Skincare Routine/ How I got rid of my Acne

Hey there!

Today I'm going to share with you how I "healed" my acne.

My skin is not prefect but it's much better than it used to be (this photo is with no make-up and no photoshop =p)

Some time ago I wrote about my experience with Clarisonic brush. You can read that here and here.

Short story told, my skin started having acne.

I tried many things to get rid of it but nothing worked. I tried natural remedies and expensive products. But the acne didn't seem to go away, yes it would get better at times but it still raged pretty bad.

I don't have many photos to show you how bad it was, since I hated taking pictures and was so self-conscious about my skin. But I do have some, saved from snapchat. So, the quality isn't great.

In this photo I am wearing foundation and concealer, but as you can see it didn't help to cover the acne on my cheekbones.

(Photo from snapchat hehe). Not wearing makeup here, but snapchat camera is easing off on how bad the acne is here. It was pretty bad along my jawline, temples and even went down my neck.

I'll start off by explaining my skin type.

Being a teenager, I always had pretty dry skin, so I never had acne. Just some blemished here and there.

When I turned about 20, I guess hormones changed and I started to have oily skin. So with that, my skin started to have "trapped pores" or "texture". That's when I got an idea into my head to get rid of it and start using Clarisonic. Well if you read my Clarisonic reviews you know how that went.

Anyway, by doing some research online. I decided to give drugstore products a try.

And guess what? They worked GREAT!

My skin cleared out in a WEEK!

Here it goes, I will go in an order in which I use the products. I use this routine in the morning and at night time.

 Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash Redness Soothing Facial Cleanser

First I wash my face with this cleanser.

Neutrogena Clear Pore Cleanser/Mask

Than I wipe my face dry and put on this mask for about 5 minutes. I usually do that in summer since my skin is more oily in summer. In winter I only use it every other day or every 2 days. This stuff REALLY dries out your skin, but it will also dry out any blemishes or surface acne that yo might have. 

Neutrogena Rapid Clear 2-in-1 Fight & Fade Toner

Than I use a cotton swab to wipe my skin with a toner. Which is pretty strong (again for summer). For winter I use a toner with .5% Salicylic Acid.

Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Moisturizer / Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Correct & Cover Moisturizer in Pink Grapefruit 

Than I finish off with this moisturizer. For the day time I use the tinted moisturizer.

Equate Beauty Blemish Control Apricot Scrub

Also, once in two days I use this scrub. I originally used the St. Ives Naturally Clear Blemish and Blackhead Control Apricot Scrub, but they were out of stock in Walmart so I had to get the generic brand. I actually like this one more than the St. Ives, since it has smaller "scrubbies" lol

As you can see I still have marks and scars from acne. Which I've been trying really hard to get rid of.

I still get occasional blemishes during "that time of the month", but they go away fast when I stick to my routine.

  

Well here it is, this is pretty much how I "healed" my acne. Also you really need to be consistent with the routine and it will give results.

Thanks for reading! I hope this helps someone!

June Favorites

Hello!

Today I wanted to share with you my June favorites!

All these items are kinda all over the place, but they are beauty related.

essie: Wrap Me Up & Fashion Playground

Love these 2 nail polishes. Perfect shades for summer when you have a tan.

Rimmel Stay Matte Long Lasting Pressed Powder

I've been using this powder for a while now, but in summer it is especially perfect. Since, it controls my oily skin, which gets the worst in summer.

Blistex Medicated Lip Balm with SPF 15

My lips get very dry in summer, even worse than in winter. This one makes my lips super moist and since it has SPF 15 it has just needed protection from the sun.

Trader Joe's Aloe Vera Gel

This one if for after sun, and it works amazing for burns! But, I also use it as everyday lotion. It's very light weight, keeps tan for a while and very moisturizing. 

Trade Joe's Organic Coconut Oil

I know I know, everyone already knows all the good benefits of coconut oil. But this month I ran out of my eye makeup remover and decided to give coconut oil a try. It worked amazing! I didn't need to use a cotton swab or anything, just dip my fingers in oil and apply on my eyes. Honestly, it removes make-up better than any of makeup removers I've used. It removes completely ALL the makeup and is also good for my eyelashes.

Well I hope you liked my favorites and I'll see you in a next post!

Kylie Jenner Nude Dress Outfit Copy

Hello!

I love Kylie Jenner's style, but it is a bit too much for a regular person in everyday life. But I really did like this outfit that she was wearing, so I decided to make a more affordable copy of it.

Grocery Shopping OOTD

Blogging 3 days in a row? Whaaaaat?!!! I'm on the roll! lol

Hi everybody!

Today's post is simple outfit of the day.

I was going grocery shopping, so today's look is very casual and layed back.

Actually today is a very hot day and def too hot for a cardigan, but stores usually get so cold that I can't survive without one

Thanks for reading, I'll see you in a next post!

My fitness journey and how I lost 20 pounds...

Hello Everybody!

Today I wanted to share with you my fitness journey and how I lost 20 pounds.

I should begin by telling a little about my weight history.

Growing up I was always a very skinny child. People would point out how skinny I was and how I needed to "eat more". But I did, I ate the same as all the other kids. I was just skinny. The way I looked never bothered me because I was a very active and ate healthy, so I didn't gain weight.

I remained being skinny until I was 15, than hormones kicked in and I gained about 8 lbs, I hated it. That's when I actually started paying attention to how I looked and decided to lose weight to get back to being called "skinny" (back than I thought it was a very good thing). I started jogging every night for about 3 miles and barely ate anything.

I finally got my desirable weight, but than something "weird" happened. I kept loosing weight and I didn't understand why. I kept losing weight and got myself to pretty much being anorexic. I went from being called "skinny" to "wow you're way too skinny". But, I enjoyed being "anorexic". It's very sad to think about that right now, without realizing it I had an eating disorder and I liked it. I weighed 99 lbs with a height of 5'8".

At my smallest weight

Realization point came when jeans sized 00 were starting to be big on me and I couldn't go up the stairs without being lightheaded. I decided that I needed to gain weight asap.

Not knowing anything about healthy lifestyle or proper nutrition I decided to gain weight by eating junk. When we went out I would ordered unhealthiest dish on the menu and would try and make myself finish it all. Let myself drink lots of beer and lots of "caramel macchiatos" (hehe still love them) with LOTS of caramels and Extra cream. What do you know, I started gaining weight.

All this trying to gain weight happened around the time I got engaged. With all the wedding planning I didn't noticed how I started gaining A LOT of weight.

At my wedding and honeymoon it wasn't very noticeable by the way I looked but I noticed it by how badly in physical shape I was. After the honeymoon I decided that I needed to start going to the gym (I never worked out before) to get in better physical health. 

I went to the gym for 2 months but didn't see any results because I still had bad eating habits, so I quit thinking that it was a waist of time.

3 years have passed and I got very fed up with feeling self conscious about my body and having bad health, so I decided to do something about it.  I did lots of research on healthy life style and what all these "fit people" did to stay in such good shape.

That's when I started EATING HEALTHY, finally! 

I started seeing results instantly, my bloating went away and I started to lose weight slowly. I still didn't work out at that time, for some reason I wanted to lose weight first before I started working out lol weird

My legs look pretty much the same, except right now its all muscle instead of fat

Both photos with relaxed stomach =/

Anyway, I lost 15 lbs in about 3 months and than found Bikini Body Guide by Kayla Itsines.

I started working out by that program and lost 5 more lbs (I didn't follow her nutrition guide tho).

Than I took a break over summer and started the program again in October, 2015.

Last week I finished BBG 1 and 2 and this week I started it all over again. 

Right now I weigh 122 lbs and feel strong and healthy. I can proudly say that I have muscles (which used to be non existent before), I eat a lot and I'm in great physical shape. 

I'm not skinny anymore, I wear size 5 jeans and sometimes medium sized clothing, but I am finally very happy and confident with my body!

Still skinny arms, but in process of building more muscle

Sorry for rambling for so long, but I hope my story will help someone who might be struggling with their weight.

And please if you're not happy with your body and want to change something do it the HEALTHY way! Don't starve yourself or eat junk. 

Later on I will do a post on my diet and nutrition.

Thanks for reading!

UPDATE: Clarisonic Mia 2 Review

Guess who's backkk?! 

Hello everyone!

I'm really sorry for disappearing for so long, I promise I won't be leaving you for this long again =)

Today I wanted to share with you my experience with Clarisonic brush. I already wrote a post about my previous experience with it, you can read that here.

So, I decided to give it another chance and use it for 6 months straight and see what happens. 

I never had really bad acne or any serious skin problems. All I usually would get is small blemishes and these weird little bumps on my cheekbones, that now I know where just trapped pores.

Anyway, I started using the Clarisonic twice a day with my regular cleanser, than followed with a toner and a moisturizer.

Instantly, the next day I started breaking out. It wasn't too bad just a few blemishes here and there. So, I took a deep breath and told myself that that's what was supposed to happen and that it's taking all the gunk out of my skin and that's why my skin was breaking out.

I patiently waited (like their website said, the skin will break out from 1-3 weeks), while my skin was getting worse and worse with each day.

In this photo I'm wearing makeup and trying my best to cover up the acne, but if you look closer you can see it didn't really work since you can still see the bumps. I don't have a photo without makeup, because I was too self-conscious to take photos without it. (Excuse my t-shirt hehe). 

3 weeks later, my skin was covered with ACNE! And I mean BAD acne! It hurt and looked hideous. It got to the point where I couldn't even cover it with make-up, because I just ended up having these bumps on my face. Everyone started noticing how bad my skin has gotten and kept telling me to "do something about it".

But well my skin was that bad BECAUSE I started "doing something about it".

I didn't give up using Clarisonic and kept using it for about 3 months. My skin did not get any better, it just kept getting worse and worse and I gave up using that "device from hell" lol

I took me 5 months to clear out my skin after I stopped using Clarisonic!!! And guess what, it left me with acne scarring and marks! That I'm still trying to get rid of!

In another post I will write how I got rid of my acne and what products ACTUALLY work. 

Sorry again for being absent for so long and starting out my first post with such negative review.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies!!!

I always make chocolate chip cookies around Christmas time. With different variety of toppings, like peppermint m&m's, different kind of nuts and all sorts of Christmasy things.

 Some time ago I got this idea in my head, what if I make Autumn chocolate chip cookies? And the first thing that came to my mind was PEANUT BUTTER! 

So I searched the web and found a few recipes, and chose the one that is very similar to the cookies I usually make.

So here is how you make them:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

We will need to mix together 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter and 1/2 cup softened butter, until very creamy and there are no lumps. I used a stand mixer to do so, but you can definitely use handheld mixer or even do it with a wooden spoon.

Then add 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup brown sugar (packed), 1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla extract. And mix well with butters until creamy, on medium speed  about 1 minute.

In a separate bowl, using a whisk mix 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour, 3/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt.

Add to the creamed mixture and mix well again until you get a thick dough.

Then add 1 cup of chocolate chips of your choice (I used 1/2 cup white chocolate chips and 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips) and fold it in with a spatula.



Place parchment paper on 2 baking sheets.

Using a spoon, place 6 balls of dough on each sheet and slightly form a tidier ball with your hands. (The dough is quite thick so the chocolate chips fall out of it when you spoon them on the sheet, using your hands, sort of press them back into the dough)

Now bake for 8-9 minutes. Do not over bake them, since they still need to be chewy inside.

Take out of the oven and leave for 10 minutes to cool on the baking sheet.

Then transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

This is a pretty easy recipe but so perfect for those chilly fall evenings to enjoy with a glass of milk or a cup of hot tea.