~Beauty Review: Pur Minerals Liquid Veil 4-in-1 Spray Foundation~

Hello everyone! Is it Friday already?! Wow time flies by so fast (especially when you have exams to study for huhuhu U__U) Today I have a review for this foundation I just recently discovered at Ulta.

Pur Minerals Liquid Veil Foundation $39 at Ulta and Pur Minerals Complexion Authority brush $23 *shudders*

I didn't look into this product at all and when we went into Ulta I was trying to get my mom to look around and hint at something for Mother's Day. *sigh* Of course what ended up happening was we went into the Benefit section with my mom asking what I want for my birthday (a WHOLE MONTH away mind you, oh mom) and then one of the people who worked there asked if we needed any help and my mom told them I was looking for foundation (which I did tell her I needed before I got the Calypso one at Uwaji, I don't think she remembered I got that one lol) and so they started recommending things from the Pur Minerals section. I dunno if that was a product they were just really trying to sell that day because a bunch of the sales associates were in the Pur Minerals section having people try on this brand. But the person who was helping us did say it was good for sensitive skin (which I have) and so I was like sure, I'll try it. About 95% of the time I get makeup products because they look cool or have cute packaging or something. This time I actually got it because I thought it made my skin look nice hahaha. Today is my first day actually trying it's ability to withstand my oily, sweaty skin ^.^ Perfect sunny day in the U-district!

**Hint: TL;DR at the bottom of the post if you just want and overview and scroll through the pictures! ^.^**

Here's how I got this stuff on this morning!

First I shook the can and sprayed in onto this brush (side note: I don't know anything about make up brushes, please bear with me here for now hahaha) Here ^^ is what it looks like on the brush. I took this with my phone camera so it comes off as a LOT more orange in this pic, and the brush makes it look orange as well but it really isn't orange at all!

Face with sunscreen and primer only ^.^ Also, look at this super adorable dress I got from Buffalo Exchange on the Ave! I might just have to do an Adventure Post for this shop it's AMAZINGGG! (ooo did I just hint at a possible new blog post segment? ;D heehee) It has CATS and a COLLAR how could I leave the store without it?!

Then I brushed it onto my face, I read some reviews and makeup tutorials and they said do a "cross-hatch" pattern when putting it on, which is basically a bunch of little x's.

With foundation on only half my face. I'm only using one layer for this first try to see how much I might need to use.

This half has the foundation >__<

Face with foundation on both sides! 

Creepy staring into the camera with full makeup face o.o hahaha

My face right NOW!! At school eating lunch in the sun & blogging. This is after sweating while walking from home to bus stop and then bus stop to school >.< So hilly, so many stairs *huff* *huff* hahaha

As you can see in the last photo my skin still looks pretty good, although at this point it's only been almost two hours since I applied the foundation so, we shall see how this stands the test of my skin! Hehehe!

Update:

This is right after geology soooo 1:30ish (about five hours since application) and the foundation still looks pretty good, even in this not all that great lighting in Kane haha ^.^

Why do I look so annoyed in this picture? LOL This is on the bus home which was at about 4:08, eight hours after application taking into account my oily skin and the sun and sweat and such~ Looks like it's fading a big in this pic, can see some of my acne scars a bit more clearly. 

Aaand finally at the end of the day after doing a bit of browsing around and eating out. I went home and removed my eye makeup because it was bothering me a bit. But I didn't touch up at all throughout the day just to see how the foundation would do on it's own. About 14 hours since application of the foundation here. 

My  thoughts (updated):
Love how "airbrushed" it makes my skin look. A TON less cakey than my Calypso foundation! And it's actually closer to my skin tone! The person who helped us recommended light on me even though summer is coming up because even though I'll be tan (hopefully hehe!) it blends so nicely and evenly. The foundation is also light to medium coverage I'd say because it covers my acne scars but they're still a bit visible, but I'd say my redness is covered quite nicely! I price is the only thing that really bugs me, it's so expensive but I had to at least take it home to try it once. I don't think there are any foundations that last on the skin without needing touchups or a powder every once in a while throughout the day, especially for oily skin. But then again I haven't tried enough foundations to really know that for sure haha.

TL;DR:
~Amount of product: 3 oz (90 mL) I think this is a decent amount of stuff in a can, especially since it's the spray kind. That being said...
~Price: $39 3/10 too expensive to buy frequently on my budget. I can't leave the store with a clean conscience when I buy this.
~Did it work?: I do think it did what it said it would, although don't expect this to be a full coverage all day type of foundation. You'll probably have to reapply at some point if you want full coverage or try to layer it on upon first application. 7/10
~Would I buy it again?: I think I need to use this more often to really see if this is a reliable product but for now I think I'm good with just this one can and I could survive without it if I didn't have it. 5/10
~Design and ease of use: Spray on brush and criss-cross it on, easy peasy! Can is not cute or anything but the whole spray concept is pretty cute. Though I've heard some people have had trouble with the spray of the can o.o 8/10

Overall rating: 7/10 The smooth and even coverage without caking is this foundation's best feature in my opinion. Other than that, nothing special, spray is cool, only comes in four shades :C, expensive.

Thanks so much for reading through lovely people! I have some projects lined up for the next couple of weeks but I also have a bunch of exams coming up too so I'll see when I get to post them!! Yay for almost regular posting? Well at least I'm posting semi-frequently?? Hahahaha ^_____^


xoxo Abby :D

~Wednesday Wish List~

Hello all! I haven't done a Wednesday wish list for awhile ^.^ I hope no one has noticed that I'm late on my posting schedule hahaha. Shhhh I've had mid-term after mid-term lately, ok? Tsk, tsk, excuses ^__^ Anyway! Here are some items I've been crushing on for the past couple of weeks or so! Some of them I've actually been eyeing for years T___T hahaha

1.) SETS GALORE!
Sets are basically just matchy-matchy tops and bottoms. They come in skirt/shirt, pants/shirt, shorts/shirt etc. combos and they're amazing <3 It's just a dress split in half and you get the freedom of having the option to wear the top and bottom pieces separately as well! GENIUS! And this set has eggs I'm so in love <3__<3 This particular set is from an online store called Inu-Inu. They seem to work really hard to care for their customers, I haven't looked into them much but their clothes are cute but kinda pricey.

2.) Fjallraven Kanken Backpacks~
I've been eyeing one of these babies for quite some time now. But I could never bring myself to buy one because I'm just too committed to my Dakine since it's so sturdy and holds so much. I like the Kankens more for their pretty colors and square aesthetic shape. I've seen a lot of these on Tumblr on those coolio art kids who have Copics and Moleskines. *Sigh* if only I could pull off the effortless artsy look >.< hahaha I also don't know which color I want! I'm floating between light pink and light blue, I originally wanted the Ochre one but meh.

Img. from Tumblr

Bonus items on the Kanken I put up on my collage:
I also included this The Bears' School Jackie squishy strawberry pancake keychain from Strapya/Hamee~ I'm always eyeing something from that website hahaha.

And the little egg brooch on the top left corner of the Kanken is by one of my favorite artists Natali Koromoto . I don't know if she will be re-selling some of these brooches that I've seen but I tried to make my own version out of polymer clay haha. I've also been wanting these brooches by a Tumblr user I follow called peachy-blonde who currently goes by the username smallplum. Egg brooches, dog brooches, colorful little doo-dads they're all so cute!

My lame renditions of hard boiled egg brooch, toast brooch, and moomin brooch by Natali Koromoto,  as well as my versions of a fried egg pin and dog brooch by peachy-blonde. (Plus a Kobito Dukan pin and lil' ice cream scoops I made for fun haha) All out of polymer clay :3 

3.) Sailor Moon Platform Shoes
Ok so I just saw these today while I was trying to look for a different SM item on Polyvore but I like these a lot more so yeah hahaha. This is via printalloverme.

4.) Tamagotchi P.
This is another thing I've been wanting for the longest time. It's just so pastel pretty and tamagotchis are the best thing ever. And these ones come with little "pierces" (hence the "P" in the name) that allow the theme of the tamagotchi to change and they're so cute!! I'm eyeing this one on Amazon~ Maybe someday ^.^

5.) Samantha Pleet Galaxy Dress- L Aqua, R Rust
I've always been in love with these sheer type dresses. And I think I even had one in my last Wednesday Wish list? These ones by Samantha Pleet are SOOOO DREAMY!~ The whole website is drool-worthy actually hahaha. Unfortunately the price of these babies are just much too steep for me, but I can dream, right? Maybe I can whip up one of these babies for myself ;D time to break out the sewing machine!

6.) Keito-e brooches~
These are more brooches I've found via Tumblr and they're just the cutest little things ever O>O The ones I featured are what I think look like seagulls, a loaf of bread, a bear holding bread, and (possibly) tempura shrimp? I have no idea if you can buy these at all, but once again I ventured to try and make the little sea-gull dudes >.<

Mine are certainly not as cool as the originals, but they'll do for me for now haha. The colorful little pins are based off of pins made by peachy-blonde (again) that I saw on Instagram. I know, I'm tragically unoriginal hahaha. 

*start PSA* It's important to note that I did ask peachy-blonde if she was ok with me making these brooches for myself and she said yes as long as I tag her in the pictures. And this is something you should always remember to do when you post anything with someone else's artwork, give them credit for their amazing talent! Even if you made a version of their thing for yourself, ask and give credit anyways. OK? OK! <3 Thanks cuties! *end PSA*

7.) Eyecandy Chokers~
I never thought I'd be into chokers but after seeing these by Eyecandy I immediately wanted some! Yes, multiple ones haha. It's so hard to choose just one! And the rosettes that are also sold in this shop are to DIE FOR. There are Sailor Moon ones and sassy ones ugh, I want them all hahaha. Wanna know the best part? They're all HANDMADE! I haven't bought anything from here yet but the quality looks great from here, I might pick something out to do a review for!

For all you pretty mermaids out there~ The only thing I'm wondering about is sizing of the chokers, I might ask the shop owner about that before I order one...

And all the pretty pins <3__<3

8.) Etude House Silk Scarf Hair-mask & Wonder Pore Clay mask
I've been eyeing these beauty products for some time now because I've heard a lot of people rave about them. I haven't actually tried any specific "hair masks" but I have tried overnight serums for hair and hair oil before. My hair can be quite "picky" and it tends to be oily toward the roots and dry toward the bottom (because I've bleached/lightened it in the past) so I thought trying a mask might be a good idea. As for the Wonder Pore, I LOVE clay masks, the feeling afterward is just so refreshing ^__^ and surprisingly I've never tried any Etude House masks before so these look like a good place to start!

I found this one for $14.36 (USD) on a website called KollectionK but I think I might just look for it on Amazon or something.

9.) Denim overall dress
The last item on my list is another thing I've been wanting for FOREVER, but I can never find one that I like so I don't have one yet hahaha. This particular one I've featured is actually quite nice looking, but of course it's sold out (it's probably been sold out forever now haha) but it was from Urban Outfitters by Coincidence and Chance. And for some reason I can't find one that I like online that's actually for sale T__T Maybe I'll just hit up the thrift store and find one of those big denim overall dresses and chop it up or something? *sigh* sounds like too much work ahha xD

This one from Gojane would be cuter if it didn't have that ripped style :P  phooey

Woop woop! I posted this week! It counts, ok? Hahahaha~ Thanks so much for reading as usual honeys! If you have questions or any idea where I can find a cute denim overall dress let me know in the comments please and thank you! <3


xoxo
Abby

~Get Ready With Me! (Long Post)~

Hello! Wanna know how to look like: 

This?

Or this? 

 Me neither! But read on to find out how anyways if you'd like~ ^__^

Ok so I know I probably don't have the large, stable audience that most people have before doing this tag, BUT I do believe that there are quite a few people who actually read these posts. Soooo today I'll be going through my current morning routine from start to finish! Well, mostly after waking up and eating breakfast and such but we can skip over the details of that mess hahaha. Basically I "wake up" (aka open my eyes and only half function for the first hour or so of the morning), go to the bathroom, eat breakfast, brush my teeth, and then this tutorial begins! Ready? Alright! Good morning everyone! :D

Oh wait, almost forgot! Some background about this process ^.^ So it's Saturday as I type this (yay!) but I also have midterms this Wednesday for two classes (boooo~) but I still wanted to have a nice simple post. And I remembered mentioning possibly having a full on makeup tutorial that I do in the morning from my last post where I talked about the products I use on a daily basis (makeup wise in the morning anyways). That post I titled "Monday Makeup Must Haves" or something like that. So the details of the makeup stuff I'm using in that post will be there!

This is essentially what I do Mon (skip Tues because that's double lab day and that requires wearing long pants and the whole shebang, and I figure I'm going to sweat it off in lab or my goggles will just ruin my eyeliner so I don't even bother hahaha) Wed-Fri and sometimes Sat/Sun if I'm up to no good ;D Enjoy!

Like I mentioned up above, after brushing my teeth starts the real "getting ready" process! I start by steaming my face with a super warm/borderline hot towel. I saw this method of steaming the face before washing your face on a pinterest meme type photo ( which I can't seem to find of course T^T right when I need it!) But anyways, it was quite helpful in giving me the steps of the face washing process which are essential to healthy skin! It might not work for everyone, but I think it works pretty well for me?

Right after brushing start with still oily morning face

Run hottest tap water over a clean washcloth

Steam face like dim sum~ yum

This is the method I use since I don't have an actual face steamer, but if you do have one definitely use it! Or if you are able to and think it's a worthy investment you can look online to purchase one :3 They tend to be quite expensive unfortunately 3:

BAM! After the steam ^__^

This next part I only do once ever couple of weeks because the results are often pretty long lasting:

Pardon the awkward sideways photo T__T 

This is The Face Shop (Korean skincare brand) White Clay Nose Pack! It removes blackheads and is mainly for your nose area, but you can really use it anywhere on your face where you get blackheads ^.^

As you can see from this close up of my face, I usually put some on my nose and chin areas since these are the places I usually get blackheads! The texture of the mask is very sticky and thick like cement since it turns into a peel of mask on your skin as it dries. If you don't like having to layer on a mask, nose pore packs are often more convenient (although both hurt when you have to peel them off in the end yowch!).

Stop winking Abs, is there something wrong with your eye? Hahaha >.<

Ok! Pores clear!
Side-note: Usually as I wait for the mask to dry I tweeze my mustache and eyebrow area if it's unruly ^.^
Now we actually get to the face cleaning! I know it seems like a lot of steps and a long process for a morning routine, but once you do these steps often you get quite efficient at it! And like I mentioned I only do this pore mask once every couple of weeks on the weekend so minus this step after steaming and that's my really average routine! Ok? Let's move on then!

More sideways photos?! Really?! Ughhh

Hahaha I use the Clinique Sparkle Skin exfoliating scrub in the morning once a week (usually when my skin feels particularly built up with dirt and sebum) but mostly in the morning I use the "ddung" Family Milky Foam Cleansing Cream I got from one of my Meme Boxes ^.^ It smells nice and has a creamy texture and feels very nice and moisturizing on my skin after the rough, gritty (but very refreshing) exfoliating scrub.

Bubble bubble POP!

I often use this little scrubby I got from Daiso to exfoliate my face on days when I don't need the sparkle scrub but I still want to get down into my face a bit more :3

Rinse and pat the face dry! Sometimes if I still feel a bit dry I either put on this Tony Moly Appletox Face essence stuff that smells really nice but is super sticky! (I usually put this on at night for that reason) Or some good ole' scent free Cetaphil. I always put some Cetaphil on my lips and then a good layer of chapstick so they don't dry out and crack while I get ready.

And now we move on to putting my face on :D woop!

Add your favorite face sunscreen onto clean, lightly moisturized face!

Here I'm using my Fairy sunscreen from the Meme Box. As you can see below it washes out my face a lot and makes me look super pale... but for now I still like it until I find a sunscreen that at least matches my skin tone better T^T.

"Conceal don't feel"

This is after sunscreen, Smashbox primer, and Estee concealer xD

And this is after sunscreen, primer, concealer, and my Too Cool for School CC cream that I use when I want a thinner layer of makeup and don't want to use foundation! It smells SOOO good I need to get more because this sample I have is almost gone D:

Aaaand BAM! This is after all those things plus my Skin Food setting/oil preventing powder and minimal "contouring" and eyeshadow application thanks to my Too Faced Chocolate Palette <3 I always try to do my makeup in natural lighting for best results :3 So that means outside by the window or in my room near the window haha.

And last but not least, outfit time! I usually prepare my outfit in my brain at night if I'm up to it. Occasionally I'll even prepare it at night if I'm really ambitious! But usually it's a random shuffling of clothing in the morning, throwing it on and seeing if it's comfortable! ^>^

Basically I start by looking at the weather I see outside and then the forecast for what it'll look like later in the day. Our weather can be pretty unpredictable so I always double check before I go to school. Such is the commuter/Uni life hahaha ^.^

Then I tear into my closet and either A) try on the outfit I prepared if I haven't already the night before B) wear an outfit I've worn before and looked good in or C) throw stuff together and hope it doesn't look too wompy! (But who am I kidding, I always look super wompy hahahaha)

For example, today was some pretty dang good spring weather! Upper sixties promised all the way through the weekend into Tuesday! Yay! And I wasn't going to be out long enough for it to get super cold at night where I needed a hoodie so I planned to wear this! BUT ALAS! This shirt had a hole in it! So it had to be retired 3:

Selfies from the final resulting outfit with the same shirt in a different color hahaha!
Outfit details:
First photo at beginning of this post:
~Ice cream tank top and light pink cardigan from H&M
~ Skirt: Uniqlo (two years ago-ish but I didn't like it until now for some reason?!)-also in second to last outfit photo
~ Mint ruffle socks- Topshop
~ Mint shoes- Keds

Second photo at beginning of this post:
~grey hoodie with angel wings- Amazon
~striped pink "crop top"- Forever 21 Girls (it's not really meant to be a crop top for girls but that's how I'm using it! mwaahaha!)-also in second to last outfit photo
~periwinkle skater dress- Forever 21
~ bright pink tights- Target :D

Shugo Chara hat in second to last and last outfits: Anime World xD

Last photo at end of this post:
~striped blue "crop top"- also from the F21 Girls section teehee~
~black and white flecked dress- H&M two years-ish ago
~ cat face bag- Uwajimaya (Kinokuniya)
~White watch- Baby G-Shock (or something?)

Whew! Does that feel like a long morning to you? Well it sure feels like it when I type it all out, but it really isn't that long! This whole process takes me 30 mins or less! Yay!

Hope you all enjoyed this! It was interesting actually documenting the whole process haha C: Questions & comments down below would be much appreciated! And thank you all again so much for reading and getting ready with me! <3

We're nearing the end of the school year so if you're still a student anywhere in life, good luck in this last long stretch! Good luck in whatever you have to do right now, sending you good vibes and happy times to come ! STAY STRONG, FINISH STRONG RIGHT?! YEAHHHH! We can do this!!

xoxoxo
Abby <3

~Monday Makeup Must-Haves!~

Hello all!~ Once again I have been slacking on my blogging kekeke. This past weekend was spent working on homework projects and going on a fun field trip to see a waterfall (which also included a tiring hike back up T__T hahaha). So to try and keep up with regular posting I'm gonna tell you guys about some of my favorite makeup products I use in my daily makeup routine! I might post a separate post another time where I show you all my actual makeup routine, but for now these are the products I use almost every morning for a casual school look! Also something to keep in mind as you read through this: I'm definitely a makeup noob and I don't consider myself an expert in this area at all so if you have suggestions/tips/techniques I'd be overjoyed! As long as you aren't negative/judge-y of me or anyone else who puts in their opinion, ok? OK! Let's get started!

If you guys read through one of my previous posts I did a review on Meme Box: My Cute Wishlist! And one of the things in that box that I use on a daily basis is the Shara Shara Fairy's Makeup Synergy Sun Cream~ Above all my makeup usage I care about the heath of my skin the most! I'd rather not wear makeup at all for a while and give my skin a break than layer it on and further irritate my skin but cover up blemishes. So sunscreen is definitely something I put on anytime I go out for long periods of time, even if I think I'll be indoors most of the day or if it's overcast outside. 

Since first buying this Meme Box I've pretty much used this everyday even on days when I don't wear any other makeup on top of it. Also, if you read the Cute Wishlist review you might see that I mentioned this product has pump issues. I've looked at other reviews and no one else mentioned this as a problem (that I saw) so that was a bit frustrating for a while. But I just managed by unscrewing it every time I wanted to use some. 







After layering on a good amount of sunscreen I put on primer! Primer is actually something I've added to my morning routine recently since my mom gave me her extra primer (she said without primer my foundation looks streaky lol, thanks ma). The one she likes is Smashbox Photo Finish:

Image c/o Sephora.com

Since this is pretty much my first time using primer I'm wondering, does anyone else feel that primer smells really gross? I had a sample of Too Faced primer that I've been avoiding because it also smells really terrible. I don't know if this is true for all primers or only the ones I've used so far?? Can someone give their input in this situation? Does your primer smell weird? Hahaha ^__^ Anyways, this primer is really silky smooth. Compared to the Too Faced one (which I think is only for eyes but I'm not sure?) that I reviewed in the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette before this one, the Smashbox Photo Finish is much smoother and a lot less oily. It makes my foundation go on very nicely :3

Another thing I've recently tried is foundation, actually! Before trying out foundation I just used the BB and CC creams I got from my Meme Boxes. And those were really nice (also the Too Cool For School one had the BEST smell!!) But I wanted something with a bit more coverage, so I decided to try out Calypso Magic Foundation in Pink Beige. I don't know why I chose pink beige when I'm already kinda pink and blushy in the face area, do I need to choose a foundation that balances out the pinkness if I'm trying to reduce redness? Hmm, I dunno. This is a Japanese brand that I got at Uwajimaya in the cosmetics section. So far I quite like it though! The coverage is nice and the foundation feels lightweight. My only beef is that it doesn't seem to stay in place at times, but I'm not sure if that's the foundation's fault or the other makeup I'm using?

Image c/o weloveshopping.com

Aaaaand another thing that I've just recently been using (although I'm not sure why I never thought to use it before?!) concealer! This is just a sample Estee Lauder Double Wear concealer. I don't actually know which color it is since it was my mom's but she didn't like the color so she gave it to me! Hahaha~ I just dab a bit on this over any acne scars or reddish bumps as well as the corner of my lips and under my eyes! 

Image c/o nordstrom.com

Second to last: I use Skin Food Peach Sake Silky Finish Powder! Before I use to only use sunscreen and this, then I moved to sunscreen, BB/CC, and this, and now my normal routine! But either way this has always been one of my favorite products to use! Skin Food likes to use a lot of natural things in their products. And this powder smells so good! It's supposed to be a translucent powder but I find that it washes me out a bit. I might pick up some Too Faced bronzer to put on over this so I don't look so grey all the time hahaha. But nevertheless! I really love this powder because it sucks up the excess sebum that lays on my skin over the course of the day. And I do touch ups with my Too Cool For School Compact every once in a while if I'm particularly oily that day hahaha.

Image c/o skinfoodthailand.com

Finally! I use my chocolate bar palette to do my eyes and any contouring if I feel like it! (read the review before this post for more details if you'd like!) :3

And that's pretty much it! I am in LOVEEE with lip products though so that changes on a day to day basis depending on my outfit ;D hahaha! Maybe I'll do a separate post completely dedicated to my lip product collection, and possibly a skin care post? We shall see!

Also, depending on the day I'll add liquid eyeliner or mascara (I'm wearing mascara today huhuhu!)

I hope you guys liked this post! If you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to leave em' in the comments! <3

xoxo Abby