Monthly Favourites | May

Hey guys! 
Sorry that I haven't posted in a little while, I'm working on a couple of posts but they're taking quite a while so I do apologise for that.
May has been a good month beauty wise. I got my first glossybox and spent a lot of money of things that I really wanted for myself, and although most of my favourites are just things from last month's favourites, I have a few new ones.

The first thing in this month's monthly favourites is my Rita Ora for Rimmel London nail polish in shade Daisy Days. I bought this in early May and have loved it to pieces ever since. It really makes me feel brighter and summery, and I even think it makes my hands look slimmer! I don't need too many coats to get a good colour coverage and I've found it lasts a long time before chipping. This is definitely a staple polish for me this summer!

Rita Ora for Rimmel London - Daisy Day 450

Next is my Argan Oil heat defence spray. I am so bad with protecting my hair from heat, and have only really started using heat defence properly in the past few months, even though i've been curling, straightening and drying my hair for years. No wonder my hair is frazzled! This spray smells absolutely gorgeous and it makes my hair a lot less frizzy after blow drying. I love the packaging of this product as it looks really fancy and expensive, even though it isn't. I haven't used many heat defence sprays so I don't know how this one sizes up to the big brands, but I definitely like it.

Argan Oil Heat Defence Spray

Garnier Micellar Water is amazing. I bought this a few weeks ago and have been using it every single day before my cleanser, toner, and moisturiser to remove my makeup, and it works like a dream. I use this by putting a small amount onto a cotton pad and wiping it over my face and lips. I use an eye-specific water for my eye makeup as I have quite sensitive eyes and I'm used to it so I'm boring.

Garnier Micellar Cleaning Water

I used to use a hairspray that I bought in a pound shop which really did hold my hair, but made is crispy and gross and just not how you want your hair to feel. I swapped it for the TRESemme salon finish firm hold hairspray and it is so so so much better. It keeps my hair in place without it becoming too hard and crispy, and it controls my flyaways really well. Love love love it!

TRESemme Salon Finish Firm Hold

Next is Batiste dry shampoo. I'm not going to lie, I've only used this a couple of times as I bought it not long ago, but I really really love it. I have the cherry flavour which smells gorgeous, and it makes my hair look so much fresher and more alive. I know a lot of people don't like that it can leave white flakes in your hair, but that doesn't really bother me as I have light hair anyway. I really want to try a different brand of dry shampoo just to compare, but this does me just fine!

Batiste Dry Shampoo - Cherry

I've also really been loving the face masks by Superdrug. This, again, is more of a late May purchase, but I cannot tell you how much I love face masks. They feel so amazing, and superdrug do such a massive range of flavours, skin types and mask types so there's so many to try. They're 3 for 2 at the moment so I definitely recommend them if you don't want to go ahead and buy a branded face mask.

Superdrug Superfruits Exfoliating Mask

Lastly, but definitely not least, is the body shop cocoa butter lip care stick. I suffer from horribly dry lips, and was told the cocoa one was the most moisturising so I took the plunge, and it has made such a difference to my lips. I put this on in the mornings and evenings, and anytime during the day when I feel like a need a top up. I'm not keen on the smell of this as I don't particularly like anything cocoa scented on my face or body, but I can look past it because the formula is so creamy and so nourishing. I think it was quite expensive for a lip balm, but the body shop is an amazing brand and the balm definitely does what I want it to do!

The Body Shop Cocoa Butter Lip Care Stick

So that's my May favourites. What have you been loving this month?

See you soon!
Katie xo

May Glossybox

Hi guys!

I am so excited to be writing this post because I finally got a subscription to Glossybox!! For those of you who don't know, Glossybox is a beauty subscription company who send you a box of makeup/haircare/beauty products and samples for you to try out. It's really great for people, like me, who want to broaden their knowledge of all things beauty and you can find some really gems in these little boxes.

My first Glossybox box!

I'll start off talking about the packaging of the box before the products, simply because I'm so impressed! The box itself came in a  black cardboard packaging with the Glossybox logo on it, which was really really cute. I love when companies spend that little extra to deliver things to you in style. Glossybox always sends you an adorable little pink box with the logo and 'Glossybox' written on it, and it's so simple and minimalistic but I love it so much. Inside the box has the Glossybox logo and the products are sat on top of black tissue paper, which is then enveloped in a very simple and elegant white tissue paper, sealed with a logo sticker and a pretty ribbon. I am literally in love with the packaging, I'm going to keep every box on my bookcase. The box came with a little card which explains what the different products are and how to use them, which I think is a lovely idea. Thanks Glossybox!

Glossybox interior and this month's products

The 5 products I got this month were the Zerreau Beauty Towel Off Shampoo Foam, an alternative to dry shampoo, the MeMeMe Enchanted Eyes Dual Ended Eye Wand which is a double ended blue eyeliner, the Etre Belle Aloe Vera Ultra Moisturising Gel which hydrates and moisturises your face, the Collection Cosmetics Field Day Lipstick in a gorgeous light pink, and the Nails Inc. Nail Polish.

I started with the shampoo first, as I was planning to wash my hair anyway so it was the perfect time to try it. This product is essentially dry shampoo in foam form. Instead of spraying in your hair and brushing it through, you squirt some into your hands and rub it into your roots and ends. It's perfect for when you're in too much of a rush to wash your hair properly, but not so much of a rush that you just need to spray and go. 

Towel Off Shampoo Foam - Zerreau Beauty

Glossybox says:  Apply the foam directly to your scalp and massage it in to lift dirt and grease. Immediately remove the foam by towel drying - voila, your hair looks freshly washed again.
My Review:  The packaging of this product is really lovely and sleek which I like, but I think they could maybe spice it up a bit as it is a little bit plain. The foam smells of a light apple scent which is absolutely gorgeous for this time of year, and definitely makes your hair feel and smell really fresh and crisp! MMMM. I found I had to use quite a few pumps of the product to really cover my hair (I have quite a lot), but that's to be expected from a foam. After towel drying my hair, I found that it did look noticeably cleaner and brighter, but maybe not as much as I was expecting. I think this product is a really cool idea and definitely different, and although I do like it, I wouldn't buy it. It isn't tested on animals which is an amazing plus, and it's alcohol free too! It retails for £7.95 and is available here.

The next product I tried I was really excited for and was the moisturising gel by Etre Belle. I thought this was a mini product at first but when I checked again, realised that Glossybox had given us 3 full sized products this month! 

Aloe Vera Moisturising Gel - Etre Belle

Glossybox Says:  For a healthy glow, apply a sufficient amount to your face and neck in upwards motions to hydrate and soothe your skin.
My Review:  The packaging of this gel is really cute and comes in a little opaque tube, which I always prefer to a pump as you can see how much product is left and get it out yourself. It's really stylish and has a gold detailing on the lid and the brand name. The gel itself is a gorgeous green colour and smells very fresh and light. It reminds me a little bit of Johnson's baby lotion, but not as strong. I used the gel in place of my moisturiser, but I think I might use it as well as my moisturiser to see how much of a difference it makes. I found this product to really hydrate my skin and make my skin feel brighter and more awake instantly, which I loved, but found it left my face feeling a little bit sticky. I don't know if I didn't rub it in properly or if that's just how the product worked on my skin, but it was quite strange. It made my skin feel quite a bit tighter, which the product aims to do too. I think I need to use this product a few more times before I can make a firm decision on whether I like it or not. This product retails for £15.93, which personally I think is quite steep for only 40ml, but if you've got the money to spend, might be a nice little treat for your skin now and again. It's available here.

Next up is the lipstick. I'm quite bad with lipsticks as, although I think they look amazing on, I can never seem to make it look neat. Maybe my lips are just a funny shape but quite often they make me look really strange, so I was quite sceptical when I decided to try this one.

Field Day Lipstick in Tulip 2 - Collection Cosmetics

Tulip swatch

Glossybox Says:  Prepare your lips by gently exfoliating them to create a smooth surface, followed by a dash of lip balm. Apply one coat of lipstick, then blot with tissue paper before applying a second coat to build up and seal in colour.
My Review:  I think the packaging of this collection looks quite cheap and tacky, although it does use nice summery colours. I really loved the colour of this product, 2 Tulip, as it's a gorgeous summery pink which I thought would look lovely with loose wavy hair and a floaty white dress. However, on me, the colour looks a bit hideous. I look really plastic and I think my skin tone is just completely wrong for this colour and I would need something slightly darker. I also found that it didn't go on well as the pigmentation wasn't amazing, and it took me a little while to cover my lips completely. I then blotted my lips and applied a second coat and found it wasn't all that buildable. Overall I'm not very impressed with this lipstick which is a complete shame because the colour is so pretty. If you have very light skin this might be a perfect colour for you, and for only £2.99, it's worth a try to see for yourself. You can find the product here.

Eyeliner was next on my list, and I wasn't quite as excited when I saw this in the box. I am really not a fan of any colour eyeliner other than black because I'm really boring and not adventurous at all, but I thought, I'm getting this Glossybox so that I can broaden my makeup and beauty knowledge and try more things, and considering blue eyeliner is a key trend for spring, I decided to give it a go anyway.

MeMeMe Enchanted Eyes Dual Ended Eye Wand - Light Blue

MeMeMe Enchanted Eyes Dual Ended Eye Wand - Dark Blue

Wand swatch, left - light blue, right - dark blue

Glossybox Says:  For a decadent line of colour, start at the inner corner of your eye and delicately drag the pencil outwards in one smooth sweep.
My Review: The packaging of this product is really simple and has two clear plastic lids so you can see which colour is at which end. I found both colours to be extremely pigmented and was surprised at how much I liked them. The darker of the two looked like a very grey blue, which would be perfect for a summery smokey eye and the lighter blue was very electric and reminded me of the video to Last Friday Night by Katy Perry! I think this colour would look really cool on a night out or at a dress-up party, and would really pop if it was paired with coloured mascara, such as pink! I think I'll use the darker of the two more often as I'm not confident enough to rock the electric blue on a day to day basis. The eyeliner was really easy to remove with a simple micellar water, so I wasn't left scrubbing blue off of my eye. Thumbs up from me! The eyeliner retails for £6.95 which is really good considering you get 2 in 1, and is available here.

Last but not least, the nail polish. I have started painting my nails a lot more than I used to, so I was really happy when I saw I had received one. 

Nails Inc. Nail Polish - shade unknown

Glossybox Says: Apply one thin coat in three strokes on top of a base coat and leave to dry before applying a second coat.
My Review: The packaging of this nail polish is really simple and cute and I don't have any complaints on that. The colour of this polish is a very light red toned purple. Although I don't think it will be a great summer colour, I think I'll wear it a lot in the transition into Autumn and possible early springtime. I love the brush in the polish as it makes the application really easy and is quite thin so you don't end up putting loads of paint on my nails. I didn't get any paint of my fingers (which I always do!) so I am really in love with the brush. The paint dried really really quickly which I wasn't expecting, and I also found that the paint was quite pigmented, so I only needed two coats to get a good coverage on my nails. I'm really excited to use this product more and I think I'm going to check out the collection and see what other colours Nails Inc. have! I don't actually know what colour this polish is as it's only a sample size, but you can see the collections here. This full size of this polish retails for £14.

Overall I'm quite happy with my Glossybox and I can't wait until next month to see the next lot of goodies I receive! Beauty boxes are so much fun, especially when you have no idea where to start when it comes to beauty and makeup. Do you like Glossybox or have any other beauty box subscriptions? Let me know!

See you soon!
Katie xo

Friendship Frenzy

Hi guys, 

I thought I would talk about friendships and relationships as they're incredibly important, especially as we're growing up, and can really affect who we become.

My best friend last year decided that our friendship wasn't working out anymore for personal reasons that I won't share on here, but we stopped talking completely and I was really upset. At this time I had just started college and hadn't made a lot of friends, so I ended up being very lonely.
I have since realised that it's probably for the better that we aren't friends anymore, and although I still get upset and miss her sometimes, we're both better off without each other.

source: google images

Sometimes friendships and relationships just don't work and they can become toxic and end up hurting both parties involved. You have to be really careful with who you decide to become involved with, and stay away from people that don't make you happy.

A friend can be made of all sorts of different things, and we may have different friends for different things. But it's important that you're friends with people who you know will always be there for you. Someone you know you can rely on to be a shoulder to cry on and help guide you through tough times will always be a better friend than someone who is just fun to hang out with, although that's a must too. 

source: google images

Surround yourself with people that will make you a better person, who will make you laugh and make you enjoy your life, even when you're just lying on your bedroom floor talking. Toxic people will make you upset and can really hurt you, so avoid toxic relationships.

source: google images

And remember, if someone doesn't want to friends with you because it's a toxic relationship, don't think you're a toxic person. Everyone has flaws and those flaws make us who we are, and sometimes they affect our friends and family, but that does not make you a bad person. Love yourself and love the people around you.

I have since made some amazing friends who I know I can count on and make me cry with laughter. We can scream musicals in the car and have serious deep conversations too, and I have never been happier. If you're feeling lonely, just know it gets better. I thought I was never going to feel like I had really good friendships ever again, but now I have some of the best friends I could ever have asked for.

See you soon!
Katie xo

Fun Night Out

Hi guys!
I apologise sincerely for being a little bit AWOL and not posting as regularly as I have done previously. I have been feeling a little bit ill and stuff, so I thought I'd do a short post about my little night out on Saturday.

To celebrate a friends birthday, I was invited out for dinner at a lovely little restaurant in town. We got dressed up and had a really lovely evening, even though it was quite short. We ended up playing Scrabble while waiting for our meals which was very fun indeed (and of course, my team won). Here are a few pictures from the night including my makeup and the outfit I wore.

I curled my hair using my Babyliss curling wand (with Argan Oil heat defence spray, VO5  plump it up weightless mousse and tresemme salon finish hairspray), and on my face im wearing - 
Primer - Makeup Academy Pro-base primer
Foundation - Rimmel Match Perfection, 100
Concealer - Collection Lasting Perfection, 1 fair
Bronzer - Collection Bronze Glow Mosaic
Finishing Powder - Rimmel London Stay Matte pressed powder
Eye liner - Rimmel London Glam Eyes, black
Eyeshadow - Flutter palette, shade unknown
Mascara - Maybelline the Falsies Volume Express, black
Lipstick - Essence Longlasting Lipstick, 01 coral calling
Lipgloss - Colour Unlimited, shade unknown

I wore this lovely maxi dress from New Look (available here), along with these white heels and this bag (which I believe are now unavailable as I bought them last year), and accessorised with black and gold triangular earrings and necklace.

I took many silly selfies over the night, which I won't be sharing here as I will die of embarrassment, but here's a few for you to take a peek at.

Delicious 'Hero Hamburger' with chorizo, mmmmmm!

Chocolate brownie, heaven!

Myself and the birthday girl, Antonia

Cute group selfie (Me, Eanna, Antonia, Chloe, Katie and Adam)

See you soon!

Katie xo

Softest Makeup Brush EVER

Hi guys!
I thought I'd do another mini haul for you as I bought a couple of bits and pieces when I walked into town the other day. I got the usual hairbands and nail files, because you always need hairbands and nail files, and a few more interesting pieces, take a look! I sincerely apologise for my terrible images, my camera is playing up so I was using my phone.

The first thing I bought was this absolutely gorgeous nail polish from Rita Ora's Rimmel London range. It's the absolute perfect shade of yellow, which I reckon would look amazing in spring, summer and autumn. Its bright enough to keep it light and sweet, yet the perfect shade to reflect autumn leaves. I love it love it love it! I find it dries quite quickly, quicker than my Essie nail polishes, and leaves a gorgeous shiny finish. The packaging is so pretty too - really girly and cute. It was only £2 in Superdrug, which I will link here!

Rita Ora by Rimmel London - Daisy Days 450

I bought this lipstick in a gorgeous coral colour. I was undecided whether to get a nude or this colour, but because I have quite pale skin and I'm not too adventurous with makeup (I'm working on it) I decided to go for this. My mum got the nude colour so I can always steal hers and have a try. It's from Essence which are ridiculously cheap, and available in Wilkinsons and here. It's from the longlasting lipsticks range, and I'm excited to see if it lives up to it's name. Have you tried any Essence lipsticks?

Essence Longlasting Lipstick - 01 Coral Calling

Okay, this is literally the softest makeup brush I have ever felt, and I've felt many a brush in my lifetime. It's a powder brush and is the perfect size for my finishing powder and bronzer. It feels so nice on my skin and just wow. I'm completely in love with it and have no complaints whatsoever. Guess how much it was and where it was from.
£4. Wilkinsons. ABSOLUTE BARGAIN. I cannot recommend this brush enough if you're on a tight budget like I am, it's a brush made by makeup angels. Sigh. Here's the link if you want to try it yourself!

Powder Brush

What have you guys been buying recently? Have you tried any of these products before?

See you soon!
Katie xo

Favourite Book at the Moment

One of my goals over the summer is to read more books, considering I have about 120 in my bookcase and have read about 30 of them. I know, I'm terrible. I'm the kind of person who will either finish a book in a day, or will take months.

Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell is an absolute gem, This book took me about 4 months to read, even though I completely loved it (I just got lazy). It's set in the 80's and revolves around Eleanor, a red headed girl living in an abusive home, and Park, a half korean comic book nerd. It's your typical teen romance style book, but the characters are absolutely amazing and I actually kind of want to read it again. I finished this a couple of weeks ago, and started reading another of Rainbow Rowell's books, Fangirl. I'm also loving that.

What is your favourite book at the moment? Let me know!

See you soon!
Katie xo

Healthy & Happy

This is quite a personal post for me, but I want my blog to be somewhere where I can express myself, whether that be about beauty and fashion, or about other things.
I have struggled with my weight for about 13 years (since I was 4). I got bullied and called names, my own stepmother said I had a "fat ass". My parents constantly said "I wish you would lose weight" and, although I realise now that they were concerned about my health rather than the way I looked, it really affected my confidence. Boys in the year above me used to call me 'Eighty Stone' (my name is Katie Stone for those of you who don't know), and by this time I brushed the name calling off like it was nothing, but it has still stuck with me four years down the line. I have tried Weight Watchers, and failed, tried nothing and just complained, and then tried Slimming World. I lost 2 stone and was starting to become really happy with myself, although I was no where near my goal body. I then put it all back on, and then some, and now I'm completely miserable with the way I look, and it's time to make a change for good.

An awful lot of people struggle with self esteem and body issues, and the media doesn't help with that in anyway. Models are photoshopped and celebrities go on crash diets and get all sorts of cosmetic surgery. I know that practically every image you see of a celebrity or a model has been manipulated, so it's easier for me to ignore them, but it's people that I see in real life who have amazing bodies and gorgeous hair and really lovely makeup that knock my confidence even more. These people probably struggle with themselves too, and people may see me and think "I wish I had her bla bla bla" but I am just not happy with myself. Some things are easy to change, like the colour of my hair, the way I do my makeup, my clothes etc, but my body is another matter. I need to lose an awful lot of weight to become "healthy", but honestly, it's more about the size for me. I dropped 2 dress sizes before, and now none of my clothes fit me properly because I put all the weight back on again. Ideally, I'd like to lose 4-5 dress sizes, and have a flat stomach. For some of you, this may sounds completely impossible and you may be thinking that I should just try and accept myself, but people have lost more weight than I want to, and achieved flat stomachs after being severely overweight too. I will too. 

I am not healthy. I am not happy. I want to be able to go into a shop and choose whatever item of clothing I want without feeling stupid. I want to be able to wear nice underwear and not feel like my body is ruining it completely. I want to be able to wear dresses without my thighs chaffing and I want to accept myself. Everyone could see a major difference when I had lost weight. I was becoming extremely happy and proud of myself, and I just looked brighter. 

Today I woke up and had chocolate for breakfast. That's not the kind of person I want to be. I want to be the kind of person who goes running and eats gloriously healthy meals, while still treating myself to some cake if I want it. Don't get me wrong, I don't glorify anorexia or binging or starving yourself or eating disorders or anything like that. If you're happy with your body, no matter what it looks like, and you're healthy, then that is all that matters. I just need to have a flat stomach to be happy with myself. 

I'm not doing this so I can get attention from boys, I have an amazing boyfriend who loves me the way I am, and I'm not doing this for my family, because they love me and think I'm beautiful too. I'm not doing it for the masses of people that bullied me over my weight (although it will be nice to rub it in their faces), I'm doing it for me. I'm doing it because I want to wear tight clothes and I want to be healthy and be able to go running and enjoy my food without feeling guilty. 

I want to start taking Slimming World seriously, and start eating healthily. I need to eat less chocolate and sweets, especially since I have braces and I'm not meant to be eating sugary foods at all. I want to join a gym, or some sort of Zumba style class, which my friend wants to do with me, and I want to become the best possible me. I started today by creating an inspiration board on my bedroom door, filled with motivational quotes and images of people who have lost weight and have my 'goal body'. I'm going to start using my Plant Nanny app religiously, starting right now, and I'm going to follow my Slimming World plan as closely as possible. 

The point of this post is pretty much to have written documentation of my goals and for me to refer back to each week. I want to write a new post each week, which will show how my week has gone and if I have lost any weight. If you guys want to get healthy with me, feel free to leave comments or message me on Twitter (here) and I'll be happy to share the journey with you. 
Sorry if this post was a little downhearted or not what you were expecting, but I really need to do this for me. Thinking I can do it is good, but won't keep me going. If it's on my blog, I'll be reminded of what I want to achieve everyday.

See you soon!
Katie xo

Saturday's Celebrity Styles - Zendaya

For this Saturday's fave style inspiration, I'm going with Zendaya. She is a complete fashion beast, and looks completely flawless no matter what she's wearing or what her hair looks like. She rocks the dreads, the curls and the crop and fringe. I literally cannot get over how gorgeous this girl is, and she's only 18!

Her yellow dress compliments her skin tone perfectly, and paired with the bright blue heels, creates a fierce looks whilst still being very feminine. The bright pink suit is also amazing, and I'm undecided whether she looks better in suits or dresses. Both. Both is good. She also rocks the simple jeans and tshirt combo, just like the rest of us.

These outfits literally took my breath away. Would you just look at her hair at the Kids Choice Awards 2015?! She looks like a modern Cleopatra! Her skirt is so chic and really summery, and I definitely need to find a match! She captured the oriental theme brilliantly, with the absolutely phenomenal skirt and the gorgeous low cut top, which definitely shows off her feminine figure. Her style at the Oscars was also to die for, and although she got ridiculed for her hair (her comeback totally slayed) she still looks completely gorgeous. The simple earrings and white dress are really complimentary, and although all the elements of this outfit are quite simple, she still manages to look like a million pounds. You go, Zendaya!

What do you guys think of Zendaya's fashion? And do you guys like my Celebrity Styles posts? Let me know!

See you soon!

Katie xo

Mini Haul & Review

Hiya lovelies!

I thought I'd show you a couple of things that I bought the other day and just do a tiny review on each of them, so here we go..

First up is Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water. I've seen so many people raving about this product, and I saw it was quite cheap and decided to give it go, considering so many people like it. I've only actually used this product twice, but I feel it works super well. It left my face feeling really clean and fresh, which is so lovely to go to sleep with, and I think it smells quite nice too. I use this before I cleanse, tone, and moisturise, and it feels amazing. It's probably not the best makeup remover in the world, but for the small price tag, it certainly does the trick. The great thing about this is that it's suitable for sensitive skin, so everyone can use it.

I have been looking for a facial exfoliator for a while, but I didn't want to spend too much money before getting paid, and so I went for cheapest one I could find (totally not the way to go in the beauty world). I picked up this Pro Formula Brightening Face Scrub from Tesco, and I actually quite like it. It was really cheap, and although I've only used this once, it has definitely made a difference to my skin. My makeup has gone on a lot smoother and stayed on my face without becoming flaky throughout the day, which is basically all I wanted. The particles are really tiny so it doesn't feel like sandpaper on your face. It also smells amazing (grapefruit and cranberry mmm) and it has vitamin C so it's super good for your skin! Yay!

Lastly, I picked up a little candle. This was only £1 from Tesco's and it smells really lovely. It's not too strong or overpowering and I'm hoping it smells nice while it's burning too. They had a pink, green, and red candle too, all with different. It's called 'Blue Exotic Crush', and I think that name matches it perfectly. What's your favourite candle?

See you soon!
Katie xo

Education Wisdom

It's that time of year again, where people my age, and those at school/college/university are sitting their exams for their GCSE's, A-Levels, Diplomas etc.
It's so easy to get carried away with summer and not want to revise or do anything exam related, especially if you're like me and gave up in the middle of September *guilty smile*. Today was my last day at college before having four weeks off for study leave and to sit my exams, and honestly, it was the worst day of college so far. I received my coursework grade back my media AS, and lets just say that appalled is an understatement. I almost cried, considering I wanted to study media at university, and I thought I was going to get my target grade. That is basically the reason for this post, as I just want to share some words both for myself and for you, so you don't stress over your exams or your grades.

Grades don't define you
It's so easy to let your grades ruin your life. Since I was 6 I have been told that i'm 'top of the class', 'really smart, 'capable of anything', and it has completely ruined education for me. I managed to come out of school with 2 A*'s, 5 A's and 5 B's, which when you think about it, is really really good. But those B's completely crushed my confidence. I was targeted A's for everything and I will forever regret not trying harder for those subjects. But at the end of the day, those grades don't change who I am. They don't change what I want to achieve or what I want to do or who I want to be. It's just a letter on a piece of paper reflecting how good my memory is of random knowledge and my ability to spew that knowledge onto some lined paper. In completely silence. With no other resources. That doesn't happen in the real world. You get trained and you get experience and you will always have the internet or books or people around you to help. Your grades do not define who you are or how smart you are.

Revise
I have no idea how to revise. Literally, do not have a clue. As I've always been 'smart' (in the education system's eyes) I've never needed to revise in order to get a good grade. I did little to no revision for my GCSE's and I completely regret it. I should have asked for help so I knew how to revise properly and now that I'm at college, I'm completely stuck. It's so important to revise, and start as soon as possible. Although I have little motivation when it comes to education, I always want to start revising as soon as lessons start in September. I want to be able to go to my lessons, review my notes at home and create more condensed notes to look through every now and again, rather than having to read pages and pages of some useless information. There are loads of ways to revise, and its been said that you should do 20 minutes of focused revision and try to do the best as possible, and then take a 40 minute break, rather than trying to do everything all at once. If you don't revise, you will end up panicking way more than you really need to, and may mess up on the tiniest questions or make silly mistakes that you could really have answered. Practise makes perfect.

Help with exams
Exams can be ridiculously scary. Massive, freezing cold sports halls, rows and rows of creaky little desks and horrible plastic chairs, an extremely loud clock, and an exam paper that looks like it's been written in hieroglyphics. I had a mock exam a couple of months ago, and ended up having a panic attack in the middle of it. Not fun. But, in case you don't know, you can get help with your exams. I went to my college's mental health nurse who arranged for me to have my exams in a separate classroom  so I don't become overwhelmed, and I think it may really help. You can also get extra time (usually 25%), can have a computer rather than pen and paper and probably other things. I thought you could only get these things if you were disabled in some way, but that's really not the case. It's also important to know that the people marking your exam papers know that you are under scary conditions and do take this into account, so it's never as bad as it seems.

See you soon!

Katie xo

Money, Money, Money

Hi guys!

So, I'm really super excited because I finally got a job, and I am LOVING IT. I'm a waitress in a little American Diner and the people I work for are so amazingly wonderful, I feel right at home. I get paid weekly, which, although it will make saving hard, means I can splurge on new beauty/makeup/fashion items to really get my blog going! YAY!

Source: Google Images

I get to make coffees on one of those terrifying coffee machines, and make milkshakes and stuff, as well as using the till and serving people food. I have no idea why I enjoy it so much, I guess I just feel really grown up and working a till is really fun. 

I'm really sorry that I haven't done a post in a little while, however I've been quite panicky about exams and getting some shifts in at work, so that's my poor excuse. I really love doing this blog so I really want to do regular posts and things, so hopefully I will get really into it after this week as Friday is my last day at college! Woop woop!

Here's another favourite song of mine for summer. How are you guys doing?

See you soon!
Katie xo

Saturday's Celebrity Styles - Selena Gomez

Good morning, lovelies!

I had an idea that every Saturday I could share who's fashion/beauty styles I'm really loving at the moment, or have previously loved. 
So this week, I'm focusing on the gorgeous Selena Gomez. I think Selena is a gorgeous young woman, and a really talented one at that. She's definitely one of my 'woman crushes' and I adore how she can pull of the most simple outfit and make it look really on point.

Seriously, how gorgeous is this girl? She's been a style icon of mine for years. Her outfits are so chic and they look effortless but completely stunning at the same time. I especially love her monochrome outfit - it's so flattering on her and the cool glasses and tied back hair give it a real 'video killed the radio star' feel. 

She dresses in such a way that it's easy for young girls to steal her style without spending loads of money, which is an amazing plus, and always styles her hair so beautifully!

Anyway, I hope you liked this post. It's as close to beauty/fashion as I can get with no money haha!

See you soon!

Katie xo