Kathy Truong

Another day “studying for finals.” I went on a search today for fabric so I can make some spring skirts and I was on the hunt for a red Revlon lip butter for my mom. I also played with different eyeshadows and colors today and here is what I came up with.

I’m obsessed with watching the makeup gurus of PixiWoo on Youtube and here is their video that inspired my look with great dark purples and cranberries.

The closest eyeshadow that I had to a cranberry shade was from my Stila Dream in Full Color palette.

1.) Moisturizer of course then my Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer in NUDE then my Smashbox BB Cream in LIGHT instead of a liquid foundation today and my Erase Paste from Benefit in MEDIUM.

2.) My XL Milani bronzer

3.) My Laura Mercier WHEAT eye basic eye primer and my NARS Coconut Grove eyeshadow for my eyebrows.

4.) I wanted a dark base so I used my cream eyeshadow palette from Maybelline in NEUTRAL, the darkest brown all over my lid with a flat brush.

5.) Then I packed on the cranberry color from my Stila Dream in Full Color palette in TWIG, which I hope is the right name because the packaging is so difficult to find the name of the color. Then I put some black, EBONY, in my outer corner and KITTEN in my inner corner, my favorite eyeshadow ever! I also used my Loreal Infalliable in ICED LATTE on my brow bone and WHIMSY to blend out my crease.

-TWIG is a dark shimmery cranberry color
-EBONY is a matte black
-KITTEN is very shimmery pinkish/gold champagne
-ICED LATTE is a very sheer KITTEN
-WHIMSY is a pale brown/purple color

6.) Then I added some cream liner from E.L.F in black which I forgot to include in my photo, but this cream liner is the best waterproof, smudeproof and cheapest liner I’ve ever tried.

7.) Curl and mascara!

8.) For blush today, I tried the FAIRY blush that’s in the Stila palette, it’s a peachy color, great for spring.

9.) Finally, I just wanted some nude lips so I just put on my Revlon Just Bitten FORBIDDEN lipstain and a Revlon NUDE lipgloss over it.

I have brown eyes and makeup artists say that purples and blues bring out brown eyes the most and I think it’s true! My eye makeup was actually on the smokey side, but I guess it was washed out by the lighting.

Here is an outfit picture as well. My pretty peacock scarf over a tan tank top from Wet Seal $5 tucked into a navy cardigan I took from my sister, my blue jeans and black combat boots but here you see my bright yellow socks.

Here is my little Wal-Mart haul that I bought today.

-the prettiest blush I have ever seen! Milani baked blush in LUMINOSO 05 a very peachy coral blush which is beautiful! $6
-Wet N Wild  Wild Shine nail polish in BLAZED, a very neon pink/coral color $1
-Revlon Lip Butter in Candy Apple for my mommy $5
-Loreal Infalliable eyeshadow in BRONZED TAUPE, a gorgeous shimmery bronze color $6

So I think I will be wearing all the new things that I just bought tomorrow.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to those who celebrate it! I wore my shimmer peacock colored scarf from Forever 21 because it was the only thing I had that was close to being green, I didn’t want to get pinched by my kids!

Anyways, the weather in LA has been so gloomy so I’ve been inside “studying for my finals” and by studying, I mean playing with my makeup. So here is a look that I did today.

I always moisturize my face first with my Clinique dramatically moisturizing lotion then I use my Proactiv face primer.

1.) I mix my Neutroguena Skin Clearing foundation in 70 Fresh beige with my Revlon Colorstay in 250 Fresh Beige and buff with my new Sigma round top kabuki brush.

2.) My XL Milani matte bronzer on the hollows of my cheeks and temples to my jawbone and blend with my angled top kabuki from Sigma and my E.L.f. candid coral blush.

3.) Next is to my prime my eyes with my Laura Mercier WHEAT Eye basic eye primer and then my eyebrows and I use my angled liner brush from EcoTools and my NARS Coconut Grove eyeshadow.

4.) My Stila In the Light palette and I pat on CHAMPAGNE all over my lid and I blend it out with GILDED GOLD in my crease then my NAKED palette with DARKHORSE in my outer corners and VIRGIN in the inner corners. I also used NAKED and BUCK to blend out everything then from my STILA palette, I use BARE for my browbone.

5.) Eyeliner is next and today I wore my waterproof eye ink from Palladio and tightlined my upper with my Sephora waterproof eyeliner in black and my Urban Decay 24/7 in BOURBON in my lower waterline, then curled my lashes and used my waterproof CoverGirl VolumeExact and LashExact.

Lastly, I finally had some color on my lips today since it was so gloomy and I wanted some color.

1.) I used my Revlon Just Bitten lipstain in FORBIDDEN.

2.) Then my Revlon Lip Butter in Peach parfait.

3.) Finally, my Revlon lipgloss in NUDE.

I love my scarf, I always get so many compliments on it. Since it has been so gloomy and rainy, I think I will try out some red lips or some vampy dark colored lips.

My Sigma brushes finally came! I bought the round top kabuki face brush and the angled kabuki face brush and together they were $24! They are so soft and I can’t wait to use them tomorrow morning. The round top kabuki I’m going to use for my foundation and BB cream, while the angled kabuki is for blush, bronzer and contouring.

Here is what has been on my nails this week. I’ve been wearing my new Loreal Riche gold nail polish and I went to Sephora on Wednesday and I swatched on a OPI red and copper glitter top coat.

And here is an outfit picture from Thursday. A maroon thin blazer from Wet Seal $24, a shimmery tank top from an old store $11, skinny jeans from Forever 21 $10.80, my black combat boots from Gossip $13.

Time for a haul blog! I went shopping with my little sister again this weekend and bought a thin maroon blazer and a cream colored tank top from wet Seal and a few colorful v-necks from Forever 21 for summer. CVS is having a cosmetic sales if you purchase more than $15 of Loreal products, you get the $5 extra bucks, Maybelline is $10 and CoverGirl is $10 and you get $3 extra bucks along with many buy one get one half off deals. So I took my time shopping at CVS.

The first thing I snatched up was the Loreal nail polish in 580 ‘Because You’re Worth It’ in a metallic, pale gold color. It’s beautiful on the nails, I took off my chocolate brown nail polish just so I can paint them gold. I know that spring and summer are dedicated to more bright and bold colors, and the spring colors this season are lilac, lavendar, coral, tangerine, turquoise and baby blue, but a nice shimmery golds can be a spring time color too.

Along with Loreal things, I also bought a back up Loreal Voluminous million lashes waterproof mascara just to make my purchase $15 of Loreal products and I spent the $5 extra bucks on this Iced Latte Infalliable eyeshadow from Loreal.

I also bought this Freeman peel  off facial mask for only $4 that I saw in the My Glam bag. I can’t wait to try it. I love my Proactiv refining mask because it clears my skin but I want to try a softer, less expensive mask.

After that, I went to Target to buy my mom a Revlon lip butter in Cherry Tart, but where ever I go, I can never find it. So I bought her a Garnier BB Cream instead for her to try out instead of always using her CoverGirl liquid something something. I swatched it on my hand and it feels so smooth and has great coverage that I think I want to buy one for myself.

I also wanted to try the E.L.F. multiples and the one I got was in Persimmon and I think I will return to buy the Pink Lemonade one. It’s a light, shimmery pink color and I swear it smells like pink lemonade and it’s only a dollar!

Along with cosmetic products, I’ve been eyeing this gorgeous metallic purple nail polish from NARS called, Purple, but it’s $24. But it’s so pretty, but I cannot justify buying a $24 nail polish.

And guess what I did Sunday night! I finally made my first Sigma brushes purchase! I was watching Makeup by TIffany D. on Youtube, a makeup guru, and I clicked her link to sigma brushes and got a 10% off. I bought a synthetic round top kabuki face brush and kabuki angled brush and they both came out to be only $24!

Here is the link to MakeupbyTiffanyD

Here are some outfit pictures as well.

Sunday was a very emotional day and I guess that’s why I wore mostly darks and black, it was also gloomy as hell so I wore a black sweater from Forever 21, a teal infinity scarf that I knitted, dark skinny jeans and my brown cowboy boots along with my gold watch.

Today was a little sunnier and I wore my pale pink basic tank top from H&M $5, my gray hoodie button up coat from Forever 21, my dark skinny jeans $10.50 from Forever 21 and my black combat boots from Gossip with my hair in a side fishtail braid along with my turquoise ring from PacSun.

I’m loving the warm weather! It’s making me think of going to the beach so badly. I spent my Sunday shopping away for myself and for others. So here is a short post.

The first thing I bought was a pair of black shorts from Cotton On for $15 and a cute floral print knit tank top from Forever 21 for $13, together they make a very cute outfit.

I bought some things from Victoria’s Secret as well, but the next thing I bought on impulse was this adorable maxi dress. I did try it on and was debating whether or not to buy it, but the store was closing and for some reason, I bought it. Well, if I don’t wear it, I can always return it. It’s a maxi dress from Cotton On for $25.

I also bought myself some new gladiator sandals from Forever 21 for only $9! I’m ready to wear these golden beauties. I also bought some black skinny jeans for $10.80, a white v-neck for $4 and a black tank top for $4.

My aunt wanted to get skincare or makeup products to make her pores smaller, but the only way to make pores smaller is through facial scrubs and exfoliation. However, I did buy her the Benefit Pore-fessional face primer. Alone, it’s $29, but in this 3 piece kit it was $31 for all three products. The other two products were the famous Erase Paste concealer in medium and the Girl Meets Pearl highlighter. I also went to Target to get the Revlon Colorstay foundation that was recommended by many makeup gurus on Youtube. It’s a matte finish and medium to full coverage.

Lastly, I went to Bath&Body for some things I bought for somebody. However, I couldn’t resist and I bought these great smelling products for myself. A hand sanitizer in Wildberry Hibiscus, two hand soaps in Summer Escape and Cucumber Melon.

First blog post of March! I am loving March, it’s the beginning of spring, my favorite season of all! I love the warm sun on my skin getting a tan, the colorful flowers blooming, the long, thick scarves and coats of winter clothes shedding, brighter, bold color makeup and most importantly… THE BEACH! Since spring in Los Angeles means summer in other places, I want to wear less makeup but yet still have great coverage and that’s good for my skin. So here is my lazy day routine.

The first step is the most important! SKINCARE! I have very bad acne, but Proactiv keeps my acne in check and I use their facial mask at least 2-3 times a week and the better the skin care, the less the makeup you have to wear. I want my skin to be able to breathe during spring and not be gunked up with heavy makeup and break out even more. So I use the 3 step Proactiv along with the green tea moisturizer around my eyes because for some reason, I believe they keep dark circles away. I ran out of the green tea moisturizer for about a week and I noticed the area around my eyes got darker and I got scared and bought more.

The next thing I do is face coverage, since most day for me mean school or work so I don’t want so much heavy coverage because foundation is expensive! So I just use a regular moisturizer from Olay for combination skin with SPF of course and some more moisture as well as coverage with my favorite tinted moisturizer from Laura Mercier in the color NUDE then finally my new favorite thing, my Smashbox BB Cream in light. The first review I did for the Smashbox BB Cream, I did not like it at all. For some reason it was drying and more like a sunscreen than a foundation. However, I read some reviews and experimented with it more and it turns out that the Smashbox BB Cream takes time to oxidize so the color will go on like a sunscreen but will actually fade into your natural skin color and it looks so dam natural and amazing. I recommend using it alone, as in don’t use a foundation over it because it will look to cakey. I usually set it with a powder after and I use the Neutroguena pressed powder and add some color to my face with my Milani XL bronzer and favorite blush, the candid coral from E.L.F.

The step after my face is my eyes, the most important feature I think. My go to eye routine is eye primer, which I forgot to include in the picture but it’s my Urban Decay primer potion or my E.L.F. eye primer, then my Naked palette, the original one. I use Toasted all over my lid and Hustle in the crease along with Creep in the outer corner. To blend out everything, I use Buck and Naked from crease to my brow bone. Then my main feature lately has been a thick liquid winged liner with my Palladio eye ink and my waterproof Sephora eyeliner for my waterline and lots of mascara which I forgot to include which is my Loreal Voluminous Million Lashes and my CoverGirl Last Exact. Yes, I use two, one for volume and length, and one for separating my lashes.

My last picture is of the brushes I use, my NARS coconut grove eyeshadow that I use to color in my eyebrows a little along with my MAC Fix Spray to set my makeup. Here are the brushes from left to right.

-Sephora tiny shader brush (highlighting inner corner and smudging shadow on my lower lashlines)
-EcoTools blending brush (blending crease)
-EcoTools angled brush (eyebrows)
-Urban Decay Karma brush from the Naked palette (lid)
-E.L.F. studio outer corner brush (outer corner)
-MAC 217 blending brush (blending)
-Bare Essentuals flawless face brush (bronzer)
-EcoTools angled blush brush (blush)
-Bare Essentuals face brush (face powder)

I don’t think I’m missing anything and I know it seems like a lot of steps for just a lazy day makeup, but I swear it goes on quick!

I spent a beautiful Friday morning and afternoon despite having a flat tire. I’ve been sick all week and have been skipping classes to go to the doctor and resting at home. Someone special made me feel amazing even though I’m sick. He brought me fruits and beautiful tulips! They blooomed so beautifully!

I had a flat tire so I couldn’t drive and I wanted to surprise him with a cute brunch. So I was giving him directions to Annia’s Kitchen in El Monte. It’s such a hidden gem inside the El Monte Airport. My cousin recommended it to me and to sit outside in the back. So while my date and I were enjoying brunch, we were also watching old fashioned planes take off and land. It’s was an amazing brunch. It was a close, intimate place with loyal customers that come for the normal American and Mexican breakfast menu. After brunch, we had some time to kill before we went off to work so we went grocery shopping at Costco and my baby bought me some delicious chocolate treats, my favorites! Then we had some dessert, shaved ice, at Shakas before we had to go to work.

thank you boo boo!

What an amazing week it was. I’ve been so swamped with work, school, papers, midterms and trying to balance everything out. It was so nice to take a day off from it all and spent Valentine’s Day with a special someone.

On Valentine’s Day, someone surprised me with breakfast in bed, surprised me with a huge balloon and edible arrangement at work, a cute Italian dinner, a beautiful rose, a movie, and a sweet kiss. It was my first and the best Valentine’s Day I’ve ever had. I gave him a gift as well, a nice watch from Forever 21’s men section, lots of lollipops so he doesn’t get sleepy on the way home from work and a huge chocolate heart. It was such a cute night.

The edible arrangement was so delicious! And the cute little Italian place was Gales in Pasadena and it was so intimate and everyone basically knew each other.

In advance, I apologize for the blurry quality, I left my camera somewhere… anyways.. Time to post a blog about my recent favorite beauty products! Winter weather in California is so unpredictable. It can be rainy and gloomy one day and sunny and warm the next day. So my skin has either been breaking out and oily, or super dry and pale… gotta love California weather. For nice, warm days, I use blotting sheets and less eyeliner. For super gloomy, chilly days, I wear a lot of moisturizer, winged eyeliner and cream blush.

My favorite cream blush was a gift from my friend Tiffanie. She gave me two cream blush sticks from Clinique and I’ve been using them so much that the label got worn off and I have no idea what the names of these cream blushes are. However, one is a peachy pink matte cream blush while the other one is a pinky shimmery cream blush. On long days at school, when my makeup and skin get a bit dry, pale and start to wear off, I like to keep these cream blush sticks in my purse and touch up during break time. They are amazing! The one I use most is the peachy pink matte cream blush.

My next few favorite beauty products are my tinted moisturizers from Laura Mercier and Sonia Kashuk. I have to say that the Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer is the best tinted moisturizer ever! I’m not even joking. It has the most coverage I have seen in a tinted moisturizer and it still moisturizes and has SPF. The only downside of this tinted moisturizer is the dam price. I always buy the travel size bottle of Laura Mercier for $20 because the full size is $42 and I cannot justify buying a $42 tinted moisturizer, even though it’s worth every penny. The second tinted moisturizer is from Sonia Kashuk and it is a bit more sheer in coverage and it has this certain smell, smells like a lipstick to me, but it’s works just fine. On lazy days when I don’t want to get made up, I just use a tinted moisturizer, some concealer and set it with some powder and light eye makeup and I’m good to go. My favorite concealer is the Olay & Covergirl concealer. It’s so creamy and thick enough for great coverage but yet thin enough for the under eye area. My next favorite product is the E.L.F. blush and bronzer duo. I would have never guessed it would be so pigmented for only a $3 product, but it is works wonders. I want to pick up the highlight and bronzer duo now, but I can’t seem to find it. Speaking of E.L.F. products, I just discovered their $1 eyelash curler and let me just say.. $1 miracle.

My last favorite product is the John Freida frizz-ease, my hair doesn’t frizz, so I mainly just use it for the heat protectant.  I love how it makes my hair feels so much softer after blow drying it.

My last two products aren’t favorites, but they are worth talking about. I just got on the dry shampoo rave and bought one from Suave and Tresemme. The Tresemme one was about $5 and the Suave was $3, and the Suave dry shampoo works much better than the Tresemme one. It absorbs more oil and it’s cheaper. However, these dry shampoos aren’t my favorite because I guess dry shampoo isn’t my cup of tea and it doesn’t do much for my hair, but it does give good volume for styling.

Here is an outfit picture from the week. A Cotton On black blazer ($34) over my leaf motif tank top from Wet Seal ($5), skinny jeans from Forever 21 with black combat boots from Gossip ($13), a knitted teal scarf that I made and my hair tied up in a bun.

I can’t wait for Valentine’s Day!

The first blog post of February. The beginning of February has been so amazing so far. I finally got me a Valentine, a sweetheart too. Anyways, I’ve been loving this floral leaf motif tank top that I posted in my last post. I love it so much that I wore it twice this week.

Here are two outfit pictures from Monday and today.

Monday- My leaf motif tank top from Wet Seal, with a gray infinity scarf from Cotton, a purple cardigan from I think Forever 21 and my lovely gold watch from a little boutique called Francesa.

Today- My leaf motif tank top with my black military blazer from Forever 21 with gold buttons and my gray boots.

I’ve been wearing my black combat boots so many times that I decided to change it up with my gray boots.

After work this morning, I went to Target to get a Revlon pink truffle lip butter that I lost right after I bought it.. so sad. Target was so packed! I guess it was because it is the day before the Superbowl, but for me, it was because there was a clearance sale in the makeup section! You better believe that I had fun by myself in that clearance section.

I bought this bright Peacock Teal single eyeshadow from Rimmel, and this is my first Rimmel product added to my collection. There were other bright colors on sale like a purple, gold and some neutrals, but I decided to get a teal because I don’t have a teal eyeshadow in my collection. It was only $1.32!

Then my second Rimmel product was this adorable hot pink magenta nail polish. I couldn’t decide between a metallic royal blue, a real true purple and this hot magenta, but I had to make a choice. This was only $1.98 and the color is called Cherry Fashion 360.

The next thing I bought was this CoverGirl LashExact mascara which was only $3. I have the LashBlast, the LashLength and the LashVolume and I love them, but all waterproof of course.

The last thing I bought was the John Frieda frizz-ease heat protectant and frizz control spray. I don’t do much with my hair and I don’t need frizz control because my hair is straight and won’t hold a curl, but I wanted to try a heat protectant for my hair because I blow dry it every single day and straighten my bangs.