The Shopping Diaries: Bath & Body Works, PINK, Sephora, Longs

Hello all!

I went on a little shopping spree at Ala Moana where I met my friend Sam for the day. I was having a really tough week and continued to struggle afterwards, but I was really happy and grateful that I got to spend time with my dear friend.

I had some birthday coupons to spend since my birthday was on the 14th! Even though it can be kind of irritating when you continuously get a whole bunch of emails from stores that you give your address to, I think it's still worth it to get the birthday incentives :). Now onto the haul!

Lakeside, Autumn Bay, Black Pepper Bergamot, Sandalwood Citrus: I didn't get any coupons from B&BW, but I was initially interested in their 2 for $15 mason jar candles that I saw in my email. I asked one of the storepersons about it and he had no bloody idea what I was talking about, so I just shrugged it off thinking that I may have been mistaken. It turns out I was correct because as I was walking outside of the store, I saw a big sign advertising that sale. Anyways, I think I came out with the better deal hehe. When B&BW had their 2 for $22 3-wick candle sale a while ago, I had considered purchasing Lakeside, but I felt that I had a candle that was already similar to the scent. I decided to get it this time around because all their previous season 3-wick candles were 50% off. I really love the slight musk with a hint of citrus scent. It turns out that I really like candles that have either a musky or clean scent to it, which is why I picked out these three minis: Autumn Bay, Black Pepper Bergamot, and Sandalwood Citrus. These three minis are from the new batch of candles for Fall. If I'm able to burn through a good bunch of the candles that I already have, I will definitely get these in the bigger size!

Fresh & Clean Body Scrub: Victoria Secret sent me a $10 coupon to use on anything and I decided on this body scrub since I was interested in getting underwear. It was originally $18 but in the end I paid $8 plus tax. I actually didn't recognize the scent until I smelled it. The reason being is that the last time I got the lotion form, it was still in its old packaging and this was the first time I saw it like this. Instead of getting the lotion, I decided to try the scrub. It smells like how it is named so I really enjoy it!

Meet for Drinks, Metro Chic, Dance Til Fawn: Sephora was having a 3 for $10 sale on their O.P.I nail polishes. I was hoping to get an undercoat as well since I barely had any left, but they were out of any base or top coats. I had come in with a list of polishes that I was interested in getting, but they literally had only one of the colors that I wanted, which was Metro Chic. But I'm still happy with the two other colors that I got. I think these colors will transition nicely into fall and continue to be a nice fall staple. Meet for Drinks is a deep, shimmery maroon color that I'm absolutely in love with. I have a red shimmery polish that I got from VS during their annual sale, but I really prefer this shade due to the sultriness of the red. Metro Chic is a pretty taupey color with a purple undertone, which I'm totally in love with. Lastly is Dance Til Fawn which is much truer to a taupe shade. I love my taupes hehe!

Perfect Truth CC Creme Sample & Birthday Pack: I received a sample of Ole Henriksen's Perefect Truth CC Creme and I must say, for a Western BB cream, it's not bad! The coverage is still on the light side and it's not as great as my Korean BB creams, but it's still pretty good. I tried it and thought it did a good job of covering some of my acne blemishes albeit going over some of the spots again with my Korean BB cream. Would I purchase this? No, but it's quite good for those who prefer Western BB creams.

I love Benefit's they're Real mascara and I was really happy to have a mini version to carry around. Then I got the mini Watts up! highlighter. I think highlighters go really nicely with fairer-skinned girls, but with my skin tone, you can't really tell I applied it on lol. I'm still fair but I do have some coloring. Perhaps I'm not applying it on very well?

Green Tea Cleansing Tissues & Multi-Care Base+Top Coat: I was in the market for a new make-up cleansing wipe and my friend suggested epielle's Green Tea Cleansing Tissues. So far, I really like it and it gets off A LOT of make-up and it leaves my skin feeling nice and soft. I still go over it with my Clarisonic afterwards, but I'm hoping that with both products it'll improve my skin. Also, my friend pointed out this multi-care base and top coat from Revlon so I'm excited to try it.

Sorry for getting lazy with my posting hehe. I have so much material in draft form, but I'm slowly getting my motivation back, so hopefully I can get out my next posts every other day. So stay tuned for the next episode!

Thanks for reading!
-LAUREN

The Shopping Diaries: LUSH

Hello all! Did you guys have a wonderful 4th of July weekend? Luckily I was able to spend a lot of time with Jason so that was a major plus :)

About a month ago, I paid a visit to Lush just out of the blue and it just so happened it was their 7th anniversary being at Ala Moana and they were having some in-store demonstrations. This was my second time going into the store. The first time I went, no one bothered to help me even though I was curious about some of their products, so I just left. I decided to give the store another chance and this time I was assisted.

Dark Angels (1/4lb): This was probably my favorite product. It is a facial cleanser for dull, oily skin. I have normal-oily combination skin, so it is perfect for my skin type. This cleanser is made up of sugar and charcoal, the latter in which it's supposed to extract the oils from your skin. My skin feels really nice and soft after using it. My only concern is that I'm not sure if it really gets rid of my acne. I began using this twice a day and, at first, it seemed to be doing all right, but then I noticed I started breaking out a lot and I knew there was a chance that it might cause breakouts for the first couple weeks of use. But, my acne didn't go away after continuous use. I ended up reverting back to my regimen with my Clarisonic and my skin calmed down quite a bit. I don't think this product causes breakouts. I think it just doesn't cleanse my skin the way my Clarisonic does and therefore, my acne reappears. I'll still continue to use this every now and then though.

Tea Tree Water ($9.99): I've heard great things about their tea tree products, especially the toner. It's supposed to be great for acne-prone skin. Once again, I'm not sure if it has helped a lot. I was using this twice a day and yet I started breaking out more than usual (but it may have been due to my change in skincare). I don't think this would cause anything as it is a toner. What I do now is use this in the morning before makeup. I have my other toner from Nature Republic that I love and I use that for my nighttime regimen.

Grease Lightning ($13.95): I was also excited for this product because of the tea tree elements and that it's supposed to be a spot treatment for acne. Like before, I'm not sure if it has helped, but right now I'm trying it out differently so hopefully it'll work.

Ocean Salt ($35.95): Now this product is pretty good! The salesperson demonstrated the product on my hand and the skin felt so smooth and supple. This can be used on your face and body, but you should only do it, at most, twice a week because it basically is a dermabrasion product and it's not good to over-exfoliate. I think this might be a little too tough on my face, even though that's the reason I bought it, but I would definitely use this more for my upper arms because I have keratosis pilaris. This might help to exfoliate my pores and smooth out the bumps.

I hope you enjoyed my Lush haul! To be honest, I'm a bit sad that these products didn't deliver the results that I was hoping it would. I'm not sure I would purchase from Lush again, but that's just me. Everyone has different skincare needs. Lush is an all-natural company, so there aren't any harsh chemicals that many popular brands have. If you're looking for skincare solutions and haven't tried Lush yet, give them a try! Their products come in different sizes, so you can buy smaller portions and try them out.

Thanks for reading!
-LAUREN

April Favorites 2013

Hey all! It's been a while since I've posted. I just got back from a week long vacation in Vegas with my dad. I must say that I did a lot of shopping AGAIN and I'll be posting clothing hauls for each store! The weather was bearable, but it did get hotter and hotter as the days went on, but because of the dry heat, it wasn't that bad. Actually, I heard that Hawaii was quite humid that week. It was still humid when I got back though hehe.

Anyways, I thought I'd try out a new segment on my blog of monthly favorites that range from beauty and fashion to music and random other things. I know that this is a popular tag done by a lot of beauty gurus on YouTube, but because I don't post videos, I thought I'd give it a go on here. So lets begin!

Beauty

they're Real! by benefit: I must say that I was never really loyal to any mascara, let alone any beauty brand, but I must say that benefit produces really good beauty products. I came across this product by watching my favorite beauty gurus and I just had to try it. I think this is one of the best mascaras I've ever tried. My eyelashes are thin and straight, so it's hard for me to make them pop. This mascara definitely lengthens and thickens without clumping due to the unique structure of the brush. It's suppose to give the impression of fake lashes, and while it doesn't wholly achieve that on my lashes, it does a great better deal than all the mascaras I've tried. For $23 at Sephora, I would definitely repurchase again!

Hibiscus Tinted Lip Balm by Burt's Bees: I've been in love with fresh's lip treatments, but one stick is $20~+ and I just couldn't bring myself to spend that much. Luckily, when I was at Walmart, I happen to come across Burt's Bees products and saw that they had an array of tinted lip balms for $7. I figured why not try one and went with the hibiscus version. Needless to say, I absolutely love this. I wore this everyday when I was Vegas to not only give my lips color, but to keep them moist. Definitely would repurchase again and try new shades!

Molly Coddled by butter London: Once again, I wanted to try a nail color from the Sweetie collection by butter London due to the positive raves from beauty gurus. The one that I wanted was called Fiver, which is a mint green shade (I ended up buying it online from Nordstrom), but they didn't have it at my Macy's. So I went with this pretty lilac shade. At first, I wasn't used to the color, but I quickly fell in love. The formula for the product is fantastic. If applied correctly, you can get away with just one coat, which is true but I suck at application and need a second coat to cover my mistakes :P. Also, the formula is fast drying, which I was amazed at since I thought the polish was on the thicker side. For $15, although pricey, the quality is worth it.

Fashion

Muscle T-Shirts: I'm absolutely in love with this trend. I feel like the popularity of muscle tees stem from Brandy Melville, an Italian-based brand with a very casual-boho vibe. I should also include that I'm loving everything Brandy at the moment! Wearing these type of tees requires a bralette of some sort, which I'm okay with showing. Whenever I wear this sort of top, I feel so care-free and cool. I get this "whatever" vibe lol! I'll definitely be wearing these throughout the summer as well.

Music

Stay by Rihanna: I'm not a major fan of Rihanna and her music, but something about this song just makes me keep on hitting repeat and I never get tired of listening to it on the radio. It's rare that I like EVERYTHING about songs, but honestly I love the lyrics, composition, vocals, and even the music video. I was super happy to have found the sheet music at Sam Ash in Vegas and I've been playing it multiple times a day!

Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men: I think this song is super catchy and totally the type of music that I'm listening today. If you're not familiar with the band, they're a 6-piece band from Iceland. Although I'm not totally familiar with the band, I've heard snippets and I'm probably going to order their album. I really love the vocals and composition of the song. One person who commented on YouTube said that this song is about a girl who is expressing her feelings of her parents going through a divorce or something like that. I think that's a great juxtaposition with that against such an upbeat tempo.

I hope you guys enjoyed reading! I'll try to get these out every month if possible. I really do enjoy blogging and sharing my thoughts with all of you!

Thanks for reading!

-LAUREN

Beauty in Review: AQUA Super Aqua Max

Hey all! Today I want to introduce you to this wonderful skincare routine that I purchased from a Korean brand store called Nature Republic. It's kind of new to Hawaii since they first opened in Waikiki in December 2012. This is the second Korean skincare store to enter Hawaii, I think, besides The Face Shop. I love the vibe of this store and the products that they have. 

I've never really had a skincare routine that I really stuck to. Before this, I was just using samples from Ole Henriksen, which is also a pretty good line, especially their truth serum that smells like an orange creamsicle! Anyways, I thought that this line of product would give me better results because it's an Asian product and might work better with my skin. Needless to say, I've been using these products for almost a month and I can definitely tell that my skin has greatly improved in texture, color, and acne production. What's great about this is that they have the same products for dry skin, oily skin, and whitening. The ones that I use is for oily/combination skin. So here is a breakdown of the products!

1. Combination Watery Toner ($12): First step in skin routine. Toner is important whenever you wash your face because besides the makeup, you're washing away the natural stuff that your face produces to balance your skin. So in order to re-balance your pH levels, toner must be applied. Plus, it leaves the skin refreshed and clean. Also, what I like about this toner is that it doesn't leave my skin dry feeling like many other toners. It's very gentle and feels nice!
2. Moisture Capsule Ampoule ($15): I've never heard of this before but it moisturizes the skin and smooths and revitalizes. A technique used to better absorption is to wrap your hands around your face. I guess it means to gently press the product into your skin rather than letting it dry.
3. Combination Watery Essence ($12): This also moisturizes and creates a barrier to keep the moisture in. It says to use after toner, so actually I think Step 2 can be optional, but I wanted to see optimal results, thus I got the ampoule.
4. Combination Watery Emulsion ($12): More product to moisturize and refresh the skin! This has a more wetter, creamier texture than the essence. The only thing I don't like about the packaging for this is that there's no pump. Because it's a cream, it's hard to tap out the product so I'm violently shaking the bottle to get it out lol.
5. Combination Watery Cream ($18): Last step! This is applied to both your face and neck. They say that the first things to start showing age is the neck and eyes, so taking care of the skin on your neck is just as important! It comes with a little spatula to scoop out the product. It's a more sanitary way of getting the product out rather than dipping your fingers into it. I got the big size container, but there are other sizes for cheaper. I figure you might as well go all out lol.

And there you have it! All together, I think this is quite a reasonable skincare routine compared to other brands like Shiseido and Ole Henriksen, which are both quite pricey. The point of the matter is that you should find a skincare routine that works for your skin type. This is the reason why I love samples since it helps me weed out which products work and which ones are just meh. I admit  I took a chance on this brand and line without any prior knowledge, but I'm glad I did! By the way,  all these product smell EXACTLY like Victoria's Secret Bombshell perfume. No joke! It seriously does smell like it, which is a MAHJOR plus for me hehe!

To learn more about Nature Republic, check out their website and Hawaii Facebook page. If I remember correctly, I believe the Hawaii Nature Republic now ships to the mainland U.S!

Thanks for reading!

-LAUREN

Control Freak and After Party

Hi all! To give a little break in between my shopping diaries, I would love to share with you two hair styling products that really work for me. This is Bed Head's Control Freak and After Party. I usually don't do anything to my hair, but now that my hair is on the shorter side, I feel that it needs a little bit of product to look nice and natural. That's one of the things that I love about these two products is that it makes your hair look natural in its style; not stiff or....fake I guess you could say lol.

This is the Control Freak. It helps with frizz control and helps to straighten your hair without taking away from the natural body of the hair. I like this because I don't like my hair just flat straight; I want it to be smooth without taking away the natural waves. Which leads to the next product!

This is the After Party. It basically smooths and creates a healthy shine. Also, it smells really great!

And when combined together, you can get results like this:

I know that different products will produce different results depending on your hair type. But if your hair is a little on the thick side, kind of wavy and frizzy, I highly recommend these two products. They're also great for defining layers as well and they last throughout the day!

Thank you for reading!

-LAUREN