Discovering the skin care industry + mini haul

School has gotten extremely busy recently...particularly for my entrepreneurship class. There's a constant barrage of assignments and projects. The big ones are:

1. interviewing 3 "strangers" in a chosen industry (mine is skin care)
2. fundraise over $200 in 4 hrs for a particular nonprofit group (given 2 days to prep)

I just completed the first assignment (the interviews) today. I went with my sister to a nearby high-end mall, using Lyft and Uber, since we don't have cars. We just went around the mall, looking for different skin care brands and talking to managers. Some of the brands we interviewed were LUSH, Benefit, Origins, Estee lauder, and Skin Food.

At first, I was super intimidated and afraid that each interview would go badly. However, they all went pretty smoothly, and all the managers were super sweet and easy to talk to. I learned so much from the skin care industry and skin care trends--particularly from the retail end. It was definitely a great learning experience! I know for sure I would never have done something like this if not for the class--the class is really pushing me out of my comfort zone, but it's definitely helping me become a better speaker and communicator. 

Anyways, because I had the opportunity to check out lots of different skin care brands at the mall, I ended up purchasing lots of products from Skin Food and LUSH...good and fun experience, but bad for my wallet >___< 

Skin Food
Wildberry Milk Cleansing Cream ($9.40)
Black Sugar Mask samples (x5)
Avocado Rich Toner sample
Green Tea Mask ($2.00)
Potiron Au Lait Essence Mask ($3.50)

LUSH
BB Seaweed Mask ($6.95)
Full of Grace Serum ($14.95)

LUSH packaging - isn't this cute? So artsy!

The other project will happen tomorrow. Some people in my group have contacts with some semi-famous individuals. We're hoping to raffle off autographs and a small, $20 Chick-fil-a gift card at our school's home football game. Once again, I'm pretty worried about how this will turn out. But hopefully lots of people will be interested not just in buying and winning raffles but also in donating towards a good cause. 

I will update you all to let you know how this fundraiser went~

What types non-profit groups or charities would you guys love to work with?

Outlet Haul #1

Hello everyone! Sorry for the long time no update! I just came back from being a cabin leader (camp counselor) for a Christian camp called Mt. Hermon. I'll update you all as soon I finish debriefing and writing up my experiences. Just a short "preview" -- IT WAS AMAZING! PTL~

A couple weeks ago, I went outlet shopping. I didn't really have much time to do it until now. I bought these at Abercrombie & Fitch outlet and Loft outlet :)

I just absolutely adore lace. I'm so happy I found this piece, because it was 1) petite and 2) $15. While $15 is not super cheap, I still couldn't resist it. Perfect for the interviews coming up for grad school applications!

I also love this blouse, because of the collars! Anything peter-pan-collar is an automatic thumbs-up in my book! Sadly, this piece is semi-sheer, so I'll need to wear a cami underneath for my interviews! This was also $15 and petite sized, so the fit was pretty nice.

Now all I need to find are some nice, formal-ish black skirts and flats for the interviews. Any suggestions where to find good quality, but inexpensive pieces? Thanks!!

This dress was about $10. Yay! The quality is so nice, and it's soft and flowly--perfect for summer! I love floral prints!

I love the checkered pattern for this dress. It's super comfy--wonderful for a laced summer day!

Sorry the quality of the pictures are sort of bad--phone camera, bad lightly, and slightly shaky hands... Gotta work on my picture-taking skills!

Where do you go to buy your summer outfits?

Confession of a shopping addict: shoes anyone?

Ever since I got my own part time job, I been using much more money. This is bad...But whenever I see something nice on sale, I just can't help but to think it's a good investment. My excuse is that I needed new summer shoes (+ one pair of closed-toed shoes?)! Each pair was purchased from Little Black Bag for ~$11 after considering the cost of shipping.

I ordered these a couple weeks ago. Little Black Bag has this thing where after you purchase, you can have a week to trade around your items. However, I didn't end up doing any trading. I just wanted these shoes. I could have just shipped them right away, but I forgot. Thus they arrived just a couple days ago.

I was super excited to receive them--totally sick of wearing socks and canvas shoes during this 90F weather. It was torturous! I was happy that these shoes came pretty legit--in a shoe box. I really didn't know what to expect.

The lace pattern on this was totally unexpected. On the website, I didn't notice the pattern at all. It's a super cute shoe. It seems pretty comfy as well. However, I got a size 7 and I usually purchase size 7, but this pair of shoe was way too large. There was like a 1/2 inch of space between my feet and the heel of the shoe. I was so disappointed...so sad...this was the pair that I really, really wanted to wear and use.

I really loved the extra little pizzaz on this flat. I love how it appears so chic and formal. It's a size 7 and fits better than the one above but definitely still a little too big. I could fit a finger behind... I would keep it if it were a snug fit, but since it's a ballet flat styled shoe, if it doesn't fit, it's going to flop around when I walk.

It looked a lot better on the site. I didn't really like it even when I saw it. After trying them on, I just disliked it more. The top is too wide. It makes my already slightly wide feet look monstrously wide. The concept is nice, the colors are nice, but the fit just doesn't work.

I'm sad, but I don't think I'm keeping any of these shoes. I want to return them right now, but sadly Little Black Bag is transitioning to Pose, and they haven't been very contact-able...I'm trying to figure out how the whole return process is going to work, but I'm also busy with finals...Soon though, I'll try calling and/or emailing again.

Daiso, the land of the $1.50

Has anyone heard of Daiso? It's a Japanese-based chain that has opened also in America! There stuff there are super cute and actually very good quality, especially for $1.50. You can find bento boxes, notebooks, unique Japanese household items, and lots of stationary!! I went there a couple days ago, and boy did I can carried away in checking out each of the different isles! <3

These are the items I got: make-your-own tea bags, apple cutter, spiral notebook (whoops, it's upside-down :P), baking tin, vocabulary flashcards (on a chain!) and two cute, girly notebooks. 

A $1.50 notebook isn't very cheap, especially if you can find those 5-10 for a $1.00 ones at Target or Walmart, but at least the design is so much better! The floral ones on the bottom actually have a plastic covering over them, so you can insert things inside the cover/back if you'd like. I really love the floral designs, but I might want to add some mini-photos inside as well! hehe~

Have you gone to Daiso before? And what's your favorite things from Daiso?