2019 Time to Sustain

Hey there you lovely people!

Today I wanted to start writing again and update you on what I’ve been up too. I've just completed my first year at university studying Fashion Technology and it has been a whirlwind. I LOVE my course (I think it was actually made for me!) as I have had the chance to decide what I want to study, whether that's a module on Ecology or 20th Century Fashion. Throughout first year, I have been conscious of the impacts humans are having on the environment, in particular the damaging format of fast fashion and over consumption. I have learnt a lot and have started to live more sustainably as well as shop ethically or not at all (as a 'make do and mend' mindset is bloody fabulous when it comes to being sustainable). In this blog post I wanted to share with you a few of my simple sustainable tips, because being conscious of our impact on the planet doesn't have to be expensive or hard.

Only buy what you need (or make do with what you have) - when it comes to shopping online or in-store many of us are guilty of buying a brand new outfit for an upcoming event or night out. But it just takes a bit of thinking and creativity to use what you already have by either purchasing some basic pieces for your wardrobe or re purposing. For example, if you have a pair of jeans you love but don't know what top to wear with them, just use a pretty headscarf and tie twice at the front or back for two different styles (if you don't already have a headscarf ask your family first as most grandparents would have some but if not charity shops are your best bet)

Put reusable bags in every bag you own - this saves using plastic bags (and if you still have some, Morrisons and other supermarkets have collection bins where you can deposit your old plastic bags if you no longer want to use them rather than disposing of them in the general waste) and ensures you are never without one if you have to pick something up unexpectedly. 

Make your own cotton pads - disposable cotton pads aren't great for the environment as production requires significant amounts of water and energy so using old T-shirts or cut off fabric from up-cycled tops/bottoms you can make reusable pads that can be washed and used over and over again without having to buy or use new fabric, which tends to be expensive. 

Reduce how much you wash your clothes - research has shown that microfibres and microplastics are in our oceans, further research will highlight the impact these contaminants will have on our planet. Therefore reducing how much you wash your clothes, in advance, will help to avoid an unnecessary amount of mircofibres entering our oceans and being ingested by very important crustaceans and sea plankton. (For more information visit - BBC NEWS)

Use Tupperware or old jars - many households acumulate many boxes and containers over time, so instead of buying cling film/tin foil stick to reusable containers. By doing this you reduce on waste (air tight containers keep leftovers from going off) and once redundent containers like jam jars and pasta sauce jars are re purposed.

I hope you found reading this post useful and if you did let me know in the comments! My blog is going to start becoming more centred around an ethical lifestyle, as well as information on fast fashion and the future of fashion as there are both positives and negatives when it comes to the fashion industry (it provides millions of jobs yet it is a very very polluting industry - I will talk more about this in a future post!)

Have a lovely weekend lots of love 

Ames ♥

Get to Know me better...

Hello lovely people today I fancied having a little chat/to answer some questions so that you would be able to get to know me a little bit better! Hope you enjoy and of course feel free to copy the questions and do a similar post yourself!!

1. Are you a morning or night person? Morning definitely 
2. Are you afraid of the dark? No but at the same time I like to sleep with my blind up to wake up with the day 
3. Are you an extrovert or introvert? I would say an ambivert so a bit of both really, however I definitely lean more towards the introvert side
4. Are you double jointed? I don't really know, I can bend my thumb really far back though
5. Are you left or right handed? Right 
6. Are you more of a tidy person or a messy one? I'd say I'm more of an organised chaos 
7. Are you on time or always late? Normally on time I don't like being late
8. Are you ticklish? Yeah I don't understand how people can't be
9. Can you curl your tongue? Yes I can 
10. Can you ice skate? Yeah not amazingly but I can almost skate backwards (that's my only party trick lol)
11. Can you wiggle your ears? No I can't 
12. Coffee or tea? Water, I don't like hot drinks (you can call me weird haha)
13. Cookies, cake or donuts? Cookies 
14. Did you ever participate in a talent show? Yeah I did but our primary school held an X factor so it was just singing but me and my best friend performed HSM 'When there was you and me' and won! woo!
15. Did you go to prom? Yes I did - it was fab!
16. Did you like school? Yes I LOVED school because I love learning and being around my friends everyday. 
17. Do you believe in ghosts? Yeah
18. Do you bite your nails? Yeah :(  I'm going to try and stop soon though.
19. Do you consider yourself a good cook? I can cook pretty well actually but have had a few near misses I can't cook baked beans - bloody burnt them the other day 
20. Do you enjoy dancing? Love it but never gone to a dance class in my life
21. Do you enjoy DIY or crafts? BOTH
22. Do you forgive easily? Yeah I do - I forgive but try not to forget 
23. Do you have a nickname? Yeah a few, ames, small round and amesy cakes (lol)
24. Do you have any allergies? Used to be allergic to cats, peanuts and lobsters but grew out of it I think - don't really want to find out tho haha
25. Do you have any phobias? Yeah I don't like the touch of flock its like velvet but rougher
26. Do you have any piercings or tattoos? Just my ears are pieced 
27. Do you have children? No
28. Do you have pets? Yeah two rabbits 
29. Do you have siblings? Yeah one sister 
30. Do you prefer dogs or cats? Cats - I wish I was one 
31. Do you prefer Mac or PC? I don't have a preference 
32. Do you prefer the beach or the mountains? I love both but nothing beats the beach at sunrise
33. Do you prefer to bath or shower? Shower
34. Do you sing in the shower? Yeah all the time
35. Do you smoke? No - I really don't like it 
36. Do you speak any different languages? No sadly - I try but don't speak any fluently 
37. Do you still have your wisdom teeth? I don't think I have them yet
38. Do you still watch cartoons? If you mean Disney princess cartoons then yeah of course
39. Do you/have you played any sports? Yeah i love keeping fit so do running a lot and like to swim but I haven't competed except for netball at school 
40. Does your name have a special meaning? It's a name my parents liked but in French it does mean beloved which is quite cute 

<3

Library Trip - if you are anything like me I recommend this book 100 times over...

 

We are all Molecules #No.1

Firstly this book was completely found on the off chance (which in itself was really cool as I had no idea what the book really was about until I started to read it) and it mainly caught my attention as it had the word 'molecules' on the cover. As I take Chemistry at A level I was curious why this book was in the fiction section. But it was the right choice to make, as I won't kid you I read it in 6 hours! (BTW that is unheard off for me as it is quite a chunky book as well) One evening this past week I got into my bed and just read non stop (besides dinner) If I'm honest I couldn't put it down.

Anyway let us get to the review - the story follows two teenagers Stewart and Ashley who are forced together due to their family situation - they essentially become stepsister and stepbrother. It is really a book about growing up in a scary new school for Stewart and how he learns that he can be smart and interact really well socially. Ashley on the other hand is a popular girl at her school and is trying to make her way to the top of the social ladder. She doesn't like it when Stewart joins her school and gets in the way. But the deeper reason lies with her feeling betrayed by her dad so takes it out on her new family, Stewart included. 

Overall this story made me laugh, made me cry and made me feel very attached to the main characters and their family. The main characters are complete opposites. And yet, they have one thing in common: they - like everyone else - are made of molecules. I would recommend it to anyone!

I picked up two other books that I am in the process of getting round to, one is about Edward VI the son of Henry VIII and who only lived for 15 years. It is really interesting but there are so many names of people used who I don't know anything about so have had to keep looking bits and bobs up. I also took a book out about Margaret Thatcher who I have been studying at sixth form so thought it would help to do some background reading. 

All my love

<3

Sweater Weather Tag

Hello you lovely lot!

Today I wanted to do something Christmasy so felt that this tag would be a good idea as it will help us to get to know each other a little bit more ...

1. Favourite candle scent? My favourite is sweat pea but in the winter there is a lovely scent my auntie bought me last year called Frankincense which is so lovely! 

2. Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate? I don't like hot drinks but if I had to choose I would go for a home made hot coco - my grandma makes the best ones

3. What’s the best thing you have ever been given at Christmas? When I was around 4 or 5 we had Christmas at my grandparents and me and my sister were given a pink dolls house and it was the bestest thing ever

4. Which makeup trend do you prefer: dark lips or winged eyeliner? I love dark lips but hate that it makes me look unwell I think I need to keep searching for the right colour! 

5. Best fragrance for Christmas? I think my yearly fragrance which is Ricci Ricci by Nina Ricci or Jo Malone Peony and blush suede (it is such a luxury but so bloody lovely)

6. Favourite Christmas food? The roast potatoes and chocolate log (am I allowed to say two things?)

7. What is autumn weather like where you live? Fab, it is crisp and sometimes icy but I love it because the leaves turn from green to yellow and then you get to spend more quality time with family and it's just a lovely time of the year

8. Most worn sweater? One from a charity shop which is maroon and is from Fruit of the Loom - it is so comfortable and cosy and cost so little

9. Must-have nail polish this fall? A light pink which is opaque enough that you can't see the lunula on your nail bed

10. Football games or jumping in leaf piles? I think both would be fun but I'll chose jumping in leaf piles 

11. Skinny jeans or leggings? Mom jeans?

12. Combat boots or Uggs? Converse?

13. Is pumpkin spice worth the hype? I don't know but I love cinnamon 

14. Favourite Christmas film? This is a horrible question! But I of course love Elf and I also would say Serendipity 

15. What song really gets you into the Christmas spirit? I would say Santa Baby by Ariana Grande or All I want for Christmas is you by Maria Carey 

Love you all heaps 

<3

Sunshine is the best shine.

hello you lovely lot! Today I wanted to share a bit of Summer inspiration and have a little chin wag, if that's alright with you? ;) Basically this past year I've been in this horrible nasty on going slog of silly little things called GCSEs. (which I am sure you are all aware of, if you aren't they are end of secondary school exams, ergh right!) Anyways with that being said I'm back, I've found my mojo and want to spend this Summer writing and pressing publish on blog posts. Therefore, right now as a little teaser (just kidding, I have a guilty pleasure with Pintrest * and you NEED this app in your life) I shall share a few of my ideas and inspiration for the coming months, hope you enjoy!

Lots of loves and hugs 

<3

*btw it's not really a guilty pleasure, I just spend way too much time on it :)

Winter Months...

Hey guys how have you been? I hope things are going good! Today I decided to give you all some autumn/winter inspiration. I am always uber excited for sweater weather, can't believe its already here! I haven't got many sweaters though which is kinda sad :/ but cosy days, hot chocolate, movies and everything wintery are going to be things we can look forward too...

P.s I'll try my hardest to write more posts but its a little hard juggling everything at the moment.

<3

What have I been loving this month?....

Hello my sugarplum fairies, how are you all? I hope you are having amazing weeks, today I'm going to show you my favourites this month (rather than calling it 'My June favourites' I decided to call it 'What I have been loving this month' which means I don't have to do make the effort of doing favourite posts every month :) anyways, lets jump in!

So first things first, I have been loving this perfume from body shop, it was limited addition and from quite a while ago so I don't know if you can still purchase it anymore, but I think it is a lovely summer fragrance!

Then I have been using my Mac Mineralize Skin Finish everyday all month and have been enjoying it every single time I use it! It feels so lovely like I'm not even wearing make up which is really good :)

I have been loving freshly picked flowers from the garden this month and thought I would tell you about it even though it isn't a beauty favourite but these items are genuinely things I have been enjoying. I took the picture at the start when I was out on a walk!

How has your June been?

<3

A few ways to be happier when you are feeling sad...

Hey guys! Today I want to give you some ideas and tips on how to be happier. My very first tip is to make a folder on your computer of all things that make you smile here are some of my favourite things...

Then do something you enjoy, it could be baking, helping someone out, going for a walk, basically do something you really want to do!

When you are a little bit happier, have a little think about why you were either upset or unhappy. Decide what you want to change about it because, your the only one making yourself feel that way!

Lastly, what I like to do is either do/ eat something healthy. It makes you feel 10x better, even if you just have a drink that can help lots!

I hope you enjoyed this post, let me know what you do to make you feel happier?! I'd love to know

All pictures from We Heart it

<3

Spring Essentials/Favourites...

Hey guys, I hope you all had a great Easter! Today, I wanted to show you some of my spring essentials :)

Okay, to start with my favourite skin care item so far has to be this lovely product called Steam Cream, it can be used on the face, hands and body but I like to use it just on my face. It is so gentle and nourishes dry skin but cares for oily skin and is great for all skin types. Plus you can choose what type of tin you want from hundreds of designs. Have a look...

During spring my favourite type of lip product to use is lip-gloss, recently I have been using Tanya Burr's lip-gloss in Picnic in the park, it is such a beautiful shade, I can't wait to purchase some different colours from her range. Her products are now in Superdrugs around the UK so go have a look.

Whenever the sun starts to come out more and the days get shorter, I always like to smell really nice so one of my favourite fragrances to use in spring, is one by River Island, it is a beautiful fragrance and has a lovely subtle floral scent. Also the bottle is a really good quality.

For the past few weeks I have been using this Wella SP Luxe Oil everyday and I have noticed how much it has helped my split ends! It smells so so nice and it's such a lovely product, I recommend it to anyone who has really long hair with dry ends and anyone with split ends.

If you have any Spring essentials and want to share, I'd love to know what you've been loving?

<3

How to make Pom Poms...

Hey everyone, today I'm going to show you how to make these really sweet Pom Poms that you will be able to use in the next DIY project that I'm doing to show you all, so let's get started...

You will need:

a roll of wool

a piece of card

scissors

Steps:

First you cut out two circles from your card like this...

Then you cut out the middle like so, make sure to cut a slit in like this (It makes wrapping the wool around much easier)...

Next start wrapping the wool around the circles and carry on till you get to the end.



Use the remaining wool to wrap around the middle of the Pom Pom in-between the two bits of card like this...

Then tie two tight knots.

After that use your scissors to cut of any long bits of wool and then ruffle the Pom Pom up so it looks like this...

Have a great day

<3