Even though Hylamide is gaining popularity in the Northern hemisphere, it’s still a relatively unknown brand here in Australia. It’s currently available in Priceline but the selection is not as wide. It’s not one of those brands that are quickly swept up during Priceline’s highly popular 40% skincare sales (unlike brands like, say, Bioderma and La Roche-Posay). It’s a pity because they’ve got very good stuff. I’m a fan of their affordable and very effective Low-Molecular HA serum and have purchased many bottles of it.

Since I ran out of my Vitamin C serum, I thought I’d give their C25 serum a go. It has received a lot of positive reviews and for a high-percentage Vitamin C serum under AU$50, this should have been a sure-win.

The thing is, even though my skin liked it, I didn’t.

Description:
Concentrated Booster encourages increase and decrease in skin tone appearance to create controlled functional confusion for a novel, fast-tracked approach to a radiant, healthy skin tone. Ethyl-Ascorbate Complex (25% pure Ethyl-Ascorbic Acid). Extraordinarily stable complex from the Ascorbic Acid (vitamin C) family to encourage an even, smooth and glowing skin appearance.

Ingredients:
Ethoxydiglycol, ethyl ascorbic acid, hydroxyphenoxy propionic acid, phenylethyl resorcinol

As far as skincare goes, this has got to be the one skincare product that has the shortest list of ingredients I’ve ever seen. Heck, even water in a pressurised can contained more ingredients! Not that I have a problem with that of course; if that very short list of ingredients is enough to give my skin positive results, I sure as heck am not complaining!

I’ve tried a good number of Vitamin C serums and all of them either came in a gel-like serum form or they feel like water. Most of them smelled like oranges, which you know is one of my favourite scents. This is different. In fact, I wouldn’t even call it a serum because despite looking like water in the bottle, it’s actually oily to the touch. It also has a rather chemical scent that, while isn’t offensive, isn’t really my cup of tea. But hey, I’ve loved beauty products with worse scents so the smell of the C25 wasn’t a dealbreaker.

The dealbreaker was, unfortunately, the oil. It’s not a dry oil and it doesn’t absorb quickly onto the skin. At least, not in my experience. Just a few drops isn’t sufficient for my skin so I find myself needing at least 1/3 of the dropper to cover all of my face, neck and decolletage (half a dropper would be even better). The problem with this is that it made my face very oily. I wouldn’t have minded it much if it was a dry oil but the product just sat on my face, making my face look like a greasy wok after a stirfry. As I prefer to use Vitamin C serums during the day (Vitamin C increases the efficiency of sunscreens), all that oiliness didn’t bode well.

On the other hand, it worked well on my skin. It perked my skin up and made it radiant. My skin was quite sallow and dull after 2 weeks of traveling, and the C25 helped to brighten it up after using this daily when I returned to Melbourne. It evened out my patchy post-travel skin tone. I didn’t experience any breakouts with the C25, even though it made my skin feel really oily.

So you see, I like and dislike it at the same time. It’s a great Vitamin C serum and is more than comparable to Vitamin C serums from high-end brands. The positive results it gave my skin was commendable. I just wish it really did feel like water instead of making my skin so damn oily. I’ve tried adding drops of this to my moisturiser to reduce the oiliness and while that helped to tone the oiliness down, I’d much prefer applying it directly on my skin instead of needing to mix it with another medium.

Will I be repurchasing this? Gosh, that’s a tough question. So far, I haven’t encountered any high-percentage Vitamin C serum that costs under AU$50 that gives me such good results (I don’t believe in DIY skincare. I’ll tell you why in a future blog post). I’d say I’d most like repurchase the C25, even if I have to suck it up with the oily texture and feeling on my skin.

Hylamide’s C25 Stabilised Vitamin C Booster retails at AU$49.99 for 30ml and is available at Priceline pharmacies. The reason I kept saying it’s under AU$50 is that Priceline sometimes does sales on Hylamide products so I usually get mine at at least 20% off.

What I like about it: High-percentage Vitamin C, brightens my skin and gives it a lovely radiance. Evens out my skin tone.

What I do not like about it: It’s very oily on the skin (not a dry oil). A few drops aren’t sufficient for the skin so the more product I need and use, the oily my skin becomes. I wouldn’t mind the oiliness as much if I used it during the evenings but Vitamin C serums are best used during the day, so the oiliness can be a bit of an inconvenience.

Have you tried the Hylamide C25? What are your thoughts on it? How did you find the oily texture? Did the C25 give your skin positive results? What are your favourite Vitamin C products?

Copyright © Beautyholics Anonymous

I’m writing this on the high I’m still feeling from Melbourne Marathon 10km race I did yesterday. After months of training, I finally hit the 10km mark. I knew that after last year’s first 5km race, this year I wanted to do the 10km. And I did!

Compared to my first 5km race last year, I kept this year’s race pretty low key. Unfortunately, I didn’t do any fund-raising this year and I didn’t mention on the blog that I would be running the 10k at the Melbourne Marathon. To be honest, I didn’t think I’d be able to do the race because three weeks leading to the race, I was hit with the worst cold I’ve had in many years and it left me completely depleted of energy. I stopped training for almost a month because I could hardly walk, let alone run. I was seriously *this* close to pulling out.

Norlin, LeGeeque and I before the race started

I was a bundle of nerves a few days leading up to the race. Heck, I couldn’t even sleep the night before! Still, come race day morning, I was suddenly overwhelmed with excitement and adrenaline, and I knew that even if I had to walk the last 2km (I had only trained up to a maximum of 8km then, so running the 10km would be the longest I’ve ever run so far), I will cross that red finish line.

Race day conditions were perfect. It wasn’t warm but it wasn’t cold either. It was very windy the day before and some of that head wind continued on during race day, but it was tolerable. It was an overcast day with threats of rain but not a drop fell out of the sky throughout the entire marathon.

The atmosphere at the race was absolutely fantastic. Strangers were cheering strangers, motivating them to keep going. I high-fived a lot of kids during the run, ate a jelly snake handed out by a lady giving out free sweets to runners and laughed out loud at many of the motivational signs people were carrying (one said “Imagine Liam Hemsworth waiting for you at the finish line holding a puppy“. Another said “it’s a lot of work for a free banana“. Mind you, I didn’t even get a damn banana. )

I was pretty tired by the time I hit the 8km mark but I could see the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG – where the finish line is), so I pushed myself with whatever fuel I had left. When I finally entered the MCG, oh, hearing the cheers from the crowd and seeing the finish line, seeing Tim waiting for me close to the finish line, I sprinted as though my feet was on fire.

Even though my pace wasn’t as good as I expected, I’m so glad I ran the 10km race. This is why runners are addicted to running; that high feeling you get when you’ve reached the finish line … I can’t even describe how freaking awesome it is. The energy of the race, the cheers you get from strangers, giving your all as you shout “YES!” when you reach the finish line … that’s why I do this.

The best part of the run yesterday was running it with Norlin and LeGeeque. Norlin and I ran the 10km and LeGeeque did her first half marathon. Even though we weren’t running together, it was motivation enough that we were running the same race. After Norlin and I had finished our 10km, we waited for LeGeeque to enter the MCG and screamed ourselves silly cheering her on as she reached the finish line.

I have another 10km race coming up in December, and that will be my last race of the year. Next year, I’ll be training for the 15km race and hopefully, by the time I hit 40, I’ll be able to run the half marathon. Fingers crossed, eh?

Ahhh … someone bring me down from the clouds now. I’m still high as a kite.

Are you a runner too? What was your first race like? If you’ve never run a race before, I can’t recommend it enough!

Copyright © Beautyholics Anonymous

Even though the weather is Melbourne is slightly crazy at the moment, there’s no doubt that the days are slowly but surely getting warmer. With the change in seasons and temperature, it also means that it’s time I make some changes to my skincare routine and bid adieu to rich creams for the next few months.

My skin has changed a lot over the past few years, especially after entering my 30s. Even though my T-zone is still oily, it’s not as oily as it used to be compared to my 20s. It tends to get dehydrated quickly and every now and then, it would develop dry, flaky and rough patches that feel like fine sandpaper. It becomes worse in winter and thankfully not so much in summer. When the weather gets warmer, I tend to use light creams and favour gels. Nothing heavy goes on my skin; in fact, summer months is the time I don’t touch facial oils at all because for some reason, my skin don’t like them. Having said that, there are still some products that are non-negotiable and remain in my skincare routine all year long.

Here’s what I’ve been using lately. My skin is loving the change and hasn’t given me any grief so far. I’d call that an improvement, wouldn’t you?

Day:

• SKII Facial Treatment Essence
• Olay Regenerist Miracle Boost Youth Pre-Essence (I normally use a hyaluronic acid serum e.g. Paula Choice’s RESIST Hyaluronic Acid Booster or Hylamide Low Molecular HA Booster but this serum works just as well).
• Hylamide C25 Stabilised Vitamin C Booster
• Philosophy Take A Deep Breath Eye Cream*
• Olay Age Defying 2-in-1 Anti-Wrinkle Day Cream + Serum (this range is currently not available in Australia. I picked this up in Vienna, hence the German name. Interesting how it’s called Olaz there and not Olay).
• L’Oreal UV Perfect Aqua Essence SPF30 (unfortunately, this isn’t available in Australia too. I bought this in Malaysia. Wish it was available in Australia because it’s a great sunscreen and makeup base).

Evening:

• SKII Facial Treatment Essence
• Olay Regenerist Miracle Boost Youth Pre-Essence
• Glow by Dr Brandt Overnight Resurfacing Serum / Cosmetic Skin Solutions Resurfacing Serum (I alternate between these two on a nightly basis)
• Medik8 Hydr8 Night Eye Vitamin Rich Eye Cream*
• Philosophy Take A Deep Breath Oxygenating Gel Cream* + 5 drops of Clarins’ Booster Energy

It’s not a life-changing skincare routine but so far, it’s showing positive results on my skin. The Philosophy moisturiser is light enough for the warmer months but still hydrating enough (especially when mixed with a few drops of Clarins’ Booster Energy) to keep my skin well moisturised throughout the night and not having to wake up to dry and tight skin.

Come at me, summer. My skin is ready for you!

Does your skincare routine change when the seasons change? For my Northern hemisphere readers, now that the weather is getting cooler for you, how does your skincare routine change to accommodate the cooler temperatures?

Copyright © Beautyholics Anonymous

© Gratisography

By now, it’s no secret that beauty bloggers receive a good amount of beauty samples from PRs and brands for editorial consideration. Over the years, I’m thankful to have received my fair share of beauty products that were sent to my by PRs for review, even though a lot of them don’t make the cut of a mention on the blog. This is simply the reality of blogging product reviews; there really is just so much one can use and it’s not realistic that every single thing we received can be reviewed on the blog.

The thing is, with the rampant growth of the number of beauty blogs on the blogosphere, brands and PRs also need to be selective of the bloggers they send products to. They’ll have to pick and choose the right kind of bloggers that would suit the clients they represent as they cannot send products to ALL of the beauty bloggers out there. It’s just not possible and it makes sense for them to be picky.

What doesn’t make sense is the need to pit bloggers against each other in order for bloggers to get said beauty products for review. I’ve actually seen competitions held by PRs for beauty bloggers to compete against each other and the prize is a chance to win beauty products to review on the blog. So, instead of selecting the right bloggers to review their products and send the products to the bloggers directly, these competitions offer bloggers a chance to win these products, which they in turn will have to use and review on their blogs.

To enter such competitions, bloggers would have to either write a blog post about how awesome it would be to win the products (hence, a free mention of the brand on the blog) and/or post on social media about how awesome it would be to win the products (again, a free mention of the brand on the blog). All the hoops to jump, just to win all these free PR samples to review! The winner would then be required to review the “prizes” on his/her blog but by then, all of the bloggers who have entered the competition would have already given so much free publicity to the brand and in the end, the ones who didn’t win leave with nothing.

Needless to say, such competitions leave a sour note in my mouth. I hate it when bloggers are pitted against each other to do shit like that. The blogosphere is already saturated with beauty bloggers who are finding it hard to make a name for themselves; there’s no need for extra competition to “win” products that they have to review. We are not that hard up for PR samples!

PRs, if we’re not the right fit for your client, please don’t send the products to us to review. If you feel that we are but you’re not sure, please write to us and get a conversation going on what we can/cannot do for you. We bloggers don’t need to have to compete against each other. Bloggers, please stay away from such competitions. It’s not a win-win situation for both PRs and bloggers. It’s often a win-lose, where we bloggers get the shorter end of the stick.

Okay, time to get off the podium now. Sigh … such competitions really get my knickers in a twist and it’s no wonder why. We need to be supporting each other, not competing against each other for – of all things – free beauty products.

What are your thoughts on such blogging competitions?

Copyright © Beautyholics Anonymous

There are a few relationships in the world that are important to keep. I’m not talking about romantic relationships or relationships with your family. For me, there are a few relationships that I make sure I keep, and they’re my GP, the employees of my local post office, the people who take care of my dog Janey when we’re away, my regular phlebotomist (oh yeah, I have one) and my hairstylist.

Ahh … those relationships. You get what I mean now, don’t you?

Before I came to Australia, there was a hair salon I’d go to regularly for blowdries, haircuts and hair colour work. It’s not a fancy salon. It’s a cheap, neighbourhood salon that is often overcrowded with people and cluttered with hairstyling paraphernalia. Even though I could get better haircut and hair colour work elsewhere, I always go back to that salon because as a regular customer and also someone whom they’ve watched grow up, I always received special treatment from them. My head massages are often slightly longer than the rest, the staff secretly use better hair products on me than the generic stuff, and I always get a bowl of sweet dessert soup during my hair appointment. It was with a heavy heart that I had to say goodbye to them (and their RM10 – approximately AU$3 at that time – blowdries) when I moved to Australia.

It took me a while to find a good hairstylist when I came to Australia. When I finally did, I thought I’d hit the jackpot. Going for my hair appointments was a lot of fun because my hairstylist, hair colourist and I would chat for hours on end during my hair appointments. I was a regular customer for 3-4 years before I stopped going to them, mainly because they were getting far too expensive for me. It’s not their fault; it’s first and foremost a business to run. I’ve since found another hair salon to frequent but it took me a long time to get over the feeling as though I was cheating on my hairstylist.

So what makes one go back to their hair-person other than just for good haircuts? In my experience, it’s the service and the familiarity with the staff that makes me go back, even if I may get better haircuts and colour elsewhere. I went to the same hair salon for years because of the good service I received, even though the haircuts were really just mediocre. My dad went to the same Indian barber for 30+ years because he didn’t only give very cheap haircuts, he gave my dad fantastic neck twists (scares me shitless but dad insists they’re great, even though the barber doesn’t have any formal, er, head twisting training). He was devastated when he found out that the old barber had passed away and to keep up with the tradition of good haircuts and neck twists, he now goes to that late barber’s son for haircuts.

On the other hand, if the haircuts and colour are very good but the service is mediocre, I’m happy to never return to that hair salon. I’d rather find another salon to go to than having to endure lousy service, even if I do look like a million bucks when I leave the salon. The thing is, what’s the point of looking like a million bucks if I don’t feel like a million bucks when I walk out of the salon? If I end up feeling resentful and angry at the lack of service I received, then it’s clear that the salon will not receive any future business from me. That’s how important good service has become. Of course, if the service is very good but the hair job is terrible, then that’s a different story altogether. I mean, I love good service but not that much!

But hey, that could just be me, of course. Different people have different criteria when it comes to frequenting the same hair salons and what makes them go back for more. Personally, I put great service in higher importance than a fantastic haircut and colour job. I may look like a hundred thousand bucks instead of a million, but if I came out feeling like a million, then that million is what I’d go back for.

A hundred thousand bucks ain’t too bad.

What about you? Do you have a regular hair-person you go to? What makes you go back to him/her repeatedly? If you have to choose, would you prefer great cuts/colour over service? Or great service over not-so-fantastic cuts/colour?

Copyright © Beautyholics Anonymous

A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog post on hoarding complimentary hotel toiletries and it was a hoot and a half reading your comments because so many of us and our mothers bring home hotel samples too. See, it’s not just an Asian thing.

I thought I’d do a short bit of a part 2 of hoarding complimentary hotel toiletries today because, erm, I went a little nuts bringing home hotel toiletries from my recent trip to Vienna and Budapest. Now I usually don’t bring home hotel toiletries that come in bottles, especially not when I have to lug the heavy items across the seas. The items I usually take home with me are shower caps, cotton pads, cotton buds and the occasional toothbrush. I sure as heck do not bring home shampoos, conditioners, body washes and body lotions.

Well, that changed this trip because I couldn’t bring back enough! Obviously I wouldn’t leave these behind, not when they’re Molton Brown and Lanvin!

The Molton Brown goodies came from a small hotel we stayed at Vienna. I was pleasantly surprised that even though it was a small hotel (not part of any international hotel chain), it provided a lot of free amenities and Molton Brown toiletries. The sneaky Asian in me decided to keep most of the toiletries away in my luggage in hopes that they would replenish the next day when housekeeping came to make up the room. The next day, they replenished. I hid them away again. Unfortunately, this was when housekeeping caught on to my sneakiness and for the next 2 days, they no longer replenished the body wash, body lotion, shampoo and conditioner. Damn.

Still, I managed to lug home a good amount with me, which I’ll be bringing with me in my future travels. Hah! You can’t beat me at my game, housekeeping!

We stayed at the Sofitel at Budapest and they provided Lanvin toiletries that smelled and felt heavenly. This time, the hotel was very generous in replenishing the room stock, which was why I brought home even more. Sneaky schneaky.

Oh I know, I know! My Asian-ness is showing. Mum would be so proud.

Now that I know that some of you do hoard complimentary hotel toiletries, do you hide the good ones in hopes that the hotel replenishes your stock? LOL!

Copyright © Beautyholics Anonymous

Happy hump day!

We’re coming to the end of September and as usual, shops are already putting up their Christmas decorations for sale. Heck, Halloween isn’t even here yet!

For the past couple of months, I’ve been getting a lot of requests for the 2017 weekly and monthly planner printables (one request even came in June!). The 2016 ones that I did last year were very popular and I’m so glad so many of you liked them. I’ve been working on the 2017 planners for a few weeks and I’m proud to announce that they’re finally available for you to download. For free!

Even though I use Google Calendar to mark important dates and events, I still use an old school paper diary and calendar for my day-to-day needs. These printable planners will be great for me to start planning 2017 (it’s never too early to start planning!) and I hope you find them useful too.

There are two designs to each set of planners. Feel free to use either one or both!

Right-click on the download link below and select “Save Target As”. It will be an 11.2MB zipped file. You’ll need a PDF reader to open the individual files. I’ve included printing instructions in each file. If you have any issues downloading the file, please let me know in the comments below. Please note that the file may not work or download properly if downloaded via a mobile device.

Here comes the boring but essential disclaimer: these planner printables are for personal use only. You may print and reproduce for personal use in any amount you wish. The physical product resulting from printing the files is not allowed to be sold in any way or form. The original digital files or edits of it are not allowed to redistributed and sold.

Have fun and let me know what you think about them!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE PRINTABLES

Happy planning!

Copyright © Beautyholics Anonymous

Vienna State Opera

Hello lovely readers!

I’m back from my holiday! Okay, to be fair, I was back a week ago but there were pressing issues such as unpacking, battling jetlag, doing 9 loads of laundry, cleaning up a very dusty house and then falling sick after all that to really tell you the holiday’s definitely over and you have a shit tonne of things to do that took my energy away from blogging. But, that’s just me whinging, and screw all that; I’m definitely back and I’ve missed you!

Oh absence sure makes the heart grow fonder, doesn’t it?

Vienna and Budapest were smashing. Absolutely smashing! I wanted to spam Instagram with a lot more photos but my phone’s camera just couldn’t do the beautiful cities justice. Vienna has always been in my travel bucket list of cities to visit and I’m so glad I get to check that off my list. I don’t know why I’ve never thought of visiting Budapest before; it turned out to be even more spectacular than I expected!

St Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna

There were a lot of ups and downs of the trip; thankfully far more ups than downs. The weather turned out to be far warmer than I expected (I’ve been monitoring the weather forecast religiously too!) and most of the long-sleeved tops I brought with me ended up unused. I don’t know why, but the European heat seems to be a lot stronger than our Aussie heat even when we have the same weather so it was hot most of the time we were there. The one pair of shorts I brought with me on whim ended up being worn daily for 2 weeks. You can imagine how absolutely disgusting it smelled on the last day of the trip!

Here are some of the highlights of the trip in no particular order. Writing them down sure brings back many lovely memories.

1. Watching an opera and musical that weren’t in English

Tim decided that since we were going to Vienna, we had to watch an opera at the Vienna State Opera (mind you, he never was a fan of operas). We decided on Bizet’s Carmen. The tickets were beyond expensive and even that could only score us a seat on the second last floor on the very last row. Heck, the people on stage looked like ants; we were that far back! The 2 euros I spent on renting a pair of binoculars came in very handy . It was terribly stuffy in the theatre (there was no AC on despite the large audience) but the entire opera still managed to take our breath away. The whole thing was in done in French but we had a small LCD monitor right in front of our seats with English subtitles.

Funny thing is, people can actually watch the entire opera outside the theatre on a large screen for free! There were different operas playing every evening. Up to an hour before the show starts, there would be a large group of people claiming their seats on the benches and even on the floor. But watching it in the theatre amidst ladies in long flowing gowns and cocktails dresses and men in suits … now that was an experience! Australians are typically very casual with their theatre attire back in Australia but in Vienna, they really step it up. Even though I wore a dress, I was severely underdressed and stood out like the tourist that I was.

The second show we watched was the Billy Elliot musical in Budapest. This was interesting because the entire show (including the songs) was done in Hungarian. There was a large LCD screen above the stage with English subtitles, which I suspect was the transcript of the original show done in English. It didn’t even matter that the show was in Hungarian; it was so good! Best of all, we spent under AU$17 per person to watch that awesome musical and our seats weren’t half bad either.

Hofburg Palace, Vienna

2. Exploring the city of Vienna by myself

The reason we were in Vienna was for a conference that Tim attended. For two days, I explored the city myself while the poor bloke was stuck in a small and stuffy room (aww!) in the University of Vienna. While I love exploring new cities and discovering new things with Tim, there’s something about doing it myself that makes it just a little bit more interesting yet intimidating. I ended up going to a show at the Spanish Riding School, took a hop-on-hop-off bus outside the city to check out the sights, explored little lanes, nooks and crannies. Even though I’m always very wary of my surroundings when I’m by myself in a strange new location, I didn’t feel intimidated or scared walking by myself even in the small, secluded lanes in Vienna.

Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna

3. Doing a culinary walk tour in Budapest

Tim signed us up for this and I must say, it was such a tour worth taking, especially if you enjoy trying new food and drinks. Our tour was carried out in English and it was a small group of us, two of us from Australia and four others from the US. We started off the day by drinking . It was a very strong medicinal liqueur called Unicum and we bought some home with us. Then it was a lot of eating and walking and eating some more. The tour guide brought us to places the locals would go to, introducing different types of food to us, telling us the history behind certain foods (my favourite part!) and in between, we just kept eating. It was a good thing we walked so much because we ate so much! If you’re visiting Budapest for the first time, I highly recommend checking out the culinary walk tour from Taste Hungary.

4. Eating as much Hungarian goulash and drinking as much Wiener Melanges as possible

Speaking of eating and drinking, it wouldn’t be right if they weren’t a highlight of my trip now would it? In Vienna, I fell in love with the Viennese coffee called Wiener Melange (it’s like cappucino but instead of just hot frothy milk, they add whipped cream to the coffee too. Freshly whipped cream, not the ones from the can) and drank it as often as I could. I wasn’t a big fan of their famous schnitzels and strudels but boy oh boy, do I love their coffee. In Budapest, I ate so much goulash soup that just before our trip was over, I bought hot and sweet paprika and Googled the crap out of Hungarian goulash recipes so that I can make them at home. When we were in Budapest, except for one lunch and all breakfasts, I had goulash every day. That was how good their goulashes were. Just writing about it now is making me miss goulash so much!

Szechenyi Baths, Budapest

5. Spa-ing at the Szechenyi Baths at Budapest

Budapest is famous for their many thermal springs and baths and naturally, we had to check one out. We went to the famous Szechenyi Baths, which was the biggest spring-baths place I’ve ever seen. They had 3 large baths outdoors (the size of swimming pools) and many more indoors. We spent most of our time at the outdoor pool. I actually forgot to bring my swimming costume and thought I could buy it in Vienna or Budapest cheaply since they were already heading towards winter and us summer here in Australia. I must have missed all of their sales because not a single store I went to – Zara, H&M, Forever 21, and many of their local stores – sold swimwear! In the end, I picked up a pair of running shorts from H&M and wore my sports bra with it instead. Hey, it worked!

New York Cafe in Budapest, known as the most beautiful cafe in the world. Beautiful, oh yes. The coffee? At 6 euros a cup, it was pretty lousy.

6. Experiencing a Michelin-star restaurant at prices that cost less than many no-hat restaurants in Australia

Tim’s best mate suggested that we try out a Michelin-star restaurant in Budapest, because it would be one of the cheapest places to try one out compared to anywhere else in the world. And he was right. We went to Borkonyha Wine Kitchen and what a meal it was! Even thought it was fine dining it was done at a casual and unpretentious setting, and the service was excellent. While our bill wasn’t cheap, it was certainly cheaper than many non-hatted restaurants we’ve been to in Australia.

I woke up to this view in Budapest <3

The Danube, Budapest

7. Not photographing everything but taking a step back and just enjoying the moment

It’s strange that I would say that given that I was in 2 very beautiful cities and that I should want to photograph everything possible. Most of the time, yes, I would whip my phone out and capture a picture (yes a phone! Tim ended up hogging the DSLR which I gladly relinquished that heavy sack of potatoes to him). But sometimes, it was worth taking a step back and just enjoying the time I had in those beautiful cities. For example, we took a night cruise on the Danube River. While it was very crowded, the breeze was lovely and watching all the lights illuminating the beautiful buildings like the Hungarian National Gallery and the Parliament Building; oh they were a sight to behold. Unfortunately, there were also a lot of tourists who wanted to take a gazillion pictures with their phones and cameras (and God forbid, the iPad), so there were a lot of bright flashes every few seconds for the next 45 minutes. We went downstairs where there were barely anyone (because it wasn’t open air) and I found an opening to the outside and just soaked in the breeze and beautiful bright lights. I was glad I didn’t take a single photo on that cruise. The photo above was captured by Tim prior to the cruise.

8. Writing a journal to record the holiday

Prior to the trip, I decided that I would keep a journal for the trip. I’ve never written travel journals before so this was an interesting experiment. By the end of the trip, I can proudly say that it was the best thing I’ve ever done on a holiday and the best souvenir I brought home with me. Tim was so excited to read the journal that he kept bugging me on our flight home “ARE YOU DONE YET???”

One of the two photos of Tim and I taken during the trip that wasn’t selfie-style.

There were so many good things about the trip that writing them all done here would take many blog posts. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my highlights in Vienna and Budapest. I never thought I’d be able to visit these cities and I’m so very glad I did because they were just so beautiful. Every corner was a wow moment. If you’ve never been to Vienna and/or Budapest, I highly recommend them! I would love to be back, especially to Budapest because I just haven’t seen (nor eaten!) enough of the beautiful city.

The city of Budapest (photographed at the Citadella)

Some day, perhaps.

Have you been to Vienna and/or Budapest? If not, are these cities on your travel bucket list too? If you have, what was your favourite place to visit?

Copyright © Beautyholics Anonymous

© ddouk

Happy Monday, fellow BA-ers!

Just a quick note to let you know that I’ll be taking a short break from the blog as I’ll be leaving for two beautiful cities that I’m finally checking off my bucket list tonight. Vienna and Budapest, here I come!

If you’d like to follow my adventures, I’ll be sharing pictures on Instagram and Facebook. I’ve got a lot planned in my travel itinerary this time and I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am for this trip. There’ll be culinary walks, relaxing at a spa, and heck, even catching an opera! I’ll be back soon with stories about the trip and who knows, maybe a souvenir or two for one of you.

Till then, auf wiedersehen!

Copyright © Beautyholics Anonymous

I’ve seen the reaction of a lot of women who came across the popular 10-step skincare routine the Koreans are famous for. “Geez, who has the time for all that?!” And believe you me, there are times when I can’t even be arsed to do all that. Most of us just don’t have the time to do that whole 10-step skincare routine. Heck, sometimes, even the famous 3-step skincare routine made popular by Clinique seem like 2 steps too many!

So what are we do to when we still want to take good care of our skin but we just don’t have the time to slap on cream after cream after cream?

Simplify the process

As much as I wax lyrical about layering serums, using facial sheet masks and pretty much having a 10-step skincare routine, to be honest, you don’t actually have to do all that if you don’t have the time to do so. I try my hardest not to skip any steps during the day and evening but there are times when I’m just too bone-tired or sick to carry out so many steps in my usual routine. When I do cheat (not often but it does happen), I simplify the process and skip what’s not really necessary. I would still double-cleanse to remove all the grime on my face but I won’t stand in front of the mirror massaging my skin with cleansing balm for a minute lest I fall asleep in front of it. I’d do a quick once-over with cleansing balm and then hop into the shower and use a cream cleanser. I’d skip toner and use a hydrating essence instead. Instead of layering my serums, I’d just use one serum that contains hyaluronic acid. During the day, a sunscreen is still a must but in the evenings, sometimes I’d skip the eye cream and slather on a nice, rich night cream and let it do the job.

My simplified, need-to-get-out-of-the-house-fast or feeling-sick-as-dog routine would look something like this:

• Day: cleanse, hydrating essence, moisturiser with high SPF. Done!
• Evening: cleanse with cleansing balm (if I’m sick and have to stay at home all day, I don’t double-cleanse), cleanse again with cream cleanser, hydrating essence, hyaluronic acid serum, eye cream (sometimes I may skip this), rich moisturiser. Done!

Use multitasking products

A great way to simplify the process and quicken the routine is to use good multitasking products. Use a good all-rounder serum that will not only give that hydrated boing-boing to the skin, but will also give you radiant, soft and smooth skin. I like to layer my serums but when I don’t have the time, I’ll just use a multitasking serum instead. A very good one to use would be Estee Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair. During the day, instead of applying moisturiser and then a separate layer of sunscreen, go ahead and apply a generous amount of moisturiser with high SPF instead. I recommend Olay’s Complete Defence Daily UV Moisturising Lotion SPF30+ or their Regenerist Micro-Sculpting UV Cream SPF30.

Even though sometimes it feels as though we need more than 24 hours a day and that we just don’t have the time to for anything else let alone a skincare routine, it’s important that we still allocate just a little bit of time to take care of our skin. Keep skincare for the day quick and simple but in the evenings when we have to wash all that grime and stress off our bodies, think of it as a good time to wind down, relax and take just 5-10 minutes for our skin. Our heart rate slows down as we take the time to take care of our skin and when we aren’t rushing about and slapping creams on our face quickly (I know this thanks to my new heart rate monitor watch ).

Try not to skip the steps when you can. Take a bit of time to enjoy the skincare application process. But know that when you are really pressing for time, you can still take as much care for your skin as possible with these steps.

Good luck!

Do you sometimes cheat with your skincare routine when you’re rushing for time? What do you skip and what are non-negotiables?

Copyright © Beautyholics Anonymous