Choosing the right foundation.

That noticed that it's been a while since I did a beauty related post, and when it comes to make up, one of the biggest problems I face (scuse the pun) is getting the right foundation. It's either too thick/too dark/too pale/not enough coverage/doesn't last/too oily..... There are a lot of factors in choosing one that's right for you.

So I thought i'd just write some quick reviews on foundations I have tried in the past in case it helps any of you guys out!

1. Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse

When I was in high school I wore Maybelline's Matte Mousse every single day. I loved the stuff. I found a shade that matched my skin perfectly and as this was the period where I had only just started to wear make up, it didn't feel too heavy on my skin or make me look too 'caked up'. If you're after a light foundation just to even out your skin tone then this is perfect.

2. MAC Studio Fix Fluid
If this foundation was a person, I would worship the ground it walked on. I seriously can not rave about this foundation enough. Depending on how much you put on, you can choose the amount of coverage you'd like, for instance through the day i put on a small amount to just even out my skin, then when I go out I like a bit more coverage. I love this when I go out because if you're like me and dance a lot when you go out, this doesn't show up how shiny you are - and you don't need powder on top!

3. No7 Stay Perfect Foundation

I didn't use this one for that long, so as you can guess it didn't make a lasting impression. It pretty much just had the same problem most foundations do - didn't last very long. I went for the colour match service that they were doing in Boots as I was really struggling to find a foundation that matched my skin. Fortunately, the one they picked out for me (Calico, and also the palest), matched quite well. I was just disappointed with how long it lasted on my face.

(Photo unavailable - I stupidly binned this one a few weeks ago!)

4. Rimmel Wake Me Up Anti-Fatigue Foundation
I like to use this foundation as an emergency one when I run out of my MAC. It gives perfectly good coverage and applies fairly evenly. There are only 2 things that make me reach for my MAC foundation more than this one. The first being that this one doesn't last very long. I'd find that after a few hours most of the foundation will have worn off. The second is due to it being quite a shiny and oily foundation, powder is needed on top.

5. NARS Sheer Glow Foundation

Honestly, I was pretty disappointed with this foundation. It could have been a case of not being suited for my skin type, but I really didn't like anything about it, which is annoying - especially for the price you pay! I've heard a lot of people rave on about this one but I seriously couldn't attach to it. The shade I chose was too pale and I found it started to wear off my face after less than an hour. Honestly for this one i'd advise you not to waste your money!

I feel your pain ladies (or men!). Choosing the right foundation can be a nightmare until you find 'the one', so I hope this has helped!
𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

Rambling Post #7: My brain is on overdrive.

It's exactly 2 weeks today that I pack up and leave everyone and everything to go live at the other side of the world and do what is probably the scariest and most daring thing I have ever done in my 21 years. In the past week, it has slowly started to dawn on me that this is actually happening. Before the new year it was just something that will eventually happen to me next year, and it felt like it was ages away. But 2016 is already flying by and in 14 days I will be calling another country home.

I used to hate going to town by myself or sitting alone in a public place (which incidentally is what i'm doing now). So to go from being such a socially awkward, shy and comfort-zone friendly teenager to an actual proper grown up adult moving to a different continent by herself I think shows how much i've changed in the past few years.

So as it crept into February, anxiety started to creep in. I don't really suffer from anxiety, don't get me wrong there are a lot of things that make me feel nervous and unsure but the only thing that really gives me panic attacks are confined spaces (yay for a 22 hour flight). As a result, a million questions keep whizzing through my mind.

What if I don't make friends? What if there's a spider in my loo and I don't know how to get rid of it? What if I get the wrong flight and end up in Zimbabwe? What if I miss everyone so much I don't enjoy myself? What if the Australians think my accent is weird? What if the Australians just think i'm weird? What if they don't let me in the country because there's a slight bit of mud on my shoes? What if I get eaten by a Kangaroo? What if I don't get the hang of cooking and die of starvation? What if the people that live in my building are weird?

And every time I just need to stop myself and think;

What if I meet the most amazing friends? What if I don't encounter any deadly creatures? (Unlikely) What if I come back with a tan? What if I have the most amazing time and absolutely love the whole thing?

I think the main thing I need to keep telling myself is yeah, it's probably going to be upsetting at first and you're going to miss everyone. But then you'll settle in and you'll make friends and you'll go on days to the beach and you'll experience new things and you'll be enjoying this new culture so much that before you know it June will be over and you'll be back in the miserable weather of Britain.

As usual with these rambling posts, there's not really anything people reading it can take from it, I just like to vent sometimes and this is the best way I know how!
𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

20 questions about me.

So what tends to happen when I can't think about a new blog post is i'll search for a questions tag, so here's the latest one I found!

1. What was the last book you read?
The last one I finished was The DUFF by Kody Keplinger. But at the moment i'm reading How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran. I used to read a lot but at the moment I seem to have hit some sort of reading wall. I'm trying to get back into it though!

2. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
At some point in my life I really want to live in America, even if it's just for a few months.

3. What are your biggest fears?
Needles, heights (even just watching videos where someone skydives makes me feel uneasy), clowns, wasps and to some extent, the dark!

4. Are you ruled by your head or your heart?
I don't really know. Honestly most of the time it's like a battle between the 2.

5. What motivates you to work hard?
Money? And the satisfaction when i've done something well (which doesn't happen a lot).

6. Who is your favourite Disney character?
Eeyore. My room is like a shrine to him.

7. What TV series are you currently watching?
Gossip Girl (for the third time). And keeping up to date with Pretty Little Liars of course.

8. What was the last movie you went to? What did you think of it?
Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It was brilliant. I'd only watched the first 6 films for the first time the week before and i'm just obsessed with the whole franchise now.

9. What's your favourite season?
Summerrrr.

10. What is your favourite game or sport to watch and play?
Haha no.

11. Would you rather ride a bike, ride a horse or drive a car?
I like driving my car but i'd love to be able to ride a horse.

12. Do you have any pets? If not do you want any and what do you want?
I have a black and white cat called Freddie, he can be adorable when he's not channeling the spawn of satan. I really want a black Pug and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

13. What is your favourite animal?
I love dolphins and tigers.

14. What are the 2 most painful things that you've experienced?
I've genuinely had a proper think about this one and I don't think i've ever really experienced anything physically really painful. I did break my collarbone when I was younger but if i'm honest that didn't really hurt (badman I know). I suppose getting my daith (cartilage bit in the middle of your ear) pierced hurt a lot. And maybe when I burnt my arm on the pizza oven at a restaurant where I used to work (pictures below).

15. Who would you most like to spend the day with?
Literally any member of the Avengers.

16. If you could go back in time, what year would you travel to?
Either the 20's or the 90's, they looked so fun.

17. What are your top 2 pet peeves?
Hands down chewing loudly. My family and friends know how much this ticks me off, it actually makes me angry. My second is definitely when people don't use their indicators when driving. It drives me up the wall (sorry).

18. What's your favourite type of foreign food?
I love love love Italian or Mexican.

19. Do you collect anything?
I have quite a few Pandora charms if that counts? I also like interesting cocktail stirrers!

20. Is there anything you would like to achieve before the end of the year?
I ask myself this year and I know it's totally lame but I just want to be happy!

So now I tag Tom and my sister Emma to complete these questions too!
𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

January

Fancy header for the first time ooo.

So the first month of 2016 is over already. I feel like this year is going to absolutely fly by!

I brought in the New Year celebrating with my family and friends playing beer pong and drinking a lot.
That was fun, but on the night of 1st January, it was my leaving do for work. I chose to leave before Christmas and New Year so I could spend as much time as possible with all my family and friends before I move to Melbourne in February. I also had exams so needed every hour I could get to revise!
It all seemed to go very quick, one minute we were playing Cards Against Humanity and beer pong, then the next I had my head down the toilet and was put to bed. Shout out to Viv for looking after me in my own house. What a babe. Despite crashing mid-party, I still had a great time like I always do with my work pals.

Everyone else enjoying themselves with Singstar after i'd gone to bed!

About a week later, it was my best friend Mary's 21st birthday which was brilliant because I saw some friends that I hadn't seen in a while. We all pretty much just spent the night dancing to some golden oldies and had such a good time.

The next week or so was a bit dull as I had exams and assignments to focus on, but on the glorious day of 20th January, I had my last payday from LEGO and had my last exam. Naturally, it was time to celebrate with alcohol. Me, my friend Sian and her friend Rob went out (which was my first night out in town in months!). We had such a good time and even bumped into quite a few of the girls from our course which was nice.

As my bestie, Tom, can't make it to my Bon Voyage bash in February, I went to go visit him in Leicester where he goes to Uni. That evening we started the pre drinks with a classic game of Never Have I Ever. We then started playing the Zoella drinking game which was ridiculous. Tom had drunk a lot by this point and took himself off the the loo for a chunder. After he had (sort of) recovered, we got our stuff together and went out to a club called Mosh. I'm not usually a massive fan of going out to town, but I really enjoyed myself this time. if i'm somewhere where I recognise a lot of the songs then i'll be happy for hours. They played all sorts; Dance Wiv Me, Saturday Night (we did the full routine), Be Faithful, S&M, Star Girl, Year 3000, Mysterious Girl... I could go on and on. All in all I had a really good night, but it was very sad the morning after when I left to go back to Leeds - I won't see Tom until I come back from Australia now #bye.

Just about the only decent selfie we managed to get that night!

Another best pal, Charlotte, came to sleep over after she'd spent the week at Disneyland Paris (jealous!). We decided to have a complete Disney night and watched Big Hero 6, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Treasure Planet and The Princess and the Frog. Nothing better than a bit of Disney.

Yet again we had another leaving do for someone at LEGO, and this time we took to the karaoke microphones in Tiger Tiger. After screeching to My Hump, Keep On Moving, Summer of '69 and Breaking Free, we went back to my friend Aaron's house for yet another game of Cards Against Humanity...then we all pretty much fell asleep after a very difficult game of I-Spy.

Looking back on this month i'm realising now that I have been drinking a lot. I'd say maybe I need a detox but with me moving to the other side of the world next month, that is most definitely not going to happen.
𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

Caitlin Moran.

As i'm on the train to go see my best pal Tom, (whose blog you can read here), i'm reading one of Caitlin Moran's books, 'How To Be A Woman'.
Previously I read one of her other books 'How To Build A Girl' and absolutely loved it. It's one of the rare books that once I started reading it I just couldn't put it down, and ended up finishing it in 2 days.

How To Build A Girl

Even though the book is fictional, I love how honest it is. Caitlyn really doesn't hold back when she's writing and that's one of the things I like most about her as an author.  'How To Build A Girl' has so many different elements to it too. At one point you'll feel sympathetic towards the protagonist, then you'll be laughing. Then to put a real twist on things you'll be cringing at the slightly more awkward parts of the book. I found myself racing to finish the book because I just couldn't wait to find out what happens, it's such a rollercoaster of a book.

How To Be A Woman

I've read less than a chapter in 'How To Be A Woman' and already I can't wait to read the rest of it. Caitlyn sets the scene pretty much straight away and she's not scared to just jump straight into it. I obviously can't say too much about this one not having read it yet so i'll copy down the blurb for you and you can see if it's something you'd like to read!

"It's a good time to be a woman: we have the vote and the Pill, and we haven't been burnt as witches since 1727. However, a few nagging questions do remain...
Why are we supposed to get Brazilians? Should we use Botox? And why does everyone ask when you're going to have a baby?"

It goes without saying that these books appeal to the slight feminist in me. I totally recommend them if you like the sound of them!
𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

Travel Diary

Probably my biggest goal in life (sounds cheesy but idc), is to travel a hell of a lot. I love going to weird and wonderful new places and learning the perks of different cultures. I feel like when i'm old and grey I know that i'll have lived my life to the full if i've seen as much of the world as possible.

My all time favourite poster on my wall is my scratch map. They're around £15 on Amazon and you essentially scratch off a country as you would a scratch card once you have been there. If you're a massive fan of travel like me, you'd love one. I get way too excited to come home from a holiday just so I can scratch a country off!

My aim is to be able to scratch a place off a year, however this may be a tad difficult so I may go for 1 every 2 years. We'll see how my bank account stretches.
So far the places that have been scratched off are;

Mallorca, Jamaica, Finland, France, Menorca, Spain, Belgium, Mexico and Italy. I'm not planning on Antarctica - that would be a bitch to scratch off!

I'm incredible lucky to have been to the places that I have already, but to me it just isn't enough! There are still so many things I want to do and places I want to visit!

I want to cuddle a tiger cub in India, go on a safari in South Africa, visit many many locations in the USA like Florida (Disneyworld), New York, Miami and LA, see Christ the Redeemer in Rio in Brazil, bit of a depressing one but I want to visit Auschwitz in Poland, walk on the Great Wall of China, I need to see Hobbiton in New Zealand, go skiing in Switzerland or Canada, visit Mexico again and see the Chichen Itza, go to the pyramids in Egypt, sunbathing on the gorgeous beaches of Greece, see the Taj Mahal in India and also visit Portugal, Amsterdam, Ireland and Thailand. I could literally go on for hours with all the places I want to visit.

If travelling were free I wouldn't be in England right now. Fingers crossed I win the lottery!𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

What i'll miss & what i'm looking forward to.

Hello! It's been a while. I've had a lot on my plate recently and i've just been either too busy or had no motivation to write anything, but the excitement of a new year and an upcoming adventure has spurred me on to write again.
Recently i've had millions of thoughts whizzing through my head about little things i'm going to miss whilst i'm away and other things that i'm really looking forward to. I thought it might help clear up my head to write them down, and writing on my blog somewhat calms me.

What I will miss.
1. My family: I think that's probably the most obvious. We're so close and it'll be very strange to not have them a stones throw away (i'll miss my sister the most but don't tell my mum and dad).
2. My friends: another obvious one. I'm lucky enough to have no shortage of them and i'm going to miss every single one of them so much. I've been begging them all to come and visit me at some point!
3. Mum's cooking! If you haven't had one of Pip's homemade meals, you haven't lived. And if you know me then you'll be aware that i'm no Jamie Oliver in the kitchen. I can make pasta and that's about it.
4. My cat: He's a right little bastard sometimes but i'm going to miss his cuddles!
5. My car. This is such a first world problem but i'm seriously going to miss being able to drive myself around for 5 months. Back on the peasant wagon!
6. My double bed: Another first world problem - I have a single bed in my new apartment!

What i'm looking forward to.
1. Meeting new people: making some Aussie friends!
2. Living on my own: hopefully it will finally teach me to be tidier.
3. Living near the beach! Do I really need to explain this one?
4. Being surrounded by a different culture: one of my most favourite things is getting to know other cultures. When I went to Rome I was fascinated in how erratic and busy the Italians are.
5. Improving my Australian accent: (i've been practicing).
6. Getting out of Leeds for a while! There's a lot of people I know that hate living in Leeds, and whilst it isn't my favourite place in the world, it's still home. However i'm very excited to get to know another big city.
7. The gorgeous weather: even though when I get there it will be in the transition from summer to winter, it's still going to be pretty damn hot!
8. Visiting Sydney at Easter: Harbour Bridge, the Opera House (that's the plan anyway).
9. Learning to be independent: it's about time.
10. Writing letters! A few people have called me strange for this one. I thought it might be nice to send my friends and some family letters whilst i'm away. It would be a nice change to sending e-mails or messages and I love getting things through the post.

I'm already feeling better after jotting these down! Everything is set in stone now; flights booked, accommodation sorted and enrolment accepted. All that is left to do is pack and go!
I'll try and keep more blog posts coming, as soon as my exams are over i'll have a lot more free time to think of new things to write about.
𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝
Ps. I sincerely hope I come back with an awesome accent.

November.

The penultimate month of 2015 is already over. What the HECK?!

The first week of November was a weird one. I had an essay due on the 7th and I hadn't started it as I had been so busy previously (see October's round up). I was also pretty ill and that added to the stress had a really weird effect on me and I was barely sleeping or eating all week. I've never really been super stressed about University work before so I think it was a bit of a shock to the system; i'm often too laid back to care about grades (for example see my GCSE results). This meant that Bonfire Night (if you're not from the UK, Google it) was spent writing my essay, however I did leave my blind open so I could watch the fireworks at the same time. Multitasking at its best.

Anyway, the week after my deadline, it was finally time for my 21st birthday present from James.

We stayed over in Manchester the night before as our flight was at 6:30am, and having to be at Manchester airport for about 4am means waking up in Leeds at about 2am. No thanks.

When we got there, the phrase "Rome wasn't built in a day" was bouncing around my head. I saw how true this statement was. All of the buildings are so beautiful and detailed and in the taxi journey from the airport to our hotel, I just couldn't stop looking out of the window.

My personal favourite of the attractions: The Trevi Fountain.

Every time a new Hunger Games film has been released, my best friend Charlotte and I would go see the double/triple bill at the cinema. But this year Vue decided not to do a quadruple bill and instead they only did a double bill of Mockingjay. Bit rubbish right? It was also the week after I got back from Rome and I had about £5 to get me to payday, so I couldn't go. So my friend Viv suggested we make our own quadruple bill. We fell asleep halfway through Catching Fire so this failed epically.

Things started to concrete over for Australia too. I bought my travel insurance and my VISA got granted. It's all becoming real, it still hasn't hit me yet!

My Mum got me and my sister these awesome Christmas jackets because I got a first in my placement year and my sister did something good in Spanish (I can't remember what it was).

One of my friends from work had his leaving do on the 30th. I'll be so sad to see him go but he's going to South Africa which is pretty damn cool. So for his leaving party we all went to his house and had a Disney night in. I know right? Amazing. We were watching Disney movies from 2pm until half 4 in the morning (we also watched Ghostbusters because Nathan was 'a bit bored' of cartoons...weirdo).

Nathan fell asleep so we played Buckaroo.

On the last day of November I decorated my room for Christmas. I couldn't wait any longer. In the process I managed to impale my foot on one of the hooks that I use to hang tinsel up. That hurt. A lot.

Nice and festive!

So that's it for another month! I'm so excited for December (I always am).

Rambling Post #6: I'm actually terrified.

Recently whenever people have been asking me about moving to Australia they usually ask "how excited are you?!", and don't get me wrong, I really can't wait to go, but i'm also absolutely terrified.

I've never lived away from home before so going from my comfort zone in Leeds with all of my family and friends around me, to the other side of the world where I know absolutely no one makes me a little anxious. Knowing that I won't have my parents as a safety net whilst i'm out there is probably what scares me the most. But that's life. I've got to leave them at some point. I think i'm not that good at making friends, it always just happens by a happy accident. I'm not the kind of person to put myself out there in a new group of people and i'm actually pretty quiet when i'm getting to know people. It's only when i'm comfortable with someone that you start to realise i'm actually quite loud and never shut up.

Then there's the snakes. And spiders. And crocodiles. I've been watching I'm A Celebrity this year and every time I see one of the huge spiders it just reminds me that they're probably just a typical 'house spider' over there. I can deal with the usual British 50p sized spideys but hell naw to the spiders down under. I think the first things I will buy when I get there is a fly swat and a shit load of bug spray.

I feel like i've lived in my comfort zone for 21 years now and it's about time I did something that scares me, because staying in my comfort zone isn't going to get me anywhere.

But yeah, growing up and doing scary things sucks, but moving 10,053 miles away is also hella exciting.

𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

Rambling post #5: Be yourself.

During High School, and even into 6th Form and the beginning of University, I had a pathological fear of what everyone thought about me. Throughout the years it started to get a bit ridiculous: I would be getting dressed for the day and I would be choosing what to wear judging it on what the people I would be seeing that day would think of it. I know it's important to take pride in your appearance, and I do (most of the time), but this obsession was rapidly becoming unhealthy.
I'd start to change my opinions about things in discussions with friends just so I didn't sound weird or different to everyone else. "You like Dubstep?! Me too!" Bullshit.
I know it sounds unbelievably cheesy and too much of a cliché, but it's true when they say to be happy you need to be yourself, and it's only been recently that i've been doing this and i've realised just how relaxed and happy I am as a result.
There are people in the world that are going to judge you no matter what. It's taken me 21 years to realise that if people are going to judge me anyway, i'm at least going to get judged for the things that make me happy. Live your life for yourself. If you obsess over making others happy, what happens to you? Who cares what anyone else thinks? Why do their opinions matter?
I feel that when you reach your twenties you need to be selfish and do things for you. I need to start living my life for myself and no one else. Don't get me wrong, I don't exactly want to make people miserable whilst i'm loving life.
I'm always going to be one of those people who cares about others. I'm just going to be someone who doesn't really give a rats ass about anyones opinion anymore.
All I want is in 70 odd years (fingers crossed), I can look back and not regret a thing.
𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝