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.