Sephora + Kiehl's Haul

I did me some shopping, but only a small one. I bought a few Sephora bits online, which came with three awesome deluxe samples because they were doing some kind of promotion. The brand that I mainly picked up was Josie Maran, a kind of new brand for me still. I'll talk more about it in my May Favorites video coming up soon.

From Sephora I picked up: Josie Maran Argan Love Your Lips Hydrating Lipsticks in shades "Happy Honey" and "Playful Pink". Picked them up because the amount of balm-y-ness of these lipsticks were instantly obvious and the colors were just so neutral and easy. Another Josie Maran I picked up was their "Whipped Argan Oil" Intensive Hand cream. You'll see the in my May Favorites but it's quickly becoming my favorite!

I also picked up the Benefit Pore-fessional Primer. I am a committed user of the Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer, but this Benefit one is really quickly becoming my go-to primer.

With these purchases, I got a First Aid "Skin Rescue Deep Cleanser". I've been wanting to try some First Aid skincare products. I have yet to try this. I also received a deluxe sample of the Urban Decay all-nighter. Nothing new, just their staple finishing makeup spray. I also added in my favorite mascara, Benefit's "They're Real" mascara, and also their "Fake up" concealer in the shade medium.

From Kiehl's I ordered just two products, although I was so tempted to get their primer, but I kept it simple. What I really wanted to try was their "Avocado" Creamy eye cream people have raved on about. I still feel I'm not in the stage where I need eye creams, and because I haven't tried all that many, I couldn't quite compare it to anything really. But it seems nice so far. Plenty of hydration!

Then, I got their face mist which smells really herbally but really refreshing. It's their "In-Flight Refreshing Face Mist", supposed to help with skin respiration.

1 comment eye cream, haul, josie maran, kiehl, kiehls, sephora

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Worth the Hype? La Roche-Posy Serozinc and Pixi Glow Tonic

I've had a good period of trying out these two unbelievably talked about (in the #bbloggers world) skincare products. These purchases were both made in their respective countries -- one in London, UK, and the other in Paris, France. They were a totally blogger-induced purchases, and I tried quite desperately to love them as much as they promised to do for my skin.

As you can see where this is going, I haven't fallen in love with these two products (at all). The week when I got back from my trip to Europe, Pixi had just launched in the US and they were making this hit "Glow Tonic" toner available to the US customers. Had I known, I wouldn't have had such trouble trying to carry that bottle back home. I spilt 1/4th when going to Paris, and then another 1/6th when I got back home!

But if it was going to be worth it, I was okay. But all along when I was using it throughout my trip in Europe and then when I got back home, I just didn't see what the hype was about. I was already committed to my Mario Badescu toners, and so this "Glow Tonic" didn't stand out for me at all. My skin was quite congested and it just really did not do much for my skin. I didn't break out especially either. Perhaps it is so gentle I don't see a difference? I completely used it, to be fair, but I would not repurchase it again.

The other hit item is La Roche-Posay's Serozinc toner. Again, a toner product that didn't do much. It is supposed to clear up the skin and just make the biggest difference for the combination skinned peeps. I am one, but this didn't make a huge difference in my skin. It does feel like water, and I do know that zinc is great for the skin-- but did I clear up more after using this? Did my skin seem to produce less excess oil? Did my skin look fresher? Did it clean up my pores? Did it tighten my skin the right way? No, no.. no and no.

I do have to say though that I did prefer the "Serozinc" over the "Glow Tonic". I felt less congested, but again, it just wasn't enough of a difference. Sigh!

I am back to using my favorite toners from Mario Badescu. Hands down, still the best for me.

Leave a Comment la roche-posay, london, mario badescu, paris, pixi, skincare, toner

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Blog's 2nd Anniversary GIVEAWAY!!!

I'm finally posting it. My huge giveaway that I've been announcing on my Youtube channel for weeks now. Now that I'm about to show you guys, it doesn't seem that big compared to all the amazing giveaways on Youtube. But, I still love all the products featured in the giveaway and I hope one of you can love them as much as I had fun putting this together.

You can also leave a comment on this post to be entered into the giveaway! :)

3 comments butter london, giveaway, jouer, manefit, nuxe, tarte

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Favorite Summer Fragrances

It's finally reached 90º here in NY. I still have to install the A/C in my room, because it really is starting steaming up. But what better way to liven up the steam with some fresh fragrances to open up a field of flowers before you?

I've picked out my favorite summer scents, ones that will freshen you up and even the people around you. Of them, my all-time favorite summer scent has got to be the Jo Malone "Lemon Tart". Hands down the best. It is really a sharp note of lemon, but mixed with a kind of sweetness that makes it so delicious, fresh, feminine, and unique.

Another Jo Malone summer-best is the "Blackberry and Bay" scent. Something about this makes it the perfect beach fragrance. It has that salty beach-like scent to it but it isn't too muddled with a strong heavy scent. Rather, it is just really fresh and just another really unique scent.

A brand that does wonders with all things fresh is of course Fresh itself. Goodness, their "Hesperides Grapefruit" is seriously the best most abundant smelling grapefruit scent on the market. I've smelt quite a lot of grapefruit scents, but nothing comes as lovely and feminine and truly well rounded as this one. It is perfect for the gals, a truly feminine scent. I often find grapefruit to smell quite masculine, but this particular one really does wonders in creating that well-bodied fresh sweet succulent feminine grapefruit scent!

Diptyque is and will always be my favorite fragrance brand. I think this brand, along with Byredo Parfums is one of a very few brands that still brings out fragrance after fragrance that really develops by the division of notes. I feel other fragrance brands, even though they talk about having certain many notes in their fragrances, the products themselves don't really live up to the descriptions. They rarely develop, and are quite one-dimensional. But the two brands I mentioned, they really score perfect when it comes to dimension in perfumes. You can watch more of my perfume analysis here. (I will leave the video down below as well)

I recently used up all of Byredo Parfums "Pulp", so I haven't got that to show you, but that is another great summer fruit basket scent. From Diptyque I picked "Oyedo" and "Ofresia". "Oyedo" is a fruit basket, but a really sweet kind. It is on the heavier side, but that it because there are just so many different notes of fruits and flowers. I would consider this a citrus scent. It is exploding with notes of fruits so much that you just smell delicious all day long. Again, I see this as a very feminine scent. And people always come up to me telling me they love what I'm wearing.

Lastly, "Ofresia" is an entirely floral based scent. I know most of what I picked were fruit-based, but "Ofresia" is smells of freesia and other floral notes. It is so light and airy, and so lady-like. I call this my "professional" scent -- one where I wear to professional events where I don't want to make a statement but I want to smell prim and proper, feminine and fresh.

Leave a Comment byredo parfums, diptyque, fragrances, Fresh, grapefruit, jo malone, summer, summer scents

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HOW TO #1. Contouring Nose with MAC SOBA

MAC Soba is all around becoming my favorite everyday, must-have eyeshadow shade. It is simply beautiful on its own, blended out all over the eye. Pop a mascara, and you are good to go.

The reason why this shade is so perfect is because it "deepens" the eyes with the perfect brown shade. Not too orange, not too red, not too yellow. It just gives a natural "shadow" to the face. It has a bit of pearl(?) in it, but it is nothing too obvious.

And recently, I have been using this eyeshadow to contour the nose and the eye area. I have found that it made such a big difference to my first shape, and MAC Soba is just the perfect contour shade. I used to use bronzers that I used on my cheeks to do it, but I always found it looked so unnatural.

So today, I'm going to give you a tip on how to get that nice contouring of the nose using MAC Soba and MAC 217 brush. You can use any small brush that is fluffy. I recommend using a small fluffy brush as opposed to a big one (the one you would use on your cheeks) or a small and dense one.

Dap a small amount of product on the brush. Bring it down the side of your nose. Depending on the shape of your nose and how thin you want it, shade in the side first lightly, and a bit more where you think you need it. You want to shade it slightly more on the side of your nose near the end, near your nostrils.

Also, you want to also shade where your nose bridge meets your eyebrows. Contour under the eyebrows to give you that depth of your eyes. It's the area that my brush is pointing to in the picture above.

You can see the shadows and depths on this model's face. Although a lot may be natural, contouring emphasizes that natural lights and shadows so that it becomes more visible. I personally love doing it and I think it brings more definition to the face.

Leave a Comment brush, contour, eyeshadow, how to, how to contour nose, MAC, soba

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Milani Baked Blushes

In my last video where I talk about products I was undecided about, these Milani baked blushes were one of them. It wasn't so much that I couldn't decide whether I liked them, but just to put it out there that I was trying these blushes out since it wasn't long since I bought them. But since purchasing them, I've been wearing them non-stop, preferring these shades over all my luxe brands and that pretty much says all!

Both blushes come with their own set of brushes- but I recommend you chuck those away. They are so coarse that they sweep way too much product off the surface and also leave dusts everywhere! I use them with my Shu Uemura no.20 blush brush. This softly picks up the right amount of product without grinding the surface and grating the product.

The shade I am in love with is "Luminoso". Goodness, this is such a pretty beige blush -- just something that works beautifully for so many skin tones, for so many different kinds of makeup. It really gives that pop of color in such a subtle and calming way! It is neither too dark nor too light, and it blends beautifully with any makeup. You know how sometimes blushes can clash with your eye makeup or lip color? Well, this is the perfect generic shade-- something I'd recommend to everyone.

The more popular and well-spoken about shade is the "Corallina". I'd say this would be gorgeous in the summer. Such a bright red-coral! It is beautiful, really. And gives you that flushes fresh-faced look. It isn't subtle like "Luminiso", so this is for the gals who like that really pretty obvious blush look. I do have other coral shades but this seems to be a bit red/lobster-toned than most coral shades. Hence, I think it'll be beautiful in the summer!

These are really often sold-out in my local drugstore, but if you ever come across them and you need to find just really good working pretty shades, try these. They are amazing! I'm adding them to my list of favorite drugstore products.

2 comments beige, blushes, coral, drugstore, milani, shu uemura

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a new york girl searching for london in soho

When I went to London last winter, I had searched up tea parlors to have my experience being British. It failed all together when Google only provided the very best ones, ones that cost more than 60 pounds per person. I mean, that was a lot and definitely more than I was willing to spend. But then I spent months thereafter whining about wanting a proper afternoon tea, and being sullen over the fact that I didn't get to try it out in London. 

But today, my friend and I whisked ourselves to the city where we found a small tea heaven called Bosie Tea Parlor. I was promised that I would get that "afternoon tea" here. 

Although I had always imagined a tearoom to be one of those in a luxury hotel, I was more than thrilled to have a quaint one if I must! It is located deep in Soho (downtown NYC) where all the quaint shops reside. When I walked in, it was definitely a cozy, quaint, and very Soho-esque shop. It had small round tables, about six in the front by the entrance, and about three more near the back. You immediately see an array of tea buckets displayed all along the way. You also see their cute pastry display full of macarons, cakes, and scones. 

My friend and I went for their tea service. They have three selections, but cheapest one seemed to be sufficient for us. The most basic tea service for 2-persons came with a selection of 2 teapots of our choice, 3 choices of tea sandwiches for each person, 2 scones per person, 2 macarons per person, and 4 assortment of cake/bread. I thought that was quite a nice deal!  

I highly recommend their "Brandied Apricot" tea, as it was light with flavorful notes of apricot. It was neither too light nor too heavy, with the perfect amount of sweetness and flavor. The other tea we ordered was Fujian white tea, which wasn't all that great. We first chose Island White, but they no longer had the tea, hence. 

As for their pastries: I highly recommend their salmon cream cheese sandwich and their cucumber cream cheese sandwich. I particular loved those two! And macarons? They had a few seasonal macarons out, but I definitely enjoyed a classic Pistachio and Earl Grey. 

But, what I really enjoyed the most? Their scones. Crusty outside, moist inside. They came with cream and jam, and oh they were seriously so good. I had to get two more to bring home for some of my family to try!

And just look how well we finished our plates! We spent a good hour and a half there, having a swell time. The staff there were so friendly and kind, and that really matters to me. Service is 80% when it comes to rating any eating place, and they definitely was full score for me! They were so helpful picking out which teas and pastries. 

If you are ever around Soho, I highly recommend this tea parlor! Of course, if you're from the UK, you may not find the need to go to a place like this. But if you're an American girl looking to nurture the British girl within, you may want to give yourself a pick-me-up at a relaxing quaint Soho tea parlor as this place! xx

Leave a Comment bosie tea parlor, food, life update, lifestyle, london, nyc, soho, tea, travel

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Korea Cosmetic Bliss PR Event!

Hey guys! So today I thought I'd share with you my day at the Korea Cosmetic Bliss 2014 PR Event. I was invited by Missha to attend this event to learn about more Korean skincare brands that are planning to launch into the US markets. A few of them I've heard, but most of them were new for me as well.

The event took place at the long-term pop-up store called Korea Cosmetic Bliss located in Soho, New York. They opened last September(?) and have been selling Korean beauty products the past few months, and they plan to close the pop-up store in two weeks. So, I got to see around right before they closed! (Whew!)

pictures from my instagram (ID: etherealellie) 

Due to traffic (an hour and a half!!!), I arrived at the event way too late and missed the product demonstrations. But, the amazingly lovely Ms. Shin from Missha's marketing team was kind enough to show me around the counters and introduce me to the reps of each brand. The main focus for me was whether these products were available to US customers, even if they were selling it through other wholesalers so that I wasn't just talking about products that most of my readers wouldn't be able to get their hands on. Because most of them were in their starting stage of just getting their names out there, I kept that in mind and thought I should try some for myself.

So I ended up picking up a few products to test out for myself. I, for one, had to restock up on my Missha super aqua essence and cream that I completely used up and totally love! Then, the rest were exploratory brands.

The brand that intrigued me the most was a brand called ISOI because their line used Bulgarian Rose. Now, if you are an avid reader of my blog, you'll know that I highly respect Bulgarian rose because when my sister last went to Bulgaria, she was told that the country was most famous for their rose valleys and in its season, perfumists and beauty specialists from all over the world would haul loads and loads of Bulgarian roses to create their products. So, I asked my sister to bring a bunch of their products back here and seriously, I loved every single one of their products. I was more surprised to hear how cheap their products were, considering how good they were (especially their hand creams. To die for!)

Anyway, I was also sold when their CEO during its launch of a particular serum, actually ate the product to show people that it was completely natural and made of good stuff -- stuff that would not harm the skin at all. I was sold right then and there! And I got myself that serum. I will blog more about it once I really try it out :)

The other brand that I next found fascinating was a brand called Elensila which uses snail extracts (mucus) to create their skincare line. I knew snail products were becoming really popular in the U.S., but Korea has since been using snails to make, market, and promote their products. Supposedly, the story comes about like this: they found that people who worked at snail forms had unusually great skin on their hands, and found that the snail mucus was the cause for such youthful healthy skin.

I've never tried any snail products, but I thought I might as well! I bought their best-selling original formulation cream. It's called the "Escargot Original Repair Cream", and it supposedly evens out the skin and it is a gel formulation, and so ideal for oily/combination skin. And the word "repair" always wins my hart. So, I picked one up to try.

The last brand that I got my hands on was a brand called Manefit, and this isn't a totally new brand for me. They are most famous for their sheet masks, usually sold in a small box with several sheets in it called "beauty planner". Every time I go to Korea, I see tons of these boxes everywhere and I myself, have tried a few of them and did love them. So, I thought I might try them again. I picked out two sheets and one high-end version of their everyday masks.

After getting a good tour of the brands and having a lovely talk with the people there, I headed up with two bags of goodies. One bag was all full of freebies and samples that I was quite excited for, as much as the purchased items themselves! Just as a peak, it came with full-size lipstick and lipgloss that I tried today, and love.

Keep a watch out for my blog as I slowly try them out and review them. Tell me if you've ever or are interested in some the brands I just mentioned and what you think of them? I'd love to know your thoughts :)

***

What I Wore:
The weather was horrible that day, (I mean the signature New York humidity was reaching its peak). Regardless of the weather, I went out with a bright red-lip (Nars Mexican Rose) to the event. I loved my makeup when it was fresh, not knowing just how humid it was going to be that day. Little did I know... By the time I arrived at the event, I already felt so icky and I desperately wanted to take my red lip off. But I stuck with it, being that the Nars gloss lip pencils are serious lip tattoos.

Whew. Well after the event, I chilled at Laduree down in Soho that recently opened. I enjoyed the macarons, but oh if anything, don't waste your dollars on their nonalcoholic cold beverages made with tea and juice. It wasn't good at all! But still, it was nice and relaxing, which I needed the most :) x

1 comment korea cosmetic bliss, korean skincare, laduree, life update, missha, PR event, soho

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TIPS for Brows: Combining 2 Eyebrow Gels

I've long been using two eyebrow products this way, and I found it so useful I thought I should share it with you all. A particular eyebrow gel that I've been loving for a good two years now is Perfekt Eyebrow Gel in the shade Caramel (perfect match for my brows). I love it that it just defines the eyebrow precisely and so easily. But as I use the product up, I also realized that I found myself trying to take product off when the brush just catches a bit too much on the brush.

I decided to combine the caramel eyebrow gel with Maybelline Clear Lash Eyebrow Gel. I know Maybelline has one for eyelashes and another for brows. Though it says "Lash", I remember buying this with the outside packaging saying it was for the brow. I bought a clear shade. I love this for just taking foundation off of my eyebrow. You know how when you're doing your foundation really quickly, you get foundation tinting your eyebrows? Well, this clear gel helps get that off.

But I thought, why not combine the two so that the clear gel has a slight hint of the caramel shade? Besides, I found the Perfekt brow gel to bring out a bit too much product if you're not careful with it. So what I did was take the Maybelline brush and dipped it just once into the Perfekt tube. Then I put that brush back into the clear tube and swirled it around.

That gave me the perfect, easy to use, not to worry, no fuss tint and gel in one! After awhile, I wanted a little bit more shade, so I did the dipping once more-- dipped the Maybelline into Perfekt tube and mixed it around in the clear tube. What I got was a crazy whirlwind of caramel tint swirls inside the clear tube! Shows how effectively it'll be in holding your eyebrows in shape!

This helps you be more flexible in working with the product (because you can make mistake but it's not too dark that you'll freak out!), and it also helps you use both products so much longer! Although Perfekt brow gel isn't too expensive, you can double the length of use by using it in combo with Maybelline clear gel.

Leave a Comment brows, eyebrows, maybelline, perfekt

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Beauty Progress Report #5

I did a video on my usual blog post series titled "Beauty Progress Report", where I talk about the products I've been trying out and haven't yet made my mind up about them! The products I talk about are: Tarte Amazonian Clay Air Brush Foundation and their kabuki brush, the Marc Jacobs Shameless blush in the shade Outspoken, Milani Baked blushes in shades "Corallina" and "Luminoso". Finally, I talk about the NYX butter lipstick and lip gloss! Give it a thumbs up if you enjoyed the video, and tell me if you tried any of these and what your thoughts are :)

Leave a Comment beauty progress report, marc jacobs, milani, nyx, tarte

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Life Update #5

Apologies for being so dead on the blog! It is finals week and usually that means I've got dark circles down to my chin, sleepy eyes, crazy hair, and sweat pants on 24/7. It also means I lose all ability to multitask and that sadly means neglecting my little space of creativity here on my blog. But bear with me, I'll be done in a week and that means, BLOG TIME!

But meanwhile, want to look at my crazy makeup top shelf? I've organized it since, but most days when I'm running out without much time, it's kind of in this mess. But, I kind of like it all randomized like this too. But, it always gets out of hand way too quickly :)

Meanwhile, you can still enter my Missha giveaway here. It's open until the last day of this month, so enter while you can :) And for the sake of the few loyal readers I have, I also posted a blogpost on something that's been giving me sweet dreams. Check that out here!

If you've got any blogpost/video requests, always feel free to leave them in the comment section below! Hope you're all enjoying your week :)

Leave a Comment life update

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