1/20 Quick Update

So school started on Wednesday, and I basically had all my classes that day. My classes started at 9:30AM and didn't end until 5:00PM (with one half an hour break in between). Afterwards, I had dinner and wanted to go to some club meetings, but they weren't being held that week (fail) so I just sat around with some friends and it was pretty relaxing until I had to go for my last class at 7:15PM and that lasted until 8:30PM.

As depressing as this will be, I just don't think I'm very happy with where I am in life right now, whether it's school, work, or personal things. I'm in situations that I can change though, fortunately, but all of it just depends on me. Obviously, I want myself to be happy and should just go for the changes, but it's hard to bring myself to do those things. Like something for school is that I have like a lot of deadlines to meet and there's just so little time. It's not impossible, but maybe I'm just not self-motivated enough either. 

The past two days I just had a lot of time to think about these things and as I do talk about the issues, the more I realize that I'm unhappy with a lot of things. The person who I should be able to talk to about all of this is just never really there for me either and in a way it feels like s/he is just so unreliable.

But don't worry, just because I'm unhappy doesn't mean I'm depressed or anything lol. I'll be fine definitely by like next week (or tomorrow lol) but it doesn't really mean that the issues are gone either.

Overview of My Winter Break

I can't say that I was very productive this winter break, but overall I can say it was relaxing. I didn't get to travel anywhere like a lot of people, but maybe over the summer :O I went on a day snowboarding trip, so it's not a lot but it's something I guess.

Over break, I got into watching a lot of shows. I finished/caught up with:

- White Collar 

- Boys Over Flower (Korean version)

- Playful Kiss

- You Are Beautiful
- Dream High (in the process) 

I generally don't really watch any TV shows. The only shows that I do watch are Gossip Girl, Glee, and Nikita. Gossip Girl finally came to an end last month :O Did anyone expect that ending? 

Other things that I did was work a lot.. I worked about 80 hours this break, which is nothing compared to those who work full-time, but I don't so it's a lot for me.

Classes are standing tomorrow... and I'll be up finishing up an accounting assignment I had to do >< 

Delia's Pink Holo Polish

I picked up a holiday set over the weekend because I was interested in two of the holo polishes. Today I have one of them to show you :) I actually ended up buying two sets because I just wanted to have extras in case the minis weren't enough xD

Two coats + top coat

Even though the holo was very obvious in real life (except for when it's too dim/dark), but it was hard to capture unless I was in the right lighting.

Here's with flash.

Application: Surprisingly the application went really well. I was worried that it would be terrible (especially since I bought two sets) but I had no problem with it. I think one coat would've been enough, but I did two out of habit and didn't realize until after I did one hand that it didn't even make a difference.

Color: It's like a pale/dusty pink. The holo is really linear, something I wouldn't expect to find at Delia's. The holo is obvious even when you're indoors and very nice to just look at.

Overall: I'm happy with the color and application, but it did start chipping. I applied it two nights ago and it was fine all day but when I got back to my dorm I noticed a third of one of my nails chipped off, so I look at my other nails and half of them were already chipping off. Another thing I noticed was that my nails are peeling again and I suspect the polish has something to do with it because I haven't had that problem in a while and it just happened as soon as I used this polish and it's multiple nails splitting. 

It's a love-hate polish. I can't decide if I'll use it again because it's not worth splitting all my nails and it chips so easily. 

I knew I should've brought my buffer with me when I was packing to move back into my dorm -__- split nails bother me a lot so I tend to peel off the top layer, but I don't have my buffer to smooth out my nail where it did split.

Models Own: Golden Green Beetle Juice

Today I have Models Own Golden Green Beetle Juice to show you. It's my first Models Own polish that I picked up at Urban Outfitters about 2-3 months ago. 

Golden Green Beetle Juice (2 coats) + top coat

Phone shots:

Application: The formula was very thin and watery, so it wasn't hard to apply but could be too much if I don't wipe the brush off the side enough. I expected to need 3 coats because the first coat seemed sheer and because of the thinness, so I was surprised when I realized how opaque it was with two coats. There are slight brushstrokes if you look very closely, but if you're careless enough, then it can be a bit more obvious.

Color: Their site briefly describes this polish as a "fresh energetic acid"  and I don't really know what acid looks like, so I can't comment on their accuracy. The polish is an olive green and gold duochrome with a slight green shimmer to it. I'm not a big fan of the green though, but some people like it.

Blue Diagonal Striped Nails

For the past few months I haven't been motivated to do any nail designs because I had no idea what to do. But I saw a post on Instagram that inspired me to do a similar design. 

For this manicure, I started off with China Glaze Fairy Dust at the bottom, then topped that with Missha BL001 in the middle and Sinful Colors Why Not on my tips. You can see dots on BL001 and that's mainly because of the glitter underneath. I'll watch out for that next time.

This was a very simple manicure and didn't really take that much time either. It's very pretty and elegant as well, so I'll definitely be doing the same thing but with a different color scheme frequently.

After Holiday Sales

One of my favorite things about holidays is the sales that come right afterwards :D It also means wasting money on things that I don't even need though. I know that the things will be marked down even more eventually, but what if the things I want aren't going to be there anymore?? Then again if they are, I'll just be sad about not getting a better deal :P

I scored each of these for $1.00 or less (except for the Kisses) and everything was 50-90% off the retail price.

Mailboxes for $1.00 at Target
These will be useful in the future for DIY projects :) Right now they're just lying around on my floor, but I swear I'll have a use for them later :X It was hard finding ones without dents and scratches. 

I was also looking for this Taylor Swift gift set because I wanted the perfume lol. I wanna collect them in every size :x It was 50% off for $9.99.. I swear it's going to be $4.99 in a few days -__- I also came across a Burberry Brit mini perfume for $6.49. I already got one for Christmas and I don't need another one, but somehow I just couldn't pass it up :O

Taylor Swift gift set | Burberry Brit mini

 I haven't had a chance to go shopping for clothes yet and somehow I just don't feel like it, even though I want more clothes :0

Well until next time :D

Zoya: Aurora

This holiday, there has been a lot of buzz about Zoya's Aurora from their Ornate collection. After seeing swatches of it, I was convinced that I had to have it too :o Plus there was a lot of flash promos going on at this time, so it worked out perfectly :) I was only able to snag a free Gilty out of all the flash promos that they had. 

Right now they're running a promo for 3 free polishes + $10 shipping. I want to make my purchase too, but I ran out of Zoya polishes that I want after the Dream Boxes that I ordered. Any suggestions? I'm thinking of Storm from their Ornate collection for one of them. It's pretty, but somewhat plain and I'm not a big fan of black polishes. 

Zoya Aurora (3 coats) + topcoat

I did adjust the color a bit to reflect the color irl.

Application: I had no troubles with applying this polish. It went on smoothly and it wasn't streaky or anything. You might be able to get away with two coats, but some of my nails still had patches, so I just went with three coats. Dry time was pretty good as well. 

Color: Aurora has a plum-colored based and is very dense with fine holographic glitters. What makes the polish stand out is definitely how much it sparkles from the glitter. It's not a linear holo though.

Here are additional some shots I took with my camera. The color does not reflect how it looks in person. As I mentioned, it's a plum base, not purple. These photos can show you the intensity of the glitter.

First Snowboarding Trip of 2013!

I went to Pats Peak this Saturday to go snowboarding. It was $39 for both lift and rentals, pretty good deal :) Last time I went was Killington last December and it wasn't that fun because the trails I went on were pretty flat. This is my 9th time snowboarding and I still snowboard like a noob. 

I mostly went on the greens and even then I fell a good number of times. I'm too afraid of going fast, so I can't snowboard straight and slow down too much :T And I always end of swerving to the side, so then I get stuck LOL.

Food :o We should've brought our own food, but didn't. The fries were yummy though and they had this GIANT cookie and it was only $2.50 :o

I'm so sore right now. My shoulders, neck, and butt hurts. I haven't found any bruises yet though. I wish I could snowboard like before :( Not that I was great or anything, but definitely didn't fall as much and didn't have to make so many stops.

I went out for ramen and bowling the next day :D I've been craving for ramen from this place for a while now, but just never had the chance to go. Their noodles are my favorite :)

Curry ramen

I also played candlepins for the first time. I didn't have much of beginner's luck, but I think I still did pretty decently :)

Can you guess which one I am?

Anyways, until next time :D

Orly: Nail Repair Nail Rescue

Soo I've heard of this Orly nail repair kit before as well as other methods like silk wraps, but I've never tried any of them. I usually just cut my nail down when they break because it's easier, but I hate having short nails. My thumb nail broke last week, so I finally got the kit at Sally Beauty to try it out. They're running a buy one get one free promo this month, if you're planning on getting it. I didn't realize it until afterwards so I had to go back to get my other one :X I missed the 50% off clearance last week and I found so many nice polishes on clearance, so sad :(

The kit comes with:

- Nail glue 

- Nail repair powder
- Nail buffer

Conclusion?
Cost: ★★★★☆
It's $7.99 for the kit, so it's not too pricey.

Application: ★★★★☆
All you have to do is just brush on the nail glue onto the part that's broken and then dip it onto the powder. After it dries, you buffer it down. The buffering is sort of a hassle, but maybe I'm just bad at it.

Effects: ★★★★☆

It works well to cover up the broken nail, but I still have to be careful with it because it's just a layer holding it together afterall.

Overall: ★★★☆☆

Despite how it works, it doesn't do wonders. The same spot broke again after four days and I reapplied it and it broke by the end of the night again. It works, but you just have to be really careful. The first time I wasn't even rough on my nails either. Still, it beats cutting down my nail. 

Butter London: Knackered

Butter London's Knackered has got to be the prettiest polish that I own. It's a blue/purple duochrome with holographic glitter. 

Butter London: Knackered (4 coats)

The photos does not do the polish any justice. In different lighting, you can definitely see how the color shifts. Someone even commented on how it looked green at a certain lighting. (I didn't really agree though) 

Application: It was very easy to apply, but definitely very sheer. My VNL wasn't really as terrible in person as in my photo (especially my index finger); it was probably because the photos were taken directly under lighting. The color builds with each coat, but there's a limit at some point.

Color: Like I said, it's a blue/purple duochrome with fine holographic glitter. The color shift is very apparent and overall the polish reminds me of nebula nails minus all the work. 

Happy 2013!

Happy New Year! This also marks the first anniversary of my blog :) So thank you to all my readers. 

I spent the countdown with a bunch of friends and it was pretty fun. I learned how to play Hearts :O Haven't played that game in years and it was always on the computer when I was really young...I don't even know if I knew how to play properly before or not lol. 

I got back really late and slept in until 5. My aunt came over earlier in the morning and she was yelling "JESSICA! WAKE UP, JESSICA! WAKE UP!!" -__- That was just so unnecessary. She could've at least CALLED or something to give me a heads up to know that she was coming over (so I can help her set up her phone). And in the end she got pissed that I was upset for getting woken up in such a way so she just left. Wtf? Woke me up for nothing.

Some updates with my life is that I won't be working at one of my jobs anymore in two weeks. They hired a new full-time staff, so they're letting go of the part-time staff. I'm not going to have that much spending money anymore :x I'm already spending more than I make as is, so without this job... x__x

Anyways, since it's a new year, here's a review of last year and goals for this year :)

A review of 2012 for me:

1) I graduated high school & started college

2) I started this blog

3) I went to Canada for the first time

4) I'm legal 

5) Gained some weight.. (a new personal record)

Anyways, some of my goals for 2013 are:

1) Make my own franken polish

2) Lose 5+ pounds or at least don't gain any weight

3) Get into my school's honors program

4) Maintain my grades

5) Get a good summer internship

That's all I have for this post, so until next time! :)