My Skincare Routine~

Hello everyone~

I was just in too good of a mood to not post again.. haha sorry for the sporadic posts.. T_T You know that feeling when you have a cold but you're extremely hot and your body is sticky and you feel like you're in another world? Yep I'm in that stage right now.. >_>

Getting back to the post! Here's my skincare routine for now.. I try to use as little as possible on my skin, because I have oily, acne prone skin. I try to use products that aren't too heavy and that have no oils. I know it's very basic, but hey I'm still kinda young! and lazy. .-.

I use Clinique's acne solutions line (which I will post a review about soon!) as well as their sunscreen. I use the masks on the right once in a while whenever my skin feels either too dry or too oily/acne explosions..

I never realized I used all Clinique.. haha anyways.. 

Step 1: I use Clinique acne solutions foaming cleanser both morning and night. Afterwards, I splash cold water on my face to close my pores and feel refreshed. ^-^;;

Step 2: I use Clinique moisture surge to moisturize my face. This works well for my skin because it is moisturizing and not oily or thick at all, so it doesn't clog my pores. It is perfect for people with combination skin, because it moisturizes your whole face without contributing to the oiliness on your face.

Step 3: I use Clinique acne solutions clearing moisturizer ONLY on the areas of my face that are breaking out. This has some benzoyl peroxide, which helps to kill the bacteria associated with acne, so you don't wanna use it on the sensitive areas on your face like under your eyes. Also, I only use it 1-2 times per week, because using it everyday will make your body get used to the treatment and will lessen the effectiveness.

Step 4: SUNSCREEN... I use Clinique face cream with 30 SPF.. all day erryday. :D This is probably the most important for me, because I wanna protect my skin from those rays! I'm also very prone to sun spots and tanning, so if I don't use sunscreen I pretty much cry and hate myself for the next few days.. 

Here are the masks that I use.. teehee I feel like such a girl when I use them. ^o^ Makes me feel like I'm treating my skin really well.. even when I'm not lol. I'll review these too.. someday..

Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque: I bought this after Lindy from Bubzbeauty used it/ recommended it I think. It's a great clay mask that absorbs all the oils from your face and makes it feel super clean and refreshed. It's relatively inexpensive too; perfect for my budget. I only use it once or twice a week, and it does a great job on absorbing the oils/ making it easier to remove whiteheads and blackheads afterwards. It really helps to calm down my acne.. I used to use the Biore pore strips afterwards, but I used them all up. :o Need to get more.. or I might try Michelle Phan's homemade pore strips..

Laneige Water Sleeping Pack EX: I got this from an Asian beauty supply store a few months ago.. My skin suddenly turned really dry and scaly, with lots of rashes and itchiness last winter.. The lady at the counter recommended this mask as it was based on water, so it wouldn't clog pores/ contribute to acne. Apparently it's one of their best selling products. It's extremely moisturizing and refreshing, and the scent is so nice.. It just calms you down and makes you think of peaceful thoughts.. lol! You put on a thin layer at night, and then go to sleep. The next morning, after you wash your face, it should feel really plump and bright and in better health overall.

So yup.. That's my skincare routine.. It's very minimal and simple, in my opinion, compared to the skin routines I've seen for other people on YouTube. Of course I wanna do more to my skin, but there's just so much a student can do.. Perfect skin has always been one of my goals.. I'm just hoping that my acne will go away in the future. Hopefully I'll post an updated skincare routine in a couple of years or months with new products! Once my acne goes away, imma look for a new cleanser, as well as a serum for my dark spots!

'Til next time!

Birthday Gifts!

Hello!

Long time no post! ahh so many posts to catch up on. This week was especially busy and it felt so long.. I woke up today with the cold too. D: 

Anyways, here are the presies I received from friends during my birthday party! I had so much fun during the party, and I will always think of the people who gave me the gifts whenever I use them. :D I'm not trying to show off what I got; I just think it's interesting to read about what other people get for their birthdays.. maybe it's just me. o.o

Yay lots of cool stuff! I'm super excited to try all of these products!

These are the nail related items.. I got fimo fruit slices, nail studs, the Tinsel Town mini set from Sephora by OPI, a white nail art pen by Sally Hansen, and a bunch of really nice polishes. :D 

Polishes from L-R: Nicole by OPI Sweet Dreams, Revlon Fascinate, China Glaze Devotion, China Glaze Fairy Dust, Wet n Wild Bite the Bullet, butter London Teddy Girl

L-R: Revlon Balm Stain in Honey, Nyx soft matte lip cream in Tokyo, Revlon lip butter in Tutti Frutti, Burt's Bees Honey lip balm, Maybelline baby lips in Oh Orange! and Fierce n Tangy

^.^ I'm currently using Fierce n Tangy so I just included the packaging in the picture.. I was so happy because I've always wanted to try one of Revlon's balm stains, and Revlon's lip butter in Tutti Frutti was on my wishlist! :D 

Here are the other thing I received.. I'm definitely going to bake some yummy cookies with friends using this book! :D My friend made the cute little turtle on the book; I think she needle felted it, but I'm not 100% sure.. The mango body butter smells soo nice ^_^ The phone plug doesn't fit into my phone, but it's still cute nonetheless. The watch is really pretty as well! ^o^

This was actually my first birthday party in over 4 years.. and my last one before college. T.T We all gathered at my house and played Clue and other games. Then we ate tons of food and went out and explored the neighborhood. I think almost anything can be fun if done with friends. :D We then took those jumping in mid air pictures.. It took multiple tries, but it was fun! Afterwards, we came back home and read this really scary web comic, and then danced to some songs. xD I've always wanted a karaoke machine at home so I could hold singing parties or something LOL. 

Overall the party was really enjoyable and there was lots of laughing and sweating.. It was really hot and some of us were really sticky from the heat and the sweat.. (especially me haha...) Thank you to all of my friends who came to my party! I hope you guys had a fun time eating and playing and sweating like crazy. Some people don't really like the idea of giving gifts.. but idk.. I like to give gifts as well as receive them. It's just nice to gift people once in a while, you know... I probably won't be able to give material gifts when I'm broke, but I can still give letters and spend time with the people I love, and those are some of the most wonderful kinds of gifts in the world. enuff preachin' girl.

'Til next time!

LA Trip

Hey Guys :D

I was in LA a few weeks back and though I would share some photos with you guys.

Our Hotel Room. This is probably the best hotel room that I've stayed in. There's even a seating area to the right.

OMG I met Johnny Depp and he let me take a picture of him! (JK. This was taken outside Madame Tussauds)

Can you all guess where I was? I was so excited to see a store full of Despicable Me 2 souvenirs!

This, I thought, was the best ride at Universal Studios. I also really enjoyed the Simpsons Ride. 

Other than Hollywood and Universal Studios, I basically stayed in my hotel room the entire time. I was there for only a few days, so I didn't get to do much sightseeing. 

Have a great week! 

Watermelon Nail Art Tutorial!

Hello~

Today I have watermelon nails!! :D Summer will be ending soon, so that means out with the bright colors and in with fall colors! I am going to miss summer so much.. This nail design is very simple yet cute and fun. I got a few compliments too! :D People tell me that I must have so much time to do my nails.. the thing is that I don't.. I did these at 12am on a Sunday night instead of going to bed.. I'm a nocturnal nail polish painter. ^_^;;

Anywhoo, this is my first "tutorial" haha.. I hope you guys enjoy!

Woohoo fruity nails!

Step 1: After applying a clear base coat, paint the watermelon slice diagonally across your nail with a pink or red color. You can freehand it like me or use tape to make the edge clean. (ooh the polish looks so squishy :3)

It should look something like this.. I recommend using an opaque color so you don't have to do multiple coats. (My pink was kinda sheer...) It's ok if the polish gets on the sides of your nails cause you can always erase it afterwards. :D

Step 2: Once the pink is dry, paint a white tip across your nails. You can freehand it, or use tape. Remember, if you're going to use tape, make sure that the base pink color is completely dry!! I always mess up with tape because I rush and end up peeling the polish with the tape.. T_T

Step 3: Paint the black seeds and a thinner layer of light green across the tips. You can use a dotting tool for the black seeds, but I just used a toothpick. I painted the seeds while the white tip was drying, and then painted the green tips while the black seeds were drying. Saves time! :D

Step 4: Use a darker green and paint stripes on the light green once it is dry! This is for the watermelon rind (?). 

Step 5: Apply a top coat and voila! Watermelon nails! These are very cute and colorful for summer. 

L-R: China Glaze Gaga for Green, Sephora by OPI Is it Payday Yet?, Wet n Wild A Blank Canvas, Orly Butterflies, Essie Licorice

All of these polishes were opaque creams, except for the pink. Opaque polishes are very useful for nail art because you don't have to use multiple coats and still get a nice, solid color.

Tips: Don't make the white and light green tips too thick, or else it will take forever to dry.. Also apply the topcoat carefully so you don't drag the black polish.. It's all trial and error. :P

Ahh I can't wait until next year's summer already! I do appreciate every season's nail trends, but I have to say that spring and summer nail trends are so pretty with pastels and bright colors. I'll try to post my birthday presents soon! I got polishes and beauty stuffs and nail art supplies. :D

'Til next time!

What I've been eating...

Hello!

YAHOOO it's FRIDAY!! :D I'm just so happy that I can sleep in tomorrow.. ^.^

This is kinda like an update, more like a life post.. I like to take pictures of what goes in my mouth, even if it isn't the most interesting or yummy looking. :P

I recently learned that it isn't good to eat too many lychees in one sitting! >.< But they're still soo yummy and fragrant and sweet and fruity ahhhh

Mmm I got this as part of my birthday present.. It's huuuuge.. I only ate like 3-4 pieces though.. I think it'll taste better in smores or with strawberries. :D

Lately, I've been eating so so much ice cream.. it's not even funny. :o I finished a gallon of ice cream over a course of 3-4 weeks... O_O That's a lot for one person with a super slow metabolism! It's just that it relieves my stress... 

I bought this from an Asian market to try out~ I can only read Hiragana and Katakana, so I'm pretty useless when it comes to reading Japanese because a lot of the times the core ideas are in the Kanji.. T_T (i always find myself reading katakana, and then reading the english right after it and realizing it's just the English word in Japanese.. ex. daburu chokoreeto kureemu keeki = double chocolate cream cake, or something like that. T.T)

Yummy~ I love eating pretty foods LOL

I reallyyy didn't want to do my hw, so I ate cereal. T_T

I always feel awkward peeling lychees... I dunno why.. it's just the texture of the peel and the bright tropical colors.. 

More cereal!! Do you guys pour your cereal first or your milk first? I was brought up to pour my milk first.. LOL but most of my friends pour their cereal first..

This isn't the most interesting of my posts, but I'll post more nail and beauty stuff soon! I'm thinking of either posting a mask review or my skincare routine.. Just for fun. :D

Daily Marbles:
-I really want the 3DS XL and Animal Crossing New Leaf *-*
-I've been eating late a lot and thus have gained tons of lbs.. ok maybe not tons..
-My acne and skin in general is in bad condition right now.. probably because i eat so much dairy and i don't exercise and i'm extremely stressed .-.
-ohoh i ordered my color contacts for cosplay!!
-i'm drinking Sprite right now :D
-still thinkin' 'bout Jasmine Choi... ^_^;;
-what should i do for the rest of my life guys?

'Til next time~

OPI Alcatraz... Rocks Swatch and Review!

Hello!

I know, I'm updating a lot lately, but that's because I'm actually procrastinating again.. T-T I have so many things to do, but whatever I'll finish them soon enough.. :o

Anyways, here is OPI Alcatraz...Rocks from their new 2013 San Francisco Fall collection!! Another liquid sand hehehe.. I got it at my recent trip to Ulta.. >.< I'm happy I refrained myself from getting other things.. ohoho

One coat, under artificial light. Pointer finger is not quite dry, so you can see it's not as liquid sand-y yet..

I used one thin coat for all nails. Close up you can see a few bald spots, but eh I'm fine with it haha..

under indirect artificial light.. ooooh sparkly... ^_^

under natural light (trying to picture this polish is so hard!!)

This color was extremely hard to take accurate pictures of.. I assure you that it is much more beautiful and sparkly in person. :D

You can sorta see the shimmers and glitters!! 

Overall, Alcatraz...Rocks is a really pretty liquid sand that has multi-colored glitters and a smooth, liquid sand-y finish. I feel like the liquid sand finishes are getting smoother and smoother as time goes by.. Anyways, Alcatraz...Rocks is a sort of purple, indigo-ish color.. It reminds of galaxies.. but it's so pretty with all the glitter and sparkles... Remember to use multiple thin coats instead of a thick coat.. liquid sands dry so quickly if the coats are thin, but I kept on having to remove my thick coat of polish on my pointer finger multiple times because it wouldn't dry!!
If you are a liquid sand lover, I recommend getting this as it is unique (at least in my collection) and it is very elegant and pretty (I got a compliment on them today heehee); perfect for fall! The OPI San Francisco Fall 2013 collection should be in stores right now..

'Til next time!!

New Orleans Trip!

Hello~

I went to New Orleans again a couple weeks back, and it was really fun!! :D We left on a Thursday afternoon, and arrived at around midnight. We stayed until Saturday night, and came back overnight to arrive back at home on Sunday morning. :D It was pretty busy but so fun and so memorable. I keep on smiling even as I'm writing this post right now. :'D

Day 1 - Friday

 Our view from the hotel room. It had been a while since I've traveled, so it felt new and energizing (?) to see a busy city with lots of old buildings. 

Teehee. Is that a CVS and Walgreens I see? (I ended up never getting to check them out T.T)

We actually went for a flute convention (I know, I'm a nerd o_o) but the hotel was so beautiful and big!! This was one of the smaller performances. 

After performing and watching a few other groups, we went out to eat. :D The weather was sooo nice and sunny~ Palm trees made the environment so much more vacation-y. I bet the ppl in the cars were like "ohh tourists.." lol

We went out for lunch kinda late~ My friend got some sort of pork chop combo with gumbo!

I got a popcorn shrimp po-boy! It was huuuuuuuge! 

AHHH I met Jasmine Choi at the exhibition!! :D She is one of the people that I look up to and admire~ I wish I could join her fan club haha. The thing is, we came when her signing event ended, but she was still soo nice and offered to give us signed posters and take pictures!! Now I really regret not buying her new CD there.. I looked up online and it's not coming out until October!! D: I later found out she was going through some tough times.. but she still had a smile on her face and greeted her fans politely and professionally ^^ I remember my hands were shaking and I was worried she would smell my fishy breath from eating the shrimp from before.. ahh I hope I can meet her again someday, and even attend her concert~ I had only seen her on TV and Youtube before, so meeting her in real life was amazing. ^o^

(For those of you who aren't too familiar with Jasmine Choi, she is an aspiring flute player. I think she got a full ride to Curtis Institute of Music, then studied at Julliard. She studied under the late Julius Baker and Jeffrey Khaner for a while, and then played with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and then became the principal flute player for the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.)

After the dreamy event, we went to Cafe du Monde for some beignets!! They were amazing~ So fresh and warm and tastyyyy :D

Afterwards, to digest a little, we went to the river to look around and take pictures. It was so quiet and pretty~

loll the pool at our hotel. :D my friend really wanted to go swimming, but nobody else really wanted to.. it was too late and we had already taken showers.. the lights in the pool were pretty though!

 Day 2 - Saturday

We woke up kinda late, so we went out again to the French Quarter, and stopped by this mini mall for lunch. I got chili cheese fries because I loveee chili cheese-y stuff.. comfort food.. mm...

My friend got this alfredo shrimp pasta thingy. It looked pretty good!

Here is the same river, except at daytime. The sky was really blue and bright and the wind was blowing, so all of us felt great and energized!

As we were walking, we saw these street performers. They were really good and really loud too haha. It's nice to see these kinds of things because where I come from, these are so rare..

At the top floor of our hotel.. 41st floor or something? After a long and hectic day, we found this area and just sat down for a few minutes. It was so quiet and serene.. and bright. :D

For dinner, we stopped by this other cafe for a quick bite before we left. I shared a tuna melt with my friend. It was delicious~~ ^^

My other friends shared some pastaa~ 

After dinner, we stopped by the (apparently) biggest concert of the convention. There was a full orchestra and many flute soloists played~ They played so beautifully and kyaa I can't help but fangirl.. I always dream that one day, I'll be able to wear a beautiful dress and play flute for an audience. ^^ In my dreams...

After the concert, we headed back to our homes.. I really enjoyed New Orleans this time. I met so many people and had so much fun exploring and laughing and taking pictures. I think since I didn't really go anywhere this summer, this trip the weekend before school started really left an impact on me. I felt so inspired after meeting Jasmine Choi and listening to other people play. OH by the way I got to try out so many nice flutes! Some were all gold and some were silver and some were plastic! haha I just got immersed into a whole new world of flutes~ ^_^;; I'm so nerdy haha

School is starting to get stressful, especially because college apps are starting, and I still don't know what I wanna do or what I wanna major in... >.< I think I relieve some of my stress through eating, painting my nails, or playing flute. Hopefully everything will work out! ^^ I'm gonna go study and do some hw and practice now.. -.-

'Til next time~