My 25th Birthday Celebration!

Cutting the cake that my part co-worker got me!

OBSESSED with my new hair!

Place we went to for my birthday dinner. It was good but not great.

Cupcakes Shawn got me from Swirls. I DO NOT recommend them.
They screwed up 2 of my birthdays in a row. 

We totally forgot to take a picture of us together all night so we got it at the end!

My salmon entree at Joey Eaton Centre.

My $7.99 birthday cake. They supposedly said it was "on the house" when they gave it to me.

Me explaining to my friends how much I am in love with this eye-makeup remover.
Too bad it's DISCONTINUED!

My reaction to my friends' birthday card to me.

Me and Arie Luyendyk Jr. = LOVE

101 Beauty Tips Every Girl Should Know: Tips 31->27

I hope all my fellow Canadians had a good Thanksgiving long weekend! I had an eventful one. Both good and bad. I don't want to get into it (I will in later posts and videos) but I will tell you about the good. I celebrated my 25th birthday with friends and it was so good reconnecting with my friends who I have not seen in awhile. Once you reach my age, it gets hard to visit your friends because they are literally all over the place. And since I don't drive yet, it makes it even more difficult to see them. Basically what I want tell you is, cherish what you have now with your friends because later on, things do get more difficult.

My family's Thanksgiving feast!

31) To contour cheeks, use a matter powder (a few shades darker than your skin tone) with an angled brush. Blend on temples and under cheek bone. 

I am obsessed with contouring my cheeks. Since my face is kind of wide, I like to sculpt my cheeks to make my face more slim. I am currently using the Coastal Scents 6 Colour Blush and Contour Palette to contour my face. You can also buy this palette on eBay. It's way cheaper.

30) When using a cream product, lock it in by using translucent powder over it.

For eye shadow creams, you will put eye shadow over it anyways so that is not a big issue. But with blush creams or foundations, always set it! You can use the same coloured powder or a translucent one. Not a big deal on which of the two colours you use.

29) Get quick volume by using a root lifter, then a hairspray to set hair. This will prevent it from falling flat during the day.

I never used a root lifter before since I just tease my hair if I need volume. The root lifter is probably less damaging than teasing the hair so I will have to give this tip a try.

28) For makeup that lasts all day and night, use a makeup-sealing product.

Popular makeup-sealing products are Model in a Bottle, Skindinavia sprays and the Urban Decay ones. Just an FYI, Skindinavia makes Urban Decays sprays. It's just a different label and name. All the contents are the same. It's a marketing strategy. Trust me, I took marketing in university. Basically all these products are like hairspray for your face. It keeps everything in place throughout the day and some of them even have special ingredients in it to help your skin type.

27) To help you find the right shade of foundation, choose a product you think is closest to your colour and try it on your jawline in natural light. You will be able to easily compare it to your neck's colour to see if you need to go for a different undertone, lighter or darker.

This is a great tip for those who do wear foundation. I personally myself don't wear foundation since I like to spend my money on good skincare so I don't have to wear foundation. I do wear concealer and a light face powder though.

101 Beauty Tips Every Girl Should Know: Tips 36->32 and It's My 25th Birthday!!!!

IT'S MY 25TH BIRTHDAY!!!!!!! Happy Birthday to me!!! I can't believe I am 25 now. It seems like just yesterday I was 24, but now I am 25. That is crazy!!! Tonight I am celebrating with Shawn with dinner, watch Glee and the Season 6 Premiere Jersey Shore. Then on Saturday I am celebrating with friends like you have heard in my latest blog post. Oh I am have also had a new change to my hair!! Here is the final picture of my NEW HAIR!!!

NEW HAIR!!! By Monica Le

36) To mask split ends, use an iron to straighten ends and then apply a hair repair cream.

I currently have a few split ends but I am using a Dry Ends Serum by Avon to kind of mask them. I will definitely try this trick since I never do usually straighten my hair with a flat iron.

35) There are always cheap, natural and effective homemade beauty recipes.

There are tons of them on YouTube! My favourite gurus that do these DIY beauty recipes are Bubzbeauty and AndreasChoice.

34) To fix brassy hair color, use a color-depositing shampoo with purple tones. For unwanted redness, use a color-depositer with a green tone.

I am definitely using this trick since now my hair is a shades of blonde! I am plan to buy the one by John Freieda!!!

33) To cover up roots in a hurry, use a dry shampoo spray for your hair color. If you don’t keep this product around, use eyeshadow (in a shade closest to your hair color) for a quick fix.

I never knew there was so such thing as dry shampoo for your hair colour! I need to find this! I am pretty sure it will be east for me to find a black one since it's a simple colour to produce. I don't have coloured hair from my roots so I won't have this problem. But if I do decide to, this is a great tip!

32) Get a “dewy glow” using a highlighter or illuminator above your cheekbones and on the browbone.

I do this all the time! I use a white highlighter above me cheekbone. But as for my browbone, I also highlight with a skin tone shade that is matte. I don't know why but I am not a fan of those shimmery highlights by my brows. It looks to flashy and not natural.

101 Beauty Tips Every Girl Should Know: Tips 41->37

Ahhhhhh!! It's my birthday week!!! I am turning 25 on Thursday and I am super excited! Well mostly to celebrate it, not turning 25. That is a quarter of a century people! That is old! Anyways, I plan to go to dinner with Shawn on my birthday then watching Glee and the premiere of Jersey Shore's last season. Then On Saturday I am celebrating with my friends for dinner. I am also going to the CN Tower and Steamwhistle Brewery that morning. I also went to the salon today to get my hair did! Here is a sneak peek!! I won't be showing you guys the full hair until Thursday!!!

41) If you're not a fan of liquid eye liner, get the look of liquid eye liner by using a gel instead.

I do prefer using a liquid eyeliner because I find it easier to use. Gel liner is too time consuming and you require using a separate brush for it. I do own gel/cream liners but I only use them whenever I am in the mood which is hardly ever.

40) Exfoliate before applying self tanner to get rid of dead skin. Tanning products tend to cling to dryer areas.

I don't self tan so this tip is more useful for those who do self tan. But I am pretty sure those who do self tan already know this.

39) If you straighten your hair with a flat iron, cause less heat damage by letting it hair air-dry. The less heat, the better! 

I never straighten my hair since my hair is already straight. And when I do wash my hair, I always let it air-dry unless I am showering late at night or on early cold winter mornings. I do know some girls that blow dry their hair then straighten it. By that time, their hair looks fried like hay. Not a cute look!

38) To minimize pores, use a pore-minimizing facial wash followed by a toner. Make sure the toner is alcohol-free so it won't dry out your skin.

I don't have many large pores on my face since I got dry skin. However I do have some large pores on my nose. My boyfriend has large pores on his face so I will definitely tell him this tip!

37) The healthier you are, the healthier you hair! Take a daily multi-vitamin with Biotin to help hair grow.

I don't have an issue with my hair. I just got my hair done today at the salon and the girl told me I had really healthy silky hair. Even after I coloured my hair, it was still silky soft. I was worried it was going to feel fried but it turned out really nice and soft! So I am super happy about that. I eat lots of fish (I LOVE SUSHI) and lots of greens. I also don't use a lot of heat on my hair and use leave-in conditioners on my hair.

Me at Pioneer Square in Downtown Portland. You can see how straight and healthy my hair looks!