Get the [Nail] Look: A Pastel Galaxy

Everyone loves the good old classic galaxy nail, but adding pastel? Well that's a match made in heaven! (Okay maybe not really but you get my enthusiasm). I saw some pastel galaxy nails on Pinterest and just had to recreate them and share them with you! Honestly they're the same technique as a normal galaxy nail, you just need to pick out all your favorite pastel or light colored polishes - they can be shimmer, glitter, or cream. You can also choose only a few colors to create a different effect (maybe a more cool-toned sky or a warmer one or if you want to be fun, choose them all like me! Although I think I ended up with a more cool toned galaxy nail).

Please excuse the messiness/dryness of my cuticles. My hands were super dry the week I did this and a little on the shorter side but as you can tell, the nails still turned out beautifully!

 I used the following nail polishes (listed below) but honestly any light or pastel colors you have will work. I also used one of those cheap makeup sponges that you can get from Ulta or Sephora to stipple on the colors. I first cut the sponge into roughly 0.5 cm by 0.5 cm squares and used a cheap tweezer I got from Hong Kong to hold the sponge pieces to hold the pieces while I stippled color onto my nails. You want to make sure you have a good white base nail polish by the way to avoid any sort of dimpling or weirdness which you can tell sort of happened with mine.. -shrug- Oh well haha.

From left to right:
-L.A. Colors Art Deco Nail Art Lacquer, White
-Pop-Arazzi Nail Polish, Icing On The Cake (cheap nail polish from CVS but any white will do; I'm not sure I would recommend this.. it's not terrible but you need at least two coats and it can be thick..)
-Covergirl Coral Silk
-Orly Spark
-Revlon Minted
-Sally Hansen Breeze Blue
-H&M Beauty Bandit (not sure if this is sold anymore since they appear to have changed their packaging)

I should also mention that when I was finished, I used one of those shimmery top coat add on nail polishes (not really sure how to describe it but its super iridescent)  from Skin Food (a Korean brand). I can't seem to find a photo or name of it online so I'm not sure if it's still available but it's not necessary to get the galaxy effect. You can coat your nails with a fine white glitter nail polish if you have one to save yourself the trouble of having to spot on white 'stars'. I finished my nails with my usual Seche Vite top coat which gave them the perfect gel finish. I used dotting tools from Ebay to draw my stars but a toothpick of bobby pin will work fine.

Disney Princess Series Nail Art: Aladdin (Princess Jasmine)

I'm not sure why but I've never particularly favored Princess Jasmine or the Disney movie Aladdin. Not that I didn't like the movie or anything, but maybe it was just I didn't like the genie so much. I'm really not sure. But the reason I bring this up is that the nail look I did inspired by Princess Jasmine is actually my favorite out of my entire Disney Princess series so far. I didn't come up with this look myself, I got it from Pinterest so don't give me credit but I seriously just LOVE the look! The tips with the gold accent and single rhinestone are just.. ooh too much amazingness. I got so many compliments when I wore this so I hope some of you try to recreate this nail look too :)

 

You can see that I didn't do the lines perfectly on my thumb but it still looks nice nonetheless. The steps I took are outlined and roughly sketched below (I'm trying be more helpful for recreating any of my nail looks haha).

I used the striper brush from LA colors gold nail polish but because that gold is too sheer, I would dip the brush into my more opaque gold polish (I used Butter London's The Full Monty but you can use any brand really) before using it. I used a dotting tool to create the circles and also used it to drag the dots inward to connect them with the other lines (see nail image 5 below). I lastly added a green/turquoise gem in the middle and applied my Seche Vite top coat to make it look like shiny gel nails <3

The nail polishes I used were:
-Barry M Hi Shine Nail Paint in Green Berry
-Butter London's The Full Monty Nail Lacquer
-LA Colors in Gold Glitter

Well I hope this inspired some of you to recreate this look! It looks complicated but it's really not! It does take a bit of time and steadiness but practice makes perfect right? :) Also I think it looks nice that my finger nails were somewhat rectangle rounded shaped instead of the usual oval/circular edge that your nails naturally grow at. Which Disney Princess should I do next? Frozen, Little Mermaid, or Tangled? Or any other princess! Comment down below please! ^__^

A peek at my Frosty VoxBox from Influenster

 

 This winter season I was lucky enough to be chosen to be sent the Frosty VoxBox from Influenster! If you don't know what Influenster is, it's a review site/company that sends out boxes to members to try out different product brands. Each box contains different items and they all have special themes that you, as a member, can earn badges for which will allow you to be considered to be sent those items related to your interest. For example, for a makeup obsessed person like me, I have the Beauty Badge which qualifies me for consideration for makeup Influenster boxes. There's also fitness themed boxes, food themed, travel themed, and more! I would definitely check out Influenster if you're interested or post in the comments below and I can invite you (I think you need an invitation to join).

With that being said, let me share with you the products I received in my Frosty VoxBox!

One of the first things I noticed was the McCornick Gourmet bottle of thyme. I'm no professional chef but I do know that thyme is a super useful dried herb when it comes to cooking. I've used it to season lamb, mashed potatoes, and various other dishes so I was actually pretty excited to see this in my VoxBox. I recently used it for our family Christmas dinner to season our roasted vegetables and it was so good! McCormick is a brand I've grown up with and I think it's one of those "family brands" that have just been around for a while. The glass bottle packaging definitely makes this bottle look more classy and professional than their usual plastic ones. I definitely think I might pick up a few more herbs or dried seasonings from this "gourmet" line by McCormick.

There were two makeup products that came in my Frosty VoxBox. The Rimmel Scandal Eyes waterproof khol kajal liner and the NYC lipstick. Both I've actually been fortunate to have tried as I bought the pencil liner in the nude shade a while back. Everyone on Youtube was raving about how good it was and how it was a dupe for the Stila nude pencil that everyone always used on their waterliner so I thought I'd give it a try and I'm so glad I did. The liner is just the perfect amount of softness without being too soft like the Stila ones which sort of "mush" when you apply too much pressure and tend to smudge. The Rimmel liner is much better and it lasts all day with little to no smudging on my semi-oily eyelids. I don't own the liner in the black shade though so I'm really glad I got it! I'm a bit of an eyeliner junkie and I own more than enough black eyeliners but I always love to try new ones. If you want, I might post a review and comparison of all my favorite (and not so favorite) black pencil liners.

The NYC lipstick came in the shade Sugar Plum and is a beautiful mauve-y color. I previously received the same Expert Last Lip Color by NYC from another Influenster box but it was in a hot pink shade which was definitely a bit intimidating. This color, however, is much more wearable and perfect for the winter season. It's almost like a Kylie Jenner lip color which is that nude-mauve sort of lip color that everyone's been going crazy about. I wore this lip color the other day and found it a little drying but definitely lasting.

Another makeup/beauty related product I received was the Rimmel London makeup remover. I'm definitely happy that I got this in my box because I'm running low on my supply of the "free gift with purchase" makeup removers that I get from Clinque (my mom is a sucker for those deals and they almost always come with a travel size of their makeup remover which is SUPER good by the way and I would highly recommend). I have yet to try the makeup remover from Rimmel though but it's a good large sized bottle that I'm sure will last me for a good long while. I'll update you on my thoughts about the remover and how well it removes fake eyelashes and waterproof makeup!

No7 is a UK brand I believe but I've never actually tried anything from their line so I was a little excited to see a sample of their product in my box. It's a anti-aging serum so I might actually give it to my mom to try but at the same time, I feel like it's a bit hard to review a skincare product based on a small sample since I'm almost positive there is no topical treatment that will instantly cure your aging skin problems in a tiny sample packet. Nevertheless, still excited to see a brand I haven't had much exposure to in my box :)

If I haven't mentioned before, my sister is an absolute tea fanatic. She loves all things tea and tea parties and tea cakes and well anything tea related. She's even started collecting fancy vintage tea cups and been to some nice tea shops. Celestial Seasonings tea is a brand that we've both tried and actually their main company is located in Colorado where one of my cousins works. My cousin actually brought us back limited edition tea flavors that you can only get at the company in Colorado and the one she gave me for Christmas is called "Fast Lane" that apparently has a ton of caffeine for those sleepless college studying nights (not that I actually do that though.. haha). Anyways, just the name "Candy Cane Lane" got me excited and the fact that it's green tea is even better since I loveee green tea. I steeped the tea bag for about 2-3 minutes in a cup of hot water and let me tell you, it was SO good. The candy cane flavor isn't too strong or weird and it adds a nice burst of mint-iness.

Another exciting item I received was the Ecotools hairbrush. I haven't bought a new hair brush in a while so all of mine are getting pretty..well let's just say worn out so this was a long overdue and needed hair brush. The cool thing is that it's sort of rounded which is great for blow-drying hair and it has the nice rounded bristles at the top so it doesn't stab your scalp. I've been using it since I got it and it's great! I don't know if it's any less damaging then a normal hair brush but it doesn't seem to yank out my hairs as much as some of my other ones so maybe that counts haha. It does also seem to make my hair smoother after I shower and brush my hair.

Last but not least... CANDY! This was probably the thing that first caught my eye when I opened my VoxBox because I love anything sweet. I've never actually tried fruit vines though it's by the same brand that makes Red Vines. I opened these up the other day to share with my boyfriend and he loves anything strawberry flavored so he fell in love with them right away. They're gummy type of candies and are the perfect bite size. Plus they aren't too overly sweet and are low in fat if you're on a diet (though I suppose you shouldn't be eating too much candy anyways because of the sugar..). I think I like these better than the regular red vines and would recommend you try these out if you're into the firmer type of fruity gummy candies.

Anyways that's it for my Frosty VoxBox. I hope you guys enjoyed the mini review of everything and have a wonderful new year's eve/new year if I don't post anything before 2015~!





Disclaimer: I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. However, all opinions are my honest and true thoughts!

Frozen's Princess Elsa Inspired Makeup Look

One of the most popular Disney princess movies ever was Frozen, recently released in November of 2013. Princess Elsa is definitely beautiful and her purple eye look really stands out. Right after I watched the movie, I was inspired to do a makeup look based off of Princess Elsa's look.

I used the above photo for reference when I was creating this look in case any of you were wondering. I'm in no way saying I look like her or that I could ever look as gorgeous as she does, but I had a lot of fun recreating her look!

I know this is super late and probably way out of season (much more appropriate for fall or winter when I had originally done this) but I just wanted to share it with any of you guys interested. I used a mix of purple shadows and can do a makeup tutorial if any of you are interested~!

I love how soft the look is but still really elegant and pretty. It's a beautiful smokey eye without being too much and you only really fully see the color when you blink/look down. It suits brown eyed girls (anyone get that reference to the Korean girl band? ;D ) or blue eyes like Elsa or really any eye color in my opinion. Anyways I have to go study for my exams but hope you are all enjoying your summer (if you're already finished with school) and good luck to everyone else who still is in school and has finals or end of the year projects coming up! xoxo.

Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer Haul + Review and Swatches!

If you didn't already know, Ulta had this special event called  "21 Days of Beauty Madness" where each day (since March 16th all the way till April 5th), they had one or more "Beauty Steal(s) of the Day" with certain products discounted or on sale for a pretty good price. They also had a different in store events every day where they either teach you beauty tips and tricks or share new products! It's pretty cool and the nice thing is, they released all the specials of the day that they'd have on their website so you didn't have to keep checking back or checking your email to find out what items might be on sale that day. Click this link if you want to check out what goodies they had on sale so the next time it come around, you have sort of an idea what to expect! :)

From left to right: Sprog, Rosie Lee, Kerfuffle, Goss, Bit Faker, and Lucy in the Sky

Anyways, why am I mentioning Beauty Madness at Ulta - besides trying to save you some bucks? Because on March 20th, the Beauty Steal of the Day was buy one get one free for Butter London nail polishes. Say whaat?? Yea you heard me. Those polishes that sell for $15 a piece for only $7.50?! Woot woot, count me in! Unfortunately, that week was my finals week for school so I was locked up in my room studying that day and knew I wouldn't be able to go in stores to get the polishes so I decided to purchase them online.. which I wouldn't say was a bad thing because (1) all of the nail polishes were in stock and available and (2) I was "forced" to buy more than just two polishes since I wanted the free shipping which required a purchase over $50 haha. I ended up buying 6 polishes and a toner that cost about $6 which got me just barely over $50 and the free shipping! I'm planning on returning the toner to my local Ulta though since I don't exactly need a new one and I might actually be returning one of the Butter London nail polishes just because I realized I have a color similar to it already (but who knows!).

Top to bottom and Left to right: Rosie Lee, Sprog, Kerfuffle, Bit Faker, Goss, and Lucy in the Sky

Below is a photo of how the polishes came in their bundled original bubble wrap packaging. Thought I'd just share this to show how nicely packed the polishes were to avoid breaking during the shipping process. I commend Ulta for their shipping services as I received the tracking ID in a timely manner via email and my package arrived in about 4 business days (it was supposed to take 2-5 business days). My order came in a nicely packed cardboard boxed that was filled with air bags and bubble wrap to keep everything secure and safe :D

All nicely bundled up to protect from injury during the ship!

The polishes I purchased are Goss, Lucy in the Sky, Sprog, Bit Faker, Rosie Lee, and Kerfuffle. Goss and Lucy in the Sky are from the Boho Collection, Bit Faker is from the Summer Collection, and Kerfuffle is from the Spring Collection. Rosie Lee and Sprog are part of the permanent collection. Sprog is a beautiful pond blue cream shade with no sparkles and is quite opaque (you can get away with one coat but two is always advised). Kerfuffle is also another cream polish that comes in a peachy-coral-pink shade. It's not exactly the type of pink I've been searching for (I'm on a hunt for the perfect pink base shade that I can do nail art and designs on) but it's definitely a really pretty pink with warm undertones. 

If you want, I can do a shade comparison to other pinks I have to show the difference as many pinks can be too cool or too orange and this is definitely a nice different shade from anything I have. I also am quite pleased with Kerfuffle in it's opacity and non-streaky nature (I only needed one coat of it and it looked fantabulous!). Rosie Lee and Bit Faker are both dense glitter packed polishes and I know they're going to be a pain in the butt to get off, but they're soo gorgeous. Rosie Lee has pink glitter specks while Bit Faker has a mix of gold and bronze glitter specks giving it a really nice multidimensional look. Because they're both intense glitter polishes, they dry with a textured rough finish because of all the glitters but that's not a problem for me (especially since I always top with my Seche Vite top coat)

Goss is one of the most unique polishes I've ever tried since it's a foil or metal finish meaning it's SUPER glossy and shiny and makes it look like you have metal on your nails! It's absolutely stunning and actually might be my favorite polish from this haul because of it's unique look. It reminds me of my Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Nail Polish in Silver Sweep (click here for a swatch of it) which also has a metallic/foil finish but Goss is a rose gold color which makes it extra special. The only downside to Goss is that it is a bit less forgiving to any bumps or lines on your nails as they WILL show up through the polish and I would advise 2-3 coats to get an even finish (in addition to a base coat and buffed&smoothed nails). When I was deciding if I should purchase Goss or not, I was reading reviews and quite a few people had mentioned the streakiness and how you could see "brush strokes" when using Goss. I agree that it is a bit more difficult to use than other normal polishes, but nothing that can't be fixed with multiple coats of polish! And last but not least, Lucy in the Sky! It is a beautiful glitter top coat with gold and silver glitter particles. These glitters are different from the ones in Rosie Lee and Bit Faker because they're just a tad bit larger and there are less of them which makes it better as a top coat than to be worn by itself. Because it has less glitters and the glitter particles are slightly larger, Lucy in the Sky has less of a rough finish.

I paired Rosie Lee by itself (two coats) on my left thumb and found it to be quite a glitter packed polish. While it can look nice over another solid polish, it definitely can be worn by itself since the glitter flecks are so densely packed. On my right thumb, I did one coat of Kerfuffle and topped it with two coats of Lucy in the Sky. I'm not sure how much I like the pairing but I do like both nail polishes separately! Lucy in the Sky is really pretty and layering one coat vs. two coats can create very different effects.

Picture taken indoors with flash.

Photo taken indoors without flash. From thumb to pinky (left to right): Rosie Lee (two coats without redipping brush into bottle), Kerfuffle (one coat!), Lucy in the Sky (one coat all over the nail) and Bit Faker at the bottom half of the nail (one coat), Goss (two coats), and Lucy in the Sky (two coats all over the nail) with Bit Faker at the tips.

Index finger to pinky (top to bottom): Goss (one coat so you can see some brush lines), Bit Faker (two coats but without redipping brush into bottle), Rosie Lee (one coat) over Kerfuffle (one coat), and Lucy in the Sky (two coats with redipping back into polish bottle)

Overall I'm extremely satisfied with all the nail polishes so far. They all apply super smoothly and evenly and look amazing! I'll post an update later on how long they last before chipping so I won't apply a top coat. I'll also post pictures of Sprog once I get to testing it out but I hope this post was helpful to any of you guys thinking about purchasing one of these Butter London shades! They're all quite unique in my opinion and I'm glad I purchased them when they were on sale :)

Shiseido White Lucent Intensive Spot Targeting Serum Review

Who knew having nice skin took so much time and effort.. and not to mention money. It makes me regret not taking better care of it when I was younger and had the perfect baby soft, clear, and untouched by pimples and scars face haha. But anyways, today's review is going to be on the Shieseido White Lucent Intensive Spot Targeting Serum (wow that was a mouthful) and if you're trying to decide whether or not to slap that grand of money on the table for this product, well read on~!

 

Price: $170 for 50 mL

What it claims to do: "A super brightening serum created to diminish stubborn dark spots in 10 days and prevent future pigmentation from appearing." 

• Formulated with smoothing and re-texturizing ingredients to enhance clarity and radiance for flawless, perfectly even-toned skin
• Developed with advanced Shiseido Multi-Action Brightening System+, targeting all types of hyper-pigmentation and their causes: dark spots, age spots, acne scars and uneven skin tones. 
• Contains ME Complex (Yomogi Extract and Angelica Root Extract) to accelerate cell turnover and diminish and eliminate melanin pigment.

"The recommended replenishment cycle for 30mL is 1 month and 50mL is 2 months."

Okay all of that above was taken straight from the site so I'm sure you've read it before, but let me point out that last sentence.. the "recommended replenishment"?! I started off with the 30mL bottle and it lasted me a year. Maybe it's because I was super sparing with the product or that I stopped using it as consistently as I maybe should have? Who knows but regardless, I'm pretty sure it'll last longer than it says there so don't be too freaked out by that last sentence. 

I originally bought this serum hoping that it would help fade my dark spots and acne scars that I had gotten from my college breakout experience, but as time went by and I continued to use this product, I realized it wasn't really doing much for my dark spots and rather I preferred to use it to "brighten" my skin. I noticed that the mornings after I had applied the product (I usually only put it on at night), my face looked more luminescent, like it had nice radiant glow to it which helped my complexion look nicer. However, when I looked close to see any removal or decrease of my dark spots, I didn't notice any notable or incredible difference. For a product that costs $170 for the full size, I was definitely not impressed by the results. Sure it does make your skin look nice, but you have to continually use it to get that effect and really, who has that kind of money to spend on something that doesn't actually improve your skin? While I'll admit this product does meet the first bullet point in that it does "enhance radiance", I don't think it gives you even skin because I can still see my discoloration from my scars and I don't think that counts as "even"! Personally, I prefer my Aloe Vera gel lotion - which I swear by in treating acne and scars - as well as a Pond's dark spot treatment which I might review if you guys would like (it's less than $10 and I can say it works better than this $170 Shisiedo "intensive" serum. I'm now also trying out an Olay dark spot serum and will let you know how that goes once I've used it long enough to determine it's effectiveness but so far it's going well!

Anyways, back to this review ...Would I repurchase this? No, definitely not because it is way too pricey and did not get rid of my dark spots. Therefore, I can't say I would recommend it to you guys to purchase. Sure it makes your skin look brighter but there are a ton more products out there for less than half the price that do the same job so I'd say save your hard earned money and go for those! So tootle-loo for now, I'll be back with another review soon (hopefully!) ^__^

Spring Nail Colors - A splash of Spring in Winter

As the last winter month draws to a close, I decided to start early on the pastel trend and get going. I painted my nails last night with some of my favorite Spring colors and decided to share them with you in case any of you are looking for the perfect spring nail colors this year!

From left to right:
-Revlon Colorstay in Cafe Pink 060
-Covergirl Outlast Stay Brilliant in Peaches & Cream  125
-Zoya in Piaf
-Revlon in Minted 85 (old bottle, they repackaged it so it looks a bit different now)
-Nicole by OPI in "Baby" Blue

Except for the Zoya nai lpolish, all of the colors I used are cream finishes making them perfect for the spring! The pink nail polish (Cafe Pink) took 2 coats to be opaque (first coat is like a transparent pink but not streaky) and 3 to be a nice smooth color. I like the brush tip of the Revlon Colorstay nail polishes because they're a bit wider than a normal brush but have a rounded tip so it gets perfectly into the bottom curve of your nails! The Zoya nail polish (Piaf, yellow color) is a shimmer color with very fine microglitters and was very opaque on the first coat already but I used 2 to even it out. The Covergirl nail polish is a nice peach/coral color though I would prefer it to be a little less orange and more pink and is super opaque so you can get away with one coat but I usually stick to 2 to get rid of any mistakes. The brush handle is a bit tricky since it's a square top instead of your typical rounded one but it's not too hard to use. The blue Nicole by OPI nail polish is also very opaque but it can get a little streaky due to the brush I think so even though the color intensity is there on the first coat, you kind of need the second coat to smooth it out. And lastly, my beloved Revlon Minted.. oh I love this color soo much, it's pretty old (as you can tell since the packaging is the old one!) and I've used up a good amount, but I love it so much! It's the perfect mint green color and though it can be a bit watery/sheer and needs 2-3 coats (I can usually get by with two coats), it really gives the perfect cream finish making it one of my favorite go-to colors.

I topped all of my nails off with the Seche Viet top coat because I love the way it gives your nails a sort of "gel" like finish and it really makes them glossy and last soo much longer! Anyways, I hope I didn't ramble on too much and if you guys are interested, definitely try and find these colors at your local drugstore or Ulta because they're definitely going to be perfect for when spring comes around! I got all of them for around $4-5 each because of sales/clearances (the Zoya was only $4.50 and I got the Covergirl one, buy one get one free so it was 50% off basically!) so always keep a look out for good nail polish deals! I might post up more mini nailpolish reviews if you guys want - just leave a comment down below~! Hope you all have a wonderful day ~<3

SK-II Facial Treatment Clear Lotion Review

 

Today I wanted to share my opinion on the SK-II Facial Treatment Clear Lotion because I've been using this skincare product for a bit more than a year now and I have to say, I absolutely love it! I knew it was worth the money in about the first month's use, but I guess I never got around to blogging about it till now. Looking online, I realized there aren't too many reviews for this product so I hope I can add my thoughts to the "pot" and help out some of you deciding whether or not you should spend your money on this toner. 

Price: $60 for 5 oz (update as of 11/26/2014: I went to Sephora's website and apparently they've raised the price to $70!! If you are in Asia or have someone visiting Asia, I would definitely suggest you go ask them to buy it for you as it is about $60 USD or less depending where you go)
What it claims to do: This effective toning lotion with a mix of AHA and Pitera™ exfoliates dead skin cells and impurities. Its clarifying formula prepares the face for the rest of your skincare regimen.

I guess I should start off with the reason why I bought this toner in the first place - I'll admit, it's quite pricey - but if you've been following me on my Youtube channel, you'll know already. My first year of college, I started breaking out like crazy, and for someone like me who had previously rarely got pimples except the occasional one that I would freak out over, it was a pretty big deal. When people say that having acne really hurts your confidence, I understand - it really does. It's strange because you shouldn't have to care so much about your outer appearance but when you just have red dots and bumps all over your face, it's hard not to feel embarrassed or wonder if everyone's staring at them. To this day, I'm not 100% sure why I had that "mid-life skin crisis" but I'm guessing it was a combination of the cafeteria food I was eating (probably a 100% increase in my fat intake since back home, I ate a healthy balanced Chinese meal of rice and vegetables and some meat), the air environment (it is much drier in my college town than in my hometown), and the Missha BB cream (strange that I'd say such a specific item right? But I'll explain!). When I realized my breaks out weren't subsiding, I took action and began eating much healthier (only salads and low-fat foods) because I thought my diet was what was the cause. After about a month or two and no improvement, I was at a loss of what to do. Around that time, it was Christmas break and I went home and even my parents were shocked and a bit distressed at my skin condition. My mom decided to take me out and buy some skincare products to hopefully help my acne and we decided to purchase the SK-II Facial Treatment Clear Lotion. The reason we chose this specific one was because I had seen Raeview (if you haven't heard of her, check out her Youtube videos or her blog - TheRaeviewer - she's writes really great reviews on lots of high end luxury products as well as drugstore makeup products!) talk about her daily skincare routine and she had mentioned using this toner and how well it worked for her. The lady who we purchased the toner from recommended I get the matching Facial Treatment Essence to go with it but I passed (though I did get a sample to try out). I began using the clear lotion that night and within a week, the redness in my pimples had decreased significantly and by two weeks, most of them had cleared away. It took about a month for them to all disappear but within that time, my skin improved so much and it was amazing. 

This toner did wonders for my skin and continues to do so. I would say this toner is just average if it just got rid of my acne, but it's better than that because it actually prevents me from getting any more breakouts. Now I practically NEVER breakout, like even less than I did originally and even if it's "that time of the month", and I'm really not exaggerating!! I really hope I don't suddenly get a pimple tomorrow morning (haha) but I absolutely swear by this toner. Before I got this toner, I used some random "hydrating toner" my mom had given to me by some random unknown brand and I didn't feel like it did anything for my skin. But using the SK-II Clear Lotion, I really can feel a difference. I like to just tip the bottle over two times with half a cotton pad (I like to use the CVS rectangle ones and cut or rip them in half) covering the opening. Because the opening is just a small hole, the toner can't really "spill" out because it'll just drip out. I only need two "tips" of the bottle to soak the cotton pad enough before swiping it all over my face, but I know for my boyfriend, he needs at least 4 so it's really up to you and how much you feel you need to wipe your face down. I like to start from the right side of my face and move downwards getting my jawline down to my neck and avoiding the delicate eye area. I like to concentrate mostly on my nose area because that's where my face oils tends to accumulate. I apply quite a bit of pressure when I'm wiping my face because I like to really make sure I'm wiping away any dirt or oil residue that my cleanser didn't wash off. (If I didn't say this before, I use my Philosophy Purity made Simple cleanser before I use the facial treatment toner). The fun thing is looking at the cotton pad and seeing the dirt or dead skin cells that come off my face haha! 

If I were to say how long this toner would last most people, I'd say maybe about 8 months to a year? I suppose it depends how often you use it because I first started off using it day and night but then as my skin cleared up and I realized I didn't need to use it so often, I started only using it at night. Now, I just use it every other night or even less, it just depends how my skin is looking that week. Because my skin has been doing so well, I've been able to focus more on my acne scars/dark spots and trying to fade them rather than having to fight off pimples and I know it's because of this toner that my skin has been doing so well. The SK-II Facial Treatment Clear Lotion really helps to get rid of any leftover dirt or oil that could clog my pores, and I feel like it helps my skin absorb my other skin care products better. I know the Facial Treatment Essence that you're supposed to use with it would probably also help my skin, but I don't think it's really necessary because of what great results I've gotten with the Clear Lotion alone. While I understand that the price is quite up there, I would definitely suggest this to anyone whether you have extremely severe acne or just moderate to light acne. I think one of the reasons this toner works so well is that it helps balance out your skin so that if you had oily skin before, somehow, it makes your skin produce less oil so that you'll have less oil clogging your pores. I know this is true because for my skin, I previously had combination skin with my T-zone getting quite oily some days, but now, my skin stays nice and healthy and hydrated without getting oily.

Would I repurchase this product? Yes and no. Right now, I haven't even finished my bottle as I have about 1/3 left, but even though I absolutely love this product, I don't think I actually will buy it again once I run out. The reason for this is because I feel like the Clear Lotion has really helped balance out my skin and because my skin is doing so well, I don't see too much of a need for the toner. Basically, the toner has worked so well that I feel like I don't need any toner anymore at all! Of course I know that's not true because toners really help your skin absorb the skincare products you use afterwards much more, but I think I might start experimenting around and try and find a less intense and cheaper alternative that will just keep my skin in balance and in check.

Would I recommend this product? Yes yes and yes! If I haven't drilled it in your head enough, I love this product and think it'll work wonders for anyone's skin. It doesn't just get rid of acne, it prevents it and corrects your skin so that you don't have to worry about it so much. Yes $60 is a lot, but you get a good amount of product and it lasts for quite a while. Plus, it goes against the laws of all business companies in that it works so well that you don't NEED to repurchase it! (Because we all know companies just want us to keep buying their products).


If you want to purchase this toner, you can find it at a local SK-II shop (that's where I picked up mine) or at Sephora - click here! I hope you guys enjoyed this somewhat lengthy review and found it helpful. If you have any questions about my personal experience with this toner, please leave a comment below and I'll answer it ASAP~! :) Hope you all have a lovely day <3

Em Cosmetics Black Friday Unboxing Haul + First Impressions + Makeup Look (Video) + Swatches!

So as most everyone in the beauty/Youtube/makeup world knows, Michelle Phan launched her makeup line called "Em Cosemetics" in this last year and to mine, and many others, surprise, it wasn't exactly an "affordable" line. Not that she said it was going to be or anything but I know I just assumed it wouldn't be too pricey because I thought she'd want to cater towards her general Youtube viewing audience which includes a lot of teenagers and young adults who don't exactly have a ton of money to spend. So when I saw the prices and realized, there was no way I was going to be able to justify spending that much on makeup, I was pretty bummed out because hey, it's Michelle Phan! Her products have to be freaking awesome right?? Then came Black Friday and guess what? There was a sale for $10 off of any $30 purchase, $20 off of any $50 purchase, and $50 off of any $100 purchase~! Woot woot right? So I picked up the Day Life Palette, the great cover up concealer, and a waterliner in Ros Gold for a little less than $70 after the $50 discount and tax. The nice thing is that they offer free shipping on ANY order, no minimum price, andd free returns too (super good for me because unfortunately I'm probably going to be returning at least one thing D: ). Shipping took about a week which was fine since the confirmation email said it'd take 5-7 business days, and the packing was nice with giant bubble wrap and pink wrapping paper on everything *___* I filmed me unboxing the package, my first impressions, and a makeup look testing out the products so check it out the videos: part 1 and part 2!

 Anyways, now that that's out of the way, and I've had some time to try out the products some more and figure out if I really like them or not... let's get started with the nitty gritty review!

The first product I want to talk about is the Day Life Palette. I ended up choosing this palette because I figured it had the most neutrals and wearable shades so I'd get the most use out of it. If you get to watch my first impression video, you'll remember me mentioning that it was definitely a lot "duller" looking than I expected. The colors just didn't seem as bright and vibrant as they had on my computer screen, but I guess that's what makes them good neutrals right? :P When I first tried out the eyeshadows in the palette, I noticed that the shimmery colors were much more softer and pigmented than the matte shades. As I continued to try out the palette, I realized a LOT of the eye shadows aren't very pigmented and they come out super patchy and don't blend out well. When you swatch them, they come out really blotchy and not smooth or dark. If you just swatch with your finger, you'll get a good amount of product on your finger so it looks promising but when you swipe it, poof - half of the color vanishes O_o'  Plus, after I swatched the shadows on my arms (pictures below), I wiped my arms and literally all of them just wiped off... like disappeared which means the lasting power of these shadows isn't that great. It also took me multiple swipes to get the swatches even visible for some of the photos. So if you haven't realized by now, I'm not exactly in love with the palette and I have to say that disappoints me a lot because I wanted to like it! I totally was excited to try them out because they seemed pretty good when Michelle Phan does videos using them and I've seen other reviews so I was really surprised at the "meh" quality of the shadows /: I've already contacted the company for a return label because I realized that honestly, I'm not going to be using the blush or lip colors very often (I don't wear either very often and I don't love using lip colors from a pan anyways.. ) and if the eyeshadows aren't like top notch quality, then I can't justify the $42 cost of this palette that I paid for. I would much rather just purchase the Lorac Pro Palette or the new Naked 3 palette and get better quality/pigmented shadows /: So in the end, I can't recommend the Day Life Palette (perhaps you'll have better luck with another life palette) due to the disappointing quality of the eyeshadows. I've really tried to use this palette and make it work, but the fact that many of the colors go on so patchy and that blending doesn't help at all (either wipes away most of the color or just smears it around more so that it looks even worse).. well I just don't know what to do anymore :(

I have swatches I did from the top two sets in the palette. As you can see, most of them don't look pigmented and I had to swipe them all 3-5 times to get the pigmentation needed for the camera to pick them up.

Photo from the em website. Mine definitely weren't this pigmented

Moving on from the life palette, we have The Great Cover Up concealer! Thankfully, this one matched my expectations in that yes it gives great coverage for my undereye circles and areas of redness. However, from what I had heard from everyone on Youtube and reviews, I think I did expect it to have a bit more coverage because I can still see some scars/pigmentation spots through the concealer so it's not super high coverage but I don't mind that too much. I don't notice any caking throughout the day and it also doesn't break me out so that's good. I do agree with everyone else that a little bit of this product goes a long ways and it blends out nicely. My only real bother is that I got the shade light warm and while it does match my skin tone and shade quite well, I usually prefer my concealers to be a bit lighter than my actual skin because I feel like it gives a more brightening effect (especially for under the eyes). I'm around an NC 30-35 so perhaps next time I will pick up the shade "fair warm" and see if that works out. There are 8 shades of the concealer but there aren't many darker shades (only like 2) so if you have darker skin, you might not be able to find a shade to match your skin. I also know some people complained about not knowing what shade they were after they had removed the concealer from the packaging but I guess Em Cosemetics fixed that because on the back of my concealer, it says "light warm" now although it's in a sort of ugly font like they just stamped it on, but I don't mind too much. Overall, I definitely would recommend this concealer if you're looking for something to cover up most of your blemishes without looking too cakey or fake and if you can get it on sale. The regular $20 is a bit pricey for a concealer, but reasonable when you compare it to other high end brand concealers and the quality is there so if you really can't wait to try it out, I would say to go for it even if there isn't a sale. However, if you really want something crazy high coverage, this isn't that product and I would actually recommend the Kat Von D Lock it foundation or concealer as those are super (not an exaggeration) high coverage but you just have to be careful or else they can look thick/cakey.

The last product I picked up was the Em Cosemetics waterliner in Ros Gold. I included a picture of my swatch above and also the photo from the website to help you get an idea of what it really looks like. Now, I really was excited to try this liner out because I'd heard great things about it (lasting power, waterproof ability, smudge proof, etc) and looking at the swatches from Raeview (another blogger, go check her out~!), they look really amazing! I chose Ros Gold because I thought it was the most unique and it looked really pretty. Unfortunately, when I got the liner, the color turned out to be a lot more orangey-peachy rather than a pink copper color that I'd expect of a rose gold eye liner (why they named it Ros Gold rather than Rose Gold I'm not sure). To make things worse, the moment I opened the liner, half of it fell out because it had broken! I pushed it back in and I think I "smushed" the fallen half back with the other half inside the pencil, but I'm still a little put off by my broken product :( It works fine now and everything, but I'm not sure if I should return or exchange it because hey, a $20 pencil shouldn't start off broken right? Beside that point though, the quality of this liner is superb. It's definitely a good creamy and soft consistency without going overboard (like the Milani Liquify pencil which in my opinion is a bit TOO soft) and it doesn't tug on my eyelids when I use it. It's also great for being on the waterline and lasted all day on my waterline without smearing out. I think this is comparable to the Urban Decay 24/7 liners and with the wide variety of colors, you're bound to find the color you want. So all in all, yes I'm completely satisfied with the quality of the product and would recommend it at SALE price, but I still don't love the color I got (Ros Gold) which is why I'm thinking about exchanging it for another shade (I'm considering the chocolate brown one since I know I'll get a lot of use out of that, but then I feel like it is a bit normal and I already have a TON of brown pencil liners). One thing that I would prefer though is the liners coming in a the standard wooden pencil form rather than a twist up plastic pencil. I understand that in the twist up form, you don't have to sharpen your pencil constantly, but I, personally, just prefer the pencil ones because I think you can get a greater variety of line thicknesses and I just like the feel of them better (does that even make sense? haha) My sister also mentioned that the twisty plastic liners look "cheap" and I can agree with her on that. The biggest downside to these water liners are their price because at $20, they are just a little bit more expensive than Urban Decay ($19) and Make Up For Ever ($19) but I guess it's fair because the quality is comparable to those high end brands and the good thing is that at least Em Cosemetics has good sale deals (ie. their buy one get one free deal for Cyber Monday vs. Urban Decays twice annual only sale of 20% off)

So I hope you guys all enjoyed my little review of the products I got from Em Cosemetics and I hope it helps you make a better more well-informed decision before your make your purchase! I don't know if I just got a bad palette or something because I definitely can't recommend the Day Life Palette, but for the other two products (the Great Cover Up Concealer and the Waterliner), I would give two thumbs up and say they're great quality and worth the hype they get. Hope you all have a lovely day and a wonderful holidays~!