A fun, random “time capsule” or “letter to my future self” video ^^ I love these kind of reflection projects, and thought this summer was a perfect transition point to do another one :3
Mind you, this was super embarrassing, awkward, and stressful to film x’D I hope I become better at making videos haha but I had a lot of fun, though, and I think it will be worth it!! XD
Mont Blanc (モンブラン) is a French dessert consisted of pureed sweet chestnuts and whipped cream and is named after the snow capped mountain it resembles. It’s also the name of my favorite Japanese/French bakery, located in Arlington Heights, IL — their mont blanc is so delicious~
To me, chestnuts can be a little finicky to work with, and I found a lovely, simple recipe by Ochikeron that substitutes sweet potato for the chestnuts (which I loveee). I’m super proud of how these dainty desserts turned out ^^
Mini Sweet Potato Mont Blanc
Recipe partially adapted from Ochikeron and Sorted Food
Ingredients
Sponge Cake
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
Whipped Cream
210 ml whipping cream (I used a half-pint carton in total)
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
Sweet Potato Cream
250g (8.8 oz) sweet potato (I used 3 small Korean sweet potatoes)
1 tbsp sugar
50 ml whipping cream
Sliced toasted almonds
Steps
Sponge Cake
Preheat oven to 360°F/180°C.
Boil a pot of water, reduce to simmer. Place a mixing bowl with the eggs and sugar over the pot and whisk until pale and fluffy (~6-8 min).
Sift in the flour and carefully fold until combined.
Spoon batter into a greased muffin tin (I had enough for 12 standard muffins — about a quarter way filled to make small cake disks — and a 4” cake) and bake for 10 min and cool.
Cool then gently remove the little cakes and place into cupcake liners (foil ones look nice).
Whipped Cream
Place a large bowl with the cream and sugar over an ice bath. The colder the cream is, the better!
Whisk until stiff peaks form.
Sweet Potato Cream
Peel and dice the sweet potatoes into small cubes, then soak them in water to prevent discoloring.
Microwave the sweet potatoes for ~2 min at a time until they are fork tender.
Mash the sweet potatoes with a fork, then put through a sieve to remove the fiber.
Mix in sugar and whipping cream.
Especially if the sweet potatoes are particularly starchy, you will need to mix in about 1/2 cup of the whipped cream to make it easier to pipe.
Assembly
Pipe a towering dollop of whipped cream onto the center of each cake.
For the characteristic thin stripes of topping, use a small piping tip (or snipped plastic bag) to pipe on the sweet potato cream — start from the base of the little “mountains” and spiral around to the top.
I made a makeup tutorial haha x’) for all my uneven/monolidded girlies out there c: We all know the struggle ^~^
The basic idea is keeping the eyeshadow in a winged “eyeliner” shape to deepen, define, and lengthen the eyes. The “half-moon” contoured eyeshadow is highest in the center of the eyes, rounding them out. A dark to light gradient starting from the lashline keeps the look soft without sacrificing depth. Keep checking on the balance between your eyes - e.g. my left eye is much more hooded than the right, so the “half-moon” shape extends higher to give the effect of symmetry. A final tip is to keep blending for a polished look c: Finish off with a little inner corner highlight, rosy cheeks, and natural lips.
I’ve been wearing makeup for a few years now, but it wasn’t until this past year that I was fully comfortable with evening out my eyes and using eyeshadow. Hope these tips help you in some way c:
I got my ears pierced when I was 8 at Claire’s; lobes, of course. Towards the end of June, I finally got my cartilage pierced -- again, at Claire’s cos I was impatient ^^;; I only intended on getting my right helix pierced, but ended up getting both done (haha). They’re tiny twin stars in 24k gold and I love them!
Next, I want to get my second lobe piercings done, and maybe even my belly button...
* Even though I haven’t had any problems with my Claire’s piercings healing (I just clean them by spraying on the solution. Surprisingly, though they’re slightly more sensitive because of the nature of cartilage, my new piercings have healed more smoothly than my lobes had), I would still strongly recommend you do research and get your piercings done at a tattoo parlor or other approved professional piercer for safety and sanitation reasons :x Plus, apparently getting them done with a piercing needle vs. a gun is less painful and much safer~ Take care of your body ^.^
Hello! So after my first try at hair dye, of course it wasn't enough x) After the initial purple faded (~2 weeks) and taking a break, I decided to refresh the color using Revlon Colorsilk in 03 Ultra Light Sun Blonde, which did a good job at brightening and lifting the color!
At the beginning of spring quarter, my lovely friend and hair goddess Emily gave me balayage (painted) highlights using bleach and focusing on the inner layers. I love the sun kissed blonde and subtle brown tones! Under certain lighting the blonde/yellow/orange undertones are brought out.
Naturally, I took the plum plunge again with the same Jerome Russell Punky Colours in Purple! We used too much dye, so it actually made my hair pretty much black D: Luckily, using vitamin c tablets helped wash out the excess to reveal this vibrant plum!! It only lasted for a couple weeks (enough for my birthday at least :"3) and gracefully faded into rosy magenta and pinky brown until I got back to my original "ombre" ~
Here's what my hair looks like today x3 I like using Marc Anthony's Dream Wave Beach Spray for texture and volume on 2nd or 3rd day hair (cutting down on shampoo was a must). I've also been keeping brassiness at bay using Jhirmack Distinctions Silver Plus purple shampoo, which smells nice and has been doing a great job bringing in a little ashiness to my hair. Also, using Nexxus Pro-Mend Split End Binding Targeted Leave-In Treatment Crème (what a name x’o) diluted with a little water has been a detangling and softening lifesaver! (hair in leftmost pictures was curled, in the rest either air dried or left in a bun overnight)
Next, I definitely want to keep making the highlights ashier, maybe even lighter so I can play around with some pastels! Eyeing on the Punky Colours in Turquoise, Lagoon Blue, and Flamingo Pink for a more 'rainbow' highlighted effect...
Today, I tried the whole "lemon highlights" trick for the summer that I've always wanted to try - mixed 1 part lime juice (cos I used up the lemons) with 1 part water and a bit of honey for softening and moisturizing properties. Spritzed the mixture on my hair, focusing on the inner highlighted layers, and sat in the sun for half an hour. My hair was very sticky and crunchy feeling so I was a little worried, but to my surprise, running water through my hair, it felt incredibly soft and smooth! My highlights even looked a little brighter - more lemony blonde than dark caramel. Ahh <3 hehe hopefully this lemon trick works ^^ I'll repeat the process a couple more times and we'll see ~
Spent an hour painstakingly compiling this playlist C’: managed to fit most of my favorites, with no artist repeats ^_~ will probably update as soon as my current favorite song is up on Spotify :”3
Hello, hello! Trying to get back to the swing of things ^^ I'm thinking I'll try to post at least every other Friday after winter break? We'll see haha~
(layerssss <3)
After my most recent haircut, I lightened what would become my purple highlights. I sectioned out a thin portion from my longest layers and dyed it with Garnier Nutrisse - Ultra Color (Ultra Light Cool Blonde LB1), focusing on the ends and blending into the roots for a slight gradient. Since I have brown-black hair, after an hour of processing, I was able to achieve a medium auburn shade with definite red undertones from my natural hair color.
I let my hair rest for a couple days as I enjoyed my new highlights then dyed the auburn sections with Jerome Russell - Punky Colour (Plum) and got a deep, pink-toned purple, again with strong red undertones. Since Punky Colour is a semi-permanent color, it's gradually fading (as seen above - more red-pinkish, which is emphasized by the overexposure x'D), revealing the brown underneath since the Ultra Color is permanent. The cooler purple tones are more noticeable in the light (obviously xD).
Overall, I'm super happy with my highlights! I've never dyed my hair before, and am glad I didn't kill my hair or stain everything grape purple (haha). I absolutely love how the highlights are not streaky or a full "page" of color on the underside of my hair, but pretty well-blended (due to the sectioning I thought wayyy too much about, seen below). They add some great interest and dimension to my hair (ponytails, braids, buns, half-updos, etc. are so much more fun teehee) and I love that flush of color framing my face. x3 Also, it's not super high-maintenance since it's not a bright, intense color, easy to touch up with reapplication of the Punky Colour (when I feel like refreshing back to purple from brown), and my shorter layers will cover any growth (but the color is graded upwards anyway x'D).
(the key to smooth, blended highlights is to take a thin, consistent layer that goes all around)
Not your typical 'highlights,' and just the way I like them ^^ ~
Day 100: brunch with the lovelies at Le Peep, NU gear ^^ ahhhh Hello Kitty too!, first NU football game (that touchdown tho), awesome dinner at Joy Yee's 哈哈哈哈
Day 99: another great day at SAW, successful idea draft, Dr. Huang/Love is inspiring, CVS run turned 功夫茶, SNK BINGE, deep conversations (racial diversity, identity, multiverse, environmentalism, déjà vu, you name it...)
