Same Tits Different Day

Don't be mistaken - this isn't a "body positivity" post. That's not something I ever feel particularly passionate about writing.

I hope that doesn't make me sound like an awful person. Of course, I want everyone to feel genuinely happy with their body but I sometimes feel the endless barage of OMG LOVE YOURSELF GALS EVERYONE IS BEAUTIFUL is a bit much. Often to the point of making people feel uncomfortable if they don't like themselves, like they're even doing that wrong. It's okay not to love yourself sometimes. None of us are perfect and it is perfectly okay to not like your imperfections.

But I digress. Kind of.

This post is more a reflection of a body part that I used to seriously dislike but now have zero issue with... And actually think are kind of banging. (Boobs, FYI).

Did I have surgery? Nope - but I wanted to for several years.
Did I just decide to get on with life and stop moping over my ugly funbags? Not really.
Did they one morning morph into a pair of perky, round, fit-for-page-3 hunnies? Not in the slightest.

Same tits, just a different day. Isn't it funny how situation can completely change how you feel about your body? Maybe I am just older and now don't care as much, but I don't think that's the case to be honest. Because the exact same happened with my HUGE, dark, thick eyebrows that used to be Charlie-from-Busted but are now all Keira Knightly and Queen Cara.

I used to be conscious of how small they were. Boobs not eyebrows - let's get back on track.
Epecially cos my younger sister developed serious curves and giant boobs and I was just waiting to catch up. (10 years later and still waiting....) A few of my best friends had impressive racks on them, too. And such was my life. Surgery had always been at the back of my mind as something I told myself "don't worry - you'll save and have surgery one day, it wont always be like this".

Then came one of the late-teenage-years boyfriends. Let's call him dickbag-Dan (or DD, just for the #irony) 'Cause he's a monumental dickbag. DD offered, on several occasions, to pay for a boob job for my sad little gals. At the time OMG HOW ROMANTIC IS HE???? But it just chipped away at my self esteem and made me hate them even more. Like, if he's mentioning it I obviously need surgery, right?

Then he cheated on me and that was that. I met Martin 3 weeks later. Now, if you've read this post about why Martin is the best you may think he is all lovey-dovey and full of compliments? HA NO. He is extremely offensive at any given opportunity and, as a general rule, getting a compliment out of him is like getting blood out of a stone. But somehow, since being with him I like my boobs now. For the first time ever.

It's not that he worships and praises them. 'Cause he doesn't. I still think they could be a bit bigger and my nips could be a bit cooler. I duno, like if they shot glitter or did my ironing or something? Pshh who wants boring old nipples? My general self esteem hasn't particularly increased, either. I thought I was a badass bitch back then and I'm still a badass bitch.
But now with a hella fit pair of boobs.

So the moral of the story - if you don't like something (still hate my nose more than you will ever understand), that's okay. Don't let it get you down tooooo much. You never know - in 10 years time it might become your favourite body part. You just don't know what's going to change in the world. Cellulite will be in vogue, Gigi Hadid and Kylie Jenner will be rushing out to get hair implants on their arms and there'll be some ridiculous YouTube challenge where kids will be breaking their noses to get a cool wonky shape.

Hang on in there honey. xxx

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Dark & Copper Living Room Mood Board

One of my #1 hobbies in life is planning shit I can never have. Or are in the very distant future, at the very least. Planning innumerable interiors for my all my thousands of living rooms I will apparently have one day is a huge part of this.

Especially so at the moment. Martin and I recently moved into our cutie patootie flat and we've had loads of fun with decor. But as we're renting a furnished flat we're really limited in what we can actually do. WHICH SUCKS. So aaaall about the imaginary furnishing via moodboards.

Sofa // Mirror // Fireplace // 

Light // Cushion // Phone

 Clearly dark and dreamy with copper accents paired with classic, traditional pieces is the mood of the day. I love a big, corner sofa - they are perfect for potatoes such as myself. And this one from Fishpools.co.uk looks especially squishy and comfy. I picked a neutral colour so that the pretty bits and bobs can steal the show, but they had loads of different shapes and finishes.

LOOK AT THE MARBLED COPPER CUSHION THOUGH? Have you seen anything more blogger in your life? It is just stunning *heart eye emoji 4eva*. Continuing on this copper note - I also think that paired with the classic fireplace and giant mirror, the modern light fitting would look gorgeous. And the retro style phone in copper from IWantOneofThose.com (one of my online faves) perfectly captures this mix! If I was at all bothered about having a landline this would 1000000% be the one for me. I may even go old school and get me a home phone number. Living the adult life to the max.

Of course, all of this is sitting on a super dark wood, mega stunning floor surrounded by the kind of industrial white brick wall. I effing love exposed brick. It's my all time favourite thing in the world. Make of that what you will...

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*This post is written in collaboration with Fishpools.co.uk

Travel Advice & Money Saving Tips for Marrakech, Morroco

My interrail travel advice post continues to be my most viewed - turns out you guys like some travel tips! My latest trip was to Morroco, mostly in Marrakech but with a road trip aaalll around the mountains to the desert and back (Read about my trip here!). I'll focus on Marrakech for this post!

I'll break down my spendings so you can get an idea of how much I spent on what. Remember, this is for two people sharing, like the rooms and some meals we shared. We travelled during early June which is just before peak season but I don't think, other than flight costs (which I think you could still get reasonably priced later in the year) it would be much more expensive/cheaper during other months. I have a post about how I get cheap flights and hotels which could be useful to read.

Flights - £80pp

Luggage- £0 (pack light and save yourself £40-50 by taking hand luggage only)

Room for 5 Nights - £94 (definitely available cheaper)

Airport Transfer - 140MAD / £11 / £5.50pp

Everything else* - £250 (big overestimation - I think more likely £215 max)

TOTAL (not excluding our 3 day excursion to the desert) - £515 for two people / approx £260pp

Cruelty Free Every Day “No Make Up” Look

For days like today, where I’m sitting in a corner seat in Starbucks enjoying their funky jazz with an iced tea just trying to get something productive done, I’m not going to spend an hour carving out my cheek bones and drawing on individual eye brow hairs before I leave the house. But I want a little something on to make me feel human. Ya feel me?

This is my go-to look on those days I want my face but better. I like a fresh looking base where my skin still looks like a skin, a healthy rosy glow, “un-groomed” brows, and bright eyes. It really shouldn’t take longer than five minutes and with minimal products. Sound good to you? Lets go.

Base

Cake is great but not on your skin – so obviously for a natural looking base, moisturising is of the essence. I’m a fan of the Vitamin C range from The Body Shop (£11-17) at the moment, it smells divine and makes my skin feel beautiful.

Then another offering from The Body Shop comes in the form of foundation. Their Fresh Nude Foundation (£15) to be exact I don’t always wear a foundation on a “no make up day” but sometimes my skin just hates me and wants to ruin my life. It’s a light to medium coverage foundation that it is beautiful on the skin. Especially when applied with a Real Techniques Blending Sponge (£5.99). It gives a pretty, fresh looking base, which it claims to do. I would disagree, though, that it is semi-matte. It’s pretty dewy on my skin if you ask me.

 I try to stay away from concealer on lighter make up days. To me, it’s what gives the game away and clearly looks like make up. I do, however, pop a couple of dots of the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer (£4.19) on any spots, a little on my chin and in the lower center of my forehead where I have more discolouration. I find this concealer just too drying on my  dry-ass under eyes these days but it does a good job where more heavy duty concealing on my face is needed.

Cheeks

Once my base is complete, I apply some Barry M Strobe Cream  (£4.49) in Frosty Pink. I only wear this on minimal make up days as it doesn’t apply well over powder at all and if you apply many powder products after it can lose its glow. Rubbing it onto my finger tips and patting it onto my cheek bones, chin and nose gives me a lovely, very natural “glow”.

Despite recently spending a week in Africa, you’d never bloody guess. I am PALE. Seriously pale. Finding a bronzer that gives a glow without looking too horribly warm is quite a challenge for us snow-skinned gals. I’m really loving The Body Shop Baked-to-LastBronzer in Warm Glow (£16). It’s a light, warm, shimmery bronzer that really does just warm the skin up.

Lastly for the cheeks – a pop of blusher. I know some people don’t like blusher, but I just think it makes a look complete! I love Sleek’s Rose Gold blusher so much. It's available as a single blush for £4.99 or as part of the Face Form Palette in light (pictured) for £10. Bargain! I have a fair collection of blushers but I just can’t stop reaching for this. On a minimal make up day, it just gives you a healthy flush of colour and looks warm, highlighted and beautiful.

Not strictly “cheeks” but generally after finishing everything that goes on my face, I’ll spray some Vitamin E Face Mist (£9.50) from The Body Shop. I didn’t realise how TBS heavy this post would be, my bad). I don’t always do this but if I don’t look sufficiently dewy or if I’m having a particularly dry/dull skin day it’s a nice way to squirt some life back into it.

L-R Barry M Strobe Cream, Baked-To-Last Bronzer, Sleek Blusher

Brows

I don’t go for a brow pencil or anything heavy on days like this. Just a powder to fill in the sparse areas and make them appear a bit fuller, then I brush the hairs upward and set it with the GOSH Defining Brow Gel (£4.99). I’m not a lover of the big applicator, it’s just too big for brows. I’m lucky because I have fuller brows so it’s not so messy but for sparser brows it could be a nightmare. I just really love the colour and formula – I wear shade 002 which is a slightly warmer toned brown a bit lighter than the powder I use. It just makes it all look so much more natural and doesn’t leave your brows feeling crispy. Yuck.

Eyes

No wings or shadow today. Ain’t nobody got time for dat. I have particularly veiny eyelids - lucky me – so I make sure to take a really small amount of concealer left over on my sponge onto my eyelids to even it all out when I’m doing my base. I then set it with any old light eyeshadow. I just find this makes my eyes look so much brighter and more awake.

I then curl my lashes and apply a couple of coats of Soap and Glory’s Thick and Fast HD mascara (£10.50). Firstly, I love the packaging of this. I think the gold looks so classy and beautiful on my dressing table. This gives the voluminous but fluttery lashes that I absolutely love.

Can anyone resist packing on the highlight in their inner corners? Even on no makeup days I love to pop a bit of the Mary Lou Manizer by TheBalm (£16) in my inner corners, just to open them up and make me looked bright eyed and bushy tailed.

Lips

Lips is my ALL TIME FAVOURITE part of makeup.  Without a doubt. So on no makeup days it takes all my power to not reach for a bold matte or a liquid lipstick. I’ve actually rediscovered an old favourite recently – Soap and Glory’s Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick (£3.50). I talked about it in an old favourites post and soon after that I put them away only to fall into the abyss of forgotten make up. There are nudes and brighter colours but because they are a sheer, glossy finish even the “brights” are very wearable on no make up days.

And voila! You look damn fine. Fresh and pretty make up is one of my favourite things about Summer, so I love this. Less time in front of the mirror and more time out enjoying summer!

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So I've Graduated... What Now?

To answer the titular question - I have not got a clue.
I know what I'd like to do, but each day I feel less and less confident that I'm able to do it right now. It's nothing so completely out of reach but I first need a bit more experience.

Is that not a word that haunts the lives of all recent graduates?
You've graduated. Maybe even with a first. From a FANTASTIC world class uni? But you can't even get an entry level job in your field because of the dreaded experience.

Oh I'm sorry. I didn't have time to get experience as I went straight from full time school as a kid to university. To better myself academically, learn and develop, struggle through four years of damn hard work. More than can be said for many others my age who are loving life traveling, working the strip in Malia or just generally chilling out. (Please don't take offense if you didn't go to uni - this isn't a dig at you. Unless you are currently living it up in Thailand in which case EFF YOU  ok ok). But yeah, my mistake for going to uni.

I didn't know it was going to fuck my life.

Because being 22 with a flat to pay for, an expensive make up and travel penchant to fund and just generally wanting to have some semblance of a life is hard without a job. But I have applied for maybe 50 jobs, some I know I am qualified for, I'm just hearing sweet eff all back.  What am I going to do? I'm considering working part time and somewhere to pay the bills while trying to get experience elsewhere. That would mean that money is tight and life is shit, though. Basically.


The two jobs I actually really really want I should hear back from in the next fortnight and, to be honest, I have no idea if I'm going to get either. I'm trying not to think too much about it because there's not an awful lot I can do until I hear back. If I don't get either, though, I truly don't know what I'm going to do. Because truthfully there's nothing else I particularly want to do, at the moment.
Have you ever scrolled through a job search, in desperate need of employment, but hate the sound of every single option? I can't bear to work a job I hate when I struggled through four years of uni to get a cracking degree. But what are my options? Answers on a postcard please.

 Life sucks.
I don't want to be a grown up anymore.
~~Cue regressing back to childhood brb going to dig out my cape and flashing trainers. 

So, yeah. Nothing productive to say or anything fulfulling to add to your life today. Soz about that. However, any words of wisdom/comfort/hilarity that can cheer me up would be a-okay with me.

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Ticked off the Bucket List

Since I returned from Morroco and have been talking about my trip, a lot of people have described the trip as kind of a "bucket list" trip. Which I would probably agree with. I got thinking about other bucket list type things I've done and I realised I've had some AMAZING experiences throughout my travels. I loved thinking about all my trips and how LUCKY I am to have been able to do all of these things, so I really wanted to share some of my favourites with you!

• Visited the Holy Land - one of the things I am most grateful to have experienced, especially given the turbulance at the moment.
• Received a blessing from a Shaman in a Mexican forest - don't even ask!
• Climbed Chichen Itza - they closed it off to the public the following year!
• Swam with dolphins - not something I would do again or encourage as obviously there are moral and ethical issues with this, but nonetheless it's still on many people's bucketlist
• Interrailed around Europe - read all about that here, it was bloody amazing!!
• Trekked camels into, then slept in the Sahara Desert
• Watched Eurovision in the host city, Vienna - completely by accident but oh my god what an experience!
• Visited Auchwitz - one thing EVERYONE needs to do in their life, without a doubt
• Saw the lovelock bridge in Paris - just before they took it down :(
• Visited Oradour-sur-glane - maybe not on your bucketlist if you're not a die-hard history buff like my dad who took me, but it should be. Just wow
• Mushed huskies & rode a sleigh pulled by reindeer in Finland -
• Hogmanay & Edinburgh Street party - no one does New Years Eve like the Scots!
• Stayed on a boat in Amsterdam's canals - so bizarre and inconvenient, but so fun
• Disneyland Paris & Florida - for a Disney enthusiast, this is it.

It's my goal to keep travelling and adding to these experiences (ew I sound so pretentious and gap yaah), rather than just going on holiday and lounging by the pool. Yeah you come home relaxed with a cracking tan and hotdog leg pics to boot, but, to me, that's not enough! Of course it's great sometimes, don't get me wrong and if that is your thing then please don't take offense. When I get over my fear and jump on a plane after spending hundreds of pounds on flights and hotels - I want to come home having really experienced something. Something special, maybe off the beaten tracks. But that's just me,

What's your favourite thing you've ever done on your travels? Or even at home! There are plenty of incredible things to experience in our beautiful countries!
Teri-May xx

Why My Boyfriend Is Kind of The Best

For those who don't know, maybe a bit of background to this post might be useful:
My boyfriend is Martin, we've been together nearly 3 years now and live together in our teeny weeny (but super lovely) flat in Cardiff. He's from Edinburgh and is your stereotypical grumpy Scotsman.

I've been giving Martin quite a bit of grief these last few weeks (...months), and being a bit, shall we say... Unpleasant. During my final exams and dissertation, after finishing uni and being unemployed and bored, and while my OCD was at its very worst I have been a bitch and he was an easy target for my frustrations. I thought I would jot down some reasons why he is the best boyfriend, NO, person in the world. WARNING: SICKENING LOVE-FILLED VOM MATERIAL AHEAD.

• ~~Scrolling through Netflix. I chose a fairly man-oriented comedy I though he would enjoy, but by the time I pressed play he was already transfixed on Bee Movie. Which he chose to watch and loved.
• He knows the names of all (yes, I have a lot) of my cuddly toys and calls them all by name.

My Morrocan Adventure | Photo Diary

D A Y 1
Up bright and early to be picked up for our journey through the Atlas Mountains via lots of amazing places. The Atlas Mountains are literally incredible, I can't even describe how beautiful they are. I get SO travel sick, like even driving to Tesco makes me ill but I was so distracted by the views I didn't feel sick once. We pulled over at loads of stops to see panoramic views of mountains, gorges, kasbahs and everything was breathtaking. I just couldn't get over the colours! In Wales, or where I live at least, pretty much all the views are of green hills and generally grey skies. Which I adore, don't get me wrong. But seeing red, pink, yellow and black stone, random bursts of lush tropical looking greenery and mountain peaks for miles is something special.

Models Own Sweet Dreams Palette | Swatches, Review & Looks

I may be "braver" than some when it comes to eyeshadow. I'm very aware that not everyone feels that confident rocking a mint green and pink halo eye, for example. So maybe a palette that contains a bunch of rather daunting looking bright AF pastels might not be top of everyones wish list. HOWEVER, I actually think Models Own's Sweet Dreams palette is well worth adding to your collection.

Travel Resources to Bookmark ASAP: The Basics

So I kind of touched on some of this in my How to Interrail on a Budget post where I discussed some of the best websites I used in order to travel on the teeniest tiniest budget. Since then I have had some nearly equally amazing deals on holidays (7 nights in Marrakesh including flights for less that £120 whaaaat?) and the most common response, after WOW WHAT OMG is how??? So I thought I’d share some of my main resources that I use when looking for a low-cost break and how I use them.  So if you like me, suffer with severe wanderlust then read on...