Beauty Haul // Drugstore

Hi all!

I hope you've all had a nice week! Today, I'm going to talk to you about some beauty bits I've purchased yet. I haven't used any of these yet, but I'm sure I will.

Zoella 'Sticker Me' Makeup Bag - £10
I love Zoe - she has to be one of my favourites Youtubers and this had been on my wishlist for a while. The stickers add a lovely homemade personal touch to it. I love it!

Zoella 'Lets Spritz' - £8 (3 for 2 offer currently!)
When the 'Tutti Fruiti' range came out, I rushed to the nearest Superdrug and picked this up. I was not disappointed!

I've already made my way through one of these, and whether you are a fan or not, I would purchase these. However, be quick - they are being discontinued soon, so anything you want from that range be quick!

They smell like fruit with musk and I've had so many people compliment me on my scent, I so recommend it, I just had to pick up 2 more before they go :(

Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lips - £8.99
I've seen so many people rave about this, I had to pick it up. I'm such a sucker for a nude lip - I have so many, but I love them and have no regrets haha. I am really looking forward to trying this - I don't own any lip colours which are a liquid formula apart from this one.

Revlon Powder Blush - £7.99
As it's technically Spring (although the snow this week shows our British weather doesn't quite agree), I love experimenting with both cream and powder blushers.

This is such a gorgeous colour in shade 003 and the packaging looks so sleek and beautiful.

Soap & Glory 'One Heck Of A Blot' Powder - £12
Soap and Glory makeup is so underrated - it's incredible, my 'Glow All Out Highlighter' is one of my favourite things in my makeup collection.

This looks so good, and it is in the shade translucent - I always find translucent powders so much easier, as if you aren't sure of your shade, it's not a worry.

Soap & Glory 'Sexy Mother Pucker' lipstick (Nude Collection) - £9
I've never picked up any Soap and Glory lipsticks before, and as they have just released a range of 24 shades, I had to pick up one of these! This is the most gorgeous shade and as with everything else, I can't wait to try this.

So, hope you've all enjoyed this chatty post!
Have a lovely week,
Love Katy x

Revision Tips - How To Stay Calm

Hi guys,

So, it's coming up to the time of the year where we have the exam period. Usually, this results in us getting extremely stressed, staying up til 11pm the night before trying to cram in any last minute information and all in all, isn't a fun time.

I'm hoping these tips I've put together will vaguely help those of you not knowing where to start, and those of you who are extremely stressed. So, let's get going!

1) Make notes YOU understand

This sounds a bit strange, but your revision won't properly go in until you have notes you can interpret. A tip for this - discover what type of learner you are. 

There are a few types - visual (where you take in notes best from mindmaps, flashcards, colourful diagrams), sound (make notes on your phone and listen back to them), and by notes (bullet point lists in biro). To discover what type you are, try and make notes in all forms over a few days, and see which one makes the information go in best!

Just because your friend is making notes in black biro in a massive list, doesn't mean you need to copy them - make it in your own style.

2) Little and often

Don't cram in 8 months worth of work the night before your first paper. Try and do around half an hour of testing yourself, and then relax for half an hour - whether it's going on youtube, playing a game or going out the house for a bit, it'll help free your brain up, relax you and really help in the long run. It is the best way to get that boring information in there, promise!

3) Use colour

I find using coloured pens so useful, as they inspire you to actually look at the page and learn the info, rather than you looking at a load of boring black pen notes (although if you learn in that way, that is equally fine).

I make flashcards with questions and terminology on one side, then the answers/definitions on the other. This means your text is broken down into bits, and is much less intimidating than looking at large chunks of text.

I also find mindmaps are so useful - again, you've got the key information, but it's condensed into a form you can easily take it. Plus, they are quite nice to make and pretty to look at!

4) Breathe.

I am aware this is easier said than done (I myself am starting to feel a bit unnerved as we approach the 3 week mark until my exams), but stay calm. Think positive thoughts - "I can do this", "I know this", "it'll be over soon", "I'm going to smash this". 

When you go into that exam hall, make sure you've got a clear water bottle with you, and just sit down, focus and don't freak out - if you do this, you're likely to mess up or forget something. (I did this in my GCSE's last year - although I somehow got an A in that subject when I did the wrong section on the paper, it is not recommended!)

You'll be great, go smash it! Good luck:)

Love,

Katy x

What's In My College Bag

Hi,

Seeing as we've all just gone back to school/college this week, I thought I'd do a 'what's in my college bag'. I'm always interested in people's youtube videos/blog posts of these, so I thought I'd give it a go!

Apologies for the poor lighting pictures - the only time I had to take these was in the evening when I'd got back from college.

The bag itself is from River Island. I absolutely adore it - it's big enough to fit in all my large notebooks and folders, but has a front zip pocket, along with a back pocket and a small back pocket on the inside of the bag. As I got it back in September, unfortunately it's no longer in stock. However, I would recommend buying a bag from River Island - mine still looks pretty much brand new and I have put a lot of heavy weight in it! Although it was £47, I have no regrets.

Moving onto the inside, let's talk about the main inside pocket first.
This pocket contains:

• Owl Divider Notepad (A4) - Sociology - similar
• Owl Divider Notepad (A4) - English Lit&Lang - I find these notepads SO useful and invaluable. The sections have different topics in them with pockets that you can put sheets of paper in, so nothing gets lost. Lifesaver for A Levels!
• Purple A4 folder - you can't really see it in this picture, but I have one of these to put all my English sheets in.

• Diary - again, without a planner, unlike school you are expected to remember all your deadlines and revision. If you have the memory of a goldfish like me, this is needed! - not available, but you should be able to get one from anywhere really:)
• Travel Card Holder -  this just has my student card and train student discount in it, with the third pocket free for train/bus tickets. I love the cute pattern! Available on the Cath Kidston website in a similar pattern.

• Travel Hairbrush - always essential when you come into college soaking wet and windswept in the typical British weather.
• Deodorant 
• Body Spray 
• Brunch Bar - in case you don't have time to pop to the canteen, always a nice snack.

Back Pocket (picture to the left shows the contents)

• Powder - I always carry a spare powder in any of my bags, whether I'm going to college or just out and about to touch up my make up! I love this Rimmel one - shade transculcent. 
• Powder Brush - kind of essential with the powder - similar one here

• MAC Lipstick in 'Velvet Teddy' - if you know me (or even by looking at my blog, you can probably tell), I am obsessed with this lipstick. The staying power is amazing and I adore it - for a full review, click here. (To purchase the lipstick, click this link and filter the shades)
• Rimmel Lipstick in the shade 'Asia' - this is another one of my favourites, although a more pinky nude. I can't go anywhere without it - click here

• Compact Mirror - you can't always rely on your phone's front camera for a decent look at your makeup, so one of these is a lifesaver. Also, when someone asks around who's got a mirror, you can happily volunteer it and be that nice person! 
• Simple Eye Wipes - vital if I do my makeup in a rush and realise that I have mascara all over my eyelid (which often happens), and those rainy day situations - click here
• A pad - simply in there as I am a girl and always keep one in there just in case! (Or in case someone asks in the toilets as they've been caught out - we've all been there!)

Back Pocket

• Keys - these are just my house keys and locker key. I love the keyrings on here though, including a cute zebra and a Hogwarts one (I mean, who doesn't love Harry Potter?)
• Chewing Gum - after lunch, you don't really want to go into lesson with your breath stinking of cheese and onion crisps, do you? Always good to have these in there for a freshen up
• Polos - same principle.
• 'Bright Ideas' Notebook - often in case I need to take notes for a lesson or write homework in there. Here - Similar

Sorry for the rambly post (as usual!) Comment below what your essentials are in your school/college/uni bag!

Let me know below if you'd like me to do a 'what's in my bag' for just leisure and I will happily do so!

Talk soon,

Love,
Katy