November 2010 Collective Haul

5:00:00 PM mandy 28 Comments

Yay! I did significantly less damage this month :] A main part of it was because I’ve been so busy (hmm I said that last month lol I guess I was super busy this month). I only bought three things and the rest were either samples/gifts/exchange. I hope I can continue not spending this much lol






The Face Shop Peeling Day Honey Black Sugar

My aunt went to The Face Shop in Koreatown (Manhattan) to buy some masks for her friend and used my points to purchase this for me. (She thought that my points would expire? I don’t really know how their system works since I go once in a blue moon :X)


Lancome Teinte Miracle in 2W and 7W

*Sigh* The troubles my face and neck shades bring me...I can’t get foundations matched correctly. The MUA there told me I was 2W (she matched it to my face) and I asked what it would be matched to my neck and she said 7W. She was really nice and filled up the whole sample container with product. Now I just need to try them out a couple of times first. I think 7W might fit me more because of my tanned neck area. Has anyone else tried the new Lancome foundation?






MAC My Highland Honey – photographing this was very difficult! A majority of them came out pink/coral. The third is the closest IMO to the actual color.

Everyone’s posts about this blush made me really tempted to buy this. It’s such a lovely color. Very different for me since I’ve been really into pink shades. When the MUA tried it on me, she applied it pretty heavily, and I had to go yum cha and eat dim sum with my mom and her friends afterward (was very self-conscious that they’d notice I was wearing makeup). But nothing my fingers couldn’t fix lol When my mom’s friends saw me they even said my face was slimmer/narrower. I don’t know if it’s because of the way the blush was or because of shadows in the restaurant, but it made me nice ^__^





MAC Face & Body in C2

I was finally able to exchange for a darker shade (suggested by the MUA) the day I went to pick up My Highland Honey. I think it might be a smidgen too light, but if I am able to lose my neck’s tan I don’t think it’ll be a problem. I’ve been wearing it for a few days and I don’t think the difference is ghastly.






Ecotools Blush Brush

I’ve also wanted this for a while now. Lil Lady’s Life and many other bloggers said they recommended this blush brush and I can’t agree more ^__^


L to R: Beautymate Purifying and Hydrating Nano Mask & Shiseido gift from my aunt











My lovely aunt, who also started me on my whole skincare journey lol, bought the Shiseido Benefiance set from Macy’s and gave me the softener/toner to try. And since she’s soo nice, she also let me have the samples since I’ve wanting to try the White Lucent line but it is just too expensive. Not only that, shared a whole box of Beautymate masks with me. Ahh..I feel guilty!




St. Ives Oatmeal & Shea Butter Moisturizing Body Wash – travel size

The cold/windy weather that’s been in NYC has taken its toll on my skin..now it’s all dry, itchy, patchy, etc. Very disgusting looking! I didn’t want to commit to a full bottle because my family would nag me for wasting money if I didn’t use it. Hopefully, this will work if not..lotion here I come!

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I didn't get to go shopping on Black Friday, but that's alright. Can't wait to hear about everyone else's purchases lol.

One Lovely Blog Award

3:14:00 PM mandy 8 Comments

I'm sorry to anyone who gave me a blog award/tagged me before and I didn't see/accept/do them! I've been very busy and only have a little time this weekend since it's Thanksgiving weekend here in the U.S. I hope everyone understands & there are no harsh feelings! :X

And..Thank you Frances for this blog award! I started this just for myself and never really expected people to read and follow my blog, but here everyone is..whether you read silently or leave comments. I appreciate it a lot ^__^


To accept this award, simply pass it to 15 other lovely bloggers.

These aren't in any particular order so don't be offended lol

1. Frances
2. Jennifer
3. Tammy
4. Dina
5. Lil Lady's Life
6. Karen
7. Blair
8. Katherine
9. Nic Nic
10. Bitten Before
11. Katrina
12. Makeup and Life
13. Lovin' From the Oven
14. The Hungry Asian
15. Angelic Betrayal

October 2010 Collective Haul

1:05:00 PM mandy 19 Comments

Hehe I’m always late on sharing my monthly hauls. Sorry! I’ve been very busy with school lately and the whole college process (very stressful…can’t wait for it to be over). Surprisingly enough, even though I’m so busy I still manage to buy quite a lot :X




O.P.I. Pink of Hearts & Essie Good to Go!

I went to the nail supply store to search for a new topcoat that did not have the Big 3 Toxic Chemicals (Dibutyl Phthalate, Formaldehyde, and Toluene) that are supposedly very harmful. I really liked the Seche Vite I bought earlier but I saw that it had Toluene in it and got scared :X I’ve tried the Essie one a few times and I like it too. It doesn’t dry as quick as Seche Vite, but quick enough where I won’t destroy my nail polish applications even after 5 minutes.
I bought O.P.I. Pink of Hearts on a whim. Didn’t even expect the store to have it and I wasn’t looking for it. But when I saw it, I really like the sparkly pink and I can justify my purchase a little because I don’t have many sparkly pinks ^__^

For more information about the Big 3 toxic chemicals click here


Milani Liquif’eye Metallic Eye Liner Pencil in Brown & Milani HD Advanced Concealer in 02 Medium

Sadly my Dolly Wink Pencil Eyeliner smudges on me. But I’ve heard many people talk about the Milani eyeliner and Nic Nic of bang bang she shoots suggested I practice/start off with drugstore eyeliners. I went to CVS and saw they had a BOFO 50% off deal. I didn’t want to get two eyeliners and have both not work and I was interested in trying their concealer so I bought one of each :] I think the concealer is a bit too dark/pink (not sure which one lol) for my face, but when I use a little amount for my eyes it’s not as apparent.




MAC Face & Body Foundation in C1

I’ve been wanting to try this for the longest time. Even though I suffer from acne and have a lot of scars, etc. I still like light/natural coverage. Weird I know but maybe it’s because I’m self-conscious of people knowing that I wear makeup? Anyways, I went to MAC with my BFF (it was her first time going!). We approached an MUA and BFF got what she wanted and I asked her to match me for the F&B foundation. I told her that my neck and my face are very different colors but she didn’t think so. I thought…oh ok maybe it’s the lighting or maybe she is right and I just over think it. The MUA told me I was an N1. I went in there thinking “I’m probably C3” based on researching and googling online. I was shocked because 1) I know almost positively that I’m yellow undertoned and 2) I didn’t know my face looked that light. Ekk! It looked like an alright match for my face, a bit pink. I told her and she tried C1 on me. It looked slightly better but I still saw a difference from my neck and face. At that point, I was a bit annoyed at my skin tone for being two different colors and I was embarrassed because I didn’t want to ‘correct’ the MUA again :X

Long story short..I’m going to exchange it for a different shade.


2 bags of Muji Cotton; Package of tooks to help transfer products (plastic scooper/spatula, funnel, and a dropper); 30ml Pump bottle

I love the Muji cotton that I got in June. But I think I bought the wrong ones this time. These are a lot thinner than the other one. I need to look more closely next time! I bought the pump bottle and the little kit to put the MAC Face and Body foundation into it. But will have to put that off until I exchange it for a darker shade.

On a random note, Muji should bring their skincare line to their USA stores :]


Origins Clean Energy Cleansing Oil; Origins Flatiron Have a Nice Day Face Cream SPF15 (sample); Origins Never a Dull Moment Cleanser (GWP/freebie); pump for the cleansing oil

I had the intentions of going to Chinatown after visiting a college in the city to buy a cleansing oil from one of the beauty stores/Asian markets. But I saw the Origins store close to the train station that I was going to take and went in to take a look. The people working there were very nice. A SA answered my questions and even asked if I wanted samples (I didn’t know they gave samples out..should have asked for the GinZing eye cream too lol). I bought the cleansing oil from them because it supposedly formulated without all the bad ingredients (parabens, fragrance, etc.) and the cost was just a couple dollars more than some of the cleansing oils I found in Chinatown. So far I like it but I need to use it for a while longer before I can give my definite opinions because cleansing oils always work nicely in the beginning and then starts to dry out my skin. I really hope this doesn’t happen again.


Garnier Nutritioniste Moisture Rescue Refreshing Gel-Cream

I needed a new morning moisturizer that was light and well moisturizing for the winter. Plus I had a $1 coupon for this new line from coupons.com. I’ve used this a couple of times but cannot say much about it just yet. Hopefully, I’ll get around to reviewing it soon/in the future.


Mark Powder Buff Natural Skin Foundation in Buff & Mark MU Bag (freebie/GWP)

BFF was ordering from Avon and asked if I wanted something. Since I planned to get the MAC Face and Body foundation in a couple of days (she ordered the products before I went to MAC and I got the products after I went to MAC..hope that isn’t too confusing) I didn’t ask for the tinted moisturizer. I’ve heard some people compare this with the MAC Studio Fix Powder Foundation(?) and I like to use powders in the mornings anyway. Ordering online is very difficult, I haven’t tried it yet but I hope the shade matches me!


Double Ended Dotting Tool and China Glaze in Fairy Dust

My friends introduced me to two new nail supply stores that are a little bit further away from my house but still accessible by public transportation. The Essie and OPI’s there are not only cheaper than what I usually get them for, but they also have China Glazes! I’ve been wanting to try them for the longest time but wasn’t able to locate an actual store that sold them. Fairy Dust is very pretty! I used it over the weekend on top of an American Apparel’s Office and it looked great. I think I’m going to go too happy using this one in the future lol!




Essie Marshmallow and Essie Mademoiselle
This last purchase is technically suppose to be part of the November haul, but since I bought this only 1 day after October I’ll make the exception just this once :P
I remember i love nail polish say that her favorite French manicure polishes were Marshmallow and Mademoiselle so I bought it to try out her dolly wink tutorial. I don’t have time to try it out right now but I definitely will once the college process frenzy is over!

Swatch: OPI Pink of Hearts

10:35:00 PM mandy 13 Comments

Another nail polish swatch! ^__^

I was able to relax (finally) on Friday (so I wouldn’t be stressed on SAT day)...SO I did my nails :]

I was looking for the Essie Good to Go top coat and I saw that the store where I usually get my nail polishes had the OPI’s nail polish for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and it was a pretty sparkly pink. I couldn’t resist (my self-control is worse than I thought..LOL)!

OPI describes it as a “pale pink with a shimmer of hope – and an uplifting sparkle”.

I used 3 coats because it looked a bit streaky with less than that (or it could be that I'm not used to applying sparkly polishes..)

**For base coat I used Seche Clear and top coat I used Essie Good to Go**




Taken with natural light & flash

Taken with artificial light & no flash

Taken with artificial light & flash

Taken with artificial light & no flash

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I don’t know if anyone will notice, but the image quality should be better than before (I got a new camera) ^__^

September 2010 Collective Haul

11:30:00 PM mandy 5 Comments

It’s already October! Days ago by fast when you’re super busy (is that a bad or good thing?) :P
Time to share my hauls again! Hope no one is bored of these yet hehe


L to R: Dabo Aloe Essence Mask Pack, Dabo Green Tea Essence Mask Pack, Dabo Cucumber Essence Mask Pack, Hemius Q10 Mask Pack, Hemius Wine Mask Pack

My aunt bought a lot of masks from The Face Shop in the city and let me take some to try.
I admit..I was being greedy, just a little…lol :X


TRESemme Fresh Start Dry Shampoo

I tried it a couple of times and I think I like Batiste more...
After using it my hair still looks/feels pretty oily.
Will use it more before I confirm that I dislike the product. I was hoping it would work since it’s cheaper than Batiste.


L to R: Kracie Purenavi 3 Das Trial Kit (Cleansing Oil) & Foaming Net

Kay from cosmeddicted talked about using a foaming net before and I was really intrigued. Maybe it’s just me but I think my acne has been a lot better since using it. Also…the cleansers that I thought were really drying out my face before didn’t anymore after started using the net to create a lather! Big shocker…! But I really wish I can find the version without the three little balls inside them, it makes it slightly harder to create a lather since they are in the way.


Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Moisturizing Lotion

No secret that I got this since I already blogged about it earlier. The price I paid was pretty expensive (USD$19) but then again I bought it at a store and most beauty stores in Chinatown jack up there prices. (Only place I can purchase since I can't order online)


L to R: Essie Chinchilly & Seche Clear

Again I got too excited and posted about Chinchilly before my haul post lol
I’ve used Seche Clear a couple of times and I really like its consistency and it dries very quickly...I like! And unlike Seche Vite, it doesn’t have any of the Big3 bad chemicals (wonder why it varies from products..)
I think I might purchase the Seche Natural to help strengthen my nails (if it doesn’t have any of the Big3 in it of course).


Parian Spirit Brush Cleanser

I like (maybe love) this! It spot cleans pretty well..unlike some *cough Sephora’s cough*
Great for busy/lazy weeks when I don’t have time to deep clean & it leaves a citrus smell. It might be a little too strong for some, but I find it pleasant. Now I wonder how the Cinema Secret one smells like..I heard some say it has a vanilla-y after scent, yum!


Lancome Effacernes Waterproof Protective Undereye Concealer in Light Buff & Lancome Teint Idole Fresh Wear in Bisque 4W

I stopped by a couple of Sephora’s to see if they had Lancome Teint Miracle on shelves (they didn’t) so I asked some for other samples instead.

Swatch: Essie Chinchilly

3:00:00 PM mandy 8 Comments

My first nail polish that is out of my comfort zone color (purples..pinks..)!

It’s described on the Essie site as “a sleek granite gray”.

To me it looks a bit like gray, brown, and a little bit of purple mixed together.


Taken with natural light & flash


Taken with natural light & no flash


Taken with artificial light & flash