Day 2 Taipei Fun

Day 2 in Taipei continued to be fun!

We didn't want to rush like an ordinary tourist so we took our time to walk around the area in our hotel. We stayed in the Taipei Central Station area, so you can imagine how busy and vibrant this area can get!

A trip isn't fulfilled until I visited some beauty goodies. Funnily enough, as soon as Mr Holiday saw a Watson's (equivalent of Boots or Superdrug in the UK) as we passed by, he slowed down and said to me, "you want to go in?". Heehee

I'm not familiar of any big beauty or skincare brands by Taiwan.  However this brand 1028 Visual Therapy suddenly came up in my mind. It is by a Taiwanese makeup artist called Kevin. I was so excited when I saw his makeup stand inside Watson's!

He has a whole range of products and they all look very well designed, packaged and with good quality.

In the end I picked two eye shadow palettes.  One is his latest launch called Brownie eyes which is in a light tin. It contains 6 shades, all are my favourite natural shades and they remind me of the  Bobbi Brown Chocolate palette. 

Another eyeshadow quad are available in 3 sets I picked this quad which had some greenish silver colour, it's for my sister (forksandbrushes), she said it's exactly what she's looking for! 

We also walked pass Eslite bookshop, probably one of the most famous and popular place in Taipei. We didn't go to its flagship store yet but we passed by a branch. Then I saw these cute little solid perfume which I was completely attracted to! 

In the end I picked two: 

Both have lovely pictures on the cover, and they smell like fresh floral scents.

Here's some of the food we had. We didn't go overboard at all. Food in Taiwan is never dull or not enough, you can only eat too much and have not enough time to eat! This time, we paced ourselves to enjoy what to eat!

In the evening, it was time to make our way to Taipei National University of Arts to fulfil the purpose of why we are here. Mr Holiday's colleague is on an exchange programme teaching here, and he is currently directing a show these two weeks. 

It's such a valuable experience. I don't think anyone would actually think of visiting a University here, and to see a show; whilst in Taipei. So here we were doing these couple of things that aren't conventional!

Well done to all students in the show, you guys rock!

Bring on Day 3!!!!

Hello from Taipei, Taiwan

A big fat hello from Taipei!

For the next few days, I'm in this lovely city; with Mr Holiday who is on a semi-business trip. 

We arrived late afternoon yesterday, we then checked-in straight away at the iTaipei Service Apartment.  

The double room wasn't available so we were put into a room for 3 persons for the night. Wow it was amazing, it's a properly 2 bedrooms flat! 

We then popped to next door, there's a massive department store, it's like Taiwanese Selfridges, we ended up having an amazing buffet meal at the top floor of the department store. 

After dinner we had a quick tour around inside and it was lovely! I plan to go back there today to shop a little bit!

The first night was finished off by having a drink in our flat with one of Mr Holiday's friends.

I can't wait what's interesting stuff we will do in the next few days! As it's not our first time in here, but it's our first time in Taipei together; so I wonder what new things we will be doing this time! (As the previous few times I came here with my family)

Ciao for now!

Nail polish by Burberry

Meet Burberry nail polish (No.104 Stone), HK$180. It has taken a rather long while for it to make its way to Hong Kong.

As soon as I saw it became available on the website, I dashed out of the door; literally, to buy it. 

There were only 3 colours available in the shop. A pitch black (poppy black), a burgundy red (oxblood) and this nude shade I bought.  However on the website it presented many more shades.... perhaps some are available online only or are waiting to be launched in store?

The packaging is absolutely lush! It's got a light metal cap with the signature Burberry design printed on it. It looks very high end. 

The application is very user friendly, a lot better than other high end nail polish. 

The brush is a flat one, together with the rich and creamy formula, you get a gel-like finish. You do, however need 2 coats to get a more opaque finish. I also noticed that it doesn't smell too strong of alcohol once you open the bottle which makes you feel that you are damaging your nails too much.... 

The colour pay off looks very high end and it flatters my hands. It's definitely suitable to wear all year round.

I seem to be collecting every shade of nude/ beige these days. Something about nude shade which makes an outfit more chic!

This Burberry nail polish reminds me of Revlon Cool Beige, you can view here to re-live the memory of my love for beige/ nude nail colours.

Is it a dupe or is it not?

Nail Collection Episode 6: L'Oreal

From left to right
805 Mysterious Icon
204 Boudoir Rose
622 Soft Chinchilla

These L'Oreal nail polish is simply great!  If you are obsessed with spending loads of your time in shopping in drugstores like me, you will have been attracted by the massive collection of nail polish at each L'Oreal counter.

These little bottles are designed so nicely that it looks so sleek with a gold cap in a narrow bottle - great for storage!

204 Boudoir Rose was my first purchase from this range as I was on the hunt for some natural pink colour on my nails.  I really really liked them after first application.  Sometimes pink can be a nightmare to put on if the formulation of the nail polish and the shade of colour are right - it could leave streak on your nails if you are impatient (like me!).

With this collection, there's no problem such as imperfection.  Both the formula of the nail polish and the brush seem to be a perfect combo for perfect looking nails:

The brush is short and flat which makes applying like a dream!  The colour is long lasting and when I say long lasting, they just don't chip at all even after a good 5 days!

I'm definitely going to keep my eyes on these and will be investing in a few more colours in future.

What are you waiting for?  They are only £4.99 - worth giving yourself a treat!

Pampering Trial - Skincare Treatments - experiences unfold

Cleansing, Toning and Moisturising are 3 essential steps to my skincare routine - day and evening.  On top of that, I do like to keep my skin in top-notch conditions (well, I try anyway).  In the past 6 months or so, I have been focusing on trying these products out.  

Word of warning though, as a result of my great adventure in the skincare department, I ended up having breakouts which I didn't normally have, you can read here for more of the aftercare story.

For me an all-round treatment of good skin include two major parts: Hydration and Exfoliation/ Detox.

I have dry/ sensitive skin, dry patches around the nose area is the most annoying problem for my skin so hydration becomes a very important part of my treatment routine.  However when products are too greasy or if I hydrate my skin too intensely, I tend to have breakouts; and I believe that is because of my skin is relatively sensitive.  So I use relatively mild hydrating mask on a regular basis to inject the moisture back to my skin.

These are the Beauty Diary Facemasks from Taiwan which I swear by them for a good couple of years now.  They are relatively cheap to get if you are travelling on the other side of the world.  They are also available on Amazon.  The Beauty Diary offers a range of masks from hydrating, to detoxifying.  They are papermasks so it's hassle free.  I like using them because it hydrates my skin without making them even more sensitive or it doesn't overload my skin.  This is the only hydrating masks I use.  So far I don't have problems using these.

Next up the line are these two products:

Dermalogica gentle cream exfoliant - This is a great product as it exfoliates the skin in the form of a mask.  You get a slight tingly feeling when you first put it on and you only need to leave it on your face for a maximum of 10 minutes.  This product contains Lactic and Hydroxy Acid which apparently eats the dead skin away to achieve the exfoliate result.  I do feel that my skin is softer and brighter after I put this on but it leaves my skin slightly on the dry side of things.  But then that's just me because I have dry skin.  However the brightening result is not lasting.  A good product but I don't think I would repurchase it after I finish this tube, which I think will last me ages.  I have also been advised by the skincare expert whilst visiting the Dermalogica counter for a Skin Mapping Analysis I should avoid using this good stuff when my skin has gone through breakout.  I should let my skin return to its normal state and start using it again, it is entirely because my skin is a little sensitive; so it may work differently to you so you should ask an expert before using/ purchasing this.  Now that my skin is back to its normal state (still with scars fading and healing), I have tried to use this mask once and it's not created any nasty reactions to my skin.  I will keep using this but to a minimum, perhaps once a month instead of once a week; and report back to see how this has helped (or not) my skin.

The Ren Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask must be one of the most talked about beauty products here in the bloggersphere.  I bought this because of all the hypes I've heard.

Not Recommended for Sensitive Skin

I wouldn't say I'm totally blown away by it but I can see more of a difference in my skin than the Dermalogica gentle cream exfoliant.  They work pretty much the same way.  The renewal mask contains glycolactic acid (as it says on the tin) which also eats away dead skin so your skin will be left regenerated as it were.  I can see a brighter complexion after I use this mask and the effect is slightly more lasting.    This mask has a strong citrusy/ orangey scent which, honestly puts me off slightly because I'm not a big fan of any orangey scented products.  I have learnt my lesson though because after 2 weeks of using this product, I started to have breakouts which I didn't normally have, 3 spots appeared on my face at one go.  I spent a long time figuring out what might have caused my skin irritated.  Then after doing some research, I found out that this mask is NOT RECOMMENDED FOR SENSITIVE SKIN.  I think part of the reason that caused breakouts on my face is because of this as I do have sensitive skin but I cannot say this is the sole product that caused it.  However I have stopped using it now and it's become one of the many masks that my sister owns.

Finally, I can't leave you guys alone without inserting a product by La Roche- Posay (I think I have found my skincare-husband, that is La Roche-Posay).

This effaclar A.I. Targeted Breakout Corrector is one of the most amazing products I came across.  A while back my skin was stressed and I experienced a little more breakouts than I would normally do (I figured this is due to the face that I have been putting on different facemasks too often for over a month of time).  To treat my spots I used the Origins Super Spot Remover, which I did a review on you can click here to refresh your memories.  The spot remover gel is such a potent product, that after it's treated the spot it would leave the affected area extremely dry for at least a week (no joke and not exaggerating at all, it becomes extremely dry and caused dry patches), so I have stopped using the spot remover gel as it's caused some irritation on my skin.  As a result it also leaves a 'breakout mark' which is not nice at all.  This Targeted Breakout Corrector works wonder by fading the mask significantly in less than a week's time which I think is pretty amazing, and is good at healing and calming new blemishes.  Now I stick to this bad boy for treating my blemishes and they are effective - especially for people who have sensitive skin.

Anything that is too potent and leaves your skin distressed is not ideal for anyone, let alone people who have sensitive skin like me.  I use this corrector as part of my add-on treatment routine if there is any imperfected marks casued by blemishes.  You could need a tiny amount and massage it lightly on the affected area.  Trust me, you will see a difference overnight; you should continue use it until the mark is gone, this is my experience using it as someone who has sensitive skin.

If you have any good recommendations, do let me know!  I'm always interested in trying out new (and effective) masks, especially for dry/ sensitive skin.

5 products I didn't regret taking with me from London

A couple of months before I departed London, I had a good look at my beauty collection and said to myself, 'Oh My God!'..... My obsessions for beauty has gone completely out of control at that stage, within a short space of time I built up a larger than life beauty collection that one can take in one life.

I thought about leaving some products behind as I thought I would definitely be adding more when I got to the other side of the world.  Luckily, I didn't as I needed every single bits of what I have in my makeup collection to survive, and to mesmerise about London.

I went through my makeup stash and picked out 5 products that they stood out for me the most and was pleased, once again that I didn't leave any of them behind.  As my love for them has grown since I arrived in Hong Kong.

Hourglass Ambient Light Powder in Dim Light I would raise my hands up to confess that I bought this purely because of all the hypes this product has received in the bloggersphere.  I did, however try it a few times in the shop but didn't find it particularly attractive or worth buying.  As I was counting towards my departure date back in September, I felt the urgency to have to own this as I wasn't sure how available hourglass products are in Hong Kong.  

I was right to buy it, although I found this shade, Dim Light; actually a little pink to my skin tone so I couldn't use this as an all over the face product nor can I use it to highlight my face as it would look odd.  However, one day as I was experimenting with this I put it on my cheeks, it actually turned out rather nice.  As it is not such a pigmented product, on days when I just want a natural finish to my makeup, this has become my go to cheek-highlighting product.

Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil in Dark Brunette  ''I picked the wrong shade!' was the first impression after I applied this on my brows.... it looked horrendous on me....... it made me look like Alex Mills from Apprentice (if you watched this year's series you would know who I meant!).  Ever since then I didn't touch it.  Until recently I played around with it as I thought it cost me a whooping £26 I simply couldn't just leave it un-used.  I used a lighter hand technique to fill my brows and the results turned out to be rather satisfying!  After experimenting a few times with it, I realised that the pencil is very soft and pigmented when filling in the brows.  So my word of warning is that, when you swatch it on your hands in the shop, you might find the pencil a little hard to draw out the colour but it is actually different when filling in the brows!

RMS Beauty 'Un' Cover-Up Concealer Oh, Boy Oh Boy do I love this product or what!  I have been using this religiously everyday for at least a whole month!  It is available in 4 shades only so that's the only minus point for it.  I use the lightest one.  It can be used as a concealer for under the eyes and on blemishes, it can also be used as a foundation if you build it up.  When I use this in my under eye areas, not only does it cover up my dark circle, it also brightens up my eyes instantly.  The formula is so light yet buildable, and doesn't look cakey at all.  It is not greasy nor dry.  You can either just use your fingers to dab this on or like me I like to use my Sephora's Pro Airbrush concealer brush to buff this to my skin until perfection.  I couldn't agree more of this product.  One has to try it before they know how good this product can be!

Clinique Super City Block in SPF 40 This was a last minute purchase before I headed to Hong Kong in September.  I paniked as I was packing, I needed something light but could offer high sun protection especially for my face.  I came across this on one of Lisa Eldrige's videos so I instantly thought of this.  I grabbed it in Boots in Liverpool Street Station and I never looked back.  It is a very light, watery texture sun protection base product.  Although when squeezed out of the tube it looked beige, it set transparent on your face and doesn't provide any coverage at all.  However it didn't cause any skin irritation or blemishes as a result of using this even in very humid and hot weather (as I have tested this thoroughly by now).  I would apply my day moisturizer still, then a thin layer of this, before applying either just concealer product or foundation on.  You cannot feel that you are piling on loads of products on your face but you are reassured that your face is protected from sun damage.  I think I'll keep using this in the winter months as it is so good, and also protecting your skin from the sun is like putting on day or night cream that it should be part of anyone's skincare routine!

Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge I really like my beauty blender and have since tried other versions of it but kept going back to the original brand.  Until Real Techniques released it very own Miracle Complexion Sponge, I had to try it.  One can say this is a dupe for the beauty blender but I would say this is an alternative for the original beauty blender.  First of all it only costs £5.99 compared to almost £16 (or £24 for 2), it is a lot cheaper.  Also it has a slanted side which is perfect to provide details when blending foundations or concealers around the nose areas and under the eyes.  It is so soft and squidgy that it blends beautifully with whatever product you are blending with.

Do you have products that you would always take with you when you are away home?

October beauty favourites

October is a bit of a dramatic month for me.  Last week saw Mr. H being rather unwell and ended up in the hospital for a big fat 4 days, doing all sorts of examinations.  Earlier in the month, I started a part time job and have become part of the working population in Hong Kong.  This is my second month since moving to Hong Kong, I think I'm doing pretty well, slowly and steadily.

Life seems to have taken over my 'beauty life' this month, so in terms of beauty and fashion, I kept it quite low maintenance and was not as adventurous as in the past few months.  I relied on my trusted makeup collection and was glad to rediscover, and should I say; I had more time to be-friend with my beauty stash and was able to tell you how much I loved about them.

First up, a beauty combo I want to tell you about.  I'm sure everyone now has either heard of or have loved the L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow (£6.99) (021 Sahara Treasure).  They are like pressed eyeshadow powder (some say they are a dupe for the Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill eyeshadow £26).  They are very pigmented and at the same time, extremely soft to blend.  A sweep of this golden brown colour across the eyelids open up your eyes instantly.  A real quick and effective way to 'make up' in the morning when you are in a hurry.  Normally I would only use my fingers to apply this but this month, I decided to use some of the brushes that haven't been loved by me as much.  My eyeballs turned to the Real Techniques' duo-fiber brush.  It came as a set of 3 fiber brushes by Real Techniques.  At first I didn't quite know how to use 'fibre brushes' but I found that it picks up just the right amount of product so it makes the application of eyeshadow very easy.  The combination of these two made me feel like a top makeup artist!

This month, I ditched my fingers (not literally) and have been using brushes more regularly.  Sephora's Pro Airbrush concealer #57 has been my best friend when applying concealer.  I bought this brush when I was on summer holiday in Paris.  What I would do is that I dabbed my favourite concealer on the areas I need to cover up, such as my eyebags, round my nose, etc. then using this Airbush concealer brush to buff and work the product into the skin.  It does exactly what it says on the tin, which gives an airbrush finish.  The brush is also so soft that it feels really nice to the skin.  The size of the brush is perfect, too that I can work quite targetedly to the area that I wanted to conceal.  

Eyeliners are one of my most trusted makeup items that it turns dull and tired looking eyes into sparkly sexy features.  I know I've raved too much about my beloved eyeliner by Kiko (honestly they are the best in the market I think).  But I thought I should give another brand a try so I turned my hands to, Topshop.  Waterproof Liner in Ebony (£5) is probably the closest to Kiko's.  It's soft and pigmented.  It doesn't smudge at all.  It glides on my eyelids/ eyelines like a dream.  Some eyeliners I've tried are a nightmare.  Why?  They sometimes just wouldn't draw on my eyes, the colours wouldn't come off from the pencil.  But with this Topshop one, it doesn't take two to draw a perfect line.

A short October Favourite post this month.  What have you been loved using?

And I'm so excited to be back here sharing my love for beauty with you.  Apologies for the disruptions occurred this week.