Thoughtful Thursday: 20.09.2012

Source: fuckyeahfitspo.tumblr.com via Kit on Pinterest

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Dictionary: Bitrex

Soooo, it came to my attention that I haven't done a Dictionary post since February, wow, that really is not good is it? I love doing these posts, because I always find that I learn something from writing them.

Anyway, this is one that I've been meaning to do for quite some time and I thought I'd started a post about it, but apparently, I haven't! Basically, this week I'm looking at....*drumroll please*...

Bitrex

If you've ever bought a Nail Varnish Remover, and odds are that if you're reading this blog, you probably have!! Well, you might have come across the logo on the left (checks hands) yep, the left. Of course not all Removers have this logo, the one I'm currently using is a Tesco brand, and typically doesn't include it, but I'm pretty certain that some from Boots do.

Anyway, if it does feature the little logo on the left (and now I definitely know it really is my left!), then your Remover contains, yup, you guessed it Bitrex. But...

What is Bitrex?

It's a fair question to ask, and until I typed Bitrex into Google a while ago, I had absolutely no idea. Quite simply, Bitrex is made up of substance that is incredibly bitter. The idea being that if the substance is consumed, perhaps by a small child, they will automatically spit it right out again, because it tastes that bad!!

What exactly is this "substance"?

In short: Denatonium Benoate. The substance is alleged to be the most bitter substance ever, and was discovered the 1950s by an Edinburgh-based research company called MacFarlan Smith .

Inevitably, Nail Varnish Remover aren't the only potential products that could contain this amazing ingredient.

What else contains Bitrex?

Oh, you're just full of good questions today, aren't you? There are many products that might contain Bitrex, such as cleaning products and antifreeze, and it really does make sense for these types of products to contain it, because let's face it, surely it's better for a kid to spit it straight out than get the chance to swallow too much of it! Plus, after tasting it, I can only imagine, but I really doubt that they will never do it again.

So, there you go. Next time you see the "Contains Bitrex" logo on the back of a product, you will know exactly what it means :)

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Uni Style: Create Your Own

The aspect of Uni that I definitely loved the most was how creative I could get when it came to my overall style. I might not have been the most fashion concious when I was 18 to 21, but I certainly enjoyed my new found freedom.

I think that for a lot of students, going to Uni is the first time in their lives when they have had a 100% say in how they dress, what they do with their hair etc. For me, my mum always gave me a certain level of freedom and she pretty much never sat me down and say "no, you can't do that with you hair", but she hadn't been too impressed when I had my nose pierced at 16! But my nose piercing is a great example of the lack of freedom kids have. I'm pretty certain that most School's are the same, but at mine, we were not allowed body piercings other than our ears pierced once. We weren't allowed more than one stud in each ear, and we definitely weren't allowed to have them in our noses. That being said, I got my nose pierced about half way through Year 11, and I assume because I was so quiet and didn't get into trouble (well, other than my phase throughout Year 10 when I twagged most of my PE lessons!!), but teachers never seemed to notice it, which I'm obviously not complaining about!!

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that before Uni, the majority of us have dressed as dictated by parents, school and even our peers, so Uni is quite liberating.

So, as part of my series about Uni, I thought I'd share with you a few things that I personally did when it came to style, whilst at Uni, irritatingly I haven't been able to upload any images of myself for this post, all of the ones used that are of me are ones that I've taken from either mine or my friends Facebook pages, but when I do I'll have to update the post and let you guys know :)

My Hair

My hair is probably the factor that most of my friends will associate with me, because I dyed my hairs all kinds of different colours.

Weirdly, I went to Uni with blonde hi-lights, which looking back is very NOT me. During my time though, I went various shades of purple, red, orange (by accident) and eventually to dark brown. It's funny because when it came to May Ball and Graduation time, I came to the decision that I should go back to a more "natural" shade for my hair, purely because I didn't want to look back at myself in ten years time and think "what the hell was I thinking?", and you know what I think I made the right choice!

I'm glad that I experimented with my hair colour, and I loved doing it, but for the more official stuff such as my Graduation photo that sits in my Nana's living room, I'm glad that I have "normal" hair, because at least she can't moan about it ;)

Clothes

It always makes me chuckle, but even though I don't think I had any fashion sense when I was at Uni, there is definitely a style that I associate very heavily with myself, and I certainly don't dress that way now.

Predominantly, I'm a casual clothes kinda gal so at Uni it was mainly t-shirts and jeans, but I went through a huge phase of wearing t-shirts from Dorothy Perkins (with my student discount hurrah!) that had cute images of roller skates, and 1973 on them, in cute pastel-based colours. I loved those t-shirts and kinda wish I'd held onto them, but then I'd complain they don't fit or they're taking up space!!

Okay, so perhaps the picture isn't the best, or the most flattering *ahem* picture to put up, but it appears to be the only one I have of the type of t-shirts that I used to wear...!

Uni was also the only time that I have ever dared to wear a green pair of cords! Oh yes, and I loved them!

Badges

In Derby City Centre, before they tore everything (well, not literally everything) down and built the new shopping centre, there was a really awesome independent record shop on the main street. They sold pretty much everything that you wouldn't find in HMV and Andy's Records, and I am not going to lie, 90% of those bands I had never heard of, and will probably never encounter again!!

What I loved about this shop, in a very superficial way, I know, was that they sold these awesome mini badges. Nowadays, these badges are quite easy to buy from HMV etc, but I'd never come across any before and I used to buy the ones saying funny quotes and decorate my bag with them!

I actually still have a couple of them lying around somewhere, including my Linkin Park one which I cherish, because I had to re-buy it after losing it before I'd even got it home :(

Jewellery

Anyone who knows me will know that I LOVE cute and quirky jewellery, and I strongly feel that that love stems back to my time at Uni.

At my Uni, and again, I imagine this is the same as at most Uni's, once a month, we used to have a market in the Atrium that sold all sorts of sort. I picked up an awesome Pucca Bag from one market, that I used for years, until I realised I was getting a bit too old for it ;) But, I also used to buy these glass rings too.

I'd never come across glass rings either, but they were usually fab for wearing on your thumb (they were far too wide-fitting for any other finger) and came in bright colours. I remembered having two (although I'm certain I owned more). The first was a dark blue one that I loved, but unfortunately, being glass, it broke. Another one I had was a rainbow of yellows, reds and oranges. The images of rings isn't quite what mine looked like, but you get the idea!!

I also used to wear necklaces and bracelets made up of coloured beads.


So, remember. Be yourself when it comes to style, and allow yourself to be creative, because once you graduate and enter the world of work, being creative is going to be bashed out of most people, which is kinda sad, but having bright pink hair doesn't fit into most work places unfortunately!

What was your style at Uni? 

Has it changed? 

Do you regret anything? Or do you wish you could still wear it?

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Tips: Applying Liquid Eyeliner

Regular readers will know how up until recently I have not been able to apply Liquid Eyeliner to save my life. Then, one day, I somehow managed it, and I was convinced that it was a fluke because I didn't manage it again very quickly. So, as a result, I decided to seriously try out a couple of tips from you lovely people out there who were kind enough to comment on my posts, in the past.

Tip One. Apply with the Skin stretched out

This was something that I did for a long time, and all you do is stretch the skin of the eye lid outwards whilst you apply your liner.

Result: This does sometimes work, however I've found that when the skin on my eye lid goes back into place it can sometimes look inconsistent and flaky.

I've already read that stretching your skin to apply eye liner is a sure-fire way to bringing on fine lines around the eyes, so I don't think I'll be doing that any more.

Rating: 1 out of 5

Tip Two. Apply over a Pencil Eyeliner

This is actually a tip that I've been given by numerous people, and I don't know why I never got round to trying it. Basically, the idea is that you apply a pencil eyeliner as you normally would, and then apply the liquid liner over the top of the pencil.

Result: This didn't work for me at all. I'm not sure if it was because I was perhaps using pencil liners that were a little too creamy, but the liquid liner just ended up dragging the pencil off my eyelids and thus my liner looked inconsistent and flaky.

I think that it might work better with a pencil that is less creamy, but I don't own any as I don't have good experience with any other pencil than creamy ones.

Rating: 1 out of 5

Tip Three. Apply over an Eye Shadow

This tip is of course very similar to the previous one, but with an eye shadow rather than a pencil eyeliner. This idea is easy to follow through with since most of us will use liquid liner to finish an eye shadow look.

Result: This definitely helps, because it creates a much smoother surface on the eyelid which makes for an easier "canvas" to apply the liquid liner. The lines created over eye shadow certainly seem to be "cleaner" than they do when applied to a naked eye lid.

The only thing that this doesn't help with is creating a line that is right against the lash line, as I still always manage to have a visible gap between the liner and the lash line which is kind of annoying.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Tip Four. Apply with your Eyes Open

I'm not going to lie, when someone suggested applying eye liner with my eyes open, I thought that they were absolutely crazy. It's obviously self-explanatory how this one works.

Result: As crazy as I found this tip, it is the one that actually worked. Not only does it work, but it works (almost) every time that I apply eye liner! I don't know how, and I do have to say that I'm having to battle with my eye lashes for the best part of application when my eyes are open, but I'm managing to get the liner right along the lash line to create lines that are quite fine. This is a huge achievement for me, because before I just could not create a fine line. I could sometimes create a chunky one, but that was only when I was lucky.

Out of all of the Tips, this has definitely been the most helpful and the one that I recommend the most highly.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Do you apply eye liner with your eyes open? Does it work for you? 

If you don't, give it a try and tell us how you get on :)

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Beautiful World: Beautiful Music

For anyone who might have missed it, I am a huge film and video game buff (shameless plug: you can check out my entertainment blog here!), and that love for film and gaming also stems into soundtracks.

In a way, I think that soundtracks have slightly made classical music "cool". It's generally not considered cool to say that you like Pavane, or Beethoven's 5th Symphony. Yet, it's not quite as bad to say that you're loving the Dark Knight Rises Soundtrack, which is ultimately a collection of classical music. Of course not all soundtracks are considered classical.

Over on Entertained, I run a series of posts called "Top Six", where I list my Top Six favourite whatever I'm talking about in that specific post, and as a little dedication, I've decided that as part of this weeks Beautiful World post, to share my Top Six Film and Game Soundtracks. This is the entire soundtrack, I'm not going to pick out individual songs, however.

So, here goes. Enjoy:

Six. Final Fantasy X-2

As a die-hard fan of the Final Fantasy games, I can practically feel the negativity towards this inclusion, purely because from a traditionalist point of view, X-2 is not considered one of the greatest of the (sort of) main games. But, I love the game, and I love the soundtrack even more.

The interesting thing about this games and its soundtrack is that, as far as I'm aware, it was the first Final Fantasy that was produced by Square Enix (Final Fantasy X and its predecessors) were all produced by Squaresoft, before that company merged Enix. The difference in the sound is clearly evident in the soundtrack, which still embodies the classical element that Squaresoft were renowned for, but with a lot more joviality to it.

However, the part of the soundtrack that I appreciate the most is the inclusion of songs that are very J-Pop. Squaresoft had toyed with J-Pop in small doses with Faye Wong's Eyes on Me from Final Fantasy VIII, but X-2 used a lot more of it.

Tracks I Love:

• 1000 Words (including the instrumental version)
• Real Emotion
• Abyss of the Farplane

Five. The Hunger Games

There are actually two soundtracks for the first Hunger Games film, but I'm actually referring predominantly to the Score Soundtrack, that features instrumental music from the actual film. Although, there are a couple of pieces that do not appear in the film, and several that have been omitted from the soundtrack, which I find a little sad.

Anyone who has seen The Hunger Games, or even read the books, will know that this is all about high tension and action, and the soundtrack adds to that so beautifully. The music makes your heart race when Katniss' will be, or feel a sense of sadness or happiness alongside the main character, and I love how soundtracks can do that.

Read my full review here.

Tracks I Love:

• The Train (this is a track so full of intrigue, but at the same time is so sad)
• Rue's Farewell
• We Could Go Home

Tracks I Love from the "other" Soundtrack:

• Abraham's Daughter - Arcade Fire

Four. Sucker Punch

With heavy comparisons to video games such as Final Fantasy, I'm really not surprised that I liked this film. The soundtrack, however, isn't exactly classical, in fact, it isn't at all.

The Sucker Punch Soundtrack takes popular songs by artists such as Queen, Eurythmics, The Smiths etc and revamped them to fit in with the style of the film, as well as what was going on at the time, and this worked incredibly well. Of course fitting music to the action is the norm in films, but I think that doing it through popular music is a brilliant way of doing it.

Read Chris' Sucker Punch review here.

Tracks I Love:

• Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
• Where is my Mind?
• Asleep

Three. Final Fantasy VII

For the record, Final Fantasy VII is not my favourite game in the series, but it does score highly when it comes to the soundtrack.

A few years back, Square Enix celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the game with a selection of sequels and spin-off's, including Advent Children (Film), Before Crisis (Mobile Phone Game), Dirge of Cerberus (First Person Shoot-em-up), Last Order (Anime) and my personal favourite Crisis Core (PSP Game).

Each of the spin-off's, but most essentially Advent Children and Crisis Core featured re-vamped versions of much of the music that featured in the original game, modernising it and bringing it to an existing as well as a new audience.

This was the first game that I ever played that actually had a proper soundtrack, and I'm so glad that this was the first one, because the music is so enchanting, dramatic and beautiful. It sets the level incredibly high, and for the best part, very few games other than Final Fantasy beats the series on soundtrack.

Tracks I Love:

• One-Winged Angel
• Aeris' Theme (or Aerith's Theme, depending which game you're playing)
• Shinra Company

Two. Transformers

Similar to The Hunger Games, Transformers also has two soundtracks, one for the bands that feature in the film, and another for the overall score. For this, I'm referring to the score.

I absolutely love the score to this film, because it re-introduced me to the awesomeness of "classic" films scores, that I think have faded out a little bit over the past few decades, but appear to have made a resurgence with recent blockbusters including the recent Batman films opting for a more traditional orchestral affair.

Initially, only the band soundtrack was released, however following a huge campaign by fans, the score was released for download, although at first it was a complete nightmare to get hold of. Learning from the success of the first films score, both of the sequels saw the score being released alongside the band albums

Tracks I Love:

• Arrival To Earth
• Bumblebee Captured
• Autobots

One. Tron Legacy

There aren't many film soundtracks that are (almost) completely put together my one artist or group, rather than a Composer, but Tron Legacy is the best of the small bunch, as Daft Punk did an incredible job creating a score that fit both into the 1980s era of music, within which the world of Tron was of course set, but also fitting in with modern audiences.

The soundtrack packs a lot of punch, and not being a fan of the group, has made me appreciate the talent of Daft Punk as this is the only album of theirs that I have been able to like, personally.

For me, this score is beautifully crafted and adds a sense of epicness to the overall feel of the film. Daft Punk certainly did an amazing job. Although it is alleged (I don't know if it is true), that Composer Hans Zimmer played a big part in putting the album together, but I couldn't find any real evidence, other than general hearsay and the fact that Daft Punk thanks Hans Zimmer for his "generosity" in the liner notes. The idea apparently is that Daft Punk would be more likely to sell a soundtrack to a modern audience. However, if this is the real reason, I'd like to point people towards what happened with the score for the first Transformers film!!

Tracks I Love:

• Overture
• The Grid
• Nocturne
• Flynn Lives
• TRON Legacy (End Titles)
• Finale

TRON Legacy: End Titles

For the other half of my Barefoot Girl/Entertained cross over, check out my Top Six: Make Up in Film Transformations over on Entertained :)

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Madara Travel & Trial Kit Review

This review is crazily overdue, and I'm ashamed at how long it has taken me. Bad Kitty. But, I am a huge fan of Madara products, so this really is a case of Better Late Than Never.

Contents:

• Delicate Cleansing Milk
• Deep Balance Toner x 2
• Deep Moisture Fluid
• Regenerating Night Cream
• Eye Repair Cream

Noting that I actually have oily skin, rather than Normal/Combination, I was a little bit apprehensive about this kit, but as a whole I love the size of the products, because they fit perfectly into luggage which is great for travelling, and since they're so small in size, I guess they'd be fine for hand luggage on a plane too. 

I've taken some items of the kit on several weekends away, and they've been a great addition when I've been trying to travel light.

Delicate Cleansing Milk

In the past I've not been a huge fan of cleansing milks, because they tend to feel too heavy on my skin, however I found this one to be quite light and it didn't dry my skin out like some cleansers do. I don't really know if it was good at removing make up (as it claims to in the product description) purely because I tend to take my make up off with a make up remover. I was happy that it genuinely was gentle around the eyes, because my eyes are easily irritated, so that was great!

Deep Moisture Fluid

I actually already use Madara's Deep Moisture Gel, which I reviewed last year, and I really love that moisturiser. It's so different to any that I've ever used before, and I love the way it smells and feel on my skin.

The fluid, however, that came in this kit, was a little bit too heavy for my skin, so I think that I would definitely stick to the Gel one, rather than the Fluid.

Regenerating Night Cream

I have to confess that I'm not very reliable when it comes to using night creams, because I always forget to put one on, mainly because they feel so heavy when I put them on. I know that they're supposed to be like that, because they slowly seep into the skin overnight, but I just hate that feeling of heaviness. 

This one wasn't too bad, when I remembered to use it, but it hasn't encouraged me to use night creams any more than others.

Deep Balance Toner

I never thought I'd say this, but I really liked these toners. You actually get two sachets, and one sachet lasted me about three or four applications, which I didn't think was too bad.

I found them to be really cooling, which I liked and they left my skin feeling clean and fresh. What more can I say? They did their job without feeling rough.

Eye Repair Cream

As I have quite sensitive eyes, I'm a bit wary about using products on my eyes and only really use eye drops and my Garnier Eye Roller. My eyes are that sensitive that often eye make up dries them out and I tend to get headaches as a result, meaning that I have to avoid wearing eye make up for periods. 

I did give this cream a try, and it was fine, however it then lived (as an open sachet) in my make up bag for longer than I'd care to admit. I guess my under eye fine lines etc. are just going to have to stick around :-P

Overall

So yeah, as a whole I do like the ease-of-carry of this kit, and for £6.95, it's a pretty decent price. It'd definitely ideal for travelling, but I don't think that I'd use some of the products at any other time than when I'm travelling. It's also a great kit if, like me, you want to try out products without buying them full price, and I'm seriously considering venturing to buy the Deep Balance Toner. I just wish that they would bring out a travel-size kit for Oily Skin.

You can pick up this kit from the Madara website.

**I was sent this product for reviewing purposes, a really long time ago, for which I apologise**

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September Lust Haves

I've never done a Lust Have post before, but I've seen a few things recently, on various websites, that I have really fallen in love with, that I decided to put together this blog post in replacement of my Hottie and the Nottie post, which I've gotten (yet again) out of sync with writing anyway!

Poppy Fur Lined Boot

From Pixie Footwear, the Poppy Fur Lined Boot is so adorable and perfect for winter as they look so warm, and with thick soles which should be great for puddles (and hopefully snow!).

I also love the fact that the boots can be worn either high-leg, as shown, or unzipped and folded over to create a smaller boot.

Personally, I'd buy the camel colour boots as in the picture, however they are also available in Black, Chocolate and Grey.

For £64.99 they are slightly expensive, but still cheaper than most Ugg Boots!!

Check out these cute books on the Pixie Footwear website.

Soot Sprite Acrylic Necklace

Anyone who is familiar with Studio Ghibli films My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away will recognise this cheeky little critter as a Soot Sprite. Being the proud owner of a Totoro necklace, and a huge fan of Studio Ghibli films I really need this because it is just too cute!

It's cute, it's quirky and it's so simple in design. Oh man, I just love this necklace like *squeeee* and now I shall calm down ;)

Priced at £7 this is a pretty decent amount for a truly awesome piece of jewellery.

Pick yours up from the Jiji Kiki website.

Funky Diva Glitter Nail Polish

It's no secret that I am a huge nail polish-a-holic, and I absolutely love BeautyUK's Posh Polish Collection. At the minute, I am the proud owner of both Sunstone and Amethyst from the collection, and I can not wait to add Funky Diva.

Purple is definitely my favourite colour, especially when it comes to nail polish and the fact that it's glittery makes me go a little weak at the knees. First, because I have a real thing for glitter at the minute, and secondly because I don't own any glittery purples, so yay!

These polishes cost £3.49 which is pretty good, me thinks.

Grab a bottle from Superdrug or the BeautyUK website.

What are you lusting after this September?

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Thoughtful Thursday: 13/09/2012

I think we all need to do this every once in a while!!

Source: strikingtruths.com via Alison on Pinterest

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Top 10 Tips for Making Uni Life Easier

When I was younger, going to Uni was supposed to be this big and wild adventure, but in reality, that isn't always the case. Things go wrong, and they don't always go to plan. You discover that not everyone is nice, or even worth knowing. At times, Uni can seem like one huge pain in the behind, but I wanted to share a few tips for making your time at Uni that little bit easier, because these are the things that most Universities don't always tell you about:

1. Back Everything Up - Regularly.

In my final year at Uni, my PC decided to do an almost literal dive bomb. It went cuckoo and every five minutes or so, it would reboot itself and I would lose work. Another time, my PC crashed and I lost an entire essay that I had to completely re-write, from scratch. You're probably thinking, that's okay, I have auto-save, but what if the auto-save, on this one occasion, decides that it doesn't want to play ball? You'll save it onto a USB drive? Great, and what are you going to do if that USB drive becomes corrupt? Email it to yourself? Well, say hello to that lovely person in India who has decided to hack your account and steal everything from it.

In reality, it's unlikely that all of these will happen, but do you really want to take the chance?

Backing everything up is boring, and I will admit that I didn't do it often enough, and it ended up biting me very firmly on the behind. Save often, and have several copies of everything just to play it safe. You won't regret it.

2. Don't Buy Every Book on the Reading List

You might not need them. Most books are given as a general guide, but when it comes to actually writing essays, you'll quickly learn that the most helpful books aren't even on the reading list.

Initially, only buy the books that cover the basics of what you are going to be studying. Then, as you progress through your course, use your own judgement to decide which books you will find useful to own, rather than borrow from the library.

3. Borrow Books Early

It's fairly easy to figure out that most students will leave the writing of all essays to the last few weeks before they need handing in. The problem being that since everyone will be in the same frame of mind, recommended books are likely to be difficult to get hold of. Instead, search out recommended books, essays and periodicals as soon as you are given the reading list and/or essay questions (generally, we were given the essay question right at the beginning of the module) and have had enough time to figure out what you might need.

You don't have to focus your attention on the essay. Instead, photocopy the pages you think you're going to need and go back to them when you do write the essay.

4. Prepare for the Worst

One of the worst things about living in Halls, was definitely fire alarms at 2 o'clock in the morning. There is nothing worse than scrambling to put things on and finding yourself stood in the freezing cold wearing nothing put your skimpiest vest and shorts with no shoes.

When I first moved into Halls, I went into super paranoid mode and every night made sure that I put my dressing gown on the back of my desk chair with my keys in one of the pockets. I then made sure that I knew exactly where my shoes were.

Boy am I glad that I did!!

5. Fresher's Fair

Fresher's Fairs are a sweet haven for freebies and money-off coupons. At my first year Fresher's Fair, I picked up some awesome stuff, including:

• A "Protect Your Property" Pint Glass
• A UV Pen (to mark you belongings in case they get pinched!)
• A Flares Bottle Opener (actually, I think I somehow picked up two!!)
• A Shot Glass 
• Money-off vouchers for the local supermarket

6. Always keep an eye on your washing

This is something that I am incredibly thankful that I didn't experience myself, but I've seen it happen. Laundry rooms in Halls get incredibly busy (unless you do your washing early on a Sunday morning when everyone is soothing their hangovers!!), so whatever you do always make sure that you are in the Laundry room when your washing finishes.

Why, you might ask?

Because students are an impatient bunch, and if the washer has finished, they will take it out and replace the stuff with their own! If you left a basket on top, you might be lucky and find you clothing in it, but I've seen stuff just thrown on the floor.

I'm not sure which bit is the worst: the idea of your stuff being thrown aside, or the idea of someone touching your smalls (eew!)

7. Leave your Bedroom door open

This is actually something that I read just before I went to Uni myself, however if you are looking to make friends with your flatmates, leave your door open. The idea being that an open door is welcoming, and it tells people that it's okay for them to come in.

Then, when you don't feel like socialising so much, it should be pretty clear to people that a closed door means they should stay away, or at least be cautious!

8. Don't expect to learn much in Lectures

Unlike School, Uni learning is what you make of it. You have to take control and as a rule, lectures are designed purely to plant the initial seeds. It is then your job to plant those seeds, open up your books and pretty much teach yourself.

Of course tutors may offer guidance, but it really is up to you to study, research and help yourself to fully understand the relevant areas of your course and modules. It is up to you to organise yourself and your time.

9. Don't expect Uni to be like what you read in magazines, books or the prospectus

The University experience is different for absolutely everyone. Some people make lots of lifelong friends, whilst others don't make many. Some people love their course, whilst others just kind of plod along and get on with it. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is: don't go to Uni with high expectations, because the chances are that you won't fulfil any of them.

Just go with the flow, and see where Uni life takes you.

10. Keep a close eye on your Finances

It's easy to want to spend all of your loan money over the first few weeks of the semester, especially when you know that you have an overdraft to fall back on, but I really do recommend trying to at least gain a little control over your spending.

When I started Uni, I opened up a Student Account with HSBC that came with an overdraft. However, I didn't put my student loan into that account. Instead, I had the money go into an existing account, that didn't have an overdraft, and each week I would drip feed my loan into my student account to prevent me from spending it all too quickly. I did this by dividing my loan into the number of weeks I needed to cover and then set up a Direct Debit to move the money over each Monday.

Of course I still had the overdraft, and yes I will confess that I went heavily into it, but at least I wasn't spending the loan too quickly. 

Yesterday, the lovely Robyn also pointed out the need to keep a supply of loo roll for yourself, which is definitely another way of making life easier for yourself. 

But what other tips would you give new students, to make their lives easier? 

What do you wish you'd known about, before you went?

Did you make any mistakes? Have any regrets?

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Top 10 Things to take to Uni

This time ten years ago, I was preparing to start my journey into the world of University. Ten years is a long time, but weirdly it still feels like yesterday because time seems to whizz by so quickly. I know that quite a few of you will be heading off to Uni over the next few weeks so I thought that I would do a little series of posts to help you to settle in no matter which Uni you're headed towards.

Of course, these tips are pulled from my own experience of University, and everyone else will probably have had completely different experiences, but I hope that it will help people out a little bit :)

So, I decided to start off this mini series with my Top 10 Things to take to Uni. Ultimately, this is the stuff that you'll (probably) need whilst living in Halls of Residence, rather than things you'll need for your studies. I might do that one in another post, maybe.

1. Bedding

It is amazing how many people arrived at Halls when I was there without a quilt, quilt cover, sheets, pillows or anything. Yes, some places do provide them and some will even loan you some if you forget, but trust me when I say that you will be thankful you took your own!

A girl in my flat didn't take any bedding, and ended up spending the first week using the most disgusting bedding that probably ever existed.

Seriously, buy your own, know that no one else has pee'd or puked all over it and know that it will smell "normal"!

2. Mattress Protector

My mattress, in Halls, was the most irritating thing. Whilst most mattresses that I've ever come across are made from a rough fabric-type material, my Halls mattress was made of a smooth material, I guess because students have a habit of peeing and puking all over their beds, and this makes it easier for them to be cleaned.

However, from my experience this shiny material is also a complete nightmare for keeping your bed sheet actually on the bed. I got so sick of it coming off in the night and putting it back on, that it was like a dream come true when I went out and bought a mattress protector that helped to keep the sheet on.

You don't have to go out and buy a really expensive protector that is memory foam or whatever, unless you have a really uncomfortable mattress of course, but a cheap(ish) one should do if, like me, you just wanted to keep the sheet on the bed!!

3. Kitchenware

Don't go overboard with your kitchenware. Before I went to Uni, I bought a full set including several large plates, small plates and soup bowls and I quickly regretted it. The problem that I found in Halls was that once "some" (note: not all) flatmates had used up their own plates and mugs etc, they moved on to other peoples instead of washing up their own.

If things do get out of hand, don't be afraid to move stuff into your bedroom. It sounds extreme, but sometimes it's necessary.

4. Bottle and Can Openers, and Corkscrew

It's easy to forget how important it is to have each of these items. Even if you don't drink wine very often, you can guarantee that when you do have a bottle, no one is going to have a corkscrew! It's like Sod's Law because everyone forgets.

It is virtually impossible to live a student life without a can opener. Whether you're eating soup, spaghetti hoops, beans, peas or whatever, you will need a can opener!

5. Blanket or Throw

After arriving in the September, it wasn't until the January that I discovered how to work the radiator in my bedroom. It wasn't just a simple case of switching it on at the wall, it was a case of understanding the weird settings. So, I strongly recommend taking a blanket or throw for if and/or when it gets cold and you can't figure out the controls, or don't even have any control over it.

6. A Fan

At the other end of the spectrum, halls generally (although some do) don't have air conditioning, so when spring and summer hits, rooms can get quite warm, and windows aren't always a huge help. So, having a fan is a huge benefit!

7. Cushions

Most flats in Halls don't have living rooms, so it is guaranteed that a lot of time will be spent in bedrooms, either yours or your flatmates. So, I think it's nice if during the day you can convert your bed into a sort-of sofa using cushions, as it makes it a bit comfier to sit on.

8. Laptop or PC

I don't know how anyone, these days, can get through Uni without a laptop or PC of their own. Yeah, you can do a lot of studying in the library, but sometimes that's just not practical. Nevertheless, they're handy for other stuff too. For example, if you have a particularly small bedroom or are trying to cut down on stuff you take, consider sacrificing your TV and replacing it with a computer. You can watch most TV shows on the BBC iPlayer, 4OD etc, and I only wish that we had this option when I was at Uni!!

However, if you do take a TV, don't forget that you will need to buy a TV Licence!

9. Personal Stuff i.e. Posters

For most students (myself included), moving to University is your first time living away from home, and it's easy to get incredibly home sick. For me, the key to pushing that aside a little is by really personalising your room as much as you can get away with.

Most Halls won't let you hang things from the walls, but from my experience, they're not going to tell you off for putting up posters, probably because even if it's officially "not allowed", practically everyone is going to do it!

Whilst at Uni, I had four main posters: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Xander from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and David Beckham!

I also found that it helped to have photos of friends, and birthday cards etc to make the otherwise quite cold room seem more homely.

10. Lots of Change

The Washing Machines at my Halls of Residence, cost £1.20 and as such only accepted £1 and 20p coins, which was really annoying, because in those first few weeks we were always scrounging 20p coins off each other, as you just don't think to save them.

In the end, I started saving up all my 20p's so that I always had a supply and quite a few times, my flatmate would ask to swap some money for 20p's!!

It's not always easy to predict which coins the machines are going to take, because they're all different, so try and save up a good supply of all of them, just in case. You will be thankful you did.

Again, these tips are just from my own personal experience, 

but I hope that some of you will find them useful :)

Past students, what items are you glad that you took to Uni with you, 

which do you regret taking, 

and which things do you wish you'd taken?

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Curbi Studio Bags

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that most (although of course not all) women have a passion for either shoes or bags. For me, shoes don't really do it that much for me. However, I love bags and the quirkier, the better. In fact, I recently had a conversation with my family about how many bags is too many. The answer of course being that you can never have too many bags!

Keeping things in the family, I wanted to share a couple of pieces beautifully created by my sister-in-law.

Pink and Purple

The "Burcu" Bag

I always refer to this as my "Burcu" bag ;)

Cute Labelling

I love these bags, because they're so quirky and unique, as well as being very much in Burcu's style.

To find out more about Burcu and her work, click on the links :)

Curbi Studio Blog

Curbi Studio on Folksy

Curbi Studio on Etsy

Curbi Studio on Facebook

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Thoughtful Thursday: 06.09.2012

Source: thechive.com via Kat on Pinterest

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What does Autumn Taste Like?

As you'll probably be able to tell from the photo, this is an image that was taken a couple of years ago (2010 to be accurate), and I've been meaning to share it on here ever since (better late than never, right??).

So, this is a sign that my Mum and I had passed in Newark several times for a good few weeks, and every single time I saw it, I found myself asking the same question....

What does Autumn taste like??

Maybe I should have gone along and found out ;)

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Jiji Kiki Lucky Dip Review

A few weeks ago, I found myself craving some new jewellery (as ya do!), so I popped over to Jiji Kiki and as expected, I couldn't decide what I wanted, which is really nothing new. There are just so many cute and adorable items that I can never make up my mind. So, I ended up getting a £10 Lucky Dip and I thought I'd share what I got with you guys :)

You might remember that I've bought a couple of things from Jiji Kiki in the past.

For £10, I received four items:

• Cat Stud Earrings
• Pink Love Heart Drop Earrings
• Bow Chain Necklace
• Green Love Heart Chain Necklace

I love never knowing what I'm going to get, because when the parcel came it felt like Christmas and being a little kid again as I ripped open the envelope with a little too much excitement.

Each item come separately wrapped, which I like, because it means that none of the chains get tangled up.

Pink Earrings

 These are definitely not something that I would ever have chosen to buy independently, but I surprised myself with how much I like them. I even found that they matched a dress I own quite nicely, which is always a plus.

Kitty Cat Earrings

 These kitty cat earrings were definitely my favourite item that came in my package, because I love cats (duh!) and because there is something so quirky and simple about them. I think I would have preferred them to be facing opposite directions, but maybe I'm just fussy ;)

Bow Necklace

Again, something that I wouldn't have chosen, but I like the cuteness of this bow and wore it recently on a night out with friends.

Heart Necklace

I have a confession, because I actually managed to break this before I'd even put it on!! But, I did manage to fix it, so it wasn't a problem. This is such a cute and simple little piece that I absolutely adore. It's great when you just want something that is subtle and doesn't draw too much attention to itself.

So, that's four items averaging (I'd guess) at around £6 a piece, which is an estimated saving of around £14 which isn't too bad!

If you haven't checked out Jiji Kiki's shop, do it now, you won't be disappointed :)

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