Product Overview: Blonde and Pink Wig from eBay

I bought this wig from ebay seller xiaowuge2012 because I've been wanting to go platinum blonde but wasn't sure how I'd look and if it would match or not! I figured I could get a cheap wig to test out the color. This wig was $6.99 + $9.99 shipping from China. It came pretty fast actually, about 2 weeks to Hawaii (usually I wait around a month to receive packages from China).

This is what the wig in the listing looked like:

I realize mine looks nothing like that lol but I'm not complaining :-P I actually like the platinum blonde of the one I got. However the pink of my wig is more of a bright almost neon pink. I liked the pastel baby pink of the listing photo better. So word of caution - don't rely on the seller's pictures because they're probably not accurate.

This is the first wig I've ever bought so I don't really have anything to compare it to. It seems nice quality. The synthetic hair is soft and silky, but tangles really really easily (is that just how synthetic wigs are?). The price point was great in my opinion, so that's why I got it. Overall I was satisfied with this purchase even though it wasn't the same as the wig in the original listing. I would recommend this seller because of good prices and fast shipping.

For now my dreams of actually going platinum blonde are on hold... not sure if I could handle the process and the maintenance!

Product Overview and FOTD: Tokidoki Prisma Lip Gloss in Strawberry Latte

Tokidoki Prisma Lip Gloss in Strawberry Latte over
Maybelline ColorSensational Lipstick in Pink Please

Just wanted to do a really quick overview on this gloss! I got it from Sephora when I was in Vegas and it was on sale for $5! Score! Although adorable, I would not have paid the original price tag of $15 for it, nor do I think it is worth that much!

The good stuff:

• Adorable packaging
• Has a sweet flavor
• Nice high-shine gloss

The low-down:

• Has practically no tint to it at all. Basically a clear gloss
• The scent/taste might be too sweet for some
• The lasting power is really bad

Overall: 

I love this gloss because it adds beautiful high-shine to any lip color! Unfortunately the wear-time is very very short. I'd say an hour tops. So if you want it to last, you have to keep reapplying. I don't have a problem with the candy-sweet scent & taste, but if you're not a fan of flavored glosses then I'd steer clear of this. It also is basically just a clear gloss. No tint at all to it. So mainly I just use this gloss to add a pop of shine to any lip color for a short while!

What am I wearing?

Eyes

• Smashbox Photo Finish Lid Primer
• Maybelline Eyebrow Pencil in Medium Brown
• Stila Eye for Color Eyeshadow Palette - Coffee all over lid
• Stila Eye for Color Eyeshadow Palette - Burgandy on outer-v
• Stila Eye for Color Eyeshadow Palette - Porcelain below the brow
• Wet N Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow in Trashed on outer-v
• Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Perversion
• Revlon ColorStay Liquid Eye Pen in Black
• Velour Lashes in Lash in the City

Lips

• Maybelline ColorSensational Lipstick in Pink Please
• Tokidoki Prisma Gloss in Strawberry Latte

Face

• Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer
• Dermablend Smooth Indulgence Concealer in Almond
• Lovely Me:Ex BB Cream
• Revlon Photoready Pressed Powder in Light/Med
• ELF Bronzer in Sunkissed

 

Homemade gelatin pore mask VS pore strips

I've touched a few times upon the chaotic state of my skin lately -- VERY oily, clogged pores, breakouts all over, etc. -- I recently started a new BCP, which I'll probably share my thoughts on later... It's my (I think?) 4th or 5th attempt at battling my PMDD (see this post for more info about PMDD) and I'm hoping it will start helping with clearing up my skin soon :x

Anywho, I just wanted to share my experience with a homemade gelatin pore mask. I had seen various youtube videos and read posts on this method of unclogging pores, and decided I'd give it a shot since I had Knox gelatin at home. When it comes to food-stuffs for your face; I'm pretty willing to try just about anything as long as it doesn't seem dangerous :P

All you need for this is:

• 1 tbsp powdered unflavored gelatin
  
• 1 tbsp milk

You're supposed to mix the aforementioned ingredients in a microwave safe bowl, throw it in the microwave for 10 seconds, then apply to your face in the desired areas with a brush (preferably one you don't mind getting gunky and/or throwing away). Then leave on for 30 minutes or until dry, and peel off.

I've read numerous reviews saying warmed milk is absolutely rank smelling and other people said they substituted plain water or green tea for the milk. So I opted for green tea since it has antioxidant properties. Unfortunately for me, IT STILL SMELLED TERRIBLE :| I'm not sure if it's just how it combines with the gelatin... but Idk, it smells grossss :( In hindsight, I think I should have waited awhile longer for the tea to cool down after I brewed it (I only waited about 10 minutes so it was still pretty warm -- figured it would be the same as if I had used cold tea & microwaved it) before I mixed it in. The gelatin pretty much instantly started to congeal and I had sort of a hard time evenly spreading it on my face.

Once on my face, I had to deal with the smell :x I got used to it but it was still not pleasant. I put the mask on/around my nose, on my chin, and on some problem areas on my forehead and cheeks. A lot of it was sort of clumpy and not evenly applied but it did dry relatively quickly, faster than 3o minutes but I just lounged around with it on anyway :P

Now peeling it off was the traumatic part. IT WAS SOOO PAINFUL!!! I think if I had a better consistency to start with, I would have been able to apply it more evenly and would have had an easier time pulling it off. But it was still really sore.

The "good" thing is that it feels like it ripped out every single baby hair on my face, so my skin was really smooth and clean looking afterwards. Surprisingly, it did not get red or itchy like I usually get with pore strips. The disappointing thing though, was that it did not seem to pull anything out of my pores!!!! When I use regular pore strips, I don't get a lot of gunk coming out; but at least I get SOMETHING. I couldn't seem to detect anything at all on the peeled-off gelatin mask. A bit bummed because the "fun" (okay maybe that's kinda gross but it is interesting!!!) part about doing peel-off masks is seeing all the stuff it takes out of your skin!

So overall I was pretty disappointed with my experience with a homemade gelatin mask. For the amount of pain involved in peeling it off, I was sure it would have really cleaned out my pores. But it seems that it didn't do anything.

On a whim, I decided I'd try to use face strips right after and see if it could pick anything up. I had one last Biore face strip so I cut it into pieces and put one on my nose, forehead, and chin. The forehead and chin strips came out clean, but the nose strip did in fact pull out some gunk!!!! I put it in the same area as the gelatin mask, so I KNOW the mask was not effective at pulling it out.

So overall I'm under the impression that the homemade gelatin mask is NOT as effective as actual pore strips. The biore pore strips are less painful also. I think I'd rather spend the extra cash and get actual results rather than waste gelatin and not get any results. From what I read of others experiences, it seems to work for some people, but just not effectively enough for me. I'd say it is worth a shot though if you have clogged pores!

My Adventures in Maintaining Red Hair! Featuring L'Oreal HiColor HiLights in Magenta & RAW Color Hairdye in Flamingo Pink/Fuschia Fatale

I've had my hair this red for a little upwards of 2 months now, and it's definitely been a trial and error process in maintenance! In the past, I've had jet black, blue black, bleach blonde/orange, light brown, dark brown, auburn, burgandy, pink, and deep red hair... but vibrant red was something I hadn't ventured into before! My love Serenie at super-ser.com gifted me some L'Oreal HiColor HighLights in Magenta, and her hair looked fabulous, so I wanted to try it out for myself :)

You can buy this dye at Sally's for ~$5-7.

• For highly-visible, intense red highlights even on dark hair, without brassines
• Breakthrough technology lifts hair 3-4 levels, no pre-lightening required
• Rich, no-drip creme makes it easy for control of creative techniques
• True-to-shade color that resists fading
• Quick processing time of only thirty minutes
• Available in three Hi-lift Red shades

NEW HiColor RED HiLights by L'Oreal Excellence is the first highlighting series formulated for dark hair. Rich, no-drip creme makes it easy for control of creative techniques . True-to-shade color that resists fading. L'Oreal Excellence HiColor Red HiLights is available in Magenta, Red, Copper Red and Copper

This was after I dyed my hair!
It was a bit deeper colored with pink undertones irl.

For this dye, you mix the entire tube with a cream developer. I used Jerome Russell 30 Vol Cream Peroxide. The ratio is 1 part hair color (1.2 oz) to 2 part Crème Developer (2.4 oz). Basically add in cream developer and mix until the consistency is like a thick cake batter.

Apply to hair in sections and leave on for 30 minutes to develop! I like this dye because it is specifically for dark hair so you don't need to pre-bleach. However I already had bleached hair that was dyed a deep red that had faded to an auburn shade... so dying over this color made the magenta SUPER bright and vibrant! I've seen youtube vids of people doing it over black/dark hair, and the color is still vibrant, but not as bold imo as doing it over a "lighter-dark" shade of hair. After 30 minutes you wash out the dye until the water runs clear. Wash with cold water!!! This dye did not stain my tub but it did continue to bleed out color for several weeks when washing my hair.

I'm not big on maintaining colored hair... usually I get bored fast so if I had my hair a funky color, I'd just dye back black over it when it started to fade. But I really liked the way this color came out, so I started trying to maintain it better! Some tips I picked up along the way...

Wash your hair with cold water!

This is not something I actually did for more than a few days because I just can't stand cold >_< BUT washing your colored hair with cold water does help keep the color because it closes the cuticle and seals in the color better.

Wash your hair as little as possible.

This is also something I have a hard time doing, because I feel like my hair gets oily really fast. So originally I had been washing my hair every day, and that stripped the color wayyy too fast. So the most I can tolerate without washing my hair is every other day without feeling like a greaseball, and this has kept my color for at least 2-3 weeks without fading too significantly. If you can go longer between washes, I'd recommend that! I would also recommend using dry shampoo between washings. I tried one by Tresemme but it was not very good. But I've heard from many people that dry shampoo works wonders for them at keeping their color longer.

Use products for color-treated hair.

I use Redken Color Extend shampoo and conditioner. I got a set from Trade Secret for I think $23. This shampoo works the best for me and has done the best at preserving the color the longest. I had used Warpaint Beauty color-depositing shampoo from Hot Topic because I thought it would help revive the red, but I think it actually did the opposite and stripped the color faster. So I'm not sure if there are other color-depositing shampoos that work good, but I wouldn't recommend that one.

I would also recommend some kind of serum to keep your hair looking healthy. My hair is pretty fried as is, but I can still fake it! I use HANA Shine Shield, which I reviewed here. It's great for adding shine to hair and making it look smooth and silky :)

Don't overuse the L'Oreal Dye.

I had acquired 3 tubes of the L'Oreal HiColor Highlights, and used 1 for the first time to do my entire head. I used 1 more tube -- half the tube at a time -- to touch up my roots and do an overall coloring when my hair needed reviving. I wouldn't keep using the L'Oreal dye though, because it is for dark hair specifically, the more you use it to re-do the red, the more it is actually lightening your hair in the process because of the cream developer in it. It starts to fade faster and the lightness becomes more apparent as it fades.

Do touchups with demi-permanent dye.

I use RAW Color hair dye from Hot Topic. Mixing equal parts Fuschia Fatale and Flamingo Pink together create practically the exact same Magenta shade as the L'Oreal dye. In fact, it comes out a bit pinker, so I think the combination is nicer :) I leave this dye in for at least an hour before washing it out. BEWARE, THIS DYE WILL STAIN YOUR TUB!!! Be sure to rinse it off really well. I've tinted my tub pink several times already :P

I thought this dye would fade out pretty fast since I haven't had the most luck with hair products from Hot Topic, but it actually lasts relatively long. It claims 3-6 weeks, and I'd give it a good 3 before it starts looking a bit dull. Using this dye between touchups with the L'Oreal dye also worked really well for me because it counteracted the lightening effect of the L'Oreal dye and darkened my hair instead. For info on demi-permanent VS semi-permanent dye, read this article.

This is after using the RAW Color Hair dye in Fuschia Fatale and Flamingo Pink mixed together:

I'm planning to keep this hair until I run out of dye, so maybe for another month or so. Overall, it's a lot of work to maintain red hair, but if you're willing; it's definitely a fun and funky color that will turn heads! :)

NYX Haul Pics & Swatches

I made an order from cherryculture.com about a month ago when they had their 40% off NYX sale. I honestly haven't been buying much makeup for the last year, but this sale was too good to pass up, especially for false lashes! I got $70 worth of NYX for $40 :D This is what I ordered:

Bronzer & Blusher Combo in Phi Phi Island, NYX Girls Nail polish in Mushroom Glitter and Carnival, Jumbo Eye Pencil in French Fries, Glitter Cream Palette in Sweet Chocolate Brown, Round Lip gloss in Sorbet & Whipped, Round Lipstick in Pumpkin Pie, and 8 pairs of false lashes.

Closer pic of the Round Lip gloss in Whipped & Sorbet, Round Lipstick in Pumpkin Pie, Jumbo Eye Pencil in French Fries, and Glitter Cream Palette in Sweet Chocolate Brown.

NYX false lashes are some of my favorite falsies to use. They have a huge variety and the lashes are very durable. I like how they lash band is stiff but flexible... makes it so much easier to apply than with a really flimsy band. The style names of the lashes are:

Left column, from top to bottom: Gorgeous, Nirvana, Disco Queen, and Lash implant.
Right column, from top to bottom: Nostalgia, Exclusive, Nostalgia, Exclusive.

I bought 2 pairs of Nostalgia and Exclusive because I LOVE layering those 2 lashes together. And every time I try to buy them here, they're always out of stock! So I figure I might as well stock up :) The Gorgeous and Nirvana lashes are really full and voluminous, I really like them. If you like full, spikey style lashes, I'd recommend those. I was really excited for the Disco Queen ones because I liked how lush they looked. But unfortunately I don't think they look all that great on me :/ Ah, well maybe I'll find a use for them sometime. The Nirvana lashes I just bought on a whim. Usually I'm partial to really long, full, and thick lashes... obviously unnatural, but I love em! However I really like the Nirvana lashes because they're long enough and wispy but have some volume to them and they look rather natural. Good for everyday wear :)

Here's swatches of the Round lip gloss and Lipstick. From left to right:
Round Lip gloss in Whipped, Round Lip gloss in Sorbet, Round Lipstick in Pumpkin Pie

I love NYX's lippies! I did previous reviews/swatches of their lipstick here, and lip gloss here. I love the round lipgloss because it's cheap but the quality is really nice. It's pretty pigmented and goes on smooth, it's not sticky, has shine, lasts a couple hours, and doesn't dry out my lips. Whipped is one of my favorites for a quick glossy nude lip. I always wanted to try Sorbet as well. It's a cute baby pink with fine shimmer. The lipstick is also very affordable with nice quality and pigmentation. Orange Soda is my favorite nude lip shade, but I really wanted to try Pumpkin Pie. It's a nice light coral/salmon shade.

I love using NYX's Jumbo Eye Pencils as an eyeshadow base or layered over other shades. This is French Fries (which is kind of misleading because this doesn't remind me of french fries at all lol) but it's a rich dark brown/bronze with coppery tones in it. I mainly use brown eyeshadow on the daily, so this'll make a great base!

I had been wanting to try NYX's Glitter Cream Palettes for the longest. Something about the shining allure of glitter was just too tempting! XD Even if I never use it, I'll be happy just looking at it, 'cause the glitter's just so pretty :P I chose Sweet Chocolate Brown because like I mentioned above, I mainly use brown eyeshadow, so this was the most practical choice for me (although I did love the purples and blues they had!) I haven't tried this yet, but it does seem a bit promising. The top layer of the glitter is dry, so you kinda have to rub into it to get the waxy part to pick up. It's smooth and pats on nicely. These swatches are about 2-3 layers built up. It's actually pretty easy to build up the glitter without smearing it all over the place, so I can see it being not much of a problem to add layers of it over eyeshadow. However, it is really really messy to take off!

I love bronzer/blusher combos, so this was something I HAD to get XP It's very reminiscent of my ELF bronzer/blusher duo, which I love (I guess you could also compare those to NARS Laguna/Orgasm, but I don't have it :P). However, it's REALLY sheer, so if you're not one for subtle cheek color that needs to be built up, I wouldn't recommend this. I do like the iridescent sheen that both shades have to them though.

And lastly, here's swatches of the nail polish! From left to right: Mushroom Glitter and Carnival. I love how dense the Mushroom glitter is. I can see it being good by itself, or for doing glitter gradient nails. I was also really excited for Carnival, because it reminds me of Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday. Can't wait to try these on my nails :)

Honey & Green Geo Twins overview

These lenses are from Geo Eye Candy ♥ (she doesn't have the Twins listed atm)

These lenses are BRIGHT, BOLD, & VIBRANT. I have finally found circle lenses that the color shows up really welL! Yay! I also have Geo Angels (green & brown) and Ash Wings. The color does not show up very well for any of those, except when the light catches it a certain angle / in pictures but not in natural light (reviews can be found in my sidebar)

The only thing about these lenses are that they are not as comfortable as the Angels & Wings series. They also do not enlarge as much as those either, but I actually prefer that because they are more "natural" and less "dolly" Another thing is that I can see slight halos of color when I wear these lenses. That did not happen with the others. Overall though they are still more comfortable than my perscription Acuvue contacts and give a great pop of color to my eyes.























Geo Honey Twins
The color shows up super bright honey brown! I feel like a lizard-cat-vampire when I wear these. The color is so INTENSE! I thought it would be a more muted brown, but well, I guess I got what I asked for in color showing up XD I don't think these are something I would wear everyday, the color trips even ME out when I look at myself in the mirror. Getting used to them... but they are pretty animal sexy I must admit (;

Geo Green Twins

These are super pretty! The color still shows up distinctly, but it is a lot more muted and actually more natural looking than the Honeys. They're kinda bluey-green with a gold halo around the pupil. I could wear these daily.

Aaaand,

Here's my skin after using the iQQU Jasmine Rice Scrub only 2x - yesterday night and this morning. LOVE so far! Definitely makes my skin smooth and glowy. Still iffy about the mineral oil though.

Review Preview: Haul from Apothica.com

Hey everyone! I recently got some products from Apothica.com for review, so I just wanted to do a quick preview post on what's coming up! :)

Stila Cosmetics Travel Palette - Trendsetting in Tokyo

This palette is super cute! Has a big mirror. 4 Eyeshadows and 1 LE Convertible color.
The eyeshadows are nicely pigmented and the convertible color is a nice bright pop of pink.


Burt's Bees Super Shiny Natural Lipgloss in Juicy Peach.
It's NOT sticky YAY! It has a nice citrus taste/smell. However I don't think it's all that "Super Shiny" :/ But it is a nice cross between a gloss and a balm and feels good on lips.

Korres Lip Butter in Pomegranate.
Super pigmented, but I'm not a HUGE fan of the formulation :/ It's not exactly as "buttery" as I expected it would be, but I've heard lots of good things about this so maybe it's just the one I got?

Too Faced Shadow InsuranceHas become an everyday staple for me :) A little goes a long way and it definitely helps intensify shadows and helps them last longer.

Too Faced Leopard Love Complexion Perfection Kit
Also an everyday staple ♥ Love love love leopard print! I've found them all to be rather sheer though -- although this is better to build the pigmentation to your liking.

Reviews coming up!