I attended the launch of this latest product by NuBo last week with colleagues from the lovely Starz People at the restaurant & bar & Harvey Nichols in Landmark, Central – Hi-Tea party style. We tried their various signature products like the White Diamond Ice Glow Mask, Cell Dynamic Essence Bio-Gold & of course the newly launched Voile in Hong Kong.
We had to fill in a questionnaire about our skin concerns and they would recommend you suitable products to try out.
Trying out the White Diamond Ice Glow Mask which is perfect for dehydrated skin. My hands felt so pampered and smooth after only 10 minutes.
I immediately fell in love with the Voile & so did my colleagues! The Voile forms a really smooth film over your skin making it look flawless & hides imperfections.
The Voile is a treatment make up base which is suitable for all skin types. It has anti-aging properties to mattify the skin and hides fine lines and wrinkles, making make up application much easier and skin more beautiful. It also has water resistant qualities to help make up stay on all day comfortably. After using Voile, I realised I don’t really need to use filters or apps like 美图秀秀 to smoothen my skin further! It’s really that good and instant. TWO THUMBS UP!
NuBo Voile’s Key Ingredients are:
Bio-Peptides – for wrinkle reduction and stimulates skin’s natural collagen, elastin & Hyaluronic Acid production
New Matrixyl synthe’6 – clinical studies states a 31% reduction in crows feet in 6 weeks twice a day application
Inyline – reduces depth of wrinkles by 15% in 4 weeks twice a day application
Syn-ake – Botox-like effect to relax expression lines in 90s after application. With twice a day application, clinical studies states a 52% reduction in fine lines and wrinkles.
Blurring formula – a breathable micro-film instantly lifts, firms and mattifies skin. Giving you a fresher younger appearance.
A bottle of NuBo Voile retails at HK$650 per bottle of 30ml and is exclusively available at Harvey Nichols LANDMARK Beyond Beauty, Harvey Nichols Pacific Place Beyond Beauty and Beauty Bazaar Beyond Beauty.
(Curls using Miracurl, jewellery from Mint Bauble)
Applying foundation on your face is one of the most basic forms of make-up, but it isn’t the easiest to do it well. Firstly, you have to find the perfect match of colour to your skin tone, then a foundation brand that doesn’t just sit on your skin but blends in like it’s part of your skin. To me, the perfect Summer time foundations that work great are RMK’s liquid foundation & Kate’s Powderless Liquid for Cover.
Both these foundations keep your skin pretty much shine-free throughout the hot and humid days and they don’t cake up from the heat! If you are wondering why my foundations are in different shades – the RMK one darker(one or two shades darker than my skin tone) & Kate a lighter shade(matches my actual skin tone). I use 2 different shades to “sculpt” my face and give it a slimming effect. Great for days when you feel that your face is retaining water from a late night of partying, or its that time of the month…
Start with the darker shade first. In my case, I am using RMK liquid foundation. Apply it under your cheekbone area till your jawline.
Blend it downwards towards your neck using your fingers or a foundation sponge. (I simply use my fingers)
After that, apply the lighter shade on the peaks of your cheekbone.
Blend in the lighter shade downwards towards the darker shade. Make sure both the foundations blend in well, without being able to see a distinctive change in colours.
After your base foundation is done, use a highlighter pen (I am using YSL’s Touché Éclat) on your nose bridge, under eye area & smile lines. Focus on your nose bridge – this will make your nose seem sharper & higher. (I often get asked if my nose is fake, or who is the surgeon that did my nose! I take that as a compliment but it’s just good make-up tricks peeps!)
(picture from previous post on Touché Éclat)
Blend in the highlights & apply a layer of translucent loose powder on your face. Get a brown-shade blush ready to create a more shapely face. Here I am using MAC’s Wonderwoman blush which carries 3 tones – pink blush, brown shading blush & a highlight blush.
Use an eyeshadow brush to pick up some of the brown blush, apply it on the sides of your nose bridge.
This creates a sharper & slimmer nose.
TIP: Use the highlight blush on your under eye and cheekbone area for a radiant glow!
Now that your perfect base is done. (which is oh-so important!) You can just stop right here and add a touch of blush, brows & mascara & you are good to go! But I am going to carry on to show you my favourite falsies to use to brighten up your eyes and NOT have that “umbrellas shading your eyes” look. If you know what I mean… 😉
These are the 3/4 length falsies which wing-out to longer lashes at the ends. Easily found in any SASA or Watson’s stores. MAC & Shu Uemura have them too but they are a lot more costly.
So, curl your lashes, apply a layer of mascara, then glue on these falsies from about 1/3 distance away from your tear-duct.
See how they immediately open up my eyes with the winged effect of the lashes. And they are much easier to use too!
Do the same for the other eye. Apply a tad of lip gloss/balm and we are done!
Ready for a slimmer more sculpted face? Try out these little tricks of mine which I use daily when I head out for castings!
I am Human… This is how I look like when I first wake up in the morning without a hint of make up on my face. Eyebrows not drawn, dark eye circles not concealed, clean skin… au naturale…
And if I only have 15-20 minutes to get ready and head out, my must go-to beauty item is Yves Saint Laurent ‘s Touche Éclat highlighter pen to give my skin a quick perk-me-up! I’ve been a fan of this for many many years because of its smooth, creamy formula that doesn’t cake up and its portability to bring it around for a quick re-touch even over make up!
Touche Éclat is great to provide some coverage and masks shadowy areas on your face like dark eye-circles, smile-lines, highlighting your nose bridge and deep-set areas between the chin and lower lip. So this is how I would use it:
When I am in a rush, I would just use Touche Éclat after my skincare regimen without any foundation for a simple, clean and natural look. Which is what I am going to show you today.
Let me share with you this beauty product of mine: add a dab of Philosophy’s Hope in a Tube and mix it up with Touche Éclat.
Hope in a Tube contains vitamins E & C with polyphenols which will temporarily erase fine lines immediately.
This mixture plumps up the under-eye fine lines & conceals at the same time! Creating a brighter and healthier looking skin.
As you can see, after applying Touche Éclat on shadowy areas and the bridge of my nose, my face immediately “wakes up”. And if one application isn’t enough for you, you can layer on another coat for a thicker coverage.
After only Touche Éclat application:
Then, with a dash of mascara, eyebrow pencil, pencil eyeliner & blush. I’m ready to head out! All done in 15 minutes.
Attended the Miss Dior fragrance event last night at IFC’s oval atrium graced by the guest-of-honour, HK celebrity, Kelly Chen. A group of us models of mixed nationalities (ranging from Japan, Taiwan, Korean, Hong Kong and of course Singapore) represented Starz People HK at the event.
When we arrived at the event, we were greeted by a swarm of photographers, flashlights bursting non-stop, adding to the glitz & glamour of it. At the entrance, Dior’s perfumers, who are specially flown in from France, sat a workstation to show off their craft of perfumery.
Each bottle of perfume is painstakingly bottled, capped and bow-tied by hand by these Artisans, making every single bottle of Dior’s perfume unique.
We were each given a bottle of J’Adore Voile de Parfum.
This fragrance has strong rose scent and is a mixture of musky, powdery & floral. Extremely feminine. One spritz of this leaves you feeling all sexy yet elegant with the right amount of feminine charm. Perfect for that special date-night!
Which also explains the huge bed of fresh pink roses as the backdrop for their signature “CD” brand. The rose fragrance is the main focus in all Dior’s range of perfumes.
Totally in love with all the pretty pink hues from fresh roses to the feminine Miss Dior bottle! Can’t help to take lots of photos of anything in PINK – my favourite colour! Decked out in my rainbow knitted-dress that fits the perfect summery look!
One last selfie with fellow models from Starz People before the night ended!
Ever since I went to Tokyo over the Easter long weekend to celebrate my birthday, I was inspired to have my hair curled and styled just like the Japanese! So when I returned back to Hong Kong, I immediately took out my new Miracurl and started fiddling with it. And it was a pleasant surprise that Miracurl made, the once gruelling and time-consuming, hair-curling easy and straightforward more than ever.
Previously, I used my heating tongs (which I had given away since) to create curly locks on my own. This always took me eons and I had to be constantly mindful to not burn my face/neck with the heating tong… Hence, unless I had tons of time, I would never touch those heating tongs.
But with this latest product from Babyliss Pro, it took me a mere 10 minutes or less! And the curls turned out beautiful and looked as if they were professionally done. It is such a simple tool to use – basically you section your hair no more than 3cm, put the bunch of hair into the V-shaped part of the Miracurl, squeeze, wait for 10 seconds, and it’s done!
I did up a simple video tutorial to show you how simple and easy it really is:
Miracurl is now retailing in Hong Kong at:
LOG-ON, City Store, SOGO, AEON, Fortress, Rosy Rain at HKD$1689.
In Singapore it is retailing at:
Selected Watsons stores island-wide at promotional price of SGD$199 from 01-28 May 2014. Retail price is SGD$259.
I know it is one of the more pricey hair curlers in the market, but it is worth every penny; it saves time, it is safe (no more burning of your face or neck *ouch!*) and it is versatile with any hair length! (you can share this with just about anyone, including your boyfriend).
Also, be mindful of the cheaper priced “Miracurls” in the market as there are plenty of knock-offs owing to its world-wide popularity. These knock-offs may not have complied with strict quality controls and may be a hazard to use.
Miracurl has the thumbs up from this happy customer! 🙂
Ever since winning the award of Best Smile for the New Paper New Face modelling competition, I have always been really particular about how white my teeth are and how I need to keep them plaque-free so no cavities will come bother me. (Also, hate visiting the dentist! So I invest more in home-care) So when a friend of mine introduced to me this Philips Sonicare toothbrush back in 2007 I got hooked! It was back in 2007 when I joined Miss Singapore Universe competition so natually I was a lot more conscious about my smile, my looks, my hair, my body etc as I was going to appear on live TV to compete. So buying this toothbrush was a no brainer. I did feel the immediate results of using Sonicare – my teeth felt smooth and plaque-free without any bits of food stuck in-between the gaps of my teeth! I became a FAN instantly! You know how when you use a manual toothbrush and you still feel like you have missed a spot after brushing? You never get it with Sonicare! Well… as the saying goes, “once you go Sonicare, you won’t turn back!”
Since then, I’ve been using Sonicare (and Sonicare lasts you a good 3-5 years depending on how well you maintain the toothbrush). I was using their Healthy White model and recently, I decided to give their top of the line model a try – Diamond Clean.
This model has 5 different modes – Clean, White, Polish, Gum Care & Sensitive – compared to the more basic model that I was using which only had Clean, Sensitive & Clean and White. I’ve been using the White mode for the past 2 weeks and so far loving it more and more. Found the sonic oscillations more vigorous yet still gentle on the gums and has a different rhythm compared to the regular Clean mode. And I actually feel my teeth looking a bit whiter (could be psychological but who cares! I AM more confident with my smile now!)
Sonicare is keeping it current for those tech-savvy peeps(which is practically everyone) by creating a USB charger built into the travel case for people like us who are always on the go! And you must also be wondering why the toothbrush packaging also came with a whiskey-like glass. That’s actually the charger and water glass for your daily use! How smart and sleek is that? With their toothbrush case updated in the design (the previous one from Healthy White was just a plain plastic white case), it’s nicer to carry it in you handbag or even slim enough to fit it into your clutch ladies! We can now brush your teeth at work, after lunch or in my case, before a photoshoot to ensure that perfect smile every time.
Even my sweet little Mika is fond of it! *lol*
As you all know that I am now living in Hong Kong, the apartments here are wayyyyyy smaller than those back home in Singapore. So compact is key! And it’s nice to see Diamond Clean fitting right in on my make-up table before I whisk it off for shoots in my bag without taking up too much space.
So yeah… I am an extremely satisfied & loyal customer to Philips Sonicare and now with the Diamond Clean, I am definitely looking forward to even whiter and sparkly smiles for my photoshoots! Well good things don’t come cheap right as it has a heftier price-tag because it is the top of the line for Sonicare. (Guys, they have a more masculine Black edition) To me, it is absolutely money well spent!
Retailing at HKD$1798 or SGD$319. Find it at most departmental stores like Robinsons, Sogo & Fortress etc.
Gentlemen’s Tonic is now in HK! Hailing from London, they recently opened their flagship store in Landmark, Central. It is a unique establishment where the modern man meets old-school barbershop which fits perfectly into the heart of the Central Business District area in Hong Kong where fashionable business executives are a plenty. Catered exclusively to the needs of men, which their classy leather barber chairs and more butch-like chic interior. And just across Gentlemen’s Tonic is Gentlemen’s Whisky. Who doesn’t want a nice shot of Whiskey after having a nice pampering haircut or facial after a long, exhausting day in the office?
I was asked by MyVisitDay to pop-by Gentlemen’s Tonic to check out one of their best sellers – the exfoliating facial scrub. You might be wondering, isn’t this shop catered to men only? Well, this facial scrub is formulated for both Men & Women. (so we can share that it the bathroom!)
Check out my video review on the Exfoliating Facial Scrub by Gentlemen’s Tonic:
The scrub is so nice to use that my boyfriend is fighting to use it in the bathroom! Looks like this tube won’t last me too long…
Great news is that MyVisitDay is having an exclusive offer together with Gentlemen’s Tonic. With any Haircut & Finish (HK$585) or any 55mins or above facials (from HK$850) that you book for in Gentlemen’s tonic with a MyVisitDay.com coupon, you can receive this exfoliating scrub (worth HK$385) for FREE.
Gentlemen’s Tonic
Address: B47-48, The Landmark, 15 Queen’s Road, Central, Hong Kong
Everyone’s human… Who doesn’t get pimples and hates them? I DO!!!
A girlfriend of mine who is in the Beauty industry (she works for Luxasia in Singapore) introduced this miracle lotion that zaps pimples like a Starship Trooper!
Ever since she got me my first bottle from her US trip, I got hooked! I can’t live without it as it cures my pimple-woes. An overnight application of this and it dries up in the morning, making the pimple “ripe to pop!” saving time and misery nursing a puss-y pimple for days.
Inside this glass bottle contains active ingredients like salicylic acid, calamine, camphor & titanium dioxide which helps dry out the white head immediately. As you can see from the photo above, there’s 2 separate layers – liquid & powder. Keep it that way and don’t shake it up before application.
How do you use it?
First, take a cotton bud/Q-tip and dip it straight into the bottle coating the tip with the powder. Remember not the shake the bottle before application.
Then take the cotton bud out and let the excess liquid drip back into the bottle.
Lastly & most importantly, apply it onto that evil pimple of yours!
Mine was a huge-ass one on my left nostril!!! Pain as hell… So zap away!!! *evil laughter*
Then the next morning, the puss-head fell out & pimple dried up! DEAD!
I know I have make-up on in the after picture, but you can really see how the pimple is dried up, flattened and the skin is flaking off for new skin to grow and it is easily concealed with some concealor without a nasty bump on your face.
My girlfriend got my first bottle from Sephora in the US for USD$17. But I was told last week that Sephora in US no longer carry Mario Badescu… Fortunately, I can still find it online from BeautyBay.com for about HK$114 with free international delivery from UK. Otherwise Sephora Singapore still carries it for SGD$68 (last saw it on 8 March 2014).
I have yet to try out the Kate Somerville version called EradiKate selling in Hong Kong for HK$295. Heard its pretty similar. 🙂
Note that this is not a sponsored review but just a beauty junkie sharing her secrets to nicer skin! *wink*
I’ve not been sleeping too well lately and been having the worse neck pains when I wake up in the mornings. Really hate having stiff neck, restricts movement & I can’t carry out my daily activities in peace. So when MyVisitDay.com asked if I was interested in attending a trial 60 minute facial or a 30 minute massage session at Spa Collection, I chose massage without thinking!
When I first stepped into Spa Collection at Causeway Bay Plaza 1, I was promptly greeted by friendly staff and they immediately signed me in. Thereafter, a lady showed me around the spa & I was amazed how huge the place was! It’s about 3700 sq. feet in total. It has numerous private massage rooms, 2 toilets, make-up corner, lockers & even a resting area for guests after their treatments.
I find this make up area a great idea as we always have our hair messed up, make-up smudged after a massage. Or even after a facial, you normally want to freshen up a little before leaving the spa. *thumbs-up*
I was showed into my own private massage room and it looked calming and peaceful with dim lighting & soft coloured wall paper.
I quickly changed out of my clothes and snuck a selfie before the treatment started. (who isn’t guilty of Selfies raise your hand!)
Now… I am all ready to start my massage! Before the massage started, the therapist asked which parts of my back hurts the most so that she can concentrate more on those parts. And I told her my neck and shoulder areas hurt the most from my late nights and bad sleep. I lay down on the massage table and the therapist started applying Lanius massage essential oils imported from England. This oil is supposed to help rid your body of water retention and expel toxins deep in your body. After, she used this very interesting looking massage rod called 排酸棒. (See picture below) She explained that this rod creates vibrations while rolling against your tight muscles which gives you a deeper tissue massage as compared to using your hands. It felt really good! Personally I enjoy strong and firm massages because my muscles are always tight and knotted. So this massage rod really did it for me as I could feel my knots loosening.
After 15 minutes, they took a photo of my back which only the left half was given the treatment. Visually, you can tell that the left side already looks slightly smaller and tighter – effects from the Lanius oil & massage rod ridding of toxins through my lymph-nodes. If you’re worried that the red marks caused by the massage rod won’t go away, don’t fret! They disappeared after a few hours for me.
I was happy to see it working so quickly & I could really feel my muscles relaxing. Now I really wished the massage lasted longer than 30 minutes as I could lay there forever and it felt so good! I left the place feeling happy and refreshed and wanting more. (it’s pretty addictive & I love massages!)
MyVisitDay is having an exclusive promotion from now till 31st May 2014 for Spa Collection. Those of you who want to give this treatment a try, do visit MyVisitDay.com and check out the latest promotions in Hong Kong! (remember to follow the steps on the webpage to redeem the offer!)
Spa Collection Booking Hotline: 31073102
Promotion is only valid at these locations:
11/F, Siu Ying Commercial Building, 151-155 Queen’s Road Central
Unit B-D, 22/F, Prosperous Coml. Bldg, 54-58 Jardine’s Bazaar, Causeway Bay
Room 1601, 16/F, Causeway Bay Plaza Phase 1, 489 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay
Opening Hours: Monday-Friday : 12:00 to 9:00pm, Saturday+ Sunday+ PH: 10:00 to 7:00pm
Friends have been asking me how I am able to do this “professionally” done hairstyle all by myself. Whenever I attend events, dinners, parties etc in this hairstyle, I always get very nice comments on it and often think that I came from a photoshoot because of my nice up-do! So… when I say to them it’s really easy and takes me less than 10 minutes, no one believes me.
This is the messy donut which I prefer for a slightly more casual feel:
And the sleeked donut for a more glamourous Hollywood-look:
So now… watch this 6 minute video tutorial I made to show you how it’s done! (I wasn’t joking when I said it takes me less than 10 minutes)
Hope this helps you all! It took me some time (a few months maybe?) to figure out this method since I purchased this donut to use. I found the official methods much more difficult and challenging to DIY. Have fun practicing!
Photo taken after using Voile under my make up
Trying out the White Diamond Ice Glow Mask which is perfect for dehydrated skin. My hands felt so pampered and smooth after only 10 minutes.
Jessica's Blog 