I almost don’t have the guts to crawl back into blog writing. Let’s do a recap of the year that technically didn’t happen. Warning, photos are unedited, it maybe triggering.

Insane adult break out, painful deep liaison acne

Wow, they were painful! My face was literally burning all the time and I was struggling to sleep. It has to be aging or something. They just flared up like hives. I was totally flabbergasted that I get pimples at my age.

The craziest part was when I did share bare face photos on IG, many replied by saying that I was brave lol. It’s just acne, no courage or effort needed. For instance, in the same logic, doesn’t it take courage for people who edit/filter their photos to meet people in real life? Why don’t people not call them brave?

Arn’t nobody need courage to show some pimples, ok. They’re just pimples.

I tried a bunch of different remedies and skincare. The most effective by far was just taking zinc supplement and use some salicylic products. Problem solved. Well, mostly solved, I still get the occasional breakout, but they’re not painful ones any more. I am already super happy.

Besides, unless I have a lot discolouration on my face, how can I show off my “magical” makeup skills? lol

Men don’t like to shower amplified during the lockdown

Given that I only went out every 14 -21 days during the lockdown. I did my grocery with vigour. lol. Shower, body scrub, shave, makeup, hair, nails, parfum etc. The only thing that I didn’t do was false lashes. I think I put in more effort than I did for my matric dance (senior year prom).

However, many men in my neighbourhood evidently did not share my enthusiasm. Many looked and smell like they have been living on a deserted island for months. Did I mention the semi-homeless odour? We’re in Paris, the capital for goodness sake. What’s up with the lack of personal hygiene? Normally, I can’t smell anything when I wear a mask, but these guys must have been saving water by NOT washing themselves for days. I was technically saved by the mask, can you imagine having a just a whiff without one?

Sunscreen empties going no where

Hi, my name is Joyce and I am a hoarder. That’s right, I still went through 10+ bottles of sunscreen per year during the pandemic / lockdown. I intended to do a sunscreen review thing again, but never did it. Voila, here I am with a bunch of trash at home.

Admit defeat with my guasha stone side hustle

I simply cannot deal with the type of BS marketing that’s people are putting out. For the last time, stop using the guasha stone on your face. “Effective” guasha session means releasing “sha” aka red dots. Does anyone want red dot on their face? I think not.

Yes, my https://joyceb.fr site is still around, but I haven’t updated it or anything. Literally will only sell to people that I know now. There is a fine line between selling a good pitch vs selling BS lies. I don’t want to cross that line, so I admit defeat and called it a day.

Missed out on an important friend’s wedding

The pandemic was just earth shattering. Enough said.

Picnic indoor

Yup, that’s right. During the lockdown, hubby and I came up with indoor picnic. Full effort: the picnic mat on the floor. We have no balcony, this was sheer desperation. We enjoyed it nonetheless.

I was clearly tipsy when I took the photo. There were 7, but all are off focus. Picnic at home in Paris, July 2020 #covid19

Scored my first ever A grade in a language exam

Average 18/20 for my French at university, I wanted to cry from disbelief. That’s 90%! French is my 6th language that I learn at a formal institution. Never in my life have I ever scored beyond a C for any other language. I am still living my OMG moment.

Note to myself: Demon be gone to those teachers who told me multiple times that I have no linguistic talent. Disparaging comment that I never forget. What kind of educator say that to a teenage student?

Rise of Kingdom addiction (mobile game)

Do not start playing this game! It is sooooo addictive. I started playing ROK when the lockdown started… I am still playing it religiously. I have alarms and chat app just to play ROK. It is an all immersive community / strategy gaming experience. Like we have “townhall” meetings, officer rotation, spreadsheet, statistics and “elections” etc. Thinking back, I woke up at 3h00 to participate in a group battle while listening to vocal instruction from our warlord…

Currently, I am rehabilitating myself by decreasing gaming time.

Kimono project

Had so many train smashes already. I am amazed that I haven’t given up yet. Catastrophe number 1, when I started, Japan closed its borders, the kimono cannot be imported. Er… that was… What’s a kimono project going to do without the kimono? lol

Decided to not sit and to mope about a problem that is out of my control, so I started Kikitaru by making and selling Japanese fabric goods. Zero factory involved. I made everything from my lounge. What is hilarious was that many of my ex-colleagues and suppliers who have known me for over 10+ years only realised that I can sew and make paper patterns recently lol.

Straight out of the lockdown, I did some artisan markets and now in the middle of an application to open up a physical boutique in central Paris. Fingers crossed that all goes well. I must say that I am very proud of how far I have came with this project. https://www.kikitaru.com

…. That’s way more words that I anticipated. I will stop here. So yes, many things have happened. How about you? Anything major during these lost years?

Film photo taken by Patrick Colpron, his instagram is: @patrickcolpron

Author

Salut, I am Joyce. 40 something living in Paris. Appreciate little things and share giggles. Prudent, no nonsense reviews. #ExploreLaughRepeat

467 Comments

  1. 마사지 받으면서 잠들었을 만큼 편안했어요. 스트레스가 싹 사라지는 느낌입니다,

  2. 지친 일상에 활력을 불어넣어 줄 여성 전용 마사지, 여기는 정말 진정한 휴식처예요. 친구와 함께 와도 너무 좋을 것 같아요,

  3. Бесплатные аналитика ставок от LiveSport.Ru — ваш ключ к выигрышным пари

    Нужен проверенный сервис для достоверных и бесплатных спортивных предсказаний? Попали в нужное место! На LiveSport.Ru выкладывается обоснованные, опытные и обдуманные советы, которые помогут как профессионалам, так и новичкам оформлять более обоснованные спортивные ставки.

    Каждый предсказания формируются на базе досконального изучения статистики, свежих сообщений из команд, их текущей формы, предыдущих столкновений и экспертного мнения специалистов сайта. Не даем случайные догадки — только «твердые» рекомендации, построенные на данных и детальном анализе игр.

    Сайт регулярно пополняется свежими материалами. Отыщете бесплатные предсказания на текущий день, на следующий день и на перспективу. Это превращает LiveSport.Ru полезным сервисом для пользователей, кто хочет следить за спортивными событиями и ставить осознанно.

    Рассматриваем разнообразие видов спорта, включая:

    Футбольные игры — в том числе прогнозы на крупнейшие турниры, такие как чемпионат мира 2026 года.
    Хоккей — обзоры по топ-встречам и чемпионатам.
    Боксерские матчи — предсказания на титульные встречи.
    И многие другие дисциплины.
    Предоставляемые предсказания — не угадывания, а продукт профессиональной деятельности специалистов, которые рассматривают все нюансы будущих игр. Благодаря этому вы получаете максимум информации для выбора ставки при спортивных заключениях.

    Открывайте LiveSport.Ru постоянно и применяйте новыми прогнозами, которые посодействуют вашему успеху повысить перспективы выигрыша в сфере ставок на спорт.

  4. 여성들을 위한 세심한 배려가 돋보이는 곳, 강력 추천합니다. 분위기도 너무 좋고, 마사지 실력도 최고예요,

  5. 마사지 받고 나면 활력이 충전되는 느낌이에요. 지친 일상 속 작은 행복을 누려보세요,

  6. Attractive component to content. I simply stumbled upon your site and in accession capital to say that I acquire in fact loved account your weblog posts. Anyway I will be subscribing on your feeds or even I achievement you access persistently quickly.

Write A Comment