amedrops:

Harry Potter Nail Polish | The Nude/Brown Collection

I stayed at home sick again today. I always seem to get sick on Mondays…it really sucks because I hate missing school. Catching up, if only one day, is hell. Anyway, I just wanted to make a quick post on a few skin care products my mum bought me before going back to drinking my warm fluids and lying on my used-Kleenex infested bed.

All of these products are from a Chinese brand called Limi, which is targeted towards young adults. I usually buy from this brand because their products are really gentle, perfect if you have crazily sensitive skin as I do.

The first thing I got is a Red Wine Arousing SOS Mask. I mentioned it once in this post about how it clears and rejuvenates my skin. They have changed the packaging since I bought it last and it is so cute!

Next, I decided to try their Honey Sweet line. I got a nourishing lotion, nourshing essence and nourishing cream. The lotion is actually a toner -Engrish fail-. I don’t know if these products are available outside of China but if they are, I highly recommend them! Besides, who could resist the super cute packaging?

amedrops:

Harry Potter Nail Polish | The Blue Collection

So cool! I want all of these shades. Do they exist in real life? Personally, I think that O.P.I. should have made a Harry Potter collection.

But tastes like crap

My mother woke me up at ungodly hours this morning saying we were going to go out but after I finished my make up, she informed our plans would be delayed until tomorrow. Too bad, since I decided to play around with some eyeshadow, something I never do. I’m more of a concealer, eyebrows, liner, mascara & lip balm girl. However, I DO like how it turned out. I might invest time in eyeshadow more in the future!

Now I’m off to torture myself with more SAT prep.

I‘ve decided to complete my internship before posting my thoughts on it so that I an give a better evalutation.

Today, I entertained the daughter of my mum’s friend who just returned from one month in Canada. The daughter is my autistic friend whom I mentioned in a previous post when blogging about Mozart and the Whale. Whenever we hang out, it breaks my heart  to see how people treat her. To society, no matter how accepting a community boasts itself to be, she will always be an outsider. No one wants to take a break from their own lives to take time to get to know her, to read beyond the cover and blurb of her story. She is denied the right of a normal life because people are unwilling to let go of their stubborn standards and open their minds to try and comprehend her’s. Today, I took her for manicures. Obviously, the manicurists realized her condition. Instead of giving her the same respect and suck up compliments as they did me, they were completely rude and short-tempered when it came to her. I felt a flash of rage momentarily blind my eyes, however unwilling to make a scene, I kept myself busy by engaging myself in conversation with my friend. Yet society claims to have ridden itself of open discrimination.

{The rest of the photos are from dinner, my main course & dessert. However, the entree and salad were also delicious!}

A few days ago, when my mum and I went downtown to do some shopping, she also picked up a bottle of nail polish from Sephora. Since Sephora isn’t exactly popular in China, it’s the first purchase I’ve made, well my mum made it but regardless, I was quite disappointed. I’m not familiar with the quality of Sephora’s products but from my experience with their nail polish, I can’t say I’ll be running back for more.

Don’t get me wrong, the colour is beautiful and vivid, not to mention the nail polish glides on with ease and one coat is pretty much enough. However, it chips so damn easily. So maybe it was the water, or maybe the chlorine, but after applying the nail polish for roughly one hour, I went swimming and came back with it chipping. It there a rule against contact with water after freshly applied nail polish? So I’m going to reapply it and test it out to see if it’s the nail polish or the water. Has anyone seen similar results with Sephora’s nail polish?

While you want to impress that hottie lifeguard at the pool with your luxurious locks swirling before his eyes, swimming in chlorine with your hair unprotected is the fastest detour to split ends, frizz and even green hair!

Pre-swim Steps to Protect Hair and Prevent Chlorine Hair Damage

1. Wet Hair Before Going in the Pool
   Prior to entering the swimming pool, you should thoroughly wet the hair. When hair absorbs un-chlorinated water there is less chance for major absorption of the chlorine into the hair shaft.
2. Apply Hair Conditioner Before Swimming
   Secondly you should apply a hair conditioner for moisture and protection before any chlorine damage has a chance to occur.
3. Use a Swimmer’s Cap
   A swimmers cap, although not the most fashionable, should be placed over your wet, conditioned hair. This is in fact the best way to protect and prevent chlorine damage. If you however choose not to use the swimmers cap then you will want to treat the hair post swim with the additional tips below.

My bangs are so unmanageable when air dried xP BUT I’m trying to refrain from blow drying as much as possible in hopes that my hair can be restored to it’s primary school brilliance (: Good night Tumblr.

Last winter holidays, I went through a fitness/health craze and reaped drastic and visible benefits from my lifestyle. Not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally. I felt positive, pretty, confident and like the world was my oyster (no seriously). it was lovely, feeling like you could be anyone and do anything. However, as school started, yoga was replaced with all-nighters, whole wheats with oil and clear skin with breakouts. I resumed my exercise on-and-off for the past few weeks of summer but my little trip around China somewhat messed up my routine. Returning, I gave myself a week “off” in which I indulged in Tumblr, late nights and other bad habits. After reading a wonderfully inspirational post on Tumblr, I became determined to swing my life back on track. Lately, I’ve just been bitter and moody which is probably the result of my late nights and it’s affecting my relationship with my family. I don’t want to be the insensitive, selfish teenager. I want to be the caring sister and the understanding daughter. To do so, I realize it’s not about changing who I am, because I’m a cheerful soul by nature, but changing aspects of my life to bring out the best in me.

Workout Plan

• Ohbabyitsnatalie’s 7 day challenge.
• Seventeen’s 5 week challenge.
• Daily yoga.
• Swim 5 days a week.
• Two workouts focusing on a specific body part daily
• Daily crunches.
• & non-workout workouts throughout the day.

I haven’t yet developed much of an eating plan because: A. My mum does the cooking B. It is difficult to find western ingredients in China C. I’m not trying to lose weight because, truthfully, I need to gain some I’m naturally thin from my Asian genes but thin does not by any means translate into toned or healthy. Those are what I need to work on. For the most part, however, I’m definitely not ever going to skip out breakfast to sleep in anymore.

Of course, purely exercise and good food won’t be enough. I need to add in other activities such as reading, writing and take those classes I mentioned in a previous post.

If your life is like mine, I sincerely hope you think about taking these challenges with me We can provide each other with support and even track each other’s progress!

Be beautiful & live to your potential.

(My favourite necklaces and my nails)

So yesterday, my obsessive-compulsive self went through all my posts to edit their tags. Now they are more organized. I used to tag my posts randomly..

I should be studying really, but for some reason, Tumblr keeps whispering in my ear and stealing my time :(