Cute & Fashionable Business Outfit

The other night, I attended a business club meeting on campus. Going in, I was expecting to gain some insight and information about the club. I did receive some very excellent information about the organization, but I also left with an idea for a blog!

One of the board members of the club had on an outfit that I absolutely loved! It was business-y but also very fashionable. She wore a white lace dress with a cute gray blazer, simple white heels, and a large, jade green necklace that definitely made a statement. That necklace! It was probably an inexpensive necklace from Forever 21, but it added so much personality to the outfit. I believe that is key when it comes to a business outfit. You should look professional, but also add your own touch to it. I don't mean wearing a feather boa with your suit! A not too overly complicated statement necklace or a cute bracelet should do the trick! By adding your personality to your business outfit, you will stand out from other people wearing standard business suits and be remembered, which is important when it comes to networking in the business world!!

When it comes it makeup, keep it simple. bareMinerals Original Foundation provides a very natural finish that makes you look like you were born with flawless skin. You don't want to look like you have tons of foundation and powder on. Going with only a mascara for eye makeup to make your eyes pop is just enough. No need to pack on eyeshadow and outline your eyes with eyeliner. I really like Benefit They're Real Mascara because it lengthens my lashes, opens up my eyes, and, most importantly, stays put for a long time! For lips, skip the bright fuchsia lipstick and keep it natural. Save that lipstick for a girls' night out. You could get away with a classic red lip, but I recommend pairing a red lip with an outfit that does not contain any bright colors. Think of the red lip as a statement accessory that you wear with a simple outfit so that the accessory is the item that stands out. Hourglass Femme Nude Lip Stylo in Nude No. 4 is perfect if you want a natural looking lip, while Rimmel London Lasting Finish Kate Moss Lipstick in 001 gives you the classic red lip look. 


I hope this blog post was helpful for you future business people!


Lisa xx

Dealing with Homesickness in College

One of my closest friends is transferring to my university this year, and I am excited to see her to show her how much I love my school. She, however, is not feeling as ecstatic to move here like I am for her because, like hundreds of thousands of people around the world, this will be the first time she will be far away from home for a long period of time. The majority of her time from now on will be of her being away from home. Although starting a new chapter of your life is exciting, it is often difficult at first to think about all of the adventures you will encounter because your mind is distracted with what you left behind in the previous chapters. 

Homesickness comes with moving away to go to college. You may spend the first night crying because of how much you miss your family. During the first couple of weeks, you may constantly think about home. Even though it might seem like you are the only one feeling these emotions and crying your eyes out, the person right next door to you in your dorm hall most likely is going through the same time, and so is the person next door to them and so on. Moving away from home to attend college is often the first time people are away from their families for a long period of time. Although it is inevitable, there are ways that can help you deal with homesickness that I've found to help. The goal when dealing with homesickness is just that: dealing with it. You shouldn't allow your homesickness to control you and make you miss out on the fun that you will have in college.

Here are a few things that I found helpful when I was extremely homesick during the first couple of weeks of my first year in college:

Skype Your Family

Thank goodness for the invention of video chatting. Skype allows me to not only talk to my parents but also see them. Even though I am not physically with them, it seems like it when I talk to them through Skype. During the first couple of weeks that I was in college, I would skype with them every single night for at least an hour. Sometimes, I skyped with them just to see their faces and hear their voices. It allowed me to feel like I was not hundreds of miles away. When you miss your family, all you want to do is see them, and Skype allows you to do that from anywhere in the world. Eventually, as you slowly stop getting homesick, instead of talking to your family every single day, it may turn to once every couple of days and then only once a week. For me, there were a couple of times, especially during midterms and finals, where I couldn't really study because I was missing my parents. With the magic of Skype, I called them, talked to them for about 10 minutes, and then was able to get back to studying. 

Distract Yourself by Having Fun

Most universities have some sort of "welcome week" where they welcome the new college students. My university had so many activities to get my mind off of missing my family back home. It's understandable that you might feel guilty for having fun while your parents may also be missing you, too; however, they will understand that these next few years will be one of the best time periods in your life! You should not feel guilty in this case for having fun! It's college! You are suppose to have a little bit of fun! While you are busy having fun, your mind won't be occupied with missing home. Enjoying yourself while participating in your school's attempt to break the world record for the largest water battle, for example, will replace that homesick feeling. 

Befriend Someone at Your College from Your Hometown

When you have someone from your hometown as your friend in college, it's like you have a piece of your home with you. You could talk to them about that one joint on the corner of 1st Street that offers the best burrito in town or that hiking spot with the best sunrise view. I became with someone I met at freshmen orientation that is from my hometown and we bonded during our first year in college because we had that connection of where we grew up. It was nice for me to talk about my hometown and have someone who knew exactly what I was talking about. If you have a friend from your high school, for example, who is going to the same college as you, it's great at first to hang out with them so that you can talk to someone about your hometown, but it's important to note in this case that you should not cling to them the entire time. Branch out and meet new people!

I just started Fall quarter at my university and am going through a bit of homesickness after spending 2 weeks at home with my family. I'm dealing with it, but I'm not letting it affect my college experience and my studies. I think that's what the most important thing about dealing with homesickness. You have to deal with it one way or another, but you should not let it affect your studies, work, health, and college experience. We all go through it at least one time in our life, but we can't let it hold us back from having fun and working hard.

Best regards,

Lisa xx

Girls' Night Out + My Outfit & Makeup

This past week included the birthdays of two of my friends/roommates. Boy, was there a lot of present giving, birthday singing, and celebrating these past few days! 

First, we went to this shaved ice place where their shaved ice is actually called "snow" because it has the consistency of snow. They take a huge block of flavored ice and put it through a machine that shaves it to make a really fluffy product. It feels like you are actually eating snow! Being the Asian that I am, I got the taro snow with red beans and condensed milk a.k.a. the best combination EVER!! 

I think that at this age, it's important for a person just to have fun because once you graduate college, that's when you enter the real world consisting of long hours at the office and bills to pay once you arrive home. Also, you have more energy to have fun with your friends until the late hours of the night ;) Of course, I am not about having fun 100% of the time because when it comes to school and working on my career, I am dead serious. It is nice, though, to let go sometimes to enjoy life.

And how did I enjoy my life the other night? By dancing around barefooted under the lights of a ferris wheel and reenacting a scene from The Breakfast Club. Nice, clean, and really cheesy fun! :) 

My Outfit

This is the type of outfit that I've been wearing for a casual night out. It is very comfortable, which makes it perfect to dance around a ferris wheel in! I am wearing an H&M blouse that has little, maroon-colored prints on it, black leggings from Forever 21, and rose-gold sandals also from Forever 21. Here is a quick tip on how to wear leggings: make sure your top covers your bottom! Leggings are made with relatively thin fabric that is often see-through. You don't want people to see your bright pink underwear now, do you?

Here are a few alternative, affordable outfits that are similar to the one I wore. To see where each piece of clothing is from, click here to see the set on my Polyvore. 

My Makeup

For my makeup look, I went for natural-looking skin with slightly defined eyes. I started off with a tiny amount of Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation mainly on my cheeks, chin, and nose where I get some redness. I swiped some Rimmel London Wake Me Up Concealer under my eyes and around my nose and blended it out with my ring finger. A small dusting of Rimmel London Stay Matte Powder in Translucent along my T-zone was then all I needed for my face makeup. Moving onto my eyebrows, I filled them in with the NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder with an angled brush. I simply wanted to fill in some of the gaps instead of going for the "bold brow" trend. For my eyes, I used the NARS Duo Eyeshadow in Bellissima, brushing the lightest shade all over my lid, blending the darkest shade into my crease. I then lined my upper eyelid with MAC Eye Kohl in Teddy. One quick coat of Maybelline The Falsies Mascara finished off the eyes. Instead of going with a lip color, I chose to simply apply some Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Skin Protectant to keep my lips moisturized throughout the night. 

It was such a fun night! It was a great stress reliever and a much needed break before hardcore-finals-studying time.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post! I really liked blogging about what I did with my friends. Maybe I should do more blogs like this then?

Lisa xx

The Beauty Review: Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer

A couple of weeks ago, I uploaded an in-depth review of the Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation. Click here if you want to read about that. Now, I will review the concealer of the Wake Me Up line. 

PACKAGING 

There's nothing extremely special about the packaging besides the bright orange top which definitely stands out in my makeup bag. The Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer comes with a doe-foot applicator. If you don't know, a doe-foot applicator is like the applicator for a lip gloss. I always found that weird because for me, it's like I'm applying a thick, skin-colored lipstick on my face. Is that just me? 

COVERAGE

It provides a light-medium coverage. It can't completely cover up the darkest of under-eye circles. But if you have slight under-eye circles like me, it is perfect. I also like using it around my nose where I get a little redness, and it covers that up very well.

TEXTURE

This concealer is very lightweight and has a kind of liquid-y, but not runny, texture. I love how light it feels on my skin, especially under my eyes. It doesn't feel like I am wearing any concealer there when I have it on!

APPLICATION

The concealer goes on tremendously smoothly. It blends great with either your ring finger or a brush. If you do use a brush though, I suggest using the Real Techniques domed shadow brush. That baby blends this concealer in so incredibly well! It neither settles into little lines nor enlarges your pores, which is often a major problem with many concealers when applied under the eyes. 

FINISH

There is a reason why it is in the Wake Me Up line. It sure is dewy! The concealer has micro-fine shimmer that brightens up any areas you put it on. That makes it great for under the eyes to liven you up, but it is terrible on spots because it will highlight them. Because it brightens up applied areas, you could put it along the bridge of your nose or along the tops of your cheekbones for a really natural highlight. 

LONGEVITY

With primer and powder, this concealer can last a good 4 hours. If you want to wear it for longer than that, I suggest you bring it along with you in your bag to reapply if needed, especially if you know you will be sweating as gross as that sounds. 

OVERALL IMPRESSION

I've been loving this concealer for the summertime because of how lightweight it is. Like I said, I have been using this to conceal my slight dark circles underneath my eyes and the slight redness around my nose. Lately, I would skip foundation and use this concealer where I need it. If you are looking for a dewy concealer that will make you look more awake than you really are, try this concealer out! It sure is fantastic! I can't wait for it to hit US stores so all of you US readers can try it out!

I hope you found this review helpful! 

Lisa xx

 

The Playlist: Rudimental

For all of you UK readers, you probably know who I am talking about when I mention the name Rudimental. For the majority of you, you may be staring at the screen thinking, "Rudi-what? Who is that?" 

Rudimental is a British electronic group consisting of songwriters and producers. They started off doing remixes of such songs as "Drunk" by Ed Sheeran. Now, they've created their own music and have released their debut album, Home. What really draws me to their album, Home, is that they mix dance instrumentals with soulful voices such as Emeli Sande, John Newman, and Alex Clare. I usually don't like dance music (I'm more of a pop girl, myself), but the combination of dance and soul with some hip hop tones is something new and different that I cannot resist! 

Rudimental is in their early stages of conquering the U.S. music market, being featured as KIIS FM's Next Up Artist of the Week this week. I expect this group to blow up in the U.S. within the next few months!


Here are a couple of videos to introduce you to Rudimental. The first one is my favorite song off of their album, "Free" featuring Emeli Sande. The next is currently a huge hit of theirs, "Waiting All Night" featuring Ella Eyre. Check them out!

"Free" feat. Emeli Sande

"Waiting All Night" feat. Ella Eyre

Disney World Adventures

While vacationing on the East Coast this summer, my family and I ventured to Florida to spend a few days at the Disney World Resort. We went to Downtown Disney, the Magic Kingdom, and Epcot. It was a very special trip because the last time my parents were at Disney World was for their honeymoon. How cute! The entire time, they told me what Disney World was like when they went, and it was interesting learning about what the attractions were like a couple of decades ago. This was the first time that they knew more about a Disney park than I did! See, I'm a Disney geek, so I like to do research on the secrets and tips about Disney parks. Ask me anything about Disneyland and I can talk for hours!!

I could not go to the Disney World parks without bringing my DSLR with me! Even though it was bothersome at a few points carrying it around, I got to take some great pictures that I plan on decorating the walls of my new apartment with! Here are just a few that I took:

A dragon made out of Legos? How sick is that?!

Grrrr!!! Is that what the sound of an alligator makes? I obviously wouldn't know!

The Beast's lair.... I can almost hear the singing plates! 

Rapunzel!! 

Can you see how the crown in the back sits on top of Cinderella's head at the angle? Only short people like me can see it though. My dad couldn't see it because he is too tall! 

Just making a long-distance call to some friends in England. 

The closest that I will get to Paris for now...

I really loved Disney World, but I much prefer Disneyland because there is so much more unique history behind it. Also, Disneyland is a short drive away for me!I hope you enjoyed these pictures that I took! 

Lisa xx

The Beauty Review: Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation

Hello, lovely people! Today, I have another review for you!

It is the oh so talked about Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation. Unfortunately, this product is not yet available in the United States (boo!), but I was able to grab a hold of it while I was in Canada this summer. 

If you've been keeping up with my blog, you would know that I featured this in my July Favorites blog a few weeks ago. I gave a short review of it, but now I'd like to give a more in depth review especially for those of you who live in the states and are anxiously waiting for it to arrive here. 

PACKAGING 

I cannot talk about this product without talking about its packaging. I love the packaging of it! Most drugstore liquid foundations don't come with a pump, and that annoys the crap out of me. The pump makes things more convenient, keeps bacteria from going into the actual foundation, and dispenses not too much product. I usually, however, 

APPLICATION

This foundation is super easy to blend! You can use either your fingers or a foundation brush. I prefer using my trusty Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. 

COVERAGE

This foundation provides a light-medium coverage. You can easily sheer it out to get a light coverage for a wearable everyday look or build it up to attain a medium coverage for a going-out sort of look.

FINISH

Because this foundation is called "Wake Me Up", it gives off a dewy finish that makes you look more awake. There is slight, micro-fine shimmer in it that adds some glow to your face to help support your statement of "I absolutely did not have only 3 hours of sleep last night!" If you have super oily skin, I don't recommend this foundation because dewy foundation plus oily skin can result in you looking shiny. I have normal-oily skin, so I personally like to go over it with a tad bit of the Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder because I don't like a very dewy finish most of the time. This combination, therefore, gives me a naturally glowing finish that I prefer more than straight up dewy. 

LONGEVITY

I wore this foundation for a night out (6 hours), and the staying power was very good. I applied a primer underneath, powdered, and sprayed some long-lasting spray, which helped it a lot. Without primer, powder, or spray, it could last a good 4 hours. Because it has a dewy finish, after 3-4 hours though, your face may start looking a bit shiny. My advice is to at least powder to set the foundation to prolong the wear. 

OTHER DETAILS

This foundation definitely has a fragrance; however, it is very light. To me, it smells like one of Nivea's lotions. If your skin is super sensitive to fragrances, test this product out first on a little part of your arm before applying to your face.  

OVERALL IMPRESSION

The Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation is now my go-to foundation for special occasions. Normally, I would reach for my Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation for an everyday look, but there are times when I'm going out or to a special event where I want just a little more coverage. For those times, I will be reaching for the Wake Me Up Foundation! I love it, and it lives up to the hype surrounding it!

I hope you found that you found this review helpful! If you've tried this product, please tell me in the comments if you love it as much as I do. If you live in the U.S. and have not gotten your hands on this amazing product, tell me if you are excited for it to make its debut over here!

Lisa xx