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.

I already posted a blog about mascara, but I feel I need to again to share my thoughts. I was going to do some research on mascara, reading site after site, but I didn’t need to. Thanks to Wikipedia. ^^

Wikipedia: Mascara.

I always find it interesting to read about the history of cosmetic products. Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with it. Also, I won’t get into the ingredients because I haven’t even heard of ‘em. Guessing most people wouldn’t either. All that matters is how it works and if it’s safe.

Mascara…why even use it?
It can make small eyes appear bigger.
It can make tired eyes look rested.
It make me ugly eyes prettier&/sexier. Kidding. Everyone’s eyes are pretty. Mascara can boost them up.
It make add effect to your makeup like make a winged/cat eyeliner catty.

The differences between regular and waterproof mascara is pretty obvious.
Regular mascara:
It can run when in contact with water/moisture: rain, your tears, your sweat, oils on your face (when your lashes touch undereye area and rub off because of the oils on your face).
The formula is water based.
Can be washed off pretty easily with just facial cleanser and water.
Comes in a variety of different colors.
Not a good idea to wear on your wedding day or on an occasion tears may happen.

Waterproof mascara:
It won’t run off/down.
It may flake after a while over having it on.
Can be a pain to take off.
The formula is oil/wax based. The best and sometimes the only way to get it off is with a makeup remover.
It’s a drier formula, therefore it can dry out your lashes.
The ideal mascara to wear for weddings…etc.
Usually just comes in black or brown. I never seen any waterproof colored mascaras. I’m sure there are some out there.

I think I covered most of the differences. I saved the biggest difference for last.
This may not be true with you, but it is with me.
Waterproof mascara is the best for keeping lashes that have been curled with an eyelash curler, curled. I’m not alone on this. I’ve read other women feel the same way.
It does not matter how dry the formula or what kind of wand/brush a regular mascara has, my lashes won’t stay curled. Nope, not even the “curling mascaras” with the curved wands work. The only way my lashes will somewhat curled with regular mascara is if I curl them after I have applied mascara. The bad thing about that is lashes can break off when you do it like that.

With waterproof, my lashes would stay curled up all day and night until I take it off. Yeah, it’s a pain to take it off, but sometimes it’s worth it. Some days I feel like wearing the regular mascara and curling them before and after mascara cause it’s easier to clean off. Some days I’ll just go waterproof.

Excuse the shininess, pore-infested nose, and lifeless hair. ^^

My natural lashes: I’ve notice a lot of Asian have the same lashes as I do. Straight, fine, and points towards the ground. Stubborn. Whether you’re Asian or not, if you have lashes like me and have the same problem, try this.

Left Picture: What my lashes look like after curling them with an eyelash curler. I use Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler ($19?), which I think is the best. Many others agree with me.
Right Picture: What my lashes look like with a waterproof mascara.
So far, I’ve only been using either Maybelline’s Pulse Perfection or Cover Girl’s Lash Blast, both my favorites. Both give me the same staying power. Here I used Pulse Perfection. I don’t get any flaking from these two. And my lashes stay curled (in my case, straight up) all day and night.
I like the rubber/short bristled brush mascaras because I can really wiggle the wand in close to the base of my lashes. Doing that will make your lashes look thicker. Lash Blast gives me a thicker results than the Pulse Perfection. I use the Pulse Perfection if I’m going for a more natural look.

Left: Here, I used Maybelline’s XXL Pro mascara.
I should be using the non-water resistant Pulse Perfection be true to the comparisons, but I don’t have it. I used to use both the MPP and CGLB in regular formula, but I still would have to curl my lashes for a second time. Even with other non-water resistant mascaras I have tried, lashes would just drop down: Sephora, Lancome, L’Oreal, benefit, MAC, clinique, Imju Fiberwig, estee lauder, etc.
Right: After curling them a second time. A little bit better.

Left: Big difference huh? Lol. I use the waterproof a lot more also because my eyes water alot. I think I may have chronic dry eyes.
Right: Just showing off the Cover Girl’s smokyshadowblast with my uneven lashes..lol. I have the grey/purplish color one: Silver Sky 805 (click the link, it’s the right one). If you’re my friend on Facebook, I used it as a shadow base on my profile pic. I was skeptical with this product. Still kinda am. I picked this color because the two colors aren’t crazily contrasting each other like the black and white one. I apply the gray one first, past just above my crease. Blend the edges up and out with my finger. Then apply the darker shade, the purply, in my crease/outer corner and lower lids. Blend edges with my finger again. I like it for when I’m in a hurry.

So if you’re going to try these methods of mascara, be gentle.

Whenever you want to curl your lashes with mascara already on them, make sure the mascara has dried and that you wipe your lash curler clean. Any makeup build-up (usually eyeliner) that’s left on your lash curler can make your lashes stick to the curler even more. That can result to tugging a few hairs off, which I have done when I didn’t clean my curler. Too risky for ya? Go waterproof.

To take waterproof mascaras off, I use Neutrogena’s Makeup Remover Towelettes. I cut up my towellettes in quarters because I never use the whole wipe. I only use it for my eyes. I could get the Eye Makeup Remover Pads, but you get much more out of the wipes. So I take a quarter of a wipe, wrap it around my index finger, and gently rub my finger across my lashes. Wiggling up, down, left, right. Kinda like you’re itching your eye, only wayyy more gentle.
For extra care, I sometimes apply a lash conditioner before applying my waterproof mascara. I almost always apply a lash conditioner after I’ve taken off mascara, especially waterproof. I use Talika Eyelash Lipocils. I like this product alot. It doesn’t really make my lashes longer, but I’ve noticed a change. They look healthier and I rarely have lash fall outs. I apply it to my brows too.

All too much of a hassle? Forget you even read this then. =P Or just wear false lashes/semi-permanent lashes. Shoo, that can be a hassle too. I’m not a fan of wearing false lashes unless I’m really dressing up.

If I had to choose out of all my makeup products, mascara is the one product I couldn’t live without. Scratch that. Mascara & my eyelash curler. Mascara can open your eyes in ways an eyeliner can’t. I think applying mascara to your top lashes (that keeps a curl) can make your eyes appear larger (if you want them to)/more awake/more fresh than just applying eyeliner. You can apply mascara to look like you applied eyeliner just by wiggling the wand in between your lashes more.

I love mascara.

I love watching makeup videos, no surprise. I especially love watching videos from real professional makeup artists. Besides watching makeup artists like Samantha and Nicola Chapman (pixiwoo) and Kandee Johnson on Youtube, I like watching the videos on M.A.C’s website.
MAC Cosmetics

Under the “Artistry” category, there’s an “Artists in Action” link. MAC has a handful of videos every girl/woman who wants to learn basics, trends, and tips about makeup. ^^

Sephora has great videos too. Maybe a little crazy to wear on a daily basis, but fun to learn and watch. ^^
Visual Effects with Sephora.

EDIT: some more good site for icons…
PixelGirlPresents. This is where I got most of mine, actually.
WeLoveIcons. Great quality.

I think I went a tiny bit overboard on customizing my dock icons on my Mac this time around. ^^ Can’t help it, they’re so cute!
I enlarged my Dock so you can see my icons better.

The icon for my Adium (multi-protocol instant messenger for Mac OS X) was changed by Adium’s preferences, not like the rest of my other icons.
Aren’t they cute? My cousin would really adore the Care Bear ones. ^^

Don’t know how to do it? I’ll show (manually).

01. I downloaded icons that I liked from this site» InterfaceLIFT.com. There’s plenty of icon bundles to choose from (136 pages of ‘em). There’s also icons for Windows and Linux.
Download the ones you like (Mac OS X) and unzip them (double click).

02. Open you Applications folder, control + click on the icon you want to change, and click on “Get Info” or just highlight the icon and press Command + i.

03. Find where your icons are at.

04. Drag the icon you want to the top-left-corner icon on the App’s info.

If you don’t like the icon you changed it to, click on the top-left-corner on the App’s Info again, and press Command + X (cut) to return it back to default.

05. Now, simply drag your made-over icon to your dock. Viola! ^^

If the icon for that app was already on your dock, it won’t change automatically if you’re doing it this way.
Control + click on it, click on “Show in folder”.  Remove the default icon from the dock, and drag the made-over one back on.

Have fun iconizing!

Background from theFWA.

EDIT: I was watching Kandee Johnson’s latest Youtube video and she talked about her nails she got done from a nail technician/manicurist. I guess the one-nail-being-a-different-color is in? ^^ love it. Kandee had all green nails, with one thumb being a matte black (looks like it).
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I was watching Pixiwoo’s Arabic makeup tutorial and I was diggin’ Nic’s nails. She had a dark color on all of her nails, except one of her index fingernails was a light/silver color.

Took that ugly design I had on yesterday off and polished this on:

My thumbs are the reddish-pink too. I love this! So simple…I feel dumb for not doing it a long time ago. Duh. :P
I love these colors. Can’t you tell? I’m always using a reddish-pink and blues (links on websites, color of my MP3 players on Mixpod).

Products»
Essie in Wife Goes On (red) and Midnight Cami (blue).

Here’s my nails last week. I literally had it on for like an hour and took it off. Same with my toes. They were a hot pink, and I changed those too. I don’t have patience with my nails a lot of times. If I were to be a client at a salon, I would be one of those women that manicurists hate to do only because I am sooo picky AND indecisive. Lol.
I don’t remember what color I had on my nails. I have a lot of those dark purply colors. My toes have a soft, yet opaque coral on them..Essie in Whisper. They were so long! It was hard for me to create pin curls in beauty school on my mannequin. Lol. Now they’re a little too much on the stubby side.
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I’ve been watching a handful of movies lately. I watch them for free online. I try to find the ones that aren’t so obviously bootleg. I don’t like watching the ones where people bring a camera in the theater and press record. That’s very ghetto. Lol. It’s all shaky and you hear what people are saying around the cameraman.
Check it out: movies.
I love watching movies that take place in the 18th century in Europe (Georgian England, France, etc.). I love seeing the beauty in all of it…the castles, palaces, the gardens, the English accents (love), the women’s clothing, makeup, hair and accessories. So divine. ^^ A lot of the movies I watched were based on history. I hated history in school, but I love learning about it now. I was going a bit crazy. I would watch a movie, Google/Wikipedia names/places from the movies I watched, read everything, and click on related links. I know Wikipedia is an open source, but I believe most of it is true.
I love Google and Wikipedia. I learn so much. Who needs college?
Just kidding. School is cool kids.

Movies I watched in the past few days:

The Valentine (2010): It was cute. I lovde Jennifer Garner since Alias. I like chick flicks. Especially the ones that are romantic comedies. One chick flick I didn’t like, The Notebook.

Pride & Prejudice (2005): Beautiful. Keira Knightley is one of my favorite actresses. She’s so beautiful. I started reading the book up again a few weeks ago. The first time I tried to read it (last summer), I only got up to chapter 3. This time around I got to chapter 27 out of 61. It’s such a hard book to read for me. I obviously gave up and watched the movie. I loved the movie. Though, the sisters, Lydia and Kitty annoyed the crap out of me with all that giggling. Jane and Elizabeth, I loved. =) Towards the end, when Mr. Darcy asked for Elizabeth’s hand again, I had a few tears flowing. Beautiful scene.

The Duchess (2008): This was my second time watching this. I would have to say this is one of my favorite movies. Another movie starring Keira Knightley. I never knew what a Duchess was until I Google/Wikipedia-ed it. I was fascinated with the royal rankings. I am Vietnamese-American if you didn’t know. Wikipedia also made me realize what a Countess was, too. I first heard of a Countess by watching The Real Housewives of New York City (LuAnn de Lesseps). Back to the movie…The Duchess was based on a real person, Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. It was easy to fall in love with her. I thought Knightley was the perfect choice for the role. I teared up quite a few times because I was convinced by her. What a strong woman she was, having to go through life like that.
Forced & convinced to marry at such a young age (17) to a Duke, whose only purpose of the marriage is to conceive an heir. Having to care for the Duke’s illegitimate daughter that was conceive by a maid before her marriage to him. Husband gets away with adultery with many women, including her only & best friend, Lady Elizabeth Foster. Being looked down on for conceiving two daughters, no an heir. Falling in love with a man she couldn’t have. Gets raped by her own husband. In result to that, conceives a son. Conceives third daughter by Grey. Forced to give that daughter up. Forced to live in a marriage with Lady Elizabeth & Duke.
I teared a lot because I felt so bad for her.
Did you know:
A descendant of the Duchess of Devonshire was the late, Diana, Princess of Wales.
Georgiana was also a friend of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France.
I think I could talk forever on this subject. Watch the movie if you haven’t.
Moving on.

Of course after seeing The Duchess and wikipedia-ing everything…

Marie Antoinette (2006): I liked Kirsten Dunst for Marie Antoinette, but I think she (and husband) should have acted with an accent. This movie is similar to The Duchess because the real women had similar lives. Marriage at a young age, yearn for romance/love, gambling, social life, and pressure for an heir. Contemporary music instead of Classical was used in the movie a lot. I’m in the middle of hating and loving that. I guess since modern music was used, it wouldn’t matter if characters had the right accents or not.
“Let them eat cake.” I never knew the accused history of it until this movie. OPI has a name of a nail polish that reminds me of this phrase: “Let them eat rice cake”.
I liked the movie. Again, fun to see the beauty in the fashion and places.

I looked up a lot of the chateaus, palaces, and other buildings from this movie and The Duchess. I would love to see them in person…the ones still present.

Rise: Blood Hunter (2007): I decided to watch it because I love Lucy Liu and vampires, but the movie wasn’t good. I did watch the whole thing. First, I think the vampires should have had fangs. Second, the vampires should have been protrayed stronger and more immortal. Are vampires suppose to bleed? I’m actually not sure about that, since they’re already dead. I’m not comparing this to the Twlight saga (Stephanie Meyer stories). Two different kinds of vampire movies. This one is more about revenge. Twilight saga is more about romance.
Maybe it was a low budget film? This was made in ’07, could have been better. Not worth seeing. Still love Liu though.

Coco Chanel (2008, TV): No disrespect at all to the late Coco Chanel and/or the brand, but this movie bored me. I think the execution wasn’t the greatest, but maybe it was because it was just a television release? I wonder if the other movie about Chanel is better? Coco avant Chanel, 2009. It was neat to know the history, but I don’t know…I was bored.

That’s all for now. I plan on watching The Queen (2006), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), Young Victoria (2009), Gandhi (1982), The Diary of Anne Frank, some newer ones, et cetera.

Yawn.
I’m so tired. On a crazy schedule as usual. Woke at up 7pm yesterday. It’s not 9:30am.
Man, blogging can be work.