so stressed out…

Here are some pictures on my drive up to Michigan, mostly of my babies. Since we have two small dogs and a manual car (switch I don’t drive yet), we stopped for sleep in three places.
We went from Naples, FL to Jacksonville, FL (ocean pictures), Jacksonville to Concord, NC. Concord to Cleveland, OH. Ended in Bloomfield, MI. We took this route because it’s a more scenic route than taking I-75 all the way.

West Virgina was very beautiful to drive through because of the mountain chain. I’m from MI, very flat land, so seeing the mountains was very cool.

My babies: the blonde dog is Cooper. The dark dog is Kiwi. I love them. They are like my kids. Picky eaters, stubborn, needy, rowdy, wants-each-other’s-toy, wants-each-other’s-food, way too frickin’ cute, whiny, pain-in-the-ass, etc.

Oh, sorry for the small sized pictures. My camera phone that I use as a camera was on the wrong setting. The last five pictures are better sized because they were taken with my active phone.
Click to enlarger a little.

Today I decided to play with some makeup [I have so much time on my hands]. Lol. I figured I should try following one the Youtube makeup tutorials since I watch them so much. And plus, they are “tutorials”…meant to be copied. As you know, I pretty much just watch Pixiwoo over and over again. I can’t stress how much I love their channel.
So the look I tried to do was the Pink 1920s eyes that Courtney Love asked Samantha (one of the sisters of Pixiwoo) to make a video of.

Here’s the video:

Here’s the picture the video is inspired by:
Photo/Makeup is from Illamasqua’s Fantasy collection as Sam mentioned.

Again, sorry of the small pictures:

My look is FAR from being exact (mine is obviously more purple). That wasn’t my purpose. I just wanted to test my technique and to play around.

The products I used:
Revlon Colorstay with Softflex for combination/oily skin foundation.
Coastal Scents 88 eyeshadow palette
Too Faced Glamour to-Go II palette
MAC Pigment Powder in Vanilla
Benefit eyeBright (it’s a pencil concealer but I love using it as an eyeliner for the waterline to brighten your eyes, it’s a baby pink)
MAC Zoom Lash mascara
Ardell Individual Lashes in Medium Length and a pair of 135 full lashes (individuals on top, the fulls on bottom)
Duo Lash Glue
Coastal Scents 10 blush palette
MAC Select-Cover Up concealer
MAC Lip Pencil in Burgundy
Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry
Loreal HIP Color Chrome Eyeliner in Black Shock (my lipstick wasn’t dark enough so I put eyeliner over it)
Make Up Forever HD Microfinish Powder (love this product, makes my skin looking smooth and matte)

After doing this look, it makes me want different false lashes and more brushes. I have alot of brushes from MAC and Sephora, but it’s like, once you start buying them, you can’t stop. Lol.
I tried Pixiwoo’s trick with using a blending brush to apply concealer rather than an actual concealer brush. They use MAC’s 224 tapered blending brush that is meant for blending eye shadows. The only blending brush I have is MAC’s 217. Works great! Concealer brushes are usually made with synthetic. Blending brushes are made of natural bristles. I have a concealer brush from Bare Minerals. I never really liked it because it made my concealer look streaky. I usually just use my finger. Now, I love using a blending brush. ^^

About Coastal Scents eyeshadows:
I got the 88 piece (matte) and 88 ultra shimmer shadow palettes almost a year ago. People review them all the time and most rave about ‘em.
To be honest, I’m not that impressed with the shadows. The color range is great, but the quality is what it is. You get what you pay for, in this case. A 88 piece palette is less than $20 each. When you swirl your finger on it to test the color, it looks high pigmented. But once you put it on your lids (at least mine), it does stay on. With these shadows, you definitely need to apply a primer/foundation/concealer on your lids beforehand. If you don’t, the shadow easily wipes off. I like them only to experiment with. I thought that once I bought these palettes, I wouldn’t need or want to buy anymore shadows, but that’s not true.
And oh yeah..the shimmer palettes, not that impressive either. The shimmer in it is a bit tacky for me. Maybe the shimmer is too young for me? (I’m 25). I think my sister would like it, who is ten years younger than me. The only colors I like out of the shimmer palette is the silvers/grays, black, and browns.
So do I think the shadows are worth it? Again, they’re great for the price you pay for them.

I have some of NYX eyeshadow trio eye palettes and their shadows are better than Coastal Scents. And they’re prices are very affordable as well. I think I would rather buy NYX’s 78 color palette, which is $25. I don’t have that palette (not yet), but I do have NYX shadows.

Enough of that.
I think I’ll do another Youtube look tomorrow. ^^

I’m pissed off right now. I was about finished bloggin’ about my update on my passions. About how I don’t want to finish beauty school because I realized I actually love doing nails (I can do nails already if you don’t know by now) and hate doing hair. About college..continuing education in a field that has nothing to do with the beauty industry.
Also a little bit about me being back in Michigan again…drove up from Florida thru GA, NC, SC, VA, WV, and OH…which was beautiful because of the Appalachian Mountains. Pictures later.

The entry I was going to post was really long. I pretty much summed it up for ya. Err. I was looking up something on Google and a .pdf file opened up. I pressed Command + Q (Mac) to quit Adobe, and yeah…you know what happened.

shit.

Some things I am (currently and forever) obsessed with/addicted to :

(No surprise.) Having my nails polished. I’ve said this once before. I always have nail polish on my fingernails and toenails. I either wear a color or a nail strengthener. Type of colors I mainly wear: blues, purples, nudes, sheer pinky whites, pinky-corals, greens, and grays.
I am also very picky with how my polish looks. When I do have another nail tech polish my nails, I point out spots they missed. I know it annoys them, but that just how I am. A pet peeve is when the second coat goes on and there’s like a dip (where you can see my natural nail) near the cuticle from the brush being brushed on too hard. That’s a reason why I like to wear three coats most of the time. I like my nails to be completely covered..cleanly, of course. >:)
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YouTube Videos. I’m pretty much on Youtube everyday. I mainly watch videos of people singing (people doing cover songs), dancing, artist’s live performance (to see how good they really are), video game gameplay (to cheat =X or to preview a game before I purchase), and makeup gurus. I love reading the comments too. Some people can be very ridiculous and some people are just right on.

My fav Youtubers with a video I like»

Music»
Erin Paula – Shontelle “Impossible” Cover

Erika David – Katy Perry “Thinkin’ Of You” Cover & Beyonce “EGO” Cover

Roxanne – Musiq Soulchild “Don’t Change” Cover

Jayne – Alicia Keys “Unthinkable” ft Summerbreeze Acoustic Cover. This is one of my favorite covers. I actually like this better than the original (and I hardly ever say that). Sorry Keys. :P

Marie Digby – “Feel” Live in Studio & Love with a Stranger. These songs are originals of hers. (I think mixed babies/people are so pretty. She’s half Japanese and Irish.)
All of her cover songs are great. She really makes them her own:
Britney Spears “Gimme More” Cover
Lady Gaga “Telephone” Cover

Esmee Denters – Showcase: “Admit it”, “Love Dealer”, Just Can’t Have It”, “Outta Here”. She’s a YouTube star, signed under Justin Timberlake. In this video, Jayne (mentioned above) is a back up singer. Her voice is so unique to me.

Beauty Gurus»

My favorite is Pixiwoo. Sisters, Samantha & Nicola. Both professional makeup artists with 15+ years of experience.
Pixiwoo has a personal Youtube channel as well: PixiwooMadness
Nicola:
Deep Purple New Years Party Look
Raquel Welsh makeup
Summer Evening Smokey Purple
Summer Pastel
Drag Queen Makeup

Samantha:
Dark Glossy Eyes
Modern Gothic
Beth Ditto ‘creative liner’
Ramble Ramble love this video. Watch it. I think every woman/lady/girl should watch this.
Simple Makeup really cool false lashes

Ma-chin/binosusume. Really great hair tutorials, mainly up-dos: Hair Bow

Queenie Chan. So pretty. I mainly watch her for her travelling, beauty treatments, eating, and shopping. She has some good makeup ones too. She’s just really entertaining to me, even though I don’t understand what she is saying. She has English text though. She has a lot going on: artist, beauty guru, flight attendant, model, tv presenter, beauty columnist, cookbook writer…I also like seeing her culture. I believe she lives in Hong Kong. I would love to go there…

AsianCookingMadeEasy. Learn to make Chinese & Chinese-American dishes. Fortune cookies, Har Gow (dim sum), Pork Buns, etc. I’ve tried the Honey Walnut Shrimp. I did a post about it before. Yummy!

TranCanCook. Learn to make Vietnamese dishes!! Yummy. I’m happy about this channel. I watched my dad cook all the time when I was young, but I never re-created the dishes myself. I hope they make alot of videos. Lol.
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Games. This makes me a real dork. I love playing the flash games on fb. Which ones are those? Playfish: Country Story, Hotel City, Restaurant City, and My Empire. And Zip Zap: Baking Life (a new one, which I’m loving). I can’t help it. I love the decorating/designing.

And I’m forever a gamer. Rented Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. I will have to purchase that one. I also want the Zelda: Spirit Tracks for DS. I saw on YouTube that the new Legend Zelda: Skyward Sword for Wii will be coming out in 2011. I think the graphics are phony for the Wii because Zelda: Twilight Princess were amazing for Zelda. TPrincess was more dark and mysterious. SSword will be more cartoony/colorful like how Spirit Tracks and Phantom of the Hourglass (DS). I still want it though. I love Zelda.

I’m always playing a game. (I have too much free time :X). I play my fb games everyday. And when I go to bed, I’m on my phone playing puzzles. Pathetic!!
I think I have a problem.
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My skin. I don’t miss a day and night without cleansing my face. I have to wash my face every morning and night or else I’ll just feel soo dirty. I carry oil-blotting papers with me all the time during the day if I go anywhere. I hate that my t-zone areas are so oily. My skin produces excessive sebum, causing mainly my nose to be covered in comedones (learned that in school :P). Comedones is the technical term for blackheads/whiteheads. I saw a video from BeautyQQ (Youtube) where she gets hers lasered off. Queenie has gorgeous skin! When I’m back on my feet again with work, I would consider getting that done. Whiteheads are a huge and forever struggle of mine. The only way I can get rid of them is by extracting them myself after a steamy shower. I believe I will always have this problem because my face produces too much sebum/oil. *sigh. If I get the surgery, I will be sure to let ya guys know.
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Well, that’s all for now.

Finally, a new update!

^^ Sorry peeps. My blog has been down and I’ve been busy with the kids (my doggies), visiting back home to Michigan, school, games, and laziness. Ha.

Taking some time off of school. Thought I visit MI to see everyone and everything I missed, including food. :P

First thing I did when I got off the plane was visit one of my ex-co-worker/friend. It was her son’s birthday. My friend got me chopping up veggies & herbs for her. Lol. I got to eat some home cooked Asian food for once.

Noodles, pork meat, pork intestines (I think, not really my favorite, but I ate it), thai basil, cilantro, pork blood cubes, curry sauce/soap. It was sooo good.

I worked at my old job to help out for Memorial weekend and prom season. Yes, I worked on my vacation. Might as well, because almost everyone I wanted to visit does nails, so I either wait for ten hours for them to get off work, or I make myself useful.
It was real nice to see my old clients. ^^ They’re the best. It just so happens that my old client, Heather came without knowing I was there. I always hook her up with craziness. She got a pedicure with flowers on the two big toes, like the ones I did a tutorial for on here. And she got an acrylic fill with designs on all ten.

Saw Sex and the City 2 while I was up there. It didn’t wow me much. The first movie was better. Shoo…the television series are wayyy better. I highly recommend getting the dvds of all six seasons.

Stayed with one of my bffs the whole time I was there. Alex has a cat that’s as big as my older dog, Cooper. Twelve pounds. That cat scares me a little. Lol. When you’re wearing jeans, he thinks your leg is a scratching post. He nailed me one time with his claws. I bled a little. My friend later clipped the nails. Lol. He’s scary, but still real cute. He’s all gray so his name is Серый  (sye-riy). Means gray in Russian.

He’s cute, but I’m still a dog person. :P

Went to DEMF: Detroit Electronic Music Festival. It was fun. Alot of people were there. The music was good, but not great. Maybe I went on the wrong day/night. Lol. It was cool seeing people in their outfits. Saw lots of girls in like clubby-raverish-gothic-harajuku outfits. Some were really cute. I would have worn it if I was like thirty pounds lighter. Wish I would have taken more pictures. Saw some old friends that I went to elementary thru high school with in Hazel Park.
There were like four-five major stages. Pictures are with my roomies when I was up there. Alex and her hubby, Andrei.

I miss the restaurants in MI. First two pictures from Me’ne Sushi in West Bloomfield. Alex and I got sushi (Eel roll and salmon skin roll) and we each got bimbimbap. I always joke and say Alex is my Asian sister because she can eat like an Asian. She even likes stuff I wouldn’t eat, like Durian. Yuck. She was probably Asian in her past life. Lol. She’s clearly not Asian, she’s Amercian, French and Sicilian/Italian descent.
Third picture, I got some dim sum with my cousin Sandi at Shangri-la also in West Bloomfield. Chicken feet (pretty much as far as I go when eating weird stuff), baby octopus, black bean spare ribs, har gow (shrimp dumpling), shrimp balls, shu mai, fried taro balls, shrimp rice roll, chinese donut wrapped in rice roll, etc etc. I LOVE dim sum.
No pictures: I also went to my cousin, Sandi’s restaurant. If you live by Madison Heights in MI, go to Thuy Trang Restaurant 12.5 mile on John R for some badass Vietnamese food. And I’m not just saying it because they’re family to me. Sigh…I would love some goi cuon and pho right now.

Besides eating my face off and working, I visited family and went shopping. When I visited my dad at the salon he works at, I did a polish change to help out. Lol. Funny how I can just pop in out of nowhere in some lady’s salon I don’t know and help her out. Usually happens to me all the time. I visit a family or friend at their salon, I do a services. Fill here. Manicure there.

Visited my brother. Everytime we see each other, we mostly talk about music. “Have you heard of this, have you heard of that.” Almost like a music knowing battle. Lol. We have rock and indie music in common. I’ll have to share a playlist with ya later.

I went to Somerset alot. Love that mall. I had to stop by Urban Outfitters. The closest one to where I live in FL is an hour and a half away. Stuff that I got? I’ll do another post for that.

Think I’m gonna play some xbox now. I forgot how long blogging can be.
What game am I playing now? Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. I really like it. The only other Prince of Persia I’ve played was Prince of Persia 2008 on xbox360. I liked that game but I didn’t love it. Most of the time you just collect light seeds. I liked that part, but when it came to fighting, it was a little annoying. I wanted more free fighting. Only thing I did like about the fighting was Elika giving a helping hand.
The Forgotten Sands definitely has more action. I haven’t played the Sands of Time to compare it too, but from the looks of it on Youtube it’s pretty similar. Way better graphics. Puzzles are there. Signature jumping & running actions are all there. What’s really cool is his power to control the elements. For Prince to do his jumps and runs against walls, he needs the power to solidify water. Some mysterious magical woman gives him the power to do so. I think it’s pretty cool. Youtube the gameplay or just rent it and see for yourself. Good stuff.

I’m getting a little annoyed with people always comparing games to God of War now. I admit, I said it once about a game (Dante’s Inferno). I watched my brother play Dante’s Inferno and realized it didn’t look too bad of a game. I played the game for like an hour and quit because I was judgmental. Just because a game has energy/power orbs doesn’t mean its totally like God of War. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the God of War franchise. I’ve seen people comment on Youtube about Prince of Persia is like GoW just because of the orb collecting. Big whoop. Fable II has orb collecting….far from being like GoW. Sorry, I just let ignorant people’s comments on Youtube annoy me from on all kinds of videos. Beauty, music covers, etc.
Lol. Had to rant a smidge.