Out of order......

Sigh...... 

I don't even know where to begin, but I guess things do happen, especially with technology. So here I announced the most upsetting news... My laptop died on me suddenly.

Yes, with no signs or symptoms, just suddenly with no reasons. Don't let me start counting how inconvenient it is right now that I don't have my "data" and a functional laptop....

My "little" inner shopaholic is kinda thinking I might need to get a new laptop (MAC maybe this time?). But, the rational side of me know it is not the time yet! So please, please someone fix my laptop for me ;(

Angora cardi

I apologize for my shaky hands and the blurry pictures, but all you need to see is the gorgeous colour of this new addition to my wardrobe. The sparkly rhinestone buttons are perfect decorations to add to this soft and comfy cardigan from EXPRESS (I have never owned anything from EXPRESS before). And I lied in the title, this cardigan does not contain any angora hair, instead, 5% cashmere to give it some extra warmth. Through time, I discovered that my favourite clothing material is probably rayon (hence the 40% rayon in this cardigan). I gravitate towards rayon because it gives the garments a very soft and comfortable touch. Yes, I am weird that I read labels because I can't really wear wool. My skin is quite sensitive to wool and it will give me rashes (not to mention the itchiness). One complain I have with rayon is that you have to wash the garment in cold water or else the "softness" will be destroyed and most of the time the garment will shrink (I learned it the hard way......). So nowadays I just wash all my clothes in cold water.

Interestingly enough, another new addition to my essie collection is "angora cardi". I bought this completely based on Hannah's (Hannah's channel ) recommendation. The formula is great and I LOVE the colour so much! It is just perfect for Fall/Winter!! My friends aren't too crazy about this colour but I don't care, haha. =P

My minimal face for Fall

NARS blush in Deep Throat
L'Oreal Voluminous waterproof mascara in black
Maquillage by Shiseido eyebrow pencil (102, GY921)
Canmake eyebrow pencil (02)
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Plus
MAC Studio Finish Concealer SPF 35 in NW-25
Prestige waterproof automatic eyeliner in 02 Expresso
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on eye pencil in Bourbon
Shu Uemura eyelash curler
Kiss Me Heroine Make volume & curl mascara 

I am a foundation girl all-season. I just need the coverage foundation gives me and I can't part with it. But recently I have been finding myself reaching for a slightly different routine than my typical liquid foundation face routine. Now, if there is one thing you should know about me, it is given any day throughout the year I am in a rush. That's just reality that I have to press the snooze button several times before I drag myself out of my cozy bed. Getting ready and turning myself into a relatively-presentable state with shortest amount of time is my daily goal.

To achieve that, I have rekindled my love for MAC studio finish concealer. It is a thick, high-coverage concealer and I use my fingers to warm up the product and apply to my skin directly. After covering my blemishes, acne scars, and any other imperfections, I turn right to MAC MSF natural to set the concealer. MSF natural doesn't give a lot of coverage but I like how it never looks cakey on my skin. To boost the coverage a little bit, I usually reach for my elf flat-top powder brush to apply the powder. And this is pretty much my face makeup. If I have an extra 30 seconds to spare, then I will apply a tiny bit of NARS deep throat blush onto my cheeks to give my face some life.


Face is done, now my eyes. Eyebrows have become a must in my book nowadays. My brows are a little bit sparse especially towards the arch, filling them in just frame my face so much better. Eyebrow pencil is the quick and easy way to go. Some people complain about not being natural when using an eyebrow pencil, I think doing it in small, light strokes is the key. My favourite eyebrow pencil at the moment is the Maquillage eyebrow pencil. Maquillage is a line from Shiseido but I am pretty sure it's not available in North America. I bought mine from Hong Kong but when this runs out, I will have to look for alternatives here. It's quite special because one end is a pencil, and the other end is a powder. The powder can be used more for the "head" of your brows to give a softer look and the pencil can fill the rest. Not only do I like this convenient design, the colour match is quite perfect for me. I used to use the Canmake eyebrow pencil, which is a dark brown colour. But through time I find it is a little bit too "reddish undertone" for my brows. I still use it sometimes because I am trying to savour my Maquillage pencil and trying to use this up. The Maquillage pencil is more of an ashy brown colour. But if you ask me, I will definitely choose the Maquillage eyebrow pencil over the Canmake one.

For eyeliner, I prefer brown eyeliners more than black. I think it is just softer and more suitable on a daily basis. I used to never wear eyeliner because I just think it's too much and doesn't fit my hooded eyes. However, recently it has grown on me. I still don't like doing a thick line all across the lid, but what I do is to tight line towards the end of my eyes and to do a half-line on my lids. This just gives my eyes more definition, and at the same time, still natural enough. The two trustworthy eyeliner pencils that do not smudge on me are Prestige waterproof automatic eyeliner in Expresso and Urban Decay 24/7 glide-on eye pencil in Bourbon. Two different price points yet I love equally. Bourbon has a little shimmer in it so when I fancy some glitters on my eyes, I will choose Bourbon. (And when I say shimmer/glitters, it is really really really subtle.)

Lastly, curl my eyelashes with my holy-grail Shu Uemura eyelash curler and splash on some volumizing mascara. Yes, two options again, namely L'Oreal voluminous waterproof mascara in black and Kiss Me Heroine Make volume & curl mascara. I don't just stick with one thing all the time. I like some varieties. I really am not one of those people that will get into a rut with makeup. So this means, I am not sure how long this "routine" will last, haha. But that's the fun of experimenting with makeup.


p.s. I took these pictures on a very nice Fall day, definitely a day to remember......  

Something that you don't have to own, plus a little update

It has been exactly a month since I last updated and it is just the perfect timing to check in about my 1am-challenge progress..~ I was pretty good at making a "check" mark on my schedule when I went to bed before 1am, for the first half of the month. Although I failed to keep track on papers, I did manage to mentally remind myself to go to bed before the 1am "deadline". Sometimes, I failed by a few minutes. Some nights, I knew it was just meant to be a "fall-back-to-old-habit" kind of nights. Overall, I think I did meet my target 50% of the time. Still LOTS of rooms for improvement definitely and I can feel that I am starting to feel more lax about my 1am deadline. Time to pick it up and be a little bit more rigid! (Oh and did I mention about the daylight saving? The clock has turned back for an hour so that should have done some good to me too! Cause I feel sleepy earlier ;))

Ok, now that is being addressed, we shall talk about something else. Today, I wrote my final exam for one of my courses, and this marks the last exam in my undergrad life (hopefully). It's not like it is the first time and I really don't have any special feelings about it. But thought I should still make a note of it. Besides, what is better than enjoying a post-exam free Starbucks caramel brulee latte? ;) And the fact that no Starbucks staffs can spell my name? Haha, I appreciate their creativity.

My name has just gotten shorter, lol 

I always like to do a "little" shopping after some hard work has been done. I didn't get a chance to go shop today after my exam, so I thought I will pull out a dress that I tried on earlier. Surprise, surprise, I was at Winners again. The iPhone camera is totally not doing a justice here. In real life, the dress is a gorgeous chiffon type of material and a hot pink (rather than a red showing up here) fabric. It's so soft and so comfortable. And did I mention it's from BCBG? I am always drawn to BCBG but I can't afford the price tag. This dress retails for about $80 CAD at Winners and considering it is BCBG, this is not bad at all (and who knows the original price...)! I knew I wasn't going to get it before I walked into the dressing room. I just can't resist trying it on. At least I can have a picture of it. The price tag is a problem, but more of a problem is I don't really know when & where will I wear this. I have to occasions for this dress sadly.

That's all for my rambles today. I am excited about the holidays season coming!
But I know the upcoming months will be a very stressful period for me... well, well, well.

p.s. one more month till our 6th anniversary.