determinationandcaffeine

[determinationandcaffeine]

Hi guys I'm leaving for Edinburgh rn, do you have any recs on stuff I should do/try/buy while I'm there?

Oh also I'll be finally clearing out my inbox while I'm on the plane so... yeah there's that

[determinationandcaffeine]

Hi! I love your blog! For things to buy in Amsterdam, I have to emphasize the food- buy stroopwafel and all kinds of special teas and coffees they have in the Netherlands. It’s so hard to find them here!

Hi thank you so much! This is super late so, sorry. But! rest assured, I came home with a ton of stroopwaffels! I didn’t have time to get any coffee or tea though, maybe next time :/

[determinationandcaffeine]

hey i read your lovely skincare masterpost and idk if you can answer my question, but I thought it was worth a shot. so i use tretinoin and i was wondering what a good spot treatment would be that wouldn’t interfere with those active ingredients that i could put on active blemishes overnight. anyways thanks for your lovely post even if you can’t answer this question!

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!

[determinationandcaffeine]

For anyone who cares... *climbs up to the nearest rooftoop and screams at the top of my lungs* I AM DONE WITH FINALS I AM A FREE HUMAN THE DARK DAYS OF IMPRISONMENT ARE OVER LIFE IS GOOD FAM

[determinationandcaffeine]

My Favorite Self Care Tips 💕

Okay ya’ll lets talk. For me, not only is school stressful, but at my college I also have to keep up my athletics and military skills. WHICH IS SO EFFING STRESSFUL. I always did really well in high school (thanks to awesome studyblrs like @emmastudies @studyign @highlightcrs @studymotivationuniversity and so on), but in college I literally feel like I never have ANY TIME TO DO ANYTHING! But instead of going insane and hating myself (which trust me, I did for a few months) I came up with a list of self care techniques that I think can be really helpful! And none of these take an entire “Self Care Day” which face it, none of us have time for So BUCKLE UP, FOLKS HERE IS @rubynerdy’s GUIDE TO QUICK AND EFFECTIVE SELF CARE:

1. GET AWAY.

College can sometimes feel consuming. You live in a small dorm room, go to the same lecture halls every day, and see the same people. I am a huge believer in getting the hell away from the campus. Even if its just going to see a movie or going to a cute coffee shop, getting away for even an hour can really clear your head.

2. SPA 10 MINUTES.

Face masks cost $0.99 sometimes and can make you feel AAAmmMAAaazZZIIiinNNGG. Simply doing a face mask, drinking some tea, and putting some fancy smelling lotion on can make you feel entirely more put together and can take all of ten minutes. Maybe even listen to some music or a meditation while you’re at it.

3. DO A FULL DENTAL ROUTINE

I am not one to floss every day, no matter how hard I try. But I find when I have 30 minutes to do a teeth whitening system, floss, brush, and mouthwash it feels so good! Clean mouth = clean life (?).

4. BULLET JOURNAL. WATER COLOR. DRAW.

All of the above I do when I’m feeling particularly down, I probably don’t have to tell you beautiful people that bullet journaling can make you feel put together. But taking the extra 15 minutes to add stickers and water color and drawings can make your week that much easier.

That’s it lovelies! Even if you wanted to do all of these things it would maybe take the entirety of a Sunday evening. Hope this helps!

[determinationandcaffeine]

My summer class (the psychology of motivation) is so interesting but the condensed timeline for the class is hard to get used to. I’ve only had 3 classes yet I have a midterm later this week.

I’m so excited to be volunteering in a lab this summer (and hopefully for a lot longer). Right now I’m in the middle of training. I’ll be running participants through neuropsychological assessments and collecting data for a study. For now the participants consist of students but I also have the chance to work with patients at the hospital too!

[determinationandcaffeine]

Want to maintain or improve your writing skills in your target language this summer? Try this 30-day writing challenge for June: Every day, answer the following prompts in your target language (in a personal journal or in a tumblr post). Good luck!

Write a short letter to someone you haven’t talked to in a while.

What are your future career goals?

What’s your favorite childhood movie? Why?

If you could learn to cook anything this summer, what would it be and why?

List 5 (or more) things that make you happy.

What is your morning routine?

What is your night routine?

Who is one influential person in your life? Why?

Write a poem about someone (or something) you love :)

List 5 of your pet peeves.

What’s something about yourself that you want to improve?

What’s one place you’ve always wanted to visit? Why?

What’s one thing you’re looking forward to this summer?

What’s one of your favorite things about yourself? Why?

Write a haiku about summertime.

Describe a memorable dream you’ve had.

Who’s your celebrity crush? What do you like about them (besides how cute I’m sure they are lol)?

What’s your favorite summer memory?

Translate 3 of your favorite quotes into your target language.

Write 3 things that scare you and why.

Write about a challenge you’ve overcome!

Who is someone, dead or alive, you would love to meet? Why?

Who is your best friend and why do you love them?

What is your favorite item in your room?

What’s one book you had to read in school that you DIDN’T like? Rant about it.

What’s one good memory from school?

List an insecurity, then refute it by reminding yourself how great you are :)

How do you think someone would describe you?

How do you relax after a stressful or difficult day?

What was your favorite part of this month?

If you participate in this challenge and post your prompt answers, make sure to tag me with #studyingsenseless or #writingchallengejune ! I’ll be doing it too :)

[determinationandcaffeine]

First bullet journal of the summer

[determinationandcaffeine]

05.17.18 • so it’s been a lot lately. But dw y'all, exam season is almost over ✨ darling doodles by @sukies

[determinationandcaffeine]

I finished finals yesterday, so I’m officially done for the summer, but I realized I never posted these photos from when I was reviewing for finals!! These notes are from my Introduction to Communication class; they actually match my new laptop case a little bit, which is cool, and I think I did well on the exam, which is even cooler : )

I know I’ve neglected this blog a little bit this semester, and I apologize, but this summer I’m hoping to revamp it and get in the habit of posting more often so that by the time next semester starts, this blog (and my study habits overall) are even better!! I can’t wait!!

In the meantime, I’ll still be here reblogging and writing some original posts, so feel free to come say hi anytime!! I’d love to make some friends in the studyblr community.

[determinationandcaffeine]

I’ve been studying for my last midterm and procrastinating by watching my friend paint (I wish I had some artistic skill) 😄 I can’t wait for this semester to be over

[determinationandcaffeine]

Midterms for this week are done and I registered for summer classes today! I’ll be taking intro sociology and psychological motivation.

[determinationandcaffeine]

Distracting myself from worrying about my midterm marks by getting a start on a paper analysis for my environmental microbiology class 🐌🍃

[determinationandcaffeine]

[determinationandcaffeine]

Adulting Tip

For those of you who are new to grocery shopping - a lot of big grocery stores have most of their produce on sale on Saturday evening. If you hold off on buying all your fresh stuff until then, you can cut down your grocery bill by a lot

Disclaimer - I don't know if this is true for every country but it's definitely worth looking into

[determinationandcaffeine]

everyone who writes their ‘7’s with a little dash through them had a conscious moment of truth where they actively chose to write ‘7’ in that way and never stopped doing it like if you can’t clearly recall that fateful decision wyd

[determinationandcaffeine]

if you ever try to befriend me and you expect to be in frequent contact with me i am so sorry. i do that with maybe two people and even then i often go days or weeks withouts saying anything before talking daily for a while. 

the point is if we dont talk that doesnt mean i dont like u and think about u a lot im just terrible at maintaining close relationships