2018 favourites

I have been waiting so long to write an updated favourites blog post but I never got round to it sadly, so instead, I thought I'd the annual favourites post as last years was so popular! I am a little late but I getting back into the swing of University has been a little harder than I expected but never mind.

SKINCARE & MAKE UP

Firstly, my favourite things ever in terms of skincare products. In summer I had been waiting for my June paycheque to clear so I could make a purchase on the popular shop - Glossier. I had heard so so many wonderful things about it, so I picked up a mini Jelly Cleanser (because I was going on holiday), an Original Balm Dotcom and Boy brown in the shade brown. I quickly became OBSESSED with them all. As soon as I ran out of my mini cleanser I quickly ordered a larger one and a new Balm Dotcom but this time in Rose. I use my cleanser every morning and every night, and I think one of my favourite things about it is that it doesn't hurt your eyes. In the past, I have used products that irritate my eyes, and the jelly cleanser does not. This is because it contains contact lens solution.

This skincare favourite has been something I have wanted to try for a while, but I have never been able to find online in the UK - the people I saw using it were in the US. In October Asos started stocking the brand Dr.Jart+ which finally meant I could try the Cicapair Tiger Grass Colour Correcting Treatment. This is a colour correcting cream that I apply after I cleanse, tone and moisturise for my face. When you apply it to your face it goes a beige shade and helps to neutralise redness and create an even skin tone. This has helped me so much as my face goes red so easily and is never one colour.

Urban Decay - All Nighter Setting Spray
Two faced - Melted Matte lipstick (child star)
Morphe - M575 blending brush (they sadly don't sell it anywhere anymore)
Morphe - 350 Nature Glow

FASHION

Vans - Checkerboard slip-on
Missguided - blue oversized denim jacket
Urban Outfitters - Clueless T-shirt

let's ignore the mess of my room, but a lil sneak peek at my uni room - tour coming soon. 

TV SHOWS

Criminal Minds
Friends
American Crime Story: The people vs O.J Simpson
Timeless
NCIS: New Orleans
Manhunt: Unabomber
Scandal

During the revision process of my exams, I suddenly decided it would be a good time to start a new tv show and become obsessed with it - American Crime Story: The people vs O.J Simpson (Netflix). It covered the case of O.J. Simpson and was a tv show based on true events. Over the summer I binged an awful lot of TV shows as you are well aware of, but nearer the end of summer I decided to watch Scandal (amazon prime) - "PR guru has dedicated her life to protecting the images of the nation's elite. But her clients aren't the only ones with secrets and she may need to exercise all her damage control skills on her own behalf."

FILMS

There were so many amazing films in 2018 but I just wanted to mention my favourite ones (which are mainly Marvel):

Black Panther
Love Simon
Avengers: Infinity War
Star Wars Story: Han Solo
Incredible's 2
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again
Ant-Man & The Wasp
Venom
Bumblebee.

BOOKS

At the beginning of 2018, I set myself a goal to read 5 books and sadly I only read 3. My favourite one was One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus, which I read whilst I was on holiday in Spain. It is a mixture of my favourite things - high school drama and murder/crime. Karen has also brought a new book called 'Two Can Keep a Secret', which looks amazing and im very excited to read it eventually. 

MUSIC

Noah Kahn
Madison Beer - As She Pleases
Bea Miller - aurora
The Vamps - Night & Day (Day Edition)
NOTD & Bea Miller - I Wanna Know
You Me At Six -VI
LANY - Malibu Nights
Lennon Stella - Love, me
Alessia Cara - The Pains of Growing

My music always ranges every year, however, you will always find Bea Miller and The Vamps included because they are my ultimate favourites. Beafinally released her second album and honestly it was one of the best things to happen in 2018 - no joke. If you want to take a browse at my Spotify top song os 2018 it is linked in the sidebar!

YOUTUBE

Bianca Franco 

Grace Fit Uk
Danielle Carolan
Holly Gabrielle
Katie Snooks

When any of the above youtubers upload it honestly makes me so happy. I LOVE watching what they are getting up to in their lives, what they eat, the places they visit and well basically anything. Bother Bianca and Danielle are in College and I love watching 'college week in my life' videos, they have become my favourite to watch. Grace and Holly are quite similar too, however, they are from the UK but both go to University - Oxford and Cambridge. Katie, on the other hand, is quite different, I love watching her true crime videos, #dateswithkate and (my favourite) her weekly vlogs!

So sorry the lateness of this post but I hope you enjoyed it none the less!

what were your favourite things from 2018?

meg x 

what was my 2018 really like | 2018 review

2018. What a year. For the past few years, my life has been a bit of a 'rollercoaster' with several things happening. However, this year was actually pretty decent in comparison to previous years. Of course, there were some bad moments, as no one's life is perfect -  just like Hannah Montana said, nobody's perfect. Over the past year, my life has changed a lot but I am so thankful for how much I have grown as a person and ready for 2019 has in store for me.

Sixth Form and University. In the space of a year, I took my A-levels and survived 3 years of Sixth Form (just) and cried on results day. 3 months later I packed my life away and moved to Leicester, started University, submitted my first essay which consisted of 2600 words, completed two more essays and did a presentation. Finally, I completed semester 1 and celebrated with a deliveroo from Creams, Cookie Dough with Nutella and watched Teen Wolf. On Friday, 14th, we finished University and I celebrated Christmas with my flatmates, Laura & Cassidy, and Laura's bf by watching Authur Christmas and eating a curry - a very 'us' thing to do.

At the beginning of University, I was very worried about finding friends on my course. I even started to think that I can sit alone for 3 years and it will be fine, but that hasn't happened. Thankfully I became friends with two girls on my course who are both lovely. I met them on the first day of 'introduction week' and funny story, but there was a huge group of us walking to the first 'welcome lecture' and after it, we split into groups naturally and we laugh at the fact we ended up together and kind of glad we didn't stay with some of the others.

Flatmates. A topic which will either say, 'they are my best friends' or 'i hate them and they annoy the shit out of me'. Thankfully in my case, I adore my flatmates and I cannot picture a scenario of me living with flatmates with whom I hate. It has made my University experience a lot nicer.

Friendships. I started the year with one group of friends and ended the year with another. I lost a few friends along the way and gained some new ones. The friends I lost will not be missed, they were good friends at the time but we grew apart and they just didn't make me happy anymore and I felt myself naturally moving away from them. On the other hand, the new friendships I am so very thankful for. Since being at University it has been strange not seeing certain friends that often but it has made me realise that you don't need to see or speak to someone every day for them to be your best friend. Whenever I am home I always make time for both my friends and family.

Quickly changing the topic but, I have made lots of plans for 2019 already though which I am very excited for, which includes several concerts, 1 in a city I have never been to before and another in an arena I've never been to before, possibly a holiday, my friends visiting me at uni, a flat party for my 20th and a possible trip to London at Christmas time.

Mental Health. This year has been a bit challenging, but I made it through and honestly, I am so proud of myself. I don't want to talk about this too much because I do not want to dwell on the past but I want to talk about something that I conquered, which may seem small to some people but for me, it wasn't.

I have always been a person that hates going to 'new places' alone or just doing things alone. Which back in May I learnt is actually due to Social Anxiety, and since then I have learnt how to help myself feel more comfortable in certain situations that make me feel anxious. It took me a long time to be able to go out to either Nottingham or Derby alone to go shopping and even grab a costa just because of the bus ride there. In September I booked a train to visit one of my friends at University in Leeds, and in October that actually happened. I got on the train late Friday night after University, got a train from Leicester to Sheffield and then from Sheffield to Leeds. It was my first 'long-haul' train and I was so nervous the entire way that I struggled to even listen to music at certain points of the journey. I did, in fact, make it all the way to Leeds. I had the best weekend with Frana in Leeds, even though I did cry a little in Primark. Sadly I couldn't bring myself to get on the train home Monday morning, so instead my amazing dad came and picked me up Sunday evening. Since this happened I have become a lot more comfortable on trains, it just took a little time - mainly just the train journey home from Leicester to Derby. This was such a victory for me, my family were all so proud that I had made it all the way to Leeds on my own and so was I.

Travel. Mum and I took our first solo holiday to Amsterdam and we had the best time! We spent an awful lot of the time walking, doing around 21,000 steps a day, eating pancakes and shopping. During the summer I went back to Spain with my family to celebrate my Aunt's 50th and had such an amazing holiday, apart from experiencing a terrible allergic reaction to something and having to sit half in the pool to stop the pain, but I also finished an amazing book (One of us is Lying) and watched the new season of Orange is the New Black by the side of the pool.

The end. Christmas for me was a little different this year, but just as good as always. Christmas at home in Nottingham with my mum and her side of the family, followed by Christmas no.2 in Essex with my dad and his side of the family. I ended the year on a great note, with my friends. A lot better than last year, when I was sat on a bus when the new year started. 2018 ended with me drinking, eating Chinese, singing with friends and playing games with my friends and ben's friends entire family.

Overall 2018 had some, in the words of Danielle & Brooke (from the podcast Gals on the go), highlights and lowlights. But overall I had an amazing time, it was a bit tough at certain points, for example, my a-levels and the last few weeks of semester one at uni. There was definitely a lot more highlights than lowlights.

I also just want to apologise for my lack of blogging over the last 2 months, University work got in the way and I got really ill near the end of term and just needed a holiday. I had planned to post over Christmas time but in the end, I thought I would instead start the year as I mean to go on, with a blog post. Thank you for continuing to read my blog and support it, means a lot and hopefully 2019 I will actually get better at blogging again. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and of course a Happy New Year!!


meg x