my week #233

I started on my first assistantship post of the year in surgery and I'm really enjoying it. As a fan of organisation and getting paperwork done, I've been helping the junior doctors get patients ready for discharge, helping with any ward jobs and booking scans, etc. I'm really enjoying it and I've been told that this bodes well for next year when I'm a fully fledged doctor.

How has your week been?

my study week #16: my unedited desk, post-exam madness

After my exams, I cleaned my room and my desk looked quite different. Here is a little mini-tour :)

I try and keep it as minimalistic as possible (and I know I can definitely do better if you look at the photo below). Most of the space is in the bottom left area.

In the top left, I have a few bottles of cordial, some water and some snacks. Cordial was a nice sweet treat from time to time during revision and it also came in useful when the weather was excruciatingly hot. I combined a little cordial with water and then added in some salt to the mixture to try and combat my losses through sweat. (Gross, I know).

I also like to have a healthy snack or two and this ranges from dried fruit to rice cakes (which you can see below). The dark chocolate orange rice cakes are a guilty pleasure!

Little trinkets also make their way onto my desk - you can see some of them below. I like to have an inspirational quote in my eye line to keep things positive too :) The red and white striped sweet below has a story behind it which means it'll never be eaten.

Basically, I was clerking a patient on the ward during my Geriatrics placement and she was just the sweetest lady ever. She got quite emotional during the clerking and I felt terrible (as I thought it was my fault but she insisted it wasn't). She was so grateful for some company, she gave me a handful of sweets which I then shared with the team before taking just one for myself to remind myself of her. This lady taught me that, sometimes, all people need is an ear to listen to them from time to time and as a student, we are often the ones with the most time to do this.

Finally, my pen pots. I'm well aware that I have too many pens but that doesn't mean I can't put them in pretty pen pots. The one below is from good old Ikea :)

Ultimately, I like to keep my desk as minimalistic as possible but with a personal touch too. :) Quite a difference from a study session, eh?

something different: my skincare heroes

** This post may be 'too much information' for some people but I wanted to write it as a lot of women are on the pill and experience these initial breakouts.

Back in July, I went back onto the combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP) as I knew I'd be going on holiday and didn't want to be, ahem, 'on' whilst on holiday. The last time I'd been on the pill was in 2014 but I didn't anticipate the initial breakout that occurred this time around. I knew this could happen and I asked specifically for a pill that I knew worked for me and my skin in the past. However, I also know that it can take a month or two for my skin to get used to the hormone levels so braced myself!

Bit of background: my skin has never quite behaved. It is combination/oily and prone to breakouts during that time of the month. Earlier this year, I'd finally found a skincare routine that worked to keep my skin pretty much 95% clear. That is, until I went back onto the COCP.

Here were a few of the products that helped keep things under control. Prevention is, of course, better than cure, but a few cystic spots were inevitable on the COCP for me (at least, initially).

Left to right: Murad Time Release Blemish Cleanser, Alpha H Liquid Gold, Origins Out of Trouble Ten Minute Mask

Murad Time Release Blemish Cleanser - I've been using this for about a year now and you can see that I'm only halfway through the bottle. I use it once in the evening as I find it dries out my skin if I use it twice daily. There is no scent to it and a little goes a long way. Used in combination with a clean muslin cloth in the evening, it has helped my skin clear up considerably.

Alpha H Liquid Gold - I started using this back in July and I saw a difference almost immediately. My skin was clearer and brighter and my pores were smaller and less noticeable! I follow the recommended instructions and only use it on alternate nights and I don't use anything else on my face after applying this.

Origins Out of Trouble Ten Minute Mask - I use this once or twice a week (depending on how much my skin appears to need it) and it helps keep new blemishes at bay. It also dries out existing blemishes. I'm currently looking for another mask to use straight after this one as it is quite drying and it doesn't brighten my skin as much as I would like it to.

These three products don't come cheap so I usually wait for a discount code before stocking up on a bottle or two at a time. However, I've spent so much money on cheaper products over the years (and with no success), that I'm happy to spend a bit more on my skincare as good skin makes for a happy Angela :)

Mizon All in One Snail Repair Cream

Snail cream sounds gross but it's been great at brightening up my skin. I use this straight after cleansing my face and let it sink in before my night cream. Again, this is something I only use in the evenings as I find too many products in the morning can make my face oily by the end of the day. It doesn't smell of anything and didn't cause any initial breakout. It is perfect for my combination skin with it's stringy/gel-like texture.

Panoxyl Aquagel 10% Benzoyl Peroxide

Panoxyl was a lifesaver a few years' ago when I used it daily. It didn't completely solve all my skin issues but it did go a long way in improving its appearance. So when it was discontinued, I was absolutely gutted. When I heard that it was coming back onto the market, I ordered a tube straight away and haven't looked back since. 

I'm unsure about how safe these products are for long-term use but for now, I'm happy to use them as the results have been worth it. Now that I've been back on the pill for a few packs, my skin is finally settling down :)

Did you experience a breakout when starting the pill? If so, what worked for you? :)

my week #232

This week, my highlight was definitely my early birthday (over a month early!) because one of my closest friends is leaving the country next month and my sister is away for three weeks as of yesterday. We went for ramen and then to a table tennis bar in Shoreditch - talk about hipster! It was a brilliant night and I had the best fun :)

How was your week?