0

CutePolish's Evanora (from Oz) Nails

Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Hey everyone!  I'll give you a second to recover from shock.  LOL  Yes, another post.  It's been awhile since I was able to churn out a blog 3 weeks in a row!  Maybe it's because I'm procrastinating packing, and finding other things to keep me busy.  Like YT videos and nail art.

So I was just chillin, watching my subscriptions on YouTube, when I came across CutePolish's Evanora Nails.  A long, long time ago, I had a blog post about her 1-up nails (http://miniteababy.blogspot.com/search/label/1Up%20Mushroom).  And then not too long ago, I had a blog post when I tried out her Angry Bird nails (http://miniteababy.blogspot.com/2012/04/31-day-challenge-day-6-violetpurple.html) on my mom.  I got tons of compliments when I had the 1-up nails, so I've tried to at least keep up with watching her tutorials.

I had watched Oz during opening weekend and really liked it.  Mr. Juicy did not like it at all.  He called it "predictable"...and I told him "Duh...we've seen the sequel."  Hahaha  But one thing that I did notice throughout the entire move was Evanora's nails.  I'm glad CutePolish felt the same!  Here's a link to her video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCch2-j21aw

As you can see in the video, she uses a very pale pink as the background color, keeping truer to the look in the film.  I decided to try a bolder effect by using Zoya's Kimber as a background color.  And then, just to be different, I tried doing a white triangle on my ring finger with black/silver stripes.  On my right hand, I tried a simpler look with just the Kimber in the background and a blue glitter on my ring finger.  I tried a white stripe in the blue glitter, but I did not like the way it looked so I went over it when the blue glitter polish again.  You can kinda see the white in this pic, but I think it actually has a cool effect and I left it as is (I swear, totally not laziness!).

In case you wanted a quick summary of recreating this look:

Step 1: Base Coat (I used Seche's Recondition)

Step 2: Two coats of your Background Color (I used Zoya's Kimber, CutePolish used a Pale Pink)

Step 3: Using striping polish, draw triangles. (I used black, white, and blue glitter.  CutePolish recommends making dots of where you want the points of the triangle to be so that you can make sure the triangles are centered.)

Step 4: Using a glitter striping polish, draw lines down the inside of your triangles.  (I used a silver for the main fingers, and then a black w/ silver glitter striping polish on my ring finger.)

Step 5: Top Coat (I used Seche Vite)

And you're done!!  I think it was fairly simple to do, and my nails look pretty cool.  It's almost like having claws w/o actually having claws, hahaha.  Such evil nails *insert evil laugh*.  So why was Theodora surprised?!?  Oh, um...spoiler alert?  Hahaha, sorry...I hope I didn't ruin the movie for ya if you haven't watched it yet!


As a sidebar, I also wanted to show you my St Patty's day look (which was full of fail):

This look was inspired by (okay, I was actually trying to dupe, but I totally didn't have the right polishes/supplies) Meliney's St. Patrick's Day Clover Tutorial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm6RStqQs0s).  At the time, I didn't have my white striping polish, so I muddled through w/ a thin brush and Zoya's Envy (the dark green).  It didn't work out so well..I am soooo out of practice!  But have no fear, I will *try* to have more nail art when I move.  The lighter green is Zoya's Tangy.  And I just threw on some green heart rhinestones.  Maybe I should've put 3-4 on a nail to make a fake clover.  Meliney does that on her ring finger in the tutorial.

I wasn't thrilled w/ my results for St Patty's day, but it was cute enough for me to sport.  I was very happy to remove my polish yesterday and to do my new look.  If I attempt to do this look again for next year, I will make sure to have all the necessary tools on hand!

Anyhoo, again, I'm filled with uncertainty of when my next post will be, but I am on a pretty good roll, so who knows? =)

Till next time!!


Disclaimer:
1. I bought all of the products I used in this post myself.
2. I am not affiliated with any of the companies of the products I used.
3. I was not paid to do this post.
4. These are my honest opinions.
0

Moving! & Beauty Blender Dupe Mini Review

Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Hi Everyone!  I know, I know...shocking!  Another blog already!?!

So yes, as the title of the blog states, I am moving.  It's a little bittersweet because I'll be moving away from my beloved Los Angeles, but I'm moving for a good career path.  *Sigh*, the sacrifices! LOL  For safety reasons, I will be vague, but I will be moving to Phoenix!  I know Phoenix is big, but who knows...you might be able to find the one azn girl running around...hahaha.

Anyhoo, so the point is, I may have some free time in the near future to upload more videos and more posts.  I feel bad that I have quite a few new subscribers on YT, yet I haven't posted a video in over a year.  How embarrassing!!!  I will have to make a nice tutorial when I have some time to spare.  Hopefully my new place will have some bomb lighting, so I can shoot a great video. One of my issues has always been lighting for my videos and pictures. =/

Moving on to the mini-review!

So...many of you have probably seen something like this sponge at Sephora.  The Sephora version is called BeautyBlender and is pink.  It's also like $20+ !?!  So I, being the economical girl I am, decided to look for a dupe.  I know that there are some dupes at Ulta and other places, but I actually found one for $2.  Go me. Hehehe  Caveat: I had to buy 10, LOL.  So I spent $20, but I got 10...I gave a bunch away before I even tried using the product.  But then (dun dun dun...), I used it.  I didn't actually do any research on how to use it...just decided to swipe it in some powder foundation, and then put it on.  It was terrible!  It put WAAAAY too much makeup on.  I was like, "Omg, what is up with this?  Why do people rave about it?"  Seriously, wtf?  Oh yeah...Maybe I should read/watch the how-tos first?

So...what I did wrong:  I did not get the sponge damp first!  A pretty informative video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh0eyzzkViI&list=HL1363207161

My bad.  So I was kinda bored, going through random YT videos (mostly suggested ones), and one of them was a BeautyBlender v Ulta Dupe (I think by LePooke), which caught my eye...and then a light bulb clicked on.  It is super important to soak up a bunch of water into the sponge, and then wring it out.  Then pat/wring in a towel.  The pic above shows the difference between a wet sponge (left) and a dry one (right).  As you can see, the wet one is almost double the size of the dry one.  This makes the difference between too much makeup and a flawless finish.

The main reason you should soak a sponge in water first is because that way it won't absorb as much of your makeup into it.  But it also makes the pores in the sponge bigger (or something) so when you apply your makeup, it's less dense.  Does that make sense?  Ooooh, I'm a poet and I didn't even know it! Hahahah

Seriously though, I definitely recommend trying this product.  For personal reasons, I am not linking the site where I got my sponges from, but I'm sure they are easy to find.  Since I never tried out the BeautyBlender or the Ulta dupe, I have nothing to compare this to.  Sorry if this review seems all over the place...I just kinda wrote as I thought vs organizing my thoughts first and then write. =)

I don't plan to count this as my "April" post, but in case I get too busy with my move, hopefully this will tide you over.  Till next time!!

Disclaimer:
1. I bought the sponge with my own money.
2. I am not affiliated with any of the companies I mentioned nor the company I bought the sponge from.
3. No one paid me for this review.
4. These are my honest opinions.
3

iSpa First Imipressions/Review

Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Hi Everyone!  I hope you are all doing well.  I don't have a ready nail pic to post, so instead, you get the joy of my son, TnT. =)  Isn't he adorable with my glasses? LOL

I'm sure you're surprised that I'm blogging again so soon, but I just HAD to share my experience with iSpa...a Korean Spa in Irvine, CA.  My two girlfriends and I had planned this day for about a month.  We read the reviews on Yelp and knew what to expect...kinda.  We were definitely intimidated by the fact that people would be walking around us butt naked, but hey...we could be grown ups and deal. =) Hahahah  So here's how our day went:

We checked in at the front desk.  We had already made an appointment for the scrub-massage, which included the spa fee ($70).  We had to pay the $70 up front, and we were given a "uniform" and a locker key.  Now mind you, I didn't actually bring anything besides my wallet and cell phone.  None of the reviews mentioned the need of anything, so I just went in "blind" lol.  When we entered the women's side, we were greeted by a hallway full of little lockers.  Our keys opened up the lockers (digital keys, might I add...pretty high-tech!), and we looked into these lockers like wtf.  They were super small...and wouldn't fit some of my friend's purses.  Luckily for me, I didn't bring much, so I could've squeezed all my stuff in.  Until, one of my friends read a sign "Shoe Locker". LOL  They were super small because they were only meant for shoes! *Whew!* So we throw in our shoes, lock the lockers and move on to the "real" lockers.

The regular lockers (opened by the same key, might I add), were relatively big, and came with a hanger.  We changed into our pink uniforms.  Basically, it was a light pink t-shirt and dark pink shorts.  I took off my bra, but left on my panties...I'm not sure if you are supposed to, but I definitely felt more comfortable that way. =)  Our appointment was at 3:30, but they recommend that you arrive at least 30 min prior to your appointment, so you have time to shower.  So we stepped out to what I dubbed, the Naked Room.  We had to get nakkid, and then use a tiny towel to dry up.  For me, that meant I could either cover front or back or top or bottom.  I elected for front.  One of my friends elected for bottom. LOL  Some people didn't even care and just had the towel wrapped up in their hair.  After taking a look around, we opted for the sit-down showers.  Each station was well lit, had a portable (not sure if I'm using the right word here, but hopefully you know what I mean) shower head, a little stool to sit on, and a basin.  Each was also equipped with shampoo, conditioner (Tresemme, Costco style!), and a bar of soap (something greenish...wish they had Dove!).  So we each grabbed a station, and went at it.  We were pretty much out in the open, but at this point, we were pretty much over the whole naked reservations, lol.  I wasn't sure what to expect from our scrub-massage, so we actually washed our hair along w/ our body.  It turned out later that they wash your hair for you in the scrub-massage.  So yeah...now we know (for next time!).  After rinsing off, we went to the dry sauna (sorry...I didn't even go into the wet/misty sauna because I always feel like I can't breathe!) for a few minutes.  It was pretty hot, and my friend couldn't take it anymore, so we went to sit by the hot tub.  We were actually supposed to get in and soak, but my friend thought the water was too hot, and we just ended sitting on the edge and soaking our feet, lol.  Soon there after, our number was called (they go by locker numbers, fyi!), and the scrub-massage commenced.

The employees here aren't naked. They were a black lacy bra & panty.  I had Jina as my person, and she was very professional.  She had me tie up my hair, and then lay on my stomach on the bed.  The beds were very cute...hot pink!  And made from some type of waterproof material.  She did put a nice warm, wet towel across my back and covered my butt.  It did feel better that I was semi-covered.  And then she started scrubbing with these abrasive mitts across my body.  She started at my feet and slowly worked her way up my body.  Then she had me flip over and scrubbed my frontside.  Yes, she scrubbed my butt and boobs.  She didn't even hesitate, lol.  She used some type of bar soap while she was scrubbing, and I saw some of the chunks of dead skin coming off.  It wasn't pretty...it was more along the lines of GROSS and disgusting!!  After she was done, she had me go take a shower (w/o giving me a towel, so I had to run (or walk fast, lol) naked to the showers for a quick rinse off.  Then come back and she had me dry off.  While I was gone, she had cleaned off all the dead skin from the bed and floor.  After she finished drying off the bed, she had me lay back down, on my stomach.  She did a massage pretty much the same as the scrub, starting with the feet and working up.  This was definitely NOT a relaxing massage.  It was more of an accupressure massage, where she would push hard in specific ares.  Although some points were a little painful, overall, it felt pretty good and afterwards, I was very relaxed.  She spent more time on my back than any where else, but she did hit some spots on my butt that hurt, lol.  She had me flip over and she washed my hair.  Afterwards, she began grating some cucumbers.  She washed my face (with a massage), and then rinsed it off.  She then put the grated cucumbers on as a mask, and put something soft over my eyes.  After that, she massaged my neck and shoulders (and boobs!).  This part of the massage was VERY nice...because that area is where I carry most of my stress.  She wiped off the cucumber mask and had me sit up.  Then she asked me to hold out my hands and squirted a warm milky liquid into it.  She told me to wash my face with it...and it felt very nice and moisturizing.  She also squirted it all over the rest of my body and told me I was done.  She then gave me an envelope with her name on it and I was done!  I rinsed off (wasn't sure if I was supposed to or not!) again, and then got dressed in my uniform.

We dried our hair, and decided to check out the co-ed areas (yes, prior to this all the areas were strictly females only).  Me and a friend decided we would be more comfortable w/ a bra, so we went to the locker and put ours on before heading to the co-ed area.  There was actually a sign on the door that said you needed to wear the uniform...I actually didn't know it was co-ed until my friend told me! LOL  But we checked out the food court (passing by a guy sleeping with a piece of wood for a pillow), and it was pretty good.  We tried a snack (Kimbap) and I tried a Caramel Frapp (they just asked for our locker number and put it on our tab).  The kimbap was very tasty, and the Frapp was pretty sweet.  In the food court, there is a "Light Therapy" room.  We tested it out for a couple minutes, but I'm not sure what it was supposed to do, lol.  Maybe relax you?  Unfortunately there's a very limited area where you can eat/drink, so we basically stuffed ourselves and then headed out to see the rest of the co-ed facilities.

First, we checked out the Fire Room.  It literally felt like I was in fire...even the bottom of my feet were burning.  I would totally wear socks in that room!  We couldn't really take being in that room for too long, so we decided to check out the next room.  This room was the Salt Room.  Oh man...the salt was WONDERFUL.  It was pretty hot in that room as well, but there were these towels laid over the salt and was very nice to lay on.  I think the salt was heated, and it's supposed to suck out impurities.  I enjoyed using the little neck blocks while laying down.  We just chilled for a few minutes and then moved to the next room. This room was called the Forest Room.  It was the coolest of the heating rooms, but still pretty warm.  It smells pretty piney and earthy.  We also just relaxed in here for a few minutes and then moved on to the Ice Room.  The Ice Room is basically a freezer, with a few jade stools to sit on.  There was a lady sitting down inside already, and she told us that we should bring a towel to sit on.  I guess we'll know for next time.  I tried sitting in the chair w/o a towel and my butt froze sooooo fast, lol.  I think we literally spent one minute inside and then checked out. LOL

We made our way back to the locker room and changed.  When we got to the front, we turned in our keys and paid our balances (from the food court).  Then we threw in a tip in the envelopes (there's a box for these near the cashier) and took off.  **Note:  They only accept cash for tips!!  They do have an ATM in the front, but I'm sure it has a humongous fee, lol.

All in all, iSpa was very fun.  We are planning to go back next month!  I would definitely recommend it to everyone, BUT...just don't be all caught up on the nakkid part.  I think it helps knowing exactly what to expect when you get there, so you don't look like a deer in the headlights.  Like we did.  But next time, we will totally be able to breeze through the process, and have even more fun!  I am very excited to go again.  But in the meantime, I will enjoy my baby-soft, super clean skin. =)

Things I would change for next time:
1. Go HOURS earlier than the appointment so I can relax in the co-ed area (especially in the Salt Room!).
2. Bring cash for tips.
3. Bring a facial mask to throw on (either after the scrub or while chillin in the Salt Room).
4. Don't wash my hair right before I go!

I hope this review helps those of you curious about Korean spas!!

Till Next Time!

Disclaimer:
1. I paid for iSpa myself.
2. iSpa did not pay me for this review.
3. I am not affiliated with iSpa.
4. These are my honest opinions.