Haul: Coastal Scents!

Hiya gals & guys :)
I bring you this treat of a haul! About 2 weeks ago, I received Coastal Scent's package that I ordered during Cyborg Monday--during the Black Friday weekend. I bought 2 Palettes, and 2 brushes.

Their service? uhh... I never had one of my inquiries replied, and the shipping took about 2 weeks alone. Before they even sent out my package, the order had to be processed, and the "process" took about a week as well -.- I'm pretty sure it was just this time, because I'm pretty sure they had an overwhelming amount of orders.

ANYWAY! Let's dive right in to the goodies :)


Tada! Here's the package!

It's crazy wrapped! Totally safe packaging. :)

The brushes came in this... tissue paper.


I got this synthetic buffer brush--I got this to use as a stippling brush, since my MAC 187 isn't exactly very dense. This brush is really packed in, and gives the ultimate coverage. It's flat topped, and REALLY soft. I love the finish it gives me.

The double-ended shadow brush! Looks like a dupe for Stila's. Okay. this is TERRIBLE. The shadow part is alright, but the blending portion? It's not much of a blending brush... it's more like a pencil brush. The blending part is REALLY stiff, and ouchy! When I was washing this brush, the blending part (which is black fibers) was shedding like no other, and DYE was running out of it! It took me about 3 washes of it to get it all out...

They were nice enough to send me a little sample of their loose eyeshadow!

Now.. let's get to the palettes!

Totally safe! Wrapped in jumbo bubble wrap like.. 3-4 times!


The infamous 88 Original palette!

Okay, this palette is SUPER pigmented! You SO do not need a base, or a primer!

And the 28 Neutral Palette.

I was so excited for this one, and it was the biggest disappointment. It's super chalky, the color payoff is terrible, and only 2-3 of the colors are pigmented enough to actually show. I'm so bummed about this one. I've tried it with my paintpot, but that didn't do much of anything.

And.. that's it! :)

Overall, I think this order was a hit and miss. I love the buffer brush and the 88 palette, but the double ended brush and 28 neutral palette sucked ass. I think i'm going to be ordering again, but not anytime soon. You can find these palettes not only at CS, but you can also search them on Ebay for much cheaper--but the shipping is from China, so beware! I'm pretty sure CS just buys it from manufacturers in China, and just put their logo on it... just like Manly. Anywho! Hope you enjoyed the post! I have a new recipe to post! +_+ It's the one I used for my xmas gifts.

See you all later!
-Jinna

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays! + Life

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everybody is having a great time whether with their family or friends. This is a time to share and spend time with people who you love, and love you. Of course it isn't mandatory, but it's always nice to get xmas gifts for eachother! :) If you're feeling a little broke like I am this year, try... making baking/pastry goodies. Go out to your local dollar store, grab some ribbon, and some clear cello gift wrap--or clear baggies, stuff 'em with your baked goods, and attach a small card along! It's totally inexpensive, and gets the job done. Trust me, everyone will appreciate it rather than to get absolutely nothing, and throwing them a lame excuse saying you're broke. So once again, have a safe and merry Christmas. Or if you don't celebrate xmas, Happy Holidays! <3
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Alright. Time for some actual blogging... I know this blog is dedicated to beauty/food tutorials and reviews, but you wouldn't mind me too much rambling on about my life would ya?
So, I'm not quite sure why, but this past week has just been extremely hard on me. I feel isolated from my friends, and I can't figure it out if it's either myself who is pushing me away, or someone else. Who knows, it may not even be a person... maybe a goal of mine? a dream of mine? It could be anything. I am so lost, and I feel like I'm blaming the wrong person for all my troubles--God. I yelled at him just yesterday asking why had he abandoned me. It didn't take long for me to realize that it was me who abandoned him, not him.
Have I done something wrong to hurt or offend someone? I wish someone would come up to me and tell me. I don't usually need things spelled out for me, but this time, I really do. I feel lost, helpless, and friendless. For some reason, I feel as though my relationships with my closest friends are... one sided. I love them so much--I wish they could comprehend the depth of my love for them. I occasionally ask my friends if I'm their so called "BFFL," just so I feel somewhat less-lost. Pathetic, I know. I feel so empty, hollow, and lonely inside, when I have so many great people around me.
I wish they could read this now and truly understand my love for them.
I'm still waiting for that Angel I asked for a couple nights ago from God--I hope she/he comes real soon... maybe he/she is already here? I can't help but feel like I'm going to break. Fall apart.
I've never felt like this ever in my life. I've had some horrible so-called "BFF"s in the past, and i've also experienced being backstabbed by tons of them. But I have indeed met some great, fantastic people as well. I hope to keep them as my friends, but I can't help but to feel pushed away by them.
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ALRIGHTIE. WELL! done with that! So over the summer when I went to Korea, I was desperately looking for a velcro-strip to hold up my fringe while doing my makeup. I searched and searched, but found none. I guess it isn't too popular in Korea, but in Japan and China... So last week, I knew what had to be done. I went on Ebay, searched velcro strip, and found tons from Hong Kong for just a dollar or so, with either very inexpensive shipping, or free. :)

TADAA!!! I guess the only way to get something you really want is to just buy it online LOL.

Thanks for reading my rambling!
Have a safe and Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays! <3
-Jinna

Review: Kirkland 2009 Brush Set :D

Yepp, that's right, KIRKLAND's brushes. Once again, yupp, the Costco brand. I was a bit surprised myself! I saw S2pandapple's video comparing this years to last years, and I didn't even know they sold brushes. I went ahead and remembered to pick it up the next time I went. It was only $20! ... let me tell you, that's ALOT of brushes it comes for $20. The quality is fantastic, sturdy, and hygienic.

All of the bristles are synthetic fibers, so go crazy with all of your different types of products! Cream, liquid, powder... you name it. All of the brushes are incredibly soft. They're all very sturdy--the handle is a rubberish material, and the barrel of the brush is very well intact onto the handle. I haven't seen a single hair shed when I washed them for first use. I guess this is what it means with consumer surplus! (LOL go ap economics?) I totally was expecting the quality to be crappy, considering it was from Kirkland, and its price. Boy, was I wrong! This brush set just blew me away.

It comes with Full sized brushes, a mini travel kit, brush bags for both of the brush kits, and a lash curler (and an extra rubber head).

This is the case for the full-sized brushes, travel kit, and lash curler. I was surprised how so many big brushes can fit into such a small bag... The lash curler... is sort of like the ELF one, but the metal part where your eyelashes are being pushed onto is a bit sharp, and I'm afraid it's going to chop off my eyelashes...

Here's the travel kit~! Isn't it CUTE?!!! It comes with a powder brush, crease/blending brush, shader brush, and a flat liner brush. Usually, travel size brushes suck, but this kit REALLY is the same exact brush, but shorter/smaller.

Fits real snug :)

Here's the full-sized brush case.

Comes with flaps to protect the bristles and prevent any leftover product from going everywhere.

Tada~

Flat-Top Bronzer Brush: ...is how it's labeled, but I actually tried using this as a stippling brush. It's super soft, and gives a pretty nice finish. The bristles are really tightly packed in there, so it gives a really good coverage. I've also tried using it as a bronzer brush, but it doesn't do so well picking up powder bronzer. I like to use it for contouring--it's pretty small to fit into the sunken areas on the face.

Large Powder Brush: I love this brush! It has got to be my favorite powder brush. This thing is softer than MAC's 150, and gives an excellent finish. It picks up a lot of product, and is just the ideal powder brush.

Angled Foundation Brush: I can't really figure out why anyone would want an angled foundation brush... anyway! The bristles on this brush are very soft, but are a bit tapered and stiff. Also, the width of the brush is a bit too small for my taste. It's a little streaky for liquid foundation, but may be fantastic for cream foundation.

Eye Shadow Brush: This is just a standard rounded shader brush. It picks up color pretty decently, but I just feel that the synthetic bristles don't do so well as an eyeshadow brush.

Eye Blending Brush: It's a rather small brush to be used as a blending brush, but it can be done. I think it's more of a crease bush. It's a tad bit too stiff for my taste. Doesn't pick up much color to be used as a crease brush. I'm not very impressed with this one.

Flat Eyeliner: This is a fantastic brush for cream/gel liner. It gives you a precise line, and work very well. It's very stiff, and gets the job done.

Eye Smudger: It's a tapered sponge tip. Do I need to say any more?

Brow Brush & Spooley Duo: Okay, this brush stinks. The brush part of it doesn't pick up ANY color whatsoever. I tried it out with my Anastasia Duo Brow Powder, and it sucked. The brush is super stiff, and it's like... a brush for a precise line... which is definitely not what I look for in a brow brush. The spooley side is okay, but again, I'm comparing this to my Anastasia spooley, so maybe that's what it is.

Here's how the handles look like on all of the brushes, including the mini sizes. Rubber handles, and very sturdy!

I hope you guys had a fantastic weekend and are having a good Monday! It's break now, so I don't have school. :)) I couldn't wait for break, but now that it's here, I have nothing to do! LOL. I like the sleeping in part. X) Hope you enjoyed this post! Later homefries C;

Best,
Jinna<3

Cello Repertoire Recording for College! x_x

So~ starting from mid-November till now, I've been absolutely busy due to college. Applications, recordings, supplemental forms... it's been absolutely chaotic this past month. I was BOOKED with extra lessons, and was constantly in and out of the recording studio. I even wasted some time recording because I had to change the studio I was going to! The sound quality was nice.. but their editing systems were not quite up to date. Also, their mike picked up so much of my breathing sounds, rather than my actual playing. So! I tried another place, and I absolutely loved the sound there.

So basically, the week before and during Thanksgiving, I was always in the studio. I only was able to record 3 pieces, due to time. The pre-screening recordings had to be received BY December 1st for many of the schools, so I couldn't take my chances at being a day late. Also.. I missed at least a week of school and fell behind on hw and such! x_x It was tough catching up with everything. I have no idea why, but I underestimated applications. JESUS CHRIST! USC's app alone took me around 4-5 hours! I hadn't written any of my essays, personal statements, and nonetheless, my resume. I had forgotten about my letters of recommendations, so I had to inform everyone late. It was insane. I was up all night everynight, never had the chance to eat, sleep, or even shower! It was a horrific time for me. -SIGH- But in the end, I ended up mailing out the cd's on time, and turning the apps on time as well. I still have about 3 schools to apply for, but their deadlines aren't till way later. I better get started on those...

So here are some pics of my last day of my recording. My eyes were tired, puffy, my body was bloated, I was in desperate need of showering... i'm telling you, it's not pretty.

This was the man behind the magic! He edited, recorded, and burned everything for me. He's INSANELY TALENTED! He is the ultimate Mix-Master. ahahah x) He was even able to edit some of my notes that FLEW by so quickly. He's amazing! And turns out he goes to my bff's church! hahaha~

Look at all these cds he burned for me! This is actually my job, but he went ahead and did it for me :)

My supportive and loving mom! Man, she's going to kill me if she sees this picture :P She was always there during my lessons and the entire time of my recording sessions.

We went out to celebrate by eating lunch! We ate shabu shabu :))
For those who don't know what this is, it's basically meat broth at boiling temperature; you add in veggies/meat and serve it with a special soy sauce.

This food was actually invented during the wars in Korea/Japan. Soldiers would be stranded out in the battlefield for days and would run out of food to eat. They boiled water, and threw in anything they had--plants, sea-critters, and anything else they could find. Surprisingly, this method has continued itself and it's quite popular in Korea/Japan.


We sat upstairs, so we had somewhat of a view :))

My mom and I decided to go to the bakery and buy the Mix-Master some pastries ;D


This place is called Tous Les Jours--everyday! :)YER, that's right, I took French! XD

As a closing note... I wanted to introduce you guys my friends. From the left: Derek (D-Mock), Eli, Daniel, and Humsheen (Neesmuh!).

Last, but CERTAINLY not least; my BFFS! This is Erik and Austin. They're my life! I wish they could understand the depth of my love for them. :)) <3 FWENDSFOEVA!


On the way home, I noticed I had a really good view of the Hollywood sign, so eh, what the hell. I went ahead and took a picture. I see it all the time.. but I had an amazing view of it this day :p

And with this, I bid you farewell! C;
Best,
Jinna<3

Tutorial: Strawberries 'n Creme Cake!

Long time no baking tutorial! 8) With the holidays just around the corner, I think this one is a good time~ I actually did this one quite a ways back, but never had the patience and time to post it. :P Well, here it is! It's just a simple 2 layered cake with strawberries and creme. Instead of strawberries, you can always opt for other fruits. I usually add in blackberries or blueberries, but because this cake was made within an hour for my cousin's birthday dinner, I was in a HUGE hurry. I was about 20-30 min late, but oh well~ the desert was good! ;)


Gather up your ingredients!

Pre-heat the oven to 330 degrees. I ended up putting mine at 350 degrees because I was running REALLY late. I had to risk drying out the cake or burning it, but it turned out fine! Lucky me :P

I know... a LOT of eggs huh?

Wisk it with an electric mixer for about 5-10 min. It has to be really bubbly! Mine wasn't quite there, but because I was in a hurry, I was out of time. It's VERY important to have the eggs really fluffy and bubbly, because there is no yeast/baking powder involved in this cake. This is what's going to make this cake rise!

Measure up the sugar!

And add it in with the eggs. Continue to mix!

Go ahead and add in your vanilla extract...
and your honey! Mix it very well.

Measure up your flour and prepare a sifter with it.

You can stop mixing after the mixture is very opaque and thick. This picture is nowhere near thick enough, but once again, I was in a hurry.

Now, TURN OFF THE ELECTRIC WISK/MIXER. DON'T USE! This part, we will be mixing it by hand. So prepare a plastic glove. Go ahead and sift some of that flour we just prepared over the top of the mixture. Just enough to cover it. I couldn't take any pictures of this part, because I needed both hands to do this, and I don't really have a third arm to take pictures. Basically, using your hand, fold in the flour, but at the same time, make sure your rub your fingers together through the flour. It has to dissolve completely (this is very important--you can't leave any flour un-dissolved, or you'll have a powdery cake!) Repeat sifting and dissolving until you're completely done with the flour.

Go ahead and melt your butter. But remember, it CAN'T be hot, or it'll cook the eggs in the mixture! Room temperature is the best. Add in a bit of milk for a smoother texture. I like to pop my butter in the microwave (since I keep mine in the fridge) for a couple of seconds, and let it cool. Now, take a handful of the mixture, and put it directly into whatever bowl/cup you melted your butter in. Mix in the butter with the mixture. It'll be really gloppy. Now, take that handful of buttered up mixture and combine by hand back into the rest. We do this, because the oils from the butter will naturally deflate the mixture. If we take a smaller bit, it creates a base, or medium for the butter to stick onto.

Butter the pan. Taking a spatula, pour the mixture into a cake pan. Don't worry, you only need one cake pan.

Now pop it in the oven!

While it's baking, clean up the big mess you've made, and do the dishes! If you wait till the end, it'll be too much to handle! :P After you've done that, wash the strawberries.

And cut off the stems~

Cut them up like this! Chop chop chop...

When your cake is finished, leave it out to cool. To check if it's done, poke it with a skewer, or toothpick (chopsticks work ;D). If it comes out clean from the center of the cake, it's done.

While the cake is cooling, let's make the cream! Just take out your carton of whipping creme. It's in the form of milk--you just have to wisk it up.

You need your electric whisk/mixer for this part. Take the bowl and place it in the sink, since there's going to be a lot of fly-away.

Add in 3-4 tbsp of sugar, and mix it for about 5-8 minutes. Yes, it's going to feel like FOREVER, and you'll start to feel it in your arm... but it'll be all worth it for a great cake! You'll know when it's done when you flip the bowl upside down, and the mixture won't even fall out. Taste it once in awhile to see if you need more sugar. But make sure you don't over mix! If it passes the peak point of firming itself, you'll just turn it back to the milk form (which you can't mix up a second time!)

Your cake should be cooled by now... so go ahead and prepare a large surface. Take a knife, and gently go around the edges of the cake--CAREFUL NOT TO SCRATCH THE PAN!

Tap the botton of the pan a bit, and it should slide right out.

Taking some sort of bread knife, cut the cake into to layers. This is a great trick so that you don't bake two separate cakes to make a two story cake. Plus, you can never finish one! This way, it's more.. realistic? :p

Take another rounded edge knife to cream the cake. (the tools I'm using were specially made for this) Spread some of the cream onto the bottom layer of the cake. A good amount--but not too much! You need to save it for the rest of the cake.

Throw some of the strawberries onto the cream! yum... Put the majority of your fruit in the center, because that's where it tastes the best.

Take a little bit more of the cream, and spread it over the fruit. With whatever is leftover, spread it onto the inside of the top layer. Now, flip the top layer over back onto the cake (so that it looks like the way it did when it first came out of the pan--bottom up!). Completely cover the top and sides with the cream--finish it! Decorate the cake whatever way you'd like. Throw the rest of the fruits on top, or line them up anyway you'd like. Whole strawberries... or get a ziplock, cut a corner, fit your icing stencil, and cream out a cool pattern on it.

I decided to just cut the rest of my strawberries up, and throw 'em into a heart shape. I tried to make a floating trail.. but failed miserably.

Because this was for a party, and I needed to move the cake, I had prepared a cake box from Tous Les Jours (Korean bakery). But because the cake was too big, I had to cut it into a square shape!

I was sort of upset I had to cut off the cake, but... then I looked again--you can see the fruit from the inside layer! It looks absolutely stunning!

The cake was a huge success, from such a small amount of time. It's a great desert, and makes a terrific bday cake! ;) Hope you enjoyed it!

This cake is a secret my mother passed onto me--the cake recipe is actually a recipe for a custard. Normal cake mixture was just too bland for this extraordinary cake. Having the bread a custard adds tons more flavor, and makes it a bit more sweet. But don't worry, it's not the type of cake with frosting on it; it's cream. It won't be overly sweet for adults.

EDIT: Holy Moses, I didn't even write up the ingredients or anything! Jesus Christ. I'll do that asap.
This is my absolute favorite cake. I hope it will become yours too!
Best,
Jinna <3