~DIY: Lace Shoelaces~

Before: Cute shoes+boring shoelaces= 3:

After: Cute shoes AND cute shoelaces! YAY!

Woohoo! I can finally post a DIY! I've been trying to find time to squeeze in some sort of project onto here that was quick and easy so I wouldn't have to spend 3 hours+ at my precious sewing machine </3 The last time I did a sewing project was over winter break, and now that I have lots of homework it can be difficult to find the time, ya know? A mini shopping trip after picking up my mom from work last friday gave me the perfect DIY subject!~

Sooo I've been swooning over these lacey shoelaces from American Apparel for a while now~ BUT they're not within my budget range, even though they're currently on sale. So I took it upon myself to just go ahead and make these babies ^__^

The materials you need for this super easy DIY are:
~lace/ribbon of your choice
~cute shoes with lace holes
~superglue/fabric glue
~plastic line/thread that will look good as the aglet (plastic ends) of your laces
~scissors

The first thing you want to do is unlace your shoes and measure the length of ribbon you need based off that. If the original shoelaces are longer or shorter than you'd like, adjust the length of your ribbon accordingly! That's one of the best things about DIY's, you can make it the way YOU want it! :D

Next you have to make the aglet follow these instructions that I found that are super easy to follow~ Or just follow along with my pics down below!

Sidenote: Who remembers the Phineas and Ferb aglet song?! I actually really like this show haha

Take the thread or plastic line, whichever one you have on hand (the thinner the better though!) and tie it where you want the bottom of your aglet to end on one of the ends of one of your shoelaces.

Wrap wrap wrap a bunch of times going up until you have a long enough aglet that you will be able to hold while you are tying your shoes and such!

Next, tie off your thread super tight so it doesn't coooommmeeee undooone!! (Weezer, anyone? No? Ok...) and snip off the excess lace on the end. But make sure not to cut up your thread!

Here you see one pretty much done shoelace, really only one more step you need for added durability. It also helps if they're the same size because it makes them look more like real shoelaces!

The instructions suggested to glue off the thread so they're all sealed in and it makes the aglets stiffer overall. I used fabric glue since I also used thread on the ends of my laces. If you used plastic line then super glue would probably be best. The tutorial I linked uses super glue and plastic lining. It's also a replacement aglet tutorial but it works for making your own shoelaces from scratch as well! Yay!

Shoes from Rocketdog

Wham bam thank ya ma'am you are done! Woohoo! Look at you doin' crafty things ;D You accomplished person you!

Sorry for the bad lighting pictures and stuff. I got all the supplies at night and I just HAD to start this DIY right away and post it. Heehee!~

In my first post I said I'd talk more about my DIY history so maybe I'll do that in another post sometime. It feels so good to be crafting again though!

Yay for more posts too! Thanks for stopping by <3

XOXO Abby

~Skincare Review: LuLuLun Premium Face Masks~

Oops you can see part of my reflection in this one >.<

The outer box is quite pretty~ But does it work well?

Here we go! Yet another beauty post >__< hahaha~ Just a quick warning here, my face is present throughout this post T__T You've been warned! Also these pictures were taken with my shoddy phone camera quality so sorry in advance. Anyways on to the review!

Can't read Japanese? No worries! There's English at the bottom! Can't read English either? Hmm..

I bought this pack of face masks from Uwajimaya in the International District~ Uwaji is basically an Asian grocery store specializing in many Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese etc. products from food to beauty products!

The box set that I got comes with five of these silvery packets of masks that are all sandwiched together in groups of seven. So in total that makes for 35 masks! What a bargain! But is it worth it?

I like to put my masks in the condiments section of my fridge no matter what the temperature is like (but this is especially a great idea in the summer! ^__<) It's a refreshing skin treat after a warm shower while my pores are still open from the steam~

Backside of mask pouch with picture instructions!~

If you read any of my last reviews you know I have this thing about having to dip into anything multiple times. And lookie here ^^ seven sheets all smushed together in a liquid package? UH OH. That aspect bugged me. Once I saw this I knew I should have read other people's reviews before purchasing this even though it seemed cheap and convenient at the time.

    

I thought my eyes looked wonky in all these pics so I tried out my new DukDik app (yay Windows phones! No? Ok...) These masks are supposed to be for brightening, which is different from whitening as it doesn't lighten the skin with various acids and such. But rather, these types of masks are meant to bring out the natural inner glow of the skin! The reason they're in packets of seven squished together is you're supposed to wear one everyday for a week for best results. On the back it says these masks are made with all natural ingredients and is good for sensitive skin. I can vouch for this because despite the fact that I use so many different products on my face, I can tell when something is made with harsh chemicals because my skin gets totally red and irritated with bumps. So you can use these masks on a day to day basis while gently getting results. 

As for my results:

Left: face before mask; Right: face after mask!

Just an F.Y.I. the masks don't actually make your face go from pinky red to pale-ish after one use (in case you're looking for a mask that has whitening effects) I'm pretty sure it was just my camera angles being different in the two different pics. And like I said these are supposed to give good results after using the whole box everyday for a month and in this picture I was only about 1 and a half packages in. The smell is mild and the consistency of the "essence" (what the liquid that masks usually come in is often called) is just right so it's not running down your neck or sticking to the surface of your face. Still a bit sticky at the end (I've yet to find a non-sticky mask!) but once you incorporate it into your face it's not so bad. I still steam a bit of it off with a hot-warm wet face cloth because I do this at night and I don't want the essence all over my pillow case. 

Final verdict?

I'd say these are nice for everyday gentle relaxation. I'm still not digging the multiple masks in one liquid packet. I read from another blog that you can use clean tweezers to peel the masks out one at a time. This is still a hassle and it bugs me every time T___T I can understand wanting to reduce the amount of packing used though~ Hrm..

Rating: 3/5 They're decent and I admittedly don't use them everyday. I typically only use masks once a week or once every two weeks when I feel like my skin really needs it ^__^ 

 WHEN ARE YOU GONNA POST SOMETHING OTHER THAN BEAUTY PRODUCTS ABBY?!!?

*whispers* "I'm sorry but I'm just so swamped I can't take pictures of me frolicking in this beautiful 60 degree 'winter' weather in cute outfits. Nor do I have time to make tutorials of cute clothing I make" *sigh* Well, at least I"m keeping up with this 2k15 goal so far? Pretty much right? Hahha


XOXO
Abby

*****UPDATE: 8/5/15******
Ok so it's been about 7 months since I first posted this and I wanted to update my review a little since it seems so many people read this particular post. I've actually kind of given up on this product since every time I use it I just feel like it's a waste of time since the mask doesn't really do anything for me. I tried using it everyday for two weeks since I had so many sheets and I didn't want to use them and my skin felt the same! Which is better than my skin turning worse, but still it would've been nice to see some sort of improvement.

Overall: I don't feel like buying these again. Perhaps I'll look up reviews on some of the other mask types and not this "Premium" one and try it again. But generally speaking these are on the bottom of my mask list (I've tried masks from Daiso that I liked better than these ones actually).

~Meme Box Review 2: My Cute Wishlist~

Welcome to my second review for Meme Box! In my previous post I did a review on their My Lovely Boutique box which had some pretty great things I've been using since school started back up again~ This next box I received is the My Cute Wishlist which promises to have many adorable doll related items! All the items for this box are supposed to be FULL SIZED since it's a super box! Let's see what we got...

These lil' doo-dads here are cheek patches by the Korean brand Tony Moly. The instructions that come with the box say these patches are soaked in "essence" which calms red dry cheeks and hydrates them! Seems like a good item for the winter especially, since my skin tends to get dry easily in the cold winter air >__< I haven't actually tried these out yet, they look pretty cute though! The doll pictures on the cheeks go with the doll theme for this Cute box, and I can imagine they were made to look a bit like those cartoon blush cheeks!

I also haven't tried this item yet either (I'm trying to work through the My Lovely Boutique items first!) It's Kissing Sugar lip scrub by Shara Shara. I mentioned in my previous post that it seems like Meme Box gives a lot of Shara Shara products. So far the product of theirs that I've used most frequently is the BB cream from the lovely box and it's not bad. More on that later! I opened the lip scrub and it smells really nice, I forgot to take a picture of it though, but in the future if I decide to do a proper review of all the items I haven't tried yet, I'll take lots of pics! The smell is reminiscent of brown sugar. The instructions said something about walnut shells in the scrub I believe? How natural!

This next item is Hope Girl tinted lip balm in Strawberry flavor. The packaging is alright, not really something that strikes me as cute or dolly though. When I think leopard print I think maybe more of a mature type, like a "sexy look" or something? Maybe it's because it reminds me of leopard print lingerie? Haha

Meme Box gives the Strawberry or Cherry! Glad I got Strawberry <3

It's quite a compact size too, about the size of those Carmex lip balms.

In the My Lovely Box review I mentioned how I don't really like the pot type balms and lip products because it requires dipping your finger into it all the time, which I don't really like. Of course some people have been able to get around this problem by carrying around those little lip application brushes that can either be washed or disposed of. But to me that just seems like extra work and extra buying for an ok lip product. The color looks cute and the smell is quite nice. It kind of reminds me of strawberry shortcake! I actually ended up giving this to one of my besties for her birthday yesterday >.< She said she likes it and could use it as a lip gloss or blush! Sweet!

Score: 3/5 since the smell is nice but it doesn't fit the theme and it requires dipping.

Speaking of full sized products, this one is huge! It takes up a large portion of this box! Haha. Another Shara Shara product for the face. It's called Fairy's Make-up Synergy Sun Screen. It says its a sunscreen as well as a primer to allow the skin to be protected and the makeup to glide on smoothly!

I can definitely see how this one goes with the cute doll theme ^__^

When I opened this one originally I thought it would be her whole body that contained the sun screen. But alas, it's only her bottom skirt half. This product I've actually been using quite regularly since there's been some nice winter sun out this past week :D And actually it's supposed to be good to wear some sort of sun protection regularly, even on cloudy or rainy days! The smell of this product is prominent, very flowery with a slight powdery scent. When I use it with the BB or CC creams it smells even better! But if you don't like smelling things on your face all day, this might not be the product for you.

Also I need to warn you, this stuff with definitely wash you out. The sun screen doesn't have any color and it doesn't soak into the skin like some other sun screens. The first time I tried it I made the mistake of putting a lot on like I usually do with the other sun screens. DO NOT PUT A LOT ON. I ended up looking like a scary ghost with grey eyebrows (don't put this on your eyebrows like I did). I washed it off quickly using the face wash down below! Hahaha. The pump on mine was being temperamental (it still doesn't work 3:) but I don't know about Meme Box return policies so I just unscrew it and put little dabs on my face and blend with my fingers. Once you master how much you need to put on it's pretty good! Primer wise, I'd say it keeps by oil control powder on throughout the day and helps the BB or CC cream go on more evenly.

All in all I'd say: 3/5 I'm mostly disappointed in how much product is actually given. When I couldn't work the pump I thought they'd given me one that had been used and returned. I was just wondering how in the world I would get all the sunscreen out of that tiny little thing. T__T

This here is Ddung Family Milky Foam Cleansing Cream. I alternate this face wash with my St. Ives apricot exfoliating face wash. I wash my face every morning and at night, and this is a good cleanser for when I don't feel like I need a deep cleaning. It's very creamy and smells fruity. I've tried a similar facial cleanser from a different Korean brand I can't remember. But I got it from H-Mart and they both seem almost exactly the same! Weird...I discovered that other facial wash is really good as a shaving cream! Haha but I think I'll stick to using this just as a face wash. It's one of those washes that gives a squeaky clean plastic feeling face afterwards! Doesn't seem to be drying or hydrating my skin in particular, it just has a clean feeling effect really.

Overall: 4/5 It fits with the cute dolly theme and has a nice pleasant scent. Other than the cute packaging there's nothing particularly special about this that sets it apart from other face washes in my opinion. Compared to both my regular and Korean face washing products, it does it's job adequately.

Last but not least is this Youngwoosa Oh! It's Lovely and Soft moisturizer. I like simple but cute cartoon decorated packages like this one ^__^ And I suppose the little pictures of the people count as doll figures? Hahaha >.< It has a sort of minty scent to it and I tried it on my face one time under my oil control powder. It seems to have average moisturizing effects. For some reason the first time I saw it I thought it was only a hand cream, but I guess you can use it anywhere you need to moisturize! I have no idea why I didn't snap a picture of the actual pot of cream but it looks similar to the illustrations of the outside packaging. And inside the cream is just a plain white cream. Like many Korean products there is a cover that protects the lotion underneath the lid of the pot as well, which is interesting. I keep it there but it isn't needed.

This one gets a 4/5 for trying to fit into the theme, average moisturizing properties, and again the whole having to dip into the pot every time to use it. I really must get over this dipping thing haha.

Oh look it's my growing make up collection! I never thought I would ever have a collection!

That's it for this post! Maybe another time I'll review some of the other products in my make up collection (haha that get's weirder to say every time!) And I can also do actual reviews for products that I mentioned in this post and the previous one that I haven't tried yet!

On a side note: I know my posting isn't as frequent as I wanted it to be, but I'm still pretty proud of myself for having more than two posts so far! Eeep! Keeping up with these 2015 goals so far makes me feel so good! And my school goals have been doing pretty well so far too! Yay!

Thanks for reading! Until next time!

XOXO Abby

~Meme Box Review: My Lovely Boutique~

My first Meme Box: My Lovely Boutique

I can't believe I'm starting my blog out with a beauty review. Here's the thing. I haven't necessarily been all that fond of make up over the years. I have always thought I don't need make up and I like my natural features and I have to embrace my various acne scars, subtle freckles, and rosiness around my cheeks. But recently I discovered the beauties of beauty, in other words, the cute packaging of the make up. Seriously, I now have a board on Pinterest dedicated to make up and beauty products. It started out with this sparkly eyeliner I got with my cousin by Urban Decay at Sephora a long time ago, maybe two or three years even. And it still works really well for a sparkle liner! Then I dabbled in various lip products (the majority of my make up collection currently) and found out about the wonders of lip tints>lip gloss IMO and Korean/Japanese make up brands! And my newly created make up obsession just spiraled (and is still spiraling) out of control from there mwahaha.

Anyways, this is the culmination of my ultimate "giving-in" to my make up wishes~ I discovered Meme Box a couple months ago and I was like "THIS IS PERFECT" I love subscription boxes (getting packages in the mail is fun :3) and Asian beauty products often have the cutest packaging! And although Meme Box isn't exactly a subscription box since you purchase boxes individually whenever they come out, the idea is pretty much the same as a subscription box. It's a surprise every time a new one comes out! Unless you're like me and look up reviews of each box hahaha~

So! Without further ado, my review for Meme Box Superbox #61: My Lovely Boutique

The idea around this box was apparently supposed to be things one might find in a boutique, those chic little clothing and jewelry stores full of lovely little trinkets and treasures.

And the first thing I pulled outta the box was this lil ditty. A Shara Shara Oil Balm that can be used for any dry part of the body. It's like those solid lotions that are sold at a lot of fancy or handmade beauty product places. This one is in Acerola scent and has a nice light fruity/floral scent to it.

I'm not sure if you guys can see this but in this picture I rubbed the balm on my finger a little bit. The actual balm itself looks a peachy color in the tin can and is super solid.

The shiny bit on my hand is where I swatched some of the balm. I gently rubbed it onto my skin and it didn't take long for most of it to absorb. It has a pretty light texture and didn't feel oily at all, despite how shiny it looks in the picture. Last night I used some on my elbows, which tend to be the driest part of my body, and in the morning they felt normal. Not dry or super soft, just averagely soft.

I give this balm a 3/5 because the results aren't amazing but the tin can is compact and will be nice to carry around in my backpack for the cold winter season. I also like how the balm is sheer and the scent is light because I don't really like really perfume-y lotions and balms. But I docked another point because of the fact it's a balm that you have to dip into every time you want some, and I like things that come out of tubes for sanitary reasons. I'm also not sure how this one ties into the boutique theme. Nevertheless, this balm will be put to good use this winter :3

Next up is this Shara Shara peachy lip balm necklace. This one scores major lovely points and makes sense for the Lovely Boutique box! This one is called Only You.

I was surprised to see a little mirror in this one! I love lockets but I haven't had one in a really long time. So I was glad this product came with the box. The balm looks average and there really isn't any tint to it on my lips (forgot to take a picture of it on my lips, sorry!!) It has a little magnetic closure on it to keep the balm safe. It also has a faint peachy scent.

This is the only picture I shot where you can kind guestimate the length of the chain. On me it goes down to almost past my chest area, but it rests nicely like one of those longer pendant necklaces. The necklace itself is super cute and I could see myself wearing this with many different outfits. But the balm was again kind of a bummer. Regardless, I'm super happy with this product!

The card that comes with every box describing each product and how to use it says this necklace usually retails for around $36. A sloppy google check says it sells on Amazon for $49.36!! So since I got this box (as an extended Christmas present hehe) for around $30, this is a steal

I'll give this one a 4/5 because it's super cute but the balm is average and again I have to touch it every time I want some.

Bonus!! I just found out they sell refills for the balm in the necklace for $13.70+free shipping on Amazon! Yay! Not that I'll be needing a refill anytime soon, I think I'll stick to my other lip products for now. ^__^

This next cutie is by Etude House! It's a scented hand cream and it comes in four different scents. I got the Pink Wish which has a prominent sweet flowery scent (not my favorite). Meme Box randomly picks from the four scents for you. The other three are Ice Frozen, Sweet Cookie, and Forever Rose. I realllyyyy wanted Sweet Cookie because I really like dessert scents! But oh well! They're all super cute! I quickly googled the other scents and you can buy them individually off the Etude House website for $6. I've never ordered off there so I can't vouch for their shipping or anything. But I might consider buying the cookie one! I also saw an image of all four of the My Castle Hand Creams in a cute little purple box! So irresistible haha.

Pink Wish is (as you wished!) a pink lotion! When you put it on it soaks up right into your skin and leaves a lingering flower scent. I guess it smells how pink wishes supposedly smell? I liked how it didn't leave a sticky feeling on my hand like some other lotions do. The only thing I don't really like is the scent. Just because I'm not very fond of these kind of scents in the first place. But if you like flowery perfume scents this is for you!

Overall I give this hand creme 4/5 because it's a nice lightweight lotion that soaks into dry skin nicely, I'm just not a fan of this particular scent. It's not exactly a light scent >__< And I guess since it looks kinda like a little shop this one goes with the boutique theme as well~

Oh look more Shara Shara! I have nothing against this brand, I've never heard of it until ordering this box actually. But since the last two products were balms I'm glad this one is something different! I've heard of BB creams here in the states, as well as the gab about Asian BB and CC creams being more "legit" than their European and Western brand products because they are more prominent in Asia or something. So I guess that makes me a little happier knowing I'm supposedly getting the "better" or "realer" BB cream from a Korean brand then? Hahaha. Since this is my first time using or even encountering a BB cream (I've never tried it from my mom's make up kit [the only make up I used prior to this newly fostered fondness for make up :)]) I don't have anything to compare the quality of this one to. But I just based off the title of the cream "Natural Shining" and the wiki description of BB creams as a blemish balm.

Even though I don't have blemishes on my hand, that was the first place I decided to do a swatch. I'm so smart right? Hahaha! I'm new at this, ok? And I guess I put wayyy too much for a sample swatch because when I tried to blend it into my hand...

Not sure if you can tell in this picture but it's quite sparkly! I. LOVE. THAT. I don't know if BB creams are supposed to be sparkly but I like that this one is. I can't resist sparkly things! In the picture before this one you can see that the BB cream is tinted a light tan-ish color. I'm pretty tan even though I lighten a bit in the fall and winter months, but this cream was still a few shades lighter than my actual skin tone. I tried some on my nose (which I didn't take a picture of, oops!) and it seemed to make my nose light and shiny looking down the middle like a highlighter is supposed to be like I think? So I guess that's what I can use it for!

4/5 for this BB cream mostly because I'm not sure what it's supposed to do in the first place but I was planning on using it as foundation but I think it's much too light. When I applied it to my face it made me look a bit washed out so I didn't really like that either. But it's SUPER SPARKLY!! Which I love, and it's a pretty dang sturdy cream as well. I washed my hands several times and even took a shower. there's still a bit of sparkle left on my hand today! And it's been on my hand for more than a day! So the long-lasting effect is definitely on point! Haha.

This is the only non-full-sized product in the whole box! And I'm a little disappointed that this one wasn't a full sized version because this CC cream I actually really like! I guess that's how life goes, huh? This is Too Cool For School CC cream which wiki says is supposed to be a color correcting cream. Once again I had the brilliant idea of swatching it on my hand where I really don't have any discoloration (most of my different colored spots are on my face).

Here it is before blending. It looks similar to the Shara Shara BB cream in terms of initial color as it is a tan-ish color.

In this picture it doesn't really look like I have anything on my hand but the top of my hand closest to my pinky has the CC cream and the skin on the top of my hand nearest to my thumb has the BB cream. In between them is my regular skin color. The CC cream is even lighter after blending than the BB cream, but I really like it because when I layered it with my compact powder the colors blended nicely to look like my natural skin tone!

I didn't get any pics of it layered on my face, but it really did what it said it would about correcting the color on my face, I didn't really look at it alone, only after putting powder on. But it worked for me! So I'm happy about that! That's why I wish it was full sized~ 5/5! I also heard the full sizes are double ended so one end squeezes out the CC cream and the other end has something else as well like a lip gloss or other things! Cool beans!

Last but not least are these Yeon Jeju Hallabong wash off masks! I am in love with masks because they're a nice relaxing and low maintenance option for when you don't really feel like deeply washing your face with soaps and cleansers. These feed your skin rather than strip away natural oils and such! I used the Peeling Gel one with my sister and it has a nice consistency. It's creamy and goes on easily. She used so much of it though I didn't have enough on my face to peel off like you normally would. But it left my face feeling soft and clean so that's a plus! 5/5 so far for this one too! I haven't tried any of these other ones yet but I'll get around to it soon enough.


That's about it for this review! All in all I liked a lot of the products that came with this box and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to use them all~

My mom actually got me two of these bad boys for Christmas so I'll do a review on the next one when I feel up to it! Blogging is a lot more difficult than I thought! Hahaha

Until next time!~

xoxo Abby