Thursday, January 12, 2012

Blue Nail Polish Tutorial Using Mash 2012 Stamp Plates

Hello! I finally got a chance to use my Mash 2012 stamping plates for the very first time. The quality of engravings were very deep so they were very easy to stamp. However, please try to use a thick nail polish instead of Essie's nail polishes for stamping as the colors come out faded looking because it's too thin. Another tip would be try scrapping off the excess nail polish on the stamp plate with a useless gift card or credit card as its much easier to control then Mash's scrapping tool. Although not all the details of the engraving successfully transferred over to my nail but you can try covering those imperfections with crystals, beads, or glitter. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of my nails after decorating them with pearls and crystals so I'll just show you guys the look with just the nail polishes.

Now here's the tutorial!!!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Review After Laser Hair Removal For Underarms

After years of suffering from ingrown hair and irritation, I've finally decided to try out laser hair removal. So basically laser hair removal do not permanently remove your hair it just destroys and weakens your hair follicle so that your hair would grow slower, lighter, and sparser. You guys should really do research on the clinic and procedure before your decide to do a laser treatment because if it's not done right then it can cause scaring or discoloration! Anyways, for me each underarm laser session time took around 40 seconds to one minute so is rather quick and the pain is quite bearable.
This is the Fotona Laser machine the clinic used on me for hair removal. This laser is less skin damaging the light based lasers and offers safe, quick, and effective hair reduction, provide cold air cooling to increase patient comfort levels, and support painless treatment for larger areas.


Experience: underarm laser hair removal laser #1 (11/02/2012)
This is actually the first time I'm doing a laser treatment and I really didn't know how it would feel or if there's any side effect. I thought that I had to grow out my underarm hair so that it would be more accurate and easier for the laser to sense my hair  and plus I thought it would be so cool to see strands of hair being shot off by the beams of the laser. Therefore, I bravely walked into the clinic with a very bushy underarm by not shaving for like 2-3 weeks so that I can see the instant effect of the hair removal. After a quick chat with the aesthetician, our session had to start and I was so so embarrassed to lift up my arms so she could apply aloe gel before performing the procedure on me. The moment I lifted up my arms she saw my jungle and quickly turned around and pulled out a disposable shaver and said to me that I needed to shave. At that very moment I was super embarrassed as I really didn't know why I needed to shave and that it took me so long to grow out my hair. She then explained to me that the strands of hair would confuse the laser censor so I had to shave myself clean. Afterwards, I had to sit up straight and lift up my arms so that she can scan my underarm with her laser's beam. During the first 10 seconds of the session I felt a little pain almost like someone using 10 tweezers to puck your hair out at the same time. After the first 10 seconds, the nightmare began as it started to hurt a lot like someone using a match to burn your skin and while I was trying to bear the pain I could smell something like fried pork rind when its actually your skin burning. Thank god each arm's session only lasted for under a minute or so or else I would have just dashed out the door. Now moving forward, after the session only a slight tingling pain will remain and last for about 30 minutes. For the next few days I had to apply aloe gel for 2-3 times each day and refrain myself from shaving, plucking, or waxing. After a week or so I could see about 80% of the tiny strands of hair falling out when I scrub my underarm. I have to tell you that it was super cool seeing the stands of hair falling off with a just light touch.

Experience: underarm laser hair removal #2 (12/31/2012)
After the first hair removal session, I felt that my underarm hair did grow a lot slower but I really didn't see any difference myself grow less underarm hair. The second session's procedures were exactly the same as the first time except this time I had shave before I visited the clinic. This time around, the hair removal process was less painful and rather quick. (oh no! my skin was so fried up that it had no more feeling!) Well, it was good that I didn't feel much pain but I think my session was shorter then the first so maybe that's the reason to the decrease of pain level. Again I had to moisturize and leave my underarm alone for another week. Then after a week my hair starts falling out again but this time only 70% had fallen off. I do notice that after the second session the amount of hair growth was reduced and that it takes around 2 weeks for a replacement hair to grow out. My next session is in 7 weeks so hopefully I would see better results after each session.

Experience: underarm laser hair removal #3 (02/08/2012)
The long process of waiting 7 weeks between each session is really making me feel very anxious because I want immediate results! I want hair to grow as slow as 1 mm per 3 months and that would be ideal. I guess I just have to spend more time and money to have that kind of desired results. Anyways, I didn't shave today before I went in because the remaining underarm hair was super thin and short so I felt there wasn't a need. Today's session was rather painful because I could feel the strong light burning my skin. This feeling of this pain is kind of like a lot of needles poking my underarm but with no blood. I think this session felt more pain than the second session because the nurse held the laser pointed closer or possibly because I didn't shave and the laser head couldn't sense my hair very well. After the session, my pits felt tingling for around 20 minutes and then back to normal.

I noticed my armpit hair starts falling out after 6 days of the laser session which is 1 day less then my first and second hair removal. After the fallout my underarm hair regrows very slow almost like 1/2 inch per month. The hair that regrows are also very thin and fine which makes it less obvious if I didn't shave. Overall, I'm very satisfied with the results and I can't wait for my next session!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Beauty on a Budget 1/1/12 -1/7/12

There’s always a saying that there’s no ugly women in this world but just lazy women but who ever that made that up forgot to say that there’s also a hefty consequence for looking more beautiful.  So what is the consequence? I know that a lot of guys would agree to this and it’s spending A LOT of MONEY on a wide range of products from clothing to makeup to skin care and now a new favorite, nail art. Anyways, that list of beauty products can go on and on, but how many of you guys can afford to purchase new products every week that’s released into the market.  Even shopping at local drug store like CVS, Walgreen, or Rite Aid We’re and not specialty stores like Sephora can cost you at least $5-$10 for an item. 

Although we can always try and return an item if we do not like it but there’s just way too many beauty items that we need on a daily base. I mean how many women now a day can live without false eyelashes? foundation? nail polish? or even hair products? Therefore, my conclusion is spending less and buying more. Alright that those sounded kind of contradictive, but what I’ve meant is finding great deals on products that will make you look more beautiful. Although, these products may not be exactly on your I want to try list but I’m sure it worth it to give it a shot! Hopefully I have shared this entry early enough for you guys to pick up some of these items that I thought were a steal! 

Great Buy #1
eos Lip Balm for $0.99 at Walgreens (1/1/12 - 1/7/12)
Pay $2.99 first then get $2 register reward back

Trust me this price is as low as this lip balm can ever get and especially since there's no limit on how many you are allowed to purchase it makes the deal even sweeter. These eos lip balms are one of my favorite because I really love the fact that most of these are made from organic products and that it moisturizes my lips very well. My personal favorite scents are sweet mint, strawberry sorbet, and summer fruits.

Since they were so cheap, I picked up quite a few for myself to use. Here's how it looks with the packaging!

Great Buy #2
John Frieda Flyaway Tamer for FREE at Walgreens (ymmv)
On clearance at $2.59 then there's a $3.00 off coupon on the box
This is basically used for taming your hair and making it more sleek and clean if you have flyaway hair on the top and side of your head. The consistency of the product is kind of gel like and reminds me of a eyebrow gel. The great part about this product is that it really does hold your hair down for a whole day and does not feel sticky at all like some hair styling products. 

Remember to look for the clearance sign and these little peelies on the box at your local Walgreens store!

Anyways, here's how I look with the product on. It's kind of hard to see my flyaway as my camera's micro settings are not the best but if you really try to focus you can kind of see it on the top of my head. Overall its a good product just not something I really use on a regular base, but hey since it's FREE I'm not going to complain. I think I'll use more of it next time when I tie my hair into a pony tail!

Great Buy #3
Sally Hansen Salon Effect Nail Polish Strip for $0.59 at Walgreens (selected colors & ymmv)
On clearance at $2.59 then there's a $2.00 off coupon on www.coupons.com 


I have wanted to try these nail polish strip for longest time ever but never wanted to fork out $10 for a nail decoration that will only last up to 10 days. I guess since they were less then a dollar a pop I just might as well pick a few up for myself too. I haven't tried it yet so cannot tell you guys any reviews or suggests so I'll update you guys!

Great Buy #4
Milani Nail Art for $1.09 at Walgreens (all colors & ymmv)


I picked up a few for myself to try as these were really cheap, almost like getting five for the price of one! So far I've only tried using these polish on a piece of paper and the lines seem to come out pretty thin but colors do not come out as vibrant as I would have wished. Hopefully it'll look better when I try it out on my nails. 


These products are still selling for full price on www.milanicosmetics.com website! Tell me what you guys think about this product and show me your creations!



Mash Nail Stamping Set and Brushes

No way.... my friend has totally read my mind! I can't believe she got me these nail decorating stamping and brushes for Christmas. They look so awesome and I'm totally thrilled about trying these new gadgets out! I really can't wait to show you guys the results. I'm really not too sure how my friend knows that I've been wanting these items.Well, may be it's because for the last year or so I was a little obsessed with painting my nails all year long as I feel like they need to change clothing too. Don't you guys agree that changing nail color will really help spice up your look?

Anyways, it's probably no shocker to her that I will eventually venture into wanting to decorate my nails in a more artsy way. I think she knows that I don't have much self control when it comes to buying nail decorating supplies so she ended up getting this mash 25 plates nail stamp sets so that could I have a wide range of varieties to work from. This set that she had given me had a lot of great reviews online as they are suppose to be great value for the price because 25 stamp plates will only cost you $18 on amazon which is only $0.72 per plate. The other item she gave me was a matching mash brush set that comes in a range of size so hopefully it make it much easier to draw designs on my nails as the previous brush I bought from Joanns was too big for small details. Okay.... enough with the talking and here comes the item!!!

The designs on each plate are finely engraved so you could see the details clearly even on such a small image. Another thing about these plates that are quite impressive is that it is very study and doesn't feel cheap at all.

I haven't tried out the brushes yet so don't really have anything much to comment. However, I do like the fact that this sets comes with 15 different sizes and variations of brushes.