Naruko Haul

I've heard so much good things about this line of products from fuzkittie on youtube. Its a Taiwanese skincare line that tries to use as much natural ingredients as possible. Its gentle on the skin but effective. For the longest time it was only available online but I really didn't want to pay for international shipping, both expensive and unnecessary because it increases the price so much that the products are no longer affordable. When I discovered that a store opened in Southern California, I literally ran out the door. In my first purchase I picked up the Naruko Niaouli Tea Tree T-Zone Blackhead Remover and the balancing serum from the same line and I loved the results. In my second purchase I picked up the Naruko Magnolia brightening and firming serum and night gelly and again had incredible results. In my last trip I picked up the Naruko Narcissus BB cream, foundational serum, day lotion as well as the Naruko Job's tears whitening and cooling lotion which is a hydrating toner.

This is the packaging for all the products I picked up, I forgot to take pictures of the magnolia line packaging.

products alongside their packaging

entire display of products picked up from three trips

from left to right: Naruko Narcissus Total Defense BB Cream ($20), Naruko Magnolia Brightening and Firming Serum ($23.50), Naruko Narcissus Total Defense Moisturizing Day Protector ($21), Naruko Naruko Niaouli and Tea Tree Balancing Serum ($23.50), Narcissus Total Defense Foundational Serum ($23), Naruko Job's Tears Whitening and Cooling Healthy Lotion ($20), Naruko Magnolia Brightening and Firming Night Gelly ($21), Naruko Niaouli and Tea Tree T-Zone Black Head Remover ($17)

The Naruko Magnolia line is meant to brighten by decreasing the appearance of hyper-pigmentation and firm by increasing skin elasticity. The Naruko Magnolia Brightening and Firming Serum retails for $23.50 USD before taxes and its in a class bottle with a pump. The Naruko Magnolia Brightening and Firming Night Gelly retails for $21 USD before taxes and its in a jar form with a plastic spatula to spoon the exact amount of products you need and helps with keeping product sanitized.

Naruko Narcissus line is meant to brighten and product against environmental stressors. It is packed with good for your skin antioxidants. The Naruko Narcissus Total Defense BB Cream retails for $20 USD before taxes, hydrates while providing minimum coverage to the skin. Naruko Narcissus Total Defense Foundational Serum retails for $23 USD before taxes and its packed full of antioxidants to protect skin from environmental stressors, replenish hydration and decrease hyper-pigmentation. Naruko Narcissus Total Defense Moisturizing Day Protector retails for $21 USD before taxes and its a milky and light day moisturizer. Its suppose to decrease hyper-pigmentation and defend against environmental stressors during the day.

Naruko Niaouli and Tea Tree line is their acne line meant to decrease and prevent pimples, blackheads and white heads. The Naruko Niaouli and Tea Tree Blackhead Remover retails for $17 USD before taxes and is a mask that is used to get rid of blackheads. Naruko Niaouli and Tea Tree Balancing Serum retails for $23.50 USD before taxes and its suppose to balance oily and dry areas for those with combination skin as well as prevent new pimples while treating existing pimples.

Lastly, the Naruko Job's Tears line is the hydration line that also has brightening properties. The Naruko Job's Tears Whitening and Cooling Healthy Lotion is a toner that retails for $20 USD before taxes. It hydrates, balances combination skin and reduces hyper-pigmentation.

I sincerely love all of these products but I can't do a review yet because I've only used it for about two weeks. I want to use it for at least a month or two before I give it a comprehensive review but it is looking really good so far. My skin responds really well to it, it loves this stuff and soaks it up.

I purchased all these products from a store called Beauty tips. The sales lady there is very knowledgeable. She really tries to recommend you products that match your skin concerns and needs and not try to sell you everything. I bought so much products because I wanted to, not because she pushed it on me. She speaks both Mandarin and English and the store is incredibly clean.

Beauty Tips
500 N. Atlantic Blvd. #177
Monterey Park, CA 91745
phone: (626) 872-1958

They accept credit card, returns are acceptable within 30 days if products are not opened. If opened then only exchanges are possible.

Makeup Tutorial: Smokey Spring Look Tutorial

~LIST OF PRODUCTS USED~

Face:
Laneige Snow Crystal Dual Foundation #23 and corresponding concealer
The Balm Time Balm concealer for under eyes
MAC Blot Powder in medium
MAC Spaced Out blush

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
NYX jumbo pencil in milk
MAC Fashion eyeshadow
MAC Fashion Groupie eyeshadow
MAC Phloof eyeshadow for highlight
Stila eyeshadow in kawaii from trendsetting in tokyo palette
Stila eyeshadow in inspiring from empowered in pink palette
MAC blacktrack fluidline
Buxom lash mascara in black for upper and lower lashes
false eyelashes from ebay

Lips:
Revlon smooth nude lipstick
Revlon nude lustre lip gloss

hope you all enjoy the look!!!

May Birch Box!

Birchbox FINALLY got me a box that arrived before the month was over. After last month's drama with boxes getting lost, I thought I would get a curse of my birchboxes and lose every single one especially since California is about one of the latest places to get them.

Feast your eyes on this month's content...I must say I am NOT impressed, I do believe last month's box was much more worth it because this month the products were very small and not anything exciting. I will continue subscription for few more months before I decide whether I want to continue or not

First is the Bvlgari perfume in Jasmin Noir, I really do like this smell, I think its very me

AHAVA mineral hand cream, I've always wanted to try AHAVA products and I know that some received the mud mask and I was crossing my fingers that I would be one of those but no luck. I have used the hand cream and I must say I do like it, its not sticky, dries very fast and very moisturizing. I didn't check the price for the full sized product but something tells me it may be more than I want to pay for hand cream

Stila eyeshadow in mahagony, I have a Stila eye shadow in golightly which is very similar in color so I was kind of bummed that I didn't get a color with more diversity

Archipelago pomegranate soap, this smells amazing! I haven't used it yet but I am excited!

its got really pretty engravings in the back

and archipelago engraved in the front

sadly it is very small...

lastly a card from a company that you can get customizable cards

Again, it was not but not impressed. I hope next month the birchbox fairy is kinder to me and brings me cooler stuff!

April Likes and Dislikes

Check out my video of my April Likes and Dislikes! Thanks everyone for supporting my blog and following and if possible please support my youtube channel too! I really want to make videos and connect with everyone not just on a written level but a visual one as well.

Its friday, friday, friday! But I'm SICK....

I caught a sickness over the weekend that I thought I could kick in the butt but no such luck, its been a week and still....I am sick....

the remedies I have tried:

drinking lots of hot tea (this was the delicious japanese tea latte from Urth Cafe)

eating warm and delicious pho 

getting lots of sleep with my best friend Nico to keep me company

All of which were to no avail as I am still sick and my battle only seems to continue. Despite my sickness I still manage to squeeze beauty in and I am currently obsessed with nude pink and so the only thing that's been on my nails for the last week while being sick is...

Essie BFF Best Boyfriend

So fitting considering the bf did buy this for me, he spoils me and buys me everything, the least I could was get a nail polish that shows my appreciation. I wore it with the Seche Vite top coat and it didn't chip at all! I love Essie polishes, I bought this one at Ulta for $8. Essie polishes are really good quality and very good pigmentation, I know you don't really see that much color in the pictures but in person you can definitely see that its a nude pink color. I hope you all are having a good friday and not sick like me!

Haul, Haul and Haul some more!

Month of May just began and I've already began hauling. I've been having problems resisting my beauty shopaholic urges in the month of April and it doesn't seems to be going away anytime soon. I do need to save on beauty products so I can buy cute super clothes but as I type this, I already have my eyes set on other products I want. Yea I definitely have issues but I just can't help it, I love buying anything and everything beauty!

I needed some new skincare products so I headed over to Target and walked home with much more than I anticipated getting. I picked up the Clean and Clear advantage popped pimple relief drying paste and it was about $5.95 USD. Then I picked up the Garnier nutritioniste skin renew anti-puff eye roller about $13 USD. I also got the Sonia Kashuk brow tamer in Haze $5.99 USD and lastly the Neutrogena body clear body spray with salicylic acid $7.99 USD.

The products next to their packaging. I walked in just getting the brow tamer so....I don't know what happened. I feel that I do need the products I picked up, I just didn't realize it when I first walked in the store.

Origins was having a earth day special with free shipping on any $30 purchase and free face wash (it was between checks and balance face wash or a perfect world face wash) so I knew I had to take advantage. I picked up the vitazing moisturizer with SPF 15 which retails for $35 USD and got a free sample as well as the free checks and balance wash face. Gift wrapping was also free.

I heard so much good things about the vitazing moisturizer so I can't wait to try it and do an extensive review. The face wash was also a full size which is pretty cool for being free.

Lastly, my haul from Ulta. Ulta was having a few weeks of mother's day specials that I knew I had to take advantage of it. I picked up the 1 inch hot tools curling iron in hot pink which was only $29.99 USD, it was on sale. I also picked up three Essie nail polishes because they were buy two get one free and they each retail for $8 USD.

The hot tools curling iron came with a free 1/2 inch mini straightening iron for free!

I also got some fragrance samples along with my order

I picked up the Essie colors in BFF best boyfriend (nude pink), Tea and Crumpets (rose gold) and Loophole (silver).

Hopefully I can keep my shopping under control but I highly doubt it which means more hauling content to blog about in the weeks to come.

April Birchboxes: A Funny Story

After seeing all the great stuff other bloggers have been getting via Birchbox, I knew I wanted to dry out their services. At $10 a month, you get a box of large sized samples to try. I started my subscription on 3/16/2011 and anticipated my box to come in April. The prospective dates for Birchbox delivery were set around mid-April and sure enough around the time of April 14, 15 and 16 bloggers posted pictures of their April Birchboxes. Mine did not come, I waited and waited and got nothing. I emailed Birchbox but got no response. Then I called them but they only had an automated machine that asked you to leave your name and number, which I did, but no real person to speak with. Two weeks go by after the initial email and phone calls and still no April Birchbox. The last week of April approaches and I check the tracking number on my Birchbox and it says delivered but still I got no Birchbox and no response from Birchbox.

I became really disappointed because I heard such great things about their service and it wasn't living up to that truth. I called my local USPS and they filed a claim to track down my box but I didn't have any real hopes of ever getting my April Birchbox and was really thinking about ending my subscription. In the last few days of April, something miraculous happens.

My local USPS tracked down my Birchbox and delivered it to my house. Birchbox, the company, finally responded to my email and upon hearing my story rush delivered another Birchbox to me and I got it within two days. So its literally the last day of April and I got not one but two April Birchboxes. So  below are the pictures of my two goodies.

April was earth month so the Birchboxes were green instead of the usual pink

Inside is another box with the signature pink birchbox font

It came with a card explaining what the products were that were included in the box and pink/purple tissue paper wrapping all the products inside

these are the unsorted and raw contents of the first box, the one recovered from my USPS

It included a wildflower seed card, a LIV GRN fragrance sample and a juice beauty stem cellular repair moisturizer sample

these are the products I'm more excited about: Juice Beauty green apple peel, Zoya nail polish in jules, and Lavanilla vanilla lavender body butter

This is the second box re-sent by Birchbox and rush delivered to my house

It included a Weleda wild rose smoothing lotion, Blow volumizing shampoo, Lavanilla vanilla coconut body butter, Juice Beauty green apple peel, Juice Beauty stem cellular moisturizer as well as a wild flower seed card

After all of this ordeal I must say that I am NOT ending my Birchbox subscription and despite two weeks of none response Birchbox still had very good customer service. I am very satisfied with the size of the products and the products themselves were very exciting, I can't wait to try them. I really anticipate what they will have for May and in the summer months to come. I just sincerely hope that they don't mess up the shipping of my future boxes.