...and the tide was way out.

What Nail Polish?

2009-07-20T21:11:00.002-04:00

Super simple, natural nail look, safe for work or weddings. Hope Chest by China Glaze. Very sheer color, so it requires a LOT of coats (for me, 4!) so I guess I would avoid this color if layers of color makes you crazy. Even with all those layers, though, the polish never bubbled or got goopy. Nice texture, nice shiny finish.

~Hair Flip Experiments~

2009-07-03T13:15:00.004-04:00

Experimenting with my hair lately, which is cut pretty blunt, but also flips in pretty easily with a curler. I was leaving it straight or just tying it back because of the hot weather, but I think it looks pretty clean curled in a little at the ends.
Simple, clean navy eye look for interviews, work, school, etc.Also pretty clean and work-y look today (or OL-ish? hehe).

~Violet Brights~

2009-07-01T11:27:00.002-04:00

Mostly detail shots of today's look, inspired by violets, I like the green and purple contrast.Hm, it's softer looking, especially in comparison with the inspiration picture.Pretty lashes today, for some reason! :)Bright outfit for a bright look!

~Green Shock~

2009-06-26T15:47:00.003-04:00

Shock of green this time, with navy/sapphire liner.
Green in along waterline and peeking out a tiny bit from the top liner, some gold highlight in the center of my lower lashline, blended in with the green to provide a little contrast. My eyes usually work better with fun liner colors on the bottom because it's more visible. Gold-y white shadow lightly applied on lid area, concentrating toward the center, for some brightness. Mauve lips.Flash pic, which shows the color better, but the liner itself is a little hidden from the flash. Look of the day, simple stripe-y dress for hot summer days.

~Brights Redux~

2009-06-25T09:29:00.002-04:00

Another bright liner look, kind of combining my previous navy and blue shock look.

It's hard to tell from the pics, but this bottom liner is softer and more dragged out from the lash line. The colors are blended more on the bottom, rather than being sharper individual lines.And, of course my right lashes look much cuter than my left lashes -sigh- :/ Look of the day~ Vintage dress from American Apparel. Flowy, light, great for summertime!

My New Love: Sephora by OPI

2009-06-19T20:24:00.002-04:00

I've always used hand cream, but never really found something I really loved, until recently. I recently tried this hand lotion by OPI at Sephora, mainly just because I wanted something small to get free shipping on my online order. Surprise, it's really great!

First, it has a really light texture, more like a lotion than a cream, so it absorbs immediately. It really just sinks in right away, and leaves your hands feeling soft, and not at all greasy. Second, the smell! I love, love the smell! As I put it on again just before doing this review, I realize it is a pretty strong on the outset, but it mellows down and doesn't leave your hands fragranced or anything.

The amazing part is, it really smells like flowers. Not fake, fragranced flower-smell, not overly sweet, literally just like flowers, it's amazing! I feel like I'm sniffing a fresh bouquet whenever I put the hand cream on, it's really lovely.I definitely like the smell of those "botanical extracts," because I think that's what makes it smell so nice.It's always nice to have a good excuse to be nice to your skin, and this is a really great product for that! $5 for 1.7 oz isn't bad for the convenience of the size, so if you're looking for something to toss in your purse or keep at the office, I really like this nicely fragranced hand lotion.

Blue Shock (+triple liner)

2009-06-16T21:01:00.004-04:00

Another blue look, this time with purple/navy liner on top, honey color on the outer lid, and my attempt at triple liner on the bottom (navy waterline, purple, then a shock of blue).

Ingredients: Silk Naturals Honey on outer lid, Silk Naturals Nymph on inner lid, Stila Kajal Navy liner on waterline, Urban Decay Peace for the bright blue, then Urban Decay Ransom (wet) for the top liner.Lips look super shiny, haha, had a light right on my face.Details.

Easy Peasy Skincare: Sugar Scrub

2009-06-15T17:29:00.002-04:00

I like messing around with stuff I have around the house to use for skincare experiments, and I recently hit upon something really simple that works well for me. There are plenty of sugar scrub recipes and products out there--most of them using honey or olive oil, but for a really fast, super easy fix, I like using sugar as a dry scrub for the face.

First, I'll preface this by saying that my skin really isn't very sensitive at all, so it usually takes well to frequent exfoliation, and I like my skin to feel like it's getting some exfoliation. The thing about a lot of sugar scrubs on the market is that the sugar comes emulsified in some kind of oil or gel, and I've found that this makes the sugar dissolve very quickly. It still scrubs nicely, but I prefer sugar as a dry scrub because it feels "scrubby" without being too harsh, and doesn't dissolve until you wash it off.

I use this scrub strictly for exfoliation purposes, and do the scrub after I've wiped makeup off and before I cleanse my face. All I do is take some sugar in dry hands and apply it to my face and scrub around, letting the spare parts fall into the sink. I started trying this with brown sugar, just because it's what I had around, but I think because brown sugar packs down and sticks together easily, it's better than refined white sugar for getting less fall-out. You can scrub very lightly, or with a little more pressure if your skin does well with scrubbing.

After I've scrubbed around, I then take some of my cleanser and a dash of water, and wash the sugar off my face. The sugar dissolves immediately, and my skin feels really smooth and ready to absorb any serums/moisturizers I'm going to use next.

Really doesn't sound like much, right? But it is very, very nice when you do it, especially because I find that whenever you use sugar with any kind of oil/water, it just dissolves right away and doesn't really exfoliate that much. After doing this, the rest of my skincare really absorbs nicely and my face is smooth even the next day.
Clean and glowy!

Sunscreen Series Continued +Cosmedicine Review

2009-06-14T20:32:00.005-04:00

Now, continuing with the sunscreen series, I recently got the Sephora Sun Safety Kit to try because I like trying sample size things, and all the proceeds go to skin cancer research. It's a set of 13 products, mostly moisturizers with mild SPF ingredients. 9 of the 13 products use only chemical sunscreen, 2 use a mix of chemical and physical, and 2 used only physical sunscreens (Bare Escentuals Well-Rested for Eyes and my love, Clarins UV Day Plus). I think that's a pretty accurate representation of what's available these days: mostly all chemical sunscreens, with much fewer options for physical sunscreens.I'm missing 3 from my picture, because they fell out of my bag, somehow. I did get to try them, first, though.(DDF Protect and Correct: light but nothing special, PTR Max Sheer All Day Defense: ditto, Korres Watermelon Sunscreen: smells like heaven, just like watermelons, so it's good for people who need motivation for sunscreen application, haha~ Not as nice as Clarins for reapplying, but not bad.)

Yesterday, I tried the Cosmedicine Medi-Matte Oil Control Lotion SPF 20, which uses Avobenzone (2%) and Octinoxate (7.5%) for an SPF of 20. Avobenzone and Octinoxate (other name for Octinoxate: Octyl Methylcinnamate -I think if it says -cinnamate it's some form of chemical sunscreen) is by FAR the most popular combination for sun protection in big brands. I'm guessing it's the easiest to manufacture, or maybe it gives the most texture range.My skin is oily sometimes, though less so lately, and this worked pretty well for me. They list Dimethicone as a top ingredient, which gives the lotion a smooth feel, but it's not as slippery as products with silicone. One thing that's nice if you tend to get shiny is that this really does mattify right away. I only have the small sample, but I might use this on days I'm indoors for most of the day, when I've made sure to moisturize my skin nicely before applying. It's kind of nice for no-makeup days, actually, because it's a little smoothing and eliminates shine.

~Navy Blue Look~

2009-06-13T21:04:00.006-04:00

Navy eye look inspired by Jess, I love navy on the eyes :)

Silk Naturals Sapphire eyeshadow wet as liner, Urban Decay Scratch for the warm color, Kryolan Gold along bottom and on waterline, Silk Naturals Nymph shadow on inner lid.

Some shots with falsies added, which I was ultra failtastic at applying :(Sad/mad because of the stupid lashes,haha!

Poofy Hair! +Aveda Hair Potion Review

2009-06-12T11:17:00.003-04:00

My hair is naturally straight, but I usually get it straightened when I can because it's also grows pretty thick. Recently, I cut my hair and did a lot of thinning, so my hair is a lot lighter and easier to manage. Because it's much thinner, though, it sits pretty flat on my head, so I wanted to try something volumizing or texturizing. Enter Aveda's Hair Potion from their Pure Abundance line. This is a powdery product that's supposed to go from a powder to a lotion that texturizes and thickens hair (by 17%, haha). It's supposed to have a matte texture, to give your hair the gritty feeling it sometimes gets the day after a shower.

Here's my hair with no product, kind of flat and still nothing exciting even if I try to fluff it up. When I use the hair potion, I just put in one or two taps on the right, middle, and left parts of my hair and roughly floof it in with my fingers.It sometimes feels a little cold on the scalp, but absorbs in pretty quickly. Afterwards, it's pretty easy to create some quick, dramatic volume just with my fingers.You can also create cleaner, sleek volume-y looks. This product does work pretty well at volumizing right away, but I wouldn't say it's an all-day fix. I think it's best quality is the texturizing part more than the instant volume part, because I found from using this that while the volume from the potion didn't magically last all day, the matte texture at the root of my hair made it easy for me to pump up the volume again throughout the day, and even into the next day.

Thumbs up :)

~DSK Jewelry Contest~

2009-06-11T08:12:00.010-04:00

My DSK Jewelry contest entry, featuring pretty DSK jewelry, plus also me just generally being a goof. Steph is doing a contest on her jewelry blog, with some really fun questions and prizes! I really love participating in things like this, they're so much fun to do! I drew inspiration from the DSK Jewelry blog logo, which is a silver necklace/bracelet with a purple heart pendant, and tried to recreate that a little next to my eye.
First, here is my bee-yoo-tiful and sparkly Flowa Powa DSK necklace. Peace sign for DSK! Flowers and Hearts Now, here's one with me actually wearing the necklace like a normal human, haha!
I really love the sentiment of this contest, because Steph mentioned that she's doing a giveaway because she wants good luck. I really believe in that kind of thing, and actually found something really great that applies nicely. This is a brochure from the Whitey Museum of Art about becoming a member of the museum. I remember seeing it and really liking that thought, and I keep a copy of it on my door, always. Good luck is always nice, and I try to do little nice things every day and hope it will come back as good things in my life :)

Anyway, I hope those weren't too many pics, and that it was fun to look at! Thanks for the really nice contest, Steph!

DSK Models <3 *~*Fuz*~*, *~*ahanhbarbie*~*, *~*Holly*~*!

DSK: *~*good deeds*~* (charity)

All About Sunscreen + Review 1: Clarins

2009-06-10T00:32:00.012-04:00

Here's to kicking off a new series on sunscreens! Hopefully this will be helpful, and I'm going to do some reviews as I go, too.

Recently, I think sun protection has become much more prominent in skincare and cosmetics, and I think it's a really important part of taking care of your skin. Many moisturizers and makeup these days come with added sun protection, but it's nice to know what levels of sun protection mean, and the different kinds. Chemical sunscreens like Avobenzone or Oxybenzone are really common in skincare products and work by absorbing UV rays. Physical sunscreens like titanium dioxide or zinc oxide (sunblock) physically block them, kind of by making harmful rays bounce off and not reach your skin.

Most of the protection that comes added in with moisturizers these days are SPF 15, sometimes more. What I learned from an esthetician (yay! I want to train to be one) is that usually moisturizers with SPF added aren't doing both jobs well. Usually, moisturizers with SPF aren't moisturizing your face as well as moisturizers without SPF, so it's important to use moisturizer and SPF separately. That way, you know your skin is getting the healthy moisture it needs and is being protected. Fuz just had this amazing post all about skincare, and talked a lot about how moisturizing is important and it's so true! I'm trying to follow her lessons ;)

Anyway, on the market right now, I think there are many more chemical sunscreen ingredients than there are physical sunscreen ingredients. I think this is because some sunblocks with ingredients like zinc oxide are heavier/oilier feeling and sometimes are more likely to leave a white cast in photos, like here:

This picture is with flash, and I'm wearing Clarins UV Plus Day Screen, which I LOVE, even with slight whiteness in flash pics. It's an excellent physical sunscreen product.

This sunblock has titanium dioxide in 8.1%, and has an SPF of 40, but the texture is a complete dream. I hate when sunscreens are thick and hard to spread, because they just make my face shiny and take forever to absorb. This one comes out liquidy-powdery, with a white opaque color out of the bottle, but it absorbs beautifully and immediately. In fact, it's really great as a makeup primer just on its own, because it absorbs almost dry and you don't have to worry as much about makeup sliding off your face during the day.

Here is a pic of me with the Clarins sunscreen just in direct sunlight-the slight whiteness translates more as brightness here, which is really nice. I like this sunscreen a lot. I highly recommend it, also because it's great to reapply because it doesn't shine up your face when you do :D

I'm going to do a sunscreen series, and I'm starting out with the Clarins physical sunscreen because I really love it, but also because I'm a little more comforted by the idea of physical sunscreens than chemical sunscreens. From what I've read and learned, chemical sunscreens degrade on your skin and can sometimes cause skin damage themselves when broken down by the sun. Of course, chemical sunscreens offer more opportunities for different textures and consistencies and are definitely effective, too. There are good sides and bad sides to both kinds of protection, and it's important to find what works for you.

What spurred my interest in sunscreen and particularly physical sunscreens was this study done by the Environmental Working Group about the most effective sun protection. Most of the top picks were physical sunscreens and didn't have chemical sun protection ingredients. I don't think chemicals in skincare are a bad thing, but specifically with sunscreens, I think it seems like physical sunscreens are a good bet for protection.

Birthday Events: Breakneck Ridge

2009-06-09T13:44:00.022-04:00

My sister and I went to Breakneck Ridge, about 70 minutes outside NYC and went hiking! We heard from a friend that it's a beautiful hike, and it was the best experience! Hard hiking, but really beautiful views!

The green that was everywhere was really crazy, and there was a good mix of hard climbing and easier walks, all of it pretty :D

I was so tired afterward! Definitely slept like a rock, haha!

Good thing I had some delicious cake to revive me! Queen"D" cake from Blackhound, delicious! Plus, Ronnybrook Farm milk, so perfect.

Comfy outfit of the day: Oxford polo (from Oxford, my sister got it for me), Citizens of Humanity long shorts.

Birthday Look

2009-06-07T22:16:00.008-04:00

Pretty shoes~ :) It's my birthday tomorrow, so I went out to dinner tonight with my sister, had Malaysian food, which was absurdly delicious. Really, stupidly delicious, pictures to come! I went to a place called NyoNya, definitely recommend it if you are in NY.
Borrowed the pretty shoes from my sister, which are actually pretty comfy to walk in! Shoes are from Hollywould, gold strappy sandals are always fun for summer.
My outfit: Jcrew top (love Kelly green, it's my favorite color to wear! And, an old summery dress from A/X :D
Goofy face with makeup ;) Nars Rose Gitane on lips. Mini-review: You know, this color's texture is really great, not sticky or goopy at all, glides on like a stain, good lasting power. I think Nars glosses have a problem with the gloss gooping up on the opening area, and this hasn't done that either. Good stuff (also my sister's, haha). I remember I tried Nars Orgasm gloss once, and it wasn't as good as this one, just because the sparkly particles made the gloss much thicker than this one. I like this one's texture a lot- quite liquidy.
Quick, simple look! :)

Aaaand, best of all, I got myself some DSK as a birthday present to myself, haha! Those are the best.

Rainy Reds

2009-06-06T22:10:00.012-04:00

...and cleaning house! Rainy day a couple of days ago, so I tried a simple eye and red lip (washed out in most pics, but it's Mac's New York Apple), and bust out my shiny red raincoat! -Bla, I tried to add some "dimension" to my lower lip by adding lighter color, but it just looks washed out :p

Do I look ready to tackle some dust, or what?

Rainy day coat, from Mango last year.

Aand, more pizza! My best attempt yet :D

Photoshop Fun

2009-06-03T22:30:00.014-04:00

Some of my first attempts, original picture first, mine after. I like the Hayden Panettiere one the best:

Art Inspiration Series

2009-06-02T23:38:00.009-04:00

Kicking off the makeup series inspired by art! I studied Art History in college, so I thought it would be fun to do a series inspired by art pieces. Here's the first, inspired by a batik piece my sister got in Malaysia, especially the olive green and purple!

Also, I made delicious pizza from scratch! Fresh mozarella, marinara sauce, cheddar cheese, arugula, garlic, and some spring garlic!

Look of the Day:2

2009-06-01T08:06:00.001-04:00

Dress from Replay

Summer dresses are great: toss it on and go!

Bright Eye Look

2009-06-01T08:04:00.003-04:00

Inspired by xsparkage's makeup contest, using some bright colors!

Grafitti on inner corner, Honey on lid, Fishnet in crease area, Peace under lid, andKryolan Aquacolor in silver in inner lower corner.

Ingredients: Kryolan Aquacolors (from Interferenz palette), Urban Decay Deluxe Palette

Nails of the Day:1

2009-06-01T08:00:00.001-04:00

Green is the theme of the day:

China Glaze in L8R G8R

Tame in indoor lighting...

Whoa-in-your-face-crazy-time in the sun/flash:

From the China Glaze "Text in Color" collection, which comes in 2BHOT and 2BCOOL (L8R G8R is in the 2BHOT collection.) Find it for $2-3 in Sally's stores or online for $2.60 each at Trans Design, best price.

Look of the Day:1

2009-06-01T07:59:00.002-04:00

J. Crew top, AE white tank

Citizens of Humanity long shorts

From yesterday's post, Dior Ultra Gloss Reflect in Pink Liberty