notd: zoya lindsay

hi all! ok ok, yes: no more hauling...but i found this online and had to get it. it's a limited edition from a few years ago.. ~Lin-chan ^.~

3 coats.

maybelline summer 2013 color tattoos

hi all! since there aren't enough posts about these already...

i found five of these at my bbb and the remaining three: i was impatient and resorted to ebay. these aren't quite as pigmented as other color tattoos, so i swatched them twice; once from left to right, then i went back a second time. waves of white and precious pearl are very sheer, just the shimmer/glitter translate on my skin. additionally, i was having trouble swatching shady shores--because i have asian, yellow-toned skin?...and icy mint didn't want to build up. the blues and purples of the bunch are gorgeous though! ~Lin-chan ^.~

edit: anyone interested in how some of these look over black, check out pinkiecharm's blog post here.

shady shores, waves of white, icy mint, precious pearl, cool crush, blue paradise, lavish lavender, seashore frosts

dead week!

dead week is finally here! and i've actually got a real dead week this semester: no projects or tests! there is one homework, but whatever. ~Lin-chan ^.~

this week:
mon: work & class
tues: only econ isn't canceled
wed & fri: work, class canceled
thurs: both morning classes are canceled, but i still have the afternoon ones

finals week schedule:
5/7: econ
5/8: acct
5/9: 2001
5/11: 4113

april hauls

 

hi all! since i'm not allowed to haul any more this month i figured i'd get this post up. anyway, later. ~Lin-chan ^.~

coral beach blush (mixed), L->R as pictured above; sardinia eyeshadow duo, lip gloss in fresno

• drugstore.com: oscar blandi 450 heat protect value set ($23, pronto heat protector & dry shampoo), bliss fabulous foaming face wash, john masters organic lip balm [used drugstore.com reward dollars ($12.46!), $10 gift card from cynthia rowley bag, & ebates*!] 
• it's $23 for just the heat protector, so why not get the bundle and give T the dry shampoo?
• this lip balm has a really familiar scent, like herbal and citrus. mmm.
• i loved the sample of this bliss face wash
• rue la la*: cargo spring collection (coral beach blush, lip gloss in fresno, sardinia eyeshadow duo, 3 triple action mascara in black) -- they sent me a $30 credit (presumably for making an account a year ago and never buying anything) and this is what i decided to get.

 

swatches: stila spectrum vs. milani black gems--comparison review to come later

pink lemonade, juicy papaya, sorbet, wild watermelon

swatches: pink lemonade, juicy papaya, sorbet, wild watermelon, natural & spice lip liners, honey balm stain

• ulta/cvs/target: revlon photoready powder in translucent, lip butters in juicy papaya, sorbet, pink lemonade, and wild watermelon; real techniques expert face brush; miliani lip pencil in spice and all natural, ultra fine liquid eye liner in black gems, eyeshadow primer; clear shampoo in strong lengths, dr. bronner's castille soap in peppermint
• whichever nail art blogger posted about this: i love dr. bronner's after one use! it's an awesome makeup brush cleaner. still not quite powerful enough for some concealer brushes, washing them in just my hand (still testing out the the sigma glove), but it lathers up really nice and a little goes a long way. i would attempt to read everything on the label..but omg there's so much text on this thing, in all directions across the entire label. it took me a bit just to find the name of the scent, even though it's written fairly large. >.>
• cvs was having a crazy ridiculous deal when i got the clear shampoo, so..the coupon printer spat out a $4.99 off of a clear hair care product.. and at the time, clear hair care was on sale for $4.99.. yes. it was free. awesome......i went in with 5 extra bucks in my wallet, got $1.50 extra bucks out the machine, and $7 off $35 cosmetics..then this craziness happened:

• bed bath and beyond: jerdon 1x/5x mirror ($20!), revlon just bitten kissable balm stain in honey (swatched & pictured up above)
• living social/ily culture: sideways cross necklace



• bed bath and beyond: summer 2013 maybelline color tattoos
• i'm still on the hunt for the other three: seashore frosts, precious pearl, and blue paradise...ebay'ed them.

• target: sonia kashuk bent eyeliner brush, elf studio hd powder in translucent
• cvs: nivea lip butters in vanilla & macadamia kiss and caramel cream kiss
• candles by victoria: the april sale was up to $25 is 15% off OR $25.01-50 is 20% off OR $50.01 and up is 25% off before shipping, so since the decorative cube candle (leaves type), price per ounce-wise is the best deal at $25, why not get a scent shot (tiffany d) for like $0.35 more after the discount? unwind is the freebie. it smells familiar..like some sort of aromatherapy scent. can't totally place it.

*Affiliate Link.

bye bye counterfeit chi! hello one 'n only argan heat flat iron! (first impressions)

hi guys!!! so it wasn't until recently that i investigated into my chipping chi iron. turns out, it's actually a counterfeit chi. yesss. i bought it off ebay shortly after i graduated high school, so i've had it a while. anyway, i decided to bring it to sally's because right now they have a coupons if you bring in any old styling tools and purchase a new one ($5 off ≥$24.99 or $10 off ≥$59.99). so, after some investigation, i decided on a one inch one 'n only argan heat flat iron which is currently on sale for $49.99. so i got it for about $40 with tax after the coupon and 15% off.

first impressions of the argan heat iron: i love the colors of this one. online they only showed one in black with gold plates, but i love how this one has these pale/pastel pink plates! it comes with an adjustable temperature setting, 0-30 (temperature equivalents are listed in the manual), and an on/off button. i don't like how the LED doesn't flash when the iron is ready, if i'm running around doing other things, it's solid red the whole time. i also don't like how the temperature dial is on the outside of the iron and you could potentially rub your finger along it and inadvertently change it while you're using it. but it does seem like you do need to put a bit of effort into actually changing the setting. i set it to 20 and thought it was a pretty good temperature to start. i did not use a thermal protector before using the iron, using it afterward as a setting spray, so to speak. overall, i really liked the results; compared to the faker my hair feels shinier and healthier, not dry. i approve. ~Lin-chan ^.~

Jan - Mar Favorites

hi all! so not too many things, a few beauty items and snackssssss. >w< ~Lin-chan ^.~

1. beauty blender -- i love this thing! i thought the white one would be nice so i specifically asked for one for xmas, but it looks so gross after a while from foundations staining it, etc. so i got some pink ones too for when this one goes bye-bye! while i do still like using foundation brushes, i like how the beauty blender doesn't leave brush strokes behind.
2. covergirl 3-in-1 stay fabulous foundation in 825 -- this has been the foundation of choice lately, in combination with the beauty blender or real techniques expert face brush. i think this is a great replacement for my beloved stila one step that they discontinued (haven't tried the newer version yet). i still use powder to set it but you don't really need to..
3. mua f6 blusher/contouring brush: oh my god. this is such a dense brush, i'm going to have to say that, on my list, this pretty much beats sigma's f40 and posh contour blush brushes. i need more.
4. equate exfoliating cleansing towelettes -- these are great. they're like $6 for 2x 60 count packs at neighborhood walmart. these are awesome for major swatchfests, but at the same time they're pretty good at removing face and eye makeup, while exfoliating in the process. i do still wash my face afterward, but i still think these are great for the money. i don't like how they tape the packs together because i accidentally slit one open while trying to separate them... >.> also, i don't like how they're layered in the package, tissue-style. so as you pull one out, out comes the next.

1. southside produce vegetable chips -- this is actually pretty ridiculous. i just have to stop buying them because i like them so much. $3 is kinda steep for 6oz of fried bits of vegetables. granted, they do make it kinda healthy..., using only sea salt and canola oil. basically, i will sit and eat 3/4 of the bag before i realize it. that is such a bad habit! like it's not the best tasting thing ever, but they must put somethin in it! just like pringles and hi-chew..those have some addicting additive of sorts that makes you eat the whole package in one sitting! just kidding, but that's how it feels [see John Pinette's Around the World in 80 Buffets]. oh well. i'm going to have to limit myself to one package every so often instead of buying a few at a time and then wishing i had more.
2. zapp's regular potato chips -- i think it's just that i haven't had all these oils/potato chips, etc. in a while and i've been on a greasy junk food kick over the past couple months. thankfully it hasn't changed anything about my oily skin but yeah. >.<

notd: sation of corset i'll call you

hi all! here's the nail polish i got in this month's ipsy bag! i really like this shade, in two coats. i haven't tested 3 coats on my nails yet. but it's a nice nude-pink (more pink than nude) against my skin. ~L-c ^.~

2 coats: artificial light & natural light

notd: skylark flaming berries & for shay

 

hi all! i got the shiver shades nail polish set from haulerdeals* for about $20 after shipping vs. $30 on blush.com!

here's the other half of the skylark by elle and blair shiver shades set. these came out a lot better (sheerness near the cuticles-wise) than last time, but i think it's because i made sure they were fully dry this time before painting the second coat. i still don't totally like how dark this purple is. like it's a nice shade, but it appears almost black, and next to the red, you can kinda tell it's not outright black, but meh.. ~Lin-chan ^.~

*Affiliate Link.

april finally-a-not-crazy-hell schedule, and may

i'm a little bit late on this post... mostly because spring break was last week, my brain is in summer mode, and school didn't happen until monday for this month. anyway, here's the remainder of this semester as well as my official fall schedule. for those who didn't know: i got to keep my scheduling priority even after graduating w00t (and i have 182!! credit hours after this semester), so i get to schedule on day 2, since day 1 is for grad students and final-semester seniors. another also note, so one of my instructors was retiring this semester, right. well in february, she accepted an offer on her house and had to be out before last monday. so basically she moved to colorado and we don't have class anymore. totally awesome. then, sunday night, another instructor emailed us saying that she has mandatory meetings to attend on our friday class days for the remainder of the semester. so we don't have friday classes anymore and that's the only class i have on fridays! super-duper super-senioritis is here. but there's still four weeks left of the semester. @_@ ~Lin-chan ^.~

4/11: acct hw due
4/12: econ hw due
4/18: acct hw due
4/19: econ hw due, 2001 exam
4/23: econ exam, 4113 project due
4/25: 4113 hw due, acct hw due
4/26: 3100 hw due, 2001 project due
4/30: ms visio exam
5/2: 3100 hw due
5/3: acct hw due
5/7: econ final
5/8: acct final
5/9: 2001 final
5/11: 4113 final --for reals, it's on Saturday

fall work/class schedule

first ipsy bag (april 2013) & first impressions

 

hi all! early march or so, i got onto the ipsy glam bag wait list, then by the end of march i finally got onto their month-to-month subscription. you can subscribe in one of two ways: month to month and cancel when you please, or prepay for a yearly subscription for a slight discount (10% or $110). shipping is included with the $10/month fee. in the first few days of the month, they post teaser photos on their facebook page to show what's in the bag before shipping them out. ~Lin-chan ^.~

my first ipsy glam bag* came in yesterday and i'm so excited!!! (pretty in pink theme) this is what i got:

1. be a bombshell blush in sweet cheeks (5g--full size, ret. $16) -- now my swatch is really built up too much, but it's a great rosy-pink and i think it'll be very wearable.
• likelihood to repurchase: yes & explore the brand
• update: see my spring/summer favorites post.
2. mica beauty cosmetics eyeshadow in 72 earth (2g--near full size, ret. $15 for 2.5g [$12]) -- this is so pretty and shimmery. omg. it's a pinky-clay/earthy shade and it comes off pretty sheer but i definitely think this would be a great shadow over darker shades to add a nice shimmer or used as a highlight.
• likelihood to repurchase: yes & explore the brand
3. sation (for ipsy) nail polish in of corset i'll call you (.5 fl oz--full size, ret. $5) -- this is a really nice pastel pink shade, definitely should be wearable, with my asian skin. ^^; i painted 3 coats onto the swatch to make it more opaque, but when i wear it, it'll probably just be two coats to be more sheer.
• likelihood to repurchase: yes, not this shade
• update: see notd post
4. healthy sexy hair soy renewal nourishing styling treatment (.85 fl oz--travel size, ret. $21.95 for 4.2oz [$4.44]) -- this comes sealed with a foil seal, so i haven't actually opened this yet because i have so many other styling products i'm currently using at the moment. but i'm sure it'll be awesome though; it contains argan oil.
• likelihood to repurchase: no, but will explore the brand
• update: product has been finished. i actually think it's kinda meh. i like macadamia natural oil healing oil treatment better.
5. white/pink ipsy bag -- this bag is super adorable, i love how it has stripes inside and the pink ones have "ipsy" written in white. downside: this thing will get dirty. fast.
6. card with company info/discount codes
1. beabombshellcosmetics.com/blush: 30% off & free pink eyeshadow*, code: ipsy30 (exp. 4/30/13)
2. micabeauty.com: 30% off purchase, code: ipsy30 (exp. 4/30/13)
3. store.misspn.com: 20% off, code: ipsy30 (exp.5/31/13)
4. ulta.com/sexyhair: $5 off of $25 big sexy hair products, code: 108888 (exp. 5/10/13)
5. twocosmetics.com: 25% off & free lip gloss*, code: ipster (exp. 5/20/13)
   *while supplies last
7. genbeauty.com: vip access/coupon code for tickets to gen beauty, some sort of ipsy guru networking event in the end of may to early june. if you're interested, here's the info. code: ipsysub (exp. 4/24/13)

approximate product value: $37.44

sweet cheeks (way over swatched, sorry!), earth; of corset i'll call you (3 coats)

* Affiliate link.