HOW TO: Get rid of Mountainous Pimples

Have you ever had a pimple so large you thought it might have its own gravitational field? Well, fear not because I have the solution! (Yes, I did intend to sound like a bad infomercial.)

Anyways, there's this thing I've been doing for a few times, and it's seemed to have worked every time so I thought I'd share it with you guys.

You can get this from the Body Shop

Here's my secret: Every time you feel one of those really huge pimples starting to form, use a 1-2 of drops of tea tree oil (like the one shown in the picture) and rub over the area. Repeat for a few days until you feel that the eruption has passed. Even though the pimple bump is there for a few days, it never progresses into an actual pimple! (does that make sense?) Note, a little goes a long way!

Tea tree oil is an excellent way to get rid of an oncoming pimple because of its antimicrobial properties. This removes the bacteria that are the cause of the pimple so that the pimple stops developing. Note that tea tree oil (and other acne treatments) might also dry your skin out, so remember to moisturize!!

6 Musts to Have the Best Summer Ever

Summer is upon us!! (Almost) Although, for us Canadians, I doubt it'll ever be summer :( Here are a list of 6 things that will be sure to make your summer a much more enjoyable one!

1. Sunscreen

Yes, that is a silly band. Don't hate.

This one is a no-brainer! How can you have a good summer with burnt peeling skin? Ouch!! I like to use a good heavy duty one like the  Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunscreen with a whopping SPF 60. It's sure to keep those harmful UV rays from hurting you!

2. Make a Summer Bucket List

A "best summer ever" means different things for different people. So, grab a pen and paper and ask yourself, what does "best summer" mean to you? Jot some ideas down, but don't make it TOO crazy and undoable XD. Now, the challenge is to do it all! 

Even though you may not be able to travel far, I'm sure there are still many nooks and crannies in your city/town that you have not yet seen, so do a google search and make that list! The picture shows some of the things that I would put on my "Summer of '16 Bucket List."

3. Camera

In the picture, I have an old point and shoot camera that I rarely use anymore (I basically pulled it out just for the picture haha). But, you can use any kind of camera to capture your memories this summer, whether it be your mobile camera (phone cameras are getting ridiculously good these days!), a point and shoot, a DSLR, or even a polaroid! I think taking pictures with a polaroid would be so cool, because they're printed instantly and you can use it to make wall art or a scrapbook.

4. Journal

This one kind of ties in with the last one if you have a polaroid. Like a camera captures moments, a journal can capture emotions and entire days. They can even help you plan your adventures! In my photo, I show a page of my bullet journal. I plan to get some washi tape to help my decorating process, and maybe even splurge on a polaroid! (we'll see)

5. A Favourite Summer Dress/Outfit

Don't mind my double chin peaking out ;)

What better way to explore the city than in what makes you feel most comfortable and happy? In the picture, I'm wearing a beautiful palm-printed dress that I got from H&M last year. It makes me so happy to be in it :)

6. Environmentally Friendly Transportation

Not that you need a "summer body" (any body you already have is just fine), but it is healthy to get in exercise whenever possible. So, when having these adventures during the summer, when you can, use an environmentally friendly method of getting there!

For me currently, it's the bike, but it could be by foot, penny board, or rollerblades. Not only can you tone up your body, but it's also completely free! (which is always a win with me haha)

Exploring my City || the ROM

The ROM, or the Royal Ontario Museum, is a state of the art museum located in downtown Toronto. Post-secondary students have free entry on Tuesday, so I jumped at the chance and went to visit a place I hadn't been in so long. Along the way, I stopped to take some photos.

How beautiful is this miniature city??

Best. Ceiling. Ever. 

My biggest complaint about the ROM is the shitty lighting and the stupid glass glare that I can't seem to get rid of LOL. Those two things are the reason that these pictures aren't the greatest quality, they tripped my mobile camera out like crazy. (Oh how I wish I had a DSLR :(...)

Thanks for reading,

--J

Random April Favourites!

This favourites really doesn't have any beauty products at all, as they usually do. But, here are the things that I enjoyed in the month of April.

Muji Products

Items from Muji: 2 black pens, light blue pen, dark blue pen, pencil case

Muji is a Japanese store that literally means "no name brand." And for that reason, I love it. I love how minimalistic and plain everything is. All of the labels can be stripped off for a sleek look. I haven't tried their paper or home products, but I'm sure in the future I will be making lots and lots of visits back to that store!

Mildliners by Zebra

I very recently got these highlighters in the mail from Japan, but they are an instant favourite. These pastel colours are so lovely and candy-like. Can't wait to actually start using these!

Avatar

I saw that "Avatar: Legend of Korra" was on Netflix and was immediately intrigued because I had seen some of "the Last Airbender" when I was a child. And, oh my goodness, let me just say that it's better than some of the shows that were meant for adults. A must watch. I also went back to "Avatar: The Last Airbender" just to re-jog my memory, and I'm so glad I did. I'm enjoying the two series immensely. I love how every second is either action-packed, hilarious, or adorable. Why can't we be benders?? ):

Drawing

It's been so long since I've drawn anything, and I'm so glad that I now have the time to do it again. I recently borrowed the how-to book from a friend and am having much fun drawing these chibis.

Word Swag

The last favourite is an app that I purchased in April. Word Swag lets you create stunning words to go with your stunning images. It's the app that I used to create the first picture of this post!

The First Year Experience

First year was an interesting year for me, but, now that its all over, I can look back and see what I've done. So here's a list of some of the things that I've done and learnt this year.

• This year was the first year I'd ever lived away from my family (except for summer camps, of course). It was a new type of freedom, which came with both good and bad things. A good side of freedom is being able to do whatever you want, when you want it. Want to eat snacks at 2AM? Go for it! But, being completely free isn't always good because you're stuck with doing things like laundry, and having to buy your own things.
• Unlike high school, attendance isn't taken in universities, as I'm sure most of you know. But, however, that doesn't mean you don't need to go to them-- even if in the moment they seem useless because near finals, you will regret that. I had a class where going to lectures seemed useless because the teacher would drone on and on about useless examples, however, when finals came around, I panicked because I learned that those examples were actually important (hopefully I don't make the same mistake again, haha) Contrastingly, sometimes lectures are truly useless. Like, my physics class, for example. Going there did not benefit me academically in any way. I was not more prepared for tests and I did not understand more material by going. In those instances, I don't think it would hurt to skip a few classes (or all the classes ;) )
• On Monday, I had to say goodbye to the campus, and my dorm, a place that had become my home for the year. It was bittersweet because yay summer! and because I had to leave knowing that I would never see my dorm again, or ever live on campus. 
• I learned that moving out can be fun, but it's super stressful. Many times, I caught myself wondering "How the heck did I fit it all into my suitcase when I came here?" 

So, what's happening now? Well, I recently found a summer job (but more on that later!) so hopefully, I will gain some new experiences and make money. As for next school year, that will be filled with moving out (to my own apartment!) and maybe, for the first time, getting my own pet.

Thanks for reading this catching-up post with me,
--J

PS: Now that it's summer, expect many more posts to come!

To all Those That say That Sexism is not Real

If I knew the source, I'd link it here, I'M SORRY

Recently, I've had many converstations, and seen many conversations happen in which people said that sexism does not exist anymore, and that women are just complaining. I'm going to try to refrain from swearing in this post, but What the heck!?!?! Like.... actually, what the heck; are you kidding me? I guess it can be hard to understand some of the struggles a woman may go through more often than men.

This is not to say that all these situations are exclusive to women, because in most cases, they are not.  But here's a compilation of stuff:

Don't exclude me because I'm female!

I've seen so many times where girls that are fully competent at a task (say basketball) get completely ignored by males. In the entire game, they would just not pass it to her, because she was a female, and apparently females, even if they're good at it, are not as good as the males. I understand that as kids grow up, there becomes more and more of a physical difference between the sexes, but, as kids, you're BASICALLY the same. So what's your excuse?

Like, I get it, don't pass the ball to me, ever, because I literally will ruin the game for the team. BUT that's not because I'm a girl, that's because I'm a slut. And, just because I, and other females, cannot play basketball does not mean that NO girl can play basketball. Your gender does not determine your ability to do things. Please, don't assume.

I can't study while your legs are showing!

Okay, I can't stand this one. So often, I see these articles about girls being sent home from school for wearing "inappropriate" outfits, when in reality, most of the time, the outfits are perfectly fine. "Please go home and change, your outfit is distracting." Distracting to who?! Are males going to jizz in their pants because they can't stand seeing knees, or arms, or some collar? Why must a girl need to go home to change an outfit where there's nothing wrong with it? So that the precious boys can learn? What are the girls going to do about the time that it took for them to get home and back? Don't girls need to learn too? 

I understand, if the outfit is actually inappropriate, it would be fair to send them home. But often, that's not the case. Here are some examples: 1, 2, 3, 4.

Wage gap... Complicated, but real.

Okay, this one is a bit of a hard one to exist... So I'm gonna let John Green do it for me XD here it is.

Child Marriage

This one just makes me a mixture of both sad and mad. Those poor, poor girls in less developed countries. They don't deserve that, no one deserves that. I just wish they had a chance to grow up, physically and mentally. I wish that they had more freedom in who and when they got married, and when they needed to have kids. It breaks my heart that this still happens. 

Being Feminine is not a bad Thing

Another video link for this one, I think they say it better than me. Here's a video of the creators of ASAPScience, in which they talk about the overwhelming amount of comments on their videos that criticize the way they act "like women", are "so gay." Neither of those things define how good of content-creators, or educationers they are. In fact, I think they're great at what they do, regardless of how they may present themselves. 

---

These are just some of the examples out there. (Honestly, I'm just super tired right now and this list is getting long anyways.... I wonder if anyone is still reading LOL) But yeah, sexism is still happening, all over the world. There are SO many things I have yet to touch upon. And one day, I hope that this stuff won't be a thing anymore, and that men and women will have the chance to be who they want to be without being discriminated because of their gender.

Thanks for reading,

--J

Who am I? ...I Don't Really Know.

Who is this girl? I have no idea...

I know that I'm weird, and I know that I'm random, but I really have know idea who I really am. I tweeted a tweet earlier on the lines of "you are you, and that's all you're ever going to be, so be the best you you could possibly be," and I've decided, it's time to find who I am, and the best I can be.

Today I realized that a lot of what I do isn't for me, it's for other people. For example, I wouldn't say certain things because other people didn't want me to, or not post a picture I liked because someone told me it wasn't good enough. Not only that, I would also wait for and desire validation from others, usually in the form of likes on social media.

I'm tired of this. I don't want to live a life where I'm pretending to be someone else, when I don't even really know who I am. So, from now on, I will post whatever I want, say whatever I want, when I want without a care in the world, because this is me.

It's time to find out who I really am. I'm going to do this by first finding out what it is that I like, and then putting it out there in the world, even if someone else doesn't like it, because, let's face it, someone out there will always be a hater. I want to study more, learn more, and create more.

Overall, I just want to be me, and just me. And, surely, someone out there will like me for who I am..... right!? (lol).

So yeah. Since this is a pretty big part of my life, expect more updates.

--J