Cafetalk Beauty Lesson with Zeenat (Eng) -taster series number 4

Skincare consultancy Lesson with Zeenat

Yeah, yes yes, I am trying to type things up before I forget. So being an avid beauty blogger, you think you know all about skincare and beauty products. in fact, I probably know a lot more than I should have and have stacks at home I do not need. I tried to organise my beauty stash and purchased some Muji drawers which is keeping me at bay to splash more, yet I can't resist walking into that Boots shop on Oxford Street, and trying out all their high street beauty... (Lemming over that Barry M lipsticks)

Back to the lesson, since I had a makeup lesson I thought I will try with a skin care consultancy lesson. I am in a phrase where I am not too sure about my skin, and had some major outbreaks since I cam back from Hong Kong. Also, I thought I will update myself with some skincare products news by taking a lesson with Zeenat.

http://cafetalk.com/tutors/profile/?id=23375&lang=en

http://cafetalk.com/lessons/detail/?id=35722&lang=en

The tutor:

Zeenat is based in Germany now and working on her PhD. She is a linguist and loves beauty and makeup. She is very softly spoken and would be great for anyone who wants to gain more confidence with their verbal English skills.

The Lesson:

We had a consultation and we talked about my skin condition, my problems and worries. I throw a few questions whether I am doing the right thing, like the cleansing routine, makeup removal routine and we did share a few products that we use ourselves. (To identify if someone knows their skincare routine, ask if they have or know Clarisonic, it will show). I talked about the eye care and we exchanged our views on some Western European brand, like Clinique, Clarins etc. it was a bit too short to go into depth!!

Zeenat knows her stuff as I throw quite a few hard questions (Sorry! I don't meant to, but can't help) but if anyone wants to learn more about European products, Zeenat definitely have the answer.

I have had my series of lessons on the makeup and beauty on cafe talk and all have been very interesting. I  really like the concept of learning at home and discussing with tutors over the internet. I only recently arranged a tutor on Skype for my student and his feedback was very good as well. There are so much opportunities from Cafetalk and definitely worth it.

This post is written in the memory of Mui Chu (2009-2015)

Cafetalk Beauty Lesson with Katia (Eng) -taster series number 3

Hi EVERYONE!!

I'm back.  And I have some good yet sorrow time in the last month, of course the happy thing is I went back to Hong Kong, and worked myself very very hard during that time. I even managed to squeeze  in a day trip to Guangzhou and Macao as well. It sounds glamorous but running your own business means you need to work hard and get some returns. If you want to be a young entrepreneur, take this advice, you are the biggest asset in your business, and you need to work every drop of it.

Ok, back to my cafe talk review, I had a very very interesting lesson with Katia, before it was interrupted with some sad events (I prefer to talk about it at the end of the post). It was fun, and never ever, I see myself in the same thing again.

I booked some lessons with her to talk about clothes. What Katia offers, is to talk about your wardrobe and suggest pieces you should throw away, and pieces you should keep. Now, this is a type of advice only celebrity can get, and getting this on cafe talk is definitely something with a lot of fun.

Lesson link-->

http://cafetalk.com/lessons/detail/?id=24387&lang=en

Tutor Link->

http://cafetalk.com/tutors/profile/?id=17375&lang=en

The lesson:

We started with talking about my very happy wedding life and how I put on 10 kg since I met my husband, and continue to gain. And being a businesswoman with a face of 24, I need to look more mature when I see my clients. Katia listened and we talked about my obvious weakness, which is to embrace my body, and also to look at clothes that suit my body size.

She went through my wardrobe using Skype (having an Ipad helps as you can switch your camera) and I managed to show her my whole wardrobe, and she can have a sneak peak of my Pink obsession. The amount of uber pink clothes was simple "Shocking". We went through some of my recent items and discuss why they suit or not suit. Many becomes the not suit category as it tries to hide my body feature than enhancing it.

The tutor:

Katia is so much fun with work with! I really enjoyed it and we always have a laugh when I pull out something from my wardrobe. To have someone giving advice for fashion is not easy. Because mainly it is actually criticism against your original taste. So to have humorous tutor working with you, making you feel less awkward and even helping you to understsand your own needs is extremely important.

My verdict:

Highly recommended to anyone who is struggling with their wardrobe, but this is not a one-off lesson, I would recommend you aim to take at least 3-4 lessons with Katia just to solve a simple wardrobe problem. There are some diagnostic sessions and advisory session, also she needs to help to suggest actual products for you to try and think about. But hey, a celebrity experience. Oh yes.

This post is written in the memory of Mui Chu. She died 1 week later we had the lesson due to pancreatic cancer. (2009-2015)

Cafetalk Beauty Lesson with Aude (Eng) -taster series number 2

Hiya

Sorry been a bit delayed with my next post. Unfortunately, my cat Mui Mui has been very ill with pancreatic cancer, and we might be losing her (We are prepared for her departure shall we say). plus I have a trip to HK very soon so been busy making business meetings appointments etc.

To help me relax in this situation, taking lesson, even for 20 mins is good. (I can stop thinking of syringe feeding, poo poo etc), so I sign up with Aude. I choose Aude for my second lesson, well.. we are in the same time-zone to start with, and her lesson introduction looks good.

Lesson link-->
http://cafetalk.com/lessons/detail/?id=30875&lang=en

Tutor Link->

http://cafetalk.com/tutors/profile/?id=19463&lang=en

Before I start, I prepared some tool and ingredients just in case we are going to make it together

 a mixing pan base oil  essential oil

I bought these in a sale with Holland and Barretts (yes buy 1 get 1 free) so I was thinking of doing something with it.

The lesson:

It is a quick lesson to me as I'm used to having lesson over 30 mins. But you learn enough to make your first batch. Aude has put a guide together and also make an example in front of your eyes. We talked about what I know about scrubs and her ideas are amazing.

If you are looking for a conversational class with Aude, I recommend it, because you need to try and practice your English with her in a topic, I must say, she has some perfect English accent (not even I can do it myself)

My thoughts:

I really enjoyed it, Aude is friendly and nice not to mention she is passionate in the subject. Will recommend it to anyone who loves beauty

Cafetalk Makeup Lesson with Take First taster (Eng)

Hi everyone.

Is been a while since I update here as I mainly use my instagram and Facebook about it:

https://instagram.com/dreve0317/

But! Am going to write about my review (and surprise) on the cafetalk lesson I received

What's cafetalk and why?

I have been looking for a Japanese conversational lesson for a while, but because I work from home and my time is really unstable, I am unable to commit to a weekly lesson, or attend lesson outside home. After searching for online lesson, I found cafe talk, which is a Japanese company offering online lesson from languages to singing, conducting lesson via Skype.

The thing I really like is the flexibility and the cost. You can see the teacher's schedule and book them around 72 hours in advanced, all payment is via credit card, and off you go.

they use a point system but it is easier to understand if you look at it as yen

Cheap? oh yes?

I won't say they are all cheap, but for example, My Japanese lesson used to be £20 per hour, roughly 3800 yen. For the same lesson on cafe talk with native speaker it only cost 1600 yen, which is a lot more economical for your money.

When I saw the opportunity for lesson monitor/blogger, I volunteers myself and received some vouchers to test out the lesson

Makeup online? totally weird

Yes, i thought it is about actual putting makeup, but it seems cafe talk define makeup as fashion and so there is a few different types of lesson to choose from. My concern was how to you apply makeup and the tutor will tell you what to do? What will happen to the lightings? colour? to me, unless you do it in person, it is difficult to have makeup lesson on line.

The lesson:

http://cafetalk.com/tutors/profile/?id=16601&lang=en --> Take

When you search for lesson online, you can see a full profile. I'm being lazy here to show you a snapshot.

Which lesson did I choose?

Basic Makeup, is a 40 mins class which is the longest of all the lesson offered.

http://cafetalk.com/lessons/detail/?id=26331&lang=en  --> Basic Makeup

What happened after you book the lesson?
Well, you can choose 3 times slot and the teacher will confirm back to you. At the mean time you are also communicate with the tutor about your concerns. For us, Take is very shy speaking in English and I speak a bit of Japanese, so we both offer to try to listen and understand each other bilingually. (Take is actually good in English, he just needs more confident!)

In the lesson:
I showed Take my makeup stash, and he was impressed. He likes my choice of makeup, and during the lesson, it is clear that I have too much makeup I don't need. For example, eye shadow.. yes, no more eye shadow haul!

He analysis my face and I gave him my questions, and he started showing me his techniques. I had Bobbi Brown make up lesson before, but the Japanese makeup is more natural look. Also, I think we had a basic makeup lesson, where you can slap on your face in 15 mins and go!

First thing he gave advice on is how to make you look more energetic. I worked too hard recently and only had around 5-6 hours of sleep per day. I have heavy eye bag, and that need addressing. He showed me some techniques which I never thought off (I'm not talking here as it is his industry secret, hey! that's why you need lesson)

Then we talked about eye brow.. where he made comparison of the general brow technique vs Japanese. And finally, the lips and blushes.

After lesson:

I am decently surprised by what I learnt, things are a lot simpler than what i have been doing, to show you a comparison:

Before lesson:

Eye brow: from the middle with powder eye brow (2 types of eye brow colour)

eye: brown eye shadow (3 types), Heroine Make Mascara with Barry M eye liner

foundation: wet foundation with set powder, plus concealer

Cheek: Dior Bronzing Cheek

Lips: RMK Lipsticks plus gloss

After Lesson makeup:

Eye: eye brow (1 colour)

Eye: no eye shadow, mascara and liner 

Face: foundation with highlighter (no concealer)

Lips: Shiseido maquillage Lip essence plus gloss

You understand why it makes things so much simpler? And the result is nearly the same.  Very happy with the things i learned and the comment from Take after lesson is positively as well. (Practice Practice Practice!!)

A little story.. before lesson:

To be honest,  this lesson got cancelled twice. first time because my internet company is switched over, and there was no internet. Cafe talk staff (click the chat button) managed to cancel for me immediately.

The second time, Take was unreachable and via the cafe talk staff we cancelled the lesson. I later saw him online, and told him i will be extremely busy next week, and ask if we can start the lesson now. I again contacted cafe talk and they put in the request and confirm with Take again.

The customer services in cafe talk is really good, and I totally recommended them.

My thoughts:

A lot of what we did, is talking, because we both talking in a foreign language, we used our own tools to illustrate what we want to express.. which is fun. My advice is to make sure you find the right teacher before even requesting a trial, to know this is what you want.

Hello Kitty x Marks and Spencer custom purchase open

Courtesy to British Beauty Blog:

Custom purchase is now available for this range of Hello kitty x marks and spencer make up. due to release in 3 weeks time.


Customer with over £20 purchase will get a free Hello Kitty London sticker

All order can email to admin@loveeveltd.com

Website for custom purchase is : www.loveeveltd.com

Unlike - JuJu aquamoist

 

I have been trying my heart and soul out to like this JuJu Aquamoist series. This is just one of the product from JuJu Aquamoist that I try my best to like. oh no.. it didn't work out.

Let me present you another product that didn't work out for me.

 The serum...

I really tried. I read and reread the instruction and still cannot get it work for me.

 Reason for unlike:

1. It does not suit my skin. it leaves a very sticky feeling to my skin, no matter how thinly i spread it, before or after toner, morning or evening. The stickiness on my skin really irritates me. S tried so hard to attach my eye shield with tapes at night and he complain ' your face is so sticky and I can't attach the tapes on it' that's how bad it is

2. It does not work even it is in winter. Lets suppose that it moisturizes skin. So, if it is a gel moisturizer I suppose it works in summer better than winter? oh no.. get your blot paper out if you want to use this. I try to use this even in a UK summer weather (nice and dry and not hot at all) still. it just stick. Even in winter, it still sticks

3. Why not use it as gel mask? or apply another layer of moisturizer? i tried. still doesn't work. I don't want to feel like thousands of bees stick to my face if I use it as gel mask. 

So verdict:

stay away from it.

If you still want it, you are welcome to get it from me. I'm selling this for USD $5. Maximum use : 10 times (finger lightly dip in it)

Surviving British Summer - laneige power essential skin ex rules

 

 This summer is driving my absolutely up the wall. I am barely surviving because of the heat. i know it is nothing compare to Hong Kong, but still, my skin went riot and I need to change my routine completely.

I'll split this summer special skincare review bits by bits, I'll write a specific product I tried this summer (since the heatwave started) and review them.

First.. is my saviour.. without this. My skin will give me bums, pimples, etc. 

Laneige Power Essential Skin EX

What's this?

It is difficult to explain. I was given this my a friend and later pruchase it for a different purpose. My friend gave this when I asked her to CP me a toner. I bought this to use as a toner mask. But this summer, I am using this as a moisturiser. Can I just say this is multi-purpose then?

Price:

I paid around $160 HKD, which is £13.5/$20USD

Sasa.com selling this for $149.00, which is $19 USD

Yesstyle.com is selling this including International mail (to anywhere in the world) for USD $49.00

How to use:

put some on a cotton and whip your face with it.

Alternatively, buy some dry paper mask and soak the toner up and have a toner mask in the morning :)

My verdict:

As a toner mask, it works. i love the smell and the feel, and my face feels refreshing. It is rather cheap and doesn't hurt the bank. i started using this as a toner mask since 2007, when I was really poor and I can only afford toner mask (there's no My beauty diary masks available then..)

I only discover this as a moisturiser this summer because nothing works on me anymore. Anything I put on which is vaguely called 'moisturiser' (you name it... JuJu moisturising gel, Boots Vanishing Cream..) they just become oil and stick on my skin.. and S had lots of problem to put the eye shield on for me at night because my face is soo oily that the tapes does not stick.

So I need to seek another way to moisturize and thought I'll just put some 'thicker' texture toner  as moisturizer and hope the best. And this works.. skin immediately stop having red spots, pimples etc

Laneige is my summer saviour for now. I run out of IPSA metabolizer but don't want to spend money to haul IPSA to UK ($80 USDDDDDDD)... so I'm digging out everything I had and try again..

Will talk about the other products that work next post....