Redecorating My Room: Part 1

About a month ago, I decided I had to change some things in my room. My bedroom probably is my favourite place in the entire world, but I felt like I could organize it a little bit better: I only come back home every two weeks and to find a pretty, tidy room is the best feeling ever for me. I need a cute little space to study and relax in, since life in Rome is so stressful.  

As soon as I was finished with my exams mid-February, I took a morning off from everything and give my bedroom a little restyling - hopefully it will inspire you to do the same :) 

I liked how my books were organized before, but I was running out of space - if I had bought one  more book, I probably wouldn't have known where to put it. They were stacked two deep, so they were often hard to find. I decided to move them to a set of shelves that were already on another wall of the room (blog post coming on that soon!) and move the content that was there to these ones. Much more organized, huh?

On the first shelves I put two Glossybox boxes where I store little bits and pieces, a Starbucks cup full of little memories and covered them with two pretty flower crowns I made a few years ago. On the background you can see a portrait of myself when I was 10, taking part in a rhythmic gymnastic competition :) I know I could fit so much more on this shelf, but it looks nice as it is, so I am probably going to leave it like that for now. 

The next shelf is another pretty useless one, but at least it's nice to look at! I have a Ladurée recipe book there, together with a Ladurée tea box and a simple embroidery work I did during the Winter holidays. I love keeping a few quotes here and there in my bedroom - it's the place where I spend the most time when I'm at home, and they keep me motivated :) 

The fourth shelf I left as it was before, with my foreign fashion magazine collection. I like how the white spines look together! The next shelf is filled with cardboard magazine organizers, in which I keep extra stationery, binders etc. I picked two packs of IKEA Flyt magazine files for super cheap, covered them with brown paper, glued some string around them and tied a little bow in the front. It took a few hours to do the whole process, but I couldn't be happier of how they turned out!

I didn't make any change to this corner of my room, but I wanted to show it to you anyway :) I like to pick flowers from places where I go on holiday to, let them dry in a book and frame some of them. These, in particular, I picked from Sicily and Greece ♥

I hope you enjoyed this little peek at my room, and that you can take some inspiration from it. I believe that improving in the space you live in always has positive consequences! 

A KIKO Combo

After a long, long time, last week I went into KIKO and got out of the shop with two nail polishes. I hadn't bought any nail polish from the brand in such a long time, mainly because I had this idea of KIKO nail polishes being goopy and taking ages to dry up. And if you have been shopping at KIKO since they opened, you know what I'm talking about!

However, I decided to give their nail polish range a chance again and picked up #372 Nude and #215 Pearly Light Pink. The best part about KIKO is that they have such a huge variety of shades of every product, but surprisingly it was easy to choose only two nail polishes: I'm always on the hunt for new pretty nude shades! 

#372 Nude is a very close dupe to my favourite nail polish ever, Essie Sand Tropez - that's the reason I picked it in the first place! They look almost identical, but KIKO Nude is just a tad more pink. In some lights it looks more like a a pastel pink rather than a light beige.

Thankfully, the formulation has changed since I first tried KIKO nail polishes years ago: the formula is creamy and opaque, just a little bit streaky but nothing that can't be fixed; it also dries up fairly quickly. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the best wearing power: it doesn't chip, but it starts to show tip wear in only about two days. 

The other nail polish I got is #215 Pearly Light Pink, which I'm absolutely in love with! It's a very light almost white pink shade with a pearlescent finish - it looks very much like mother of pearl, which is exactly the reason why I got it. I love that it's opaque in two coats - these kind of shades are often very sheer. I think I will get a lot of use out of it in the Summertime :)

What do you think about KIKO nail polishes? Have you ever tried them?

My Roaccutane Experience: Month 1

I started my Roaccutane -or should I say, Isotretinoin- journey a little more than a month ago and I would like to share my experience with you, in hope that it will be helpful to any of you. 

Remember I'm not a dermatologist, a doctor or anything like that; I am just going to tell you what my experience was and what I'm going through right now. I may use the wrong medical terms and explain myself not too well - I'm sorry for that, English can be a barrier sometimes.

Firstly, a little overview on my "acne story". I have had breakouts ever since I was 12; first only my forehead, then only my cheeks. For some reason, I had never went to a dermatologist until September 2012, when my spots started leaving red marks on my skin. I always knew that my skin problems were caused by hormonal imbalances, which I had tried to treat using the pill when I was 13 or so, but that made me gain so much weight that I always refused to take it again despite my period kept on being irregular.
My dermatologist put me on folic acid to try and solve the hormonal problem and at the same time I had glicolic acid peelings done on my face until June 2013. They worked really well, to the point I had almost no scars left; the folic acid worked as well, until September 2013 when I moved to Rome to attend university. Everything got worse: maybe because of the change, maybe because of the stress.. who knows. My acne and scarring got so bad and my period so irregular that and I decided to take the pill again and start Roaccutane.

Roaccutane's active ingredient is isotretinoin, the purest form existing of vitamin A. What Roaccutane does is dry up everything in your body - your sebaceous glands, most importantly. Your skin is supposed to get super dry and stop producing sebum. In 70% of the cases, it cures acne forever. It's quite a controversial treatment, because it has numerous side effects - the most dangerous one is that it's teratogenic, which means that if you get pregnant while on Roaccutane, the fetus will be seriously damaged. There has also been rumors that it induces to suicide, but my dermatologist assured me that it's all rubbish, apparently.
Before starting to get Roaccutane, you have to take the pill for a month and get your blood test taken, to make sure that you are not pregnant (so pointless if you're single like me, haha!). You also have to take blood tests every month, to check that the levels in your blood, like cholesterol and transaminase, are ok.

I started taking Roaccutane on January 9th 2014 and I had never in my whole life been more determined to do something, even if the side effects were so scary. My dermatologist put me on 30mg for four months; I just finished my first one and the results are already amazing. I started getting chapped lips within the first week; it's the most common side effect and it's nothing that some lipbalm can't solve. They're not flakey, they just feel tight.
Around day 20, I started using eye drops as my eyes began to feel a bit dry; but I think that that could also be because I was studing pretty much from when I woke up to when I went to sleep. At the same time, my skin began to be sensibly drier. Usually, if I woke up at 8,30 AM and didn't apply any make-up, my face would start feeling very oily at around 4 PM; if I applied foundation, I had to powder after 3 hours. After 3 weeks of using Roaccutane, my foundation would stay exactly the same for 13 hours. As of right now, after a bit more of a month of use, my skin basically doesn't produce any sebum anymore and I feel like I'm in paradise - everyone who suffers from severe acne can understand me.
I currently have only one or two spots -and that could also be because it's that time of the month-, but there have been several days when I had none. None! That hasn't happened since I was 12 years old!

I had my blood tests taken a few days ago, and the levels haven't changed. My dermatologist said I'm doing pretty good, considering I'm experiencing only the 'normal' side effects. I will probably keep on 30mg for two more months and then go on 40mg on the last month. I am so happy this is going good so far, and I hope with all my heart it will go even better!

I will update you again next month :) Have you ever tried Roaccutane? What was your experience like?

READ ABOUT MONTH 2 & 3 HERE

My Empties #4

Here I am again with another empties post! It's so funny that us beauty bloggers keep our 'trash', seriously. Anyway! I've got some skincare, some haircare and some make-up to talk about today. First on the list is my beloved Bioderma Sensibio H2O, which I have already raved about a couple of months ago. Let's just say I had already purchased a new bottle when I was halfway through it! I seriously love this product, it's a great post-make-up-removal micellar water. It really helps get every single bit of make-up off and I highly recommend it.

Next is the Avon Advance Techniques Moroccan Argan Oil shampoo and conditioner combo (only shampoo pictured). I had used it back in March and loved it, so I decided to repurchase later in the year. It didn't blew me away as the first time, maybe because the water in Rome where I live now is more 'polluted' and it makes my hair awful anyway. :'(

I finally have made it and finished my Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream, which I think I have had for over a year and a half. I have struggled so much finishing this, because it's such a thick cream that you only need a very tiny amount every time you use it. It's even too thick for me, so I don't think I would repurchase it. If you have extremely dry skin, though, I reckon this would be a very good hand cream to use as a "mask" with those sponge gloves you can find in beauty stores. :)

What empties post would be completed without a nail polish remover? This time it's the Bottega Verde Acetone-free Nail Polish Remover with honey extract, a product that I don't think is sold elsewhere than Italy. At 8,99 euros, it's quite pricey nail polish for what I usually tend to spend on this kind of product, but it does it job very nicely without drying my nails at all.

I finished up another can of Batist Dry Shampoo in the Classic version. For some reason here in Italy it's spelled without the final "e", I don't know why! However it's the exact same I have reviewed here. It's my all time favourite dry shampoo - it has a great fresh scent, it does a great job at absorbing the excess oil and it gives the hair a lot of volume, which I find only this dry shampoo does!

The Maybelline The Rocket Mascara definitely was a good one. Super volumizing, super black and super cheap! I loved the thick applicator with the tiny spikey bristles, I found they did a great job at creating lots and lots of volume in my lashes. I would repurchase it if only there weren't so many other mascaras to try out!

I got a teeny tiny sample of MAC Zoom Lash Mascara a while ago in a swap and I have carried it in my handbag for quick touch-ups for a few good months. I really like the applicator and formula; it's not very volumizing, but it's really lenghtening and that's mainly what I look in a mascara. I would be definitely interested in getting the full size :)

Lastly, I finished up a Labello Chamomile & Calendula lip balm. Labello lipbalms are truly the best, my whole family uses them and I have used them for ages. They are super moisturizing to the point they almost feel greasy, but they really hydrate the lips like no other. The Chamomile and Calendula lipbalm has a nice, non offensive herbal scent. This product has been my savior all throughout the cold months and I have already repurchased one, but in a different scent.

Have you tried any of these products? Have you finished any beauty product recently?

Is Spring here yet? + $25 GC Giveaway!

I was busy being buried under a pile of books and learning the Constitution by heart when the postman came to rescue me and delivered a little package from Persunmall! I had almost forgotten ordering this lovely Stereo Large Flowers Cotton shirt, so receiving it definitely was the highlight of my day, haha :)

This shirt is quite interesting, I don't think I have ever seen anything like it around. It's white with big flowers all over it, with see-through bits between them. It's very lightweight and its material feels almost like linen, which I adore and makes me want it to be Summer already. Another unusual thing about this shirt is that it has elasticated sleeves, so it's nice to wear them rolled up.

I paired the shirt with some light blue jeans from Fornarina and my new babies from Zara. I absolutely am in love with them, they look so pretty! 

Since I've got some spare credit to spend on Persunmall, I decided to give $25 away to spend on the website! I haven't hosted a giveaway in so long, and there are so many nice things on the website ♥ I will contact the winner when the giveaway is over, order their item of choice and get it shipped to him/her. Entering is super easy, you just need to fill out the Rafflecopter form at the end of the post! Good luck! :)