Here’s the link…click on “watch in high quality” (bottom right of video) for better viewing. The video sucks in normal quality.

I really just wanted to make this tutorial for people who don’t like to wear a lot of makeup, but want to freshen their look up a bit. Really, all you need to do is add some concealer for flaws, some eyeshadow on eyelids, blush, and some eyeliner on upper lash line. That alone will make your look more awake if you’d had a bad previous night. The extra products I used were simple there with me at work when I was making this video, so I thought, ‘what the hell, just use them too’. Plus, they gave me a more finished look. :)

Mine is! =P

I have a combination skin: dry on my cheeks and mouth area, oily on my t-zone area (across the forehead and down my nose). I used to use Neutrogena‘s Oil-free Moisture SPF 15 alot, but when I sweated or had teary eyes…my eyes would sting. Its still a good substitute moisturizer when I’m running low on my absolute fav moisturizer:

Clinique‘s Dramically Different Moisturizing Gel is awesome! It’s so light on my skin. It gives me just the right amount of moisture that my combination skin needs after cleansing. My friend, who has very sensitive, yet oily skin, also loves it too. =) I would highly recommend this product. Just make sure you get the Gel kind, because Clinique’s Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion is very heavy and greasy for oily skin. =)

A lot of Asian people have super straight hair. Therefore, we have super straight eyelashes. To get the flirty lash look and to open my eyes up, I would curl my lashes once and then apply a coat of mascara. Within minutes, my lashes would slowly go back to its original state: straight and slope downward. I believe its because the weight of any mascara brings the lashes down. Errr. It’s the same thing with my hair. If I curl it, it goes back to being straight. I tried switching from mascara to mascara and that seemed to help a little bit. I remember reading a tip from a magazine saying to apply mascara first, then curl. I tried that, and my lashes would stick to the curler, leaving my lashes looking not so great. Finally, I got it down.

First, I would curl my lashes with Shu Uemura‘s EyeLash Curler ($19, the best eyelash curler I ever used). Then, I would do my shadows and eyeliner. Don’t know why I do in that order…just a habit. Then I would apply mascara, making sure I coated every lash. I usually coat both top and bottom lashes. Then, I let the mascara dry. Meanwhile, I’ll do my blush, highlighting, and/or eyebrows. Making sure my eyelash curler is clean so my lashes won’t stick, I curl it for the second time. My lashes stay curled for hours, depending how heavy the mascara formula is. Lately, I’ve been using only CoverGirl‘s Lash Blast and Neutrogena‘s Healthy Volume mascara.

My left eye is the one I curled twice and the one on the right is curled once. I used Neutrogena’s Healthy Volume mascara, which held up the longest. =)

My reviews on some mascaras below:

I’ve used my share of mascaras. Most of them from drugstores. I don’t bother buying the real expensive ones all the time because mascaras are usually good for 2-4 months, depending on how often you use ‘em. My favorite mascaras happen to be from drugstores anyways. Flutter 411:

Neutrogena‘s Healthy Volume ($9): I really like this mascara. One of my favorites. =) It gives me great length and volume. Since it’s a light-weight formula, it can greatly hold a curled lash for a long time. Clump free. I really like the full wand on this brush; It brushes through smoothly. This one just gives me nice, natural &”healthy” looking lashes. =P

Maybelline‘s Define-A-Lash ($8): For a couple weeks, this was my favorite mascara. It’s similar to CoverGirl’s Lash Blast, but it didn’t give as much volume and it dried up really quickly on me. It has a very flexible wand, so it was easy to get every lash…hence the product name.

Revlon‘s 3d Extreme ($10): Okay…I just bought this mascara yesterday. I was really excited to try this one out, mainly because the casing is so pretty and sleek. Tried it and hated it! By far, this was the clumpiest mascara I ever put on. The wand was really small, which I thought would be good to get a hold of each lash, but the bristles on it was hard and short. Didn’t even brush through my lashes. I felt like I took a small stick, dipped it in mascara product, and ran that along my lashes. I didn’t like it at all. If you really like clumpy looking lashes, this is the product for you. =P

Neutrogena‘s Clean Lash Tint: I thought the case of this was really cute and “clean”. But the product wasn’t enough for me. It obviously never clumped because I barely saw or felt any product go on my lashes. My lashes are black, so I get why I didn’t see it. I believe this mascara is for women who just want color on their lashes. It didn’t hold a curl and it doesn’t give any length/volume because it is only a lash “tint”.

CoverGirl‘s Lash Blast ($9): This mascara is one of my favorites. It gives me great volume and length. Does not clump. Holds a curl pretty good. The wand on this one makes it easy to wiggle in close to the base of your lashes. I actually really like the volume this mascara gives me, but it doesn’t hold a curl as long as Neutrogena’s Healthy Volume Mascara. So its a tie between those two. =)

tarte‘s lights, camera, lashes! ($18): This mascara was good, but not great. It reminded me of Maybelline’s Define-A-Lash because it dried out on me fast too. It did give me good length and volume. Held a curl good. It can get a little clumpy though. The wand seemed to have messy bristles to me.

benefit‘s get bent lash ($19): This one was okay. Didn’t hold a curl like the product said, but it gave me good length. I didn’t stick to this one that long. Don’t know exactly why. Guessing it wasn’t so good enough for me to. I think the bent wand is just a selling pitch. =P

Imju‘s Fiberwig mascara ($22): Fun one right hurr. Hehe. This mascara was like eyelash extensions in a bottle. Tiny micro-fibers attached and coated my real lashes, giving me great lengthened lashes. It was clump-free and never irritated my eyes. I need to get more of this one. I don’t really like putting false lashes on, so this is a great alternative. A really fun product. Available at Sephora. Bravo! =)

So yeah…those are some mascaras that I have tried and my opinions on them. My top picks: Neutrogena Healthy Volume Mascara, CoverGirl Lash Blast, and Imju Fiberwig.

EDIT: December 25, 2009 Last year, this post is really how I felt at the time. After doing some more online researching, looking at my friend’s nosejob, and reading other people’s blog about the same issue, I’ve decided to not get it done. The procedure wouldn’t be worth it. The time and money to get it done could go towards something else I want, like braces or a real savings. Lol. And besides, I might end up with a bad nosejob. Yikes…
So, I am embracing my nose now. This nose is a part of who I am. I have an Asian nose, and I’m proud of it.
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Look at that nose. So fat, round, and ugly. =P I want a slight nose job. I have alot of “meat” on the tip of my nose. Me no like-ee. Rhinoplasty is the only plastic surgery I would consider getting. I’ve seen other Asian women get nose jobs and they always get it too skinny and pointy. I would like the tip of my nose to be a bit skinnier, not too rounded…not pointed at all. Hmm…one day. Or maybe one day I will just except my nose for what it is. Haha. But for now, I hate it. =P

Here are a few examples I found from The Khan Center and Good Plastic Surgery. =)