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<\/p>\nRecent years have been challenging for me in a personal capacity. There were times when I wanted to crawl into a cave, seal the entrance, and never come back out into the cold, cruel world. 2015 and early 2016 were particularly challenging, and I reacted by being angry and uptight all the time. This reflected itself on my skin \u2013 I slacked on my skincare, I was lazy with my makeup, and for that, I was rewarded with dull skin.<\/p>\n
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We all go through phases like this at some point in our lives. However, I wanted to share what I’d label the \u201c3 R\u2019s\u201d that have helped me climb up and stay on top of things, and in many ways, lessen the tension on my internal spring, so I\u2019m not so tightly wound up all the time. I wrote this in collaboration with La Mer Malaysia, and while it\u2019s coming at a timely moment at the beginning of a new year, this isn\u2019t anything to do with a new year at all. It\u2019s all to do with YOU wanting A NEW YOU and it\u2019s something you can practice at any time of the year \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
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To refresh myself, and to distract from dwelling on dark thoughts, I decided to learn something new. I picked hand-lettering, or calligraphy. I took a short class in nib pen copperplate calligraphy in the early part of last year, but I couldn\u2019t keep up with it. I found it beautiful but too finicky. In the later part of the year, I told myself I\u2019d teach myself brush pen calligraphy instead.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t really want to talk about this at first, because I\u2019m still new to it and am positively embarrassed to show my poor attempts \ud83d\ude1b But I\u2019m practising often, because it\u2019s far easier to pick up a pen, pre-filled with ink, than it is to prep a workspace for using nib pens. It\u2019s been a quiet personal project since mid-December, as a personal challenge to see how far I can go in 6 months. I set a goal, I sampled it, and I’m taking baby steps<\/a>! It\u2019s refreshing, and I\u2019m enjoying learning something new \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n On the beauty front, I\u2019m keeping my skincare routine refreshed, by maintaining a hydrating routine, but layering different products in a slightly thinner layer. I work on hydration, for example, by layering a hydrating lotion like the La Mer The Treatment Lotion<\/strong> (I love this product<\/a>!) which adds a hydration boost to my skin, and then layering on a thin layer of a hydrating serum, which is the brand new La Mer The Revitalizing Hydrating Serum<\/strong> that’s now available at counters. I\u2019ve been using this new The Revitalizing Hydrating Serum for about a month now, since I received the sample, and my skin drinks it all up and loves it! It isn\u2019t sticky, it absorbs quickly, and it makes my skin feel so comfortable. I do find it a little rich, so I only use half a pump in the day, and a half to full pump at night. The metallic scent is a little sharp, but it really keeps my skin well hydrated and plumped in the day, so makeup sits well; and well nourished through the night so I wake to happy skin. Major love, for refreshing and revitalizing my skin \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n To make an effort to get out, what I did in 2016 was to renew ties with friends. A bunch of us would meet up at least once a month, to catch up, chat and EAT! It doesn\u2019t seem like much, but we are so often caught up in our daily lives, that we forget to maintain those friendship ties, thinking you\u2019d always be friends. No you won\u2019t, if you don’t make an effort to keep those friendships alive.<\/p>\n I look forward to our monthly meet-ups, and our annual 1 January new year gatherings (in its 7th year now!), and I appreciate that everyone makes that little effort to get together, for it truly takes effort to maintain friendships, as with all relationships. I also renewed ties with an old friend living overseas, thanks to the wonders of WhatsApp, where in those few minutes of chatting, we\u2019re giddy-headed teens, swooning over Harrison Ford again \ud83d\ude00 I also try to catch up with people who have become friends along the course of work. Just a handful, but they are there. I\u2019m not the world\u2019s most sociable person, being pretty much a hermit, with a very small circle of friends. But making this effort is important to enrich and renew your ties with others.<\/p>\n My beauty renewal comes in the form of a continued appreciation for facial oils. Facial oils, like the La Mer The Renewal Oil<\/strong> which I still use (practically done with my first bottle<\/a>!) remain firmly rooted in my skincare routines. The Renewal Oil is light enough that I can use it in the day, but I also use a little more to seal in The\u00a0Revitalizing Hydrating serum<\/strong> in the evening 2-3 times a week. A thin layer of moisturiser over it all, and I wake up with soft, hydrated, comfortable skin. I am always experimenting, but since incorporating facial oils into my routine about 2 years back, I\u2019ve seen only positive results.<\/p>\n You know that song from the Madagascar cartoon \u2013 I like to move it? Well, I don\u2019t \ud83d\ude1b I\u2019m a sloth. I dislike moving. So, although I had aspirations to one day complete a run, the reality was that I couldn\u2019t. My knees and ankles aren\u2019t made to run and I kept injuring myself.<\/p>\n I sat around like a blob for a while, until I realised that I actually enjoyed swimming, and it was what I used to do. It\u2019s easy to slack with swimming because of simple things like weather (rain, too hot etc) and when you get your period and don\u2019t really want to get into the pool. But I pushed past all that, and worked out a little routine for myself, promising to swim a little more, and a little further each time. I even bought myself a swim cap! My first ever, and goodness. Why have I never owned a swim cap before?! It helps me swim faster, and my hair hasn\u2019t turned into hay. Yay! \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n On the beauty front, I\u2019m stepping up my facial and massage treatments. I\u2019ve met many people who tell me that a facial is a waste of time; and why would anyone want to lie there for an hour, doing nothing. I can\u2019t understand the aversion to doing nothing because I\u2019m a sloth, remember? \ud83d\ude1b<\/p>\n For me, it\u2019s during a facial or body massage, that you truly have time to just yourself. It could just be for one hour, but it is one hour where it is just only about YOU. No phones. No social media. No chatter. No kids. No one else. Just you and your facial or massage therapist. Sleep, if you want to, or just drift. I personally visit the La Mer Spa<\/strong> (which has now moved to Robinson\u2019s at The Gardens, if you\u2019re like me and wondering where they\u2019ve gone) where I\u2019ve been going for the last couple of years<\/a>\u00a0since my previous regular facial place closed down. Lovely facial massages bar none and always leaves me and my skin feeling revitalized!<\/p>\n These are the 3 R\u2019s I have quietly told myself to practice in the past year, to pull me out of the funk I was in. It has helped me stay afloat despite negativity threatening to sink me, and if you too are facing challenging times, I hope one of the R’s will, one way or another, help you too \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n Calligraphy is really quite the in thing now, and helps me relax, if something bugs me. It’s a skill that isn’t hard to pick up. You do however, need to practice, practice, practice to be any good at it. And that takes a hell lot of discipline! Have you tried your hand at it? \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n Paris B<\/p>\n![\"la](\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/la-mer-brush-lettering.jpg\")
<\/h2>\nRenew<\/h2>\n
Revitalize<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nDo you practice anything similar to help you stay sane?<\/h4>\n