2015 Favourites, YouTube and New Years Ramble

Hello Everyone! 

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and got lots of lovely things and had lot's of family fun. As you are all aware I am posting this on New Years eve! This year has gone crazy fast and like a lot of others it's had its ups and downs for me and I have met some amazing people who I hope will remain in my life for a long time! As always it's been a very busy year for me however I think I have been a lot better with my posts- although maybe not... (Sorryyy). I promise I will keep this going long into 2016 as its something I really love and actually find quite therapeutic(?!)

As you may remember, at the beginning of this year I did a post containing some resolutions I made for the year which were in the form of inspirational quotes. I feel I have stuck to these quite well through out the year and I have changed positively as a person, I've definitely grown up a lot, got rid of some negative people and surrounded myself with those who make me truly happy and whom I can really be me around which is SO important! This year one quote in particular has stuck to me which is actually something my mum said to me and I feel this is so important to always have in mind as I know I am someone who naturally worries about what others think of me and the way I am judged as a character which is something I definitely want to get rid of this next year  . That very special quote is:

"Don't try so hard to fit in when you were born to stand out"

YouTube

You may or may not have read my last blog where I spoke about making YouTube videos. This is something I have always wanted to do however have always lacked enough confidence to do so. However recently my best friend explained her love for YouTube so we decided together to film our first video on my channel together. This isn't the best video ever and we are both very new to this so don't judge! haha. Instantly I loved the idea of the whole lights, camera, action kind of thing so yesterday we got together again and filmed two videos. The first video I have posted with this which is my 2015 beauty favourites, the second will be up either later tonight or tomorrow and that is the both of us doing 'the best friend tag'. I hope you watch and enjoy the video, I will definitely be filming more in the future while also continuing this blog so watch this space! ♥   

 

So there it is! I hope you all get everything you want and aspire in 2016 and thank you so much for another year of posts on Blogger! Whether you're out partying tonight or staying in with Family, have a great time and make good choices! Oh and.....
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
Lots of love,
Just Jade xo

                                                                           ♥   ♥   ♥

1,2,3 to a Positive me

Hello!

So the last post I did on here was at the end of Summer and here we are again in Autumn and how quickly its flown! Since my last post I have of course gone back to training at Italia Conti for what has been a very busy first half of term. Going back into college undoubtedly brought on a lot of mixed emotions, excitement, nerves and of course anxiety. As some of you will know I suffer a lot with my anxiety and battling the nerves and emotions that come with it is a daily task for me. In this post I am going to show a few thinks I do to help keep on top of my anxiety and help myself to feel more positive.

1. Preparation and organisation.
For me, one of the biggest things to stress me out is the feeling of being unorganised and going into something without some sort of plan of action. So this year I decided over summer to get properly organised and ready myself for my first day back. One of the first things I did was got myself to town and went around all the stationary shops picking up some things I felt I would need/that would come in handy. The first thing I picked up was a small A5 term time diary, I'd never really used a diary properly before but seeing as the new term would bring a lot of new events, shows, auditions and important days I felt this would really help me to keep on top of my schedule. These diaries are really handy little things to keep in your handbag and I picked mine up from a little shop called the works for just £1, It's a really simple matte black cover with silver metallic writing and I really liked this one as it also came with pages for notes, numbers, addresses and other useful information. Another handy little thing I picked up from the same shop was this really cute little A5 lined notebook- again a good size to keep in your handbag. I originally got this to use as my notebook for college, however I decided it would actually be a really good little book to use for blog ideas, recipes and other little notes. It's so pretty to keep on a side as decoration and for only £2 It's a great little find.

2. Having time to relax

This is one thing I've never really been very good at, as I often find myself feeling like I should be doing something all the time, however, I do feel it's really important to give yourself time to sit back and empty your mind a little bit and although it can be hard to fiat in, it can really rejuvenate you and taking the time out just once a week can be really beneficial. For me I like to give myself a good pamper session and find the best time to do this is the weekend, either  in the morning before going out shopping or a night out, or as a chilled evening in. This usually involves a long bubble bath with candles and wine (cheeky) followed by a face mask and mani/pedi while snuggled in a big fluffy dressing gown/ onezie with a good film on or some chilled out music-usually Ben Howard. There are of course many other ways to chill out and relax and everyone has there own personal favourite was of doing it. Whichever way you choose to do so, I strongly recommend giving yourself the time for it as it can really detox your mind and make you feel a lot more positive.

3. Saying "I can"

One of the most important factors of being more positive is of course having a positive mind and although especially with anxiety that can be a hard thing to always remember to do, teaching yourself to do so can really help you to take a step forward in beating anxiety or just simply making you a happier person. Saying "I can" doesn't just mean literally either, for example if you're going out with friends or you have an appointment at the doctors or something (which is something that tends to always set me off) just taking the time when getting ready to tell your self its ok and that there is nothing to fear can settle/fight that immediate flight and fear response, I find that pushing these negative thoughts to the back of your mind and forcing yourself out the door can be difficult but when you look back on it will make you feel a lot more positive and like you're getting more on top of your anxiety.

So that's it for this post, I hope you enjoyed reading this and would love to hear if any of these methods have helped you in the past or if you have any of your own. I sometimes feel that little things like that can do a lot when it comes to anxiety and even though it's not going to get rid of it, it can work along side the difficult journey of learning how to manage it.

I hope you all have a good Halloween and if you're feeling the festivities then feel free to check out the video I filmed with my best friend Chloe where we took part in some Halloweenie fun! LINK HERE

Thanks for Reading!!

♥   ♥   ♥

Summery Baking tutuorial- Strawberry Milkshake Cupcakes

Hello everyone!

So we're coming towards the end of summer which seems to have absolutely flown by this year, and what a past eight months it's been! Firstly I've completed my first year at Italia Conti which has been such a roller coaster ride for me and the hardest but most amazing thing I've ever done. I have met the most amazing people and made some crazy and unforgettable memories. With the end of term of course comes the end of year show, a week of lights, make up and a lot of hairspray.

As I write this I'm currently sat on my bed, in my new room, in my beautiful new Guildford house. I have fallen absolutely head over heels for this place in the nicest area with the best two house mates I could ask for. Moving in has taken up a lot of my summer and there is a chance of a possible upcoming bedroom tour/homeware hall.
 In my new kitchen, when I had some free time i decided to finally make some cupcakes with a recipe I'd seen on Youtube which I had been dying to try out, so here it is:

Strawberry Milkshake Cupcakes

Ingredients:

 Cake:  (12 cupcake cases)

70g Unsalted Butter

210g Self raising flour 

250g Caster Sugar

1Tbsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt 

210ml Milk 

2 Large Eggs

40g Strawberry Milkshake powder 

Frosting: 

500g Icing Sugar

160g Unsalted Butter 

50ml Whole Milk 

100g Strawberry Milkshake Powder

+ Any decoration you want to add (e.g. straws, sprinkles, chocolate shavings...)

* PRE HEAT OVEN TO 180 FAN/170 C/325 F/GM 3*

1. First add your butter (at room temperature) to a mixing bowl with the sugar, salt, baking powder and the flower. Mix this until it becomes like fine bread crumbs.

2. In a jug, whisk your eggs lightly with a fork then add your milk and of course your strawberry milkshake powder.

3. Once fully mixed, fold this into your mixture until there are no lumps and it feels light and airy.

4.  Line a cupcake tray with 12 cases of your choice- I used these adorable tea cup silicone cases which can be really handy as they are reusable. Using an ice cream scoop or spoon, equally add your mixture to the cases until they are about 3/4 full. Then place into the oven for about 20-25 minutes.

5. Once your cakes are done, they will be bouncy to touch and a knife will come out clean, leave to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Frosting-

1. While your cakes cool, add your butter and sifted icing sugar into your mixing bowl (you may want to do this a bit at a time) and mix until its fully blended.

2. Into your jug add your milk and milkshake powder then mix into a smooth paste before adding to your mixing bowl and mixing for a further minute or so until it becomes smooth but not too runny (add more icing sugar for thickness)

3. Carefully spoon some of the frosting into a piping bag with a large star tip nozzle, and  starting from the outside, ice the cupcake into a dome-like swirl- see picture above. Repeat with all the cupcakes.

* Make sure the cakes are completely cool before icing otherwise the frosting will melt!*

4. Finally decorate your cakes however you want. I chose to cut up some mini straws and sprinkle my cakes with chocolate shavings before finishing off with a small chunk of Kit Kat placed into the top.

So there you have it, delicious Strawberry Milkshake flavoured cupcakes. I hope you liked this recipe as I certainly did! 

Thank you for reading and enjoy!

♥   ♥   ♥

Current Skin and Hair faves

Aloha!
Today I thought I'd share with you some of my most recent hair and body faves. I picked out these things for their own specific reasons, but they are all products which I use frequently if not everyday and remain a big part of my collection.

Nspa Mango fragrance body mist
Seventeen instant glow bronzing mousse
Dove summer glow moisturiser with gradual tan
So fabulous dry shampoo
Herbal essences Bee strong strengthening cream

Nspa Mango fragrance body mist- I have always been a big fan of Nspa products and I feel its essential to have some sort of body spray on you for everyday use as something a bit softer than perfume. Usually I always stick to Hollister sprays as I am a little bit fixed to them, however when out shopping I came across this little bottle of goodness and it smelt sooo good and at such a cheep price I couldn't resist picking it up. It's a lovely fruity, mango scent that's not too over powering which is great as it means I can wear it all day everyday and not feel swallowed in fumes. This has earned a permanent spot in my fragrance collection and I'll definitely be going back to pick up all the other scents.

Seventeen instant glow bronzing mousse- I'm not really a big self tan person, although I tan quite well in the summer I'm naturally fairly pale and I have always wanted to spend more time being tanned in the colder months. I'd been after a good, natural, easy, instant tanner for a while now and after looking up reviews online I decided to give this one a go. I was a bit hesitant at first but after my first use I was really happy with the way it turned out, It's a great colour which you can build up to make darker, its not streaky or blotchy, easy to apply and has a wonderful vanilla scent to it. It's great because although it's wash off, I have worn it to college before and it withheld without streaking even with me sweating and the colour doesn't come off onto sheets or clothes. Although I don't wear this every day, I wear it on all nights out and quite often on the weekends and I'd strongly recommend it especially to anyone new to instant tanning.

Dove summer glow moisturised with gradual tan- This was a recent buy as I knew a lot of people who were using this product or others like it. I'd heard that this type of gradual tanner can be really good for sensitive and dry skin so I was eager to get my hands on it. I'm so happy I decided to pick this up, as for something so cheep it's really won me over an proven a permanent place in my skin care collection. It looks and feels amazing on all skin types and from the first use I noticed a gorgeous summer glow pigment my skin. I apply this morning and night as it;s really hydrating and leaves the most amazing smell on your skin all day. I honestly adore this product and recommend it to anyone and everyone.

So fabulous dry shampoo- I'm a big user of dry shampoos as where I'm at dance college I'm constantly sweating all day and I find my hair gets greasy very easily but I don't like to wash it every day because of it's effect on your hair, so instead I'll just apply dry shampoo between washes to replenish my locks. I have been through various brands and types of dry shampoos, and I really love the 'so...' collection. This is probably my favourite one of them all as it really gets rid of the greasy look and feel in my hair and leaves it feeling refreshed and smelling amazing. It's nice and lightweight and doesn't leave your hair with white patches which is never a good look.

Herbal essences bee strong strengthening cream- I always have used various leave in conditioners to avoid split/dead ends and since I ombred my hair a year ago my ends really started to suffer. Since using this stuff everyday, my hair feels a lot more nourished and manageable and I couldn't imagine not using this. It really conditions my ends without leaving my hair feeling oily and heavy and not to mention the lovely honey and apricot scent making this my final must have for my collection.

I hope you enjoyed this post and let me know in the comments below any experiences you have with any of these products or any of your skin and hair essentials. Thanks for reading!

Jade xx

                                                                        ♥   ♥   ♥

Winter beauty favourites

Hello Everyone!
So as you all are very aware it's still winter and we're still in those cold dark months after Christmas where everything can seem a bit dull and boring. However, there is also a plus side of the season as it's the time of parties, family and gatherings with colours of reds, browns, maroons, burgundy' and many more deep extravagant colours. This winter I have found a lot of new beauty products I've fallen in love with so I have decided to share some of those with you guys...

1 Bobbi Brown bronzing powder- I absolutely love this stuff! It's a lovely matte pressed power that when applied to the skin looks naturally bronzed and it can really help define your features. I use this stuff all the time, and although it's pricey, it's definitely worth the buy and lasts a very long time!

2. Maybelline colour sensational in shade '150 Stellar pink'- I got this as a gift and wasn't sure about the colour at first, however when I applied the lipstick for the first time it was this beautiful, natural dark pinky colour with a slight bit of shimmer and I actually fell in love with it. It's well pigmented and can be worn with any look and I tend to wear it most days for a slightly toned down natural look. It's also good for when you want to dress up nice but don't want to go al the way with red lipstick- it's also good for eating/drinking because it doesn't notice too much when it starts to rub off.

3. BarryM limited addition nail polish- Annoyingly I've left the bottle for this in my flat in London and I'm writing this post at home so I don't actually know what colour it is. I don't tend to wear blue nail polishes much however, when I got this and tried it out, It came out this lovely metallic kind of blue colour and I actually really love it. It has a slight bit of shimmer and can really add colour to a boring outfi, I also think this kind of colour could be worn all year round to match any seasonal look.

4. Benefit Pore-fessional PRO balm- Oh my gosh I absolutely swear by this stuff. The first time I heard of this was when I got my make up done by benefit for my pro and I had two spots on my chin that I really hated, but after applying this as a primer with foundation on top, the spots were no longer visible. From that instant I had to buy this so after a very hasty £25 I added this beauty to my collection. It is really silky, lightweight and oil free so it's great for most skin types. It can be worn either on top or underneath foundation and it instantly minimises the appearance of pores. I wear this every day and I couldn't recommend this enough, even though it's quite pricey it lasts a long time and really works wonders.

5. EcoTools full powder brush- This actually came as a mini set of three different EcoTools brushes. This was my first encounter with the brand but shortly after using them I began to really like them. They're really light weight , east to use brushes all made from bamboo and recycled materials. Now you may also agree that a girl can never have too many make up brushes and although I have hundreds of the things, I am always happy to try out new brands. One thing I love about these it they're smaller so I cant take them around in my bad wherever I go and this brush in particular can be used for powder, blush or bronzer and blends really well.

6. Bourjois so Matte top coat- For a very long time I had been looking for a matte top coat as I am a big lover of matte looks and everything matte, and in looking for a different brand I stumbled across this one that was actually a little bit cheaper than the brand I was looking for.

7.Maybelline colour sensational in shade ''547 Pleasure me red" - I am a great lover of red lipstick so I couldn't wait for winter to wear deeper darker shades with more every day looks. I was after a good red shade for a while but in more of a deeper colour and as I already own a few of their lipsticks, I knew I liked the brand and was generally always happy with the quality of the lipstick so decided to look at what shades they had and when looking I came across this colour which is a lovely deep red which I felt was really nice and festive. I really love the way this colour looks on my skin, it's easy to apply,really well pigmented and lasts a long time even with eating and drinking. Although it's not completely matte, I actually really like the slight shimmer of the lipstick and think it can really add to a party look.

8. Seventeen smoulder eye gel- Personally I have always been a big fan of liquid eye liners and have always used them for all my makeup looks, so when I was given this as a gift I was a bit sceptical about how I would get along with using it. However when I decided to give it ago I was actually really impressed with how easy and neat it was to apply. It's a really nice jet black colour which, because it's a gel it lasts for quite a while and you don't have the annoying wait with your eyes shut while it dries so you don't end up looking like you've been punched in the face. The liner is also really good for blending so it can really add to a smoky eye look and I will definitely be using it a lot more often. However as much as I love the gel eye-liner I think I will always stick to using a liquid when doing wings and other crisp, precise shapes but this is definitely a new must have in my makeup collection.

So there you have it, my 8 winter beauty favourites. Even though I will be wearing most if not all of these items throughout the year, I feel that they most suit the winter season and I have worn them a lot this winter. 

I hope you enjoyed this post and let me know in the comments bellow of any of your beauty or any other favourites from this season or if you also have any experience of reviews on any of the items featured in this post. 

Thanks for reading lovelies! xo

  ♥   ♥   ♥ 

New years resolutions

Aloha everyone!!

I'll start off by saying I hope you all had an amazing Christmas (or if you don't celebrate Christmas I hope you had a fab holiday) and if it's not too late, happy new year to you all. Every year I contemplate making new years resolutions like to not eat chocolate, to eat healthy or to not spend so much money, but like I'm sure a lot of people will agree, these can be hard to keep and just make you feel bad when you don't do them. Instead however, this year I was inspired by Alfie of PointlessBlogs' video of his new years resolutions (if you haven't seen it, watch it here) and  this year he decided to pick some of his favourite quotes to follow for the year. I really liked this idea as I think it's always important to have wise, inspirational words to follow and they can really help make you feel good about yourself. So I go searching the internet and thought back to some other quotes I liked and here they are, my 2015 quotes:

• Do more of what makes you happy-I heard this in Alfie's video and instantly fell in love with it because as some of my older followers may know one thing I struggle with is being happy and it's definitely one thing I was to accomplish this year.
• Don't change so people will like you, be yourself and the right people will love the real you- I think this is very important for me personally this year as you may know I recently moved to a new flat and a new college in London, and here I have and will be meeting lot's of new people and making new friends and I always have believed that you should never change yourself for anyone and as hard as it is to always be true to who you are.
• You don't always need a plan, sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go and see what happens- This really stood out to me as I'm quite a bad perfectionist and always feel like I need to know exactly what's happening and what is going to happen, this really gets to me a lot and I feel I need to take a step back more often and relax.
• Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain- If like me you suffer from Depression, Anxiety etc then you may know that sometimes when you're feeling stressed and overwhelmed you just want to give up everything and hide under a bid fluffy duvet forever and never come out again. I get this a lot and with the career I wan't to go into I find my self getting extra stressed and just wanting to give up everything even though deep down I know that's definitely not what I want. This quote is special to me because it's important that I never let these things get the better of me and I can learn and grow from the bad times and they'll only make me stronger.
• It's ok not to be ok- ok so I bet you can guess what song this is from and who the artist is *cheeky side smile* but as cheesy as it is this has always been one of the realest and most honest quotes for me because whether you have a diagnosis or not everyone goes through bad times and sometimes it all gets too much, but it'sperfectly normal and it's a part of life and these bad times can help form you as a person and allow you to learn and grow into a better person each day. So when you do feel down and stressed, just remember, it's ok, somewhere someone is going through the same thing as you and you can get through it.

So there you have it, my new years resolutions/quotes. obviously there are hundreds of amazing quotes about there and these are just a few of them I love and not everyone will agree with these quotes but to be they meant a lot and that's the whole point of it really, you should set things that are personal to you. Apologies if this was quite a boring post for you, be sure to let me know what you think in the comments below. 

How about you? What are your new years resolutions and favourite quotes? Let me know bellow.

                                                   ♥   ♥   ♥ 

Starting afresh

Hello!!!
Wow, what can I say. I can't believe its been like 2 years since I started this blog and if I'm going to be honest I'm disappointed at how utterly rubbish I've been at blogging. I feel the reason for this was mostly because I started this blog when I was in my main GCSE years at school, which proved to be a difficult time with exams and stressful things going on. However, now I have left school (Yipee) for many reasons I will now have more time to write posts at least weekly and keep up with my blog. So I would like to apologise again for being so rubbish but I'm going to take this as a fresh start turning over a new (autumnal) leaf. (Breathe)

New Place New Start
The most exciting news I have to tell you is something rather big and exciting that's happened very recently in my life which has changed it for the better.

As some of you may know one of my biggest passions in life is performing and since I was little one of my biggest dreams was to go to a performing arts college and I'm so happy to say that in February this year I found out I had been accepted into Italia Conti; A very well known English performing arts college, and on the 15th of September 2014 I took a very brave step for me, moving out of my small town home to a new flat in Guildford, London, with complete strangers to peruse my dreams.

At first this raised my anxieties to a whole new level, but since being there and settling in I have enjoyed every second of it and absolutely love living independently with some amazing people who in 6 weeks I have become ridiculously close with. I would like you thank my amazing family, friends and teachers for giving me so much love and support.

One of the Conti buildings

My new room

Lovely new flat mates

As I've decided to keep this blog fairly short I'm going to end it here. I've decided to routine my blogs to at least once a week and if I have more time in between- As I'm home for half term I'm hoping to put up quiet a few posts this up coming week as I have a fair few ideas in mind.

Let me know in the comments if you've had any exciting news this year or if you have any thoughts or ideas I'd love to hear from you!
                                 
                                      ♥   ♥   ♥  ♥

Thanks for reading,
Lots of love,
XOXO