Collective Shoe Haul

Here's a collective shoe haul that I've done over the past couple of months. Seems a little excessive I know but I've actually opted to donate some of my shoes in-exchange :D

Gladiator Styled Heels
Usually I dislike gladiator shoes but they look cute to me once you add the heel. When they're just flat sandals I dont know but they just look like wrapped weird feet O_o. yeah I'm weird that way.
These are made out of leather with a cute braiding down the middle with straps banding across the lower foot and around the ankle. The Zipper up from the back and they're ridiculously comfy. I walked around these for 6+ hours straight and was only starting to feel a bit weak by the 6th hour. Elsewise no dreaded blisters or cuts. Really recommend this brand you can usually find it in Macys although I found it in Century 21 for $40.

Red Heels
I've never owned a pair of colorful shoes but I like the idea of having a pop of color from wearing a simple pair of jeans and having these red heels on. They're really comfy because they have a built in cushion for support. The ankle part of the heel hits in just the right spot for a blister to never occur despite the material being on the sturdy side. It's from the brand Merona so I got it from Target for only $6.36. I knew it was meant for me because it was a size 5.5 absolutely perfect. It also has a really great rubber sole for traction which is something I believe all heels should have to protect the user the user from slipping.

Charming Black Heels
I've never seen this styled shoe before I think it was pretty unique so I had to get it. It has a little bow on the outter side of the shoe and hanging down from the bow is a cute dangling green-clear charm. It has a metallic silver heel and has three rows of small silver studs cascading near the bow. I got it for $20 at a small botique in New World Mall in Flushing. If you're in the area definitely check it out because all their shoes are $20 no matter the style.

Grey Suede Boots.
I got these at Amiclubwear for around $12 definitely not higher than $15. I needed a new pair of boots because my last one is starting to become uncomfy (need to buy some gel inserts or something). It has a good rubber sole for excellent traction and can't wait to bring these to school once the weather gets colder. They have a wrinkled style with a medium size buckle near the ankle with two small silver studs beside it. They come up about mid calf high and has a zipper that only goes half way up so it's perfect for someone like me who has rather large calves because shoes that zip all the way up near the knees tend to not fit me or fit me correctly.







Black Suede Boots

I also purchased this from Amiclubwear for about $8. Although I have a similar pair of boots I got these because the heels allow them to be worn every day. It has a more wide squared off heel for a nice boost but keeping it comfortable to walk around in. Although they do tend to hurt after walking around for 4 hours straight. They have a buckle near the ankle and the have a zipper for easy access.

Cheap Cosmetics Haul

Forever 21 natural (left) and smokey (right) palletes $6.80
Cover girl lip stain 810 $4.99 (50% cvs clearance)
Revlon Colorstay Eye Shadow Starling Rose $4.49 ($3 off Revlon coupon)

Swatches of Natural Palette:














*with flash

** without flash

Note: Liner is not swatched but is the same as the smokey pallete below

Swatches of Smokey Palette:

*with flash
Note: L is for liner

**without flash

Stress Out, Break Out

College.... so much stressssss! I have midterms all next to one another, papers to do and a neck which feels like being hung but that would be a waste of tuition money >_>

Unfortunately, my skin type is: you stress out and then you break out. So my skin is going crazy and it's pretty disgusting. So in order to help deal with it I bought a product that has been very much raved about: Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque.

General Information:
My skin type: combination (oily T-zone, dry everything else)
Buy it at: Ulta, Sally's Beauty Supply, Walgreens, (if you're lucky) Rite Aid
Price: $4 or less for 8oz.
Ingredients:
water, kaolin, bentonite, glycerin, zinc, oxide, propylene glycol, sulfur, chromium oxide greens, fragrance, phenoxyethanol, methylparaban
NOTE: this is not a natural product

Product Claim:
Helps dry up acne pimples, rinse away blackheads and shrink enlarged pores

How to Use:
cleanse face, apply masque generously, allow to dry for 15 minutes, remove with warm water and washcloth

I wanted to get this product so badly since gurus kept talking about it. However, I couldn't find it at Walgreens and I thought I would be out of luck. Luckily there's an Ulta near SBU and I finally got to pick up the product.

Now here's the generalized rules for skin care:
Cleanse and tone daily (morning and or night)
facial scrub every 2-3 days
masque once a week
moisturize daily

I would've given this a product review sooner but since you should only use a mask once a week i decided to give it at least a month for trial period.

*Whenever I wear the mask I start singing songs from Wicked lol
Product Review:
Definitely smells like mint toothpaste and looks like it when it comes out of the tube (squeeze, no pump), which isn't a bad thing. It's very cooling to the touch and it is very thick and creamy, easily spreadable. When you put it on, it kind of feels like your face is being stung or on fire. Yeah that sounds pretty scary but you get used to it because of the results you get. Spread it all over your face or do spot treatment on pimples or large pores.

After spreading it to your entire face you should wait 15 mins plus to dry. It take me about half a hour for it to completely dry. You can tell it's dry when the green paste becomes an off white green color and you'll find it kind of hurts to smile with the mask on because your skin has dramatically tightened. Once this has occur go wash it off with warm water (opens pores while cold water closes them) and a washcloth.

My experience with the product is:
-it does shrink pimples and gets them out within 2-3 days after using the mask
-temporarily shrink pores since it tightens your face
-does not get rid of blackheads

I like this product even though it doesn't shrink pores or gets rid of blackheads (or at least all of it) it gets rid of your zits quickly. Other products like Clean and Clear, Neutrogena, Oxy and St. Ives don't do anything for me anymore. So this is a great buy and it's cheap. You should definitely try this product out even if your skin is acne free, this mask will give a nice facial treatment to tighten the skin and leave a refreshing sensation without feeling drying.

Hauling Away My Allowance

So yeah didn't blog last week. School work makes my head ache. In any case this week I stayed on campus and went to the mall. And I've been totally obsessed with going to Marshalls because of youtube videos, where you can get all sorts of really good makeup and perfume. In Particular I was scouring for perfumes because I figure I should stop buying too many cosmetics. I bought a pencil case for my travel makeup (aka school) and I completely filled it with only lipsticks and lip gloss!

(Negima Pencil Case from Borders $1 and all 19 lip products were generally $1 except 2 that cost $3)

Big Lots is a necessary evil.

So when I went to Marshalls I was looking for With Love perfume by Hillary Duff and any Britney Spears perfume sets because they are apparently popular. I'd thought they'd be tacky but apparently a lot of celebrity perfumes are good like Celine Dion's Pure Brilliance and Paris Hilton's Heiress (yeah Paris Gilton eww as a person and OMG LOVE HER perfume).

So I succeeded in my quest of finding Hilary Duff's With Love. AND I GOT A FREAKIN DEAL AND THEN SOME. The perfume set comes with: eau de perfume 1.0oz. Body lotion 1.7oz and shower gel 1.07oz. It says it retails for $35 and I got it for $15. It has a very woodsy scent that has some floral undertones. It smells kinda mature but NOT old lady perfumy smell.

Top notes are spices and mango; middle notes are cocobolo and mango blossom; base notes are amber and musk.

Unfortunately I failed at finding Britney Spears perfume. They had curious but either the box was broken or things were taken from it.

However, I did find Elizabth Arden's Mediterranean perfume set. I didn't know anything about the perfume but I know Elizabeth Arden is supposed to be a good brand. It comes with: eau de perfume 1.0oz, body lotion 1.7oz and shower gel 1.7oz. It retails for $35 and it was on clearance so I got it for $7. The top notes are kinda strong but once it dries down more to mid and bottom notes it smells so good. And so far so good because I sprayed it at 3:00 and I'm still smelling it at 10pm.(For reference:I tried Incanto Bliss at Ulta and it fizzled out by 4pm good thing I didn't buy it).

Top notes are sicilian mandarin, plum and peach; middle notes are magnolia, orchid and wisteria; base notes are sandalwood, amber and musk.

Just in case your not interested in Hillary Duff or Elizabeth Arden, Marshalls was like a holy grail for expensive perfumes for less. I was this close to buying a Vera Wang Princess for $50 (it came with: large perfume, mini perfume, large body lotion and shower gel)but then I remembered that I didn't like Vera Wang. I can't smell anything and I've tried. To me it doesn't make much of an impact, unlike my beloved Daisy by Marc Jacobs, so don't kill me if you love Vera Wang Princess. They had other perfumes like Be Delicious by DKNY set for $35, Britney Spears perfumes (not a set, I think sets make your money go a little further), Viva La Juicy, Paris Hilton, and other stuff I just can't remember definitely had a lot of designer perfume. They must've restocked or something.

After Marshalls I crossed the highway because I'm too impatient to wait for the bus. I'M STILL ALIVE! So i crossed the highway and went to Smith Haven Mall. The first place I went to was H&M because I remember my roomatetelling me that the best deals are in the back. AND OMG SHE'S RIGHT. I got 2 shorts with an long elastic waist band,thigh high with plaid-ish design and button cuffed at the bottom. They are usually $12.95 but they were on that $5 deal so I got one in black and the other in white.

They're perfect for gym or just casual. I also got a striped black and pinkish-purple T shirt for $5.95. Feels nice, it's cotton.

After that I went to Claires to check out the makeup, to look at only I swear! One of the youtube gurus promotes some of Claires cosmetics. And It's pretty well designed cosmetic set that is VERY pigmented. So if you want to start out, or get inexpensive cosmetics check out Claires. I can get stuff for cheaper so i won't, plus I have a good amount of makeup and basic brushes.

Then I went to Charlotte Russe to see there perfumes but no was enough.

Lastly I went to XXI Forever (Forever21 but it has men's clothing as well). I really wanted a different colored beret but I decided to not get one because I got other things. I needed belts in different colors. One is braided black and white for $2.95. Very sturdy.

Another was light brown for $4.50 in a V braided design.

And lastly a taupe color in faux suede in the braided design for luck, I didn't really like it plus I felt that getting 2 perfume sets $3.50.

I like braided belts just because you can adjust it easier then the ones with the set holes.

And lastly I got this scarf in turquoise-aqua green with sequins in the middle and beaded fringes. It's very long and thin. It was the very last of it's kind and it was reduced from $15.80 to $0.99.

Total Damage: $54.23 and thus goes the $ my mom gave to me for allowance part of it anyway. My real allowance is a secret ;)

Thrift Stores

So on Friday my roommate and I decided to finally visit Port Jefferson. Port Jeff is only a few miles away from Stony Brook University and the S60 bus is actually located inside of campus. The trip over was relatively short but let me tell you Port Jeff was beautiful <3>And hidden between a row of small boutiques and restaraunts was a little shop. It was a thrift store and they sold preowned and new items. They had everything from clothes (although their selection wasn't so great), wallets, bags, shoes, trinquets, wind chimes (just about every store was selling wind chimes), and more importantly (and what I will be discussing is) jewelry.

I am a pretty stereotypical girl in the fact that I love things that are shiny >.< >I bought these cute silver earrings with a sun/flower like design on top and a teardrop with a pink gemstone on the bottom and two silver gemstones sitting on top of the pink one at the bottom of the teardrop.

I also bought these butterfly filigree earrings. They're so light and I've always wanted butterfly earrings, they're like one of the few bugs that creep me out. It has black wiring with silver plastic rhinestones. **********************************************************************
Fashion Tip for Accessories for the Big, Bold and Beautiful:
If you have a large bust opt for a short necklace that stops above your breasts.
A large bag, it'll slime you down in proportion.
Get a long cardigan the narrow fold will allow you to appear much thinner
If you're tall as well, wear a maxi dress that'll cover up your flaws

Fashion Tip in General:
If you have a large roundish face try large chunky earrings to slim it down
Thin faces should have slim hoops and sized medium to small
Look less gaudy by using only 2-3 types of jewelry (ring,necklace,bracelet, earrings), don't go crazy or you'll actually look pretty crazy.

Fashion Tip for the Petite:
Opt for thin or studded jewelry because large chunky hoops will probably over power your face Get a cropped jacket that stops at your waist and preferably at 3/4 sleeves , it'll make you look longer and thinner
Get a coat that stops at the hips any further like towards the knees and you'll look even shorter. Sorry but no long trench coat :( *********************************************************************

And finally i got this lovely fo-pearl necklace <3>Just before we left I got my roommate to buy a medium bag with a flower print for $.
mwahaha making people spend $ my favorite past time.

That's all for my thrift store adventure, they'll definitely be seeing me again :D

Your Skin But Flawless

I love Stony Brook University and their free mall runs to the shopping district. And of course I love the gurus on youtube because otherwise I would have never known about Ulta. For those of you who don't know, Ulta is a cosmetic, perfume, hair care, etc. store like Sephora or CCO or Sally's Beauty Supply. I was so excited when I found it because I was hoping to get some good products to try out (at a low price).
Now Ulta isn't cheap per say, but they sometimes have items on super low clearance or just products you have a hard time finding. For me, I hit the jackpot and got one item on clearance and another I just couldn't find in Walgreens (Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask). But the product I will be discussing today is Sally Hansen's Inspired by Carmindy: Your Skin Makeup Foundation.... Okay seriously they need a shorter name.

I was curious about the product because of the following:
a) Sally Hansen is well known for their nail polish and so forth but how well is their cosmetics section?
b) I need a new liquid foundation because Summer made me tan and now my Max Factor doesn't suit me at the moment.
c) Why is it on clearence? lol

First off let me just say I LOVE THIS PRODUCT <3

It matches my skin color so well! And it has a slightly thicker consistency than my Max Factor foundation. My Max Factor would actually run down when I put it on the back of my hand (that's my way of applying liquid foundation, I use my E.L.F. foundation brush), it was extremely liquidy but I never thought much about it because it was my first liquid foundation. But the Sally Hansen foundation actually stays put on your hand but it's not so thick because when you apply it on your face, you don't feel it. Hence Your Skin Foundation.

Other notes on the product is that it leaves a somewhat Matte finish (no product can handle my T-zone yet, specifically my nose) but once I add my E.L.F. tone correcting Concealer, my skin looks fairly flawless. I'd like to say that when I'm not wearing foundation, the pores on my nose and a little bit on the T-zone actually visible... too visible. But once I put Sally Hansen foundation, E.L.F. concealer and finish it off with my Borghese mineral loose powder foundation (you should always set liquid foundation with powder) I'd like to think that my skin looks so good and doesn't appear like I'm wearing makeup.

This product (according to the website) is very good for oily skin types because it has oil absorbers. Which I agree because my T-zone looks exceptionally less shiny. It's also paraban free for those who are concerned. Parabans may or may not be linked to Breast Cancer so many consumers want paraban free cosmetics, lotions, etc. (look at your ingredient list on products you'll probably end up seeing a paraban or two). You'll usually find paraban free products with mineral products so not only do mineral product last forever, that's right no such thing as an expiration date, but it's also paraban free.

And now I'll just break it off with the Pros and Cons.

Pros:
-Matches my skin type perfectly! I'm Filipino and the color i got was Spice.
-It stays on my skin for most of the day (it starts to wear off I'm guessing around 8 hours)
-It's weightless on your skin.
-It gives Medium to Full Coverage
-It comes with a PUMP! Take that MAC! trying to get people to pay ~$15 for a pump smh
-You only need a half a pump-one pump for application.
-paraban free, all natural mineral makeup
-absorbs oil so especially perfect for people with Combination to Oily Skin
-full of Vitamin A to improve skin (which I kinda agree because my skin is soft but i could also give credit to my skin care routine)
-It was on clearance so I only paid $3 and that's dirt cheap for liquid foundation (plus it'll never expire) makeup

Cons:
-there are only 12 skin colors so your choices are not that great. worst comes to worst, you'd have to mix colors to get your color and that's too annoying for me
-It has such strong staying power, that it actually stains your foundation brush, my E.L.F. brush is now a different color but I don't care because it only costs a $1 anyway :P
-The bottle is frosted so you either:
a) look up the colors beforehand
b) look under the bottle which has a clear sticker to see the color of the foundation
-The Carmindy line is hard to find if you don't have an Ulta. You may have to try your luck with a CVS
-It's full price is $12.99 which is around what other liquid foundations cost like L'oreal. So not that cheap but not that pricey either.

Overall:
PURCHASE THIS PRODUCT! IT may cost $12.99 but it'll last forever because it's a mineral makeup. The staying power is very good for me because the most touch up I do is with my concealer. It's great for Oily and Combination skin, my skin seems to have calmed down a bit with the oiliness. And it's medium to full coverage for those who need it, and I need it (pimples and giant pores are not fun).

So try out his product. Who knows, maybe you'll fall in love with it like me :D

For more information check out:
product:
http://www.sallyhansennaturalbeauty.com/products/skin/Your-Skin-Makeup-Foundation

About Parabans and the Sally Hansen Natural Makeup Line:
http://www.sallyhansennaturalbeauty.com/paraben-free/

Product Review

This week's post is: all hail NYC ( New York Color) Creme Blush Sticks!

New York Color is a drugstore brand that can be found in virtually everywhere: Rite Aid, CVS, Walmart, Target, etc. But if you really want a good deal watch out for Rite Aid and CVS's BOGO (buy one get one 50% off) or better yet BOGF (buy one get one free) sales.

The creme blushes come in 6 shades of colors: Big Apple Blush, Mauvin' Uptown, South Street Sea Shell, Urban Spice, Berry New Yorker, and Plazza Pink. The last two colors are limited edition and I could only find them at my currently local Ulta (near SBU).

These creme blushes are incredible for 5 reasons:
(1) they're hugeeeeee! you get 8grams or 0.28 oz.
(2) easy usage, it's a retractable stick (like a lip stick)
(3) nice pigmentation, it can easily be built up or sheered out depending on your preference
(4) the texture is creamy so it will glide on with your finger, so a little will go a long way
(5) it's cheap especially if you get at during a sale. It costs $3.99 at regular price.

Now i only have two colors specifically and it's Big Apple Blush and Mauvin' Uptown.
Big Apple Blush is a nice baby pink and would like best as a flushed color on your cheeks. A classic blush color. While Mauvin' Uptown is a more burgundy color and would probably look best on darker skin tones.

*the amount of product*
Now for me there are two Cons:
(1) you would have to reapply approximately every four hours (and this is if you didn't set it with powder blush, which I don't use)
(2) the limited edition ones are hard to find and sometimes I can't even find the regular ones like South Street Sea Shell.

Overall:
Try out the product! It's great for the price, pigmentation, texture and just about everything. And at $4 a pop, what do you have to lose?

*Left to Right: mauvin' uptown and big apple blush*