I got my copy! Homecoming 回香靖

Yes, I'm actually blogging about something different this time. Blogging about music! I wonder if Jin is reading this lol if so HEY JIN!!! I love your character Yeung lap cheng! Yep, I'm blogging about Jin, his new album.

'Homecoming' is the name of his new album; 2nd Chinese album. Oh for those who don't know who Jin is (very unlikely) google him; he won the freestyle battle at BET 106 Park about 8 years ago I think or maybe longer than that. He was then signed by Ruff Ryders. He also starred in 2 Fast 2 Furious.

I was going crazy when I knew Jin was going to be at the book exhibition (in Hong Kong) giving out his customized USB- it looks like a Hong Kong ID card, 4GB memory USB. I was going even more crazy the fact that I couldn't go to the exhibition because I was in UK. My younger brother was in Hong Kong at the time so tried to get him to go but he couldn't because he was at the beach. Thought I wouldn't have a chance in getting it. But my brother surprised me!! Thank you so much Esmond love you lots xxx. He didn't go to the exhibition but when he came back to UK, he got his friend to order it online. He said it was a thank you present for me. 

The big one is the album and the little one is the USB. 

The USB: The chip slides out at the side. 

The date at the bottom 08-08-2011 is the release date of the album, on a real HK ID card that would be the issue date. The ABC stands for American Born Chinese, but on the real card I don't know what it means but my one has 'AO'. The 3 stars on the real ID card represents your status in Hong Kong- the type of stay you have. The date of arrival is when he arrived in HK, but on the real one it will be your date of birth. It's really kool huh?

I really like the package of this album, I know I'm not the only one that does. Everyone is fascinated with it. It's really creative and meaningful; it represents the journey of his music career from USA to Hong Kong. Every single song in this album is really positive and very healthy; he doesn't rap about girls, sex, violence or drug like those rappers does. However, he does rap about money but in a good way and not boasting about being a walking bank. But then I guess, those kind of content are too much for Hong Kong. H.K. artist won't be able to survive if they produced songs about sex, violence, drug and money because it's bad influence for the minors. Well at least Hong Kong is not like USA and UK portraying wrong and misleading images of a lady acting and dressing like a hoe for example.

Anyways, back to Jin's album. Oh sorry, I forgot he does rap about girls, no sorry not girls. WOMEN, older women! Lol. He raps about women in their 40's are the most loyal fans. Lol. It's jokes. There's another beautiful song where he raps about his wedding, the lyrics are really sweet. It's like awww. lol. Overall, this album itself is really humble just like himself. Even my dad said so lol, he said that he likes Jin because he is really humble.

Inside that greenish coloured cover are these; lyrics, CD (inside the blue case) & 2 coupons.

You sure you're applying face lotion on correctly?

The other day I was on the train and I saw a lady putting moisturizer on her face. Yes, I know nothing shocking about that apart from she's doing it on the train and not at home or toilet. But what did get to me was, she applied it wrong! So what exactly did she do then, you must be thinking. She put some moisturizer on the palm of her hand, rubbed her hands together and aggressively (not even gently) rubbed both of her hands on her face.  Ok, if that's the way you apply yours, you must stop now!

First of all, you're not suppose to put face lotion on the eye areas. The skin around the eyes are really delicate and face moisturizers are too strong for those areas. You should be using eye cream/ gel, etc basically product that is designed for the eyes. Second of all, putting cream the way she did and aggressively can create    small wrinkles.

The correct way...
When applying eye cream, you should be gentle. Gently dab across the skin under the eye, dab until the cream has been absorbed. For the upper part of the eye, you should also dab under the brow bone and a bit on the crease of the eye. Do not rub the cream in because that will create wrinkles under the eye, so you got to be dabbing gently.


The diagram below shows the motion that the moisturizer should be applied in. The red ovals in the diagram indicates where the eye cream should be applied.(Took me ages to draw this!)

Apply about 1cm dollop of cream (or more if needed) on each of these areas; forehead, nose, chin, both cheeks (maybe a little more on the cheeks).
When you put the cream on, imagine you've split your face in 2 halves.
From the middle of forehead; rub out to the left and rub out to the right on the other half of the forehead.
The nose; rub it down the nose.
For the cheeks and chin;  rub outwards, starting from the jawline and up to the cheeks.

Always do it in outward motion, this is like giving yourself a face lift and will prevent wrinkles. 

This also applies to anything you put on to your face; toner, serum, etc.

My Hair Care collection

Ever since I had my hair permed...


Not the best picture to show the curls in my hair because of the light behind me. I took this when I was in HK.

Yep like that, I have been going crazy on hair products.  When I had my straight hair (permed again), I didn't have any hair products apart from Shampoo and conditioner and heat protection hair spray and now...

That's what I have at the moment, there are still some other products I need to get. So its still growing lol. And some of them basically have the same function but just different brand names lol.

With this wavy hair, I realised that my hair looks better when I haven't washed it for 2-3 days, my hair has more volume and the curls are more defined funny enough. The thing is my hair gets greasy after 2-3 days and I feel uncomfortable not washing it of course. So to keep my volume, I did my research.

Trés Emmé Dry Shampoo is the solution!
How it works
Spray onto dry hair and leave for 1-2 minutes and just brush through hair. It instantly gets rid of the grease but keeping the volume that your hair has created itself in the past few days- if you have curls. But this product itself revives the volume of the hair anyways which is a bonus because not all dry shampoo does that...I think lol. Good for coloured hair because you're washing your hair less often so the colour will maintain longer. Forgot to mention, it also gets rid of odour.



Other products in the photo.

From the far right, the blue bottle. Nouvelle is the brand name,  a spray that gives you shiny and silky hair. I actually didn't buy this, my auntie gave it to me when I was in Hong Kong. She said its really good and it is but it's almost finished =(

Fadddy is a creamy wax. My daily use to style my hair and mainly concentrating on the ends to keep them moist. You can use it on damp or dry hair and for curly, wavy, straight hair. It helps defines the curls in your hair and when it drys up it will look natural and soft so you won't have hard curls like some hair product does. I bought this from Hong Kong.

Aussie Dual Personality, Curl definition & soft serum
I used this to get soft and shiny hair and to get my curls more defined.
Can use on dry or damp hair. I usually use this after I've washed my hair and then spray some John Frieda Dream Curls spray (see below). I know I already have that Nouvelle to give me shiny hair and that Faddy to define my curls but I got this because it has Australian Jojoba seed oil. Natural ingredient Lol!





Wella Shockwaves Curls and Waves Mousse.
I use this on a casual day out. If you don't spread the mousse evenly into your hair, you can get some hard curls. But having saying that it doesn't look too bad, it still does look natural with more defined curls. It gives you shine too. Put a dollop in your palm and rub your hands together (rub as if you're putting hand cream on to ensure you apply it evenly into your hair). Run your fingers through your hair and scrunch. But don't over do it. It can also get rid of those annoying frizzy bits. Sometimes, I would mix this with the Faddy creamy wax. Why? To be honest, I'm not sure why lol. I just feel it will make the hair shiny, soft and more defined. Basically, 2 in 1.

They are both Wella Silvikrin Hairspray but one is a flexible hold and the other is a firm hold. It says that they have UV protection. The firm hold one, is really good. It holds your hair for the whole day and it makes your hair very firm and its only a 3 not 4. Its very good for when you're backbrushing your hair. The flexible one only holds your hair for a few hours if you've backbrushed your hair. But I do spray the flexible hold one on my roots (tipping my head upside down) for extra oomph, does sort of work.

L'Oréal Elnett Very Volume Supreme Hold Spray
I know this is the same sort of hairspray as above but wanted to try this brand. I want to try the diamond hold one too, so that's another one to add to my collection soon.

VO5 Blow Dry Lotion
Its a heat protection spray and it amplifies volume which is the reason why I bought this. I only use this if I was to blow dry my hair of course. I use this on my roots and for the rest of my hair I use John Frieda (see below). It also gets rid of those annoying frizz in your hair if you spray from root to end and blow dry with a round brush.

John Frieda Dream Curls styling spray-got this because it says frizz-ease and creates sexy curls, I know it's the same stuff as above lol. It's in a liquid form. You use it on damp hair, spray from roots down to ends and just scrunch. You can either leave it to dry naturally or blow dry with a diffuser.

Great smoothies for breakfast!

Image from myrecipe.com

Hi Guys! In one of my old blogs (click to read) I mentioned about the smoothie that I drink every morning. I thought I'll share some of my recipes with you guys, so you can try it yourself at home. Of course, its really up to you what you prefer to have in your smoothie.

Porridge is the best breakfast to have for weight management and when you're on a diet. But of course it's too hot for the summer, ideally you would want something cool and refreshing in the summer.

Please note: The more ripe the fruits are the better they taste! Banana will make the mixture thick so add more milk to thinen it down.

Banana and Oat 
1 cup of oat
1 whole banana
1/2 cup of skimmed milk
1/2 cup of natural plain yoghurt
1 tsp of ground cinnamon (optional)
1 tblsp of honey/ brown sugar if you don't like honey

Put everything into a blender and blend until smooth

Strawberry and Bananna Oatmeal. (You can add a handful of blueberries too for a different taste)
1 cup of oat
1 whole banana
A handful of  fresh strawberries (5-6, depending on the size and your preference)
1 cup of skimmed milk
1/2 cup of natural yoghurt

Put everything into a blender and blend for 2 minutes or until smooth.

Peach and blueberries Oatmeal
1 cup of oat
1/2 cup of skimmed milk
1/2 cup of natural plain yoghurt
1 Peach (remove pit)
A handful of blueberries
1 Tablespoon of honey (optional)

Put everything into a blender except the honey, blend for 2 minutes or until smooth. Add honey if you like it to be sweeter. Peach with oat can create a soya milk taste, by adding the honey will get rid of that if you don't like the soya taste.

Peach and Strawberries
1 Peach
5-6 Strawberries
1 cup of skimmed milk
1 Cup of oat

Put everything into a blender and blend until smooth

Peach and Banana
1 whole Banana
1 Peach (pit removed)
1/2 cup skimmed milk
1/2 cup natural yoghurt.

Blend everything together, if the fruits are not ripe enough add 1 tbsp of honey for extra sweetness.

Berries Oatmeal
1 handful of raspberry
1 handful of blueberries
1 handful of Strawberries
1 cup of oat
1 cup of natural yoghurt
1/2 cup of skimmed milk (if the mixture is too thick add more milk)

Blend everything together, if the fruit are not ripe enough it could taste quite sour so add a tbsp of honey to sweeten it if you wish.

Recently, I've downloaded an app called Whole Living, it has more than 100 recipes of smoothies. It has 5 categories ranging from essentials to detox to weight loss. It's only £0.65 ($99) but when you first purchase it you will only have 3 categories and you will have to buy the other two. Each costing £0.65. Some of the recipes suggests using concentrated juice but I like to use fresh fruits.

I haven't tried the recipes myself yet because there's some ingredients I just can't be bothered to buy lol. The recipes I put up here are my own creation. Try it out the next morning or even now!

The watermelon skin is good for your skin, don't throw it away!

When its summer or when weather is hot even, watermelon is everyone's favourite (most people anyways)

Look at those watermelon! So yummy and juicy!!!

When we've eaten the red part we will throw the skin away right? Well from now on don't, keep it for some natural beauty treatment! Suitable for both men and women. :)

Watermelon is like cucumber really cool and refreshing so of course that would be good if you've been under the sun for too long and would like to soothe your skin. We, Chinese people say when you get spot is due to 'heat' in our body, I don't know what its called in English. But according to the Chinese medical theory, the 'heat' (not our body temperature lol) is created from eating too much fried food, wheat products, being under the sun too much. Too mush 'heat' will not only cause spot but also bad breath, sore throat, waking up with lots of those eye boogies thing lol, and apparently we will bite our tongue or inside of our mouth more often. Chinese people have several herbal drinks to get rid of this 'heat' and of course prevent and get rid of spots.  (Just gave you guys a mini lesson about Chinese medicine lol)
As with the watermelon, it will cool down your spots. Make sense? lol

Method:
Cleanse your face first to get rid of dirt and sweat, no need to apply toner after.

The skin should be something like below (You can scrap some off to clean it out a bit if you feel funny about the saliva on the watermelon lol):

Cut into smaller pieces to make it easier to use if you wish.

Simply just rub it against your cheeks, forehead, nose, all over your face basically.
 
After you've done it, rinse it with cold water to get rid of the the bits and juice.

Feel your face now and you would feel that your skin has instantly gone softer like a baby's bum! lol

Pat to dry with a clean flannel.

You can apply toner if you wish (the watermelon is cold and plus you rinsed your skin with cold water so the pores would have shrunk anyway but you can use it to get rid of any dirt from the flannel since it may not be 100% clean- toner not only shrinks your pores also gets rid of dirt on your skin.*)

If you have dry skin apply some moisturizer afterwards.

*An express way to clean your face is wiping toner over your face with a cotton pad


Try it out guys!