Hey everyone!
How are you doing?
It's Aileen of Lavendaire.
So today I'm going to do my May highlights, lessons, and favorites video.
And this time I'm going to keep the highlights and lessons section short because I have a lot of favorites.
So the highlight – THE highlight – of the month of May was the Taylor Swift Reputation tour.
This was my first time seeing Taylor Swift live and it was one of the best nights of my life.
I went with my boyfriend Wilson and I wish that I went with a group of girlfriends,
because I think it would've been 10x more fun with a bunch of girls singing together.
But it was just me, singing at the top of my lungs, dancing, having so much for at her show.
And I know I said last time that Beyonce at Coachella was amazing – which it was –
but I think I just enjoy Taylor so much more because I know all of the lyrics to all of her songs,
so it was just a blast.
Moving on, one of the lessons I learned this month was from connecting with a lot of different creatives.
So I had different shoots with different people this month.
So I had a shoot with my friends at Steezy, which you'll see that video coming out soon.
A shoot with LEAFtv and I just today came back from a podcast shoot
with the director of the Minimalism film, Matt.
I think just collaborating with more creatives this month and getting to talk to everyone,
I realize that when you're working by yourself, you feel like you're struggling on your own
and you're trying so hard to figure things out, but it's just a struggle in general.
But I think connecting with other creatives reminded me that everybody else out there
is just trying to figure it out too.
Nobody has all the answers, nobody feels like they have it together and everybody's just trying to do it.
And they're just doing their best, putting in the work.
Part of the journey is just learning to figure it out and embracing the fact
that you don't have all the answers and you're not doing everything completely right.
You're really just learning as you go,
and so that's what I was just reminded: that everybody's learning as we go.
And the more important thing is not to do everything right, but it's to just show up.
I realize that half of success is showing up.
It's better to be showing up and taking that action
than just spending a long time trying to figure it out in your head,
because you're not gonna figure it out by yourself just sitting there without doing anything.
You figure it out as you go, and even though it's not perfect,
you somehow find out how to get projects done and move past it.
So basically, embrace the journey, embrace uncertainty, and remember that we're all in this together.
We're all doing our best.
We're all figuring it out as we go, and that's totally okay.
Alright, moving onto my favorites from the month of May.
I'll start with skincare, then I'll move onto the digital favorites.
So my favorite of the month – these are equally favorite.
So I have an eye cream and this jet lag mask.
So I'll show you the eye cream first.
This is by the Korean brand Sulwhasoo.
Don't know if I pronounced it right at all,
but I bought this at the airport on the way back from Shanghai.
The lady at the counter just told me that this is their most popular eye cream,
because I've been wanting to try out this Korean brand.
It is a little bit more high end.
So this eye cream is made of ginseng, which is a root,
and it's used a lot in Asian medicines and foods.
And I'm a believer of ginseng.
I'm sure it has a lot of benefits, which I'll list down below with some links.
But what I love about this eye cream is its firm and rich texture.
It's just the perfect eye cream texture and I've been really loving it.
So the next skincare favorite is the Summer Fridays Jet Lag Mask.
I've been trying to get my hands on this product for a while.
It was sold out on Sephora.
So it's by Marianna Hewitt and this other lady that I don't really know.
I just follow Marianna, and basically my friend Karen is Marianna's photographer.
And I went to visit Karen the other day at her studio, and she's so kind.
She had an extra tube and she gave it to me!
So I'm so excited to try it.
So my favorite thing about this mask is how nourishing and moisturizing it is.
I love thick, moisturizing products.
What I do is: After my entire skincare routine,
I will use this mask as kind of like a sleeping mask, to lock everything in my skin.
And then I sleep with it.
In the morning, I'll wipe it off or rinse it off.
But yeah, loving it.
Alright, next: The TV show that I've been obsessed with
for the past couple weeks has been Terrace House, the new season,
because part 2 just came out and I literally just watched all of it in two days.
So it's very good, I just couldn't stop watching it.
I really enjoyed it.
And I know I've talked about Hyori's Bed & Breakfast in so many videos.
But just an update for you guys who have started watching that channel,
I've discovered that the Korean version of that show is different from the Netflix version in that,
in the Netflix version, they change up the music and they'll cut out some scenes,
because those scenes have music in them.
So I know that when media goes out to American audiences,
music rights are such an issue so they'll have to change out the songs.
So sometimes in the Korean version, when one of the characters is singing a song,
there's a real scene about it.
They'll cut that scene out on Netflix and not show it.
I discovered this because we have an app called RSS Player on iPad
where you can watch a lot of Asian dramas and shows.
I was just curious to see how the Korean version was different from the American version,
and yeah, the Korean version just has more scenes.
And now I feel like if I watch the Netflix version, I'm missing out on stuff.
I'm missing out on some fun scenes.
So just an FYI for you guys out there.
My next favorite is also inspired by Hyori,
because I saw that they have a bluetooth mic and were singing karaoke.
And you guys know how much I love to sing.
If you follow my Instagram, I posted about this,
that I just all of a sudden felt like making a karaoke playlist on YouTube,
just putting in my favorite songs to sing on karaoke and just casting it on my TV at home,
so that way I could just sing karaoke at home.
And I literally just ordered these bluetooth mics.
I ordered two so I could invite people over to sing,
and that's just what I'm currently excited about right now.
Lastly are my favorites in music.
I kind of just went back to listen to Lana Del Rey and Amy Winehouse songs.
I love those two artists, and I was just feeling those vibes.
My favorite Lana Del Rey: Born to Die is my favorite song, and it just feels so classic, American.
I don't know, I just love her vibes.
And Amy Winehouse, my favorite songs to listen to right now are
Stronger Than Me and You Sent me Flying.
Those are my two favorite songs to sing by Amy of all time.
So those are not new songs, but just songs that I've rediscovered and I'm listening to again on my playlist.
If you want to hear more of my Spotify playlist, I'll post the link to my current favorite playlist right now.
Alright, those are my favorites for the month of May.
And now I want to make an announcement:
Starting next week, I'm going to be kicking off a Dream Life series on this channel,
meaning that it's going to be a special series for the month of June
where I'm going to lead you guys though the path of creating your dream life.
It's going to be in a chronological order thing, starting from clarifying your dream,
to planning it, to executing it, and all the obstacles that you'll face along the way,
how to overcome that.
And I'll talk more about it when I come out with the first video next week.
But just a heads up to keep an eye out for the videos coming out next week,
and just know that they will be in some sort of order.
So I'll just test out having that theme for the month of June.
And I know it'll be good since a lot of you are graduating or will graduate soon,
so it's going to be an exciting time for everybody.
Alright, that's it for now.
I'll see you guys soon.
Bye!