Memosne: 2015

Plain Jane OOTD

Top: &Other Stories, Bottom: Club Monaco, Shoes: Same Edelman, Purse: Coach
The Dog Days of Summer have come and gone, but I'm still holding on to this last week of sunshine before the fall weather kicks in. I found the key to effortless outfits is keeping it easy, breezy and silky. 


The top is from &Other Stories and the shorts are from Club Monaco. I've paired the whole outfit, as usual, with my Coach Penny Purse and my gold pair of Sam Edelman Sandals.


Sometimes I think the best way to casually enjoy a day is to go without any clumsy adornments. I really love dainty bracelets and rings, but my hands are so petite almost nothing fits me. I also felt I didn't have the right necklace in my arsenal to accessorize this outfit correctly.


I still think it looks like it's ok! A good outfit should be able to stand on it's own two feet after all! Thanks for reading!


Tony Moly 5 Day Mask Project: Day One Review



This was the most expensive thing in my Tony Moly haul. I was shocked. One, because the store didn't have a price tag anywhere near this mask set, and two, THERE ARE ONLY 5 MASKS. That's $10.80 for each mask!! Which altogether is nowhere near SK-II's masks or the "fancier" brand sheet masks at Sephora, but I definitely had some sticker shock when the clerk rang me up.

On the box the 5 Day Project promises: "A clinical-quality sheet with vegetable stem cells, it promotes skin exfoliation for total skin care and gives 5 types of care."


I bought this mask set over individual masks because it was packaged as a complete set. With other masks one can argue that you need prolonged use or multiple uses to get the "full benefits" of the mask. This comes packaged in a 5 Day Format, so I think you should at least expect to see results after 5 Days.

The masks, in order, are:
Day 1: Peeling
Day 2: Water Glowing
Day 3: Toning
Day 4: Lifting
Day 5: Total


So let's start off with Day One, shall we? As you can see on the package, the mask isn't a traditional face mask, but instead a "peel-off" mask composed of densely woven silk and a special mud. I didn't understand what they meant by "peel-off" mask, but you'll come on the journey of discovery with me. 


Unfortunately this is the best before picture of my face that I have...


On the back of the mask it touts this description: "The peel-off mask is a new-concept mask created by the combination of highly dense silk and special mud. It makes skin smooth and bright by absorbing old dead skin cells and impurities from skin with its ingredients of volcanic ash extract and seaweed extract."


Already when I first opened it, it was a very, very dry mask.


The mask itself came in three separate parts: a white 'barrier" layer, the silk mask, and a brown application layer.


The mask stuck together a little bit and I had a hard time separating all the layers and applying them on my face.


The texture of this mask was really quite different. I was partially afraid I was going to destroy it by pulling it apart incorrectly, but I realized after manipulating the sheet for a little while the silk is quite strong. I tried to follow the instructions as much as I could, but I actually messed up immediately. You're supposed to put your top piece on first and your bottom piece later to layer.


I feel like these masks have a pretty quick drying time. You have a span of maybe 2-3 minutes where you can play around and adjust them on your face, but the mud and silk combo begins to harden quite quickly. 


I tried to maximize the amount of "mask to skin coverage" there was by smoothing out all the creases that appeared during application.


Behold! Leatherface. Terrifying, I know. After you're satisfied with the placement and overlap of the two halves, you now have to wait for 40 minutes for it to dry. The drying process wasn't too difficult, but it certainly wasn't necessarily a "relaxing" experience. With all "mud" based masks the drying process can be slightly irritating. The mask dried so tightly around my face I was unable to talk after 20 minutes. As the mask dried I could feel it pulling the oil from my skin. Which is a good thing! Albeit a bit uncomfortable.


After the allotted time has elapsed and you look like a straight up serial killer, start peeling the dried mask away from your face, beginning with the parts closest to your ears.


You can visibly see where the mask didn't dry completely. This made the removal on my cheeks very easy, although it makes me wonder if my cheeks received the full benefits of this mask. The removal took slightly longer and was slightly more painful than I thought. The peeling sensation was similar to using a blackhead strip.


I definitely didn't peel the mask all off in one go, my pain tolerance was a little too low, but overall the mask wasn't difficult to get off.


I think that this mask actually made a pretty big difference in my skin. I know that my inflamed red areas definitely calmed down, partially because of the dusk-like sediment the mask left behind, but I also felt like it shrank my active acne.

Overall, I was pretty impressed with Day 1!

Lazy Sunday OOTD



What do you do when you're stressed out and just want to curl up at home? Dress up, put on a full face of makeup, and read a good book. This blog shouldn't even be called FaFoFi, it should just be called Club Monaco Lookbook. I CAN'T HELP IT. I have a problem. I know.


I found this little crop sweater a bit hard to style, but I thought the pattern went with these striped jean shorts I also purchased from Club. When in doubt, go with pieces from the same store.


Boyfriend just finished this book and recommended it to me. Are you guys reading anything good lately? Let me know your recommendations! Also I'm curious, do you guys prefer audio books or real physical books?


Tony Moly Perfect Lips Shocking Lip: Red - Review!


As I say over and over again on this blog, my true weakness is lip products. Lipsticks to me don't require too much skill in application and I can always count on a bright pop of color to elevate my mood. If you know me–I'm looking at you Malucent Makeup–you know that my ultimate kryptonite is a red lipstick. I have a million reds, but I always, always want more.

TLDR: I like it! The longevity is pretty good. I needed a reapplication after eating a spaghetti bolognese lunch, but other than that I was impressed with the staying power. It's a deep red that makes my teeth whiter and I like the consistency of the formula. It's not drying, but it's not moisturizing either.  It also smells like a fruit roll up. 


The Tony Moly Shocking Lip was pointed out to me by the sales associate when I asked about her favorite item in the store. She told me that the lip stain was new and that you had to be very careful during application, because it stains and sets. If you mess up or go outside your lip line, you're done. I was totally sold when I saw a giant cardboard cutout of Tony Moly spokeswoman HyunA rocking her signature red lip using this product.


This was the most expensive of all the lip products I walked away with. For $22, you get 7 grams of product in a large container. The packaging is pretty big, so you won't easily be able to slip this into your clutch if you're going out, but you don't need to worry too much about re-application. What the sales associate said was totally true.


This lipstain has a a traditional doe-foot applicator and is very easy to apply. Just to reiterate, be careful during application and feel free to use a lip brush for even more precision.

Nude
The consistency of the lipstain is somewhere between a lip lacquer and a water stain, but to me it most resembles a gel. This might actually be my favorite red lip product at the moment, not only because of it's longevity, but also because it stains a deep red and has a demi-matte finish. It also smells really fruity and tasty–think fruit roll ups–even though I'm 1000% sure you're not supposed to eat it.

Freshly Applied
It's not as drying as traditional lip stains, but it's certainly not moisturizing either.

End of Day 
I purposefully didn't reapply the lipstain just to see how long it would last and I think it did pretty well! Even though it looks a little patchy, my lips are still colored. Also, if you layer your lipstain the longevity goes way up.

Just to do a true test of longevity, I applied one swipe of this lipstain before I went to work (at 7:30am) and took pictures throughout the day to see the wear. The last photo I took was at 6:30pm when I got home. I applied lip balm to make sure that my lips would stay hydrated, and I think that negatively affected the staying power of the stain.


When I got to work I got my usual cup of water and I noticed some transfer on the rim. My top lip also tinted the water pink.


You can definitely see in the last two photos that my lips are chapped and dry. I could have probably gone with a quick reapplication after lunch, but it still seemed to hold up pretty ok. Without the lipbalm, I think it would have lasted a little better.

I also like this stain because you can layer it pretty well and use it to do the "gradient lip" that's so popular in Korea.


Overall, I like the formulation. It stays on pretty well, it smells good and comes in three additional colors: Pink Shocking, Ruby Shocking and Orange Shocking. Although it is a little pricey, I may have to pick up another one of these.

You can buy it here (non-referral): http://en.koreadepart.com/item/1426746265/tony-moly-shocking-lip-perfect-lips

Thanks for reading and also thank you to Synthia Maramis for requesting this review! I hope it was helpful!

Zara Basic Top and Club Monaco Skirt OOTD


I don't know where other bloggers find beautiful urban areas that are completely devoid of people. I feel like every time I want to take an OOTD I always feel that flush of embarrassment when other people are watching. However, I wore this outfit to go on a date with Boyfriend to the Harvard Art Museums. So it was a good excuse to act like tourists and take photos all over the Harvard Yard. 


I love black skirts, I think they're a versatile and staple piece to anyone's wardrobe and I treat buying black skirts like my second job. I saw this one for sale at Club Monaco (Who's surprised at all that I shop there) and I knew I had to grab it. I felt the fit was very flattering and the texture of the skirt makes it able to break up monochrome outfits and also double as an interesting color-blocking piece.


I paired this guy with a Zara Basic top, the Talbots Peggy sandals that have been glued to my feet all summer, and my Chanel Purse. I never take it out, but I thought I would this time. 


Thanks for reading!

Tony Moly Angel Glow Ring Hair Mask - Review!


So when my sister and I walked into Tony Moly, the first thing we saw was their mask stand. I think because everyone is obsessed with Tony Moly facemasks that staff was hardpressed to constantly refill their mask stand. It seemed like they were out of a lot of the "regular" face masks and had placed some hairmasks as place holders in their mask stand. My sister and I gravitated towards this particular hair mask because of the cute wing design and the "Two-Step" Process of the hair treatment and hair cap.

It retails in store for: $6, but they currently don't have it stocked on their site. I've placed an alternative purchase link here to TonyMoly's Amazon Store. Full disclosure, this link is not a referral link.


Here are the ingredients for those of you that are curious, but the instructions are pretty similar to any other hair mask or over the counter deep conditioning hair treatment. Shower, shampoo and condition, towel off and apply the essence!

So this is my natural hair to begin with. I have a Korean "digital perm" on the ends, but other than that my hair is pretty much un-touched. I don't like to blow dry my hair and expose it to the excess heat, so I let it air dry every night. That being said, my hair is still a little crispy on the ends and could use some loving.

So I popped into the shower! After towel drying and taking all the excess water out of my hair, I ripped open the first little pouch on the tip of the "Angel Wing."


The essence was a thick cream and it didn't have too strong a smell. It just smelled "clean" and the consistency reminded me of Macadamia Professional brand hair masks. The amount in the pack was just enough to cover my hair, but I did put more on the ends and focused less on my scalp area.


As I was applying the cream to my hair, I noticed that it had little yellow micro-beads of essence further embedded in the cream. As I applied them to my hair, they melted right away. You don't have to worry about putting the cream on and leaving the beads and their nourishing essence un-popped in your hair.

You guys get to see my ugly "I'm doing stuff with my hair" shirt. 
Overall the application was very easy albeit a little messy as all hair things are.


I was actually a little disappointed when it came to "Step 2." My sister and I purchased this pack because we thought we would get "double" the amount of hair essence with the essence pouch and an essence soaked "hair mask." When I opened the main body of the angel wing, I pulled out a dry, thin, and flaccid looking shower cap with no essence to be seen.

You guys also get to see my icky makeup-less face! 
I can understand the benefit of covering up your hair to lock in all that moisture, but this "Angel Glow Ring Hair Mask" was slightly more expensive than the other essence soaked hair mask and I felt a little bit let down. I do have a lot of hair, but it wasn't difficult to fit it all into this shower cap. 


After you shove all your hair into your shower cap, the instructions say to massage your head for an undisclosed amount of time.


Having no patience and being a little lazy, I massaged my hair enough to make sure that the product was being evenly distributed, but I essentially let it sit for the 20 minutes after that. During the waiting period I noticed that my hands, which I hadn't rinsed off from Step 1, were burning uncontrollably. There was a stinging sensation all along my palms and fingers and that didn't go away even when I washed my hands with soap and water. Obviously the sensation faded by the end of the 20 minutes, but it made me wonder what was going on in my hair and on my hands.


After the twenty minutes, I popped back into the shower and rinsed the treatment out. Here's how my hair looks post treatment and rinse.

I let my hair air dry overnight and I slept on it, so we'll time warp to this after photo. Yes, I did wear essentially the same outfit two days in a row, but I did change the top!

The overall results were tangible. I felt a difference in my hair, it was definitely smoother, softer and shinier. When I asked the boyfriend if he noticed anything different, he said that my hair was shinier. So the "Angel Glow Ring Hair Mask" definitely stands up to its name in that respect.


My permed curls did fall out a little bit, but I think that's because my hair got a little softer and wasn't able to hold the curl as well.


Two days later, my hair still feels softer, but it has lost some of that shine. My curls have bounced back, but I wouldn't say this made a life changing difference to my hair. I think I'd purchase it again for fun, but I wouldn't put this product into my normal routine of hair care. Next time, I'll try to blow dry and see if my curls hold up better.

Overall, I'm neutral about this product, but I can see myself buying it again. And I can also see myself washing my hands off immediately after applying "Step 1."

I hope this helps!