Revenge travel is everyone’s favorite hobby at the moment now that the world has opened up post-pandemic. I’ve been on a couple of trips abroad myself this year and the energy at the airport is really different - people are more excited and at the same time more appreciative of the privilege to be able to travel to other countries once again.

I recently got the opportunity to go on vacation for the first time since the pandemic started back in 2020. I needed somewhere fun, yummy and preferably close by. Singapore was the obvious choice.

Aside from being one of the food capitals of the world, Singapore is also known for fashion and beauty - a fact that any fan of Crazy Rich Asians can attest to! Every glamorous outfit on that movie was topped with perfect skin and amazing makeup. In between sight-seeing at Marina Bay and chowing down on sumptuous chili crab, I was on a mission to find the best places in Singapore to indulge my love affair with skincare and cosmetics.

Packing for a trip out of the country is, I daresay, an art. It’s getting that perfect balance between bringing everything you need, having easy access to everything without losing your things, and having enough space for your shopping! When I first started traveling abroad, I was all about packing light so much that I under pack and forget a lot of important things. I used to survive on just a 5-kilo luggage for a week-long trip - that’s unimaginable now. I always end up having to buy a big tote for my shopping and it’s such a hassle lugging it to and from the airport.

But now I have a fairly reliable formula that works for me, and might work for you too. Here’s my tried-and-tested way of packing for a trip abroad! This is handy if, like me, you over think and like to look pretty.

So you find yourself in a shopping district in Tokyo or Osaka, and you duck into a MatsuKiyo or Tokyu Hands. Inside, you are confronted with hundreds, if not thousands of products to choose from. It’s easier to navigate if you have a list of products to look for - maybe you even got product photos so you can show them to non-English speaking shopkeepers! Having a list is definitely helpful but given the chance to explore this beauty wonderland, wouldn’t it be fun to have a completely new discovery?

Hong Kong holds very special memories for me because it’s the very first place I visited abroad. I was still very young when I first went though, so when I recently traveled there again earlier this year, I couldn’t miss out on doing a bit of beauty shopping!

Let’s start with where to find the best deals and sulit sets: the specialty beauty stores and pharmacies!

I recently went on a cross-region Japan trip with my two best friends, and had the time of my life exploring new cities. But what would a Japan trip be without invading my fave beauty stores? We’ve previously mapped where we get our beauty fix in Tokyo in the first version of this article, but there’s still so much to see! This guide lists more stores that you’re sure to find in most cities - be it all the way in Sapporo, or all the way down in Fukuoka.

I had a lot of not-so-positive misconceptions about going to the Chinese mainland for the first time last month. I thought it was going to be dirty, noisy, and full of rude people, but that was certainly not the case! I found Shanghai to be a beautiful city that was as mighty as it was poetic. I loved the food, the painfully fashionable Chinese wandering the streets, and the amazing architecture. The Bund, a waterfront area facing the Huangpu River and looking out to the Lujiazui skyline, is a sight to see at night. I wasn't able to explore the city very long but one thing is for sure: I will definitely visit Shanghai again!

The age of social media has given birth to an interesting phenomena called "doing it for the 'gram". Whenever we post something - because surely we have to post something - we do it with one eye on how good it will look like on our various feeds. It doesn't matter how uncomfortable or miserable we may be at that time. If the post looks great, and 50 other likes agree with us, then we feel good. We feel important. 

There are many exciting innovations in skincare today to the point that you can see an immediate effect overnight. This is why it's easy to pass over heritage brands like Cetaphil but I would like to argue the opposite: Cetaphil is, in fact, more relevant than ever for us skincare junkies. It has stood the test of time for 70 years because it's more than just your average skincare line. Cetaphil's philosophy centers around therapeutic skincare - skincare that is formulated specifically for people with compromised skin.

I will take any chance to visit a place with cooler climate, and I suppose a lot of Manila-dwellers would feel the same way for obvious reasons. But anytime I start packing for a trip like that, the anxiety portion of the program also begins. How cold will it get? Do I have warm-enough clothing? Will my dry skin turn into a flaky mess??? Cue over-packing both clothing and beauty products. Sadly for me, lugging around what feels like every skincare product in my collection doesn’t always guarantee success in actually keeping my skin moisturized. As the saying goes, it's all about quality over quantity.

The destination might be exciting, but it’s not that fun sitting through a 7+ hour flight once you're stewing in your seat. You're jetlagged from the time-difference, your skin gets dehydrated from the dry cabin air, and you feel tired and cramped because let's face it - those chairs in Economy aren't designed with your beauty sleep in mind. It's a challenge to somehow look and feel anything but shitty when you disembark but it's not impossible! Here are six tips to help you and your skin survive that long-haul flight!