Sucker Punch actress Jamie Chung, who was decked out in a black Jenny Han jumpsuit, leveled with the audience saying that rejection will always be a part of working in Hollywood. The way she deals with it is to take a c’est la vie approach. “It’s all up and down,” Chung said. “It’s certain times when there will be all rejection and maybe one yes or maybe one maybe. It gets really tough but you have the support of friends and family who tell you to keep on going.”

Mark Munoz says his journey was a long hard fight (literally) to the top, and it sometimes involved doing things he didn’t necessarily want to do. “The times that I don’t wanna go to practice or the times I didn’t wanna go to school, the times I didn’t wanna do my homework or do my chores. Know what I’m talking about? I had to do ‘em. That’s life, guys. The things you don’t wanna do, you gotta do ‘em sometimes. You gotta be devoted to your desires. It’s a top down approach.” Now, as a father of four, he tries to impress that and the message to “celebrate failure” to his kids.

Joe Zee quickly jumped in to agree, adding that life often throws our neat plans out the window. He shared his own experience with rejection two decades ago. Fresh out of school and looking for a job, he was over the moon when he scored a test photo shoot for a junior fashion editor position at Women’s Wear Daily (WWD). Things, however, didn’t turn out according to plan.

“Everything that could’ve went wrong, went wrong,” Zee said. “The model was sick and didn’t show up. The roof was on fire, lights exploded, the clothes didn’t come.” Needless to say, the disastrous shoot ended up with Zee not getting the job.

“I remember going home devastated because this was the plan. There was no plan B. I was literally so crestfallen. It was devastation. I think I went back home to Toronto. I hopped on a train. I lay in fetal position on the floor for a while—I’m not kidding. Then I remember waking up and thinking, ‘Well, I could just sit here like this which is not super comfortable or I could haul my butt back to New York and figure this out.’”

Soon after, he got a call to come back to New York City and interview for an assistant role for the launch of a new magazine, Allure. That job he did get and it turned out to be all for the better.

“I look back and say thank god I didn’t get that job at WWD at that time because four years after I got the job at Allure, I went back to WWD and got a job that was four times a bigger job than the one I would’ve had, that I would not have gotten had I been there the first time around. You can be upset that minute if you walk out and don’t get something but you can’t wallow in it.”

Later he added, “I am not blonde, I am not a woman, I am not white but I can still rise to the top of the industry that somebody twenty years ago told me I couldn’t.”

Look out for our exclusive cover story with Jamie Chung, out this month.

The cleaning set includes The Brush Guard Variety Pack, a 4 oz bottle of Squeaky Clean Brush Shampoo, a washing cup and drying vase, and a blotting cloth. The variety pack includes a set of 6 of their award-winning brush guards, which are essentially plastic mesh tubes of different sizes meant to be slipped on from the handle of the brush to cover the bristles. The mesh tubes help shape the brush as it dries, protecting the bristles from any damage. The drying vase, which is aerated by a spiral opening that runs around the cup, comes as a detachable unit with the washing cup. The washing cup is mug-sized with a bumpy scrub-board like bottom.

The pros:

This was overall a great set. I was impressed by the brush guards themselves, which at first glance looked too small to fit over their designated brushes. But they are actually quite expandable, and I was able to fit even my large, dense powder brushes into the brush guards without any trouble. The brush guards work well in allowing the brush to dry and protecting the bristles. They are going to prove quite handy when I have to travel with my makeup brushes. I liked the shampoo more than I expected. I usually use Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Shampoo to wash out my brushes when I don’t feel like splurging on a high-end brush cleanser. The Brush Guard’s shampoo, however, washed out my face brushes more thoroughly than my usual brush cleanser. My stippling brush, whose bristles are perpetually stained pink, was washed to a spanking new white. I did have to wash my foundation and powder brushes twice or three times each to get all the residue out, but I was using less product than I usually do. The bottle sells on its own for $8, which is a great deal for a quality brush shampoo.

My favorite part of the set was the washing and drying cup. The drying cup is essentially an outer shell for the washing cup, which you can detach when you need to use them separately. When you are done drying your brushes, you can just snap the drying cup back onto the washing cup, making for a little more space efficiency. But what’s really cool about the washing cup is the textured bottom—a virtual scrubbing board for your brushes. It is so much more efficient to squeeze a few drops of shampoo into the bottom of the cup and scrub your brush along the bottom to work up a lather. It works particularly well on large-face brushes in making sure that the entire brush is washed. And you can see all the pigment and residue that gets washed out of the brush accumulate in the cup—a nice reminder of why you need to regularly wash your brushes!

The cons:

I didn’t find the towel to be of much use. It was cute to have a matching towel to dry my brushes on, but a regular hand towel or even a paper towel would have done the same job.
I also had trouble using the brush guards on some of my brushes. Some of the brushes I own have with unusual handles, especially when the handle is thicker than the brush itself. It was difficult to put the brush guard on from the handle of the brush. I also don’t like to use it on my angled blush brushes because the angled shape doesn’t fit well into the cylindrical brush guard and it can lose its lost shape a bit.

The verdict:

If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to clean your makeup brushes, the Brush Guard set is a solid investment. If you already have a system for cleaning your brushes, you might want to consider trying out the Brush Shampoo when the time comes to replace your current brush cleanser. The Brush Guards themselves is a worthy investment to anybody who travels with their brushes, as they are versatile with most standard-sized brushes and seem durable enough to protect your brushes from getting bent, misshaped, or snagged in zippers. Of the various Brush Guard products, I’m fairly sure that anybody—from makeup amateur to guru—can find something to use. At just $20, you can buy the entire set, including the brush guards, cleaning shampoo, blotting cloth, washing cup, and drying vase.

When and how did you begin your musical career?

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when it all began, but I usually first recall the classical piano training I had growing up. I didn’t start singing until much later in college, but I’ve always connected with music, so when I mustered up the courage to put an album together with the nudge and support of friends, I gathered some songs I’d written over a few years and recorded them. That album was released in 2008 and it’s called “Images”. Since then I also released an EP called “Inside,” and I’ve been playing around NYC for a few years. It’s been an interesting and memorable ride!

Where do you find inspiration for your songs?

Most of my inspiration comes from personal experience—life, love, relationships and other mysteries. I think life has so much depth, intensity, and vastness to be written about over and over again, never be exhausted. I usually also write when I’m in a pretty sad place. Music is my main mode of expression, and I grew up not really expressing sadness very well. So it all poured out into music.

In addition to being a musician, you are also an accountant. How do you find balance between these two very different career paths?

I kind of need one in order for the other one to exist. I can’t make a living off of music, so my accounting job has paid for a lot of my musical expenses, such as recording an album, traveling to play, etc. However, music is my escape from the corporate world. If the corporate world didn’t exist, I wonder if I would have taken the steps to move more into the music arena. It’s very interesting how these two seemingly different careers coexist in my life. Of course, on any given day, if you were to ask me which one would I choose to live off of, it’d be music, hands down, no competition.

You recently opened for a Tim Be Told concert in New York City. Do you have any more shows coming up this summer or projects coming in the future?

That show was awesome! They’re such great guys. It was so fun to open for them. We’re trying to do a reunion show with Tim Be Told and Jae Jin, another great artist from Maryland, but that will probably be out west in California later this year.

Which came first: the singing or the dancing?

I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember. My dad was a composer and my mom is a singer as well. They’ve always implemented music in our lives, so I’d always be singing at home, with my brother, at family parties—pretty much anywhere and everywhere! It was my first love and always will be a huge passion of mine. Dancing was a much later discovery for me.

In addition to your brother AJ, you also have a little sister, who AJ has said is also getting into the arts. Do you think you three will ever collaborate together?

We have collaborated before, on a song called “Butterfly” that we sang for my mom. But of course, we are going to produce something one day that shows how awesome the chemistry has always been between the three of us. We’re siblings, but also great friends.

With so many things going on in your life, how do you deal with stress?

I’m absolutely still learning how to deal with the stress of things and how to balance everything out. But like the saying goes, “Blessed to be stressed.” I am thankful for everything going on in my life. I try not to take anything for granted and really focus on each goal and do my best.

What advice do you have to give Mochi readers on handling it all?

Always keep in mind what is really important, and who is really important. For me, that’s family. Surround yourself with positive people who push and support you. I have great friends and family who give me that breath of fresh air that I need from time to time. Sometimes you need a break, but ultimately I just think and pray about how blessed I am through God to be working on the things I love to do. That gives me the motivation I need.

What are some projects you are currently working on?

I’m a part of a dance crew called Katalyst, so that alone takes quite a bit of time. As an individual, my projects consist of video collaborations, upcoming performances and teaching dance.

Photo via Guardian.co.uk

In a vibrant, diverse city like New York, you’d think that dating would be a lot easier. But for the Carrie Bradshaws, Bethenny Frankels, Ivanka Trumps, and Peggy Olsons of the world, strong, smart, independent women like them have always found dating a challenge; their sharp wit, business savvy, and confidence sometimes intimidated men. But are men threatened by women in power? TIME magazine’s last issue “The Richer Sex,” (aka women), dispels many stigmas single successful women face when dating men who do not make as much money or are not at the same level of success in their careers.

Photo via The Remembrance Project

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the Executive Order 9066 that led to the internment of about 120,000 Japanese Americans residing in the West Coast. Two-thirds of those interned were American citizens, and over 285,000 people of Japanese ancestry were impacted solely because of their race.

Although it’s an often forgotten piece of American history, it is important to remember what happened in the hopes that people can learn from these mistakes and the experiences of those impacted are not forgotten.

The video also describes the effects the camp had on others long after they left. Takei adds, “My uncle told me how our mother left the internment camp a changed person. She never talked about any details of the internment experience except to say it was hard and difficult. I sensed her discomfort and fear of what people thought of her after she returned to Los Angeles. That there was an inexplicable shame in being incarcerated in an inhospitable environment solely because of her ancestry.”

To learn more, visit The Remembrance Project to see George Takei’s message and future videos featuring Steve Aoki, Senator Daniel Inouye, Former Secretary of Transportation, Norm Mineta, and others.

Photo via UsMagazine.com

Here’s an interesting casting decision: Lucy Liu is going to play Sherlock Holmes’ sidekick Joan Watson in the CBS drama Elementary, which takes place in modern New York City. We can’t wait to see the relationship unfold between Holmes and a female Watson. Perhaps she will be more fierce? We hope so.

The overview of the new take on the famous British detective and his (now female) sidekick is that Sherlock, a former consultant for the Scotland Yard, has landed in New York City after multiple stints in rehab. Once he gets out, Sherlock meets Watson, a former surgeon whose license was revoked after one of her patients died. The show’s name refers to Holmes’ famous line, “Elementary, my dear Watson.”

I have to say, this is a creative and very different way of showing Sherlock and Watson. I can’t wait to unravel this mystery!

Photo via iHeartKoreanBeauty.blogspot.com

We’ve seen Asian fashion and music trends continue to translate and grow in the United States over the past few years, and now Asian skincare products have started to dominate the beauty scene. As we last noted, BB creams and snail creams are hugely successful in Asia and now American cosmetic companies and skincare lines are working to develop similar products to fill the demand for them here. Growing up, I’ve tried several American cosmetic and skincare products, some of which have become part of my list of holy grail beauty products. Still, there was a lot of trial and error—trying different cleansers,moisturizers, and makeup foundations—to see whether they suited my skin type and tone. It was hard to find products that measured up to my expectations. Finally, I tried my hand at Asian beauty products and I suddenly realized what I had been missing!

Zhen, founder and owner of iHeartKoreanBeauty.blogspot.com, sells popular Korean skincare products internationally after she discovered how well Asian beauty products worked for her acne-prone skin. I got in touch with her about her blog and e-commerce site, and she was gracious enough to send me samples of some of her favorite products. There is no better time to give yourself a little makeover and overhaul some of your beauty products now that spring seems to be in full swing (it’s 70 degrees in New York!). Check some of the products I tried:

Jadilla J Original BB Cream

This BB cream comes in two shades and offers medium to full coverage but still looks very natural and gives a dewy look. At first, I thought it was a little too light and gray for my skin tone, but it oxidizes with the natural oils in my skin to create a more natural finish and glow. I’ve tried Missha Perfect Cover BB cream, and while I’m still a fan of the product, I’m liking Jadilla J Original BB cream more and more each day because the coverage is longer lasting. However, Jadilla J is a lot heavier so if you have oily skin, I recommend you stick with Missha. I also love that Jadilla J has built-in SPF and contains phytoncide, a tree extract which helps even skin tone.

Tony Moly Sweety Dual Lip Gloss

Lipsticks tend to dry my skin, so I love using lip tints and stains to give my lips a pop of color without drying them out. This God-sent dual lip gloss combines a lip tint on one end with a sheer lip gloss on the other end. The two colors and textures balance each other out beautifully. I’m surprised by how long-lasting the lip tint is because it stays vibrant throughout the day, and I only had to re-apply once after eating and drinking. I have tried other lip tints in the past, including Cover Girl’s Outlast Lip Stain and Liole’s Cherry Lip Tint, but this one seems to last the longest without drying my lips. The only downside to this product is the scent. It doesn’t smell as sweet or floral as other lip tints and glosses.

Baviphat Peach All-in-One Waterfall Cream

If you’re looking for a rich night cream to moisturize and repair your skin, Baviphat’s Peach All-in-One Waterfall Cream does that and more. At first, I was hesitant to try the product because all the product information was written in Korean, and there weren’t that many online reviews for it. But I had read in some beauty blogs that in addition to moisturizing your skin, it can also minimize pores, brighten your complexion, and whiten your skin for an even skin tone. After a week and half of using the products, I’ve seen some improvement in my skin tone and my pores. If you have oily to combination skin, I recommend applying only tiny dots of the product to your skin. It’s a very rich cream, and you don’t need a lot of it to soothe dry skin.

Baviphat Sweet Honey Lip Scrub

Other than their cheap drugstore prices, Baviphat’s other selling point is their cute packaging. This lip scrub comes in a lip gloss tube, so it makes application easy and convenient. Unlike other lip scrubs I’ve used in the past, the application of this lip scrub isn’t messy because you can control how much product you want to apply to your lips without getting your hands dirty. The sweet smell of the honey can be a little distracting, but it does the work of massaging and exfoliating your lips with its gentle micro beads.

All readers who spend above SGD50 will receive a 5% discount with this promo code: TZJ19W322G82. Offer is valid through April 2012.