I DID THE IMPOSSIBLE

Just a quick one! Once I had found out the brilliant news that I had been accepted to my chosen University and degree course back in 2012, my goal was to graduate a few years later with a second class uppers degree or a 2:1!

Now last September with my final year at University beginning I knew it was the time to buckle down and concentrate even more so than before if I wanted my 2:1. I regrettably said goodbye to blogging, a social life and probably my sanity lol! I spent my week working on assignments, attending lectures, commuting more than 3 hours by train per day and my weekends working in my part time job so really downtime wasn't an option. I just kept chipping away at my work whether it was 2am and an extremely late night or a 6:30am train journey (spoiler: it all paid off).

Four years down the line from sitting my A-levels, a whole degree and placement later, I can officially say I'm a graduate (well as of the beginning of the month). I'm absolutely over the moon and to say that after 4 wonderful years, it's finally time to graduate with a first class honours degree fills me with a great sense of pride. I didn't think it was possible but alas after all the stress, late nights and hard work its paid off! My time at University has been amazing and I'm so grateful that I have met so many friends for life whilst studying something that I loved. The moral of the story being: don't listen to others. Don't let them tell you that you can't do something or won't succeed. If you put the effort in and believe in yourself, you'll do great. Now reflecting on the past 9 months, I can say yes they've been tough but they're over and I couldn't have possibly done anymore. Also don't stress yourself out, you don't need it. Uni has been such a rewarding experience and dare I say it its flew past in blink of an eye so just enjoy it while you can and hopefully you'll find a job that you love as the end result. I know that's my next step, finding a graduate job as enjoyable as my degree!

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo

My Graduation Day!

Hi there! I know my most recent post was a graduation post as well (read here) but it's such an important day and with such an important day finding the perfect outfit is key. I'd had the usual panic in the weeks coming up to the day about what to wear... trust me it was hard.

Girls have more of a choice with what they can wear, yes but there's still the usual dilemma of  'what dress?', 'what style/colour?', 'what heels?' and the most important question: 'what if I fall?' It really is a struggle and so I thought I'd write this post to dicuss how I found my perfect dress in the end.

A lot of my friends had already found their perfect dress months before and I sort of panicked that three weeks before the big day I hadn't. I knew it was top priority but with my hectic schedule I knew that the time window I had to shop for the dress and accessories was limited. From the offset I knew I wouldn't be able to order it online although I'd seen soo many beautiful ones because it would be touch and go whether a) they'd arrive on time and b) fit me properly so a few trips to town were needed!

I thought the whole thing would be a bit daunting, the one thing I had been sure of was that I wanted something natural and quite plain so it wouldn't clash with my robe and hood which was green. I also thought it would take quite a long time to find something that I would fall in love with however after the first shop and seven dresses later, I had found the one. It was figure hugging, smart, simple and classy with such pretty lace detail. Once I had tried it on, I knew this was the one that I wanted and it wasn't until I reached the till that it was on sale too! I always assumed a graduation dress would be expensive but that's not the case at all as this one was from Miss Selfridge.

The only problem I had was finding shoes to match the colour of the dress exactly as they were more of a blush nude but eventually I managed to find just that from New Look. At the same time I realised that I wanted more of a statement clutch for the day and the dinner afterwards so I picked up this navy (also New Look) which had plenty of jewels and the blush colour running throughout. As for jewellery, I luckily managed to pick out the jewels in the clutch and match them perfectly to a necklace and bracelet from Next. I wanted something to stand out against the dress and around my robe with such a high neck line and this did just that. I then matched it with my silver Pandora rings and my Accessorize watch which again was a blush nude.

I wasn't able to book in to get my hair and makeup done as planned - my ceremony started at 11am and is 2 hours away from my house so we knew it would be an early one and nowhere would be opened in time. However us graduates actually needed to be there for 9:30am instead and so we had to wake up even earlier and I decided doing it myself would be the only option. I kept the makeup minimal for the day and curled my hair loosely the night before.

As for the ceremony itself, it was over in the blink of an eye and all those little worries about tripping on stage seem so far away. For a start, we had a ramp and so tripping wasn't even an option. In addition we were presented with our degree and shook hands with James Nesbitt - an actor from Northern Ireland and also our Vice Chancillor. Afterwards, we were able to catch up with all of our friends and lecturers with lunch spreads on in the gardens. I made sure to talk to everyone in amongst the glasses of wine and buns. Everyone was in such high spirits and of course photos had to be taken. Let me tell you: group photographs are so hard to organise, especially with 7 odd sets of parents all wanting us to look a certain way haha!

After giving back the gowns and hats, it was time to spend some quality time with my family. We went for a gorgeous lunch at the Bushmills Inn - it wasn't too packed but the food was absolutely delicious and the sun was out so it made the day all the more enjoyable. Before we started off on the trek home, exhausted from the day we stopped off for an ice cream by the sea and it was incredible. All in all, the past four years have been hard at times but definitely worthwhile and its hard to believe that Graduation day is finally over! As cliché as it may be, it's time for bigger and better things

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo

P.s Have you Graduated recently? What outfit would you pick, simple or bold? Are you at Uni?

My Go To Summer Makeup

With me being at work a lot and the warmer weather out in full force (well was out) I opted to ditch the makeup and go au natural. Although I was a bit conscious at first, those extra 15 minutes in bed sounded a lot more appealing! If you'd have said to me a few months ago that my makeup routine would become close to nothing, I'd have laughed. I have the same worries as everyone does and usually want to cover up spots not show them off and so I thought I'd write how a few products can both save you time and help clear your skin.

If you've been reading my blog for a while you'll know I love foundation, the heavier and fuller coverage the better and that's why this will come as such a shock. For my base, I've been alternating between 3 concealers, my Nars Concealer, my 17 Phwoarrrr Concealer and my NYX HD concealer, all in the palest shades in the range and no foundation at all. I've been simply using or dabbing them under my eyes (that's a necessity), along my nose, cheeks and a tiny bit on my forehead, blending it out and leaving it as is. They provide a light coverage (but not too light) and even out all the redness that may be there. Then I simply powder over real quick with either my Bare Minerals powder or Rimmel Stay Matte and fix my brows in place with brow gel, no filling in required. It all takes about 5 minutes not even and stays in place all day.

The most crucial step that can't be skipped though is mascara. As someone who is really pale and has light eyelashes they need some definition, lately I've been reaching for either my Soap & Glory Thick and Fast or my Maybelline The Falsies mascara and both have done the job perfectly. Last but not least, the fun part.... lipstick! I simply apply some before I leave the house and jobs done, I'm ready for work in less than 10 minutes.

So there we have it, when getting ready for work or a quick nip to the shops take a minute and think do I really need my Double Wear, eyeliner, brows, contour etc done (I think you get the picture) or can I just make do with minimal? Don't get me wrong I'm first to want full coverage but I think in the summer months its a nice switch to use a lighter base and whats lighter than concealer? Its also a lot better for your skin as it lets it breathe more! Let me know what your usual go the shops or work makeup is like, do you go lighter or full coverage?

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo

Holiday Edit: Hong Kong

In my last post I briefly mentioned that I was jetting off to Hong Kong and super excited about it! Up until now Italy was the furthest I'd travelled so even the thought of a double decker plane had me buzzing. I'm now home a few days, jet lags still a bit of a nuisance but I had such a brilliant time, Hong Kong really is a beautiful place!

Although I was travelling with two of my friends, don't get me wrong I was excited but still a little worried about travelling halfway around the world. However once we arrived in Heathrow, those worries were long gone! Now luckily it was a direct flight from London to Hong Kong and we spoiled ourselves by travelling premium economy (definitely worth it!) and the buses/trains/underground at the other end weren't too long and luckily air conditioned so we made it to where we were staying in no time.

Over the 10 days we didn't stop! I knew that it was sort of a once in a lifetime sort of trip so we all agreed that we would try and do as many things as we could in the time we had! We made sure to stop by at least a few shopping centres to have a look around, shop and relax - I'm not kidding when I say there are amazing shopping centres everywhere in Hong Kong, one was like twelve floors and I made sure to go to every single floor! Also once I'd heard there was a Disneyland, my inner child appeared and since I haven't been to Disney in Paris or Florida, I wasn't missing the chance! We ended up making a day of it and it was magical! Whatever age you are, Disney is spectacular and now I've made it my life mission to visit the other two :)

We also ended up going to Ocean Park, sort of a theme park, water park, aquarium, zoo and cable cars all rolled into one and it was probably one of the most enjoyable days! The views were spectacular and were probably one of my favourite things - we ended up going on cable cars, went to a few traditional temples which were stunning, had a night out (just the one now) and tried some amazing food whilst there! I think the thing that made the trip even better was that we were able to catch up with a few of our friends who live out there and they sort of acted as tour guides!

I was so upset when the day came to leave and a little anxious about travelling, this time just the two of us but it was honestly fine, no need to worry. We were a little tied down with the extra suitcase and hand luggage weight oops but we made it home eventually. I even managed to get a bit of a suntan, when I say tan I mean a pink face and shoulders but it still counts! I kept Snapchat and Instagram updated of course, (social media links on the side) and tried to limit the amount of photos in this post but I'm sorry it was just so hard! I also think this trip has now given me the travel bug and I'm dying to travel to new places now, places I maybe wouldn't have thought of before so I'm really excited about getting round to this. Honestly I know Hong Kong isn't a traditional holiday destination but its amazing and I'd definitely recommend going!

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo

P.s Is there anywhere you'd love to travel to?