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Welcome back to my page! Today I thought I would switch things up and talk about something that is a little bit more personal than my usual beauty review posts. I feel that I have strayed away from talking about what has been going on in my personal life because I am still trying to figure it all out. This post is going to talk about my Post-Grad experience.

Remember, everyone's situation is different. My experience may not be the same as yours.
My graduation (May 2017) was one of the happiest moments of my life. I was already a super senior and was really beating myself up about not graduating as class of 2016, as I originally was supposed to. Sadly, due to sub par grades, major health issues, and my psychological state, I was unfortunately forced to stay an additional year. Finally getting the "okay" to graduate lifted a huge weight off of my shoulders, but I still had a lot of underlying anxiety about this happy moment.

What was I afraid of?
Although the hurdle of graduation was lifted, I still had so many concerns about what post-grad life would entail. Would I find a job? Where would I live? Will my relationships I've acquired the past 5 years be lost? How will my relationship with my parents be? Have I failed them because of the route I chose was not the ideal route they wanted for me? How will I pay off my loans?? I was scared. I voiced my concerns with my significant other and my sister a multitude of times, and although their words were comforting in the moment, the anxiety always creeped its way back to the forefront of my mind. I had no idea what I would do with my life.

My Health
 My parents were really hounding on me to get a job and it triggered a few panic attacks and I even had to go to the doctors for falling occasionally. My body would go cold and numb, my breathing was sporadic, I would black out and find myself on the floor shaking and gasping for air.  My health was bad and I needed to take back control. I learned that patience is a virtue and that I can do only so much until it is literally out of my hands. Why the fuck am I stressing so much if I cannot do anything about it?? Applying to jobs taught me that very important lesson. You as an individual can do everything you can possibly do, but once it is out of your hands, it is no longer on you anymore. That very important lesson helped ease my mind and my anxiety. I asked myself everyday "Is there anything else you can do?" If not, then I will just relax. There is no shame in relaxing; What is the point of being anxious and worried if you cannot do anything about it? 

Summer 2017
After graduation, I decided to go on a vacation with some college friends to Mexico. It was much needed and very deserved. We all worked so hard to get to this moment and we needed to celebrate. Once I got home from my little week long getaway, best believe I was applying to jobs left and right. Shoot, I think I even applied to a few places while I was in the jacuzzi in our hotel room! During this summer, I also did a lot of traveling with my family. This was one of the best summers for us as we got to really bond during this time.  My family and I took a road trip to Massachusetts for a wedding, and then made our way up to Bar Harbor, Maine for some family time.

The Interview
 Ironically enough on the last and final day of our vacation in Maine (August 8th, 2017), I received the email that got me to where I am today. I secured a job interview at a company I had been eyeing for some time. I specifically advised my parents that I refused to settle for a dead end job and wanted to secure a position at a company I would actually want to stay with, so this was exciting news. I had to go through two rounds of interviews and was ultimately offered the position which started 2 weeks later. I am very grateful for this position, although it is not what I want long-term for my career, it opened plentiful doors of opportunity for me and has been a major learning experience.

What Now?
Putting in the time at my company has definitely paid off. I have voiced to everyone that I know that I would be most interested in going back to school to obtain my Master's Degree. I wanted to continue schooling after obtaining my bachelors, but unfortunately was not able to afford to take out any additional loans. After being an employee here for a year, I was able to work with my company to do a University Partnership Program. I was accepted and now I am working towards obtaining my M.S in Healthcare Administration with Leadership Studies, at no cost! It feels like everything fell
right into place and just goes to show that everything happens for a reason. 

What I Took From This
Everything will be okay. Whether you get a job right after college or get a job a year after you graduate; Everything will be okay. As long as you know you are doing everything you need to accomplish on your end, there is no need to worry. I learned to take control of my thoughts and my worries, it helped me get through a lot of bad spells. Because my family has witnessed how my stress has been affecting me so much, they have become more understanding of me and my internal struggles. I happily still live in my parents basement, (its a really nice ass basement btw!), which they were adamant on me staying to save money and has helped me developed a new, adult relationship with my parents. Maintaining adult friendships tends to get more difficult due to everyone being spread out and with busy schedules, but we have all made time to make it work and understand each other's busy lives. Post-Grad life is not easy, but it helps to hear how other people have felt and what they have been through to share that they are not alone in feeling how they feel. My story is my own and I hope that this has helped anyone out there feel that they are not alone during this time.
 Be patient and be kind with yourself!

Welcome back my friends! I have another exciting VoxBox to review for you all! As always, I want to thank Influenster for the complimentary products to test and review. Today I will be discussing my thoughts on some Kérastase products. If you are not familiar, Kérastase is a French luxury hair care brand. The particular products I will be reviewing from them will be from three different collections. I received from them one scalp & hair serum, one oil serum, and a anti-frizz spray. If you would like to know my thoughts on these products, please continue reading!

1. Initialiste Advanced Scalp & Hair Serum (retails $51 on Sephora site)


Per the product directions, it explains to apply product to damp hair. I primarily use this serum on my scalp and use about 3-4 drops and massage it into my scalp. It claims to "Support hair strength, shine, and softness and Supports natural hair growth". I have been using this almost every time I wash my hair, so about 3-4 times per week. I find that the idea of massaging my scalp helps promote healthier hair, therefore the action of massaging the roots combined with this product definitely does help. Some of the ingredients in this particular product explain how it specifically helps promote stronger, healthier hair. For example, these ingredients are listed on the Sephora website: 
  • SP94: Reinforces hair structure and strength through the lengths.
  • Ceramides: Reduces breakage by supporting hair strength.
  • Conditioning Agents and UV Filters: Smooth and soften hair.
  • Green Tea Extract: Provide antioxidant protection.

2. Elixir Ultime Oil Serum (retails $50 on Sephora site)

When I received this voxbox, I was particularly excited to try this hair oil. I use this product on newly washed, damp/semi-dry hair. I only put ½ -1 pump in my hair due to the short length. A little really does go a long way with this oil and you don't need too much product. On the Sephora site, it states you can use this hair oil as a pre-cleanse, but I mainly use it as a pre-blow dry. I feel that when I apply this product before styling my hair, it not only helps protect it, but it also helps the style last longer. I also use a teeny tiny bit on the ends as a touch up on my hair if it gets frizzy. On the Sephora site, it lists the different oils used for this serum.
  • Maize Oil: Adds suppleness, softness, and shine.
  • Procaxi Oil: Adds nourishment and shine.
  • Argan Oil: Adds strength and protection.
  • Camellia Oil: Adds smoothness and shine.


3. Discipline Anti Frizz Smoothing Spray (retails $37 on Sephora site)

I always love me a good styling spray! Whenever I need to tame my hair or get rid of any frizzies, I always turn to an antifrizz spray. My usual go-to was my Living Proof spray, which I talked about in a previous blog post. Click HERE if you want to read up more on that particular review. Now in regards to this anti-frizz spray, I find myself grabbing it before I style my hair with any type of heat, as well as a finishing spray after I style. You really can't go wrong with this type of product and I use it religiously to combat flyways. Here are the ingredients listed and what they help promote:

  • Surface Protector: Smooths, softens, and detangles hair.
  • High Precision Care Agent: Restores hair with a natural, weightless effect.
  • Softening Agents: Make hair extremely soft to the touch.
  • Lipid Agents: Smooth hair and provide frizz protection.

Conclusion

To be completely honest and transparent with you all, I don't particularly feel that I need fancy hair products. My go-to products for my basic, straight, thin, Asian hair is anti-frizz spray and dry shampoo. Although I really liked these products and will continue to use them, I do not see myself going out to purchase them myself. I definitely do see the difference it is making in my hair. I feel that my hair can be dull and flat, and after using these products for a month straight, I feel that I do indeed see a little bit more life and flounce to them. Although, the volume in my hair could also be from a recent trim that I had. These products do smell amazing if I may say, I just don't think I would spend the money on this luxury product. I feel that it would be more cost-efficient to make hair products such as the oil serum on your own. Of course this is just all in my own opinion. Maybe a curly headed girl would feel differently than I. I hope this review on these products helped and if you do try this brand, hit me up on social media to let me know what YOU think!

Happy Sunday my loves! With the sun coming out and the weather getting warmer, it's time to switch up my skin-care routine. Today we are going to discuss some Ole Henriksen. I received yet another complimentary Vox Box from Influenster! Influenster, I would just like to start off by saying thank you so much for allowing me to try and test new products. It really does give me the opportunity to play with products that I typically would not pick out for myself! The product that they kindly sent to me is the Ole Henriksen C-Rush Brightening Gel VoxBox. If you'd like to hear more of my thoughts on this product, please continue reading!

So I am a huge moisturizer junkie. As I've mentioned before, I do have eczema and suffer from extremely dry skin at times. My usual go-to cream is First Aid Beauty moisturizers, but they are quite heavy creams that I usually grab for during the wintertime. The O.H C-Rush gel is the perfect summertime counterpart. The first thing that hit me when I opened the jar up (which if I may say, is really great and sturdy packaging) was this beautiful smell of citrus orange and cream took me back to my childhood. It smelled exactly like orange creamsicles, which were my favorite growing up!

Now the texture of this gel is still quite thick compared to other gel moisturizers. It honestly is more so in the middle between a gel and a cream. It is nice and thick while still giving a lightweight nourishing feel. I have used it everyday since I have received it and have incorporated it into my daily skin-care and makeup routine. I would say it wears really well under makeup and doesn't feel like it makes my makeup glide anywhere. 

This product claims to help brighten your skin with the help of Vitamin C. On the Sephora website, it claims to help with "Dryness, Fine lines and wrinkles, and Loss of firmness and elasticity". I definitely feel like the transition between the seasons really affected my skin. I noticed that I had a lot of dullness in my skin tone. I feel that after using this product quite consistently really did help brighten and tone my skin. It definitely helps battle dryness, but I am still testing it out to see if it holds up for the other claims it made.

Overall this product has been a key component of my daily routine. I 100% do see myself repurchasing it ($44 on Sephora) as I always need a good moisturizer. For now I will be setting aside my absolute favorite First Aid Beauty creams and will be using this gel all summertime long! Thank you for stopping by and I hope this review was helpful!
Aloha my friends! I am super excited to be doing this review today! What we're going to be discussing is the Bretman Rock collaboration with Morphe Cosmetics (aka Morphebrushes). The "Babe In Paradise" Highlight Palette! To give some back-story, I have been a follower of Bretman for some time now. He initially stood out to me for his humor and comedic videos. I feel like myself as well as the internet watched him grow and blossom into the person he is today and I am so proud of his accomplishments. I wish him the best on all his endeavors and he will always have support from me. (He even follows me on twitter hehe!). This product retails for $29 and I purchased this with my own money and happily used code BRETMANROCK for $$$ off. ;)

The Palette

Now to get started, this palette is one of the most beautiful products I have purchased in a long time. The packaging is so stunning to me with its colors and patterns. Bretman explained a bit of what inspired him for the design on his product. In his video, he stated that he took inspiration from the surroundings of his home, Hawaii. He wanted to make sure the product was a reflection of himself and had the soul of Hawaii in it, which is also how he explained the names of the actual highlights. The geometric patterns were inspired from his traditional tattoos and the colors and flora on the packaging was influenced by the very nature of his home.

The Brush

I was pleasantly surprised that the palette came with a brush. For some reason I assumed that the brush was only included with the PR packages that people received. It is a gorgeous wood grain fan brush made with natural hair bristles. Bretman explained in his video about this brush and how he took inspiration from the palm trees in Hawaii, which makes total sense. I have never owned a natural bristle brush before and it is blowing my mind. It is so delicate and soft and it applies the highlight quite beautifully. I actually stopped using fan brushed and started using more round head brushes to apply my highlight, but this brush definitely made me turn back!



The Highlights

Now to get into the actual highlights! Now I usually do not invest my money into highlight palettes specifically due to me not liking every single color in the palette. I prefer to buy individual highlights because I know I actually like the color. I was able to utilize all of these colors into one look and it really showed the versatility of each color. I never have said this before about any other highlight palette, but I actually LOVE every single color. The actual texture of these highlights are amazing. They are so smooth and almost creamy. Bretman explained that the highlights are a new formula that Morphe came out with. On the site, it is described as the new "High Impact Highlighters". Although these highlights are blinding, they are not particularly "Glittery". I am a sheen highlight type of girl, so this highlight was definitely right up my ally. I don't tend to really prefer glittery or sparkly highlights; I like that "glow from within" look. On the site, the colors are described as the following:


SHADE NAMES

BEHBEH GURL (pearlescent pink)
VAYGAYTION (iced champagne sheen)
MAHU (gilded gold)
GET LEI’D (peachy pink sheen)
CHEEHOO (soft rose sheen)
SHADY BITCH (golden copper luster)

Pictured below are the swatches of each color in the same order (with and without flash)

The Looks

Now I wanted to maximize the usage of this product and I think I definitely achieved that. I used every single highlight in my look! I will break it down how I used each color, but it's definitely safe to say that these highlights are quite universal and very stunning on the skin.
  1. I used BEHBEH GURL on my cupid's bow, although it does not picture well with the lipstick that I used. I definitely want to try to utilize this color more in different ways because it is so stunning!
  2. VAYGAYTION was applied on the inner corners of my eyes while MAHU was applied to the middle of my lids for a bit of transition.
  3. I used GET LEI’D on all the high points of my face, including my cheekbones and as my nose highlight (this one might be my fav!)
  4. I used CHEEHOO as my blush and to my surprise, it was so flattering as a blush color on my skin tone. I was afraid that it was going to make my face too metallic-y by using a highlight as a blush but it definitely works!
  5. Finally, I used SHADY BITCH as my contour/bronzer as well as my transition shade in my crease on my lids to complete my eye look.





Thank you all for stopping by and checking out my review on one of my favorite Influencer's highly anticipated new product. I hope you guys enjoyed it and to remember that makeup is fun and all about what makes you feel beautiful and comfortable. So have fun and stay shinin'!
Long time no see my loves! I know, I know... I've been MIA. Life has hit me with so many unforeseen obstacles, and also a lot of beautiful blessings, so I've definitely been focusing on a lot of others things, which I will catch you up on on a later blog post! 

Now what we're going to get into today is another VoxBox I received complimentary from Influenster. I received the L'Oréal Paris Pure-Sugar Scrub VoxBox. I have a lot of thoughts in regards to this product. My first initial thought was “a sugar scrub.... for my face?!” Now ya girl loves herself a good lip scrub, but I had some reservations about this product being an exfoliant for the face. The first thing that popped into my mind was the notorious apricot scrub that everyone swore by. Now I will not mention the brand, but I'm sure a lot of you know exactly what product I'm referring to. That apricot scrub is a nightmare. It basically goes against everything that exfoliation is supposed to be about! It is harsh, chunky, and will literally leave abrasions on your skin if you are not careful. I would know because I used to use it as well.  Now I am a huge believer of exfoliating. There are a lot of positives to exfoliating dead, dry skin, but there IS such a thing as OVER-EXFOLIATING. The point of exfoliating it to gently rub off the layer of dead skin that we develop over time. The reason we do this is because there is no point in moisturizing already dead skin. Exfoliating correctly can help get rid of acne because it removes the dead skin away that can clog our pores. When we over-exfoliate, that can present even more skin issues. It can cause even more breakouts, skin sensitivity, and even redness. There are lots of literature on the internet about the pros and cons of exfoliating, but just keep in mind that most things are better when used in moderation, which is exactly how I feel about exfoliation and my daily skin-care routine.

Now in regards to this sugar scrub product, I was nervous about trying it because I needed a better idea of the texture. I was pleasantly surprised when I first tried this product out. It was very finely milled and unexpectedly smooth! It has been grind down to a very FINE sugar and feels more like a microdermabrasion scrub rather than the traditional clumpy sugar scrub. With any and every exfoliating product, you just have to be careful about the amount of pressure you apply when you massage it onto your face. Another bonus to this product is that it smells absolutely heavenly! It smells like warm vanilla and I definitely wanted to taste it when I used it haha! I would positively recommend this product to anyone. Not only does it work, but it surpassed a lot of my expectations and the price tag is very affordable. I also want to try the rest of their line (I saw there was a kiwi one!) Thank you again Influenster and L'Oréal Paris for giving me the opportunity to try such an amazing product! Again, do your research when it comes to these type of products because what will work for one person, may not work for the next. Thank you for stopping by!

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A LITTLE ABOUT ME

Welcome to my little nook of the internet.

☼Aquarius☼ | ☾Scorpio☾ | ↑Gemini↑

Skincare | Makeup | Food | Fashion | Reading | Travel | Planning

Self-care | Self-love | Self-affirming

Just trying to find comfort in this big world; occasionally tucking away in my own little nook.

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