It has been 5 months since I left Singapore, and I miss the place everyday. It has become my second home, my sanctuary for consuming my love for Japanese food, skincare and architecture photography. With being said, I still enjoy being in Yangon. I get to meet my friends so much so that my weekends are always hectic, I have a day job working my ass off and save money so that I get to meet my boyfriend.
Of course, some of them sucked for me. My boyfriend of 5 and half years and I are in long distance relationship and I enjoy every single moment that I can to spend time with him. I wish we both are free enough to spend more time but unfortunately, both of us have our own jobs and social life that we can only chat a small amount of time per day. Even while chatting, either one of us will be dozing off and my favourite time became staring at the tired boyfriend while he is dozing off.
Nonetheless, I enjoy living in Yangon, not because of my hometown, but because days are going by so fast that I want to enjoy my days being here for a bit without dwelling back to Singapore too much. Sometimes, I just wish to play games at home without socialising too much and working too much.
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Since young, I have always wanted to get outside the country. I had a kinda rough childhood that I wanted be away from the family and when I decided that I'd be leaving the country, I never looked back. Well, after 5 years of being away from the country, who would've thought I'd be back in this country for the better good. I came to Singapore 5 years ago to study my university and I even finished my Masters Degree during this half a decade. Time had passed so quickly for the past 5 years. Before I knew it, I have been packing my bags for the move.
I can't say that I'm excited to go back to Myanmar since it's only going to be a temporary to stay there before I actually figure out my life and what I want to be in life. However, I'm so excited to see my mom and spend some off time to actually chill and do nothing for a bit. I have been wanting to just chill and explore (which I haven't doing during this 1 month though) and spend some time with family and friends.
I'm excited to see what is to come for me and my future while trying to figure out who I am and what I want to do in my life. It's going to be an interesting experience for me.
If you follow me on Instagram, you would know that I did mention briefly why I didn't have time to follow my blog schedule. I have a all-weekday-blogpost which is like 5 blog posts per week. It takes quite a while to photograph and write blog posts for that.
With my blog schedule, I was also full-time studying Japanese and taking exams for that (JLPT) during the time so I chose studying over my hobbies every single time. I am currently at Advanced Japanese (JLPT N2 level) and it cause me to study a lot harder than what I used to during my basics.
Bare in mind that I started studying Japanese in March and it has only been 4 months for me to reach to Advanced class (note: even if you study full-time will not reach Advanced level within 4 months. I have skipped some levels and some I had super intensive courses that didn't happen most of the time so, the rate that I was going was unusual. You have to practice and remember a lot of vocabulary and grammar patterns while using the hiragana, katakana characters as well as kanji for the most part to reach to Advanced class.) I will talk more about my Japanese learning stuff in another blog post entirely.
Another point that was taking my time was the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test), I took part in the exam so I definitely had to study for the exam. Well, I cannot tell the results yet since they have not released yet so I will update on my Instagram when I know the results.
Another thing is, I have planned to go back to my home country (Myanmar) by end of August. So, I have been packing, culling down my possessions (which is kinda failing). If you do not know, I am living in Singapore under student visa and it is going to expire soon so I am going back to take my advanced Japanese exams and start working.
So, if you ask what I am doing currently, I am taking JLPT preparation course for JLPT N2 (second hardest exam out of JLPT) part time and I am packing while resting at home. I also have been reading a lot more and there is one thing that caught my interest these days which is gaming. I have been back to gaming whenever I have free time so other than studying, packing and reading, gaming has taken most of my free time.
So, these are the reasons why I have not been blogging these days. Please comment below to make me find some time to blog as well as please give me some ideas for new and interesting blog posts that I should make.
On a completely side note, this blogpost marks my 300 blog posts on my blog! I couldn't believe that I have been writing for so long. I will definitely continue this hobby and share what I love and what I am obsessed whether it might be skincare or makeup.
However, the boyfriend wanted something and he wanted to make use of my Sephora Black card for his purchase, we decided to go to Sephora at Ngee Ann City rather than Sephora at ION since there were much lesser people than ION.
Since I was there, I was also looking around thinking what I wanted to get and whether should I get anything at all. Finally, I decided that I would get one thing from the sale.
It was a skincare item. I have been hearing about this brand for way too long, on and offline. My friend also uses this brand and she said it is a good brand and it fits her nicely. Everyone that I follow and watch on YouTube raves about this brand and saying that the products are really good so I decided to try it.
I decided to get Fresh Soy Face Cleanser.
The photo above is the 150ml size from the brand and they also have 50ml version of the cleanser. The one that I got is the 50ml size which costs me SGD23 before the discount. The 150ml version is SGD63 and I felt like I don't want to spend SGD63 on a face cleanser that I have not yet tried.
First impression is that it does smells like cucumbers and it does not strip away the moisture from the skin. I will do a through review on this cleanser soon so make sure to come back soon!
You can get this from: Sephora SG
Follow me on Instagram at @thefacemaskjunkie for more of the face masks that I use before I review them here and @sheisreyar for more life updates.
I paid around SGD8 from Watsons for this scrub so, it is definitely budget friendly product for anyone. If you can find this product on sale, you can even get a better deal than me so, watch out for the sales.
This product claims to "polish away skin's little imperfections. It is infused with pink lemon and mandarin peel extracts, this citrusy face scrub smoothes away rough skin and evens out skin tone for positively glowing skin." This product is also made with 100% natural exfoliants and extracts, hypoallergenic, paraben-free and dermatologist tested as well as non-comedogenic. (Source: St. Ives)
Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Hydrated Silica, Sodium Methyl 2-Sulfolaurate, Glycerin, Decyl Glucoside, Acrylates/Palmeth-25 Acrylate Copolymer, Acrylates Copolymer, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Disodium 2-Sulfolaurate, Cocamidopropyl PG-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate, Fragrance (Parfum), Disodium EDTA, PPG-2 Methyl Ether, Phenethyl Alcohol, Polyacrylamide, Methylisothiazolinone, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Citrus Nobilis (Mandarin Orange) Peel Extract, Red 30 (CI 73360), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891).
I love the scent of this scrub. It smells so good. It has a tad bit of citrusy scent as well as the orange scent combined. The scrub itself is much gentler to other scrubs from the same brand like Apricot scrub from them or other scrubs from them. I used quite a few times on my face for a few months and it seemed like it will not run out so fast.
As I mentioned, the scrub itself is a finely milled grain texture that is much finer than other scrubs from St. Ives and you will feel it gently removes the dead skin from the face. Just simply wet a bit of your face and apply gently and rub in circular motion concentrating on the nose or t-zone areas or other areas that has dead skin cells. Avoid eye areas since the skin around the eyes are way gentler than the face skin and it does not required to exfoliate.
Results wise, it does remove the dead skin cells properly although it tends to strip away the moisture from the skin so people who has dry skin, beware of this product. It also leaves the skin nice and smooth while making the skin a bit brighten from the dullness from the dead skin cells.
The thing that I don't like about this and other scrubs from St. Ives is the separation of the gel and the exfoliants after you left it unused for a few weeks. I hate that it separates and the exfoliants gets harden while blocking the tube.
I haven't used the scrub for the body yet but I have been thinking of using the scrub as my body scrub to scrub my elbows and feet areas where the dead skin cells are the thickest.
Overall, I will give this 2 stars out of 5. I do not like to use this on my face but I have not tried it on my body. If it really removes the dead skin cells from my feet and elbows properly, I will properly give 4 stars since it is so budget friendly as well as easily accessible from most drugstores. I will try it on my body in my next shower and will give you an update on my Instagram so make sure to follow me on Instagram.
You can get the product from: Watsons SG, Guardians SG, NTUC/Fair Price and other stores
If you have read my other blog posts from my Etude House Sheet Mask line, you will know that I tend to prefer watery essence consistency since they tend to absorb faster and give me enough hydration. Since I saw how the other masks from this mask line performed, I had high hopes for this mask as well.
According to Etude House, this mask claimed to give enough moisture while soothe the skin.
Ingredients: Water, Glycereth-26, Dipropylene Glycol, Propanediol, Alcohol, Hydroxyethyl Urea, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, 1,2-Hexanediol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Sodium Carbomer, Allantoin, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Dehydroacetic Acid, Sodium Hyaluronate, Disodium EDTA, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Polyglyceryl-10 Laurate, Polyglyceryl-10 Myristate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Boswellia Serrata Gum, Beta-Glucan, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender), Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Oil, Geranium Maculatum Oil, Citrus Nobilis (Mandarin Orange) Oil, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Pinus Palustris Oil, Phytosteryl/Octyldodecyl Lauroyl Glutamate, Ceramide NP (Source: here)
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| Source: Skin18 |
The sheet mask material is a thin cottony type material that is thin and soft. Since it has a thin sheet mask, it is difficult to unfold with the essence after I took out from the packet. Although the sheet mask is thin, it is not easily tearable and can stretch a bit to fit your face. Once the mask is on, it won't come off that easily. The fit is like a glove on my face and I can do my housework and other stuff while wearing the mask.
The essence is the watery clear essence that is very drippy. So, make sure to be careful while you are unfolding the mask since it will drip a lot. I tend to unfold and put on the sheet mask at my sink so that it won't get messy inside my room. There is 20ml of essence in the packet. I love the fact that it still has a lot of essence leftover after I have applied the mask on the face.
As usual, I left it on my face for 20 minutes and for some reason, this mask dried out quite fast. Around 15 minutes mark, most of my T-zone area is dry already. It was such a surprise since other moist water type essence masks tend to last longer than other types of masks.
Overall, I didn't feel much difference after I removed the mask that has been on my face for 20 minutes. I felt cooling sensation throughout the mask weartime but I didn't see any difference at all. Other masks tend to give me more moisture and hydration to my face so this mask is a meh product for me. I give 3 stars out of 5 for this mask.
I got the entire line of mask during the sale for 50% off and I got all 19 types of masks. Excited to try them all and review them all!
You can get from: Etude House Singapore
Follow me on Instagram at @thefacemaskjunkie for more of the face masks that I use before I review them here and @sheisreyar for more life updates.
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| Back of the mask |
This mask has the ampoule type essence that is not too thin or not too thick. It claims to provide elasticity, firmness and give back health and alive to the original state of the skin. It also claims to give the skin natural glow to the skin.
The mask material is like not too thick or not too thin cotton material is that easy to unfold if you can find the end properly. Since the material is not too thin, it is not easy to tear which I really enjoyed but if you unfold it with strength, it will tear. Mine tear while I was unfolding today and I was really frustrated when I couldn't find the end of the mask.
The essence is also a clear watery gel like essence that is not too thin and has a slip to the touch. I really enjoyed the essence of the ampoule type since they are easy to get absorbed into the skin and can see more of results immediately. There is 20ml of essence inside the packet and there is still a lot of essence left over after I applied the mask on the face. Since it's ampoule type, it is easier to get absorbed into the skin and leave my skin nice and supple looking.
I left the mask on for 20 minutes as usual. After 20 minutes, the mask is still a bit wet although it is getting dry. But it is not as bad as the emulsion type essences since they get to become drier a lot quicker than other mask types.
My skin also felt nice, supple and moisturised and after a few hours since the essence was absorbed into the skin, my skin looked radiant and super soft to the touch. I really loved this mask and so I give this mask 4 stars out of 5.
I got the entire line of mask during the sale for 50% off and I got all 19 types of masks. Excited to try them all and review them all!
You can get from: Etude House Singapore
Follow me on Instagram at @thefacemaskjunkie for more of the face masks that I use before I review them here and @sheisreyar for more life updates.
Today, I want to make a review of the Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 DC HSM Art lens for Canon mount. If you haven't read my "Why I wanted Sigma 18-35 f1.8 DC HSM Art Lens for my Canon 70D", I did mentioned a bit that I wanted it because of this lens is the zoom lens with f1.8 constant aperture. And so, I decided to purchase it with my own money in June and I was super excited to use it!
Disclaimer: All the photos that I had below are from the Sigma lens and all are not edited, straight out of camera. Although all photos are raw files, they were exported into JPEGS for file size purposes.
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| Happy Reyar!! Right after I got the lens, I decided to make use of it in National Gallery Singapore. |
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| 1/100, f1.8, ISO 400 |
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| 1/60 sec, f1.8, ISO 320 |
Another day, I decided to try till I get sharp images and I was planning to take lots of photos for the day. I knew there will be some sharp images to get by and since I already got it, I really wanted to get some images that I really like and it would be nice to take.
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| 1/800 sec, f1.8, ISO 400 |
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| 1/1600, f1.8, ISO 400 |
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| 1/800 sec, f1.8, ISO 400 |
ANNDDDD BAM!
I knew it was coming! I had my very first sharp image. It was still at f1.8 so it is not the aperture issue. So what was the issue?
It is still hit or miss with everything about this lens. Sometimes, they are super sharp and sometimes they are not focusing at all. In some of the photos that I took, you might think that they are pretty sharp but I usually zoom into my eyes. I believe, if the rim of the eyes are sharp, then pretty much the face is sharp. Usually, I tend to focus on my face or other people's faces so, it is my logic. I know it's pretty illogical to most of the people (haha).
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| 1/1250 sec, f1.8, ISO 400 |
Another crisp sharp of the boyfriend. Even if it is at f1.8, I love the way it looks.
So back to the question of what's causing the focusing issues?
Tbh, I have no idea. The most closest experience I have with my lens and my camera is that whenever I use the back screen instead of viewfinder and have my focus tapped on the face of the person, it's a tad sharper than using the viewfinder and take a snap. Although there is no certain that this way is what making the lens not focusing properly. Since in some cases, even the back screen focus is not focusing properly and some of the photos that I took with the viewfinder is sharp.
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| 1/1000 sec, f1.8, ISO 400 |
Of course, the distance of the lens plays a huge role in making the shots buttery smooth and creamy af. But of course, I love the fact that it is zoom lens with a constant aperture of f1.8.
Overall, on that day, I was kinda satisfied that I got a few shots that I liked from the photo shoot but it's still not the standard that I would like this lens to perform since I paid too much money for it. I wanted this lens to work for me most of the time I use it without failure and it is because my SGD 50mm f1.8 performed so well that it wouldn't make it justice for me to spend 1k on one lens.
Another day, I went for taking photos on Tuas side of the country, I brought this lens to test out again. On this day, I actually got a few shots that I really loved and here's the Instagram post of it.
However, I tried using this lens for headshots and they are always somewhat blurry. I never get somewhat decent photos of me.
As usual, I tried with an aperture of f1.8 since I was that nice creamy bokeh. But it still won't focus properly whenever I tried to use viewfinder and this photo below is somewhat of a result that I get every single time.
Another shot that I really enjoyed using the Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 lens. At that time, I put at 35mm with back screen turned on and tapped on my face to track my face. It was at f1.8 and around 1/400 sec since it was quite bright in the afternoon.
Then I used it on and off but the lens didn't make a chance to come out since I got assignments and my MBA stuff going on and I hated the fact that it was super bulky and heavy to bring my camera out. I could not fit the camera to my bag unless I bring my backpack and it was really heavy on my bag. Moreover, the lens was not weather resistant so whenever it rained, I didn't want to bring outside my 1k camera.
In the above photo, the lens handle well and gave me a sharp image even though Marcus used the viewfinder and took a shot of me. It was at f1.8. I still use it nonetheless and this time round, I use it more often since I knew the success rate of getting very sharp images are low so I take more.
Then again, my final results came. Life got easier and I didn't had a chance to go out and shoot. But, in January 2018, after my finals, we decided that we will be travelling to Japan. I decided that I will only bring 2 lens. My 50mm f1.8 and the Sigma 18-35mm f1.8. I knew the success rate is quite low but I am willing to give a chance.
The catch is that I let my boyfriend handle the canon with the sigma lens on while I take mainly with the Fujifilm. To my surprise, the photos that the bf took were really good and really sharp. The photo below is the sample image of me taking photo.
After I came back from Japan, I went several trips by myself so I asked my boyfriend whether I could bring his camera to shoot with it. So, after that, I rarely use canon.
Around my birthday, my boyfriend gave me a Fujifilm camera as my birthday gift since I was too impressed by the system and the quality it gave. I only use Canon for my YouTube filming since the video capabilities of the Canon is still much better than that of Fuji.
Today, while I was writing this blogpost, I wanted some affirmation whether the lens still has the focusing problem or whether it has been fixed by itself. So, I tried taking from the dark to my room to see a big contrast and lines to see the sharpness clearly.
The results were that it still has the issues. The door is out of focus and not sharp at all. Although you will say I had the ISO of 3200 and the 1/30 of a second so it might be from unsteady hands. To my defence, I used a tripod and I used the timer so that my hands won't affect the sharpness of the lens.
The two photos below is a comparison that I made with the Fujifilm lens the Sigma lens. Bare in mind that I got my Canon taking raw files and now I mainly shoot in JPGs for smaller photo size.
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| 1/1000 sec, f1.8, ISO 400 |
Another day, I went for taking photos on Tuas side of the country, I brought this lens to test out again. On this day, I actually got a few shots that I really loved and here's the Instagram post of it.
However, I tried using this lens for headshots and they are always somewhat blurry. I never get somewhat decent photos of me.
As usual, I tried with an aperture of f1.8 since I was that nice creamy bokeh. But it still won't focus properly whenever I tried to use viewfinder and this photo below is somewhat of a result that I get every single time.
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| 1/500 sec, f1.8, ISO 400 |
Then I used it on and off but the lens didn't make a chance to come out since I got assignments and my MBA stuff going on and I hated the fact that it was super bulky and heavy to bring my camera out. I could not fit the camera to my bag unless I bring my backpack and it was really heavy on my bag. Moreover, the lens was not weather resistant so whenever it rained, I didn't want to bring outside my 1k camera.
I did shot a short film with this lens but there were no colour correction, no stabilization and shot hand held. It came out decent but I would like to make it a bit more cinematic in the future if I have the time to do short films again.
And here comes the AFA 2017. I was really pumped to take lots of photos from the cosplayers and guess who's back?! The focusing issue! It was really annoying and make my photos not focused properly.
Around november of 2017, my boyfriend said he wanted to get a camera for his own use and asked me which camera brands or camera is good for him. His requirements were that it has to be small and lightweight, somewhat of a new model (at most 1-2 years from release date) and he wants it sharp.
Since he was the one behind the camera whenever he takes a photo of me so he knew how difficult it is to get a sharp image from the 18-35 lens from Sigma. So when he decided to purchase the Fujifilm X-T20 as I recommended him, we went and tried it in stores.
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| Shot on Fujifilm X-T20 at 1/60 sec, f2.8, ISO 500 |
The photo above was the one Marcus (my bf) took inside the store and he was sold. There were no delay at all and he fell in love with the electronic shutter and the sharpness of the Fujifilm lenses. He bought it on spot and we decided that we should go and use the camera the next day.
And the photo below is at Gardens by the Bay (again!) where I was testing out the camera and amazed on how well the camera handles and how light and small the camera is. (Well, this is not a camera review of the Fuji but if you want to hear from me, let me know!)
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| 1/160 sec, f1.8, ISO 100 |
Then again, my final results came. Life got easier and I didn't had a chance to go out and shoot. But, in January 2018, after my finals, we decided that we will be travelling to Japan. I decided that I will only bring 2 lens. My 50mm f1.8 and the Sigma 18-35mm f1.8. I knew the success rate is quite low but I am willing to give a chance.
The catch is that I let my boyfriend handle the canon with the sigma lens on while I take mainly with the Fujifilm. To my surprise, the photos that the bf took were really good and really sharp. The photo below is the sample image of me taking photo.
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| 1/250 sec, f1.8, ISO 100 January 2018 in Tokyo |
Around my birthday, my boyfriend gave me a Fujifilm camera as my birthday gift since I was too impressed by the system and the quality it gave. I only use Canon for my YouTube filming since the video capabilities of the Canon is still much better than that of Fuji.
Today, while I was writing this blogpost, I wanted some affirmation whether the lens still has the focusing problem or whether it has been fixed by itself. So, I tried taking from the dark to my room to see a big contrast and lines to see the sharpness clearly.
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| 1/30 sec, f1.8, ISO 3200 |
The two photos below is a comparison that I made with the Fujifilm lens the Sigma lens. Bare in mind that I got my Canon taking raw files and now I mainly shoot in JPGs for smaller photo size.
So, let's do a pro and cons for this lens.
Pros:
- When in focus, super sharp
- 18mm f1.8
- zoomable range that is constant at f1.8
- nice and heavy for steady video movements
- super durable build quality
- nice smooth zoom ring and manual focus ring
Cons:
- PRICE!
- size and weight
- focusing issues
- not weather sealed
- no optical stabilization
- ugly chromatic aberrations (although can be fixed in post)
Whether I would buy again - if the focusing issues have been fixed, I don't mind getting the lens used. Paying for full price will be the death of me and my wallet.
The reason why I said whether I would buy again is that I will be selling this lens soon. I love this lens even though it's annoyingly frustrating to shoot. I love the feel of it, the weight of it and it's super sharp when it is in focus.
So, I will be making another post about why I am selling the lens soon. Stay tuned!!
Extended reading: Why I wanted Sigma 18-35 f1.8 DC HSM Art Lens for my Canon 70D
Despite the price factor that this lens being more than a SGD1,000 lens, everything else seems so interesting. I fell in love with the aperture of f1.8 on my canon 50mm f1.8 STM lens so when I saw that Sigma 18-35 has an aperture of f1.8, I knew that it would be something I would definitely like to get.
Come on, it's a zoom lens with f1.8!
I love my 50mm f1.8 but on my Canon 70D, it become like 80+mm lens and it's not nice to shoot videos in my small room or take product photography at all! At that time, I was really into landscape photography and every reviews or sample photos or even professional photos that are taken from Sigma 18-35 is so damn sharp!
So, I saved up money and decided to get the lens. I will do a review in my next post so stay tuned!
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