Boots Cucumber Whitening Eye Gel Review

Hi girlies! I bought this Boots Cucumber Whitening Eye Gel during a trip to Thailand earlier this year. I was running low on eye cream and spotted this really cheap option (at around HKD 3x) so I decided to give this a try. To be honest, I never really enjoyed any other eye creams. This is probably due to the fact that I always used eye creams that were meant for people who were a lot more mature than me. Hence, I've always found that the eye creams that I've used were way too rich.

This eye gel is refreshing and very appropriate for younger girls who just want a bit of moisture for the eye area. To add to that, the extremely reasonable price point makes it hard to not like! After trying it and liking it, I tried to find it in Hong Kong because I want to buy this for my sister. I checked out Mannings as I knew that they sell some Boots products, but to my disappointment, Mannings' Boots cucumber selection didn't include the eye gel.

Effectiveness: You can't expect this product to reduce all your eye wrinkles and eye bags, but this will provide extra moisture for your eye area. I highly recommend this product to younger girls.

Texture: Gel texture and quickly absorbed into the skin

Packaging: Very travel friendly! The applicator is very hygienic as well.

Price: Very reasonable at around HKD 3x for 15 ml of product

Repurchase? YES! But I haven't been able to find this in Hong Kong yet.

Verdict: Awesome product for an awesome price! I look forward to trying other products in the Boots cucumber line.

Much love!

Let me know what's your favourite eye cream or gel!

El Catrin Destilleria - Patio Taco Time in Toronto!

Hi girlies! During my visit to Toronto, I went to El Catrin Destilleria at Distillery District for a nice Friday lunch with Steph. I absolutely loved the patio area! I heard that it's also super pretty at night as well. This Friday started off to be very nice and sunny, but the day went on and clouds started to gather and eventually it rained. Both Steph and I forgot to bring umbrellas as well :(

El Catrin Destilleria 

18 Tank House Lane

Distillery District, Toronto

Both of us had the Comida Corrida where we got to choose a small salad and a choice of two piece tacos at CAD15. I chose the Baja taco while Steph chose the Gobernador taco.

 Baja taco - Crispy fried haddock, chipotle lime coleslaw, flour tortilla

Both of us had the Ensalada Destileria for the salad choice, which had the following: 

Grilled shrimp, green papaya, mango, cilantro, toasted pecans, frisee, tajin sour vinaigrette

Gobernador taco - Flour tortilla, sautéed shrimp, lobster, chipotle mayonesa, black bean puree

This was SOOOOO GOOD. I highly recommend this one!

I definitely want to come back if I am ever around the area!

Much love.

Mini Cheesecakes Recipe - Perfect for potluck or party!

Hi girlies! Every time I visit Toronto, I like to spend some time baking with my sis! I love baking in an open space. This time round, I found an extremely easy recipe (click here) for mini cheesecakes. This is also perfect as I visited my old workplace the day after so I brought a couple dozens for everyone to share. I actually don't enjoy eating cheesecakes myself, but I did enjoy making these cheesecakes since they were so easy. This fun activity only takes 30 minutes to prep and 15 minutes to bake!

Ingredients:
- Raspberries
- 2 eggs
- Cream cheese
- Vanilla wafers
- Vanilla extract (not shown)
- Strawberry jam (not shown)

First of all, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Crush the vanilla wafers, and place 1/2 teaspoon of the crushed vanilla wafers into each paper cup. 
Fill each miniature muffin liner with this mixture, almost to the top.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Let the mini cheesecakes cool. Top with a teaspoonful of cherry pie filling.

Hope you enjoyed this simple baking sharing. Much love.

Fall 2014 L'oreal Sale Haul in Toronto

Hi girlies! My girlfriend coincidently got tickets to the L'oreal Sale during my visit to Toronto! I was super excited because I've missed the cosmetic sales in Toronto oh-so-much! We arrived at the location on Wednesday at around 12pm and there was a bit of a line up which I believed was made up of people who were here during their lunch time.

I'll try my best to show the prices based on my memory.

YSL Manifesto perfume box set (about CAD 50)
Maybeline Volume Express mascara (CAD 2)
L'oreal Infallible silky pencil eyeliner in 230 highlighter (about CAD 3.75)
L'oreal Youth Code Day Cream with SPF 30 (about CAD 10)
Biotherm Skin Vivo gift set (CAD 28) - see review in this blogpost
6 Essie nail polishes (CAD 3.75 each) - only two polishes are shown here, more details are shown below


I quite like the scent of this perfume and decided to go for this gift set instead of another that was CAD 10 cheaper because, to be honest, the YSL box totally sold me. I'm currently using the box to hold miscellaneous items and I think it's super classy! The perfume that comes with this gift set contains 90 ml of product, and I just checked Sephora and the same bottle itself is selling for CAD 115!

Now that I've cut down my skincare spendings for the past two years, I always find myself running low on creams. It's a never ending struggle! I saw this Biotherm skin vivo box set for only CAD 28, which I think it's a total steal! I've used Skin Vivo products before (see previous blogpost here) and recall liking it.

I picked this baby up last minute when I found a table close to the cashier and was trying to pull things out of my bag to minimize my spending (who else does this? haha). In addition to pulling products out, I also found this L'oreal infallible silky pencil eyeliner in 230 highlighter just lying around on the table. I really want to try a rose gold eyeliner for my lower lash line, and at CAD 3.75, you really can't go wrong! I later on swatched it when I got home, the product seemed very smooth. I'm very excited to try this soon!

From left to right:
Find Me an Oasis / Head Mistress / Check-up / (Forgot the name because I gave this to my sister) / Parka Perfect / Go Ginza

The Essie sale was insane! At CAD 3.75 a piece, there were additional perks - Buy 5 get 1 free or Buy 9 get 3 free. I combined my order with my two girlfriends to get the Buy 9 get 3 free deal.

Here's what I did to my nails the day after using Essie Parka Perfect and Find Me and Oasis.

I really enjoyed the L'oreal Sale this time round, and I tried to limit my spending to the things that I need and love rather than just blindly buying something just because it's a good deal. I think I did a pretty good job on that! :P

Much love.

Cafe Iguanna for some Mexican Sensation in Elements, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Hi girlies! This post is another foodie review :) The other night, a bunch of my colleagues went to Elements for dinner. To our surprise, it was really difficult to find a place that accommodates 10 people! You would think how hard can that be, right? Anyway, at the end, we settled at Cafe Iguana at the Civic Square for some Mexican food.

Cafe Iguana

Shop R004, Civic Square, Elements

Kowloon, Hong Kong

 Grilled Tiger Prawn Soft Taco with spices ($138)

The sauce was quite hot actually, but good at the same time.

This place is right beside the ICC.

 Pork in Al Pastor Style Soft Taco ($125)

 We also shared some appetizers

Guacamole ($75) / Nachos ($108)
I've definitely had better guacamole in my life, but hey I'm not complaining any time I can get my hands on some guac!

In my opinion, if you're around the Elements area and are not sure of what to eat, Cafe Iguanna is a great choice to hit at the Civic Square. In addition, there isn't much crowd in the weekend as I believe most of the traffic is due to the people who work at ICC. The price is reasonable, and the food is decent for its price.

Other Mexican food I've tried in Hong Kong are all around the lkf area. One of them being the infamous Brickhouse. In comparison, Brickhouse is definitely more hipster-ish as the atmosphere is more trendy and upbeat, but the I find that it's slightly overprice. But what can you expect since the restaurant is right at the centre of the city, right?

Much love.

Nature Republic Given by Nature Olive Mask Sheet

Hi girlies! Today I'm doing a quick review on the Nature Republic Given by Nature Olive Mask Sheet. I quite like to use face masks to give my skin a bit of a moisture boost throughout the week. After I've turned a certain age, I feel like my skin is always up for some extra hydration. Because skincare generally is not cheap, I try to stock up whenever I see a good deal. I bought several different types of the Nature Republic mask sheets from Bonjour when there was a massive sale (see blogpost here). Each one was for HK$4.9!

I actually really like this. The texture of the sheet is quite thick, and the surface is slightly bigger than my face. It does not contain too much serum (You and I know that the sheet masks that contain way too much serum call for a messy ending.. I can't believe I said that). Anyway I enjoyed it and would definitely purchase it again if I ever find it on sale.

Nature Republic is a very affordable Korean brand. Their soothing & moisture aloe vera 92% gel soothing gel is also super popular. I may do a review on that in the future :)

Much love.

Restoration for Sunday Brunch in Hong Kong

Hi girlies! My girlfriend and I decided to hit up Restoration in Central for some sunday brunch time. We made a reservation for 1pm on Sunday. The location is quite convenient with it being just up lkf. Once you find the building, you need to take the elevator up one floor to get to this cute little restaurant. I absolutely fell in love with the space when I walked in. It's the perfect place to chill. To my surprise, the restaurant wasn't busy at all when we were there with only a few tables being occupied.

Restoration

63 Wyndham Street

1st Floor

The two of us ordered two dishes to share. One of which was the Catfish Lyonnais which was oh-so-delish. I know they have a Fried Chicken waffle that's quite popular as well, but I wasn't feeling extremely fried food that day... but there's always next time!

 Catfish Lyonnais $168

Seared catfish, crispy potato, poached eggs, orange saffron beurre blanc, hollandaise, caviar

Jambalaya Omlette ($138)

Shrimp, Andouille crawfish tomato & spring onion with Pravolone

The second dish that we ordered was Jamabalaya Omlette. I wasn't too big of a fan of this one, probably because I was more than half full from the lyonnaise, and partly because I felt like I was eating some cha siu stuffed in an omlette. There's something really asian about this omlette haha!

For all of you meat lover out there, they even offer all-you-can-eat steaks and ribs in their dinner menu!

I absolutely recommend this place, and I'd definitely come back to maybe try out their set lunches or dinner menu. I think this is a great place for a date before grabbing a drink at lkf which is just steps away! Hope all of you enjoyed my attempt at some foodie review heehee

Much love.

Garnier Aqua Defense Non-Stop Intensive Hydrating Gel Cream Review 水潤凝萃冰河泉保濕精華

Hi girlies! I want to share my experience with the Garnier Aqua Defense Non-Stop Intensive Hydrating Gel Cream. I bought this from Mannings for less than HK$100 (I can't remember exactly how much I paid for). I've been using for at least 3 months now.

Garnier Aqua Defense Non-Stop Intensive Hydrating Gel Cream (50ml)

水潤凝萃冰河泉保濕精華

It has a gel like texture. And it's very hydrating. I think there are other gel like moisturizers out there such as Biotherm, but Garnier's drugstore price point really can't be beaten. Because of the light texture, I do sometimes feel like it's not moisturizing enough for me so I do like to apply face cream after using this. But hey, I think it does its job well as a hydrating gel cream.

Effectiveness: Hydrating, but may not be moisturizing enough.
Texture: It has a gel texture and it's not sticky.
Price: Drugstore price, bang for the buck.

Scent: It smells like green apple. Quite fresh.
Repurchase: If I ever run out of skincare and need to purchase something decent at a drugstore price point.
Verdict: Being the skincare junkie that I am, I'm likely to want to try something new. This product is not a HG for me, but it is quite decent, especially for the price.

Much love.

Haul Time - Laneige White Plus Renew Trial Kit

Hi girlies! Just want to do a really quick post on an extremely small haul I did at Bonjour! I just had a really intense weekend... And before I started one of my intense days on Saturday, I headed over to the Bonjour in Wan Chai for a quick browse around. All of you girls know the drill. Retail therapy works its best at stressful times! 

I ended up picking up the Laneige White Plus Renew Trial Kit for HKD35! I watched an episode of Kang Xi (Taiwanese talk show) today and one girl said she got this kit for free when she went skincare shopping at Laneige in Korea. So I reckon that's where Bonjour got their supplies too, but hey I'm not complaining since I do have a trip coming up and some travel size products will definitely be useful.

The kit includes five items:

- Original Essense White Plus Renew

- White Plus Renew Original Cream 

- White Plus Renew Emulsion

- White Plus Renew Skin Refiner

- White Plus Renew Capsule Sleeping Pack 

It looks like most of these products contain camellia sinensis leaf & yeast extracts. I'm most excited to try the sleeping pack as it's in a ball shape. I've never used anything like this! I'll let you guys know how I feel about it!

Much love.

PS. Cafe in Singapore

Hi girlies!

I recently made a short trip to Singapore with my two girlfriends. It turned out to be one of the most chilled and relaxed trip I've ever taken. First of all, we ate non stop everyday to a point where we forgot about the feeling of being hungry. The hunger level was either 'OMG I'm really full' or 'I'm kinda full' or 'I guess I can eat, but I'm still full'. I know... #firstworldproblems. Secondly, we took a nap everyday. It wasn't one of those 'OMG I did so much I'm falling asleep' moments. It was more like 'We shopped around for a bit, had lunch, went to a cafe, had a piece of cake and tea, but let's go back to the hotel and nap'. Ridiculous right? It's not even one of those 'I'm gonna lie here and just rest' type of nap. It was like 'I'm gonna take a quick shower, pull all the curtains to make sure no lights would shine through' type of naps. Sigh, but we all need some of those trips to get our energy back so we can conquer our daily lives again.

One of the cafes we visited was PS. Cafe.

28b Harding Road, S 249549, Singapore

They have multiple locations, but we chose the one on Harding Road at the Dempsey area because both our travel book and our friends recommended it.

I believe there are a lot of restaurants around the Dempsey area. Travelling there might be slightly difficult as the MRT doesn't stop directly there. We took a taxi from Orchid and it didn't take too long (well no taxi ride in Singapore is too long to be honest). You need to be prepared to fight for a taxi after you're done with your meal though.

We ordered the PS. Truffle Shoestring Fries. The description says that it's "tossed with truffle oil, grated parmesan & parsley." How can you resist that description! Literally, every table ordered the fries, and I totally recommend it.  The picture doesn't do the fries justice. It was massive. And obviously, we killed it during our two hours there. I also had the Goody Green juice which is a mixture of kiwi, cucumber, and green apple, perfect for a hot day of shopping.

This is the Pineapple Meringue Pie - very amazing as well.

I absolutely loved this place. We spent at least 2 hours here on a hot Singaporean day. The place is surrounded by greeneries, which is a rare thing in Hong Kong. And obviously, a beautiful place calls for more selfie time lol.

Oh, I attempted vlogging for the first time during this trip too! Please check it out if you're interested in seeing more footage from this restaurant. Here's the blogpost.

Much love.

Too Cool for Scool Egg Mousse Pack Review

Hi girlies! Let me share my experience on the Too Cool for School Egg Mousse Pack today. I bought it at the Bonjour sale for HK$49 (see blogpost here) which I thought was a complete steal because its original price is about HK$1xx. I've heard about this product before so when I saw it on sale, I immediately picked it up. If you haven't heard of Too Cool for School yet, this is a Korean brand, and you can find quite a few Too Cool for School stores in Hong Kong. I'd say their products are in the low-to-mid range prices. 

Honestly, the thing that sold me was the oh-so-cute packaging that makes you think you can eat out of whatever that comes from it! Am I crazy or what?

To use it, simply pump the product on dry palms, then apply and massage gently on face. Leave it on for about five or ten minutes until all the products has been absorbed. Then wash your face with warm water until all the residue is gone.

It's so interesting that the foamy substance would disappear after a while! But prepared for a ticklish and fuzzy sensation during that few minutes. After using it, my pores immediately appear to be minimized! There's a slight tight sensation after... I guess that's why the pores appear smaller! However, this effect doesn't last for too long, at least you won't be able to see it the morning after. Unlike other similar products, I don't think this product is made for anyone to apply right before sleep time. It's much suitable to provide a quick fix right before a big night out or a photoshoot. It's super efficient as it only takes several minutes before you put your make up on.

Effectiveness: My pores are immediately minimized after using it. I love that it only takes around five to ten minutes for this result. However, the effect is only short term so I suggest using it just for a quick fix if needed. There's essentially no benefits to do it right before sleep time.
Packaging: Super cute and quite light.
Price: Reasonable
Repurchase: On the fence. Even though it's effective, but it's only short term. I don't have problematic skin so I don't think this is extremely useful for me. I rather spend my money on something that's beneficial on the long term at the moment.
Verdict: If you're someone who's looking for a quick fix to minimize your pores before going out, this is the product for you.

Much love.