Kathy Truong

Happy Chinese/Vietnamese/Lunar New Year to all who celebrate it! I spent Sunday night eating, giving out and receiving money, and of course gambling with my family. Since my parents are here, I decided to give out red envelopes to the cousins who are younger than me. I just hope my parents are having fun celebrating the New Year over in Vietnam.

Anyways, I have a quick buy and review for a product. It’s the makeup sponge from Sonia Kashuk. I was originally going to buy the little pink Beauty Blenders eggs but they were no where to be found except for MakeupGeek.com and it was $19 for one or $23 for two. So I went to Target and grabbed a Sonia Kashuk one for $10. A blender sponge is mainly used for putting on foundation but I use it for blending my makeup after everything is on so that it won’t look so caky and to make my makeup look more natural. Also, the sponge is great for reducing makeup, like if you have too much blush on, you can just dab the sponge on and it will remove some blush. Anyways, I bought it and I decided that I don’t really use it often, but it is a great tool to have. I have to try putting on foundation with this sponge and see how that turns out.

On another note, I was going through some makeup tutorials on Youtube and found an amazing, simple makeup tutorial that I tried out today from Marlena of MakeupGeek. It’s so pretty and simple to do! I used my Naked Palette from Urban Decay with an E.L.F. cream eyeliner for the waterline and Loreal Voluminous Million lashes mascara.

I went to work today and I decorated my classroom for Valentine’s Day with my kids. I had them make hearts with their names on it and some tissue paper puff art. Some of the parents even gave me red envelopes which I am so thankful for!

There is so much love going on this week. I appreciate my life and the people in my life so much especially my family, friends and kids. My kids are so amazing that I’ve bought them some Valentine’s Day goodies.. ssshhh. My sisters are even more amazing because my parents have been in Vietnam so it’s just us three sisters and I’m the only one that can drive and the only one that works. I came home today from work and found that my younger sister bought my favorite meal, a loco moco from Shakas, and my older sister cooked me a big feast of salmon, mashed potatoes&gravy, corn and delicious vegan cake! How did I get to become so lucky.. I’m so thankful.

Anyways, here are some things I picked up this week.

Since it’s winter, my skin has been getting really flaky and dry and I’ve been looking everywhere for a great moisturizer, but all the ones that I have tried make my skin really oily or they don’t moisturizer enough. The one that I always use is the Proactiv green tea moisturizer because it’s for acne but it’s not moisturizing enough, then I tried the Purely Deep Moisturizing lotion from Bare Essentials and that was too oily. Then I found a sample size of the Clinique 3 Step moisturizing lotion and I love it! So I ran to Sephora between classes and bought it. It was only $24 for the full size bottle which is way cheaper than the tiny “full size” of the Proactiv green tea moisturizer.

I also went to Target today with my sisters for a quick grocery shop and makeup for me. I have an obsession.

I wanted to try the E.L.F. eyelid primer because it’s just a dollar.

The Neutraguena healthy skin foundation was on sale and I’ve never tried it before, I have the Skin Clearing foundation but I really wanted to try this one.

I also took a stroll in the dollar section and bought a BATMAN bucket to hold all my makeup brushes. It’s cute!

And finally, a random picture of swatches I did of my makeup. I was bored and played, organized and rearranged my makeup collection which is getting bigger and bigger.

Work, sleep, work, sleep. That’s my routine for the winter. I hate winter, I don’t feel as productive because it is so cold. Anyways, I had a wonderful dinner at Kabuki with my two sisters, an expensive dinner. We went to get desserts after and I treated myself to Sephora. I finally gave in and bought the Urban Decay Naked Palette Original. I’ve been wanting it for so long but couldn’t really justify getting it because it is $48. BUT I GAVE IN! And I don’t regret it! I also bought an angled eyeliner brush from Sonia Kashuk at Target.

I’ve been using a lot of cream eyeliner and liquid liner for a winged look.

Here is the Naked Palette fresh out of the package.

Here are the colors.

The Stila palette that I have, that was $39, is similar to the Naked Palette. The Stila palette is also neutral and is gold based. I think that Stila’s eyeshadow KITTEN is similar to Urban Decay’s SIN, Stila’s BARE is similar to VIRGIN, Stila’s NIGHT SKY is a little more blue based than GUNMETAL, but what is mostly similar is Stila’s champagne and Urban Decay’s HALF BAKED. I love these two palettes.

Some random pictures.

I made pasta with chicken apple sausages.. really good by the way, don’t let the name fool you.

Some leftovers from Norms.

And supporting my friend through anything and everything!

The forest green infinity scarf that I first made, I decided to give that to my grandma. However, I bought the samey yarn so I will be making another one. But here is the finished teal one. And I finished making the green blue plaid men shirt, but it needs buttons and buttonholes.

I finally hit pan on my Stila palette…

Really really sad news….

I got the most awful news at work today. One of my kids, who I had in my class earlier in the year, is being put into fostercare. Her and her older sister were under their aunt’s custody because their parents didn’t want them and I guess the aunt didn’t know how to handle them and now they can’t come to the afterschool program anymore. I was tearing up when I heard this because those two girls loved being at the afterschool program because they were just learning how to socialize again, make friends, and finally grow and be in a normal environment after their parents left. Even though the youngest one wasn’t in my class for long, I felt like I was the only one that she trusted talking to. She would never let her real class tutor know what was bothering her, but she would always tell me. I feel so helpless and I miss them a lot and hope the best for them.

First day of school! First day of school!

So since I’ve been branching out on my makeup collection, I decided to try different looks for school. I bought these cream eyeliners from E.L.F. and liquid liners so I’ve been dying to try some winged eyes or cat eyes and I did today for school. I used my STILA Dream in Full Color palette for a purple eye to bring out my brown eyes and I used the E.L.F. cream eyeliner in black for the winged look and I like it.I definitely think this is a look I will try again.

I took a quick visit to Sally’s Beauty Supplies today and bought the Palladio eye ink to try out because the E.L.F. cream eyeliner isn’t waterproof. I swatched it on my hand and let it dry and it doesn’t smudge and it is definitely waterproof. I will be wearing this to the beach!

Speaking of the beach, I wanted to try different brands of waterproof creme eyeshadows so I bought a palette from Revlon and Maybelline. I bought both neutral palettes and swatched it on the back of my hand, and after letting it dry, they are definitely both waterproof, but not smudgeproof. I believe the Revlon creme eyeshadows are better than the Maybelline. The Revlon palette is in 710 Not Just Nude and the Maybelline is in 25 Neutral.

Makeup gurus have been raving about the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters as well so I gave in and bought one in the color Peach parfait 25, a peachy pink color, and I freaken love it! It’s moisturizing but so pigmented. It has a sweet smell to it and also some shimmer.

In fashion news, an old classmate from high school hit me up and asked me to design her beach wedding dress! I’m so excited. We’re going for a simple, lightweight dress and here is what I came up with so far as a first sketch.

A very chilly day it was. I start school soon and I’m going to be hungry, faded and so bored with the long schedule. Anyways, after work this morning, I went with my mommy to Target, CVS and Costco to buy random things. I’ve been buying a lot of makeup products that have been reviewed by makeup gurus on Youtube and I’ve been trying them and I have not yet been disappointed.

So here are a few things that I bought.

The first one was this E.L.F. blush and bronzer duo. The blush on camera looks like a light pink, but it’s actually a peachy pink. I tried this as soon as I got home because I wanted to touch up my makeup and I didn’t expect it to be so pigmented but it works really well.

The second thing I bought was something I already had but in another color. I loved the E.L.F. cream eyeliner in plum purple so much that I had to buy the black one.

I also wanted to try the E.L.F. waterproof eyeliner pen because I don’t have any liquid liners at all and I want to try out winged liners. I swatched this on my hand and it doesn’t smudge, but I wouldn’t say that it is waterproof.

Something that I have been wanting to buy because every makeup guru on Youtube has this and really recommends this. It’s the Loreal voluminous mascara. I got this from CVS and they are having special sales on all makeup products.

I also was recommended the Covergirl & Olay concealer. I did try this after I got home and I absolutely love it! It’s so creamy, blends great and covers really well.

Something that I bought awhile ago and have been using quite often are my new eyeshadow brushes. I freaken love the MAC 217 fluffy blending brush! Even though it’s expensive as hell, I love how well it blends out my harsh lines on my lids. I swear it saves me so much time on blending because I would always use my other stiff dome brush for blending and it would never blend out the way I want it to. Another brush I have been using a lot as well is an E.L.F. blending brush. I love using this brush to apply a wash of color as a base after I put on my eyeshadow primer and also to blend out harsh lines.  Great, great brushes.

So here is a mini review about the E.L.F. cream eyeliner in plum purple that I bought from yesterday. It’s supposedly smudgeproof and waterproof and I’ve worn it for almost 6 hours and it hasn’t budged at all. I’m planning on wearing this waterproof liner to the beach along with other waterproof cream eyeshadows and see if it actually is waterproof but so far I am loving it. I chose purple because I always wear black and I didn’t want to buy another black liner. I wanted a purple to bring out my brown eyes and for a soft and gentle look instead of harsh and bold black. I have teal and purple kohl eyeliners but they just don’t seem to last long.

As for the Neutragena mineral sheer pressed powder, it’s amazing. I use a big fluffy brush to apply it and it covers so well, especially for my oily t-zone. I love that it has SPF 20 in it as well. So this product is great for the summer cover some tinted moisturizer. I know it’s winter, but with this LA weather, I’m always thinking of summer.

Anyways, I spent today relaxing with my sisters in Hollywood at the Hollywood Corner having brunch.The Hollywood Corner is at the corner of Highlands and Lexington in Hollywood and it is a family cafe that also has vegetarian and vegan meals as well.

My older sister bought the $25 off from Restaurants.com if you spend more than $35. We spent about $60 and the bill came to about $35 which is bad for all of the food we ordered. We have a habit of ordering too much.

My meal was the buttermilk fried chicken breast with corn, gravy and mashed sweet potatoes. It was like Thanksgiving all over again, along with a cranberry iced tea.

My little sister had the chili burger with fries. Here is her towering burger on the plate.

My older sister’s vegan, herbal pizza, which doesn’t look like a pizza, but hey, it’s vegan.

She also had this appetizer, I don’t remember what this was, I think it was quinoa.

My little sister and I shared a mac n cheese as an appetizer and it was so creamy and delicious.

Going off topic, I am moving on to my next design for a fabric that I just recently bought. It’s a sheer off white with bright blue stripes. I really don’t know what to make with this fabric yet, maybe a zipper skirt, maybe a tank top, I really don’t know yet. I also bought a white kind of embossed woven fabric and a white jersey knit fabric as well. Still, don’t know what to do with them.

My first blog post of the year! I’ve been enjoying my amazing winter break with my great family and fun friends. I just took a trip to San Diego with a car full of girlfriends to visit my other lonely friend who got stuck working during winter break. So we went everywhere in San Diego from Old Town to Downtown, from the beach to the shops, from El Pescador to Phil’s BBQ, which was closed, and to the famous Hash House. It was a trip of delicious food and fun laughs. I spent my winter break cleaning my room as well. I wanted a more spacious room for sewing and a real makeup station. So I have this one little, old, painted desk that’s meant for a computer, but I have a laptop that just sits on my bed, so I cleaned everything up that was on it and made it into my makeup station. There were books, papers, shopping bags, magazines, bottles, hygiene products, gifts, unopened stuff and more on that desk. So I cleaned it and organized my makeup. I put all my brushes into a small clear fishbowl cup, my lotions, sprays and perfume on top with my dvds, my makeup palettes into a little plastic drawer set along with my Proactiv products, and the rest of my makeup into my makeup kit.

Here is what it looks like, it’s clean and organized! I just hope it stays this way.

The white, clear plastic drawers on the left is where I put my makeup palettes, my Proactiv products, and my travel size bags for makeup. The pink and red circular box on top is all of my manicure and pedicure stuff, and on top of that is a cute little flip lid box where I keep all of my lipsticks, lipglosses, and lipstains. Starting on top of my wooden desk, there are my dvds, my sprays, perfumes and lotions. On the bottom on the left, there are my tinted moisturizers and my makeup brushes. In the middle is my handy mirror hanging on the wall and my silver makeup kit sitting in front. On the right side, there are more lotions, sprays and my makeup brush cleaner. And my huge purse of course.

Here are all of my makeup brushes from MAC, Eco Tools, E.L.F. and Sonia Kashuk in an old high school gift along with my MAC Fix Spray, Smashbox BB Cream, and Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer.

After my little sister, Mimi, passed her written permit test today, we took a trip to Target to get snacks for school and makeup. I will be at school from 8AM to 5PM this quarter and I will be working less. So I picked up some granola bars, fruit snacks, and some makeup that I wanted to try after seeing some many reviews on Youtube. I picked up the E.L.F. cream liner in plum purple, Neutragena mineral pressed powder, and a complexion and eyeshadow brush.

And from my San Diego trip, I visited this one little shop off of the beach called Francesca and I saw this amazing, gorgeous watch! I’ve wanted a watch for the longest time but I just never found the right one and I finally found it! The store was all 75% off as well so the watch was only $20!

I also made another men’s shirt this winter break out of a blue, green plaid for an upcoming photoshoot. I just need to put buttons on it now and it’s good to be worn.

It’s New Year’s Eve! I am excited to celebrate the new year and excited if I can find me a New Year’s kiss, but if not, I’ll settle for having a house party with my family.

Anyways, I just wanted to make a quick post about a forest green infinity scarf that I knitted in 3 days. Now I am working on a teal and a purple one. I am trying to make these as quick as I can so I can start on my other designs so I can finally set up another photoshoot. So many things to do and I’m excited to drink my coffee, blast my music, turn off my phone, and get productive! HERE WE GO!

So here goes my first product review post.

1.) Eyeshadow Primers- Laura Mercier, Urban Decay and Palladio

The first eyeshadow primer that I ever had was the Urban Decay primer potion which worked amazingly. This is the go to primer for everything because it will never ever crease and lasts all day. The Urban Decay primer potion costs around $19, but something I think that is exactly the same as the Urban Decay primer potion is the Palladio eye primer which only costs a few dollars from Sally’s beauty store. I tested both for an entire week and I think that they are exactly the same. The formulas are a bit different, the Urban Decay formula is thicker, and seems a little dry, and the Palladio is more sheer and watery. So if you are looking for an excellent eyeshadow primer and can’t afford the Urban Decay primer potion that everyone has been raving about, I would buy the Palladio eye primer. HOWEVER, I just discovered the Laura Mercier eye primer! I finally reached 500 points on my Sephora Beauty Insider card and I received the Laura Mercier kit that came with a face polish, mascara, eye primer, face primer and a tinted moisturizer. The first day that I tried the Laura Mercier eye primer, it felt like butter! Not like nasty or greasy, but the formula was so amazing. It just glides so easily and it definitely conceals. It’s such a great product that I think out of all 3 of this primers, I would definitely recommend the Laura Mercier eye primer the most!

2.) Eyeliners- Palladio, Stila, Urban Decay, Sephora

I got a brown Stila smudgeproof eyeliner with my Stila palette and it works great. The eyeliner glides on smoothly and it’s so creamy. However, it does smear throughout the day and if I would spend a lot of money on an eyeliner, I would spend it on one that doesn’t smear and one that is waterproof. The Urban Decay eyeliners, I have one in a purple, bronze and black and they work great. However, I feel that the colored eyeliners are that pigmented but the black one works great! I use that on the lid and in the waterlines, but the waterline doesn’t last the whole day. The last eyeliner is from Palladio and I got the one in teal and purple. I love these eyeliners, especially the teal one that will just make your eyes pop! I have to be honest saying that it will take awhile and a few application to get the color, but I had the teal eyeliner in my waterline and it lasted the entire day without wearing off or smudging. So out of all of these eyeliners, I would have to say the Urban Decay for the lid or the Palladio for the waterlines. So basically, if you want a basic black eyeliner, I would go for Urban Decay, and if you want color, I would go with the Palladio eyeliners.

I just noticed that my photo is of a waterproof Sephora eyeliner instead of the Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner, haha I’m sorry. But here is my review on the Sephora eyeliners, I HATE THEIR GLITTER EYELINER! It’s a pencil eyeliner with a smudger on the other end, but it’s so horrible and dried out. The only Sephora eyeliner that I like is their waterproof one and I love this one because it will last all day in the waterline and won’t smudge.

3.) Tinted Moisturizers- Laura Mercier and Smashbox BB Cream

The first tinted moisturizer I have ever tried was the dollar one from E.L.F. that I bought at Target and just thought I would try out. However, I was so wrong! That tinted moisturizer was so horrible and so dry. So I decided to try a higher end tinted moisturizer and that’s when I discovered Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer in NUDE from Sephora. I bought the smaller size for $20 to try out and it is awesome! It’s lightweight yet so moisturizing especially since it’s winter and your skin tends to dry out even more. I love this tinted moisturizer because it has spf, but it’s also more moisturizing as well. The second “tinted moisturizer” that I bought was the Smashbox BB Cream. I put quotes around “tinted moisturizer” because it’s technically not a tinted moisturizer. When I first heard about the Smashbox BB Cream coming out in Sephora, I was so excited to get my hands on one of this. So I bought one in a light color, but I was so disappointed in this product. The Smashbox BB Cream is suppose to prime, protect, cover, and moisturize all at once in a foundation, however, I tried it a couple of times and the product was not what I expected it was all that hyped up to be. The BB Cream was so sheer of coverage and it’s just so drying that I don’t know how it is suppose to help be a primer. I would not buy this product again. So I definitely recommend the Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer even though it’s a bit pricey, but it works great! The Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer does not have a good coverage, but I use it after my moisturizer and instead of using a primer and it works great.