Belief

Oddly enough I've been thinking about a higher power of some sort a lot recently; odd because this is never a topic I like to dwell into a lot. It leads to a nasty spiral in my twisted mind where I go from belief to the meaning of life to inevitably ending up at a point where I begin to wonder about my existence on earth and how indescribably insignificant the impact of my existence has been. Although may I add, not in a suicidal way, just in a 'losing all hope, why am I even doing anything when I will amount to doing nothing in the eyes of the world' manner. We all have our moments.

Whilst I am a follower of the Jain way of life, I find that religion makes me feel guilty. Religion makes a lot of people feel guilty. Maybe that's the ultimate role of religion and even the idea of a higher existence...to make you feel conscious about your actions and thoughts. Don't get me wrong, that's not a bad in any way because more often than not I have recently been feeling that I need to be reminded about my morals. Morals keep me grounded, and personally my morals are the strongest when I am around my parents who often remind me of right and wrong.

Here is what I have concluded over my summer of being mostly isolated of all decent company (no, my parents and little brother do not count). The thing is about being so withdrawn is that you begin to think a lot more. People's thoughts affect you a lot less and frankly after my numerous incidences in the past year, which I shall not get into, it is just what I need.

Sorry, I've just gone off topic. I believe. That is what I have concluded. I think everyone needs a bit of belief in their life. Everyone needs a higher power to look up to when life does not turn out how you expect it to. Belief in that higher power, whether it is science or God, is what keeps us going in our times of hardship. Even thought you do not realize it, religion becomes a part of you.

It is good that religion makes you feel conscious of your actions. Of course I am not referring to extremism, or supporting homophobia. I am talking about how a higher power can make you a better person because you want to do more good. And I hate it when people are so adamantly against religion because surely anything that often provokes a person to change for the better and do good in the world is something to support. A higher power is something which I cannot avoid. There must be something greater than the human race out there which controls the fate of our actions. A puppeteer to the puppets would be a cynical way to look at this. But you get what I mean. I don't know if it is Allah, or God or simply an invisible force which has no consciousness. I just know that the universe is big and ever expanding, and there has to be something out there.

I think that belief in anything is brilliant. My crisis now is what I believe in. 

Apivita express beauty with orange review

Oh look it's the return of Face Mask Fridays! I know, exciting times.

So this week I popped into the huge Marble Arch M&S near work and saw face masks on offer for £2.40 so obviously I couldn't resist myself. It was a double wammy, face masks on sale hit me hard. 

As I've probably said before my skin is normal, it never gets very oily nor dry unless it's winter or I've used a bad face wash. That's why I find it so hard to pick face masks because there are so many for oily skin. Because I'm such a little dare devil I went with orange, it's been a while and I've never seen a face mask with orange oil before.

As per usual, here's a picture:

I was expecting good things from this packet mostly because it looked fancy and it was from the one and only Marks and Spencers. It also said that it was paraben free at the back and I've found that products without parabens/SLSs have a better affect on my skin and hair than other products.

It all started out well as I applied the face mask because it smelt really fresh and refreshing. In an odd way it reminded me of the refreshers sweets in a good way. The minute the mixture hit my skin I could feel the tingling. Personally I love it when I can feel something because it shows that the face mask is actually doing something to my face.

I quote, the orange essential oil is supposed to 'tone and moisturise leaving skin with a natural glow and radiance'. After about ten minutes I started washing off the mask. This was an aspect I absolutely hated because the face mask was so hard to wash off due to its oiliness.

Eventually when I took off the mask I could see that the effect was not what I hoped it would be. The mask made bumps on skin more prominent and my skin felt a lot skin drier after washing it off. I expected this face mask to make my skin softer and clearer but it did not achieve that.

Therefore this FMF will be given a 1.5/5.

Good thing it smelt so nice and I'm easily won over like that.

Just give me something that smells good and tastes nice and I'm yours. Seriously. If you ever want to woo me, all you have to do as you see me busting a move on the dance floor of a club is come up to me and say these exact words:

"Want to grab a pizza and maybe a slice of cake?"

I swear I will look at you like you are Ryan Gosling and worship you for your wise words. 

There we go, a FMF that was on time and tips on how to get me to fall into your arms.

Until the next time sports fans. 

Finally a working woman?

Hey there,

I would just like to apologize for the absence of Face Mask Fridays for the last two weeks. The thing is, an unexpected event has finally occurred; someone has finally had the good fortune of hiring me. Gosh, about time right?

No, I'm just kidding. It was a combination of applying for roughly 100 jobs and that tad bit of luck. I should be grateful for the fact that I'm being paid by this chain store (I'll just leave it to that, I don't know if I'm really allowed to mention where I work because I might have put my blog down on my cv. I know, it's slim pickings). 

Obviously being the poor broke little thing that I am I accepted. But oh woe, the fates were not on my side. A couple of hours later I got an offer for an interview at a corporate bank and a job offer for an internship. Now I feel like a douche working at a chain store straightening up shelves and asking customers if they want a bag with their shopping. 

I hate not being able to use my brain and doing the same mind-numbingly boring tasks every day that require no skill at all for eight hours straight. Especially when I finish at 11pm.

So there you have it. The reason for a lapse in FMF (a little abbreviation always helps matters). 

I'm finally a kind of working woman. Except I'm not sure I like it. I hate how rude the customers are, I hate not being appreciated, I hate not being able to use my brain. But I mostly hate how I know I could do better than this, because as arrogant as it may sound to some I have complete faith in my abilities and I know that I shouldn't be in this dead-end job that eventually kills all hope and ambition you have. 

Maybe it's because this job is not for me and I need to be at a place where I can think, be able to input my thoughts and have control. 

I'm just glad I have to endure only five more weeks of this monotonous lifestyle.

I am pretty sure if this carried on for any longer I may have had to abandon all my feminist principles and just marry a rich man so I wouldn't have to work. 

Let's leave my complaining to that shall we? I will of course try to do a FMF post the coming week, because a girl needs a treat every now and again. 

Don't forget to be awesome.

Honey & Oat 3 In 1 Scrub Mask by The Body Shop review

Bonsoir the part of the internet that's into face masks,

As promised in my past review, I am going to be reviewing TBS's hit product, 3-in-1 Honey and Oat scrub mask. Now let me tell you I was very very excited about trying this product out, mostly because I gave it a sniff last week and it smelt heavenly. I was interested to see if the product would really be worth its retail value of £10.00 for 100ml. Most Body Shop products I have encountered have actually been worth what I paid for them, like the body mists, which smell wunderfullll and don't run out for a good six months. 

Now here is what the product looks like on the shelves if any of you have severe difficulties in locating it and/or are merely interested in the packaging:

Very good. Now let us move on to the glory that is held inside this pot. The texture of this face mask was unusual. It was a smooth creamy mixture with some gritty bits in. You know, to make it seem natural and exfoliating. Did you know you could put sand in a body wash/face mask and you'd have the exact same exfoliating result, if not better? 

So the first thing I noticed was the gorgeous smell of the mixture (which I've mentioned like five times already). It was an amazingly sweet yet natural fragrance. The whole product seemed to scream natural at the top of its lungs. In fact I must have awarded it 2 out of 5 in my head just for the smell regardless if it gave me rashes or not. I just thought to myself, even if I do get dry skin and spots everywhere, boy there would be no better smelling way of doing it.

As I put it on I felt a cool sensation and hoped that the mask was really going to be worth it. Surprisingly, it was. I took it off after 10-15 minutes and not only did my face smell lovely, my skin actually looked cleaner and shinier, in the good way, like I had a healthy glow or something. Dead impressed, well done The Body Shop! Unfortunately all good things must come to an end so the effect of the mask did not last long but none the less, it was lovely to go around for a day with my skin looking as it did (i.e. slightly improved).

Overall, 4/5. Smelt amazing. Loved the natural feel of the product and the fact that it actually brought good results. However, the price was too high for me. Maybe it does bring mega results after long term use but honestly, £10 is a good roast, drink and dessert at 'Spoons. And I'm the kind of girl who chooses to get fat over good skin. Aw yeah. 

P.s. Any French readers, can you tell me how to say 'aw yeah' in French? If there is such a saying for that in French. If not, don't worry, I'll improvise and put a French accent on while saying 'aw yeah'. Yes, I know, I am terrible. 

A plus tard.