Photo via TRU NAIL Shibuya Salon http://trunail.jp/en/n-shibuya/

As a person that's pretty girly, finding a great nail salon when moving to Tokyo is a necessity. Problem is, for the first 6 months in Japan, I only came across nail salons that were incredibly overpriced and didn't seem like they normally served foreigners. Though I speak a good amount of Japanese, I had not studied any nail salon lingo, so it was comforting to know that a salon existed with some workers that speak English and that is used to serving foreign residents or tourists.

Photo via TRU NAIL Harajuku Salon http://trunail.jp/en/n-harajuku/

I first visited TRU Nail in Harajuku after booking an appointment online in March 2019. If you are in Tokyo, there are many locations, but they also have locations in Okinawa, Kagoshima, and even Osaka so it is very convenient. Some locations do eyelash extensions as well.

In Japan, walk-ins are not so common, and almost in possible in Tokyo because it's so busy and TRU Nail is a well-known salon. I visited the website and they had options to book an appointment in Japanese and partly in English, so I love to recommend this salon to my friends. After visiting the website, I selected the "Hand" treatment that includes, taking off gel, reapply gel, and a selection of personal designs. See below!


After making the selection, you will be able to select a date and time that you would like to visit the salon. The price is ¥4990 which is about $50 in USD. It's a little pricy compared to America, but you will get excellent service, your nails will stay healthy, you get to pick from really cute designs, and it lasts for up to 4 weeks WITHOUT chipping! (At least for me) For Tokyo, this is a good price.


Once I entered the store I was greeted by the staff and my nail esthetician helped me take off my jacket and hung it up for me on the coat rack. Quickly after, she asked if I would like a cold or hot drink and went to get me an iced green tea. Some nail salons in America may ask if you would like water, but this salon asks every time what I would like to drink and I find that to be so refreshing!

Natural nails after removing gel from previous treatment at TRU Nail. Very healthy!

One thing that is a little bit different at this salon in particular (not sure about other salons) is that they don't soak your hands in water like the do in America. Typically the salons will ask you to go wash your hands in the お手洗い (washroom) and then they begin working on your nails. If you previously had gel on your nails, they will remove it and the begin starting on the new design. I once had gel nails in America, but the lady was so rough on my nails that it actually damaged my nails and really hurt. In Japan, my nails have become so healthy and LONG because of the gel -- I was so surprised!


At TRU Nail they have HUNDREDS of designs, so you are sure to find something that fits your style. For the ¥4990 options there are about 40 different designs that your can choose from, but if you select the ¥5990 or ¥6990 options there are even more. What I really love about the designs is that they don't only do one nail, it can be all of your nails, 2 or 3, depending on which option you choose from the tablet. The nail artists are very talented and will do each nail by hand and this doesn't cost extra. The Japanese nail designs are so cute!


The second time I visited TRU Nail my nails had grown a bit, so I went with this design. This was ¥4990 and I was very impressed with how this came out. I waited about 3 weeks until I came in the next time and only one of the pearls fell off by that time, besides that, my nails were still close to perfect.


Two of my favorite nail designs! The left was actually a ¥5990 set and my nail esthetician hand painted each nail to get an ombre effect and put on each individual crystal on to my nails. I loved that she asked me multiple times if I liked it and if I wanted more crystals. It came out just how I wanted it! On the right picture, I showed my nail esthetician a few photos from my phone of the shape I wanted and she got it perfect! This set was ¥4990. And also, these is not acrylics. These are my natural nails and natural nail lengths.

March 6th, 2019

June 7th, 2019

Right now, things are hard. I’m laying in my room, heater blasting and my body temperature constantly changing from minute to minute. One second I’m hot and breaking into a sweat, the next moment I’m shivering and still feeling cold while I’m bundled up under the covers. (Must have caught a cold/the flu or something) 

Part of me wishes that I could be at home with my mom and dog eating some homemade chicken noodle soup. The other part of me feels like I’m strong and can buy some medicine, rest it out, and take care of myself. Living abroad can be hard. One second I’m having the time of my life, enjoying new experiences, and the next I just wish that I could give my mom a hug and feel sad that I made a decision that includes being away from her and my family. 



In one sense, I’m in a happy point in my life, living my dream you could say. I have a roof over my head in Tokyo, I have food, and have friends that I could reach out to if I really needed something. I have more time to focus on my YouTube channel and I am constantly inspired every single day. It’s not something that I want to give up. But on the other hand, life in California, is — in some ways, way less stressful. I don’t have to pay rent if I live at home. I can understand everything doctors/anyone is saying and feel comfortable because of the familiarity… at the same time, though California / Los Angeles itself is comfortable, my home life there was not. 

My mom is currently in a relationship with a guy and they live together, including his 30 year old daughter. She was supposed to move in temporarily while she “figured things out,” but that temporarily turned into her staying with us from mid-2016 until now. She makes no effort to speak to or respect my mother and pretty much acts like she doesn’t exist, me included, when I was there visiting my home. (During Fall 2016 I moved to UCLA, so I have pretty much been living outside of the house since she moved in.) Beyond that, some bothersome things have occurred in the house such as drawers in the kitchen being left open, the kitchen being messy, loud music, slamming doors, and the clothes in my closet getting mysteriously bleached. 



To be frank, it just doesn’t feel like my home anymore. Perhaps when I am in my own room, home alone or with just my mother at home, I get a glimpse of what home used to feel like. But, the second he or she walks in the door, my glimpse of home is crushed and I’m filled with discomfort. It’s difficult to film videos because sometimes she spends hours in the bathroom and it messes up my schedule or plans for the day. Other times her TV/music is so loud that I can’t focus or feel that the sound would be heard while filming my videos. Besides that, my clothes being ~mysteriously bleached~ makes me feel as though someone has it out for me, for whatever reason, and it’s difficult to feel comfortable filming videos knowing that someone who potentially isn’t fond of me could be on the other side of the wall listening in. 

99% of the time, I only film videos when I’m in a good mood. And in Japan, I usually am in a good mood. Of course I’ll have occasionally have stressful times where I’ll maybe mention “I had to go to the doctors today because of x” or “I’m worried about not having time to get x done” etc. But, that said, those are only details about my life. Those things don’t necessarily affect my mood on a daily basis or prevent from being grateful that I get to live in a beautiful, clean city and practice my Japanese. On the other hand, being at home made me feel like I couldn’t be productive, and I sometimes had breakdowns because I felt so uncomfortable and just wanted to leave the house. (Note: My mom works, so normally it would just be me home alone trying to avoid the 30 year old daughter.) 



So it’s tough missing “home”, well my home, as in my mom and my dog Trixie, yet not exactly wanting to return to that situation. Of course I would love to just be able to ignore her and pretend like she doesn’t exist, but the reality of it is that when I am home, she does affect my life. Whether it’s her spending 3 hours in the bathroom, or her Dad telling my Mom to tell ME, that she needs to wash clothes so I should hurry and finish, or realizing that when I’m home, she never refills the toilet paper in the bathroom. 

Also, once, I cleaned the bathroom (since she rarely cleaned it at that time) and moved a few of her things over to clean and woke up the next morning to find a note on her products that read, “DO NOT TOUCH MY STUFF. NOT EVERYTHING IN THIS BATHROOM IS YOURS. THANKS :)” And just for context, I have never had a conversation with this woman, didn’t really live there at the same time she has, and honestly know nothing about her at all besides what I’ve heard about her employment or non-employment status. That kind of discomfort is not something that I want to be around because it really affects me and hinders my ability to be in a good mood and film content. 



So here we are, Japan, 2019, living in my quaint share-house apartment in Tokyo, creating YouTube videos as often as possible and doing collaborations when they are available. The influencer scene is quite different in Tokyo versus LA. Brands don’t really utilize influencers as much as brands in LA do. In LA, I received multiple emails for sponsored jobs every week, and those sponsored jobs allowed me to create more content, pay my rent (I lived in an apartment near UCLA), and take a few trips during the year. However, in Tokyo, that is not the case. I’m lucky if I get 1 or 2 sponsored jobs in a month. The other "sponsorship" opportunities rarely offer pay and are usually brands or products that are not really of interest to me or serve no benefit for me so I don't take them. In LA, I made I really decent amount during the year 2018 for the months that I was in the states, and I felt like I was making progress in working towards my goal of becoming a full-time YouTuber/Freelancer.
I’ve lived in LA my whole life and have been doing influencer work since 2015, so I guess you could say I know (some) of the ins and outs of being an influencer in LA. In Tokyo, I am signed with a YouTube talent agency, which is great, because I have support and a bit more access to how brands work in Tokyo. But in some ways, it feels like I’m going backwards in terms of paid opportunities. Sometimes I’d do 3-4 brand deals a month and would make over $2K in LA. Now I feel lost in the influencer space in Tokyo, and still haven’t really figured out how to navigate as a freelancer here. Perhaps I need to start reaching out to brands more myself, or just need to make more content and be patient. I don’t know. 

But what I do know, is the reason that I came here. I wanted to have a new experience. I want to improve my Japanese. I want/wanted to explore more of Japan. I want to go shopping in Tokyo and try out new fashions. I want to film content about Japan. But without a stable income, it is difficult to accomplish that. Thankfully, I have a good amount of savings and do still make some money from YouTube, and an amount from a few affiliate websites. Along with that, I got hired at an 英会話 (English conversations school) where I will be giving private English lessons to students every week. The school isn’t too demanding with the hours and it seems like I will still have time for my YouTube channel and other jobs when/if they come up. But getting a job seems… (I don't know? Weird? Nostalgic?) Or maybe I have just (fortunately) gotten used to being self-employed for the last few years. Why get a traditional job when in LA I was doing fine being a self-employed freelancer? The problem is, 1 To live in Japan I need a visa, and to get a visa you need to either have a company sponsor you OR have proof that you’ve made over ($xxxx) consistently during the last six months in Japan to prove that you can basically sponsor your own visa. And 2, (regarding the second option) I don’t get enough jobs in Tokyo to be able to sponsor myself in order to be here without a traditional visa sponsorship from a company. That said, I am still very grateful to have the opportunity to work with students and gain a new experience.


So where does that leave us now? I think I need to work harder to become a full-time freelancer/creator, whatever you want to call it. I’ve had ideas in my head for months now, and it’s up to me to make those ideas become reality. There’s plenty of people out there that are making a living as a freelancer, and although it’s not always consistent, I do believe that it’s possible when one utilizes their resources. So whether I decide to stay in Japan or go back to LA, one thing stays the same. I need to work hard to be able to live the life that I want to live and part of that requires money. I don’t want to live in the house with those people… I have to earn enough money to be able to afford another place. I want to feel more comfortable in Tokyo? I need to step it up and work harder on my YouTube channel and online presence. 

Besides YouTube being a part of my job, it is also my hobby. I'm so grateful that my content can serve to help others, put a smile on someone's face, or be relatable at times, and hope to continue connecting with you guys from where ever life takes me. 


Thanks for reading! 
March 3rd, 2019 2:00AM (or so)

Love, Sweet Pea ♡