1) When booking in for a facial always ask how long it will take. I’ve been to facial that ranges from 30 mins – 3 hrs. It’s always a better experience to know what to expect.
2) Tidy up body hair or hair you don’t want a stranger to see. Most if not all facials involves stripping down to your undies.
3) Following from the previous point, make sure you wear your good undies, no grandma panties, you don’t want to be judged now do you.
4) Same applies for clothes and shoes, make sure you wear something that is easy to take off and put back on.
5) Obviously arrive 5-10 mins early so you don’t feel rushed and arrive with no eye makeup. They will ALL have to come off.
6) Always bring sunscreen or tinted moisturiser with you. You’ll be surprised how many salons/spas do not offer sunscreen. Weird I know.
7) No matter what you do even with a hair net, you will get “post facial” hair, always! Bring a solution, a hat, a hair tie, something, anything.
8 ) If you have hair/lash extensions or fillers/botox be sure to let your facialist know so that they know what to look out for.
9) This goes without saying, always maintain good oral hygiene.
Every night, I have a cleansing ritual that I do. I am a firm believer of going to bed cleansed, hair free from styling products, face free from makeup/dirt and body free from sweat, grime and whatnot accumulated during the day.
I have been doing this for quite a while now but have never thought of it much until I was in the shower the other day wondering if other girls would do this too. So what I have been doing is to apply a thick layer of mask all over my face and neck after cleansing my makeup off or first thing in the morning depending on when you have your shower. Make sure the mask is creamy/thick moisturising kind that is great for anti-aging, skin booster type of mask. Then, I’ll follow on with a thorough dry body brushing before jumping into the shower.
While in the shower try to avoid water going onto the face, so I’d wash my hair and body and rinse everything off including the mask as a final step. The great thing is not only will you have showered but you’ve essentially done a face mask at the same time.
Thank me later for the awesome tip, now you too can have awesome looking skin without having to set time aside to actually do one.
Great products for “shower mask” are:
Jurlique Moisture Replenishing Mask
Yes, you heard it right!
Splurging on a mini refrigerator or at the very least singling out a section in your fridge is the best investment you will possibly make. Reason behind this is because the cool temperature in the fridge helps to prolong possibly every beauty/makeup products you have.
It is a proven fact that perfumes last longer in cooler climate and the scent stays fresher in a long fun. Pencil eye and lip liners are easier to blend/apply when they are fresh out of the fridge. No more crumpling or wastage when you sharpen them too. I for one keep all my nail polishes in the fridge. This instantly prolongs their life span. No more yucky drying nail polish in the bottle you tried squeezing tightly shut just a week ago.
The list does not simply stop there. Masks; be it tubes, pots, DIY or individual sheets are great stored in fridge and pop onto the face for great tightening/calming/soothing effect. Moisturizers (face/body) and toners are also great kept in the fridge for the extra refreshing blast of coolness for your skin especially hot summery days.
Most importantly, the idea of storing beauty products in the fridge is to help prolong the shelve life of your products and keep it away from the summer/winter heater heat. In a long run, you save more when your product last longer and stay fresher.
Try popping your favorite mascara into the fridge before the next time you use it and see for yourself the difference it can make.
Oh, don’t forget serums, essences, emulsions, potions, lotions; they deserve a spot in the fridge too!
P/S: This piece is entirely written by yours truly and is also published in Cosmetic Club.
What’s with the bad economy all over the world, online shopping has to reduce dramatically, at least for me anyway. In this time of darkness, perhaps we should look what’s around us that is cheap and wildly available.
Why? I’m talking about ‘Strayan products of course.
You see, not many people realize the beauty about living in Australia. The benefits are a tonne. But I am not here to sing the patriotic song for Australia; I am here to point out what Aussie beauty we can benefit from that we knew close to nothing about.
Here are a list of Australian brands (which I am sure is not complete) and what they are famous for/worth checking out:
A’Kin – Famous for its organic rosehip oil which I am currently using.
Becca – Their beach tint is what all beauty editors are swearing by. Also, their concealer.
Yes to Carrots – Hand cream and lip butters, watch out for Yes to Cucumber and Yes to Tomatoes very soon.
Napolean Perdis - Primer is a gem. The cheaper version Target Sets are out 3 days ago.
Model Co. – I swear by their Lash Extend and Lash Growth.
Bloom – They have a huge range of pretty Lip glosses!
Jurlique – Heart their Rose Hand Cream and Facial Mist.
Alpha H – Awesome Glycolic Mask, Liquid Gold Lotion and Face Exfoliant.
Face of Australia – Cheap lip glosses by the pot.
Dr. LeWinn’s – Affordable Ultra R4 Recovery Mask and Hand Polish.
Be Genki – Smell so good Perfume Balm and Body oils.
Aesop – EVERYTHING!! Especially their B Triple C Facial Balancing Gel, Parsley Seed Toner, Rose Hair Mask and don’t forget their awesome DOG WASH !!!
What works for you might not work for others. I am not here to preach about how fantastic these products are. I love them so much, therefore I am here to write a post dedicated for these fanciful heroines that saved my life.
You know how sometimes when we encounter a certain product that caught us by surprise and really liked using it? But when it finishes; we’d say oh well moving along let’s try something new instead. Because frankly, there are a huge array of products with all kinds of gimmicks that are practically begging us to buy them, try them and to love them.
Yes, those products were good and some were great but we eventually switched brand, changed habit and moved along.
These products that I am about to declare my eternal love for are here to stay in my cabinets. These products are the ones that I have purchased repeatedly (twice or more). Things that I cannot do without for.
In no particular order:
SKII – Facial Treatment Essence
Dr.Lipp – Nipple Balm for Lips
Fudge – Root Juice (I believe they have new packaging now)
La Mer – SPF 18 Fluid Tint
Kerastase – Ciment Thermique
Clarins – Beauty Flash Balm
Blistex – Daily Conditioning Therapy SPF 16 (I’m not a lucas paw paw girl.)
Clinique – Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm
Nair – Facial Hair Remover Cream
Elizabeth Arden – Eight Hour Cream Hand Treatment
If you are close to me you are probably sick of me raving about one or more of these products. If you want to read the review you could probably go through my I heart Beauty section on the left. Or just click here.
All of the above mentioned products are fairly versatile and most importantly they worked great for me or at least up until now I am yet to find any better/more reliable product that can score just as good.
Behold, I would probably come back next year with a whole new list of new loves. So come back next year and see what we’re up to.
- It helps with strengthening my immune system to fight disease/infection.
- It is an awesome antioxidant that helps with circulation and repairing tissues/cells.
- It boosts my energy level. I no longer feel like napping in the afternoons anymore.
- It increases mental clarity and attention span.
- Helps with digestion because of the fiber in it.
- Improves general metabolism.
- Promotes healthy joints.
- Helps to regulate blood sugar levels.
- Also, I chose organic for obvious healthy reason.
“Camilla Belle, Leighton Meester, Natelie Portman, Rachel Bilson, Mila Kunis, Angelina Jolie, Kate Beckinsale, Emmanuelle Chirqui, Eva Mendes, Lucy Liu, Vanessa Hudgens, Eva Longoria, Selena Gomez”
What do all these woman have in common?
The correct answer is that:
- they all look better with dark mane hands down,
- they usually have a honey colored skin tone and
- they are the ones that Asians should safely look up for inspiration in terms of makeup colors & hair styles.
Even though our features might look different but the color tones are safe to experiement with.
P/s: Extra large fonts are obviously my personal favorites.
