SHINee From Now On album unboxing and CD Japan review

Today, I am excited to review my very first SHINee album that I have ever been able to own!

I am very blessed that I can finally own one of their albums as owning physical albums of an artist is very important to me when I really like them. I have not been able to do that in quite some time. I hope that in the future, I can continue to do this for SHINee as well as other artists I enjoy.

I bought my album from CD Japan and they have very good service. They have a wide selection of primarily Japanese music as well as books, movies and other things. This will be a two part review of the service with CD Japan and then the unboxing of the album.

I am an affiliate of CD Japan, however, this is an honest review of their service.

The Packaging

My album arrived in a medium sized box packaged together with the poster in a poster tube inside. The album was packed in Bubble wrap and then packing paper was on top and around that. I thought it was packed well and it wasn't terribly difficult to get into besides the poster.

The poster was in the poster tube and then tightly wrapped in light green tissue paper. if you carefully peel up the sticker, this is very easy to open. the little paper wrapper around the poster, however is a little difficult because it is very tightly wrapped around the poster. However, with patience and a sharp knife, this isn't too bad.

The packing slips and customs forms are filled out well and I didn't have really any problems with the shipping process, It also came very quickly through EMS. In my opinion, this form of shipping was totally worth it because it includes complete tracking and insurance on the package to make sure it reaches its destination safely.

The Album

As I mentioned before, this is the first of anything that I have had a chance to own of SHINee's I am very excited as this is their 10th Anniversary.

This album is quite beautiful and packaged very well. I chose to buy the A version which includes two CDs, lyric/photobook and the Blu-ray version of the album. The B version includes everything of the A version except that it is a DVD instead of a Blu-ray. The C version is the first CD which contains the 20 tracks. It contains a lyric book.

The outside case of the album is of a smooth matte finish nice card-stock paper. It is folded very nicely and doesn't have any loose ends in it like many cases like this do. It seems to be fairly sturdy. The title, From Now On is in a raised font.

The case with the three discs in it is very nice. It is very much in keeping with the theme of SHINee's color of Pearl Aqua. The artwork is all representing the various album themes SHINee has had throughout their career.

The case opens like a book the reveal the discs and the the tracklisting is on the back as well. The discs are well packaged in the thick plastic trays.

The photobook is 64 pages according to the sticker on the case. It is made of a textured paper and is thick and of good quality. The photobook contains the lyrics and goes along with the these of remembering the good times and what SHINee has been through together as a group.

Jonghyun is not forgotten in the album. You can see pictures of him as well as hear his voice throughout the album. I have included a few photos from the photo-book here, but I do not want to ruin the moment and surprise by including everything. There is a beautiful tribute to Jonghyun in the book. The book also includes the lyrics to all of the bonus tracks of the second disc as well.

The poster is also very beautiful. It is about 30" x 20" in height and width. The paper is semi-gloss and heavy weight. Mine came rolled and therefore was unfolded. The poster is in keeping with the theme of the album well and has a collage of all of the album covers and concepts from SHINee's Japanese albums from the very beginning up until now. I really enjoy looking at it and seeing how far they have come. I will definitely frame this one as it is very beautiful. Here are some close-ups of it. It's a large poster and therefore, difficult to capture completely in the camera.

I think that this album has come at the right time for all of us. Both SHINee as well as the fans We all really needed this. This helps us to remember Jonghyun as he was, an artist, singer, musician, dancer, composer, and poet.

Please purchase the album here! 

Note: I receive a small commission from these links at no charge to you! Thank you in advance for supporting this blog! All of the links on this page are for CD Japan.

**SHINee From Now On Version A:  2 CD, Blu-ray and Photo-book**

**SHINee From Now On Version B:  2 CD, DVD, and Photo-book** 

**SHINee From Now On Version C: 1 CD and lyrics only booklet**

Prismacolor Premier 72 set Unboxing and Review

Hello Everyone!

こんいちは、皆さん。

Today, I am going to show you and unboxing and share a review of the Prismacolor Premier 72 colored pencil set. 

I have had this set for a while, but as many of you may know, I like to actually use the products for a while before sharing them with you in order to give an honest review.

Here are a list of the colors contained in this set along with a page I've done of a color swatch. I will put the corresponding numbers with the color names as these are easier to identify for some people.

"One each of: Cream, Ginger Root, Lemon Yellow, Canary Yellow, Yellowed Orange, Yellow Ochre, Spanish Orange, Goldenrod, Sunburst Yellow, Sand, Orange, Pale Vermilion, Poppy Red, Carmine Red, Crimson Red, Crimson Lake, Magenta, Process Red, Mulberry, Pink, Blush Pink, Light Peach, Beige, Peach, Dark Purple, Lilac, Parma Violet, Violet, Imperial Violet, Violet Blue, Ultramarine, Copenhagen Blue, True Blue, Lt. Cerulean Blue, Peacock Blue, Cloud Blue, Indigo Blue, Light Aqua, Aquamarine, Parrot Green, Yellow Chartreuse, Chartreuse, Lime Peel, Spring Green, Apple Green, True Green, Grass Green, Olive Green, Dark Green, Sepia, Jade Green, Putty Beige, Light Umber, Burnt Ochre, Sienna Brown, Terra Cotta, Tuscan Red, Dark Umber, Dark Brown, Warm Grey 20%, Warm Grey 50%, Warm Grey 70%, Cool Grey 20%, Cool Grey 50%, Cool Grey 70%, Black, French Grey 20%, French Grey 50%, French Grey 70%, White, Metallic Silver & Metallic Gold coloring pencils"

Color list taken from description at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Prismacolor-3599TN-Premier-Colored-72-Count/dp/B000E23RSQ

Prismacolor Premiere Pencils have a buttery texture. The leads are really soft and can lay down a lot of pigment very quickly. I personally find that this can be a good and bad thing. It is good in the sense that the pigment is high quality, but not so good when you want something really light. I find it difficult to use the pencil in a lighter shade with these pencils as opposed to other ones where you can vary the pressure used, in an easier way. This is because these pencils also have a very high wax content which allows for this intense pigment saturation.

Therefore, I have discovered that if I lay down my lightest colors with a pencil which has a harder lead or not as much pigment, I can then blend over it with these pencils and slowly achieve the technique and shades I want. 

These colored pencils are easy to blend, but if you want to mix a lot of colors together, you need to use a heavier paper in order to allow for more layers of color.

The leads are quite soft and can be quite delicate at times. I haven't had too much problem them breaking like some people have said, but I think it has to do with how I sharpen them and that I'm very careful with them. I can use quite a bit of pressure before they might break. 

As for the 72 set, for the price of professional quality colored pencils, the price is very good for this set. It is also a good variety of colors to start someone off or continue their collection. I bought them in order to continue collection and the price at the time was very good. 

The pencils come in a tin with three plastic trays. I recommend taking them out and putting them into a case for easier access, and I use the tin for other things. It's a very nice tin.

One unfortunate thing for Prismacolor is that they used to be made in the USA and now are made  in Mexico. I think the quality has suffered due to this outsourcing. Some of the leads are not completely centered as they should be in the wood casings. 

Overall I would rate these as a 4/5

Pros:

• Professional grade pigments for an economical price compared to other professional brands.
• Painted barrels generally match the color of the pigment.
• wax-based leads 
• Can be purchased individually or in sets.
• 150 color range - one of the largest in colored pencils. 
• Blend very easily.
• Heavily pigmented.

Cons:

• Can sometimes be rather fragile.
• You need to be careful when sharpening them.
• Difficult to color lightly when you don't want intense pigment or if you want to build up color
• Wax bloom can be a problem for some people.
• Quality might not be as consistent since the company was outsourced to Mexico from the United States. 

Overall Rating: 4/5

I hope you find this helpful and thank you for reading!

Purchase the Prismacolor 72 set:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Prismacolor-3599TN-Premier-Colored-72-Count/dp/B000E23RSQ

Hobby Lobby: https://www.hobbylobby.com/Art-Supplies/Drawing-Illustration/Colored-Pencils/Prismacolor-Premier-Pencil-72-Piece-Set/p/3872

Blick Art Materials: https://www.dickblick.com/products/prismacolor-colored-pencils-and-sets/