Angela Live Blogs Life

February Favourites

February always goes by so quickly and thankfully with March comes slightly warmer and brighter weather. I'm so over wearing three layers and making myself look 80. February was quite a busy month for me and I actually left the house several times (yaaaaaay Angela). These are the things which I loved most in the month of February.

Amythyst Gemstone Pendant Necklace -

This beautuful necklace was a Valentine's present and I absolutely adore it. Amethyst is my favourite gemstone. Originally this came with a shorter chain but I love longer chains to wear with dresses etc. Wonderfully though you can choose the chain size that you'd like. This necklace is handmade from DeeVibe. I discovered this beautiful jewellery and fashion designer on Instagram after I opened my gift. Her rings, and necklaces are my personal favourites and they are all handmade. This necklace in particular adds a pop of colour to my favourite black velvet dress and I just adore it. You can check out the store here.

MUA Undress Me Too Eyeshadow Palette -

This is a dupe for the Naked 2 palette. I've talked about it in this blog post and this month I just realised how amazing it really is. Two of my friends who have the real palette let me swatch their eye shadows against this. I saw very little difference and when I did one eye with my palette and the other with theirs, the MUA offering lasted longer. Can I just remind everyone that this was only £4. Imma say that again.. FOUR POUNDS. I will honestly never pay £30 for eyeshadows especially when beautiful things like MUA eyeshadow palettes exist.

EyeShadow Brushes by Make Up For You -

Once again I've gushed about my make up brushes previously in this blog post. However upon purchasing and properly using my MUA palette I've realised just how amazing these brushes in particular are. Not only are the styled like the Bobby Brown make up brushes with their light wooden handle and black metal top, but they preform like high end brushes too. They make blending eye shadow a dream and I'm finally getting the hang of eye make up thanks to these beauties. Let me just say the entire set of 24 brushes was €5 on sale (if you make it quick you can get the whole 24 brush set for only 11 euro!).

Technic Lipstick in Plum -

I found this at the bottom of my lipstick bag a few weeks ago and I almost died. It's such a gorgeous colour for nights out. I've been wearing this lipstick every time I don a grungy outfit. Black skinny jeans, a band shirt and a plaid shirt wouldn't be complete without this. Coincidentally I use a technic eyeshadow mini palette for my grunge eye make up which I've been using for over a year now. Both of them came in a huge makeup box I received as a Christmas present from my wonderful mum a couple of years ago. Unfortunately I can't find the exact shade anywhere online but I'm sure this beautiful colour couldn't have been cancelled.

RAZORS -

These razors make my life so much easier. I'm cursed with thick, dark hair and previously smooth legs were things of dreams. These have changed EVERYTHING. The third week of February reminded me just how incredible these are when my local Boots store ran out of stock and I was left using Poundland's finest offering. NO. Not only did they not remove any hair but they cut like a bitch. Luckily a week later I restocked with Wilkinson Sword's Extra 3 and I'M SO SMOOTH I LOVE EVERYTHING I FEEL LIKE A GODDESS. They have an adjustable head so it moves to the shape of your body and therefore doesn't cut and removes more hair. Plus they're pink so they're uber cute. To be honest I'm not sure how much you can really write on razors but I think I've done enough. Just please check these out.

GIRLS -

In January one of my best friends Erin recommend I watch this show. I cannot even begin to thank her enough because after starting the first episode at 1am, I was still awake at 6:30am loading the final episode of season one. It is written so beautifully and is so cleverly hilarious. It touches on real issues affecting young and modern women today and its characters are so beautifully varied. This show is like a breath of fresh air and I haven't been this invested in a tv show in so long. My ultimate favourite character is Jessa Johnanson played by Jemima Kirke. Kirke is a beautiful actress who perfectly portrays Jessa's character. Her "take no shit I'm gonna do me" attitude is something I envy and admire. If you haven't already watched this show then you absolutely need to. It's beyond incredible. CHECK IT OUT PLEAAASSEE.

Saint Raymond -

On the 13th of February I ventured down to Dublin with three of my friends to see Saint Raymond perform live in the Acadamy. I mentioned Saint Raymond in this blog post when he supported Ed Sheeran. It was based upon that performance which made myself and my friends do anything to see him again. His support act was a singer called RainyBoySleep who I later discovered was from my home county and he lives where I attend college. RainyBoySleep is now top of my Concert List. He writes his own music, plays guitar beautifully and his new song Manchester Post Box will be out soon. Saint Raymond was beyond words. He played all of his released music and even played two soon to be released tracks. 'I Want You' and 'Everything She Wants' were my personal highlights but his entire performance was absolutely phenomenal and it reminded of The 1975 gigs with gorgeously loud, fast guitars and a multitude of flashing lights. If you haven't listened to Saint Raymond or RainyBoySleep's music yet you can do so here and here.

Those were my favourites from this month. They were a tad mixed but hey there's more to life than my make up bag right? Be sure to check back regularly for more posts and updates. Thanks for reading.

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THAAAAANK YOOOUUU!

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, by Unknown

feminism

Confidence is Key

Around a year ago I was not a confident person. I was very very shy. But I was a very loud shy person. The voices in my head were all talking over each other so loudly that in order to hear myself at all in a moment of nerves I would laugh or talk loudly. I would avert my eyes from anyone I wasn't comfortable with. Many people didn't believe I was shy or introverted because my voice could be heard so often but they were very wrong.

Now I'm quite different. I'm not exactly Miss Cocky but I'm a lot further along than I once was. I talk openly to people. I no longer laugh loudly out of nerves but from genuine joy. I get a bus alone nearly every day and I don't feel like collapsing into the ground.

My advice to anyone who feels they aren't up to scratch is this: Tell yourself that you are. Even if you don't believe it. Every morning look in the mirror and instead of focusing on something you don't like tell yourself you are confident and gorgeous. I promise you that if you tell yourself something enough you'll start to believe it.

My second piece of advice is stop apologising unnecessarily to people. How many times do you hear YouTubers say "I'm sorry about my skin today," or "I'm sorry about my hair." In all honestly shut up. Don't apologise for your body. Don't apologise for normal things. Spots are normal. Hair is normal, both on your head and indeed hair anywhere on your body. Just weeks ago I would apologise to my boyfriend if my underarms weren't freshly shaved. Not anymore. I don't like having hair there so I choose to get rid of it. But if some days I don't feel like getting the razor out it's nothing to apologise for.

Don't let the opinions of others stop you from doing what you want, particularly boys. My boyfriend doesn't particularly like it when I wear lipstick. But every day I wear it without fail because I LIKE IT. And at the end of the day that's all that matters. If you don't want to wear make up, don't. If you wanna shave your legs, shave them. If you wanna wear a short bodycon dress, wear it. Don't worry about what other people are thinking as truth be told they probably think you look good.

Also please don't let fake feminists make you feel bad. Feminism is about equality and doing what you like without being judged. The golden rule of feminism is YOU DO YOU. Sleep around or don't, shave or don't. If you like wearing a certain kind of underwear because your partner likes them that isn't something to be ashamed of. If you get pleasure out of making your bae feel good DONT feel like you're a failure as a woman.

Finally my advice will be do what makes you feel confident. Listen to music that makes you feel BOMB. Wear the shade of lipstick that makes you want to conquer the world. Don't take shit off anyone.

This post comes after I've heard too many girls sound scared or not confident because of their own heads. But please remember that confidence comes with time. If you feel a little better each day then that is amazing progress and in a few months time you'll feel like Beyoncé.

Thanks for reading and keep checking back for more updates.

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, by Unknown

english

I LOVE WRITING

I want to be a writer. I've known about my love for English and the written word since the age of 13, when I wrote a piece of work for a beloved english teacher who gave me an A and told me he was moved by my piece. I revelled in the knowledge that I made someone else feel something using the power of my words. He didn't know me or the people I was writing about but he felt what I wanted to convey.

Aged 15 I decided rather rashly that I wanted to become a journalist to pursue my love for writing. I loved studying both poetry and literature and I genuinely adored writing english essays. My English exam is the only exam I've ever actually enjoyed.

In September I arrived at college expecting to find myself and study something I adored. Unfortunately I was truely let down. My poorly researched decision has forced me to be taught to stop using beautiful language. I've been told a sentence can contain no more than 23 words. "EVERY WORD MUST FIGHT FOR ITS LIFE" is a mantra that has been drilled into myself and my classmates minds.

The English language contains 1,025,109 words yet we are told the only words to be use in place of said is "stated" or "alleged." It pains me to say that what I am studying has both stunted my creativity and fuelled a hatered for reading.

Every week I have a class in which we learn about language and the use of grammar and words and I feel like the only one who enjoys those classes. That class is the only one I come out of with a smile on my face and a glimmer of hope in my heart. This hope is diminished days later as I'm told I write too creatively.

I want to write books. I want to take people to places more exotic and more interesting than where they are now. I want someone to be sat in an arm chair in Dublin to be taken to a tiny apartment in Paris with a frog and a lonely 20 something for company. I want to give people an escape. Writing is my escape. When life is tearing you down piece by piece it's a wonderful thought that you can create another world in which you can hide for a few hours.

I'm determined not to let my area of study completely deminish my love for literature and the written word. In ten years I'm going to come back to this, with an overflowing bookcase within eyeshot and notebooks upon notebooks filled my musings and written work and I will be making a living from writing creatively. I promise myself and those around me that I'm going to fall in love with writing again.

My life will be for nothing if I don't read, educate myself and write.