notd: opi black onyx + loreal hidden gems

hi guys! yesterday i went over to bbb and picked up loreal hidden gems polish. this is one of those "sand" textured polishes, but i didn't really like how my swatch on the nail wheel came out...so i went with the following instead: opi nail envy (2x) as base coat, opi black onyx (1x) as base color, loreal hidden gems (1x) on top, and nyc grand central station (2x) as topcoat. ~Lin-chan ^.~

update: here's the nail wheel swatch: 3 coats, no topcoat. (far right)

DIY: cute glass makeup brush holders

hi guys! i thought this would be a cute xmas gift idea if you want to try it out!

materials needed:

glass vase	a disposable palette for the paint (i used a paper plate)
glass paint of your choice (i've got decoart/americana pink glitter)	q-tips (if needed)
stencils (if desired, i have 2 sets of decoart/americana's curly alphabet ags-203) paint brushes (i have some cheap foam ones) newspaper	painter's tape (if desired/needed)           ribbon & hot glue (if desired for decoration)           oven (optional, to make dishwasher-safe)

total cost: $20-25

 

i actually already made one before deciding to post about it so here's my findings...this process was so much better the second time around. i only had one stencil set the first time, and now that i have two, it made things a lot easier/better. make sure the stencils are flush against the glass before painting, or you will get paint in places you don't want it...like under the stencil, which defeats the purpose of a stencil..........

first start off by peeling any labels off the vase and wash and dry it thoroughly. set up your work area on top of newspaper. wipe surface with rubbing alcohol. place the stencils where desired and begin to paint. when you're finished painting, carefully remove the stencils and wash them as directed on the package. as directed on the paint bottle, to make it dishwasher-safe, allow 4 days to dry, then place it into a non-preheated oven on a cookie sheet for 30 minutes on 275°F. after the timer goes off, leave it in the oven with the door open to cool.

 
before & after removing stencils

some of the paint got under the stencils in some places, so after i let it dry for a while, i scraped at it with one side of a pair of tweezers (tweezerman slant stainless steel pair) and it cleaned it up quite nicely. then i baked it.

and here's our finished product! ~Lin-chan ^.~

after baking

it's that time again!

finals week, next week. not christmas, yet. sadly. here's how things are lookin'. wish me luck! ~Lin-chan ^.~

pre-final grades/needs (when)
econ 2035: D -- 75 to get C (monday afternoon)
fin 3716: B -- 95 to get A (monday morning)
isds 3107: 81 to keep A (tuesday morning)
isds 3110: 82 to keep A (friday morning)
isds 4120: A (took final today)

final grades:
econ: .. D (at the very least, it's not a "'C' or better" class)
fin:     90 A
3107: 91 A
3110: 86 B
4120: 93 A

november hauls

  

hi guys! here's my monthly hauls post. a lot of these purchases were made while xmas gift shopping. so yeah. anywho, here's what i got! ~Lin-chan ^.~

artestile buttercup kit & studded bag--giveaway win from thefabzilla

 
swatches: complex, demure, strawberry milk, milk, black bean

1. bbw: 2 for $22 candles! fresh balsam & lemon mint leaf, forever midnight perfume
2. cvs: revlon lippies in complex & demure

 

left: giovanna, 2nd: kotori

1. zoya: for halloween, they were having free shipping and a free polish, so i got giovanna and kotori.
• kotori is more of a sheer, dark-based polish with blue shimmer particles
• giovanna is a gorgeous metallic emerald
2. cvs: nyc smooth skin pressed powder
3. target: nyc smooth skin loose poweder, nyx jumbo eye pencil trio (strawberry milk, milk, black bean)
• i've decided to give milk a second try. i didn't like it the first time i bought it, but maybe now that i've become better at makeup application, we'll give it another shot.
4. amazon: used ebates* credits & opinion outpost* points to get a sigma F80 & joby gorillapod original
• if you buy sigma products through amazon, make sure the seller is authorized and listed on the sigma website
• gorillapods are a type of camera tripod with ball-jointed legs so that you can position them onto any surface, gripped or wrapped around different surfaces like rocky terrains or railings.

 
fishwife, pretty in plum, bluecoat, bluecoat & leccy

1. beauty.com: had a couple drugstore.com dollars to spend, and i saved up some opinion outpost* points, so i got butter london holiday ice lacquer and overcoat duo (bluecoat & leccy), nicole by opi selena gomez pretty in plum, elf studio powder brush (the flat-topped one), and a travel-size of psssst! dry shampoo. i've suddenly gotten an interest in trying dry shampoo out and i needed a little bit more to get to the $35 free shipping anyway.
2. beauty.com part 2: (20% off friends and family sale) butter london fishwife, pair of sea bands to try when i get nausea from migraines (ytmmbi: frmheadtotoe)

• sephora vib sale: clinique clarifying lotion 3 & dramatically different moisturizing gel, benefit rockateur blush, becca the one perfecting brush, dior creme de rose lip balm, benefit gimme brow in medium/deep, l'occitane hand cream in cherry blossom; tote bag, urban decay 500 point gift
• not impressed by the creme de rose..so it got returned. it chapped me and i didn't realize that it literally is rose scented...(more like i didn't totally read the description....)
• i think i'm going to leave rockateur in it's box; i deboxed all my other benefit blushes but i really like the packaging on this one
• code-samples with other sephora xmas-gift purchases: too faced better than sex mascara, benefit creaseless cream shadow in no pressure!, sephora merry crazy sample blitz in holly jolly nourishment

brownie, petal, inspired, rockateur, gimme brow, no pressure!, mushroom (swatched over ud antiaging primer)

1. tarte's website was having a free full-size glamazonian clay lipstick of my choice (inspired) with a holiday item purchase. so, score i got a free lipstick by buying an xmas present, and they sent me some bag tags
• note: that is the lipstick fully dispensed. like for real. whattttttttt? so tiny!
2. ulta 20% off sale: opi nail envy (original), essence nail art dry drops, nyx butter balm in brownie, the body shop olive body butter mini from the 6pc set (not pictured: 2x earth therapeutics soothing beaded gel eye masks--great for migraines when frozen!)

 

michaels: they have these cute ornament kits for $1-5 for kids and i really liked this one...for me! but he came out a little funny. cute, but funny. haha.

*Affiliate link.

review: nume curl jam set - fashionista flat iron

hi all. so all the way back in march, i ordered the nume curl jam set. i had a coupon, and paid $74+12ship ($86) on top for this set. well, when i ordered it, it was major back ordered and didn't actually arrive until the later part of may. to my surprise, they included a free thermal pouch and their moisturizing shampoo & conditioner in my package (see review of those here).

when i first ordered this set, i was torn between the curl jam set and the 4play. i decided on this set because there was an extra barrel in the 4play that was an "ok, whatever" to me (the reverse 9-13mm) and the curl jam had a flat iron and only the three barrels. the flat iron in this set was originally intended to be my chi's replacement (see post here), but it took forever to arrive and i've decided that i'm just going to keep one here and one at the in-law's so i don't have to worry about bringing one back and forth whenever i want to straighten my hair.

i haven't finished testing out the tri-effect wand yet, but i wanted to get this up here, since you can purchase the fashionista flat iron separately anyway. so, on to the review! ~Lin-chan ^.~

update 8/1/14: i still have not worked on my post for the tri-effect wand. know that my curl jam set is from march 2013 and that they have since changed the design of this set.

fashionista flat iron:

• the design of the temperature setting on this is horrible. the lowest setting is 140°F and the highest is 410°F, but it doesn't have an easily viewable line as to indicate temperature milestones (it's a tapered thin to thick line), so you can just flip the wheel to whatever setting and just run with it: it's somewhere between 140° and 410°! also, unlike my one 'n only argan heat flat iron, the temperature wheel doesn't lock in place, so if you inadvertently move it, it will change the temperature. pending on how you hold the flat iron, it's not likely that you'll hit the temperature wheel, but not impossible. also, the flat iron has two LED lights inside, a green and a red. both lights will light up when you turn it on. when the iron is at your desired temperature, the green LED will shut off, leaving the red on.
• i don't particularly like how this iron doesn't stay consistently hot. i feel like when i first start using it, it's great, but then about four strands later, it's cooled down to where the green LED is back on. it's kind of annoying because my argan heat iron seems to maintain consistent heat until i'm finished using it. i feel like i'm wasting more time using this iron because i'm waiting for it to heat back up again.
• the plates seem particularly fond of my heat protectant. i feel like i have to clean them off after every use because they accumulate quite a bit of residue. blehhh.
• overall: not impressed, it's only ok.