So back in July, I posted a blog about my story with Acne and being on Roaccutane and I was and still am overwhelmed with the incredible response I received from that blog post. Honestly, I was so scared to post that blog but all the love and support I received made me so happy I did. I have found people, just like me suffering from acne, messaging me asking questions about everything from the tablet to my beauty routine. So I decided to update you all on my progress.
I finished Roaccutane in November and I won’t lie, I was petrified to finish it. But thankfully, my skin has continued to improve daily. I still have scars from my acne but my dermatologist did say that they would take much longer to fade.
My diet, lifestyle and beauty routine are very important to maintaining my acne free skin at the moment. The most important thing (well for me anyway!) is making sure I drink plenty of water. I aim to drink 2 litres everyday, if not more. I can notice the difference in my skin straight away if I don’t drink enough water in one day. When it comes to diet, I have started making sure I eat more fruit and vegetables and less processed foods. Then there is my beauty routine, and I will admit, there is sometimes I just use a baby wipe to take off my makeup when I am tired or lazy (or drunk!) but it is so important to take off your makeup with a proper makeup remover. The one I use which I find so gentle on my skin is Coconut Oil with a muslin cloth. It leaves my face so soft and doesn’t cause any damage. I use Bio Oil every morning to help reduce my scars and Liz Earle Superskin Concentrate every night to reduce the redness. I use a moisturizer morning and night, which is The Body Shop Vitamin E Intense Moisture Cream.
I have gotten one or two little spots since finishing, due to being emotional or stressed but good old Sudacream before bed clears them up.
Just so you can see the difference, here is a picture of me before starting Roaccutane.
And here are pictures of my skin now! Just a few scars and a little redness!
It’s hard to believe the transformation that Roaccutane has done for me. It feels great not being in pain with my acne and I am even confident now to leave the house with no makeup on! I am so much happier in myself now!
Thank you once again for all your lovely and encouraging comments on my original post in July. You have no idea how much it means to me ❤
Acne, it’s something almost everybody gets whether you are a puberty stricken teen or get the occasional adult acne (unless you are one of those perfectly spotless people who have never or will never get any kind of spot.. I’m not bitter at all!)
I got acne when I was 11 years old and I had no clue how to treat it. I was still a child and had very little knowledge about makeup and the whole beauty routine. Young teen girls nowadays have it so much easier! I struggled with makeup for a long time, it wasn’t until 3rd year when I figured out more about it! I didn’t know what shade to use or how to apply it or what was good and bad for my skin! I hated having acne. I know everyone hates having acne but I hated myself for having acne. Because I was clueless and my mum never had acne, I didn’t know what to do. I was using all the creams and lotions the shops had to offer but nothing worked. Some even made it worse. I got so insecure about it when I started secondary school because all the other girls seemed flawless. Not a spot or scar in site. I use to get so upset with my face that sometimes I would scratch it hoping that if it bled, it would go away quicker. But it only made me scar. And badly!
I would NEVER leave the house without makeup. I think since I was 11 up until this year, I have left the house about 10 times without makeup, when I was going to hospital for operations or going for acupuncture. Other than that, I wore makeup everyday. Even when I never left the house sometimes. I just hated looking in the mirror and hating my face. Now that I’m more knowledgeable with acne, I’ve learned I just didn’t get spots! I suffer from whiteheads, pustules, cysts and rosacea. All at the same time. Google them, but be warned, so of the images aren’t nice!
This is what it was like with no makeup in the morning at it’s worse. My face was even swollen because of the acne. As much as I hate looking at this, I wanted to keep it to show what I looked like.
I thought that I would grow out of it. So when I turned 21, I was like ‘Oh it will start to get better now!’. WRONG! It got worse, so much worse. In March this year, it was the worse it has ever been. I was in so much pain with it, I couldn’t sleep or make any facial expressions. My face would bleed at night time. I had cysts on my face. It was horrible. One night, I went to the stables with Sarah, Susan and Laura and I felt so crap all night and of course drinking got the little voice in my head saying all these horrible things and I ran home crying and locked myself in my room. I had one of the worst panic/anxiety attacks I have ever had that night. I do know why my acne got so bad. In January, I went to see a dermatologist. She put me on two tablets, one to produce acne to get it all out of my system and then Roaccutane. I was on the the first tablet a month before I could take the Roaccutane and that is why my skin got so bad. Timing couldn’t have been worse as I had a Ball in that time and my confidence was so low, I questioned not going to the Ball at all (I had even bought a Moschino dress for it!!!) I just hated the way I looked, no amount of makeup could cover up my acne. Of course photos were taken and I absolutely hated how I looked. The photo below is the one that made me cry when I saw it.
I HATE THIS PHOTO OF MYSELF SO MUCH! It took a lot to actually add this to my blog! Although, Sarah always makes me laugh in this!!
Roaccutane has been the best thing ever for my skin. Within two days of being on it, my acne cleared up! It is very strong. I am on 6omg a day. Oh and I can’t drink alcohol! I haven’t drank in nearly 16 weeks and I am fine with that because my skin is FINALLY almost cleared!! I have to watch my weight also as it can affect my heart. The main two things that is hard to cope with at times is that my lips are severely dry 99.9% of the time and bleed also. My skin is very dry too. But it’s fine, it is worth the little bit of suffering! Below you can see the whole transformation from March until July. I think I have one more month on the tablet and I am very happy with the results so far. I feel more confident not wearing make up and have left the house comfortably with out makeup. I know I will have scars but I can receive laser treatment after to clear that up.
This was two days on the tablet (I know I am wearing makeup!) You can see the cysts have calmed down!
Again, I know I am wearing makeup but you can clearly see my skin has cleared up so much after being on Roaccutane for three weeks
This was 2 months on Roaccutane. A little red but that is one of the side effects also.
I took this photo on the 14th of July, a little over 5 months on Roaccutane. Still a little red and I have scars but a little laser treatment will clear that.
Beauty routine is a very important part of my skin clearing up also. It’s only in the last two years that I have taken this very seriously. Like I mentioned earlier, I have tried every product you can think of from Ireland, England and America! But I have finally found a few products that are my favourites and the are pictured below!!
I wear facial sunscreen 365 days a year! But I have to be extra careful with the Roaccutane tablet in the sun!
Moisturizing is a huge part in a beauty routine. I LOVE this Vitamin E Moisture Cream
Days when I don’t wear makeup, I use this Vitamin C moisturizer. It helps give your face a sun kissed glow and helps bring back a tired face to life !
I use this to remove my makeup or excess makeup that my other remover might miss! It helps calm down the redness also!
I love this Estee Lauder makeup remover! It removes makeup instantly!
I only started using this in June as you can only get it in England. It helps reduce redness and scars! It works, trust me!!
All my beauty products are high end and expensive as the cheaper products just make my skin worse. If you want to know prices, leave a comment!
Acne did heavily affect my confidence throughout my teenage years, like I mentioned earlier, I hated the way I looked. Now I am not saying I am now Beyonce beautiful (I’ll never think that!) but I feel so much more confident in who I am in my own skin. I don’t have to worry if people are staring at my skin rather than paying attention to what I’m talking about. I don’t have to worry about hearing people talk about how bad my skin is on the bus or train or in shops or even when they pass me in the street. You can see it when I smile, there is a bit of life behind my eyes again.
It’s taken me a lot of courage to post this blog. Please understand that. I have shared photos I hate of my skin. I have opened myself up to you and the internet to my biggest insecurity.
It is very hard to believe it is May already. I honestly can’t keep up with how fast the year is flying by. In less than a month, I will no longer be on Co-Op with ILOVELIMERICK and I won’t be a Second Year student! 😮
I currently should be sleeping but I can’t sleep at the moment, I don’t want to say too much at the moment but my family received some bad/shocking news yesterday and I can’t get my head around it and now I can’t sleep. So instead of lying in bed looking at the ceiling, I said I’d be productive!
So even with April being a very busy month, (I know I promised to blog more but I just couldn’t find the time and when I did, I was just too exhausted!) I still had time to take note of what I was enjoying for the month, so here they are.
Music
So the first song I have been loving this month (and maybe a bit too much, I am singing it ALL the time!) is Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood BUT it is not the original I love. It is a cover by Max Schneider and Alyson Stoner that I adore so much. Their vocals blended together are incredibly beautiful and I could listen to it on repeat all day (which I have!).
Another song I have been loving is my 8 Boys, Stereo Kicks and their Debut single Love Me So. Written by one of the lads, Tom Mann, it is not the usual upbeat pop music a boy band would release as their first single. But this song is a beautiful ballad, if you could call it that. Their vocals are shown off in this song and I think the boys are trying to prove a point, that they should be given a chance because they can sing and can sing very well. And they can write songs very well! Tom’s vocals at 2:32 kill me everytime! I am super proud of my 8 boys! (Especially Tom ❤ )
Fashion
So with Laois Rose, I got to dress up quite a lot. So on the night Laois Rose Briefing, I wore a dress from Born Boutique (€69) and silver sandals from Korkys (I think they were €50, they are about 3 years old). I adore this dress. It’s such a girly dress, I felt like a princess in it and since I have lost weight, it was very flattering on. One of my favourite things about this dress is that it has pockets.
So I had to get photos taken with my sponsor for Laois Rose so we had a little photoshoot in the pub. I wore a new wine coloured Tulle skirt I got on Etsy, which was €34.71 and you can get it here with a black tank top from Pennys/Primark, black blazer from New Look, black heels from River Island and hat from Topshop. I am in love with Tulle skirts at the moment.
My last outfit is a casual one I wore to The Vamps’ Concert in April. The top and jeans were both from New Look. My black converse are from Schuh.
Book
My favourite book for April is Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. Having loved Fangirl, I was expecting great things from this book and it didn’t disappoint. Eleanor and Park is all about a high school romance, but not the typical type. Eleanor is the new girl in town, who has crazy red hair and the weird clothes, so she stands out, even though she never wanted to. Park is the smart but quiet Asian boy who hates the attention on himself. Eleanor and Park awkwardly sit together on the bus but never speak to each other, until Park notices Eleanor looking over his shoulder while he reads his comics. I don’t want to give too much away but this love story is extremely cute and I couldn’t put the book down once I started. The ending killed me though, I hated it! Summer Aurora from The Guardian agrees by saying: ‘The ending left me craving so much more of it. The last page left me confused and a complete wreck. Honestly, it hurt, and I was left hoping that there was an epilogue that had gotten secretly ripped out of my copy.’ If you love soppy, cute books, read this book.
Youtuber
So recently, I have been watching a lot more of Marcus Butler’s Vlogs and Main Channel videos. Marcus is from England and just like Alfie, vlogs every day and has a new main channel video every Friday. His fame has steadily rose since 2012 and currently, he has over 3 million subscribers on his main channel alone!!! (I have 2.. Even 100 subs would be the dream!) He is very attractive but sorry ladies, he has a girlfriend. He is dating Naomi Smart who is also a Youtuber/Blogger. Below are his recent Main Channel video and Vlog.
Beauty
I am crazy about any beauty products that contains coconut. I love the smell and the consistency. It just always makes me feel and smell good. The Treacle Moon range is one of my favourite ranges. The body scrub and body butter are simply divine. Make Up
Contouring is a big thing at the moment. Instead of spending a ridiculous amount of money on those expensive contour kits, I bought Boujour Paris’s Bronzer and Highlighter. Not only does it work like the expensive ones but it also smells so good. I wear this every day and it lasts a long time.
Home Decor
(When did I get this fancy that I now blog about Home Decor? 😛 )
Anyway, there is nothing more relaxing that reading a book or even doing some work with a beautiful candle beside you. Lately, I have been loving a candle my Auntie Margaret gave me one day. The smell is Mulberry and Vanilla and it is gorgeous. Food
So even though I have been super healthy since February, near the end of April, I relaxed a bit with the diet. My Mum came to visit me in college one evening and brought me out to Finnegan’s Restaurant, Limerick. I was so hungry, I even ordered dessert (I never order dessert!) I had these DELICIOUS pancakes. I don’t think I have ever eaten pancakes as nice (apart from my mum’s!) (Oh and Sarah’s!). The food in Finnegan’s is beautiful. I recommend everyone to go there if they are near or in Limerick.
Lastly, I was reunited with some of my favourites in April. Union J were supporting The Vamps on their tour and I got to meet them again, after two years. They haven’t changed a bit, they are just as sweet and nice as they were back then, if not more.
See you in a month for my May Faves!
You Know You Love Me, XOXO,
SJ
Oh yeah, I am going to see Tyler Oakley tomorrow in Dublin! Super excited to see him. Also, I am going to attempt to film my first ever vlog. Wish me luck.
Bringing me into Boots is always dangerous, and without a doubt, I always leave with at least one thing. Today, it turned into a mini haul of some new and old products I have been wanting to try!
Max Factor’s Miracle Touch Liquid Illusion Foundation
I wanted to get this as I have heard such great things about this. My normal foundation is Estee Lauder and it is quite expensive to be wearing everyday so I wanted to get a cheaper foundation that does just as good a job as my expensive counterpart. It goes on so smoothly and has good coverage. It isn’t as good coverage as the Estee Lauder foundation though but for everyday use, it is great.
Shade – Cream Ivory €17.99
Gillette Venus & Olay blades €14.99
I have tried these before and I could never find them since. These actually leave my legs so soft and nourished. They also prevent my legs drying out so quickly.
Garnier Ambre Solaire Face Sun Cream €15.99
I read somewhere recently that the SPF in your foundations isn’t actually enough to protect your skin all year around. Because I have sensitive skin and acne, I had to invest in this. It will also help prevent wrinkles later in life and us ladies don’t want that do we?!
Impulse Body Spray €2.69
My usual body spray (Into Glamour) was all sold out today ( 😦 ) so I picked up True Love instead. It doesn’t smell as good but it is still pretty amazing!
Nivea Smooth Nourishing Hand Cream €3.99
Because it is still winter and we are still having really cold weather, I have noticed my hands are very dry lately and it really annoys me. This hand cream is so soft and smells gorgeous!
Collection Little Mix All About The Eyes Palette €3.99
All my prayers have been answered. This little gem has the 6 colours: Feather, Sunkissed, Golden Sand, Dazzling Brown, Cocoa Dream and Blackbird. This little palette is much more practical than it’s expensive counterpart, Ubran Decay Naked Palette. It is also much more affordable!!
Vaseline’s Limited Edition Queen Bee €3.99
I bought this for the pure reason it said ‘Queen Bee’!! The packaging caught my eye first and when I opened it to smell it, OH MY GOD! It smells incredible! I wonder does Beyonce use it?!
Rimmel Velvet Matte Shade Midnight Kiss €6.49
I am going to the GAA Annual Congress this weekend and there is a banquet on Saturday night and the dress I am planning on wearing is blue and I had no nail varnish in the same shade. This caught my attention as it is brand new on the shelves and looks very promising! Hopefully I will have my new camera buy the weekend and will blog details of my outfit/look in good quality photos! 😉
Max Factor Creme Puff Blushers €12.99 (I think I can’t find the receipt!)
I have been looking at these for a while now and I didn’t think they would look good on me as they are very vibrant and dark for blushers. But I saw a picture on Instagram of someone with pale skin using this Lovely Pink one and it looked flawless! You do have to blend it in a lot but the results are fabulous! The feel of the blush is velvety soft and goes on so smoothly.
Rimmer Kate Moss Matte Lipstick No. 03 €6.99
I LOOOOOOVE LIPSTICK! So when the opportunity arises for me to try out a new one, I jump on the chance. The one lipstick I haven’t tried was a nude one. I know now why every make-up fan has a nude lipstick in their make-up bag, it is simply perfect. I love bold lips but do find it hard to pull off in day time. This gentle nude is perfect for daytime wear!
L’Oreal Paris’s Triple Active Day Moisturizer €9.99
Along side wearing SPF under your make-up, a good moisturizer is essential. I was using an Estee Lauder one but it is all gone at the moment (and a bit pricey for my bank balance right now!) So I picked up this to give it a try. The consistency is so creamy and it smells divine! It also contains Vitamin E which is good if you suffer from acne like me.
The 2015 Producers Guild Awards took place in LA on Saturday 24 of January and Jennifer Lawrence stole the spotlight when she stepped on the red carpet. She wore a floor length, goddess styled Prada dress with gold Prada shoes. She themed it with a simple hair do and minimal make up!
This is Jennifer’s first walk on the red carpet since the premiere of The Hunger Games:Mockingjay Part 1, which was in November 2014. She missed the Golden Globes last week and was no doubt watching them from her sitting room while in tracksuit bottoms and eating pizza!!
But she surely made a comeback on the red carpet as she has been trending on Twitter and is in all the headlines on the internet!
Jennifer attended the Producers Guild Awards to help honor Jon Felheimer receive his Milestone Award, who is the CEO of Lionsgate, the studio that produced The Hunger Games film franchise and helped raise Jennifer to stardom.
Sarah Jane Allen 