Nokzi's World

Busting out a hobby: Making jewelry!!

2012-03-02T03:56:00.000-08:00

So I wanted to blog about this for a while now but I wasn't sure if anything was actually going to happen. Let me start back from a few weeks ago.

Long story short, I just felt like I was really tired with my life. I know that sounds incredibly emo but.....I was. I mean I was a mess. I still kinda am v__v but the point is.......at the time everything kept pointing in the direction of a 'hobby'. Now I consider gaming a hobby but I guess it didn't count since gaming doesn't really do anything to benefit my life. I mean, it's fun but it's not like going to get me anywhere in the long run. Not that hobbies are supposed to get you somewhere but I think that when you're having a life crisis, a good hobby can really give you another reason to live and be happy. I guess in other words, I just felt really incredibly unhappy for a while. I mean, I'm extremely blessed to be where I am but bad news kept on making me feel more pessimistic and I just felt the need to break down. ANYWAY...........but beyond all that emotardness within me, I decided to make a hobby of making jewelry and selling it on etsy. I figure, it can be fun and I can make money. Win/Win? Now, granted I had no intention of thinking this would be actually successful, but I figured if I just put in a small investment and see if I can make even my money back or a little more, then well--I'd be doing something right. There are a lot of talented people on etsy and I know that. But really I just wanted to do this because I figure, it might get my mind off of things. It will give me something to focus on. So far it's been working out okay.

I don't have that much material yet to be honest (funds are kinda low *sad face*) but like I said, I'm starting out small. So I would like to share my first ever--hand made jewelry pieces! (okay they're just rings. don't get too excited.) Also these were taken with my cell-cam. LOL. Just thought I'd show a quick preview.

I thought it would be a cute idea to make these little star bracelets and give them out as freebies with a purchase. :3 At least until they last anyway. I guess in a way that's bribing people. LOL. But they are cute no? ^_____^

Anyway, I haven't actually posted them on etsy yet. I want to take nice quality photographs with my DSLR first. The rhinestones on the rings are made from Swarovski crystals!! It's really hard to capture the light on swarovski crystals because they're so sparkly and pretty in the right light, but hopefully I can show it better once I take better pictures.

Let me know what you think of the designs! Excuse the nasty glue and all the imperfections. I'm new at this and it did get a bit messy! But these were practice rings. Hopefully my hands will be less shaky when I put on the crystal beads ;___; they're so tiny.

I've actually never done this before---you know, the whole jewelry making thing. So honestly, I have no idea what is supposed to be 'right' or 'wrong' but I got ideas off of some DIY websites and whatnot. I just try to buy only pieces that I think are cute and that I would like! I find a lot of times on etsy you'll find jewelry made by people that don't seem too special or they just seem kinda random. No offense to any of them of course. I guess I mean that when I make something, I ask myself, "would I buy that?". Like I want to make pieces that genuinely look worthy in my eyes! Because I know that if I really want it, then other people will want it too. xD Of course this all means that I have to put in a lot of effort to make these pieces but I'm kinda excited to try this new thing! If I make money off of it, then that's cool. But if not, then I'll just have really cute jewelry that I made myself XD. Win/Win!!

Okay I'll shut up now.

Magazine scans: Fashion 101

2012-03-01T23:03:00.001-08:00

I've been meaning to do these magazine scans for quite a while now but I never knew how to set up my scanner and I'm lazy. lol. But I love reading magazines. As dumb as this sounds, I like magazines mainly for pictures and I rarely read them. I guess except Cosmopolitan because they actually have interesting things to read. So when I come across foreign magazines, like Japanese Shibuya fashion magazines I go ecstatic! I love the graphic design they put into Japanese magazines but I also like the fashion in American magazines.

I am by no means a 'fashionista'. I really like reading about fashion and trends but to be honest I don't follow them at all. I just pretty much wear whatever I think is cute and a lot of times I totally don't even get American trends. I'm like, what 20-something yr old would wear stuff like that? Ya know? But the point is that the trends are supposed to INSPIRE fashionistas not necessarily tell you what you have to wear exactly. Anyway, so from American mags and Japanese mags, I scanned some of my favorite pages just because visually I think they are interesting. I also include some cool packaging scans I found in my graphic design books.
This will be a pretty image heavy post. :B Enjoy!

Magazine covers

JAPANESE MAGAZINE SCANS

Ranzuki

Kera

AMERiCAN FASHiON SCANS (Nylon, People Style Watch, Cosmo, Harper's)

PACKAGING DESIGNS

+Lo+

Movie Review: Chronicle (2012)

2012-02-28T03:06:00.002-08:00

I watched Chronicle while I was out in Vegas this past weekend at the Palms. And I walked into this movie completely not expecting anything. I remember watching the trailers and thought it looked boring. But I decided to watch it because if there are good reviews, something must be going on right?

So I’m going to give a down-to-earth review on what I thought of this movie. (No spoilers)

First of all, yes, this is a “mockumentary” style film, like ‘Paranormal Activity’ or ‘District 9’. The moment I realized that this would be a “hand held camera” style movie I almost wanted to straight up walk out the theater. I hate that fad that’s going around. People like it because it makes the movie seem “realistic” but I hate it because it takes away the ‘cinematography’ and art of filming. I think it’s rather a ‘cheap’ way to make a movie, literally and figuratively speaking. But this is one of those instances much like Paranormal Activity, where this use of “realistic filming” makes the entire movie that much more intriguing.

The premise of the movie is about three teenagers finding super powers from some kind of alien life form or another. They never explain the substance or how they even contracted the powers so it would be kinda interesting if they had a prequel or at least an online webisode explaining those events. But anyway, this isn’t your typical super hero movie. The movie is really about some normal guys who gain these powers and shows a rather realistic way of what might happen if a couple of teenagers actually had some kind of supernatural power. I think that’s what makes this film so damn likable. It’s not a comic book kinda film. Rather than being a “flashy” superpowered film, it’s really more about the mundane, realistic aspects of using these powers. So these guys use their powers to impress people, to gain friends, to mess with people, to screw around. These are all things that any REAL teenager or young person would do. It makes the characters ‘believable’.

Now granted, this will not be a film that everyone will like. Not even comic book fans or fans of supernatural films may all be a fan of this movie. Why not? Well from my perspective, I feel like the people who enjoyed this film are probably people like me; who walked into this movie not expecting anything. When you walk into a movie without expectation, they tend to be a lot more enjoyable because our minds are automatically open to just about anything. Because we don’t expect anything. I think people who expected this to be some flashy super hero movie or even just a ‘cool’ kinda movie like “Jumper” or whatever, might be disappointed in this because it just comes off ‘mundane’ and ‘weird’. I mean look at the poster of the movie. The main characters are three high school boys. The poster itself already exudes a kind of ‘hubris’ or cool atmosphere. But the movie is far far beyond that.

If anything, I feel like this is one of those movies that can actually veer from making people glamorize super powers. At least to me, it almost makes the thought of REAL super powers kind of frightening. But what compels me most to this movie is the raw emotion these characters give off, especially the main character Andrew.

(Andrew showing his powers are getting stronger)

The three main characters are Andrew, Matt, and Steve. Andrew is basically your main protagonist. He is this socially awkward kid that doesn’t have any friends and is basically an outcast at school. His home life is where we gain some insight on the kind of kid Andrew is. His dad is an abusive alcoholic and his mother is dying of cancer. So we automatically know that this kid is troubled but we also sympathize for him because he doesn’t seem like a bad kid and really, he just seems like he wants to fit in.

Then there’s Matt, who actually hangs around Andrew (or gives rides rather) and we find out that he is Andrew’s cousin. Matt is a nice guy who unlike Andrew is very social and has had a reputation. Although it seemed like Matt was just like any other high school student trying to be popular and prove something of himself in the past, the current events of the film show a side of Matt that has evolved or changed. He seems the most mature of the three and down to earth.
Steve is Matt’s friend and he is also one of the most popular guys at school. He’s the kid in high school that everyone knows about. He’s a star football player for his school’s team and he’s loved by everyone. And even though he’s this popular guy, when he and Matt along with Andrew start to discover these powers, he instantly becomes close with Andrew. He doesn’t judge Andrew whatsoever.,

What I love about these characters is the fact that they are VERY realistic to actual kids in real life. Movies always tend to show the super outcast kid be really weird and really unlikeable but Andrew wasn’t unlikeable at the start. He just seemed like he needed direction. Once he started getting popular with the help of Steve, Andrew for a short period of time anyway, seemed to enjoy his popularity and socializing. He’s just like any other kid in high school who is a social outcast. They really just long to belong.

(Andrew, Steve, and Matt messing around after school)

And again in movies, it’s common to see the popular guy be this asshole dick. In reality, it’s very rare to see the most popular people in high school be the bullies. At least in this day and age. If anyone gets bullied, it’s just by a bunch of really mean random group of people. The popular kids are popular because they are genuinely friendly to everyone and Steve portrays the most likable character. And Matt is kind of like, who most of us are in high school. We try to survive high school by being at least somewhat cool or somewhat noticed but at the end of the day, we’re just normal kids. We have some friends here and there but we aren’t the talk of the town. We aren’t losers either. Matt describes the ‘normal’ teenager trying to figure himself out.

Why people will love this film: First of all, fangirling is BOUND to happen. FanBOYING will also be bound to happen. Because even though this isn’t the coolest or flashiest film, I think a lot of guys would watch this and would love to hang out with guys like Steve or Matt especially. And because Matt unintentionally becomes kind of the ‘hero’ of the film, yeah, there is kind of a ‘cool’ vibe that these guys give off. I think the fangirling is kinda obvious. I mean, all three characters are definitely good looking guys but I also think the casting was extremely well picked and smart to say the least. They are definitely good looking guys but not so good looking that you start to only focus on their looks. I feel that a lot of times movies that try to have a deeper message, lose the message when their lead actors are just too good looking. Rather the cast was like—perfect. Perfectly believable. Andrew is not a hideous looking kid (Dane Dehaan) in fact, he's actually pretty cute. But he’s also like this scrawny kid. The first thing I thought when I saw his face was, “Young Leo” (yes, as in Leonardo DiCaprio) but he’s so good at being ‘troubled’ and especially when he starts to get kinda psycho, he starts to look demented and you can see it in his eyes. It was just perfect. And generally speaking, it’s not even like the ‘bad boy-troubled-teen-but-still-so-hot’ kinda look. He genuinely would scare the shit out of me if I knew him (the character). Then Matt is who is actually played by an Australian actor (Alex Russell) is also a good looking fella. But he’s just as good looking as any ‘good looking’ kid at your high school. Not hot. Not ugly. Just a moderately good looking kid with ‘kinder’ eyes that let’s you know that he’s definitely not a bad character. Steve (played by Michael B. Jordan) is this good looking black guy. I think it was smart that they also casted a black kid because the diversity made it more believable for high schoolers from Seattle. And Steve is in fact a good looking kid. He looks sharp. He looks fresh. And he looks smart. He’s very likable. But he’s not this typical ‘most popular white kid’ and I also think that it was smart casting to choose a good looking black kid and not a ‘Zac Efron’ prototype. And everyone likes Steve. I can’t see anyone watching this movie who doesn’t like Steve and sees him the most realistic kind of person out of all three of them. Both me and my friend kept commenting how cool it would be to be friends with someone like him in real life. So I definitely think the cast plays a major part in why people might love this film.

Why people won’t like this film:It’s not what you expected. It’s not a real super hero action film but it’s definitely ‘action’. There’s lots of it. It’s just more realistic. Now if you’re looking for something more intuitive in a super hero film, then you’re not going to find it in Chronicle. There isn’t much computer graphics involved either except for green screen instances like floating and using their powers for small things. Also if you’re as hateful towards the ‘shaky handheld camera’ approach as I am, you might be turned off by the thought of it in this film but I think they did a good job not to make it too annoying.
And I think what people will dislike the most is the lack of ‘deeper’ background. That’s why I think they should make a prequel or sequel explaining the background of how everything happened. It really is a film that just shows what’s happening, it happens fast, and it ends fast. If you’re looking for a deep story, you won’t find it here.

Overall conclusion:
What I liked most about Chronicle is that it’s a breath of fresh air for those who have seen many many super hero films. As an avid fan of Marvel and DC comic movies, I’ve seen just about every single flashy mechanism for superheroes there is. And I love it of course. But this is just so incredibly different because it’s so believable that while I’m watching, my body feels intense. As if these are REAL people that are going through all of this. And the movie takes these emotional connections and use it on us to pin us down hard. The point of that is to make a lasting impact and I sure think it did just that.
Chronicle is not a movie that everyone will like or see the point in. But as I stated in the beginning, it’s highly enjoyable if you don’t expect anything from it. Just like if this were reality, who would expect to find super powers the next morning? It’s the element of surprise and realism that really makes this movie something worth talking about. And the emotional connection that these characters have really makes one question their own morals and standards. If your life was shit, would you use super powers for good or evil? And even if you say you would never use it for evil, what makes you so certain of that? We dismiss evil because most of us have normal human morals. But those morals are only adhered to a fantasy after all. None of us can fly or move balls with our minds. But if we could……what would our minds be processing? What kind of thoughts would we have? After all, you are special and have something no one else does. That kind of power can be a very cool or very frightening thing.

“I am an Apex Predator. Does the lion feel bad killing the gazelle? Do people feel remorse when they kill a fly?” —Andrew

Oriental Gold BB CREAM + updates

2012-02-24T12:31:00.000-08:00

I got this baby in the mail today!
I know there's alot of reviews out there already in regards to this BB cream but I'll see if I'm up to do a real review on it. I haven't used it yet so I'm not really sure how good it will be personally. So far I tested it out on my hands and it smells really good! Kinda reminds me of Korean women who spray a little bit too much perfume when I go to the Korean malls in Ktown lol but in a good way and smells subtle. Okay that was the most fail description but trust me it smells nice.

The other thing I want to try out is the cheek and lip tint. I find it really kinda cool that they implemented that into this BB cream. Like, I wonder what compelled them to add that because none of their other BB creams are like that. So far I've tested it on my hands since I haven't washed my face yet. It does start off really gray/white-ish but it does in fact fade and blend into your actual skin tone. I think maybe the gray is intentional since this is a Korean product and most Asians tend to have yellow tone skin. But I think this is a bit 'too' gray looking. After 15-20 mins I think it's starting to blend in even more so we'll see. The real test is through taking pictures! I'm hoping flash won't make me look ghostly. It also has a bit of a sheen to it but it's semi-matte. I recommend using some powder with it if you're not into looking shiny or dewy. Otherwise from what I can tell, it seems to look very nice and natural which is exactly why I invested in BB creams.

I don't use any store bought foundations except my Rimmel liquid foundation and a Cover Girl one I used to use a long time ago. My main foundation has always been BARE MINERALS. The thing with my skin is that it's really weird and complex. I swear my skin is like bipolar. Sometimes it's super dry and other times it's gets really oily. Although I have noticed that my skin only gets super oily when I eat something kinda oily. Otherwise it's usually just dry around my mouth and nose. I don't really break out unless I'm on my period or I ate like a bar of chocolate lol so my skin is fairly smooth. I don't like department store foundations either because they tend to be very heavy on my face. I could only stand to use Bare Minerals because it was very light make-up. And although some people might think that's a blessing, I just hate that my skin is so weird. I'm glad I've never needed acne control or anything like that but I wish my face made up it's mind about being oily or dry. Most foundations I've used have made my skin flaky or oil up. So when I heard about BB creams, I had to try it. Since it's not REALLY a foundation, I figured it might be what I'm looking for: something light but has a coverage and can deal with my combo skin.

Anyway, this weekend I'm going to Vegas and I expect to take lots of pictures this time! Since Saturday we'll be around the strip the entire day, I'll get to test out some of my make-up products to see how long they last. The true test to any beauty product is the long term effect after all.

Until then, have a great weekend everyone~!

+Lo+

Pretty&Cute package + Quick review on FAIRY DROPS CANDY BAR BB CREAM

2012-02-18T22:34:00.000-08:00

Okay so I gave in to all the beauty blogs out there and ordered from Pretty&Cute.com
I was actually kinda skeptical at first since I'm skeptical of small online shops in general but I have nothing but good things to say about P&C!

First of all, shipping was extremely fast! I ordered less than a week ago and got my package today. :P
But that might be because I'm in California and the seller is from Oregon. Who knows.
They also have a lot of good Japanese and Korean products that you don't see anywhere else.
As with anything foreign in the US, of course the price is going to be a bit more than what you'd
pay if you were actually in the respected countries. But doing my calculations, you probably spend anywhere
between 1-5 USD's more than the retail price. So it's not too bad! Shipping is free over $50.

I mainly ordered from there because I wanted to try out the infamous FAIRY DROPS: CANDY BAR BB CREAM which is a Japanese BB cream. Since there's been a lot of hype about Korean BB creams I thought I'd give this one a try. I mostly was interested in the fact that it didn't go on grey like most of the Korean bb creams out there. And I liked the sponge applicator because I can take it around and touch up if I need to or go over to people's places without the mess of bringing my brushes with me.

Here's what I ordered. The BB cream and 2 contact lens cases. The lens cases are sooo cute! And they were like $3.50 USD each!

This one is shaped like a bear! The hello kitty one comes with contact tweezers, the case, and a little solution bottle for on the go.

I like the packaging on the fairy drops :3

This BB cream comes in two colors: Ochre (it's pronounced 'OH-KUR' btw. Not "OH-KRA" lol. That would be a vegetable...lol) and Light Ochre. If you read Eki's blog she uses Light Ochre. But to be honest, I think Ochre is the best choice of color for most Asian girls living in the states. Unless Light Ochre is not that much lighter, because I have pretty light skin. I mean, not pale, but I'm pretty 'light' in terms of most foundation I use. But Ochre actually matched my skin perfectly. Perhaps if you're a pale Asian girl I would recommend Light Ochre. If you're CAUCASIAN though, I'd have to say stay away from this BB cream. Why? Most of the Korean BB creams are grey in color but as you've probably read about before, the grey fades after a few minutes and blends in with your true skin color, which is why BB creams don't really have a specific color variation. That's the cool thing about it. THIS BB cream however is more 'yellow' in color and therefore if you have more of a 'blue undertone' (your skin tends to be more RED than YELLOW) I would'nt recommend this BB cream because the yellow may not blend in well but it's worth a try. Also the price would limit for me to recommend it in general.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT IT: The sponge applicator may be a hit or miss to some but I absolutely love it! It blends in my make-up really well without streaks. I also used it to blend in the sample BB cream of HOT PINK that P&C sent me and it works really well.
- Goes on smoothly, blends really well into my skin tone.
- Does not feel dry nor oily. One of the best foundations I've used on my stubborn skin!
- Almost looks as if I'm not wearing any foundation! Coverage is not heavy but at the same time covers my blemishes really well.

WHAT I HATE ABOUT IT: First of all, it's $40 if you order it from P&C. I haven't really seen any other retailer sell this item but the packaging says that it's ¥2,730 which is actually equal to $35USD! So the website is only really making $5 profit off of it but the actual item is pretty expensive as is. You might think, well it's foundation. Department store foundation is around that price. Yeah but this is REALLY small. Like, I think in 25 uses I'd use the entire tube easily.
- Expensive
- Small

I don't want to sound too redundant since there are a lot of blogs and videos about this product, but something you should note is that there's actually 35grams of product in this which equals to about 1.2 ounces. Okay if you know how tiny an ounce is you'll realize that's actually not very much at all. So I'd definitely think twice before getting it. Considering that most of the Skin79 Korean BB creams come in 40grams of product per container and cost half as much on Amazon, I'd say this BB cream is a total rip off! But it does work extremely well for me so....woe is me. -__-; My skin thinks it's some high class rich child. Sigh...

In conclusion, this is a great Japanese BB cream for those with more warm undertones. It blends extremely well and does not feel sticky or too drying. It's a good combination for most skin types. Even though it's costly, if you have trouble finding the perfect foundation or BB cream, I'd definitely give this one a try if you want to invest in it.

Until next time~

+Lo+

Jumping over the moon: My journey as a fatass ugly duckling

2012-02-16T13:19:00.000-08:00

Living in Los Angeles and going to school in North Hollywood has definitely made me a bit self conscious about the way I look at myself. I mean, it's hard to ignore yourself when you're constantly surrounded by glamorous people right? Even my own friends are gorgeous and can fit right in with the Hollywood fabulous bodies. Which leaves me to feel like shit that I can never be that pretty or that thin without surgery or something.

Now, I know that this is going to sound like another pity story about self image and women, but it's really more than that. This is more like--my journey and how I cope with it.

If you look at the above images again you'll see the typical Hollywood face. Flawless faces, beautiful eyes, blonde hair, perfect body, and in Bom's case, the perfect legs. *___* And sometimes you just have to ask yourself or anyone else; what's it all worth really?

What is all this beauty and fitness really worth? Potential love? Potential friends? Feeling secure and wanted? Or is it really just the self satisfaction one gets from looking 'good'? Whatever the reasons are, most of us don't put on make-up and buy expensive clothes just because we're trying to satisfy ourselves. A lot of times we can tell yourselves that but you know it's not true. Because if you were the only person left on this earth, would you spend all your money on your clothes and make-up? Doubt it. There is no one to look at you. There is no one to share your fashion or beauty with. In other words, we doll up to make an appearance for others to see and judge us accordingly.

I have never been thin in my entire life. I was a fat baby (a cute baby but fat) and I was a borderline obese kid in middle school-high school. I was never liked by any guys. I was made fun of for being fat and being Asian since I lived in a dominantly white neighborhood in Virginia. I started getting a bit more popular in high school but it was mainly from mutual friends and meeting new people and partying. I realized then that I can't win people over with my looks but I can win people over with my humor. So all my life, I tried to be the funny person. The clown.

Are you ready for this?

Yeah. This is me in 10th grade. I'm totally serious. And yes, I am wearing that green shirt inside out. I also started cutting my hair around this time and had no idea what I was doing. There was nothing fab about this photo or about me in general back then.

I've come a long way since then. LOL. But to be honest, it's not like I shed 100lbs or anything. I lost a little bit of weight but not even that much since then. Weight wise I think I'm around the same maybe 10 or 15lbs thinner. But it was my face that changed and the way that I styled myself. I think with age, most people get better looking in general. I was definitely in my awkward teenage phase around this time.

Needless to say, most teenagers are not very fashion forward. Most teenagers and pre-teens do not know how to do make-up. And back then, there was no Michelle Phan or make-up guru we could easily turn to on youtube. We had to figure out shit by ourselves or watch our moms do it. And back then, I didn't even wear make-up because it was too complicated. It just amazes me at how much I have learned over these last few years. But what amazes me more is how I survived in a world where I'm surrounded constantly by beautiful and thin friends. I sometimes wonder to myself even now, are they my friends because they are genuine? Or do they just want me as the 'fugly' friend that makes them look 100x's better.

I got into a fight with my close friend a while back and I retorted at her, "You probably just want to hang out with me because you're pretty and thin! I probably just make you feel better!!" And she like, broke down and cried. LOL I thought at first it was because she was guilty of it but then she was like, "How could you think that way about me?" And I know that isn't the case but she's so fucking pretty and thin sometimes I wonder why she wants to hang out with me all the time. She has tons of friends. So why me? You know....kinda suspicious if you ask me. And she's like WHITE BLONDE LA girl. Okay. What do you want from me gurl!
And mind you this all happened less than 6 months ago. And you're probably thinking, "Okay retard. You're not even that bad...."

I hate taking body shots. Which is why
there are rarely any photos of me full body.

You have to understand though, that being over weight all my life and not feeling that beautiful has forever scarred me a bit. I am always humble about the way I look because I can't stand to call myself pretty. Yeah I think sometimes I look prettier than usual with good make-up and even sometimes when I'm STARVING I look skinnier than usual but for the most part, that image of my insecurity has always gotten to me. And it's never going to go away because I'm never going to look the way I want without surgery or losing 100lbs. And I would never do surgery, not because I think it's wrong, but because I'm a wuss. LOL.

Anyway, so beauty is a very subjective topic so it's hard to really judge anything based on what our perception of 'beauty' really is, but it's always been a pretty touchy thing for me. And I can't take compliments about my looks AT ALL. Hella awkward. To this day, when Patrick says I look pretty or whatever, I'm like...."DUH FUK ARE YOU ON."

The problem with me is that diets have never worked for me. EVER. I just love food too much and I lack self control. But let me just tell you, I am not one of those fat girls who claim, "I eat just normal! Skinny bitches eat worse than I do! It's not my fault they were born with skinny genes!" And sometimes you know what, I sympathize with them because people actually do have different body types based off genetics. You hear that fat haters? SOME GIRLS ARE FAT BECAUSE THEY ARE GENETICALLY FAT LIKE THEIR MOM OR DAD. It's true. Okay, so maybe you can help yourself be skinny as you get older and get out of that stereotype but STILL. Some girls were literally born thin and grew up thin like their moms and dads so you know what....I'm not even going to go there. Just STFU about your fat facts. I hate when I read bloggers talking about, "WAH....GENETICS IS NOT AN EXCUSE. YOURE FAT BECAUSE YOURE LAZY AND EAT TOO MUCH." Like, I seriously want to smack every dumb bitch who claims this. Do you even know anything about fat and genetics? You realize that your childhood, how your parents fed you as an infant, how you grew up, these things all factor in. If you're a fat kid at age 10, that's your parents fault honestly. And no 10yr old is going to make her or himself go on a diet. So yeah. Really dumb for you guys to say shit like that. Genetics and background totally matter. Don't be ignorant. That is all.

But yes, I am not one of those girls claiming it's genetics though. My parents were actually pretty thin. My dad was like 6ft tall and pretty fit most of this life. My mom is 5'4 and she's also been pretty physically normal. Both my brother and I are on the 'hefty' side and have been relatively most of our lives. And I hate to say this but my mom is primarily to blame for this for seriously OVER FEEDING us as kids. I'm not mad though. Every single over fed meal was delicious. I'm fat because I eat like a horse. I seriously do. Grade A fatassery starts RIGHT HERE.

And I'm not one of those people who CLAIM they eat ALOT because they can eat an entire hamburger with fries and maybe dessert too. I mean like, I used to eat 3 McChickens and shit. 1 was never enough. I'm not exaggerating about any of this. If you're really weak-minded about gross fatty shit, then you might not want to read this. I would eat like buckets of fries and double cheeseburgers at like 12am. I would order a large stuffed crust pizza from Pizza Hut and eat the entire thing by myself. IN ONE SITTING. WHILE WATCHING FRINGE.....I'm not really sure how I survived. I was almost sure I had diabetes. lol. But I don't.....somehow.

To be honest, senior year and first year of college, I was at my lowest weight as an adult which was like 140lbs. And I'm 5'7 so I was like tall and somewhat thin. 140lbs may seem like a lot still, but I was pretty 'toned'. I was a lot more active back then and I picked up dancing so I was like 'fit' and had muscle. Now not so much.......

I knew the first thing I had to change was the way I ate. I'm not even sure how I was that thin when I ate THAT MUCH. I pretty much concluded I must have hyper metabolism because I'd eat like my mouth was a black hole. In fact, a lot of times I would get that comment from people like, "Where the F does all that food go?!" And honestly, I had no clue. I think I pooped really well then. WHO KNOWS. All I know is that since then, my metabolism has dropped significantly and I gain really easily. I blame it on age.

So now since I'm much older, I try to be food conscious a little bit. (Says the girl who just ate like 3 days worth of french fries over the weekend....) I feel like healthy food is delicious now and that I can live without greasy hamburjers. Yes, burjers. (I used to think it was pronounced like that. /derp)
But it's STILL so hard to diet. I just fucking HATE limiting myself to think. I HATE IT. I know...no self control. BITE ME. No really....I'm trying hard to not succumb to food but cmon, food is like the single greatest thing in life. Unless it bites you in the ass and gives you food poisoning in which case will make you probably hate food for a little while. I got food poisoning in the summer for a week. I dropped 10lbs in 3 days. I also thought I was going to die. Yeah, and even though that happened I still eat and eat and eat. WTF IS WRONG WITH ME.

I am not at the liberty of stating my current weight (mainly because I have no fucking clue) but I got rid of my scale. I think my scale makes me depressed so I only weigh myself if I have to at the doctors or if I get curious at the mall bathrooms where they have that 25cent weight thing. But being thin just seems like it will never be in reach and quite frankly, I just don't care anymore. When I found out that I had really good blood pressure, stable, normal, no diabetes, no high cholesterol, I felt like, you know what, if I'm healthy I should be happy and that's that. My last doctor's visit told me that I was 'over weight' and my doctor is Korean so I was kinda like....he's going to think I'm like morbidly obese in Asian terms. But he just kinda laughed and was like, "You just need to be more active. Eat healthy. Your weight will drop easily. But beyond that, you are a healthy girl." And that made me feel really good about myself. So what if I'm "over weight"? Now at least I know that it has nothing to do with being healthy. If I lose weight, it will be for vanity reasons. And that's most of us.

So I will ask this again, what's it all worth?

I have a boyfriend. He loves me whether I'm fat or thin. He loves me for me. My friends are my friends for me not my looks. So why does it matter? Because I want to feel pretty. I want to look pretty and have clothes fit me nicely. And that's that. The greatest challenge of loving your image is convincing yourself that if you don't lose weight, you won't LOSE anything either. If your life is fine the way it is, you're not going to lose anything if you stay fat or over-weight unless you are unhealthy. It took a lot for me to convince myself that vanity isn't everything and people claim that being a beautiful looking person will get you more things in life, but again, it's all for vain reasons. Blind people do not base anything off of their own looks or anyone elses because they can't see it. Even though they can't see, they can still be happy. Because they know better than any person with sight that looks mean nothing. What we see is just a stimulation of our brains. Without our sight, we'd have no perception of 'beauty'. I sometimes envy the blind.

What makes me feel better about my image is not my boyfriend or not anything. It was just me accepting me for who I am. I still bitch about my physical flaws but I know that it means nothing. The only way I'll be satisfied with the way I look is if I actually achieve that physical goal. But until then, I can at least be happy with the way I am. Maybe it's just because I have a strong personality to begin with, but I think everyone can overcome their insecurities and self image if they just stop focusing on everything vain and focus more on the things in life that make you happy. If you're not a happy person at all, then yeah, maybe losing a lot of weight will help you feel better. But generally speaking, if you have a lot to be thankful for, then vanity is really not that big of a deal. I like make-up because I think of it more like a hobby than a necessity. I spend a lot of money on expensive makeup that I rarely use. I am comfortable going out in public with absolutely no make-up on. Do I think I look horrific? Hell yeah I do. But the difference is that even though I acknowledge that I may look bad, I just don't care if anyone else thinks I look bad. And really I think that's the only way people can get over being afraid of their looks. If you want to be vain, be vain because it truly makes you feel better. Once it's all about YOU, then you can go out in this world and show people how fabulous you are.

I leave you guys with this attractive photo of myself.

Pink hair and Jax

2012-02-16T12:04:00.000-08:00

So I recently dyed my hair pink. It faded now and my hair is completely blonde again :/ but I wish there were permanent pink dyes!! The color was just so damn pretty. *___* But at $10 for a one time use that only lasts like less than a week.....it was not worth it. I loved the color it showed on my hair though. The one good thing about all the shit I went through with my blonde hair is that colors saturate very very well on my head .--. I have the most platinum blonde of blonde hair I've ever seen on Asians and I tried to rid as much yellow as possible so if you are trying to go colors, definitely get your hair ashy light blonde first!

LOLOL he's like, "i hate u bitch"

He looks so angry...LOL. He's not though. He's just trying to be cool.

Nothing lasts forever

2012-02-15T23:39:00.000-08:00

My Parents.

I found this picture of my mom and dad from their mid-20’s. This was a picture they took on their Honeymoon. I never ask my mom about it because it’s become a bit ‘taboo’ to speak of my father in my family, but sometimes I just wonder how she must be feeling. My mom goes on each day as if nothing bothers her anymore but she was married to this man for more than 20yrs, only to be deceived by his trust. I wonder if she thinks about it every day but chooses to conceal it. And to think, I was so upset about breaking up with my ex for 8 months. Then I sympathized with friends who have been with their significant other for four years—six years—eight years, and I couldn’t even fathom what they must be going through. Now imagine twenty years of being with someone and having them just disappear from your life in an instant. Imagine how that would feel. I can comprehend how my mom must be feeling deep inside, so I try to be understanding to her even though she bugs the shit out of me. I can’t help but want be empathetic to my mother but beyond that, it just makes me question over and over again how someone can just let go of a person they have been with that long, so easily. Have they no remorse? Have they no heart? Do they feel nothing for this person anymore? I wonder if my father would be upset if my mom had died. I just wonder….because I don’t understand it.

When I look at their photographs from the past, I can’t help but sense such joy and love. I wonder, what made all that fade away? Perhaps in time the truth reveals, that we are simply not meant to feel the same way forever.

Maybe I’ve been naively perceiving love as something that can last forever. But I guess in a greater truth…….nothing lasts forever.

Hadanomy Collegen mist

2012-02-10T17:58:00.000-08:00

Went to LT today and saw this super cute bottle of Hadanomy mist!! I was actually looking for a facial mist since I haven't been wearing any foundation (I actually ran out loll). My skin tends to freak out though and get super dry during the day, even though at night it's oily as hell. =___= Curse you skin.

I read about this product from a few blogs so I wanted to try it out.
I think it's perfect that they made this super cute smaller bottle because I wanted to try it out instead of paying $12 for a product I'd never use. Plus it's limited edition and super cute! I'll let you know if it actually does anything. I'm very BIG against gimmicky beauty products, especially the ones from foreign countries like Japan or Korea. I know a lot of gyaru bloggers tend to rave about japanese products but honestly, I know a lot of them tend to be bullshit. Just because it's from JAPAN does not mean it's actually better than an American product. But I'm sure for Asian skin, a lot of Japanese and Korean products DO work. That's because over there, they research skin care on Asians exclusively whereas America does skin care research based off a statistic of 'average' people, which includes any kind of race. So hopefully this DOES something.

My DSLR lens is still acting up :(( so I took these on my cellcam.

Shibuya street fashion

2012-02-07T18:01:00.000-08:00

Just some pictures of real street fashion in Shibuya, Japan! These pictures are NOT mine. You can find them all on FLICKR.

I love the blue plaid skirt here! Compliments her blonde hair really well.

Seoul - The leggings remind me of something 2NE1 would wear keke

Regarding street fashion, my favorite brand is probably CocoLuLu. It's
definitely my kind of style, this urban kinda look. Loving the shoes and belt here.

Girlfriend on the right has some nice ass legs lol. But I'm really digging the accents on
the girls on the left's outfit. I looove gold chains and stars! Loving her outfit.

The colorful styles of CoLu again

I love how laid back her outfit looks.

Want that Mickey shirt!

Love her top! Purple goes so well with black and stripes are even better :)

Sweet looking girl! I like the bubbly look of her style. The candy necklace, the polka dot bracelet and star earrings
all compliment her sweet look so nicely!

Cute and messy hairstyle

Looove that jacket! Again with the chains.

Remote design

2012-02-03T16:34:00.000-08:00

For my Design and Research class, we're learning about information graphics. One of the projects we have for next week is to design a conventional remote controller. I had some crazy ideas at first but I wanted the remote to be practical but have the design of a more modern look. Of course being the minimalism queen that I am, I went with this simple rounded edged rectangle look. I know some people think that minimalism is really just a fancy way of saying, "easy designs" but it's actually the contrary. Minimalism is about simplistic designs yes, with geometrical shapes and clean lines, but it's a lot more than just that. Minimalism is a popular design aesthetic in Japan, which is why a lot of the sell phones there are the standard clamshell rectangular designs. The trick with minimalistic design is all about placement. Every detail is aligned and has a purpose. The purpose in this case is to be conventional but stylish.

Here we have a very basic remote control with as little buttons as possible. I wanted to implement a little key finder with it since everyone knows how easy it is to lose the remote control to the couch or ground somehow. I got this idea from when I was working at Brookstone. They sold a little car key finder. There are two sensors at the top of the remote on the far right side. The lefter one is just a standard light that lights up when you're pressing any button. The righter one blinks when you press the button on your remote finder. No there is no front facing camera. I wanted to but then I thought it would look too much like a Japanese cell phone. lol

I haven't designed the 3D version yet but I probably have to eventually. I don't even know how to do 3D well in Illustrator so that will certainly be a challenge. ;__;

+Lo+

League of Legends: Addressing the haters out there......

2012-01-28T16:11:00.001-08:00

[EDIT] So apparently, this article has made it to a couple of gaming forums where people are questioning once again, the validity of a "female gamer". I purposely made this post VERY simple and 'girl' friendly because as I said in the beginning, my blog appeals more to females than males so of COURSE I'm trying to write this post more appealing to females. Do you really expect me to speak in "gamer" talk to someone who has never been exposed to the game? And to those who were saying, "its people like this that make LoL not fun for the rest of us." GROW THE FUCK UP. You think everyone plays video games to adhere to a hardcore mentality? League of Legends does not REVOLVE around you asshole. Some people like to game casually. Who are you to say whether someone should or shouldn't play seriously? There are more casual League players than there are people who have some "tournament" mentality so seriously, get off your high horse. In any case, I'm not claiming to be some "great" female league of legends player, but I know what I'm talking about. I actually watch the TOP player streams (CLG, EPIK, SOLOMID, etc.) and have learned from those players. So don't even act as if I'm 'ignorant' about the game. And even if I am, so what? I can't like the game? GTFO.

If you want a GAMER's debate on the game, you can check out my tumblr post HERE. I talk about the IEM Kiev finals with TSM vs M5. Oh and if you don't even know what I'm talking about or who these people are, then you are a fucking noob and shouldn't be one to talk. *rolls eyes*. Again, this blog post here was for the intended purposes of appealing to people who don't know anything about League of Legends, so before you assume that I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about, maybe you should redirect your assumptions at yourself because clearly, you don't fucking know me. Geez, at least ASK
Here's another post regarding DOMINION that I wrote on my tumblr. And yes, I am level 30. I'm not a high level 30 though. But I at least play the game. And if you're really that curious to see my match history,

I don't have any history of Normal games because I just started replaying League again last night. (didn't have the game because I play on a Macbook and the Sejuani update fucked up the mac client.) Yes, I do play Summoner's Rift. (The custom games were ARAB, all random, all bot) With that said, if you want to see the original post I made regarding all of this, it's under the cut link below. But just goes to show, sometimes these 'gamers' sometimes really just have NO LIFE. Need to not worry about what some simple girl on a blogger had to say about something she enjoys just to make yourself seem like something higher than you are. Focus on being a better player yourself because I have a hunch a lot of these people actually are quite TERRIBLE at League of Legends by their lack of true information. GG bitches.

Okay okay, it's time to finally write about something I've been really into lately.....

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS

I know I've mentioned it a couple times in different posts but I've been wanting to blog about it more elaborately and explain the game to people (or girls!) who have never played it before but may be into or interested in video games.

Okay, so I'm going to try to explain the game in the simplest way possible, without sounding retarded.

TRY, is the keyword here.

If you're actually interested in the gameplay, you can read this article HERE. It tells you all the basics you need to know. To be honest, it's really not too hard to pick up. I mean, I'm not a hardcore gamer. To be honest, I love video games but I don't play them very often. But the tutorials in the beginning of the game really help and it's really easy to pick up. HOWEVER, it does take some skill to be actually GOOD at the game. And once you get into it, there is ALOT of information to take in.

But I think that's why I really like this game.

It's not just about one character or trying to kill off all your enemies. It's about working as a team and using your knowledge to win a game.

So basically,
LoL is an MMO, which stands for Massive Multiplayer Online. MMO's are all about PvP which simply means, "PLAYER vs PLAYER". Meaning, unlike RPG's which are games about just your character interacting with a pre-made world and computer characters in that world, MMO's are all about playing AGAINST other real human players online. Hence, it does take skill and practice to be good at the game because you are up against other players who play well or play differently. Kind of like fighting games, but this is totally different.

There are A SHIT ton of characters to choose from. I think around 80+.

So in League, you are called a "Summoner" and your characters are called "CHAMPIONS". You basically choose one champion, who has their own set of 4 skills and has their own class as well. 'Class' means each champion has a specific ROLE. An example would be LUX, who is the witch looking girl posted above. She is considered a "ranged caster" or a MAGE. Then there is the other girl above her, IRELIA. She's considered a "melee assassin". And each of these champions play an important role when setting up the game. You fight in a team of five other champions against five other champions. The point of the game is to destroy the enemy team's NEXUS, which is basically, their BASE.

Think of it like, advanced Stratego. Or any other game that requires you to destroy an enemy team's base in order to win.

(Shen, the ninja assassin / tank)

What I really like about League of Legends is the multiple different champions you can play. It makes the game versatile in many ways. Even though it's the same map, with the same rules, the game doesn't get boring because there are so many different team match ups that each game is a little bit different. And there are so many different elements that go into each champion, you find yourself constantly learning new things to make yourself a better player.

For example, your champions don't just go into a fight with nothing in hand. Another crucial part of the game's knowledge is building items for your character. Items are extremely important because they can either make or break a game. Depending on what you build on your champion, you can completely wipe out the enemy team or get eaten alive by them. So in other words, you have to build SMART. Every item has it's reasons and there are alot of items available so you'll find yourself quick to try and learn about each item.
Knowing what the enemy champion is building will make all the difference in the world.
For instance, if the enemy champion has mainly MAGIC damage, then you want to build an item that gives you MAGIC RESISTANCE. Pretty logical if you think about it.

And there's alot that goes into the game, as I said, but it's also not too hard to pick up.
LoL is the fastest growing MMO at the moment and has quickly turned into a competitive game. There are actual championships and world wide events that take place for League of Legends. The last one was held in Korea and I think the grand prize was like $10,000 or something! *__* That's $2,000 per person on the winning team!! Pretty big deal I think.

Anyway, if any of the readers here are interested in starting the game, don't hesitate to ask! I'm always interested in playing with new people, even though I have a hard time playing with my other friends already =___=. But it'll be nice to get other people into it. It's really nothing more than a little hobby but it's really fun! :D I don't think you have to be all that competitive unless you are REALLY serious about getting into the game. To be honest, I can be competitive but I mostly just play because it's fun. I mean, no duh. If it wasn't fun, why would anyone play it? haha. Point is, if you want to start, I can help you get started!

YES, it's totally free to play. But you have to buy the champions. (Meaning, all the champions are "LOCKED" until you unlock them either through points you gain while playing the game, or you can buy Riot Points to buy champions as well, but that requires REAL money.) Or, if you're like me, you can use real money to buy champion alternative 'skins' aka COSTUMES. Some are really cute okay!

For example, this is RIVEN. She's one of my favorite champions right now (a melee fighter) and this is her DEFAULT look.

ORRR.......
You can use money to buy her a skin, like SO...

Redeemed Riven! SO much more badass looking right???/ Okay, I'm a nerd for spending money on a game. Leave me alone. >__> YOURE JUST JEALOUS.

Okay, I'm done talking about this now.

Let me know if you have any questions / want to know more about the game, or save me the trouble and go to the website. :P jk jk

Annual Report | S q u a r e - E n i x

2012-01-26T09:26:00.000-08:00

Doing my first annual report for my advanced design class.
And we get to choose any big company we want!!!
At first I wanted to do Jamba Juice or MGM Grand International but then I thought, I think I’d really enjoy it if I did it on something I really would be interested in throughout the entire quarter, so I chose Square Enix!!!

So far, this is what I’m going with.

front cover

back cover

The concept is to reflect Square-Enix’s professional outlook with clean, minimalistic design, but with added color and iconic artwork to enhance the ‘fun’ side of what the company stands for.

In terms of production, I’m going for a matte stock paper cover with the artwork in either metallic or spot varnish finishing.

Lo 101: FANTASY EFFECT, PHOTO EDIT TUTORIAL

2012-01-21T06:06:00.000-08:00

I've had a couple people ask me to do tutorials of PHOTOSHOPPING pictures. I'm actually terrible at executing tutorials of any kind.....but I'll try my best to break it down as easily and as elaborately as possible.

I do photoshop a lot of my pictures but more than just for vanity reasons, most of the time, I just don't capture or have the lighting I want and the colors turn out way off if I'm not using my DSLR. Especially webcam or cellphone quality photos, they tend to need a lot of editing to look "nice". One of the reasons I started photoshopping my pictures was because I have the world's shittiest lighting in my room and every time I wanted to take a nice picture of myself, I find that the image comes out rather blah looking. Sure, I think I LOOK nice, but when the picture in general looks so bad, I just can't even stand looking at it. So it's safe to say, I deleted a lot of pictures of myself off of my photo booth program. The lighting makes everything look green and dark and it just wasn't worth it. But then I started experimenting with photoshop on my own shitty quality pictures and found, they can actually turn out quite well! In a lot of ways, it's like salvaging bad photographs. I do a lot of photoshop work as a graphic design student, but doing it on my own face is definitely new.

There's no "easy" way to make a bad picture look GOOD. There are quite a few steps to make your picture look much better, but if you have basic PS knowledge, you can follow these steps to some of the basics of editing your photographs.

For the purpose of this tutorial, I'll do the theme of the edit on something specific -- I'll call this "FANTASY EFFECT".

We're going to take THIS (the lighting is "okay" here because I used my mini vanity light)

And turn it into THIS

I know you might be thinking, "But that's wayyyyyy fake! Why would you do that??" Well the purpose is to show you how much you can really do in just a few minutes to drastically change a photograph. A lot of bloggers tend to photoshop their faces for the purpose of their banner or something of that sort. It's boring to see a regular old photograph of someone's face as a banner, so as a way to look more aesthetically appealing and unique, something as dramatic as this ps edit might be what most people are going for.

So if you're ready, LETS BEGIN!

So open up your image in PHOTOSHOP. First thing you need to do is SAVE AS and rename it so that you still have your original, unedited copy.

The very first step after you save is COLOR changing. Fantasy photos and games have a very specific kind of "aura". There's a lot of soft colors and lots of blue and yellow tones.

Go into IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS > CHANNEL MIXER.
Channel mixer is where you can change the overall color tone of your image.

In Channel Mixer, you're going to want to play around with your OUTPUT CHANNELS to create a more BLUE and YELLOW tone to your photograph. Below you can see my inputs but ignore it. It really depends on what your image originally looks like. Since my image was pretty yellowy, I only really had to change the BLUE output channel and throw more blue into it. I won't go into details but Channel Mixer is definitely something you need to experiment with in order to really understand it's usage.

The next step is to go into IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS > LEVELS.
Levels is where you can change the 'level' or amount of light, color that is in your image.
Experiment with this so that your image is slightly lighter and softer.

Now it's time to tune up the colors a bit. Go into IMAGE > ADJUSTMENT > COLOR BALANCE.
Color Balance is your place for color tune-up. Shadows let's you change the overall dark spots in your image. Midtones change the color tone of your image in it's entirety. For example, my wig is PINK and it won't change the color of the wig, but it will change the color of the 'light' that hits the wig. You can tell the subtle difference from the picture right above this one. See how there's more of a "blue" tint hitting the wig? That's what midtones does.
Highlights changes the tint of the brightest parts of the image. (i.e. opposite of Shadows)

After messing with the colors, it's time to make the image a little more "fantasy" looking. Go to FILTERS > BLUR > GAUSSIAN BLUR. The point of blurring your image is to make the graininess and dots go away on your picture, making the image look softer. In the case of human skin, we do this to make the skin look 'flawless'.
I usually keep the radius at 3.5-4.5. Any more and your blur will be too much for skin.

Then go to EDIT > FADE BLUR. You'll see a box like this below. Click on the MODE drop down menu and you should select SCREEN. Screen will always make your images really super soft and bright. So since it's too bright at 100%, bring it down to about 50% or however you think is good. Again, experiment on your own image.

We're going to hit GAUSSIAN BLUR again and edit like we did previously. This time, we're going to hit the MULTIPLY mode. Multiply is kinda how it sounds, it's like fusing two of your images together so your images tend to be a bit dark and gloomy.

Since we don't want it to be too dark, again fade to about 50% or however you think will look good on your image.
Notice how my image looks darker but the lighting is still soft? This makes the skin look more flawless at the same time, the image doesn't look too bright or too fake.

Next, go to IMAGE > ADJUSTMENT > BRIGHTNESS / CONTRAST.
Brightness makes the over all image brighter. Contrast makes the over all image have bolder and sharper edges. We're going to be subtle here and raise the brightness just a tad bit, so that the face looks more white. Contrast helps the image not to look too 'washed out'.

Next we're going to go into my favorite part; or what we like to call, "AIRBRUSHING".
Well, it's pretty much airbrushing.
So go into FILTER > LIQUIFY.
Liquify is how fat girls like to make themselves look skinny. Or in my case, this is the reason why I don't need to 'diet'. Like, ever. I know. I'm disgustingly deceiving like that. LOLL

Anyway, so if you've never used this tool before, I recommend looking it up online. I don't want this tutorial to be TOO elaborate, since I'm no expert. So I'll just say, stick with the bloat tool and the pinch tool (if you click on the image, it will show you the tools on the left side better) These are the only tools you'll need anyway. You can change the brush size to fit your image but basically what we want to do here is pinch things you think are too big, like my nose for instance. A couple clicks should do the trick. The bloat tool is to make things bigger, like my eyes. Be subtle though. Too much will make you look way too fake, which ruins the purpose. I use the pinch tool to make my face look a bit slimmer as well. Just experiment with this, it's not too hard to get down.

Next up we're going to manipulate my dark ass eyes into something a bit more "fantasy" appropriate. Since I'm not wearing contacts, I made my job a bit difficult. But if you have contacts, you can probably just skip this step. I decided to include it though since people sometimes ask me what contacts I'm wearing in pictures I am NOT wearing contacts in. keke
Here's the secret......

First step is to make a copy of the image. (right click the layer of your image on the layer side bar)
Then, taking your DODGE tool (on the left side as you can see) Make the radius of your pointer small so that it's about as big as your pupil, and slowly click around your eyes to make them appear much brighter and lighter.
(I'm using Midtone range) (Tip: Click the image to see full size and details)

Then you're going to take the round elipse tool and circle it around your eyes the best you can. CTRL + C and then immediately, CTRL + V (aka, Copy, Paste) or if you have Mac like me, obv. Command instead of CTRL.

Now you have eyeball layers to work with so that it's separate from your over all image.

Merge the two eye ball layers into one and rename it "EYES" or whatever.

Okay once you have your eye layer, you can now go into IMAGE > ADJUSTMENT > HUE / SATURATION to change your eye color. Hue changes the color of your image. I'd say keep playing around with the hue slider until you get a 'green' ish color or whatever you prefer.

Take your eraser took and start shaping the eyes to the rest of the image. Be careful with this part.

Select your eyes layer and you should see a drop down menu next to the opacity box in your layers panel. Select LIGHTEN. This should now make your eyes look a bit realistic.

Also made a PUPILS layer since my pupils got too washed out during the process of editing. Simply make a new layer on top of the eyes layer and using the brush tool, choose black foreground color and stamp two pupil dots to where your pupils are. Notice the difference? Use your opacity tool on the layers panel to bring it down a bit so the brush is softened.

Add the final touches by carefully erasing around the edges, blurring the edges to make them appear softer and less 'placed on' your face.

Now let's go back to the over all image. Go into IMAGE > ADJUSTMENT > VIBRANCE.
This is a subtle tweak so that the colors don't look TOO bold.

Next we're going to go back to the GAUSSIAN BLUR again. Again fade it except this time, on SOFT LIGHT mode. Again fade so it's around 40-60% of the blur. Soft Light makes your image brighter and give the edges a soft touch.

Go to IMAGE > ADJUSTMENT > CURVES.
Curves is where you can change the variation of light and color in your image.
I used it very subtly here, but if your image is WAYY off in color, curves can usually help put color restoration in your picture. Again, this is an excellent tool to play with.

Once again, I'll go back to the COLOR BALANCE tool to change up the colors to how I like it. I'm very anal when it comes to my colors, so if you're like me, you'll find yourself going back to this tool quite a bit when editing.

Next up we're going to give the image it's final touches. You're almost done!

Make a background copy of your image or a duplicate layer if you're using layers.

Go to FILTERS > RENDER > LENS FLARE.

This is AWESOME for artificial lighting since I have close to none.....I edited my own artificial lighting! Trust me, it makes a big difference in your composition. Lighting makes things 10x's more dramatic than it really is.

Wait, so if it's artificial lighting....and I'm photoshopping it. Does that makes it Fake, fake lighting??

o_O

And VOILA! You're now a Final Fantasy character. :3

Like I said, a lot of people do this kind of thing to make little designs for their personal sites or blogs. Stamp some words on there and you got yourself a full on blog banner! Easy peasy.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! For any questions, feel free to leave me a comment. :)

+Lo+

Gamer Talk: League of Legends

2012-01-20T15:57:00.000-08:00

Okay okay, it's time to finally write about something I've been really into lately.....

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS

I know I've mentioned it a couple times in different posts but I've been wanting to blog about it more elaborately and explain the game to people (or girls!) who have never played it before but may be into or interested in video games.

For example, this is RIVEN. She's one of my favorite champions right now (a melee fighter) and this is her DEFAULT look.

ORRR.......
You can use money to buy her a skin, like SO...

PARK BOM look version 2.0

2012-01-20T04:02:00.001-08:00

I finally got my wig in the mail today! HOORAY! Shipped from HK, so it took a little while to ship but it took roughly 2 weeks or so, which isn't that bad. Now the only thing I'm missing are my circle lens which I ordered from EyeCandyLens.com.
As a disclaimer, I know that ECL is a website a lot of bloggers have been talking about, but I also think that a lot of the bloggers that order from them need to inform people from the U.S. (especially because most of those bloggers ARE from the U.S.) how long the shipping takes. Because maybe it's just me but I get extremely impatient and antsy when shipping for a small business online takes too long. I always feel like I'm never going to get it or something. But anyway, I say this because I ordered the contacts about 3 weeks ago and they still haven't come. I know they are also shipping from HK but still......
I realize a lot of the bloggers who use ECL are actually sponsored by them, so they get the lenses for free. So I guess it's not much to complain about. But I paid $25 for a pair of circle lenses. I want to make sure they come and come soon! Anyway......

Since I got the wig, I got way too excited and decided to just try the wig on and do make-up for it. Unfortunately, my DSLR is being wonky and I think I might've broken the lens :(( so until it's fixed, my laptop camera will have to suffice. I know, I know, the quality sucks, but it's better than nothing right?

Two things you should note is that I obviously am not wearing the circle lens so it does make a big difference....and also the other BIG DIFFERENCE is that I'm not wearing any double eyelid glue or sticker. Bom takes WAYY too much eye make-up for the glue or sticker to hold up, so yeah. I know this 'look' is purely for fun and I don't expect to look identical to her, but still....I'm pretty OCD about things like this. I want to try and look as SIMILAR as possible to whatever I'm replicating. So I'm kinda sad I don't have the contacts, but meh! It was still cool wearing the wig! LOL

Reference photos of Park Bom of 2NE1.

KAY BYE!

+Lo+

GD&TOP - "뻑이가요" (Knock-out) screen caps

2012-01-16T21:06:00.000-08:00

2NE1 - "Clap Your Hands" 박수 쳐 Screen Caps

2012-01-16T20:48:00.000-08:00

I had a couple of screen caps saved on my computer and I forgot to post them! Just found them now while looking for some stuff on my folders, so here ya gooo~

Make-up station!

2012-01-14T15:30:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd like to share my make-up area. It's not much but at least it's organized! loll I bought the clear container at Target as well as the white 3 tier drawer thing. Pretty nifty yo! Target has these little sale thingys for $1! I bought the heart shaped basket for 1 buck at Target! teehee

The mirror from Costco, which Patrick bought me :3 since before that I was using the big mirror on my closet to do my makeup :( . The drawers have all my compacts, eye shadow palettes, and powders. The top has my brushes and I bought the brush container at some Japanese store in Little Tokyo. Behind my make-up tray are my face wipes and in the pink basket is my lotions, make-up remover, fix+, and other misc.

I've also been experimenting with different eye shadow looks. Glitter!! I'll do a tutorial of this super simple glittery eye lash look later! Stay tuned.

The concept of Infinity, Space, and God.

2012-01-11T22:10:00.000-08:00

One of the most intriguing things to me in life is the concept of "infinity". I've always wondered what that meant.

What exactly is "infinity" and how can it be fully described?

Well, it can't be described. But we have an 'idea'.

Scientists for years now have tried to come up with an explanation for this concept, but the concept of infinity is exactly what it is; just a concept. It's intriguing because it's something that the human brain cannot perceive as solid information and the reason for that is because human beings have an existence that starts with a beginning and ends with death. We ourselves are not immortal, therefore, 'infinity' is something we cannot process in our minds. We don't know what infinity is. We like to use the word "forever" to describe a lasting feeling or memory, but we don't know if forever even exists.

When someone says, "I'll love you forever", beyond the thought behind the words, is it actually possible to "love forever"? If forever means that it's never ending, how can we perceive that if we ourselves are not forever? So is it to say that our love dies when we die?

To make the topic a bit more interesting (and daring...) let's throw in the belief of God. God is also a "concept" that people cannot truly define. Every religion has their sources. Christians have the Bible. And for every source there is a bit of definition to what God is but there is never really a clear definition. Again, the notion of there being a divine being is not something everyone can accept because it's something beyond our human comprehension. So religions came up with another concept, called "faith". Through faith, there is hope in believing something where science cannot provide an answer for.

Now let's put two and two together. As human beings, we like to believe that we can love someone for eternity, only because we believe that each person has a soul. And in in belief, the soul lasts for eternity. Christians believe that God is an entity that is not a person, but in fact a definition in itself; the definition of love. So if God is love, then love can in fact be eternal. Because the idea of 'God' is that he has no beginning and no end and that again, he is an entity--something that just 'is' and just exists. Christians therefore believe that the definition of love exists only through God because we need love in order for the world to continue existing. But how can something have no beginning and no end? Again, this is the whole concept of "infinity". It is not impossible but it is not something the human brain can comprehend because our existence has a beginning and an end. But love is also something we cannot fully comprehend. It's set off by our brains but we dont all love the same things. So if love is just a concept in itself that most of us believe in, perhaps God is not so hard to believe in either. I'll revisit this idea again later on.

Let's jump to the scientific facts. What do we know about space and infinity? And is space infinite?

Many research studies theorize that "infinity" is simply defined as "whatever the mind cannot measure". So for example, let's say that you're 6 years old and your mom hands you a ruler that measures up to 12inches. At that moment in time, you think that 12 inches is the most you can 'measure' because that's how long the ruler is. Even though we know that a desk is longer than 12inches, we perceive 'measuring' to be capped at 12inches because of the ruler. So how do we measure the desk with only 12inches? With sense, you realize that you can measure up to 12in with the ruler, mark the desk at the 12in line, then measure again beyond the mark and keep doing this repeatedly until you measure the entire length of the desk. We then begin to rationalize that 12inches is not the most we can measure something, but that 12 inches is the most that the ruler will measure at one time. So scientists believe that "infinity" can be defined as what our mind has the capacity of knowing from information that doesn't necessarily have to have a beginning and an end, and that our mind is a ruler in itself. We can calculate things without physically measuring it as long as we have information. If you know that there are 20 tiles in your shower wall that span across and each square tile is 4in in length, you can conclude that the shower is about 6.7 ft long in length. But we cannot measure what we don't have information for. So something is simply 'infinite' when we do not know of it's capacity or measurements. In that retrospect, we can perceive the ocean to be infinite if we have not traveled the ocean and back to see how long it is.

We can assume that space is "infinite" because we will never know, at least in our lifetime, how vast space really is. Meaning, if we were to travel in space to see how long it would take to reach the 'end', there wouldn't be enough 'time' to actually be able to figure out how big the universe is. It would take billions of years to travel through space to begin with, which is why it's even difficult to just figure out if there is life on other galaxies. Facts are that yes, there are multiple galaxies, just like the Milky Way, except we don't know what is upon those galaxies. Those galaxies may just be clusters of random burning stars, but are we to believe that out of all the billions of galaxies, our solar system is the only one that exists with human life? Science can conclude that indeed, we are not the only galaxy in space, but we simply would not have enough time to travel to these distant galaxies to actually prove that other life exists or another solar system exists beyond our own.

Who knows, maybe space is in fact capped at some point, and that nothing is actually infinite or what we think is infinite. But again, we'll never know. People often question the concept of 'time' along with space because the two go hand in hand. Is time infinite? If space is infinite, we incur that time must also be infinite, because if there is no end to space, time will always have a place. In other words, think of it this way: Imagine the world and imagine space. Now, imagine the world is gone and there are no people left in the world and now there is just space. There may not be any people left to record 'time' but if space is still existing, then time does too. Does that make sense? As long as space exists, time exists too. Time is also a concept that is difficult to understand so as human beings, we've made it easier to calculate and read it. We have calendars, watches, clocks, and anything that marks a 'time' frame. This is strictly a concept that only living beings need because we age and our bodies die. Time is what gives us an incentive to get things done, to live life, and to enjoy it.

What about the Big Bang Theory? Ever notice that the Big Bang theory is still...a THEORY? It's a theory for a reason. Because again, since space and time is such an alien concept to the human brain, we can only make scientific guesses and theories to what started the universe to begin with. I consider the Big Bang theory the same as the theory of Time. It gives us a possible answer, a logical answer. But the fact remains, it's still only a possibility. Again, human beings like answers. Even though our intelligence is high enough to figure out many things of this universe, there are simply some things that we fail to have an answer for. Science can only give you the most logical and practical answer to life's questions. But beyond the things that we created ourselves, its difficult to construct an answer for the things we did not create, like our own brains and emotions, love, the concept of God, infinity, space, time, aliens, and the likes. There are many theories and explanations, but never a definite answer to these questions.

Let's jump back on the topic of God. Now, I'm a Christian personally, but I'm also a very logical person. I almost went into the field of studying Philosophy over art because I found the study very interesting. Philosophy is basically a Scientists worst nightmare. Philosophy studies everything from logic to religion to everything that could or couldn't be. Basically another way to describe Philo is, "The study of theories". I mean, seriously. That's what it is. But Philosophy exists because if we didn't question things, we wouldn't understand the world or ourselves very much. And it's kind of a known thing that Philosophy and religion do not mix well. The reason for that is most Philosophy studies go against the concept of 'God' because they believe that the mind is infinite and therefore, the concept of God is actually just an idea formed of ourselves. There are a lot of articles that talk about how human beings are creatures that long to belong and therefore, the idea of God is something that gives us belonging, and that prayers and beliefs all stem from our subconscious, the deepest part of our minds and that the universe is linked with our minds. So basically it's the theory of "if you want something bad enough, YOU will make it happen." With that said, yes, I find my logic can also get the best of me and therefore, sometimes I can question whether God exists, but for the most part, I do believe in God.

I believe in God because I believe in infinity.

Space is the only thing that can be logically perceived by this world as something that can be infinite. It's like, the only REAL thing that we all know and see that can be the possible link of discovering "infinity". I say space is the only thing because everything else either is just a belief or a 'feeling', like love. I say I love my mom forever. But if I die, will I still love her? How can I love if I have no existence? Or is love a spiritual bond? Perhaps when our bodies die, our love can still exist if we died still loving someone. After all, if the love never stopped, even after death, who is to say the love stops?

If space is infinite, and infinity exists, can the mind be infinite as well? Studies show that the mind can store information from the time of birth until the day we die, even if we live to be 100yrs old. But no one lives to be 500yrs old, and even 500yrs is not living "forever", so again, we don't really know if the mind is in fact, capable of being infinite in learning and storing information because no human being lives forever. Why do you think the idea of Reincarnation exists? This concept of infinity/forever is so intriguing to human beings that something like reincarnation feels like another possible answer. But if YOU die and YOU reincarnate into someone or something else, is it still considered YOU or are you another person? I'm not even going to go into the topic ofthe self because this would turn into a book.....but I don't believe in reincarnation simply because I believe if we reincarnated, we are not truly the person we were anymore. It would defeat the purpose of having a unique soul.

The belief that there is any kind of after life is what separates the spiritual from thebody. If there is an after life, surely we must have a soul that separates us from our physical bodies. But what exactly is a 'soul'?

We perceive the soul to be something that everyone is born with and is supposed to be what gives emotion, "feelings". There are many different definitions of the soul, but again, it's not something that is definite or defined. It can only be described by what we feel. It's rather a difficult thing to try and understand as well because we can't see it or study it, but most definitely, everyone can 'feel' it. Emotions stem from the brain when we come in contact with things we like or dislike, but feelings are something that we believe is connected to the idea of a 'soul', something that goes beyond our tangible human body.

To make it a bit easier to comprehend, imagine going to the beach and watching the sun set. We are familiar with the feeling of relaxation, happiness, content, and calmness. But we believe these feelings are actually linked to 'the soul' rather than our bodies because there is nothing stimulating our bodies just by looking at a sunset except that we're visually stimulated by colors and nature. If it were simply an anatomical feeling, everyone would have the same reaction to the same things. It is a fact that human beings all have the same emotions, albeit, some less or more than others, but emotions are also stemmed from personal experience. What we try to define the soul as is the individual feeling we get from these emotions that go beyond an experience. Some people will look at a sun set and think, "That's cool. The sun is setting. I mean it's cool, but it happens every day." Yet some people see the sun setting every day and are awed by it. If the sun setting makes us feel spiritually good and isn't linked to a unique experience of any kind, we presume that to be the 'soul' that reacts to it, if that makes any sense.

The soul, love, God, infinity, space....why question any of these things? Some people say, "life is too short to be asking so many questions! Especially if we'll never find an answer." And some say, "The answer lies in yourself. You form the answer."

Actually, the latter belief is attractive to most people. It's why most people don't really think about things like this. That and probably because this kind of topic can induce mass amounts of headaches. But is it not interesting nonetheless? I mean, imagine the possibilities there are that we just don't know about. And you know, it may sound kind of pointless to think about things if we can't even 'know' about them anyway, but I think that's the beauty of it. I'm an art student so I think about the impossible all the time. Because the more you think about it, the more you realize that nothing is impossible at all. There is always a possibility. Always. And in many ways, it gives me a reason to believe in myself, the world, and God. There is a universe beyond our own that I may never know about, but I can imagine it.

There may or may not be a God, but I believe there is a divine being that created all and left things up to question so that we can always have something to discover. I just feel like there is too much amazement in this world that is beyond our knowledge to think that this all came from a giant astroid. I mean, beyond human being existence, what made space to begin with? If space is infinite, perhaps it has no beginning or end. Perhaps God is just within the space. Perhaps what we call "space" is actually the entity of God and we live inside this entity. Or perhaps space is just an entity that built it's own universe through it's unknown nature. Who knows. But what we don't know can often inspire us to learn, to create, to believe, and to live. With or without questions, there is always something to discover. And maybe some things aren't meant to be discovered but are meant to give us a purpose. Without science, we wouldn't have anything we have today: No technology, no medicine, no ways of life. But without the want to discover, there would be no science. If everything was already discovered, there would be no curiosity, no motivation, or imagination.

(images courtesy of flickr)

Jax!

2012-01-10T15:11:00.000-08:00

Here's some clearer shots of my kitty cat Jax! That little rascal......

Squirelekkuma??

2012-01-09T17:26:00.000-08:00

Went to Round 1 the other night and I seriously want this Squirrel Rilakkuma doll! ITS SO CUTE!!

Facial Cleansers + Foundation

2012-01-04T23:35:00.000-08:00

These days I hardly wear any makeup. And even if I do, it's really only foundation. I used to do a lot of heavy eye make-up back in the day because my eyes are so damn small -__- but these days, I've been letting my eyes breathe a little bit. I think it's paid off to be honest! :D I don't have the puff under my eyes anymore and that's probably because I'm not rubbing the shit out of my eyes every night taking off eye makeup. Nowadays, the only time I really put my FACE on is if I'm going to an event of some sort that differs from the ordinary. Instead, I've been directing all my attention to skin care!

I'm a total sucker for packaging by the way. I guess if you know any graphic designer friends, they'd probably tell you the same thing. We tend to buy things just because of the packaging and that's just the damn truth. But beyond packaging, I really wanted products that would work well for my unbelievably stubborn skin. And by "stubborn" I mean like, my skin is oily, dry, and sometimes combination products don't do anything for me! It's weird but combination skin products tend to either dry out my skin too much or they end up being oily anyway. What's up with that? Anyone else born with this terrible skin issue?
I think that's what got me into researching skin care products. I've been looking for ingredients more than anything, trying to see if certain ingredients are *active in making your skin oily or dry or whateverthefuq.

Anyway, I bought a couple of new products that I would like to share!

(From left to right) Rimmel primer | Rimmel liquid foundation | Aveeno skin brightening scrub | Neutrogena make-up remover and cleanser | Biore Marshmellow foam cleanser

So this is basically a primer for your foundation. It's supposed to go on smooth before you put on your foundation so that your pores are less visible and leave your foundation on your face longer.

When you squeeze the contents out, it looks a bit orangey but it actually blends into your skin so don't need to worry about. And like most primers, the feel is kinda oily and thick, but it's intended for small usage. I just dab a little bit on my fore finger and start rubbing it around areas that get red and my cheeks since my pores are visible.

The reason I got this was because I've been hearing a lot of girls use primer before foundation and it helps a lot. To be honest, I never really cared much for it because I thought my foundations lasted pretty long. I used to have a Laura Mercier mineral foundation primer and that was the only one I really liked because it was so light and actually worked really well without making my face feel oily. But that was like $35 or so. It does do the job and it's a drug store brand retailing at around $7-$10, which is not too bad if you feel like you need a little extra to make your skin feel smooth. (Sorry I don't have example pictures right now, I already washed my face lol. But when I do my Park Bom look, I'll probably use it. :)

Next is the Rimmel Match Perfection foundation.
Now, call me pricey for a poor college student, but I actually repel against drug store foundation most of the time. Like I mentioned in the beginning, I have some stubborn ass skin and I found that a lot of drug foundations are kinda cheap on my skin and therefore I've resorted to buying the more expensive stuff from Sephora or M.A.C. My main foundations right now are BareMinerals and my Smashbox picture perfect foundation. Both are pretty pricey (around $30-50) but I find that those are the ones that work for my skin without breaking me out. I have used a CoverGirl liquid foundation before and that was okay so since I'm running out of foundation, I figured I'd give the drug store foundations another try to save me money.

The color I chose was Ivory 120. I'm typical American Asian skin color, meaning I'm a warm undertone, light foundation color. Usually go for the third shade lightest from most typical American foundations. This isn't the best photograph but the foundation blends into my hand pretty nicely! Even though the lighting may seem like it's hindering from what it actually looks like, it actually blends in very well.

The 'Smart Tone' technology is supposed to promote a foundation that can eventually blend into your true skin tone. There are already foundations that promise such thing but I never really believed it. Although I have to say, this Rimmel foundation is pretty impressive so far.
The only Cons to this would be that it's a bit thick. I found the foundation rubbing off after only about 4-5 hours of wear. But if you're looking for a cheap, good looking foundation, this is not a bad option. I'd bring a powder compact if you're going to some kind of engagement though because as I said, it may wear off pretty quickly. (Then again, it was pretty hot today in L.A.)
Retails at most stores for around $10

This retails for around $7-10 at most stores.

To put it short and simply, I don't know if this is actually 'BRIGHTENING' my skin because I can't really tell to be honest.....but it does make my skin feel really supple. It does have microbeads but they aren't big. In fact they are almost not really noticeable. You can feel a little roughness when you wash your face though so you know it's there but I like it. It feels good. Some of the products with micro beads make my face feel like sandpaper so I like the subtle feeling in this one.

I do notice that my face isn't AS red when I get out of the shower but as I said, don't really know if it's actually brightening my skin. And I'm not like, pale Asian, so I'd know.

I think I'm in between like, pale Korean chicks and Californian filipino chicks. LOL. Meaning, my skin is in between being light and being Medium toned if that makes any sense at all.

Retails for around $12 at most stores.

All I can say is, it takes my make-up off and it feels nice on my face. So I'm guessing it works? lol. Now is it worth the price when there are so many other American cleansers on the market for around $5 or 6 bucks? Maybe? But again, I opt for the more expensive stuff because my skin is crazy. And I'm a believer in "you get when you paid for" so..I just tried my luck. Besides I've tried all the really cheap stuff and they usually dry my skin out to death.

I mean this kinda dries out my skin a bit too but I usually pair whatever cleanser I'm using with my Olay active hydrating lotion. It works like a mothereffing charm! Love that stuff.
;D

The last two items I bought I haven't actually tried yet, so I'll review that later. The Biore Marshmellow foam cleanser seemed interesting because it's foam and I've yet to try a foam cleanser. I know a lot of people say that foam cleansers are actually cheaper because it's just FOAM, but I heard good reviews about this product. The foam is supposed to be very thick and not like your ordinary bubbly foam. That's why it's called 'Marshmellow' lol. IDK. I'll see for myself. I got this because I'm still on the hunt for a cleanser that WON'T dry out my skin, but who knows if that will ever happen. This was only about $12 so I thought I'd give it a try. Hey, it's still cheaper than Lancome or Clinique cleansers okay.

I bought the Koji Eye talk (double eyelid glue) for the purpose of my upcoming Park Bom look. I want it to look REALLY similar, so me with my super monolids needed some help. The problem is that I've never really used eye glue or tape though so I'm kinda just like herpaderpin right now with them. I just can't seem to use it correctly! GRR. I know people say it just takes practice but it's seriously irritating. Hopefully I'll get used to it soon.

And let's face it, Japan has the best packaging ever. I mean, they can make generic bath soap look cute. So yes, I'm a huge fan of packaging in Asia but Japan tops them all. Minimal, clean, and aesthetically appealing. I need to work over there! D:

As you can see, my photos are super fancy like. I'm going to try and make it a habit to take quality photos when I'm posting pictures of anything. I have this camera I paid a grand for and most of the time it's just collecting dust! Poor guy.

Here's a bonus photo. I was trying to be artsy okay! :3

Until next time~

+Lo+

UPDATE! Wig reviews + Upcoming posts

2012-01-02T18:20:00.000-08:00

Okay, I finally ordered a RED WIG!!
I've actually been talking about it for months and months, that I'd buy a red wig to do an updated Park Bom look, but I just didn't have the money or time to really think about where to get it from. In the past I've bought wigs from wig shops, Yesstyle.com and EpicCosplay.com.

And I bought a red wig on Ebay! It's my first time purchasing a wig from ebay, so I was a bit skeptical at first, but I think judging from the feedback of the seller, I feel like it should be a good purchase. I was looking around many places, including sites I've already ordered from, but I just couldn't find the right looking wig for Park Bom. But I'd say that the wig looks pretty damn similar to her hairstyle and color.

So even though I don't really have a lot of experience buying wigs online, I figured for anyone who is interested in buying wigs for whatever reason, I can provide some reviews on the few places I've had my wig experiences with. :)

YESSTYLE.com
I'm sure a lot of people are actually familiar with Yesstyle, especially if they're Asian lol. They have a good variety of Asian fashion clothing sold by independent sellers and companies. I'd like to think of Yesstyle as being similar to URBAN OUTFITTERS here in the U.S. They don't sell their own brand of clothing, but they collaborate with third party companies to bring a nice blend of styles to choose from.
Anyway, on to the wigs.

Last year, I bought a wig from Yesstyle that looks like THIS
I paid $70 for it -__- and it took about 2 weeks to arrive. I know $70 is pretty expensive for a wig, but I think the quality was pretty good. I used the wig for a previous Park Bom look!

With Flash

You can read the full post HERE.

Without Flash

Honestly, you have to always be a little weary of Yesstyle. Because almost every product has a really cute model with multiple pictures of how cute the item will potentially look on you. But more often than not (and I say this because I've shopped from this website frequently in the past...) usually you are getting a far lesser quality item than you will think you will get from the pictures. But I think that's kind of obvious. Which is why I stopped buying from Yesstyle.

For $70, I thought the wig would be really high quality. It's made of high quality, heat resistance fiber, but I feel like the quality was still mid grade tier. I only say this because I've bought cheaper wigs from EpicCosplay and I think the quality is about the same. Maybe if this wig was about $50, it would be more acceptable, but honestly, it was too pricey. Most of the wigs on Yesstyle are over $60 so if you're considering from there because you see some really cute looking wigs (which they do!) just be weary of how good the quality is. I'm not saying that this wig quality was BAD, but I think for how much it was, you could get a better wig. Consider the fact that REMY hair wigs (aka, human hair) cost around $100-200 for pieces and up to $800+ for a full, long wig, $100 for a full head SYNTHETIC wig should be pretty good quality. But Yesstyle has really cute wigs because they cater to Asian styles and fashion. So if you really want one from there, I think you should do your research first. Check ebay top sellers who have similar style wigs. You'd be surprised. Some ebay sellers even carry the same wigs as Yesstyle (M.H.S. and Clairbeauty) so I'd check there first. Top sellers are top sellers for a reason and you are less likely to get a really shitty item if all the reviews are good.

Rating: 7.0

Pros:
- Cute Japanese and Korean style wigs
- Trendy, fashionable colors great for gyaru styles
- Good quality, heat resistant
- Hard to find style in most wig stores or websites

Cons:
- Over priced
- Takes a while to ship to the U.S. (ships from Hong Kong)
- Return policy is a bitch

EPICCOSPLAY.com
My second wigs came from EpicCosplay

Okay, excuse me because I'm lazy and don't feel like taking new pictures for the purpose of this review, so I'm using the old shitty pictures I took on my Macbook's photobooth. LOL but you get the point....

I bought 3 wigs from EpicCosplay! Originally I bought 2, the two pink ones above to the left. The first one looks like THIS.

I actually bought this for the purpose of wearing it to an Anime convention. It was supposed to be like the style of Serah Ferron, who is a really cute character from Final Fantasy 13. ---->

I wanted to get a regular dark pink wig for the purpose of doing a DIY cosplay wig. As you can see in the link of the original wig, it's really quite curly. So I cut the wig to fit Serah's shape and straightened out the front parts.

The second one was also the same color pink wig, but I bought a shorter one and styled it differently. This one was supposed to be Lightning's hair style (same game, FF13) but I fucked it up and ended up just cutting it really short and trying to make it look J-Rocker ish? lol. I like it. Even though I regret cutting it so short because the original wig was like, really long. -___- Kinda wasted my money there but it was a good experience.

And lastly, this was the third wig I bought from them. My friend Chrystal (on the left) is actually wearing my Yesstyle wig! haha! This was when we were in Vegas a few months ago. I actually ended up selling that wig to her because I wasn't wearing it anymore :( But I love this green wig! Look how pretty the curls are and how nice the color is! ^^ It looks a bit uncurled on the right side but that's because I was up all night in it. The nice thing about EpicCosplay wigs are that they are all heat resistant! So you can curl them, straighten them, just like real hair! Now that's high quality.

It's kind of hard to tell because it's not a good quality photograph, but the above photo is without flash. And as you can see, there's more shine to the Yesstyle wig that my friend is wearing than the other wigs I bought from EpicCosplay. The shine in wigs show that it's really synthetic so I think the shinier the wig, the faker it looks. The pink wigs were around $30 each and the long mermaid green wig was about $45. Which is STILL significantly cheaper than the Yesstyle wig.

Even though it's for cosplay, if you're looking for DIY wigs or cute colors to work with, I'd definitely give EpicCosplay a chance! It's not CHEAP really.... but the wigs are really quite gorgeous. I've yet to be disappointed with them.

Rating: 9.0

PROS:
- Every color you can think of!
- High quality synthetic fiber
- Heat resistant
- Lots of Anime styles
- Cute styles

CONS:
- Looks fake with flash
- Kinda pricey but you get what you paid for.

--

I know I haven't gotten the ebay wig yet, but I purposely wanted to do a separate post on it because I also wanted to include the Park Bom look in the post as well! So that's coming soon!
A long time ago, I said I'd do a look for CL from 2NE1, since I had received so much positive feedback from the Park Bom look. But again, I didn't really have the time or money to come up with a CL look, so my apologies if you were anticipating it! I'll be doing a CL look soon as well, but since I don't want to pay money for a blonde wig, I'll probably just do my roots (since I'm already blonde...) and do a look that centers on her style and makeup.

Until then,
Stay chic!

+Lo+

Meet Jax!

2011-12-23T05:14:00.000-08:00

So Patrick and I have been living together for almost a year now and we decided that a pet might be a good addition to our little family. Even though both of us are so busy these days, I think having a cat that's trained properly may be a good idea because he can keep us both company and keep us feeling stress free without needing as much attention as a dog.

We got this little guy at an animal shelter. He's about 9 months old so he's not a kitten but not yet an adult cat either. He's in his teenage years :3. But he is the most adorable little kitty. He's so chill and sweet. DAAAAHH!! HERE! TAKE ALL MY MONEY.

Yeah, so we named him Jax. We got the idea from a League of Legends champion LOL. Looks nothing like him but we thought the name was kinda cool. When we were randomly throwing out names, Jax just stuck the most so we kept it.

Right off the bat, I knew I liked Jax. When we went to the shelter, there were A LOT OF CATS......but Jax and the cat next to him stuck out the most. The hardest decision was choosing between him and the cat next to him because both of them were meowing at us and bouncing around when we walked around and they seemed playful and friendly. Polly was the other cat and she is freaking adorable. When we played with her at the shelter, she would entertain herself by playing with a toy mouse. When we took out Jax, he didn't seem AS playful as her but he was definitely a curious little kitty. We ultimately chose him because we thought a more mellow cat might be suitable for us since we're new to cats and probably would be a bit busy to make sure it doesn't break everything and go hyper all the time.

WE MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE.

It's only been two days since we brought him home, but he's just a bundle of joy that we're so lucky to have. He knew how to use the litter box right off the bat. He goes to the kitchen and eats his food and drinks his water. He's playful when he wants to be and he's a lap kitty! *___*

I don't know if cats ACTUALLY show affection like people say they do by purring and stuff, but I don't care if it's affection or if the cat is just using us. It's freaking adorable when they sit in your lap or lay on you. What I love about Jax is that he's just sucha chill cat. He's not very aggressive or temperamental. If he gets a little pissed, he just kinda paws at you and nibs your hand. But he doesn't bite too hard or try and hurt you.

And he sleeps at night time. :3:3:3

We bought him toys and a bed, but he doesn't like any of the stuff we bought him! He just sleeps anywhere and plays with socks and laser pointers. lol. Cats are so funny. At least he's not going to be too costly.

I think his favorite spot to sleep is on one of the sofa chairs in the living room. I'm guessing he likes the living room for the same reason I do; IT'S WARM.

Anyway, Jax is awesome. He's a sweet kitty! More pictures to come later!

Disneyland + Random shiets

2011-12-20T05:40:00.000-08:00

OMG. OUR DISNEYLAND ANNUAL PASSES EXPIRE THIS THURSDAY.

I feel kinda sad honestly. IDK. We didn't even do much tonight. We just walked around and ate LOL. I think we have gotten way too spoiled by our passes. But I guess this will be a good break from Disney until they get some new rides and stuff.

Tonight is probably our last night for Disney, since I have work the rest of this week and since it's Christmas next week, it's gonna be CRAAAAAAAZZZZY. I fucking hate retail btw. After this is over, I'm never working retail again.

>__>

Anyway, I was looking through my photo albums on my macbook and realized how many pictures I took of my hair with photobooth lol. I've been through so many hair changes this year alone! But mostly, I stuck with blonde. (This is actually chronological, going across.)

BTW, Patrick said he bought my birthday/xmas gift already. :O WTF????? And we live together in a small apartment so I'm like, WTF I NEED TO FIND IT. LOLOL I'm a very anti-climatic kind of person. Meaning, I don't like surprises or intense situations. I'd rather know whats going to happen and skip the climatic build up. I MUST FIND THIS DAMN GIFT. Where can it be???? But then again, I'd feel really damn bad if I actually found it LOL I think he likes that he can surprise me. I guess it's a good thing but DAMMIT, I HATE WAITING. HMPH.

Okay, I'll shut up now and just show some pictures. ;___;

Cute Alice figurine they had in the store. :3

There was a cart that sold these light up roses! So pretty!

I didn't really take many fun pictures at my last Vegas trip. But I did get some photographs of the strip in general. If you're interested, feel free to check them out HERE. :)

+ Lo +

China Glaze: Lorelei's Tiara

2011-12-15T12:48:00.000-08:00

Black leather x Lorelei's Tiara

OOOH! I'm loving all the glittery holiday nail polish colors out at Ulta right now. I bought this glittery silver polish along with a gold one and I love them both so much!

*SPAAKLE SPAAKLE*

I like that there are tiny little blue specks on this one. Makes it all the prettier in the light.

I put a black nail polish underneath because I thought Tiara would be really light in color, but it actually is really opaque and tbh, looks better without the black (I did it without black on my right hand LOL) but one shall experiment right?? :)

Shoutout to my girl Eileen (Sneakerette) for inspiring me to swatch more of my nail polishes! Keeps my nails from looking dull and me biting them. >__<

10 Handbags

2011-12-15T01:23:00.000-08:00

I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but I've never been much of a BAG person. Like, I've never really been that girl to obsess over purses because I thought they were just a hassle to carry. Plus when you hang out with a lot of guys, they expect you to hold their shit for you. =__= lol jk but really, I'm just not a purse gal. Or so I thought.....

Recently I've been going CRAZY over handbags. Of course, none of them I can really afford easily but a girl can still dream. :3 I'm actually very picky about fashion related articles now. I think at a younger time in life, you just bought anything that remotely caught your eye, but at least for me, as I got older, I started to understand my tastes a bit more. Thus, making me the most difficult girl to shop with. FYI ladies, you don't wanna shop with me. I am a terrible shopping buddy because I'll sit there for an hour contemplating on if I should buy that $60 bag or not. But if you need help finding something, I'm pretty good at that. lol

Here are top 10 handbags I have an eye for.

Balenciaga Motorcycle bag

2. MARC JACOBS SWEET PUNK

3. BURBERRY STUDDED HANDBAG

I don't keep up with the latest fashions so I wouldn't know, but I swear studs must be in right now because I'm starting to see them everywhere and I LOVE IT. Freaking hot!

4. VANS HI JINX

5. VIETA STUDDED HANDBAG

Seriously, cannot get over the studs. lol Yellow is a bit unconventional for me since I don't have a lot of clothes that would match the yellow bag (I guess except black and grey) but this color = love.

6. PAULS BOUTIQUE PADLOCK PINK

A UK brand, known for some really cute handbags!

7. KATE SPADE SORBONNE SQUARE EVANGELINE

8. COACH POPPY ROCKET PINK

9. ALEXANDER WANG COCO STUDDED

haha im still not over it.

10. CHANEL CLASSIC QUILT

I think it goes without saying. trends come and go but classics are forever.
:)

+Lo

Wishlist

2011-12-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

Hiya evarrryyyboddy! (like, 2 people who read my blog)

Anyway, hope everyone is doing well. I know I haven't updated much lately but.....meh. Same ole same ole. I just haven't had much time to blog but I promise I weeeel! And as always, if you love me so much that you want to see what interesting things I have to say while on the go, you can check out my Tumblr, which has somehow become my mobile blog. Thank you smart phone apps! :D

Anyway, I'm doing a Birthmas wishlist because I can! :D I never get like.....any of the items I post on my wishlist but hell, a girl can dream right? (Or I can save up and buy myself most of the items. :D Which is also probably not going to happen. :D)

No but seriously.....if you want to buy me a gift for my birthday, look no further. I'm serious. GET WHAT I ASK FOR ON THIS LIST. Okay????? Loveee!

Disclaimer: Some of the things on this list are completely BULLSHIT for the average person to even fathom getting, HOWEVER.......I just wanted to post it anyway because it's something I want okay! Don't judge me or expect anyone to buy me a $500 purse or whatever it is I post. Just sayin...I can have materialistic, baller dreams too!

HOLLISTER zip hoodie - $37
I told myself after high school, I'd never buy anything from Hollister again. But cmon, these are like the best colors ever and I need more color in my life! Trying to phase out of the "black/grey/white" in my wardrobe to match with my fun blonde hair! Any of the below colors would also make me happy. :3

Loungefly - Keroppi coin bag: $20
Okay, Keroppi has ALWAYS been my favorite Sanrio character. Until a couple years ago, they wrote him out for some reason, along with the rest of the OG Sanrio crew (like Pekkle and Chococat) because they had all these new fancy characters. F that! It's all about keroppi! I already have a Hello Kitty one like this but THIS.......this is the beeznees.

Karmaloop is one of my favorite shopping sites since like, three years or so ago! They used to be a really small company that offered some unique apparel, kind of like Urban Outfitters but exclusively online, and now they have fruitioned into a big streetwear company! I love all their stuff and if I had all the money in the world, I'd blow it on this website, but seriously, most of their things are so damn expensive! It's the only reason why I never became a hypebeast. It's too expensive to be one! lol

LINK* So I already have an Oakley backpack that I love dearly but this is kind of a cool looking backpack that I would like to carry more things like my laptop. My Oakley backback was like $60 and is really durable but only has one compartment so I can't carry much.

Love watches like this because they have that VINTAGE style to it but it's still stylish and looks modern. Mishka always has such cool designs!
LINK

Okay this isn't a REAL watch (read the description ^) but I soooo need this! Especially because I hate carrying around big wallets and bags most of the time. *LINK*

I'm usually not a jewelry kinda person but THIS is soooooo cute!! WANT WANT WANT! It's a locket!! LINK*

Or you can be REALLY baller and nice and buy me this Tiffany's bracelet that I've wanted since the 7th grade. :D

*sigh*

YESSTYLE is also one of my favorite places to shop online. I know most of their things are made in China so the quality isn't the best, and to be honest, their stuff isn't cheap either.....BUT some good finds are pretty nice! PLus, it's not like I can find these things so easily since I live in America. It's nice to have some different gear than most people. A lot of people think that Yesstyle might be a scam website because it's an Asian online shop but it's very legit. There are literally TONS of reviews on them all over the internet, you just have to google it. But most of the items DO take a while to ship since they all ship from their Hong Kong warehouse. I remember my first order literally almost took a whole MONTH to send but I ordered like 7 items. Turns out that they don't ship your items until EVERY item comes to their warehouse first. So if they don't have your ordered item in stock, it will take a while since they'll have to get it directly from the manufacturer of that item. But yeah, most of their clothes I've liked so far so it's really about how GOOD of quality you think their photos represent. Also, most of their clothes are typical Asian sizes "one size" so that kinda sucks. But unless it's totally form fitting to the petite models they show, most of their clothes SHOULD fit the small to average sized girls.

Okay that's all for now.
I'll ad on to this when I have timu. :3

HAPPY SHOPPING EVERYONE!

+Lo+

UPDATE!

2011-11-19T01:43:00.000-08:00

Paris hotel in Las Vegas

OMG. I went to Paris last weekend!!

JK.

Like wtf. Who would believe that??? Who goes to Europe for a weekend? I'm not that baller......

Anyways, I have a lot of posts that are pending but as I had stated in my last update, with school, projects, and work, I haven't had much time for any blogging. :( Which is sad because I love blogging! But soon, I shall be back.

Also I caught a cold and I've been feeling like shit. Seriously people, STAY HOME IF YOU'RE SICK. Excuse yourself from school or learn to DRESS properly and cover yourself. Excuse yourself from work....or do the same. Don't talk to people directly and tell them that you're sick!! It's rude and disgusting to know that your classmates and co-workers are coughing up a storm and are all around you. And if you're a customer, STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME.

In fact, I'm pretty sure a customer was sick. He was coughing and sounded sick and was talking to me for quite a while. I kinda knew he was sick but ignored it anyway because I'm supposed to be friendly with the customers -_-. ROAR.

Anyway, shall update soon! I'm still not sure if I have a constant theme for my blog but for now, I like my randomosity. :)

+Lo+

2011-11-07T15:02:00.000-08:00

Hay gaizz

Haven't had much time to update anything lately but a lot has been going on in my life. I guess it's a good thing though.

So I found out my school schedule for next quarter (which starts January 9th) is pretty damn chill. I have class 2 days a week and have only 9 credits. I'm kinda happy for that to be honest because I just recently got a part time job! I work at Brookstone as a sales associate. It's a little higher than a minimum wage paying job but I don't get too many hours in any case. Which I'm totally okay with to be honest. I just wanted a job that would get me SOME kind of income. Even if it's just a little, a job is a job. I work pretty much all weekend starting from Thursday to Sunday. Yesterday was my first day and to be honest, I was a little bit nervous. I haven't worked a retail job in a long ass time so it was definitely a little weird coming back. But the job is super chill and my co-workers so far are really chill too. So far I'm liking it. :3

This weekend I'm going to Vegas! I think we're leaving Thursday? or maybe Friday, I'm not sure yet. But I'm excited to be going to Vegas during fall season when it's cooler than in the summer. Last time we went to Vegas, it was hot as HELL. If you guys know Vegas weather.....it's like the desert there so it gets super hot in the summer. Vegas is one of my favorite places to go in the U.S. because it's sucha unique and fun place to chillax at. Sometimes I love being over 21. xD

Anyway, I don't have much to update about. Sozzy. I'm boring okay. But here is a song I really like that just recently released by DUMBFOUNDEAD.

stay good kids :3

+Lo+

2011-10-31T16:25:00.000-07:00

-^___^-
Happy Halloween everyone! :D

Dancing in the neon lights

2011-10-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

Decided to brush up on my PhotoManip skills since I've been getting kinda rusty with Photoshop in general.

I'm proud to say that I've been using FAR less of pre-made brushes than my last projects. In fact, I can't say I'm too proud enough to show any of my other previous PhotoManip works than the ones I've already uploaded. They just look so bad in my eyes. I kept this one simple for the sake of learning how to utilize plain brushes and the pen tool to make the composition interesting without pre-made brushes.

I'm still learning but I stand by what I said when I said that this is still my favorite form of design so far. I think sometimes your favorite thing to do when it comes to an art form is the thing you teach yourself. It's more of a challenge and if you really like the end result, it's definitely going to stick with you for a long time.

+Lo+

Razer Tron mouse

2011-10-25T15:33:00.000-07:00

Patrick snagged the Tron mice from WOOT.com for $30! WOOOOT!

Anyway...this would be my second Razer mouse. One thing I really like about Razer mice besides the designs is that the packaging is also really cool and well done. So I thought I'd snap a few to show off the package design of this cool little mouse. :3

:)

+Lo+

New flowers!

2011-10-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

So I was sad that my sunflowers died and this morning I woke up to find these new guys! What a thoughtful bf right?? ^__^ I hope I don't kill these ones too. D:

2011-10-14T06:26:00.000-07:00

Wassssap world!

So school is pretty much already kicking my ass and still no job yet. But you know what, have faith peoples. Life will be peaches soon. I hope!! >___<

One random day I woke up to find these super cute sunflowers in my room! ^^ My boyfriend knows my favorite flower is the sunflower so he just decided to buy me some. Isn't that cute??? I never get flowers. I mean, I'm not much of a flower person but sometimes these sentimental things are just really sweet and get to me. Anyway, I'm super sad that these sunflowers have already died T__T I mean, I changed their water and everything but they started dying today. Made me pretty damn sad. But I'll forever remember Sunny D the first. :D Yeah, I named the biggest of the bunch Sunny D. I need a cat or something.....

Went to Disneyland the other night for an exclusive PASS HOLDERS ONLY invite to see the Disney sensational parade revamped!! Pretty cool mang to see Disney after hours. Anyway, didn't do much to be honest but I took a couple of pictures just because.

Check out this window display! I love it. It's very Halloweeny. :D I love Halloween decorations! Fall is the best because my favorite colors on furniture and decorations (strangely enough..) is blacks, oranges, and yellows! Halloween all day, er'day. lols.

+Lo+

Update: I'm not dead!

2011-10-09T06:52:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in a while. I haven't abandoned you my sweet little blog! >o< I've just been playing a lot of League of Legends and have been trying to get my mind around the fact that I started school again.

MY SCHEDULE IS RETARDED.

*sigh* I really hate taking the train to school. Not because it's not nice but because it's such a BITCH to get to and from school. It's like a 2 hour commute going to school and another 2 hours coming back. RAHHH! Not that I think a car would help that much. God knows theres a lot of traffic in the morning and I live fairly far away to begin with. It's about a 40-60 commute by car without traffic, so yeah, I live far regardless. BUT STILL. Makes me waste a good 4 hours of my day just going back and forth. Wah wah wah.

I have four classes this quarter. I ended up waking up late on Wednesday and didn't actually go to my fourth class. OOOPS :3 My bad. But it's cool because I have the same professor on Tuesday that I do on Wed. and he's pretty kewl. Still, I was actually kind of interested in that class because I had no idea what it was about but it sounded way better than my other three classes. Sad isn't it? Oh well. Gotta make the best of this school year. After all, I decided to go back and I have to own up to my responsibilities. I hate being a grown up.

The job thing is still pending. I haven't applied to very many places yet but to be honest, I haven't had the chance to really look around yet. I'll put that in my list of things to do for next week. I know I'll procrastinate on it but financially for now, I'll be okay. I don't want to depend on my boyfriend to help me with money situation but I'll be okay with what I have so far. The transportation and school supplies is really the only financial things that I'll need (+bank +phone bill) but it's nothing I can't really handle. I'll just have to be really frugal with money for a while, until I find a job. Hey, it's almost been a YEAR since I last went shopping for clothes. I think I can vouch for myself and say that I'm fine with being 'frugal' with money. It's probably better anyway that I don't have too much money because I know that with a steady income, I'd probably blow a lot of money on stupid shit I want to buy. Can't afford to do that at this point in life.

Anyway, other than school and other common situations in life, everything else is pie. I'm sure as the quarter progresses, I'll be backed up on a lot of projects and assignments but I'm doing my best not to take it too easy. We'll see how that mentality holds up. :B As for my relationship, we've almost hit our 1 year mark! Wow. Time sure does fly. I never thought I could be in a relationship with someone for THAT long. Not because I was that kinda girl or anything......but just because, I tend to be a very FICKLE person. I thought I'd be really bad at sustaining a relationship with a guy but Patrick is definitely different. And we are definitely two of a kind. lol. It's hard to explain but, it's like our relationship has gotten BETTER than when it first started. I think that's funny because usually relationships start off all roses and glitter and then it gets kinda dull. NOPE! Not for us! It's like the reverse! It's like, in the beginning it was nice but I felt like I was not really ALL OF ME to this person which made me feel like, we're just kind of in it to be in it. But now I feel like, there is no one I could feel more comfortable around. It's really nice. :) So yes. Things in the lovers lane are peachy.

And really my life doesn't get more interesting than that. lol Sadly, not much goes on in my social life either but hey, I like the laid back lifestyle. Besides, I've been playing a really fun game called LEAGUE OF LEGENDS. The funny thing is, i remember someone I used to be friends with introduced me to this game. He tried so hard to get me to play but at the time, it had just come out and I thought it wasn't really anything special so I deleted it and never gave it a real change. That was more than a year ago. Now I play with my boyfriend and our circle of friends and it's pretty damn fun. I'll give this one a good 6 months or so before I get tired of it lol. I think this is the first game I've been genuinely addicted to since Left4Dead2, soooo yeah. That's a good thing? I guess. Hobbies are good things right? :D You know, when someone you know is really into something and can spend countless hours on that one thing, but you don't have that 'one thing' so you don't really get how they can spend that much time on it?? Yeah, well, that is no longer me! Because I have LoL baby!! lol. It's actually pretty fun. I recommend people play it so I have more friends to play with.

Okay I'm going to stop typing before I start writing a memoir of my life! I can't help it if I type fast okay......I'd like to think I can type ALMOST as fast as I can speak. Well....if I were speaking a bit slower than I normally do. :)

I apologize if this is a lot of words but NO PICTURE. :O How dare I only post text without images?! Nobody cares about text!! jk. Here's a delicious picture of Half&Half boba. It's like the best damn thing since......BOBA!

+Lo+

Quick post: Cheap brushes at Target!

2011-09-29T01:28:00.000-07:00

WADDAP YALL!

Okay, so this is a quick post but I just wanted to post something I bought today!

I went to Target and bought an eyeliner because I ran out. I really like this Rimmel liner because the top of the pencil has a smudge brush AND a sharpener built in! Pretty cool shiz! Anyway....

Also I found these e.l.f. brand brushes for like.........INSANELY CHEAP!! Cosmetic brushes range anywhere from $5-$40!! And even the cheap ones are pretty pricey, especially for big brushes, but these are super cheap. I'm talking like, $1-$3 cheap.

Ionly bought three because I wanted to test them out first. The reason it's so cheap is because they obviously use a very synthetic material for the hairs and sometimes it can irritate your face or cause breakouts. So I wanted to see how it would work on my skin since I tend to have sensitive skin.
I've been needing a FAN brush and a flat top brush forever! The small one is just a concealer brush for those small spots I like to conceal.

The two large brushes are $3 each and the smaller eye shadow brushes are $1. That's insanely cheap for a cosmetic brush! Synthetic, quality, or not. There's a lot of cheaply made brushes that are well over $10 so it's worth a try at least. :)

+Lo+

2NE1: Wardrobe!

2011-09-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

Season 3 episode 13 of 2NE1 TV, goes backstage before the girl's first concert NOLZA. CL gives us a peek behind the fashion that is 2NE1!!

Kwon Ji Young [aka G-Dragon] looks stylish himself no? You can see a lot of his fashion influence from Pharrell Williams and M-Flo's "Verbal". And behind him, more 2NE1 wardrobe!

+Lo+

2NE1 - 아파 (It Hurts) SCREEN CAPS

2011-09-27T02:42:00.000-07:00

Just in time for October! The fall season is here and that means Halloween is coming up soon. :} Here are some screen caps from 2NE1's MV for "It Hurts". I know the song came out a year ago but it's never too late for some 2NE1 right? ;) Besides, I really love the set design they used for this video. It's very "fall" like and the colors are beautiful! I especially love Bom's green hair. <3

Music Post: F.O.M. (Fav's of the Month)

2011-09-25T00:29:00.000-07:00

WASSSAP WORLD!!??

Anyway.....

I feel like I need to post some music up since that's a big aspect of my life and this blog and I feel like I haven't promoted more of it.

These days I have so much music to go through it's not even funny. But I've been listening to popular and underground music alike and I've already started compiling my new playlist of favs. Here's a couple I'll share! [In case you don't know already, my music taste is VERY VERY eclectic. I listen to a wide variety of genre's so expect to find anything and everything in this list. :P ]

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GD&TOP - 집에 가지마 (Don't Go Home)
I'm seriously addicted to this song! I love GD & TOP!

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Sunset Daze - Selfish
A mellow, lounge house track.

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Samantha James - Breathe In You
Album: Rise

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Amy Winehouse - Just Friends
jazzy/mellow/blues/r&b
Album: Back To Black

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freeTEMPO - Prelude
a nice, disco house sound with piano riffs

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Koda Kumi - Love Across The Ocean [Caramel Pod Remix]
Album: Driving Hits 2 (fast paced electro music, perfect for driving!)

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Chieko Kinbara - Mystery Girl [Feat. Byron Stingly]
Soulful house accompanied by the wonderful sounds of violin~

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Funky DL - Danger [feat. Dukus Alemay]
Jazzy hip hop

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Specifics - Look Alive
One of my favorite Hip Hop groups, Specifics. Jazzy Hip Hop

That's it for now. Enjoy!

+Lo+

L.A. County Fair

2011-09-24T03:48:00.000-07:00

WASSSAPPPP!

Okay, so I just went to my first fair tonight!! WOOOO! The L.A. County fair to be exact. It was HUUUUUUUUGE!! I was not expecting it to be that big. I thought it would be like, a little animal farm or something with some food here and there. Boy was I wrong! *__*

Anyway, I'm tired so I shall bid the night well with some nicely edited photos.

We were making fun of a South Park episode (Faith +1) because the sky looked so magnificent and it just seemed like a "spiritual" moment. Don't ask.

The one of many MANY MANY MANY food stands.

......
SHUT UP.
It was delicious! lol

My crazy and amazing friends -Chrystal who was taking the picture.

Me and Patrick

This was an inside joke. My friend Chrystal is a vegetarian so her holding the Turkey leg was quite shocking.

Not sure what I was trying to do here....

Patrick and Anthonuuu :)

HAHAHAHAHA. I don't know why but this picture makes me laugh.

<3

+Lo+

World Of StarCraft...2: My story

2011-09-23T17:38:00.000-07:00

Omg....could it be? Could I be finally starting my quest into the world of Starcraft????

NOOOO.......

-Rewind to 1999-

So more than a decade ago, I was introduced to this game called STARCRAFT. Back when it came out, it was pretty much every gamer's mission to go to the local game shop and pick up a copy of this famed PC game. I even remember going with my cousin in Florida to pick up a copy. And then I proceeded to watch my cousin play the game for about 9 hours straight. Back then I had no idea what was going on in the game and I wasn't even interested in it remotely because the graphics looked scary and the characters were ugly. Don't judge me okay. I was into Super Mario and Barbie games!

Forward to a few years later, my cousins in California were also into the game. Go figure. It didn't help the fact that in Korea, Starcraft became a sport. I mean, seriously. Even I remember the fandom that surrounded pro SC player, SlayerS_`BoxeR`. Not only was he an excellent top player, he was good looking and had a groupie. A GROUPIE!! And he plays video games for a living!! In America, it was still kinda frowned upon to be a video game champ. It was mostly due to the stereotype that gamers were lazy, had no life, and were not very social. As true as that may be, one thing was for certain, gamers were definitely not stupid and SC players especially, definitely needed to use their noggin to strategize and use smart tactics to outwit another player.

So it's safe to say that I've been exposed to the game from the getgo. But I never engaged in the game myself. I did play Brood War a bit in high school just for fun because my guy friends played it, but I never got good enough to even play with real players. I just stuck to playing Ai's until I could beat them and well.....that failed miserably. Long story short, Starcraft has always been a part of my gaming life, but I never got into it because......

BECAUSE.........I HAVE TERRIBLE MICRO/MACRO SKILLS.

I'm just not a strategic gamer. I like games that require you to shoot a shitload of people or zombies. That's just the kind of gamer I am. And as much as I think SC is intriguing and interesting, I felt like I was never good enough to actually play the game FOR REAL.

In present day, I've been watching a few SC commentators on youtube, mainly Husky, HDStarcraft, and my absolute favorite, the infamous DAY[9].

This video cracks me up every single time I watch it. Mainly because I would probably react the exact same way. FUCK BUGS.

Anyway, watching Day9 videos with my friends and my boyfriend, I've really learned a lot about the game. Even though I don't play it, it's still really interesting to watch people play. As Day says himself, "Starcraft is like the modern day CHESS." And it really is. SC isn't just a game with the objective to kill the opponent. It's a game that requires skill and precision in order to make the best out of each gameplay. The thing I love most about hearing about Starcraft is that so much mechanic goes into the game. If you're remotely familiar with board games like Stratego or Settlers, you'll know that it requires some thinking in order to win. So making sure that you know how to micro manage your team is extremely important in the game of Starcraft. The game is all about tactics. Your opponent and you could be using the exact same race, with the exact same number of units, and the exact same units, and what really makes or breaks the game is how each player goes on to attack and defend. In short (if you call that short..) there's alot that goes into this game and I think that's what keeps it as one of the top video games in the history of video games.

Anyway, the point of me talking about this in the first place is because I wanted to start playing. Like, foreal. God knows if I actually will do that since I'll be having a busier schedule this upcoming month and beyond, but I definitely want to pick it up as a hobby. I don't think I'll ever have the smarts to become very good at the game but I definitely think it's fun to play. And it is fun to play. Even as a total noob player, who could barely beat even the CPU's, the game is very fun to play if you get into it.

So to all my gamers out there, feel free to play with me and teach this noob a thing or two about how it's done! With the aid of my video sensei, DAY[9], I think it'll be really fun to get into and try and get good at it.

battlenet account: LORAEMON

GD: Upcoming projects!

2011-09-18T19:51:00.000-07:00

Hey ya'lls. WASSAP WASSAP!

Anyway......

So we've moved in, got furniture, and all is good in the Stanley/Lee house! (apt..whatever :)
More on that later.....

But I really wanted to take a brief moment to talk about something I've been wanting to do. I think that if I share it with the public, it'll pressure me to do it more lol.

So I've been feeling kind of down and out lately when it comes to my passion. Sometimes I question my graphic design choice and if I'm really fit to work with GD for the rest of my life. I guess the big picture is that I feel unmotivated. So what do I do? Well for starters, I feel like I just need to stop being lazy and start doing some projects that I have been holding off for a long time.

One of the projects I've been wanting to do for a while was something I called, "ETERNAL_SEBA". It was basically a graphical related project on the subject of Japanese DJ and music producer, SEBA JUN aka NUJABES. He passed away last February and I've been wanting to do some GD related art with him in it as a way to tribute him and to have something to work with that I know I'll be interested in. The hardest part as always though, is getting started.

Not to make an excuse for myself, but things have been rather hectic lately. With moving around and figuring out what to do with working and school, I haven't had much of a mindset to delve into my artistic side. But now that we're settled in, school is in motion, all I really need to do is worry about a job and everything else is everyday life. Nothing should be holding me back anymore. I need this to get back into the groove for school, otherwise I'll be burned out again too easily.

So for the next few GD related posts (and I don't mean "G-DRAGON"lol) I'm going to present to you two projects!!

ETERNAL_SEBA: Tributing and exploring the mind of producer Seba Jun, on a musical journey, as each track of his will inspire a new piece of design.

FOREVER_2NE1: A fun filled inspiration of colors, music, and eccentricity to produce graphics based on the four badass girls of Korea's 2NE1 group.

The two subjects I love the most of course! bahahaha.

Anyway, I hope to keep these projects going and most importantly, START ON THEM ASAP!!

Inspiration comes in many forms but the best way to stay inspired is to stay interested.
What better way than to pick a subject you really like!

Wish me luck guys!

+Lo+

Update! Blog changes, moving, & LIFE.

2011-09-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

WASSAP!!!

Guess what everybody?! I'M MOVING! :D AGAIN. FOR THE 20th time.

:D

:D

:D

FUCK!!!

Okay, let's ignore my sarcastic smiley faces for a moment because I actually hate moving. I HATE MOVING. I have moved 20 times in my entire life, just from what I remember!! Crazy or what?? Don't even ask.....It was my dad was wanted to move all over the place all the time. Even if I wanted to know what the deal was, I can't even ask him now. All I know is that he had issues. I'm starting to wonder if he was a fugitive or something. Wouldn't be surprised. Maybe he just liked change or something. Maybe he was fickle. That would explain why I'm fickle.....but seriously, 20 times? And I'm 23. That's like moving every year of my life. WHAT.THE.FUCK.

I've moved around from Florida to Virginia to California and probably the most times I've moved is in California. It mainly had to do with the fact that when I started college, I was having trouble finding a place. My first year alone, I moved around THREE times in Koreatown! It was crazy. But that's life.

Anyway, so I'm packing all my stuff up here in Irvine and we're moving to Upland tomorrow. The funny thing is, I've lived in Upland before when I was in high school. I guess I don't stray too far from my surroundings though lol. Who knew my boyfriend would go to Claremont, which is right next to Upland, which is where I graduated. Small small world.

So things are going to be hectic for a while. Our main concern right now is that we won't have a fridge......possibly not until a week or two from now. Yikes. I know right? But a fridge is expensive and we don't have the man power to get one yet. I'm leaving this one up to my boy. He'll figure something out. Anyway, that means we'll be eating out a lot but we still have to be really frugal with money. And when we move back and we're settled, we have to start eating healthy too. Hopefully we can do this right without compromising our health too much.
We won't have any furniture either lol. In fact, we won't even have a bed! >__< We'll have to sleep on the floor until the weekend rolls around so his dad can bring my futon from his house. So until then, we'll have to be a little uncomfortable. We won't even have internet. But I'll be out the entire weekend for my friend's birthday at Disneyland so I won't have to endure it for too long. LOL Aww....poor Patrick. But he'll be fine. :)

Also, I've been reading old blog entries from my livejournal and I really miss how detailed I was about my blog posts. Nowadays I realize I'm trying to be a bit 'trendy' and write about relevant things like, fashion, beauty, etc. When in reality though, it's really not my thing to talk about those kinds of things. So I'm going to back to writing more about my life and whatnot. It's not really exciting or anything, but it's not like my blog is much more exciting now anyway! lol. I'll still post about the things I've been posting about no doubt, but I definitely want to blog more personally. I find it to be very therapeutic. And I miss blogging like that.

School starts in 3 weeks. Am I nervous? Not really. Do I anticipate it? Kinda sorta. Am I excited for it? HELL NO.

I'm not excited at all to go back to school. I anticipate it only because I'll be busy and have something to do on top of finding a job. I want to occupy all of my time so that I can make up for the three hellishly long months I've been doing nothing but gaining weight and sitting on my ass, waking up at 2pm every day. So yeah, ready to get bussyy. I know, everyone says that I'm taking my free time for granted and that once I become busy, I'll want nothing more than to be free again. NO SHIT. It's not like I've never worked before. I've juggled school and work before and worked full time and went to school full time before, I know the feeling. But I like that better than being TOO free with nothing to do. At least then, I can APPRECIATE my free time. Not feel like I'm melting in my own lard. Okay that sounded gross. You get the point.

Anyway, that's my update on life as of now. Oh yeah, I almost got food poisoning again........WHAT THE FUCK BODY?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU????

I swear, I'm turning into an old lady. Maybe it just means I need to eat fucking healthy and stop being a fatass. But God knows, I'll never learn.

Hope everyone is having a lovely week. Thanks to all those who read my blog! I see ya ;)

+Lo+

Dyed: Chocolat Cherry (dark red)

2011-09-07T15:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, are you guys ready???? I am about to camera whore out this post. LOL Honestly, I am in love with this color! But I'm sad because I know it's going to fade :/ I do miss my blonde though. But knowing how L'oreal dyes work, this will probably fade out to a light, strawberry blonde in about 4 weeks. I really love this color though!

(I promise you I'm not narcissistic. Not all the time anyway.)

Don't make fun of me. My eyes can be big too! >__>

With flash

And then random pics of me being ugly & retarded because I feel more
natural taking these kinds of pics than trying to look pretty or normal lol.

YAY FOR PRETTY HAIR!

/camerawhoring

Just because......I fucking love 2NE1.

2011-09-06T01:24:00.000-07:00

You know, I don't think I've idolized a KPOP group this much since........

..

..

..

FIN.K.L????

if you know, you know.

I mean, seriously. I don't really idolize any Asian pop artists because I'm just not that kind of person to "idolize" any celebrities, but seriously, I LOVE 2NE1. I love their music. I love their personalities. I love their style. I love their concept. There's just something not so boring about them. That's the best way I can put it.

Anyway, awesomely enough, I get really inspired by them too. I get inspired to draw or think of designs from their fashion styles. So just because I can, here are some recent photos of 2NE1. :D

This isn't "recent" but I thought it was cool. :B

ENJOYZZZ!

+Lo+