Sant Joan and Kinfolk discovery

Last week we had a public holiday on Wednesday for Sant Joan {Saint John's feast day} on June 24th, which marks the summer solstice as well. It is customary on the night of June 23rd to light fireworks and enjoy the shortest night of the year with bonfires at the beach. Truth be told, I wasn't very looking forward to the fireworks this year, seeing how Liam was so little and I was worried he might get scared! In the end we didn't hear much noise from out summer house, so Liam fell asleep pretty early and wasn't woken up at all. I myself didn't take part in any activity involving bonfires or firecrackers, we stayed in with my brother and the hubby watching a movie and by the time we finished everything was over, ha! 

I loved having the chance to allow myself some well deserved rest in the middle of the week, it changes everything! Also, I finally got the chance to fully unwind and get some quality time reading Kinfolk magazine. What an amazing discovery this was!

I had been seeing people raving about Kinfolk magazine for too long already, so when I saw their new issue had just come out, I rushed to get a copy for myself. Oh boy, I wasn't disappointed! In fact, I was ecstatic! Kinfolk is the best magazine I have ever laid my eyes upon. And I do read a lot! It's a lifestyle publication that promotes slow life in a holistic way, that meaning, in each and every aspect of your life. Hence, they talk about work, family, community, decoration, architecture, but also, food, photography and travels, it's just so very complete! This issue is all about essentialism, or how to prioritize by leaving all clutter behind and focusing solely on what really matters. I couldn't recomment the magazine enough, I'm even thiking about buying the older issues if they're available! Kinfolk is a quarterly magazine, and you can read some of their articles on their website. I realized this all sounded like I was paid to brag about Kinfolk, but God save me, I was not! I simply truly love it :)

We set up the pool for Liam for the first time and he absolutely loved it. He was super cheerful, laughing while splashing around, a heart-melting sight for his mama, papa and grandparents! <3

This coming weekend will be special too, because we're going on a weekend getaway to northern Catalonia {Alt Empordà}: Figueres {Dalí Museum!}, Port de la Selva, Cap de creus and Cadaqués. Make sure to follow me on Snapchat @oliviaschoice because I'll be sharing most of our trip with you guys! I can't wait!!! 

Giveaway! Amika: hairdo bar - CLOSED

Hi girls! Read carefully because you're gonna loooove the giveaway I've prepared for you today. On Tuesday this week I visited Amika: hairdo bar, which just landed in Hong Kong straight from New York City. Amika doesn't cut or color your hair like other hair salons, they specialize in styling your hair with blowouts and  updos. They have their own product range and use their own products exclusively, which is pretty awesome! I loved the pleasant fragrance of the products, simply irresistible! 

Amika offers three different kinds of services: blowout, updo or styling. The updos are priced at HK$550, the blowouts at HK$280and the styling at HK$180. Styling is basically a blowout without hair wash, but using dry shampoo instead. The updos don't include hair wash either, since it's apparently better if hair was washed a day earlier for the updo to hold firm. 

There's a menu with 4 different styles for each of the categories, but you can actually tell your stylist what you'd like best and she will happily make some adjustments to the original style for you. You can drink champagne, smoothies or water while flipping through fashion magazines during the hairstyling process, great!

And... here comes THE GIVEAWAY! I got THREE free blowouts to share with you girls! Each coupon entitles its owner to a free blowout at Amika: hairdo bar, priced at HK$280, including hair wash, blowout and drinks! Amika is located in 8 Elgin Street, SoHo.

Here are the steps to enter the giveaway, good luck!

1. LIKE Amika: hairdo bar on Facebook here.

2. LIKE my Facebook page here.

3. Send me a private message on my Facebook page with your email.

Easy, right? :) This giveaway is open to girls in Hong Kong only, and will end on Tuesday the 20th of August at 9.00 PM. The winners will be selected randomly. I'll publish the winners on this same post, as well as on my Facebook page, and I'll notify them personally by email. Best of luck!!!

The winners of the giveaway are: 1. Sara Main 2. Jennifer Daley 3. Laura EleaEfe 

CONGRATS!

Airplay : blowouts, updos and makeup in Hong Kong!

After being in Japan for 4 days and seeing the amazing hair girls have there, I decided it was time for me to get a nice hairstyle of my own. I mean, seriously, Japanese girls seem to have just been out from the hairdresser all the time! How is that even possible, huh? Secret, please? Anyway, I decided to go to the newly open Airplay blow dry bar, which landed in Hong Kong a month ago and it's already the new buzz in the city. 

Airplay blow dry bar is not your conventional hair salon. They specialize in blowouts and updos, meaning that this is not the place to go to get your hair cut, you go here exclusively to get a fabulous hairstyle for a special occasion, or just for any day you feel like it really! Say you have a date at 8pm and you're just out from work around 6pm with your hair not looking its best after a long day. Well, now all you have to do is head over to Airplay and you'll be all set in an hour! In case your make-up needs some retouching as well, don't worry, they offer make-up service, too! How cool?! Reservations are recommended in advance, but if you eventually have an emergency, you could just call and ask whether they could fit you in their schedule. They have two different kind of make-up services, a simple one for 15 minutes for HK$180, and a full make-up service for 45 minutes for HK$380 called "Party Queen". I just love the names they gave to all their services, keep reading and you'll understand what I'm talking about...

Blowouts and updos cost HK$280 and come with an aromatic shampoo bar, meaning they wash your hair before proceeding to the hair setting, and in no ordinary way! They have six shampoo shots for you to choose! Each of them has a different scent (cherry blossom, green tea, jasmin, blueberry, mandarine...), and a different function, too! My favorite scent was blueberry but I finally went for green tea because it had the function of giving extra volume to the hair, which is what I needed for the hairstyle I wanted! My hair is naturally super straight, and I chose their "Mojito" hairstyle, which is with lots of curls and volume, so the volumizing shampoo kinda was a must.

You may be wondering why the hairstyle I chose is called Mojito instead of simply Curly with volume or something like that. Well, Airplay blow dry bar plays with the idea of a "bar" so all their blowouts and updos have cocktail names! In fact, they also have Mocktails which is the same service but for girls under ten, and for just HK$150! I thought that was so witty! 

So I visited Airplay last week Thursday at 2pm and I was greeted by the charming manager Olympe, who showed me around and introduced the concept to me. She gave me the blowouts and updos menu, which comes with pictures so that you know what you're choosing, and the shampoo shots for me to smell and choose! I recommend you choose your hairstyle first, because you might need a special shampoo for it, like in my case, because I chose the curly Mojito I needed the green tea shampoo that could give more volume to my hair. 

Everything at Airplay is done efficiently yet in a relaxing way. The hair washing comes with a three-minute head massage, which I looooved! Then back to my seat I was offered sparkling rosé, green tea cookies and a French heart-shapped biscuit. You can choose tea or water instead of the rosé if, say, you go to Airplay early in the morning and you're still not up for it! This was the first time for me to be at a hair salon where there's no mirror in front of me but behind me! In fact in front of me there were two huge TVs streaming Project Runway and a movie of Sarah Jessica Parker. There were a bunch of magazines, too, of course.

TVs on the left, mirrors on the right!

I had a really great time, I mean, let's face it, I love getting pampered, plus the stylists were really nice, so it was a wonderful experience I couldn't recommend enough. I'd say my hair turned up marvelous, judge by yourselves...

And this is me with Olympe, the gorgeous Airplay blow dry bar manager:

Airplay blow dry bar

7/F, W Pace, 52 Wyndham St., Central, Hong Kong

Appointments: 2641 9888

Opening hours: Mon-fri: 8am-9pm ; sat 11am-9pm

Enjoy getting fabulous!

I was wearing blouse and necklace from my shop Frill Me.