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Staple Summer Makeup Products

Thursday 21 June 2018



Hello from very sunny and very beautiful Mallorca!! I am in fact writing this while sat in my kitchen, still stuck in dingy England, however I'm trying to go on a bit of a social media detox this week so therefore I'm scheduling lots of content now #realblogger #organised !!

So today I thought I'd show you some of my staple summer makeup items - I haven't done a makeup post in so long so thought it was about time. If you want to see some of the looks I do with these products you can head on over to my Instagram - serving fresh looks constantly! I did want to call this post 'my travel makeup bag' because if you're anywhere near as addicted to makeup as me you'll know the struggles of only taking a portion of your makeup collection on holiday rather than the entire thing, so I've only got my staples here with me so thought I'd chat a little about them.

Sleek 'Life's A Peach' blush

You'd be right in thinking I use this as an eyeshadow more often than not! It's such a soft peachy orange colour and looks gorgeous blended into the crease as a transition shade before layering darker oranges and pinks on top. The texture is so soft and it actually looks lovely as a blusher too, but I did buy it purely for the eyeshadow qualities!! Because it's a blusher, it doesn't pack quite as much pigment as an eyeshadow would but that also means it's incredibly buildable.

NYX Strobe of Genius palette

I love love love these highlighters - a gorgeous glow is definitely a must have for the summer and this palette offers so much choice. The golden white one is perfect for an all over glow, I use the bronzey pinky one as a blush and the lilac one looks beautiful with pink-toned eyeshadows. Just love it really. I'm the type of person that literally puts highlighter everywhere and it stays so wonderfully on my collarbones and shoulders too (I did mean everywhere)

Jeffree Star 'Rose Matter' liquid lipstick

This is a shade I've recently fallen in love with, I've had it for ages but it's quite a bright pink so felt quite self-conscious in it, but recently whipped it out again and have been loving it!! It goes with so many different eye looks and is such a lovely shade of pink, not too bright but not too dark, just the perfect petal shade. It's already a well known fact that the JS liquid lipsticks are my favourite formulas, I could wax lyrical for so long about them!


NYX Vivid Bright eyeliners

I loooove my colours when it comes to summer and one of the best products for adding a pop of colour to a normal eye look are these eyeliners - they apply so easily, the colours are so pigmented and they honestly can transform anything. The pink looks so good with Rose Matter lipstick and the bright blue compliments orangey toned eyeshadows so much, they're honestly just the perfect thing to spice up your summer makeup bag. (not all pictured bc I didn't bring them all with me hahahaha can you imagine)

Sleek Ultra Mattes V1 palette

I've loved this palette for a reeeeally long time but only just managed to figure out how to wear birght colours and make them look good - I kind of can't go a day without using this palette now! The yellow and orange look so cool blended out together and with the purple all over the lid. I'm still not sure about the greens and blues but I'm getting there!

And that brings me to the end of a few products I definitely couldn't live without in the summer. Hope you enjoyed this quick little post and I'll see you again in a few days time (hopefully)

What are your staple summer products?

Em xx

Accepting My Scars In Summer Season

Tuesday 19 June 2018


TW // this post contains references to self-harming. There are support links mentioned at the bottom of this post if you're struggling - please please use them :))


This is a topic I've wanted to address for a while, even though it's quite a sensitive subject and quite personal, but as someone who first started self harming four and a half years ago and therefore has quite a lot of experience in dealing with the scars and the stigma that comes with it, there's almost an obligation that I really don't mind having to share those experiences and how I came to accepting my scars for what they are.

Self-harm scars have always been seen differently to other scars. People like to stare, even if, like me, you don't have that many visible ones. But as soon as they've looked they turn away quickly, like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. They're a tough thing to look at, especially since people who have never been in that situation can't possibly understand why someone would do that to themselves, and I think that's why people stare - almost out of some sort of gruesome fascination with the concept of hurting yourself. We with visible scars are labelled as crazy or psychotic because who on earth other than a psycho would hurt themselves that much?! The stigma around self-harm scars are one of the bigger issues we as mental health sufferers and survivors struggle with because people just don't understand it. We also get seen as exhibitionists - showing our scars off because we want people to stare and comment and we want to draw attention to us - we often can't win. If we cover them we're not accepting ourselves and if we show them we're attention seeking.

But why does that mean we should be ashamed of them? For the longest, longest time I would subject myself to wearing sweatshirts and long sleeves in the height of summer because I didn't want anyone at school to see the ninety cuts up my left arm and gaze at me with that pitiful look that they have when they've just slapped you with the label 'crazy'. Or at least that's what I thought everyone did.

When I started therapy in June 2014, over the course of the year I was with CAMHS, I gradually began to realise that actually, people didn't always stare because they thought I was a psycho and they didn't always have pity in their eyes. Sometimes, they had admiration. You see, these aren't scars because we're crazy. They signify the battles we've had with ourselves, battles that we've won every single time. They label us as fighters. And fighters don't cover their battle scars. We wear them proudly, showing everyone just how strong we are - we're survivors of the enemies in our heads and that's no less valid than being a survivor of a physical illness.

The thing is, there are people out there who will always be ashamed of our scars.

But me? I am not, not anymore.

Em xx

Support:

YouTubers Are Killing Their Own Platform & Careers

Saturday 16 June 2018


There have been many YouTuber scandals going on recently, Logan Paul kicking off the New Year by glamorising suicide, Oli White (and others) continuously exploiting their teenage fans with rubbish and overpriced merch, and most recently, Alfie Deyes waving his privilege right in front of our noses as he attempts to only spend £1 on food and drink in a day.


Let's address this video of yours first, Alfie, shall we, before we get into the real meanings of this blog post? You may have uploaded the video as a 'harmless joke' and 'unintended to cause offence' but here's the thing, Alf - just because you didn't mean to offend anyone doesn't mean it's not offensive. The video was made in poor taste and to wave off living on £1 in a day as a 'joke' makes light of poverty and homelessness and the fact that some people in our country do actually face that struggle every day and they definitely don't live in a £1.7 million mansion in Brighton. Saying it's going to be 'difficult' because you live in a rich area? Going to town and buying the most pointless items just because you can? Do you need another way to point out just how wealthy you are for basically having what's a pretty easy career compared to some of the jobs people do? Basically, Alfie, no, you don't. I'm not in any way saying that the video was intended to be distasteful, I just think Alfie is extremely naive and immature for thinking a video like that was appropriate. Although not as bad as what Logan Paul did, it's the same sort of thing - no one points out to these people that what they're doing could be construed as offensive and wrong.

A Tanner For Tanning Virgins

Thursday 14 June 2018


Can't say I'm not creative with my post titles can ya.


As the title suggests, there's a gal behind this screen who has never touched fake tan in the nearly nineteen years she's been alive. In all honesty, I've always disliked my pale skin a little but have been way too scared of tanning to go anywhere near it. There always just seemed so many types, too many rigorous steps to follow and it just didn't seem worth it to me. But, your gal's also off to Mallorca and to be honest, the Caspar-the-friendly-ghost-blinding-everyone-in-the-sun look just wasn't working for me anymore. So I hesitantly went to my little sister's bathroom cupboard, attempted to use her Bondi Sands express one before deciding it was too complicated for me, and picked up the Dove DermaSpa Summer Revived gradual tanner instead. There wasn't much left in the tube she had, just enough to do my legs, so decided to test it out...and boy. All I'm going to say is that I now know why girls who fake tan never look back - the confidence I got just from doing my legs was just insane and I immediately ordered some more on Amazon Prime to do the rest of my body.

It's official, I've stepped into the world of fake tanning and I'm never going back. And, at £5.50 for 200ml, the Dove DermaSpa is insane. I apply it straight from the shower after exfoliating and the best thing is you can apply it as a moisturiser, so just with your hands, and it doesn't go streaky!! It's gone slightly patchy around my knees, elbows, shoulders and ankles I have to say, but I'm kind of thinking that's my extremely amateur and inexperienced application more than anything else!! I didn't use it on my face, although I'm sure you could because it's actually a really good moisturiser too, since my skin has been really smooth since using it!! It also doesn't have such a gross smell, it does linger a little but it's quite nicely scented. It develops over about three hours, I've found, so would also be great for a quick tan fix. The slight downside is that it leaves a slightly sticky feel to your skin like quite a lot of body lotions do which is a bit annoying but not something that bothers me too much.

Overall, all I can say is that I'm thoroughly enjoying being a slightly darker gal for once, it seems to make everything look better on me and gives me some actual muscle definition as well, so what can I say other than I'm impressed?? A tube of fake tan and confidence all in one and therefore a winner in my eyes.

Have any of you tried this tanner? If so, how did you find it? 

Em xx

Why We Need To Drop The Phrase 'Basic Bitch'

Wednesday 13 June 2018



So here's the craic.

I recently saw a makeup artist I follow on Instagram post on her story today 'you know you can do other things with makeup other than a cut crease' closely followed by 'watch me do a basic bitch cut crease tomorrow' and it got me thinking about the phrase 'basic bitch' and what it means and why we should just cut the phrase and stop using it. 

When someone says the phrase 'basic bitch' or 'basic', what are the first things that spring to mind? Usually Starbucks, avocado, Instagram, high street brands, glitter and Pinterest. Ring any bells? Thought so, because most women have some of these things in common.

The term 'basic' was used at first to describe women who liked all these things, and then gradually the word 'bitch' was added onto it by those who felt that these women were somehow inferior for liking bottomless avocado brunch. If the phrase wasn't already unnecessarily derogatory, it certainly is now. Being labelled a 'basic bitch' somehow holds connotations that you're therefore less interesting or less worthy because of the things you like. It's a phrase that suggests you have no further depth of cultural knowledge and therefore aren't worth getting to know beyond your appearance and your tastes. Men slap a 'basic bitch' label on you and won't bother getting to know you for who you are because they 'hate basic bitches' and don't stop to think for on second that a group of 'basic bitches' are still a group of individual women who all have their own personalities and identities that set them apart from each other - and this is only done because they all like pumpkin spice lattes. 

What I'm interested to know is where we got this idea from that people who like mainstream things are somehow less special or less interesting? I have a Spotify playlist filled with typically 'indie' music (Stone Roses, Oasis, Courteeners, The Smiths, etc) and still have to excuse the fact I have two Ed Sheeran songs on it. I get told that I'm 'basic' because I like Ed Sheeran's music. But, I hate to say it, the subcultures of 'basic' go deeper than just a 'basic bitch'. I also get slapped with the label 'basic' by the indie subculture because I like 'mainstream indie' and therefore I'm not 'properly indie'. I'm a 'listens to the Smiths once' girl. Yeah, I know, the quote marks are getting ridiculous now.

There must have been a point where we decided that we can roll our eyes at some people because they were a certain style of clothing or listen to a certain type of music, or for just doing things the same as a large majority of other people. And moreover, when did we decide that these people just living their lives in the way they want to affect ours in any way? 

But it also has a deeper, more twisted side to it. 'Basic bitch' is a term exclusively used for females. There is no male equivalent, unless you count 'bro' or 'lad'. But more often than not, 'lads' are still seen to be deeper than their interests. We say 'oh, he wears tanks and goes to Crossfit but there's so much more to him' and a 'basic bitch' doesn't get the privilege of someone bothering to find out what's underneath the G&T in a mason jar. Moreover, the word 'lad' has never been a derogatory term for a male, by any stretch of the imagination - so why do we think it's okay to walk around proclaiming people as 'basic bitches'? Of course, there are the people who accept the label and wear it proudly and by all means, reclaiming the term is something we definitely need to start doing as we have done with the word 'slut' - but at this point, men and other women need to cut using it as a derogatory phrase filled with snobbery and hatred for the mainstream. 

I think society is so eager to put us all into categories and subcultures, and the mistake we're making is letting it. We're forced to try and fit in with some label based on what we wear or what music we listen to, and okay, to some extent, people will naturally gravitate towards others like them, that's just a  thing that happens. But next time you're going to call someone a 'basic bitch' just think about the fact that that term reduces that person to their appearance and their interests, and someone who's not worth getting to know because they like mainstream things. We're all individuals, with individual tastes, styles, thoughts, dreams and creativity - so let's stop jumping for separatist terms the minute a girl with perfectly shaped eyebrows posts a picture on Instagram of a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte.


What are your thoughts on the phrase 'basic bitch'?

Em xx

Who Should And Shouldn't Be Included In Pride? | A Quick Guide 🌈

Sunday 3 June 2018


Hello helo hello and welcome to a fun social awareness blog post!! I wanna just put a quick disclaimer out right now that this post is chock full of my own opinions - don't take anything I say as gospel or fact because it's most likely not, and I'm only gonna encourage healthy discussion on this topic rather than hate and backlash!! Aight, back to rainbows and happiness.

makeup deets are over on my instagram!!!

There's been many a tweet floating around on the internet about 'who Pride is for' this year. As far as I know we've never really had this narrative going on around Pride Month before, or if we did I've not really seen it, but this year it seems to be even more prevalent. And the one thing that seems to be incredibly prevalent is asexuals, aromantic and agender people being excluded from Pride on the grounds that they can still be cishet (cisgender/heteronormative) and therefore are excluded from Pride and celebrating Pride Month.

Here's a bit of education for ya. Asexual (ace) = people who are not sexually attracted to other people, aromantic (aro) = people who are not romantically attracted to other people and agender = people who don't identify with either male or female. The updated LGBT acronym is now LGBTQ+A, meaning Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Ace/Aro/Agender. As far as I know, the term 'queer' (having studied this in depth in my first year of uni) includes anything outside social norms, therefore becoming an umbrella term for all types of sexualities that aren't exclusively cishet. There are a lot of terms to get your head around, trust me!! Now, the tricky thing is, these terms, especially queer, have many different meanings and people attach different things to them, but that's what I understand those terms to mean and that's how I explain them to other people.

In my opinion, the purpose of Gay Pride has changed a lot in the last ten or so years. It's a movement designed to end discrimination and violence against LGBTQ+A, as well as to promote our self affirmation, equal rights and increase our visibility as a community. While Pride is still for all those things, it's also now to celebrate our differences and the differences in the ways in which we love, and to break the stigma down surrounding our sexual diversity.

Because of this, I really disagree with the narrative that 'aces aren't included in Pride'. I'm gonna throw back to the days when bisexual people weren't just discriminated against outside the LG community but also inside it. I remember gay people online saying to me 'you're just a lesbian and can't admit it' and 'you're not really gay, you're just pretending to be bi because it's different' and this narrative is even still going on someplaces, with people saying 'you're only bi because it's fashionable'. I remember the exclusion I faced and I remember feeling unwanted in a community that was to celebrate sexual diversity. Bisexuality, like any sexuality, is a tough thing to understand if you don't identify with it, but that doesn't mean it isn't valid. Bisexual people have faced abuse at previous Pride marches due to being in a m/f (male/female, aka hetero) relationship. In my eyes, this just isn't fair. Bisexuality is real, it's valid and no one should be made to feel like it's not.



This is exactly the same with asexual/aromantic. 

Ace/aro is still a 'queer' sexuality. They are included in the acronym. They are confused about their identity and who on earth are we to say that Pride is not for them because they appear to be cishet? I know what exclusion from this community can feel like and while I can't completely understand ace/aro, I know people who are ace and therefore have secondhand experience of what it's like to be excluded from something that should be for everyone. Ace/aro people have their identities erased all over the place - the fact I had to put a note in the beginning of this post explaining what these terms and identities mean shows this - and we don't need this same sort of erasure in LGBT spaces either. The acronym used to be LGT before bisexuality got included, so why are we still not accepting Q+A at the end?

In my opinion, the only people Pride is not for, are people who are going to hurl abuse at the celebrators for whatever reasons - homophobia, biphobia, transphobia or for just being cishet. It's my opinion that straight allies (straight people who support Pride) shouldn't be excluded from Pride either. While Pride is not exclusively for them, why should we stop anyone celebrating love? Pride is not for gatekeeping.

Surely, Pride is to celebrate love for just being love, and it doesn't matter HOW you love.

I know that there are some seriously differing opinions on this topic and it's very sensitive indeed, but this narrative that Pride is only for a certain approved list of identities and sexualities has really only cropped up very recently, and I think it's plain wrong and it actually draws just more boundaries than we need - it's entirely counter-productive and defeats the point of Pride. Our queer community is one of the most inclusive out there, so why are we excluding people that are in the same boat as bisexual people once were? It can feel confusing enough to not know how to identify yourself, or not know where you fit in, but being told that you don't belong at a festival of love - it's just awful that we're still supporting this idea in 2018. 

There are no rules over who gets to celebrate all the diverse, beautiful, messy ways in which we love.

What do you think about ace/aro people and their 'place' at Pride?

Em xx
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