｡◕ ‿ ◕｡ Circle Lenses & You ｡◕ ‿ ◕｡

Hi hi~! I hope everyone is having a fabulous week. This post is going to be about circle lenses (shortened to CL for this post)! I went to the optometrist a few weeks ago and I received some shocking news.

I learned a lot about circle lenses and just eye care in general. I think a lot of people are unaware of the risks with circle lenses so I'm going to share some of that information with you today, as well as provide you with some alternatives.

In no way am I bashing CL's, in fact I am a CL wearer myself. I think you just have to be smart about what lenses you choose. Remember that your eyesight is precious and your health should always be a priority over vanity.

F.A.Q
1. What are Circle Lenses? (shortened to CL for this post)
Circle lenses are special contact lenses that can alter the appearance of your eyes. They can give your eyes an "enlarging" effect, (usually these have a thick black ring around the outside). CL's also come in a variety of  sizes, colors and designs.

A popular CL series designed by Tsubasa Masuwaka herself.
I have used both of the bottom ones.

2. What's the difference between CL's and regular contacts?
CL's provide enlargement and better color/designs than regular colored lenses as regular lenses act to only enhance your natural eyes. You care for them the same way you would regular lenses. They are cheaper than regular lenses but they will put your eyes at risk to certain health concerns that I will explain later.

3. Can I get CL's with a prescription?
Yes. They are also available without a prescription.

4. How long can I wear CL's for?
I would say that you shouldn't wear them as long as regular lenses. Absolutely no more than 6 hours tops as the likelihood of your eyes becoming very dry and irritated increases the longer you have them in.

If there's anything else I need to cover, please let me know. I'm going to leave this FAQ open.

The Concerns

As many of you may (or may not) be aware, CL's can pose some pretty serious health concerns. Most CL's are made in Asia where the materials used to make the lenses are not approved by major health administrations (FDA, etc). In fact the Princess Mimi lenses I showed above are an example of lenses made with a material called "Phema". The use of this material is illegal here in Canada, and I believe in the US as well because of the health risks. 

To put it simply, it's a type of plastic-like material which limits the oxygen flow in your eyes. Our eyes don't have blood to supply oxygen so it absorbs it from around you. By placing a lens made of this material, it inhibits your eyes' ability to diffuse in oxygen which can cause Corneal Neovascularization. This is where the blood vessels in your eye grow into the cornea (ew.), which leads to vision problems later.

Another condition you could get is Giant Papilary Conjunctivitis I'll let you read the wiki because it's too gross for me to describe. I will say though, the shocking news I received is related to this. If you develop a severe enough case of GPC, you will never be able to wear contacts for the rest of your life.

These are just a few of the serious health concerns related to CL's. This is mostly due to the lack of quality in the materials they are made of. Hopefully in the future someone will be able to make CL's that are safer so that we don't have to risk our health for looks. If you ever want to know more, don't hesitate to contact your local eye care professionals.

My prescription lenses~

The Alternatives

Of course, the best alternative is to stick with normal transparent lenses. However I understand the need for color and enlargement, especially if you're into styles like Gyaru. There are brands like FreshKon and FreshLook that make lenses similar to CL's. The enlargement is obviously incomparable, but some of the colors actually look pretty similar! I was surprised when I tried a sample grey lens. It looked almost exactly like the Princess Mimi lenses in Sesame Grey. I'll have to make another post later to compare the colors because I haven't ordered them from my optometrist yet.

Another thing you can do if you choose to wear CL's is to replace them often and wear them less often. What I mean is, although CL's are disposable yearly (which my optometrist told me is also illegal/not done anymore) you should change them perhaps every 3 months. You should also only wear them when you really have to, maybe once or twice a week, as opposed to wearing them daily.

Conclusion

Circle lenses are pretty and fun but you should always remember your health comes first. Along with the alternative options, regular checkups with your eye care professional will help ensure your eyes last for the rest of your life. I understand that it will be hard to part with all the designs and colors. Even I won't be able to stop wearing them completely. I believe that everything in moderation is a really good rule of life, which is not limited to things such as alcohol or sweets. So if you use CL's in moderation, you'll be able to doll yourself up as well as save your eyes from a lot of potential damage!

I hope you found this post helpful and informative. I didn't mean to scare you off from CL's at all. I felt that after receiving such valuable information I was obligated to share it with everyone out there.

If there's anything that I should add or change about this post, please let me know! Don't hesitate to share it with fellow circle lens users. You could help save someone's eyes!

Until my next post. Take care everyone!

♒ H20+ Skincare Brand Review ♒

Hello everyone! I hope you're doing well. Today I'm going to give you a brief introduction/review to the skincare brand known as H20+. I'd first like to mention that this is not a sponsored post in any way at all. I wanted to make a post on this brand because it really helped my skin in the past, maybe it could help you too! I'm not going to do a huge in-depth review on the products because that would make this post wayyyyyy too long. If you want to know more about any of them, please feel free to ask me! (｡◕‿‿◕｡)

Before I jump into the products I wanted to fill you in with some background information on my skin. I have oily/dry/combination skin that's quite sensitive and a teensy bit of rosacea on my cheeks as well. For the longest time I didn't have a skincare regime. I suffer from acne and at one point I had skin so dry it would peel on its own (ew, I know). H20+ was one of the very first brands I ever tried out when I first started getting into this sort of thing. It helped clear up my skin and made it look/feel healthier than ever before.

Fair warning: this is going to be a pretty long post, BUT I'll be using these nifty dividers to help split up the text so it's not like a chunky-ass brick wall. 

Let's get started then!

The products I'm going to list all the products I'll be talking about, but first I have to mention that they have repackaged and renamed some of their products since the last time I purchased them. The updated names will be listed in brackets.

• Eye Oasis Moisture Replenishing Gel (now called  Eye Oasis Moisture Replenishing Treatment)
• Face Oasis Hydrating Gel (now called Face Oasis Hydrating Treatment)
• Oasis24 Hydrating Booster
• Face Oasis Cleansing Water
• Face Oasis Dual-Action Exfoliating Cleanser

Just a small note: I've only ever purchased the exfoliating cleanser (and then repurchased the cleansing water) in a full size product. The rest of the items I got a really good deal from purchasing the "special sets" that look like this:

Picture from Glamour.com

Unfortunately after the whole repackaging thing they did, you can't get this exact set anymore. The new set they offer in this Face Oasis line replaces the water cleanser (very left product) with a product called Oasis Mist. Still worth buying imho because the hydrating gel itself is quite pricey. If I remember correctly, at the time of my purchase, the set was nearly the same price as just purchasing the moisturizer on its own (just for your reference sake, I don't really remember exact prices sorry!).

Eye Oasis Moisture Replenishing Treatment

This product claims to be "A fast-absorbing, oil-free intensive hydrating treatment formulated to target the delicate eye area with phopholipids, multivitamin complex and moisturizing marine botanicals." 

The tube is quite small, maybe the size of a nail polish bottle. (I usually judge the amount of product I use by the size of the container it comes in). A little goes a long way with this product! It works to plump up my under-eye area and it makes it look well rested. Although this is a very good product, I don't find myself using this much as I am still young. My under-eye area doesn't need that much care at the moment so I didn't repurchase this.

Face Oasis Hydrating Treatment

This product claims t that it is an "oil-free moisture gel" that "delivers deep hydration while minimizing the appearance of fine lines with phospholipids, multivitamin complex and moisturizing marine botanicals."

This product is the main reason I got into this brand in the first place. I received a sample of this long ago and it made my skin feel phenomenal. It moisturizes so well and leaves your skin looking and feeling young, supple, and healthy in the morning. The jar is a bit small but this product spreads very well because it is a gel. It sort of lingers on your skin for a bit before it gets absorbed. If you are suffering from dry skin you HAVE to check this product out. This is my most recommended item out of all the products I will talk about in this post.

I wouldn't really use this as a day moisturizer, just because it's so hydrating. It may come off looking "oily" so instead I just used this at night.

Oasis24 Hydrating Booster

This product claims to be "A nutrient-intensive, oil-free moisture supplement for depleted skin with omega plankton, moisturizing marine botanicals and Sea Mineral Complex"

This is probably my second favorite product out of all of the ones I've tried. I've never used a serum or anything like that before so this was a new experience for me; I almost didn't know what to expect. I would use 1-2 pumps of this and pat it all over my face/neck. This product really made a difference in the way my skin absorbed the hydrating gel at night. I felt like this really gave the gel more "oomph"!

Face Oasis Cleansing Water

This product claims to be a "water-light cleanser gently washes away impurities while replenishing vital moisture with provitamin B, moisturizing marine botanicals and Sea Mineral Complex"

This really does feel like water on your face but it lathers up beautifully into a light foam almost. It removes all my makeup and just does a great job being an effective yet gentle cleanser. The bottle is huge for this product but you don't need a lot to get the job done since it lathers up quite a bit.

Face Oasis Dual-Action Exfoliating Cleanser

This product claims to "Deeply cleanse and revitalize skin with this gently refining, oil-free formula with natural fruit enzymes, jojoba beads, and moisturizing marine botanicals"

I picked this up in the full size because it didn't come with the little set they had. I needed an exfoliator and this one was recommended to me by the staff. I do like this product; it does its job well. However it didn't impress me enough for a repurchase. If you want a decent exfoliator, this one will do just fine. I just decided once a week exfoliators like the rice mask one from Skin Food was a better fit for me.

Overall, I think this brand is worth the investment. The products perform beautifully both together and independently. They have the power to soothe and improve troubled skin but remain gentle enough for those with sensitive skin like me. 

They don't have many stores but you can order from their website. The prices are quite reasonable for skincare items and the results are just spectacular. I would consider this brand a mid-high end brand. It's not as expensive as brands like Lancome, but it's not super cheap like L'Oreal or Biore.

That's all for this post. I hope you found it helpful and informative! If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask me, I'll try my best to help you out. Have a wonderful day~ >‿‿◕

✾ Palty Foam Hairdye Review 2.0 ✾

Hello dollies, today I'm going to review the Palty Foam Hairdye in Custard Beige. You can read up on my other review of the dye in Creamy Caramel by clicking here.

You can also read my disclaimer at the top of my "Reviews" page here

I'm going to use the same layout as my last review because I'm lazy and I think I did a good job of covering the main points. I got two boxes for $11.99 each at the T&T Supermarket inside Metrotown. There was a sale otherwise it'd be $15.99/box or something like that.

I was kind of shocked to see that Tsubasa wasn't on the front of the box. I thought that some brand had ripped off the Palty dye until I realized that it was still authentic. I picked this color because I wanted my hair to be lighter for summer, although I kind of have an addiction for getting my hair lighter little by little each time（ ；´Д｀）

Here's what my hair looked like before, and as you can see it's been a very long time since my last color job (which was when I did my last review LOL):

Ewwwww. Why do I always leave my hair looking so nasty ;___; Actually part of the reason is because my boyfriend is always "too busy" to help me do the coloring >___>

Here are the after pictures!

As you can see the color is super vibrant. My hair got a whole lot more orange-y, which I don't love but I don't hate. It's more brown in person but it catches some orange when there's an intense light shining on it. My roots got covered pretty well and I'm really happy that they're gone~ I left the color on for really long this time though, just to be sure because I forgot how long I left it last time and I REALLY wanted my hair to be lighter .__.;;

This time I left the color on my roots for 40~ minutes and then colored the rest of my hair. To prevent damage we added some water to my roots to emulsify the color so that I my roots wouldn't get ruined. We let the color sit on my ends for 15-20 minutes or so and then we shampoo'd it all out.

Coverage/Colouration: ♥♥♥♥♥ 

The coverage as you can see is still impeccable. My roots were taken care of and the overall color was very vibrant.

Packaging: ♥♥♥♥♡

Still no complaints other than the short spatula, but I suppose it can't be any longer otherwise it won't fit in the box with the rest of the equipment.

Price: ♥♥♥♥♥

The sale made this product even more worth it than last time.

Overall Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 

After trying this product in two different colors with proven results, I highly recommend this line to anyone looking for a cheap and easy hair color treatment. Of course, results will vary from person to person and color to color. Overall I would definitely look into this especially if you have long hair like I do and it costs you an arm and a leg to color your hair in a salon.

One thing I'd like to note is that with this particular Palty where Tsubasa is not the model, ENGLISH INSTRUCTIONS ARE INCLUDED!!!  This is really helpful because the last time I did my hair I had to google for instructions because the ones that came in the box were strictly Japanese. 

I hope you found this helpful, I know it's more or less the same as my last review but hopefully this helps in terms of "swatching" the color?（・∀・;;）

Until next time~ Stay fabulous（´∀｀）

▫▤ OOTD #3 & Discovered New Restaurant ▤▫

Oh hai. I wanted to share my OOTD from Sunday with you. I wore my new replica Liz Lisa dress with my replica Liz Lisa boots~

Here are also some shots of my makeup recently~ I'm sorry you can't see my lashes in the second picture, the angle was bad >__<;;

Today I went out with Patrick and my friends Branden and Steven. We walked around Lougheed mall for a bit then went for dinner. Branden was in the mood for Korean food so we searched the area for a decent place. We came across this restaurant called Jong Ga Korean Restaurant. 

It was hard for us to pick what we wanted to eat because we wanted to share a large hotpot. After some clarification the waitress told us the hotpot would serve about 2 people so we decided to order for ourselves. The food was delicious and the portions were very generous. It wasn't expensive at all (about $10-12 per person) but the service was not that great because there were very few wait staff. I'd definitely go back there, the food was just so yummy (´ڡ` )

My beef rice. Branden sat across from me
and he got the same thing~

Patrick's food (bottom left) and side dishes

Steven's food

That's all~ thanks for reading ^-^*

░ Skin79 The Oriental Gold BB Cream Plus Review ░

I see you're back again! Look at me typing up a storm for you. 3 reviews in one night? I think I deserve some ice cream after this.

Once again:
▲ All opinions/thoughts stated are my own and 100% completely honest.

▲ Unless otherwise specified, all products were purchased with my own money.

▲ If a product works/doesn't work for me, it doesn't mean it will/won't work for you. Again this is simply a review based on my own personal experience.

▲ I don't own one of those fancy high definition cameras, so please don't hate on the quality of my pictures. If it bothers you that much, you can volunteer to buy me a new camera. I'd love you forever ♡

NO TIME TO SPARE, SCROLL!

The last BB cream I have to review is the Skin79 Oriental Gold BB Cream Plus. On the back it says:

SPF 30 PA++
KFDA 3 Function Certification;
Whitening/Wrinkle Improvement/UV Interception SPF30 PA++


The triple function BB Cream keeps skin shining and lifting through whitening and wrinkle care effect, making uneven skin tone and skin texture clean with rich feel of hydration softly cohering to skin and protecting skin from UV rays.

The English on the back of these BB creams is driving me insane LOL. Swatch time! (hairy arm strikes again) :

I also got this from Doll Eyes, but they sent me the wrong BB cream. I actually wanted the original version of the oriental gold, this plus version has a different color cheek/lip tint (⇀‸↼‶)

Color/Pigmentation: ♥♥♥♥♡

The color of this BB cream is more on the peachy side, which is nice when I'm suffering from breakouts and rosiness. 

Coverage: ♥♥♥♥♡

This BB cream offers heavy coverage. Out of all 3 BB creams, this one is most similar to foundation in my opinion. I typically reach for this when I'm having a bad skin day and I need the extra coverage (￣д￣〃);;

Texture: ♥♥♥♥♡

Just like the other 2 BB creams, this one also has a nice smooth and creamy consistency. It's almost a mix between the moisturizer-like feel of the Dream Girls BB cream and the dewiness of the Hot Pink BB cream.

Overall:♥♥♥♥♡

While I do like the coverage this BB cream offers, there's a huge point that puts me off completely. It reeks of a rose scent. That might not bother some people but for me a distinct scent is extremely unattractive in a product. It reminds me a lot of L'Oreal products in that sense (which I also am not too fond of because of the rose scent). On the plus side, I do like the lip and cheek tint but I don't use it too much because I'm not a fan of blushes that aren't made of powder. Also the shade is not as orange as it looks like in the picture, it's more of a rosy tomato-y pink.

Dun dun dun! If you've made it this far, then it means one thing, it's time for compare and contrast~ Here's all 3 swatches side by side so you can see the color difference.

Out of all 3 of the BB creams I'd rank them like this (in order of preference):

1. Dream Girls BB Cream
2. Hot Pink BB Cream
3. The Oriental Gold Plus BB Cream

Best coverage:

1. The Oriental Gold Plus BB Cream
2. Hot Pink BB Cream
3. Dream Girls BB Cream

Best texture:

1. Dream Girls BB Cream
2. Hot Pink BB Cream
3. The Oriental Gold Plus BB Cream

Best color:

1. The Oriental Gold Plus BB Cream
2. Dream Girls BB Cream
3. Hot Pink BB Cream

As for availability and price, they're all available on the Skin79 website or sites like Pretty and Cute. The prices I've seen range around $15 ~ $20 or so? You can also check your local mall and of course local facebook groups that carry BB creams in stock!

That concludes my 3 part BB cream review~ Thanks so much for reading! I hope you found these reviews helpful. If there's anything you'd like to see from me, don't be shy! Let me know in the comments or ask me on my twitter/tumblr. Bye for now!