Moving abroad for University - Part I

Ever consider moving abroad for University? Well, I'm going to give you a look into some of the highlights I've had, and some of the difficult things you will have to look out for.

For my first degree, I moved away from home, I stayed within Canada, and only a short 1 1/2 plane ride home, but it was a good starting point. I moved from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia. I spent four years doing my Public Relations degree and loved every minute of it. I made some really great friends, and got to go home 2-3 times a year, making it difficult to actually become that home sick. While it can be tough at times, if family members get sick or die and you can't get home for it, but it's all a part of life, unfortunately. 

After my first degree, I moved home for a year, which was interesting, especially after living on my own for four years. I worked during this time, and made the decision to travel abroad for my next degree, Law. This is when things can get a little difficult. I chose England, because my stepdad is from there, and I had been there twice before and absolutely fell in love with the culture, the fashion and the accent. Luckily for me, I knew exactly where I wanted to go, so I didn't have to spend a lot of time deciding on where to travel abroad. Next was finding a University. This part was difficult. I checked out a lot of University websites looking for information on Law programs, but didn't find many of them helpful, I tried emailing the Universities and they would just direct me back to their website. Eventually, after almost giving up on my dream to study abroad, the University of Leicester held an information session in my hometown, I decided to go and see what it was all about. I was the only person to show up, so I got to ask every question I could possibly think of, it was great. In the end, I chose the University of Leicester to pursue my degree in Law. 

Now that I had decided where to go, I had to apply for a study visa. This can be a bit of a lengthy and expensive process, especially since I had to travel to Halifax to get my biometrics done. Then I had to start paying my deposits for accommodation. I chose to live on campus during my first year, which I think is a great idea, especially when you are moving somewhere new and know absolutely nobody. Once I got to England, I think this was one of the most stressful parts about it, I had no phone, and it was absolutely a nightmare trying to get one. In order to get a phone and be put on a contract, you need a UK bank card, to get a UK bank card, you need information from your school, your passport, etc. Then it takes a couple days/weeks to get the actual bank card, because they don't issue temporary ones like they do in Canada. So I had to apply for a bank card, they ended up losing my information, so after a week or more of waiting, I inquired about why I hadn't received my card yet, and that is when they told me they couldn't find any of my information. So I went through the process again, and something went wrong again. I was living in a foreign country, with no phone, and this may not seem like a big deal, but it was, and it was so stressful. After about three weeks, I caved and bought an iPhone from the Apple store. It was expensive, but worth it, and something to definitely consider. I didn't end up getting a UK bank card, instead, I pay month to month for my cell phone plan, and have no contracts to worry about. Also, when I go home in the summers or travel, I just switch my SIM card, it so convenient. Month-to-Month deals in the UK are so cheap, its 15 quid a month, and I get all you can eat data, 1500 texts and 300 minutes. 

Another problem I came across was student loans! It is a completely different system in the UK, and Canadian student loans are just an absolute hassle, especially when you are aboard. I recommend going to the Student Loan office before you leave Canada/ or where ever you are from and find out exactly what they are going to want from you once you have moved, if there's anything you need to sign before you leave etc. I did this before I left and still had problems once in England. I didn't receive my loans until about May, almost through my first year. It is safe to say that was an added on stress that I absolutely did not need or want. Eventually I got it sorted out, but it can definitely ruin your experience if you let it get to you. 

Studying abroad is expensive, like really expensive. You really need to think hard about if it's worth the amount of debt you will be in once you finish. In comparison to schools in the USA it's probably not too different. But for my first degree in Canada, I was paying about $6,000 a year or so, and now I'm paying about $18,000 a year. Most law schools are not cheap to begin with, and some of the best schools in Canada can get pretty close to that price, but you need to include the cost of living, which is a lot higher in the UK, as well as travelling, etc. I'm currently living in a 6 person flat, all inclusive, and am paying 95 pounds per week. 

That's it for now people, next week I will discuss all the wonderful things about living abroad! 

If you have any questions about living abroad please comment below!

xxo

Top 5 Favourite MAC Lipsticks.

If you know me at all, you know that I'm completely obsessed with lipstick, especially MAC lipsticks. Choosing 5 favourites proved to be a very difficult challenge for me. However, I have selected my most used and cherished. I carefully chose all different colours, because I love reds, and I could have chosen 5 reds, but that would have made this a boring post :)

In no particular order, I'm going to start with Rebel. Rebel is a satin finish, it looks much scarier in the tube than on the lip, it's a beautiful berry colour, perfect for fall and winter time. It's quite long lasting, and looks beautiful with cherry or currant liner by MAC.

A dupe for this lipstick is Rimmel 107 (pretty sure this is the number, but I can't find my tube) from the Kate Moss line.

Next is, Russian Red. This is probably my favourite red from MAC, I also have Ruby Woo and RiRi Woo, which are both beautiful colours, but I keep coming back to this one. All of these reds are blue-toned, which is my favourite type of red. Looks so elegant and makes your teeth look really white! Russian Red is a matte lipstick, as is Ruby Woo, but I like the texture of Russian Red better, as it is not as difficult to put on as Ruby Woo is. I always line my lips when wearing a red lipstick, I would recommend, cherry, redd or brick by MAC.

Show Orchid is by far one of my favourite lipsticks ever. It's the most stunning pink lipstick I've ever seen. It's an amplified shade, and has glimmery shades of purple, it's a blue-toned pink, so it also gives the illusion of very white teeth! I love the amplified collection, they have great staying power and glide on your lips like a dream! You don't really need a liner with this lipstick, but if I do, I usually use Embrace me by MAC. Show Orchid is not apart of their permanent collection but often comes out during the summer, if you see this beauty, definitely pick it up!

Next is one of my favourite summer shades, it's Vegas Volt, which is also from the amplified collection. Vegas Volt is the perfect peachy colour. It wears very nice, and has good lasting power, also when it fades it fades into a nice nude colour. I love mixing this colour with Impassioned by MAC.

Lastly, I chose Please Me, which is my favourite pink-nude colour. It's from their matte collection, and can be a little drying on the lip, so I like to pair it with MAC's You Got It lipgloss, I can't remember which collection I got it from, but it was before christmas, however, any light pink or nude lipgloss would go perfectly with Please Me. It's the perfect my lips, but better shade for me, and it doesn't wash me out.

That's all for now !

What's your favourite MAC lipsticks?

xxo

the pros and cons of being blonde

I'm going to start off by saying, I am not a professional hair stylist. I do work in a hair salon, and do have knowledge about professional products. BUT this is my experience, and my experience only, take what you want from it :)

I am naturally a level 7 (dark blonde) before I started working in a salon, I usually just went with blonde foils, which kept my hair healthy because I only got it done every couple months. When I started working at the salon, I was a dark reddish brown, and decided I wanted to go all over blonde, white blonde.

We started by stripping my hair (bleach), if you were going to a salon, it would be called a colour correction and can cost upwards to $200. Once my hair was bleached, I was a copper colour. I kept this colour for a few months, to give my hair a break before we bleached again. After a few months, we bleached it again, resulting in me having to cut off about 6 inches of my hair that were damaged.




This is me on the right, in November of 2011. I had a full head of blonde foils, and long healthy hair.










Then, I dyed my hair dark reddish brown towards the end of november.












After Christmas, I stripped my hair, and had to cut half of it off.












This is my hair now, this was taken in July of 2012.









I am completely blonde now, after about 5 months. I love my blonde hair, but have come up with a pros and cons list.

PROS:
-blonde is nice for the summer
-I can wear any of my lipsticks
-blondes have more fun?

Okay, I can't really think of many pros to being blonde. I mean sometimes blonde can make you look younger, but I don't think it does for my case. It could also just go with your skin tone better, but from my experience, brown suits me also.

CONS:
-DAMAGE, DAMAGE, DAMAGE
-cost of hair treatments,etc
-cost of getting it toned
-roots!!

Clearly the cons outweigh the pros, in my case anyway. I recommend, that if your heart is set on being blonde, don't rush it! take your time becoming blonde, your hair will thank you. Start off with foils and keep getting more, it will look more natural and will not be as damaged.

It's also good to know what your natural colour is before you go blonde, my hair is naturally ashy, but it pulls yellow, (apparently if you have irish heritage it will do that) because of this my hair looks pissy after about 2 weeks, while I am more of a fan of the white blonde, on myself. So the maintance for me to keep my white sandy blonde is super high.

OKAY so, I am going to post some pictures of the products I use in attempts to keep my hair healthy while it is still blonde. I recommend using professional products, especially if you are blonde.

Firstly, I shampoo my hair twice. The first shampoo removes products, dirt, etc, the second shampoo actually cleans the hair. Currently, I am using a few different shampoos. I am using Joico K-pak reconstruct shampoo to repair damage, I quite like this shampoo, it has a good lather. I also sometimes replace this shampoo with Sebastian Light Shampoo (great for fine hair), I love Sebastian products, they smell AMAZING. For my second shampoo I use purple shampoo, which is a toning/brightening shampoo for blonde/white/silver hair. My favourite purple shampoo is AG Sterling Silver, it is very pigmented and lathers purple, also smells amazing. Purple shampoo is not meant to be used every time you shampoo, but I do anyway. I also leave it on for about 1-3 minutes.

 

Second, I use treatments on my hair instead of conditioner, because my hair is so damaged. Currently, I am using Joico K-pak reconstruct deep penetrating reconstructor. I hate this treatment, I am only using it to finish it up because I don't like to waste products. It smells terrible, like rotten bananas or something and the texture is super weird. Usually I use Sebastian Penetraitt Masque, which has been my favourite treatment that I have used. The moroccan oil treatments are amazing as well. Also, about once a week I use the Redken Extreme Strength Builder Plus. This is a nice treatment, but does contain a lot of protein, so definitely don't use this too often. As too much protein can crack off your hair :)

Lastly, once out of the shower, I use a leave in treatment, I switch up between Moroccan Oil Light and It's a 10 Miracle Leave in Lite. Both products I absolutely love, the whole range of It's a 10 and Moroccan Oil is fantastic and I recommend it for everyone. It's a 10 is a bit more affordable and all their products do so much that it can cut down on the amount of products you need in your hair.

Stay away from: volumizing shampoos and conditioners, if you have damaged hair, this will just dry it out even more.

Okay, enough from me!
I hope this has helped anyone who has been on the fence about going blonde. I love being blonde, but you have to be prepared for the cost of maintenance.

xxo

Cait

skincare routine

Hello people. This is my first blog (besides the few stories previous to this- it was a school project). I am going to start a beauty/fashion/travelling/movie/music/everything blog. I decided to start off with my skincare routine. I have combination skin, it gets dry in the winter and in the summer my t-zone tends to get a little oily. I have had trouble in the past finding a good routine for my skin and can tend to get break outs. Since I have started with the routine I am using now, I find my break outs are fewer and my skin has been getting better. I am not opposed to trying different products and my switch it up once I am done with what I have.




Body Shop- Seaweed Cleanser So far I am enjoying this cleanser, I tend to use it in the mornings. I like how this cleanser is milky and the seaweed is good for combination skin. 




















Makeup Remover Wipes I don't have a picture, because I use many different brands. They all work the same in my opinion. I use them at night, before I wash my face to remove all my make up before I cleanse. It's a good way to make sure all your makeup is off before you actually wash your face. 




 Body Shop- Tea Tree Blemish Exfoliating Scrub
I usually use this exfoliator at night, I'm not the biggest fan of the smell, but anything with tea tree oil doesn't smell great. It is great to keep my face clear, the exfoliating beads are a decent size, you can feel them when you scrub. I don't use this as often as the cleanser, but I would repurchase it for sure. 












 Body Shop- Tea Tree Oil Nighttime Blemish Cream
As you may have noticed, I am currently using quite a bit products from the Body Shop, there was a sale on everything, buy 3 get 1 free, so I decided just to try out a good range of their skin care products. Now, the blemish cream is great, just a dab to a breakout and it's practically gone the next day. It also lasts quite a long time for the size of the bottle. 














  Lush- Eau Roma Water Toner Okay, so I am completely obsessed with this product. It's my first skin care product from Lush and I'm dying to try some more of their products out. I'm not usually a fan of toners, they dry out my skin and cause breakouts. I was a little apprehensive about trying another toner, but the Eau Roma Water has no alcohol in it, and has lavender and rose in it. I love how it feels on my skin, it has a soothing effect, as if you have a sunburn and are putting aloe vera on it. LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I think it was around $10. I use it at night, before I put on my blemish cream. 




That's everything for my skin routine. I'm not sure on the prices of everything from the body shop, I bought it a couple months ago. I'll try to remember prices from now on, I find the body shops skincare is pretty reasonably priced, plus they seem to always have sales on. Once I update my skincare, I'll post an updated version of my routine! 






 Live and be prosperous! 

Reginald Gamache

Every morning is a struggle for Reginald to get out of bed. As soon as his eyes open at 6 am he is disappointed that he must begin another day, in his mediocre life. Reginald married his high school sweetheart, and has never been with any other woman. Although, he loves his wife, he feels like he walks through his days as a zombie. He avoids looking in the mirror because he is afraid of what he will see; a middle-aged, balding man, with a huge protruding beer belly. Only thirty years ago, Reginald was any women’s dream. He had a luscious head of brown hair and a chiseled body that made the ladies swoon. Reginald and his wife have three children, all sullen teenagers. His children despise him. They don’t see the loving active father they once knew, but a depressed man who always says no.
He begins his day, just like every other day, with a shower and a grey suit, which was once a nice suit, but is now wrinkled and worn. A bowl of Raisin Bran, and a cup of decaffeinated coffee, that is always just a bit too watery. He heads out to his 1976 red Mustang, his pride and joy; it is the only thing that allows Reginald to remember the good ol’ days. The twenty minute drive to work every day consists of heavy rock, loud enough to drown his thoughts. He arrives at work and finds his parking spot next to the entrance. The parking spots aren’t designated, but Reginald arrives early enough to claim it.
Reginald walks into his building and patiently waits for the elevator instead of walking the three flights to his floor. He has given up on exercise. Once he reaches his floor, a small stubby man behind the front desk shouts, “Hey Reggie!” Every day, it’s the same, doesn’t he know by now that Reginald hates being called Reggie. A once kind and funny man, Reginald now doesn’t have time into interact. He passes his subordinates, all who stare up in fear, and makes his way to his huge office with a view. Not ever does he say hello to any of them. Reginald is the director of his department. A job that he has worked extremely hard for, but a job that has made him the man he hates to be.
His whole life, Reginald dreamed of being on top. During University, he was always the one to beat; top of his class. Now that he is right where he wanted to be, Reginald realizes it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. He has no time to spend with his wife and family, no time to exercise and no time to enjoy his life. The day ends the same way, usually not until almost 8pm. He gets back into his red Mustang and looks forward to spending the evening with his family.
The drive home is always quicker in the evening, there is less traffic. He pulls up to his three-story Victorian mansion, and parks his car in the four car garage. Reginald opens the front door, to hear his children bickering and yelling and his wife gabbing on the phone, and remembers why he hates his life.

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The hot sun soaks my skin; I can already feel it burning. The sun is so bright; it’s hard to look at. Sweat drips down my forehead, but none of this matters. I am bruised and sore, from a long week of work. The air is dry, I can taste it. I’m thirsty, but that’s the least of my worries. The ground is hard and grass is trying so hard to grow. The hot sun and lack of rain makes it difficult for the grass.

Laughter is circling me and is precious to my ears. I look around and I see sadness, sadness that is being cured for these prized few hours. I see tents, where far too many children pile into, to protect them from the dangers of night. I see a fence, to keep the kids in and strangers out. I feel a hand on mine; so tiny and calloused. She is speaking to me, in a language I don’t understand, but her words are beautiful. A cool breeze blows by, and we look at each other and smile. When I look around this time, I see smiling faces, these smiles make everything okay, and they make my sadness go away, if only for a moment.

We are in the hut now. Everyone is sitting down, patiently waiting for what is coming next. I have coloring sheets in my hands; they feel familiar, from when I was a child. I hand them out, to each and every one of the excited children, anxiously waiting to start coloring. Laughter turns into silence as the children concentrate on coloring inside the lines. The only thing I can hear is the constant sound of crayons on paper, scribbling back and forth. It is hot in the hut, hotter than being underneath the burning sun. The tarp, which is used as a roof attracts the heat and makes the air almost unbearable.

I can taste the sweat dripping down my face, I am constantly wiping the sweat a way, and it has almost become a routine. The children, aren’t bothered by the heat, they have become immune to it. They have finished coloring, and want to show me their master pieces. I admire their work. I see inside them, the joy I found in coloring, when I was a child. I forget about their circumstances, and see myself inside their big brown eyes.

Stuck with a funny face

Growing up, I was that kid that liked to pull funny faces. It was just something I did all the time, something that most kids do. To be honest, it’s something I still do.

One day, my Mom told me, that if the wind blew while I was making a funny face, my face would get stuck that way. It might have been because my family was embarrassed to be seen with a child that always had a weird looking expression on their face, had their eyes crossed or had their tongue sticking out, but I became worried. What was I going to do? Making funny faces was my trade mark! It was my best way to make people laugh. It was like telling a soccer player they couldn’t play soccer anymore, because if they did, they might fall and die or something along those lines.

At first, I didn’t believe it. How could the wind possibly make my face change? There was just no logic behind it. So, I did what any other kid would do, and asked my friends (please note this was before the internet age, so I couldn’t google it). Surprisingly, my friends had heard the same thing, if my friends believed, I had too as well, you know the whole “if your friends jumped off a bridge would you?” Yeah, these were the days when I didn’t think for myself.

So, I stopped. I gave up making funny faces. Instead, I just smiled, every day, all the time. If I had to bet on it, I would have believed that the wind thing worked for smiling as well, because my face seemed to be stuck in a permanent smile. Those were the days. Anyway, moving on with my story, every time I saw someone with a funny looking face, I was mortified. I had thought that they looked that way all because of the wind, for the longest time, it’s what I believed.

When I grew up, I realized I was told this “legend,” because I could have been offensive to some people, and it was impolite and possibly rude. It also could have been because my parents were embarrassed to be seen with me, either way, the moral of the story is, if you’re going to make funny faces, don’t let your parents see.