Hello 2014!

Hallo, hallo! 

(Warning: this is an epic picture-loaded post!)

I know, I know, I’ve been MIA on the blog for the past month. My good intentions of regular blogging came unstuck even before I started! This is not off to a flying start for 2014!

I apologise but I blame the holiday brain. I was on holidays overseas and despite having time to blog, I was very restless. It was very hard to sit in front of a laptop to type away for a blog post when there is a new town, a department store, a boutique, a new must-see sight waiting for me to explore in the cities I visited. Besides, if I didn't venture out I would have missed out on the opportunity to visit places that I may not ever see again (I suffer severely from the Gen-Y condition known as #fearofmissingout or #FOMO as it’s endearingly known).

So what’s happened over the past month? Well I’ve eaten some of the most amazing food across 3 wonderful countries, seen spectacular views, had an amazing White Christmas experience in Hokkaido and then rang in the new year with smashing fireworks along the harbour of Hong Kong island. Of course, I've also shopped up a storm and have maxed out two credit cards in the process and was shocked when I sat down to do calculations of the final cost of my latest trip.

All the Christmas trees in Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong

You may have seen snippets of the snaps I’ve taken during the holidays on Instagram but let me do a recap of my favourite moments in plenty more pictures. 

First up the food. Without doubt, Taiwan is the capital of fabulous food. If you love food, you must come and visit this country. The variety is wide, the offerings fresh, scrumptious and inexpensive. It’s rare to to get a bad meal there (although I did manage to find a bad takeaway one evening) and there is so much to try, you would need to find another stomach to sample all the food during a outing at one of the numerous night markets in the city. 

A large array of food in the night markets in Taipei  

some of the Japanese and Taiwanese dinners we had

Meals from Hong Kong

Most Memorable Meal:

Peking duck at the Westin Hotel in Taipei. As my good friend Tina said "f*ck the duck, the soup is da bomb"! It was truly to-die-for and the star of the meal. The night markets filled with lively atmosphere, the tantalising smells of food cooking sprinkled with the excitement of finding a good bargain with the various wares and clothes that were on sale. It is a match made in heaven for the foodie and shopaholic in me.

Amazing Entree and duck soup from Yi Yuan restaurant at Westin Hotel Taipei

Runner-up Mention: 

There was a dinky take-away joint away from Shilin market in Taipei that sold pork chop take-away (便当) for only $85NTD (roughly A$3). Seriously, I’m still thinking of that succulent pork chop as I type away right now. Sadly, I forgot to get a photo of the place so I'll have to rely on my bad memory to find the place again the next time I visit. 

only $85NTD. I would pay 10 times that amount for that amazing pork chop

The best pizza I’ve ever had was in Sapporo (who would have thought). Freshly oven baked, thin crust and amazing flavours of broccoli, chorizo and mozzarella. It was better than the pizzas I've had in Italy- true story . 

Best pizza found in Sapporo @ Salvatore Cuomo & Bar Sapporo

Best Shopping: 
Hands down I burnt the most cash in Japan. The fashion in Japan is fantastic and there were so many clothes I just want to cart home with me (both for work and play). The department stores were great as were the subway boutiques which I wandered around and got totally lost in during the feezing days where it was too cold to venture above ground.

Subway shopping at Poletown - this was closing time

Rilakumma store can be found in Paseo East shopping centre in Sapporo 

I spent a small fortune picking up some items from Burberry, and other Japanese brands like Yodabashi, Honeys, Uniqlo (cannot wait for them to open a store in Melb!) and in the many Japanese drugstores. I bought many skincare and makeup items that were Asia only products (or if available outside of Asia, was very hard to get a hold of, especially in Australia).

I might have a shopping addiction in Japan...

Limited Edition Laudaree blushes

Jill Stuart also gets 1000 points for the pretty packaging and pigmented products

Unfortunately (or fortunately), my luggage wouldn’t allow me to buy up more after 3 days of shopping. In the end I posted back 11kg of good before leaving the country after my shopping sprees. I got to the point towards the end of my holiday in Hong Kong that I avoided going into another Watson or Sasa because I had bought too many beauty products already!

Runner-up Mention: 
Horizon Plaza shopping centre in Aberdeen in Hong Kong. They have a Prada and Mui Mui outlet store there (sadly nothing I wanted was there when I visited as it mostly goods from a few seasons old). I did however, pick up a beautiful pair of Salvatore Ferragamo kitten heels at 50% off! 

I'd never have found the Prada/Mui Mui outlet store if I didn't have locals taking me there

Favourite Sights:  

I've never had a white Christmas so hands down for me was seeing and enjoying the snow in Sapporo. Now I've experience snow before but the snow in Sapporo was different to the snow in Australian alps. The dry crisp air there and sub-zero climate meant the snowfall was powdery soft and stayed that way for longer. I was truly like a kid in a candy store, even lying on the pristine white powder to create snow angels a quite a few times.

Snowed under - on the streets of Odori

Sapporo Central - loved the Diamaru food hall!

Runner-up Mention: 

I've always loved fireworks and Hong Kong put up a very good show for 8 minutes. Despite the short duration, it was spectacular, majestic and magical. Mind you, I still think Sydney’s new year fireworks are work class and slightly better than those in Hong Kong.

New Years fireworks on Wanchai Harbour

Hong Kong lights up at night

Temple Visit to Wong Dai Sin

Other memorable moments include getting to sleep in a flat bed on the plane with our business class flight, a spiritual Lantau Island visit to see the big Buddha, to Sapporro and a visit to the Wong Dai Sin temple. 

Big Buddha at sunset - Lantau Island

In 2014...
With the new year I only made one resolution - to get into a good early morning habit. I have for the past 15 years been a night owl and I feel it’s time for me to kick that habit for good. So this year, I’ve decided to gradually become a morning person buy getting up at 7.30am and eventually working towards an early bed time.  So far I’ve not had not luck (I’m writing off January, and going start in Feb instead) but I’m determined to succeed. I’ve also decided I’ll finish work at 6pm no matter what and take the work home with me or go into the office very early rather than staying back to create a better work habits. 

I’m also going to try and get back into the things I love most in what little spare time I have. I’d like to get back into my street photography, crafting, cooking and DIY skincare making again. The year is still young so I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to achieve these goals. 

How has 2014 been for you so far? Have you been holding up to your New Year resolutions?

Travel Guide - How to travel light and have more fun

Travelling for long periods of time, especially overseas makes you value how much you value space and weight. So that's why whenever I travel, I try to pack as little as possible (which of course frees up more space in my luggage and allows me to buy more products along the journey to take home with me :D)

So if you are curious with what I brought with me for my 4 weeks of travel, take a look at the photos below. I must say looking at them, I think I still over-packed, as I have bought more toiletries and skincare products from Watson and Sasa to compensate for all the decanting and travel sizes I brought over! A beauty addict like me just never seems to learn ><

With clothing, I usually pack light shirts and natural fibre tops like woolen sweaters that can be worn in mild weather or layered if it gets colder. I always pack 2 pairs of jeans and get a whole week's wear between them before they get washed. I also bring a cardigan for those strange weather days or cool evenings, leggings that can be worn on its own casually or under a skirt in the evenings and a weather proof jacket for those wild rainy days which offers some protection when it's too hard to trek around lugging an umbrella (and your shopping bags and camera).

Jeans, North face jacket, a few woolen knit tops, hats and scarves (I'm heading to Sapporo in winter) are all fairly lightweight items in my suitcase. 

With beauty products and toiletries, sample or travel sizes are my favourite products to take away (this is where all those gift with purchase products get used). Decanting full sized products into smaller sized pots, bottles and jars are also another favourite options of mine, especially if the original packaging isn't very travel friendly (eg. made of glass, awkward shaped etc). And remember you don't need to bring your whole bottle of shampoo because if you do run out and not stuck in some remote part of Africa or some other far flung exotic locale, you can always duck into the local shops to pick up a replacement and even try their local offerings (and treat it as part of the travelling experience).  Wet wipes are always handy to have to remove makeup, clean and refresh your face and hands on the go so I always have a pack of that in my bag whenever I'm on travels.

Travel sized skincare

Products in the bag:

• Kiehl's Creme de Corp body cream for my dry skin
• Guinot Biological Peeling radiance gel for a evening facial when my skin is stressed and worn out. 
• Kiehl's ultra facial cleaner. This isn't a travel size but I couldn't decant it and love how it's gentle but gets rid of all grease and grime in one easy wash
• Abivon - my French gem of a vitamin A cream for evenings to keep my skin supple and those fine lines at bay. 
• La Roche-Posay Melt-In BB Cream - I love this non-greasy lightweight BB cream that gives a natural finish to help with minor imperfection and all day round SPF protection. A must when travelling. 
• Bobbi Brown hydrating eye cream - emollient and rich, the perfect cream for restful eyes whilst travelling 
• Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eyes - intense hydration for times when I need more stronger skincare and given it's so small, I'd probably finish it in a week's time anyway. 
• Origins Ginzing refreshing eye cream - because I'm obsessed with eye creams and this little tube will only go another week after my other two finishes up. 
• Pelativ Facial Refiner Deep Cleansing Scrub - for days when I need to exfoliate my face of the dead skin cells but don't want my skin feeling raw afterwards. 
• *edit* I forgot to include earlier but the Clinique bottle is actually my diy vitamin C serum that I've decanted into the small bottle to take with me for this travel. It normally sits in big bottle in the fridge at home. I'll post a post on the how to make the serum over the new year! 

I carry minimal cosmetics products whenever I travel as I find I don't have time to do my face in the mornings and even when I do, by the time I'm finished walking around all day long, my makeup looks smudged and worse for wear. So my only products that I carry for travelling liquid eyeliner, mascara, tinted lip balm/gloss with UV filters, concealer, BB cream, pressed powder and oil blotting paper. I also carry a long wear lipstick for evenings when I do want staying power on my lips.

Minimal makeup kit

• Estee Lauder concealer - this cream base concealer is the best for hiding dark cirlces and imperfections without budging once set. It's my new holy grail concealing product this year. 
• La Roche-Posay Melt-In BB Cream - I love this product so much I've included it twice in this post! Great for a light hydrating, coverage and sun protection and shade #2 is a surprisingly good match for me, I can't sing the praises of this product enough. 
• Clinique Super City Block SPF 30+ - this isn't makeup I know, but I always have a tube of sunscreen in my makeup bag just in case I don't use any makeup, at least my skin is still protected, especially when travelling]. 
• CoverGirl pressed compact - its convenient, has a built in mirror for quick on-the-go touch ups. I can't ask for more. 
• Kiss Me Heroine liquid eye liner - my hero liquid liner that I never stray from 
• Lancome Hypnose Drama mascara - this deluxe travel size means its easy to carry and won't dry out before I finish using it. I love how this particular one gives me intense thick lashes that are non-clumpy and easy to remove. 
• Lancome Tresor EDP miniature. I haven't put this to use yet so thought I may as well bring it with me. I am after all going to be spending NYE in Hong Kong in a potentially swanky place, I should come prepared. 
• L'Oreal Shine Caresse lip gloss in Juliet - a deep berry shade that lasts hours without drying lips. It will be on me for NYE for sure.  

Is this too much products to bring for 4 weeks? Do you travel with more or less?  If you want to see what I've been buying and getting up to in Asia, head over to my Instagram for the glory pictures.

Hello from Taiwan!

Hello, if you've been following my tweets the last couple of days, you'd know that I have started my month long holidays and have bounded for Asia, Taipei being the first destination.

Getting ready for travel when I received this #Niveaduckie

The flight was one of the most relaxing one I've had and I have to commend the Qantas staff for my making my journey stress free (web check in helped me avoid a 1.5 check in queue at the airport as I was only in the bag drop line for 5 minutes!). I met up with my travel buddy Sam, who has been on holidays in Asia for the last 3 weeks whilst in Hong Kong airport for transit as we continue the holiday together.

During Hong Kong transit - glorious sunset

We arrived in Taipei late last night and my first impressions is beautiful and clean city is one filled with beautiful warm and friendly people. We were going to take a taxi to get to our accommodation but the tourist help desk lady was so helpful, she showed us with bus to take and it only cost us $145NTD (equivalent to $4.50) to get into the city centre and our accommodation.

Too tired after checking in, we just wandered downstairs of our local night market (we are staying in the Daan district) to pick up some supper and milk before coming to our temporary home to crash.

Our accom in Taipei for the next 3 weeks - a 1 bed, 1 study apartment found on AirBnB

Prior to this holiday, the last week of work was crazy - I was doing 12 hour days for the whole week to get my project in a state that I could hand over to my manager without too many outstanding actions. This meant I didn't get a chance to blog before I started the holiday.

Thankfully, this vacation is not going to be a busy, scheduled filled one. Instead, it's quite free flowing which means I'll be able to blog and update you on my travel journey and some normal beauty posts as well.

The travel updates will mainly be via Instagram (because a picture tells a thousand words and probably do it better than and written word can).  If you are wanting to catch up with my antics, you search the the #lilpilinAsia tag on Twitter and Instagram. So now I'm off to explore Taipei 101 and the shopping precinct area on the beautiful sunny day and get some good tourist photos.

Taipei 101 Tower in the distrance

Until the next update, stay beautiful!

A Quick Update

Hello,

I've been MIA online lately and I thought I'd do a short update on the happenings of my life so that you don't think I've dropped off the planet and completely disappeared.

Over the last 2 weeks, I had to take an unplanned time-out from blogging to deal with the issues of the real world. I've also been sick with sniffles and migraines (this freezing weather is not helping); the resultant lethargy made blogging in the evenings a difficult task and I've even had to take time off work.

To make matters worse, my hives are back and I'm back on anti-histamines to control them on a daily basis again. Yes, stress is getting the better of me right now and there are a lot of things going on on in my life that is causing me sleepless nights (still dealing with the painfully complex Estate Administration).

But I want to let you know that I've managed to sort a few things out last week and am feeling 100% better and more positive. In fact, I'm looking forward to many exciting events over the next month, one of which is blogging related. I can't wait to share it with you in the coming weeks.

So apologies for going quiet without any explanation and please bear with me as I get my blogging mojo back and normal blogging will resume later this week.

x A

Where the bloody hell have I been?

I can’t believe it’s been over 4 months since I’ve wrote my last blog entry!

I’ve missed out on the last few months of 2012 and OMG we’ve now passed the midway point of a new month in 2013.

As Lara Bingle once famously said - "where the bloody hell are you?" So what exactly happened?

I meant to write a bon voyage entry to give my readers some notice of my blogging hiatus for my Europe holiday -  6 weeks of amazing sights and adventure back in mid Sept but work, a bout of the cold and last minute commitments saw me ran out of time to say adieu online before jet setting off to Europe. I had the most amazing time over there and learnt so much, experienced and saw majestic buildings and ate incredible food almost every day. I will one day (as elusive as it sounds), write a blog entry about it with bucket loads of photos from the trip.

I then came back home in November last year mentally refreshed but physically fatigued – 6 weeks of non-stop travel and lack of sleep the entire trip really took a toll on my body. Then work commitments took over again and I didn’t get a chance to find my blogging rhythm.

When I was finally geared up to re-start blogging again in December, tragedy struck. There was a death in the family and I had to make an emergency trip overseas to help sort out the administrative matters with passing away in a foreign country - making funeral & repatriation arrangements,  lodging & following up on insurance claims and other sombre administrative matters.

Let me tell you, the past 6 weeks has been so surreal for me, so fraught with emotional extremes, sadness, tears, and untold amounts of stress  I don’t even know how I manage to get through each day. Even a brief trip to NSW for new years was did little to distract me of sadness of recent events.

And right now, I still have a whole lot to get through dealing with deceased estate administration but I want to blog again. I won’t have much time but I want some sort of normal life back. 

Whilst I’ve been away from blogging all this time, I missed it. I really do. I miss the ability to share with you my latest  beauty purchase from Europe (infact 90% of what I bought overseas I havent' even touched yet). I missed having exchanges on this blog and on twitter. I miss all my blogger friends because they inspired and motivated me with blogging ideas. Because I just dropped out of the online world for a while, I lost that inspiration and energy from the creative sharing of ideas with the blogging community.

But I realised blogging is my sanity in this insane period of my life. It is one of the few things that is familiar and comforting but also time consuming to write detailed posts.  I will not be able to blog as frequently for a while. I hope my sporadic updates will still entertain and inform you and you will continue to visit this blog.

I certainly haven’t given up on blogging, and I hope you don’t give up on me either. I’ll be pre-emptive and thank you in advance for your love and support.

Hopefully it won’t be too long before my next entry.

xx lilpil

Monday Bites: What's in My Handbag

Monday is another start to the working week and also the worse day of the week for me. Not only does Mondayitis set in but I have 8 meetings  lined up back-to-back that eats up the whole business day so I often find myself finishing off report consolidation at home after dinner. It's definitely not the ideal start for anyone!

Given Mondays are a brain-drain day for me, I usually can't think straight to write a beauty post. Instead, I thought I’d introduce snippets of interesting things that aren't so beauty focused to just add a bit of variety to the blog (and let's face it, you're probably sick of reading the 100th beauty review on a lipstick or face cream and I'm).

I'd  like to start with a show-and-tell post and share with you what I carry with me on a daily basis. Yep, today you get to peek inside my handbag and see what I cannot leave the house with.

My bag of choice is a tote because it can open up and fit so many items when needed and still looks stylish.

For the past few weeks I’m carrying my small Longchamp Le Pilage tote in hot pink (hey I have to contrast it with all the dull black and dreary grey colour I wear for work during the winter month). This was a gift from my aunt earlier in the year.

It's lightweight, cute and easy to hold on the arms or over the shoulders. Truly, I think everyone needs a Longchamp tote in the life.

So let’s take a look inside to check its contents shall we?

I use a Purseket, the pink polka dot bag liner/organiser you see in the photo below, to add compartments to an otherwise big bag to give it structure and to organise my contents. I don’t think I can live without one of these things in my handbag anymore.

It also makes it easy to transfer contents from one bag to another if you like to change your bags frequently as you just lift the Purseket organiser and pop it into your new bag.

Now lets check what's floating within and amongst all these compartments.

1. Oroton Umbrella – with all the rain in Melbourne lately, having this small fold up brolly is a-must if you don’t want to be caught out like a drenched cat. 
2. Oroton Wallet – it holds my cash, cards and IDs. Say no more. 
3. Kleenex To Go tissues* – these slim and easy to carry in bags or your back pocket comes in packets of 6 tissue in assorted pretty and funky prints that would match your bag or add style to it (this floral one matches my pink bag just fine). Tissues are always handy to have and I use it to blot my face (because I’m too lazy to carry facial blotters), clean my greasy hands after eating and help with the sniffily nose in the morning. 
4. Dermalogica Multi-vitamin Body block SPF20*. It may be grey and raining but there is still UV rays on overcast day. I carry this SPF moisturiser all the time for when the sun peeks out and I need to protect my arms or a top up on my face and neck when I’m rushing between buildings for meetings.
5. Keys – can’t leave the house without it or get home. It also has my work token to log into my work remotely. The key chain is from Kikki and I love the little leather bird
6. Nail file – I have a bad habit (we’ll talk about that in another post) that always sees me breaking nails. This filer from Dr. Lewins that I got as a Priceline freebie ensures my nails are tidied up on the go to prevent further damage and leaves no mess with its own storage compartment.
7. iPhone 4. I have nomophobia and would die without my phone. On days I do forget because I’ve left it on the charger at home, I feel like I’ve lost a part of me. Funny how 12 years ago, I lived without a mobile phone just fine (holy-molly: I just realised I been using a mobile for that long!) 
8. A cute makeup bag (from Clinique that's under all the makeup contents). Inside the bag are:
9. ASAP Pure lipstick in Four* – smooth creamy and luscious. Every girl needs a lipstick at her disposal at all time. This one is shade and is my daytime office shade (swatches coming up). 
10. Face of Australia lip Shine in Morning Mist*. Pretty and pink and ultra glossy with shimmer. I love slicking this on when my lips feel abit dry. 
11. Lancôme Rouge in Love in 159B. When I’m heading out or need a pick me up colour – this baby comes to the rescue. 
12. Tom Ford Illuminating Powder*. My go-to press powder with its own brush for touch up during the day to keep the shine in check and give my skin a light fresh glow. I love how light and sheer it is and makes skin feel like silk.

Other items not shown in the photos are my train tickets, my work security pass, a small bottle of water and USB stick for work files.

What do you have in your handbag?
Items marked * were  provided for consideration.

A little Update & New Blog!

Dear readers,

If you are wondering about my lack of post (or sporadic posting) lately I must apologise. Work has been all-consuming lately and there has been too many times where I’m staying back in the office till late or taking work home and spending my nights working away on reports or Powerpoint packs.

I’m usually pretty drained and don’ have much mental capacity left to think of writing blog posts afterwards.

Please bear with me while I get my work sorted out over the coming weeks (and I’m really hoping things improve there) and I get to have more of a work-blog-life balance.

In the mean time, you will see some sporadic posts from me so do check back every once a while – I promise I have not ditched this blog. In fact I have big plans for it and want to share with you the news today!

I will be getting a shiny new blog soon when I move over to a self-hosted domain and move across to Wordpress soon. I was planning to move across by the end of this month but that doesn’t look likely at this stage. I hope everything will be ready in the next month.

I promise the wait is worth your while as it’s going to be a bigger better site that is easier to search and navigate. I’m even going to get a new logo – yay!

Everything is still in design mode and haven’t been finalised but here is the latest ideas - what do you think? I’d love all your feedback on how I can make the new site better, so if you have suggestions, I'd love to hear them from you now!

New logo ideas - what do you think?

I’ll also be setting up a Facebook page to stay updated with new blog posts and share photos with as I’ll lose the Google Friend Connect friends and would still love to keep in touch with you via other channels when I move over to wordpress. Again, more details on that will be available when I've set it all up.

Until then – I’m going to try and write a proper beauty post tonight while I still have some creative juices in me J

The Versatile Blogger Award

I’m still in holiday mode despite heading back to work today. Thankfully my office is 80% empty this week and I’m able to catch up on administrative things and finish off outstanding project work from last year.

So you can imagine my pleasant surprise today when I found out that Saumya at the Vanity Bag Diaries has bestowed upon me the Versatile Blogger Award which I want to thank her warmly for.

I must be out of the blogging loop and hiding under a rock lately because I haven’t heard of this award before so I thought I better look it up. What I found is that the Versatile Award is not so much an award as such, but rather, a tagging game with only 3 simple rules:

• Thank and acknowledge the person who awarded you this award
• Share 7 random facts about yourself
• Pass this award along to 15 blogs you enjoy reading.

So again, many thanks to Saumya for this tagging me this award.

Now for the7 random facts about me in the order of randomness:

1. I’m the eldest of 3 which puts me squarely in Miss Bossy Boots territory. My sister and brother probably didn’t appreciate it when they were younger, but I hope they can now because the responsibility for me was huge – afterall, I was only doing mummy’s calling.
2. I have a bronze medal in latin dance for Salsa – don’t ask me how but I do from my uni years. I wished I continued and tried for my silver medal because I would love to have some of those groovy moves these days.
3. I hate mock cream – you know, the whipped butter and icing sugar stuff. Do not even try to make me eat anything with it unless you want me to shoot dagger eyes at you.
4. I was a tom-boy in my teens and most of my uni life. How could that be when I’m crazy about makeup and beauty I can’t explain. I must have lost my boyish good looks after one too many girly makeup transformations :D
5. I love musicals and it didn’t start with Glee. The sound of Music, The King and I, My Fair Lady - I could watch those musicals over and over again. Oh, I love going to theatres to watch musical shows too.
6. I’m very minimalistic when it comes to work makeup even though I own a truckload of it. I spend more time layering on my skincare and sunscreen than I do on eye shadows... a base to even out my skintone, blush for some colour, liquid eyeliner and mascara and a lip gloss and I’m out the door most mornings.
7. I have read every Christopher Pike novel ever written in high school. Yes, I used to devour a book within a day. These days, I can’t even finish a novel in a year. I guess my taste have changed but if Mr. Pike ever released any new titles, I’ll be picking up a copy on launch day.

I hope you find some or all these quirky facts about me interesting. Now, I will pass along this Versatile Award tag to the following wonderful Australian bloggers.

Tine at BeautyholicsAnonymous
Jess at  MissJShopaholic
Celina at Fables in Fashion
Jade at Jade Musing
Tina at Chasing Elixir
Norlin at Baubles Bubbles Bags
Sarah at Dempeaux
Dana at Blushfully
Melissa at MissMacBeauty
Melmeko at Yeah,Yeah Ragger, Ragger
Emma at Emma Bovary Blog
Lexi at Dreaming of Verona
Megsy at Beauty In The Sky
Jen at My Funny Valentine
Faye at Faye Lu Review

2012: Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone. I cannot believe it’s the 2nd day of 2012 already. Yes, time just truly flies when you’re having fun.

I took an impromptu break from blogging and took the time to recharge myself and enjoy the year end by relaxing, going out with friends, family and visiting the beach.

Photo courtesy of Romeo Ranoco | Reuters

Now that I feel more refreshed after a busy year, I’m ready to tackle another big year ahead.

To me, the New Year is an opportunity to reflect and renew. It may just be another day on the calendar but it acts as a mental circuit breaker for me to focus and if required recalibrate my life goals. I don’t really make any new year’s resolutions (because I can’t keep them having failed epically on my attempt to head to bed earlier this year and sleep before midnight on the very first day) – Instead I use this time to set targets I want to achieve for the new year. These, in no particular order, include:

• Plan and book that 6-week European holiday for the 2nd half of the year.
• Taking more risks at work to pursue my dream role in Strategy.
• Stepping up on my photography passion – which would start with an upcoming purchase of a new DSLR camera!
• Be a more consistent (which doesn't necessarily equate to more frequent) blogger with more quality content for my readers. So, if you have any suggestions or requests, I'm here to serve!

This is a small and fairly achievable list because I want to set goals that are going to motivate and stretch me a little rather than unrealistic targets that deflate or depress.

And finally, I want to wish you all a amazing new year; one filled with love and joy where you are able to reach your fullest potential each and every day.  Happy 2012!

Merry Christmas & Busby Oil Winners

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope you have been on Santa's good list and you were spoilt by him this morning!

Christmas is always about spending time together in my household. Although I do the gift exchange with friends, we don't really typically excahnge gifts on Christmas in our family (we wait till boxing day to shop up a storm for our favourite things!). For us, Christmas day is all about the gift of each other's presence and the sharing of a Christmas meal surrounded by love and laughter.

And as we are another year older, that becomes even more meaningful for me as I don't get to see my family members as often as I used to anymore.

This year, rather than doing the Christmas turkey or ham for lunch, we've decided on a typical BBQ at home - marinated beef skewers, honey soy wings, prawn mango salads, chilli prawns and a vodka laced lemon berry trifle! Yum!

I hope your Christmas day will also be full of joy, laughter and cheer in the company of amazing family and friends.

Busby Pure Tissue Oil Winners

And as I didn't get a chance to post the winners of the Busby Pure Tissue Oil - three luck readers will have an extra present added to their stockings today even if it does take the elves (aka postman) some time after the new year to deliver your goods, but I promise this is a present worth waiting for :)

So without further ado, the winners in no particular order are...

Polly,

Ria &

Wildewishes

Congratulations ladies. You'll need to get in touch with me via email (lilpil.blog@gmail.com) with your postal address so I can organise for this to be sent to you. Please contact me by 31st December or new winners may be re-drawn.

Once again, Merry Christmas wherever you are, and if you are on holidays, have a fun and safe break. Catch you again soon!
 

Quick Update

I'm about to board a flight and head over to Adelaide (endearingly called "Radelaide" by my Adelaidian friends) for the next couple of days.

The agenda? One of my favourite cousin's wedding  tomorrow but I'm also taking the opportunity to explore the wider Adelaide city over the next couple of days and visit family whilst I'm there. 

I'll try my best to put out a few posts but can't be sure I'll have the time so it might be quiet on the blog over the next few days.

Hope to see you again soon!

My Morning Skincare Routine

Having used so many beauty products over the past few years, I'm known be very fickle and don't really have a very set skincare routine. Add to that, my routine invariably have to change whenever I have to test a new product as I have to stop what I'm using and try the new product for a period of time for complete a review for it.

Despite all the chopping and changing in products, the basic elements of my daytime skincare routine is always the same: cleanse, serum, treatment, moisturise and sun protection. I don't use a toner as my hydration comes from the serums and treatments and don't believe toners should be used to remove cleansing residue if the cleanser was a good enough product in the first place.

Today I thought I'd share with you what I'm currently using in my day routine, some of which are products I've used on a long term basis and others are products I'm currently putting on trial.

For reference, I have oily/combination skin in my T-zones and cheeks but am also prone to very dry skin despite producing alot of oil. My skin consultant once said I have a masked dry skin condition as most people think I'm straight up oily skin but if I wash my face, most people would immediately say I have dehydrated skin (and I totally blame the office air conditioner for making the situation worse).

Click to enlarge to see details

1. Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel 500ml RRP A$87 - gentle yet effective enough to wash off dirt,  grime an and even makeup. I use this exclusively when I had a peel performed as it's non irritating and soothing on the most sensitive skin with the calming lavendar essential oils. one of my HG cleansers.  I use this with and without the clarisonic facial cleansing brush.

2. Kiehl's darkness diminishing activated eye treatment 15ml RRP A$62* - I'm currently putting this eye cream to the test to see how much it helps with my dark circles from poor circulation and lack of sleep. So far I've noticed reduced puffiness and brighter eyes from the light reflecting particles in the formula. I've yet to see much in terms of darkness reduction after 3 weeks use.

3. Shu Uemura Whitefficient Whitening Essence 150ml RRP A$115* &  4. Lancome Blanc Expert Whitening Activating Spot Eraser 30ml RRP A$118* - I alternate between these two whitening treatments on most days or use one in the morning and the other at night. The main reason for using whitening products is to brighten up my complexion and prevent the sallowness from creeping in. I'm also trying my hardest to fade some pigmentation I have around the eye area.

I find Shu Uemura's Whitefficent essence spreads better on the skin but can leave a sheen so is better suited for dryer skin or the winter months and It works well as a primer. It contains algae extract, prune extract and Ellagic acid which help to block melanin production and brighten the skin.

Lancome's Blanc Expert is water-based and is instantly absorbed into skin without any tacky or greasy feeling. It contains a proprietary Melanolyser technology to break down the melanin in skin and fade the dark spot.

Both products give a luminous radiance to skin . There is very some lightening on my pigmentation spots with 4 weeks use of it but it is more efficient with fading blemish marks and those disappear in 1-2 weeks on my skin.

5. Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Serum 50ml RRP A$49.99^- is my go-to daily serum that effectively plumps and hydrates my skin, while working to softens and fills in fine lines. Best of all it is affordable enough that I don't need to take out a second mortgage to keep using this on a daily basis.

6. Priori Cellular Recovery Serum 50ml RRP A$220 ^- When I feel my skin's particularly dry or irritated and needs a boost of radiance I would use this instead of the Olay Mirco-sculpting serum. Being water based, it is lightweight and instantly absorbed into skin, leaving it nourished, super hydrated and never ever greasy. It contains enzymes and liposomes prevent and repair cellular damage to help with the anti-aging process and firms the skin. This was one of the products used when I recently had my fraxel laser and it was soothing and calming to use. I have to say for the price, I expect to see more results but sadly I don't. I still really enjoy the product though I'd love it more if the price tag wasn't so hefty (thank goodness I received this from a competition prize!).

7. Neutrogena healthy defence daily moisturiser with Helioplex SPF 30+  for combination/oily skin 40ml RRP A$16.49 ^- a good moisturiser sunscreen that is affordable and suitable for oily and combination skin and doesn't have the white cast issues that other sunscreen products have. It's not too rich and rubs easily into skin although it's not as oil controlling as it could be. It works well during the cooler months on my skin and given I already treat my face with other serums and treatment products, this basic moisturiser sunscreen meets all my needs and gives me basic hydration and stable high sun protection. It's the last skincare product I put onto my face before I slap on my makeup.

8. Lanolips Lemonaid Lip Aid  RRP A$15.95 - my favourite lip balm/treatment product - I've tried the other lanolips and although nice, they didn't make much of an impression as this 70% pure lanolin balm. It helps to sooth and smooth my dry chapped lips, keeping them moist and soft and makes lipstick application more even and smooth. I love the tangy taste and scent of the lemon essential oil and it acts as a natural exfoliant to keep flaky lips at bay too. This is a limited edition product and it's still available in the Myer and DJ stores I visit in Melbourne but I'm going to be stocking this right up - just in case you know.

My star products that I would never swap out (or would quickly come back to) is my Dermalogica cleanser, Lancome Blanc Expert Spot Eraser,  Lanolips Lemonaid lip aid and Olay Regenerist Micro-sculpting Serum. They are my HG skincare products.

Next up, my night time skincare routine...

Products marked * were sent for consideration. 
Products marked ^ were competition prizes or gifts from generous friends. All other products were purchased by yours truly.

It's My Birthday

I have never been one to celebrate my birthdays with parties. In fact I don’t think I’ve properly celebrated my birthday in the past 10 years. It would have been cake and dinner with family and that would be it and a few surprise presents from lovely friends.

In a few short days, It will be my birthday again. And this time round, it feels different. This is where I kiss my 20s goodbye and cautiously embrace womanhood in my 30s. 

I’ve always felt despite being an legal adult since I turned 18, I was still a young adult, one exploring and learning through experience, allowed to to make many mistakes and a free spirit, not laden with responsibilities and obligations. In my late 20s I had more responsibilities, but even though I felt like I was a proper full adult, I could still take time out to be silly and be a bit wild once every a while.

Now that I’m reaching a milestone date, mentally I have stepped across the threshold into a new paradigm. I feel the weight of responsibilities bearing on me more (though it is no different than the past few months), but there is a mental shift in my mind associated with turning 30.

So readers, help me dissolve my fears of getting another year older, and celebrate with me a milestone as I continue along my life journey.

It’s nerve-racking and exciting. I’m not sure what to expect in my 30s – hopefully exciting opportunities in love and career and in my ability to pursue my passions and all the things that bring me happiness and pleasure. 

No doubt beauty and blogging will continue to be an important part of it as clearly, it's one of those things I love dearly and I love sharing it with you.

I Survived a Month Without Makeup & Travel Wrap Up

Hello!

Yes It's me.  I know it’s been over a month since my last post and despite coming back to Melbourne over a week ago, I’ve just been so busy with getting things back on track that I haven’t had the chance to blog (ok I admit, it’s also due to the post-holiday blues that had me unmotivated to update sooner). I assure you that I haven’t abandoned this blog – in fact, I’ve got so many great posts planned, I just need to now find the time to write them all!

Whilst travelling, I was makeup-free virtually every day. I did attempt to put on foundation and eye makeup on the first 2 days whilst in Kuala Lumpur but within 30 mins of being out the humid weather, I looked like a grease ball and it was not a pretty sight at all. So other than moisturisers and sunscreens and essential skincare items, I was a total non-beauty addict for a month.

Understandably, I was suffering from major beauty withdrawal symptoms and since I've been back, I've been eagerly rediscovering my beauty products and falling in love with them all over again.

I also lament that I didn’t have the opportunity to go beauty shopping whilst in Malaysia (other than a quick duck into Watsons to pick up a Majolica Majorca mascara). Travelling with family doesn't result in the most conducive environment to spend an hour looking at makeup and beauty products (not with a whinging 15 year-old and bored uncle and dad in tow). I didn’t bother with trying to find cosmetics in Cambodia or Vietnam as they didn’t really have a developed enough beauty industry (and if they did, I didn’t know where to look for them). 

Before I resume normal beauty posts, I thought I'd share a few things I’ve learnt from my month long travel:

• Don’t go on your first family trip with 2 sets of families. You will spend more time arguing about where to go and what to do than actually doing it – highly inefficient use of time. 
• Never underestimate the bond of family– despite all the disagreements and fights, we didn't hold a grudge and let bygones be bygones. Otherwise, we would have killed each other or gone insane (which I almost did towards the end). 
• Blackheads have equally strong bonds in humid weather. My nose was constantly plagued by them. Boy did I love my ASAP glycolic scrub for it and sorely missed my clarisonic pro last month. I don’t think I’m ever going to leave that gadget home when I next go on long travels. 
• 80% DEET spray and a personal electronic mosquito repellent will become your best friends when in SE Asia. Sadly I didn't have these items with me and my Aerogard could barely stand up to these pesky blood suckers. Mozzies can definitely ruin your holidays. 
• Fruits in Asia tastes 10 times better than back home because they don’t use pesticides and are allowed to ripen on trees. Jackfruits and sugar cane juice were my daily staples in Vietnam and Cambodia.
• Staying in third world countries, I appreciated what I have even more and it really puts life into perspective. A very tasty meal in Cambodia is often less than US$2 (which is basically the same as A$2 these days). Most people there get by on less than US$5 a day! With this in mind, it’s going to make it hard for me to splurge on my next beauty buy when I think of how many mouths that money can feed in poorer countries. 
• By the end of the trip, I made a commitment to myself to be show more kindness to those I meet in life. Incredibly every time I’m upset about something/someone, thinking about being kind to them calms me right down. It really must be karma at work already! 

I don't intend to post too many photos from the holiday since they aren't very beauty related (and I haven't yet sorted through them), but here’s one of me and my all time favourite fruit – the jackfruit, taken on a fruit farm along the Mekong Delta.

Looking forward to getting back into the groove of blogging again.
Lilpil

Au Voir & My Travel Skincare Kit

In a few short hours time, I'll be flying out of Melbourne and heading to tropical SE Asia with my family for the next 4 weeks.

I wish I could pack my whole table full of skincare products from home with me, but I planned on travelling light and want to leave as much space as possible for the quintessential Asian bargain shopping to be had.

So culling products and travel packs are the way to go for me over the next 4 weeks. These tried and trusted items will going to be on my skincare travel kit:

Cleansers: 50ml travel size ASAP daily facial cleanser & daily exfoliating facial scrub. 
Moisturisers/serums: Prevage Advance Anti-aging serum & ASAP Super C serum 
Day moisturiser: Vitacreme B & Neutrogena Healthy Defence daily moisturiser SPF30+ for oily/combo skin 
Night moisturiser: Roc Retin-Ox Intensive Anti-wrinkle night cream 
Eyes: Olay Regenerist Anti-aging eye roller 
Lips: Blistex Ultra Lip Balm SPF 30+ 
Body/hands: Auscreen Active Clear Zinc Lotion SPF30+ and Banana Boat Sports sunscreen SPF 30+ for the body &amp Skin Doctors Younger Hands and a travel size of L'Occitane's Rose hand cream
Other Miscellaneous items:

• 2 big cans of tropical strength Aerogards to fend off the mozzies for the whole family. 
• Prescribed Elocon for any insect bites and itches
• Vitamin supplements of fish oils, bio-zinc and iron tablets to make sure I've got all the energy and vitamins intake I need to have a fairly active holiday
• Cotton wools, buds and Garnier Clean Sensitive wet cleansing wipes 
• a manicare kit containing nail clipper, nail file, tweezers and a small pair of scissors

I know it seems like a load of products to lug around and not much culling was done, but trust me, it was difficult to not try and pack 3 different types of moisturisers and 3 eye creams.  Most of these items are travel size and some of the items are almost finished so I just want to use them up and throw them out before buying new items whilst on my travels.

While I'm off, my blog will not be updated regularly (unless in the unlikely event that I find chunks of time in some internet cafe in Vietnam and Cambodia). Catch you all next month when I get back.

Lilpil
xx