e.l.f. (Eyes Lips Face) 100 Piece Eyeshadow Palette - Spring Edition

Happy Thursday everyone! This week seemed to have flew by because I woke up today, realized it was Thursday and kinda just, gasp aloud. LOL. My goodness... It is true when they say as you get older, time will just fly by you and there's nothing you can do. Haha.

But any who, I hope you're all having a fantastic day, nonetheless. I, myself am having a great day as well. Very productive I must say. Although I didn't leave the house today I did manage to be productive staying in. It was one of those, staying in with a candle lit and a mug of hot cocoa in hand, and K-Pop blaring in the back. Haha. Can't forget the K-Pop.

What did I do today that I deemed productive you might ask? Well I decided to mess around with my 100 piece of eyeshadow palette for inspiration eye makeup for the holiday seasons, which we all know are fast approaching. Ugh... As much as I love, looove the holiday season, it is one heck of a season for stress.

Anyways, I experimented on different eye looks for the upcoming holiday events such as Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas party, office party, New Years and such and such. You get the idea. LOL. I created a lot of looks, using only one palette.

This here is the e.l.f. Spring Edition 100 Piece Eyeshadow Palette. I picked this up maybe last Spring or two Springs ago from Target. Like most eyeshadows, I used this nonstop for ta short time after I purchased it but as time went by and I purchased new products, it kinda got pushed aside. I now use this palette, mostly for experiments and such. Within the 100 eyeshadows from the palette, there are a large range of different types of finishes, satin, glittery, matte, so on so forth. I wouldn't say this is 100% hit, but there are definitely more hits than miss. 

What I especially love about e.l.f. eyeshadows are if they are a hit, the pigmentation is nothing short of amazing. The application is like spreading soften butter. The eyeshadows can be worn wet or dry and it's not too bad with fall outs. Even if a shadow is a miss, I have never experienced flakiness or my brush not being able to pick up the shadow as it has happened with other drug store brands.

 I had about 50/50 rate of success today. Some looks were absolutely ridiculous while others came out beautifully. Some of the success looks were selfie-logged so I can recreate it with different products and more detailed.

For Thanksgiving, I tried out a brown-orange combo which turned out okay. I also did a colorful look, ya know, inspired by the children's version of the turkey's tail feathers. Besides the colorful look, I realized that I used a lot of warm, neutral colors like brown, caramel, beige and sorts alike.

I also did Christmas. I started out with the most cliché, gold and worked my way down to red and green combination. For Christmas, there are a lot of occasions that might require different types of eye makeup. Evening parties are more sexy and glamorous while day gatherings are more sweet and Wintery. I really need to be creative here.

For New Years, it is all about the smoky eyes and glitter. Glitter, glitter, GLITTER, every where. Haha. For New Years, we need to go ALL out and just have fun with it, right? So I did the most smokiest of smokies and I loved it. After the New Year's inspired looks though, I had to quit experimenting. My eye area was getting kinda tender from all the wiping and cleaning.

I cannot wait to share these looks with y'all. What would you guys want to see be done? I mean, please do give me some inspirations. Feel free to contact me on any platforms I am available on, or simply leave me a comment.

Although today's post wasn't all that informing, I still hope you all enjoyed my rant. Hope you'll enjoy the rest of your day.

As always, thank you for visiting and thanks for reading. Please come back soon. :)

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SONG OF THE DAY/MOMENT

dr. brandt Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant

Hello Tuesday all! First day of the workweek... only three more days to go. Tis one short week. And so how is everyone doing?

Today I want to share with ya'll one skincare product I've came to love just recently. I received a sample of this product in my April iPsy bag and have since purchase the full product because I was so fond of it. I'm guessing from the title you can already guess what I am talking about, but it is dr. brandt Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant.

For starters, I would like to state the price as it is preeety expensive. The price listed on the site is $78 but when I ordered mine, I used a coupon code provided for iPsters so I paid about $62 for it. Even with the code, it is still pricey, I know, so this product might not be for anyone on a budget. For me though, after I finish the one I have, I will definitely repurchase, full price or not. Good thing a little goes a long way though.

I have extreme oily skin, my brother has oily/combo while my mom has dry skin that's oily on her T-zone. This works on all three of our skin types fairly well. For me, I noticed that my face doesn't get as oily as it used to, even though the temp is on the rise. Like there's still excess oil, but it's not to the point where I can deep fry with it. My skin has also been glowing after the uses. Like it actually got rid of so much dull, dead skin that my actual baby skin is able to peek through. Applying foundation takes even less effort now and it doesn't seem to be cakey anymore. Not that it was before but I have to blend it out very well. Like... the foundation would just sit on top of my skin, but now it's like infused, becomes one with my skin.

My brother went through a rough puberty stage, his face was full of acne. Fortunately it cleared up but there's still the acne scar left behind. After using this for the last month, those acne scars seemingly lightened up a lot and he told me this skin has become noticeably smoother.

As for my mom, her skin is so dried that it is flaky. After using this for two weeks, those pesky flaky skin seemed to have flaked off. In addition to dry, flaky skin, my mom also has a lot of dark spots and a few liver spots sprouting. She's used soooo many skin care products, high end to drug store, none of which seemed to help. This Microdermabrasion scrub, magically lightened up those spots. It's not completely gone, but it is fading slowly after each uses. She seriously cannot get over how baby soft her skin is, I find it amusing. Haha.

It has a light citrus-y, heavy on the lemon grass scent to it, it's not bothersome to me at all. Although I've read otherwise from the reviews. As for the texture, the "grains" are so fine, nothing like other exfoliating products like St. Ives where it has a grainy-sand texture. Even though the "beads" are so fine, it still does a superb job of getting rid of those dead skin . My skin is noticeably smoother, softer after using it.

It is recommend that the scrub be used twice a week, with three days in between each uses. For me, I only use it once a week, usually on Fridays. I honestly do not think using it twice is necessary, as of right now. When massaging the scrub onto the skin, do not use much pressure because that might cause irritation to the skin and will give your face extreme discomfort and/or burning sensation.

I have successfully referred a few friends and family members in purchasing their own scrub, each one has nothing but great things to say about it. All of them, like me, have added this to our must have skincare products and an additional step to our skincare routine.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant. Yes, I know it is very pricey, but it is sooo worth it. Your skin cannot thank you enough. Use a little bit at a time and this will last you forever.

Thank you for joining me again and thank you for reading guys! :)

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SONG OF THE DAY/MOMENT

PLAYLIST OF THE DAY/MOMENT

Eternity - VIXX

Hard Candy Baked Eyeshadow Duos - Peace & Blind Date

Helllllo everyone! It is Thursday once again. With just a blink of an eye, it is now the 1st of May. We're almost half way through the year, can you believe that? Wow...

But hey, it's May, it's pretty much Summer in Arizona. If you're anything like me, I don't wanna be cooped up indoors all day, I just wanna be out and about, basking the sun's warmth. I tend not to wear too much make up during the Summer, just a quick-fixer-upper and I'm out.  I don't want to waste 15 minutes blending out my eye shadow, I'd rather be out. Don't get me wrong, I still have my therapeutic make up applying session maybe twice or three times a week. Just not everyday, it's Summer Vacation now.

So today I wanna talk about my favorite baked eyeshadow products from the drug store, and they are Hard Candy Baked Eyeshadow Duos, I have two, Peace and Blind Date. When It comes to baked products, Hard Candy and Milani automatically comes to mind, and now ELF too. I like Milani for their baked blush and ELF for their baked eyeshadow and blush as well. However, with Hard Candy, they not only have amazing baked bronzers and blushes, their eyeshadows are quite the gems themselves.

Unfortunately, I only have two to share with you. The Walmarts around here have very minimal selections, but I am on the prowl for more; I'm still looking for Secret Rendezvous - pink and cranberry shade, High Maintenance and Rush Hour - both gorgeous shades of brown, Rock N Roll - pink and brown combo, Pearl Green and Blue - perfect pastel shades. It'll be a while until I am able to gather all of the duos I want.

All of the duos from the line is highly shimmery. The duos include one light shade and a darker shade. The light, light enough to be a highlight and the dark, dark enough for the crease, able to add definition and used as a liner. The shadows, both, are amazingly pigmented. Like I do not need to sweep my brushes back and forth many times in order to pick up the shadow. One sweep, pack it, and depending on how intense I want it to show up, I repeat the steps again. It doesn't take much honestly, because when I go for these duos, I am either in a hurry or rushing through my make up. This could be applied with fingers or brushes, it is very forgiving and extremely blendable, fingers or brushes alike. Like most baked products, this shadow could be worn dry or wet. Wear dry for a soft, shimmery effect or wet for a dramatic finish. That's what I especially love about it. It's a duo but technically could be a quad. Wet and dry really does make a huge difference in the pigmentation and finish.

The first duo I bought was Peace. I used this duo nonstop for about a month after purchasing it. Peace is highly shimmery, consists of a golden-y champagne and a medium brown. I love, absolutely love this duo to bits. The champagne shade is perfect as a highlight for the inner corner and browbone. But when worn wet, it turns to a golden shade, kinda metallic-y. The brown when dry, is soft medium brown, gives the right amount of depth to the eyes. When wet though, it could be worn as a liner, yes, it is THAT intense. It is such a versatile brown, I sometimes reach for it even when I'm using another palette. This brown and shimmer compliments my skin tone very well. I am fair/light with yellow undertones.

I was able to pick up another duo called Blind Date sometime after. Although I do not use this duo as much as Peace, I am still glad I had bought it. I looove this pink shade. When I'm suuuper lazy, I would wear this shadow alone; either alone by itself or to set a cream shadow, both of which I apply with my fingers. It brightens, but still gives my eyes some dimension. When worn wet, the pink turns a tad darker, which I only wear when I'm wearing make up, make up. For lazy days, it may be too intense so I opt to wear it dry. I am not a huge fan of the white, pearly shade though but it is indeed very useful. I wear it dry as a highlight in my inner corner and browbone. I also apply it on the center of my lids, like on the eyeball with my fingers when I'm done with my eye make up, just to give it more dimension; this method can be worn wet or dry, depending on how intense I want it to show up.

Like most, if not all baked products, these duos are too, domed shaped. I have not hit pan with any of these so I can't tell ya how much eyeshadows are exactly packed in there. I've been using it diligently for a good while though and there seems to be plenty left. These duos are all $6, I found mine at Walmart and I do believe that Hard Candy is exclusively sold at Walmart...I may be wrong but I have not seen it anywhere else.

If you're interested in these duos, I recommend getting the more neutral shades, like Peace, High Maintenance or Rock N Roll. They're just very low maintenance, how ironic that High Maintenance is listed, perfect for a quick on the go look.

Thank you for joining me today and thanks a bunches for reading. See you all back here tomorrow for another inspired make up post. Byeee. :)

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SONG OF THE DAY/MOMENT

I Love You - 2NE1

And of course our Big Bang dorks owning it!

Physician Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Shadow - Smoky

Hello, Hello again everyone. It is another gorgeous Tuesday here in Arizona; clear blue skies with white fluffy clouds drifting, light breeze and the sun shining brightly in the sky...maybe a little too bright, it is soo hot now! We were in the 90s all weekend long, apparently today's high is predicted to be 99ºF (that's 37ºC if you're not from the U.S.). Oh my gosh...this is still mid-Spring.

Today, I will share with you my third and last Physician Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Shadow in the Smoky collection. I already talked about the other two palette, Nude and Casual last week. Out of the three palettes, this is my least favorite. I don't hate it, no, it's just the shades are not those I gravitate towards on a daily basis.

This palette is identical to Nude and Casual, with the exception of the shades. Similar to Nude and Casual, Smoky has a  plain black package with a biggo sparkly "diamond" to oomph the palette; I guess it's trying to give off an elegant feel. Regarding the formula and texture, it has the same not-so-buttery yet not too dry, flaky or chalkiness. This could also be worn wet or dry for a soft or full intensity look. Smoky also has nine shadows, all of which are shimmery. Like the others, Smoky also has three suggested sets of shadows to create different looks. Think of it as three trios in one palette. But of course you can use all nine shadows however your heart desires. It's suggested to make our experience easier.

First set is typically the lightest shades of the palette. In this case, it includes the lightest shade which is a almost-white with hints of gray, a gray shade and a violet shade.

The second set is usually has the medium shades. The lightest shade of this trio is a silver, followed with a gray and a deep purple.

The dark shades from all nine form the last set. There is another silver shade, slightly different for the other gray and silver shades, a deeper purple and a black shade.

I apologize that there isn't much to say about this palette, because it is so similar to the other two, all is said tot he other two post. So if you're interested, please check out the Nude and Casual posts.

Thank you for visiting and thanks for reading. :)

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Song of the Day

Run - Epik High

Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Shadow - Casual

Before I start my blog post today, I would like to take a moment to mention about the Ferry accident that happened in South Korea yesterday. There are still many, many passengers still unaccounted for, but there are at least some good news, there are survivors. In any tragedy, any survivors are good news. Passengers trapped in the ferry as it was slowly sinking, knowing their fate, sent out texts to their loved ones telling them they love them and don't think they'll make it. Meanwhile their loved ones still doesn't know what was happening. I cannot imagine how heartbreaking that is. I'm tearing up as I type this... it's so devastating.. Hoping for a miracle.

Stay strong Korea! Please hang in there, don't let go. #PrayforSouthKorea #StayStrongKorea

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**Special Announcement** BH Cosmetics and Sephora by OPI is on HauteLook as of right now. If you were interested in the products from my BH Cosmetics Haul, then definitely check it out.

Happppy Thursday everyone! We are one day closer to the much awaited for weekend! But for some, today is their last day and they can rightfully start their weekend. :P

Following my Monday post about Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Shadow Nude collection, I figured I'll share with you my second palette from the line, which is the Casual collection.

This palette is pretty much identical to the Nude, by identical I mean the packaging, the formula, the shimmeriness of the shadows. Like Nude, the packaging of Casual is also very adorable. The palette is of a denim fabric, finished off with a golden zipper; really captures the "casualness". Haha. As for the texture, still not as creamy as other brands' shadows, but it isn't dry or flaky; it just doesn't feel butter soft between my fingers. The shadows are very pigmented and could be worn wet or dry, dry for a softer look and wet for a more intense look.

Similar to Nude, Casual also has nine shimmery eyeshadows, ranging from light to dark; the lightest being a light beige and the darkest being either the navy blue or dark brown. Like Nude, Casual always has three suggested sets for three looks -  natural, smoky blue, and golden glow. This is just my opinion, how I conceive this palette.

The first three shadows form set one, which I call Natural. The first and also the lightest shade of the palette is a nice beige shadow, the second being a pretty bronzy-brown shade and a beautiful burgundy shade as the third of the set. This is my favorite set of the three, the most wearable.

The middle three shades form set two, Smoky Blue. All three shades are blue, various shades of blue. Haha, three shades of blue to be exact. ;) I use this set the least because I don't usually wear blue eyeshadows. It makes my face look sickly. It takes careful planning. But when I am in the mood for blue, this is one of my go to palettes.

Lastly, the last three shades form set three, I call it Golden Glow. The first shadow of the set is a gorgeous gold, the second, a vibrant copper shade and the last, a nice rich brown. My second favorite set, I use this set the most in the summer time when I want to go for that sun kissed, glowing everywhere look.

Of course within a palette, you can mix and match, use any shadows in any combination as you please. I did realize however, that there is one difference between Nude and Casual.  With the Nude palette, you can wear the shadows within the suggested sets to create a complete look of highlight, all over the lid and crease shade. However, you cannot do that with this palette. The best you can do is use the lightest shade within the sets for the inner corner but cannot be used as a brow highlight. Out of the nine shades, only the first shade is light enough to be a brow highlight.

Thank you for visiting and thanks for reading everyone! :)

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Song of the Day

Metronome - Jay Park, Simon D & Gray

Jay Park is so damn sexy....even with this hair. Ugh! Simon D is just....boss. AOMG for the win!

Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Shadow - Nude

Helllllo everyone and happy Tuesday! And before you say anything, there is always a reason to be happy. Gotta think positive; be happy because today is no longer Monday, we're one day closer to weekend.

I hope you all had an enjoyable Monday night. Did ya'll check out my Manicure Monday: Back to Basics yesterday? I'm sporting some fresh Spring colors on my nails this week. Check it out if you're into light pink, pale blue or beautiful shimmers.

That was yesterday, for today, I want to share with you a palette I've been using endlessly lately. It's not a big palette, it is quite small with only nine strips of shade. I'm talking about the Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Shadow in the Nude collection.

I don't own a lot of Physicians Formula's eyeshadow, I'm more into their face products. However, I do own three of their Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Shadow collection, okay, that is waaaaaay too long to keep typing, from this point onward, I shall refer to it simply as Nude. Out of the three, I must say I favorite this one the most. It's just so easy to use and wear, albeit all of the shadows are highly shimmery.

I like the formula of the eyeshadows even though the texture isn't as creamy as other shadows, but it isn't dry or flaky either. It just doesn't feel buttery between my fingers. I absolutely adore the fact that these shadows have very little fall outs, if any in that case. My brushes picks up the shadows well, with ease. I have no problem blending these shadows out, nor have issues of them showing up. With that said, these shadows can be worn wet and dry. I usually wear it dry for the softer look...and it's quicker that way. But when I want to intensify the shadow, I'll wear it wet, There is definitely a stark difference between wet and dry. Also, with water, these shadows can be worn as a type of eye liner, especially flattering for the lower lash line.

When it comes to cute packaging, Physicians Formula has got that down. I absolutely adore the cute packaging on this palette so much! The satin nude fabric, covered by black lace, finished off with a nice satin pink bow. How can anyone not love that?! Cute packaging they have down, but not travel-friendly. Their face products especially, they're not compact at all because they all have a compartment for the brush it comes along with so it's very thick and dome-y. It takes up a lot of space in a tiny make up bag. Buttttt, but Nude here is very compact; it is thin and flat. However, the only problem I have with it is that the lid is closed by just a magnet, no clasp or anything to secure it. It could be easily opened, with literally one finger. I took this with me to Vega last July, and the whole time, I was worried that Nude might have accidentally opened and yeah....don't like the idea of a ruin palette and the shadows getting all over. Luckily though, that did not happen because I packed it well.

Nude has nine shades, with three sets, one can infer. Starting from the top is the lightest shadow, getting slightly darker as we progress with the darkest shade, a charcoal black  being all the way at the bottom. I call the first set, Light, because it includes the lightest of shades. The second set is Medium because the shadows are medium tone with taupe and light brown while the last set is Dark, with dark brown and charcoal.

Light set is the top three shadows. The first shade, on the very top is a light, light beige, for the inner corner and highlight. The middle shade of the set is a beige color, for all over the lids while the third shade of the set, a light, light milk chocolate brown, for the crease. With these three shadows, you can effortlessly create a light nude look.

The Medium set are the three middle shadows. The first one, for highlight and inner corner is a super light pink-coral shade, the all over the lid shade is a pretty taupe color and the third shade for the crease is a light brown. To me, this set is the most natural of the three sets. It's not too dark nor it is too light.

The third set, Dark, includes the three darkest shades in the palette. You can easily create a smokey eye with you use these shades wet, they're so pigmented it's crazy. Because this set is Dark, even the highlight shade is darker than most, it is light taupe, the all over the lid shade is a brown and the crease shade is a charcoal black.

Of course you can mix and match all the shades however you please. Make up is an art, one is not confine to what you're told. You express yourself however you like, with whatever you like. Just because it's suggested that way does not mean you have to wear the shadows in such way, it's only a suggestion. I've mixed up the shades to wear and it came out to my liking.

Thank you for visiting and thanks for reading. :)

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For my fellow K-Poppers, Song of the Day

Lee Michelle - Without You

Very meaningful lyrics...it is very upsetting to know that kids are still living and dealing with this harsh reality even today. Can't everybody just live in peace and harmony...we're all human.

English translation if you're interested.