Thank you google for these cute photos!

So I know in Brunei, the results for the GCE 'O' Level and 'A' Level were out last Saturday and of course there were mixed emotions regarding to this - some were happy but some were otherwise. It took a while for the results to be out too and I know the anxious feeling waiting for your results especially when you've worked hard for it (or because you know you didn't do well) but regardless, waiting for results is energy draining.

To the lot that received amazing results, congratulations to you guys! I’m sure you guys worked your bums off for that and I am genuinely happy for the outcome. Although, to those who didn’t score as well as they hoped – here I am telling you that, this is not the end of the world. We all know how hard you worked but still get the same results? It’s heart breaking but hey, giving up is not an option. If you think that I don’t know what you must be going through then you are wrong.

During my A Levels, I yolo-ed and took subjects that I didn’t have backgrounds at; they were Business Studies and even worse, Accounting. I took Geography and Malay Literature as my optional subjects in high school and for me to jump to the business world; well, all of it were alien to me. I still remembered the day we had to choose subjects for A Level, we were asked to go around and ask for permission from the head of department (or the teachers available that time) of our preferred subjects if we can take the subjects or not.

The Business Studies teacher was kind enough to cut me some slack despite me not knowing anything about business then but the Accounting teacher almost didn’t give me the slot as she said it would be too hard for me and she doesn’t think I’ll be able to do it. I know her intentions were good but what she said made me want to prove everything wrong, even I, someone who doesn’t know anything in accounting, can do it.

The first few months of studying Business Studies and Accounting were awful – I spent my break and lunch time studying and revising for the two subjects. I even texted my friend almost every night to help me with accounting and I’m sure she got really annoyed hehe. All my classmates were very helpful too!

Fast forward to AS exam in June; I was devastated to see bad results for both Business Studies and Accounting after studying my bum off. I almost gave up but as I said, giving up is never an option for me, regardless in anything. So I kept studying, revising, and revising again day by day; I even went to tuition classes for accounting just for the extra revision. My tutor gave me A LOT of past year papers to study/revise from. I don’t remember going out as often when it was close to the exam dates BUT I’d like to advise all of you, please take a day or two to breathe from all your studying, you’ll thank yourself for it.

Anyhow, come results day, I was utterly shocked seeing my results especially in Accounting. It jumped from an E for June AS to a B for my A-Level. Yep, I’m not even kidding. (Note: This is not me bragging, it is merely a statement).

The point is, I want to tell everyone who is currently demotivated due to their results last week, to not give up, ever! I want everyone to keep working hard and giving it their best. It may be hard now but once it’s over, I want you to not have any regrets despite the results. I want at the end of the day, even if it’s not the result you want, you’d go “Well that’s ok, I tried, maybe it’s just not for me” than to say “I regret not studying hard enough!”. 

This might be cliché but nothing is impossible; you still have time to work for it, you still have time to push your grades up. Don’t let your results now demotivate you and please, please don’t compare yourself to others. I know it’s hard not to but it’ll just make you feel crappy and we don’t want that. Aspire to be like them instead of being bitter that they got amazing results. Make them as your motivation instead; if they can do it, you can too!

I know this is somewhat a long post but please don’t give up. It breaks my heart to know that every one of you, who has the potential to go far is giving up NOW because of these results. These results don’t determine your intelligence, remember that too. The world is big; it’ll find a place for all of us. So please keep working hard and do it at your own pace. As Liyana’s post last time, you do you. Don’t let anyone or anything demotivate you, everyone has a bright future ahead of them if you strive hard enough.

I wish you all the best for the future. Not just for the ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level students but to each and every one of you. Don’t give up easily, life is hard, life sucks, we all know that but dance in the rain instead of waiting for it to pass. The feeling of seeing the rainbow at the end is truly indescribable, it’ll be worth it guys.

Well that was a long break! Apologies for the lack of updates guys!

As promised to I (Thank you for requesting), I’d be sharing my updated skin care routine with you guys. Before I start though, I have uploaded a skin care routine post before and there isn’t much difference than the previous ones but there are a couple of items that I stopped using and recently purchased.

For cleanser, I am still using the Foam Cleanser Moisture_EX from Laniege. I am not as brave as I was on trying out new cleansers. Because one time, I tried a cleanser from Neutrogena and it gave me breakouts, on my whole face! You can’t imagine how stressful it was. Though that product might be suitable for other people but it wasn’t for me so I went for Laniege and it really helped me clear all the breakouts and I figured to just stick to this one. 

Like the cleanser, I am still using the same toner as before – Trouble Relief Toner from Laniege as well. I quite like this toner, it doesn’t dry my face and I’d always feel refreshed after using it. I’m actually not finished with my first bottle though that’s why I have still been using it, otherwise I’d purchase the toner I had before this, which was Power Essential Skin Refiner also from Laniege. I purchased the other one because the sales lady recommended it to me but once I run out of this toner, I’d probably buy the previous one. Not that it’s not good but I just feel the Power Essential Skin Refiner works better. 

Now as for moisturizer, I know that I have been saying that the Green Tea Balancing Cream from Innisfree is my holy grail product but I changed to a new one from Laneige. You can see how crazy I am over Laneige products! Though I changed it mainly because I was lazy to purchase the moisturizer online as you can’t find them here in Brunei so I decided to settle with something that I can easily purchase. Now I’m using the Water Bank Essence_EX from Laniege. I have been using it for a couple of months and I quite like this product, it keeps my skin hydrated, which is I want from a moisturizer (of course) as my face has been crazy dry lately. 

Honestly, those three products are the only ones I have been using everyday, both day and night! But I know that in my previous skin care routine post I have mentioned two other products; Milky Dress Soothing Blushed Skin Serum and the night cream from Good Virtues CO. Though sadly, I have stopped using both and that’s because I don’t see any improvements in my skin when using those products so I just stopped using them completely. It didn’t give me breakouts of anything but I just see no difference. (Too bad). 

I do however often use night masks now but the masks I use are from different brands. I sometimes use the ones from Innisfree, Faceshop monstly and also the ones from Laniege. It’s clear that the brand I trust the most for my skin is Laniege and I can honestly say, I don’t think I’d want to change to other brands (for now, we’ll see). 

If you have any product that you have recently purchased or about to, let me know, as I might have tried them before and I’d love to give you my reviews on them! Till next time guys.

Sabrina