John Mayer | Edge of Desire
Because it was requested . If I could only keep one make-up product, it would be my blush! Put blush on the cheeks of any drawn character and it will look uber cute. Blush makes you look cuter, healthier, happier… I can go on. It is one of the reasons my online aliases have always included “blush”. Another reason is, when I’m at my happiest, I blush . I remember when I got my first digital camera from my dad, it was so happy, I just gushed and turned totally red!

One of my everyday blushes is the Pur Minerals Marble Powder. It can be applied to the cheeks, eyelids, or lips for a nice glow.  For those in Canada, I purchased mine at my local Shoppers Drug Mart. It is great for a light pink glow that can be built up on for more colour.

Excuse the tired eyes. I quickly snapped these at the end of my day. I need sleep . OH! I’m also wearing the Korres Lip Butter in Pomegranate. It’s very pigmented stuff! Way more pink in real life. Tastes and smells awesome too. I totally recommend it! (Go for a lighter colour like the guava if you want to avoid really pigmented stuff though.)

Fame Soundtrack | Black and Gold
Maybe I need a haircut too, but I’ll start the year off with new colour . What I regret? Not getting the colorfix to strip my previous dye (lazy me). Looks okay at times, but I still have my gradient hair from previous dye jobs. If I had virgin hair, the L’oreal HiColor dye would have definitely done wonders. I don’t think I’m going back to drugstore box dyes anymore. Is it as light as I wanted? Mmm… I’ll keep at this experiment of mine . And of course, thanks to the boyfriend for doing my dye job: wearing latex gloves, inhaling chemicals, saran wrapping my head and all!

Due to the bleaching, I was afraid I would totally damage my hair. So I stocked up. Since I was quite successful in my skin care goal, I thought I’d move along to haircare. Introducing my new haircare army.

Moisture Recovery Shampoo and Conditioner to reduce the dryness of my hair, purple Colour Endure Shampoo to reduce brassy and yellow tones, and an Intense Hydrator Treatment to make my hair feel like silk! I’ve only washed my hair with each product once but so far, pretty good! After I dyed my hair, I immediately used the purple shampoo to tone my hair. My hair was really soft after dying! I was amazed. Usually with box dyes, my hair becomes really dry. As for silk hair? We’ll see .

I’ve also just restocked on my HG mascara. I’ve been considering hauling them in mass quantities off ebay. I’m on my 5th. Some came from trips down to the states, others all the way from Taiwan and Japan. It’s the only mascara I can use that doesn’t smudge, doesn’t run, and doesn’t leave me with a black eye after washing my face. It just slides off with water. LOVE.

I meant to post these earlier. It’s actually random stuff I bought way back in October haha. Sephora had the Korres Lip Butter in special 3 packs. It’s been perfect for cold winters . As for the maybelline pink please, pur mineral marble powder and batiste dry shampoo. I blame those purchases on youtube guru influences .

I had a coupon for “Life Brand” products at Shoppers Drug Mart and I totally did not know what to pick up. Browsing around the store, there was a display filled with little packets “for everything from head to toe”. It was very cute . Usually I read many, many reviews before purchasing any skin care products, but I thought I’d just give it a try. Plus I was very inspired by Bubzbeauty’s recent “Secret to Clear Skin” video and vowed to invest more time, money, and effort on my skin.

This is what I got:

exfoliating treatment (with cream and honey) - Reveal smooth, healthy skin with this gentle exfoliant. Tiny jojoba beads quickly unplug pores, while cream and honey refresh your complexion. This treatment will transform skin to look and feel its best.

purifying face mask (with jasmine and cactus flower extract) - Reveal clear, radiant skin with this purifying peel-off face mask. Indulgent extracts of Jasmine and Cactus Flower purify and stimulate the skin. Peel away dead skin and impurities to reveal a bright, cleansed complexion.

calming face mask (with aloe vera and mint) - Balance and de-stress skin with this cooling face mask. Feel the tingling sensation as Mint cleanses skin and unplug pores, while moisturizing Aloe Vera encases skin to heal and protect. Transform skin for a flawless calm complexion.

warming face mask (with grapefruit and vitamin e) - This self-heating mask opens and cleanses pores. Feel the benefit as the active ingredients of grapefruit and lime work in combination with rich clay to help open the pores, allowing impurities to be drawn out of the skin. High in vitamin C and vitamin E content, this mask cleanses eliminating excess oils and leaves skin feeling moisturized and deeply cleansed.

hydrating face mask (with sweet almond oil and vitamin a) - Quench skin’s thirst with this rich moisturizing face mask. Soak up the moisturizing benefits of sweet almond oil, enriched with vitamin A, as the mask conditions and hydrates.

reconstructive hair mask (with lime oil) - Hydrate hair with this blissful recovery mask. This intensive treatment will recondition and repair damaged, bleached, permed, or coloured hair. A heavenly pampering experience.

But there were MANY more! They were on sale for about $1.29 per packet. Each packet is good enough for at least two uses! So far I’ve only tried the purifying face mask.

How to use: Tie your hair back and cleanse your face thoroughly. Then wet your skin with warm water: this is important because you want to open up your pores so that your skin can take in more of the mask’s nutrients. So, it is good to use it right after you shower! Put a generous amount on your entire face to create a thick layer of the mask, while avoiding your eyes and mouth. Leave on for 15-20 mins then peel off .

What I liked: Very lightly scented! It made my skin feel very clean and soft after wards. It also was effective in tightening my skin! There was less redness as well! Overall, it was a really good experience for my first face mask!

I don’t know if it was just me, but after using the mask twice I did notice a difference in my skin. Though that might be due to other factors . But for $1.29 for two uses, plus a full money back guarantee… I highly recommend giving it a try! I can’t wait to try the other ones .

beyonce | halo
It’s been really busy! With my current engineering capstone project and co-op applications, I’ve been swamped. And at times even discouraged due to no positive outcome from all the hard work. However, being me, I’ll keep at it till I get it!

I love japanese food. They just opened a new Sushi place in Coquitlam which is similar to the Sushi Garden place near Metrotown and they have one dish that I’ll just never stop ordering lol. I’m surprised I haven’t took a picture of it yet to share, but I guess cuz I’m too busy eating it . But for about $9 (I think?), you get this giant mound of spicy salmon sashimi… *drools . Jason and I assumed the portions are so big cuz they just opened. That just means I have to keep going to take advantage of it heh! Another dish I’m totally in love with is the Creamy Chicken Korreke dish at Yoshoku-Ya Restarant on Denman in Vancouver. It was my second time there and I just couldn’t resist ordering the same dish again. The portion may look small in the picture but the chicken is sooooo good and soooo filling. I definitely want to go back and try their other dishes, the whole menu looks amazing mmm. If you wanna try Japanese fusion food, this place is a must go.

I also made a quick run to Ikea last week to pick up some mirrors and a spotlight lamp to create…. my own vanity !! Lol, I kept nagging at Jason to make me one for the longest time. It was super easy too. We just got the set of SORLI mirrors and a single BERYLL wall lamp and *tada*! I think it’s totally cute, and now I have more room for my random make-up stuff.

Talking about make-up, I made a few purchases over the last month for some goodies! For those who don’t know, yes I wear make-up on a daily basis. Not cuz I’m insecure or anything like that, it’s just I think it’s fun being a girl. Experimenting with make-up is like art somehow lol. It’s like when we were young we could dress up barbie and do her hair… now we can dress ourselves up and do our own hair and make-up lol. I wish I had more excuses to experiment with make-up… but then I’m always going to school so I have to keep it to a minimal . One blogger I keep track of is Ricebunny. She really motivates me to not only have fun with make-up and treat it like an art but also to remember to take good care of my own skin. I regret being so harsh on my own skin when I first started university… now I have to try to make up for all of it. Anyways… for the fun stuff. I think I’ll start reviewing products that I buy…

February Haul

1. Sugar Flirt Criss-cross Lashes: I saw from some videos on youtube that you could create double eyelids by using these lashes (for monolid ppl). I think it was a few years ago that I wore eyelid stickers on a daily basis to get the effect but it was a bit of a hassle to run to richmond every once while for refills. Lol so I got lazy. But guess what? THESE ACTUALLY WORK amazingly! It’s like instant double eyelids once I apply them. Crazy stuff. They’re pretty natural looking cuz they are not the crazy dramatic types. I probably won’t wear them unless I’m going out somewhere tho, don’t want to get in the habit lol. But I definately recommend them.
2. NYX Eyeshadow Brush: Perfect size for my little eyes . I love the black bristles cuz you can see how much colour you’re picking up with them.
3. NYX Concealer in a Jar: mm… it’s okay. There is a weird cosmetic smell to it tho. Still looking for a good under eye concealer.
4. NYX pressed power blush in Mocha: Great colour but fades so fast… boo. For the price, pretty good .
5. Biotherm Foam Cleanser: $$$ eeee. But my skin has been crying lately due to my stress and my previous Clinique Foam Cleanser was starting to dry my skin out and irritate it. Due to good reviews, on how this can soften your skin, I wanted to give it a try. So far? mmm soft… very soapy soap smell tho.
6. Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara: I thought it’d be exactly like my Japanese Fibre Wig Mascara.. but well.. it almost is. The formula is very good and has the same effect but I hate the two step deal. The brush is also a pain cuz the wand is so short. It’s still great cuz it doesn’t smudge and give you panda eyes tho. So it’ll do for now until I get my hands on the Fibre Wig stuff .