Exam Hints and Tips

Christmas exams have slowly crept up on everyone. Mine started today and I will be finished on Monday the 8th!

I stress easily. I hate the run-up to exams because I usually end up thinking I will fail but thankfully that has never happened :)

I have compiled my favourite exam hints and tips to help everyone through the grueling exam period.

1. Study in a quiet environment. If you study listening to music, that's fine. However you should not study somewhere full of  unnecessary and distracting noise.
2. LEAVE YOUR PHONE DOWNSTAIRS. I cannot stress this enough. Having your phone near you will only lead to distractions.
   
3. Get plenty of sleep in the nights leading up to exams. Although seven to eight hours of sleep is great, eight to ten hours is even better!
4. Start to study as early as possible. Studying the night before will only send you into a panicked frenzy.
   
5. Allocate your time to each subject. Some subjects will need more time than others and creating a timetable with benefit you greatly.
6. Ask for help. If you do not understand something, go to your teacher and ask them to explain. You are probably not the only one in your class that is confused and other people will be happy that you asked!
   
7. Find your most productive time and work during those hours. There is no point in studying early in the morning if you are tired and distracted. Find a time during the day and use it to your advantage.
8. Make notes! Whether you learn from diagrams, bullet points are fully written answers. Write them out and use flashcards to jog your memory!
   
9. Eat healthily during exam times, don't use the stress and lack of time as an excuse. Make snacks the night before like fruit, nuts and popcorn.
10. Take time to relax, A nice bath the night before an exam or a cup of tea curled up in bed will help you get into a calm mind-frame for the exam the next day.
    

TAKE BREAKS. I LITERALLY CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. YOUR BRAIN CAN ONLY CONCENTRATE FOR FORTY MINUTES AT TIME. TAKE A TEN TO FIFTEEN MINUTE BREAK AFTER FORTY MINUTES!

Do you have any study tips?

Did any of these help you?

Let me know in the comments below!

Good luck to everyone during their exams!

xoxo,

Ciara.

London Trip and MY BIRTHDAY

Okay so I did not post last weekend because I was in LONDON with my family!

 It is such a beautiful city, I loved it so much. I arrived on Friday and left Sunday night so it was a bit of a rushed trip to get everything done but we did. On Friday we spent ages in Harrods. All the windows were filled with stunning Christmas displays and the Christmas shop was lovely.

They really went to a lot of effort and it truly does pay off. Each window is different and my favourite was the Ballerina trinket box because it reminded me of The Nutcracker :)

On Saturday I did all my shopping! I only shopped on Regent Street and Oxford Street, it literally took the whole day! My favourite thing I bought has to be the maroon oversized jumper I got in H&M, it's so cute and cozy. I purely bought it because I have been looking for a jumper long enough to wear with knee highs for a while and I fell in love with the jumper as soon as I saw it! 

 I ended up buying a lot of makeup in Superdrug as well. It is so sad that we don't have any over here but I love the store so much! I got the iconic one, two and three palettes from Makeup Revolution, some bronzer and blusher from MUA, the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer and I bought some lipstick and lip liner in KIKO.

I bought a lot more but if I was to list everything, I would be here all day!

On Saturday evening, I went to see Big Ben in the dark. It was absolutely beautiful!

On Sunday, it was sightseeing day :) 

The first place we went to was the Tate Modern and I only went in to see Rothko's paintings. Although I did not feel any overpowering emotions when I saw the paintings, I cannot deny that they are amazing works of art!

 After the Tate we went to see the poppies which were in the process of being removed but they really were beautiful! We saw the Shard, the bridge that the death eaters attacked in Harry Potter

Towards the end of the day we made our way to Buckingham Palace and walked through St.James' Park. I don't think I have seen that many squirrels in one place ever!

I was staying in a penthouse in Vincent Square and the apartment was so pretty!

So, TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY! I'm finally 17 :) 

I had a half day in school so I got out at around one which was fab!

I had a lovely dinner with the fam and my mum made me the nicest victoria sponge cake (thanks mum!). 

I got wonderful cards from my family and I am so grateful for the presents I got as well. I am having my party in a few weeks so that should be fun!

Happy Birthday to me 

Have any of you guys been to London recently?

Let me know what your favourite thing to do in the city is!

xoxo,

Ciara.

Homemade Lip Scrub

So the winter has slowly crept up on us...

I love winter! Hot chocolate, Christmas lights, MY BIRTHDAY, cosy nights in, over-sized jumpers..... The list literally goes on for ages!

The one thing that annoys me about winter is that my lips just do not seem to adjust very well to the cold weather. It does not matter how often I use a lip balm, my lips will inevitably end up dry. However, there's a solution to dry, chapped lips in the winter! Lip scrub is my saviour.

Usually, I use the bubblegum lip scrub from Lush because it tastes amazing and it is only €6.50 so it is very reasonable. I almost cried today when I came home from work because I really needed to use some but I forgot I finished it last week! 

I looked online and combined a whole load of recipes to make one I liked the sound of. Everything I used, I already had at home so I did not need to spend any money on making this!

I would recommend you use the lip scrub once to twice a week.

What you need

1.  A small tub (I used a MAC sample tub)
2.  About a teaspoon of brown sugar
3. A quarter teaspoon of honey (or enough to make the sugar stick together)
4. A bowl (to mix everything together) 

How you make it 

Put the sugar and honey in a bowl and mix together using a teaspoon.

How to use it

1. With your finger, rub the scrub onto your lips vigorously (so the dead skin can be removed).
2. Leave it on for a minute.
3. Wipe it off with a damp facecloth or alternatively you can lick it off (all the ingredients are edible) then wipe it off using a damp facecloth.
4. Apply lip balm after using the lip scrub.

How do you guys deal with chapped lips over winter?
Let me know if the lip scrub helped you in the comments below!

xoxo,
Ciara.