Monday, December 20, 2010

Karmin Salon Pro G3 Salon Pro Touramaline Hair Straightening Flat Iron

About a month ago I did a pre-post about "Flat Irons and What You Think About Them?" For strangers who are new to flat irons, as well as people who are in search of new flat irons; there are a list of top rated flat irons. The best flat iron from the list is Karmin G3 Salon Pro Touramaline Hair Straightening Flat Iron.
I was lucky enough to receive this flat iron to review on my blog. :) It came in a black box.
Inside the box, it came with a sleek flat iron with instruction. Now I had this for some time, I think it's about time I review it... hehe~
Product Review: Karmin Salon Pro G3 Salon Pro Tourmaline Hair Straightening Flat Iron

Where can you purchase this: Hair Products Pro website
Price: $129.95 with free shipping

Made in China

Description on the website: Introducing the New Karmin G3 Salon Pro Hair Styling Iron, the Ultimate Hair Styling Tool. Whether you choose to curl, flip, straighten or add volume and body, the G3 is the only stying iron you will ever need. The Karmin Salon Pro is perfect for both the professional as well as home users with features such as flash quick heating, a tangle-free swivel cord and temperature settings for all hair types. Styling your hair is virtually effortless and results are smooth, silky, shiny hair. The ceramic plates are infused with tourmaline which together work to produce more negative ions. Negative ions work to seal the hairs cuticle for smoother, frizz free results as well as lock in moisture, protect color and add shine to your hair. Infrared heat works to heat the heat the hair from the inside out providing healthier styling, less damage and faster styling.
My thoughts: To be honest, I was in debate about getting a flat iron since I have straight hair. Of course, it's not super, duper straight but good enough... hehe~ I thought it didn't hurt since most of the time I take a shower at nights and sleep on my head. I wake up in the morning and it's more wavy than straight. I thought it'll be nice to straighten that up... hehe~ :)
Here's how my hair looks normally. By the way, I didn't attend Boston University. It's a sweatshirt given to me by my sister-in-law... hehe~ Before I show the end results, I want to talk about the flat iron. It's a gorgeous, shiny, very sleek looking, black with on/off and adjustable temperature buttons. I noticed all the flat irons or mostly the recent ones have the on/off and adjustable temperature buttons next to the ceramic plates. I don't know why to be honest. It's not a bother but I worry towards the end with my clumsiness, I might touch the plates... lol~ :X Even though the flat iron is shiny and sleek looking, you will never see fingerprints on it. That is a plus! :)

Speaking of on/off and adjustable buttons, I love that there are degrees of temperature. The lightest is 180 and the hottest is 450. If you have thin hair, I definitely don't recommend 450. For someone like me with thick hair, 450 is fine... hehe~ To be honest, I prefer the 450 for the quick straightening. I cold straighten my hair within 5-10 minutes... wheee~

I love that the flat iron has a swivel cord! I have old curling irons and hair dryers (I need a new one!) without swivel cords. Let me tell you it's a hot mess... lol~ Without swivel cords, the cords get tangle up and it's hard to untangle *sigh*.

I also noticed the ceramic plates move while you squeeze it. I use to own a cheap flat iron until I gave it to my friend (it's still good by the way). You cannot move the plates. Maybe because it's not ceramic... hehe~ Having movable plates is a good thing because it's easy to use on the hair.

Now for the hair results...
Here's the result after straightening it! It's very sleek, straight, and shiny. I love how quick you can straighten your hair!... wheee~ Before straightening it, I used a heat protection spray from TRESemme. I love that spray! It smells so good on my hair. :) Don't forget to use a heat protection spray before you straighten your hair!!! ;)
After I straightened my hair, I wanted to see the results of curling it. I didn't want major curls but more on the wavy side like a lot of Asian celebrities and models. It came out good but I couldn't take good pictures of it... hehe~ Sorry! This is the best one out of all the pictures I took. :X

Pros:
* Sleek,shiny black color flat iron; it looks professional.
* Movable ceramic plates.
* Different degrees of temperature, 180-450.
* Swivel cord.
* It straightens hairs decently and quickly.
* It curls really well.

Cons:
* On/off and temperature button next to the ceramic plates.

Would I buy this again: Yes, but I hope I don't have too. I hope it lasts a long time... hehe~
Rating:   4/5 Tobey's Paws

Thank you and I really did love the flat iron!!! :)

Disclaimer: The product mentioned in this post were given to me to review. I am not affiliated with any company nor getting paid to advertise any products. This post is written with my honest opinion.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Yes to Cucumbers Wipes Soothing Hypoallergenic Facial Towelettes

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post are bought with my money except Yes to Cucumbers and Kathy Van Zeeland. I am not affiliated with the companies nor getting paid to advertise the products. This post is written with my honest opinion.

I'm going to finally review the makeup wipes I received in the swag bag from the Beautylish event.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Make Up For Ever HD Blush in Nip Slip

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post are bought with my money. I am not affiliated with the companies nor getting paid to advertise the products. This post is written with my honest opinion.

I bought two MUFE blushes during the Sephora Friends & Family sale. I think it's about time I review one of them... hehe~

Monday, December 6, 2010

Cosline Inside Refrigerator Ice Mask in Green Tea

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post is bought with my money. I am not affiliated with the companies nor getting paid to advertise the products. This post is written with my honest opinion.

I apologize for not being good with blogging the last two weeks!!! The first week, Thanksgiving, I had family over. Last week (still this week for me while I type... hehe~), things came upon that I had to handle. Sorry!


I bought this sheet mask, Cosline Inside Refrigerator Ice Mask, from the Korean Festival I attended in October. I tried it last month but I didn't have a chance to review it on my blog. I always say it's better late than never... hehe~ ;)

Monday, November 29, 2010

Out The Door and Orly Haul

Happy belated Thanksgiving! I am so sorry I didn't get to wish you guys a Thanksgiving earlier. My brother and his family decided to come on Tuesday instead of Wednesday making things a little complicated... lol~ Whenever they come, they stay at my dad's place and I lose everything I own including the computer *sigh*. :X It's nice to finally have my computer!... wheee~ I hope you guys had a good Thanksgiving and went shopping on Black Friday!!! :)


Several weeks ago Sally Beauty had an online promotion (I mentioned things like this on my twitter so follow) and decided to take part in it... lol~ I heard good stuff about Out The Door top coat and I needed a new top coat since I finished my Seche Vite.
Product Review: INM Out The Door Fastin Drying Top Coat

Where can you purchase this: Sally Beauty, Sally Beauty website, online, anywhere they sell top coats
Price: $4.99 at Sally Beauty with Beauty Club Card, without the card it is $5.49 for 15 mL/0.5 fl oz. (I got mine for 50 cents with the codes)

Made in USA

Description on the website: INM Out The Door Fast Drying Top Coat is America's #1 super fast drying top coat! Out The Door's long wearing, high gloss finish will not yellow. Use alone or over any polish to accelerate the drying time.
Ingredients:
My thoughts: I was really excited to try this and hoped it dried as fast as Seche Vite. I am one of those people who cannot just sit there and wait for the nail polish to dry!... lol~ :X Whenever I use Seche Vite top coat, it dries within a minute. I can touch it and it has that dry feel. With Out The Door, I actually had to wait 5 minutes to have that dry feel. It dries fast, but not as fast as Seche Vite.

When it comes to gloss, it's not bad. I can see the shine but it's minimum compared to Seche Vite. I personally think Seche Vite makes everything really gloss. This has to do with personal taste, but both doesn't bother me. I think Out The Door will be better for matte nail polishes who wants a little gloss. If you want really glossy nails then I say go for Seche Vite... hehe~

Here's how the brush looks for Out The Door. I cannot remember if Seche Vite was thicker, thinner, or the same. :/ The brush is a typical size compared to other nail polishes, but it applies pretty quick. Since it's very liquidity when you apply it, it spread quickly. I like it quick the top coat is!... hehe~ :)

Pros:
* Dries quicker than most top coats; 5 minutes.
* Gives a minimum gloss/shine.
* It spreads quickly.
* It is thin not thick.
* Doesn't chip that easily.

Cons:
* Doesn't dry as quick as I wish.

Would I buy this again: Probably not because it dries too slow for my personality... lol~ :P
Rating:  4/5 Tobey's Paws


Speaking of nail polishes, I should show you my recent Orly nail polishes I have collected. I received two from the L.A. Beautylish event.
The first one I got from the swag bag was It's Not Rocket Science.
The second one I got from the vase on the table was Out Of This World.

The last nail polish from Orly I got was through Seventeen magazine. You take the coupon either from the magazine or from their website to any Ulta stores. You have a chose between three Orly nail polishes.
I decided to get It's Up To Blue.

Please check out my other Orly nail polishes.

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post are bought with my own money except for three Orly nail polishes. I either got them free from an event I attended or a coupon. I am not affiliated with any company nor getting paid to advertise any products. This post is written with my honest opinion.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Winner of CSN Stores, Dak Do-ri-tang V. 2, and Hello Kitty

Wow!!! I wasn't expecting this many people entering the giveaway. Thank you all for entering and I wish every one of you guys could have won, but I can only choose one winner... hehe~ There will always be a next time! :)
I had 212 entries and the number chosen through random number generator was number 10! Now for the winner *drum roll*....

The winner is Jannie!

Congrats Jannie and you have 48 hours to contact me with your e-mail address. My e-mail is aly_4realz (at) hotmail (dot) com. If you don't contact me within 48  hours, I will announce a new winner.

Thank you CSN Stores for sponsoring this giveaway! :)


I noticed in Korean variety shows they add Ketchup on certain foods. I don't know when this trend started or how it came upon, but it intrigued my curiosity... lol~ For that reason, I decided to try it on chicken on potatoes, carrots, and onions (dak do-ri-tang) version 2. Yup, version 2! I have version 1 posted. You should try both version to see which one you like!... hehe~ ;)

If you need some guidance with the ingredients, you can check my Korean Cooking 101. ;)

Ingredients:
chicken
garlic
ginger
potatoes
carrots
onion
soy sauce
water
garlic salt
sugar
2 spoonful of red pepper powder

Step 1:
You don't have to do this part, but I did it because it's more healthier to eat. If it's frozen, I defrost it with water but you can use a microwave... hehe~ Once it's defrosted, I peel the skin off as much as I can. Then I boil it in water with ginger and garlic. I wait until the fat flow to the top. It takes about 10-15 minutes. I throw away the water and clean the chicken with water.

Step2:
You can use the same pot but make sure to clean it or use a new pot... hehe~ I put the chicken, chopped some potatoes, carrots, and onion.
I made the sauce while the chicken was boiling in Step 1. I added soy sauce, water, garlic salt, and sugar. The soy sauce and water ratio is about half and half. You add water to dilute the soy sauce. You don't want your chicken to be dark and salty in taste. Then you add sugar to sweeten the chicken. I usually taste the soy sauce and it seems good in my taste bud I know it's good enough... hehe~ :X Then at the end I add two spoonful of red pepper powder.
I dump the sauce into the pot... lol~ Then the stove onto high.
This picture doesn't represent my next step, but it's close enough... lol~ I learned through trial and error. As soon as you turn on the stove, add two spoonful of Ketchup. Don't wait towards the middle of cooking or the end. It helps in the beginning because it actually takes time for the Ketchup to be mixed into the chicken. If you do it in the middle or the end, you can taste the Ketchup which isn't the goal... lol~ :X You will cook about 30 minutes, and make sure to go back and mix it with a spoon every 5 minutes.
Here's the end product, but this isn't a good representation either... lol~ It will look for red if you mix the Ketchup in the beginning. ;)

Speaking of food, I thought I would upload a cake my brother bought... hehe~
If you are ever in this area, you need to try their cakes. It's the bomb!!!

King's Hawaiian Bakery & Restaurant
2808 Sepulveda Blvd.
Torrance, CA 90506

Their restaurant isn't bad either... hehe~ ;)


Growing up, I was never into Hello Kitty. I don't know what happened because I love Hello Kitty now!... lol~ :/ My favorite and even now is Pochacco, but I'm so digging Hello Kitty nowadays. I bought two recently. :X
I bought this sticker from Target. It's in their $1 section.
I got this from Burlington Coat Factory. It's so adorable!... wheee~ :)

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post are bought with my own money except for the gift certificate to CSN Stores. They sponsored the giveaway and I am not getting paid to do the giveaway. This post is written with my honest opinion.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Wet n Wild Palette in Night Elf and Makeover

Don't Forget to enter the $100 Gift Certificate Giveaway to CSN Stores! It ends 11/21/10 at 11:59 p.m. PST.


Wet n Wild ColorIcon holiday palettes has been the biggest thing at the moment. I know people who have driven to different drugstores looking for them. If you find them, don't think twice and grab them while you can... hehe~ ;)
I grabbed two out of the four; Sugar Plum Fairy and Night Elf. I will talk about Sugar Plum Fairy in another post... lol~ ;)
Night Elf is an unique palette because it has all random colors. I am very drawn to the middle color in the left column... lol~ Yes, I can hear couple of you say typical Aly color. :P
Here's the swatch of Night Elf. The top row is the left column and the bottom is the right. The bottom of the left column, top right on the swatch, people compared it to MAC eyeshadow in Club. Without a doubt after swatching the colors, I agreed until I used it on my eyes. I have MAC eyeshadow in Club and it's more brown on the eyes. I had to swatch the colors to see if it's a dupe.
The left one is from the Night Elf palette and the right one is MAC eyeshadow in Club. The one from Night Elf is more on the orange side or at least on my eyes... hehe~ MAC eyeshadow in Club is more on the brown side. I do NOT think they're a dupe. :P
The holiday palette comes with a mini-eyeliner pencil. The regular collection of ColorIcon doesn't come with one so it's a plus/freebie I guess you can say... hehe~
Here's a swatch of the eyeliner. I don't know if you can see the silver sparkles, but it is there. You can't really see the silver sparkles on the eyes unless you look really close up. Who will look that close to your eyes eh?... lol~ :P
This is how the eyeliner looks after rubbing it hard couple of times. The eyeliner is definitely not waterproof and it smudges, but overall it's not a bad eyeliner. It doesn't snug on your skin which is a good thing I think!... hehe~ I apply the eyeliner after I curl my lashes so the color won't smudge.
One thing bad about the palette is that the name of the palette is only on the box. I had to cut the name out and tape it on the back or else I will forget what the name is. Do you see it on the top?... lol~ :P
Here's the ingredients for the people who have certain allergies. The top one is the eyeshadow and the bottom one is the eyeliner.

With this palette, I came out with two looks... hehe~ They're nothing special and I haven't done an eye look in ages!
Look #1:
I used all the colors on the left column, as well as, the eyeliner pencil.
Look #2:
I used all the colors on the right column, top color on the left column, and the eyeliner pencil.
If you're scared of red like me, this might be an option... lol~ :P


Couple of weeks ago, I had an opportunity to do a makeover for a student I tutor. She needed to wear a lot of eyeliner, mascara, bright blush, and red lipstick for her choir performance.
Unfortunately, we were short in time I forgot to take a before picture. :/ Here's the after picture. I also did her hair. Her teacher wanted bangs out of the face. The hardest to do was the eyeliner and concealer. Since she's a mono-lid and I'm not, I never expected the eyeliner had to be this thick to show... hehe~ I also had to use a lot of concealer to hide her pimples. I think I did a decent job... lol~ :X


I received an e-mail and thought I would pass along. SkinCareRx is having a 25% off Friends and Family until December 31, 2010. Use the code "FF25." If you haven't visited SkinCareRx, you are definitely missing out! They carry lines from SkinMedica, Kinerase, to M.D. Forte.
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