It’s Time to Get your Face Flex On

Does your face look like this? It doesn’t have to.

These following products seem to be mostly marketed towards women, but anyone is free to use them and reap their (potential) benefits. We’ve got contraptions to straighten out that pesky nose of yours, get rid of those bags under your eyes, unwrinkle your rapidly wrinkling chin, and even slim down the whole entirety of your face.

But is it fair? Is it really so easy to just cheat nature and aging like this? Well, we currently lack the scientific backing on these products to let us know exactly how reliable their claims are, so your guess is as good as mine. But here’s hoping, right?

The Hana Tsun Nose Straightener

Is your nose crooked? Too curvy? Does it contain too much money? Well, you can throw some of that extra cash at the Hana Tsun Nose Straightener because it promises to solve all your worldly woes, nose related or otherwise.

You jam this contraption up your nose for a mere 20 minutes per day and BAM – you’re a supermodel. This fashionable nose machine will forcibly alter the bone structure of your face, giving you that sharp graceful nose that’s straight as an arrow. Just like you always wanted! Even better, you can experience this phenomenon for only $48. What a deal!

And if that’s not enough, there’s also this fancy deluxe electronic version for only $20 more. It’s like putting alien technology on your face.

The Eye Slack Haruka

Are you not getting enough sleep? You look like you’re not getting enough sleep. Why? Well, it’s those humongous bags under your eyes – they’re a dead giveaway that you need another Japanese gadget in your life! Allow me to introduce you to the Eye Slack Haruka – a pretty pink machine with two settings that will shake your face into believing it’s at least 3 years younger.

Slap these babies on your face for just 20 minutes a day and you’ll be the talk of the town. There are two settings to choose from. “Soft” (also known as worthless baby mode) and “Hard”, the only mode worth using. If you’re not going hard, you might as well not be going at all. The product vibrates, uses electric muscle stimulation, and employs the use of gentle micro-currents. With futuristic tech like this, it’s no wonder the thing costs a whopping $98. But it’s worth it, I’m sure.

The Eyelid Trainer

After you’ve rid yourself of those pesky bags, what else can you do to your eyes? Well, if you don’t have that eyelid fold that you want, you can make use of the handy dandy Eyelid Trainer. Not only does it make you look awesome while wearing it, it also promises to give you that double eyelid you always wanted but never actually had. Unless of course you already have a double eyelid. Which, in that case, I guess this eye wear will make it more defined? Or something? Yeah, probably – let’s go with that.

Just 5 minutes a day with this baby will give you those eyelids you always dreamed of. For like, 5 minutes after you take off the glasses – or longer! Perhaps. Anyway, what else are you gonna do about your eyelids that are just fine the way they already are? Plastic surgery? Hell no! That’s expensive. And these glasses can be yours for just $25. The choice is clear.

The Rhythm Slim Chin Exerciser

Have you ever found yourself wondering how you could possibly exercise your jaw, neck, and chin muscles – all while easing cramps, fighting off wrinkles, and reversing global warming? Well wonder no more! The Rhythm Slim Chin Exerciser promises to do most, if not all of the aforementioned things.

Just stick this thing under your chin and hold it down for about 3 minutes each day. In no time at all, you’ll start to see changes (maybe). You should see your chin become the most beautiful thing in all of human creation. Who doesn’t want that? And it can be yours for about $84. Nice.

The Face Slimmer Mouthpiece

Sarah actually wrote about the Face Slimmer Mouthpiece in an earlier post about Japanese toys, but little did she know this mouthpiece’s full potential. It is much, much more than just a silly looking pair of fake lips. It’s a silly looking pair of fake lips that promises to slim your face.

The manufacturers recommend using the mouthpiece for about three minutes every day. They advise you to scream out Japanese vowels as loud as you can while wearing the mouthpiece in a crowded public place for maximum results. Public humiliation is a great motivator. Factor that in with the fact that this mouthpiece can be yours for the low price of $60 and you’ve got yourself a deal.

Or if that’s too much, you can try a cheaper, but similar product for only $30. It doesn’t look like a mouth though, so it’s definitely not as cool.

OR! You could really step it up because you just cannot put a price on beauty. There are also electronic varieties for about $78, but as we all know, higher cost means higher quality. Right?

The Kogao! Smile Lines Face Belt

Here’s another great way to tighten up and infuse your face with that youthful vigor you haven’t had in years. It’s the Kogao! Smile Lines Face Belt! Wow! Strap this thing on your face and you’ll look like a teenager again in no time. If you already are a teenager, this face belt will turn you into a baby.

I’m not sure how long you’re supposed to wear this thing, but the manufacturers say it’s great to use while you’re in the bath. It traps heat within the belt which is said to relax away those pesky face lines you’ve got goin’ on. So it sounds like they’re recommending people use it for about 30 minutes each day, but I say that’s not nearly enough. Wear it all day and let everyone know that you are most definitely getting your $32 worth.

They also have similar products for men. This sauna mask right here is a steal at only $60. It promises to make your face very uncomfortable with heat and sweat. As we all know, heat and sweat makes things smaller, so after wearing this mask your face will be as cute as a button. A manly button, that is.

Shake It Don’t Break It

And I’m sure you know that Japan isn’t the only country guilty of having strange and unusual exercise equipment – just take a look at America’s very own Shake Weight.

If you combine all of these Japanese facial beauty products, you can expect to lose 1-2 hours of time every day. So, while you’re making yourself look younger, time is running away while you sit idly by. Maybe you can watch a new Japanese drama or something while you’re slimming that neck of yours.

So, which one of these goofy contraptions was your favorite? Think any of them might actually work? I found all these on Japan Trend Shop under “beauty products” and there’s a whole lot more listed there if you want to check them out. Plenty of them will give you a good laugh, I’m sure.

If you haven’t yet, you should check out the post on the gadgetry I’ll be bringing. If you don’t like gadgets, or just like clothes and backpacks a lot, though, you should stay. It’s about to get… clothesy.

In the post on gadgetry, I linked directly to the things I bought. In this one, though, I’m just going to give you a general idea of everything. You’ll still be able to use this info to buy clothes of your own, if you’re going on a similar trip, but since clothes are so personal, I thought the info on why I bought what would be more useful to more people. That said, let’s start at the feet.

The Feet

No matter what, if you’re walking long distances, your feet are going to hurt, period. First, you should get some comfortable shoes. Don’t get expensive hiking shoes because they’re expensive hiking shoes. It doesn’t matter how fancy or expensive they are if they don’t feel good on your feet. When you put them on in store, they should feel really good… because they’re going to start hurting once you walk in them a long ways. I got shoes that felt awesome, and added some new soles to them to increase the support. They feel great, but I’m still expecting some kind of foot pain to develop. I’ll let you know how things are in the actual episodes of TofuguTV, I’m sure, though.

For socks, I got socks with Merino Wool. Merino wool is great for wicking away moisture and keeping your feet warm when it’s cold, and cool when it’s warm. They also don’t have as much friction as cotton socks, meaning you’ll be less likely to get blisters. Whatever you do, though, I wouldn’t recommend cotton. They take too long to dry, they don’t have as much support, and they will give you blisters and foot pain much sooner. Shell out a little extra for socks and you’ll thank yourself.

The Legs

For pants, I didn’t want anything too thick, and I wanted to stay versatile. I got thin and medium thickness synthetic pants. They’re going to be pretty cool, and won’t provide a ton of warmth. Luckily, as long as I’m walking around a lot, my legs should keep warm. If they don’t, I have some long underwear for that.

I got a medium and light thickness long underwear. I figure if I really need warmth, I can double up on them. I think getting too warm is going to be more of a problem than being too cold (at least, I hope it is). Doing a combo of long underwear and thin, synthetic pants has some great benefits, too. First off, when I wash either of them, they’ll dry quickly (jeans and other thicker materials would take forever to dry). Plus, the pants are kind of water resistant, and that’s nice.

The Upper Body

The upper body is going to be the most important thing, I think. I have a long sleeved long underwear shirt to wear (supposedly I can wear it a lot, too, without it getting smelly… good for traveling!). On top of that, I’ll have some regular tshirts (3 or 4), and a fleece sweater that zips up and has a hood plus mouth cover. On top of that, I’ll probably wear a really thin rain jacket. This doesn’t provide a ton of insulation (it helps), but it’ll keep me from getting wet if that problem ever arises. If it gets really cold, I have a down jacket to put on over the fleece and under the rain jacket. Down is the way to go, if you want to stay warm, apparently. If I get stuck outside at night, or something like that, I’ll be wearing the down jacket and putting my feet in my backpack. Don’t want to get hypothermic. Then again, I could probably find a bar that’s open late and hang out there until the wee hours of the morning, worst case scenario.

The Head

For my head, I just have my hoods and a knit cap. I think that’ll be enough, especially with the hoods. My fleece sweater also zips up to cover my mouth, so most of my face and head can be protected.

The Backpack

I didn’t want to bring a huge backpack (you know, the ones you see mountain climbers carrying, and stuff). I purposely chose clothes that take up almost no room and are super light – I’d rather be mobile than have a week’s worth of clothing. My backpack is a 65L Eagle Creek Thrive, and I gotta say, it’s awesome. 45 of those liters are the main backpack. The other 20 or so are a travel pack that attaches to the backpack. I’m hoping to mostly just use the main backpack, and leave the travel pack empty for random things I pick up along the way. It should carry everything I need to carry, be comfortable, and make the load on my back a little more pleasant. I’d highly recommend this bag to anyone who wants to travel for long periods of time (and are planning on traveling light). Definitely beats a suitcase, or something like that.

The Video

If you want to see specifically what I got, you can watch this video. Warning: it is kind of boring… kind of.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adyYOksx-Po']

Anyways, any pro trekkers out there noticing something I’m missing, clothes-wise? Hopefully this will cover almost any situation I get in, without having to carry too much. Should be good. Anyways, I’m sure I’ll tell you what’s working and what isn’t on the actual TofuguTV episodes, which will start coming out in January! Woo hoo!

P.S. Two posts in one day? Heck yeah.

P.P.S. Two videos in one day? What’s going on? Seriously… I have no idea. Happy Thanksgiving, to those of you who celebrate it today, too.

The most  common question I’ve been getting is “What are you bringing on your trip for TofuguTV?” To answer that, I’m breaking things up into two (maybe three) pieces. The first part I think is the most important part… gadgetry.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wezzd7tso_c']

The Camera Equipment

When it comes to filming, the most important things are going to be the cameras. Since it’s mostly going to be just me, I’m only bringing one camcorder and one point and shoot camera.

Canon Vixia HF S200

My camcorder isn’t a pro video camera… it isn’t even a semi-pro camera (maybe it’s verging on that, but I don’t really know much about this). It is, however, just about the nicest camcorder you can get within the consumer category (or should I say prosumer?) It’s what I’ve been using lately for videos on Tofugu, and what I’ll be bringing along on the trip. I think it’s a pretty sweet camera, and it’ll definitely do the job pretty well. To make it better, I got some additions, as well.

Canon DM-100 Directional Stereo Microphone

The video on this camera is great – the audio… also pretty good, but an external mic makes it better. When it comes to internal microphones, all the machinery inside the camera will make noise… plus, there’s only so much quality you can mash into a small space. External mics are where it’s at. I had another mic before this, but decided to get this one because it goes right into the shoe mount, gets powered by the camera, and doesn’t need to be turned on and off. My old camera couldn’t do any of those things – I didn’t want to be in a situation where I accidentally forget to turn the mic on, and have no sound.

Zeikos ZE-LH58 58mm Soft Rubber Lens Hood

This thing goes around my lens to help keep sun out and prevent me from running into things (and smashing stuff up). I got this one because it’s soft and it folds into different sizes, depending on how much protection I need. Not sure if it’s 100% necessary, but it’s definitely nice to have.

Extra Canon BP-827 Lithium Ion Battery

I’m bringing three of these batteries and one smaller battery. I don’t want to be caught without batteries when there’s something great to film. I’ll probably be setting alarms every few hours in the middle of the night to wake up and change batteries out, though I have a couple chargers. That’s going to be painful.

Pedco UltraPod Lightweight Camera Tripod

I also wanted a smaller tripod, like this one, in case I was filming from a table or something where I don’t want a tall tripod (and I don’t want to hold onto my camera). This little tripod also can tie itself to tree branches and things, which may or may not come in handy. You never know.

Dolica 62-Inch Proline Tripod and Ball Head

I wasn’t originally going to bring a tripod, but then decided it would be good to have for some stability and the ability to shoot myself doing things from farther away. With this, I was going for something light and something fairly strong, though I didn’t want it too light, because then it could get blown over (there’s also a hook I can use to tie something heavy to it). It’s a nice little tripod. My only complaint is there’s no handle to move the camera around with, but that would add extra weight anyways.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 10.1 MP Digital Camera

This is a point and shoot camera (meaning it’s pretty small and not super fancy), but I really like it. I did a lot of research, and this one came out to be one of the best ones I could find. If you’re looking for a point and shoot camera, I highly recommend this one. The pictures come out pretty nice and I’m definitely happy with it. For its size and weight, it’s a really sweet camera (probably won’t make the pro-ish photographers happy enough, but I like it).

Computers And Backup

Since I’m doing a lot of video, I need to make sure I don’t lose any of it. In order to back things up, I’ll need a computer. Plus, I’ll be blogging / vlogging about the trip as it’s happening, so I’ll need a computer for that too. Here’s the computer / backup equipment I’ll be bringing on the trip.

13″ Macbook Air (2010)

If you’ve read this blog for a while, you’ll know I’m a bit of a Mac Fanboy… I didn’t want to bring something heavy (The Macbook Pro’s 5.5ish pounds was too much), so I got a Macbook Air, which will transition to be my future laptop anyways. I got the 13″ because I wanted the extra hard drive space, and I got a Macbook Air because it’s going to be light (less than 3 pounds) and also has the solid state hard drive (less chance of hard drive failure on a bumpy road). And, of course, I got a Mac because I wouldn’t get anything else, anyways. I thought this computer was going to be a little sluggish, since it only has 2GB of ram, but I’ve been really surprised. I’d say for most things, it’s faster and zippier than my Macbook Pro (2009), and lighter with a better screen resolution. The only thing that’s sad is the processor, which will take a long time when it comes to exporting edited video while I’m on the road.

Transcend StoreJet 320 GB 2.5-Inch USB 2.0 Anti Shock Hard Drive

I got two of these hard drives, and while they aren’t solid state, they do have special fall/drop padding (or something like that). I got them because they said I could drop them and jostle them, plus they were fairly cheap. I’ll be putting copies of all the video on both these drives so that way I’ll always have three copies of everything saved, though I’m a bit worried this will be enough. We’ll find out, I suppose.

Apple iPhone 4

Of course, I’ll also have my phone. I don’t know how much I’ll be able to use it (I’ll write another post about plans / pricing for using my phone in Japan), but it’ll be good to have and be available in case I need to call someone. That, and if I can get wifi, I’ll be able to FaceTime call anyone for free (i.e. girlfriend, mother, and certain friends). The important people will be able to get calls, and it won’t cost me anything. Oh, and there’s always Skype, too… but once again, I need to get on Wifi (if I don’t want to get big charges or eat up the limited data I’ll end up having there).

Clothing Is Next!

The other question I got a lot was what kinds of clothes I was wearing / bringing, and how I am going to pack it. I’ll do another post on that, sometime before I leave (for those of you who are curious). Then… all that’s left is the packing part, and I have no idea how that will go. I suppose I’ll find out last minute night before, right?

Anything you’d recommend that I should bring, but haven’t, gadget-wise? I think I’ve covered all my bases, but I know there are others with more experience in this kind of thing. Seriously, I have no idea what I’m doing (and that’s what’s going to make it fun, I think!).