22 THINGS I’VE LEARNED IN 22 YEARS!

I do not take credit for this photography.

 

Oh heyy!

On the 19th March, 2018, I turned 22. It’s no surprise it was a complete birthday come down considering last year I spent my 21st birthday in DISNEYLAND PARIS!!! This year, the 19th fell on a Monday, meaning I spend the day in university – fun! …NOT!

Naturally, I spent the days leading up to my birthday reflecting on my life so far, and where I would like to be in a year from now. This is a list of 22 things I have learned by the age of 22!

1. If I do not end up working in the fashion industry, my course has been the biggest achievement of my life so far, and I will always be thankful for that.
2. I would live anywhere else in the UK other than London.
3. I am not someone who enjoys the gym, no matter how much I wish I did.
4. Roaccutane is the best and worst drug I have ever experienced, but the results make up for the side effects in the end.
5. I actually want children(!!!). I’ve spent my whole life not wanting children, but within the last year the clock has started ticking and it’s all I can think about when I envisage the future.
6. I find it really difficult to find ‘boy’ names I like for a future child of mine.
7. I want to see the world, but I need to remember there is no rush, no rush at all.
8. I wanted to start a youtube channel when I was 16, it could’ve lead me down a different life path completely but there is a part of me that still wishes I did.
9. I HATE LEMON FLAVOURED THINGS. In particularly; lemon juice, lemon cake, lemon candles, lemon sorbet etc, etc.
10. The Big Bang Theory and Friends will never get old!
11. Don’t set your hopes too high for tv finales – Pretty Little Liars was SO RUBBISH!
12. People in life don’t always put as much effort into friendships as you do. This doesn’t mean they’re horrible people, BUT if they don’t make you happy, you’re not out-of-order to let go of them. (Does that make sense???)
13. Learning to drive is pretty important, even though I did not listen to anyone that told me that when I was 17.
14. I loveeeee family more than anything in this world, family come first, always.
15. I like really girly chick-flicks, and that doesn’t make me any less ‘cool’.
16. Earrings can be so fun, be brave and have fun with them gurllllll.
17. Fashion design is not necessarily about designing for what you would wear personally, but about the brand and what would sell.
18. Birthdays are a big deal, anyone that doesn’t make you feel special on your day are not worth your time.
19. I’m a pretty great Auntie to my Niece and I can’t wait to be equally great to my future Nephew (Due: 30th August)
20. TAKE TIME FOR SELF CARE.
21. I feel empathy for others more than I think is normal.
22. The song ’22’-Taylor Swift is old now. Noone remembers it exists and will not play it to you on your 22nd birthday 😦

 

I hope you enjoyed this post.

Thank you so much for reading!

Lou xo

 

Sunshine Blogger Award!

Oh Heyy!

I have a quick little post tonight to thank Sharvina.y for nominating me for the Sunshine Blogger Award! It is a recognition bloggers receive for posting inspiring, creative or informative posts.
This is how nominated bloggers should proceed:

1. Thank the blogger for nominating them and link back to their blog
2. Answer the 11 questions asked by the blogger who nominated you
3. Nominate 11 other blogs and give them 11 questions to answer
4. Notify your nominees
5. List the rules and display the sunshine blogger award logo in your post

 

My answers to Sharvina’s Questions:

1. Which country are you blogging from? I blog from England, UK.

2. What brought you to blogging? I wanted to share my experiences and hear about similar experiences. A community of sound understanding appeals to me and I feel that’s one of the many positive outcomes of blogging.

3. Your driving force for regular blogging? I would LOVE to blog more regularly, time is not on my side. I plan on posting more frequently but the driving force of posting at all is the interaction with fellow bloggers.

4. What are your hobbies? My hobby doubles up as a degree too. I am a workaholic to my university course. I study fashion and work on my projects from 9am to midnight, 6/7 days of the week. I CAN’T GET ENOUGH!

5. Your favourite book? Honestly, I don’t read books as such. Is that really bad?? I have a favourite pattern cutting book though?? – Metric Pattern Cutting for Women’s Wear by Winifred Aldrich

6. Your favourite author? N/A

7. What makes you laugh the most? Myself and my Mum are the funniest pair when we are together haha, my Boyfriend is pretty funny too 🙂 

8. Your time management tip? compartmentalized EVERYTHING. Over estimate how long things will take, you’ll be happily surprised when you complete it early.

9. Your idea of independence? I love being independent. When I first moved to uni it took some adjusting but I love being in my own house living by my own rules. I would say I am pretty independent, I moved to London on my own, knowing no one!

10. Your most valuable quotation? ‘You make me be a better me’

11. Did you enjoy your last vacation? YES! I went on a girls holiday to a festival in Croatia. I have actually booked my next holiday tonight! Fuerteventura – I cannot wait!

The 11 Sunshine Bloggers I nominate are:

1. arisjade
2. BlookUp
3. pastelbottlerocket
4. darlydarly
5. rachel
6. Formula For Fabulous
7. The Champagne Diaries
8. Jen H.
9. Knackered Dad
10. Thoughtful Fox
11. Jane Gealy

 

Hoping my nominees will accept this award and answer these questions in detail, you can find out more about the Sunshine Blogger Award here. This is such a nice idea of spreading appreciation and acknowledgment through the community.

The 11 Questions to my nominees are:

1.  What provoked you to start blogging?
2. What’s your current, biggest ambition?
3.  Where is your dream travel destination?
4.  What’s the weirdest food combination you enjoy?
5.  Do you enjoy lighthearted blogs or the more serious/ thought-provoking ones?
6.  Tips on growing as a blogger?
7.  Can you remember the last compliment you gave to someone?
8.  Are you a believer in fait?
9.  Do you believe in love at first sight?
10.  Are you interested or scared off (by the media) in politics?
11.  Favourite inspirational quote?

Please pass it on!

Thank you so much for reading!

Lou xo

 

My Experience on Roaccatane… (part 1)

Oh heyy!

Whilst I lay in bed feeling extremely sorry for myself with my extremely ‘first world problem’, I instinctively reached for my laptop to write this blog post about it.

Tuesday 16th January, 2018, marked the start of my second course of the acne medication, Isotretinoin, formally or more commonly known as Roaccatane. I have previously endured a 9 month course of the antibiotic back in 2015-16 but that didn’t  keep the acne away.  It is now 2018, I am 21 years of and here I am facing the fact that my 11 year stint of acne is probably not ‘just a teenage thing’ anymore.

For reference and personal documentation, here is a photo of my skin pre treatment.

So, day 3 of meds and 6 tablets down, I am feeling horrendous. After just one tablet I felt my mood drop instantly and my confidence fly straight out of the window (hoping to find it again soon). My skin is starting to dry already and peel and one of the worst symptoms that I do not remember from my last course is the chronic nausea. This constant sickness is INTENSE. I’m hoping the sickness will wear off as my body adjusts to the medication but for now, laying in a dark room is all I can do.

I take the tablets with food as directed, but as soon as the food is wearing off and my hunger starts again, the sickness comes back. I hear diet helps with these tablets so I am trying to cut out certain foods such as cheese and anything with high fat levels, but your girl is in final year of uni, stress levels will be high and comfort food will be needed.

I want to make this a ‘series’ so with a few follow-up post about how I’m getting on, would that be good??

If you have ANY tips for me I would appreciate them greatly. I would also like to hear if you’ve had a similar experience or if you have any questions for me!

Thank you so much for reading!

Lou xo

NAKED HEAT PALETTE – Eyeshadow for dropped hood eyelids!

Oh heyy!

Today I have a 4 step ‘tutorial'(?) to show you how I do my day-to-day eyeshadow using the new Urban Decay Naked Heat palette. I only use 3 shades for this look and it is fairly subtle. This palette is amazing for building your look up from a daytime to an evening look and all of the colours can be used to create really different makeup looks.

I had primed my eyelids with the ‘Stay Don’t Stray’ eyeshadow primer by Benefit. With a clean fluffy brush, I used the first colour on the palette on the left, ‘Ounce’ and applied it all over my lid, taking it close to my brow.

With another clean fluffy brush, I took the shade ‘Sauced’ through my crease and blended it out.

Tip: As you can see, the line from the outer corner of my eyelid to the end of my eyebrow is very clean and straight. I use one of those wooden icelolly sticks and hold it there with my spare hand. To get the correct angle for this, I place the stick at the bottom corner of my nose and the end of my eyebrow.

Next, I used a thinner, dense brush and darkened the crease with the shade ‘Lumbre’. This adds more definition and creates a slight illusion of a higher crease.

Follow the guide created by the icelolly stick for a perfect angled winged liner. My favourite liner and the one I used for this look is the Kat Von D – Tattoo Liner. Finish the look off with mascara of course.

Thank you so much for reading!

Lou xo

A bit about me!

Oh Heyy,

Welcome to my blog! Here I will be sharing with you many different topics such as;

• Fashion
• My experience throughout my FINAL year of university
• Beauty (including my acne journey)
• Travel
• And general lifestyle posts

So that is what to expect from me! For now, this is just a little introductory post, I have devised a list of 10 facts about me so you can get to know me. If you like what you see as a rough, first post, please make sure you follow me and leave a comment with suggestions on posts you would like to see 🙂 Now onto the list, enjoy!!!

1. My full first name is Katie-Louise but I am known as Lou and have been for as long as I can remember.
2. I currently study Fashion at the University of Derby. I am about to enter my fourth and final year after completing a placement year and gaining a Diploma in Professional Practice.
3. I was born in Lincoln, England and have lived here my whole life up until the point I moved to Derby for uni in 2014.
4. Acne has been the bane of my life since the age of 11, I am now 21 and still trying everything to combat it. (PLEASE comment your acne curing suggestions!!)
5.  Travelling and holidays are passions of mine and it is my mission to get out of Europe next year and travel to somewhere further away.
6. I have been to 8 Festivals, 7 of which I have been to with my mum she is the worlds coolest Mum.
7. I passed the opportunity to learn to drive when I turned 17, but I’m now sooo desperate to. I aim to take a crash course of driving lessons when I finish university.
8. In September 2016, I moved to London for 4 months for a placement. I hated it. But hope to try it again sometime with friends so I don’t have the overwhelming lonely feeling.
9. I have a very small amount of friends because my instincts are extremely good at sussing people out. I love the fact the friends I have are friends for life. ❤
10. My family is split and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I grew up living with my Mum and older sister and I also have a very close relationship with my Dad, Step mum and two younger brothers (ages 12 and 4).

Thank you so much for reading!

Keep your eyes peeled for my first ‘topical’ post.

Lou xo

p.s. The photograph is blurred because it’s a scan of a disposable