My obsession with Korean Beauty has been satisfied thanks to an amazing youtuber called Koreaboo Beauty!!! Let's get Sheetfaced y'all!!!
So this amazing lady sent me her Spring Box for free (FREE!!!) I met her at the Toronto Kpop Con and she asked if I would be interested in it and of course I said YES!!
She gives in-depth reviews of the Korean products too and her blog is soo useful when it comes to information about the beauty products!
In the Spring pack, I received a Toner, Cleanser, Tea Mask, Eyeliner, Eye Mask, and a Snail Mask! (I will be do separate entries reviewing the products after using them for a week or so) :P
I was not expecting to receive that much and I held myself back from actually looking at the products online so that it would be a surprise when I filmed my unboxing video (which I am in the middle of editing now!)
I definitely would not mind to receive her other boxes in the future, and I have been telling all my friends, susbcribers and followers on instagram about her because it is amazing what she does and the deal is the best one I have seen yet!
And guys.... She's so professional she has her own website... I mean I've had my blog for a while now and I don't use a custom URL or anything of that sort!
I have been using all the products (with the exception of the masks just because I am saving them) for almost a week now and my skin is feeling a lot smoother now!!!
I've been thinking a lot recently and a lot of it has to do with my self-confidence battle.
I have struggled to maintain my confidence for as long as I can remember, the earliest I can remember being insecure was when I had first gone through puberty in elementary school and started getting stares from the boys in my class.
The next time was when I had taken the grade 6 music class. I had been singing since I was 4 years old, and so I had the idea that I was a really good singer because I only received compliments in choir. I was practising a song for a test and then my good friend at the time decided to inform me that she was not a fan of my voice and didn't like my singing..... So I struggled a lot at that time because I had the idea in my head that I was a good singer, then her honesty made me realize I was too confident and so it was a big blow!
Then I take singing lessons starting grade 8 and at first I was so excited! The teacher promised to help raise my self-confidence which had been through a battle with bullies in middle school... but it actually made it a lot worse. I would spend my lessons pretending to march in a living room while singing a song, and the reason why was that she had wanted me to be comfortable on stage. I just got even more uncomfortable and was upset to see that despite taking lessons I hadn't improved.
In all honesty most of my self-confidence struggle has been a result of bullying throughout my middle and high school years. I mean... there's nothing I could have done about my situation at that time because I was doing everything in my power already.
Even now in high school I struggle constantly with my self-confidence, especially when it comes to singing. I say to myself that I've been singing for 16 years and so I should not worry about being judged on singing but then I notice that my singing doesn't get much attention compared to reactions and I'm left wondering about who wants to listen to my voice.
I had an old singing channel and all my old videos kept getting hate comments, and I would reply asking them to watch recent videos because they would comment hate on videos from 5 years ago.
I would upload new singing covers, and get at most only 4 views. It's a big blow to my confidence after working so hard year after year as a singer and nothing seems to be what the viewers are looking for.
I even jokingly sang the intro to one korean show I watch in the intro of a reaction video... Not being serious or anything because it was the first time I had been singing it and I also was trying to be quiet so my roommates didn't hear... but what comments did I get on that video? Stuff like "bad singer" "bad voice" "don't sing" I mean really? they took the time to comment on a video where I wasn't even being serious in my singing.... I deleted the comments and they didn't bother me as much.
What hurts my self-confidence the most is when I do upload a singing cover and it only receives at most 200 views. I'm extremely picky with covers and so I'll often avoid uploading them because I am worried about hate comments, so I'm 100 times more harsh on myself.
The self-confidence struggle I have is not something new, or something that is brought on by my kpop love. I mean, yea I do korean auditions and I know that my chances are slim to none in comparison to any other asian, but it's also allowed me to meet more people and more fans of my music so it's actually helped my self-confidence a lot.
What has been the biggest blow to my confidence is the fact that a couple years ago I would have been asked to do a performance every month, but now I get asked to perform every other month. Yet, I still practice singing and performing for a couple hours each day. I know my hard work will pay off in the end, but I'm questioning when the end will be? I hope its soon because I do feel like I am at the peak of my performing and singing life, and I wish to make the most out of it while I can.
EXO has decided to grace us EXO-L's with a comeback with a Christmas feel
I recently had the chance to partake in watching the music video and I must say... The feels from Miracles of December (last year) returned ㅠ.ㅠ
Am I alone when I say I prefer listening to their ballads rather than their dance songs???
Though I love their dancing.... so catchy!
Presenting EXO's Sing For You MV!
This comeback brings back feels because it's underlying meaning is about members leaving (as shown through the video how the members slowly disappear one by one).
Kai being the only one left is shown doing a contemporary dance which showcases the emotions through his body, and the vocals in the background add on to the sorrowful feeling.
Kai reminisces about the happier times when they were all together but yet they all slowly begin to leave, leaving him feeling alone and regretful that he couldn't do anything about it.
If you are confused about the space and whale scene. Space is constantly compared to an ocean since it is so vast and huge. The whale is alone in space, which can be compared to the MV the members all are alone.
Overall, the MV reminds us to care for our loved ones while they are with us. The song is about confessing feelings that a person wouldn't normally say to their loved one. The MV is about treasuring our loved ones (family and friends) before they leave. Both the MV and song overlap in feelings of trying to confess feelings before it's too late.
RATING:
1. Acting (is the acting well done?): 10/10
2. Afterfeels (feelings once the MV is over?): 10/10
3. Artistry (is it unique in the concept?): 10/10
4. Choreography (does choreography match the song?): N/A
5. Feel of the MV (how did I feel while watching?): 10/10
6. Feel of the song (what did the song make me feel?): 10/10
7. Filmography (did the filming add to the effect?): 9/10
8. Overall rating (my general rating of the MV right after watching?): 10/10
9. The song itself (are the lyrics meaningful?): 10/10
10. Timing (was the timing of the release smart?): 10/10
Total: 89/90 = 98%
The MV receives a high grade from me! It definitely is worth it. I only deducted marks from filmography due to the reasoning that some of the filming caused me to be a bit confused (so I had to rewatch it) but it honestly didn't take away from the MV that much. In fact, the black and white filming added to the feeling which the MV was emitting.
I did not add any choreography points for obvious reasons haha (so I just took the 10 marks out of the total)
The timing was perfect due to it being Christmas season and so it makes us appreciate our loved ones even more during this special time.
It left me feeling like I should work harder to show my loved ones how much I appreciate them as well and the feels I had during the MV lasted a long time after the MV had finished as well.
The lyrics are incredibly meaningful and I suggest you look at the translation of the lyrics as well as the MV. :)
It also is unique in the concept since not too many groups came out with similar concepts during this time (last group I can remember is The Ark which was a while ago). True, there are groups outside of K-pop who release similar ballads frequently but not too many K-pop groups do that.
That's it for this review!! I hope you feel the same as me and please let me know if you would like me to review any other MV (whether it is older or newer).
CLIP OF THE DAY:
with the EXO and Christmas theme, here are two clips which I love. The first one is their Christmas comeback from last year "Miracles of/in December" and the second one is from their time on A Song For You where their cover of Open Arms made me obsessed with that song
No matter how hard I study I'm constantly failing.
I don't get good grades but I'm understanding concepts.
I am surrounded by people who don't have to study in order to get good grades which brings my confidence down even further.
This year I sacrificed a lot of my time to study and avoided hanging out with friends.
I told my boyfriend I didn't want to see him often because I didn't want to chance getting distracted from my work.
I muted all my group conversations so that I wouldn't receive notifications about messages constantly.
I missed group hangouts and skating sessions because I had to stay in to study.
I posted less on youtube and instagram.
I turned off facebook unless I was asking questions in the facebook group about the content.
I went to TA office hours and professor office hours.
I went to "How to study" sessions my residence held.
I turned off my phone and hid it from myself.
I wore earplugs and studied in complete silence.
I wrote out all my notes because I know that the computer is distracting when studying.
I read all required readings before and after class, then I would pay close attention during class and have tunnel vision when it came to lectures.
I highlighted important things in my textbook and decided to make a separate notebook with those important things.
Despite all my best efforts to study... I failed.
When I have friends who complain about them getting 70s I just stay quiet because I know if they were to find out that I struggle to maintain 50s they would look at me differently.
I feel stupid around my friends who talk all the time about how hard their program is, but then they don't need to study to stay in it.
I see my friends all passing their courses with "satisfactory" grades according to them.
I am constantly told my program is the easiest because it doesn't require math or science and that it should be easiest to get 80s in, yet somehow I'm failing at that.
It's just so frustrating since I'm working like crazy and following all the advice on how to study successfully and it's just not working.
I had an early acceptance into my University because my high school didn't pride itself on grades so maintaining and 80 average there was incredibly easy.
Then I graduate high school and go to University and find I'm behind on absolutely everything because I never had to take AP courses and my level of high school academics was on a scale much lower than my peers'.
I don't know what to do.
