a talk about cute products

To talk about face highlighters means we will probably gonna be here for a while because of all the crazy new releases since the past year, but I'm just gonna discuss about two of the most cult faved for their unique concept. I ultimately scooped the Holographic Stick that I talked about in the past and it's as beautiful as I thought it'd be.

Milk makeup Holographic Stick ($28) and Glossier Quartz Haloscope ($22) are what the cool kids these day call as "natural space light" or "glazed donut extravaganza" type of look. Their very simple format makes applying it as easy as 123 because the only tools you need are the ones attached on your body; warm finger tips. Just swipe and swoosh, blend nonchalantly, and you're ready to be hit by the sunlight and bounce a healthy appearance on your skin, especially with the Quartz stick. It has a solid core of coconut oil so it is very easy to blend and melt into your skin. The Holographic Stick is a little unconventional however, but if you're secretly a sexy alien, then it shan't be anything to worry about. I love how whenever I wear it people will always ask "is it just me or your cheekbones are actually radiating violet sheen?" and I proudly took it as compliment.

Another thing, I finally cleaned my little vanity area and set up some cute display of my favorite looking makeup! I feel like the Sailor Moon caps in the little glass jar helped tie everything together on this little set up though. I ordered this Majolica Majorca powder (1,836円) a day after I saw Jenny posted this on her tumblr mainly because it was love at the first sight with all the stars on the packaging, which right now I'm totally obsessed with. I will show you some star-themed finds sometime in the future posts so keep an eye on that! Oh, these pictures are from my tumblr that's why the editing is different because I took it with my crappy phone.

I have this eyedrop from Rohto with Hatsune Miku's eye on the box packaging and I'm not gonna lie to you because the thing that lured me to make the purchase is indeed...Hatsune Miku. BUT to my surprise, this eyedrop is so amazing because it actually is designed specifically to combat the damage caused by blue light that computer monitors and smartphone screens emit. This holiday I have been developing a worse habit of staring on my phone/computer screen for longer than if I were working, so this can be a quick fix to help my tired eyes getting back to their normal state. Speaking of eyeballs, I'm finally ordering a pair of new glasses which is totally called for since I haven't change my glasses in almost 4 years, I want this new year to start with new pair of glasses. Also it looks cute and I'm so ready to look cute in 2017.

cheers to the end of 2016 and new resolution

Merry belated Christmas! Let me start this post by admitting that I've been horrible at writing on my blog, but I really tried this year to write at least a couple more posts than the year before even though the numbers aren't really that significant. Obviously 2016 has been a super meh year for everyone because of all the national and global issues that went on and on throughout this whole year. Not to mention that we had devastatingly lost of a handful of talented people who aren't even that old to begin with since early this year, and yet a fucking tangerine with small hands is still going strong on 70 years old and skipping on his way to presidential. 

To be honest this year I feel like I haven't done anything worth to write home about other than I've been cursed with endless coughing and snotty nose. Also got hospitalized once because of typhoid fever, almost TWICE just in the course of 3 months but I dodged the fucking bullet the second time with plenty of crazy chinese herbal medicine and forced my body to self-heal (by just sleep on my illness and go on about my day like a healthy person--fake it till you make it). Needless to say, I'm so over being sick although currently I'm coughing phlegm and liquid onto my keyboard as I'm typing this. Just a regular flu but I'd literally kill to be healthy again so I can eat pop corns and drink ice tea again.

Now, I wanna talk about my new year resolution. I know some people found it appalling to only think about making changes once a year during the start of the year only, but resolutions in the beginning of the year can be a great way to motivate and cultivate discipline to reach the end goal you can't stop thinking about in the previous months. I didn't write one last year for 2016 and in all honesty I just let it flow but I've had enough of "letting it flow" because now is time for me to take command of my year so I can have something to be happy about in the end. So in 2017 I'd like to be able to achieve at least half of these things:

• Save up better so I can finally
• Go to Japan with my best friend!
• Overcome my fear of flying, crawling, leggy, soft, hard, any type of bugs basically
• Cook some more Chinese food because I'd like to be an awesome Chinese waifu
• Use my camera more to take picture outside
• Eat healthier and cut off junk food completely on weekdays
• Buy a nice bathing suit lol can you believe I haven't buy new ones since high school
• Read at least 15 books
• Learn about wine
• NOT GETTING SICK?????
• Hang out with more people after work.....maybe
• Patch things up with my enemies lol
• Finish at least 3 lip products I currently own 
• Watch more arthouse movies instead of blockbusters
• And to be fucking honest on top of everything I just want clear skin and my beauty regime every morning to be just couple drops of oil, some eyebrow gel, and red tints

mood: rouge amour

I'm into your sickness

With you, with you

Infect me with your weakness

Now Playing: Diseasey - Sälen

*If you wish to see the source of the images, please head to my tumblr archive.

slade house

"A stranger greets you and invites you inside. At first you won't want to leave. Later you'll find out that you can't."

I never read anything by David Mitchell before so this is definitely an unbiased opinion. Slade House is a pretty small book, made up of 5 short stories that are linked to each other. It is a story revolves around the mysterious building--Slade House, that can be found in the narrow Slade Alley, hidden neatly behind a handleless small iron door which doesn't allow just anyone to enter. It shows itself to only certain people one night every nine years, and what happens in Slade House, literally stays in Slade House. It is a haunted house with mysterious conspiracy hovering around it and before you can escape, you are trapped and sucked into being a part of it.

I didn't know what to expect in terms of pacing and character development, but I must say Mitchell did a pretty good job introducing the main events to the readers in each of the chapters. Each characters successfully earned sympathy from me and whenever they are in menacing situation, I panicked and screamed in silent (well, it's a book) to warn them, again and again. Some parts are done wittily, some are just pure evil and makes you read the lines again to make sure you're in the right story. The Grayer twins characters almost feel like the spin-off of The Shining's Grady twins, both set of twins are equally as sinister in their own ways. Another work that I was reminded of was Haruki Murakami's dreamlike scenario in most of his books. If you have read some of it, then you're lubed to access this magical surrealism world that David Mitchell endorsed as well. So far, I don't have any negative thoughts because to be honest I signed myself up with zero expectation, so really I can only go up from there. Slade House is a horror sci-fi number that probably won't make any sense towards the end, but it makes you hoping that there will be a sequel.

Nightcrawler (2014)

I went to see Nightcrawler on its release date with my former housemate one school night and yet this movie still haunts me to this day. I recently decided to rewatch it, reminding myself why I think this movie deserves all the awards there is. Jake Gyllenhaal is an amazing actor. He has such diverse roles and always nailing each one of them (although after watching some of his thriller movies, it's so painful to see him acting romantic). In this movie, he's Louis Bloom; an unemployed young man who's unsettlingly very well-spoken, living on his own in the modern city of Los Angeles. He's becoming somewhat of a thief, but he did what he must to get money while constantly seeking for an opportunity to work. He eventually stumbles upon a lesser-known occupation called as nightcrawler--a job in which people roam the city at night while tracking police radio trying to get footage (videos or photos) of something worth documenting so that the morning news can create a bigger deal from it. In this case, "If it bleeds, it leads!", meaning that the more graphic and gruesome your footage, the higher news outlets will pay. Our antihero cynical Lou here only cares about shooting a scene to make it looks ten times more dramatic, thus setting him apart from the other nightcrawlers in this movie and make more money out of it. He works alone at first, but then recruited a homeless guy, Rick, as his partner. What follows as Lou and Rick finally work together is gonna be hard to process at first, yet the bigger picture will probably upset you even more. 

Jake Gyllenhaal's eerie performance definitely make this movie an even more disturbing one to watch. Not only that he looks very very sunken physically, he also creates mannerisms that makes you feel really uncomfortable on the edge of your seat. Louis Bloom's misanthropic ass will wake you up that we're all in this for something that only matters to us and the rest is history. You will ask many questions after you watch this movie, which is a good thing in my opinion. What is the credibility of the news that we consumes everyday will also be a long social debate. We rely so much on the media nowadays as our source of information that we rarely ever think about what's really happening, since we're being spoon-feed headlines of events through small screens and typed words. I couldn't praise this movie enough for being smart, dark, ironic, and eye opening. 

If you're interested about real life people who work as nightcrawler, you should go on and read What It's Like to Be a Real-Life Nightcrawler. Don't worry, it's not as immoral as this movie suggests.

milk makeup is so appealing

Let me tell you something, I'm not usually a sucker for something unconventional--which explains why I don't really enjoy liquid lipsticks as much as half the population of people in the world do. I can definitely live without it. That being said, I do have a lot of respect when a brand has new unique idea on how to sell their products. Since beauty community has become a huge hit these past years, it's getting harder for makeup companies to create something completely new to the market, but with catchy names like Holographic Stick, Eye Pigment, and Lip Pigment, you definitely will be interested to take a peek.

Enter Milk Makeup; the fairly new 'it' brand around the corner. I blame the internet and all the cool girls (and guys) who rave about this brand all over the world wide web. First of all, their packaging concept is just so adorable and brilliant. The products look like what an alien space-age babes would only use. How can something minimalist yet futuristic can also look playful at the same time? Other crazy products they had created include Cooling Water on a roll-on stick (whaaaaat?) and Sunshine Oil in a portable rollerball pen (ah-dorable name by the way, ugh) which, to be honest could be just a big marketing gimmick bs, but whatever it is, the idea works.

Nana / ナナ (2005)

Nana is a live action movie adaption from the famous manga with the same title by Ai Yazawa. If you are familiar with Ai Yazawa's works before, then you're used to see such delicate characters with amazing fashion senses. Yes, Ai Yazawa herself took up fashion design major for a while before she dropped out and pursued career as a mangaka. Nana is no doubt one of her most successful mangas. The story goes by two female protagonist who shared the same name and yet they are the complete opposite. "Chipper Nana" is the happy-go-lucky bubbly girl who by chance encountered "gloomy Nana" on the train that's going to Tokyo. After they spent the night together on the way, they separaed ways until both of them ended up looking at the same apartment. 'White' Nana is a naive young woman who went to Tokyo to chase after Shoji, his boyfriend from her hometown, while 'Black' Nana is going to Tokyo to pursue her dream to become a singer. She's the vocalist of a punk-rock band Black Stones along with a couple other guys. From then, it follows both of their journeys as they tried to make their big city dreams come true.

Even if you have read the manga or watched the anime you're still in for a treat. Basically, this movie is perfect if you love slice-of-life, lighthearted type of movie with awesome J-rock music. Since Mika Nakashima (dark/black Nana) is a real life singer, you can only expect her to have great voice, but her acting definitely didn't disappoint either. The iconic Glamorous Sky song that she sung live with her band in the movie was probably my favorite part. Aoi Miyazaki (lovely/white Nana) was perfect for the role as well, kinda bummed that they recast her for the second movie. Black Nana and the boys of Black Stones have such consistent looks which I really dig. Since Ai Yazawa herself is a big fan of Vivienne Westwood, she did incorporate the designer's aesthetic within her characters.

This movie has a special place in my heart, because my very good friend actually introduced it to me about 9 years ago when we were still in junior high. I still feel the same no matter how many times I 've rewatched it.

on how to take life a little lightly

You might still remember my past blog post of me talking about how much I need to figure things out, and here's an update: I still haven't got any clue and I think it's okay.

I'm in my early twenties and like any other people my age,  I spend a lot of time on the internet reading tons of life advice because I'm very insecure about my life. From countless of articles I stumbled upon the internet, vast majority of them said that this is the time for me to do whatever the hell I want. As long as I'm unmarried, no dependents and have a little bit of savings, then I can travel the whole world if I want to and make love with strangers I just met on the streets. I really like that idea of being independent and adventurous a lot, but as much as I'm trying to plant that thoughts at the back of my head, that's just not who I am.

A friend once said to me, "People try so hard to get out of their comfort zone, but the truth is there's nothing wrong with being comfortable because you live for yourself" and it stays with me. Contrary to popular belief, it is actually okay to stay in your safe bubble as long as you want. There will come times when you're finally ready to burst out of the bubble to try something new, and granted you will be okay then. We have our own pace, and if you're a little behind than everyone around you don't beat yourself up.

People might not notice this about me when they see how outgoing and crazy I am around people, but my self-esteem is not the greatest and I have issues about being confident of what I'm capable of. I can't take compliments well and always give myself a hard time whenever people do say nice things about me. It frustrates me how I can't just accept praises with a gratitude, but I'm learning to slowly peel off this layer of personality that I don't like about myself because it stops me from having my moment. I am worthy of flattery, and you are too. Focus to cultivate positivity in your space of living. You only have one life, might as well enjoy the heck out of it. 

I'm not sure what I want to achieve from making this post because it feels like I'm writing advice for myself while also addressing the issue that I'm battling with so it's kind of contradicting in a way. Hear me out, life is very simple. The formula to live the life you want is to find a way, not an excuse.

skincare addition

Now this is not a random purchase because I went to the mall with actual intention of buying sheet masks and some makeup cleansing solution because I want to start using sheet masks more regularly to improve my skin (well, because of Fan Bing Bing, of course) and I ran out of my current makeup remover. In the end, I bought this Bioré cleansing oil from the drugstore and Dr. Jart Sheet Mask set of 5 from Sephora. I think this cleansing oil will be good since I loved the makeup remover wipes from Bioré, but feel like I wasted so much sheets over the past month and it's very environmentally damaging. This doesn't require any cotton pads to help lift makeup and dirts from the skin. The mask is from Dr. Jart. It is a pretty well known Korean brand and I know they're quite reliable in terms of skin care. Also I picked this version (there are 3 or 4 different ones targeting different skin concerns) because it claims to be good for sensitive skin with pimple and redness, which is what I'm suffering with at the moment.

I hope these works so I can recommend this to you guys, and plus, they're not that expensive so it would be awesome to see results from them.

I Wish / 奇跡 (2011)

I Wish is a really heartwarming movie. Despite the fact that the parents are separated and living faraway from each other, the two brothers who also live separately somehow maintained such close relationship with each other through phone calls. The older brother, Koichi, is the one who wished that their family can reunite to live together again. One day, he heard that if there are two trains passing each other in a certain speed, some kind of magical power will be generated to grant any wishes. Koichi and his younger brother, Ryunosuke, then plotted to go see the event with their own eyes together so they can make that wish.

The performance of real-life brothers, Kohki and Oshiro Maeda in this simple movie is just pure gold. Their acting totally encapsulated the innocence of living as a young kid that is full of confusion, but there are also so many little things that can make them feel happy instantly because of how naive they are. Adults wouldn't be able to understand their worry, so it's really uplifting to see it from kids' point of view. There are so many enjoyable elements in addition to the endearing storyline. Every single characters in I Wish has a background story that is relatable to us as the viewers. The cinematography, the music, the whole thing—all tied together, creating a really lighthearted vibe. This movie is very near and dear to my heart because I totally understand how it feels to have a family member living far away from home, and wish that they can come back to eat dinner and laugh with us again.

glossier + more new products

I wouldn't call this post haul per se, but it kinda is a haul because I've been shopping a lot since January. Actually, I probably forgot some stuffs to include but I'm so over trying to take more picture because it's pouring heavily whilst I'm trying to photograph these products. Also, my camera's battery is dying and I couldn't find the charger--basically nothing is in my favor today.

Anyway, I did order Glossier's Phase 1 Set the other day and I've tried the Milky Jelly cleanser the most out of four products. It removes all my makeup including my mascara which I couldn't believe the first time I tried it. If I were to repurchase, I'd most likely get the Milky Jelly cleanser only. The other products are so-so, but the Balm Dotcom is actually really nice for my dry cuticle. I find it boring to use on my lips. The Skin Tint I actually really like even though it provides very light to nothing coverage, it does even out redness and refine the texture of my skin a bit. The Priming Moisturiser leaves such a silky feeling afterward, but the pungent smell on initial contact with my skin; I'm not sure if I enjoy that. I emailed Glossier CS about this concern, and a sweetheart named Asa replied to me promptly. They said that the Priming Moisturizer is odorless, which it should be, but mine kinda smells gross. You can find more in depth information and review about this set all over the internet if you're curious.

In addition to Glossier, I also bought even more beauty products even though my 2016 resolution is to stop spending money hahahaha. I got Mario Badescu facial spray which I didn't really intend to buy, but I was so desperate to get a rosewater spray and this was pretty cheap. It did its job to refresh my senses, but doesn't do much for my skin. I bought the Clinique Age Defense BB Cream and Airbrush Concealer on a separate day actually. I like both of them, mostly the concealer because it surprises me how the coverage and texture is very very nice on my skin. A couple more things are Kiehl's Original Musk EDT, Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse, and Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Boy. Kiehl's Original Musk is definitely a favorite of mine. It does smell very earthy and creamy which is not exactly what I'd go for, but it has grown into me so I will keep those notes in mind for the next time I'm hunting for new scent. The dry oil by Nuxe was the most recent purchase I made--I snatched it right away from the counter few nights ago when I was in a department store and thought to use it on my hair as a treatment since I don't really take good care of it as much as I should have. It's been working well so I'm happy with that. Lastly my very first Chanel lipstick. I choose the shade Boy from the sheer collection because I want a color that I can wear everyday without worrying about how it looks or applies. 

instagram accounts to follow for instant inspiration

 

@_NGUAN_ | This account is very soft yet punching at the same time. The colour palette of each pictures somehow works together once they're seen next to each other. I also love how he created a string between different locations they shoot at. Sometimes he took a picture of Singapore, the other time Hong Kong, later Japan...yet everything just blends seamlessly. 

@BONJOURZHANG | Evania is probably my favorite person on instagram! She has a very strong baby pink aesthetic and everything she snaps make me so happy and jealous. Her style is just lovely and she has a tiny baby too! Love her love her.

@GLOSSIER | Glossier's instagram page is so inspirational to me. I also love checking the hashtag #ITGTopShelfie because I get to see various lotions and potions that other people use.

  

@TONY_GUM | This account has a very strong Wes Anderson vibe (just like how she wrote her description)--only the models are black, which makes it ten thousand times more awesome. All of her concept photos seem very well executed.

 

@MANSURGAVRIEL | Although this is like a luxurious designer bag account, the photography that they posted are just flawless. I love the colour combination and everything about it. They don't seem like pushing their products too much even though that's all the pictures are about lol. Good marketing.

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HONORARY MENTION:

 

@TINYGENTLEASIANS | Please just follow. The burden in your life will be instantly lifted and you will feel like everything will be alright.