My skincare routine.

Alright guys, since it's the holidays and I have nothing else better to do (other than watching KDramas till 6 in the morning), why don't I talk about my skincare routine since some of my friends and relatives asked how I got my skin to be brighter, cleaner and clearer than it was during secondary school.

I have to say that my skin... did improve one way or another. I had a very... very tanned and dark skin in secondary school. Due to being "fearless" and being like "The sun is nothing to me." And the endless amount of participation in the school's National Day Parade and Speech Day and also endless games of "handball" in the scorching hot sun.

It was then, during the holidays after O levels, which I then started watching Korean dramas and Running Man and realised how the singers and actors/actresses had clear, glowing and baby-smooth skin. Hah. So it was them who influenced me to take proper care of my face. Well, it was good thing, I guess. If not, my face would be covered with dozens of pimples right now.

Soooo, a little info about my current skin. It's not perfect at all. It's not clear nor is it THAT smooth. It's very smooth at home since there's air con. When I'm outside, I'm constantly blotting my super major oily skin with blotting sheets/tissue papers every hour. Even my friends told me that the amount of oil on my face could fry an egg in the sun. My face is so oily that I had to blot my face with 2 blotting sheets each hour. My oily skin is genetics and it runs in the family so I can't really do much about it. (on the bright side, less wrinkles so yay.)

I seldom get pimples now except when it's the time of the month. (ok maybe 1 or 2 very very small ones in the middle of my brows). But I do have loads of pimple scars as I was impatient back then and my pimples were always dried pimples. So, I would pick at them whenever they appear. Regrets, regrets, regrets.

Okay, let's get to the skincare.

MORNING ROUTINE:

Before I shower, I'll do some morning workouts for at least 30 minutes and drink a cup of freshly brewed green tea to keep me hydrated after the workout. After I've sweated, I won't shower straight away since it'll cause some white patches to appear on your face and body. So, I'll cool myself down before heading to the shower.

I wash my face AFTER washing my body and hair since there's oil in my hair and I wouldn't want to dirty my face again with the oil from my hair.

So, before washing my face, I'll rinse my face with lukewarm water to open up my pores so the dirt would get out easier when I clean it. I use 2 things in my morning cleansing routine.


Etude House Wonder Pore Brush and also Face Shop's Green Tea Cleansing Foam.

I'll squeeze about a pea size on the brush. (Don't squeeze a lot as the brush does a good job by foaming up the cleanser and it's more than enough for the whole face).

I'll start scrubbing my face in mini circular outward motions:

Right cheek -> Chin&Area above mouth -> Left Cheek -> Forehead -> Area between brows -> Nose.

I take about 25-30 seconds for smaller areas. 35-40 seconds for larger areas.

After washing the brush, I'll wash my face with lukewarm water for at least 2-3 minutes to make sure I get all the dirt off my face. (Don't forget to wash your ears and neck too) I'll then splash cold water on my face for at least 10-12 times. ( I prefer even numbers, I don't know why.)

After splashing cold water on my face, I WON'T PAT MY FACE DRY WITH A TOWEL OR TISSUE OR WHATSOEVER. Instead, I'll gently pat my face with my fingers to allow the leftover water to be absorbed into the skin for extra moisture. Afterwards, I'll apply toner.


This one to be exact. My face would be very very very very very oily if I don't use this after washing my face. So, it does a pretty good job in controlling my super duper oily face throughout the day. But the main ingredient is alcohol. So, I'm finding another oil-control toner which gives the same effect but doesn't contain a lot or no alcohol.

And then, I'll moisturize. At first, I used the Himalaya Nourishing Cream which can be used both on body and face. Since it's multi-purpose and affordable, I decided to give it a try and since I finished my previous moisturizing cream anyway (Body Shop Seaweed Moisturizer. Money fly fly). But I ended up giving it to my mother and sister since it didn't work for me at all.

It's quite heavy to be used in the morning (since it's a cream) and it clogged my pores, causing my forehead to breakout like siao (crazy). So I had to change to a water-based moisturizer.


TAAAAADAAAA. (picture below)



(Bought it on the day I went for the YG Family concert in Singapore on Sept 14) *wide smile*

It was a little bit pricier than the Himalaya's but I think it was worth it. I used it for 2 days straight after purchasing it and the pimples on my forehead reduced a lot. And also, a single pump is more than enough for the entire face. (1 pump was enough for both face and neck) So, thumbs up for this moisturizer.

When I'm on my period, I would apply pimple/acne gel (Mentholatum Acne Sealing Gel) both in the morning AND at night. The pimple would be reduced or be gone within 3-4 days so yay *clap clap clap*.



MAKE-UP ROUTINE: 

On different days, I would wear little or no makeup at all, depending on my mood a.k.a laziness.

I wouldn't apply pimple cream before going out as it has a sticky and shiny feeling to it. So, skip that. I would prime my face with the Body Shop Tea Tree Pore Minimiser Primer.


(I didn't know that it was actually a face primer. I thought that it was just a regular gel to control oil on my face.) (dumb younger me). And then, concealer.



Face Shop Oil Cut Concealer.

It's a dual concealer with a stick on one end and liquid on the other. I've yet to use the liquid (I have no idea on how to use it) so I only used the stick part for my dark undereye... and also attempted to conceal my eyebags (but failed miserably). I'll look tired or on-the-verge-of-dying on the days I don't wear my concealer out.

After that, I'll apply powder on my face to control the oil throughout the day with:


Face Shop Face it Oil Cut Compact Powder.

To be honest, I'm more concern about covering up my oiliness rather than my blemishes.

And then for lips, Maybelline Babylips Lip Balm.

And out I go.

NIGHT-TIME SKINCARE ROUTINE:

Firstly, I have a very oily face so my make-up would have probably "slide-off" my face halfway-throughout the day.

For night-time skincare, I'll always double cleanse. I'll start with a gentle cleanser and then with a mild foam cleanser.

For the gentle cleanser, I'll (secretly) use my sister's Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser. (wet face first)



I won't apply much pressure and wash in circular outward motions using my CLEAN (washed with Dettol for extra safety) fingers. Since I don't use eye make-up, I'll just focus more on wide areas and also my under eye area. Then, I'll wash everything off with lukewarm water.

Second cleansing, I'll use the same Face Shop facial cleansing foam BUT I'll use a different brush.


Bought this for S$5 I think. Body Shop Facial Brush. Definitely worth it. It'll really cleanse your face entirely of your day's make-up or dirt or whatsoever. Your face will feel really clean afterwards. I also use the same method as I did for my morning routine wash.

Same goes for toner. But before applying moisturizer, I'll use a face mask (3-4 times per week).

I'll use these 2 alternatively. After that, I'll apply moisturizer. Then, I'll head to bed. NOT. I'll probably watch some KDramas or something. HA HA HA HA. 

So this is the difference in my skin tone.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

luv dat face tho. (pure naked face ^ )

Soooo, that's about it. I'm still tryna find an affordable eye gel tho. But minimum prices are always S$30++. Sigh.

HAHAHAHA it was fun doing this. Till then, 안녕히 가세요. ^^

EVERYTHING KOREAN. (Warning: It's gna be long)

A big YAY to a happy post today. Why a happy post? Cause I couldn't care less about all these negative feelings I'm going through. To hell with these feelings HAHAHA I'm feeling happier nowadays, alhamdulillah. I feel more thankful for everything in my life and I thank Allah swt for everything. 

So anywayyyyy back to topic. That picture up there? Yes, drew it myself. Not proud of it though since it's the most simplest drawing I've ever drawn and... yep. So what's up with the SKorea flag and Singapore flag? Well, first of all, obviously I'm Singaporean. Secondly, most of you guys know I'm crazy over Korean Pop, Korean Variety Shows, Korean Drama, Korean Food and basically... you know... everything Korean. My friends and family say I have an obsession with everything Korean. Well, that's partially true... But it's not THAT true. There's a difference between the word "obsession" and "interest". It's like a 50-50 kind of thing. Or maybe 45-55. You guess which is which. I retweet tweets in Korean/Hangul and some may think "She retweets these kind of tweets in another language. Does she even understand a single thing?" Well sorry to burst your bubbles, but I do, okay? Not fully but I do get a brief idea of what these people are tweeting.

So how did this Korean "obsession/interest" thing started? Well, it started in 2012. It all started with Running Man. Never have I laughed so hard at a variety show before in my entire life. I may laugh at the local variety shows but it's just... "meh" kind of feeling. But for running man, I can re-watch it dozens of times of the same episode and still laugh as hard as I did before. And 2012 was the year I was taking my 'N' level. Buuuuut, I was not THAT obsessed over RM yet so yes, I did pretty well for Ns... despite of the endless "night-walks" and "running man catching game" during night study in school till late night. Shush. 

And then comes 2013. I remembered myself saying "Omg eww, why do you like KPOP? The guys look like girls" etc etc. You know, those typical haters. Never have I ever imagined myself being in the KPOP world when I actually said those sentences just 4 years back (lower secondary moments). I need a smack in my head cause I have not regretted entering the KPOP world. Say whatever you want but if KPOP keeps me happy, so be it. Accept it. So who was the first KPOP boy band that I love? 

JJANG! It's these guys. The first ever KPOP group I laid my eyes on. BIG BANG. 빅뱅. And I was not even disappointed once. These boys. The talents. The humour. The songs. Everything. How did it all started? Well, it started with a dream... 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

but seriously though. I swear it started with a dream. Dreamt that these boys came to my school (YT) and they sang specially for me etc. Laughing out loud, I didn't even knew who they were when I had that dream. I didn't even know WHO Big Bang was when I had that dream. Well, I only knew Taeyang (YoungBae ssi) since I danced to his song "wedding dress" during NDP 2010. SOOOOOOOOO yeah. That's how it all started. I searched for them on Google and Youtube. Their first music video which caught my eyes (and ears) was "하루 하루" (Day by Day). It was such a touching and sad music video and the meaning of the song. (First time crying at a music video though). And then variety shows of them in it. (Favourite is "Night after Night".) And also videos of them performing, doing stupid things and etc. Even had endless amounts of dreams about them. 

I thought to myself "Damn, why must I go crazy over them now???" This was during my O levels period, mind you. I was panicking myself, afraid that I will be too busy going crazy over these boys that I won't focus on my studies. I watched their videos almost every night (literally). I tried so hard to reduce my thinking of them but it gets harder and harder everyday. But someway, somehow, I managed to focus on my studies. Well, their music/songs helped me since it was on replay while I was doing my revision and thankfully, I did pretty well for 'Os'. So yay :D

So slowly combining both RM and BB, my interest in Korea started rising. And during my holidays after Os, I spent most of my time watching KDramas starting from 2013-2014. "I Hear Your Voice", "The Heirs", "Emergency Couple", "My Love from Another Star", "Doctor Stranger" and now currently episode 10 of "School 2013" starring LeeJongSuk and KimWooBin. *heart-shaped eyes emoji* 

So as I enter 2014, I already had a list full of Korean words used in everyday conversations. Yes, I'm that obsessed with the Hangul/Korean language. As I entered polytechnic, the first thing I searched for was Korean/(KPOP)Korean-loving friends. And thank God, I did. When I first entered this course (Digital Animation), I thought it was gna be filled with "anime" people. And I don't really fancy anime in a slightest bit. Sorry-not-sorry to say that tho ha ha ha. Soooo, I found friends who liked KPOP and korean stuffs and yep, couldn't stop talking about them up until now. But, I still have yet to find a korean friend tho. I'm still upset about that because how can I learn about Korean Culture and language when I don't even have a Korean friend to begin with. And yet people say Singapore Poly has a lot of Koreans... Guess all of them are under different schools than me, yes? Either that or they're staying away from me. Possible. 

LOOK AT THESE BOYS. LOOK AT EACH OF THEM. SUPER ADORABLE. 

Sooooo as I entered poly, I remember telling my friends about "방탄소년단" (Bangtan Boys) (Bulletproof Scouts). I told her "Where the hell did these boys come from?" "Suddenly popping out from nowhere and being all popular." "WHAT COMPANY ARE THEY EVEN FROM???" Well, I didn't like them at first because most of the VIP friends I know were going to their fandom and leaving Big Bang. But then my cousin introduced me to these boys. It started with "하루만" and "Boy in Luv". Well, they introduced me to "Beautiful" but these 2 songs were the ones which caught my attention. The part which caught my attention the most was "Boy In Luv", during the bridge part when Jungkook pulls out a rose and serenades and then Jin and then Jimin. Jimin caught my attention the most. DID YOU SEE THE WAY HE LOOKED AT THE GIRL?! During the "널 밀어내진 못하겠어" part. I dieded. (inside joke). Could never stop replaying that part. And 하루만 during the second chorus and V was singing. How can someone have such a sweet voice in one moment and drastically changed it to a deep (Similar to RapMonster's) voice in another part of the song? Yep, only V. And similar to BB, I couldn't stop watching their music videos and BANGTANTV. It has no end. Their humour is something that I understand but my friends could never understand. What more with their new latest album being released this year? It just got better. Loving all 7 of them and what's even better is that Jimin and V are 95-liners. But they're actually just a few months older than me despite of me being a 96. 

I still am a VIP. But at the same time, I'm also an ARMY. Heading for the YGFAMILY POWER TOUR this weekend with my teacher. YES. MY. TEACHER. She's a VIP and an ARMY too so a big YAY to that. Still am waiting for BIGBANG to release their album tho. Annnnnd Seungri ssi is not coming along for the concert since he got into a major car accident. :( Wishing for him to have a speedy recovery. The sight of the accident looks... very... major. :( (his car literally flipped). 

But one hard thing about you being the only one amongst your group of friends who love everything Korean is that... they won't entertain you. At all. Even when you said a single word in Korean, they'll roll their eyes at you. In Singapore, they have a term called "STEP" which means that you're trying to be someone you're not. Well, it's not "STEP" when you're learning something new and trying hard to improve. And when they ask you where you want to eat and you say "How about Seoul Garden Hotpot?" (cause I've been dying to try the food there) their reply will always be a big fat NO. When you even try to practice the Korean Language with them, they won't even entertain you. Same goes for my family. Their reply would always be "K." LIKE THE BIG FAT GIANT "K" SHOVED INTO YOUR FACE. These is why I want to find Korean friends or someone who is interested in the Korean Culture or language or anything related to Korea. I even tried cooking some Korean food for the family like 떡볶이 and 김밥 but they don't even eat it. Okay, maybe a few bites but then I had to finish the rest of it because they didn't like it. *disappointed emoji*

AND NO, IF I HAVE KOREAN FRIENDS, I DO NOT EXPECT THEM TO LOOK LIKE SOME KPOP STAR OR ACTOR. I AM NOT THAT KIND OF PERSON. In fact I don't even care how they look like. Everyone's beautiful in my eyes. But I just want someone to teach me about their culture and language, that's all. 

I admit that KPOP, KDramas and KVariety were the ones which got me into Korean things but now I'm very serious about learning their culture and language. I'm learning the Korean language through a friend (who has a lot of Korean friends), internet (Talktomeinkorean is the best website ever), dramas, variety shows and songs. I took the time and effort to listen to what they say and tried to even write it in hangul myself and translate it later on. I can read hangul but I can't speak it fluently yet. I searched for classes available in Singapore and the prices are... wow. Well it's not THAT expensive but cmon, I'm a jobless 18 y-old kid who is currently schooling in Singapore Polytechnic and is saving money for a car license (Damn why are things in Singapore so expensive). So priority to car license first then maybe Korean Language classes. I learnt how to say some basic intro such as "안녕하세요. 저는 ______ 입니다. 정말 반가워요. *bows and shake hands*" Of course if they were to ask where I was from or what's my age, I know how to answer them too. I just love the way people speak Hangul. Like the rhythm and tone and speed. I don't know, it's just nice to hear people speak in Hangul when I happen to bump into Koreans here in Singapore. It's like, if I can speak Hangul fluently, trust me, I won't shut up. It's similar to how some girls here in Singapore love it when British people talk. They have that certain accent and it's like music to their ears. That's how it feels for me when I hear the Korean Language. I tried listening to KBS news on tv and I could understand a little here and there but not fully. 

Sometimes I joked with my friends asking "뭐 먹고 싶어요?" and apparently they understand so yaaaaaay.

I even have a dream of entering KARTS (Korea Art University) after getting my diploma buuuuuut parents won't allow it saying that they prefer to see me growing up in front of their very own eyes and that Singapore universities and degrees are better known in the world. I told them to move to SKorea with me but they said they wanted to stay in Singapore. So yep, there goes my dream flying off into thin air. *waves goodbye to dream* If I can't live in SKorea, at least let me go there for my holidays or school trips or internship. Animation is also quite known in Korea just so you know. Like this is made by MESAI (http://mesai.co.kr/), an independent Korean Animation Team(not a company). 

http://youtu.be/vN83DfmH9Tw

Look at that animation! SO SMOOTH. THEY EVEN SHOWED HOW THEY MADE THE ANIMATION AND STORYBOARD AND TEST RENDER. IF THAT'S NOT COOL, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT IS. AND IT'S ALL DONE IN MAYA(animation software). ONE OF MY INSPIRATION IN ANIMATION, I SWEAR. I even showed this to my animation lecturer, begging him to make a trip to Korea and visit some animation studios or even these guys and told him that animation is known in Korea too and not only Japan (since he kept telling the class about going to Japan for some game show...).

But to sum it all up, I just want to know more about Korea, the culture, the language, the people... everything. Super inspired by "EatYourKimchi" and the tips they give about living in Korea as foreigners are useful as hell. Sorry for the lengthy post but I had to explain this cause people are getting the wrong idea whenever I talk about Korea. So the effort and time I put in for this lengthy post was worth it. It's currently 6am in the morning here and I'm not asleep yet cause I was planning what to write for this post. And it's the holidays here so why not, right? Should head to bed now. 

잘자요,얘들아. :)