Can We Talk About: Nina Nesbitt?

I've been waiting ages to finally have enough time to write this post..... IT'S FINALLY HERE! 

A bit about Nina- she's a Scottish (brownie points there am I right?) singer-songwriter, she plays the guitar, piano and flute, started her music career on YouTube but was a teenage model until she met and dated Ed Sheeran who (I'm assuming) got her to start producing and pursuing her music career more. She toured with him and Example and then started releasing EPs, and finally released an official album 'Peroxide' in early 2014. She spent the year touring and playing festivals, and she just finished touring the UK with The Vamps last month.

I started listening to Nina after listening to Ed's song about her (you've probably heard it, it's literally called 'Nina') for a week practically non-stop. I'd already known she made music but I hadn't ever really heard anything by her so, mostly just out of procrastination, I decided to check her out. 

It was practically love at first listen... if that's a thing? Nina's songs are so easy to fall in love with. In a lot of ways she writes like Taylor Swift, meaning she writes songs that you listen to and just think 'YES, THIS IS HOW IT THIS IS HOW I FEEL SHE PUT IT IN WORDS'. Her lyrics are mostly about her... I was going to say love life and finding herself but I really think her lyrics are just about her, and her life and things she goes through and okay yeah a lot of them are about boys but they're the kind of songs that can relate to so many situations. I'm pretty sure I've related 90% of her songs about relationships to one of my situations even when at least 75% of them were probably written about a situation completely different to my own. Don't do the math, all you need to know is her music is the kind of music you can listen to no matter what you're going through and immediately feel comforted and understood. 

In terms of her sound, it's pretty much just straight up acoustic, she has a very singular voice, it's kind of different to most of the popular or current music in America in the sense that it's just straight up music. It's similar to Taylor Swift pre-Red but more like, if you've heard it, any acoustic Ellie Goulding tunes just more upbeat. In contrast to Taylor Swift, it's not just Nina's lyrics that make her music one of my favourites, it's also her voice itself. Girl can hit notes, alright. She's kind of like if T-Swiz wrote an album with her new upbeatedness, but still acoustic and with killer lyrics. 

Anyways, even if you don't like Taylor or Ellie, there's a good chance you'll like Nina so give her a chance! I find her music is very refreshing to listen to because we're so used to listening to the same old manufactured pop music, and in contrast, Nina's songs are very much just real, raw, music. Classic.
SOOOOOO go on and give her album 'Peroxide' a listen here!

My personal favourite songs by Nina Nesbitt are: 
- Peroxide (duh)
- Mr. C
- Way in the World
- Some You Win
- Hold You (ft. Kodaline) = actually amazing I CAN'T EVEN EXPRESS IT ENOUGH
- The Outcome
- The Hardest Part

Summer Favourites

Eeeeeeek, so it's been forever since I posted, I've been working on writing a day by day post about my trip to Greece but it's taking me forever! 
Here's a quick post I'll throw at ya before I finish my Greece one; here are some things that rocked my world this summer!

1- Bleach London hair dye: Soooooooooo important fact about me, I haven't had one hair colour for longer than 6 months since I was in 10th grade. I have hair commitment issues. I get bored easily, I need change. So obviously, when Gemma Styles (who I follow religiously on instagram) started dying her hair all kinds of fun colours with at Bleach London, I became VERY interested. It was a dream come true! Fun hair colours that fade out and when they're gone you just put a new one in! 
I'm not going to talk too much about my experience with Bleach London products because I'm saving a specific post for that :) Here's the gist- I bought Bruised Violet hair dye, applied it to bleach (ombré dyed) hair, here's the result: 
Over the course of July it faded and eventually I just decided to bleach it out (as much as I could), and now I'm blonde again. :)

2- Laced Trim Shorts: 

I got mine from winners for about $20. Super cheap, super cute. (Here's topshop's version) The best thing about mine were that they were so light, comfortable and cute, so I could wear them basically whenever, it was never too hot for them and I was never concerned I'd be too uncomfortable in them. Also they went with pretty much everything, they were a huge plus in my summer wardrobe. 

3- Floral Lightweight Kimono: 

(Check out this one from Forever 21, here)

Okay, another clothing favourite but seriously this kimono was the best. Again, I got it from Winners for fairly cheap, it's a lightweight sheer material and was perfect to put over top of a tank or crop top and was the best for beach days! I got so many compliments on it, I had to put it in my list. 

4- MAC's Frost Angel lipstick: I didn't buy this until the end of the summer but man do I wish I got it sooner, it's the perfect summer lip colour. In the summertime I, and many other people, like to go with a bit of a fresher face look and not wear much make up at all on an every day basis. This lip colour went excellently with that look, it's a lovely light pink colour that I wore day and night for a good part of August. You can get it here, it's sold as "Angel" in the drop down list.

5- Grecian Sandals: I got very lucky with this trend, when I went to Greece in March I found a cute pair of sandals at the Plaka in Athens for fairly cheap. I wore them literally all summer, in all kinds of weather to do all kinds of things, they're made of leather so they molded perfectly to my foot and were unbelievably comfortable. Unfortunately, towards the end of the summer I went to the beach and it started absolutely down pouring and my beautiful sandals got soaked :( They aren't completely wrecked but they're still not quite the same. You can get a similar pair online from any shoe store, but I more so encourage you to take advantage of what you have around you. For example, if you're in Greece, get sandals! Even if it's March and it's cold! It's worth it, even though they're sold on the market they're still good sandals, probably better than the ones you would get in stores here that are manufactured in sweatshops, let's be real. 

6- Moroccan Hair Oil: I've posted about this hair oil before so I won't bore you with specifics, this product was really important to my hair care this summer because of all the dying and bleaching, and because I was working in and at a pool all summer. It was my hair saver, I love it, 10/10 would recommend. (Just make sure  you don't over use it because the extra protein to your hair will dry it out!)

Hope you enjoyed your summer, let me know what some of your summer favourites were too! :) 
xx S

"the anticipation for what the trip would hold was making me sick. literally."

Last March I went on my last school trip to Greece!

A bit of my history with travel club-  In 9th grade I went on my first trip with my school's 'travel club' to China, it was a crazy experience, but now, thinking back to my China trip, it was a fantastic learning experience for me, it made me a million times more competent as a traveler, mostly because I did everything wrong on that trip...The next year they were traveling to France, Italy and Monaco, three countries I was dying to visit, and so I was persuaded to go again. The second trip redeemed the first in my eyes, when the trip was coming to the end everyone else was excited to go home to their families, I think I was the only one there who was sad it was over. The next year they went to Germany and Austria, for financial reasons, I didn't join them. My family has always been one that values experiences over material goods, we never had a lot of money growing up but when we saved up any money it always went to trips rather than new clothes. That's why in 9th grade when I went up to my mother and begged her to let my join my best friend Ella on the school trip to Egypt (we were supposed to go there but they switched it to China when the rebellion happened there) it didn't take much to persuade her, I was only 14 so I didn't exactly have the money to spend on such a trip so my mother called it my Christmas present- don't be mistaken, she never, ever in a million years would have gifted me something of equal value. The next year I wasn't supposed to go on the trip because my mom said I'd have to pay myself and I just didn't have the income to do that, then AGAIN my best friend Karol was going and asked me to come too, my other friends were going to talked to the teacher in charge to see if they could squeeze onto the already filled trip, long story short, she managed to get a bus with four extra seats, one for me and each of my friends! My mom surprised me by saying that she would pay for the trip if I would pay for spending money. The next year I wasn't so lucky, I would have to pay all by myself if I wanted to go, at first I convinced myself I didn't want to visit Germany so I didn't care, and by the time I realised I really wanted to go it was too late to save up enough $$ to go. That's why my name was at the top of the sign up sheet when my teacher decided we would go to Greece.

Fun fact- my oldest sister went on the exact same Greece trip during her senior year, because my teacher doesn't like to repeat trips we didn't rearrange our Egypt trip to go to Greece- a country viewed as having equal amounts of ancient history, when Egypt broke out into war, and so we went to China instead. Lucky me, ended up getting to go on both trips.

Pre Greece trip-
The summer before my senior year I had a serious run in with my anxiety issues. One of my major triggers for anxiety and panic attacks is sleeping out, I'm still not entirely sure why, but it happens, and that summer it caused me to be unable to stay out at a summer camp and it was a whole mess and my mom got very mad at me about it. Of course she didn't tell me she was mad at me about it, but she was, in one of those passive aggressive ways, when I got home from camp we made arrangements to see a counselor to deal with the anxiety issues, which she claimed she was okay with, but only in the way a parent is pretending they're okay with because they're an asshole if they're not?? If that makes sense. Anyways, the whole counselling thing turned into this big thing that was like fix-me-in-time-to-go-to-Greece fiasco, Greece was the end goal, make it to Greece, or make it so that I'm able to go to Greece, whatever. I  was in a difficult position because on one end I never, ever wanted to go through what I'd just been through again, especially with people I knew from school, but on the other half I'm a ma-hoosive art history nerd who's ideal vacation spot is Greece. Damn. By the end of my counselling session I'd learned a lot of techniques to dealing with anxiety- none of which I really use to deal with my anxiety- more of which I use when I have a small case of insomnia. But it was too late for me to back out of the trip so I was basically stuck.

Stuck on the trip-
The night before we left my anxiety was so bad that I was in and out of sleep on the bathroom floor, preparing to vomit at any point. At 5am my parents got up to take me to the airport, my mom yelled at me for not sleeping and I cried all the way to the airport while my dad awkwardly drove me in silence. When I got to the airport I went to the bathroom and vomited for a good 10 minutes, got tims and a gatorade and waited to go through security. I felt better the instant my friend Lilly got there, not less nauseous, but the anxiety calmed a little bit. We went through security together, I cried a lot, and I got on the plane and headed to Toronto. It was completely and totally awful. I was exhausted, and emotional, and sick, and miserable, the anticipation for what the trip would hold was making me sick. literally. Lucky for me a lot of the people on the trip were people who knew I had some anxiety issues, including teachers and what not so everyone was pretty understanding about it all. I cried my way through some pretty average conversations, I don't know why I was crying, I just was, and that's what I told them before we continued to talk about commercials. Seriously. At one point my teacher (who taught me philosophy, a class where I did a presentation on anxiety and all that jazz and therefore knew what was going on) asked me how I was doing and if I was excited for the trip and all I answered was "well I have to be now, don't I?" We were in the Toronto airport waiting for our flight to Greece. Oh that's the other thing! Lucky old me got stuck on the group of flights that left at 6am, and then spent the day waiting in Toronto to go to Greece, not the best flight plan for someone who's obnoxiously anxious for the trip, but it did mean I got to see my family and buy a cute hat from the mall(which I proceeded to wear every single day on the trip)

Voila! The infamous cute hat, the best thing I got from my terrible day at the mall in Toronto,

Anyways, the whole point of this post is not only to lead into my next one - Grecian Adventures (all about the good parts of the trip), but also to point out a few things:

1 - bad things don't have to be all bad, the beginning of this trip was absolutely horrible, but if you read the post about the actual trip you'll know how much I absolutely adored this adventure, and 

2 - the only way to really deal with anxiety issues, is to force yourself to. I went to so many counselling appointments but at the end of the day I had to force myself into the situations that would trigger me, I can't just learn how to cope with my demons, because that doesn't do anything if you don't ever see them, I have to sit down with them and have a cuppa with them and learn how they work so that they don't hold me back, before Greece I would always shove them away and find ways out of situations that would bring them to light, which did a whole of 0 things to help me live with them. Besides, after a couple days on the trip I was arguably the most mentally stable person on that trip, it just took awhile for me to trust myself.

Sidenote: I realise this post is extremely all over the place and sounds very disjointed and for that I apologise, I've been out of school for too long and it's been ages since I posted last soooooo I'm a bit rusty! Also note that I changed names because I didn't bother asking people if it was okay to use their names so I just changed them altogether.

So Here's the Thing..

This year in my English class we read a group of short stories, one of them was called The Flash, by Italo Calvino, (you can read it here). "The Flash" is about that moment of realisation you have every once in awhile where you see the world through a completely different perspective, it's like you've looked up and suddenly you see everything clearly, no murky societal rules to blur your vision, and for a brief moment, you get it. But that moment is brief, and then it's gone, and every once in awhile you wish it came back... you spend your life waiting to see it that clearly again.

Well here's the REAL thing. Every once in awhile, we have "the flash" moment and it doesn't go away, however we don't call it that, we call it an existential crisis.

The thing about existential crises is that we all have them, if you don't ever have on in your life span, I question both your intelligence and your sanity. However, even though we all have them, I have come to the realisation that we don't actually talk about them, which makes more than no sense seeing as we're all in the same boat and probably could benefit a lot from knowing that we're not alone in our terrifying experience of an existential crisis.

The first one I ever had was in 7th grade, after some investigation, I realise that this is later than most peoples's first one, so I actually knew a lot of people at the time who knew exactly what I was going through, but of course instead of talking about it with them I lived in a constant state of anxiety and unhappiness until I found my way out through music.

Now, five years later, I have found myself yet again faced with the challenge of seeing the entire world through that flash perspective, wishing it would go away. The first time it happened, I didn't really realise what I was thinking or what I was seeing, now I'm all too aware.

The problem with the flash perspective is that it's meant to be only a flash, you're not meant to sit there and stew over what it means, and why it is the way it is, because let me tell you, it drives a person crazy. The flash is supposed to come and go to remind you that, for lack of a more relevant term, YOLO. That you've got to prioritize and know yourself well enough to know what you value and want from your life. BUT! When the darn, stinking, flash doesn't go away, it transforms from a bright flash of understanding and enlightenment, to a gray cloud of depression. When you can't stop yourself from seeing that world from the outside perspective, from completely outside the box, you're left there constantly asking yourself how you're supposed to live your life now, instead of actually living it. It's just plain awful.

Last but not least, let me just vent on this lasting flash experience... As I said before, everyone has existential crises. Very, very real ones.. Life changing ones that make you question your existence and the point of life and what happens after death and they are hands down, the most unsettling, and terrifying things to think and experience. So why is it that when I say that I'm going through an existential crisis, people laugh and go, "oh my gosh I had one of those while studying for math last night... the worst!" Excuse me, what? You had time to question all of life and existence and fall apart and crumble to absolute bits and then pick yourself back up and comment that on my instagram feed with a smiley face??? Well call me impressed.

Okay, seriously though, is it because they assume that that's what I mean by existential crisis, a flash moment of me going "what is life?" instead of the constant state of depression and anxiety I've fallen into as a result of my constant questioning of everything around me? Because I really am not trying to give that impression. And it is SO much harder to try and not feel alienated when everyone else pretends that existential crises are no big thing, or that oblivion doesn't terrify them, WHO ARE YOU? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE???? TELL ME YOUR SECRETS TO SUCH A CALM AND SECURE MIND SET.

I just don't understand.

Sigh.

Just trust me when I say, if you've experienced "The Flash" and are hopelessly waiting for that perspective to come back, move on, and enjoy your blissful ignorance. I envy you more than you know.

Travelling Musts: Packing

Hi guys! So I know it's been ages since I've updated... but in my defense I've been a busy girl! I just recently came back from a school trip to Greece, and since then I've been trying to catch up on all the things I missed, so bare with me! Since I missed so much due to my travelling, I thought I would make a blog set of my travelling musts. I'm only 17, but I have been to 4 continents and on three school trips, which is what I'm assuming most of my readers are travelling with! Without further ado, here are my absolute MUSTS for PACKING! *Please note these are packing tips for vacations, i.e. travelling with school or family!*

1. Not over packing is important, but not under packing is equally as important. If you're going away for a week or more, NO ONE is going to give you street cred for packing all your things in a back pack or carry-on bag (mini suitcase), you'll just end up ill-prepared. Don't do that. It doesn't make you cool, it makes you stupid. Sorry.

2. When it comes to clothes, pack things that you will not only look good in but feel comfortable in! Travelling is one of the only times that I always feel like I've got a good outfit planned every single day, because I've spent weeks thinking over what would be my best options. You need to think what is not only cutest, but most practical, what trousers can you wear with every single one of your shirts? Would you be comfortable wearing walking around a lot in them or sitting in them for long hours? Yes? BRING THOSE ONES. Also! Mix and match it up in there, don't just bring three pairs of jeans and rotate through, it might be warmer so maybe you should bring a dress or a skirt, which you could still wear with leggings underneath if it's cold! Speaking of leggings: 

3.Leggings are the ultimate airplane bottoms for three reasons: 
1) You can move around and make weird poses to get comfortable and not flash anyone like you would in a skirt or dress. 
2) They are not in any way constricting like jeans which is a godsend on long rides. 
3) They're not too warm but not too cold, you can always find a way to get comfortable in them. 

4. I don't think I even need to say it because it's so ridiculously obvious but: only pack clothes that you can wear more than once. If you're feeling overpacked, weed things out by going through each day and making sure you only have enough clothes that if you wore them only once you wouldn't have anything to wear the last 1/3 of your trip, then take away the rest of the clothes that you want to wear the least, and mix and match what your bringing to make up the last 1/3 of the days. Easy as pie. 

5. ROLL YOUR CLOTHES! If you have a crazy momma like I do who is always trying to make you pack everything in the smallest possible suitcase, then roll your clothes to make sure you have enough room for everything else. Tip: if there's no wrinkles in the clothes while you roll them, there won't be any when you unpack them, sometimes I roll skirts and dresses for this reason alone (no creases).

6. Toiletries: Buy empty shampoo and conditioner bottles that way you can reuse them. My family keeps the little bottles you get from hotels, but because the shampoo and conditioner in them is pretty crappy I usually empty them and put things like body wash and creams in them instead. Make sure you bring a nail clipper and file, band-aids and safety. You never, ever know.

7. Dirty laundry: OK so here's the deal, after having gone on many trips with only one random bag as a dirty laundry (until I finally got a cloth reusable one) I have discovered some very helpful things:
- get a cloth, reusable bag with a drawstring; the plastic ones hold in moisture so if you have gross, sweaty things they get extra stinky, a cloth one lets them breath and also it's better for the environment! Wahey!
- only put clothes in there that are n o t underwear; this way if you decide they're not actually too dirty and really want to wear it again, at least it hasn't been sat in a bag with your dirty underwear. To fix this problem I started putting my underwear into a toiletry bag that has the clean ones on one side and the dirty on the other, it's waaaaay more convenient. 

8. Underwear: pack at least three extra sets of underwear and socks, these are things you never want to run out of. 

9. Carry-on: If you're travelling on a plane at all, make sure you put an extra set of clothes in your carry on, even if it's just socks and underwear and a tank top. Many times I've had people lose their luggage and be stuck with no other clothes for a day or more while they wait for their luggage to finally arrive. That being said, make sure you pack everything important in your carry-on, money, itinerary, camera, chargers (and converters), everything. 

And guys, please, please, please make a check list. Make sure everything you need is on that check list, double check everything you need is on that check list, ask someone else if everything you need is on your list, and then triple check that everything on that check list is packed. 

Most importantly though, remember that things go wrong and things get forgotten, it happens. It's taken me at least 5 times before I actually managed to travel and not forget anything. If/when it happens, don't let it ruin your trip, if it's something really big that you forgot, tell someone, they WILL help you, if there's one thing I learned on school trips, it's that everyone's in the same boat and is much more willing to help and be kind than they are at school. Don't let forgetting something ruin your trip, it's not worth it! (And you shouldn't forget anything because you triple checked your list, right?
Hope this helps! 
Lots of love, xx

Beauty Tips for Winter Weather: Dry Hair & Split Ends

ALRIGHT! I've really got to get on with this post, I've been procrastinating forever, but I'm super busy right now, so it's going to be a quick one! Here are my tips on how to deal with dry hair and split ends. FUN FACT: I have loads of experience with both of these because a) I live in Canada. The northern part. b) I work in a pool, not AT a pool, IN one. Agh. 
Here it goees! For DRY HAIR try these tips!

1. Don't wash your hair every night... or even every other night. If your hair gets as dry as mine, it will be able to go a couple nights without being washed. I wash my hair 3 nights a week, I KNOW it sounds gross but it works, I promise. I still shower every night, but I make sure to put my hair up before I get in, that's all. 
2. DRY SHAMPOO IS YOUR BEST FRIEND!  Okay, so your hair gets greasy and gross if you don't wash it every night? NOT an excuse! Dry shampoo is super cheap and it's an absolute lifesaver, I picked mine up for $12 CAD from Chatters on Boxing Day, it's a spray in bottle that I put in every morning that I haven't showered the night before and it makes my hair look normal AND smell flowery, which is perfect because let's be real, if you don't wash your hair, it starts to stink. So when you go to pick up your own dry shampoo try to find one with a scent, and a spray on one because I find it's a LOT easier to apply!

That's basically it for dry hair, as long as you do this your hair shouldn't be neaaaaarly as dry and you shouldn't need to do anything else!

For SPLIT ENDS it's a bit trickier... but I've found that these tips work:

1. Apply a heat resister before applying any kind of heat, including blow drying! You can get these fairly cheap at the drugstore but like anything, the more expensive the better. CHI works super duper well for me! 
2. If you're straightening, blow drying or curling your hair every day, you're doing it all wrong. GIRL GET YO ASS ON PINTEREST! There are TONS of DIYs on there that are HEAT FREE! I know that like 75% do NOT look how they do in the pictures, but log on and try some when you have some time off and you'll find a couple that you can do pretty well, these are lifesavers. (There's a super easy one for a heat free curl that I'll post about later!) If you insist upon having straightener or curled hair every day, do what I mentioned in the first section and don't shower every night, use dry shampoo so that you don't have to re-apply the heat every day.
3. MOROCCAN OIL!!!!!!!!! This. Is. The. Shit. Okay, so I don't actually own any myself, but my sister has it and it works magic, I swear by it. It isn't a straight up hair treatment it's just a jar off stuff that you put in 15 minutes pre-shower, and then a bottle of stuff you put in post-shower. The stuff you put in post shower I always just put on my ends. It makes your hair mega soft AND smells nice, which is a plus. The brand name is literally just "moroccan argan oil", and this hair treatment has become a must nowadays so I'm sure you can find one at your local drugstore for fairly cheap!
4. TRIM YOUR SPLIT ENDS! Okay, I know if you go to the hair dresser and ask them to trim your split ends, they cut like a whole inch off and you end up crying because all the hard work you did to grow it out has disappeared, BUT! All you have to do, is every time you see your split ends coming in, trim them right away. Don't wait for them to get worse, and cut them yourself! When you go in for your next cut, your hair dresser will even out your hair but WILL NOT have to cut inches off because of split ends! It's a no brainer. 
5. SHOWER RIGHT. When you shampoo, only shampoo the roots, when you condition, only condition the ends. Fights split ends and greasy hair simultaneously. 
6. BRUSH. YOUR. HAIR. Oh my goodness, this is my ultimate pet peeve. If you complain about having dry hair and split ends but you're too lazy to even brush your hair every day, then I cannot help you. Leave now. Not brushing your hair is the laziest thing, I know some days that bed head can look kinda cute (it's like a weird thing that we all think some mornings? No? That's just me? Awkward..) BUT WE ALL KNOW that in an hour's time it'll look like serious bed head, so just brush it, it's not worth the hour of sexy bed head. Brushing your hair brings all the oils from your scalp down to the ends of your hair, if you don't brush your hair, there is a 100% chance you have dry ends and greasy roots. Sorry not sorry. *PLEASE NOTE THAT CURLY HAIRED PEOPLE ARE TO DISREGARD THIS TIP, Y'ALL ARE A WHOLE OTHER STORY*

Okay so that's all I've got for now! I'll update again when I get home so I can post links and brand names and such! Thanks for reading lovies, hope this helps! Comment if you tried anything and if it helped! 

xx

Favourite Pictures of Right Now!

OK so my cousin and I are penpals, and we always send some of our favourite pictures of the moment with our letters. Unfortunately, my printer is currently out of coloured ink so I'm posting on my pictures on here so I can still send them to my cousin! They include girl crush pictures, funny pictures, cutesy pictures and artsy pictures.

In this first set we have (TOP left to right), Gemma Styles being gorgeous and girl crushy, Harry Styles still from the Midnight Memories video edited onto a 'Footloose' movie poster, artsy fashion photo that I really liked.

In the second set we have (TOP left to right), a cutesy cat picture that I found on tumblr. a hilarious photo set of stills of Niall Horan from the'Talk Dirty to Me' video featured on 1DDay edited onto stills from Lady Gaga's video, a funny still of Louis Tomlinson & gang from the Midnight Memories video, Emma Watson being beautiful, a pair to the first artsy fashion photo, and Jennifer Lawrence and Little Mix being gorgeous and girl crushy.

Beauty Tips for Winter Weather: Caught a Cold?

Caught a cold thanks to the winter season? I feel your pain. Oh do I ever. I'm currently trying to fight off my own killer cold. My world is filled with tissues, tea and the sniffles... but I will not let it get the best of me! Here's some of the clever tips I stick to when fighting off a cold: 

Sniffles: 
These are the worst. Constantly having a runny nose is the most annoying thing, and as if that wasn't enough, now I have to deal with unbearably dry skin on and around my nose thanks to all the tissues! My solution? NASAL IRRIGATION.... or if you're Liz, a Neti Pot! These are those weird things that use a mixture of salt & water to clean your nose. Read up on them here, I have a pre-made one that I bought from the drugstore, but you can also get a Neti pot and make your own! As for the dryness issue, as I mentioned in a previous blog post (here) Vitamin E oil is a lifesaver for dry skin, however, if you have oily skin and break out easily, beware when putting it on your face; it may clog pores and cause a break out. My skin is generally quite dry though so I use it loads when I'm sick. 

Stuffy head/Drowsiness: 
You know the groggy feeling you get when you're sick? You can't really hear properly and you're literally always tired? Here's the easiest solution: 
-Sudafed: it's a medicine that fights off sinus congestion, I'm not big on taking pills to get better but when I know I have something I need to get done that day, I take one of these, they work miracles. 
- Peppermint oil: My mom taught me this, you take a tiny bit of peppermint oil on your fingers and rub it over your lymph nodes on your neck (just under/behind your ears), the smell helps wake you up and makes you feel like 1000x better. 
- TEA: OBVIOUSLY???  The thing about tea is that you have to pick the right kind of tea. Herbal teas are great for colds but if you're trying to get rid of drowsiness they can drag you down more than wake you up. My favourite tea for when I have a cold is Cold 911 from DavidsTea. It's was hand made for fighting off colds and is filled with all sorts of healing magic. You can check it out here, what I love most about it is that it still has all the cold fighting elements, but still has a bit of a 'zing' in it so that even when I put my honey in it I don't get drowsy.
- Alcohol: Okay, okay, okay, I'm not saying go to the pub and have a couple pint but a little bit of alcohol goes a long way to make me feel better. I always have a glass of wine or a shot of something if I'm feeling particularly awfully sick with a cold, it really makes me feel a lot better.

Sore Throat: 
Lucky me! I don't have a sore throat right now :-) But if you do, my go-to solution is a concoction of hot water, lemon juice & honey. Add each to suit your own taste, I'm not sure why but this always works for me. It also helps to have Halls with you wherever you go. I don't recommend taking Halls after Halls after Halls, I think that just makes it worse, but if you're feeling like your throat is particularly sore for some reason it's good to have some, just in case.

An overall solution to these problems? Take it easy and have a nice bath. Add lavender bath salts and light a candle or two. I like to light some lavender essential oil too because I'm convinced essential oils smell 10000000x better than regular candles. But seriously, if you're sick, don't stress yourself out. Stress will just weaken your immune system and make it harder for you to get better, so take it easy and lay low for a couple days with a new book or NetFlix or something. Take'er'easy. 

Hope these tips help & you're all feeling better in no time! Let me know if you tried any & how you liked it! xx

Beauty Tips for Winter Weather: Dry Hands

Hi guys!! Sorry for not having updated in awhile, it's exam time for me so I've been doing piles of school work. The next part of my 'Beauty Tips for Winter Weather' is something people in most places of the world have to deal with - Dry Hands- eeeek! 

These are the worst! They can get so dry and cracked that it's painful to wash them, moisturize them, and even in some cases move them. (I've been there. It sucks.) So here's how we get rid of them!
If you can, try to avoid getting to the point where they're so cracked they're painful, it's way easier to fight the dryness than fix them! To do this all you need to do is make sure you don't wash your hands too often... not in a gross way but just don't wash them unless it's necessary! ALSO: no hand sanitizer! It dries out your hands mega, mega fast & it's not good for you, so unless it's an absolute must, avoid it!

Next, make sure you're moisturizing your hands often enough. I know it sounds super obvious but seriously, pay attention to when and how much your moisturizing. Often I find that I'm not doing it nearly enough, make sure you're using a good moisturizer and that you put it on after you wash your hands. 

*Another easy rule is to always put cream on before going out into the cold, this just helps protect your skin from getting dried out by the cold or wind. I also make sure I put lip balm on before I go out in the cold. *

OK so your hands have already gotten past the point of no return- putting any kind of soap or moisturizer on practically stings you to death. The solution: Vitamin E oil. My mom did this for me when I was little and my hands got so dry that they were all cut up on the back, all you do is put a layer of Vitamin E oil on the backs of your hands before you go to bed. Put a clean sock over top to make sure it doesn't get all over your sheets. This works WONDERS, try it. I dare you. You will never look back.

Beauty Tips For Winter Weather: Chapped Lips

Hi guys! As you may know, I am from Canada! And here in Canada, it likes to be exceptionally chilly and dry! So for the next little bit I will be sharing my secrets to managing some common beauty issues that arise in colder climates:

Chapped Lips - EXFOLIATE THEM! This is a tip I learned from none other than Miss Alexa Chung herself, in here book "It" (which you can read more about HERE). I know it sounds gross, but it's a chapped lips lifesaver. 
All you have to do is: 
-mix a equal parts Vaseline and brown sugar together and rub it on your lips and then wash it off with water
I like to make a lot of a scrub like this and then keep it in an old hotel shampoo bottle (which I would have obviously cleaned out), so that I don't need to keep making more every time I want to exfoliate. It's also a great way to reuse those old shampoo bottles!

Exfoliating your lips may seem really yucky, but the scrub actually helps get rid of the dry, dead skin layering you lips, which helps rejuvenate them and the Vaseline helps moisturize them. So as long as you don't over exfoliate, your chapped lips should be gone in no time! By 'don't over exfoliate them' I mean, only do this once or twice a week.  

Also remember that it's important to moisturize them, and not just with your typical lip chap or EOS or whatever it is you use...When it comes to lip chap, I always try to go natural, this is because one time I was watching Doctor Oz and he was talking about how your lips can actually become addicted to lip balm, (if you're curious about that or think I'm crazy, watch the video of him talking about it HERE .It's really interesting and I definitely recommend that you do, it's not very long and it's totally worth it!) He says that by putting on lip balm consistently, you're actually blocking the lips natural rejuvenating cycle which can make the top layers of your lips dry and brittle. The solution? Use a natural oil to moisturize your lips instead. He recommends (and I use) coconut oil. This is because not only does it moisturize your lips without blocking lips natural cycle of shedding old cells (gross, I know), but it also smells nice and tastes fine if you accidentally get some in your mouth as well. I put it on post-exfoliation and in the mornings after I was my face! Easy as pie.

I hope this beauty tip helps some of you out there struggling with your chapped lips, feel free to comment with any beauty issues you have from harsh winter weather, and I'll do my best to make a post on it! Cheers!

Book Review: 'It' by Alexa Chung

*Lets just take a moment to remember that I am not a book critic and have no cedentials that would make me a credible literary critic.* However, I am a 17 year old girl, who is very interested in art and beauty and fashion, and therefore would consider myself a member of the target audience of the book, and thus I would find this review a valid resource if you're looking for a general response to the book!

All in all, 'It' is a nice thing to pick up and read, you don't have to read it all at once and you don't have to remember where it was that you left off in order to keep reading; it's a very easy read. But you'll get a lot out of it if you read it; surprisingly a lot more than just style tips and fashionista talk. I 10/10 would recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in fashion, style, beauty, but also anyone interested in art and/or media. Actually, I'd probably recommend this book to anyone, it's just a good book, and it's easy to read. Everyone can get something out of it.

'It' by Alexa Chung (which you can get HERE) is genius for so many reasons. It has everything the reader could possibly want, there are the 'beauty tips' and advice on how to find your own style that, I'm assuming, most people went to it for. But there is also a subtle hint of something more personal, she doesn't just talk about all the fashion shows she's been to and all the things she's learned from modelling and television. She focuses on things that are, arguably, much closer to home, things that she learned on her own about style. There is a whole section where she does what I think most of us have done, as she looks back to all the people in the media that were style inspirations to her, whether they be characters or models, etc. They are the people who, even if she doesn't have the same style taste, inspire her and make us appreciate that you don't have to dress like a woman in order to come off as feminine. 

That being said, there are so many underlying tones in this book that promote individuality, that promote finding who you are and what you like and making your own style of it. Of course there are things that will never be stylish but the point is to find the style that suits you best, and most importantly that you feel most comfortable in. Chung is amazing at emphasising that she does not, and will never, compromise comfort for beauty. This is something that I've always been told is something you have to do in order to be stylish, yet here we have Alexa Chung, fashionista extraordinaire, telling us that she would much rather be out in flats than in heels, because she would rather be able to actually dance while she's out. What? That's a thing?? We can do that? 

One of the best things about this book is that Alexa is proving us all wrong, she's showing us that you can still be considered one of the most fashionable people out there without compromising comfort! She tells us that femininity has absolutely nothing to do with how many flower print sundresses you wear but rather all in how you carry yourself: sensational! 

The funny thing is, that when you go to purchase this book you already have in your mind what she's going to tell you, you think that like most fashion icons she'll tell you all about latest trends and classic pieces (which she does) but the thing is when she finally does do these things, it's a lot different than we expected. Instead of telling us how to keep up with the latest trends, Alexa teaches us how to establish our own timeless sense of style. She does this by introducing us to the people who influenced her own personal style, by outlining what it is that makes someone fashionable or iconic, and emphasising that it has very little to do with latest trends and much more to do with how you carry yourself. That is to say, if you wear something you feel comfortable and you actually like, you're going to look a lot more stylish than if you were to wear all the latest trends but feel uncomfortable. Rule number one of style: If you feel uncomfortable, you look uncomfortable. 

Another quite surprising thing I found in this book is just how much like us, Alexa is. This is exceptionally evident when she takes us through her process of picking out what to wear that day. What we expect is some extravagant thought process that includes all these different style icons and fashion rules and trends, etc. but what she says instead is actually quite powerful. Instead of thinking, what will make me look good and basing what you're going to wear on that, she says to picture what you're going to be doing throughout the day in said outfit, and picture how you want to look doing it. Try and find said outfit, make sure it's clean and then wear it. Huzzah! Alexa has cracked the code to true style! It's not the latest trends and highest fashion designers, because there will be days where you can't do what it is you're supposed to do, whether it be climbing to the top floor of your building to get to class or take the metro to class despite the despicably cold weather, in these clothes. True style is owning what you're wearing. Not in a literal way like, 'I bought this- I own it' sense, but in a, 'I'm rocking this outfit' way, hence why it's so important to be comfortable in what you're wearing- it's hard to rock heels that make you feel like you've broken both ankles, and it's hard to rock a dress that's meant to be worn with heels, barefoot. If you take these things into consideration when you pick an outfit, you're on your way to becoming a mini fashionista! Yay!

Personal side note: I love Alexa Chung. The part of this book that surprised me the most was when she discussed the articles of clothing she cannot live without. Most of them were things that we all have (and if you don't I'm seriously recommending that you invest in them), like a navy knit sweater that you can wear with literally anything, jean hot pants that can make anything look cool, etc. However,  when she discussed having saved up a long time for her Burberry coat, that hit close to home. This is a very personal response from me because I, as an individual, die for Burberry. I love it. I'm saving up for my own coat and I have been for quite some time. So to read that this is something that Alexa did herself.. let's just say I was surprised. This is someone who you expect to say that she's got multiple Burberry coats and then go over which goes best with different outfits and occasions, so to read instead that she loves her Burberry coat which she saved up for? I was shocked. In a good way. Here's a lovely picture of the lovely Alexa Chung being all lovely and model-ly.

Now if you haven't read 'It' and want to, stop reading now! If you haven't read it, don't really want to but are still curious about it read on.

Here are the important things I learned from 'It':

• If you're wearing something that maybe is a little more casual than you'd like, classy your look up with red lipstick. There's something about red lipstick that makes you look like effortlessly classy.
•  No matter how big of a fashion icon you are, there are always certain articles of clothing that are like best friends to you; you'll never want to part with them
• You should have one good leather jacket.
• It's important to know how to do a good cat-eyeliner look. They make everyone look cool.
• You can find inspiration anywhere, and you should look for it everywhere.
• Inspiration is personal. Different people find inspiration in different places, different people like different things; don't ignore it. If you think something looks cool, study it and figure out what about it you love, it's important to know what you like. 'Don't feel stupid if you don't like what everyone else pretends to love.' That's an Emma Watson quote but I think it works
• Momma Chung is a smart lady. Especially when it comes to heart break.
• Everyone should go to a festival once in their life.
• It's important to find your own personal sense of style, it'll vary depending on what inspires you/what you think looks cool/what you LIKE, but if you really own it, you'll rock it
• You don't need to have all the latest designers and trends to have good style, you just have to have a taste for fashion and creativity.
• Fashion and style are an art. Treat them as such.
• Exfoliate your lips, it sounds gross but it really makes a difference
• It takes a lot of effort to look effortless.
• Confidence is key, but it's very, very okay to not have everything figured out.

Can We Talk About: 5 Seconds of Summer?!

I'm not exactly sure what 5sos (pronounced 5sauce, and if you call it 5-S-O-S you might as well be calling Cal asian, and I'll probably punch you), is doing on my beauty blog, but I wanted to add a quick post in while I have the time! In case you have no idea what 5sos is. They're a band, a proper band, not a boyband. They're losers. They look like this:

Left to right we have Michael, Luke, Ashton and Calum. Boys, if you ever see this, you're welcome for using the picture of you as folksos instead of a proper one.
Basically, I heard of 5sos, like most people who aren't Australian like they are, through One Direction. 5sos opened for One Direction during their Take Me Home tour and now they're kind of a big deal. So, I feel like it's my duty as a member of the 5sosfam (that's what we call the fandom, I like it), to inform you about these four hella rad boys. Here's all you need to know about 5sos, condensed into bullet points

• they have a constant stuggle between wanting to be punk rock and wanting to be cuddly unicorns that vomit sparkles and rainbows
• Michael is the only one who will ever come close to being punk rock, even though Luke pierced his lip and tries really hard to be punk, he won't be bc penguins. 
• Ashton's the selfie king. 
• Calum is not Asian, he's a puppy. Get it right. 
• They all play instruments, they are NOT a boyband. 
• They fly all around the world yet they can't afford bus fare.
• Because they jump from timezone to timezone they have a very poor concept of time and therefore have absolutely no idea what 'soon' means. If they tell you something is 'coming soon', just remember that they probably don't even know what that means themselves
• despite being lyrical geniuses, they have god awful communication skills. Except Ash, Ash is sometimes okay at that
• They all have better legs than you. 
• Luke is half Australian, half giant. This is why he's so tall and also why he eats so much. 
• the fifth second of summer is the 5sosfam. That's why there's five seconds, when there's only four of them, because the 5sosfam counts as the fifth. Do you understand that? I hope so because if I see one more tweet about that I might explode. It's not funny.
• They're not like One Direction; you can't tell which is which by their clothes bc I swear to god they all wear each other's clothes, I don't even think they know who's is who's anymore. 
• They have compiled millions of followers and an extremely supportive fan base, won two awards and done a world tour without even releasing an album yet. 
• The CIA is looking into whether a 5sos album really exists because they've been talking about said album for over a year now and we still have very little proof of it being real or whether it's just a hoax and 5sos is all just a fantasy that delusional directioners have made up
• Louis Tomlinson of One Direction discovered the boys and thus brought them to us and is therefore the 5sosfam queen.
• Niall Horan is an honorary member of 5sos, he likes to sneak in with the boys and pretend he's in the band.
• 5sos will bombard you with tweets and keeks and selfies until you fall in love with them
• do not go into youtube and watch the Try Hard video to determine whether or not you like them, because I did that and I missed out on a good month of loving them because of it.... try watching the Try Hard KoKo video. Trust me.

In case I missed the point, which I probably did, you should go look up 5sos and fall in love with them because they're wonderful and lovely and actually talented so if you don't know who they are or if you heard of them but didn't listen to them because you don't like One Direction then you're severely missing out.

Heres their twitter's go fall in love with them

Luke

Michael

Ashton

Calum

Why wouldn't you listen to them? It's called common sense motherfucker 

I'm out. 

New Year!

Happy New Years!!! I hope you all had a lovely, lovely, New Year's Eve and start to the new year! Today 'm just going to write a quick blog on my new year's resolutions for this year, then later in the year I can update with what I've gotten done so far... hopefully this means I'll get more of my resolutions done. So, without further ado:
1. GET MY DRIVER'S LICENSE! This has to be done. It's not hard, I'm just lazy. 
2. BLOG MORE! Less personal stuff like this and more beauty tips, style inspirations and DIY's, which means...
3. DO MORE DIYS! More crafts and get more creative! Look on pinterest for different ideas and try out all the ones that catch my eye!
4. TRAVEL. 
5. SAVE MONEY.
4 & 5 go hand in hand, save money, then use money to travel, then save more money. It's a cycle.
6. WORK HARDER. I'm not going to put 'stop procrastinating' because, let's face it, I'm trying to be at least a little bit realistic here. By working harder I just mean to try more, to complain less and do more. Easier said than done, I think, but I'm going ta give it a go :-)

OK that's all... trying to keep it brief and attainable this year hahah :-) will be posting beauty tips for winter weather very soon! 

xx