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.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Rock & Republic Blushes in Kinky and Call Me, and Eyeshadows in Ambition, Brink, and Lawsuit

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.

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


This past weekend Rock  & Republic had their sample sale, Friday to Sunday. I didn't mention it on here but if you follow my Twitter, you would have known about this event. I decided at last minute to go on Friday. Let me tell you how insane the event was! The line to purchase took more than 2 hours!!! I stood in line for 2.5 hours. Here's what I got...

Thursday, November 11, 2010

CSN Stores Product Review, Tobey's Birthday, and Hello Kitty

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


Speaking of CSN Stores and being a Preferred Blogger, I had a post long time ago about an upcoming product review. The post was written in July. At that time, I really wanted this Hello Kitty bag but it was out of stock. I waited month after month, and they never restocked. :/ Since the code ends in December and knowing people will start buying for Christmas, I just ordered... lol~ I wanted to get things before it's sold out. :P I wasn't too sure what to order until I saw this!
I never knew such a thing existed!... lol~ I thought it'll be perfect for Tobey! Whenever he sleeps outside, he just lays on the cement. I heard from people at the dog park it's not good for their bones especially when they get older. They will get arthritis! :( Since Tobey isn't getting younger, I decided to get this for our backyard.

Can I tell you how amazing the shipment is!?!? I order on Sunday and it arrived on Tuesday... woo hoo~
Here's how the box looked. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the parts of the pet bed. I had to go tutor a student, and my dad assembled the parts while I was gone... lol~
Here's how the pet bed looks when it's assembled. I tried to take a picture of the pet bed without Tobey, but he's a picture hog... lol~ :P
Here's how Tobey looks laying on the bed. Can I tell you he only laid on this bed only for the picture! :/ After the picture, he didn't touch the bed once... wahhh~ What a punk!... lol~ :P

This is such a good bed! The material is well-made that is suppose to last a life time, as well as, you can hose down to clean the fabric. I can't see this getting ruined any time soon!... yippie~ The only thing is I wish the corners were fold-able so you can carry this thing with you... hehe~ It's not fun carrying this thing around the backyard so Tobey can lay on it. :P

Thank you CSN Stores for sending this product so I can review it!


Speaking of Tobey, it was his 11th birthday this past Sunday! Yes, I know he's getting old but he still acts like a puppy... hehe~ :)
Here's Tobey with my birthday gift.
I gave him a squeaky, blue octopus. It's so cute how he only chews on the head!... lol~ :X

Here's a video of him opening my birthday gift to him!!! You have to see what a crack up he is... hehe~ ;)
Not only that, but his niece and nephew bought him a birthday gift as well! :) He got spoiled that day... hehe~


I'm going to end with a Hello Kitty key cap I got about couple of weeks ago... hehe~
You wouldn't guess where I got it!... hehe~ Out of all places, I got this from a Forever21 store... wheee~ I think it's really adorable. :)

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post are bought with my own money except for the pet bed, and Tobey's birthday gift from his niece and nephew. The pet bed was a product review for CSN Stores. I am not affiliated with any company nor getting paid to advertise any products. This post is written with my honest opinion.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Flat Iron and What Do You Think About Them?

Growing up, I felt blessed with straight hair because friends would always tell me they wished they're hair would be as straight as mine. One day at the Korean mall, a lady approached me and asked if I wanted a straight perm. Let me tell you I was in shocked when she told me that!... lol~ In my mind, I was thinking what is she on. I have straight hair. :P That day I looked in the mirror and to my realization, I realized it's not that straight compared to people who got straight perm. That is when I first considered getting a flat iron. My first flat iron was a cheap one from Costco... hehe~ I didn't care if it was an expensive brand as long as it worked. Of course, I moved onto an expensive brand and let me tell you what a difference! Have you ever looked through hair straightener reviews?

While looking through the reviews, I noticed #1 and #3 are both from the same brand and that #3 is best hair straightener for curly hair.
I might not have curly hair, but I think it would be great to straighten my semi-straight hair. It'll also be great to use it to curl my hair.

What flat iron do you own? Do you use it to straighten, curl, or both? What do you think about flat iron?

Disclaimer: The product mentioned in this post is a picture taken from a website. I am not affiliated with this company nor getting paid to advertise. I am however getting a flat iron to post this. This post is written with my honest opinion.

Monday, November 8, 2010

$100 Gift Certificate to CSN Stores Giveaway

Giveaway is closed!!!

CSN Stores gave me an opportunity to review products or have a giveaway. I decided I will have another giveaway... wheee~ How nice of them to offer a wonderful giveaway!!! They are going to give one of my readers a $100 gift certificate, one time used code, to use on their website. CSN Stores have more than 200 online stores from briefcase, pet products, bags, to cooking supplies. Here are some pictures from their website.
How cute is this! No matter how old I get, I still enjoy my cute things... hehe~
How cute is that outfit! Imagine Tobey dressed up as Superman... hehe~ He would kill me with his super dog power! :X
This is a cute, simple cosmetic bag from Kathy Van Zeeland.
This is a 5,000 piece puzzle. I've always been into puzzles, and this looks pretty fun and it's 5,000 pieces!... wheee~

This is some of the pictures from their website. I can go on, but it will be endless since they carry more than 200 stores... hehe~ If you haven't heard of CSN Stores, you definitely should check them out. They are a Canadian website but they ship to US. With $100 gift certificate, you can get a lot of good products or one nice one.

How to enter:
1. You must be a follower of my blog. PLEASE do not just follow for the giveaway and then once the giveaway is over, stop following. It's just not polite!!!
2. Open to US and Canada residents.
3. You must be 18 years or older. If you're younger than 18, please get your parent's permission.
4. You must leave a comment "CSN Stores rock" and how you will use this gift certificate to this post with a blogger/google username. If you do not, then you will not be entered.
5. You must agree to leave your name and e-mail with CSN Stores.
6. The giveaway will end in two weeks, 11/21/10 11:59 PST (pacific time).
7. The winner will be drawn with a random number generator. You have 48 hours to contact me [aly_4realz (at) hotmail (dot) com] or else a new winner be chose.

Extra entries:
1. Become a fan of CSN Stores on Facebook. You also need to comment the name you used to like them on Facebook. (+1).
2. Follow CSN Stores on Twitter. You also need to comment the name you used to follow them on Twitter. (+1).
3. Follow me on Twitter (+1) and re-tweet the giveaway, mention giveaway and link to my blog, on Twitter (+1). You also need to comment the name you used to follow me on Twitter and/or link of the tweet.
4. Blog about the giveaway on the side linking to my giveaway (+1) and/or post, not somewhere hidden, the giveaway linking to my giveaway (+3). You also need to comment the blog link and tell me where you posted the giveaway.

Thank you CSN Stores for sponsoring this wonderful giveaway!!!

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post are taken from CSN Stores website. I am not affiliated with this company nor getting paid to advertise products. This post is written with my honest opinion.
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