Spring Mini Haul

I went shopping alone and bought some books and skin care products from boots today ! Yes WE HAVE BOOST IN HONG KONG NOW!!!! I am very excited to show you what I picked up.

I picked up:

1. No. 7 Beautiful Skin Night Cream for Normal/Oily skin

I tried the texture in the store, it felt more like a watery creamy texture which is not as greasy as other No.7 creams and it's only HKD$69!!!

2. No.7 Protect & Perfect Whitening Eye Cream

It is claimed to be able to reveals younger and lighter looking skin. I don't have very serious dark circles but I always have this annoying wrinkles below my eyes. I have tried Bobbi Brown eye cream but it doesn't work for me. So I am hopping this eye cream may help.

3. Leave-in Volumising Conditioner from Boost

I have been looking for a leave in conditioner for a long time. However, I only found some very expensive ones which I have never heard of. So I was super happy when I see this very affordable conditioner which is only HKD$54. I have already put some on after shower, the smell is a bit stronger and heavier than I thought but I will keep trying and see if it really moisturises my hair.

4. Champneys Spa Treatments Citrus Blush Body Scrub

The packaging of this line really caught my eye. It looks luxurious and the word 'SPA' made me buy the scrub. I have high expectation to the scrub and I hope it will really give me a SPA treatment lol.

Then I went to a book store and picked up some books for my Bali trip in 2 weeks time.

1. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

A story about teenagers who suffer from cancer attracted me because I hope that by knowing more
about how some people are struggling with terrible illnesses bravely, I will be more aware how lucky my ordinary life is. And I heard Stylesuzi, a youtube beauty girl rated about it long ago.

2. The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom

I wanted to buy this book for a long time because I love the writer, Mitch. I read all of his other books and I love all of them. So I think this one will be as good as the others.

3. And the Mountains Echoed

I think this will be the first book that I am going to read among the other three. I love the Kite
Runner. I enjoy how beautifully the writer can write. The preciseness of his descriptions provided me with beautiful pictures and images of the story and the way he delivered the plot has never failed to give me surprises.

Luxurious, natural, effective mask - Apivita masks

I prefer cream wash away Masks than sheet masks

I have so many sheet masks at home! However, I seldom have any motivation to use them because:

1. I don't want to look scary in front of my boyfriend

2. I don't want to mess up my hair after shower. Products on sheet masks tend to stick on my hair

*** Most importantly, a lot of people think that sheet masks are more effective because they make instant changes to your skin. After using a sheet mark, you are not required to wash your face. However, I personally found that some of the effects that sheet masks made may disappear right after you wash your face. 

The packaging is lovely.
I can easily put the boxes on my table
 and they make good storages for the masks.

Apivita masks - it feels so good!

So last month, I went shopping and found this very luxurious cream masks from Apivita. There aren't a lot of reviews about these masks on youtube. I only heard Fleurdeforce mentioned them in her videos before. So I picked up the Express Beauty with Orange. It claimed to whiten, moisturise and provide antioxidant protection to your skin. 

The mask is in a creamy consistency. It is smooth and watery and not greasy at all. There are little particles inside the cream which burst and release the watery cream inside them when you massage the cream onto your face. 

According to the instructions, you should keep the mask on your face for around 15minutes before you wash it off. However, after about 10 minutes, I noticed that the cream on my face starts to disappear as it is adsorbed by my skin. Also, what makes the process luxurious is the fact that my skin can literally FEEL that it is adsorbing the cream on my face, no kidding! It feels soooo good. It feels like being in a spa room and all of the water is squeezing into your every single pore. 

Effectiveness?

Express beauty with orange:

It works for me because my skin is obviously whitened every time I wash the mask off. Even more, my skin is smoother and it feels really good. Apart from that, I also noticed that my pores are very clean after using this mask for a few times. I don't know if the mask also helps clean my pores but it is what I noticed.

I think it is better than a lot of the sheet masks that I have tried before because even after washing off the product, I can still notice obvious improvement to my skin. I am so happy about the effect of this mask so I bought another box last week which is the Express Beauty with Grape. So far, it is as good as the orange one. I'm very happy about my skin now. 

It is a little more expensive than a lot of sheet masks. However, it definitely worths the money. 

Day ONE of my Happiness Project - It has made changes !

Day One

Stretch for 15mins every day

I started my day with a relaxing stretching exercise. To prevent me from giving up after 2 minutes (and to enjoy the process), I put my notebook computer on my bed and played a youtube video that lasts at least 15minutes. So I picked Fleurdeforce's haul video and did stretching for a solid 15minutes.

If you don't know Fleur, make sure that you check

out her videos! She is amazing.

Act with Energy 

This is usually when I jump right into my bed again and take a long nap. I clearly know that these long naps can never boost my energy. They only make me want to sleep until the next day. So I sat in front of my table, took out my beautiful new diary and started to write a to-do-list.

A to-do-list is very instrumental for me. I am very good at following plans but I am very lazy to make one sometimes. If I don't have a plan for the day, I usually ended up wasting my whole day in bed playing iPhone apps, taking naps and watching youtube videos and even worse, become unhappy and grumpy about myself not being productive during the day.

Cross out 90% of my to-do-list

Within 3 hours, I efficiently crossed out 4 items on my to-do-list including getting a shampoo (I used up my shampoo for a week already and was using my boyfriend's shampoo), cleaning my table, seeing a doctor (which I should have done two days ago) and getting a hair cut (I have waited for months to get one).

The dinner was so nice
Food from Simply Life never
disappoints me!

When I met my boyfriend for dinner, he surprised my by asking, "why are you so cheerful today?" I was very happy because I started a project that can improve the quality of my life and I was doing very well so far.

I was hoping that he may notice my new hair cut...

Exercise for 20 minutes each day 3 days a week

I would like to take my challenge of the day to the next level. In all the resolutions of the month, doing 20minutes exercise per day for 3 days in a week is the most challenging goal for me.

Living in a place called Hong Kong means you have to work from early in the morning until very late at night. When I am home, it is usually around 7-8 p.m. After dinner and a quick shower, even if I am very lucky that I don't have to do extra work that night, it is already 9-10 p.m. According to the resolution, to boost energy needs at least 7-8 hours sleep every day. To achieve that I have to sleep at 10 p.m. which is right after my shower. Therefore, I spent 30minutes thinking about the possible ways to achieve the goal before I put it down on the chart.

I decided to do a solid 20minutes exercise before I go to bed every day! Just the thought of doing it is already making me excited (because doing new things excites people). Fortunately, I found this very useful and fun Calorie Burning Low Impact Cardio Workout for beginners on youtube.

I love the video so much because in just 20 minutes, it included so many different kinds of moves and exercises that made the whole working out experience less boring. All the moves it asked you to do were very easy to follow. After 20 minutes I was already sweating and feeling very refreshed.

Good night world ! 

Overview

Overall, the first day of my Happiness Project went so much better than my expectation. I was not expecting any change in mood on the first month not to mention, the first day. However, after following my resolutions for one day, I feel happier for the following reasons:

1. I fulfil my tasks (sense of achievement)

2. I did many things that help improve my health (I am going to be healthier)

3. I feel excited because I have lots of fun things to do every day (not only work work and sleep)

4. My boyfriend is happy to see my change and excited about my plan (because he likes to see me happy)

* I hope that I will keep following my plan and I will update my progress after 5 days so I can make a review about how I am doing in the first week. 

April Resolutions: kick-started !!!

Today was the 9th day since I didn't go to work. This first sentence already sounded very pathetic for a lot of people. However, I was very excited today because I was starting a whole new, big and happy project today!

Gretchen was right, taking up new challenges like starting a new project can boost a person's happiness level, because at this moment, I can proudly say that it is my most exciting day since my sick leave has started.

Worries

However, I have to admit that, deep down in my heart, I am already worrying about the results of the project, the effectiveness, the amount of effort I will have to spend and my ability to continue the project after I start working again.

Enjoy the process

But Gretchen always reminded us in the book that we should not worry too much about the results but learn to enjoy the process. Therefore, again, I try to enjoy my process of making April Resolutions by downloading cute fonts from dafont.com and adding a little bluebird image to match the colour of the chart.

Have a clear measurement and be realistic

The process was surprisingly enjoyable. Before I put down every resolution, I analyse my ability of fulfilling these resolutions and specific assessments that I will use to measure the achievement of my goals every day. So I added this remark section on the right hand side to provide little specific details of my every resolutions.

For example, by my first resolution - exercising 3 days a week. Specifically, I mean to do exercise for 20 minutes every day and 3 days every week. So at the end of the week, I need have 3 ticks in that column.

I also included 'try weight lifting'. I used the word 'try' because I clearly know that I will not be able to do weight lifting 3 times a week because I don't have the equipment I need at home and I will not have the time to travel to gym during work days. Therefore, I may try to do it at weekends when I have time to travel to the gym.

By being realistic, resolutions become easier to be achieved and achieving each resolutions every day can surely bring me some great sense of achievements.

My Happiness Project - Getting Started

Today was the 8th day that I didn't go to work because of my illness. Actually, staying at home and doing nothing does not help improve my health at all. However, as I have already applied for a 2 week sick leave, I want to spend it wisely and meaningfully instead of sitting at home and worrying about my illness and work.

I spent the first 5 days of my leave reading the book, The Happiness Project, making notes in the book and highlighting quotes and sentences that I found meaningful for me.

To start such a annual project which is expected to change my entire year if not the rest of my life is very challenging. It includes so much work from:
1. trying to know more about myself
2. identifying the purpose of my project
3. analysing areas that I want to improve
4. planning my resolutions and putting them into different months of the year
5. following the schedule and doing the resolutions
6. filling in checklist to check my progress (not to mention making checklists!)

After all, I figured that the easiest way to start such a huge project is simply to START!!!
So I started by making a very simple year plan with all the resolutions of each month. I found this beautiful artwork from google images (Bluebirds represent Happiness) and I used it to decorate my year plan. At this stage, I did not want to include any details because I knew that I can add little details according to my progress and how I feel every now and then. Also, it is always instrumental to revise and analyse your plan from time to time.

After that, I printed this beautiful poster out, framed and put it on my wall immediately. At that moment, I had the feeling that my project was really 'starting' and my life is really going to be changed if I am willing to stick to my plan like Gretchen did.

Then, I dedicated my whole afternoon in front of the computer reflecting my life, my problems, my weaknesses and areas I want to improve. So I came up with my aim of the project and my April and May resolutions after 2 hours of in depth thinking.

My aim may sound terribly stupid to some of you but after being a person who only concentrated on the negative sides of everything in life, who spent most of her 26 years worrying about different things and who has never ever wanted to be happy, writing down these two purposes has already marked a change in her attitude. 

A bad news in the evening - It's just an ordinary day when everything seemed to be changed

The bad news came like any bad news in a story book. It was just a normal Wednesday afternoon, I was waiting for my doctor to do an ultrasound test for me because my period did not come on time (again...very normal for me). Lying on the bed in the room of the clinic, I was planning which restaurant to visit after the test which would surely tell me, 'everything is fine, it's just your stress!'

In the middle of the test, the doctor turned the computer screen to me and asked me to look at the large black circle image which means nothing to me in the middle of the screen. 'Miss Jane, there is a big tumour in your womb,' said the doctor, in a tone that I may use to tell my bf that there is a new pimple on his face.

The doctor then explained to me that as my tumour is big, I may be expecting a surgery. Without providing further help or details, he asked me to go back for another checking 3 months later.

My immediate thoughts:
1. I am only 26, why would I have a tumour at this early stage of life?
2. Am I going to worry about the tumour every day in the 3 months?
3. Am I going to express my anger and depressing feeling in front of my beloved so that they feel upset for me too?
4. Am I going to stay emotional and depressed everyday just like every time I met a adversity before?


Instead of reading all the terrifying information on the Internet, I went to a book store, grabbed some books and read.

One of the books that I grabbed was called, The Happiness Project.

One sentence in the book happened to answer all my questions above for me:
"I did not want to look back, at the end of my life or after some great catastrophe, and think, "How happy I used to be then, if only I'd realised it."

I also bought a nice pretty
notebook (from Page One) to
keep a journal about my project.

Growing up, I know that I have the worst personalities ever:
1. I focus on the negative side of everything.
2. I am so insecure that I always prepare for the worst
    and never seem to have the courage to hope for the best.
3. When I am unhappy, I like to concentrate on the negative feelings and go deeper and deeper in the
    dark hole.
All in all, I have NEVER EVER wanted to be a HAPPY PERSON ever.

So, when I knew that my health is totally in risk, all I did was crying, feeling depressed and picking up fights with my boy friend whenever I can.

The idea of The Happiness Project really inspired me to CHANGE. Before the situation becomes worse (which was proven later that the tumour shrank a bit in the second test, yeah!!), before any big catastrophe happens in my life and before my bf stops loving me so much, I should learn to become A HAPPY PERSON WHO LIVE AT THE MOMENT NOT IN THE FEAR ABOUT STH THAT MAY NOT HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE!

This is me walking happily into Disneyland to cheer myself up :)
(A huge step for a person who prefers to sit at home and worry about everything!)