Nemo Came and Went

Let me give everyone here, old or new visitors, a proper & BIG

Although it is an icy & cold welcome for now, I hope your opinions of my little blog will warm up soon!

Hehe, sorry for the corny intro! I just couldn't resist myself. But I really do WELCOME YOU from the bottom of my heart ^__^ Here are some random shots I took in my backyard after the big snow storm, Nemo, came in the beginning of February. Nothing special. Kind of boring/generic to be honest. But I didn't want them to just sit on my computer. So they're finding their place here. Hope you enjoy!

New Nail Polish Storage & Revlon Buys

I wanted to get this after seeing xteener's nail polish storage video. This storage system is one of those things that I don't really need but it is definitely nice to have. I got it from The Container Store for $13.99. If you subscribe to their E-Mail service I think they still offer a 10% off coupon to use for your first purchase.

Modular Flip-Out Bins from The Container Store

My current polish collection fits inside just perfectly. Very perfectly, with no extra space at all. My base and top coats actually have no room inside this storage but that's alright. They have a new home on my tabletop. Each bin holds about 6 or 7 nail polishes depending on the shape of the bottle. It isn't ideal for those with a polish collection that's bigger than say...40ish polishes. Unless you don't mind having more than 1 of these. The good thing is it's stackable. There are grooves on all four sides that lets you connect other pieces to it.

Inside look at my polish collection!


I joked on Instagram that this either meant I should stop buying more polishes because I have no room for it or...I have more space than ever because I now have my old nail polish container to fill with newly acquired polishes. I wasn't expecting to buy any new polishes so quickly but a stop to Walgreens with Bestie C the other day and I came out with 2 bottles of Revlon Nail Enamel. It didn't help that there was a BOGO 50% on Revlon polishes, it only made me want to get these even more.

L to R: Revlon Girly & Revlon Gray Suede
L to R: Revlon Girly & Revlon Gray Suede
L to R: Revlon Gray Suede & Revlon Girly
Top to Bottom: Revlon Girly & Revlon Gray Suede
I'm not sure if Deborah Lippman has a polish like Girly but it looks very Deborah Lippman-esque doesn't it?

Do you have a big nail polish collection? How do you store your polishes?

Recent Hauls

I really miss having school days where classes end by 4PM latest. The best thing that comes from having a later school schedule is the fact that I don't have the time to go to the store all the time anymore. BUT when I can go...I seem to do a lot of 'hoarding' all at once.

Some of you may have seen my recent haulings on Instagram. If not, let's just say I have enough shampoo, body wash, and eye makeup remover to last me many months! I didn't take a better photo of my shampoo and body wash buys because I usually just get whatever is on sale. Also, I find it harder to gather my opinions for those two particular type of products. So for now it won't be appearing on the blog, maybe in the future I'll give it a shot. I did however take photos of my other beauty related purchases that I wanted to share with everyone.
Target haul & Sephora buys
Sonia Kashuk Eye Makeup Remover; Neutrogena Body Clear Pink Grapefruit Body Wash; Up & Up Eye Makeup Remover; Sephora B.I. Benefit Bday gift; Boots Botanics Soothing Eye Makeup Remover; Bumble and Bumble Prep
After running out of eye makeup remover, I knew I wanted to make a trip to Target to try some different brands. CVS/Walgreens/Rite Aid doesn't seem to have a big selection of eye makeup remover to choose from. (Or maybe it's just the ones that I go to.) Anyways...I haven't tried any of these yet but from looking at the ingredients, the lists are surprisingly short. That's always a plus!

I made a stop to Sephora with the intentions of getting a bigger tube of Pacifica's Body Butter, but I didn't know that Sephora stopped carrying them. (Does anyone know where else to buy Pacifica products in-store?) Then I spotted a whole wall section dedicated to Bumble and Bumble at the Soho Sephora and couldn't walk away. I remembered Karyi's review on the Prep spray and decided to get a travel sized bottle for myself. I haven't tried it yet but I can't wait to! Hope it helps my very static-prone hair with all this wind that's been blowing in NYC.
A closer look at the Sephora Benefit Bday gift
My birthday isn't for another two weeks, but the SA let me claim my gift early. (So nice of her!) I was so surprised that Sephora offered me an option between this Benefit set and last year's Fresh set. Although I have come to really like the Fresh lip balms, I have been anticipating getting this to try Benefit Watt's Up. I can't wait to use both! Although, I'll probably reach for the highlighter first because I still haven't gotten use to wearing mascara yet. (Shocker...I know *ashamed* :X)
L'Oreal Colour Riche Balm in Caring Coral
My preferences when it comes to colored lip products are sheer, natural, and yet still moisturizing. This isn't a new product but I only noticed this recently. Plus, I had a coupon at CVS to use toward a L'Oreal product. It's so hard to say no to a coupon! Originally, I was going to buy a light pink shade but decided to go for a coral color to fill in the coral void in my lip products collection. It wasn't until I came home and prepared to take photos for the blog that I realized the seal was broken & saw that someone must have lightly swatched the product. I don't know why I only looked through the cover and didn't check the seal of all things. At first glance it didn't even look like the seal was broken at all...Luckily I have rubbing alcohol around the house. I really don't like to return makeup products. Just seems so wasteful since the store probably ends up throwing away anything that's been open.

Has anyone tried any of these products before? Any good/bad reviews that I should know about before I try these myself?

Lunar/Chinese New Year Mani

The New Year was actually last week, but festivities usually last for longer than that! & Before this look would become irrelevant...Here's the mani I did for the holiday.



Gold base: Milani 3D Holographic Nail Lacquer ~ 510-3D
Red polish: Complete Salon Manicure ~ Right Said Red

Recreating Song Hye Gyo's Elle KR Look



After seeing rolala loves share a set of Song Hye Gyo's Elle KR spread, I was intrigued to recreate her pictorial look on myself. This is a new interest that I have acquired and it is only the second time I have ever tried to copy a makeup look on my own. The first time was me trying to recreate 15&'s Park Ji Min's debut look, which did not turn out well. (I've always watched videos of others recreating makeup looks but I never did any of them on myself. Does anyone else do this too?) I tried my best to pull off her pose, but alas I'm definitely no model. It was kind of difficult for me to tell exactly how her eye makeup was from the photo, so I just played around a bit to get what I think looked closest to what she had.

Group shot!

Base
Etude House Nymph Aura Volumer mixed with DHC Q10 Cream Foundation

Blush: Kate Cream Cheek PK-4 on apple of cheeks (the little glass jar) & Milani Mineral Powder Blush #204 Sweet Rose toward my temples (the top blush compact)
Highlight: MAC Wonder Woman Collection MSF - Pink Power (the right compact)
Contour/Bronzer: NYC Smooth Skin Bronzing Face Powder - Sunny (the left compact)

Lips
1) fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF15
2) Etude House VIP girl Dear Darling Lips Stick PK007
3) Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick #680 Temptress
4) Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss #150 Peach Petal

Eyes
Primer: Benefit Stay Don't Stray
Eyeshadow: 1 & 2) Wet N' Wild Coloricon Eyeshadow Collection #737 Blue Had Me At Hello ... 3 & 4) Urban Decay Eyeshadow - Creep and Gunmetal
Eyelash Curler: KOJI Eyelash Curler No. 73
Mascara: The Face Shop Freshian Volumizing Mascara
Eyeliner: Physicians Formula Shimmer Strip Black Eyeliner from the old Nude Eyes trio

After applying a primer, I applied a light shimmery blue/gray shade (#1 in the photo above) all over the lids. Then I used a darker shimmery gray (#4) in the outer half of my lids. But I thought that my look wasn't smokey enough so I added a bit of the shimmery black (#3) in the V or outer corners of my eyes. As for the lower lashes line, I applied #1 on the inner half of my eyes, #3 on the outer half, and #4 right in the middle to create a gradient effect. Since Song Hye Gyo's eyebrows are pretty dark and prominent in her look, I took a matte black shadow (#2) to lightly fill in my eyebrows. Finally, I lined my eyes, curled my lashes and applied mascara. If I knew how to put on fake lashes, I would have definitely sported some. My lashes were practically non-existent with all the smokiness going on my eyelids.

For the lips, I actually had to mix and match to create a lip color somewhat similar to hers because I don't own a corally-pink colored lip product. I ended up applying Revlon Temptress lightly all over my lips and dabbing a bit of Etude House VIP girl lipstick on the center. The lipgloss was mainly just to make my lips look as soft and lustrous as her's were.

How is it? Do you think my version is similar to Song Hye Gyo's look or was this a failure?
I'm going to try to keep in mind to number the products in the photos if I ever do posts like this again. I'm so sorry if it's a bit confusing as to what is what. If there are any other suggestions you'd like to make, feel free to say so! :]

Becca Beach Tint - Lychee

Hard to believe right? A makeup review coming from me. I have never formally done one of these on the blog. But! This is the first step to trying to post more. Hope this will be of help to someone! :]


I've been wanting to get these since I saw them at a Duane Reade a couple of years ago. But the price always stopped me from doing so. $25 per little tube leaves quite a big dent in my wallet. When my $15 off $50 from Sephora came around I knew this was definitely something I wanted to finally get. I do not regret this purchase at all. I'm glad I held out until now because I was able to get this lovely (recently released) color.

Product Description & Ingredients:

The ingredients list is relatively short. The ingredients on the packaging show what makes up ALL the available Becca Beach Tints, not just the one you buy. (Lychee is the last on the long list.) There doesn't seem to be any oil in the product (like the packaging claims), but there is dimethicone (a silicone) and mica in the product. I know some people can be allergic or sensitive to these so be careful!

Places to buy:
✻ certain Sephora stores
✻ Sephora.com
✻ Duane Reade (in NYC)
✻ BeccaCosmetics.com

Packaging:

It comes in a 7mL, or 0.24 fl. oz., plastic tube that has a colored stripe on the tube which correlates with the color of the product. I don't mind the packaging at all. Especially since the consistency of the product is a bit liquidy sometimes it helps to be able to squeeze the product out of a tube. It is very easy to control how much product you want to get out. I haven't experienced any of it spilling out by itself either. Perhaps as I come to an end with the product, it'll be a little harder to get every last bit of product out of the tube. But that's a problem that I will have to deal with when the time comes. The one thing that really bugs me is the color name cannot be found on the actual tube. If I had more than one of these tints I think I would have a difficult time remembering what is what, particularly for the blog or if I wanted to recommend a shade to someone. Especially since some of the other colors in the line do look a bit similar.

Product:


Lychee is a very bright hot pink color straight out of the tube. But don't let that scare you!! It goes on surprisingly natural. It can definitely be built up to the bright shade though. Unlike the usual cream blushes, this blends out to a matte finish. Unlike liquid tints, this is much easier to apply without leaving blotches/stained dots of product on the cheeks.

On a winter day, without setting or blotting my face, I wore it for maybe 10+ hours. Sure the blush lost some of its initial intensity but it still looked pretty great in my books. Keep in mind this was when I wore glasses with frames that did not touch my cheeks at all. I can assume that if you're a bit oilier, blot your face more often, or have frames that touch your cheeks the wear time will surely not be as long. The good thing is there is such a thing as a powder so you can set over top with. By putting a light layer of powder, the color can still show through and the blush can also last a bit longer than when without.

The price is definitely not cheap. But I need so little each application for both cheeks. I think I'll be able to get a lot of usage out of it. This is also a dual purpose product, for both the lips and cheeks. I've tried it once for the lips just for fun. As it does on the cheeks, the same goes for the lips. This applies matte. I would not recommend it for those with dry lips! Do remember to moisturize and it may help a little. The alternative would be to exfoliate, apply the Becca Beach Tint, and then apply a lip balm or gloss over top throughout the day for a natural lip look.

I really want to get some of the other shades as well! Definitely not immediately, but in the future, I think you guys will for sure see another one or two in a haul post. Has anyone tried these and have a particular shade they really love?

Disclaimer: These are just the results I had while using the product. Remember, everyone else's skin is different!! What may have worked for me, may not work for you & what may not have worked for me, may work for you. Try the product at your own risk! I bought this product with my own money and am in no way connected to the companies mentioned. This is my honest opinion!

Quaker Real Medleys Peach Almond Oatmeal+


Most of the people I know hate to eat oatmeal. I, for one, grew up eating it and still enjoy it. However, the oatmeal I grew up eating was made with a bit of milk (instead of water), sugar, and egg. Perhaps that's why I had a pleasant oatmeal experience? Quaker Real Medleys Oatmeal is different from the oatmeal I know but that doesn't mean it was bad.


The calories in this cup of oatmeal are relatively low, that is I am assuming this would be the only thing you are consuming for breakfast. I should point out that the sugar content does seem high though. I never usually look at the sugar amount in foods, but after hearing from the besties that 20g+ are considered high...those who are sugar cautious should take note because this cup contains 19g of sugar.

Thumbs up to Quaker for keeping the ingredients list to a minimum!



The directions are very easy. I do like how it is already portioned and in a cup. It is great on the go breakfast item. You just need to add water and wait 3 minutes for the dried oats and fruit to absorb the water.


It is embarrassing to tell everyone this but I was actually afraid of trying this particular product. I didn't grow up eating fruits because I'm allergic to most fruits. So now I'm not the biggest fan of trying things with fruits in it. Maybe because of this reason I didn't like the bits of peach in there very much. Reconstituted dried peaches gave the oatmeal sweetness. When I bit into it the peaches were soft and chewy, something that I didn't really care for. But the part I really enjoyed though was definitely the crunchiness the almonds pieces gave the oatmeal. I think that was a very nice addition.

I think the drawback to these cups of oatmeal is that they're kind of pricey. According to Influenster, it costs $1.79 per cup. Surprisingly there was more than enough oatmeal to make me feel full after eating it. I think this is probably because of the added almonds and peach bits. It makes the oatmeal a lot heartier, especially when compared to plain o' regular oatmeal. It'd be great for those who are in a hurry. Pour some hot water in, put the lid back on, grab a spoon and head out the door with your breakfast. But for me, I think I will continue to buy the big jar of the company's Quick Oats. It seems a lot better for my wallet in the long run, but of course, it's definitely more time consuming to make. Whatever is best for your particular lifestyle!

Disclaimer: I received this product through the Influenster VoxBox program to try. I do not receive any extra compensation for posting about this product (other than getting to keep the product). I am not obligated at all to write positive reviews either. Any links provided do not give me any compensation.

Nutella Cookies

After buying a jar of Nutella to make the Nutella frosting I made for the cake, I still had a lot of the chocolate hazelnut spread leftover. I know my mom would scrutinize me forever if I devoured the jar by myself. So I took to Pinterest to find a quick recipe that involved using Nutella. In case anyone was wondering...I didn't eat these all myself, I made them for my besties when we were meeting up during the winter break.

I found a pin with some cookies and a jar of Nutella with the caption something along the lines of 1 cup Nutella, 1 cup flour, and 1 egg. However, it didn't have the instructions for what temperature to set the oven for or the time to bake the cookies for. Luckily, this is a pretty popular recipe that many food blogs try out so it wasn't hard to find the missing information.
Easy Nutella Cookies
credits to Kirbie's Cravings (I'm not sure who the original creator of this recipe is, this is just someone I found through Google search)
Ingredients:
✻ 1 cup Nutella
✻ 1 cup flour
✻ 1 egg
Directions:1. Preheat then oven for 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Blend the ingredients together well
3. Ball up the dough and place it on a cookie sheet
4. Press down the dough so it is flat (because the cookie doesn't spread very much while baking)
5. Bake for 6-8 minutes
6. Wait for it to cool and then ENJOY!
I was very surprised to find that these weren't very sweet at all. But that could be because I am so accustomed to eating much sweeter cookies. I dusted some powdered sugar over top to compensate for the lack of sugar. My friend who isn't into sweets told me she loved it though. The cookie also isn't as chewy on the middle as I prefer in a great cookie. However, I did find another recipe that claims she has the right ingredients and recipe that'll make for a very good crunchy outside and chewy inside Nutella cookie. She also added sea salt into her cookies, which should give an interesting sweet and salty cookie. Click HERE for the recipe. It has a few more ingredients but the process is relatively the same (sans the flattening of the dough). I think I'm definitely going to have to give that a try the next time I buy a jar of Nutella.

Do you love Nutella? What do you like to eat Nutella with?

EBOOST - Pink Lemonade


EBOOST Natural

Energy wasn't something I was all too excited about trying when I saw it in my Holiday VoxBox. Maybe I'm just picky but I am not a fan of powder drinks. Of the ones that I have tried, it always taste way too artificial for me. But nonetheless I gave this a go. The powder itself is white. Once it mixes with the water it turns into a muted pink shade. After having it sit around for a couple of days, it becomes more of a yellowy pink color.



Even though I poured this into a bottle, let me tell everyone else to not do the same. The powder fizzes as it mixes with water so there will be an overflow. Even if you only pour a little at a time. In the end, I still had some powder in the package left over.


My suspicions were right. It is sad to say but I didn't enjoy this very much. It did taste like the bottled pink lemonade you can buy at the supermarket right when I drank it. The part I didn't appreciate was the metallic after taste. For me, there was an irony taste (like blood or when I had metallic braces). The ingredients doesn't list iron in the nutritional information. I did see a few metallic/mineral ingredients like Zinc and Copper though. Just to be sure it wasn't just me, I had my little brother taste it as well. He said he thought it was alright but there was something a little different about it. He didn't tell me what that something "different" was though (but I don't think he would have been able to tell me anyways since he isn't very good at describing tastes yet).

I think for those who are used to or doesn't mind powder drinks, this would be a nice supplement alternative. It is supposedly made of all natural ingredients, which is always a plus nowadays. It comes in a few other flavors (Orange, Pink Lemonade, Acai Pomegranate, and Super Berry) and forms (powder, tablet, and energy shot) as well. I just personally did not appreciate it very much. Since I couldn't get past the after taste, I didn't finish my water and therefore couldn't feel the full affect of the energy boosting abilities.

According to the EBOOST website, a box of 20 packets would cost $28, making each packet $1.40. I don't remember seeing these at any supermarkets around me but the store locator on their website say certain drugstores and Health/Fitness stores may carry it.

How do you feel about powder drinks? What do you take to give yourself a boost of energy?

Disclaimer: I received this product through the Influenster VoxBox program to try. I do not receive any extra compensation for posting about this product (other than getting to keep the product). I am not obligated at all to write positive reviews either. Any links provided do not give me any compensation.

Giveaway Package from Beauty Blog

Mail all the way from HK/Macau! I haven't won a giveaway in a long time so I couldn't believe I had actually won. Thank you Beauty Blog for holding such a great giveaway! :] It came much faster than I anticipated, especially since it's international mail. Check out her blog for tons of reviews on Asian beauty products.
Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner, Kate Cream Cheek PK-4, Lavshuca Gradation Color Eyes BR-1
The Face Shop Freshian Volumizing Mascara, Maybelline Watershine Collagen Gloss P11
Maybelline Angelfit Pore Zero Base SPF25 PA++, Dr.Jart+ Premium Blemish Base BB Gold Label SPF45/PA+++
I can't wait to try all of these goodies. Especially the Dolly Wink Eyeliner & Kate Cream Blush!
Have you heard good or bad things about any of these products?
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