Tarte - LipSurgence Natural Matte Lip Stain in Lively

M contract for Verizon is up and I'm currently pondering between a droid or an iphone. Everyone tells me that a droid is better, especially the app market but I'm used to using a itouch and am a creature of habit. Bah! Doesn't matter. Anyhoo, this is a review on the Tarte - LipSurgence Natural Matte Lip Stain in Lively. This lip color cones in a rubbery stick with all sorts of natural oils that's supposedly going to give you some awesome benefits.

 

Because this comes in a stick, I find this easy to apply without a lip brush or liner and can use this easily for quick touch ups. Since this doesn't retract, I have to be careful putting the lid back on because I might nick it. I also may see a problem sharpening this in the future. 

 Now this color is described as a hot pink but it looks more magenta, leaning towards the redder side. It isn't really moisturizing but it also isn't drying. So when I wear this, I don't have to worry about it slipping or spreading on my lips. It stays put, provided that you don't talk or eat excessively.

 It does seem to bring out the yellow in my teeth but that could be an excessive amount of black tea that I've been drinking lately. It has a minty smell and leaves a very slight tingling on my lips. A tingling sensation usually implies lip plumper but I really didn't see a difference with the size of my lips. With this, I put a bit of chap stick and put some on the center of my lips. Then I spread it onto the rest of my lips. This color is a bit bold for me and unless I go out at night, I really wouldn't apply this all over my lips. Here let me show you.

 See nothing on the lips. 

 Just dab some and spread. I have nothing on but at this point, I would usually stop and put a gloss on. 

If I didn't...

This is a full coat of of it on. It lasts fairly well and after it's gone, it leaves just a tinge of color left. This doesn't stain the skin as much when you try to remove it as well.  It's completely matte and for some reason, it really brings out the olive and yellow undertones of my skin. I would recommend it but not really... It's $24 dollars and while i do think that it's great...not sure if it's $24 good. Would probably pick one up again during a sale.

I've recently started to cook again and made some awesome grilled pizza. I use my foreman grill for everything. Cleaning it is a bit of pain but I love it.

Dr. Brandt dark circles away instant brightening, collagen boosting eye serum

Now that the first day of spring has passed, I can finally start rolling down large grassy hills and start reinforcing my makeup with mattifying products. Gosh I love this weather. The only downside are the insects. The worst one has to be gnats. Have you ever walked into a swarm of gnats? They're too small to see until it's too late and your screams won't help them fall off. All you can do is shimmy them the hell off. I can finally put those zumba classes to work. 

Dr. Brandt dark circles away is a eye sereum that I got as a trial sized when I purchased a lip balm from Sephora. I desperately needed some eye care products and hope that this would do. The full size comes with a rollerball tip and that may help with some of the claims that this puts out. Straight from the website:

 Say goodbye to tired eyes and give them a brightening boost with this collagen-boosting, instant-brightening eye serum.

• decreases the look of tired eyes by instantly improving luminosity & brightness (It does brighten)
• helps fade dark circles by stimulating microcirculation (Meh not really)
• reduces puffiness by draining excess fluids (No does not remove pufffyness)
• helps reduce under eye bags by breaking down abnormal fatty deposits (nope the fatty eyebags are still      there)
• provides a less hollow look by increasing collagen levels & strengthening thin, fragile skin (Still fragile and looks hollow)
• keeps eye area hydrated & healthy looking (Sorta)

 Now all you need is this amount for one eye. It's tinted but seems to dry transparent on me. No real lasting smell and it it pretty fluid and not creamy. You have to remember that this is a serum not a cream. I've been putting nothing but this on my eye area hoping for some much needed collagen boost.

 This is my bare under eye with nothing on it. As I've mentioned before, I don't really have dark circles and I just need some moisture and a bit of anti-aging.

 Apply this on the inner lower corners and spread it out under the eye.

Since this formula is so light and liquidy, it seeps into the skin quickly but still remains on the surface to give off a bright and luminous look. It does brighten up the under area and seems to provide just the tiniest but of color. I still need a bit of concealer but to all of those people expecting this to erase dark circles.... Try to get some sleep ladies. It is hydrating but not moisturizing and I feel that I still need more than this to keep the wrinkles at bay. I would repurchase my Kiehls eye cream (for a cheaper price) and while this seems to be a miracle treatment for all, it just falls flat. 

Look at this haul of goodies that I got on sale! OMFG. The bar of Lindt is one of my favorites. I managed to get these on sale and I can't stay away. Not only do I have crippling addictions to makeup, nail polish and skin care, I am also a chocoholic. Help? Nope don't need it. Have some chocolate to quiet the beast.

Quick Update on Biotin Vitamins

I think that I've been consistently taking Biotin vitamins for about two weeks, and while that isn't enough to make a proper review, this is my initial take. 

Knowing that hair growth is a time consuming and almost painful waiting process, I didn't expect to be Rapunzel in one week. What I did want is for a gradual shift towards having healthy hair that didn't fall out of my scalp with a gentle tug. I have broken my habit of scratching my scalp and this may be attributing to the lowered hair loss. 

Look at the picture posted before... Go  back to 2/29/12 and look at this now. 

OK. I admit that I do have dirtier thoughts than most average people and it happens quite frequently and that's why my hair grows faster (old korean myth). But if you look at the front hairline, it seems that I have new baby hair growing and there looks to be less scalp showing. I've always had trouble with keeping hair intact at the roots, so this looks to be doing well. Although my hair has trouble staying attached to my scalp, my strands are pretty strong even before the vitamins, so I haven't noticed a change there. It's been a while since I've colored or even cut my hair and I don't plan on dying it again, so no worries about chemicals. 

Now, the second picture does look worse, but there seems to be fewer gaps all around. I do admit that after the shower, I check the drain and there seems to be less hair as well. So far, it's doing pretty well and I 'm not sure whether the hair will stay if I stop taking vitamins or if they're there for good. I want to do an update after two months of taking this.

I'm not treating this as the all around cure, but it seems to be helping me with my hair loss and I probably will but a couple more of them whenever they are on sale. This post was absolutely boring and I seem to have misplaced my sense of humor somewhere. Will be back once I find it.

Tweezerman No-Slip Skin Care Tool

I usually don't really see a big difference when using expensive brushes or cheaper brushes. I have two mac brushes and the rest are Ecotools or elf. Maybe it's because I don't really have pricey brushes to compare with because I'd rather expand my hoarder's stash with more makeup rather than makeup tools. However, the one tool that I do need is the Tweezerman No-Slip Skin Care Tool for extraction. I use this stuff for my blackheads, whiteheads and angry pimples. I have a horrible habit of picking my at my skin and back in the day, I used to just take my nails and squeeze everything.That was not a wise thing to do. Now that I've had this tool, it make everything a bit hygienic but honestly, you still shouldn't be popping anything on your face. I just have an unhealthy obsession.

I think I got this for $8 at a drugstore around three years ago, and it is worth every damn cent. I've always trusted tweezerman products, ranging from nippers, nail clippers and tweezers because of their lifetime guarantee as well as the quality of their products. Ok, so when using this for any extraction, make sure that your pores are open and your skin should be soft and supple. I always use this after I take a shower. Then I take a alcohol wipe and wipe down my skin and the extractor. Then do what your body tells you to do naturally, squeeze that sucker for all you got. The black and white heads should pop out easily and you watch in gross fascination and pimples will give out dirty pus and bacteria. Oh, I'm sorry, were you eating? Pimple popping is not a sport for the faint of heart. Btw, a surefire way to know that a juicy, white capped pimple is completely popped is when you don't have a raised surface and all that comes out is a clear liquid instead of blood.

Honestly, this wider and bigger surface isn't used much. But this...

is the smaller, thinner and more precise side gets all of the action. Always make sure to sanitize and wipe down all surfaces before and after and if your skin seems a bit irritated, just ice it down. Using this seems to be more hygienic and precise instead of my fingertips. I know that I'm not the only sicko out there that gets a perverse sense of satisfaction from doing all of this. There are others. They could be the lady sitting next to you on the train, could be your teacher, heck it may be your own sister! Watch out because they are all sickos! Who knows what other fetishes they may hide.

Quick review Korres Wild Rose Advanced Brightening Sleeping Facial

I piggybacked on my sister's Sephora order and managed to weasel myself a Korres Facial Cream. I thought that I would love this product since I love most of the Korres products that I own. However, I was sadly disappointed by this product. Got a .34ml of product that was to last 10 days but if I continued to use it, it would have lasted a bit more.

This is a thick cream that you need to apply during nighttime after your skin ritual. Since I noticed a heavy but lovely scent of roses along with a thick cream, I opted not to put on my Merdiem essence and put this only after I washed and toned my face. I squeezed a pea sized amount and applied this all over. My skin felt so incredibly smoothed and moisturized, and I immediately thought that I needed this as my moisturizer and decided to apply this nightly.

Now as you can see, it tells you nothing about not using the everyday and after I decided that this would be my new moisturizer, I woke up in the morning with a fat cyst. Before this, my skin became fairly clear with no big lumps, but after one use, it gave me a damn cyst. Now since my skin felt baby smooth, I decided that my skin was just purging and foolishly decided to give it a week. I woke up with a cyst every other day. Gah! My skin felt so moisturized but the cyst were so tender and painful. I decided to go back to my regular routine and guess what? No new cysts and the old ones are starting to calm down after I immediately stopped using it. I was seriously considering purchasing the set that they have in Sephora, but I may have to opt out of it. If you don't mind the heavy scent and have normal to slightly dry skin that's not sensitive, try this product. It really makes your skin feel so good but watch out for breakouts.

Oh by the way, in case most of you drive, always remember PEDESTRIANS FIRST. I had this lady completely honking at me when I was crossing the sidewalk and she had to make a turn. Look, I saw you and I heard you honk the first damn time you honked at me. Just because I have headphones on doesn't mean that I'm deaf and can't hear a damn blue Lexus van honking right next to my ear. I just chose to walk slower to piss you off. Honking like crazy will not make me walk faster. Lucky that I didn't flip you off as I walked. Look I am a pedestrian that was that was going straight, crossing the street that was right in front of me while you are in a car that was supposed to stop then wanted to make a right. Hope you remember the words I shouted at you after I crossed. PEDESTRIANS FIRST!