tiegan lucy: 2018

March 30, 2018 2 comments

being at university and having loud, drunken teenagers shouting outside at all hours of the morning and music being played until late in the evening has meant that sleep can sometimes be a struggle. not only that but a bed that isn’t as good as the one at home and a sometimes messed up sleep schedule have all impacted the quality of sleep i get. here’s some things i do to try and deal with it.

lush sleepy – this body lotion is a life saver when i’m struggling to fall asleep. i’d been recommended it by many sources, and seeing as twilight is my favourite lush bath bomb (which is the same scent as sleepy) i was 100% on board to try it. it’s lavender scent and smooth consistency is warmly relaxing and always helps me to calm down when i feel frustrated about still being awake in the early hours of the morning. a little goes a long way.
https://uk.lush.com/products/lavender/sleepy

bodyshop lavender oil – this has been one of my greatest discoveries when trying to solve any sleeping problems i’ve had. i simply put a few drips of this onto the corner of my mattress and the smell fills the room and gets into my system and sends me off to sleep. a word of warning would be that using too much can cause a strong smell that has before made me feel slightly sick. another trick with this that i love is that you can drop this into your bath before bed to start the relaxing bedtime routine off early.
https://www.thebodyshop.com/en-gb/fragrance/home-fragrance-oils/lavender-home-fragrance-oil/

an eye-mask – this has absolutely saved my life whilst being at university. having to sleep in a room where the blinds don’t prevent the light from coming in at all used to be a big problem for me. i’d wake up way too early and not be able to fall back asleep or not be able to get to sleep at all (daytime naps were especially a struggle!). but now at a small expense of less than £2 i can enjoy darkness whilst i regain my energy and have noticed my sleep quality improve. my eye-mask also has a gel cooling pad inside it which is great for headaches.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B075V9GWB4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

reading – everyone’s heard it a million times before… if you want to sleep better you should read before bed instead of going on your phone or watching tv. i find this enjoyable anyway as i read in my spare time and i do find the nights i read before bed i fall asleep much quicker. i also read a few chapters of a book if i’m unable to get to sleep throughout the night which usually works a treat at helping me nod off. even a non-fiction book will do the trick.

happy snoozing.

‘let’s start by taking a smallish nap or two...’ winnie the pooh

March 16, 2018 No comments

after spending (and wasting) too much money over the years buying skincare products that i haven’t liked or ended up not using, i thought it may be useful to share some products that haven’t let me down. (and even better they’re all cruelty-free!).

liz earle cleanse and polish – i’ve been using this product basically every day for around two and a half years now. it was recommended to me when my skin was going through a particularly bad phase and i’ve been a loyal user ever since. i no longer use the hot cloth that comes with it and instead, i simply wash it straight off after i’ve rubbed it onto my face. it makes my face feel so clean and i can’t thank it enough for how much it cleared my skin up the first time i used it, which is why i will continue to use it for a long time still to come.

http://uk.lizearle.com/cleanse-and-polish

superdrug vitamin e oatmeal face scrub – potentially one of the best facial scrubs i’ve ever used and at an extremely reasonable price. i love many products from this skincare range but this one has to be my favourite. the scrub is so gentle but also full of a huge amount of exfoliating ingredients that feel natural and soft on the skin. (nothing like those scrubs you get that are more like a facial cleanser with a few tiny bits in them). i love the smoothness of my face after using this product and i will continue to repurchase it. it’s also made my skin clear up a lot.

https://www.superdrug.com/Skin/Face/Face-Scrubs/Superdrug-Vitamin-E-Facial-Scrub-100ml/p/282600

mario badescu rose water spray – when i first got this product i wasn’t convinced about it. i started out by using it as a toner water when i had no makeup on. after some time i decided i wasn’t a big of a fan of it for that purpose and it went back in my cupboard for a while. one day i was doing my makeup and a pinterest tutorial advised me to use a setting spray to make my glitter eyeshadow apply better and then to set my whole face of makeup afterwards. i read the back of this product and found it can be used for this purpose and now it’s an essential in my makeup routine. my glitter eyeshadow now looks even more pigmented and my makeup lasts even longer than it once did.

https://www.beautybay.com/skincare/mariobadescu/facialspraywithaloeherbsandrosewater/

lush grease lightning – i’m never against trying a lush product i haven’t used before. i was looking for a product that i could apply to individual spots when particularly bad ones appeared. i put this product on overnight when i find that i need its assistance and it brings the redness and swelling of the spot down to a manageable level. i don't use this product as frequently as the others but when it’s needed it does its job brilliantly.

https://uk.lush.com/products/spot-treatment/grease-lightning

‘be good to your skin. you’ll wear it every day for the rest of your life.’

March 09, 2018 No comments

reading is one of my favourite things to do. in august 2017 i decided that i wanted to move away from the books i was reading most at the time which was young adult and chick lit books and move onto books that were largely renown and recommended worldwide. and seeing as it was world book day yesterday, here’s four of my favourite books that i would tell everyone to read at some point in their life.

the handmaid’s tale by maragret atwood.

before i properly started reading this i did a bit of research about it as from the first chapter i was a bit confused because it was one of the first dystopian novels i’d read. after that i understood what was happening so if you struggle at first with this i recommend doing that! this book is dark and can be very disturbing to read in parts but that only adds to the message it’s trying to give. although this book is by no means new, the points it makes about gender inequality and women’s oppression are still just as valid today. i’d highly recommend this book if you enjoy books with feminist themes in them.

‘better never means better for everyone. it always means worse, for some.’ commander fred

the diary of a young girl by anne frank.

this book was written in such a way that it’s hard to believe it’s a true story. when reading this i occasionally had to take a moment to process that what i was reading was by no means fiction and that anne frank was real and all her feelings she documented were actually felt. the idea of her, her family and her family friends being in hiding for as long as they were still blows my mind and it broke my heart to read how it ended. even as a fiction book it would be upsetting to read but as a true story, it’s even more devastating. however, no matter how sad, i think it’s important for people to read this to be able to understand just a small amount of how much suffering families involved in world war two felt.

'i’ve found that there is always some beauty left- in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you.’ anne frank

to kill a mockingbird by harper lee.

i studied this book for my gcse english literature exam and honestly at the time it felt like a drag and i didn’t enjoy it that much. however, going back to it now being older and dare i say wiser it’s really grown on me and i can now appreciate the deeper themes of racism and inequality. scout’s naivety about the world creates a heart-warming way to narrate a story full of such dark issues from 1950’s american society. reading her journey of growing up and understanding how cruel the world is can be very bittersweet but also moving and i think everyone should experience it.

‘watch carefully, the magic occurs, when you give a person just enough comfort to be themselves.’ atticus finch.

murder on the orient express by agatha christie.

i never thought i’d be one to read and actually enjoy an agatha christie book as the idea never really appealed to me before. my grandad wanted to buy me a book and the tesco i was at had limited choice but i saw the book and decided i may as well give it a try. i ended up loving it and hardly put it down until i’d finished it. as it’s a murder mystery there’s constantly twists and turns which made it so easy to want to keep reading. the number of characters included was a bit overwhelming to start with but eventually, i got used to it and started making my own predictions of who the murderer was.

‘if you confront anyone who has lied with the truth, he will usually admit it – often out of sheer surprise.’ hercule poirot

i always look forward to reading more books and if you have any that you think i should read please let me know! i swear by goodreads to keep track of what i’ve read and want to read next. i’ll leave the link here if you want to have a nose at my profile. https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/54224482-tiegan-weatherhead

thanks for reading this novel of a post (haha get it).

‘you can find magic wherever you look. sit back and relax, all you need is a book.’ dr seuss.

March 02, 2018 No comments

February 23, 2018 No comments

if i was to ask you about the connection between animals and beauty products you probably wouldn’t think of any immediate correlation between the two. in my opinion, that’s because there doesn’t need to be one. why does a person wearing makeup or even just washing their hair have to have anything to do with animals at all? this is why i decided to start using cruelty free products.

this may sound very ‘hippy’ and expensive but i promise you are wrong. there are many more beauty brands than you would first think that are cruelty-free and affordable. similarly, there are also many that you (or certainly i) assumed would already be cruelty-free that aren’t. i was the most surprised to find out that simple skincare test on animals. researching the products i buy is something i do regularly now. assuming they are ethical isn’t enough. to find out if they're cruelty-free look for the leaping bunny logo on the back and failing that google!

so many alternatives to the products i was using that did test on animals were available and now i’m extremely close to being completely cruelty-free with my products. i don’t think it’s fair to say that you should straight away throw out products that test on animals if you decide to make this change. you spent money (sometimes a lot) on those products and there’s nothing wrong with using them until they run out and then simply not repurchasing them. (in my opinion).

to help inspire and encourage you, some of my favourite cruelty-free products include:

- anastasia beverly hills modern renaissance eyeshadow pallet

- too faced better than sex mascara

- no7 beautifully matte foundation

- nyx lingerie liquid lipstick

- soap and glory supercat eyeliner
- collection lasting perfection concealer

- superdrug vitamin e skincare range
- real techniques brushes

- erm absolutely anything by lush?! (it’s also all vegan)

as i’m not the most experienced in this area being quite a newbie, i’m going to leave some links here to pages on actual cruelty-free blogs. this is where a lot of my findings came from and if you care to look i’d imagine you’d be as surprised as i was with the findings.

full list of companies that test on animals (brace yourself)

https://www.crueltyfreekitty.com/companies-that-test-on-animals/

full list of companies that don’t test on animals (yaaaay)

https://www.crueltyfreekitty.com/ultimate-guide-to-cruelty-free-makeup/

even if this post doesn’t convince you to go cruelty-free with the products you buy i hope that it’s at least made you think a bit about the items you use every day without even thinking!

be kind and make a difference

look at that bunny face

xxxxxxxxxxx

February 16, 2018 No comments

the anxiety solution?

it makes it sound like a maths equation or a recipe. as if you just need to add some things together and the end result will leave you panic free. that’s not what this book does (and i never assumed it would). what this book does do is it gives you some ways and helpful exercises to help control and limit the amount of worry you feel. the obvious ones are all there: exercise, no caffeine, a good sleep pattern and eating foods that help your brain (i’ve never tried to put kale and broccoli into so many meals before). but these things won’t suddenly change the way you think. they will, however, help you feel a bit more on top of life which can be beneficial.

i found the book is most helpful in the way it teaches you about how to allow the voices in your head to be more positive. i’ve taken from it that feeling anxious should be teaching me something about the situations i’m in. i need to listen to what my mind is telling me rather than pushing it out. then once i’ve listened to what it has to say i can answer back and tell it that it’s wrong and that everything is fine. you have to learn to listen but not always accept that the worst will happen. in a moment of complete panic, this can be difficult but i’ve learnt it’s important to breathe and talk myself out of bad thoughts after letting them be there first.

the downside of any self-help for anxiety is that everyone is different. no one feels the same worry or panics. this book can sometimes focus on superficial issues that don’t bother me such as self-esteem on instagram when compared with other women. this doesn’t faze me and my anxieties are down a different route to those. however, everyone can take something from this book when it’s interpreted and used in the correct way. if you take it for what it is, which i see as being suggestions to make things a bit easier, rather than a SOLUTION to the whole problem then this book may be of use to you.

if you have severe anxiety and feel that you need urgent help ring the NHS on 111. if you suspect you have anxiety and need support i would highly recommend going to see a GP. this book should NOT be used as a way to ‘cure’ any level of anxiety but only as a way to see it less negatively.

i hope this was helpful to anyone considering reading this book

xxxxxxxx

February 09, 2018 No comments

February 05, 2018 No comments

About me

recent posts

Blog Archive

What I've Been Reading