Tuesday 26 November 2013

Revise Like A Pro.

Recently, I've had quite a few exams and I've come to realise that I am the worst procrastinator when it comes to important things. Therefore, I made a little plan to keep myself from procrastination and thought I'd share it with any of you having similar issues.

So, firstly, get yourself some 'revision supplies' (snacks) to keep yourself from going hungry. I chose these-
Before you start any revising, do any urgent jobs/tasks/things that will distract you whilst trying to revise. This includes things such as tidying your room, washing pots, showering etc. 

Clear a space for you to revise; make sure you're comfortable and will be able to concentrate. If you're sat at a desk, make sure you won't get restless sat on a chair and, if you're sat on your bed, make sure you don't get too comfortable and fall asleep.

Make sure to tell people who may distract you (friends and family) that you're revising so they can leave you alone and try and keep their noise to a minimum. 

Unless you really need it, turn your phone off to keep you from going on Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter etc. You can give yourself small breaks every so often so you can go on these for half an hour or so. Only do this if you know that you will definitely be able to go back revising and not sit on the internet, accidentally, for hours.

Last of all, don't over-do it. If you're getting worked up and stressed, staying up until stupid hours of the morning trying to remember everything, have a few hours to yourself to just relax and not think about it. If, like me, you like to revise at the last minute and end up panicking over it, just take yourself away from it all for an hour or two and have a bath; whatever calms you down. 

I hope this has helped you in some way. This is a bit different to my usual posts because, not going to lie to you, I'm being lazy. I have some beauty posts planned but it's my birthday at the end of this week (yes, I'm playing the 'Birthday Week' card) so I'm taking a break. I'll be back soon though with some better blogposts. 

Ciao For Now
xx






Saturday 23 November 2013

Busy, Busy, Busy.

Hello... It's been a while hasn't it? I do have a valid reason though, I promise. The last fortnight has been really busy for me: 

The first week of my nearly-two week absence was spent revising and stressing over a Spanish speaking exam. I managed to get an A* so it all paid off, luckily! I'm currently planning a revision guide blogpost to help anyone who, like myself, struggles to sit themselves down and revise.


On the Sunday before my exam, I went to see Vampire Weekend at Manchester Arena with my friend, Georgia. It was a really great night; not only did I get to see Vampire Weekend, I got to see Noah and The Whale as they were their support act. Both bands were incredible live and played some great songs. 




On Wednesday, I went to see Ghost Town play at The Roadhouse in Manchester. It was such an unbelievable night. Not only did I finally get to see Ghost Town after hoping for so long that they'd come to the UK, I then met them and Sam Pepper afterwards! Then, as if meeting them once wasn't amazing enough, Georgia and I were leaving The Roadhouse when Kevin and Alix (from the band) came and spoke to us. We then got another picture with Kevin and had a hug; we proceeded, afterwards, to jump into her dad's car, squealing and shaking slightly. if you haven't heard of Ghost Town before, you can have a listen here- 


On Thursday, I went to see Catching Fire and had an emotional breakdown. I won't go on about it because I'm going to do a separate post on it later this month so watch out for that!

Anyways, I'll be back next week with several posts; it's my birthday in a week! I will be doing some actual fashion and beauty posts soon; I haven't forgotten what I actually made this blog for in the first place. There's just been so any exciting things that just aren't beauty/fashion related!

Ciao For Now
xx

Wednesday 13 November 2013

Rainy Weekend...

(I posted this on Monday but my phone didn't post it ugh!)
Hello, good morning and happy Monday! There's probably nothing happy about your Monday on this (probably rainy if you live in the UK) Monday morning. I'm walking to school and thought I'd do a little weekend update. 

(Apologies for lack of editing, I'm writing this post on my phone; well, I'm walking to school so obviously it's not going to be on my laptop.)

So, besides a lot of fuss with a lack of trams, nearly breaking my finger at wok and getting caught in the middle of a thunderstorm, I had a really nice weekend! 

I got my nails done by my friend, Annabel, who works at Pretty Me Nails (have a look at their twitter @pretrymenails and, if you live near their shop in Manchester, go and get your nails done). Here are mine:
 Rae and I then went to costa where I think I found my winter obsession: salted caramel lattes. Also, look at the festive costa cups:

That's me done for today now anyway. Hope you had a lovely weekend and have a fab Monday. 

Ciao For Now
xx

Wednesday 6 November 2013

October Favourites

Hello! It's November and guess who's monthly favourites post is late? Yup, it's mine.  

I've had quite a few favourite things this month. Quite a lot of them are non-beauty favourites but I'm going to share them with you anyway. Let's have a look then...

Beauty Faves

ELF Makeup Brushes
I ordered these brushes from ELF after a few people had recommended the brand to me. I bought a 10 piece set and, although I didn't like some of them, these five are really good for the price I paid. I use them on a daily basis and they're the perfect size to fit in my makeup bag. I think I'm going to do a review on ELF products as a separate post so I'll elaborate then; otherwise, this post will be way too long and boring.
Rimmel, Stay Matte Translucent Powder

I've wrote about this powder in a previous post (this one) so I've already rambled about how great it is. I'm on my 2nd/3rd purchase of this stuff because it's just so great. It sets my foundation and concealer so well and mattifies my oily skin for several hours. I will continue to use this religiously until something better comes along; I don't know how much better it could get though.
Seventeen 'High Drama' Liquid Eyeliner

I bought this a few weeks ago in a dash to buy a cheap eyeliner in Boots. I saw this one for around £4 so I thought I'd give it a try. Any other cheap eyeliner I've purchased has crumbled off my face (sounds disgusting, I know) after a few hours but I was surprised to find that this lasted the whole day. I find the applicator really easy to use and very rarely have to re-do my eyeliner. As well as long-lasting, it's also quite thick so, unlike I've had to do before with cheap eyeliners, I don't have to put a few coats on until it's actually black and not grey. 


T-Zone Nose Pore Strips

Again, I've written about these in another post (this one) so I won't go into too much detail. These little strips are my nose saviours. I think my nose would just turn into one huge blackhead without them. I feel so fresh and clean after using them and my skin feels spectacularly smooth.

Barry M Lipstick: Shade 162

This is one of the things I bought during my Boots haul and it is amazing. I wore it to Arctic Monkeys and a few other events last month. I love the colour of this; it's just such a flattering, autumnal, berry red colour. It's also quite long-lasting so I think I may have to purchase some more Barry M lipsticks.

Palmer's Dark Chocolate&Mint Lip Balm

If you didn't know already, I adore mint. I love the smell, the colour, the taste; everything and anything mint! I finished my first one of these (as you may be able to tell from its physical appearance) about a week ago and gosh I miss the smell of it. It smells like an after eight chocolate mint and it is truly divine. It has also worked wonders on my lips; I can feel them going dry after just a few days of not using it. If you like mint, I seriously recommend this. 

Non-Beauty Faves

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
(photo courtesy of Google images)

Gosh, these things! When in doubt on a lazy/ill day, eat peanut butter: this is my rule for days like that. Of all the peanut butter products available, these are my absolute favourite. I'm absolutely obsessed with them and, whenever I see them in shops, I just have to buy a packet (or four...). Peanut butter and chocolate is, hands down, the best food combination to ever exist. Whoever decided that it would be a good combination deserves every award, ever.

IKEA Blankets 
(bad quality picture, apologies!)

I recently had a trip to IKEA and bought two of these blankets for £3 each, absolute bargain! (...I sound like an old woman, oh dear) They're so cosy and perfect for chilly Autumn mornings; the christmassy colours are also a plus. I love the cute scalloped ends, it's just a really pretty detail. I can't imagine they'll last very long but, for £3, I wouldn't expect much anyway. 

Options Mint Hot Chocolate
(bad photo again, sorry!)

Oh, would you look at that? Another mint flavoured thing! This is two of my favourite things in one packet: mint and hot beverages. I don't know what I did on pyjama/junk food days before discovering these. I would happily accept a lifetime supply of mint hot chocolate. Nothing more to say about these other than, if you haven't tried them yet, go and buy a sachet! (unless you don't like mint, obviously)

Lastly, I have a favourite song from October: No.1 Party Anthem by Arctic Monkeys from their recent album, AM. I went to see them in October (I wrote a post about it) and I sang a bit too loudly to this song; my friend could hear me two seats away. It's such a perfect song when you want to relax and be happy.

That's all for my October favourites. Happy November everyone!

Ciao For Now
xx


Friday 1 November 2013

Halloween Fun

So, how was your Halloween yesterday? I hope you had a great day/evening; I certainly did.

Yesterday was a busy day; after a lot of faffing and fussing, I ended up hosting a Halloween sleepover/party (I'd say we put enough effort into it for it to be labelled as a little party) for two of my besties, Georgia and Shay, and myself. I must say, it was pretty fun.

When I mentioned faffing and fussing a few sentences ago, I wasn't exaggerating. It was a lot more of a faff than I thought it would be. Considering this, we still managed to get some pretty cool- I mean, um, scary and spooky *inserts spooky synonyms* decorations and fixed up my room until we were content with it's spookiness. I got some terrible pictures of some of the decorations-

Even though we weren't really going anywhere, we all still dressed up: I decided on a cat, Shay was a doll (courtesy of my fab makeup skills) and Georgia made herself into a pretty great skull queen.

During this sleepover, we bought and carved, what seemed to be, last three pumpkins in the whole of Manchester and made one hell of a mess in the kitchen. They did turn out pretty great though; I was extremely proud of my cat carving. 

Saving the best until last, of course, we bought lots of treats and baked some yummy red velvet cupcakes-

After carving pumpkins and eating pizza, sweets and cake, we sat and chatted for the rest of the night. It was a successful evening, if I do say so myself!

I'll be back very soon with my October favourites as it's officially November, yaaaay! 

Ciao for now
xx