pfefi says:

i <3 blogger mosaic

2011-04-06T22:30:00.001-07:00

http://pfefi.com/view/mosaic

O.M.G.

Is this not the most brilliant and beautiful automatically-generated thing you've ever seen? Cue angels singing. And cue me being motivated to take more pictures and post more posts!

I think this is enabled by default, so you can visit anyone else's blog and add "/view" to the end of the blogspot URL:
http://insertblognamehere.blogspot.com/view

And you can flip between the different layouts.

Is this cool beans or wut.

Modge Podge + $1 E.L.F. Compact = WIN!

2010-10-24T14:25:00.001-07:00

Ta-daa!!! It makes me so happy! n_n

See? The magnets are quite solid.

The $1 ELF compact while economical and rather sturdy, is white, tacky, and so limited! I love the giant mirror but everything else about this was so meh. Plus, I've gotten all into depotting things and needed a way to store the single pans.

Before:

After:

HOW CAN I HAZ?

Itemization of materials:

A: Crappy paint brush. I think it's from a multi-pack at the dollar store. < $1
B: Super glue (because the metal sheet that comes with the compact is not attached to the case). $1
C: Modge Podge or your favorite decoupage glue. Because awesomeness. ~$2.50 but apparently you can make your own?
D: Magnet pieces. Can be cut easily with scissors - I estimate this pack will be good for about 144 round/square pans, and 288 of the small triangle pans in the ELF Brightening Eye Quads. Adhesive / "Peel and Stick!" preferred but of course you already have super glue! $0.97
E: Decorative tissue paper. The thin-ness makes it easier to get around the corners and edges without needing to miter the corners. $1
+ elf Essentials Custom Compact. $0.40 when I got it but normally $1

Other notes:

The original compact's insert / tray is snapped in, not glued down, so it can be easily popped out with something flat and stiff such as a butter knife.
Basic Modge Podge / decoupage technique:

Coat with Modge Podge
Apply paper
More Modge Podge
Allow to dry
More Modge Podge
Allow to dry
Continue until you've lost all interest or you've ran out of America's Next Top Model episodes, or you reach 3-4 coats.

Protips:

Cover the ELF logos on top and bottom beforehand with white tissue paper or white out else it will show through your patterned tissue paper.
Cut your patterned sheets bigger than you need them. After modge podging, you can fold the extra over the edge and if you rub with a spoon or the dull side of a butter knife, it will tear off in a straight line along the edge.

Caveats:
- It's not going to be smooth
- It's not going to be waterproof

List of pre-made custom palettes because I shopped around hardcore before settling on my decoupage solution:

TKB Freestyle Palette

$4.50 for small
Matte cardboard, clear window/no mirror

Coastal Scents Empty Magnetic Palettes

$8 for large, $5 for small
Matte plastic, large mirror
Not sure how neatly/easily the insert / tray is removed - I've heard it's a foamy material? More info appreciated!

MAC Pro Palettes

$14 for large, $5 for small
Matte plastic, no mirror (clear window on small palette)
Not sure how neatly/easily the insert / tray is removed

Z-Palette

$20 for large, $14 for small
"eco-friendly recyclable materials that will not crack or break", clear window/no mirror
40 pre-cut adhesive magnets for $4.30

UNII Palette

$29-27 for Large
Glossy plastic, large mirror
Cute thumb grip magnet
P.S. Awesome collection of depotting guides from YouTube.

10x ELF Nail Polish Swatches Compared to Computer Screen

2010-10-10T12:39:00.001-07:00

(My attempt to contribute to the world of consumer reviews.)

By comparing to how the colors show online, Sammy and I take a stab at color-accuracy in swatches,. As E.L.F. is ever so rare in brick+mortar stores, I think comparing them to how they show up on screen is quite useful.

And if someone wants to school me on the physics behind why taking a photo of a monitor is a color-transform no-no, please do! My brain hurts when I try to think about it - it's just too meta.

(These are photographed in partial sun in front of a 2010 Macbook with a matte display on max brightness using the best browser ever. My pictures seem to show everything slightly warmer than in real life.)

(2 coats of) Smoky Brown #1561 is not as grey and desaturated as it paints on screen, but it is almost as dark. It separates easily and takes a lot of shaking/rolling to mix this creme.

(2-3 coats of) Desert Haze #1560 is a slightly warmer tan than on-screen, and a little darker. (Creme)

(3 coats of) Light Pink #1504 is just... pinker! ... than on-screen. It also has a slight neutral shimmer.

(2 coats of) Bubble Gum Pink #1507 is a little warmer than on-screen. (why is their website's "swatch" so different from their photo of the bottle anyways?) This is a creme, as pictured.

(2 coats of) Fluorescent Pink #1508 is not what I would call fluorescent.. more of a medium-dark cool pink creme.

(2 coats of) Hot Pink #1548 is more of a slightly cool-toned pinkish red creme.

(2 coats of) Mango Madness #1563 is much less orange than pictured. It's like a darker "Fluorescent Pink" with yellow-orange shimmer. Also, it's satin-ish-matte finish!

(2 coats of) Fuchsia #1547 is not as dark and marooney as pictured. It's a plummy, purplish pink creme.

(2 coats of) Red Velvet #1568 is most definitely not glittery or sparkly! it's a deep blood-red with a light red shimmer.

(2 coats of) Passion Pink #1564 is not pink at all! It's a very lovely pinkish orange creme.

I have the following additional thoughts on E.L.F. Nail Polish:

When 60% off (as it was, a few months ago) you can own all 40 colors for just $16, or $23 after shipping and handling. If I wasn't paranoid that a $1 polish would totally suck, I really would have just bought the whole set.
While B3F (big 3 free), this is the stinkiest polish I own. Possibly stinkier than Seche Vite. :o
You only get 0.35 oz and not the usual 0.5 oz, because the bottle is not square! The online photos lead you to believe you get a nice square bottle, but they are actually shorter in one direction than the other:

The cap takes a lot more effort to screw on and off. It takes 3 full revolutions (1080°) to remove! In comparison, a Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear only takes ~2.3 revolutions. It also just seems so much more tedious because the cap is square* and you can't roll it between your fingers. (*Yes, actually square, unlike the Chanel polishes that have a round grip under the square cap.)

There is something very satisfying about lining them all up in a row. c:

more liquid addictions: green monster!

2010-07-18T11:18:00.001-07:00

Mmmmmm green monsters. First off, credit where credit is due: Victoria's post led me to Angela's blog where I read the story of the green monster, which inspired me greatly in many categories. I started about 3 weeks ago and haven't had them every day, but I've gone through 1.5 boxes and 2 bags of spinach so I figure i've made 10-15 batches? They are way delish and they make me happy. :D I do it a little differently (as everyone should!) but it's close to the basic/original. My basic ingredients are banana, spinach, milk, and sometimes ice.

HOW CAN I HAZ?

1. Get your green on.

I just about fill my blender with raw baby spinach - it's not packed in very tightly at all. (Think "loosely loaded laundry") I think if you cook it first I think you would get a smoother smoothie but I don't mind the 1-2mm pieces of spinach leaf that result from doing it my way. Is there nutritional advantage to cooking it first?

2. Go bananas.

Just 1 banana will do, but I haven't tried 2.

Smoothie-destined bananas and banana-bread-destined bananas have this much in common: ripe is better! That is, as a banana ripens it gets more and more delicious and flavorful. I wouldn't let it go all the way black, but let it at least grow some freckles.

3. Milk it for all it's worth.

If you are all about thick goopy paste-like substances, then by all means skip this step. :D But if you love drinking things through straws and coddle your old, old blender then I would add some liquid delish at this point. I kind of just eyeball it, but I think it's about 6 oz. Add a few ice cubes if you're too cool for school.

Soy vs. cow's milk? I think soy milk is better for you. I've heard that at least American cows' milk is quite hormone-ridden but it's also much cheaper, so I've been making mine with cows' milk. :/

4. Blend it like your life depends on it.

I pulse it because I feel like I'm supposed to. It would be cool if someone could enlighten me as to why. :D

I suspect that either it (a) lets larger unblended pieces fall back to the bottom where the blades are, or (b) gives the motor a rest and fights overheating and stinky burnt smells. I'm leaning towards point (a), as (b) may just indicate I need a new blender. 9_9

5. Enjoy!

Healthy, banana-ey, foamy, tasty goodness. Mmmmmmmm. n_n

my liquid addiction: watermelon slush!

2010-07-11T14:08:00.002-07:00

Best summer treat ever.

I love watermelon juice. I really (really) love watermelon and I really (really!) love straws so watermelon juice is pretty much undeniably awesome. I ordered a watermelon slush at a bubble tea place and was disappointed as I watched him blend watermelon chunks and ice. What a ripoff for $3.75, right? But after I stabbed my chubby straw into the top and took a sip I was in heaven. Not enough to ever order it again, but enough to experiment at home. :D

HOW CAN I HAZ?

1. Select the most awesome watermelon that exists within a reasonable driving distance of your person.

Seeded melons seem logistically complex so I recommend the rounder, seedless variety. If you're like me, you'll doll up for Costco and pick the biggest $5 melon they have before baby facing the seafood station guy into letting you use his scale so you can rub your mad melon skillz into your darling's face later. (20.89 lb! Thank you, thank you.) In terms of freshness, I use the pat-and-listen method: incredibly difficult to describe online. I suggest hanging around the watermelon bin until someone looks like they're using it, and then baby facing them into explaining. :D

2. Populate your blender with delicious chunky chunks.

There are at least two camps when it comes to watermelon consumption: choppers and spooners. Choppers either make big wedges that people bite into, or fill bowls with little cubey chunks. Spooners like me just split the whole thing in half and stick a spoon in it, carving watermelon out like ice cream out of a tub. Having guests? Grab a melon baller. (Pro tip: watermelon slushes are a great way to consume that awkward part of the melon where it's getting to be white and non-delicious - you can just scrape it all into the blender and it averages out into a ever-so-slightly less sweet and more adult watermelon slush.)

3. Ice is optional.

Blender is ancient and pansy? No ice. Watermelon warm from the car? Ice. Sensitive teeth? No ice. AC broken? Ice. Up to you. I compromise by using smaller, heart-shaped ice cubes. Truth. I will note that the iceless version tends to separate into purer juice at the bottom and less blended pulp at the top, whereas the ice/slush version stays more uniformly thick. (Bonus: watermelon slushes are also a good way to use up strawberries if you are a fool like me and fell for a "buy two, get four!" deal. It's strawberry season, yo; I put 'em in everything!)

5. Straws are cool.

I am too impatient to wait for deliciousness to travel up a cute crazy straw, but I am super in love with the diner-style dispenser I found:

Happy summering! n_n

micropost: bronzer... bigger is better?

2010-07-08T20:10:00.001-07:00

hello, biggest bronzer i have ever seen!

nice to meet you! i've heard of oversized bronzer (gosh, lancome, isadora...) but you are very impressive in person. large and... in charge?

your box would fit in perfectly with my CDs. :D

i found your cousin in a youtube haul: fast forward to 7:45

national birthday notd + 3 questions

2010-07-06T22:38:00.001-07:00

noth (n. o. t. holiday!) + seche vite shrinkage + 48 hr tipwear =

milani whitest white

sally hansen xtreme wear blue it *

sally hansen xtreme wear so poppy

claire's cosmetics body glitter **

* if you have this color and you're rubbing your eyes or mocking my photography/white-balance/exposure fail, it's because the blue shown is actually something along the lines of 9 parts blue it and 1 part whitest white, which i think matches much better!

when i need a certain color or simply lose interest in a current one, i have no qualms in pouring in whatever i think will make it more to my liking. another example is a burgundy-ish claire's polish that was way too cool-toned for me so i added bunches of a cheap nyc orange, which has helped! i wouldn't wholly categorize this behavior as "frankening," though. more like... plastic surgery?

** the stars are from claire's (a tween accessories/cosmetics store in the u.s.). they are labeled as "body glitter". wtf. they are HUGE:

question 1: do you plastic surgery your nail polishes?
question 2: at what age (if any) is 4mm star-shaped body glitter appropriate?
question 3: does anyone else see blog posts about fall collections but keep reading "fail collection", e.g. "chanel fail"? (ok ok i admit i may be nerdier than most.)

birthday slice

2010-06-26T09:55:00.001-07:00

(hmm this seems to be a very scatterbrained post...)

in a prototypical birthday you have dinner or a party, and if there are presents involved they are all wrapped up and opened together (with cards). not me! (or maybe you, too?)

i just become much more loose with my shopping for the weeks before and after my birthday. :D plus, darling is really bad about keeping secrets so i get my presents from him as soon as they come in the mail.

corporate participation in my birthday:

the nike store was giving away free laces and matching spikes! i gave my friend my spikes because she's a hardcore runner who actually owns (and uses!) shoes to screw them into. :D pictured on my awesome $5 walmart buy.

i got my sephora birthday gift also but to the honest the mascara and pencil are pretty terrible and the eye shadow won't really be useful to me until i depot and pallet-ize everything. on the other hand, starbucks was a total fail and did not give me a free drink based on my starbucks card - they said i needed a code from an email but i never got an email :(

i went to nordstrom rack and really fell in love with these kenneth cole bracelets. i very nearly bought all 3 in each color. they remind me of bamboo, look like bangles but are elastic so they're smaller than a bangle (and thus don't completely slide off over my itty bitty hands) and they are texturized and very "soft glow" effect-ey. have been wearing them almost every day this week. :)

i actually bought this bottle for my birthday last year and finally finished it this year! 8D

and hey not everything is for me... my kid sister was in town so i gifted her some items that were no longer age/weight/height-appropriate for me. -_-

AND darling got me the most awesome hat evar. just like 2NE1! i <3 it and am wearing it all the time. yes, it is fuzzy, and yes, people like to pet my head. they need to make the cookie monster version so i can buy it for him!

both my mum and darling baked me birthday cakes but both disappeared too fast to be photographed. XD

Graduate!

2010-06-21T21:15:00.001-07:00

post-bachelors graduation involves not only a stupidly black gown in 90 degree weather but also a (probably tradition-steeped, but) undoubtedly silly looking "hood".

exhibit a: incorrect way to wear your hood

exhibit b: correct way to wear your hood, but the tent has an exit sign???

actually, this tent had two exit signs. :D

i'm sure it is for some all-encompassing fire safety regulations but it also makes us look kind of silly. sort of matches the outfits, i guess. 8D

p.s. this is an atrociously long youtube video but darling and i walk past at 0:20:00! we are near the top and i am snapping pictures like mad. :D also, i liked susan rice's speech.

minipost: turn that frown upside down!

2010-06-17T18:45:00.001-07:00

~~when life gives you lemons~~

~~when you jack up your mani while driving~~

when you are stupid enough to drive with wet nail polish...

...make lemonade!

:D !

Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen Review

2010-05-18T22:09:00.001-07:00

remember these? i may have promised a review of them a while ago, but you know... life and stuff. always getting in the way. 9_9

first, a gigantonormous macro image of the sally hansen nail art pens:

cremes: black, light pink, hot pink, blue / metallics: red, silver, gold

the pens are about 5" / 12.5 cm long, so they are quite fat, like a highlighter.

(there are 8 colors available and asami has reviewed the white pen)

next, epic swatches:

two shots of the swatches in same order as above, in different daylight angles

(one swiped line + dotted line + tapped for dot + swirled for spots)

as you can see, the light pink, hot pink, and blue didn't cling to the red polish and clustered up. bottom red base stripe is so poppy with a matte topcoat (essie), which solved the problem. for all colors, dots and spots turned out pretty well.

these three colors also had uneven pigmentation, this is after shaking the pen for 5-10 seconds. disappointing? i shook it for about a minute more and came up with these:

re-shaken swatch of light pink, hot pink, blue. betterish?

polishes swatched over 357 whitest white, 27 so poppy, 24 black out

pictured with notw for size reference

(notw is 27 so poppy with 21 snow globe and three-quarters matte about you)

oh but pfefi, what's inside?

the tip is a hard plastic with tiny ink-releasing slits

i got them as a birthday gift but they are about $8 everywhere else, yuck! at least sally hansen is on sale this week! (:

@cvs

@ulta (mmm half off seche vite, too...)

they are teasing me with the photos of sally hansen complete salon... i've been all over town but hidden treasure is all sold out. ):

(why do the two ads have different bottle label designs?)

dollar tree foundation???

2010-05-11T22:17:00.001-07:00

120 ivory and 220 neutral: $1 each o_O

seems discontinued - walgreens has almay pure blends with newer packaging and SPF 20 formula. this older version available on amazon for $0.01 + shipping.

<-- rubbed in | blobbed on -->

this stuff is hella cheap, yo

the packaging is also hella crappy. it exploded on me!

can't let any go to waste, can i? 8D

i'll probably mix the darker one into my MUFE as i get tanner in the summer... not sure what i'll do with 120 ivory?

in other news, i keep chipping my n.polish on our shampoo bottles. ): any suggestions for where to buy large, empty pump bottles? dollar tree was a fail on that front, and my next stop is daiso. :/

minipost: tokyo + earrings

2010-04-14T16:37:00.001-07:00

picked up these super-cute bow earrings from a corner shop in hong kong for 20 HKD (2.60 USD). (the rhinestones are round.)

this street in Ginza is closed for maximumly efficient shopping. :D and i swear every public clock in asia is branded: often seiko or rolex.

convenience store bento lunches (although soggy) are cheap and delicious. 500-800 JPY (5-9 USD) (and this picture accurately represents how much faster darling eats than me.)

minipost: taipei part deux

2010-04-06T18:37:00.001-07:00

hella cute froggie magnets! NT150 (US5) for both. they're from a cube in what i am calling a "cube store", where vendors rent half meter cubes. that way, in one shop i can shop 20-30 vendors! it's like a micro-mall. :D

chicken curry dinner from the ximending "modern toilet" restaurant! sooooo appetizing, right? NT260 (US8.50) = this + drink + dessert

[more info: modern toilet english website]

there are lots of mopeds in taipei, maybe more than macau! and when it rains everyone busts out these awesome rainbow-clown-ponchos! i likey.

minipost: taipei

2010-04-05T06:14:00.001-07:00

i'm in taipei! i should be vacationing, not blogging, so let's call this a 3-picture minipost. n_n

dessert at the hello kitty sweets cafe. NT300 (US9.50) + 10% = dessert + beverage + jello

[more info: bittenbefore]

upgraded nerdtastic passport pouch to real (dorky) wallet! NT380 (US12) and i'm fairly certain i overpaid.

it's almost like the construction site is saying: "sorry for being ugly and loud, i can't help it! here, have a super cute fence and some hanging plants. plants!"

preparing for travel: plants! [updated 4/5/10]

2010-03-29T15:14:00.001-07:00

lei hou ma? in 36 hours i'm going to be in hong kong! i am mondo excited. the only downsides are 1) the amount of money i am spending and 2) preparing for travel. order number one is to prepare my babies. we live in a pet-free apartment complex, so i have plants. this is how you prepare houseplants for a 2-week absence --->

it's easy peasy! the pot is full of water (about 3 quarts). you probably don't need so much for plants this small but we live in a dry area and i want to have plenty left over after evaporation.

the lid is to slow down the evaporation, and the chopsticks elevate the lid or else the paper towels would be squished and wouldn't let much water through.

the pot is on a bowl to elevate the water above the plants and promote water flow. don't elevate the pot; you'll flood your plants like i did. D: one end of the paper towel should go to the bottom of the water and the other end should be buried in the soil (as far down as the roots, maybe 1 inch or so depending)

as the soil dries, it will suck water through the paper towel like a straw! pretty cool right?

i had a similar setup for winter break and my babies survived 3 weeks without me, w00t w00t!

i'm going to grow up to be the crazy houseplant lady. D:

but i'm so proud of them/myself, they've grown so much!

(my pothos, 16 months ago. don't mind the spotty leaves in the background, that's another plant)

(my spider plant / airplane plant, 11 months ago. it survived a day-long flight, in a plastic baggie!)

okay. crazy plant lady signing off, for now.

unless a post on plant propagation would be helpful to anyone?

oni-don't-eat-me-giri!

2010-03-18T23:53:00.001-07:00

it's me and darling during finals week! that's the exact face we end up making sometimes. xD

only one day left. i didn't have any finals in my last quarter (woot woot), but darling did. poor baby, at least he got a cute little bento lunch out of it.

i like to think ninja'd it into his fridge, special ops style... (more like i walked in during studying and was like, "hey dude. lunch in the fridge," haha)

either way, it was supposed to be lunch! but it ended up being eaten as breakfast (as usual).

the onigiri are filled with canned bbq eel with tobasco sauce, mmmm sooo good, seriously. if you have never tried asian canned eel you need to get your hands on some. it's a like eel at a sushi place (unagi) but saltier and ...harder? like sardines/anchovies. hard to beat.

...but then you get to the stir fry. OMG. i'll admit that this was somewhat of a (delicious) accident. i had some leftover hot sauce from a curry eating contest, so i tossed it over my veggies while they defrosted (busy students don't have time to shop fresh). i came back and stir fried them as usual with soy sauce and garlic, but had this amazing sweet/sour kick to it! i remembered i had tossed this random hot sauce in so i went back and looked it up for you. :D it's called Floyd's Famous HotLime Sauce, made of key lime juice and habanero. i would have a picture but i already recycled the bottle. ):

apparently it's a small-company, west-coast thing. i used about 1-1.5 tablespoons of the extra-hot version (there is a pansy green version also) in 1 small pan of stir fry, which is about two servings. if you want some and a) don't live in norcal/oregon/washington or b) can't find something similar where you are; you can get single bottles direct from their website for $8. it's gooooood stuff.

and just to round out the pictures:

dessert = japanese candies but of course they end up as appetizer instead. 9_9 *sigh*

"don't eat meeeeeeee!"

pimping 2NE1

2010-03-11T12:47:00.001-08:00

i'm a HUGE dorky super-fan of girl groups. seriously. i think it might come from watching lots of sailor moon at a young age. girl power! my number one is 2NE1. they are this scientifically awesome combination of fierce and sexy but cute and strange. they put out a new music video and i <3 it so much i must pimp it out.

i'm going to admit that when i first listened to this song - i was pretty disappointed in them. it's different from what they usually put out and way too computerized and repetitive (lol i think 60% of the lyrics is just "try to follow me, try to follow me, try to follow me...") but then it got suck in my head! xD

2NE1 - "Try To Follow Me" : (p.s., self choreographed!)

watch it in 720p! ------^

their outfits were extra crazy this time! here are my 2 favorite looks from member CL:

show stoppers!

and omg i know she's doing the shocker... it's like 2NE1's gang sign or something because it's the 2 fingers... and then the 1 finger... they actually do it quite a lot. xD

and they're nearing their 1 year since debut! yay! n_n

EDIT: because everybody loves the stormtroopers C:

sally hansen scandal!

2010-03-02T14:26:00.001-08:00

hello hello! i am back from a business trip to austin, tx. it was fun despite the cold; will queue a post up after the following psa/rant:

i think i have a new favorite nail color but sally hansen is driving me nuts! check out these two sally hansen salon swatches below:

it's my new favorite nail polish color: a super pale pink that isn't as glaring as a solid white polish; but light enough to make me look really warm and tan. makes me feel sunny and socal. (:

but they are freakishly similar right? these pictures of "you-gurt style" and "pardon my french" were taken on different days so it's not really fair to compare them. here they are swatched on alternating fingers:

if you ask me, there is no freaking difference. i don't even remember which is which. i'm thinking "pardon my french" is just a rename because "you-gurt style" is a terrible polish name. i mean... seriously? that's understandable and forgivable and all that but THEN look what happened!

my nails turned purple! wtfffff. this is day 3! and you can see that two air bubbles have been stained something terrible, too. compare to the color in the bottle:

compare to a new re-application (on middle finger and pinky):

the difference is a lot more dramatic in person; you can see it better if the photo is darker or desaturated:

my primary suspect is the water supply in austin, tx. here in santa clara county we supposedly have really good water, and when i was brushing my teeth in austin i definitely noticed a strong tap water taste. i was only there for 2 days! what do they put in there? o_O

my second thought was that i got a new pen but i can't imagine how that would get such uniform color change across all my nails on both hands...

has anyone else had a polish color randomly change on them?

a february piece of me

2010-02-20T22:08:00.001-08:00

(late, i know. see below plz)

this month...

i like and i don't like: the sheer amount of stuff going on

i work part time
i am a teaching assistant (office hours, exam grading, answering emails)
i am a community associate (planning events, list moderation, answering emails)
i am a graduate student (2 programming classes, what was i thinking???)
i am a girlfriend (planning a trip to europe/asia, my house, darling's house)
i am on the verge being a real person (apartment hunting, car shopping)
i am a growing beauty addict (almost a part-time job on its own. i'm sure you know what i mean. :P)

...definitely very, very busy times. sometimes it's very stressful, but if i'm careful it's a manageable (albeit nonstop) stream of busy-ness. i feel very fast-paced, very new-yorker. and i'm very addicted to caffeine. my favorite source?

♥ starbucks green tea frappuccino! ♥ sugary and delicious.

i want you to know: most of these things are over in 5 weeks. i'm planning on being a better blogger after that...

i've planned: more posts!

i want to say to someone special: to all my followers, thank you! i really love getting your comments and if you have any questions or recommendations let me know!

bonus: best part about frozen drinks like green tea frap and icees ♥ is you can play with them, too:

lol, iphone class was really boring that day. nail color is sally hansen salon you-gurt me / pardon my french (more on that later)

[learn how to play the "piece of me game" here.]

mascara detective!

2010-02-17T19:01:00.001-08:00

so i went a little wild on makeup purchases in january, and two of the items from my january mega-haul were rimmel mascaras:

they are "volume flash" in 005 extreme black and "eye magnifier" in 003 extreme black, and the second came with a black eye pencil wasn't super optimistic about but is not bad (i use it to tightline). i bought them because they were crazy on sale at CVS: $1.87 for volume flash and $1.82 for eye magnifier.

even though i won't be opening either of these until i get through my current covergirl lash blast, i think it's really interesting to begin to compare the two, especially since they are the same brand, age, and color. volume flash claims to increase volume by 5x, and eye magnifier claims to increase length by 70%.

but let's look at the ingredient lists (links are to paula begoun's excellent ingredient dictionary):

volume flash: aqua/water/eau, paraffin, cera alba/beeswax/cire d'abeille, stearic acid, pvp, cera carnauba/copernicia cerifera (carnauba) wax/cire de carnauba, c18-36 acid triglyceride, triethanolamine, lecithin, acrylates, copolymer, panthenol, propylene glycol, polyvinyl alcohol, phenoxyethanol, methylparaben, talc, tocopheryl acetate, propylparaben, benzyl alcohol, simethicone [may contain iron oxides, carmine, chromium hydroxide green, chromium oxide greens, mica, titanium dioxide, ultramarines]
eye magnifier: aqua/water/eau, paraffin, cera alba/beeswax/cire d'abeille, stearic acid, pvp, cera carnauba/copernicia cerifera (carnauba) wax/cire de carnauba, c18-36 acid triglyceride, triethanolamine, lecithin, acrylates, copolymer, panthenol, propylene glycol, polyvinyl alcohol, phenoxyethanol, talc, methylparaben, tocopheryl acetate, propylparaben, benzyl alcohol, simethicone [may contain iron oxides, carmine, chromium hydroxide green, chromium oxide greens, mica, titanium dioxide, ultramarines]

seeing double? i italicized the only difference between these two mascaras, which is the reversed order of talc and methylparaben. makeup ingredients are listed in order of volume (read more here) except for anything under 1% which can be in any order, so that means talc and methylparaben are probably very similar amounts in these two mascaras.

possible conclusions:

(pfefi's best bet) most of what rimmel and probably other cosmetic companies change from mascara to mascara product is the wand. volume flash has a regular spoolie wand, and eye magnifier has a rubber wand. (but my covergirl lash blast, which promotes volume, has a rubber wand, so clearly different brands have a different strategy?)
the ratio of talc and methylparaben is key in determining what happens to your lashes
rimmel's mascara marketing and packaging is a giant genius ploy to get you to repurchase within the brand

in any case, i feel so jaded now with this information. what do you think? how much do you usually believe in what the package says to you? how cynical are you about rimmel or other cosmetic companies?

i know the comparison of these 2 mascaras from 1 brand doesn't effect many people personally, but it caught my attention and motivated me to look more into cosmetics ingredients in general. in any case, i think this means pfefi has had enough science / coffee for today~ xD

lotuspalace prize: TONS of stuff!

2010-02-15T15:18:00.001-08:00

hi everybody! thanks for reading. n_n i hope you are having a decent multi-hoilday weekend. my last month of school is getting crazy, but i'll spare you (i think?) the details. suffice to say i never want to look at the iPhone code documentation ever again... x_x

excuses aside, my giveaway prize!

LOTS of photos
click for larger photo
want a review, translation, or more details on anything? request in the comments!

first: what got me most excited was FACE MASKS! ever since seeing the 2NE1 girls using them on their tv special, i've been researching and preparing for a big online purchase but now i have these to play with first. (:

5x MJCare sheet masks in essences: raspberry, cucumber, herb, fresh aloe, caviar

5x purederm sheet masks in essences: watermelon, vitamin, potato, lemon, green bean

(i've only tried one - can you tell which one i opened before taking photos? xD)

15 pair pack purederm collagen eyezone mask (omg i think these actually work o_O)

1x purederm almond hand mask

1x purederm avocado foot mask

3x treatments of purederm self-heating moisture mask

1x bison bath addictive in royal honey milk (moisturizing bath powder!)

1x kanebo kracie naive facial cleansing foam, aloe (leaves my face squeaky clean!)

1x kanebo true care lip balm (smells like fresh picked apples!)

1x dennis anderson handmade soap in sleigh ride

1x etude house moistfull cream gel (imho extremely similar to clinique moisture surge, but cuter. n_n)

under the adorable wrapping and on top of the wonderful variety of skincare products, kathi also included a sweet note and some super cute asian office supplies! first, the cutest piggy ever~~! (this is the pen clip)

"don't give up!" n_n

and next, a pocket size 2010 monthly planner:

... and matching kitty stamp! kathi hand-carved the stamp herself, and it's really good! you can see the pink stamped kitty looks just like the one on the planner. i need to go buy some ink, pronto.

it's almost like she's psychic, too - i'm a huuuuge sucker for cute stationery and office supplies. seriously. i have gel pen lemmings. i'm the girl who needs blinders to walk past the office supply aisles at walmart and daiso.

may i also point out that this giveaway was to celebrate her own birthday? so generous la~ @_@

today: computer engineer barbie!

2010-02-12T14:57:00.001-08:00

i think this is a good thing. maybe.

[from mattel]

computer engineer barbie. apparently the internet voted computer engineer and news anchor as her 2010 careers over surgeon, environmentalist, architect, and maybe others? did you vote? i didn't hear about this until today~!

as elle-woods-ified as this is (what do we expect?) i think i'm pretty happy about this result. at the same time, i'm not surprised: an internet win for the occupation that invented the internet? easy. (:

this is apparently her 125th career. one of the other 125 was U.S. president... and as an interesting side effect, i really want me some galactic sparkle tights now. what do you think of her outfit?

...back to real posts when i finish my programming assignment, i promise. xD oh the irony!

i AM a panda!

2010-02-07T00:19:00.001-08:00

(lotuspalace prize photos in the pipes, please accept this intermission xD)

"i am a panda!" - true story! i said this to a few people, and i've finally gotten some photographic evidence:

ta-daaaa! XD

okay, it's a little silly, but at my new job i work in a giant field of cubicles, and they are sectioned off and named after animals. before i moved into my permanent desk, i sat under a sign screaming, "LLAMA"! i used to say "i just moved from llama to panda", but somebody corrected me. fact: people from the panda section do not "sit in panda", they are pandas! i.e., i should be saying, "i used to be a llama but now i am a panda"...!

( ah, it's just one of those things that isn't as funny if you aren't involved, but i'm sharing because it amuses me to no end. i love how the people i work with find this funny and joke around with it - it reminds me that this is a good office to be in. n_n )

and to somehow redeem the lameness of this post please enjoy the following panda-related goodies:

panda sneeze: oldie but a goodie

this picture is actually taped to one of our panda signs. XD

worth1000.com

cuteoverload.com <-- prepare to be sucked in by high volumes of cute

+bonus: an endless supply of cougar jokes! XD

giveaway prize (teaser)!

2010-02-02T09:30:00.001-08:00

eeeeyyyyeaaaaaaah!!! i just got my giveaway prize package from kathi of lotus palace!!!

the package was huge, and came all the way from austria! this is definitely the best package i've ever gotten (i think), and for sure the cutest. n_n you'll find no black sharpie or scotch tape used here. we've got super cute strawberry tape:

...lacy doily packaging tape, toki-doki-esque address label:

cute stickers:

and the insides are cute too!!! xD

there was so much inside! i think i'll have to leave that for ~~another post~~ several future posts. (umm, not because it would take me hours to photograph / scan everything or anything like that... 9_9)

seriously, once you see everything inside you will really understand how crazy generous kathi is. i'm just floored by the amount of care and love went into this package, especially when the recipient is a blogspot nobody like me. 9_9 thank youuuuuuu kathi~~! danke shoen! ^o^

so, expect a slew of posts coming up since i now have an abundance of beauty / skincare products to try. the arrival of kathi's package coincided with a huge beauty haul weekend for me (read: i kind of lost it at CVS). almost everything purchased is drugstore and far from new or exclusive, but i hope to provide some unique thoughts and perspectives, and hopefully not bore the experts who are reading. n_n

forever grateful,
♥ pfefi

blast from the past

2010-01-31T17:11:00.001-08:00

i found this when i was home for the holidays:

this is a 10 mL plastic bottle of my first nail polish ever. (and, by extension, my first makeup item ever) i think i was 6 or 7 when i got this in a toy makeup set. the color is tinkerbell "REDDY or NOT". it was a medium red when applied thickly and a intense, cool-toned pink when applied thinly. it didn't smell like nail lacquer at all, and when dry could be peeled off like rubber cement. of course my favorite part was peeling it off. XD

i'd swatch it but it's since become a solid mass of red rubber...

i'm pretty sure i'm behind the curve when it comes to makeup and being girly, but this find might prove me wrong! what kind of girly first steps did you take as a kid?

hello pfefi!

2010-01-28T22:32:00.001-08:00

to all those out there in RSS feed reader world (or however you read your blogs):

*drumroll please*

|
|
|

i have a new layout! i found a really simple design i liked, tweaked it a tiny bit, and then proceeded to install the best blog header ever. or, at least the best i've ever made and probably ever will make:

click for the biggie! n_n

cool, right? n_n i've seen words spelled out of objects before, but never earrings! i love seeing everyone's makeup stash posts, and this is my way of sharing part of my earring (and bracelet) stash. these are all pieces that i love and wear. many have special origins or hold fond memories - i'm sure you can say the same about your own jewelry!

so, i hope you like it. maybe in the future i can tell the stories behind some of these earrings. for now, i'll show you how i made it, using federer's tennis racket (thanks, darling!):

the camera rests in the triangle-hold on the racket. instant tripod!

forever ghetto like that,

♥ pfefi

leopard print+!

2010-01-28T12:34:00.001-08:00

masquerade ball! i wore a leopard print mask (of course) n_n

originally i was very much against the idea of buying a pre-made mask, because with 1100 people attending the same event there are bound to be others with the same one. i thought about making my own before realizing i could draw one on with makeup! i was inspired while reading another blog, though the name completely escapes me. (i think it's written by a pair of women, and they're very high profile.)

anyways, in the end i ran out of time so i went to diddam's and picked this out of the mardi gras section for $13. there were about 3 or 4 other girls with my same mask, and many more with it in other colors. oooooh well. i did see a few go the makeup route and it looked awesome! i wish i had taken pictures.

i volunteered for the first hour selling tickets. they sold 1000 online and i sold the last 100 tickets in 24 minutes. o_o so, after that i played customer service and had to tell new people over and over that were totally sold out and couldn't let anyone else in. ):

i don't have dress photos, but i had leopard print nails! they were fake glue-ons. why? because i know i would really go nuts if i tried putting this design on with my awkward left hand:

i made them! c:

closeup and products used (left to right: gold, black, pure silver, champagne toast)

Asami just did a review on the sally hansen nail art pen in white, and i agree that the texture and payout leave a lot to be desired. you might be able to see that the leopard spots aren't solid black in some places, but for this look it worked out perfectly.

i actually own these pens in seven colors, as a birthday present from a very generous (guy!) friend:

top to bottom: black, light pink, hot pink, blue, red, silver, gold

the bottom three are metallic, and i believe are more pigmented than the others. i know these are old but i can't seem to find any blogger swatches of them, besides Asami's. o_O if you want swatches or a more thorough review, let me know.

finally, i want to share the song love story by jewelry:

they're crying because this is their last stage performance before the group breaks up. T_T it's such a pretty song though, right?

leopard print!

2010-01-15T15:01:00.001-08:00

i did the scariest thing today. i was riding my bike home and i took both hands off the handlebar to zip up my fleece. aaaaaah! maybe some of you are laughing at me but i am a big chicken when it comes to riding with no hands. it took me several tries, and about 1/4 mile of road.

anyways, that is just my excuse to blog about my bike:

ta-daa!

fun fact: there are an estimated 12,000 bicycles on the stanford campus, and less than 15,000 students! (+ some professors who bike to work) last fall, i had no bike so i walked 2-3 miles per day back and forth from class... it sucked! then a family friend was kind enough to gift me an old bicycle. it was black and quite boring, so when spring came i tore off the stickers and started cutting leopard spots out of masking tape. add some yellow spray paint and an orange sharpie, and... voila!

i was reminded of this because of CrystalS's shirt! she also has a sweet leopard print blog layout going on right now. she's a really pretty, and sweet makeup artist and it was just her birthday yesterday (happy birthday crystal!) so go say happy birthday and check out her blog. n_n

anyways i really like leopard print and will be sad when it's no longer trendy and "in". (actually it probably already isn't and i just don't know, haha) here's some random leopard print stuff from around my room (stock photos ftw!)

clockwise: sunglasses case, ruffle top by express, makeup bag x2, faux fur jacket by express

i used to have this sweet rainbow leopard print fleece blanket (something like this), but i don't know where it went. what's your favorite print? plaid? zebra? polka? n_n

a january piece of me

2010-01-02T13:15:00.001-08:00

this month...
i like: that i'll be the teaching assistant for the intro fourier transform class. fourier and i have history, and this is a wonderful new stage in our relationship... X3
i don't like: that i'll be starting part time at my job.
i want you to know: snowflakes are almost always 6-sided. if anything they'll have 3 or 12 sides, but never 5 or 8.
i've planned: to buy my first foundation. but powder or liquid? drugstore or sephora?
i want to say to someone special: thanks for building my 465 horsepower bug. just know that when we play, you're going down! that's right. wut wut.

why yes, those are gold rims. thanks for noticing! n_n

i think a new year is a great time to start things. n_n learn how to play the "piece of me game" here.

ombre manicure

2009-12-18T22:17:00.001-08:00

nihrida did a blue ombre manicure back in october that really stuck in my head, especially after she ultra-jazzed it up with some konad action. i was really impressed and thought it was so pretty! i finally tried it out yesterday. results!

› sally hansen hard as nails xtreme wear in cherry red

› sally hansen hard as nails xtreme wear in white on

if i could re-do i would replace the white with the next shade of pink. also, my pinks aren't mixed very well. here is why:

yes that is a plastic bag and yes i am ghetto like that.

mummy's nails

2009-12-16T01:18:00.001-08:00

i got home for the holiday break late sunday night and as much as i miss darling, it has been oodles of fun hanging out with my family. i finally feel i've outgrown my "i hate my family" teenage years and can now appreciate them as fun and interesting people! n_n

i painted my mum's nails today, here are the mcguyvered (read: i used a toothpick) results!

the peppermint stripes are straight from Nails by Asami and the rest are quite generic designs.

› sally hansen hard as nails xtreme wear in invisible (as top and base... ghetto!)

› sally hansen hard as nails xtreme wear in cherry red

› sally hansen hard as nails xtreme wear in white on

› dreamcoat acrylic paints in unnamed green, yellow, red, and pearly white

i'm quite embarrassed to have run out of room for the holly berries, but i'm quite proud of the star on the tree. it looked fat and squishy and terrible but halfway through trying to blot it off, i had this result which both of us quite liked. n_n

xmas mani

2009-12-03T21:47:00.001-08:00

i finished the last optic communications homework of my life this morning around 3, and celebrated by doing my nails. n_n

they haven't been this long for at least half a year, and i think i'll cut them before going home for the holidays. my mother wouldn't approve.

› sally hansen hard as nails xtreme wear in 27 so poppy
› sally hansen nail art pen in gold
› color club art club in unnamed green, gold glitter, and iridescent glitter
› seche vite dry fast top coat
› essie matte about you

yes, i'm a drugstore girl. my non-funded student budget won't have it any other way. the fact that i'm wearing $20 worth of topcoat blows my mind, a little.

and for poop and giggles, here's last year holiday mani, from before i knew not to paint my cuticles:

girly circuits

2009-11-14T13:16:00.001-08:00

several months ago the women in electrical engineering society at stanford had a tote bag design contest, and i won! we finally had a 'tea and totes' event and i made a cute mini-tote bag!

it looks quite nice doesn't it? i intended for a light green and gold design on dark green, but black and white is fine also. i made a pcb-green t-shirt too, but it didn't come out so well. here is my tip for iron-ons: don't do them on stretchy fabric! the fabric stretches but the plastic does not so it becomes opaque and begins lifting. iron-ons are much more appropriate for things like a canvas tote because it's nice and stiff. you can't see the edges until you're up really close, like this:

see? in addition to being geek-chic, i am extra proud of this design because it was done 100% in powerpoint and mspaint, without installing any new fonts.

what is pcb?

cute email

2009-11-02T21:28:00.002-08:00

i got this email last week, and every time i look at it i smile. i've done this enough times that i figure it's worth sharing:

hmm, i wonder who put it there? n_n

the other side of my lunches

2009-10-28T21:51:00.001-07:00

you'll have to trust me when i say that darling is adorable in many, many ways. here are two of them:

these are the flower-shaped cups i used in american-bento to protect the fried foods from soggy vegetables. darling thought they looked like rubber and felt like rubber, but he gave one a little nibble just in case. he reports back that they are indeed rubber.

this is what a lunch looks like wrapped up. the key word here is "lunch".

darling told me a secret the other day... all of these lunches get eaten before 10am ! apparently he keeps them on his desk where he can (unfortunately) glance at it between emails and lines of code. he does this for about half an hour before caving and eating it for brunch. awww. n_n

piggy-bento

2009-10-27T18:14:00.001-07:00

look, a lovely october present, what could it be?

open it up, and find a yummy lunch inside! two little piggies peek out from bunches of broccoli. n_n i think darling likes to have protein so i added some egg + salami + cheese rolls.

i am rarely good at pulling creative ideas out of thin air, so before packing this lunch i quickly google image searched bento and found this bento, which unfortunately is creditless. cutting out the snouts was tedious. my favorite part of this and the other onigiri lunch is packing in the rice really tight and hand molding it. i was terrible in my high school ceramics class, so maybe food is my comeback! n_n

ugly-bento

2009-10-12T16:40:00.001-07:00

i bought some chicken patties on an impulse, thinking i could cut cute-shaped chicken nuggets out of them. darling eats chicken nuggets all the time, so it seemed like a good idea at the time.

unfortunately, on the same trip i also bought new baby sauce bottles and silicone flower-shaped dividers, and tater tots, and couldn't resist putting everything new into one bento.

the result: an ugly mish-mash of eww! in retrospect the pictures might have benefited from being posted in black and white. i tried liven up my incredibly orange palette with dried chili pieces and pepper, but i don't think it helped much.

well, i guess you can't win them all. and at least darling said it was yummy.

better luck next time?

classic-bento

2009-10-05T15:01:00.001-07:00

on friday darling specifically mentioned he didn't get a lunch that week. he used the power of pout on me so of course i had to do something about it.

look what the bento fairy left in his fridge last night! (what a nice bento fairy, she texted him about it too...)

this is the pink zebra handkerchief I mentioned before. i bought it for another reason but it fits over my tupperware very nicely.

inside is an instructional note, lychee jelly, two bbq spam onigiri, plain steamed veggies, and mystery sauce. i was afraid the sauce would be too spicy but darling said it was "fantissimo!" <3

and then of course what would a food post be without macro-mode food porn?

octo-bento

2009-09-28T16:29:00.001-07:00

hello world!

let's share some of the cute things in my life, like lunch! this one i made for me: 1 lb strawberries, 1 banana, 1 nature valley granola bar. it was so yummy. n_n

it's fun to go explore during lunch hour, especially ethnic grocery stores. on this trip i also picked up some curry powder with a recipe on the back, and some water spinach (kong xin cai).

here is darling (the bf)'s ocean-themed bento i packed for him last week. i have seen octopus hotdogs in anime and bento blogs but this is my first time making one! i think he's pretty cute. (:

the rice is coconut rice with blue food coloring, and the egg and stir fry are very simple. the rest of the food is hidden underneath the picture. i tied it all up in a pink zebra-stripe handkerchief but forgot to take a picture! oh well, next time!