Cup of Teaa!

My Nightly Regime

2011-11-09T22:20:00.000-08:00

Hi Beau-teas! It's been a long time since I've blogged. I've been debating a lot whether to start up blogging again. Most of the dilemma has been whether I would be consistent in blogging. Once I start blogging, I want to keep updating regularly.

There have been many many new products I've been trying since my last post. And I'm very excited to share them with you all! In future posts, I'm hoping to share some of the products I've tried that work super well, and also those that have been duds.

Stay tuned!

In the meantime, I wanted to share my nightly routine. My skin used to be more acne prone and oily, but now it's evolved to a more dry state. I don't really get acne anymore, but I do have a little bit of spots and scars I cover with a concealer.

Here are the products I've been using every night (for the past 3 months or so):

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum

This stuff is awesome. It's a light liquidy gel that absorbs quickly in the skin that you put on before your moisturizer. It repairs your skin from the daily wear and tear (that you probably can't see) while you're sleeping. Honestly, I'm not 100% sure that this really does anything. HOWEVER, it doesn't do any harm to my sensitive skin so I'm sure it's doing something right :).

Estee Lauder Day Wear

I know I know.. you might be wondering, 'Isn't Estee Lauder for old ladies with wrinkles?' This was my first impression of the brand. But they've started a line for ladies who want to PREVENT wrinkles. Plus, you don't want to wait until you get wrinkles and lines before taking action! This moisturizer is so nice and full of 'body'. It absorbs quickly and leaves my skin soft and moisturized. AND it has SPF 15. It's a pricey moisturizer at $43 for 1.7 ounces, but definitely worth it. I will be buying it again for sure.

Kirkland signature's Age-Defying Protective Eye Cream

Ok, I got this at Costco for my mom and she didn't really want the eye cream. So I started using it even though I don't have undereye circles yet. It has a nice texture and I lightly pat it on my undereyes and potential crows feet area. Can't tell you if it's working yet, I'll let you know in 5-10 years ;)

Long time no blog. mini reviews from random hauls.

2010-10-21T22:32:00.000-07:00

One of a few hauls. It's been a while, just wanted to share stuff!

Got all this stuff from Walgreens, Ross, Sephora, and Bath and Body Works.

Mini Reviews:

Bio Oil - Used this a few times. I was kind of scared because it's OIL which usually means clogged pores. But it was fine! and I have combination skin. Haven't used it for a while though, but will continue to. For now, I'm letting my skin breathe, which seems to be working well.

EOS lip balm - I love this little giant ball of lip balm!! I got the honeysuckle one and still haven't lost it. (I tend to misplace lippies a lot and then find them later after buying another one.) The thing I like about this product is that it's cute and durable. Plus, it's so easy to find in my purse. I think that's the number one thing with regular chapsticks. I always have a hard time digging through trying to find them.

I also bought the Mint EOS lip balm. Same everything, though I like minty lip balms better. Overall, great product. I believe it was $5 at Walgreens.

Almay Color Complexion Concealer - I only bought this because it was a BOGO event at Walgreens. I really only used this once and didn't really like it. It's kind of drying, kind of hard to build and blend. Will try using it again someday..

Sephora Pink cleansing pad - Got this at Sephora for about $5 I think. I use it with my face wash when I'm in the shower and it makes me feel more sanitized then using my hands to scrub. So far, love it!

Bath and Body Works - Warm vanilla sugar, Wild Honey Suckle, Rain-kissed leaves, Mint Nectarine. You know, it's lotion. Listed in the order of my favorites.

ELF get the look set - Comes with brown kohl eyeliner, mascara, eyelash curler, and eyeshadow. Was about $4 or less at Ross. I really only got this for the eyelash curler because I broke a previous one. I knew the eyelash curler was awesome, especially for the affordable price. I haven't really used the eye shadow or mascara from this set. I sampled the eye shadow though, and the color is kind of light, but not very pigmented. I like the brown eyeliner though, it's nice and easy to glide on. Though it doesn't really stay on that long.

What's your favorite product right now?

Smudge-proof liner for tightlining?

2010-08-15T00:40:00.000-07:00

It's been a long while, I keep procrastinating the post of The Body Shop products I bought like two months ago.. and I'm going to procrastinate some more.

I'm looking for a smudge-proof liner for tightlining. Lately I've been using an eyeliner from covergirl (forgot the name but it's a twisty one) and it smudges quite a bit after a while. Any suggestions? I'd prefer one that doesn't need sharpening. Drugstore + brand name ones?

Unsatisfied facial routine

2010-05-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

Hey girls, it's been several months since I last blogged. So I'm less busy now, mostly because I'm working 9-5 and have weekends free for once!

Some life update: I've moved from Pittsburgh to Mountain View, CA for the end of my capstone project for my masters degree. It's glad to be back in California!

I just came back from shopppping, I haven't been to a mall in almost half a year! So I kinda bought whatever I felt like :/. I will blog about the stuff I bought later.. after shopping I realized I really miss blogging and sharing my experiences from the products I use, so I decided to start up again. Most of the stuff I bought were skin care things, so stay tuned!

Anyway, I was continuously breaking out when I was in Pittsburgh. At first I thought it was the whether, but in the end I realize it was a combination of poor diet, dehydration, and lack of sleep. Being so busy made me neglect myself in that way and I really should've prepared for it. I also realized that dairy makes me break out and now I'm trying to cut dairy out of my diet. I knew I was lactose intolerant but didn't know that it also affected my skin.

Anyway, coming back to California, I have more time to be aware of my body, therefore I want to take care of my skin more.

After the move back here, I had to throw a lot of products away due to lack of space.. travelling some thousands of miles wasn't really fun. When I arrived to California, I wanted to use up some of the stuff I bought but didn't really use:

Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash: redness soothing

I bought this because I have red blemishes from spots that were healing and wanted to subdue it. I used it for a week and didn't really like it because it didn't really 'foam' as a cleanser. It was like a lotion consistency. I tried using it again after running out of a different cleanser, but I still don't like it enough that I had to buy a new different cleanser.

Pros

nice tingly feeling after use

Cons

doesn't really do anything for the redness

leaves a residue feeling on the face

doesn't feel like it 'cleans'

Update update!

2010-02-16T23:24:00.000-08:00

Hi therrrre. So it's snowing a ton in Pittsburgh. AND LIFE IS SO BUSY :( :(. I barely have time to do anything for fun. It's always work work work. I've been meaning to post something beauty product related. So stay posted! (Might be a while though :P) Hope ya'll are doing well. How is life?

Happy Winter!

2009-12-24T19:28:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since I've been here. I'm back on the west coast for winter break! I escaped right before it started snowing consistently.

Oh beach, how I've missed thee.

On a product related note, I started breaking out a lot in the east probably due to the dry weather and stress. So I bought these and they helped.

Neutrogena Acne Stress Control Scrub

It's a gentle scrub with little beads and leaves my skin feeling refreshed.

Clinique Acne Solutions: Spot Healing Gel

This thing works. The end.

Quick Update

2009-10-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

It's been a while, since I've updated. Unfortunately grad school is very very very demanding and I usually spend my free time relaxing and doing laundry. :P

I just wanted to put this site on hiatus, probably until winter break.

I'll be back.

Have a nice autumn everyone! The leaves are changing and falling. Something I've never seen before, living in the west coast.

Mew

2009-08-15T17:57:00.000-07:00

I'm already missing home. Not that I miss home home, but I think I miss my college home where I lived with my roommates and was surrounded by people I love. I'm really glad I'm not living by myself because I now realize that I'm a pretty social person. Since my roommate went home for 4 days or so, I don't have anyone to talk to in RL. My cohorts did plan a night meet-up, but they're doing things I'm not really fond of.. like dancing in a club and what not. I'm not really into that type of stuff, (unless it's in another country, then it's a different story :P).

But yeah... Pittsburgh weather sucks. It's so hot and humid. Being from California, I anticipated cold weather, even in the summer because the forecast said thunderstorms... I guess I ignored the temperature because the weather here reminds me of China. It's hot and humid, but gloomy and bright. And rain is random.

Yep. Sorry I haven't been posting anything beauty related and if I sound emo. I'm just homesick and a really poor grad student living off loans :(. I'll get over it.

On a lighter note, I did buy some stuff from Target! ^_^ Well the only health/beauty stuff I bought was Neutrogena's Oil Free Acne wash and Sonia Kashuk's neutralizer concealer stick. I decided to get the stick because I noticed that in Sonia Kashuk's hidden agenda concealer, I only really use the olive color on the bottom left (I know, I know, the stock image sucks and blocks it), and the concealer stick in Neutralizer is exactly that color. And as for the acne wash, I feel like I'm breaking out more here.. must be the humidity or air or something.

Quick update from the east coast!

2009-08-11T21:16:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! It's been really crazy moving from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh this past week. I still haven't settled into my apartment fully yet, and I still have to figure out some stuff for grad school. Also orientation is going to be all of next week and school starts immediately the week after! X_X

I really hope I have time to blog again soon and to read all your posts and get back to everyone's wonderful comments. Sorry I haven't been good about that, if you were wondering why it seems like I'm MIA, now you know why.

p.s. (I love that there's a Target a 15 min busride away from where I live, hehe)

EOTD and moving out

2009-08-03T18:54:00.000-07:00

I told myself I wouldn't buy anything I didn't need because I'm already borrowing loans and tuition for grad school is 18k for one semester. I hung out with some friends today, just loitering around and I saw this Physician's Formula Duo Eye Shadow in Natural Minerals for $3 at Big Lots. I really love neutral shades and most of the ones I have have shimmer to it, so I decided to buy it.

I was also bored one day and decided to use this facemask I bought from China last year. It was okay.. it kinda stinged my face.

Here is the first EOTD of this blog! I was really bored so I used Physician Formula's Shimmer Palette for Hazel Eyes (even though I have brown eyes). The outer color is a nice dark brown and the lid is supposed to be light pink. But the color looks all washed out here.. oh well.

I'm also using Ardell's false lashes in Demi I think. Also, on a sad note, while I was cleaning out the lashes, I was running the water in the sink to rinse them, one of them slipped out of my hand and fell down the drain :(

Life: I'm moving out from the west to the east coast this friday for grad school. I'm excited and scared.. but mostly excited because living at home is no fun since parents can be very controlling most of the time.

It's hard to fit life in 2 standard check-in luggage.

NYX Round lipstick swatch

2009-07-29T16:56:00.001-07:00

I got bored so I decided to do some swatches of my NYX round lipsticks in lots of different lighting.. It's kind of sad because I don't really use them that much. I think I use Herades and Frosted Beige most when I first bought them, I like lipgloss more. Oh! I also have Doll, but I forgot to include it here.. so I'll probably include it in a later post. They're all really nice and pigmented, (maybe a little TOO pigmented if that makes any sense.) However, I don't really like the color of Sun Flower.. it looks too orangey on me so I end up looking like an Oompa Loompa.

(click for larger images!)

L-R: Earth Angel, Circe, Sun Flower, Frosted Beige, Rose, Herades

Indoor lighting

bottom to top: Earth Angel, Circe, Sun Flower, Frosted Beige, Rose, Herades

The top two are NYX eye shadow pencils in Mocha (Top) and Lavender.

I actually kind of like the eye shadow pencils, at first I tried using them just as eyeshadows and these creased like no other.. so I just started using them as a base.. it's perfect as a base.

With camera flash

With flash

Indoor lighting

Indoor, direct sunlight.

Nostalgia and Observatory

2009-07-24T18:43:00.000-07:00

Not a beauty post at all.. just wanted to share some photos.

I recently went to the Griffith Observatory..

Downtown LA at night.. notice the layer of pollution visible at night.

My failed attempt to capture the moon, city lights, and sunset all in one.

Weight on jupiter!

Downtown LA

It has also been about a year since I studied abroad in Beijing. Yep, I studied Chinese last summer in Beijing, around the time the Olympics were happening. I miss all the people I met and our adventures together. Even though they are back in the states, we are all pretty far apart. Separated by cities and states..

The Great wall

Tian an men
Typical Beijing weather.. hot, humid, muggy

View from my dorm in Beijing.

Random shoes

2009-07-17T20:17:00.001-07:00

What I've learned recently...What NOT to do: put Bath and Body Works lotion on face. So I got lazy and didn't want to find my moisturizer when my body lotion was right next to me. I rubbed a bit on my hand and put it on my face and boy... did it burn. Never doing that again!

I bought these wedges not too long ago cause I thought they looked cute. I'm sure you've all seen them before at any place that sells shoes, they're soda. I got them in all black, they're cute but they hurt after a while.. I wore them while shopping one day and I was dying of pain!!

I also bought these rain boots from target for the east coast when it rains since all I have are flip flops, flats, and Vans. I hope the pair I got aren't defective cause I read reviews and some of them fall apart D:! I was originally thinking of getting snow boots, but I think that's just very extreme.. those from the east coast.. do you wear snow boots?! I heard people who live in snowy areas don't really wear snow boots and only touristy ppl do... is that true?

Geo Lens Review: Fresh Brown, Honey Wing, Geo Tri Color Brown

2009-07-13T16:21:00.000-07:00

Note: Everyone's eyes are different and will have a different appearance when these lenses are worn. For reference, I have dark brown eyes.

Be prepared for pictures of my scary eyes! D:

Lenses I will be reviewing are circled in the image above

Geo Fresh Brown FC724

Comfort: 7/10

Enlargement: Good

Color: Subtle

Geo Fresh Brown, camera flash lighting

Comfort: So far, this I would rank the comfort level as almost the same as Honey Wing, but more comfortable than Geo Tri color Brown. This is because I hardly get vision blockage from the colors (as it happens in the Geo Tri Color) since the transparency for the pupil (the part where you see out of) is pretty big.

Enlargement: It still enlarges your iris, and it's a good size. Not too big and scary. And not too noticeable.

Color: When I wear this lens, people hardly notice any difference. Unless they really look into your eyes in super bright lights shined directly at your face. I'm kind of disappointed with the color, because it hardly makes a difference in indoor lighting, but it looks a bit lighter in outdoor lighting.

Geo Fresh Brown, indoor natural lighting

Full face with Geo Fresh Brown, outside natural lighting. (Sorry, for the non-make-upage, only concealer :/) Notice how you can't really tell that I'm even wearing lenses (can be a good or bad thing, hehe)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Geo Honey Wing CTS-104

Comfort: 8/10

Enlargement: Good

Color: Light, but still natural

Geo Honey Wing, flash camera lighting

Comfort: I think out of the three lenses I'm reviewing, this one is the best in comfort. It's not as comfortable as my regular lenses, but I can wear these the longest out of the three. I don't get vision blockage from the colors as the transparency for the pupil is pretty large.

Enlargement: It enlarges the iris a good amount, similarly to the Fresh Browns. However, the edge is composed of lines that slant like this /// rather than having a prominent ending point like the Fresh Browns. See pictures for better explanation, lol.

Color: I love love love the color! It's a lot more lighter than Fresh Brown, but it's not super light that it looks unnatural. Indoors when there's no light, its subtle, but still noticeable (in a good way) and in well-lighted areas, my eyes almost look hazel.

Honey wing in case

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Geo Tri Color Brown CM-902

Comfort: 6/10

Enlargement: Little to none

Color: Very light

Geo Tri Color Brown with flash

Comfort: This lens has a small transparent area for the pupil. Indoors, a person's pupil is a lot larger than when outside in the sunlight because it controls how much light is let into the retina. Because of the small space available for vision through the lens, I often experience vision blockage because the color of the contacts block part of the pupil, causing me to see a blur of color on the side of my vision. This is kind of annoying, but outdoors I experience this less.

Enlargement: This doesn't really have much or any enlargement for the iris. I find that it's pretty much a similar size to a standard colored contact lens.

Color: Even though this is "brown" the color does not look brown at all! It's more hazel green with yellow tones and a lot lighter than Honey Wing. In any case, when I wear this, people say I look Hawaiian (I usually have tanned skin, especially in the summer) or Hapa (half-asian).

Geo Tri Color Brown without flash, indoor natural light.. I know, it looks kind of scary, like I'm a lizard-woman! But it's just a bad picture, the lenses look nicer than that :P

Geo Tri Color Brown in case

Circle Lenses.. an overview

2009-07-08T00:16:00.000-07:00

Found this very amusing article about circle lenses. Anyway this is a pretty lengthy post about circle lenses. Don't read it if you don't care about circle lenses :) I will be posting reviews of each lens I've tried later!

My background: I have HORRIBLE eyesight. I wore glasses since I was 8 years old until about 14. My eyesight got worst every year in the interval. Around 14, I started wearing regular contact lenses, and that's also when my eyesight started stabilizing. So I guess I've worn regular contact lenses for about 7 years.

Why I decided to buy circle lenses: Honestly, I had no idea what circle lenses were until I did a little more research online. I've always wanted to try color contact lenses, but they were too expensive for me. I was a bit wary about buying contact lenses online from two girls, but I've found from experience and other reviews that the girls at Mesmerized eyes are very reliable and the lenses are authentic. I bought the lenses mostly for the colors, but I guess the added enlargement is a plus too.

Regular contacts vs. Circle Lenses vs. colored contacts: Circle lenses make your iris bigger, therefore making the person appear more "doll-like" because the eyes look bigger. Regular contacts are just clear. Colored contacts are similar to circle lenses in that it might have different colors to enhance the eyes, with the exception of the outer dark ring to make the eyes look bigger.

Buying circle lenses: I honestly do not recommend buying circle lenses if you have not seen the optometrist and had a proper eye exam for contact lenses. I bought the lenses because I knew my prescription for contacts (which is completely different from the prescription for a pair of glasses because the contact lens includes the base curve and diameter of the lens). Even so, I am still in some danger because each contact brand is different, thus might require a different prescription. However, I limit the time I wear circle lenses and hopefully that limits the risk I am taking.

Not to sound all parental and authoritative, but I think the health of your eyes is more important than the beauty of it. It is VERY easy to develop eye infections of the contact is handled or clean improperly, and improper lenses can also damage the eye.

Geo Lens general comfort: This comparison is generalized to all the Geo Lenses I've tried, and compared to my regular contact lens which, to me, is a 10/10. I think this is just me, but I can't wear Geo Lenses for an extended amount of time (in 5 hours it gets uncomfortable, 8 hours is max but by then my eyes are starving for oxygen). I suspect this is probably due to the percentage of water in comparison to my regular lenses. Geo Lenses are 38% water versus my regular lenses are 60% water. More water = more permeable = more oxygen flow. The geo lenses are also thicker, probably because they have an extra layer for color. However, I searched all over for reviews before purchasing and it seems that most people find them even more comfortable then their current lenses, and those who never wore contact lenses before also found them extremely comfortable. But overall, I wouldn't wear geo lenses all day because they are uncomfortable for me. Remember, everyone is different so it might be different for you.

Honest Crap

2009-07-06T00:54:00.000-07:00

Thought this would be fun, thanks Ketmany for sharing :)

"You have to tell your readers ten things about you they may not know, but that are true. Then you have to tag ten people with the award. Finally, let all the people you've given the award know they've gotten it (comment their blogs or something). Don't forget to link back to the person who awarded you."

1. I don't wear full-on makeup everyday, the whole shabang (full foundation, etc) comes out only for *special* events like anniversaries, haha. My daily routine usually consists of concealer, powder, mascara. If I have more time and feel like it, I'll do the whole eyeshadow, eyeliner thing. Yeh, I'm pretty lazy and I value sleep a lot more.

2. I HATE drama (who doesn't?), so I try to steer clear from it. Because of my neutral standing among friends, I'm always the one they vent to.. it's interesting to hear both sides, but I never intervene.

3. I used to be a gamer. I started playing video games at a young age (got my first old school nintendo when I was 8) I was pretty much a tomboy and probably still am, even though I don't look it. I don't play games that much anymore, ever since college started and I'm continuing on to graduate school, so no time to play time-consuming games.

4. I've worked part-time, continuously the entire time in college. My parents never let me get a job in high school so when I started college, I also started working. I've had 3 different jobs; all were related to technology/computers in some way. I'm starting graduate school in the fall and due to the heavy course-load, working is not recommended by the department, so it's kind of weird not working.

5. I'm the oldest child.

6. I tend to joke and poke fun at people that respond well to my sarcastic, apathetic humor.

7. I used to be really good at studying ahead and not procrastinating. This was when I first started college. It all went down hill since then. Ironically, my grades have been increasingly better. Maybe my "procrastinating" and "grades" are inversely related? :P

8. I'm more of a listener than a talker (cause I get tired when I talk too long, haha) but I can have rare moments where I won't shut up.

9. I get buyer's remorse reaaaallly easily. In order for me to buy something, I must reallly want it. Sometimes I wait a week or more to see if my desire to buy it is still there before purchasing.

10. Oh yeah, I'm looking for housing in Pittsburgh (shadyside/squirrel hill area) so if you're from around the area and know any good places, let me know! :)

I tag everyone, 'cause everyone should do it!!!

What I have been up to

2009-07-05T18:56:00.001-07:00

Me snoozing at UC Merced's library.

It's been an interesting past couple of weeks. I went to northern California to UC Merced because my brother had orientation there. It was different because there wasn't much to do as it's literally in the middle of nowhere. Coming from Los Angeles, it was pretty interesting to see other parts of California, but I feel kind of sorry for my brother :P since I think he's more of a city person.

I was selected to be a potential juror last week. It was also an interesting process, and I was literally this __ close to be a juror. Boy did I get lucky because I was actually called for interrogations, but in the end they didn't want me :) Yay! I guess it was kind of different then my normal routine of waking up and doing nothing for the whole day. I would wake up extremely early (6 am) and go to Starbucks to read. Jury duty didn't start until 8 am, but I had no choice because my mom offered to drop me off before she went to work. Afterwards, I would go shopping because it was right next to a mall in Pasadena.

Me being silly with Biore pore strips some days before graduation... and yes, I'm wearing fobby PJs, haha.

Another haul: Eyeko

2009-07-03T18:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, I swear this will be the last "haul" for a while. Since I will be going to grad school (with no funding) and I already have loans from undergrad.. I'm going to have to cut back a lot. It sucks because I was so used to paying for my personal expenses in undergrad since I had a job. Now that I will be unemployed (apparently working and being in the grad school program I'm in will be a big no-no because of how intense it would be), my sources for finances will be mainly loans and extra help from the parental units.

I bought both Eyeko Eye creams: Tinted and original. I waited till there was a sale (I think it was 20%) Original price for each is $8 USD. I entered an ambassador code and got some free gifts! Some face wipes and Beauty Rehab spearmint lip balm. If you plan to purchase something from Eyeko.com, just google for ambassador codes for a free gift!

Swatches of Eyeko's Tinted Eye cream and original eye cream.

All blended in! The brown looks really scary and dark in the tub, but it all blends nicely afterwards.
Ingredient listings.

So I've been using the Eye creams for about 2-3 weeks. I use the original one and mix it with my moisturizer (Clinique dramatically different moisturizer). It gives the skin a nice healthy glow. I haven't used the tinted one too much, but I'm starting to now... I use it near the temples of my cheeks to kind of even out my face. (My forehead is naturally darker than the rest of my face *sadface) But so far I love the regular one! Although the texture gets kind of weird and filmy when I apply it after my sunblock (Neutrogena Dry touch).

Geo Circle Lenses Haul and Cookie Monster Cupcakes

2009-07-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

Recently I received my Geo Lens Haul from Mesmerized Eyes (http://mesmerizedeyes.blogspot.com/)! I was new to the batch system worked but it's pretty easy to figure out. You just order, pay and wait for the batch to fill up to 100 orders. Then the girls at Mesmerized Eyes order straight from the Geo Lens company in Korea. Geo Lens ship all the lenses to them and when they receive it, they package it up and ship it out to everyone who ordered. Shipping from the girls was sooo fast, it was about 2 days after they shipped that I received my package. However, the process in waiting for the batch to fill up and getting the order from Korea took some patience :).

Yay the package!!

All neatly bubble wrapped. Each lens came with a free lens case!

I bought 4 lenses, got one free, and bought a Hello Kitty Lens case holder. It was too cute to pass up. (I erased my prescription from the pic above because I'm too embarrassed to reveal how bad my eyes are... trust me, they are bad... I've only met ONE other person with worst eyesight than me in my lifetime.)

Lenses: (Left to right) Geo Tri Color in Brown, Geo Honey wing, Geo Fresh color in gray, Geo Angel Brown, Geo Fresh color in Brown

I will provide more in depth reviews for each lens in upcoming blog posts.

I made some cookie monster cupcakes for a gathering with old friends a while ago! This is not an original idea, I saw this somewhere online. But basically the eyes are marshmallow halves and chocolate chips. Frosting was semi-homemade with cream cheese, whipped topping and food coloring. The cupcakes were made from store box cake mix I had left over, but the chocolate chip cookies were made from scratch. They came out a bit too sweet for my taste (I blame the cake mix) but they sure looked cute!

Studying studying studying

2009-05-30T21:56:00.000-07:00

Hi beautiesss, just wanted to do a quick update.

Sadly, I'll be on a hiatus until my last final/graduation (Mid-June). I've been swamped with projects, exams, and presentations so I'll be losing lots of sleep these upcoming two weeks :(. I promise I'll get back on comments and everything when I'm done with school! :)

I'll leave you with this...

..this is how my desk looks like nowadays.. and I'm usually a fairly organized person!

Memorial weekend, NYX Haul

2009-05-23T15:14:00.000-07:00

I remembered I ordered stuff from cherry culture during their 50% off NYX sale so I was excited to come home with a package waiting for me. I think I just like ordering stuff online because I like opening packages, :P. Anyway, I didn't order much, just 3 round lipglosses (apricot, mauve, ballerina pink) and 2 eyeshadow cubes (suede, antique gold). Still searching for the perfect golden brown eyeshadow color...

Swatches!

Without Flash

With Flash

On the lips! I felt kinda weird taking these cause they're so zoomed in, you could see my pores and 'stache :P

Swatches on the hand!

During the week, I visited the garden at my school and took some photos. I miss photography.

Me parody-ing studio glamour pic poses.

We saw this weird pot of... what looked like moldy, leaf soup inside a tree trunk? It was pretty interesting...

It took a million attempts to get this picture of the dragon fly. It was on some grass right next to a river and stupid me forget to bring my telephoto lens (super zoom). So I had to bust a national-geographic-photog status. It came out okay, but I really wish I had my other lenses!

So many red-slider turtles, can you find them all? There's probably about twenty altogether (there's some across the stream too!)

I felt so stalkerish taking this pic. I didn't even know she was in the background until after I saw the pic! I swear I was focusing on the lavendery flowers.

I think this was called "Japanese Cherry tree" not sure if it's the same as "Cherry Blossom."

I have two more weeks of classes and I'm done with undergrad! Of course the last few weeks are always packed with work to do.. so back to work for me.. :(

P.S. What are you girls doing this memorial weekend?

YAY SHOES.

2009-05-18T23:41:00.000-07:00

My skin's been behaving! Probably because I've been letting my skin breathe. I've also been using Clean and Clear advantage oil-free acne moisturizer (mentioned in a previous post) and I'm almost out. Although I don't use it religiously, its been helping my skin without overdrying it when I have those little breakouts.

The shoes I ordered on Vans.com came! I was looking for some pointy flats that wouldn't wear out or break so easily like the shoes by Soda, and other brands. I used to have this one:

The picture does no justice. I swear it looks a lot better when worn. It's from Roxy and the style is called Twiggy. Although these shoes HURT LIKE HELL when I was breaking them in, leaving wounds mostly behind my ankles, it was soo comfortable in the end. It was quite sad actually. The first time I wore them was at school. For 8+ hours. By the 3rd hour, I already had immense pain and proceeded to the school's mini mart to buy some super thick expensive Puma socks, because those were the thickest ones, and a pack of Band-aids for "sport injuries." I didn't care that I looked like a grandma/fashion disaster for wearing athletic socks with flats, it was that painful.

After a couple months of wearing them every single day, they just gave out. And since then I've been trying to find a replacement. That's when I went to slickdeals.net one fine evening (more like late-night studying for midterms time, excuse to procrastinate) and found that Vans.com was having a 20% off with free shipping. This was around April, but the catch was the items would not ship until the beginning of May. Thinking I would not find anything, lo and behold, I found this:

Vans - Lesley. I wore it for the first time today, and I have a feeling my left foot is bigger than my right foot? For most of the heels/flats/hurty shoes I wear, the pain is ALWAYS on my left foot. Oh well. It's okay so far, it looks pretty though so its worth the pain!

Help me pick shoes for graduation!

2009-05-16T13:41:00.000-07:00

Hello ladies, it's been a while since I had a good blog post. I've just been pretty lazy with uploading pics from my camera. (how do you ladies combat laziness to upload photos?! kudos to you). Anyway, collective haul from Coastal Scents, CVS, and a japanese market.

From CS: kabuki, some eyeshadow pans, angled liner, fan brush, and they gave me a free sample of eyeshadow. I've been using the fan brush almost everyday to apply blush, so far I really like it.

From CVS: I've been on the search for the perfect golden/bronze color, that's why I bought the baked collection in Baked Sands. I have the Physician's formula Shimmer Strips for Hazel Eyes (even though I don't have hazel eyes, I just like to colors :P) and I love the fourth color from the bottom. It's kind of in-between bronze and gold, more like a shimmery brown with gold hints. I've used it all up and have yet to find a dupe. I ordered some NYX shadows from cherry culture so hopefully those will be it.
Also bought Physician's formula powder palette in translucent. I'm almost done with a similar one but the shade is actually my skin color. Eyelashes + Maybelline's Full and Soft, Sky high curves, and some makeup/toiletry kit from japanese market! I actually don't really know what the kit is.. it comes with two 5 gram jars, a tiny funnel, a spatula, and two empty bottles for storing liquids? It looks like it's either for makeup/beauty stuff or contact lenses. Help me out here, what do you think it's for?

Also been using Kirkland's Daily Facial Cleansing Towelettes everyday for removing makeup. I went through two packs of these already.

Also got Neutrogena's Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sunblock as I mentioned in a previous blog. I really like it, it doesn't leave the greasy feeling. Yes, I know it's 85 spf which is a lot.. I also saw one that was 100+ spf O_O.

For mother's day, I bought mama some orchids to grow from Trader Joe's.

Oh! I tried pressing my lip sticks and NYX pearl loose shadows with Enkore's tutorial. I guess I didn't press the nude color hard enough because it shattered in my bag!

Baked some cupcakes with red velvet and funfetti cake mix and semi-homemade cream cheese frosting. It was pretty easy to make.

One package cream cheese + 1 cup confectioner's sugar + 1 tub of Cool Whip. Whip cream cheese until soft and creamy, then pour in sugar. After mixing well, fold in Cool whip. It has the right balance of sweetness and flavor from the cream cheese without being overpowering or too sweet.

Lastly, THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION OF MY LIFE!! Okay, I guess it's not THAT important. But still, which heels should I wear for my graduation? Open-toed strappy or pumps? I'm kinda leaning towards the pumps because it looks a lot formal/classy. But I still don't know!

Oil-absorbing sheets: Clean and Clear, and Toilet Seat Covers?

2009-05-12T15:23:00.001-07:00

I've been using Clean and Clear's Morning Burst Oil Absorbing Sheets lately. The difference between the original and "Morning Burst"? Not much, except for the scent. There's a citrus-y scent that's supposed to make you feel more awake (perhaps to remind you of the childhood days or orange juice in the morning?), but that's the only difference.

Back in high school when oil-absorbing sheets were beginning to be used by almost every girl, my friend told me about a very cheap alternative. Sure, these sheets aren't too pricey (ranging from $1-3?) but honestly when you think about it, it's just paper. So what's the cheaper alternative? Well, if you look at my title, you might be slightly disgusted, but please keep an open mind.

Toilet Seat Covers are pretty much thin tissue paper without all the colors and texture. They are thin and absorbent enough to be effectively used as oil-blotting sheets. You're probably disgusted because when I say "Toilet Seat Covers" you might just think of "Toilet Seat." But really, I use these when I'm out of the expensive Clean and Clear ones. They're sanitary (you allow your butt to touch them, you wouldn't want anything unsanitary there right?).

So when I first found out about this, I was of course skeptical and slightly disgusted like you probably are. But I tried it, and it works. I was excited and told my whole family about it, including my dad. So he bought me 3 full packs of toilet seat covers. I only cut up a few sheets into smaller sized ones so I can bring them along.. and I still have 2.75 packs of toilet seat covers left. He gave them to me 5+ years ago. -_-

Toilet Seat covers. they're cheap, and they work.

Neutrogena Dry-Touch

2009-05-10T23:36:00.000-07:00

Been lazy with uploading pics from collective haul. Also, busy with school I guess. I bought this recently:So far so good.

Coastal Scents Sale! 15% off

2009-04-24T22:18:00.000-07:00

Just in case you didn't know...

Coastal scents is having a sale, 15% off everything! It's only for a short while, the sales ends April 26, 2009 midnight EST!

Although 15% isn't that much, it's still something, and I find that it's quite rare that Coastal Scents have sales that are good towards everything in the store. They usually have specific product sales and specials, so I definitely took advantage of this sale.

Items Ordered
-----------------
Italian Badger Deluxe Fan Brush: 1
Item Total: $3.49

Pink Kabuki Brush: 1
Item Total: $4.99

15 Empty Pans 26mm - same size as MAC (#PP-001): 1
Item Total: $4.95

White Angled liner Brush: 1
Item Total: $2.19

Chisel Angle Fluff Shadow Brush: 1
Item Total: $2.00

Life and Face

2009-04-15T22:03:00.000-07:00

I've been away from this blog for a while because of school and life. I'm trying to enjoy my last quarter in college and make sure I enjoy California before I move to the cold in the east for grad school.

Okay, so I've been using some of the ELF stuff I mentioned in the last haul I got. The 'powder brush' is reaaaaaalllly soft. I think I can safely say it's one of the softest brushes I have. (I only own Essence of Beauty, ELF, and Sonia Kashuk ones FYI).

In the last entry I complained that ELF sent me the wrong eyelash curler. I sent them a message and they responded pretty promptly saying that they would send the correct one right away (and didn't mention anything about returning the wrong item even though I asked them about it, so I guess I get to keep that one. It makes sense anyway since it'll probably cost more to ship it back to them.). I received the mini eyelash curler about a couple days after the message (less than a week!). Many beauty bloggers have been saying how ELF's customer service has greatly improved and I totally agree.

p.s. i found this somewhere.. it's cute.

E.L.F. Haul and Mini Reviews

2009-04-04T22:00:00.000-07:00

So I've been using Revlon's ColorStay with Softflex foundation recently with my Target Stippler Brush, and I've got to say, it's awesome. The coverage is medium to full, but I get the airbrushed look with the brush and no cakey-ness. I don't use foundation everyday (just whenever I feel like it.. about once or twice a week) but when I wear this foundation, it really feels lightweight and I can hardly tell its there.

I've also been using the Hidden Agenda Concealer by Sonia Kashuk pretty much everyday since I bought it. I have small red marks from acne scars and the olive based color (bottom right) really covers it up well. Previous to this, I used Maybelline's coverstick in Deep Beige and although it was pretty good at concealing, the color didn't really work that well with the redness, so it would take a while to blend and such.

Oh Cetaphil.. how I love thee... I've been using it about every other day (and using St. Ive's Apricot Scrub the other days) and I really love it. Since Cetaphil is soapfree, you don't need to work up a lather, all you do is slather it on your face, rub. and rinse. It makes face cleansing so much easier over the sink because I usually hate doing it with other soapy facial cleansers. Another plus is that you can use it by leaving it on your face and just wiping it off with a towel, leaving a sheen. This relieves my worry about leaving soapy residue on my face as with other cleansers.

Here's the E.L.F. Haul!

83601 -	blushed/bronzed	Qty: 1	$3.00
2201 -	Crystal	Qty: 1	$1.00
1705 -	Eye Lash Curler	Qty: 1	$1.00
81302 -	medium	Qty: 1	$3.00
85006 -	Mini Eyelash Curler	Qty: 1	$3.00
3101 -	Pink Lemonade	Qty: 1	$1.00
84003 -	Powder Brush	Qty: 1	$3.00
2807 -	Watermelon	Qty: 1	$1.00
cstmpalette -	Custom Palette	Qty: 1	$0.00
2567 -	Compact	Qty: 2	$1.00

----------------------------------------------------

Sub Total:

$18.00

Shipping:

$6.95

Tax:

$0.00

Discounts:

----------------------------------------------------

50% off orders up to $15.00!

($7.50)

----------------------------------------------------

Total:

$17.45

Unfortunately, They shipped a wrong item to me. I ordered a mini eyelash curler, but they gave me a regular one instead. I emailed them immediately and they responded the very next day that they would send the correct item out ASAP. I'm still waiting, but it's only been a few days.

The goodies in the bag

I guess I should've flipped these two pics over because they are upside down. They're supposed to be in the order that the swatches are on my hand.

L-R: Lipgloss in watermelon, all over color stick in pink lemonade, blush and bronze duo (supposedly a nars dupe), and the eyebrow kit in medium (wax and powder)
swatches with direct natural light from the window

Oh! I was also tagged by GiLing for the "Kreativ Blogger" award that's been circulating around lately. It's interesting, why is it spelled "Kreativ" is it because it's 'creative'? Yeah, just a random thought. btw, remind me to list a bunch of things I hate about blogger next time.

Spring Break = more time to buy things

2009-03-21T17:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I already heard from all the grad schools. And since I got rejected from one of them, I decided to reward myself for getting into the other six. (Yes, I applied to a lot of schools, I can't afford to not get in!)

Anyway, went to CVS and bought some Revlon stuff from their BOGOfree sale! I got the Revlon Colorstay Foundation with Softflex and also their Anti-Aging Primer thing just because I didn't know what else to get. To my dismay, I came back and checked reviews on makeupalley.com and the primer received a 1.9 out of 5! wow. Apparently it smells horrible and made a lot of people break out. Since I have fairly acne-prone skin, I couldn't take the chance and returned it.

I also went to Target with some cousins that visited from Australia. We walked around for 4 hours.. and I had heels on! I shouldn't have done that because I was dying towards the end. From Target, I bought some Sonia Kashuk stuff: the angled liner brush, highlighter brush (looks like stippler), and the hidden agenda concealer. I was looking for a good, but inexpensive stippler.. and found that the Coastal Scents or the Sonia Kashuk one might be decent. I heard the CS one sheds a lot though so I just decided to get the Sonia Kashuk one since they were having a 10% off all products by Sonia Kashuk (which is not a lot but it's something). I also heard some good things on the Sonia Kashuk concealer and have been looking for a better one. I'm currently using Maybelline's coverstick for my red scars [more like broken capillaries from having busy hands when i had small pimples :( ]

We also stopped by Sephora in old town Pasadena. I didn't really find anything I really wanted.. except I was looking for Two-faced shadow insurance but sadly they don't carry Too Faced at that location! That's so weird.. perhaps there's less teenagers there? I always saw Too Faced as a brand for younger adults since it's designs are more girly and bright. Hmm.. oh well. Oh! I also was considering buying the Shu uemura 24k gold eye lash curler.. I tried it out and it was okay. It wasn't super amazing or anything (but maybe cause my eyelashes were already curled from getting ready) Plus I ordered a bunch of stuff from E.L.F. the other day, including an eyelash curler. I don't really need another one though.. I'm fine with my $ .50 US MixBox one from China. It works so well with my sparse Asian lashes.

Oh! I also bought some Biore pore strips and Self-heating mask. I've used these before and I really like how the self-heating mask feels. It really does heat up! Although I doubt it deep cleans the pores because I saw little difference from when I use my normal face cleanser. But I don't care cause it feels good anyway. I also just bought the pore strips because I had a coupon for buy $15 get $5 off. I usually prefer the pore strips from Pond's because they adhere stronger and are more effective in pulling out the clogged pores. But yeh I couldn't find it and I already spent a lot of time in CVS.. I figured I already put the bf through enough torture, waiting for me to buy makeup.

Also got Cetaphil from Costco!!! Yeah.. I bought a lot of stuff.. I better not spend any unnecessary monies for a longgggg time.

Anyway, this has been one long entry. Have a great day lovelies!

P.S. did you notice I put up a header image? it's drawn and photo-manipulated by yours truly. :)

Bare Escentuals Free Sample!

2009-03-16T02:19:00.000-07:00

Get a free sample of bareMinerals SPF15 Foundation with free Premi Buki Brush!

Get the free sample:

http://store.bareescentuals.com/Peace%20and%20Love%20Sampling/MasterPeaceSample,default,pd.html

You have to pay for shipping though, + $3.95 US.

p.s. I heard this made a lot of people break out... hm.

Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse

2009-03-13T17:28:00.000-07:00

In my Glamour magazine, there was a free sample(s) of Maybelline's Dream Liquid Mousse foundation! I thought it was pretty cool..

With flash!... Without flash!

So I thought I knew what shade I was since I used Maybelline's Pure Makeup in Medium 2: Pure Beige.. but I knew it was a little off because it was a bit too rosy for me.

So I sampled the ones next to it!

L-R: Medium 1: Sandy beige, Medium 2: Pure Beige, Medium 2.5: Natural Beige

The shades are the same in this one, but reversed. (Medium 2.5 on the left)

Conclusion: I think my shade is Medium 2.5: Natural Beige. Even though Medium 2 looks like it works, it's actually too pink for me. Medium 1 and Medium 2.5 looks similar to me though, except Medium 1 is probably lighter.

Have any of you gals tried this? If not, what foundation do you usually use?

CG haul and grad school

2009-03-07T14:47:00.000-08:00

Okay so I went to Rite-aid recently and bought some stuff from CoverGirl. CG Lipslicks (in Daring and Demure) and Outlast Smoothwear Eyeliners (Smoke and Indigo)

Daring (The red one), Demure (The pinkish one). Liners top to bottom: Smoke and Indigo

Demure

Daring

I really like CG's lipslicks in Daring. This is the 3rd one I've bought because I use it so much. It gives a nice red tint without being overwhelming and it's casual enough to wear to school. Plus it's shiny and feels soothing to my lips. It also smells nice too! Kind of like.. some sort of lotion.

Left to right: Smoke, Indigo. I like Smoke because it's not as harsh as black, but it's dark enough to make the eyes pop. I use Indigo mostly for the bottom waterline.

Left to right: Indigo, Smoke. There's also a sharpener at the end, but it don't think I'll use it much.

Random picture of some blossoms at school.

This part is non-beauty related so don't read it if you want :)

In other news.. I AM SO EXCITED/ SHOCKED because I got into my top choice for grad school (Masters program). Seriously, when I applied I knew I had like a 5% chance of getting in because my grades aren't the greatest, none of my recommenders were even professors, and I don't have nearly as much research experience as most people applying to grad school. I guess somehow, I beat the odds.

I am still in shock (I found out yesterday) but nevertheless ecstatic. I was actually considering going to a less prestigious state school because I haven't heard from anywhere else and was seriously expecting all rejections because they're all top tier research schools. After checking forums and finding out that people were already admitted to those schools, I was just waiting for the rejection letter. Here's how it went down...(yes, I feel the need to document this magical moment)...

Yesterday...

I check my email the billionth time, expecting nothing because I haven't received anything grad school related for almost a month or so.. the first message I saw was something semi-important about class enrollment so I immediately click that. Then I notice an email with the subject "Admission Decision" and think, "It's about time they sent the rejection." So I click it and the first line says "Congratulations!" and I'm like.. "okay.. WAIT. WHAT?!.. WHAT WHAT WHAT!!?" Then I started freaking out and reread the email to make sure they sent it to the right person, if they spelled my name right, etc. My roommate was in the bathroom and I started screaming. "I GOT INTO CARNEGIE MELLON OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG. Is this a dream, is this a dream, is this a dream?" I swear my roommate probably thought I was on drugs or something and that I'll probably go to hell because I said "God" so many times. (She's Christian and has a thing about saying the word "God" in vain.)

I guess the bad side to this is that I will be in a lot of debt after I get the degree. Especially since I've already taken out loans for undergrad. The tuition (not including ANY other expenses) for CMU is about 35,000 a year... ouch. Anyway, I'm still trying to convince myself that this isn't a dream. And looking for housing isn't going to be fun..

Stress and Breaking Out

2009-03-01T12:21:00.000-08:00

I've been breaking out a bit lately, probably due to stress from school. And waiting for grad schools to reject/accept me!! Sigh.. can't wait to graduate already. Anyway, I'd thought I'd talk about some acne products I've used that work for me as I'm also curious what you gals use.

Clean and Clear Oil Free Acne Moisturizer: I bought this for my teenage brother since he's lazy at taking care of his skin. It has a pleasant fragrance and it really does work if it's used consistently. I feel like it mainly prevents breakouts rather than treat existing ones.

Clinique Spot Healing Gel: I got this as a sample. Everytime I've used this, my pimples start going away the next day! I'm planning to buy the full sized version sometime soon.

Clearasil Daily Face Wash: I used this in high school. It's especially good for oily/acne prone skin and I feel that it really does help clean your face and treat the acne.
Clean and Clear Acne Spot Treatment: I'm currently using this now. It claims that "100% of people showed clearer skin in just one day." It's a clear gel with a pleasant fragrance. I bought it because it was around $6 and wanted to see if it was similar to the Clinique one, plus its claim is pretty bold. However, I find that it doesn't work as well as the Clinique one, but I guess I saw some difference after a couple of days.

Thorakao Curcuma Cream: Ah.. I haven't really used this consistently.. yet. My aunt got this for me when she went back to Vietnam and apparently it's good for treating scars and acne. I didn't really trust it at first because it's instructions had really poor English and said "Really random, its effect is, do test it, all of you. Please!" So as I was laughing my ass off, I googled this online and came across different forums that had positive reviews of this stuff. So I guess I'll try it...

I'm currently looking for some skin products to help clear clogged pores. I exfoliate and tone but I'm trying to find some sort of cream that will help. Any suggestions?

Economic woes = more lipstick sales?

2009-02-23T19:49:00.000-08:00

So do you gals feel you've been buying more lipstick? :P I think I have.. but it's cause I started getting into makeup more.

N.Y.C. Bronzer and Blush

2009-02-21T23:46:00.000-08:00

I had a $2 off for N.Y.C. cosmetics for CVS and they were having a buy one get one 50% off. I didn't really know what to get so I looked up some reviews on makeupalley.com and got the "Color Wheel Mosaic Face Powder" in Pink Cheek Glow and All-Over Bronze Glow.

Food Blog: Soy Yogurt thoughts

2009-02-18T23:01:00.000-08:00

So I recently tried Trader Joe's Soy Yogurt in Peach. Yes, that's right SOY yogurt. I was pleasantly surprised in the taste. Now, I'm usually a meat-lover (sorry vegans) and I used to be super meat eater (especially when I studied abroad in China when ate a total of one apple each month because my stomach did not like the fruit there.) Needless to say, I came back to the U.S. with some nutritional problems but now that's all fixed cause I try to eat healthier.

So on to the Soy Yogurt. I felt like it was such a surprise that I had to blog about it. Plus, I don't really have any beauty related things to talk about yet.. been busy with school.

Anyway.. at first glance, the soy yogurt looked pretty normal, comparable to regular yogurt. Orangey, thick, globs of white with little bits of peach fruits. The first bite was kinda bland. I think I was trying to compare it to regular yogurt. By the time I got to the fifth bite, it wasn't that bad because I started eating it as SOY yogurt and not just regular yogurt. It has a bit of soy undertones without much, so I think that's why it took a while to appreciate its taste. It's interesting to try and I would buy it again. But I heard the raspberry one tastes bleh so I'm glad the first one I tried was peach flavored.

Happy Valentines!.. or SAD! (Single's Awareness Day)

2009-02-15T00:49:00.001-08:00

Whether you're single or in a relationship, you probably love or hate today. I didn't do anything super special. The bf and I just went and ate Japanese ramen for lunch and made things we don't usually make for dinner. He made some salmon and I baked cupcakes. (Pictures at the end.) Also, I had a chance to wear some false lashes (Ardell's demi black) and get fancy with eye make up. I just used Valentine's day as an excuse because usually I'm too busy with school and work.. blah.

Hello Kitty nail stickers my sweet roommate bought me!

The stickers were huge so I decided to put the biggest one on my big toe and paint the rest a similar pink color. The Keratin Base Coat is from my mom's nail kit when she went to beauty school to get a manicurist license. The NYC star glitter is from my roommate and the tiny pink nail polish is from Bath and Body Works.

I feel kinda weird showing my toes on the internet...

My tinted moisturizer= Everyday minerals + Olay moisturizer!

Testing..
All gone! It has really light coverage, but that's okay cause I kind of feel weird when there's too much coverage on my face.
I did this gold/bronze/brown look before I went out. The camera really washed out the colors.. it was a lot more vibrant. It just looks really neutral on camera.

Stopped by CVS and bought some Maybelline stuff (BOGO free)! I actually don't have a foundation (can you believe it?) because my face used to get real oily and I would just use powder.

The man preparing salmon!

Closeup after it was baked... it was really good.

Some carrot cupcakes and frosting I made from scratch.

It came out quite tasty.

Lash Blast, Everyday minerals, Hello Kitty, and Clinique

2009-02-09T23:43:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I finally gave in and bought Lash Blast. Yep, I know I'm super late in trying it out, but I really didn't feel like spending money on mascara since I still have several Clinique sample ones left. I was waiting for the drug stores to have those buy one get one deals again to get it. Anyway, I went to Target this weekend to get some random stuff and I saw CG's Lash Blast in a dual pack for $10. 2 for $10! Since I just threw away my mom's mascara (I think she's had it for years and her being Asian didn't want to throw it away even though the brush was deformed and gross), I bought it and gave her the other one.

The left side looks bigger. But really, I just took the picture sideways and rotated it.

I also bought these cute Hello Kitty band-aids just cuz.

The instructions are pretty cute. I know you have to tilt your head to see it, but the first line is the only real cute part and it says "Ouch - you've hurt yourself! BAND-AID brand can help."

I ordered another sample kit from Everyday Minerals! I ordered one sometime last year and never really got to ordering another set. I didn't really find a color that suited my skin the last time because the ones I ordered were either too light or too pink. The closest one was Golden Medium and it would've been perfect if it was just a tad darker. The weird thing is my forehead tends to be darker than the rest of my face so Golden Medium sorta suits the rest of my face while making my forehead look a lot lighter. :(

This time I ordered: Olive Medium, Olive Neutral, Warm-Buttered Tan, Sunday Brunch (Blush), and Intensive Tan Concealer.

Top row: Neutral, Golden Medium (old), Nick Nack (old), Intensive Tan Concealer

Bottom row: Olive Medium, Buttered Tan, Sunday Brunch, Mint Concealer (old)

Notice...

Left: Nick Nack, Right: Sunday Brunch

It seems like Warm-Buttered Tan and Golden Medium might be the winners. I also really like the Sunday Brunch Blush because it's so pigmented. I got Nick Nack in the last sample kit and although it's a nice pink color, it doesn't show up too much on my face unless I put a lot on. It looks chalky on my skin. I think the color suits lighter skin gals better.

On another note, I'm debating whether I should buy stuff from Clinique because they have the Bonus time deal at the one in my school. It ends this week!

Description: "Bonus includes High Impact Lip Colour SPF 15, All About Eyes, blush & eye shadow Colour Palette, 3-piece Brush Set, 7-day Scrub Cream Rinse-off Formula, and High Impact Mascara—all in an exclusive cosmetic bag."

The only reason why I want to buy something is because I might run out of their face moisturizer before they have another Bonus Time and the next "gift" might have more things I don't really want. But I already spent some money on the Beautycrunch.com haul and told myself I wouldn't buy anymore makeup for a month. Ahh.. what should I do?

Daily products

2009-02-08T10:27:00.000-08:00

I used to have REALLY OILY skin back in high school. Seriously, my face was like a greased pan. Sounds disgusting right? You could probably fry an egg on it... okay, yeah I think I'm going too far. Anyway, I think the reason why my face ended up like that was because I was afraid of putting anything on my face (even moisturizer) since I was acne-prone as well. Gotta love the teenage years huh.

When I started college, my face got less oily and became somewhat of a combination/oily skin. I usually get oily around the T-zone and sometimes my cheeks. So why am I talking about all this grease on mah face? I look back and wish I knew more about beauty stuff so I could've.. you know.. not looked so super oily all time. Now that I'm a bit older (early 20s), I think I've learned more about my skin and what it likes/dislikes. Plus, my skin is more tame now. heh. Anyway, here are the products I use daily right before I go to school (btw..I'm graduating this year!).

Clinique's dramatically different moisturizing lotion. I use this everyday after I wash my face in the morning. And by washing my face, I mean wiping it with a clean damp cloth. I don't wash my face with any facial cleanser in the morning because I'm lazy and... I feel like I don't need to. My face was clean before I went to bed and I didn't do anything except sleep... okay fine, I'm just lazy. :)
Clinique's Moisture Surge. I use this sometimes in place of the moisturizer. This stuff is soo good. I got this as a sample from those free extra samples Clinique always has. The thing is, one night I made the mistake of putting too much because I had super dry skin, and I woke up with a few small pimples growing. Mind you, I put LAYERS of this stuff on, so it probably suffocated my skin.

My favorite concealer: Maybelline's Coverstick. I've been using this stuff since high school (so about 5+ years now?) because it works really well. I use this on my blemishes and scars and the consistency is thick, but it blends really easily. The only con is that there's only a few skin-tone shades (like 3 or 4?) but that might be a good thing since it blends well?

Carmex!! I have like 3 of these lying around. I leave one in my backpack, one in my purse, and one at the bf's place. Haha.
Physician's Formula: Powder Palette Multi-colored Face Powder. I have this in beige and I just use it to cover some oily-ness without making it look cakey. I like this because it's pretty light and it doesn't feel like I'm wearing anything.
Physician's Formula Organic Wear Origin Pressed Powder. I got this as an extra item in a buy one get one 50% off deal. It came with a concealer (which was totally teh sucks) but this itself is pretty good. I don't use the brush it comes with, I feel the bristles are too thick and hard that it'll leave streaks. I also got this in Beige but the color is a lot lighter than the Multi-colored Face Powder. This overall is okay, it's a bit more powdery than the Multi-colored Face Powder, but it works.
At the end of the day, I wash everything off with St. Ives Apricot Scrub! It smells good and has these little grains of broken apricot pits (I think?) and it gently scrubs off all the dirt and little blackheads off. Plus it's pretty inexpensive ($3-$4) at Target.

I'm curious, what products do you guys use daily?

Essence of Beauty Brushes and Too Faced Palettes

2009-02-07T11:49:00.000-08:00

Brushes from Essence of Beauty (found at your local CVS). These four brushes (Powder, blush, eyeshadow, eyeliner) also came with a cute black clutch holder! The bristles are really soft and I can't wait to use them.

I stumbled across Beautycrunch.com and they have Stila, Too Faced and other brands of makeup for low, low, low prices! I bought a "Too Faced Decade of Glamour" for $16 (originally around $40) and "Too Faced's The Quickie Chronicles in Hopeless Romantic" for $11 (originally almost $30).

Of course shipping costed a ton ($7.95 or so), but it came super quick. I ordered it late at night around 12 am on Wednesday (technically Thursday morning) and it came Friday afternoon! The warehouse is pretty close to where I shipped it to (about 40 miles away) so that might've helped.

Too Faced Decade of Glamour. Look at all the pretty colors!! It includes a bunch of lip glosses and lip sticks (on the sides). 6 eyeshadows on top left, bronzer (top right and bottom middle), and blush (middle). Also included eyeliner, mascara and lip injection (lip plumper).

close up of the middle panel.

The Hopeless Romantic Palette. Panel 1: 4 eyeshadows (top) and 4 lip glosses (bottom). The packaging on the lip glosses got messed up somehow. sadness... maybe the glosses were sitting next to it too long. Oh well..

Panel 2: Blush, bronzer, highlighter.

CVS - BOGO 50% Essence of Beauty

2009-02-02T11:39:00.000-08:00

I've been real busy with school and work... I just finished my grad school apps this weekend! To celebrate, I bought myself some Essence of Beauty brushes at CVS.

They are having a Buy One Get One 50% off all "Essence of Beauty" products!!!

I've heard about their brushes being really good and pretty high quality for a cheaper price (I don't really wanna fork out $40 for a MAC brush...) so I decided to give them a try. I haven't used them for applying makeup yet, but they are sooo soft! I bought a brush set that included the following brushes: Powder, Blush, Eyeshadow, Eyeliner. It also included a cute clutch wrap to keep the brushes nice and neat when travelling. For my other item, I purchased a Foundation and Concealer brush. I don't really use foundation, but I'm starting to use my homemade tinted moisturizer since winter is really drying my skin and powder isn't really helping.

I'll be getting my camera back in about a week so expect frequent updates and pictures!

Cup of Teaa!

My Nightly Regime

Long time no blog. mini reviews from random hauls.

Smudge-proof liner for tightlining?

Unsatisfied facial routine

Update update!

Happy Winter!

Quick Update

Mew

Quick update from the east coast!

EOTD and moving out

NYX Round lipstick swatch

Nostalgia and Observatory

Random shoes

Geo Lens Review: Fresh Brown, Honey Wing, Geo Tri Color Brown

Circle Lenses.. an overview

Honest Crap

What I have been up to

Another haul: Eyeko

Geo Circle Lenses Haul and Cookie Monster Cupcakes

More postponement

Studying studying studying

Memorial weekend, NYX Haul

YAY SHOES.

Help me pick shoes for graduation!

Oil-absorbing sheets: Clean and Clear, and Toilet Seat Covers?

Neutrogena Dry-Touch

Coastal Scents Sale! 15% off

Life and Face

E.L.F. Haul and Mini Reviews

Spring Break = more time to buy things

Bare Escentuals Free Sample!

Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse

CG haul and grad school

Stress and Breaking Out

Economic woes = more lipstick sales?

N.Y.C. Bronzer and Blush

Food Blog: Soy Yogurt thoughts

Happy Valentines!.. or SAD! (Single's Awareness Day)

Lash Blast, Everyday minerals, Hello Kitty, and Clinique

Daily products

Essence of Beauty Brushes and Too Faced Palettes

CVS - BOGO 50% Essence of Beauty