About Me

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California, United States
Hi! Thanks for visiting ^_^ My social media platforms: Instagram: meowmier Youtube: http://goo.gl/U5SnNM (formerly under the username francesvlogs but I don't have access to that anymore). I don't really do videos anymore simply because I think blog posts are more informative. Hope you enjoyed your time here! :)

Monday, September 9, 2013

Za Plumper Lips Lipstick Review & Swatches

Hi guys!

Here are the swatches for the Za Plumper Lips lipsticks 膠原豐潤唇膏 =)  Not really a review since I really don't have that much to say about them. Very moisturizing and gives a very hydrated, shiny/watery finish. I simply adore the formula ^_^ And I don't know why but these lipsticks tend NOT to get on my teeth??? I had that problem with Revlon lip butters and other lipsticks, but I haven't noticed that with these. Maybe because I apply them differently??

My favorite application for these lipsticks is apply directly from the tube, blend and sheer out with my finger, then pat a little bit of lipstick on the middle part of my lips for more color pay-off.

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I own four of them. Left to right are 01, 04, 08, and 10. I threw the packaging away so I no longer have the English names =( The Chinese names on them are 耀眼寶石, 薔薇酒紅, 繽紛櫻桃, and 咖啡酒紅 respectively.

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From bottom to top: 01, 04, 08, 10.

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Very shiny finish.

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Bare lips. So much discoloration around my mouth lol.
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Ever since I got into lipsticks I always feel like I look like a dead zombie (dead zombie? haha as if zombies aren't already dead) without any lip color. Lol.


Color 01 (耀眼寶石)
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So at first I was very hesitant to purchase this color because of the visible glitters. The good thing is that the glitters are so fine that I don't even feel them. The bad thing is that when the lipstick wears off, you can see the glitters stuck to the lips -_-
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While the lipstick looks really dark in tube, it comes out quite sheer. This was after several swipes.

It does make my lips look quite plump, and I have to admit the glitters in this lipstick makes the finish looks quite luxurious.
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01 and 08 are quite similar except 01 has glitters and 08 is more pink/brighter.
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Color 04 (薔薇酒紅)
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04 is a nude pink.

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I thought I was going to love this color but it's my least favorite among the 4. With that said I'm not saying I don't like it, but in general I just don't prefer nude. Also I'm not sure if it's because of the color, but I did find that this lip color tend to accentuate my dry lips more than the other ones. Not too bad but more noticeable than the others.

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I think this will be a great color for smokey eyes because it still has some color and doesn't completely wash you out.



Color 08 (繽紛櫻桃)
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08 reminds me a bit of Revlon Lip Butter in 050 Berry Smoothie, but Za 08 has more purple than Revlon.

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I ADORE this color!



Color 10 (咖啡酒紅)
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Really love this brown, tawny red. I think it gives a very elegant, sophisticated look ^_^

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Overall I am very impressed with the quality of these lipsticks. I bought each for $10 USD, so if you can find these somewhere around that price, I'd say you found a good vendor!

Hope some of you found this post helpful/interesting ^_^



<3 Frances

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Vain post about missing my long hair -_-"

It's been about a little over a month since I got my haircut and I'm still kind of not used to it T_T It's just so short....

yeah I know I know, it's not even short hair, it's still long hair -_- but I've had super long hair for such a long time that I'm having a hard time adjusting to it... that and plus I wasn't prepared that my stylist would cut so much hair off...

Well... what can I say... I can't really blame my stylist, since I told her to feel free to get rid of all the dead ends... -__- little did I know just exactly how dead my hair is

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Apparently more than half of the length of my hair is dead fried -_-"""

So this is my hair now
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This was taken when I was about to drive home from the salon. (新竹, 可墨-- 阿瑛)

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I asked my stylist not to thin it out on the bottom, since I kind of like that heavy look =P that and I don't have that much hair so I'd like to retain the little volume I have XD While it doesn't look like I have any layers, my stylist put short layers underneath my top layers to give my hair more support and volume, while retaining the long length.

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Okay don't mind my hair flying in every direction in this picture... was taken at the beach. The point is the length XD


A lot of ppl tell me shorter hair suits me better since I am short, that long hair just drowns my frame. But I don't care I really miss long hair >_<

This is before
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Hair was almost to my belly button.

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This is the longest my hair has been for a while... 7 months without cutting? Plus last time I kept the length.

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This is closer to reality-- flatness XD


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This was actually after a trim so it was already shorter. I feel like I probably should've just kept it this way...
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Sometimes I liked how heavy it looked.

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I really miss my long hair, despite it being so annoyingly flat most of the time. Right after my stylist was done, I immediately remembered the reason why I know short hair would NOT suit me. my shoulders are quite broad and round in proportion to my head, and I also have relatively chubby arms... I NEED the volume in my head to balance my whole body proportion... otherwise I just look like a small head on top of a chubby body. Even if no one else would buy it, but I do believe having longer hair makes me look a lot slimmer.

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Ah, how I wish I have lots and lots and lots of hair! big big voluminous hair! This is my dream hair IMG_3875
Jenn is just too drop dead gorgeous with her mane of hair! Even though she got it cut short (which looks great on her) but I still love her long long hair.
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Her hair is just perfection. How can one be so perfect >.<


 Well... it will always grow back
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Emoticons taken from 洋蔥酷樂部. I needed those pictures to assist the writing of this post since apparently words are not enough anymore XD

Oh by the way, I recently saw Bubbi's new hair color and I LOVE it!!

I've always wanted ash brown but have long given up on it. There's just SO much red/bronze in my hair that it just REFUSES to turn ash no matter how much green/grey my stylist put in my hair dye (Or maybe it should be a slower/build-up process??) But it looks like this hair dye did an amazing job lightening/turning her hair into ash brown. Really want to give this a try. But for now I will wait until my hair grows longer before I dye it.


By the way, I just epilated for the first time in my life. It was very exciting. And awesome. Yeah I'm weird. XD

<3 Frances

Monday, September 2, 2013

August 2013 Favorites

Hello guys!

Time for another favorites post! ... Actually come to think of it, this is only my third O_O (after about 3 years on blogger... lol wow). How do ppl do monthly favorites?! I mean I try out a lot of products too... but maybe I'm just too lazy to obsess over anything lol. Anyway without further ado, let's see what products won my heart over the last few months ^_^

1. Dermalogica Skin Hydrating Masque
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I purchased this little sample size on Amazon after seeing Lisa Eldridge talk about this in her My Beauty Regime on Long Haul Flights video. I brought it with me for my flight to Taiwan and OMG it saved my skin. It is seriously hydrating... it kept my skin so comfortable throughout the whole flight (I'm talking about 12 hours straight of flying). My face didn't feel dried out at all at the end of the trip. However I didn't really use it as a mask... I used it as a moisturizer lol cuz my skin literally just ate it up cuz it was sooo dry. You can obviously use a thicker layer but I don't like the feeling of something sitting on my skin. Definitely recommend this for long haul flights/air-conditioned room/if you need a lot of hydration! Only downfall... it kind of smells like fish oil??? O_o not that it really matters since the product itself is awesome hehe.


2. Bubbi Powder Brush and Multi Brush
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I only used powder foundation this summer since my skin just couldn't stand anything else (my fav is Lancome, which I already talked about here so I'm not gonna repeat myself). It's actually really funny because for the last year or two I was obsessed with using BB creams for the summer (SKIN79 to be exact), and this year my skin couldn't even tolerate BB creams O_o probably mainly due to my skin issues... BB cream was starting to feeling heavy/bothersome. So anyway! Love these brushes for powder foundation. Super super soft. I can't believe the multi brush is discontinued... I should've bought a backup T_T so great for travel.

3. Za Plumper Lips in 08
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Been really liking this color! The formula is really moisturizing, and I think this color is very flattering on me =)
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A pic of me wearing this lippie. Sorry not the best quality!

I have 3 other colors, the full review and swatches will come later ^_^


Okay the next few products are in line with dealing my face "allergy" problem (I use the term "allergy" loosely since I'm not sure what it is). I have a post dedicated to my skin problems, which you can refer here. So anyway this summer most unfortunately I had a flare-up again. I suspect it has something to do with the heat and the humidity... not sure.
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Luckily the problematic area was quite contained this time; it didn't spread throughout my whole chin and jawline like it usually did.

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It was swollen and itchy. The itchiness was the part that was killing me... I tried not putting any makeup on it cuz it just aggravates the problem. At the very most I would dust a tiny bit of powder over it (Lancome was fine, but Paul & Joe powder seemed to irritate it as well).

4. Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins Mega-Mushroom Skin Relief Face Cream
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For those who've been reading my blog will be no stranger to this. Pretty much one of the very few moisturizers I could use on my problematic area without irritating it (I was using the Shiseido Pureness Matifying moisturizer which I LOVE for summer. But unfortunately the fragrance in that moisturizer doesn't sit well with my allergies). Not only does this moisturizer not irritate my skin, it SOOTHES it. I would wake up and find my skin less itchy and the redness/swelling gone down a little. I simply cannot stress how much I love and rely on the Mega Mushroom line.

5. Physiogel Lotion
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Upon returning to the US, my skin went through another shock O_o it was SO DRY. Even though it's still summer and I'm near the waters, I guess compared to the humidity in Taiwan the humidity here is nothing. I usually reserve this for the winter but I had to break it out for my skin emergencies lol. I purchased this last year based on Bubbi's recommendation in her Favorite products video. I have to say last year I was not feeling this product at all; I just thought it was moisturizing but nothing too special about it. But now I know it was because my skin was normal. Now my skin is problematic I cannot use anything with fragrance in it. I usually mix this and the Mega Mushroom face cream together and apply it all over my face. This combination has helped sooth and hydrate my skin tremendously! So so glad I have this.

6. Oatmeal
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Since my skin is problematic, I have been using oatmeal to clean my face for the last week. Again got the tip from Bubbi's Beautiful Skin Remedy video (I also wrote a post about it). I cannot tell you how thankful I am toward Bubbi's skin remedies! Her oatmeal cleanser and natural yogurt mask have seriously saved my skin. After a week my skin improved slowly but surely.

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=) it still hasn't recovered 100%, but no one can really tell anymore. It's not red or swollen anymore but it's still itchy -_- and I know if I scratch it or something it's gonna full-blown freak out again. But I'm not complaining! I also started using natural yogurt mask yesterday, hopefully my skin will make full recovery soon. So sick of feeling itchy all the time lol.

7. Diet book by Jung Dayeon
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I'm a fan of Jung Dayeon ^_^ Admittedly I don't really do her exercise anymore(since I take classes regularly at the gym) but I really like her philosophy. Anyway I bought this book because even though I have managed to maintain my weight (almost 2 years!!), it still fluctuates somewhat and a lot of times I have to fight so hard to control my appetite and cravings. Most of time I do well (mind over matter lol), but I just want to find a more sustainable way to maintain the healthy lifestyle (Mrs. Jung said she has maintained this lifestyle/diet for 13 years now). This is an amazing book that contains amazing tips! I love this book so much I bought one for my mom, my close aunt and a close friend. It's not about losing weight it's about eating healthy and eating wisely. Most of the stuff isn't new to me or anything, but there are a lot of valuable things/tips I learned too. Still trying to get into it (changes don't happen overnight). I highly recommend if you can get a copy in your language! (If you live in Korea/Hong Kong/Taiwan... or something. I don't think it's available in English... not sure). There are a lot of recipes in this book too, which is awesome because I want to try out new recipes ^_^ I actually got the habit of reaching for this book and reading it whenever my will power is weakened by my appetite... and shockingly it works XD it's like it gives me more motivation and strength. Pretty cool. I will try to share some of the tips from this book ^_^ (although I don't know if there will be any copyright issues...).


That's all I have! Did you guys go hauling this Labor Day weekend? =D I want to go to the mall but I never want to go when I know it's gonna be crowded -_-a

Hope you guys enjoyed this post and have a great week!