I have friends ask me different beauty related questions, one of which is how do I get nice soft skin. Easy. All you need is a Korean Scrub (see picture) and a nice body wash. I prefer body wash over soap bars because it’s less messy. It doesn’t leave residue everywhere in the bathroom.

I love Korean scrubs because it is a bit rougher than loofahs and other scrubs you will find at your general store (mine is and always will be Target). You can find these scrubs at the nearest Korean or Asian store. If not, simply order it online. It is worth it. Buy a pack so you can replace your scrub every 1 – 2 months.

The body wash I usually get is Caress, either Tahitian Renewal or the Glowing Touch Silkening. But any body wash will do especially if you have a specific one for your skin.

First, stay under the steamy hot water (just not too hot okay) for about 5 minutes. This softens up the skin.

Like any scrub, place it on your palm and put enough body wash on the scrub. Start scrubbing away from feet to neck in every direction you want: up, down, side to side, and circular. You may feel it sting because basically your are scrubbing dead skin away. Other people likes to soap up first, rinse and then scrub. I like my method better. Just my preference. It still works and it’s also good for circulation.

Quickly rinse off with cold water to increase circulation. Once you are done showering, dry off and lotion yourself up to lock in the moisture.

I do this every single day. When I step out of the shower I am nice and pink. But when I’m dry. I’m all nice and soft. Even without the lotion.

From time to time my heel becomes super dry and cracks. My solution: Say YES TO CARROTS. There are different products under this line, however, I chose the Daily Softening Hand & Elbow Cream. Yeah they are good for the hands and elbow, and even my HEELS! It instantly rehydrates my heels. It uses carrots and melons for anti-oxidant skin protection. Also it contains jojoba and sweet almond oil for softening perfection.

I used this on my boyfriend’s foot because his tends to get dry. He loves the carrots, but at the same time hates it because he is ticklish on his feet. Lol. That’s where I get my revenge. Tickle time!

So what I do to have nice smooth heels everyday is I put it on at night right before I go to bed. No more touching the floors for me.  When I wake up in the morning they are much softer. If my legs or arms gets super dry during the day where I can write stick figures on them, I go straight for the carrots.  But that’s hardly the case since I take care of skin (usually soft and smooth). I have my usual body lotions that I put on in the morning and at night. However, I’ll save that for another post.

If you would like to know where you could get this (and this is one of their many products), I believe you can get it at: Target, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, etc. for people who live in Southern California. For all you other people, if you have these stores especially Target, then you should be fine. If not you know what to do, call your local drug stores or super markets and ask.

Yesterday I didn’t feel like getting dressed up with my boots. I decide to bum it a bit and just put on a beater, black shorts, black socks, and my Converse I Love Blank. I haven’t worn it in over a year. One of my friends liked my pair of Converse because you cannot find these in stores.

My best friend used to work at a sneaker store. I would always come to visit him especially since it was close by. At one point he handed me a Converse Catalogue see if there’s anything that I might like. I flipped through it and finally something caught my attention. I told him which pair I liked, but there was a problem. The shoes weren’t released yet! I wanna say these shoes got released back in January 2010. But I looked through the booklet a few months before.

Eventually I forgot about it. One day my best friend called me and told me he was stopping by. He special ordered the shoes for me and surprised me with it. I really liked it. The first time I wore it, I taped a piece of paper on the blank and wrote a word on it. For instance I <3 Myself. Conceited I know haha. But of course the paper taped to my shoes did not last long. I’m probably going to sharpie that in sometime soon.

This lip scrub is easy to make. The three ingredients are: honey, sugar, and olive oil. Sugar is good for exfoliation. I’m pretty sure most of you can find these ingredients in your home. If not then go buy it. Haha.

Before we start, you could take a tooth brush and just brush your lips to remove some skin if possible.

Anyways get a small container or bowl. Mix 1/2 tsp of honey and 1/2 tsp of sugar to the consistency that you want it. Then mix in about 1/4 tsp of olive oil. Honestly it doesn’t matter how you mix it. It’s up to you. As long as you could feel the sugar exfoliate your skin while you’re scrubbing, then you’re good.

Dip your finger in your lip scrub and start scrubbing away on your lips in every direction possible: left, right, up, down, and circular. Remember to concentrate where your lips meet because that is where your lips get most chapped, and at the corners of your lips. After you are done scrubbing away, take a damp warm towel and wipe off the lip scrub. And BAM, nice smooth soft lips. This is also another way to get your lips slightly more plump due to the circulation you provide while scrubbing. Kudos to that!

On another note, if you would like, you can take a bit of olive oil and put it on your lips. It conditions and protects lips from drying out or becoming chapped. But don’t use it if you already have oily skin because it might cause breakouts or skin irritation.

This is okay to do a few times during the week since you are using natural ingredients that aren’t harmful, unless you are allergic then you can’t use this. *sad face.

Anyways enjoy !

There are two things I want to point out about this place. One of the best points to make is that this place has  all you can eat! It’s about $23.00 for each person. Not bad at all! I eat sushi that’s worth about $40+. So whenever there is all you can eat, I take advantage of that. The down side tho, after reading yelp reviews is that you could only order 2 rounds. I have never seen that before. You would have to pace yourself and think what you could eat in those 2 rounds.

I also loved the interior. They have normal seating: tables or at the sushi bar. But they also have the “Japanese” type seating with pillows. It was comfortable.

So what did I get? Well to start with I got 1 miso soup. I usually order 1 roll before the sushi. My choice of roll was their Ichiban Roll (In: Spicy tuna & cucumber. Out: Salmon & avocado with a light sauce drizzled on top). However, the Ichiban roll wasn’t included in the all you can eat menu. I decided to get the Seared Tuna Roll (In: Crab meat, avocado. Out: seared tuna, avocado, and onion). It was pretty good. My boyfriend got the Ichiban roll for he and I to split.

The rest of my order:

• 3 orders of Salmon Sushi (Sake)
• 2 orders of Albacore Sushi (Shiro Maguro)
• 2 orders of White Tuna Sushi (Ono)
• 1 order of Red Snapper Sushi (Tai)
• 1 order of Yellowtail Sushi (Hamachi)
• 1 order of Scallop Sushi (Kaibashira)
• 1 order of Surf Clam Sushi (Hokkigai)
• 1 order of Fresh Water Eel Sushi (Unagi)

If I didn’t get all you can eat, my total price would be: $59.05 (tax not included and minus the Ichiban Roll). Lol. I just saved my boyfriend about $35.

Besides the Ichiban Roll, my boyfriend ordered for himself an Alaska Roll (In: Crab meat & avocado. Out: Salmon & Avocado). That’s his favorite. And not to forget about my sister, she ordered a Deluxe Bento. It includes: Sashimi 8pcs, Tempura, Beef and Salad) & mango mochi. His friend ordered tempura, which is also pretty good. He told me he didn’t order sushi because he had a lot of sushi during the week. I’m jealous. I get my fix at least once a month now and if I’m lucky twice a week. Lol.

After that wonderful lunch, I was ready to pass out due to food coma. But I couldn’t because we had a 3 hour drive ahead of us.

If you would like more Yelp Reviews, go here.

I wish the speed limit would be 85 mph instead of 65mph. I also wish that big rigs, buses, and other big vehicles have their own lane so they could drive as slow as they need to. I also don’t like women drivers except for myself. lol. Why? Because most of the accidents that I almost get into care caused by women. Sheesh. And honestly, if you’re going to drive below 65 mph please gtf_off the free way. Thanks.

Other than the traffic and the smoggy air, I still enjoy the LA Night Life and the Summer season. I don’t think I will live anywhere else but LA, except maybe in Oceanside, San Diego because that place is such a wonderful and clean area. I know I will be taking a weekend trip soon with my boyfriend. So there will definitely be a big post about that, especially the food.

By the way, LA I do sometimes love you.

The two products I bought are: Catastrophe Cosmetic Face Mask & Ocean Salt Cleanser.

Catastrophe Cosmetic “is a blueberry infused maintenance face mask for all skin types. The little blue bulbs are packed with vitamins, with a gentle calamine base to cleanse the skin without stripping it of it’s natural oils” (LUSH). If you do have sensitive skin, this would be a recommended product to use. Note: If you do have any allergies, their website lists all products with all ingredients used. ALSO this product must be refrigerated & used before expiration date due to its ingredients. 

Ingredients: Calamine Powder, Talc, Irish Moss, Fresh Blueberries, Glycerine, Almond Oil, Rose Absolute, Chamomile Blue Oil, Sweet Wild Orange Oil, Limonene, Methyl Ionone, & Perfume.

MY REVIEW: I love it. Hands down. I will probably do a face mask party with my boyfriend soon since he likes taking care of his own skin and body. Hehe. Anyways prior to using this mask and any masks, always always cleanse your face and pat dry gently. I applied the mask over my face avoiding my eye and lip area. I left the mask on for about 10 minutes without letting the mask completely dry up on my face. I washed off with warm water and applied my moisturizer & toner after. After this whole process, my face felt amazing! It felt smooth, soft, and fresh. What an awesome combination. I definitely recommend this if you are unsure of what face mask to use.

Ocean Salt Cleanser: Coconut Cream & Sea Salt Scrub takes your face & body on a “trip to the seaside for an invigorating splash in the water, then cleansing and refreshing it with lemon, grapefruit and lime juices” (LUSH). It also contains Lime extracted in Vodka & Sea Salt for antibacterial effects that is ideal for blackheads, blemishes, or blocked pores. Scrubs away the icky dirt on your face. NOTE:  Shelf life of this products in 14 months. Does not need to be refrigerated. 

Ingredients: Fine Sea Salt, Fresh Grapefruit infusion, Coarse Sea Salt, Stearic Acid, Fresh Lime Extracted in Vodka, Fresh Avocado Butter, Coconut Fat, Glycol Cetearate, Triethanolamine, Lime Oil, Seaweed Absolute, Violet Leaf Absolute, Glycerine, Lanolin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Limonene, Linalool, Perfume, FD&C Blue No. 1, and Methylparaben.

MY REVIEW: Another amazing product. Great exfoliant for face and body. I use this mainly for my body to scrub away the dirt off that normal shower gels can’t. Don’t get me wrong, I have another technique of exfoliation for my body leaving it refreshed and soft. I just wanted a product that’s more organic and less irritating for my skin because my skin can be a bit sensitive at times.

I will definitely buy more products from this place as time passes by and would highly recommend Lush to other people. The prices are worth it too. It doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, unlike other brands.

If you would like a YELP REVIEW, you can view it here. I chose the nearest location to me, which is Woodland Hills, CA.

For me and many other people, pho is good to have on a nice cold (especially rainy) weather. Don’t know what pho is? Well let me tell you. Phở is a Vietnamese noodle soup, usually served with beef or chicken . The soup includes noodles made from rice and is often served with Asian basil, mint leaves, lime, and bean sprouts that are added to the soup by the person who is dining (Wikipedia). I add other things, for instance, Hoison sauce, Siracha, and chili sauce. So yummy!

Besides that, my sister and I usually split charbroiled beef with brown rice and 2 shrimp paste on sugar canes. Can’t go wrong with beef and brown rice, that’s for damn sure.

What else did we have? When my family and I eat, we eat! Haha. I believe we ordered 2 appetizers to split. One is fried spring rolls, which contain chicken, glass noodles, and mushrooms. The other one was fresh spring rolls, which contains shrimp, lettuce, mint, spring onion, and glass noodles.

I’m pretty sure my Grandma was satisfied before dropping her off at the LAX Airport. I was! Damn food coma before hitting traffic is not the business.

If you would like a full Yelp Review, you can view it here.