Magazines: NON-NO

NON-NO is a Japanese fashion magazine which is catered towards teens and women in their early 20's.  I love this magazine!  Despite not being in my early 20's now, it was the magazine i bought when I first got into my "second" world.  This is the one fashion magazine that I always buy when I get the opportunity because of the styles of clothing that are presented.  It has the styles that I like to wear or at least try to attempt to wear (haha!)

One thing that I love about Japanese magazines, in general, is that most of the times they provide a free gift with your purchase.  It could be a small compact mirror, CD case, CD holders, etc.
In this case, I got a small amenities bag with my purchase.

NON-NO APRIL 2012 ISSUE:

On the cover is actress/model Kiritani Mirei and.... someone I can't remember right now XD
Inside was this really cute cosmetic pouch which was designed by Mercury Duo which is a brand that has lots of cute, bohemian style clothing.  (note: Nicole Richie was a model for this brand a few years ago).  While I haven't had a chance to use this pouch yet, it's pretty good quality and would last quite a while, plus the colors are gorgeous.  The pouch itself has handles on the outside, a small sleeve pouch on the outside, and 4 slots on the inside which is meant to hold your travel bottles.  I would love to use this when I travel but my only problem is, it's too narrow to hold ALL my stuff. 

When I do travel, I use a tokidoki foldable makeup carrier which was sold at Sephora a few years ago.  This one would be great for overnight travel, but not for a long vacation.  You may think it'd be great for bringing with you everyday, but the bag is a bit too large for that.

The contents of the magazine contained lots and LOTS of photographs of clothing and models wearing the clothing and the different ways to wear a few pieces of clothing each day.  There was also a small spread in the inside of actress/model Oomasa Aya sporting some Uniqlo clothing (btw love, love, LOVE Uniqlo!)

I'd love to share more about these magazines when I get them, but its been awhile since I last bought an issue.  A few years ago I remember getting a small pouch in my.... it was either Camcan or ViVi magazine... by Anna Sui which was reaaally cute, but I ended up giving it away.

Anyways..... Not sure if you've noticed, but I love the Japanese pop culture haha.  I do run another blog thats linked to this account for the other side of my personality.

Birchbox: July 2012

Birchbox x Glamour collab:

Contents:
- Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint
- boscia Green Tea Blotting Linens
- Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner
- Oscar de la Renta live in love
- LÄRABAR® über
- Birchbox Exclusive Earbuds

I love taking samples with me when I travel.  The less I have to carry the better (but that never happens XD).  I got my Birchbox before a quick vacation to LA and brought along a couple things like the boscia blotting paper and the larabar as a snack. 

I ate the larabar as a late night snack one of those nights.  I had the one with cherries in it, but overall the bar itself was standard.  It was just like any other granola/snack bar that you can find in stores.  Nothing too special about it.

I ended up not even using the blotting paper, in fact, I had forgotten I even had them.  But theyre sitting in my purse just in case I ever need them.

I havent tried anything else, although I was quite impressed with the Eyeko eyeliner.  Not only was it full sized, but the quality is fantastic.  I havent gotten a chance to use it on myself, but when I tested the tip on the back of my hand, it seemed to work pretty well.  Smooth and able to make a nice line.  But I'm going to have to try it out one time.  Although I'm not quite sure when I'd be able to use it because the color of the liner was purple.

I did, however, hate the earbuds.  I was happy to get a pair in my box and thought I could use those for travel so I didnt have to take my current pair with me (just in case I lost them).  I tried them out beforehand and boy was I glad I did.  My left earbud was broken.  Not only that, the earbuds didnt suction to my ears at all.  To me, they were poorly made, but i'm sure it's just my pair and someone else would find use with theirs.

So right now I'm anticipating my August box.  Cant wait to see whats in there.

Review: BlenderCleanser

I just used the BeautyBlender BlenderCleanser (LOL!) from my Birchbox for my makeup brushes.  The cleanser itself did pretty well at cleaning away all the makeup and dirt that had accumulated on my brushes.  Really quickly too and not too much "scrubbing" to get it to lather to cleanse. 

I'll go ahead and edit this post after my brushes dry to see if it will affect my brushes, post washing.

One complaint I have so far is that the smell is really strong.  There is a lavender scent to the cleanser and its really strong.  Like a bad kind of strong. It's less floral smelling than you'd think and more of a chemical type of smell.

EDIT//
I went to check on my brushes after 2 days and they seem really clean and soft.  It seems there is a slight residue left on the bristles.  Like a greasy or waxy kind of feel when i went to touch the bristles, but i cant really say it was from the prodct. It could have been from a less than perfect rinse out.  The next time i wash the brushes i'll use up the rest of the bottle and see if it was my mistake or actually from the cleanser itself.

Birchbox: June 2012

Jetset (travel) Birchbox:

 

Contents:

- Wonderstruck Taylor Swift 3.4 oz
- stila one step bronze
- Comodynes Self-Tanning Intensive
- theBalm® cosmetics Stainiac
- LUNA Bar

I haven't tried anything yet since I just received the package but I got to say that I was really impressed with this one.  I'm surprised at getting the Stila bronzer in my box and the SIZE of the bottle is amazingly huge.  I'm also grateful that the product had not melted since it's becoming hotter by the day here in the Bay.

I can't wait to try the bronzer and the self-tanning wipes.  Those will be used on areas not too exposed to the sun such as my tan-lined areas.  From last year alone I have a huge tank tan-line because of tennis.

The LUNA bar was really hilarious to find in my Birchbox.  Really... a LUNA bar?! I know this is a travels thing, but a LUNA bar?  I could buy those at any of the local stores near me.. not to mention that I have had them before... multiple times.. in fact before I had gotten this box, I had eaten one just a few days earlier.

Birchbox: May 2012

Gossip Girl Themed Birchbox:

Contents:
- Arquiste L'Etrog
- Dr. Jart+ Water Fuse Beauty Balm SPF 25+
- Color Club® Foil Collection
- beautyblender® blendercleanser
- Twistband Skinny Headband


I'm not a fan of Gossip Girl so I wasn't really anticipating my Birchbox arrival nor do I know what these items have to do with Gossip Girl.  Anyways.

My Dr. Jart+ sample had NO product whatsoever inside of it. I was really surprised.  I didn't bother emailing Birchbox only because of what had happened the month before with my point reimbursement.

I also didn't like that I ended up with the Beautyblender cleansar when I don't even have one, so it was pretty worthless to me.  I might end up giving it to my sister if she does end up buying a Beautyblender.

I tried the Twistband and really disliked it.  On the site it says "We never seem to have a headband when we need one, like those times we’re trying to salvage a bad hair day or running on a treadmill with sweaty bangs".  I used mine when I was playing tennis and that sucker did NOT want to stay on my head.  It's true it wont leave a crease, but its so smooth that it'll just fall off with intense movement.

Birchbox: April 2012

My first Birchbox:

 (The Opening)

 (What I'm treated with)

 (The Goodies!!)

Contents:
- Befine Exfoliating Cleanser
- Befine Daily Moisturizer with SPF 15
- Showstoppers® Designer Fashion Tape in Nude/Black
- Juicy Couture - Viva La Juicy - 3.4 oz
- Color Club® Neon Nail Polish
- June Jacobs Perfect Pumpkin Enzyme Polish

I couldn't try/use the Befine products because they were expired.  Birchbox had sent out a notice and many were rewarded with 100pts credit to their accounts however when I attempted to use the link they had sent, there was always an error.  Not cool Birchbox, but whatever.

I actually havent tried any of these products so I can't really give a review.

Quiz Results

"Which decade represents your style"
from College Fashion

I love taking College Fashion's style quizzes.  They're fun and pretty accurate.

So this quiz was to find which decade represents my style.  The choices were the 1920's, 1950's, 1970's and 1980's.  Without taking a look the choices, I didn't know what decades were listed in this quiz so I just went with it.  The questions were pretty basic like what prints do I usually go to or which celeb's closet would I raid.

Results:

Photo Credit: collegefashion.net

In the end I got the 1950's which is pretty accurate.  While I would consider my personality of the 80's (80's baby!)  The description is pretty accurate to how I try to style myself.  While I do love floral prints and YES I have a lot of it, the style of dresses I tend to go for are the classic, A-line dresses.

GRADUATION~!!

I just recently graduated from University which means I can start updating my blogs.  I might not upload past things I've used because they passed so long ago I have no idea what I want to say about them anymore, but we'll see.  As for today, I got a ton of graduation goodies to share.

Let's start with the outfit: 

Dress: "LC Lauren Conrad Floral Ruffle Chiffon Dress" from Kohls

Shoes: "Madden Girl Getta Pump - Nude" from DSW

Thoughts - I really love this dress.  I saw it online before I saw it in stores.  While I had a different dress in mind that I saw from the site and had hoped I would see in stores, I couldnt find them.  I tried on this dress and I ended up falling in love with it.  It's really flattering and fits just right.  The color is just how it's seen on the site, pinks and nudes.  And I really like the sheer shoulder straps as well.  There's a waist tie as well, but I tied it to the front instead of the back just so the back can be kept simple since the front has all the ruffles.  It landed about 2 or 3 inches above my knees, so it's longer than a mini skirt, but shorter than knee length (I'm 5'4" btw).  The only problem I had with it is the zipper which a lot of people have had problems as stated from the reviews on the site.  It would get stuck where the waist tie is and I assume it's because that's where the thickest amount of fabric is.

The shoes are really comfy.  They're about 3" heels, so they aren't too high.  I did a fair amount of walking and standing in these heels with no problem.  I had to get a half size smaller because the sizes run larger, but I was glad I got to try these on in store instead of ordering online.  Even though they are a perfect fit, I still had a problem with my heel slipping out of the shoe, but that's for any pair of pumps I own.  Me and my deformed heels haha.  Heel grips dont help either, or it just means I need to try a different brand of heel grips.  But nevertheless, these heels are a great addition to my slowly growing collection of shoes that I will never wear often :D

Makeup:

(Some of these are pictures that I've posted before, but now I can finally give a review.)

Eyeshadow: "Too Faced - Naked Eye Soft & Sexy Eye Shadow Collection" from Ulta ($20 promo)

Mascara: "Fairydrops - Volume Burst Mascara Waterproof" from Sasa

Cheeks: "Tarte - Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush - Wonder" from Ulta

*Not shown*

Eyelid primer: "Eyeshadow Primer Potion - Eden" by Urban Decay

Face primer: "Fix & Perfect Foundation Primer - 001" by Rimmel London

Foundation: "Lasting Finish 25 Hour Foundation - 200 and 201" by Rimmel London

Concealer: "Match Perfect Skin Tone Adapting Concealer" by Rimmel London

Powder: "Stay Matte Pressed Powder - Transparent 001" by Rimmel London

Lips: "tokidoki Prisma Lip Gloss - Donutella (nude)" from Sephora 

Thoughts - As you can see I love Rimmel London.  For me, it's the best drugstore brand that my skin can take.  Doesn't break me out, does a great job in coverage and the colors... closesly match my skin tone.  I've been experimenting with the foundation.  I currently mix two colors to get my skin tone.  And I see they have expanded their powder selection so I might be going for a colored powdered again as well. 

I really love this Too Faced palette.  I stopped using my tokidoki palette and started using this one as a my "go-to" eye makeup.  It's just as the name says.  It's soft in color, very subtle, yet it still has this sensual, "sexy" feel to it.  This particular palette did not come with the applicator drawer, but I like it this way since it's smaller and easier to travel with if I need to.

I'm not sure if I reviewed the Fairydrops mascara yet, but i'm half and half with this one.  I like that it maintains the curls as people have reviewed before with the ORIGINAL Japanese Fairydrops mascara.  What I dont like is that you can totally see the fibers on your eyelashes.  They don't separate the lashes too much so they get kind of spidery.  I use a mascara comb to comb out what I can, but this mascara dries quick which makes it hard to fan out the lashes.

Nails:

- Milani Nail Art (with precision brush) in Art of Silver

- Nailene French Manicure Kit (base color polish and white polish)

- E.L.F.  Clear glitter polish

- China Glaze Lush & Luxe (from the Hunger Games collection)

- Daiso mini nail beads 

- Seche Vite top coat

I know it's bad to keep old nail polishes, but I used them anyways since I still had them.  The white was pretty much thickening up, so currently I'm in search of a new white polish.

I had the intention of doing an asymmetric french tip, but I they didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, so I just did them on my thumb and ring fingers. I added the beads to the lining and for the other nails I did a standard french tip and lined it with the silver polish.  The whites of the nail had originally been painted with Lush & Luxe but I realized that it didn't look right to me, so I added the Elf glitter polish over it instead and on my other hand it was just the Elf glitter polish.

They turned out pretty well and they lasted for more than a week before the beads started to fall off (I love Seche Vite top coat >_<).

-----

Well that's it for the graduation post!  Hopefully I can do some more NOTW when I start doing my nails again, or reviews or OOTD.  But I'm not so trendy, so we'll see what comes out next. Check out my travel blog when I update it with my next trips!

Random Update Haul

Spring Break has officially started for me. I know it's early, but hey, a break is a break for me.  During the week I'll be posting some stuff of some items I've bought over the period of time where I havent said anything at all.  I've also got other pics to share as well. For now, I'll leave you all with a random haul of items.

 This is just some stuff. I got plenty others.  I'll do reviews for them if time permits. 

It's been awhile..

I do have realized that I haven't updated this.  I buy TONS of makeup and stuff but I never got around to actually reviewing them despite me either liking them or not liking them or am still using them now.

I do gotta say tho that since I started a 2nd job, the new job doesn't allow colored hair nor flashy nail colors/polishes/designs :( yeah, i know wtf.  But whatever, when I graduate and start working in a lab, I can do whatever the hell I want.. or at least I would hope so :P

anyways.  My current nails are gel nails with a natural look (no french tips or boogie nights, but am wearing falsies) and 4 plumeria 3D flowers on the thumbs and ring fingers.  Pictures up the next time I update, hopefully there will be some reviews. Until next time!