Self Help Guide: How to get out of a rut

# Go outdoors

I think the sun and nature is the best pick-me-up. Physically stepping out of the house or the office signals a change in sensations and can bring the mind away for a bit. For me, it works best when I stop listening to music and listen to everything around me. Being plugged into my earphones blocks everything out and I stay in the miserable state. People watching or just observing everything as it passes shift my attention away from myself, giving me a break from yourself.

# Make a to-do list

It’s very overwhelming to have your mind racing at 150km/h, with so many things you want to do, but at the same time feeling lost because you don't know where to start. Write everything down (whether it’s a very small errand or a light bulb moment for a new project), this gives your mind some clarity when it’s something tangible – a list. You can organise those points in order of priority, and complete them one by one. It’s very satisfying and fulfilling to cross off a task on a list and it also provides visible progress, so you know how far you are until completion.

Tip on list making: break each point up into smaller chunks so the task won’t seem as daunting.

Be Jolie series Vol. 1 || General Favourites

Happy 2k16, Everyone!! New year, new beginning. It's that time of the year where we all have the excuse to start fresh again. New year's resolutions always give us some hope and aspiration to improve from the previous year. As a person that LOVES to make fresh starts, I've made some goals for the new year to keep me motivated.

With that being said, I'm starting a new series called Be Jolie! The word 'jolie/jolly' has two meanings: one, (the obvious) to be happy, and two, to be pretty (in french). I relate closely to the idea that beauty and happiness come hand in hand, and it is bidirectional. 

As means to be happy, feeling pretty and confident. This series will include different elements/or things I do to invigorate happiness and beauty, like mental wellness, fitness, beauty, makeup etc. I'm really excited for this series, so please stay tuned for it. 

To kick start my new series, I thought I would share with you some recent favourites I had discovered/rediscovered lately.

Weekend Explorer

Living in the city can sometimes be quite overwhelming, especially when I have to travel daily on crowded public transport. It's very common to want to stay home and just chill on my day-offs. Fortunately, a friend came back to Hong Kong and we met up on a date. She had always been the one that would convince me to venture out and be spontaneous. 

So under her influence, we decided to go for a picnic at Repulse Bay, a beach that had recently been developed into the new 'it' place. To my surprise, it was a lot more stylish and hip than I had expected. There was a new mall, The Pulse, with the daintiest restaurants, cafes and cupcake shops you would ever had imagined. 

Croatia Vlog 2015 | Part 1 | Voyage Diaries

My second attempt to vlog my trip to Croatia. I decided to put this vlog into two parts since I've been to quite a lot of places, one vlog would be WAY too long. 

Current Favourites (slash) Life Update

Okay, this is it!
So I know I have kind of left this blog in the back burner for the past 2 months. I know, I know, I always say that I will be back regularly and disappear again.
WELL BELIEVE IT OR NOT, today is the day I am formally announcing that...

GRATITUDE MINTS IS BACK!!

Before anything though, I thought I should give a bit of a life update. 

So for the past 2 months, I have been through major life transitions (and A LOT of travelling). In a nut shell, my student life in London has come to an end and I'm back in Hong Kong now. And now that I have sort of settled down, I thought I should get back onto my blog. 

To be very honest with you, I slacked quite a bit the past 2 month (I could've posted something), I wanted to first make the blog look pretty before I post anything. S. Anyway, I beat myself up after being back and started learning how to switch up the 'look'. What you're seeing now isn't the end product, I'm slowing googling tutorials and youtube videos on how to reformat the layout (so stay tuned for that).

Okay, back to blogging. I actually have a lot of blogging ideas and series already planned (and maybe some travel videos here and there) and I am HOPING they will come soon. But without giving myself too big a mouth-full, I am excited to announce my posting schedule: new posts will be up every Thursday at 10pm (hong kong time), the equivalent of 3pm GMT (this post doesn't count, haha). I am really hoping that having a schedule would be easier for you guys (and for me too). 

And now, onto my current faves....

Italy 2015 || VLOG || Voyage Diaries

I have to stop repeating myself here, but it really has been a LONG while (6 months) since my last post.  A lot had happened in my life in the past 6 months. I am now officially done with university (Yay for me!). I had been busy with academic work and life in general, and I feel like I can never create entertaining material when there is so much at stake. Do you guys feel that way? When your brain feels like its stuffed with fluff (feels like nothing, but takes up space for some reason)?

Anyhow, now that I am a free soul again *squeak*, I took the chance to travel around Europe before diving into the workforce. I will be updating you constantly on the blog with my travelling experiences (and I mean it, so stay tuned). 

The first stop of my voyage was the long anticipated ITALIA!!! (the word choice was deliberate) I had seen so many people head to Italy across Instagram, blogs, and Facebook; the scenery and architecture fascinated me. So when I actually stood there (in front of the colosseum, Cinque Terre, duomo, you name it!), I was truly mesmerised. I simply could not believe that I was physically looking at the places I had screenshotted for my bucket list (with no exaggeration). 

Since this trip had been so highly anticipated, I decided to commemorate this journey in motion, hoping to capture every moment of my experience (which was fairly hard, and may have failed slightly). With much efforts, I present to you, MY FIRST VLOG. 

To be very honest, I was skeptical in making vlogs, but I then I thought 'Hey, a video's the most straightforward way to show what I saw'. So here it is...

I hope you enjoy the video :) I put a lot of effort into this (treated it as a baby) and so I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 

It's summer, Beaches!! || All about Working Out

Working out is a crucial part of getting fit. Although it only contributes 20% of losing weight (the other 80% being diet), exercise is SO important for general health. It speeds up the metabolism, builds muscle which, in turn, burns more fat, and sweating would actually release toxins that cannot be excreted through urine (or number 2). The list of benefits goes on...
I have learnt and done quite a variety of exercises and developed a routine or ways that I found were more efficient and enjoyable at getting in shape. So I thought I would share them with you. :)

Emergency Kit for Acne-prone Skin || Daily Edition

I believe all girls had suffered from disastrous breakouts at some point of their life, no matter during puberty or every single month. I have highly acne-prone skin and so it is VITAL(yes, I have to put them in caps) to have an emergency kit, a set of acne-fighting products, that act as safety net for the difficult times. 

These four product are part of my daily skincare routine, which I cannot live without if I am breaking out. I will have to justify why my daily skincare is an 'emergency kit', these products are my must-use products when my skin starts to go downhill. If I have fairly good skin, I would try out other products. 

First up, I use the Bioderma Sébium H20 Micellar Solution (similar here.) to take off the residue makeup on my face after using a cleansing oil. I feel like this does wonders at taking all the gunk out of my pores after a long day. I used to use the Crealine Micellar Solution (the pink top), that kind is a bit more moisturising than this green top kind. I found that this type better for summer. My skin feels fresh and clean after using this. I wouldn't say that it is moisturising at all. I usually go into the shower right after I swab it onto my face, otherwise it makes my skin feel tight. 

Next, is the La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo anti-blemish cream. I must say, this product is a saviour for my skin. I can't be 100% sure, but I think my breakdown issue had died down since I've used this. When ever feel the devil floating up on the surface of my face, I put on the cream and take some time to massage the product into the spot. I found that the spot would die down the next day (AMAZING, right?). I must be honest, I was quite skeptical about this product at first as I've seen reviews about the purging period when you first use the product. Having 'okay' skin at the time made me hesitant to purposefully 'make my skin breakout again'. However, I decided to go with it anyway (I have nothing to lose, right?). I have to say, after a months' use, I did experience a purging period, there were a few spots that surfaced. The magic about this product is that kills the spot really quickly, so essentially I wasn't in breakout war zone for too long. After the purging period, it worked wonders on my skin, it prevented any breakouts, my skin would not have massive breakouts anymore. It is just a miracle product. 

Extreme circumstances calls for extreme precautions, the Thursday Plantation Tea Tree Medicated Gel for Acne is the spot treatment go-to for me. Thursday Plantation is an Australian brand, with there signature tea tree range. As you may know, tee tree oil/ products are great at battling acne and antibacterial. I used to use tee tree oil from The Body Shop, but after I tried the oil from Thursday Plantation, I don't think it can be compared. I feel like The Body Shop one is a diluted version of the Thursday Plantation one. If you are desperate for a strong effective zit-buzzing acne treatment, here it is. Unlike an oil that you will have to dab onto your zit and IT MIGHT slip off the zit, the oil would just drip off with gravity (This sounds so dramatic but it's true). I was so happy to find the gel as it would latch onto the zit and STAYS THERE, so the product maximises its effect on the zit.

Last but not least, I feel the importance of a whitening serum that removes the hyperpigmentations from acne. I feel like as much as it is important to prevent and treat active acne, getting it 'physically' off the face is vital for me. A holy grail product is the Kiehl's Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution. It is an magnificent product at minimising the appearance of acne scars, freckles, just all kinds of dark spots. I must say, this is more of a pricey product (36 pounds) but as it does its job well, I can't stop repurchasing it. Kiehl's claims that dark spot reduces visibly in 8 weeks which I believe is true, my freckles DID fade after using the product on a daily basis for 2 months (thumbs up for that).

So this is it for the daily edition of the emergency kit. I hope this information was useful for those who are also suffering from the acne problem. I know it may be frustrating at dealing with this problem, but stay positive as it is only temporary, it will eventually pass. :)

Hope you are well.

Love,            

Vivien

My New Obsession

Fancy a cuppa??

It was my two girlfriends' birthday and we decided to celebrate by having this 'once in a life time' afternoon tea feast at The Ritz. We made a reservation for afternoon tea at 7:30pm since they were fully booked during the supposed 'tea time'. Expecting our table to be the only awkward group to have tea for dinner, turns out, every single table of people were having tea (not that weird after all ain't it).

This place was extremely luxurious and high-end I felt completely out of place: Legitimate English gentlemen in tux and ladies expressing as much sexiness as possible (while still remaining elegant) having presumably profound conversations, while I try to walk like a lady through the corridors in fatal anxiety. 

Anyway, back to the afternoon tea. The choices of teas were pretty good, the standard Earl Gray, Darjeeling, Green Tea and all other choices, but I ended up ordering Lemon Verbena (a tea that I have been scavenging for since trying it in Paris). It is this herby tea that I believe has calming effects and was a source of medicine. Finger sandwiches and sweet desserts were served first, and scones were served warm afterwards. I am not joking, the scones are AMAZING!!!! Soft, flaky, buttery, worth all calories for the day! The sandwiches were really good too, aside from the normal smoked salmon, cucumber and eggs, they also had cheese and chutney, ham with mustard and chicken mayo; all of which were really good (loved the ham with mustard one). To be very honest, I've never had afternoon tea with good sweet pastries (partially because I never had 'high class' tea), but it might have been that since the cakes and sweets came as a set, they had to choose the 'not as good' dessert to balance the budget? I have no idea, this is only my assumption. Okay, so since this seemed like such a legitimate afternoon tea, my expectations for the pastries sky-rocketed. The final verdict for pastries: I don't think any sweet pasties in an afternoon tea are the bomb. Let's just focus on scones, tea and sandwiches. They were just, in my opinion, overly sweet and low quality. To be fair, I think if we had ordered cakes and pastries separately, those might be tasty as hell, but in an afternoon tea? I don't think so. 

Final shout out to my lovely ladies, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Love,                 

Vivien