LOOKING BACK ON MY FIRST YEAR OF UNIVERSITY!

I can't believe that my first year of uni is already over! It's insane to think how much has happened and changed for me in such a short space of time. Starting university was probably the biggest thing I have done so far in my life, it meant moving cities away from everything and (nearly) everyone I knew which was pretty scary for me. I knew that I wanted to study something that focused on music in some capacity but I couldn't pin point what I wanted to do exactly, I had been playing music my whole life - I started learning piano when I was six and since then I've learnt an array of instruments, the flute, oboe, piccolo and guitar. I've been in bands, recorded music and organised gigs but none of these gave me that feeling of wanting to do this my whole life. I found BIMM and their music journalism course and - even though I'd never done music writing or journalism before - fell in love with the course and applied to that one course only and just prayed that I would get in. Thankfully I did and I'm so glad I stuck with my gut feeling and did what I thought was right for me because I can't imagine doing anything else now.

(Me at the Birmingham Music Awards - credit to Megan Hyslop from Guava Magazine)

One of my biggest accomplishments since starting uni has been starting my blog, it may seem small but I never had the confidence to share my opinions or writing this time last year. Not only did I create my blog but I have managed to keep updating it regularly and with content that I'm proud of, seeing other people enjoy what I've written is so gratifying. I learned how to write properly through my course and I already look back at things I wrote less than 6 months ago and cringe a little because even in that short time I gave improved my writing so much (I think so anyway). Having my blog has also led to really fun things like being invited to Lush's birthday event, photographing the Birmingham Music Awards and meeting bands and musicians who I am now really good friends with.

One of the things that I was most nervous about when starting University was making friends. I've never been particularly confident or good when speaking to new people but I pushed myself to try and talk to as many new people as I could during my first couple of weeks. Once you realise that everyone else at university is in the same boat of not knowing many people and wanting to make friends, it becomes a lot easier to work up the confidence to talk to everyone.

This year has been one of the best of my life, going to university is one of the best decisions I've made for myself. I've not only found the career I want to pursue but I've already started to pursue it and made steps that will help me in the future - both short and long term. This was just a little piece about my experience with Uni but if you want to read more about my University life I wrote a piece for the 'BIMM Blog' about a week in my life as a Music Journalism, I will link it below.

'A week in the life of a Music Journalism student at BIMM Birmingham' - https://blog.bimm.co.uk/a-week-in-the-life-of-a-music-journalism-student-at-bimm-birmingham

ONE OF MY GO TO MAKE UP LOOKS

(such low quality but the only photo I have of this make up)

I'm not great at make up but I've been wearing it for nearly 8 years now so I'd like to think I've slightly improved. When I started wearing make up I didn't know YouTube exitsed so I was wearing bright orange foundation, blue eyeshadow and red lipstick, once my make up was done I would spray my face with hairspray and be done with it. I don't know why my mum let me leave the house looking like this but she did, I like to think I look a bit better then that now. I used to wear make up religiously, I felt like I had to wear make up to look and feel beautiful but now I hardly wear it and I feel great with or without make up. This is one of the makeup looks I usually go for, but I have been trying to teach myself some more exciting eye looks and hopefully I can perfect them and share them with you soon.

I only recently started to test out the 'soap brow' trend and I have yet to master it fully but it is already my favourite way to do my eyebrows. I use a transparent soap and a spoolie to brush the product into my brows and press all the hairs upwards, this makes my brows look a lot thicker then they actually are and helps me create a more natural looking brow which I have been absolutely loving. I do this before I apply any face make up so I can clean any excess soap from around my brows without ruining my makeup.

Prepping the skin is the most important part of my make up, I have very dry skin so before I apply my foundation I like to add as much moisture into my skin as I can. After I've done my skin care I use the Revolution Baking Oil, I use an oil because most primers have a mattifying effect which I don't need at all. This oil is really nice as it doesn't make the skin feel greasy but does make dryer areas of skin a softer base for foundation. After I have used the oil I go in with the Revolution Blur Stick to fill in my pores around my nose and cheeks so my foundation doesn't sink into them, sometimes I use this stick even when not wearing make up as it gives the skin as smooth look and feel which I love.

I apply my foundation using  damp Real Techniques sponge, I have never used a brush to apply my foundation and I doubt I ever will as I like the finish that the sponge gives and it is so easy to apply. I never drag the sponge against my face, I always 'pounce' it onto the skin to stop any streaks or any patchiness on the dryer spots of skin. I use a small amount of foundation as I only aim to cover the redness on my skin, I use my concealer to brighten under my eyes and to cover anything that the foundation couldn't. Before I use any powder products on my face I use the darkest colour in the NYX concealer pallet to start to bring some warmth and shape back to my face, I try to use as many cream products as possible as the work better with my skin compared to powder products. I set my face with a light dusting of setting powder again using a damp sponge and I bake underneath where I will attempt to contour later, I do this to help me keep the darker powder where I want it and prevent it falling too far below my cheekbone.

I don't think I actually contour but I just put bronzer just below my cheekbone mostly to bring some colour back to my face. I use 'The Balm Cosmetics' Croeso bronzer from the 'Travel Palette', it's pretty neutral (not warm or cool toned) so I like it because it's pretty hard to mess up and add too much, it doesn't get 'muddy' or patchy. I use an angled brush to apply it, I used to use a large fan brush but I find its better to use a smaller brush to keep the product exactly where you want it. I use the same angled brush to apply my blush, I again use the 'Travel Palette' and I use the 'huan ying' blush. I like a peachy blusher and I apply this on the apple of my cheek and bring it across my cheekbone all the way to my temples. Before I set my face I fill in my eyebrows, I wait to do my eyebrows till after my face make up because, again, I'm not too good at make up and would absolutely cover my eyebrows in foundation id I did it the other way round. I use a tiny angled 'Morphe' brush and a dark brown eyeshadow to try (I emphasise that word - try) and create natural looking hairs. Once that is done I wipe my baking powder away and to set my face I use the 'Nip and Fab' Illuminating fix mist. Before this fully sets I use the highlighter from the 'Travel Palette' and blend this in with my blush for a more subtle highlight.

One of my favourite make up styles (I don't know if that is the term for it) is to only wear eyeshadow along my bottom lash line, I have relatively hooded eyelids and I haven't yet mastered any look that suits me. For this look I used a burnt orange shadow on a small, dense shadow brush and smoked out my bottom lash line before adding three small dots using a black gel eyeliner. I created a winged liner using Revolutions 'The Liner Revolution', this was the first time I used this eyeliner and even though the felt tip makes it incredibly easy to create a wing the product was a bit too grey and it took a couple of layers to build up a nice dark black wing. I love the formula of this product though, even after a full day of wearing it there was no drying or flaking of the eyeliner. To finish off the eyes I use 'Maybelline Great Lash' mascara on the top and bottom lashes. Lastly I applied L'oreal Paris colour riche matte lipstick in 655 copper clutch, I apply a little in the middle of my lips and blend it in with my finger to create a shearer coat across my lips. I also added some lip balm over the lipstick as I have run out of lip gloss but still wanted a little shine.

I love this look, it makes me feel good about myself and that's the most important thing when it comes to make up. (Side note - since I wrote and filmed this nearly two weeks ago my make up routine has already changed somewhat so if you would like to see another make up video of what I do now please let me know!)

1 BODYSUIT STYLED 3 WAYS

Recently I have been trying to add more colour into my wardrobe but most of my staple pieces are still black, it isn't often that you will find me wearing an outfit that doesn't feature a black item of clothing. I think that black clothing is so easy to style as you can add so much colour and texture alongside the simple colour, layering is something I love the look of and this is why I love my bodysuits so much. I have many bodysuits but the one I tend to wear more often is a long sleeve, black, ribbed, turtle neck from NewLook. The turtle neck design is perfect for layering as the high neck makes so many other necklines look good over it and with the bodysuit being so plain I can layer pretty much anything over the top. I thought that with the weather getting slightly warmer, and the need for big winter coats depleting, that some layered outfits would be perfect to stay warm but not too warm so I put together three different outfits that all feature the same bodysuit.

(BooHoo dress, Miss Selfridge tights, Primark belt, Kickers shoes)

By layering more casual items under a 'party' dress you can get a completely different look while also keeping yourself warm. I love the colour of this dress so I didn't want to add too many colours so the focus would stay on the royal blue. I added the sparkly tights after gaining inspiration from Miley Cyrus' Met Gala look and also because they're just adorable. I thought that adding the glitter would keep with the slightly more dressed up vibe and add a little more texture into the outfit. I chose to wear my platform Kickers to add some more colour amongst the base of black clothing. I love the squared off toe style of these shoes, I think it adds a unique look that separates Kickers from any other brand. 

(Boohoo trousers, second hand jacket, DollsKill handbag, Dr Martens boots)

This second outfit is a bit more casual but a lot more colourful. I paired the black, high neck bodysuit with these really funky yellow plaid trousers, I originally wanted a pair similar to these on MotelRocks but then found these much cheaper on BooHoo and they're exactly the same! I added the red vinyl handbag as the ring detail on the handles matches that of the zipper on the trousers, it's a simple similarity but I think it looks pretty cool. I wanted to keep it simple with my choice of shoes as there is already so much colour happening with the trousers and handbag so I wore my black Dr Martens boots to match the bodysuit and keep the focus on the yellow. I probably would've added a black, cropped jacket if I had one as I think that would've matched the outfit slightly better than the blue denim but still, I think that the frayed hem of this jacket matched the vibe of this outfit as a whole.

(Boohoo top, Primark belt, ? Trousers, Dr Marten boots)

This outfit incorporates three of my favourite fashion trends, black, pink and leopard print. I have no idea where I bought these trousers but they are so comfy and are just the perfect baby pink colour and they may be *slightly* see through but that won't stop me. In the summer, praying that England actually gets a summer, I will happily be wearing this outfit without the bodysuit but whilst we're still in the colder months I think it's still a super cute outfit! I again paired this with my black Dr Martens to give some consistency amongst the pattern and colour, the black also contrasts against the 'girly' pink and gives a more edgy (for lack of a better word) look.  The leopard top is actually a mini dress from BooHoo but it works when you have these wide, baggy trousers to hide the bottom of the dress, I've tried to wear this with really tight trousers and it looked a little funny. 

'INSURGENT' - NEW BAND ON THE BLOCK

'Insurgent' are the the newest metal band on the scene. With Mike Tabone on drums, Jake Brettle on bass, Joe Rowley on guitar and Katie Teitge, the neon queen,  front and centre with the vocal, these guys are soon bound to up the game for Birmingham's music scene. 

(Amy Demidow Photography - https://www.facebook.com/demidowphotography/?tn-str=k*F)

Last weekend (12th May) 'Insurgent' made their debut at The Victoria in Birmingham and they absolutely smashed it, The amount of friends and fans who attended the gig was pretty impressive and the band seemed a little overwhelmed by the support of the crowd, "Playing our first show as a band was an absolutely incredible experience. We were completely blown away by the amount of support we received".

Their first song 'My Sentence Awaits' featured intense reverb on her vocals giving me a 2000's metal vibe which carried on throughout their set, straight away I was in love with the music. The next two songs, 'Counterpoint' and 'Colours Bleed' further added this 2000's metal sound with big, complex riffs played with guitar tones crafted perfectly to blend with the vocal. The vocal is the stand out feature of 'Insurgent', you can tell that Tietge has some serious vocal training behind her and the powerful, near operatic style of singing compares to that of Howard Jones from 'Killswitch engage' or Myles Kennedy of 'Alter Bridge'. Joe Rowley told me, "Our influences are largely drawn from modern heavy metal, bands like Alter Bridge have personally influenced my desire to maintain a powerful/catchy melody but we are all also into the really heavy stuff, bands like gojira and periphery have made us want to look at using some different time signatures tastefully to increase the level of intrigue in certain song parts. Katie has been heavily involved with musical theatre so that will inevitably have influenced her vocal delivery.". Clearly their influences come across well in their music!

I spoke to Katie after the show and she raved about her role model Becca MacIntyre the vocalist from 'Marmozets' and after having a listen you can hear the resemblance between the two's voices, it's uncanny. But even with such a strong singing voice she says she wasn't always as confident in the blending of her vocal and heavier music as I am now, "I was warned I'd make the whole band sound like kids bop because I'd never sang metal before the band but I was so stoked to hear that that wasn't the case!".

(Amy Demidow Photography - https://www.facebook.com/demidowphotography/?tn-str=k*F)

The stand out song for me was 'Illusionary', the deeper vocal from this song gave a nice contrast to the other songs from the night while still blowing the crowd away. The band finished with the most angsty song of their set, 'Zero Sum' took me back to my angry teen days and gave the crowd the breakdown they were craving, there wasn't a single person that wasn't head banging which is pretty impressive for a first gig. The amount of confidence the band was giving off you would never have guessed this was the first time they had played in front of an audience, their set was polished and they held the audience in with immense stage presense and just killed it, they sounded fucking amazing.

I feel that sometimes people use having a woman in their band as a token and a way to market themselves in a better way but here you can clearly see how well each person works with the others, the four of them fit so well together and have created a sound that fits them perfectly, "Being a part of Insurgent was a definite for me (Jake) from the first moment I heard Joe's riffs. I've loved every single thing I've heard him write and knew that I had to be involved".

'Insurgent' will definitely be a name more and more people will be hearing very soon, "We have a single in the works at the moment and once that is out we aim to record our second single at the end of summer with the end goal being to release an EP this Christmas alongside a launch show". Keep an eye out for everything these guys are going to do - I've been told to expect "more monstrous riffs, more lush and haunting vocals and definitely killer music" so I get the feeling it's going to be pretty insane.

Keep up to date with Insurgent on their social medias -

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/insurgentmusic/
Website - http://www.insurgentband.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/InsurgentBand/

PRETENDING I'M A YOUTUBER - GLOW UP/SELF LOVE WITH ME

Youtube has been filled with the 'glow up' trend for pretty much the whole of 2019 and to be honest I've probably watched every single video with that term in the title, not forgetting of course the original glow up of Mia in Princess Diaries. For some reason watching girls spending hundreds on various beauty treatments and filming the process has become an avid pass time for me, they all just look so good! But of course, me being me, I'm not going to go and spend any money on getting my hair and nails done or buying any (more) clothes because I'm pretty sure I can get the same effect by doing this all myself on a tight ass budget.

I think the main goals of these 'glow up' or 'transformation' videos is to become that Insta Baddie image that everyone seemingly craves but I'm not too fussed by that idea. I browsed around and found some different interpretations of the 'glow up' trend and dissected a couple to create my own little version. For me the main goal of my 'glow up' is to just feel good about myself. With Uni coming to an end I've been working non-stop to finish all my work and hand everything in on time so I haven't had much opportunity to show myself some love and I thought I may as well write about it, you know, killing two birds with one stone.

So, after scouring the internet I have curated a list of the vital 'glow up' steps.

My first step is to bathe and wash my hair and body. Before starting my little glow up I wanted to create a clean canvas for lack of a better term, I exfoliated my body using the Body Shop peach exfoliator and then, after deciding against waxing my legs, shaved my body. I washed my hair as usual and to add a little something extra, used a Palmers cocoa butter hair mask. Whilst my hair mask was on I ran a super hot bath and used one of my Lush bath bombs, I chose Strawberries and cream as this one makes my skin feel so soft and moisturised. To be honest with you, I didn't stay in the bath very long as I got too hot and even though I was loving the self care I did get bored sitting there doing nothing.

This is where my super budget beauty hacks come into play. After using an exfoliator to clean my skin I steamed my face to open up my pores and to do this I created my own face steamer. To create this at home steaming treatment all you have to do is lean over a washing up bowl full of boiling water and place a towel over your head and the bowl. The steam from the boiling water will open your pores and help bring out any toxins and things of the like from your skin. Once I had steamed my face for around 10 minutes I washed off my sweat (lovely) using warm water and then gently patted my face dry. Now my skin is clean I shave my face, I do this maybe once every three weeks as I find it makes my foundation sit a lot better on my skin, it's also a really quick way to clean up your brows. It's not necessary but I like it so why not do it? I shave my face with a single razor very, very gently by holding the skin tight and moving the razor slowly and with small motions, always wash your face using water to get all the stray hairs off your face afterwards. The brand of razor I use is wonderfully called 'Tinkle'.

Now the fun pampering things come in! I have a selection of face masks but I chose to use The body Shop's Japanese Matcha Pollution Clearing Mask, I have used this mask a lot since moving to a city where I can literally see the pollution. We live near such busy streets and the light pollution from the city centre is visible for miles, so using a product that can help remove the damage of that from my skin makes me feel a little more relaxed. I do like to use sheet masks but I am straying away from them as they don't tend to be made from bio-degradable or recyclable materials and I do want to be conscious of the amount of waste that I create. I wanted to try teeth whitening but all the products I found were a little too pricey but I do use whitening toothpaste and mouthwash so maybe, eventually my teeth will be a little brighter.

Before I did any skin care I tried dying my eyebrows. As someone who has dyed hair a little darker than my natural colour, my eyebrows don't match at all and it gets on my nerves. You can buy eyebrow dying kits but these come in tiny packets and are too expensive for my liking, so instead I bought a mens beard dye. I didn't know this existed before going into the store but the dye came in a huge bottle and was pretty cheap considering how many times you could use it to dye your brows. I used an old eyebrow brush to run this through my brows and even used it to try and create more of an arch shape to my brow, the dye worked great and I left it on for about 8-10 minuets. I plucked under my arch to try and lift my brow up a tad but I don't have many brow hairs anyway so I didn't push it too far. After the dye was off I did my skin care as usual which I have a separate blog post about if you would like to read!

By this time my hair was pretty dry so I ran some leave in conditioner through it and then used a texturising gel through the lengths and ends of my hair. I like to use a hairdryer and brush to dry my hair straight rather than using a hair straightener on top of heat dried hair, I do have to straighten my fringe on a low heat as it never wants to sit properly. The leave in conditioner gives my hair a really pretty shine and leaves it feeling and looking so healthy while the gel gives my ends some thickness and volume. I've really been considering growing my hair out recently, I want to have super long hair but then I also love the low maintenance of my short hair so it's a bit of a battle. I did purchase some super cheap synthetic hair extensions which I  absolutely love the look of but I just need to work up the confidence to wear them outside now, I would like to buy some better quality extensions but I didn't realise how much they cost! There's a picture up on my instagram (linked at the top of my blog) with me wearing the hair extensions if you want to look and if anyone has any recommendations to comment that would be really helpful!

One of the easiest money savers in my 'glow up' is doing my own nails. I buy my own fake nails often from Primark, but websites like Etsy and Depop feature loads of beautiful nails that have been hand painted for less then a tenner. I bought these nails from Boots and I think they're adorable, I love having super girly nails as I don't tend to wear girly outfits at all but it makes me feel a bit more put together I guess. I know it probably sounds disgusting but if one of my nails falls off I do just stick it back on and I keep doing the until I get bored of the nails, I wash them and remove the glue before re-placing it don't worry. It saves you so much money, these elegant touch nails were £7 and will last me maybe 3 weeks.

If this was a proper 'glow up' I would do some next level make up look and outfit now but I am not very good at make up and I'm a little lazy. While planning this post I did want to do some make up but I didn't think I could do much of a good job. I would love to do some make up content but I don't wear make up very often and when I do it tends to be the same look, very simple and mostly focused on my face than my eyes, I also hate lipstick. I never wear eyeshadow and the most out there look I have done is wear red eyeliner instead of black. It could be cool if I could get someone who could do some amazing make up look for me but alas that is not possible for me currently.

I love self love. It's so important to look after yourself even in little ways, just drinking enough water is a good start. Sometimes being a little selfish and taking care of yourself is just what you need to stop worrying about everyone else. After doing all of these self love steps I just went to bed and drank tea while I watched Princess Diaries, I didn't try and make myself look all nice for anyone else but me and I felt amazing.

I don't know if this almost Youtube-y content is boring to read about? I really enjoy writing posts like this but it's so much easier for someone to just watch a video and get a better idea of what is happening. Let me know if this is actually interesting or if i'm just messing about too much. I have a lot of ideas for blog posts at the moment but I want to write things people will enjoy reading, I really enjoyed writing some lifestyle pieces and am thinking about adding some beauty content regularly. I would also love to incorporate little videos and such into my writing to keep things interesting but I want to make sure everything is done right and learning how to use video is very confusing for me but hopefully soon I can create some more really cool stuff.