I know I didn’t do a yearly recap post and I feel that it’s justified. There were a lot of things that happened in 2022, some were good, some were overbearing and hard to handle. I know that the beginning of the year is not a magic beginning, but there is always something about the start of the new year that gives us hope.
So even though it’s February and I know it’s wayyy too late to make new year goals, I will still write it down anyway. Because I know that my soul needed this.
This year is the year to be selfish.
Not in a bad way, definitely not. But this is the year that I will put myself first in every situation, every scenario and every choice.
I don’t want to dwell anymore on the fact that I am losing a little bit of myself when I don’t set any boundaries, when I let other people needs first rather than mine.
This year will be the year of contentment, I will be content with how I look, of my life, of my financial status, of my education and grades, of my relationships (or the lack thereof). I will be happy no matter what state I am at.
I know these are attainable goals and I will work hard towards them.
Finally, after 2 years of residency (and 2 years of the pandemic), I finally get what I like to call, a much deserved holiday!!!
Last two Hari Raya we didn’t get full holiday on account of covid. What will happen to residents who don’t get breaks everynow and then?
Exactly, burnt out.
Will be off duty for 10 days now, HAHA so happy 🥰 loads of things to be happy about this year (so far) wish for more happy things to look forward to.
Finally could use this illustration of mine!
Even though it’s a long holiday, I’ll be spending my time home. Just chilling and watching movies. Hanging out with friends 😝 this is a much needed break.
As you can see I made a new hello template 😂 the zombie says hello!
There is always this one flower that I always love.
What’s not to love about this flower? Its beautiful blue color, the name of the flower, and the story of the flower.
Forget-me-not flower.
These few days I was feeling a bit down and remember this one quote that I couldn’t remember the whole words or who said it.
In a world of beautiful blooming flowers, who would ever notice a small bud of flower?
Anonymous
I’m pretty sure we’ve all been there. The feeling of not good enough. In our appearances, our possessions, our life.
Forget-me-not flowers
The Christian lore of forget-me-not flowers is a story with no definite origin and different versions. My most favorite version is the story when God walked in Eden and he saw a small bud of blue flowers and He asked for its name.
The flower was shy and it whispered,
“I forgot my name my Lord.”
The Lord replied,
“Your name shall be Forget-me-not. I’ll never forget your name now.”
While the Christian lore was a nice story. Some love story also mentioned this flower. About how this flower is a symbol of true love.
And I definitely think it’s a beautiful story. Of how this small flower has such a deep meaning even though people always associate love with other flowers like rose.
May this be a reminder that even a small flower never gets forgotten, and even a small flower is still beautiful. Forget-me-not.
Okay! This is going to be a short blog post but I updated the new header! 🎉
I’ll make a more elaborate post on it but I had used the old header since 2018 which means it’s already 4 years (wait… I should post more 😅 it’s already 4 years and I don’t post as much as I would have liked? Man. I think I am just lazy) and I think a small cute change would be nice right?
I always loved sunflowers because they looked so happy and sunny (duh 🌻) and when I was a kid I always draws rainbows. That’s why since a long time I always wanted to make the header filled with sunflowers and rainbows.
I like the artstyle to since it kinda shows how much I couldn’t draw 😂 the header is made by procreate and using the pencil tool. (Except the text which is basically the old header text since I always liked that one) Back then I was a very photoshop user (used it for illustrating, making school homework and designing the campus’ magazine layout) so it’s interesting how over the years I’ve swayed away from using photoshop and instead using my hand to draw again (using the apple pencil).
So yeap. I hope you like the new header because if you ask me, I like how quirky it is 😂 and how I suited this kind of art style better.
In Indonesia we call it Cap Go Meh which means the 15th night of the new year in Hokkien. I don’t really know the history but in Indonesia some cities celebrated with parades, parties, the works.
In my family we just ate lontong (rice cake) with 8 toppings (because the number 8 is lucky ✨) and go on with our day 😂 nothing too special.
But I could now cut my hair which is nice 😂 (apparently because it’s bad luck to cut hair within the Chinese New Year period)
What’s the point of this post you ask?
Well. I just bought a pair of clay earrings in the shape of a flower pot with Chinese dynasty porcelain pattern 😂 so I’ll show you what it looks like.
Tada ✨ look how cute it is 😂 no regrets buying it even though I think I only could wear it once a year for the Chinese new year period 🎋
Alright…
I’ll just put this one here 😂 Happy Lantern Festival! (Even though there are no big celebrations… you know, the pandemic).
Hi everyone! As I scrolled through Tiktok, I landed to the relatable side of Tiktok. Which were the part where people with nice skin telling their acne story. Or where people with acne talk about their journey.
What is it about our face that makes us want to achieve perfection? I guess because people identify other people with their faces, and if you are pretty or handsome it does help in life 🥲
So here I am wanting to make a post about my acne journey. I don’t know if you would enjoy reading it but I’d like to pen it down ✒️
Disclaimer: This is my story, what works for me may not work for you. Please see a professional healthcare provider for advice, not some zombie doctor who doesn’t dabble in dermatology and writes blogs in her free time because she is way too shy to appear in any social media.
But do share your acne story if you have one. Living in a very physically oriented country (not as bad as some other Asian countries though thankfully), makes me aware of how much our looks play part in our daily lives.
So for fellow acne fighters or acne survivors (?) out there, hang in there, I’ve been there too.
As someone who is always have some degree of interest in skincare and makeup (I wear makeup daily and took care of my skin). I dabbled into skincare and sun protection when I was 18 (a bit late but better late than never) and makeup when I was 21 (and it’s because I went on a “date” 😂).
I had relatively clear skin before I went to university. I went to the dermatologist here and there but overall okay ish skin.
How some people makes a big deal out of it.
All hell breaks loose when I was in my fourth year of university, maybe it’s the combination of stress of thesis and being a med student. I started getting breakouts in every part of my face. My chin, cheeks, nose and forehead.
It was so bad that when I went to the mall I saw sales associates started chasing me to offer some acne medications. Not only in Surabaya, but even in Singapore 😪 I would saw these women jogging and sprinting towards me whenever I walked passed the pharmacy or some kind of beauty product store.
Mask weren’t a thing anyway back then. So paired with my pale ass skin (yo girl here is a zombie. Of course she has pale skin), my acne and post acne scars was on display for everyone to see 😂
I avoided well lit beauty store like the plague since they highlighted my skin.
And when I started my HO, the nurses would comment things like “wow your skin is full of acne.” Something like that.
I remember one of my friends said, “why don’t you do something about your skin? It’s so bad.”
When I went out with mom some of her friends would say things like “your daughter’s skin so bad. Please change her pillowcase every night and don’t let her touch her face so much.”
Wait, let me try to find a photo of my skin
Here is my skin circa 2016, maybe 2016 was a bad year afterall 😂
That’s me with little bit of makeup and using the blurry front camera of iPhone 6s anyway. I think I had worse state than this but I couldn’t find a photo.
Also, see the eyebags 😂 that means I’ve been a zombie since a long time ago.
So what helped me?
1. The right dermatologist.
When I said right, I meant the one who takes care of you wholeheartedly and good for your mental health ✨ the one you believe in and comfortable with.
Shoutout to dr. AP 🥰
I started seeing dr. AP because my grandpa said he likes dr. AP (and my grandpa is your typical Chinese grandpa you know. It’s not easy to find a doctor who vibes well with him, especially younger doctors)
He started the session with saying that my acne is not as bad as it seemed (don’t let other people said to you otherwise he said) and he said confidently,
“I will help you heal. I will help you heal so you don’t even need to see the dermatologist anymore.”
dr. AP, 2015
Whoa. So confident. I like this guy already.
He proceed to take some pictures of my skin and then explaining what will he do. (He knows I am a med student at this point).
He said that I have sensitive skin so no facial, no injections, no stinging alcohol products for me. He will give the gentlest treatment.
Then, he prescribed some creams and he asked me what sunscreen and makeup did I use and how I like it. If I like it I could continue using it. Even if I have like a favorite facial wash or moisturizer I could continue and he’ll prescribe the treatment around them.
He said that my acne is only temporary and he said to see when I turn 24.
I remember using his prescribed medications and getting better and better. Seeing him every month was nice too, he is the type of doctor that likes to joke around and never criticize. 10/10 ✨
6 months later he said that I could stop seeing him and just continue with the medications, and only make an appointment when really needed.
😱😱😱
So I did continue with his medications for a while, and as time goes by I learn about my skin and what my skin likes (what kind of cleanser, what kind of moisturizer) and don’t like (the ingredients I am sensitive to) and learning as a doctor how to take care of them.
When I turned 24, dr AP was right. My skin did significantly get better. I only had occasional acne and by then I know my skin better too.
I owe dr AP credit for my skin now. Thankyou for believing in me (as a doctor, capable of researching and taking care of my own skin) and being so open minded towards other products.
2. Loving your skin.
I know it’s hard right now, especially in social media when you see these influencers with clear, poreless, blemish less, and glowing skin even you could see it from miles away.
Those people would made me insecure too back then. Won’t lie, they looked amazing, I just wished I could have those kind of skin.
It’s hard to love your skin when it’s full of acne, oily or way too dry. When it doesn’t glow or not in their best state. When you see the pores on your nose and cheeks and wishing them to be like those photos with filters on.
But you are born with the skin you have now. They did so much for you, if you know what the skin does everyday, you’ll know that they are working hard for you.
Very, very hard. It is the largest organ of the body.
It doesn’t have to be a post of how much you love your skin or anything that people perceived as self love nowadays. It could be silent and only yourself knows how much you love your own skin.
Loving your skin looks like…
Hydrating enough. From inside and outside. Drinking enough water for yourself everyday. Using moisturizer that works for your skin.
Protecting your skin the way you can. Sunscreens. Avoiding prolonged sun exposure. Avoiding smoking etc.
Seeing the characteristics of your skin and making adjustments for them.
Listen to your skin, treat it well, it will be worth it. I promise.
3. Give it time.
Be patient! Change doesn’t comes instantly. I needed a few years for my skin to be in their state now. I needed a few years to understand them. I need time to fully love them.
Don’t beat yourself up if acnes showed up. Don’t beat yourself up when you forgot your skincare. Don’t beat yourself up if somehow something doesn’t go as planned or if you didn’t achieve your goal within a time you set for yourself.
4. Remembering these things.
Having problematic skin is not your fault. Never let anyone makes you believe that it’s somehow your fault.
Everyone wants clear, blemish less skin. Nobody wants to be an acne fighter. It cost money, it cost time, it cost your mental health (listening to people and getting your ears hot and heart broken).
Be kind to yourself. People had been mean to you, the least you can do is to be the person who is kind to yourself.
Does this words sound familiar to you?
“Have you tried you know, washing your face?”
The girl that probably parties every weekend, slept with makeup on and probably wash her face less than you
“You should try x and x product, it helped our customers with their acnes, yours should too!”
Probably a sales associate trying to make ends meet
Yep. I’ve been there. Listen, the people you should take into consideration are:
Yourself ✨
your favorite dermatologists 🥰 (I listen to the dermatologists in social media too. Nothing wrong with that)
And the people that are kind to you. Who supports you and you can feel that they are not condescending towards your problems.
Repeat after me.
We. Do. Not. Need. Condescending. People. Commenting. About. A. Problem. They. Might. Not. Even. Have
After myself and the dermatologists, I actually listen to some kind sales associates that I’ve met over the years.
I have the sweetest sales associates. Even when I have acne they never judged or say anything harsh, I always ask them for any new products they recommended. They are such gems, very grateful to meet them.
I’m very sure acne fighters will always remember the people that were kind to them. Because those kind of people are rare, and they are truly genuine.
5. What works for me
This part here is not so that you follow my steps, but the things you can learn to understand about your skin.
1. Foods that set off my skin.
For me I noticed my skin reacted really badly with dairy products (especially milk. Yoghurt, ice cream and cheese too but to a lesser extend) and poultry. I started getting redness on my nose area and under eye, and then starting to itch and boom, next day a big pimple appeared like a wild pokemon 🐥
So I did reduced my dairy and poultry intake and has been somewhat “dairy free” (I still eat cheese, yoghurt and icecreams though) and poultry free for 5 years now.
Pay attention to what food and habits that made your skin act up. Even when most researches don’t link dairy and acne, I believe that there are things that doesn’t always make sense and there would be someone that doesn’t really fit into the general population (after all we are different individuals), I’ve met some people who said that when they avoid eggs their skin gets better. When they avoided sugar their skin gets better. Etc.
2. Ingredients I am sensitive towards to
I am allergic to some fruit extracts and some preservatives in skin care. How do I know this? I gather the things that worked and didn’t work for me, and crosschecking what are the ingredients that appeared multiple times in the things that didn’t work.
It may take a while to find out but it pays off well. I learn to read every ingredient lists trying good things and avoiding those that have things that triggers my skin.
3. Daily skincare that my skin appreciate
My skin loves moisturizers.
I think if my skin could speak they will sing and makes poetries about their love towards moisturizers 😂
My skin loves the clear ish moisturizers, ones that hydrate well but not too thick.
My skin loves moisturizing face wash. Which is weird since my skin is oily, but they love face washes thats meant for drier skin.
Every morning after I woke up I prepare breakfast and proceed to eat breakfast, then I took a shower and then brush my teeth, washing my hands (important!) then wash my face with moisturizing face wash and cold water (I find my skin doesn’t get red as much with cold water).
Why it is in that sequence? Simple, because my skin is sensitive to some ingredients in toothpaste and mouth wash. So I always wash my hands after brushing my teeth and wash my face afterwards.
Then I use hand sanitizer (again, clean hands helped), a alcohol free toner, serum (I like vitamin C serums for brightening, moisturizing and anti oxidant), emulsion (a lightweight moisturizer), then moisturizer. Sunscreen. Then makeup.
For night it’s almost the same as in the morning but I use heavier serum, emulsion and moisturizer. I exfoliate with AHA toner (my skin is a bit too sensitive for stronger retinoids) twice a week after washing my face and before my normal toner. sometimes I use facial masks, but not routinely.
My skin tolerate masks well. Some of my seniors put tissue between their skin and mask because they get acne using masks.
I always remember to wash my hands and using hand sanitizers when touching my face 😂, even though in the day I sometimes touch my face and forgot to do so. But washing hands is a good habit to have.
My skin now.
Very close up shot of my skin. Using the ever so honest iPhone camera 😂
No makeup, sunlight, just woken up. Taken with iPhone 13 front camera. No filter, I promise.
You could see the post acne scars and some redness which is just my skin being sensitive like it’s owner 😂 but in real life it’s good. I am very happy with how it looks now.
How my skin looks if it’s more far away 😂 as I am writing this blog. After this I am going to bed, haven’t done my nightly skincare. No makeup, artificial light, iPhone 13 front camera.
These are pictures of real skin from a graduate acne fighter. It has been through a lot. It had received lots of painful comment from other people.
I never did any laser or medical procedures between the first photo and today.
And I am grateful that it’s in the state it’s in now. I sometimes get acne when it’s TOTM especially around my chin. And my nose is like rudolph the rednose reindeer 🦌 especially when I eat a little bit too much icecream or cake 🍦🍰. I get redness on my chin too, to the point when people point out my lipstick smudged 💄 and I said it’s just my skin being sensitive ✨.
And that wraps up this lengthy post!
Thankyou for reading and sorry for the long post! I hope this somehow helped you.
Last message from me for this post is, sometimes what you thought as acne might not be acne, so better to see your dermatologist or medical provider if you are unsure.
I’ve been there fellow acne fighters. I know how frustrating and draining it is. How some people just are so mean about it. How you scrolled through countless social media post and wishing how much it was different.
You will get through this. You know you will.
I’ve met people who said things like “the people who criticize your appearance are those who cares about you.”
No. Just no.
You don’t deserve to be criticized for something you don’t want. You don’t deserve to feel shitty about something you couldn’t control.
Please don’t let other people said it’s your fault. Please don’t believe it’s your fault.
They don’t know what’s it like. If they do know, they wouldn’t say those things in the first place because they know how much it hurt them in the past.
Hi everyone! I just finished my national exam last week and received news that I passed it on Monday. Yay. So happy.
So this week has been good. A post exam week which tends to be less stressful (of course). And oh boy do I have a lot of things to share about, but currently still making the illustrations and making the time and effort to get myself to type the post on the computer 😂. Will soon get onto that.
For today I’ll write a mini review for the things that arrived in the mail this week. Hope you’ll enjoy!
Disclaimer: I have no affiliations with the sellers I mentioned here and everything is my honest opinion.
TWSBI Eco Pastel Blue in EF nib
Remember when I said I’ve fallen into a rabbit hole of fountain pen collecting hobbies? Yeah. This is one of them.
TWSBI Eco Pastel Blue in EF nib
My current favorite pen is this TWSBI Eco. This is the pastel blue one (which is supposed to be a limited edition but not sure since my seller had some stock). I got it for about 470k rupiah which is about 30 dollar ish. I got it here
This is my first piston filled pen and my very first TWSBI too. I didn’t really like demonstators but this pastel blue one is cute, it looks more cornflower blue and sometimes a bit periwinkle ish.
The seller was very helpful. Because having tried Japanese and German pens, I lean towards Japanese more because of its fine lines and preciseness. The seller gave me a comparison of nibs between TWSBI and Sailor pens, also gave me a brief description of how it feels (smooth, a little bit of feedback. Which I found to be true).
Using it for a while, I like the bigger ink capacity, the smoothness and the fine lines it makes. The nib is not as sharp(?) as japanese fine nibs, but I didn’t find it to be annoying. I like it too because it’s a bit dryer so ink dries faster (I write quite fast). I think the EF nib is the perfect everyday pen if you have smaller handwriting, writes a lot and writes fast.
Comparison with the Pilot Metropolitan F nib. Same ink. Same paper.
Definitely worth to try. A great everyday fountain pen. Very consistent too. Great for beginners.
Pilot Iroshizuku in Shin-Ryoku
I got a Pilot Kakuno as a birthday gift for a acquaintance and because I wanted to buy something for me from this seller (which I bought my own Kakuno and my Metropolitan), I got myself a new ink, even though my ink collection is mostly green inks 😂
I got them for 99k rupiah for 15mL which is around 7 dollars. I got it here
My failed attempt of swatching 😂 as you can see the ink is super smooth and shades nicely
It’s a really nice forest green color, no shimmer. Can be used for professional workplace because it’s quite dark. But the green is more vibrant using a broader nib.
It is very wet and smooth. This is my second Iroshizuku ink (first is the Tsuki-yo. A blue color) and as usual Pilot nails it.
Zebra Clickart Color Marker Dark Set
I really like colored pens and markers. I’ll use any brand. My go to is the Steadler fineliner and a local brand Joyko markers.
My criteria for markers are just it have to be dark enough for anyone to read because even though I use cream color paper, I think some colors are too light and bright to read.
By the power of Youtube recommendations (lol), I know about the Zebra clickart which is a colored marker but with the clicking mechanism.
When I browsed the online e-commerce site. I happened to found one seller that sells them. The seller sells three set, standard, bright and dark (which I got here).
I got it around 160k rupiah which is about 11 dollars. Kind of steep but it’s Zebra, and we get 12 pcs. I got them here
The swatches and the color code
I like it because all of them showed dark and nicely on paper. The colors are nice too, I like my blues and greens so this is perfect for me. My favorite is the number 29 turquoise blue. As for the use… they’re okay. They’re 0.6mm which is thicker than what I usually use, but it’s fine. Definitely worth checking out if you like darker color markers. I like that the case is compact too, perfect for carrying around (where to though 😂)
Definitely will be put into good use ✏
Okay that’s what I got in the mail this week! Very happy with them.
It’s already next last 2 months of 2021. This year really did pass in a blink of an eye. Second year of living in a pandemic world. What a really weird time to be alive.
And tomorrow is the 31st of October! We don’t really celebrate halloween in Indonesia. Also my Dad is very strictly Christian so yeah, we didn’t celebrate it in our household too. But I always wonder is it fun? It’s scorching hot here in Surabaya and the only time I experienced fall was when I went to Japan in December of 2017 (Actually it was winter but some areas were still fall), the yellow and orange leaves were so beautiful. I wish to go back. Or maybe somewhere to see the leaves turned fiery colors.
A local chef made pumpkin spice everything in her menu this week and my sisters and I got them to try. They were very good. I love pumpkin flavored things.
Thankyou for reading!
I made an illustration too for this post! Hope you’ll enjoy it 😂
Here you go, an illustration of my version of the zombie on the pumpkin 🎃 Have a great weekend everyone!
So as you guys may realize, I add my own illustrations to the blogpost now and so far I’ve been loving how it adds some kind of personal touch to the otherwise too-many-words-post.
When I picked up my pencil and started drawing again, I suddenly remembered about an eccentric art teacher that I had when I was in 7th grade.
I think most art teachers are generally nice, most of them really values the students hard work and gave their best input for the students to move forward. At least that’s what I experienced for most of my school years.
Except in 7th grade. There was this new teacher, let’s call him Mr.A, he was a 30 year old-something male with an art degree from the states. He spoke mostly English (his nationality is Indonesian), had this salt and pepper hair, quite tall. When you see him, you’ll definitely get that he’s an artist type despite dressing very formally when he teach.
At first we didn’t know what was coming since he seemed pretty normal. And because we only had art class once a week, we didn’t really get to know him.
I had arts as my extracurricular and I mostly remember being taught by other art teacher and he’s the best. So I remember him most of my Junior High School years rather than Mr.A.
So Mr.A was very talented (of course) and because he was quite quirky, art classes were not conventional drawing but rather he taught us history lessons and different styles of drawing.
One of those I remember was when he put an object in the middle of the class and we were instructed not to look at our papers and never to lift our pencils off.
This is what probably I looked like. I look like that most of the time anyway, when having a writers block
I had this crazy talented friend, lets call her N. N was and still is very good at drawing, and she prides herself for it. (Probably I would too if I had her talent)
I submitted mine and the next week he gave our works back.
I was sitting next to N and I remember N cried so loud and when I asked her why she gave me her paper with tears falling down her cheeks.
It looked amazing like usual, but a big 50 with a bright red marker was on the paper.
She didn’t accept the mark and she went to Mr.A and she asked him why did he give him a 50 (passing grade was 60 at the time) and he replied that her drawings hadn’t mature yet and he didn’t think it’s a good drawing. He wanted to give it a lower score but she should be grateful he gave her a 50.
N looked so shocked as she sat down and she kept quiet the whole time, as tears fell down her cheeks.
And if you asked me, how did I do?
I got 30 if I am not mistaken 😂
Thankfully, we only got him as our art teacher for a year before getting my extracurricular art teacher as our main art teacher.
And also, thankfully, N still draws until this day and her talent grew even more.
That’s the thing about harsh critiques, it either made you a better person or made you give up. I was lucky I never pride myself in arts so I stayed true to my style and met supporting teachers my whole life.
When I decided to write however the way I want here, I also took that liberation to the way I design my blog too. The zombie design was original and not gonna lie, I’d met some harsh criticism too. But at the end of the day, we do what we want to do and we do our best.
Remember when I said I want to post more mundane stuff? Yep this is the post that I want to share.
I mostly buy things online and they came in the mail. Most stuff I got are things I use routinely or random stuff I want to try.
So these are the things I ordered last week and came in the mail!
Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV SPF 50+ PA+++
A very adorable Japanese brand sunscreen. Easily available in Indonesian e-commerce store.
So sunscreen has been something I’ve been struggling to find. Having a sensitive and allergic prone skin made it hard to find a suitable sunscreen.
I’ve been routinely using sunscreen since I was 18 I guess? Quite late but better late than never? For a while struggling with allergic reactions and acne whilst trying to find the perfect sunscreen
Then I found Shiseido’s Perfect UV Protector SPF 50+ PA++++ (old pearly white packaging) and used it for 3 years. And loving that sunscreen because it’s safe for my skin and I love how it feels on my skin. And then they changed the formulation and ever since then, the new formulation always gave me somekind of reaction.
If I were to describe a devastating loss in my life. Probably one of them is when Shiseido decided to change their formulation of this sunscreen 🥲
There was a time for sunscreen hopping for me. I used Anessa too for a while (again, before they changed the formula), then relying on my primer and tinted moisturizer since I wear makeup daily. Then started using Kose’s sekkisei’s sunscreen and finally the Biore UV Oil control base (Meant to be a primer but I use it even without makeup).
After the pandemic, I decided there is no point of using makeup as I used to 😅. Whilst I love the Biore UV oil control base, it’s very hard to find here and I run out pretty quickly too.
With the power of the internet in 2021, I researched the sunscreen without list of things I am allergic to. And people recommended this sunscreen.
Yep. I think I found my favorite sunscreen now. I love (I’ll emphasize it again. LOVE) the texture (so light, moisturizing without being oily or silicone-y feeling afterwards). No stinging sensation (free of alcohol). No fragrance. And no reaction from my skin.
I usually use a dusting of loose powder because it’s very shimmery and dewy, not a good look for someone with oily skin like me. And probably if I were to change something is that I wished this would be waterproof and sweatproof (some sources said it is, but I can’t read Japanese on the packaging 😅)
I couldn’t comment whether it leaves a whitecast since I am quite pale. But I assume it doesn’t.
Highly, highly recommend this sunscreen. Hope I could repurchase easily when this runs out.
N’Pure Cica Beat the Sun SPF 50 PA++++
A local brand sunscreen which has stellar reviews. I am excited to try this one for the ingredients and it’s very suitable for sensitive and acne prone skin.
I hope I don’t develop a reaction to the Cica extract 🤞 Because sometimes I do to Laneige’s Cica Sleeping Mask if I leave it on too long 😅. Fingers crossed!
A Card Holder from Tory Burch
Because I use very small wallets 😅 I wish I could downsize more though. But this is nice, there is enough compartment for bills (I always fold my bills even when using normal sized wallet) and extra cards.
Madremia Hibiscus Shampoo Bar and Deep Conditioner
Since the beginning of this year I decided not to blow my hair straight with hairdryer and just let it airdry and curl naturally (okay, probably I am just lazy).
I have naturally wavy hair. But I don’t have a lot of hair 😅 but each of the hair strand is pretty thick and heavy so I have this heavy and non voluminous hair.
I found this local brand accidentaly and saw their products, their hibiscus line is made for wavy hair. I used them for a while now and found I got more volumous hair after washing my hair with their shampoo bar.
Shampoo bars are SLS free and good for the environment. Love that I could easily transitioned from normal shampoo to this shampoo bar because it doesn’t make my hair dry, I love the cooling sensation afterward.
Goodbyes are painful, yes. Especially ones that we don’t expect. For the things we thought are everlasting.
For me I have experienced one of my most painful goodbyes a few years back. The one that left the most scars.
It took a long time to let go, and it took a long time to let myself heal, and to allow myself heal. To open my eyes and see that there was more than just pain in that goodbye.
And for that goodbye, when I thought it was over. But there was another silent goodbye that followed, a goodbye for everything that has happened, every feeling and every pain. The mark that means making peace with the past and the mistakes on my end.
I am grateful for everything that has happened and the painful goodbyes that I have endured.
My heart is stronger than what I thought it could handle. And I am capable of much more than I thought.
I am growing and learning from my mistakes and in the process, healing.
Even though it would probably hard, a long and rocky road. and probably the ones that will hinder your progress will not be the bad memories, but the good ones, the ones that you dream and you smile and you cry afterwards because it’s in the past.
But it will come. No matter how long it takes, the day will come. Let yourself heal, be kind to yourself.
And I will open my arms for better hellos in the future
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