What I Got For Christmas: 2014

My first YouTube video!! Woop woop! I hope you enjoy :)

University Application Tips

Hello all! I haven't posted in a while, and even though it's not much of an excuse I've had a lot of college work and university applying to do recently and that sort of stuff really stresses me out to the point where I literally can't bring myself to do anything productive. However, I have finally handed in my application so I thought I would give you a few little tips on applying to uni.

Choosing a Course

1. DO YOUR RESEARCH! I cannot stress this enough. Research the courses you want to take until you feel like you couldn't possibly know any more.
2. DO WHAT YOU LOVE! Someone tells you you can't? Show them you can! They tell you it's too hard? Make it look easy! They tell you what you want to do is pointless/won't get you anywhere/the chances of 'making it' are one in a million? Who are they to tell you, you wont make it. If you're passionate enough about something do it, take that risk. Because if you don't you will live the rest of you life with the big 'WHAT IF?'
3. DO USE THE STUDENT ROOM! The Student Room if an online forum where people can post and answer questions on anything and everything to do with being a student. You can see what others have said about their experiences doing the course you're thinking of doing.
4. DO LOOK ON UNIVERSITY WEBSITES! Often universities will have a whole section of their website dedicated to the course you're thinking of doing. Most of the time they'll have an overview of the course and they may even list the modules in the course. This is a great way to get a rough idea of what the course will be like.
5. DO USE YOUTUBE! A lot of universities now use youtube to advertise themselves and the courses they offer and sometimes you can even find an ex-student talking about their experiences on the course. If you're doing a subject like media, you may also be able to find work that past students have done as part of their course.
6. DO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OPEN DAYS! When I was applying for university no one ever really encouraged me to attend an open day and no one ever told me just how beneficial they were. Even if you're short on money try and go to at least one open day. Often there will be subject talks and tours where you can get a real sense of the course, the place and the lecturers. People often base their final decisions on open days, I visited one university that looked amazing on paper but I quickly found out that it wasn't for me when I visited. You may love it or you may hate it, but you'll never know until you actually experience it.
7. DO NOT LISTEN TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS! They are not the ones who have to live with this decision, you are! Make sure whatever you do, you do for you and not them.
8. DO NOT STRESS if you're not sure of what to study. Just ask yourself: What do I like to do? What am I good at? And then do it! You are going to be spending 3/4 years of your life on your chosen course, you don't want to spend that time hating it, and then hating the career you get out of it.

coming soon
Choosing a Uni
The Application
Personal Statement
What Now?

AS Drama: Review

I thought I'd post this here for anyone wanting a little inspiration or wondering how to write a review for Drama. This was what I wrote in preparation for my exam and I got very high marks for this section. Obviously don't copy this because you'll get in trouble with the exam board but I'm done with it now so feel free to use it as revision or something. (I also just wanted to store it here so I could delete it off my computer). 

     In April 2014 I saw Spring Awakening in the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama’s Bute Theatre performed by The Richard Burton Theatre Company. Spring Awakening was written by Gary Owen, directed by Ellen Mcdoughall and designed by Hattie Gent. The pace and intensity of the drama was effectively captured through the use of fragmented scenes paired with a naturalistic style of acting. The drama brings Frank Wedekind’s originally risky and notorious play up to date and focuses on the effects of sex and internet pornography on young teenagers whose lives are already at risk. The main theme of the play is sexuality and this shown through the play’s content and dialogue. Upon walking into the theatre rock music was being played and the traverse stage, set with a see-through box no more than two meters square, was lit, making us part of the production as soon as we walked in. Due to this setting I expected the play to be very minimalistic using little props, yet I also expected it to have an anarchistic and rebellious feel to it because of the music being played. Michael Kelligan said, “Ellen McDougall’s direction sweeps everything along at a good pace, interspersed with quiet moments when some of the young people reveal their sad histories.”

     In the opening scene of the play Simon is attempting to reprimand his student Wendy all while she is trying to get him to notice her very exposed legs. Simon’s character is feeling very awkward as he is trying desperately to ignore her advances and change the subject. He very effectively communicates this as he looks everywhere except at her legs, often glancing from side to side or up towards the ceiling. This change in focus emphasises the awkwardness he feels in the situation. Vocally, Simon’s tone was fairly frantic and at times frustrated suggesting that he is finding it hard not to look at her. This scene tells us that Simon is attracted to Wendy, as his fidgeting and the clear distressed expression on his face tells us that her presence affects him greatly. Also we see that his will power is weak as eventually Wendy convinces him to look at her. We feel sympathy towards Simon here as it is obvious that he is trying to be professional and desperately trying to ignore Wendy but eventually she overpowers him.

     Also, the actor playing Wendy in this scene had the difficult task of portraying a character that was younger than her while also trying to be seductive. She achieved this through her clever physicality and vocal placement. Through most of the scene she stands with her weight on one leg while the other is positioned slightly in front and bent at the knee. This brought attention to her legs and as she shifted her weight every few seconds it emphasised to us as an audience that she was using this body language to attempt to gain the attention of her teacher.  Also, when looking at Simon the actor would tilt her head downwards and look up at him from under her eyelashes while twisting slightly from side to side as a child might. The twisting of her body and the way she looked at Simon emphasised how innocent and impressionable she is as technically she is still a child in being a fourteen/fifteen year old. However, in contrast to this, the placement of her leg and her seductive and playful tone of voice suggests to us that she is trying to act much older than she is and the innocence in the way she looked at Simon suggests that she is looking for Simon’s approval. This shows that Wendy’s character is manipulative as her innocent yet playful and seductive manner eventually overpowers Simon. We feel no sympathy towards Wendy here as she seems manipulative and her innocence seems forced as part of her manipulation of Simon.

     We see a different aspect of Wendy’s character when we see her in the ‘classroom’ type setting with two other girls and Simon. At one point in these scenes the actress playing Wendy had to portray worry as if something was troubling her.  When her character was feeling this the actress would be stood away from the rest of the group, often on the outside of the box while the rest stood inside the box. This made her character seem isolated from the rest of the group, suggesting that she does not feel comfortable or does not know how to communicate her issues to others. Also, she would look away from the group as if she was trying not to draw attention to herself and her facial expression was one of anger and worry. Also, although she did not speak much during these moments, when she did speak her tone would be defensive and angry. This suggests that she was trying to hide her feelings from the rest of the group suggesting that her character may be slightly shy and insecure underneath her confident exterior. We feel slight sympathy for her in this situation as it is obvious that something is upsetting her while she seems to get no sympathy from the other characters on stage.

     Lastly, the actor playing Malc’s dad had the challenge of playing an abusive father who was in the middle of shouting at his wife and son. He depicted this very well as his facial expression was always malicious and angry. Also, his tone of voice changed throughout the scene as at times he would be very angry and he would shout at the other characters but at other times he would speak calmly but with a very sinister edge. This gave depth to the character and suggested an element of manipulation to his character. When shouting the actor would look down on the other actors and stand very close to them, often shouting in their faces. This made the character seem in control and suggested that he had more power than the other characters on stage. He also made sharp gestures with his arms to show his anger but when speaking calmly his movements would be more controlled and less grand, making him seem more sinister.  From these acting choices we see that the character has a bad temper and is often manipulative, we also see that he is a bad father and this gives us some insight into Malc’s life and why he acts out.

Mini Haul!

Today, I acquired a couple of fashion/beauty products, and I thought I'd make a little blog post showing you what I got.

I'm going to start with the beauty products and the first beauty product I picked up was this L'Oreal True Match Touche Magique Highlighting Concealer in Ivory Beige. I wanted to try this because I've been feeling like my current concealer is a tiny bit orange and doesn't really blend into my skin as much as I would like it to. So, I have this one now and I will do a review on it as well as the rest of the products in this post once I've had the chance to try them out properly.

Next I bought these two Rimmel London Exaggerate Lip Liners in 063 Eastend Snob and 024 Red Diva. Before these I actually didn't own a lip liner at all so I decided it was time to invest.

The final beauty product I invested in today was Rimmel London Natural Bronzer in 022 Sun Bronze. I've never really had the determination to sit and spend hours getting bronzer just right and the only bronzer I had didn't really work for me so hopefully this one will be good enough to encourage me to put more effort into bronzing/highlighting my face.

On to fashion! I am a major pumps/ballerina shoe lover and anyone who knows me knows that when I find a pair I love I wear them to death. That is why my white ones are covered in mud and my blue ones are falling apart. So, it was finally time to say goodbye to my old favourites and hello to my new ones. These shoes are a slightly different style to the regular ballerina pumps that I usually wear but it's good to shake things up once in a while! I love the patterns on both of these, the blue ones are just adorable and the leopard print ones look like they'll go with anything so it's an all around win! I had to wear them around a little first but now they are super comfy and fit my tiny size 3 feet perfectly.

The last fashion item I got was this F&F Quilted Phone Purse. Because I'm the type of person who hates having worry about a handbag getting lost or stolen when I'm out, I think this little purse is perfect as I can keep all of my money and my phone in one place and with the gold chain strap I can keep it with me all the time without it getting in the way (and this way I don't have to make my boyfriend carry all my stuff around for me). You can also get this purse in cream but I decided to go with black just because it'll go with a wider range of outfits.

FOTD & OOTD: Birthday Meal!

Today, myself and my family went for a meal at Junction 28 in late celebration of my 18th birthday. So I decided to show you what I paired my cute little AX Paris playsuit with!

I wore it with these little brown strappy sandals by F&F, they have a 3 inch heel which, for me, is the perfect balance between height and still being able to walk, the shade of brown literally goes with anything and they have cute little gold pyramid shapes on the straps to keep them fun and interesting. They're not the comfiest shoes but they're fine for a sit down meal.

I actually didn't wear any jewelry with this because I'm not really a big jewelry wearer and I didn't feel like the outfit required any. If I was to wear jewelry with it though, I would have probably worn my pandora bracelet and some earrings, I definitely would have kept it simple though.

For make-up, again I kept it very simple. I'm not one for going overboard with jewelry and make-up, I like to let the outfit speak for itself. So all I'm wearing on my face is Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer, Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation 010, Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder, Bourjois 48 Cendre De Rose Brune Blush, Rimmel Scandaleyes Mascara and Rimmel Special Eyes Eyeliner. 

Okay, so I just realised how many Rimmel products I use. Maybe it's time to be a bit more adventurous and invest in some new brands. Maybe I'll pick up some new stuff the next time I go shopping and I'll do some reviews on here.

Anyway, thank you for visiting my little blog, feel free to have a look around some more and maybe leave me a comment letting me know what products I should try!

Talk soon, Aimee.

July Favourites!

Oh my gosh! It's already time for another favourites post, I don't know where the month of July went but it has literally flown by. It has been a crazy but wonderful month due to my birthday, my trip to Centre Parcs and the insanely sunny weather we've been having. But now I'm back and I'm ready to settle back down into daily life. So, let's get started.

Make-Up and Beauty!

Quick Fix Facials Anti-Blemish Mud Mask: I can honestly say that this face mask has been a lifesaver for me this month. I don't know if it's the heat, but I have been having a lot of trouble with my skin and this mask just seems to fix all of my problems. I've been using this pretty much whenever my skin needed a pick-me-up and it would just leave my skin feeling refreshed, clean and soft. It claims to remove excess oil, draw out impurities, tighten pores, treat spots and prevent future blemishes, and I believe that it does just that. In the days after I use it my skin feels less oily, without being dry, and it really seems to prevent spots. Definitely my favourite product this month.

Fashion!

AX Paris Collar Floral Playsuit: I bought this playsuit very recently from New Look and it's already one of my favourite pieces of clothing. It fits me really well and has a really gorgeous shape to it. It's one of those things that just looks 10 times better when you actually try it on. It's very comfortable and very light and very easy to wear day and night.

Pandora Bracelet: Quite a few members of my family all chipped in to buy me a pandora bracelet and the charms on it for my 18th birthday. I can get into the charms in detail in another post but this present was so thoughtful and beautiful, I love it!

Miss Selfridge Bardot Fit and Flare Dress: I ordered this dress to wear to my uncle's wedding in a few months and it's perfect. I cant even explain to you how well fitting this dress is, it's an extremely comfortable material that hugs your body in all the right places making you look super skinny. I'm not even exaggerating this dress is just so flattering yet sophisticated enough for me to wear it to my uncle's wedding. 

Food and Drink!

Malibu and Lemonade: So, I'm 18 now and I can FINALLY buy myself alcohol. The strangest thing is that the day before I turned 18 I just know that I'd be ID'd everywhere. Sine the day I turned 18, I've been ID'd once. ONCE! Anyway, I just love this combination, it's sweet and tasty and doesn't have a strong taste of alcohol (I hate the taste of alcohol). I've also found that this drink doesn't leave me feeling like crap in the mornings so it's an all around win!


Random!

Aladdin AVEO Water Bottle White Floral: I have been on a mission this month to drink more water to keep myself hydrated and healthy. I fill this water bottle up every morning and I try to at least finish the bottle and maybe start a second one. I love it because it's really sturdy and does exactly what I want it to, while also being pretty. If you want to drink more water I would definitely recommend getting a water bottle because you can keep it with you all day without having to constantly refill it.

Badminton: I know this is a weird favourite but while we were in Centre Parcs, my boyfriend and I played this a lot. Like everyday. It's just something that we really enjoy doing together and I'm slowly getting better it so one day I will win!

Television!

Once Upon A Time: With all seriousness, can we please take a moment to just think of how amazing this show is? Its dramatic, exciting and stars a whole bunch of our favourite storybook characters. I am literally obsessed with this at the moment, I've just finished the first series and I'm so excited to start the second. I may be a little late to the party on this one but I can't wait to be all caught up and ready for season four!

Movies!

The Purge: Anarchy: Don't worry, I'm not going to give out any spoilers since this movie is still in the cinema right now, but I will say that it was pretty damn good. Usually sequels never really compare to the original movie but this felt like it's own movie, which I liked. I felt like you didn't need to watch the first movie to understand and enjoy this one and I liked how it focused on more than one set of people, rather than just one family. It was good, it was exciting, it made me jump, I'd definitely recommend watching if you haven't already.

21 and Over: Oh. My. Why haven't I seen this movie before? Okay I know why, it's because it doesn't look like the kind of movie I'd enjoy but I finally watched it and it was great. It was funny and exciting without being over the top and unrealistic. It also had a nice little ending where everything worked out and everyone was happy, which is always nice.

Youtube!

JoshuaDTV & PsychoSoprano: I love these youtubers individually, they're both really funny and down to earth, but together I am obsessed with them! They are the perfect couple, they're hilarious together and they just make my heart melt. If you haven't checked them out yet, do it! You will laugh, unless you're a robot or something.

June Favourites!

Hello! So I thought it was finally time to do my first favourites post, June has actually been a pretty boring month for me so I'm super exited to get started with July as I will finally be turning 18 and I have a lovely holiday booked too which I will hopefully get to blog about! Anyway, lets get to the favourites!

Make-Up and Beauty!

Borjois Paris Color Boost Lipstick in 04 Peach On The Beach: I have been pretty much wearing this lipstick every single time I've been outside since I bought it which is a major thing for me because I actually don't usually wear a lot of lipstick. It was around £6 and is a beautiful light pink colour that I find perfect for the summer. It's quite pigmented but not so much that it becomes overpowering. It stays on my lips for quite a long time and doesn't dry them out at all which I love! It also goes on very easily,doesn't smudge during the day and it's very easy to take off and doesn't stain my lips. All around its just a very good lip product and I am looking forward to trying some of the other colours.

Fashion!

F&F Daisy Organza Ballerina Pumps: Much like the lipstick I have pretty much worn these shoes everywhere this month. I have them in white and you can also get them in black from Tesco for around £10. I've had a lot of walking around to do this month with rehearsals, helping out with a local production and exams earlier in the month and I just found these shoes perfect to slip on and rush out the door in a hurry. They've been super comfy and look nice with everything. They also don't rub the back of my feet which is a major issue for me with this style of shoe.

Random!


Joyful Spring Yankee Candle: Okay, I know it's summer but I couldn't resist, this candle smells like flowers and grass and everything summer and I love it. It makes me feel like I'm outside relaxing in a field even when I'm too lazy to actually go outside. I bought the medium jar from Tesco for around £8/£9.

Gold Love Flower Stacked Rings: I bought these rings earlier in the month from New Look for about £5 and what I love about them is the fact that they fit me! I have tiny fingers and can never find rings that stay on but these come in different sizes and fit me perfectly!

Food & Drink!

My favourite food this month manifested quite late in the month but is now a firm favourite. For lunch this month I have been loving a ham, coleslaw and lettuce sandwich with prawn cocktail Pringles and a glass of mango juice. I know this may be quite a strange food favourite but it's just what I happen to have been loving lately so I thought I'd include it anyway.

Music!

Sia - Chandelier: I love the lyrics, the music, the music video, the covers I've seen on YouTube. I just love this song, and Maddie Ziegler's dancing.

Movies!

The Little Mermaid: Now this is literally my favourite movie of all time but this month I found myself watching the 1st and 3rd movie, reading the fanfictions, everything. I love this movie it was my favourite childhood movie and now I'm nearly 18 years old and it's still my favourite movie. I literally can't express to you how much I love it.


Remember Sunday: I watched this movie quite late in the month but I still loved it. I won't give any spoilers but it's a beautiful movie with a very unique and interesting concept. I can't think of another movie with the the same concept/storyline and me and my boyfriend both thoroughly enjoyed it, I'd definitely watch it again.






YouTube!

Rooster Teeth: Honestly, Rooster Teeth and Achievement Hunter have been a firm favourite of mine for a loooong time and found it only fair to include them in my first favourites post. They're an amazing production company that do so so much including let's plays, an anime series, podcasts, news, animated adventures and so much more.

Zoella: Zoe is vlogging every day in the month of June and I have found myself watching every single one, she's funny and nice to watch but most of all she's real and not afraid to share who she really is with her subscribers. I have really been enjoying her vlog videos and look forward to more in the future.

My Life In 8 Photos

"Post 8 photos you feel are relevant in portraying who you are as a person or just photos from a memory or an event... anything" - Zoella

I like the idea of this so I'm going to give it a go :)

 Now maybe you can get a little bit more of an idea about who I am :)

Summer Make-Up

Summer has finally rolled around in Wales and so I've found it appropriate to switch up make-up products to a lighter and brighter look! 

I usually start my make-up routine off with some concealer under my eyes and on any little blemishes I may have. The concealer I'm using right now is Rimmel's Wake Me Up concealer. I absolutely love Rimmel products, they feel very light on my skin and that feeling is perfect for the heat of summer. I'm pretty sure that near enough every product in my every day make-up routine is Rimmel. Hmm.. maybe I'm a tad obsessed?

After concealer, I go in with my Rimmel Match Perfection foundation in 010 Light Porcelain. I used to use the Wake Me Up foundation however, I am very pale and I found that even the lightest shade left me looking a little orange. So, I switched to Match Perfection which is the perfect shade for my skin and I've also found that a little bit of this foundation goes a long way, much further than that of the Wake Me Up foundation, it is so much easier to blend and feels much lighter on my skin.

Next, I use Rimmel's Stay Matte pressed powder in 001 Transparent. Just to set my foundation and concealer and to get rid of any shine on my face.

For blush I use Bourjois Paris's blush in 48 Cendre De Rose Brune. This is a nice bright and light pink colour that is perfect for summer, it is also very pigmented however, that's not always a good thing as the blush can be hard to blend.

I don't tend to wear a lot of make-up on my eyes mainly because I feel like too much makes the eyes look smaller and I often find that eyeshadows feel heavy and uncomfortable, and they often end up smudging on hot days. So, all I wear on my eyes is Rimmel's Special Eyes eyeliner in black on  my upper water-line and Rimmel's Volume Flash Scandaleyes Mascara on my eyelashes.

Lastly, I like to change up what I wear on my lips depending on what I feel like wearing for that day. But, recently I bought the Bourjois Paris Color Boost Lipstick in 04 Peach On The Beach and I am in love with it. I literally haven't worn another lipstick since I bought it. It's a light pink lipstick and a perfect summer colour. It's quite pigmented but not over the top, it feels very light and has a gorgeous glossy finish to it. It is definitely my go-to lipstick this summer and I highly recommend it.

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Summer Walks

It is finally summer in Wales!!! So today Jordan and I took my puppy for a walk to a nearby field so she could run around for a while. We took a selfie as you do and just sat in the sun while puppy ran around. Now I am going to spend my afternoon watching YouTube videos and playing the Sims!