Weekend Haul + Eki's Love Package + Misc.

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Happy Weekend everybody!
I finally found some extra time to devote myself to blogging. I haven't uploaded a real post in a while. These days I'm nearing the end of the school year and it's crunch time! :( I took the SATs this morning and felt relieved that this will be the last time (3rd time btw haha). Sigh, and I'm definitely looking forward to AP's next next week. Hah. -_-;

So after the SAT, I went over to Mitsuwa for some much needed lunch and browsing. I really wanted to check out the magazines for that Spring issue with the Jill Stuart pouch! Sadly it wasn't out yet~ However I did get the Maquia and Seda magazine. I'm kind of disappointed in the Maquia magazine, it didn't have many tutorials but I'll try to take some pics of both mags to show you guys. The Seda magazine had a special on Eye Makeup to look HOT haha. The article is called "Mote Eye Make Magic" which roughly translates to "Attractive Magic Eyemakeup."

I also picked up the White Tsubaki Shampoo because it was on SALE for $5.49. Also I was running low on cotton pads so I got the Selena 2-Way (2 Sides) Cotton Pads for about $2.99. Japanese cotton pads/balls are the best! I got some in Japan a couple yrs ago and they were so nice. However I was cheap and just resorted to American brands. It's time to try something new :)

Last weekend (such a long time ago, sorry Eki!) I received Eki's love package in the mail! Thank you so much~ Eki has supported me on blog, email, and on my sale. She's an extremely kind, caring, and loving person! Please support her creative efforts by picking up some ADORABLE bows right here.

As always, Eki gave me some of her new pin designs with the Smashbox Bag, Face Tint, and PN sparkly lipveil. She also put in one of her cute choco pops :) Yummy~

It took several tries to finally get a pic of the pin on my hair, but here I am modeling one of Eki's first pin creations I've received. I'll try to take some more pics but it's so hard to get a good angle.


Last but not least, I've finally received the Giveaway Prize from Annie Nguyen.
I'm sure EVERYBODY knows how this girl has been conducting herself. She even deleted her blog today. Although I have not been a victim of the swapping disaster, I have to say that Annie is an irresponsible person. She has failed to show me her "changes" and does not communicate well at all. It took about four weeks for me to receive this giveaway prize. I've emailed Annie a couple times throughout that time and most of the time, did not receive a response until 2-3 days later. She repeatedly told me that she would send it by the "end of this week" three times.

Although I am the one receiving something for free, I do not think it's right to fail in communicating with the other person. I think it is much easier to just be HONEST, tell why you cannot send something, and then make SURE that you specify an exact DATE to send out a package. She neglected to give me a tracking no. because she got confused with the other winner's name and I tried to help the situation. She however took everything offensively and retorted that she did not appreciate "harrassment and schooling in shipping" and did not want to bring up the swapping issue because she wanted to "forget".

Thank you Annie for sending me this prize but I hope that you've learned to communicate better in your future endeavors. It will really come in handy.

Tag + Quick Update

Hello everyone!
I've been extremely busy this week and haven't found much time to update my blog.
Thank you everyone for the kind and supportive comments! I promise I'll try to get back to each one of you~ Your comments make my day :)

Anyway I've been tagged by EKI and Nic Nic to do the survey quiz. Their quizzes were both different so I combined some of the questions.

So here goes, hopefully this post will satisfy you stalkers!! XP

What is your current obsession?
Hm.. I’d have to say that I’m currently obsessed with clothes… This obsession is very bad for my budget haha

What is your weirdest obsession?
My weirdest obsession is looking at people's pics on facebook or blog ahahaha but not too much!
Also peeling at cuticle and lip.. Really bad -_-;

What are you wearing today?
Today I was wearing black leggings to the calf area and a gray Uniqlo tunic dress which sort of had an unflattering pregnant shape LOL

What's your favorite comfort food?
My grandma’s cooking! She made the best food… I miss it. She passed away recently so now I’m trying to learn how to make my favorites. I really like Thai green curry and Japanese nabe soups.

What would make today special?
Today wasn’t very special except that it was a HOT day, like 90 degrees. Oh, I wore a dress slash tunic thing, that was kind of special? I usually wear pants all the time.

What would you like to learn to do?
I'd like to learn how to run faster hehe

What's the last thing you bought?
The last thing I bought was a cardigan from Madewell and two tunics from Uniqlo.

What are you listening to right now?
HY, my favorite Japanese band. I posted a song by them before called 366 nichi. I love slow ballad kind of songs. I’m listening to another one of their songs called Song for…

What is your favorite weather?
I love sunny but cool temperature. I HATE hot weather like today, I get too sweaty and lethargic during the day. My hair also tends to get frizzy if it’s humid.

What is your most challenging goal right now?
Getting into a good college.. I want to go to Boston College hehe

What do you think about the person who tagged you?
Eki – My Japanese onee-chan I never had! She’s so nice to me and always treats me well (btw she sent me another package which was awesome!) She also makes the cutest accessories so check them out.

Nic Nic – A very cool and cute lady who has beautiful style and taste! I feel that my fashion and makeup tastes are the similar to her. She is one of the first beauty bloggers that I read all of the time. I started talking to Nic Nic before I had a blog!

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Definitely somewhere in the mountains outlooking a forest (something interesting and surrounded by nature)

if you could swap lives with anyone for one day who would it be and why?
I'd want to try being a guy, it seems kind of interesting LOL. However I wouldn't
be able to wear makeup haha

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Hong Kong or Japan.

What would you like to have in your hands at right now?
An A in all classes hahaha

Which language do you wanna learn?
I really want to learn Chinese and Korean. I want to learn Chinese because I’m ½ Chinese and I wish to know more about that side of culture. I want to learn Korean so I can understand my friends!

What do you look for in a friend?
I look for a genuine, caring person who takes the time to treat me well. I like people who can hold good conversations.

Who do you want to meet in person?
Beauty bloggers! Yay ;)

What's your favorite type of music?
Lately I listen to a lot of Jpop/Jrock. I like mellow music and ballads.

What's your dream job?
Hm.. A journalist in a high fashion/beauty magazine! LOL

Any favorite model?
Yamada Yu. I like Mika Nakashima but she's a singer.

If you had $100 now what would you spend on it?
Hahaha.. I’d probably spend it all on clothes and makeup.

Things you wish you could change in the past?
I've always been very shy.. I want to change this even now.

Fashion Pet Peeve?
I really hate it when some people wear too many trendy things all at once. Such as, mini shorts, tights, high heels, dyed hair, and loud tunic blouse all at the same time. It really depends on the person though. Another thing I don’t like is the really tight pants called So Lows with the writing on the butt. Girls usually wear these pants with thongs and I don’t really like seeing their butt jiggling around when they walk -_-;

Do you admire anyone's style?
Aoi Yuu

Describe your personal style.
I like simple stuff like blouses, cardigans and jeans. I don’t work yet, I’m still a student so I can dress casually everyday.

Favorite Designer/Brand?
Marc Jacobs for the bags and Jcrew/Madewell for clothes.

What's your favorite ice cream flavor?
I love fruit sherbert/sorbet. For regular ice cream I like strawberry & vanilla.

What's your favorite makeup brand?
Mm... Not sure. I really like Jill Stuart packaging! I wish I can afford to get more xP

What makeup do you use a lot?
Lately, brown eyeliner and mascara (so basic and boring but quick)

Do you get enough beauty sleep? yes or no? why?
No... I surf the internet way too much and procrastinate in studying. I do try to take naps though but it's not the same!

Why did you start your (beauty) blog?
I was always interested in skincare & makeup stuff. I had nobody to talk to about it so I started this blog. Btw my username Beauty Snap comes from my love for taking photos! Snap = photo haha

EDIT: I totally forgot to tag people... Ok here goes~
Beeyoutiful aka Jennifer
The Purple Snowflake
Diane
Innerchild
AND anybody who hasn't done this tag yet! :)

Um... I was trying to get some people that weren't ever tagged before but many already were!!
Hope you enjoyed this post haha

Outlet Purchase + Outfit of the Day

Yes! It's finally Friday after a long week of scrambling around getting assignments done and sleeping late. Maybe I can finally sleep before 3 am? Haha.

On Monday I went over to the Woodbury Outlet in upstate NY with my visiting aunt&uncle from California. I got half of Monday off due to a teacher's professional workshop and spent the rest of my day in the outdoor outlet while it was raining like crazy. The weather was terrible but the shopping was pretty good :)

I stopped by CCO but didn't find anything remarkable so I didn't buy anything from there. I did however get a Stephanie Johnson travel makeup bag and Marc Jacobs key/card holder pouch from Saks Outlet.

I first saw the Stephanie Johnson makeup bag from Innerchild who wrote about her cute bag in this post. The makeup bag I got was about $13, a great deal for something that is originally $70! I'm not entirely loving the design but it's still pretty and functional. The thing I like most about this bag is the organization of the zip pouches. It seems like it will fit a lot!

Here I have the outfit I wore today:

Cardigan - Madewell

Tunic Shirt - Uniqlo (my favorite)

Skinny Jeans - Zara

I bet you are bored of my LOTD for fashion.. They are all pretty similar. Perhaps I should be a little more adventurous and daring? Any suggestions? :)

Last but not least, here is the ribbon cell phone chain that Eki gave me! It's so cute and I can pretend that I am a hime-gyaru hahaha :D You can get her adorable creations right here.

Swap with Jennifer (Beeyoutiful7) + BB Cream Reviews

I've received Jennifer's package last week and finally found some time to take pictures and post everything up. Jenn is my first official swapper~ Thank you so much Jennifer, you are undoubtedly sweet and generous!! To visit her cute blog, click here.

We originally started the swap because Jenn was craving for the pink Japanese hair velcro. Then it slowly escalated through many fun emails.. and here is what became of it. Once again, thank you Jen! I love everything, including the cute treats you included hehe :)

Look at the adorable packaging! Easter themed and such cute HK stickers~

Jenn provided me with some The Face Shop products since I've been wondering about the brand for a while... I've found a location near me but didn't have the guts to purchase anything. She also gave me samples of BB creams and cleansers for me to try, since I've never tried BB cream.

Today I'm reviewing the two BB creams she sent me, Skin79 Super+ Beblesh (Pink version) and The Face Shop "The Skin" BB cream.

BB Cream Review

Skin79 Super+ Beblesh (Pink):
(BB Stats format courtesy to KIMOKO of Livejournal)

Coverage: Sheer – Medium (didn't really cover dark circles)
Texture: Creamy but light, blends right into skin, not cakey
Shade: Grayish neutral undertone
Fragrance: Slight rose-like scent but fades after a minute
Oil-Control: Pretty good, shine after 7 hours
Dewy/Matte: Matte but not heavy
Overall: I liked this bb cream a lot! It didn’t make my skin look too ghoulish or have a white cast. One thing is that you can’t really see a noticeable difference in the skin after application. I haven’t tried this enough to see if it oxidizes throughout the day. This bb cream is triple function—whitening, sun protection, and anti-wrinkle protection.

The Face Shop "The Skin":

Coverage: Medium – Heavy (sort of covered my dark circles)
Texture: Creamy, a little hard to blend.
Shade: Grayish yellow
Fragrance: Medium strong scent, doesn’t disappear until 2-3 hours later. I don’t particularly like this scent.
Oil-Control: Not bad, didn't have to blot. (But I'm don't have particularly oily skin.)
Dewy/Matte: Matte and made my skin look a little cakey
Overall: I really didn’t like the smell of this bb cream. However I have a very sensitive nose (I am the kind of person that gets nauseous at the smell of heavily scented hand creams). This bb cream leaves a whitish cast on the skin that may be appealing to some. I don’t think this bb cream shade matched me very well. This bb cream is pretty good except the smell and tendency to get cakey if applied too copiously.

The BB creams were cool to try, I'm so happy I received them in the swap! I think BB creams are hit or miss, it's very difficult to find a good one without a trial test. I'm VERY interested in trying the L'egere bb cream but I haven't really found a good price for it online yet. I want a BB cream that can moderately cover my dark circles... It seems that L'egere does that for many.

I'll try to do reviews on some of the other things Jenn sent me like the Oriental Herb Face Shop Oil Gel cleanser, Bobbi Brown blush in French Pink, Egg Peeling Mask, and many more!

New Haircut + Fashion

Hey everyone :)
Yay I sold my first items! DHC Acerola 100, DHC a-Arbutin White Mask, and the brown Ruehl No. 925 shirt are now SOLD! Now there are only 3 DHC White Masks available. All sale items are in this post (click).

Anyway so I finally got a haircut! I didn't cut my hair since January, now it feels so light and airy, less weight on my shoulders (literally!) I dyed my hair myself on Monday even though I originally thought I wasn't going to... I used a very old version of Palty hair dye and it miraculously still worked. hahaha. The color was Cinammon Ash but I don't think this color is available anymore.

Also I have a fashion post from the Friday before I went to Boston. I'm wearing a Ruehl No.925 shirt, Aerie tanktop, and True Religion jeans from Saks Outlet (of course!!) Sorry for the glaring face, I didn't know the picture was being taken hehe! Compare my hair length in this pic with the one above.. What a difference!

I have a fashion post for what I wore yesterday, April 15th. In the pic I'm wearing Uniqlo purple 100% merino wool sweater, Madewell gray gingham cotton shirt, and Uniqlo skinny/straight jeans. I love Madewell! It's such a versatile brand, you can dress the clothes up or down to casual. They sell clothes that could match work or casualwear. The Madewell that I most often go to is the NYC Soho one since I live in northern NJ (only 15 min from Manhattan). They have a special event on every first THURSDAY of the month. It is a jeans day and they offer $25 off a regular price pair of jeans from 7-9 PM with drinks and DJ.

Some of my favorite brands are Uniqlo, Madewell, J.Crew, American Eagle for basic tees and tanks, and Ruehl No. 925 (catered to older crowd, same company as A&F). I like simple, classic style clothes and I often wear cardigans with a tshirt and jeans for everyday school-wear. Sometimes I'm more adventurous and I wear a casual blouse/shirt with black tights and shorts. Many people say that I dress a lot older than my age and I think that's true but I enjoy wearing polished yet comfortable clothes. I've inherited my mother's fashion-designer genes I guess!

If you have recommendations on brands that make similar tops like Madewell, please let me know!

Random Question of the Day: What are your favorite clothing brands?

Eki's Giveaway Prize

Man.. Blog sales are hard!! Oh well, I'll just have to keep waiting until some desperate soul comes to buy. Haha.. T_T

Anyway, I just got Eki's prize in the mail yesterday and the pins were so adorable! Thank you Eki, much love to you :) We are the Japanese email buddies now hehehe.

So in the package were two lovely handmade pins: one white flower and one pink&black ribbon, a pack of rhinstone stickers (which I used to deco my mirror btw!), two black Kose nose packs (used one already, but incorrectly! T_T), and a cutee handmade ribbon cell phone chain.

Oh and before I forget, many yummy Japanese umeboshi candies, gummies, and butterscotch candies :D I literally ate them all yesterday.

Here are some pics

Ahaha please ignore the history textbook and MARVAL at the rhinstone deco mirror! LOL just kidding... Also ignore the little glue things on the side since I'm a noob at deco.

This is me modeling Eki's cute pins! I don't know where to wear them to though.. People will be like WTF because I don't usually look this cute HAHA :D

I stopped by Mitsuwa in Edgewater yesterday and managed to leave only with the Dariya Velcro hair sticky thing. I always have a problem with my bangs in the morning when I wash my face... I usually use 2 little pins but then they make a mark and it's hard to make my bangs settle in the perfect way. This velcro thing works and doesn't make it too hard to tame my hair back.

Yay I'm getting a haircut tomorrow! What I have in mind for a haircut is this... The person is this model called MEG. I think she just debuted an album. Her expression is very weird. :P But otherwise I guess she looks cute?

The other model is pretty! I'm not too keen to dye my hair again.. I dyed it last July and I'm not sure if my hair is healthy enough to dye. =/

Alright everyone... go check the blog sale

Beauty Snap's First Makeup & Clothing Sale

Hello everyone! I'm back from my college touring trip~

I'll update tomorrow with pics of what I bought (hehe keeping you in suspense). First I want announce my first makeup sale because I've been cleaning up.

UPDATE: Clothing and Bags now added to sale! Please email me at ixheartbear@gmail.com for any inquiries. Thank you.

Purchase Rules

Payment: PAYPAL ONLY PLEASE!
I'm borrowing my mother's account to sell these items so please do not freak out if the account name is different from mine.

How to order: Please email me at ixheartbear@gmail.com for items you want and send your paypal login email. Items for sale are FIRST COME FIRST SERVE. Sales are final.

Shipping:

US DOMESTIC--I ship USPS First Class with delivery confirmation number. Shipping is $3.00 for 1st item, 50 cents for each additional item.

International -- Please email me for a quote. Actual shipping will be based on your location.

I only ship to confirmed Paypal addresses.

By purchasing, you have acknowledged that you read and accepted all terms. If you don't agree with these terms, please do not buy. Do not buy unless you intend on paying. Thank you for your interest!

The Clothes/Bags:

Marc Jacobs Quilted Leather Wristlet in Metallic Pink (100% authentic from NYC Marc Jacobs store) BRAND NEW, $29.99 SOLD

Zipper hardware on wristlet reads "MJ"
Dimensions: 8.5 INCH X 4.75 -- Wristlet strap is 6.5"

Marc Jacobs Quilted Leather Coin Bag in Metallic Pink (100% authentic from NYC Marc Jacobs store) BRAND NEW, $15.99

Zipper hardware reads "MJ"

Dimensions: 4.25" X 2.5"

Ruehl No. 925 Bandeau Knit Top Size M - BRAND NEW with tags, $18 (original $38)

Lace trim on bottom, elastic ruching on the top. Small horizontal stripe pattern.

Dimensions: Length - 18"

The Goods:

CHANEL Infrarouge Whisperlight Lipstick in Pretty Satine #23 - BRAND NEW, $19 (orig. $28.50)

CHANEL Hydrabase Creme Lipstick in Cristal Peche - BRAND NEW, $19 (orig. $28.50)

LAURA MERCIER Eyecolor in Smoky Grey - BRAND NEW, $15 (orig. $22)

HARD CANDY Lollipop Lip Gloss in Strawberry Kiss - USED 2x, $2 (orig. $6)

1 SOLD, 3 AVAILABLE DHC a-Arbutin White Mask (5 masks per box) - BRAND NEW (3 boxes available), $8 (orig. $12)

Description from DHC website: "For dullness and discoloration due to aging and sun exposure, use Alpha-Arbutin White Mask once a week. This innovative treatment delivers the revolutionary skin-brightening ingredient, alpha-arbutin, continuously to your skin to return lost luminescence and promote a younger-looking complexion. The soft paper sheet mask is pre-saturated with a special alpha-arbutin solution that conditions and hydrates as it brightens skin."

That's all for right now. I'll probably update this post again when I have more stuff to sell. Thank you for browsing!