LUSH-ed

Whenever I pass by a LUSH cosmetics store, I always hasten my steps because of the pungent fragrance emitted from the store. (You can smell them from a block away or across the streets) I never thought I would find something that will work for me in this store, but nonono, I've got some good finds to share with all of you today (if any of you are still reading despite my 2 week hiatus)! So here we go: a review of some ONE (for now) LUSH product!

UNO: Angels on bare skin skin cleanser

Okay....so this might look like a lump of yucky stuff, but I guess you could put it that way-it is clay after all. This skin cleanser is suitable for all skin types, and it does wonders! I have combination skin, so my cheeks are super dry after a wash but my T-zone gets super oily throughout the day. BOO. I'm not so worried about my T-zone, but I really hate it when my cheeks are cracking after every single face wash. I've been using Clinique for almost a year and when I finished the bottle I turned to Laniege's Foam Cleanser, which, sadly, does not combat the dryness problem. When I visited the LUSH store in Metrotown, Vancouver, BC, the sales was SUPER helpful; she gave me a lot of samples to bring home and try out, and Angels on bare skin was one of them.

The sales associate told me that this cleanser is not soap based, which immediately caught my attention. It is a clay based cleanser packed with ground almonds and lavender. It's suitable for all skin types, not soap based which means it doesn't dry skin out! It's their best seller for a reason! ;)

For me, I like how soft it makes my skin feel after every wash. I'm still on the sample stage though. She gave me a small pot to try out; but I only need a pea size every time so I've using it for a week now and I can't help but have to rave about it!

PROS:

-non-drying

-does the job of cleansing

-softens the skin

-gently exfoliates

CONS:

-tends to get messy during use (clay material after all)

-smells kind of iffy, but you just need to get used to it (:

RATING: 4/5!

AHHH okay it's a short review, I'll do a more complete one (with more pictures) along with other products, soon!

change

UGH. I know I've been slow on updates ): School is officially over and it's finals season and I have six papers to study for, two per week.

Nonetheless, I am a little behind on this, but I'd like to give a shout out to my darling Karen Chua, the girl who turned 20 on April 9! Happy Birthday my love! I miss you like crazy! Let us know how the celebration went! We want details ;)

I just attempted to dye my hair, again. I felt like the yellow-brown colour I sported wasn't very professional so I've decided to make it a couple shades darker. Of course, it did not turn out as I expected.

):

You guys be the judge.

You see the slight difference? Yeah? Yeah?

The boy says it's just a matter of lighting, nothing has changed.

Okay YEAH I WILL ADMIT IT LOOKS THE SAME LIKE I DIDN'T ANYTHING TO IT AT ALL D:

Sobs.

I should lay off my hair for a while or I'd be damaging it way too much.

Anywho, I will try to update as frequent as possible lovelies, maybe queue up some posts for you guys (: wish me luck on my finals!

frizzy hair?

Currently "studying" in library (:

I thought I'd do a little review on this product I have been experimenting on-

Organix Coconut Milk Anti Breakage Serum

Do you have frizzy hair? What about split ends? If you say yes to either one of those, then you should try this product out!

Okay done with the cheesy opening. Let's get to the point.

At first I was a little hesitant because this serum is oil-based, and my hair gets really oily by itself already, I didn't like the idea of slabbing MORE oil onto my scalp. However, this serum is not sticky or anything like that, to my surprise! It's super light, plus you only use a really small amount every time. After you dry your hair slightly with a towel, dispense a small amount and apply on the ends of your hair while it is still damp.

Pros:

• It controls frizziness; makes hair smoother after every wash, especially for treated hair like mine.
• CHEAP
• It does not make your hair oily!

Cons:

• Split ends are still there, but definitely reduced. You can't expect split ends to just disappear, unless you get a haircut.
• That it's kind of hard to control the amount you want out of the bottle, but no biggie!

The verdict?

★★★★☆

It's a really high score, I know (I wanted to give it 5 stars at first!), but this one deserves it! Though I'm sure it works differently for everyone. If it's right for me, doesn't mean it's the one for you... This serum also comes in Green Tea instead of Coconut :D There may be other ones too, but so far I've only seen two in my local drugstore. You can google the product to find out more!

Hope that helps for some of you out there (:

hello, weekend.

One of the greatest pleasures for me is this tingly feeling I get when i finish writing an essay. Weird, I know, but it's soooo satisfying. I dread essays; I dread the time I spend writing them. I have all these ideas in my head, but when you want me to put them on a piece of paper(computer screen), I hesitate. Then procrastination doubles triples the time I actually need to finish the assignment.

When I finished my Philosophy essay approximately 30 minutes ago, I felt like I deserve some relax time (; Which means I will be back on my GG marathon, after this blog post, of course!

I attempted to paint my nails two days ago and here are the results!

Ahem, excuse my awkward hand position (:

If you're wondering why both hands have different styles....well let's just say my left hand is too dumb to make polkadots, or stripes, or whatsoever. So I resort to alternate colors on my right hand. :S I like it still!

Nail color used:

1. It's a Girl! by OPI (very sheer baby pink)

2. Gargantuan Green Grape by OPI (pastel grape green)

Outfit post should be up by tomorrow...stay tuned? (:

Currently in love with: Adele's Someone Like You

toast

roarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr hellos (:

Pardon me for being M.I.A. for the past couple of days-I've been preparing for my thermodynamics final by annotating loads of solutions. That's how I study for finals: solution annotation, and learn what I need to know from there, especially with calculation questions.

The exam itself was pretty tough if compared to past exams :S I only managed to solve 1 question fully (there were 4 in total). I didn't have enough time either because I spent a whole hour on that one question. Not to mention I was 5 minutes late for the exam: so embarrassing walking into the room panting while everyone looked up from their papers momentarily just to stare at you! geez, if only the bus was not 10 minutes late.

ANYWAY, enough rant about finals, they're no fun.

After that brutal 2.5 hrs, I went straight to work (American Eagle). Today at work I realized something: my canto is real crap. There was this customer who doesn't speak English well came up to me and asked if I speak Canto. I was caught off guard rightaway but told her I do. So I helped her picked out the stuff she wanted to buy and at so many point during the entire conversation I found myself at a loss of words ): so I used English to replace those words instead. The good thing is she didn't tease my broken Cantonese at all. Such a nice lady!

I did dress up today (for work-entire outfit w/AE) but I was too lazy to take any pictures. Sorry guys! I'll do one tmr? (:

So I thought I'd do a quick review of some products I'm loving and recommending to you readers. Hope you guys like it!

DISCLAIMER: I purchased all these items myself and am not affiliated with any of them.

PRODUCT 1: SKINFOOD RICE MASK WASH OFF

This is my ultimate favorite product! The product is a wash off mask, but I use it as an exfoliator. It does wonders! Whenever my skin feels really dull, I just use this after cleansing my face. It contains little particles (rice?) that are not harsh at all and exfoliate your skin really gently. It only takes 1 minute max: just massage it on dried face and rinse! Voila! I swear my skin feels extra squeaky clean right after I use this (: You can literally feel+see the difference it makes.

Use this product once every three/four days. The particles are really gentle so the product won't dry out your skin as harsh as other face exfoliators.

RATE: 5/5!

PRODUCT 2: BENEFIT THAT GAL BRIGHTENING FACE PRIMER

This is something I added to my routine very recently. I am not a foundation person. The closest thing I use to foundation is BB cream. One time I was browsing in Sephora I stumbled upon this product and I thought I'd give it a try. Now it has officially replaced my SkinFood BB Cream :D

Of course, both products give very different effects. Since this is a primer, it doesn't provide coverage, but I find it evens out my skin tone overall. It has a pink tint and smells absolutely wonderful. The greatest think about it is the texture: it's like a moisturizer (tinted moisturizer maybe?) and it doesn't cake on your skin. That's the ultimate reason why it replaced my BB Cream as my everyday perk-me-up. As mentioned, the downside is no coverage, but it's only a primer after all.

shop this at Benefit Cosmetics or Sephora (click away!)

RATE: 4/5!

PRODUCT 3: AG HAIR COSMETICS FAST FOOD

So this is a leave-in conditioner I've been using for quite some time. It detangles and softens your hair, very suitable for someone with bushy hair like me (: Sometimes I forget to apply this after shower and the next day my hair looks superdry (then I immediately put some on before I leave the house). This products lasts really long since you only use very little each time. I'm still on my first tube! A little goes a long way (: Recently, I've been using this product in combination with a drop of jojoba oil. This was actually a trick taught by baby lol. This combo actually worked even better!

read/shop at AG Hair Cosmetics! (click click)

RATE: 5/5!

Okays, so that's all my review for now. I hope you guys enjoyed this little post w/my honest opinion and maybe find it helpful! It's really late now ): and I have work tmr morning too. I'm gonna think about what to wear to work tmr haha.

Oh, I have yet to discover the perfect concealer for my freaky dark circles, any recommendations? Leave me a note!

Seeya,

A.

refresh.

So this is the very important first post (the one before doesn't count!) of my new blog, though I am no blogger-virgin. This must be my third blogspot ever. What does that say about me? I have no perseverance. (sadface)

I think the reason I stopped blogging again and again was because I had nothing in particular to talk about except for my daily life *which was quite boring*, and gradually I lost my blogging-mojo...which shall not happen again! I shall stick to this for as long as I can so I won't disappoint my readers! (though I will need a couple of readers to start with...)

I was kind of inspired by many blogs out there that focus on fashion, beauty etc and thought why not? I'll try that out too! So here I am, a fresh start in the blogging world... Maybe do a daily log of my outfit or whatevs...Hopefully it's not too late to start, I mean, a lot of people are doing it already :/

Anywhoos, I finally tried out a new OPI I got some time ago. I haven't got around testing it because I was (and still am) too in love with OPI Shrek's What's With the Cattitude? I swear it's the most adorable color ever!!

mmkay back to my point: I just put on OPI Gargantuan Green Grape two days ago and overall I think it's a cute color (: kinda iffy with my skin tone but oh wells. I think I'm more into pastel nail colors these days-they're sooo cute.

tadaaaaa! What do you think? Apologies if you can't see the color clearlyyy

Ookay, I admit I suck at manicures. I make really uneven streaks and I get really impatient waiting for each coat to dry so I just slab on one coat after another really quickly ): In the end my left hand looks decent but my right is just plain crappy.

That is all for my first post! I will come up with something more interesting sooooon (:

Oh and on a side note, anyone watched HP7? I WANNA WATCH IT SO BAD. If you have, please do not spoil it for me <3

with love, A.