EOTD - Golden Brown Smoke

Hey guys! Just a quick FOTD/EOTD for you all. Sorry about the mess behind me, you know how living in a college dorm is. No space and too much stuff!

Products Used:

Primer - ELF Eyeshadow Primer

Eyeshadow - NYX Nude on Nude Palette

Eye Liner - Almay Liquid Liner Pen

Mascara - Maybelline Lash Stiletto

Foundation - Maybelline Fit Me Foundation Stick in 220

Blush - Wet n Wild Pearlescent Pink

Lips - NYX Round Lipstick in Pure Nude

 

Soak Off Gel Nails Review - Sensationail Starter Kit & Sally Hansen Gel Polish

Hey guys! So while I was in China over the summer, I discovered that Gel Nails are pretty popular in Asia. It wasn't until I did a little bit more research that I realized how popular they're becoming in the US too! 

I first saw this Gel Nail starter kit a bit before summer started if I remember correctly. It's been on the market for a while now. I think I've used it enough to give you all some of my thoughts on it! It has some pros, but it also has some cons. I'm here to let you know what worked for me and what didn't!

 So the kit comes in a pretty compact box. It contains:

• Gel cleanser
• Gel primer
• One color gel polish (I bought the Pink Chiffon set, but there is also a raspberry colored one and a scarlett one)
• Gel base and top coat
• Lint-Free Wipes
• Double-sided nail buffer
• Manicure stick
• and most importantly a PRO 3060 LED Lamp

While the starter kit only comes with one polish, there are many other polishes that you can purchase for use with this kit. I ended up buying a few other polishes, but more on that later.

So what I've discovered through using this kit is that gel nails are incredibly easy to do. It's totally possible to DIY them at home, and not only that, I think that they're easier than regular polish manicures! Am I the only one who spends like 20 minutes painting my nails only to mess them up right afterwards. I find that I just end up getting frustrated and removing the polish before it even dries.

The good thing about gel polish is that once you've cured it under the UV lamp, it's done. It's completely set, and you can do whatever you want immediately after, even jump in the shower! I love it. The other good thing is that if you get the polish on correctly and cure it correctly, the manicure lasts forever! With regular polish manicures, I end up chipping my nails within a few days and then I have to redo the manicure. I've had gel manicures last 2-3 weeks on me! The picture below was taken 2 weeks after the manicure was applied. Still looks really good with no chips!

So while the Sensationail starter kit is pretty decent, I've discovered that you can actually use the LED lamp with gel polishes from other brands. The polish in the picture above is actually Pink Pong by Sally Hansen. I actually prefer the Sally Hansen brand more than the Sensationail polishes because I think that it lasts longer. The issue I have is that with the Sensationail starter kit, it uses the same polish for the base coat and the top coat. I've noticed that I have way more problems with the polish peeling than I do with Sally Hansen, which uses a base coat that is separate from the top coat. Perhaps this is just me though as I don't use the gel primer that comes with the Sensationail set.

The polish selection for Sensationail is still growing. There are a few of your typical colors and a few interesting ones, but all in all, the color selection is still a bit lacking. I currently own White Lily (white creme), Pink Chiffon (Pink creme), Evening Sands (Light nude), and Crystal Avalanche which I have yet to try. They're all pretty decent, but as I mentioned before, the peeling problem from the base coat is kind of annoying. 

Anyway all in all, I'd give this set a 4 out of 5 stars. I think that it's a great starter kit for beginners, but I definitely think that there are some better polish options out there. I would suggest Sally Hansen for those of you all experiencing problems with peeling. Like I mentioned before, I don't use the gel primer so that could definitely contribute to the issue, but even without a primer, the Sally Hansen gel polish lasts 2-3 weeks on me no problems.

Let me know what you all think of this starter kit!

FOTD - Nude Lips and a Smokey Eye!

Just a quick FOTD!

Eyes - Wet n Wild Comfort Zone Palette

Mascara - L'Oreal Telescopic in Waterproof

Lips - NYX Lip Pencil in Irish Coffee

Face - Maybelline Fit Me Stick Foundation

Randomness!

Seriously yummy noodles! The restaurant would have been okay except all of the people working there had no idea what was going on. It took like 30 minutes for us to even get seated. Lame. I don't know of I'd go back, but the food was decent.

Dessert and FOTD. My Favorite Cafe is... not really my favorite. Don't get me wrong, it's really good. We had a mango with sago and mango ice cream dessert, Hong Kong style egg puffs and coconut milk with black rice (my favorite!). They're all pretty decent but I still prefer Golden Island Cafe. Maybe it's just because I feel like Golden Island is more popular and also there are more dessert options....

Oh well still noms!

First Impression - Hello Pink Grapefruit Mint Mouthwash

 

Is this the cutest mouthwash or what? Seriously when I walked by it in Target, I was like MUST HAVE! It is literally the cutest bottle ever.

I picked this product up for about $6.98. I've used it for the past week and I have to say I really like it. It actually tastes like Pink Grapefruit! I thought it would taste really artificial, kind of like how a pink grapefruit candy might taste, but this thing actually tastes like a fresh grapefruit. I can almost imagine biting into a slice as I'm swishing this product around my mouth. It's got a slight minty feeling as well, but after you spit out the wash it basically just leaves a pink grapefruit taste in your mouth.

I definitely like this product. It's supposed to be 99% natural. The only problem I have with it is that it doesn't say that it protects from cavities or whitens or anything. It just says it makes your breath smell fresh. 

I would have to say that I recommend this mouthwash in the morning. It's a great pick me up and it's quite refreshing. You'll feel like you just ate a fresh grapefruit. Seriously. For the night time though, I would say find a mouthwash with some ability to prevent cavities or whitens teeth!

Product Review - Watson's Olive Cleansing Fluid

 

So over the summer I went on vacation in China. Of course what that means is that I got in a huge beauty haul. For those of you who don't know, Watson's is basically like the Walgreens of China. It's a chain drugstore and literally you can find these stores anywhere. 

Watson's sells some other brands such as Maybelline, L'oreal, etc. Basically all of the name brands that you would expect to find in a drugstore. They also have some lines of their own. Olive is one, and Collagen is another (but more on collagen in a later post).

Basically I was talked into buying this Olive Deep Cleansing Fluid by a sales associate. They were doing a BOGO on this particular product too, so I thought, why not. I'm pretty sure one bottle of this stuff is 99 yuan. That's not too bad for a cleansing fluid to be honest. It's not the cheapest you'll find on the market, but it certainly isn't considered expensive.

More about how the product works though. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Asian cleansing oils, cleansing fluids, basically these are a makeup remover. They can be a stand alone product, or you can follow up with a separate cleanser for a "double cleanse". It's quite popular in Asia. 

As aforementioned in a previous post, I use waterproof mascara, which is notorious for being difficult to remove, even for eye makeup removers. I personally hate using eye makeup removers, as I think that they dry out my skin and my eyelashes. This Olive Deep Cleansing Fluid is awesome for removing eye makeup though. On days when I bother putting makeup on my face at all, it is usually just some mascara and some concealer under the eyes. This cleansing fluid is more than enough to remove all of it. On days when I wear heavier foundation and powder, this fluid is still enough to single handedly remove all of the makeup on my face.

I love it! It's supposed to be all natural, with no alcohols, and make purely from olive products. I seriously think that this fluid nourishes my eyelashes. In the past when I wore mascara a lot, I would have problems with eyelash fall out. After removing mascara with this product, I swear my lashes feel softer than ever! The only downfall is it takes a bit of working at the mascara to get it to start coming off. I would say around 30 seconds of massaging the product into the lashes is enough to get the mascara to start dissolving off. Soon enough you'll have panda eyes! All you do then is splash your face with water. I personally like to double cleanse to get that clean feeling. I follow up with my favorite cleanser - the Pond's Rice White cleansing foam. I'll talk more about that in a future post though.

Long story short, I am super glad I bought this product. I will be quite sad when I run out of it, but I would certainly repurchase it. If you are in Asia, I recommend this product!

Mascara!

I always thought mascara didn't make that much of a difference in my everyday makeup routine. Instead of spending time trying to curl my little Asian eyelashes, I would just apply a thick line of eyeliner and be done. Basically you can't see my eyelashes when I have eyeliner on anyway.

Recently I rediscovered a new tool! My mascara shield. However, I don't use it as a shield. Mainly I use it to help apply my mascara!

I'm sure many of you have seen or heard about the business card trick. You hold a business card behind your lashes and then apply mascara to your lashes on it. This is kind of the same idea, except you have this plastic curved tool. It looks kind of scary at first, especially if you don't know how to use it. In fact, for the longest time I didn't bother using it at all because when I put it against my eye, the pressure from the tool would cause my contact to shift around. Fail.

Lately I've been such a huge fan of it though. I've learned how to correctly position it behind my eye, and applying mascara now is so easy! It also helps me keep a curl to my lash. Even though I have short Asian eyelashes, you can totally see them!

Another tip for you all with short Asian eyelashes - use waterproof mascara!

Something about the formula of waterproof mascara really helps hold a curl. I hate using regular non waterproof mascara now because my lashes droop right away. Sad. My trick is to use non waterproof on my lower eyelashes. I want those to droop more so they appear longer. :)

You can also layer a non waterproof formula over a waterproof one. Once your curl is in place, any type of mascara can be use to add more volume or length. I usually do this trick. I use a drier waterproof mascara to set the base and to hold my curl and then I use another non waterproof for added length!

Since realizing that implementing these tips can help my Asian lashes look awesome, my daily makeup look is just some under eye concealer and then some mascara! It's amazing and I would recommend following these tips for long full lashes!