn't have a light. I read this was intentional in an effort to make the tablet feel like paper and pen as much as possible. Understandable, but considering the high price of the product, it goes without saying that the screen should come with a light imo.

Speaking of the price, I'm bringing it up so that if I ever come back reading this, I'll have a vestige of one crazy expensive purchase I made on a whim. So the tablet cost 599 $, the pen (marker plus) 149 $, and the case (book folio in polymer weave) 149 $. Which amounts to a total of 897 $ CAD. 🤠

Was it worth it? For me, yes.

🎕 I bought a new handbag: David Jones Paris.

Having been in a state of denial, I recently came to admit that I would not be able to go to work with my retro nor my vintage handbag (respectively, the black one from YesStyle & the beige one with gold scallop). 

Moreover, after purchasing my reMarkable 2, it was obvious I'd need a bigger bag to hold my stuff when shuttling back and forth between work and home.

My mom was the one who spotted this handbag at Marshalls. It wasn't love at first sight for me, but upon carrying it and seeing how well it blended with my style and wardrobe, I came to love it.

The handles can rest on the bag instead of sticking up stubbornly. 😌

I like how clean and subtle the brand looks on the bag.

The handbag has three compartments: two relatively easy to access/unzip, and a more discreet one in the middle. There's also has a zipped pocket at the back. So many compartments, me loves.

Personally, I much prefer zippers over other types of closures (e.g. magnetic ones) since they're more secure. In fact, my Liz Lisa bag gave me bits of anxiety whenever I thought that my metro pass or my keys had slipped out of my bag, only to find them seconds later.

My reMarkable 2 also fits perfectly in there~

The handbag came with a bag for storage, which was a nice surprise.

🎕 Miscellaneous (I couldn't categorize these things.)

Saigon chicken soup from our favourite Vietnamese restaurant. Mmm.

Weeks ago, I bought a ravishing and high-quality full slip to wear under my see-through dresses...

... and the day after, I tried it on with a dress and the dress' zipper caught a part of the slip's mesh. It had to be ripped off, FML.

🎕 After more than a year of staying at my parent's house, I'm now back at my apartment in Montreal.

I'll work at the office on some days (hybrid schedule), so I will probably restart posting on my OOTDs page.

Lovely (cork?) board that my parents put up

Among the new improvements in my apartment (thank you 👫), my parents installed a portable aircon so that I'm not repetitively hit by heat strokes this summer. It's been working since I've returned to Montreal, and my quality of life has improved so much... much more energy to cook and clean during the day (and basically just move) and better sleeping.

Last Sunday, I cooked General Tso's Chicken in my slow-cooker.

I shall talk about this dish more in detail in another blog post.

Oh, and finally, I got my first Covid shot last Saturday.

:D