1. Have a consistent blog upload schedule and stick to it. As you can probably tell this year has been very stop and start for my blog, I want to ensure that I don’t abandon it too much this year and have a lot of exciting posts planned.
2. Experiment with and review more makeup. Over the past few months my makeup collection has rapidly increased in size and will hopefully continue to grow, however I want to learn to use the products that I already have to their full potential too.
3. Save up enough money to get a macbook. Currently I am using an Advent laptop that I got about six years ago, I think it's about time for an upgrade.
4. Start a YouTube channel. I have been saying this for the longest time and I really hope that 2016 is the year I finally get my shit together and begin one.
5. Get good AS level grades and a decent work experience placement, at the moment there is speak of working with Warner Brothers but who knows what will happen.
6. See Sammi more. For those of you who don't know Sammi is my best friend who lives up in Manchester which is hard for me to get to when I like in Kent, I want to take as many chances as I can to get to see her in 2016.
7. Meet a bunch of creatives who inspire me and potentially collab with some of them (a girl can dream, right?). There are so many people that I have had the chance to meet over this year that for some reason or another it just hasn't happened, I'm determined to meet them in 2016 though.

Following on from my previous blog post in which I suggested several beauty gifts that you could get for your friends I thought it would be a good idea for me to create a post of ideas for those people who perhaps aren't too interested in beauty or just give further suggestions. This is going to be aimed at low budget again as I feel like a lot of people seemed to ask for that on twitter, if you want your say in anything blog related then be sure to follow me on there (@wwanderstruck).



One of the first things that I have thought of is one of the mindfulness colouring books, these are available to buy from about £3-£8 depending where you pick them up, I recommend Sainsburys as they are super cheap there and you can often get then in a deal. If you paired this up with a pack of fineliner pens it would look like such a thoughtful gift and you can actually pick up a pack of 10 for £5 in Sainsburys while you're at it! These books are such great quality and I've recently noticed that they've started to sell a Harry Potter themed one so if your friend is into that brand then it might be a cute idea to get  them that one! WhSmith are also doing a deal where you can get a colouring book and fineliners for £14 so have a look around and have a think about which ones your friend would appreciate.




Another idea is that if they are a fan of a certain thing (whether it be a band or tv show) you could get them something that is related to the topic, for example I am getting one of my friends the new 5 Seconds of Summer album as she really likes the band and hasn't got it yet! If you didn't want to get a CD then there are websites such as etsy which sell such cute fanmade merch that is super cool and is usually pretty cheap to pick up.





Cute room decor is always an option too! New Look are the apple of my eye at the moment for this, I have spent way too much money on things that I arguably really don't need purely because they look super pretty! Something like a really pretty photoframe from there that has a photo of the two of you in paired with a candle looks like something that perhaps would have taken a lot of effort and in general looks really well put together. However, be careful with candles that you're actually getting a scent that they like as this could end up a little awkwardly, but it's not hard to find out about what scents they like!



Something that would be super lovely and would come across as so thoughtful is to find a really lovely mug and fill it with a collection of cute things. I recommend the Cath Kidston ones as they are about £5 and so big, such good value for money. A suggestion of things to put inside it could be hot chocolate sachets with a few mini marshmallows, some socks, nail polish, stationary, anything really!







That's it for this blog post, I hope these ideas helped you think of a few ideas for people!

In case you didn't already know, Christmas is fast approaching and that means having to buy gifts for people. Some people are more organised than others when it comes to doing this, I for one have had most of my Christmas shopping complete since October, and some people struggle when it comes to selecting gifts for people. This year is my first Christmas where I have a job and therefore I went a little over the top with everything that I decided to pick up for friends and family, however today I'm going to be suggesting a few lower budget things that would work perfectly either on their own or complied into a really cute hamper style gift.

If you know your friends really like makeup then that is always a great thing to grab, both Superdrug and Boots are doing super good deals at the moment on their gifts. Boots is doing a 3 for 2 and I think Superdrug is too so you can always pick up a good selection of things for such great prices.

Boots wise I have picked up a few of their Ted Baker little body soufflé's which are available in a mint green shade or a rose pink and are £4 each, so I picked up three and with the deals they had going on I managed to get them for £8. These paired with something like a cute pair of frilly socks and a bar of chocolate would look super cute, however if you're super low budget then this would look awesome on its own too!






Another thing that I love which are on the slightly higher end of the low budget are the little gift sets that Boots sell, I have picked up several of these for certain people and one of my favourites is the Soap and Glory 'Glam-o-flage' it's such a great gift if you're willing to spend a little more. This set is £20 and consists of their Supercat eyeliner which, may I add, is one of my favourite eyeliners of all time! I also picked up some cute bath/pamper product gift sets, one of the cutest that I grabbed was the Laura Ashley Mini Indulgence gift set for £10. This has four absolutely adorable mini pamper products that appear to be so high end and are presented so beautifully. This would work perfectly for both mums and friends!










If your friends like YouTube then a Tanya Burr kit would be an ideal little gift that you can then pair with things such as their favourite candy or a cute pair of socks. Both her eye kits and her little Christmas nail kits are so cute and look as though you have put so much thought into them! I would recommend the Fairytale eye shadow palette and the nail set in Toasted Marshmallow which is such a pretty nude pink shade and is something that I would definitely wear on a regular basis!







Stay tuned this upcoming week for more low budget posts!

On the 8th November 2015 I met my best friend after well over a year of us talking and getting to know each other. Of course, I had met some of my internet friends before but none of those have ever come close to the importance that Sammi plays in my life, she is my rock and my best friend and to be able to hug her and speak with her face to face was such a special experience that I don't think I will ever forget it.

I want this post to be something that I can look back on in five years time and remember the feeling that I felt when I saw her for the first time, I want to be able to show people that internet friends are important and just as real as the people that are 'real life' friends. So for this to work I'm going to begin by explaining my friendship with Sammi.

The two of us started talking right at the beginning of the September of 2014, we had bonded over our mutual love for Sam King's videos and after she helped me to get a follow from him we spoke almost every day. This was through direct messages on Twitter, until we Skyped for the first time in the October where we stayed up talking for around eight hours, getting to know each other even more than we already did, our Skype sessions eventually changed to FaceTime sessions. Without a fail the two of us would have at least one FaceTime session every week, letting each other know how we were, what we had been up to and how much we hated the stress of school etc.

It's been like this for over a year and we have had so many opportunities to meet each other but for one reason or another we have always failed at doing so. Over this year we have become so close that I couldn't imagine life without her at the end of the phone, and so when she told me that one of our favourite bands, All Time Low, were performing at the Teen Awards we both realised that this was our opportunity to meet.

To start with I had planned to surprise her by saying that I didn't get tickets and then turning up but this all failed when I ended up with tickets and she didn't. We had a frantic panic to get her tickets and in the end we finally got her and her friends a set of tickets too, it was such an amazing feeling to think that we were actually going to meet and be able to see each other face to face!

But about four days before we met we encountered a problem, Sammi's tickets had been cancelled and she was left with train tickets booked to London and no concert tickets, it left us in this state of limbo as to what was going to happen. We didn't speak about it much until that day when she text me to let me know she had managed to get hold of some tickets, I was half asleep when I got the message and just replied with 'see you later' not really thinking about what I had just been told. I was officially meeting my best friend.

Eventually Sunday came around and me being me I got to the station well over an hour early and had to wait for my friend Jamie to arrive before I could head to Wembley, eventually after delays and cancellations we made it and headed straight to McDonalds because food is always a main priority in life. It was while we were in the queue that I got the phone call from Sammi to tell me she was off the tube and in Wembley too (insert overly excited squeal here), this is when it started to feel real for me.

Jamie and I headed to the arena while Sammi and her friends went to get their tickets, once they had got their tickets Sammi called me and I headed off to meet her, Jamie filmed the footage on my camera and Sammi's friends filmed it on her phone. As I headed down the stairs from where Jamie and I had been sat watching the red carpet I completely lost sight of Sammi until I heard her yell my name, which I responded to by running at her. You can see the footage of the two of us meeting here.

The fact that I was in her arms and she was in front of me was incredible, I was actually able to touch  her and as weird as that sounds it was something that I had been wanting to do for so long. What hurt the most was when we had to say goodbye, not knowing when I was going to see her again hurt a lot, only being able to see her through a screen for however long it is going to be sucks, but it makes the time that we get to spend together super special.

I am so thankful for Sammi, and for Sam King being the reason that the two of  us became friends, I couldn't imagine my life without the two of them.

Anyone who knows me knows that I have two ways of dressing, I either go for the typical 'girly girl' style with skirts and sweaters or the 'grunge' style with flannels, oversized tees and black jeans. While looking for a new set of tees to wear with my flannels I came across Maison de Choup, a bold and quirky online store with a wonderful back story.

The brand was created midway through 2014 by George Hodgson, who throughout his young life suffered greatly with anxiety disorder. It was his constant compulsion to create that lead him to build up his brand that not only houses designs from George himself but a collection of work from other young artists and designers too.

One of the tees that attracted my attention the most was the 'White Noise Tee' (see below) which is a simple white tee with a series of prints down the middle. This is such a cool piece as you can so easily dress it both up and down purely depending on what you pair it with.


Another of the items on their website is the 'Words Fail Me' top which is available in either white or navy, one of the most wonderful things about this design is that 25% of the proceeds go to the charity Young Minds.


Maison is a wonderful store with a whole lot of potential, they have a new line of clothing coming out soon and I really suggest that you keep an eye on them as a brand.

You can find Maison de Choup at http://maisondechoup.co.uk/

When I was 10 I made the deicsion to move away from the place that I called home, where I lived with my mum and step dad, to the place that I believed would be the best for me to live (this being with my dad and step mum). And although I have lived with my dad for a good six years now my mums house still feels like home, the feeling I get when I walk through the door to her house isn't the same as the feeling that I get when I walk into my dad's house.

So, as you can probably tell this leads me to feel homesick a lot of the time, and due to the fact that my mum lives an hour and a half away it's pretty hard to just drop everything and go visit her. Especially as I'm just beginning my A-Levels and have a weekend job and volunteering in a charity store to balance. Over the past few years I've found a few ways of dealing with homesickness and I thought that it would be nice for me to share them with you.

1) Although you may be far away from the person there is always a way to talk to them, pick up your phone and give them a call, ask how their day has been and what they had for lunch. There's also video chatting on things like Skype and FaceTime which is great as it makes it feel a little more as though you are with the person.

2) Have an item of their clothing that reminds you of them/smells of them. For me, this happens to be two of my mums oversized sweaters that I can curl up in at night.

3) Spend time with the friends and family that you are lucky enough to have around you. I know that when I'm missing home reminding myself of what I have where I live is something that is important to remember, and more often than not having a good laugh will make you feel miles better.

I'm the kind of person who loves finding new music and not only do I love finding new music but I also love discovering smaller musicians. This could be someone who as just started out in the in the industry creating professional music or it could be someone who sits in their room filming videos of them covering songs and singing originals. For me, finding new music is like Christmas, it's such a great feeling, and so I thought I would share with you three of my favourite smaller musicians.

1) Sarah Close
Sarah is a 21 year old London based singer songwriter, she posts weekly covers onto her YouTube channel along with the vlog style video too! Covers to watch include: Hold Me Down, Best Mistake, and Take Me To Church. You can find Sarah on YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram.

2) Conor Scott

(Apologies in advance for the messiness of this post, it's more for me to get things off my mind and vent than anything, but if it helps some people in the process then thats great!)

'Girls wouldn't get dressed up nicely if they didn't want us guys to stare at them' is something that was contributed to one of my media class discussions this week and it's really stuck with me. This idea that girls dress up for attention and to be admired by others is not something that is true in any way, or at least for many people anyway.

Take the youtube and blogging fashion and makeup community for example, that is a huge collection of people that are interested in the topics that they talk about. They talk about these things because they make them happy and give them some form of confidence boost. We don't spend hours writing blog posts and reviewing beauty products for men to enjoy (but I'm not saying they can't because some guys do enjoy watching these videos), it's because this is something that we really love (oh wow, I think I've made that point about three times already but it's important for people to understand). It's not like I spend ridiculous amounts of money on makeup just to look good, because that's really not the reason that I do it. It's because it is almost a form of art, makeup is fun and wonderful to play about with, it can give me a confidence boost on the days when I'm feeling a little crappy and just makes me feel much more me.

And yet media has made it so that men think that everything women do is for their pleasure, and when the suggestion comes about that perhaps it isn't all for male pleasure and that we can do what we want with our bodies they begin to get defensive. This idea that they have a say in what we do and the reasons that we do it is ridiculous.

In my media class the other day we watched a series of commercials by Dove (a skincare company) where even they gave this idea that women do things for men, that they wanted to reveal skin for men to enjoy looking at them. This male gaze is everywhere in the media and has been for as long as anyone can remember really. Women are always sexualized and portrayed to be this item that appeals to men and falls at their feet at their every word, we aren't. Women are strong and independent, we don't do things for anyone but ourselves.

Halsey (also known as Ashley Frangipane) has been named one of 2015's key artists to watch numerous times and it's no wonder why she has with the huge album that she has just dropped. Having listened to her since around January time new music is something that I have been desperate for, her five track Room 93 EP that was released last year being a well round summary of her as an artist was incredible but me being me needed more. And now it's here, we have left Room 93 and entered the Badlands.

Apologies about the quality of this, it's a screen cap from the in flight video we were given.

For Christmas my family got the gift of an indoor skydiving session, my step sister had been begging my step mum to do this for months and so she finally surprised her (and the rest of the family) with this gift. Finding a time that all of my family was free lead us to have to wait until August to be able to actually partake in this bizarre activity, hence why I am talking about one of my Christmas presents this late in the year.

There are only three centres across the country that offered the experience that my parents had purchased and so the closest one for us was Basingstoke, we had an afternoon flight session so we left at about 11 and made our way there. I didn't know what to expect or what the building would look like but I don't think it reached my expectations on the exterior. It was just a buliding that seemed to be covered in some form of corrugated metal, with a massive taller section (almost like a church steeple or something).

While waiting for our session we got to watch the groups before us in their flight sessions. This really helped to build up the adrenaline for our session, plus watching different peoples facial expressions was pretty priceless. Eventually my group number was called and we we taken into a classroom where we were shown a video of in flight techniques and the hand signals that we would need to look out for from the instructor.

Once we had done this it was time to suit up, they were the basic boiler suits along with a helmet and goggles. Then just before going in we were given ear buds too to ensure that our hearing wasn't ruined while we had wind at a speed of up to 110mph blown at us (it was SO loud!).

I'm not really sure how to describe how it felt other than that it felt as though you were quite literally flying, if you went a little too far to one side then you just gave the glass wall a little push and were put right back into you starting place. On the second go we were offered to do something called a high flyer where we were taken right to the top while spinning around which my sister and I enjoyed but my step mum didn't seem to enjoy as much. This was an extra £5 which we paid at the end but it was so worth it!

To conclude I would really recommend the experience, whether it is for yourself or for someone as a gift it would make such an interesting day out!

Having parents who live a good two hours away from eachother has gotten me used to the idea of long distance and how to cope with missing people that you can only really see via facetime or talk to through texting. There are people that I have lost touch with during the transition from living at my mums to living at my dads and there are people that I still talk to, it can be hard at times because each of us have our own lives. We have our own friends and plans, we have exams and homework, we have jobs and everything else. These things can get in the way, but when you really are friends with people these things shouldn't matter.

Recently I went to see a friend that I hadn't seen for around five years and as soon as I stepped into her house I felt at home, sitting at her dinner table with two of my other friends felt completely natural. We caught up on life and had a wonderful time, personally it's moments like that which help to remind me that while distance may be an obstacle it is one that once broken feels as though you have always been with the person.

But for me, my long distance doesn't just work with my parents and the friendships that I have in both places but internet friendships too. My best friend and I live 250 miles away from eachother, over halfway across the country. We have never 'met' and yet I feel as though she is one of my closest friends, for people that haven't experienced this before it can be difficult to understand but when you have a friendship as strong as ours it doesn't matter that we live so far away. We make it work, and we have been doing so for almost a year now.

Of course, dealing with the distance can be hard and there are times when all you want is to be able to curl up and watch your favourite film with a tub of ice cream and your best friend. But for many people this is extremely hard, having someone far away that you are unable to be with physically is difficult in this sense. And it is at this point that you have to remember that you have other friends, ones who are always there for you, ones who are just as wonderful as these people that are far away.

The one thing that keeps you going and the one thing that doesn't quite compare to anything else is the feeling when you get to hug the one person who you have been desperate to see. That feeling is so indescribable and wonderful.


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Recently I have been experimenting with different smoothie flavours and have come across this one which tastes absolutely great! The vibrant pink colour of it reminds me of summer and seeing as the ingredients are 'summer berries' it only seems fitting to share this with you all!

There is a way to make this even healtier but this is a pre-warning to say that it wont be this beautiful colour when you are done with it. To make nay smoothie healthier just add anywhere from 1-2 handfuls of spinach into it, I promise that you can't taste it in the mix. The spinach often turns the smoothie a vivid green shade which is actually really cool.

Smoothies are a great way of intaking some of your five a day while tasting great and being high in natural sugars, none of that horrible processed stuff. You know exactly what you are putting into your body. I tend to drink a smoothie at least once a day as they always leave me feeling so refreshed.

Without further ado I will share with you the recipe for this wonderful summer drink.

The ingredients that you are going to need are:
-Strawberries (I use about 7 large ones as this is the equivalent of one portion for your five a day)
-Blueberries (again, I use about 2 handfuls to cater to the five a day aspect of the smoothie)
-Banana (I actually only used half of a small banana as this gives the consistency I like)
-Water (enough to fill to the mid point of your blender (I'm not sure about this part as i have a nutribullet and it clearly shows a max line))
-Fresh orange juice (just a splash, it gives a great summery taste to the smoothie)
-Greek yogurt (only a teaspoon, just something to make it creamy, however this could also be reached by adding the rest of the banana)
-Spinach (this part is optional but I really suggest you try it!)

How to:
-First off prepare all of the fruit, make sure it is washed and then you can roughly chop it up and place it into the blender.
-With any leftover fruit either place it back in the fridge or if you aren't going to use it for a while make some pre prepared smoothie bags. You can do this by putting enough of each ingredient into a freezer bag and placing them in the freezer until you want a smoothie at a later date! (Wouldn't reccomend freezing the spinach though, I'm not sure how that would turn out!)
-Add the water, orange juice, and greek yogurt.
-Blend the smoothie up until it is at a consistency that you are happy with.
-Enjoy your smoothie!



TIP: if you want to cool your smoothie down, or just prefer colder smoothies, then add a couple of  blocks of ice into the mixture before blending it to make it much more chilled.

In the summer my go to drink seems to be an iced coffee or frappachino of some type, but going out to my local coffee shop each time I want one is expensive and full of effort and so I decided to try making my own using a recipe that one of my friends on twitter posted. This recipe is my take on that and is so simple to do and requires such easy to access ingredients that there's no reason not to try it!

You will need:
1 cup of double strength coffee
1/2-1 cup of milk (depending on how you like your coffee)
2 tsp of sugar
Ice (amount depending on the consistency you want, however more is probably better in my opinion)

Additional things you can use:
Chocolate syrup (makes a mocha flavour)
Whipped cream for topping
Sprinkles for topping

What you have to do:

1) Make your basic coffee, instead of leaving this to cool overnight you can just use cold water as this is easier and it tastes just as good. Then put this into your blender.

2) Measure out your milk and add this into the coffee mixture that you have put into the blender (if you're putting chocolate syrup in then just pour a heap of that in too).

3) Add the ice cubes (I usually use about 10 large ones but it depends how you want it).

4) Blend it all up until its of a smooth consistency.

5) Pour into a glass and top with any toppings you want.

6) Enjoy.



I hope this helps you and that you enjoy the recipe, I've also tried something new with creating a header style image for the post. Let me know what you think about it and how I can make it better!