♥ How To: Cope on Your Own

I'll let you in on a massive secret... I never actually wanted to go to university. My childhood was far from normal and we never had much money so the cost of university seemed silly. The summer after secondary school, I took part in The Challenge - a government funded project that let me experience university halls, different ways of teaching and it let me meet people from very different backgrounds - I loved it and it made me want to carry on with education.  It wasn't until looking at universities that I discovered Falmouth University. It was still a University College when I started looking and has since been granted full university status - making it Cornwall's only university. I'd been holidaying in the nearby St.Ives for most of my life and my dad had worked in the area for a few years so I had a good idea about life in Cornwall. I knew that this was were I wanted to be and was absolutely chuffed to be given a place. It didn't ever occur to me that I would be moving three hundred miles away from home, with no friends close by, no family and no where to turn if things got rough. It seemed really easy to do but there are times when I would love nothing more than going back to the city, best friend and my parents.

The hardest thing for me is undoubtedly being away from my parents. I have a little bit of an issue because for a massive chunk of my childhood Mom was in hospital and the only time I would see her was for an hour every other night - even when she was in a coma and unable to do anything. I thought I'd be used to not seeing her, but it's really hard! I phone her all the time just for a chat when I feel a bit stressed or to check that she's okay and taking all her medicine. My friends don't phone home as much but I speak to my parents at least once a day.

Being away from my best friend is horrible. We still get teary when we see each other for the first time and when I'm leaving which is weird because you'd think we'd be used to it by now. We both have great friendship groups but being apart isn't ever easy. She's still the person I turn to when I'm going through something tough and I wish that she was around when there are issues we're facing. I recently went through a break up and there is nothing you need more than your best friend when that happens so it was a new kind of awful.

Food is a massive part of my life. I love the stuff. I love cooking and I'm a massive Jamie Oliver fan and try to be adventurous with my food while I'm at uni and free to cook as and when I like. The kitchen is my favourite place and it's definitely something I got from my Mom as she was a chef before she took ill. The massive downside, though, is having to buy food. It's costly and when you're living on a tight budget it isn't any fun to spend twenty quid on food! It's also really time consuming and sometimes it's such a pain to do the washing up.

Getting to and from uni is a chore. With almost three hundred miles between my home town and the place I now live, it's time consuming and costly to travel between the two. This means that I avoid it at all costs. Luckily, my dad loves Cornwall and comes down to collect me whenever he can. The Megabus is a brilliant way to travel between the two places. It's super cheap though it does take me around ten hours to get from Falmouth back to Birmingham this way!

At the moment I'm suffering with a cold. The absolute worst thing about being so far from home is feeling so helpless when you're ill. There's nothing better than staying in bed and Mom bringing you cups of lemsip or tea and cooking your favourite comfort food but that's near impossible when you're away. It makes you feel ten times worse having no one to look after you!

I by no means at all want to scare anybody who is applying to university. It's much easier than you expect it to be and friends and family are only a phone call away. Like most things in life, it's never going to be really easy so it's an experience you just have to grab with both hands!

If you're applying to university, how do you feel about moving away from home? Let me know in the comments! Also, I'd love to hear any coping strategies, because I think I'm going crazy and I can't wait to be at home for Christmas!

Em x

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♥ My Perfect Nude Lip

I've done it. I have found my perfect nude lip colour. It's the  shade Just a Fling in Seventeen's Stay Pout collection. It's my  second purchase from the line and I am so pleased I decided on  getting this colour. I was lusting over the MAC shade Twig but as I am an unemployed student for eight months of the year I just can't part with the fifteen pounds it would cost. I obviously picked this up in a three for two deal in Boots, and I still only spent around ten pounds.  Three items for a third less than one MAC lipstick!

The packaging is nice and sturdy and reminds me of Nars packaging ‐ matte black and a little detailing ‐ and the formula is just as impressive as a high end offering. It's so pigmented and creamy so it doesn't feel drying and the colour stays for a decent amount of time without smudging. I'm really in love with the Stay Pout collection, and with each lipstick costing only £4.49 each I'm pretty sure i'll end up with a few more.

The reason I think this colour works so well for me is because I have a quite dark natural lip so these dark nudes are much better suited to my skin than dusty pinks or lighter shades! You could say it's my lips but a little better!

What's your ideal nude lip shade? Let me know if you've ever tried anything from the Seventeen counter, because it's becoming a favourite drug store brand of mine!

Em x

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♥ My Unexplained and Extended Absence

I've really not had much time to myself lately - or at least time that I could use to sit down and write posts for you guys. I've hated not being able to blog but I've still been reading and liking posts through Bloglovin and keeping my makeup stash a little up to date.
I'm now in my second year of university and it's going pear shaped. It's so much harder than first year and I've been swamped with work since my very first day back, which was over a month ago now. Finally, I can breathe a little as it's Reading Week (and I've been using it to do exactly that) it seems a silly title, for an English student though - as I've already got through ten novels in the short amount of time I've been back in education. Two novels a week is not realistic to do week by week, though, so I am getting ahead of some the stuff I still have to do for first semester. There's also been one deadline, and a handful of presentations coming up in the coming weeks. So, yeah! That's why I've not been about. University is extremely hard work for me, as I have never been the brightest student. I have to put loads of effort into everything and make endless notes and I have to read so much that I don't feel I'm ever allowed a night off! I'm not really enjoying my second year at all compared to first year. I've kind of lost some interest and don't feel as though it'll be worthwhile or worth all the debt in the end, but I've made the decision to just stick it out and fingers crossed life will get a bit easier and sort itself out hopefully!

However, I do have some stuff to help me relax in the remainder of my week off - Russell Brands new book is so interesting and I am getting my head down and writing a few posts to lure me back into blogging as I do miss it loads!

How's university going for you guys? Are you drowning in work, the same as I am?! Hope you're all well!

Em x

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♥ Autumn Reading

Nothing is better than curling up with a big blanket, cup of tea and a good book on a cold evening. While my university course already has a extremely lengthy reading list for me to tackle I think it's still really important to read something for entertainment, not education. These few titles are the ones I'm going to be absorbed into over the Autumn months and here are the reasons why.

The Time Travelers Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
I remember going to see this film years ago when it was released in cinemas and I loved it. I picked up this copy, that was published after the movie release, in a charity shop for a few quid. It's a little battered and I've been throwing it into my bag because it's a novel I'm focusing on this week for one of my modules at university. The book isn't anything I expected after watching the film. It's layout is tough and confusing at times and my lecturers argue over the genre of the book. Is it a romance or is it science fiction? I'd say its a good mix of the two. Henry and Clare's love is a strange one that can be difficult to wrap your head around and Henry's status as a time traveler definitely brings in science fiction! It's a good book - but it does require a bit of concentration and time. It's lengthy!

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned - Wells Tower
This is a collection of short stories, something I bought in relation to my short storied module. It's a collection of dark tales, a must read for anybody familiar with Angela Carter and her unique way of telling a story. They're condensed little snippets of various lives and this is something I'm learning to love with the module I've chosen. They're good for if you only have a little bit of spare time and excellent if you don't want to commit yourself to a novel or want to try something a little different. I picked this up on Amazon for the good old price of a penny, with a few quid postage, so it's definitely worth it!

Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
The final instalment of The Hunger Games trilogy. Mockingjay: Part One is hitting cinemas this Autumn, so obviously it's time to re read the novel! The Hunger Games are my favourite books of all time because they're so different to the sort of books I would usually enjoy and so different to the type of novels I write. I'm not going to give away any spoilers in case you're a fan of the films but haven't ventured over to the novel companions, but these three books are so worth getting your hands on. They're phenomenal stories that delve much deeper than the movies do.

Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk 
Another reading I've been focusing on for university. It's a novel I absolutely love and the film is amazing too. I was chuffed to see this on my reading list and excited to delve a little deeper in the meaning and read it more closely for my studies. Palahniuk's writing style is so very different to anything else I've read and I always want to read something else of his afterwards, It's a little boyish, too, which is a nice change!

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
I picked this up last summer, unread, from a charity shop for £1.49. I was chuffed. I'd heard of the title before and it was a best seller and a thriller - two things I usually shy away from. With the movies recent release, it's something I really want to sink my teeth into. It's a story about Nick Dunne's missing wife, Amy. Nick is a prime suspect and with Amy's friends revealing that she was a scared of him, there's nothing to help his case. Ben Affleck stars in the movie and I'm sure it will be incredible, but I'm a believer in reading the book first so I really need to get started with this one!


Are any of these books taking your fancy, or should I be reaching for something else?

Em x

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♥ My Beauty Essentials

Over the past year so I've really found myself loving certain products that can make a girls life a little easier. The products I'm going to tell you about are something I always have lying around, in multiples. They're the non-makeup products I couldn't really live without.

Nivea Extra Gentle Eye Make Up Remover
This is such a gentle product. I constantly wear liquid eyeliner and lashings of mascara and this soft liquid manages to remove it all with no fuss whatsoever. The area around your eyes is super delicate and after scrubbing my eyes red raw with make up wipes when I was younger, I've finally learnt to use safe and soft products so I don't damage the skin and end up looking worse for wear.

Nivea Hydro Care Lip Balm
This one isn't set in stone, but it's the lip balm I'm using at the moment. I've been wearing eye shadow much more recently, so my tinted Baby Lips create too much of a make up look so this colourless balm is perfect. I apply it constantly throughout the day and in the run up to winter a good lip balm is essential for making sure you don't end up with dry and chapped lips.

No7 Beautiful Skin BB Cream
So, I cheated and this is a make up product, but I can't imagine not having it for those barely there days. It's perfect for those days when you don't want all the fuss of foundation and this, teamed with a good moisturiser is what I use on my face the majority of the time. The formula isn't too thick and it's easily worked into the skin. It's my go to base, for sure. It also has spf in it, so it's protecting your skin too!

Johnsons Cotton Buds
These are both a curse and a blessing of a product. They can do pretty much anything. Cleaning the fiddly parts of keyboards and mobile phones, but for me they're a saviour when fixing eye make up. With just a dab of make up remover on they can help eliminate any make up mistakes and I would surely be an angrier person if I didn't have them on hand!

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water
Garniers offering on the micellar front might just be everyone's favourite essential. It's constantly talked about and it's so much better for your skin that scrubbing off make up with rigid wipes or harsh soaps. I use this every single night and most mornings too, just to get my face feeling clean and fresh. When used with cotton pads, it's a brilliant way to get make up out of every pore and is super gentle so it's unlikely to leave your skin red and irritated.

Cutex Nourishing Nail Polish Remover
I must admit, I used to just pick off nail polish or use cheap nail polish removers, but nails are on show all of the time so it's best to look after them. This offering from Cutex has quite a milky colour and leaves nails looking clean and moisturised. It's only a little bottle too, and lasts ages so it's not a waste to invest in a good quality remover for your nails!


Are there any essentials I've missed that I should definitely be using? Let me know!

Em x

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