MY FAVOURITE PRODUCTS FOR ACNE PRONE SKIN

Hey again!

As some of you may know, I’ve lived with acne prone skin for a long time, and whilst it has got better at times – others it is a nightmare. I’ve tried many different medications and methods in trying to combat it (which if you’re interested in, I can tell you about sometime), but I thought that I could share some products with you that I know have worked well for me!

Fighting Scarring:

Bio-Oil: I am so bad at picking my skin, and whilst I’ve been getting better there is still scarring – especially on my cheeks. This has worked a miracle. I was really sceptical at first as I didn’t like the idea of putting oil on my already oily face – but I tested it first and it worked wonders. I use this almost every night and I can see how its healing the scarring of my skin! I’ve recommended this to friends who have also seen how well it works and both them and myself cannot stress enough how much we love this product and how well it has worked for us – it’s one of my skincare essentials and every time I meet someone who says they struggle with acne scarring or acne problems, this is the first thing I recommend them to buy.

Fighting Spots:

Sudocrem: This is one of the best non-prescription spot treatments you can buy. Along with this, it doubles to work on so many other skin irritations or problems you might have (eczema, burns etc). It’s antiseptic which means it prevents bacteria from growing, so it also stops the spot from getting bigger. I stick this on at night as the last thing I put on my face before bed and I see results by the next morning. The pot is huge and you hardly have to use any so it’s also a bargain for how much use you’ll get from it! Miracle cream!

Exfoliating:

Lush’s Salt Scrub: I was going to recommend a different scrub (Miss Patisserie’s Sweet Orange Coffee Scrub) but as far as I can tell it’s been discontinued. However, this is another favourite of mine! It’s quite coarse so works well to get rid of the dead skin. I was always under the impression that with oily/acne prone skin, exfoliating wasn’t necessary because only dry skin needs exfoliating. Even with oily skin that may not seem dry or cracked, by exfoliating you are removing the dead skin which can leave it softer, allow it to better soak up the things you’re putting on and also can help combat acne scarring exfoliating promotes skin repair. I’m on my second tub of this scrub and still love it so much! I think it’s quite a popular lush product so let that speak for itself!

Moisturiser:

Simple’s Hydrating Light Moisturiser: I fell into the lie that you don’t need moisturiser if you have oily skin, or that it’ll just make it worse. Wrong! Using the wrong moisturisers for your skin type can make your skin more problematic, but not using any can leave it dry and untreated. This moisturiser was recommended to me and I love it. I apply it twice a day – tops, and my skin feels nourished throughout. I rarely have dry patches and it doesn’t feel heavy or oily on my skin. Plus, its super cheap, I think it cost me under £5, but it has worked better than some of the more expensive moisturisers I’ve tried. Simple is a brand I really trust, and I will definitely be buying this again!

Face Masks:

Lush’s Mask of Magnaminty: I love this mask! I find from wearing this for 15-20 minutes (until it is dried) that I can see a noticeable reduction in the size and redness of my spot(s) after using it. Also, because I personally have the non-self-preserving pot, and therefore it is kept in the fridge, I find that the coolness of the mask reduces redness and inflammation quite quickly too! I only use this on where my skin has broken out as I try to use it sparingly, then just rinse it off with water. Really amazing mask and one of my favourite skincare buys.

I hope you really enjoyed reading this and found it useful. I purposely didn’t include a cleanser/face wash as I tend to use whatever I fancy that day and there are a few that I go between.

Nonetheless, I hope you can use some of these products and that they work for you just as well as they did for me!

– Caitlin x

(Disclaimer: whilst these have worked for me, they might not necessarily work for you. If you are unsure about using something new – try using it on one side of your face or body for a little while to test it. Also, this is no way promoting a select few retailers, they’re just where I tend to buy things from.)

THINGS I WISH I COULD TELL MYSELF (school edition)

Hey all!!!

We’ve been back at school for about a month now, and it’s all in full swing again. Don’t get me wrong, I love having the structure to my days, but I realllly am missing having lie-ins and being a little lazy in the morning. Hopefully, you’re doing well too? Good.

Even though we technically started year 13 work in June and July, we’re officially the oldest in the school now! ~~I would’ve said “the biggest” but some of us are only 5ft 😦~~ But this does mean that the work has been piled back on and our lives are busy busy busy again! At our school, I’m trying to get as involved as possible in things this year and part of that will be writing short articles for our newly founded school bulletin – similar to what I write on here. This month I’ve written a little article titled: Things I wish someone had told me during year 12, although what I’ve written can apply to (almost) anybody doing any sort of exams this year, especially for the first time… So here goes:

Don’t be embarrassed to ask for help. When I first started A-levels, I was finding Philosophy really difficult to understand, and almost immediately I regretted doing Maths! All I kept seeing was that I was doing badly in both subjects, but was keeping it to myself as I was too embarrassed to ask for any help! DONT DO THIS!!!! I emailed my Philosophy teacher and she was amazing and helping me to (finally) get it! I started doing extra maths tuition outside of school and it helped me pick up my confidence so much! Any decent teacher wants to see you do well, and I’m pretty sure that most schools will have ways to support those who are struggling. Get help ASAP, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about; if anything it makes you feel even more proud when you actually do well!
You’ll get there eventually. Similarly, I’d been sitting in lessons thinking “I’M NOT GETTING ANY OF THIS!!!” and at times it felt like the lesson was being taught in another language! But now I’ve finished the year, I’ve realised that it all made sense eventually and just to keep going at it. When I had no idea what was going on, it put me off working sooo much. As long as you don’t get too put off by the fact that it’s not clicked yet, and just remember that it’ll all click eventually. It’s definitely easier said than done, but trust me, it works.
It’s never “too” early to start working. The title gives this away, but I convinced myself that I wouldn’t need to revise just yet because it was early on in the year. I WISH I could go and shake myself at this! It’s a cliche but doing little and often makes the hugest difference and won’t only improve your knowledge and grades, but will leave you feeling less stressed during exams!
You get out what you put in. I don’t mean this just for work (whilst this is true) but instead for school in general. If you get involved, volunteer to do stuff and throw yourself into whatever you’re doing, especially in sixth form, you tend to enjoy it more! I certainly am, and people tend to say the same thing.
Stop going to the co-op every time you have a free! Our school is a 5-minute walk away from a co-op, but I guess this depends on if you have home-study or can leave the site at lunches. In my case, almost every time I had a free period last year, I’d walk to the co-op and buy food or something stupid that I definitely would regret wasting my money on before payday. I’d love to go back and say “Caitlin, you fully know that you don’t need that pasta salad, and you definitely don’t need that chocolate to ‘stress eat’ – put it back”. This is the main reason why I always find myself broke at the end of the month. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

Bonus extra:

6. Get more sleep. Last year I’d be up until early hours in the morning most nights, then exhausted the next day. My aim at the moment is to be asleep by midnight which I’ve (mostly) kept to. Hopefully, I continue this haha!

These are all things I’m going to try and actually do this year! Hopefully, this is of some benefit to both of us.

Talk soon,

Caitlin x

GUESS WHO’S BACK

Hey all,

I’ve felt totally uninspired lately but I’m back at it and ready to chat about this, that and everything!

The summer holidays have finally got going in England which means I’m either super busy or have nothing to do, which is how I imagine my entire summer will be. I’ve tried and tested some new things already ~~(some of which I’ve then regretted it the next day when my head was pounding)~~ but I’m beyond excited for the next few weeks of the holidays!! Less so for them to end – seeing as year 13 is about to begin, and so will the last year of my school education.

I’m still not sure if that makes me happy or sad actually…

As I said, it’s August which means it should be summer now, right? Wrong. This is when any foreign readers can feel smug, today it totally chucked it down. Close to hurricane rain, chucked it down. Would this kind of weather been really cozy in autumn when you could light candles, snuggle up in a blanket and stick on Netflix? YES. But instead, it’s “summer” and I was at work. I’m not impressed. Although, this makes me all the more excited about going on holiday soon! Not only will it get me away from this APPAULING weather, but I should hopefully get a tan and a gorgeous Instagram feed too (oh lol go follow me, thanks – @caitlinggodfrey).

I’m keeping this post brief, but any guesses as to where I’m off to would be incredibly fun to see!

Question: (you can turn on anon for this if you want) do you have any low-key secret talents that you want to confess to having?

Mine would be that I sing a fair bit, ohhh and that I can complete a Rubix cube (very slowly but that’s irrelevant)

That’s all for now, I’ll be back veryyy soon!

Caitlin xx

Instagram: @caitlinggodfrey

Twitter: @caitlinggodfrey

HOW TO SURVIVE A UNI OPEN DAY

Hey all,

As many of you know, I’ve just finished the first year of A-Levels, which means that in only one years time, I’ll be done!! (Although in the meantime it’ll be less fun). This also means that I’m looking at what I want to do after school, which for me, and many other people, will be going to University.

I’ve now been to two Uni open days and I’m trying to work out the best ways to do them properly and to make sure that I’ve got the most out of them – so I’ve compiled a little list of tips that I think are pretty useful, especially if you’ve not been before.

1.BOOK ONLINE: When you’re feeling lazy it’ll probably be quite easy to look at the dates, pick one, and show up. But it’s really handy to register online – for so many reasons. Firstly, some places will probably ask people to register on the day, so if you’ve done this online, it’ll be super speedy and you won’t have to queue or fill in forms. Secondly, it might ask you if you’d like to book onto subject talks. This is handy because spaces may not be available on the day – especially if the talk is popular! Finally, they’ll send you information about the day in the post. This will include information on any talks you’ve booked into and when different things will be happening (such as accommodation tours, things to see in the day, etc.)

2.MAKE A ROUGH PLAN: Using the information they’ve given you, try to timetable the day. It’ll mean that you aren’t running around working out what to do, but nothing has to be set in stone. On the first day I went to, I didn’t do this and I wish I had because I didn’t feel like I’d got the most out of the day. The second time around, we did this and it really helped us work out where we were wanting to be and when.

(as you can see, my handwriting gets worse as you go down the page)

Also, work out what you want to know from different places such as how much is accommodation per week? OR how will I be assessed in this subject? You’ll want to know the answer eventually and it’s best to know what you’ll want to know!

Sidenote here: if you’re not sure whether you can or want to do something, DO IT. You only get to look around the university once, so do everything you can to feel like you got the most out of it.

3.WEAR SOMETHING WEATHER APPROPRIATE AND COMFORTABLE: This is a massive MUST. You’ll be outside a lot so wearing jeans when it’s 35*C is impractical. Also, wearing stilettos is going to kill you. You’ll be doing A LOT of walking around so bear that in mind. Comfortable is the way to go. Check the weather the night before and that morning (if you can). Bring a rain jacket just in case, or loads of suncream if you need. The last thing you want is to be feeling uncomfortable.

4.PACKING SNACKS AND WATER WILL SAVE YOU: All that walking is hungry and thirsty business. I packed BELIVITA breakfast bars with me because they’ll keep you going, but also slowly release energy throughout the day which is really handy. It’ll be really easy to forget to bring water, but it’ll save you that £££ when you don’t have to buy some because you filled up a bottle before you left.

5.TAKE BREAKS: I do a fair bit of walking normally, but open days take it out of me. It’s a mixture of walking and working out where you have to be and thinking about these decisions which can be knackering. I’d recommend breaks, and plenty of them. Whether that be sitting on a bus to get somewhere, or stopping to eat lunch somewhere with a table – it’ll help you relax and settle before you have to continue. We stopped at Nandos and had a well needed, proper, lunch which helped us keep going

6.ENJOY YOURSELF: I am aware as to just how cliche this sounds, but I mean it. The whole process can feel overwhelming and it forces you to think about moving out which can just make you feel even more drained! But you’ll probably only get to do this once, and it’s nice to enjoy spending a day out with whoever you’re with. That way, even if the university really wasn’t for you, it wasn’t a total waste of a day.

Those are my six main tips and I hope they’re useful. I’ll definitely be trying to stick with these more because they are super handy.

The first university I looked around was Cardiff, which was a lovely Uni but I don’t fancy going there. The second was Sheffield (which I looked around the day I wrote this) and I really enjoyed it. It’s important to find a place which caters for you and what you want, but also somewhere that you think you’d LIKE to stay. It’s difficult to make that judgment based on a one-day trip, but I think you get a pretty good flavour very quickly!

That’s all for now so talk soon,

Caitlin xx

Having a Mini Revelation

Hey all,

In my previous blog post, I referenced that I’d had a (sorta) miniature and personal revelation, which I just want to share. If you haven’t read the post already, I’ll link it at the end!

So here’s the story; I’d spent my day at school and the weather was super nice outside for April and so asked a group of friends if they fancied going out for a quick walk or “adventure” as I tend to call them, to enjoy the nice day. Nobody wanted to – mostly because we only had 25 minutes left of our lunch break.

Then that afternoon, I was walking home on my own, I had music blasting into my ears and I was only a few minutes from home when I just started to question why I was so dependent on having others around me to have a good time. I realised that if I wanted to do something, and nobody else did, I just wouldn’t.

I was also reflecting on how precious life is and how tragedies happen to the most unlikely of people. Also, how sometimes we are so focused on what our future is going to look like, both short and long term, that we forget to enjoy the now. A prime example of this is my life quite recently. Up until recently, I had been so focused on my future and excited about what was ahead, that I now feel as though I have wasted a lot of my time being 16. I wouldn’t go out to see many people or make an effort to talk to my friends outside of school because I was trying to get ready for going to university, moving out, making new friends and developing relationships etc. I wasn’t enjoying being a teenager and having a little more freedom and also having very little responsibility.

And in my head I started to think this:

“I could die tomorrow in a complete tragedy, or something could happen which could stop me from living as I want to. Why am I waiting to do all the fun and exciting things I want to, simply because I can do them later? Or why am I not doing things, because nobody else wants to do it right now? If I want to go on an ‘adventure’ I will.”

And so I do. I try to apply this to as many things as possible. For example, I mentioned that getting my ear pierced was one of these. I wanted to get it done, why did I need so many people’s approval and opinion? Why was I planning on waiting a while to get it done? I’d decided I wanted the piercing, why was I holding myself back?

And I didn’t have many answers, so I got my mum to agree, because I quite like having her support, and I got my ear pierced.

The same applies for other “adventures”. I’ve told a couple of my friends a little bit about this “revelation” as a joke, and then managed to use it to convince two friends to go on a walk with me, where I had possibly one of the most instagramable photos taken of myself, ever. It’s all about the adventure. It was a typical British ‘summer’ day (and by that I mean, a little chilly, a little breezy, but the sun was out) so I grabbed my sunglasses out of my bag and the 3 of us had pictures taken in front of a huge blossom bush, getting a little bit cold, but we had a good time. It’s a little adventure and a memory that I hope I keep for a long time, I had a hell of a lot of fun taking photos, and having them taken. Plus, it’s always good fun to goof out a little with your friends, right?

So, there it is. My little revelation about how I’m trying to live. I want to take up every opportunity and stop waiting around for a tomorrow. It’s a sad and scary thought that tomorrow may never come, but living this way leaves very little regrets. It’s a philosophy I hope I can continue to live by.

I have a question for anyone who feels inclined to answer:

What is one thing you wish you could do more of?

I’d either say meeting up with people for coffees or exercising, I hate exercising but love feeling as though I’ve got up my heart rate and done by body some good!

What No Makeup for Lent is REALLY Like – Wellbeing

Click here or on the image to read my previous blog post about how I found not wearing any makeup for 40 days!

Talk soon,

Caitlin xx

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: