Boys: makeup is for our benefit, not yours.

I don’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse that I have perfected the art of contouring to push my cheekbones up to my eyes, dramatically increasing the size of my lips and making my eyebrows look like they do not only consist of a few transparent looking hairs. But let me take a moment to say that I didn’t spend 3 years of my life watching YouTube tutorial videos so that I could be aesthetically pleasing to the opposite sex. I wear make up because it makes me feel a little less tatty around the edges.

-Placing the eyeliner pencil and swooping it across my upper eyelid to create a perfect line and wing.

-Smiling so the apples of my cheeks are visible to place my blusher just in the right place.

-Allowing my lip liner to be placed just outside the real lines of my lips to create a more voluptuous look.

To me, these give me the best feeling in the world, especially if I’m feeling a bit down. When I see myself with no makeup on I feel somewhat Cinderella pre fairy godmother transformation. No I don’t mean I think I’m a Disney princess or even worthy of royal status, I mean without makeup I feel I may as well be cleaning floors but with it on “I shall go to the ball.” 

It’s not even just the wearing make-up part that I love. One of my biggest loves in life is when I achieve perfectly blending my urban decay eye shadow onto my lids. I treat my face like a canvas and therefore my make-up is like my artwork. No man will ever understand the true skill it takes a girl to achieve the perfect wing on their eyeliner or drawing in the perfect peak of the eyebrow.  (Unless you are a man that wears make-up)

So lads, stop ripping us for trying to look pretty and feel good about ourselves. Lets be honest, the real reason you think that the transformation from plain Jane to Jessica Rabbit is for you is because the most part when you see us we’re wearing makeup and quite frankly, you’re probably jealous you don’t have something similar to enhance your handsomeness, or lack of.

Here’s a final word for the men reading this. My sister always says when I’m getting ready for a night out and I’ve got all my make-up done I look at myself in the mirror and make a whole array of pouty faces, but I do it because I love me a little more that I did before. Not because I want you to love me.

A x

me and my bestie with our faces on x

Sometimes you just hit a wall, a big scary wall.

It’s hard to imagine that university could be anything but fun, partying, never being told what to do and having the best time of your life - but sometimes, you hit an unexplainable, gigantic, incomprehensible wall of worry, frustration and mostly, homesickness and home is the only place you want to be.

If you are unable to go home however, there are a few things that you can do to make that wall a little bit lower.

Find a getaway. My getaway lies in the heart of Lincoln in the Bookstop Café, or in the University library or my best friends flat. Do not find your getaway in the bottom of a bottle- it will only make you feel worse.

Focus on something else. Find a hobby. Join a gym or take up a sport. Read your favourite book. Watch your favourite film. DO SOME WORK!!! But whatever you do, do something that you enjoy. You don’t want to make yourself even more miserable than you are.

Spend time with people who make you HAPPY! Forget the ones that bring you down. There is always that one person in your life that will try to bring you down to make themselves feel better. Cut them off. They are not worth your time and you’ll probably come to realise that they are the one making you miserable. Spend time with people that make you happy and make you feel positive. These are the people you want around you when you are feeling a bit down and need a laugh. You do not need negativity when you hit the wall, I can promise you.

Get a good night sleep. Sleep deprivation will make you agitated, snappy and frustrated. Trust me, I am the perfect example. If you physically cannot sleep (like me) I find a warm shower and a cup of tea (decaf) can do the trick-mums advise is always right. Also, try not to nap in the day because you will not be able to sleep of a night and going to University or work after an all-nighter is NOT FUN!!!

Book a train ticket for a weekend that you are able to go home and give yourself something to look forward to.

I didn’t realise when moving 150 miles away from home how difficult it is to go months without seeing your family and friends. If you can: skype, call, FaceTime or text your family and friends whenever you feel down. A friendly, familiar voice is only a phone call away.

Hope this helps some of you that may feel this way.

A x

also, looking at photos of friends and family can make you

feel a little closer to home. 

You can take the girl out of Essex, but you can't take the Essex out of the girl.

Hi, I’m Amy Dobson.

I’m 20 years old and currently study Journalism at the University of Lincoln.

I’m in my first year and I’m having such a great time.

Don’t get me wrong though. You have you ups and your downs.

The days where you will lay in bed all day feeling horrendously hungover and the days where you feel fresh enough to walk up steep hill (the worst hill in the world, incline is absolutely ridiculous, however, it beautiful and painful all at the same time.)

For my first blog, however, I am not going to talk to you about my life at university but more the struggles of moving far away from home.

I’m sure you’ve guessed it. I’m an Essex girl. I could probably go as far to say I am a very typical Essex girl. I love my fake tan. I love my hair extensions and my oh my do I love a good night out at the sugar hut (a popular club in Essex.)

Last year, however, I moved from Essex leaving my wonderful family, my incredible new baby nephew and a group of the most fantastic people you will ever meet that I am so proud to call my friends.

People move away from home for all kinds of reasons. My reason was to start university. Now moving away alone has a whole new meaning of the world struggle. My 3 biggest struggles of moving away from home are…

      1)Cooking is just…no. If you can cook, moving from home becomes slightly easier. I, however, crave my sisters home cooked meals. The most perfect roast potatoes on a Sunday, her cherry and coconut loaf that leaves little to be desired and her homemade pizza that is just something else. For your first few months away from home, you may choose to live on microwave meals. I opted for this easy way out which resulted in the microwave becoming my new best friend.
2)Cleaning. It has to be done. Only you don’t just have a room to clean anymore. You have a kitchen, living area, bathroom, etc. Being students, we are either doing work, at uni or too drunk to find our phones let alone clean the kitchen. The struggle becomes real when nobody has cleaned in so long, the whole side of the kitchen is sticky from vodka shots after a Monday night at lovedough and week old bowls are stuck to it like glue.

      3)Home sickness-its inevitable. You will miss your family, your friends, your animals and even the little eight-legged freak that sits in the corner of your bathroom that you have bizarrely befriended and pledged never to kill. I moved 158 miles from home and thank god everyday for facetime, Skype and technology altogether.

We all know moving away from home can be a frightening experience. Especially moving in with people that you don’t know, however, they will become your best friends. In my case, even though they take the absolute mick out of my largely ridiculous Essex twang, we’re like one big (at times extremely dysfunctional) family.

A x

my wonderful family x