April 2011 Purchases + Empties update + Inquiries

8:20:00 PM mandy 16 Comments

I'm so ashamed to say this, especially when it's already close to the end of May...

April was a very boring and slow month for me purchasing-wise and beauty-wise. I thought I would finish soo many products but I only came close. Even when the Sephora 15% off coupon came and gone, I didn't buy anything like I planned to! Shocking..I know =X


Seawon Glove Towel

I bought this while I was in the area (KTown in Manhattan) to look at dresses. I decided to finally take care of my body more especially since I have to wear a dress as opposed to comfortable hoodie and jeans (ahh :D). And I'm in desperate desire to get rid of my terrible farmer's tan that I STILL have on my arms (from 2 years ago) and my knee area (from last summer). Any suggestions?


Pink With a Splash Sweet & Flirty All-Over Body Mist

I had the special card from Victoria Secret that had the mystery amount for you to spend during the month of April. I forgot about it all month until the 29th and grabbed this since I wasn't as lucky and only got $10 to spend. I love the scent of this one! & It's purple ^__^


Even though I only bought two beauty related products, I still ended up spending quite a lot when I added up my total spendings. The main reason being: my prom dress. Ekk! Who knew dresses were so expensive (definitely not me a month ago lol). It wasn't what I imagined and looked at online, but of the ones that I saw in stores and of what could fit my figure...it's not bad. I think I'll live :P


I still need to shop for shoes..maybe accessories..a small bag..maybe makeup since most of my current bases are either too light or will cause flashback. Ah..so much money! I hope prom is fun so it'll make up for my current despair :P

Just looking for some suggestions,
What kind of eye makeup look/colors should I use? What will go well with this particular color?
Would black or silver shoes look better?

How were your prom experiences? :]

16 comments:

First EOTD (from yesterday)

8:06:00 AM mandy 16 Comments

Some of you may or may not already know this but I very rarely wear any eye makeup. The closest makeup product that goes by the eye area that I'll confidently leave on all day is concealer/corrector. Yup..no eyeliner, no mascara, not even curled eyelashes.

But since prom is only a month away (mine is very late!), I decided to experiment especially since I really have no more excuses now that I'm not going to be as busy on weekends. Must leave my comfort zone!!

I'm very glad and thankful that I won some palettes from previous giveaways so I have something to start with. Today I chose to use the Etude House LuciDarling palette that I received from coco about a month ago (post coming up soon! sorry!). I had some idea of what I was doing since I do spend a lot of time watching videos and tutorials & there is a drawing/guide on the palette itself. But essentially I was just winging it because I've never actually applied eyeshadow and such on myself.

No harsh comments please & thank you! But suggestions and criticism are welcomed :]







Etude House LUCIDarling Fantastic Gradation Eyes - #06 Golden Brown (Colors A, B, and D)
Milani Liquif Eye Metallic Eyeliner Pencil - Brown
Missha The Style 4D Mascara

I didn't curl my lashes. So that's why they're so straight. Not the mascara's fault! (I will try them again when I do curl my lashes and see how well that goes.)

Excuse my eyebrows! I don't normally fill in my brows & I recently tried to pluck out what I thought were 'stray' hairs and I think I made them look funny =X I'm regretting my rashness...

I nearly poked my eyes out trying to tight line and put on mascara! lol *Sigh* I'm such a newbie...

A few hours in when I was walking around CVS, I noticed that the shadow transferred/smudged onto my lower lashes area. I'm thinking this problem is easily fixed with primer right? What are some good ones? I think my eyelids are oily...

16 comments:

Review: Laneige Pore Trouble Skin Refiner

5:01:00 PM mandy 8 Comments








Product Description (from packaging):
-The Trouble Care Skin Toner is specially formulated for strengthening skin pore health. When applied, it leaves a smooth and fresh feeling without any stickiness.
-Removes excessive corneous skin dead cells and prevents keratinization, resulting in smoother and cleaner skin.
-Contains salicylic acid and triclosan, which help prevent skin problems by removing excess sebum and corneous skin dead cells, thus cleansing the skin pores.
-Contains tea tree oil, licorice extract, raspberry extract, clove extract, and parsley extract, which help suppress and relieve skin problems.
-Contains natural Lactobacillus extract which helps balance PH values and strengthens the immune system of skin pores, thus improving adult skin problems caused by factors such as hormone imbalance and air pollution.



Directions:
-From packaging: Pour about the size of a gingko nut (about 1.8cm in diameter) on to a cotton ball, and wipe the skin with it after washing the face in the morning and in the evening before going to sleep.
-What I did: Poured it onto my cotton round/pad twice. I felt that this was enough for me.




Packaging:
It is a glass bottle with a twisting style cap with 160ML or 5.4 fl oz of product. *Some may not like glass bottles but I think they look prettier :D And it gives it a bit more weight so I won't easily knock it over* The cap twists off and on very easily. I actually prefer their cap because of how smoothly it opens. I can just give it a quick twist and it'll turn around until it reaches the top (provided you put enough effort that it turns more than a little yet still doesn't fly off the bottle lol). Unlike some other toner bottles where you have to keep turning the bottle and the cap before it completely comes off. There a small opening in the plastic stopper that allows you to pour the toner onto a cotton round/pad/ball. It isn't too big or too small of an opening..just right!

Price:
-Yesstyle: USD$42
-Evecare: USD$27
-Amore stores (I got mine for USD$27)

Positives:
-Refreshes skin
-Cleans any remaining dirt that cleanser didn't pick up
-Doesn't break me out
-No bad reactions
-Doesn't sting my face
-No sticky feeling
-Herbally scent?
-No more oily-ness after using it
-No parabens
-Lasted me a pretty long time (close to a year!..with some on and off weeks when I was sick)
-Is a little hydrating...It does soften some of the dry patches on my face after I cleanse so I don't end up having a ton of flakes when I go to put on moisturizer.

Negatives:
-Not locally available
-Alcohol is the second ingredient (strange..I didn't feel any stinging or my skin drying out when I used it)
-Price outside of Korea is pretty expensive
-Doesn't particularly help with acne or pores
-Scent may be a bit overpowering for some people
-Might be discontinued (Don't quote me on this...I've tried to search for it on Gmarket and the Laneige site but don't see it anymore..)

Repurchase?:
Not anytime soon. I want to try many other toners. I did like this and it didn't make my skin worse in any way. But it also didn't make many improvements either. In addition to the price..and the fact that it might be discontinued... If I do not find any toners I like in the future, there might be a chance that I will repurchase this though.

Rating:
3.5 maybe 4/5

Recommend?:
Ehh..toughy. Maybe. If you can get it for close to retail price or if you're in Korea maybe. But if you have to pay for anywhere IMO over $30 you could probably try cheaper ones to first. But if the price isn't a problem then sure go ahead and try it because it felt pretty gentle/nice and my skin did feel a little bit smoother when I did use it. Maybe you'll get better results than I did :P

Disclaimer: I purchased this product with my own money. I am not affiliated with the company or any other sites mentioned above. These are just my opinions so please research more about a product before buying it. I'm just trying to share the experiences I get from using a certain product. I'm not endorsing it or anything. If anything this is for my own memory of what I liked and what I didn't like. Also...my skin is my skin...your skin is your skin, please don't blame me if the product doesn't work for you.

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This will the first of many extremely overdue posts! School work should start to dwindle down within the next month and hopefully, I'll be able to blog much more over the summer and when college comes around :] Hope everyone enjoys!!

8 comments:

Swatch: China Glaze Sea Spray

2:30:00 AM mandy 8 Comments

This was the small purchase that I made a couple of months ago during the Lunar New Year parade. It was definitely not planned but Sea Spray was definitely on my wishlist. Especially after a few bloggers compared it to Chanel's Riva (which is a very beautiful color that I can only dream of getting right now lol). Believe it or not..this is the second China Glaze polish in my collection. I've got to say, I prefer OPI's wide brush applicator versus China Glaze's narrow rounded brush applicator. Especially difficult to apply if the polish thickens.

Sea Spray is a great baby blue with very fine shimmer that you can't see unless you bring your hands really close to your eyes..or unless you have supervision :P I wish it was a bit more visible though. Visible yet subtle is a great way to go for this type of blue IMO. To my surprise, this blue didn't clash with my hands' skin tone like OPI's What's with the Cattitude? I haven't been able to bring myself to wear the latter alone because it looks strange on my hands. I shall do a swatch in the future to show everyone how it looks though because it is a great sky blue creme polish.

I do not remember exactly how long this particular polish/shade lasted before chipping because this is a very overdue post (SORRY!! =X). However, I will definitely update this post when I wear it again! I think this might have been either one thick coater or 2 medium coats. Again, I will update this later!









Base Coat + Polish + Top Coat
Take with flash and under artificial lighting


****Small Update****

I'm still alive! But some of you probably already know that because I leave comments here and there. I didn't expect the rest of April and pretty much probably all of May to be consumed by school. The former seniors, now alums, of my school, never mentioned this... I feel just as stressed as I have always been. Whatever happened to having senioritis? *sigh* I guess it's a good thing. Still keeping my game up :] Hopefully after my last big exam next Thursday my teachers will feel considerate enough towards us seniors that we won't have too many major projects and homework to complete without the last (I think less than 40 days) full days of school. I can't wait got the end of June to come!! Congrats to all/most college students who I think already finished their school year ^__^ College..coming so fast!

On a non-school related note: Is anyone else suffering from terrible allergies this spring season as well?

8 comments: