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!