REVIEW: Gardens of Wendiland - Junior Marimo

Credits to zandraart

Hello my pretties~ Today I have a different kind of review for you. Nothing clothing or makeup related, but it's related to a plant.. err algae to be specific.

So what is a marimo?

Everyone knows of these and calls them "moss balls" which isn't really a correct term since these are balls of algae but its what everyone recognizes them as. They mainly grow in Lake Akan in Japan and due to the swaying motion of the waves, they roll in the lake and form/grow into a ball shape. They also naturally grow in Iceland, Scotland and Estonia.

These are super popular in Japan as many landlords forbid having pets, so having a marimo is a good substitution. They grow very slowly (ughh 5 mm/year). It's super easy to take care of too. Just have sufficient lighting (household lighting is ok), change the water weekly and make sure the water is cool. You can squeeze them and poke them around to help keep their shape and that's it! Also no direct sunlight is needed since they do live at the bottom of very cold lakes.

Credits to ohmonah

I initially wanted one of these ever since I saw them on tumblr and Milky Fawn's (from deerstalker pictures) Instagram. She has long deleted that one, but I recall her and her best friend got marimo together. Man they're just so cute and fluffy plus they can double as another pet (I currently own a rabbit). Then I'll feel so accomplished when they grow bigger, not to mention they can sit in little fish bowls looking all cute and stuff. I also just wanted something else to love.

Obviously there are going to be many sellers who sell these. I could've gone into a pet store, walked into the betta fish aisle (since they have some water purification properties) and bought one, but when I took a look at them... the marimos they were selling didn't seem healthy at all. They weren't a bright green colour, they were brown. I've heard of people buying from pet stores and the marimo was actually rotting from the inside due to lack of care.

Another thing that I had to watch out for were counterfeit marimos. Yes, they make fake balls of algae. Since they are slow growing and demand COULD be high (lol idk maybe), some people will sell fake marimos to keep up with the demand. In Japan, they also sell fake ones because they are protecting the marimo due to them growing slowly and people visiting the lake to steal some so they kind of are endangered.

I'd rather buy an authentic and healthy one and pay a bit extra so I searched around on the internet. Then I stumbled upon Wendi's marimo videos, and I noticed she sells them. She seems extremely knowledgeable and really cares/loves about them, so I know it would be right for me to buy one off of her and a real and healthy fuzzy ball of love will come my way. Plus unlike other sellers who are apparently "authorized" to basically steal from Lake Akan (which there are movements that now protect marimo and it's illegal to steal or endanger animals/plants that are already endangered), Wendi herself grows these too with all the love and care that they need.

I purchased an imperfect one by accident (oops I was only paying attention to the price) but I don't really mind since imperfect things needs love too ok.

And so I place an order and wait 1-3 business for her to ship it out... but it took a while. After one whole week and she didn't ship them, I decided I'd send a message and see whats up.

If you're wondering, I used my sister's Etsy account since we do live in the same house and it doesn't make sense to make a new account if all the information was going to be the exact same, you feel?

Turns out, there was a hurricane that hit California (where she lives) and she didn't want to ship them out so the marimo would be safe. Kind of odd how the message didn't send, but she did respond super quickly when I asked about it.

After the marimo shipped off, she indeed did keep her promise and she sent me a message telling me she shipped it off.

When I got the box (after I squealed in happiness after I retrieved the package), I noticed she express mailed it to here, so it came rather quickly. I can't really show you guys cuz I covered this photo with the poop sticker and I obliterated that box.... but it was well packed and it was still moist! As a bonus she even gave me two mini marimos, which I guess was to compensate for the wait, but I didn't really expect anything because I completely understood the circumstances... like I'm pretty sure she didn't ask for the hurricane to happen just to spite me right? No one can control natural disaster, but that was extremely nice of her to do

I did squeeze it because I was EXTREMELY curious about the texture of it, but it feels firm and spongey and it came in super green and healthy which I very much appreciate. Since I did buy an imperfect one it has a tiny tuft of hair, which I think is cute and my older sister says the feeling of it reminds her of a pipe cleaner which wtf.. lol.

Anyways, since I'm really lame, I named my marimo Makoto, after Sailor Jupiter whose name is Makoto Kino from the Japanese series of Sailor Moon since she is green themed (and also she's my favourite sailor senshi).

It also doubles as Makoto Tachibana from Free! since his swim trunks are green (2nd favourite from the series aside from Haruka Nanase). Since plants do not have gender, either way work fine although I do sometimes refer to my marimo as a her.

Pros

·           Marimo arrived healthy and retained its round shape

·           Well packed

·           Arrived quickly

·           Excellent communication

·           Generous (didn't have to compensate me but she did anyways)

Cons

·           None (natural disaster was not her fault from the shipping delay)

Do I recommend Gardens of Wendiland? Yes I do! I'll maybe even buy a larger marimo to keep Makoto company.

It really does look like a tuft of hair, doesn't it?

Thanks for reading!

Psssst!

Happy Halloween from me and Makoto!

lel sitting on top of a Liz Lisa handkerchief

Makoto is going as a trubbish/pumpkin lol. If you're wondering why the water is bubbly, it's because Makoto was photosynthesizing since my lamp is right next to her and she just absorbed all the light and produced oxygen as it's waste (like what most plants do when they photosynthesize for their food). She's actually floating in the picture, but I don't think you can tell... Sometimes marimo float after they photosynthesize since they are balls of algae and the inside can too photosynthesize so it will produce enough oxygen bubbles on the inside and it will float up. Sometimes it doesn't float since there are oxygen bubbles surrounding the marimo and it will weigh it down.

Ok for real I'm done bye.

Liz Lisa x My Melody 2015 Collaboration Haul

Hello everyone! I'm back to blogging now that my summer classes + main research projects are finished. This is a long overdue post I was supposed to make when I got the things but I ended being way too busy, and lighting was really crappy. *lol bad excuses*

I honestly didn't expect getting all these items cuz well.. I only intended for one and then I ended up getting everything because I recently made a new friend and she convinced me to buy everything LOL. My fault for giving in though.

Anyways let's move on with the blog post cuz I'm sure none of you came here to read.

お菓子花柄ワンピ 

Candy floral dress in White

I was honestly only intending to get this OP. The print has little cakes, macarons and of course, roses. I swear all the Liz Lisa clothes I own have roses on them. Here's a challenge for you girls who own Liz Lisa, go find some floral Liz Lisa pieces that don't have roses on them.

It's funny because TKL slipped up and released this a week early when the Yui Kanno collab stuff was supposed to release. Being the evil devil I am, I exploited their mistake by buying the OP and then telling others to purchase it too. We were all scared we wouldn't get the OP, and that TKL would refund us so we could all get the collab items fair and square... through a death match and blood bath with girls from all over the world.

In the end, we all got what we wanted, it's just that after the release day, they'll ship out the OPs so yay!! Of course white and pink sold out the quickest. The print shows up so well on the white that I knew I had to get it because I like the prints to stand out. The concentrated hem design got me too because who doesn't love a beautiful hem design? I haven't even worn this yet, maybe I'll update this entry with an outfit photo later.

ギンガムチェック花ジャンスカ & ☆LIZ LISA×My Melody☆シフォンブラウス

Gingham check flower jumper skirt & Liz Lisa x My Melody Chiffon Blouse

I had a hard time choosing between the pink colourway and the blue one. I didn't even want this at first because I don't even like gingham pattern and jumper skirts make me look super young. I also didn't want the blouse because it also had gingham on the sleeves and I didn't think this would be easy to match things with because it wasn't a plain blouse with plain sleeves. I thought the gingham would clash with other stuff. 

I didn't really want to pay full price for this either but then I realized I hoarded a bunch of points and I basically got this set for about $20~ cheaper so getting the blouse was allowed for me.

In the end, I love this jumper skirt, I've worn it often and the matching blouse compliments it. The blouse isn't so difficult to match with other things, it almost has it's flair, but it won't overwhelm the other piece as I thought it would. The JSK is super stretchy, it has a side zip but I didn't even need it lol. Its great that this can accommodate girls of bigger sizes. 

☆LIZ LISA×My Melody☆ルンルン　リボンワンピース

Liz Lisa x My Melody Lun Lun Ribbon OP in Pink

Craptastic photo because it doesn't lay down as well as I hope it would

Don't you love my Pokemon posters?

Fortunately, I actually have a picture of me wearing this. At first I didn't even want this OP at all because the ribbons seemed super obnoxious to me. Will it be annoying when wearing a backpack cuz the straps WILL lay on the bows? Will the bows look stupid on my small frame? Well the answer to those is that it doesn't lay under backpack straps and the bows don't look too bad. I love the pink colourway cuz it's slightly pink in colour so it'll match my pink sandals real well (currently wearing last year's ribbon sandals). 

This OP is not forgiving in the waist, but there's lost of bust room and there's even shirring on the back. Despite being cotton, this OP isn't very breathable.

☆MY MELODY 40th ANNIVERWSARY in SHIBUYA☆ﾏｲﾒﾛﾌﾗﾜｰおめかしｽｶｰﾄ

My Melody 40th Anniversary in Shibuya MyMelo Flower Dressing Up Skirt

This doesn't lay down well either ;_;

I actually didn't get this off TKL. I got this off the Shibuya 109 net shop and I snagged the last one in pink, which was my preferred colourway. I didn't get this at first because this was marked up higher than a regular skirt, but it was still decently priced considering it's almost like a JSK. The print is super lovely and this is a really good quality skirt in general. Very light and very soft. This looks super cute paired off with the My Melody chiffon blouse I also purchased.

Sorry I only have two outfit photos. Maybe I'll update this blog with a coordinate pic later. The only reason why I have the other two is because they happened to be OOTD pics and I actually got pictures.

Thanks for reading!