Maybelline Eyestudio Quads - Review

Hello my lovely bloggies! I've been out of commission for quite a few days! I got sick after my trip to Los Angeles. Had a nasty cold all the way from thursday Feb 18th up until right now as I type. What else has been going on? I have a freaking STYE on my right eyelid!! I haven't worn any eye makeup since last friday!! It's been 5 days *sigh* I miss wearing eyeliner, I feel so naked without it. This stye was pretty painful but thankfully, it went down after a couple of days of meticulous cleansing. Since I haven't really been wearing makeup and can't put any on to show you.. Someone came to visit me the weekend after I went to L.A. to make my surprise visit.. I guess i'll do a random update and review.

yes, this is my face without makeup on. scary, yea? check out that stye!

Anyway. Those who know me know that I also hit up the spa and get a mani/pedi before I go on a trip. Yes, even before I go on a weekend trip to Los Angeles, I get my nails did. A girl has got to make sure she looks properly presentable, mmmmmkay? So before trekked down to El Lay for Valentine's Day I got my nails did!

I used Zoya's "Stephanie" on my nails and OPI's Absolutely Alice from the Alice in Wonderland special collection for my toesies. 

Zoya's Stephanie - very feminine and classy I love it.

 

OPI Absolutely Alice - it's a straight party on my toes

I told Melissa "I'm all business on top, but party on the bottom!"

Maybelline Eyestudio Quad - Give Me Gold

 I was inspired by Holly to try this quad out. She had managed to get this before it arrived in the U.S. Now that it's here... I decided to check it out since Walgreen's had a 40% off thing going on with drugstore brand cosmetics. Normally, I don't use neutral tones or browns but I have been using them lately (before the stye). When I was younger I didn't know how to apply them so I felt like I looked like I had a black eye. Anyways!

The color pay off seems great when you swatch these, but it's a lie :[  I always use Urban Decay Primer Potion on my lids (I have greasy lids) and that usually makes drugstore brand eye shadows last a lot longer. Although I have primer on my lids, the shadows don't last very long. They are also very very easily blendable so you can lose color definition. I also seem to have a problem with constant fall out whenever I use this. I think that it is not pressed well enough. However, I got it for 40% off so I guess this warrants a B- rating. I won't be using it as main eye shadow anymore but I really like the gold so i'll keep it to use as accentuating shadows. 

In Los Angeles, I was browsing through the various shops inside Little Tokyo before dinner. I stumbled upon a dollar store where they sold tons and tons of NYX! I was ecstatic since we don't have any place that sells these in San Francisco. However...All the things I wanted from NYX seemed to escape me. I only remembered that I wanted to try the jumbo eyeshadow pencil in black bean since a lot of YouTube gurus seem to have it.

Very pigmented, color pay off is great but - it creases on my lids despite wearing UDPP. *sigh* not happy with it. I probably won't be using this anymore and will most likely be giving it away. I still want to try their blushes and eye shadows though.

The one thing I picked up recently that I am happy with is this:

 

Neutragena 3 in 1 eye concealer in "light"

• concealer
• eye cream
• spf 20

This Neutragena eye concealer is a concealer for those of you who didn't realize that (ahem, Jocelyn). It gives me exceptionally great coverage under my eyes (I genetically have dark circles. You can see it in my stye picture posted earlier) with only needing to use a teensy little dab. It lasts all day and does not dry out or look cakey. I still wear my usual Shiseido eye cream underneath this but I got tired of using my NARS  concealer because it looks cakey and dried out at the end of the day.  (below) I also got too lazy to apply it with a freaking brush every single morning. I just use my ring finger with the Neutragena concealer :)

There is also a whopping 50% price difference. The Neutragena eye concealer is about $10 and the NARS concealer is $22 =X
If you want to make a switch, I recommend giving the Neutragena brand a try. Besides, you can't go wrong! You can always return/exchange drugstore cosmetics - don't ever forget that!

Friday we did hot pot or "da been lo" as we say in Cantonese at my friend Jocelyn's house.

We had a buttload of food! Seaweed salad, salted seaweed stems, marinated cuttlefish, dried anchovies, squid salad, taro vermicelli knots (my fave), fried tofu pods, spinach, cabbage, shitake & button mushrooms, fish paste, beef rib eye, sliced pork butt, and cod roe stuffed fish eggs. I made various dipping sauces also including a very spicy one w/ lots of Thai chilis that set my mouth on fire. We were all VERY STUFFED.
Saturday I drove down to Santa Cruz for the 29th Annual Clam Chowder Festival. It was pretty fun! It was $8 for a tasting kit: 5 tickets (redeemable at 5 vendors of your choice) 1 biodegradable spoon, paper cup, napkin, and a people's choice ballot. There were 76 different vendors. We each bought a tasting kit and decided to be greedy and share our 10 tickets. No pictures from that day, I forgot! Sorry! Drove us back to San Francisco to have dinner at Boboquivari's. I love their bone in filet mignon. Bad camera phone pic, sorry! It's dark in there, hahaha.

me: how's the twice baked potato? him: good, but it would be better with bacon me: *melt*

EVERYTHING IS BETTER WITH BACON OKAY!?

Sunday was very chill. Just eating , people watching in the rain and relaxing at mi casa.

"So Good" Authentic Belgian Waffle Truck :]

French Onion soup @ Chez Maman

Basic burger + bacon and brie. Frites w/ aioli @ Chez Maman, my absolute favorite burger in the world

Blue Bottle Vietnamese coffee ice cream @ Humphry Slocombe

P.S. I stole these iphone pictures from his Facebook. Just a lil disclaimer for when he sees this, hahahaha.

Just re-did my nails because I got bored.

Zoya "Savita" from the matte collection. This stuff takes a long time to dry. I've had to re-do my pinky nail twice -_-

food break in Los Angeles

Another break from routine beauty blogginess..I flew down to Los Angeles to surprise someone and sort of failed at it. This person was not surprised *sigh* Oh well, it's the thought that counts, yes?
On saturday, 2/13 I managed wake up early enough to trek it to the LA Street Food Fest. Basically, it's all the food trucks you have to chase on Twitter all rolled up in to one big area.
There was an entrance fee of $5. Upon entering, I was given a drink ticket to redeem a full sized non-alcoholic beverage. The sun was beaming so I didn't even want to bother with alcoholic drinks.

 

  

  

the 1st truck I headed to: FrySmith for some foie gras fries

You can follow them here: http://twitter.com/Frysmith

foie gras mousse fries w/ ginger braised leeks, chili cheese fries, rajas fries

 

dogzilla Japanese hot dogs (furikake dog was my fave!) follow 'em here: http://twitter.com/dogzillahotdogs

shaved ice while waiting 2 hours for Ludo Bites. it really hit the spot! I was loving the lychee, Hawaiin Punch, pineapple combo I got :) follow here: http://twitter.com/getshaved 

the Ludo Bites fried chicken balls that took two hours of waiting! 

Thank you again Hansoul, you're a sweetheart!

Brunch @ Urth Caffe in downtown Los Angeles 

 

 the Spanish latte (very strong & good coffee)

  

my prosciutto panini

Valentine's Day aka capitalist Hallmark single awareness day

ankimo (monk fish liver) @ Hama Sushi , Little Tokyo Los Angeles

uni (sea urchin) @ Hama Sushi, Little Tokyo Los Angeles

I ate a bunch of other things like various nigiri, a spicy tuna handroll and salmon skin roll but those aren't worth mentioning or taking pictures of. Well let me rephrase that, the nigiri was good because the fish is extremely fresh at Sushi Hama but I was too hungry to take pictures! Hahaha 

GUNG HAY FOT CHOY!

&

Chúc mừng năm mới!

 

MAC Viva Glam Gaga

A couple things here & there:

• my middle brother's birthday :) i love my brothers and father with all my itsy bitsy cold black heart. they are the leading men in my lives and i wouldn't trade them for nada 143 637!! (old school baby)
• love letter from Tina
• my Viva Glam Gaga review!

 

Happy Birthday!! <333

she gave me Korean tea & a giant blue PEEN. WOOHOO!

 Zoya "Stephanie" i'm still a camera n00b. This pic makes the polish look creamy white but it's actually slightly princess pink too!!

 

$14 all proceeds from the Viva Glam collection go to the MAC AIDS Fund!

Thank you to my girl Melissa for picking it up during lunch for me.

  

it's a lustre so you know it applies sheer. you can  make it as vibrant or sheer as you like!

  

gorgeous cotton candy/Barbie pink

  

L: one swipe R: 6-7 swipes.

has a cool blue undertone, but I am freaking LOVING it on myself. 

Viva Glam Gaga has officially become my #1 fave Mac lippy for it is THEE utmost PERFECT shade of pink.

Let me say it again, THEE PERFECT SHADE OF PINK

For those worried that it won't go with your skin tone, I def recommend swatching it in the store. I think this is a pink that ANY WOMAN ANY SHADE can pull off. With darker skin tones, i'd probably do a dramatic cat eye liner ;] Actually, i'm a sucker for dramatic liner, it goes with nearly everything.

PEACE OUT!! Happy capitalist Hallmark Single Awareness Day to all of you and your loved ones, i'm going MIA for the weekend ;]

Rest in Peace Alexander McQueen

I'd like to take this entry to honor the life of a talented man. He was a designer, an artist.. He reshaped the fashion industry with his creative designs. To call his work "designs" or "couture" would be an understatement. His works were beautiful, beautiful pieces of art, each a masterpiece in their own right.

I am so deeply saddened by his passing. Although I am a mere philistine in the world of fashion (I am just not too fashion savvy), I have always admired his work (despite not being able to afford it) and will continue to do so.

This fashion world is suffering a great loss today, and I am feeling it too. No more will there be brilliance coming from that talented mind of his..

Lee Alexander McQueen

March 17 1969 -  February 11 2010 

 

Rest In Peace

All Saints Sunday (SuperBowl Brees-y!)

My friends and I always enjoy a great potluck dinner. We have this tendency to have themes as well. For SuperBowl Sunday, my friend had agreed on a jersey theme: everyone attending must wear a jersey. His wife (my friend Jocelyn) & I both do not own jerseys. Therefore, I amended the theme and stated that for those without jerseys, you must attend JERSEY SHORE STYLE. That's right, I called us bitches out for the blow outs, poofs, and bronzer!
My friend Thomas (Jocelyn's hubby) had been requesting deviled eggs from me for quite some time now. I made them for a work-related Thanksgiving potluck 2 years ago and Jocelyn brought some home for him. Ever since then, he was hooked. I never really understood the fascination with deviled eggs but this time I made this with a twist.

bacon deviled eggs made w/ Jack Daniel's spicy southern mustard
I am also a bourgeois brees-y that added black truffle sea salt to it. You could definitely taste it!

Thanks to my beezy JY for the deviled egg tray! I left it at your house btw, woops.

I meant to take pictures during the process so I could post up my recipe, but my hands were tied peeling a dozen boiled eggs. I never saw it as a tedious or strenuous task but after having to go through a dozen of those lil feckers, I WANT ONE OF THESE THINGS. I no longer see it as a stupid invention!

We had so much food.. I believe we didn't even touch the bags and bags of Doritos or polish dogs..

 

I had about 4 or 5 plates of food.. That was a few plates too many.

I had to take a nap during the end of the 2nd quarter. Thanks for taking a pic of me napping Jocelyn LOL

Good thing I had Melissa to wake me up for the halftime show.

yeh, you see that poof? Snooki herself would've been proud.

 

No way in Hell I was rooting for the Colts! (thx 4 letting me borrow ur sign Mel!)

my cup = the only time you'll ever see/hear me rooting for a Bush

I'm a perv, I know. You know I had to represent w/ my eyemakeup too!

GO REGGIE! BRING IT HOME FOR KYM BABY!

 

That's my girl Meli right there. We were the rowdiest BREES-ies in the joint!

poofs represent.

 

Thanks for letting us watch at your pad Jocelyn & Thomas!

My highlights of the SuperBowl:

• Betty White Snickers Commercial (sorry Saints & Colts, SHE is the real winner)
• Doritos commerical w/ lil kid slapping his mom's date (a lot of violence in the SB commercials this year, what's up with that?!)
• Drew Brees & his son (too darned precious)

[photo courtesy of Getty Images]

ALL SAINTS

ALL SUNDAY.

SUPERBOWL 44

WHO DAT?

SAINTS

BELIEVE DAT!

p.s. a real make-up or cooking post soon to follow ;]