Hong Kong, January 2014: Day 1

I had Air Asia tickets for two expiring next month, so Dada & I decided to fly to Macau last weekend. Thing is though, we don't really go to casinos, and so we had this brilliant idea to fly to Macau, but stay in Hong Kong for the duration of our stay.

 

One thing I like about flying Air Asia? No lines. 

No lines at the x-ray machine, no lines when you pay the airport tax and terminal fee, no lines at the ticketing counter, no lines at immigration. We literally breezed through the normally arduous airport process at the other NAIA terminals.

Getting to Hong Kong was another story. Due to flight delays, it was almost 6 pm by the time we arrived in Macau.

Right after we cleared immigration and picked up our luggage from the carousel, we headed out to the Taipa Temporary Ferry Terminal to catch our ferry to Hong Kong. We got our tickets and went through immigration in 10 minutes, enough to catch the Cotai Water Jet bound for Hong Kong that was leaving in 5 minutes.

That's not bad at all, I know. But see, riding the ferry was not pleasant. At all. 

When my friend Miriam told me to take Bonamine, I should have taken her advice seriously. I was practically singing myself a lullaby, convincing myself that I was being gently lulled to sleep when in reality, I was thisclose to throwing up. Thank goodness for the Rio Mints I had in my bag, that somehow distracted me from my ordeal.

I told Dada as we stepped out, "Never again will I take a ferry! Ever!" Which I belatedly realized was something we had to do again when we leave for HK to fly out from Macau. Eeeeek. So I said, "When we go back, we have to stay at the top deck of the ferry na, Cotai First Class, baby!" Lolz.

That's what I get for thinking this Macau-HK-Macau sojourn was going to be a fun adventure. Well it was naman.

Because once we stepped into Pacific Place, all was forgotten.

Still, tired, hungry and having no energy to venture out into the famous streets of Hong Kong to look for food, as soon as we checked ourselves in at JW Marriott (Hello Mr, & Mrs. Stoeckl!), we headed out to Great Food Hall at the basement of Pacific Place, where we ended up at Triple-Os by Canadian burger chain White Spot.

Because when you're tired and hungry, it seems nothing satisfies that empty pit in your stomach like hunkering down to a big, greasy burger and fries. Or maybe that's just us. Haha.

I mean, just look at this baby. Nothing close to a Shake Shack burger, but I'll take it.

By the time we finished dinner and had walked around the grocery store, enthralled by all the food choices, all we wanted was to go back to our room and rest. Friday gone, just like that, but it was an experience like nothing I have ever experienced before. All in all, I was happy to be back in Hong Kong. Besides, I was looking forward to the whole of Saturday which was dedicated to eating and shopping!

That said, I just wanted to share with you at how pleased I am to have realized that all those sample sized tubes and bottles of cleansers, moisturizers and serums can come in very handy during short weekend trips! I used to lug around all my regular sized products, too resistant to transfer them into travel containers. But then, I had this eureka moment! Why didn't I even think of this before?

Since I still breastfeed Xavi, I also brought along a sample sized pouch of  Cradle bottle cleanser to wash my bottle and breast pump parts with, that was just enough to use for our stay! I don't know if it's just me, but I really get a kick out of these things. Heehee.

Day 1 was not heart pumping exciting, but tomorrow, I shall regale you with my Ap Lei Chau finds! OMG!

My French "No Water" Skin Care Routine

I know, I know. I have gone AWOL again. I guess you can say I am still in my adjustment phase. Imagine, a new baby and a new home (yes, we moved three weeks after Xavi was born!), on top of all my other responsibilities. 

So yeah, writing really took a back seat. But anyhoo! I am slowly getting back into the groove of things, and hopefully I can squeeze in more "me time" (which these days means just having enough time to take a bath, nyarks). But ahhh! The bonus of not spending time in front of the computer and having to unpack and organize our stuff also means more time for me to organize my stash of baby and beauty products and testing them on the kiddos (baby prods) and myself (beauty prods). 

I have so many discoveries and re-discoveries. Plus of course my old reliables that I ought to share with you (seriously, I get Aha! moments while using these products when I realize I have been keeping them to myself. To think these are too good to not be shared here in the blog).

But before I go to all those, I'll start off with my starting point for skin care - cleansing. My cleansing routine is sort of revolutionary really. I have tweeted about this on and off for months now, and for my Twitter friends, you know what I am talking about - Garance Dore's "NO WATER" skin cleansing routine.

Yes, you read that right, NO WATER. Tap water that is. Because there's thermal water involved here:

Ok, quick background. Six months or so ago, I happened upon Garance Dore's post on skin care. Apparently, tap water is our skin's worst enemy (I can practically see my friend Kris aka OC Mom in Manila seconding this one, with the statistics to back it up!). 

Garance's dermatologist, or dermato as they say in France, recommended that she stop using water to cleanse her face. And gave her a list of three products to use:

1/ The milk makeup remover Hydrabio Lait
2/ Avène’s Thermal Spring Water
3/ The moisturizing cream Ictyane H.D. “for severe dry skin.”

Then, I realized, I had two huge spray bottles of Avène stashed in our bath - 1 unopened and 1 that I barely used. It was kismet really. Finally a reason for being here, considering the sort of reasons I bought them back when we were still living in Singapore, were really flimsy:

1/ It was on "Buy 1, Take 1" which came out to about SGD $29.90 for 2 or something like that
2/ It's a French beauty brand, a drugstore brand yes, but it's French. So there.
3/ I like the packaging okay?

But since I do not live in France and have limited access to European beauty brands, I made do with the products that worked extremely well for me all these years. So my 3 essential products looked like this:

1/ Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser
2/ Avène’s Thermal Spring Water
3/ SK-II Facial Treatment Essence

Yes, it was with a bit of trepidation that I started eliminating water in my cleansing routine and began sticking to three products. "How effective could it really be?" I thought. Images of blackheads on my nose and yucky skin came into the picture. But since I was staying home most of the time anyway because I was on bed rest, I went ahead and took the plunge, ironically.

Fast forward to 6 months later and you know, my skin has been better than ever! No oiliness, no enlarged pores, not even a zit! None of that "greasy Peking duck" skin Garance was afraid of. She herself said it this way, after taking her dermato's advice:

"But quite quickly, the shine started going down. My skin started to get more supple, clearer and even if it shined a little (it’s just how it is, so stupid.), it was at its healthiest… It looked pretty."

Yes. I feel the same way about my skin now. Yes, ever since I started quitting tap water. A few days ago though, I started using Clarins Anti-Ageing Double Serum in lieu of SK-II Facial Treatment Essence and oooh la la! It's like magic! 

Why do I say magic? Well, a lady at my OB's clinic thought I looked 15 years younger than I actually am (ok, maybe she was just being nice). But just this afternoon, my mom asked me what makeup I've been using and I said, "Huh? None!" And she said my skin looked really good. This coming from a woman who would tell me the truth, even if it hurt and damaged my self-esteem. Haha!

Once I've used my Clarins Double Serum longer than 2 weeks (results visible in 4 weeks actually but if I were to believe the feedback I've been getting, 2 weeks should do it), I will do a more comprehensive review. Meanwhile, let me do an FAQ on this "No Water" Skin Care Routine.

How do you take a bath?

I had an Aquasana water filter installed, so no worries about tap water touching my face. But if you don't have a shower filter installed and it can be helped, just avoid getting water on your face.

If its any consolation, I have been sans filter the past three weeks because I need to have it installed in our new bath room, and so far, I have just been trying not to get my face wet in the shower and it hasn't had any bad effect on my skin.

What's the step by step?

1/ On your dry/dirty face, pat with Cetaphil and massage onto skin

2/ With a cotton pad, wipe off Cetaphil

3/ Spray face with Avène Thermal Spring Water and let it dry

4/ Follow with moisturizer

If you use heavy make-up, its fine to use a cleansing oil. Whatever cleansing oil works for you is fine. I use shu uemura's brightening cleansing oil.

What if I can't find Avène Thermal Spring Water here in the Philippines?

Try using Evian.

Dear Readers, if you have further questions, feel free to leave it on the comments section. I will do my best to answer!

Oil Cleansing Method + My Beauty Regimen

I've been asked to expound on the Oil Cleansing Method and to share my beauty regimen, and before I start, I have to clarify, I am in no way a beauty expert. But what I can tell you is that I am obsessed with skin care. I was brought up that way. My mom doesn't wear make-up but she believes in skin care (she uses Olay, my dad, the military man, tells me to use Ponds cold cream at night, so cute!), so it never occurred to me to wear make-up until I started working (and when I mean make-up, I mean "barely there make-up"). Besides, as my mom argues, what is make up for when you have clean, healthy skin to start with?

I am maniacal when it comes to skin care not only because of my mom, but also because for a year, I had super BAD skin. I had spot free skin (save for the occasional solitary teeny tiny pimple) in my teens, but then again, I'm a late bloomer, so when I was about 22-23, my skin got real bad. As in terrible I tell you. I had zits all over my face, and little bumps on my forehead. My mom says it was my unhealthy diet during my college years that did me in (she says it was because of McDonald's and Jollibee, which she abhors hahaha!). It was so bad I stayed away from mirrors and never wanted my picture taken, ever! So yeah, that time in my life - undocumented! I didn't want any proof that I looked like that, hahaha! I know, how vain.

So anyway, one of my best friends, Nina, who was going through the same hormonal thing as I was, discovered our dermatologist, Dr. Selwyn Crisostomo and thanks to her and her potions, we got our skin back, hahaha! After that harrowing experience of going through life with yucky skin, I vowed never to take my skin for granted ever! I guess that puts me in a believable position to dole out skin advice, or at least, I can vouch for the methods I've tried.

Now, onto the first subject of this post, the Oil Cleansing Method. My SIL Lorr, is always on the lookout for the latest skin craze, and it was through her that I discovered the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM) some years back. I guarantee that this is a safe and natural way to cleanse skin, and this coming from me - I have super sensitive, combination skin, and unlike some girls who can get away with cleansing their face with regular soap and water, I have to be careful with the products I put on my face. So if there's no adverse reaction on me, I think it will be safe to say, it is safe for most skin types.

Let me tell you, OCM super works! Like a charm! When Lorr first told me about it at the time, I was incredulous because who in her right mind would slather her face with equal parts castor oil (and what the heck is castor oil?) and olive oil (this was before Shu cleansing oils came about) right? But it pays to experiment because honestly, if only this wasn't so much work, I would pick this over Shu cleansing oils hands down. Thing is, this method, is a bit time consuming and you'll see why as I go through the steps with you:

NOTE: OCM is typically done in the evening, before going to bed. There is no need to clean or wash face prior to doing OCM, as it is actually a great way to remove make-up. OCM is meant to deep clean skin, while balancing oil production, so you don't need to do OCM the following morning.

What You'll Need:
- a soft washcloth
- a blend of castor oil and olive oil
- hot water

The Method:
1. Pour the oil into your palm. Rub your hands together to warm the oil and smooth it over your face.
2. Massage the oil into your face. Massage the oil deeply into your pores in a circular motion. Work it into your pores so that blackheads and all that gunk can be dissolved and steamed away. (I love it when I feel little beady, pore-clogging stuff coming out of my pores as I massage the oil, delightfully gross haha!)
3. Once you feel your pores are clean enough, pick up your washcloth and soak it in hot water. The water must be warm enough to open pores and remove the oil.
4. Cover your face with the warm washcloth, and let it stay until it cools.
5. Wipe the oil away and rinse the washcloth well in hot, running water. Repeat steps 4 & 5 for at least 2 more times.

You'll notice that after you cleanse the oil off, your skin will feel a bit tight, as if you've used toner! It's amazing! If you find the "tightness" uncomfortable, rub a drop of the oil blend between your damp palms and pat it onto your skin and massage.

For more information about the Oil Cleansing Method, read here and here!

Now, about my beauty regimen. Basically, I drink a lot of water, which I did not do a lot of until I asked a guy classmate of mine from grad school how he got his super smooth skin (As in he had poreless skin, and his nose didn't have a speck of blackhead, at all) and what his beauty secret was. He told me with no qualms, "My beauty secret? I drink 2 liters of water a day, at least!". Ok, that was enough to get me convinced!

Apart from drinking lots of water, I cleanse with Cetaphil...


...tone with La Mer The Tonic...


...and moisturize with Creme de la Mer twice a day - once in the morning and again at bed time.


An extra step in the AM is slathering on La Mer SPF 30 UV Protecting Fluid whether or not I step out of the house, because since we moved here, the brown specks on my face just started multiplying so I had to start wearing sunblock religiously. I used to use Shiseido SPF 55 for my face, and while I love the non-greasy feel, La Mer's sunblock feels lighter on the skin, as it is has a more liquid-y consistency.



I only started using La Mer when I got pregnant with Berry because my skin got really dry and flakey during pregnancy. For the longest time, I used SK-II Skin Treatment Clear Lotion and the Facial Treatment Essence and while I love SK-II (it worked wonders on my skin too), it just didn't do when my skin got really dry. I had to make a switch to a more moisturizing product.

Btw, I still use SK-II Signs Eye Cream, but I haven't really been sleeping well the last couple of months - heartburn during pregnancy and well, taking care of Berry pretty much guarantees eyebags, so I can't say if the eye cream does its job, haha!


So yeah, that's it! The OCM + my beauty regimen, I hope this helps somehow!

PS
Back in Manila, I did facials with my derma at least once a month. For a time, I also did diamond peels. The effect on my skin was amazing! Barely there pores! But that could be psychological because since the move here, I haven't had a facial or a peel, but with La Mer, my skin looks just as good!

PPS
Oh oh, and if there was one thing I wish I did earlier, I really should have started using sunblock and eye cream in my teens. If I did, then I probably would have better skin! Oh wells! =)

PPPS
Oh oh oh, and here's Clarisonic, a professional grade skin care brush I have yet to try! As is the usual case, this was discovered by my SIL Lorr, heehee:



Supposedly, with regular daily use, "Clarisonic reduces dry skin patches, oily areas and blemishes leaving skin feeling and looking smoother". It also comes highly recommended by dermatologists, but at $195 for a brush, I might just stick to OCM to deep clean my skin!

But, well you know me, I have my weak moments so in the event that I feel generous and decide to spring for a Clarisonic brush, I'll let you in on how it works!