Etude House Haul

Hi everyone! ♡

During my recent trip to Hong Kong... I made it my goal to get my hands on some Asian products that I wouldn't be able to get back at home for an affordable price. I am still quite a newbie at makeup, so I figured that I wanted to buy some products that were beginner friendly in cost! So I decided to focus on the heavily coveted Korean brand Etude House.

Etude House is cosmetic brand from South Korean that is known for its cute and princess-like package. In addition, it is equivalent or can even be cheaper than some drugstore brands in Canada! Nonetheless, the quality of the products is not sacrificed despite the affordable price range. This was the easiest brand for me to research prior to my trip because there are so many reviews online. There were also quite a number of branches in the city so the accessibility was also a deciding factor! 

I went to the branch located in Mong Kok. The store is located in between two of the best street markets in the city, which are Ladies' Market (Tung Choi Street) and Fa Yuen Street. It is also very close to an MTR exit, making it extremely accessible by use of the underground transit. When traveling there, one would get off at the Mong Kok station and exit from D3. Continue walking on Argyle Street towards Fa Yuen Street, and it'll be on the sidewalk corner. I would recommend visiting this branch, as there is so much fashion shopping surrounding the shop!

Sadly, I could not get a picture of the store as the walking crowds on the street would've bumped me away! The store was on the average, or slightly smaller than average, size which I expected as it was in such in crowded area. However, the store did have most of the products that I was interested in!

Here are the items that I bought!

From left to right:

• Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer
• Etude House Dear My Blooming Lips Talk - OR205 (Excited Orange)
•  Etude House Rosy Tint Lips - #08 (After Blossom)
• Etude House Oh M'eye Line x2
• Etude House Drawing Eye Brow Pencil - #06 (Black)
• Etude House Styling Eyeliner - #02 (White)

 After making my purchase, the cashier asked me if I wanted to sign up for a membership card. Not only was it free to sign up, but the card is so freaking adorable, so I just had to get one! Too bad I won't be able to use it often now.

Another great reason to purchase from a Korean cosmetic/skincare brand: free samples! I was so excited to get these as I watched the cashier placing them in my paper bag. The samples I got were:

• Etude House Sunrpise Must Daily (SPF50+/PA+++) x2
• Etude House Pearl Aura Brightening Essence x2
• Etude House Baking Powder B.B. Deep Cleansing Foam x3

All in all, I'm super excited to try all these products out! This is my first time buying so much makeup in one go, and I have somewhat high expectations after doing research on what's highly rated. I hope you enjoyed seeing what I bought at Etude House, and some product reviews will be coming soon!

Update: Hong Kong Vacation

大家好!, dai ga ho! ('hey everyone' in Cantonese) ♡

Sorry for the lack of updates on my blog! In early August, I had been busy preparing for vacation to the city of my ethnic roots: Hong Kong. Since returning home a little less than week ago, my sleeping schedule has been absolutely bizarre and it's been hard to adapt back to the 'slower' lifestyle in Canada!

Hong Kong is my favourite city in the world. I must admit though, I may hold some bias because my family, both immediate and extended, are/were raised there. It is always heartwarming to return to the city and to feel a connection of extended family, as I don't have any in the Canadian city that I live in. But beyond the fact of relatives, the coastal city is surely a grand tourism hub on the global scale with its distinct culture in all aspects of lifestyle.

Hence, I will be posting related content to my trip in Hong Kong during the next few weeks, and I hope you enjoy seeing a glimpse of my beloved city!

Hong Kong's signature skyline | Taken on Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade

DIY: Bootcut Jeans To Boyfriend Jeans

Hi everyone!

On my last thrift store visit, I found and bought 3 pairs of jeans on sale that I wanted to wear as boyfriend jeans. When I arrived at home however, I realized that one of them was a straight leg style, and the other two were bootcut! After trying both styles on, I realized that I liked the straight leg style of boyfriend jeans more because it looked more tapered and crisp when I rolled the ends up. When I rolled the ends up for the bootcut jeans, it looked too wide for my liking.

Thus, I will be showing you how I sewed a pair of bootcut jeans to transform into straight leg boyfriend jeans!
(Note: I am a sewing newbie, I only know the basics of how to work a machine. Please don’t be harsh! And please ignore my extremely baggy shirt, I was in my lounging-at-home pajamas.)

The materials you will need are:

• A pair of jeans to fix
• A pair of jeans as reference
• Sewing machine and thread
• Pins
• Seam ripper
• Scissors
• A writing utensil

These are the pair of bootcut jeans that I will be fixing. They only cost $4 and are Tommy Hilfiger brand! As you can see, the jeans begin to slowly flare outwards from the knees downwards.

The first thing I did was flip the bootcut jeans inside out. I then straightened the outer edge of the leg so that it was flat. Then I placed my reference pair of jeans on top and made sure to align the crotch area and the inner edge of the leg. It then looked like the picture on the left. I used white chalk to trace the outline that the straight leg jeans made. Afterwards, I removed the reference jeans and reinforced the two layers of the leg by pinning it down along the line. This is shown by the picture on the right.

Afterwards, I moved to the sewing machine. I changed the settings to straight stitch, with a stitch length of 4. This allows me to try on the pants without getting poked by pins, and will be easy to unstitch for any adjustments. I sewed on the white chalk line that I had drawn, removing the pins along the way.

This was my first trial. My left leg is the unaltered one, and my right leg is the sewn one. By looking straight on, the difference is subtle since the alteration is not fully straight yet. However, from the side, it is more evident that it is less chunky at the bottom! It was nice seeing some progress, but I still needed to take out more of the bootcut shape.

I continued to adjust my alternation to suit my preference. I ended up making the angle more drastic in other to remove more of the flare. Once I have a final measurement to follow, I redrew a line with my writing utensil to highlight the final path that I will sew on. If you have too many previous lines, I would recommend using a different writing utensil like a pen to avoid confusion! Once my final line was marked, I used my seam ripper to remove all the stitches I have made on the pants. I changed my sewing machine settings to straight stitch with a stitch length of 1.5. I then sewed twice along the line to ensure that it would not rip! Once I was done, I cut off the excess jean. I left around 2.5cm of excess along the edge of the stitch. Afterwards, I did the same thing on the other leg. It becomes easier because you can simply use your first completed leg to mark and trace the shape to alter on the second leg.

And finally, this is what my final product looks like!

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the results! :)
Wearing them down does not look too bulky as it previously did, and rolling them up looks more streamlined than before! In the beginning of the post, I said that I bought 3 pairs of jeans. I wanted to try distressing a pair to make distressed boyfriend jeans, and that will probably be my next DIY project using these jeans. Stay tuned for it!

If anyone has any questions about the steps, please leave a comment and I will try my very best to help you!

Celebration of Light 2014

Hey everyone! ♡

One of the most highly anticipated events during the Summer in my city is the annual Celebration of Light event. It's basically a huge fireworks show that lasts for ~20-30 minutes, and occurs on the distant waters of a beach. Prior to the grand show, viewers stake their spots on the beach around mid afternoon and have fun in the sun. Some people arrive an hour before the show. Thus, it becomes extremely difficult to walk back to your spot as literally every inch of the beach is claimed by other parties, and the paths are crowded by viewers that stand. Every year, 3 teams all from different countries come to compete on different nights. I went to the last day of this year's three dates (Saturday, August 2nd), which was the night for Team Japan to "light" up the stage!

My friends and I arrived at the beach around 4 o' clock, but there was already a decent amount of people there already! All of the wonderful spots that had a log to lean on were taken. None the less, we found a nice spot that was halfway from the path to the shore and could fit our large party of roughly 20. The weather was an endless blue, but as a result, it was one of the hottest days yet! After walking by the shore, chatting, eating some food at a nearby restaurant, playing cards, exploring the walk... night finally appeared!

The beautiful sunset at the beach.

The heat was much more bearable once the sun took its sleep. For someone that does not cope well with hot weather, it made time pass remarkably faster than how it did during the afternoon. In the photo, the ship in the water is where the fireworks are released for the show! There were a few weak fireworks that were fired before the start to pump up the crowd and to give their products a final check.

At exactly 10:00pm, the vibrant show commenced!

A shot of the fireworks.

My personal favourite, because it looks like falling stars.

The finale.

As a person that loves memorable spectacles, I had a pretty enjoyable time at the fireworks show today. Despite the heat which I absolutely despise, the growing anticipation throughout the day then finally seeing the infrequent beauty is quite amazing! I would definitely recommend anyone in my area, or anyone else where, to witness a bedazzling fireworks show sometime during the Summer.

The thundering event marks the halfway point of Summer break. I hope everyone is doing well! Just a quick caring reminder, make sure you drink a sufficient amount of water during these hot Summer days, stay hydated! :)