Tips for the Newbies

As the classic British weather finally catches up to us and Sainsbury’s has pulled out all of it’s ‘Back To School’ signage I thought it was the perfect time to share some of my tips for those of you starting your first year of college (as in the UK’s education system, the awkward two years in between High School and University). Now I’m sorry to be the rain in your summer break but September is nearly here which means it’s time to start awakening from your current summer-induced lethargic state and start getting ready to learn. College is a difficult place, there is no easy way around that- whether you’re doing A-Level’s or BTEC’s- however I hope by compiling this little list of tips and lessons I picked up in my first year, you will be able to avoid some of the mistakes that I made.

1 1)      Despite what everyone around you is telling you, you do not have to get a job (unless your circumstances are more complicated than the common reasoning for part-time work). To be blunt, all of the work you will have to do in order to do well will be stressful and time consuming enough so avoid getting a job that will mean you have no time left for leisure and completing work outside of college- a few quid extra to spend is not worth all of the additional stress you will be adding to your plate.  

2 2)      Be organised. Take yourself stationary shopping before college starts and get prepared. One of my biggest mistakes was not clearly organising and preparing notes for revision, which made exam preparation even harder. Plus a gel pen can make even the most boring essay that little bit more bearable- I promise that.

3 3)      Meet new people and make friends. Everyone is going to be a bit unsettled in that first week which makes it a perfect time to meet a new friend and expand your social circle- sit by someone you don’t know and strike up a conversation in class and see where it goes.

4 4)      Similar to number 3 try to become introduced and comfortable with a majority if not all of your class groups. This will create a sense of community and make even the most boring subject material more entertaining. Plus then when it comes to exams that community will pay off resulting in study groups and shared revision materials.

5 5)      DO NOT GO ON A NIGHT OUT IF YOU HAVE COLLEGE OR WORK THE NEXT DAY! I have made this mistake too many times and hated myself for it.

6 6)      When exam season comes around no one will judge you for looking awful on exam days- I went to my Literature exam with two hours of sleep, no makeup and greasy whilst essentially wearing pyjamas. All that happened was a few friends hugged me, I was offered a coffee and a couple of people I didn’t really know gave me a smile and told me they were feeling the same way.

7 7)      Don’t be an arsehole to teachers or other people in your class. You will just get less support when you need it- plus no one wants to be friends with a dick.

8 8)      Eyeliner and coffee make everything better.

9 9)      Use free periods to do homework; revise etc. Your grades will thank you for it and it will leave you evenings and weekends free for other things like jobs, dating and friends.

1 10)   Parties are fun whether you want to drink, do drugs etc or not (not promoting any of this behaviour by the way). Just be careful and don’t put anything online that you wouldn’t want your Nana to see.  

1 11)   Tutors are a gift from the Gods of Further Education. Utilise them.

1 12)   There are things and people that will come into your life that you didn’t even know you needed until you had them (Thank Hope for that philosophical gem)

1 13)   Always have spare sanitary towels/tampons- whether you need them or not, chances are a friend will.

 

1 14)   Find a hobby- something productive and fun for in your down time. It will stop you from going crazy.

1 15)   Life is more enjoyable when you spend it being less judgmental and pessimistic. It’s not cool to hate everything, it’s boring.

1 16)   In this next year you are going to grow so much that you won’t recognise yourself as the same person in a year. Your friend group, the way you look, your goals and aspirations, your interests, your habits are just a few of the things that will change; this all completely fine and natural and just a part of growing up. Just try to grow into a good person and the rest will all be golden. I know I changed completely and I believe it was at least mostly for the better.

1 17)   Friends are not better just because you have known them longer.

1 18)   Spend less time worrying about what others think of you; it’s easier and more productive to use that time for your work and making positive changes to the way you see yourself.

1 19)   Amazon Prime and a library card will save you a fortune on required/additional reading.

2 20)   Spotify and 8tracks will get you through revision and homework.

2 21)   Take a water bottle and snacks. You will thank me.

And finally...

2 22)    Do not stress yourself out too much- you will just make yourself physically, emotionally and mentally ill. Your health should always come first so take time to look after yourself.

Good luck for college and I’ll post again ASAP I promise.  

Dancing In The Rain

For as long as I could remember I’d had a dream- one day a handsome man (who looked suspiciously like Zac Efron, forgive me I was only 11 when this dream came to be) would take me on fairytale like date that would end with us dancing to the beat of our own hearts in the midst of a summer downpour. After countless marathons of Step Up, Dirty Dancing and, yes, High School Musical- I find myself often wondering when I would get my Hollywood moment with my very own Noah. I would find myself dreaming of the dance daily, wondering when I would find the one and I would get the chance to live a love worthy of a Nicholas Sparks novel. I guess I’ve always wanted a silver screen cliché.

Then you came along and instead of Noah, or any of the other dreamy characters I had fallen in and out of love with over the years, it was you I was dreaming of sharing this moment with. However I held back- not wanting to give it to you to early, afraid of wasting my one chance of a Hollywood romance on a love that wouldn’t last. I needed it all to be perfect- the situation, the timing, the partner. It wasn’t until that date in September, almost a whole year after we were first introduced- that I decided to take the plunge.

It was one of the rare days towards the end of the British summer where in our stubbornness we refuse to acknowledge the grey clouds and partake in some stereotypically summery activity or other. You had demanded to see every corner of my hometown so after a whistle-stop tour of the place I had escaped only a few years ago, I decided to take you to one of the few places that I will admit to missing purely for the view. We bought ice cream and sandwiches and used your jacket to set up an impromptu picnic overlooking the lake. We ate, laughed, kissed and fed the ducks before getting up to walk back towards the car. Until that point we had managed to stay warm and dry but it was halfway through the story of how I pushed my dad into the lake that I felt the first droplet hit my nose. Within seconds the rain was pouring but as I tried to drag you under the trees for shelter you pulled me back, refusing to move from your spot. You pulled me closer, placing your hands on my waist and started to rock us slowly, as the rain soaked our clothes and you hummed our song.   

Admittedly it wasn’t quite like the movies- with the water proof makeup, space heaters and perfect staging to make it seem Oscar worthy, our real life un-choreographed imitation was charmingly messy at best. I was shivering from the cold by the end, with makeup running down my face and you were laughably out of time thanks to your two left feet. But still, in that moment it occurred to me that I had never been so in love before because despite our flaws, I still saw our little story as even more beautiful than the story of Jack and Rose; and I knew we’d get a happier ending.

   

Launching the Beauty Tab

So it’s Monday night and as is tradition, I am doing nothing but killing time on the internet and eating various questionable snacks, apples with peanut butter or croutons anyone? Whilst on my second apple I decided to try and make my evening somewhat productive and making note of some blogpost ideas which is when something occurred to me; despite creating this blog with the intention of writing about beauty, a subject which I love to talk about, and creating a whole tab on this blog dedicated to that very topic- I have never actually written a typically beauty related post.

So here I am, with little inspiration if I’m honest, however I felt that it would make sense for me to first introduce the beauty side of my blogging personality in a somewhat formal way, and what better way to do that than by doing a tag? So instead of doing the regular tag that has been done a 100 times over, I’ve compiled a series of questions from all different tags and added a couple of my own that will give you a general insight into what I’m like as a beauty blogger which I will answer as bluntly honest as I possibly can.

11)      Name a beauty regimen that you rarely do.

I guess that would have to be skincare, I’m ashamed to admit I don’t have a real routine for this, I just cleanse with whatever I saw in Boots that month that would help whatever was going on with my annoyingly combination/ acne prone skin and my Simple moisturiser

22)      Do you wash your makeup brushes regularly?

I wish I could say yes with confidence but really that is a matter of opinion. I give my brushes a quick clean every week or so and I’m now getting into the habit of cleaning them properly at least once a month if not every two weeks- baby steps.

33)      How long does it take you to put on your makeup?

This is completely dependent on the situation. On a regular day it usually takes somewhere between 15 minutes to an hour, depending on whether I have overslept or whether I have the motivation to try. If I’m going out for a night out It can take anywhere between one to two hours.

44)      Will you leave the house without wearing makeup?

Absolutely not- I have so much respect for women who can go about their day barefaced, but personally it is completely out of the question. I’m really insecure and makeup is like my armour- it gives me strength and just makes me feel more positive- you can tell how I feel about the way I look just by what my mood is like, chances are if I’m being grumpy it’s because I’m having a ‘bad makeup day’ or ‘bad body image day’.

55)      How many high end products do you have?

I am fortunate enough to have a reasonably sized collection of high end products considering the wages I get from my part time job. At the moment my favourites are my new MAC lipstick which is the Viva Glam II or my Urban Decay NYC palette.

66)      Name the 5 makeup products you couldn’t live without.

My Rimmel ‘Wake Me Up’ concealer in ‘Light’, my Rimmel ’25 hour lasting finish’ foundation in ‘Ivory’, my MAC eyebrow pencil in ‘Lingering’, my Rimmel ‘Scandaleyes’ eyeliner and my all go to nudey-pink lipstick- Revlon Colourburst in ‘Elusive’.

77)      What time do you get up and go to sleep?

I go to sleep anywhere between 10.30PM and 5AM depending on how tired I am from the day’s activity however no matter what time I go to sleep it’s impossible for me to sleep in past 10AM. I have found that I work the best with between four and 5 hours sleep, even though it doesn’t help the bags under my eyes.

88)      Which beauty product gives you the most confidence?

Definitely concealer/foundation- I have a lot of blemishes, spots and redness on my skin a lot of the time in addition to my natural dark circles- so concealer and foundation give me a lot more confidence and hide my problem areas. 

99)      Describe your every day style.

This is difficult because my ‘style’ seems to be quite eclectic. I have some very grunge elements (like my collection of denim, flannel and Doc Martens), then some more classic pieces (think lots of monochrome and little black dresses), my more vintage pieces (50’s dresses will always have a place in my heart) and finally my more vintage/boho selection (lots of floral, lace and shirt dresses).

And finally...

110)   Your favourite beauty related activities.

I genuinely love shopping, whether it is online or actually within a store- I especially love Etsy and Depop for unusual/ unavailable pieces and I could spend days in Selfridges without ever getting bored. I also really enjoy doing my makeup- I will happily spend hours in the evening playing with my makeup, finding new techniques and creating new looks, and my makeup collection is my pride and joy.

So here is my way of introducing you to my more beauty focused area of my blog- of course I will continue with my more creative posts and my rambley, train of thought post as well- consider this my way of sharing another layer of my personality with you all. I can continue to post my creative work with my random bursts of feminism alongside the posts about my August favourites and top 10 cleansers.

I hope you will be interested enough to read my take on this widely blogged about subject.

Lots of Love,

Georgia xx

Let's Drink to Us

I never believed in love. I thought  it was something made up for the purpose of writing books and making films that people eventually started putting into everyday life in order to make it a little more bearable. I guess you could say it was just my own stubbornness that wouldn’t let me admit all of this to you sooner- and if you ever show this to anyone I swear I will kill you.

I knew you were the one almost straight away; even though I refused to admit it to myself at the time- I knew that in some way, you were going to be the game-changer. You know what I mean by that don’t you? I always knew that you would be the one to change my perspective of the world. Now I’m not claiming it was love at first sight- it was more like anxiety; I knew you were going to push me out of my safe little bubble that I had been living in, that’s why I avoided you for so long. I spent months after we first met keep you an arm’s length away, I think you may have even thought I disliked you, but really it was just for my own safety. I didn’t want to risk falling and then you not catching me, or changing your mind at the last second- leaving me battered and bruised at the other end. You scared the hell out of me, and I think that’s how I knew you were the one.

But slowly, very slowly- I started to notice things. When I started imaging the adventures I wanted in my future I was no longer on my own on them, it was always you by my side- with that stupid smile on your face and cracking awful jokes that could make even my icy heart melt. All I could see was that smile, or the way you had a single freckle on your left cheek, your permanently mismatched socks and that one curl in your hair that never went the same way as the rest- it was all you.  People would make comments about the two of us and as we hastily stated that we were just friends they would laugh claiming that “just friends don’t look at each other like that”.

I guess you could say it was a battle of wills, the person who admitted their feelings first lost- it’s always been a battle between the two of us and I think that’s why we work. We would both be bored by an ‘ideal’ relationship; and let’s be realistic, there is nothing ideal or traditional about the two of us. It’s the conflict that keeps our fire burning.

I can’t remember who caved first, despite our need for competition we never seem to have a clear winner, but I do remember the moment that we both said the three scariest words known to man. It was on our mini road trip- I had just turned 21 and you had never been to Disney World so we decided to spend a weekend in Vegas before driving down to International Drive for a week of magic. We had managed to reach Disney just in time for the fireworks and as I turned to see your stupid face grinning back at me as you grabbed my hand in yours, the words tumbled out in the most unromantic way imaginable. Wiping the mustard of my lip from the hotdogs we had inhaled you laughed and mumbled “I love you almost as much as I love Disney as well you idiot”. Then you kissed me and even though you tasted like ketchup, which you know I can’t stand. The moment was still annoyingly perfect- it was just like the movies we go to the cinema and watch purely to make jokes about- there was fireworks (literally) and we forgot everything but each other.

You became not only the person who came on every adventure with me, but also the person who I would cuddle and watch Netflix with. No compliment flattered me as much as the way you would look at me did- it was like you thought I was made of magic.

And now here we are, it feels like decades even though it’s only been a couple of years – I just wanted you to have a way of always knowing that I love you with every piece of my fucked up heart. A way of remembering that even though neither of us is perfect, there is nobody else that I could imagine being imperfect with.

 So I guess I will drink to that- to the perfect little mess we make.

(To clarify this is completely creative, my romantic life is still dead in the water, It was simply inspired by a mixture of exhaustion, my overly emotional brain and videos of Disney proposals and wedding speeches. Also the image isn't mine x)