My vacation and book obsession

Dear Joanna;

I'm on vacation right now, so yeah, I'd say I'm feeling pretty chill right now. Nothing big happening, and I can sleep in every day without even thinking about school. It's awesome- I won't get huge breaks like this anymore when I start working.

To be honest, I was kind of disappointed when vacation first started... There wasn't much to do. I wanted to stay home and soak up the comfort of it all, and I also wanted to call up some friends and go shopping. By the time I got up the energy to want to get out of the house, I got sick.

I'm really sick now. Horrible nasal congestion that makes me sound like... a frog. Actually, a toad. A toad dying of thirst and choking on its own spit. I can't go outside, because my allergies make my throat flare up and hurt. (Yeah, I have allergies and for some reason, they haven't really affected me for the last two years, but they suddenly came back? Is this a medical thing?) And I don't have the energy to go out even if I were brave enough to get past the pollen. My mom is convinced this is a cold, so I haven't washed my hair for 48 hours now... And I've skipped showering and washing my hair today, so that makes 72 I'm going without.

I feel so... dirty.

Haha.

Since I'm stuck at home now, I have to entertain myself even though I feel so miserable and sometimes can't even laugh, that's how stuffed my nose and throat get.

One thing I wanted to show you was my present for my cousin's birthday- I thought you might be interested to see what kind of makeup I bought her:

As you can see, I got her a set of gel pens, two NYX jumbo eyeshadow pencils, an almay highlighting pencil, a mascara and a sharpener.

*** Since buying a new sharpener that fits the jumbo eyeshadow pencils, I love just sharpening them as opposed to depotting, which takes a while, is not worth it and is really annoying.

My cousin wanted to use something to highlight her waterline, so that's why I got her the three pencils. The mascara, though, is the closest thing I have come to a HG makeup item.

I want to post a review about it and sing my praises about the mascara, but that'll have to wait. Just know that it's the L'Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara, and it is honestly the best mascara I have ever tried. I'm so tired right now, and I need to go to sleep soon...

Have to start going to bed early because sleeping late gives me massive headaches, even if I get 9 hours and sleep in until noon. Am I the only one this happens to? Joanna, you have a weird sleep schedule too... Does it start to affect you when you sleep very late?

Before I go, I want to talk about my latest book obsession. I took this week to catch up on my reading. Since school started, I have been reading way too much from textbooks. A good novel always cheers me up- It's got to have a believable, entertaining romance with some flowery prose, an underdog heroine and a hero that sounds really hot but it kind of a jerk.

Anyway, I'm embarrassed to admit that I love-

Oh god, I feel bad for saying that I really, really enjoyed reading and mocking

The Mortal Instruments Series

7/10, Borrow it before buying

Why am I so embarrassed? It was a huge guilty pleasure read. The books exist in a world that was rich and believable with a lot of fighting. The series is about a race of people called Shadowhunters who are part-angel, part-human and they are the police force of the supernatural world. I love the fantasy genre, so this really called to me.

I first saw a bunch of copies floating around in Marshalls and I skimmed the back cover but it didn't sound that great... And I don't even remember how, but then I ended up borrowing the book from the library several months later to see if it was any good. (Same thing happened with the Vampire Academy series, but that's a whole other story I have to tell you later. Suffice to say, I own the entire Vampire Academy series, and I also feel a bit embarrassed by it)

I was madly in love with the first book, even though the biggest flaw for me was the heroine, Clary. She was a a total Mary Sue, which is a writer term for "Perfect character who has some incredible talent, is super pretty and almost everyone likes her, but she has a fatal flaw! Like clumsiness or stupidity that magically goes away necessary!". Clary is really pretty but she doesn't know it, and oh no, two boys are madly in love with her but I'm like, WHY???? (Do you think I'm jealous of her? Haha)

She was like a piece of cardboard to me. In the book, she'd get mad and slap someone, but I never felt her anger or her fears or her happiness. To me, it was like the author would tell you all you needed to know.

Clary was angry. She threw things. They hit other things. (Sometimes I felt she got angry out of nowhere)

Clary was sad. She cried. She cried tears that leaked out of her eyes and splashed on the wooden floors. And then she ran away because it was all too much.

I would just roll my eyes when Clary did or thought anything because she was so lifeless. Her actions were so predictable and boring. I didn't give a shit about her.

I'm going to stop ranting, because you can tell it frustrates me. Even then, I kept reading because I loved the story despite it's gaping flaws.

I really, really liked the romance. Not the love triangle that was so stupid. (You knew from the first chapter who she would pick) It was amazing because the main guy was Jace, a misunderstood guy who is a kickass fighter with witty, sarcastic lines and a dark past. I'm a sucker for a badboy blond who is vain and proud, because that's just a hotter version of myself. I know, the narcisstic irony.

Plus... Clary and Jace love each other but... DUN DUN DUN They're brother and sister?!

I also loved the world of the Shadowhunters. I love that they draw runes on their skin, scarring themselves to give themselves special powers. I love the way it works, even if most of it is vague. Like, how are Shadowhunters trained? I saw no training happening in the book. Jace is too young to go out on battles but he can go out and hunt demons with his friends? What?

I love the floweriness of it, the poetic little things that sound beautiful... To love is to destroy and to be loved is to be the one destroyed.

But god, parts of the story also annoyed the shit out of me. Some things happened because they were so convenient to the plot. There were way too many secondary characters that blur together. Our best example of a female warrior is a girl who uses a whip... and no, she's not as good as one of the guys.

Do you want to know how much I couldn't put it down? I was supposed to be studying for midterms, but this book sucked me in. Did I mention it was the day before midterms? Midterms I hadn't studied for?

So I just want to recommend this series to you because even though the flaws drove me crazy, the books mostly made me happy and I think you should try them out.

If you want to hear more about the books I read, tell me. Even if you don't, I'm still at least going to tell you about the Vampire Academy series. I loved it, but the last third of the series makes me intensely dislike it.

Before I go, I bought one more present for a cousin, and it's adorable. ;)

It's plastic, squishy animals from the vending machines! Just realized it looks like the cow is sniffing the pig's butt.

P.S. Yikes, you're leaving May 2nd? I better mail your care package fast; haven't put it all together yet. Still need to buy some soda candy you can't buy in Jersey and maybe a book... from a used book sale. Does it bother you if I buy you a used book? Tell me before I waste money on it.

I love you. Hope to see you in the summer. You owe me a lunch and shopping trip!

Love, Wendy

Product Review: Missha Botanic Garden Purifying Sheet Mask

Missha Botanic Garden Purifying Sheet Mask in Acerola and Bamboo

You actually sent me two of these, and a Bamboo one that I can't remember because I used it already. You said you loved these, and they're very moisturizing, but for me they were just OK.

My face has been really dry this past winter. I fell into this habit of applying baby powder on my skin to keep it oil-free. That only made it super dry. It's gotten a lot better since I've stopped using baby powder, but it's still kind of dry. Anyway, I said dry too many times.

So I used two of the masks so far, Acerola and Bamboo ones. The masks smelled nice, and they were good at moisturizing, but not great. I think it's because it's a sheet mask, and can't reach every corner of my face, like the corners of my mouth and sides of my nose. I didn't keep this mask on the whole night like you did, only about 40 minutes. The mask was partly dry by then. I took it off, pressed the gooey residue into my skin. (Which felt so weird) I didn't have to apply moisturizer before going to bed but when I woke up my skin felt the same.

In short, I think you're wasting your masks on me, Joanna. They work like lotion does on me. I wouldn't buy these for myself, since my face is different from the cut-outs they placed. While moisturizing, I could have just put on lotion, which is a lot simpler for me.

Rating: 7/10
Pros: I really like the smell of both the Acerola and Bamboo, and this was pretty moisturizing
Cons: Can't justify buying this for myself; it's so much easier just to smooth on lotion
Buy again? NO

Makeup Review: Smashbox Jet Set Waterproof Eye Liner

OK, so I wasn't planning on doing a review until the camera got recharged, and I could take my own pictures, but doesn't seem like it's going to be happening anytime soon and I'm free right now so I might as well use stock images and replace them later.

So the next thing I'm reviewing is the Smashbox Jet Set Waterproof Eye Liner

I don't know what Smashbox considers "Jet Set" or "Waterproof" because it's definitely not either. This tiny pot is way overpriced for what you get. It's an average gel eyeliner. There. I said it.

One thing that really bothered me about this eyeliner is how dry it is. It's not as creamy as I want it to be, and I wish I could show you how it kind of flakes at the edges, 'cause it drives me mad. I have to smooth out the edge, but then I end up putting too much. When you try to load this eyeliner on, it cracks and flakes.

Smashbox was right not to put "Oil Proof" on the label, because this is not oil proof, not even a little bit. But then again, nothing is oil proof against my eyelids. Must add that this works really well for the waterline, but I never tested staying power for this liner on the waterline.

I want to say this sucks for winging out liner, but it's probably my own lack of skill.

I would not buy this again; I haven't yet tried the MAC one that everyone loves and I hope I love it too.

Since this liner is very pigmented and dries fast, I will put it at slightly above average:

Rating: 7/10
Pros: Pigmented, glides on well, average staying power, dries fast
Cons: Too flaky for me, and seriously, average staying power
Buy again? NO. Haha