things I wish I knew earlier in life (#5)

There is nothing more important than having a sense of family.

I’ve spent the past few days trying to figure out the best place I would put this thought. Facebook? Instagram? Should I even mention any of this at all? 

But then I remembered this slightly forgotten second part of my blog, the entries from 2016 all centered on change and being true to the health and wellness loving side to me. So what better way to post it here. 

Aside from my immediate family, I’ve been blessed to find a family in my different relationships. I’ve found them within my friends and within work. And no matter where I am in the world, or if I’ve drifted apart from anyone of them, or moved on to a different place, they will always have a lasting imprint on me. It’s why human nature is to find belonging. But once you find your family, your tribe, whatever cluster of a niche you feel comfortable in, it’ll be all that matters. They’ll be in the trenches with you. They will be there for you and you’ll be there for them too. 

My April has been unlike other April before it. No heartbreak, no accidents, nothing but great momentum that’s pushed me in the right direction. One that made me realize (again) how much I truly care for having a sense of family. As I approach the next chapter in my life, I’m glad I have the ones in my life who I truly revere as family, biological or not. I’m absolutely grateful for having each and everyone of them. 

An Experiment + Mini-Review: Basic Routine for a Guy

Since it’s a snow day in NYC, I can finally crank out a long over due post!

About 2 weeks ago, my brother asked me for help. Skincare help. He knows how much time, effort, and money I’ve put into my skincare routine and into trying new products. And he also knows how many samples I’ve acquired over the months. So I was happy to oblige! Especially since it meant he could use some products I haven’t gotten around to because my skin was dealing with some flare-ups as well.. I’ve had to cut back on trying new products and went to the “basics” just to calm my skin a bit.

So I went through my stash and figured out some products that would tackle my brother’s skincare concerns, that would work with my brother’s face AND his willingness to put products on his face.

2016 in review

Ah, my lovely blog. It’s been oh so long, even longer than my last hiatus.

Blogging is definitely tough when dealing with everything that goes on in life. So much has happened between September and today. I’ve been to JFK multiple times, whether it was picking up, dropping off, or going on a plane myself. I’ve had my share of downs and managed to pick myself up.. though those things always take some time. And trying to keep a smile on my face with all of that when I’ve had to face work stresses.. it’s hard to type up a review or even an update when sometimes you feel so drained.

But I know I need to get back on the bandwagon. I’ve always found journaling/blogging to be therapeutic, and what better way to quickly sum up 2016 before the new year.

Mini-review // The Face Shop Herb Day Cleansing Cream in Green Tea

Before I went AWOL on this blog, I ran out of my very first oil cleanser, the Banila Clean It Zero. First cleanser samples are so rare and all I had left in my samples stash was a travel size of Botanic Farm Grain Ferment Sherbet. I didn’t want to use it all up before my trips and my order from Memebox couldn’t come in time, so I made a mad dash to K-Town to buy something that could tie me over.

I was walking in and out of TonyMoly, Nature Republic, and The Face Shop trying to find a first cleanser that looked appealing to me. Cleansing oils are so foreign to me and I’m more inclined to buy balms or sherbet.. or anything that has a fun consistency. I ruled out so many and found the Herb Day Cleansing Cream at the Face Shop.

end of summer update- i’m alive!

I noticed it’s been 2 months or so since my last post.. I had a couple of drafts on reviews of products but haven’t fully edited them so that’s why it’s been very radio silent on my end. Like I said in that post, life had gotten in the way. A combination of work and personal life, that’s for sure.

But let’s do a brief catch-up on what’s been going on my life, shall we?

ABeauty update

I’m going to be totally honest- life has definitely gotten in the way of the ABeauty side of this blog.

Ever since I came back from the program, I’ve been internally assessing my life and where certain aspects of my overall health have been lacking. So I’ve been attempting to balance everything out, from vaguely finding things that make me happy to simply working out that’s been taking over my weeknights.

So I’ve been on auto-pilot with my skincare routine for awhile.. but then something happened last week: I emptied out FOUR products within a few days of each other (this pic is missing the LJH Tea Tree Essence). All were products I used at least once a day.

I had a false sense of security thinking that I had so many samples that it’ll be fine. But then I remembered.. they’re mostly creams. I can’t use a cream as an essence. I have full size essences (thanks to the 3B Box!) that have the same brightening purpose. And I just don’t have a backup oil cleanser that isn’t comedogenic. Sigh.

Soooo it’s definitely time to research again.. which means I will be back in the game again soon with mini-reviews! I will definitely try to write up small reviews on products at least every 2 weeks or so. Plus I’m brewing one about the Botanic Farm cleanser that I used while I was traveling, so stay tuned!

a new way of thinking

I completed the first intensive week of the coaching program on Friday, and as much as I want to write out everything that I’ve learned (so far), I feel it’s partially proprietary so I’ll refrain from details.

But what I can say is this: they weren’t kidding it would be a journey. I asked around prior to applying and I got more or less the same reviews, that it would be an amazing experience. But no matter how much I knew that, I didn’t expect it to really be one. There’s a lot of introspection that goes into this, making it a complete immersion into what it is. I already am pretty self-reflective but this felt like it was x5 with little to no time to really formulate anything clear. As if you were constantly testing your mental and emotional limits to get to the root of who you really are and what you want to be and achieve. All of that in less than a week.

Mini-Reviews// Moisturizer samples galore

As I may have previously mentioned in other posts, or just my Instagram, but I’ve been on a no-buy that I’ve been very shocked I’ve actually adhered to. I haven’t bought anything new since my Black Friday haul as an attempt to go through my samples stash. Also because I subscribe to the 3B Box, I get one or two full size samples so I always end up going one step forward, two steps back when trying to go through everything.

I’ve also been cutting things out of my routine, mainly my actives. I’ve been noticing my skin barrier is still pretty weak with some blemishes so I’m trying to be a bit more strategic with my use. So instead of a full barrage of Vitamin C, BHA and AHA, I alternate depending on what my skin looks like it would benefit with. This also slowed down my testing samples process a bit, but my skin is recovering slowly.

Regardless, I’ve been overdue with a KBeauty/ABeauty review so I’ll be quickly going down the line of the tiny samples I got with purchases. I didn’t get around to taking a picture of them but pics will come at a later date, but for the sake of my blog, I’ll do a quick write-up on them 🙂

ClassPass week #2 complete!

Oh my dearest blog, I haven’t forgotten about you! I’ll be posting a quick update on my ABeauty life a bit, as lackluster as it has been. But for now, it’s time to update things on the wellness front for a little bit too.

Because of my aforementioned work stress, I inadvertently stopped fully taking care of myself. I wasn’t eating right, I wasn’t working out, and my outlook just wasn’t the same. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that a weight had been lifted. Things are much better and I’m feeling close to how I felt before this whole mess began.

My friend was trying to get me to join ClassPass while I was still trying to figure out everything with work. I knew about ClassPass back when it was only $99 but never felt compelled to join because I enjoyed the idea of sticking to a gym/studio. But after belonging to 3 since I started trying to be active in 2014, I started to see the disadvantages. The class offerings were the same and after trying the ones that interested me and worked with my schedule*, I started to plateau. I’d know the Zumba choreographies, the order of Pilates movements. The same muscles are targeted in the barre classes. And treadmills get boring. It all got boring for me.

*And that’s another huge disadvantage: some classes I wanted to take didn’t work with my schedule. Talk about frustrating.

I was initially worried that if I joined ClassPass, I’d be stuck with mat classes and couldn’t keep building my love for the Pilates Reformer. So before I pulled the trigger to join, I looked through my friend’s app and saw the range of places offering apparatus classes, not just reformer! I was sold. I went home and joined and booked two classes.

things I wish I knew earlier in life (#4)

After you’ve been open to experiences, learning to be picky will be rewarding for you.

This is something I’ve finally come to terms with. Frankly, this year more so than others.

I spent a lot instances in my life where I wasn’t picky merely to have a multitude of experiences. And it’s been incredibly rewarding in some respects, don’t get me wrong. But in others, it’s gotten me into a lot of trouble and put me in a lot of dicey situations. Saying “yes” to almost everything presented to you has its disadvantages.