Thursday, March 31, 2011

Urban Decay sale at Haute.com

Example items for sale:

$5.00 originally $17.00
Matte Eye Shadow - Narcotic

$6.50 originally $19.00
Pocket Rocket - Jesse


$10.00 originally $26.00
Apocalyptic Nail Set

Extra 20% off Smashbox at Beautyticket.com


Amazing deal right now- lasting until 3/31 at midnight! Get your shop on. Apply "smash20" at checkout for 20% discount. I just tried it and it's still working.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Friends and family in CA

Had a blast in CA.

Here's me with Lea. Hong and I stopped to visit her at work- she works at the MAC makeup store in Brentwood. Lea went to all 12 years of schooling with Hong. She is super talented- besides makeup she's a photgrapher, makes handbags and crafts amazing jewelry and clothing. She totally hooked me up with two MAC brushes and showed me how to highlight very red blush with light purple eyeshadow. She also gave me a tip to highlight purple blush with light green eyeshadow.










Nancy and Jasmine- best friend since high school!














Hanging out with my cousins and their families.














With my little sister Cindy- I think we look so similar.

Cute nails by Hanh

Hong's sister-in-law Hanh works in a nail salon in Oakland and she is amazing. I'm the kind of person that rarely get manicures because I have no nails. I always cut them short because I feel they get in the way, especially when I craft and do makeup. She was able to do this uber cute design on my very short nails. She painted my nails a dark brown then added red flowers with heart shaped petals. She then added gold leaves and on top of it all, she put some gold sparkles. Super pretty! I was so excited and was showing them to all of Hong's brothers and his dad. Here are pics of the nails and me with Hanh and her daughter Hannah. BTW- do you see that room in the back there- with the futon? Well, that's where we sleep when we visit Hong's parents. This is also known as the alter room because his parents have a alter set up in there to honor his grandparents. There is also a treadmill in there in front of the futon that you can't see. I love it! Wouldn't have it any other way:)

New Favorite Lashes

I just got back from vacation in California. While in CA, I really wanted to visit this bookbindery in Berkeley that I kept seeing. It's basically a shop that restores old books and also puts together dissertations from local PhD students. It's a teeny shop but I managed to buy a really cool looking awl- it's a tool that punches holes in paper so you can sew the pages together. Anyways, I realized I could not bring the awl on the airplane anyways so it's sitting in Hong's parents house. Hong and I also took a stroll on Telegraph Avenue where I discovered Daiso- a japanese store that sells everything for $1.50. Oh, this place is heaven- so many cute kitchen gadgets, storage containers, and best of all- origami paper and false eyelashes. I bought so much origami paper- 60 sheets for $1.50. I also stocked up on false eyelashes. After trying out the lashes, I loved them so much, I returned to the store to get some more for all my friends. Here are photos of the lashes and me with them on.


These lashes come two in a pack for $1.50! They are synthetic and really sturdy.












Here's me with lashes on the right eye and no lashes on the left eye.
























Close up of lashes.
























Final look!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Makeover for Wedding

I am doing makeup on this lovely bride in August so we had a run-through a few weekends ago. It's always a good idea to do a run-through before the big day because you get to see what colors and application works best on the client. For her big day, I am going to keep the blush more light pink and eye makeup less smoky since the false eyelashes she is using are super glamourous already. I am also going to contour a little more around the jawline and temples and give her more neutral lipcolor. Since it's a fall wedding, I am definitely going to go for a pink-golden look.



Monday, March 7, 2011

Birthday Dream

I recently celebrated my birthday and of course, I got some awesome makeup gifts. Best gift was my Laura Mercier duo fiber fan brush- I ended up with two thanks to a good friend and my sig other. I use one for blush and one for cleaning up my face with loose powder.





I also got a MAC lipstick in Marquise d’ (Lustre) from the Wonderwoman collection. it is my to go lipstick right now because it so glamorous but natural. I use it for work then dress it up with gloss for night. Thanks Cua for that one!






Another fav gift was Korres Milk Proteins 3 in 1 Cleansing Emulsion. I have been on the hunt for more gentle cleansers- preferably those with lactose. Apparently, lactose helps to gently exfoliate dirt off your face without stripping your face of the natural oils- thus leaving you with a clean but non-drying face. I've been on this new search because I also discovered that the more you strip off the oils on your face, the more quickly your face tries to replenish the oil- thus leading to a more oily face and more breakouts. Anywho, the Korres cleanser is amazing. It takes off my makeup so good and all I have to do is pat it off with a nice clean towel.






Finally, I ordered myself the Urban Decay Naked Palette. It is super duper awesome and everything the reviews say it is. I have used it nearly everyday- it is amazing how many looks I can do with this neutral palette. Even the brush that comes with it is pretty good.



It was a great birthday. I had lots of friends come over for a nice dinner. I loved all the flowers I got too. Made me so happy to wake up and see them in my window for the past few weeks. People were such good sports and did whiskey shots for me. I love celebrating my birthday and can't wait for another year.

KISS False Lashes

I went to Walgreens tonight and discovered they were having a sale on this new brand of false eyelashes called "Kiss." I bought two sets and the adhesive glue. Each item was $1.99 (normally $3.99). Here's the results:




I really like the glue- it comes in a little glass jar with an applicator. The applicator is basically a slanted plastic end that you use to apply glue onto lash band. The glue does not feel goopy and goes on really smooth. The lashes come with these red strings- each end of the lash has a pair of string that you use to hold the lash into place. Pretty ingenious idea although I found it pretty useless so I just pulled off red string before applying the lashes.








I love this brand of lashes so far. It looks pretty natural and feels soft. It did not scratch my eye which is a problem I have with other lash brands.