Liebster Award Nomination

About a week or so ago, a lovely blogger named SIYU nominated me for the Libster Award. This award exists only on the internet, and is given to bloggers by other bloggers. I’ve only been blogging for about a month and all I can say is, thank you. There are thousands, and thousands of beauty/lifestyle bloggers out there and for that I’m very thankful and honored for you to to click on my blog. It’s truly amazing how an online community such as this can be so loving and supporting.

1 | THE RULES

1. Thank the nominator
2. Display the award
3. Nominate 10 more bloggers with 10 new questions
4. Answer the new questions provided by the nominator
5. Notify the nominees

2 | THE ANSWERS

1. Instagram, twitter, or Facebook? (leave links to your account!)
• Instagram! I love capturing moments whether it’s food, or a gorgeous scenery. I have 2 accounts jichristine my personal account and rhythmofji my blogging account. It’s fairly new and I’m trying to gain an audience, if you like what you see please follow me to see more!

2. Who/what inspires you?
• Everything is an inspiration. If you look at the world as the incredible place it is, then each moment is a feast.

3. What is something you would never do, even if you were given a million dollars?
• Never will I EVER hurt an animal. I truly believe animals have purer souls than human beings, I despise people who have that mentality to think hurting any living creature is ok. Seriously, go to hell and f**k yourself.

4. If you had a million dollars, what is the first thing you’d spend that money on?
• I’ll would most likely give half of my winnings to my Dad, and then splurge on a loft. I’ve always wanted a huge open living space that was refurbished from either an old warehouse or fire station.

5. Why did you start blogging?
• I started blogging because I felt like it was time. I’ve always wanted to start one since I was 17 but I was way to shy to start one. I relish the world of beauty tutorials/reviews, hauls, fashion, all that jazz. But as I got older, my favorite beauty gurus (in my opinion!) started to lose what I loved about them. Reviewing or showing different looks by using products that I can get hold of myself was no longer their style. I wanted to blog to show that you don’t need that $30 eyeliner to achieve a beautiful cat eye, or a $100 small bottle of serum to get radiant skin. I want to give real reviews to people that are like me. Also, going back to my instagram answer, I really enjoy photography and blogging is just another platform for me to share what I see through my camera.

6. Would you rather spend money on shoes, handbags, jewelry, makeup, or clothes?
• Most likely on all of them, no? lol But if I had to it would most likely handbags. I don’t like spending a lot of money on clothes or shoes but I will splurge on a beautiful handcrafted leather handbag.

7. Favorite quotation?
• “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma-which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow know what you truly want to become.” – Steve Jobs (listen to his commencement speech here)

8. Biggest pet peeve?
• When someone tells me what to do in way that it seems like they’re commanding me to do it. I dislike that A LOT.

9. What fictional character do you wish you could meet?
• Sailor Moon. Duh.

10. What is(are) your must-have makeup product(s)?
• My Younique 3D fiber lash mascara! Amazing stuff!! Here’s my review if you haven’t read it yet. (are those mine?!)
Anastasia Brow Gel because every girl should have eyebrows that are on fleeeeeeek.

3 | THE (NEW) QUESTIONS

1. What is your favorite food?
2. If you could only chose one beauty product to wear for the rest of your life, what would it be?
3. As a blogger, what is the best advice you can give for someone who is starting out?
4. If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go and who would you go with?
5. Summer, winter, spring, or fall?
6. Sephora or ULTA?
7. If you had only one wish and it can’t be about money, what would you wish for?
8. When you’re stressed or overwhelmed, what do you like to do to destress?
9. Favorite place to eat?
10. If you could meet a celebrity who would it be?

4 | THE NOMINEES

bokikwok
jessthorburn
heyehren
charlemilyox
funlittlejoys
valsvougexo
infinitehipsterblogger
oliveaolive
ataleofpooandkan
nospaceformilk

Thank you again SIYU for nominating me with your kind words. I love the fact that we all support each other and I hope we continue gaining inspiration while pushing ourselves to be better bloggers.

Xoxo, Ji

Skin-ogrpahy Regime

Hey loves! Today, I would like to talk about 2 of my favorite products that I’ve been using relentlessly. I work about 50 hours a week, which wreaks havoc on my skin. But first, a little info about my skin type. It sucks. Got blessed with the best combo in the world, oily AND dryness. Thanks Mom! I’m mostly oily around my T-zone area especially on my forehead and the bridge of my nose and super dry on the corners of my nose, corners of the mouth and chin area. With that being said, I RELY on masks to help in the skin department. First off, Bioré Self Heating One Minute Mask with natural charcoal. I’m already a huge fan of Bioré products but a recent trip to Wally World (Walmart) made me a bigger fan. I’m absolutely IN LOOOVE with this! I wasn’t expecting it to get “hot” immediately when applied even though it does say heating on the package. What it does:

“Gives you purified pores in just 1 minute. This unique formula heats on contact with water to open pores & draw out pore-clogging dirt and oil, then cools leaving skin tingly smooth & refreshed.”

excuse the towel o_O

• With Natural Charcoal, known for its ability to draw out impurities & trap them.

Verdict? I 100% agree every single word. In order to open your pores you need heat. Throw in some charcoal magic to draw out all that nasty oil and dirt that I’ve been hoarding for the last week is a big bonus!

This isn’t a leave on mask which I didn’t realize until I got home to try this baby out. First, apply onto a clean face. This mask is activated by water so leave the face wet. Using dry hands, apply the product onto your face. You’ll immediately feel that charcoal doing its thang. Massage while spreading the product evenly for about 1 minute (I did it for 2. Seriously, it felt soo good). After however many minutes has passed, throughly rinse with water. Giving me that deep cleaning treatment result at a high end spa.

Depending on how my skin is after a long week of being a slave in the glorious restaurant industry, I would’ve just followed up with my normal skin care regime. But I had a bad week and I needed that extra R&R. This might sound crazy but have you ever heard of snail slime? Yes, you read that right…SNAIL SLIME. It’s all the rage in South Korea, the capital of great skincare. Snail extract has shown to enhance skin cell regeneration. Before you say, “ewww” and start judging think about this…lipstick contains fish scales and bird droppings are in spa facials. Now you can add glorious snail slime to your skin care collection!

Studies have shown that applying products with snail extract showed significantly reduced acne scarring, acne prevention, dryness and hyper pigmentation. I found this mask (shockingly) at Forever21 for $1.90!! I was obviously hesitant because F21 isn’t known for skincare products but I decided to go on and purchase a couple of these. So far, they’re my go to masks. I’ve been using these 1-2 times a week for the last month and a half. Like I said before, I have a lot of redness around my jawline and dry spots around my mouth are which has been dramatically reduced. Or it could be a placebo effect…..either way its only $1.90.

The mask itself is pretty good quality, the cotton is soft but very durable so it won’t rip like tissue paper. There’s a generous amount of serum that it’s soaked in so you won’t be worrying about if you have enough product to cover your entire face. I usually leave the mask on for about 15 minutes then rub the excess throughout my face down to my neck.

no makeup mondays

You can buy the charcoal mask at Walmart and if you can’t find the snail mask at your local F21 store here’s the link to buy it online. Click Here Remember, good skin is the best foundation for your makeup.

P.S. No snail were hurt in the process.

Current Loves with Reviews

I’m not a person who would go and spend a fortune on just one product. There’s no way! Have you SEEN the gas prices lately? Not to mention, I’m definitely one those people who would gladly pay $15 for a hipster burger than a lipstick. Sorry, food over anything. But I was in dire need for a new foundation, and couple other beauty products. I’ve been using them for about a month now so I guess it’s safe to say that I can give my honest opinion. I’m not a beauty guru, just a girl with honest (sometimes TOO honest) opinion. Yay! My first review post! *happy dance*

Tarte Amazonian Clay Foundation SPF 15
With constant research and spending a life time watching beauty gurus review about this or that foundation. I settled with this. I was going back and fourth about getting this sucker because of the price whopping $40! Those damn Youtube beauty videos! I ended up biting the bullet since my last foundation was a drugstore brand, I wanted to mix it up. First off, it claims to be full coverage, and oil free. Definitely, full coverage without that “cakey” feel which is a major plus!

I have redness around my jawline and cheekbones, not to mention some freckles, and uneven skin tone, that I was blessed with. Thank you, genetics! Anyway, this bad boy covers alllllllllllllllllll of my perfect imperfections. Oil free, that’s a hit or miss as weird as that sounds. Whenever I’m at work (I’m a server by the way) it tends to get “shinny” look after awhile. Again, this could be me cause I’m running around the restaurant getting my job done to feed those impatient hungry customers. On days when I’m off like a normal human, no shine. Just that beautiful matte, satin finish. Overall, very impressed with this product. Good job Tarte!

Designer Impostors Light Blue D&G
The infamous Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue. We all know this scent, right ladies? That clean, fresh, linen, smell that just makes you feel so complete whenever you walk out that door for a day out. But do YOU like paying $60 when you run out of this sweet liquid? Did you say, “hell to the no!”? Well, then my virtual friends! I give you Designer Impostors! I stumbled on this while I was at Walmart. I was like, “WHAAAAA?!” opened it, sprayed it, smelled it, saw the price ($7) and then I was like…
Mmm..hmm. Girl, it smells just like the real thing! My sister was really shocked on how it smelled exactly like it’s higher end cousin that she went to go buy a bottle for herself. If you want a good dupe then this is a definite must try. Love you, Wally World.

Maybelline Colossal Mascara Waterproof #7
I’m blessed with straight, very stubborn, short lashes. THANKS MOM! As much as I love those falsies, I really wanted to be on the more natural side. My best friend has the same eyelash handicap as me. But one day over lunch I noticed these full, voluminous, lengthy, Kim Kardashian of lashes on her. And when she said she wasn’t wearing any falsies….I damn near tackled her to tell me what she used. To my already shocked face imagine what I looked like when I found out it was a drugstore product. I went to my local Target and threw money at the cashier. BUUUUUUUUT there’s no happy ending to my lash story…Unlike my friend, I didn’t get those Kim K lashes. I ended up with very clumpy, spidery, of freak show. Maybe I used too much product? So the next day I was very careful with the amount of product on that wand thingy. Still the same result (less clumpy tho!) I figured maybe it’s my eyelash curler? Either way, I was sooooo bummed out. Buy or no buy? I would say buy, cause I see what it does do. It does give you the length and thickness as promised. Just be careful on how much you put on, little does go a long way.

Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser Primer
Probably my least favorite purchase out of the 4. I figured it was a good alternative to Benefits POREfessional Primer. That’s one of the down falls on being a penny pincher on beauty products, sometimes you get what you pay for. In all honesty I don’t hate the product, I still use it from time to time but definitely not during work hours. I noticed that I get soooo greasy looking after x amount of hours. On the positive side, it’s very light weight and easy to apply. The product itself comes out clear, so no added color which I like. I think I would recommend this product for people who has drier skin than oily. Does it fill in pores? I honestly couldn’t tell but then again I don’t have very large pores to begin with. I just wanted my foundation to stay on longer but instead I got greasy cake face. Boo.

Wow, doing reviews is hard work! But I’ve been dying to do some of these for a really long time. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I liked writing it. Also, I should put it out there that I’m not a grammar pirate. So if you see any misuse of any punctuation marks and you’re thinking, “omg she didn’t put a comma here or a semi colon there” well, here’s a potato

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