BLOG HIATUS FOR 1 MONTH

Hey guys! I'm sad to say this but I will be on a blog hiatus starting from today :(

I'm almost finished with my final year of school and for the next 4 weeks I will be pushed like never before (mentally). There's just so much to do but so little time... eek ≧_≦

At the moment I am just too stressed and so I will need to stay away from most, if not all social networks. Sounds dramatic l but I have been procrastinating really bad and I need to do something about it before it's too late...

Today was my last day of school holidays and tomorrow I am back at school. I have school for 2 weeks, then 1 week to study and then the final year exams D: I'm seriously going to need as much luck as I can get :( Good luck to anyone else who is finishing their final year of school or just anyone who is going through a tough time right now.

I really hope that you all understand about my current circumstances. From the 11th of November which is in exactly one month, I will be free as a butterfly and blogging will resume from then.

I have blogged as much as I can in the last 2 weeks just for you guys :) Thank you for your ongoing support and as corny as this may sound, I will miss blogging and I'll miss hearing from you all.

A month probably doesn't sound like much and people do go MIA for more than a month x) Oh well...

If anything important needs to be said to me while I'm away, you can e-mail me at: jlyxoxo@hotmail.com as this will probably be my most effective form of online communication during this time. It doesn't count as a social network so I'll still be there checking important notifications. Not going to use it for chatting or talking but you can email me to say hi although it's not likely that I'll reply :/ I'll probably be checking through my phone anyway.

I'm going to try and stay away as much as I can from Twitter since I'm on there so much.

This is going to be my challenge - to stay away from social networking sites (Facebook, Blogger etc.) for 1 month. Maybe I will also stay away from signing into MSN and Skyping. I love Skyping but I'll probably have to put it off D: Sorry!

Actually, I'll be back on the 10th of November, which is the date of my last 2 exams. Yes, two year 12 exams on the same day T___T How much does that suck?

Do you think I can complete this challenge successfully? I really hope I do because it doesn't seem as though I've accomplished a whole lot this year :/ It's really sad...

Anyway, this will just be a temporary thing but if I don't come back then... you should be very worried :O Haha... well I'll make sure that I look after myself and I'll be hoping that nothing bad happens to me *fingers crossed*

The next time you'll hear from me will be when I'm done with high school and school exams. I'll be one very happy girl as I will be on holidays for 3 and a half months :D

Unfortunately I have to get through all this first before I get to have fun :( It sucks but that's how my life is currently...

And who knows, maybe sometime during my long Summer break I'll get to fly to various places in Australia to meet you lovely blog readers, I mean, friends ;) I love you guys!

It sucks that I have a test tomorrow, the first day back at school. And then another test on Thursday *sigh* My procrastination has got to end. Right now.

So thank you all once again for making my blogging experience this year really enjoyable. I started this around June/July and I've gotten to know so many wonderful people since then.

This seems like a farewell but it really isn't. Just letting you all know that I'll be okay and I hope that you all take care of yourselves while I'm away :)

I'll be back before you know it :P Don't miss me too much, okay?

Lots of love,

Jennifer

xoxo

PS. It's likely that I'll be back with my second giveaway, just sayin' ;D

Stay tuned for my return!

In case you haven't seen my latest posts, you can check them out here:

September 2010

October 2010

Bye guys

iheartkoreanbeauty samples

Hi everyone, just quick post. I received package (third package this week) which came from Singapore and took a week to arrive from the shipping date.

It was another sample package ^_^ It's always great to try before you buy, right?

This package came from Zhen and she is the owner of the shop iheartkoreanbeauty. I actually found out about this shop from Sara of icyabstract who you may know from her blog or her Youtube channel.

iheartkoreanbeauty sells Korean cosmetics/skincare from brands such as Etude, Missha, Skinfood, Laneige and many more. This sample package included the following items:

- Baviphat BB Magic Girls Cream

- Charmzone Gingko cleansing Cream

- Holika Holika Aqua Splash Cream

- Holika Holika Aqua Splash Emulsion

- Holika Holika Aqua Splash Serum

- Holika Holika Aqua Splash Toner

- Holika Holika HD Skinny Primer Base

- Holika Holika Milk to Foam Face cleanser

- Holika Holika UV Magic Shield sunblock

- Innisfree Eco Recipe Lotion

- Innisfree Eco Recipe Skin

- Innisfree Green Tea Pure Sleeping Pack

- Innisfree White Tone Up Essence

Zhen was kind enough to include a BB cream sample for me as I told her that I've never tried BB cream before :)

I like how she provided this little note at the back of the package. I hope that the package handlers did handle it with care!

The front of the note she wrote to me

She basically gave me a whole bunch of random samples to try and with some of the items, I had no idea what to do with them! Thankfully I was able to ask Zhen and she told me the directions of use and the purpose of the items.

The only brands I hadn't heard of were Baviphat and Charmzone because they haven't really been publicised as much as Innisfree and Holika Holika. If you're into Korean pop music like me, you might be aware that the face of Innisfree is YoonA from SNSD (Girls' Generation) and CN Blue are the face of Holika Holika.

I don't care how overrated she may be, I still think YoonA is gorgeous and looks great in CFs (commercials). She has an attractive face

They're on the front of the Holika Holika shop window? That's awesome

I've been trying a few of the products and I must say, they smell really nice x) I've actually never used or purchased any Asian skincare brand products before so this is all new to me hehe.

I can't exactly do a review of the samples as I am limited with usage but you may be able to request samples from Zhen at iheartkoreanbeauty.blogspot.com and if there are any items that you're not sure about, you can simply ask her :D

I could do mini reviews in the future if you aren't planning on receiving samples. Please note that there is a postage fee for the samples around $4.30AUD which isn't too bad :]

Anyway, I'd love to know if you're thinking of receiving some samples from this shop because I'm curious about which ones you'll get as they may vary.

xoxo Jennifer

Kawaii Crystals from Steph

Hey, this will be a blog post about a recently opened blog shop.

The owner of this shop is Steph and she is one of my sweet blog friends :) It all really started out with our love for beauty and Pupa products.

Steph recently opened her blog shop called Kawaii Crystals which sells jewellery pieces such as necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings - all made by Steph, with love.

What I really love about her shop is that she uses Swarovski crystals which are absolutely stunning! She made a necklace for me and I received it early this week :] She actually shipped it out more than 2 weeks ago from the UK and I'm just glad that it had finally reached me!

I had no idea what design she was going to put on the necklace because she wanted to keep it a surprise. This made it even more exciting when I waited for it to arrive.

This was what I received from her:

♥ Sweet letter

♥ Bubble-wrapped packaging and zip-lock bag for the necklace

Knowing that my favourite colour was pink and that my favourite jewellery items are necklaces, this is what she made for me:

My first Swarovski crystal item, aww

Super sparkly. So pretty *_*

I love how it's so simple yet so elegant at the same time. The gold leaf behind the crystal is so eye-catching and it really emphasises the beauty of the crystal. I know I might sound corny but it's true x)

The chain length is perfect so it won't clash with any shirts, as you can see in the picture above. The fact that Steph made this with care makes it even more special. Lots of dedication :)

It would be great if you could support Steph since this is something new for her. If you're interested in jewellery and Swarovski crystals, I'm sure you'll love Steph's beautiful creations. The items are not too pricey (compared to other online jewellery shops) and the items are shipped safely in bubble wrap to ensure that it arrives to you in excellent condition.

Here's me wearing or 'modelling' the necklace. Excuse the no make-up face and slightly messy hair etcetera. I came home from a school seminar so I didn't bother making myself look nice haha.

I love it so much, thank you Steph

I'm going to make this my good luck necklace

Just thought I'd like to share this with you guys because I really want to help out a blog friend of mine and also to talk about another interest of mine - jewellery. I barely talk about my love for jewellery so this has been a great start =]

Each piece is unique and individual as none of the same creations are made. There are currently some really gorgeous creations on the blog shop, and you can check them out at: http://kawaiicrystals.blogspot.com/

xo Jen

99 cents for a Lip Balm?

Hello I'm going to be blogging about a few items that I picked up today at a local chemist. It is called United Discount Chemists and this chemist sells many discounted items that can be found in a drugstore. I had a school holiday seminar today and my mum picked me up and took me there. It's not the closest chemist to me but my mum has been there a few times without me and purchased some very inexpensive and discounted items.

The main reason for going was to pick out some Mode Nail Enamels which are just $1.95 each at this store. My mum bought some from this store before and I wanted to be able to pick out some of my own colours and I did this afternoon.

I'll get back to that later but first, I want to talk about this lip balm that I purchased from this chemist that was just 99 cents! It wasn't on sale. That was the RRP in store O_O the tag had '$0.99' and when I looked at it I thought it was a typo...

Until I brought it to the counter and it scanned for $0.99. I so was amazed because I have never purchased any item for that price.

You might be thinking that it's probably just some no-brand lip balm but in fact, it is quite well known. What could it be...

Bonnebell, the company that makes the famous Lip Smackers

It's so strange seeing something that costs less than a litre of petrol these days

I don't know where else you can purchase this from (since I haven't actually seen this before) but on eBay it sells for roughly $1.99USD. There are 3 different flavours to choose from - strawberry, mixed berries and lemon. In the chemist there wasn't lemon and out of the other two I chose mixed berries ^-^ I have way too many strawberry-scented lip products already xD

I might as well give a little review on it

On the packaging it says...

"moisturises and quenches dry lips"

"conditions and protects dry, chapped lips"

To use: Apply generously to lips throughout the day.

At the moment I've really enjoyed using this lip balm and it makes my lips glossy! Have a look:

Hey it looks as though it kind of nudes out my lips... or maybe not

Overall I really like it

Great quality for such a low price!

Anyway, moving on now to the nail polishes that I bought:

L-R: Pink Sparkle, Jaded, Boysenberry

Nail swatches - 1 coat only

Mode cosmetics is proudly an Australian-owned brand. These nail polishes are great and in the picture above, you may be able to see how smooth and shiny they look on the nail swatches. Considering how cheap they are, I am really impressed with their quality. With the Boysenberry one in particular, just one coat of it is pigmented enough for my nails :) I love it! Pink Sparkle and Jaded are more sheer but with a second coat they're bound to stand out even more.

Also, I mentioned on my Twitter that I really want to be able to purchase Ulta3 nail polishes as they too are $1.95 or $2 each however none can be a found in a chemist or shop near me :( Thank you to the anonymous person on my formspring for letting me know that Ulta3 nail polishes can be found in a specific chemist that I may be able to visit.

I'll definitely be purchasing more of these Mode nail polishes from the chemist in the future, and hopefully some Ulta3 ones too.

All for just $6.84

So perhaps next time you're thinking of purchasing some beauty products, visit a chemist because they usually have some in-store sales that aren't advertised. You never know what you may find :)

I also saw a lot of $5 items from Maybelline but because I was with my mum, she didn't want me to buy any make-up products T__T And I would have bought more nail polishes but she said that 3 was enough. Not enough for me!

Here's a question for you...

What's the cheapest beauty product you've purchased?

I wonder if anyone can match the 99 cents or beat it :D I'd love to hear from you.

xo Jen

Package Swap with Marie

My dear blogger friend Marie and I had a small package swap and I received her package yesterday :) We had a limit of $20AUD to spend on each other as this was our first time swapping. This is what it looked like:

She got me:

♥ Rilakkuma paper cover

♥ Rilakkuma mini notebook

♥ Hello kitty puffy stickers

♥ Octopus ring

♥ Pink kitten socks

All very girlie and pink x) I admit that I'm not the most girlie girl but I'm happy with the things that she got me. Nothing that I didn't like or strongly dislike :) I'll definitely make use of all of these items.

Marie is a very sweet blogger from Perth, Australia and she has put in a lot of effort into making her blog appealing to her readers. She is very creative and has a passion for photography. We're almost totally opposite with our blogging style but we still enjoy reading each others' posts =]

You may have noticed that in the above picture, there was a little piece of the corner of the Rilakkuma paper holder that broke off.

I think it was my fault when I opened up the package D: Sorry Marie!

It's okay because it's just a little crack and it will still be able to hold paper perfectly fine :) Thank you Marie for your thoughtful items and it was very sweet of you agreeing to do this swap.

Anyway, Marie received my package a few weeks ago and you can check out her post about it (and see what I got for her) here: http://exuvalia.blogspot.com/search/label/Swap

Marie and I are both quite broke so there probably won't be another swap soon, but maybe in the future ^_^

xo Jen

Wavy Hair Tutorial with a Mini Flat Iron

Hey guys, just thought I'd share a little tutorial video of how to create waves/curls using a mini hair straightener/flat iron. This was requested by Marie after I made a small post about my hair and other things here :)

The mini hair straightener that I used came from a magazine, which was pretty cool. It's a Nak Mini Hair Straightener which looks like this:

I don't think it can be purchased anywhere but it can be found on eBay.

It's pretty good and it heats up quite fast. It's also really hot when it's at its maximum temperature (I have no idea what the maximum is). There's an on/off switch and a little red light indicates that it's on =]

For me, I prefer using a full-sized hair straightener to straighten my thick, long hair so I just use this mini one to fix up my fringe or to create small, tousled waves/curls.

Here are some random pictures of my waved hair, and just in case you missed seeing my face xP:

I don't know why I'm doing the peace sign, haha...

Oh and my sunburn has gone away ^-^ Thank you for your concern

Just a few little waves

Sorry if the quality isn't good! I had to compress it to less than 100mb as Blogger doesn't allow any higher than that.

This is my first video so it would be great to have some feedback, and maybe some constructive criticism ≧_≦ But please don't be too harsh on me! Hehe

I don't want to hear about any suggestions regarding to me talking in my videos because that won't be happening (anytime soon) :P I attempted to talk in this video as you may be able to see however, it wasn't loud enough and I couldn't adjust the volume any higher :/ So I just used music throughout it.

I only wanted to share this with you guys, not to the Youtube community, hence I have uploaded it here instead.

I recorded this last week but I never found the time to edit and upload. Anyway, let me know what you thought of it ^_^ If it wasn't helpful, then I'll understand! There are many tutorial videos on Youtube which are similar to this and are more clear and informative. However if you did find it helpful, then that's good :]

xo Jennifer

PS. I could do a better one another time if you'd like me to. Feel free to leave suggestions of any other tutorial videos etc.

I Need Your Help

I'm currently on school holidays (my last school holidays before I finish school forever) and instead of relaxing and really enjoying them, I've been worrying about getting my last few assignments done, studying for tests and also studying for the upcoming final exams D:

I really want to know... what are your studying tips and what really helps you to study well? What motivates you to study?

It probably is really late of me asking this question because all throughout high school I have been studying and I should already know by now my strengths and weaknesses of studying but honestly and unfortunately, I haven't found the perfect way to do it. I know everyone has their own studying techniques but I really need some new ideas. Anything to possibly help me through these stressful times :(

Most of you bloggers have already completed your final year of high school (lucky you!) and so I'd love to hear what your final year of high school was like. Was it fun? Do you have any regrets? Do you ever look back and think 'what if...' ? Were your results better than you expected? I want to hear everything!

On my Twitter I revealed that I will be on a blog hiatus. This means that I will be having a 'break' from blogging and resume when I'm done with my exams. When these holidays are over, the break will begin and that's only one week away. It will be for the best since I really do need to maximise my study time. If you're a true blog follower and friend, you will understand... right?

I'll be back before you know it :) I'll blog on the day before I go back to school just for you guys because I really do love you all :']

I better stop with the soppy-ness hehe...

So anyway, on Friday I went on a 'study date' with my boyfriend x] It sounds quite nerdy but it was nothing like that at all! It was successful, enjoyable and I felt that he really helped me and wasn't a distraction. We studied in a library called the Mortlock Wing in the city. This is what it looks like inside:

View from the third level

The whole library is full of old books from the 1800's

Does it seem... Harry Potter-ish at all? It's actually much darker than this. I didn't take a photo because there's security guards walking around so... it would've been awkward :S

Credits: Flickr

It is really quiet in there and it really made me want to study and actually do something because the people sitting across across the other side could see me and seeing them them studying made me want to study too instead of sitting there looking like a slacker. Haha.

The tables for studying are on the second floor and if none are vacant then you can't stay in there. Luckily I got the last vacant spot in the library but there was no study lamp so it wasn't as bright. Oh and I saw my school friend studying with her friends on the other side of the library so I guess that made feel more motivated to study xD

We couldn't have just studied for the whole day with each other x] So after hours of studying we went to have lunch in Chinatown food court where I bumped into another school friend and my boyfriend saw one of his old school friends too x)

First we had Bubble Tea or some may call it Boba. BF had taro flavour and I had mango. I'm so not Asian with my choice xP

Look at the black pearls in mine (on the left). They look a bit gross

I'm obviously the slower drinker out of the two xD

My boyfriend shouted me lunch and we ate Japanese ^-^ The only Japanese food I've eaten is sushi :/ That's quite sad of me haha, especially because I'm Asian.

This was what I had - Teriyaki Chicken with Rice and Miso Soup (and a lettuce salad and a sweet carrot mashed potato)

How pro was my naming of this dish above *sarcasm* Sounds so Masterchef-like HAHA

Oh and sorry it's blurry!

There was a lady literally staring at me on the other side when I took this photo so I quickly took it :/

I'm no food blogger so I can't use sophisticated words to describe this. Overall it was nice but I think Teriyaki chicken is too salty for me! It's okay in sushi but big pieces on a plate drenched in sauce is too much for me to handle. The lettuce salad had nice dressing :)

After that we went to a lolly shop called Blackebys Sweets :) It sells a lot of candy from the UK and the US which are rare to find here!

Again, he shouted me lollies and basically we picked up random things that looked interesting or tasty:

Ah sorry blurry again! People were behind me so I had to hurry up :(

Would you like some lollies that remind you of vegetables? Haha peas and carrots...

None of these lollies interested me :/ Why did I take a photo?

Maybe because no one was at this section x)

One of those mirrors. Hmm what are they for?

Oh look that's my bf peaking behind me ;)

Just some of the lollies :)

Lol at Hello Kitty jelly beans and the Twilight chocolate, he picked them out for me xD

and I picked out the Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme for both of us

It was a really good day of fun and studying combined. So much better than being stuck at home studying and not doing anything fun, or walking around as a form of exercise!

I wish I could do this more often, especially with my boyfriend. We're so busy with work these days that we hardly get to see each other :( But in a way, that can be good because each time we meet up it's special =]

I can't wait until school is over for me!

xo Jennifer

Oh and I bought bun keyrings for me and my hun, the day before we met ^0^

I gave him the one on the right since it's bigger. Mine's cuter though :"D

Viva La Nails Sample Pack

Hey guys, I thought I'd share something that I've received recently. I received a sample pack from Viva La Nails which is an online company that sells nail supplies and is based in the UK. They're currently offering bloggers and youtubers who are into nails/beauty the chance to have a free product sample pack worth £20 (£2.95 S&H fee).

They're currently have the sample pack stock now so hurry and get your pack here before they run out again!: http://www.vivalanails.co.uk/samples.html

I only knew about this through other beauty bloggers so hopefully I've spread the news to you too :)

I think all sample packs can vary since they have ran out of stock a few times and may have needed to compile new pieces.

Anyway, this was my sample pack:

It came as registered mail! So it was delivered to my front door and I had to sign for it. I guess that's what you pay for when you get things shipped from Viva La Nails :D

It actually got to me really fast, within a week!

Top row: Nail stickers

Bottom row: Water decals

I'm really looking forward to trying out those water decals. I have a very vague idea of how to use them but hopefully they'll turn out nicely.

When I opened the package I noticed that there was pink glitter on everything D: It was annoying having all the glitter everywhere and it was all over my hands and carpet -_- I had to do something about the pink glitter sample packet (since it somehow seeped through the gaps of the seal and sprinkled on everything) so I looked around shops to find some sort of storage container.

I ended up buying one box from Morning Glory that was half price from $4

I know it looks more like 5-day a pill box but I don't care, I'll use it for storing some samples :P

It's meant to be like a block of milk chocolate, mmmm

♥ 5 different nail glitters divided in sections for neat and storage!

♥ I can choose which to open and use without making a mess

I should have bought 2 of these but oh well, I'll go there again some time this week and pick up another one hopefully

It's good because I have exactly 5 more nail decoration items that will perfectly fit into another chocolate storage box ^_^

Ah I've only recently been into nail art so having this sample pack will motivate me to try new things and create some pretty designs on my nails which I will share on my blog :) Probably not anytime soon though, so busy with studying and doing work these holidays :(

I'll blog again soon

xx Jen

The 2 Winners of my 100+ Followers Giveaway

My first giveaway has now officially ended and I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who entered! In total there were 38 people and 125 entries! That is awesome, I truly did not expect that many entries :)

So the 2 people who have won 1 box of false lashes (10 pairs) are...

#1 - With Love, Elle

and...

#2 - Tezza

CONGRATULATIONS! I will be emailing you girls very shortly. Please respond to my email within 72 hours or else I will have to pick new winner/s.

Don't be disheartened if you didn't win because there will be an even bigger giveaway for my 200+ followers in the near future :) And possibly more after that ^^

So thank you all once again :D Lots of love

xoxo Jennifer

Edit: Anyone who unfollows my blog after this announcement will be caught and will be banned from future giveaways hosted by me. Sounds tough yeah, but I have already caught 1 person and they will be immediately disqualified from my future giveaways. My giveaways are only for loyal blog readers, not for those who just want to win!