My Roaccutane Experience: Month 4 & 5

Here I am with the final installment of my blog post series about my Roaccutane experience! I have stopped taking isotretinoin exactly a month ago, so keep on reading if you want to know what I honestly think about the treatment.

During the 4th and 5th month of treatment (April and June) I felt like my skin was changing from dry to normal - for example, I didn't have to moisturize my hands or lips every five minutes like in the previous months. Also, I started noticing that my nose was a tiny bit shiny at the end of the day! I don't know why this happened because I was still taking the same amount of Isotretinoin (40mg per day), maybe my body was just getting used to it or because of the warmer temperature. I had my blood tests done like every month, and thankfully everything was alright on that front. 

As I have said before, I have stopped taking vitamin A one month ago. During this time I haven't had any breakouts, but my skin has definitely become more oily than it was during the treatment - still, it's way less oily than it was before the treatment. Also, I noticed the only oily areas now are my forehead and nose area, whereas before it was basically my whole face. It's a normal amount of oiliness :) 

My skin is still very fragile and sensitive: if I squeeze one of the very few blackheads I have now (it's a miracle, I know), I will 100% leave a scar on my skin, whereas that didn't happen before, so I learned not to do that.  

In my previous posts I said I hadn't experienced any side effects other than the 'normal ones', like having dry eyes and lips. I'm afraid I have to amend: about 3 months into the treatment I realized that crying every other day was not completely normal. I am not a very positive individual by nature, but I am definitely not depressed, nor am I saying that Roaccutane made me depressed: but I cried a lot during the 3rd and 4th month of treatment. I honestly don't know if it was the pill or Roaccutane, because you have to take both at the same time in order to be able to take Roaccutane. 

I want to say it's worth it because it got rid of my acne I hope for ever, but I kinda want to say it's not worth it at the same time... it's something you have to judge for yourself if you are thinking about starting the treatment. 

I will definitely update you if anyhing new on the subject happens; also, let me know if you would like to see before and after photos.

YOU CAN READ THE OTHER POSTS ABOUT MY ROACCUTANE EXPERIENCE HERE

           PS: la traduzione in italiano di tutti i post arriva presto ;)

Rimmel Hydra Renew Lipstick in 'Latino'

There's not a single time I go into a beauty shop and I don't take a look at the Rimmel stand - I have always loved their products, and actually my first ever make-up product was one of their tube lipglosses ages ago! The latest addition to my Rimmel collection is the Hydra Renew Lipstick in the shade 'Latino', a very intense corally pink that's just a bit brighter than the colour of my own lips. 

I fell in love with it right when I swatched it: the texture is extremely creamy and it glides effortlessly onto the lips. It has a frosty finish, but don't be scared - it won't make you look like you just got out of a 90's-early 2000's photoshoot. On the contrary, I think it's what it makes this lipstick so nice. It makes my lips look more plump and 'highlighted' - I don't know how it makes my whole face look more glowy, but it does! 

    

The Rimmel Hydra Renew Lipstick in Latino is on the sheer side, but it can be built to full opacity. Sometimes I like to wear just a light layer of it, sometimes I want a more bold effect and I think it works wonderfully both ways. It has a staying power of 3-4 hours, after which it starts to fade evenly and it doesn't leave any glittery patches. 

It's the perfect lipstick for Summer in my opinion (it smells like sun-tan lotion too!) - it will look gorgeous with bronzed skin. You can get it pretty inexpensively on Amazon for $8,99.

Have you ever tried any lipstick from the Rimmel Hydra Renew line? What do you think about them?

Nokia Lumia 1520

A few months back I was offered the opportunity to review the Nokia Lumia 1520 - I know smartphones aren't technically something a beauty blogger would write about, and although I'm definitely not an expert in the field I hope you will enjoy this post anyway! :)



First of all, the Nokia Lumia 1520 is huge - I mean, that's pretty noticeable. It's way bigger than an iPhone (I have a 4S): it's basically like a smartphone and a tablet had a baby! My dad would call it "a phone for women", and I would agree, because it would only fit in a purse and not in most trouser pockets. Even though it's so wide and tall, it's very thin and super lightweight, so much more than my iPhone 4S which weighs as much as a brick. I'm so used to the size of iPhones that I was convinced I wouldn't enjoy using such a big smartphone, but strangely enough I didn't find it too cumbersome: I just don't like the fact that you have to use both hands to use it most of the time.





The quality of the screen is impressive: the colours are so bright and the resolution is extremely sharp, which makes it a pleasure to look at the screen - it definitely is the best part about this phone, together with the camera. The Lumia 1520 has four camera apps: the Nokia Pro Cam is the core camera app, which pretty much has the same functions as my DSLR has, which is pretty amazing. Nokia Creative Studio offers a few photo filters, definitely not enough for Instagram-addicts like me! Also, you have Nokia Cinemagraph to create animated gifs.

I like what the different apps do, but I would prefer having the different editing functions combined in just one app.



I love the fact that the camera captures so much details... Perfect for macro shots!

One thing I can't get myself to like is the Windows Phone 8 interface. I just find it a bit confusing, and being the OCD crazy person that I am, I much prefer the little iPhone square icons.
Also, there are not as many apps available for Windows Phone 8 like there are for iOS or Android. There are the main ones (Whatsapp, Instagram, Viber...) but the choice is not wide. 

Moreover, I found it doesn't offer a quick access to Wi-Fi settings... I just find the Nokia is not as easy to use as are iPhones, but that's just a personal preference.

Overall, I would recommend investing in the Nokia Lumia 1520 if the main thing you look in a phone is the quality of the camera, and you don't mind it being almost as big as a tablet! The camera on this smartphone is just perfect.

Have you ever tried a Nokia smartphone? What do you think about the Lumia 1520?

* I was not paid by Nokia. All opinions are my own.