So I'm back at college after half term and I feel like I haven't had a break and not really accomplished much which is never a good sign. Because of this, I've decided to take a week or maybe two off blogging to have a bit of 'me' time and I know that you probably need some too! While the following things I probably won't get round to myself over my little break as I till have tons of college work which I can't choose not to do, I'm hoping that you might take some inspiration and have a little break from what you're doing.

MAKE TIME FOR WHAT YOU LOVE

For me it's reading. Having an acoustic playlist playing while I read a good book is what I love most. This is one thing I will make time for no matter how busy I am. Even if it's a book I'm having to read for English, I will make sure I'm relaxed and doing what I love. My kindle's been great for this as it's much easier to read a little bit before bed and the red tint to the screen option means I'll have no trouble getting to sleep after. 


RELAX & PAMPER

I've done a whole post on pampering which you can have a look at for certain products. Pampering yourself is the best way to spend your down time. Put on a face mask, light a bunch of candles, get in your favourite PJs, grab a hot water bottle if you're always cold like I am and relax with your favourite Netflix show (I recommend Shadow Hunters!). 

ART

You don't need to be the next Picasso to enjoy a bit of art. I've sadly not had much time to think about art since leaving high school but it's something I really enjoy doing when I have a moment and it's so relaxing. If you're not the best drawer, you've seen the latest colour book trend- there's some great ones and it's less messy than cracking the paints out before bed. 


This is just a quick post but I hope you liked it never the less. How do you spend your 'me' time. I'd love to know. I hope you don't mind me taking a week off; I think I just need to focus on college for a little while I get back into the swing of things. I'll still by on twitter and if you need some other blogs to read check out @alt_bloggers where we retweet some great posts that I know you'll love.

Hope you're doing great,
Sarah x
I feel like it's been a while since I've shared a make up look with you and after I went out with some friends the other night and really enjoyed doing my make up with a few rediscoveries as well as some new favourites, I thought I would share it with you.

THE BASE

I started with one of the first products I ever mentioned on this blog which I rediscovered when I needed a new primer and that's the Rimmel Fix & Perfect Primer which does a great job of adding  moisture and letting my foundation glide over the top. It's the usual choice for foundation; L'oreal True Match Foundation. I always feel it gives me great coverage as well as getting rid of any redness. A new addition is the Freedom Cream Contour Palette. I take the darker colours and apply where I would usually contour as well as the salmon pink under my eyes before going in with my foundation brush to blend it all out. Another usual choice is the Collection Concealer which I used to finish of the base, however I applied this to my face after eye shadow due to fall out. 

EYES & EYEBROWS

Talking of eye shadow, I went for a more dramatic eye look than usual. I took the Models Own Cream Eye Shadow in Anthracite which is a gorgeous dark silver. I applied this over the lid to prime the eyes before taking the dark brown from my Naked Basics Palette into the crease and taking the lighter brown to transition and blend out that crease colour. I then went over my lid with my Natural Collection "Asteroid" Eye Shadow and then took the same cream shadow again over the top. I finished the eyes off with a little dusting of the Barry M #9 Dazzle Dust- a product I've not used it years.

As for eyebrows, it's another new addition which is the Freedom Eyebrow Powder Duo in Taupe. This is a great alternative to the Anastasia duo with a similar range of colours and at a quarter of the price.To further shape and define my eyebrows I used the L'oreal Brow Artist Pencil in Blonde and then took the L'oreal Brow Artist Clear Gel to set them in place. 

CHEEKS

Two products that I'm sure you could guess are my trusty Sleek Face Form Kit. I further contoured my cheeks where I'd already applied the cream to define my face even more. The trusty Elf Blush in Candid Coral, which is sadly on its last legs, gave my cheeks a subtle flush as well as adding highlight.

FINISHING OFF

For my lashes, I used an old favourite which is the Maybelline The Falsies Mascara. I kept the lips simple due to the fairly heavy eye make up with Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in 03. I gave my face a light powder with the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder before placing it in my clutch bag and finally finishing off with my Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray.

I sadly have no colour pictures of the make up on but check out my instagram where I posted a picture before I went out. 
How do you switch up your make up for a night out?
Hope you're going great, 
Sarah x


GANG LEADER FOR A DAY // SUDHIR VENTKATESH

This was a recommended book to read for my Sociology course this year and, from the raving reviews I got off my teachers, I knew it would be worth a read and it was. Following Ventkatesh's 10 years as he studies some housing projects in America, you really get a feel for the way things are run in this particular gang, The Black Kings and how the community feels towards them. It was quite surprising to see how things we were run and how the public services seemed disregard those living in these housing projects. What I loved most about this book is seeing Sudhir strike up a sort of "your a gang leader I'm studying but yet your basically a friend" relationship with J.T as well as hearing the stories of other residents. From a sociology student's perspective, this is a great one to read for your studies into carrying out research and studying crime and punishment. But also, from an avid reader's perspective, it's also so interesting to read and I think it' actually written well. It cuts down 10 years of reseach into just short of 300 pages picking out the most important events. Half way through, things did start to die down which is why I didn't give it five stars but overall it gives us a serious insight into the inequality and reasons why gangs evolve in poverty ridden areas as well as showing the solidarity between the residents and even showing the positive sides of gang culture.

ARISTOTLE & DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE // BEN ALIRE SAENZ 


Apart from good reviews, my knowledge of what I as about to read was limited. I didn't even know it was a YA contempory till after a few chapters- it just shows to not judge a book by its cover otherwise this would have been science fiction in my opinion. I love YA and this was another great one to add to the list. It follows the friendship between Aristotle and Dante across 2 summers as their friendship blossoms. It's a story of two opposites that seem to fit like a jigsaw. I really did enjoy this book and the tone reminded be a lot of Where Things Come Back. The storyline was nothing drastic but I think that helped me focus on the underlying points of the book. An element I loved was the parents. For once they weren't lousy parents who left them as a kid or were alcoholics or, in a lot of YA books, not even there so seeing each boy interact with their own parents as well as the others was nice and also funny in parts. The reason this dropped a star was mostly to do with the ending. Without spoiling anything, I could feel the book going the way it was but I didn't want it to- just to leave some bits up to the readers imagination or to show that not everything happens the way it seemed. That probably won't make sense unless you've read the book so maybe come back and read this once you have and it might make more sense. It was a book that came at the right time for me with it being such an easy, enjoyable read of friendship and family. Would definitely recommend.

ROOM // EMMA DONOGHUE


Saving the best till last comes the unique story from a very unique perspective. This was the first book I decided to download on to my Kindle after seeing numerous reviews as well as the film trailer. It follows the story of a woman who was kidnapped and locked in a room for 7 years and in those 7 years she had a child named Jack. The story opens on Jack's first birthday where it is Jack telling us about life in the room. We soon realise that Jack believes that room is the only place on earth and that it's just him, Ma and Old Nick. It's Jack and Ma's story of survival, escape, and readjustment. It might seem like a very un relatable story line but somehow it pulls at your heart strings and make you able link it to your own life which I love. This book was nothing short of perfection for me. Some parts were tense, others moving. It made me feel whole when I finished it and there's not one aspect I would wish to change- even the long chapters I didn't mind! 

I've starting this reading year off great with 3 fabulous books! While it's now half term and I should be enjoying even more books, I'm having to read a lot for my English course including another excruciating re-read of the Kelly Gang so which me luck!
Have you read any of the books mentioned? And what have you read recently?
Hope you're doing great,
Sarah x
There's something about being the last one up while the house is in darkness apart from the small yellow flicker of my desk lamp as I type random word documents of nonsense in the early hours of the morning, that I love.

There's something about hearing nothing but the tap tap tapping of my keyboard keys and the hum of the laptop churning that some how makes me feel calm and somehow better about things.

Some late nights I stay up and spew sentences that have come to my head in my over thinking state that I just want to write and I carry on writing,going off on a tangent for, sometimes, an hour. Filling page upon page with jumbled up thoughts that have filled my head but now filling my laptop's memory.

 Other nights I sit and I know there's things in there I want to write about, but I can't find the right way to write them but I sit there with the screen's brightness shining on my face waiting for something to come to me so that I can type it out.

Sometimes I'll sit there and nothing will come and I'll end up just shutting the laptop screen, tucking myself into bed and trying to sleep again.

But there's something about the  unprecedented words that come to mind late at night and the urgency I feel to get the thoughts inside of me out now before the morning.

This is exactly what I'm doing now and it's not something I've shared with others before because who cares right? But I hope that one day these jumbled paragraphs can be the making of a project. Something that won't be a stand alone computer file but a folder of chapters that I want to be heard and not something I just share with my hard drive.

Sarah x

On my 18th birthday, I went out with some friends and so it was the first time I'd needed to use a clutch since prom so I got out my trusty clutch I used for prom (which I've done a post on here) and filled it with essentials that I thought I'd share with you today.

BEAUTY

Touching up products is what seems to take up the bulk of my clutch. My trusty but actually no longer with us One Heck Of A Blot Powder with a brush was probably the most important essential for my shiny face. The lipstick I was wearing which is another loved favourite of mine: Kate Moss 09 was thrown in and then my Collection Concealer for good measure. For make up, I feel there's no point filling it with anything else other than maybe some mascara but, for me, those 3 are enough. I guess you could call it a beauty thing, but I also found this travel friendly perfume in the scent Little Red Dress from Avon. It's not a scent I reach for everyday but I think it's a nice night fragrance and it's great I can slot it into my bag. Avon always have some small sized perfumes in their sale sections so definitely check them out! 

OTHER

As for anything else, my phone is an important. Yes, to contact people but to also take some great selfies on to look at the next morning when you're half asleep. Chewing gum is a great one to pop in your purse. I get a dry throat sometimes and, while it's not a mint. chewing gum works for me. If you're going out in heels, plasters! Whether it ends up you using them or one of your friends, they will come in handy. 

So there are my clutch essentials. Just a quick one today but I hope you enjoyed it all the same!
What are some of your clutch bag essentials?
Hope you're doing great,
Sarah x
music, favourites, KYKO, Panic! at the disco,
I love discovering new people to listen to especially when it's not just the one song but a whole album even and so I thought I'd share with you some more music love as I have done before in hopes that you might check a few out if you're interested.

KYKO

If you remember last year my Saint Raymond love did nothing more than grow and while I still love that man, I've tried to find some similar artists and KYKO is one of them. While we're still in summer, his music makes me feel like I'm in summer and I love that. 

favourite songs: Animals, Headlights and Mexico

KAWALA

This, I guess is a slightly biased recommendation with one of the members being my cousins boyfriend but i wouldn't recommend then to you if I didn't actually like the music myself. Similar to KYKO, it's just what I need at the end of winter as he head into spring. They only have a few songs out but they are all great. 

favourite songs: Funky and Might River

PANIC! AT THE DISCO

On the other end of the spectrum in terms of people knowing them is the amazing Brendon Urie. I would be surprised if you don't know at least one Panic! song. The new album has been recently released with Brendon being the soul band member left but that doesn't take away from the fact it's an amazing album. Because of the recent release, I haven't been able to stop listening to the new and old stuff of theirs. It makes me feel super nostalgic. I also found their reading set on YouTube and it's become my means to get me through the overload of college work I've had recently.

favourite songs: Golden Days, Hallelujah and (an old favourite) Miss Jackson

JACK GARRATT

This man has already won awards and I'd put money on him receiving the critics choice award at the Brits this year. The way he plays and loops the different instruments, putting it metaphorically, is Ed Sheeran on some serious steroids. To add to his pure genius it doesn't half produce some cracking songs. I think Jack Garret will be doing very well this year. 

favourite songs: Weathered, Breathe Life and Worry

MISCELLANEOUS

They are just a few of the artists I've been loving but there has been some great new singles released that I wanted to mention. Some you may have seen me rave about over on twitter or seen on my current spotify playlist but here's a list of a few new releases worth a listen.





If you want any more music goodness, check out my spotify if you wish.
What music have you been loving recently?
Hope you're doing great,
Sarah x





I remember the first few years of primary and oh how I admired you. The way you waltzed around the playground, I envied you. How everyone wanted to be your friend, be your partner in PE, sit next to you at dinner. You were my best friend but to you I was just another sheep. 

Onto high school and nothing really changed. I felt like you accepted me more but I guess I knew you felt like you were worth more than being friends with me. I mean, the constant teasing about how I dressed, telling me that I basically had to drop a few pounds was a bit of a giveaway you didn't think I deserved your friendship. Comparing it to mean girls, you were basically Regina George but the difference is, she grew out of it. 

By year 9, I started to distance myself. You were in between boyfriends and were interested in parties while I stuck to what I knew: books and music. By Year 10 I knew I was just a charity case for you, a little side project as it were. It was so obvious. I was just your councellor. I still care a lot about you and I would never turn you away when you needed help but the fact you felt you had to say one day that you felt you "made a lot of time for me" made me realise there was no hope for this so called friendship.

But while I realised I no longer wanted to follow you around and be dragged down by your endless drama, you didn't seem to understand why I didn't want to be friends with the gorgeous social butterfly that is yourself. You still carried on. Even though I finally started to find new friends, you still tried to keep me under your spell. The stupid thing is though is that I let you- it was like a comfort blanket for me. I spent my last year of high school still wasting my time.

I hate to say this  but it's been a blessing going to different colleges. It's given me chance to grow and experience what I want to experience and not what you think I should. I've not had to deal with your constant remarks and now, every six months when you seem to feel it's your duty to try and arrange plans with those that genuinely cared about you, I laugh because you decided to leave us behind and really you have no intention with following through with those plans. I look at my phone and I laugh. I did it just the other week when you cancelled. I knew you would. You cancelled and hour before and you know what? While 2012 me would have been sat at the edge of her bed ready and excited to go out 3 hours early, I was still in my pyjamas 30 minutes before we were supposed to meet.

It's sad that those who came running to you at the click of a finger have grown up and moved on while you still seem to think you have power over us. You haven't changed. 

This letter seems so negative and I don't want it to be just that. Please know, I would never ignore you because the 13 years we knew each other were filled with amazing memories like the time you came away with my family, the sleepovers where we couldn't stop laughing at the stupidest things. You did teach me a lot and have influenced a lot of my personality today and when I do see you every once in a while, I can't help but realise how much I've missed. But no longer am I a lost sheep in need of a shepherd and maybe it's time you realised popularity isn't everything especially if it stops you being yourself. 

Also, know that, for me and you, this probably isn't a good bye forever. We finally saw each other last week after a year but for me it's a good bye to our past friendship because things have changed for me and, from what we've spoken about, they've changed for you too.We're no longer how we used to be and I think that's fine. 

ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE 


The second book of this year and I loved it. What a great start to the reading year! Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe; a book I've been meaning to pick for a bout a year now and finally I have. 

Apart from good reviews, my knowledge of the plot was limited and if I was judging it by the cover, I was expecting some sort of adventure but instead I found myself delving into another contemporary YA novel; my favourites! 

Following the personal story of the friendship between Aristotle and Dante, it's a simplistic plot if it even has a plot. It's almost just the written memories of the friendship of two polar opposites as they experience life together. What I loved about their friendship was how different they were but yet they still fitted together as if a jigsaw. 

Reading about and watching the relationship between them grow was almost an honour to be able to see so closely the details of how their friendship came to be. I loved how real it was and how they had their ups and downs like any friendship. I related to Aristotle a lot in feelings towards frienship and how he sometimes felt it was best to take a step back. 

One major point I loved about this book was the parents. It's far too often in YA where the parents are either awful or non existent. In this story, however, the parent played an important and prominent role in the story and I really loved that element, showing how not all fictional parents are messed up. The relationship the two had with their owns as well as each others parents made it feel like an average story of friendship and that's what I loved about this book; no big plot twists just a story of new relationships and discovery. 

There's not much I could fault about this book as all elements were executed beautifully. However, the reason I did give it 4 and not 5 stars was due to the ending not finishing as I would have hoped. I obviously don't want to spoil this book for you as I do urge you to give this a quick read but, for me, I think more good could have come from this by following another path. Having said that, I really did like how everything came together at the end as we discovered, ourselves, the truth or Aristotle and Dante.

Overall the tone of the book and the writing style was the kind I love and it reminded me a lot of Where Things Come Back and, being my favourite book, it's obviously a very positive comparison to make. Also, if you enjoyed The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, this is another book you should check out covering some similar issues and, again, a slightly similar tone. 

If you don't mind a book that lacks a real storyline, love stories surrounding relationships as well as looking for a book surrounding LGBTQ+ issues, I would definintely pick this up!
Have you read this book? Have you got any recommendations?
Hope you're doing great,
Sarah x