Haircut!

Hi guys!

So, I got a haircut! =O

Here's a video of how it went down, please watch in HD! Thank you!


My hairstylist is Sonia, and she is amazing. She is so far the only person who listens to me and understands exactly what I want! Such a professional!

Side story: When I wanted to grow my hair out very long, I always told previous stylists to cut 1 cm at most. My god, they would cut like 1-2 inches off! Pissed me off! But not Sonia! She is excellent! Trims the shortest length possible, gets rid of split ends and makes it seem as if I never got a haircut!

My Story
I started growing my hair out in the middle of college, and it has grown to this length after 2.5 years. I trimmed it every 3-4 months to maintain hair health and cut split ends. I had to cut off a couple inches twice first due to burning my hair in my research lab, and second due to sun and bleach damage from swimming at the pool too often.
Throughout this time I never blow dried it until this past month and always let it air dry. (My hair had become so long to the point that I needed to blow dry it so it wouldn't become an ugly wet tangled mess). I never colored it, never did a perm, I probably used hot tools on it about a dozen times, yes, really very little, in the past 2.5 years and I ate healthy, used hair treatments and oils to keep my hair strong and hydrated.

So there are some reasons why I wanted to cut my hair. Yes, it was beautiful and sexy ;P, but everything comes with a price. =P
1) I always wanted to donate my hair. It's not only a considerate act for people who lost their hair due to chemotherapy, but it was just something that I always wanted to do, just because. =P
2) I always wanted to grow my hair down to my butt, or at least reaching the top of my butt/end of tailbone. And I reached that goal, yay!
3) It was inconvenient to have such long hair. I had to braid it every night before bed, otherwise it would get tangled. I had to brush it throughout the day because, again, it got easily tangled. I had to be careful when I reached to pick something off the ground otherwise my hair would touch the ground. I had to be careful when going to the restroom so my hair wouldn't touch the toilet or, god forbid, go into the toilet. =P Etc. etc.
4) Another reason why I grew my hair out so long, was that I wanted to have fun styling it, in like beautiful long curls, and what not. And then I realized, that I was a pre-med student and I had no time for that and I rarely did anything to my hair, let alone curl it! And when you have very long hair, your arms and fingers get really tired when you're styling. =P
5) Going along with a mix of reason #3 and 4, I will be going out of state possibly for a pre-medical master's program this year, which means moving and then intense studying, which means, even less time or no time to deal with my hair while taking courses alongside med students.
6) And finally, it is just good for my hair to get a nice cut. All the old hair, despite taking good care of it, is still old, and dryer and thinner than newer hair closer to my scalp. So, it is healthy for my hair.

I still love long hair and I do plan to grow it longer than this, but I may not grow my hair as long as it was ever again. A little sad but I'm glad I got to do this at least once in my life, a good experience with many compliments along with it and what not.

I am in a period in my life where my career is most important to me so I will do what is necessary to make my life easier to focus more on my work.
Growing my hair to this length, took me a lot of patience and time, and by the end I was was happily looking forward to my haircut. =P My head feels super light! O_O Like, amazingly light! I might have dropped a couple pounds after cutting all that hair! XD haha. I miss my long hair, but it's okay, it'll grow back =)

Thanks for reading my post! I hoped it helped those of you who were interested in donating your hair or possible reasons why you should chop your long flowing locks off, haha.
Feel free to ask any questions or comments in the comment box below!
See you later! Good luck studying for quarter system college students! Finals are next week! XO

Common Eye Makeup Mistakes! =O

Hi Everyone!

Today I would like to talk about a lot of common makeup mistakes that I see, read, or hear from people.

So I watch a lot of makeup tutorials on Youtube, and I read the comments of people trying out eye makeup looks and I see a lot of comments along the lines of:
-when I do this, it makes me look like I have a black eye, or I was punched in the eye....Q_Q
-i look like an alien after this...O_O
-my eyes look smaller..>.<
-the colors look really bad on me...=(
-it's too much makeup for my eyes!

So here are some common mistakes that people make that can make their eyes look bad/weird/not right/etc.:

1) Blending colors too much (looking muddy) or too little (looks separated and weird)
When yo are blending eyeshadows, most of the time you go for a good gradient effect, a soft transition from one color to another. To do this, start off by blending gently in soft, short strokes and taking breaks in between to look at yourself in the mirror. You can switch off from each eye to make sure that both match each other.

2) Blending outwards too much or bringing up the color too high (especially dark colors) can give the "black eye effect". 
To prevent the "black eye effect" try not to bring or blend colors past the middle area of your eye between the eyebrow and the upper eyelashes.
If your eyes are more deep-set and you don't have much eyelid space, then it is okay to bring the color up a little higher (closer to the eyebrows) so that they are more visible. However, to be safe, use a nude/champagne colored eyeshadow to highlight the browbone underneath your eyebrow so there is a more distinct space between the eyeshadow colors and the eyebrow. You do not want color appear to be all the way up to the eyebrows! Kind of scary XD

3) Applying too much color at once can make your eyes look like an alien or crazy!
To prevent this, start by dabbing your brush into the eyeshadow lightly and tapping off the excess before application. Then, apply your eyeshadow. If you want more, continue this process, to gradually build up to the right amount of color or pigmentation that you desire.

You can also adjust the amount of intensity on your eyes, the amount of color you put on to adjust to your preferences. Or maybe change to colors that you prefer or like better, I'm not gonna say it will look better, but maybe it will be, you'll just have to try it out! =) You don't have to follow precisely what a makeup artist does on youtube because your eye color, skin color, and eye shape are different from theirs. So feel free to adjust to your needs!

4)Too much eyeliner around the eye can make your eyes look smaller.
 If you think your eyes tend to look smaller after using eyeliner around your entire eye, try not to rim your entire eye. You can try lining just the top lashline and leaving the bottom alone. Or you could very lightly smudge color on the lower lashline so it won't be as heavy and dark. These tricks help open up the eyes and prevent them from being closed off if you rimmed your entire eye with black.

5) Colors may look weird or not so good with your eyes depending on your eye color and skin color. 
For example, an asian person probably wouldn't put a yellow-brown color on their eyes or a red-brown color on their eyes because it would look bad against his or her yellow-toned skin. Or if you have blue eyes, using a vivid sky blue color as eyeshadow may be too intense to the viewer.
Try to work with and find colors that compliment your eyes and skin color well or give a distinct enough contrast for a good pop of color.

6) If you feel you look super weird and not yourself when you put on makeup it could be either you're not used to it or you've exaggerated the overall shape of your eyeshadow and/or eyeliner too much.
When applying eyeshadow or eyeliner, start off closer to the upper lashline of the eyelids and gradually bring the color up or out until you like it. When you get better at it, you can start off wherever you want, but I find that doing this helps prevents mistakes that are hard to correct.

So I hope this post was helpful to you guys, especially you beginners! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to write in the comment box below! Thank you for reading. =)

"The Body Shop" 40% off SALE!!!

Hi Everyone!

I would just like to tell you guys that "The Body Shop" is having an ONLINE STORE-WIDE 40% OFF SALE!!

I don't know why they are doing it and I don't know for how long, but if you are interested in any of their products, it would be a good idea to check out and see stuff now!

If you buy $50 worth of products, you get free shipping.

BUT, if you are a Body Shop member, you get free shipping with whatever you buy!!!

So yeah, thought I'd like to spread the word. XD

Good luck and have fun!

Urban Decay "smoked" 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Set for $24!!

Hi Everyone!

I am posting a lot today haha! XD

I went to Ulta today and I got an Urban Decay eyeliner set for a great deal!

This is the "smoked" 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Set for $24.

You can find the set online here:
http://www.urbandecay.com/Smoked-24-7-Glide-On-Eye-Pencil-Set-By-Urban-Decay/343,default,pd.html?start=3&cgid=12_2

I have never bought an Urban Decay product because even though it is a good brand with pigmented colors, it is too expensive for me.
But I saw this, and I had to try this! The Glide-on eye pencils of regular size are around $18. And I thought 6 travel size ones for $24 was pretty good!
I think that all of these colors are great and can be used often, so I will have fun playing with these for a while! ^_^ First Urban Decay product that I got! Whoot!

Dupe/Replacement for Sasatinnie Facial Cleansing Brush!

Hi Everyone!

Today I will talk about great replacements/alternatives or almost a dupe of the Sasatinnie Facial Cleansing Brush!

Here is the Sasatinnie Facial Cleansing Brush, I wrote a review on it in my Fourth Sasa Haul!

So I did buy this online from Sasa and I loved this cleansing brush! And I wanted another one to carry around with me when I traveled or as a spare after my first one broke down. However, this product is very popular, often out of stock, and can be a bit pricy being internationally shipped.
So, I decided to go to a couple of stores in Irvine, CA to see if I could find any similar products.

Lo and behold I have found 2 cleansing brushes! =D One from Daiso and the other from Tokyo Japanese Lifestyle. There is are Daiso stores in Irvine and San Francisco. There are Tokyo Japanese Lifestyle stores in Irvine and Los Angeles.

Daiso Facial Cleansing Brush

This brush costs $1.50.
So as you can see, the shape of the brush is different than the Sasatinnie one. You also hold it differently. It is a little smaller but I actually think it is easier to hold and use. It is easier to reach smaller and harder to reach areas of my face such as between my eyebrows, the inner corners of my nose, and around my mouth.
The brush bristles are a little bigger or thicker than the Sasatinnie one and the bristles are more firm and less soft than the Sasatinnie one.

Tokyo Japanese Lifestyle Cleansing Brush

This brush costs $2.29.
Just like the Daiso brush, the Tokyo Lifestyle brush has a similar shape to the Daiso one but also different than the Sasatinnie one. I also find it easier to use and hold than the Sasatinnie brush for smaller and harder to reach places on my face. However, I find the material to be softer and the brush bristles are smaller and softer than the Sasatinnie brush.

What do I think of these products?
I think that both the Daiso and Tokyo Japanese Lifestyle facial cleansing brushes work well and I personally recommend the Tokyo Lifestyle brush. However, it really depends on your preference of shape and how soft and small you like the bristles to be. Other than that, the material is the same as the Sasatinnie one. They both work wonderfully well, same results as Sasatinnine for cleansing and gently exfoliating the face. Both of them will not harm or irritate sensitive skin and you can adjust the exfoliation by the amount of pressure you use on your face!

Do  I recommend any of these products?
I recommend both the Daiso and the Tokyo Japanese Lifestyle facial cleansing brushes as great dupes or similar products to the Sasatinnie facial cleansing brush. They all product the same result and are gentle on the skin. Daiso and Tokyo Lifestyle are each cheaper than the Sasatinnie brush and Daiso is the cheapest. In terms of material for brush bristle softeness: Daiso is the most firm, Tokyo Lifestyle is the softest, and Sasatinnie is in the middle!

So if you cannot get the Sasatinnie brush from Sasa because you live in a different country and it is too expensive to buy internationally, maybe these stores are near you or closer by to take a look. I know Sasa is a really popular department store but it is just like Sephora, Nordstrom, Macy's etc. which are big popular department stores that carry a variety of popular brands. However, these 2 other brushes are both great alternatives to the Sasatinnie brush and more affordable as well! =)
I am pretty happy because now I can leave the Daiso one at my parent's house and use the Tokyo Japanese Lifestyle brush for traveling. This way I can leave my more expensive Sasatinnie brush at home!

I hope you liked this review! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to write in the comment box below! Thank you for reading and I hope this was helpful! Have a great day. ^_^

Cure can be found in Irvine, CA! =D (and some rambling =P)

Hi Everyone! =)

I am sorry for not posting much lately, it was Thanksgiving in the US and I went home to see my family, friends, and bf.
I really wanted to write reviews when I was there, but I was in such a rush to leave, I couldn't bring all the necessary equipment and materials =/.

I will try to post more, but finals are coming! Gahhh!
I have a paper due tomorrow and a quiz as well so I'll be back to you soon after tomorrow!

I hope that for those of you who celebrate the holiday, Thanksgiving, that you had lots of fun and ate lots of good food! I did! XD

On a quick note I would like to say that the Japanese exfoliating gel, CURE, can be found in the Tokyo Lifestyle store in the UTC mall at UCI (University of California Irvine).
It is a few dollars cheaper than getting it from Amazon and cheaper than Tokyo Lifestyle.

I really wanted to get it, but I already have a bottle at home so I need to finish that first! XP But I am so happy to find it much more accessible nearby where I live!
So if you live in the area, check it out! I also wrote a review on CURE which you can read here.

I hope this random piece of information was helpful to you. =P

I will talk to you soon!

Hairstyling videos!

Hey guys!

So I was on Youtube and I saw 2 videos of 2 hairstyles that I have never seen before! I think they are very unique and I would like to share them with you. =)

The first video shows a look and a hairstyle, but if you go towards the end of the video, you can see her create a really cute, little less than shoulder length hairstyle, almost like a long bob, from her long hair! And I thought that was pretty amazing. XD
(I know it says plastic surgery makeup tutorial, not the thing i'm advocating, i'm taking about the hairstyle at the end of the video!)

The second video is a hair straightening video without hot tools! And this was a very interesting and intriguing idea by this young you-tuber. I naturally have straight hair, but I was surprised and impressed by the way she did it! Take a look!

So for those of you looking for a cute short hairstyle but don't want to cut of your lovely long locks or for those of you who want to straighten your hair without heat; I hope these 2 videos are helpful!

I do not own any of these videos or know these people. I just found them on Youtube and would like to share the videos with you all! Thank you to the 2 you-tubers for your videos! I thought they were very unique and helpful!

Thanks for reading/watching and I will be back later!=D

Note: The reason that they are in the "random helpful stuff =P" tab and not the "hairstyle" tab is that I don't want to give any ideas that these videos are my videos or show my ideas or anything. But I do find them very helpful!

Oil-Blotting Paper under $4!

Hi Everyone!

Today I wanted to share a couple things that I bought at Marukai yesterday.

These are oil-blotting sheets that I bought at the Marukai Lifestyle store that are a little under $4 and I think they work pretty well =)

The one on the left is Callas Paris and the one on the right is in Japanese, so sorry, I can't read it.

Callas Paris is made with a special stretchable soft plastic-like material, and it has a sticky square that picks up sheets for you. Callas contains 50 sheets.

The Japanese one has a cute design of little chicks on the cover. It looks like a note pad and you can rip out paper sheets. It has 100 sheets.


So if you are interested or what to try them, you can stop by your local Marukai Lifestyle store and check them out! ^_^

I hope you found this useful and so you won't buy over-priced oil blotting sheets at Sephora or something. XP If you have any questions or comments, feel free to write in the comment box below! Thanks for reading!

Buy La Roche-Posay Anthelios 60 Ultra Light Sunscreen Fluid at a Cheaper Price at Costco

Hey guys!

Just for your information, you can buy the La Roche-Posay Anthelios 60 Ultra Light Sunscreen Fluid at Costco for about $22.

It normally costs $30 at drugstores, and even with a drugstore coupon it would be $25.

But it is cheaper at Costco! I just bought my 2nd one today!

Hope this helps!

Where to find Sasa products? (besides buying from the store or the online store)

Hi Everyone! =)

Today I will talk about and tell you where else to find Sasa products and other popular Asian brands besides going to the store or buying from their online store!

Sasa is a popular beauty department store in many Asian countries especially in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. However, many of their products are made by Asian companies in China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. Therefore, these products are rather difficult to find in other countries such as the US, Europe, South America, Canada, Africa, India, etc.

So, I have been looking around locally, where I live in California, to see if I could find stores that sold many of the products that Sasa sells. Given I can't travel around the world and it's only in Southern California, I have a limited selection. However, the store names that I will list here may be somewhere nearby you and you may not even know it!
Also, California is a special place =) (not just because I live here and I like it XP) but it's special because it is so multicultural in a sense that it is more influenced by other countries than the rest of the US (in my opinion) and therefore, you can find a wider variety of culture, entertainment, art, ethnicity, food, clothes, languages, people, etc. So if you would like to go to on a vacation to the United States, please come to California =) And you can also buy stuff that you want in Sasa XD.

This post is to help people who are looking for the many popular skincare and cosmetic products that Sasa sells, that they see on Youtube, blogs, etc. that is difficult for them to find/buy. If the stores that I list here are no where near you, you can always go to Sasa's online store, which has good sales and many days (especially on holidays) that they have free shipping!

Okay, onto the stores listing from least expensive to most expensive! =P

Daiso
Daiso is a $1.50 store. It sells a variety of things and everything is almost $1.50. It's really great for cheap things from utensils, to folder, ceramic plates, arts and crafts, random cute things etc. Their cosmetic section has a lot of cheap things and you will never find any popular brand name cosmetics, skincare, or haircare products. So, if you like to try cheap makeup and $1.50 won't hurt you're pocket you might want to try this. But I can't guarantee anything will be of good quality because it's so cheap. Also, I probably would not recommend any of the hair and skincare products they sell.
What I like to buy in Daiso the most and what I recommend to buy in Daiso is the body wipes, cosmetic cotton sheets for removing makeup and putting on toner, Q-tips, and tissue packets. There are also a lot of great small travel bottles, travel sprays and little containers for creams etc. Also great to buy, because they're so cheap!

Marukai and more specifically Marukai Lifestyle/Living
Marukai is made up of 3 stores, the Marukai $1.50 store where you can find super cheap makeup, cheap false lashes and eyelid tape. Then there's the Marukai Lifestyle/Living where I recommend to go for haircare and skincare and Marukai Market, which has food. If you are looking for Shiseido hair products and skincare products, Lucido-L hair products, Tsubaki products, Essential Rich Premier, and the Juju Aquamoist brand this is a great place to go. There's also the famous makeup brands Dolly Wink and K-Palette with their eyeliners, eyeshadows, and eyebrow pencils and powders. There are also masks, but there's no My Beauty Diary. And there are cheap oil blotting papers, body massages, underarm roller massages, face massages, etc.

99 Ranch/Ranch 99
99 Ranch is a Chinese supermarket. It mainly sells Chinese food and Chinese fresh meat and vegetables. However, if you go to the beauty/skincare row in the market, they do sell a handful of products. I definitely know that they sell the My Beauty Diary masks, for a bit cheaper than most places. Other than that, I'm not sure what is there, because I don't go there often to buy beauty/skincare products. However, this market is probably the most popular and most common market in the United States compared to the rest of the stores, so I do recommend to go and take a look, especially for the My Beauty Diary masks. Don't be shy, okay, lots of Asian people speaking Asian languages may weird you out, but really, to those of you who know who you are, go out there and be more cultured. =P I'm not saying this as a foreigner, I was born and bred in the US and I like living in this country, but seriously, some people need to be more educated in more than just reading, math, and science.
Quick story: In northern CA and southern CA, there's like this debate about which name is correct for this market. In reality, the stores are actually labeled differently north and south. So, in northern CA the store sign in Ranch 99 and in southern CA the store sign is 99 Ranch. So, people, you are both right and be happy and get over it!

Tokyo Lifestyle
This store is more known for selling anime and manga related things, Japanese cooking utensils, and cute random Asian things XD. It does sell mostly Japanese products so you won't really find other Asian products besides Japanese things. I recommend to go for the haircare and skincare products in this store. They have Shiseido, Tsubaki, sometimes NYX products. They also sell oil blotting papers that are much cheaper than Sephora or Ulta. They also have really cheap makeup like eyeshadows and false lashes there, but I have never tried them. =P I think this is a fun store to go to, they have lots of cool things so it's also fun to take a look. You can probably find this store in a mall in Los Angeles. There is one store in Irvine as well near UCI.

Beauty Diary
I have recently found this store and this store is actually from the brand My Beauty Diary! It is located in Arcadia, California, next to Pasadena. This store sells a variety of BB Creams (all the well known and famous brands), My Beauty Diary masks, Dolly Wink false lashes, eyeshadows, and eyeliners. It sells Juju aquamoist and Shiseido I think . It also sells other higher end brands such as dermalogica and For Beloved One (which has good eye masks). If you are looking for more brand named Asian skincare and cosmetic products, I recommend this store. However, it is a small store, so there might be a limited variety for some things.

Mitsuwa
This is a popular Japanese supermarket, that mostly has Japanese food, food courts, a bookstore, etc. Depending on the setup of the market, the skincare/cosmetic products are either in one of the aisles or in a section of the market. I recommend this place for Japanese brands/products such as Shiseido, Tsubaki, Essential Rich Premier, Lucido-L, Gatsby hair wax, Juju Aquamoist, Dolly Wink and K-Palette. It will be on the pricier side but Mitsuwa has opened many markets and branch markets throughout California.

Takashima
This is a new store that opened in Irvine and the original one is in Rowland Heights. This is like a version of Beauty Diary but even better. The problem is that they are more pricey, maybe $1-5 more, generally. This store has a large selection and great variety of products. You can find, K-Palette, Dolly Wink, Sasa products (like the Sasa brand), Tsubaki, Lucido-L, Shiseido, Juju Aquamoist, My Beauty Diary, Mentholatum (a popular acne treatment brand in Taiwan and China) and a lot of other Asian brands especially Japanese, Taiwan, and Korean.

Maneki Neko
This is a new store that just opened in Pasadena/LA area in the Westfield Mall in Santa Anita. The main store is in Little Tokyo. This store sells the largest and greatest variety of NYX products I have seen! It also contains many popular Japanese makeup and skincare brands such as Dolly Wink, Shiseido, Tsubaki, Essential Rich Premier, Juju Aquamoist, etc. It sells a large variety of My Beauty Diary masks as well as Japanese and Korean BB creams. However, this store is pricey, I would say it would be $1-5 more expensive than what you can get at other places.

So, I hope you like this post and I hope it helped you. I'm sorry if this doesn't seem helpful to you because most of these stores are in California. I'm also sorry if it seems like I am repeating the same brand names over and over again. It is because these brand names are very popular, good quality, and many of them are the leading skincare and cosmetic brands in Asia.

If all hope is lost and going to Sasa's online store won't work for you, try Amazon. It has good prices and you might be able to find some things there. I don't recommend eBay since there is a higher chance that people will sell you fake products.

Thank you for reading =) I am thinking of doing a video blog and take you with me into these stores to get a better idea of what they look like and the products they sell. If you want me to do that, please tell me! XD If you have any questions or comments, feel free to write in the comment box below! I'll see you later!

Attention! La Roche-Posay Anthelios 60 Ultra Light Sunscreen Fluid ON SALE!!!

Hi guys!

If you didn't know already. At CVS, the La Roche-Posay Antehlios 60 (SPF 60) Ultra Light Sunscreen Fluid is ON SALE!

It is $10 off original price ($30), which drops it down to $20!!!

Also, if you are lucky, in the La Roche-Posay booth there are flyers and sale cards that say $5 off any La Roche-Posay product!

With $5 off that, that makes it a total of $15! Half the price of the original!!!

So if you are interested in this sunscreen and want to buy it, you should buy it now! Or very soon! XD

If you would like a review of the sunscreen I have a La Roche-Posay Antehlios 60 (SPF 60) Ultra Light Sunscreen Fluid Review!


I just bought one today for $15! And I'm very happy! Because I would have never bought this as the original price!


Now go and get them! XD