First off I got this shampoo from Jason which claims to promote hair growth and strong hair. I've tried the Biotin shampoo from Jason, which I liked, but it had a strong baby powder smell. Hopefully, this shampoo will smell better.


Next, I got this conditioner from Jason; I really like Jason's products. I've tried the gluten-free conditioner from Jason, which, again, I liked, but I do hope this one has a nice smell.


I got another pressed powder; I actually still have one of these wet n wild powders in my bathroom that I'm using up. This powder is just a standard pressed powder, nothing too special here. I do have to say that this is extremely inexpensive, and I love that about wet n wild. I want to try the cream foundation from this Coverall line.


I got another tube of this mascara that I've tried before as well. It's very lengthening, and I've gotten some compliments on my lashes after using it. Again, it is very cheap, which I like.


So I was very excited to receive this foundation from Milani. I've heard a lot of great things about it and wanted to try it out. On Milani's website, this shade claims to be for "light skin with golden undertones". However, this was very dark and orangey. This shade would be more suitable for medium skin tones, in my opinion. I was very disappointed, but I appreciate that Milani has shades available for darker skin tones; I just wish they could have had a more accurate description.


I have been looking for a cruelty-free micellar water for the longest time, so when I saw this one from Pacifica in Ulta, I was excited. They have two other types of micellar water as well, but I wanted to try this one, which is for oily and blemished skin (aka my skin). This cuts through makeup very nicely, but it stung like hell! I'll probably try the other micellar waters just because I love Pacifica so much.


 Ulta was having a buy one get one half off sale so I picked up this walnut scrub. I've used it once and quite like it so far.

Hello everyone!

First off, I'm so sorry for the absence—school has been overwhelming and leaves me no time for blogging. I might be gone for a while until I come back with consistent content.

I hope November has been going well for you all; I've been having a rough couple of weeks but things are finally looking up. :)

I was editing an essay I wrote about the Neuschwanstein Castle, which I mentioned in this blog post (back in the non-vegan days), and it made me really miss being in Europe. I hope to return soon someday. ;_; Anyways, I was looking old photos from my trip and came across some photos from Berlin that I never got around to posting. There are still other photos that I took from Berlin, but they're on a different computer.

That's all for right now, thank you so much for reading. Fingers crossed I'll be back soon!

mel

Just a few photos I took of some flowers. :)

Hello everyone,

During Labor Day weekend, which also happened to fall on my birthday, my family (including my sister and her fiance who came through) went on a weekend road trip to Yosemite.

We left Friday night and drove a couple hours, staying in a hotel in a city along the way. The traffic was not that bad on the way there, but we could see on the other side of the road, hundreds of cars stuck in traffic for some reason. So grateful we weren't in that position!

The next day we picked up my sister and her fiance from a Bart station and continued on our way to Yosemite. When we neared the park entrance, the traffic was absolutely terrible. We were stuck waiting in line for over 2 hours over a distance that should have taken 20 minutes. From what I've heard, Labor Day weekend is the second most crowded time, first being Memorial Day weekend.

After finally getting through the line, we walked over to a nearby waterfall, but unfortunately it was dry. x) That night we ate dinner at South Gate Brewing Company, and I ordered the Portobello mushroom burger without cheese, which was really delicious. After dinner we checked into a hotel and called it a night.

The next day, which was also my birthday, we got up earlier to avoid the traffic (a park ranger told us to come before 9:00 am and leave after 7:00 pm). We went to Glacier Point which my sister's fiance called "the Mona Lisa of Yosemite". After admiring the view, we picked a shady area to sit down and eat our lunch. I imagined us having a nice and peaceful lunch, but instead, we were attacked by bees. I guess it was the honey mustard in their sandwiches. My dad actually had a bee fly into his mouth, sting him, and fly out alive. Poor dad...

After lunch, we went on a hike that was about 7 miles, but we (mainly my dad and I) got tired really quickly, so we headed back. I did bump into a classmate on the hiking trail which was really cool.

Finally for dinner we ate at the Crab Cakes Restaurant where I ordered the Garden Pasta. The waiter was really nice and helped me order vegan friendly options.

At the end of dinner, my sister said she needed to use the restroom. Soon after she came back, the waiter asked me my favorite type of fruit. Turns out, my sister had told him it was my birthday, and he had made a smoothie for me. That moment was really memorable for me because it was such a nice gesture. :^) Shout out to that awesome waiter!

So, we went back to the hotel, slept, and the next day, headed back home. I had so much fun on this trip, and I'm so thankful I had this opportunity to spend time with my family and nature, two of my favorite things. :)

Thanks for reading!

mel

Hi everyone!

A couple weeks ago my family and I took a day trip to Laguna Beach. We ate sushi for lunch (I got some veggie rolls), and we headed to this gorgeous park nearby, the Treasure Island park.

I was wearing a jacket because I thought it would be cold, but it ended up being a sunny day—the weather was amazing. We walked around for a bit but finding parking was difficult—there were a lot of people out and about that day.

On our way home we got some groceries, and I caught a Dragonite in Pokemon Go. :^)

Thanks for reading!

mel

Hi everyone!

This post draws an end to my summer travels. I meant to put up this post much earlier, but there were other posts that I wanted to publish first.

A couple days before our departure from Hangzhou, my grandpa wanted to take my dad and me to Xixi National Wetland Park. My grandpa had never been, so he wanted to check it out. Several buses later (and getting lost along the way), we arrived at the park. Located in the west part of Hangzhou, the park features a variety of vegetation and plants as well as many oriental buildings. Along the river, there are several villages we stopped at. In these villages, there are places to eat and also learn more about ancient Chinese culture.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing the various stops we stopped at during my time in Taiwan and Hangzhou—this was an extremely memorable trip, and I'm so thankful I had this opportunity to see more of Asia.

Thanks for reading!

mel

Just a couple photos from a hiking trail my parents and I visited a couple weeks ago. I meant to include them in my last post, but that post ended up being too long.

I love visiting new places and spending time outdoors, especially with my family. It's refreshing to connect with nature whenever my schedule can allow it. :)

mel