Haul | Paris

I got this many things, threw it in a bag and took the Eurostar back to London~ 

Here's the exciting part-- the haul!

I went to CityPharma at 26 Rue du Four (the place to go for all skincare junkies), went into a trance and got a bunch of things.

I actually did research on what I wanted to get and things my relatives requested before going, but I still ended up this many things because everything is SO MUCH CHEAPER THAN SINGAPORE!!!(Even with the exchange rate, which was around 1.65:1)

I spent a ton and freaked out when I got to the cashier:

"€420 ?! WTH did I buy?" was the first thought in my head (even though I was the one who picked the items..)

I got some soap, Bioderma, moisturisers etc. French skincare is well known in the world and if you look at the French women in real life, you'd want to buy whatever they're using too. The good thing is, you can enjoy tax free shopping when you spend around  €175 and above, which can be easily done. 

Things that are super worth it to buy:

Paris | Day 2

Bonjour!

Welcome to part 2 of my Paris adventure post. If you've not read part one, click here.

Day 2 in Paris was the last day I had to spend travelling around and what not before having to take the Eurostar the next morning. As I've said before, it's a super short trip. Another regret in my life.

Anyway, places to go on Day 2: Musée d'Orsay, Notre Dame Cathedral and a special trip to the famed CityPharma (plus a pop over to Pierre Hermé for their amazing macarons). It's a packed day-- read on!

First stop is Musée d'Orsay, which is accessible via the RER (another form of rail transport in Paris) or you can take the metro to Solférino or Assemblée Nationale and walk a short distance. I took the metro because my lodging was just a stone's throw from a metro station. It was raining when I reached and I walked around armed with my map in hand to the place. The museum is a revamped train station and you can see signs of its history in the way there is a beautiful big clock at the top. It's a beautiful place to house the great works of artists like Van Gogh, Cézanne and Monet, just to name a few. I had to choose between visiting this and the Louvre, and I chose this because I wanted to see the works here more. I shall save the Louvre for the next time I visit~

Outside the entrance-- I was there early!

~Beauty Myths Experiment Diary~ Will drinking 8 cups of water a day really give me good skin? | Week 4

Guess what guys!
We've made it! Finally it's the last week of testing the myth that drinking 8 cups of water a day will give us good skin, in the Beauty Myths Experiemt Diary series
From struggling to drink 2l a day to drinking more than 2l a day with ease, these past 4 weeks have been an interesting water experience. If you haven't already, check out our previous posts for the week-by-week breakdown of our water journey -->> Week 0, Week 1, Week 2 and Week 3!

With that aside, let's see just how our skin has fared after 4 weeks! :)

	Will drinking 8 cups of water a day really give me good skin?!
Picture	Christine	El
Current Skin Condition	I jinxed it. Got a few pimples popping out :( I also don't see any changes with pore size when I wake up.	Well my skin is back to amazing again, and definitely better than when I started the experiment. Not sure if it's thanks to the rash cream my Dr gave me but I've got barely any pimples after my rash gone off. My skin texture is back to being good.
Signs of Pimples	Okay, this has to be the weirdest place to have a pimple - on my eyelid. I don't know how it happened but I think it was due to an ingrowth eyebrow so...probably nothing to do with water. That aside, I think my period pimples are popping out again. (I paid attention this time!! haha) either that, or I over-exfoliated >.<	One or two tiny white pimples which are easily rid of.
Hydration	Definitely hydrated :)	My skin's now is less dry than last week. However, there's still a tight feeling there because I haven't been sny moisutriser beside my aloe vera gel.
Oil Control	Haven't blotted, won't be starting anytime soon.	My skin is less oily now. Only need to blot once a day.
Other Comments	I am happy (no more multiple toilet trips in an hour) and sad (it's our last post) at the same time. 1 month passes so fast. Here's what I think so far: I'm not 100% satisfied with how my face condition is right now as I was hoping that drinking 2l of water a day will help prevent pimples from popping out but I guess I had too high an expectation. Regardless, I do find that my pimples do heal faster and scarring fades quicker doing the experiment. Sadly though, I don't think the water helped in tightening my pores - they still look as big as ever.	I'm super happy about my skin condition right now. I'm also thankful that the rash did not leave any major scarring behind beside on the sides of my face. They'll probably fade after some time. I think drinking water really helped to speed up my skin's recovery, especially the scarring left by blemishes and the rash. This is because some of the blemish marks healed really fast without me having to use special creams. My pores also seem smaller! Is this the power of water~?

That's the end of this week's report on our progress! So far, it does seem like drinking 8 cups of water helped improve our skin condition. What do you think? Is it just us hoping that it's working or do you believe that it's true? Have you tried this out before? Tell us what you think in the comments section or tweet us @ChapalangGirls!

Remember to use #TCWBMED! :) Follow us on twitter @ChapalangGirls or like us on our Facebook page to keep track of our progress!

OH. BY THE WAY
We've decided to give you guys an overview of our thoughts on this water myth. As Christine will be overseas at the time of publishing this post, our overall post will be a little after 2 weeks! So stay tuned! :)
Till next time.
Love,
Christine & El xoxo

~Beauty Myths Experiment Diary~ Will drinking 8 cups of water a day really give me good skin? | Week 3

Welcome back!
In this segment, we try out beauty tips raved about by celebrities and media and see if they're just myths, or if there is an element of truth in it.

And right now, we're onto week 3 of testing the water myth (as seen in the title)! If you've missed our previous instalments, just click here -> Week 0, Week 1 and Week 2!

With that done, let's move on to the exciting part~

	Will drinking 8 cups of water a day really give me good skin?!
Picture	Christine	El
Current Skin Condition	I really hope I won't jinx it but the pimples are almost gone~ The minor scarring left behind seems to heal pretty quick as well. I hope this continues on! Go water! (If only you'll get rid of my dark undereyes too)	Well if you read the previous week's post, you'd be wondering why my photo for this week is still the same. The problem is that I've got a really bad rash breakout all over my face, so I'm unwilling to show it here for the world to see. No idea what caused my allergic reaction since I've not changed anything in my routine.
Signs of Pimples	Just one near my left upper lip (no idea why there is one there though...funny place to have a pimple)	I've got some pimples, but less than last week. Although for now I can't differentiate my pimples from the rash since they're both red and bumpy.
Hydration	Looks and feels pretty hydrated to me.	My skin's dry due to the medication.
Oil Control	Still the same, not blotting.	Same as last week!
Other Comments	Pretty great week so far for my skin. Also, it feels like my body is craving for its hourly water dosage now. I get thirsty easily and can down more water compared to before we started this experiment. That aside, I do hate making so many trips to the toilet though...	Well this week sucked. Who knew I'd get a skin rash? Totally didn't expect such a thing to crop up in the middle of the experiment. What I can say is that it's not the water's fault for the rash. I'm sorry that I'm not able to give a very accurate reflection on the effects of drinking 2L of water a day on the skin. At this moment, my skin's recovering and the parts with the rash are flaky and dry. I can only hope I do not have much scarring left from this. I can't use any of my skincare for now... not even to wash my face with soap. :(

That's the end of this week's report on our progress! So far, it does seem like drinking 8 cups of water helped improve our skin condition. What do you think? Is it just us hoping that it's working or do you believe that it's true? Have you tried this out before? Tell us what you think in the comments section or tweet us @ChapalangGirls!

Remember to use #TCWBMED! :) Follow us on twitter @ChapalangGirls or like us on our Facebook page to keep track of our progress! Just one more update for this myth and we're done with the month-long testing :( Time passes so fast.

Stay tuned for next Wednesday's update!

Till next time.
Love,
Christine & El xoxo

~Beauty Myths Experiment Diary~ Will drinking 8 cups of water a day really give me good skin? | Week 1

Hello everyone!

Welcome to The Chapalang Way's "Beauty Myths Experiment Diary"!
In this segment, we try out beauty tips raved about by celebrities and media and see if they're just myths, or if there is an element of truth in it.

Right now, we're in the midst of testing if drinking 8 cups of water a day will give us good skin. Last week, we posted a post of us at the start of this experiment (click here to read Week 0). This week, let's see if there're any changes to our skin~

	Will drinking 8 cups of water a day really give me good skin?!
Picture	Christine	El
Current Skin Condition	One word: BAD (see below). Otherwise, my skin seems to be pretty much the same - oily at my T-zone after a day although I dare say it's a little less oilier than usual; undereye circles are still there as dark as always and skin on my nose is now flaky at night for some reason.	Pretty great still^^ I've only got a small patch of flaking skin around my left cheek which is not really obvious unless you look really closely. I don't particularly see my skin glowing but my face seems to produce oil at a slower rate.
Signs of Pimples	On Thursday, a pimple popped out on my nose. It came to head the next day and I took care of it. Right after that, it felt like my face became a free for all pimple zone :( One more appeared on my nose, another on my left cheek and tiny ones on my right cheek. I really hope that this is the effect of the water flushing out the toxins in my body and it will clear up soon.	I'm still having my good skin week~ I've not gotten any major breakout yet(We'll see what happens in the next two weeks). Usually I would get a big, painful zit around this time of the month but all's well so far. I've got a few tiny little insignificant pimples though but some tea tree oil after two days they disappear.
Hydration	I dare say my skin feels more hydrated and a little glowing from within...but it could be my imagination too. Haha	My skin is a little flaky in parts of my face but most of my face feels less dry.
Oil Control	Still didn't blot for this week.	Still blotting, although I do notice that my face seems to get oily slower. It could be due to the water doing its magic or it could be my mind thinking about it. Haha.
Other Comments	Quite honestly, I didn't manage to drink up to 2 litres every day just because it gets sickening trying to drink so much water at one go, even at intervals. Plus, I had to work full days for 3 days last week and it was pretty hard trying to get the required water intake. Also, I would think that drinking so much water each day would mean that my lips won't be dry but quite surprisingly, my lips feel drier than usual. I wonder if it's a sign of over hydration. Anyway, If you're planning to do this, I highly recommend getting a 1 litre bottle and familiarising yourself with the nearest toilet. Be prepared to make multiple trips to the washroom.	I would say it's pretty sickening having to drink so much water a day when usually I would drink at most a liter... Plus I only drink when I've got time at work or at home. It's annoying having to go to the toilet so frequently. I do notice that for the first 2 days after starting the water experiment, I kept having diarrhoeastomach pain(TMI I know. But I thought I should add this in for the sake of sharing information)! I think it's the water purging my body of all the junk I eat sometimes.

That's the end of this week's report on our progress! What do you think of the our progress so far? Do you think it's just a myth or think that it's true? Have you tried this out before? Tell us what you think in the comments section or tweet us @ChapalangGirls!
Follow us on twitter @ChapalangGirls or like us on our Facebook page to keep track of our progress! We will be updating our observations every Wednesday for a month :)
So far, Week 1 has been a struggle. Drinking so much water each day, coupled with other liquids that we might take (soup, tea, Starbucks), has made the bathroom our new hangout. Nevertheless, we will persevere and come to a conclusion on this myth! Join us in our myth adventure with the hashtag #TCWBMED! Hope to hear from you guys~

Till next time.
Love,
Christine & El xoxo

Product Review: Bio-Essence's Hydra Tri action Aqua Droplet Sleeping Beauty Mask

Hello everyone!

Sorry it has been so long since I've written a new post. I've been working and my work clothes have to be all black, pants and long sleeves combo, so there's nothing fashion-related I can post about sadly. I've been working as temporary a sales person and have 5/6 days work week depending on the schedule :(

Hence, I've decided to do a beauty product review because I really, REALLY like this product. It's Bio-Essence's Hydra Tri action Aqua Droplet Sleeping Beauty Mask. Ridiculously long name I know...Let's just call it the sleeping mask.

Just so you know, this is not a sponsored post (we're faraway from that and I don't rave about stuff I dislike). Anyway, I've been a fan of Bio-essence's ATP Exfoliating Gel for a few years now and I keep repurchasing it despite the many changes it has undergone. I decided to get this sleeping mask in Watsons after having tried the tester and really loved the texture. I actually hesitated a long while to get it because it's so expensive! In stores it retails at $33.90 but I managed to get it cheaper because there was a Watsons sale and I also got an additional 20% discount thanks to my aunt who got a special SMS from Watsons (This is called shopping smart!)

I love the concept of Sleeping Pack/Masks which claim to hydrate and nourish your skin while you're sleeping. It's like the lazy person's way out of having to do a mask and wait for 20 minutes to remove it. I've used Laneige's famed Water Sleeping Pack EX, which I enjoyed and also a sample of Neutrogena's  Hydroboost Water Gel which also has the sleeping mask concept. Surprisingly, I like Bio-Essence's version the best since it's cheap(affordable) and also works well. I also prefer the texture of this as it's not sticky, which I like, unlike Laneige's Sleeping Pack which I found it a bit sticky.

I started using sleeping masks more when I started sleeping in my sister's room. In that room, the aircon will be blowing directly at my face because of my bed position and my skin will feel tight and dry in the morning. My throat will also be hurting from the dryness. Sadly, my sister will not let me switch off the aircon even though it's ridiculously cold, so I had to find a way to deal with the dryness. My usual moisturiser wasn't working well enough so I decided to try sleeping masks! With this product, I wake up to nice and supple skin!

The good thing about this product is that it's not sticky and it absorbs fast, so you can go to bed sooner!


Here's a picture of the product:

Half the jar is gone because I love using this so much! <3

Here's why it's called "Aqua droplet": It's originally in a gel form but when you massage it into your skin, it turns into water droplets!

Packaging

Packaging wise, it's a pretty sturdy yet lightweight jar, making it easy to put in a travel bag. However, I wish it's in a squeeze tube form so that it'll be easier for me to control the amount I take and also more hygienic! It's a little disgusting to be digging in the jar for the gel using my hands all the time, so I use my own spatula to scoop out the product.

Texture 

It's not sticky and when applied to face it feels like I'm spreading water on my face I guess. It absorbs fast and feels good!

Scent

I love how this sleeping mask smells. It has this really nice refreshing and calm fragrance that's not overpowering, which helps me to relax before bed. For those of you who believe that scented products are bad for your skin, skip this.

Overall rating:4.5/5

It's close to 5 but the packaging and the price could be improved on. The product works well for me though. Usually I use these kinds of sleeping mask at night but I love it so much that I also use a small amount of it in the morning. I find that it helps to keep my skin hydrated longer hence I get less oily throughout the day despite having lots of makeup on at work. For those of you interested, you can try the testers at Watsons/Guardian and feel the moisturising property of the product for yourself. With skincare, every individual's skin differs so it's important to test the product first :)

Till next time
Love
El   xoxo

El's Watsons Sale Haul

Hello people! How's your week going? This is going to be my last post before I stop for exams, so it's extra long.

Christine and I went for the Watsons members only sale and grabbed some of the stuff that we've been wanting to get. We both went for this sale but at different Watsons. The queue was crazy at my side, but I did manage to get most of what I wanted. I spent A LOT of money as I was getting some makeup from Majolica Majorca and also Vichy skincare, two very expensive brands at Watsons. I usually only buy expensive brands at sales( like most other people probably). I bought some random stuff as well, like food etc. I saved quite a bit from the sales. Sadly, my receipt's gone, so I can't tell you the exact prices and discounts I've got.

Are you ready for my massive haul? *Drum rolls*

*****

Ta dah!

This has got to be the most I've spent at Watsons in a while. I'll just introduce everything I've got in a clockwise direction. 

I've got myself some Nutella sticks to bring for class. They were going at 2 for $5.90. I've eaten a pack and it was pretty good. Lots of Nutella but too little biscuit sticks though.

Next is Tri-Activ Moisturiser and the Purifying Astringent Lotion from Vichy's Normaderm range. The lotion is a toner, which I liked after stealing some from my sister to use. It is soothing and smells nice. There was a 20% discount for Vichy products, so it's a good time to spend some money on skincare.

I've used a couple of Tri-Activ Moisturiser samples before deciding to buy it, as it is pricey. However, this is a good product. I find that it does control my oily skin. Best of all, I've noticed that it really helps to calm down my skin. My face was all angry and breaking out after not sleeping much for a few nights(thanks to essay deadline). After using this, I find that my skin heals faster. I know that it's this product, because that's the only thing new in my routine. Or it could be because Vichy's Hyaluspot works even better with products from the same range. Anyway, I'm quite surprised that I like this range, since I dislike the purifying cleansing gel from the same range! 

The white packet beside is a free sample of Vichy's new 3 in 1 Cleanser+Exfoliant+Mask that I received from the promoter.  The instructions say that I can use it as a cleanser/scrub or as a mask. How cool is that?

I also bought Nivea's lip balm in the colour Soft Rose. There was a 2 for $6 deal for Nivea's lip balm, so my sister and I each got one. Can't wait to use it and see if it does leave a rose shine like the package claims.

I also got myself a mini can of dry shampoo from Batiste to bring with me everywhere I go. I've been wanting to get this so that I can style my fringe in school when it starts clumping together. There's no discount for this, but since I was there...

Below is a tub of hair treatment  mask from John Frieda's Frizz-Ease range. I think I got it at 13.90,which is a 7% discount. I've been curious about the effectiveness of the Frizz-Ease range since reading about it last year. I was so happy when Watsons finally carries the brand this year! 

 

Beside it is the Skin Remaker case from Majolica Majorca(MJ). It's the limited edition rose gold casing and it was the last one at my Watsons. It has a nice mirror inside. I bought this to hold the Skin Remaker powder. The case looks super luxurious and elegant. The place to put the pan uses a clip in mechanism, making it easy to refill. There's also a place for the sponge which came with the powder.

That brown, rectangular package beside the case is the powder! It is sold separate from the case, so you'd have to buy them separately. I got mine in the shade OC10, which is a very good colour match for me. I've been wanting to try the powder after reading the reviews online. For those of you who doesn't know, MJ is by Shiseido. Since I love my foundation from Shiseido, I think the powder is worth a try. I got 25+5% discount for the items, which is a bigger than usual discount. 

I probably will give a review on this powder in the future after testing. Check back here in later if you're interested! 

To the left is the mirror from Majolica Majorca which I got for free for spending more than $35 on their products. It's really cute and handy. The green thing next to it is the free passport holder from Watsons. Amazingly(or maybe not so), Christine and I got the same colour even though we were apart. Haha.

In the center is a MJ set going at $9.90. It contains a Honey Pump Gloss Neo (shade OR 240 aka Orange) and the Aurora Teary Liner (blue). This is really worth it because the gloss itself would have cost around $12+ I think. It's a really tiny but expensive gloss. I have one and I like it. It's not sticky and it makes my lips look pretty. I'm planning to give this gloss as a christmas gift to a friend while I keep the liner for myself (I know I'm a cheapskate). 

Beside it is Bio-essence's Miracle Bio Water. They're 2 for $16.90, just like what the pink sticker on it screams. This is probably another of those thermal water mist sprays like Avène Thermal Spring Water and Vichy Thermal Spa Water. I just bought it because I'm almost done with my bottle of Oguma Aquakey, which is another facial mist. 

That's all for my haul.Whew! It has been a super long post. Thanks for staying with me if you've read till the end. I can't wait for the next Watsons sale to get more awesome stuff. I'd love to check out the Sally Hansen section to see if there's a sale for their polishes because I forgot about it. I hope you've enjoyed this post! Look out for Christine's own Watsons haul post coming soon! See you again in December :)

Till next time.

Love,

El   xoxo