Eye Awakening Discovery

Trips back to Berkeley and the SF Bay Area always make for some great weekends: I love the people, places, food, and weather (most of the time). I’ve only been back twice since moving to LA and it never fails to surprise me that after having lived there for 4 years, there’s still so much I’ve never seen/done before!

On my most recent trip, I didn’t just discover some fantastic new food places, but also a girl’s most needed accessory: pink eyeliner! Like many, I’ve heard countless tips about lining the bottom waterline with white eyeliner as an eye-popping trick (a la Tyra Banks). However, being darker toned, my little Asian eyes have never really been able to pull off the look the way it’s meant to be done. While getting ready for a night out with the girls, I noticed this cute little pencil in my friend’s make-up pile. It was perfect! The shu uemura brand has always caught my attention for its vibrant coloring, so I’m not surprised that the Spring Mode Drawing Pencil in Me Pink is another one of their fabulous concoctions.

After scouring multiple Nordstroms for the pencil, I finally picked up this much need addition to my make-up collection! The pencil is creamy and smooth, perfect for a quick and easy application without the worry of eye irritation. The pink hue also has the perfect hint of glimmer in it. No, not glitter, but glimmer and shine. This is a great feature that sets it apart from Benefit’s best-selling Eye Bright, which is matte and thus doesn’t show up as much when I wear it. I love that I can stick to lightly lining my waterline for daytime wear and then upping the oomph factor by drawing the inner corners of my eyes for a night out!

HBC: Prescriptives

The title HBC refers to our Holiday Beauty Collections feature and not Hot B*tch in Charge per I Love New York’s Tiffany Pollard. I’m sorry, I had to mention it because I *love* that term even though I can’t really stand the show.

Anyway, on to our very first HBC feature!! Prescriptives won my heart with its amazing Virtual Matte foundation. It is one of the few beauty products that I have ever truly used up to the very last drop. I anticipated good things with this brand for my Christmas shopping.

If you’re at all familiar with the brand, you know that its packaging is pretty basic. The company doesn’t stray far from its signature silver and lime green colors. When I saw the Prescriptives holiday banner, I got SO excited. THERE WAS COLOR!! What better time than the holidays to introduce something as lively as color?! The strategy of keeping things light and simple works fairly well for a brand like Prescriptives which prefers to market the fact that its products are based on the healthy-prescription ideal. However, holiday collections offer the opportunity to have some fun and appeal to customers’ visual tendencies.

I was disappointed to see that although the brand boasts a line of limited edition holiday kits and a holiday collection called AGLOW, the products in these “collections” were more or less part of the basic line. The few things that caught my eye were the ones that came in colored pouches (a total of 3/16 available kits). If I were to walk through the beauty counters of a department store, I don’t think that the Prescriptives brand would pop out to me as a great gift idea based solely on presentation.

Here are the two items I would choose:

 

Overall, I’d seriously consider buying the Px Duets Pencils ($29.50) because the colors are gorgeous and versatile and this is a limited edition item. The Blush More or Less ($21.50) is just a basic cream blush, but it’s a must for the colder seasons! I could definitely add it to any gift bag I was putting together for one of my friends. The other gift sets are definitely worth checking out as well if you know someone who actually loves the brand. They’re great deals! These offerings might keep loyal customers happy, but I’m not sure that they will win over any new ones. I wouldn’t expect to wow anyone too much with this holiday collection if you’re looking for something more fit for the season.

Coasting from Los Angeles

I am going to reiterate Janice’s great enthusiasm for the start of our blog as we have been chit chattering about this since our senior year in college! Despite being swamped with recruiting, papers, exams, and fitting in all the “lasts” of our college careers, we have always looked forward to writing about one of our greatest shared passions: beauty!! I’m glad that we’re finally giving it a real go. Work will not get in our way!

So let’s see… how about a little about myself? I’m a native LA girl who loves the hustle and bustle of the city, but STILL hates the traffic. I love dressing up, but would choose lounging around in sweats and a ponytail any chance that I got (it’s a luxury much missed now that college is over…). Being a true nerd at heart, I love reading, writing, and Photoshop. IMDB is one of my favorite websites aside from celebrity gossip blogs. Things that don’t quite get me excited are awkward silences, clutter, windy days, and driving to the mall with a mission, only to be disappointed because I can’t find what I’m looking for (doesn’t this always happen, though?)

I’ve been trying a bevy of products on and off, but the ones I’ve stuck to for now are:

Cleanser: Aveeno Calming Cleanser (morning), Origins Clean Energy Cleansing Oil (night), Mario Badescu Glycolic Cleanser (every other night)

Moisturizer: Korres Cinnamon & Echinachea Moisturizer (daytime), Olay Regenerist Night Recovery Treatment (night)

Mask: Murad Exfoliating Fruit Enzyme Mask (I was recommended this after getting a facial at their spa and now use this every Sunday. Like their facial, I LOVE THIS!!)

Make-up: Murad Oil-Free Sheer Tint SPF 15, Everyday Minerals Intensive Foundation, MAC Peachykeen, Too Faced Shadow Insurance, MAC Uniform Technakohl Liner, CoverGirl Lash Blast