FOTD: Summer Meadow (Michelle Phan-Inspired)

When I saw Michelle Phan's tutorial inspired by Summer Meadows, I thought I'd give it a try. I thought, hey since I think I have all the shades now, why not? Unfortunately, a guru is a guru and I am me. I have no idea how two people with similar eye and facial structure can end up looking so different. As my Lao Ba (a college friend) says, "First, she's like a 5. But then she puts on concealer and foundation, and BAM she's an 8!" Hahaha this is a guy speaking. Yes, MP did teach him the difference between foundation, concealer, and others. Thank you to the beautiful Kaitlyn and her generous MAC giveaway! I got to pick an item and I had to get my hands on something from the To the Beach Collection before it disappeared forever. I really wanted the bright green one but it sold out ages ago, but I don't have a single blue eyeshadow at all! I'm always afraid I'd end up looking like Mimi from The Drew Carey Show, so I never took the dive. MAC Shimmermoss is so pretty : ) I'm going to picspam like crazy in my next post. My camera setting simply doesn't do it justice because there is a hint of green in this blue-teal.

Emulating MP is no easy feat. She used some awesome fancy white eyeliner as a base and to "paint clouds." I used a cheapo NYC one to scratch my eyeball out and "paint pain" ... that thing is a banana to sharpen too. You know how as a kid you'd be really pissed if your coloured pencils keep breaking in the sharpener and you watch as that hungry monster chomps your beautiful pencils up and you didn't even get to colour? Well that's how I felt using this - the lead kept break off and it wouldn't melt onto my eye. This thing barely even melted on the back of my hand. Worst. Ever. After much scratching, I gave up and used ELF Studio Concealer and Highlighter Duo (highlighter side) for the white. I had to keep patting it on. Frustration! I really wished I had a NYC Jumbo Pen in Milk at this point.

I really love the contacts she used in her vid. I tried on my Geo Ash Wings but they looked weird and not mysterious and pale like the Solotica contacts she wore. I think those are Brazilian though and quite expensive. What with the recent NYT article (and all other news sources in the world to follow) nonsense about circle lenses making everyone blind (just wash your hands and be smart - circle lenses are just like other contacts, you might have to wear them for less hours but don't have a cow in exaggerating this blindness myth). Lady Gaga did NOT start the circle lenses trend. Has anyone heard of doing research and finding sources before you write something? I guess NYT forgot to go to primary school and write up those flashcards with the MLA sources. Unprofessional.

So here's my attempt! I also tried to do something new by taking flash pictures like everyone else. The bright sunlight is cool for sparkles but completely washes out the pigmentation. I wanted my eyes to seem more round and 3D so I made the blue into a crescent moon shape sitting horizontally. I'm no Michelle Phan but I tried!

{Blue = sky} {White = clouds} {Green = grass}

Products Used:
Anastasia Brow Wiz in Medium Ash

NYC White Eyeliner as base, highlight browbone

ELF Studio Concealer and Highlight Duo - Highlighting end on browbone, all over upper lid 

MAC Shimmermoss all over lid, swept up 

Wet n Wild Creme Shadow Stick in Pixie for tear ducts, on middle of eye to make it appear more round

Wet n Wild Creme Shadow Stick in Envy on lower lashline

L'Oreal Double Extend Mascara + Primer

ELF E/S Duo Black out of Berry/Black pan as eyeliner, applied with angled brush

ELF Studio Complexion Perfection

ELF Studio Concealer Pencil in Light

ELF Studio Blushing and Bronzing Powder - both mixed to hollow of cheeks, the blush applied to apples of cheeks

ELF Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder in Luminance for cheekbone and nose highlight

Burts Bees Replenishing Lip Balm

The Flash!

My forehead is freaking huge. I like to hide it behind my bangs, which I lopped off too short grrr

Pose inspired by Liana! She's probably thinking "wth looks nothing like my signature pose"

Lamp lighting with my Samsung Intercept. After many, many years with my Motorola Razr my family finally hopped on the cool kids train and got smartphones. Yeah baby! (3.2 megapixel camera - not bad quality) I really like how the chapstick shows up. Now why can't I find something that is actually this shade on my lips?

Flash:

L'Oreal Double Extend is a very good mascara for clean volumizing/lengthening/separating. I was surprised : ) Been using this with the L'Oreal Lash Serum and I've been getting results that I will share soon :D I'm totally getting fine wrinkles underneath my eyes. MCAT is unfriendly to my body and my St. Ives scrubs need to be toned down. For once in my life my skin is too dry! It's normally super oily and now I'm getting wrinkles T__T What is this madness?

Outside in sunlight (see how the colours are washed out : / ?)

My hair is getting out of control. My roots are inches long and I need to re-dye the whole thing with a bottle of Palty if I can find one at 99 Ranch

Awkward turtle face just for you guys : ) Shows the bronzing/highlight better

♪♪♪ Someeeewhere over the rainbow is the beach. After this week of cramming, I'll squash the MCAT leech. Give me my summer back now, hear my plea. In just seven days I'll head out to sea ♪♪♪

I've been taking practice exams like crazy and each 5-hour run yields ... very little increase in points but at least it's going up! x_x I really don't want to retake this. Physics is the bane of my existence. Curse you, nonexistent/fail AP class for not preparing me for O Frabjous Day! That's why I've been gone loves, so in no time at all, I'll be back sending love on your posts, replying to your sweet comments, and blogging my face off! So when they said the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, they really weren't exaggerating. I'm .. halfway. I have to be on step infinity in 7 days, 9 hours, 52 minutes, and 36 seconds. Yes, I have multiple countdowns ticking my blood pressure into a frenzy. Halfway infinity doesn't feel so good. Life lesson #1. DIESEL! (And thank you so much sweethearts for telling me good luck and giving all your support! For the "you'll do great" part ... I need to make sure that happens hahaha). Leave some love for this poor girl!

FOTD + OOTD: Fiberwig, Latte Eyes, Angel Wing Star Earrings from Sophia!

YAY! Huge celebratory post for THE END OF SCHOOL! I was so ready for this semester to be over since January, so ready for Orgo 2 to stop torturing me, so ready to be home sweet home! And here I am, back in lovely San Diego : ) I have missed my family a lot, missed good food, missed my Lucky puppy, ready for videogames (definitely need to beat lots of Final Fantasy XIII action and improve on shooters), ready for sleeping, so ready for the beach and pandas at the zoo! I should put up pictures from my visit during Winter Break xD So much to blog, so little time!

Sad thing is, I had to give my boyfriend his camera back so now my pictures will suck with my Kodak Easyshare xD I will look into getting a nicer point-and-shoot and a tripod soon :3

So, this Fiberwig business. $24 a pop at Sephora, red fancy tube with cool little fibers, does the interesting warm water removal (comes off in tubesss), totally caved and I'm glad it works! An amazing tip I learned from Eki is to apply 3 coats, letting each layer dry before applying the next. Watch your lashes build up and the KEY thing is to use a heated lash curler to make your lashes fan out and up. You can have lashes a mile long but no one will see them unless you curl them! Obviously, don't go back over with your normal lash curler because that would HURT. If you have those skillz, go for it. I don't like ripping out lashes though x_x. So I got my heated lash curler at Sephora for $12 and it works great! Wish it would heat up just a little more but then it might start melting things ... xD

Products Used:

ELF Studio Concealer Pencil

ELF Studio Complexion Perfection

ELF Studio Eyebrow Kit in Dark

ELF Mineral Primer

Wet n Wild E/S Palette in Vanity (shimmery bronze all over lid & along lower lashline, shimmery pearl for browbone, gold on middle of lid, dark matte cocoa on outer V)

ELF Studio Creme Eyeliner in Black

Imju Fiberwig Mascara (3 coats), Sephora heated lash curler

ELF Lipgloss in Goddess, then Revlon Nude Attitude Lipstick over it

Wearing:

Blue Open-back Turtleneck, F21

Grey Shorts, F21

White low-heel pumps, Payless

Geo Angel Glue lenses

Fiberwig AMAZINGESS.

 

The palette: Wet n Wild in Vanity, nice browns (3 matte shadows, 3 shimmery ones), super pigmented with primer! Don't use their crappy brush thing

I look really different ...

 

Wet n Wild Craze in Glitz, it's so obscenely obnoxious, I can't help but LOVE it

Sophia MADE these! She is such a sweetheart ~ I'll have a post on her lovely love package ♥ Angel Wing Earrings with cute rounded stars omggggg I've been wearing these religiously. She knew I always wanted a pair of angel wing earrings. Thank you so much!

Yeah I realize I look like an alien. Right hand (left in the pic): Wet n Wild Craze in Goldmine; Left hand (right in pic): Wet n Wild Craze in Glitz. But seriously!? LOOK AT THAT FIBERWIG ACTION. I have major lashes!

Funky position, I know. Trying to show you the back elegant open circle thing. It has 3 buttons in the neck, covered by my hair.

Hope you enjoyed! This was a hefty post of lots of things, but with your permission, I'm going to start ultra posting muahaha. You'll get to see a change of scenery too as I no longer am stuck using dorm bathroom lighting xD

When does summer start for you and what's the first thing you're going to do?

FOTD: Purple Haze + Nude Lips

I just finished an excruciating study/cram session for Physiology and took the exam a few hours ago. Instead of moving onto the next subject to cram for, I decided to dolly up and play with as much makeup as possible - hence the HUGE list of products used hahaha. I should really get rid of some before I buy any more.

I really like the colour purple, so I decided to put on as much purple as possible on my eyes. I've also been playing around with nude lips recently for a different feel (I know, several seasons behind I always am) but here's the look I came up with.

Products used: (a tad of everything xD)

Eyes:

Anastasia Brow Wiz in Medium Ash (brows)

ELF Mineral Eye Primer

ELF eyeshadows duos:

1) Buttery matte all over lid

2) Silverish brown on lid below crease

3) Shimmery light purple on middle of lid

4) Dark purple for outer V and crease (I tried applying with ELF Studio Small Precision Brush - still don't know how to work the crease)

Hint of Wet N Wild Creme Eyeshadow Pencil in Pixie to highlight inner corner

ELF Sugar Kiss Mascara in Midnight - purple side

ELF Studio Creme Eyeliner in Black

ELF Eyeliner in Plum for wings

Lips:

Revlon Lipstick in Nude Attitude

ELF SPF15 Lipgloss in Goddess over it

Face:

ELF Studio Concealer Brush & Pencil in Light (spot concealer)

Covergirl Clean Makeup Oil Control Foundation in 555 Soft Honey (wet foundation)

ELF Studio Complexion Perfection (powder)

ELF Studio Cool Bronzer (contour)

ELF Studio Blush in Candid Coral (blush)

Contacts: GEO Nudy Brown

Hello Kitty Sweater Top from H&M

I really like this picture for some reason .. dreamy far-off look (the weird discolouring is from powder/blush sticking to concealer oops)


Featuring ELF Studio Complexion Brush (not quite sure how to use it but it doesn't pick up a lot of pigment - good for bronzing/blushing)

You can kind of see the crease in this one:

I look a lot older without bangs:

And when I take too long, my boyfriend gets very upset and turns into the RAWR Monster HAHAHAHA :D (Featuring Revlon Nude Attitude)

Tip: To get this nice nude look that every seems to fancy so much (especially in Asia) and avoid concealer'd to death, wear a very nude (nearly skin tone) lipstick and layer a pinkish/peachy lipgloss over it. It will bring in a tad of colour and add shine so you get that super moisturized pale lip look :D

PS: If you know how to do creases for Asian eyes, please share. Michelle Phan is too pro and goes bam bam bam it's done, creased, she's got crazy smokey eyes. What!? Halp :D

OOTD + FOTD: Kawaii Schoolgirl

: ) This is my schoolgirl look I wore to the St. Louis Art Museum during Spring Break. I curled my hair with a straightener and threw on a cute plaid skirt and other accessories. Unfortunately, later that day I lost one of my Geo lenses. It dried up and withered to a premature death : ( It's costly to replace just one lens too ... total I payed $17 T__T Wahhh. Good news: I think 3 pairs of coloured contacts came in for me yesterday so I'll pick it up tomorrow. Fu fu fu yay!

Products used:
- Brows: Anastasia Brow Wiz in Medium Ash
- Concealer: ELF Studio Concealer Pencil and Brush
- Powder: ELF Studio Complexion Perfection
- Blush: ELF Studio Blushing and Bronzing Powder
- Highlight/(tear ducts, lower lashline): Wet n Wild Idol Eyes Creme Shadow Pencil in Pixie
Eyes:
- Eyeshadow Base: Wet n Wild Idol Eyes Creme Shadow Pencil in Pixie
- Eyeshadow:
1) Purple from a Clinique Eyeshadow Trio (can't remember then name right now ... came in a gift set) - patted this all over my lid after applying base
2) ELF Duo Eyeshadow in Berry Mix - used the light sparkly purple on inner corner of lid and darker matte plum on outer V
- Eyeliner: ELF Studio Creme Eyeliner in Black
- Mascara: Maybelline Colossal Volume
- Lips: ELF SPF15 Lipgloss in Goddess, then ELF Mineral Lipstick in Rosy Tan over it
- Contacts: Geo Magic Color in Angel Violet
Most pictures taken with my boyfriend's Canon Powershot SX100IS

Maybelline Colossal is good for super length/volume with multiple layers but it clumps really easily. If you don't want a clean look but want lots and lots of lash ooph, go for this.


 
And I usually have no lashes because they're tiny, frail and so light.
!!!


Curly hair!



I make really bad puffer faces. Any tips? :3

My suitemate's like .. wth are you doing :D *try to act natural*

Added a hairband





Wearing:
Red Mini Bow Headband, F21
Blouse, Charlotte Russe
Satin Bow Belt, F21
Plaid Pleated Skirt, Walmart a long time ago
Tights, gift from my Aunt
Flats, American Eagle from Payless Shoes
I threw on a Red Spring Jacket with Belt later on but I didn't take pics, Ross

Ugh. I am such a camwhore.