Friday, July 26, 2013

Review on CHI Haircare and Styling Trial/Travel-size Set

Hi Everyone!

Today I am reviewing a travel size set of hair products from CHI. I was not buying it to travel with but more to try out the products to find out if I liked them or not before buying the full sizes!



This set cost me $15 at TJ-Max. There were 4 products in the package including a description manual that was wayyy too long and detailed for my eyes. =P

-CHI infra shampoo (
Directions: apply a nickle size into wet hair and work evenly from scalp to hair ends, rinse and repeate if desired
-CHI infra treatment 
Directions: after shampooing, apply a generous amount into wet hair evenly, leave on hair for 2-5 minutes and rinse thoroughly
-CHI silk infusion
Directions: apply a small amount and work through hair evenly, leave in a proceed with styling
-CHI 44 iron guard spray
Directions: section hair and spray evenly over dry hair and then follow with your desired heat tool

What do I think of these products?
CHI infra shampoo and CHI infra treatment
So I tried these two product in conjunction with each other, because it is recommended. Unfortunately I had to stop only after 2 days of use because I got an allergic skin reaction from using them. =(
But first, before talking about the skin problem, let's talk about the product. The CHI infra shampoo is said to gently cleanse the hair and correct the moisture balance of the hair and scalp. It is fortified with proteins to strengthen the hair.
Even though I only used these products for 2 days. The infra shampoo felt like an average normal shampoo with no special benefits. Yes, it cleaned my hair but I didn't feel anything unique or special from it.
After I used this shampoo, I used the infra treatment, which is said to moisturize the hair, reconstruction the inner structure of the hair and improve the hair's strength and elasticity. So after using it for a couple of days, I felt it did not moisturize my hair much. It tends to make my hair a little sticky and I feel that it makes my hair more tangled after showering when I brush my hair. O_o....
So about the allergic reaction, after using both of these products for a couple of days (and not using anything else different or new), my scalp started to feel itchy. And soon the itchiness spread to the back of my neck, my shoulders, my upper back and also I got slightly painful, itchy and swollen hands. Be aware that these areas are the areas where my skin is in contact with the infra shampoo and infra treatment on my hair. So, I think I can reasonably assume that my skin reaction was from one of these or both of these products.
Sorry for writing a review of these products that I only used for 2 days, but I did not want to use it afterwards, and even after stopping for a few days, I am still itchy and still on antihistamines. =/

CHI silk infusion
So I have actually already written a review on this product and you can click on this link for a more complete and detailed review.
Overall, I love this product. I like to use it as my heat protectant on dry hair before I straighten or curl my hair. It does not irritate my skin, smells wonderful, and makes my hair silky, shiny, and smooth!!
I always buy and use the travel size because this is a very intense stay on hair oil/conditioner and I only need less than a quarter-size amount for my long hair.
Also, I recommend that you use this only on the ends or lower half of your hair. Applying it on your head can give your hair an oily appearance, especially if you tend to product a lot of oils like me.

CHI 44 iron guard spray
So, to be honest I have not used or tried this product. The reason I have not is because I have used it on others when I do their hair (because they own the product) and I do not like it.
I actually have doubts if this actually protects hair from heat tools. I realize that if I spray too much by section, it tends to make the hair very sticky and easily tangled. However, if I don't spray enough, it does not protect the hair from heat, and the hair will still get dried out.
Also, I do not like the smell of this product. It smells kind of sharp and painful to me.
If you are going to use this product, don't spray a lot and maybe don't spray onto very dry hair, have it barely damp, spray, and brush out evenly, and maybe it won't make your hair sticky or tangled.

Do I recommend any of these products?
So, of all the products, I only highly recommend CHI silk infusion. This product I know will help protect hair from hot tools, and help make your hair silky, shiny, and soft.
The three other products, I am unsure about, especially since I do not think that they do much for the hair or have significant improvement, and that they might possibly make your hair more tangled and sticky. (I have heard a variety of reviews on the infra shampoo and infra treatment and people either hate it or love it, and even though it is said to work for all hair types, this does not seem the case) Therefore I do not recommend CHI infra shampoo, infra treatment, and the 44 iron guard spray and I think you can find something better.

I hope that you found this review helpful! Thank you for being patient and staying with me, I know that I have not be as up to date with my blogging as I usually am, but I will speed up once the mcat is done!
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to write in the comment box below.
Thank you for reading and have a great day! =D

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Review on Neutrogen Clear Face Liquid-Lotion Sunscreen SPF 55

Hi Everyone!

Today I am reviewing the Neutrogena Clear Face liquid-lotion Sunscreen
This product can be found at Ulta or at any drugstore such as CVS or Walgreens. It costs about $10. This sunscreen is said to be break-out free, oil free, and has an SPF 55 and water-resistant for a max of 80 minutes.

What do I think of this product?
My second bottle of La Roche Posay Fluid sunscreen was running low and I wanted to try something new (and possibly cheaper).
I have used this sunscreen for at least 1 month now. This sunscreen does not really have a fragrance. It does have that normal sunscreen smell but no added fragrance or perfume.
The consistency of this formula is pretty smooth. It is not as light-weight and watery-smooth as my La Roche Posay sunscreen, however, it is smooth and workable enough for my purposes. I am so used to my previous suncreen that I feel it does take a bit more effort to blend the suncreen into the skin of my face so I do not have white patches. However, it is not very thick or creamy. It still has a fluid-like smooth consistency that is not hard to work with.
If I apply too much onto my face, it can feel a little sticky and oily looking. However, overall it does not give me that greasy shiny appearance on my face and is not bad at controlling my oily skin.
This product is pretty long lasting. I apply it once, every morning before I go out and it lasts the entire day. I do not need to reapply and I do not get tanned or darker the entire day. (Though one time I forgot to apply it and I went to go visit my parents, and when I came back I was visibly tanner, my housemates were like omg O_O you got so tanned! T_T)
This sunscreen does not irritate my skin overall. However, it does sting a bit if I exfoliate my skin during cleansing before sunscreen application. And regardless of exfoliation, the sensitive skin on the corners of my nose always sting and burn a little and get red after application. I don't know how I feel about this, because to me, the pain and redness is minor and goes away quickly so it does not bother me that much. But I hope my skin is okay and is not getting hurt or damaged. =/ So far, I do not see or feel any long lasting problems.
Also, this sunscreen does not block my pores or accentuate my pores. I do not get acne or breakout from using this product.
About the water resistance, I have gone to the beach with this sunscreen and reapplied within the 80 minute range and I did not get sunburned so it works! XD

Do I recommend this product?
If you do not have sensitive skin,  I recommend this product as a good sunscreen to try. It has a high SPF, is long lasting, affordable, easy to find, and does not appear to cause acne.
However, if you do have sensitive skin, I advise you to just be cautious and safe. Everyone's skin is different, so even if you also have sensitive skin, it might react (or not react at all) differently than mine. Just keep in mind that it may irritate your skin.

So I hope that you found this review to be helpful! Summer has the sun! But the sun can damage our skin causing more than just a tan but also spots, wrinkles, sunburns, and possibly skin cancer. Protect your skin from the sun and have fun! Also don't forget to not only apply onto your face, but also to your neck and upper chest area!
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to write in the comment box below. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you soon! =)

Monday, July 15, 2013

Review on "Milani" Runway Eyes eyeshadow palette in 07 "Ready to Wear"

Hi Everyone!

I hope you are enjoying your summer! I am trying to XP.

Today I am reviewing on the "Milani" Runway Eyes in 07 "Ready to Wear"

This product can be found at any drugstore like CVS, or at Ulta. This product costs about $8 and contains 6 shades that are supposed to be complementary to one another.

What do I think of this product?
So I wanted to try this palette out because I heard a lot of people liked it. I chose "Ready to Wear" for its more natural and everyday shades of browns and golds.

This palette contains 2 matt shades and 4 shimmer shades.
From top to bottom in the palette (as shown in the image above).
1) A very dark matt brown
2) A shimmer bronze-copper
3) A taupe/light-brown matt brown with a warm undertone
4) A shimmer warm yellow gold
5) A shimmer cool light gold
6) A shimmer very pale yellow-white

I like all the colors in the palette and I think they are very wearable and flexible for any skin color and for day or night makeup. The eyeshadow formulas are very soft and silky. They are easy to blend and do not clump. All the colors work with one another very well and I can do a variety of looks and combinations with these eyeshadows.

However, applying on the eyeshadows dry, they are not very pigmented. Especially the matt light-brown taupe is hard to get color on the lid, even with an eye primer. However, a good eyeshadow primer does help make the colors more pigmented. The most pigmented was the shimmer warm gold, a very beautiful and bright yellow gold.
I have not tried applying on the shadows wet because that is not how I usually do my makeup. However, if you like applying your eyeshadows wet they will probably be more pigmented.

I personally think that these eyeshadows are not that long lasting. I wore them on a hot summer day with Too Faced eyelid primer and my urban decay setting spray. And at the end of the day, my eyeshadow was pretty smudged and creased, and even melted a little. O_O. I do have oily eyelids which does not help the issue as well. =P
However, on a cooler, dryer day, with eyeprimer, these eyeshadows do last longer, but will still crease near the end of the day for me.

Overall, not a bad eyeshadow palette. It is a drugstore brand and I think it is good for daily use. I prefer my NYX eyeshadows for more long-wearing days and nights because they are more pigmented and last longer. But for a daily thing, no special events, I am fine with wearing this palette. And if I travel around with it and it breaks or gets lost, I won't feel too bad.

Here are some pictures and swatches:





Do I recommend this product?
If you are looking for a cheap, easy to find, average quality eyeshadow palette for everday use. I recommend this palette. I am not saying this is a bad palette. It will work for what you need it for, which is everyday, non-event makeup. Expect creasing to happen at the end of the day. However, if you have oily eyelids like me, this make not work as well for you.
If you are looking for a higher quality, more pigmented and longer lasting makeup palette, I suggest you try something else.

So I hope this review was helpful to you. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to write in the comment box below! Thank you for reading and I will see you later! =)

Monday, July 8, 2013

Outfit of the Day! (Saturday =P)

Hiiiii Everyone!

I'm so sorry. I've been a bad person. >.< I'm totally off my plan of what I wanted to blog and post so far this summer!

Sorry!!! =(

Here's something that I wore when I went out shopping on Saturday. I hope you enjoy the video and like the look!

Please watch in HD and forgive my camera! XO




The weather was warm and sunny and black is usually not a good choice for hot weather and if I could find this dress in a bright blue color or something more vibrant, I would have gotten it instead!
But anyway, very soft and comfortable dress but still definitely shows my femininity. =P

Dressing up doesn't have to be complicated and flashy to be noticeable and beautiful. =)

 Feel free to dress wherever in your comfort zone but play it smart.

I wore a simple black maxi dress paired with my black wedged straps and my Fendi purse. 
High heels or wedges give me a more sophisticated look and prevent me from tripping on my dress. XP


The dark straps and detail on the Fendi match the colors of the sandal straps and my dress and the beige color of the bag goes with the tan color of my wedges.


I'm not a big jewelry person and I like to keep it simple. So a nice watch and a small pendant. You of course can go bigger on the necklace, but I don't really own a lot of long or big necklaces.



Thank you for watching! I will see you soon!

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Review on MAC Lipstick "Blankety"

Hi Everyone!
I'm sorry for not posting as often as I want to. MCAT studying takes up time and is rather stressful. >.<

Today I am going to review the MAC lipstick "Blankety"!
This product costs $15-$18 at the MAC store or the MAC online store.

What do I think of this product?
So, I have been looking for a good nude lipstick for some time now. And I find it difficult to find a nude lipstick that goes well with an Asian skin tone, since it is more yellow based but it can be pale or tanned. I have tried some drugstore nude lipsticks however they are usually too pale or too pink based and make me look like a sick or dead person. =P
I did a bit of research online and I heard that a few of MAC's nude lipsticks worked pretty well with the Asian skin tone and I went to the MAC store (w/ my bf as a judge of course XP) to try them.
"Blankety" was the lipstick I chose and I think it is a beautiful beautiful nude lip for my skin color and I encourage others (to go to the MAC store) and try it who have similar skin colors or tones as I. By the way, this is my first MAC product ever!! Haha. But I won't get hooked onto MAC, generally too expensive for my tastes. I will show pictures down below and the swatches seem to make the lipstick look very dark and not nude at all. However, on my lips, probably because my natural lip color is more pink and darker than my skin, the color looks nude.
The lipstick formula does not irritate my skin and is soft and creamy. I think it is pretty long lasting and keeps my lips moisturized! Which is great, I hate lipsticks that dry my lips out. =P However, this lipstick does have a fragrance. It is a sweet fragrance, kind of reminds me of candy or sugar or something. I don't really like fragrances, but the smell is not that strong or long lasting so I am okay with it.
I love to wear this nude lip along with strong and dark eye makeup for clubbing or going out on a night with friends. The nude color does a great job of balancing out the intensity of my eyeshadows. I also like to use this nude lip to create the now-very popular Korean lip gradient of pink or red on the inner parts of the lip and fading into a nude color at the outer edges of the lip.
Overall I am very happy that I bought this product. And because I don't wear lipstick in general and I will only wear this for certain looks, this lipstick will last a long time for me. It works well with my skin color, is creamy and long lasting!

Here are some pictures and swatches:

So, looking at the first 3 pictures (swatches) you can see that the lipcolor seems to look very dark, almost a more beige or mauve color. However, please keep in mind that the skin on my arms is more tanned and yellow than on my hand and lips.

Swatch on my hand in the light, it looks lighter than the swatches on my arm down below.

 These swatches on my arm make the lip color look very dark.

Natural lip color with no product

One layer of lipstick

Two layers of lipstick

"Blankety" lip color with a pink color on top, closer to the inner lining of the lips.
Looking at the 4 lip pictures above. You can see that compared to my natural lip color, "Blankety" definitely gives me a nude lip color. However, it does not make me look like I am anemic or deathly ill =P.
I am more tanned during the summer, so when my tan fades, this lip color looks even better.
Also, I am not wearing foundation or concealer in these pictures, so with foundation and/or concealer on, the nude lip would not stand out as much or be as strong. Nude lips look best with foundation and/or concealer on because it gives a more even complexion without any darkness or redness.

Do I recommend this product?
While this product may be pricy, I think it is well worth it to find a great nude lip that suites one's skin tone and color. Nude lips are very hard to rock and most people do it wrong because their lip color just doesn't suite their skin tone. And it is also very hard to find a good nude lip color for each person. Because each person's skin tone varies, I recommend this product to try at the MAC store for Asian people or people with a similar skin color and tone as mine. I emphasize to try at the MAC store because it saves money and sometimes people are a little too eager to hurry and buy the product online when they don't know if it works for them or not.

So I hope this review was helpful to you! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to write in the comment box below! Thank you for reading and I will see you later! =D