Have you ever browsed Youtube then find yourself on a random video and didn't understand how you got there? Yea, that's me. ALL THE TIME. Which leads me to City Color Cosmetics - an affordable brand that's available only online. Prices range from $5-25USD. I came across a video of someone stating that this was a good dupe for the Becca x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Pop Face Palette. Even though I don't agree that this is a dupe, I do think it's a great alternative for those who can't afford or simply don't want to shell out $52USD for the Becca palette.


Brand: City Color Cosmetics
Where to Purchase: Online
Price: $25 USD (I got thison sale for $14USD during 4th of July)
Pros: Pigmented, Smooth Texture, Packaging, Price
Cons: Only available online

Last year, I went on a cross-country road trip and while in Virginia, I purchased this little guy while visiting The Face Shop. Its been quite a while since my last Korean or Japanese brand review, so I'm actually pretty excited to be exploring these brands again. For those who are unaware, The Face Shop is a road-shop brand (Korean's version of drugstore, but stand alone stores) and most of their items are between 8USD to 20USD - from what I've seen.

A week ago, I was in Concord with the mister to check out Guitar Center and we decided to visit a mall nearby. Low and behold, there was a small beauty shop that carried Morphe along with Sigma and other brands. Initially, I wasn't planning on purchasing anything, but I saw this palette and liked the color scheme, so I made the purchase.

Despite some negativity surrounding this collection (due to the recall of the eyeshadow palette),  when Champagne Pop was first released, literally everyone and their mother raved about it. Seriously, some people were losing sleep over this (LOL). Its hard to deny how beautiful and well thought out this palette is. I can see why it was so sought after.

When I'm asked by friends and family about good drugstore brands, Sonia Kashuk is one that I always recommend. Her line is available at Target, it has a wide variety of good quality products at affordable prices.

I knew nothing about Makeup Revolution until my friend gifted me this palette saying I should try it out as it was a dupe for the Urban Decay Naked 3 (more on this in the next post). Seeing it and noticing that there was an extreme similarity, I didn't put it into my "try out" rotation and it was forgotten for a while.

I haven't purchased anything from BH Cosmetics in a while so I decided to make a small purchase and by the looks of it, I might just be making another purchase, haha. Reviews and swatches on products mentioned in this post with be posted shortly. I'm still trying to back into the swing of things as well as figuring out a posting schedule. So once I have it figured out, stay tuned for regular posts again!

A friend of mine told me about how much she enjoyed these brushes, so I ordered these since they were on sale. Upon opening, the brushes are soft to the touch, are dense and are a nice length. I think that I'm going to be using these a lot since I really like dual-fiber brushes.



This eye essential set cost $7USD which makes this quite a steal. I can'r say much about this just yet except I don't think I'll be enjoying the fluffy blending brush. As I was lightly brushing my finger across the bristles, I saw a few hairs flaking off of the brush. I think this one is going to be a major  shedder.



I'm really into warm blushes lately, so when I saw this blush palette, I knew I had to have it in my collection. Filled with soft peaches, roses and browns, it makes a nice addition to my current blush collection.



Like I don't have enough eye shadows, right? But this palette is currently $12USD on the site and I couldn't help myself. This is screaming fall (even though its currently summer *dies*) and I adore the berries, pinks and browns in this palette.



Lastly, I ordered the Studio Pro Ultimate Brow Palette. I normally use brow pencils, gels and pomades, so I'm interested to see how these powders will perform.

I can't wait to play around with these babies and report back! Hope you all have a great week!

Smashbox is one of those brands where I kind of skip over when I'm at Sephora or Ulta. Not exactly sure why that is, but I was all smiles when I was gifted this palette from a friend last Christmas. I apologize for the extremely delayed review of this palette as I've been doing some makeup decluttering and didn't get a chance to test out this baby. Even though this is a limited edition palette, those like me, who aren't familiar with the brand, can have a glimpse of how their products perform or what they have to offer. So I hope you enjoy this review.

Let me tell you, when I saw Nikkie of NikkieTutorials make a favorites video that featured these palettes, I kid you not, these puppies sold out quick! I was only able to get one of the palettes the first time, and when I saw Morphe update their IG saying they had restocked, I moved quickly to make a second order, haha.


Brand: Morphe Brushes
Product: 35O Nature Glow 35 Color Palette (Shimmer and Matte)
Price: 22.99 USD (20.70 with 10% discount)

Yes, I understand this post for this product is LONG OVERDUE but seriously, I have not touched any makeup since November. Which explains all the backed up posts that I will be posting up in the next few weeks. This collaboration palette was released last year during the fall with Vegas Nay, a well known popular makeup artist on Instagram.


I've read on a few blogs that the colors in this palette are similar to colors that were released in the past, but I'm not too sure as I don't own any other Too Faced products to compare.


Brand: Too Faced
Released: Fall 2015
Limited Edition: Yes
Price:  45 USD

Hello, my darlings! Since the last post was a spotlight post, I figured it would be good to follow that up with my current favorites. Not a lot, but these are products that I use on the daily. Hope you all have a great week, enjoy! 

Hello fam! Today, I'll be introducing a new section for this blog. Spotlight will be a segment where I  show you items I'm currently using that I enjoy. Think of it as a quick intro to a future review or as a current favorites post.


I have a friend who is obsessed with Shea Moisture and she recommend me try their skin care, so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this set at Target. I decided to give the African Black Soap Problem Skin set a shot and I'm glad I did. I've been using this kit for about two weeks now and I must say, I'm happy with the results that I'm getting.

Their hair and body care line is also legit. My two favorites are the Coconut and Hibiscus and Manuka Honey and Mafura Oil line. If you haven't checked out this line yet, I suggest you do. They have a lot of good products.

I'll be doing individual posts for each product as well as getting in depth of what I use in my skin care routine. Keep a look out. Have a great day! xx

Two posts in one day? I think I'm doing pretty good, yeah? Here's a look I did in the spur of the moment. The colors reminded me of a watermelon hence the name in the title.


Again, lines were done using the pencil technique. I used a black base to help amp up the green shades. The medium pink I believe I used a color from my BH Cosmetics 180 palette 2nd Edition. The lighter yellow-green shade around the edges is Gorgeous Gold by MAC (one of my favorites).

Its been so long since I've posted a review, so why not do a revisit to one of my favorite Korean shadow palettes? This lovely palette was gifted to me a while back through a swap done with the lovely Lane of Blovet Beauty - she's such a sweetheart and her blog is filled with lots on reviews on Korean makeup!  

Hey all! So Imageshack has already deleted my photos. All of my older posts no longer have any images. If there is a request to re-up, then I'll consider taking new images and re-uploading them. But as of right now, I have no time to do that as I have quite a bit on my plate. 



To celebrate me being able to access my camera's photos again, I've uploaded this lost EOTD. I didn't use many products besides a basic liner, MAC's Backtrack Fluidline and Maybelline's Color Tattoo. 

Nothing beats going for a drive to get away from all the noise and stress. Its nice to just go on a stroll, do a bit of sight-seeing, and relax. Enter Monterey, California - nice and chill. Perfect for those "do nothing" days.

So I received an email from Imageshack stating that all free accounts on their site will be removed after a year. If I wanted to keep my photos, I would have to pay a monthly fee. I don't really understand why they're making such a change, but I have a lot of photos uploaded through their site, and I'm still debating whether to recover and re-upload them. I might just do the more recent posts, but anything that dates back between 2009-2011, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to re-upload any of those photos. Just a heads up for everyone.

Have a great weekend ahead, until next time!

P.S. Hope you like the new look!

Hello, internet! It's been way too long since my last appearance here on the blog and I must say, I've missed you all dearly! Quite a bit has happened to me during my hiatus, which has made me focus more on myself as well as getting lazy and neglecting this baby of mine.

 For a while, I've felt that the blogging scene has gotten a bit repetitive and I kept seeing the same posts of the same products. Let's just say it made me lose interest. So, I decided to take a break - a long one at that. It made me reflect on what kind of content I wanted to post as well as some of the changes I will be making.

I'm back permanently now and I can't wait to share with you once again. Until then, I bid you adieu with some pictures of San Francisco. Talk to you soon!

Instagram @hello.hani

Hello beauties! Hope you all have been doing well. To those who have just graduated, congratulations! I wish you all nothing but success!

When The Vice Palette from Urban Decay came out last winter (this review is so delayed, haha), I was on the fence whether or not to purchase. What actually changed my mind was a friend had gifted me an Ulta gift card so I only ended up paying 15USD for the palette – original price is 59USD. OH YEA! I was curious to see how some of Urban Decay’s matte shadows performed since I only own a few of their palettes – which are full of shimmer and glitter (excluding Naked and Buck in the Naked palette, I needed more to test out, haha!).

I've realized that most have already gone to prom (haha, whoops!). So instead, I'll be doing some looks for graduation later in the next week. As promised, this look features two of the new Maybelline Summer 2013 Color Tattoos that I talked about in the last post. Here, I used Precious Pearl and Blue Paradise.

Here are the swatches of the shadows used in this look so you have an idea.
(not shown (sorry, forgot!): CoverGirl Intense Shadow Blast in Brown Bling)
Hope your week has been going well so far and hope you enjoy.

Products Used:
ELF Comsetics Eyelid Primer
BH Cosmetics 120 Palette - 2nd and 5th Editions
Maybelline Color Tattoo in Precious Pearl and Blue Paradise
Ardell Lashes #135 (I ended up not liking these.)
Maybelline The Falsies Mascara
CoverGirl Intense Shadow Blast in Brown Bling
Milani Liquify Eyeliner Pencil in Black
Tarte Waterproof Amazonian Clay Brow Mousse in Taupe