Valentine's Day Nails

Happy Valentine's Day EVERYONE =)
Please know it doesn't matter if you don't have a Valentine this year or not. It's really not a big deal. Regardless if you have one or not, you are already loved by a bunch of people and I bet there is someone who admires you from afar that you may not be aware of or... you are aware of them, but they are not your type. hehe
Anywhoo, I wanted to show you guys what I did with my nails yesterday in preparation for today.

I will tell you what the "Y" is for later in this post.  But first I will tell you what I used-  1 coat of China Glaze's Strong Adhesion Bast Coat, 2 coats of China Glaze's "White on White" polish, Konad's "Wine Red" special polish and one of Konad's nail art stamp plates.

The "White on White" nail polish didn't go on as smoothly as it did when I used "For Audrey." I'm not sure why. It went on uneven, but the second coat evened it out. It didn't seem like it took that long for it to dry, but I didn't realize that until later... so after that, I stamped on the Konad design and finished off with the China Glaze "Fast Freeze Quick Dry" because you don't paint it on, you put a drop on your fingers and it's supposed to dry your polish. I used the "Fast Freeze Quick Dry" instead of their other fast dry top coat because of the Konad special polish. Every time I have ever put on a brush on top coat, it has made the stamp art run... OMG and you know how annoying that is! So I've learned my lesson and will use the "drops" from now on if I use anything with special polish. I let this dry for about half an hour or so before I hopped into the shower. Only to realize then, that the nail polish wasn't completely dry inside, because my polish was shifting and the design was getting kinda squashed from all the layers beneath that were not dry. I have learned another lesson. I will put a drying top coat before I put any design on my nails.

 Sorry this is a little blurry, but you can still make out the letters right? Can you guess who's initials these belong to =)
Hint: It's a Kpop Singer, who's also a part of one of Korea's biggest boy bands.

 For those of you that guessed TaeYang. You are right!!

To Taeyang- Thanks babe for coming to San Francisco and making one of hopes come true =)

He is and will forever be my Korean first love. Which is why for Valentine's Day 2014, I rock his initials on my ring fingers. Ringa Linga biatches!

I hope you will all have a great and safe day.

Star Product- Moroccan Oil

This is my review on Moroccan Oil. It is the best out there! And believe me, I’ve tried just about everything, nothing compares as of yet. I’ve had sales people talk me into believing and purchasing a whole bunch of Kerastase products and not one of them compares to this. I will review the Kerastase products another time. I've gone thru about 3 bottles of Moroccan Oil to date and is the only hair product I’ve repurchased. I have to also add that it is on the pricey side and the manufacturers don’t budge on the price because they know their product is THAT good. So when you go to salons and they are having a sale- this one will be excluded.

What is also nice about the product is that you only need a little. I like to apply it when my hair is 50-75% dry. If you apply when it’s completely dry, it might make your hair a bit greasy. Again, you only need a small amount. If you have thick hair like I do, I would suggest you use about a quarter size amount. I would only apply it at the ends and the left over oil on your hands, I would work it up to the scalp. I wouldn’t spend too much time on the scalp, unless you like the grease ball look.

When comparing this to Josie Maran’s Argan Oil, this also takes the gold. Josie Maran’s Argan Oil is amazing as a moisturizer for skin but when applied to the hair, the hair becomes sticky and stiff. It’s actually really weird. I’ve applied the same to my hand and my hand became SUPER soft, which is why I decided to buy it in the first place. And yes I have tried the Josie Maran’s Argan Oil for Hair also. 

 

Even my mom likes it and that’s saying a lot, since she is usually ba-humbug about everything. She didn’t even comment on the price! It’s totally worth every penny.

Have you tried this? What was your result? Did you find something comparable or better? Please feel free to leave me any questions or comments. 

2" Curling Iron Review

I have been on the search for a good 2” curling iron for a few months now. I had one a few years back and I liked it a lot but after a few years, the curls didn’t hold the same. So I decided to hunt for a new one now and  I’m seriously thinking about just replacing one of the screws to make the clip on the old barrel hold better. Here is what I found in my search. There are not a lot of 2” curling irons out there in the market. I have only found 2 and both don’t hold my curls like the old one.  Here are the two I found. They are both made by Hot Tools, who also makes Helen of Troy products.

 

When I used the gold one, the curls will soften the whole night and at the end look like I just used a blowdryer and a round brush to blow the ends in. The gold one you get more texture to your hair and it’s not completely smooth and noticeable like the purple one.

When I used the purple one, the curls will just DIE and become pretty straight, but not stick straight. What is good about the purple one is that your hair does look smooth, healthy and not at all frizzy.

The main difference and most important thing to me is that the gold one holds the curl a bit longer than the purple one. I’ve tried both with and without product in my hair.

I really wanted to like the purple one after the sales rep at Ulta said it was the best one and it says on the box “Stylist Preferred.” However, disappointingly, it just didn’t work out for me. It’s good that Ulta has a 60-day return policy and I was able to return it easily. I WISH that Hot Tools’ Pink Titanium line made a 2” curling iron. I am not sure why it doesn’t because that line, hands down, is the BEST and holds my curls till the next wash! And this is WITHOUT product! I absolutely LOVE it.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Hope your year will be bright and prosperous, that you will get everything you want this year!

P. S. Please keep in mind that these products were reviewed with asian hair that has a beachy, wavy texture.