long time no see

Well it's certainly been a while! Life, as it is wont to do, got in the way of blogging. However, things are getting settled in my personal life, and this means I'm ready to blog again! I do have a fun DIY to share very soon, along with some Thanksgiving tips and tricks!
Fall semester ends for me December 4th (woohoo!), so you will most definitely see me around more then, but I promise to no longer be a ghost.
♥

The Body Shop: Tea Tree Collection

Like many others my age, I have a bit of problem skin. It's not too terrible, but I do get acne, dry spots, and shiny spots. My biggest gripe with my face is probably the large pores around my nose! And so, like others, I have tried a multitude of products throughout my lifetime. I have probably tried every single major acne brand out there, with varying degrees of success. One day I was browsing in Ulta (what else is new?) and I came across something wonderful sitting on the shelves: products from The Body Shop! I have always loved their products, and faithfully used their Tea Tree line for years before I stopped since it was getting too expensive. But now it was time to be reunited.

At only $29, this is definitely a major steal. This box set contains 4 of the products from the Tea Tree line, 3    of which were my favorites. They're full-sized as well! You receive: 

• Tea Tree Skin Clearing Facial Wash 8.4 fl oz (MSRP: $11.50)
• Tea Tree Skin Clearing Toner 8.4 fl oz (MSRP: $11.50)
• Tea Tree Skin Clearing Lotion 1.69 fl oz (MSRP: $13.50)
• Tea Tree Oil 0.33 fl oz (MSRP: $9.50)

The box does not lie when it says you will save 34%! And believe me, every penny is worth it. I kid you not when I say my face cleared up in two days. Two. Days. My pores shrunk, my acne disappeared, and I've received several compliments on how smooth and clear my skin looks! I love the smell of the products, though admittedly some may find it a little strong (I recommend sniffing the product in store before you buy it if you are sensitive to smells). I also love the way my face feels after--fresh, cool, and clean. 

Onto a little bit about each product:

Tea Tree Skin Clearing Facial Wash - I use this daily with no adverse effects. It's a bit runnier than your average face wash, but nothing unmanageable! I just apply it with my hands, but some may prefer using a washcloth or other favorite method of facial cleansing.

Tea Tree Skin Clearing Toner - At the bottom of the bottle sits mattifying powder to help keep skin shine-free, so shake up the bottle before use to mix up the product. This product is amazing. It shrunk my pores and keeps away the shine all day! I apply it to my face and neck with round cotton pads that I bought at Target for like, $1. 

Tea Tree Skin Clearing Lotion - I had never used this before purchasing this set. I really like it though! It feels cool when you apply it to the skin. I do find however that I need to use more of this than I would with other moisturizers. Even with doing that though, my skin isn't greasy or shiny. It sinks in quite well!

Tea Tree Oil - Ahhh my favorite. This little beauty clears up blemishes in no time. Just use it as you would any other spot treatment! I usually apply some to a Q-tip, and then apply to said blemishes. I typically apply it before bed, so that way when I wake up, the blemish is gone! However, if you do have a stubborn little bugger, you can apply more than once a day. It doesn't try out my skin at all. And a little goes a long way! Really I feel like the whole set is worth it just for this product.

If you have blemished skin, or maybe just like the smell of tea tree oil, I really can't recommend this product enough. It clears up my face in no time and leaves me with softer, smoother skin. Not only will this line leave you feeling good about yourself appearance-wise, it will leave your soul feeling good too! The Body Shop products are all cruelty-free and the organic ingredients themselves come from Community Fair Trade partners around the globe to help promote sustainability and protection of natural biodiversity. 

Go out and try this product, I don't think you'll regret it! ♥

Back to School Saturday Haul

I think my favorite part of going back to school is buying new outfits! There's just nothing like wearing something new and cute to the first day of class and feeling good about yourself. New clothes, new classes, new you! 

Yesterday, I headed off to the mall to participate in Teen Vogue's annual "Back to School Saturday" (or BTSS) event. Essentially, retailers offer deals to shoppers, which you can access through Teen Vogue's app (only available on iOS) or through the website, Teen Vogue Insider. Some of the deals I participated in were $15 off $15 at PacSun (my personal favorite), 15% off at H&M, and 30% off at Aéropostale. With those deals, plus the other awesome sales going on at the mall, I got everything in the picture for under $80!

I can't wait to show these items off in upcoming outfit posts! I also picked up some other things that will be given their own posts soon!

Please excuse the glimpse onto my messy nightstand :X

♥

Textbooks: A Survival Guide

So, an unfortunate fact is upon us: fall semester starts in 2 weeks! Well, for me at least. It'll also be the start of my senior year, and the end of my undergrad career. Eep! While I don't mind going to school, I am going to miss sleeping in til noon and watching Netflix all day. sigh. With the new semester, comes a new list of textbooks that you will cry over when you see the prices. But cry no longer! I'm here to help you hopefully save a lot of money this semester. This is going to be a long one. Ready? Okay. Tip #1: Skip the campus bookstore!
I know, I know. It's so tempting. You can walk to it, and even enjoy a Starbucks while you shop. But do try to resist the temptation. I worked in my campus bookstore, and while it was a lovely job, I cringed at how much some people spend! The textbooks are so marked up, and often stock runs out fast, which means you may have to start classes without your textbooks as you wait for a new shipment to come in. The lines are horrendous, and really it's just not a good time. But if you insist on buying your textbooks at the campus bookstore (or your parents do!), here are a few tips to get you through it:

• Check into price matching. Some bookstores will do this, although they typically don't match Amazon
• Rent if you can!
• Avoid going to the bookstore around the lunch hour. Instead, try to go early in the morning, or later in the evening
• Come prepared with your class schedule in hand. It'll make it that much easier for you (and your friendly bookstore associate) to find your books.
• Be aware of the bookstore's return policies. Typically, most campus stores only let you make returns until the end of your drop/add period (the first week of school), AND you can't open any books that are in plastic!

Tip #2: Rent, rent, rent!

So you decided to skip the campus store, good for you! You just saved yourself some money and a headache. Now for the most important tip: rent your books! Unless you know you'll need the book for another semester, or you want to keep it (I personally do keep my art history and photography books for reference), it is really not worth buying. Publishers like to screw over poor college students by changing the edition for the next semester, making your book you just bought new for $150 absolutely worthless. It's a harsh world out there. If you do want to buy, buy used (more on that in another tip).

You can check other local bookstores in your area (we have Gray's and CB&S around here, among some others), or you can rent online. If you're me, I prefer renting from the comfort of my bed. Now, you may ask: "There are so many sites out there! How do I know who to rent from?". Well, fret not. I've been renting my books for going on 4 years now, and I have a few tried-and-true favorites.

In no particular order, my favorite sites are:

• Chegg
• Neebo
• CampusBookRentals

All you have to do is plug the ISBN number into the search bar and find your book! Some sites also offer the option to input your school and class schedule, and they will find your books for you. All 3 of them offer great service. Some (like Chegg) do charge shipping, but it's affordable, and you can often find coupons for free shipping! I have rented books from all of them, and each time they've been delivered on time and been in great condition. While it's true that both Amazon and Barnes and Noble also rent books, I've found that their prices are typically higher.

A few things to remember when renting:

• Compare prices! One semester one site may have the lowest prices, and another semester you might find them cheaper elsewhere
• Check rental return dates. You want to make sure you'll still be able to have your book to study for finals!
• Check shipping. Will your books get to you on time? Is free return shipping provided? If not, how much is return shipping? Additionally, what date must your books be postmarked to be returned on time? 
• Check policies. Can you write and highlight in your books?
• Take care of the books! If you return them in a less than favorable condition, or lose them, you will have to pay the full price of the book. And you certainly don't want to do that!
• Search for coupons! You can put "[name of site] coupons" in Google, and often find sites that will save you $5 or more! Retailmenot is generally pretty reliable, but it's worth searching around.

Tip #3: Buy Used

You looked at renting, but eh, you've decided you want to buy your books. That's fine! Unless your professor tells you that you have to have this year's brand new edition that just came out (I hate those professors), buy used! It's the same book, and you can often get it for much much cheaper. My favorite site for buying used books is Half.com. It's an eBay company, so they are a trusted and reputable site. It works pretty much like eBay: users list items and you can buy them. No bidding involved here though! The list of books is sorted from best to worst condition, and by price within each category. You can view seller's feedback and see the commengts the seller has left, like whether or not there is highlighting in the book (much like eBay!). I have bought two books off Half.com, and they were as described. Experiences may vary, though.

Tip #4: e-books

Sometimes professors may not require you to have a physical copy of the book. In that case, check into e-books! They are often cheaper than their physical counterparts, though not always. You can find e-books by going directly to the book publisher's website (which is often Pearson) and seeing if it is offered. Typically you buy an access code that is active for x amount of days, and you log in to the site whenever you want to use your book. It's nice for those who like to take their books on the go with their e-readers or tablets! Also see "Another Option" below.

Tip #5: Sell Back

You bought your book, new or used, used it, and now the semester's over. You don't need it again, so now what? Sell your books! There's no use in letting them take up precious space in your room. 

There are a few different ways to sell your books:

• Person to person: list your books on Facebook, Tumblr, or Craiglist. You choose your price and can let people barter. This is a good way to pass on a book to a friend, classmate, or fellow student. Just be careful! Always be sure to meet in public places in daylight, and bring a friend along with you.
• Online: Half.com offers the option of selling back your books! Here, you put in the ISBN and other information, and the site tells you the recommended price. Someone can buy your books, and you ship them out in a timely manner.
• Bookstores/Textbook dealers: Bookstores and other textbook dealers also offer the option of selling back your books. You can check your campus bookstore to see how much they are buying back your particular book for. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and textbook sites like Chegg and Neebo offer the option of selling your books back to them. 

Oftentimes you'll run into the unfortunate fact that a new edition of your book has come out, and yours is no longer useful. In that case, try donating your books! You can donate to your local library, or even try to find a nonprofit group that takes old textbooks.

Another Option...

There are actually ways to get textbooks for free. Unfortunately for me, I've never been able to find any of my textbooks through these methods. However, if you want to try, here is an excellent Reddit post and an excellent Tumblr post on sites and methods for finding free textbooks. Additionally, you can check to see if any friends will let your borrow their book if they took the class before, or if they'll sell it to you for cheap!

Alright! Well that was long, but I really hope it helps somebody :) Also if anyone ever has questions about college/university at all, don't hesitate to ask!

♥

Change is Good

It looks a bit different around here, yeah? I'm still planning on changing a few things (namely the header), but things are looking a lot better! While blogger does have a nice tweaking system, I found there were some things I wanted to change that I just couldn't do without knowing HTML/CSS. I did have some (very basic) prior HTML knowledge from the myspace days, but that was really limited to changing font/background colors. My best friend does have the knowledge though, and so I asked her for recommendations on where I could learn the basics I would need to make this blog look how I wanted.
Enter Codecademy, an amazingly awesome free site. All it takes is a simple (free!) registration to get started, and suddenly a world of lessons opens up to you. I worked through the Web Fundamentals track in about two days, and that gave me all the knowledge I needed to get started. The lessons are fun, well-written, and have a bit of cheesy humor! I can't believe how much I learned in such a short time. I can't wait to get started on the Javascript course next!
If you've ever wanted to learn how to code, or if, like me, you're an art student without a lot of computer design background, go forth and get started! And now when classes start up again and people inevitably ask what I did this summer, I can proudly say "I learned how to code HTML and CSS!" (although I'm sure they will have amazing stories of traveling places and skydiving and raising dragons or something).
And the best, most amazing part is, it's free. (I just needed to mention that one more time).


*Disclaimer: I don't work for Codecaemy, nor am I affiliated with them in any way besides being a very happy user

Hello!

Hello there! ✿

I'm starting a "real" blog! Usually I blog over on my tumblr, but I wanted a space to share recipes and DIYs and other fun things, and tumblr just wasn't what I wanted. I used to blog back in the days of Xanga and LiveJournal, and even had my own webpage through my internet provider (the page is still out there somewhere. and it is scary, let me tell you), but I decided it was time to get back into it.

A little bit about me: My name is Nikki, and I'm 21! I'm a senior at UCF, studying studio art and art education. Some things I like to do are craft, bake, and watch movies (though that's not all I like to do!). I also like to dabble in HTML and computer art, along with traditional art. So this blog will probably undergo several design changes as I figure out what I like and dislike. I'm not as much of a rebel as my blog title and URL implies, but I like to think I am :')

I'm really awful at writing "about me" things, but hopefully we will get to know each other better over time! I can't wait to start some weekly features, and get posting!

Thanks for stopping by ♥