Back row: UNT nail polish remover, Pond's cleansing oil x2, Biore tinted sunblock. Front row: UNT nail polishes

She also included 3 scarves she made, but I wanted to take photos of me actually wearing them in order to do them justice¹. Unfortunately, exam week means that I’ve been looking like a hobo wearing sweat pants and whatever else is lying on my closet floor, so hopefully I’ll have a chance after exams are over

Error processing requestI’ll have a 2-week break after my exams and before I start working, so I plan to post up a couple more reviews, a new theme, my shop, and host 2 giveaways More detail on that to come, but there’s something else that was in my package that I want to show you guys:

This is why they don't allow you to ship nail polish through air mail!

Apparently one of my UNT nail polishes decide to go KABOOM sometime during its transit from Taiwan to the US Thank goodness these polishes come in individual boxes, which helped contain the spill and not get polish on my scarves.

Anyways, back to working. I have one more presentation + one more take home exam, and then I can officially say bye-bye to grad school!

Neutrogena Nourishing Eyeliner

Clockwise from top: full product, eyeliner tip, smudger/sharpener, swatch

Packaging ♥♥♥♥♥
The packaging is absolutely brilliant! One end you have the eyeliner, which you twist to get more, and the other end, you have a smudger + sharpener!  I can’t tell you how many times I bring my pencil liners with me on vacations but can’t apply them because they’re too dull and I left my sharpener at home.

Product ♥♥♥
The eyeliner itself is very average. It’s very creamy and applies nicely, though it may be problematic for people with oily lids. I do like how thin the liner itself is, so you could potentially use it for the water line. However, I find that it smudges on me too easily and doesn’t last very long

Price ♥♥♥
For USD$7.99, I think there are better eyeliners available. I’m personally a fan of Milani’s Liquif-Eye pencil liners

Overall ♥♥♥
The only thing that really stands out to me is the packaging. But other than that, it’s a very average product, and I won’t be purchasing it in the future.

Neutrogena Revitalizing Lip Balm

swatches from left to right: healthy blush, petal glow, sunny berry

Packaging ♥
Wow, these have the cheapest looking packaging I’ve ever seen. The labels are all stuck on and using them for a while and keeping them in my purse, the edges of the stickers are beginning to peel The black plastic also feels very flimsy, and I’m not a fan of the shape.

Color ♥♥♥♥
These come in 6 shades, all which are very wearable and universally flattering. It leaves a tint that is comparable to Revlon Lip Butters, and it also adds a hint of dewiness to my lips. The 3 colors which I received are beautiful, with my favorites being healthy blush and sunny berry. Took off 1 star because I wish there were more colors

Moisturization ♥♥♥
For a tinted lip balm, it does a decent job of moisturizing my lips. I find that the moisture lasts around 2 hours, which is similar to my Revlon Lip Butters. On the other hand, Maybelline Baby Lips does a much better job of moisturizing in my opinion. I also didn’t notice any long term positive effects on my lips. However, the SPF 20 makes it stand out from its competitors.

Price ♥♥♥
At USD$8.99, it’s definitely not the cheapest lip balm around. The Revlon Lip Butters cost the same but come with more colors and better packaging.

Overall ♥♥♥
It’s not a bad product, but at that price point I expect better packaging. Overall it’s nothing amazing. I might purchase these if I find them on sale or if they come out with more colors.

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Brightening Eye Perfector

notice the reduction in darkness and puffiness in the after photo

Packaging ♥♥♥♥
It’s sleek and well made, no cheap plastic or flimsy labels. It has a flow-through brush applicator, which I actually don’t like since I find the brush too harsh on my eye area. Instead I apply the product on my ring finger first, and then apply to my eyes in light, dabbing motion.

Color ♥♥♥♥
This comes in 4 shades, which can be tricky if your skintone falls between shades. But what I love is that the colors are very neutral – not too warm or too cool, which has been a problem with some other concealers. The color Buff is a perfect fit for my NW20/25 skin

Coverage ♥♥♥♥♥
Flawless coverage I love how easy to blend the formula is, and it doesn’t crease or flake! It reminds me a bit of the Healthy Skin foundation. It takes only a little bit of product to cover each undereye circle, and it not only covers, but brightens as well. My boyfriend noticed an immediate difference when I first applied this!

Price♥♥♥
At USD$13.99, this is definitely on the expensive side for drugstore concealer. Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circles Eraser is only $9.99, though I think there is more product inside the Neutrogena one. It also comes with SPF 25, which is nice.

Overall♥♥♥♥♥
This product was easily the winner and favorite of everything I received. I find myself applying this almost everyday – even when I don’t wear makeup – just because it makes me look so much more awake and refreshed! I will definitely be purchasing this in the future

I hope you found this review helpful, and I’d love to hear your opinions if you’ve tried any of these, or any of Neutrogena’s products

The top one is mine and the bottom one is for my mom

Before you start flipping out over the $$$², they actually turned out to be really inexpensive for designer eyewear – more than 80% off the original prices! Of course, I had to pick up a pair for myself and another pair for my boyfriend’s mom

But while I was trying to take pictures of the sunglasses, Cooper kept getting in the way! As a matter of fact, he managed to sneak into the photo above. Did you spot him? So I had to cut my photography session short and take pictures of my mischievous cat instead:

This is MY chair! My turn to play now!

Sunglasses? What sunglasses?

Shelly was all over the chair just before him, she’s just a lot quicker so I couldn’t catch her on the camera I bought the chair in the photo recently as a place to read and relax³, but it seems like it’s become the cats new favorite place now!

What are you guys planning to do for Mother’s Day? 

Rings sold individually or as a set - around $5. I love how dainty they are, my favorites are the top one and the one with 2 birdies

I love how their jewelry section is organized by color, then by type. It’s extremely easy to find what you’re looking for. Oh and did I mention they have some super cute stuff?

One of my favorites from my haul - around $6~$8

I love the charms and the mixture of fabric and metal

This one is stretchy, which makes it easy to put on. Love the colors!

The quality also looks/feels a lot better than those from Forever 21. Granted their price range is slightly higher¹, but you get what you pay for I also noticed that their jewelry pieces are a lot more colorful than those from other places – perfect for the summer time!

I'm a sucker for long necklaces, and Old Navy had some pretty ones! - $8~$10

While I still love Forever 21², I will definitely be visiting Old Navy more often now to stock up on accessories

Where are your favorite places to shop for jewelry? I’d love to hear~

Pinterest - hopelessly addicted

I’ve been using Pinterest for a while now, but mostly to repin images I like onto my own boards. Recently, I pinned my photo of the YSL lipstick onto my board for fun, and in less than a day, it had received 79 repins and 23 likes. I don’t think I’ve ever achieved such a reaction from Twitter or Facebook! :O So how can we take advantage of Pinterest and have our photos go viral?

Before we get started, you might be wondering, “why should do I care?” So here are some lovely infographics to convince you that yes, you should care:

• Pin it to Win it – a marketer’s guide to Pinterest
• Why is Pinterest so addictive?
• How Pinterest can turn your brand red-hot

If you’ve been convinced and want to get started, I recommend the following WordPress¹ plugins:

• Jamie Social Icons – This is my favorite social sharing plugin for many reasons. 1, you can control where the icons are displayed via PHP. 2, it’s very easy to customize the look of the icons. 3, the “Pin It” button is setup so that users can select any of the images in your post.
• Pinterest Image Pinner From Collective Bias – It adds a “Pin It” button to all the images in your post. You can specify how big the images have to be or what class they need to have so the button doesn’t show up on your emoticons or other irrelevant images.

If you’re on Blogger, Blogger Sentral has a great tutorial on how to add a “Pin It” button to your posts. If you’re not on WordPress or Blogger, Pinterest has a “Pin It” button code generator that you can use, though it’s definitely not the most convenient option. Either way, I hope you find a solution that works for you, and happy pinning!

Are you already promoting your blog via Pinterest? Any tips you’d like to share?