What I'm Lovin' - May

Starting from the left:

1. Loreal Pop-out scrubber (from Deep Cleanser)

When I first started to exfoliate my face, I would use the bottled cream exfoliators. However, it's recently come to my knowledge that the one that I am currently using (St. Ives Apricot Scrub), while leaving your face feeling smooth, has such large particles that can actually create small tears which are damaging. I am now trying to invest in a manual scrubber, preferably the "Clarisonic Mia". Until then, I have heard that this pop-out scrubber is a nice exfoliator and have not stopped using it since the day I got it. Depending on which cleanser is best suited to your skin, you may end up with an orange, green, blue, pink, or white one and you do have to buy the Loreal cleanser to get any of the scrubbers.

2. Forever 21 Gold Necklace (very long)

I bought this at the beginning of spring and have forgotten to mention it until now. The necklace has small pink flowers attached along the gold chain. The necklace can be either worn long or can be wrapped around your neck twice to create a double necklace. This kind of necklace is also available with jade-colored flowers as well.

3. Forever 21 nail polish in "Pale Banana

A shimmery, light yellow nail polish.

4. Forever 21 Floral Ring

Beautiful jade-colored flower ring that has a silver band attached.

5. Milani Baked Blush in "Luminoso"

I saw a review for the fairly new line of Milani Baked Blushes on another blog and had to try one out. This pinky peach colored blush was the prettiest and least shimmery of the bunch. The only negative about this blush is the flimsy packaging.

(in the shade)

(in natural sunlight)

6. Forever 21 Giraffe-Print Sunglasses

7. CoverGirl Lash Blast Mascara in Brown

I bought this by mistake as I was trying to purchase a black LashBlast mascara. However, I came to find out that a brown mascara was exactly what I needed. It gives my eyes a little "oomph" while looking completely natural. Great mascara for "everyday", natural wear.

8. Zoya nail polish in "Rica"

This eye-catching nail polish is apart of Zoya's metallic summer nail polish collection.

9. Bath & Body Works Room Spray in "Strawberry Patch"

This scent is also available as a large 3-wicker candle and as a small 1-wicker candle. Strawberry Patch smells like strawberry candy and is always almost sold out every time I visit a Bath & Body Works store.

10. Loreal Lipstick in "Fairest Nude"

A light, neutral pink lipstick that has been raved by many women. It goes well on my dark, pigmented lips.

(with flash)

11. Bath & Body Works Body Cream in "Berry Signature Vanilla"

This triple moisture body cream, as well as the body spray (not pictured), are my personal favorite of the "Signature Vanillas" collection. The cream is extremely moisturizing, but not greasy, and has a very sweet berry scent.

12. Bath & Body Works Hand Sanitizer in "Fresh Picked Watermelon"

13. Carmex Cherry Lip Balm

My favorite lip balm because this one comes in gel form which I feel looks much more flattering on my super dry lips than any of the stick balms I've tried in the past.

Water Marble Nail Art, Take #2!

This is the second time painting my nails using the water marble technique. I loved the way these three set of colors turned out on my nails which is why I decided to dedicate another short post to water marbling.

The three colors used were F21's "Pale Banana", Bettina's #74, and a hint of Sephora by OPI's "I'm Wired".

^ My favorite design. ^

What I've Learned: I learned that some nail polishes are not so great for water marbling. The bright pink "I'm Wired" color was originally supposed to be used in combination with just the "Pale Banana" color. While the design looked fine from the view of the water's top surface, underneath the color had spilled over. So when I would dip my finger (correctly of course) into the water the design was all muddied and ruined each and every time. What did I do to fix this? I brought in a third neutral color that would mainly be paired with the yellow and only used ONE drop of the pink to add a pop a color. And there you have it.

Song of the Day (#1)

John Williams - Anakin's Theme

ALBUM: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

You do not have to be a Star Wars fan to appreciate this piece of music. All you need to know is Anakin Skywalker grows up to become Darth Vader, one of the most iconic bad guys in all of cinema. John Williams has the tune start off innocent, reflecting the young Anakin. It is near the end that the tune hints toward a darker side as it plays notes from "The Imperial March" which is Darth Vader's theme.

ON A SIDE NOTE: I just recently found this out but for all the fanboys out there the ending credits of The Phantom Menace film replays Anakin's Theme. However, if you listen closely to the last 30 seconds or so you will hear that the faint sound of Darth Vader's breathing is added. This, of course, foreshadows what's to come.

Water Marble Nail Art

Photos of my experience and final product. Video tutorial attached (video not mine).

Check out my further experiences with Water Marble Nail Art.
What You Will Need:

• 2-3 (or more) nail polishes
• bowl or cup (something you'll allow to get dirty)
• filtered water
  
• a large pointy pick (something you'll allow to get dirty)
• paper towel (something sturdy to wipe excess nail polish from pick)
• tape (optional; used to cover the skin around your fingernail)
  

Colors Used (from left to right):

OPI's OPI Ink, OPI's Cozu-Melted In The Sun, Bettina #74

Start of by putting one drop of either nail polish you choose on the water's surface. Then quickly place another drop of the next nail polish color within the first one. Continue this process with the rest of your nail polish colors until you get a colorful "masterpiece" like the one I created below.

Now, just use your pick to make any simple design. For instance, I used my pick to drag the inner most circle of nail polish outwards toward the outer most ring of nail polish. This will create a curved, "candy cane"-like design on my nails. Finally, swiftly but smoothly, dunk your nail (facing horizontally) onto design and remove the excess nail polish with pick before removing nail from water.

The colorful mess I made

The Final Product (on each hand)

There are plenty of tutorials on youtube, each with different designs ranging from easy to more complex.

Type in the search bar, "water marble nail art" or "water marbling".

Check out one of the tutorials I based my water marbling experience on below.

Credit for video goes to "SimpleLittlePleasures" on Youtube.

What I've Learned: While I am in love with Water Marbling, it does use up a lot of nail polish. This is especially true if you use a larger bowl like I did. So what I did is, like in the video above, used a tiny sized dixie cup.

Check out my further experiences with Water Marbling.

Breakfast & Lunch in LB

Some of the Best Long Beach has to Offer.

The Coffee Cup Cafe: For Breakfast

From left to right:

• The Scrambler
• Short Stack Pancakes
• Breakfast Burrito

Royal Cup Cafe/Gourmet Sandwiches:

For Lunch

• Grilled Cheese Sandwich

http://www.royalcupcafe.com/

Spring Fever Collective Haul

Spring has sprung and in good ol' California, that's especially true. Here are a couple of things I have bought within the past month or so.

HK Tank(Forever21) Forever21 Romper

Forever21 Floral Sunglasses ($5.80)

Pink Mac Keyboard Cover ($14)

Forever21 Ring

Forever21 Nail Polish ($2.80)

OPI Nailpolish ($8)

E.L.F. Blush "Tinkled Pink"

E.L.F. Eyelash Curler ($3)

Limited Edition "G of the Sea" Perfume ($45 for large/$30 for small)

"A Fatal Attraction to Cuteness"

What I'm Lovin' - March

BEAUTY

♣Sigma F80 Synthetic Brush

♣Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap - Rose

♣Sally Girl's $99 Glitter NailPolish

♣Femme Couture Baked Bronzer - Beachgirl

♣Maybelline Define-a-Brow

♣Revlon Colorburst Lipstick - Rosy Nude

♣Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss - Crystal Lilac

♣Loreal VisibleLift Under Eye Concealer

♣Lancome Sensational Effects Eyeshadow Quad

STYLE

♣Coach Purse

TV

♣Sym-Bionic Titan

FILM

♣Karate Kid (2010)