Forever 21 Makeup?! {{Haul + P.O.V}}

Ahhhh, it's been almost a month since I last updated, why does time fly so quickly?! One of my goals was to post at least 4 blog posts in November, so now I'm hoping I can post at least 5 posts in December! Sorry about the delay, after my last blog post, I had midterms after midterms and papers due the week after my midterms. But now that my finals are officially over, I have free time so I can finally update! :3

Anywho, moving on now, whenever you enter a Forever 21, do you ever wonder how good their makeup is?

Usually when I enter the store, the clothing is the first thing and sometimes only thing in my mind. Though the store sells more than clothing, as they do have various items, especially right before you're about to pay (darn those cube boxes!!! >o<).

Whenever I see the beauty products Forever 21 sells, I tend to sneer at it, I mean, for the prices that they are sell for, there has to be a deficit of the products, they're too cheap.

And so, recently I stopped by a Forever 21 and decided to buy makeup from them, since, well, the packaging was really cute. I'm such a sucker for cute or unique packaging, it's a really bad habit. ;A;

What I got:

-Red Matte Lipstick

-Rose-coloured lipgloss

-Makeup sponges

{[What I Thought]}

Starting with the red matte lipstick, I selected the colour in "Brick". The lipstick itself is not bad, when applied its very smooth and the unlike other Forever 21 beauty products, it has a somewhat vanilla essence. Although, I have to say the colouring was a bit lighter than I expected, as I thought the colour was going to be a darker shade of red. The price was reasonable as well, I got it for $4.80. Another bonus is that the lipstick does not dry up my lips and make it crack, this a huge plus for me, since the L'oreal lipsticks I use, often dry my lips.

First things first, the main reason that I bought the pink lipgloss was because....the packaging was cute, ._.,, yeah, like I said previously, I'm a huge sucker for cute/adorable packaging. The thing that caught my attention was the gold bow, and if you know me, I love bows, I adore bows. Anyways, the lipgloss only came in 3 colours, a nude colour, red colour and a pink colour. And with pink being my favourite colour, of course, I went for the pink one, which was creatively called, "Rose". What I like about the product, besides the packaging is that, like the lipstick, it's very smooth when applied on. Other than that there's really nothing to like, namely because of a few things. 

First of, the smell. The best word to describe it, is rubbery, it's very noticeable the moment you open the gloss and worse, is that I could also slightly smell the scent when I wore the gloss. Secondly, if you want your lips to achieve the same pink coating as the lipgloss itself, you have put on at least 2-3 coats. Finally, the durability, just plain sucks. I tested it one day and it can only last through eating one snack and drinking a glass of anything.

The last thing from the haul, is the makeup sponge set. Quite obviously, the makeup sponge set is a duplicate of Sephora's The Perfector and Beauty Blender. Price wise, the set is very reasonable, considering it is sold for $6.90, whereas, individually, the sponges are priced at $4.80

The most noticeable thing about this sponge AKA the duplicate Beauty Blender, is the firmness, which is a very good quality about it. The overall use of the sponge was average at best. I had no problem blending in my foundation, though there were times the blending wasn't smooth as there were patches that were a bit cakey.

This sponge....oh, where to begin? ._. Honestly, this sponge is the worse. When I was using this one to blend in my foundation, it left blotchy patches of my foundation on my face. Unlike the previous sponge, it is not firm, but instead, very porous. 

❃[[Overall Thoughts]]❃

The packaging is very neat, organized and cute.

❤❤❤♡♡

The price is reasonable and cheap, perfect for a college or high school student.

❤❤❤❤♡

The durability of the products are questionable.

❤❤♡♡♡

The use and functions of the items depends on the items itself. Some are great and some aren't.

❤❤♡♡♡

The overall rating of Forever 21 beauty products:

❤❤❤♡♡

The prices of Forever 21 beauty products are reasonable and cheap, and namely thats the problem, the cheapness. Some of the products are pretty decent, while others, in the very end of another spectrum should never be sold, since it's so lousy.

It's a gamble, really. You can find beauty products that are great and can be your secret or guilty pleasures. But, there are chances that you'll find awful ones and realize you just wasted you hard earned money.

||Recommendations||

I would wholeheartedly recommend the lipstick. Not only does it come in numerous shades, but it has a long durability, the price is reasonable and it does not have a funky smell.

I would NOT recommend the lipgloss (don't be a sucker and fall for the packaging like me ;A;) and definitely, definitely, would not recommend the sponges, particularly the duplicate of the Perfector. 

{Places of Vancouver / P.O.V.}

I know this is a primarily and considered a 'beauty' blog, but I also want to venture out and make it more flexible. Plus, I feel like the way my blog is right now, it's too structure, and I don't like that.

So I wanted to add other segments  to the main focus, that are nor necessarily beauty related, but what I find interesting and also it gives me to write a super long blog post, which I enjoy! :)

For my first P.O.V, I wanted to share the restaurant, called Marutama-Ramen

Front view.

If you live in Vancouver or if you're visiting, this place is one of the go-to places to have ramen. Marutama, is located in downtown Vancouver, along and down Robson street. It's on the very same block as another ramen place, Santouka, But unlike Santouka, Marutama is not out in the open and is hidden in a block.

Bar seat table.

Immediately when you enter the restaurant, the atmosphere is cozy. There are different seatings and the arrangements of the seatings are vast. There are a number of bar seats and many single tables. One of the better seatings, are the bar seats which are right in front of where the ramen noodles are made. Not only do you get to enjoy your food, you also learn how the noodles are made from scratch.

The service here is great as well! The staff are friendly and there isn't a long waiting period.

In my experience, the ramen is tasty and delectable, the pork is tender, the seaweed is fresh, and the soup is delicious.The best way to describe the soup is that the soup base tastes 'eggy'. But once you add the bacon bits that are provided for you, the taste changes to a more savoury base.

The Original Ramen.

A closeup.

So if you're in town, or just downtown in Vancouver and would like to have some ramen or try ramen for the first time, I highly recommend to go to Marutama Ramen!

As always, thanks for reading!
Courtney ♡