Mother's Day- A long distance gift

Okay, so I know that this is all very late but I still thought that it would be interesting to do a post like this! I know that I'm always curious as to what other people buy their parents. Some like to spend an absolute fortune, some go for the less expensive and more thoughtful and then there are the ones who don't bother at all. Shout out to the forgetful ones!!

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see my mumma on Mother's Day so I wanted to send her something in the post that would make up for me not being there. I am a student, so I don't have too much dollar to spend but I got her a few cute bits along with a handmade gift that I spent a lot of time on.

I bought a brown paper file-box that I filled with iridescent strips (my fav) and wrapped them with silver tissue paper with pink ribbon and hugeee rose gold bows that I attached to the main two presents. 

I think I got my card from either Paperchase or M&S (both of these shops doing really cute cards) they're usually a bit more expensive but I think they're worth the extra pound or so. I also found this mug at Card Factory and it reads 'I am so lucky to have such an awesome child' which I thought was bloody brilliant. (my mum thought so too) and it was only £2.99?! 

The main present was a Paperchase scrapbook with black card that I filled with photos of the whole family and little notes underneath. My mum loved it! We don't keep photo albums in the house so it was a nice keepsake.

I hope you enjoyed this belated Mother's Day post!

Jade x

52 WOGC - Week 3 - Family

Hey guys!

I'm back for week three of the 52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge. I just have to say, I'm giving myself a pat on the back right now for being consistent with this challenge for two whole weeks (this is clearly an achievement for me) So today's post is about family. When I read the challenge topic for this week I was a bit unsure as to how to approach it. I could just ramble on for ages about my family but I thought that it would be nice to list some things that I'm particularly grateful for.

1. To have such a big family

Sure, big families can be a royal pain in the backside most of the time. You have to fight for attention, fight to be heard, fight for the last chocolate biscuit.. There's this overwhelming sense of joy and gratitude when you actually get a moment of silence in the house and you have to get used to the fact that you're probably never going to be able to finish a sentence without someone interrupting. 

BUT, besides all the pull-your-own-hair-out moments, a big family is one of the best gifts you could ever have. As you get older, you realise that the amount of 'good' friends out there start to diminish and that people that truly care about you unconditionally are in fact gold dust. Friends may come and go but family are always going to love and care about you and hopefully, be there for you too. Having lots of people that love you no matter how bad your singing is or how much you want to moan about your life? Well, that's not so bad is it.

Although the noise level can be super irritating at times, there is never a dull moment. Although I can't manage to go a full 30 minutes without someone waltzing through my bedroom door, it's nice to have someone that just wants to check up on you. Although having more kids in the house means less money to go around, the laughs and memories will have will never trump having the 'finer things' in life. 

DISCLAIMER: This post is clearly going to get very soppy and emosh so I'm sorry if you have to grab yourselves a bucket whilst reading this.

(Isn't it funny that people often apologise for getting too 'deep'? We're just expressing, it's natural!)

This is my family last summer.. they're crazy

2. Parents that support me and are proud of me regardless

I was sat in a taxi, on my way to uni at stupid hours in the morning for a day trip to London. The taxi driver was telling me about his kids (He probably repeats these stories fifty times over, I though to myself) and how his son was seven years in training to be a lawyer and his daughter was in training for a similar time, studying to be a doctor. He was clearly very proud and it's not hard to understand why! 

I felt the need to say something to the driver, and I did "Lot's of people don't take art degree's very seriously. I am so lucky to have parents that have never pushed me into studying something that I didn't want to. They're just happy that I'm doing something I enjoy." 

Being honest, I just don't believe that half of the people studying these sorts of degrees actually enjoy it, that deep down, that's what they've always wanted to do. And that just makes me sad really. I get that these parents are proud of their children and rightly so, but I just find something so wrong and pretentious about parents using children as some sort of trophy. It just makes me wonder, would the taxi driver be praising his children so highly if they were to have studied an art course like mine?

It really made me realise how lucky I am because I took it for granted. I've never known a life where my parents have pushed me to do things that I don't want to do or don't enjoy. Well, apart from going to school or to the dentist... 

A little while ago, I was telling my dad about how I don't want to work at Primark for the rest of my life. I was expecting him to laugh and agree with me but instead, he said something that really warmed my heart. He said 'Well, to be honest Jade, if working at Primark for the rest of your life made you happy, it wouldn't be so bad would it?' 

I've always felt that no matter what mistakes I've made or what achievements I've gained, that my parents have always been proud of me and that, I am forever extremely grateful for.

   

3. Long distance means nothing

I have family in wales, yorkshire and further up north and as I live in Devon, we don't all get to see each other very often but as a family, we have always made the effort to arrange dates to visit and so we usually get to see them twice a year which isn't too bad considering. It would be very easy to just slip away slowly and lose contact and so I'm grateful for family members that care enough to put the effort in.

All the women on my dads side of tbe family

I was planning on doing more reasons but looking at what I've written, I think that's enough for one post! I don't want to bore y'all to your deaths. 

I really hope you enjoyed my third week running of the challenge, keep undated for the next one!

Lots of love

Jade x

Birthday Beauty Treats - What I got for my 21st

I was lucky enough to get some very exciting things for my birthday, some that were gifted to me from others and some that were gifted from the person that loves me the most.. MYSELF. Y'know, the whole 'To me, From me' thang. I got a couple of other things too but I thought that I would limit this to a 'beauty' related post. I shouldn't need to remind you of the fact that I do not do these posts to brag, I do them because they're interesting to me and to others too- yet here I am.. reminding you.. 

Without further ado, here are my favourite birthday bits;

 TARTE - TARTELETTE - AMAZONIAN CLAY MATTE PALETTE

Oh myyy goddddd- that was my reaction when I saw this palette in person for the first time. I swear, I have never had an eye shadow palette that's so 'me' before this. Whenever I get eye shadow palettes, I find myself using the matte shades rather than the metallic or shimmery ones. I just think that they're more wearable and the only time that I feel I can really get away with anything fancier on the lids is when I'm going out clubbing. 

To have a palette that's solely matte is just a dream to me, but then even the shades are amazing too!? You have a range of very pale shades, right through to the darkest black. I would describe the tones of these eye shadows as warm which I tend to prefer anyway and the purple colours in this palette are just to DIE for. They are so rich and yet subtle enough to work. Words can't describe how in love I am with this palette. Thank you mumma, you wonderful woman!

 HUGO BOSS - MA VIE EAU DE PARFUM

So I bought this for my mum last year for mothers day, but then had to force myself to give it to her and not myself because I loved it that much. I decided that I needed this perfume myself and so I hopped onto the Boots website one day and the gift set (which included 50ml perfume, body lotion and shower gel) was in the sale for £40 down from £60!! The 50ml bottle on it's own is sold at just under £50 so I thought it would be pretty silly to say no..

So this gift set is sat in my basket for a couple of days while I decided whether or not it's okay to buy myself a birthday present a month before it's my birthday and as I refresh the basket one day.. My basket reads 'TOTAL: £30' I think it must have been a glitch, as the website still said £40 so with that, I didn't hesitate- I filled in my card details and it was mine. 

For me, the bottle says a lot to me and this bottle says, Sleek, subtle, feminine, classy and expensive AF. Let's face it, who doesn't want to be any of those things? This fragrance is of the floral variety and contains notes of Rose bud, Cedar-wood and Cactus Blossom.

 DIXI - OCEAN CHILD RING

I've been following Shop Dixi on Instagram for a while now and have been lusting after their jewellery ever since. I've never been able to justify the price as it is a little costly for me but I thought when's a better time to treat yourself to the things you wouldn't otherwise? Oh yes, my 21st birthday. This ring was from the Harvest Moon collection and I just really love anything that's to do with the ocean and the beach.

TOM FORD - LIP COLOUR MATTE - 09 FIRST TIME

I have wanted a Tom Ford lipstick for years- genuinely, but the price is so ridiculous that I could never spend that amount on a lipstick without a justifiable occasion or reason. Again, you only turn 21 once right!? So I went for it.. I really wanted a deep purple but I thought, if I'm going to spend that amount on a lipstick then it should be a colour that I'm actually going to get wear out of! This is a really nice coral-toned dusty pink which I think is wonderful for people with pale skin like myself.

GERARD COSMETICS - LIPSTICK - UNDERGROUND

My house-mates all surprised me on my birthday with this Lipstick which was a huge surprise to me because I'd spoken about wanted this lipstick for ages but had completely forgotten about it for a while. I was so happy because I don't think I would have got this lipstick on my own accord- just because I didn't know if I could trust the brand and if the lipstick was good quality. BUT, it is now my favourite lipstick. I wore it yesterday and it is one of the easiest lipsticks to put on and the colour is so soft that I didn't have to worry too much about edges being neat and all that jazz - LOVE IT.

 MAC - LIP PENCIL - WHIRL

This lip pencil was a bit of an impulse buy to be quite honest. I had my Tom Ford lipstick saved in my House Of Fraser basket and I needed another £12 to qualify for free delivery so there I was like 'Oh, well I guess I'll just have to buy something else then.. Oh would you look at that.. MAC Lip Pencils are around that price..' You can guess the rest. I've heard a lot about this shade so I just went for it. I have to say, after testing it on my hand- I don't know if i'm going to like it.. but we shall see.

 NARS - SHEER GLOW FOUNDATION - SIBERIA

Yet ANOTHER beauty product that I have been craving since the reviews racked sky-high but didn't want to risk paying the equally sky-high price and then being disappointed. I don't want to talk too much about this product because I'm thinking of featuring it in another post later on.

MAC - BLOT POWDER / PRESSED - LIGHT

I was previously using Rimmel's 'Stay Matte' pressed powder in 'Peach Glow' but it was definitely too heavy and too dark for my skin so I really wanted to invest in a powder that was light and good for oily skin- and here is just that! Again, I'm not going to talk about this one too much as this will also be featured in a future post.

Thanks for reading guys! I hope you enjoyed this post (and the much better photo quality)

Until next time,

Jade x

52 WOGC- WEEK 2- Heartbreak- the worst and the best thing that ever happened to me

DISCLAIMER: This post is going to get personal. I don't do this often as I don't like the idea of my whole life being on the internet. If you're viewing this for any other reason than because you want to simply read this post without passing judgement, then exit this post. My life isn't here for you to mock/ gossip/ or be nosey about :)

So, just quickly- this is my entry for Week 2 of the '52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge'. My last post for this challenge was over a month ago which is EXTREMELY embarrassing and a perfect example at how rubbish I am at keeping up with things! I lasted one week ffs. 

This entry is named 'Spouse/ Significant other' on the 52 WOGC list that you can find online. As I do not have either of these, I was considering writing about being single but for some reason, I wanted to make it more personal. I think the main reason for this, is that I wouldn't be at the place I am today if it wasn't for what happened in the past, so it makes sense for me to start from the beginning.

It was two and a half years ago now that my ex broke up with me and I'm not exaggerating when I say that it was one of the most painful experiences I've had to endure. Even after all this time, it still affects me today, but that might have something to do with the fact that we stayed in contact and didn't cut each other off completely.

The first year was the hardest because he went off to university in a different part of the country to enjoy a new life that didn't involve me in any way. Whereas I was stuck in a job that I hated, out of education, with only two people that I could call real friends, living in a house that I was unhappy in and I was miserable. The only thing I wanted to do was sleep and I thought to myself on a daily basis- 'Is this it? Is this my life?' 

I spent the whole year both hating him and missing him at the same time and part of me couldn't accept the fact it was over. Those were two of many of my problems- both forgiveness and acceptance are both required in order to fully move on. It wasn't until I started university in a different city that I started to feel so much better. My life felt completely different- I had new friends, I lived in a city that I adored and I was on a course that I really enjoyed. For the first month or so I thought 'This is it. I'm over him.' but it turns out that I wasn't. I was just so distracted by my new life that I didn't really have time to think about him.  

I went backwards a little bit with my progression after the first month of uni, but then I really started to see things clearer and had a better perspective of things. When looking back at my past two relationships, I realised that I was a completely different person. When I was in a relationship, my happiness greatly depended on the person I was with. My insecurities became more apparent and I needed attention all the time in order to feel happy. In reflection, I realised this was not healthy at all. It was then that I started to see the problems weren't with the relationship itself, but with me. I supposed that's where the quote 'Love yourself first' comes in.

This quote really resonates with me and has done for a while now. I never really saw the importance of self worth or self development but now, it's the one thing that keeps me on the right path. I know that a lot of girls (including myself) go into relationships and want relationships because they want someone to love and care for them and show them their worth but you should never put these things into someone else's hands! The only person you should depend on and require acceptance from is yourself. 

I've realised that who I am as a person, what I do with my life and my happiness is much more of a priority to me than a relationship. I'm only in education for another one and a half years and then that's it, I have to make do with what I've achieved and utilize that to potentially and hopefully land my 'dream job'. When I'm in a relationship, I can't help but put my boyfriend before my work because my brain tells me to choose between the thing I HAVE to do (uni work) and the thing I want to do (see my boyfriend) and we all know it's impossible to do both of those things at the same. What I'm trying to say is- boys are a distraction for me. 

Who is the best person to help me realise who I am, what makes me tick, what my strengths and weaknesses are? ME. Who is the best person to help me realise what and where I want to be in life and go out there and make it happen? ME. Who will always put my happiness first? ME. That's all there is to it. I've dated enough boys to know that none of them care about me as much as I care about myself, and THAT'S OKAY. Don't let anyone tell you that you're selfish for thinking that. 

Relationships are great and they can make you happier than you've ever been before but in my experience, there's never a constant happy medium and I just can't cope with that in my life. I need consistency and to have my happiness in the hands of someone that I can trust to maintain it. 

I suppose you could say that I'm sceptical but to be quite honest, I deserve to be. I feel this way for a reason and at the end of the day, I don't think it's a completely bad thing.  I have to tell my grandma on a regular basis 'Grandma, the boys of our generation aren't like grandad! They're a whole new breed' but to be honest, us women have changed too. I think that slowly, women around the world are coming to the realisation that you don't in any way, shape or form NEED a guy. Nope. 

And just for the record, this isn't a close-minded, Beyonce inspired speach about how men suck and women rule- that's not what I'm saying at all. I just happen to believe that society has shaped us all into this way of living that makes it extremely difficult for a relationship to work. It seems as though men and women are just on completely different wave lengths. One day, I'm hoping a guy will come along and prove me wrong but until then, I'm very much happy and capable on my own.

JADE'S PRO'S FOR BEING SINGLE

1. You can invest all your energy into bettering yourself as a person and your career

2. You will learn so much more about yourself

3. You can wear, say, do whatever the fuck you want

4. You can sleep better at night, not worrying about relationship dramas

5. You can have the bed to yourself AND the whole duvet

6. You will save yourself a lot of money- relationships can be expensive!

7. At Christmas and Valentines day, you can spend what you'd usually spend on your other half ON YOURSELF *Hello MAC free delivery* 

8. You can stare at the extremely attractive waiter and not feel an ounce of guilt

9. You can be as happy as you want because your happiness lies in your hands!

10. You ALWAYS go to the gym more when you're single- so you're really getting hotter when you're single.. 


I hope you liked this post as much as I enjoyed writing it! Keep posted for my next 52 WOGC post :)

Keep ya chin up kids,

Jade x

Mantras- The what, the how and the why

In this post I will be talking about mantras, what they are, my current favourite mantras and why they are useful.

WHAT IS A MANTRA?

'(originally in Hinduism and Buddhism) a word or sound repeated to aid concentration in meditation'

I'm not going to waffle on too much about the history and meaning behind the word but I will tell you a little bit about it, just to cover the basics. 

So the word 'Mantra' is a word made up of two smaller words. 'Man' which translates to 'mind' and 'tra' which translates to 'transport' which I personally interpret as- escapism of the mind.

A mantra is commonly used in meditation to help keep the mind focused. It is a word or short phrase that you repeat to yourself over and over in your mind.

I personally use it to stop my mind from running away with negative thoughts and to keep myself focused.

MY CURRENT MANTRA FAVOURITES

These are the mantras that I have been practising over the last couple of weeks;

1. 'I am confident and I don't give a fuck what anyone thinks about me'

I personally really struggle with confidence and anxiety and for those of you who suffer too, you'll know even a trip to the local shop is so mentally challenging. 

As you all know, I'm not the sort of person to get too deep with personal posts on my blog so it's quite difficult to express how I really feel without going too personal. But any of you can research into anxiety if you would like to.  

I basically feel that everyone around me is judging me, that everyone that looks at me is thinking something horrible about me and I feel very uncomfortable, even when I've made a proper effort with my appearance.

I have to repeat this is my mind to fake confidence and remind myself that these people are probably just looking at me just the same as they look at any other person. They're just taking in their surroundings. I try to remind myself how I sometimes look at strangers on the street and the thoughts that I have on these people are very brief and mean nothing to me at all. To be honest, I'm way too busy worrying what they think of me to even judge them.

And if they are judging me or thinking something nasty then who fucking cares, seriously? What they think of me says more about them than it does about me. And let's face it, these people are just strangers. Why should I even worry about their opinions?

2. 'I do not owe anyone "pretty"'

I got this quote from Shirley Bassey on Youtube and it really spoke to me. No one owes ANYONE pretty. You don't have to put on make up or brush your hair or look presentable for anyone. We have been brought up in a world where it's not acceptable to walk around with no make up on, especially if you don't look like bloody Natalie Portman. 

For me, this is especially hard because I struggle with acne and most people will honestly look at my make up-less face and think 'Jesus, she needs to cover that shit up' but why the fuck should I? The only person I should live to please on this earth is myself when it comes to my appearance and anyone that looks at me and judges me on the way I look should really sit down and re-evaluate their life.

It is going to take me a VERY long time to be comfortable with the way I look even with make up on, let alone without it. But as long as I work on it everyday, working on myself, I am taking a step in the right direction.

3. 'If you want it, work for it. You are capable'

This mantra has really helped me to stay focused with my uni work. I have been trying harder than I have ever tried before and I have been working really hard to maintain my motivation. 

I am at a place where I really need to work my butt off in order to get the grades I want in my degree. I've spent a lot of my life being told that I'm average and getting average grades but I know that I'm capable of getting more if I work hard enough. 


I hope you have all enjoyed this post! I really want to involve more posts on positivity and ways to improve your life and mindset so expect to see more of this :)

Until next time,

Jade x

Lotions and Potions- What I've Been Loving

Hey guys, so today I'm going to be talking about my skincare-and-things-associated favourites. You will have to forgive me tremendously for the shocking quality of my pictures (I have an Iphone 4s and the camera is shite) but hope you'll enjoy this post none the less..

Snowcake

So a couple of Christmas' ago, I got this star shaped marzipan soap from my family. I didn't realise how that one soap would change my life.. it smells AMAZING. Basically, if you like the smell of marzipan, just bloody get the soap. However, *downer alert* they only sell this around christmas. Chin up- only another 11 months to wait :)

Mask of Magnaminty

I have been using this face mask for years and I love it. I usually buy it when I'm feeling a bit low in life or my skins going through a particularly rough patch. I don't like to use this all the time because I feel like my skin appreciates it more when I have breaks from time to time. I use this every 3 or 4 days. It smells of mint icecream, its soo nice to put on your face once it's been in the fridge and my face feels fresh af after I've used it.

Mandara Spa Bath and Shower Cream

My mum bought me this about a year ago for Christmas and I was like 'oh cool, nice. shower gel.' Then I used it and I was like DAMN THIS SMELLS GOOD. It is genuinely one of my favourite shower gels ever and mum bought me another this christmas so I was a very happy bunny. If you can't see from the picture, it's Coconut and Yoghurt scented but it also has this spicy, exotic twist to it- it's  a m a z i n g.

French Connection Hand Lotion

My dad and his girlfriend bought this for me. I loved the packaging when I first laid eyes but then I opened it and it smells beautiful. I'm not very good at describing scents so I looked it up- it reads 'Floral and woody with hints of vanilla and oriental spices' the only way I can really describe it is ZOMGGG

Nip + Fab Berry Lip Butter

I got this in a set of three (others were Rose and Mint). I'm not a massive user of lipbalms because I don't like the greasy feel on my lips but mine have been extremely dry this winter so I've been applying this on my way to work. It's tinted with a beautiful rich purple that's subtle on the lips. I've really been liking this! Oh- and it smells amazing.

Again, very sorry for the poor quality pictures. This is what I've been loving/ using recently!

Lots of love,

Jade x

52 WOGC- Why Start This Challenge? WEEK 1

Okay, so half of you are probably thinking 'What the hell does WOGC' mean? I actually didn't even find out for myself until last week. It stands for 'Weeks Of Gratitude Challenge'. Some of you are probably now thinking 'Okay.. so what's all this about then?' Well.. in short terms, it's a weekly blogging challenge, whereby you write posts on things you are grateful for. There is a guideline that you can find online to give you a specific subject area to write about every week- some of them sound interesting, some of them don't. So I will come up with something new to replace the ones I'm not so keen on. 

Why am I doing this challenge? 

 Firstly, I am doing this challenge because one of the main problems I come across when writing for my blog, is that I struggle with ideas for content. I think that many bloggers struggle with this and I think that this challenge is the perfect way for me to upload regularly and not use brain block as an excuse!

 Secondly, I love to keep a positive mind. I'm the sort of person that appreciates the small things in life and I love to surround myself with people that do the same. I think this challenge is a wonderful idea because each week you are being told to think of things that you are grateful for. These are probably the same things that make it easier to wake up in the mornings and just make life in general that bit easier.

 I think far too many people go through life being unnecessarily happy because they don't have everything they want in life and they focus on what they don't have. There is ALWAYS going to be something that you don't have, no matter how hard you work or how much money you have. Reminding yourself of what you DO have and being able to really appreciate all the good things in your life really does make a positive impact on your mind set and you'll find that you're so much happier. 

I encourage every one of you to start this challenge! You could even write it down for private use only if you feel that it's too personal. I hope you enjoy reading my upcoming gratitude posts!

Until next time,

Jade x