Moving to a different country

It has been over three months since I have packed my bags, decided to called it a day, and move to Paris. Firstly let me explain in an non self-righteous way why this was kind of a big fucking deal.

Although I had lived in the Netherlands for the previous six months on a study abroad programme, this was different. I was going to this country where people only 34% of the population can speak English well, and I could speak French well enough to know the basic phrases. I was in a solid merde situation.

As soon as I got there I knew that my French would not cut it. I could ask for directions but was that really a question that would come in handy when trying to make friends?

Anyway everywhere around me was a mass of French conversation, not a word of which I could fucking understand. Do you see my frustration now? 

A 20 year old, with a suitcase of stuff, a wage that only really covered the price of rent in Paris, and not a single friend in Paris. It was scary. Moving to a different country is always scary, but more so when it's fabulous Paris, a place I had only dreamt of but never thought I could move to.

With it's well dressed women, and even better dressed men. The place where I would be comparable to a ragamuffin. 

(All the French be like what is she even doing here)

Even after three months the pangs of fear come and go about how I am not nearly as good at French as I aimed to be, or how I have nothing chic to wear. But like I said it comes and goes. Because I have made Paris my home for now which means less regular posts, and more regular shopping trips. 

Any city can become your home if you spend enough time embracing it and finding all the little quirks.

More on my adventures coming soon. 

Lush Mask Of Magnaminty Review

Holla, 

In the spirit of Christmas I thought to myself, why not have a special holiday edition of facemask reviewing. 

For the last three months I have been a little more than absent as I have moved to Paris, more on that in the upcoming weeks!

But for today we will focus on Lush's Mask Of Magnaminty. 

After a little spot outbreak from my stressful life of going to tres mignon cafes, I decided to try the mask from Lush which said it would "clean, calm and clear the skin".

Firstly the smell hit me from about three feet away. Very minty, fresh but with a slight hint of antiseptic.

So it felt very cool and tingly after application which really felt like it was working, I took the mask off after it was stiff but I noticed that the addition of water to the stiff mask turned it into a kind of face scrub.

Being a lover of exfoliation this was a dream. 

My face still felt very cool after taking off the mask and the smell was amazing. My face smelt minty with a slight undertone of honey for the rest of the morning. And might I note that the antiseptic smell was gone. 

Now the knuckle cracker, did it actually help my spots? Yes and no. I did see that my spots went decreased but they also looked darker and although my skin felt clean and refreshed it also felt a tad dry. That is the biggest irritation, when spots tend to darken up which leads to skin blemishes. 

So hopefully there will be no skin blemishes but I give this product a 3.5 out of 5. A little more moisture to make the product less harsh but maintaining the smell would be perfection.

How to be prepared for a semester abroad/exchange programme

As I write this post, I am a 20 year old girl who has spent a semester abroad in Maastricht and is preparing to spend the next academic year in Paris. Therefore I have felt your pain twice. 

I have felt the homesickness, the first flutters of regret, and then excitement. 

Let me tell you darlings then, how to prepare for this exciting adventure. 

Firstly, you must learn how to pack light. If you are travelling from one country to another by yourself, you cannot afford to bring more than a suitcase. 

It'll bite you in the ass on your way back too, when you have more belongings.

My method is: bring 3xTrousers, 5xTops, 2xJumpers, 2xSummer/Going out tops, 3xDresses (or for guys, smart shirts), 2xPJs, lots of clean underwear, 1xshorts, 1xJacket.

Some may call that excessive, and others may find it lacking. There will be clothes shops there, so chill. 

Secondly, do not spend too much time missing home. 

Yes it's hard, and yes it's natural but you'll miss out on all the fun things if you mope around and keeping talking about your cat Baxter. 

Thirdly, go to every single social event you can find. It's kind of like freshers again, where the people you meet at first may not be your best friends after all. 

On that note, don't go out of your way to only hang out with people from your country, or people who also speak your language as a mother tongue. It'll be no different that studying at home.

Lastly, try and get some non-exchange student friends, or some befriend some local students. They will know all the best bars, cafes, and places to see. They'll also know how everything works around there and can help you out. 

I hope these helped, have lots of fun and make some memories you sexy bastards.

 

Lush's Catastrophe Cosmetic Face Mask Review

It's Friday! The day us 9-5ers let out a sigh of relief and bask in the glory of the weekend.

It's also Face Mask Friday (FMF)! The day where I put on face masks and tell you all about them. Sound good?

This week the product I tried out was Lush. You can hear about my crush on Lush right here. The lovely lovely assistant in the Lush near Bond Street was so generous with the samples that I got three different face masks.

Earlier this week I tried the Catastrophe Cosmetic mask:

Looks edible right?

The minute I put on this mask, I knew it was going to be a hit. For those of you that have read my previous reviews you know how much smell means to me in a face mask. 

So Catastrophe Cosmetic smelt amazing! Sweet, slightly fruity, and natural. It was just the right amount of all three, and it was not too overpowering or artificial-like. 

There was an interesting texture in the Lush mask that reminded me of The Body Shop's Seaweed Ionic Clay mask. As implied, it was clay like but you could tell that this was a very natural product with the pieces of blueberry in it. 

While I was putting on the mask I thought this might be a classic case of smell over substance, but I was wrong! I knew that it was time to take Catastrophe Cosmetic off when I saw the mask had hardened up. 

After I washed it off, there was a gentle after smell, with notes of some-kind of oil. But the best bit was how smooth and soft my skin felt to touch afterwards. I noticed that the few bumps that I had on my face had also faded away. The smell lasted for a good few hours and my face was lovely and soft for the next couple of days.

All in all, this was my ideal face mask! Great smelling, worked well and almost all natural, which is why for the first time on FMF I shall be awarding Catastrophe Cosmetic a 5/5.

Until next time my fellow face mask enthusiasts. 

My thoughts on: Lush*

Also known at the time Lush won me over.

Let's be clear, Lush and I did not hit it off on our first encounter. I think the word hate would strongly sum up my reaction to the Maastricht branch of Lush. The smells were too overpowering, and there were too many of them, which gave me a headache from the moment I stepped inside the store. 

Now the minute I saw the €20 sign on a tub of facemask I thought "hell no". Unless this was a facemask that was made up of tiny pieces of gold, pearls and angel's tears I would not pay that much for a tiny tub of gloop.

Ok and THEN, a miracle occurred my friends. My friend and I, upon impulse and hearing good things from other people, went to the Lush store on South Molton Street in London. 

It was not nearly as overpowering as my last Lush experience, and the minute we walked in a friendly guy pretty much became our best friend for the next half hour. He explained that all the ingredients in Lush products were either natural or safe synthetics which were preserved naturally. Which DELIGHTED me, because I spend hours looking for shampoo without SLS or parabens. 

And they're super against animal testing or buying from suppliers that do test on animals. I kind of don't trust the Body Shop ever since their L'oreal takeover, and the fact that they STILL use parabens and SLS in their products. 

But yes, those were all enticements but the real deal sealers were Lush's unique products. I mean I saw things in that shop that I could not find in any main cosmetics line!

For example, their bubble bar:

Which when crumbled into a running bath creates bubbles

Or their lip scrub:

You apply it on your lips, rub them together and lick the edible scrub off the reveal softer lips! 

This is the future of cosmetics for me. A lot greener, more conscious of harmful chemicals and ending unnecessary animal testing for a bunch of cosmetics. All whilst creating kick-ass quirky new products that smell great without artificial harmful chemicals.

It's official Lush, you're now my favorite cosmetics brand, I won't be buying any shampoos on my student budget just yet but I'm totally switching my body wash for a bar of Lush soap. I think it's evident at this point that my next Face Mask Friday will be based on some products from Lush!

*For those of you that do not know, Lush is a global cosmetics chain. Link to their site here: https://www.lush.co.uk/

Six French Words I Like This Week

Today the aim is to create a little list of French words that I've come across in whilst trying to improve my vocab because as it turns out, I am moving to Paris in September.

Words*: 

Apart from the usual oui, non, bonjour and  merci, learning French adjectives, nouns and verbs would be so very handy in every day conversation. It will massively improve your vocabulary learning a few new words every week.

La Niaque (nee-ya-kah) - Determined attitude, strong willpower

Lucarne (loo-car-n) - Skylight, small window

Douceâtre (doo-sat-rha) - Sickly sweet, when using this adjective for a person, e.g. un homme douceâtre, it                                           would mean a nauseatingly sweet man, a kind of fake sweet.

Pelotonner (pulo-ton-ney) - To curl up, or to huddle up. 

Frimousse (fri-moose) - In my dictionary this noun is defined as a "sweet little face" but on the internet it also                                       means an emoticon/smiley.

Bricolage (bree-col-aje) - Do-it-yourself/DIY

* The parts in Italics are the pronunciations of the words

Big news

It has been WAY too long since the last French post so watch this space because there will be a post on French words trés trés soon. 

I do not know if I have mentioned this before but I'm MOVING TO PARIS!

It was so last minute, only confirmed last month but paperwork is still dragging along. I am now taking a year out of university, and working in Paris for the next year starting from September. I decided that learning French in a classroom was too slow of a way to learn French for me, so I signed up for a scheme  (http://www.britishcouncil.org/language-assistants) where you can teach English in France.

After a taste of living abroad on my ERASMUS in the Netherlands I decided I hadn't quite gotten enough. I am super nervous, because I don't know anyone in Paris, my French is extremely poor right now Paris is hella expensive and I haven't even found anywhere to live yet! But life is an adventure and each new big experience that puts me out of my comfort zone is almost an adrenalin rush for me. 

Here's to making it through 9 months in Paris. 

How not to lose your virginity

1) With a stranger

No, no! Don't do it! Trust me from experience, it's not fun, it's not pretty the next morning, and it's never a good story to tell your future boyfriend when he questions how you lost your v card. 

As corny as it sounds, wouldn't you rather have sex with someone you're comfortable?

2) With some douchebag/play/BNOC (big name on campus)

You will expect great sex but it will be mediocre at best. He does not care about you, he merely wants to add to his sex-count, and he will probably have no idea what he is doing. Because BNOC's generally have no problem getting laid, therefore it is not about pleasing you, it is about pleasing him.

3) Drunk

When you feel dizzy and slightly nauseous, it's not the best idea to lose your virginity. Being sick on someone during intercourse sure is memorable but not in all the right ways. Not remembering who the guy was that you lost your virginity to isn't a great idea either. 

4) With the LAD

Or more specifically, someone so very keen to be a lad, and tries awfully hard to be one as well. You will notice this specimen through the following traits: a desire to prove their masculinity to other males, a vague smell of insecurity in their manhood, and of course the constant repetition of the word, lad.

"Terry is such a lad cause he downed that pint."
"Ben slept with that slut from last night, what a lad!"
"I can't believe you flipped her off mate, you're such a lad."

Unless of course this is your type of guy.

To each their own. Chacun à son goût.

How to shop petite!

Following my last post, being a petite lady is pretty tough at times, especially when it comes to shopping! I love to shop but hate finding a dress that looks fabulous but is rather baggy and too big for me.

It may be tiresome, but here are some things that may help you get a bargain and fabulous clothes:

Find shops that sell petite sizes! My personal favorites are Topshop, Miss Selfridge and to some degree New Look. They have clothes that fit perfectly and Topshop has great variety. I think they also deliver abroad which is just peachy.

Another wee tip: look at the general size of the clothing in a shop. Different shops have different measurements of the same size. I have noticed that H&M can be a little on the big side for me, where as Bershka has clothes which fit a slightly smaller frame (perfect for me). I can also fit into certain Topshop regular size 6/8 clothes.

For a great bargain Topshop sales are FABULOUS. Do not go to the notoriously busy shops on Oxford Street, because you will either be trampled over by a crowd or you will not find anything good in the sales aisle. I recently got a dress reduced from £29 to £13.70 and another from £20 to just under £7. You can also get the sale items displayed on the website. 

Hope that helps, my next post will be more French oriented as it has been a while since a French post. 

The struggles of being a little lady and more

This is quite a personal blog entry but it's just something I want to write as a prequel post. This post is about insecurities because I hope you will also be able to relate to it and maybe it will help with any issues you are currently facing.

Ever since my 16th birthday I do not think I have grown a single inch, leaving me at a petite 5"1 height. 

I hated being small and I always had confidence issues to do with the way I looked, including my height. As I went off university a lot of small and rather big incidences shaped the way I thought of myself both positive and negative. Let's say it was a big learning curve and talk about all my dirty little secrets another time. 

My semester abroad was what really changed me. I began to become really comfortable with the way I looked. I learnt that it wasn't healthy to be put down by a funny look that a guy gave me and automatically assume it was because he thought I was short and funny looking. 

I shouldn't have based my confidence on how other people reacted to me, because it was my confidence. I should have more control over it. It was wrong to have all my self-esteem build upon what others thought. Worst of all, it probably wasn't even what other people thought, it was my assumption that they would judge me when in reality no one gives a flying fuck. 

When you are living in another country, you have no real wider friends circle therefore you stop caring what people will think of you, because you know that it is temporary and you will be out of there soon. The approach taken by me was, "so what! I'm only here for 6 months, like I give a shit if I tripped and fell off my bike. So what I'm 5"1 and shorter than my friends. Who cares? I don't really know anyone here." 

I made new friends but it was based on this outlook, therefore I didn't care if they liked me for what I was because I was only there for a few months. The friends I made became great friends. It was this attitude that I decided to keep once I came back from my semester abroad, 

I slowly came out of my shell in the exchange programme and grew as a person. Height does not define me, nor do my looks. It's okay to be the smallest person in the room! I shouldn't have to get comfort from others being smaller than me 

There are more important things, and being petite can be great! You feel a more dainty and cute. You can also get away with shorter skirts. 

Sorry for the rather long blog post, I shall try to make it less emosh and gushy next time bros. 

À bientôt, j'espère. 

The Body Shop's Vitamin E Sink in Moisture Mask Review

Salut tout le monde!

It's the return of FACE MASK FRIDAY Y'ALL!! FMF was brutally put to a stop when I sadly could not remember to buy face masks in time, and because I was on a semester abroad in Maastricht. Mais c'est la vie!

(Beautiful Maastricht church)

Maintaining the on-and-off, not-really glorious tradition of smothering face masks and then telling you about them on Fridays was unfortunately a long lost pastime. UNTIL TODAY.

This week I turned to The Body Shop's Vitamin E sink in moisture mask to make me feel fabulousssss (well more so than already).

If you have read my previous review on The Body Shop's Honey and Oat Mask, you will know that I was quite impressed the Body Shop's face masks. Hence I went out to my local TBS store and got myself a sample of the Vitamin E sink in moisture mask.

TBS had always gotten good reviews from me because their products are so lush and smell like my idea of heaven. Fact. My daily choice of spray in fact is from TBS, and they've recently started giving students free Body Shop (discount) cards which has made my life.

Back to business, the serious shit, the hit product: the moisture mask!

In substance, the Vitamin E mask was a pale pink soft cream-like product. It had a light subtle yet sweet fragrance that reminded me of baby cream (in a good way). I was feeling very positive about this product because I have sensitive skin and this looked ideal for me.

So I scooped up a bit of this fluffy mask and started spreading it in a thin layer around my face. There was a big difference between this mask and the Honey and Oat one, or in fact any mask I had yet reviewed. The Vitamin E mask was very smooth and I could hardly feel it as I waited for the recommended 10 minutes. I kept it on for a little longer (20 minutes) because I had been told that some women left this mask on over night.

Unlike other face masks my face did not feel irritated or tingly, just very cool.

I'm a real abider of the rules (despite the amount of times I have failed my driving test), so I took off the mask using a tissue as recommended on the instructions. My skin looked shinier but it also felt a little sticky and there was a slight irritation on one of my cheekbones.

I had a distinct feeling of uncleanliness so I washed off the mask, any my skin did look a bit cleaner and felt slightly softer for the next couple of days.

Overall, the Vitamin E Sink in Moisture Mask didn't really excite me because it felt more like an overnight cream than it did a face mask. It smelt nice but not as nice as the Honey and Oat scrub mask. I would recommend this to those who want to tackle the lines on their face or signs of aging because of the Vitamin E.

Due to it not giving out as good of a result as I thought it would, and because a price of £13.00 per 100ml is just simply too high for me, I would have to give this product a mediocre 3/5.

It sure does the job, but it does the job of a moisturizing cream, not an ideal face mask.

Cheap travel

When you're in your late teens and early twenties, there has never been a better time to go out there and explore the world. You're at university or school, things aren't quite that serious with life, you're not held back by much at this point in your life.

Even as a young graduate you're not weighed down by other priorities such as children, or family commitments, or a promotion that you have to get. In other words, why not pack a bag, book a flight, and spend a month or two having the time of your life?

After spending four heavenly months in Maastricht on an exchange programme I visited: 6 cities, a handful of towns and villages, and 4 countries. All whilst studying full time and paying rent for my room at my home university as well as my room in Maastricht. I was worse off than almost everyone I knew which meant I had to be very careful about any costs. Yet I managed to do all of this. So if I can do it on such a tight budget whilst paying rent in two places I'm sure you can as well!

Here is my advice to you buttercup! I hope it helps you and does not seem excessively obvious.

This might not count as a tip for you, but it shall be mentioned anyway. Make sure you have a little bit of money saved. For Europe I would say have about 600 euros saved up (for a month of travelling), more if you are planning on living in a city. 

Secondly, and I cannot stress this enough, choose a city or town to stay in for a month which is close to a lot of borders! It can be your hub for the next month, or couple of weeks. Maastricht was ideal, because it was close to the borders of Germany and Belgium, and of course it was a beautiful town. You could have spent a week happily exploring Maastricht and had a good time. Anyway, choose a town that you will quite like, make it your hub for as long as you want, and use the transport links there to make trips to other cities.

It is better to live in a city or town for a month and travel every couple of days because you will get a sense of the place. Buying an interrailing pass can be a little too hectic because you would be spending a few days in different cities for a month but not really appreciating the true feel of a city. You do not get to discover a hidden little bar, a great view, or a nice restaurant. 

My next tip, use a site like this to find a place to stay. 

It is cheaper than staying in a hotel, and if you look hard enough it can be nicer than staying in a hostel. Although be careful and always make sure you are being safe when renting online.

Try and find somewhere self-catered as you will save a lot of money from not eating out as many tourists do. Try to buy food for lunch from supermarkets rather than eating in a restaurant.

Alrighty, my next website is skyscanner.net. It's great because you can load up a chart where it tells you which days are the cheapest for you to fly in or out of your chosen airport. 

Now if you're in a country like the Netherlands, as a holiday activity you can rent out bikes fairly cheap and spend the day exploring! It'd be a great day and it wouldn't cost you very much at all. 

This post is long enough already so maybe more tips another time, fellow travel enthusiast. Feel free to leave a comment for any questions and I will try my best to help you. Happy adventures!

Studying abroad

Hollaaa my long lost sweet blog,

It's been months! And I'm sorry, I really am. But there is a brilliant excuse behind this: I spend the last semester studying abroad in the Netherlands, in the most beautiful, exciting, quaint place called Maastricht.

I also didn't want to be that kid posting every week about my adventures because honestly, do you really want to hear about how great the ice cream was at Luxembourg (7/10 max.) and how I did all the clichéd things in Brussels? No. I am no expert when it comes to the best beer in Germany and this is not a travel blog. This is a fucking categorically confused blog so let's try and stick to that.

Dear me, what a great couple of months though. I had the fucking time of my life, and it was the happiest I could remember being. I swear to you there must have been something in the water in Maastricht because I would just be riding my bike to the shops, or to university, thinking about how beautiful everything was. Maybe because everything was beautiful in Maastricht, here is a sample:

(Maastricht town hall)

(My faculty, Fasos, at Maastricht University)

(A road near the inner-city library in Maastricht)

(Maastricht from the highest point in the Netherlands)

It was everything, from the good company of my flatmates and everyone I'd met, to the good food, good drinks and the lovely Maastricht streets. This has just increased my hearts desire to travel, and if anyone is hesitant about doing a semester abroad (especially if you're in England), DO IT. Don't even think, not for a second, just do it. You might feel lonely for the first couple of weeks, but the rest of time will be worthwhile. You'll learn so much about yourself, about your country, and about the world.

If you're studying at sixth form in England right now, seriously consider going abroad for university. I wish I had. It's places like Maastricht that make you realize that there's more to the world.

This is the thing, travelling changes you. If you have done it right it makes you wiser, more appreciative and you can be damn sure that your views on the world will not be the same as when you started. My heart aches from the lost piece that I left in Maastricht but isn't that always the trouble with travelling? You leave pieces of your heart scattered, miles away with people or places. Is it worth it? Always.

Leaving

My life has taken some pretty alarming turns since I last posted on this blog. If I remember correctly, I was mopey over a relationship that clearly wasn't meant to be but oh wow have things changed. I finally got the guy who I've been pining after since October (since the first time I met him, how cheesy), a guy who treats me so well, who's lovely and better than anything I could have imagined, and what timing too. About a month after we got together it turned out I had to leave because I was doing a semester abroad. I rarely fall for many men as hard as I've fallen for Pug (let's call The Boy that shall we?), which made leaving so much harder.

We've agreed to carry things on while I'm in the Netherlands studying at the University of Maastricht but boy does it suck.

I won't lie to you, I hated leaving. I didn't think I would be as emotional or regretful but I was a mess on the last day. Tears, hating every second of saying goodbye, more tears, lots of awkward silences as I'm not the best person when it comes to saying the right thing. God I loathed it. It seemed more like a final goodbye because the chances were, after this semester I might go on a placement year and my best friends will have graduated by then. As will have Pug, who is currently in his final year.

I don't dare to think how much I'll hate to say goodbye to my mother who might not be able to come and see me off.

I suppose goodbyes are always hard when you know that there's a possibility that you will never return to that same place in your life again. My heart breaks as I think of all the nights I will never spend getting beers in a pub with the friends I once made, or never spending another evening lazing around in someone's room, talking about all the people we hate and how unfair life is. As Hugh Laurie once said:

“It's a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you're ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any.”"

Maybe this is true. I know I've never been one to worry about being ready before, I tend to go with the flow but once you have something that is worth staying for, I suppose being ready is required.