About July and Trying Things for Ten Days

About July and Trying Things for Ten Days

Jul 20, 2019

It's the twentieth of July and I didn't have any target set for it. I'm too laid back. I eat what I want and couldn't care less about living healthier. But at least Ihave cooked more. I just pick up reading like three days ago. I should really care more for my skin. I am practically giving up in any traveling plan but god I wanted so back to go to that Da Vincci gallery currently held now. I didn't write much too.

But I just realized I have achieved all but one target that I had for June. That's a good achievement at least.

I finally finish my NaPoWriMo tag. I re-read everything and decided that some of it may need polishing but that's another job for another time.

I also finished Mikhail and it was just meh, just so. I decided that Ramlee Awang Murshid isn't a favorite so I'm forgoing the plan to read his other books.

I finally tried that automatic deduction from Maybank and it works. This is all nothing but just technical but I got stuck for a quite some times so that is why I made it a goal to ensure I actually put this behind me.

I have sent the batik that I got for a present to be sewed but it's still not done.

The video that I did for our department for Eid turned out cute and funny. It was so satisfying.

The blog makeover was quite a success? I tweak the code like crazy for a few nights to get the grid view smaller and that was it. I should put more work into it.

The last target would be to write one post about a topic that suits my niche which means more opinion based posts. I wrote about how music affected me. It was such an exaggerated writing but I like it dearly.

I tought of just letting July go but I got an idea this morning to make July worthwhile. I'm thinking on trying some new habits for a short period of time which in this case, I hope I'll do it for 10 days.

The said habits are -

1. To make my bed every morning - it was FlyFm advertisment that has influenced me.

2. To sleep before 11 - this is going to be so hard

3. To drink two litre of water 

Now, how do I trace this?

Life Lately and A Quick Mental Health Check

Life Lately and A Quick Mental Health Check

Jul 17, 2019

This post is a TMI but feel free to read and share an insight.

It has only been the 17th of July but god, July already feels like forever. I got the entire first week of July to myself. I didn't have anything much planned for the week and yes I'm rather bored to be staying at home doing nothing. But I still take the week off.

Why I take it? Because I can. Plus, it's a good week to use up my "cuti". 

I spent 1st of July joining a fun run and the day after going to two open houses hosted by my colleagues. I even manage to went with a friend of mine that I hardly get to meet and spend like two hours chatting (gossiping will be more accurate tbh). 

I finally went to Hannan Medispa at my hometown, did that Janus machine skin analysis and did a treatment. I actually bought a package and to my surprise, it is far cheaper than Dr. Ko's. I'll do a review once I did at least four sessions of treatments.

My aunt was at my home so it was good catching up with her as well and of course eating all the delicious foods she cooked. The week ended with a one and a half day Pharmacy Conference that I went with my UKM friends. I even get to meet an old colleague that has moves out last March plus another UKM friend as well. The best would be that I  made them eat at Muhammad Chan because "I feel like eating actual Chinese foods". Really good foods but we didn't order much Chinese menu so like what even afifah?

Did I mention how stupid I feel to be in that conference given by all top healthcare professionals in Malaysia? It was the most bilis moment ever.

It was fulfilling and I daresay a quite productive weekend. It feels good to be able to do these but I wasn't feeling ecstatic or anything. It was just good. I did this kind of update for April and I remember feeling so good about it but I wasn't feeling it as much this time around. I'm very much thankful for it but honestly speaking, I only remember feeling so tired the week after. Probably because I need to catch up on my work. 

I went home again last weekend because my sister got a bad case of rashes that itches all over her body. I was so ready to sleep the weekend but being a good sister that I am, I went home. We don't even know what could possibly trigger it. She is good. Got a shot though, which I predicted she will so it was funny.

Now this is where everything went even downhill.

My dad borrowed my car and get into an accident. No one was hurt and the car can still move but the bumper got a deep dent and scratches a deep straight line on the driver's side. My dad went home instead of doing a police report right away and I guess he was still in shock that we only do something two days after. 

If he wasn't involved, I'll just settle it myself. It's difficult to explain but since he did it, it's his thing too and if you know my dad, you would know he wants to settle everything himself, his way. But he wasn't being one in this case and it was just too much for me. I can't push him much because I know he needs time and even though I was either on the verge of going mad or bursting in tears, I tried my best to show that I am all sunshine and rainbow so that he won't feel bad.  It was the worst two days ever.

I was so overwhelmed. Not only the car made me feel that way, but it was also me being mad at myself for being this way. At one point I tried so hard to not feels this horrible and just be redha and at one point I was venting so bad at my sister just so I can feel something other than this horrible battle of judgment on what I should feel. I wasn't questioning why this happen to me but I was questioning why can't I make peace with this? Why did I let it bothers me this much? Why am I feeling this way anyway? Why can't this feeling go away? Am I a bad daughter? a bad human?

I made myself sleep just to pass the time and hope my dad will come to his sense and I remember just making myself made a proper duaa but only ended up saying I'm tired. It was only for two days but I got so tired that I went to sleep so early for two nights after. I don't even do anything. I want desperately for this to get this behind and writing usually does it but I can't even make myself to write. I already had my hand on the keyboard and I just switch everything off.

We were having a birthday party today and to my surprise, it was just the thing I need. I guess it helps to clean that short dark moment. It was so stupid actually. It was planned because there are plenty of us that were born in July. They never throw a birthday party at the pharmacy and everyone was like "lamanya takda birthday party untuk diri sendiri". We pull out some money and bought nasi lemak and ayam berempah. They make a makeshift photo booth that barely holds and bought a fancy cake with that fancy firework birthday candle. There's a lot of other good food too.

I'm not sure why but this party is a good one. Was it because it relieved me from my mini-meltdown? or was it just that good of a thing? I read somewhere that it is good to have something good to expect from a day to make it more fun. Or was it because I got that more than enough two nights sleeps? Probably because I had two cups of coffee as well. I don't know the exact science. It will be good if I know it.

Anyway, did you see how much I have spent by this time? I'm practically broke.

Did you know that Guardian has a 40% off on skincare products the other day? That happens too and that's another haul that I did which I wanted to update here but well, I still didn't.

What's the last thing about your mental health that you realized? It can be a good one of course.

The Battle of The Toners (one for oily skin)

The Battle of The Toners (one for oily skin)

Jul 11, 2019

It was either this topic or my half-year update on my New Year's Resolution. I choose this topic to write first because I have a few other beauty related topics that I wanted to write but I always put it on hold. It was mostly because I'm always tired and I am somehow always busy on off days. I swear I'm not procrastinating those updates cause everyone knows I suck so bad at my resolutions.

Ok. Since the air conditioner in our hospital has been down for ages, I was wondering if it causes my face to become oilier. My toner and moisturizer are from Aiken. Even though Aiken's were water-based products, I was curious if the tea tree oil content might cause my face to become oilier so I wanted to try new ones. I bought a new toner first and conveniently found this tweet telling about the 7-steps toner. 

I wanted to share the tweet but I'm just too lazy too screenshot it so you guys just have to with your guts and trust me.

It basically means to apply the toner seven times which is a kind of way to moisturize your face as well. Just apply the toner by dabbing it, wait for it to dry and repeat. Since I was loving my new toner, I decided to skip moisturizer and do this. When I knew for sure the new toner works well, I decided to try to mix in other toner and that is how I ended up trying three new toners.

By the way, some disclaimers, my pores aren't that big? I don't know but I never really bothers by it so the toners are merely there as it is a skin routine and since it gives a moisturizing effect as well, it just makes me love it even more. Having said that, I didn't think these toners really makes me feel like "omg my pores are a whole lot better after wearing this"

So here is my say!

Aiken Tea Tree Oil Toner

 

Gotta give it up to Aiken first. Apparently, although my face does become oilier due to all the sweating in a non-air conditioned closed room, it was also because my skin is just an oily type. I should have used back a cleanser for oily skin. I stopped using it because my face got so dry while eating acne medicine. But since I didn't eat it anymore, it was best for me to use appropriate cleanser so that my skin didn't get too oily. Since the air conditioner is back on functioning so well, it is okay for me to use Aiken again. Aiken has that slight stringent effect but mostly refreshingly moisturizing. It is water like to the touch with only a hint of slimy/oily feels. I always love how it makes my face feel refreshed. Since it is also so cheap, it is still a really good choice for toner.

Nutox Renewing Treatment Lotion

 

This is the first toner that I tried after Aiken. I told the salesperson (?) that I wanted something that will be good for acne prone skin and since he saw my old acne scars as well, he suggested this. The texture is slightly slimy than Aiken's but it wasn't oily at all. It gave a better moisturizing effect and made that 7 step toner far more fun. My face feels so hydrated too. But it cost me around RM40 which is triple than Aiken. The price is actually okay if I wore it just once instead of seven times. Hee.

There is this time when I didn't have any spot treatment for that monthly menstrual acne but somehow the inflammation reduces quite noticeably even only by wearing this toner. Although it is good to have a dry face instead of an oily one, hydration is also important for better wound healing so yay Nutox. I'm now using a Hada Labo moisturizer cause seven steps are a tad bit too much for a lazy person like me so I'm going to continue using this toner instead of Aiken. I just feel like I need to cut down any traces of oil altogether.

Klairs Supple Preparation Toner

 

I bought a trial sized one from an Instagram shop. I bought it since there are many good reviews about it. The texture is in between Aiken and Nutox, not too watery but not as slimy. However, it didn't give me that refreshing or hydrating effect. I keep on using it together with Nutox but since it didn't give me that satisfying feeling, I just don't feel the urge to wears it anymore and simply settles for Nutox only. It's quite sad cause it is supposed to have all those good stuff for the skin but I don't wear it anymore just because it didn't give me "that feeling". It really be like that sometimes.

Hada Labo Hydrating Lotion

So after my endeavor with Klairs didn't turn up well, I decided to buy Hada Labo's trial set. There is one for dry skin and one for normal/oily skin which cost around RM25. This allows me to try both the toner and the hydrating gel. The hydrating gel feels so good. It doesn't feel oily at all and directly absorbs into in my skin and made it feel so plump. But the toner, however, wasn't. It literally feels like water and I need to use quite a few more drops than usual because it gets absorbed right away. It too wasn't as moisturizing and refreshing as Nutox. I guess it makes sense since the hydrating gel works well. By this time I was convinced to just use Hada Labo as my moisturizer and thus skip that seven-step toner. However, I might change my mind and use both Hada Labo's and Nutox's toner since Hada Labo ones got all those hyaluronic acid and stuff.



That's it!

I wanted to tell how the texture is because having an oily skin makes me really particular on the products feel. I couldn't get a hand on Nutox's moisturizer to test on my skin so that's why I didn't try that one first. In conclusion, these all are a good choice for oily skin. Even though Aiken's has tea tree oil, you can hardly feel it so it really is okay. Actually, I probably a tad bit too in love with Nutox.