2009 Ins & Outs & 2010 Resolution Time

Hi guys! How's the holiday season treating ya? I'm currently in Miami til 1/4/10, so I apologize for the lack of pictorial updates.

As the 2009 approaches to an end, I've decided to look back at everything that's happened this year and summarize them into an Ins/Outs list, LOL.

2009 Ins

1. Got into Grad School. While I always complain about the workload, I'm grateful to have the chance to further my education. Also, I've made some great friends along the way.

2. Living by myself. I've ALWAYS lived with someone my entire life, be it my mom, my BF, etc etc. While it's comforting to know that someone will be there to protect you, the sense of independence was lost. I love living alone because I get to do exactly what I want when I want. It's very liberating.

3. Went to Hungary and Austria. Although the time spent there could be longer, I saw most of what I wanted in Hungary/Austria. The most important aspect was the people I was with. My MAIB program-mates were such a joy to have around, and the trip really reinforced the friendships.

4. Finish a 60-pg research report on Carnival Corporation as my thesis. It's very rewarding to read over the thesis and find yourself sounding semi-intelligent. Despite the late nights and extremely large amount of coffee I consumed, I would not change one bit.

5. Incredible beauty-related deals such as the ones I mentioned in my last post. Who doesn't love quality products at great prices?

2009 Outs

1. My skin being ruined by my schedule. I assure you that late nights, caffeine, and crappy diet don't guarantee you perfect skin. Also, while other people swear by BCP of clearing their skin, it does NOTHING for me, maybe even worsens it. :(

2. Being taken advantage by people. A lot of Chinese international students (note: I did NOT say all of them) tried to stay at my house during their stay in Miami. To be more specific, they wanted to come to Miami BECAUSE I live here, so they think they can mooch off of me. I guess it's a cultural difference. They are a lot more pushy and "in-your-face" than most American people. I guess after living in the US for so long, I'm no longer used to it. Just because I live here does NOT give them the right to assume they can just use my house as a free hotel. The worst part is that after I said no, some of them stopped being friends with me. Being used? Totally. Do I feel bad and wish I did otherwise? HELL no.

3. Spending an arm and a leg on makeup. While they are mostly inexpensive items, when you look at the big picture, I've spent thousands, if not tens of thousands on makeup. That's just inexcusable.

4. Gaining the weight I tried so hard to lose back in 2.5 weeks. I worked out really hard and ate healthily for 2 months and lost about 15 lbs. Fast forward til today, 12/31/09, almost 3 weeks into my Xmas break, I've gained all of the 15 lbs back and then some. All the great food and no exercise will give you extra love handles for sure.

5. Having oral health issues. I had to get 3 crowns put on for (are you ready?) $5000!!!!! And that my friends, is WITH insurance. Fuck that shit. Hard.

Now after taking a look at the goods and bads of 2009, let's see what I hope to accomplish in 2010.

2010 Goals

1. Work hard in all my classes and get through my grad school.

2. Either rent out or sell my townhouse in Gainesville. (HA! Fat chance!)

3. Move to Boulder, Colorado to be with my BF.

4. Get a decent job that can cover bills and have some left over for emergency funds.

5. Improve my diet and workout regime. My goal is to lose 2 pants sizes and 15lbs <--that I lost during 2009 and regained.

6. Be more patient and less moody.

7. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE. I need to start my work earlier instead of cramming the last night.

8. Project 10 pan. I need to show at least an attempt at retraining myself when it comes to makeup. I have way too much. Since I will be moving into a smaller apartment w/ my BF in May, I can't possibly bring everything with me. So expect a lot of blog sales and giveaways. No more makeup purchase til I finish 10 products.

9. Try to spend less money in general. I'm only one person, I do NOT need 174038470 boxes of cereals, even if they are BOGOF. Waste not, want not.

10. Appreciate the people around me more.

Now after setting goals for 2010, I'm determined to make it work. 2010 will be challenging, but if I work on it a little everyday, hopefully it'll be doable.

Lastly, I want to leave you all with a famous quote:

Dance as if no one's watching,

Love as if you've never been hurt;

Sing as if no one's listening,

and Live as if it's heaven on earth.

Happy New Year people. Thanks for all the support. :D

Peace.

Tao

In/Out and a Drugstore Haul!

Hi guys! Thank you so much for those of you who participated in my last blog sale! I already mailed out all the packages to those who paid. Please let me know once you get it. :D

After seeing this on the lovely Lollipop26's blog, I've decided to do the In and Out too! It's a fun way to get to know eachother better. :)

IN

1. Finding great products at riDUNculously cheap prices, as you will see below.

2. Holiday flavors! Cue Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks, Pumpkin Spice cappuccino at my local gas station, and Egg Nog!! I LOVE flavors that remind me of Winter.

3. Seeing my Beloved in 3 days!! OMG! I'm so excited! Being apart never gets easier, good thing we have a few breaks in between really get us through the hard times...which leads to...

4. Christmas break!! HELL to the YEAH!! 3 weeks of pure bliss? Yes please! Not to mention this might be my last Christmas break ever, I'm so gonna enjoy this!

5. Nutella!!! Nutella!!! Nutella!!! I eat this up by the spoonful....and promptly workout for an hr in an attempt to burn it off<---does NOT work.

OUT

1. Cooking for myself. While it is a little healthier and therapeutic to cook for oneself, the prepping and cleaning up takes up A LOT of mine time. Let's me honest, I'm not the best cook in the world. I think it's kinda pointless to cook for ONE person. It's just a lot easier to order takeout. It's more economical too b/c you don't have all the waste.

2. Final week....... and time of the month at the SAME TIME! OMG shoot me now.

3. Being bloated. 'Nuff said.

Anyways, I forgot to make a blog post about my recent drugstore hauls. For those of you w/ Walgreens in your neighborhood, please go hit it up ASAP. They have some CRAZY good deals out now, as you will see in 3...2...1!

From L-R:

--Milani e/l in Green $2.19 each, marked down from $4 something

--Rimmel Max Volume Flash (got it BOGOF a few weeks ago, didn't know why I included here)

--Revlon Beyond Natural mascara for $2.19 (I really like it for a natural look)

--Biore Dual Fusion moisturizer spf 30 $3.39, marked down from $14.99

--Milani bronzers in Light and Medium, $2.19 each, marked down from $5.99

--Physician's Formula Mineral Wear matte e/s quad for $2.49, marked down from $7.99

A wittle bit of swatch for you:

T-B:

Milani bronzer in Light

Physician's Formula e/s quad

Milani's liner in Green

Revlon colorstay l/s in that red color....

From L-R: These are all $2.19 each!! Craziness I tell ya!

--Revlon Colorstay lipstick in Pink Indulgence, (some red color I don't know the name of), Smooth nude, marked down from $9.99 each

--Revlon Beyond Natural l/g in Peach, Nude, and Spice, marked down from $7.99 each

--Revlon Beyond Natural liptint in Peach, Nude, and Berry, marked down from $8.99 each

EcoTools on sale BOGOF! I've heard so many good things about these, so when I saw them BOGOF I was like God's speed, yo. I grabbed the last sets they had...:) They are so soft though. Review coming up soon.

Physician's Formula is getting discontinued by Walgreens, so they are all on crazy clearance. I got a few sets that were valued at $28 for $3.59!!! I know, I know, I'm good. :) The tinted moisturizer smell like donkey's a$$, but the pressed powders are wonderful!

HIP Color Chrome e/l in black. They were BOGOF. I was at Walgreens earlier today and I saw they came out w/ new sparkly ones!! My eyes went O.O, but sadly they were on sale, so I'm gonna have to get them in Miami when they go out sale. They also had new HIP e/s duos, very shimmery, I think they were all the metallic ones. They look SO pretty! I might have to get some too.

These liners are sooooooooo good!! I actually own all the colors, but I got the black ones for my mom. She's not that good at lining her eyes, and her eyes are very sensitive, so I'm always on the lookout for smooth liners that are pigmented and won't hurt her eyes. I think I've found them. I like the HIP ones even more than UD 24/7 ones, and that's saying something.

These are the silver and blue ones of the HIP liners. They only took one swipe. They are so pigmented! I'm soooo excited to try out the new colors! :D

Lastly, my newest obsession. Nutella! I've finished 3 bottles in a week. I know, I'm a fatty. In an attempt to make it healthier, I eat them with Granny Smith apples. Granny Smiths are usually too sour for me, but I swear that Nutella can even make poop taste good (though I'd NEVER try). I eat apples w/ Nutella every night before I go to sleep...Correction, I eat one apple with Nutella, then proceed to eat Nutella w/ a spoon.....

Anyways, I've got some new stuff tonight at CVS and Walgreens, namely the new Revlon Photoready foundation and their new l/s (one nude, one pale pink). I also got 2 of the new Rimmel Moisture Renew l/s in a nude and pale pink color. I will take some swatch pics tomorrow when the lighting's good. I think I've found my HG nudes! :D

Night y'all!

Tao

Winter Skincare (all pics are clickable.)

Yo, that was fast. LOL! Starting my series of blogpost catch-ups with my winter skincare routine. I've been asked to do this for a LOOOOOOOOOONG time so here it is!!

I have acne-prone, sensitive, dry skin with semi-large pores. All in all, difficult to deal with. However, my skincare routine is really really simple to be honest. I've tried the complicated 5320498270 products route and it didn't work. I've learned that my skin likes natural oil and fewer products.

My skincare products:


My cleansers:


I only wash my face w/ cleansers at night to take off makeup. I just splash my face with COLD water in the morning. Now only does it wake you up like no other, it temporarily shrink your pores so your foundation looks better.

I use Kose Sekkikin(sp?) Cleansing Oil to melt off my makeup. I got this on sale at the BBW at Dadeland Mall in Miami during their semi-annual sale. I like it alright, but it can't compete with my MAC Cleanse Off Oil. I ran out of the MAC one, so I will make do with Kose for now.

Then, I use Vichy NormaDerm face wash to further clean my face. I just got this recently along with the matching moisturizer at a CCO at Dolphin Mall in Miami. The duo was only $12!! I really really like this! It's very quite gentle yet still effective. However, I don't think this will be gentle enough for those with really really dry skin. I suggest ppl with oily skin use it by itself, and ppl w/ dry skin use the Oil Cleansing method prior to using it in order to prepare for excessive drying.

My day moisturizers:


I use Vichy NormaDerm Anti-perfection lotion before using La Roche-Posay Anthelios 15 sunscreen. Vichy was supposed to be used as an acne treatment, but I find it working wonderfully as a moisturizer. It keeps my acne at bay and acts as a great primer for my foundation. La Roche-Posay is a great sunscreen for winter because it's rather moisturizing. I was using Shiseido's SPF55 sunscreen during summer, but it was too drying for winter.

My Nighttime moisturizers:


I ran out of my Egyptian Magic cream....That was a sad sad day. While it lasted me a while and was AMAZING, I am too broke right now to buy another one. After doing some research, I've decided to try Avocado Oil as it is a great at moisturizing. It's a more more emollient than Egyptian Magic, but it sinks into the skin really fast and doesn't leave a residue. It hasn't broke me out yet and I will continue to use it. I'd save up money to buy Egyptian Magic for summer though.

For those days when my skin is fickle and irritated, I use Equate (Walmart brand) Medicated Acne Gel. It's basically 10% Benzoyd Peroxide. I personally think Benzoyd Peroxide works better than Salicylic Acid for me. It's works faster too. I just put a thin layer of this all over my face after washing it, and go to sleep. While it is drying, the next day your face will be really clear and the pimples will be dried up. I only do it 1-2x a week though, over doing it will make your skin really dry.

There you go kids, my simple winter skincare routine.

Before I go though, I want to show you something.

This is my BF Nathan (bad pic of him) and my mom's dog Cookie. Look at that hoor!!! Ugh, how degrading to show her Pikachu to the world?!! I'm ashamed...

That's it y'all. Good night!
Tao