Monthly Archives: January 2012
BEAUTIFUL EYES THE ULTIMATE EYE MAKEUP GUIDE
For Christmas 2011, my teenage daughter received a lot of makeup products and beauty items from family and friends. A gift that has been put to really good use has been the BEAUTIFUL EYES THE ULTIMATE EYE MAKUP GUIDE book by Rae Morris. The book has chapters on eyebrows, false eyelashes, eye colour charts, and eyes. The how to pages are very simple to follow and the book is full of pictures to make practicing the look very easy. The book was published in 2010 but the looks are still very wearable for todays trends. My daughters friend that purchased this for her spent her money well and got a great gift.
L’OREAL PARIS INFALLIBLE 24 HOUR EYE SHADOW
The L’OREAL PARIS INFALLIBLE 24 HOUR EYE SHADOW lives up to it’s name. This stuff comes off when you are ready to take it off. Worn alone, there can be some creasing even though it claims to have none. Paired with a really good eyeshadow primer, there’s more staying power and no creasing. I’ve used this product both as an eyeshadow and an eyeliner. It’s very easy to over do it when applying this as an eyeshadow because the color is so rich. Using very little at a time and applying softly works best. The color is too bold for a daytime look but perfect for a night out. What I love most about this product is you get high end quality for around $6 – $7.
A GREAT BAG (LOUIS VUITTON)
Almost 5 years ago, I visited Kauai’s neighboring island of OAHU and purchased my first Louis Vuitton item in the ALA MOANA SHOPPING CENTER. One month later, I visited my sister in MAUAI, Kauai’s other neighboring island. It’s a little farther away from Kauai than Oahu. It takes approximately 45 minutes to get there from Kauai. During my visit, I purchased the accessory to go along with my first purchase from the SHOPS AT WAILEA. After almost 5 years of use, mostly during evening events and nice dinners, the bag and card carrier is in excellent condition. You can’t tell from these pictures but there is some signs of wear on the handle due to many uses. I love getting a quality item at a great discount. Unfortunately there is no such thing as sales at Louis Vuitton. However, for the price I paid and the number of years I’ve had it and the future use I will get out of it, it was well worth the money. I can’t remember the official style name for each item but I’ve included the style number and description off my original receipts.
M51900 RECITAL AND M61733 PTE CARTES SIMPLE
It is a very small bag but it carries everything I need for an evening out including the card carrier, a camera, a smart phone, a small lip gloss, a small compact eye shadow and a small hand sanitizer.
BIG ISLAND CANDIES
My most recent trip to one of Kauai’s neighboring islands was to HILO HAWAII, also known as the BIG ISLAND. My main reason for going over was to celebrate my god son’s birthday but I got to do a lot of other things too. One of the places that I got to visit for the first time was the BIG ISLAND CANDIES factory and store. Before entering, I fell in love with this place. I already knew their candies were super good because I received Big Island Candies as gifts in the past. It’s a factory and a store all in one so from the outside it kind of looks like a really nice warehouse but to soften up the look as you enter the front door, I was met with big floral bamboo bouquets on either side of the door. Me and my friend love taking pictures and we started going crazy with taking shots next to the bouquet and of the bouquet before even opening the door. When we did finally enter the door, we were met with the winter holiday season decorations which we later found out from one of the workers that it is one of the few times a year the owner goes big with decorating the store. The store was so pretty. There was decorations hanging from the ceiling, there was big beautiful vases everywhere and big glass bowls and decorative boxes carrying candies. Again me and my friend went crazy with taking pictures because everything looked so good. We almost forgot about the reason why we went, CANDY. The chocolates are a must to get. My favorite is the milk chocolate. A treat that I would never leave without purchasing is the CHOCOLATE DIPPED ORIGINAL SHORTBREAD COOKIE. These are so heavenly and sinful at the same time. Sinful because you can so easily eat too many and end up gaining 10 pounds in the process of consumption. The ORIGINAL SHORTBREAD COOKIE is a must to get also. These buttery, perfectly made cookies are what makes all of the cookies so divine. For take home gifts, the HAWAIIAN TREATS are fun to get because they take hawaiian snack favorites and dip each in chocolate. True hawaiian snack eaters go for the LI HING MUI. It’s a sweet salty snack dipped in chocolate. It’s a bit much for me. I’m not much of a seed eater but it’s a favorite among many of my friends. The next time that the owner of BIG ISLAND CANDIES will go big on his decorations will be during the MERRIE MONARCH FESTIVAL which will be held during the month of April. So if you are in the area around this time, stop by and grab a treat and let me know all about how they decorated. I would love to see pictures.
THIS SHOT WAS TAKEN FROM ONE OF THE BOUQUETS OUTSIDE
ANOTHER FLOWER SHOT TAKEN FROM THE GIANT BAMBOO BOUQUET
A FUN PLACE TO VISIT. THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY WAS NOT OPEN DURING OUR VISIT
BECAUSE WE SHOWED UP DURING CLOSING TIME BUT THE STORE WAS OPEN.
ONE OF MANY DECORATED TABLES. THIS WAS THEIR WINTER HOLIDAY THEME.
HAWAIIAN TREATS. PERFECT FOR GIFTS TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS
BRITA WATER FILTER PITCHER
One of the best purchases I have made for my kitchen is the BRITA VINTAGE WATER FILTER PITCHER. For years, my family and I drank filtered water out of plastic disposable water bottles, adding to the over flow of waste at our islands dump site. Eventually we switched to stainless steel reusable bottles but I was still having filtered water delivered to our home each month. I took it a step further several years ago, eliminating the need to purchase filtered water by getting the Brita Pitcher at my local Costco. Having filtered water all the time has never been so easy. Each FILTER lasts 2 1/2 to 3 months. The pitcher comes with an electronic indicator that keeps track of the life of the filter. I love this pitcher so much that I take it with me when ever me and my family will be away from home so that we can use it at our vacation spot. When purchasing replacement filters, I shop at my local Costco. You can find it at other locations including online but I’ve found that you get more bang for your buck when purchasing in bulk.
SOME WAYS I SAVE MONEY
Hair maintenance. It’s a monthly up keep that can get very expensive depending on your hair dresser and hair products. I made some expensive purchases lately on things I had on my wish list. Typically when I make an expensive purchase, I cut costs else where to balance my finances out and not get myself stuck in a hole. To cut down on maintaining my hair for the next 6 months, I’ve changed hair stylists. I found one close to where I live that will cut my hair for $25. Other than the high end shampoos, conditioners and products that are used during my time at the salon, I don’t see the difference in my hairstyle with the cheaper hair stylist than my normal $50 hair stylist. Also, instead of spending $50-$100 coloring my hair every 6-8 weeks at the salon, I’m coloring it myself at home. I’ve used several brands so far so that I can figure out which one I like best. I was very pleased with my most recent hair color results from Clairol called NICE ‘N EASY COLOR BLEND FOAM in the color medium ash brown. The application process was super easy and the wait time was 20 minutes for the color to set. It’s been a little over a week since I colored my hair and the color is still very rich and my hair is very soft. Living in Hawaii, I’m exposed to the sun almost everyday so using shampoos and conditioners with a color shield is a hair care priority for me so that I can protect my color treated hair and keep its color as long as possible. The shampoo and conditioner I’m currently using and have used in the past is the GARNIER FRUCTIS COLOR SHIELD SHAMPOO and CONDITIONER. With the use of this combo, I will extend the life of my color for up to 8 weeks.
