Thursday, May 14, 2009

Sephora Haul

Sephora had a Friends & Family 20% off sale a few weeks ago, so I decided to take advantage of it and buy some of the things that I've been eyeing :)



Dior Bronze Original Tan in 01 Healthy Tan~ I've been looking for a good bronzer for summer; decided on the Dior. So far so good!

With the plastic cover still on

Perfect and natural for my skin tone :)

The beautiful Laura Mercier Shimmer Bloc in Gilded Garden....I already have plenty of pink blushes, but I couldn't resist this one!!! I open the compact sometimes just to stare at the prettiness hahah. BUT it is also very pretty on the cheeks...gives just the perfect amount of glow!



Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Reflect in 577 Fuchsia Poplin~ vibrant berry pink gloss perfect for spring and summer!


And Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Silky Sensual Radiant Lipstick SPF 15 in 8 Fetish Pink~ I got this one because I wanted a baby pink lipstick...I was envisioning healthy tan skin (from a bronzer, not the sun--BAD!) with a pretty pink lip. This lipstick goes on soooo nicely...it's smooth and VERY pigmented so a little goes a long way!


Swatches of everything....the top 4 colors are from the Laura Mercier Shimmer Bloc, the 2 middle colors are of the YSL lipstick (left) and Dior gloss (right), and finally the Dior bronzer swatch is at the veryyyy bottom (almost not noticeable!)


Wearing the YSL Rouge Volupte lipstick...see how pink it is??? I was wearing no other eye make up besides mascara in this picture, but I love how the pink lip is so prominent. I just lightly dabbed the color on my lips until it reached the shade I wanted
Close up...to take some of the matte off the lips, I brushed on just a little bit of the Dior Fuchsia Poplin gloss...just a bit on the bottom lip and then blended against my upper lip for a little shine...what do you think? Cute color, right? :)


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Went home to Norcal this weekend for Mother's Day and to attend a wedding...remember the vases that the boy and I painted at Color Me Mine? Here are the finished products before they were given to our moms


On Sunday before I flew back to LA, I woke up early and went out to buy 3 bouquets of tulips for my mommy...put them in the vase, and surprised her when she woke up. I'm so mad I forgot to take a picture of the vase with the flowers! >:(


Anyway, Happy Thursday! I'll create a post about the wedding I attended later~

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Paul & Joe UV Primer + Protective Fluid Foundation

I know I raved about my L'egere White Multi BB Cream, but now it's time to talk about another favorite of mine: Paul & Joe's Protective Fluid Foundation! Recommended by, of course, the lovely Fuz, P&J PFF has been my go-to base make up in the morning for the past 2-3 weeks. I bought mine about a month to two months ago, but the first time I tried it, I didn't really like it. I thought that it wasn't moisturizing enough, but then I realized it wasn't because of the foundation, but because my skin was too dry! So I stopped my acne spot treatment and upped the usage of moisturizer day and night and a mist in between. This, along with my newfound discovery of the wonders of the Beauty Blender sponge (my thoughts on this will have to be for another post) have made me come willingly and happily back to my Paul & Joe :)

Before I put on the foundation, I cleanse, tone, moisturize, protect, and prime. I like priming with either Make Up For Ever HD Primer in Mauve or Paul & Joe Protective Foundation Primer UV. I like it when my make up products have some UV in it. I use sunscreen, but it's nice when my primer and base make up have some protection too! For this I used the P&J:


It comes out of the tube like this~
...and blends in like this~ No trace of it whatsoever! Just nice smooth skin

Now for the foundation...

My shade is 10. The Protective Fluid Foundation has an SPF of 25 PA++...nice!

This is pretty much all I need for my whole face. It's really liquidy but blends beautifully, so not much is needed. I just cover any leftover spots and dark circles with my concealer
Lightly blended

Fully blended
I think this was after I primed with the P&J UV Primer. It helped even out my skin tone a little bit~

After foundation and a little bit of concealer...I love how it feels and how natural it looks! Its coverage isn't as good as the L'egere, but I like how it feels so lightweight.
And it stands up well throughout the course of the day; this was after I walked half an hour to class and back....I even wore it over the weekend while playing an intense (and sweaty :x) tournament for Ultimate Frisbee...5 hours later and I still looked fresh!

I also used my P&J a few days ago when I was testing out my pink lipstick from my Sephora haul...so glowy!
Up close (such an Asian pose haha)...still flawless! Can't say enough good things about this foundation! I'll definitely be buying again once I run out~
(and pretty pink lips...more later!)

Happy Wednesday everyone! :)

Shu Uemura Brush Set Giveaway!

To celebrate their new website, Shu Uemura is taking 20% off your entire order with the code "NEWSITEBLOG"!!! I placed an order on Shu's site a few days ago for a lippie from the Red Collection and a lippie and gloss from the new Pink Collection. They should be coming any day now!

In the meantime, check out this really cool giveaway from beautyforaliving. To celebrate HER new site, she's generously giving away a gorgeous Shu brush set!



Prettyyyy!!! Check it out now

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

creative juices

It's been such a busy few weeks, and this weekend was no exception. I have sooo many posts that I need to publish, but it's so hard to find time to edit them all...I have to give props to the girls who update daily; it's definitely not easy!

So this weekend I finally got my haul from the Sephora 15% off sale (more on that later!), finished my midterms, attended a friend's birthday party, played in an Ultimate Frisbee Tournament and scored the winning touchdown, painted a vase for Mother's Day, attended a church picnic, and realized that I really really reallyyyy want a dog or cat for my apartment next year. Whew! All without my much-needed 8 hours of sleep a night!

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First, I'm going to go off on a tangent~

Has anyone ever been to Color Me Mine? It's one of my favorite places to go when I'm thinking of things to do. Instead of the typical movie or shopping date, I like to suggest coming here! Color Me Mine is a chain of studios where you can come in, choose ready-made ceramic pieces, design and paint your chosen piece, and have them fire it up for you. You come back 3-5 days later and it's ready. They have things like vases, bathroom essentials like toothbrush holders and soap dishes, kitchen essentials like platters and mugs, jewelry boxes, cute sculptures....the pieces are endless and always changing! They provide the materials like paint and brushes for you...all you have to bring is your creativity. They charge a studio fee, but if you check the events calendar on their website, you can come on one of their special days when there is no studio fee and you just have to pay for the pottery piece you choose. I like coming here for fun dates or bonding time with my little cousins or sister. I spent a lot of time at the Color Me Mine near my house over the summer...

See all the different things you can choose to paint? Even a giant tea cup! :)

They usually have a finished product for every piece so that you can get an idea of what it will look like with paint and perhaps get some ideas for how you want to decorate yours. Look at this adorable doggie piece!

You can use masking tape to help you paint straight lines haha. This is one of the pair of mugs that I painted for the boy's parents over the summer~

One time we saw these goblets and decided to make "pimp cups" haha

We were going to bling them out with rhinestones after they were done.......alas, the thing with me and art projects is that sometimes I get really excited initially about an idea and then forget/get bored with it afterwards (so right now the goblets are missing some sparkles :P) as I move on to my next project...............

Sketch for my next project~

During one of those random summer evenings, I somehow ended up at Big Lots and while walking idly through the aisles, came upon a bunch of blank canvases. The boy and I immediately decided that we were going to paint some for the empty walls in our apartment rooms. Both our moms don't allow us to put up anything on the walls of our rooms at home (darn Asian moms and their refusal to put any holes in their pristine white walls), so we were going to make something for each other for our rooms away at school. We bought four panels each, then some paint, and then designed and executed our "works of art". We went for a smoking theme (neither of us smoke).

I even put on my beret to be more authentic hehe.



My finished product for him


And his for me. I think he was going for the abstract look. Hahahahahaha awww at least he had fun <3

Afterwards I felt compelled to put on my red retro sunnies and take pictures. Look at the paint all over my arms and fingers!

Regardless of one's skill level, doing artsy things is so good for the heart and soul. Whether it be painting, photography, ceramics, jewelry-making, sewing, even make-up!....I think we can all agree that when we use our senses to create beautiful things, the result is indescribable. There's just something about using our hands and our minds for aesthetic reasons...the idea is so simple yet complex and ultimately rewarding. You don't need to be a world-famous illustrator or celebrity make-up artist to feel good about your work or to have fun. It's all about the passion you put into it!

With that said, here are some pictures from my trip to the Santa Monica Color Me Mine over the weekend. I went with a friend and the boy so that we could paint something for our moms.

We all decided to paint vases. Here is A's vase, "au naturale"

He even put a little ladybug on the edge! Cute :)

The boy's vase for his mom~

And mine for my mommy. Green is my mom's favorite color. She loves all shades of it, so I chose the color "pistachio". Nice, right?

I was going for a lace looking design

They look like they could be part of a set :)

I also painted a cute little cupcake jewelry box for friend J. She just finished her master's at UCLA, yay! Whenever I go to my favorite cupcake shop, I always get her a red velvet. Now she'll always have a cupcake on hand!

All together...oh yea A also painted a picture frame for his mom. Color Me Mine gives you the glass cover and backing for picture frames after the decorated piece has been baked. Our ceramics look so pretty already! I'll post more pictures when I go to pick up the finished product...it'll look nice and shiny :)

Go check outthe Color Me Mine website to find a studio near you! It's super funnnn

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Now I leave you with a picture of the delicious Korean cold noodle dish naeng-myun that I had over the weekend in Irvine........


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....And the reasons why I really really really want a dog or cat for my apartment next year.....

I don't know what kind of cat this is or who it belongs to, but I always see him/her prowling around my neighborhood. Looks so cool!! Like part cheetah, part tiger, in a small form...

Into the jungle.....a few bushes haha

Then there's this dog named Curly that I met over the weekend at my church's picnic...

She was so well-behaved!


And my friend M's 5 week old kitten named Chloe.....

She's so small that when we put my Juicy bracelet on her as a collar....

It slipped past her neck and was able to pass through the rest of her body!!! So cuuute

Aaaahhh I really want a pet...