I've always been fascinated by Japanese magazine freebies (or furoku as they're referred to locally), but lately my interest is flagging as the freebies get monotonous -- always the cute bags and totes and pouches with an occasional card holder thrown into the mix. And also, I rarely write exclusively about these furokus on the blog, usually they just pop up in my outfits like a little footnote. Nevertheless, this month's issue of Biteki, a Japanese beauty magazine, really took me by surprise with their variety of furoku that I felt compelled to write about it ; )
其實我一直以來都對日文雜誌的贈品（所謂的雑誌付録）莫名感興趣，不過近年真的因為贈品來來去去都差不多 -- 總是可愛的大包、小包、化妝包，偶爾來個卡夾 -- 所以也沒那麼熱衷於此了。說起來，我也很少在網誌特地介紹雜誌贈品，通常它們就像個腳註一樣默默出現在我的穿搭文裡。不過這個月的日文彩妝雜誌《美的》的付録真是滿讓我意外的，覺得有必要寫一寫介紹 ; )
There are 3 furokus in total, all packed up in this pink cardboard box.
總共有三項贈品，全裝在這個雜誌大小的粉紅盒子裡。
The first of the freebies -- four sachets of Hydro Genius, Benefique's new moisturizing serum that's purportedly designed for fall and winter skin conditions. According to the accompanying pamphlet, this product is lightweight, infused with a soothing floral scent and absorbed surprisingly fast due to its nano-sized particles. I haven't really tried these samples out yet and honestly they're not the point of this post, so I'll just leave it at that : P
首先，第一項贈品是四小包的碧麗妃新出的Hydro Genius高保濕精華液試用品。看隨盒附上的DM說明，這款產品是為了改善秋冬氣候的肌膚狀況，質地輕盈，帶有花香，然後因為其納米顆粒特別容易穿透角質層被皮膚吸收。嘛～其實我還沒開始用啦，也不是本篇介紹的重點，使用心得什麼的就先放一邊囉 XDD
The second freebie is a double-ended lip brush in a simple matte black plastic casing. On one end is a retractable lip brush, while the other holds a sponge tip lip applicator. The lip brush is, of course, used for applying lipstick with more precision. The sponge tip applicator, on the other hand, has a soft blunt tip not unlike those cushion blenders found on Maybelline Lip Gradation and, according to the magazine, ideal for applying cream lip-and-cheek products that are all the rage now.
第二項贈品是一支雙頭唇筆。外殼就很樸實的黑色霧面塑料，一頭是可旋轉伸縮的唇刷，另一頭則是海綿狀的唇筆。唇刷可想而知就用來上一般唇膏，可以更精準的描繪唇形。海綿那頭其實類似媚比琳的氣墊唇筆，雜誌上是說適合用來上現在很夯的唇頰霜，可以代替手指更衛生也更均勻的把霜狀唇彩上在唇上。
I almost never use lip brushes frankly, but I must say using a lip brush simplifies the onerous task of lining the lips tremendously, especially when you need to be meticulous while applying loud colours. It does help me line the edges of the Cupid's bow much faster and infinitely tidier (forgive those white dots around the philtrum, that's not uneven lipstick application -- just reflected light ; P ). I do not have lip-and-cheek products at the moment (surprise surprise), so the sponge tip end will have to wait another day, but I think I'm happy enough with just the lip brush.
我平時幾乎不用唇刷，但是必須承認，唇刷在上鮮豔色彩唇膏需要仔細描繪唇形時真的是大功臣啊！這次用贈品的唇刷那端上桃紅色唇膏，確實上唇線描的更快而且整齊多了（人中那裡的白點不是唇膏上得不均而是反光喔 ; P）。然後驚覺有一段時間曾是腮紅控的我竟然沒半個唇頰霜，海綿那頭只好暫時擱置啦 XDD 不過我覺得唇刷確實好用所以滿足了 : )
Last but certainly not the least, a furoku that has me agape like "Huh? This, a freebie?" -- a 2-in-1 smartphone clip-on lens. I know this has been around for ages and really inexpensive too, but I consider it rather superfluous and was never really tempted to purchase one. As a freebie that comes with a 650yen magazine, well, that's another story ; ) The freebie includes two types of lens -- a macro lens and a 0.67x wide angle lens -- and a clip printed with Haruna Yamakawa illustrations of a lipstick and lips. Usage is simple -- just screw on the lens you need and clip onto your smartphone lens and you're good to go.
壓軸的是讓我驚奇「這個也能當贈品？」的智能手機專用鏡頭。雖然這東西好像出很久了也很便宜，但因為我覺得有點雞肋所以平時也不會特地花錢買。然而拿來當一本日幣650元的雜誌的贈品時我就有點心動了 XDD 雜誌送的是2合1的鏡頭，有微距鏡頭跟0.67x廣角鏡頭兩種。就跟市面賣的差不多，是夾式的（夾子上還有山川春奈的口紅和紅唇插畫），裝上要用的鏡頭夾在手機鏡頭處就可以使用了。
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| With Biteki 0.67x wide angle lens |
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| With Biteki 0.76x wide angle lens |
As you can see from the two sets of photos taken from my phone, the lens does widen the view but not to the point where it is severely distorted to the point of a fish eye lens. Rather useful if you want to squeeze in lots of people into your groupfie. There's no discernible dark edges (the darker corners in these photos are due to a LOMO filter that I used, and are perceptible in both sets of photos with or without the attached lens) or light points, even when used on the front lens. However it does compromise image quality and sharpness a bit.
這兩組照片都是用我手機拍的，可以看出視野的確是變寬廣了，雖然不是超廣角但是好處是不至於變形到變成魚眼效果。如果要在集體自拍多塞幾個人進去大概可以派上用場。另外也沒有明顯的黑框或亮點（照片右上角比較暗是因為套用了手機的lomo濾鏡，四張照片都有，不是黑框喔），有另外試在前鏡頭上也沒有黑框。不過大概可以看得出來畫質會變的比較糊，成像銳利度也稍減。
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Here is a picture of my raw quartz bangles. This is the closest I'm able to capture the aqua quartz clearly with my phone alone, anything closer would at once turn into a blurry mess.
這是我用手機拍的原石水晶柱手鐲們。要拍清楚右下角藍綠色那顆水晶大概這個距離已經是極限，再近一點成像就會整個糊掉。
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| With Biteki macro lens |
As you can perceive from the two pictures, with the aid of a macro lens you can get really close to an object to capture its finest details. However the focal point is right in the centre and the edges will blur out like some sort of weird bokeh. As the magazine suggests, though, you can use the macro lens to capture your eye makeup or observe your skin condition to its minutest flaw (blackheads and large pores and dead skin, anyone?) . I have much fun capturing the textures of different fabrics and paper in macro, strange really, how these things can be so enthralling LOL
上兩張對比照片可以看出來，用微距鏡頭真的可以靠得很近拍到最小的細節。但是因為之對焦在中間，所以會變成中間很清楚但是周圍會糊掉（當做另類的淺景深 : P）。雜誌建議可以用微距來拍眼妝或是透過微距鏡捕捉最細微的肌膚狀況 -- 比如粉刺、黑頭、毛孔跟死皮 XD 不過我用它來拍各種布料紙張的質地，真的覺得莫名的治癒啊哈哈 >///<
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That's all for now, I guess! I'll end this post with a macro shot, can you guess what it is? ; )
這次先醬啦！最後用一張微距照做結尾 ... 猜猜是什麼？ ; )
Bises! ♥♥
