Exams, Star Wars, and Christ-Marx

one.
I went to a Poetry club with one of my house mates at this quirky coffee shop, the focus was on Sylvia Plath which was awesome. I had only previously read the Bell Jar and the night before read through some of her poetry with my house mate but her poetry is so well written, and it really interesting to hear it analysed by so many people.

two.
I did a couple of exams before breaking up for Christmas which, I think, went well. Funny story, I didn't know I had one of these exams (they were online ones we could do at any time in that week but yes) so I ended up doing one very last minute, it was weird because had I not checked my e-mail on that day, I would've failed that exam and about 15% of that module - cray.. Always check your emails kids.

three.
I did a movie marathon with a few of my housemates. We watched Star Wars: A New Hope (my fave Star Wars film), The 400 Blows, and then The Parent Trap - possibly the oddest selection, but it was nice all the same.

four.
Me and my housemates did our own Christmas activities before we all broke up and went home and all that jazz. We put our secret Santa presents underneath Margaret (look in this post to get what I'm referencing) and my housemate made us a chickpea curry, and we also got out all of our remaining alcohol to finish it up before we left.

five.
I went back to London with no delays or cancellations or anything which was big, I feel after my horrendous train journey where I was basically delayed for 3 hours in getting home and I ended up getting a cab (which I have been refunded for now, thank you delay repay), I appreciate when the trains function like they're supposed to..

six.
I met up with a couple of my friends to have a catch up and a coffee which was really nice, it had been ages since just us three had been together so it was good to have a proper catchup.

seven.
I visited my old high school/sixth form with most of my old Philosophy class to say hello to our old teacher which was really nice, he's probably the best teacher I've ever had so it was lovely to see him again. It was also strange seeing the school again, so much has changed, and it was just generally weird being there and thinking the school has continued functioning without me - this sounds really egotistical but it's weird to think the school is carrying on and me and the people I knew there are no longer a part of it, it was also weird hearing school bells again, made me jump every time they went off.

eight.
I went to see the new Star Wars film (on the day it came out, #nerd) with my brother and it was absolutely amazing. I literally cried in the cinema - if you've seen the film, you'll probably know which bit I'm talking about, but for those who haven't seen it I shan't talk about it. I thought it was so well made and had loads of links to the original trilogy (in retrospect, it was extremely similar to A New Hope and even Revenge of the Sith, but I don't think this was bad, I liked how it had a mix of the old films with a slightly new storyline and characters). It also felt like a big event for me seeing a Star Wars film in the cinema because that's something I've never done before, and for a long time I thought I'd never be able to do, at least not for a new film, and I did get a bit tearful just at the opening credits because of how much it meant to me to be seeing a Star Wars film in the cinema.

nine.
The last ever episode of Peep Show happened, that was a thing - I actually missed it when it was on because I took a nap (exciting stuff..) but I watched it the next day with my family and I thought it was a good end to the show, it is one of my top five TV shows so if you haven't watched it I definitely recommend it.

ten.
Nothing says Christmas like a picture of Karl Marx on top of the Christmas tree (or Christ-Marx..)

How have the past couple of weeks been for you?

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The beginnings of Christmas and activism

one.
We ordered an ironic Margaret Thatcher cardboard cutout for our Uni house Christmas tree and decorated her with tinsel and a hat that says 'Bah Humbug' on it - it's quite terrifying when you walk in the room and you just see Margaret grinning but it does add something to the room.

two.
I went out with a couple of my housemates to buy some Christmassy things for the house and we stopped by Brighton Pavilion for a little meal, and it was really cute - definitely started feeling a lot more like Christmas.

three.
I ended up watching Home Alone twice on two consecutive days because we watched it together and all fell asleep, so then we tried again the next day (and still fell asleep) - funnily enough, we didn't try a third time...

four.
I had my first tofu experience at a Japanese restaurant and it was really nice - veganism level up!

five.
I went ice skating with a couple of my housemates at Brighton Pavilion and then we got mulled wine/cider - I am not any good at ice skating, I never have been, but I had improved slightly since the last time I went (although that's not saying much)

six.
I went to a local protest against tuition fees and it was really nice to see so much solidarity between students and lecturers, nothing like a good protest!

seven.
Me and my housemates decided to binge watch Friends on the projector which was really cute, we did The One with Ross' Sandwich and The One with All the Thanksgivings which are two of my personal faves.

eight.
A couple of days later I went to Reclaim Brighton which was a march against sexual harassment and violence which was good, I'd never been on a march for anything that wasn't a direct screw you to the government so it was good to broaden my protesting horizons.

nine.
I've been able to finally open my Makeup Revolution Advent Calendar which my friends bought me for my birthday (which was last month) so that's been really exciting. I keep forgetting that it's there so when I remember I can have a new makeup bit everyday, it's always really nice.

ten.
I've come down with a cold and am hating life just a little bit (I rarely get sick, but when I do I literally hate everything and become the worst person to be with - even worse than usual believe it or not)

How have the past couple of weeks been for you?

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Bitter about Valentine's? Get the heck over it!

I'm 18 years old and I've never really had a proper boyfriend, sure I had some primary school ones, but preferably I'd like to pretend that cringey era in my life never happened. Nevertheless, I've still never been bitter about not having a Valentines. For the majority of my life, I never really cared, I treated it as another day. Then when I got older in high school I started watching rom-coms and consuming copious amounts of food with a high sugar content to make some sort of ironic statement (it's always about the irony with me), but for all of my teenage years, without fail, I find so many people being bitter about Valentine's Day, and I ask you why.

Exhibit A of the rom-coms watched on Valentine's Day, although I've seen both Bridget Jones films too many times to recall (well.. how much is too much when you have Hugh Grant and Colin Firth?)

When I started noticing the bitterness around February 14th, it was generally focused upon the fact that the person writing it was single. So, fine, you're jealous and you want to be in a relationship, that's your prerogative sure, but I don't understand why this influx of sourness is focused upon Valentine's Day. When you go to a wedding, you generally don't go feeling sorry for yourself because you're not married (although marriage shouldn't be a goal in life, y'know oppression of women in its most traditional form but you can do it if you want yada yada yada different topic for a different blog post). When it's someone's anniversary, you don't go feeling sorry for yourself because you haven't been in a relationship that long or you're not in a relationship, so it doesn't really explain why people are so bitter around Valentine's Day.

The second source of bitterness is the commercial aspect of Valentine's Day. You'd be a bit stupid to ignore the fact that Valentine's Day is or at least has become a commercial holiday, but what holiday or occasion hasn't? We live in a world dominated by Capitalism, you can't just opt out of it (the revolution is comin' dudes), this means that most things are based upon a system of commercialism, but why is it mostly Valentine's Day that takes the hits? I know Christmas takes some punches, but let's be honest it's mostly Valentine's Day that suffers. Let's think of your birthday for example, it's possible that you're part of the small population that doesn't celebrate your birthday, but generally it's a day of gift receiving and essentially spending money, but you don't seem to complain and no one else seems to complain either  - can you imagine?

"Gee wiz, I hate your birthday, it's such a commercial occasion, we should instead focus our attention to overthrowing the bourgeoisie and destroying the rigid class system"

Alright comrade, we get your point, Valentine's Day is commercial, but you can't opt out of Capitalism, so unless you're going to join the revolution and start to attempt to crush the elite, your criticisms are pointless and, in my opinion, seem a little pretentious. 

It's pretty easy to say that you should celebrate your love with another person (or more than that if you're into polygamy) every day, but is it really such a satanic practice to have one day dedicated to really showing a person you love them? Daily routine can become mundane and we can become blasé about sentiments that we receive on a daily basis. Furthermore, we don't celebrate the fact that we're aging and rapidly reaching an inevitable death everyday so why should we 'celebrate' the fact that we've found a person  who we love everyday? I'm not advising you ignore your partner every other day of the year, but there's a difference between acknowledging affection towards someone else daily and celebrating so criticising Valentine's day on the grounds that you should celebrate your love for someone else every day is a little preposterous.

Essentially, all I'm trying to say, is stop being so damn bitter y'all. If you don't want to celebrate Valentine's Day, don't, but don't rain on someone else's parade because they may be perfectly happy celebrating it and that's their choice, you can easily ignore one day of the year, so get the heck over it. If someone, who's forever alone like me, can, so can you.

What are your opinions on Valentine's Day?

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How not to do a GRWM: Christmas edition

If you click on the video below, you'll see my very first GRWM/see me fail at doing my makeup on camera if you want to watch. If you see further below that though, you'll see all of the products I used :-)

You may be wondering why my hair isn't resembling a bird's nest as per usual, my sister styled it but it didn't really suit my what-I-call big head so I wasn't a giant fan unfortunately.

Base:

• Rimmel Lasting Finish 25hr Nude in 400 Natural Beige (perfect if you want a strange orange/pink finish, just saying for all of you out there with an ancestry tracing back to those known to work in chocolate factories)
• Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Warm Medium
• Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in 25
• Collection Sheer Loose Powder (Review here)

Brows:

• Essence Lash and Brow gel
• Dark brown shade in Makeup Revolution Iconic 2 Palette

Eyes:

• Maybelline 24hr Colour Tattoo in On and On Bronze (Review here)
• Light champagne (almost white) shade and Dark greyish black shade in Makeup Revolution Iconic 2 Palette
• Essence Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner (Review here)
• L'Oreal Miss Manga Mega Volume Mascara in Black Angel
• Rimmel Scandaleyes Nude Eyeliner
• Essence Kajal Pencil in Black

Bronzer/Highlight/Attempt to achieve Kim K contour:

• MUA Bronzed Perfection (Review here)
• No7 Highlighter in Makeup Set - super sorry but there are no details about this kit on the back, it's just a pinky/white highlighter

Lips:

• MUA Lip Liner in Red Drama
• Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Really Red (Review here)

What type of makeup did you have on Christmas?

Or did you rock a no makeup/onesie look which I am prone to do but for some reason opted out of this year?

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Review | Sleek True Colour Lipstick in Cherry

After hearing so many good reviews about Sleek in general, I knew I had to try something from them, and at the moment I'm just really loving my lipstick - ergo I picked up the Sleek True Colour Lipstick in Cherry.

Sleek True Colour Lipstick in Cherry - £4.99

Let's start off real basic here. The packaging is so-so in my opinion, don't get me wrong I absolutely adore matte black packaging, it just makes a product look a lot more sophisticated, but the packaging of this lipstick is matte and rubbery so it feels a bit cheap, maybe that's just me and from just looking at it, it doesn't look cheap but it feels it. The lipstick is also a bit smaller than your average, this isn't a complaint as you get your average amount of lipstick in there all the same but it feels a fair bit smaller.

If you're not into vampy reddish purples, this may not be the right lipstick for you, but at the moment I am absolutely loving that look and it looks really Autumnal/Wintery so it's seasonally appropriate. It's quite sheeny which worries me a bit with such a dark colour because it could just get everywhere (which happened a couple of times because my hair flies about and whips it all over my face, on the contrary to Willow Smith I don't whip my hair back and forth, it whips back and forth of its own accord) and I did find that this didn't really set, and it felt a bit wet all day but it didn't bleed most likely because I had a lip liner on underneath. I didn't find it drying and it did last me a good 7-8 hours, but keep in mind that this was with a lip liner.

Overall, I really love the finish this product gives and it's a nice change from my usual matte lipsticks, and whilst it can sometimes transfer to other parts of my face due to my hair living by its own rules, it doesn't bleed out and it's generally just a darn good product so I reckon I'll be wearing it right up until Spring rolls around.

What's your current favourite Autumn/Winter lip?

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