Zoya polish in Posh

Recently got on the matte nails scene with Zoya polish in Posh and Dovima. I tried Posh first, because the swatches of it that I saw on other blogs made me really intrigued. Just like others have said, these matte polishes dry FAST. You have to work quickly and accurately. I tried to get enough polish on the brush to cover one entire nail before moving on to the next. By the time I was on my third finger, the first one had already dried. Still, I am LOVING this polish!! The color is soooo classy and the matte finish is definitely different from the shiny polishes I usually have on. I am liking matte so much that yesterday I got the Sephora by OPI matte polish in Domestic Goddess (purple). Still have to try that and Dovima! I was planning on taking off Posh after 2 days and trying on Dovima because of how other people were saying that the wear of the polish is weak, but surprisingly, after 5 days of wear, there are barely any chips on my nails. The only real difference is that the matte finish is a little less so, probably due to the natural oils in my hands, shampooing, and dishwashing. Otherwise, so far so good!

This is a picture from the first day of wearing it, with two coats, no base/top coat (not allowed when you're wearing matte polishes!!)

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On another note, my roommate got a puppy recently. She's so cute!!! Her name is Gracie and she's a Yorkshire terrier, I think. She's tiny but deceivingly energetic. Meet Gracie! :)


She's smiling!! :D

Playing with her favorite toy~

Happy Monday, everyone!

Brown Smokey Eyes

Here's a look I did for a night out with my girls. I made my eyes the main focus and kept the rest of the face pretty bare, with a light gloss and some bronzer/highlighter. I'm not a very experimental person when it comes to my eyeshadow (instead, I venture outside of my comfort zone with lip and blush color); I tend to stick with browns and greys, but hopefully that will change the more I blog! For now, here's a little something something ;)

I started by moisturizing my face with Philosophy Hope in a Jar (my new favorite!), priming with Make Up For Ever HD Primer, and concealing small spots with Laura Mercier Undercover Pot number 2

Although I love this MUFE lavendar primer, I find that it works best with my skin in the winter, when I'm a little paler so my face matches the rest of my body. However, there's no denying that it does its job of brightening my skin!

Used my favorite powder foundation, Laura Mercier Mineral Powder SPF 15 in Real Sand, then set everything with Guerlain Meteorites in Mythic 01

Prime eyes with Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, then put on Paul and Joe Eye Gloss in 05 on the eyelid, just up to the crease, then blend well

I used Dior 2-Colour Eyeshadow in 565 Nude Look this time. It includes a matte reddish-brown and a beige golden shimmer

Put on eyeshadow just up to the crease, then blend blend blend, concentrating on the outer corners. Keep repeating and building up color until it's the shade that you desire

Tightline and line eyes with MUFE Aqua Eyes liner in 0L

Using black liquid liner, draw a slightly winged line, flicking it up gently at the end. Not going for a cat eye here, just very subtle slant

This is what it looked like for me. You could continue adding more of the matte brown shadow if you want to go darker. I also used the shimmery shade on the inner corner of my eye and also on the browbone

Time for falsies! I used Revlon Fantasy Lengths in 91002 Intensifying. Cut to fit your eye length, then follow the directions included in the box to put them on :)

I'm actually a newbie at the whole false lash thing, so it took me a while to get this part right :x

Curl lashes to make your real lashes blend in with the falsies, apply a layer of mascara (I used Diorshow Iconic Extreme Waterproof), then darkened my brows with Bare Escentuals brow powder in Brunette. I also lined my bottom lash line with brown pencil, used the brown shadow to smoke it out, and used the shimmery shade to line the inner bottom lash line and dabbed some on the inner corner of my eye (not pictured here)

Contoured with Dior bronzer in 001 Healthy Tan, highlighted with Mac Mineralized Skin Finish in Soft and Gentle, and made my lips shiny with NARS lipgloss in Orgasm

Ta-da! (again :P)

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Now, for the outfit!

Sequined top from H&M

Belt from....I don't remember where

Studded leather cuff and leggings from Forever 21 (LOVE that cuff!)

Heels from BCBG

Full outfit in front of my parents' (kinda dirty) mirror again. Mostly black with a pop of white and plenty of gold, haha

That's it! :)

NARS Lipstick in Fast Ride

While I love summer and its fun, endless opportunities, my favorite season is actually winter. With the fall already here, winter is just around the corner. I love autumn and winter because of the prospect of a new school year and the holidays. I also love autumn and winter make up and fashion much more than the floral, less-is-more mentality of spring and summer. This time of year is all about the mixture of classiness/edginess with plenty of pea coats and motorcycle jackets, scarves and gloves, plaid and black rocker chic, to name a few . These things pair perfectly with darker, more dramatic looks, which I tend to be drawn to.

And so I present to you my first transition into this season, with a NARS lipstick in Fast Ride from their newest collection. This is described as a sheer mulberry, and sheer it is! Although it looks kinda scary in the tube, one swatch on my hand was enough to confirm that this is actually a very wearable, buildable color. I had to really layer it on to get the desired, dark lip look that I was going for. This lipstick is foolproof! One swipe will give you a pretty natural, stained lip sort of look, while a few more layers will make the color more prominent (but still not as dark as the tube would have you believe)

The close ups are not that great, since the smooth surface of the lipstick has been broken thanks to my constant swatching :x

Here are some pictures of me wearing it. Again, not the best quality since these were taken after a long day of work, at night, without natural lighting.

No flash

With flash. I like how it pairs up nicely with my nail polish! haha :) Very classy (although I plan to wear this with more edgy clothing)

If you're looking for a versatile lipstick for this season, NARS Fast Ride may be it!

before we say goodbye...

As summer quickly fades into fall, each young member of my family slowly packs up their belongings and leaves for their respective colleges--me included. With most of them already a month into their fall semester, I am the last one in the bunch to leave for school in a few days (as I am on the quarter system). Before I say goodbye to my beloved Norcal and depart for my final year at UCLA, I met up with my cousins and our significant others for some quality time in Berkeley, where half of them go to school.

We decided to meet at Trattoria La Siciliana, a quaint Italian restaurant on College Ave in Berkeley. The reservation was for 16 people; my family is super big!!

I ordered the bucatini 'chi finucchiede', which is a Sicilian specialty that includes fresh sardines, pine nuts, currants, sweet onion, Sicilian anchovies, saffron, fennel, and toasted breadcrumbs in the sauce. It was VERY different from anything I've ever had before. Extremely herbaceous and pungeant, the flavors were striking but perhaps a little too out there for me to fully enjoy. I loved sampling everyone else's typical gnocchi, spaghetti and meatballs, rigatoni, and mushroom ravioli, though! And there was a particular seafood stew that was divine.

Me, my younger sister (far left), and some girl cousins. Coincidentally, we were all wearing dresses!

Standing outside Ici (pronounced ee-cee) to get ice cream for dessert

Inside Ici

Some baked goodies for sale

The names of the flavors (changed regularly) are hung up on the walls in rectangle frames. This time there were flavors like brandied cherry, malted chocolate chip, rose vanilla, bartlett pear sorbet, earl grey, and brown sugar gingersnap

Display case with some ice cream scoops and brownies

I ended up getting Earl Grey, a very creamy, delicious flavor with the essence of a cup of good tea. The not-too-sweet cone proved to be a perfect vehicle for the delicate taste of this particular ice cream. The surprise chocolate filling at the bottom of the cone was nice too :)

Holding my Earl Grey and the boy's brandied cherries ice cream

Enjoying

A bunch of us standing outside the sweet shop, savoring our frozen treat before we say goodbye...


I will miss all of my family and loved ones here in Norcal. However, I am extremely excited for school to start! I have a feeling that it's going to be a very busy, exciting year for me :) Wish me luck!

Sephora by OPI in Under My Trench Coat

Described as a "light grey khaki with gold shimmer", Under My Trench Coat (one of Sephora's newest colors) satisfied this week's need for a more muted nail color. As always, this color looks so much better in real life. I like how it's so different from the bold, bright colors that I usually sport. Definitely a hit for fall!

I think this picture does the color the most justice...the other pictures make the color look too grey. This picture above captures the khaki

Click for a closer look at the shimmer!

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So it seems I have a bit of a nail obsession as of late....I can't stop eyeing and buying nail polish! I haven't even tried all the colors I currently have and still I continue to add to the collection. Meet my three newest acquisitions:

From left to right: Mod Hatter, Berry Berry Broadway, and Sahara Sapphire

I stopped by a random beauty salon a few days ago and noticed that they were doing a 50% off sale on a bunch of discontinued OPI and Orly colors. I ended up getting these three because they look like very winter-y colors, no?

Also gave in to those rave reviews for Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. For $9.99 it's definitely a very pricey top coat, but after I tried it last night on top of three coats of Under My Trench Coat, I could understand why people love it so much. It made my awkwardly painted right hand nails (sooo hard for me to paint with my left hand since I'm right-handed!) super smooth and perfect. AND it really did dry fast (though not as fast as my Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat) and make my nails look incredibly shiny. The formula is a bit thicker than traditional top coat polishes, but that didn't bother me at all. Definitely my new favorite!


Last, but not least, another top coat polish. This one is supposed to make whatever color polish is underneath look holographic. I was intrigued, so I swatched a bit on top of my Ocean Love Potion polish and it looked pretty cool! I can't wait to try this on top of a darker color though :)

Sephora by OPI in Ocean Love Potion

Have a full day ahead of me, but before I go, a quick view of one of my new nail polishes :D

Sephora by OPI in Ocean Love Potion, described by Sephora as a "Mediterranean turquoise". I likey! It's a cool blue-green that's a nice pop of color but isn't too bright. Btw, this is after 5 days of wear, with a base coat, 2 coats of color, and a top coat...pretty good right?

With flash!

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A peek at some of the things I got at Sephora last week, except all the Benefit products, which were given to me. Will be reviewing them shortly!

Also, I've been meaning to try out some drugstore brand mascaras, and this waterproof Cover Girl Lash Blast was first. So far, it's ok, but definitely not up to par with my DiorShow Iconic Extreme Waterproof mascara. The brush's big size makes application a bit messy, and for some reason, I could NOT for the life of me remove it all at the end of the day. Even after waterproof eye makeup wipes and a thorough rinsing in the shower with Cetaphil face wash, there was still some gunk. I guess I have to applaud its staying power, but that's just too much trouble for me! Other than that, it gives pretty good volume and definition, but not as much length as my Dior

Going to the club tonight, so I'll try to make my first FOTD post! :D