Travel Diary: Day 3 in UK - London Eye & Big Ben

After a hot cup of Starbucks to keep us warm, we walked up to the Westminster tube station to London Eye and Big Ben. Pardon my bad memory, I forgot which tube station we got down to get to London Eye and Big Ben.

The London Eye

A random selfie near the London Eye.

The view of Big Ben from inside London Eye.

The night view is impressive. The ride took about 30 minutes.

We enjoyed the night view and lots of picture taking in the carriage. 

After the ride, we walked down the river to Big Ben.

The view feels so romantic on a winter night.

Along the River Thames

That ends our journey for day three in London. 

Acne Update #3

My skin has probably been at its best that it has been in 9 months.

I broke around September and I made a blogpost on it around December. Click here for the post.
It was really bad then my skin was rough, pimples were popping out from nowhere, it was the most painful tie of my life.

I changed my whole skincare routine. Those days I used to use only cleanser, toner and moisturizer. Now it is like a 10 steps skincare.

This is my skin condition for my left cheek as of for now.

It has a long way from being so blemished and hyperpigmented to looking like this.
There is still some minor breakouts now and then but it isn't bad and can be controlled.

The right cheek. The right cheek has always been under-control.

The products I used for my morning skin routines :
1. Nature Republic Farm Fresh Mung Bean Foam Cleanser
2. Mineral Water Facial Spray
3. ZA Total Hydration Rich Lucent Lotion
4. Rose Divine Eye Cream
5. Sulwhasoo Snowise Balancing Water
6. L'oreal Youth Code Illuminating Serum
7. Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream
8. La Roche Posay Effaclar K
9. Moisturizer, I have 4 and I switch them around according to my skin needs, I have The Body Shop Tea Tree Skin Clearing Lotion, Nivea Pure and Natural Daycream, L'oreal Youth Code Illuminating Cream and Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisturizer.

Some tips :
I do not dry my face after washing instead I pat the water in, It keeps my skin more moisturized compared to drying with a towel which I felt took away a lot of moisture from my skin.

I scrub my face about once a week to remove dead skin cells that could potentially clog pores that cause blackheads, whiteheads or even pimples.

Eventhough mask can be used daily but I do not advise to use daily as it will provide over nutrition causing the skin to break out.

Aloe Vera Gel and Green Tea is good in calming the skin and getting rid of redness. 

Travel Diary Day 3 in UK : Buckingham Palace

I have been ignoring my UK travel post that I almost forgot to continue posting about it.

After Madame Tussauds since it was still in the mid-day, we decided to take a quick trip to Buckingham's Palace and St. James Park.

There was nothing much to see in the park since it was winter then but I am glad I got to see the green grass.
We never see anything except thick white snow in Russia during winter and Spring comes really late here, mid-April.

My Starbucks tumbler. There's no coffee in side, I just filled it with water to carry around incase anyone gets thirsty in the middle of this long day trip.

It was pretty cloudy on that day but it wasn't particularly cold. The temperature was around 4-5 degree Celcius if I was not mistaken. That really warm compared to Moscow.

To Buckingham Palace. We didn't do much there, we just walked around and took some pictures.

Queen Victoria Memorial Statue.

The view around the palace

A precious photo with Buckingham Palace.

Later, we went to get a hot drink in Starbucks since it was getting cold and we got tired. It was not end of our trip for Day 3, we were planning for more sight seeing at night at the London Eye.

Vanilla Spice Latte.

The aroma of the coffee was just so heavenly.

I will continue my night adventure to London's Eye and the Big Ben in my next post.

June mini buy. again.

In this generation of beauty items, there is one item that you shouldn't be missing out in your vanity table.
That is.....

Facial spray.

This, I picked up yesterday. It is a normal mineral water facial spray. It is not a setting spray.
I use this after applying moisturizer and pat it in and voila! my face feels so soft and supple. It is better than applying moisturizer alone.
Another way to use it is as a starter before any skincare routine, you can either spray directly to the face and pat it in or spray it on a cotton pad and wipe it around the face.
I prefer to spray it at the end of the routine and 'lock' everything in.

I have been doing this step for 4 days, I can say that my skin has been more hydrated and supple.

The next item I got is something I really enjoy. I went back to pick up more colours since it is still on sale.

L'oreal Lip Caresse Stains

I like the fact they give a hydrating feelings upon application. In this summer weather, it gives enough moisture on my lips and it feels very lightweight.

This time I got the colour, 400 Eve

Eve is a pink-lilac shade with some iridescent. It is almost similar to Marilyn except Marilyn is brighter and a bit deeper in colour.
I've seen swatches of other Eve(s), the name of the colour varies from country to country.
The naming of my Lip Caresse is based on the European version. In Asia, Eve appears to be a bright fuchsia and the numbering is 604. The European version the numbering for Eve is 400.

The other item I got is a set for my mum.
It was on discount and I thought It is a good choice for my mum, she mentioned sometime ago she wants a good cream. This set would be good for her to try out, if she likes it, she could go purchase the full size.

The Estee Lauder Aging Set.

Cute little sample sizes.

More mix of things

A tiny haul is here just to reward myself for finishing my first finals paper. 

I picked up three polishes. I have been into the nail polish phase. I just couldn't resist picking the rest of the glitter collection knowing they stocked up. These glitter nailpolishes are just so pretty. 

Also, I got a cream lip and cheek colour that I found in the clearance section. I am really glad I didn't pick this up at full price, I had my eye on this item some time ago. 

Aurelia Nail Polish. 

I got this off the clearance section too. It is a limited edition.
Nothing very spectacular about it, It is a very wearable nude pink with slight brown tones, but I can see that this is going to be my go to nail polish for the season since it so wearable. 

A very sloppy swatch.

The next colour I picked up is a multicolour glitter with different sizes nail polish. I am bad at explaining the colour of this nail polish.

It is a very fun colour, just reminds me of summer, the beach and the seaside resort. These solid coloured glitter are my favourite this season. I keep going to the shop to get more. 

A multicoloured pink,red and white glitters in various sizes and shapes.
This is very cute and sweet combination. 

The only makeup item I picked up. 

Catrice Lip and Cheek Colour.
It was the last one in the clearance section. I guess I was lucky. 

02 Picked Cherry Blossom

It is a hot pink with blue tones and looks really bright in the pan. I don't know how it transfers on the skin since there were no testers and I haven't tested it. 

I will work it out and give a brief review later. 

NOTD

I had too much fun with the new nail polishes i picked up.
Different combination of nail polishes for different hands and fingers. 

This is a FOTD new days ago.
A no makeup FOTD, I only used Etude House's Sunblock and a lipcream for some colour on the pale me.

The Pure & Natural secret.

It's June. I didn't realize it is already June until today. I am so slow.
June marks my finals month, so I am gonna be very busy after this.

Let's get started what I got this weekend from grocery shopping.

Nivea Visage Pure & Natural Moisturizing Day Cream.

I have heard a lot of raves about this cream and the fact The Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Kate Middleton 'swears by' this cream.
Caught by "Kate effect', I also picked up this cream.

When I was in London, I saw this cream but I didn't pick it up since I didn't need an extra cream and I do not want to add on my luggage weight.
I am glad I didn't because It is much cheaper over here in Moscow, only priced at 161 Roubles (about 3.31 British pounds).

Truthfully I still do not need anymore creams but since the price is so affordable, it is hard to pass and who knows this cream might be better than the other creams I owned.

I chose the normal to combination skin version.
My skin is leaning towards combination in the summer. I only get oily at my nose and elsewhere is pretty much normal or slightly dry.

The cream comes in a heavy glass tub with white matte lid.
A very simple design which suits the theme of pure & natural.

The cream comes in sealed which is good. Got to prevent those people with itchy fingers from dipping their fingers into the cream.

The cream has a thick yet light formula with the typical Nivea fragrance.
Sad to say the fragrance doesn't go away! Even after washing with plain water.

Blending the cream.
The cream is very easy to blend and it gets absorb fast during blending.
It leaves a slightly oily finish for the first few minutes then the skin will feel very soft and moisturized.

A comparison between the side with and cream and without.
The side with the cream applied have more sheen to it.

I will give a more detailed review after using this cream long enough.

Now let's move on to the next item I picked up.

It is another item that caught my eye.

It is the La Roche Posay Hydreane BB Cream.
This BB cream is said formulated for sensitive skin in need for hydration.
I swear by this brand after using their Effaclar line to get rid of my acne and it is a very excellent job in it. Lately my skin has been clear and if I break out it would be minor ones that go away within days.
SO I have high hopes for this BB cream in terms of skin care properties.

La Roche Posay Hydreane BB Cream.

The packaging of the BB cream is very simple and pharmaceutical-like.
The cream is very small in size.

Eventhough it is small, it is still packed with 40ml worth of product. 

Usually Korean BB creams come in 50ml but for a western pharmaceutical brand, I feel 40ml is generous amount. 

I got mine for 670 Roubles after student discount in a local pharmacy.
I am surprise that the price isn't as expensive as I expected it to be. 

A little mix of everything

I bought this on a whim when I went into The Body Shop because I had small spots at that time and I just wanted something anti-acne.

It is the Tea Tree Blemish Gel.

I don't know if It helped, because my skin has pretty much cleared up, it could just be a random sudden breakout that goes away really fast or this gel is wonder.
I have to use it a few more times to see whether this gel gave me the results.

That day when I went out, I tried a bolder look. I don't like my eyes fully lined with eyeliner because it makes my eyes look smaller but I can't help giving it another try since I've seen so many artist going for the bold eyes look.

I don't know if I like this look, my roommate commented that it didn't really suit me but my blockmate kind of like it.
I used dark blue eyeshadow and lots of black eyeliner.

The finished look. An overall dark look.
The camera is washing me out really badly. The lip product I used is the Essence Stay with Me Lipcream in Smooth Berry but sadly in this picture it is washed out really badly.

It is clearer with my phone camera. I did a gradient lip with the lip cream, I don't want it to be too overpowering since the eye makeup is bold.

I went to Hard Rock Cafe for a birthday celebration.

Honestly I don't enjoy the food in the Moscow's branch of Hard Rock Cafe.

This is what I ordered. I forgot the name of this meal.

The chicken was really dry, I was really hard to go through the meal.
This is the 2nd time I visited the restaurant. The first time I went, I don't remember enjoying their food too.

Their birthday offer is pretty great though, there is a free parfait for the birthday person and also free wine for the whole table.