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How to achieve glass skin

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This post is not sponsored.

I have always struggled with acne-prone skin. Since using these products the past couple months my skin has almost completely cleared in 2 weeks, become the smoothest it’s ever been, and I couldn’t recommend them more. I have been so happy and can’t wait to share these products with you. Below I have listed the products I have been using, with individual reviews. I really hope this helps anyone on their skin journey 🙂

  1. The Ordinary Serums- Salicylic Acid 2% Solution serum and Niacinamide 10% and Zinc 1% serum. Both of these are cruelty free. I love these products because they are direct acids. When I use too many creams my skin becomes congested, these do the opposite. Since using them my skin has cleared up almost entirely for the first time in years. Salicylic acid unblocks pores and gently exfoliates, while Niacinamide minimizes pores, improves uneven skin tone, brightens skin, and overall strengthens a weakened skin barrier, while zinc reduces inflammation. After using many products with little results I settled on La Roche Posay Effaclar range and was terrified to try anything new. However, since switching my skincare routine, I can confirm these The Ordinary products produce miracles. While sceptical at first, I am shocked to say I can actually see that my pores have shrunk, and I attribute Niacinamide to any acne scars healing up very fast, and overall smoothing out my complexion. I really recommend these products, if you take nothing else from this post, please try these serums. If you have sensitive skin, I would however caution you to either patch test or start off small with the Niacinamide, as 10% can be too much for some people. For me it has been the perfect amount.
  2. Cera-Ve moisturising lotion. This product tests on animals, so I recommend trying the Revolution version which is almost identical, I am planning on switching. Moisturiser is a very important step in a skincare routine, without it your skin can become stripped which may increase the aging process. With it, your skin is bouncy and fresh. It is especially important if you wear makeup. I love this moisturiser so much, because normally my skin becomes congested when I use moisturiser. This is light enough to not block pores, but good enough to moisturise even dry skin. I have been using this moisturiser for a long time now. Back when I was trying Benzoyl Peroxide (which I recommend if you have cystic acne, but not for other types), this lotion helped tremendously with my dried out flaking skin, which occurs the first couple months of using the peroxide. The main reason I recommend it, is that it is good for acne prone skin.
  3. Carbon Theory Salicylic Acid face wash. This product is cruelty free. I recommend this product in combination with the above listed because a cleanser is super important to wash away any impurities and prevent pore blockage and thus acne. This product in particular scores excellent on the Yuka app which tests the health impact of products (this means any chemicals are not seen as harmful by this app. Excellent is a really good score, hard to get). This product has salicylic acid, which is again helpful for clearer skin. Since using this product in combination with the others, my skin has become visibly smoother and clearer. I like it because it doesn’t dry my skin out, while many other anti-acne washes do.

Overall if you’re hoping to achieve clearer glass-like skin, you need a good cleanser, moisturiser, and chemical exfoliant like salicylic acid, ideally one which you leave on. My experience of these products has been great, so I particularly recommend them.

If you’re thinking of trying some, or have in the past please let me know in the comments how it’s going! If you found this post helpful please leave a like 🙂

Good luck on your skin journey xx

The Iliad

Hi, so today I chose to do something a little different and channel my classics side. I actually study Latin and a little Greek, and finished The Iliad a few years ago. It’s definitely a memorable piece of writing so I thought I would share my side of it with you today. If you like history/classics and have read The Iliad, then enjoy. Equally so, if you know nothing about it, and want to widen your horizons, start here. Enjoy 🙂

This post will probably be a long one, so grab a cup of tea and get comfy.

The Iliad is an Greek epic poem widely acknowledged as the first substantial work of European literature, and has fair claim to be the greatest. In fact, it may fairly be described as the cornerstone of Western civilisation due to its vast impact in areas of art, thought, and literature. So, from this I think it’s definitely a topic that should be studied or at least acknowledged. In fact, I hate how in this day and age so few people study classics and art, because it actually has a bigger impact on today than people ever expect.

Both The Iliad and The Odyssey are attributed to the poet Homer who is said to have been located in the Ionian cities of the Asia Minor coast, or the east Aegean islands, the main tradition setting Homer in the island of Chios. It is likely the poem was composed in the latter part of the eighth century BC. While I’d love to talk more about the history side of the poem, this post is about The Iliad, not its context. Comment if you’d like a post more history based.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get to the actual poem itself. So obviously, the poem is based on the Trojan War, of which there is a substantial amount of historical truth. The city of Troy was indeed destroyed, most likely after a prolonged siege, towards the end of the 13th century BC, in the late Bronze Age. This is estimated to be around 500 years before the composition of The Iliad. While there is some historic truth to the poem, it is unknown what exactly happened and it is highly unlikely the war was caused by a woman leaving her husband (aka Helen of Troy). At the time, history was often told through word of mouth, so there aren’t many accurate sources on the real Trojan War, however Homer likely heard these stories and decided to put them to a poem.

The poem itself focuses on the “rage of Achilles.” Ok, ok. I just realised that some of you may not actually know what the Trojan War in The Iliad is(sorry about that 😂), so here’s a quick crash-course: Helen(demigoddess), wife of King Menelaus of Sparta was taken by Prince Paris of Troy who was promised her hand in marriage by her sister, the goddess Aphrodite. In retaliation, Menelaus and all the main leaders of Greece sail to Troy and besiege the city. The poem tells the tale of the last of the ten years they besieged the city. The rage of Achilles is Achilles’ anger towards Agamemnon, which sparks dire consequences for the Achaians (Greeks), his cousin Patroclus, the Trojans, and even himself.

The poem itself invokes the muse, opening with “Sing, goddess, of the anger of Achilles.”

It is perhaps an odd theme choice for a large scale epic such as The Iliad, however it is Achilles rage that brings about mass destruction of both sides, and shows just how much power one man can have. Furthermore, in my opinion, this rage also shows Homer’s opinion of women. Both a woman started the war, and a woman ended it which doesn’t exactly present a positive light towards the feminine sex. When Agamemnon (brother of Menelaus) takes Briseis (Achilles’ war prize) away from him, Achilles withdraws from the battle which leads to disastrous consequences for the Achaians. It is not until Book 9, that he considers rejoining the battle, and Book 19 when he is reconciled with Agamemnon after the death of his cousin Patroclus which was arguably a result of his absence.

This reconciliation thus leads to the death of Prince Hector by Achilles, symbolising the destruction of Troy. Indeed, the laments at Hector’s burial with which the poem ends, are also laments for Troy. The chosen ending brings a sense of completion as anger turns to pity and respect, and with suffering comes fellow-suffering and understanding, set in the context of the universal fate of mortals in the divine scheme. The poem explores how human life is lived under the shadow of death, against a vast and unpitying divine background. This is perhaps further emphasised by the fact that it is a goddess “singing” the tragic story of human death and destruction. War is not the main subject of The Iliad, but human suffering and death. The tragic side is that the heroes (Hector and Achilles) die, while others such as Agamemnon (yes, he eventually dies back home thanks to his darling wife) survive the war, and the gods remain unharmed despite the fact that the war is arguably a result of divine intervention (Aphrodite’s promise to Paris).

I could go on and on, but unfortunately that’s all I have time for right now, and this was more an introduction to The Iliad anyway. I hope you enjoyed. Comment if you’d like more on classics or history, and let me know what you think 🙂

*Some notes/facts taken from the introduction by Martin Hammond.

Tower of Dawn

Synopsis:

Chaol Westfall and Nesryn Faliq have arrived in the shining city of Antica to forge an alliance with the Khagan of the Southern Continent, whose vast armies are Erilea’s last hope. But they have also come to Antica for another purpose: to seek healing at the famed Torre Cesme for the wounds Chaol received in Rifthold.

After enduring unspeakable horrors as a child, Yrene Towers has no desire to help the young lord from Adarlan, let alone heal him. Yet she has sworn an oath to assist those in need—and will honor it. But Lord Westfall carries shadows from his own past, and Yrene soon comes to realize they could engulf them both.

In this sweeping parallel novel to the New York Times bestselling Empire of Storms, Chaol, Nesryn, and Yrene will have to draw on every scrap of their resilience if they wish to save their friends. But while they become entangled in the political webs of the khaganate, deep in the shadows of mighty mountains where warriors soar on legendary ruks, long-awaited answers slumber. Answers that might offer their world a chance at survival—or doom them all . . .

My thoughts:

Sooo, I hate to say this butttttt at first this was kind of boring. Sarah builds up a series of books with characters we love, only to then write a massive book on Chaol…. and not Aelin. After that cliffhanger, I would have much rather read about Aelin.

Howeverrrr, ignoring this, since then I have reread the book and finally completed it in anticipation of Kingdom of Ash(which I have now read), and I’m actually really glad I made myself read it because it really enriches the plot of the whole series and is totally necessary for the plot of KoA.

It also helps that I totally ship Nesryn and Sartaq and Borte and Yeran lol.

For some reason I’ve never really liked Chaol all that much, so I was really disappointed when this book came out, but Sartaq and the ruks totally made it worth it. It was really nice to witness Nesryn’s POV- she’s actually really interesting and strong, and overall I pretty nice character, which I never realised when they were all in Rifthold.

At many times, this book was pretty damn scary. I mean the creepy library scene when Yrene is chased, is terrifying. Butttt, I loved Yrene’s character in this book. She was brave and kind, and a pretty damn amazing healer. I wish Maas had further developed her character in KoA, which was a little disappointing, but whatever- that’s another book.

Overall, I would rank the beginning of the book pretty low. It was sooo boring. However, the end really made the story great sooo overall it gets 4/5 stars.

Here’s a Nesryn/Sartaq excerpt:

“Please,” she begged them. Begged anyone.

But Sartaq’s face went calm. So calm.

He stopped pushing, stopped trying to haul himself forward.

Nesryn shook her head, pulling on his arm.

He did not move. Not an inch.

His dark eyes met hers. There was no fear in them.

Sartaq said to her, clear and steady, “I heard the spies’ stories of you. The fearless Balruhni woman in Adarlan’s empire. Neith’s Arrow. And I knew…”

Nesryn sobbed, tugging and tugging.

Sartaq smiled at her– gently. Sweetly. In a way she had not yet seen.

“I loved you before I ever set eyes on you,” he said.

“Please,” Nesryn wept.

Sartaq’s hand tightened on hers. “I wish we’d had time.”

A hiss from behind him, a rising bulk of shining black–

Then the prince was gone. Ripped from her hands.

As if he had never been.

Ummmmm, wow. Sarah really knows how to bring the feels😂 She’s such an amazing author. TBH, it’s crazy how the series turned out- I’m pretty sure she knew all along, which only proves her author prowess.

Anywayyyy, please leave a comment. I’d love to hear your opinions! Follow me for more reviews coming soon.

Follow @bookishdeity insta for updates.

Bye xxxx

Shatter Me

Synopsis:

I am a monster
I’m more than human

My touch is lethal
My touch is power

I am their weapon
I will fight back

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior

My thoughts: *spoiler alert + Warner spoiler*

I read this book a while ago so please bear with me.

First of all I will start with the utterly bizarre style that somehow worked. I found in many places it didn’t make sense and was grammatically incorrect – however, while some may claim there is an over abundance of purple prose which made the style cheap, I completely disagree. (Check out the synopsis and the crossed out words to see what I’m talking about.) Edit: Turns out the crossed out parts have uncrossed when transferred to wordpress. Basically, of the 3 couplets (the first 6 lines), the top line of each was crossed out.

Sure, it may come of as try-hard on account of the author, but actually it somehow worked and was sooo effective. The style truly reflected Juliette’s confusion and her conflicted emotions towards her ‘disease.’ In fact, I can confidently assert that this conflict is the main theme of the entire story. Juliette is clearly a very damaged person, I mean the book opens with her in an asylum, completely riddled with guilt for the boy she accidentally murdered, while also battling her social scars from the bullying she endured from both her parents and her classmates. (I mean just look at the first quote at the end of the review😭) `Not only this, but she now has to deal with imprisonment with literally AWFUL living standards. She has to run for a shower through freaky passages for crying out loud!! I know I wouldn’t be too happy lol. However, at the end of the book, when we discover her ability to touch Warner, it is clear this will be the beginning of her acceptance towards herself in the coming books, despite the fact that he is an evil maniac in this one – please read the entire series if you haven’t already 🙏. (I actually can’t entirely remember so am praying this is right lol. I’ve read the entire series by now so Warner is bae 😆.) Obviously, being able to touch Warner is totally vital 😉

Throughout the book, she is clearly conflicted with her feelings for those surrounding her, such as Adam and Warner. `The style truly helps the reader to recognise just how broken she is, creating a passage between the thoughts of both reader and protagonist. It is Juliette’s confusion and insanity muddling the words, and yet the reader experiences them as if they were their own.

As the book goes on, the creepy crossed out writing style lessons as her mind gets progressively clearer, reflecting her healing process through human interaction.

The story itself is a very interesting concept (I mean wtf is up with The Reestablishment), yes at the beginning I was a little bored, but as I went on I found myself completely gripped. The entire series was soooooo worth it.

The abundance of romance and war (was it war? Don’t really know how to describe it lol. Angst between sectors?) really enhanced the book, and the Omega Point plot-twist completely upped it to a whole new level.

The amazing storyline and really interesting style definitely makes this book a winner. I’d rate it 4/5 stars.

SOOOOO… here’s some Juliette:

“All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart.” AWWWW, the feellllsss 😭 Tahereh definitely knows what she’s doing!

“I’m oxygen and he’s dying to breath.” Tooooo cuteeeee. Although not as cute as Jarner/Wuliette lol.

I’m sorry but I guess you’ll just have to read it for more😂🤷🤷

ALSOOO, just saying but you totally won’t regret it when you get to the later books with Warner 😉

Exhibit A (Don’t read unless you’ve read the later books):

“I’ve never pretended I wanted anything less.”

“You– you said you wanted f-friendship—-“

“Yes,” he says, he swallows. “I did. I do. I do want to be your friend.” He nods and I register the slight movement in the air between us. “I want to be the friend you fall hopelessly in love with. The one you take into your arms and into your bed and into the private world you keep trapped in your head. I want to be that kind of friend,” he says. “The one who will memorise the things you say as well as the shape of your lips when you say them. I want to know every curve, every freckle, every shiver of your body, Juliette—” Just sigh #perfection

Soooo please leave a comment, and follow for more reviews coming soon. Bye 🙂