On Getting Lash Extensions

I have some of the shortest, weakest lashes ever! I am always so jealous of ladies who are blessed with beautiful, thick eyelashes. Eyelashes just really help to open up your eyes and make you look more awake. I had always wanted to get them, but the price scared me quite a bit. With my budget, it isn't something that I can just make myself get.

I was out at lunch with one of my work teams, and I noticed that my coworker's lashes were absolutely long and beautiful. She has beautiful eyes, but on that day, they were especially gorgeous. I asked her if they were real (is that taboo for me to point it out?!!!). Anyways, she told me about the process, and who she used. Turns out that the girl she uses was Hmong, and was one of my friend's friend! Small world huh?! My coworker told me about the holiday special, and I thought, if I want it, now is my chance! My aunt, and another friend got extensions as well.

This particular eyelash extension technician did it out of her home. Brandon was supposed to watch Mason but was helping someone move so I had no choice but to take Mason. She was totally fine with me taking Mason, and at some point, her daughter and son actually helped watch Mason. When I got there, we talked about what I wanted, and I told her that since I worked in the corporate world, I don't want anything too dramatic. The 12s was the shortest so I asked for the 13s. She has an Instagram page so I looked at some pictures just to get an idea. I laid on a massage looking table on my back and closed my eyes while she put the lashes on. Since this was before Christmas, she had asked me what music I wanted, and I asked for Christmas music. I think she must have thought that was a little odd, me being Hmong and all, but I love Christmas! Anyways, the process was totally painless. However, it did take 3 hours. That time passed by really quick. It was super calming and relaxing though, so calm that I think I may have fallen asleep at some point!

My lashes lasted for maybe 4 weeks, and then it started going all crazy on me. The technician gave me a brush, and advised me to brush it daily but I wasn't the most diligent, and once the lashes got a little crazy, there was no helping it. After about 3 weeks, a few of them started turning in weird directions which didn't bothered me too much, but Brandon was constantly reminding me to brush them out. I did love them very much, and it meant that I didn't have to put mascara on, or remove all that mascara at the end of the night; however, there were a few things that annoyed me about them.

First, I couldn't wear my sunglasses! I don't have a very high nose bridge so when I wear my sunglasses (or glasses), my extensions would hit my glasses and it was absolutely annoying. My sunglasses would have to be at the very tip of my nose, and almost falling off. It was ideal at all. I know, boohoo, complaining! Secondly, I hate not being able to just stand under the shower, lashes and all. I had to remember to be careful when washing my face, and taking off my makeup. You can't use oil makeup cleanser which wasn't an issue for me, but if you wear waterproof liners, you may prefer oil makeup cleanser which can mess with the glue and cause your extensions to fall. Third, since my eye shapes are not symmetrical, they did not look even with the lashes. My left eyelashes curl upward but because my right eye is more hooded, my lashes on that eye tends to go down more so with the extensions, this issue was exacerbated. I had brought this up to my technician's attention, but I don't think she understood until I pointed it out to her. Looking back, I definitely feel like she should have addressed this sooner. She was going to charge me extra to try and fix it, but I honestly didn't want to spend more money on something that I felt was something she should have noticed. She said that she had never experienced this with anyone else. Lastly, the growing out phase is so freaking annoying. As the lashes fall out, my eyelashes looked weird with the long extensions coupled with my short, skimpy ones. And although my lashes went back to normal, I did feel like the extensions made my lashes a bit skimpier and weaker right after the extensions fell out.

Overall verdict, I think this would be great for vacation or a special occasion, but for myself, I prefer my real lashes, weak and tiny as they are!

Have you tried extensions, and if so, how did you like them?

Thanks for reading!

Kaolee

sephora wishlist





lately, i have been obsessed with finding products that are made without parabens and sulfates, but that stills works. and because sephora typically has their vib sale in november, i thought i would peruse their website for some of my wishlist items. the cleanser, hair mask and shampoo listed below seem to fit the bill. i also have the sephora pro face brush and completely love it so i am hoping to pick up the concealer brush as well.

 

 happy saturday!

 

 

fresh soy face cleanser

 

 

pro airbrush concealer brush #57

 

 

sephora collection medium hair brush

 

 

briogeo hair mask

 

 

fresh seaberry shampoo

 

 

origins drink up-intensive overnight mask

i previously posted about this renewal cream that i've been using every night due to my dry pregnancy skin. in addition to that renewal cream, i use this origins drink up intensive overnight mask about twice a week in place of the renewal cream and this mask really helps. even though it's a mask, i basically apply it like a moisturizer in the evening. it is even more thick than the renewal cream.

i love the smell of this mask and love how moisturizing it is. if you have really dry skin and need a hydrating mask, this is perfect.

 

origins currently has 20% off going on right now so stock up!

 

-kaolee

origins high-potency night-a-mins mineral-enriched renewal cream

 this last trimester, my skin has been especially dry (see article here). my favorite moisturizer needed a little something extra. instead of changing my daytime moisturizer, i opted for something a little more moisturizing at night. ever since i started using origins last year, i've been loving a lot of their products so when i needed something extra, i decided to look into a moisturizer from their line.

 

when i told the origins lady my dry skin concerns, she recommended this cream. i love the smell of it and the consistency is perfect. it is definitely a lot more moisturizing than my day-time moisturizer. i've been using this at night time after cleaning and toning and i am loving it. it definitely restores the moisture and i'm less dry during the day and can use my regular daytime moisturizer.

 

i love the packaging. it looks fancy and looks good on your vanity.

 

because it's thicker, this will definitely last me a while. i'm actually worried that my skin will go back to being more oily and i might not be able to use it all before then.

you can see here how thick it is, but by morning time, it's all absorbed into my skin and my skin feels super soft.

 

-kaolee

clinique's even better clinical dark spot corrector

last year, i started seeing a couple of dark spots underneath my eye area. admittedly, i have laid out quite a few times when i was younger and we never wore a lot of sunscreen growing up. i'm actually allergic to a lot of sunscreen products which is another story for another time.

i had heard a lot about clinique's even better clinical dark spot corrector cream and so i picked up a bottle to try (the picture below is the 1.7 fl. oz.). i hate buying the larger size of a product because not only is it more expensive, and if i don't see results, i'm also out more money. the lady at the counter said that she recommended the larger size since i needed at least 4 weeks to see results and at least 12 weeks to really see a big impact. she also mentioned that it's best after using two of the larger bottles. i just bought one and i didn't use a ton of it and just dab some where my spots were so that the cream would last longer.

unfortunately, i didn't see results after using this whole bottle. and after trying it, i'm definitely not getting a second bottle.

earlier this year, i saw a video regarding a skin lightener, namely hydroquinone, that alarmed me. on the ingredient list, i can't tell if there is hydroquinone in this product and so i've contacted clinique to ask them about whether this product does contain hydroquinone or not. on the container that this product came in, the product contains a cl-302 complex, which is a bit obscure and not very telling so in the meantime, i'll wait to see what they say.

let me know if there is another skin lightener out there that works and that is more natural without any harsh chemicals. i'm still on the search, but i rather not take the risk for the sake of beauty.

-kaolee

tarte cheek stains

with pregnancy, my skin has been a lot more dry than before. i did have more oily/combination skin, but now i'm finding that my skin is a lot more dry. i don't have hormonal break outs either. also, i've noticed that i can actually go a couple of days without washing my hair and my scalp won't feel oily either.

i've tried a couple of the tarte products and so when i saw that they had blushes going for 50% off, i knew i had to get a couple. these are stains as opposed to powder which worked great for my drier skin. it took me forever to decide which colors i wanted, but ending up getting these three: blushing bride, tipsy and natural beauty.

i felt like these three were different, but still colors that i would use.  

the first one above is tipsy (more coral). the second one is blushing bride (more pinky). the last one is natural beauty (a darker red). 

i'm so glad i got these three. they are just so pretty. my favorite is definitely blushing bride. i feel like it is just the perfect pink for my cheek. i do have some pink in my cheeks and this color brings them out. i also love that it's not a powder, since it doesn't make my skin look dry either. natural beauty looks a little scary with it being so dark, but these are quite sheer so when i blend them in with my fingers, they aren't overpowering on my cheeks. 

tipsy, blushing bride, and natural beauty. once blended, if i want a little more color, i'll lightly use one of my blushes to go over it. if not, i usually just put a powder over it to set. 

my in-laws got us this beautiful statute. it is absolutely gorgeous and i can't decide where to put it yet so it's going on our tv stand for now. i love it and it's just so perfect for us right now. 

they also got us some treats. i've already been noshing on these. thanks family!!!

 

-kaolee