Author Archives: Jen

About Jen

Twenty-something recent college graduate, with no concrete plans whatsoever.

Upcycle an empty glass candle!

Last month’s empties included a finished Bath & Body Works mini Market Peach candle (the 4oz one). It’s the perfect size to hold toothpicks, so I’ve repurposed it! It’s really easy to do, so I thought I’d do a post on it. :)

Freezing the wax makes it much easier to remove. The only hard part is getting the metal bottom of the wick out; that was glued down and took some muscle to remove. Also, it still smells like peach even after I’ve washed it out!

Bath & Body Works 3-Wick candles are a good size for Q-Tips. I’m almost done with a 3-Wick, so that will be its next purpose in life! Between my sister and I, we’ve somehow amassed seven 3-Wick candles in two months. I don’t even know how that happened. (Yes, I do. They’re having their semi-annual sale right now.)

Lastly, does anyone know if Bath & Body Works does a recycling program? I think it’d be awesome if you could bring in, say, three empty candle jars and get $5 off a purchase of a new one. They could even do an “eco-friendly” line where they simply relabel the old jars and fill it up with a new candle and sell them at a discount, instead of making new glass jars every time they come up with a new scent. Thoughts? I think I’m going to tweet at them!

Mani Sunday (on Monday): Polka dots!

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These past couple of days have been rough. Since I work at both a bar and a retail store at the mall, I’ve started to dread the weekends. While everyone else is out enjoying themselves, having a drink or going shopping, I’m working long hours and busting my @$$. But I gotta make that dolla, ya know?

I’m still in a transition period with my workspace, and in turn, my workflow for the blog. I finally bought a new lens that I really like and I’m excited to learn how to use it. I’ve also bought a remote control and I dug out my mom’s old tripod. Improving my humble little space on the web!

Anyway, onto the mani!!

Polka dots!

I was really pleased with how it came out. At first, the perfectionist in me fretted over the dots not being uniform size and being unevenly spaced. But from afar, you really can’t tell.

Here it is in different lighting/white balance:

Pink: Zoya Kimber (mini from their Pinterest trio, summer 2012)
White: Essie Blanc

It looks more red than pink, especially in the first picture. It reminds me of Minnie Mouse. Or the mushrooms from Super Mario.

Anything cute on your nails? What’s new on your end of the keyboard?

P.S. I’ve joined Tumblr!! Follow me? Right now, there’s not much there, but I think I’ll mostly reblog pretty pictures (except I already do that on Pinterest). Or maybe it’ll just be another platform to publish my WordPress posts, and it’ll go the same way as my practically defunct Facebook page. I’m working on my social media game one step at a time.

May 2013 Empties

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This month I gave away more things than I used up, so the “empties” don’t look like much.

Nuance Full Effect Ultra-Volumizing mascara – It started to dry out and flake, so I decided to retire it. It was just okay. I probably won’t buy it again.

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden (mini) – It started to get watery and oily, which I don’t think it’s supposed to do. When I’ve used it in the past, shadows would still crease. So. Goodbye!

Lancome eye cream that went with this “eye veil” – I finally used it up. I had depotted it into a screw top jar.

Bath & Body Works candle in Market Peach (mini) – This scent was really nice. It didn’t smell artificial at all; in fact, my mouth would water when I smelled this because it really did smell like a fresh peach! As you can see, I’ve repurposed it into a toothpick holder. I have a post planned for that, but it’s nothing groundbreaking. You freeze it, remove the leftover wax, wash it, then pop the toothpicks in. Genius, I know.

The Body Shop shower gel in Strawberry – About a year or so ago, I bought a set of 5 mini body washes, and this is the second to the last one left. I like to keep the bottles and remove the labels so I can refill them when I go traveling.

Not pictured:

The Body Shop Nature’s Minerals kabuki brush – I bought a lot of new brushes lately, and I decided that I didn’t need two of these after all. I gave this to my sister.

NYX single eyeshadow in Hunter Green
Too Faced Galaxy eyeshadow in Deep Space
Urban Decay eyeshadow in Uzi
Rimmel Play Fast nail polish in Camouflage – I gave these to my sister’s friend, Lena.

Burt’s Bees Mango & Orange Energizing Body Bar – I originally bought this to wash my makeup brushes. However, it leaves a slight residue on the bristles when they’re dry, so I started using Dr. Bronner’s castile soap with a bit of olive oil and I’ve found that it works much better. I used up the body bar in the shower.

May’s count:
Full size: 7
Travel size: 3
Sample size: 1

Year-to-date:
Full size: 49
Travel size: 21
Sample size: 15

Also, I’ve actually used quite a number of tiny samples from The Body Shop, but that’s because… I just started a part-time job there! Most of these samples were one-time uses, so I didn’t bother to count them. On that same note, I’ve bought more makeup. They require that I wear a full face of makeup by The Body Shop, and while I have a lot of products, I didn’t necessarily have enough products from The Body Shop to be able to do a full face. So those were “necessary” purchases.

If you’re keeping track of your monthly empties, how’s your progress?

Away We Go: Ciutadella, Menorca

Mani Sunday: Just a Little Dangerous… I Don’t Bite!

2013 Makeup Gifts

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This is a follow-up to the 2013 Makeup Pickups post. I guess you could call these my “cheating” pickups.” My birthday was in February, so in order to get around my ban, I asked for makeup for presents. Because, duh.

I didn’t get too many new things, right? >.>

Krystal got me Tarte’s Amazonian Clay Blush in Tipsy, which I’ve been wanting since forever. I’m really really glad I asked for it too, even if it was cheating. I love this blush and I’ve used it quite a bit since I got it.

Jackie got me all the Urban Decay stuff. Both urbandecay.com and allcosmeticswholesale.com were having pretty sweet sales on the UD stuff, and she was already going to pick up a few things for herself, so I asked for a few for me. Jumped through that loophole like nobody’s business!

She got me the cream shadow in Suburbia, the eyeshadow in Woodstock, and the Stardust eyeshadows in Moon Spoon and Diamond Dog. Unlike Tipsy, I can’t say I’ve used these much. I haven’t even touched Woodstock, other than swatching it. Still, I like them all because they’re still “new” to me, and I’m determined to use them eventually!

Swatches to come!

This concludes all my makeup pickups this year. I’ve also gotten a fair number of brushes as well, but I’m not counting them because they don’t expire the way makeup products do. I’ll do a few posts on my new brushes too. Found some new loves!

What have you picked up recently? Loving it? Regretting it?

Away We Go: Finding love on London’s Millenium Bridge

Swatches: theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer and Overshadows (Work is Overrated and No Money, No Honey)

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Heyyy, so remember how I was supposed to go through all that I’ve bought in 2013 and post swatches of them? Well, here’s the last of them, from Hautelook’s theBalm sale ages ago.

theBalm’s Mary-Lou Manizer. This is a nice highlight powder that I didn’t actually end up counting as a “purchase I need to cancel out” because I don’t have any other highlighters… or so I thought. I forgot about Too Faced’s Snow Bunny, which is labeled as a “winter bronzer” but works nicely as a highlighter as well. Whatever, it doesn’t hurt to have two.

Anyway, in the above swatches, the left is one swipe and the right is blended out. This is pretty pigmented and frosty, so a light touch is needed. It’s also really powdery. I swirled too vigorously with my brush one day and it kicked up way too much powder.

I’ve been using it for the past few months whenever I do my makeup, and I like the effect. In my opinion, highlighters aren’t a “must-have” (especially since I live in Hawaii and therefore have a tendency to get shiny halfway through the day) but when I do use them, the difference is noticeable, yet subtle.

theBalm’s Overshadows in Work is Overrated and No Money, No Honey. The two loose shadows that I bought on impulse. I think I’ve used them maybe once each since I got them in February. Haha.

Incidentally, theBalm was on Hautelook again recently, and I was tempted to buy the other two Overshadows just so I could “complete the collection.” I refrained this time, though! I really don’t need another eyeshadow, loose or pressed, for the rest of my life.

In other news, I’m trying out a new format for my product swatches. I’m using PicFrame and adding a bit of text. Still fudging with it as I go along. What do you guys think? Any tips or suggestions?

April 2013 empties

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Okay. I know I’ve been MIA for quite some time now. Since I’ve been back, I’ve hardly been on my computer (surprising, I know). I’m in the process of rearranging my desk in the living room, so things are a bit chaotic right now. It’s still not done.

Also, I came down with a particularly nasty cold last night. Body aches, fever, sore throat. Way to take the wind out of my sails, immune system.

Anyway, I wanted to post this for ages before it became time for May’s empties, because uhh… yeah, April was a long time ago. Whoops.

Plus White 5 Minute Speed Whitening Gel – I finished the “Pre-Whitening Rinse” last month and I decided to be honest with myself, because I won’t use this now that the rinse is gone. Not that I really believe you NEED to use the rinse beforehand, but it just gives me less of a reason to use it. I don’t like using it in the first place; it feels gross.

Josie Maran Argan Cleansing Oil – This was a sample from Sephora that I finished up so I could use it to decant some body oil to take with me to London. I really liked this cleanser. I’ll admit, I was skeptical about it at first because it’s an oil, but my face felt clean and nicely moisturized after I used it. It also smells nice. I haven’t checked the price of a full sized bottle, though, and it’s probably out of my price range right now. Oh well.

China Glaze black crackle polish – I think the official name is Black Mesh or something, but I already threw the bottle away, so there’s no knowing! It got thick and goopy and I did pour nail polish thinner to revive it, but I’m over the crackle trend. Goodbye.

Lancome Rénergie Eye Multiple Action – This was supposed to be a “veil” of SPF and light coverage for your eye area after the eye cream. There was a lot of it, and as a concealer, I didn’t like using it. It was a sample, so I don’t feel bad about throwing it away. I’ve actually finished up the eye cream too, but it was in the month of May.

Michael Kors EDP – The last of the teeny tiny perfume samples! I liked this one, I think. Not enough to buy a full sized one, but it was nice. I’m horrible at this mini review thing, sorry.

NOT PICTURED:

Urban Decay primer potion in Greed (mini) – I gave this to my sister.

Smashbox crease brush – Gave this to Krystal.

Make Up For Ever eye makeup remover (mini) – The blue one. It was pretty good, actually. It came in a MUFE set that I bought a few years ago. I don’t have a picture of it because the bottle was made of hard plastic, and one day while trying to squeeze it, it EXPLODED IN MY FACE. So I had to decant the rest into a travel jar.

L’Oreal VIP Status, Sephora by OPI I’m With Brad (2 nail polishes) – Gave to my sister.

Cargo Hands of Hope palette (9) – Gave to my sister. This was actually her Christmas present to me one year. It would seem that I have a habit of giving presents back to people, but it’s not because I’m ungrateful, I swear! It’s that I thought I wanted/needed it, and now I realize that I don’t, so if someone else (that happens to be the person who gave it to me) has a use of it, then all for the better. Right?

April’s count:
Full size: 14
Travel size: 3
Sample size: 2

Year-to-date:
Full size: 42
Travel size: 18
Sample size: 14

Okay, feeling crappy now. Less whining, more sleeping!

I’m back!

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I got back to Hawaii on Tuesday (which felt like the longest day ever because I was traveling back in time zones). I’m glad to be home, but it really sucks that Albert and I are once again 7000+ miles away from each other. This time, we won’t be able to be together until October. Boo. :(

It’s going to take me awhile to get back into the swing of things. When I left, my desk was a huge disaster, and it’s only gotten a little better since then.

I’ll start posting again soon. How have you guys been?

barely organized chaos

because life is funner that way.