GlamGlow Super Mud Review

Efficiency效果

During the first attempt, I only left my mask on for 10 minutes before I washed it off. My skin was brighter and my pores were slightly smaller. Most of the dirty things in my pores were clean but the pores under the area that did not dry completely was not completely clean. (It was also where the biggest pores were)

Therefore, I suggest to leave the mask on until it is completely dry before you wash it off. 

To conclude it is useful in tightening the skin, bringing light to the skin and cleaning the pores. It is worth the money!

第一次嘗試，我只敷了10分鐘。皮膚的確變得更明亮，我的毛孔也變小了一點。大部分毛孔裡的髒東西都洗乾淨了，但面膜沒有完全乾的區域下的毛孔沒有完全洗乾淨。

我建議敷到面膜完全乾了再洗。

雖然有點貴但這錢還是值得的!

How much?

Hong Kong $560 at Joyce

Bali Trip - hotel/resort review and recommendation: Ayana Resort and Spa Bali Review

I planned to spend 5 days in Bali over the Easter Holiday. However, all the villas and resort rooms were so pricy over this period of time, so my bf and I decided to spend 2 nights in a resort room and 2 nights in a villa in another hotel to save a little bit of money. Ayana Resort and Spa was surprisingly good so we ended up booking another two days in a different room after we checked out !!!!!!!! Can you imagine how good it is? 

Ayana Resort and Spa Bali ★★★★★

We chose Ayana Resort and Spa Bali because the hotel claimed to have a large variety of public pools and dinning choices in it's website. If we stay there, it seems that it is not necessary to stay in our room at all. So we booked an Ocean View Club Room through hotels.com a month ago. At that time, the room was around USD$390 each night. 

It is a hotel that I will definitely recommend to anybody who likes great views and have a lot of entertainment during the stay. 

Clean and beautiful rooms with traditional and modern design

We were not expecting so much from a simple resort room. But we both gave it a WOW when we walked into the beautiful room with plenty of sunlight and beautiful traditional design instead of old and dark like some of the hotel rooms with traditional design in Bali.

Huge Huge and comfortable bed

Comfy round sofa

Balcony area

View from the balcony

After we checked out, we were not able to book the Ocean View Room again so we booked the cheaper Resort Room. It is slightly less beautiful but we still love it!

3 beautiful public pools + 1 in villa area + 2 in Rimba hotel area + Kubu Beach

Main pool

Ocean Beach Pool

Kubu Beach right beside the resort area
Shuttle bus travels between the hotel and beach
every 15 minutes

main pool in the villa area

Fun beds beside the pool in Rimba hotel

Great Service - friendly and helpful staff

Through the hotel, we booked a car to pick us up from the airport very early in the morning because  we were slightly worrying about the security of taking taxi on our own. The staff who picked us up was dressed in their hotel uniform so it was easy to recognise. We were both trying to be very careful at the airport but this staff gave us a really warm welcoming. He was professional and friendly. We were guided to our car, our luggages were put in the car for us and the ride was safe and enjoyable. 

Once we arrived the hotel, a staff opened our door for us and gave us flowers and ice tea while the others picked up our luggages and guide us into the lobby. The checked in procedure was quick and easy while we were enjoying the refreshing ice tea. 

House keeping was done twice each day in both mornings and the evenings. The room was kept very clean and tidy every day.

No matter where we went in the resort, all the staff greeted us and smiled to us in the warmest way. SERIOUSLY - THE Warmest! They gave us such a warm and welcoming feeling that we felt so safe and comfortable to stay in the resort. 

For example, the staff at the swimming pool came to us once we arrived, they leaded us to the empty beds and introduced us the ones with better views and they even gave us dry towels once they found that our towels were wet already. 

Even staff who were driving in their vans or riding a motorbike home after work gave us a smile or greeted us when they saw us. It was soooo impressive !!! How does this hotel make every staff do all these from the bottom of their heart? 

Their friendly and welcoming attitude really did create a HOME-LIKE resort for us.

Breathtaking Views Everywhere

A lot of places in this resort gave us a WOW. Whether you are lying on the grass or beside a swimming pool or sitting on the shuttle bus, there were great views everywhere. 

First thing you see when you step into
the lobby area  

The lobby area

Corridor - lobby to rooms

View from my bed beside the ocean beach pool

From the famous Rock Bar 

From Ocean Beach Pool

view from grassland outside the church

You won't be able to get bored if you stay here. There are so many places to go. You can visit any of these beautiful places and stay there for half of the day.

Overview

Honestly, this is the best hotel I have ever stayed in. You can literally spend one whole week in the resort areas and doing a lot of relaxing activities and enjoying all the magnificent and breathtaking views. There are so many places to hang around and so many views and landscapes to explore and see. There are also great variety of restaurants each serviced great quality food. We did not even go out for meals over the staying. The famous Rock Bar is also in this resort area. 

My schedule in Ayana Resort:

Day One:  Yoga and spa package including Yoga, sea water pool therapy, lunch, massage and spa (6 hours), dinner under the sunset - Sami Sami Restaurant

Day Two:  Main pool, Kubu Beach (free shuttle), Rock Bar, Dinner (Villa area free shuttle)

Day Three: Villa pool, Ocean Beach Pool

Day Four: Kubu Beach, Ocean Beach Pool, Rimba Pool, Roof Top Bar 

Day Five: Ocean Beach Pool, Main Pool, Spa Cafe, Main Pool, Spa Shower , check out

Mini Haul II - traveling packing cubes from Eagle Creek VS packing cubes from Muji

I went SHOPPING~ Yes I know I said the same thing only a week ago. But this time I picked up something that I have been wanting to buy for the longest time which is the packing cubes from Eagle Creek and Muji. 

I am going to Bali in around 10 days. (I am so excited!!!!!) As I know that I will not have enough time to pack because I will be too busy with my work in the next 5 days and it is spring time in Hong Kong while I need to pack mainly summer clothing for my Bali trip.  So I decided to start packing earlier. Before this trip, I mainly use pretty plastic bags that I got from shopping to keep my clothes, slippers and bikinis clean and separate different things in the luggage. Shops like Peach John and Uniqlo give out really pretty plastic bags which I usually save for packing or to simply keep my scarf clean in my hand bag when I go to work. 

However, I started to forget what I put in each plastic bag... slippers?...clean clothes?...dirty clothes?...shose??? Also, the bags torn out easily. So I decided that it is worth the money to invest in some good traveling packing cubes because my bf and I go traveling at least once a year. I believe that I am going to use packing cubes a lot. 

In order to invest in some really good quality packing cubes I have done some research myself. I am very interested in Eagle Creek and Muji's packing cubes. These are the comparisons that I have made:

Muji packing cubes - can be folded in bags

It comes in a 3 colours with light and thin material

Eagle Creek Packing Cubes

Eagle Creek Water-proof Pack it Spector cubes

Overall, I personally think that the Eagle Creek packing cubes are going to last longer because they have thicker materials. Although I really like the design of the Muji packing cubes and their materials are very light, they look very breakable to me. 

If I hope to invest in long lasting cubes, I guess Eagle Creek packing cubes should be my choice. They also provide this instrumental video on their site which tells people what each cube is designed for.

I ended up buying a set of Eagle Cubes in red because I want more colours in my luggage. I chose the two sided ones so that dirty clothes can be separated from clean ones. 

I also picked up a Tube cube which is convenient for hair drier, mobile chargers and camera chargers. I chose a black one so that it won't become dirty easily. 

However, I still picked up one toiletry packing cube from Muji because it is so pinky soft and fluffy! It is too cute to ignore. I can put all of my little bottles inside this cute cube. Then when I walked pass Victoria's Secrets in Times square, I got this little make up bag which I have been waiting to buy for the longest time, too. I am going to enjoy packing so much this time!!!! 

My Happiness Project - 1st week summary: Do I not have the right to be happy?

It has been a week since I started My Happiness Project. I still remember the joy and sense of achievement I got from meeting all the targets I set for this month (read my previous blog post: April Resolutions and  Day One of my happiness project)

Obstacles

Doing exercise is something that really change my life. I am those girl who only stand there and chat with friend during PE lessons since high school. I am so reluctant to move or do any workout. So planning to do exercise 3 days a week and 20 mins each time is a great challenge for me. I planned to exercise on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I did it successfully on Tuesday following the same youtube video. Love this video! You should check it out if you are also a beginner!

On Thursday evening, it was already dinner time when I arrived home from work (8:00 p.m.). I was too full to do exercise after dinner. (9:00 p.m.) After a shower and some fruits, it's time to bed (11:00 p.m.) I did not want to exercise right before I went to bed because I was very sure that exercising will keep me awake for the whole night. 

I planned to make it up on Friday night but I did not do it because I had a doctor appointment at 6:00 p.m. after that I went for dinner with my boyfriend. We walked a little bit after dinner and finally arrived home at 10:00 p.m. You know what happened next... shower...fruit...bed time. No exercise time. 

'It's ok!I will make it up on Saturday and Sunday,' I told myself confidently. Well, on Saturday morning I went hiking with my boyfriend. I chose a easy trail and walked slowly. The air was so fresh and weather was so sunny. It was such a beautiful day. So I count it as successful on Saturday. 

Beautiful waterfall

Falling apart

However, on Sunday, my boyfriend and I had a really terrible argument about his pressure and how my emotions always upset him and then naturally we argued about everything in our relationship. I was so upset when I heard that he did not think that I was happier at all. At that moment, everything seems to fall apart again. 

I know that I should not focus on sadness and problems when I was upset but I was not able to control my emotion at that moment. All the problems were raised and it seems to me that no matter how hard I work and try, I will never be able to solve all these problems. My family, my work, my loving relationship and my illnesses, everything falls apart. I was not able to stop crying for the longest time ever. Sitting in darkness only worsened the problem and deepened the sadness. 

The next day, I did not go to work because my eyes looked terrifying. They were too swollen. I was so disappointed to myself because I only went back to work for one week and I was already taking another sick leave. More pressure because I will only have more work to do the next day, more sadness more depressed. 

This is how much tissue I found in the morning

Do I not have the right to BE HAPPY?

I kept questioning myself, why can other people be happy everyday? They go to work energetically, they spend time on their makeup and clothing. Why do I need to go to work like a zombie, with swollen eyes all the time and wearing whatever I can grab from my wardrobe everyday? When colleagues approaches, I can only lower my head and pretend that I am not interested in joining their conversation because I am usually upset or too tired. Do I not have the right to look pretty and energetic, too? Do I not have the right to BE HAPPY everyday like everyone else??????

Try again?

I tried to calm down that night and talked about our problems in the relationship calmly. The problems were not well discussed. However, I appreciate that my boyfriend was willing to put down his work for a while and came home a little bit earlier on that day for me. He encouraged me to follow my happiness project.

I think he has no idea how much courage I need to start my Happiness Project and how much more courage I need to start the project all over again....

Do you think I can really become a happy person? I am not even sure if I have the courage and perseverance to follow this year long project. But in order to rescue our love relationship, improve my health and give me the strength to solve all the problems in life,  it is the only way I know. 

Spring Mini Haul

I went shopping alone and bought some books and skin care products from boots today ! Yes WE HAVE BOOST IN HONG KONG NOW!!!! I am very excited to show you what I picked up.

I picked up:

1. No. 7 Beautiful Skin Night Cream for Normal/Oily skin

I tried the texture in the store, it felt more like a watery creamy texture which is not as greasy as other No.7 creams and it's only HKD$69!!!

2. No.7 Protect & Perfect Whitening Eye Cream

It is claimed to be able to reveals younger and lighter looking skin. I don't have very serious dark circles but I always have this annoying wrinkles below my eyes. I have tried Bobbi Brown eye cream but it doesn't work for me. So I am hopping this eye cream may help.

3. Leave-in Volumising Conditioner from Boost

I have been looking for a leave in conditioner for a long time. However, I only found some very expensive ones which I have never heard of. So I was super happy when I see this very affordable conditioner which is only HKD$54. I have already put some on after shower, the smell is a bit stronger and heavier than I thought but I will keep trying and see if it really moisturises my hair.

4. Champneys Spa Treatments Citrus Blush Body Scrub

The packaging of this line really caught my eye. It looks luxurious and the word 'SPA' made me buy the scrub. I have high expectation to the scrub and I hope it will really give me a SPA treatment lol.

Then I went to a book store and picked up some books for my Bali trip in 2 weeks time.

1. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

A story about teenagers who suffer from cancer attracted me because I hope that by knowing more
about how some people are struggling with terrible illnesses bravely, I will be more aware how lucky my ordinary life is. And I heard Stylesuzi, a youtube beauty girl rated about it long ago.

2. The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom

I wanted to buy this book for a long time because I love the writer, Mitch. I read all of his other books and I love all of them. So I think this one will be as good as the others.

3. And the Mountains Echoed

I think this will be the first book that I am going to read among the other three. I love the Kite
Runner. I enjoy how beautifully the writer can write. The preciseness of his descriptions provided me with beautiful pictures and images of the story and the way he delivered the plot has never failed to give me surprises.

Luxurious, natural, effective mask - Apivita masks

I prefer cream wash away Masks than sheet masks

I have so many sheet masks at home! However, I seldom have any motivation to use them because:

1. I don't want to look scary in front of my boyfriend

2. I don't want to mess up my hair after shower. Products on sheet masks tend to stick on my hair

*** Most importantly, a lot of people think that sheet masks are more effective because they make instant changes to your skin. After using a sheet mark, you are not required to wash your face. However, I personally found that some of the effects that sheet masks made may disappear right after you wash your face. 

The packaging is lovely.
I can easily put the boxes on my table
 and they make good storages for the masks.

Apivita masks - it feels so good!

So last month, I went shopping and found this very luxurious cream masks from Apivita. There aren't a lot of reviews about these masks on youtube. I only heard Fleurdeforce mentioned them in her videos before. So I picked up the Express Beauty with Orange. It claimed to whiten, moisturise and provide antioxidant protection to your skin. 

The mask is in a creamy consistency. It is smooth and watery and not greasy at all. There are little particles inside the cream which burst and release the watery cream inside them when you massage the cream onto your face. 

According to the instructions, you should keep the mask on your face for around 15minutes before you wash it off. However, after about 10 minutes, I noticed that the cream on my face starts to disappear as it is adsorbed by my skin. Also, what makes the process luxurious is the fact that my skin can literally FEEL that it is adsorbing the cream on my face, no kidding! It feels soooo good. It feels like being in a spa room and all of the water is squeezing into your every single pore. 

Effectiveness?

Express beauty with orange:

It works for me because my skin is obviously whitened every time I wash the mask off. Even more, my skin is smoother and it feels really good. Apart from that, I also noticed that my pores are very clean after using this mask for a few times. I don't know if the mask also helps clean my pores but it is what I noticed.

I think it is better than a lot of the sheet masks that I have tried before because even after washing off the product, I can still notice obvious improvement to my skin. I am so happy about the effect of this mask so I bought another box last week which is the Express Beauty with Grape. So far, it is as good as the orange one. I'm very happy about my skin now. 

It is a little more expensive than a lot of sheet masks. However, it definitely worths the money. 

Day ONE of my Happiness Project - It has made changes !

Day One

Stretch for 15mins every day

I started my day with a relaxing stretching exercise. To prevent me from giving up after 2 minutes (and to enjoy the process), I put my notebook computer on my bed and played a youtube video that lasts at least 15minutes. So I picked Fleurdeforce's haul video and did stretching for a solid 15minutes.

If you don't know Fleur, make sure that you check

out her videos! She is amazing.

Act with Energy 

This is usually when I jump right into my bed again and take a long nap. I clearly know that these long naps can never boost my energy. They only make me want to sleep until the next day. So I sat in front of my table, took out my beautiful new diary and started to write a to-do-list.

A to-do-list is very instrumental for me. I am very good at following plans but I am very lazy to make one sometimes. If I don't have a plan for the day, I usually ended up wasting my whole day in bed playing iPhone apps, taking naps and watching youtube videos and even worse, become unhappy and grumpy about myself not being productive during the day.

Cross out 90% of my to-do-list

Within 3 hours, I efficiently crossed out 4 items on my to-do-list including getting a shampoo (I used up my shampoo for a week already and was using my boyfriend's shampoo), cleaning my table, seeing a doctor (which I should have done two days ago) and getting a hair cut (I have waited for months to get one).

The dinner was so nice
Food from Simply Life never
disappoints me!

When I met my boyfriend for dinner, he surprised my by asking, "why are you so cheerful today?" I was very happy because I started a project that can improve the quality of my life and I was doing very well so far.

I was hoping that he may notice my new hair cut...

Exercise for 20 minutes each day 3 days a week

I would like to take my challenge of the day to the next level. In all the resolutions of the month, doing 20minutes exercise per day for 3 days in a week is the most challenging goal for me.

Living in a place called Hong Kong means you have to work from early in the morning until very late at night. When I am home, it is usually around 7-8 p.m. After dinner and a quick shower, even if I am very lucky that I don't have to do extra work that night, it is already 9-10 p.m. According to the resolution, to boost energy needs at least 7-8 hours sleep every day. To achieve that I have to sleep at 10 p.m. which is right after my shower. Therefore, I spent 30minutes thinking about the possible ways to achieve the goal before I put it down on the chart.

I decided to do a solid 20minutes exercise before I go to bed every day! Just the thought of doing it is already making me excited (because doing new things excites people). Fortunately, I found this very useful and fun Calorie Burning Low Impact Cardio Workout for beginners on youtube.

I love the video so much because in just 20 minutes, it included so many different kinds of moves and exercises that made the whole working out experience less boring. All the moves it asked you to do were very easy to follow. After 20 minutes I was already sweating and feeling very refreshed.

Good night world ! 

Overview

Overall, the first day of my Happiness Project went so much better than my expectation. I was not expecting any change in mood on the first month not to mention, the first day. However, after following my resolutions for one day, I feel happier for the following reasons:

1. I fulfil my tasks (sense of achievement)

2. I did many things that help improve my health (I am going to be healthier)

3. I feel excited because I have lots of fun things to do every day (not only work work and sleep)

4. My boyfriend is happy to see my change and excited about my plan (because he likes to see me happy)

* I hope that I will keep following my plan and I will update my progress after 5 days so I can make a review about how I am doing in the first week.