In case you didn't realise, I turned eighteen a week or so ago!! Yep, the big one-eight. I'm an adult. I can buy alcohol. I can do all the things I've been illegally doing...but legally!! Also, I drink wine now. Get me.

Anyway, in order to celebrate (??) 18 years of life, I compiled a list of things I've learned! While I'm not exactly a wise old owl, I feel like I've picked up a few bits of wisdom from my time on planet Earth, so here goes...

♥

1. As Ben Howard says - "keep your head up, keep your heart strong and keep your mind set in your ways". Be unashamedly yourself, all of the time, and people just have to deal with it if they don't like that.

2. You aren't alone. However alone you may feel, I promise you you're not. Mental illnesses house millions of people and not one of them want to be there.

3. Surround yourself with positivity. Get rid of all the toxic and negative people in your life because they aren't going to help you grow. They're just going to hold you back.

4. Never let your mental illness define you.

5. Don't waste time on people who don't care about you the same way you care about them.

6. You're only going to achieve your dreams if you work hard - things don't just happen.

7. But at the same time, remember to give your body and mind rest. Don't burn yourself out.

8. Don't feel guilty about having time to yourself and away from other people.

9. Your school years may not the best years of your life. The best years might still be to come.

10. You look fine without makeup on.

11. Don't feel selfish if you do things for yourself. Stop putting other people's happiness ahead of your own. You deserve to be happy too.

12. Stop giving second chances to people who have done nothing to deserve them.

13. You're going to get your heart broken, but it's okay if it takes you a long time to fix it. It's also okay if you never do.

14. Take photographs of everything. You'll regret it in ten years if you don't. 

15. When RuPaul says "if you can't love yourself, how the hell are you gonna love anyone else" he's right. Live for yourself and learn to be happy on your own. 

16. Always know where you stand romantically with people. Life is too short to get emotionally invested with someone who doesn't want the same as yo.

17. Taking as many selfies as possible every time you feel cute is absolutely fine. 

18. Take everything in your stride. Say yes to every opportunity and always live your life the way you want to. Don't let anyone else tell you any different.

Emilia xx

♥

Forward Helix Piercing | Process, Pain and Aftercare

Hey everyone! This is just a quick little post describing my forward helix piercing process! I was going to do this as a YouTube video but it didn't quite fit into my schedule but if you do still want to see that then let me know, or I might work it into a morning/night routine if you want to see exactly how I care for it and so on.

So this is what it looks like...

Background

So I thought I'd add this as a little section just to tell you about my other piercings and how I came to the decision to get my forward helix etcetera etcetera. So I got my first lobe piercings when I was 14, paid for by my parents for my 14th birthday. They were a lil gross because my ears kind of reacted to them, plus I underestimated just how much you need to clean them, so they only properly healed about two and a half years after I got them done, and they're now absolutely fine and I can wear any earrings I like in them. They were pierced with a gun (which, FYI, is a-OK for lobe piercings - I'll explain more in a bit) and the pain on a scale from 1-10 was maybe about a 4.

I got my second lobe piercings with my best friend Rach when I was 16, so about a year and a few months ago. OG readers may remember my post about it! These again haven't fully healed yet, even though I was very religious with cleaning them, but because I have really small ears, she had to pierce through a thin bit of cartilage too, which is why they're taking a little longer to heal than normal. I can change the earrings in them but they have to be stainless steel or sterling silver, or some other hypoallergenic metal that won't irritate them. I tend to stick with these titanium ones that my firsts got pierced with. These I paid for myself, it was £20 for the both of them, and they were done with a needle at a place in town, where I also got my forward helix. It sounds quite expensive but you do get two titanium earrings and amazing service in there. Again, the pain was about a 4, maybe closer to a 5/6 because of the cartilage she had to go through.

So now let's move on to the forward helix piercing...

Process

For people not familiar with the anatomy of the ear, the forward helix is the front bit of cartilage (or where I've got the earring stuck through in the picture).

Cartilage is the basically tough, flexible tissue that runs round the external part of the ear and connects it to either side of your head (I can't think of a better way of describing it!!). Because cartilage is quite firm, it hurts a lot more. Also because of this, you absolutely MUST get it pierced with a needle if you're going to get it done. In other words, go to a proper piercing shop, not a jewellers where they'll just do it over the counter. It'll cost more, but be so much better in the long term. Here's why. (If you're squeamish, skip this bit!)

The needle cartilage is pierced with is actually not solid - it's a very thin, hollow tube that is the same width as the barbell they push through the hole. Because of this, when they push it through the cartilage, a tiny cylinder of your cartilage is actually removed from your ear when they do this, to make room for the earring to go in and not interfere. You see, because there's a section of cartilage being removed, it can't try and grow back, if that makes sense? Obviously this is a pretty painful process, but if you get it done with a gun it's worse, becuause the gun basically just forces the earrign through the skin and doesn't actually make room for the piercing, just pushes it all to the sides, which can cause your cartilage to shatter, which means all sorts of issues in the long run.

In summary, while you might not like the idea of getting a section of your cartilage removed with a needle, in the long run it's healthier and a lot better for you and your ear.

So in all, my forward helix piercing cost £25, and I got it done just over four months ago! The pain was quite high, about a 6 on the scale, and since it's been behaving pretty well, it's not bled or anything except from right after I got it, and while it gets crusty and icky, that's all part of the healing process.

Aftercare

Aftercare for forward helix piercings is much the same as lobes, but it just takes longer and it also might be a little more painful. A lot of piercing places will tell you different things to use to clean them, but I've found for my seconds and forward helix just using a basic saline solution worked better than using spirit solution like I was told to for my firsts. So here's how to clean it:

- Saline solution is really easy to make, it's just quarter teaspoon of salt dissolved in sterile water (you sterilise water by boiling it)

- Make sure the salt is 100% rock salt. Some salts have chemicals and preservatives in that aren't going to help the healing process

-  Remember: your piercing is an open wound with exposed cartilage. This means taking care of it like you would any other wound.

- Clean it every morning and every evening. I was told to do it for ten weeks but do it for however long your piercer tells you.

- It won't heal fully in this time. Cartilage piercings take anywhere between six months and a year to get to 100% health. The ten weeks is just a guide, and after this you can start changing the earring etc.

- Soak a cotton wool ball in the saline and hold it over the piercing for 5-10 minutes

- Getting into the inner rim of the ear can be hard so go in with a cotton bud too and just give it a thorough clean right inside.

- Try not to put too much pressure on it, knock it or fiddle with it too much.

- Wash your hands before cleaning it, because your hands collect all sorts of bacteria that won't help the healing process either.

- If you have any concerns about unusual swelling, redness, excessive bleeding or anything out of the ordinary, go back to the piercing shop and ask for advice.

Things to think about before getting another piercing!

I thought I'd add this section in just because no one told me some of these things when I got mine and I wish I'd known some of these or thought about them first! 

- Are you going to be doing anything that could damage it soon after? For example, we went skiing about four weeks after I had mine done - piercings do not like being squashed under a helmet! Also think about nights out too.

- Are you getting a haircut anytime soon after? You'll probably have to tell your hairdresser because if they knock it unexpectedly that could disturb it.

- Think about which side you sleep on! My sister told me about this before I got it and to be honest I didn't think about this so it's pretty important!

- If you're planning on getting your conch done, I'd think about the size of your ear and how headphones are going to fit in there. Also, think about the size when it comes to lobe piercings and daith piercings too!


I think that's all I have to say on the subject, if you have any more questions on piercings I'll try my hardest to answer them! I'm obviously not a piercings expert but hopefully I can help even a little bit!!

Emilia xx

The End Of Another Era

You might remember that about two years ago I wrote a blog post called The End Of An Era, which I wrote at the end of Year 11 and after I'd done my GCSEs. Well lads, the time has come to do it again , as I've now finished Year 13, which means I'm simply just done with education, which is an extremely weird thing. You can read my post exam thoughts here if you're interested!

Anyway, the end of Year 13 obviously brings the Leaver's Ball, or prom as it's more commonly called, and I thought I'd write a lil post just talking about the night and so on. I was only at my last school for two years, but at the end of the day it's still pretty heartbreaking to be leaving behind some of the closest friends I've ever made. It's also pretty gutting that I never managed to have a conversation with approximately 75% of my year too though...

Anyway jokes aside, onto the more trivial things...

So my dress was from JS Boutique, I actually bought it ages and ages ago for a different black-tie 18th which I ended up wearing something much less formal to, but I kept this for prom so I didn't have to bother with searching for one. I did find a different dress, a coord set from Boohoo which I was going to wear but decided not to because body issues ygm. Thought I'd go for something a little more comfortable for me and within my comfort zone!

Thought I'd chuck in a few lovely photos of my lovely lovely friends because they are the BEST ever.

I did my hair and makeup myself, my hair I literally chucked into a messy bun and put lots of product in my hair to stop it frizzing and that was basically it. My makeup took a lil longer but I loved how it turned out! I went with a pinky/brown smoky half cut crease with some champagne glitter because honestly, if you can't cover your eyes in glitter for prom when can you?! I'll put makeup details over on my makeup Instagram soon, and I'll try and film a makeup tutorial on this look soon because I loved it so much.

At the end of the day, prom was a fun night with a lotta laughs even though me and my mate Jensen were the only ones who couldn't go out afterwards since we're not 18, so we went back to mine afterwards with plans to watch High School Musical but we were both exhausted so decided not to in the end and just went to sleep. Wouldn't have been able to hack the sesh even if I'd been able to *cry laugh emoji over and over*. Two of my close friends Joel and Abbie won Prom King and Queen as well which was absolutely perfect as they are both such wonderful people.

The worst part of prom was the fact I had to get up and go to a five hour shift at work (yes ya gal got a job in a lil eco farm cafe near where I live) the next day - on my feet, all day, my still aching feet from wearing a pair of stupidly high heels all night.

Fab night with fab people and here's to a fab summer.

Emilia xxx