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[rosesnlavender]

THE PROBLEM WITH HAVING MONEY

The problem with having money is the urge to burn it.

[rosesnlavender]

Planners: Paper or Digital?

I used to SWEAR by planners. The habit of using planners was engraved in my bones starting from elementary. 

Every year they would give out a school planner and I would use it to death. Although in the beginning, the boxes were for our parents to sign for the teachers to check if we had done our daily reading, as a kid, I liked the satisfaction that I could carry around a planner cause calendars were cool to pull out ok. I had only known calendars from the wall. Moving up in grades to the point where our parents didn’t need to sign it anymore, I actually began to use it for what it was meant to do, write down stuff. THE SATISFACTION OF CROSSING THINGS OFF WILL NEVER GET OLD.

Moving on to middle school, they also gave out planners but this time, it was CUSTOMIZED WITH THE SCHOOL LOGO on top. I thought it was super fancy. So by middle school, you’re starting to “grow up” or at least “smarten up”. I began to refine my use of the planner because you don’t just have one homeroom class with a single teacher. The planner became SUPER useful for jotting down all assignments from various classes that sometimes make you get a separate binder for (whereas before, I didn’t really need to write down all my assignments because they’d be the front page of my single zipper binder that I used for all the classes - I was so into zipper binders back then. Obviously the classes were separated by tabs but the very front tabs had assignments for the day from all classes). The feeling of whipping out the planner to “look at your schedule” was amazing as a kid.

Then I moved on to high school and realized THEY DIDN'T GIVE A SCHOOL PLANNER. I didn’t freak out (a lot). So I went through the first month of high school and decided NOPE I NEED A PLANNER.

So I tried looking for one. Obviously, there are a bunch of planners in and stationary store. But I got picky because now I had options. It was also one of those moments where you don’t know what you exactly want but you know exactly what you DON’T want. See, with school planners, it had school event dates, a specific monthly spread, and inspirational school quotes to read if you’re bored. It’s easy peasy to print off a list of school events and their dates so that was no issue. My issue was I couldn’t find a style of planner that I was used to or even by size for that matter. School planners were like notebooks, nice and big. Most planners in stores were those stupid wallet/tablet size and expensive as hell (for a high schooler). I just really can’t handle small ass planners - there’s barely any room to write in the calendars. It’s cute but not super practical.

So I quit looking for one, found a random small notebook, and just decided to use that for a check list of assignments that needed to be done for the day. I wanted to use regular size notebooks to get the feel, but drawing in a calendar and essentially making it a bullet journal style was too much time, effort, and will probably turn out ugly due to lack of skills and fancy supplies. Using a large notebook to write down a few words for assignments didn’t seem right so although I hated how small it was, I got used it.

Moving onto college, I began to use my phone for everything. One of the many reasons why I choose android over ios - the customization of widgets: Calendar widgets, tasks widgets, notes widgets, etc. Everything that I used to put into a planner now was typed onto my phone. But it’s not without some cons.

While it’s GREAT for events and appointments with their own notifications, things like tasks, to-dos, habit tracking etc aren’t that great. I’ve tried many apps over the years and while some of them are great apps themselves that other people love, it didn’t work for me.

I don’t look at my phone all the time. Having a calendar on the phone is great for making plans elsewhere or needing to manage your time for the day but that’s pretty much it. If you start writing in tasks, to-do, habits, it just clutters everything up. If I got a separate app for all the tasks, to-do, and habits, I would NEVER check them to get anything done because I don’t check my phone frequently and notifications annoy the hell out of me - I tend to ignore notifications of most apps unless they’re messages. 

So I’ve been on and off trying to search for better planners but I still haven’t found a satisfactory one yet. So what was the point of this post? Just me ranting.

[rosesnlavender]

Review: Song & Park Beauty Water

It doesn’t feel like it strip your skin clean of moisture although it does feel a tad bit drying afterwards (or maybe it’s because of all the rubbing to remove the makeup? I’ve never tried it as just a toner. I usually use it after washing my makeup off with an oil cleanser like the Tatcha Pure One Step Camellia Cleansing Oil ). 

The cleansing water smells like lemon pepper with a touch of floral. I’m not really mad at that.

The makeup is easily removed with this so it gets the job done and does it well. 

I don’t know if I would call this a holy grail but for me, it’s certainly better than the ones I’ve tried (nature republic’s jeju sparkling cleansing water & A.True’s Sweet Song Black Tea One-Step Cleansing Water as both were far more drying than this one).

Would I repurchase? Most likely unless I’ve found a better one but I don’t really experiment with cleaning water (I for sure hate those neutrogena wipes).

[rosesnlavender]

Review: Burberry Full Kisses

This is also another post that got lost inside my drafts. Here it is~

I LOVE this. I have yet to find another lipstick that matches Burberry’s Oxblood No. 549. The weird thing about Burberry’s signature oxblood color (A PERFECT fall color) is it slightly varies from product to product and I think the full kisses version is probably my favorite. The formula isn’t drying at all and lasts quite a while if you’re not eating. 

The lipstick comes in at 0.07 oz with a metallic gray casing and classic pattern imprint on the cap. the lipstick is a twist up but one thing I hate about the packaging is that the tip of the lipstick originally sticks out so when you open the cap when you’re first using it, you have to be careful and pull the cap STRAIGHT off otherwise it might hit and scratch the whole tip.

The product itself is a nice formula. It’s not patchy and is very creamy and a semi shiny finish. I have to admit, this color does stain so if you make a mistake, wipe it with water. It’s transferable (like any lipstick) and it’s best to apply on smooth or exfoliated lips. On con though is the tip is  fat and rounded so to get a precise application within the lines is very VERY hard and possibly not possible unless you’re really skilled.

The lipstick is expensive at $30 and I don’t think I would repurchase it again as I’m not totally in love with it but as a one time purchase I’m not mad.

[rosesnlavender]

Review: Laneige Water Bank Line

I’ve had this post in my drafts for way too long. It’s about time for it to appear. Although this is called a review, I’ve already emptied all of them so I hope that the information is accurate as possible.

First up we have the Water Bank Essence_EX. There’s 60ml in this glass bottle. The cap is plastic though. The bottle is moderately heavy or it’s what you’d expect from a glass container.

The essence itself was fairly nice. Perfect all year round. It’s hydrating and that’s all I really get from it. Well as hydration was my main use, it was all I needed. I wouldn’t say it was SUPER hydrating but it gets the job done and over time, my skin didn’t feel as dry as it was before, especially after a hot shower. Perfect for both night and day.

Ingredients Water, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Glycereth-26, Cyclopentasiloxane, Hydrogenated Poly(C6-14 Olefin), Dimethicone, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Tribehenin, Cyclohexasiloxane, Chenopodium Quinoa Seed Extract, Magnesium Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Calcium Chloride, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract, Tillandsia Usneoides Extract, Ceratonia Siliqua (Carob) Fruit Extract, Dimethiconol, Betaine, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer, Ethylhexylglycerin, Isopropyl Palmitate, Carrageenan, Phenyl Trimethicone, Propylene Glycol, PCA Dimethicone, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance

Next is the Water Bank Gel Cream_EX. There’s 50ml of product within this glass jar and heavy plastic screw cap. IT’S HEAVY but does come with a plastic Laneige spatula.  

The product itself is a cream with gel-like consistency. It’s clear milky white and feels like a cream. It’s a bit heavy on your face but once it absorbs, it’s a fairly good cream. It’s very hydrating, more so then the essence which is to be expected. Perfect for night time.

Ingredients Water, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Squalane, Dimethicone, Bis-PEG-18 Methyl Ether Dimethyl Silane, Dicaprylyl Ether, Pentaerythrityl Tetraethylhexanoate, Cyclopentasiloxane, Sucrose Polystearate, Cyclohexasiloxane, Urea, Chenopodium Quinoa Seed Extract, Magnesium Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Calcium Chloride, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Salicornia Herbacea Extract, Propanediol, Xanthan Gum, Glyceryl Stearate, Myristyl Myristate, Tribehenin, Stearic Acid, Palmitic Acid, Glyceryl Undecylenate, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, PEG-100 Stearate, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Cetearyl Alcohol, Inulin Lauryl Carbamate, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Glyceryl Caprylate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Tromethamine, Disodium EDTA, Fragrance

Last but not least, the Water Bank Eye Gel. There’s 25ml of product in here but let me tell you this will LAST. It lasted way past the essence and the cream. It was the last to go. 

The container is the same as the cream just smaller in size and also comes with a spatula. 

It is also a milky white gel-like cream but feels a tad bit lighter then the cream. Also, I never use a lot of eye cream and it was still laying around, I used it as an all over face cream to just use it up and it was as hydrating as the cream itself. It also felt a tad bit thicker on the face then the essence but thinner than the cream. Overall, the eye cream was ok. 

Ingredients Water, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Cyclopentasiloxane, Cyclohexasiloxane, Chenopodium Quinoa Seed Extract, Magnesium Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Calcium Chloride, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Vaccinium Myrtillus Fruit/Leaf Extract, Saccharum Officinarum (Sugarcane) Extract, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract, Acer Saccharum (Sugar Maple) Extract, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Polyacrylate-13, Pentaerythrityl Tetraethylhexanoate, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, PCA Dimethicone, PEG-100 Stearate, Cyclomethicone, Glyceryl Stearate, Polyisobutene, Dimethiconol, Dimethicone, Phenyl Trimethicone, Ethylhexylglycerin, Polysorbate 20, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Tromethamine, Disodium EDTA, Fragrance

Over all, I might repurchase the essence and the cream but not so much the eye cream. 

[rosesnlavender]

Changes on Everything

So since September of 2017, I wanted to rework this whole blog. I had gotten tired of the previous appearance and found one I liked more that was more or less within the same style. However, the progress for customizing the whole blog again was very time consuming and focusing on just one part at a time just got me frustrated as a whole. Focusing on one thing at a time is also not doing it since the whole theme aesthetic just went to shit because some parts don’t match the others.

So I reverted it back to the original theme template, before any customizations. I am redoing everything from scratch as well as changing the blog as a whole.

The previous name, Journey of a Future Neurosomething, was started because I wanted to make somewhat of an online journal to help me keep my shit together. Didn’t do so well. Somewhere along the way, it became more focused on reviewing products while the blog layout was under constant construction. 

What I wanted the blog to start out as once again derailed. I think it’s been nearly 3 years since this blog first went up. It went from being a negative nancy to something that resembles a beauty review blog and that’s neither of the things that I wanted for this blog. I wanted this blog to journal my progress in life. I wanted this blog to be productive and this blog was far from it, whether it was writing posts on anything from life updates to reviews or even just working on the layout itself. I found myself finding it such a hassle to even deal with the blog. Obviously, it’s not working out.

I felt confined with the title, Journey of a Future Neurosomething, but the funny thing was, this blog had contents that had nothing to do with neuro- anything.

So I’m changing the title. I’m changing everything about this blog.

I’ve always wanted a professional blogging template. Obviously, tumblr might not be the place for that but it’s the platform I choose so I’m sticking to it (not that I’ve found anything else better). And because I’ve decided to stick to tumblr, I’m going to abandon the vision I had for the original blog in mind and do the best with the template I’ve choose with the abilities I have (something I wonder if I should’ve gone into cognitive science). 

First things first, let’s see how long it’ll take me to do a complete change of everything.

[rosesnlavender]

Review: My Burberry Blush & Burberry Brit

I’m BACK~ Happy 2018! My last post was like three months ago and the blog is STILL under construction so I’m hoping to get back to it. Honestly, I haven’t been working on it much (if at all...). Anyhow~ To start off 2018, here’s a post. It’s hard to type out a review for a smell but I’m gonna do it anyways. If you’re here for Blush, continue reading. If you’re here for Burberry Brit, you might wanna scroll all the way down til you find the heading title. Or if you just wanna read the whole thing, WHY NOT.

Can we just take a moment to APPRECIATE the packaging? Burberry is honestly my top favorite high end brand. There’s just something so classy and elegant about it. That extra step with the packaging is just praiseworthy. 

The paper box is their standard product packaging box which is a very sturdy paper that even has it’s own made in label on the back - “Paper Made in England”. It’s like a thick construction paper with diagonal lines like cardboard? I don’t know if I’m doing the packaging the justice it deserves. Honestly, Burberry packaging boxes are the only product boxes I truly want to keep.

Moving on to the actual product, I actually got the full size as it was more worth it than getting the nearly half size. Plus I’m very dedicated to this so it’ll all be worth it.

The product is in a VERY HEAVY glass bottle. Could nearly be used as a paper weight. If it matters, the bottle dimensions are a little over 3 inches wide, a little under 2 1/2 inches tall (not including the cap), and a little under 2 inches deep. The bottle itself is quite big for my tiny hands.  The full bottle contains 90 ml or 3.0 fl. oz. but really, the bottle is 1/3 glass so no wonder it’s so big and heavy.

Moving to the top, the cap is a a pale pink marbled with brown. It’s about an inch thick and about 2 inches in diameter. It’s quite hefty by itself; about the weight of a hockey puck?

Under the cap, we have a gold nozzle with a classic Burberry pattern engraved neck and a pale dusty pink ribbon bow tie. Behind one of the wings of the ribbon, written in light pink is “Woven in England”. Again, can we just appreciate the packaging? 

On the bottom of the bottle is just the classic information on the box written again on a clear sticker. Surprisingly though, it’s actually made in France.

Now that we’ve appreciated the packaging, it’s time to move on to the actual scent. But before we do that, we must go over what I’ve been confused on for YEARS and still probably am - the problem of perfume vs eau de parfum vs eau de toilette vs eau de cologne.

If you’re already deep into the world of fragrance and not a noob like me, you can skip down to the actual review noted by the big and bold 

My Burberry Blush 

title below.

Now, though this isn’t my first bottle of perfume (actually, Blush an eau de parfum ; yes, there’s a difference) this is the bottle that really made me research what it means to wear a perfume or any sub category of it.

I found this article from Real Men Real Style and while it’s a guide for men, I feel like there are some general tips and knowledge anyhow. 

The article first states what I’ve always wanted to know the most - the differences. The article explains:

Fragrance is a unisex, generic term used for perfume. Fragrances come in many forms and are called different names but generally fall into these categories:

Eau Fraiche – The most diluted version of fragrance, usually with 1% – 3% perfume oil in alcohol and water. Usually lasts for less than an hour. 

Cologne (Eau de Cologne) – Oldest term for perfume, used in North America for masculine scents. Light, fresh and fruity, typically composed of 2% – 4% perfume oils in alcohol and water. Tend to be used in fragrances for younger people. Usually lasts for about 2 hours.

Toilette (Eau de Toilette) – A light spray composition with 5% – 15% pure perfume essence dissolved in alcohol. Usually lasts for about 3 hours.

Parfum (Eau de Parfum) – Historically genderless, used to describe both men’s and women’s fragrances.  The best term used to describe a fragrance. Contains 15% – 20% pure perfume essence and lasts for about 5 to 8 hours.

Perfume – A corruption of the Latin phrase per fumum (through smoke). The most concentrated and expensive of all fragrance options. Slightly oilier, perfume, or parfum, is composed of 20% – 30% pure perfume essence. A single application of perfume can last up to 24 hours. 

Now, I had always thought cologne was for men and perfume was for women but apparently, it really just means how subtle the fragrance is.

Moving on from concentration, we have what are called notes. The article explains:

Fragrances have three timed sections – a life cycle of points – think of an evaporating pyramid.

Each of the three sections contain individual scents or ‘notes,’ that are belted together into what you end up smelling.

These are the individual building blocks of scent. There are three different kinds of notes that comprise a scent – top, medium and base notes.

Top note – The top or basic note is the initial, lighter smell of the fragrance that hits the nose first. The top note lasts around 15 minutes – 2 hours.

Typical top and middle notes are various floral scents, fruity scents, marine/aquatic notes, and spices such as cinnamon. Examples of these notes include citruses, powdery scents and light florals.

Medium note – Also referred to as the middle or heart notes – showcase the main elements of the fragrance. These notes develop after the top note clears – around 30 minutes and can last 3-5 hours after being sprayed.

Heart notes most often include heavier floral scents. The middle and base notes are the extra layers of scents which give the fragrance its distinctive smell.

Base note – The last to develop and helps fix the fragrance to the skin. This is where you will smell the bolder notes of the scent, which become more noticeable when the fragrance has been on the skin for a while.

Base notes lay the foundation for the fragrance and will determine how long the fragrance lasts on your skin. Base notes tend to last from 5 to 10 hours. Typical base notes are sandalwood, vetiver, vanilla, tar, leather, smoke, tobacco, and musk.

As the notes dry up, the scent will change, allowing for the scents to evolve and be more interesting. Typically, the mark of a low-quality fragrance is if it remains monotone throughout its life.

Now that we got that out of the way, it’s time to actually review

My Burberry Blush

My Burberry Blush is a branch from the original My Burberry which I don’t have and wasn’t really a fan of when smelling it in the stores. Could be because of all the overwhelming smell but it just wasn’t for me. I just couldn’t imagine myself with it.

Blush has a 83.5% vol. (meaning 83.5 % of alcohol and other things not the fragrance itself) so with 16.5% fragrance, it’s considered a Eau De Pafum which is what is labeled on the product itself.

The notes for blush are as follows:

Top Notes: Pomegranate, lemon

Heart Notes: Geranium, apple, rose

Base Notes: Jasmine, wisteria

The first time I smelled it was at a fragrance counter so my nose wasn’t in the best shape therefore I was hit with a strong lychee smell. There’s no lychee note but that’s what it felt like. After a couple more sniffs, it just started smelling like a classic “fruity” and then a subtle rose.

Smelling the spray cap, I can only smell the rose - almost like an artificial rose garden.

For me, when on the wrist, at first you smells refreshingly “fruity” but then quickly goes down to a floral rose. As I’m not an expert and my nose isn’t that well off, I would say it stay I only really smell roses with a hint of jasmine. Rose is pretty much why I love this in the first place so no real complaining from me.

This scent gives a vibrant I’m ready for a brunch tea party in a rose garden type of feel. On days where I feel happy and upbeat and content is when I’ll go for this.

If I had to describe it in adjectives, it’d be:

Happy

Cheerful

Bright

Feminine

Tea Party Classy

So if this helps anyhow, good to know.

Would I repurchase this again? Highly likely if I don’t find a new favorite by then. I’m having my eye on the new Burberry Bespoke Collection but it’s unlikely I’ll be able to test it out any time soon as they’re only available in Burberry stores. 

I would say Blush is suitable for me as an everyday wear vs. Brit which, for me, was mostly for most occasions. 

I actually planned a separate post for Burberry Brit but I figured it’s been a long time so I’ll just squeeze it in here. Good post planning right?

Now it’s time for the 

Burberry Brit Eau De Toilette

For the Brit, I got a small 30 ml or 1 fl. oz size bottle because 

It was the first Burberry fragrance that I got

I wasn’t ready to commit to any fragrance actually because I didn’t normally use any

It was on sale at Macy’s so it was an impulse buy. I never planned on getting the either version of the Brit but the Brit Sheer. Though as it turned out, the Brit Sheer felt a little too fruity for me in stores with my messed up nose. (Still debating on Brit Rhythm) 

Now sadly, I was really conflicted with myself on this but I... THREW AWAY THE BOX. It was really nice but it didn’t seem nice enough to keep and take up space, like the huge pink box from Blush.

This Burberry Brit comes in a rectangular glass bottle with white imprints of the classic Burberry pattern. The cap however, is plastic.

My version of the Brit is the Eau De Toilette coming in at 80% vol. (if you have no idea what that means scroll up to see helpful charts).

Now I’m not sure if I’ve ever given the Brit Eau De Parfum a fair nose but to me, the Eau De Toilette was fairly strong so I’m quite content with this.

Brit Eau De Toilette has:

Top Notes: Green Almond, Lemongrass, Pear, Lime

Heart Notes: Peony, Sugar, Almond

Base Notes: Amber, Vanilla, Mohogany

I’m not quite sure how to describe this smell. To me, it’s like a roasting almonds and pear on a fireplace?

The scent gives a very warm yet elegant and professional feeling. I’ve been wearing this on days where I need a little confidence booster or on days where I feel like I need to be a go-getter.

If I had to describe it in adjectives, it’d be:

Warm

Classy

Elegant

Professonal

Go-Getter

Inspiring

So would I repurchase this? Also likely. Though it’s definitely not my everyday go-to, I would say it’d be a staple. While I don’t think it’s as versatile as Blush, it’s still great for a majority of occasions like black & white events, school, and professional (office?) work (if fragrances are allowed).

[rosesnlavender]

Review: su:m37 Sun-away Cooling Watery Sun Block

This bottle has 50ml an boasts of  SPF50+ PA++. It’s an oddly shaped squeeze bottle that fits right in the palms of your hand. 

So it was a particular warm day and I didn’t feel like wearing much so I had thought to use this sunscreen cause it said “watery”. I had been avoiding it all summer because I don’t know why.

So I finally had a chance to test it out. It was perfect for fall weather. 

On the first use, you might want to be careful that some didn’t go spilling out of the squeeze tube.

The product was actually really white and really creamy. A bit lighter than heavy face cream but creamy if that makes sense.  It’s not thick but certainly not watery like the name suggests. In fact, this is my ideal consistency so I liked it. I was actually very happy it was not watery. 

The application was wonderful. It absorbs fast (VERY FAST) and was not sticky. It was not drying and while it wasn’t moisturizing, it was comfortable to wear on a warm day (I don’t know if it was actually “cooling” though). After 6 or so hours, my face wasn’t that oily apparently. My face is ALWAYS oily. But for some reason, I feel like the oil potential lessened by at least 10%? Don’t quote me on that, I didn’t run an experiment. 

The MOST UNIQUE THING about this sunscreen is.... IT SMELLS LIKE LEMON PEPPER SEASONING. That’s right. you read that right. Unless my noise is tripping, it smells like lemon pepper seasoning. 

Now, I’m a big fan of lemon pepper seasoning so I don’t mind the initial smell. The smell also goes away right after application so it’s not like it’ll stay. So I’m perfectly alright with this.

All in all, I might want to say that this has replaced the HERA one as my favorite sunscreen right now. Don’t let the name fool you. I would say this is more of a Fall/Spring season type of sunscreen. I don’t think I would wear this in summer because I personally don’t like creamy sunscreens in summer. It feels a bit thick.

[rosesnlavender]

Hoarder Edition: Things I Don’t Like / Use Anymore

I’ve been going through my things trying to sort them out and it came to my attention that there are things in this collection in which I haven’t reached for in MONTHS or simply just don’t like BUT IT’S STILL THERE TAKING UP SPACE! Now, I’ve already given away some things to friends but those are the ones that I absolutely won’t use ever again. 

The ones still here are things that I probably won’t use ever again but I might simply because IT’S STILL HERE. 

This won’t probably be a “review” since I don’t think I even remember the last time I’ve used these.

Face

When I first entered the makeup world, I was a big powder foundation girl; I only wanted to hide the redness without putting on a cake. So it would make sense that the Innisfree Mineral Ultra-fine Pact and the Innisfree Mineral Creamy Pact caught my attention. 

The packaging for both are the same.

Ultrafine

Creamy (Though my creamy doesn’t have a patter and is exactly the same style as the ultrafine)

When I first got these, I got these in both the shade #23 but I’ve always liked the CREAMY one better even though I didn’t know the difference between them. Looking and swatching them now, I can see the it.

The reason I’ve always liked the creamy one more was because it was somewhat paler and more neutral while the ultrafine was a bit darker and warmer. The ultrafine was also buildable to medium coverage while the creamy was just a light to medium coverage. Swatching it now side by side, if you didn’t know they were from two different pacts with the “same” shade, you’d think theyre two different shades. 

They both have the normal Innisfree powder smell of a pix of baby powder and herbs.

Both have a mirror and comes with the same super soft super smooth sponge but I don’t really know if it really works for picking up the product. I remember being so fed up that I used a powder brush. Just swirl and apply. 

Now, I’m not really sure of the naming but I feel like it’s the exact opposite. The ultrafine feels like a cream - to - powder to touch while the creamy pact feels finely milled. 

Now I can’t talk about wear/wear time since it’s been a long time since i’ve even touched these. But for some reason, I can’t bring myself to get rid of them. 

Continuing on from Innisfree, I also have the Pink Beam Mineral Pact. 

It’s a highlighter. It’s a highlighter with a hot pink/ magenta iridescent tone and I couldn’t figure out how to use it without looking like I got punched in the face with a pink glitter fist. It also leaves a grayish cast so when you’re not seeing the magenta sheen, youre seeing it’s gray base.

Though it’s pressed, it’s very soft and prone to fall out and cracks. It also comes with the same sponge as the pacts mentioned above but smaller and there’s no hold compartment that separates the sponge from the product except a ratchet plastic holder, you know, the thing that usually comes in new packaging. I still leave it in there cause otherwise, where else would the sponge go? DIRECTLY ON THE PRODUCT? 

The only reason I’m still keeping this is because of the possibility I’ll learn how to use a magenta highlighter.

Moving on with highlighters, the last one for the face category of this post is the 

The SAEM Luminous Multi Highlighter in Golden Beige (The top left in the picture below).

This was probably my first powder highlighter and I thought the multi-colors where cool at the time. But let’s be honest, you’d swirl them together anyways. It’s not like you’ll tip in one of the tiny blots of color which by the way are like a centimeter wide. The whole thing swirled together gives you a gold highlight. I wanted it to be champagne but no it’s gold. That’s also fine. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s smooth and a little goes a long way. 

I just haven’t reached this in a while cause I’m simply over gold highlights. I’ve been reaching more for the benefit’s watt’s up or espoir’s lighting powder. 

Eyes

I once when through a phase where I was really into white eyeliner. So I got the NYC Kohl eyeliner Pencil in 926 White.

Never liked it. I never understood how “Kohl” worked and how it was different from a normal eyeliner pencil. But I hated this particular one. Now, I don’t own many eyeliner pencils. Mostly cause I hate eyeliner pencils. They’re hard and they drag. This white one did just that. It tugged and tugged without putting any real pigment down (it was more like a white ghost cast). Tried to use it once, never touched it again. I always feel like I’ll have a use for it but I have yet to use it.

The only other eyeliner pencil I own is the e.l.f. Brightening Eyeliner in Black.

The one I have is in an all black pencil but it’s the same thing. This pencil liner is much better than the one mentioned above. It does still have a slight tug but it’s creamier than the NYC and gives much better pigmentation. 

Because it’s a decent pencil, it’s still kept in the collection even though I hate using pencil liners and don’t use it much. 

Now I usually wear gel liners. They’re my favorite. However, I had once gotten bored of gel liners and wanted to try a liquid. So I got the Revlon ColorStay Liquid Liner in Blackest Black.

Now I don’t have anything against liquid liners. I have quite a few of others. I don’t really have anything against the liquid liner itself (it was actually pretty good) BUT I hated this brush. It’s this stupid small ass weird felt tip applicator. I could never get the hang of it. Since I got other liquid liners, this just ended up on the back burner. 

Taking it out again after like 2 years and trying to swatch it, it still works but it smells like formaldehyde so it’s probably time to go (though I don’t remember if it smelt like formaldehyde in the first place; it probably didn’t though).

Moving on to eyeshadows, I have 4 in this category. 

First we have the Maybelline Color Tattoo in 05 Tool Cool 

and the Maybelline Color Tattoo Metal in 60 Silver Strike. 

Now I had gotten these when I was in the white/silver eyeliner phase. 

Side note: I should probably explain the look I was aiming for. 

If you look at around 00:40, you’d see Hyunseung’s eyeliner. That was what I was so obsessed over.

Moving back, I know theyre shadows but I used them as eyeliner. It was alright. It was hard to build pigment when the brush is an angled brush picking up barely anything since it wasn’t dense enough. Anyhow, I got fed up with it and moved on. I didn’t really have use for these colors except maybe in the inner corners of the eyes but it was a pain to open these just for the inner corners when I’d probably already have a palette open (I love using eyeshadow palettes more than singles). It’s not like I hate them; theyre pigmented and creamy if you apply it right. I just haven’t been using them. Skill keeping them since I feel like maybe I’ll use them one day.

Now the next 2 eyeshadows  are the Skinfood My Short Cake eyeshadows in SGR01 and SOR03

These are singles that legit come in a plastic packaging because you’re suppose to pop them into a pan. But I don’t have the pan. The only reason I got these 2 shades was at the time, I was really into mint and orange shadows but didn’t have any and found these on sale. 

The orange is a bit more matte than the mint but both are silky/pearly. 

They also both suck. Now I know that with these types of color, you don’t want a strong wash of color (maybe you do idk; I don’t) but these BARELY SHOW UP. After 5 swipes it’s still barely there. I had gotten both of these for a bit under a dollar but you’d expect they still work! Even swatching them gives horrible pigmentation. The only reason I still have these and haven’t thrown them out is because these 2 colors are unique in my collection. Once I found some to replace them, THEYRE OUT.

Lips

There’s pretty much only one in this category right now and that is the 

Stila Lip Glaze in Kitten

I was actually into this for a while. I used it soo much I have about 1cm of product left and the lettering worn off. The reason I had gotten tired of it was because I had gotten tired of gloss. It just didn’t seem appealing to me anymore. It was sticky and got in food. It was a mess. It smelt like cotton candy and gave a bit of color to the lips but the glitter and gloss was getting annoying. I can’t throw away something I’ve used like everyday for nearly a whole semester in highschool but at the same time, I’m over it. 

Looking through all of these again, I really don’t want to throw them away but I also want them gone since theyre taking up space and I don’t even use them. I’m very conflicted. 

[rosesnlavender]

Review: Chateau Labiotte Wine Lipstick  • Fitting • RD01 Malbec Burgundy

When put all together, it’s in the shape of a wine bottle. The only thing that I don’t like about the packaging is the cap. While it’s a cute packaging, the elongated bottle with a short neck seems off. Maybe if they had  made the sticker bigger it wouldn’t look so funny.

Anyhow, the lipstick comes with 3.5g of product.

The application is quite smooth and creamy. The finish is also creamy. However, if you go slightly out of line and try to Q-tip it off, you might be left with a slight stain. For me, it’s easy to go out of line simply cause there’s no pointed tip. It’s like a cylinder that’s been sliced diagonally. Because it’s such a fat and rounded tip, it’s kind of hard to get a precise line.

Because it’s creamy, it will show dryness so exfoliate before hand. Otherwise there will be clumps and dark patches. The dark patches aren’t so noticeable but the clumps of dead skin are.

The wear is quite long if you don’t eat or drink. It will obviously go away with food or drink. Because it’s creamy, it’s quite transferable. 

It does have a sort of sweet berry candy taste to it. A little too sweet for my liking (based on what I taste in the water line; obviously I’m not gonna eat the lipstick) but better than normal chemical taste of regular lipsticks. Does not have a wine taste at all though.

The color, while it is still in the burgundy range, is more wine/berry/purple toned. I prefer my burgundy a bit more red but I’m still satisfied with this color.

As for the sponge tip gradient applicator, it’s ok. It’s a hard type of sponge and does have a bit of a chemical plastic smell to it. 

Now when I say hard, I meant hard on the lips. The sponge itself has a beauty blender type porey surface but the material and feel is of those generic sponges. It’s not smooth on the lips and has a slight noticeable tugging feeling. There’s also a slight feeling of friction. Also, the cap on the sponge is not secure at all. It might even be more accurate to say it’s just a cover. I have no doubt it’ll fall of inside a makeup bag and dirty the sponge.

SAMPLES

I also got 3 lip tint samples with the purchase in the color CR01, OR01, and RD01.

CR01

Application

Not opaque. A bitch patchy but not totally noticeable since the color is very transparent. Used 4 layers to reach full opacity on a color that is not my lip color. 

Became sticky after 3rd application. Not sure if it’s because my lips are not fully exfoliated or the product dried and bunched up in small barely noticeable if not looked at carefully spots on upper lip.

Color

Although the cap is light pink, the actual product color is a peachy orange. On the lips, after 4 layers, it turns to red orange (80% red 20% orange?).

Wear

After it semi dried down, it’s kind of sticky. Other than that, no noticeable feeling. Neither moisturizing nor drying.

After eating rice with no oily substance, the color did fade. or more like it crumbled? The color does not leave a noticeable stain behind.

I’ve actually been unconsciously licking my lips quite a bit before. Kind of has a sweet taste (all the tints taste the same). 

Notes

Stains but not as quickly as RD01. Stains will fade easily if removed quickly or if concentration wasn’t much.

OR01

Application

Glides on very well. Pigmented on first coat. Tad bit patchy if you look closely but not as patchy as RD01. In 2 coats, full opacity of color though I just did a 3rd coat since the wand was small and to fill in the edges.

Color

On lips, it’s about a shade darker than the cap shade. It also has a tint of red. Cool toned Orange red (80%orange 20% red)

Wear

Smooth to the touch. Doesn’t feel like anything is on at all. Neither moisturizing nor drying. 

No fade after about 3 hours.

At a slightly oily noodle soup. Very light bleeding. Blotted with napkins a lot and quite harshly too. Color still vivid. Barely noticeable patches. Patches occurred mostly on the upper lip where less pigment was deposited. 

Notes

RD01

Application 

Patchy. You’d have to work really quickly cause it will stain some parts more easily than others. 

I put on 3 layers for full opacity and to even out all the patches.

I didn’t blot. Waited for it to dry down and it did dry down completely. No transfer. 

Color

Bright red. Almost like the classic red but pink based.

Wear

Not moisturizing but not exactly drying either. Smooth to touch but has a slight noticeable feel. Like there’s a tight thin film over your lips.

Wore for 3 hours straight no fade. 

Bled like I nicked an artery when in contact with oil based foods like soup. Moderate bleeding when in contact with water.

Leaves a slight stain afterwards but very patchy. Sticks to dry parts -  very noticeable as they’re darker.

Notes

Stains easily. VERY easily. Get some on your fingers and it’s there to stay. Must be very careful on initial application because even if you clean up the edges, it will look like it feathered a bit. Needs concealer.

[rosesnlavender]

Random Thought: If ghosts were real...

According to the math someone did on yahoo answers, it would take 5.5 quadrillion humans standing side by side to cover the whole surface area of the Earth. Assuming humans don’t go extinct, and that ghosts are real, and most of them goes to neither heaven nor hell cause of whatever reason, and the ghosts are able to touch each other, XXX (I don’t want to do the math - you would need to factor in population growth; would someone else want to? 108 Billion humans have ever lived on Earth as of 2011) years from now when there are 5.5 quadrillion ghosts, I wonder how chaotic the ghost realm would be. Would they just be stacked on top of each other?

[rosesnlavender]

Obsession: Mystic Messenger V Route

So this recently came out after Mystic Messenger got a whole new layout. The old layout was cute but the new layout has more of a space/ tech advance feel to it. If you’re interested in taking a peek at the old layout (there’s been 2 layout changes so far), take a look back at my 2016 Christmas Mystic Messenger Special post (it’s been almost a year and I haven’t even finished the post; I haven’t even finished all the routes for the special...).

Moving on, I have approx. 2 weeks until school starts so I have just the right amount of time to play through one round of the new route. Now if you’ve read my first Mystic Messenger post, you’ll know about my rant on V. I really wanted an Unknown route so I hope they’ll come out with that as well.

As I’ve started writing this post, I have not yet opened up V’s route. However, my mindset as I’m going through this THIS ROUTE WILL NOT CHANGE THE STORYLINE OR DIFFER IN STORYLINE. I SINCERELY HOPE that the story will continue as it was and that my baby Seven will also have a happy ending.

Here’s the promo vid if you’re interested.

I would not recommend reading this unless you already know what happens in this game and/or played this game up to both the secret ends. 

I WILL NOT STRIKE-THROUGH ANY SPOILERS FROM THE CASUAL AND DEEP STORIES ON THIS POST BECAUSE I’M ASSUMING YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT’S UP.

Straight to the bottom is the TL;DR like usual but it’ll only appear after I’ve finished the post which is when I’ll finish the route.

This will be a long ass post with the usual format (if you’ve read these before):

Unlocking V’s Route

Beginning V’s Route

Finishing V’s Route

Endings Completed

Final Notes

TL;DR

Time Table

Unlocking V’s route

Alright, since I downloaded the new update at around noon, I’ll be opening up the sequence and going throughout the day and I’ll restart at midnight. 

So first things first. Look at this new start screen.

I don’t know how the route is going to work but I personally don’t really like the idea of the MC being a second love.

The head and quote goes through a cycle of all the characters and their difference sayings.

That “Another Story” wording really scares me. I PRAY TO GOD IT DOESN’T STRAY FROM THE ORIGINAL STORY.

On the side note, HOLY HELL 300 HG! Thank god I have barely enough saved up.

I KNEW IT. “This story unfolds 2 years prior to the original story.” It’s going to be a different story. Though surprisingly, I’m not too mad about it. Two years prior means everyone is blissfully unaware and my baby Seven hasn’t been hurt. Hmm. How long was it since Rika “died” before the original story? Kind of looking forward to this. That “Other surprising content” though.

80 CGs?! GETTING MY MIND READY. I really hope the artwork is the same as the original story and not like the weird occasional change in style like in some of the specials. It’s also cute how V’s album now has special photo squares unlike the usual ? logo.

Umm jumping ahead cause I’m really excited about this, 

GUYS. GUYS. GUYS. 

THERE’S AN UNKNOWN ALBUM.

CAN I HAVE HOPE FOR AN UNKNOWN ROUTE.

Beginning V’s Route

Anyways, moving back, I will now official start the route (before I restart it at midnight later tonight).

Look at this new layout. Green backgrounds means that there’s a new status.

There’s a shit ton more CGs which I really hope are in the original artwork style. There’s also a shit ton more guests. Like literally doubled the amount that was there before. If it took 5 routes to unlock all those guests, I wonder how big this party will be this time around.

I’m also really liking the MC profile.

So my hunch was correct, the story is set around half a year after Rika’s “death”.

OH MY FUCKING GOD.THE PROLOGUE SOMEWHAT BROKE THROUGH THE FOURTH WALL. PLUS WE FINALLY GOT UNKNOWN’S NAME! I mean not his REAL name but like an alias like most of the other characters have.

So the premise of this route goes like this: You are technically kidnapped by Ray (Unknown) and taken to what probably is Mint Eye HQ. You’re essentially locked in another room to “test” out this messenger game that Ray supposedly developed. The messenger game concept is literally like inception. Ray even gives you the promo poster picture of all 5 main targets. He tells you they’re AIs and that you’ll have to plan a party. The same game concept. Except in the dialogues, you can somewhat flirt with Ray. But while I say flirt, there’s a hint of a ummm manipulative atmosphere where Ray will sometimes flirt back but it’s basically just to play with your feelings and keep you there to use you. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is how it turns out later.

On a side note, Ray’s emojis are so cute. But I’m not sure if I’m liking his whole fuchsia/magenta Victorian aristocrat outfit. It’s a different look then what we’re used to in the original story 2 years down the road. I wonder what happened. Or is it just because he needs to manipulate the MC that he’s wearing this? His hearts are also in that fuchsia/magenta color.

Back to the game, although the format is the same as the casual and deep stories, there will be more appearances from Ray hacking in. You really interact more with V and Ray in this route.  I know it’s suppose to be V’s route but I’m all about flirting with Ray right now. Even though I know it’s probably not gonna end well.

On another side note, they weren’t kidding when they said HG for 24 skips vary.

A whole 165 HG to skip 24 hours ON THE FIRST DAY. I’m quite curious as to what to expect next.

On a whole new other side note

The phone calls now come with a whole new contacts section WITH 2 EMPTY BUBBLES. OMG WHO ARE THEY FOR?

Finishing V’s Route So I went through the bad ending for common route 3 (or so it’s labeled in the history chat, which is just missing all the chats before the branch after day 4) and restarted it. I didn’t exactly read them yet since I was kind of salty going through it. I’ll probably read them after I’ve finish the normal/good ends.

The first actual game play I’m going through is just choosing the choices that I want. I don’t care if this ends badly or not. I’m still kind of salty about V. I’m really all about flirty with Ray right now. I think that since this is fairly “early” in the time period, I don’t think Ray has been drugged and brainwashed and as mentally unstable as he was in the original game. So I really feel for ray and I’ve been all about flirting with him. And honestly, while I don’t like how occasionally you’ll see his unstable ultra possessive state, I actually totally agree with him on this:

You can still see his deep rooted misguided hate for Seven through the fact that he doesn’t even mention his name but Ray actually does have a clear understanding of the RFA members. It makes you wonder how he found out about this or was he smart and clear headed enough to infer this from reading the chat logs when he hacked in.

Side note: The following is a rambling of a storyline for Ray inspired by the chat above and one of the prologue bad ends. 

For a Ray route, I’m kind of thinking it could also be set 2 years ago from the original story line and the MC could still be kidnapped by Ray on the streets but it could be that the MC is actually an undercover agent tasked with bringing down Mint Eye. As they slowly interact with each other, the MC would see that Ray is just brainwashed and they would slowly fall in love but the MC can’t stay very long. 

After uncovering the truth and bringing down Mint Eye, the MC would deliver Ray back to Seven (hopefully all the RFA members had their eyes opened, including V) for Ray to get the help he needs. But even though Ray gets help and recovers quickly because it hasn’t been that long that he’s been drugged and brainwashed, Ray is still very dependent and loves the MC that he uses his hacking resources to track her down. The RFA members sees this and decided to help him. MC is found to be president of a security company by day and underworld boss by night. 

Since MC can’t leave, Ray decides to join her and Seven decides to follow. Seeing this the rest of the members follow (with Vanderwood because Vanderwood follows Seven and Seven’s original agency is afraid of MC’s company so there’s no problems). The members still hosts party with Ray as the party coordinator now. The only thing that’s changed is the RFA name. 

This is pretty much my little imagination on a Ray route. It would be fun to see the MC actually have more of a background. It’s pretty weird how the MC is just roped into the storyline with no regards to her previous life. Does no one care that she just disappears? 

Back to the first play, all I can say is Ray is too precious and my saltiness for V is starting to fade. It’s still there, but it’s fading. AHHH. Flirting with Ray gave me a bad end after Day 4 branch. I choose answers that flirted with him but at the same time I didn’t want to fucking join Mint Eye. Ahh. Time to restart. The second game play I finally got into V’s route. BUT I’M OFFICIALLY SALTY AGAIN. THE SALT DILUTED WHEN I WAS FLIRTING WITH RAY BUT IT CAME BACK STRONG WHEN I DECIDED TO GET THE GOOD END IN V’S ROUTE. His stupid pathetic ass is STILL hiding things from the members. He asks Seven for help but makes him go the round about. V wants to make everyone hate him and feels pathetic but he doesn’t deserves everyone’s hatred. He’s not seeing how he’s hurting them and only thinking about himself. The choices in the game is so annoying I want to smash his face. I seriously do not want to play this route. I just can’t with him. I’m only in it for Ray. If V wants to put a pity party for himself then go ahead but leave everyone else out of it. THEY’RE ALREADY INVOLVED. Keeping them out isn’t helping anyone! I especially hate how he uses Seven’s trust for when he knows Seven will feel betrayed when Mint Eye is exposed. In the original story, Mint Eye progressed by 2 years. TWO FUCKING YEARS he tried to do something on his own. AND WHAT DID HE FUCKING ACCOMPLISH? NOTHING. Honestly, I don’t know if I should continue for the good route or just do what i want to fucking do.

WHAT THE FUCK. I AVOIDED RIKA LIKE THE PLAGUE AND STILL GOT HER ENDING. WTF.  Endings Completed

Bad Ends

Prologue 1 ‎✔

Prologue 2 ‎✔

Common Route 3  ✔

...

...

Normal End

Good End

Final Notes

The CGs are smoother than in the original story and honestly love them more than the ones in the original story.

TL;DR Time Table

[rosesnlavender]

Review: su:m37 Miracle Rose Cleansing Stick

(pic from google images)

So I decided that since I already have the Innisfree Green Tea soap at home and I love it, bringing it with me on long term travel (say a week) isn’t possible due to the wet net leaking and would needed to be hanged up somewhere to dry. So I heard good things about this so I decided to pick this up for travel. I’ve also just put in my old pore brush to accompany this.

The product is like a giant glue stick. It even has a twister at the bottom. It has a very matte soft and smooth plastic casing in very light almost beige pink. It’s relatively small and easily to use for travel. I wouldn’t say the cap is supper secure since it’s a snap on and it’s not that strong of a snap on but as long as you’re careful, I think it’s perfect for travel.

When you first open it, you’re hit with a very pleasant rose smell. Very similar to rose black tea. 

There’s supposedly 80g of product but as of now, I don’t know how many times this could actually last you, even if you use it daily.

The product itself is a pale lavender purple with pale pinkish rose bits.

So youre suppose to wet your face before applying and then just swipe it on. It kind worries me that the stick will be contaminated from direct contact but since it’s the first time, I’ll just do it according to directions. So I only twisted the product up by 1mm but once I made contact and tried to swirl it around my face , the stick MELTED SO FAST. It’s like a butter stick. It’s not as hard as regular bar soap.

So once I had just enough (I used it sparingly) I twisted it back in. Because the sides really melted down, there were some left over on the rims when it was twisted back in so I just took my fingers and scooped it and put it on my pore brush. I did the same routine with as the Innisfree Green Tea soap and feels similar. 

This Rose stick is a lot gentler and doesn’t dry my skin down to a squeakily clean after rising it off. Instead, it’s a soft, just washed and refreshed feeling. Maybe it’s the rose smell doing some aromatherapy but I’m surprisingly relaxed after using this (usually, just moving the pore brush in circles on the face is pretty calming but this goes an extra step).

I would say the rose bits might become annoying after a while but you can easily get used to it and ignore it like me.

I’m pretty satisfied with the product but it’s way more expensive than the innisfree green tea. My only concern with this is that the stick melts so fast. So while I think that it’s a wonderful product, it’s a more luxury spending (~$25 for 80g vs ~$9 for 100g innisfree green tea) to use as a daily product. I would recommend this for travel but if you can afford it then yes, get it.

Would I buy it again? Yes.

[rosesnlavender]

Review: TOSOWOONG MAGIC Hair Cushion

I never really thought I had thin hair but recently, I think I’ve been so stressed out I’m starting to see a lot of white spots whenever I tie up my hair (not to mention my hereditary M hairline was already bothering me). So I got this. My natural hair color is brown (turns lighter when exposed to sun) so I got the color Chocolate Brown. 

To be honest I kind of wanted to get the black one too as I’ve been recently into dying my hair blue tinted black but I haven’t died it in a while so I’ll just stick with brown first to see how it goes.

The bottle is a matte-ish black and feels similar/reminds me of an eSpoir packaging. It’s a snap off lip with a mirror at the very top so it’s convenient on the go.

The bottle has a white cushion connected to the bottle so you can just tap it on your head and the product will come out of the cushion. Though you need to remove the plastic stopper first from under the cushion. I was debating whether or not so keep the plastic stopper but then decided against it for 2 main reasons - 

1. I don’t think product will come out of the cushion unless you press on it so with the cap on, I don’t think you’ll lost much if any.

2. It’s a hassle to take it out and put it in all the time. Especially since it’s a pretty well made plastic stopper that fits just right you need tweezers to take it out. Good for keeping the product in but it’s a hassle to take out. And once you take it out, product will be left on the plastic stopper which I feel like is an even more waste of product.

A bottle contains 26g of product though I’m no so sure how much product you need or how long this will last. 

The product boasts that it has ingredients to help the hair and scalp’s “health” though I’m not sure what that means exactly.

It’s a little hard to control around the hairline as the cushion is a little less than 2 inches. With such a large cushion I somehow feel it might waste product going in areas I do not need however, maybe it’s because it’s such a large cushion that it bends out perfectly.

The product is nice for coverage but if you touch it, it will smear. I have a pretty oily head so the first time I used it, my hair was already slightly oily and after about 7 hours, it still looked the same as when I first applied it given that I haven’t touched it much. [I had my hair tied into a ponytail. If I let my hair fall, I’ll probably be running my fingers through my hair a lot more so I’m not sure how that would hold up.] 

I’m not sure what the “volume” in the name means, whether it meant to give the illusion of more volume or actually give the hair more volume, but after applying, the hair doesn’t become flat. It actually feels as if there was hairspray? It’s like a mixture of hairspray and dry shampoo. My hair at the end of the day usually looks like a grease ball but I feel as if the product actually soaked up some oil to give it that hairspray texture.

It claims to be waterproof but washes out easily. I’m not entirely sure about it being waterproof but it does hold up after having a shower head shoot at it for at least 10 seconds. Though obviously, if you rub it it comes off (though there’s still a lot of coverage left). It does come off easily with shampoo though.

I would say it’s a good product and would buy again.

[rosesnlavender]

Review: The History of Whoo Whitening Essence Sunscreen

I HAVE FINALLY GOTTEN AROUND TO USING THIS. I’m still debating if having 8 bottles of different sunscreen at the same time is a good idea. So I finally ran out of my bottle #1 of my Hera sunscreen (I say bottle #1 cause I have 2 - I already have that backup!), and thought it would be a good time to try and try this.

There’s 45 ml in this bottle and it boasts of  SPF46 PA++. Usually I don’t go for below SPF 50+ with PA +++ (and although I’m not a sunscreen expert, I usually go for broad spectrum and many I’ve seen are all around 50+) but I made an exception to just try it out. 

It comes in a matte soft plastic bottle with a hard plastic cap. This has a pump type applicator. I’m not sure how I feel about this pump type applicator. I mean it would be significantly harder to get every last bit of product once it’s almost out.

The pump pumps out a fairly adequate(?) amount of product though for me, I feel like it would be better to use two pumps for the full face to get a nice even generous spread (because there’s no point in sunscreen if you don’t use it properly - using a generous amount).

The product itself was very surprising. It came out LIGHT PINK. Like strawberry ice cream pink. It was also very liquidy so you should always shake before hand (maybe because it’s so liquidy that I feel like you must use two pumps). It’s lightweight so it absorbs pretty fast and dries down to a sort of soft matte finish? The finish is similar to shiseido’s. 

The one con I’ve noticed right away is the smell. It smells somewhat like rubbing alcohol with after hints of a herbal floral. The smells goes away quickly but it’s pretty strong the moment it hits the face.

After a few hours, I didn’t feel super oily. Pretty sure I still have to test this part out as today’s testing day had many variables. 

It does say it’s for whitening but I’ll have to continue to test out for that. Though on a side note, I don’t completely understand how a sunscreen can be whitening as I’ve been understanding that whitening products causes extra skin sensitivity to the sun. So if the sunscreen is both a sunscreen and a whitening product, does that mean there are properties that will block the sun while gradually whitening the face? Sorry if the question sounds weird. I’m not even sure how to phrase it but that’s what I can’t help but think about.

All in all, I will continue to use this sunscreen to see how it fairs. But honestly, as of right now, I have yet to love it so I probably won’t be repurchasing it anytime soon.

*UPDATE: So I’ve been using this more and more and I guess I didn’t quite shake it up right but the consistency has gotten a tad bit thicker. I say a tab bit because while it’s no longer as liquidy as the shiseido one, it’s not as thick as the Hera one (link above). That said, there’s no noticeable different for me between the first use and now where the product got a tad bit thicker in consistency. There might have been subtle difference but so far, I’ve been trying out various things so I can’t really isolate the factor.

[rosesnlavender]

Jack Of All Trades: Learning Korean - Hangul Day “6″

Seriously, I think I’m just not made for daily updates. 

You know, I’ve noticed something with learning a foreign language. When I was learning Spanish in high school, I realized there were names for stuff. Like what you call the -ing ending (gerund). SEE, WE DON’T LEARN WHAT AN -ING ENDING IS CALLED. WE JUST LEARN TO ATTACH THAT -ING ENDING TO STUFF. Or actually, maybe we did learn what it was called, posted as a title in a section of our English workbooks that we just choose to skip past and not bother reading. But we never emphasized it or anything. Or at least not that I’ve experienced. 

So for me, when learning a new language, they make these comparisons to the English language so that we’re able to translate them and it’s seemingly a lot easier to learn. Yeah, I admit it’s a lot easier to learn if you start translating it but at the same time, I never really dissected the English language. At this point, it’s more of a “I just know English” rather than “I’ve learned and mastered English”. 

English is something I use without much of a thought. [90% of my thoughts are in English (10% in Viet)]. When I took Spanish in high school, I want to take something that will be applicable later on in life. While I’ve lost most of my Spanish skills as I’ve barely been using it, I don’t doubt that I could quickly relearn it*. Spanish was “easy” to learn as in we only had to learn some new vocabs. Spanish uses the same alphabet letters with a few variations in sounds but it’s readable and easy to remember the variations if you’re good with English. If we had to attach somethings in English (like the -ing or -ed endings), we would just conjugate them in Spanish.  

*Orally speaking it is a different skill set. I’m just talking about the basic reading, writing, and just overall being able to understand the language.

So when I got to the 받침 (”bat chim” - basically when a block of letters end in a consonant.) portion of my workbook, I realized the way I’m learning isn’t working much for me. I’ve been pretty much going through the workbook but I haven’t really tried to read much. I’ve been doing fairly ok on the end of the section 5 Q quizzes but that’s about it. It still takes me a long time to read a sentence in hangul. 

I think at this point, I’m going to deviate from the book. I’m going to be skipping the double consonants and  받침 consonants mostly cause I just can’t focus on them. 

It’s taken me time to realize I’m learning this shit on my own. I don’t need a follow some workbook. Like when has this ever worked for me in school??? 

That being said, I think I’m going to end the Hangul 10 Day challenge on Day “6″. Mostly cause this was ill-planned in the first place. For today, I’ll finish up the workbook’s practice section which is pretty much just writing.

For now, when reading, there are times when I have to refer to my cheat sheet (posted on Day 1) but I think as I get used to it hopefully I won’t have to use it much anymore. 

Anyhow, I’ll have to really revamp and update my this learning schedule cause I’m running out of time.

[rosesnlavender]

Jack Of All Trades: Learning Korean - Hangul Day “5″

I AM BACK. I seriously went off rails. Therefore, that’s why the 5 is in parenthesis. 

I’m starting to take things more seriously and I’m now going through the drills and exercises to fluently be able to write them. 

I’m not yet at the level of being able to fluently read them but I’m getting better at sounding them out.

I’ve already deviated from the standard method of writing hangul. Some of the characters require sharp edges but that doesn’t go with my writing style. So I’m trying to adapt it to my writing style while still keeping most of the original form in tack. The problem I’ve been having is as I start to write faster an faster, they start looking like the English alphabet. My ㅋ starts to look like how I write my no. 7. The ㄷ starts looking like a C. I mean if it looked like a bracket it would be fine but a C has lost all the edges.  This ㄹ has already become an S and at this point I don’t even care anymore. Theㅏ is starting to piss me off because I can’t get rid of the habit to writing a t (making a curve at the bottom and crossing through both sides of the line). 

I’m currently going through the compound vowels part (the WHY 2 LINES & WHAT ARE THESE section shown on day 1*). To be honest, I’m kind of getting annoyed with the WHAT ARE THESE. Cause seriously, WHAT ARE THEY?!

*As I’ve been going along, I’ve also been updating the list as I’ve discovered more accurate descriptions or simply adding on things I never knew before.  If you’ve seen it before you’ve probably noticed.

Anyhow, I’m seriously confused as to what the fuck as to how to use WHAT ARE THESE.

On a new note, the special W’s don’t seem to be very hard to use. The reason why I labeled it “special” is because wtf, it’s 2 vowels combined. However, because it’s combined, I’m not sure if the ㅜ or ㅗ makes a difference but the second vowel, remains the same as if it were by itself. So I guess the  ㅜ or ㅗ just signals that it’s a w sound? But the problem is  ㅚ and  ㅟ.   ㅚ follows  ㅙ and ㅞ with the “we” as in wet sound but  ㅟ follows the “wee” as in weekend sound. WTF. WHAT DOES THE UP OR DOWN DO!?!?! Welps, I’m just gonna say  ㅟ looks like a person at a table = party = weekend = “wee” sound.

welps. I think that’s good enough for today.