Pretty much all of my adolescent life, I've had irritated, acne-prone skin that was relentlessly covered in red pimples and, possibly the worst of all, cystic acne. In middle school and high school, I would apply pounds of foundation and concealer to hide the bumps that essentially defined my insecurities.

Plot twist: All this expensive makeup that I was slapping onto my face was the very reason why my skin was constantly breaking out!!!

When I entered college, I decided to push skin-care first and beauty second as a way to let my skin recover while also embracing my acne scars and red spots. I've been following the same simple skin-care routine for over a year now, and I'm happy to say that my skin has never looked so clear and healthy in many, many years.  

Here are some of my skin saviors that helped my skin become better, and may also help yours: 

Last week I turned 19 and it was definitely one of the most fun yet bittersweet birthdays I've ever had so far. Being this was the first time I had to celebrate away from family, it truly hit me hard that I'm actually an adult now and am going to be away for the next three years and so on. Needless to say, I did lock myself in my room on the day of my birthday and cry about how much I missed not only home, but New Jersey, which I never thought I'd ever miss since I would constantly complain about how much I hated Jersey. Never take your home for granted!

 Ignoring the sad stuff, my birthday celebration was honestly such a memorable weekend consisting of my favorite things: food, friends, and fashion! Wow, I didn't purposely try to make alliteration there. For the past couple of weeks, I haven't been looking the best... meaning all I wore were sweatpants, leggings, and oversized sweaters. Binghamton weather has been extremely brutal, like below freezing brutal, though the weather on my birthday weekend began to get a lot warmer! I guess that's my present this year from mother nature. So since the weather was so beautiful, I got to wear one of my favorite outfits and take amazing photos with my friend's Iphone 7, which seriously almost has the quality of a professional camera.

Fall weather has finally hit the Binghamton area and I'm more than excited to finally trade in my flip flops for black Chelsea ankle boots, knee high socks, and the most necessary of all, baggy oversized knit sweaters. There's just something so amazing about Autumn that never fails to make me fall (hah, get it?) in love with the season.

I basically spent the beginning of fall getting over pneumonia, so stylish outfits were the last thing on my mind, though I did drink a lot of tea and ate pumpkin flavored everything! On Saturday I was finally starting to completely get over my sickness, which was perfect timing to get in an interview for my university's newspaper, The Pipe Dream. I was assigned an article that would feature a new downtown bubble tea cafe, which meant I would have to look decently presentable for an interview with the owner. I chose a classy, yet not too dressy outfit that fit perfectly for the Fall season and also a casual interview Downtown.

I've been trying out a lot of different makeup routines for this summer, and this one seemed to be the perfect fit! I usually only wear this much makeup when i'm going out or need a nice picture (no shame), though it can also completely depend on my mood. Below are all of the products i've been wearing so far:

Face; Anastasia Brow Wiz (chocolate) // Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream (no. 21) // Physicians Formula Bronze Booster  (light/medium) // Maybelline Fit Me Concealer (light) 

Eyes; Stila Stay All Day Liquid Eyeliner (black) // Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara  (black)

Lips; NYX matte lip cream (athens)  

Completely unrelated side note: Thank you to everyone who checked out my blog, which got over 1,000 views so far! I honestly didn't think I would even make 100, especially since i've been writing these posts for my own enjoyment. Special shoutout to Tammy for always reading my newest posts!!! (She's a true friend) 

➵KW