I'm Back!

Helloooooo everyone! I am back from my mini-vacay to LA! I had a ton of fun from Thurs all the way through Tuesday! During those few days, we went to Disneyland, Universal Studios, visited some museums, Griffith Observatory, shopping at the Grove, Santa Monica, Venice, Hollywood... pretty much every touristy thing you can think of, we did! It's funny seeing it from a tourist point of view though because I grew up in Socal and lived very close to all these prime hot spots but never really frequented them that much or even at all. The friends from Taiwan were especially fascinated by everything from the food to the culture and it was cool seeing it from their eyes for the first time.

If anyone watches Jimmy Kimmel, I was on the Feb. 12th show! LOL And yes, that is ice!

And I met Michael Yo, the E! News correspondent and one of the regulars on the Chelsea Lately show-

He was super friendly! 

i have a million more pictures but I haven't actually organized them yet so do expect some "fashion" posts LOL. I tried my best to organize outfits for the nice spring-like weather in LA. And some of the makeup and travel necessities that i brought along with me.

I hope your week is coming along great! See you all in the blogs and in the comments! ^___^

Review: Weleda Rosemary Hair Oil

I've got another post about hair oil! I've been testing out different hair oils, and serums to see which works best for me. Ones that are packed with 'cones or au naturale ones made with oils from plants. I've spent embarrassing amounts of dough on hair products in the past because I have crazy hair. It is naturally super curly, hard to work with type of hair. I always manage to run my hair through a flat iron to get "ready" for the day - as in not looking crazy. I have a calm demeanor but why my hair is frantically curly is beyond me. Everyone in my immediate family within 2 generations have pin straight hair.

So anyway, enough about that. I tweeted about this hair oil I found on clearance at Target a few months ago from a brand called Weleda. It is their Rosemary Hair Oil from around $15.00 to a mere $4.34. I did some research while at the store, and saw that Weleda has been around since 1928 and has offices worldwide but their head office is in Switzerland.

This hair oil is really concentrated and has a very distinct scent of rosemary and lavender (which I love!). I use a small dime sized amount and rub it between my palms to warm up the oil and then run it through my hair after towel drying my hair. The scent is really calming and soothing, and the actual hair oil is not heavy at all. I've only used small amounts around the mid to ends of my hair. I either leave it as-is or i blow dry my hair. When my hair is dry, I could feel that my hair has softened significantly from the oil compared to using nothing. There is less frizz, less static and best of all, it makes styling the hair much faster.

Honestly, I really love this oil. It's housed in a beautiful glass jar, with about 1.7 ounces of product which can last forever if you use a bit at a time.

These are the key ingredients used in this oil -
Arachis Hypogaea (Peanut) Oil, Trifolium Pratense (Clover) Flower Extract, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Arctium Lappa (Burdock Root) Root Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil, Limonene*, Linalool*, Geraniol*, Coumarin*.

If you click on each ingredient, it will take you to their site where you'll see how each oil is extracted and some interesting info on it. Aside from the researchy stuff, I very much enjoy using this oil and it's left me wondering why Target had it on clearance in the first place! Possible repackaging maybe, or re-formulation? 

On the side, I've also been using Paul Mitchell's Skinny Serum, Kerastase Ultime serum, and various other "high end" brands. So far I've been getting the same hair results with the Weleda oil as I do with those. However, the Weleda one is a bit more oily since it is made of pure oils compared to the silicones added in the other products. I suppose it is all about preference! :)

What do you guys think of hair oils? Necessary for daily use or is it more of a "treatment" every once in awhile?


On a side note, I will be out this entire week starting tomorrow. Will be celebrating CNY at all the touristy spots from Socal, including the theme parks! LOL. We have some friends flying in from Taiwan that have never been in the US before so what better way to show them than driving down the coast from the Bay Area to LA?

Hope you are all having a great week so far! See you all in the blogs! ^____________^

Purple Eye Shadow

Happy Friday everyone!

I had an incredibly busy week at work but it all feels worth it in the end when you accomplish things you wanted to and have the weekend to look forward to.

I wanted to make a short post on an eye look I did this week. Many of you have commented and said purple eyeshadows is really complimentary to dark brown eyes. So instead of my usual bronze, I tried a sweep of purple. It's such a romantic color I think, both in warmth and shade.

Natural Light

Flash from Camera

Sidecar from the original UD Naked Palette

Easy eye look. Low maintenance - my kinda style! LOL

Do you like/love plummy purple eyeshadows?

Have a fantastic weekend everyone! Enjoy the Superbowl festivities!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Dooney and Bourke Florentine Satchel

Hello friends!

I want to show you guys the newest edition in my bag collection! This is the D&B Florentine Satchel in Natural (small). I've been eyeing this bag for months and months because I really wanted to make sure my purchases now (whether big or small) are justifiable since I really want to invest in things that I won't regret. So far the new year has proved to be stable and pretty easy and I'm just in love with this bag. I feel like when I buy things I love, I don't have an urge to buy other stuff.

Isn't this satchel gorgeous? It comes from the Florentine line, and Dooney & Bourke describes the line as: 

Soft, supple Florentine Vacchetta has the look and feel of fine saddlery leather. And like saddle leather, it will develop an even richer patina with time and use. Matte finish brass hardware adds authenticity to the vintage style of the collection.

It's incredibly sturdy and the leather is fragrant and shapely. At first I was debating which bag to get because there are 3 sizes - a large/medium, small and the mini. After reading reviews about the large one and the small one, I decided to get the small bag because it fits me proportionally with my height and stature. I'm about 5'4" and the strap is still a bit too long even adjusted at its shortest but I'm going to get one of those puncher things online to make more holes in the bag. Even this "small" satchel is quite big. I'm surprised they would call this a small! It's more of a medium bag and i think it's also the most fitting for gals of any height.

This satchel measures at 13" L, 5.75" W, and 8" H. 

The leather is incredibly nice to start. It is made of saddle-like Vachetta leather, which means it is untreated (naked) leather and will likely darken on its own from wear and exposure to sunlight but I wouldn't complain. It is also durable, high quality and ages nicely. I would just need to protect it from getting stained and getting wet. I think there are sprays that can make it 'waterproof', to maintain its original form as much as possible. 

The bag is a tad on the longer side. I'm thinking of getting those leather hole punchers to add more holes to the strap. For reference, I am about 5'4" and even with the satchel slung around my torso like that, it doesn't look or feel out of place or awkward.

I absolutely love the look and feel of the bag. It is roomy inside and has compartments and I love the secure gold zipper. The hardware on this bag is built with such quality that I really can't see any flaws with it. The arm handles are great and the detachable strap is also convenient and stylish. I might look into the Smith bag (from the same line) for work.

Sorry for the bad pictures. I was really eager to snap pics of the bag regardless of whatever I was wearing. 

This bag retails for $368.00, which I think is a fair price for the quality and hardware but I was able to snag a brand new one from a reputable seller on eBay for $199.00 shipped! 

You can check out the Florentine satchel here - and eBay. 

What do you guys think of this bag? Or D&B in general compared to labels like Coach?

  

Mad Hippie Skincare

TGIF! ^______________^ 

I cannot wait to spend my weekend relaxing with a latte or five! 

I've been doing much research about skincare and different products to use and I came across a brand called Mad Hippie. It's so quirky that I had to look at their range of products and what the ingredients consisted of. 

Their company was founded in Maine, and recently expanded to Austin, TX. Their main goal in making skincare products is to use all naturally derived ingredients combined with science to strengthen their potency in serums and creams. Their skincare really stood out because all the ingredients are highlighted, explained and not discreetly hidden like some companies.

My main interest is the Vitamin C serum. I have some pigmentation on my cheeks due to age and sun exposure and probably genetics. It's something I am always working on improving on my skin, especially its texture. I know we've all seen many brands and labels with that specifically but I like that Mad Hippie has a really high concentration of Vitamin C as its 2nd ingredient. After that ingredient, there is hyauraulic acid, which is the binding ingredient that keeps our skin moist and supple. After that, we see other fruit enzymes like grapefruit, cherry and plant extracts like chamomile and sage. 

See here: Vitamin C Serum

I really feel like these indie companies really focus on purer ingredients for consumers, and they don't take account in having to charge us for marketing and different campaigns but never having to compromise on studies and facts. 

What do you guys think? What are your thoughts on indie skincare companies versus big global skincare companies?

You can see more of Mad Hippie here, and some before and after pics here.