SKII Skin Clearing Cleanser & Toner

This is going to be a review on the SKII Skin Clearing Cleanser and Toner. I've read reviews on them and majority of the people swear by it so being the "tryer" that I am I bought the sample sizes which you can get in Bonjour or Sasa.

I'm currently on my 2nd week with the products and I can tell you now that I-WILL-NOT-REPURCHASE! But before I ramble on about how bad the product is let me give some infos regarding my skin.

I'm combination-oily skin - dry on the cheeks but oily on the T-zone. My skin was flawless during my college days but during my early 20's I started experiencing some hormonal acne which neither dermatologists or acne products can cure. Now on my mid 20's my skin is back to normal but there are still blemishes also I do still have one or two pimple from time to time, but no biggie.

That is until I started using the SKII Clear Skin line. Within 3 days of using the products I found 4 pimples on my face! Initially I thought maybe my skin was just adjusting to the product so I kept on using it. But everyday I see new pimple appearing. Everyone who saw me kept asking why I am breaking out so bad. I told them I'm trying a new skincare and it will improve soon or later, which didn't! :(

Let's breakdown the 2 products.

Cleanser - It's rubbish! It smelt of preserved rose, which bothers me. And it does not foam or lather. I don't feel that it's cleaning my face or removing any makeup/dirt. It just... doesn't do anything!

Toner/Lotion - This is okay. I can see that it removes most of the leftover dirt or makeup the cleanser failed to get. I also feel that my pores did get smaller but it also makes my pimples redder.

This is probably the worst skincare I've tried so far. The two products together just broke me out so badly that I'm kind of traumatized trying any SKII products from now on. Maybe it worked for others but definitely not for me.

Yesterday I went back to my first love, Cetaphil. I love it so much I felt guilty I cheated on it when I was having an affair with the SKII products for 2 weeks. During my hormonal acne days Cetaphil was the only thing that helped/healed my face. So it's kind of my backup cleanser, in case all else fails.

New skincare routine:

Cetaphil Cleanser

Cetaphil Moisturizer

Lush Mask of Magnaminty (twice a week)

The review on the Lush mask will be together with my other current Lush goodies. If my skin improves in a weeks time maybe I'll do a vlog. *grin*

So long for now...

Loves,

jCel ♥

Get Your Freak On - Tag

So In an effort to amuse myself in this extremely dead day at work I decided to do this tag I found in another blog.... 

#1. What's a nickname only your family calls you?

Ucel. It started with my brother not being able to pronounce my name when he was a baby so it kind of stick up until now. I tried to make him call me differently but alas he preferred Ucel. 

#2. What's a weird habit of yours?

I play with my pens and end up breaking them. Is that weird? I guess not. An extremely weird habit and kind of embarrassing to admit is I "unconciously" check if people wash their hands after going to the washroom. I swear I will notice if you didn't. It's like I have special powers detecting dirty hands. LOL

#3. Do you have any weird phobias?

People tell me I'm a germaphobe but I don't think so. My ultimate fears are heights and Dogs, no wait, I meant ANIMALS! No, I don't HATE them but I only appreciate them from a distance. 

#4. What's a song you secretly LOVE to blast ; belt out when you're alone?

Love you like a love song by Selena Gomez. *hides face* I'm not a fan or anything but the song is very catchy to me and I sing and dance to it when no one is around. 

#5. What's one of your biggest pet peeves?

I don't know why people always ask this question. But my answer is, not washing hands before eating. Or at least sanitize them people!

#6. What's one of your nervous habits?

I bite my lips and then they start bleeding and stuff. LOL 

#7. What side of the bed do you sleep on?

I sleep alone and in a single bed so there's not much room or reason why I need to choose sides but I often find myself waking up facing right. 

#8. What was your first stuffed animal & it's name?

I don't remember giving it a name since it's Pink Panther and all. haha 

#9. What's the drink you ALWAYS order at starbucks?

I prefer Pacific Coffee but my automatic order for Starbucks is Mocha Frappe. But nowadays I only order Peppermint tea. Guess someone is aging! hahaha

#10. What's the beauty rule you preach.. but never ACTUALLY practice?

I always tell people they should prime their eyes before putting on eyeshadows but I am a real testament that most often than not you just jump straight to eyeshadow. And of course by midday you get creases on eyes. Oh the consequences!

#11. Which way do you face in the shower?

Backwards. I feel like I'll drown if I face pouring water.

#12. Do you have any 'weird' body 'skills'?

No. If you call not growing "length-wise" a skill then there you have it. hahaha But seriously, I don't have any body skill whatsoever. 

#13. What's your favorite 'comfort food'/food thats 'bad' but you love to eat it anyways?

Hands down, Chocolates. Thankfully I've been a really good girl and pretty much gotten rid of my addiction to Chocolates but if I could I'd eat it everyday, forever!

#14. What's a phrase or exclamation you always say?

AMAZEBALLS! and Suckerville! (please don't judge me) 

#15. Time to sleep- what are you ACTUALLY wearing?

Pizza Express Chef's Uniform. And no I am not kidding. It's big and extremely comfortable. Unfortunately they are not for-sale.  

Till my next boredom strikes... 

loves,

jCel♥

Christmas Countdown begins!

Well well I feel like Christmas is just around the corner now. Still amazes me how time can fly by so fast you barely have a moment to realize how another year is almost behind you. *sigh* It is one of the times where the quote “live like this is your last” or how ever that line went is applicable.

Speaking of Christmas, bet all of you can’t wait to get your hands on them gifts, ‘cause I’m with you! Also quite terrified on the list of gifts “to buy” yikes! I know I know, it is better to give than to receive but honestly who feels that way?! Hahaha

Well despite the gift giving my family does every year we were never brought up with the idea that Santa is real. In fact, our Christmas was never about gifts. I supposed my parents wanted us to acknowledge the birth of Christ more than waiting for Santa coming down the chimney (as if there are any chimneys here in HK) with our gifts. Ha, I never really realize that until now. Come to think of it we don’t even celebrate Halloween, I think the idea of dressing up, trying to scare people doesn’t sit well with them. Interesting, the things you comprehend when writing. *10 points for them parents who brought us up well*

Anyway, the purpose of this post is just so I can make a Christmas countdown. LOL I know I am awesome that way. It just came to my mind that a countdown will be good so I know how much time I have left in getting the gifites ready.

Let the countdown begin...

Idea by hurtigbredbaand.dk

P.S I went crazy browsing for the countdown widgets. Hahaha Seriously I can get so lame sometimes. Scratch I am lame ALL the time and dare to say I am proud?!

P.P.S Let me know your favorite Christmas song! I should make a Christmas playlist next. :)


Much Love, 
jCel♥

Scarf up!

I know I rarely post anything fashion... actually scratch that I NEVER post anything about fashion. Only because there's nothing to say about them. I won't really consider myself as a fashionista. Most of  the time I stick to basic pieces, rarely do I go extreme with my outfits so yeah... nothing to say! Having said that, I wanted to share with you all a Youtuber who does fun and informative videos with regards to styling. And since the weather is dropping and all, we might want to get our scarves out and keep our necks warm. And who says there's only one way to wear them...?!

I hope you find this discovery of mine helpful in some ways... :) 


Get more fashion inspirations from her website, http://wendyslookbook.com


Loves.
jCel♥

[CHOWTIME} Late Lunch @ Amici Langham

I kept reminding myself to blog about what happened last Saturday (15/10/2011) but I always end up forgetting. Anyways, last saturday, Jcel and I decided to meet up for late lunch. She said she was famished. We decided to have lunch at Amici in Langham Mongkok. The restaurant was quiet, clean and was located on the top floor.

Moving along, we decided to choose their lunch set, which included an 8"inch pizza, 3 choices of main dishes, soup or salad and coffee/tea or soft drinks. The thing was, the set lunch was good for 4 people. But we didn't care! As I've said, Jcel was famished and so was I. 

Jcel - enjoying her "Pumpkin Soup" 

The first one they served was the "Pumpkin Soup" with Bread and Butter on the side. It was alright, but was not the best soup I've tasted. The bread that came with it was hard as a rock.

Then came the salad. When comes to salads, I am very picky, but this time I actually enjoyed it. It was good, and it was just enough to get that after taste of the Pumpkin Soup. 

Just as we were finishing up our salad, the Pizza came; like I mentioned above, it was 8" with seafood toppings.

I only had a piece of the pizza because of so many reasons. After trying so hard to consume my first piece, I just couldn't have another bite. The thing is, the seafood pizza has this particular smell that I did not like plus it has an "After taste" (which I do not know how to articulate so forgive me for being so vague about it). Jcel thinks it did not taste as much as we expected it to be.

Moving on to the main course... 

The Main dish came with a Snack Platter, which consist of - Onion Rings (It was HUGE rings btw), Chicken Wings ( Jcel and I had a good laugh about it, cause it was 1 whole wing cut into halves. So technically, there were just 3 wings and they made it look as if there were 6 wings on the plate. Tricky!!) then there's the Calamari (which I think was the only good thing in that platter).

The Main Dish was the - "Lasagna la forno" more like, "Lasagna la inferno" My first impression was... is this suppose to be like this? It was as if we were served with a "Burnt Offering". But nonetheless, Jcel and I are the type of people that don't want to make a fuss out of the little things so we need not to complain. In all fairness, it tasted good. That is all I'm going to say.

The 2nd Main Dish was The BOMB dot COM! - The Spare Ribs. We enjoyed it so much, we literally finished the whole thing! The meat was soft, the sauce was set on the side which also was good. It came with fries as well, but it looked as if it was reheated. So no one even bothered to touch it.

Jcel can sure make those wacky faces. lol We had leftovers, but we decided not to pack the food cause it was just way too much.

left overs:

2pcs sea food pizza

Onion Rings (untouched)

Lasagna La forno (most of it)

Fries (eekkk)

Potato Wedges

So that's our "Lunch" for last Saturday. My over all review for Amici Restaurant in Langham is 7 out of 10. The best part was, we only paid $328.00 (hkd) for the whole set also we had 2 cups of coffees and 2 soft drinks.

The coffee was too strong so we requested for more milk, instead the server gave us our bill. He was throwing us out of the restaurant?! Hmmp! hahaha Kidding, he just heard us wrong. He was really embarrassed about it, but we told him it was okay and paid the bill. I guess he felt that it was time for us to leave cause we've been there for quite some time from 2pm to 4pm (I think). We were taking in our food as slow as possible. 

After Amici, we decided to walk around Langham...  we were so stuffed, we could hardly breathe! Then, of course, we went shopping at Cotton On the best place to shop for clothes with good prices and good quality as well. 

Cheers!

Bex & Jcel