Rambla 130 Urban Spa Giveaway

Last week I decided to pamper myself and book a beauty service through Bellahora, the leading website in Spain to book beauty salons, and I decided on beautiful Rambla 130 for a nice pedicure + foot massage. Rambla 130 Urban Spa couldn't be better located, right at the heart of the city, it's on Rambla de Canaletes, 130, as its name suggests.

Once at Rambla 130, I was greeted by the owner and showed all the place {it was early in the afternoon so there was practically no one at the time and I was able to peek all around}. It was love at first sight. The most stunning room is their mani-pedi room, but they have different massage rooms and even a huge fitness room, too! I was surprised by how well curated everything was, even the bathrooms were perfect. 

I was offered a drink in the lobby while my beauty agent came to find me for my pedicure. We first decided on the color I'd be using {Essie only!}, and then off we were to enjoy the pedi and the massage which comes with an amazing exfoliant and hydrating mask. I was surprised the hubby noticed when I went back home that my feet were way for hydrated than before!

Now that you know how my experience was... comes the best part: 

I have a GIVEAWAY for you all today, {anyone who can make it to Barcelona whitin this year, that is!}. The giveaway is a full pedicure + foot massage, for a total of 50 minutes, at Rambla 130, valued at 35€.

All you need to do is head over to my Instagram @oliviaschoice, find the picture in which I'm talking about the giveaway and follow the steps there!

************************** CATALAN VERSION ************************** 

La setmana passada vaig decidir dedicar-me un temps i reservar una pedicura a través de Bellahora, el portal líder a Espanya per reserves a centres de bellesa. Al seu web vaig tenir la sort de descobrir Rambla 130, que em va enamorar només veure'n les fotos. A més, la seva localització no podria ser millor, i és que està al cor de Barcelona, a la Rambla de Canaletes, 130, com el seu nom indica.

Una vegada a Rambla 130, em va rebre la propietària i vaig tenir sort, perquè com que era un dia entre setmana a principis de tarda, no hi havia gaire gent i vaig poder veure totes les instal·lacions. L'habitació que enamora més és la de mani-pedis, però també l'entrada, la sala de fitness i fins i tot els lavabos estan cuidats fins a l'últim detall. 

Vaig demanar un tè mentre era a la bonica entrada esperant la noia que em faria la pedicura. Vam començar escollint el color d'esmalt que faríem servir, i a partir d'aquí va començar al pedicura i el massatge, que inclou exfoliant i mascareta hidratant. Em va sorprendre que quan vaig arribar a casa, el Jeff va saber, sense que jo li digués res sobre el massatge, que els meus peus es veien molt més suaus i hidratats que abans! :)

I ara que coneixeu la meva experiència... arriba el millor: 

el SORTEIG! Sortejo una sessió de pedicura + massatge per un total de 50 minuts, a Rambla 130, valorat en 35€. Busqueu la foto al meu Instagram @oliviaschoice on en parlo i seguiu els passos!

Molta sort!

Shiseido - The Skincare

I might have found the perfect set of moisturizers for my skin, and here I am to share all about it with you! I'm talking about Shiseido's The Skincare range: the Day Moisture Protection, the Night Moisture Recharge, and the Hydro-Nourishing Softener.

You might remember I reviewed Sisheido's The Skincare Night Moisture Recharge previously, and mentioned how much I loved it! After having been using the night moisturizer for a while, I decided to jump in all the way and get the day moisturizer, as well as the softener. These moisturizers have proven to be really effective on my combination skin. 

I use the Hydro-Nourishing Softener before using the moisturizer, both at day and night time, and I find it enhances the moisturizer a lot. In other words, it prepares the skin in order to get all the benefits from the moisturizer. I really think it makes a difference, because I had been using the Night Moisture Recharge without the Softener previously, and I find the results are better when both are used together. The way to apply the Hydro-Nourishing Softener is put some on a cotton pad and apply to the skin. What I do, however, is skip the cotton pad all the way and apply it directly with my finger tips. The softener is a bit more dense than water as you may see from my picture, so if you do it fast enough it's perfectly possible to apply it with your bare hands. This way you save a lot of product that doesn't get lost in the cotton pad!

My favorite things about this set are as follows: it provides a good moisture that soaks into the skin easily without being sticky; it has a very nice light scent; it comes in a hygienic and convenient pump bottle; and, finally and most importantly, the results on my skin are obvious: my face is more hydrated and softer, with an overall healthy glow. As I mentioned when I reviewed the Night Moisture Recharge, the price of one of these bottles in Europe is about 50€, crazy! Luckily it's just about 30€ (HK$300 in Hong Kong).

Once again, in Hong Kong I recommend getting yours at Lung Shing, the cosmetics store with the best deals in town, located on 28 Granville Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui. You can get a bottle for a bit more than HK$200 there, so the price is not an issue anymore. They may not have the whole set, in which case you may try in Sasa, where the price is just slightly more expensive than in Lung Shing.

Vichy Aqualia Thermal Light

Vichy Aqualia Thermal is one of my favorite products of late. This light moisturizer works wonders on combination skin, and it is suitable for both daytime and nighttime. This moisturizer comes in Light {for combination and oily skins} and in Rich {for dry skins}. My skin is combination so I'm using Vichy Aqualia Thermal Light and it really suits me! I like Vichy a lot for all its products contain no parabens and are therefore really gentle, and this is no exception! Price wise, it's specially worth it for Europeans, since it is way cheaper in the EU than in other places. Do give it a try if you still haven't found your perfect moisturizer and let me know what you think about it!

Overall Quality: 4.5*

Price: EUR 17 or USD 31 here

Value for Money: 4*

Would I recommend it? Yes, this is a great moisturizer! 

I'm loving BB Cream, and so will you!

I found out about this beauty miracle called BB cream when I moved to Asia four years ago. Back then, no one in Europe that I know had ever heard of BB cream, but in Asia every girl was raging about it. It didn't took me long before I gave it a go too. I LOVED IT. I still kept my foundation, which I planned to use for special occasions when more coverage was needed, but little by little I stopped using my foundation at all. It's not only that I love how my face looks with BB cream, is that I can feel my skin loves it too. I think my skin got better after using BB Cream for a while, which is why I never had to go for the deep coverage of foundations anymore. My skin is far from flawless but I believe BB Cream has improved it a lot {or at least stopped damaging it as foundations used to do!}. Foundations usually clog your pores making the skin become dull and full of blackheads. The great thing about BB Cream is it's so light it can't possibly clog your pores!

But... what exactly is BB Cream? BB Cream stands for Blemish Balm Cream, and it originated in Korea. Well, strictly speaking, it was first developed in German laboratories to heal the skin after surgery, but the formula was adapted by the Koreans and turned into BB cream, an instant hit among Korean women that spread rapidly throughout Asia. BB Cream is an all-in-one cosmetic replacing serum, primer, moisturizer, foundation and sun-block. This basically means that BB Cream is all you need to apply to your face in the morning before doing your makeup (eye-shadow, eye-liner, blush, etc.). I personally prefer to use moisturizer before applying my BB Cream because it blends way more easily and my skin feels more hydrated, but most of my friends don't. There are hundreds of BB Cream brands, specially since western brands discovered this secret weapon and started manufacturing their own. There are also thousands of BB Cream styles, with different functions and coverage levels. What suits me will not necessarily suit you, so I encourage you to do some research on different BB Creams and see which one could benefit your skin the most.

As for me, when in Taipei last July, I bought Dr Wu's Extreme Hydrate BB Cream because I tried it on in the store and it looked gorgeous. Dr Wu is a Taiwanese brand, but their BB Creams are manufactured in Korea. Before this I was already using Dr Wu's Perfect Cover BB Cream and I was happy about it but it was not my perfect cup of tea. Now after having been using Dr Wu's Extreme Hydrate BB Cream for almost half a year, I can tell you I'm a big big fan. It does to my skin exactly what BB Creams are supposed to do: give you a natural, no-makeup look while still covering minor imperfections. 

So tell me girls, are you going to give BB Cream a try?

Getting Pampered at Kiwi Spa

This month I was lucky to be one of the bloggers to be invited to the newly open Kiwi Spa in Central. Kiwi Spa was launched on November the 1st, and I was sent a press release and an invitation for a 30 minutes foot massage to be used within November.

Upon my arrival at the spa, I was warmly welcomed by the staff, and directed towards the foot massage room. I had read Kiwi Spa offers iPads for you to browse the internet while getting pampered but during my visit there were no iPads to be seen. Oh well. Sooner than I knew it, I was wrapped in green towels and my feet were getting soaked on a hot water bassin. I relaxed like this for about 5 minutes while sipping my drink {complimentary tea or water} until the masseur arrived and 30 minutes of foot massage indulgence followed. I can tell the guy knew what he was doing! The massage felt like glory to me after having been sick that day, and when the time was up my body was still craving for more.

I have had foot massages plenty of times, most of the times in Mainland China. The prices in China beat the ones in Hong Kong by so much. An hour massage in Shenzhen, half an hour from Hong Kong by train, would cost less than HK$60 (US$8), while in Hong Kong the price goes up to a rocketing HK$300 (US$39), and that's already considered cheap! In this sense Kiwi Spa beats other spas in Hong Kong with more affordable prices but keeping the good quality. The 30 minutes massage I had is priced at HK$150, the 50 minutes one at HK$215 and the 75 minutes one at HK$285.

If I had to make a guess, I'd say Kiwi Spa is about 60 square meters in total. Used to the big spas in China, this made quite a difference! Kiwi Spa has 8 seats for foot massage, and two individual rooms for body massage.

Kiwi Spa is conveniently located in Century Square, at the heart of the Lan Kwai Fong area. With long opening hours from 10am till midnight and good prices for Hong Kong standards, there's no excuse not to fit a massage into your schedule! 

Kiwi Spa

14/F, Century Square

1-13 D'Aguilar Street, Central

Bioderma Crealine H2O: The one product you won't be able to live without

Girls, stay focused! Today I've decided to share with you a beauty secret that I just cannot keep to myself anymore. I don't think I've ever found a makeup/skincare product that I could consider as the best of the best in its category, but there is always an exception to the rule. I am 100% positive I have found the best makeup remover I could ever wish for: Bioderma Crealine H2O.

I want to emphasize that I'm not being payed or sponsored to review this item. This is a beauty advice coming from my experience with the product and all the greatness it has done to my skin. Some girls think it's important to use good quality makeup and moisturizers in order not to break out, but don't give major thoughts on which makeup remover they use because, oh well, it will be on your skin for less than a minute and off we go. I used to be a part of that group, using makeup remover towelettes that made it fast and easy to remove all makeup. Yet my skin didn't feel that good. Even if you use a facial cleanser after removing your makeup, I believe some of the makeup remover ingredients have already had an effect on the skin. I know this now because ever since I started using Bioderma two years ago, my skin has improved substantially.

This product looks like fancy mineral water, or else ask my dad. I once lended the Bioderma bottle to my mom for her to try when they came visiting in Hong Kong. Apparently my mom left it in their hotel room's washroom, and my dad almost drank it thinking it was one of those complimentary water bottles hotels usually have! Well, weird family stories aside, the truth is this is a relatively new technology called micellar water, and I have nothing but good things to say about it. Away are the days when makeup removers made my eyes sting like crazy, this Holy water has no alcohol nor fragrances in it and even if it gets in your eyes, you won't feel a thing. Bioderma Crealine H2O removes all the makeup fast and easily without feeling greasy nor stingy. I'm absolutely head over heels for this product and if you give it a try, so will you!

Overall Quality: 5*

Price: HK$148 (in Sasa stores)

Value for Money: 5*

Would I recommend it? This is not merely a recommendation. This is a beauty advice that you will thank me for, for the rest of your life! ;)

The Mira Hotel - Hong Kong

On Saturday, back to Hong Kong, we checked in at The Mira Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui for a couple nights. This is the hotel my parents always choose when in Hong Kong, but it was the first time for me and J to stay in it, and whoa did we love it! It's a very modern hotel, conveniently located at the heart of the city. One of the best things at The Mira is the stunning MiraSpa. The indoor pool is to die for, it's big, relaxing, and always empty! I don't understand why there's usually no one there, but hey I won't complain! The light on top of the pool keeps changing its shade from purple to blue and pink, making for a very beautiful illumination. There is a big jacuzzi right next to the pool, which is where I spent most of the time!

Indoor pool

Inside the changing rooms, other pleasures await: Steam & Dry Sauna, Jacuzzi, Fun Shower and Flotation area. The Flotation area is a room with dim light and water beds, with a selection of the newspapers of the day for you to read while laying on a water bed. I had never been on a water bed before and it feels amazing!!! There's also a good gym with several machines and weights where I spent half an hour :D

Jacuzzi inside the female changing room

Another remarkable thing at The Mira is its top-notch customer service. I'd rate The Mira top 1 in the world in that respect out of all the hotels I've ever stayed in and, believe me, there are quite a lot! 

As for the rooms, besides being all high-tech, they are spacious, which is not to be taken for granted in Hong Kong! I enjoyed their pillow menu a lot, I ordered six different kinds of pillows until I finally found the perfect one for me. Score!

If you're going to stay at The Mira, make sure to have breakfast included, because this breakfast buffet is really something! I was delighted to find out they served Eggs Benedict with Salmon, one of my favorite savory breakfasts!

I couldn't recommend this hotel enough. I would rate it five-star in every aspect, and can't think of any area to be improved. A supreme choice for when traveling to Hong Kong!

L'Oréal Hydrafresh Review

I have been using L'Oréal Hydrafresh range for over a year now as my daily moisturizer. Hydrafresh comes in two versions: Hydrafresh for Normal and Combination Skin (green one), or Hydrafresh for Dry and Sensitive Skin (pink one). I have a normal to combination skin, which is why the one I always use is the green version. Once in Spain though, I run out of daily moisturizer and could only find the pink one, so I decided to give it a try. I'd say both of these moisturizers are great value for money. This is specially true in Europe where they cost around 7 euros. The price here in Asia is about doubled, as with most of the products imported from Europe.

Hydrafresh Aqua-Essence (green one) is a really good product. Thanks to it being a gel, it feels extremely light and it provides a soothing feeling immediately after application. I love to use it under my BB cream (I almost never use foundation, but let me tell you more about that in another post). BB Cream is like a tinted moisturizer, so you don't really need to use a base before applying it, but my skin has always felt much better with some sort of protection from it. I've been reading some people's reviews on the Hydrafresh for Normal and Combination skin, and a lot of them seem to complain about this product not being hydrating enough. I'd like to point out that this is a gel moisturizer specially designed for combination skin. The words gel + combination combined, should already make you notice that this is going to be a very light moisturizer. It is definitely not recommended for people with dry skin, or even for people with combination skin during cold winters.

The pink version, for Dry and Sensitive Skin, it's a cream rather than a gel, and it's a bit too oily for me. I guess it will be better in winter, but as for now I don't really use it. This is in fact my 3rd bottle of the green version, but I wouldn't repurchase the pink one. I guess it's my fault for buying a product that is not for my skin type!

Overall Quality: 4.5*

Price: HK$125-$139

Value for Money: 4.5*

Would I recommend it? Yes, I've repurchased the green moisturiser about three times. It's a very good option for an affordable daily moisturiser. If your skin is dry, go for the pink one!

MAC Dazzleglass in Sugarrimmed Review

This MAC lip gloss has been one of my best friends for almost two years. Wherever I go, he's always with me in my purse. As you can see from the pictures, it's an iridescent pink-purple gloss with major light-reflecting sparkles, making for an incredible shimmer! It's wonderfully shiny, and this shade makes your lips look great either by itself or over a lipstick.

I like that it comes with a brush instead of a sponge, it feels way nicer! Besides, I'm also deeply in love is its strong vanilla scent.

I tend to be more of a lipstick-girl than a lip gloss-girl, mainly because I don't like my lips being sticky and my hair all over them, but I'm happy to make an exeption with MAC Dazzleglass. The result is well worth it! Beware though, this is not a product to be used on a windy day! ;)

 

Overall Quality: 4.5*

Price: HK$180

Value for Money: 4.5*

Would I recommend it? Yes, it's a perfect lip gloss for any occasion.

Shiseido Night Moisture Recharge Review

I have been using this nighttime moisturiser for about three months now. It may not have been the best time to start using this, since it feels more appropriate for winter, but I still love it! Instead of using it daily as I probably will during the cold season, I now use this about three times a week.

This moisturiser is a dream come true. I wake up with an even complexion and glowing, velvety skin! It hydrates deeply, yet there is no greasiness whatsoever. It has a very lightweight texture that gets instantly absorbed by the skin. In fact, if you're going to stay at home for the day, or feel like you don't need sunscreen, this can totally be used for daytime.

Besides from hydrating, I've also noticed the littles lines around my eyes and mouth are going away, so it's a wrinkle corrector too!

As for the packaging, the pump bottle is very convenient and sanitary, and I like that you get to see how much is left thanks to the glass bottle. I love the scent too, it's a light fragrance that feels calming and refreshing.

This is my favorite night moisturizer at the moment, and I couldn't recommend it enough!

Besides, we Hong Kongers are so lucky when it comes to cosmetics. This same moisturiser sells in Europe at more than 50€, and in Australia at 75$. This is more than double the price in Hong Kong!

Price: Official retail price in Hong Kong HK$310. In Sasa: $235. In Lung Shing (龍城大藥房): $219 (cheapest in town)

Overall Quality: 5*
Value for Money: 5*

Would I recommend it? Hands-down!

For your info, in case you don't know Lung Shing, it's a cosmetics store with the best prices in Hong Kong, and it's always PACKED! It's located in 28 Granville Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui.

Origins Never a Dull Moment Face Polisher Review

I've had the Origin's Never a Dull Moment Face Polisher for about 3 months now.

I've been a bit disappointed by this product in the sense that I was expecting a scrub, when the product label always made it clear that this was a skin-brightening face polisher. I unfortunately was not aware of the difference between the two when I bough this.

After doing some research, I can finally tell the difference between a face polisher and a face scrub. A face scrub has bigger and thicker granules, and is to be used once a week as it provides a much deeper exfoliation, rubbing off a thicker layer of dead skin. A face polisher, on the other hand, is way softer, with finelly milled granules, designed to invigorate your skin by leaving it soft and glowing, but not to slough off dead cells in the way a scrub does. Face polishers will never be as effective in removing dead skin as a scrub, so this may be a good choice for very sensitive skins that get irritated with scrub. For the rest of us though, since a face polisher will never have the effects of a scrub in getting rid of impurities, if you really feel like using one, you need to bear in mind that its effects are basically softening and brightening, and that you will need to buy a scrub to keep up with the exfoliating work.

How do I feel about this product after all? This product smells yummy, with all the mango, papaya and apricot enzymes combined, even if I'm more into "clean" fragrances for my skincare. I rub it on my wet face, neck and sometimes décolleté, and rinse it with warm water after a minute or so. You can immediately feel the softness in your skin. It's really impressive, the skin feels like a baby's. I'd say it brightens my complexion too, but then I'm not 100% sure about that, since I think I'm too young to actually have dull skin. The downside here is its effect being way too short. The softness disappears from my face in about an hour. I use this once to twice per week, and twice seems like enough. A good thing to point out is this tube seems to last forever. I still have more than 80% left!

Price: HK$280

Overall Quality: 3.5*
Value for Money: 3.5*

Would I recommend it? Not really. The effects are not that obvious, so I would avoid spending that much money on this product. At this price, there are better choices for your skin out there!

There are currently 15 Origins stores in Hong Kong. Find out their location here.