Since my last post on my new project I have successfully;
- Painted all walls of my cupboard with a blue paint (I found this paint and my mum let me use it so I thought, 'why not?' at least I'll be saving money this way).
- Painted the 3 shelves and skirting board white.
- Gotten paint on my pajama trousers, boo!
All I have left to do now is;
- Hang up a rail.
- Buy a rug.
- Buy 2 wall lamps.
- Buy some plastic boxes for storage on the top shelf and maybe floor.
I have a video clip of the cupboard before I started work, and I will take a video of what it looks like now, and then make a final video on the entire transformation!
I'm having so much fun doing this, and it's even better knowing that I've done all of it by myself!
Personally I love wearing collared shirts and preppy tops, but I like to add my own personal twist and wear things that have a 'used' feel to them. Almost like I've just been travelling with the item and now I just got back. I love the belt in this outfit because it has that feel to it, the colours go really well together.
In England school starts in September, which is the month that Autumn starts, so everyone who gets to wear their own clothes will probably be stocking up on clothes that are going to keep them a tad warmer.
Although it's been raining during the night, it's still very hot and humid outside, I hate eating hot meals when it's already hot because I feel like I'm burning inside and out. So what did I eat for breakfast this morning?
Half of a grapefruit with a teensy bit of sugar sprinkled on top, I hate the taste of it with no sugar, so sour and urgh! Remember to brush your teeth after eating or drinking anything with citric acid in to avoid a trip to the dentist.
Then to top off I had a packet of Doriano Italian Crackers, there's 8 packets and in each one you get 4 crackers. They're really tasty and all they have in them is, wheat flour, vegetable oils, salt, malted barley, flour and yeast. You can taste the salt so I try to stick to 1 packet a day.
I'm ready for my day of transforming my cupboard into a closet! Btw, I have a new twitter, @writtenbyEG so if you use it let's follow each other!
Woohoo, my first ever TAG! I'm embarrassingly late with this, but that's honestly normal for me, late for everything but extremely organised! Isn't that a weird combo, ha ha!
I want to thank Anne (http://glitterandgranola.blogspot.com) for tagging me in this, although I've only spoken to her a few times she's very nice and supported my 30 Day Health Kick Challenge! (I'm still doing this but surprise surprise I'm late, as usual).
Click read more to see my top 10 skincare products, otherwise this blog will take up the whole screen!
Yesterday I was sorting out the clothes in this old cupboard on my upstairs landing when I noticed on the walls bits of wood used to hold shelves up, around 4 in total. This gave me a brilliant idea, I can't believe it didn't occur to me sooner that this is what I should be doing! When I'm watching room tours of beauty guru's who live in the US, I always notice how their closets/wardrobes are basically cupboards (in England) with shelves and racks added!
Me and my Mum don't have wardrobes so we basically just fold our clothes and put them into this cupboard to stop them from getting creased. I figured I could turn the cupboard into a closet/wardrobe and then that way my Mum could save money by only buying 1 wardrobe instead of 2!
Today I picked out the 2 colours I'm painting the inside, there's Mulberry Burst by Dulux for the back wall and space above the door, and Raspberry Bellini also by Dulux for the 2 side walls. Tomorrow my mum is going to buy the stuff needed to make the clothes rail, I'm going to have it quite high so there's still space for shelves down below. We're also going to have those battery operated lights that switch on when you push them so I can see everything. I've got so so many ideas and I'm going to post pictures and mini videos on the progress, this will be like my summer project!
Today I decided to give my blog a bit of a makeover, make it a bit more bright and fun to look at! What do you think of it??
I have a few blog posts coming up, including a TAG, which I was happy to be tagged in! I may be a bit late, but you know the saying right? 'Better late than never'!
I love it when I have a breakthrough with products I use on my hair, finding the perfect product to tame your tresses is very rewarding. Forget the days of stepping outside and BAM your once sleek head turns into a frizzy mop. No more styling your hair around the weather or always styling it one way to keep it controlled.
These 12 items are going to have permanent fixtures in my school bag when the new term starts. They're everything you need to survive inside and outside the classroom!
1. Notebook - I love having a notebook because I can work on my coursework at home and take it into school to be marked, in some of my classes we weren't allowed to take our exercise books home or we had to use paper so this was the perfect alternative to keep everything organised. My favourite notebook is my Oxford notebook, I got my first one in the sale for £2 and since then I've been HOOKED. You can really tell the difference between the paper quality compared to one you could get from a pound store. Plus the Oxford ones come with handy revision and note-taking tips at the front!
2. Wallet folder - These are way easier to carry around than the thick cardboard ones and they hold quite a lot of sheets. I used to keep any reminders, letters home or homework done on a separate sheet in my folder and I never lost a thing.
3. School diary - Without one of these you'll be missing important dates. I use them to record any homework, and I also write on the day it's due in that it's due so when I have a look the night before I can think to myself, 'Did I do it?'. I always noticed that if I didn't record my homework I would end up forgetting to do it or having to ask someone from my class the night before. They're also very good for spreading out your homework, if you've got a project due in a month you can space out sessions where you can pencil in, 'work on project now'.
4. Umbrella - If you live in England you will DEFINITELY need an umbrella in your bag. I used to get caught in the rain all the time until I put my umbrella in my bag. They're not very heavy and you'll be patting yourself on the back if there's a sudden downpour and you realise you packed your umbrella! If you don't have an umbrella you can pack a rain coat instead, they're also very light and can be folded up so they take up less space.
5. Thermos Flask - Perfect for summer or winter, the one I have keeps hot things hot and cold things cold. When it's snowing outside and everyone's shivering in the canteen you can snuggle up with your flask of hot chocolate whilst you wait for the bell to ring.
6. Travel card/money - If you live a distance from your school you'll need a travel pass or money. I always carry money in my school bag just in case of an emergency. Luckily my school was a 10 minute walk away so I didn't need to use transport, however when I start Year 12 later this year I'll have to use the bus.
7. Moisturizing balm - It's good to carry one that can be used anywhere on your body. It sucks when you get to school and realise you have dry and chapped lips doesn't it? Or perhaps you have dry hands, it's always good to be prepared.
8. iPod/MP3 - Some classes might allow you to listen to your music whilst you work, so you should always be prepared. It's also useful for long travel journeys, though remember to keep an ear free if you're walking somewhere alone, just in case someone is following you.
9. USB - Perfect for backing up your files and taking your essays into school for printing. You can buy ones with cute designs and patterns from eBay for reasonable prices.
10. Sticky notes - You can use these to mark important pages in your textbooks or even to stick into your school diary for something important. That way you won't have to waste a whole page of your A4 Notebook if you have to write something down for someone else.
11. Highlighters - Highlight important dates and information, I have no idea where I would have been without these when I was revising for my Health and Social Care exam, there was so much information to go through so it was easier highlighting the key words and sentences for future reference.
12. Pencil case - To keep all of your stationary organised. In my pencil case I keep around 3 pens, 1 is my special pen that I always use and then 2 others in case someone else needs one. I also carry around 3 pencils and sometimes 2 sharpeners as some pencils won't sharpen on certain sharpeners. 1 rubber, ruler and compass!
It's been a very long past few days, my Mothers birthday was on Tuesday and I've been organising everything since last Saturday! As usual nothing went to plan and I ended up realising I'd forgotten to buy butter on the Monday night, which was when I was supposed to be baking the cake, so on Tuesday it was VERY hectic! But nonetheless full of lots of joy and laughter, the past few weeks have reminded me how important it is to spend time with your family and show your love for one another. Thinking back to some tough times in my life I don't know how I would have coped were I alone or unloved...
On Tuesday I got the sudden urge to write my Christmas list, note that this is the stuff I'm buying for others, not what I'm asking for. I always prefer to give something to others rather than receive, it makes me happy to see my family and friends happy. And sometimes I think if I had to choose between Christmas dinner and presents I'd choose the dinner because the presents don't give you the same festive feeling or joy when everyone is sat round the table pulling crackers and watching the old Christmas movies for the 100th time, ha ha! I'm completely stuck on whether to buy what I think my Mother would like, or what she's been mentioning a lot. For example, she's been saying she means to get new earphones and a cardigan so I figured if I get her those I'll know that it was something she really needed, whereas if I get her what I think she'll like she'll still want the earphones and cardigan. One thing I am getting her is a cookbook with 250 different healthy meal recipes at affordable prices which we can share and help each other to cook.
Thankfully I have months until Christmas but I would like to start buying things now, I think if I'm ever out and I have money and I spot something I think someone will like I'll just get it and that way I won't have to panic on Christmas Eve when I haven't gotten anything for anyone.
Tomorrow, or today for me as it's almost 2am, I'm going to try and put up 2 new blog posts that I've been meaning to do for a while, I'm looking forward to doing them! Have you guys started on your Christmas planning yet, or do you still have birthdays to focus on? The next birthday in my family is mine so there's nothing I can do except for write a birthday list, that should be fun!
Lately I've been watching television a lot, my next door neighbour kindly gave me £100 to buy a prom dress and told me to spend what I had left on whatever I wanted. After buying my prom dress and everything else I needed I had around £40 left over, then I saw a small flatscreen television in the sale for £80, so my mum helped me make up the rest of the money and we went to get it! So now I finally have a television in my room and can get back to watching Sky!
Here are my top 10 shows!
- Vampire Diaries
- Spongebob Squarepants
- Teen Wolf
- Pretty Little Liars
- Keeping Up With the Kardashians
- 90210
- Teen Mom
- Britain & Irelands Next Top Model
- Jerry Springer
- The Apprentice
I think I've got a pretty good mix in there and there always seems to be something on whenever I decide to watch television! What are your favourite shows?
You know those moments where you stop for a second and realise, 'Wait is that what day it is? Where did all this time go?', basically I just had one of those. It's sort of a blur and I don't remember doing anything big but somehow the time has flown by...
Anyway I'm back to my normal determined self which is great because I hate being sad and depressed and I have some new blog posts and a tag coming soon!
Alright so a while back me and my family began a health kick and started being more healthy. It was going alright but it wasn't exactly exciting because we felt like we couldn't eat anything exciting! Food is so much harder to eat when it tastes gross right? Last week me and my mum ate some takeout food and I can honestly say I've never felt so ill in my entire life, I was so ugh! I felt sick, bloated and heavy (isn't that weird, it's hard to explain but I just felt huge). And my mum concluded it must have been because I'd eaten greasy food when my body had gotten used to not having it.
So I decided that I enjoy having my body not used to eating junk, but I seriously feel like I'm slacking! So I'm beginning a 30 day health kick challenge where I only eat natural and healthy foods. I decided to begin this on Saturday 9th July because my prom is on the 8th and I can confirm that there will be junk food there! I'm excited to begin this challenge because if I complete it not only will be I feel like I can achieve anything but I'm going to feel so much healthier! I'm also going to be doing 1 hour of exercise each day!
I'm also going to go shopping on Wednesday and buy lots of new healthy foods, and I may even film my own recipes I come up with for you to watch! Each day I will post a progress report on how I feel and what I did and ate during the day. I want to prove to myself that having a healthy lifestyle really can do wonders.
My inspiration? I read an article about Miranda Kerr's healthy lifestyle, and I figured if a woman who's just had a baby can do it, why can't I? A young 16 year old teenager. I also thought if I get healthy while I'm younger it will be easily when I'm older. I'm happy with my actual body, I just want to tone my legs and arms a bit.
Natural yogurt is great for lots of things, in this post I'm going to tell you how to use it on your face.
This face mask is extremely simple, the 2 ingredients are probably hanging out somewhere in your home (hopefully the yogurt's in the fridge) or if they aren't you can just pop to any supermarket and pick them up. You'll be needing natural yogurt (unflavoured) and sugar.
When I make this I like to put it into an egg cup, it's the perfect size and doesn't waste any space.
HOW TO MAKE IT
- Get your egg cup and add in around 1 1/2 teaspoons of the natural yoghurt (you can change this depending on how much you want or how long you want to use it for).
- Add a teaspoon of sugar to your yogurt (again you can change this depending on whether you want to exfoliate or just have the plain mask).
- Mix the sugar and yoghurt and apply generously to your face.
You can leave the mask to dry on your face (though make sure you don't laugh) or you can wash it off before it gets hard. If you don't want to make a mess don't move your face when the yogurt's dry or it will start to flake off everywhere, ew!
When you wash the mask off your face should feel fresh, if you use it regularly you may notice your skin looks more toned and healthy!
I love this mask because it's really easy to make and very very cheap!
Happy Summer!
-EG
P.s. To any American readers Happy 4th July to you! :)
I love anything tribal, so when I was browsing an online shop I came across the most gorgeous pair (they're the ones from Peacocks btw) and I decided I had to make a blog post dedicated to tribal shoes!
Aren't they all amazing? And the best thing is that they come in a range of different prices, like I mentioned before, my favourite pair HAS to be the first ones. You don't know how tempted I am to go buy them!
❤
My summer officially began today, I completed my last ever GCSE!
Sometimes in life you need to step away from the problem or situation that's bothering you and take a back seat. Let fate, destiny or whatever you want to call it do it's job. If you're stressed out over a situation there's NO WAY you're going to think clearly and make the right decisions. But by looking at it from another perspective the solution will eventually be known to you.
Let's take an example, you have a boyfriend and you begin to hear rumours that he cheated on you. Straight away you get these intense emotions, sadness, distrust and sometimes anger. What do you do? You text or phone your guy and start yelling at him down the phone. What will this solve? Nothing, in this situation had you stepped back and looked at it from someone else's perspective, a strangers lets say, you wouldn't have yelled at him. First think to yourself, is the person telling you the rumours trustworthy? Do they know you, or are they jealous of you? It hurts when you hear rumours, no matter who they're from, and that often causes us to forget the obvious and jump to conclusions. Secondly ask yourself how well you know your boyfriend, quite well or not at all? Just because you don't know him that well doesn't mean he cheated, it will just be harder for you to suss. Finally, remain on that back seat for a while, are the rumours dying down? If so then that's probably all it ever was. If it's not then it's time to speak calmly to your boyfriend, remember to keep looking at it from a strangers perspective, and don't let your emotions make any decisions.
I'm glad I learnt this lesson in my life, and I do wish that I could use this method for every sticky situation but it takes practice and a lot of self control to be able to remove yourself from something and leave until it calms down. If you've managed to do this then well done, if not don't worry because it takes time. But when you do it will feel amazing and you'll feel less guilty because you won't have done or said anything in the spur of the moment!
-EG
P.S. These particular lyrics from one of my favourite songs help me stay mellow and calm.
Close your eyes, and imagine yourself on the perfect holiday! The sun is shining (and because this is a fantasy, you don't sweat, yay) and the cool water just brushes your toes as the tide comes in and out. Although the beach is full you still have the perfect spot in the sand and all the young children are bothering everyone else, and not you!
Now imagine your outfit! This is what I did today and I came up with the outfit above. Yellow is my favourite colour but it looks even more amazing with a pinky/purpley colour added. Remember when you're heading to the beach you don't have to make your bikini match what you're wearing, in fact if you try to make it match less it'll look like you just threw anything on but still stayed stylish!
What's your fantasy summer holiday outfit for hanging at the beach?
"You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well" - Lewis B. Smedes
Forgiving someone isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. Personally there are people in my life who I will never forgive. And not because I can't forgive them but because I simply don't want to forgive them. It would be so easy for me to accept their apology and 'move on' but if I did that I would never wish them well, I would end up smiling when things went badly for them and never really being happy for them. It's so easy for people to tell you to forgive don't you think? But sometimes the hurt caused by someone else has gone too deep to be erased, and every time you think of the person you feel a bitterness inside of you.
This week I'm going to set myself the task of forgiving those who I love, for the silly things that they may have thought was a joke but I didn't find funny. I think it's easier to forgive someone you love because your love for them overpowers your bitterness a thousand times. If someday you'd like to forgive someone who did something horrible to you then remember not to rush, and don't do it because someone told you to forgive them, otherwise you won't have forgiven them for the right reasons. Take it one step at a time and confront your feelings, only then will you know if you've got the power to forgive them.
I wish you all a good week, full of make-ups between friends and family!
Today I wanted to share with you my top 3 inexpensive essentials. Literally I could not live without either of these 3 items. Not only do I love them because they actually do their job, but they're so inexpensive which means ANYONE can get their hands on them!
E45 Cream
This was a lifesaver a few weeks back when the skin around my mouth and on my chin was dry and extremely flaky, I tried everything! Even my normal facial moisturizer wasn't doing the job and I remembered my sister used to swear by this stuff so in a last ditch attempt to get my skin soft and supple before the leaving ceremony at my school the next day, I texted her and asked if I could borrow some of hers. Being the best sister ever she went to the supermarket herself and got me a tube whilst I was at school! TIP: You may want to shake it before you apply it, when I first opened the tube and tipped it upside down liquid ran out of it so I had to shake it to mix everything back up. At first when I used it I was worried because it seemed extremely oily and like it would break my skin out. Only I put a generous amount on the night before the leaving ceremony and when I woke up my skin hadn't broken out. In fact the blemishes that were on the dry area had vanished, I read somewhere that some pimples are caused by dry skin. Your skin tries to compensate for the dryness by producing oils which clog your pores and BAM you've got blemishes! I tested this out as I had some blemishes on the side of my face and literally within an hour of applying E45 they had gone from rupturing volcanoes to meek mole hills. Personally I was in shock because none of my other moisturizers had done this for my skin. Now this tube (50g) costs £1.90 and has lasted me from 13th May up until now, and that's applying it twice a day. This is definitely going to be a permanent fixture in my essentials bag!
Cocoa Butter Vaseline
Another lifesaver right here, I love Cocoa Butter Vaseline because not only does it do the job of the original Vaseline, but it has the added bonus that it smells wonderful! I use this for 3 main purposes. Firstly I use it as a simple lip balm, not a lot is needed but it definitely does the trick. Secondly I use it almost as a lip treatment, before bed I smother it onto my lips and sleep and in the morning my lips are wonderfully soft and ready for the harsh weather conditions. Finally this tin of magic is a lifesaver if you've forgotten your hand moisturizer because it does wonders to the dry skin around my nails and on my hands. This goes everywhere with me and has saved my lips on many occasions. This (20g) tin costs £1.99 and can also be brought in stick form, for if you just specifically want it for your lips. I got this last Christmas and there's still lots of it left.
Palmolive Soft and Gentle Body Responsive Deodorant: passion flower & black orchid
If you're searching for a deodorant that does the trick then stop searching right now! This stuff is AMAZING, and it's only by chance that I picked it up. I was searching around Boots for a deodorant because my Nivea one had run out and the cheapest one was this one, I got it because I have the spray version in Lotus and Watermelon and that also does it's job. It says 'body responsive' on the packaging but that didn't really stick in my head because I was just focused on getting a deodorant above everything else. So I get home, sniff it and my nose senses explode! I can't even describe the scent but if you're a girly girl you will LOVE it, it just makes me smell so clean and fresh and girly! But not in an overpowering way, it's almost like a comforting smell. Even if you're not into smelling nice you'll love it because every time you lift your arms you'll get a smell of it and it makes you feel so clean! They also do the scent in a spray form which I'm definitely buying, but I think if this product wasn't a deodorant it would HAVE to be a perfume, it smells like a perfume but works like a deodorant! Anyway, back to the deodorant side of things, I have not sweated since I brought this and began wearing it! I don't know what it is but the whole 'body responsive' advertisement sure as heck works! I'm so glad that I brought this because it's so nice! If I'm honest I don't know why I didn't expect it to be so fabulous when I saw it, I use the Palmolive body wash in Cherry and the scent stays on my skin for the whole day, and smells lovely! This (50ml) bottle costs £1.09, which is amazing considering it actually works!
So those are my 3 inexpensive essentials that I totally swear by, hand on heart. I can't even pick a favourite because they all work so amazingly in their own little way, but the definitely life (or should I say face) saver would be the E45, I was panicking about going to the leaving ceremony at school with a flaky face but it lasted throughout the whole day, thank goodness!
Summer is rolling around once again, and around this time of the year it's even more vital that you keep yourself hydrated because you're out in the sun way more and doing different activities. Read my 3 tips for staying hydrated this summer!
1. If you hate the taste of water, mix it with some Robinson's Fruit Juice, it comes in lots of different flavours and you can decide yourself how strong you want it to taste.
2. Exercise, run around, do some star jumps or even dance around your room to your favourite songs. Trust me, when you're finished you'll be worn out and you'll have no choice but to drink water!
3. Buy a cute refillable water bottle! I recommend this one;
because it has a filter on it so your water will taste even better. Plus they come in lots of bright, summery colours! If you like how your water bottle looks you'll often find yourself whipping it out to have a sneaky glance and that way you'll have to take a sip of it.
Personally I find that whenever I'm really thirsty and the only thing to quench my thirst is water, the hydration lasts for about 5 minutes before I'm gasping for some more. Although this is pretty annoying, it's a great way to drink the daily amount of water you need.
Don't you just adore the moments where you find a brand new game that you love to pieces? Yesterday I completed my 2nd from last exam (my next one is on the 27th) so I decided to give myself 4 days of relaxation time before I started revising again. So I go to my sisters to play games and I go on Sims 3 for Xbox 360 and it's AMAZING! I know I've already played it before in the past but there's just something about playing a game you really love after you've been stressing out for the past 2 weeks that makes it 10x better! I love the Xbox 360 version because it's not slow (I have it on PC but my laptop runs it quite slow because it doesn't meet every single requirement, boo!) and it's almost exactly the same as the PC version! I have my first family as a Young-adult with a toddler and already I potty-trained him and taught him to walk! Now I have 8 days to teach him to speak until he grows up! I'm getting addicted and if I had the money I think I would buy an Xbox 360 if only to play Sims 3 on it all day, but sadly I don't so I'll have to stick to my Playstation 2 lol (The old consoles are the best right? I've had it for 5 years and it's going strong).
I just wanted to post this because for me the activities that de-stress me are playing games, reading and watching movies, I feel like whenever I do any of those things I'm taken into another world. When I'm gaming I can turn into a zombie-killing agent, tomb-raider lara croft, bomberman or even a young adult with a toddler! When I'm reading I imagine what it would have been like to be in the book (I do this with Harry Potter all the time and often I find myself going off into a daydream halfway down the page) and when I'm watching movies I imagine living the life of the character, especially if it's something adventurous like Underworld or Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter!
If you're revising remember to not get too stressed, I think by the time I did my 2nd from last exam I was so nervous and had fraying nerves that I didn't do as well as I thought I would and panicked all the way through the exam! Now that I'm kinda free I'm quite happy to read all day, or watch DVD's or even play games, because there's no voice at the back of my mind telling me to revise!
I'm gonna ask my sister if I can play Sims 3 again, I sense these 4 days could be very exciting!
Woohoo, I finally got my first piece of makeup for prom. I got the Rimmel London Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Liner Pencil in Sable Brown. I wasn't sure whether to get brown or black but I like neutral colours and I figured brown would be more soft on the eyes and more neutral than black. It cost £2.99 which is a pretty good deal and it's very smooth and easy to apply, kind of glides on. However it does smudge if you keep touching it so I might take it with me on prom night for touch ups!
Do you remember being young and believing that life was so easy and simple? Being content with things that you probably wouldn't be content with now? Not really knowing anything about the real world because you put yourself in a protective bubble?
I remember all of that, never did I imagine during my childhood that life could ever be so cruel, so hard or such a let down. Playing with my Bratz dolls I would make up elaborate stories where there was a group of solid friends and then a baddie, only in the end the baddie ended up being friends with everyone else.
The hardest part of growing up was seeing people change and give up on their dreams. And I used to wonder why I hadn't changed, because even now I still dream up elaborate adventures and think of the unthinkable. I know that the probability of such dreams happening is slim but there's hope, there's hope if you had the power to think of your dream and there's hope if you had the power to believe in it. No matter how many people tell me that my dream will be hard to reach, no matter how many people question my ability, I can't give up. Something in my heart tells me to go on, something urges me onward towards my dream.
I'm glad that at every hurdle in my life I had the strength to jump over it and continue the race. One by one, everyone who's ever questioned my ability, my passion or my sheer determination has been proved wrong. I remember running for a Harry Potter Facebook competition last year, the task was to create an advertisement counting down to the release of the first part of the seventh film. Of course when I saw the competition there was no question about whether I was going to enter, the prize was 2 tickets to the premiere and the winning video featured during the advertisements. So I borrowed a camera off of my sister and I spent the entire afternoon trying to film this advertisement. Only it wasn't turning out the way I wanted it to. I spent the entire night redrafting a plan for the video, everything from the words to the actions and I asked my sister to film me. She didn't encourage me because she didn't want to me to get excited and nothing to come out of it. At first she said no but eventually we agreed that straight after school the next day (Friday) she would film me. So Friday approaches, which is also the deadline for the entries and I'm rushing around panicking trying to get it all done. Eventually we manage it and get it uploaded and from there on out it's just waiting. I think about 2 days after I get a friend request on Facebook from the account running the competition and I cannot believe it. The competition said 5 videos would be selected and from there on 1 would be chosen as the winner. I didn't win the actual competition, but the fact that I was 1 of the 5 chosen from around 50 entries meant something to me. It meant that I should follow my heart because one day it will lead me to greatness. I'm proud of myself for that, I showed everyone that I have the passion but that I can also deal with maybe not coming first, but in the top five.
So if any of you have a dream, or even a feeling in your gut that you should do something, DO IT! I promise you that if you have the passion it will pay off one day.
My hair is naturally curly, if you've got curly hair you'll know that with it comes frizz, and I'm not just talking a couple of fly aways on the top of your head frizz, oh no. I'm talking full on ginormous tangled BIRDS NEST frizz on the top of your head! Trust me, this problem used to get the better of me, many school picture days were ruined because the weather decided to turn humid when I had my hair loose. There's SO many products out there that claim to help your frizz or tame it, but different things work with different people. Let me start off talking about my hair;
Alright so my hair is fine and very soft. When it's dry my curls are very defined but after I've brushed it it's turned into the 'ginormous tangled birds nest' I mentioned above.
My first tip on avoiding frizz? Don't brush your hair. 'Whoa!' you're probably thinking, 'Don't brush my hair, that's pretty unhygienic.' I don't literally mean never brush your hair, I just mean brush it only before you're about to wash it. Why? Because brushing any sort of hair (especially fine hair) tends to make it 'fan' out and go poofy, and with curly hair once it's gone poofy there's no going back. In order to keep it tangle free, plait it before you go to bed every night, and don't wear it loose in the rain.
Before you read the second tip, think about what your hair does right after you've washed it. Do you begin to notice it frizzing after about 5 minutes? If so, this tip is definitely for you! So after I wash my hair I can go maybe 5 minutes before it begins to dry and frizz. To avoid this I towel dry it completely (don't rub, just pat), then plait it right on the very top of my head (this gives beautiful volume in the morning). I usually take a bath after washing my hair so I'll then put it in a shower cap whilst I bathe. I usually leave it plaited through the whole night and take out the plaits in the morning. However before you do check to make sure your whole plait is dry, otherwise the wet parts will frizz and you'll end up with silky and frizzy hair, not a good look. If you can't wash your hair at night you could always put it into the style you want whilst it's wet and it will still dry without frizzing whilst you go about your day.
I also regularly trim the ends of my hair as I find that the sections with split ends are the bits frizzing up. The 3 products I use on my hair are listed below;
(Btw I recommend you only use this on your ends because if you use it on your whole head it can make your hair quite flat and almost too shiny if that makes sense.)
Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Reconstructor - £4.69
(I only use this all over my head maybe once a fortnight, but all the other times I use it I put it on halfway up my hair.)
Herbal Essences Its A Curl Thing Shampoo - £3.49
(Leaves my hair smelling amazing!)
For straightening I use;
L'Oreal Paris Studio Line Silk & Gloss Hot Straight Cream - £3.56
When trying to find a solution to your hair problems remember that everyone's hair texture is different and what might work for someone else may not work for you. Don't give up, just experiment and see what works best for you! I used to think the only way to deal with my hair was to straighten it but I started to embrace it. And sometimes I'll wash it and just leave it out to dry and frizz up, it's like giving my hair a breather from all the products!
-EG
P.s. I have a brand new email! elegantlygraceful@rocketmail.com, I picked rocketmail so anything you send me gets to me at the speed of a rocket!
My prom is approaching very very soon, July in fact. So I wanted to do a mini-series showing you all how I prepare for it. I'm pretty behind with everything because all I have are my shoes, ha ha! I'm excited because I've never been to any sort of school dance before so I want to make sure everything goes right!
I hope you'll follow me along my miniature Prom journey and keep a look out for any new blogs about my prom!
This is currently the book I'm reading at the moment, I discovered Philippa Gregory when Elle Fowler (allthatglitters21) did a book review on The White Queen. They sounded like my sort of books because I'm already really interested in History, but to have a history and fiction book in one is great! I say fiction because although the events that occur in the books are historically accurate, the small details may not be exactly what happened, though when you read it it's completely believable. This isn't the first Philippa Gregory book I've read, the first one was called The Boleyn Inheritance and that was AMAZING! It's sorta the reason why I went on to purchase another one of her books.
I'm halfway through this book at the moment and it's really interesting, though I'm looking forward to reading The White Queen because in the middle of the book she rules over England with her husband, and the lady in The Red Queen is like her lady in waiting. I'm excited to see things from her prospective because she's not your typical Queen, but I shall give nothing more away!
All I can say is if you enjoy History and you're looking for a interesting read that you could learn something from, definitely pick this book up!
-EG
P.S. I have a new email! Send me messages at elegantlygraceful@rocketmail.com.
If you're a fan of Kim Kardashian, you'll notice that she's often seen carrying a Birkin Bag on her arm. A lot of us like to take inspiration from our celebrity idols, but would you really pay £400ish for a bag?
Didn't think so, and neither would I. But just because you're not willing to break your bank to take a lil' inspiration, doesn't mean all is lost. Normal priced retailers often sell similarly designed bags. I was recently browsing hm.com and I came across the bag above, immediately it reminded me of Kim Kardashian's bag. The shape, handles, everything about it! And the best thing, it's only £29.99!
Obviously it's not an exact copy but it's pretty good for the price. So if you were thinking of getting a Birkin, please don't, just buy a cheaper copy, no-one will notice.
These are the items you don't wanna forget when you're heading to the beach!
1. Small coin purse - £3.75 - F21
2. Simple Facial SPF - £10.20 - Boots
3. Sunglasses - £12 - ASOS
4. Flip Flops - £12.99 - ASOS
5. Shawl - £6.99 - H&M
6. Straw Hat - £7.99 - H&M
7. Water - £0.00 - Your Home
8. Straw Bag - £29.99 - HM
9. Hair Elastics - £1.50 - HM
These are items I would take specifically to the beach only. I'm really loving straw items, they just remind me of summer and being carefree! I chose the small coin purse because it had a longer strap that will go across your body, it's useful if you don't wanna lug your beach bag around whilst you're going shopping. Don't forget body SPF also, I chose the facial one because I have it (But I didn't pay £10.20 as that's kinda expensive, I got it off of eBay for £3.99 and it came brand new in it's box! For more on eBay check out the blog posts below.)
Hope you're all having fun preparing for summer, I know I am, only 4 more exams left!
"The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places." - Author Unknown
I thought this quote would be perfect for this week because many people are taking exams and tests. Sometimes it can be tempting to slack off or not revise, just like those tempting parking places. If you should be revising, GO REVISE, it won't be long until you've completed your exams and then you can park wherever you want for however long you want.
To be successful you have to keep going, persevere and don't get sidetracked by the 'easy-option' of telling yourself you'll revise 'later' when you know you won't.
Don't you hate it when you watch a Beauty Guru on Youtube who shows this uber-amazing product that's a must-have and you realise your local stores don't stock it?
Introducing...
eBay!
There's a lot of misconception surrounding eBay, many people won't use it because they think everything sold is secondhand, or that they might get scammed. Let me break it down for you;
1. There's mix of secondhand and new items on eBay, and when you're viewing an item, it will state at the top whether it's used, new, new without packaging, etc. Often the sellers will also upload a picture of the actual item so you can judge for yourself whether the packaging is still on it. Retail stores like Argos and Tesco have shops on eBay where they sell discontinued products for a cheaper price, and everything is new! If you search hard enough, you can probably find almost anything brand new for a cheaper price than you would if you brought it from the official retail website or the shop.
2. Many sellers only accept Paypal as a method of payment. This is a bonus for you the buyer because if you win something and send your payment but don't receive what you paid for, you can contact Paypal and they will refund all of your money. You probably won't find even find yourself in this situation if you look at the percentage of Positive Feedback the seller has. If you're still not convinced by 100% positive feedback you can actually read reviews people have left about the quality of service they received off the seller.
Now that's cleared up, you'll be pleased to know that many sellers stock items that aren't sold in particular countries. For example, the UK eBay stocks the different flavours of Softlips lip balm that aren't actually sold in UK shops. And if the seller is from the UK as well, the postage won't be outrageous!
So next time your favourite Guru is talking about a product that's not sold in your country, just check eBay! There are different eBay sites for different countries so make sure you get the right one for yours!
There are lots of quotes out there that try to 'define' friendship, but a true friendship doesn't stick to boundaries, it's not predictable, and it certainly never ends. If you and your best friend/s feel passionate enough about the friendship it WILL last forever, no matter whether you attend different schools or live far apart from each other.
Something a lot of people don't forsee is their friendship maturing. It makes sense that if we as people mature, so should everything around us.
This reminds me of a situation I had with 2 of my best friends, we've known each other for almost 5 years now, we all met on the first day of Year 7, and the rest they say, is history! The three of us have been through some TOUGH times, and each one of us has questioned the friendship in some way, but thankfully we managed to put aside our differences and after we all ended up learning something about each other. It's strange because out of those 5 years, we all agree that we became truly best friends in the last 2 years of our secondary school lives.
Our friendship was put into question when 1 of us left the other 2 on the last day of school for a guy. I won't go into details but let's say it was messed up. So messed up in fact that I began to wonder whether our friendship was real and whether I even wanted it to continue. The friend who left us tried to explain herself but each time I just shot her down because I refused to accept her excuse. This went on for maybe 4 days, and in the end she deactivated her Facebook account because she felt so bad about what she'd done. Eventually I began to miss both of my friends, so I texted them saying we should sort it out, so we sorted it out and met up one day to talk about it. Only this seemed to make it worse, and my bitter/sad feelings came back! This was confusing because I didn't know why I felt so awful and unable to forgive.
Me and my 2 friends go to bible study, and the 1 time I went my other friend didn't go, because we sort of weren't speaking again, we were watching a video and the Pastor was talking about our thoughts, and how sometimes we have to think about the things in life that we want to happen in order for them to happen. This made me think about our friendship and my feelings. Eventually I concluded that I wasn't prepared to let the friendship end, so I thought, well how am I going to move on from this? I sat in my living room alone and just began to think, I let all of my emotions out and I worked out why I was feeling so upset.
I realised that I wasn't mad because she'd gone with the guy, she knows me and my other friend completely approve of him, and even though leaving us was bad, it wasn't bad enough to cause the falling out we'd had. I realised that my friend being able to speak to this guy meant she'd matured, because they'd gone almost 4 years wanting to speak to each other, but being too nervous to. It makes sense that if we're in secondary school our friendship would be a secondary school friendship. We're all about to go into sixth form and do A levels, this means we're going to have more responsibility as we grow up. And we all have to accept that the other 2 will get into relationships and eventually have families, it's all part of growing up, but this does in no way mean we can't still all be friends.
So after realising this I told them my thoughts and when I did the sad and bitter feelings were gone! It was amazing that just delving into my own thoughts could turn the whole situation around and make me forgive and forget. And the best thing? Is that our friendship moved up a rank, and we're all certain that we're going to stay in contact, even if we do go to different sixth forms, no-one can break us apart, we've been through too much together.
Having a lasting friendship isn't easy, what's easy is stamping the best friend tag on someone you met a week ago, what's easy is arguing about something and giving up. It takes strength to keep a friendship going for 5 years, and it takes even more strength and courage to keep it going and make the friendship work. Our next challenge? Long distance friendship, I'm looking forward to embarking on this next phase with my best friends, I'm sure it will bring bad and good times, but I know that at the end of it we'll still be together.
If you have a friend you don't want to lose, make the effort to sort out a silly argument you've had. Because trust me, life is so much easier with your friends by your side.
-EG
P.s. When I was going through the tough time with my friends, listening to this song made me realise that our friendship was special.
Being a teenager can be TOUGH, growing up, peer pressure, new friendships, exam stress, relationships, finding a job, university, getting a job, it's enough to make you want to crawl under a rock until it all goes away, right? That's what I used to think, but sometimes you have to face up to reality, you can't be an ostrich and bury your head in the sand because you'll often find that when you resurface the problems will still be there.
Finding yourself as a person isn't something that happens overnight, it's a gradual process, and in order to find your true self you need to experience life. And when I say experience life, I do not mean 'losing your virginity before you're ready' or 'being peer pressured into drinking or smoking'. If you give in too easily, one day you'll learn that you were too soft. Experiencing life doesn't have to be physical, it can be emotional.
I remember when I thought I knew exactly who I was and what I wanted from life, until one day things changed and I saw everything from a whole new prospective. Going through tough times made me a stronger person, at the time it was awful, but looking back at the person I was before it happened, and the person I am now, I'm glad it did happen. I'm glad I've experienced pain and loss because now I know what it feels like to love and to to be loved.
I really hope you enjoy my blog, one day I might be telling you about a lesson I learnt through friendship, and the next I could be raving about my favourite body lotion, but will you follow me? Every step of the way?
You never know, you could learn something about yourself. -EG
