So here I am, sat in my bedroom having another sleepless night leading up to results day.
Now I might be crazy but this day is heavily looming and with each second I find my stomach turning at the thought of opening that dreaded envelope.
This year seems so incredibly terrifying. Maybe I'm just a bit crazy and an extreme over thinker but all I can imagine is seeing those grades and being a complete disappointment to the world. My parents, friendship groups, boyfriend..
Now I know that grades aren't everything but the pressure I'm personally feeling at this very moment in time is paramount. I'm currently as stressed as I have ever been in my entire life - apart from actually sitting the exams which tore me up and left me sobbing into my pillow on numerous occasions. The strange part is that in reality I should not be at all stressed! I mean, come on, I'm on an awesome 6 week holiday where I'm spending most of my days relaxing watching films or seeing friends but its becoming unbearable.
A bit of background is necessary here I think;
I sat my GCSE's and worked my butt off to get decent grades. I mean studying for hours every night, doing excessive homework etc and in the end I achieved one A*,6 A's and 6 B's. This made me, my parents, my whole family very proud because as a youngster I really struggled with academic stuff.
Of course many would argue that 'hey, you did amazingly last year! You have nothing to worry about this time round!' But really, really?!? Are you serious?
Getting decent grades did not come naturally and saying that does not help AT ALL.
'You'll be fine Laura, stop worrying for goodness sakes.'
I'm sorry, but I don't think you can fully understand the pressure that you have created by assuming that all is going to be well and good again this year.
In a way, having good grades at GCSE, personally I've found that it suddenly increases the pressure to do good again this year. This, in turn, increases the potential amount of disappointment and shock from everyone else.
So when I say that I want to open the envelope on my own, please don't get offended. I'm purely trying to save myself from a mental breakdown if all goes to shit.
I don't know how you feel, but I care about what people think. Everyone says not too, but sometimes that is just impossible.
Sometimes, we need to be alone, sometimes we need to be with people.
Can someone PLEASE reassure me that I'm not the only person who is feeling this right now/has felt it?
Tuesday 11 August 2015
Saturday 8 August 2015
The problem with the minimum wage - Why does wage depend on age?
So, as I have mentioned 1000 times over, I work in a retail store blah blah blah..
But anyway as a teenager working in this store, as expected I get minimum wage probably due to the lack of real qualifications required to obtain the job etc. As it is only a weekend job just to get a bit of extra cash here and there, I'm not too fussed about the pay as long as I do get paid.
(Note that I would probably be alot more fussy about my pay if I had to pay bills and rent etc but fortunately at the moment I don't, the money I'm receiving from this job is being saved up to buy a car and go on holiday etc).
However, there is one thing that seriously annoys me about receiving the minimum wage..
That is how someone can receive more money per hour simply because they are older than me.
I find this incredibly annoying as I don't see why my time is worth any less than the other people working there in the same position.
Personally, I think that I work pretty damn hard. And it gets so frustrating when other colleagues walk around avoiding doing work yet they get paid more. It just seems incredibly unfair.
Is it just another form of ageism?
I can totally understand that someone would receive more money if they have a harder job for example being a supervisor or a manger but surely people who are working in the same position should receive the same?
Okay, so I guess you could argue that people who are older have more experience and are therefore better at their job and should get more, which is fair enough, but what if that person is only a year or two older than you, maybe even 3? Are they really going to have thaaaaat much more experience than you?
I'm sure that there must be a reason for this other than companies wanting to pay their employees as little as possible, so if anyone can help open my eyes that would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks for reading, don't forget to check out some of my other posts if you enjoyed this one:) As always, any opinions are welcomed! Thanks again, ciao x
But anyway as a teenager working in this store, as expected I get minimum wage probably due to the lack of real qualifications required to obtain the job etc. As it is only a weekend job just to get a bit of extra cash here and there, I'm not too fussed about the pay as long as I do get paid.
(Note that I would probably be alot more fussy about my pay if I had to pay bills and rent etc but fortunately at the moment I don't, the money I'm receiving from this job is being saved up to buy a car and go on holiday etc).
However, there is one thing that seriously annoys me about receiving the minimum wage..
That is how someone can receive more money per hour simply because they are older than me.
I find this incredibly annoying as I don't see why my time is worth any less than the other people working there in the same position.
Personally, I think that I work pretty damn hard. And it gets so frustrating when other colleagues walk around avoiding doing work yet they get paid more. It just seems incredibly unfair.
Is it just another form of ageism?
I can totally understand that someone would receive more money if they have a harder job for example being a supervisor or a manger but surely people who are working in the same position should receive the same?
Okay, so I guess you could argue that people who are older have more experience and are therefore better at their job and should get more, which is fair enough, but what if that person is only a year or two older than you, maybe even 3? Are they really going to have thaaaaat much more experience than you?
I'm sure that there must be a reason for this other than companies wanting to pay their employees as little as possible, so if anyone can help open my eyes that would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks for reading, don't forget to check out some of my other posts if you enjoyed this one:) As always, any opinions are welcomed! Thanks again, ciao x
Thursday 6 August 2015
Powdered Sunshine - Lush review
Hello everybody, here is the second of my Lush review series! I have already written one for 'Vanishing Cream' if you'd like to check that one out please click here and I've also got a bit of a story explaining why I have got so many Lush products haha xD So please click here to read that post.
Anyway, on with the review!
This product was actually bought for me as a present at Christmas time, therefore I'm not 100% sure of the price.
Actually, I just check the website and it costs £6.95 per 70g (-70g being how much you get in one of the bottle pictured here ---->)
So to be fair, that price is pretty reasonable considering how a little of this product goes a long way! The price also matches other big brand sun creams on the market.
Some of the key ingredients include: Calamine powder, organic Sesame oil, Lemon oil, Lime oil and fair trade Cocoa Butter.
A very good point about this product is that I found it worked very well with make-up. I must admit that I did not use this product in the daytime when I was on holiday as I was worried that I wouldn't apply it properly and therefore get burnt or that it would get washed off in the sand and sea.
However for the evening this product is amazing! I would use a large make-up powder brush and brush it over my face and it would act as a translucent powder, helping to stabilise my makeup and provide sun protection! It was long lasting and made my skin shimmer a little bit which was kinda cute:3
Another great thing about this sunscreen was that it was non-greasy and you wouldn't have to wait a long time for it to soak in with many other sun creams.
One problem with this product would be that I found application hard. At first I tried rubbing the powder into my skin using my hands but that didn't work very well, and I would sometimes accidentally get it on my clothing which was a particular pain when I was wearing dark colours...
(It was kinda like when you use to much talcum powder when getting out of the shower -.-)
I think this problem would've been avoided if there was a more specific application method on the bottle maybe.
In addition to this, the powder felt quite heavy and almost sticky. That may sound weird and maybe I just applied too much product but yeah. I don't know, maybe its because it sits on the skin rather than being absorbed but it wasn't the nicest feeling haha.
Okay so that was a pretty long review! Overall, I really do like this product but definitely in moderation. Would I buy it again? Well I probably won't need too considering how long this one bottle has lasted me so far!
I hope that you enjoyed this review and found it useful:) Feel free to leave any comments below and don't forget that you can enter your email address to the right hand side of the screen to receive an email update every time a new post is released:D
Anyway, on with the review!This product was actually bought for me as a present at Christmas time, therefore I'm not 100% sure of the price.
Actually, I just check the website and it costs £6.95 per 70g (-70g being how much you get in one of the bottle pictured here ---->)
So to be fair, that price is pretty reasonable considering how a little of this product goes a long way! The price also matches other big brand sun creams on the market.
A very good point about this product is that I found it worked very well with make-up. I must admit that I did not use this product in the daytime when I was on holiday as I was worried that I wouldn't apply it properly and therefore get burnt or that it would get washed off in the sand and sea.
However for the evening this product is amazing! I would use a large make-up powder brush and brush it over my face and it would act as a translucent powder, helping to stabilise my makeup and provide sun protection! It was long lasting and made my skin shimmer a little bit which was kinda cute:3
Another great thing about this sunscreen was that it was non-greasy and you wouldn't have to wait a long time for it to soak in with many other sun creams.
One problem with this product would be that I found application hard. At first I tried rubbing the powder into my skin using my hands but that didn't work very well, and I would sometimes accidentally get it on my clothing which was a particular pain when I was wearing dark colours...
(It was kinda like when you use to much talcum powder when getting out of the shower -.-)
I think this problem would've been avoided if there was a more specific application method on the bottle maybe.
In addition to this, the powder felt quite heavy and almost sticky. That may sound weird and maybe I just applied too much product but yeah. I don't know, maybe its because it sits on the skin rather than being absorbed but it wasn't the nicest feeling haha.
Okay so that was a pretty long review! Overall, I really do like this product but definitely in moderation. Would I buy it again? Well I probably won't need too considering how long this one bottle has lasted me so far!
I hope that you enjoyed this review and found it useful:) Feel free to leave any comments below and don't forget that you can enter your email address to the right hand side of the screen to receive an email update every time a new post is released:D
Thanks for reading!
Tuesday 4 August 2015
'Education is the passport to your future' - really?!
Okay so as a Sixth Form student, exam season has just passed. Therefore my Sixth Form has stuck posters up around, supposedly encouraging students to work hard, revise and get good grades.
Now I might've simply read a bit too deeply into the meaning of that statement plastered on the bottom of the poster but I don't really think that it's portraying the most positive message to students who are already on the brink of a mental breakdown from the levels of stress and pressure which they're having to cope with. To me it just looks like a form propaganda to boost the statistics, but that might be a little far fetched...
By using this slogan, it is suggesting that without an education, you will not 'gain access' to your future as such.
If you don't pass these exams then you're a failure, basically. You've technically lost your 'passport to your future'.
I know for a fact, that education is not the only way to having a successful life. Okay so that's a bit of a vague statement as everybody considers success as something different. For example, for me success is when I'm very happy. Of course this can be achieved by getting good grades, or earning lots of money from my job but in all honesty, being surrounded by people who love you can also bring happiness personally. Maybe even loosing weight would make you feel very happy.
Therefore education is not necessarily needed for your future!
I don't know, I guess it just depends what you're striving for in the future but I think that posters like this are simply trying to force you into being something you may not really want to be and adding more unnecessary pressure to your life, which definitely isn't going to make you any happier.
What's the point in living if you're not happy?!
Of course everyone goes through periods of anxiety and anger in their lives but not getting an A* in that exam shouldn't limit your whole future.
Since writing this post, I've found an article on the BBC news website all about banning erasers in schools. Click here to view the original article. It talks about how there have been suggestions that rubbers should be banned in schools because they allow children to remove their mistakes from their work. I quote 'Claxton's argument is that by making children deny they make mistakes, we fail to prepare them for the real world, where mistakes can be made, and consequences ensue.'
So this makes sense, by allowing children to remove mistakes they're not being prepared for the real world, yeah fair enough.
However isn't this extremely contradicting to the whole system of exams and the idea that 'education is the passport to your future'?!? I say this because the original statement implies that if you fail and do not get an education then you've lost your future. So when you're in an exam, you're not allowed to make mistakes because if you do and you fail, BOOM game over.
Okay so I'm not sure if that made too much sense, but hey ho. Rant over.
Thank you for reading, what do you think? Have I read far too deeply into this poster?
Opinions are appreciated:)
Now I might've simply read a bit too deeply into the meaning of that statement plastered on the bottom of the poster but I don't really think that it's portraying the most positive message to students who are already on the brink of a mental breakdown from the levels of stress and pressure which they're having to cope with. To me it just looks like a form propaganda to boost the statistics, but that might be a little far fetched...
By using this slogan, it is suggesting that without an education, you will not 'gain access' to your future as such.If you don't pass these exams then you're a failure, basically. You've technically lost your 'passport to your future'.
I know for a fact, that education is not the only way to having a successful life. Okay so that's a bit of a vague statement as everybody considers success as something different. For example, for me success is when I'm very happy. Of course this can be achieved by getting good grades, or earning lots of money from my job but in all honesty, being surrounded by people who love you can also bring happiness personally. Maybe even loosing weight would make you feel very happy.
Therefore education is not necessarily needed for your future!
I don't know, I guess it just depends what you're striving for in the future but I think that posters like this are simply trying to force you into being something you may not really want to be and adding more unnecessary pressure to your life, which definitely isn't going to make you any happier.
What's the point in living if you're not happy?!
Of course everyone goes through periods of anxiety and anger in their lives but not getting an A* in that exam shouldn't limit your whole future.
Since writing this post, I've found an article on the BBC news website all about banning erasers in schools. Click here to view the original article. It talks about how there have been suggestions that rubbers should be banned in schools because they allow children to remove their mistakes from their work. I quote 'Claxton's argument is that by making children deny they make mistakes, we fail to prepare them for the real world, where mistakes can be made, and consequences ensue.'
So this makes sense, by allowing children to remove mistakes they're not being prepared for the real world, yeah fair enough.
However isn't this extremely contradicting to the whole system of exams and the idea that 'education is the passport to your future'?!? I say this because the original statement implies that if you fail and do not get an education then you've lost your future. So when you're in an exam, you're not allowed to make mistakes because if you do and you fail, BOOM game over.
Okay so I'm not sure if that made too much sense, but hey ho. Rant over.
Thank you for reading, what do you think? Have I read far too deeply into this poster?
Opinions are appreciated:)
How to survive working in retail!
If you didn't already know, I currently work in a very popular clothes shop which I can't name for legal reasons, blah blah. I've worked there for almost a year and I thought that it might be fun (and helpful) to tell you some of my tips and tricks on how to cope with a job in retail...it's harder than you might think..xD
1. First of all, one major part of working in retail is the customers. As nasty or annoy as they can be, they are ultimately the ones who pay your wages. Sometimes it can be very hard to smile when you've been treated like a piece of dirt by a customer but it is kinda necessary, kinda. Personally, if a customer is rude to me or whatever I will still be polite but I will get revenge in other ways. For example insufficiently packing their clothes etc. (I'm such a rebel, I know..)
However not ALL customers are grumpy! Some of them are very very lovely and will chat and be understanding if you have to call a supervisor or whatever. To survive in retail, I would say that it is very important to thrive off of these people because if you focus on the negatives the day will seriously drag!
Another important thing to remember with customers is that they are the same as you. They have problems and sometimes they may be having an awful day and it then becomes your opportunity to either try and make them laugh or be as helpful or quick at serving them as you can be so that they can get back home to eat ice cream and binge watch Netflix.
Moving swiftly on...
2. Another pretty damn big part of working in all jobs really is your colleagues. The best advice for this one is just try and get on with them. It will make your life 1000000000x easier, okay so that might be a bit of an exaggeration..
But basically, you're going to be spending extended periods of time with these people, it will be much more enjoyable if you're not hating each other. Of course there seems to ALWAYS be that one person who you just can't get along with but don't make it your life mission to annoy them because you can bet that they'll get revenge or karma will kick your butt.
Whilst there will always be people who you don't get on with there will always be people who make you laugh and you get on really well with:) One of the main perks of working in a big retail store is that there are lots of different people who I probably wouldn't have met if I didn't start work there and now they've become some of my good friends who I know would stick up for me and my job. They also make the rubbish days a bit more fun and interesting:P
3. This point also relates to the colleague thingy and that is avoid gossipping. When you work with other people who you may not necessarily know very well or at all it is very easy to hear an opinion of someone and then have that singular perspective of them. Anyway back to the point, gossipping just makes working harder to be honest. When rumours start, cliques are created and this can have pretty shitty results . At my job, I've known people be reported to the boss for something that was a total rumour however it led to them losing their job so yeah. Personally, I just stay out of the firing line as much as possible!
4. The final point relates more to your mental (or even physical if you've been stood up for like 7 hours straight) well being. It's important to remember that it's absolutely OK to have a break. Retail working can be incredibly stressful believe it or not. Sometimes when you've got a never-ending queue, grumpy customers or maybe your low on change - it can be tough. Minutes being to feel like hours and if you're unhappy then you will not enjoy your job. So it's alright to take a day off now and then to chill or maybe grab a drink of water if you need it.
Just remember that you are alot stronger than you think but at the end of the day what's more important.. Your mental and physical health? Or reaching the stores budget?!
Anyway there's just a few tips that I've learnt over these last few months, I'm sorry that I haven't been very active recently, but there will be more posts to come!
Hope that you're having a lovely summer, adios x
1. First of all, one major part of working in retail is the customers. As nasty or annoy as they can be, they are ultimately the ones who pay your wages. Sometimes it can be very hard to smile when you've been treated like a piece of dirt by a customer but it is kinda necessary, kinda. Personally, if a customer is rude to me or whatever I will still be polite but I will get revenge in other ways. For example insufficiently packing their clothes etc. (I'm such a rebel, I know..)
However not ALL customers are grumpy! Some of them are very very lovely and will chat and be understanding if you have to call a supervisor or whatever. To survive in retail, I would say that it is very important to thrive off of these people because if you focus on the negatives the day will seriously drag!
Another important thing to remember with customers is that they are the same as you. They have problems and sometimes they may be having an awful day and it then becomes your opportunity to either try and make them laugh or be as helpful or quick at serving them as you can be so that they can get back home to eat ice cream and binge watch Netflix.
Moving swiftly on...
2. Another pretty damn big part of working in all jobs really is your colleagues. The best advice for this one is just try and get on with them. It will make your life 1000000000x easier, okay so that might be a bit of an exaggeration..
But basically, you're going to be spending extended periods of time with these people, it will be much more enjoyable if you're not hating each other. Of course there seems to ALWAYS be that one person who you just can't get along with but don't make it your life mission to annoy them because you can bet that they'll get revenge or karma will kick your butt.
Whilst there will always be people who you don't get on with there will always be people who make you laugh and you get on really well with:) One of the main perks of working in a big retail store is that there are lots of different people who I probably wouldn't have met if I didn't start work there and now they've become some of my good friends who I know would stick up for me and my job. They also make the rubbish days a bit more fun and interesting:P
3. This point also relates to the colleague thingy and that is avoid gossipping. When you work with other people who you may not necessarily know very well or at all it is very easy to hear an opinion of someone and then have that singular perspective of them. Anyway back to the point, gossipping just makes working harder to be honest. When rumours start, cliques are created and this can have pretty shitty results . At my job, I've known people be reported to the boss for something that was a total rumour however it led to them losing their job so yeah. Personally, I just stay out of the firing line as much as possible!
4. The final point relates more to your mental (or even physical if you've been stood up for like 7 hours straight) well being. It's important to remember that it's absolutely OK to have a break. Retail working can be incredibly stressful believe it or not. Sometimes when you've got a never-ending queue, grumpy customers or maybe your low on change - it can be tough. Minutes being to feel like hours and if you're unhappy then you will not enjoy your job. So it's alright to take a day off now and then to chill or maybe grab a drink of water if you need it.
Just remember that you are alot stronger than you think but at the end of the day what's more important.. Your mental and physical health? Or reaching the stores budget?!
Anyway there's just a few tips that I've learnt over these last few months, I'm sorry that I haven't been very active recently, but there will be more posts to come!
Hope that you're having a lovely summer, adios x
Vanishing cream - Lush review
Hello, so here is the first of many Lush reviews of some of the products that I picked up in my recent visit to the Oxford street Lush. Click here to read the explanation and story behind the whole Lush thing...:)
One product which I picked up in Lush was 'Vanishing Cream'.
It costs £18.75 per 45g which definitely isn't the cheapest for a facial moisturiser but this product is pretty damn good.
Some of the key ingredients are; rose water, lavender, honey, jojoba oil and fair trade Shea butter and yeah.
Some good points about this moisturiser is that it is AMAZING
underneath make up! It literally 'vanishes' into your skin and makes it super smooth and perfect for makeup application.
It feels like its doing good to your skin and it smells lovely of course!
However the only problem with this product would be that for me, after wearing it for a couple of days/nights my pores get badly clogged up. This is a problem which I've experienced with many moisturiser but I particularly notice it with this one.
Overall it is a lovely product and it lasts a long time because a little goes a long way. However I would probably not re-purchase this product due to the price but as an occasional treat it is lovely!
One product which I picked up in Lush was 'Vanishing Cream'.It costs £18.75 per 45g which definitely isn't the cheapest for a facial moisturiser but this product is pretty damn good.
Some of the key ingredients are; rose water, lavender, honey, jojoba oil and fair trade Shea butter and yeah.
underneath make up! It literally 'vanishes' into your skin and makes it super smooth and perfect for makeup application.
It feels like its doing good to your skin and it smells lovely of course!
However the only problem with this product would be that for me, after wearing it for a couple of days/nights my pores get badly clogged up. This is a problem which I've experienced with many moisturiser but I particularly notice it with this one.
Overall it is a lovely product and it lasts a long time because a little goes a long way. However I would probably not re-purchase this product due to the price but as an occasional treat it is lovely!
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