Tangerine dreams

I hope everyone is happy a good week so far. I know it's only Tuesday =|

This weekend was pretty eventful for me. I went to SF and hung out trying different foods and giving myself some much needed R&R. It was a nice warm day, perfect for tees and tanks =D  Other than that, the weekend ended too soon and I had to back to work again! I'm having a really stressful week because I have some important deadlines to meet but I'm hanging on. When I get all stressy, I spritz on some Dove cucumber body mist in my office and I feel slightly better =p I was thinking of plugging in one of those very light scented things but I really don't want to come off as being too comfortable, even though it's tempting.

Anyway, I recently read many reviews about this brand of facial cloths called Epielle. A lot of people like it and it's kind of hard to find unless you go to some obscure, hole in the wall discount/dollar stores.

I luckily found these @ a grocery store! LOL They were .99 cents so I bought 4 of them just in case I don't see them again. I found these to be super refreshing and I love them. It's not too wet to the point where it's dripping but you get the perfectly moist cloth in this resealable bag. It smells SO good. Hmm... it has a light, fresh smell. Kind of like the Dove Go Fresh cucumber. One cloth was able to take off all my makeup including mascara. Of course, the best way is to wash your face but this is perfect for days that you don't have makeup on so you don't have to strip all the moisture off your face by washing it when you can just use these clothes. I also love how you can see all the dirt it removes. You can add a bit of makeup remover on it for waterproof mascara or cleansing oil to make more gentler on your skin. Overall, I love these babies :) There is 30 sheets in there and it's manufactured by a brand called Ponds. These cloths are made in Korea. You can find them @ discount stores! Let me know if you've used it or know anyone else that has :) I'm always interested in good beauty buys. I've tried the Biore cloths and I'm just not a big of them. The last time I used them, it burned my face and had a strong medicinal smell. I'm not even a towelette person, but I find these to be extremely handy. I guess you can always bring some with you on the go since they're not too watery :)

On Sunday, I tried my first ever self heating sauna mask! LOL

I look like the boogy woman. It was such an Avatar-esque blue. When I first had it on, it was darker but it gradually got lighter AND hotter. The cream molds into your skin without getting hard and has a light citrus smell. I used the one from Garnier that I blogged about in my earlier entries. It was a 3 min sauna mask that I found to be good. I'm not sure I'd like to do this all the time because I'm spoiled with my Beauty Diary masks or whatever it's called =p

God, I look crazy.


After a nice sleep, I woke up Monday morning and my face felt firmer and more hydrated.

I slept early for once and felt well rested and coherent for once. LOL I straightened my hair, and did my usual office makeup. Excuse what I am wearing. There was an event @ work that I had to wear that.


I used Clinique Even Better foundation in 02, Clinique setting powder (the green compact) and the Sephora eye shadow palette. I also used the Physicians Formula bronzer =) I really like that freaking thing. It makes me look more awake and golden. I also took these pictures in my kitchen where sunlight seeps in, unlike my normal nighttime snapshots. =P

Wanna see my homemade lunches?

Turkey pastrami panini with Havarti and provolone cheeses and a spring herb salad.        

Turkey pastrami panini grilled using my awesome George Foreman Grill that my best friend gave me!

LOL She's one of those people that donates all her things to me whenever she gets new ones =p 

Garlic seared chorizo penne pasta with Mexican four cheese, arugula and celery

I am a big foodie. I wish I had a lot of money so I can go far and wide to experience the world's best cuisines.

I forgot mention that on Saturday I went thrifting in hopes of finding something awesome and worthwhile, I somehow came home with a dresser! LOL I fell in love with it instantly. I've been dreaming about a nice dresser for SO long but I don't want to buy something crappy for $100+. I found this really sturdy wood dresser for $50 =D Not bad right? I plan on polishing it up with wood polish and maybe give it a bit of darker shade. I plan to change the handles and replace is with something easier to grip. It's nice quality wood and i makes me happy every morning when I wake up and see it there. I store my numerous dresses in there. What are your favorite things in your room? 

Alright ladies, I need your help here. How do I put banners on the side? All you nice people who've given me blogger awards, I want to display them on the side but I don't know how to do it. Do I have to download an app on blogger? o_o I still need to link the Over the Top award to people =P

As for Twitter, thanks for your user names =P And all you people who left such sweet comments to me, I really appreciate all your kind and thoughtful words. I wish I could meet you all =)

Have a good Wednesday all =D 

Goodnight!

Twitter

Okay everyone, please give me your Twitter usernames =D I'm going to follow you all! LOL o_o And for those who commented in my last entry, I'll go visit your twitters now :)

My link is: http://twitter.com/pink_lavenders

I also have it on the side bar of the blog so it should be linked directly.

Alright, time to learn how to play with this thing =P

bronzy

I feel like I haven't blogged in so long! Work has been nothing short of crazy so when i get home, I'm ready to die!  It makes me happy that I can come home and catch up on everyone's blog while eating everything around me. Any snackers here? =) I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Happy Earth day! I've really learned so much since last yr and have started to truly appreciate nature over the past few yrs since I moved to Nor Cal. As a student, I went to UC Santa Cruz where I've seen some of the most beautiful, lush greenery that Santa Cruz has to offer. And if you know anything about that city, it's that they are one of the greenest towns in the world.

All these images are from the Santa Cruz campus. I spent 2 yrs of my life there and that city is so dear to my heart. At the time when I was there, I didn't really appreciate the beauty and the naturalness of everything that surrounded the campus but now that I'm not there anymore, I realized how much of my perspective has changed from living in suburban Woodland Hills to the quaint little city of Santa Cruz. The commute from San Jose to Santa Cruz is also very scenic. I used to take the bus there everyday (1 hr one way)  and we would cross the Santa Cruz mountains. It was very beautiful.. especially when there was a hint of sunlight. You can really see the difference from all the man made vegetation in the city to the organic soils just outside of it. A better comparison... hmm... think Forks, WA from the movie Twilight! o_o Santa Cruz is much like Forks and even Seattle but a little warmer :)

Anyway, enough of that! Today before work, I was scrambling to get ready. Time flies when you just want to stay home! =P

My sweet friend Jessica passed along the blog award to me :)

Rules of this award:
1. Put the logo on your blog of within your post.
2. Pass the award on to twelve bloggers.
3. Link to the nominees within your post.
4. Let them know they received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and the link to the person from whom you received this award. 

  I will put together a bunch of links tomorrow! :) My computer is currently being slow...=/

This is what I wore today!

Excuse my lame attempt to look seductive. I think I just look like mean =p Which I'm not, haha. I'm so lame that I tripped over the last 2 stairs in the parking garage also.

Products Used:

I used the Sephora palette again shown in the first pic. I love how heavily pigmented all the shadows were. Even the light ones that I expected not to look fantastic were great! Pictures still don't do the shadows any justice. They look nicer in real life. Then again, it may be that I applied the makeup on early this morning and now it's very late in the evening.

One thing you see in the 2nd pic might scare you. I have the Monistat anti-chafing cream. LOL. You might also be surprised to hear that I use it as a face primer! I've seen lots and LOTS of recommendations about this being used as a primer and for me it works fantastic. It keeps the oilies at bay and feels JUST like Smashbox's photo finish primer. It's the same consistency and texture. I guess the Smashbox primer can be an anti chafing gel as well.. just a freakishly expensive one!  haha. I've seen lots of reviews from fellow beauty bloggers and decided to try it. It's around $5.99 at Target. It was so funny because right after I paid for the purchase, one of those coupons came out with my receipt and the coupon is good for $2 off any Monistat product! So I can  get another tube for $3.99 or something. It's worth trying because the main ingredient in high end primers have the same ingredient in this :) I don't powder my face all day so I really expect my foundations to work above and I've learned that this "primer" is awesome!!

Other things I used was the Revlon Photo Finish  - LOVE the foundation. It finishes with a very nice, clean look. The little spectacles of light reflectors enhance and evens out skin tone.

Physicians Formula mineral wear bronzer - I've been using this for years and years! I recommend it to a lot of my friends who also like it as well :) There is a lot of product in one little swipe and it blends out beautifully for sun kissed cheeks =D


Lancome Artliner in black - Jenny recently purchased this artliner and was wondering if people like it. I like it, but I'm not crazy about it. Maybe it's because I suck at liquid eyeliners. But I think it's just too watery for me compared to kat Von D's liquid eyeliners. The Lancome one gives off a very nice, clean line which i like for work so you don't have to look too dramatic in the office =p I lined my upper eye lids with it :) I used ELF's eyeliner pencil to line my lower lids.


Maybelline Volum Express Mascara - One of my favorites :) I like the angled brush! It's very buildable and has crazy staying power. It's also a soft mascara so it doesn't make your lashes feel goopy and hard.

Nars in Sunset Strip (the orange-y side)- I really like this gloss. It's retailed at a pretty high price... which is lame. I really don't understand why lip glosses have to be priced so high. Lots of dupes for Nars from what I've seen from ELF, NYX, etc.

Finished it all off with Clinique Perfectly Real powder in shade 110.

Lastly, outfit for tomorrow!

 It's kind of greenish with a lot of floral elements. I love florals! I have a lot of dresses like that.

I really want to go thrifting this weekend. I hear that there is a Savers by my place... I've never been there but it's like a department thrift store! LOL Should be huge with lots of vintage goodies :) If I'm in the mood, then maybe!

Goodnight, all! =) Have a great Friday!

BTW, I just got Twitter a few days ago! I don't really know how to use it or how to talk to people on it =/ Seems like everyone is shouting out to each other? LOL My username is:

pink_lavenders

 

Sephora, CVS

Hi everyone! =)

I finally got around to posting this. I went to Sephora a few days ago because I got the 15% coupon in my email. At first, I didn't really want to go because there isn't really anything from there that I needed. But, i went anyway to see if anything was worth purchasing =P

I ended up buying this!

It's the Sephora Color Play palette. Check out the reviews here. I was never a big fan of Sephora branded eyeshadows, especially the Blockbuster ones because the quality of the shadows are not that pigmented. But, this palette has a new formula! The shadows are much more pigmented and not as hard. The glosses are balmy and goes on very smooth without having to "warm it up". I mean, it's like a lip gloss! They are actually wearable. But that's not even the best thing. What I found unique about this palette is that you can pop each color column out and place it in a to-go pan so you don't have to bring the entire collection when traveling. Isn't that just so awesome?! All the colors are coordinated together (neutrals, brights, darks) so that makes it extremely convenient to pick the palette you want to use without much effort. I'm sure no one wants to lug around a huge palette of shadows, glosses and blushes when they know they're not going to be using them all right? But this one is very cool. I'm not completely sold on ALL the colors, but most of them are pretty dense and have a lot color power to them. The brighter colors are less pigmented but you can layer other colors to make it work. Overall, I really enjoy playing around with the different colors =D I totally recommend this to anyone who wants to experiment with colors you normally wouldn't wear because it comes with everything!

I also went to CVS and picked up a few goodies!

This is the Milani HD concealer in Light. Doesn't this look somewhat familiar?

Yeah, that's what I thought too! It looks VERY similar to YSL's

TOUCHE ÉCLAT concealer. The YSL one is around $40! Yikes. I'd rather invest in a Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer for the same price. It's funny that Milani decided to make a dupe out of the YSL one. I would've expected Loreal or Maybelline. 

The Milani concealer is actually pretty nice. For around $7.99 ($6.99 on Cherry Culture) at CVS, it covers pretty well. It's quite sheer but my eyes instantly looked brighter when I applied it on. It's also a bit more watery than compared to MAC and Lancome concealers that I normally use.The only thing about this is that you have to click it a million times in the beginning to get the product to come out. I liked it a lot but I'm not sure that I'd repurchase this simply because I'm not too fond of clicking concealers =P I'm really used to them being in a tube or jar form. But this is cool. I like the gold plated pen and the fact that the most different from all the concealers I own. Have you guys tried this? What are your go-to concealers? I heard Bobbi Brown concealers are awesome! But I have yet to buy any.

 24.7 Minerals Blush in Rose.

Has anyone ever tried this? I realize that I don't have a lot of blushes and went to look for some. I found this on clearance for 50% off, so it was around $7.99 (original price is $15.99 or something). I thought it was worth a try because I remember liking the Bare Minerals blush very much. This is a very warm rose shade and I found that it's such a pretty color. The only thing I didn't like about it was that the color comes off very easily! Unlike the pressed blushers, mineral ones are usually made from starch so once it sucks up all your skin's oils, the color completely disappears. I prepared a swatch of the color on my skin but by the time I got around to taking pictures, the color completely faded from my wrist :( Sucks. It's a very nice color... it's just too bad that the lasting power lacks. I think I'm going to do a NYX haul soon =P Well, later since I recently made a lot of purchases. Bad me o_o

My childhood friend Flora recently bought the Stila tinted moisturizer and loved it. It made her skin look really luminous and bright. I was considering getting a tinted moisturizer as well but seeing how I bought Revlon and Clinique foundations, I might just have to wait on it =p Do you guys use tinted moisturizers? When I lived in LA, Stila used to have warehouse sales of all their products for 80% off retail. People would wait in line for hrs just to get the stuff. I really miss all of LA's warehouse sales! BCBG, Paul Frank, Stila, Charles David, and much MUCH more.

I used the Sephora palette on my eyes. The non-existent blush and Maybelline falsies mascara. I also used the VS gloss stick in melon. Love the smell of the lipstick! It also gives a nice sheen to my lips. Very hydrating too! On my face, I used Smashbox hybrid primer and the HD foundation in light. I think if you use a primer on your lids, the Sephora shadows will come out even more dramatically! 

Anyway, I hope everyone is having an awesome spectacular weekend! The weekend flies by so fast! Enjoy it!

Peppermint tea, sunshine and night owl

I noticed how late I always post. It's always near this time or around midnight! I am a total night person. I like days too but nighttime is my prime. I always stay up late and feel more creative @ night. Work has been tiring! Some of the stress gets to me sometimes, but I'm a pretty laid back person so I don't take it personally for too long.

Recently, I made a purchase through another blogger, Thao! (InnerChild). I bought the Shiseido powder makeup with the refillable compact! I loved it! She was super sweet and included 2 facial masks and Shiseido samples! Aww... =) I felt so special. This was the first package I got since I moved to my new apt! I'll definitely remember that.

The Shiseido powder is AMAZING. I had a sample of this once when I bought the mascara but I never got around to buying it because I always had some reason not to get it since I have stash of other things I haven't even touched yet. Don't you hate that? I'm so afraid that makeup will expire so I always feel the need to use them all! LOL

Anyway, I want to say thanks to NERDDORK for giving me a blogger award!

=)

I was also tagged by Jenny for the Me in Three's! It's so funny since I've been seeing this go around :) It's fun learning about others and their world outside of blogging =D

Here's mine =D

Three names I go by:
1. Jen
2. Jennifer (my real name, duh!)
3. Wizii

Three jobs I have had:
1. Executive Assistant at a search engine! (www.plutoz.com)
2. Sales Associate at Hallmark Cards
3. Office Assistant at a real estate firm


Three places I have lived:
1. Alhambra, CA (suburban town in LA)
2. San Jose, CA (currently!)
3. Woodland Hills, CA
As you can tell, I've only lived in California!

Three favourite drinks:
1. Honey Milk Tea (ABSOLUTE favorite!)
2. Tea, all flavors especially roasted green tea. I love herbal teas too, but I like to reap in the benefits of green!
3. Lattes


Three TV shows I watch:
1. One Tree Hill
2. House
3.The L Word


Three places I have been:
1. Hawaii
2. East coast (NY, Boston, etc)
3. Lake Tahoe :)


Three places I would like to visit:
1. Asia
2. Canada
3. Europe


Three favourite old TV shows:
1. Dawson's Creek
2. Simpsons
3. Family Guy

Three favorite dishes:
1. Taiwanese food!
2. Sushi
3. Mussels in white wine

Three makeup products I cannot live without:
1. Gel eyeliner
2. Lancome concealer
3. Burt's Bees lip balm



Three things I'm looking forward to:
1. Tomorrow because it's Friday!
2. Going to SF
3. Visiting my mom in LA


Three people I'm tagging:
1. Leenda
2. Jessica
3.Irene


And everyone else who hasn't done it yet =D


Anyway, here is my FOTD! :)

What I used:

Diorsculpt in 30

Loreal Color Juice stick in Personali-Tea (my nudest color!)

Body Shop Cheek blush (cream)

Shiseido face powder

Prescriptives Eyeshadow Sable and Copper 
MAC fluidline in Blacktrack

Spring showers

I guess it's true that April showers exist. It rained over the weekend and was super cold :( Growing up in LA, average weather was pretty warm... at least in the high 70s, upper 80s. One year it was 80 degrees on my birthday... in November! Yeah, so... April showers! I'm not really used to them yet, but I like how we won't dehydrate our greens up here :)

Anyway, I woke up early this morning before work to put on some makeup! For me, I'm usually in a rush so makeup is always a moisturizer and a lipstick. I hate being so careless. So, I make it a goal that from now on, I should wake up with the  intention to look decent, even if it's using a tinted moisturizer or a blush. =P
Okay, so I wore my newly purchased Clinique Even Better foundation in 02 Fair.

Before blending.

After blending!






Total match right? After a looong while avoiding liquid foundations, I have really come to love this (and the Revlon Photo Finish one) and I'm shameless to admit that it truly does what it says - to even my skin. I love the creaminess of the product. Application was very easy. I just used my fingertips to blend it into my face because I don't feel a foundation brush does as good of a job as blending it yourself. I hate seeing streaks from the brush!

This is after a whole day! I wore the foundation & eyeshadow this morning @ around 8am. Took this picture around 11pm. Does a pretty decent job and has staying power. Surprised that the Forever 21 eyeshadows lasted this long as well. I didn't use primer on my lids this morning either.It's also kind of creepy how my face sucks in everything. In a way, I wish it would fade out after the whole day! =P

Overall, I loved the foundation and will purchase again! This time I can go to different retailers to buy it. It comes in a 1 oz squeeze tube and I assume it will last no more than a month if used everything, touch ups and everything. Oh, I also didn't use a setting powder either. But I usually do, just not today because I was so caught up with work.

I have these photos on flash. I like how subtle the foundation is and how very breathable it is as well. It feels more like a tinted moisturizer. On me, it provides sheer to medium coverage depending on how you build it. I just made little dabs to my forehead, nose area, chin, cheeks. Incredible staying power and extremely lightweight. The formula doesn't creep into lines either. I find that Revlon Photo Finish does not sometimes, but the shimmery light reflectors are flattering and enhance the brightness in your skin rather than the lines.

Please let me know if you like other foundations in the Clinique line. I would love to hear of your experiences so I can experiment with more. But for now, this seems to be my HG foundation! We'll see though. I don't want to break out tomorrow!

I was also thinking about cutting my hair and getting bangs. But I'm so torn between getting them or not because I'm skeptical about how they would look on me. It's really not for everyone and I'm not sure if it'll make me look yuck. I played with my hair here so I can create fake bangs using my eye glasses to hold up my hair that's folded in!

Mall goodies

I haven't been to the mall for a long time. I'm not too fond of going to malls on weekends simply because I want to avoid crazy teeny bopper children and crowds. Actually, I'm too fond of going to the mall, period. I feel as if the stuff can be crazily overpriced. I know, I know... latest trends. But the price tag! Eek. I don't think I'm ready to buy anything unless it's something I truly cannot live without! =P

I went this evening, with the crowds and all... and tried to just window shop. I walked into my F21 store and I ended up taking a lot of things but walking out with only 2 items! I love F21 so much... they always have the right styles @ the right prices! I feel they are good quality as well, and their clearances make me wildly frazzled.
Well, I didn't want to pick up more clothing today since I kind of splurged on dresses recently. A lot of dresses. God, I love dresses!

I got these @ F21:

A baby pink nail polish and an eyeshadow palette. These are not the typical things I usually buy @ F21 stores at all, but they were hard to resist! I saw a lip gloss set that mimics MAC's lip glasses exactly.They recently launched their makeup line, Love & Beauty, so I thought it might be worth trying. As long as you properly wash your face before bed, and don't ingest the product, it should be okay to wear. I say this because of all the funny ingredients in the shadows. But i think even the most expensive eyeshadows contain some of these. What do you guys think of "natural" or organic makeup? Honestly, I just prefer to eat organic foods over wearing organic makeup. I tried this one conditioner once that was all organic but it did nothing for my hair. It just felt like I poured some blended watery fruits into my hair just to wash it off! Food, however, is more important to me than makeup. I'm not a stickler on that either but i try to eat as organically as I can, especially with fruits like apples and pears since I have it with the skin on. I feel that too natural ingredients don't work well with skin. Of course, they reap its own benefit for being natural so your skin doesn't feel as if there are foreign things trying to attack its normal skin course. But... don't we use special cleansers, moisturizers and serums because we don't want nature to take its course on our skin? We use firming creams, and anti wrinkle creams to slow down the process of skin changes due to aging and UV damage? 

Gosh, I really trailed onto something else. Back to mall goodies! =P Here is the eye shadow swatch!

Pretty? I really like the blue but I'm not sure it will be really good for my skin tone. We'll see! I'm going to be using it tomorrow :) I like how they are soft colors. I just had to swipe the top coating off the palette because it was some sparkly mess but the colors are quite dense and they have a lot of power to them.  

Clinique was having their GWP again so of course I caved and bought something! I've been wanting to try their foundations for awhile and I finally got around to trying it! I bought the Clinique Even Better foundation in 02 Fair. It's a very close match to my skin color. I thought I'd be a little darker but for some reason, this matches me more than the medium colors. I tried it on @ the counter and it looked so nice! I never really had "even" skin before so wearing this kind of completed my look! I wasn't all blotchy anymore. It's also a very creamy formula, which is a plus for me. I hate foundations that make you look all pore-ish and streaky.

Here is the GWP!

Check out the mascara! It's a lengthening one. It's the thinnest wand I have ever seen!! =P

I can't wait to try the Even Better day moisturizer (the one in a jar). I want even skin so desperately! LOL.

Here is the rest of the things I picked up:

I was @ Victoria's Secret and I ended up buying the lip gloss shine stick. I had no intentions of buying VS makeup, especially lip products because they always have those printable coupons to get a lip thing. But I tested the Melon Out lippie and I fell in love. I have never found a match THIS incredible. It has a peach colored base with pink tones. It's a gorgeous shade. I will swatch it again when I use it! It was $7.50. 

Not going to the mall anytime soon! My willpower sucks. BAD.

Have a happy Sunday! =D

Free shipping @ Snapfish

Snapfish just sent me an email for free shipping on everything on their site! This is awesome since there was a period where I kept ordering pictures! :) It also makes great gifts :) I bought a photo mug and a calendar once =D

Use code APR10BD

Expires April 11th!

Views

I want to show you guys where I put my makeup right now, my makeshift vanity area. I haven't made the area comfortable yet. I plan on getting a cushion so my butt doesn't ache while sitting.

Inside that drawer is more makeup. It's where all my bigger palettes are! They don't fit inside the plastic cube drawer. Any good tips on how to maximize my space? :)

I think everyone should do a post about where they store their makeup and skin products!!

Right here is some of my skincare/bathroom things. Notice they are in a pantry-like area. Why? It's right outside the bathroom! It would be so odd to put my kitchen things in there where I'd have to walk across the apartment to get penne pasta or chocolate covered almonds. Right?

What I'm currently wearing now! I am getting ready to go to bed, caffeinated and all! Aye.

Products Used:

Lancome Photogenic Sheer Loose Powder

Nars Lipgloss Duo in Orgasm and Sunset Strip 

I love this lipgloss! I'd settle for an alternative though. Lip glosses are great but I don't see the reason to buy super expensive ones. This one was a gift so... yeah. It's very moisturizing but not very long lasting!

Loreal Voluminous Mascara

I actually love this mascara very much. It's so buildable but I guess in a sense all maracaras are. It just depends on how you like to wear them. I really like mine to give a dramatic effect because I have very thin lashes. One coat does nothing for me. I usually lather on about 10 coats because I am desperate like that. 

Anyway, I am really tired now! I think I will be heading to bed and singing a song (I don't sing @ all) til I fall asleep. The nerves for tomorrow are driving me crazy. New desk, new office, a beautiful view of the city from my mirror length windows. I hope to soak it all in when I have the chance.

Goodnight, all! I hope you all have a great day tomorrow.