How to Read Your Boarding Pass

This is a quick how-to for people who have trouble reading their boarding pass and understanding what everything on it means.

Here I have the picture of an Air Canada paper boarding pass.  Most paper boarding passes will look similar as they need to convey the same information.

The top left corner has your name. Always check to make sure that you have been given the right pass as check-in agents can make mistakes. We are all human.

Right underneath is your ticket number. You will not need to worry about this part. 

To the right of your ticket number is a spot for your frequent flyer or rewards designation. This will usually be shown in the form of the initials for the program you participate in or will be left blank if you are not enrolled in any frequent flyer program. Ex. Aeroplane, Miles and More.

The next row down lists information important to you:

Your flight number. This will tell you the full flight number including the two letter airline code for the airline you are flying with. Ex. AC9999 for Air Canada or LH 1111 for Lufthansa. It will be followed by the date of your flight.

Your departure city. This is the city and airport that you are departing from. Some cities have multiple airports so be careful to check from which of them your flight departs.

Your destination city. This is the city and airport that you will be arriving into.  Some flights may stop at your destination and then continue onward with the same flight number (a stopover flight). If your destination does not match the one on the departure screen just check the flight number to make sure you are in the right area.

The next line goes into more detail for your flight:

Boarding Time: This is the time that the flight is scheduled to start boarding.  This is not the same as departure time but you should plan to be at or near your departure gate by the time that boarding starts. 

Gate: This is your boarding gate. Sometimes this area will have a gate number or a letter and number. Ex. Gate 2, Gate A2. Other times it may be blank.  This happens when your boarding time is too far into the future for a gate to have been assigned such as when you are connecting to a flight on the next day.  In either case make sure to check the boarding screens at the airport to see what gate your flight is boarding at as gates can change close to boarding time.

Seat: This is your seat number. It will always be a row number followed by a letter designating your place. Ex. 1a, 22b.

The last line will have your departure time.  This is no the end of boarding but the time that the aircraft is scheduled to leave the gate. Boarding ends ten to fifteen minutes earlier, depending on the destination and the airport.

Some boarding passes may have a tear away section on the right. This is a hold over from the time when the main part of the boarding pass was kept by the airline to verify who has boarded. This section will usually have the most important information on it. These are your flight number, destination, seat number. For anyone travelling on Air Canada this section will also state your zone. The zone is the new boarding procedure and you may board when your zone number is called.

If you ever have any doubts about the information on your boarding pass just ask an employee of the airline you are flying with and they will be able to help you.

If you have any questions or any suggestions please leave your comments below and to all of you flying have a great flight!

Bebe Lip Mask

This time I decided to try a lip mask.  My lips tend to dry out quickly and also are very sensitive to outside influence, for example lipstick.  So, my idea was to see if a lip mask would help hydrate my lips and get me away from constantly using lip balm.

The packaging for the lip mask was SO cute, way cuter than that on the Real Nature masks.  It does seem to be the most childish looking thing in The Face Shop’s line but honestly, how could I resist that face?

The mask itself came in a plastic holder and was made of the same gelatinous material as the Gel face mask.  It was really easy to put on and stayed on with no problems.  Same as before, the gel mask seems to absorb better into the skin or perhaps it may not hold as much serum as the cotton masks and so ends up being absorbed into my skin in the proper amount of time.

I’m not yet sure how effective the mask will be in the long run but so far, my lips feel nicely moisturized and don’t seem to be getting any kind of rash. 

Next day update:  My lips feel fine, pretty normal. I didn't need to put lip balm on them overnight and they didn't go dry.  My overall impression of the mask is positive but I don;t think I'll be using it regularly.  My lips just aren't bad enough to warrant spending $2 on a mask every week.  I'll probably use it every few months in the winter just to give my lips an extra boost.

The Lovely ME:EX lip care cream is more my style.  I just like the idea of something covering my lips to protect them.  It also smells fantastic

Face Masks from The Face Shop

So, usually I don’t do much to take care of my skin.  I wash and moisturize and that’s about it.  Every few weeks I’ll use a scrub on my face to get rid of the dead skin but other than that there isn’t much to my daily routine.  Recently, though, I’ve been wanting to try a Korean face mask to see how they are.  This has been brought on by watching Eat Your Kimchi’s Martina and her Korean beauty product reviews.  Therefore, I went out to The Face Shop, bought a few face masks, and will now try them and write a review on how they work on my skin and how the different mask types feel. (As a note, I tried all of them on different days so the reviews may seem a bit different in style though I tried to make the about the same.)

What Masks Did I Get?

I bought three masks: The Real Nature Green Tea face mask which is supposed to energize dry skin. The Real Nature Blueberry face mask which has softening properties for younger looking skin. The Hydro Gel Mask Sheet Vita E Cranberry Extract mask which only has an explanation in French and says that it helps the skin regain health and resistance.  I also got an Aloe Real Nature mask with my Summer Emergency Kit.  I will try that one with the other Summer Emergency products.

Mask Review

Real Nature Green Tea face mask:

Yesterday I went out and did the full make-up thing so today, when I woke up, my face felt a bit off.  To combat that effect I’m going to use the first of my three masks and see how it is.  First off the package that it comes in is really cute.  That’s a thing that definitely influences my buying choices.  It’s really easy to open and the mask comes out with no problems.  It took me a bit to figure out how to unfold it but I finally managed to do it.  It looks pretty big but it fits my face just fine.  I’m certain that it’ll fit most faces with no problems at all.  So now I sit and wait for ten to twelve minutes.  I’m going to read Cracked for now then.

My twelve minutes are up and now according to the instructions I need to tap my face gently until all the serum is absorbed by my skin.  There was a lot of serum, it felt very nice.  My face has absorbed all of it and is now a bit sticky, I’m waiting for that to go away.  In the end my face looks all dewy and fresh and somehow more alert than it did before so, so far so good. 

Hydro Gel Mask Sheet Vita E Cranberry Extract:

I’ve been feeling very tired recently so I figured I’d have a mini-spa afternoon so I did a mask for my hair and topped it off with one of my face masks.  As always, the packaging is really cute.  It’s a bit bigger than the Real Nature line of masks and comes in a glossier pack.  This mask came surrounded on both sides by a protective film which made taking it out of the pack a bit tricky, my fingers kept slipping on the film, but I managed it.  The actual mask is very different from the Real Nature masks, it feels like it’s made up of gel held together by a woven base.  The face serum stuff is coated on the gel mask.  It also came in two halves, one for the top of my face and the other for the bottom, unlike the Real Nature mask which was one sheet for the full face.  It smelled delicious, just a tad like a facial studio with hints of cranberry coming through.  Stayed on very well and I decided to relax for the 20 minutes that I am supposed to have it on.  Honestly, it was so relaxing that I almost fell asleep.

My alarm woke me up and I just took the mask off and threw it out.  The instructions didn’t say to tap my face to help the liquid absorb so I didn’t bother especially since the liquid absorbed into my skin really well.  My face felt very happy after the mask and very smooth and still does.  I honestly can’t say which mask I prefer.

 

Real Nature Blueberry face mask:

It’s a makeup day again and I don’t like my skin getting too dry so I’ve put on the last of my masks.  The package was a light lavender which is associated with blueberries, though I will admit I’ve always thought of them as a dark blue, probably cause I always think of wild blueberries.  Right away I could tell the difference between this mask and the Green Tea mask as the serum on this one is drippier.  The mask sheet also seems smaller, somehow, though that may be my own brain playing tricks on me.  It isn’t a problem for my face, since I’m on the smaller side, but if you have a bigger mouth and big eyes be prepared for the mask to settle over top of them a bit.  The Hydro Gel mask definitely was bigger. Well, I’m masked up and now it’s time to relax for a bit.  Today my soundtrack is a very old episode of Have I Got News For You.

Time to take the mask off and as with the Green Tea mask I needed to pat the remaining serum dry.  Even after a few minutes I can feel the serum on my face but as before I can see a difference in my skin.  It looks happier and very well moisturized.

Conclusion

For all the masks I saw the result at its best the next day when I woke up with my face feeling smooth and soft and still very moisturized.  Overall I think I prefer the Gel Mask because it absorbed into my skin very quickly and didn’t leave that slightly sticky feeling on my face.  It’s not very unpleasant but I feel like my skin just isn’t absorbing all the serum from the Real Nature masks because they are absolutely soaked in it.  I will definitely buy the masks again, both the Gel line and the Real Nature line, though I will probably try the other masks in the Real Nature line and see how my face absorbs them.

Have any of you tried these masks or some like them?  What are your thoughts, tell me in the comments below. 

Fruits and Passion Dual Action Nasal Strips

Because of a free shipping deal I got a bunch of face masks from Fruits and Passion, a Canadian face and body product shop.  I like most of their stuff and have now decided to try their face masks.  Today, while waiting for my hair serum to seep into my scalp, I decided to try the Dual Action Nasal Strips which are supposed to get rid of blackheads on your nose.  I comes in a very cute package with directions on the back.  It says it needs a q-tip to gently remove the blackheads but did not provide one, unlike a Korean equivalent shown on Eat Your Kimchi but thankfully I had one in my bathroom.  I think that North American companies assume that we all have q-tips of some type at home which, to be fair, we do. 

Step 1 of the nasal strips is a cotton strip soaked in a solution.  It smells somewhat medicinal, but not in a bad way.  Mostly is smells clean.  It’s easy to put on and stays on very well.  I need to keep this on for ten to fifteen minutes.  While doing this I’m watching Have I Got News For You so these are a very pleasant fifteen minutes that I’m spending.  As the minutes so on my nose feels cold and a bit as if I have menthol on my face.  Not painful, but a bit odd.

After step one is done I’m supposed to use the q-tip to gently remove the blackheads.  Now, I’m not sure if it’s because I don’t really have very bad blackheads or if it’s because they are so deep down but it took a bit more than gentle force to remove the blackheads, I had to really push them out.  I will admit that a lot of stuff came out, especially in the difficult area around the tip of the nose.  After getting out as much as will come out (and it really was a lot), it’s time to put on the second, pore closing, nasal strip.

Step 2 of the nasal strip is a cotton pad with a gel like substance on one side.  It actually had a piece of protective paper over the gel bit which you need to take off to put the strip on your nose.  It’s pretty sticky and sits really well covering the whole of my nose.  I’m barely noticing it.  When taking it off none of the gel remains on the face and my pores are indeed a lot smaller than after Step 1 and it looks a lot cleaner.  It’s still a bit red from pushing the blackheads out but it doesn’t hurt and feels very nice.

Overall I liked the Dual Action Nasal Strips.  I don’t need to use them very often but I think I’ll be buying them again, every few months.  You can buy a single package for $2.50 on the Fruits and Passion website.