Traveling Essentials and Tips

Having to pack a whole year of supply into two suitcases is not easy, but I of course, have to make room for makeup and beauty supplies. Because I am away for a year, I had to pick up a few supplies for the trip which includes a few of my obsessions: packs and packs of Softlips, stacking on the Benefit Cosmetic They’re Real Mascara, a few L’Oreal Paris Lineur Intense Brush Tip, boxes of the My Beauty Diary Mask, an extra pair of the fringe holders, and a bunch of my favorite Essie nail polishes that includes: Licorice, Wicked, Fuji, along with the Only Gold For Me and Spark-taular OPI Top Coat.

In addition to the many goodies that I packed for my trip, I realize the importance of space in a suitcase. Being that Korea is extremely cold, I have to pack my comforter and my pillow case because I am too used to my contour pillow I cannot live without out. I realized the importance of packing and have a few tips for those who are travelling as well:

• Pair lighter items with heavy items. I packed my comforter and pillow with my bottles of contact solution and shower gels and other items. It helps to weigh out the difference and maximize my space as the bottles help to compress my comforter. 
• Zip lock under garments. Using a zip lock bag helps to seal your under garments from bed bugs that can travel from other places. Many of you know I am a true germ-a-phobe so I always pack my clothes into zip lock bags to seal out the many bacteria and contamination.
• Roll your clothing instead of folding it. Rolling up your clothes and putting it into your suitcase helps to maximize space and reduces the amount of wrinkles and compressed lines that can be found from folding. 
• Pack travel size goodies. Always pack hygiene items that you are used to using. When traveling, it may be difficult to find things that you use so it is smart to carry these items in smaller sizes and hope they will last you for the duration of your trip. 
• Turn contact cases into travel size holders. I am a big fan of using contact cases to hold my moisturizer, concealer and other beauty essentials when traveling. Simply label and estimate the amount you would use normally times the number of days you are traveling for. They come in handy and for those who wear contacts, there are always a great number of contact cases laying around the house. 
• Skip the blow drier and other essentials if you are traveling internationally. Because of voltage differences, it is recommended to just purchase these items while on vacation. Some hotels may even offer these items for you so it helps to save space and reduce any potential hazards and burn outs. 

Beauty Splurge of the Week

Just another beauty splurge—which is typical me. This week’s beauty splurge consisted of Yes to Carrots, Clinique from a Sephora exclusive, drugstore, shu uemura, and a photo/beauty store in Chinatown, New York.

I recently blogged about My Beauty Diary Masks and my obsession with the masks. Well, just when I thought prices couldn’t go less than $10 a pop, I found it in Elizabeth Center in Chinatown for just $8 on sale! Yes a box of ten just cost eight bucks. I couldn’t believe it and I couldn’t help but to stack up. I actually plan on returning to buy a few more :X

The eight boxes that I picked up are red wine, yogurt, bird nest, grape seed and green tea, red pomegranate and CQ10, caviar and hyaluronic acid moisture, a peony-snow-lotus-and-sake-yeast-whitening mask and something in their new line—a Coldstone mask. I was a bit reluctant to purchase this one, but I am extremely excited to try this one out—a Damask Rose Ice Cream Mask. I got a sample of the red wine mask and I’m not too happy about it. It doesn’t live up to my expectations for My Beauty Diary Masks because it was a little on the dry side being that the liquid felt a little thicker than other masks. The peony, snow white lotus and sake yeast whitening mask doesn't have the plastic wrap as other lines, but there is an extra part of the mask that is used for the chin and neck area which is great. 

As for Yes to Carrots, I was extremely excited about trying out their different products and so I tried to mix it up. Yes to Carrots is for normal-to-dry skin, nourishing dry skin and hair with carrots, shea butter, and sweet almond oil. Yes to Cucumbers is for sensitive skin and color treated hair, gently hydrating and soothes skin with organic cucumbers, aloe vera, and green tea. Yes to Tomatoes are for combination-to-oily skin which treats and prevents breakouts with tomatoes, alicylic acid, and witch hazel. Yes to Blueberries are for age-damaged and mature skin which helps to improve firmness and diminishes fine lines with blueberries, cotton thistle, and paracress flower. There’s even a Yes to Baby Carrots line that are made for babies. With my online order, I got a free sample of the Yes to Carrots Rich Body Butter and it was amazing. I am excited to pick that up for my next purchase.

Continuing with my Clinique rave, I picked up something exclusive on the Sephora website. What I find to be weird is this exclusive set comes in two different bags, which also includes two different prices for the same amount of product. I admit, this bag looks better for the price of $2.50, but it is unavailable. Either way, I am still excited about the purchase because I was just looking to purchase Clinique Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector but I got three bonuses for the same price!

Moving along, I picked up a Pond's Even Soothe Wet Cleansing Towelettes with chamomile and white tea that helps to remove makeup while soothing the senses. Although it was Allure's Best of Beauty Award Winner 2010, I dont feel like it worked so great with my mascara and the smell was a little too overpowering for my tastes. It didn't compliment my psoriasis too well so I will probably not pick up another pack.

Lastly, although I am not an eyelash curler, I picked up the shu uemura detailed lash curler. I have been looking for an eyelash curler like this for a very long time now. I dont know if you have this problem but when I curl my lashes, there are many times where parts of my lashes are not as curled as the rest of it. This is where my new shu uemura detailed lash curler comes in and fixes the problem. It has been a difficult journey to locate one of these but I got lucky to find a new one on eBay.

That is all for now at least, until my next beauty splurge. Any recommendations, please let me know!

Giveaway to Celebrate My 100th Blog

I'm feeling extra good today after a night of fun and it wasn’t too long ago that I just started blogging and I have reached my 100^th blog. To celebrate, I decided for this blog to be special—a giveaway blog! To reward my readers who have been supporting me this whole time, I am giving away a head to toe must haves that I myself, love and just cant get enough of:

A variety of My Beauty Diary Face Masks, a Juicy Couture Body Wash, Got 2b Hair Spray, Yes to Blueberries Brightening Facial Towelettes, Set of 2 Fringe Holder, Pair of Strawberry Softlips Chapstick, Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara, Korres Lip Scrub, Korres Face Primer, Sephora Eyebrow Pencil, and a surprise bag of goodies.

To enter, you must subscribe to my blog publicly by clicking Join This Page on my homepage (right hand bar under followers) and sign into the account of your choice. You will not be spammed thousands of emails by me. To be considered for this giveaway, be sure to follow me publicly via cunggie.blogspot.com and follow me on twitter @cunggie. A random winner will be contacted via email for shipping information (internationally as well) so spread the word and get everyone in on this. Thank you and good luck!

You can always follow me for support, thank you love!

Beauty Review - My Beauty Diary Mask

Excuse my absence yesterday, I was a bit sick and needed a heck of a lot of sleep. I'm glad I missed out on the rain and woke up to a beautiful autumn morning. I am so in love with fall leaves and the wind gusting through my hair. Yay!


Feeding off my obsessions, with my obsession of masks, I discovered an extremely hydrating mask that I can't get enough of. I never really picked up any Chinese beauty product because I assumed it wasn't all that great, but through family recommendation, I decided to give My Beauty Diary a shot. After discovering it all over the internet, being a popular brand, I picked up a few different masks which includes: Black Pearl, Bird Nest, and Aloe. I am so in love with the black pearl, but I will make my way around to try every other mask.

For starters, I love how there is a plastic cut out of the mask which makes opening the mask extremely easy. I don't have to worry about ripping the mask or fussing around with it since it comes right off. Another great thing about the mask, is how long it lasts me. Even with the twenty minutes on my face, I am able to throw this around the front and the back of my neck for five to ten minutes each side and it is still hydrating enough to moisturize my feet from the summer harshness. 

You can find a box of these masks at an average price of $15, but I've seen it go on sale for $10. Don't get scammed either because I've seen them priced at $20 a box which is still decent, costing $2 a mask since there's a box of ten, but a dollar goes a long way so you don't need to throw your money at a company that overcharges. Some places sell it $2 a mask so you can try out the whole line before purchasing a box. If they do not offer that, I suggest going with the aloe since aloe goes with every type of skin.