Turquoise Jewelry

Yesturday, I was finally re-united with my friend Hannah. I haven't seen her since before summer started, which has been a while. So we decided to meet up for lunch and catch up on life. Hannah is from the island of Guam. She is a natural beauty, her mix consists of Filipino and Chinese. She is one of those friends who I know I will keep forever. Our friendship is compatible, we can kick it one on one, mix friends, don't have to be constantly together, no jealousy, and never get annoyed of each other. Which is why I know she is the only person I can see my self living with on the island, if I were to choose a room mate. Before she flew back to Hawaii, she recently was visiting family in the Philippines. She said while she was there she spotted turquoise jewelry and told me that the color reminds her of me because she knows that it is my favorite  color. She handed me a small bag that held a turquoise gold flower ring, with a pearl in the middle and two turquoise bracelets. The turquoise jewelry will make a good contrast against black, brown and khaki outfits. Thank you so much Hannah!

Vineyard

Yesturday before hula practice, I painted my nails a pinkish red, shimmery shade called "Vineyard," by Pure Ice. I bought this at Walmart a couple of weeks ago for only $2! Personally, my favorite nail polish is by O.P.I, which has salon quality texture that last a long time. Besides, O.P.I, the other half of my collection is random nail polish brands that cost reasonable, but work just as good. I like how the Pure Ice nail polish, isn't too thick or too watery. It goes on nice and smooth and you only need one coat, but if you want more pigment I suggest you paint one more layer. If you are looking for nail polish in this price range, then I suggest you check this section out! Aloha!

Kailua

Aloha! I just love Sundays, the family day. Even though my family isn't currently with me on the island, I have a second family here which is my friends. Today I started the day off with morning mass to reflect, pray, and thank God for all that he has blessed me with. After church, I met up with Hollie and Ange to head out to my favorite beach "Kailua." I come to this gorgeous, local spot, once, sometimes even twice a week. Kailua is located on the East side of the island, also known as the Windward side. After we had our after noon swim, we ended our day and treated ourselves to Teddy's burgers, which is a cute 50's style burger joint. The burgers here are the bomb, it's my favorite burger joint on the island. Since there are no In-n-Out or Red Robin restaurants! I miss mainland restaurants so much! Down below are a couple pictures from today, I hope all of you had a happy Sunday!

                                       

                                                              

Shopping at Borders

Today I went to Borders with two of my friends, Taye and Hollie. We love going to the book store to look around, read, and shop. I love getting lost in the pages of the various books that contain verbal quotes, pictures, ideas, facts, opinions, and inspirations. The book store is one of my favorite places to go to. The environment is so chill and relaxing, there are times where I even stay there for hours! Today I bought a laptop bag, a magazine, and two books. I have been eyeing this laptop bag for the past couple of months, and today I got lucky and it happened to be in the clearance section. The original price was $25, but was on sale for $6. I love the artsy print, and how its just the right size to fit my mac book pro. Its not too bulky, and theres just enough cushion on both sides for protection. The magazine that I bought was the September issue for Cosmopolitan, which was only $4. I love reading cosmo because they have many unique articles that give advice on love, fashion, and life. The two books that I got are both from the author, "Nicholas Sparks," the first one is called "Nights in Rodanthe," and the second one is "The Choice." Each book was $8. So far all the books that I have read from him, are so successful that most of them have become motion pictures. His stories always contain romance, lessons on life, and are so touching that it makes you cry. If you like to read books that contain any of these then I suggest you check out his section at any book store. I hope you enjoyed my shopping review, when you get the chance head over to your nearest book store, you won't regret it. Aloha!

Tatted Up

Aloha honeys! Today my friend Thai Thai and I went with some new friends to Kailua Beach. I love meeting new people. It's so cool because the four new friends we met are all from the East Coast. Derrick is from Massachusetts, Jessica is from New Jersey, Denver is from Pennsylvania, and Shannon is from Minnesota. I was talking to Shannon when I noticed her tattoo on the upper left side of her back. Her tattoo is beautiful,  so I asked her if I can feature her on my beauty blog. She said yes, followed by her answering my questions. Her tattoo is of a small skull in the center of a Tiger Lily flower. She said that it represents her dad, who past away when she was twelve years old. She chose the flower because she thought it was really pretty. Her tattoo is also filled in with bright colors, to represent "bold and vivid." I asked her if she is going to add onto it later on, she said that she's thinking of adding her father's initials(his actually initial signature) later on. I think this is a beautiful, unique body art mural in remembrance of her dad. Thank you so much for sharing the symbolism with us Shannon!

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.

Prestige Automatic Waterproof Eye Liner

Aloha honeys! It feels so good to be blogging in the beauty blog world again, such a shame that I haven't posted in a while, sorry! So two days ago I stopped by Longs Drugs to buy my favorite eye liner which is the automatic waterproof eye liner by Prestige in "Black." It only cost $5.25. My cousin Cici introduced me to this liner back in high school. I have tried so many eye liners from cheap to expensive, they always either smudge or wear off quickly. But no matter what liners I go through, I always come back to Prestige. Which is a reasonable price for good quality. I use this liner to boldly rim my bottom water lines. You can also use it for a top liner, then smudge it out, and then set it with a black eye shadow(so it doesn't smudge in the crease), to get the smokey eye look. This liner stays on for hours, glides on smoothly, and leaves a defined lining. You can find Prestige cosmetics at Walgreens and Longs Drugs. Check it out honeys!

"Real Beauty" by Sonia Kashuk

When do you feel beautiful? Is one of the questions that was asked in my Sonia Kashuk make-up book called "Real Beauty." For those of you who don't know who Sonia Kashuk is, she is a famous make-up artist who has her own make-up line, which is sold at Target. In her book she does a run through of tips on how to do basic and dramatic make-up looks. She also has different sections of the book that focus on nails, excercising, all these different areas not only on external beauty, but on internal beauty as well.

 In one of the last sections she interviews her friends of all ages from the beauty industry, and asked them when do they feel most beautiful. It was interesting reading all the unique answers that each woman had to say. A few said that they felt beautiful when it was their wedding day, others said when all their make-up is off. From time to time I think about this question, and how would I answer it because to me their is a wide range of unique beauty.

Besides me getting all glammed up, I feel beautiful when people tell me that I look like my mom. Because I think she is so pretty and always wished and envied her features. As I was growing up people always said that I look like my dad, thats where i got my round face and small nose from. But as the years went by lately everyone has been telling me I look like my mom, I never told her this but I always wanted to look like her. Sometimes when people comment me, I wouldn't believe it because I didn't feel it.

But lately I been practicing to accept and gain confidence from these positive remarks. And instead of wishing I had a certain look or style on another woman that I see, instead I awgknowledge them and compliment them. A smile and thankyou always follows, thats how love can be spread even if you don't know the person. And that person can pass it on too, and next thing you know the beauty chain is flowing. Its too bad that not everyone wants to participate in this, but if you choose too trust me, not only will you make another feel good, but you will feel good internally too.

So now its my turn to ask all of you "When do you feel beautiful?" Please don't feel shy to leave a comment on your unique answer I'd like to hear what the beauty blog community has to say. If you guys get the chance pick up your copy of Sonia Kashuk's book, or stop by a near by book store to look at it, you'll learn a lot! Have a nice day honeys!

Fashion Board

Inside my closet, I made mini collages of fashion, hair, and make-up inspirations from magazine clippings. By hanging these inpirations in my wardrobe it gives me ideas on outfits and styles to put together. I plan to change it up every season so that its updated. I got inspired to make this fashion board from watching Dulce Candy 87 on youtube. She is one of my favorite youtube beauty gurus, who does videos not only on make-up, but also hair, make-up nails, fashion, she basically teaches you everything! I encourage all of you to check out her videos, get inspired!

Thank you so much Gabriela Choy!

I met Gabriela Choy last summer in a make-up class that we both attended at Skyline community college in San Bruno, California. She is so sweet, funny, and always greets you with a warm smile. She is also the manager for Duty Free Cosmetics at the San Francisco airport. Even though we are miles away from each other, we still manage to keep in touch with one another. This past Christmas we exchanged gifts. She gave me a Dior Addict High Shine lipstick in "Coral Shimmer", and a Clinque SPF 30 face cream. The lipstick is a sheer coral shade that goes on really smooth, and has a glossy finish. And the sunscreen goes on really light, not too sticky, is waterproof, and has a good SPF number protection to prevent burning, wrinkles, and skin damage from the sun. I am really looking forward to using these beauty products, thanks again Gabby!

My Purpose In Life

Aloha honeys! I am so sorry for not blogging for the longest time! But I promise I will start updating frequently once I get my mac labtop soon. I have something to share with all of you, its the beauty of realizing that I am not in denial anymore. So last week, my friend Drea and I attended the Youth Speaks Hawaii Reunion. The open mic event was located in downtown at Arts at Mark's, and was open to the friends and families of the performers, and also open to the public. The performers were alumni from the Hawaii team, and recent members. Seeing the youth perform, brang back memories of when I used to perform at open mics and inspires me to get back out there again. I felt that adrenaline throughout my soul where the words opened up my heart again. So, the day after I texted my dad and explained to him that I wasn't in denial anymore. Because everytime people ask what my major is, I reply psychology(but deep down inside I didn't feel confident about it). It's like I chose it because my parents aren't going to send me to Hawaii and spend a lot of money to go to cosmetology school. Even some of my cousins and unties and uncles knew that I was just saying that, because they seen how much passion I have for cosmetics. But what I realize is that you can multi-task and do everything you love to do, but in order to do that you need to organize your life and time. One of my friends, Noi, in cosmetics is a mother of five, dances in a hula dance group, is a elementry Hawaiian teacher, and works in cosmetics, and she is fit, beautiful and fabulous. She inspires me to take on multiple careers. I also explained to my dad that on my free time, I like to go to the gym and do dance classes, love working in cosmetics, and love expressing myself through spoken word, and that all of them have one thing in common, "Creativity." And creativity is who I am, its sad that I don't want to be a counseler anymore, but I can still help and inspire many lives by becoming a creative writing teacher. (and of course still work in cosmetics, I love them both equally!) I encourage all of you to go out there and work hardcore to get to the highest goal, and when you do get there don't stop, keep going, keep it flowing!