Home Comforts

God, I forgot how good it feels to be at home. Back in your own bed, with the chance of a bath if you please, full cupboards, the kettle constantly on, and best of all, back under a roof with all your favourite people and obvs, the dog!! Don't get me wrong I love uni, but it does feel nice to be back in a place where people actually like the kitchen being clean and don't blare out music til God knows when. It's nice to have some peace and quiet and some downtime with the fam, even if that means just watching X Factor, (which I fully intend on doing tomorrow night, btw)!
It's especially nice to be home this time of year as the fire comes on, talks of Christmas are in the air and presents are being discussed! Exciting times ahead! And let's not forget the food!! The way to my heart is deffo through my stomach, so it's no surprise I absolutely looooove being at home and seeing all the food available to eat! Never a moment of simply having to have pasta again for the sixth evening in a row... And best of all the baths!! I crave baths so much at uni, I never really realised how much I loved them til I moved away and was deprived of a good soak! It really is so nice to be at home and I'm sure everyone can agree they took everything for granted before uni and learnt the hard way to appreciate things, just like I did!

Now, I'm off to stock up on snacks and a cuppa and run myself, a nice, long, hot bath...

PRODUCT REVIEW: Vichy Normaderm Skincare

   Recently I decided to try a new skincare brand – Vichy. I have tried soooo many different brands and nothing seems to wow me. After endlessly stalking and over-analysing all the reviews at least 85 times, I gathered that it was worth a shot. I have combination skin where my t-zone is prone to oiliness and occasional break outs, but my cheeks are pretty normal. I have the darkest under eye circles known to existence and pretty bad eye bags so my face always looks quite dim and dull. I think that was one of my main desires – to brighten up my skin! I went out and after yet another conversation with the woman in Boots, I decided on Vichy. I went for the Vichy Normaderm collection, which is mainly for oily skin. I was a little reluctant as like I said, my cheeks are pretty standard, and didn’t want to dry out my cheeks with a drying mattifying moisturiser. I went for it anyway, and after three weeks of using it, here is what I think…

Cleasning Gel – This is nice and it does make my skin feel clean and washed. However, it is a gel, which I find a little annoying. I like the feel of a creamy cleanser, whereas this is an actual gel that requires water on the face beforehand and then more water to wash it off. This works for some people, but I’m not a huuuuge fan of the concept. Saying that, if you have mega oily skin this will be good for you, as you are not just piling up more and more layers of lotions on your skin, as this washes straight off! So although I find it a little tedious and damp, it is good and washing away excess oils and making sure you don’t have unnecessary layers of lotion and cream on your skin.

Toner – This toner is supposed to tighten pores and make them less visible. It is a a very light toner which I like, I have used ones more like gel consistency before and hated them so I really do like this toner. Does it tighten pores? Not that I’ve noticed… Saying that, I have only been using it for around three weeks and I still have a lot of the bottle to get through, so I will persevere. However, it does leave your skin totally dry and gets rid of any excess cleansing gel – it leaves the perfect base for moisturiser to go on nicely.

Moisturiser – This moisturiser is for the day and I really really like it. It is light, it goes on nicely, the packaging is small and cute, it smells nice and fresh and just makes my skin feel nice. It really is the perfect base for a primer to go on. However, I do find that it does not combat oil as much as it claims to as I still find myself reaching for my powder throughout the day!

Night Detox – I use this in the evening (obvs) after cleansing and toning, and I can say it makes my skin feel great. It absorbs well, smells nice, has a matte finish with no obvious shine and is a great way for your skin to rejuvenate overnight so you wake up feeling refreshed, and with noticeably brighter skin. Full marks for this cream!

There's also a micellar water, which I got as a free sample when buying these products. I personally am not a massive fan of micellar so haven’t actually used it yet, but for any micellar fans, considering how nice the other products are, I would say it’ll probably be right up your street!!

I will definitely be repurchasing the Vichy products when they run out (which by the way probably won’t be for ages – a little really does go a long way with these products)! I love the feel of my skin and I must say, since using them my skin has been clearer than ever, Significantly less break outs, much much much brighter and healthy looking skin, and it also seems to have done a good job and removing marks from past blemishes!! Fabulous! Could not recommend Vichy enough in terms of skin treatment and repair, but in terms of mattifying the oil – I’d say don’t get rid of your powder just yet!!

Goodbye Summer, Hello Winter!

As Winter is fast approaching, I thought I’d take a moment to reflect and remember Summer 2015, and what a fabulous summer it was!

   Holiday-wise I was pretty spoilt in that I was able to jet off to both Cyprus and Dubai! Now Cyprus was pretty standard in terms of how different it is to England, I’d been before and knew what to expect culture and temperature wise – still it was ah-may-zing! But but but, Dubai on the other hand, was a MASSIVE culture shock!! To come from England, which is mega relaxed about literally everything, it was crazy to go to somewhere – where may I add, had an average temperature of 45 degrees – where it was essential to be totally covered up at all times! Absolutely boiling! Saying that, the Dubai mall was fabulous and getting to visit the Atlantis hotel and waterpark was a massive massive highlight for me! Absolutely the best day by far!! The weather was boiling, the sea was like one big hot bath, the pool was relaxing, the beach was beautiful, the skyline was hugely impressive and the mall was full of amazingly cool shops such as Cartier and Tiffany - sadly just out of my price range!

    I was quite surprised to see Dubai was very Americanised in the way of shops and restaurants – there was a lot of outlets you’d expect to see in America. However, I’m not complaining as I am a verrrry fussy eater, so it was great to see something I recognised and actually wanted to eat – result!! 

   I am also a massive shark lover, and so seeing so many sharks in both the mall and the Atlantis was a massive highpoint of that trip for me!! I shall definitely be returning...

   I also had a birthday this summer - my 20th!! No longer a teenager, so there was mixed emotions about that one! But, as always, my mum made my birthday so much fun and well and truly spoilt me, with fabulous presents, lots of nice food and of course drink, and to unwind after all the fun, a spa day in Nottingham with a full body massage - amazzzing!! I look forward to see what is in store next year for the big 21! Eeeek...

   Summer for me is one of my favourite times of the year, as I love the hot weather, I love holidays and of course, my birthday is in July! The only downside is having to work whilst the weather is sooo nice... This summer, I went back to my go-to job as a waitress. I have done it since I was 16 and it fills the time (and my bank account) nicely in the months I have off from university. Scarily, next summer I will be done with uni and so it will be time to get a real life, proper adult grown up job. Gulp. Adult life awaits... I have a few months until then though, so more time to enjoy life living in denial that I can remain this way forever. I wish!

   Now as much as I love Summer, I am also a lover of Winter and cannot wait for all the fun of Halloween, Bonfire Night and of course, Christmas - my absolute fave time of year!! So let's bring on the cold weather and give me an excuse to wear the million new coats I convinced myself I totally need...

Until next time,

PRODUCT REVIEW: Benefit's It's Potent Eye Cream

Okay, I'm a lover of new stuff, especially beauty stuff. I'm literally obsessed. But I do like to get other people's opinions on stuff before I buy it, so I'm gonna put my opinion out there in the hope it helps someone!

Today I'm just gonna say a short piece on Benefit's Eye Cream. First of all, the packaging is sooooo fab! I really love the quirky little glass pot with the wood-look lid. It looks like an old school, vintage type cream and I love stuff like that! So that deffo wins it an immediate point!

Now the object of the cream is to brighten eyes, remove dark circles and just improve your under eye area in general, making you look more awake and brightening the entire area. It is supposed to do this if you apply it both day and night. Personally, I found the cream to be really smooth, soft and lightweight so it doesn't feel too heavy or gross on my eyes. But, I'm yet to see a huge difference to my under eye circles and darkness! I'll carry on with it as I've only been using it around three weeks or so but sadly, for me, it doesn't seem to be working just yet! Saying that, my eyes do feel refreshed and because it feels quite cold, it's a nice cooling feeling just before bed! Hopefully I'll see a difference soon!

Thanks for reading,

Work Experience!

Following my quest to better my CV and not spend my entire summer working as a waitress, I decided to take up some work experience at my local newspaper. This job was a 9-5 job which I did on top of my waitressing job, meaning I was in theory working two full time jobs! Tired was an understatement... 

Even though I spent the time totally exhausted, I got a great bit of experience, a useful reference, and even got some articles printed in the paper! Result!

It wasn't what I expected but it really was great.. They threw me straight in at the deep end; sending me out on jobs, making calls and conducting interviews, and getting to write up my own stories! It also helped me realise what I do actually do want to do when I finish uni! All in all a fab week that helped in more ways than one!

British milestones...

Okay, first of all - apologies for taking so long to post! Blame uni and exam revision and assignments - sooooo stressful! But this week is important for two different reasons and it just could not pass without comment..

First of all; a new Royal Baby!! And even better, a Princess! Soooo exciting! Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana - nice touch adding Diana in there, so so so lovely. Kate looked stunning (obvs) just hours after giving birth - is that woman even human?!? But, it was just so lovely to see Will and Kate leaving the hospital with their new baby girl. Also, (can't not mention this), how bloody cute is Prince George?!! I cannot wait to see what Princess Charlotte grows up to look like as her mum is amazingly stunning and her big brother is sooooo adorable!!


Secondly, the General Election.... Which is actually tomorrow and I still have not decided who to vote for.. woops! With me being 19, this is the first year I am actually able to vote and I am 100% going to take advantage of that right! But, I really am struggling to make a decision!! I think Labour have some really great points - the one that especially stands out to me is the reduction of the uni fees!!! But I also think the Tories have done a great job of bringing the country back up to where it needs to be!! Hmm, it really is a tough one. All I will say is that if you are over 18, you should definitely definitely definitely vote! And if you don't then you 100% cannot complain about ANYTHING for the next four years. Remember guys, if everyone who doesn't normally vote, votes this time, this could shape up to be a very interesting election!

Now I am off to watch the leaders' debate to try and reach a decision haha...

Let the best party win!!!

50 shades...

   Okay so the new buzz is the film 'Fifty Shades of Grey' based on the novel of the same name, which I went to see in Newcastle on Tuesday!
   Having read all three books I was eager to see the film, despite hearing contradicting opinions with some absolutely loving it and wanting to watch it another 837 times, and others hating it and asking for refunds. I personally really enjoyed it! And to respond to a lot of people saying it was a lot more tame than the book - well, durrrr otherwise it would literally have been a porno!
   I thought the two leading actors played Ana and Christian very well and I think the transformation from book to film was executed perfectly! It included all the detail from the books in respect of the characters' personal lives, their backgrounds, how they met, their different educations and upbringings so no one left the cinema feeling confused as to how this all came about. The only thing that differed from the book was indeed the amount of sex. But like previously stated, that literally would have made it into some dodgy uncomfortable porno... 
   I also thought the soundtrack was amazzzzing! All songs were clearly carefully considered and my new favourite song is Beyonce's remake of 'Crazy in Love'! It has gone from a pop dancey song to a beautiful meaningful song and I loooove it!! Queen B has really outdone herself there - yet again!!

   There were some other thoughts I had whilst watching it - mainly is that bush real?!? Me and my flatmate had a loooong debate as to whether the (seen too much in my opinion) bush was real, but I guess it's mentioned in the book so they had to include it!
   Also, does anyone REALLY need a red room?? It just looked scary and intimidating and totally unsexy - not a turn on AT all!!! I get that Christian is 'fifty shades of fucked up' and all that but reallllly, that place is just a nightmare. Especially the whole 'wait for me by the door'... Really? She's not your dog!
   AND of course the acting - the sex scenes that were included were very very graphic and I couldn't quite believe he was just about sucking her nipple on screen! Obvs staying true to the book, but kind of awkward to actually watch! Fantastic acting there as it was pulled off flawlessly and convincingly!!!


On the whole I think it was a great film and would recommend anyone to go watch it! Just maybe not with your mum haha... That could be awks!!!

break up.

Okay this is not going to be the most cheeriest of posts out there but I need somewhere to write exactly how I feel right now, without being a beg and posting it on social media. 

I think after a break up, it's hard to know how you should feel - so far I've spent countless hours listening to Coldplay and David Gray in the hope that music therapy would be a help. I have been shopping, I have been out with my friends, I have got hopelessly drunk, but in reality none of these thing have helped. It's more than just a case of brushing it off and it's definitely harder to 'just forget' about it as so many people have said as supposed advice. 
The truth is a break up means you lose your security, you lose your best friend, you lose your comfort blanket and the harshest thing to realise is you lose that one person that you could call upon at any hour and they'd pick up and listen to your shit.

The process of taking down photos and changing profile pictures is hard enough as it is a physical representation of the end of something. Then comes the stuff swap - I have some clothes and just some stuff that doesn't belong to me and I'm dreading giving all this stuff back and having the physical exchange of things that just last week I was fine with living without and letting him keep them for as long as he wanted. It's gonna seem so weird having them back after all this time..

The relationship that has just ended has been a very strained one as I'm up in Newcastle at uni and he's 200 miles away down at home, in Newark. All I can say is - long distance is not easy! The thing that makes me most sad is that after 8 months of making it work and trying to live with the distance, to see it come to and end just sparks the question of what was this all for? Endless amounts of travelling hours and money spent to see each other for 1 day at a time, for it to end like this 8 months later... Very very sad that we just couldn't see a way through..

Sorry for the world's least engaging post haha, I promise to make the next one a little more uplifting!

Decisions decisions decisions...

   Okay the time has come to decide on my third year options for University! This is very scary for me as it doesn't seem 10 minutes since I started as a fresher.. How time flies! Now I've got to make rational choices that will see me through final year and hopefully give me the desired first I so desperately want! There are some compromises I have to make though that I am less than impressed about...

   Some of the lecturers, despite being lovely people, really are not that great! I haven't clicked with them and haven't enjoyed their style of teaching and so I am finding myself swaying away from their modules. As luck would have it though, of course these are the people with the most interesting sounding modules! Which leaves the question - do I choose a module I'll find really interesting but risk not enjoying it due to the module leader or do I choose a less desirable module that I know will have an engaging lecturer that I will be able to relate to? Difficult one! With the deadline only three days away I should probably get deciding and confirming my choices...

   I guess the only good thing to come from this was me deciding to do an English Literature dissertation as opposed to English Language! Not a total failure if I managed to make one choice haha! Now just to decide on a title... Wish me luck haha!

Wedding fun...

 At the weekend (24th January 2015) my Uncle got married in Manchester! As expected it was a beautiful day, lots of emotion, love, happiness and of course, photos!

 To start with, there was the beaaaautiful bride and of course, my new Auntie walking down the aisle... As family we got the first two rows of seats so perfect view and distance for hearing the vows!!

 After the most beautiful ceremony, there was a bit of downtime before the party which proved to be a fantastic time to get some selfies into the day!!

Here is my lovely nan and grandad, followed by a quick snap with my wonderful mum!!

 It was then time to head to the lovely Rosylee Tea Rooms in Manchester, just outside of Piccadilly. This was the perfect venue, the interior was beautiful - they had laid out a magnificent table spread and upstairs there was room designated for the disco!

Rosylee Tea Rooms, Manchester

They also had the most beautiful, original cake!! (Note the wooden stand under the cake - this was created by the bride's Dad and it is carved with the bride and groom's name, along with the date of the wedding!!) How fabulous! 

There was also a photo booth included in the disco which provided endless amounts of fun for me and my family! We definitely took waaaay more than anybody else haha! 

I 100% recommend this idea for any kind of party - it comes with a dress up box so you can dress up as anything you like and create ridiculous photos with loved ones that will serve as amazing memories!! Definitely one of the best parts of the day!!

To finish off, I'll leave you all with a little family selfie consisting of my mum, my mum's boyfriend, my Auntie (a different one - not the bride), my boyfriend, and of course, me!!

Lots of love, 

THE BEGINNING

Helllllo there, my name is Molly and I have decided to start a blog as a way of getting into writing my opinions about things. After uni I have decided I want to head into journalism and so blogging about things, ie. my life and general thoughts and opinions seemed a good way to kick start that practice of simply writing. This is actually more daunting than I thought it would be and I hope no one turns round and says this is all utter bull haha.


I guess the first thing that seems a good idea to write about is myself in the here and now and what I’m currently doing – I’m at uni! I go to Northumbria University in Newcastle, which was just about the best decision I ever made really. Being at uni has not only made me grow up a bit and become an adult – in the ways of paying bills, cooking, washing etc but it has also led me directly to the career path I want to go down. I started uni totally clueless with the idea of getting out of Newark (the small town I’m from) and doing something I really love –English! It started off as just that, me doing a degree for no other reason that it seemed the easiest option than to just go and ‘get a job’. But now it has proved to me what I really am interested in; what my strengths are, what I’m good at and what I actually want to do for the rest of my life. I’ve always been a keen writer and magazines, tabloids and broadsheets have always caught my eye. In fact, the media in general has always interested me – not necessarily just celebrities but the media itself, news stations, presenters, broadcasting – I find it all so interesting and now I am hopefully going to become a part of it all!


Although uni is without a doubt the most stressful thing in my life, it’s also the most exciting thing– it gives the opportunity to live independently but also pretty much carefree with the biggest decision being ‘shall I go out tonight?'. Saying that, it simultaneously prepares and equips you with skills and knowledge to have a successful career. It’s a crazy time, and describing university to someone who has never been, will always remain impossible! With another year and a half to go, I can’t wait to see what else is thrown my way and what other fantastic opportunities arise from the crazy city that is Newcastle!