20 Beauty Facts/Confessions

I've been tagged on Facebook by a friend to discuss 20 fun facts about me in regards to beauty :-)  Those who know me know that makeup holds special spot in my heart...so here we go!

1. I was not allowed to wear makeup until I was 15, and even then it was only lip gloss and mascara.  I was and am always fascinated by watching others put makeup on or doing their hair.
2. Growing up, my mom and grandma weren't much of makeup mavens.  My grandma never wore makeup in my presence.  I loved how she described how blush was lovingly applied to her cheeks in two little red circles for her wedding day in the late 40s in China.  My mom's makeup and skincare routine: pluck stray hairs from eyebrows; religiously moisturize night and day, occasional pinky shade of lipstick and cream blush.  THAT'S IT.
3. Although I have proper skincare products, I am not as diligent as I should in terms of moisturizing and protecting (SPF) as I should.  I shall make it a resolution.  BUT, I always take care to remove all my makeup and wash my face before I go to bed.  NEVER SLEEP IN YOUR MAKEUP!!!
4. After high school I wasn't terribly concerned about make, not for a long time.  I had jobs that it wasn't practical to wear, and I couldn't really feasibly be splurging on it often anyway.  Thinking of it now, that was a bit of a sad life.  Not that I couldn't afford makeup, but because of my work schedule, the lack of interaction with friends and such.
5. When I was around 12 or 13, I desperately wanted to shave my legs--they were pretty hairy.  I was embarrassed at gym class.  So, I decided enough was enough...and snuck a new disposable razor from my grandpa's supply and lathered up with some conditioner and shaved it all off.  Mom soon noticed, but it had been done... ;-)
6. I did my own makeup for my senior prom.  Luckily, I didn't have much of a concern in the pimple department.  In the early teens, I had some tiny little pimples along my hairline but they cleared up after a couple years.  I do occasionally still get a couple, but mostly as a PMS thing.  Anyway, prom look consisted of mascara, purple shade, a little powder and pink gloss.  Hahaha.  I think I looked great! ;-)  I loved that I looked natural, but still pretty--not like the full crazy faces like teens today going to prom.
7. When I was a teen, it was wildly popular to pluck your eyebrows into very thin arches.  My natural brows cover a large part of area, but I have cleaned up under the current brows as the hairs there are very sparse.  At the time, I wanted to have thin, skinny brows but my mom said no.  Thankfully I listened to her and never plucked them into two tiny lines!  I know some ladies who over-plucked back in the day and now struggle to always fill in their brows now, especially since fuller brows are in.
8. I was never much of a foundation person.  I always just used tinted moisturizers and BB creams.  I don't really have any imperfections to cover, but I have noticed a little redness on my cheeks and sometimes on my nose and below my mouth.
9. I am not a fan of the full-coverage foundation look.  A sheerer coverage will allow your freckles show, and I feel that it is less work.  The more "perfect" of a canvas is, the more you have to do to bring life to your face: a lot of blush, contour, highlight that looks pretty time consuming to do.
10. Even though I love makeup now, I don't often wear it.  I may wear it once or twice a week, and I like watch YouTube videos to try new techniques.  Sometimes the beauty vloggers/bloggers will convince me to buy certain products but not too often.  I will try to make a particular look/technique work with what I have already, which I think many people would consider it a sizable collection.
11. I use a variety of drugstore and "mid-range" cosmetics.  I would consider the likes of Chanel or YSL to be "luxury" brands of cosmetics.  Most of my higher end products are ones that can be purchased at Macy's or Sephora/Ulta.
12. I was not overly concerned about makeup until recent years.  Now I have more opportunities to do some fun looks, afford some products and have time to experiment.  I feel I am obsessed now!
13. My first "high-end" palette was the Glamour to Go by Too Faced.  Too Faced has remained my favorite brand, I have several of their eye palettes.  The other brand that basically fills out my palette collection is Urban Decay.  Skincare is by Shiseido, love the cream cleanser.  I think I may need to consider a more affordable brand as it is just getting washed down the drain.  I shall consider Asian Biore cream cleansers--I did use them as a teen and loved them but I can't read Chinese so mom had to pick out for me lol.
14. The eyeshadow palette that I reach for most often has to be Too Faced Natural Eyes.  MY FAVORITE!!!  Second most commonly used palette is Urban Decay's original Naked.
15. Drugstore brands I like: NYX, Maybelline for mascara, Revlon.  Since I hardly ever wear makeup, you won't see me buying too many face products--they take me forever to finish!  I love NYX and Revlon lipsticks.  I do have ONE MAC lipstick which is gorgeous, but I love some variety and lots of different reds and pinks to choose from--the Round lipsticks from NYX and Revlon allows for lots of choices at a reasonable price.
16. I'm also a nail polish junkie!  When I was younger, I had a lot of Revlon and Sally Hansen polish but my go-tos nowadays in the nail department are: Zoya, China Glaze and OPI.  I tend to go for fuchsia/deep brighter pinks, reds, purples, deep blues, greens and some black/gray shades.  I do have one orange shade, but no yellow.  I don't think I've found a yellow that I think would look good on me.  Generally I prefer brights and jewel tones.  I try to like pastels, but they don't seem to look right.  Also, I love shimmer and glitter, you'll find that my collection does not have many cream colors.
17. I didn't learn how to curl my hair until I was well into my 20s.  My sister, she got the makeup/beauty bug a lot time ago but she wasn't very forthcoming in helping or sharing her secrets!
18. I love watching beauty videos online, but I don't think I have really found any beauty blogger who has similar features--even though I have some yellow-tones, I feel I am pretty neutral--I tend to choose silver toned jewelry over gold.  Gold looks washed out on me.  Anyway, I love watching Promise Phan, Michelle Phan, Makeup by Tiffany D, From Head to Toe, DulceCandy.  So if there are any Asian beauty gurus to watch who have more of an almond eye shape rather than monolid...let me know!
19. I just had one blush color until recently!  I splurged and purchased a NARS blush in Amour and have been using that for a long time.  The NARS is definitely worth the price, it is very pigmented and a little goes a long way so one compact will last a long time.  I recently ordered some NYX powder blushes.  At a fraction of the price, I feel the colors are gorgeous and easy to wear, you can build it.  Fun, flushed cheeks for $5 each color.
20. I can never justify spending more than $5 on a tube/pot of lipgloss.  I am horrible at not losing them so if I picked a up fancy one, I'd be so sad if I lost it!
21. BONUS!  Makeup faux pas that leave me wanting to wipe someone's face and helping them with their makeup:
1. Messy eyeliner.
2. Any makeup that is not well-blended.
3. Exaggerated and rather unnatural looking brows that have been drawn on.
4. Lips that are overdrawn, horribly exaggerated.
5. Red or bright yellow eyeshadow...don't know what is about them that I can't stand!

Spring Update

I've said it before, but I am quite possibly the worst blogger ever!

The last few weeks have given me plenty of time time think, reflect and re-prioritize.  I've been sick--tummy troubles with no explanation just yet.  I have an appointment with my primary care doctor next Thursday after having visited urgent care over a week ago.  The day in which I have answers can't come soon enough.  I've had stomach pains in the past but they never lasted more than a couple days, and I'd be good as new.  But not this time.

During this time, I really learned some new things about me:

• Despite the fact that I struggle with eating well and finding myself at the gym regularly at times, I think I have finally developed some good, healthy habits.  I actually missed prepping my meals and going to the gym.
• The body may be fragile at times, but it is actually very resilient.  I realize there are more painful situations in life, but this time, it has really tested me.  I still feel pretty weak and tired due to not much exercise and generally poor diet, but I have some crazy urge to strap on the sports bra and shoes and head out to do something!
• Taking the simple things in life for granted will never happen again.  I have a newfound appreciation for staying home, getting comfy, and possibly, do something I don't often get to do.  It's called getting my room in order.  I have a room in our home that the husband lovingly refers to as the Hen Den.  If I sewed, it would be my sewing room.  Or crafting room, if I crafted.  I guess you can say it's my "home office."  Okay, technically, it's not done yet but it is a lot tidier than it was before.  Surely one is familiar with the whole, "I don't have time to clean up the house for last minute guests, so let's throw everything in this one room/closet to do later" kind of thing but that moment of later is open-ended.
• Spending time with your friends, telling stories and jokes over a simple meal is quite possibly one of my favorite pastimes.  I love that I am finally surrounded by people who want the same things in life--and that we're willing to support each in our individual endeavors.  We had some friends over for our birthday celebration.  I don't mind celebrating both our birthdays together...I mean, it's only 11 days apart!
• I still wanted to cook, even though my stomach hurt and I had very little appetite.  Clearly, my fitness goals have been put aside until I felt better.  I know I still have to eat--and for 2 weeks I was only eating rice porridge and bananas, the only things that I could eat without too much pain.  Health is my priority, now more than ever.  When you're in bed in the fetal position due to the intense pain, you get kind of desperate for relief.  I was getting a bit concerned that I might end up malnourished since I was eating the same old, same old for what seemed like forever.

I am hopeful today.  Being positive and looking for ways to reduce stress are the only ways that can really help this situation, especially since there are no answers yet.

Anyway, being sad never cured anything so here are some happy thoughts:

I made this cake for the birthday celebration.  Chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, and strawberry jam filling.  I got the idea for the decorations from this blog post.  Of course, I got this crazy idea the morning of our birthday brunch.  Probably should have practiced beforehand--I wasn't sure if it was going to look good but the friends seemed to like it.  It isn't bad but it could be a lot neater.  The frosting was probably a little thinner than desired for this type of decor.  Either way, we were so glad to have spent time with our friends :-)

I do love me some pretty roses.  We have three rose bushes in front of our house.  I have no green thumb whatsoever but apparently rose bushes are quite sturdy.  Or, maybe I am lucky!  The white rose bush is a tall and slender plant, there aren't usually a lot of blossoms at any given time, not like the two other bushes.  Either way, I snapped this pic this morning of a gorgeous white rose.  The picture is the epitome of spring in my book.  Growth.  Renewal.  Cleansing.  Changing my mindset of how I look at myself has definitely changed me for the better.  I see the beauty in things and people more than I ever did.  Learning to see the good, rather than criticize the bad is a great lesson for all.  I'm going to try to uplift and inspire others, rather than judge them.

Since this is an update, there must be goals.  This coming Monday I am resuming my workout schedule.  I have already resumed my healthy eating habits and dealing with the pain.  I feel getting back to my routine will be good for me.  At least until my doctor tells me otherwise.  Between now and July 2, I need to get my act together in terms of sticking with my year's fitness goals.  I don't care to be a flabby blob any longer!  I love how my body is shaping up, how much stronger I am.  Sure, there is an opportunity to look hot in a swimsuit this year.  2014 is the year I finally come out of my shell and wear a bikini in public.  Yes, it's going to happen!

Also, I hope to carve out more time to blog.  I don't always find healthy ways to express myself, I think writing posts can help me sort my thoughts and straighten things out.  That's the name of the game: finding new, healthy habits, to improve myself more a little each day.

♥ ♥ ♥,

connie