Nails of the Day

Topshop "Wish You Were Here" Nail Polish

I forgot I had this nail polish until I was sorting through my box of nail varnishes to decide which ones to take to uni. It's a pretty pale pink with specks of white in it. It gives a kind of glittery finish and with two coats gives amazing colour pay-off. 

I love Topshop's beauty range, the spotty design is just so cute and all the products I've used, whether it be blusher, bronzer, eyebrow pencil or lipstick and I would recommend their nail polishes to everyone, their colour range is ridiculous. They have every colour under the sun! 

xxx 

I'm angry.

There's a quote that says "If you aren't angry, you aren't paying attention." 

Today I logged onto to Twitter to see a major shitstorm occuring over Sam Pepper, a Youtuber's, latest video. I've watched one or two of his before and always been a bit disgusted, there was one where he went up to girls on the street and convinced them to kiss him which I thought was creepy and a bit vile. 

His latest video though, titled "Fake Hand Ass Pinch Prank" he goes up to girls with one hand out and one supposedly in his hoodie pocket, except he actually has his hand free. When the girls turn away, he pinches their bum. When they notice he laughs it off, calling it a prank.

I would hope that anyone reading that would realise what's wrong with this video immediately. Touching a girl without her consent is sexual assault. Laughing it off and calling it a "prank" doesn't take away from the fact that you didn't have her consent to touch her. Girls are not objects, we have the right to walk down the street without creeps touching us. If any of those girls are underage he could be facing even more serious charges.

I'm worried about the fact that this is considered entertainment. Throughout the video Sam laughs, even when a girl says "I don't like that". ENOUGH. Touching a girl without her consent is a dick move enough, but for her to vocalise the fact that she is uncomfortable and for you to laugh? Disgusting.

Thankfully, many many viewers and creators alike are speaking out about how disgusting and wrong they think this is. However, concerningly, many people are defending Sam. Comments on his video read like "it's not that bad, calm down" "this is funny!" "learn to take a joke women" "why are you having a hissy fit? It's a prank? It's not as if he's touching them inappropriately?" 

This is not funny. Sexual harassment is not funny. It's a crime, it's wrong, it shouldn't happen in this day and age. And he is touching them inappropriately. It would make me incredibly uncomfortable for that to happen to me and I'm pretty sure many, many people would agree with me. It's a violation of our rights. 

Women aren't objects. We have the right to walk down the street without men thinking they are entitled to just touch us, like they own us. 

In another video, Sam lassos women as a "pick up technique". When the girls/their friends protest he says "she's mine now!" We are not objects. We belong to ourselves. 

Sam's videos set a terrible example to younger fans and I am so proud to see people speaking up and reporting him. 

I feel like this post wasn't as articulate as I wanted, but I'm just angry and I want to talk about it.

Laci Green wrote a great Tumblr post about this topic which I encourage you to read. Find it here

Gary C also did a video which explains what I was trying to say a lot better. Watch it here

To sum up- Sam Pepper is a piece of shit and I want him off Youtube. If anyone touches you without your consent- kick them in the balls and cut their hands off. Don't keep quiet. Tell them to get the fuck away from you. Be a bitch. They are showing you no respect so they don't deserve any back. 

Letter to my 11 year old self

This is a bit different to my normal posts and a lot more personal but after a conversation with my Mum about what I would tell my younger self before starting Secondary School, I thought it would be interesting to write a little letter. I really encourage you to do this, even if you don't share it online, it puts so much in perspective and made me realise how far I've come.

Dear 11 year old Alex,

This time 7 years ago you were in your first week or two of secondary school. I can’t believe that was seven years ago.

You were a completely different person then. In fact, I think 11 year old Alex and 18 year old Alex would argue if they met each other now. I’m going to be honest- you looked like such a dork at age 11. But don’t worry, one day you will learn how to roll up your skirt and fix your hair so that you look half way decent.

First things first- appearance.  I’m sorry to tell you but we’re never gonna be completely happy with ourselves. Well at least in these 7 years we haven’t really got there, but we are getting so much closer at accepting us, I promise. But trust me, by the time you get to 18 you will know how to wear make up and you will have contacts and your braces will be off and you will genuinely love your smile.

Oh yeah, the braces. Sorry you have to get them so late and feel about 13 at parties whilst all your friends flash their brilliant smiles. Just go with it. I know you will hate them sometimes and you will wish you never got them, but you will honestly agree that it is worth it. Now your best feature is your smile (trust me) and you are so happy you got them.

What else? Don’t fixate on your weight so much. It’s honestly not worth it. You’ll waste so much time being unhappy and stressing about it and you’ll look back and wish you had just embraced how you look. Don’t compare yourself to others because you’ll find out that other people had been envious of how you look. You’ll wear shorts and a vest top and like how you look. You’ll learn to wear clothes that flatter you. Trust me on this one- you are so much more than your weight and how you look.

Secondly- people. Most of the friends you have at 11 won’t be your best friends at 18. That’s okay. You learn from every friendship and none of them leave you that scarred so you’ll be okay. You’ll find your real best friends around 15/16 and I know that sounds late but they are well worth the wait.

Speaking of best friends, try not to fight over such stupid things. Some things need to be fought out, some don’t and aren’t worth it. Avoid toxic friends- if they make you feel shit ditch them. And don’t hold grudges, get over yourself. Move on.

Boys. Do not take boys too seriously. You are far too young to worry about them like that. Don’t let them tae over your life and don’t put your happiness and self esteem in their hands. Remember you were beautiful before he told you that you were. And don’t get caught up with the fact that you haven’t kissed a boy. It will happen and you will wonder what the big deal was. Don’t feel shit for not having a boyfriend. Wait, don’t rush into something because you’re lonely. That’s not a good enough reason to have a relationship, because you don’t want to be by yourself.

Just a note- Take photos. Take so many photos. Don’t delete those photos. You’ll want them back in a few years. You’ll understand what I’m talking about when you hit GCSE’s.

Speaking of GCSE’s, those are going to be some pretty tough years. Some seriously horrible things are going to happen, things that you won’t even have ever imagined. You will get through it. You will be ripped to shreds, you will be destroyed, and you will one day piece yourself back together.

Yeah, you read that right. One day, you are going to save yourself and fix things and live your life again and be healthy. Not a boy, not your friends, not even your family. You’re going to do that because you are your own hero in this life and that is the best thing to be.

Finally, don’t put yourself down so much. Don’t compare yourself to everyone else and convince yourself you aren’t smart or funny or popular enough. You are enough exactly how you are. And you know what? It may take you a little while but you are going to achieve so much. So much more than you ever dreamed and you are going to make everyone proud, but most of all you are going to make yourself proud.

Hang on in there little one, you’re going to make it out okay I promise :) 
Love from 18 year old Alex
xxxx

Nails of the Day

I've never done a "Nail of the Day" post before but because I change my nail polish soo much- pretty much ever four to five days so I thought I might as well start making blog posts about my nails.

I got this in one of those beauty boxes which have a load of goodies in. My Mum gave it to me so I have no idea what it was called...sorry! But it had some Bella Pierre eyeshadow and brush and a body scrub and a bath milk and an eyeko mascara. If anyone knows what box I'm talking about please tell me (even tho my description of it was crap) 

I've used Nails Inc nail polish before and they are such good quality and gorgeous colours. They are really chip resistant and have amazing colour pay off. 

This is the festival collection in "Sloane Square" find it here

If you liked this post let me know :) what's on your nails atm? 

xxx 

Day Out: Miss Saigon

Ever since Miss Saigon landed in London in May 2014 and I have heard the amazing reviews I have been desperate to see it. Tickets are so expensive, Mum and I decided day seats were our best bet but we've had no free day to go and queue. A friend recommended to me we tried on a Thursday as there are two shows, a matinee and an evening so more tickets available!

Today Mum got two tickets to the matinee, in the third row from the seat. For anyone interested, day seats go on sale at 10am and my Mum joined the queue at 9:30 but she recommends arriving at 9:15 :) 

I was so excited for Miss Saigon and we had such an amazing view. (I took this before it started- don't be that dick that takes photos during shows guys!)

Miss Saigon was breathtaking. We had the understudy playing Chris who was Niall Sheehy that I had actually seen in Les Mis last summer. He was perfect. The entire cast was perfect. Special mention to Eva who played Kim who was absolutely insane. I can't believe she's never been on the West End before. 

The play itself is about Kim, who is a prostitute in Saigon who falls in love with Chris an American marine, but they are then torn apart. I cried. A lot. 

Ugh it's just so heart wrenching and tragic, especially because these were real events that occured in Saigon. 

The vocal talent was extraordinary, the staging was incredible and the lighting was brilliant. I also thought the dancing was amazing, considering it's not really a song and dance kind of musical it was still spectacular.

I can't fault this musical. I loved Niall's performance of Chris, it was sweet and vulnerable but he also had that aggressive side that made his character so complex and realistic.

Mum and I looking very happy to be there :)

Afterwards we lingered at stage door. Niall came out so quickly, after only about five minutes and there was a pretty large crowd around him but he was sweet and had time for everyone. I told him he was amazing (cos he was) and he said "ah thank you!" before signing my ticket. I then asked for a quick photo and he said "yeah of course!" He is such a lovely and talented guy and I wish him all the best.

If you can go see Miss Saigon- go go go! It is so good and I honestly can't wait to see it again. I also can't wait for the cast recording, out on the 22nd of September! 

Have you seen it? Are musicals your thing? 

xxx

Best summer reads

Summer is over- although I don't go off to uni for another three weeks (eek!) all the schools are going back so I thought I'd do a quick post summarising the best books I've read this summer. Most of these were perfect summer reads that made me feel all warm and fluffy inside and so I would definitely recommend for a holiday but some were just absolutely incredible books that I happened to read over the summer.

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

The final part to the Anna and the French Kiss series did NOT disappoint! I read this in about a day, it was so good and made me feel so warm and happy inside. I would recommend this series to anyone at any time of the year!

Written in The Stars by Ali Harris

When I picked this up on a whim in WHSmith I hadn't heard of it before, but since then I've seen it on iBooks and best seller charts and I'm so glad it's doing well. This book is so unique and such an interesting perspective on the whole "what if?" idea.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

This book needs no introduction. It's not a feel-good read but it's amazing and I can understand the hype. It made me laugh and cry and I loved Teddy and Adam so much. Read this before you go see the film!


My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

This was the best summer read. I read this in America which was perfect as it's based in the USA. A great book about summer romance and first love and I can't wait to read Huntley Fitzpatrick's next book.


Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Rainbow Rowell is possibly one of my favourite humans of all time.  Her new book is much more mature, it doesn't feature teenagers as the protagonists and I would definitely give this to my Mum to read. I already can't wait for Rainbow's next book!

Those were the best books I've read over summer, let me know if you've read any of these and leave any book recommendations for me in the comments!

Follow me on goodreads!

xxx

Everyday Make Up

I have a lot of make up. Way, way too much. I buy a lot of make up impulsively, add on products that my Mum or Aunt gives to me, alongside freebies and samples and I have an overflowing collection. I only use certain products again and again, and so a lot of products go to waste.

The other day I sat down and cleared out a lot of make up, throwing away items I've had forever and have never used or items that are the wrong shade for me and yet I've hung onto claiming "oh if I get a tan this will be the right shade!" Face reality Alex. You never tan. Or items that I will just never use- a bright blue eyeliner? Really?

I also gave some stuff to my Mum, blushers, bronzers, lipglosses, as she is always giving me stuff and it also means that if I ever change my mind I know where to go to get them back. Hehe. She can either keep them and use them or chuck them away.

This left me with a smaller make up collection, which I then went on to organise. I am always getting ready and forever forgetting which make up bag I put something in- leading to lots of frustration and products all over the floor. I decided to organise my make up into small collections, an everyday bag, products I use when getting ready to go out and products I rarely use or products that I already have (aka I am currently using a sample of Benefit Mascara but I have the full sized version on hand for when that runs out)

Anyway, I thought I would do a post about my everyday make up as I am quite proud of it. It makes so much sense to have products I use everyday in one place, meaning that when going away I don't have the "what to take dilemma" it's already packed!

So without further ado this is my everyday make up.

My Benefit make up bag. A handy little size and fits more than you would think in there!

Comes free with the Nice Package create your own kit deal

Collection Illuminating Touch Concealer in Shade 2

Benefit Boi-ing Concealer Shade 01

Benefit POREfessional (sample size) 

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation in Light Porcelain

Barry M Flawless Matte Finish Foundation in Ivory

Topshop Bronzer in Sandcastle 

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Pink Blossom 002

Benefit Rockateur Blush

Sleek Face Form Palette in Light

Maybelline Colour Tattoo Cream Eyeshadow in Pink Gold

Maybelline the Falsies Volume Express Mascara Flared in Black

Clinique High Impact Mascara in Black (sample size)

Body Shop Eye Definer in Shade Rich Brown 02

Sleek i-Divine Eye Shadow Palette in Au Naturel 

Sleek Brow Kit in Light

Topshop Brow Pencil in Brown

Body Shop Born Lippy Stick Lip balm in Pomegranate 

Benefit Cha Cha balm 

Estee Lauder Lip Conditioner- I brought this in America and it's no longer available :( Sorry!

Body Shop Colour Crush Lipstick in Peachy Pink 200

 So those are all the products I use on a day to day basis! If you'd like to a more detailed review of any of the products listed here just let me know :) And if there's anything you use everyday that you think I'd like let me know so I can check it out!

xxx