Review: Cledbel Face Lift Solution, Super Miracle Lifting Mask

Name: Cledbel Face Lifting Mask
Price: $32.90 (Buy on Qoo10)
Volume: 70ml
Rating: 1/5

I've been conscious about my smile lines for the longest time so when I saw Cledbel's face lift solution promoting on Qoo10 last early november, the beauty product enthusiast in me perked up.

Review: Pool Party Hostel (Siam Reap, Cambodia)

Name: Pool Party Hostel
Address: #0568, Group 5 , Vihear Chin Village , Svay Dangkum Commune, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Website: Booking.com

I stayed 4 nights at the Pool Party Hostel in Siam Reap and here’s my little review.

Review: Omo White Plus Soap Mix

Product name : Omo White Plus Soap Mix
Price: $5.50 + $1.70(shipping) (Qoo10 link)
Rating: 2/5

And so this whitening soap was making its round on Qoo10's digital newsletter and caught my eye. This is a whitening soap from Thailand that appears to be making waves in taiwan. Many Qoo10 buyers commented that whitening was observed after just one use and I decided to try it out.

I had just received a tan from a two weeks tour to Cambodia and Thailand and was desperate to get it off. I also have tan lines on my body that tattle taled my every day dressing styles so I thought this product was perfect for me.

Price & Packaging

At $6.60 a bar (that's how much I spent before it's current sale), the soap stands on the slightly expensive side for me. I started using the soap on 25th September and after a month of every day use, the soap is almost spent. Might not be the best value for money product.

The packaging is cute and the rainbow coloured soap is Instagram worthy. There are small black sesame seeds (or what looks like one ) dotted within the soap.

Texture & Fragrances

The soap smelt like old, dried Pandan leaves - which I'm not a fan of. But it is mild enough to overlook.

I placed my bar in a netted bag which I used to foam it up and bring all over my body. It doesn't take much effort to create foam but the quality of the foam is not very dense. I'm guessing it has a very high soap content.

Effects

My skin feels dry after showering and needed substantial amount of body lotion to soothe the dryness. My skin instantly brightens up after I apply body lotion.

Unlike the YouTube review video here, I didn't bother letting the foam sit on my skin. Since this is a cleaning product, I think it is unlikely there is any significant ingredients worth soaking in. Not to mention prolonged contact with cleansing foam will only aggravate dryness.

Here are some pictures of my legs for your references. Please don't laugh at my stubby short legs. I admit that my legs did look somewhat fairer in the subsequent pictures but like I mentioned, I was tanned after a holiday. Given near a month of wait, it was only natural that my skin would slowly regain its fairness so it's hard to pin the credit to the soap.

Conclusion

To be honest, I don't think I noticed any significant whitening. I didn't bother taking photos Everyday because I was too lazy and I doubt it would have mattered.

To a certain extent, my legs actually looked worse after the soap. The soap bar seemed to have made my skin dehydrated and dull. Overall , not recommended.

Day trip to Johor Bahru

I spent a wonderful and simple day at Johor Bahru yesterday with a Friend. Our old fogey bodies were aching and in need of some professional squeezing (lol). But daunted by the high cost of a massage session in Singapore, we decided a day trip to Johor Bahru was the only way to set things right.

Obviously, this isn't my first trip to Johor Bahru. But I've always gone with either locals or people who knew what they were doing. I've never ventured into JB by myself despite the close proximity because a solo female trip to the city was frowned upon by everyone around me. That is until this year where I was encouraged by circumstances to step foot into the city alone.

Anyway, I decided to blog about this day trip even thought it's a well-trodden path to give people who are new to Johor Bahru a bit of assurance (if I can do it, so can you!)  and travel inspiration.

We ended church sometime after 12 noon and hailed a cab straight to the Woodlands Checkpoint.

If you intend to take a bus, you can either catch 950 in Woodlands interchange or 170 at Kranji MRT Station. I personally prefer 170 as the frequency of the buses are better. The bus stop is just beside the cake shop at level 1 of the MRT station. Turn right when you exit the station gantry.

Review: Four Seasons House (Seoul)

Name: Four Seasons House
Address: 39-5, World Cup-ro 5-gil, Mapo-gu, Mapo-Gu, 121-885 Seoul, South Korea
Website: Booking.com

I spent 3 nights at Four Seasons House when I was in Seoul this april and this is my short review of the place.

Review: Flatana Botanical Mayouncin Super Serum

I can't remember how long I've been using this product but I've gone through at least two bottles of this essence. I started using it when it was still using its old packaging more than a year ago.

Name: Flatana Botanical Mayouncin Super Serum
Price:  S$19.90 (Qoo10)
Volume: 30 ml
Rating: 2.5/5

The seller on Qoo10 claims that this serum consists of 87% pure botanical mucin and 99.7% of high purity botanical extracts. The product claims to help in oil controlling, moisturising, firming , elasticity, wrinkles and whitening. I always try to review a product after I've properly tested it to avoid hazy and unreliable reviews and I'm mighty glad I did it with this product too. 

How I made the Police siren ring in Mongolia

And so my travel adventures or rather, misadventures continues. Apparently even in a distinctively Asian Country, my vulnerable and suspicious tourist behaviour did not go unnoticed. After my pretty awesome 6 days 5 nights tour in the Gobi Desert, I found myself with 2 more nights in Ulan Baatar; Capital of Mongolia. The city was reminisce of Singapore in the early 90s but with really bad air pollution and close to zero form of public transport. 

 

 

Mongolia weather has always been erratic, it could be sunshine one day and hail storm the other. In October, snow flake flurries come and go. I had prayed to God to give me a bit of my first snow experience and he answered it by giving Ulan Baatar negative degree weather that day. I jumped awake 730am in the morning to the weather report on my sparkling new Samsung Note 4. My phone said UB was snowing, I looked out of the window and … it was snowing! i grinned like a kid and looked across the bunk to the only roommate awake. I gestured and excitedly mouthed the word "snow" to avoid waking anyone up. He didn't even bother to fake enthusiasm, much to my dismay.

Review: Etude House Baking Powder Pore & Bb Deep Cleansing Foam

So I decided to finally try that sample packet of facial cleanser I've had it in my arsenal for God-knows-how-long . I'm not sure what piqued my interest in it but it did and I'm thanking my lucky stars (aka God) for that. The sample satchet was so old I worried it might have expired but thankfully it didn't hehe.

The product amazed me enough to purchase a full sized tube and here is my review after a few weeks of use.

Name: Etude House Baking Powder Pore & Bb Deep Cleansing Foam
Price : USD$9.80 (website), Qoo10 price
Rating : 4.5/5
Size: 150ml

Packaging

The packaging is simple. Just a brightly coloured squeeze tube with a nice, stable foundation. It stands well on its own and that's all I can say about it.

Texture

The cleanser is opaque white and has micro beads in it to help exfoliate. The beads are small and doesn't scratch like some old school exfoliator does. After some massaging the beads seem to melt away.

The cleanser foams up very well and only needs a tiny amount to clean the entire face.

Effect & Usage

It leaves the face feeling squeaky clean without stripping it of it's moisture like some old foam cleansers. I've been avoiding foam cleansers like a plague for the longest time but it seemed like science have came out with new formulas that not only cleans extremely well but moistures too. In fact the skin actually feels supple enough for me to go buzzing around after washing - sans moisturiser .

Of course I don't recommend you do that often because it's best to follow up cleaning with proper skincare procedures. Especially since that is the time your skin absorbs products the best.

The official website says you can use it to remove everyday makeup and it received glowing reviews for that. I haven't actually tried that as I found it hard to clean the areas around my eyes without getting the foam into my eyes haha. Can someone enlighten me? Am I supposed to remove makeup around the eye with makeup cleanser and cotton pad seperately XD?

The amount of foam you create however, will directly affect the squeaky /dry effect on the face. For people with sensitive skin, I recommend getting your hand on a sample satchet like me to test it first. I also only use a tiny pea amount which I concentrate mostly on my T-zone.

Most of the time my face feels clean and nice after the wash and my skin doesn't feel like it's been stripped of it's natural moisture. But there are days that I feel like I overdid things and experienced a day or two of tautness which needed to be compensated with face masking or serum. I try to avoid applying serums these days unless I absolutely have to as they seem to break me out.

Someone on Instagram commented that after going thru a quarter of the tube, it started to dry her skin out a lot. So I alternate this with my Cetaphil cleanser to avoid drying my sensitive and dehydrated skin. Even though this is supposed to be a mild exfoliating product, it's better to be careful.

Conclusion

I highly recommend this cleanser to people with acne prone skin or suffer from blackhead and whitehead problems. My blackheads and whiteheads problem improved significantly after using this product and avoiding serums. My skin is almost acne free now except the occasional zits.

At just USD $9.80, this 150ml product will last a loonnngggggg time. This is my new holy grail!

VLOG: 2 days in Phnom Penh (Cambodia)

I started a new journey again and I’m typing this from my hostel in Bangkok. The journey started in Cambodia Phnom Penh. If you’ve been following me on Facebook, you’d know the journey hadn’t been smooth sailing. I’ll blog more next time but check out my vlog for my 2 days in Phnom Penh!

I ate snakes in the video and it was yummy!

5 weeks and 7 countries in Europe for $4062 USD

Against the advice of many around me, I rejected a promotion, took a hiatus from career climbing and started a crazy travel and soul searching journey last year. I needed a sabbatical break from everything to give myself a chance to do the things I always wanted to do and see the world while I comfortably can. It’s all a little crazy and difficult to explain but explaining that is not my objective today. I’m here today, to share my itinerary for my 5.3 weeks in Europe in hope of helping someone plan their next escapade.
 

Many friends have been asking me for recommendation and travel advice to Europe. After spending 3 weeks agonising over this itinerary, I reckon I should share my fruits of labour. Other than listing out the itinerary and brief logistic arrangements, I will also delve into my reasons for visiting that destination so you can decide if it’s suitable for your trip.