I bite the bullet today and dug deeper into the world of skincare. There are some pretty obessed communities out there that I've been avoiding because I knew I'd get swallowed up by all the information. Still, it's been more than a year on this journey of mine. It was time.

Yes, I finally decided to join the r/SkincareAddiction forum.

SCA is a popular subreddit that boasts a plethora of skincare information. There recommendations for every skin type and lists for "Holy Grail" products for each type. You can post pictures and discuss different conditions. The routine help section is probably the part I was most interested in. It was there that I found out a lot of the steps I was missing from my routine.

I had the basics down, but I was missing key serums and moisturizers. (Did you know your skin shouldn't feel tight after your routine? That means it's too dry!) A standard routine would look like this:

AM

• Cleanser
• Toner
• Light Serum
• Moisturizer
• Sunscreen

So job hunting is never an easy task. I mean, with my skills and experience I could enter a variety of fields... It's just that my resume competes with 2000 others every time. Too few jobs here for way too many job seekers. So after almost a year and a half without steady work, I decided to step my game up. Time to learn a new language!

As a writer and professional communicator, second languages are always a bonus on your resume. Especially since I live and hope to work in Canada, where we have a diverse population and businesses that must communicate on an international level. While I have always had a particular interest in other cultures and I've pick up a few words in Japanese, Korean, Russian and Spanish from my reading addiction...I am not fluent in anything other than English. Like most Canadians though, I studied French in school. I wish I had kept it up, but the skills I did keep allow me to read most French writing and understand the concepts. I figured that was my best bet to learn a second language since I already had a fairly good grasp of the basics.

Next I had to decide on how I wanted to learn. Should I pursue a university degree in French? Should I hire a private tutor? Should I move to France and immerse myself in the language? Well, all of those were great ideas and sounded like wonderful learning experiences...However, I am broke. First of all, student loans aren't a good idea considering I can't guarantee repayment after I graduate. As for private tutors, they charge high fees for each individual lesson. Finally, a second move abroad is not only expensive up front, but dangerous as I have no connections or people to stay with over there. With all my French fantasies quashed, I had to look elsewhere for a solution.

After hours of research, I happened to discover adult education courses. They ran at a community college in the city at night and didn't use a regular grading scale so I could learn at my own pace. They also had a low one time fee that I could afford. Each course came with a certificate of completion as well. It's perfect. I start in a few days and I can't help it... I am practicing on my own now too. My conversation is clumsy but I have the passion and drive to improve. I will get this right and be able to put French working proficiency on my resume one day.

Dana~