/Announcement/ Apologies....

I am sorry for the absence of posts for nearly three (!!!) months. Due to some unpredictable circumstances I got really stressed and busy. I also started working which is contributing to much of the stress and business. I honestly miss blogging and knowing I've neglected this has made me feel so sad. On a positive note, I have soooooooo many things to review and get up on here so I'll be doing that once I finish up my TEFL course. Or sooner whenever I have the time. kk. bbs. baci. \(*u~)

/Hair/ Mise En Scène Hello Bubble Foam Color in Choco Brown

this was purchased by me
It's been a long time since I last blogged...So sorry. I've been busy with adjusting and other things. I wanted to at least get a post in regarding my hair as I really needed to color it. I stopped by a beauty store the other day (there are so many here) and picked out this hair dye because it on sale and I wanted to try a foaming hair dye. Let's see how my hair turned out!

/Lenses/ Neo Dali Sweet Chocolate Brown Circle Lenses

this was purchased by me.
Hello~ I'll be reviewing some circle lenses from Korea Big Eyes today. I actually bought these quite a while ago and have started using then recently (for a few months, actually). As I'm getting a little older (too true /o _ o\;;) and further establishing my career, I'm looking for lenses that are more natural to wear everyday. Are these Neo lenses good for the job? Let's check them out.

/Skin/ Skin79 Crystal Peeling Gel

this was purchased by me.
Sorry for the lack of posts. I'm still working on getting my documents ready and packing for my move abroad. It's really stressful. Anyway, I wanted to write up a review for this SKin79 product as I've been using it for a while. Is it any good? Let's find out!

/Make-up/ New York Color Sky Rise Lengthening Mascara

this was purchased by me.
Hello! I don't know if any one remembers I'm supposed to be moving soon, but I am. There's quite a bit of paperwork I need to get done before hand so it's keeping me busy. Anyway, I thought I'd put up one more post before the end of the month. This is a mascara I've been using for a while and I'd like to share my thoughts on it with you ^^

/Body/ The Honest Co. Honest Sunscreen Lotion SPF 30

this was purchased by me.

Throughout this summer I've been particularly diligent with my sunscreen. I always apply it on my face as the last step of my skincare routine, but I often neglect to cover the rest of my body. When I bought this sunscreen I was hoping it would be great to use on my face and body, but it ended up being better for my body (more on that later). Let's get onto the review!

/Hair/ L'Oreal Paris Preference Medium Ash Brown

this was purchased by me.
It's been a long time since I last dyed my hair. Three months have passed! My roots had started to show and I wanted to go back to a slightly darker, natural looking hair color. I had this L'Oreal hair dye I bought a month ago in my room so I decided to use it.

/Lips/ NYX Butter Lipstick in Candy Buttons

this was purchased by me.
Onto more reviews! I got this at Ulta when they were having an event for 40% off NYX products. I'd been wanting to try their Butter Lipstick because I liked their Butter Gloss (I should pick up some more). Let's see if this is good as well!

/Skin/ Etude House AC Clinic Intense Liquid Spot

this was purchased by me.
Happy 4^th of July to any of my U.S. readers! I'll be celebrating America's birthday today with BBQ and ice cream and probably doing my nails. On to the actual review post!

In case you didn't know, I don't have perfect skin. Sometimes before, during, and after my time of the month I'll get painful hormonal breakouts along my jawline. Sometimes I get pimples from being stressed out or eating unhealthy foods. Anyway, I need a product to treat blemishes effectively and gently. I picked this up at Etude House a few months ago after seeing this review that amazed me. So I bought it and I've been using it daily since then. Let's see how it worked for me.

/Skin/ Yes To Carrots Fragrance-Free Intense Hydration Night Cream

this was purchased by me.
I bought this cream a looong time ago, it was around mid-fall, when my skin was feeling very dry and flaky. I was looking for a moisturizer to soothe my face, but I wanted it to have natural ingredients and be cruelty-free. Lo and behold, I found this at my local Target. It had everything I was looking for so I decided to try it out. Seeing as the jar is nearly empty, I'd like to share my thoughts on it.

/Make-up/ Neutrogena Healthy Skin 3-in-1 Concealer for Eyes

this was purchased by me
Recently I haven't been getting enough sleep. Truth be told, I'm also getting older (＠O＠;). A result of this combination are the dreaded dark circles under my eyes. It wasn't so bad the last time I discussed it on this blog (link to NYX concealer), but it's become a prominent problem I deal with daily. Along with the dark circles, I have fine lines and the skin under my eyes is very dry. With these issues, I decided to try Neutrogena's 3-in-1 concealer to see if it would provide any help.

/Skin/ First Aid Beauty Fab Faves To Go

this was purchased by me.
I've had good experiences with First Aid Beauty products in the past (I've reviewed some on here) and I like how the brand makes things gentle, fragrance-free, and suitable for sensitive skin types, I wanted to try a complete FAB regime without spending too much money and this seemed like a good deal. I bought a FAB Faves To Go kit for my mom a while ago and she seemed to like it so I decided to pick up one for myself. This stayed tucked away for a while until I went on my trip. Having used all the products in this kit together, as well as finishing some two of them, I'd like to share my thoughts on them with you.

/Make-up/ Revlon GrowLuscious Mascara

this was purchased by me.
I don't know about you, but whenever I'm looking to purchase a new beauty product I tend to look for something to benefit me. Something to care for my skin or lips or in this case my eyelashes. I've been using mascara for almost six years (yes, I was slow to the make-up game...), but I avoided using it because I didn't want to deal with removing it from my lashes every night. I also have a slight fear the overusing eyelash curlers could traumatize my lashes and impede them from growing. Strange notions aside, I picked up this mascara because its "lash enhancing formula improves lashes' overall appearance and condition with every day use." Having used this for about three months, I'm ready to share my thoughts on it.

/People/ Christina Ricci

Sorry for being away for so long...I've been dealing with a few things that need to get done before I leave L.A. in a few months. It's been a while since my last blog post featuring a person I admire for their beauty and style so I thought why not start off May with one?

via sarahwhat.com
There has always been a certain allure to Christina Ricci. She can be dark and twisted yet adorable and funny. I remember seeing her for the first time when I watched the firs Addams Family movie. I liked that she was different. Wednesday Addams was scary and surprisingly confident. Christina Ricci portrayed the character well, giving the right amount of deranged to childish charm.

I enjoyed watching her in more light-hearted movies like Now and Then and Casper. She was definitely one of my favorite actresses of the 90s.

She's a wonderfully talented actress who's particularly intelligent. This article I recently read really brought to light how creative and professional she is (she has her own production company!). I had sort of forgotten about Christina Ricci throughout the years as she hasn't been in many films or TV shows lately, but after watching Penelope and Grey's Anatomy on Netflix I was smitten all over again. She doesn't seem to age and every time I see her she reminds me of a doll. A beautiful, petite, age-defying doll. I hope I look that good when I'm 35.





Here are some online articles giving insight to her beauty habits, style inspiration, and life outlook.

.through the ages
.how she looks so young
.barney's influencer
.nylon cover look how-to
.popsugar interview
.interview's 1994 talk with a teenaged Ricci

/Make-up/ Innisfree Water Glow Cushion SPF 50+ PA+++

this was purchased by me.
I'd been wanting to try a cushion compact for a long time. I thought about trying the Etude House one because it wasn't that expensive and I saw all the pretty advertisements for it. One day after watching Pony do a make-up tutorial for dry skin and seeing she was using Innisfree products I thought I would look into the brand. I found out they have an online store that delivers worldwide. The shipping prices aren't that bad either. I decided to get the Water Glow Cushion and to see how

/Skin/ Maybelline Clean Express! Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover

this was purchased by me.
I bought this a while back, many months ago, and I even mentioned it (very discreetly) when I first started blogging. Having just finished this bottle, let's see how this worked out for me.

/Etc/ Shameless Promoting

Hello~ I'm just doing a quick post on other places you can find and follow me on social media. Check out the sidebar to the right for any other places I've left out here.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin!
Check out my Instagram!
Follow me on Twitter (I'm on there often)!
Like me on Facebook!
Thank you for your time! I'll be making a new post very, very soon.

/Hair/ L'Oreal Paris Preference Les Blondissimes Extra Light Ash Blonde

I'm finally working on getting back to blogging. I thought that I'd be fine when I got back from Korea, but I started feeling a little ill and extremely tired. Now I've recovered, I think, so onto the review.


The first thing I wanted to do when I returned from Korea was deal with my hair color. I think it had been about six months since I used a permanent hair dye. After calculating that I can't believe it's been that long...Anyway, as spring is here I wanted to lighten up my hair so I decided to try out L'Oreal Preference's Les Blondissimes line. Let's see how my hair turned out after using it.

/Announcement/ Back Home & Future Plans

Hello! I've just returned from South Korea (I arrived yesterday afternoon)! I had a very interesting and fun time there, going around visiting family and exploring the cities. Also there was some shopping to be had.

slowly expanding my bootleg simpsons t-shirt collection...also some korean cosmetics!
Surprisingly, I don't feel very jet-lagged and I think I'm adjusting back to L.A. time well. It's nice to be back because I felt so cold while I was over there.
Anyway, my trip to Korea wasn't just for sightseeing and shopping, there was an actual purpose. So...I had interviews at two different English Academies in Busan during my time there. Both went well and my boyfriend and I were offered jobs, the only thing we had to do was decide where we which one we wanted to work at. Sooo that means I'll be living in Korea! For at least one year, I think. It's exciting and a little scary, but mostly exciting! That's the important news I wanted to share because I was so surprised to get job offers like almost immediately after the interviews.
I'll be back to blogging reviews and such soon so expect to see new posts~

/Announcement/ 3 Week Trip!

bye!
I'm leaving tonight! There probably won't be any new posts for a while...This is probably the shortest entry I've written.
Anyway! I'll let you all know how Korea was.^^

/Hair/ Clairol Natural Instincts in Light Brown

this was purchased by me.
Before I leave for Korea this week (my goodness, that's coming up fast) I wanted to touch up my hair color. It's been almost a month and a half since I last dyed my hair and my roots are starting to show...I'd like to look presentable to my family and others (potential employers!?!) when I see them and leave a goof impression. I decided to pick up this non-permanent hair dye from Clairol because I've had good results with this in the past. Let's see how this color worked out for me.

/Skin/ Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Shea Soap w/ Sognyi Mushroom

this was purchased by me.
I finally decided to try another Shea Moisture soap as a facial cleanser. I chose this particular one because it focuses on brightening and toning the skin with natural, organic ingredients. I've been using this as a daily cleanser for about four or five months and here's my review~

/Hair/ L'Oreal Paris EverSleek Sulfate-Free Smoothing System Reparative Smoothing Shampoo

this was purchased by me.
Something new! I don't think I've reviewed a shampoo in a loooong time. I've never even officially reviewed a shampoo (the only thing that comes close is this). I actually just finished this bottle of shampoo (I posted a picture on my instagram). After using it for nearly 5 months here are my thoughts.

/Announcement/ Upcoming Trip to....

Hello! If you've seen some of my tweets recently, I've been talking about going somewhere. And the big reveal....I'm off to Korea in a few weeks! I didn't think it was going to happen, honestly, it was kind of like a nice idea my boyfriend suggested and now it's a reality. Now, this isn't just a vacation where I go around seeing historic/interesting places, go shopping, and eat delicious things; I'm also scouting out potential jobs in major cities. Then I'm going to see various family and friends.
There's so much to do and plan out...I need to start making my packing list immediately. Do other people do that? Like, make a list of everything they need to pack so they don't forget something (I still forget to pack things, though)? Anyway, I may not have time to blog when I'm there so I'll try to squeeze in a few more reviews before then.

Seriously, I'm excited and terrified! (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و

/Make-up/ NYX Milk Jumbo Eye Pencil

this was purchased by me.
This actually came in a beauty box I purchased from Target a few months ago. I've been wanting to try NYX's Jumbo Eye Pencils for a long time ever since I saw them pop up on various blogs and youtube videos. I wanted to see if this pencil was as amazing as I've seen it be. So I've used this a few times and here's what I think.

/Skin/ Missha Time Revolution White Cure Blanc Sun Protector

this was purchased by me.
I bought this a while ago as I got this with the the Missha Complexion Coordinating BB Cream, but I started using this recently (like a few months ago) as I needed a new sunscreen. I was excited to try this because it's supposed to have whitening properties to get rid of any skin discolorations (e.g.: darks spots from the sun, acne scars, etc.). After using this daily for months, I'd like to share my thoughts on it with you.

/Lenses/ GEO Starmish Brown Circle Lenses

this was purchased by me.
Hello! It's been a long time since I reviewed a pair of circle lenses and I'm glad to feature them on my blog again! Remember when I did a special post featuring Mai Hirose? She was the model for Geo's Starmish lenses when they were released and I told my self I would get my hands on them. I've reviewed the Starmish Black and I've been trying the browns ones out for the last few months. Here's my review! (*≧ω≦)

/Skin/ Lumene Sensitive Touch Arctic Aqua Moisture Booster

this was purchased by me.
This caught my eye in Marshall's during the summer. After reading the packaging I decided this would be worth the try to help the skin on my face. I've been using this since August, usually in the mornings, and I'm ready to share my thoughts with you.

/Diet/ Week 25: 2015 Progress & Tips & Goals

Nearly a month has gone by since the new year started and I haven't given any updates regarding how my diet has been going. To be honest, it's not going very well at all even with the exercises I've been doing and the changes in what kinds of foods I've been eating. My weight has gone up 2 lbs/1 kg since the last time I posted an update so I was a little embarrassed and hesitant to post it on here.

the graph should be going down....
I think my weight gain has a bit to do with biological factors being a girl, but I was sure there was something else going on in my body. As I watch Blogilates everyday (I follow the workout calendar) I decided to watch this video to see if any of reasons applied to me.

Turns out you can gain weight from

1)being stressed
2)not getting enough sleep
3)not drinking enough water

I feel like I'm drinking a lot of water these days, up to at least 5 cups and I keep a 1L bottle of water with me wherever I go, so that wasn't the main reason I'm retaining weight. I'm moderately stressed out and for some reason I am having trouble going to sleep at night recently. I'm going to work on all those things in the upcoming weeks and hopefully I'll see good results.

So, after browsing the internet last week (I was googling "how to get slimmer legs" ¬_¬) I found this blog by Kelly Konomi where she shares tips on dieting which I found to be helpful. There are many tips on foods to eat and teas to drink as well as other things to do to avoid water retention (hot baths at night!). I do think she's already so skinny though....

In terms of what I've been eating, it's a lot less breads/sweets/meat/dairy and more vegetables/grains/nuts/fruits. Since the beginning of the year, I have been trying to eat less processed foods as well. I learned that the food consumed actually determines our weight more than exercise (I learned this from a Blogilates video, but here's a short blog post explaining how it works). I'm trying to eat more natural and/or organic as well as making my own food instead of buying something pre-made. I started to make my own vegetable stock! It's super easy (takes a long time to simmer though) and it tastes great. I use the one from Whole Foods because I happened to have most of the ingredients in my kitchen. It's great to have on hand as a quick side or a component of a main meal (eat it with quinoa and a salad). Also, whenever I crave something sweet, I eat a teaspoon of raw, organic honey.


It's so sweet that I need only one teaspoon to kick my sugar craving and honey is also a good source of vitamins and anti-oxidants (see here). It's also not that expensive, I got mine for about $5 at Trader Joe's, and it lasts a long time.

Anyway, that's what I've been doing to try and lose weight. I'll continue to post updates biweekly (that's one update every two weeks) and let you know if any methods are successful for me.

Stats
.Weight: 119.5 lbs/54.2 kg
.BMI: 21.1
.Current routine: Blogilates daily (haven't had much weight loss, but I feel stronger & my arms and stomach are less flabby), more stretching
.Goals: continue to do Blogilates, eat cleaner (more veg/fruit/natural less processed), more cardio, definitely try to sleep more

/Lips/ NYX Peaches and Cream Butter Gloss

this was purchased by me.
Ah, another pink lip gloss to give me a pretty pink pout. I'm very much obsessed with lippies and pink is my favorite variety. I had been wanting to try NYX's butter glosses for a long time and I finally indulged in getting one when Ulta was having a sale of 40% off on certain brands. I picked this color because it looked like a warm peachy pinky that would complement my skin tone. After using it for the last few months in various looks, I'm ready to share my thoughts on the butter gloss with you.

/Make-up/ Lumene Time Freeze Anti-Age CC Cream

this was purchased by me.
As usual my quest for a nice complexion continues with this CC cream from Lumene. I've had a lot of good experience with Lumene products, even reviewing this on my blog, and I think they're a very underrated brand. Anyway, I picked this up during the summer at Ulta as I've been interested in trying this for some time. After months of daily use, I'm ready to share my thoughts on this CC Cream with you.

/Skin/ Etude House Real Art Moisture Cleansing Oil

this was gifted to me.
When my mom went back to South Korea last October, she was nice enough to pick up a few Korean skincare things for me. Since my birthday is in October this worked out as a way for me to get good presents ^^. Since I finished my last cleansing oil I've been using Etude House's Real Art cleansing oil. This has become part of my nightly routine for the past two months and I'd like to share my thoughts on it with you.

/Announcement/ New Year! Also, Diet & New Stuff

Hello! It's been a while since I made a post...It's not because I was busy, but I didn't have anything prepared to post so I've been working on that lately. Happy (belated) New Year, though! So, for Christmas last month I was avle to receive a new camera! I finally have a DSLR and it has a 24.2 megapixel definition.


This is a tremendous upgrade to the digital camera I've been using so far. My old one was from 2009 (when I was studying abroad in Oxford at the time) and it's kind of falling apart so I was happy to get a new, nicer camera.

selfie w/ new camera!
I'm still reading the manual and getting used to using it, so I'll be gradually using it to take picture for this blog.

Also, I haven't been updating the status of my diet. With the New Year people make resolutions to eat healthier and be more active, but that's what I started doing a while ago. I think it's about 22 weeks in already...? Anyway, I'm still not near my goal of 108 lbs/49 kg (my weight is currently 118 lb/53.5 kg), but I am following the Blogilates workouts daily and incorporating better foods in my diet. I want follow meal plans/recipes from Whole Foods and the Blogilates website. And I got a new weight scale!

It's so pretty and accurate! I like using it even though seeing how much I weigh makes me anxious.
Well, thanks for checking out my blog and sharing this journey with me in beauty, style, and health. I'll be posting new stuff soon, namely reviews, so be patience and be sure to visit again~