Wow! It's been 3 weeks already...

Ok, haven't gone anywhere, just been lazy, semi-busy, and sick!! You can also find me on LUUUX, my e-mail is: annie.tang87@gmail.com!

Beverage of the day: Peet's Jasmine Green Tea

Rave - ELF Studio Brushes
Rant - MAC 224
Anyways, I FINALLY washed my new ELF Studio brushes and I have to say, only ONE hair shed out of all the ones I washed (which was around 15 brushes or so). That is pretty impressive because I also washed my MAC 224 and about 3 hairs shed from that brush. The 224 I've had about 2 years and finally started using it with my BB cream. It sheds almost every time I deep clean or spot clean it, and I've had 1 or 2 hairs shed while I was using it.

Rant - Neutrogena AHA

On another note, about two weeks ago I decided to try Neutrogena's AHA lotion. I have used it before and it made my skin red and flaky. I used this lotion three times, every other day. It made my cheeks red AGAIN!! Not only that, there were small bumps along my jawline. It wasn't visible but it felt so ICKY. The redness was so noticeable that my parents asked me what was wrong with my face. They knew it was a lotion that did it too!

I know that you're supposed to stick with AHA because your skin has to get used to it. But, I couldn't go around with my face looking like this. I was using BB cream to cover up the redness and while I don't really suffer from acne, I just wanted BETTER skin with no wrinkles. Not that I really have wrinkles.... I just wanted really good looking, magazine cover skin.

I went OFF it, and now my skin's a lot better. I don't know if I want to try AHA again for the third time, it's probably best if I threw it out now so I don't get tempted to use it again.

A few days after I stopped using it

Below is my "Skin Profile" which will tell you what kind of skin I have to give you more info on whether or not you want to use AHA.

Routine
Morning: No cleanser (on most days), Olay SPF 15 Moisturizer

Night: Clarisonic* on medium for 1 or 2 minutes using a NORMAL brush head, with L'oreal 360 deep cream  cleanser, followed by Dan Kern's moisturizer.

Exfoliate (once a month, I would like to exfoliate twice a week): I switch between Clinique's Pore Minimizer Thermal Active Skin Refiner with SkinFood's Black Sugar Scrub, and a home-made aspirin mask (two tablets of aspirin with honey).

Skin Type
Combination skin - oily T-zone with dryness around mouth & nose, and cheeks

Sensitivity - I am allergic to nickel and am prone to rashes for unknown reasons. I am not allergic to most cleaners (Biore's Pore Unclogging Scrub made my face bumpy and rashy in L.A., but does not do that to me in San Francisco) and lotions. Seems like my skin can tolerate different products in different environments.

Sun Burns - On a "normal" day when I don't use SPF moisturizer, I don't burn. I don't burn most days in the summer, unless I'm in another city and in the sun the WHOLE day. I used SPF 4 lotion on my legs to suntan, and I don't burn there. I haven't had a sunburn in a long time, and I try to practice "safe sun" by wearing SPF lotions.

Allergies - I am allergic to: nickel, MOST mascaras (Covergirl LashBlash, Maybelline Full N Soft, L'oreal Voluminous). I am sensitive to falsie lashes glue. My eyelids will be swollen, red, and itchy after I use these products. I have learned to use mascara once in a while and only at the tips of my lashes. It will still irritate my eyes, but you know the saying.. no pain, no gain :) I am NOT allergic to any foods or drinks, which is quite awesome.


*I will do a seperate review for the Clarisonic at a later date. I want to use this for a couple months first to see what it does to my skin. I have been using it for about two weeks and haven't noticed any VISIBLE differences in skin texture.

So... in conclusion, Happy Lunar New Years, Happy Valentines, I've had skin issues, I might have had pink eye, a sore throat for five days (and counting), started developing a cough, infected my boyfriend with a sore throat, and getting ready for a second job.

-Boudoir Beauty

Zoya Order

I finally received my Zoya order!!

L-R Casey, Penelope, Piper: $6.95 (only paid for shipping)

Casey: Dark/Blackened purple with a tiny amount of fine glitter. 

Penelope: Coral pink with NO glitter

Casey: Soft light pink shade with no glitter

My First E.L.F. Haul + Other Items

I'm so excited to show you guys my FIRST E.L.F. Order!! I ordered a couple items with a friend and heres what I got:

 E.L.F. Studio 11 Piece Brush Collection: $30 - 50% = $15

E.L.F. Studio Angled Contour, Blending Brush:

$3 + $1 = $4 - 50% = $2

2x Shine Erasers: 2x $1 = $2

I had a code for 50% off brushes so that's why I purchased mainly brushes. I'm also missing a couple items from my order and have contacted customer service about it. I sent an e-mail in on Friday so I'm hoping to hear back from them soon!

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Next, I purchased only ONE item from CVS during their huge cosmetics sale. Everything that I wanted is gone already :(

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in 413 Twinkled Pink: Approx. $2

I also went shopping at the mall this weekend. I picked up some basic leggings (they're called "capri leggings" but come down to my ankle, I'm 5'1) and tops that I can wear everyday or for ballet. (Excuse the quality of the pic, I was in a hurry)

Forever 21: Long sleeve top, purple top $9.80 + $5.50 = $15.30

Target: 2x capri leggings (clearance), socks (clearance) $4.20 each + $1.40 = $9.20

Lastly, I FINALLY got this lipstick. I don't know why I'm getting more when I already have a couple red lipsticks. I do love how sheer and buildable this lipstick is.

MAC Cyndi: $14.50

I should put myself on a shopping ban except there are a couple items on my wishlist:

1. Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler - How is it that I still haven't bought this yet? Cause I have a Tarte one that curls and works although it does pinch my lids. And, I want to avoid shipping charges so I've been waiting till my Tarte one breaks.. or malfunctions... Which is soon, hopefully, because I've had it for years.

2. Sigma Synthetic Face Kit (comes with F80, F82, F84) - I've been hearing SO SO many good things about these brushes. I don't use my MAC 187 very often, I think I'll like the F80 a lot more.

-Boudoir Beauty

Scarf & Slippers

Old Navy:

Coral Fleece Scarf: $7.50 -> $2.97 -> $0.97 - 50% = $0.50

Dance Wear:

Fuzi Canvas Ballet Slippers for class: $21

I just went to my first ballet class on Wednesday!! It was pretty fun although I didn't know WHAT I was doing... I have NEVER taken a dance class. I can't wait to go again next Wednesday because now I won't have to do it in my socks! I get so intimidated by some of the other students because some (more like 3/4...) of the students look like they danced their whole life or have taken classes. I'm bummed that I suck & I'm chubby (I do not look like a dancer...).

I'm really hoping I'll become more flexible because of this class.

-Boudoir Beauty

Getting Ready for the New Year, Round 2: A storage and collection post

It's almost Lunar New Years, just a week left!! In preparation, I've been cleaning and organizing. I don't have a train case, and I love recycling so I've been emptying plastic cases and reusing it to store my makeup.

Here's how I did it... with side stories!
Pink bookshelf: My dad made this little book shelf YEARS (over 10!) ago.. I painted it pink myself and it used to house manga.

 Labeled with post-its...

Three tier plastic storage case: From Target when they sell their "Back to School" supplies. This was on top of my Coastal Scents 88 palette (the original, non-shimmer one).

TOP L-R: Skin Food Aloe BB, NARS Laguna, Bonne Bell Glimmer Bronzer, NYC Bronzer - Sunny, Physicians Formula 2-in-1 Bronzer & Blush (I hate this, it has a bad smell), NARS Orgasm, NARS Albatross, MAC Dollywink

LEFT: Physicians Formula Translucent Powder, Benefit You Rebel sample, MAC Select Moisturecover Concealer, MAC Prolong Wear Concealer, Maybelline Concealer/Corrector, Smashbox primer sample, Revlon Colorstay Foundation, MAC Studio Fix

MIDDLE: Clinique blush, Maybelline blush, Clinique sample, MAC Just a Pinch Gel Blush, Benefit Dandelion/Sugarbomb/Hoola/Coralista

BOTTOM: Falsies

Benefit boxes: Just Benefit items I haven't used yet, and don't plan on using until I start using some of the stuff I already have. Sits on the shelf that has a lot of random stuff on it...

Plastic shoe box: When they go on sale, they're only $1 from Walgreens!

LEFT: MAC Palette, Urban Decay Naked Palette, Wet n Wild Palette in Greed, ELF Palette, Urban Decay Professional Size Primer Potion

MIDDLE: Tart Eyelash Curler, more depotted NYX pigments, UD Primer Potion sample in Original & SIN, Stila Barbie Gel Liners in "Little Black Dress", "Colbat Clutch" and "Purple Pumps". The NYX pigments is covering up my Too Faced shadow duo in Mommy Dearest, Too Faced Second Base Eyeshadow Base, and MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study.

RIGHT: Revlon Quad in Berry Bloom, Clinique Color Surge Eye Duo sample in Chocolate Kiss, (2) Maybelline Limited Edition Eyeshadow Duos in Amethyst Diamond and Copper Diamond, Lancome Creme Powder Eye Colour quad, Rimmel Mono Eyeshadow in Romance, MAC Pigments in: White, Jardin Aires, Bright Fuscha, Grape, Tan, and Copperbeam

L-R
Row 1: MAC Shroom, MAC Naked Lunch, MAC Pigment (I pressed three into pans) Jardin Aires, MAC Grand Entrance, NYX Shimmer (From Shimmer/Peach/Copper Trio)
Row 2: NYX Peach, MAC Pigment Bright Fuschia, MAC Woodwinked, MAC Satin Taupe, Urban Decay Mildew
Row 3: MAC Stars 'n Rocket, Urban Decay Last Call, MAC Pigment Grape, MAC Sketch, MAC Black Tied

Moon Cake Tin: Forgot to take a pic of the cover. It has a pic of that woman/goddess on it. Fits my depotted NYX pigments. They belong in that shoe box too.

Hello Kitty box: From the $1 store. It was too cute to pass up!

Liners, jumbo pencils, mascaras

Clear plastic box: Also from the $1 store.

Lipsticks on the left, glosses on the right

Baby wipe containers: You can't believe how versatile baby wipes are. They're good for using on the face, on the hands, the body, the desk, for spills, for cleaning, for picking up dust, for the dog's paws, for boys, for girls, etc etc. Get them scented, get them with aloe, whatever. I can't live without having a container of baby wipes in the house. Check out the cute Pooh containers!

Zoya, Essie, and 1 Orly on the left, China Glaze on right

My brushes sit in one drawer...

Mostly MAC and EcoTools

While back-ups/extras sit in another

-Boudoir Beauty

Haul #7: New Brush & Accessories!

From Walmart: I heard these were marked down. Coincidentally, my bro was headed there. I asked him to get me one and he did!!! I wouldn't have made a trip there myself 'cause I'd have to shell out $4 to cross a bridge.

mini CHI travel set: was marked $88.00 -> $20!

Contains minis of infra treatment, infra shampoo,

silk infusion, 44 iron guard,

blow dryer and straightener

I tagged along with BF to an army base near us and got this from their exchange store:

Too Faced Flatbuki: $10.60, no tax!

From H&M:

In their sale section they had a bunch of cute bracelets: $1

Each set comes with 5 bangles. Quality: Poor.
It's like a treasure hunt looking for the perfect set without any missing pieces.

Same as above but in silver. $1

Bow Bracelet: $1

-Boudoir Beauty

Swatches: Stila's The It Girl Palette

Hi! I'm so bad... I feel like I'm neglecting this blog. I really really want to update AT LEAST once a week. I have all these ideas for posts but between taking pics, uploading, and writing, I get sooo lazy. Pretty bad, huh? It seems like the only time I update is for hauls... Anyways, the reason why I decided to post today is because of this palette.

Cute packaging!

Taken under artificial light

I got an e-mail from Stila and they brought it back!!

Here the link if you want to buy, it IS limited edition:

http://www.stilacosmetics.com/product_detail.asp?PMID=765&dept=6&cat=23

There's free shipping with a $50 purchase. If you're a Stila Star member, use the code "IT GIRL" to get it for $11 (I don't know what that means, but that's what it says in the email). Code expires in a week.

I bought this a while back and finally opened it just to swatch. Haven't used it yet (I wear makeup on average twice a month....), but I will try to review it the best that I can.

Review: I bought it for $9.95, so it was pretty cheap. Cheaper than how much they're selling it for now. Total ounces come out to .32, about .107oz each. Stila's single shadows are .09oz each, their site says the shadows in this palette are smaller than their single pans. That's double the size of MAC shadows, BUT still smaller than a regular Stila shadow. 

It's pigmented and neutral. But, very shimmery. They're soft too, especially chloe. I used my fingers to swatch, and chloe just.. melted under my touch, it's similar to the texture in NYX's single shadows. That can be a negative thing, because my brushes tend to break apart the shadows... But it might be because I'm a bit heavy-handed with things.

Swatched under artificial light

& when the sun was setting. Really pigmented, right?

Lame: Lovely golden color that might not look good on me because I have yellow undertones. But who knows, maybe it'll look nice with green or black.

Chloe: Shimmery golden brown color. You won't be able to achieve smokey eyes with this shade, but great for all day wear. Even if you packed this color on, it won't get much darker than the pic.

Kitten: Truthfully, I bought this set because of Kitten. I've heard A LOT of good things about this shade, and just looking at it, I love it too. It looks like it'll work on all skin tones, a nude shade for people with lighter skin, and a pinky nude for darker skinned people. I'm not into smokey eyes myself, but I would use this with a charcoal color.

I can't compare these shadows to their single pan shadows, 'cause I don't own any of them. And I don't know if you can get this palette in stores.

Overall, it is a good deal. A regular eyeshadow pan costs $18 and you're getting this whole palette for less than that.

-Boudoir Beauty