A few months ago when I was talking to my friend, I was explaining to her how I hadn't been feeling myself; how I've been feeling like shit and, as a result of those feelings I found myself comparing myself to influencers thinking they are pretty and I'm not etc etc. Then I started deeping how powerful the mind is.

CONFIDENCE / HAVING LOW SELF ESTEEM is one the hardest things to deal with. LOL as I write this I can hear someone saying Elizabeth? you low self-esteem?! * inserts confused face gif*  because, I'm literally the one person you will always find gassing themself up. I used to be that person that when you tell me ' Aww you're pretty' I would respond thank you with an awkward smile whilst saying LOOOL you so blind in my head, and that could be coming from a friend, a guy I like, or even a family member. Tell me that now I would probs respond with thank you and say I know in my head after or vice versa depending on who you are. 

Learning your worth and understanding who you are without needing another human being to make you feel good about yourself is one thing that is so important to learn. As humans, we are accustomed to people giving us positive words of affirmation it helps to feed our egos whether you believe that or not argue with my toe. Now I'm not saying that people shouldn't give you positive words but what I am saying is that you need to learn your own worth without someone telling 'OOO you're so pretty' like that shouldn't have to define who you are as a person.

Self - esteem/ confidence are things controlled by the mind, and with the generation that we are in, it doesn't help that everything we do is centered around social media. I even find myself comparing myself to influencers that are labeled the most prettiest girls by social media or have the nicest body shape and some of those that I compare myself to are not even real, let's be honest. As a society, we have been conditioned to compare ourselves to unrealistic beauty standards. 

''You are actually that bishhh!'' This is a phrase that I acc love to use when I'm getting ready to go out and I go to the mirror to check my fit I'm like '' Dami you're acc that bishh , you're cute you know'' then I tend to giggle at myself after lol. Doing things like that helps me to make myself feel better about myself even on my down days. Another phrase my friend got me saying is '' My ye is great'', this was inspired after I was venting to her about how I was feeling and she just said " Your ye is great you know" and I was like "YOU IS RIGHT"! The phrase was even Twitter name for a little bit.

1) After you finish reading this post I encourage you to look at yourself in the mirror or use the front camera on your phone and just stare at yourself (I used to do this so much) and start to talk about the positive things. Start saying positive things to yourself! 

2)If social media is what makes you view yourself negatively I recommend deleting those apps. Take time to look at yourself through your own lens and, not the one that society has conditioned us to look through. The one that makes us compare ourselves to others or has us thinking we are not good enough.

3) Take care of yourself. That fitness plan you've been too lazy to start go and do it! Go for walks pamper yourself. Start putting you first, make time for YOU. 

4) Surround yourself with positive people. I know that sometimes we don't want to feel like we are burdens to our friends but, it is always nice to know that when you are on your low days there is someone you can turn to. What type of people have you chosen to surround yourself with and how has that affected the way you view yourself?

5) If you have a faith,  turn to it! For me personally, this was one thing that really helped me, being a Christian and knowing that there is a God that cares and loves me has helped me at my lowest points. Once I began to connect more with my faith; I started to see myself the way that God sees me and not see myself the way others see me. 

Elizabeth xox 

Let me just start off by saying that, who knew pancake batter and Oreos could make one beautiful creation. I was watching my friends snap one day and, the way my mouth was watering I was like 'me too, I will enjoy !' 

Ingredients: Recipe enough to make 12

1 pack of Oreos 

Self-raising flour: approx 100g 

Caster sugar: approx 90g 

1 egg 

milk: 1 cup


Steps:

1) Mix about 100g of flour with 90g of sugar

2) Whisk your eggs in a separate bowl until they become frothy

3) Once your eggs are frothy add your cup of milk and whisk again

4)Pour your egg mixture into the flour and sugar mix and, whisk together

5) Once mixed, observe. I say this because you don't want your batter to be too runny. If it is add more flour to thicken the batter

6) Put oil into a deep pan (or whatever that you have that is suitable for frying) and heat the oil.

7) Whilst the oil is heating up, put your oreo in the batter using a fork to help cover it

8) Once the oil is hot put your oreo inside the oil

9) Make sure to turn them over and take out once brown

10) ENJOY! If you're feeling cheeky eat them with some ice cream and, whipped cream. Trust me it slaps. 

QUICK TIP: I've noticed that if I dunk the oreo in milk for 5-10 seconds and, then put it in the batter the Oreo and the creme center melts more in your mouth. 

Hi, hello and dem tings der

Like the other posts, I make I'm just typing as things come to mi headtop.

The inspo for this post is the fact that so far 2020 has been the definition of higgy hagga. If you're not familiar with the phrase, let me break it down for you.

Noun: Higgy Hagga

Definition: Mess, doesn't make a sense, confusion, throw away

That's my definition of the word anyway. Now you're probably wondering why its been Higgy Hagga... CORONAAAA aka MISS RONA is the reason why!

Rona, has come to just mess everything up! I should be in the library aka jail revising. Instead I'm at home because of the lockdown, still revising. However, it's not the same everything just takes longer to do. Boris said we gotta stay home so that's what I'm doing and I can't lie to you I don't even want to leave my house. Every time I watch the news I get more scared (# stayathomepeeps). I have been home for over a month now and, I've hardly stepped foot outside, the only time I have has been to 1) help my mum take the shopping out of the car and, 2) return a parcel which was just a major L.

Now, as we all know we should all be inside unless; you are a key worker, going out for your daily exercise and, buying essential items. Soooooooo I'm just really confused as to why I saw on twitter that people were still getting their hair done... like leaving their house to go to the hair salon to get their hair done.

Let's be honest none of us are going anywhere, like as I type this I'm wearing a scarf and, my hair is in twist like Asap rocky. Amy, Krissy, or even Susu have not made contact with my head (the names of my wigs lol) since this lockdown began. Restaurants = LOCK OFF, Cinema = LOCK OFF, University/ Uni depending on which you go = LOCK OFF... so where are you going ?! Now if you are an influencer and Instagram is your source of income then... maybe I get it by like 2%, by getting your hair done you are promoting the person's business which, results in possible money for you.

Like I said, this Rona has come to mess everything up, which I understand includes a lot of peoples hustle. Some people have been made redundant and, for those who are 'creatives' that depend on regular bookings to get your shmoneeyy I can attempt to understand why you would violate the lockdown rules... like I'm attempting. In all you do just bear in mind why the lockdown was set in the first place; its there to protect you. Wouldn't you want to protect your life, and your client's life rather than, risk it for the sake of laying someone's hair just so that your client can put "what lace ?" in their caption?

We all know that everyone needs money to survive and, in a crisis like this you definitely need money. How are you going to buy food or pay bills with no steady income, that just makes everything harder. My mum even told me grocery stores are reducing the amount of discounts in stores, to stop people from overbuying. Which I get because, people were out here clearing the shelves of toilet roll like how am I seeing on my friends snap someone with a deep trolly just filled with toilet roll and, the toilet roll is even falling off the trolly. People were doing tooo much but I guess that's what happens when you are scared and you don't know what is going on, or how long you will be stuck in your house for. You overbuy!

I'm not going to be ignorant and say things like ' you should have money saved up anyway' because, sometimes being able to save money is a luxury if we are keeping it 100. This pandemic has made me realise the things that I take for guaranteed and has made me appreciate them so much more. Things such as having a roof over my head and having space to myself has made me more empathetic to homeless people with no family. As its times like this when it's really nice to be around your family no matter how annoying they are.

So before this lockdown happened I was screaming 'omds my birthday is going to be inside' (ngl still upset about it) and, I was upset that I wasn't going to be able to go on holiday. However, after having a deep thought and putting certain things into perspective, I'm thankful that I have life and that my family and I are safe. If you have managed to read this far, just deep the fact that you are alive right now and that unfortunately, there are people who are struggling to stay alive because of this horrible virus.

To those that have lost family members or friends, I pray that God gets you through this challenging time. To those that have family members or friends in intensive care or are isolating, I pray that God protects them and, that they will not fall victim to the virus. To those who are key workers and front liners I appreciate you! My thoughts and prayers are with you all.

See I started writing this post on the 25th June but because I'm lazy I'm only just posting this now ...  Hope you enjoy.

SOOOO

 It's the end of my first academic year at the university that I attend (the name shall not be disclosed x)  I'm currently doing nothing and quite frankly I feel jobless (I'm sure some of you can relate; edit: I now have a job thank God).

Anywho back to the main subject of this post which is my first-year Uni experience. Let me start off by saying that my uni experience did not match up to my expectation. I thought that I was going to be going out all the time, that I would be so involved in the societies that I wanted to join and just generally living my best life. I also thought that I was going to LOVE my course and go to all the careers events.

Did that happen? Erm NO (I tell a lie, to an extent it did). I mean I joined 3 societies Which were  MecSoc, the equestrian society (yes ! I'm a black girl who horse rides) and ACS. The only society that I can actually say I was involved in was ACS; the funny thing is that the society that I was most excited to join the most was the one that, I was least active in and that was the equestrian society.

Looking back I notice that I was more interested in socialising than studying. At the times where I would go out instead of "focusing on my books"; I would have flashbacks to my dad telling me in the car that I didn't come to uni for fun and games that my education comes first. He would also tell me that I shouldn't drink alcohol and that I should drink Shloer instead lol. I soon came to realise in second semester that I am not as good as balancing my time as I thought I was, and learning how to balance your time in uni is so important. You no longer have teachers chasing you for homework, or calling your parents telling them you haven't been doing your work. I also learnt that I don't know how to say no. In second year I am going to say no more lol.

In terms of friends, it's true what they say: the people that you meet in the first week of Uni will not necessarily be the friends that you will have at the end of the year. Having said that I think it's very important to be open to meet new people, you never know what doors the people you meet can open. Everyone is nervous; you're all in the same boat. Especially if you came to Uni by yourself,  If you came with a group of friends then I guess you're calm, just don't fall into the trap of not socialising with other people but at the end of the day, it's not by force. I think what I liked most about my uni experience was meeting new people.

So... here are my 10 tips for first years:

1) Pay your rent on time

2) Don't use your SFE to buy Gucci (that's not financially prudent)

3) Budget your money

4) Make sure you get a student bank account I recommend Santander, it comes with a railcard

5)  Join freshers chats

6) Go to your lectures ... First year is actually important the people who tell you otherwise throw them in the bin

7) Utilise lecture capture it will become your best friend

8) Drink responsibly *pulls left eye*

9) Don't follow the crowd be true to yourself

10) Enjoy first year you don't want to look back and wish you did things differently

                        To all the friends I made during first year, you're all annoying x

DESGIN IS HAPPENING EVERYWHERE

When I started thinking about the title of this post; Designing for the future: trends we need to consider now. I wasn't sure how to approach it, I then thought to myself what exactly is design ?!

Here's the definition I found on Google:

1)"A plan or drawing produced to show the look and function or workings, garments, or other object before it is made"

2)" A decorative pattern"

Design is something cool and so broad. living in a city where construction is always happening I find it so cool, others may not but seeing a building  slowly being made up to completion is one of the things that I find so fascinating. I love the art of design even though we have the google definition of what design is my own person definition of design is the freedom to express your self and your thoughts. However  I feel as though the harsh reality is that that, within the design industry the different sectors seem like worlds apart. 

Despite this feeling that different forms of design are now where linked together but they actually are. Many fashion designers have helped to design the cars that we like to admire such as the Range Rover Evoque which was designed by Victoria Beckham. Fashion designers take their design inspirations from everyday things from cars which help to determine either the tones of the garments or the theme of the clothes that will be created, to nature using earthy tones in a collection of clothing. Or simply just make old trends new again such as baggy clothing, chokers and going natural with your hair. I just thought these were things that us 21st century humans came up with but no our ancestors before us were already one step ahead of the game.

Like we are shown in  movies such as, Meet The Robison's where there is a whole world full of flying cars; I feel like the future of design is moving in that direction where everything starts to become more futuristic and, the way that we do our make up or dress becomes more simple, the effortless look seems to be in trend. For example the KKW contour kits by Kim Kardashian West were made so that people could quickly do their makeup look flawless but, without having to put much though or effort into it.

I was recently shown by a friend a video of a car design in Dubai which they are hoping will be able to fly. Wether they were successful with this design I don't know however, it makes me wonder will I ever see something that cool in my lifetime. Maybe you never know, we could even say that the UK starting to enforce electric cars into the UK is a step in that direction and, with technology advancing everyday the opportunities are endless. 

To conclude I would have to say that obviously there is no distinct way to determine what design will look like in the future however, I will have to say that I think that things are going to get more over the top. Feathered eyebrows and putting your face full of makeup in cold water is just the beginning especially, with old trends becoming new and technology being taking to another level that no one ever thought they would see before. 

Disclaimer: This blog post is a part of Design Blogger competition organised by CGTrader

Ingredients:

- Bagel/ any bread of your choice 

- Mozzarella/ any cheese of your choice

- Ham/ any topping 

- Tomato puree (the ones you get in a tube)

Steps :

1) Preheat your oven to around 180 degrees Celsius

2)  Cut your bagel in half (if you are using sliced bread you can skip this step)

3)  Spread Tomato puree over your bread slices

4)  Place your choice off cheese on the slices 

5) Add your desired toppings 

6) Put into the oven - leave in the oven for 5-10 mins depending on how crispy you want it and, how melted you want your cheese to be. 

Hope you enjoy x

Elizabeth XOXO

As Easter is Fast approaching I thought it would be nice to post something Easter related. I opted for Easter Egg cupcakes, they are really easy and fun to make. I made these cupcakes with my little brother and he really enjoyed decorating the cupcakes.

For The Batter 

125 g   Self raising flour 

125g   Caster sugar 

125g   Butter 

1-2 tbsp Milk
2   Eggs 

For The Buttercream

280g Icing sugar 

140g Butter 

1-2 tbsp Milk

Food colouring can be added if you wish 

you will also need mini eggs for decoration and cupcake cases

Loving my afro was hard in the beginning I used to perm my hair which really damaged it, and the transitioning stage from processed hair to natural hair was a nightmare. When I look at old pictures in my head I just think my hair looked so ugly, I had a mixture of straight and curly hair and it has very hard to style it as well as that I refused to do the "Big chop". I didn't want to have super short hair.

Afro hair is hard to deal with however, I feel that in general all hair types would be hard to deal with, and we will never be satisfied with what are type of texture is like. For example in the hair world my hair is classed as a "4C" and its SO KINKY. I do not even bother combing it or brushing it as it times , it is one of the things I dread doing, however when I know thats Knots galore has started I have to comb my hair  and boy it is such as task!  It feels like I am tearing my hair from my scalp even when I am going gently, so I suggest to frequently comb and brush your hair !

If you go on youtube you are fed all this type of information, use castor oil, use coconut oil your hair will go this that and the other, then you spend however much on hair products and does it work erm... Not really! I will say that moisturising your hair is very essential especially if you have really curly/kinky hair and this is something I fail to do due to my  laziness. Despite this I find that cheaper products such as Pantene works well with my hair. My hair feels so soft and for the first time I was actually able to tie back my hair hair with the aid of some Eco styler gel and it looked good !

Now even though I could go and on about how much of a struggle afro hair is; I like my hair. I like the fact that my hair is springy I like the fact that I  can do different styles with my hair that are cool that does not involve heat. I feel like in todays society we are made to feel a certain way about not just our looks our hair, for example that have straight hair is the most beautiful, and certain models who are of my skin tone end up having to wear weaves or relax/ perm their hair to fit into the ideology of what a model should look like. I find Maria Borges  inspiring, she is a model who has worked for many designers and has also walked in the  Victoria Secret fashion show 4 years in a row, I love the way she just embraces her natural fro and rocks it so well. I would like to see that different types of hair embraced more #naturalbeauty, instead of designers taking hair  from different cultures and trying to appropriate it without it any giving it acknowledgment!

Loving your fro can also become hard when you have someone telling you that your hair looks like a mushroom, this is the sort of things that can make  some girls want to perm there hair. Negative words also affects your self esteem,  and leaves you speechless. We can joke about it around with our friends later but it dose not change the fact that words hurt; as humans we do not know tend to realise how the words that you say can affect someone else.

So to my curly haired friends out there and my afro friends love your hair, it's what makes you unique and stand out from everyone else, try not to let negative words put you down and instead try and put that negative energy into something positive. When ever someone decides to say something rude about your hair just say thanks and turn away with a smile, they wont expect it. It will also stop them from saying something negative to you again. This is something that I try to do which is hard, I know but it works. 

#positivevibesonly


Stay beautiful
ELIZABETH XOX

See I never really used to put anything on my eyebrows to "keep them in place" which it explains why they would rub off before the day was even over, but this brow drama by Maybelline keeps them in place and lets your eyebrows staying flawless for the WHOLE DAY.  You can go to sleep on your sofa and wake up with your eyebrows still looking fleeky ( talking from experience !). This brow drama by Maybelline only cost £4.99, which is relatively cheap, there are four different colours: deep blonde, medium brown, dark brown and transparent; I bought the transparent one.

I am sure a lot of you have heard about the La pro concealer. This little plastic tube holds make up goodness. The concealer gives full coverage and it lasts A LONG TIME. This is my second tube and I got my last one over a year ago and, I used it almost every day.  I will say that it is important to get the right shade of this concealer as it oxides. My last concealer was in the shade dark cocoa and, was a bit too dark for me which meant that I had to mix it with another concealer that was lighter. However it was great for contouring, the concealer that I currently use is in the shade beautiful bronze. I bought this for £3.99 from a shop called pak's, you call also buy it on Amazon.

Highlighting is one of favourite things to do when I do my makeup, I love the feeling when you just turn your cheek and your highlight is glisthening! Sleek makes some of the best highlights and this palette has some of the prettiest shades. I like using Sphix and Goddess on my face, and the colour pay off is so good whilst I apply it in my head I am going ahhh. I especially love the fact that this palette comes with a mirror which is always handy, this palette cost £9.99 (once again do not forget to use your student discount, every penny counts !). The palette also comes with a small brush which is not worth using as it does not apply the highlight well. 

Pancakes are the most easiest thing to make but, also one thing that is easy to just mess up. It can result in a burnt pan and the kitchen smelling like smoke. Especially as this time of the year we have pancake day and everyone wants to have a go at making fresh pancakes rather than buying one. Therefore, I thought that I would share with you guys how I make my pancakes and the trick that I use to make them fluffy. 

The 17/02/2017 was a very magical day. I went to the Krispy Kreme restaurant in Enfield and it was just so cool, you could see how the donuts were made and how they actually assembled the donuts in terms of the icing. I had passed the restaurant several times on family outings though, I did not have the opportunity to go in. Therefore I made it one of my missions to go there. When my mum said she would take me there I couldn't help but do a little dance. In away you could say that I have a bit of an obsession with donuts which I am not disputing. I feel that fresh donuts are just beautiful it is totally incomparable to packed defrosted donuts, only true donut lovers will understand what I am talking about. Its like the love the some people have for ben's cookies that warm feeling you have that you bite into that cookie is the same feeling I have when I have a donut.

The Krispy Kreme restaurant has various seating areas which were comfy and they had out baking hats that have the Krispy Kreme logo on it. Picking the donuts that I wanted to have was really hard I did not know what to choose! However with much contemplation I finally opted for the tiramisu (which is like coffee heaven, even the chocolate on top taste like coffee), cookie crunch (which is my favourite one) and the classic glazed donut (which also taste really really good when you put it in the microwave for 20 seconds), along with their mango chiller drink which tasted more like orange juice. Luckily as my family are not really hyped over donuts like I am I had theres to eat too. Also if you didn't know when you sign up to friends of Krispy Kreme, which you can simply do by downloading their app or going onto the Krispy Kreme website,  you can get your first donut free (glazed only) as well as other special offers. Student beans which is a student discount site also gives you 20% off; sadly I forgot to you use mine. This only works at actual Krispy Kreme counters not Tesco though I wish that it was a  possibility.

My brother and I were both in awe, look how beautiful those freshly fried donuts look

#mesmerised

Awkward smile I know but I though that I would add the pic because my teeth look nice LOL

Hi my name is Elizabeth and I am sly sly obsessed with donuts, especially Krispy Kreme ones.

                                                                      

                                                                      Elizabeth XOX