How to Winged Eyeliner + Teardrop Liner

Before I embark on my trip to Seoul next week, I will teach you guys how to achieve the winged eyeliner + teardrop liner look. This I have to say is my staple eye makeup when I’m too lazy to just think of anything else to do with my face, but I still want to look as if I spent a lot of time on it.

Etude House's Tear Drop Liner

Teardrop liner first of all is basically glitter liner. If you don’t have an Etude House store where you live, don’t feel bad if you can’t get your hands on it because a lot of brands carry glitter liners (NYX, MAC, Urban Decay, Stila, Makeup Forever, etc.). The teardrop liner look is preferred by most Korean celebrities and ulzzangs because it brightens up the eyes and gives that innocent teary doe-eyed  look. Korean celebrities who are known to rock this look are T-ara, Bom of 2NE1, and IU.

Soyeon of T-ara and IU

For this tutorial, I have made a step by step photo procedure to help you guys out on creating this look.

Click to enlarge~~^^

Click below to read through the steps!

It’s been so long..

First off, I have to apologize for the lack of entries here. I have so many excuses lined up for everyone to read but the most predictable answer is laziness. But during the time that I have been away, so many thing have happened and some are just bound to happen. In 3 weeks time, I’m set to go back to Seoul for a 10 day leisure trip with friends. I’m new to the independent traveling department and this time I don’t have my parents to go with me to tour countries. But Seoul is a different place for me because it feels just like home except colder and definitely titillating. It’s such a busy city and it gives off the same vibe the US has but more laid back and offers more room for fun in my opinion.

But enough with the traveling talk. The other reason why I have been away as well and at that time,I actually REFUSE to post photos of myself  because I had a minor surgery. The surgery I went through is to remove the stubborn mole that I grew up with ever since it decided to pop out during my years in kindergarten. It is such a relief to remove something that has been bothering you and giving you so much trouble ever since. I had experienced so much with such a tiny imperfection on my face. I was given names, teased, insulted (whether they were intentional or not) the whole duration that I’ve had it on my face. It’s like a constant reminder everyday for me of everything I’ve gone through. I know it may sound so emotional, but I have been wanting ever since puberty to have it removed. Having it removed wasn’t so much of a big decision to make as well because it was an automatic yes once I have been given the go signal from my father to find a surgeon who can remove it.

So now that I have come back, I will try and plan the succeeding posts that I will put here. I hope you all look forward to them as much as I do and you can contact me any time if you want to see anything here.

Also, to make up a bit for my lack of posts, here’s a random photo. XD

Hello World~~~

<3,

Bianca

Water Marbled Nails

They remind me so much of planets.

Today I attempted water marbling on my nails. I have to say that even though the procedure sounds easy, it is very messy and it needs a ton of patience. I first heard of water marbling through a Youtube video by SimpleLittlePleasues. I won’t be making a detailed post on this yet since this is my first time doing it and I have to admit I was flustered half of the time and my whole desk was seriously covered with nail polish splatters. But the result I got turned out quite well. Excuse the poor job I did on cleaning my nails and fingers. It was really tough trying to clean up afterwards without smearing or ruining the patterns I just did on my nails.  I did random color combinations just to test it out first and was giggling after since I realized they looked like the surface of planets.  I finished everything off with a matte top coat. I used matte instead of a shiny topcoat because I thought that it would show the marbling more.

UPDATE:

So far after using the garlic treatment on my nails, I noticed that they have indeed become stronger and definitely less brittle. They don’t peel as much as before as well. Getting used to the garlic smell was a feat but it goes away after a day or two.

Miss A: Goodbye Baby Look

When it comes to K-pop, I may have a strong passion for fangirling when it comes to boy groups ( No seriously, my love for Korean boy groups deserves a different post because I cannot for the love of Korea put it here as I’m about to discuss my love for one particular girl group).  But when it comes to girl groups, I have to say my favorite is Miss A. I have followed them since their debut with Bad Girl, Good Girl and I fell in love with Fei because to me she has the most goddess potential at that time. But my love for them grew when they came out with Breathe and since then, I have pledged my loyalty to my first K-pop girl group fandom.

For today’s look I have decided to do Bae Suzy’s makeup in their latest single Goodbye Baby. What I like about Miss A’s makeup here is that they don’t have a ton of makeup as opposed to other girl groups. Basically they focus on bold eyeliner and that’s it. No shimmer and no dark lipsticks. It looks as if the rest of the face is bare but they have a strong eyeliner look that complements each of the girls’ eye shapes.

Check the video out for yourselves! It’s so kick ass <3

Click below to find out how to do this look!

Garlic Nail Strengthener

My bottle of Garlic Nail Strengthener. You can see the garlic that has settled at the bottom of the bottle.

UPDATE:

Out of impatience, I tried it out on my left hand’s set of nails. Right now I can totally say that IT DOES STINK. Maybe because I am very sensitive to smells. But thankfully when I’m doing things, I forget that I have it on my nails. But once in a while when my left hand comes near my nose, I can smell it. Some may be able to handle it, some may not. But so far I think I can. I will let you guys know if the smell fades eventually.

–

This whole week I have been contemplating on trying out this nail treatment that I honestly read from Michelle Phan’s blog. She talks about worldwide beauty secrets. The usual beauty secrets are found in that list except for one particular secret originating from the Dominican Republic. It requires you to put garlic in your nail polish to create a nail strengthener. Being curious about how garlic helps strengthen nails, I immediately looked it up and read that the sulphur minerals in garlic will help strengthen your nails and make them harder. At first I was skeptical since we all know how strong garlic’s smell stays on your hands when you peel or chop them up. But they say the smell dissipates once the polish has dried on your nails.

Word has it that the strengthener is so good that it can make your nails as strong as acrylics. Being a nailcare addict, I definitely had to try it since I literally have nail polish on my nails all the time and have noticed that when you do that despite the nail hardeners and base coats, your nails will eventually weaken.

This morning, I have concocted my garlic nail strengthener and you can do it too without worrying that you don’t have the necessary ingredients at home.

What you need:

- A bottle of clear or colored polish

- a clove or two of crushed garlic.

All you have to do is mince and crush the garlic and put it in your preferred nail polish. I had a fresh bottle of polish so I had to drain a bit of it so that it won’t overflow once I put in the garlic. You have to let your concoction marinate for 6-7 days and use it as a form of treatment. I don’t know if my method will work but I normally use nail strengtheners before I apply basecoat so I will probably use that method first once my garlic nail strengthener is ready.

I will make a follow up post on this once I have tried this for about a month or so~~~~ ^___^

<3,

Bianca

Hello!~

Hello everyone! Right now I am testing out this mobile app for wordpress to make sure it’s going to work well if I do indeed decide to post an entry away from home and without my laptop in tow.

I have a couple of lined up reviews and blog posts for you guys so I hope you look forward to them. We are experiencing bad weather here in Manila so I’m a bit frustrated with taking photos. Let us hope for better weather in the following days so I can take proper photosm

Til my next post!

<3,

Bianca

Wanna Be Sweet? (Review and Tutorial: Etude House Miss Tangerine Collection)

For Etude’s Spring collection, they have launched the most awaited Miss Tangerine line. This collection consists mostly of, yes you’re not mistaken, makeup in orange hues. I know I am quite late in reviewing these makeup items, but as soon as they hit the shelves here in Manila, most of their stocks were completely wiped out from their stores and you need to get items on a waiting list system. But lucky for me around May, an Etude House store opened in a new mall about 5 minutes away from the neighborhood where I live so I grabbed the opportunity to take hold of most of the items I have been eyeing in the collection and also managed to get some of the permanent products in their store that were always out of stock.

For the items that I got in the line, I picked up two of their Cream Choux Blushers in Miss Berry and Miss Tangerine, Dear Darling Lipstick in OR207, Soda Tint in Tangerine Soda, and Sweet Shower Lips in Miss Tangerine Tangerine.

Swatches of all the products and two tubes of the Cream Choux Blusher.

As you all have noticed, most of the items I picked up were orange as I was really into orange makeup even before this line was launched. I am a fan of bright and unconventional colors so I really had to get most of the orange makeup in this collection. But for those who are not into really bright and bold orange colors, the collection has berry and peach colored blushes and lip products that some may be interested in. Now onto the review!

At first, I was never really interested in getting the blushes since I’m not into blushes at all. I’m more of a lip junkie and eyeshadow girl. But the texture and pigmentation of these blushes were too great to pass up on. They are very creamy, yet light and the color is buildable. I’d say their texture is almost close to whipped cream. The two colors I got are the orange one and the pink one because I don’t think the peach and the lavender  would show up on my skin well. They also come in a squeeze tube so it’s easy to use the product and you don’t need brushes to blend them in. The heat of your fingers will melt them into your cheeks and makes it super easy to blend. I’d say these are almost foolproof to use compared to tints.

Sweet Shower Lips in Miss Tangerine Tangerine

The Sweet Shower Lips is probably one of my favorites in this collection because they are so wearable! Even if this is an orange shade, it is so sheer that it only gives your lips a hint of color. I’d have to say this is a cross between a lipbalm and a lipstick. The packaging in this one is also very sleek and sturdy. One thing I hate about lip products is that when they’re in my makeup bag, they get scratches, have their caps pop off, crack their packaging, etc. But this one has a very solid packaging that I don’t even worry if I drop it at times.

Review: Geo Hurricane Violet Circle Lenses

I have to apologize first because I haven’t been posting here as often as I’d like. When I came back from Seoul, I was literally swamped with so much academic work and even during my holidays I was so preoccupied by so many things that I neglected everything that has to do about blogging. But here I am and I’m back with my first ever review on something that I have been using for about 4 months already. I guess  I have to say that I can say solid opinions regarding it already.

I bought my lenses from an optical shop in Hongdae called Cutie Eye. They specialize in cosmetic lenses because they are popular in Korea and in other Asian countries. Circle lenses are their best sellers because a lot of girls (or even boys) love to achieve the “doll eye”  look. With the help of circle lenses, they increase the appearance of the diameter of your eyes making them appear larger. They also enhance the color of your eyes since they come in a lot of colors.

I got myself 3 pairs of circle lenses because I thought they sold them cheaper there in Korea and I wanted to know why they’re so popular. I got myself  Black Dolly Eyes, Violet Hurricanes, and Nudy Grays. I got two safe colors and one bold color to try out since I figured I probably need one standout lens for fun.

I have to say that ever since I got back and tried all the lenses I bought,I was hooked on circle lenses.  I’m a makeup person and sometimes when I’m really lazy to put on makeup, I just wear my circle lenses alone and they’re enough to pull off a made up look. I got so addicted to these that I bought  a pair of EOS Max Pure Pink circle lenses here recently and I can’t wait to review them after this.

The lenses I’m reviewing now are the GEO Violet Hurricane circle lenses because I have to admit, these are my favorite among the lenses I bought. I’ll be reviewing the EOS Max Pure Pinks, Nudy Grays and Black Dolly eyes when there’s a need for them.

GEO Violet Hurricane with and without flash

When worn, these lenses aren’t that overwhelming under natural light. They just give a subtle hint of color to my brown eyes and surprisingly they blend naturally to them. I often even wear these to school and people just notice them when they look up close to verify whether or not my eyes are indeed purple.  It’s not the same case in photographs though when there’s a need to use flash. These appear stark purple in flash photography. The purple is so strong that even if photos aren’t taken up close you can definitely tell that I’m wearing purple lenses.

How they look worn with and without flash

Overall this is what I have to say about these lenses.

Pros:

- They aren’t that scary looking and they blend well with my brown eyes

- Gives a flattering subtle hint of color

-Looks very pretty with most eye makeup looks

- Very comfortable. Feels like I’m not wearing contacts at all.

- Price is fairly cheap (12,000 won = around 600 pesos)

Cons:

- They may look weird in flash photography but other than that I think they’re fine. ^_^

I promise after this post that I will be doing more reviews, especially my purchases back in Seoul. I have a ton of Makeup and Skincare to review after this.

-Bianca <3

10 days in Seoul and 3 more days before Manila

Me in front of the Ehwa Women's University

A quick update since I’m alone in our room and I feel slightly depressed with the idea of leaving Seoul.:(

I have a lot of updates when I arrive in Manila 3 days from now —> Tourist posts, Asia Song Festival, One Way, Celebrity sightings, Shopping, etc. So please look forward to them! See you all in 3 days!

You Got Nothin on Jay!

Last Wednesday I met Jay Park……. BOOM I JUST MET JAY PARK! O_____O

Jay with Me, Klarisse (http://lovestylefree.com/), Kaye, and Gina at Mellow 94.7

Unfortunately for me I discovered Jay Park aka Jaebum a week before he left Korea. But of course for a week’s worth of fangirling I got to know a bit of info on him from my friend Klarisse who is a huge fan of Jay and 2PM.

Klarisse introduced me to Jay through this Nylon Photoshoot

Meeting Jay was a meticulous, yet imprecise plan since we we’re not sure if the station we train for as student jocks will allow us to visit or drop by on the time of his appearance. Thankfully our resident, DJ Chris of Mellow 94.7 of the Chris and Chloe, show did not kick us out when he was there.

We got to the station at 4:30PM not expecting anything but serious boardwork for the training student jocks, until we saw the lineup of appearances.  Jay Park is scheduled at 6:30PM. Since Klarisse and I were hungry, we decided to grab a bite at the 7-11 outside Paragon Plaza. We went upstairs after our meal and decided to freshen up since we barely had time to fix ourselves on the way to the station, when suddenly a text from Gina got in and read: WHERE ARE YOU GUYS? COME HERE NOW! JAY IS HERE ALREADY!!!!. We went straight to the booth and we’re met with 2 bodyguards by the door who tried stopping us. I clarified to them that we’re student jocks so they let us in. After the 1st  door (there are 2 sets of doors to go to the booth)  promoters were all huddled up and are scrambling to plan things. Finally, inside the booth,  Jay… was..sitting… on… the… stool… that… I…. usually…. sit… on….

My heart jumped so hard at the sight of him that it hurt. So I kept my calm and chatted with Chris, Gina, and Kaye. I mustered up the courage to say hi to him. He said “Hi I’m Jay, nice to meet you” and proceeded to shaking all of our hands. <3  Since we have a couple of minutes to spare before going on air, we talked to him about food, his schedule, the Philippines, etc.

Overall, 30 minutes with Jay Park wasn’t long but it sure is personal and much more fulfilling than a concert. He signed all of our stuff, took a picture with him, and said all our goodbyes.

*fun note*

Klarisse who was right beside Jay in the photo felt something heavy and hard pressing on her shoulder. She told us she was trying to stand closer to Jay but there was something blocking/avoiding her from doing so. Now that she saw the photo she realized it was JAY’S BOOB (ok his man-pecs!). She laughed since she claimed they were as hard as rocks.

Jay signed my Starbucks 2010 Planner. Yes he wrote my name too. <3

To those who still want to see more of Jay here in the Philippines, he will be making an appearance in SHOWTIME (ABS-CBN Channel 2) on Friday to promote his Fanmeet at the SMX convention on October 3, 2010.

For more info on his Fanmeet check Ticketworld for the prices of the tickets: