NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer Review

After deciding the previous concealer I'd bought wasn't cutting it for me, back to Sephora I went on the hunt for something else. After consulting an employee about finding a concealer that closely matched my skin tone, I was led to the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer. It was $29, and I got it in the shade Custard.

The concealer tube and a creamy swatch.

Before and after concealer.

The coverage of this is great. Enough to cover my dark undereyes and brighten them, and to hide blemishes with ease. The formulation is actually creamy, and a little bit goes a long way. The applicator is a little sponge tip like that of lip gloss, which can be unsanitary with reinsertion into the bottle after skin contact, but I try to keep it clean by swatching a bit of this onto my hand and dabbing a makeup brush onto that from there.

It's lasting power is quite great, especially on the undereye area. It looks as good as it did when I applied it for a long dang time. It can fade over blemishes over a few hours, like all concealers I've tried, but with the packaging being so handy, it's easy to carry this around to re-apply when needed.

This is my favorite concealer I've ever tried, and I will definitely re-purchase this whenever I run out!

Amazing Cosmetics Concealer Review

After being in dire need of a new concealer, I got the Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer To Go at Sephora, for $28. They didn't have any other Amazing Cosmetics products, and after asking a Sephora employee, he directed me to the small checkout goodies and was nice enough to open the packages for me to try out. There were very limited colors, but the shade Medium Golden was the closest to my skin tone.

The concealer and a swatch. Which became a puddle.

Before and after concealer.

In certain lighting, this can look fine. This was my impression in-store after trying it out. The coverage is quite strong, and spreads out well. In my particular case, the color would look more orange in certain lighting over time. However, I've had that problem with another concealer, but that was not where my biggest issue with this lay. After a few hours, my under eye would look oily and cakey, like the concealer had conglomerated into little bits. It would fade over blemishes quickly as well. The consistency of this was quite oily/watery to begin with, and could come out separated, which probably contributed to that.

Maybe this product will work better on different skin types, and tones for sure, but for me, this product was not worth the hype nor price, unfortunately.

I Got My Ears Pierced At Claire's/Icing

...when I was 19 years old. I was never allowed to get my ears pierced when I was younger, despite my desire to wear earrings. I'd used clip-ons when I was in grade school, but the kinds back then hurt (they seem to be better now) and the variety was limited.

I was walking around an outlet mall in Orlando, during my last month of living there, with the idea of getting my ears pierced floating around. I'd watched a baby and a small girl gotten theirs done at Claire's. After a bit more window-shopping, I ended up at the Icing by Claire's shop, and decided to do the deed.

My piercer was my age, and was nice. I picked out gold studs, with small pearls on them. She used a piercing gun (which is not as safe as a needle, but there were no other piercing shops I had access to at the time), and it was quick and nearly painless - just a prick, like a doctor's needle. No blood or lasting pain.

Ta-dah! Quite like them. 

I got the care instructions and the cleaning solution, which I had to use 3x a day. One of things I was most scared about piercings was getting infections or scarring, and it's been completely fine. It was around $50, and I was quite happy with the experience, although one of the piercing's placement was lower than the other, and knowing it would bother me forever, I took it out for a day to let it heal and I decided to have it taken out and redone back home (needle, much more pain, blood).

I'm at the point where I can change out the studs now, and I'm excited to try out new earrings that I've only been able to eye before!

BB Cream Finally! Pink Skin 79 Review

I've wanted to try the pink BB cream for about two years now but I haven't been able to buy it online. I went to Hmart and this time I saw they had BB cream! The pink Skin 79 Super BB Cream was $28 USD at a store in the Hmart called Mimi's Cosmetics. They carried other BB creams along with various Asian cosmetics.

Whee, purchased!

The lady gave me some cute little samples of BB creams, toner, and moisturizer.

packaging

At the time I'm writing this review I have owned this for around a year, if not more. It's more liquid than creamy consistency than concealer. When applied, it feels thin and light, which I so much more preferred in the summer months. Coverage however, is also somewhat light, though it does a decent job at masking some redness without looking caked on. The finish on my skin is a bit oily, but looks like skin. There are times when I've felt like it's faded quickly over the course of several hours, but its lasting power is still adequately long-wearing. Overall, I like it, and is good for use on skin that's not too oily (would look super oily) nor too dry (would look flaky). Although I wouldn't use it on prominent blemishes or dark undereye circles, it's perfect for toning down redness, like broken capillaries, naturally.

The difference here is more subtle than in real life, but this is before I applied BB cream around my nose area, and after. 

The hype about this BB cream in the Asian makeup products world is worth it!

Use Your Dark Roots For Ombré

I have dealt with years of the unfun routine of bleaching and dying my roots monthly. This is how I got from black hair to an ombré over time. (This is for people with naturally black hair - it's a different process for those with naturally lighter hair, I'm sure!) I'm sure you could also just start out by dying your roots a darker color, but I didn't want to end up with super uneven tones, and didn't even think for opting for ombré until I got a job where I needed my hair to look more natural (read: no roots). This is a good way to transition out of bleached hair to letting your natural hair grow without dying it all dark, or chopping all of it off. I've wanted to do that many a time, believe me.

Step 1: Lighten your hair.
I have had this step down since... a long time ago. Bleach your hair and dye it whatever color you want. It will eventually fade, which will help later. Enjoy your one-toned mane while it lasts.

Step 2: Let your roots grow out.
This takes the most time, and if this is the step you're at, perfect. Wait a few more months until they're a few inches. Yeah, ew. You can keep redyeing your hair in the meantime to make the color difference between the bleached hair and your roots less stark, if you want. Eventually, the bleached and natural hair will look more blended once long enough.

Step 3: Dye the hair to blend.
Once your roots have grown to be looking blended with the bleached hair, go ahead and pick a hair dye that's between your natural color and the bleached/dyed hair. For me, this was the same color I've been dying my hair from the beginning. (That's why the fading of the initial color of the dyed hair is fine.) Apply this from the roots to the middle of the length of your hair.

Step 4: Ombré!
You can deal with not dying your hair every 4-6 weeks now, because you can let your roots grow and not look disgusting! Hoorah!

It's hard to find pics with my hair not tied, but here's my hair a few months ago,

I haven't bleached/dyed my hair in half a year or more, and people still ask if I just dyed my hair. It's wonderful not to have to go to Sally's all the time.

The only thing I dislike about ombréd hair is that it looks best when curled/wavy. I am not about to curl my hair everyday (again), so what I do is twist it leave it in a bun overnight, and in the morning, I have curled, heat-free, ombré tresses!

I Worked at Walt Disney World

I moved from the very northwest to the very southeast of the country, from Washington to Florida to work at Walt Disney World.

It's been just about one month since I returned from my Disney College Program, Fall 2014. The application process began for me just about a year ago. The application process consists of receiving a web-based interview, then a phone interview, and then paying the fees associated with acceptance. My best advice that I've scrounged out during that time period is to be honest, answer the extreme ends of the spectrum for the WBI, look up the common phone interview questions beforehand and prepare your answers, and rehearse them with a smile. Here and here are some good PI resources that I used.

I remember getting that acceptance email while sitting in my college cafeteria, and contemplating whether I should really go. For nearly half a year. But a month before the actual start date, I knew I wouldn't really have the chance to do this again without interfering with school and the people I cared about supported me.

My ODV costume, sans floppy hat.

My chosen arrival date of September 2nd was the latest one I could pick, and thus was the shortest program for nationals. I'd never been to the east coast before, let alone WDW. Just about 4 months I worked in Disney's Animal Kingdom as an Outdoor Vendor (ODV). I worked all over the park, opened, closed, worked 12+ hour days standing outside, sold hundreds of ice creams a day, made falafel sandwiches, burnt myself making Mickey pretzels, interacted with thousands and thousands of people, had a lot of fun, and experienced a lot of stress. All in all, I ended up being grateful for my role, and had some good times with the people I worked with. Even though I was very ready to leave by the end of the program, I still cried the last day of work. I could never do what I was doing there forever, but you get a little attached to the work and the people, and I'll miss it.

My last scheduled day of work, with just a fraction of my fellow cast members.

While working in the place "Where Dreams Come True", I learned a lot of things, including by non-magical means. I learned that people will give you shit, but you can't take it personally. I learned that you have to make your own fun at work, and taking a genuine interest in learning about people is part of that. I learned how to live on my own, and while it wasn't hard or overwhelming, you can miss home and some clean things.

I learned it's hard to get sick of Disney. I tried.

It was a childhood dream of mine to work for Disney, and I didn't think I'd be living on my own for the first time across the country while doing it. It was quite an experience working for the mouse, and I hope I can return to it someday.

My First Job: Chipotle

During my teen years, beginning the time I turned 16 years of age, I started applying for work. I sent out a round of applications every year after that, and never got an interview, to my avail. It's the silly cycle of needing work experience to get work, but not being able to get work for that experience. I didn't think I had many connections to boost my chances, either.

In my third year of college, when I was 19, I was encouraged by my boyfriend to apply for a job. With that push, after applying to many places via Craigslist and home sites, I got an interview. I studied Chipotle's history and what they were about, but I didn't need that info to get the job, apparently. The interview was quick and easy (granted I didn't have much job experience to discuss) and was told to go do onboarding right after.

I'd been to Chipotle maybe three times before over the course of several years, and it felt like a treat each visit. I think it's a good thing to work in locations you have enjoyed before, because you can remember the experience you had as a customer and use that to make the job fun and motivating.

I look back at this job, and it was awesome. The pros included:

• They were accommodating with my school schedule, then volunteering schedule, so I was able to transition between my other activities without trouble.
• I didn't have to open or close if I didn't want to (I closed one time because I was asked), and the schedule was in regular chunks of time, either afternoon or evening.
• I worked in a great city. There weren't many uncooperative people, if any.
• The free food. 'Nuff said. I could eventually scarf down most of a burrito in my 10-minute break. Although white rice + corn burritos became my go-to. It's weird, I know.

I guess I also served a state football star, though I didn't know it at the time. Saw him in the restaurant again another time. Kinda cool in theory to interact with an athlete some of my family goes crazy over, haha.

I learned how to yell because the place can get loud, when taking orders and placing orders for more rice, beans, etc. I learned basic customer service skills. I learned how to work in general. I learned how to make a quesarito. (Please don't order them when we're busy, haha.) 

My Chipotle uniform. I also became a hair-bun pro.

It was apparently one of the, if not the busiest branch in the state, and though we could have the line wrap around the dining room, it wasn't too bad. It was fun and challenging trying to get things down quickly and efficiently, rather than anything too stressful. The only parts I didn't enjoy was being in the heat and commuting quite a bit. Quite minuscule factors compared to other job-related issues that can possibly occur.

I worked there for a total of just shy of three months. (I had to leave due to the internship I was starting across the country.) The GM said I could come back if I wanted to, which I appreciated, and I've considered going back. I decided though I learned a lot and enjoyed my time working as crew at Chipotle, I wanted to try a new experience. So continues my journey. (I just accepted a job offer today, and I look forward to starting in a new environment and to learn new things!)