Silver Lining

I have been blessed that the weather is not sweltering here. It's been in the mid to upper 70s pretty much up to now with the occasional heat wave on any given afternoon. Other than that, I am loving the outdoors. In fact, I have plans lined up next weekend to go hiking and biking in Muir Woods and some state parks around the area. Pretty  much all along the Mill Valley area, north of SF. I'm a pretty outdoorsy gal... I went to college in Santa Cruz where I pretty much hiked on a daily basis. Anyway, I can't wait for next weekend!

In other news, I also paid off my student loan! I'm so excited. I never thought I'd ever be able to do it, but I did. I paid off both of them this past week! It was a little over 10k and I'm amazed at my determination to pay it off 1 yr after I graduated! Must start saving pronto. At least now I won't have to worry about interest rates and stupid things like that :)


Anyway! Here is a look that I created a few days ago that I used during the day and well into the night.

What I used:

My Prescriptives palette and the Physician's Formula smokey palette. I used the very copper eyeshadow on the 2nd row next to the green and the very first silvery shadow in the Physician's Formula for lining the inner waterline. I used MAC gel liner to line the eyes on the top and bottom... and the silver is supposed to be the contrasting color. I'm going to review all my Physician's Formula palettes in the next post. Somehow I've accumulated all the colors in the Shimmer Strips line =p

Swatch of the Maybelline blush in Peach Satin :) I love this color! :)

Summer starts off with....

Sandals! 

I got these awhile ago at Naturalizer. I love the comfort of Naturalizer shoes. I'm not sure exactly how popular they are, but they have practical little shindigs that I find myself reveling in =D

Florals. I absolutely love floral designs, floral patterns, floral anything and everything! There is something so powerful and delicate about nature inspired designs. Maybe it's the warmth of a bud or the stunning portrayal of colors. Whatever the reason may be, I find myself always accumulating styles as such.

I don't mean to look pretentious or anything! =p I  have no clue how to make my facial expressions when I'm worried about the damned self timer. Stupid thing! It drove me nuts but I'm getting the hang of it ;p

Floral dress from BCBG Girls that I've had for a number of years =p Crazy. 

Christian Siriano heels

Bedroom quirks

Awhile ago, I attempted to take a picture of my outfit using my camera in its self counter mode. It's not very good, but since then it's been better than before. One of these days, I will be expert at how you ladies do it :)

Here goes my first attempt:

Please forgive my highly disorganized room =p Shoebox, bags, sombrero... LOL

Hmm... what's the routine here? I have nothing fancy on. Top from F21, skirt from H&M, Bobbi Blu heels.

It was nice, comfortable weekend wear. There's just something about white tees that go well with everything. Except white pants.

I hope that was okay. More to come sometime later :)

Minimalistic

I absolutely adore highlighting creams. They are magical little weapons :)

My current favorite is the Smashbox highlighting quad.

I've gone through a few of these within the past few years and have been consistently loyal to this brand. I really like the colors in the quad, especially the pearly white color for the brow bone. There's some gold specs in there as well, added for extra shimmer. At first, I was really iffy because I am not a fan of ultra high shimmer, but I've grown to like how it lightens up your frame and brings you to life at your dullest moments. This stays on ALL day unlike my blushes where they fade fast into the afternoon. Mostly, I use it by itself. Sometimes I'd layer it on top of the blush to get a more prominent color, but most of the time, applied by itself works like magic.

Any favorite brands, anyone? :)

Milani HD Advanced Concealer - I really like this concealer. I bought it a few months back but haven't really been using it much, but I recently started using it a lot and I haven't stopped since. I normally use my MAC ones, but I find this formula to be ultra hydrating (more so than MAC - I use studio finish concealer), and light. The formula has a sheer texture and doesn't cover heavily by any means, but it's a nice lightweight concealer for the nose area or the mouth area where you don't need to cover as much. I got the shade in 01 Light and gives a nice, soft finish at the end. The concealed area looks brighter and much more supple. I highly recommend it!

=P

 Kat Von D Beethoven palette - Love this to pieces! :) Highly pigmented, wearable smokey shades. Has a mixture of matte and shimmery shades.

Products I used!

Milani HD Advanced Concealer

Smashbox Highlighter Quad

Kat Von D shadow in Tequilla

Translucent powder

Loreal Telescopic Mascara

 Pretty minimal, yes?

Hope you are all having a fun week!

Leave-in face mask, mini Lancome review and summer pick-me-ups

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a nice 4th of July weekend! I had the best weekend ever. I rested a lot, spent lots of time with loved ones and had a great time overall :)

Last weekend, I attended SF's Gay Pride and saw the Backstreet Boys! LOL It was OKAY. They performed two and a half songs and didn't do a very good job at it. But it's okay, at least they were there I guess =p What sucked even more that weekend was that I had a bad case of sunburn on my shoulders!

 I wore Lancome's SPF 50 sunscreen all over, but I don't think it was enough. It was pretty warm that day. My arm is better now, but now I am unevenly tanned in some places... haha Well, it's peeling now and I see that it's getting lighter again. I've been putting aloe on it daily and taking good care of it with ice packs and whatnot. But the sunburn sucked!


And now I am back to do a review of a product that I really like - Body Shop's Vitamin E Sink-in mask.

I've probably written about this numerous times when I first started blogging here =p I don't think I've  noted exactly how much of a replenisher this is when your skin is in need of deep hydration.

I usually wear it a few times a week. Since it's a leave-in mask, you don't have to wash it off at all. When I wake up in the morning, my skin feels radiant and pampered. It softens up your skin like no other. And since it's mostly Vitamin E (which is really good for the skin) , the intense hydration does not go unnoticed. The pale pink formula is cooling on your skin and does not feel tacky, although it feels thicker than a lotion. Think thick, rich night cream consistency.

The only thing that I don't like about this is the strong smell. It has a strong baby smell...=p It's like baby body wash and baby powder (probably mixed together). I don't know how to explain it, but it's a strong smell. I've overlooked the smell because of the mask's benefit on my skin but the smell is very strong. Beware of that =/

Anyway, I started using the Lancome Ageless Minerale translucent powder. It controls oil very well! Below are some pics taken over the weekend. I used Neutrogena's Ultra Sheer Liquid sunscreen in SPF 55 and dusted some of the mineral powder over it.  The night before, I used the Vitamin E mask/cream.

I plan on reviewing the sunscreen as well. I really like the formula. I'll review it after a few more uses! :) The Lancome powder has a very soft focus finish and has a subtle pink glow. I really like it because it feels so light and has no funky mineral-y smell.


Here are some cute skirts I picked up at H&M awhile ago! I really love florals. This is actually shorts but in a skirt way. Skorts? I don't know =p

A purple-ish skirt I picked up at H&M. I imagine wearing this with a plain white top and a cardigan. The pattern is kind of busy, but I hope a plain top can balance the focus.

I also picked up some PJ's at Target! I love the colors :)

A dress I got at Macy's a little while ago. I love the simplicity of it and the loose fit. I imagine it can be worn day and night with the right accessories.

Anyway, that's it! That is all I have to post for tonight. I shall be back very soon to review other things in my list of things to review =p Til then, have a happy remainder of your Tuesday!

Shiseido and holiday heat

I bought 2 skirts @ H&M yesterday! Both are very floral-y and so comfortable. Can't wait to show you guys pictures of it!

Will be giving a brief review of the Lancome products after the holiday.

Here's my latest skincare products. The one in the black box featuring the "future of skincare" is supposed to be a new line from the Shiseido skincare group. Not sure how compelling it really sounds, but it's worth trying. I'll do a more in-depth review on this when I get the chance to use it. I love Shiseido products, as they've never let me down. They are a trusty brand with an impeccable reputation in the Asian market.

The brightening softener is used like a toner. I think it should be a good moisturizing agent for the summer months. I really hope this product can help minimize my brown spots on my cheek bones! =p Either way, will review it when it comes time :) What do you guys think of Shiseido's skincare line? Own anything amazing?
I am also on the hunt for a foundation stick. It is extremely hard to bring liquidy things when flying or traveling and it's so much of a hassle regardless. Any suggestions? :) I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences :)


I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday! :) On Monday, I will be cleaning out my entire apt because I can. I hope to find some lost treasures that I've stored away.

Lancome, and other goodies!

A package came for me today that I am extremely excited to share with you guys! A few months ago, I was part of the Loreal panel and reviewed 10 mascaras for them and spent lots of time reviewing a bunch of drugstore mascaras. If you see the mascaras that have black tape on them in my pictures, those would be the ones! =p

Anyway, for participating in their 10 week study, Loreal sent me a huge and very generous package full of makeup and skincare for me to review.

Here are some photos! =D

Crazy right?! Loreal is home to brands like Lancome, Keihls, Ganier, etc... maybe even Maybelline since they sent me a Maybelline lipgloss =p

Here are the items  individually. All full sized.

This is the Lancome La Base primer. It's in a nice glass bottle. I cannot wait to try it out. I hope it's as great as Photo Finish =)

I'm really excited about this one too! Ageless Minerale in translucent. Contains White Sapphire Complex. I think it'll work great as a finishing powder.

Artliner eyeliner!  

Kohl eyeliner in Black Coffee. It glides very smoothly. Forgive my unflattering artistry. I can't line!

Blush in Rosy Pink. 

Lipstick in Visionary. It's a very sheer pink sparkly lipstick. 

L'Extreme mascara! I love this one :)

They also sent me a day cream, a night cream, body polish, facial wipes, facial cleanser and makeup remover. I didn't take pics of those but you can see them in the first photos. I can't wait to do a look using these products. 

I might come up with a look for later tonight. I'm going to be picking up a cake for a birthday @ work tomm. 

I'm most excited about the makeup base and the mineral powder. I already have one from Lancome so it's going to be great!

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed my little product post. I'll be back very shortly :)