Saturday 30 January 2016

How To Do Valentines Day As A Single Person

Meow!

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/02/papa-johns-heart-shaped-valentines-pizza.html
Okay so I know that it is a bit early to be even mentioning the dreaded VD words (not the disease from Friends but Valentines Day) but as I have seen a few bloggers publish their Valentines Day orientated blog posts I thought that I would publish mine a bit early. (P.S: Like a lot of my posts, the photos aren't mine but I shall link their source in the caption...)

Alcohol: 

http://www.talktofrank.com/drug/alcohol

The first thing that any single person needs on Valentines Day is alcohol. I am not going to say a specific type of alcohol as everyone has different preferences but make sure you have a good few bottles of your favourite alcoholic drink as you can drink your thoughts/feelings away throughout the day and then at midnight you can always drunk dial your ex yelling at them telling them what they have missed out on...

Netflix/Films/Box Sets: 

https://twitter.com/netflixhelps
We all need Netflix or some sort of digital entertainment on Valentines Day whether that is watching whilst 'chilling' with someone or bingewatch multiple TV series on your own within one day. It's a great way to spend the day and also you can live vicariously through a characters relationship... (I'm into living vicariously via Connor Walsh's relationship on How To Get Away With Murder/any of the relationships on Pretty Little Liars...)

Ice Cream: 

http://www.benjerry.co.uk/flavours
We all need Ice cream when watching something. You can either think that the ice cream is your ex's heart and then scoop it out viciously or let it melt until it is just liquid and just add some of your alcohol to it and drink it as a cocktail...

Pizza: 


http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/02/papa-johns-heart-shaped-valentines-pizza.html


We need something carb heavy to soak up all that alcohol... Pizza is also the ultimate food to eat whilst watching something as you can just pick it up and smoosh it into your mouth. You can also make it into a heart shape before baking or you can always just ask whoever you're ordering from to make into a heart shape then you can imagine its someone that you hate and then break their heart into many different pieces...

Bath Products: 



Bath products always make me feel that little bit more relaxed so you can have one then when you get out and check Facebook/other Social Media you won't be tempted to throw your phone at a wall because of all the lovey dovey stuff on your screen...

Chocolate: 

http://www.hotelchocolat.com/uk/shop/collections/products/luxury-boxed-chocolates

This is an obvious one. There is thousands of offers on chocolate within the Valentines Day period so you might as well as get them when they're on a discount... You can also play Chocolate Roulette where you pick a chocolate at random and hope for the best flavourwise...

I hope that you have enjoyed this little guide to doing valentines day as a single person. I hope that you have a fun Valentines Day whether you're single, in a relationship, friends with benefits etc. I hope to see you next time for another blog post!

Meow!
Jamie x

Tuesday 26 January 2016

That Time When I Declined Experience With Attitude Magazine

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I think the best way for me to write this blog post is if I just get straight into it.
It's going to be really short. Ah well.

Bit of a trigger warning: I mention anxiety and panic attacks.

So last year, I tweeted a few places asking if there was any emails I could contact about any internships over the Summer when I had time off from college and things as I kind of want to try and get a career within Media somehow so this felt like the right thing to do. I got sent an email address to contact on Twitter and emailed them.

A few weeks later, I got an email back from the guys at Attitude saying that they wanted me to come down for a talk about it. Sadly, getting from Bradford to London a couple of days before a company want you to be there whilst being student which means that most of your money gets spent on food, travel or the odd Lush product or two... I emailed and sorted out another date and sorted out everything for that but sadly anxiety got well in the way.

By anxiety getting in the way, I meant making sure that I had somewhere to stay in London for a week, enough money to survive and everything like that and after several panic attacks I just thought it wasn't worth it all and sadly declined. I feel that it would have been better for a time in my life when I was completely free or felt like I could be stable within London for the amount of time needed.

 It hasn't put me off things such as internships and other great opportunities.I just feel that before trying to reach too far by getting an internship in London without realising what I was jumping into. I feel that I was better off trying to get something that I could handle that was near me.

I hope that you have enjoyed this little story and I'll be back with posts very soon when I sort college stuff and other things out as I have a lot posts backdated that need to go up soonish so I might try and do a week worth of posts when I can.

Thank you for reading and I hope to see you next time for another blog post. If you have never checked out Attitude Magazine then click on here, They are an amazing magazine company.

Meow!
Jamie x

Monday 25 January 2016

Diary Of A Meowing Lushie | The Lush Boxing Day Sale Rant

Meow!



Yes the title reads right and yes I am still banging on about things to do with Christmas even though it's the middle of January. You can either judge me or read on. I promised myself that I would get this post up and even though it is a rant it's more of a warning about the Lush Online Boxing Day Sale. 

Like all lushies, I got up early after an amazing Christmas Day, grabbed my laptop and got up the lush website to wait for 9am to grab some amazing deals on some products. I know that I have way too much but if there's a sale going on then it's rude to not have a look. 

9am came and nothing happened, I checked Twitter and found out that it was going to go public at 10 which I thought okay that's fine as I had nothing to do with my day except binge watch Netflix so I waited until 10 and the sale went online but everything was sold out and only some things were actually on sale which was weird. Lush said that they were sorting it out and then ten minutes later the site came up with a message saying that they were sorting it out. 

I went back on about half an hour later and everything that was meant to be on sale was on sale but an error came up when you tried to get anything to the checkout. I refreshed again and a queue now came up instead of anything else. It said you had ten minutes to sort what you want out or you wouldn't be able to purchase anything. I thought okay I already know what I want so I can do this but when I got to the front of the queue there was another error. 

Basically everytime you tried to do anything it came up with some sort of error which I thought was to do with servers and the amount of traffic the site had on that day but I couldn't be entirely sure. It took me till 1am to finally sort what I want out and get it through to ordering. 

Another problem came around a few days later. As Luke paid via his PayPal, he got a message saying that Lush had refunded him some of the money and we worked out that we would only be getting three items and P&P on top as everything else was out of stock and it just made more sense to cancel the order in the end. 

Moral of the story: If you want to get anything off the Lush Boxing Day sale either be very prepared with the website or just skip the website and try to get to a store as soon as possible as you know that you'll be getting something. You might have to wait in a massive queue but you will have the items in your hands and not hoping that they are coming soon. I had a better chance of getting stuff in the store and if you want to find out what I got then click here

I hope that you got some great things in the Lush sale if you got anything? Have you checked out the new Valentines Day range? Let me know in the comments down below. 

I hope that you have enjoyed this DOAML blog post and I hope to see you next time for another post!

Meow! 
Jamie x

Thursday 7 January 2016

Diary Of A Meowing Lushie | Lush Christmas Haul

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If you checked out my last blog post then you will know that I bought some stuff over the festive period which included some Lush products and as I bought quite a bit I thought that it would be best to do a post on its own all about Lush. Some stuff is from the sale and some is not but all of it is limited edition except one product I think so the stuff that I mention might not be able to purchase by the time this goes up.

I got a few presents off Luke which I will talk about first as I picked them out a while ago and then received them on Christmas Day. Before you ask if it's not fun because you know what you're getting and the answer is no. It is fun because I forget what I'm doing within at least 24 hours of doing it unless I check/sniff the bag etc so it's still a lot of fun realising what Lush presents I have to add to my drawer.

The first thing that I am going to talk about is So White. I have never used So White as I'm not the biggest fan of Apple Scents so So White hasn't really appealed to me in the past but Luke loves it and wants to try and get me to like it for when the Christmas range comes back in 2016. This ballistic contains Bergamot Oil, Rose Absolute Oil and many other amazing essential oils. The ballistic slowly disappears in the bath where the white goes and in the middle the pink shows which slowly turns the bath water such a wonderful colour.



The next product is Luxury Lush Pud. I've already talked about it in the past and within the last lush haul which I shall link here. This product is the festive cousin of Twilight. The ballistic is scented with Lavender and Tonka Absolute. The Lavender creates a soothing scent which is amazing for nightime/before going to bed whereas the Tonka Absolute gives a sweet kick to the scent which cuts through the lavender to give it a slight toffee kick. There is also spots of colour on the product which make it go a pretty colour.




The next thing that I got was a Dashing Santa. The name of this ballistic comes from an inside joke at the Lush factory that is within Poole as the staff are so busy at the festive time of the year therefore they ended up being dubbed Dashing Santa's. This one is meant to have a scent of Satsuma's which I understand when I smell it but I think versions of this (2014) had more of a strong scent to it which I loved so I was slightly a bit underwhelmed when I smelt this years version. It contains Bergamot Oil, Mandarin Oil and Orange Flower Absolute. This Santa also has Gold boots so there will be a hint of lustre when you drop it into the water so if you're not a big fan of lustre then you might not like this one.



The next one that I got was Shoot For The Stars. I've talked about this one quite a lot within the past as I love the scent of this ballistic and I also love what it does to the water. There is rumours of this one taking over Honey Bee as a permanent as they both share the same scent but Honey Bee doesn't sell as much as SFTS does at Winter. (I think that might be why but as it's a rumour please don't bank on this.) If you're not familiar with the scent then it is a mixture of Brazilian Orange and Bergamot which creates a deep sweet honey/toffee scent. You need to purchase one for me to explain what it does in the bath.



Cinders. Now I did get one of these last year (2014) but sadly it crumbled before I had the chance to use it. This one is influenced on fireside moments and when you want that fireside moment in the bath when its cold. Cinders contains Almond Oil, Sweet Orange Oil and Cinnamon Leaf Oil to give that sort of spicy Cherry Cola scent that it is so known for. It also has Vegan Popping Candy on top as well to complete that feeling of being at the side of the fire. It is quite a small bath bomb but it packs a punch!



Golden Wonder. Yes, I got more Golden Wonder's. I love the citrus scent that they give off and ah, it's just so amazing. The scent is a mixture of cognac, lime and orange! The colour that give the water is such a lovely hue of turquoise and the lustre adds a glimmer of shine but not too much to the point where it would put you off using one again. Did you know that it takes a week to make one due to the layers within the product? I nearly got the Celebrate perfume when it was on the Kitchen a while back but I didn't have the money to spend on just one product so sadly I didn't get it. (The Golden Wonder scent is in all of the Celebrate range.)



The last thing that Luke got me was a Santa's Lip Scrub. I wanted one of these last year but by the time I got round to getting one they were all sold out so I got a Mint Julep one instead and that started my love for sugar lip scrubs from Lush. This product has caster sugar in so you can scrub away all the dead/dry skin that Winter brings but also has Coconut Oil which moisturises the lips, Aniseed Oil, Black Pepper Oil, Lime Oil and an extract of Cherries and Dates to give the product a Cherry Cola scent. It also has little red hearts which sounds weird but works.




The rest of the post is things that I bought within the sale. Sadly I didn't get chance to buy anything online which I shall explain in another post but I did go in store and picked up some things that were left from the sale.

The first things that I bought was a Snowman FUN.

If you don't know what FUN is then I shall explain it for you. FUN is a concept that the Founder of Lush, Mo Constantine came up with so her grandchildren would be interested within Lush and bathtime cosmetics. The concept is that this product can be multipurpose and can be moulded into anything possible so the children have fun making something and then get to enjoy it. The concept was first trialled in Japan and it was such a success so Lush brought it out everywhere. You can use FUN as shampoo, bubble bath or soap. I have heard in the past that some have even used it as washing powder for clothes!

Snowman FUN has three different sections. A white section, a orange section and a black section therefore if you use all of these together you can create yourself your very own Snowman! You can then drown the snowman and have fun with your bath... The scent of this product is a fruity one thanks to Buchu Oil, Sicilian Lemon Oil and Bergamot Oil. If you're a Lushie then you will know that this shares the same scent as the Carrot Soap and the Bunch of Carrots that are released at Easter.





I also got a Gold FUN which shares the same scent as Honey Bee, It's Raining Men, SFTS and much more. It has a sweet honey/toffee scent via Orange and Bergamot which I completely love. This FUN is a seasonal limited edition one and I got to use it in 2014 at the Leeds event and never picked it up so I thought I would when it was half price this year. It does have Gold Lustre within so if you're not a big fan of lustre then I don't think that you will like this product but I love a bit of lustre so I adore this product.




The next thing that I got was a weird one. Hair Custard. Yes, custard for the hair. This product used to be an Oxford Street exclusive and I was tempted to get it but the price of it is quite expensive for 100g. When I saw it at the sale I had to get some as I knew that I loved the scent and I have heard people rave about this within the past. The product/dressing is meant to fight static and add moisture and shine. It sorts the condition of your hair out a bit via the egg whites that are in the product (as there is egg whites it isn't a vegan product) which is known throughout the media to sort your hair out quite well. You can use it many ways such as putting it on before blow drying or straight on dry hair to make sure that it is nourished which is what I have been doing (I'm halfway through reviewing it as I use beauty products for a week before I review them.) You can also use it as a hair perfume which is quite amazing. The scent is quite like Custard as the custard is mainly based on a Fairtrade Vanilla Pod Infusion, Grapefruit Juice and Fairtrade Vanilla Absolute.





I also got First Snow which is a dusting powder that shares the same scent as Celebrate and Golden Wonder. It has Cognac, Lime and Sweet Orange in which I absolutely adore and has a bit of lustre within so if you don't like lustre then it's probably not for you which means more for me! It is meant to be used as a finishing product as you put it on just before going out and is meant for that festive party season. I use it mainly when I want a little bit of a pick me up. 85 also contains talc which is slightly nourishing to the skin. I got it for half price which came to around £3. I was a bit disappointed that Celebrate Lotion had vanished into thin air which meant I didn't get any this season as paying £12 for a body lotion was a bit on the expensive side for me when it was available. This is a great product to accompany the Golden Wonder and I may use it after a bath with one in the future!




The last thing that I got was Reindeer Rock, I did get it via Luke but I thought I would put it here. If you have read any of the other DOAML posts then you will know that I LOVE The Comforter scent and yes that is what this soap smells of. This was out last year but it was a different colour and had little reindeers printed all over it whereas this year (2015) Lush have decided to go for a Carrot Soap concept where there is just one reindeer in the middle of each bar of soap. (If you've never seen Carrot Soap before then the concept is that it is shaped as a massive carrot and then every slice of soap contains a big rabbit in the middle of the bar.) The soap contains Lingonberries which give the soap that Comforter-esque scent but also keeps dry skin at bay. Bergamot Oil and Cassis Absolute which can also be found within The Comforter Shower Cream and Bubble Bar. I am tempted to have a Triple Comforter bath with the shower cream, bar and soap but I'm not sure yet... Hmm... (PS It has lustre in. I shall report back to you somehow about how much lustre ends up on the skin.)



So, that is everything that I got from the Lush Winter Sale. Did you get anything? Have you bought any of the above? Let me know in the comments section! I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post and I hope to see you next time for another blog post!

Meow!
Jamie x

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Monday 4 January 2016

Boxing Day Sale Haul

Meow!



Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I have been enjoying my time off college and spending time with family and enjoying everything that comes with the festive holidays. One of those things are the Boxing Day sales and I went into Leeds a few days after Boxing Day due to travel and flooding problems within Leeds and I thought that I would tell you what I bought.

The first place that I went into was Lush. Yes, I did try and do the online sale and I will talk about that in another blog post. I bought quite a bit in store so I thought that I would do separate blog post on that after this post so check out for that. When it goes live, I shall update this post with a link to it.

The next place that I went to was The Body Shop because it is only around the corner from Lush and I wanted to see if they had any of their festive range left in their sale. Sadly, they did not have any more Frosted Cranberry Shimmer Mist's which I have been living off during the festive period. I then went to see if they had any Frosted Cranberry Shimmer Lotions left which I thought they did as there was a sample version available to try so I picked one up from behind it and popped it in my basket. Sadly, it was a Frosted Plum one which I like the smell of but not as much as I love the Cranberry scent so I may use this more in the Spring when it seems more suitable as the scent is quite clean/floral based. I also picked up a Frosted Cranberry Shower Gel as I needed to stock up on some. Can you tell that I love the Frosted Cranberry scent? It's sweet but fruity and has a bit of shimmer to it which I love. It's one of those scents that you either love or hate. I think that all three scents that The Body Shop released this Winter are all like that. Shower Gel was £2 and the Shimmer Lotion was £4. Check out what is left of the sale here.



I did pop into Burton as they had a sale but sadly they didn't really have anything that I want even though my wardrobe is quite Burton central due to myself having a thing for shirts and also the fact that Burton do some pretty good shirts. They did have a lot in the sale but none of it screamed out to me.

The next place that I wandered into was Topman, I already knew that they had a sale on and with Topman and Burton, I get an extra 10% off due to my NUS card. I searched the sales racks for quite some time and was deciding between a cute printed tshirt from the Topman X Nick Grimshaw collaboration and a classic sort of baseball tshirt with floral sleeves. I was leaning more towards the Topman X Nick Grimshaw top but I can't resist a bit of floral clothing so I decided to pick that one up in the end. I also was about to go to the till when at the side of the last rack that I was looking through I found a lot of what I thought were jackets when I realised that they were capes and that I have seen them all over the web and on catwalks so I thought that I would get one because I could wear it with different things and it felt quite soft which meant I could still wear it in the quite chilly weather that we having at this very minute. I am planning on doing a blog post just on the cape and the many different ways you can style it. Top was £7 and the cape was £12.50 but I also had an extra 10% off.





I then went to River Island as it lives next door to Topman/Topshop within Trinity Leeds. I wandered around the store and flicked through all of the sales racks and found nothing that seemed me. I love sales but I never really buy anything unless I know that I will wear it and nothing in the sales section of River Island seemed.

(I also got a few things from H&M just before Christmas when I was in Bradford with Michelle after filming for my Film Studies coursework so we headed into H&M where we found a nice shirt within the sales section which had a round sort of penny collar which I fell in love with and a sort of rain trickle design all over it. I also wanted a Christmas jumper for Christmas Day which I slowly found at the back of the store. There was a few different designs including one with bells attached to the jumper but I decided to go for a green one which says Candy Cane Addict on which makes the jumper more of an all round one instead of a Christmas jumper which means I can get away with wearing it when I want to really.)






I then ventured to Primark as I knew that I could always rely on Primark to have something that I want. They always have a good selection of shirts and other things that I always end up needing. I searched the store and found a good chunk of shirts which I nearly ended up getting but I resisted as I knew that I was in need of a new belt. It was £4 It's practical and when you need one, you need one. I found a brown one which I liked the look of and decided to get it. I then went to look at the shirts as I could only resist for so long and decided to get a grey checked shirt which came with a black longline t-shirt which meant that I got two things for £12 which is great in my opinion.




The last place that I went was Pulp. It's rare that I go here but when I do, I end up spending quite a bit so I was pretty proud of myself when I realised that I had only bought one thing. I decided to buy one of the band merch tops that they always have on offer for 2 for £25 but I felt that I didn't need two but could suffice buying one. I decided to get a Misfits top (they are a Punk rock band) as I liked the design of the top and before you even do the why did you buy a top when you've never listened to the band so I will listen to the music when I have typed up this post as I have music on at the minute.



So thats the end of my Boxing Day Sale Haul post. I hope that you have enjoyed it. Do you like any of the clothes that I have mentioned above? Did you buy anything from the Boxing Day sales? Let me know down below. Thank you for reading this post and I hope that you enjoyed it. Don;t forget to come back and read my Lush Haul when its up. I hope to see you next time for another blog post.

Meow!
Jamie x

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