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Now that school's out, I made it my summer goal (it was originally my 2019 goal, but it didn't work out) to blog regularly. This is an old post I made in February but never got the time to edit and publish it. And some of the products I mentioned in here I already used them up, so I will provide an updated makeup routine in the next couple of months with new products!

So my daily makeup routine is heavily inspired by K-Beauty, with most of the products from Korean brands. I will let you know the benefits of each product and where you can purchase them as well! (Along with a few tips for those who are new to makeup.)

Before we begin, I want to let you know my skin type. I have very dry skin, sometimes combination (usually only in the summer), so my tips will cater towards people with dry skin. However, I will try my best to include suggestions for those with oily skin as well.

++ Disclaimer: I am not a professional makeup artist, but I have been practicing putting on makeup since freshman year of high school (so almost six years now?). Practice is really the key!!! (& loads of YouTube videos LOL.)

Let's get started!

••━━━━━ •• ☆ •• ━━━━━••

(I will ignore my skincare routine because I would rather do a separate post. But in summary, the most important part is to moisturize, especially in the winter time!! Since I have very dry skin, I tend to use lotion that is more on the thick/oily side.)


Step #1: Apply chapstick!! My lips tend to get dry very easily, so I apply a generous amount.
(lip balm: @innisfree canola honey)

Step #2: Shake foundation and squirt one pump onto the back of your hand. Then use the tips of your fingers to tap "spots" on your face. Make sure you cover evenly.
(foundation: @giorgio armani luminous silk foundation in shade #4)

Tip: When using a beauty blender or sponge, spray mist so that it is a little damp! I find this extremely useful in preventing my skin from flaking out. Also, this foundation is GREAT for dry skin. I've only started using foundation last year, but this is the best out of all the ones I bought which tend to make my skin look too cakey or dry. I received many compliments when I wear this because it has such a natural finish! (I actually convinced some of my coworkers to purchase this. giorgio armani pls sponsor me.) This product is a bit expensive, but I purchased the small size and have been using it for three months daily and there's still a lot of product left. It's definitely worth it!

Step #3: Conceal! I use the liquid conceal and apply it to blemishes, dark spots and under eyes. Use the same method with the beauty blender and mist. It will make your face look dewy! If a liquid concealer is not enough, I use the pot concealer for tiny spots such as pimples or under my nose.
(concealers: @thesaem –– the holy grail of concealers. They work SO well and last all day. I first bought them when I was in Korea and fell in love with them, so I stocked up from Yesstyle.)


Step #4: Eyebrows. I use two products: 1) @innisfree Auto Eyebrow Pencil in shade #7; 2) @benefit Precisely My Eyebrow shade #4. I use the Innisfree pencil to generally shape my eyebrows because it's not very pigmented & I also use the spooly to brush out my eyebrow hairs, so that they are all facing the same direction. The Benefit pencil is for finer details and allows me to create sharp ends at the edge of my eyebrows and I like drawing fake little hairs at the front to give it a little length.

Step #5: Contour. This is still quite a new concept for me because I typically don't contour often, but I recently started shading my nose slightly to give it a little dimension.
(contour powder: @toocoolforschool art class by rodin)

Tip: Use the sides of a brush to contour in order to get a more natural blend. I usually just shade the sides of nose, under my nose and below my lip. I also do my hairline and jaw if I have time but nothing too drastic.



Step #6: Eyeshadow –– my favorite part! I have tons of eyeshadows and various palettes but I LOVE @tarte Tartelette in Bloom. The colors are super pretty and these apply so well!

How to Apply: I use "flower child" or "sweetheart" as my base color. Apply widely. Then I use "funny girl" for under my eyes to brighten it up a little. Lastly, I use the shade "rebel" and apply it to the outer crease of my eyes to give off a subtle smoky effect. You can use darker colors for more depth. Make sure to blend well!


Optional: I've been using dark eyeshadow instead of eyeliner lately. I typically use "activist" from the Tarte palette, which is a chocolate brown. To apply, use a thin and flat brush and draw a straight line from the edge of your eye. The colors are much more gentler, which is great if you're going for a soft eye makeup look.



Step #7: Curl eyelashes and apply mascara! I highly recommend this product: @kissmeheroine Volume & Curl Mascara. This is the holy grail of mascaras!!! It doesn't clump or fall under my eyes + it lasts the whole day. A lot of people think I wear falsies, but it's actually thanks to this product. I bought mine from Yesstyle!

Tip: Apply mascara before eyeliner (if you are using one). If you apply eyeliner first, the eyelash curler might smudge it away. Plus, it is much easier for me to tightline my eyes after my eyelashes have been curled. But if you are applying eyeliner afterwards, make sure the mascara has dried!

From left to right: Lolita II, Double Dare & Lolita

Step #8: Lip product. While waiting for the mascara to dry, I move onto the lips. I have a huge range of lip products, but the ones I use consistently are the @katvond's Everlasting Liquid Lipstick. I liked it so much that I got it in three shades. These are such great #MLBB colors, which suit people who tend to wear darker clothes or have darker hair. The three shades I own are Lolita, Double Dare and Lolita II. I use Double Dare the most but lately I've been switching to Lolita II. Caution: these products are a bit sticky, so I would refrain from applying too much at once.

How to Apply: spread a light layer onto your lips, mostly at the inner corners. Use the tip of your finger to smudge the edges and to give your entire lips some color. Once that's dry, apply a second layer ONLY on the inner part of your lips. This will produce a slight gradient effect. If you want a more noticeable difference, just wait for the product to dry and apply another layer on top of the previous one.


Step #9: Eyeliner. I only wing out a small line, so it looks very natural. I love using brown eyeliners, so that the overall look is softer.
(eyeliner: @holikaholika wonder drawing auto 24)

(Optional) Step #10: To add some extra pizzazz, you can apply blush (@tonymoly crystal blusher in shade #pleasure peach) or take your highlighter and dab some on the tip of your nose, the top of your eyebrows, the top of your lip, on your cheekbones or anywhere you want to emphasize. I use @missha's italprism in shade #lace shirring for subtle shine.

+ finishing touches:
For dry skin: spray mist onto your face! I use the @innisfree aloe vera face mist but the @evian works well, too! Only spritz a little, so that your makeup doesn't run.
For oily skin: set powder! Some great ones are @muji's translucent powder & @unt's perfectly matte powder. If you have super oily skin, a tip would be to bring blotting sheets with you.

••━━━━━ •• ☆ •• ━━━━━••

the finished look!

It seems like quite a lot of steps, but this takes me about 20 minutes in the morning. Once you establish a routine, you will get faster. I hope this helped everyone from beauty fans to beginners alike! If you want to know any additional information or if you have questions, please let me know.


Thanks for reading!!


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Like promised, I'm back with another chuu review! My package came today, and I immediately started photographing all the items. These are the few things I picked up during their New Year sale.

Note: everything was purchased with my own money; I was not sponsored to write this.



Thick Rubber Slip-Ons (Herringbone Size 245mm)
★★★★★

I actually really like slip-ons, but I only have one from H&M and it's all beat-up from all the wear-and-tear. These looked cute, so I decided to take a chance and buy one. I was a bit worried since I'm normally a size 7 in U.S. which is 240mm, but they only had 245mm. Luckily, these fit well although slightly roomy, but I tried them on without socks, so I think it'll be fine. I think these are about 1 or 1.5 inch (?) platforms. I don't really need the extra height, but these are such comfortable shoes that I don't mind. Can't wait to wear these once it gets warmer!

The fabric is not that sturdy, so they can become misshaped. Be careful not to crush these!


Floral Trimmed Intimate Set (Beige/90)
★★★★★

The reason why I can't rate this yet is because this is supposed to be part of a set with the bra and panty together, but they only sent me the panty. I contacted chuu already and am waiting for their response. I'll keep you updated -- The panty is a lot more sheer than I thought it would be, but it has so many cute details and is definitely the fanciest undergarment I own. I don't remember the last time I bought bras and underwear...like three/four years ago?
Edit: Turns out it was a translation error and it was only supposed to be the panty. To repay for the confusion, I was credited $5.25 into my account. Super satisfied!





-5kg Jeans Vol. 3 (Size 26)
★★★★★

After purchasing Vol. 36 last time, I wanted to pick up another one in a different style. Luckily, these were on sale, and I fell in love with the knee rips. Like last time, I also sized up to a 26 (definitely recommend for anyone purchasing a -5kg jean!) for a comfier fit. This was just what I expected, and I already know I'll be wearing these a lot. The only thing to be mindful is that the rips fray easily, so my holes actually got bigger after wearing these around.








Long One-Button Coat
★★★★★

The original price for this coat was $115 and it was on sale for $57. At first, I was a little iffy on it because in my past experience, whenever I order these type of coats, they don't really turn out so well. But I needed $200 to get free shipping, so I decided to get it on a whim. SO glad I did. This is the coat I've been looking for. Ever see celebrities wear those long black overcoats? This is a great substitute! Although it's not very thick, it's perfect for the spring/autumn. There's no full-on shoulder pads, but I can feel that they inserted something so that the ends of the shoulders look very sharp once it's on a body. This is much more structured than the 66girls overcoat and looks very neat. I can't wait to wear this more often!! 




Quality
★★★★★

Chuu offers pretty high-quality items. It's somewhat on Zara level, but it's much cheaper than Zara. I don't think you'll be disappointed with their products!

Shipping
★★★★★

Their legendary shipping strikes again. I placed the order on January 5th and received the notification that it was shipped out on January 9th. It arrived the next day (January 10th), so it only took five days!! Highly satisfied in this area.

Overall
★★★★★

Chuu still remains as one of the top Korean brands for me. Super happy with all the things I picked up. Will definitely keep shopping here in the future! Now I'm curious how their stores in Asia are like. If you're looking for somewhere to buy Korean fashion, I would recommend chuu!

Visit chuu here.
Thanks for reading!!


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As a huge lover of Korean fashion, I have heard of many brands that are becoming increasingly more popular worldwide. Among one of these is chuu, a cute brand that does various collaborations with other designers such as estherloveschuu and Strawberry Milk. Their most famous product is the -5kg jeans: it supposedly makes your legs look slimmer. Curious about the hype, I bought a pair to try out. Make sure to keep reading to check out my review!

So, the reason why I decided to buy from chuu was due to their Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale! Select items were up to 80% off, and the percentage of discount decreased from there. Of course, I was definitely drawn in since some of items were only $4!

Note: In order to get free shipping, your order needs to exceed $200 USD. Also, most of the clothing is one size (around an XS-M in American sizing), so be sure to double check the sizing for everything.

Onto the products I bought! All of these were purchased with my own money; I was not sponsored to write this post.



Here is the collective list of items I bought:

  • Basic Rib Knit Sweater (ivory)
  • Basic Rib Knit Sweater (black)
  • Basic Rib Knit Sweater (wine)
  • Enjoy Soda Loose Sweatshirt (red)
  • A Day Like a Year Top (black)
  • Stripe Accent Half Sleeve T-shirt (green)
  • Stripe Accent Half Sleeve T-shirt (beige)
  • Thin Striped Long Sleeve T-shirt (black)
  • Cold Shoulder Big Knit (warm taupe)
  • nice to meet chuu Pink Mirror 
  • I Won't Fall Shorts (light blue, size small)
  • -5kg Jeans Vol. 36 (black, size 26)
You also get a $6 discount for registering to be a member!

Ivory, Black, Wine

Basic Rib Knit Sweater
★★★★★

They're more of a 4.5/5 because they're not my absolute favorite sweaters, but they're definitely decent. Great for the price and in love with the colors. These are perfect for everyday wear in the winter or autumn. It is thinner than I imagined, but I actually like it better because you can layer it without sweating buckets. I understand it is one size, but it's quite cropped on me. Not enough to show my stomach, but if I raise my arms, you'll see it. Still, I believe these are essential to anyone's closet, so I recommend picking one up!





Enjoy Soda Loose Sweatshirt
★★★★☆

I bought this for my sister since she really likes the Coca-Cola logo. I was really surprised that I was able to find a sweater like this at chuu. It's suuuper oversized to the point where you can wear it as a dress. I recommend wearing another tank top underneath though because the neckline is big enough to give it that off-the-shoulder look, but it can easily slip low enough to show your bra. I'm also a little iffy about the distressed holes on the hems. It gives it that messy edgy vibe, but that's not really my style. I just hope my sister wears it often!!



A Day Like a Year Top
★★★☆☆

This was the biggest shocker when I received my order. I had no idea that the material would be like this. It feels like felt, which I'm not a huge fan of. This top is also pretty tightening since felt is not a stretchy fabric. The design of the top itself, however, is very nice. It adds a girly/feminine touch to a normal turtleneck due to the frilly hem. It's also very warm -- I started sweating after I tried it on. Perfect to wear with dresses in the winter, if you're into that look.



Stripe Accent Half-Sleeve T-shirt
★★★★★

Coincidentally, when I was a huge fan of Yesstyle a couple of years ago, I saw this product on their website and wanted to buy it, but it was too pricey. I never knew it was a chuu product! When I saw that these were on sale, I had to get it. At first, I was only going to get the green one, but it was such a great deal, I decided to get the beige one, too! These are super cute tops that can literally be paired with anything. Only downsides: it's not tight on my body so the bottom of the top turns out looking frumpy. Must tuck!! The material is not as soft as I thought it would be, but still wearable.



Thin Striped Long-Sleeve T-shirt
★★★★☆

I've been having an obsession with striped tops lately, and this one does not disappoint. The material is quite bulkier than I expected, so this is definitely a top for the colder seasons. The only thing I don't like about it is how cropped it is. Because the model is wearing a skirt with the shirt, it was hard to tell how long the top was. I tried wearing it with high-waisted jeans, but it's too short to be tucked. The best choice would be to style this with a skirt!!




Cold Shoulder Big Knit
★★★★☆

I've always wanted a sweater like this. I love how it naturally falls off your shoulder, and the knit is so nicely made. The only problem is the sleeves. They are hella longgggg. Even when I roll them up, they still cover my hands. I guess I won't need gloves when I wear this then ;) Excited to wear this more often!!


nice to meet chuu Pink Mirror
★★★★★

Just realized I never took a picture of the hand mirror itself, but it looks exactly as shown on the site. First of all, super cute packaging. I wanted a mirror in order to do my makeup in the morning without me having to lean all over my vanity table. Haven't used it so far, but I realized it also makes a great travel mirror! Definitely taking it with me to my next trip.



I Won't Fall Shorts (Small)
★★★★☆

I've been wanting high-waisted denim shorts like the ones American Apparel used to sell forever. The quality of these shorts are decent. I love how high-waisted they are. For the small, it fits my waist perfectly, but the tight that's part is the butt. I never had this problem before, but I guess they didn't give enough room in the butt area? I guess this means I gotta work out in order to wear these in the summer. Stay tuned ;)




-5kg Jeans Vol. 36 (Size 26)
★★★★★

The main reason why I wanted to order from chuu was to try out these famous -5kg jeans. These did not disappoint. Every time I need to wear black jeans, I instantly grab these! I'm glad I read the reviews before and sized up because the 26 is perfect! It's not too snug and gives me room to breathe. Material wise, it feels like most jeans. About the "-5kg," I don't think it makes a huge difference with my legs but maybe because it's black, my legs do look a bit slimmer. So happy that I got this and will be keeping my eye open for other -5kg jeans!!

Quality
★★★★★

I've never paid attention to chuu before until one of my mutuals on Instagram posted a pic of her -5kg jeans, praising the quality and length. I decided to check it out, and I'm glad I did because chuu has become one of my favorite Korean brands now.

Shipping
★★★★★

Chuu's shipping is amazing. I placed the order on December 1st and then received an email on December 6th (my birthday!!) that the order was shipped out and would arrive the next day, December 7th. I doubted it, though, because how would the package arrive from Korea in one night? But lo and behold, I received it. I couldn't believe it took less than a week to come to me when my 66Girls order (placed 4 days earlier) kept getting delayed. Huge props!!

Overall
★★★★★

Need I say more? Will definitely buy again. I actually placed another order from chuu yesterday, so keep your eye out on my next review! I will also post a try-on haul of the items in this post and a future lookbook may be coming as well (still deciding). 

Visit chuu here.
Thanks for reading!!


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hello

Vivian Gao, University Student

Welcome to my blog where I'll focus on exploring my deep interest in fashion and beauty. I hope you enjoy reading my content and become inspired to try out new looks.

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