Tutorial: Tokidoki Bag Organizer

Materials

1. fabric that can withstand heat from ironing (ex. cotton)
2. double sided interfacing (Flexi Form)
3. colored thread (similar color to the fabric)

4. needle
5. elastic strips (1 per pocket)
6. ruler
7. scissor
8. [optional] Dritz Liquid Stitch (see pic on the right)

Design for Tokidoki Stellina

• You can shorten the height of the organizer from 17cm slightly.  I found this dimension to be slightly tall.

Blue & White Strips

Lately I have been thinking of ways to use two of my newly acquired nail polishes. Last Sunday while going through my nail art image plates (from bundlemonster on Amazon), I found the perfect solution.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are 4 thousand words at once.

What I used:

Nicole by O.P.I. Party In the Penthouse + Gosh silver + Poshe fast drying top coat

First I started off with 2 layers of blue nail polishes.  Wait for it to dry a bit. Next, from the BM20 plate, I transferred these pretty silver strips on top of the blue nail polishes.

And here you have designs that remind me so much of Hershey's kisses. Yum~ 

Without flash....

I love how these image plates give you really professional looking manicure.  I would say even better than the ones I had from a beauty salon a week ago.  hmm...I still can't stop staring at my nails.  ^_^

Review: Avon Anew Clinical Eye Lift

I'm blessed with double eyelids but the depth of the cut was different on my two eyes.  As I get older, the droopiness seems to make this difference more obvious.  Hence, my search for a good eye cream began.

So far, the only eye cream I've used is the Olay Definity eye illuminator which only helps with discoloration.  After reading some reviews, I ordered this Avon Eye Lift gel/cream.

Lid off~ The container is pretty small and cute. 

There is a protective cover to prevent the gel and cream from leaking or mixing.

Top: upper eye gel, Bottom: under eye cream

Information on the packaging:

 Product information about the gel and the eye cream.

Ingredients

The first time i tried this, I thought I saw immediately result after sleeping with this serum on.  However, I'm not sure whether I was just seeing things.  I have been using this serum/cream for 4-5 months and I don't see too much difference anymore. 

What I found

• Nice texture: the lower cream is super moisturizing and very soft
• Upper gel glides on your lids nicely 
• Not sure about the lifting effect. 
• The duo-pocket packaging is not really practical.  Some mixing of the gel/cream near the lid occurs very easily. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5

Overall: I'm not sure what to think about this after so long.  I was using it continuously for a few months.  However, even after stopping for 2-3 weeks, I don't really notice much difference.  Maybe it wasn't that much effective on me to start with.

Having fun with nail art & rhinestones (LOTS!)

Recently, I became interested in nail arts. I found these packages of colorful rhinestones and beads from a local store and thought I just had to try these out.  Would you look at these gorgeous beads and rhinestones?  Seriously, click on it and look at the full size photo!  They are eye candies~

 If you see my previous gothic nails (3D nail deco with Konad), this would be my second attempt with these glue-on 3D nail decoration.  Without further ado, here are my nails...

I was going for an elegant style that mimics the feel of those Japanese/Korean acrylic nail arts, which couldn't (shouldn't?) be duplicated exactly by regular nail polish.  The decorating was fun but not so easy.  Mind you my 10 nails took a FEW hours to do with countless re-do's.

First attempt with Konad and nail decoration~

Work has kept me busy, which led to no posting for such a long time.  >_<  So here is a quick post about the nails I did today.  I have been dying to try the Konad nail art.  I was trying for a Gothic feel and here are the results.....

Pardon me for the cracked skin....I only remembered to moisturize them after I saw how badly dehydrated they were in the photos.

I'm still a novice in both Konad and 3D nail arts.  I realized half way through that the designs were a bit too different on each nails.  However at that point,  I just couldn't bare myself to redo everything again.  Any how, I'm quite satisfied for my first attempt!

Review: Clean & Clear finishes pore perfecting moisturizer

I can't resist showing you a lovely pic of my newly-acquired stuff animal. Ta da~  Squirt from Finding Nemo. Unfortunately he is not the main focus of this post. Look closer, closer, much closer! I actually want to talk about the moisturizer in its hands (or perhaps feet?).

So here it is...Clean & Clear finishes pore perfecting moisturizer

 

According to Clean & Clear, 

it softens the appearance of pores with light diffusing minerals to give you a beautiful, smooth finish. It’s lightweight, oil-free and won’t clog pores.

Active Ingredients: Avobenzone (3%), Octisalate (5%), Octocrylene (1.7%), Oxybenzone (3%)

What I like about it....

• SPF15
• oil free but fairly moisturizing
• no heavy or sticky feeling on the skin
• mattifies the skin
• very cheap 
• no sparkles (although it mentions about light diffusing minerals, not visible to my eyes at least)
• hygiene packaging: sleek squeezable tube

This moisturizer is fairly moisturizing even for the Canadian fall weather.  However, I did have to put on a bit more than during the summer time.  I am not so sure how it would perform during the upcoming winter time though.  I would say this is a cheap and effective moisturizer.  Don't expect anything fancy but it'll do the job.  I didn't experience any noticeable changes to my skin, which is not very sensitive to begin with.

Score: 4 out of 5

Overall: Great day moisturizer for the ones with skins that don't require special treatment.  I would recommend giving it a try.  I might repurchase it if I run out of my moisturizer stock.

Lastly, we have Squirt again...

Graduated and got my dream job!

Ever since I defended and officially stopped being a grad student earlier this June, I have been slowly job hunting and doing some more work for my professor.  Just as I was about to give up, I accidentally came across a job opening in the area similar to what I studied during undergrad.  I'm proud to announce that I have landed the job the beginning of September and have since started working at the company.  However, with my day day and night works (being one of the decoration personnel for my sister's wedding), I couldn't find any ME-time during the past month, let alone blogging.  Sorry for neglecting my blog. 

However, I have yet figured out a balance with my work and blogging.  Hopefully I'll be able to keep posting some odds and ends about makeup and skincare very soon!  ^________^