So everyone who's anyone knows that oats are an amazing grain but what most people don't know is that they are great for you inside and out. Now for the past 18 months or so i've been suffering from a random red blotchy patch on my face (highly upsetting since i've always been blessed with clear skin) it has had a dramatic effect on my self confidence etc etc. I think i've tried everything to get the same smoothness and to try to calm the redness down. Nothing has worked and i feel a little crushed but then I randomly came across a YouTube video by a make-up and beauty guru called BubzBeauty who did a video about using oats (and only oats) as a face exfoliator. I'll link it here :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e5_RVBwNjE
It basically just advises you to use oats as a facial scrub if you have sensitive skin, or anything unusual is happening to it. I've literally just tried it and the first thing i've noticed is that the redness is toned down and my skin feels super soft :) It feels really soft and coupled with a face cream for sensitive skin (i use Aveeno) and i feel renewed. I'm now hoping that if i continue with it the small patch that is causing me so much damaged self confidence will receed enough for my inner beauty and confidence to shine through!
SO HAPPY!! So i really just want to say thanks to Bubz and her interesting, dynmaic and useful YouTube videos :)
Saturday 29 September 2012
Friday 21 September 2012
Man booker prize 2012
Yay! The shortlist for the Man Booker prize 2012 was announced early last week. I am so excited to be able to have time to read through them and to really enjoy them. All the entries can be found here:http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/2012-shortlist-announced and there is a variety of genre's, authors and nationalities which is just fantastic to see. As a literature graduate, i'm ashamed to say that i've barely read anything from other cultures. Though saying that i did do a 'postcolonial' module which was interesting enough but didn't hold my attention. Not sure if it was because it focused too much on the negative elements of people's writings rather than writing as an expression of the self. But anyway, the winner is announced in October so i doubt that i will have time to read and review all of them in between trying to get a 'real' job and whatnot but i am certainly willing to try. I've made a note of it and will pop into a bookshop to have a look.
Oh as a side note, if you're interested in just any random musings check out the bbc podcasts 'a point of view' narrated usually by John Gray. Its really quite interesting, its only 10 minutes and comes out every friday. I discovered this when researching for my dissertation, he just happened to discuss Cormac McCarthy's 'Blood Meridian' in connection to Hobbes and Locke about violence. So if you have a few minutes to spare, give it a listen as it is an informative piece and quite enlightening. :)
Take care
Stacey xxxx
Oh as a side note, if you're interested in just any random musings check out the bbc podcasts 'a point of view' narrated usually by John Gray. Its really quite interesting, its only 10 minutes and comes out every friday. I discovered this when researching for my dissertation, he just happened to discuss Cormac McCarthy's 'Blood Meridian' in connection to Hobbes and Locke about violence. So if you have a few minutes to spare, give it a listen as it is an informative piece and quite enlightening. :)
Take care
Stacey xxxx
Wednesday 19 September 2012
Looking back and moving on
Wow it's been a long time since I've written anything on my blog. That just shows how time consuming an MA really is! This post is more about the journey I've been on this year.
When i look back at my first blog about doing an MA i feel as if i am so exciting, focused and looking forward to the challenge of the course. I realise now, of course, how much my amazing undergraduate experience had an influence on how i expected it to go. I smile now at the naivety of my past self. What transpired happened to be the worst year of my life, and since I've had a lovely one so far i just didn't like my sudden down turn of luck! I had a great many challenges to face and non of them were rewarding or an interesting experience. I had to battle depression, separation from my boyfriend who moved abroad and then continued to play the waiting game to see him again. Then the crown jewel...being dumped by said boyfriend. Well i say dumped but it was apparently in our best interests to do so and it was 'mutual'. Not a very nice experience when i was on the brink of the most important element of my MA, the dissertation.
WOW.
So my dissertation ended up being my emotional crutch, a mechanism to pour myself into to block out everything else in my life. When it was finished, i found myself crying a lot, not knowing how to deal with a whole boat load of emotions sailing in. But when it came to hand in day, i was naturally nervous but also it was such a relief to let it go. I handed it in, had a photo taken with my friend Charlotte holding our babies up like proud parents. Then this massive weight lifted off of me and i didn't know this whole time i had been subconsciously tense and holding my breath! i felt like i could breath, that i was letting go of a whole load of stuff holding me back. i decided to embrace the summer, or what was left of it and sat by the lakes reading for pleasure (would you believe?!!) and lounged in the sunshine with literally nothing to do. it was great, my mind was free. i reminisced about a lot of university memories which involved the summer and just relaxed and let it flood over me. Naturally university for me means my 'ex' so i decided to face those issues and try to let go of how i feel about him :) i took to walking around the lakes which is funny in itself because it became a symbol of problem solving between me and my friend Laura. we used to walk around them in our first year and moan about our boyfriends, what they did/didn't do! ha ha. funny times. Makes me laugh now, but doing that was quite comforting. I got half way around and decided that i didn't want to feel like i have done, it was a step forward. i remember thinking that i have to deal with things as they arrive and not what might or might not happen, the future has been such a scary thing for me because it didn't mean much positive for me. I've felt a shadow of myself and decided that its time to turn the page and be who i want to be!
So my advice to anyone who is having a hard time, just take time out stop listening to the static in your mind but rather the actual thoughts. Finding a path isn't easy, but as long as you're going forward it can't be too wrong.
I'm hopefully going to have more time to focus on this blog now, so can update it more often.
Love always Stacey xx
When i look back at my first blog about doing an MA i feel as if i am so exciting, focused and looking forward to the challenge of the course. I realise now, of course, how much my amazing undergraduate experience had an influence on how i expected it to go. I smile now at the naivety of my past self. What transpired happened to be the worst year of my life, and since I've had a lovely one so far i just didn't like my sudden down turn of luck! I had a great many challenges to face and non of them were rewarding or an interesting experience. I had to battle depression, separation from my boyfriend who moved abroad and then continued to play the waiting game to see him again. Then the crown jewel...being dumped by said boyfriend. Well i say dumped but it was apparently in our best interests to do so and it was 'mutual'. Not a very nice experience when i was on the brink of the most important element of my MA, the dissertation.
WOW.
So my dissertation ended up being my emotional crutch, a mechanism to pour myself into to block out everything else in my life. When it was finished, i found myself crying a lot, not knowing how to deal with a whole boat load of emotions sailing in. But when it came to hand in day, i was naturally nervous but also it was such a relief to let it go. I handed it in, had a photo taken with my friend Charlotte holding our babies up like proud parents. Then this massive weight lifted off of me and i didn't know this whole time i had been subconsciously tense and holding my breath! i felt like i could breath, that i was letting go of a whole load of stuff holding me back. i decided to embrace the summer, or what was left of it and sat by the lakes reading for pleasure (would you believe?!!) and lounged in the sunshine with literally nothing to do. it was great, my mind was free. i reminisced about a lot of university memories which involved the summer and just relaxed and let it flood over me. Naturally university for me means my 'ex' so i decided to face those issues and try to let go of how i feel about him :) i took to walking around the lakes which is funny in itself because it became a symbol of problem solving between me and my friend Laura. we used to walk around them in our first year and moan about our boyfriends, what they did/didn't do! ha ha. funny times. Makes me laugh now, but doing that was quite comforting. I got half way around and decided that i didn't want to feel like i have done, it was a step forward. i remember thinking that i have to deal with things as they arrive and not what might or might not happen, the future has been such a scary thing for me because it didn't mean much positive for me. I've felt a shadow of myself and decided that its time to turn the page and be who i want to be!
So my advice to anyone who is having a hard time, just take time out stop listening to the static in your mind but rather the actual thoughts. Finding a path isn't easy, but as long as you're going forward it can't be too wrong.
I'm hopefully going to have more time to focus on this blog now, so can update it more often.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)