Green Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1/2 cup spinach

1/2 cup kale

1 diced apple

1/2 avocado

1 lemon

Directions:

1. Blend water, spinach, and kale until smooth.

2. Add apple and avocado. Squeeze lemon, then blend until smooth.

3. Enjoy!!

January 2015 Favorites

I cannot believe that January is already over! I have had so much to do these past few weeks. I moved back into school, so now I have a very hectic schedule. Is it bad that I'm already dreaming of summer? Anyway, let's get into my January 2015 favorites:

1. Nars Creamy Radiant Concealer - I am in shade Vanilla. It is perfect for brightening up my under eye and makes me look wide awake. It glides on my skin and lasts all day long.
2. NUDE Purify Daily Moisturizer - I love this skincare line. This moisturizer is perfect for the day time. It hydrates enough without making me greasy.
3. Simple Cleansing Micellar Water - This is a great cheap version of Bioderma. It takes off my makeup and in the morning I use it before putting my moisturizer on.
4. Sara Happ 'The Lip Scrub' in Vanilla Bean - My lips have been so chapped this winter, so this lip scrub works amazingly. It wipes away any flaky skin leaving a nice soft lip.
5. Nars Portobello Duo Eyeshadow - This is probably my favorite duo eyeshadow by Nars. They are the perfect every day shades. My "go-to look" lately has been swiping the left shade all over my eyelid and the right shade in the crease.
6. Bumble and bumble Surf Spray - I have naturally wavy hair, so this surf spray just makes my hair even more beachy looking. I have been obsessed with this product for years, so it is definitely an all time favorite.

xo, Sam

My Story with Accutane

What is Accutane?

Accutane is a very strong medication to treat cystic acne. Accutane is a derivative of Vitamin A. It decreases the amount of oil production in the skin. The only way to get on this medication is if your acne is so severe and has not responded to any other type of medicine.

Since the medication is so strong there are many rules you have to follow while being on it. All girls and women have to be on birth control, no matter what, because there could be horrible birth defects if someone was to get pregnant. Once a month blood tests must occur so the doctor can keep any eye on the triglycerides, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels. You must also sign the iPLEDGE program and answer questions every month while being on Accutane.

My Story: I was on Accutane twice.

I have had a pretty rough, annoying battle with acne for the past 11 years. It all started when I was 10 years old. I tried so many different treatments by the time I was 13, but it was just continuing to get worse and worse. When I was 13, I went on Accutane for the first time. Since I went on birth control at such a young age, I learned that I had PCOS (I'll get into that in another post).

I had the side effects that were expected: extremely chapped lips, dry mouth, my back hurt (still hurts a little to this day), and very dry skin. My triglycerides, cholesterol, and blood sugar went up incredibly high, but they went back to normal quickly after my treatment. I never felt depressed or suicidal, which you have to keep an eye out for.

After the five months of treatment, my skin was amazing. I was acne free and had nice, soft beautiful skin that I could finally be proud of. A few months later, I started breaking out again. It was a slow process, but it ended up being just as bad as before the first round of Accutane. When I was 16 I went back on Accutane. My second course of treatment was much better. The only side effect that I had was chapped lips and some of the back pain. Other than that it was a breeze. After the second round my skin was beautiful once again. Sadly, that only lasted about six months.

For anyone with acne, that does not have PCOS, I would highly recommend going on Accutane, if your acne is that severe. If I did not have PCOS I probably would have had great skin from the first round of Accutane. My skin has never gotten as bad as it was before Accutane though. Accutane definitely helped my skin in the long run.

Have you ever taken Accutane? What were your experiences?

xo, Sam