NYE NOTD! #GOBSMACKED

Happy NYE everyone! I don't know what part of the world you're all in, but here in NY we still have four hours left before the clock strikes 12 midnight and the year goes from 2012 to 2013. Crazy crazy. Anyway, I wanted something special and sparkly for NYE and I choose "Gobsmacked" from Butter London. It's a really dark gray with small glitters. It was actually quite hard to apply but once I applied about 3 coats, I used the Sally Hansen Insta-dry Top Coat and voila, beautiful!

I hope you all have a GOBSMACKED NYE and an equally and even better 2013! Happy New Years :)

Leave a Comment butter, butter london, gobsmacked, holiday, lifestyle, new years, NOTD, sally hansen

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Argan Oil... LOVE

It's a day before New Year's Eve, two days before 2013. Crazy huh? The way life speeds by you even before you know it. Time is crazy and sometimes we'll want our youth back and all the missed moments and chances, but unfortunately, they won't come back. But what will is a future and more opportunities for a better life. Whatever 2012 has been for all of you out there, remember never to give up and to always believe that everything we've lived through has been to make a better tomorrow!

Whew. Very irrelevant to a beauty blogpost huh? Though unrelated, I cannot pass a chance to mention that undeniable coming of the future. So, I'll stop right here and proceed to introduce to you all (the last review blogpost for 2012) about my love for ARGAN OIL.

I received this mini/travel size Argan oil from NuMe in the November Glossybox. I'm not too keen on hair products but I thought I'd give this a try after a trip to the hair salon and hearing a whole lecture about how important it is to keep my roots healthy, etc., Just as a brief, let me tell you shortly about my haircare. I get my hair chemically straighten about twice a year. It's called a Magic Straight Perm, or some people know it as Japanese Straight Perm. It's about $150-250 depending on where you go and how long your hair is. I've been getting my hair straighten since 7th grade... let's just say more than ten years ago.

Magic Perms are amazing. I have a slightly frizzy curly hair (un-Asian of me, I know). It completely straightens your hair and leaves them looking unbelievable glossy. You can't wash your hair for about 60 hours after the perm. You can't tie your hair back or put your hair behind your ears. This is because it will leave a dent during those two-three days you don't wash your hair. After you wash your hair, I try to be safe and not tie my hair for about a week. Usually though, after 3 days, you're free to do whatever! (You can see a picture of my straightened hair in this post.)

You never have to iron your hair straight or do anything to get them silky straight. They'll always be that way! Wow right? But then here's the downfall. Because it is a really powerful chemical, it leaves your hair pretty damaged. It may not be visible at first sight, but where your hair is finer than other places, you'll see that your hair is damaged and burnt. It also may leave your hair brittle and weak, although it's not visible to anybody on the street.

The hair salon always tells you to give it a lot of treatment at home, condition it, etc., So, I make sure to do that. Thankfully though, I don't have too much trouble with all that. But, it doesn't hurt to get a little boost you know?

This ARGAN OIL is something I've never even heard of before. I've tried Moroccan oil before, and plenty other oils. I've found that Moroccan oil weighs down your hair so much! You always need to make sure that you don't put on too... much. Also, I don't have a problem with that, but my sister says that it makes her break out where the oiled hair touches her skin. That doesn't sound too pleasing. Though silky and glossy your hair becomes, I've always found that the oil sits on the hair rather than enriching the texture of the hair itself.

Now, this babe here is quite unlike that! I use A LOT and rub it from roots and with the reminder, move up and spread it throughout my hair. I like to apply it when it's still wet. And... oh my gosh. All the tangles are GONE and it leaves your hair feeling so soft and silky, glossy throughout the day! What I love is that though it is an oil, it does NOT leave the hair weighed down at all! I have an oily scalp, and this oil doesn't add any problem to my scalp or hair texture at all.

My roots become healthier and my hair overall looks so much healthier, let alone looking great! :) I've used this oil nonstop the last two months and I still have about half left. I'm definitely going to buy the full size. I've been so pleased with argan oil that I've bought my friend some from Josie Maran to try.

If you're looking for a great hair product, do go out and try this! I couldn't say enough good things about this :)

Leave a Comment argan oil, Glossybox, hair, hair oil, haircare, holiday, magic perm, magic straightening, NuMe, perm, straight hair

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Holiday Makeup!

I know I promised a holiday look, but I missed the chance to upload a LOTD post before Christmas. However, we still have New Years don't we? So, I brought in my friend this time to do a very amateurish makeup tutorial. She was brave enough to be in front of a camera with very minimal makeup in the beginning. I certainly couldn't brave that challenge! The tutorial isn't a real tutorial because I skipped a few steps. For example, there is no step for foundation, mascara, and blush.

The reason is because she came with a tinted moisturizer and a bit of blush on her cheeks. Although most of that was gone by the time we filmed this, you can see a bit of makeup still on her face. So, I didn't bother to start with a foundation. I started with the eyes using the Estee Lauder Bronze Sands Palette.  I wanted to make a shiny eye look for the holidays. I used the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil in black on her waterline. Then I took a 219 MAC brush and smudged it all along the eyes, then winged it out slightly at the end. For the brows, I used the Perfekt Brow Perfection Gel to just give her already full brows a little bit more shape and definition!

Red Lip Look

Then I went to conceal areas she needed coverage with Stila Perfecting Concealer: under the eyes, forehead, chin, and around the nose. Her skin doesn't have spots or too many blemishes so this was a breeze! Then, it was time for the lips.

Nude Look

I used NARS Honolulu Honey for the first look. I fell in love with the color, seeing how well it worked on the skin and the color payoff! It was really creamy and the nude is just the perfect shade. Make sure, as I was telling my friend, you color in your lips all the way and a little bit out of the lip line. That's because people naturally have a darker lip line than the inside lip color. If you miss out covering that lipline with a nude, then it'll look like you have a dark lipliner on, and... it just wouldn't work!

Then I tried using the MAC Rebel lipstick for the second look. It is rather a dark red/plum. After applying a few coats, I thought she'd look better with a brighter red so I went for the NARS lipgloss in Mexican Rose. Mexican Rose is a beautiful red-pink shade that lasts... FOREVER. If you're looking for a long-lasting lipstick/gloss, this is the one. Anyway, it was just the color I was looking for!


Excuse the horrendous lighting in the room, and the unprofessional editing skills. Still, I hope this was something fun and new for my blog. Hope you enjoyed :)

Leave a Comment Asian, christmas, concealer, eyeliner, holiday, MAC, Nars, perfekt, stila, Urban Decay

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No Dry Time for Nail Polishes? Festive Nails

Sure there's a lot of products trying to shorten the dry time for nail polishes. But still, an impatient girl like me can't stand the wait time. Literally, you become a dummy for the while your nails are drying, incapable of doing anything. Recently in my November Glossybox, I received this Incoco Nail Polish in the color "Sinderella". It looked like an interesting idea and the color seemed great for Christmas. So I saved it and waited until this month.

The Incoco Nail Polish is real nail polish with no drying time. It comes like a sticker and you stretch and adjust it so that it fits on your nails. Then you file off the excess and then voila! You have your painted nails all set. And you don't have to be dummy in the process :)

Check their website for more information on how to apply! 

I thought of what could be festive enough for Christmas. I thought of the red and green combo and went for this nail idea. The green nail polish is the British Racing Green by Butter recently blogged on this post. What do you guys think? I'm getting mixed thoughts here but... I like it! It's past Christmas but I don't want to take it off. These nail applicators are good for 14 days! Wowza :) I'm going to leave it until I get sick and tired of it, or just to see if it'll really last 14 days.

I did fumble a bit applying it. But I also fumble in applying real nail polish so... practice may make perfect? :) So far, I'm loving the idea. It has all 3 coats... the base, polish, and top coat all in one. How easy! If all is well, I may try more of them.

What do you guys think of this idea? Have you tried these? :)

Leave a Comment butter, christmas, Glossybox, incoco, nails, NOTD

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Stila's Perfecting Concealer

Conceal! Conceal! Conceal!

Concealing, covering up, and putting on an illusion that something isn't there... isn't a credible character in real life. However, it is the most welcoming idea in the makeup world. Those lucky people out there with flawless skin, I envy you with all the beauty envy within me. Covering up and concealing blemishes, scars, etc., have been such a nuisance. Fortunately, I don't have dark circles and so the need to fix up that bit is null for me. 

I've searched for a good concealer, one that would literally erase the pigmentation. Most of the ones I tried were the paste-y kinds. They were great when put on, but you know you can't dap bits of them on your face and hope to look... well, normal. You always have to blend and make sure those concealers don't just sit on the spots. That can well attract attention to that spot! And I found that paste-y ones often were great when dapped on, but with a little blending here and there, were soon gone. Then I'd apply and apply until it was cakey right on that spot. It felt like a heavier foundation and wasn't doing the job of erasing and staying put!

Awhile ago, I came across this concealer neglected in some corner of my sister's room. She must have forgotten about it, and I thought I might as well give it a try. After two tries, I decided I'd adopt it and keep it for my own :) It was the Stila Perfecting Concealer. 

Unlike the ones I've tried, this was a bit more liquidy. It comes in a tube as such, which I find is so much more sanitary. When you use a concealer from a pot, you're putting your fingers in and out of that stuff, applying it on your spots that are probably more sensitive than other areas. I am one to constantly fix up my face, and just the thought of touching my face and sticking my fingers into that pot just doesn't seem sanitary enough. So, the whole tube idea was quite appealing to me. 

The product itself is really great. It's, as I said, more liquidey than the concealers I've tried before. Somehow, that makes applying more natural and it stays on for so much longer. I use a small brush to dap it on my face. Then I blend it ever so slightly and voila! It erases the pigmentation. I also find that it lasts much longer than other concealers. The exact time, I can't say but all in all, I found it lasted much longer than expected. Because of the handiness of the packaging, I wouldn't mind taking this in my bag and appealing where needed throughout the day. It is quite natural because of the consistency and efficient in concealing! I've also tried using this to conceal dark circles (on my friend) and it worked really....... well :) It's an instant brightening. But, make sure you get a bright/light enough shade to do the work. 

Thankfully my sister allowed me to keep it. Her skin has gotten quite nice recently and she found little use for it. Now it's mine and is being very appreciated :)

Leave a Comment acne, blemishes, concealer, coverup, stila

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Merry Christmas! NYC's Trees & Cupcakes

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone has had a wonderful and lovely holiday. I wanted to post a Christmas post before the day was actually over, but I came home late from a long Christmas day and it's only now that I get to organize my pictures and get up a post!

I don't share too much of my life online (anymore) but for a brief, for the past fifteen years I've spent Christmas eve caroling all night with dear church folks. Then Christmas day, after going to church in the morning, I get completely burnt out that I go home and sleep for the most of the day. All in all, there were only a few Christmas days that were spent "memorably". Although I've had really amazing Christmas days in the past, today was the first time I braved the crowd and took a look at the giant Rockfeller Christmas tree! I've always made time to see ZE TREE, but never on Christmas day.

Look at how large that tree is! It is so so beautiful. But also look at how many people were there. 

The building across Rockfeller Center that had projectors lighting a visual against this side of the building! A NYC Christmas tradition :)

I was standing near the front of the building that had the projected lights shining on it. When I was done watching the light show, I turned around to see so many faces so focused on the building! I found this rather amusing and so I took a snapshot of the view. Let me tell you though that what you see is a small fraction of the amount of people that were standing before me.

Where the Rockfeller Center ice rink is.

Large-size toy soldiers stood all along the side, making the whole scene seems so magical!

It was absolutely marvelous! My, my... I always wonder how trees can ever grow to that massive size! It's truly breathtaking and I can't help but be thankful that I live close to the city, enough to go whenever I want! I love the vibe of the city, the bustling streets, and just the joyous festivity of Christmas day.

I wanted to do a LOTD (look-of-the-day) post for you guys, featuring my two recently purchased lipsticks (Rebel and Honolulu Honey), a deep red and nude lipstick. However, caroling all night made my skin tired and face swollen from tiredness. Maybe I'll feature a holiday-look for some other occasion. Anyway, I bundled up for the weather. Thankfully, it wasn't that cold. I wore my recently purchased Forever21 hat that I absolutely love. Hats are winter essentials indeed!

We stopped by "Baked by Melissa" cupcake store. It's a quaint cupcake store that sells their famous bite-sized cupcakes. I bought the 12-piece for $10 and it is so delicious! The looks of the cupcakes are equally delicious :)

As much as I like trying new tastes, I wanted a solid amount of Red velvets so I got 5 of them. Then a few of their classic vanilla cupcakes (the 3 in the 2nd row), and then one of each of: smores, peanut butter, and cinnamon.

They are really tiny! 

Times Square all the way up to the Rockfeller Center was packed. I literally had to mentally "let go" of trying to "make it" through the crowd. The streets were swarming with people and there was just no chance of swerving through those many people and getting anywhere fast enough. But besides the crazy amount of people, every corner was packed with something to see. There were lit up trees and Christmas decorations everywhere. The Empire State Building was lit up red and green and it was very festive to see!

Wherever you are, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. I will leave this post with a magical word: BELIEVE. It is something that means so much to me right now in my life... to believe. I hope the dreams and wishes, the prayers deep inside our hearts will all come true in 2013 :)

Leave a Comment christmas, cupcakes, food, lifestyle, nyc, rockfeller center

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Honolulu Honey

I just can't get enough of lipsticks. I was always more of a lipsticks girl than a lipgloss girl, and this time I'm bringing to you another beautiful nude shade. It's NARS Honolulu Honey. What's there more to say than that it is the perfect kind of nude? Oh, I feel guilty for saying that because I say that about so many other nude shades as well, but this one excites me! It more on the peachy side of nude than it is on the pink side. It gives the prettiest most feminine shade of nude on the lips, a beautiful holiday look as well. The formulation is gorgeous, of course.

The shade is similar to MAC's Shy Girl, but that this shade is more of a truer nude. The name of the lipstick is perfect as well! Honolulu Honey? Come on, what better name to name a nude lipstick shade? :)

I also feel it goes well with yellow undertone skins. When I first saw it, it seemed to light toned-- feared it would make me look washed out. Yuck! Nude lipsticks should never be worn that way. But when I swatched it and tried it on my lips, it did no such thing! It is completely wearable and at the same time, fancy and elegant enough for a holiday look! I was totally sold when I saw Jenn (from @clothesencounter) wear this shade in her videos. Absolutely stunning!

Without flash

With flash. Ignore the pink shade right next to the nude swatch! I was swatching MAC's rebel right before this one!

What are some of your favorite nude lipstick shades?

4 comments honolulu honey, lipstick, Nars, nude

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You're a Rebel, Aren't You?

Don't ever go Christmas shopping to an indoor mall few days before Christmas. No, unless you want to wait 20 minutes before parking and walk within a few inches from the person next to you before you finally reach a store. Doesn't end there. Waiting on line can be a long cue of maybe 10 minutes plus.  And, there's no guarantee the store will have what you're looking for. If you're going for some "best-selling" product, just know it might be sold out.

So, yes. This is the story of my Christmas shopping today... three/two days before Christmas! Wow was it hectic! But, I went and picked up a very few items that fortunately weren't sold out. Of them was this crazy vampy lipstick from MAC... REBEL!

I couldn't brave the dark lip trend during the fall. It was out and about and girls everywhere were walking around with those vampy lips. But, what's the need for vampy lips in school? (I'm a student) So, due to the lack of occasion, I missed the chance. Until today, that is. I went to MAC and saw this crazy color. At first, I was scared to put it right on so I dapped a bit on my lips.

It brought this really really pretty stain. It's hard to describe. It was more red than I thought it would be, but a dark deep kind of red. The more you build, the more you can see the actual color of the stick in the tube. Heck, if you were to wear this full-on, you'd look like those 80s rebels... those sexy girls with dark lips and crazy smokey eyes! It's such a gorgeous yet wild color. What I love though is that you can wear it both as a tint and full-on. It brings a different effect with the amount you put on.

Also, it wears differently for each skin tone and of course with the kind of makeup you have on. I am in love, and it's only been a day. Perhaps I can brave a picture of myself wearing this shade on my Twitter (want to follow? /etherealellie). I love it. What makes me happier was that I thought I'd look terrible in vampy lips, let alone this color. But unlike what I thought, this color actually worked on me! I have to say, there are some dark lips that make you look absolutely dreadful and dead. But this, it's dark and vampy yet somehow it gives enough impact and color that you look more alive, young, and "ready".

It's a satin finish so it's not completely matte, but neither is it a pearl or something too shiny. It's just a natural amount of shine and matte.

With flash

This plum-yet-red-yet-plum yet red shade is such a statement. I'm proud to add this rebel into my lipstick collection! Am I a proper rebel now? :)

Without flash

Leave a Comment fall trend, MAC, mac lipsticks, plum, rebel, red, red lips, winter

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Laura Mercier Flawless Best-Sellers

I had featured a few posts ago the little NARS Sampler I got from Sephora using my 500-Reward Points. Luckily, I had another 500 points to spare and so I got this Laura Mercier Flawless Best-sellers as well. Inside there is a mini-mosaic bloc highlighter, a tinted moisturizer, primer, and eye primer. They are all sample sizes but much more than I can ask for considering I got it as a "bonus". It's a great way to test the products out. 

I was most excited to try the mosaic highlighter. I believe it is a highlighter, also known as a shimmer bloc. But seeing the content, I don't think it's a bad idea to use it as a bit of a eyeshadow as well. I don't own any highlighters because I'm a bit wary of using them due to my oily-skin. But with the cold season in, a bit of freshness and shimmer on the face isn't a bad idea. I apply just a slight amount on the top of my cheeks and under my eyebrow. Unfortunately, the shimmer bloc I wanted was the lighter shades so that it could really pop out some areas. But this is one of the darker shades. The content however is really smooth and creamy and a dream to apply!

As you can see, this works more like a bronzing highlighter because it's quite dark for the "popping" effect. I try to concentrate my brush on only the lightest shade, but when you swirl it around and pick up all the four colors, what you get is the shade you see below:

The next thing that caught my eye is this eye basic in shade "wheat". You use it as a eye base but the color is so lovely that you could use this all over the lid on its own to just mattify and cover a bit of veins and whatever on the eyelid. The color wheat I think is such a beautiful neutral/nude shade. It's really creamy and works as a primer and such! Lovely I say.

The tinted moisturizer and the primer is self-explanatory I feel so I don't have pictures for you guys, but they are famous on their own. Need I say more? I've never tried the Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer (I know, I know... right?) but tinted moisturizers just don't do enough coverage for me. I found that this one was surprisingly good coverage, considering it was a tinted moisturizer. If I had a really nice skin, I'd put this on for that extra boost. But until then, it'd have to be used as base or for some other. This would be quite an essential for a flawless face!

These samplers will probably last me some time. What I'd actually go out and buy is... the shimmer bloc and the tinted moisturizer! Loved them the most!

Leave a Comment flawless, laura mercier, sephora

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NYX 07 Natural

I've been gravitating for this baby pink blush from NYX a lot. Perhaps it's the cold weather that makes me want that fresh, lovely, and innocent look. Whether that look is fully accomplished on my face is an entirely different matter! But as for the shade itself and what I hope it does is that it brings this subtle color of life and sweetness onto the cheeks!

I don't own any other NYX blush so I can't speak for the entire brand but their blush is very pigmented. A lot comes off on the brush with one sweep and so you want to make sure that you've tapped the excess off before dapping that on your face. Otherwise, you'd be left with two spotted pink cheeks! As long as you control the amount, you'll be quite satisfied with this color.

What really appealed to me was the name of the blush. The "natural"-ness was what I was going for. For darker skins, a baby pink might looked misplaced somehow. I was worried about that, but I found that it worked quite well and looked like a "natural" flush. The blush is also very long-lasting!

Leave a Comment baby pink, blush, drugstore, nyx

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December Glossybox "Glamour, Glitzy & Gloss"

December Glossybox felt like a Christmas present. The box had a festive packaging and I was quite excited to see what was inside. Inside there was....

• Acacia Protein Oil (hair care)
• Madurai Jasmine & Mogra Bath & Shower Oil
• Heartland Fragrance Bath Salts (white tea)
• Heat Protect spray by Oscar Blandi
• Perfume by Issey Miyake (Pleats Please)
• Zoya Glitter (black)
• Bonus: JewelryMint earrings

The box was more pamper focused than makeup focused. I absolutely love the Zoya glitter nail polish and I can't wait to try it. I'm also excited to try the Heartland bath salts. Although I don't have a bathtub (only a shower), you can use these bath salts to exfoliate. I'm excited for this because I've grown a respect for Heartland and their wonderful bath products! I took a sniff of the eau de toilette and... have to say I'm not too fond of the scent :/ As for the rest, I shall have to try them out :)

For bonus they added these earrings by Jewelry Mint. Though thankful I am, I know I'm not going to be wearing them... 

Overall, I'd give the box a 7.5/10. I rate them by a general totally subjective scoring :) If you'd like a more thoughtful and analytical scoring of the monthly boxes, do tell me down below. I'll find some rubric to follow so that these scores mean more than what I think of them!

Leave a Comment christmas, december, december glossybox, Glossybox, glossybox usa

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NOTD: Rose Gold Bumblebee

Vivanna Does Makeup recently featured these really elegant gold against black nail art. It looked really pretty in the picture, but it was even more tempting when she showed off her nail art in a video! So, without further ado, I went and got myself a black nail polish. After enjoying a black polish on its own, I took a recently purchased Deborah Lippman "Sugar Daddy" to work!

This "Sugar Daddy" polish is amazing, like most of Deborah Lippman's fancy shamcy polishes. It's gold with pink overtones so that depending on the angle, the color looks either gold, pink, or both... rose gold. This was in fact the closest I could get to a bright gold. I have one from Color club, but I'm not too fond of that polish so I went with a little twist and decided to apply rose gold instead of true gold.

Oh my, and a rose gold against a black is so flattering! It looks so elegant and although I confess that those top rose gold coats are not even near perfection, don't they still look kind of fancy?! I love it.

What do you guys think? :)

Leave a Comment black, deborah lippman, DIY, gold, nail art, nails, NOTD, revlon, rose gold, sugar daddy

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NOTD Revlon 270 "Stiletto"

CLICK HERE TO SEE the Vivianna-nails! A Rose-gold variation of these nails!

Have I been posting too many NOTD posts, especially for one who said doesn't care much about nails? Well, if there's one thing that changed in 2012, it's that! I love painting my nails now. I've started with muted colors, the ones you can't really detect... to finally getting to the end of the spectrum. BLACK. I realized that the bolder your nail polishes are, the more longer your fingers look. Also, the dark bold color contrasts with the skin and instead of making your hands look witch-like, it actually gives such an elegant contrast with the skin and nails.

Anyway, so I picked up this Revlon "Stiletto" number 270. It was for no apparent reason besides the fact that it was... well, black. I was looking for blacks from one or two different brands but they didn't have it, so I just picked this one up. Also, I have one other Revlon nail polish at home that I didn't buy and a color I absolutely detest... but I remember trying it and thinking that the content of their nail polishes were pretty good and easy to apply!

I went for this, and gave myself a little mani and oh it was just like I imagined! One coat does the job but to be safe with the first coat, maybe you can go for two. But one should be enough! It's much glossier than it seems in the pictures. I'm planning to do the black and gold nail art that Vivianna from vivianadoesmakeup showed on her blog. I think it'll look elegant and quite festive :)

What bold colors have you braved recently? Black has definitely been a jump for me!

Leave a Comment black, catbird, catbirdnyc, nails, NOTD, revlon, revlon nails

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