Just Another Manic Monday

New Year's resolutions are overrated, yet everyone always makes them.  It makes no sense for people to make impossible resolutions if they can't stick to it for the first 72 hours of the new year.  I really didn't decide to make new resolutions once it struck midnight on December 31.  Instead, I told myself to keep up on the small changes I've been making on my day-to-day activities.

Here are my resolutions, which I'll change to daily goals, for 2013:

1. Eat breakfast!  I was never a breakfast gal.  The only time where I would really enjoy breakfast would be on weekends when my dad would cook an enormous meal with corn beef, spam, eggs, and fried rice.  Nowadays, I'll cook omelettes or cinnamon pancakes if I'm in the mood.  When I'm not in the mood, I just forget about breakfast and stuff my face at lunch.  There came a point where I wanted to change my habit which I slowly have been.  I feed my daughter breakfast everyday, so I too should eat breakfast.  My husband and daughter are breakfast people and I'm starting to become one.  For the past few weeks, I've been eating either oatmeal (which I absolutely hated as a kid) or toast with hot chocolate.  With the new year, I told my husband to constantly remind me to eat breakfast.  It's the most important meal of the day!

2. Be active and patient!  I've been out of a job since the end of 2011.  For most of 2012, I was spending most of my days on the couch watching tv or Youtube videos.  I decided to get myself active again by doing some type of exercise at least 20-30 minutes a day.  This doesn't mean my goal for 2013 is to lose wait.  Rather, I just want to get the blood flowing throughout the day.  Plus it's not easy to play with a 4-year-old when you're sitting on the couch.  So that's the active part.  Patience is towards my daughter.  Now that she's growing into the toddler "habits" of constant activities and play time, I need to be able to keep up with her.  She's constantly on the go wanting to do or play with something different.  I want to be a good parent and discipline her without being harsh.  I definitely don't want to come across as the parent that she should be afraid of.  I just need to learn how to not let out my frustration on her.

3. Out with the new, in with the old!  Wait, isn't is "out with the old, in with the new"?  This goal pertains to makeup only.  2012 was a great year for me to learn more about cosmetics in which I spent a ton of money on buying the items.  Heck, I still have makeup products sitting in boxes and bags in my closet.  I told myself, "If I want a new item, I need to finish something else first".  Plus, by the time I buy a certain item, it'll be old news already.  The beauty industry is a constant revolving door especially with the limited editions.  Once it hits the shelves, it'll be gone in the blink of an eye.  So, I need to finish my current (and new, unopened) items before I go buy some more.  It's not easy to buy makeup when you have no income...

So there you have it!  My resolutions (or daily goals) for 2013.  It'd be great to know what are yours by leaving a comment below <3

Nail of the Day: Jelly Glitz

As an avid user of Facebook who constantly checks up on beauty updates, there was one status that caught my attention and I'm glad it did.  Birchbox (@birchbox) posted a "how to" article about a new nail design called "jelly sandwich".  They enlisted a new contributor, Anna Norman of Glitter, She Wrote, and she explained what jelly sandwich nails are.  It's a very odd name to use as a nail technique, but it made sense after reading through her description.

Basically, this is a new way of wearing glitter.  I remember I would rock the glitter nail polish from grade school into middle school.  I mean, who didn't?  Every girl loves glitter- heck, there was a movie named "Glitter" (but let's not go there).  This technique is great for any person who loves to experiment with fun nail designs, even if it means having to calm down your shaky hand.

All you need are 2 polishes.  The jelly polish serves as the bread while the glitter is in between like jelly.  Your base color is translucent to give that sheer, glossy effect.  My base color of choice is OPI Melon of Troy, a beautiful melon/orange/coral mixture with a sheen, pearly shine.  My jelly color is actually what was used on this nail technique.  If you saw the Birchbox FB status and/or link, the color on the ring finger is Milani Gems.  The chunky, yet colorful glitter nail polish is easy to maneuver if you want the glitter to have a gradient effect.

Now, to the technique: after applying a base coat, apply 2 coats of your jelly polish.  Once it dries, do 1 coat of glitter.  Once that dries, do an additional coat of jelly polish over the glitter in order to trap the glitter, give your nail depth and tone down the glitter.  If you want to skip this step, simply apply a top coat then you're done!

This technique is quite simple and is a great way to experiment with different colors.  Happy painting!

Just Another Manic Monday

Hey friends!  With a great response to my "Manic Monday" a few weeks ago, I decided to continue using Mondays as my day to highlight new makeup items.  I did a spontaneous shopping spree at my local drugstore and spent most of my time at the Maybelline section.  I wanted to try the Color Plush eyeshadow quads that are horizontal.  I own a few of the Expertwear eyeshadow quads and I don't like the quality.  The ones that I have contain gold glitter and turned out to be too glittery.  The pay off isn't worth the aggravation of continuous application.  So I finally decided to pick up a few of the Color Plush quads (thank goodness for the "buy 1, get 1 50% off" deal).

Maybelline Eye Studio Color Plush Silk Eyeshadow in Irresistibly Ivy (90) is very rich in pigmentation and is great to wear as we start to transition into fall.  The colors are soft on application and can be worn together or alone.  Once I started applying the colors onto my eyes, the shades reminded me of the feathers of a peacock.

With flash

No flash

L-R: Light, shimmered champagne beige; orange-copper with gold shimmer;
mixture of sea green and teal with gold shimmer; and deep red-copper.

Using a flat eye shadow brush, I brushed the copper color over my eyelid twice so that the color is really compacted on.  Using the flip side of the same brush, I applied the red-copper color on the outer half of my lid.  With a crease brush, I applied the teal on the outer part of my crease then blended inwards.  For this part, you can apply more color on the crease depending on how much you want the color to stand out.  Finally, I applied the champagne color under my brows and on the inner corners of my eyes.  Overall, I was quite impressed with the teal because if you apply it on top of the red, it turns to a darker green.  I suggest using an eyelid primer since the colors are soft and silky.

Have you used this specific color or others?  Let me know!