a lovely giveaway

just thought i'd share http://smootchkiss.blogspot.com/2010/06/giveaway-contest-time.html

Review: Epistick

so i was shopping on prettyandcute.com the oher day and came across this thing called an Epistick which was supposed to remove your facial hairs, kinda like waxing/tweezing. i didn't buy it immediately cuz i didn't know if it was one of those stupid gadgets that don't work. anyway after reading a few reviews on it i decided to get it, but it was no longer available on prettyandcute.com so i just purchased it off ebay...for like 2 bucks total...including shipping LoL...seriously how do they make money...i'm not sure if it's the "real" thing or just some immitation (probably is) but i couldn't find any that was priced realistically expensive to make me think it was the authentic epistick.

anyway...the little spring with knobs actually work to remove facial hair!!! i'm so sick of those really tiny face fuzz on my face...everyone has it...if u look really closely under natural light, you'll see these light peach fuzz on your cheeks, forehead etc....and i purchased this for that reason...to remove the peach fuzz. you can use this to remove your upper lip hair no problem as well... anyway...i have pretty high pain tolerance when it comes to hair removal...i literally teared up the first time i plucked my eyebrows...then i got used to it...time to time i'd wax the upper lip if i felt like it and doesn't hurt too bad...i've even gotten brazilian waxes before and withstood that pain. the epistick is like little ant bites on ur face...you do have to get it against the direction of hair growth though (as with most waxin)...so it can be a challenge since its hard to determine which direction these stupid peach fuzz grows but eventually i got the hang of it...why do i want to get rid of the fuzz? i dunno my reasoning to it was if i can pull out the hair, then that will be one pore that can potential shrink up (with proper products) since there's no hair shaft sitting inside of it...and if i can somehow shrink it up then there will be less oil production!!!!! so it was for the sake of tryin to minimize oilines!! anyway...i stood there for about 20 minutes rotatin the knob of the epistick... have to be careful you don't accidnetally pull out ur hair around the forehead or your eyebrows >< anyway...the results: it does pull hte fuzz out...but it leaves you with like inflammed hair follicles...kinda like right after you get a brazilian/bikini wax? you get these red bumps where the follicle was...kind of annoying... it's like my pores are getting used to the lack of hair shaft in them and decide to fill up with bacteria and become little fluid bumps... i'm sure some salicylic acid or other topical agent can make it better in time those follicles will get used to the friction of the epistick and won't have such a reaction afterwards...

Review: BRTC Blemish Recover BB Cream

Nothing beats studying hard all day to find multiple packages filled with beauty goodies awaiting you when you come home.

so i got a few lipsticks from nyx, smashbox, estee lauder, guerlain, urban decay's all night make up setter, tarte's matte waterproof bronzer, epistick, brtc blemish recover cream, and my baby qausar/quasar blue duo! will do reviews as i go when i use them... not too impressed with the lipsticks though since i purchased tehm w/out ever having tried them on (based on other blogger's pictures and review). i must say the estee lauder's cherry blossom is my absolute favorite since i went through a lot of trouble getting that one after reading/seeing akisa's blog.

so BRTC Blemish Recover BB Cream seems to fit the picture for those with oily, blemish prone skin. i've read that it does wonders with coverage and keeping your skin matte and that it was on the darker end of the bb cream spectrum...

verdict: i was shocked at how light it was coming out of the tube...it was a few shades lighter on the back of my palm...i'm an nc25-30 and it looked like ite was nc15 or 20 =(...and it was really thick. more of a toothpaste consistency than a lotion. anyway...it wasn't hard to blend though which is a good thing and i guess the color is ok when you don't use too much of the product. set it with a bronzer and it matches my skin color/tone.

Pro's:
*gives you a matte finish, although i got shiny on my T zone after a few hours, cheeks were ok =)
*felt really smooth after applying on my skin
*minimal to no fragrance
*not as hard to blend as it looks

Con's:
*pretty light color
*thick texture
*oil control is OK, not superb
*coverage is light despite it's thick texture, can still see bumps and darker areas of discoloration

will update on whether it makes acne better/worse

Review: Revlon PhotoReady Foundation

just a mini review before i run off to study..i like to ramble a lot so there's the option of reading more about the product after the initial pro's and con's.

Pro's
-a dupe for MUFE's HD foundation (1/4th the price), texture is just about the same
-blends easily, doesn't dry up fast
-the pump!!!!! its not the fact that there's a pump (vs. colorstay not having one) but the pump is SMOOTH...way better than my other pump foundations. the opening is small and honestly i can pump out very small amounts if i wanted to
-nice smooth finish (to the touch)...glitters are def. not noticeable but it's there..very tiny specks
-no smell what-so-ever
-looks pretty decent in normal ambient/outside light...perfect as a light layer during daytime
-decent coverage..probably med (don't build it up unless your shade is perfect for you)...definitely spot conceal if needed

Con's
-still pretty $$ for a drugstore brand
-will change color after a few minutes on your skin
-will NOT cover your pores as well as MUFE's HD foundation
-DO NOT TAKE FLASH PHOTOS W/ THIS AS YOUR FACE WILL LOOK UGLY AND WHITE (and i didn't even use a lot)
-IS IT NON-COMEDOGENIC?!..i know it says oil-free but i like it when my makeup tells me that it's not pore clogging at the least...
-oil control-decent- it's a con for me since i have oily skin...but after 3-4 hours of wearing this in a cool air conditiond room, i can see little oil specks that broke through the foundation on my nose and tzone...(if you don't mind blotting it should be ok)

so bottom line...will i purchase again? No...i mean the texture is great and all but i'd rather spend the $40ish on MUFE's HD foundation (no spf...which means no white mask) plus MUFE does give a smoother finish covering your pores. but it's definitely a close dupe so if you're on a budget, definitely give photoready a shot...


i usually am not one for drugstore makeup..haven't bought them since like high school which is more than 10 years ago. i think back then the quality of them was just shitty...eyeshadows were powdery, lack of pigmentation and i just didn't love any of the drugstore foundations...then i went to college and started investing on high end foundation and i guess the one thing I won't do is skimp on foundation since that is going to be the canvas on which you work on!

so i've heard rave reviews about revlon's colorstay (have not tried) and photoready foundation. definitely was wary to purchase and to be entirely honest..if i weren't studying for boards right now i probably wouldn't run off to buy it...i'm just totally stressed right now and anything that will take my mind off the inevitable...i'm gonna do it hahaha which also explains my purchase of over 10 lipsticks this week AND the Baby Quasar/Baby Blue duo (will do reviews of those when i get them) horrible but blah

so my good friend lolo told me about a sell @ walgreens...buy one get one HALF off >.> where the hell are the bogo sales? i guess they don't exist here on the east coast anyway so i was like wth lets just go get it...i've been "researching" about the photoready for awhile now trying to figure out which shade is best and decided on 008 and 006 (i'm a mac nc25-30) finally decided on 005 and oo8 after watching some youtube videos.

well was very excited to try it just now and after coming home and holdin the two bottles against my face, thought i would open the 005 first. i must say that it blends in VERY NICELY...and i first did half my face...ran to my bedroom where there's natural light and thought wow...it just looks like the undone half but smoother. so i finished the rest of my face then went for the moment-of-truth look. wow...my face didn't look yellow...didn't look overly pink looks just like my neck so definitely was happy! a couple things i noticed though...10 minutes in after i was done /w my eye makeup i went back to the sunlight and took a peek...NOT HAPPY! what seemed like a perfect match for my face became a bit ruddy and muddy >< style="font-style: italic;">does change color. nothing too drastic though, but i might have to open up the 008 (which looks a bit more yellow) and mix it in (which i find annoying...having to mix 2 foundations). ppl say it's comparable to mufe's HD foundation...i will agree 80%. so i will stop rambling and give a list of +/-'s...sorry no pictures...really didn't have time to charge my camera upload them and resize them >< (maybe in the future when i'm done w/ my test)

*update* so i compared the two shades of foundation i got 005 and 008. in the bottle 008 looks a bit darker and yellower but when applied, i think 008 is a bit orangey and i really think 005 might be darker (more beige/yellow tone). 005 is exact match to mufe's 125 and 008 is a match to 118...both of which are my shades in mufe's hd foundation

Bread!

in my undergrad years i used to bake chocolate chip cookies at like 2 or 3 in the morning while studying for midterms/finals as a stress reliever...also to procrastinate the inevitable studying and to be in denial that the test is just a few hours away...and at 2 or 3 in the morning my roomie at the time would chomp on the cookies...she jokes about it time to time how i would bake and she would eat

anyway...a few years later...while studying i decided to bake the no knead bread again! 2nd time baking and although the recipe itself is simple and doesn't require much effort, transferring the stupid dough into the pot/pan is quite the task! the first time i did it...i wet my hands to prevent the dough from sticking while i transferred it into the bakeware...but it was so gooey it stuck to my hands and as a result plopped into the pan in a shape that i wouldn't even classify as round or circular...think asymmetrical melanoma shape here >.> anyway so this time i thought why not let it rest on parchment paper and then plop it into the pan? well i must say that the dough was a lot rounder resting in parchment paper lining my mixing bowl, but once again while transferring the dough refused to fall from the paper...at one point i was looking at a 1 foot long monster dripping from the parchment paper to the pan and i had to use my hands to pry it off the parchment paper...luckily it landed in a round shape this time, but i'm not sure what that stretching of the dough prior to baking did to my finished product. maybe it stunted the bread's rising power a bit...who knows, i don't have much to compare with. anyway still looks good though..can't wait to nom on this with parmesan spinach artichoke dip...i'm hungry T_T


right after mixing the ingredients together...hard lump of unattractive mess


transformed into a gooey soft bubbly dough


shaped and formed into a nice ball...i was really hoping it wouldn't stick ><


after a 2 hour nap...prior to going in oven...too bad no monster slime dough picture


final product! looks mighty scrumptious

Baby Quasar!

argh so distracted =( already wayyy behind in my study schedule for boards T_T

was reading some blogs and came across product intro to Baby Quasar light therapy!! been reading up on it and made me wanna get it! i spend hundreds on skin care products anyway on oil control and i hate the fact that it's only a superficial treatment in mattifying your skin/drying your skin and doesn't really get to the root of the problem...i.e. i hate seeing the oil slick in the evenings when I don't use my oil control products. even clay masks and purifying masks don't really help that much...skin will feel great for an hour or two after the mask but then a few hours later...gets oily again.. freaking pisses me off when i walk into the bathroom and see the shine after i just did some home spa mask treatment. .. and each of these masks products can cost me anywhere from $30-60...blah anyway..apparently red/IR light can help in minimizing pores and controlling oil production which sounds pretty good to me. it's gotten to the point where i'ce considered PDT w/ dALA treatment but really shy away from the idea of red blotchy skin peeling and potential future ramifications of chemically destroying your skin. Light therapy seems less invasive of a treatment to me, especially the baby quasar and baby blue reminds me of the spa sessions i had back @ home last summer...all that spa lady did was put some serum on my face and rubbed this red/blue LED light across my face for 30 minutes and charged me 80 bucks per session....kinda justifies me purchasing =P seems like a pretty good investment to me if I can spend less on some of the superficial products and diminish the clutter on my bathroom counter >.> we'll see if my finger presses the checkout button later hehehhe

BB Cream eh?

hmm more of a list so I remember what I've spent hours "researching" about... maybe if I actually write out what I want i'll stop obsessing about it during study time

BB Creams are the fad nowadays...have been for a while and I'm trying to explore that avenue of makeup...tried Missha's Perfect Cover last spring/summer...smells nice but has a grayish tone and probably is too light if I layer it on...oil control wasn't that great either, but maybe it was because I used it during the hot humid summer. Currently using Skin79's DermaRx...also has a grayish cast but it's more fluid in consistency than Missha...also has a grayish tone >.> more mattifying and doesn't have a dewy finish...who needs a glow when they have combo/oily skin to begin with? Sucks that these BB Cream makers all have that stereotypical asian complexion in mind when they made these products....pale dry complexions...if only all asians were made that way! glad that there's a few more options now in the market in terms of skin type and color (sorta?)

anyway...list of BB creams & fob makeup for self to buy...maybe as a reward for taking the stupid boards exam in a month??? =P maybe they'll have some of this stuff in fobtown rowland when I return there after boards and not have to buy it online...instant gratification :)

*Coogi Flowertox
*BRTC Blemish Recover
*Skin79 Super Plus...Pink one..
*maybe...l'egere multi white
*maybe lioele beyond the solution
*Etude House...my goodness i want to buy everything from their line...pink glitzy and cute...i'm such a sucker...
*Pearl shining mineral BB compact...perhaps the hello kitty one?
*all the items from the dr. oil solution line
*Peach skin pact & Peach base
*Angel Kiss Lip & Cheek..#2 and #3
*eh and throw in some eyeshadows...packaging too cute to pass up

hope i do well...or no haul for me T_T

*edit* hehe more items to add
*Etude House LuciDarling Sponge BB Cake
*