august 2015 empties

it's august empties timeeeeeee! ~Lin-chan ^.~

1. tarte maracuja eye cream
2. lady gaga fame body wash
3. maybelline matte+poreless foundation
4. simple cleansing wipes
5. sonia kashuk eye makeup remover
6. tree hut island mango sugar scrub
7. soap & glory clean on me body wash
8. lady gaga fame perfume -- this rollerball is getting kinda gross, so i've decided to retire it. at the very least, i've got 2 spray bottles as backups.
9. lorac porefection face primer -- this is my second mini of this and i still love it. price-per-ounce-wise, i'm going to start getting these instead of my other holy grail--too faced original primed & poreless primer.
10. urban decay eyeliner in underground -- this is the original travel-size one i got in a set a looong time ago. i've since bought 2 full sizes to put in my weekend bag and backup.
11. aveeno daily moisturizing lotion -- i got this in a 2 pack at sams...needless to say this is bottle #1 and i don't even remember when i started using it..that's how long it lasted me. i typically only use lotion once a week after shaving.
    repurchase? not yet
12. crest 3D white whitestrips 1hr express -- i got this in a recent target beauty box and i mentioned how i've tried these in the past, but it was a reeeallly really long time ago, when they first hit the market...because i grew up privileged in the new dental products market. yay dental hygiene conventions!
1. in my senior year of high school i had my uncle whiten my teeth before i did senior photos, etc. and it was a few months after i got my braces off. and since then, i've been maintaining it with whitening toothpaste..since i'm pretty sure i might have slightly damaged my teeth from overbleaching in high school..........yeah.... (warning: bleaching can cause sensitivity. for sure temporarily, but possibly long-term too.)
2. these took a bit to actually apply because the outer edges didn't want to fully adhere to my teeth. also, i had a little trouble with the lower strip because i have a permanent retainer on the backside of my teeth. they did need a little extra force when pulling them off, it was almost like they were glued on! lol.
3. i definitely will not be purchasing these again because my teeth were super sensitive during and more than 24 hours afterward. and i haven't bleached my teeth or anything since i was in high school..that was about 9 years ago (eep!) and the sensitivity felt exactly the same as when i was overbleaching them with 1hr bleach treatments (during and after this and those treatments).
4. i will say though, with this experience and considering how my teeth felt from using them, if you do shell out the $50/box for this, you'll definitely get results.
   repurchase? no
13. the body shop shower gel in olive -- i go through these way too fast... i really liked the scent of this. it's not quite the same as the body butter though.
    repurchase? undecided
14. mally face primer -- while i really enjoyed using this primer, i wasn't a huge fan of it being in a pot vs a tube. this stuff worked great and has that siliconey slip i like.
    repurchase? nah
15. boscia luminizing black mask mini -- got this as part of sephora's 500 point perk, and after using it like twice, i bought a full size. this little tube lasted me 5-6 masks--which was pretty surprising. i will say that while it's wet, the "fumes" or scent of the mask burns my eyes, even if it's not that close to my eyes. but once it's dry, i'm fine. it does take a while to dry down (like half an hour..) but it feels really refreshing once you pull it off. it does tug at the hairs on your face, but not necessarily pulling them out. so it does sting a little as you pull it off.
    repurchase? already did!
16. sephora triple action cleansing water -- while i do think this product worked pretty well, i don't like the scent it has and i don't feel like it was as effective as biderma.
    repurchase? no
17. soap & glory sugar crush body wash -- this has a great sweet, citrus/limey scent. like a mojito or something. >w< not sure, but i feel like this one was a little runnier (in thickness/consistency) than the clean on me.
    repurchase? maybe
18. tony moly clear skin sheet mask -- the scent was not my cup of tea. like it was some kind of semi-familiar fragrance..but i don't know what. my skin felt pretty good afterward, and it does feel/seem like some of my acne/breakout areas had gone down.
    repurchase? undecided
19. olay fresh outlast cooling white strawberry & mint body wash -- this was a really yum scent. i liked how the mint was balanced with the strawberry. this was a pretty good shower gel, but for the price, i'll probably stick to tone or caress ones.
    repurchase? maybe

[not pictured]

1. dr. bronner's pure castile soap in mild -- maybe this is psychological, but i didn't think that this one worked quite as well as the peppermint. i could be crazy. but at the same time, i also wasn't tired of the scent halfway through the bottle..because it was unscented.
   repurchase? maybe
2. candles by victoria shamrock kisses soap -- a long ways back, i received a sample of this soap and loved it, so at a slightly less long ways back, i bought it, and now i've finally used it. looove this scent!
   repurchase? yes
3. pantene damage detox shampoo -- i got this as part of a winn dixie hygiene deal, i'm still working on the corresponding conditioner....i'm a daily shampoo-er.. anyway, i really liked the scent of this shampoo, it had mint oil in it. and i didn't have any issues with it, no dryness no excessive oiliness.
   repurchase? yes
4. freeman charcoal and black sugar polishing mask -- this mask took a while for me to figure out. if you can actually put it on thickly, that is best. i liked how abrasive it felt (and kinda warm as you scrub if that makes sense)... otherwise, i feel like you'll go through this super fast if you use thick layers. if you use thin layers, it won't really stick to your face. make sure you're by a sink or something while applying...it will fall off.
   repurchase? no

august favorites & product updates

hi guys! it's the end of august!! ahhhhhh! lol. yeah it was a partly hectic month yet again. there was a lot of going back home on weekends and not being able to relax at the apartment....until now. haha. anyway, it's a short one, but here's what i loved this month! ~Lin-chan ^.~

favorites:

1. colourpop ultra matte lip in midi -- between this shade and solow, i really liked this nudy-pink much more. formula-wise it's super interesting. it dries down relatively quickly enough, and lasts a really long time. i would put this on after breakfast and it would last through snacking and drinking to lunch time. after lunch, there might be slight cracking/flaking but it's still nearly intact even after eating lunch. layering for touchups works out very well too.
2. opi nail envy in hawaiian orchid -- i really like using the regular.. original nail envy, and i love how they've finally come out with pigmented ones. if you put too many coats, original nail envy makes your nails start lookin a little dead....but this pink is such a pretty nice and neutral shade!

random favorites: mangas.... in particular, love so life & skip beat --- i've been impatiently following these two for several months now, and OMG i needs closure... and, more recently: L♥DK. >w<
undecided's: makeup eraser -- i'm not sure how i feel about this one. i used it a few times and it works great. but i'm not sure if i'm using too much pressure or what, but i'm losing brow or lash hairs a lot when i use this.

product updates: i'm in the process of returning the bellabeat leaf. despite its gorgeous design and wearability....the functionality wasn't enough for me. outside of the app bugs i mentioned in my initial blog post (they've since been fixed), the pedometer still wasn't perfect. i'm still planning on keeping the app since it does the cycle monitoring---you can manually put in that information, so why not keep it to keep dates in check? but otherwise, i'm going to keep on with the fitbit charge now--and i really like it so far.

weeks 10 & 11

hi guys! it's been 2 weeks since my last work update! anyway, enjoy! ~Lin-chan ^.~
week 10
monday: it was a pretty aloof day. nothing really interesting happened aside from us getting confirmed on, what i'm calling, our shadowing extension.
tuesday: i got a good bit done as far as my training. excitement of the day: the power went out for no reason for like 20 minutes... (the rainy/stormy weather didn't come until way later)
wednesday: i ended up not really doing a whole lot. kinda but not really worked on my trainings.
thursday: i went in to work early at 7 to leave by 330. we needed to drive back home to talk to the finance guy for our new car. apparently they sold us an extended warranty and some sort of tire/roadside type warranty; both of which we didn't need.
friday: it was a really weird day. out of our entire floor, there were maybe 50 people that actually came in. i guess the rest did an at-home day, because it was freakin empty. around lunch, my manager's supervisor went home, and the sub-manager lady for me didn't even bother showing up. and by 1-2 my manager was like in a whatever mood. no one was doing anything productive, and around that time a bunch of people were chatting in little groups all around the office..and he's going around happily walking around telling us that there was free food and drinks in the conference room. sooo strange. i ended up leaving early because by 330-4, no one was in the office.

week 11
monday: we had a fire drill, super fun walking down from the 7th floor! and also, our building is so new, that they haven't figured out all the kinks yet....like the fire alarms were flashing but there was no sound.................that's real effective! afterward, we all had to debrief and discuss improvements. otherwise, spent the morning working on training modules, and the afternoon practicing how to use css with our group project...thing.
tuesday: more css fun stuff. learned that we don't have access or the software to do something related to our project, so we were kinda just playing around with examples online.
wednesday: not much new. our project manager finally came on our daily conference call and gave us a status update with what we're supposed to be working on. otherwise, played around with the software we needed.
thursday: got notified that i might be shadowing some new people in houston and got an informal-ish interview for it.
friday: at lunch, they had a training/info session on volunteering for STEM which involves hanging out with middle schoolers, making cool things and getting them interested in pursuing STEM topics and careers. it sounds like it'll be fun, the only thing that i don't totally like is that we have to make up the work hours we miss while volunteering. blehhhh. in the afternoon, we had a call--thankfully. because apparently there's this mandatory series of classes that we all have to take, and i got to skip! yay! actually they're doing the meetings in stages, so only certain people have to go now, and others have already done them, etc.

for those of you guys wondering what my desk looks like...it's pretty much a ghost town at 7am, so i took a pic of my desk without feeling frowned upon. haha.

august hauls

i kinda went to sephora this month. maybe more than once....... can you tell??? lol. ~Lin-chan ^.~

sephora beauty before brunch event -- sorry for the meh photo..i was at T's place and i wanted to give her some of the samples that came in the freebie bag. i bought a makeup eraser!

bare minerals maverick

sephora : bite beauty limited lab release lipstick for august (sweet mandarin), tony moly rice sheet mask duo (one of these is going to T), 100 points: buxom eyeshadow bar in mink magnet

sephora peony (shown below), bite sweet mandarin, buxom mink magnet

bite sweet mandarin

sephora: belif choose your own "moisture attack" set--with the true cream aqua bomb (great set for the money! notice how the hole in the box is too small for the moisturizer--with or without its box.......), and sample bag with code!

sephora rouge infusion lip stain in peony

ulta: smashbox mini double exposure palette (i'm giving the original mini a second chance), freeman sparkling pear pore cleansing mask & charcoal and black sugar mud mask, opi nail envy in hawaiian orchid, maybelline fit me matte+poreless, soap & glory the righteous butter (freebie!)
hsn: opi x ford nail polish in queen of the road

top: silver, peony, quartz, veiled
bottom: midnight, haze, copper, espresso

queen of the road (3 coats & topcoat), hawaiian orchid (2 coats, no topcoat)

fitbit charge: if you guys hadn't seen one of my recent work posts.....i got a free fitbit from work! w00t. it was one of their healthy living incentives. there were actually two other models that we could get for free (one & flex), but i somehow worked the system and was able to upgrade to this one for free instead. 

recent everyday work makeup routine

hi guys! i've been working a little over two months now (eep!) and i've got my routine pretty much down now. you'll see a lot of somewhat recent favorites in here too. ~Lin-chan ^.~

face

1. silicone-based primer [not pictured] (current: lorac porefection)
2. maybelline fit me matte+poreless foundation in 120 classic ivory
3. maybelline fit me concealer in 10 light
4. rimmel london stay matte powder in translucent
5. too faced chocolate soleil bronzer
6. urban decay afterglow blush in rapture
7. becca shimmering skin perfector pressed in opal
8. skindinavia oil control setting spray [not pictured]

eyes/brows

1. anastasia brow wiz in dark brown
2. loreal brow stylist plumper in medium to dark
3. eyeshadow primer [not pictured] (current: wet n wild fergie take on the day)
4. rimmel london scandalEyes liner in 100 black (upper & lower waterlines)
5. urban decay 24/7 liner in underground (lower lash line)
6. maybelline blushed nudes palette (brow highlight: top1, inner corner: top3, lid: top6, crease: bottom3)
7. kat von d tattoo liner in trooper
8. maybelline lash sensational mascara in blackest black

lips: colourpop ultra matte lip in midi

typically used brushes [not pictured]

1. sigma sigmax kabuki brush (F80, F82, F88) (foundation, concealer)
2. real techniques powder brush
3. wayne goss holiday brush (bronzer, blush, highlight)
4. sigma E55 (all over eyes)
5. makeup geek soft dome brush (crease/blending)
6. sigma E35 (blending)

august 2015 ipsy bag

hi guys! it's august IPSY BAG* time!! (theme: prep school) ~Lin-chan ^.~

here's my impressions:

1. doucee ultra precision eyeliner in black (.03oz--full size?, ret. $22 [$?] -- we'll see how waterproof this is, but as far as pigmentation, this is not stark black like i like them. otherwise, the formula glides on nice and smoothly.
• likelihood to repurchase: nah
2. marc anthony nourishing argan oil treatment (.7oz--mini, ret. $7.99 for 1.69oz [$3.31]) -- this smells super awesome. omg. cannot wait to start using this!
• likelihood to repurchase: maybe
3. la fresh good night night cream (.5oz--mini, ret. $40 for 1.7oz [$11.76]) -- using a little of this on my hand, i'm not so sure about this one...
• likelihood to repurchase: nah
4. hikari cosmetics lip gloss in merlot (.1oz--full size, ret. $13) -- this is actually pretty surprising. i lovvvve this berry-wine color..merlot...duh... >.> it's slightly sticky, but only to the point where you feel a light pull when you open your mouth. otherwise, it feels very balmy.
• likelihood to repurchase: maybe
5. lord & berry ultimate lipcolor & liner in nude (.3oz--mini, ret. $18 for .7oz [$7.71]) -- i wouldn't really call this nude... it's nude for darker skinned people.....but anyway, i really like this shade on me. my lips are pretty pigmented themselves, so this is a nice browny-nude. formula-wise, it's kind of dry, but it still applies and stays well enough.
• likelihood to repurchase:  maybe
6. houndstooth ipsy bag -- i likes it!
7. card with company info/discount codes
1. doucce.com: 30% off purchase, code: ipsy2015 (exp. 9/30/15)
2. lafreshgroup.com: 30% off, code: ipsyaug2015 (exp. 9/30/15)
3. hikaricosmetics.com: 30% off purchase + free eyeshadow in taffy, code: hikari30 (exp. 9/30/15)
4. lordandberry.com: 20% off purchase, code: lab77kn (exp. 9/30/15)
5. paulaschoice.com: 20% off purchase, code: pripsy (exp. 9/30/15)
6. skinn.com: 15% off purchase, code: ipsyskinn0815 (exp. 9/30/15)
7. juraskincare.com: 20% off purchase, code: ipsy2015 (exp. 9/30/15)
8. skonecosmetics.com: 10% off purchase, code: ipsy (exp. 9/30/15)
9. cleanstart.com: 20% off $40 purchase + free shipping, code: ipsy20 (exp. 9/30/15)
10. pencilmeincosmetics.com: 20% off purchase, code: ipsy20 (exp. 9/30/15)
11. glamourdollsmakeup.com: 25% off purchase, code: ipsydoll25 (exp. 9/30/15)
12. beautywithoutcruelty.com: 15% off purchase, code: ipsyglam (exp. 9/30/15)
13. citycolorcosmetics.com: free contour effects palette with $30 purchase, code: ipsy30hd (exp. 9/30/15)
14. albertiniinternational.com: 20% off purchase, code: ipsy20 (exp. 9/30/15)
15. doll10.com: 30% off purchase, code: ipsy30 (exp. 9/30/15) 
16. trustfundbeauty.com: 35% off purchase, code: ipsygirl (exp. 9/30/15)
17. noyah.com: 15% off purchase + free gift, code: ipsynoyahgift (exp. 9/30/15)
18. loveaila.com: 20% off purchase, code: ipster (exp. 9/30/15)
19. jessesgirlcosmetics.com: 20% off purchase, code: ipsy2015aug (exp. 9/30/15)
20. ofracosmetics.com: 40% off purchase, code: ofralovesipsy (exp. 9/30/15) 
21. starlooks.com: 20% off purchase, code: ipsy (exp. 9/30/15)
22. marskcosmetics.com: 20% off purchase, code: ipsy092015 (exp. 9/30/15)
23. lather.com: 20% off purchase + free sample (while supplies last), code: ipsy20 (exp. 9/30/15)
24. oznaturals.com: 10% off purchase, code: ipsyoz10 (exp. 9/30/15)
25. absolutenyproducts.com: 20% off purchase, code: ipsy (exp. 9/30/15)
26. bellapierre.com: 25% off purchase, code: ipsylips2015 (exp. 9/30/15)
27. briogeohair.com: 20% off purchase, code: ipsy20 (exp. 9/30/15)
28. coverfx.com: 40% off purchase, code: ipsy2015 (exp. 9/30/15)
29. juicebeauty.com: 10% off purchase, code: ipsy10 (exp. 8/31/15)

approximate product value: ~$35.78 + eyeliner

merlot, nude, black

lip pencil in nude


gloss in merlot

*Affiliate Link.

target [summer?] beauty box

hi guys! target came out with another beauty box, already! this one didn't have a name or theme...something about warmer weather....but anyway... this time it was $7. ~Lin-chan ^.~

1. crest 3D whitestrips 1hr express (1 treatment, ret. $49.99 for 4 treatments [$12.50]) -- i tried white strips a long time ago when they first started coming out..and they're ok. getting your teeth actually whitened at your dentist is probably better and more effective. (luckily i have a lot of family in dentistry, mom's a hygienist, grandpa's a retired dentist, and my uncle took over grandpa's practice-----so i tend to get a lot of services or products free....)
   repurchase? probably not
2. fekkai pre-soleil hair mist (1.7oz--mini, ret. $19.99 for 5oz [$6.80]) -- has a slightly citrus but also oily type scent to it. always interested in trying out new hair stuff!
   repurchase? maybe
3. clairol hair food moisturizing mask (6.3oz--full size, ret. $11.99) -- i'm always on the hunt for new deep conditioners. a ways back in a previous target box, they were giving these out but i got that hair thickening spray instead..bleh. anyway this has a really nice fruity scent!
   repurchase? maybe
4. covergirl super sizer mascara in very black (full size, ret. $5.99) -- i'm still working on the one i got in my influenster box, so i'll probably pass this one off to a friend.
   repurchase? yes
5. olay active botanicals moisturizing toner (.6oz--mini, ret. $14.99 for 5oz [$1.80]) -- i'm interested in trying this out. it has a slightly herbal scent.
   repurchase? maybe
6. olay active botanicals day lotion (.6oz--mini, ret. $14.99 for 2.5oz [$3.60]) -- i'm interested in trying this out too. it has a clean type of scent.
   repurchase? maybe
7. card with product info & $3 off $15 beauty purchase coupon at target
8. dermstore.com coupon: 20% off harry josh pro tools, code: welovehair (exp. 9/30/15)

approximate product value: ~$42.68

week 9...the two month mark!

hi guys! it's almost officially 2 whole months since i've started working! whaaat! i think my posts might be less regular here on out, considering.....what the hell have i even been talking about lately? the posts have almost been like my high school posts about 'what i did for the day'............ but i'm working now.. and now, it's kinda worse because it's like..."well, i'm training, so that's it! bye!" and that's not interesting. lol. so i'll try to do every two weeks or so--if even that frequency is interesting enough. my training/shadowing lasts through the beginning of september, so i'm not going to have my first project until sometime after then. anyway, here's how the last week's been. ~Lin-chan ^.~

sunday: celebrated the sis in law's birthday a few days early, because she and her friend went off to disneyland. her friend's never been to california before (or maybe disneyland...? or she hasn't been to disney whatsoever.... i don't remember) so anyway, we went to cheesecake factory and it was teh yums. i got hibachi steak. >w< so good. (ps, i got regular mashed potatoes...can't do wasabi)

monday: had a migraine the entire day. it was super fun and i couldn't get rid of it until i got home. pretty crappy, and i didn't get much of my training module done. after i got home, chilled for like an hour, the migraine went away. what the hell man. then we drove over to teh paul's professor's house to check on his wife since no one was answering the phone for several days. prof's grandkids came to visit from out of the country, so he wanted to take them on a driving trip of the us. and his wife has arthritis and he wasn't sure if she wanted to go with him or not.... well in the end, we think she went along on the trip..because all looked well at their house. idk. it seemed empty. afterward, we went grocery shopping.

tuesday: [in a nutshell, i worked on my training module on and off the whole day.] on monday one of the other managers saw me hanging out with a few of my fellow cohorts on the opposite side of our floor, and asked me to be in a new promo video for our office. so i said sure---probably need me for diversity reasons, and women in IT, or something. according to her email, my part was at 10. 10 came and went and by lunchtime, she ran past my desk and noticed me (she didn't previously know where exactly i sat i think). she said she'd use the instant messenger to let me know when they needed me......
3 rolled around and i had a conference call with the people from our grouping thing last week. i walked over to the desks of the other people who are based in our office to see if they wanted to just get a conference room or stay at their desks. one of them told me they thought the film crew left---uhm ok that's weird. but it's cool, i honestly don't care either way---i've seen myself in hollywood productions. a video for my company...meh! lol. anyway, the other group members decided to not to fly in this week and everyone would work remotely on things.
430 rolled around, and it was go home time! no adventures in the evening aside from fun swatching this month's bite limited lab release lipstick. i'm slowly starting to like reds/oranges...but they're still really bright! i think in general, they work well for my skintone--i mean stereotypically asians in photos from all points in time basically only wore reds....so yeah! we just need to build up that comfort and confidence, lol.

wednesday: spent most of the day chugging through my training module. we had a conference call at 10 and we're all confused again...but that's ok. haha. went out to lunch at a local surfer bar, got shrimp tacos....they were teh yumz. uhm otherwise not a whole lot else.

thursday: spent most of the day working on the training module again. at 9, there was a webinar that our group was invited to. at 10, we had another conference call and the first question the project manager asked was, "did any of yall think that was worth our time?" everyone: "nope." pm: "ok, just making sure because i didn't think so either!" lol.
aside from that, one of my friends who got his paystub (i hadn't at the time) told me that he's getting the money from one of our healthy living incentives---(filling out a profile) which i also did, so that's exciting. him mentioning this prompted me to go look over that website again. there's another monetary healthy living incentive, so i did that today (watched some videos). basically, there were two "paths" for these incentives, pending on what kind of health care plan you have (hsa vs non-hsa). i have an hsa, so every year my company puts $$$ into my hsa. plus i can get the two monetary bonuses mentioned above (once yearly). plus! i can get a free fitbit (once yearly). WHAT. so i spent some of the day looking into which model i want. there are two models we can choose from, or it's a $100 discount to upgrade. so i'm leaning toward the charge, but i haven't fully decided yet. in addition, if you want to participate in this other program with your fitbit, you can sync it with the website to earn points toward amazon and itunes giftcards. free money just for walking around?? (pedometer) i think hells yes.
the other "path" for the non-hsa people doesn't sound quite as good, lol. they have two options. do two monetary incentives, or one monetary incentive plus a fitbit. feels like those guys are getting the short end of the stick. i'm getting essentially 266% more free money than them..plus a fitbit....

friday: finally finished that training module and got about halfway on the next (it's an interactive one--finally!). had another 10am group call. finally heard about a project i'm on. it essentially sounds like an extension of our shadowing...so like i'm booked through october now. wow! otherwise i'm still in a weird limbo of confusion as to what's going on with our group thing. all i've been doing is studying..... in the afternoon we had a conference call with a guy that's been visiting our building all week, who handles contracts or something like that. anyway, he wanted to discuss some initiatives regarding us getting on more projects. basically for our field, there's primarily two offices that do that kind of work. ours and another in michigan. and basically our location is so new that, relatively speaking, we aren't getting put on projects frequently enough (employee utilization essentially). then after the call, we kinda hung out for a while, waiting to go home.

week eight

hi guys! it was a hectic and annoying one, but i hope you guys had a great week! ~Lin-chan ^.~

monday: spent most of the day hanging out. a couple people involved in this meeting thing came to say hi to me in the morning, and also to tell me that not everyone's flown in yet. so there was a lot of waiting. and waiting. i did end up having an extra packed lunch from last week that i was able to eat. so that worked out. and then at about 330, s and i (i will further refer to my cohort as S) decide to go to the conference room and scope things out. and that's right when they said that the meeting would be starting. so yay.
apparently our little grouping is an initiative from our company to gather and train resources (employees) for predicted 'hot areas'. mobile app development being a huge thing in today's society, with constant growth. so anyway, come to find out, the day's shindig lasts five weeks. 5. weeks. TT_TT not only that, but i didn't get to leave work at my usual time because i'm salary..not hourly....and they can do what they want. so we left around 515, and i usually go in at 8. TT's and 晚上's.

tuesday: we were supposed to have a conference call at 830, so we all arrive by 8 or so. the person ended up rescheduling to 5. like 5PM. so we dawdled around looking at some of the information said individuals sent us to try and figure out what they wanted to talk about. [and by we for the next several weeks, i mean, most of the other people in our group because they've got years of experience with what s and i have been training on.] 10 rolls around and we have a conference call with someone else. she was american. it was awesome and informative. 11:30 rolls around and we didn't have a break since 8. pretty terrible, and we take one. then by 12, one of the guys realizes s and i don't totally understand a fundamental topic and he proceeds to explain it to us. 1220: he says, "it's 1220, we should take lunch soon." and i'm sitting there, stomach grumbling........ then he proceeds to finish talking about what he was teaching us for another 15 minutes. teh paul was a nice hubhub and made me a few containers worth of lunches on monday.
we come back from lunch around 130 and do basically nothing until 4, between demoing stuff that the other people in our group made, and fighting with installing software, etc. around 4, there's a conference call for some other party regarding a demo we have. 5 rolls around and it's the worst thing ever. i have no freaking clue what these people were talking about, in part because of their accents, but also because one of them was a mouth breather and another (or the same person) was driving around and you could hear boss lady (as my great grandmother refers to it---his gps) talking in the background. it was awful. i didn't leave until 6. 8 am to 6pm of feeling like i haven't learned much or contributed to society. that is super crappy.

wednesday: we didn't really end up doing a whole lot over the course of the day. or rather, the 3 "smart" people were in their own little world, kind of showed us what was going on, and then kind of kept to themselves. and that was pretty much the whole day. really sad. the project manager did take us out to dinner, which was nice. we went to a local seafood restaurant (closer to where most of the students live) that teh paul and i rarely go to because it's in the $25 range....anyway, it was teh yums and it was enlightening about various things that have happened to people that worked for our company (and how they got terminated, etc), as well as expectations of us over the course of the next 4 weeks. and of course, there was informal, getting-to-know-you random conversation. so it was actually kinda nice. i didn't end up getting home til 845. so 8am to 845. eeek!

thursday: spent most of the morning in partial silence, mixed in with a bit of playing around with a few other programs that we installed. at 11, the 4 of us from our location had a conference call with an HR lady. so we went into a nearby conference room to listen. in the meantime, one of the people had to leave to catch his flight. at noon, we finished the call and broke for lunch. the remaining 3 out-of-town-ers decided to call it a day because their flights were pretty soon too. lunch was so nice, we walked over to the marketplace thing with the chinese restaurant and i got more chinese food. i really wanted to go to the waffle & crepe place to try them, but their line was longer. we went back to work to have lunch in the break room. afterward, i started looking over some new training material that we were sent. then at 4 i decided to leave, since i got like 1.5-2 hours extra from the past few days.

friday: the day was pretty much nothing. i worked on my training from thursday, but pretty much i didn't get too far because a bunch of people kept coming by our desks to talk to us and kill time.......otherwise, nothing really exciting happened.

notd: formula x wondrous

hi guys! this mini was included in the goodie bag at sunday's beauty before brunch event at sephora. it's formula x sheer strength nail color in wondrous. i used 2 coats with hairspray and highheels' diy "gel" mani. ~Lin-chan ^.~

aromaleigh cosmetics haul swatches

hi guys! i made an order with aromaleigh cosmetics in july and got a tooooon of pigments. so, here is what i gots, and i hope you enjoy! ~Lin-chan ^.~

[all pigments are swatched over wet n wild fergie take on the day eye primer]

from july's haul post:

aromaleigh cosmetics: ok, so after courtney (phyrra) posted this amazingness, i had to try. yall know i'm not a pigment girl, but these were too beautiful. so i got: theodora (full size), this is my design (sampler) set, sample baggies of krampus & hydra, and a mini jar of phylira. she also threw in a few freebies in sample baggies (including one blush) and a mini jar of shadow (grazie mille). swatches to come later, because holy &!@#$^ that's a ton of baggies!

photo with size comparisons; plus freebies

this is my design set

pigments ordered

theodora, philyra, hydra, krampus

this is my design set

bone arena, chrysalis, veneer, persuasion, lapse

unorthodox, woof, apiary, antler velvet, perception

ripper, lure, abattoir, cygnus, starling

murder tie, feast, reckoning, gotcha, bellissima

phoenix, ikebana, folie a deux, survive, tattler

entrapment, ravenstag, sublime, lucid, craquelure

freebies

odette, pyroclastic flow, nanette, bast, grazie mille, pharmakon (blush)

are you guys proud of me? i actually made a video so you can see the sparkle in action! (clips filmed on iPhone 6 and used iMovie app.)