HOW TO REVISE

I think I speak for everyone when I say that I hate revision. It is just so tedious. If you are in year 11, like me, you will feel my pain when I talk about these upcoming exams.

My first tip would be to condense the material. This always helps me as I find that I learn better when I read smaller amounts of information. I would much rather read a couple of bullet points in biology whilst revising anaerobic respiration than a whole page on it!

One of my teachers always tells my class to use different methods of displaying information when revising because your brain is more likely to remember information if you look at it at different ways. I think this is a really good tip, because there's nothing more frustrating than having to read pages of notes; mind maps are a good way of looking at notes because you can see a whole unit of small notes in a condensed form. If I'm trying to revise a certain process, (such as how a glacier is formed or how meiosis works), I find it useful making flow charts of each step.

Music can help me concentrate whilst I'm revising but I get really distracted if it has a lot of vocals in. I normally just play a playlist of instrumentals or piano covers on 8tracks. This really helps me get into the zone and I actually get my work done.

Another thing that really helps me revise is Quizlet. Quizlet is a website that contains lots of learning tools and it's really helpful for learning key terms. I have been using Quizlet in school for about 2 years now and it has helped me learn loads of key vocabulary in Spanish. Quizlet also comes in app form and you can download it from the App Store for iOS which is brilliant if you have an iPhone or iPad.

Good luck to everyone who is sitting exams in the near future, I hope these tips have helped you and I may or not have written this post as an attempt to get out of revision.

THE MOTHER OF ALL MAKEUP

I was having a case of serious bloggers block and whilst I was busy taking pictures to include in a blog post, I spotted my mam's makeup bag sitting on the windowsill and suddenly a post idea came to my head. So, when I asked my mam to describe her makeup bag in three words she said "Stapled, Boring, Essential." I couldn't of summed it up better myself.

Included: Rimmel Day 2 Night mascara, Mac Cremesheen lipstick in Vegas Volt, 

Loreal Paris Colour Appeal Trio Pro eyeshadow, Tweezers, 

Eyebrow and lash brush, Estee Lauder eyeshadow set, Chanel Inimitable mascara.

My mam is not one for wearing makeup every day and she only really wears it on special occasions so it's not surprising that she only has a small collection of makeup. Her favourite brand is Estee Lauder, which she has used since she was younger.  My mam swears by Astra Cream to moisturise with and ever since I was little I have seen her use it nearly everyday. Her skin is quite clear so she doesn't need foundation (lucky or what?) Although her makeup collection is quite small, she owns the best mascara that I've ever used. I bought her Chanel's Inimitable mascara for her birthday, I've tried it out and I can confirm that it is amazing. 

THE NAIL GAME

Summer is my favourite time in terms of colours. In the winter months I feel like darker colours are more fashionable but when it comes to summer the bright colours always make an appearance. I don't paint my nails much when I have school but thanks to the six week summer holidays (which is going to last about ten weeks for me this year) I have the freedom to paint my nails whenever I want.

In summer I like colours that compliment my tan and when I went to Majorca last year I bought two really nice nail varnishes from Barry M's Hi Shine gel collection. I was really happy with the gel consistency of the nail varnishes, which are called Prickly Pear (the purple shade) and Pomegranate (the hot pink shade). They left my nails feeling and looking very nice. I must say, they have amazing staying power as I think I only had to repaint them once throughout the fortnight of of sun, sea and sand.

Another brand I absolutely love for nail varnishes, whatever season, is Sinful Colours. I first discovered Sinful Colours in Boots about a year ago. Their nail varnishes retail for £1.99 which is so cheap - it's a really good price for a drugstore high quality nail varnish. I particularly love the shade 'Unicorn' which is a cool toned yellow shade that just screams summer, however it's the type of colour that you need to wear on top of a white undercoat as yellow nail varnish has been known to stain nails.

I might have to go on a nail varnish haul sometime soon because at the moment I am craving nail varnish, I think the last time I bought nail varnish was in September! There's no doubt that I will probably have a huge obsession with colourful nail varnish again this summer.

Do you have a staple nail colour for summer?

PRODUCTS I WOULD NOT REPURCHASE

My blog is always so positive about products so I decided it was time to tell you all about a few products I really did not like. I feel a bit bitchy slagging these products off but here are my honest opinions on a few items that disappointed me.

Okay, so me and mac lipsticks have had a bit of a love affair in the past couple of years. I went through a phase where I used to buy a lipstick a month from Mac (which was very silly). When I went to Glasgow with my cousins and my best friend last summer I picked up this lipstick from the Mac store on Buchanan Street. I had blonde hair and pale skin at the time and I really do not know why I bought it. The lipstick is from Nicki Minaj's Viva Glam range for Mac and it is a really light lilac colour. It is really the most unflattering colour on me, I think it's the worst lipstick shade I've ever bought. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Mac lipsticks and they are such good quality but I literally hate this particular lipstick. It cost me £14 and it was such a waste of money - I think I have worn it twice.

When Baby Lips launched in the UK I was so excited. For months I had seen various beauty gurus on youtube such as Sammi and Zoe rave about Baby Lips and I would get so upset because they were only available in America! I had seen so many people rave about them and I was so excited to try them. I love lip balms but unfortunately, I was let down by Maybelline's Baby Lips. The pink Baby Lips is absolutely awful, I really did not like it. It leaves an awful colour on your lips that looks like a lipstick you would get out of a children's magazine and it leaves a nasty residue on your lips. I bought mine for about £4 in Boots when they first launched last year and it really was not worth it. I would definitely not repurchase Baby Lips and I would much prefer to invest in a good lip butter rather than a lip balm which does nothing.

The last thing that I would not repurchase is MUA's Pro-Base Eye Primer . I really did not like the consistency of this primer, it was really liquidy which is not surprising as it only cost £2.50 from Superdrug. MUA is a good brand at times and I really like their naked palette dupes but this really let me down. I agree with the phrase 'you get what you pay for' and this is a prime example that sometimes you have to pay a little bit more for a good product. I don't think I would repurchase this product although I do like MUA as a brand on the whole.

What products do you feel haven't lived up to the hype?

THE SLEEK RESTORER

A shampoo and conditioner combo I am absolutely loving at the minute is Garnier's Sleek Restorer range. My mam always seems to purchase new shampoos on a weekly basis so I was pretty impressed with her choice this time. I have been using the Sleek Restore shampoo and conditioner for about 2 weeks now and I am honestly so impressed with how it has helped my hair. As I have mentioned in previous posts, my hair is in need of a little bit of TLC so I am constantly on the look out for anything that combats dryness or frizziness.

I was really surprised to see that Garnier have brought out a haircare range as I have always associated Garnier with skincare related items. One of my favourite things in the range is the '1 Minute Treatment'. I love deep conditioners and I especially love this one! This has made my hair so soft and lovely, I love it so much. It contains coconut oil which is amazing for your hair, a lot of people swear by it for healthy and strong hair - those people are totally right. My favourite thing about this product is how you can actually feel it on your hair, it is quite heavy and you can actually notice when it's still on your hair which is a massive advantage. I actually look forward to washing my hair when I use this.

THE ULTIMELT

I popped into boots when I was shopping yesterday and picked up a tube of the  Ultimelt Deep Purifying Hot Cloth Cleanser by Soap and Glory. It retails at £10.00 but it was reduced to £6.67 (I love a good bargain). I have seen a couple of blog posts about this little gem and I have been interested in purchasing a good 'deep pore' heavy duty cleanser for a while so I thought I'd give it a go.

I have always loved Soap and Glory since my sister got me a big gift set from Boots by them a few christmases ago. Soap and Glory are definitely a brand I trust, they have such a good range of products and everything smells so nice. I  used this cleanser a few hours ago when I had a shower as part of my facial cleansing routine and I really liked it. It smells a bit like lavender which is surprisingly really refreshing. Soap and Glory also gives you a muslin cloth with this cleanser which I really like considering many 'hot cloth' cleansers don't actually come with a cloth! The whole idea of the cleanser is to wash it off with a warm/hot cloth, thank you Soap and Glory for having some common sense. I am sitting writing this post now and my skin feels so soft and it actually feels clean! A lot of products make my face feel really greasy, like I haven't totally washed it off properly (even though I've washed my face with water 5 times), but this has left my face feeling totally cleansed.
My first impression on this product is positive, I really like it! Fingers crossed it keeps my face soft and spot free.