School Supplies, Organisation & Revision

I've been meaning to get this post up for a while now, and I find it quite a amusing that the subject of this post has been what was keeping me from posting it - school. As all of my exams for my GCSE's are approaching rather rapidly, I gave myself a good sort out and have gotten properly organised for this year. I thought as many of you are in the same boat, I would share with you how I have organised my school life.

 
 
My main revision tip is to start early. In the past I have done the typical leave-everything-until-the-last-minute situation and that is really horrible. So making sure I'm organised for the week or day makes me much more relaxed and I do this with the adorable planner I purchased in Paperchase recently.


I love the design and layout of this because I think it's perfect, not only is it colourful and has lovely fonts but it's fantastic for sorting out what I'm doing during the day and in the evening. Because let's be honest nobody likes the planners your school gives to you - they're rubbish.

I use the column on the left and section my evening hourly and then write in what revision/coursework I need to be doing. This gives my day more structure and makes me feel so much more productive. As you can see above I've planned to do  product design coursework between 4 and 5, then science revision between 5 and 6pm. When revising I make sure to take regular breaks so I do 25 minutes of work, 5 minutes of rest and then repeat. After each hour I will have a slightly longer break to leave room for other things such as blogging and eating (my two favourite things).

Some extras I use to make my planner more fun and interesting are the productive stickers which came in the front of the planner and I also bought some separate stickers shown below also from Paperchase. I would just like to point out that this Woodland collection from Paperchase is my favourite design - the owls and the foxes are so cute. I also have the pencil case which featured in one of my favourites a little while ago. Something else I also wanted to mention were these bunny rabbit sticky notes. I have no words. I really like these thin sticky notes to mark significant pages in books or revision guides.

My other main purchase for this school year was this 10 subject a4 notebook also from Paperchase, Yes I'm one of those people - a dreaded notebook lover. Sorry. The reason I have this for school is because I can keep all of my revision notes in one organised and sectioned place. This is where the core of my revision happens; I use the Standler multi coloured biros to colour code keywords and facts, because the physical action of writing down main points in a neat fashion helps me to remember them (and it's slightly entertaining). Once I've written down detailed information in my revision book  I condense and transfer these notes to coloured revision cards meaning that wherever I am I can whip them out and revise. I find the use of colour helpful because this is supposed to stimulate your brain and helps you remember things.

Whilst  doing revision in general there are two other things I like to do; one of them is to have classical music on in the background. It is soothing and makes me feel more calmed, and as I'm a big stresser this is really important for me and prevents me just giving up. I prefer this music anyways because when I have my other music on I tend to sing along with the words and this completely distracts me - I know some people can do this but I can't. Additionally, make sure your music isn't too loud because again it will distract you.

The second thing is nibbles. We all love nibbles... well at least I do. Recently I've been munching on simple fruit sherbets because I  can suck them and they last longer. If not then I like chewy sweets such as fruit pastilles, or little cheese bites.

I really hope some of these tips were useful and you enjoyed seeing my favourite school supplies. Whether you have exams this year or not - Good luck!

See you next time :)

Review: Maybelline Great Lash

To me this mascara has instantly become my best friend; it's that favourite mug you use every time, that person who you always exchange a smile with or that song that lifts up your day. It's not big or flashy but it subtly creates a look for which I have been long searching for.

The brush is quite small, bristly and I found it excellent to work with. To create a high volume look I found you really had to layer up though because at first it doesn't deposit much on your eyelashes, but after a bit of wiggling about it's fine. Also, I found that it holds the curl very well throughout the day which is great for me because my lashes naturally point downwards. Very frustrating.

One of the main things I noticed about this mascara is that it is a very dry formula, this doesn't bother me as it gives a nice matte finish but if you don't like dry formulas then this is not for you. Along with this I expect that it will start to become increasingly dry and won't last that long, but as I have only had this for a short while I will update you if this happens. I suppose it may be because this is the waterproof version, which also works very well; it hardly ever smudges under my eyes - who ever wants to look like a panda?

 

Another thing that you can see in the image above is that the top of the mascara 'bottle' is getting a bit messy which is becoming more and more annoying by the day. But despite this I think it's a fantastic mascara and for only £4.99 you are definitely getting your moneys worth.

 

 Hope you enjoyed,

 

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Photography in January

Here's some pictures I thought you might enjoy from various outings last month..

Speak to you next time :)

January favourties 2014

Hi everyone! I hope you guys all had a great January despite the fact that it has zipped along so quickly, nearly knocking me off my feet. Before we get into the post I just wanted to say that this is my final year in high school so I've got all of my big exams this summer so I will try my best to post as much as I can, but it may be inconsistent - I'm really sorry. But anyways, here's what I've been loving



I apologize for the bad picture quality :/ 

 

Beauty & Fashion:

Vaseline Paint the Town Red Lip Tint - I have been loving this so much this month even though it didn't give a highly pigmented colour I was expecting, but just a your-lips-but-better type sheen with red undertones. This is perfect if you don't want to go bare lipped but you don't want to put on a lipstick; and especially as recently my lips have been very dry this is also extremely moisturising.

L'Oreal Texture Styling Spray - I am so pleased with this product, it gives me volume throughout the whole day and a fantastic matte finish. It's pretty inexpensive which makes I just perfect. In one of my posts a while ago I tried the Umberto Gianni Backcomb spray and absolutely fell in love with this type of hairspray, but that one was quite expensive and I used it up so quickly that  I never bothered repurchasing; but this L'Oreal spray is a fantastic dupe.

H&M Oversized Jumper - If I said I have been obsessed with this jumper it would be an understatement. I have literally been wearing this so often its unreal. The oversized style is something I have been loving - it's so comfy and I think it looks pretty as well. I will probably do an Outfit of the Day soon so keep an eye out for this.

Soap and Glory Hand Food - recently I have been taking alot more care into my hands and the cold weather makes them really dry as well. I got this a while ago and it's lasted me a long time, the size is so easy to just throw in your bag to apply later and lastly it smells really nice as well.

Extras:

I dont usually have a whole album that I like but this month my go-to album is Bastille's All this bad blood, when I say I love every song on this album, I litterally love them all.

Now I must confess something, I am a Sherlock fan. If you are also a Sherlock fan then you know I'm talking about series three which aired for the first time this month (all the feelings) .If you haven't seen this definitely check this out because it is truly amazing.

Missisipi Chocolate Muffin from Starbucks - typical white girl moment, yes I love Starbucks. But whoever you are you need to try these muffins because they are amazing! Basically it's a rich chocolate muffin but the inside has a lump of gooey chocolate. Mmmm.. 

Hope you liked this, see you next time! :)

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Beauty Wishlist 2014

Urban Decay Naked 2 - As I don't have any of the Naked pallets (shock horror I know) I really want to invest in one at some point. Despite the fact that the Naked 3 palette was just released I feel like I would wear the colours in the 2nd palette a bit more as they are more browns/neutrals rather than pinks.

  Maybelline Baby skin pore eraser - This product has really intrigued me recently, I want to see what effect these kind of products have on my skin.

Benefit High Beam - This product has been going around in my head for a while now, I'm not sure why but the idea of highlighting your check bones really appeals to me

Lush Solid Perfume - I want to expand my perfume collection (not that I have many anyway) this combined with the fact that I want to try out more Lush products leads me to these Solid Perfumes. I love the idea of these because you can easily apply and layer up as much fragrance as you want.

Sleek Face Form - As I get up early most days of the week I don't vary up contouring or blush on my face a lot so this kit gives me a nice basic pallet to work from. Also I really love the quality of the Sleek blushes so figured I would really like this as well

Prince Charming Shower Gel - Whilst having a browse on the Lush website this shower gel really caught my eye; marshmallow, vanilla and pomegranate. This is such an interesting combination that I really want to smell in the shop.

Sigma 40 Brush - For my eye shadow I don't have a proper fluffy blending brush so seeing as this one is often raved about, I would like to invest in it.

Wet n Wild Comfort Zone Eye Shadow Pallet - I really love the colours in this pallet and that's all I can really say - they're just really pretty

Hope you enjoyed this post, see you next time :)

 

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Photography in December

Last month I was really hoping for some snow to photograph but none came my way :'( Despite this lack of exciting weather and braved the coldness to take some photos....

A Lobster pot we encountered on our Boxing day walk



Any questions are welcome in the comments, see you next time :)

December Favourites 2013

The last favourites of 2013... I'm getting emosh.


Sorry the lighting is rubbish here :/

Real Techniques Miracle complexion sponge - A friend got this for me for Christmas as I have been in need of a face make up applicator for a while and this has defiantly solved my problems. It is so easy to use and I find it smooths out the coverage on my face a lot more effectively than using my fingers, plus the pointed end is great for getting into the creases by my nose and around my lips. 

Umberto Giannini Teasing Comb - This is one of my must have hair styling products, it gives me lots of volume and that messy look (as I have short hair and this is my style, the 'messy' look is a good thing but I wouldn't suggest going crazy and backcombing the whole of your long luscious hair).  If you wanted volume in you longer hair I defiantly recommend this.

 

Snood from Marks & Sparks - Oh my god, snoods are my new obsession; they're cozy, they're warm and they make me feel very stylish. I especially adore the design of this one I got for Christmas, the mixture of pink and blue looks really nice in my opinion and the lace trimmings are the cherry on the cake.

Ballet Slippers from Marks & Sparks - Ok now let me ask you a thing... aren't these just the cutest?! Cable knit is one of my favourite designs/patterns and the colour is perfection. But mainly is the fluffy inside which is so comfortable on my feet and makes me feel all cozy.

Moving on from beauty/fashion items I have two favourite films this month: Les Miserables (bit late on the bandwagon I know) and The Hobbit part 1 &2. I've been singing the amazingly emotive and powerful songs ever since first watching Les Mis and after recently seeing Part 2 of The Hobbit, decided to add it to my favourites mainly due to the clever choreography of the fighting which made me chuckle and cringe - both worth seeing for sure.

Lastly, something I love to eat over the Christmas period is shortbread biscuits and I just had to show you these Christmas tree shortbread biscuits I found which I thought were so cute, festive and tasty.

Keep up those New Years resolutions guys - you can do it! But until then, see you next time :)

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