Category Archives: Beauty

I love to try different beauty products, including skin care, lipsticks, and eyeshadows.

Below are the posts for the beauty products I like or test for fun.

5 Things to Try This Month – March 2019

03/12/2019 Shirley

In February, the Seattle area had more heavy snow days. I can still see small piles of snow in our neighborhood area every day. It’s nice to see the white snow, but I am ready to say “bye” to Winter and look forward Spring!

Below are some of the things I’d like to do while I am anticipating the arrival of Spring.

Beauty Brushes

I have many makeup brushes for applying eye shadow, because I love the colorful products that go on the eyes. However, when it comes to the foundation brush, I only have one flat brush by Chanel (which I purchased a long time ago). This is simply because I rarely use foundation. Recently I bough the Guerlain foundation, but I noticed that when I apply it with my Chanel flat foundation brush, it leaves streaks on my face. So I bought Guerlain’s Lingerie de Peau Foundation Brush (a round 360 degree brush). With this Guerlain foundation brush, my makeup looks smooth, without any streaks. (Click the image below for more information.)

(Guerlain Lingerie de Peau Foundation Brush)

Another brush I bought this month is Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Complexion brush. This brush has two sides: a large flat-top head for a flawless base and a small angled head for concealer under the eyes, and around the nose. (Click the image below for more information.)

These two brushes are so easy to use and help me to achieve a nice, natural makeup look.

Neck Cream

I am in need for a new neck cream. After doing some research across different skincare lines, I decided to try the StriVectin-TL™ Tightening Neck Cream Plus. Over the years of looking down on my phone everyday I noticed my horizontal neck lines are getting more visible. This StriVectin neck cream claims to tighten and smooth out skin. I can’t wait to see if it makes any difference on me. (Click the image below for more information.)

(StriVectin-TL™ Tightening Neck Cream Plus)

New Lip Beauty Product

I am constantly looking for new lip products by my favorite brands. This month Dior is launching a new Addict Stellar Shine Lipstick. This lipstick is sheer and has aloe vera oil to nourish lips. I just ordered a couple of the Dior Addict Stellar Shine Lipstick in several shades and I can’t wait to try them on soon! (Click the image below for more information.)

(Dior Addict Stellar Shine Lipstick)

Enjoy Vintage Wine

I bought a bottle of Long Shadow Winery’s 2006 Saggi vintage wine a few years ago. I didn’t drink it right away because I thought the vintage wine was special and meant to keep around for many years. But I realized that I really don’t need any reason to enjoy it on a regular day, so I finally opened it.
I think the 2006 Saggi tasted much better than the current 2008 Saggi. The 2006 Saggi has the dark cherry aroma and refined tannins taste of the Saggi, but it’s smooth from the first sip to the very last.

(Enjoying 2008 Saggi vintage wine by Long Shadow)

Marvel Movie

I am fan of Marvel’s super hero movies (i.e. Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor). Marvel is releasing a new movie this month, Captain Marvel, which is a new character added to the movie franchise. I am looking forward to watching the this movie and see how it will be incorporated in the movie series.

All Posts, Beauty, Top Five

5 Things to Try This Month – January 2019

01/31/2019 Shirley

Not everyone has to have New Year’s resolutions! I stopped making mine since last year, because life is full of unexpected adventures and there’s never enough time to complete everything I planned to do twelve months ago.

In my opinion, it’s good to have goals for the new year. However, if you put all your focus on chasing your goals (and judge yourself in the year-end based on the list you made last year) instead of living your day-to-day life with occasionally spur-of-the-moment ideas, you’d be missing out a lot!

After all, life is too short to beat yourself up with what you didn’t do in the past.

Even thought I don’t have specific New Year’s resolutions drawn out, there are still things I’d like to do to start Year 2019 off right! See below.

New Lip Beauty Product

Dior recently released a new color for its signature Addict Lip Maximizer. As usual, I had to try their new products in the store. After testing most of their new Lip Maximizer, I bought the Lip Maximizer in Pink/Holographic. I like the plumping and shimmering effect of this product on my lips. It’s like putting on lip gloss without the stickiness on the lip surface.
(Love my new Dior Addict Lip Maximizer)

New Gel Nail Color

I’ve been getting my gel nails done in red for the past three consecutive months, because of the holiday season. For January, I am switching to hot pink with light blue glitters and pearls.

(New gel nail for January 2019)

New Hair style

If you want to make changes to your style for the new year, consider updating your hair style. I’ve been keeping my hair long in my natural dark hair color for many years. To spice up my new year mood, I decided to get a trim with long bangs and add some red color.

To minimize the damage to my hair, my hair stylist suggested me to go with highlight. Without using any bleach on my hair, my red highlight turned out to be dark brown. The result wasn’t as dramatic as I wanted, but I don’t have to touch up the color as often as I used to when I dyed my hair in light shades. I am happy with my new hair style.

(My new hair style)

Opera – Il Trovatore

It has been years since I watched an opera. This January I will be going to the opera, Il Trovatore (by Giuseppe Verdi), in Seattle McCaw Hill, with a friend. The opera is about love (between a lady-in-waiting to the princess and two brothers) and revenge (of a daughter). I’ve been listening to the Il Trovatore Opera recording before the day of the opera, so I can be familiar with the opera music and enjoy as much as I can from the night.

(Picture of the Il Trovatore from Seattle Opera)

Celine Dion’s Vegas Concert

Celine Dion is one of my all-time favorite music artists. She has been singing in Las Vegas for a long time and will end her Las Vegas show permanently after this June. My friends and I want to watch her perform in Las Vegas before June, and we have to purchase the tickets and plan for our trip by the end of this week!

All Posts, Beauty

Result of Using Sunday Riley Skin Care Serums for a Month

01/18/2019 Shirley

I love to try new skin care products for fun! I recently got a new set of day and night serums to incorporate into my daily skin care routine. I tested the serums for a month and I’ve already seen the difference they make on my face!

This new skin care adventure started in the beginning of December, when I was out shopping with my friend. We saw the skin care products by Sunday Riley, and my friend pointed out that it’s one of the recent popular beauty products used by many celebrities in Asia.

Out of all the Sunday Riley products on the display in the store, I found the Luna Sleeping Night Oil (blue liquid) the most intriguing. When I massaged a drop of the blue Luna product onto the back of my hand, it changed from blue to clear and my skin felt well hydrated.

The Luna Sleeping Night Oil has retinol, which is supposed to help to reduce the appearance of pores and wrinkles.

I’ve been looking for a serum with retinol and the Luna Sleeping Night Oil seemed like a good candidate to try.

Since I was going to use Sunday Riley’s Luna Sleeping Night Oil, I wanted to try the Good Genes (Sunday Riley’s day serum, which exfoliates the skin and improve its complexion) for daytime.

Result on the First Application

The instructions on the Luna Sleeping Night Oil says that it’s okay to use the Good Genes (day serum) over the Luna (night serum) at night. So I tried both of them on the first night, after I cleaned my face, put on the toner and the SK-II Facial Treatment Essence. Instantly, my skin looked radiant and hydrated. (I was surprised and delighted on how quickly the products worked for me.)

To complete my skin care routine, I put on my favorite La Mer’s moisturizing soft cream.

Result after a Month of Usage

I have several beauty brands of serum I alternated on daily basis, based on my mood. But for my new experiment, I was determined to use the Good Genes (for day) and the Luna (for night) continuously for a month, along with my existing toner, essence, and moisturizer. After 30 days of usage, I already saw that my skin complexion has improved, and my skin feels smooth and hydrated when I get up in the morning (where my skin used to be a little bit dry). The laugh line on the left side of my face seems less visible.

The changes on my skin came gradually over the one month period. My skin was fine to began with, but adding the Good Genes and Luna serums to my existing skin care routine definitely helped. And I really like what I see in the mirror.

To summarize, my experiment on the Sunday Riley’s Good Genes and Luna serums went well. I’d recommend you to try these to see if they work well for you!

I plan to continue to use both Good Genes and Luna serums until I run out of them, then move on to another anti-aging serum for another experiment.

All Posts, Beauty, Holidays, Top Five

5 Things to Try This Month – December 2018

12/05/2018 Shirley

I always have mixed feelings about December. It’s the month for joyful celebrations, which I love. But it’s also the end of the year, which could be a bit depressing (because the year went by too fast). Nevertheless, there are still many things I want to do before the year ends.

See below for my list of things to do this month.

Nespresso Holiday Coffee

Each year I look forward to Nespress’ holiday limited-edition coffee and espresso drinks. Last year, Nespresso offered three different holiday coffee flavors: peppermint, banana, and cherry. This year, Nespresso offers several blended coffee with coconut flavor (Exotic Macaron), almond flavor (Paris Madeleine), hazelnut flavor (Paris Praliné).
As always, I love their fancy coffee capsule designs. They add more festival vibes to the holiday season.

(Picture taken with Nespresso’s new Orange Biscuits and holiday coffee capsules. The biscuits are delicious and perfect with Nespresso coffee.)

Enchant Christmas Seattle

Enchant Christmas is a holiday lights festival which began in Vancouver, B.C., Canada a couple of years ago. It’s coming to Seattle’s Safeco Field this holiday season. The festival will have Christmas light maze, ice skating trail, Christmas market, live entertainment, and more. I am looking forward to seeing all the holiday lights!

Sequins for Holidays

One of the fun things about the holiday season is attending celebration events. It’s always fun to look for new outfits and accessories for different occasions. I think something with glitters is the must-have! Click here for more details.

(Saint Laurent Loulou Glitter Bootie in my favorite purple color.)

New Everyday Lipstick

I always bring at least one lipstick (for touch-up) with me when I leave the house. But last week I forgot to bring a lipstick when I met with my friend for lunch. It felt really weird to be out and about without any lip colors on me, so my friend and I went to shop for new lipsticks at the mall. Most of my lipsticks are in fuchsia, pink, and red colors, so I picked a new one which is a more neutral color.

(GIORGIO ARMANI’s Lip Maestro Lip Stain)

New Dietary Supplement

I’ve never though about taking extra dietary supplements as part of my daily regimen. For years, one of my best friends has tried to convince me to take the dietary supplement she likes to improve wellness and skincare. After years of persuasion by my friend, I finally decided to give it a try starting this month. I am looking forward to see if the supplement really works for me.

(BeautyGlo – dietary supplement to increase skin firmness and radiance.)

All Posts, Beauty, Top Five, Travel

5 Things to Try This Month – November 2018

11/25/2018 Shirley

November is a busy month for me. Not only do I have many friends visiting from out of town, I also have several small trips lined up for the month. Below are some of the things I am doing in November.

Pat McGrath Blitztrance Lipsticks

It was just last month that I bought Pat McGrath’s new eyeshadow, Mothership V: Bronze Seduction Palette and Mothership Subversive Metalmorphosis eye shadow. Now, she has released eight new Blitztrance Lipsticks, which are part of her holiday 2018 collection. The new Blitztrance lipsticks are made with glitters and comes in a shiny bullet case. For someone who really likes glitters, it’s really hard for me to resist these new beauty products.

Out of the eight available colors, I bought three – Fuchsia Perfect (bright pink with blue and pink pearl), Cyber Orchid (pink with blue pearl), and Rebel Red (red with copper pink pearl). The Fuchsia Perfect is perfect for everyday wear, including work. Both Cyber Orchid and Rebel Red are ideal for dress-up and a night-out. I will have plenty of chance to use them this holiday season.

Pat McGrath Blitztrance Lipsticks — Pat McGrath’s Holiday Blitztrance Lipsticks

YSL National Makeup Artist Event

Nordstrom hosts many beauty brand’s national makeup artist events throughout the year. Last Saturday I went to the YSL’s beauty event and met YSL’s Director of Makeup Artistry, Dell Ashley. Typically, at such national beauty event, each makeup artist will work on a customer’s makeup (by appointment only) while the national makeup artists will go around and touch up the customer’s makeup and giving tips on how to improve the beauty look. Dell is really good at making intensified eye makeup.

Girls Trip to Palm Springs

My friends and I just got back from our Palm Springs trip. It was a special celebration for my dear friend who’s expecting her first baby. There were a total of eleven girls, which was the largest group I’ve ever traveled with. The four day trip to the Palm Springs was perfect; plenty of time for relaxation, good food, and excellent time with the girls.

2018 Palm Springs Group Picture — 2018 Palm Springs Girls Trip

Nordstrom Holiday Shopping Event

Nordstrom is hosting a holiday shopping event this Sunday. Two good things about most of Nordstrom’s shopping events are that the store will be less crowded (private event) and there will be free champagne (and light refreshment). In my opinion, shopping under champagne “influence” is one of the fun group activities you can do with friends.

Accessories for Del Mar Trip

Some good friends of mine are going to the Del Mar Racing in San Diego in the beginning of December. They have invited me to join them for the weekend trip. This will be my first time going to a horse racing event and visiting Del Mar. I am very excited for the trip and can’t wait to shop for my vacation outfits.
(We will be staying at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar. Picture from the Fairmont web site.)

All Posts, Beauty, Fashion, Top Five

5 Things to Try This Month – October 2018

10/25/2018 Shirley

When I think of October, I think about the colorful tree leaves in the Pacific Northwest. Many of the trees that are green in Spring and Summer will slowly turn into different shades of brown, red, and yellow. And as we get close to the end of October, you will see the leaves falling like dripping rain throughout the day.

This beautiful natural scenery reminds me that a year has gone by and it’s time to get ready for a new season. There are many things I am doing this month, including getting new fashion accessories and getting a new bold gel nail color.

See below for my monthly column for October, 5 Things to Try This Month.

Reminiscent Classical Design

Many of the fashion designer houses are reinventing their classic logo and signature designs. I’ve been looking for a small cross body bag in silver. What could be better than a Gucci quilted leather crossbody bag with its signature red and green webbed stripe!

Shirley Style in Rag and Bone Overalls And Gucci Cross Body Bag

Winter Boots

October is the perfect time to update your wardrobe and purchase new boots for Fall. I am really into suede boots this season. Because the rainy season will begin in Seattle, soon, right now it’s the perfect time to break in my new Stuart Weitzman suede boots without worrying about any puddles of water on the ground.

New Gel Nail Color

I love red gel nails so much that I’ve been getting mine done in red two months in a row. For the month of October, I had the urge of being bold and pick a new nail color. I just got it done yesterday in neon orange color with white glitters and crystals. This will be perfect for the Halloween and my upcoming Palm Springs trip.

New Eyeshadow

I love glitter eye shadows. Pat McGrath is one of my favorite makeup artists and she just released some new eye shadow palettes, including her signature Mothership (V: Bronze Seduction Palette). I can’t wait to put them on for my next dinner event.

Piano Concert

Richard Clayderman is one of my favorite piano artists. I learned how to play many of his songs when I was a child. I am looking forward to his concert in Seattle, at the Benaroya Hall. Listening to him playing in-person is one of the items on my bucket list!

Shirley Style Monthly Column – 5 Things to Try This Month – October 2018

All Posts, Beauty, Fashion, Top Five

5 Things to Try This Month – August 2018

08/13/2018 Shirley

Summer is a popular wedding season. It’s no surprise that my best friend is choosing August to have her wedding. After a few weeks of searching for the prefect dress to wear to her big day, I finally found mine.

Below are a couple of other things I plan on doing in August.

New Beauty Product

I am currently running low on my existing eye cream. I’ve been hearing some nice things about Estee Lauder’s new eye cream, Advanced Night Repair Eye Supercharged Complex Synchronized Recovery. This product contains hyaluronic acid and Estee Lauder’s ChronoluxCB ingredient to help promote skin’s natural repair process. The price for this new eye cream is relatively inexpensive compared to other high-end skin care products I’ve been using; therefore, it’s worth it to me to give it a shot for experimental reasons.

(Estee Lauder Eye Cream)

Dress for Friend’s Wedding

My dear friend’s wedding is less than two weeks away. I finally found the perfect dress (Self-portrait Embroidered Mesh Dress) for me to attend her wedding. I just ordered it and can’t wait to receive it, soon I hope!

(My New Dress for My Friend’s Wedding)

Gel Nails

After last month’s girly light pink and iris gel nail color, it’s time to go back to my favorite red glitter nail color. Since we are still in the Summer season, my gel nail artist added golden seashells and sea stars to the finish look.

(picture of the red gel nails)

Baking for Fun

The other day I came across a baking recipe for the Almond-Orange Pound Cake from Williams Sonoma web site. The idea of a dessert with both almond and orange seems very refreshing for the hot season. I plan on trying out the recipe this weekend!

Wine and Cheese Party

I got invited to a Wine and Cheese Party for this weekend. The event is hosted by some friends at their home. Although they told me I don’t have to bring anything, but I plan on brining a bottle of my favorite Long Shadows red wine. The question will be which red wine to bring!

(Long Shadows Red Wine – Feather Cabernet Sauvignon)

All Posts, Beauty, Fashion, Top Five

5 Things to Try This Month – April 2018

04/30/2018 Shirley

In the Pacific Northwest area, it’s common if it doens’t always feel like we are in the Spring season until we are long into April. And April is the perfect time to adopt some Spring elements to spice up our daily life. For example, getting some butterfly-inspired jewelries, trying new pink lipstick products, and getting a new pair of sunglasses.

Below are some of my suggestions for this month!

Spring Jewelry

When I think about Spring, I think about blossoms, flowers and butterflies. And for this season, Swarovski released a butterfly-inspired Lilia Ring Set in multi-colors and Rose gold plating. This ring set comes with three rings in different size (bigger, medium, and small) with different colors of crystals. You can interchange the ways you wear the rings to your liking. I prefer to wear the bigger ring and small ring on one hand and the medium ring on another. Or wearing just one of them to match with specific outfit colors.

Dior’s New Lip Product

Dior released a new long-lasting liquid lipstick, Dior Addict Lacquer Plump. This new lip beauty product from Dior comes in 16 shades, and I bought four: Dior Pretty (neutral pink color), Afterparty (raspberry color), Dior Fever (fuchsia color), and Disco Dior (pink color with glitters). After wearing them for a couple of times, my thoughts on the Dior Addict Lacquer Plump are: it is lightweight on my lips, the liquid lipstick colors are pretty and stay on my lips while I eat and drink, it’s hydrating when I first put it on, but my lips get dried after a while. I’d need to put on my Dior Lip Maximizer to keep my lips moisturized. Overall, I like the new Dior Addict Lacquer Plump and give it a thumbs up!

Cat Eye Sunglasses

If you are looking for a new pair of sunglasses for the season, you might want to consider a pair of cat-eye design sunglasses (instead of the oversized sunglasses). In my opinion, sunglasses are one of the accessories that I could never have too many of. To match with your outfits and styles, you will need sunglasses in different shades, frames, and materials.

Saint Laurent New Wave 215 Grace sunglasses

Luxury Goods History

Recently, a friend mentioned a book, Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster. It is about how luxury fashion goods were transformed from wealthy elites privileged to the general public accessible, and how globalization enables the expansion of the luxury products in terms of production and marketing. I am only on the first few chapters, but I am already fascinated with the history of the fashion houses and how they transitioned from family-owned private shops to the multi-billion dollar conglomerate-owned fashion labels. Reading such book with extensive fashion luxury history really helps me to appreciate the evolution of business.

Red Gel Nails

After last month’s light green glitter gel nails, I am back to my usual favorite red glitter gel nails with Swarovski crystals. Even though I get red color gel nails about six times out of the year, my gel nail artist does a great job on making design changes on the Swarovski crystals she put on my nails each time. For this month, she put a large and three small crystals on eight fingers, and a gold color wire kiss with a small crystal on two fingers.

All Posts, Beauty

No Such Thing as Too Many Lipsticks Products

03/23/2018 Shirley

Beauty product brands are constantly rolling out new items each season. And my obsessions for beauty products also have changed from time to time.

In terms of the lip beauty products, I used to be obsessed with lip glosses in light pink and fuchsia colors. Now, I am addicted to lipsticks in assorted shades, especially including bright reds.

I used to prefer lip glosses over lipsticks because I liked the texture of the lip glosses and the subtle shine effects they have on my lips. But during the recent year, I expanded my lip color choices and feel more comfortable wearing bright red lip products. Many of my favorite beauty brands now have released lipsticks and liquid lip products that are sheer in texture and full of color pigments. Some of these lip products also have some shinning elements like lip glosses. And some of those lip products can stay on lips and last throughout a meal.

My current favorite picks of the lip color products are: Dior’s Addict Lacquer Stick, Dior’s Rouge Dior Liquid Lip Stain, Yves Saint Laurent’s Tatouage Couture Liquid Matte Lip Stain, Yves Saint Laurent’s Volupté Tint-in-Balm, and Charlotte Tilbury’s Hollywood Lips Liquid Lipstick.

When I am fond of a particular lip product, I like to get it in several colors, such as light pink, fuchsia, and red. It’s always fun to decide which lip color product I want to put on, based on what I wear and what mood I am in. Sometimes I’d put on one product on my way out and bring a different one for touch-up during the day.

In my opinion, there’s no such thing as having too many lip color products! This is especially true when each of my favorite beauty brand continues to roll out new kind of lip beauty products each season. If there’s any beauty products I allow myself to indulge in, it would be the lip beauty products.

I don’t usually put any foundation and eye shadows on my face on daily basis, but I love to put on lipsticks when I am out and about. If I absolutely have to, I might put on some concealer around my eye area (to cover the dark circles) and around my mouth to enhance the lip color. And my go-to cover-up product is Yves Saint Touche Éclat Radiant Touch.

P.S.The Yves Saint Touche Éclat Radiant Touch is a multi-purpose beauty product. You can use it on the bridge of your nose, the brow bone, forehead, and more. If I can only have two makeup products for the rest of my like, this would be it!

All Posts, Beauty, Holidays

Your Under $29 Holiday Gift Guide for 2017

12/11/2017 Shirley

One of the holiday parties I will be going to this month requires each guest to bring a gift under $29 for the white elephant game. While I was looking for gift ideas, I came across some products that I think I could bring. See below for the suggestions.

Fun Wine Glasses

Looking for a gift for cat lovers? Consider giving them some wine glasses decorated with fun statements related to cats.

‘If Your Cat’s Home’ Stemless Wine Glass, $12 each, or $24 for Two.

Bath Salts

After a long holiday shopping trip, nothing serves you better than a long rejuvenating bath. Try the sea salt blended with chamomile flowers, rose petals, and lavender.

Bath Salts, $26.

Beauty product

Lip balms are essential for the Winter season. Instead of the normal pink color of lip treatments, what can be more fun than trying the clear flower balms? The flower comes in three flower colors (yellow, green, and pink).

Flower Balms, $14 each, or $28 for two.

Makeup Kit

When it comes to makeup kits, we can never have too many makeup brushes. For this holiday season, try the MAC’s Snow Ball Mini Brush Kit. Included in the kit are a power brush, foundation brush, shadow bush, smudge liner brush, and brow groomer brush.

MAC’s Snow Ball Mini Brush Kit, $29.

Skin Ointment

Last month I tried various body lotions to see what works best for me during Fall and Winter. I came across the Lucas’ Papaw Ointment. I massaged it into my hands, legs, and knees. And I was surprised how great the product works on my skin and protects it from drying out!

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Shirley Style Monthly Column – 5 Things to Try This Month – October 2018

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