Posts Tagged ‘Blogging’

Loading… loading.

Thursday, September 1st, 2016

Well, I haven’t written in here in a while. Again. Oops.

Made some updates to my sidebars/information since so much time has passed. Set some goals, as well.

  • More Posts. I was doing so well, and then I got off track. I need to write more in other avenues than my personal journal and my bullet journal.
  • More Pictures. This feature is something my posts, in general, are lacking. So much text and nothing to break it up. So… let’s take more pictures!

Yeeeeeep. There are some goals for ya.

Anyways…I’m gonna be leaving in less than eight hours to Colorado for an anime convention and visiting friends. NDK! Haven’t been there since I started this blog. :3

I’ll post when I get back~! <3

Skincare Update!

Friday, March 18th, 2016

I’ve spent the last few weeks messing around with all the different skin care products I got from Glow Recipe and Memebox, another Korean beauty product website. I haven’t got to try everything I’ve bought (and oh man, did I buy a lot), but out of what I tried, there are quite a few products that I really, really love.

I’m a big fan of Memebox. While you can buy individual products from them, the part that gets me are their boxes. Instead of subscribing to a box program where you get random items every month, you aren’t required to subscribe to Memebox. Instead, they offer collections of Korean beauty products in themed boxes that you can choose to purchase. It’s a great way to try out new products for a good price! If you use this referral link, you’ll get a 20% discount on your first purchase!

Anyways, on to the good stuff.

Cleansers

I’ve found some really awesome cleansers to use in the morning, but I still have yet to find something good to get my waterproof makeup off in the evening. Even with some of the cleansers I’ve tried with my Clarisonic Mia2, I still end up with a layer of stuff on my face. Not cool. I’m thinking of getting an oil cleanser, which is meant to take your makeup off before you wash your face. I’ll let you all know when I try one/find one.

As for washing my face in the morning, I’ve been trying out this powder cleanser that I really like. I didn’t even know there was a thing like powder cleansers. It comes in a bottle as (obviously) a powder. You pour a little bit into wet hands, build up a lather, and then use it to clean your face. I like it a lot because you don’t feel like you’re using too much. It’s easy to eyeball how much you need once you use it a few times. I feel like I’m never gonna run out. I’ve been using Papa Recipe’s White Flower Clear Up Enzyme Powder Cleanser. My skin has been doing great, so no complaints from me!

Toners

I mentioned that I was using a toner whose name I couldn’t remember in my last post. I looked at the bottle when I got home, and it was Phytomer’s Rosée Visage Toner Cleansing Lotion. It smells really good and it does its job, but I was interested in branching out and trying new things. I’ve been going back and forth between two different toners.

The first one is Bathhouse Soapery’s Aloe Toning Tonic. I love the way this stuff smells, and I like the spray bottle. When used in my normal cleansing routine, I apply it to a cotton ball and apply it to my skin. Sometimes if my skin needs a bit of a pick me up, I just spritz it on my face and let it dry. It’s a lot cheaper than Phytomer’s toner, and it works just as well. I’m a fan!

The second one is an interesting Korean beauty product: Benton’s Snail Bee High Content Skin (Toner). What a name, right? That’s because it has two special ingredients: snail slime filtrate and premium bee venom. Yikes! I’m not sure it would be good for someone who is allergic to bees, but thankfully, I am not. Even with this bizarre ingredient list, this toner is far from gross. It smells great, and it works great! If I had to stick to one toner, it would be this one. It’s been great for my face, and it’s the cheapest of these three toners. 😀 Woo!

Ampoule

What is an ampoule, exactly? For a detailed overview, check out this blog post from Glow Recipe! An ampoule is like an extra treat for your skin between your toner and your moisturizer. I’ve noticed that it gives my skin a healthy glow that I haven’t had with my normal skin care routine. I’m still relatively new to the whole ampoule/serum thing, but I’ve been trying a couple out.

The first one I tried was Lee Ji Ham’s Vita Propolis Ampoule. This stuff is really nice. It doesn’t look like a lot since it comes in a tiny bottle. Honestly, though, you don’t need a whole lot. I can usually get away with using what is on the outside of the dropper and a drop or two from the dropper. It goes on light and smooth, and it gives your skin a fresh glow. I use it during the day.

The other one I tried was an all-in-one ampoule: Shara Shara’s Honey Bomb All in One Ampoule. An all-in-one ampoule can be used in place of a toner, serum, and moisturizer. I still like using a toner before I use this one, but if I use it in the morning, I only use it as an ampoule/serum. At night, I tend to slather it on and sleep in it, and it does make my skin feel softer in the morning. This stuff comes in a huge bottle, and you don’t need very much of it, even if you slather it on. This bottle will last you a long, long time!

Moisturizer

The only moisturizer I’ve tried out of all my new goodies is Benton’s Snail Bee High Content Lotion. It came in the themed Memebox with the toner. I love this stuff! It leaves my skin feeling fresh, soft, and dewy. It’s a great way to prep your skin before primer and foundation. Even with the snail slime filtrate and premium bee venom, this one smells good, too. Just don’t think about the weird things going on your face. Don’t worry, it’s good for your skin. Just a little bit goes a long way!

Future Updates

I still have a lot more products I haven’t even tried yet, so I’ll keep you all updated as I go. I have more stuff coming in, too (help me, I can’t stop), so those will get a spot on here, as well. I’m thinking of doing some makeup posts on here, too. Maybe I can get some tips from some of my lovely Makeup Artist friends on here, too!

I think I’m going to start taking pictures of the stuff I’ve been using. I think these posts could use some pictures to liven the place up. So look for those in the future!

Thanks for reading! <3

Adventures in Skin Care

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2016

Recently, I have been taking a renewed interest in taking care of my skin. I got lazy with my face care, and my skin was definitely feeling it. Even though my skin has remained relatively clear with the help of my Spironolactone prescription (that can be another story for another day), I was still having little breakouts here and there. I can blame that on my own laziness, opting for cleaning my face with wipes instead of actually washing and moisturizing.

I figured I’d try blogging about something else besides video games. I’m going to blog about my adventures in taking care of my skin. I’ve been buying all kinds of products, trying new things out, and I’ve been seeing all kinds of improvement. Why not share the knowledge that I’ve obtained so far? Let’s go!

Don’t Use a Towel to Dry Your Face

I recently read an article on Glow Recipe (a website I HIGHLY recommend for buying some Korean beauty products) regarding tips passed down from mothers regarding skin care. One tip mentioned not scrubbing your face dry with a towel (which is something I’ve been incredibly guilty of).

Instead of scrubbing your face dry with a towel, you should pat your skin dry with your fingers. I was a little skeptical at first, but after two days of doing this, I can see why it works. I pat my skin until it’s damp but not dripping, and then I move on to my toner. My skin isn’t all red and irritated like it would be after using a towel, and my toner goes on super easy. If my hands aren’t drying fast enough, I dry my hands off and continue to blot my face until it reaches the right amount of dampness. Then on to the rest of my skincare routine!

I can say that the lack of redness after washing my face combined with the extra hydration my skin gets with the water leaves my skin significantly happier. Give it a try sometime. You won’t regret it!

Cleanse, Tone, Moisturize

If there was one routine I would abide by when it comes to taking care of my face, this would be the minimum: cleanse, tone, and moisturize. Just following these three steps has made an improvement with my skin. Of course, there are more pieces to my skin care routine (exfoliating, masks, serums, etc.), but if there is a minimum recommendation, I would start with these three things.

When it comes to the Cleanse step, I’m still flip-flopping between a couple different cleansers. I haven’t decided on a nighttime cleanser, but I’m really liking the one I use in the morning. Right now I’m using Hey Honey’s Don’t Miss A Spot! Fresh Honey Cleansing Foam. I stick to using my Clarisonic Mia 2 at night when my face needs that deep clean but using Hey Honey’s cleansing foam in the morning with just my hands is an easy way to freshen up my skin before I run out the door. I’ve been using different samples I’ve received with my Mia 2 at night, but I haven’t found just one nighttime cleanser I’d stick with.

As for the Tone step, I’ve also been trying out several products. The one that I’m using right now is one that I got at a salon not too long ago whose name is escaping me right now. I haven’t opened it yet, but I also have belif’s Bergamot Herbal Extract Toner that I’m going to try next. I’ve also had very good experiences using Origins’ Zero Oil™ Pore Purifying Toner. Toners are great for nourishing your skin after cleansing and are a great way to prep your skin for moisturizing!

When I was younger, I never thought about the Moisturize step. My skin was always oily; why would I want to add a product to make it more greasy? I continued to think that way until I actually tried moisturizing my skin. Now my face doesn’t get as oily because I’m replacing the oils that I stripped from my face so my face doesn’t have to overproduce oil to make up for it. Currently, my morning moisturizer is Hada Labo’s Replenishing Hydrator. I still have other moisturizers that I could use, but this one is light and easy, especially before putting on makeup. At night, I’ve been alternating between Lather’s Honey Moisture Mask with Propolis Extract and belif’s The True Cream Aqua Bomb. Both products leave my face feeling happy from when I put it on to when I wake up the next morning.

Three steps may seem like a lot, but integrating those three steps have made a world of difference in my skin. Once you get it into your routine, it’ll seem like nothing. At the end of the day, your skin will thank you for it. Trust me.

New Skin Care Products

Even when I find my holy grail of skin-care products, I still like to try new things now and then. I’ve got a whole slew of new products coming in that I’ll probably end up reviewing on here. I love trying out new products and seeing how they work for me. And hey, they might even work for you, too! You can just call me your skin care guinea pig. (*・∀-)☆

Fighting Games, Life, and Video Games.

Thursday, March 20th, 2014

I haven’t updated here in forever, have I? I guess now is as good as a time as any.

I entered in the local BlazBlue tournament in January. There weren’t that many entrants, but I am happy I came in third place. I’m sure I could have performed a whole lot better if I really focused on working on new combos. The combos I have seem to be holding me through pretty well, but I feel like I’m genuinely limiting my ability if I don’t learn anything new. Those combos that are in muscle memory are pretty well rooted in muscle memory. I think I just need to do something more than what I already have.

Another thing I really need is matchup experience. I have a lot of experience playing against Tyler’s Kokonoe. I have a bit of experience playing against Estevan’s Valkenhayn. I understand how a lot of the other characters work. I have about as much matchup experience as I do from playing online in previous iterations of BlazBlue. When I rolled in to the tournament, I’ve only seen Azrael in play from videos and Score Attack. Not a whole lot of experience otherwise. I locked up pretty good playing against Chavelo’s Azrael. I feel like I would’ve done better if I had more matchup experience, but hindsight is always 20/20.

The Atomic Mesa household hasn’t been streaming a whole lot lately. We did try something different in the past few months, though: we streamed a Vanguard card game tournament. It was a lot of fun, even though we were lacking in streaming gear at the time. The players thought it was an amazing idea, and they all really wanted to play for the stream. We had advertising on the Cardfight! Vanguard Facebook, and we actually had people in the chat discussing what was going on in the game. It was pretty successful! It was a unique experience for us, and I think we’ll be better prepared for stuff like that in the future.

Tyler has been really busy building and modding fight sticks lately. He recently built a custom Melty Blood stick for himself that came out quite amazing. He designed the art himself, put the stick together, and he even put LEDs into the stick. He went through the effort of programming the LEDs, and it paid off. The stick is quite amazing.

Besides the stick he built, he is also building me my waifu (Kuroneko) stick! He has put in so much effort making it perfect, and I am blown away with what he’s done so far. He’s put the entire thing together save for the wiring (we’re still waiting on the wiring harness to come in). I’ll have to post pictures of it once it’s finished–the work he’s done has exceeded my expectations and then some.

I think I would be doing more with things, but having two jobs has been taking up a lot of my time. I work eight hours a day for my main job, then I go home and get things done around the house, then I go and squeeze in however many hours of work for my second job (depending on how much stuff they have for me at the time). I barely have enough time to squish in gaming, much less a social life. Oh, and add going to the gym on a regular basis in there, and… free time? What’s that? I don’t understand what free time is anymore. I like being busy, sure, but maybe this is a bit much.

On the bright side, I have really been using my handwritten journals lately. I haven’t missed a day since I started seriously writing in the daily ones in January. I’ve almost filled my general journal, too. I’m trying to write more, even if it is about stupid stuff. I feel rusty (since all I really work on is formatting and editing these days), but I think I will eventually get a handle on things again.

Welp. I think that was a good start. Now to actually see if I can keep up on this thing…

Busy, Busy, Busy. Always Busy.

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012

Goodness. I’ve wanted to post more, but I’ve been so busy with work and life.

There was a fighting game tournament in town recently, which was fun. I’m sure it would have been a lot more fun if I wasn’t as hung over as I was. The tournament made me realize that I need more practice. Have I been practicing since then? Not particularly, since I’ve been obsessively playing Borderlands 2. I really want to get back in to the swing of things, but it would help if I had more time.

I’ve been putting in late hours at works. I’ve had a lot of things to do there. I really do enjoy being a Technical Writer, especially for something I’m fascinated by like computer security. It’s hard to find time to do things when I have a full-time job, but it pays off. Literally.

There’s a lot of stuff planned for Atomic Mesa. I have some articles that I need to review, I need to actually post the article I wrote a while back, and my roommates and I are planning to do some Survival Horror streams in the spirit of the month of Halloween. I need to revamp the design of the website, too. Where in the world am I supposed to get all this time?

I should be posting something about my impressions of Borderlands 2 tonight. If I can get the time. ._.

Here’s to me getting back in to the swing of things.

Adventures in WordPress

Monday, August 27th, 2012

Looks like I haven’t updated my blog in a little while.

There’s not all that much to report, really. I’ve been distracted from Persona 4 Arena (P4A) by a multitude of things such as Sleeping Dogs, Final Fantasy Theatrhythm, and In the Groove (ITG). I’m planning on running some combo practice today, and it’s possible that my roommate and I will be doing a P4A stream later tonight.

Anyways…

I decided to spruce up this blog a little bit more. Well, until I actually have the time to sit down and mess around with the settings. I changed the theme of the blog, and I took my introductory post and made it into a separate page. Woo! Look at that, progress!

I guess you can say I’m testing all these nifty features so that I can use the skills I get from here to further renovate the official project, Atomic Mesa. I don’t mind beating my own personal blog black and blue until I get things the way that I want them to be, but I want Atomic Mesa to look good once the official iteration gets rolling.

I have yet to look through more themes for this blog, but I think this one will do for now!