Review: China Glaze Bahamian Escape nail polish

Summer is the perfect time to try out pastel coloured nail polishes. They are actually colours that I prefer to wear. It must be the cute, Easter looking colours that remind me of spring and sunshine, good weather and fun times =)

Here, I am wearing China Glaze's Bahamian Escape. This is one of my favourite colours that I own. It is such a pretty, cute blue that makes me think of clear, blue skies, or pretty, blue water by the beach. I think the name suits it well!

As far as application goes, you can see that it can be a little streaky. I put on two coats in the photos. I think three coats would have looked better, but I was in a hurry to get my nails done that evening and was just about to get to bed at that time! The formulation feels very smooth and creamy when you apply the nail polish. It is fairly easy to work with. Drying time is decent as well! I was able to go to bed shortly after putting on two coats. And I did not wake up with weird prints and marks all over my nails the next morning. I did not use a top coat, and this stayed on for a good 3 days with no chipping. After that, I had to do a few touch ups on my nails, but nothing major (mind you, I do do a lot of typing at work and at home)

No flash

Even though it is not perfect, it is still my favourite colour, so I already have a back up. Blue is my favourite colour so I tend to gravitate towards buying a lot of blues, as well as turquoise type shades for my collection. Sometimes, even though the shades between the different brands are so similar, I just can't help myself from adding it to my nail polish rack (which is already full... but I won't buy another one until I've accumulated enough to justify the need to spend $50 to purchase another display rack)

Do not miss this colour if you are also a fan of light, baby blue nail polish!

Review: John Frieda Precision Foam Color hair dye on Asian hair

After putting this off for weeks, I finally decided to dye my hair tonight! It was mainly my roots that were growing out. I have a hair cut voucher that the boyfriend's mom gifted me that expires soon, so I figured I should color up my roots first.

My roots are my natural hair color here, pretty much black or a super duper dark brown color:

The rest of my hair color was this, achieved from using Palty's Milk Tea Tart hair dye (note to self, must pick it up more boxes when we go to Asia in 6 weeks):

A bit of a disconnect going on here.. Excited to fix up this hair situation of mine!

John Frieda had a Facebook promo a while back where we got to score a coupon that allowed us to try the foam hair dye (full size) for free. I have one more coupon left (yay for using Chain's facebook for double the amount of freebies!) and so I wanted to try out the shade I picked up to see if it worked well. I picked up the shade 8N: Medium Natural Blonde. I knew that I would not turn into a blonde from this since my hair is so dark. But still, I was a little hesitant to try it out, just in case I did turn into some orange headed person!

This is what comes in the box:

They made it super easy to follow the instructions using pictures and numbering the products. Since my hair is quite long, I was worried about not having enough product to cover all my hair. But in the end, I could not use it all up even though I tried super hard to do so. My hair was just super saturated with foam in the end! But then again, I'm not someone who has a lot of hair... I'd suggest that you concentrate on the roots a lot more at first, and then distribute the foam bit by bit to the rest of your hair, just to ensure that you have enough in the end!

It was really easy to work with the bottle. You basically squeeze the bottle and out comes the foam. So it's not a push-pump sort of mechanism. Super easy to work with! The product did sting my eyes on a few occasions when I placed my hair too close to my eyes. Whatever is in it just started wafting a bit into my eyes and I could feel it starting to sting.

I left it on for a good 30 minutes before rinsing it off and putting in the conditioner that came with the package. They say to use it once a week to keep the color.

This is the end result:

I think the shade is pretty close to the brown color that I had before dyeing my hair. If anything, it may be a tad lighter, but it's pretty darn close! I'm quite happy with the results. I did seem to lose a bit more hair during the wash than usual though... Hopefully that was just my imagination... Since I don't have a TON of hair, every little strand falling out does not feel good!

I hope this review was helpful! I had difficulty trying to find results of a light shade on dark, Asian hair. I'm glad that I didn't turn out blonde though! I think I might repurchase this shade, since I'm comfortable with the results. If I go one shade lighter, I'm afraid it won't be a brown that I'm comfortable sporting...

Time to snack on blueberries!! UBC is having its annual blueberry fest right now. I went today in hopes of buying a flat of blueberries, but they were sold out for the day! darn. I was pretty bummed since they were fresh and cheap. But thankfully, my uncle just dropped off a whole PAIL of blueberries. Hallelujah! Time to stuff myself silly on blueberries.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Updates:

2 months later, the colour is still holding up I believe. I use the conditioner that came with the bottle once every 2 weeks, though they recommend once every week (which I should be following...). Here's a shot of me in Beijing (with the rest of our Canadian group behind me):

It's a Wedge Obsession

Lately I've been obsessing over wedges. They're just so cute, and easier to walk in than stiletto heels. Perfect for the summer!

Over the weekend, Aldo had a promo for an extra 15% off of their sale shoes. It's hard not to check out sales on websites when it's so easy to do so with the click of the button! Plus, for those of you who haven't shopped with Aldo, they have what a call a "forever return policy". (who cares if that doesn't sound correct...it's the terms of the policy that matters!) Basically, you can return the product whenever you want! Even if it's a year later (which I have done lol) as long as you've got the receipt, the box, and the unworn, new condition pair of shoes. How awesome is that? You can return your online purchases to the physical store too. Personally, I don't buy online from stores if I'm unable to return the product back to the brick-and-mortar store. Who wants to be forking out postage money to return goods anyway... and we all know Canada Post ain't cheap!

Anyway, these were the styles I chose that qualified for the extra discount:

Toomer in black

Toomer in brown

Dalvida in beige

Dalvida in light green

Yes.. they're the same shoes, different colors. WHO CARES!!! I wanted to snag them up for cheap before the sizes went out. If you're able to return it, I like to exercise the "buy now and think later" rule. Snag it up for cheap while you still can! These all retail $70, and I picked them up for $34 + tax. Not bad right? My Toomers arrived on Tuesday, which was super quick since I placed the order later afternoon on Saturday. I'm in love with them! They're a 5 inch heel with 2 inch platform. The straps make it feel super secure on your feet, they're light, and super easy to talk in. Argh! I can't decide which color to keep. My light green Dalvida arrived this evening. I was just curious with the color. It wasn't a nice, pastel mint green. It was kind of a murky green. So I returned it 2 hours ago haha. I think the beige ones will be more promising =)

Black of brown? or both?

I placed an order on amiclubwear.com since they had a 45% off everything promotion. And yes, I bought another pair of wedges....

 

These ones were $16.50 after the discount. I just love the cute, blush pink color! I don't own a pair of espadrilles.. If this pair is crappy I shall comment haha *crosses fingers*

Hopefully this marks the end of my wedge shopping.. My credit card needs a break T_T

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Update: The beige Dalvidas arrived today, and they will be going straight back to the the store. The little tie strap that's supposed to secure the end of the strap around your ankle was broken for one of the shoes! I found it in the box, and I could probably sew it back on.. but since it broke off, that just means that it's not made very well. In fact, the green one had a similar problem, except that the broken piece wasn't even in the box. How disappointing! The wedges are cute, and pretty comfortable, but when I walk in them, it feels as if something might break if I'm not too careful... That just won't do! So I wouldn't really recommend these shoes. Save your money!

Review: Michael Todd Eye-o-Sonic

Time for another beauty product review! Many beauty YouTubers have been raving about Michael Todd products for quite some time now. I was never super duper interested in trying them out, just because they aren't the cheapest out there, and I'm unable to sample the goods before forking out the money. But I was especially drawn to the eye-o-sonic eye serum infuser when I first heard about it! As I get older, I'm trying to take steps to take care of my skin a lot better, and well, prevent it from ageing so quickly! The skin around the eyes are super delicate, and care must be taken to ensure that you don't develop those fine lines and crows feet while you're still relatively young. This beauty tool claimed to help with just that, so I had to give it a try! Lucky for me, Michael Todd was having a sale on this item. It was $49 with the tool AND the Intensive Organic Cream Eye Treatment (15 ml). The duo is normally $107!! On top of that, I searched online for coupon codes, and found one that gave me another 20% off. Who doesn't love to save?

This is what the back of the box says

I've been using it for over a month now, and I have to say that this definitely beats having to put on your eye cream with your finger. It's a nice, soothing feeling using the eye-o-sonic, and it makes application of your cream super easy. I feel like I can get more use from my cream (and if your cream isn't cheap, then this presents some sort of savings for you!), because the product won't absorb into your finger since you're not using it. You don't even have to get your fingers dirty with this, as you can simply place your cream onto the head of the tool, and apply it to your skin. I do like how it vibrates as soon as it touches your skin, though having an on/off switch wouldn't make too much of a difference to me. Sometimes, I find that it is quite sensitive, and starts to vibrate as soon as I pick it up.

I would highly recommend the eye-o-sonic if you're someone that uses eye cream. I would pick it up when there's some sort of sale going on though. Last week, I saw one of those Groupon type sites with the duo combo for only $25 plus shipping! At first I was bummed at how much cheaper it was than what I paid for it, but then I realized that it was only a USA deal. Oh well! Michael Todd frequently has promos, so do wait if you want to save $20 or more, depending on what promo they decide to put on. Oh, and for Canadian shoppers, you don't have to pay customs or any duty fees from ordering Michael Todd goodies! Who hates paying those darn duty fees?

To end off, I'll leave you with photos of my two men, sharing a seat. Sharing is caring! Don't ask me why Snoopy's tongue is sticking out. He seems to be sporting that look a lot more recently... It's turning into his signature look lol.

Making full use of that arm rest

Calling All Mint Chocolate Lovers!

Back from yet another hiatus.. Now that summer is coming along, hopefully I'll find more time to update this little blog site! Looking to add some more useful reviews to help those of you who love shopping like me!

Many ladies would know that currently, Bath and Body Works is having their semi-annual sale! I made 2 purchases already on 2 separate occasions, and the sale only started on Wednesday... But I promise, everything was very discounted! If you know me, you know I love a bargain and rarely buy items at the full, original retail price.

Anyway, this blog is dedicated to the Mint Chocolate 3-wick candle that I purchased just today. When I saw this in stores the first time, I didn't buy it because I wasn't sure how it would perform when it was burned. It smelled AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS out of the jar in the store (just like Yorks peppermints, or Andes mint chocolates) but I wanted to check out some of the reviews for the candle first before I added it to my shopping bag. Since I made the purchase, you can pretty much guess that the reviews I read were good...

Now onto my own review for this candle. I am an avid mint chocolate lover. Icecream, chocolate, mousse cakes... if it's mint chocolate, you know I want it! If you're like me, and you take a whiff of this in stores, you will instantly find yourself trying to breathe in as much of this product as possible. It's THAT good!

Here it is a couple of minutes after I lit it up, sitting happily on top of my Alex unit from Ikea. that the boyfriend recently surprised me with =)

I wanted to try it out tonight to see if it burns well. When I first lit it, you don't instantly smell it in your room right away. I was a little surprised, because I always thought that the 3-wick candles would carry a stronger scent and would be more suitable for larger, open areas, instead of small bedroom. The scent wasn't very strong... which means it wont be nauseating when you're burning it in your room =). When I left my room briefly and came back in, that's when I really noticed the smell a lot more. And it's a very pleasant smell! You will notice the chocolate, but the mint in it really makes it smell more unique, in a good way. It's not artificial smelling at all. Smells like you've got a batch of mint chocolates in your room! The flames dance really high for this one!

For anyone that's been to Thailand.. notice the Thai Iced Tea cup in the background? We found a vendor at the Richmond Night Market that brewed them! Soooo good... totally missing Bangkok right now especially...

I didn't light it for very long (maybe only 30 minutes tops) but I'm sure if I burned it for longer, the pool would have evened out a bit better. Before the wax hardened up, I took a whiff of the candle, and that's when you realllllllly get a good sniff of the mint chocolate scent. mmmmmmm.....

So, the verdict is, that you do really have to grab this one if you like the scent of it from the jar. Or if you're ordering online, if you love mint chocolate, then you will love this too! I think I'm going to pick up some more before they disappear..

Right now I kind of want to purchase a candle warmer. I heard that the scent gets released a lot better when you use one. The only thing is, I'm not sure if I can find a candle warmer that will be big enough to fit this one...and I'm hesitant to mutilate this candle and break it into chunks to place onto a candle warmer...

Anyway, this is actually the first candle I've burned from BBW. I do have a few other ones sitting around, but I guess I'm not nearly as excited about those as I am with this one =)

Review: My Beauty Diary Mixed Berries Mask

Since I bought so many sheet masks during my vacation, it's a good idea to get in some product reviews for some of them. While I was in Asia, product reviews really helped me narrow down which ones I wanted to buy, and which ones to skip out on.

And no, I won't be posting any creepy, ghostly pictures of me with a sheet mask on my face. 

Last night before bed, I tried the Mixed Berries line from My Beauty Diary.

The first thing about this mask is that it smelled so nice, like a berry smoothie smell! I didn't put the package in the fridge before I put it on, but it was still nice and cool to the face, which is a plus on a warm night.

It is advertised as for the purpose of brightening and firming the skin. I realized that I shouldn't have done this while I was dead tired, laying in bed about to sleep, so I could have at least seen the effects of this mask. In the morning, my skin felt real smooth and appeared slightly brighter. Today was a makeup free day for me, but otherwise, I could imagine that applying makeup would have been a lot smoother after this mask. I haven't experienced any bad skin reactions with these masks yet, so, so far so good! I actually bought 2 boxes of the Mixed Berries line as it was advertised to prevent free radical damage in skin cells, defend the accumulation of premature wrinkles, and prevent the premature death of skin cells. All this in a mask? Might be too good to be true, but I'll pay 70 cents a mask to give them a try! Unfortunately, if you don't have a chance to go to Asia, they're going to be about $1.50-2 a mask. Hey, it's still a lot cheaper than some of the other masks out there! Try $10 a mask for the Shiseido ones!

This one probably isn't as popular as some of the other ones, such as the Black Pearl or Apple Polyphenol one. If you like the smell of berries and want to give this one a go for anti-aging purposes, I'd give this one a try! =)

Purpose:

Brightening & Firming 

 

Skin type:

All skin types, especially uneven & rough skin tone

 

Ingredients:

Purified Water, glycerine, 1,3-Butylene Glycol, Propylene Glycol, Tween 20, Triethanolamine, Copolymer, Methyl Paraben, hydrolyzed albumin, Citric Acid, hyaluronic acid, Vaccinium Angustifolium (Blueberry) Fruit Extract, Morus Nigra Fruit Extract, Rubus Idaeus(Raspberry) Fruit Extract, Green Tea Extract, saccharum officinarum(sugar cane)extract, Acer Saccharum (Sugar Maple) Extract, Citrus Anrantium Dulcius(Orange)Fruit Extract, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon)Peel Extract, Vaccinium Myrtillus (Cowberry) Fruit Extract, Lithospermum Officinale Extract, Squalane, Styrene Acrylates Copolymer, Dimethylsilanol Hyalunorate, Dimethicone, Polyglutamic Acid, Carbormer, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Hydroxide, Fragrance 

LA Trip: Day 2

I swear our stay gets better and better. We set out for South Coast Plaza (stopped for some ramen beforehand!), which is this awesome mall with tons of shopping, from low to high end stores! Oh how I'd love to return one day and actually be able to afford the Gucci, the LV, etc etc.

There was one creepy incident though.. while we were stopped at a gas station, trying to figure out the directions, some dude comes up to our window and asks for some money for some gas. $2? Sorry.. no. How about 50 cents? Sorry.. *roll up window and drive off*. We went to another gas station nearby. Stopped to figure out the directions some more, and just as we got it figured out, there's someone coming up to our window again. Lo and behold, it's the same damn guy! Holy crap we just drove off and left him in the dust. We were like.. how the hell did he get here so fast? Is he a freaken zombie? Then we laughed it off, as it was quite eerily funny haha.

But anyway! We are staying the night at Kelly's family friend's house tonight, as we're going to Disneyland tomorrow. Their house in Aliso Viejo is nice, their son Daniel is super entertaining, and what else was awesome was that they knew what beaches we had to hit up! They took us to Laguna Beach, which is drop dead beautiful. We watched the sunset, decided that this was the place to get married at, and took a bunch of photos to capture this memory.

Poor lady trying to squish by Daniel there..

There are some $20+ million homes by the beach... *jaw drops*

Catching the sunset!

I'm in love! You just can't say no to this place!

We had a buffet after at this Asian place. I miss Vancouver Asian-style food though! It's definitely a lot more authentic tasting back home. 

At Uncle Paul's house, we all had our palms read. He's been doing it for 30 years, and some of the things he said about us, we could all agree on, which was pretty amazing to hear. I've never had my palm read, and had no idea what to expect. Your palm is constantly changing though, so I wonder what it would say about me maybe 5 years down the road..