makeup
candles(?)
food
books
apps
movies
television
music
NOVEMBER & DECEMBER 2015 FAVORITES
you thought i forgot about these, didn’t you? well ha! i wrote these without even needing someone to anonymously remind me!! and because i went two months without doing this, i was able to include a lot more stuff! (and it just so happens that november and december are great months for trying out new things because that’s when the most shopping and hanging out happens, it appears) there’s actually even more stuff i could have included in this but i decided not to because 1) i already anticipate that this post is going to be really long, and 2) some of the things i wanted to include i left in my apartment back in berkeley, so i couldn’t include pictures. maybe i’ll include them in a later month’s favorites, but yeah. anyway, hooray for the end of 2015 and for me discovering all sorts of new things!
makeup.
alright so i went a little makeup crazy these past few months from black friday shopping + being naughty during christmas shopping by buying myself stuff when i should have been buying stuff for others. i already have a lot of makeup, and so for some reason the only thing i can justify buying myself are new lip products (because for some reason i’ve convinced myself that it’s okay to wear the same concealer or have the same brows everyday, but that it’s absolutely necessary to have 100 different options for lips). hence why this favorites post includes 4 separate lip products.
stila stay all day liquid lipstick in “patina”. so this was the first liquid lipstick i’d ever purchased, and pretty much was the liquid lipstick that got me convinced to buy a ton of other liquid lipsticks (two of which are in the mail and have not arrived yet, so maybe they’ll show up in my next favorites). it’s super creamy and goes on so smoothly, but when it dries it REALLY stays. like, it is honestly SO impressive how long it stays. very true to its name. this one is a matte lipstick, so it’s a little bit more dry than others i imagine, but the color really lasts long (this one is described as a “dusty rose” color, which is super pretty).
kat von d everlasting liquid lipstick in “lolita”. i bought this less than a month after buying stila patina, and was surprised at how different two liquid lipsticks could be. the color is like a dark mauve color (kinda like a brown version of patina), but the formula is much more liquidy than the stila lipstick, which is more creamy. for a lipstick that goes on really wet, it’s surprising to see how beautiful it looks when it dries. i’d say this color is probably more flattering on me than patina as well, so i’ve definitely been reaching for it more!
nars audacious lipstick in “leslie”. this was a really expensive purchase and i had my doubts about it, but i’m pretty sold at this point, because honestly this is by far the best lipstick formula i’d ever tried in my entire life (and trust me i have a LOT of lipsticks). it goes on so incredibly smoothly i can’t even describe it. it basically glides across your lips, and the color is so pigmented! sometimes i get a little irritated when i can feel too much product on my lip with certain lip products, but when i wear this it’s almost as if i’m not wearing anything on my lips at all. and yet it looks so gorgeous! if i could redo this purchase, i might have picked a different color just because i feel like this is a bit similar to some other colors i have and i would have preferred to branch out, but i’m still SO impressed. totally sold by this lipstick.
revlon super lustrous lipstick in “black cherry”. okay this is not a new purchase at all. i’ve actually had this lipstick for at least a year now. but i’m always too afraid to wear it because it’s probably the deepest color i own. it’s a dark vampy wine colored lipstick, but i was finally brave enough to start wearing it the last two months. i will say that the formula is not the greatest (or maybe i’ve just been spoiled too much by some of my more expensive lipstick purchases), but the color is so pretty and i’m glad i gained the courage to wear it on certain nights out!
candles (??)
okay this is not a very legit category but i’m pretty obsessed with candles especially when the weather gets colder, so of course i have a favorite candle for november / december …
no. 240 signature soy scented candle in “cozy nights”. so this is actually just the target brand of candles, i believe, and i even bought this when it was on sale for like 50% off (i think it was on black friday), so this is definitely not like a fancy expensive candle or anything. but it’s still amazing. i’ve never been a huge fan of fruity or sugar-y smelling candles, and tend to buy more natural scents (like flowers and plants and what not). but the name of this one sounded kind of strange and so i sniffed it and was like “holy crap i need this candle”. i bought a bunch of other candles at the same time i bought this, but this one was by far my favorite scent. the name “cozy nights” sounds really vague, and to be honest i can’t really describe what it smells like, but when you smell it you’d definitely go “wow this feels like such a cozy night”, which i suppose is what they intended when they made it. i lit this in my room several nights during dead week and it made studying for finals a little less painful too haha.
food.
okay another stupid category. sue me.
luke’s organic white truffle & sea salt potato chips. i actually did RESEARCH on these potato chips when i first tried them back in november because i was like “where have these been all my life”. turns out luke’s organic is this company started by this guy named luke who had celiac’s disease and wanted to make a ton of really high quality gluten-free organic food. now i don’t actually care about food being gluten-free or organic in the slightest, i’ll eat anything that tastes good. but it just so happens that this tastes amazing. anyway this guy luke partnered with urbani truffles to make truffle flavored potato chips, which i realized that i’ve never had before. truffle flavored anything is kind of amazing, and i’ve actually tried real truffles before which are incredible (and sadly most truffle flavored things can’t really compare to the real thing). and yeah these chips obviously aren’t as fancy as eating actual truffles or anything, but i think i was just surprised that i’d never had truffle flavored potato chips before, which sounds like something that i would have sought out for before. and they’re just as good as they sound. anyway, they sell these at costco and since first discovering them i’ve already gone back and to grab another bag twice in the past two months. woops.
books.
the life-changing magic of tidying up. so i kind of randomly bought this book when i read the reviews and heard people say that it “changed their lives”. i’ve always liked cleaning and tidying things up, even if i’m not actually the tidiest person. which sounds kind of contradictory, but i genuinely think i’m a messy person who likes to have things neat. anyway, this book is basically like a self help book by this japanese lady who literally specializes in tidying and personal organization, which up until now was not really an industry i was familiar with. she basically talks about how she developed this method of cleaning called the konmari method (which she literally named after herself lol), and it focuses on decluttering and discarding things that aren’t necessary in your life, which is definitely a problem i have. i’m a huge hoarder and own way more things than i really need, and her whole philosophy was basically that everything you own should either be something that “sparks joy” in your life. to be honest some of the things she said were a little too spiritual for me to take her 100% seriously (she talked a lot about the nature of each object in your life or whatever), but the overall message was pretty good. basically, when it comes to decluttering, focus on the things you keep, not the things you discard, and only keep things that are meaningful to your life. ever since reading the book i’ve been slowly trying to change my lifestyle and tossing out things that aren’t necessary or doing anything positive in my life. i think the final step is for me to declutter all my makeup (lol), but for now i’ve been getting rid of clothes and toys and progressively clearing out the things in my life, and i actually have noticed a difference in how much nicer it is to live in a clean and simple space. and i’ve even noticed how much more i appreciate the things i DO own. definitely would recommend this book to fellow hoarders like me, or really just anyone who is interested in trying to life a tidier lifestyle.
apps.
skyview free. i mentioned in my last post that i found a handful of places around berkeley that i really enjoyed going to for time on my own, and one of those places was the roof of my apartment, which i found out how to get access to. it’s kind of scary since i don’t think people are supposed to be allowed up, so there are no railings and it’d be really easy to fall off which would be bad. but the roof’s pretty big so as long as you aren’t standing literally right on the edge i’m sure you’d be fine. anyway, i finally showed the roof to some of my friends (which sometimes i regret because now they all go up there sometimes and it’s no longer 100% a place i can go to to be alone, but whatever), and one night we spent several hours up there with some blankets and doritos and just looked at the stars and talked about life. anyway, i was talking about how i wished i knew more constellations cause really the only ones i know are the big dipper the little dipper and orion, and even those i can’t find 100% of the time. i ended up downloading this app though, which is super cool! you basically give it your location and hold it up and through the camera it’ll help you find and locate all the constellations (and will even draw them out for you and label the stars and everything). i think there’s a non-free version and i’m not sure what features that one has, but this one has enough features to keep me happy at least.
alphabear. this one is just a cute word game that my brother showed me cause he thought i’d like it (he was right hah). you try and find words out of letters and when you clear the letters your bears grow. it’s kind of hard to explain but it’s super adorable (you can unlock different bears with different costumes and different abilities!!!) and the design is actually really quite lovely! very pleasing to look at.
bonza. this is another word game that’s pretty fun. it’s kind of similar to a crossword puzzle but much easier cause they give you the letters. you basically create your own crossword given certain letters and given a common category. again, kind of hard to describe but it’s also a game that’s very visually appealing / relaxing.
qiktionary. okay i didn’t realize that ¾ of the apps for november/december were just word games, but whatever. i like word games, it’s not THAT surprising. anyway, this is a game created by one of my favorite tv shows called QI (hence why the app is called “qi”-ktionary). this game is kind of like the game mastermind, but with letters instead of colors, and each word you solve gives you a random fact about that word. (example: one of the words i found was “mail”. the fact it gave me was “in 1879, the belgian city of liege commissioned 37 cats to deliver mail to nearby villages. the project was a complete failure.”) if you like trivia or word games (or both, like me!), then this game is pretty fitting! and if you don’t like word games but are into trivia and learning some pretty random things, you should definitely check out QI, which is a british panel show that teaches you a lot about misconceptions in a lot of general knowledge. QI actually stands for “quite interesting”, and you learn a lot of interesting facts tuning into the show!
movies.
love actually. it’s actually incredibly surprising that i’ve never seen this movie until recently, especially given how much i love romcoms. in fact, i’ve even seen the movie valentine’s day, which i think was inspired by this movie but was set on valentine’s day instead of christmas. my roommate carmel watches this movie every year around christmas with her sisters apparently, and she loves it, so i watched it with her and a couple other friends (both guys funny enough). i’m sure anyone who really likes romcoms has probably already seen this, but it’s basically a story about a bunch of different couples around christmas time, and so i thought it’d be nice to watch a christmas themed romcom before christmas. i think i liked this a little more than most other romcoms i’ve seen, because the characters were more awkward and relatable, which i loved. and it really got me in the christmas spirit!
the big short. this was the first movie i watched in theaters this winter break, with a few berkeley friends. it’s about the 2007-2008 financial crisis and the housing bubble and centers around these guys who decided to short the housing market, which doesn’t exactly sound like the most interesting movie especially if you don’t know much about economics, but trust me it’s a good movie regardless. i do not consider myself the most economically educated person, and i still thought this movie was great. i think they do a pretty good job of explaining what’s going on to the average person, so if anything, you’ll at least learn a little bit about CDOs and short sales and what not. i think the actors did a terrific job in this movie as well (and they’re some big name actors too), and the movie was surprisingly intense for a movie about banks and investors. i definitely would not have picked to watch this movie on my own (tbh i wanted to watch sisters LOL), but i’m glad my friends made me watch this cause it was pretty good!
good will hunting. as you probably already know, this is not a new movie or anything. in fact it’s like almost 20 years old i think. but my roommate carmel (who i feel like i mention a lot) told me this was her favorite movie a while ago, which is understandable cause she loves matt damon. (for my birthday she and our housemate brian photoshopped me with matt bomer, who i always said was really attractive, so for her birthday which was last week, i photoshopped her with matt damon heh). anyway, one day over break when i was kind of bored i randomly decided to watch it, and i ended up loving it so much. it’s honestly probably one of my favorite movies now as well. the characters and the acting and honestly everything about it got me completely hooked. not sure why i hadn’t watched this movie sooner, but i’m glad i’ve seen it now.
television.
mr robot. i think anyone who’s talked to me in the last week knows that this has been my most recent obsession. leave it to cynthia to discover, binge watch, and finish an entire series in 2 days. (in my defense, there are only 10 episodes). i guess i can’t say i “discovered” this show last week, since i’ve known about it since july (when it first aired). for july 4th my family was in reno for a few days, and my parents were down in the casino but i had a headache so i stayed in the hotel. my brother stayed with me to keep me company and it just so happened that the second episode of mr robot was on tv. i kind of watched a little bit, but eventually fell asleep cause of my headache. my brother got completely hooked though, and when we got home he went back and watched the first episode, and has kept up with the entire series since. he’d been trying to get me to watch it ever since, but i always had some excuse not to, until winter break came and they were having a mr robot marathon on usa. i watched the first two episodes right then and got completely hooked as well. i finished it in two days, and have spent days since just thinking about certain parts of the show. it’s so good i literally want to rewatch it after having just finished watching it like a week ago.
i found out that the creator of the show wrote it intending for it to be a movie, decided it was far too long for a movie, and turned it into a tv show (and the first season is the first 1/3 of the “movie”). i can totally see it too, because as someone who binge watched the show almost as if it were a movie, watching season 1 definitely felt like it made more sense watching it like a marathon. it’s also very hard to explain the appeal of the show without any spoilers, (and trust me, there are a LOT of potential spoilers and plot twists), but the gist of it is that it’s this guy who has a pretty messed up life and definitely has some kind of mental disorder, but is also basically a genius (funny because that’s kind of what good will hunting is about too lol maybe i’m just really into this “troubled genius” type of genre). he works for a cybersecurity company, but ironically spends his time hacking people. he’s kind of like a vigilante hacker (this is the first scene of the first episode of the show, which kind of introduces what his character is like, although the clip cuts off too early in my opinion, so really you should just watch the entire episode heh). the actor (rami malek) does a REALLY good job of portraying him too, and i found myself weirdly drawn to his character. according to my brother also, the computer science aspect of the show is actually pretty accurate as well (especially when you compare it to other shows about hacking lol). i wouldn’t really know because i don’t know much about security, but it seems pretty legit. the dumbest way i can explain this show is that it’s like breaking bad but with hacking instead of making meth. that sounds really stupid and not completely accurate, but here’s the trailer for it. but really you should just watch the show and see for yourself.
(in case you haven’t already figured out from how much i’ve rambled about mr robot and how much i’m trying to sell it, i am OBSESSED with this show and really want people to talk to about it. so you should go watch it. )
(it’s only 10 episodes though, seriously.)
music.
so this is probably years overdue, but i finally got spotify premium which has changed my music listening experience drastically. which means i actually sort of have music to share and what not! yay!
show me the way, penguin prison. i first heard this song in a youtube video (jenn im’s last minute dress one, to be exact!), and i thought it was really catchy! i really like listening to it when i’m getting ready or kinda just in the mood to jam. plus i started listening to more of penguin prison’s stuff, which is all pretty catchy.
fashion, the royal concept. i think i just heard this in a random spotify playlist, but one day it was stuck in my head for the entire day and i legit could not get it out of my head if i tried, and had to go back and hunt down the name of it. really like this song as well, also a good song to listen to when in the mood to jam.
mr robot soundtrack. thought i was done rambling about mr robot huh? nope apparently not. the soundtrack of the show is brilliant, and i actually found out that mr robot made a playlist of season 1 songs, which i immediately followed on spotify when i found it. the songs are all extremely fitting for the specific scenes they’re in, and surprisingly when i listened to the playlist i was able to identify and picture the exact scene certain songs were played during (particularly two weeks by FKA twigs). also there are some songs from the soundtrack that make me feel like i can take on the world, eye of the tiger style (fist of god by mstrkrft, world destruction by time zone). probably good workout music haha. my favorite song from the soundtrack though is the piano cover of where is my mind by maxence cycin. i can’t say why i love that they chose this song for the show specifically without giving away spoilers (and if any of you guys are weird enough that you’re actually curious about it, you can ask me and i’ll spoil the show for you / you can ask me after you’ve watched it and then we can discuss the show!!) the song is still a great song though regardless of whether or not it’s in the context of the show. it’s actually just really beautiful piano music that i like to listen to on rainy days (heh it’s raining right now and i’m listening to it right now). basically the soundtrack is perfect and the show is perfect and life is great.
i think this post is probably waaay too long now, especially given how much of it was solely me ranting about a single tv show that has taken over my life. and i highly doubt that anyone will have really read all of it, but if you read at least some of it, or if you even read at least half of my rant about mr robot, then you are fantastic and i love you.