Piercing Pagoda

So... after a time of long tumultuous debate, I finally decided on getting my cartilage pierced as my first piercing- ever. I chose Piercing Pagoda because, well, it seemed like they might have less cheap quality jewelry over Claire's. Maybe they're the same, I don't know, just the stigma. And for all you people who as soon as you read the title of this post are all going around screaming your heads off about how cartilages should be done with a needle- spare me. Sure, when people ask me, I tell them to go get it done with the needle, but come on, let's be honest. Some of us don't have that kind of money to spend.

So there I was kinda freaked out about all the pain I was hearing about. I decided on this earring that was $16/ pair. A thicker gold heart shaped one. Then the lady told me it was plated and asked if I had any allergies, so of course that freaked me out, and I ended up with the $34 14k one. I asked if I could buy a pair, and come back at a time of my choosing to get another piercing done, but they said no. I figured I'd ask anyways- never know. So thus I paid their little $2 extra fee for only buying one. I also didn't realize at the time that they charge an extra $2 to do cartilage. My total with tax was $22.50 @.@.

And onwards with the actual piercing. You sit in this chair with a light shining uncomfortably on you- it gets hot- I guess it's so they see better. When the lady first put the dot on, my initial reaction was IT'S WAY TOO LOW! So I had her move it up, and down, and up, and down again for about 10 times. When I said up or down i just meant a couple mm, but she would move it .5 cm. In the end I got so flustered that I just said ok because amidst it all I managed to get myself all confused and turned about X_X. The result- I think it ended up right where she suggested to me at first- way too low. I've gotten used to it now, but I think i'll want another one on top of it.

I had been staring at my ear so much when she was dotting it, that when she took the actual piercing thing to it, I felt a little prick (like someone poked you with a .7mm mechanical pencil) then in my head I could just see it- feel it- as it pushed through my ear. And then it was over. Not too much pain at all. For the next 30 min my ear was warm, and occasionally it would have a slight throbbing along with the once in a while tiny sting. Just enough to let you know it's there.

After that, nothing. Only when I actually touched it. It's since been two weeks, and I can touch my piercing without any pain, only when I move the stud funny does it hurt a little.

The one thing they don't do well is teach you how to clean it. It seems straightforward, but if you think about it, are you supposed to drizzle the cleaning solution on? or just simply swipe around the stud trying to get as much as you can? I've decided on a method in between. Load up the Qtip as much as you can, then swipe and try to squeeze out as much of the solution onto the ear. Some people say the cleaning solution isn't good and it'll cause irritation. I bought sea salt in case I needed to do soaks. But an acquaintance tested Claire's solution and said that the stuff's pretty good as far as antiseptics go. I figured I'd test it out on myself first, if I get irritated, then I'd switch. So far so good. No irritation, no bumps.

The staff at Piercing Pagoda are really nice. They're totally willing to help and assist to the best of their ability. They don't know everything, but what they do know, they try to help with. I'll definitely go back there for the other...6 piercings that I'm planning, even if their jewelry seems overpriced.

And pics:

THE BEFORE:


THE AFTER: I thought I imagined that my ear swelled, but from this picture I guess it was for real. It's since gone down though.

Coastal Scents E- Book: Loose Mineral Makeup Secrets Revealed

I've been itching to try and make my own mineral makeup ever since...well I found out that you could. Only thing is, it's kind of hard poking around the internet for little scraps and pieces. So I decided that I'd jump in blindfolded and buy Coastal Scents's Ebook, Loose Mineral Makeup Secrets Revealed. At $30, the book is steep for my limited funding, so I wasn't sure whether to purchase it or not. I searched the internet in hopes of finding some kind of review, good or bad, so I'd at least know what to expect. I found next to nothing. Which is why I decided to write this review.

Still hesitant, I didn't purchase this book until the sale this weekend, which gave 50% off all ebooks. $15 is still too much in my opinion, but I figured, if it truly did contain extremely useful information then it would be worth it. So I bought it.

Unfortunately I found that this book only contains the most basic of information. THE MOST BASIC. Stuff that you can find poking around online. Basically all it does is tell you what micas, oxides, and a handful of fillers are and their uses. Which is all you need I guess, but come on! For the price, I expected some kind of wow factor. While the information on the properties for each of the fillers is useful, and it includes various recipes for veils, shadows (the colors are UGLY), and even lipstick, I can't say the information is worth my $15, or even it's original $30.

If you're really lazy and have money to throw around, then yes, go ahead and purchase this, but if you're a poor person like me, save your money and just poke around online.

For the content, I'd say the book should be at most $7. Seriously, most cookbooks with more recipes come at about that price. $30 is way too much!

What a disappointment. And it's an Ebook, so you can't even resell it as an electronic copy. =/.

Save yourself.

**EDIT**

I noticed that quite a few people have visited so I thought I'd add some additional information. After all, it's not fair for me to not let you make your own decision whether or not to buy this. I've compiled all the colors that are given. Many may very well think that these are worth the money. I wish I had known what I was buying so I'll tell you what you basically get.

There are 2-3 recipes on the bases for foundation, eyeshadow, blush, and a lipstick one along with properties of each additive. The page that says "Eyeliner", HA. It tells you to add water to your eyeshadow. Who didn't know that?

As for these colors, really, you don't need somebody to tell you how much color to add to get what color, experiment! (In small quantities first of course =P).

To be honest, I haven't looked at the book since the day I bought it.
One last note, is that you have to download/ print out the book within a time limit because the link does expire! (to keep people from giving it away I suppose).

Have Fun!

Skin 79 Diamond BB Cream

So another BB cream sampple that I picked up is the Skin 79 Diamond. Again I apologize for the pics that are blurry.

COLOR: I liked this color better than the Missha Perfect Cover No. 23, it seemed to add a brighter quality to my face rather than bringing it down. As you can see, it has an ever so slight sheen.

COVERAGE: To me it's about the same as the Missha Perfect Cover. Medium coverage, not enough for my skin's high coverage demands

TEXTURE: A bit dryer than the Missha

LAST: It stayed on pretty well throughout the day. Either due to that or my oily glands, but my scars are considerably less noticable than when it was first applied. Unfortuantly this seems to not hold oil as well as the Missha did, as is shown by the 12 hr test.

OVERALL: it's ok, but I think I still like the Missha better for some reason. Not as cakey feeling.

The sparkles in the photo where it says Powder, are from my powder, not the bb cream lol.

Missha Perfect Cover No. 23 BB Cream

BB Cream has become a very hot item, so I thought I'd give it a shot myself. My first sample was the Missha Perfect Cover No. 23. I got a couple other samples and hopefully I'll be able to review and swatch those as well if they haven't dried out (pics at end).

Check out my review of No.21 as well~

SKIN: mildy oily T-zone, I can go a normal day without blotting, but I do end up with a slight sheen,

COLOR: I think I might have done better to buy a lighter shade. I consider myself averagely toned, but the gray-ish cast of the bb cream gave me, well a darker gray-ish cast. (EDIT: I have determined that I am MAC NW15-20). True to word though, it does sort of blend into your skin over time, so if I had to make do with the 23 I don't think it would be too bad.

COVERAGE: My primary target is my acne scars. The cream provides medium coverage, not enough to hide the scars but enough to soften them 1/2 - 2/3 the way. I get better coverage with a little of my L'oreal concealer with translucent powder on top. Because I have so many scars, I prefer to hide most of them, so I threw translucent powder on top to help further soften the look.

FEEL: It goes on like a moisturizer. It's not oily and doesn't dry out the skin.

LAST: The coverage wore a bit thinner towards the end of 12 hrs, but at least it didn't disappear! =P

OVERALL: As my goal was to cover my scars, I don't think I'll be buying the full size. This would be good for people who need to cover slight discolorations or something. Other than that, I think the product has a pretty decent formula.



PICS: I know some of the pics are kinda blurry, and I'm sorry for that, but at least you can sort of get the point. Click to make the picture bigger (and more detailed).





*EDIT 11.10.2011*

I learned that apparently the gray-ish cast in most BB creams is to help cancel out the natural yellow in asians --> make you more pale. haha.

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY: Well technically still buying, but I think I still have some sample packets of No.23 and a friend of mine says she might still have some sample packets of No.21, so if you're unsure about the color you can grab one, or both of these for $1.50/each. I found that trying out little samples of BB cream really does help in choosing because you can see the color, texture and the formulation instead of plopping $15-30 for a bottle of something that doesn't work for you. Unfortunately we can't do combined shipping because we live in two different areas. LET ME KNOW BY EMAIL: juicedmang0s@gmail.com if interested so we can take stock and and see if we can get you some samples ;D.

Respecting Elders

Seems to me like these days manners and etc. have just gone down the drain. I blame poor education. I remember how growing up in the Alabama public school system, every single day whenever we would exit the classroom we would use a different rule. For example, "First person hold the door for everyone" or "Hold the door open for the person behind you" or even "Boys hold the door for girls". In addition there were various etiquettes embedded into our daily routine. i had a second grade teacher who would ask "Would you mind a cookie?" This statement seems simple, but if you said "yes" as in "yes i would like a cookie", then you wouldn't get one because the question was if you minded it.

Being raised in an asian family also has impressed upon me the importance of manners. Mainly with respect to those older or in higher positions. It wasn't just my parents who would yell at me if I took a steamed bun before any of the adults had moved to take one, but other asian adults in the community would also harshly reprimand me if they felt that due respect wasn't being given. Once this lady asked me who my Chinese school teacher was. I wasn't too sure of my teacher's name so I hesitated before adding the mandatory "teacher" at the end. In that instant, she jumped on me and scolded "xxx teacher you must always add the proper salutation at the end, NEVER call an adult by just their name etc etc".

These days, kids think they're all that. They don't have an ounce of respect because they don't see a need to. They think that there's nothing for them to gain from others. And perhaps that's true. Perhaps they are eons smarter than the previous generation. But what they should be respecting is not how great the previous generation is (or isn't), but their efforts and hard work to get to where they are. They should respect them for being able to make it thus far in life instead of quitting half way.

I also blame parents for their children's lack. Parents these days are so obsessed with not hurting their "sensitive" kids that they end up holding no authority over their children. The kids end up thinking "if I do this, what are you going to do to me? nothing." I'm not saying that you should beat your kids until they're black and blue and have concussions from being slammed against the wall, but a spanking or two never killed anyone. Seriously. What is sending your kid to their room gonna do? That's not a punishment.

I have a prime example in my family. I was, well you already know, brought up in a way that I value manners extremely. My brother on the other hand was never reprimanded, and instead has to have his every move coaxed out of him. Any threats of punishment went forgotten. Now, I live with someone who constantly talks back and makes smart aleck-y comments either out loud or under his breath. He thinks that I get yelled at less, but it's only because I move to correct my mistake while he just sits there in sloth. Truthfully, if we looked at it ratio-wise I get jumped on like white on rice every time while he goes off scott free most of the time. What kind of world is it where a kid loudly calls their parent an "Idiot" to their friends on a cell phone just because they're too lazy to make a schedule of their summer plans that their parent has required of them before they go to the park (and thus can't go)? It's rediculous.

He also calls my parents friends by their first names, which to me is mind boggling, especially since he doesn't even personally know them. Truely a disgusting generation.