Woman of the Month of August

Aloha! For the month of August I chose to do a spot light on my friend, Elizabeth Lagundino. Liz and I met almost a year ago at the college dorm in Waikiki. Since then she has became one of my good friends on the island. She is so hilarious, always cracking jokes and speaking her mind freely. She is from the island of Kauai, the garden isle. I love how she is very creative! For my birthday last year she made me a big poster that said happy birthday that had a hand drawn Hawaiian Hello Kitty. She is also an inspiring young lady. She works two jobs, one as a beauty associate for Victoria Secret(she is an aspiring make-up artist), and she is also a sales associate for the Children's Place. On top of her busy schedule, is dedicated to her hula dance group called "Keali'i Ka'a Punihonua Ke'ena A'o Hula." They perform a couple times a month throughout the island of Oahu. I always try to attend most of her shows, I've already been to her local hula competition about two months ago, church performance, and once a month they dance at the Waikiki Banyan Stage(which I attend and film after church). I love how even though her busy life can be sometimes stressful, she still always performs hula with passion, grace, and a welcoming smile. As she carries out the tradition of hula, the local art of poetry. Liz continues to multi-task, but maintains a well balance life. I am so proud of her, she is a ro-model to many, I present to all of you Elizabeth Lagundino. 

    
                  Her 2nd annual hula dance group performance at the Waikiki Banyan Stage.

                                          Liz getting her make-up on!

                                   She made this cute center piece under $5!

                                                                               Before the club!
                                                    

                                                          At Poipu Beach, Kauai, she was my tourista guide.

                                                               Looks like a local ad for Goose. lol
                                                                                                    

                                        She bought this yummy shortbread Hello Kitty cookie lollipop
                                                                                                                         Thanks again Liz!

Beauty Treats from Korea, thanks Drea!

So earlier this week, my friend Drea came back from her trip at Korea and she brought me back some beauty treats. Thanks Drea there so cute! I already used both of them since then! She got me a vitamin cocktail mask. The scent smelled so good, the serum was silky, but not sticky, and it left my face moisturized. I left it on for about fifteen minutes, then I used the left over serum to gently smooth onto my face. This is what we did with the face masks, when I used to work for Shiseido. The second beauty she got me was a toe divider, that comfortably cushions and separates the toes. I used this when I gave myself a pedicure a couple days ago. I love the goodies so much, thanks again Drea!

*sorry the pictures are so blurry, my camera broke a couple months back, I need to get a new one, until then I'm going to be using my blackberry camera phone

Sephora in Waikiki

Aloha! I am so excited, later this afternoon I have an interview with Sephora. There is a new one being built right next to Waikiki Plaza, which is one block down from where I live. The store opens next month, which is like two weeks from now! It would be a dream to be a part of the Sephora team! In the past when I would walk into any Sephora store, I would feel so overwhelmed because there are so many make-up, skincare, hair, nails, fragrances to choose from. I want everything, each time I go in there, but realistically you buy what you need. And so, finding out which product works best for your price point, helps to break it down a lot. If Sephora decides to add me to the team, then I will be happy to help each customer, who feels what I once felt. By using the cosmetic experience that I learned from my past job at Nordstroms, I hope to use my beauty knowledge, creativeness, and passion for cosmetics to help others embrace their beauty by teaching and demonstrating make-up artistry. I'll update you honeys on how the interview goes! Have a nice day!

Five Cheap Beauty Tips!

Aloha honeys! I'm going to be sharing with you five tips to save you money!


1) Vaseline, this makes a good skin and lip moisturizer to stay hydrated and decrease, eliminate, and prevent future chapping, the mini travel size at Target is only $1!


2) Baby Oil (most of the time I use the generic ones), use this with cotton balls to remove make-up, even takes off stubborn waterproof eye make-up, I've been using this for years, instead of buying eye make-up remover that can go up to $20+


3) Pony Tails (small or regular sized usually from $2-$4), use 3-4 pony tails to braid 3-4 sections is your hair, leave over night or for a couple hours, then gently unravel and spray with a wave enhancing spray(Garnier has a good one for about $3, that smells so good!), you have homemade waves, instead of buying an electronic waver that cost about $25+


4) Olive oil (which is what I also use to cook healthy), if you run out of shine serum for your hair, take a dime sized amount of olive oil and slowly run through you hair to get a healthy shine, don't use to much or your hair will feel to oily too much can weight the top of your crown down, which causes it to look flat, olive oil is only $6+


5) Lipstick Brush (you can get a cheap one from the drugstores for like $5+), instead of using your lipstick up until it doesn't twist up anymore, you can still use you lip brush up until the bottom is hit, this extends the life of your lipstick


I hope this was helpful, feel free to pass it on to your family and friends!


Aloha,


Deanna

Ko'olau Naturals

Ko'olau Naturals is an organic cosmetic line created by Alan Lemieux. Alan is my co-worker, whom I met in Nordstrom Cosmetics, his line is fragrances. Every time I see him at work he greets me with a jolly smile. Alan is an expert and experienced in cosmetics, he has been in the spa business for twenty five years. Back during winter break, he greeted me Merry Christmas and handed me a homemade soap. Within the next couple days of my use of the soap, it quickly disappeared! I loved the scent and feel of it so much that I used it all up. Recently, I asked Alan if I can put in an order for the soap he gave me, the scent was "Honey Oat." The soap cost $6, and is made from real honey and oats. I love of the oats acts as a light exfoliation on the body. And the combination of the scent is a light sweet scent, I love when I inhale its like  my soothing aromatherapy. He makes other flavor soap bars, shampoo bars, lip balms, handmade jewelry, and natural deodorants too. As a gift with purchase, he gave me a full sized one hundred percent natural deodorant. Which usually cost $10, thank you again so much Alan! The deodorant comes in a clear, jumbo glue stick, shaped container, so cute! He also explained to me how the deodorant is made with tea tree and other natural ingredients that smell so good, but after a couple seconds even the pleasant smelling scent is gone, eliminating all odor. I am so happy with my new organic products and will continue to purchase from this line not only for myself but for gifts as well, so I can share the word of Ko'olau Naturals. When you have the chance check out http://www.koolaunaturals.com!

Accessory Shopping!

Aloha honeys! Two days ago, my girls and I went shopping at "Pearl Ridge." I love that mall, because its the only mall on the island that has my favorite store "Charlotte Russe." I always buy clothes, so that day I  decided to focus on looking for accessories so that I can mix and match many outfits, instead of constantly buying more clothes. I bought a nail polish by Island Girl called "Maui Magic," which is a pastel peachy, pink, matte shade. It only cost $2.99! This cosmetic brand is started and is only sold in Hawaii, there stuff is so cute! And is sold at all the ABC stores throughout the island, which is like the local 7 eleven. I also bought a pretty charm bracelet and earrings at Charlotte Russe, I love their jewelry section, and the deal on the earrings, bracelets, and rings is buy two for $8. So basically, the earrings and bracelet I bought was only $4 each! I love it! And the last item I bought was a black flower head band from Forever 21. The band is scrunched,the material is silky, and the the mid section of the flower is beaded. I usually don't like wearing head bands, but I decided to try this one because I am inspired by the fashionistas here on blogspot and youtube who accessorize plain outfits into fabulous outfits. Accessorizing is all about expressing your creativity, balance, and eliminating(remember you don't want to over accessorize.) Stay glamorous honeys!

Smashbox Cosmetics Review

Aloha honeys! About a week and a half ago, I purchased some cosmetics from work during my break. My friend Kent, who is the manager of Smashbox cosmetics, helped me choose make-up from his line(thank you so much Kent!). I bought a Smashbox lip enhancing gloss called "Aura," which is a shimmery, nude pink shade. The price of this lipgloss is $18. I also bought the Smashbox blush rush called "Chiffon," that is similar to Nars "Orgasm." The blush goes on really smooth, and is a sheer, light pink shade that contains gold shimmer. The cool thing about this packaging is that you can swivel the bottom and a mirror pops out. The price of this blush is $24. Because I did a pre-sale, when you spend a certain amount of money on a cosmetics line, you get a free gift, since there was a beauty event that day. So as a gift, my co-worker gave me a Smashbox photo finish lipstick in "Lovely,"(which is a deep sheer red shade, very moisturizing) and a small Smashbox retractable, lip brush. The lipstick original price is $22. Smashbox cosmetics is now officially one of my favorite cosmetics, very pigmented, smooth texture, overall good quality. Smashbox cosmetics is one of the top cosmetics in the World, that is used in studios, films, fashion shows, and photo shoots, it is old everywhere so we can all purchase and experience the professional beauty secrets of Smashbox.