What a tough year. I know time is a man-made construct, but it’s nice that we collectively as a society have agreed on the faux reset – it might still be shitty on January 1st, but it’s a brand new kind of shitty just for us.

A lot has happened since last April – a whirlwind of new people, experiences, and responsibilities that at times I felt underprepared and overwhelmed by. I don’t make resolutions, but if I were to put it on paper, it would be a reminder to stay focused on what’s truly important, that I am more than my work, and that a glass of water + a good night’s sleep makes all the difference. I’ve done so many new things this year (and man do I owe a recap). I went on my second solo (sorta) trip to hang out with Liz and Viva in Vancouver. I dyed my hair after 10 years of saying I wanted to! I achieved peak eyebrows I met some amazing wonderful people that I am so lucky to call my friends. I made… VIB and then VIB rouge… I’m happy (mostly), healthy, and I listened to great music this year. Some nights I drank a little too much, cried a little too long, spent a little too much, but it’s all good – these are just growing pains.

Here’s to a new year and here’s to being a better me and here’s to making more dreams come true.

I’ve wanted to see EXO since… well since there were 12 members (ugly laughter + possibly also crying) The problem was finding someone willing to spend their life savings on tickets with me because if I missed this show, the next time they come around it would just be Joonmyun feat. holograms of all of his previous band members – you KNOW SM would have the technology to do this!!!

Fortunately, a few days before tickets went on sale, my friend Whit was kind enough to put me in touch with her friend, Dee so we could be concert buddies! After a whispered excuse at dinner time “SorryIHaveAnEmailIHaveToGetToRightNow” and lots of Skype shouting, Dee and I were sitting comfy with horribly expensive!!! tickets to see EXO.

Dee and I met up the day of the show at PruCenter around mid-afternoon in the hopes of scoring some free fansite swag, but unfortunately, all of it was long gone. Eventually we resigned to waiting on the ENORMOUS line while I admired Dee’s AMAZING LIGHT UP LED SIGN!!!

How cute!! Everything about Dee is cute!! She introduced me to a bunch of her friends as well who were also cute and nice!! In fact, so many fans at the venue were super cute and lovely.

By around 4pm, the initial buzz of being so close to see EXO was starting to die off and turned into full blow anxiety as the sun set, which made the occasional gust of wind + light drizzle unbearable. Much of the stress was attributed to my having a camera in my bag :x I’ve never had an issue at previous shows, but security was extra tight this time and many times staff would walk down the line and threaten to tear up the ticket of anyone caught with a camera. We watched through the windows as GA bags of all sizes were confiscated all while our lines inched along.

It was MINUTES before the start of the show when we finally cleared security. Dee and I were amongst the last people to enter the venue despite somehow being there 5 hours before showtime?! During the last few meters to the door, EXO started streaming backstage on V app and the collective group of us still stuck pre-security all crowded around Dee’s phone to watch the clip – whereupon Dee shouted CHANYEOL HAS WHITE HAIR and I thanked the kpop god for taking kind pity on me. They were, unfortunately, not kind to Dee – security confiscated and discarded her adorable LED sign :(

Once inside, we ran sprinted towards the merch booth, did a quick 10 second survey, and then rushed hurriedly to our seats. I had barely taken off my coat & settled in when the MUSIC STARTED. There was an incredibly cheesy vcr & lots of screaming and THEN

Oh my god I could die!!!! What an experience!!!!! I LOVE CONCERTS SO MUCH!!!!! I had such a good time. ^~^ EXO were such great performers and I couldn’t believe that I was seeing them with my OWN EYES. They’re SO BEAUTIFUL >3< I don’t remember/know how much of these shows are lipsynched, but they sounded so wonderful and I just about lost it whenever one of my Favorite Songs came on. I thought they did a wonderful job despite all the drama with the promoter and especially given how last minute this tour seemed. I was bummed that Yixing couldn’t make it, but everyone collectively screamed extra loud for him! Tbh I was kind of having trouble looking at even eight members (WHATIFWESTILLHADTWELVE). Also no lie I was locked in on Chanyeol 90% of the time!!!!! WHAT A LOVELY BEAUTIFUL ANNOYING BOY ^3^ Everyone was seriously Very Cute – I’m EXO trash forever!!!!

Thank you again to Dee for being the sweetest & cutest concert partner!! It’s too bad that we couldn’t get dinner together, but it was so much fun meeting you and I’m sorry I laughed at you when you cried lmao!!!!

Met up with Catherine when she was in town for work and we spent an afternoon eating ice cream, buying too much stuff, and being sushi babies.

I had the chance to meet one of Catherine’s friends who suggested we get some ice cream at Sundaes & Cones in the East Village. They had such a great collection of flavors including some unique ones like Thai ice tea, lychee (!!), sweet corn, honeydew, taro & black sesame. I had the Thai ice tea, but I’ve gotta go back for the lychee! Heads up that the portions were huge, which is great for ice cream lovers. So remember to ask for samples first to pick out something you really like.

After watching Catherine devour like 5 scoops of ice cream (HOW?!), we headed back to Union Square to Nature Republic and spent far far far too much money. I only got 3 things (please clap), but our basket had a accumulation of so many products, that a staff member basically helped us hold our stuff U_U.

Shout out to Diana L. at the Union Square Nature Republic for being so kind and helpful! She hooked us up with so many samples ^~^ There was a great promotion so I got the Argan Essential Deep Cleansing Hair Pack, a Real Nature Honey Ampoule, and one of the new creamy lipsticks.

By the time we were finished, we each had a big bag – Catherine got the SUPER huge promo gift set with a water bottle!! lmao – and it was already dark out. We headed over to meet up with some more of Catherine’s friends at dinner at Marumi.

(Along the way, we stepped into Aesop and overheard a customer who was not only dismissive to the staff, but who also pronounced masque as “MOSQUE” lmao ok)

At Marumi, I chickened out and skipped out on sushi after explaining to everyone how thicker cuts are too flesh-chunky for me and went with the takosu (octopus salad in vinegar sauce) and kake udon with duck.

Catherine had to get to her hotel, which was legit upstate, so we said early goodbyes, but it was so nice to see her even if it was for a short while!!

↑↑ THIS ONE ↑↑ (and also the one topped with crabmeat)

Erica’s always up for sushi and when your lunch date gets started before you’ve got your jacket off, you know you’re in for something crazy. I’m not a sushi person (mainly because I’m a babychild and I don’t like raw foods – I’m Cantonese!!) so it didn’t ever apply to me, but damn sushi is REALLY expensive. I haven’t leveled-up enough to eat the good stuff, but there’s one plate I especially love and I wish I could just eat 400 off without the guilt of it probably costing me $600 dollars!!!

After lunch, I indulged Erica in a pitstop at Bleecher’s, and she returned the favor by putting up with me smelling 402934088 perfumes at the Fresh Union Square shop. I debated a full-size lip balm, but realized I had 7 opened tins of lip products and hastily backed away.

Our destination was originally the NARS Bleeker Street store, but since it was out of the way, we ended up at the SoHo location where I picked up an eyeshadow for Erica & a pencil sharpener for myself (I know…) I spent way too much time swatching every lipstick and foundation in sight, and honestly, if we weren’t running late for our dinner reservation, I could have stayed there until closing. I really wanted to get properly matched to their foundation, but my makeup looked Good and I didn’t want to waste it HAHahA. I did end up picking out a lip pencil to treat myself with next so fingers crossed that day comes soon.

And finally it was time for the main event!

My mouth is watering just recalling how good this food tasted. Oh my god. I love salty savory sour food and every single one of these dishes punched me right in the mouth. The green papaya salad and grilled pork jowl were INCREDIBLE – I think I let out a few groans and moans. The salad was just the right amount of fresh and crunchy with the added acidity of the vinaigrette while the pork jowl was slick with pork fat and the brussel sprouts soaked up the lime-chili sauce. I have to confess… that we didn’t end up ordering from the Restaurant Week menu because we HAD to try the Sizzling Sisig and it just wasn’t on the dinner menu! I’m not weirded out by unusual meats so this was just delicious; I think I identified some snout and ear (MMMMM) mixed in there.

We sat in the back patio of the restaurant which had the coolest red lighting from the heat lamps and while I was comfortable before dinner, I was lowkey sweating from just shoveling all this perfect food in my face. Fortunately soon afterwards, dessert was served and it was this rich creamy milky shaved ice with huge chunks of flan and rice crisps. SO GOOD.

My only regret is that we missed out on dishes that had more solid meat we could bite into since head meat and jowl tends to be more fatty meat. The fried pork rinds were also a bit of a disappointment since they were so airy (but crisp). Still, the other dishes won the night and if I get the energy to I would definitely return to try the entire menu.

Heads up, get coconut rice. Always get coconut rice!

3 Concept Eyes was started in 2007 as a cosmetic line for South Korean clothing brand NANDA (originally an online-based brand known as STYLENANDA). Their cosmetics are modeled by beautiful dream girls like Park Sora wearing high-glossy skin & vivid lip looks.

The brand has a cool girl look with most items being packaged in matte black boxes and the packaging itself being a mix of black or hot pink. The quality of the packaging itself is cheap for the price although a few items will come in glass jars. Price-wise, think of what you might find at MAC – lip products coming in at $16 to $20, blushes in the $20 range, and foundation from $20 to $30. Online orders cost approximately $1 USD more than their price in store in Korea ($13 USD vs 14000 won). Unfortunately, shipping is a bother as you have to place an order for over $200 worth of products before qualifying for free shipping, which luckily (????) ships EMS so the entire order/process/ship/delivery process only takes about 3-4 business days.

3CE Glossing Waterful Foundation
Shade: NUDE BEIGE

The 3CE Glossing Waterful Foundation has been my favorite base makeup discovery in the last few years – I’m on my second bottle! The foundation comes in a frosted glass jar with a glass pipette, which is not particularly travel friendly, but it’s one of the more nicely packaged products from the brand.

Right off the bat, coverage is light so it’s not going to be for everyone. There’s only enough coverage to even out discoloration and you’ll need a separate concealer for hyperpigmentation scars, dark circles, and birthmarks. You can see in in the swatches below that the spots I have between my eyebrows and my dark circles could use some extra help.

It has a glowy and dewy finish, which fades in about half an hour on my dry skin, but gets better with wear time as more of my natural oils surface. I was working with a dry skin day so barely any glow appears on camera, but check out some of the full-face lipstick photos further in the post to see how good it looks after an hour or so. Heads up that in real life, it’s not nearly as oil-slicked as the swatches on the 3CE website make it appear.

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One of the biggest downsides to the foundation is that it’s got a pretty narrow selection of shades to offer, which unfortunately, is fairly common with Asian cosmetic brands. Although there are four shades – more than any of the other foundation items by 3CE – they all fall into the light to light-medium range. For reference, I’d say these fall in the NC/W 15-25 MAC shades.

That said, one of the reasons I reach for this foundation so often is because in addition to the aforementioned ~*glow*~, the shade NUDE BEIGE happens to be one of the best/closest matches I’ve come across for my skintone. I jumped onto the cushion trend last year and most, if not all, of the brands only carry foundations in two shades: No. 21/01 which is very light with a pink undertone, or, No. 23/02 which is a shade up with a yellow undertone. Occasionally, you’ll see a shade No. 25 which is often light-medium with a pink undertone. The Waterful Glossing foundation shade range has two shades in a warm and cool undertone, which is (slightly) refreshing to see. With the exception of the natural shaddow below my jawbone, you can see the above photos that my face matches my neck almost perfectly.

The foundation has SPF 15 so you may get some flashback in flash photos, but I’ve found that it’s so little that it’s negligeble and its probably better to rely on a sunscreen/block with a higher SPF factor for your daily sun protection. As for scent-sensitive friends, the foundation is unscented!

3CE Face Blush
Shade: All That Peach

All That Peach is a “matte calm apricot” shade in 3CE’s original blush line and as much as I love this blush, I have to admit that it looks like nothing! It’s a light orange in the pan, which unfortunately doesn’t translate as well OUT of the pan. Pigmentation is quite low, but you can get better color payoff if you use a brush versus using your fingers. However, I’m pretty light and it barely shows up on me, so I can’t imagine this being anything on someone darker than I am.

I will cut this blush some slack because I think the lack of pigment makes the rather unusual shade easier to wear. I like using it as a contour color when I don’t want to do the whole blush & bronzer look because I’m getting into the non-blush blush look (RME I KNOW). I have, however, had the chance to swatch the other shades in person and they’ve all been a letdown in terms of color payoff so if you’re looking for a punchy shade that will translate onto the skin, save your money for something else.

3CE Pink Gradation Bold Blush
Shade: Plum Candy

This blush was the biggest disappointment T_T PLUM CANDY is a pink and lavender gradated domed blush from one of 3CE’s “bold” color blushes in the glossy hot pink packaging. It has a satin/shimmery finish without any noticeable glitter particles on the skin.

With a beautiful name like PLUM CANDY and the loveliest gradation, it fared the same as the matte blush in that pigmentation was ‘meh’. In particular, it was the lavender portion that was a letdown – can you tell which of the two swatch photos is the lilac shade? which is the pink shade? The lavender is the first photo, but you can barely tell right? When swirled together, the lavender is lost entirely.

Overall, I expected a lot more out of something in the “bold” range. To their credit, 3CE uses words like “transparent” and “clear” to describe the look this gives and it does yield a very pretty color, but at $25 each, even the #AESTHETICS doesn’t cut it. You can probably get a very well-pigmented blush in pink, lavender, and a combination for less.

3CE Creamy Lip Color
Shade: #4 Joyce

(I need to stop buying peachy lipsticks because they don’t look good on me :c)

JOYCE is a coral pink lipstick with a high-gloss creamy finish. Like all of the lipsticks I’ve used from 3CE, it has amazing pigmentation and it looks on the lips almost exactly like it does in the swatched photos on the website. The creamy lipsticks are formulated with argan oil and cupuacu butter so they’re rich, glide on, and are super comfortable to wear. I usually have to blot this lipstick out because the color is too vivid and washes me out.

The downside to the cream formula is that they’re almost too creamy. There’s a bit of slip and slide because of the moisturizing ingredients and for someone whose dry skin includes chapped lips, the formula clings to dry patches and only highlights them more. This is probably made worse because this particular shade is a very milky baby peach color and these shades always happen to look that way.

3CE Creamy Lip Color
Shade: #6 Jazzy Pink

JAZZY PINK on the other hand is such an amazing color and despite my hesitations, turned out to be a welcome addition to my collection because I don’t have anything quite like this shade. It’s described as a “vivid fuschia pink.” Against my skintone, it’s a tad warmer, but still preserves that touch of blue in there. The swatch above was applied with a lip brush to the edges of my lips and then finished with a single swipe from the bullet – LOOK AT THAT COLOR! Color payoff

Since it’s still a cream formula, it suffers the same fate as JOYCE in that it also clings badly to chapped lips, but this is less obvious with a darker shade. Another downside to the formula is that it’s just too soft! I twisted the bullet up once to see how much product there was and a chunk of the softened product stuck to the side of the tube and slips out every time I twist it up or down!

3CE Lip Color
Shade: #501 Bella

BELLA is warm burgundy shade in the “original” finish housed in 3CE’s usual square black packaging – these are identical to the bright pink square tubes so go for it if you like a shade and want the pink tube. This is my favorite color out of the four that I purchased and the one I’ve gotten the most wear out of since I’ve been on a burgundy kick for the last few years. It’s not nearly as vampy as the website makes it out to be especially since darker lipstick seems to be the trend these days.

The original finish is best described as a satin non-glossy formula. It’s really comfortable and wear and despite not having the “essential oils” that the creamy lip color has, it’s surprisingly moisturizing and doesn’t dry out the lips.

It was a welcome addition to my berry/wine lipstick loves although I have to admit that it doesn’t differ enough from MAC Rebel and the Etude House shade for me to need all three. Rebel in particular is pretty similar once it’s on my face despite it leaning quite cool. Still, it’s a great formula and the color payoff as usual is incredible – it’s been one of my favorite autumn/winter colors since I’ve gotten it

3CE Lip Color
Shade: #509 Violeta

VIOLETA was a last minute choice that I got mainly because of Catherine’s persuasion (and so she could live vicariously through me!!). I don’t usually lean towards such cool-toned colors, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I was into it~ VIOLETA is a blue-toned magenta which is available in the original/satin finish. It is much cooler on me than the models in the photos, but I’ve found that 3CE’s product shots tend to be too warm (for example, their reds/pinks/oranges are often hard to differentiate).

I’ve got a few similar shades in my collection, but many of them are closer to purple or much pinker in comparison. It’s such an interesting color and makes my face look so much brighter in a healthy way (vs my usual pale pasty look) because it counteracts the underlying yellow undertone in my skin. This one is another really great summer color!

I think 3CE’s lipsticks are just incredible and absolutely worth a try if you can find them for a somewhat reasonable price (ugh shipping). I have very dry sensitive lips and the lipsticks are all really comfortable to wear and don’t cause any additional drying. The pigmentation is the BOMB especially with the more vivid shades and the color payoff is excellent. One thing to keep an eye out for is to really look at the swatch photos provided on the site & look up reviews of colors that you like because the color balance tends to be a bit off. Overall, I definitely recommend the original formula lipsticks (black or pink square packaging) and I’ve included some info at the end of this post of where you can try/get some shades in person!

And now for something new!

3CE Facial Mask
Option: Water Wrapping Facial Mask, Pore Tightening Facial Mask

I had a small minor heart attack when I saw sheet masks on the 3CE site because I love. sheet masks!!! I ended up getting a box of 5 of the Water Wrapping type and traded with Catherine who got a pack of the Pore Tightening masks. The masks are made out of some sort of fiber that gives it a very smooth feeling and an opaque white appearance. This makes it feel thicker even though it’s likely not much thicker than the traditional ones that are translucent. This fiber, however, makes the mask stronger and it’s less prone to tearing (even when it was intentional – I tried!). Despite different ingredients and functions, both masks have the same Generic Asian Cosmetic Scent which fades quickly.

The Water Wrapping mask “wraps skin in comforting moisture” and is focused on rehydrating the skin with ingredients like hyaluronic acid and glacial water from Alaska. I noticed that other than phenoxyethanol (a preservative), there is no alcohol listed in the ingredients which is always a good sign! I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen alcohol in products aimed at hydration and moisture.

The Pore Tightening mask on the other hand does have alcohol, but also includes a ton of fruit extracts like grapefruit, grape, orange, apple, lemon, lime as well as camellia leaf and tea tree extract.

3CE Mini Hand Mirror
Color: PINK

I decided I need some more 3CE branded swag and picked up a small hand mirror for applying my makeup in the morning. I’d been using a magnifying mirror which was a HORRIFYING way to wakeup & the mirror over my vanity is in an area where there just isn’t enough natural light. The build on this mirror is plastic, but sturdy – I can’t count how many times I’ve dropped it right onto the mirrored surface or on one of its corners. I love it! The mini size comes in 5 colors (pink, black logo on black, white logo on black, neon orange, neon yellow) and the mirror also comes in a larger size (pink, black logo on black, white logo on black).

I asked my partner-in-crime for some thoughts on her favs & hates since we tend to lean towards different products and she was kind enough to give me a rundown. For reference, Catherine is very very fair and usually uses the lightest shade in foundations. She has dry sensitive skin and like me is a fan of the glossy dewy look:

Best Item: Cover Cream Foundation had good coverage and matched her skintone.

She also loved the lip gloss in hot pink because the formula was pigmented, moist & glossy without any stickiness. It felt like an “adult lipgloss”. Catherine was also a fan of the eyeshadows – “they are just as sparkly mermaid princess in real life as they look on park sora.” The blushes in baby chou and lavender were strange color choices, but they really worked & looked surprisingly natural/not at all weird.

Worst Item: Cream Blush because the tube fell apart and “was the most bizarre color/formula combo ever. like a SUPER pale baby pink color” that sat on the skin and didn’t blend out.

Catherine was also similarly not a fan of the creamy lip color which just didn’t settle properly on her lips and color-wise didn’t really fit with her. The honey face chiffon fluid was too dark & broke her out.

Finally! As I mentioned earlier, there are a few places in New York City that you can try 3CE products out. I think there are some places in Chinatown, but since Flushing my regular haunt, the few places I have are Flushing centric:

There were, until recently, a few more independent beauty shops in Flushing that carried their products, but have recently gone out of business. I love beauty hunting so I’ll swing by with updates if I come across a good spot. Heads up to avoid buying 3CE from the other beauty shops in New World Mall – I came across multiple stores that carried an extensive selection of very obvious counterfeits. Stay smart and safe!

Hopefully this was a helpful intro to some of 3 Concept Eye’s products! Stay tuned for an upcoming post featuring some purchases including eyeliner and 3CE’s new balm products~