I haven't post a blog in quite a while, I am sorry! I've been very busy trying to land my first REAL job out of college and I tried to use my time wisely to prepare for interviews.. Out of all the interviews I had last month, I currently have two companies in mind that I would love to work with, so fingers-crossed for me!

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Now that I think about it, everything seems to fall in place and made sense with the ways I like to approach things. I've always been the type of person who love to maximize my resources and be as efficient as much as I can with whatever that I do, sounds confusing? (and you wonder why I haven't figured this out all those times..eh?)

Anyhow, what I am trying to say is how can we maximize our closet when everything seems to go out of style in no time with fast fashion nowadays? I am guilty of shopping at fast fashion stores and often spend the majority of my work-study paycheck on clothes, I mean-I love fashion. I felt guilty not because of how much I spent on clothes, which wasn't a lot considering how affordable "trendy" and in style pieces are these days. I felt guilty because I chose to look at the darker side of the fashion industry and found out the behind the scenes of where and how these super affordable and trendy clothes are made. And the reality of it is something that I could not have imagined, I didn't want to believe that I was supporting unethical business practices. But sadly, it is a reality that not many consumers are aware of when they go shopping. Ever since then, I've become a more conscious consumer trying my best to support responsible businesses. As consumers, it's up to us to make the right choices; it's up to us to support the right business practices; it's up to us to demand changes from big businesses so that we can be the changes that we want to see :)

On that note, I like to buy versatile pieces, or pieces that I can have fun mixing and matching with.

Here's how I styled this one sweater/jumper in 3 ways!

Check out where everything's here:

Since lipgloss/stick/oils are not my thing, I went all out with matt lipsticks from Wet'nWild.

 

Sugar Plum Fairy

Bare It All

All of them are pretty colors, depending on your skin tone and preference, Wet' n Wild has a wide range of colors for you to choose from. My personal favorites are Bare It All and Sugar Plum Fairy, they are just soo fall!! Quality wise, for only $1.50 each, their color payoffs are great. They do dry out my lips quite a bit if I wear them for an extended period of time, but otherwise work great on top of a moisturizing lip balm.

Medium to Full Coverage if you don't have bad blemishes to cover up. Many people rave about this foundation being one of the best drugstore foundations in the market, so I decided to give it a try. I am sad that I am disappointed at it. Generally speaking, I never liked full face makeup because I don't like to cover my whole face with a layer of stuff. It feels unnatural and heavy for me, especially since I have oily skin. This is not a long lasting foundation, and even though it does look quite natural once you put it on, the sunscreen in it tend to accentuate the flaky skin around my breakouts.....ew. It's still very good for its price though, just not for my skin type :/ If you fancy, here's the video version All the best, Alaina

This is my first review on makeup products (well, I did a review on makeup tools), though it's not gonna be as sufficient or full of a review as from other makeup junkies(sry for the lack of a better term), but at least I know what works and what doesn't hheheeh. Lately, I've been on the hunt for blushes! I don't really know how this near-obsession started, probably for curing the dead-looking face I've been wearing ...I don't usually 'test' out makeup products because I really don't have much interest in them! Weird! Ain't I a girl?! Yes I am, but I rather test out skincare products than makeup. 

Makeup is to luxury as skincare is to necessity to me (I know it kinda doesn't make sense). 

Not only do I have no interest in makeup to begin with but the fact that I have super acne prone skin just makes makeup that much more unattractive to me. Also, I HATE the feel of foundation on my whole face, just thinking of that makes me super uncomfortable, that heavy, sticky feeling covering up all my acne, I fear as if my acne's going to erupt like an volcano at some point after being covered for too long. (or it might be just that I just haven't found the right foundation, and I doubt I ever will, but we can never rule out what's in the future right, dont lose faith lalalalaaa~) 

However, if you were to ask me about the best concealers and eyeliners I know of, I can assure you that you won't be disappointed at what I recommend :P 

Well, actually, no..I do not hate all makeup products, I do like lippies, as in lip-stains, which are long lasting and feels as light as feather. 

 Anyway, let's go back to blush hunting...after (years) of watching tons of beauty videos on Youtube, I think I know enough about what a good blush should be like. The most raved about 'high-end' blushes are either from NARS or Benefit （/MAC）, which I have yet to try any. As someone who's not at all obsessed with makeup, drugstore is always a better bet.

DO NOT BUY. Yes, I am superb guilty about this, I bought this thinking it was a 'great' deal. And later I realized I wasted $2.47 on the  worst makeup product everrrrrr!!! Not only was it COLORLESS when applied on the skin, it totally BROKE me out, on BOTH of my cheeks, HECK!!!!!!!! no wonder it was on sale. Not gonna try out Maybelline face products for quuuuuite a while.

Wet n Wild blush in Pearlescent Pink: bought it from Walgreens on sale for $2 (not everything on sale is bad :p) , worth every penny! It's quite pigmented and the color is build-able. It gives a natural, orangy tint to my cheeks. It does contain some shimmer but it's not too obvious.  LOVE it very much, quite long lasting as well.

You can see it for your self, the top one is Maybelline Fit Me, the bottom one is WnW. I really tried hard to rub that Maybelline blush on, but it just looks like some sort of light discoloration I have on my hand.

Wet n Wild blush in Mellow Wine ： I haven't opened it yet, but heard good reviews about it too. The color looks perfect for the colder seasons.

Wet n Wild Eye-shadows in Eggshell: This one also has great reviews online, and it sure did not disappoint a bit. The texture of these are very similar to some of the Urban Decay shadows I own. Very pigmented and velvety smooth to the touch. One complain I have though, the 'brow' one is quite powdery, it needs more applications to get as pigmented as the bottom two- crease&eyelid.

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Sorry for the lack of blog post lately- (for those who wondered), something happened and I had to learn it the hard way-like always. But getting back to 'business' now.

I recently shared some of my recent favorites in the video below. Which included 4 products and a mysterious 5th item. Check check check it out~~~~

 

oh these lovely summer nights,

ღAlaina

It's almost July, it's almost  the end of summer (how optimistic?), it's almost school !! hmm... It's almost July for sure. I recently uploaded my first "styling" video on YouTube- Fourth of July Outfits + Nails :) 

That 3 min. or so video seriously took me foreeeeeeeeeever to edit, I didn't know it would be so hard! ( I obviously still am a newbie when it comes to anything photo/video editing, but I sure still have the whole summer to learn what I need to..) Strangely, I am quite liking this 'new' (to me) thing , because it's fun. But nonetheless my love for anything in natural forms is still what I aim for. Sometimes when things are overdone they seem to loose their purposes, you know what I mean? hehe...

btw, I've come to a realization in the past few days despite all what I've done was relaxing at home (it's the best thing right?). so this is how it goes...

What does it really take for someone to want to do something that they would genuinely enjoy? Do you want to do it purely out of the result of happiness, money, fame or is it out of a good heart? I'd say.. a good purpose, whether or not you can get money, fame or happiness (or if money & fame = happiness to you )with that initial purpose you had in mind, someone who started with a good purpose would always end up with much, much more than someone started with a bad one && there goes the journey of a much healthier and fuller life, just saying...**sorry if that was confusing/nonsense.