Myths of Uni Life

When people talk about university, they don't mention the fact that you'll be sat home alone listening to 'Say My Name' by Destiny's Child on full blast,  simply to drown out the sound of the rowdiest street in the town. All this has taken place after eating six hash browns, classifying it as a full meal, and then realising tinned spaghetti shapes are all that's left to eat for the rest of the week. If I've learned anything from experience, it's to never act on impulse.

Okay, so there are things about university life  which I wouldn't change. The amount of times I've spent my entire weekends writing assignments in the library this year makes me proud. I'm not just talking proud, I'm talking 'YOU GO GIRL' kind of achievement. A tad better than last year when I'd write them the day before, hungover and still expect a good grade...

There are days when I miss living with 11 people I'm not going to lie, but I'm going to base this off how much I've cried compare to last year, I feel more comfortable now.  I have two of the most supportive and friendly housemates and best friends. We've reached new levels of closeness in the past 3 months and although it's weirdly creepy at times, I know I can turn to them or lie in their beds and rant for an hour and they'd listen and I'm so thankful.

Eleanor Rachel

xo

Monday Night Flares

Morning!

I think it's probably safe to assume that I have spent the majority of this week drinking or hungover. And although, the mornings have been horrendous, I've honestly never enjoyed university life so much. On Monday, we went to a club where there was free entry and a shot for everyone who went. Its clear to say bopping along to 'I wanna dance with somebody' and 'hollaback girl' slightly made up for the large variety of creepy middle aged men and women. 

We stayed until closing and I would not have changed it for the world, although a fifty year old woman went to the toilet with the door open metres away (everything was out, not going to lie) and then proceeded to tell me later that I was going to regret talking to a particular guy in the morning (what did she take me for?!).

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my night .

Thank you 

Eleanor Rachel

Xo

Drinking and Now Rethinking

Good morning everyone ,

I guess you could say this weekend has been emotional. I don't know if it's just me that has those days when all you want to do is nap and eat your body weight in chocolate but the last few days have been exactly that for me. Nothing bad has happened in the slightest and I've been home with my family but I've just felt drained of all life. I understand that going out two or three days a week and working out most days does not help but this week overall has given me a love for uni I've never had before and a realisation that I'm actually going to miss the lifestyle I have over summer.

I've learnt to appreciate the people I have in my life and the friends I've made at university. I've also learnt that when I'm drunk, I need to avoid getting into cars with strangers and smashing a bottle of lambrini and trying to pick it up with bare hands does not end well. Top that off with an awkward encounter with a tinder slut on a train and my week has just about being covered.

Best wishes,

Eleanor Rachel

Xo

First Year Of Uni! - UPDATE

Hiya lovelies, 

Okay, so it seems like only yesterday I was writing posts about what to bring to university and what Freshers was all about and now I'm sat here finishing the last of my assignments back in my parents house. Time has gone so fast and it's sad in a way to think that I'm almost a third of the way through my degree and the housemates I've lived with for almost a year will no longer be my housemates. I use the term 'in a way' because in reality, living with 10 complete strangers with 1 kitchen and 2 bathrooms is absolute hell at times. But all in all, I view these people as my family, I'm closer to some than others and way too close in some cases. I've gone through highs and extreme lows with these people and experienced things during my time in the house that I wouldn't want to go through with anyone else. 

One perk of the house was meeting my best friend Paige. When people say living with someone makes or breaks a friendship, we got creepily close as friends. Before we even moved in, we spoke on Facebook and sent snap chats to each other (the no makeup, chins out kind). On the first night we drank fruit cider and gossiped and the second day we bought vodka and peach schnapps and it's safe to say we shared common interests. She is one of them people who you can turn to when you have an issue, don't feel scared to cry in front of and feel sad when they're sad. We've fed ducks together, taken beach trips and cooked terrible meals and in all honesty, I don't think anyone understands our friendship. If you asked me what the best things I'd gained from uni were, one of the things would definitely be having her as a friend.

I think overall, my first year of university has taught me a lot, It's taught me to be way more patient than I would usually, to not spend all my money in one day and then starve for the rest of the week and most of all to listen to the rules people give you regarding closeness with housemates. You learn from your mistakes, right?

Thank you for reading,

Eleanor Rachel 

xo

Rimmel Lasting Finish Soft Colour Blush - 050 Live Pink

I purchased this on a recent trip to Superdrug where it retailed for £3.99.  On first glance, the colour of the blush looks extremely bright, but on application, although it is pigmented, it glides on as a softer pink. It is a great blusher to use daily and goes with a variety of different colours (No need to plan an outfit round it!)

The blusher gives the look of a healthy glow and is a great addition to any make up collection, especially if you are a beginner and looking for a staple blush.

Eleanor Rachel 

xo

#FOTD - February Daily Look

1. The First thing I do on a day to day basis is use the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water on a cotton pad to get rid of any makeup that I may have left behind the night before. 
2. The next aspect is to moisturise. I use the Simple Kind To Skin Hydrating Light Moisturiser all over my face.
3. I then apply a light covering of Rimmel's Match Perfection Foundation in 200 Soft Beige and cover any dark circles and blemishes with their Wake Me Up concealer in 040 Soft Beige.
4. To create a healthy glow, I use Rimmel's Lasting Finish Soft Colour Blush in 050 Live Pink.
5. I set everything with Rimmel's Stay Matte Pressed Powder in 002 Pink Blossom.
6.  For my eyes, I created a smokey eye with the Next Cashmere Pallette and Barry M Showgirl Mascara on the lashes.
7. For my lips, I use the Lasting Finish by Kate Lipstick (Are you guessing I'm a Rimmel fan by now or...)  in shade 05.

I hope you enjoyed reading what my make up routine is on a daily basis. I'm currently working through reviews of the products used so when they are done, they will be linked. Thank you,

Eleanor Rachel

xo

Latest Instagram Posts - December 12th

Okay, so today I'm going to talk through the posts that you may have seen most recently appearing on my Instagram and what the significance is that they have in my life. A lot of exciting things have happened in the last month and by capturing these precious moments in photo form, it means I can treasure these memories in the future. 

This first photo was taken just after I signed a contract for a house with my two best friends for next year. I am honestly so excited to be moving in with them and for all the memories that we are going to create together. We got home from the housing office and basically just all crashed on my bed. 

This is a photo of me attempting to boil vegetables for the first time in my uni house. As you can see from my face it was an extremely scary moment for me (I kid, I was a pro...) and everytime I look at this photo, it basically sums up me and Paige (on the left) living together.

The photo above signifies a significant change in my life or really just my hair. This is when I took the plunge and decided to dye the bottoms of my hair purple. I mean I did jump on the dip dying bandwagon a tad late but better late than never right....

One of the days where I'd got back to my university house from home, we decided to get the train to Seaton Carew, a little beach town. It was cold and dark and raining and we got lost. That is all that really needs to be said.

This is how I wash up at university. I spread out a huge towel on my floor, fill up a bowl with hot water and fairy liquid and get scrubbing. I probably do this about every two days and it's a very chilled experience where i can just sit and think. 

Fast forward to the current day and this is my hair at the current moment. When I originally dyed it about a week ago, it was so much brighter and its now at a pastel lilac colour which I much prefer. I have grown a love for dying my hair bright colours so who knows what you'll see next.

Thank you for reading this post, 

I hope you've enjoyed it 

Eleanor Rachel 

xo

Barry M Haul

Hiya lovelies, 

So recently I've become a tad obsessed with nail polish and buying new nail varnishes. I have to say Barry M is by far my favourite brand due to the packaging and consistency of the product making it easy to evenly coat the nail. Over the past month I've acquired six new nail varnishes and I thought I'd share them with you.

317 Blue Moon

357 Ballerina

358 Vintage Violet

66 Matt White

306 Blueberry Ice Cream

273 Raspberry

Each of the products mentioned are priced at £2.99 in Superdrug and at the time of posting, there is a 3 for 2 deal across all cosmetics in store.

Thank you for reading.

Eleanor Rachel 

xo

My Evening 'Simple' Skincare Routine

As we all know, your skin is a very important  part of your body. If you have a bad day, your skin usually reflects this in the form of spots or acne. If you eat a particularly unhealthy diet, your skin will look greasy and if you do not regularly clean your face, your pores will become blocked leading to blackheads and what looks like mini volcanic eruptions. Trust me, I've learnt this the hard way. After living off takeaways for almost the entire first month of university and lacking any sort of routine in my life whatsoever, my skin is not looking it's healthiest (to put that nicely). I have now decided that I need to make an effort to look after my skin and my health and I thought I'd start on this journey by sharing my evening skincare routine.

1. The first thing I do when I get in from a busy day, even if I plan to go out on the night is remove my makeup with a Simple cleansing wipe.
2. As eye makeup is usually harder to remove, I then use the eye make up remover (pictured in the middle) on a cotton bud to wipe away any mascara or makeup that is left.
3. I tend to then hop in the shower to feel more refreshed after the day and use the facial wash to clean my face more thoroughly and remove any dirt that may be in my pores. 
4. To finish off, after I have got out the shower, I use a clean cotton pad with the light moisturiser to help my face from becoming dry and for it to become soft (almost like a baby's bottom as they say)

I hope you enjoyed this post. Thank you for reading .

Eleanor Rachel 

xo

Halloween 2014!

Hiya lovelies,

Once again there has been a humongous gap between me posting different bits and bobs and I apologize yet again for that. As you may or may not know, the Friday just gone was Halloween. Yes, for once I actually made it out the house to celebrate and had a really good night. Me and one of my housemates and best friends Paige dressed up as dead cats (original, I know) and we went a tad bit crazy with the makeup and blood. We went to the student union Halloween party at about 10 pm and then at around 1 am we went and socialized with neighbors in various houses. I don't know if I've previously mentioned it but the accommodation I live in is a square of terraced houses. Bearing in mind I've lived here over a month, Halloween was the first time I'd spoken to half of my neighbors and they are such a friendly bunch.  Here are some photos from my night below and I hope you enjoy.

Thank you for reading this post. I'll try and be back soon with another blog post shortly,

Eleanor Rachel

xo

A Bit Of A Catch Up - The First Weeks of Uni

  

Hiya lovelies,

So I know this post lacks rather a lot of depth or meaning to it but part of the reason I'm sharing these photos is simply for my own personal reason. When I look back on my blog, I love seeing what I've been up to and the photographs that went alongside this. It's almost a way to capture memories and keep them alive for a little bit longer. On the day this is posted and the day I've been writing it, I've been living away at university for 1 month and a day. There are highs and lows for living with people that I would never usually associate myself with and I have learnt a lot about myself in the process.  I do plan to keep blogging but it gets more and more difficult as I almost feel that because I live with so many people, I need to be sociable when I don't have work that needs to be done.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the photos posted and I'll see you soon.

Thank you for reading,

Eleanor Rachel 

xoxo

Haul- New Look, Primark and Lush

Hiya lovelies,

I know it's been a while and I apologise a great deal for that. With all this moving to University and settling in, there's not been a great deal of time to blog and when I have had the time, there's been other issues standing in the way. Today's post is a haul and although it's a small one, I wanted a post that would ease me slowly back into blogging.

I'm justifying the fact that I bought 2 pairs of boots in one shopping trip by the fact that they were from Primark and their items don't always last the longest amount of time. They were also reasonably priced at £10 and £15 and I needed some boots for Winter.

The next thing I purchased was from New Look and was reduced in the sale to £4. I wore this out on the night I bought it and honestly loved how comfortable yet pretty it looked. The lace detailing at the bottom is a nice feminine touch and it's not too much of a crop top that shows a lot of skin.

The last shop I visited on this particular trip out was Lush to check out their new range. As many of you may know I am an extreme fan of baths. In my university accommodation, we simply have showers and I even go home on some weekends because I genuinely miss baths so much. 

I hope you enjoyed this haul and I shall be back shortly.

Thank you for reading,

Eleanor Rachel 

xo

GUEST BLOGGER : rosiesaysrelax

Monthly Favourites

Hi, my name’s Rosie. I’m 20 years old and about to start my final year at uni. I’m from the North East. I love vintage clothes and finding bargains.

The shop I would most recommend at the moment is Small Change vintage shop ( https://www.facebook.com/SmallChangeVintage?fref=ts ). They’re closing down very soon, so they’re having a huge sale where you can fill a bag with as much as you want for just £7 !!!! There are some amazing bargains to be found there if you don’t mind a bit of rifling. If you don’t live nearby, don’t worry! They also sell their items on ebay for really low prices - http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/thrifty.beatnik/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=

I also love Primark for Autumn/Winter clothes, I think they’re the seasons it does best. Whereas H&M does its best work in the summer. I love all the cute little knitted things Primark gets in like mittens, bobble hats and snowflake jumpers. Me and my Mum have started a bit of a tradition of going for a Primark shopping spree just before the new uni year starts, so I can stock up on warmer clothes. I got a cute black knitted bodycon skirt this year, perfect for the cold weather that we’re starting to get.

The one thing I really want at the moment is the new baby pink Reebok classics, even though I realise they’re more of a summer colour and I’ve probably left it a bit late to start wearing them now. They’re more than I usually spend on shoes but they’re just so cute! I could get them as a Christmas present but then I wouldn’t be able to start wearing them until the end of December – dilemma!

They are sooo nice though!

Most of my favourite recent buys have been vintage things, but I have also treated myself to this super cute unif flower bag:

“I thought they were sold out everywhere?” you say, “I thought they were £90?”       I’ll let you in on a secret: it’s a look-alike! This one only cost me £26, I got it from a website called www.aliexpress.com which sells items from China. Just search ‘unif flower bag’ and you’ll find it. I absolutely love this site now; you can get so many great bargains there!

Here are a few of my other recent buys that I am absolutely loving at the moment:

I got this corduroy coat for myself at small change vintage (previously mentioned) and it worked out at only 30p because I got it in the fill a bag sale! It’s got absolutely beautiful decoration on the back. It’s covered in birds embroidered in tiny beads. I’ve worn this every day since I got it.

I recently went to a vintage fair in Gateshead and got the most gorgeous coat ever! The whole vintage fair was lovely and there were so many amazing pieces to look at, but this one really caught my eye. It was a bit more expensive than what I usually spend on clothes but I justified it by thinking that it’ll be Autumn soon so I’ll get a lot of wear out of it. I just love the pocket detail on it, it makes it look like the sort of tartan blankets your mum and dad used to keep in the back of the car.

 

 found this really cute Winnie the Pooh necklace when I was on holiday in Spain at the start of September. It’s so 90s looking! They had 101 Dalmatians, Spongebob Squarepants and Finding Nemo ones too and it was really hard not to just buy them all!

The last piece of clothing that I’m feeling over excited about is my vintage bodywarmer. This isn’t technically something new, I bought it last year, but it’s just had some refurbishing work done! When I first got this it was a coat, but the sleeves were too short (I think it might be a child’s coat?). I still kept trying to wear it out because I loved the pattern so much, but every time I would be annoyed at the sleeves. So when I was going through my wardrobe recently I decided to get it altered. I cut the sleeves off and my Mum’s friend (who has a sewing machine) sewed the seams closed. Now I have an amazing new bodywarmer! I can’t wait to wear it!

 

As the weather starts to change and you find yourself looking to update your Autumn wardrobe, I would recommend checking out the app: Depop.

Depop is a buying and selling app, similar in some ways to ebay. I sell lots of my stuff on there, but I’ve also come across (and bought) some really unusual and interesting items too! You can search for the item you’re looking for, just like on ebay. One of the best things about it is that you can search for peoples ‘wishlist’ and see if you are selling any of the items that they are looking for.  Unlike ebay, you can send people messages asking if they would take a lower offer and negotiate on prices! Perfect for any fellow bargain hunters! My username is: rosiesaysrelax

If you’ve liked my opinion on clothes and vintage fashion you might like to check out what I’m selling on my depop (previously mentioned) or the online vintage shop I run: www.rosiebits.etsy.com

Thanks for reading! oxox

WHERE TO FIND ROSIE
Blog
Instagram