My Summer Getaway Day 3: Bol, Island of Brac

Heyyyyyyy!

In my previous blog I shared about my Day 1 and Day 2 in Hvar. Hvar is a very small town, Bing and I basically spent our Day 2 touring the town. On Day 3, We decided to head to the Island of Brac. Bol is reknown for its most popular beach, the Golden Cape which mostly composed of pebbles that visibily shift with the tidal movement.  

Actually Bol wasn't in part of our schedule as planned. We came across Bol when we were walking along the Hvar port, where there were a couple of tour companies selling the tour package to Bol. The package includes boat ride to Bol, with lunch provided, leaving Hvar 9am and returning to Hvar around 6pm. Bing and I thought it's a good idea to go to Bol since we have almost done with sight seeing in the town of Hvar. It's advised to get your day tour ticket in advanced as the boat has limited seats available. 

Annyeong! Early in the morning we are all prepared to head to Bol! The sun was so lovely and immediately I picked my seat at the upper deck where I can enjoy the sunshine. One thing I really like about Croatia is its weather. The temperature is cooling while the sun shines brightly, well, that means higher chances of getting sunburn too. D= Because of the cooling temperature you aren't aware that how much of UV you're being exposed to. =X

Anyway, Bing has his graduation ceremony to attend in a week's time and he was so afraid of sun. During our previous trip to Santorini he got so tan and every friend commented he looked like a construction worker. =X So we decided to move to the lower deck and enjoy only the sea breeze. 

The boat stops at the bay in the middle of the journey to Bol. Almost all of the angmoh on board dived into the water. They really enjoy the sea and the sun! How I wish Bing could come with me, too bad he doesn't know how to swim. 

Finally, after two hours of boat ride, here we are -- The Island of Brac! It is a very quite island, not much of population. The Golden Cape was quite a distance away from where we got off the boat, so we took a 15 minute train shuttle to the beach.

Look! How clear the sea water is! To be really honest, this is so far the cleanest sea water I've ever swum in! The water was so clean that you can't even find any debris floating around, and you can see little fishes swimming in the water. 

And here comes the mandatory selfiesssssssss! =P Bing was kinda shy to reveal him tummy tho. Lol.

All the photos are taken using my Sony Experia Z2. I would say the quality of the photos are pretty good for a smart phone. And thanks to Sony that has this waterproof feature, all the photos were taken in the sea without any worries of spoiling my phone!

Ohh yea, since I mentioned that the beach of Golden Cape is composed mainly by pebbles, it was quite a pain walking barefooted along the beach! Bing and I, our feet got so sore after the whole day, so I would advice anyone of you who are going to non-sandy-beach to get a pair of beach shoes. 

  

The sunset view basically sums up our day trip to Bol. Actually the trip was nothing much, but I really appreciate the crystal clear sea water, beach and sun! If you're a beach type of person, this place is highly recommended!

♥xoxo♥

Make Up 101: Foundation Part #1 -- Prepping your skin

Heyyyyyy!

Spent my last two weeks in KL for some job interviews. Just got back in Penang and I'm still waiting for the replies.

Current status: Awaiting replies.

Well actually I've gotten an offer from the other company but, uhm I'm not too sure whether to accept or not because I have a better company that I opt for in mind. Fingers crossed they get back to me soon!

Since I have more of free time now, I'm trying to make it a habit to blog, at least once per two days. Being able to be a make up artist has been my dream, so I thought I might as well self-learn and brush up my make up skills while I'm waiting for the replies.

And here comes my Make Up 101 series, which I will be sharing the make up tips and tricks to all the beginners. I've attempted to make a few videos about the topics but I feel too awkward to talk in front of the camera at the moment. I'm sure I will be improving over the time, meanwhile just bear with me that I will input all information in words.

Let's start with the basics!

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Foundation

I would say foundation is the most basic, entry step to make up. Foundation changes a person's look, eg: skin colour, skin complexion, even out skin tones and give her a more refreshed, awake look. I used to have acne problems, which left me with some pigmentation after recovery. Foundation is now my daily essentials to even out my skin tone and give me a more awake look with smooth complexion.

It's very important to prep your skin well before you apply your foundation, especially people with very dry or very oily skin. Foundation adheres to your skin well only when your skin is well moisturized. Very dry skin would result to very cakey, flakey look, while your foundation "melts away" when your skin is too oily, both cases aren't flattering at all.

To prep your skin:

1. Moisturizing 
Remember to apply toner and moisturizer after your routine cleansing. Your foundation adheres better onto a well moisturized skin, results in a smooth complexion. You might want to plan to do scrubbing once per week to remove any dead cells, hence increasing the efficiency of your skin to absorb moisture when you apply your products. After scrubbing you can also apply hydrating mask to enhance hydration in your skin.

2. Sunscreen

UV rays are the most important factor that causes aging in our skin. I would recommend using a sunscreen with SPF 20 to 30 for daily usage. Avoid using sunscreen with too high of SPF unless you're required to expose to direct sunlight. Using high SPF sunscreen increases the chances of pores being clogged which eventually leads to break out. 

yAnyii's tips:

1. Oil Cleansing

I remove my make up using baby oil. You would probably think "Isn't baby oil too oily and will clog your pores?!" The answer is no. I have combination skin and baby oil works just nice on me. I have tried other make up removers like the Kanebo Cleansing Oil, Avene Make Up Remover and the Maybelline ones, but none of them give me the results like baby oil does -- cheap, clean, effective and hydrating. During oil cleansing, the oil-soluble dirt traps in the baby oil and they are removed together when the baby oil is washed off.

However, facial products are always very individual. The products that suits me do not necessarily work as well on your skin. The only way to get to know which product suits you most is to test it out. 

2. Daily routine cleansing

After the oil cleansing step I would proceed with normal cleansing using facial cleanser. I recommend washing your face maximum twice per day, as excessive of washing would strip off extra oil content from your skin, leading to drier skin which your skin then tends to secrete even more oil to compensate with the oil that being stripped away due to excessive washing. 

3. Face Scrub (once per week)

The accumulation of dead skin cells would also hinder the absorption of moisture into your skin hence result in dull and coarse looking skin.  However, excessive scrubbing would lead to very dry and therefore sensitive skin. Ideally, a person should just do scrubbing once or twice per week to prevent any unnecessary damage to your skin. I would recommend doing scrubbing at night before sleeping as the sunlight in the day would destroy the new skin cells if you were to do scrubbing in the morning.  As for people with acne problems, I would recommend to avoid scrubbing as scrubbing irritates your skin and causes your acne to be more inflamed.  

4. Face Mask

Your skin has the maximum ability to absorb moisture right after scrubbing. Pamper yourself with hydrating or collagen masks and your skin will thank you so much. Keeping your face masks in the fridge prior to application can further soothe your skin, results in smooth complexion with minimized pores.

5. Toner and Moisturizers

HadaLabo has been my all time to go toner. It is really moisturizing and my skin always feel so supple after applying it. I use also HadaLabo moisturizer, however it might be too heavy for people with oily skin. For people with oily skin I would recommend gel moisturizer instead. 

You would probably think that this blog post has nothing to do with foundation. Trust be, taking care of your skin is way more important than having good cosmetics / make up. Once you have well moisturized skin, your skin will always stay healthy, and your make up will turn out natrually smooth and flattering.

Stay tuned for Make Up 101: Foundation Part #2 -- Primer.

♥xoxo♥