Tarte for True Blood & Memoirs of a Kitty

I will post the answers to my previous post! :)

1. bacon cheeseburger
2. chicken cordon bleu or just a chicken sandwich lawl
3. spicy boneless wings
4. onion rings and french fries
5. chicken teriyaki and nathan's mini hotdog(?) thingies with french fries
6. oreo truffle balls
7. fried rice with chicken pops!
8. spinach artichoke dip w/ tortillas and wings.

hehe that was kinda fun, no? :P I know some of the pictures had bad lighting and stuff, my apologies~ but all three of you did so well rofl. But nobody guessed the oreo truffle ball correctly loool probably because I didn't show the inside.

If you answered my previous post, please leave me your e-mail address! Since three people answered, I have three polishes and other stuff ready to be packed. But my cousin *hinted* she wants one of the shades so you must let me know by Wednesday (I will most likely ship out Thursday).

On with my recent purchases~




Poor lighting =( But I bought a bunch of cheap (but not so bad quality) nail polishes. I really like the "shamrock" from Forever21 (Second picture, second polish) but it smells really bad :X and it lingers! boooo. And the Sally Hanson Extreme Wear reminded me of Teenage Dream but it's less pink than it. Glitters are pretty similar though.




I can't resist bows! They're too cute. And I was expecting more out of the second necklace but... it's wooden lol. I bet I could make that in one sitting given the appropriate equipment.




I buy chunky necklaces because my clothes are rather plain. A plain grey shirt + the black necklace = not so plain anymore.



HEHEHE aren't the socks adorable?? Well.. to be honest I don't need anymore socks but I thought these were soo cute I couldn't resist! Who can resist chubby little bunnies?!

Last but not least, my Tarte for True Blood & Memoirs of a Kitty palettes! I actually forgot to upload this from a few weeks ago x_x and pretty poor pictures because my camera sucks but I am grateful I at least have a working camera LOL.

They say that the Tarte palette is a "must" for every True Blood fan but I'm just a fan of gorgeous packaging and quality eye shadow to be honest. The Tarte palette was $52 and the Memoirs of a Kitty palette was $35.






So basically, there are 17 eye shadows. Some are matte, some are shimmery. You get generous sizes of their emphasEYES aqua-gel eyeliner in black, lights, camera, lashes! mascara in black, and lifted natural eye primer. If you are debating between the UD naked and this palette, I suggest you go for this one because this palette can be used for neutral looks as well as... "vampy" looks lol! But in all honesty, I can see this palette working wonders for many.



It also comes with a tutorial leaflet kind of thing! I tried the "Vamp Glam" and my mom told me I looked scary so I guess I partially succeeded? But I get the feeling that while I will be incorporating some of the things here, I won't always do it word for word. Like I mean, I also tried "Luminous Fairy" and it appeared too light for my pale skin.



The emphasEYES aqua-gel eyeliner was most peculiar.. it wasn't quite gel... or cream. Very interesting formula I think.



Very dark though, right? I'm looking forward to wearing this more often! I hope it doesn't smudge :(


Say Hello - Memoirs of a Kitty Palette

What can I say? I'm a sucker for cute packaging :( and cute boxes, I am never throwing that box away! I like to store receipts and/or coupons in them lol :) I was upset because I went the the Sephora in the city and they only had the "Happy Fun" palette which have the eye shadows and lip glosses on the bottom. I'm a heavy lip balm/lip stain user so the lip glosses would have little purpose for me! I really wanted to try blushes and this was just a good price for 4 eye shadows, and 2 blushes. Plus I like the eye shadow colors in Memoirs of a Kitty much more.

So basically yeah, I came home and purchased online.



nice neutrals going on~ I actually didn't get to use this yet but, I'm getting to it!



Ahhhh the blushes! Surprisingly, I like the color to the left more :X I use both though, I apply the right and a little bit of the left on top of it so it isn't as pink. I mean, I want to look blushing -- not like I was standing out in the cold for an hour!

Heh, so that's about it. I had no money to buy a bagel after church today :'(
sad but true story.

JUUUUNK FOOD GAME.

I am NOT a summer person. I'm more of a fall/winter person, I seriously cannot stand the humidity. But now I'm indoors and waiting for my dad to bring home dinner! He brings home dinner from work about once a month and I always look forward for it!

Today's post will be JUNK FOOD. YEAH! LOL. I was going through my pictures and I realized that I take a lot of pictures of food and they're all well, junk food. WHY are most tasty things so unhealthy?

By the end of the meal, I can only thank my Asian genes. Pft, people make fun of Asians for being short or flat (which is not true) but we fatten and age slower (for the most part)!!

Get ready for a heart attack, guys. And no, I did not have this in one day LOL. I'd love 5 meals/day of junk food LOL.

Ok. Now try to guess what they are. Some are obvious but some, not so much.
The prize will be this *SURPRISE COLOR :p * Essie nail polish I have as an unwanted duplicate because I'm an idiot. Two winners :) , if I have more than one participant LOL.
Number them in order and.. guess as many correct! :p Ends whenever it is that I post again.. whenever that may be.

NOTD + Long Reviews + New Planner! + Picture Heavy

Finally Thursday! No class tomorrow! Yayayayayay! Nothing is more exciting than that~ But I have a lot of studying to do over the weekend, but so far for spanish we've had 5 exams and I got a 100 on all of them!! But on the essays I keep getting 90s so my average is a 96.67% :( I don't understand why they count for as much as exams though...

Today I couldn't go past Dunkin Donuts because of the scorching heat -_- I ended up getting an iced tea for $.99 and it was pretty refreshing :) My bus came rather quickly and I don't have work today. Overall, a wonderful day so far!

I did my nails this sparkly pink color but it's more purple in the pictures aha :|
It kind of reminds me of those sally hanson nail strips thingy except mine aren't as good. But I can't imagine forking out $9 for something I can only use once!! And I wish I could grow out my nails but I'm so... anti-bacteria LOL. I secretly worry about bacteria that might be collecting under my nails even if I wash my hands often. I am SUCH a loser I promise I'll try to be less loser-ish from now on.





But it'll be a pain to take off later T_T

And since the fall semester is starting soon... I got myself a new planner!



It was pretty darn expensive but my friend knew the store (Banzai) owner so we got 30% off. I think I paid around $10 for this which I guess isn't thatttt bad since it's the binder type thing.




Pretty cute huh? I love the outside of it as well as the cute papers on the inside. I get so sad every time I write in it though, I feel like I'm tainting the cuteness of it all heheh~

PRODUCT REVIEWS:
So in my last post, I shared a small cosmetics haul and I received two requests :) Today I will be reviewing:



-Benefit's High Beam
-Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer

I will start off by saying that both products are SO EXPENSIVE!!!
But you don't need a lot of either product so I guess it's "okay" but... I can't get over the price. I know I'm going to repurchase both but ... I still need more time to get over the PRICE!

Benefit's High Beam ($23 at Sephora):


^I was surprised to see that the Smashbox Primer has more product in it...

I know there are TONS of reviews on this but yes, it is a highlighter. I use it on my brow bones and on my cheeks sometimes but it shows up less on my cheeks. In other words, it's a very subtle highlighter. It shows up more in the light (which my camera, unfortunately could not pick up) and it has a little bit of shimmer but overall it's very pearly, which is what I love about it. It blends quickly although I like to warm it up a little bit between my fingers before applying because I feel EVERYTHING goes on more smoother like that (except for primers -- I don't do it with primers for some reason lol).

However, there are a few things I don't like about it..

_The price ($23 for 0.45oz......)
_The applicator, as many have said as well. It's impossible to use every bit of it but I for one, will!! I'm going to cut a straw in half (the long way) and scoop it out until I use every bit of it LOL. Ugh, I just hate wasting stuff...


-The packaging in itself is awkward as well. Why... is it a nail polish packaging thing?? I'd love it if I can squeeze it out instead, maybe if people keep complaining about it, Benefit will change it? :P Wishful thinking~



That's about it!
Product itself: 4.5/5
Packaging: 3.5/5
Applicator: 3/5
Price: 1/5
Repurchase: Yes (4/5)



^Simply dotted



^Slightly rubbed



^What's left after application



^Swatch

Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer ($16 at Sephora):
Okay, this one is VERY expensive as well. I can't tell which is worse, the high beam or this primer... lol. This isn't the full-sized one, I really didn't have the heart to fork out $36 for something I may not like so I got the small one for now.





I will first begin with my skin type/facts.

-Kind of pale (NC15/20)
-Redness around nose area.
-Dry-normal but I get acne sometimes :( but no blackheads.
-Small-ish pores.
-Quite sensitive to the sun.
-I don't tan but I burn very easily.
-I use BB cream and concealer. BB cream is a MUST for me, esp. in the summer because I am sensitive to the sun. SPF is very important.

With that said, I don't really need a primer in the winter because my foundation/BB doesn't really fade. I don't wear much to start off with but in the summer, especially in humidity, my face sometimes does look like it's melting even though my skin is somewhat dry in some areas. That really is not attractive at all. I'm going to wear it in the winter though, I just feel like it sets everything in place well because it has a matte finish.

On the other hand, my mom has oily skin and we share this primer. I noticed that this extends the life of my make up about 4-5 hours (and I never have to blot when I use this) and my mom doesn't have to blot for an extra 3 hours. My mom used to always be stressed out about how her make up does not last but after using this, she only has to blot once the entire day, only around the nose area.

So if you can't tell already, we love this product!! After we finish this we will buy the full size one, even though the price tag is hefty.



^look how small it is!



^ This is how it looks when it's squeezed out. I don't know how I feel about this but.. the feeling of it is very... silicone-y. Super soft, but silicone-y. My mom likes that feeling but I'm still on the fence about it.



^ This is my bare naked nose after I woke up. As you can see, there is a little bit of shine.



^ After using it on my nose, pores show less right?? As you can see it's matte, but I think it accentuates my dryness a little. Not sure if it's because I took too long today to moisturize after washing my face, but yeah. But it doesn't show once I apply the rest of my make up so that's okay.

Product itself: 4.8/5
Packaging: 5/5
Applicator: 5/5
Price: 1/5
Repurchase: Yes (5/5)


PHEW. Was this too long?!? I just wanted to be very thorough about it.
So, how was everyone's day today?!

FOTD + Cosmetic Haul

Blah blah blah I hate humid weather! It makes me feel really BLAH, if you know what I mean. I really hate the humidity in New York, I heard that in California, the weather goes up to almost 100 degrees but it's rarely really humid. Today was only 90 degrees here but it was so humid, I'm glad my classes are over before noon and I work later in the day, that means it's still a little less humid. I don't know about you guys but I'd much rather be a little cold than stinking hot! Because when you're cold, you can just keep wearing clothes. When you're sweating, how much can you really do in terms of dressing "down"?!?!

Also, I thought I'd share that I haven't had soda in 4 days HAHA. It's a start right? Everyone has to start somewhere. LET'S GO FOR THREE MORE DAYS, JANE!

A photo of me to commemorate my endurance in the humidity today. It's worth commemorating because my face actually stayed together in the heat HAHA:



Bahahaha my hair is all messed up and stringy looking thanks to the beautiful humid weather today. Did I mention how much I love the MAC studio fix concealer? It was kinda expensive but I love it to bits. Who the heck likes to wear foundation in the middle of summer?! a teeny bit of concealer is the way to go!

Oh and I think I have a bug bite on my forehead, I hate bugs. Big ugly bugs make me want to cry ;(

And for something more interesting, my recent Sephora/Bloomingdales haul :) I spent a ton of money and I now have $49.84 + a $15 metro card under my name HAHA so pathetic. Can't wait till my next pay day so I can start SAVING again! Save, not spend! I have a separate "emergency expense" and I usually keep it to $200 but I've spent most of that up. I was doing really well though ;(


_Smashbox Lip Treatment (SPF 15)
_Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer (Smaller size) <- $16!!!!!! WHAAAT.
_MUFE HD powder
_Benefit High Beam
_Mac Mineralize Skinfinish (Semiprecious Pearl)
_Mac 116 Blush Brush
_Birthday freebie from Philosophy! Smells like vanilla cake.

More in depth post will follow this one. This is just a sneak preview :) Is there anything you guys want a specific review on?! :o if so, do let me know!
Horray for being poor now!!

A Birthday Post :) + Soda Addiction :(

First and foremost I apologize for being away for nearly a month! It's because I started summer classes so I can graduate early :P I plan on doing one every break so I can *hopefully* graduate in 3 years :)

Classes are pretty difficult, most likely because it IS a 6 week course (4x a week) so the class is a bit rushed. But it's not that bad, I didn't take difficult classes to begin with.

Tomorrow is my birthday! I'm so glad I don't have classes Fridays, it would have been the first summer EVER to be in school for my birthday. But to be honest, I was always a little jealous of kids who had birthdays during the school year and then their parents would come and we would have a little party! I never got to do that when I was younger but it's definitely not something I want to do in college LOL.

So for my birthday, my parents got me a new wallet (like I've said before, I have a crazy/unsafe/unhealthy addition for wallets). Here's my baby!



Not a very good picture :| and I shouldn't have opened the envelope before the picture! I always suck at remembering these things LOL.
But yeah, my parents do spoil me. It has always been like that since I was young, I was always their priority and it helps (or does it not?) that I am an only child. But to be fair, they are my priority as well but um.. this was a nice surprise for me. Sometimes I get teary thinking about it because they're quite frugal when it comes to their things but when it comes down to me, they really aren't frugal at all lol. Just a lot of giving back I need to do when I'm older.

Also, does anyone else like soda :(? I LOVE soda even though I know for a FACT that it's so unhealthy =( The longest I can go is about a week, that is IF I'm super determined, and it's just so bad. I don't eat chips or candy (I do chew sugar free gum though) but I can't get rid of my soda habits, especially if I'm having an oily meal (which is bad as it is). Seltzer water tastes so bad I can't drink it! Someone save me or else I won't have teeth left when I'm 70 T_T