Finally, I put together all of my random footage from my visit to California last month! It's a bit random and even looking back on the footage, I'm pretty amazed at how busy I was. I think it was a fabulously packed trip and I'm so glad I got to squeeze so much into a short amount of time, not to mention braving LA traffic by myself too. Not bad for a first time visit to the West Coast, right? ;)
I don't want to give away too much for those who will watch the video later, but some of the most amazing visits were:

• Going to the NYX headquarters (which I will devote a full blog entry to soon)
• Ann Taylor store opening event at South Coast Plaza (also will have a full blog entry) where I got to meet fellow petite blogger Kelly of Alterations Needed who is actually the same height as me! Hoorah!
• A video collaboration put together by my dear friend Wendy of Wendy's Lookbook where we got to shoot in a green screen studio with a few other ladies you may recognize including Jean, April, Jackie, and Alexa
• Visit to Leg Avenue which I forgot to record video at but of course have a full blog on here.
• IMATS which was a whirlwind! I am waiting to get photos back from Kassia from that part of the trip but again, I will have a full blog entry with delicious photos of lots of eye candy.
• ACTING! Puahahaha... You get to see me get my heart broken by Jason Chen aka Miniachilles in his new music video "Burns".

"Burns" was juuuuust released on Youtube so if you haven't seen it already, you can check it out below and see how Jason treats me like a jerk. Haha, just kidding! I love you Jason even though you are really horrible sometimes! Not really! Maybe!

Here they box up the orders which go around a crazy conveyor belt system. The headquarters only ships out to sellers, not to individuals, so it was a super interesting behind-the-scenes look at their process. I had the deep and sudden urge to sit atop a box to see where it would go but I held back because I was wearing a dress and I'm a lady.


 Next, he showed us around the office and ended up at the design studio for their in-house designers. Brace yourselves, baby, and take in one of the first things I spotted...


Alexander McQueens! Sitting nonchalantly on the windowsill! *jaw drop* I touched them and the leather was SO soft and the gold studs and skull zippers.... Did I mention they have an entire wall of high end designer shoes? Oh my. :D

 There was eye candy everywhere we looked! Fur, glitter, sequins, satin and lace, hats, racks and racks of costumes....


Catalogs of all of their past work year after year...


Hand-rendering markers in all the colors of the rainbow and everything in between! :D :D :D What I wouldn't have given to have resources like this while in design school!


Here are a few of the designers hard at work. Sooo much visual energy to take in.


One girl's amazing monitor. OMG right? I want one of those plushy monitor covers so bad! Where can you even get stuff like that?! I've never seen anything like it before.  =^__^=


I also got to pick out a few costumes for my upcoming Halloween tutorials this year and mentioned which ones I chose to the designers. When I brought up that a couple only came in size S/M, this kind designer knew it would be way huge on me and started taking a few measurements.


She then had me put on the actual costume and pinned it to fit. By this point I was so speechless! She was soooo generous and kind enough to offer to alter it to custom fit me. My face was like D: and very thankful.

One last group shot with some of the team. These ladies are sooooo so so so talented. It's too bad I can't show you their concept designs (those are confidential ;) but oh my goodness there are oodles of creativity and skill seeping out of every pore of that room!

Thank you SO MUCH to Daniel and the whole Leg Avenue team for letting me experience this amazing space with you! I absolutely cannot wait for the holidays this year to share with everyone the fruits of your love and hard work. <3


I hope you guys enjoyed coming along with me on my behind-the-scenes look at a really fun company. ^_^ I know I had a blast and I will never forget it! To browse Leg Avenue costumes, you can visit their site here or visit their Facebook page. I know they plan on doing costume how-tos (like how to properly fluff your fox tail...hehe) so it may be a good idea to check in again before Halloween.

Readers, have any of you worn any Leg Avenue costumes before? Let me know what you've tried in the comments!

This is the look that I was copying the most, her "smokey" version of the look. You can clicky for larger pics. :)





Pretending to be baller like I am in front of a Hummer instead of my apartment wall. Bam.





OAnd then I got inspired with all the hair flippity-flippage and whipped my hair back and forth a la Willow Smith. How did I get my camera to focus? Magic, luck, and unicorns probably.




And just because I'm having too much fun creating gifs here is a practically film-like snippet of sweet hair-flying action. I was dizzy after being "creative" but boy was it worth it.




Ok seriously, who tried flipping their hair around (or thought about it) after reading this blog post? Be honest. XD

Hope you enjoyed and for those of you waiting for the Nana monolid tutorial, NO WORRIES! That will be my next Kpop look for sure! ;)

Oh and before I forget, you asked and I upgraded: Pretty & Cute's coupon code is now valid for ALL Korean products, not just Lioele. Use code KLOVE10 for 10% off all Korean products! :D Until next time~


Disclaimer: There are some affiliate links included in this post. Lioele items provided by Pretty & Cute. Josie Maran palette provided by the company. Some of the NYX products were gifted and some I bought. Everything else I purchased myself. :)

Hi everyone! So I am still coming back down to Earth from the wave of travel and excitement that ensued during my California trip, so hopefully you won't get sick of the upcoming loads of Cali stuff that I still have yet to blog.

Taking a step back into the travelling world, here's another post for you lovely creepsters who want to know what stuff I carry with me in my travel cosmetics bag. ;)

Products mentioned:
Harajuku Lovers Cosmetic Bag (similar here, here, and here)
Josie Maran My Favorite Powders Palette (Josie Maran Eye Love You Palette)
Stila Barbie Palette (similar here and here)
Animal Contact Lens Case
MAC Blot Powder in Medium Dark
Eyeko Graffiti Eyeliner
Urban Decay 24/7 pencils in Yeyo, Lucky, Zero, and Whiskey
Shu Uemura Lash Curler
FAIRYDROPS mascaras (Scandal Queen, waterproof)
Panasonic Heated Eyelash Curler
Lioele Artist Auto Eyebrow Pencil
Lioele Princess Mirror
NYX Mosaic Powder in Highlighter 01
MAC blush in Spaced Out
Dior Addict High Shine Lipstick in Backstage Pink (Dior Dior Addict Lipsticks)
Lioele Blooming Gloss in Lovely Two-Way
Blistex Silk & Shine
Eve Pearl Travel Eyebrow Trimmer (similar here, here, and here)
Urban Decay Primer Potion (tube, mini set)
Dolly Wink Eyelash Case
Kiss Premium Eyelash Adhesive
Rohto Lubricant Eyedrops
MAC Select Coverup Concealer in NC30
Mini Josie Maran Argan Oil
Atomizer from Nordstrom (D&G 3 L'Imperatrice)
Purell Hand Sanitizer

So I do want to mention a few things that I forgot to include in my video. First of all, the brushes I brought with me are the Makeup Show brushes that I mentioned in my June Hits & Misses. Since they had their own travel case, they weren't inside my travel cosmetics pouch.

Second, I did have a few more liquidy things that I had in an in-suitcase bag like my sunscreen, lotion, shampoo & conditioner, etc. For these, I took travel sized items or I depotted them into travel containers. Although you can take larger amounts than 3oz of liquid in checked luggage, it seriously helps for staying under the 50lbs luggage weight limit that most airlines have.

Third, I did keep my plastic quart bag separate from my cosmetics pouch but they both went into my carry-on bag. When you go through security you will need to have your clear quart ziplock bag out and in the security bin whereas the cosmetics pouch with non-liquids can stay in your carry-on.

Example items to put in the clear quart baggie:
- lipgloss
- hand sanitizer
- serum/lotion
- contact lens solution
- toothpaste
- eyedrops
- liquid foundation/concealer
- contact lenses
- perfume
- liquid eyeliner
- liquid eyeshadow/foundation primers
- eyelash glue

For me, when there was a question of if something was liquid or not, I went ahead and put it in the clear bag. Better to be safe than stopped, right? Plus, I actually had plenty of space left over in my clear quart bag.

I hope that was helpful for those of you who plan on travelling soon! I know that for me, packing took a lot longer than I thought it would so I'll definitely be better prepared for my next trip.

To wrap up, I want to share a little fun fact: I have yet to be scanned/patted at any airport thus far. All of my flight companions are never so lucky. It may be because I travel in leggings and a t-shirt so I don't have much to hide, but I like to think it's because of my undeniable charm when I wink at the security man/woman.

Just kidding, it's totally because I'm so intimidating they wouldn't dare ask.

Yeah, that's it.

Disclaimer: There are some affiliate links included in this post. Josie Maran items provided by the company's PR. Lioele provided by Pretty & Cute. FAIRYDROPS Scandal Queen mascara and Kiss Lash Adhesive provided by the company's PR. All reviews are 100% my honest opinion. :)

In the bottom right corner of the photo below you can see a little hole which you can use a pencil to pop the tray of shadows up from, revealing a velvet-covered storage compartment for secret goodies. When you've used up the shadows you still have a cute UD jewelry box. ^_^



And swatches on my swatching canvas: