Rich Cottell

Weekend! Yay! We had another unusual surprise at school today, although much less gross than the last one. We were told that we had an hour long assembly on Cyber bullying today. Boring, you might think. Except what they didn't tell us was that this "assembly" was being run by Indie Pop singer and anti-bullying campaigner Rich Cottell. He sung us several current songs as well as his latest single "Whisk away the working day" which you can hear if you click on the link below.
http://www.richcottellmusic.com/

He was good and got us all singing. I even got his autograph at the end. You never know, he may be the next Ed Sheeran.

The Brit Awards

Hello, did you watch the Brit Awards last night? I did. It was really good, although I only saw the second half because I was watching Bake Off. Ed Sheeran won best album. He really deserved it, X is sooo good. He should have got best music video for Thinking out Loud, but 1D got that. I guess the mad 11 year old girls have to vote for somebody. Up Town Funk won best single, no surprises there. Ed Sheeran also did an amazing performance of Blood Stream. He was way better than Madonna, in both the singing and the staying on the stage department.

You have probably heard this already, but just in case you haven't, MADONNA FELL OF THE STAGE! She tried to undo her long, ridiculous cape and failed. The dancers were supposed to whip it off stage, but the cape was not undone in time and she came with it and fell backwards down 3 big stairs. She got up and carried on, she is a true pro. Apparently, she posted on twitter that she was fine but I think she was limping a bit when she was dancing. I would not want to be a member of her costume department or one of the dancers. I will be very surprised if they all have their jobs today!

Ed Sheeran

I made quiche today! I had never had it before but we were making them in Home Ec and I love it. That reminds me, comic relief bake off is on again tonight. The first 2 episodes have been really funny so I am definitely looking forward to it. I have a feeling that their food will be much more disastrous than my quiche.

As most of you know, I LOVE Ed Sheeran. Today, we were discussing his song Thinking Out Loud. In the video, he does this really impressive dance routine with a girl. I always thought that they got someone else to do the tricky bits and he just did anything where he was facing the camera. However, my friend (who is an even bigger fan than me) says she found out that he trained for weeks and did the whole thing. I find this hard to believe but if he did, then he is an amazing dancer and should go on Strictly. Also, if any of you know whether or not this cat in the picture below is his, tell me. I think I am going to try this with my cat, although he will probably rip me to pieces in the process as he is not the soppy type.

Embarrassing Parents

What is it about parents? Some of them are almost normal while most seem to be out to mortify their children on a daily basis. Mine aren't quite that bad, but that does not mean they are innocent. Most of my problems are in the music department. My mum has a slight obsession with making up stupid songs, which she sometimes sings when she is in the supermarket and I AM WITH HER! She knows this annoys me and does it on purpose. She will just randomly start singing about her shopping. This is the sort of thing I mean: "Shepherds pie, shepherds pie, I need some shepherds pie." All she needs is a guitar and she could be Pheobe from Friends. She knows all the words to Smelly Cat.

With my dad, it's more about the dancing. He is terrible at functions, but what upsets me most is when he does it at other times. When I was younger, he used to stand with me while I was waiting for the School Bus. Sometimes, he would stand there singing and bobbing about on the spot while I would be standing there willing all the other people around to disappear. If we go to a wedding he sways madly whilst singing the hymns. Are your parents this bad, or am I just unlucky? Tell me your stories.

Sex Ed

First day back at school today. What do the teachers plan for us to get us back in the mood for school? A nice, relaxing, normal day without homework? No, they think our idea of fun is half an hour of Sex Education. With boys in the room. And not just normal sex ed, we had to put condoms on (not very realistic!) plastic models.  The worst bit - some of them were flavoured (don't even go there!). My friend had a chocolate one (as far as we were aware of anyway, we didn't taste it!). Does your school enjoy the torture of young people as much as ours does, or was your day a little more normal?

Face Primer

Last day of half term today. Boo! It goes so quick. Anyway, I have been thinking about Face primers. There are so many to chose from. As well as being used to create a good base for foundation, some primers can be used on their own to create smoother, pore free skin. I love Maybelline's Baby Face Primer as it reduces the look of pores and generally improves the look of your skin without foundation. It also works well with powder on top. Smashbox is very good too although it is very expensive. What primer do you think works best?

Jewellery

I am not a person that is mad about Jewellery, but I do enjoy wearing it. I usually wear simple, small metal pieces or small cord bracelets. My favourite item is probably my wish bone ring. It is simple and gold. Here are some of my favourite pieces from around the internet.



These five cord bracelets are simple and colourful. I actually have
 these and I love them.
They are £7.00 in Claire's.

I really like this infinity bracelet. It is a lovely pale blue
and the diamante detailing is very cute.
It is £3.50 in Claire's.


I also like the crystal pendants in the Byzantium collection. This is my favourite one:



This cute pendant comes in lots of
colours. It is £9.99.

Thank You

I have been writing this blog for nearly 3 weeks now. Yesterday I hit 300 pageviews! These include some from America and Ireland as well as lots from the UK. Thank you to all those who have read my posts or told their friends about it. What I would really like is for you to post a comment as I have had very few of those. You can tell me what you would like to see in future blog posts as I want to write about topics you are all interested in. I am always open to ideas.

Jogging

Now I am not a sporty person, and that is an understatement. At school, a group of us were challenged to complete 2 activities from a list everyday during half term and one of them was jogging. So last Tuesday, I went for a 15 minute jog and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Now I am not saying that I will be signing up for marathons or anything but occasionally going out for a little while is actually quite nice, as long as the weather's good. You get a bit of fresh air and a bit of freedom whilst keeping fit. Does anyone else enjoy doing this?

The Vamps!

I love The Vamps! They are my favourite boy band and I love their songs, especially Wild Heart. They were being interviewed on Mel and Sue's new TV programme today. Apparently, their craziest fans live in the Philippines and their scariest run in with fans was in Birmingham when loads of teenage girls surrounded their van until it couldn't go anywhere. In the end, they had to call the police. You should be able to watch the program on ITV player and it is on at 4.00pm on weekdays. Do you love the vamps too? What is your favourite song of theirs?

Lip Care and Colour

Sorry I didn't post anything yesterday, I was very busy.
Lip products are a handbag essential. Even if you are not big into make-up or have little time, it takes seconds to apply lippy and it can complete any look. First I need a decent lip balm to hydrate lips. I usually use a tinted one, as it also starts building up the colour. Chap stick are a good make to use. If I want a strong colour, I apply lip stick at this stage. However, if I want a natural look or am wearing brightly coloured eye make-up I apply a tinted solid lip gloss instead. Finally, I add lip gloss from a tube in a similar shade to the colour I have already applied to my lips for extra shine and possibly sparkle. What do you do? Tell me your make-up methods in the comments.

Getting My Ears Pierced

This summer, I am planning on getting my ears pierced. I am not sure where the best place is to go and get it done. If any of you know a good salon or have any previous experience in this area, please tell me via the comments. I am also getting highlights put in my hair. I am dishwater blonde at the moment and would like to be blonder. Hair is more difficult than earrings, there is only so much you can get away with in regard to hair styles but you can take earrings out for school if need be. I don't think they will mind about highlights though, as long as I make it look fairly natural. Have any of you got your hair coloured/ highlighted?

I Love Costa!

Now I am not into coffee, but I still love Costa! Their hot chocolates are great; over Christmas they had this delicious brownie flavoured one but their regular is still good. They have amazing cold drinks for the summer too, everything from crushed ice smoothies to pink lemonade. Their cakes, sandwiches and toasties are good too if you are going for lunch. It is a brilliant place to hang out with mates. There is one a short walk from our school and we often go there on Fridays. It is quite expensive though it is so worth it! Do you like Costa? Tell me your favourite drink of theirs.

Lush!

We all know how brilliant Lush is, but they have been making products that are a bit different to the usual soaps and bubble bath. One of my favourites is their shampoo bars. Solid shampoo is a strange idea but one you must try. They are very effective and small to pack if you are going away. There are lots of different ones but I use the one called Jumping Juniper because it smells good and is effective on greasy hair. You can also buy special tins to keep it in.

Another one of their new products is Fun. It is basically play-doh which you can wash with. It can be used as bubble bath, soap, shower gel, shampoo or even to wash clothes so it is brilliant for festivals. It comes in 5 different colours that each have their own fragrance but it can get a bit sticky if left open or played with for too long so it needs to be used quickly.

Lush have also started doing make-up and perfumes although I haven't tried these yet. The make-up is very expensive although the perfumes are quite cheap. Do any of you like lush? I want to know what your favourite product is.

Comic Relief Bake Off

Last night I watched the first episode of the Comic Relief Celebrity Bake Off. It was so funny! The celebrities this week were Lulu, Edna Everidge, Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders. All of Edna's bakes were disasters! She had a giant cookie welded to a tray and pastry with the consistency of soup. It is on every Wednesday for the next few weeks until Comic relief at 8.00. Next week, two of the celebrities are Gok Wan and Johnathon Ross.

Another good TV program is the three Musketeers. Do not make the mistake of thinking this is a boring historical drama. It is very dramatic and I was hooked from the first episode I saw. Also, as an added bonus, D'artagnon is SO hot! It is on at 9.00 every Friday night. Do any of you watch these programs? I want to know what you think was the funniest bit of last nights bake off was.

Yellow!

Yellow is my favourite colour and it seems to be very in this spring clothes wise. For those of you brave enough to wear it, here is a selection of my favourite pieces.



     

New Look
This shirt is simple yet great and looks amazing with jeans. Yellow always works well with blues. It comes in lots of colours for those of us looking for something a little less bright! It is £17.99. The t-shirt is paler and more versatile. It is very summery and costs £12.99.




 

 





     

Next       
This yellow satchel is the perfect bag for every day use and has lovely aqua detailing, which is another colour I love. The ballet pumps are an everyday essential and would work well with either of the above tops. They are both £22.

         

All these yellow items are on sale now.

Options Update

Options evening done. Chaos as usual! Can I do what I want? Probably not, because of the lack of options with the options, but I pretty much know what I want to do now. What I am going to do now: have a bit of a sulk with the school and try and talk them into bending the rules! Have any of you been having similar options issues? Please tell me in the comments.

Top 5 Songs 2015

As we are well into the year now, I thought I would give you my top 5 songs for the year so far.

1. Up Town Funk by Mark Ronson. It's indisputable.
2. Lips Are Moving by Meghan Trainor.
3. Night Changes by 1 Direction. Yes, I know it's 1D but it's unusually good for them.
4. Up by Olly Murs
5. Blank Space by Taylor Swift. Not as good as Shake it off, but still good.

Top Gear- not just for Boys!

I know what you're thinking. Top gear is just a boring show about cars. It's definitely not. In fact, they very rarely do a serious, informative episode because they are too busy messing about, as you can see in this clip of them pretending to be police:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyNJt4e-3AA

In quite a lot of the episodes they are given crazy challenges like this one which always go horrendously (and hilariously) wrong. They also have a special guest per episode when they put a star in their reasonably priced car. A couple of weeks ago this was Ed Sheeran! He has never driven before so that was an interesting lap! How cool would it be to have your first driving lesson with the Stig? So, Top Gear is not your average show for car freaks. It is on tonight on BBC 2 at 8.00 and I hope you all watch it with me!

Nail Art

I love painting my nails and I thought I would share with you some tools and techniques which help you get brilliant results. First, you obviously need a good nail varnish. Boots No 7 always works well but my personal favourite is Avon Nailwear Pro. It goes on really easily and is not too expensive considering the size bottle you get. If you want to do nail art, Avon do a separate nail art tool that can be used with any nail varnish. It is a great alternative to buying those bottles with special pen-tops. This tool allows you to create stripes or spots. Finally, you could add stick on gems. Don't use nail stickers though, they always come off no matter how many coats of clear polish you paint on top, leaving behind patches of nail with damaged polish. Here are some ideas for designs to get you started:


If you get bored of drawing the designs on yourself, you could always try nail wraps. They are much easier to apply than fake nails and they are self adhesive so no glue required. If you try any of this out or come up with your own, I want to see them! Post the picture on the comments.

Pizza!

Need I say more :)
Last week in Home Ec, we all made pizza! It tasted fab. I was going to take a photo so I could show you all but I forgot as I was too busy eating it! If you're having friends over this weekend, pizza is the perfect thing to have and making it is much cheaper than getting a takeaway. It is fun too and you can use whatever flavours you want. You could even make mini ones and get all your friends to decorate their own. I made a margarita although my favourate flavour is ham and pineapple. What is yours?

The Big Bang Theory Flash Mob

I am very upset there is no Big Bang on tonight. It is hilarious. Normally they put the new episodes on telly on Thursday nights. The show is filmed in front of a live studio audience and as a treat for the crowd at Christmas, the cast and crew organised a flash mob to Up Town Funk. It was brilliant. You can see it on You Tube. Penny is my favourite character, she is the one at the front in black. Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_45GB2EKUt4

I don't know what it is about that song, it always gets people singing and dancing. We danced to it in PE today and by the end of the song we were all singing. Anyway, I have been thinking about how cool it would be to take part in a flash mob. I think they are mostly done in America but I think there have been some over here in London too. Perhaps when I get some more followers we could all get together and do one! Have any of you ever seen/been part of a flash dance?

Why Are Options Called Options?

I am in year nine and at school we have to choose our options soon. The more I find out about it, the more I realise we don't get much of an option as to what subjects we do. I have 6 compulsory subjects (maths, english literature, english language and all three sciences). We also have to do one foreign language, one humanity and one creative subject. This means we only have one other subject that can be anything we want. On top of that, there are some subjects you can't do because of timetable clashes. So I am starting to wonder if the teachers know the meaning of the word option. Please comment with your thoughts and feelings on the topic/own option experiences.

Carrot Juice Is Disgusting!

Now before I explain my strange title, I want to tell you all something else. In the south of England WE GOT SNOW TODAY. Now ok, it was only a little bit. And some places get snow all the time. But for us snow-starved southerners this is a big deal, which maybe explains why we all went a bit loopy (especially the boys!) and had a massive snowball fight on the school field.

Anyway, moving on. My new years resolution this year was to eat more fruit and vegetables. Now I can't drink fruit juice at the moment because of my brace so with the current juicing craze I thought I would try vegetable juice. I bought a bottle of carrot juice to try at the weekend. It is really horrible! Just the smell made me feel a bit sick and it tasted nothing like carrots. How do people drink this stuff? It's like poison in a bottle. Have you tried any toxic food or drink you need to warn us all about? If so, tell me in the comments. Bye for now.

Eyeliner

Ok, I will admit it. I am addicted to Avon. Especialy their eyeliner. I never used to wear eyeliner much, but lately I have got into it. I have recently bought a dark green Avon eyeliner and I love it! It is one of those liquid ones that is like a thin felt tip and is relatively easy to apply. Have any of you got favourite make-up products?

What Faction Are You?

Hello again! Over christmas, I read the book Divergent and I love it. I am not sure whether I would be Candor or Amity, perhaps I'm divergent! What faction are you? Please leave a comment.

Hello!

Hello world! This is my new blog and its all about cool clothes and make-up as well as books and DVDs for teens. I hope you enjoy reading this and please tell your friends if you like it! :)