My favorite look right now...

I've been inspired by a lot of gurus on youtube, and I'm really enjoying neutral eye makeup with bold red lipstick. I've been trying to film a makeup tutorial for a while.... But I just can't find a free video editing software that seems to work. I tried to film it again today, and my new Canon ELPH HS 300 camera just had a glitch. Not only did all my videos disappear, but all the pictures became invalid files that I can't even see on the camera itself......

Ugh!!! It took me so long to find a day where I'm free, the lighting was good, and the look really came together..... I've only had my camera for 2 months, and it's giving up already?!?!?!

Anyways..... These are some pictures I took when I tried to film the tutorial the first time. I'll keep on trying!!!

VII O2M Oxygen Eye Mask Review

Few weeks ago, I was sent the VII Oxygen Eye Mask from Great Beauty Online Store.

I normally don't like putting stuff around my eyes because many eye creams sting my eyes and some feel like they are clogging up my pores. I've never heard this brand before and I was a little hesitant in trying out the eye mask initially. However, upon reading more information, I became more interested in trying it out.

This brand was developed in the 18th century by Byrne Victor. He was developing a skincare solution for himself since he has a skin issue. It took him 20 years to formulate such special skincare regime. It later became the most wanted beauty secret throughout the Europe. You can read more about the History of VII Beauty.

You can watch my video for a full review. I'm just going to briefly cover few points.

Pros
* Works while you sleep.
* Easy to apply.
* Great for sensitive skin. (Didn't cause any discomfort or allergy for me).
* Moisturizes and brightens up the undereye area.

Cons
* Relatively expensive $55/a box of 6 pairs of eye masks
* May cause discomfort if you are already having allergy. May sting a little.
* Limited power at reducing dark circles.


Overall, I enjoyed using this eye mask a lot. I thought it was fun and convenient, and I'm satisfied with the results. If I could have a more regular sleeping schedule, I think my dark circles wouldn't be as severe. Anyways.... Now picture time...







This is how they look like out of the individual packaging...



Lightly press on the mask after you have positioned them to your liking. My skin has been acting up a lot lately...Sigh...





It stung a little bit because I had allergy yesterday and I have rubbed my eyes a lot.... But the sting was pretty tolerable and was gone after about 10 minutes.




Yay! Ready to go to bed and let the eye masks do their work.





Here are the before and after pictures... Before - no makeup, no skincare products whatsoever. After - just the Neutrogena sunscreen lotion. No makeup.





What do you guys think?



Here are some pictures from the company.....

As promised....

Here are some photos that I've taken with my new lens Nikkor 50mm 1/1.8. It's one of Nikon's cheapest lenses (~$120). So far so good, especially for its price tag..... But seeing my friend's photo taken with the 50mm 1/1.4 lens (which is crystal clear, the lens itself is about ~$250). I guess you do get what you've paid for ....

I have summarized some good's and bad's if you are interested in reading....

The GOOD:

* Narrow depth of field, which gives you that blurry background effect.

* Great for portraiture and stilllife because it will eliminate any busy background.

* Fairly good for low light settings due to the wide aperture.

* Fairly sharp just with the autofocus function. Because I'm nearsighted and because the depth of field is so narrow, I'd rather just rely on autofocus.

* Beautiful bokeh effect. I love to play with different lighting and subtle effects, so definitely a plus.

The BAD:

* Not good for moving objects, such as small children, animals (especially the ones that are scared of camera or the ones you can't approach), etc

* Narrow depth of field..... It's also bad because if you are not focused spot on your object of interest, you'll get a bad blurry picture.

* Wide aperture. Because of the wide aperture, pictures come out overexposed or too bland if you shoot in daylight. Lack of contrast can be easily adjusted with any editting tool. However, overexposure in digital photography simply means loss of data. Even the best photo editting program won't be able to restore the data.

* When you shoot at very low light, pictures won't be very sharp if it's handheld. A tripod or a stable surface will be your best bet.

* Due the narrow depth of field, this lens is not very good for family portraiture or if multiple people are present because someone's face can be out of focus.

* Not good for shooting in a confined space. Since the lens is 50mm and objects will appear closer than seen with naked eyes, you do need to back up physically. If it's a small or crowded room, you might not be able to get the picture you want.

Thrifting

My family has donated numerous times to the Salvation Army over the years. I would say probably at least 10 bags (size of huge trash bags) of clothes, bags, belts, etc. I knew they would make good use out of the stuff that we probably would never, but I never knew that they sell the items. Never heard of thrift store until this year. Yes, I know, I'm little narrow visioned.


Recently I've been watching a lot of thrift store hauls on youtube, and I'm truly inspired. So far, I've been to the thrift store three times. I don't know if you guys recall last Halloween, I scored a chiffon material, white laced dress. It was a little teared, but it was absolutely perfect for me because I dressed up as corpse bride. =D








Earlier last month, I got really intrigued by all the videos and I had asked my mom to go with me to a local Salvation Army store. Initially, she was like "But it's stuff other people have worn and don't want anymore...." So I promised her that it could be just a one time interesting adventure. If we can't find anything good, we'll just get out of there as quickly as we can.



But I ended up finding myself one Bebe lavender blazer and Express grey suit/blazer. The Bebe blazer is totally in for that "boyfriend" trend. It's 100% silk, and the color, oh so fine!!! The Express suit fits me sooooo much better than the BCBG suit that I bought for my vet school interviews, which was about $100 even after 40% off. But those blazers were only $7.99 each.



So I think I'm a little addicted now. Not only about finding cheap thrills, but I love how the money goes toward a good cause. Here are some reasons I think everyone should try thrifting at least once....



1. It's fun
I think the essence of shopping is not just to "buy stuff", but it's about finding something that's cute, comfortable, fashionable, sexy, etc... It's only fun because of the process of looking through random stuff and finally coming across an item that screams you. It's like finding treasures, and it feels very rewarding.


2. It's inexpensive
Who can resist cheap thrills??? Do not deny it!


3. It's unique
The reason why I'm a little deterred from shopping at Forever21 now is because it's so ubiquitous. Every girl in the country or in the world have access to the same garment that you like. And I HATE bumping into people who are wearing the same cloths as me or who tell me "Oh, I have that shirt too!" What you find in the thrift store is most likely no longer available in store or vintage. It's one of a kind.


4. It inspires your creativity.
Of course, not everything comes in perfect condition. A button may be missing or you like the pattern of the skirt, but it's not the current trend. You get to use your imagination to convert it to a trendy and wearable garment. It really makes it even more special.


5. It's environmentally friendly.
To me, the most comforting thought is that by shopping at a thrift store, I'm extending the shelf life of the cloths, bags, shoes, or whatever much much longer. Because a simple gesture of buying a used item, I'm fully utilizing something that took human labor, natural resources, and energy to manufacture. It may not make that much of a difference. But by refraining from buying a brand new item, I may have saved another leaf on a tree or a drop of water in the river. It does add up.



6. It's a good cause.
7. There's no sales tax.
8. There are some ridiculous sales sometimes. (50% off sale, student sale, senior sale, buy 5 and get all at $2, 1lb of clothing for $2, etc)
9. It's good to support (non-corporate) local stores.
10. It's good to get out more, and by "get out", I mean non-mall places.




OK, there are more reasons that I just can't think of right now.


Here are some girls on youtube who always find really amazing deals..... I love watching their videos!!!


http://www.youtube.com/MsPinkFabulous

http://www.youtube.com/tiffytofu

A little update and some pictures from this summer...

I was supposed to go to a veterinary volunteer trip in New Mexico. However, a lot of things have happened recently. Despite all the fundraising effort I put in and all the fun learning experience I was expecting, I decided that it was best to stay home for another week.

One of the things that happened recently was that Diamond got lower urinary tract infection last week. It's a fairly common illness that cats get, but it can be quite serious. I knew she was a little stressed from moving home with me. She showed some signs initially, but has gotten better few weeks ago. Last week, she kept on running around, peeing frequently and peeing and pooping outside of her litter box. She was meowing at me, and I knew something must have gone wrong because she never meows. When I went to her litter box to check, I saw red stains on the carpet and on the kitchen tiles. She was urinating blood!

I'm usually extremely calm when it comes to taking care of other people's animals, but I got so nervous when I saw bloody urine on the floor. So I took her to the humane society I worked at before immediately. Her blood and urine analysis results are still pending, but we decided to treat her empirically with antibiotics since she's had history of UTI before and all the signs fit UTI.

She has gotten a lot better on the first day-- bloody in the urine has become more and more diluted. But she is still regaining her appetite and her confidence in using the litter box again. Sigh.... I'm such a bad mom for ignoring her signs. She still purred and rubbed her head against me even though she must have been in a lot of pain.

Anyways..... On a brighter note, here are some pictures from this summer..... I haven't touched my D80 in a really long time, and I almost forgot how to use it.

I went to Santa Monica with my friends few weeks ago. This bikini set was the one I talked about in my recent haul video. The set was only $15 (compare to ~ $140 originally). This was the first time I've ever worn bikini in the public, so I was a bit shy about taking off the shorts off. LOL

I was told to do a sexy pose..... and this was the awkward pose that I came up with..... Definitely not a model material as you can tell...

Oddly enough, I was just demonstrating to my friends how to do a sexy pose here. Just when I was about to get up, she took the shot. For some reason, this weird pose that lasted 1 milisecond reminded me of the sculpture in front of the Getty Center.

The funny thing is that I did take my family to visit the Getty Center last week, and here is the sculture I'm referring to. Now to look at it, my pose was far less skillful than that of the sculpture. How do you just balance on your hip and keep the legs so low and parallel to the ground....?

Here are some other random photos....

Before/After

I was browsing online, and I came across some pretty amazing before and after pictures. It's amazing how makeup, circle lenses, false lashes, and some photoshop editting can transform a girl! Here are some examples.....

































And last one.... XD








Pretty impressive, huh?

A Caricature of Me =)

Ana or aka evenangelsfalter drew a caricature of me while she was watching my recent haul video. She's such a doll!!! So gorgeous and talented.









This is like my very first caricature.... It was very interesting seeing myself through other people's perspective. Hmm.... Do I appear very masculine? Maybe I should smile more? haha..... I know when I don't smile, I can really ward off a lot of people. That's why I was never popular among boys..... LOL.... oh welll