Aim for knowledge

Hii sorry I'm only getting it your question now, haven't been on this blog for a while 😅 Anyway, nothing will interfere with tretinoin per se, but you may find that using a spot treatment in conjuction with a retinoid could cause some irritation. My go-to suggestions for spot treatments are always BHA (sallycilic acid) and benzoyl peroxide. Benzoyl peroxide is definitely more widely available (you can literally just go to a pharmacy and pick up a generic version) and works by killing the bacteria on your skin. However, it has no anti-inflammatory properties and it can actually be drying so I wouldn't recommend using it at the same time as tretinoin. BHA works by dissolving the oil in your pores and has exfoliating and anti-inflammatory properties too so I think that would be best. However, finding a BHA with a higher strength can be challenging. As always, when it comes to BHA, I'm going to recommend that you go for Paula's Choice (specifically their 9% BHA or their 4% BHA) but if you can find another product with a low enough pH, go for it (a more emolient texture would be better, as tretinoin can tend to be drying and please stay clear of that Clean&Clear Sallycilic Acid Spot Treatment, it's *shudders*l. An even more gentle option would be azeleic acid, which has been shown to work amazing on breakouts. However, I don't think you can get that active ingredient over the counter in the States. One last recommendation (and one that I personally used a lot for a few years), is to use raw honey on the spots overnight or for a few hours. It won't address the clogged pore but it will reduce the inflammation considerably, which, if we're not talking cystic acne, will really help. This is definitely the most gentle option and the only one I can guarantee won't cause irritation or peeling when used with your prescription retinoid. Hope this was helpful! To sum it up - look for a product with a creamy consistency with no irritants (refer back to the list on my post), that contains preferably BHA at a higher concentration than 1%, or look for azelaic acid if possible, or use honey if you're in a pinch. Good luck!

This is probably really late and you may even be on summer break already so I’m really really sorry. But someone else might find it useful I guess? Okay first off, I can relate like a lot. This was literally me last year. I know it can feel like school is your entire world and wtf even is a hobby? Did you ever like doing anything other than hw? Who’s ever heard of free time?The key here is setting a cut-off time. From this time until the next day you’re literally not allowed to think about anything school related. This not only gives you something to look forward to but it actually motivates you to get your studying/hw done faster because well, you don’t have forever.Now I know this can feel challenging and like honestly if someone had given me this advice last year, I would’ve just gone “yeah sure, as if I had the time for that”. So, instead, you can try scheduling longer breaks throughout your afternoon. You can always come back to your work later but for that time, you can completely forget about it. The first option is definitely healthier but I know it’s difficult so do what you can. You need to remember, there’s so much more to you than school. You can’t let studying take up all your time because tbh, what you do with your time shapes you as a person and forgetting about your hobbies can really snuff out your personality.Some ideas on what to do during your free time!

Anon, you’re not alone. I honestlystruggle with this every day  What am I even doing here? All thesepeople are so much more competent than me. What could I possiblybring to the table? But then, then you talk to other peopleand you realize, everyone feels like that.I mean it even has a name – look into Impostor Syndrome. And yes,there’s going to be people that are better than you, always.This isespecially shocking once you get out of high school I think, whereyou could’ve easily been ‘the best’ at your thing. Honestly, you justhave to accept it, be like 'yes, they’re better at this than I am andI’m okay with it’. It doesn’t make your work any less valid orimportant. Say, do you see painters giving up on painting justbecause there’s someone who’s better at it than they are? Of coursenot, they probably look up to these people but they wouldn’t stopmaking art. That’s because everyone can bring something differnt tothe table. Whatever field you’re going to end up working in, you’llalways be able to bring something new, something that’s good andwouldn’t be there if you weren’t. So use these people as inspiration,strive to be as goodas them, believe that you are good enough to compete with them, tobetter yourself to the point that you’re better than them. But do notobsess over it, there’ll always be someone smarter, who gets bettergrades, who’s better at what they do. Butyou with your skills, as they are, are enough

Now listen to me, I feel you, I’ve been in your shoes, IT IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE. First off, you gotta let go of the idea of learning the material perfectly, you will learn as much as you can manage, anything is better than nothingSecond, if you only have a day to study for each of these finals, only your next exam exists, forget about the other ones until you’ve taken this one. This only applies if you feel like you are v lost in that class, which seems to be your case. If you have any subjects that you feel confident about and like you can pass, screw studying for them, use that time for the ones you’re at risk of failing. Anyway, I poured all my cramming tips into this post. Sorry it took me a little while to get to this but I really wanted to get all of my tips and planning well laid out. Hope it can still help!

Lmao it’s more like I’m just a mess but thank you for being so understanding, I really appreciate it 💜 As for AHA, I’ve only ever tried the Paula’s Choice 10% Weekly Resurfacing Treatment and it works great but it isn’t exactly budget friendly and it may be too harsh if you’ve never used a chemical exfoliant before so I feel like you could get a better recommendation from Beautypedia here.

Ah I’m so happy you’re seeing results! Konjac sponges are okay if you want a more effective cleanse, although a washcloth would also do the trick. I’d personally be concerned about them being too alkaline but then again they don’t break down on your face so they probably won’t affect your skin’s pH. Anyway, regarding hyperpigmentation, the only reason they will help with that is because they provide some mild exfoliation. You’re better off getting an AHA/BHA and a vitamin C or hydroquinone (the latter is better if your hyperpigmentation is caused more by melanin than inflammation) and a good moisturizer with a lot of antioxidants. And of course, sunscreen is the most important step to getting rid of your hyperpigmentation.Hope this helped and sorry it’s so late :/

You can get down about it, it’s just human nature and I 100% understand where you’re coming from. Here’s the thing though - you can’t control what others do, only how you react to it. If someone in your class gets a higher grade than you, you can be jealous and sad but that’s gonna take you nowhere. So you use that as motivation to study more for your next exam. This is literally the same, just upscaled. So they’re working really fucking hard? So are you. Aim to be better than any of those potential candidates. You are just as able to get amazing grades and do great things as they are. In fact you can be better than them.At the end of the day though, please don’t place all your hopes and dreams in this one university. You will be happy wherever you go, as long as you’re pursuing your passion and you surround yourself with people that lift you up. I have so many friends who couldn’t go to their preferred university yet all of them are perfectly happy where they are because they’re studying what they love.So, do your best, aim high and use others' successes as motivation rather than as a source of feelings of inadequacy. But also know that no matter what, you’re going to be ok and happy. Good luck with this process, I’m rooting for you!

Tbh I think Paula’s Choice is the place to go for BHA. They’ve been making them since forever and they have a lot of different textures and percentages. My favorite is the 2% BHA (but get the Clear Extra Strength Anti Redness Exfoliant because it’s the exact same formula and you get more product for the same price). Other options are Philosophy’s Clear Days Ahead Oil-free Salicylic Acid Acne Treatment & Moisturizer and Eucerin’s DermoPure Oil Control Fluid. Then there’s The Ordinary’s 30% AHA + 2% BHA but, as I’ve said previously, I’m worried it’s too much AHA so be careful and don’t use it more than once a week if you end up getting that one. Other than that, you can check out my bha tag if you want any extra info.

Okay I’m going to suggest two things that you could try out that you may not have considereded just yet:

Also if you’re really struggling, please consider tutoring, it’s super helpful!

Sorry if this wasn’t very helpful but I can’t think of anything else rn. You may also want to check out my studying techniques tag.

Sigh I relate to this so much. So I’ll tell you the theory and then you’re going to need to challenge yourself to actually carry it out. Two problems here, perfectionism and time management.

So sorry it took me so long to get to this, here’s a coupon for charge-free murder, please take your place in the queue with those angry looking people with axes. Not but seriously, my apologies for being such a mess, hope this is still useful.

You’re asking the wrong person tbh. The short answer is cramming. When you cram, the information will be fresh in your mind and you’ll only need to invest a few days at max. Two drawbacks though - you’re putting yourself under a lot of stress and you’re not studying to learn but to get good grades (you’ll forget everything shortly after).I plan on writing a guide on how to successfully cram but the key things are: stay focused as hell, eliminate all distractions, take breaks only when you feel your focus drifiting off and distribute your time between the topics you have to cover.

How to spend less time studying, the healthy way

The most effective way to optimize the good grades - time graph is spaced repetition based on flashcards. You go over a topic the same day you covered it in class, you make the flashcards and then review them in your ‘dead time’ - bathroom breaks, waiting rooms, supermarket queues, public transport… Also another really good tip is that if you go to the gym every day and you’re allowed to record your lectures, literally just listen to that day’s lecture while on the treadmill/elliptical/lifting/whatever and then it should take you like no time to go through your notes for that lecture right afterwards and make some flashcards. That’s all I have! Good luck and sorry for taking this long to answer!

Yep! Mine’s actually from a health food store because you can’t find grapeseed oil at regular grocery stores here but it comes packaged in a regular 2l bottle so I’m guessing it’s not special in any way. If you can get the 100% cold pressed version though, that’s usually better.

I’m so glad my post was useful!! So, you’re in luck (kind of) because I actually already made a post on hair here. I’m sorry to say I haven’t educated myself on hair any further so that’s gonna have to do for now :/

I definitely think a daily exfoliant is more important, specially an AHA, which will help increase your collagen production and draw moisture to your skin. Ofc it depends on your specific needs - if you’re looking to address large pores or deep wrinkles a retinol would definitely be better, as an AHA won’t address those. Also a retinol is better if your concern is acne because it will ‘reshape’ your pores. If you’re not struggling with any of those and your main concern is texture and tone and just general skin health, an AHA is definitely the way to go. Either way, if you're looking for a really cheap retinol, I recently started using The Ordinary's Retinoid 2% Emulsion and it's doing wonders for my skin!Hope this made sense and I’m very sorry it took me this long to answer!

Omg you have a final on Christmas? Now that's just cruel. Okay so to your question, it's honestly up to you.

Sorry if this wasn't very helpful :/ best of luck, I'm sure you're gonna do so much better than you think you are!

I would like to know what computer I use too but I just… don’t sorry 😂 I know it’s a Samsung and it has a 10" screen but it’s probably not even in production anymore. And then there’s my old 17" laptop which is too big and slow to take to class but it’s great for any kind of work I do at home. So what do I recommend?

Hope this helped, good luck!

Hi sweetie sorry for the late reply! I have a making friends tag where you can find several asks I’ve answered similar to yours plus some really great posts. Apart from all the tips I mentioned there, all I can recommend is that you get as involved in the community as possible. Go to gatherings (clubs, etc), sign up for a gym, join a hiking group (I’m pretty sure if you google your city plus hiking group something should come up, my mom found hers that way). And bring baked goods if it doesn’t seem totally out of place because tbh that always helps. Also, if you’re not in college, there are a few apps to meet new friends in your area - Patook, Skout... Best of luck, I’m sure you’ll fit right in!