Author: Diane

A Fresh Start

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I’ve been working behind the scenes getting everything updated and fixed up, clearing out spam, and generally doing “invisible” projects for a while now, all in preparation for today. The one-year anniversary of my last post. Not really something to celebrate, but it seemed like the perfect time to give myself a fresh start. More on that below.

To celebrate the rebirth and renewal of my blog, I decided to create this ikebana with a bold and sculptural protea blossom, surrounded and protected by tiny mums in a very similar colour pallette. Airy nigella greens help contrast the heaviness of the focus flowers and bring balance and light to the whole arrangement. The flowers were purchased at a lovely florist here in Montreal called Les Champs Fleuris while I was out with Sophie. While we were there, a woman came in to browse and she was wearing yukata!

As I outlined in my last post, I had a very eventful end of 2023 leading into 2024. I was over-ambitious and thought I’d be able to pick up where I left off, at the same time as I recovered from a pretty debilitating accident, all while working 40+ hours a week, travelling back and forth across the continent, and planning a very DIY wedding.

I accepted that life had gotten in the way, but convinced myself I’d get back into the swing of things when I got back to Montreal (where all my kimono, ikebana vessels, and other blogging necessities still live) last month only to find out there’d been a minor fire in the house here and my parents hadn’t told me to “not stress me out further.” Don’t worry, everyone is safe and sound and the only damage was to one wall where a thermostat shorted out. My mother thankfully felt the heat emanating out of the wall before calling 911 immediately. But I came home to new walls, an entirely refinished floor due to water damage, and the bulk of our possessions boxed up all over the hallways.

But here’s the good news. The wedding went off a treat, I have been happily married for six months. The house here in Montreal is slowly getting back to normal as we unpack everything. The kimono room is still upside-down and I’m still dealing with a lot of chronic pain in my legs and can’t stand for long periods of time, but I’ve got lots of reviews and little adventures planned out for the near future. I still need to wrangle The Husband into a formal kimono and hakama so we can take some very belated “wedding” pictures. Maybe for our first anniversary next December. Seems fitting since I keep doing things on anniversaries lately.

On that note, if you’re still here I can’t express how much I appreciate your continued encouragement and support. Please select your top three options of content you’d like to see or drop me a line here or on any social media platform if you have any requests or suggestions. I can’t promise anything, but I can sure as heck try! All reviews/diys/etc will obviously be related to kimono or Japanese culture, and of course I will be doing as much actual kimono blogging and coordination as I can in the coming months!

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Where I’ve been, Where I am, Where I’m going.

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I am sorry there’s been radio silence for so long! I’ve just had a lot going on in my life, both good and bad. In a nutshell, for those of you who don’t want the nitty-gritty, I spent a week in the hospital in early December and am still sort of recovering despite it nearly being July; I travelled a ton in February through April; I got engaged; I am currently back home prepping for a wedding, but will be moving across the continent once I’m legally able to. If you’re curious and want the deets, keep reading. There’s a bit of gory medical detail in the first paragraph below, but no photos, don’t worry.

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Life, the Universe and Everything

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This is one of those coordinations I’ve wanted to do from the very moment I got this kimono, and have just been putting off for one reason or another for years. It was high time I fixed that! This past Thursday was my 42nd birthday, and this coordinate has auspicious motifs of hayama and kagami (arrows and mirrors) and my favourite colour (teal) so I decided it was finally time to do it.

This kimono is definitely interesting – it’s brighter and more bold than most kurotomesode of the era, and it’s definitely very long for its age. The hem has a slight roll to it, so it’s a bit heavier than the rest of the fabric. This, along with the length, lead me to suspect it was a hikizuri, meant to be worn trailing. I’d like to think it may have been a geisha’s piece, worn at the new year, but this is just a suspicion of mine and I have no way to verify it. Whatever it is, I absolutely love it and should coordinate it more often.

The cool afternoon lighting in my living room makes the teal look bluer in these photos, but it definitely sits right between green and blue in person. I decided to use reds and blues in the accessories to emphasize how bold and punchy this piece is, and to sort of reinforce the geisha-adjacent feel of it. I also decided to let it drape, hikizuri style, to show off the beautiful flow of it, and tied the obi wider than normal to match. The collars are a bit wonky, but sometimes I just cannot get them to cooperate due to the shape of the mannequin. Alas.

This birthday has been a good one and I have very upbeat feelings about this coming loop around the sun. I hope I can share lots of new content and great news with you all soon!

Items used in this coordination

Kiyoko Beauty – Shop Feature and Product Reviews

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A while back, I came across Kiyoko Beauty, a Canadian company dedicated to making Japanese and Korean beauty more accessible here in North America (they ship to the US as well!). I gave them a budget and asked for product suggestions to feature, and they were kind enough to work with me to basically double what I was able to get for my budget. It was enormously appreciated, and allowed me to bring a wider range of products to you all.

Before anything else, I would like to thank the staff for being so patient with me. This review has been a very long time in coming, but I’ve been travelling a lot, having some issues with a sick lizard, and wanted to make sure I gave all the products a good long test to make sure my reviews were as thorough as possible.

However, this timing benefits you as my readers, because they’re currently having a huge Black Friday sale, which is on until November 30th. If you’re looking to try any traditional or modern Japanese (or Korean, but I focus on the Japanese here) beauty products, or looking to get some holiday shopping done, this is a fantastic opportunity for you.

I tried a variety of hair and skin care products, and thoroughly enjoyed every single one. I can recommend all of these, with a few case-specific (sensitive skin, colour-treated hair) caveats mentioned in each section.

Oshima Tsubaki Pure Camellia Oil

Tsubaki (camellia) oil has been used in Japan as a miracle multi-use beauty product for centuries. This is pure camellia oil with no additives and it has been so versatile. I've used it on my hair, my nails and cuticles, and my dry legs. It would be great for face too, for someone with drier skin than myself. If you only consider one product from this post, this is the one to go for.
Amino Mason Sakura Limited Edition Hair Kit (Smooth)

I have been on the hunt for a true sakura fragrance and had high hopes for this line. It smells absolutely amazing, but it's almost got more of a fruity and sweet scent than I was looking for. That said, it's a fantastic line, I used up all three of these products (shampoo, conditioner, and hair mask) while I was in California and they made my hair look and feel great and didn't strip my hair colour more than any other shampoo I've used. These may have not hit my "sakura" button but I'm definitely debating buying more!
Moist, Diane Bonheur Orange Flower Shampoo & Treatment

I won't lie, the name of this brand may have been my primary motivator to select these. They were literally calling my name! This line feels luxurious and elevated, from the packaging to the subtle orange bossom fragrance. The products were great, but they definitely did something funky with my hair colour - it's gone from its usual teal to a very natural-looking brown! It's not terrible but I wouldn't really recommend this particular line for colour-treated hair. It's not marketed that way though, so I knew it was a possibility.
Kikumasamune Rice Made+ Cleansing Oil Kikumasamune Japanese Sake Face Cream

I wanted to try some skincare as well and the folks at Kiyoko suggested Kikumasamune. I grabbed a face cream and a cleanser. The oil cleanser is absolutely amazing. It's got a delicious but subtle orange fragrance to it, removes makeup like a dream, and leaves my face feeling soft and smooth. The moisturiser contains sake lees and probiotics, and worked fantastically for me for quite a while, until my dermatitis started acting up (for unrelated reasons). I've had to go back to more specialised products but I'm looking forward to being able to finish it off when my skin settles back down though! However, it absolutely smells like sake so that is something to consider.
Ishizawa Keana Pore Tightening Sheet Masks

These sheet masks are fantastic. I have no idea how they manage to both clear up breakouts and dry oily skin while hydrating the face so well! They have a faint scent of both cucumber and pineapple, which is very invigorating and refreshing, so they're a great pick-me-up to wear while getting ready for a big evening. One thing to note, these masks are not individually packed. The bag has a press-and-seal strip so they do stay moist for a long time, and I appreciate the lack of disposable waste, but I like to toss a sheet mask or two in my carryon bag when I'm spending a whole day travelling and that's not possible with these.
BCL Vecua Honey Sakura hand cream

This is it! This is the sakura scent I've been on the hunt for! It's light, floral, a little herbaceous, and a little powdery. It's also incredibly moisturising and didn't irritate my eczema or dermatitis. If I could buy industrial barrels of this cream, I absolutely would. I cannot say enough good things about it!

Again, I want to give a huge thank you to the team at Kiyoko Beauty. On top of the great products and affordable prices, the service I received was so incredibly helpful and thorough. They helped me work within my budget, and gave me some fantastic suggestions that took my concerns and interests into account. So if you’re looking for some cult favourite products from Japan, I highly suggest you check out Kiyoko Beauty.

 I purchased this item at a discounted price for honest review purposes.This post contains affiliate link(s). If you choose to purchase, I receive a small rebate or commission which goes to the continued maintenance of this site. 

Classy and Creepy

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Happy Halloween! An appropriate day to raise myself from the dead, I think. I’ve just been incredibly busy, travelling and working and whatnot, but I do have some stuff in the works for the next little while.

I knew I had to get this one up today, though. The “obi” is too perfect for a classy and creepy outfit. Funny thing is, it’s not an obi at all. It’s two table runners from Target! One wrapped twice around the body, and one for the musubi. I wanted to keep the rest of the outfit subtle but still halloween-y so my bat menuki obidome and spiderweb haneri, and then remembered I had this lovely piece of soft spiderweb mesh I found in a remnant bin at the fabric store. It makes the perfect shawl, doesn’t it?

I love how this outfit feels seasonal and creepy but totally wearable, and I also love how the two star pieces are both found items that have nothing to do with kimono. The orange accessories were the finishing touch, and they add just the right amount of pop.

Items used in this coordination