HUGE HONG KONG BEAUTY HAUL

You've seen my Korean Beauty Haul, now it's time for my Hong Kong Beauty Spree/Haul. This is another 'show' rather than tell post because seriously I can't use everything on my face at once. Thinking about it now, my Huge Mac Lipstick Haul is also part of this since I bought it at Hong Kong Airport so don't forget to check out what shades I picked up. For the good stuff, keep on reading. I'm excited as you are! I bought loads and loads of face masks too but that will be for another post or this will go on for forever.

TRIBAL PRINT KIMONO | SOUTH KOREA

It saddens me to post the last outfit I wore in South Korea. At least I have all the goodies that I have purchased and the photos I have taken to remind me of an awesome holiday. Next time I go to South Korea I will definitely try more street food, explore more historical palaces and wear a hanbok. See here for all my travel related posts.

SOUTH KOREA BEAUTY HAUL

It's finally here: my korean beauty haul. Looking at my purchases right now, it doesn't feel like I bought much from my South Korea trip. I had more items to pick up on my list but we ran out of time but there will always be a next time. I definitely bought more clothing back  than beauty items. I've put myself on a ban since I have soo much beauty items to work through now including my Hong Kong haul (coming soon). This is a 'show' more than 'tell' post, so if there is anything in particular that you want to see a review of first let me know.

SOUTH KOREA DIARY| MYEONGDONG & GYEONGBUKGUNG PALACE

Welcome to my South Korea travel diary, I went to South Korea for 4 days with my bestfriend. South Korea has been very eventful, filled with lots of food, lots of shopping and resulted with extremely painful backache and sore ankles from late night shopping. This post is for the beautiful places that we went to see and shop. 

WHITE DETAIL | CHANDEOKGUNG PALACE | SOUTH KOREA

Another memory of visiting South Korea, wishing the sun will come back out in England.  I went to the National Palace Museum of Korea and Chandeokgung Palace on this day. It's so magical to see historical buildings and learn about the history of South Korea. I'm a visual person and I love seeing artifacts therefore art galleries and museums are a must when I travel.

DUSTER JACKET | GYEONGBOKGUNG PALACE | SOUTH KOREA

Being in South Korea seems a while away now, there have been soo much walking till the point of severe back and leg pain. Shopping in South Korea has been an eye-opening experience with malls opening until 5:30 am. My bank balance currently does not look healthy but would I go to South Korea again? Yes!

MY IN-FLIGHT SKINCARE

Right now while your reading this, I have arrived in Hong Kong. I love wearing make-up therefore looking after my skin up in the air is essential. My skin becomes extremely dehydrated because of the cabin pressure not to mention how tired my skin becomes due to a lack of sleep. I've shared my 10 Step Skincare Routine and I now share a few products that I've took on this long haul flight to follow up.

PHOTO DIARY: HUDDERSFIELD/MANCHESTER WE GO

This time last week, I was visiting my little sister who is studying at Huddersfield university. Here are some snaps during my 3 day trip.

HUDDERSFIELD TRAIN STATION

TRAIN TO MANCHESTER FOR THE DAY

THE CHEEKY THING

FIRST STOP : BREAKFAST @ HOME SWEET HOME

BREAKFAST WAFFLES WITH SCRAMBLED EGGS, BACON & BLUEBERRIES | GINGER & LEMON TEA

AFFLECKS PALACE

MANCHESTER CHRISTMAS MARKETS

CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRIES

TOKYO SEASON

SECOND DAY

DESSERT GALORE @ HOUSE OF FRASER

MINT & ROSE TEA

6 PIECE BREAKFAST @ HOUSE OF FRASER

This trip has definitely been a food trip, constantly eating and snacking, we also went to the Trafford Centre for a quick shop. It was a lovely 3 day trip which I really needed.

How did you spend the weekend?

Until next time!

Joyce

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THE FINALE | HONG KONG

THE FINALE

LAN KWAI FONG

The second week is where all the excitement is. I made plans with my best friend who lives in Hong Kong (I'm very very jealous) to get our hair done and to go to LKF on Saturday. LKF abbreviates for Lan Kwai Fong which is the clubbing and party district of Hong Kong. I remember having such a good time last year making some many memories, So I went this time again.

LAN KWAI FONG                                                                     (SOURCE:GOOGLE)

When you go out in LKF, don't expect people to be dressed up. The girls literally wore trainers, a pair of shorts and a tank top. Me and my best friends looked at each other and were like 'we are soo dressed up.' When we go out in the UK everyone makes an effort, therefore it's eye-opening in terms of culture and night life. 

Now let's talk clubs, there was no door charges to go into a club, but there were queues, depending where you went. My best friend took me to Levels which had an elevator that leads you to the club, we got in, walked around a  lap and walked straight back out. The music was really bad and the layout of the club was not that good. We were thinking 'where is the dancefloor?.' And  moved on to Magnum and Beijing, which are clubs more appropriate for us in terms of music. It was quite packed, so be prepared to be shoved around. If your a girl, there might be a lot of hand grabbing, and you get surrounded by boys. So stay safe! 

In terms of drinks, it can be considered as expensive, my best friend advised me to take $500hkd, but I don't drink much, therefore spending less. Regarding bars, we went to Insomnia before heading to the clubs, the place has a really good atmosphere and the live band is amazing. You find a lot of international people and tourists here, so if your looking for a place to hang around or start the night,  I definitely recommend here.

We had a great night and went home with blisters on our feet from our heels! Needless to say, it's one of the best locations if you are looking to relax and enjoy night life.

SALON VISIT

Getting back to the hair. Now, if you look back into my pictures - my hair is pretty long, and what I wanted was to go lighter and have about 3 inches took off, so eventually I can have a silver/ash blonde ombre thing going on with healthy ends.

It didn't happen. The place I went to was a local salon called Fit Salon in Sai Kung, and my best friend has had her hair cut there a couple of times before, so she suggested there. The owner of the store said he was the colour expert and knew EXACTLY what I wanted the previous day before I went and said to trust him because he knows what's he's doing. BIG MISTAKE!!!

So in the consultation he said he is going to highlight my hair, so he can achieve that ombre look. - there's me thinking, I didn't come in for highlights, so I was like WHAT?? and he was like 'oh trust me, trust me, I know what I'm doing'. So I was like okay.... and he then he said to put another dye on it to blend in my hair..... ( By the way I wanted my natural roots, so I don't need to colour my roots all the time) for it to become a shade lighter and become more even. ( And I SAID that's not what I want and he just kept repeating 'I know what I'm doing, trust me, trust me'). So then I was like alright do it, and we'll see how this turns out. 

Some time later, that felt like forever, the lady washed my hair out,  and my hair was yellow, with brighter yellow bits. You can obviously understand I was fuming and he just walked right over to me and was like ''your hairs done'  WHAT THE HELL!!. So then I pulled out the picture and was like, 'does this look like anything like the picture?' 'I am not walking out of here with yellow hair!'

His reply: 'the colour will look better once your hair it's dry' and 'you just need to move your hair around so the colour is evenly distributed'. *moving my hair around*.

I was at the salon for about 3 hours now -.- , fuming and ready to flip. And I repeated 'this is not what I wanted, you don't know what you are doing'. His reply 'this is what you wanted',   'I need to cut someone else's hair, they've been waiting a long time, I'll come back .' and walked away.

A LONG TIME?? I arrived at the salon at 11am !!  He should of listened to how I wanted, having asian hair I know what works out and what doesn't! It's all about canceling the tones. Therefore the time he spent with someone else, I was looking through colour charts to tone down my hair.

I  finally chose a level 7 ash brown to tone the yellow down, and just left it at that as my scalp was really sensitive. And then he cut my hair, I wanted about 3-4 inches cut off and when he bought  forward my hair ...... 6 inches was cut off. Let me repeat 6 inches. Can he not measure? It took me a long time to grow my hair that long. (See here for before pictures)

I just wanted to leave and got up and went to pay. He was like 'it's $500 for the highlights, $500 for the colour and $135 for the haircut. I already haven't charged you for the second colour.' I was just gobsmacked. Paid and left. My advice: just don't go. I am NEVER going back again. I left the salon at 7:30 pm.

KING'S LODGE -RESTAURANT 

KINGS LODGE

KINGS LODGE

This meal was after my night out, I was extremely tired and dehydrated, so I drank loads and loads of tea before any food actually arrived. I think the waiter looked at us funn due to the amount of times we asked to refill the teapot haha. In the restaurant we ordered some of the following dishes: Fried Fish in Sweet an Sour sauce, Pork Dumplings, Peking Duck, Sesame prawn toast and a lot of other dishes.

 I found the fish to be fishy (sounds silly) as they haven't gotten rid of the sea smell. The Peking duck was extremely crispy, one of the best dishes that was recommended.  The Pork dumplings was the store specialty, but I found it to be average tasting, but better than a previous restaurant we tried (here) The overall experience was satisfying, so definitely a good try. It's the locals favourite, so you can't go wrong with food choices.

TAI KOK TSUI MRS MC DESSERT

TAI KOK TSUI MRS MC DESSERT - MANGO SAGO WITH POMELO

If you have a sweet tooth like me, you need to go and have dessert every night. I am mango and watermelon obsessed, and I order anything that contains them in. One of my favourite desserts and Hong Kong's best is the Mango Sago with Pomelo, that I am craving right now! A must try from me! 

LANTAU ISLAND

LANTAU ISLAND - BUDDHA

This is the week where we went to do touristy thing and went to pray and see the Buddha. (See my full experience here!)

HONG KONG KFC, SUSHI & T8

On the last full day, signal T3 was put up in the morning, which is to acknowledge a  typhoon storm is coming. And I was told to keep an eye out on the weather to make sure we were able to get home safe since we went to Mong Kok to have a last minute shop. While we were walking to a Korean restaurant (Seoul near ladies market) , I kept catching snippets of people's conversation saying signal T8 was going to be issued, therefore shops are going to close early.

So the end story of the Korean restaurant is: no photographs of my meal, because I wanted to get away. so me and my little sister walked extremely fast towards to direction we called home. The shops near where we stayed started closing the shutters before 4pm, so workers can get home safely. We were going to eat out on this last full day, but instead we opted for KFC and Sushi which we picked up.

HONG KONG KFC AND SUSHI

HONG KONG KFC AND SUSHI

HONG KONG KFC AND SUSHI

KFC in Hong Kong is soo different from the UK, instead of fries you can chose mash potatoes with gravy, mushroom rice, chicken rice or criss-cut fries. The option to also purchase egg tarts as a snacks (which I have to say is delicious) and many different flavours of chicken such as BBQ, Flava Crava ? and chicken wings in a snack box. One of the best things? KFC and McDonald's deliver o you home.

HUGE MANGO

AROME BAKERY

For dessert that night we had mangoes, fruits and a range of different cakes. The above pictured is a cheesecake which had a biscuit crust, which was delectable and smooth. And we played majong until 1/2 in the morning.

THAT FIRST WEEK | HONG KONG

HONG KONG VIEW

FLAT VIEW

NIGHT SWIMMING POOL VIEW

After an excruciating 18 hour flight, an undercooked big Mac meal from Dubai international airport (that made me a little ill),  I finally arrived in Hong Kong. I flew to Hong Kong by Emirates, which my best friend says is one of the best to fly to Hong Kong to. Their uniform so pretty!, which makes me want to be an air hostess although I will never look that great while flying. I get swollen due to the air pressure and this time the swelling did not reduce until 3 days into my holiday. 

Going back to the beginning, one of the first things I did was stripping off my dirty travelling clothes, grabbing a shower and taking a photograph of the view I was surrounded by Oh and quickly unpacking. The scene is simply breathtaking!.

FISH IN THE TANK

FISH IN TANK

Your probably thinking after all them awesome scenic photographs why I took some photographs of fish. That's because Hong Kong is an island, where seafood comes really easily and fresh, restaurants have live fish available for you to choose which was one of my first meals in Hong Kong.

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HARBOUR CITY

HARBOUR CITY VIEW

HARBOUR CITY SHOPPING MALL

MENYA MUSASHI KODOU

MENYA MUSHASHI KUDOU - FRIED CHICKEN

MENYA MUSASHI KODOU - PORK DUMPLINGS AND SWEET FRIED POTATOES

Harbour city is where all the big designers brands are from Channel, Celine to Balmain and Alexander McQueen. Harbour City is luxury designer brand central great for those who love their brands, also available for children too.

In Harbour City, we decided on Japanese food. Like traditional Japanese restaurant they greet/shout everytime a customer walks in or leaves. We found this quite disturbing since we don't have this tradition in the UK - well the Japanese restaurants that I've been to.

Referring to the food,  we ate at  MENYA MUSASHI KODU , the ramen was quite greasy and the flavours weren't that great, presentation looked good. The best things were the sweet fried potatoes. 

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ME AND MY LITTLE SISTER AT A PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO

ARTWORK AT SHANGHAI RESTAURANT WONG JAI SHA

We joined my older sister on a maternity photoshoot which was quite fun, and learnt that we were not as flexible as we all thought we were haha. The photograph turned out really well, and we went shopping in Hung Hom (Wonderful World of Whampoa - which had a range or shops) and had some Shanghai Food, which was not that amazing.

There will be one more travel post. Until next time :)

Joyce x 

CONTRAST | HONG KONG

CONTRAST LOOKBOOK

Knowing I was to pray at Lan Tau Island, I wore something a little more sophisticated but easy to travel in as the day consisted with a lot of walking and steps. Although I later got incense residue all over it haha. Click here for my Lan Tau Island travel post. 

TRAVEL | LANTAU ISLAND | HONG KONG

SCENERY FROM THE CABLE CAR

CABLE CAR VIEW 

Last year, during my first visit to Hong Kong, I went to Lan Tau Island to see the Buddha, which I had to do again this time! It's such an exciting experience and you get an insight of how different culture is in different parts of the world. The place made me feel very relaxed, calm and made me re-think and refresh my my mind.

TRAVEL | THE WINDOW VIEW | HONG KONG

SLOWLY APPROACHING HONG KONG

Hi everyone, I have been away for 2 weeks on Holiday! therefore a lack of blog posts which I apologise for. But if your interested in visiting the island or what I have been up to, keep reading.  

WHAT'S IN MY BAG | ZARA SHOPPER

If you've recently seen my latest fashion blog post, I've dug out my Zara Shopper bag, which I bought last year, while I will still in my 3rd at university - that seems like a while ago now :( , It was great for holding my massive 15" laptop and fitting all my A4 notepads in. Emptying it out now to do this post I feel a bit like Mary Poppins.

DAY TRIP TO YORK

Welcome to my first official #travel post. I do plan on exploring more places this year and this is the beginning of the journey - a road trip. I spent a lovely Tuesday afternoon shopping at the McArther Glen Designer outlet in York, followed by amazing Indian food at the Spice Mill restaurant.

York itinerary :

- 11:30am : Meet Up

- 12:00pm  : Stopped at service station for food .. had McDonald's (Check out my updates on Twitter)

- 14:00pm : Arrived at McArther Glen Outlet and shopped!

-18:00pm : The Spice Mill Restaurant.