Procrastinating!

Wow the quality of this picture sucks! Anyway, I am procrastinating on my assignment that consists of reading a paper and writing a review on it and I just can't write now. This bad boy is about 20 pages long and I can't seem to concentrate, which is leading me to spend countless minutes and hours on tumblr and twitter. How do you keep from procrastinating?

Products I love vs. Products I don't

So far I have done reviews of single items that I've used or purchased this year alone. I thought it would be a great idea to just put loads of them together and just do them all out once. Its not that I don't love writing about each product but this post includes products that I'm not so eager about. I apologize in advance that I don't have personal pictures of the products I'm going to talk about. I don't have some of them anymore because I threw them away or I've used them up lol.

First one up is the Simple Soothing Facial Toner

Image taken from Google

I was looking for a good toner because my skin was breaking out until recently and I purchased this because I thought it would help. Before I buy anything I go out an read reviews about the product and how its worked or not worked on people who have used it. The reviews on this were all talking about how great it was and how it worked like a charm. As always, there is always that one person which the product doesn't work on and I take those into account as well. Since the reviews were amazing I went out and bought. I used it for over a month and I didn't really see a change in my skin. I kept getting spots and nothing really seemed to change. Guess I was one of the unfortunate buyers the product doesn't work for. One thing I didn't like a lot about this product, other than the fact that it did nothing to me, was the way it all pours out. You can definitely use up so much of that product really quickly. Bottom line, I don't love it. 

Second product I want to talk about are two Buxom Blushes/Blushers

Images taken from Google

Alright, these two were a purchase that I didn't plan or anticipate. I kind of just walked into the store and bought them. I initially went to Sephora to purchase one blusher that is made by Dior but I thought it was too expensive for the amount of product that you received. I asked for a similar color and the sales associate showed me the Buxom blushes. I had never used any Buxom products before so I was a bit uneasy making the purchase. I don't know if these were part of a special edition because I've gone back and I can't find them anymore. The blusher on the left is called Seduction. It is a very bright pink color but don't let it put you off. It is really nice once put on the skin. I would recommend this color during the winter more than the summer. The blusher on the right is called Breathless. It is a peach colored blusher and it is perfect for the summer. I would not wear it for winter just because it goes better with a tan. Both of these blushers have a matte finish so there is no shimmer or creaminess to them. Just good old powder blushers. The color is amazing so I love them! 

Third product is going to be Soap & Glory A Great Kisser Lipbalm

Image taken from Google

Let me start off that Soap & Glory is not found all over the states but there are some stores that do carry their products. I actually like Soap & Glory very much, so when I came across this little baby I bought it without really thinking it. First off, the scent of this is divine! It is peach scented, which makes it super amazing. It is not too strong of a scent but it makes you want to lick it right off your lips. I suppose that's why its called "great kisser", who doesn't want to kiss someone with amazing smelling lips? This balm is really, REALLY glossy. It could possibly be a lipgloss if it wanted to. Its a bit too sticky for my preference but I guess I could ignore that because of the scent. I wore it for a while and I didn't really see a change on my lips. I must be immune to all products that repair anything on the body, right? I would even put it on at night to prevent me from licking it right off my lips. It didn't work at all. Also, you have to be extremely careful not to let lint inside of it with your finger or anything because it is extremely hard to pick it off as the consistency is sticky. I have to say that I don't love it. Sorry, Soap & Glory *sad face*.

Fourth product is the Dior Show Iconic Overcurl Mascara

Image taken from Google

For starters, this was not a purchase but a sample that I received at Sephora. They have their awesome rewards/points system so you can purchase and get points and trade them for rewards. In one of my visits I chose this little guy. (Don't you think its funny how men attribute a female persona to their objects and women attribute a male? It made me chuckle a little haha). Anyway, this mascara is AMAZING! I love it! It is hands down the best mascara I've ever tried. I don't know if my eyes are sensitive but they tend to get irritated with a lot of other mascaras. When I opted to try this one, I was a bit weary but I didn't have to be. It makes your eyelashes seem so much thicker. It doesn't smear or end up everywhere. The wand is so easy to control, mind you I don't put mascara on my lower lashes but I'm sure it works great. I definitely recommend this mascara but if you are on a budget then I would save up for it lol. I love it!

Fifth product is Benefit's Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation

Image taken from Google

As I explained before, I have a rewards card for Sephora and usually it also comes with perks where you receive small samples of products. I received this foundation as a sample, which I think was a smart choice for Sephora because it saved me the trouble to ask for it. I tried it for about two weeks straight and fell in love with it. It is so light but it gives you coverage. I wouldn't say its complete coverage but its about medium coverage. It makes so much of a difference on me. My face looks even all over and more awake. I think of this as a winter foundation because the air is dryer and this is meant to give you a brightening look. My favorite part of foundations is when they don't make you break out and this didn't. I'm in the shade "I'm so money, honey" and I think its a bit light when I tan a little in the summer, which is another reason why I say its a winter foundation. I love it! 

Sixth and final product is the Mac Pro Longwear Concealer

Image taken from Google

This is one of my holy grail items! I just had to say that to start with. I adore this concealer. The texture is not runny but its not thick. I think its perfect. It goes on well under the eyes and I find that it doesn't crease. I have really bad under eye circles, I know its cliche for people to say that but I'm not lying, and they only increase if I don't sleep well. This concealer covers them really well. It is not completely because you can only conceal so much but when put with a corrector it works really well. I have to repurchase it because that's how much I love it. The only thing I don't like much is the pump. You don't really have a lot of control on how much product your get out so if you only use it around your eyes, you have a lot left over. I tend to apply this with my finger and pat it until it is all blended out. This is my favorite and its probably the product I love more than all the other products I mentioned. I LOVE IT! 

Okay, so that is it for this post. I hope this is helpful to anyone trying to figure out if these products are good or not before you buy them. 

xx

A Well Deserved Introduction

As I am taking a break from reviewing loads of chemistry, I wanted to write down a little introduction about myself. I know there is already an about page but I don't think that's enough insight to who I am as a person. Its probably important to people and it probably isn't, but what the heck?! (hmm, I should probably start with my name haha). My name is Marlene and I am a 23 year old university student. I like to buy all sorts of stuff but amongst my favorite is probably makeup. I also love buying clothes but sometimes I can't seem to find what I want in the store.

I am currently majoring in psychology and minoring in biology. I am also a pre-med student and I want to be a doctor some day. Its quite a combination of interests that I have but I really want to help people and more than just psychologically. If there are any questions you guys have about school or you are nervous about what you might find out there. Anything really! I would be glad to answer any questions to the best of my ability.

I am from the great sunny land of California. I used to live in Orange County, aka the OC, but moved to Texas about two years ago to be with my family. The transition was very hard for me as I was going through a very emotional moment in my life and I felt rather alone. Its a very depressing story in my opinion but there is nothing time can't heal.

I am also the oldest child of two. I only have one younger sister and she is a really great person. She can have her moments but there is nothing I care most about than family and friends. I think its important to keep those you love and who love you close by your side. Speaking of friends, I have some of the greatest friends. One of them is Amy. She is the most amazing person ever! I don't know what I would have done without her by now. My other friend is Justin. He is the best! I honestly cannot have better friends in the world. I've had my good share of crappy friends but let us not dwell on that. It is rather sad and a very long story to tell in one night.

I have two jobs outside of school. I consider going to school a job because it can be mentally draining and stressful. I am what you might call a work-a-holic. I love to work! I like staying busy but then again there are times that I just want to lay in bed and sleep for hours. Also, I am a pizza enthusiast. I love it! I could eat it any day of the week and mostly all the time but I try not to because then, you know, the deliciousness goes to my bum. I don't know what else to write about me. I think this was slightly easier than writing a personal essay about myself, like I did back in high school. There is something way too narcissistic about trying to sell yourself as the perfect addition to a campus that I can't join in. As I tell my friend Amy, I am completely average and normal so I don't think writing about myself could be very beneficial. Ironically enough, its like prostituting yourself haha. The screwing part happens when the universities charge you loads of money to get an education. Okay, I'm going way off topic. I hope you all like this post. It is quite random and I should have probably started with this but better late than never!

xx

Best Shampoo I've Tried Yet!

Hello everyone!

The feature that attracts me most in a person is their hair. I have to say that I love a guy with great hair so I also like to maintain my hair. You never know what guy might be admiring you from afar. Sure, there are those days that you just cannot deal with your hair because its being an unruly mess or you just feel really lazy and don't feel like styling it. I personally try not to style it as much because it is bad to put your hair through all the heat and product use. Every since I was a kid I had long hair and sometimes that is really hard to maintain, specially the ends. I have wavy hair that likes to rise like a bread in an oven when it has dried after a shower or by just being in the rain. I absolutely hate it! This increases even more in the summer because it gets really humid in Texas. I've always changed shampoos because sometimes I love them and sometimes I feel like its not working for me so I've tried all sorts of them. I usually stick to the ones you buy over in the drug store or at your local Target, but one day when I was visiting ULTA I decided that I should try a more expensive shampoo. Sometimes people say that the more expensive a thing is the better it is, but I think that it is sometimes true but sometimes it isn't. ULTA was having a sale on their shampoo that week so I said, "why not?!". (I seem to spend an a lot of my time and money at ULTA, doesn't it? haha) Like most people, I didn't feel confident enough to just grab whatever shampoo was there and smelled good, so I asked an associate at the store. I described that my hair would get really dry towards the ends and that sometimes it would just get really oily around the scalp during the third day of not washing it. She recommended that I use the Redken All Soft Shampoo because it was apparently really good and they use it in their salon. When I first bought the shampoo I was hoping it was going to be amazing, and it is! I have used this product for about three months now and my hair is really soft and it smells nice but its not an overpowering smell. I've even had my mom tell me that she loves it and she's not about spending loads of money on shampoo. The reviews on the website give this shampoo a 4.6 out of 5.0 and I have to say that I agree. Some of the common comments show the pros to be that it smells great, leaves hair soft, makes hair soft, and again it smells great. The only con is that it is a little pricey but not to fret! ULTA has a sale on these babies during the summer, and if I'm not mistaken, during the winter. The 33.8 oz bottle is retailed at $24.50 and a small amount is enough to make your whole head clean. During the sale that ULTA has the bottle cost, if I'm not mistaken, $15 and you get a free pump. So if you are looking for a new shampoo to try and don't know where to start. There are other types of Redken shampoo you can try out but I would recommend this one the most.  Just give it a go and see what you think. You can always buy the $14.50 bottle that has 10.1 oz to just try it out but I would advice everyone to wait for the sale and stock up!

p.s. I apologize for not having a picture of the product this time but it is nothing fancy looking and easy to find.

xx

I love butter!

Again, here I am procrastinating to the fullest on my chemistry homework to write a quick blog about these three beauties. Starting from the left; I have Cuppa, Silly Billy, and Giddy Kipper. I absolutely love these nail varnishes. I bought them about a month ago at ULTA because they had a sale on these for their 21 Days of sales. They have a specific name for it but I can't remember what they call their sale/s. I woke up that morning to an email from ULTA announcing these on sale for $10 compared to the regular $15. I know, I know, $10 on nail varnish is still a lot but I had always wanted to try them so I said to my self, "why not?". I managed to pick these three because there were so many other lovely colors and I wanted them all but I settled for these. ULTA also had a policy in that you could only purchase two (2 for each costumer). I suppose they do that to repel all the crazies like myself haha. Anyway, I love them. I think they are by far my favorite right now from the other varnishes that I own. One that is not included on here because it is not a butter varnish is essie's 'bikini so teeny'. If you want to know about how the colors show on the nail I would say that they are pretty dead on from what you see in the bottle. Cuppa reminds me of the See's Candy Vanilla flavored lollipop. It's not a natural color but it's just gorgeous. Silly Billy is a really nice bright orange. It's not the kind of orange that screams at you but its just a nice orange color. I think its super nice for Halloween. You know, if you like to put themes on your nails. I just wear the varnish as is. The last one, Giddy Kipper, is my favorite of all. It's such a lovely color. It is in between a blue and a purple and also has a fine shimmer to it. I wouldn't say its glitter but it adds to the color. I believe you can sort of see it on the picture above. The lasting time for these babies is about a week or week and a half depending on what you are doing. If you clean around the house and use a lot of water and soap, then these will probably start chipping after a week. Alright! this is all for this post. Its a short one this time because I don't have much to elaborate on these. Hope you like these! 

xx

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua

I sat here contemplating whether to watch the second episode of The Originals or to write this long over due blog post; I decided to multitask. I think one of the biggest challenges, when it comes to makeup, is finding the perfect foundation. I've gone on my own little journey and have found one of my favorite foundations, EVER! It is the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation. I think my favorite part of this foundation is that it is so light that you can barely feel its there. Another thing about this foundation is that it is water based. My skin is combination to oily skin, where I tend to be more oily around my T-zone than anywhere else on my face. It is not a full coverage foundation so if you are looking for something with more coverage, this is not for you. Even though it doesn't offer full coverage, this is my favorite foundation for the Summer. It doesn't add any sort of "glow" to my face because when you live in Texas you don't want more glow than what your face already produces, unless you have completely perfect skin. Although I wouldn't call it glow, but a glistening kind of sweat all over your body.

This foundation makes it feel as if you have no makeup on because it is water based. It doesn't make you feel gross or sticky on a hot day. This doesn't mean that in the winter you have to buy a new foundation that won't make your dry skin, if you have any, look any drier. Since the foundation is water based this mean it has no oil, which if you have combination/oily skin it is awesome on you. I don't get as many breakouts as I get with other foundations. I don't know about you but for me its a plus. I've heard that for people with dry skin it tends to "attach" itself to dry patches. The only solution I can think of is exfoliate really well and wear a really good moisturizer. When you first buy this foundation you have to make sure to shake it to mix the product with the water. I usually use a pea size and its enough for my face. Depending on how much you want to put on, its your choice. I personally think that a pea size is enough to cover small imperfections and you can always just go over them with concealer if you like to cover them up completely.

The price is surely to be consider a splurge because its not cheap. I bought my foundation on the Macy's Chanel counter and it was $45 + tax. The lady was very helpful and friendly and offered to match me to the right shade. If you aren't so sure about purchasing the foundation then and there. I suggest you ask for a sample. They give you a really cute bottle that has a spatula attached to the cap to get the contents out. The bottle lasted me about two weeks or a little bit more which I think is enough time to decide whether you like the foundation or not. Once I was sure I liked it, I went back and purchased it. If you are worried they won't have your shade you can always stop by and look at their 10 shades. Another reason why I love this foundation is that it smells pleasant. Its not an over powering scent but its really light. If you do buy this foundation, I suggest you use your fingers to apply it because it goes on so smoothly. If you must use a brush then you can but I would spread the foundation out first and then use the brush to blend it out.

Now its time for bed! xx

P.S. I really recommend the series "The Originals"!! 

"The Quarterback"

This post is going to be a little different from the rest of the posts that I've made so far and it might be a little emotional for me. I've titled it, "The Quarterback," because it is the title of the third episode of season five for the show Glee. If you have never watched the show it is basically a show about misfits (cheerleaders and football players are included in here) in high school who join a club/show choir. Each character goes through different experiences and situations that involve sexuality, relationships, social issues, etc. They become really close because of the environment of the club they are in and they form more than a club. They form a family that is there for them through thick and thin. I have grown to love this show so much because when I was in high school I was part of a choir, so the show hit home for me. I love all of the characters, some more than others, but everyone brings something special to the show. One of my favorite characters was Finn Hudson. He was the quarterback in the Mckinley High School football team and the reason why the third episode is named as such. Finn Hudson was played by Cory Monteith who was a Canadian actor and like I said, one of my favorites. Sadly, this past summer Cory passed away of a drug overdose. The point of this post is not to discuss how he died but I wanted to give a little background to those who might not have watched the show or know about what happened.

Having to watch Glee without Cory is probably the saddest thing ever. It is very emotional to know that he won't be on the show and that his love interest on the show, who was also his real life girlfriend, will have to go through the pain again. When I first heard of his passing away I literally couldn't believe it. I honestly thought it was a cruel joke someone was playing on the Internet but as more sites appeared with the news it came as a complete shock. I think that to this day I still can't believe or accept that he is no longer alive. I have two of the first seasons of Glee and I can't bring myself to watch them because I start crying. Its impossible to think of the show without one of its main characters. Cory was like the glue of the show. He completed them. Each character plays an important role but Cory had something in him that made the show that much better. Watching the promo for next weeks episode had be bawling in seconds because its so emotional. You are literally seeing actors reveal their inner feelings. You aren't seeing them act as if they were sad about him death because they are. Cory's cast mates have  had nothing bad to say about him when they are asked question of him.

I think one of the reasons why I am so much more attached to Cory and/or his character is that he faced a lot through the show. His mom was a  single mother, his dad was deceased, his girlfriend cheated on him, his girlfriend lied to him about being pregnant with his baby, he learns how to be a man, and it goes on and on. He is literally the representation of so many other people in this world. Sure there is other characters who face being gay or being handicap but Finn was different. In no way do I think that the other characters aren't as important but to me Finn was the person I connected with most. Cory was such a great actor and he was Finn. I feel as if that's who we kind of was in real life. I don't think I can bring myself to watch this last episode because of how sad its going to be. If you haven't watched the show I hope you do because aside from the continuous singing and dancing, which I very much enjoy, it is an amazing show for everyone. I also hope that people who are involved with drugs or any sort of substance abuse realize that their life is so much more important. They matter to someone out there and that continuing to damage themselves like that won't do much good in the future for anyone but most importantly themselves. I hope I didn't bore anyone with my sentimental side. I promise I'll be back to writing about my recent purchases that I've made. Tootles!

xx