Disclaimer: Never in my life have I bought this much makeup at one time. As a PF-type blogger maybe this is completely out of my expertise and I definitely am a little ashamed that I bought so much (I never do beauty hauls!!!) but… I only go to San Gabriel once in a blue moon, aka once a year or even less. Is that my excuse? I guess it is! :P My beauty budget will definitely kill me this month but… only once in a while, right? I save my money, I work hard with a full time science-related job and an Etsy shop, and I spend less than I earn…. so if you would be so kind, please let me have this little slice of bliss. 
Anyway so after my little sister’s graduation ceremony in San Diego I stopped by my favorite LA beauty spot…. SAN GABRIEL.
And my #1 spot? TAKASHIMA. AKA Japanese makeup HEAVEN *cue the singing angels* The prices are pretty expensive (in my eyes, anyway) and you can get a lot of their individual products on Ebay for much cheaper. But who can beat having everything all in one spot? It makes things much easier. Plus computer images from Ebay can’t reflect what the products look like IRL, especially eyeshadow.
I took a ton of secretive pics from my phone because I wanted to show you how insane this store really is:
I was completely dazed by the amount of Maquillage and Coffret D’or. (I bought a Maquillage eyeshadow palette, pics below) Too bad Lunasol wasn’t there though:
Hairstyling and makeup supplies:
Aisle pic (everywhere you look there are interesting products and advertisements):
Palty and a plethora of other hair dyes and haircare products:
Dolly Wink lashes were nearly sold out (not surprising):
I also went to a couple other Japanese clothing/makeup stores (forgot their names, sorry) as well as a department store. Integrate and KATE makeup (I bought an Integrate palette, pics below):
Again, overpriced but the selection is worth it. They also had huge falsies sets for $14. I didn’t buy any because I already have 1 set from a year ago and I’m STILL not finished.
Department store beauty products at the New Capital department store:
They had a lot of Dolly Wink there in comparison to sold-out Takashima for $18.49 and STILL no #1 lash set.
Skin79 BB creams, I believe. It was insane because I went to a boutique 10 minutes earlier and they were selling the hot pink and gold BB creams for a whopping $64.99 in comparison to the $34.99 price tag here. Markup much!?
Handmade nail sets from Japan! Still pretty expensive. They’re very nice to look at but a bit too impractical for my life. 
More lash sets (I forgot which brand these are, sorry):
Shisem lashes (you can tell I’m a big falsie person from all of these lash photos):
Look at the huge lineup of Beauty Diary masks! I didn’t want one huge box of a single type for $16.99 so my mom got me a mixed variety set for $9.99 (pics below):
I know these 2 are old products but I never get tired of seeing the adorable packaging. I think the seal one is for blackheads and the alligator one is for fine lines? Check out their “after” pics in the top right corner! Hehe:
Onto the actual buys! I bought some cheap Bath and Body works products for traveling ($6 total!) as well.
Maquillage GY867 and Integrate BR730:
I swear I took like 10 minutes trying to decide what Maquillage palette to buy. I bought it for $60 after tax which I now realize is insanely marked up… you can buy it on Ebay for about $10 less or even more. Oh well. I don’t regret it because I got to see the palettes in person.
The reason why I chose the GY867 is because I wanted to find something cool-toned and wearable for work. My BR-1 KATE Glamtrick palette gets used every day and I’m getting a little bored with warm tones.
On the back they have specific names for each color, which is convenient. I believe they sell individual colors on Ebay but I’m not sure if they are universal for every palette.
Integrate BR730! Again, I went for the cool brown tones which IMHO are SO difficult to find nowadays. Every brown eye palette I see is always so reddish or orangey.
Maquillage GY867 (no flash):
The color payoff is nice… I didn’t swatch these with my fingers (Q-tips) but I should have. These swatches would have looked much better that way. Forgive me, these are my first swatch pics ever! The last 2 colors are the cream liners. The liners do have a bit of sparkle in the pans but I find that the sparkle goes away when you put them on. Sigh.
Maquillage GY867 (flash):
Integrate BR730 (no flash):
Wow I didn’t have high hopes for this Integrate palette but the payoff is awesome. (Swatched with fingers) The 3rd color is INSANELY sparkly. You can tell from the non-flash pic that even in indirect sunlight the sparkles shine so brightly!
Integrate BR730 (flash):
My Beauty Diary masks LE in a pack of 7: (sorry about the watermarks I don’t know what happened there. Heh.)
From Sephora I bought Smith’s Lip Balm in Minted Rose in place of plain ol’ vaseline and some Tweezerman tweezers since my MAC tweezers are dying. I got the Physicians Formula blush from Ebay, I just got it in the mail today.
Minted Rose closeup! This feels so nice on the lips.
And my long-awaited Ebay nail polishes came while I was away (3rd and 4th ones are from Walgreens last week):
With names:
Gorgeous Hidden Treasure:
Phew! I think that was my longest and most picture-heavy post ever. I did buy a few clothes but maybe that will go into another future post.
♥ E&I
No fancy equipment needed. For the plaid print, use a fine brush dipped in polish or a nail art polish equipped with a striping brush.
I’ve included the prices (I think they should be correct, if not they are close) and mini reviews for the products I’ve tried out.
