Fake Sailor Moon Figures on eBay - Banpresto Girls Memory Crane Game Figurines

First of all: I must apologize for never updating this blog. But as I mentioned before, I am pretty much addicted to Instagram, so if you want to see any photos or follow my (mostly boring) life, please check my IG account @theflyingace. :)

Lately I have been collecting a lot of Sailor Moon merchandise, because they keep releasing the 20th anniversary goods probably to align with the release of Sailor Moon Crystal. (Probably a whole 'nother blog post in and of itself, lol.)

This post is mostly a warning to other collectors to be careful when buying stuff on eBay. I mean, that goes without saying when you're buying anything online...and I probably got what I deserved for buying these since I did not ask for extra photos of the boxes or close-ups of the boxes/figures themselves. Also the price ($34 shipped) is too good to be true, seeing as how I just paid $63 total for all 4 outer senshi figurines.

While I have had many positive experiences buying on eBay, there have been a handful of negative ones.

Recently, I purchased some Sailor Moon figurines from a seller located in the USA. The seller's name is collectorsaldo21 in case you were wondering. I thought I'd be safe ordering from a US seller, as most of my experiences with counterfeit items were the result of me purchasing from sellers overseas, particularly in China. However, this was not the case in this particular instance.

While I am not an expert in spotting fakes, I will say that there are some tell-tale signs you can look for. Specifically, with respect to the packaging and the overall quality of the items you receive.

The fact these came shipped in a flimsy bubble mailer with the figurines OUTSIDE of their boxes, and the boxes as flat sheets stack inside should have been the first sign that these weren't the real deal!!


The first thing to look for is the gold Toei sticker on the top of the box (or in some location on the box or tag, if your item is not the same variety as mine. These are the Banpresto Crane game figures.)

(I apologize in advance for my shitty photos. I am NOT an expert photographer by any stretch of the imagination. Also for reference, the Chibiusa figure is REAL, and not a fake. I bought her from Big In Japan, an online store that specializes in collectible items from Japan.)


The Chibiusa on the right DOES have the gold sticker. But note that the Sailor Moon does not.

Everything arrived like this:

I assembled the Sailor Moon box for the box comparison photo.



Fake Sailor Moon figure - note the smudge on her bow and generally poor workmanship.


Back of the fake figure. Note the messed up paint on her sailor collar, and the mold lines on her back bow that were never sanded down or cut off.


Click "read more" button below to see more pics and read more.




fake Mercury figure. I did not take a pic of the back because I had to leave these in their baggies since I was returning them to the seller. So therefore, it was very difficult to accurately capture them while still inside the bags.


Fake Sailor Mars figurine. Note the messed up paint - white paint from her leotard going onto the red skirt. Ick!


Fake Luna figure. Hard to tell with this one. It's the least awful of them all maybe due to the size. But the eye decals are semi translucent and not opaque. :(

For reference, this is my REAL Chibiusa figure, not a counterfeit:


Note the significantly better paint job!!

So I hope this post was somewhat informative to all y'all Sailor Moon collectors out there. I wish I had a better set of photos ....was almost tempted to buy the real ones and keep these too so I could do comparison shots, but I'd rather have my 30something bucks back in my pocket so I can invest in legit merchandise!!

I am shipping these back to the seller today. I told him they were fakes and the answer I got back was like it came out of google translate or something....broken English. So yeah....weird. I don't know what to say other than be careful. At least eBay has buyer protection so you can at least have peace of mind with most of your purchases.

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. :-(

Wanting to Dress Gyaru...

Every so often I will throw stuff together when I am lounging around my house, bored, on a weekend. I will go all-out with my makeup, or I will spend hours trying to put together the right look, clothing-wise. And then I won't go anywhere. Part of wearing gyaru is confidence and sometimes I just don't feel confident, although wearing gal does make me feel beautiful on the outside when I am sick or feeling sad on the inside. That's something I have always loved about fashion...being able to escape and go to someplace else when the real world just isn't cutting it for me.


I love the simplicity of black and white. And yet it can be elegant...or casual...depending on which way you style it.


I wasn't wearing gal makeup in either of these photos. It was late at night, I am pretty sure I had work the next day, and I was feeling like shit. Lately, I was diagnosed with IBS so I have to be careful about what I eat, drink, what medicines I take, and letting stress get to me. Stress causes so many attacks. >__<;; Sometimes dressing up is the only relief I get. But wearing tight clothing can also bring me pain, so I try to avoid it when possible...part of the reason why I get so bummed out when something I lusted after for a long time ends up being too small/tight on me. I don't know what style of gal you'd call the black x white outfit above, but I was leaning towards oneegyaru....anyone have any better ideas for what to call it? Maybe just grown-up elegant style? IDK. I always thought that's what oneegyaru was.... 'older sister gal' like a Liz Lisa graduate, lol? I will never stop wearing Liz Lisa. Or Liz Lisa-inspired outfits. See below:
I got this from a totally awesome Korean eBay seller located in California. She sells her clothing as full outfits. I highly recommend checking her out. I don't even know her or anything, but she has great style. I messaged her asking if she had a blog/instagram/lookbook/etc. but to my disappointment, she doesn't. Or maybe she didn't want to share it with me cause she was creeped out by my fangirl-ing, heehee! :D At the time of this post, she doesn't have anything up for sale. But I signed up for notifications, lol. *ebaynerd*

Anywayyyyy I guess I am done gushing about gyaru.

I also acquired this tasty garment recently:


UNIF Pastel Moto Jacket.

I saw this killer cute jacket before it was featured in Paramore's new music video, Still Into You (which I do adore, btw) but seeing one of my fave singers wearing it made me want it even more. Weird how that works.


I swear I didn't buy this pastel moto jacket because of Hayley.... but it just so happens that UNIF is one of my favorite brands and Paramore is one of my favorite bands..... hmmmmmmm. Alignment of stars, planets, galaxies, &c.?

I love Paramore even though they have a different sound now and are down a couple of a band members. ;)

Their new album is too legit to quit!! :D

...must convince my boss to let me dye my hair like Hayley's lol...! xD

And here is the rest of it.

Hologram Litas + Hologram Brazen Platforms for SALE! + My New Lotus Elise!! :)

So unfortunately my UNIF dress from the previous post ended up BREAKING after I was trying it on a second time. I was so bummed. I already sent it back to Dolls Kill...I am hoping they can at least give me store credit for it so I can get a new one. Bah. I plan to fix the rivets on the new one with felt stickies, if I can. They won't do cash refunds at all which kinda blows but I did want a replacement dress. What a bummer. UNIF quality is usually pretty good but this one was a miss! I was barely even pulling on the elastic and it broke. MEH.

Anyway that mini-rant aside, I DID end up getting these gorgeous beauties in the mail last week which I do plan to wear with my rainbow dress:




Can you tell I have a mild hologram shoe obsession?! LOL. And that's putting it lightly.


Hologram all the things!!! xD

I bought them as replacements for my Hologram Brazen platforms, actually, also by JC...because I bought them in size 9.5 US and they don't fit my size 9 feet. It was an attempt to get these babies in my closet and Nasty Gal had run out of all the size 9's which seriously bummed me out....so I thought I'd stuff them with the Doctor Scholl's gel stuff (from a couple of posts back) and while it DID work....the straps just didn't feel right. I guess the strap is proportionate to the shoe size or something. Anyway, it wasn't working out, and I wanted these to go to a good home.



They're listed on eBay right now, here is the link to the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=251277293651&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123

I hate eBay in general for selling things because of all the damn fees. But I could sell these to someone outside of eBay as long as Paypal is being used. And if that's the case, I can lower the price to what I paid $120 + shipping. But yeah...I really hope someone buys these because I know I won't wear them. It's sad because they are WAY more comfy than Litas in general which tend to run a little narrow. I am hoping JC comes out with even more hologram shoes. Considering how much it's trending right now, I'd put money on it! I also love black hologram so I hope they come out with some of that sort of stuff too. ;)

Anyyyywayyy....!

Also I am SUPER pumped because I just bought a new car!!! It's a Lotus Elise!! It's dark green with tan interior, and it's totally sublime! A lot of people in the US don't know of Lotus as it's a British company from what I understand. Totally in love...and it's supposed to be here Wednesday so here's a sneak-peek! ;)



I promise more car porn photos soon! But I need to get the oil line replaced as that part was recalled.

Review: Holika Holika Peach Girl BB Cream

Holika Holika Peach Girl BB Cream

Purchased from eBay seller: cosmeticmarket2012 (same place I got my Tony Moly Milk Latte Pack from.)

It cost $13.59 including shipping from Korea and it took about 10 days to get here. Also I got some awesome free samples with my purchase!



As I mentioned before, Holika Holika is one of my favorite brands from Korea because of their innovative products, and super cute packaging. But will the products work? That was my big question. Because even if the products seem new and interesting and the packaging is uber cute, well, the product will be useless to me unless it works!! It will end up in the bottom of my makeup stash...the darkest, deepest reaches... hehe.

So I saw a blog review of Peach Girl BB Cream by Holika Holika and decided I had to try it, as I was running low on my Baviphat BB Cream which I will definitely need to review soon as it's my favorite and most used BB Cream!



Click the jump below to read more.



What do I love most about this BB Cream? It's probably the fact that it's a two in one! The cap unscrews and then opens up to reveal a miniature mirror inside, and a lovely peachy pink colored cream blush/lipgloss!



Sorry for the bad lighting, btw.



It's a really lovely color. It has the consistency of Urban Decay Cream blushes, if you've ever tried those before. Here is a swatch of the cream blush on my hand:



And here is a photo of me wearing both the BB Cream and the blush over top of my Tony Moly primer from the last post (the Milk Tea pack.)


Sorry for my derpy face! @____@; my hair was not cooperating that day either lol.

Annnd I decided to compare it to two other BB Creams I have and enjoy:


(L to R: Holika Holika Clearing BB Cream, Baviphat Magic Girls Fresh for Oily Skin BB Cream, and Holika Holika Peach Girl BB Cream.)

Swatches:

As you can see the Peach Girl creams is a bit lighter...maybe I should have tried 02? The Baviphat cream is my all time favorite, and I think the Clearing one is my second favorite.

Anyyyway! To sum things up... here is what I like and do not like about the BB Cream and Blush:

BB Cream
- very spreadable, smooth, great texture
- too light for my skin! it comes in two shades, 01 and 02, and I decided to get 01 because the swatches I saw online of the 02 looked too dark for me.
- smells nice! (but again not good for those who are sensitive to smells. it's kind of a mild artificial perfumey peach smell ...I personally prefer the smell of the Baviphat BB Cream better.)
- when it dries/oxidizes it has a very odd matte/powdery feel to it even if I am not using a setting powder over top of it. so yeah... kinda...weird. @___@;
- not as spreadable unless you use a primer underneath

Cheek/Lip Cream:
- love the little mirror it comes with and the fact that it's built into the cap for portability
- kind of greasy and hard to apply, had to use fingers
- long lasting, especially if you set it with powder!
- also has a nice scent
- gorgeous, gorgeous color! looks great on my fair skin and would look good on other types of skin tone too
- even though it claims you can use it on your lips, I tried it and looked really nasty and clumpy, so I would avoid using it on your lips!!
- it's build-able so you can go sheer or darker depending on how much you apply!

All in all, I'd give the BB Cream 3.5/5 stars, and the blush 4/5 stars. I doubt I'd buy it again mostly because I have so many other BB Creams I would like to cross of my list of trying, but this one isn't bad, it probably won't be my go-to cream except for in the wintertime when I am already uber pale or when I need to look lighter. (?!)

Thanks for reading and I hope this review was useful to someone! :)
More reviews to come soon!!!

***Disclaimer: I never receive products from companies to review. All of the products you see on my blog are 100% purchased by me, the cosmetic maniac for my own personal reviewing pleasure and satisfaction, hehe. If a company does send me something, I will note that on the review. ;) These opinions are mine and mine only, no one has paid me to say things!***

Some Stuff for Sale on eBay

I am so depressed that my jeans no longer fit me. I went from size 27 to size 28 in the course of a few months. Maybe more than a few. I don't know. But I am mostly sad because I can't wear my Miss Me Jeans anymore and I LOVE THEM omg. ;___; They have gorgeous rhinestones on the butt! Oh well.. I am hoping I can sell them to a loving home and then I can use the funds to buy a new pair or help to buy a new pair. A brand new pair is over $100, it's so annoying! ;__; maybe I can find a different brand with rhinestones on the back. I love jeans with rhinestones. They're like my bling-bling pants and great for rock gyaru. I even have a rhinestone belt!! xD

Anyway! I am selling some makeup too...LUSH and Eyeko.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/nozomiwhitewolf/m.html?item=251030979074&viewitem=&_trksid=p4340.l2562

If you don't see anything you like, passing it on to friends would be a great help to me. I just want a pair of pants that I love that fit me! ;____; lol!

And here is the rest of it.

Number One Hair Product!! (that you can't live without!)

Wow, I am really a bad blogger...I keep neglecting my poor blog! ;___;

The reason why is mostly because I recently started an internship!! YAY! It's at an aerospace company in the county and it's a really long drive just to get to work each morning! So I have to get up super duper early just to drive there and by the end of the day I am totally exhausted. =___=;;

But I have time now for a quick update so here we go!

I've done a lot lately...sold some stuff, bought some stuff, lost some weight (<3!), etc... I bought two new lolita dresses and I sold a whole lot of my old sweet stuff. I got some vintage dresses from shops in a town called Columbia, MO which is where my roommate is from (but we live in St. Louis city together.) It's about a 2 hr drive to get there plus or minus, but she goes home every so often to see her mom! ^^ We explored town (more like I explored town) and snagged some cute dresses. I am too tired to take and upload pics now but that will come later, I promise! For now, I was wondering, readers... what is your Number One Hair Product? As in your ABSOLUTE favorite? Can't leave home without it? Need it in order to have a "good" hair day? Well for ME.... mine is definitely, hands-down a product by the company Kenra called Silkening Shine Gloss!

It is AMAZING. Seriously. You apply a little dab to slightly damp-ish hair and rub it in, then use your hair dryer as normal. The heat activates the formula and makes your hair suuuper soft, glossy (without being greasy!) and it smells AMAZING. Functional and delightfully good smelling at the same time. What more could you ask for? :D

My second favorite is probably R&B by LUSH!

It smells positively delicious too and leaves your hair so soft but you have to be careful not to use too much or it will make your hair heavy and gunky and oily! >_<;; it's pretty good for dry hair though...dry or damaged...but mine is oily and damaged which sucks because it's already so greasy if I don't wash it enough. @__@;; Random side note. I have never tried "BB Cream" before so I decided to snag a bottle of this stuff cheap on eBay:

I will do a review once I get it and try it for a week or two. Like I said, oily oily skin and hair for me, so I tried to find a BB Cream meant for oily skin. What say you all? Tried BB Creams? Like them? Love them? Hate them? Indifferent? Seems like a really overly hyped product IMHO but I guess I can't judge till I try! :3 Nyah!

Oh and bonus: I snagged some perfume for cheap, click read more to see! (This post is long enough as is!) ;____;




J'Adore by Christian Dior:
(and yes I know this bottle isn't the 3.4 oz one but I was lazy and googling, haha.)

$39.10 shipped on eBay!
Original price for 3.4oz on Sephora.com is $98. I saved $58.90!! xD


and


Dolce & Gabbana rose the one

$46 shipped on eBay!! Original price on Sephora.com is $95 for 2.5 oz. I saved $49!! :D


And I got both bottles in the mail today, with free samples, even. :D From US sellers. They weren't shady at all or anything and the perfume is legit. The Dior one was slightly used but it still had like 95% of the perfume remaining. The D&G one was totally new in box, even sealed with the wrapping paper and D&G sticker. Totally authentic.

Conclusion. eBay = win. xD

If you're looking to get pricey perfumes at half the cost or even better...check the eBay! :o)

That's all for now, thanks for tuning in to my ramblings! :]

Outfit Dump

I know I said I'd make my next post more makeup reviews but I kind of want to take a break from make up for a while and post CLOTHING since this is a *fashion* blog, haha.

:-S

A lot of these are gyaru inspired (think Liz Lisa!) Some are vintage. Some are just random mall clothing from stores like Forever 21, and some are retro/mod-inspired! :D




Clickie for more!




Cute top from nastygal.com


Dress from modcloth.com
belt from ebay!


Top: Forever21
Belt: Love Culture
Skirt: Forever 21
Jeggings: Icing
Boots: wet seal
Necklace: Claire's



Closeup of Claire's necklace.



Gunne Sax dress! Vintage 1970s :D


Top: Missguided.co.uk
Shorts: Love Culture


Same top from missguided with missguided 70s inspired trousers! <3



I LOVE THIS OUTFIT! Gal inspired.
Top: Missguided.co.uk
Shorts: Love Culture
Shoes: forever 21
Hat: Yahoo Japan Auctions


Liz Lisa Inspired!
Maxi Dress: Missguided.co.uk
Hat: Claire's (with extra flowers added!)



Dress: Missguided
Belt: eBay
Shoes: Wet Seal


Vintage 1980s dress from local shop called The Vintage Haberdashery


Mori girl <3
Top: F21
Lace dress: F21
Lace vest: Dillard's
Boots: F21
Accessories: Claire's



Dolly Kei! (really old pic!)
Dress: Vintage 1970s
Vest: Ann Taylor Loft (sooo old)
Tassel: Bed Bath & Beyond
Oddfellow's collar: Vintage 1900s
Hat: Macy's
Fur: Vintage - eBay
Tooled leather bag: vintage - etsy



Flapper repro dress: Vintage Haberdashery (rental!)
This was for a 1920s themed yelp.com party I went to! :3



Can you believe Modcloth.com was selling this as an actual SKIRT to just "wear"? haha. too OTT for my figure, so it's now used as a petticoat! :D
http://www.modcloth.com/Womens/Bottoms/Skirts/-Macadamia-Skirt


Skirt: Modcloth
Top: F21
Wedges: Missguided


Cardigan: Modcloth
Belt: Love Culture
Tank: Target
Jewelry: F21 (necklace) and Love Culture (ring)


BEAUTIFUL "ryu" brand dress from Modcloth.


Gorgeous "JACK" by bbDakota dress from Modcloth.


Skirt: Modcloth
Top: F21



that's all for now! Hope you enjoyed! :3 I can post links to product pages if you ask about certain items in the comments section! Otherwise I was too lazy to link to each one! xD