Simple, Easy, and Pretty | Back To School Makeup Tutorial

Hello my lovelies, I hope you're all well and Happy 1st of September! Which mean's that if you're at least under 20 years of age you will be going back to school, college, or university etc. I hope you've all had a lovely summer holiday, but the time has rolled around again where it's only a few days until the new year of education starts.

 Now I know going back to school isn't always the most enjoyable thing, trust me I know. But, what better way to start the school year with some new stationary and a new every day makeup routine. 

So today guys I am gonna be showing you how to get this really simple and easy look for school, work, every day, or if you just want to throw on some makeup to feel more put together. I actually used to wear this makeup look a lot during college and it took me back (feeling nostalgic over here). But it makes your skin look really natural and healthy which is exactly what you want for every day. 

Also everything in this makeup look you can go and buy from Boots or Superdrug

Now I don't know about you guys, but when I gotta wake up super early my tired eyes along with my under eye bags aren't exactly looking their finest, therefore I took my Simple Kind To Eyes Revitalising Eye Roll-On Gel and I just apply that under my eyes and on my lids slightly and then pat it into my skin using my finger. This stuff is so good, it's really cooling on your eyes, makes your eyes feel refresh, it makes them look brighter, more awake, and the deep colour of the bags is reduced, and puffiness is reduced. It's such a good product and I think it's less than £2.50 from Body Care (if you live in the UK) so if you're eyes are looking super tired in the morning, go and pick this up! 

I then used my Maybelline Dream BB Fresh cream in Light as my base. As you can see, just dotting that all over my face and blending it into my skin with my Real Techniques Beauty Blender. 

When I was in school I never used BB Cream or Foundation, I just used concealer, powder, and mascara. Which never used to be the greatest look if I'm honest, my face used to get really orange throughout the day which was not great. So I'd not suggest that to any of you guys. Always use a base of some kind, even if it's just a moisturiser or primer.

Then I'm going in with my concealer, I do this same step every single day whether I'm wearing a full face of makeup or not. In my opinion concealer fixes everything. So I'm taking my Collection Lasting Perfect Concealer in Fair. I absolutely swear by this concealer you guys, I've been using it since I was twelve/ thirteen and I'm now nineteen. If 6/7 years of using it on a day to day basis doesn't tell you how amazing it is, I don't know what will. 

But I'm just taking that under my eyes and onto my cheeks, down and around my nose, on my forehead, on my chin, and around my lips just to conceal any more redness and blemishes on my skin and of course to brighten my skin. We need all the brightening we can get on these early mornings. And I'm blending that in with the same sponge I used for my base. 

As I just give my foundation and concealer a few minutes to settle into my skin. At school I never wore lipstick and at college I wore it on occasions. I sometimes do at uni, but not if I don't have time to put it on in the morning. However I always like to wear either a lip balm or something moisturising on my lips. 

So I'm just taking a makeup wipe and shaping out my natural lips with a little over lining for my pout. This is a great way to achieve different lip shapes from day to day or to just start with a blank canvas on your lips before you do apply any lip products. Once I'm happy with their shape (the lip product is applied at the end) I will move onto setting my base with a powder. 

Taking another product I've used for absolutely years, Rimmel London's Stay Matte in Translucent and just powdered all over my face with my Makeup Revolution F104 brush. Then taking a makeup puff to bake all over my face and blending it out with the same brush. Baking the face is totally optional but I like to do it because it gives me more coverage and I much prefer a full coverage face. But by blending out the powder all over the face it doesn't look too heavy or cakey, just seamless. 

Once I'm happy, I then run my eyebrows through with a spoolie brush. Using another trusty favourite of mine, the Maybelline Brow Drama: Sculpting Brow Mascara in Dark Brown. I run that all the way through my brows just to give them some colour, a bit more volume, and a bit more shape whilst still looking like my natural brow. I just take the brow spoolie again to shape the tail of the brow in order to still get that arch. 

Now it's time for blusher. I am skipping out on contour/bronzer just because it's slightly less natural than blush and I know I'd get carried away as I love a strong contour (if you couldn't already tell from previous tutorials). I never wore blush in school but I did during college and it was actually the one I'm applying on my cheeks today. 

So I'm taking Rimmel London's 004 Pink Rose; applying this with my Makeup Revolution F103 to the apples of my cheeks and up to the hair line. This is just a really lovely natural pink blush that gives you a nice healthy glow and makes you look super well rested even if you're not. As you can see it has a natural glowing undertone. 

Now onto highlighter! Again, I didn't wear highlighter in school but I did in college. The one on my face I used throughout the whole two years of college and I still use it to this day, it is of course none other than the MUA Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter in the shade Pink Shimmer. I really need to get some more of this as I'm running out even though this highlighter has lasted me nearly three years. 

So I'm just applying this onto my chin, down my nose, on the tip of my nose, on the highest points of my cheeks, on my temples, and on my forehead using my Makeup Revolution F105 brush. 

Now again this step is optional as I know some people don't like glowy cheeks but I do  I have always put highlighter on the apples of my cheeks over my blusher because it gives such a healthy appearance to my skin and I love the way it looks. It really seeps into my cheeks about an hour or so after application and it gives my skin that beautiful radiance and glow. I swear by doing it because I have so many wonderful compliments about how healthy my skin looks, so if you guys want a more healthy appearance to your skin dedicate it to where you place your highlighter. 

Then I just added my mascara also and it is the Makeup Revolution Amazing Volume in Black. I actually really like this mascara. It does a good job of lengthening your lashes and separating them but not making them look too dramatic which is perfect for school. 

The formula of this mascara is quite wet which means it's best to just wipe some of the product off on the top of the bottle as it applies better. You also have to allow it a little time to set other wise it will come off slightly. But you don't have to sit with your eye balls looking down for half an hour it's more like a minute or two. It has that kind of fragranted smell rather than a strong mascara smell.  Most of the time cheap mascara's don't really do anything for my lashes but this one actually does and I'm so impressed with it.

Onto our final step, now I don't know about you guys but when I'm rushing to eat breakfast, do my makeup at the same time, and gotta get down to the bus stop or train station in time to get to school/ college, or if I've gotta walk to my 9:00am lecture on a Monday morning. I ain't got the time to be fully lining my lips and getting my lipstick on right and cleaning up the edges. I just ain't got the time. So the solution is a lip balm with some kind of colour in and that box is ticked by... 

Maybelline Baby Lips! 

I absolutely love Maybelline's Baby Lips; they're super cheap, good quality, wearable colours, they sit comfortable on your lips, smell good, they're not sticky, you know what the list could go on and on. But I think we've established they're a staple in my makeup collection. 

Plus they have so many different collection's within the product: the originals, the electro range, the pop art range, the valentine range, and the dr rescue range. So they have a massive range to choose from and I would love to one day own them all. But today I am taking one of my absolute favourites and is a go to when I want a glossy and natural lip colour that matches my actual lips. It's from the original collection and is called Cherry Me. I just took it all over my natural lips (sorry for one side being slightly more over lined than the other, I fixed it after I took the photos, so apologies for that my loves)  and it just makes them look glossy, healthy, and plump whilst still looking super natural. 

The final step overall is hair, so as you guys saw in the previous pictures, my hair was plaited from the night before and I slept in it, in order to make it wavy. Again, I don't always have the time in the morning to do a full on hair style so something quick and easy like this is perfect. 

Unfortunately some bits of hair came loose over night, like the front strands which means they're slightly straighter. 

But by just doing something simple like this with your hair makes it look like you made a big effort when really you haven't. 

I could always do a post on some quick and easy hairstyles for school, work, or if you're running late for an event etc. If you guys would like to see that just let me know! 

But this is the finished look you guys. Just as an added extra here are the prices of all of the products I used today to see how inexpensive it is to create this look. 

• Maybelline's Dream Fresh BB Cream (pink bottle) = £6.99
• Collection's Lasting Perfection Concealer = £4.19
• Rimmel London's Stay Matte = £2.99 (if purchased at Body Care - £3.99 at Superdrug and Boots) 
• Maybelline's Brow Drama: Sculpting Brow Gel = £4.99 
• Rimmel London's 004 Pink Rose Blush = £3.99 (packaging and name is slightly different to mine, but the actual blush colour is still called Pink Rose) 
• MUA's Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter in Pink Shimmer = £3.00 
• Makeup Revolution's Amazing Volume Mascara = £2.00 
• Maybelline's Baby Lips in Cherry Me = £2.99

Total = £31.41

Some of you might be thinking that isn't that cheap but trust me, compared to the majority of the high end makeup, it definitely is. It's an affordable price for near enough a full face of makeup. 

 I hope you guys like it and it's given you an idea on some quick makeup for school, college, uni, work etc. 

I've got a few posts planned for this month of September guys so fingers crossed they all work out. Also now that it's officially September, it's officially Autumn and Autumn/Winter are my favourite seasons and I'm super excited! So expect some gorgeous autumnal makeup tutorials soon! 

Thank you for reading guys.

I will talk to you all again soon! 

Love, 

Katie 

Bold, Bright, and Beautiful Pink Festival Inspired Makeup Tutorial feat. Silver Multi-Coloured Glitter

Hey my lovelies, I hope you're all well and are enjoying your summer! So today I have this beautiful, bold, bright and gorgeous glowing skin pink makeup tutorial for you! So many YouTuber's and Blogger's have been doing makeup looks for festival's recently and it made me really want to do my own one, KatieJ style. So we're using my favourite colour, pink! I feel like bright pink isn't used enough in makeup looks and what better time to use it than the summer. 

So if you guys wanna know how to get this look above, then please keep on reading. 

Firstly I am placing some tape along my lash line to get a nice sharp straight line. Then I am taking Makeup Revolution's Eye's Like Angels palette with the shade Pink! and their Colour Chaos palette with the shade Pink Obsession. I'm using a flat shader brush to pack this colour on the outer part of my lid. 

I took the same two pink shades mixed together on the same flat shader brush and just packed this on the inner part of my lid and leaving the middle as blank as I can. 

Then taking my Urban Decay Naked 3 brush and using the slightly more fluffier end; I am taking Gleam from the Colour Chaos pallet and again just packing on that colour to the middle of my lid. 

After doing all of that I realised I wanted it to be more bold and blended. So I took Beyond Real, again from the Colour Chaos pallet which is like a bright light pink neon shade; I took this on my Makeup Revolution E103 which is just a nice fluffy brush and blended it out.

I then went back in with Gleam as I needed some more silver glow. I packed this on with the brush I used before and took it to the top of the middle of the lid over that pink which created a really pretty halo eye. 

Then I just removed the tape and took a makeup wipe to remove fall out on my cheeks and to sharpen up that outer line as the wings were slightly uneven. 

I then just went ahead and did my daily makeup as always: 

• Neutrogena Visibly Clear Pink Grapefruit Oil-Free Moisturiser to prime my face
• Maybelline Dream BB Fresh in Light as my base
• Then taking my go to concealer as always, the Lasting Perfection concealer in Fair from Collection under my eyes drawn in a triangle and taken down my cheeks, along my nose, on my forehead, around the sides of my nose, on my cupids bow, around my lips, and on my chin. Then of course on any blemish areas that I want to cover. Using my beauty blender from Real Techniques for both my base and my concealer. 
• Then using another holy grail of mine, the Rimmel London Stay Matte powder in Translucent. Powdering all over my face with my Makeup Revolution F104 powder brush as well as baking my face with a makeup puff. 
• Then moving onto my eyebrows, and as always I'm using my Maybelline Satin Brown in the shade Dark Brown and then taking the Maybelline Brow Drama brow gel also in Dark Brown to just set them in place. 

• Now moving onto the newest love of my life which is Makeup Revolution's Ultra Sculpt and Contour Kit in the shade Fair C01. And as you can see just taking the contour to sculpt out my cheek bones on an angled brush and buffing it out in circular motions and contouring my nose also and buffing it out as that's how I like to do my contour. As well as taking it around my hair line and blending it into my hair line to give my skin a nice warm appearance.  

• Then taking the blush from the same pallet on my Makeup Revolution F103 stippling brush to just stipple the colour onto the apples of my cheeks and up to the hair line. 

•  And finally taking my other angled brush, this one is also from Makeup Revolution and it's their F105 brush. Just taking the highlight shade from the pallet and placing it on the high points of my face (GOD LOOK AT THAT GLOW), my cheeks, my forehead, down the bridge and on the tip of my nose, on my cupids bow, and on my chin.

• The last thing I do is bake my face with my Stay Matte powder under my cheek contour and bake my nose contour and blend it out so it isn't too harsh. I love my contour game to be strong. 

I'm then  going back to my eyes and highlighting my inner corner and slightly onto the lower lashline with Lilac Shimmer from the Eye's Like Angel's pallet which is the most beautiful pinky shimmer eyeshadow I have ever seen and I packed this on using my finger. 

Working on the lower lashline a little, taking another pink shade from the same pallet called Pink Frosted and running that along the lashline with my Urban Decay Naked Smoky brush using the denser and shorter end. Then just taking the left over of the pink that's on my blending brush, gently blending to give it a slight smoky effect.

Now as this is a festival inspired look I decided to go in with a pink shimmer dust pigment from 2 True in the shade No4 and I've had this pot for absolutely years. I'm going over that highlight I just placed on my cheeks and my temples to make my face even more glowy and considering it's an eyeshadow it doubles up pretty well as a gorgeous pink highlight. I decided I wanted this look to be very glowly and have a healthy looking skin vibe. 

Taking some silver glitter eyeliner from Primark and just placing it all over that silver eyeshadow so the glitter has something to stick to. So I firstly placed it with my finger and then gently moved the glitter chunks around slightly with a brush. Now if you guys are recreating this you could totally stop after the silver eyeshadow as I did really like it without the glitter, but as this was a festival inspired looked I wanted something to give it the edge, and what's better than glitter?! 

And this glitter is one also from Primark as it came in a Christmas set last year.

So my original idea was to place some eye rocks where I've placed my highlighter on my temples but unfortunately they just didn't want to stick. So I decided to use the glitter I'd used on my eyes to go on my temples as well. 

So just doing the same thing again, placing some glitter eyeliner in a kind of circle and placing the glitter on top using a mix of a brush and my fingers. I created a sort of dropping down effect as I stopped just before the bright glow of highlighter on my cheeks. I really liked the effect it had. I felt like a festival fairy. 

Moving onto the final stage, the lips. So firstly I apply some of Maybelline's Baby Lips in Peach Kiss. Regardless of what makeup look I am doing, I do this every day when I wear makeup to prime my lips for lipstick. It smells amazing, the formula is amazing, and it makes my lips super soft. 

Taking my Primark lip liner in Bright Pink and obviously just lining my lips and slightly over lining so they are nice and full. 

I then applied my Collection lipstick in Sweet Tart which is just a pretty bright pink shade all over my lips, it's a great colour for summer time. 

As this whole look has been super glowy and gorgeous the lips were no exception. I decided to take that 2 True eyeshadow dust again and apply it to the middle of lip and as you can see, the outcome is gorgeous. 

The lips were definitely one of my favourite parts of this makeup look.

Then just applying some mascara, I used Makeup Revolution's Amazing Volume and considering it's only £2 it's actually really good!

And finished! I just took my plaits out and pinned them back as I've really been loving my hair out of my face recently. 

I just had to take lots of photo's of it for you guys because I absolutely love it. I just love the pinks and silvers together and the glowing skin for summer time (even though I do it all the time) and overall I'm very happy with how it turned out. 

Thank you guys for reading and I hope you liked this look! 

If you guys have any suggestion's for other posts you'd like to see, either comment down below or contact me on Twitter and Instagram (both are linked in the header of my blog) 

I will talk to you all again soon! 

Love, 

Katie 

Coffee Chats: Love & Singleness

Hello my lovelies, I hope you're all well and are having a nice summer! So today I have got a Maxwell House iced cappuccino with milk in this cute glass with pineapples on which can only mean it is time for a well overdue Coffee Chats!

 So today's Coffee Chats is going to be a little bit different than usual. Normally I just update you guys on my life and what's been going on recently, but not a lot has really been going in my life. But this subject area I'm going to talk to you about today has been something I've been discussing frequently with one of my girls from university and that is 

Love and Singleness.

*DISCLAIMER*

Before I begin, I just want to make it clear that I am not saying that all people who are single feel these certain feelings that I am going to discuss in this post. Nor, am I saying that being single is a negative thing. Being single is apart of life especially during your teenage years to your early twenties as during this specific time you begin to become who you really are, discover who you really want to be, and begin to figure out where you want to go in life. So figuring out your life first is important before you invite someone else along for the ride. 

This post is just my personal opinion as well as my friend's along with the way we both feel in regards to this subject. 

Also, as a side note. I can tell you this post is going to be long. So grab yourself a drink, preferably a coffee as this is coffee chats after all and of course a snack. 

So firstly, we're going to start with the fact that I have been single for my whole nineteen years of existing on this earth. I have never had a boyfriend as it seems to be all the guys I am interested in either aren't interested in me, are in a relationship already, or turn out to be gay (you'd be surprised how often it is usually the third option). Which in a nutshell it really sucks. When I was in the early stage of my teens I always questioned myself with things like: 

"What's wrong with me?"

"Why do all the guys I like not like me back?"

"Why am I not good enough for anyone?"

and then the one that every single person asks at some point in their life...

"Am I going to be single forever?" 

It might seem a bit dramatic but if you're like me and have never had a boyfriend it always feels like you are stuck in the same cycle of getting no where with guys and a relationship begins to seem like a conspiracy theory. 

This is how it felt for me. During school if any guy ever did "claim" to feel the same way towards me, I got royally screwed over. One of the best examples was when a guy I liked in my last year at school, he said he liked me and we talked a lot about it. But we never actually got to the stage of being in a relationship, why? Because the day after he started dating one of my best friends. WOW. I could share more examples but I'd say that one is the biggest fuck over I've got. So myself in relation to guys and relationships so far in my life haven't worked in perfect harmony.

What didn't help me back then and what still doesn't help me now is my lack in self confidence around guys. Now, we need to back track a little... 

 After I was bullied pretty badly during year nine and ten lets just say my confidence and happiness rocketed to an all time low. It wasn't until I left school and went to college that my happiness eventually fully came back and along with that came the confidence I'd been lacking.

So what does that mean for today? So if we want to talk about in certain terms it took me three years to "recover" as it were from the bullying and actually start loving who I was again. Now, I love who I am. I love what I'm doing with my life, I love the person I am and are becoming, I love everyone who is apart of my life, and I know that I am the happiest I have ever been. It's taken a long time to get to this point which is why I'm so grateful that my head is in the right place, I know I'm beautiful and that I deserve to be happy. 

Now people usually say, "You have to love yourself first" which I believe to be true. You are the only person who is going to be there for yourself your whole life, so why spend time not loving who you really are? I am no where near saying I am perfect, as I know I'm not but I'm happy and that is what matters. Instead of being bitter I say to just be better and keep improving yourself if you are unhappy which is what I'm still doing.

Right, we've established that I'm in a good place and the happiness and confidence is back in my life. However, that confidence around guys is not there for me. Personally, and I know my friend, who is also called Katie feels the same way. You get used to being the "single one" in your friendship group and due to that it kind of becomes an alien concept for a guy to be interested in you or for you to be in a relationship. Which is a feeling you just kind of get used to in daily life. As for me it would feel weird to know that I had a boyfriend or was seeing someone after so long of it just being myself. And this makes dating and relationships very scary because it's not something you are used to. I actually have an example of this, so about a month or so ago I met this guy on my tinder (don't judge me) and we seemed to get on really well, I found him attractive, and he was one of the nicest guys I had met on tinder, so this was a rare moment. He asked me to go on a date and I said yes, and after that moment it just didn't feel real. What didn't help is I had none of my closest friends around me at this point to help me out as uni was over and some of them had already gone home. So as you can imagine, I was a panicking mess as I had never been on a date before, I didn't know what to expect at all. But unfortunately, this date didn't actually happen in the end because he messaged me a couple days before saying that his ex girlfriend had come to town and they were going to give it another go. Obviously I wasn't too upset because we hadn't even been on one date so there was no possible way I could've had any real feelings for this guy. So the best thing was he'd got it out the way early instead of stringing me along when I potentially could've caught some feelings. So I respect him in that aspect. But when it did first happen my first thought was, "great, I've been screwed over, again" even though he hadn't actually done anything wrong. This was more of a personal feeling due to previous life events like we've already discussed. I was a weird mix of emotions after I learned it wasn't happening. I was kind of relieved as I really didn't feel ready and I really over thought the whole concept of going on this date. But also I was a little bit like "oh" to think about what might've happened later down the line if this date actually had taken place. This was the closest I had ever come to any kind of thing with a guy that wasn't just friends, so I felt like it was natural for me to freak out a little bit. And that was the last almost date I've ever had. Since him I haven't met anyone else in terms of dating. 

One of my biggest insecurities from growing up without experiencing having boyfriends through my teens is actually being inexperienced. Once you get passed the stage of "I'm not good enough for anyone" and you realise you are a beautiful and a wonderful person who one day will get exactly what they deserve. There come's the point of not knowing what to do, which is where I am at right now. Don't get me wrong, I have kissed guys but that's normally on a round of truth or dare, so to me it doesn't count as there's no meaning or feelings involved with it. So in terms of guys in a dating, relationship, and sexual respect I have virtually experienced nothing. Now, I know I am only nineteen so it isn't like a massive problem if I haven't experienced every single aspect of life. I have a mix of friends who are in relationships and who are single so it's not like I am fully alone on this matter. I know that myself and roughly four to five others of my friends are very much in the same boat when it comes to this subject. But even though these friends don't necessarily have boyfriends they have experienced moments with guys on say like nights out or have had guys interested in them when the feelings have been mutual. But when it comes to myself, I've never had that feeling. So I do get to the point where I wonder, is there ever going to be someone and the answer to that is I don't know. 

Another big insecurity I have is if I ever like someone, and I'm talking really like someone. I never actually tell them because I'm scared of rejection as that's all I'm used to. So even if I could be on the verge of falling in love with them, I'll never tell them and I just shove it in the back of my mind until I get over that thought. Which is not the best or healthiest thing to do for your confidence, I am aware of that. This is an insecurity that I hope to one day get over as I grow up. But I'll tell you another story of how this actually started, so back in secondary school, I am talking year eight, it was a long time ago now. I really liked this guy and I told one of my friends and she said I'll ask him out for you and she did this on Facebook. And back then this was a thing that your friends would get a boyfriend for you as back in the younger years, you sort of tread on egg shells around guys, but for me what's changed? So she asked him for me and he said no because he prefers the actual girl to do it and I thought, okay, so I'll just do it instead. So the next day I messaged him and asked him out and guess what, he still said no. He said he prefers girls to do it face to face. So I plucked up my courage and after our geography lesson I asked him out face to face. I felt like I'd achieved something as I actually asked him to his face to go out with me. But can you guess what he said?... 

he still said no.

Like what the damn hell?! I would've rather you'd have just said to me you were not interested in me than making me virtually ask you out three times in a row. So after that third time I realised maybe it is just easier to be single. So for the rest of secondary school and college I never asked anyone out again and just sort of gave up on liking guys as I knew they wouldn't like me back. As a teenage girl this is quite a common thought when you never have any guys who are interested in you. This issue still affects me now because a lot of the time nowadays I never really know if I actually like someone or if I just like the idea of being in a relationship with someone. Due to the lack of experience I don't actually know how I am supposed to feel these days if I like someone. So I never really know if I actually do like them. Which means I am again stuck in a bubble I cannot pop. 

Right, I think it's time we address the matter of sexual attraction. Personally I don't really class myself as sexy, more like awkwardly comedic. I don't feel as if I look sexy which means I don't feel as if I give of a sexy/sexual vibe to any man out there. The worst part is society chose to portray only women and men who are size 10 and under as attractive. I have nothing against people who are size 10 and under but if society really say that everyone is beautiful they should show off every body shape and size in all its glory in the fashion and the beauty industry. No matter what size you are, shape you are, no matter how slim or curvaceous you may be every body is beautiful. I am no where near a size 10, I am not slim in any shape or form. I'm a size 18 and it is ridiculous when I don't feel like I can wear a certain clothing item because society only shows fashion to be allowed at a certain size range. If you want to wear something, you should go out and fucking wear it and forget what society deems to be "okay". Don't get me wrong, anything I don't feel confident in, I wont wear. But anything I absolutely love and feel confident and stunning in, I will go out and wear it with pride and knowing that I look bloody fantastic. And that is what will radiate your good and happy vibes. To feel and be confident you don't have to do something overly massive or dramatic. You just have to do things that make you happy and confident already. 

Here's some examples of when I feel most confident:

• One of the biggest example is actually right now. I am sat in super comfy shorts, and a super snuggly oversized jumper. I'm feeling damn confident because I'm in clothes I like to wear and clothes that I find comfy. Why shouldn't I feel confident, even in my pyjamas!
• When I have my makeup done. It doesn't matter if it's a full face with a dramatic eyeshadow look and a bold lip or a simple every day look. When I've got my makeup on, I feel stunning and I feel like me. I wear it because I love the way I look with it on. That should make any woman or man confident. 
• When I am performing. Whether that be in a musical or an improvisation. I feel incredibly confident when I am up on stage because it is what I am good at. It's what a live and love to do. And if doing what you love doesn't make you confident how can anything else!?
• And just the small things like, when I've freshly shaved my legs, or after I've used my daily facial scrub in the morning and at night, and when I've freshly painted my nails, when I find a pair of jeans that fit which are actually comfy and look good at the same time. Even small things like this can boost your mood a lot more than you expect. 

I can imagine some of you sitting here whilst reading this and you're thinking, no I could never do that or no I can't bring myself to be able to do that. I get it because I'm exactly the same. People say I'm really good at giving advise and then most of the time I can't even take my own advice because I'm scared. Sometimes I'm scared of the judgement from others and sometimes I'm scared of what people will think. But at the end of the day, you have to remember, everything you're doing and not doing is for your own benefit. Only you can change the way you feel or the way you are if you want to. It's okay to forget that because sometimes we need more than just us to pick ourselves back up when things get hard. Trust me, I know and I understand. It's hard to let down your defence wall when you are always used to having your guard up. It's hard to let people in and I'm still figuring out how to do that. 

 Now, going back to the sexual aspect of this point. A lot of people I know these days whether they are in a relationship or not have lost their V card. Which is absolutely fine, it's everyone's choice on how to lose their virginity whether that be with a partner, a close friend, or even a one night stand. Personally I can't bring myself to lose my virginity to anything other than someone I'm in a relationship with as I've seen the other two options happen to some of my closest friends and both have not ended well for either of the people involved. When I do eventually lose my virginity, I need it to be with someone who I 100% trust and who I know will love me for me. I can't stress enough how important it is to not be pressured into things you don't want to do. Especially when it comes to sex. I know how it feels, sometimes I get desperate as well to just lose it to anyone, but I know in the long run that will not play out well for me. It's good to have standards and stay loyal to you, as one day, someone will respect your values. 

 One of the hardest parts about being a virgin is the fact that some people say because you've not experienced anything sexual how on earth can you know what you like and what you don't. Even though experience is the best way to find out if something is or isn't for you. You know your own body and you know what it does and doesn't like before you even have a connection with someone as a sexual partner. I'm not going to list everything I like and dislike in regards to sexual interaction. But the main thing all of my fellow virgins out there need to know and anyone else who is not overly experienced is that you have to love yourself first to discover what you like and dislike and 

THAT IS OKAY.

"i’m so done with the way girls in twenties are treated. i’m so done with people who literally create timetable for us. 20- 24 find a guy, 24-26 make him propose to you, 27-29 get married. i’m so done. i’m do not want to get 2 a.m texts from my best friend who is freaking out that she is gonna die alone. i do not want see my 20 years old friend wasting her time on some guys who are not even interested in her. i do not want see us falling for every nice guy who does not look creepy. i do not want to see girls get sad or paranoid just bcos they do not fill in the schedule. you are ok. you should enjoy your life at its fullest and one day you will find 10/10 so do not pursue 6 just because you do not want to be single. it is ok and one day you will find someone. do not split your love with people who does not deserve it. keep it for yourself and when time will come you will know. i know it hurts. i know you wish u could just open part of yourself and release the buzzing love. but not every kind of love is romantic. show it to your family, friends, plants, yourself." - Unknown

Something else that really bothers me is how society make it so prominent that if you're not in a relationship by 18-20, living together by 23, married at 25, and having kids by the time you're 28 you're doing it wrong. Which is exactly the point of this quote above that my friend Katie found on Tumblr. I feel this is one of the biggest issues in regards to what love appears to be. Society make it seem like this is a plan for every individual that has to be followed as so many people have met the love of their life by age 16 according to statistics. If you have met the love of your life by 16 then I say good for you, I can 100% confirm I have not. So for young people like me, especially as I'm going to be 20 next year this seems like a pretty impossible plan as even though it's a year away, I doubt I will be in a relationship at 20. Which means the pressure from society on young people to be in relationships is high as you feel you're not keeping up with what society is demanding you should be doing. I personally feel like by the time I am in a serious relationship it'll be too late to experience anything with anyone else because I've had no guys really interested in me throughout my teens and most likely early twenties. I geniuenly feel like the first guy I ever date will end up being the last because even though I'm only 19 I feel like I'm running out of time when quite a few people have already met the people they're going to marry in the next 5 years or so. Due to this pressure any guy I am potentially interested in or is interested in me; I get a bit a head of myself. I automatically start to think about is this person marriage material? Or are they in it for the long shot? As I genuinely feel like I am running out of time to find someone when the reality check is I've still got all of my twenties to find that person. It's also hard for me as I'm into slightly older guys and even though 19 and say 24 isn't a massive age gap. It is in terms of where those ages are at in life. At 19 you're still pretty young and potentially inexperienced about the world still and maybe still in education and living at home. Whereas at 24 you have most likely finished education or have a full time job, and maybe have your own place and your own rules on how you live your life. In terms of social changes and the way people grow up, those ages are quite far apart in maturity rather than years. 

But why is the love of another human being in a sexual way so important to us as humans when there are so many other forms of love. Remember, "being single is a status, not a destiny". 

Recently, myself and my other friend who I have mentioned in this blog post already, Katie. We both read about how surely the best kind of love is the love where the person or people don't ask you for anything in return. All they want for you to be is yourself. This kind of love is said to be the most cherished because they are literally asking you for nothing. 

""the thing is, somebody cares. i know your best friend seems really busy all the time and is shit at texting but she still loves you and she talks to you more than she talks to anyone else and you’re the only breath of calm she has on this planet. the boy in your science class loves seeing what music you’re listening to on your headphones - he has the same taste and wishes he had the nerve to ask you about it. your english teacher loves the insight you have on your papers. somebody cares. the person who lives down the street from you notices when you are sick because they don’t see you stomping your way to the schoolbus - it’s how they know it’s time to get their breakfast ready. somebody is looking for you at the party, even if they don’t know they’re really looking for you - but when you don’t show up, some part of them is disappointed. somebody is looking for you in the library, in the spot where you eat lunch, in front of that one step you always seem to trip on. i know your parents are a complicated mess and there’s drama between your friends and your love life is sort of shaped like a constant question and everybody seems all caught up in their own lives and their own happiness and nobody really notices: but somebody always does. every face in your dreams is someone you have met, and that means that you are in a million’s stranger’s heads. they see you when they go to bed. and somebody cares. somebody still thinks about you even though you were just a person with a nice outfit or good eyeliner or a great smile or because you were having one of those moments that are so charmingly human in nature or because they regret not asking if you needed help when you fell or because they wonder what you were thinking about or drawing or writing or just because you’re alive, and that makes you fascinating. somebody cares. when you were on break from work and saw a dog hanging his head out of the car and suddenly broke into a smile: there was a girl in the back of that car, and I was her, and I still think about you, and i hope you get more chances to smile like that. and there is you, sitting here reading this, and by some small extension, meeting me, and i am telling you, I care. somebody always does. i promise. i promise. you are loved." - Unknown

This quote above really spoke to both Katie and I because it is probably one of the most beautiful quotes I've ever read as it just makes your out look on life different. So you don't have the "love" that is deemed to be the only form of shown love in today's society, so what. You have the love of parents, and sisters, and brothers, and friends, and aunties, and uncles, and cousins, and pets, and even strangers who all love you and who all care about you because it's YOU. Whether it was something you did to make them smile or made them laugh or were there for them during a tough time. You're special. It is a heart warming sentiment to remind all of us as individuals that we play an important role in everyone's life that we meet and that we revolve within. We focus on so much of what we should have and not what we already do. It is so important to remember the worth of the people who are already so important and special in your life right now than the things you want or the person you wish you had in your life. We think so much about the future sometimes we forget to really live in the present. 

Yeah I've read that a couple of times and it reassures me a lot because when ever I feel down about not being in a relationship and I'm like I will never be loved I always stop and think that there are people who love me people who cry with me at parties who let me text them at God know time because I'm sad and I realise that while I might not be in a relationship I have all the love I need anything more would be just that, more love – Katie Halliwell 

In the end whether you are in a relationship or you are single, it is important to know that you are loved and it is extremely important to always cherish the love of people who truly care about you. Everything you are and everything you're aiming to be that is who they love. Not who you should be or who you're not, not for what you don't have, not for what you lack. But for every inch of who you are is what people truly love you for. 

It is okay to forget that other people love you. We get caught up in wanting the romantic side of love and we all forget other people love us and care about us and need us. And it is okay to feel sad if you're not in a relationship, I still do sometimes. But I remind myself that right now I have all the love from the people I value most in my life and without them to love me, I wouldn't be where I am without each one of them. 

Never stop being you, one day someone will walk into your life and fall in love with every inch of you. But right now, keep doing you for you and all of the people that are already in love with every inch of you. 

Follow your own guiding light and it will get you to where you really need to go. 

I hope this post has given all of you lovely readers something to take away, or to think about, or to be reminded of. This post is personally something I've wanted to write for a long time and I feel so happy to have finally written it. It is one of the most personal posts I think I have ever shared with you guys and it has taken a lot of time to figure out what to really say. 

I just want to say a few thank you's, firstly to all of you for reading it, secondly to all of the quotes taken from Tumblr and whoever has written them thank you for your beautiful and inspiring words. 

And finally, a massive thank you to Miss Katie Halliwell. For me I've finally found someone who I can talk to about all these thoughts and feelings with who really understands where I am coming from. For that, I value her to the max for putting up with me. She has been on board with me for the whole process of creating and writing this post for all of you guys and for that I'm extremely grateful. I love you my coffee twinny. 

I will chat to you all again soon. 

Love, 

Katie