Mae's Beauty Blog

2011-05-03T12:23:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone!

Check out my new blog:
http://beautyevolution.blogspot.com/

Thanx! miss you all!
xoxo

Using Highlighter

2010-01-28T14:58:00.000-08:00

Miss Eileen and I made a vid about why and how to use highlighter!
Hope you enjoy :)

LUSHiousness

2009-10-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Two prelaunch parties in one week makes for one of the best weeks EVAAR! Well that and some other factors just to name a few: got to witness the unveiling of the new holiday lines for MAC and LUSH [The LUSH on Walnut St. was the first store in America to unveil the new line!], got my Coastal Scents Concealer palette and Camo Quad in the mail [will be doing a review on that soon!], had three lovely days off from the stressors of work, and was a brave girl and drove to the city and parallel parked for the first time since my driving test which was like 6 years ago! [gosh I feel like an old head..]

That my friends is a picture of a tall glass of HAPPY BEER. hahah I was having such a good time when I was hanging out with my girls at a bar that even my beer was smiling :p

I always considered myself a lucky person. Do you believe that people make their own luck? I'm really starting to believe that now...

Ok. on to the good part. Here are some pix from the LUSH party. Again the lovely Miss Eileen accompanied me!
Crowded, just like I expected it to be!

Looking at those huge wheels of soap makes me want to take 5 showers a day.. I wonder how much one wheel costs? And if anyone ever bought a straight up wheel of soap?.. That's the famous Karma soap pictured above.

Spice Curls looks so delectable..

They also served cookies!

The Unveiling of the new line!

My pictures are fackin blurry! Probably cuz I was being shoved around..

What I ended up taking home with me that night:
-Charity Pot hand & body cream
-Lemony Flutter cuticle butter
-Buffy body butter
-Aqua Mirabilis body butter
-sample of Love Lettuce face mask
-Karma Komba solid shampoo
-Godiva solid shampoo
-Strawberry Feels Forever massage bar
-Sexy Boy massage bar

I didn't take any pictures of my massage bars. I was so excited to use them and now they look like blobs.
My Goodies, my goodies, my goodies, not my goodies!

Random guy with a bag that had Mario in his Tanooki suit gets a thumbs up from the gamer girls!

These are the free containers you get when you buy 2 of one type. Clockwise: massage bar tin, body butter tin, solid shampoo tin. These can be pretty tricky when you're trying to pry them open so here's a little tip. After you're done using your bar but before you close the lid, take a piece of ribbon [I use a skinny one] and lay it on top of the rim. When you close the lid, both ends of the ribbon should be sticking out. Then you can just yank the lid open by tugging on one end of the ribbon while holding onto the other end!

Oh Lemony Flutter, I think I'm addicted to you. So yummy and I use it for everything. Cuticle cream, on my elbows, knees, heals, and dry spots, taming my baby hairs, and lip balm. Totally worth it.

Did a good deed and bought Charity Pot for the first time! I picked the one that donated every penny I payed to help save the orangutans who are endangered from deforestation due to the palm oil industry... SAVE THE ORANGUTANS!

Free gift from LUSH

What was in the gift box: Li'l Lush Pud Bath Bomb and Snowcake Soap
The descriptions on the tag-
Snowcake Soap: smells like delicious almond icing off your Christmas cake, feels like almond mousse on your skin
Li'l Lush Pud Bath Bomb: Looks like a pudding, smells like a pudding, fizzes like a spicy Bath Bomb
Too bad I don't have a nice bath I could use those Bath Bombs in.. I do have the tub in my shower, but if any of you share a shower with your brother, then you would know that if I took a bath in that tub, I'd most likely come out dirtier.. ew. Maybe I will just cut my bath bomb into smaller pieces and use them to soak my feet in for pedicures :p

p.s. If you have an account that was created before September 9, 2009, you can get free shipping on your order of $65 or more PROMO CODE: LUSHFRIEND4LIFE

I'm sure I will be doing reviews of these products individually. LUSH is just the best way to get clean!

Free Shipping @ MAC

2009-10-13T19:10:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Just wanted to let you know that you can get free shipping on all purchases from now thru Oct. 24th at MAC online! [you don't need a promo code] Take advantage of it! :D

xoxo
Mae

MAC Pre Launch Party!

2009-10-06T18:55:00.001-07:00

So I went to my first Prelaunch party for MAC's new holiday line with Miss Eileen tonight in Philthydelphia! Had such a blast and thank goodness we got there early because the line went arouuuund the blooock. NO lie. Any whooo I apologize, for I wasn't able to take very many pictures or get any good swatches for you guys! My digicam battery was running low [forgot to charge it] aand it was JAMPACKED. i felt like sardines in a can. [Click the pix to enlarge]

That picture shows just how narrow the store was and how many people they tried to pack in there. lol
Us on the train ride to Philly. I wore minimal makeup hoping that they would be able to do a look on me but the mua were so busy!
As expected MAC had a bunch of very nice looking males serving cocktails and canapes. Everything was super yummy. Lots of eye candy.. i'm talking about the products!! haha yeah ok. It was so packed I could hardly breathe! BlAh. oh well.

yummy Smirnoff Pomegranate!With our pomegranite ginger cocktailsWith the models. I felt sorry for the girl model because she told me that her dress was uncomfortable. [looks like it too..] she showed me her arms were turning red from the pieces of her dress irritating it. She was super nice and the male model was too. Eileen and I look like shrimps next to them.. I wish I was a little bit taller.. i wish i was a baller.. hahaha ok i'll stop.
p.s. her hair is going to take a million rinse and repeats to get all that crap out!

Any ways here are my crappy pictures from tonight. Again I apologize! I really wish I could've taken my time and got better ones, but like I said before, I could hardly move. The store is really narrow so it wasn't the best place for a party..the shadow, glosses, and blush/bronzer/shimmer holiday palettes
The following pix are of my goodies that I bought. Mineralize e/s in Devil-May-Care [left] and Blue Sorcery [right]
That's what it looks like dry. I didn't get a chance to swatch them wet, but I'll try to do a look with them tomorrow :D

And here's the thing of bubbles that I got as a freebie:
I cannot wait to try out my new e/s! Also, coming up soon [this thursday actually] I'm going to my first Prelaunch party at LUSH! The store in Philly is the first in America to unveil their new holiday collection!! I was told to expect a bag of goodies too! NICE. I will update on that and hopefully take better quality pix for you guys!!

Urban Decay Cosmetics 24/7 Pencil Set

2009-09-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

[Stereophonic]

[Hi-Fi]

I want! Loooove UD's liners! and that glitter liner looks like so much fun. The liners are like butter and I don't know about everyone else, but they never smear or smudge for me.. Right now i'm itching to just purchase both of these! They're a pretty good price for all the stuff you get [$29 bucks i think? at ulta]

Stereophonic set includes: Zero, Underground, Gunmetal and ULTA exclusive shade Crash and Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner in Midnight Cowboy.

Hi-Fi set includes: Flipside, 1999, Zero, NEW shade Mildew and Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner in Distortion.

Bringing sexy back ;p

2009-09-26T10:13:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes I know.. Where the frick have I been? My last post was in May!? Needless to say I have been quite busy. Work, work,work.. you know the deal. I felt like I lived in the hospital.. not good. But thankfully now I'm not required to come in to work as often as I did before. I've missed blogging and all my blogger friends! Everyone's probably forgotten all about Mae, but it's my bad.

So just a quick recap on all that's been happening in my life since May lol:

- Went on a little mini vacay with my babay to the pretty city of Boston. Our favorite part had to be the Sam Adams brewery! Free beer and a complementary drinking glass :D

[Harvard which looked like Hogwarts]

- Right after Boston, went to the Poconos and NYC with the fam bam for our family vacation. After Hawaii last summer, my rents wanted to just go on a little trip this time and save up for a bigger vacation next summer. Our next destination? ITALY! Sooo stoked!
- got a wii :p
- board games all the way! I'm such a dork, but they're so much fun! Played Settlers of Catan [which I am surprisingly adroit at..], Agricola, Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, UNO [lol], Wits and Wagers, Apples to Apples and a bunch more. We even had a tally sheet of whoever won whichever game and at the winner gets to be treated out to dinner of her choosing. Miss Eileen and I won [tied!] and -ahem- are still waiting for our sushi dinner boys!
- picnics at the park with chums
- All hussied up for Miss Eileen's Bday bash:
- shopping.
- I am now a proud Godmother to my Jennybean's baby girl : Alessandra [aka Lessa] <3
[at the baby shower, you can't even notice her belly!]

- Met Priscilla Ahn with Miss Julia ;)

Hmm, I know I did more than that, but my brain hurts trying to think back. I've got a lot planned ahead and I really am going to force myself to write as often as I can. Sometimes I feel like I'm regressing and can't speak proper English anymore since I haven't written anything remotely intelligent. Ok, maybe i'm being a little harsh on myself but really, I used to be pretty good at writing essays and the such in high school...

BOGO at Ulta!

2009-09-26T10:09:00.001-07:00

Heads up all you beautiful people! Starting Sunday September 27th, through October 3rd, Ulta is having a BOGO sale on L'Oreal, Maybelline, Max Factor & NYX! It only works for their mascaras, eye liners, and shadows though. Gotta love getting 2 fors! So go out tomorrow and stock up - which is precisely what I plan on doing :p

Later lovelies!

New MACbook?!

2009-05-04T07:23:00.000-07:00

It's so tiny!
Sike! hahah I just put the apple sticker that came with my Ipod Touch on my Coastal Scents 88Palette lol. For those of you who still haven't gotten this palette, this is a pic of it next to my DS Lite for size comparison:

yeah.. well that was a random post. hahah

E.L.F. professional shine eraser blotting sheets

2009-05-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

Aaaand another E.L.F. product that I'm pretty happy with! Their professional shine eraser blotting sheets:
These remind me so much of Boscia's Green Tea Blotting Linens:

The main difference to me is the price. For Boscia you pay $10 for 100 sheets. For E.L.F. you pay $1 for 50. That's like 2cents a sheet. Granted you do sometimes have to use two sheets, but that's 4 cents!!! Both their packaging are flimsy and the sheets themselves are thin. For those of you who like the clean and clear blue ones, you might not like these because you do need to use more than one. I think the E.L.F. ones are slightly bigger in size.. I've heard other people who've said that they had those little bits of tea come off on their faces, but that's never happened to me with either of these blotting sheets. [shrugs] Neither of them really lift the makeup that I have on either. So I'm sold on the E.L.F. ones because they work just as well for a fraction of the price.

E.L.F.'s Contouring Blush and Bronzing Powder

2009-04-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

E.L.F. cosmetics are known for being $1, but they have launched a studio line that I guess are supposed to be a higher end version of their products. It's still dirt cheap though! Like this Nars Duo dupe of Orgasm/Laguna! It's pretty much dead on IMO:
There's a good amount of each product in this compact. The only thing is that they are a bit on the powdery side. Use a light swipe with your brushes cuz you'll get powder EVERYWHERE. The bronzer is great for contouring but like I said use a light hand cuz you'll end up looking like a drag queen... and trust me I want to have more chiseled cheek bones, but not THAT chiseled. The blush gives you a nice peachy pink glow with light flecks of gold shimmer. Very wearable.
This was what, $3 compared to NARS's $37!!!? Even if I accidentally drop it and it shatters all over the place I still wouldn't feel as guilty as if I broke a NARS one...

OMG

2009-04-18T13:00:00.001-07:00

I need to somehow get one and find away to hide it in my room without my parents knowing about it..

Pellenova Mineral Makeup Review

2009-04-18T12:04:00.001-07:00

I love mineral makeup. I hardly ever use liquid foundation anymore. It just really helps to control my shine. Plus you can never ever ever go wrong with natural stuff! No preservatives and other nasty chemicals. Just plain ol' crushed up ROCKS. There is basically no expiration date unless i guess if you get your jar wet or something.. oh and um the sun protection just adds about a million brownie points.

I was able to try out another brand of mineral makeup called Pellenova. Not all mineral makeup works for me. I first tried Bare Minerals and HATED IT. It made my skin sting! WTH! That's why i'm always down for trying new brands :D

Anywho, here's the cute little package:

What came inside:
- pure mineral foundation in Sun Kissed
- pure mineral blush in Pink Fire
- pure mineral eye splash in Midnight Spark
- Heal and Conceal Blemish/Skin Imperfection Treatment with Concealer in Medium

I've never tried a BB cream [even though i'm dying to!] but to me Pellenova's Heal and Conceal Creme is similar to a BB cream. It hides your imperfections with concealer and it also helps to heal your skin at the same time. There's Tea Tree Oil, Vitamins C & E and Vitamin B Complex in the formula. This stuff smells sooooo good. I hate how some liquid foundations leave your face smelling like ass, but this makes my face smell fresh. I can't pinpoint the exact things that it reminds me of, but all i can say is that it smells great. I like to apply this on days when I'm not planning on getting gussied up. The back says you can use it alone or under foundation but it provides such great coverage that you really don't even need foundation on top of it! Just slap it on and GO GO GO.Yay I found another one that doesn't make me feel like I want to rip my face off! Very lightweight, nicely fine milled powder. My face isn't as shiny by the end of the day and it covers up everything I need to be covered but it lets my freckles shine through. I've grown quite fond of my freckles ^_^ This e/s comes in a verrry generous pot. It's a sexy midnight navy blue color with some shimmer. It's perfect for smokey eyes and for lining! Just wet your angled brush, dip it in some of this and apply like a liner. The staying power is awesome. I adoooooore blushes and this blush is absolutely gorge on my skin tone. It may look bright and mineral makeup tends to be extremely pigmented so this will last me ages! The color is BRIGHT pink in the container with itty bitty bits of shimmer [my camera kinda washed out the color]. My stippling brush comes in quite handy with applying this since I sometimes tend to have a heavy hand -__- When I have it on I look so healthy and not sickly. They have 7 colors of blushes, but since I have a bunch of normal everyday blushes, I decided to choose a fun party color. :pThe e/s looks black in this pic but it's actually a dark navy hue. Overall I'm very satisfied with these products. I can't wait until they add more colors so I can add more to my growing collection :p

On the website you can also take a gander at lipsticks, liners, mascara, skin care, brushes and finishing powders. If I keep using natural mineral makeup, I wonder how i'll look in ten years with all the Sun protection this stuff gives me... heheh

Boys Before Flowers

2009-03-19T08:43:00.000-07:00

What I HAVE been doing a lot of lately since being practically bed bound is watching dramas. I'm currently watching Boys Before Flowers. It's a Korean version of Hana Yori Dango which is a Japanese live action drama based off of a Manga. It's fun to watch and the heroine is feisty.

the quote that I particularly am fond of from the drama:
"Good shoes take you to good places."

:) makes me wanna splurge on a new pair..

So sick. >.<

2009-03-19T08:29:00.000-07:00

Ugh. I haaate being sick. Usually I only come down with something like once a year and it's usually in the fall. I haven't been sick all year so I guess March is it. Even had to call out sick on Saturday... Needless to say, posting has been put on hold as well as so many other aspects of my life since my body needs so much rest to get back on healthy mode. Drowning in OJ. Not really but i'm trying to drink lots and lots of fluids.

I will be working on another video! yay! ;p and on another product review. Stay tuned lovelies!!

Watched Watchmen

2009-03-08T11:05:00.001-07:00

I saw Watchmen with the bf last night and it was pretty good!! Lot's of blood and violence plus some romance and politics. Throughout the whole movie I just kept thinking about how Silk Spectre reminded me soooo much of Xena Warrior Princess!! The bangs and badass-ness and the facial structure!

But yeah, anyways, go watch it. It's number 166 on imdb's top 250 I think.

unmotivated lazy butt

2009-03-08T10:44:00.001-07:00

[sigh] i WAS going to work on another video, BUT my cam's battery decided to be dead so now it's charging and i'm just being lazy. it's a glorious 68 degrees out and I do not want to do anything productive. I have work the next three days [i can't wait until i can just work three 12 hour shifts instead of two 12's and two 8 hours shifts - i'm always exhausted nowadays! ] and I just want to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. is that so wrong??

In my Honors English class Junior year of high school, we read Shakespeare's Henry IV, I fell in love with Prince Hal's soliloquy. We had to memorize it and throughout college I referred back to it whenever I felt the need for motivation and inspiration. Every time I say it, it pumps me up. So here it is:

[Act I, Scene II]
Prince Hal:
I know you all, and will awhile uphold
The unyoked humour of your idleness:
Yet herein will I imitate the sun,
Who doth permit the base contagious clouds
To smother up his beauty from the world,
That, when he please again to be himself,
Being wanted, he may be more wonder'd at,
By breaking through the foul and ugly mists
Of vapours that did seem to strangle him.
If all the year were playing holidays,
To sport would be as tedious as to work;
But when they seldom come they wish'd for come,
And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents.
So, when this loose behavior I throw off
And pay the debt I never promised,
By how much better than my word I am,
By so much shall I falsify men's hopes;
And like bright metal on a sullen ground,
My reformation, glittering o'er my fault,
Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes
Than that which hath no foil to set it off.
I'll so offend, to make offence a skill;
Redeeming time when men think least I will.

~Shakespeare

It's about redemption and proving others wrong. I know that you shouldn't have to prove anything to anyone, but it just feels oh so gooood.

k. time to finish my laundry so i accomplish SOMETHING today T__T

Bubble Pop Electric

2009-03-03T11:46:00.000-08:00

I've got pink eye! no. not the gross kind. [i wash my hands 92386923 a day] THIS KIND!: Using pink eyeshadow is so much fun! it's so bright and girly! You can wear it subtle for a romantic look, but I was bored and decided to go for a more obnoxious look haha I'd love to wear this clubbing, thing is, I don't go clubbing!Holy crow! I hadn't realized HOW toned my arms got lately! I knew that they weren't as giggly, but wooow :D That's from carrying around babies at work and playing the drums on Guitar Hero World Tour! LMAO - hey. whatever works ya kno?! My arms used to be really flabby and would jiggle @ slightest breeze hahah no lie! Now just looking at that picture makes me want to punch a wall. Maybe a very thin wall.. drywall...

Arms are probably the easiest body part to tone. Jennifer Aniston's got my ideal arms. Toned, sexy, not flabby.
I have nothing against body builders, but never in a squillion years will I want my arms to be this jacked! Madonna is diesel!! If you cut out her face and boobs, I would think this pic would be a pic of a man's arms..

Wow. how I digress! "The inner machinations of my mind are an enigma" Patrick Star from Spongebob Squarepants. lol Anywho here are the ingredients!

Avon Magix Primer

MAC Studio Finish concealer - NW30
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural - Medium Dark
NARS The Multiple in Copacabana
Coastal Scents 88 Palette - brightest pink shadow
MAC e/s - Print
MAC fluidline - Blacktrack
MAC Plushlash mascara - Plushblack
Rimmel 1000 Kisses lip liner - Tiramisu
MAC Fafi lipglass - Cult Fave
[not shown] Bronzer and blush from Tarte the Vanity palette & Ardell fake lashes

Click to enlarge the pix

Brace yourselves for one of the cheesiest pictures ever:HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH I look like an idiot. I've come to love my chubby cheeks. I have a tiny dimple on my left cheek and when I smile really hard I get dimple on my cheeks under my eyes kinda like:

Ash Ketchum! well.. i'm assuming those squiggly lines on his cheeks are indicative of dimples? So for all you gorgeous creatures who are still self conscious about there chubby cheeks, take a look at the lovely Miranda Kerr. She's is one of my favorite models and i'm insanely jealous cuz she's with Orlando Bloom! At least we won't ever have to end up injecting who knows what into our faces just to fill them out like a good percentage of hollywood is doing! Be thankful!She's so beautiful!
Sleeping with the stars [one of my comfy bedsheets I ordered from delia's in middle/high school. I still <3 them]

Peace out chickies! I'm still working on the links and kinks on my blog. I'm in the process of trying to pimp it out a little ;) Go forth and frolic in the pure snow!

quicky

2009-03-03T04:33:00.000-08:00

ahh it's march! I will have new updates back up some time today T__T The snow is quite beautiful, i'm just glad I don't have work today :p and that I can sip some hot cocoa and eat pan de sal allll day! gonna go break my fast!

How to Treat Dry Hair!

2009-02-27T08:27:00.000-08:00

Check out my article on how to treat dry hair! Spring is on it's way and you don't want to greet it looking like you got into a fight with a weed wacker. I think at least that's what I think they're called.. you know those things that people use to trim the edges of their lawns? Yeah, the ones that fling pieces of grass right into your face while you walk your dog? haha anyways click click click!

Worst mascara EVER.

2009-02-25T12:38:00.000-08:00

Revlon's 3D Extreme Mascara:Biggest waste of money!!

Just look at the wand! The bristles are waaaay too short and stubby to evenly distribute the actual mascara. You can see the bald spot in the picture. I can't really say much about the formula since the brush totally ruined it all. I had 3D clumps on my lashes! and I mean BOULDERS. O_o So when you go to the drugstore, don't get sucked in by the cool metallic packaging. Needless to say I will not repurchase! [well I didn't really buy it in the first place. .my mom bought it for me since it was on sale] But there you go. Just saved you moneys ;p

Ready for Spring already!!!

2009-02-23T15:10:00.001-08:00

Just a quick look inspired by my craving for spring weather. I'm sick of all this frigidness.Before straightening

After

Ingredients:Avon Magix Primer
MAC StudioFinish concealer
EDM Olive Medium Foundation
MAC f/l in Blacktrack
MAC e/s in Humid
Coastal Scents e/s blue and purple
MAC Plushlash in Plushblack
MAC Hello Kitty l/g in Sweet Strawberry

haha tried to circle the ones I used but the circles are barely visible!! click the pic to make it bigger.

I'm wearing my apron lol. I made Turtle Brownies afterwards. HAHA and you can see the recycle bracelet my mom got me!! :o

I don't know how you guys post so often!! It's so hard to keep up but i'm trying!

Vday Face

2009-02-13T10:27:00.000-08:00

Here's the makeup look I'm planning on doing for tomorrow.. Statement lips, pink cheeks and simple eyes :) I just placed some individual lashes on my bottom lash line.
I don't have any real plans for Valentine's really this year. I'm just glad I have an excuse to wear bright pink lipstick!!

Just experimenting with the different light settings on my camera again :p and also with my hair.. I think the lip color is actually a lot bolder in real life and that it got washed out a bit in the photos.This lip color makes my teeth look so much whiter!
I never knew my eyes could look so sad from this angle!

How I love this lipstick. If you're wondering it's Make Up For Ever in 202 [Laque-Lacquered] I kept it matte cuz I wanted to keep the look nice and romantic and not too sexed up. I also used the bronzer and the brightest pink blush in my Tarte The Vanity Palette.
Regardless if you are single or have a SO, I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's day! <3
Coming up soon, I'll give you guys a peak at how my hair looks when it's REALLY REALLY teased!!!!

guess who got a haircuuuut!

2009-02-03T09:41:00.001-08:00

introducing my quasi-emo-mullet! lol i've been growing out my hair color and it kinda looks cool with this cut..fake lashes and nude lips [using the concealer method]as usual when my hair has grown to great lengths I have my debate on whether I should just chop it all off up to my chin. this time i'm glad I didn't. I have so many short layers on top, that my hair feels like it's half the weight that it used to be. even my bangs have layers!! O_o!23? who me?

so naturally, post cut I drove to Target to get me some hair styling lotions and potions...got me this baby:
masterpiece by TIGI Bed Head. this hairspray is awesome. it adds body and shine and keeps my hair in place. Plus it smells delectable. I usually don't use many hair styling products, but this hair demands teasing and styling and fluffing soooo..yeah k bye guys.

I'm 23!

2009-01-26T11:49:00.000-08:00

So I officially turned 23 on the 23rd [last Friday] and let me tell you, I do not feel any different. Went out to dinner with my family then went to all you can eat sushi with my love on Sat. There were some dramatic things that happened which I will not disclose because I intend to forget that it ever happened in the first place.

Anywho, here is a quick video how-to on how I do my nude lips :) Nude lips is probably what I do most of the time! The color is so forgiving and it goes with absolutely every look from an everyday look to a sexy dramatic smokey eye. A total no-brainer when you are having trouble thinking of which color lips will go well with the rest of your look.

p.s. I went to Macy's and got my free Clinique Moisture Surge moisturizer! My skin is usually an oil slick, but this winter weather has been harsher than usual on my poor skin. So now I have seasonal dry skin. My face is actually peeling! wtf?! my skin NEVER peels because of all the oil! I layer this pink gel-creme [goes on clear] under my morning and night moisturizers. So no more dry skin. I cannot wait until spring... [sigh]

Smokey Rose Palette Review

2009-01-17T18:17:00.000-08:00

Gasp! Another video from me! lol Palettes are so convenient. Everything you need is in one package and it's such an investment cuz you get so many products for one price which is usually considerably lower than if you buy each product separately.

Here's my 2 cents on Pop Beauty's Smokey Rose palette:

Love you Aye! Thanx for this pretty gift <3

The God of Eyelashes

2009-01-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

Oh Shu, how I love you. Rest in peace [he passed away from pneumonia in 2007] but his legacy lives on! My eyelashes are fairly long and tend to get weighed down if I don't curl them before applying mascara. Kinda like....

Snuffy from Sesame Street! Remember him?? :D

I've finally purchased the shu uemura eyelash curler and it is the bomb diggity. Previously, I was using some cheap-o eyelash curler from the drugstore and always thought "what the heck is the difference?" Now I know. And the truth is good. The "shu" is especially made to not exert excessive amounts of pressure while curling. I could feel the resistence as I squeezed the "shu" in my right hand and the cheap-o in my left hand. The cheap-o didn't provide any resistance to pressure which probably explains the deep groove that has been carved into the rubber pad... Also after using the "shu" for the first time, my lashes were cuuuurled and not crimped! So here are some more creepy before and after pictures!! [please ignore those horrible stray hairs that are dying to be tweezed!! I haven't had time... oh ok fine! I was being lazy..] :

Before curling and mascara. BAM! After curling...Aaaah!! Attack of the eyelashes!! [with mascara]

I want to give a special thanks to my lovely Christine who got me Shu's Ultimate Expression Mascara which I used in the above pictures. Love you!!Mascara is essential. ESSENTIAL! It brings closure to any and every look. I am a supreme snob and extremely picky when it comes to mascara, but I am always, always, always up for trying new ones. Mascaras must meet these criteria for my approval:

- must NOT CLUMP

- must add significant amount of volume

- may not need to add length as I have enough, but I will not turn away a mascara that adds a few more millimeters to my lashes

- must not weigh down lashes

- must not be irritating

- the formula must not dry up easily in the tube

So here's my take on Shu's mascara. It meets said criteria above! yaaay :D I love wearing it because I don't even need to wear eyeliner. It already defines my lash line as it is. You have to be do some quick moves with the wand though, because the formula dries kinda quick. As for the wand: I likey! It helps separate the lashes and I guess also prevents clumps from happening since it acts sort of like a comb.. This stuff is tough! I haven't exactly cried or danced in the rain with it on [yet] but it takes me a little bit of elbtow grease to remove it at the end of the day. Overall, I like this mascara. It's up there with my all time fave: MAC Plushlash in PlushBlack. If your eyes are the windows to your soul, then your eyelashes are the curtains to the windows to your soul... And who doesn't want gorgeous curtains?!

My Bday gift from Sephora <3

2009-01-15T10:49:00.000-08:00

Gosh, who does not love getting free stuff?? My birthday is coming up next Friday and when I stopped by Sephora last night, I got a cute little surprise birthday gift <3 :

with flashsans flash

The colors from L to R: Precious Pink, Rosy Glow, Bronzed Beauty

They're all pretty sheer glosses and will probably be wonderful with layering over lipsticks and stains. I attempted to take some close up pix of each color on my lips lol. They look kinda weird to me all close up like that haha but whatevs.

Precious PinkRosy Glow
Bronzed Beauty

So all three look the same when applied, but hey, I'm not complaining. They aren't sticky and they smell lovely. Keep the goodies coming Sephora!!!

Happy New Years!

2009-01-06T07:17:00.000-08:00

2009 is here and one of the first things I did was go to my cousin's wedding New Year's Day. It was beautiful and I actually got teary-eyed! Well, that's not exactly a surprise since I'm such a softie. I can hardly bear to watch the Olympics because I cry from happiness for those athletes! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and made some reasonable resolutions for the next 365 days.

My resolutions:
- SUNSCREEN
- make healthier food choices each day.
- make time to do some workout each day whether it be just cleaning or crunches for 10 minutes to a full blown Tae-bo workout. It's about time i dusted off my belly dancing video and start getting my abs, gluts and thighs back into shape!!!!! >:O i will gosh darn it! I'm not a gym kinda person.. so I have a lot of workout dvds.
- play more video games!! I've been slacking on that ever since work started. Right now i'm playing Final Fantasy III on my DS lite.
- try something new each day whether it be a new food, workout, hairstyle, whatever. I just need to expand my horizons 'na means>??? lol
- finish what i start. I have sooo many unfinished projects. It's a horrible habit of mine to get so excited and gung-ho about a new project, then just never COMPLETE IT. I don't know if it's a perfectionism thing, but It's really annoying. There's never any closure so I really need to just need to learn to focus on one thing at a time.
- oh and blog more often :)

Trying for some cheek bones here.. [wearing the tarte palette <3]My room is on fire. It was also a warzone that morning when I was getting ready.Searching for the right shoes. You know how it is.. dangerous. 2x had I almost smooched with my hard wooden floors from tripping over opened boxes and heels lol

yay! found the right shoes :) I got that bubble dress at Macy's for $20!! it was secretly on sale and I was in line waiting to drop major dinero on it and was overjoyed when I found out it was more that 75% off! sweeeeeet.

Alright. time for some belly dancing!!!

Tarte - The Vanity

2008-12-27T10:44:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick review of Tarte's The Vanity Limited Edition Palette:Faux animal skin packaging. First Level: 16 eyeshadows

Second Level: 16 LipglossiesThird [and last] Level: 4 blushes, 1 bronzer, 1 highlighter, mascara, 2 "e/s brushes"
Pretty, but cumbersome packaging... T__T

Oh gosh, that's a horrible still. Youtube picks the worst places in the video to pause hahaha

Hair Styling Tools

2008-12-15T07:57:00.000-08:00

Change Your Style With One Simple Tool

Are you sick of wearing your hair in the same boring style every day? Well you don’t have to worry about it any more. With the purchase of a styling tool and some hair products, you are well on your way to having great new hair day after day.

Whether your hair is straight or curly, long or short, thick or thin, buying a flat iron can be the answer to your problems. Ceramic flat irons are probably the most highly recommended and tend to yield the best results. The heated plates are ceramic based and offer consistent heat throughout.

Most people use their flat irons in the obvious way – sliding it down through the hair to make it sleek and straight. There is nothing wrong with this, but it also doesn’t offer much variety. By just tilting the iron at a slight angle you can also flip your hair out at the ends or curl it under to give yourself a little bit of a variation. Another great way to use your flat iron is to change things up even more and turn it into a curling iron. Instead of placing your hair in between the two heated plates, press them together, and wrap your hair around the outside. The thicker the barrel size of your flat iron, the larger the waves and curls you’ll get. There are even half-inch barrel sizes out there, which can easily give you tighter and more bouncy curls.

For everyday use, you really only need to own one flat iron. If you want some variety, you may want to purchase two different flat irons each with a different sized barrel. So how do you decide which one to buy?

One of the most well known lines of hair styling tools out there is the CHI brand. CHI flat irons and their other hair products are so popular because of the technology that they use. Their straighteners use Far Infra Red, which heats the hair from the inside out and penetrates deeper for better results. CHI has a wide variety of flat irons to choose from. They have ceramic irons to provide the most consistent heat, ionic irons to seal in moisture, and far infrared irons to reduce static and frizz. These are all offered in a variety of sizes as well.

The company GHD is another brand with a great reputation for hair products. GHD flat irons are offered in a variety of styles to match specific types of hair. Try the IV Mini Styler for shorter hair or the IV Salon Styler for thicker hair. You can also choose one of their options such as the IV Styler, which is great for all styles of hair. Choose the right one for you and start styling. One of the best features of this brand is that their appliances come with a “sleep mode”. You’ll never have to feel that pang of worry if you forget to turn off your straightener because they automatically turn off after 30 minutes if left unattended. An added bonus with buying a GHD flat iron is that you’ll receive some of their hair products for free along with your purchase.

Purchasing a T3 flat iron is another option we recommend. Their products are made with crushed tourmaline jewels and they pride themselves on using the most up to date technology available. Their Duality Tourmaline Irons are great for any type of hair, lock in moisture and add shine all while straightening. They also offer a line of Wet or Dry Tourmaline Irons, which allow you to dry and straighten all in one step. They have moisture evaporation vents that allow the water to evaporate while being simultaneously straightened. Their website even offers styling tips on using their products.

A BaByliss Pro flat iron is another great choice to smooth out your unruly locks. Their straighteners have advanced ceramics for a high-shine finish and easy to read temperature lights so that you can achieve your desired settings in a flash. Their Pro Micro Straightener is a great option for short hair. Their half-inch ceramic plates get close to the root.

Using products that stylists recommend is always a good option, which is why an HAI flat iron is a good direction to go. HAI – Hair, Art and Information – products are made and used by stylists all over. They offer rapid heating so that you can reach your desired setting in less than 25 seconds after turning the tool on. Their flat irons use infra-red heat, but keep their plates covered in order to prolong the color and style in your hair.

When Creams are not Enough.

2008-12-05T11:12:00.000-08:00

This is the new space heater that I love. and hate. It keeps me soo warm and cozy during this frigid cold winter weather. It has a thermostat and remote and is absolutely wonderful after getting out of the shower. Why do I hate it? Cuz it makes my skin bone dry. I mean, I don't use it ALL the time, but the mixture of using it and this winter weather is leaving my skin tight and itchy. I've tried lotion, but I always have to apply it like 4x a day since it doesn't last very long. Then creams and butters. They last longer, but I feel as though I have to use LOADS of it and it's getting expensive! So now I've turned to oils.

During my trip to Hawaii, I purchased a bottle of Kukui Nut Oil. Even though I was super religious about wearing sunscreen, I still got a little burnt on my nose and the tops of my shoulders. I bought the oil because I heard that it helped to relieve the burned skin and the pain. It was so deeply moisturizing and left my skin so silky that I just used it head to toe for the rest of my entire stay in Hawaii. Yesterday I whipped it back out and slathered it alll over after my shower and WOW. My skin was baby-butt soft and I didn't have to apply it again and again. I now have super silky soft comfortable skin. I may look more into other types and brands of body oils since my Kukui Nut Oil is about half way empyt T__T The brand name is Oils of Aloha and they have oils you can order in a variety of scents. Mine is Tropic Breeze which is a blend of lavender, chamomile and rosemary essential oils.

Since the oil worked for me I was curious and went down to the kitchen and grabbed my olive oil. And it works just as well! I used extra virgin olive oil and it also leaves my skin comfortably soft and moisturized. I only smelled like it for a few minutes, then the salad dressing smell was no more. It also makes a great exfoliator when mixed with sugar! All natural and cheap!!! I don't think I'll need to buy any lotions or creams for a while. A little and I mean A LITTLE, goes a long way! Just be careful not to make a mess on the bathroom floor. It could get dangerous.

I'm looking to buy some essential oils to mix in with my olive oil so it'll smell prettier :)

First Video Post!

2008-11-21T09:15:00.000-08:00

Oh my! My very first ever video post hahahahaha I'm so behind T___T but oh well! I hope you enjoy and I hope I was loud enough... I have a slight cold so be kind.

I did the review on the Jurlique products that I got in the mail. You can't really see them up close so here are some pix:

PTR Pumpkin Goodnessss

2008-11-19T17:57:00.000-08:00

If you love the smell of pumpkin pie as much as I do, then you'll love the smell of Peter Thomas Roth's Pumpkin Enzyme Peel. For the longest time I've only used grainy scrubs. Never had I tried a chemical or enzyme peel. "Chemical peel" just does not sound appealing to me. This peel uses pumpkin enzymes to help gently exfoliate the dead skin cells on your face [and neck should you decide to go a little lower with your application which I usually do because the neck area gets neglected too often..] It's not a mask that you physically peel off. You apply a thin layer onto clean skin and wait 5 minutos, then rinse it off. Now I have oily, oily, oily skin so I didn't really feel any irritation AT ALL. I can't really say much for those with sensitive skin except maybe to not leave it on for as long.

I only use this once a week and my face just GLOWS and feels unbelievably soft. The hyperpigmentation that's almost always left behind after I kill a pimple is fading faster thanks to this peel. I've also noticed that I have less blackheads on and around my nose [probably because this goop gets rid of those pesky dead skin cells before they have a chance to clog those ginormous potholes that are my pores -_-"]

Oh and the smell. Just like pumpkin pie. Not too overpowering. I just wanna dip my finger in the gel and just eat it. Ironically, this mask gets me into the holiday mood more and more :)

This little jar will probably last me a while since you really only need to use just a tiny bit.

K, time to rinse this stuff off now! Can't wait till the next time I get to use this again!

Playing with Falsies

2008-11-03T12:11:00.000-08:00

I was bored one day and since I haven't photo-whored in a long time I thought, why the heck not? Just simple makeup and false lashes. My hair is getting sooo long again! I'm debating whether or not to chop it off... Anywho I'm back on night shift this week. So my under eyes bags will be quite exacerbated. Time to whip out some eye gel! I'm on the prowl for a new eye gel since i'm running out. Any suggestions?

Jurlique @ Sephora

2008-10-29T11:01:00.000-07:00

Yay! Jurlique is now being sold at Sephora! I've been wanting to try some of their products for some time. The products are organic and the makers are environmentally responsible. I would not feel guilty about dropping big bux on these products :p I know that a lot of celebs like this brand too.

The Rebalance Oiliness Kit looks extremely tempting to me right now... Have any of you tried Jurlique products? Any recommendations?

Back again!

2008-10-29T09:02:00.000-07:00

So I think I've found somewhat of a groove at my new job. I'm not scared to get to work as much anymore. For the past couple of months as you may have noticed, I've really done nothing except work, eat and sleep. Now that I'm a little more accustomed to the "grind" I really want to try to balance my time between what must be done and what I want to do.

That being said, this blog will be under going some changes. Today is my day off and right now I'm waiting for my next load of laundry to finish...

The good thing about taking the train to work is that I do get to fit some reading time. I'm just about half way done the fourth book of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. My co-worker has been kind enough to lend me her books as she's already read all 4 of them. Thanks Tracey! For those of you who aren't already reading these books, you must do so immediately before the movie comes out in November! There are four books in all and it's a wonderful whirlwind human-vampire romance. Meyer's writes in a way that you can easily zip through a book in a day or two. This is her website check out the trailers for the movie! The guy playing Edward played Cedric in the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie! I didn't exactly picture him as Edward when I was reading, but he's very nice to look at nonetheless. :p
So cute! Ugh. Can't wait.

Hana elite flat iron

2008-08-26T15:11:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough to try another amazing flat iron. This time it was the Hana Elite flat iron. It works wonderfully and super quickly! It has pure 100% ceramic plates that 'float'. Meaning that they adjust to your hair texture keeping the process nice and gentle. It has different heat settings for different types of hair [mine's coarse so I use a higher heat setting].

2 added bonuses! The Hana flat iron comes with it's own case and heat proof pad that you can place your hot iron on without having to worry about setting the house on fire! Also, the cord swivels all the way around making for easy access to all parts of your head without needing any weird yoga-like arm poses. I totally believe in using what's best for my hair and what keeps it as healthy as possible. The manufacturers are based in Korea and those ladies have the most gorgeous healthy looking hair! This flat iron gets the job done in almost as little as 5-10 minutes- no joke! and I have a lot of thick and long hair...

So if you're out hunting for one of these magic wands, try this one out if you can. You can visit the website to read more about the features of this amazing ceramic flat iron.

Aloha!

2008-08-10T23:38:00.000-07:00

I'm in Hawaii!! Right now i'm sitting in the living room of the condo we rented out in Kona. It's absolutely gorgeous here in Waikoloa, Hawaii. [my brother says "hi" as well]. Well now that we know I have free internet access here, I'll be posting up TONS of pictures!

K. I'm beat, so i'm gonna get some much neeeded sleep. [I think I got some pressure ulcers on my behind from that plane ride..]

Aloha!
Mae

Bug Bite relief

2008-08-07T14:58:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let everyone in on a recent discovery: Burt's Bees Bug Bite Relief

I go absolutely ballistic when I get bug bites. I'm not usually eaten alive like my brother gets during the summer time, but whenever I do get those few bites, I just can't stop scratching!! It's torture and then I'm left with horrendous bug bites and scabs. This stuff is a godsend and works for me!! It's like a chapstick only you put it on your bites and then you just forget about how much they itch for a while. I forget that I even have bug bites! I believe the Camphor and Menthol are responsible for most of the relief. It lasts a couple of hours, then I have to reapply [which I would rather be doing every couple of hours than ripping my skin to shreds every couple of minutes].

Oh I am definitely bringing this with me to Hawaii. I hope they don't have giant mosquitoes there, or I might have to buy another stick. Another plus: it's 100% natural! Can't beat that.

~Mae

Great White Chompers

2008-08-06T13:58:00.000-07:00

It's good to be back!

I've gotten a lot of comments about my teeth. I had braces for 4 years [from the end of middle school to my Junior year in high school - right before senior pictures!] It was torture and I swear my orthodontist kept telling me "you're braces will be coming off next year," during every visit. I have a tiny mouth full of HUGE teeth which is probably why it took so much time for the braces to rearrange them because they were so crowded in there. So for those of you who have braces -- I feel you.

When the time came for my ortho to remove them with this instrument that looked like pliers to me, I was super super super excited. My other friends who had their braces taken off before me said that their dentists used some sort of chemical to dissolve the glue, but mine just popped them off one by one. After much anticipation, he gave me the mirror and I saw my huge teeth except straight. They felt strangely smooth and slimey as I constantly ran my tongue over and over the new terrain. [sorry for the gross details but this is something that I remember so vividly.]

They were also yellow. ugh. As my mom was driving us home from the office, we stopped by a drugstore and bought a box of Crest White Strips. They were still relatively new, but I really wanted to have the smile I've been waiting for. It was a box of 14 strips [worth 2 weeks] but I only used like 5 days worth of strips because I saw such great results! [The picture above was taken when my braces were taken off and after I used the strips :D] I believe it cost roughly around $20, but now there are so many different brands and coupons!

Ever since then I've been really careful with preventing stains. I have gotten into this habit [a good one!] of drinking almost everything [especially coffee, tea, soda and wine] through a straw so that the liquid barely touches my teeth. I realize that I must look quite silly drinking tea through a straw, but that's really my secret for keeping them this way! My friends used to poke fun at me, but I believe i've gotten some of them to start the straw habit!

I brush 2x a day with a whitening toothpaste and try to floss every night before bed. Of course that doesn't always happen, but I try! I recommend the white strips over the ones that you paste on your teeth. Just don't go there. haha I did experience some sensitivity, but it's well worth it and I haven't had to use those leftover strips since. I've actually thrown them away since they dried up. I wouldn't recommend using the whole box of strips unless your teeth are like, BROWN which i've fortunately haven't seen. You don't want your teeth to look too white or glow in the dark! Like Ross here HAHAHA: You could always use the left overs for maintenance.

And since we're talking about smiles, after brushing my teeth I always use my brush to gently exfoliate my lips then apply a moisturizing balm. Nothing ruins a smile like a pair of chapped lips! Also, I find it's easier to wear a wider range of lipstick colors even when they have undertones that make teeth look yellower. Those with blue undertones tend to make the teeth look brighter.

Ok! Back to doing squats!
xoxo
Mae

I PASSED!

2008-07-28T13:38:00.000-07:00

Mae R.N.!! Woohoo! Now I can press the play button on my life. No more studying! Until I decide to go back to school for my masters.. whenever that will be. It's August already?? And that means Mae is hopping on a plane to Hawaii in a week! I don't think I would be able to fully enjoy a 2 week trip to Hawaii if I didn't take the boards or pass.

I bought myself a super early passing-the-boards present [like two weeks before I was even scheduled to take the exam haha]. I would like to introduce you to my new love. Her name is Nilly, and she is my new Vanilla colored beach cruiser:

Ain't she a beaut? I ordered her online from Chubby's Cruisers which is based in Los Angeles, California. They sell some pimped out low riders as well! She's especially made for people who are like 5'2' and under which makes me so happy because most of the bikes I saw at the local stored were huge and I could barely touch my toes on the floor. I love taking a ride when the sun is setting and the air gets a little cooler. It's the ultimate perfect time for me to turn off my ipod and just clear my thoughts. Everyone should set aside a time each day to just turn everything off. Great for the mind and great for keeping those stress-induced breakouts at bay.

I had my graduation party on July 4th at a Chinese buffet. It was great and I was surprised at the turn out! The presents were awesome and I somehow accumulated 4 new Coach bags and 1 new Coach wristlet! Freakin' sweet. :D Some pics:

Mommy, Papa, MoiOn the way thereopening presents already??Janelle's so tan! i'm jealoussssSteph, me and DeedeePete, Eileen and MoiWhen is it my turn to hit the buffet line?! I hardly ate cuz I was greeting everyone and taking pix with every single person there hahaJay Jay, me, Matt, BabyMe and gorgeous Shika

Thanks everyone for coming!

xoxo
Mae

pictuuures

2008-07-10T17:45:00.000-07:00

Some pictures from things that happened in the month of June:

Wearing our makeshift nursing caps at our pinning ceremony.

Met Marie Digby! She looks like a doll! When we got to the venue, it was totally sold out, but we really wanted to meet her so we went to get some bubble tea, then came back to meet her after her concert. She's super nice and uber talented. :) I wish the picture wasn't so blurry...

With my beloved after commencement. We had commencement at the Kimmel Center. It was beautiful there! The hall is shaped like a cello!!
"the pose"

At home, my mom went all photographer on me hehe. Uh oh, now you know where i live! lol

The daisies my baby got me <3

My parents bought me these roses so they would match my room :D

2008-07-07T18:15:00.000-07:00

My Exam date is July 24th! Aaaahh i've been trying to study in between working and trying to salvage my social life. I just cannot wait until I get it over with because then I will be able to post more. Some upcoming posts:
- product review [somme institute, Hana flat iron]
- what's in your bag?
- video posts?!
- summer looks
- my green adventure
- lots of pictuuuuuurrreeesss

xoxo

First Day!

2008-06-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

Oh lordy! Tomorrow is my first real day at work/orientation. I'm sooo nervous. Gotta wake up at 5ish tomorrow morning too [dunno how well i'm going to sleep tonight]. I apologize for the lack of updates, but I will be posting a review on my Somme Institute skin care products soon!

The Cheddar Cheese Room

2008-05-27T06:36:00.000-07:00

K, so this is a little random...

My room is now an obnoxious shade of bright orange.. AND I LOVE IT. Painting and moving my crap around has been taking up a lot of my time lately, but at least i'm pretty much finished. All that's left is to be strong and let go of a lot of things that just collect dust. Pack-rat to the max.

This is what my room looks like as of now.
Still working on the mess and re-organizing everything though. Originally, I was going to paint my walls an obnoxious shade of green, but then was leaning towards a nice apricoty-peachy color, to just bright orange. It's a big change! I guess it signifies the huge change in my life that is graduation and entering the workforce. [I walk in two days!]

Someone please tie me up while you take away [and recycle!] all my magazines! Anyways, can't seem to get rid of them.. My mom is taking them to work, but it's taking forever to clear up in my room. Sometimes I almost end up kissing the hard wooden floor cuz they're lying all over the place. Sigh, such a hazard.

i need to clean that mirror..I took down my cd's because I wanted to go for a more grown up [but still fun] bedroom look.
Wow. My old bedroom look was so cluttered in such an organized way! haha I don't want any clutter this time. Ok I'll stop rambling now.. back to my errands!

Love for Hair Straighteners/ Flat Irons

2008-05-22T18:57:00.000-07:00

The following picture is what my hair looks like when I let it air dry:

Obviously I was not born with poker straight Asian hair. Instead I inherited thick, coarse, poofy, wavy hair. Don't get me wrong, there are some points about my hair that I love! For example: the fact that I have enough volume that I don't need any volumizing products or painful teasing. My hair holds curls extremely well and doesn't need a lot of hairspray, and I can do that mermaid-y hair style really easily sans the salt water spray. But, there are many days when I crave sleek, smooth as satin locks. This is where one of the greatest inventions comes in. The flat iron [hair straightener].

In my early middle school-high school years, I would actually put my hair on the ironing board and iron it. With the same crazy iron that I use to iron my dad's work pants. I hope my mom doesn't read this because it was extremely foolish and dangerous of me. What can I say, I was young, naive, and craving straaaiiight hair! Thank goodness I didn't have any accidents! I can still remember the hissing noise when the iron met my hair... ouch, my poor hair.

So, later on I saved up many pennies and bought my first flat iron. It was one of the drugstore ones. It did the job, but my hair would snag horribly and break. Through the years I've had many broken relationships with different flat irons. My latest love-hate relationship was yet another drugstore [but more expensive] brand. I always saw those expensive flat irons at Ulta and Sephora, but was too afraid that it wouldn't be any better than my previous flat irons.

Boy was I completely wrong. Introducing my new baby: the Megastar Silver Flat Iron
I have now officially upgraded to Baller status with this flat iron. It's only 1" which is skinnier than my previous flat irons which were wide. With the smaller ceramic plates, I can do the super straight look that I've always wanted to be born with:
Success!And, this baby also lets me flip the ends of my hair under or over without getting that horrendous 'crimp' that makes it so obvious that you used a straightener. The next picture is from karaoke night with some of my buddies. I love how shiny, healthy and totally un-frizzy my hair looks. The weather that night wasn't all that lovely mind you.
Besides satisfying my wishes, here are some other plus points about my new flat iron that makes it so worth it:

- The ceramic plates aren't just ceramic. They are also fused with some Tourmaline, Titanium Oxide and Silver Nano. The Titanium and Tourmaline are to enahce the ionic effect that's created by the Ceramic plate. The Titanium Oxide and Silver Nano are anti-bacterial agents and also remove chemicals [keeps the plates and your hair nice and clean]! I think this is the first time I've ever heard of such a thing, but hey, if it gives me these results, don't mess!

- The cord swivels! No more holding it in awkward positions!

- There's a custom temperature dial that goes from 140-420 degrees in Fahrenheit to fit every type of hair without damage. The coarser your hair, the higher you can go and the other way around for finer hair. Mine is currently set to 350 and it's working juuust fine :)

- It came with a 1 year warranty. So just in case I broke it or doesn't work, i'm covered. My flat iron is from an online store that sells a whole slew of hair tools and even some skin care and cosmetic products: www.misikko.com

I think a quality flat iron is a good investment. It can save you time, money and your hair from breakage due to cheap-o flat irons that just don't do it.

Mae

Healthier Skin Article

2008-05-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

Miss Fiona sent me a link to this article: 50 Tips for Healthier Skin at Any Age
I think the article is brilliant! I mean who wouldn't want more skin care tips??? It encompasses: protection from the sun, skin care, healthy living, what goes in your body, what goes on your body and lastly, supplements. Please read! especially since the sun is out in full force these days.

After being diagnosed with psoriasis at a young age and being criticized and judged by other people because of my rashes, I realized that many people take their own skin for granted... It upset me [and still does] and I think I can attribute my obsession with skin and skin care to that. If I can't have gorgeous beautiful skin, at least I can remind others not to take theirs for granted and to care for it properly, because you just never know.

I would not wish psoriasis on anyone. It takes a toll on every aspect of your life as does other skin problems i'm sure. My heart goes out to all of my fellow sufferers of skin disease, whether it be acne or epidermolysis bullosa. I already know, without even having to meet you in person, that you are a strong and beautiful person.

Thank you again Fiona for the article, I truly appreciate it <3

Mae

[sigh] this has gotten me so emotional lol

under construction

2008-05-10T07:13:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone :)
As you can see my site is undergoing some cosmetic changes. Some of my links on the side ---> have disappeared so I must add them again as well as my chatter box and categories. So just bare with me! Also, I have another FOTD and article that I have to post up :D yaaaayy haha Aaaand my Somme Institute products have arrived and I've been using them for a week now. I will give it a few more weeks to have a better sense of the effectiveness of the products in order to give a fair review on them.

Thanks,
Mae

Safe Beauty

2008-05-05T11:20:00.000-07:00

The Campaign For Safe Cosmetics is a site I think everyone should take a look at. Since so many harmful ingredients that are in beauty products can be absorbed into the skin and cause health problems, the more knowledgeable you are about what's in that dollop of product, the safer you are. Knowledge is power of course!

Here is a list of Companies that signed a pledge to remove toxic chemicals and replace them with safer alternatives in every market they serve. Compact Signers You may want to keep checking it every once it a while as the list keeps growing, yay!

Also, another great link is Skin Deep
You can search up any product and see how their ingredients rank in safety. If there are ingredients that are toxic, they give you a list of the possible health concerns that may accompany those chemicals.

It's a bit scary! But thankfully there are more brands and companies out there that are really making an effort to make safe products. I hope the more people are aware, the more they will act and that eventually, we can enjoy our products with more comfort in knowing that we aren't doing ourselves any unintentional harm.

Mae

Pretty Wallpaper

2008-04-30T05:40:00.001-07:00

Someone had asked me where I get my desktop wallpapers from. Usually I just google around for a while till I find one that fits my mood, but if you don't have time to do that and want easy access to lots of cool looking art, here are two of my favorite sites where I get my wallpapers from:

Deviantart.com

[You just click on the different genres of art that you're interested in and there are tons of amazing pictures to choose from!]

Soistheman.com

[This guy named So Nakagawa and he makes lovely wallpapers :)]

Enjoy! Today is my last ever Final exam! It's online and the minute I finish taking it, It is officially my summer vaca. Just gotta wait for commencement end of May.

Also, I'm impatiently waiting for a package of products from Somme Institute that I really want to try out super bad!! hahhah superbad!! [just made myself laugh -__-" sorry bout that..] Maybe it'll come this week!? [crossess fingers.. and toes..]

xoxo
Mae

Soft Spring FOTD

2008-04-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

I finally got off my rump and tried out a FOTD. Since it's spring and GORGEOUS outside, I wanted to do a look that could be worn day and night.

Face:
Smashbox Anti-Shine in Light
Everyday Minerals Mint Concealer [around nose]
Everyday Minerals Sunlight Concealer [under eyes]
Everyday Minerals Intensive Foundation in Sandy Medium
Everyday Minerals Tinted Silk Finishing Powder
Sonia Kashuk Bronzer in Golden-48
Physicians Formula Virtual Face Powder in Translucent Pearl [shimmer on cheekbones, brow bone, and bridge of nose]

Eyes:
MAC paints in Bare Canvas [used as e/s base all over lid]
MAC e/s in Texture [on crease]
Flirt e/s in Coconutty [on outer V and lower lash line]
Maybelline Cool Effect shadow/liner in Chill the Champagne [on inner corner of eyes]
MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack [line outer corners of eye, top and bottom lash lines]
MAC Zoomlash mascara in Zoomblack

Lips:
Prestige l/s in Lust

I was hoping the bronzer would show up more, but I guess the shade I have isn't dark enough :/ btw, I was in my pajamas and still am.. hahahah I need to get out of my house! Enjoy the weather lovelies!
xoxo

I practice safe sun.

2008-04-20T06:07:00.000-07:00

Do you?

Starting April 22 [@12:01 P.M. EST] you can visit allure.com/go/beautybox08 to order this year's edition of their Play Safe in the Sun Beauty Box! It's $29.99, but worth $255 and you get allllll 17 of these goodies:

- Anastasia Brow Highlighting Pencil in Matte Buff
- AVEENO CONTINUOUS PROTECTION Sunblock Lotion SPF 45
- BIOLAGE scalptherapie Cooling Mint Shampoo
- Biore Pore Unclogging Scrub
- BLUE LIZARD AUSTRALIAN SUNSCREEN Daily Moisturizer Face SPF 30+
- Coolibar Quality Sun Protection -- UPF 50+ Reversible Cotton Hat
- Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew Anti-Sun-Damage Daily Moisture Lotion SPF 28 [i'm actually using this currently and I love it!]
- jane iredale -- The Skin Care Makeup Powder-Me SPF
- Jergens natural glow express Body Moisturizer
- Lancaster 365 Cellular Elixir
- Neutrogena Mineral Sheers Powder Foundation
- Netrugena MoistureShine Lip Smoother
- NIA 24 Niacin-Powdered Skin Therapy Introductory Regimen Kit for Moderate to Severe Sun Damage
- Physicians Formula Organic Wear 100% Natural Origin Bronzer
- Redken Color Extend Total Recharge
- SEPHORA UV Exposure Indicator Card
- Skin Effects Sun Effects Continuous Spray SPF 45 Active Sunscreen

Sheesh! All that for $29.99! Make sure you buy your box of sun protecting weapons before they sell out!!

Sunny weather is at hand now people. Do your best to protect yourself and your loved ones against all types of skin cancer. I know my brother haaates wearing sunblock because he doesn't like the smell, but I will keep on getting on his back about it because he is always out in the sun playing lacross and also, that's just what big sisters do :)

Hello Again!

2008-04-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

Today was my last day of Transition to Professional Nursing and Senior Seminar. Tomorrow is my last day of Community Nursing. Then Thursday and Friday are my last days of home care clinical and THAT'S IT!! i'm sooooo done!

I told myself that I needed to take more pictures of me and my boyfriend so here are some of them:

In the middle of talking ^

So, I know that I was tagged a loooong time ago but here is my Must NOT haves list. It took me a while because I usually repress those horrible memories...

1. Nair- NEVER AGAIN. This stuff is so irritating! No matter how much they claim that some formulas are for sensitive skin. My skin turned red, blotchy and tender. Also, the lotion reeked. Who wears short shorts? Not me. Not when I used this stuff.
2. Bare Minerals- Was so excited because I tried it a couple of times at my friend's house and liked the whole concept of natural mineral makeup. This was my first encounter with the kind. It gave me a shiny look. Shinier than usual and i do not need that! Plus I wouldn't recommend sleeping in it unless you want to look like the moon the next morning. Also, due to the Bismuth that's in it, It made my skin tingle and burn whenever I felt flushed or hot [like when exercising]. a waste of my $60. I really should get rid of what I have left, but it hurts because it was so expensive..
3. Nads hair removal- did NOT WORK. PERIOD. It smelled good though.
4. That Colgate whitening paste- you know. The one where you paint it on your teeth like nail polish except for your teeth? Yeah... It definitely did not work as well as Crest whitening strips and not as quickly either. Plus, I couldn't really stand the taste and keeping my mouth in a frozen smile to let it dry.
5. hmm last one... well i guess Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Pre-foundation skin primer. Like I said before, is a better moisturizer than a primer. My makeup just slid off and I don't need another moisturizer on top of the one I have already!

Phew. That was harder than I thought.

Mae

p.s. i hope to be sprucing things up a bit and blogging more in the weeks to come because May is basically my summer vacation before orientation!

Gomen!

2008-04-10T11:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry! As usual, i've been super busy with all these projects for my community clinical. But next week is my last real week of school and I will have plenty of more time!! Such a bad blogger. . .

Yay Jabbawockeez!!!

2008-03-27T20:54:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Jabbawockeez!! You guys are freakin' amazing!!!!!!
Click Here to see America's Best Dance Crew!!

xoxo

Holy Crap!

2008-03-21T19:34:00.001-07:00

I just now realized that i've been TAGGED. Wow. I'm so out of the loop lately! Will post up my Must NOT Haves next!! Sorry for such a delayed reaction -__- "

EDM haul & new hair color :)

2008-03-21T17:49:00.000-07:00

Yay! Another Everyday Minerals haul. I took advantage of their special and bought:

Got the Pink Lemonade lip color and blush in Light Peach as free gifts with purchase. I don't have a picture of me wearing either, but the Pink Lemonade is nicely pigmented and is a light mauve-y shimmery pink color. It reminds me of the 80's when I put it on.

As with all the other Everyday Minerals brushes i've tried before, the blush brush is just as luxuriously soft. The white tipped bristles makes it easy to know when you need to wash them! The eye shadow brush bristles are nice and soft, but still stiff enough to provide control. No complaints!
Everyday Bronzer is a nice matte bronzer. It doesn't turn all orange on me. I like using it as a contouring shade. I loooooooooove Waffle Cone blush!! It's a gorgeous day to day blush with a hint of shimmer. To me, there's much more brown than pink pigments in it, but that's what makes it so wonderfully easy and almost goof-proof! It's hard to OD on Waffle Cone. Apple is similar to All Smiles but with a little more pink & rose. All Smiles is a bit more on the peachy pink side, but both are really lovely colors. The free Light Peach blush I got is more of a highlighter than a blush.. Too light for my skin tone..
I got a sample kit a long with my order hehe I totally like prefer Tinted Silk over Finishing Dust because it provides a smoother look without a white cast. Finishing dust doesn't give a white cast as bad as BE Mineral Veil though! Sometimes when my skin was a bit dry, the Finishing Dust accentuated my dry spots :( but I think it works great on my Oil Slick of a T-zone! I've just tried the Sunlight concealer under my eyes this morning and it works great! I don't really have many under eye problems, just some baggies whenever i'm dehydrated or didn't get enough sleep. Somehow, Sunlight makes those bags disappear! Thanks Christiana! :)
Eye shadows: Net Surfing is a jewel tone violet shade with hints of red shimmer. In the Garden is probably going to be one of those eyeshadows that you use up completely and buy multiples of. It's a medium brown with some shimmer, but when you put it on, it's not too flashy. I'm wearing a light wash of it in the pictures below. You can layer it for a darker effect and even use it wet as a liner.

As for my hair. I've abandoned those pictures of ideal hair colors in my previous post, and opted (last minute) to go for an Eva Longoria look. I didn't want to go too drastic because graduation is only two months away after all. It turned out an auburnish brown color with some high and low lights. So depending on how I part my hair or style it, it can look lighter or darker :D A lot of the hair stylists at the salon said it really brightened my face up.
I wish blow outs could last longer.. I love them, as you can tell in the last picture haha ^ Maybe i'll try some lighter highlights some time in the summer time. As for now, i'm quite satisfied.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T16:24:00.000-07:00

Yay! Green is my fave color and i'm super happy to see 13764923847 ppl wearing it today! Just got back from the gym. Did some weight training with my room mate. I usually just jump on the treadmill, eliptical or precor whenever I go to the gym, so today we actually went and used the other machines. My butt's definitely gonna feel it tomorrow! haha

not the most flattering picture, but I like it for some reason.. ^

Really happy that I even went to the gym today ^ lol

wearing my new lippie ^

My cardio today was walking up and down Walnut Street. First to drop of my library books [i <3 romance novels] then to MAC! Got my first Back 2 MAC item:

Freckletone Lippie!! I loooove it. Such a nice peachy nude color! I also replaced my old Studio Finish concealer [it was getting old]. So, I'm getting extremely bored with my hair. Again. I don't know what it is, maybe it's the change in weather, but i've been craving for a lighter hair color! Maybe medium brown with caramel high lights? I think these are nice:What do you think? I figure, I'll have my black hair for the rest of my life [until I start graying] so why not play with the color a bit right?

I GOT THE JOOOOBBBBB!!!

2008-03-10T13:52:00.001-07:00

OH. MY. GOSH.

I am beyond elated right now. Right after getting off the phone with my mom, the nurse recruiter called me and offered me the position in the Intensive Care Nursery!!!!!!!! Thank you God! I screamed so loud, one of my roomies thought I saw a bug or something. hahah So I start working as a Graduate Nurse June 2nd, which is my bf's birthday, but we'll just celebrate it before or after. Thank you to EVERYONE for supporting me through that horrible time of waiting for an answer!!!
That isn't me, but she has a cute pink stethoscope. The one that i'm going to be using for babies is a lot smaller than that!

Anyways, thought I'd just update about that ;)

Oh My Gosh!

2008-03-05T20:18:00.000-08:00

So I got this from ricebunny's site and I just couldn't help but repost it because it brings up sooo many memories! Plus, I love gaming and this is just so friggin awesome! :

Yes, I was a bando in high school. My friends would make fun of me and call me a band-geek, or band-dork, but psshhhhh. The fittest I've ever been was during band camp. It literally is like musical bootcamp, but I was so toooonneeddd! Anyways, I've played the clarinet since like 4th grade and then played in concert band and marching band in high school. Then there's the piano since 2nd grade. I wish i had more time to practice! Right now i'm trying to learn how to play some Final Fantasy songs on the piano. Aaaandd, i've also picked up my dad's guitar recently [my fingertips are still really sore]. We'll see though ;)

Enjoy!

xoxo

Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Pre-foundation Skin Primer Review

2008-03-05T16:14:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness I got this as a sample & didn't buy it! [a whopping $39!!] This "primer" did nothing for me as a primer.. it made a better moisturizer. My makeup seemed to just melt off and a primer is supposed to prevent that! It does have some nice ingredients that might do some good such as chamomile, yarrow extract, & pure Vit. E. Maybe this would work better on Dry skin types, but not for oily ones like mine.

Overall, I would just stick to my favorite primer of all time:
Now THAT is a primer.

Spring Break!

2008-03-02T04:56:00.000-08:00

Finally! Spring Break has finally arrived. If only it felt like Spring... all the stores have their bathing suits and new springy clothes out, just to tease you. Graduation is in two months and I guess it's quite alright if I try to find dresses I can wear for the pinning ceremony and commencement.
This one' s pretty cute for pinning, but I'll probably try to find something sunnier for commencement. After all, it's a joyous moment!

Ugh. My boyfriend got me sick. I'm going to start guzzling OJ like a hummer guzzles gas. I hate taking any sort of medication! I especially am not fond of Robitussin, but it does work. What am I talking about? I'm just rambling, forgive me.

Anywho, now that my community clinical rotation is coming up, I'll have more time to update! Promise! I've just been so busy lately, but I think i'll even actually be able to hit the gym. lol Oh, and to update: I got really impatient with the nurse manager that I interviewed with and ended up leaving her a voicemail asking about the status of my interview. Silly me called her at around lunch time. She called me back a little later that same day and told me that she sent the paper work to her VP and that she doesn't know how long that process takes, but that she did put me down as "recommend for hire" & that i should be hearing from them shortly. Wow that was one long run on sentence. So yea, I'm super excited but I don't want to celebrate yet, until I know that I got the job and everything is finalized!

My interview experience + Fafi

2008-02-24T14:03:00.000-08:00

For those who were wondering, my interview went extremely well! The nurse manager only asked me a couple questions about myself ["what assets do you think you could bring to this unit," "what are your strengths and weaknesses"] that's about it! The rest was her telling me about the unit and what not. She told me that I'm a great candidate for the job, but I really don't want to get my hopes up. I asked her when I would be expecting her decision and she told me in 2.5 weeks because she still has some interviews to do. There are a lot of pregnant nurses on the unit, I think about 9? and they're definitely going to need some new hires when they take maternity leave. [crosses fingers]

Oh and thanks for all the tips! :) Here's one that I learned during the interview. Take notes! She was writing down my answers to her questions and when it was my turn to ask her questions, I started jotting down her replies because my memory is horrendous. I looked at what she was writing and she wrote "takes notes" on her notepad. Maybe that shows that I really care about getting job. So here I am. Waiting impatiently for her to call me. .

Anyway, on my break from studying for my final this Thursday, I went down the street to MAC and bought my self a little treat since I made it through Critical Care in one piece. The loot:

love the adorable Fafi bag ;)

Lipglass in Sugar Trance & Cult Fave, plus Zoom Lash in Zoomblack. I wanted to try a different mascara and the MUA told me that she thinks Zoomlash is a lot more volumizing than Plushlash. The Zoomlash she said, works better on naturally long lashes so I thought I'd try it out. We'll see... ugh. Blogger is giving me problems with uploading my pix. I'll try again later. [edit: yay it worked!]

Gotta go back to studying! I need to earn these purchases!

I cut my hurrr!

2008-02-21T16:57:00.000-08:00

Guess who got extremely bored with her hair? me. I cut my bangs the other night.. and here are the results:

my Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen face ^ haha

My inspiration, my cool ass desktop wallpaper.

I've been good with my New Year's Resolution and haven't bought anything worth posting about.. i've just been swamped with school. So many new experiences in the hospital! You will never forget your first kiss, first boyfriend, and first autopsy! I actually got to handle the organs and stitch the body back up!! At first I was going to blow chunks when I first stepped into the morgue, but after I got over the horrible smell, it was kinda of really freakin' cool! I mean who can say that they've helped cut open and stitch up a dead body!? Well, I should get back to nerd mode and study some mo'. Peace xoxo

Winter Formal [picture heavy]

2008-02-10T15:53:00.000-08:00

Yet another super quick post. Tomorrow is my interview and i'm taking all of your advice! I went to the gym today in hopes that sweating would help to ease my nerves. It did temporarily, but I'm really feeling it now.. Thank you girls for your advice <3

Here are some pix from the winter formal my school had on Friday [click to make them bigger]:

getting ready

Miss Eileen & I

haha I ruined the picture

Yummy! I took some home too :p i'm a sucker for sweet things!

my roomie and I

I was wearing false lashes that I got from Sephora that night :)

xoxo

Interview tips?

2008-02-07T19:09:00.000-08:00

ok. I am SO STOKED!! I totally just landed an interview with the unit that I want to work at as my career job! I just dropped off my resume at the nurse manager's office this morning at 7am before clinical. While I was working on my baby, changing his diapers and feeding him, she actually came and said good morning to me and asked how I was doing.. at that point in the morning, I had no idea whether she even looked at my resume or cover letter yet... THEN, around 330pm after clinical was over, i checked my cell phone and found out I had a voicemail from the nurse recruitment office about setting up an interview! I checked out my missed calls, and was super surprised that they called me at 930am! After writing out my resume last night, I was preparing myself to wait like 3 weeks to hear a call back from them, but they called me in 2.5hours after I dropped off my resume! How friggin AWESOME IS THAT.

Anyway, I called them back and my interview is set for 2:30pm Monday the 11th. I am extremely excited yet extremely nervous, which is why I am putting this question out there:

Does any one have any interviewing tips they could offer me? I feel like i'm going to puke my brains out cuz of nervousness. [i kno, graphic.. my bad haha] This is what I have been studying my ass off for since grade school. All those A's must not be in vain! This interview MUST be aced. Thank you everyone in advanced! Landing this job means everything to me.

xoxo

p.s. I will be working on fixing the music player soon [since it just decided to quit on me] so that everyone can jam out while reading. ^_^

Birthday Presents

2008-02-03T09:23:00.001-08:00

A little late to post this up, but for my birthday my mom got me some goodies!:

Rouge by the fashion designer Christan Lacroix

This perfume smells so wonderful and it's not too heavy either. The bottle is also super sexy in my opinion. I'm having such a hard time describing the scent in my own words so i'm just gonna type what's on the back of the box lol.

"A burst of citrus & spices unveils a floral heart wrapped in the most sensual cashmere woods."

mmmm..

She also got me three of L'Oreal's H.I.P. Brilliant Shine Lip Glosses in Romantic, Enticing & Tempting [left to right in the first pic]:

the order is switched in the second pic [left to right it's Enticing, Tempting, and Romantic] These glosses are uuuuber pigmented. It's kind of like molten lipstick! A little goes a long way. They even make a great stain if you wipe it off with a tissue. At the end of the night, you'll want to use makeup remover to take these off!
Then, I went to Sephora to get my free Bliss naked Body Butter. When you sign up to be a beauty insider at Sephora you can get one for your birthday too! You can pick it up 14 days before and 14 days after your birthday :D I also picked up Smashbox's Anti-shine in Light which I absolutely fell in love with. It's my holy grail of oil mattifiers! Works longer than Clinique's and it also gives some coverage since it's slightly pigmented. It sucks up all the oil & that's a lot with my oil spill of a face. A lot of people who tried it complained it rubbing off when you try to blend it in, but I find that it's so much better if you swipe it on, then pat to blend instead of rubbing it. I guess my beauty insider points hit 100 cuz I got a free sample of Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot skin primer with my purchase. I have yet to try it.. we'll see how it works soon enough...

p.s. Following in Fei's footsteps, I've added a CBox ---> so all you readers out there can chit chat too :)

I heart Carmex.

2008-02-02T19:41:00.000-08:00

Ok. This post is going to be super duper quick! Sadly, it's been increasingly difficult to be up to date with the whole blog-world because of school. :( It's upsetting because I can truly spend hours upon hours just happily reading everyone's blogs! :p Maybe I just really need to work on my time management skills? I dunno. I think it's more because it's my last semester and there's just waaayyy too much work to do. Anyways I'll stop whining because I know no one wants to hear it ;)

On a different note! This winter weather has been really killing my lips and [gasp!] I ran out of my lip balm. Now I've always been a Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm type of girl. It is probably one of the best lip balms out there. The balm contains natural ingredients and has a wonderful pepperminty tingle once applied that seriously got me addicted. I am a poor college student and having my funds severely depleted after the holidays, I decided to try other lip balms out there.

That's when I stumbled upon Carmex. I've seen it on the shelves at the drugstores since I was little. The packaging didn't really tickle my fancy, but after hearing that lots of people swear by it, I decided to give it a try. Bonus! It was suuuppper cheap! I bought a three pack of the cherry flavored ones for less than what one tube of Burts Bees Beeswax Lip Balm costs! [which is almost three bux!] Instead of buying the click stick version [below], I bought the squeezey tube ones because I got more in ounces. Again. I am a poor college student who needs to eat! hahaha T__TIt's definitely a tie between those two brands! I didn't think Carmex could deliver the same results as BBees but it did -- plus it has spf15! There was instant soothing, it smoothed out my chapped lips and miraculously stayed on for a while!! The only thing: It doesn't really taste like cherry. More like smells like cherry flavored cough drops. That doesn't really bother me because it does what it's meant to do! I think I will also try out the strawberry and mint flavored ones. I wonder if the mint is similar to the pepperminty-goodness of BBees?

Ok. Back to studying!! Goodnight lovelies!
xoxo

In my bag..

2008-01-26T07:24:00.000-08:00

Here's a look at what's in my bag. I don't like to carry around too much stuff as you can see :

- Keys [yup! that is Sailor Venus <3]
- Cellie
- sunglasses [prevent those crow's feet!]
- hand cream [shown is Bliss naked body butter that I got from Sephora for my B-day]
- Lipgloss [shown is Nars Lipgloss and Lipstain Duo in Turkish Delight and Sayonara respectively]
- Mini Coach Wallet
- Roll on Perfume [shown VS Sexy Little Things]
- Studio Fix for touch ups
- Winterfresh is my fave gum!
- and my palm pilot. Has everything in it.

That's about it hehe
I am Tagging:
Phyllis
Koneko
Valerie
Kat

I'm 22?!

2008-01-24T14:15:00.000-08:00

Holy crap. My whole year of being 21 has been spent locked in my apartment room studying for never ending tests & stressing over clinicals... but. it's alright. I'll make up for it this summer after graduation.

Yesterday was probably one of the most memorable birthday's I've had. On Tuesday night [1/22], I was in bed by 1030 cuz i had to wake up for clinical at 5am the morning of my birthday [1/23]. People called and texted me at midnight, so after all that i went back to sleep. Then the fire alarms went off in my apartment building at 130am and i didn't get to sleep until 230am. I was so upset. What a way to start my birthday!

Then from 7-330pm I was in the intensive care nursery as it was my very first day of clinical in that unit, and one of the babies started having really unstable heart rhythms and basically was really close to death. I tried to stay out of the way as nurses and doctors and respiratory therapists came rushing in doing all sorts of things to stabilize the baby, but they asked me to record all the drugs and dosages that were being administered! I know my part was small, but I still felt such a rush!

Then came home, and Eileen took me out for linner and she got me thiiiis:

Urban Decay Foreshadow E/S palette [Limited Edition]
Oil Slick, Stray Dog, Midnight Cowboy, & Flipside ^
I love it! Thanks mama!

Then baby came over and we were deciding where to go for dinner. We finally decided to go to a mediteranean restaurant/lounge and hooka bar. As we were two steps from the door, my roommates turn the lights off and sang "happy birthday" to me as I blew out my wonderful birthday cupcakes. I <3 you guys!! :D So. That was my 22nd birthday.

Phew. I got tagged & will definitely update tomorrow when I get back home to my parent's! I've missed so much in the makeup blogging world! Gotta catch up this weekend.

xoxo

Healthy Hair

2008-01-15T05:14:00.000-08:00

Oh my, I haven't posted in a bit! School started again for me which means less time to update so bear with me.. I will try to update as much as I can!! Packing, unpacking & studying on the first day back already [sigh]. I hope i don't get stressed out cuz this last semester. Don't wanna lose my hair..

Speaking of hair, one of my new years resolutions from forever ago has been going on full strong & it's to take better care of my locks. In high school, my hair was bleached blond, dyed and fried. It was so dry & brittle. After my roots started growing out, I decided to go for the natural look & not to do anything chemical to it anymore. My hair has finally grown out and back to it's natural black color & healthy shiny state.

What I do to keep my hair as healthy as possible:
1. I don't bleach or dye my hair anymore. Those chemicals are really harsh & you have to keep touching it up with more chemicals whenever the roots grow out. Not to mention it can get a little expensive.

2. Try not to heat style my hair as much as possible. After I shower, I let my hair air-dry instead of blow drying it [i take them at night]. If I really need to heat style, I put on hair products that are designed to protect the hair from heat damage.

3. Wash every other night to prevent over drying my hair. A lot of people I know who wash their hair everyday complain about their hair being super oily. The scalp works the same way as your face does when you dry it out [it produces more oil as a response]. That's why they say never to use skin products that contain alcohol because it will only dry you out, and making you even oilier in the long run. :(

4. Don't use clarifying shampoo more than once a week as it can really strip your hair and scalp of the natural oils. Use a conditioning shampoo and conditioner and make sure you leave your conditioner on for a good 5 minutes.

5. Don't brush wet hair!! Use a wide tooth comb to prevent pulling out unnecessary hair.

6. After I wash & condition my hair, I use a leave-in conditioner. I like Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Leave-In Conditioning Cream. It's light, wont weigh your hair down, has a nice scent, and isn't greasy.7. If you want a really nice weekly treatment, I recommend Ojon Restorative Hair Treatment. I've been using this stuff for years and it's wonderful! It's scent is a little different and some people don't like it, but I personally looove it. Kinda like coffee.. mmm It also has a history! It's a beauty secret from the Tawira tribe in Central America for ages and now it's been discovered! My hair loves this stuff.

8. Try to eat a healthy balanced diet. Your hair will shine naturally!

My chubby cheeks and I cheesing it like 3 years ago.. haha

Technical Difficulties

2008-01-09T09:01:00.000-08:00

Windows Movie Maker is giving me a migraine. I have one minute's worth of stuff on my story line & every time I try to add another clip, WMM just closes down without a warning or error message or anything! Has this happened to anyone? Do you guys know any other programs that are better than WMM?

Update

2008-01-07T08:40:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while but i've had this stupid cold & all I ever felt like doing was playing video games & watching movies.. Miss Eileen & I watched Seducing Mr. Perfect the other night. Cute movie! Daniel Henney is a stud muffin:

Also, I wanted to just bum out as much as possible before school starts again. [gotta go back next week T____T].

So some upcoming posts:
- my first ever video tutorial is in the works! kinda ambivalent about it [excited yet nervous hehe] such a noob.
- hair products
- still have to post up my EDM haul hahah
- EOTD & maybe FOTD ;p

Dear Blogger, why is my favorite picture of me & my bf not showing up anymore? :*(

Another Resolution for 2008!

2008-01-01T20:38:00.003-08:00

Take more 'couple' pictures of me & the bf! It makes me so sad looking through all my pictures & I don't have that many of the two of us :( I think to myself, "How can that be??" After 4+ years of being together THIS IS ALL I HAVE?! ugh. Therefore, I vow to capture more happy times!!

Here's one of my fave pix:

Yes. My shirt is see-thru. No. I did not realize that the flash on my camera would betray me like that. haha That's us on an anniversary dinner @ Buddakan <3 One of our life goals is to hit all of the Steven Starr restaurants!!! So far I've been to Buddakan, Pod, Morimoto, The Continental, & El Vez. All that's left I believe is Alma de Cuba, Jones, Striped Bass, Tangerine, & Barclay Prime. I always feel like some sort of celebrity when I dine at any of them :p
Big Buddha!

xoxo

[Edit: Found 2 more!]

^ him being silly wearing my sunglasses haha

Beauty Resolutions

2007-12-31T07:36:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone, here are my beauty resolutions that I really need to work on!

1. Keep my eyebrows groomed! I'm so lazy about doing them. I'd rather workout than tweeze, but hopefully that'll change..

2. Workout @ least 3x/week to stay healthy, not really to lose weight. My bf would kill me if I lost a pound.. Plus! i like my curves :)

3. Drink more H2O.

4. Wash my makeup brushes every 2 weeks like Christiana says! [now i'll need to go shopping for back-up brushes MWUAAHHAHA!!]

5. Wash my face every night no matter how tired & smashed I am!! I will keep those disposable face wipes right next to my bed so i'll have NO EXCUSE!

Well Happy New Years !! I know the last picture is TOTALLY random but I figured a good way to start 2008 would be with a laugh :D

xoxo

VS haul, Green eyes, & Laziness

2007-12-30T15:51:00.000-08:00

After Christmas Shopping: Stopped by Victoria's Secret & got 5 of their Luminous Shadows [I had a $10 gift card from them]

with flash:

sans flash:

For Christmas, Miss Eileen got me Hard Candy's Party Mix Tape in Side 1 [thanx love!]

the e/s & l/g smell sooooo tantalizingly good! like cotton candy, vanilla , cupcakes or something or other along that line of mouth-watering sweet stuff :P I couldn't help but to try the l/g haha

And below, I played with my NYX Trio in TS08. I used Lime Green and Green Tea. it hardly showed up on these pix! grr

I've been so lazy lately... well.. that's what holidays are for right? I just realized I forgot to put on any blush or lip gloss ^ (T___T) i just want to wrap myself in my blanket like a human burrito and just sleeeeeep, but I think that makes the break go by faster & it's going @ break neck speed for me right now. not cool. My resume is waiting for me to update it, but I'm doing everything I can to put it off before 2008 begins.

xoxo

NYX sale at ULTA!

2007-12-28T11:38:00.000-08:00

There is a BOGO [buy one get one] free sale on all NYX cosmetics at ULTA! It ends January 12 so take advantage of it while you can!!

I ended up getting TS08 [Spring Leaf/Lime Green/Green Tea] & TS11 [Orange/Golden Orange/Peach]. Wearing TS11:I haven't gotten a chance to play with the greens yet but I'm really fond of the Orange/Peach shades! They didn't make my eyes look swollen like I feared. hehe

Random Pix:

At Starbucks. My baby was playing around with his cellie. I was wearing my EDM that night!

look at my crap phone hahahha I can't wait till I upgrade ^

xoxo

Hide your Hangover!

2007-12-26T15:11:00.001-08:00

Cheers!

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas :D Attending all these parties are fun, but there is nothing to celebrate when you wake up with a hangover & looking very un-bright eyed & bushy tailed. Which is why I am posting this up! Here's how to hide that night of partying like a rockstar:

- Drink lots and looooots of water! All that alcohol is really dehydrating!! Or you could try Borba's Replenishing Skin Balance Water.
- Your skin will end up looking dull and dry so replenish it with a nice moisturizer [with spf of course ;p]
- For under eye bags, use an eye gel [not cream!] to deflate those suckers!! I <3 Patricia Wexler's Instant De-puffing Gel - Reduce red eyes with Visine or Rohto V. They help by shrinking those blood vessels & by cooling & moisturizing as well.
- Dab on concealer to cover dark under eyes.

- If you don't have a toothbrush with you, use mouthwash to get rid of any alcoholly stench. If you don't have either, let's hope you have some gum or one of those new lip glosses that freshen your breath! [i've never tried those and am curious if they really work or not! anyone ever put them to the test?] Sugar Cosmetics Freshen Up Breath Freshening Lip Gloss ^

- Use a luminizer [like Lorac Oil-free Luminizer] to add some brightness to your face. It will also help improve your skin tone because of the light-reflecting pigments.mmm I love me a Midori Sour :p
So continue to party like there's no tomorrow knowing that you have backup for the next morning ;)

Happy Christmas Eve!

2007-12-24T09:49:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! I hope you all have a safe and wonderful Christmas & that you gets lots and lots of gifts <3

Will post again after all the hub bub is over :p

xoxo
.:*mae*:.

Everyday Minerals

2007-12-22T12:08:00.000-08:00

Yay! Finally got my sample kit of Everyday Minerals yesterday [after impatiently waiting for a week. lol] First things first. The whole free sample thing is seriously ingenious. Saves so much money and it definitely keeps people coming back for more. The fact that they're that confident in their product is a plus!

The kit came with three foundations, one concealer and a blusher. I chose sandy medium [intensive], olive medium [matte], & beige neutral [matte] as my foundations, the lavender concealer, and sunday brunch as my blush.

Beige neutral was a bit light for me, but i'm going to try it again later in the winter since I do get paler. Sandy medium & olive medium both work for me in some weird way. In the container, olive medium looks reallly really really yellow. But when I buff it on, it blends in.. I do like the matte formula because it helps control the oiliness. Sandy medium is less yellowy looking in the container and is an intensive formula. The intensive is for all skin types. Greeeaat coverage and gave my skin a glowy look while controlling some shine [not as well as matte].

I haven't tried the lavender concealer yet. It's a bit intimidating cuz it really is LAVENDER. haha It's supposed to tone down the skin when it gets sallow. The blush is wonderful too! This little jar will last me an eternity.

I buffed these on using my BE kabuki brush. BE made me itch like a mofo when it got hot out or during a work out, even when I blushed! Not cool. EM on the other hand doesn't do that. I'm sold! It's so cheap too! No more liquid foundations for me I think! I'm thinking of getting their long handled kabuki brush cuz Elizabeth is in love with it and i'm a total sucker for soft fluffy things :p EM also does not test on animals! :D

Get yourself to Cuteoverload.com for more adorable aminals!

Mwah!

2007-12-19T16:39:00.000-08:00

Took me a while to post this up cuz I spent a lot of my day beating Kingdom Hearts 2! yay i'm so happy ;) such a cute game.

Before:
After:
what a difference a pair of strong red lips makes! Please excuse my hair :p

Face: Cargo Foundation F-50
MAC sheer loose powder NC40
Eyes: MAC Paints in Bare Canvas [all over lid]
MAC Fluidline in Nightfish
MAC Plushlash in Plushblack
Lips: Nars lipstain in Daredevil

not a lot of ingredients.. just wanted to try out my Nars stain! hehe Then I played around with the different color settings on my camera. The above pix were on auto with flash.

Sans the flash in my bright ass bathroom:
Vivid:
B&W:There's also sepia & natural but for some odd reason left those out. oh wellz

i'm effing tired. need sleep. Peace.

Voila!

2007-12-19T08:22:00.001-08:00

Actually.. I lied. These shots were taken like a month ago cuz I wanted to redecorate.. -__- BUT! my room is becoming more and more livable :) as you can see I have TONS of books and magazines just piling up everywhere! ugh. i'm getting there.

i'll get to a FOTD after my jog and shower later today.. time to do chores!

Winter Break!

2007-12-18T20:05:00.000-08:00

Ah, the first day of winter break & what happens? My internet goes down. So I took that time to do some major cleaning. My room at home is a total disaster site. I still haven't completely unpacked everything I brought home from my apartment & this ginormous suitcase is becoming a major hazard by blocking up half my walking space. My room will be decent tomorrow!

About finals- all that effing studying paid off & I'm on the hunt for a satisfying reward ;p

Anyway, here's my take on using white eyeliner on the lower lid. Now, my eyes are humungous as it is, so i don't usually wear this look much :p It definitely looks much better for smaller eyes & does the trick of making eyes look bigger & brighter! [above pic ^^]I just used black & white eyeliner, and a healthy dose of MAC's Plushlash masacara [below].

funny face >.<

Yuna's hair style

2007-12-15T11:48:00.000-08:00

After my shower today, I decided to take a break from studying about psychiatric drugs and just play around with my hair a bit. My hair dries wavy and I usually end up straightening it, but this time I tried working with those pieces that flip out. With a little mousse and my skinny straightening iron- the end result:

I took a video clip by accident -__-" my brain is so fried I can't even function..

Anyway, it kinda looks like Yuna's [from Final Fantasy. big fan<3] hair :p

yes. that is an elmo T-shirt. I thought my eye looked kinda bad ass in this picture >:D

Good god forgive my under eye bags! I promise i'll deflate them Monday after my 3 finals. T___T

xoxo

I miss my long hair :(

2007-12-10T17:46:00.001-08:00

It's getting so cold outside and I no longer have my long, thick hair to keep me warm! This was taken before I donated to Locks of Love:

i look a little mischievous in ^this pic.

I miss being able to play with those long locks! The look I was going for when I decided to chop it all off, was something similar to Mika Nakashima's awesome cut when she filmed NaNa. [cute movie btw!]

such a goooooorgeous shot of her! I'm loving every bit of it! ^

click on the pix to get a larger view of this crazy beautiful cut. My hair's growing out now and it's in that horribly frustrating phase when it's too short to pull back completely, but too long to do the ^above style -___-" [sigh]...

Xtina's Marie Claire Cover

2007-12-09T20:42:00.000-08:00

I hope I look this good when i'm pregnant! O__o"

I'm so happy for her! :)

xoxo

Pure Seduction is the new Love Spell

2007-12-08T20:53:00.000-08:00

Victoria's Secret sure knows how to make a woman feel sexy! Went to the mall and ended up leaving with some smelly goodies:

:) now I have a new makeup travel bag! [perfect since i'm always on the go back and forth from home to my apartment!] It came with body lotion, spray and shower gel. Pure Seduction smells very similar to Love Spell to me except it has sweeter note to it. My bf told me [as he nearly bit my wrist of while smelling it], that it smelled almost edible! I concur. It could definitely be made into gummy candy. Another plus: I had a $10 off gift card so I only had to pay like 9 bux!!

My Pink puppies reenacting Lady & The Tramp <3 but it's over my empty bottle of Sexy Little Things perfume instead of spaghetti! hehe

xoxo

2007-12-08T09:46:00.000-08:00

My three finals are on the 17th so I'm trying to study as much as I can. Starting now. The only problem is, this weather that we're having recently is not very conducive to studying -__-" Here's a picture I took of my desk at my apartment. It's dark outside, but I took that shot at like 4PM!! I just want to sleeeeeeeeep zZzZz..

Well a positive side to this weather is that my skin isn't as much of a constant oil slick as it usually is during spring/summer. [And I haven't been breaking out at all! Even with the stress from school!] I ran out of my MAC blot powder so I decided to try MAC's loose powder.
Right now i'm an NC40. I really like this loose powder. It offers more coverage than the blot powder. My shade with the blot powder was dark, but it really didn't offer much coverage. It did a great job with controlling my shine though. The select sheer loose powder sets my foundation nicely and also controls whatever shine my face has. I only have to use blotting paper like twice a day compared to 23846283579 times during the summer! Another great product from MAC! <3 I anticipate switching back to the blot powder this coming spring.

Ok. Time to get back into Nerd mode!

Smooth operator

2007-12-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

1 week left! The snow is beautiful, unfortunately it didn't get me out of clinical last night. It's gotten so cold and i'm constantly blasting my heater at the apartment. My poor poor skin. Around this time of year, my feet are the most neglected. I am determined to change that this winter season!

Every night before bed, I rub some Avon's Foot Works Intensive Callus Cream on my feet and put on some socks. Of course those socks eventually fall off some time during the night, but hopefully they help my feet absorb the cream. I've been doing this for 3 weeks now and my feet are not the least bit rough or dry. The calluses on the balls of my feet are softened and the rest of my feet are smooth and moisturized. The cream has glycolic acid to exfoliate and smooth. I think I have found my HG foot cream. You really only need a dime sized amount per foot. This 3.4Fl oz tube will probably last me till next winter!

I'd better get back to packing and get some of my hw out of the way :(

2007-12-02T20:55:00.000-08:00

2 more weeks left until winter break!!! It's something I've looked forward to since senior year started (talk about senioritis...) I've never been so stressed out in my entire life. Too many things to study for at one time, teachers who procrastinate and don't know what they're doing, ridiculous test questions, stupid projects and I could seriously go on forever. I have one more set of crazy nursing finals to go through in two weeks. After that, it's one glorious month of R&R. I've decided that I'm not looking for a part time job over the break since I'll be making real money in 6 months. I should probably take advantage of this respite from such a concentrated source of stress.

Moving on.. yesterday I did something that's HUGE for me. I ran 2 miles around my neighborhood in 30 degree weather! aannnd i'm still not sick! woohoo! Now I understand what they mean by runners high. I could feel the endorphins flowing through my arteries. Running really got my mind off of everything. With each step I took, I pounded the things that were bothering me right into the ground. I've never been much of a runner. I usually blamed my tiny, wussy ankles for giving way a bunch of times in middle school when we had to run the mile. But now I know that I can do it and that the soreness feels oh so good too.

After jogging I did some toning exercises. I'm working on the 3 A's : arms, abs, and ass. haha I've never been too consistent in the past with exercising, but this is my early new year's resolution. By the time summer comes and I'm in Hawaii, my polka dot bikini will be rocked HARD. I'm also really going to try to eat healthier!! Let's do this!

Found a really cute picture of eggs! I will be making a nice healthy breakfast tomorrow :)

Birthday Wishes

2007-12-01T05:32:00.001-08:00

I would like to take this time to dedicate this adorable little birthday cupcake to Miss Julia. Happy 21st Birthday sweetie! I don't know how I ever studied without you!!

[edit] it kinda looks like my girl on the right is blowing out the candles haha

I'll have Blue Christmas..

2007-11-23T12:50:00.001-08:00

Had some time on my hands [procrastinating] so I decided to play with my e/s a bit:

You can see my freckles! >.< lol

Face:
Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer
Cargo Foundation [F-50]
MAC Blot Powder [Dark]
mark. blush [Worldy Glo]
Eyes:
Studio Finish Concealer [NW30]
Paints [Bare Canvas] - all over lid as base
H.i.P. e/s [the darker blue in the "showy" duo]- crease
Zonk Bleu! e/s
Black Tied e/s - on upper lash line
Blacktrack Fluidline - upper lash line
Plushlash [Plushblack] - upper and lower lashes
Lips:
Nars Lip Gloss [Turkish Delight]

Giving Thanks All Around

2007-11-23T09:57:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner yesterday :) My family hosted the dinner this year and I spent some time with my three best childhood friends that I haven't seen in what seems like a year! Guitar Hero, Board Games, and lots and lots of silly pictures! They are one of the things that I am grateful for. [me, my bro, Peter & Eileen playing Blokus]

I'm so thankful for wonderful family and friends whom I can always count on to make me feel like the luckiest person on this planet earth. I'm especially thankful for my wonderful boyfriend of 4+ years! He makes me feel like a princess and a "snuggle-monster". hahaha I love you baby!! Can't wait to do some more Christmas shopping soon :D Perhaps tonight... It's Black Friday, so maybe it wont be too crowded by later tonight.

Another thing I am thankful for is the over all good health of myself and my loved ones. Also to those new friends that I made in the past year and half during nursing school and my roomates! You guys are awesome<3 I hope everyone realizes what it is they are thankful for in their lives and not take them for granted. We only live once, let's make it a life full of laughter and <3.

I feel like a total cheese ball right now, but I really mean it all. Other things I'm thankful for: oil blotting paper, primer, tea, my long eyelashes, pumpkin pie.

Above is me before the festivities began. Was aiming for a nice simple look last night ;) My hair looks a mess though.

Right now, I'm not looking forward to doing school work. They shouldn't give any HW over holiday breaks >:( It's just WRONG! That's one thing i'm not thankful for. Oh well, just gotta keep telling myself: "one more semester to go, one more semester to go.." more like "only three weeks left till winter break.." haha

I've got clouds in my coffee, but sun in my pocket

2007-11-09T11:26:00.001-08:00

Oh I really, really, really, really, REALLY want this:It's the MYSOLDIUS Solar charger!!! This product is universal to most electronic devices and can charge them using solar energy instead of running on batteries. It's small, sleek and light [can fit in your pocket] And best of all, it's environment friendly :) It takes about 2-3 hours of direct sunlight for it to become fully charged and then just plug in your ipods, cellphones, whatever and charge them anywhere you go! Ingenious. Other colors it comes in include, black, green, pink, and blue. Maybe this has nothing to do with beauty directly, but if people start thinking more of the environment, maybe we can actually stop global warming and decrease the escalating amounts of cases of skin cancer and heat poisoning. Every little tiny bit of effort can add up.

Winter woes and Turkish Delight

2007-11-08T07:08:00.000-08:00

The temperature is dipping down to the dry and itchy skin range. Time to whip out your scrubs and body creams/butters! There's nothing that can ruin the winter season than tight, dull, itchy, ashy, flaky, extremely parched skin. Not only does it not look great, it just feels uncomfortable! For this reason I decided to go scrub shopping the other day.

After some time ooh-ing and aahh-ing at the newly opened Sephora near me, I ended up purchasing Sephora's Coffee & Cream Morning Body Scrub. Oh, does this stuff smell scrumptious!! There are a bunch of wonderful ingredients such as Hawaiian Kona coffee and whipped milk, infused with cocoa bean, cinnamon and vanilla, milk protein, coffee oil, cocoa, cellulite banishing caffeine and stimulating hazelnut oil. Now that I think about it, it sounds like I could have gotten it from Starbucks, not Sephora!

I was so excited to try it out so I jumped in the shower and started scrubbing and buffing away. I loved everything about this scrub, but the consistency is a little too runny for me :( However, the oils left me feeling oh-so-soft when I finished. After I go through this tube, I'll probably look elsewhere for a better scrub that's not so watery... Note: I did not leave my shower smelling like a latte. That's a good thing.

That wasn't the only thing I bought [I just couldn't help myself]. I've been craving a lip stain for some time and I sampled some from NARS and I had to reward myself for doing a great job on those three exams right? I bought two of NARS's dual ended lipgloss/lipstains in Turkish Delight/Sayonara and Sandpiper/Daredevil. These are part of NARS's Siren Song 2007 Holiday Collection. Sayonara is a rose petal pink lip stain and Turkish Delight is a pink sorbet color. Daredevil is a scarlet red lip stain, and Sandpiper is a shimmering amber coral gloss. The stains go on light, smooth, and they truly last a long time. The glosses are not gooey or sticky, yet they too stay on for a while. You have the power to wear the stains alone, or to mix and match with the glosses. I'm super excited to wear Daredevil. It's sooo red and scandalous!!

Smelly Goodness

2007-11-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

Today is the first of November and i'm going to start it off with a random tip:

To make purses, gym bags, backpacks, and makeup bags smell great, I cut out the perfume samples in the magazines, or collect the ones that come in catalogs, open them up and slip one of them in my purse. I also put one in each of my dresser drawers so that every time I open them, I get a wiff of Prada, Mark Jacobs, Euphoria, or whichever other scent I please! I even place the male fragrances in my sock drawer! Beware: Do not put samples in any bag that will contain food, because the food will absorb the scent and will taste like it as well!! Of course the scents wear off eventually so I replace them with new ones. :)

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T07:01:00.000-07:00

I know that I haven't had much time to post lately, mostly due to crazy school work and studying for exams almost every week, but I just wanted to say Happy Halloween to everyone!!! I've also added a new feature to the blog. I consider myself to be a tree hugger and always try to recycle everything and anything that can be recycled. We are all children of this earth, and it is a crying shame that it is dying because we are not caring for it as it has cared for us. The earth is suffering, and it is our duty to help protect it so that we ourselves can live happier, healthier, greener lives. Each person can help. If everyone did something little to help save the earth, there would be a huge improvement. That's why I added the IGo Green Widget on the side -->
It has some tips that each of us can use everyday to be a little more earth friendly :)
Please take the time to read it and try to incorporate the tips into your lives! You'll feel better knowing that you made a difference no matter how small you may think it to be!

Thanks everyone and I hope you have a safe Halloween!!

The sunny side of things

2007-10-04T12:04:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I'm back! A little update: My mommy is getting better with her crutches and she hasn't been complaining about her right leg much either. She won't be back to work until late October, but at least I get to spend a lot more time with her when I come home on the weekends because usually she's sleeping since she works the night shift. So I'm thankful for that :)

School has been keeping me extremely busy. What would nursing school be without a major exam every week to study for? But we just got our grades from our Pediatric midterm that we took on Monday and I am ecstatic! I promised myself that if I did really well on it, I would buy myself something nice. I think luck is on my side because I got an email from Sephora and they are opening up another store right on Chestnut Street [they open today]!!!

Also, Miss Eileen moved on campus at Drexel and we plan on visiting each other lots during the school year and have window shopping sprees. :p She has to sleep over now that Sephora's right down the street. hehehe Anyways, down to the even better part! Deciding on what my reward will be. I've been eyeing Stila's Lip Rouge in Beam forever! It's a bright pink lip stain that I never thought would look great on me until I tried it on at the store. I easily fell in love. The stain lasted until the end of the night! It has a felt-tipped applicator with an angle on one side that helps define the shape of your lips (esp. the cupid's bow). But then again I'm in dire need of a fall wardrobe re-vamping. Maybe i'll stop by H&M for a little quick see before I head to Sephora. This wont be until next week though when Miss Eileen comes to visit because I have clinical at Cooper Hospital tonight and am going back home to Jersey for the weekend.

Things just look a lot better and I thank God for giving me strength and determination to pull through the hard times. <3

A Series of Unfortunate Events

2007-09-09T10:34:00.001-07:00

The last couple of weeks was a complete blur. So many things happened almost simultaneously that my mind is a shattered mess right now. In a nut shell: My mother started having pains in her right calf and found out that it was a thrombosed vein. It was so painful for her that she took a week off from work. Then when she was about to go back to work (the night before my first day of class), she stopped by CVS and sprained her left ankle. She got that looked at and came home with a hot pink cast and a tiny pair of crutches (she's really short). The X-rays showed that she did fracture a part of her ankle. So she is off work for another 6-8 weeks. Of course I found out the night before the first day of class (We had a friggin quiz too... bastards) right before I was about to hit the bed. Fortunately I passed the quiz as it determined whether or not we administered meds in clinicals (and if we didn't pass with a 90, we'd basically fail clinicals since we wouldn't have been able to give meds.. bastards).

I'm doing my very best to help out around the house and help my mom move about. It really pains me that I have to be stuck at school when I could be at home practicing my nursing skills. My mom is doing well despite having a left foot that is completely immobile, and a right calf that really hurts at times. But, I just keep reminding myself that my parents work so hard to get me into school that I can't not do my very best. I want to make them proud so that all their hard work was not in vain. So, to all my friends, I apologize if I am MIA for a bit. I most likely will be studying, running errands for my parents, or helping my mom get better. Until next time folks, take care!