Acting FAQ

Hi beautifuls,

This blog is turning into a mini FAQ section! Haha! But seeing as I reply to every single question on formspring then it is useful and a time saver for me to make these posts :) Plus being a Youtuber first and a blogger second, I feel like any ideas I have would be WAY better in a video than in a blogpost, so maybe this should be more of a personal blog and less beauty focussed? Let me know!

ANYWAY. I get an awful lot of questions on my plans for what I hope will be a future career in acting. Just as a little background, I have as of yet been in no films or TV shows, have never been an extra and have mainly acted within school productions and my own devised pieces for various drama exams. I will add to this as I remember all of the frequent questions I get :)

• How do you plan to get into acting? I hope at University or even with my A Level Drama pieces to take some of my performances up to Edinburgh festival or into a proper theatre where I will beg agents to come and see me! If this fails I will probably resort to a masters in Drama or a Drama course and try to go from there. 
• Why do you not plan to go to Drama school first? I feel that whilst Drama school must give you a very good basis in the history and different styles of theatre, it can be a very expensive addition and if you already have talent, you can probably make it on your own! Naturally though, as I've said, it is good for connections and experience.
• Do you plan to do theatre or film? I would definitely like to get a considerable amount of experience in theatre, but film would be great eventually as well, if I'm successful enough!
• What would be your ideal part? I don't really have an 'ideal' part, or come to that, an 'ideal' type of film/theatre I'd like to work in - I want a really varied experience and really, I'd be thrilled with any substantial part!
• What if you fail at being an actress? What's your back-up plan? I don't have a back-up plan because acting is EXTREMELY hard to be successful in, and when you're hit with constant failure, it is very easy to give up when it needs perseverance and luck. I am going to University though to get a good degree, so that if I decided I needed a different job I would hopefully have sufficient qualifications. 
• Favourite actress? Probably Kate Winslet, but really there are lots of good actresses out there! Unfortunately there's probably an equal number of bad actresses :/ Anyway I've loved me a bit of the Winslet since I first watched Titanic when I was small, so she's probably my first love actress-wise.
• How did your parents/friends react when you told them? Since I told them I wanted to be an actress they've been very supportive!

Love Jess

xx

Time Management & Dealing with Stress

Hello my beautifuls,

Judging by my formspring, a LOT of you at the moment are feeling the pressures and stress of school and it's all getting on top of you. Now I've had a helluva lot of experience with this, particularly last term and last year in general it's just been absolutely crazy and I can't tell you how glad I am to be finally getting out of school to have my year off in 6 months time. As you might be able to tell therefore, I don't always deal with stress very successfully, so I'm no expert in this field! But below are my ideal ways, if I always followed them, of dealing with my time and stress well.

Anyway, I pride myself on helping anyone who needs it on my formspring, but I just can't do repeats of time management questions loads of times, just because I want to give you detailed answers with as many helpful tips as I can but I myself have lots of work and can't type out the same things over and over :( So if I've directed you to this blogpost, it's not because I don't care about your question or you, but I have to do my own time management and it's kind of a waste of my time to re-type things!

Moving on from this lengthy introduction, here are my tips for good time management when you're overloaded with work:

1. Invest in a diary. If you don't already have one, or maybe you have one and don't use it, start using one now!
2. Prioritise. What subjects do you need more time to do? What don't you need to look over as much? When is your nearest deadline? There is no point in spending your very precious time on things that you can do after your next big assignment, or that you simply don't need to spend as much time on (though don't neglect any of your subjects, even if you're good at them!)
3. Now plan. Everyday you need to write in your new diary what you're going to do, and make sure you do it. Now motivation is one of the hardest things to just conjure out of nowhere, believe me I know! I have an app on my computer which is called Self Control, google it if you have a Mac. Basically it allows you to blacklist certain websites, so you can't go on them. Then I turn off my phone or the internet on my phone and get cracking. If you've got nothing else to do then it's hard to procrastinate quite so much! Another thing to remember when you're planning your day or your week or your month, is to put achievable aims down. Popping down a whole assignment for one day, is obviously not achievable. Reading a 400 page book in 2 days? Also slightly difficult. Pop normal goals on there so you can achieve them and feel like you've done something at the end of the day.
4. When do you work well? How long can you concentrate? Learn a little bit about yourself - are you a morning person or an afternoon person or perhaps even you work well in the evening (make sure you adhere to point number 5 though!) And also perhaps you don't like working that much, and so need to do about 2 hours a day, or maybe you can survive up to 6 hours but need more rest days where you do nothing. If you do less, spread it over more days, if you can do more, you could potentially have more relaxed days. If you're tight for time, try to work a little more than you might like, but try not to push it too much - not very many people can work 8 hours a day!
5. Sleep, eat, socialise and relax. Do NOT work hard all the time, you will simply burn out. You need to breathe fresh air, get out of your slippers, see a film with your friends, LAUGH, sleep as much as you can, eat healthily and drink lots of water. This will make your studying far more effective and it is so easily missed when you're busy and pushed for time but do not forget it!!

And that's it guys! That's all I can think of at the moment but if I come up with anymore great time management tips I'll put them in at a later date. If you have any of your own pop them in the comments below and I will happily use them if I like them :)

Jess xxxxxx

Gross Skin Alert - What to Do!

Hey guys,

Recently I've been getting blemishes here and there, I think it's a combination of stress and purging from various strong products that I've been trying. Today I was feeling a little too blemish-y, all red in places from recent spots as well as dry from all the blemish-killing products I've been using. So not great in general! Anyway I just did a little facial on myself and thought that I'd share with you what products I used.

1. Cleanse. If you're feeling particularly spotty use a mask before this - my choice would be Liz Earle's Deep Cleansing Mask which you can buy here but as I said my skin has been feeling dry so I didn't go with this option. I cleansed with DHC Cleansing Oil which you can buy safely from their website here (I used it myself recently). I used this instead of my recent Paris purchase of the Bioderma H2O cleansing water that has been so popular on youtube to add some moisture and oil back into my skin, and soften all the dry skin bits to come off in the next stage. Whilst the cleansing water doesn't make me feel particularly dry and the oil does not make me feel oily afterwards, it was more soothing on my dry skin and as I said, does a better job of softening and loosening flakey skin.
2. Exfoliate. Obviously this is to remove all that dead skin I'd just softened with the oil. I massaged gently (otherwise you can further irritate your skin) for a couple of minutes with Liz Earle's Gentle Face Exfoliator which you can buy here. And when I say a couple of minutes I mean it!
3. Treat. Depending on your specific situation, this might be different for everyone. I use various 'treatments' on my skin daily, but when I'm feeling all red, the best way to combat this is to use an Aspirin based product. This may seem a little crazy, until you remember that Aspirin is anti-inflammatory. You can make your own treatment with Aspirin you have lying about your house - see this link if you'd like to know how to do that - but I use Paula's Choice Skin Relief Treatment which has it in. If you're having serious acne issues, go with Paula's Choice BHA Liquid instead. 
4. Moisturise. You want to use a moisturiser that suits your current skin issue. Seeing as mine was feeling extremely dry I went for something rich, Avene's Rich Skin Recovery Cream, which made my skin feel great. If you're less dry, go for something lighter, like Liz Earle's Moisturiser for Normal/Combination skin. It's sort of rich, but then again, it's not! Difficult to explain but it's really lovely and gentle on the skin. Whatever you do though, DON'T SKIP THIS STEP.
5. Kill the spots. I cannot recommend Panoxyl 2.5 gel enough. You don't need a higher concentration unless you have severe acne, as this stuff really does kill spots. However it is the reason for the redness and dryness, so I applied it over the moisturiser to prevent it from getting at the already dying spots but still applied it to make sure I was getting those last bacteria once everything had soaked in.

So there you go guys, there's an emergency sort of facial thing you can do at home if you're feeling dry/spotty/red and scarred. 

Hope it has been useful!

xx

Effy Inspired Makeup Tutorial

Hi guys,

These are just a few photos of the tutorial I just recorded - I am exporting it as we speak so it should be uploaded overnight tonight. Get excited!

xxx

Big Collective Haul - The 'Pics'

Hi guys!

I promised you all a little picture extravaganza on some of the cosmetics featured in my latest haul video (I figure you can see the clothes pretty well but lipsticks etc don't always come up quite right on the camera), so here goes. If you're wondering about my title - you'll know what it means if you've watched the video haha. This is not in the order they come up in the video as I am tired :P

Barry M Nail Paint in Racing Green - 299 (haven't tried this yet!)

Barry M Nail Paint in Red Black - 115 (Been loving this - only needs a couple coats before it's opaque and takes a while to chip, if you can paint nails that is haha!)

L'Oreal 4D Mascara (I think this is okay, as long as you unclump the wand, but it is pretty expensive for an 'okay' mascara)

Topshop Lipstick in Nevada (I love these lipsticks, they smell and feel good and last pretty well on the lips. As you'll see in a mo, this sticker on the bottom here is darker than that of Desert, but Desert is the darker and less 'nude' of the lipsticks - Don't be fooled by stickers!)

Topshop Lipstick in Desert

Desert on the left, Nevada on the right (I had a fancy schmancy picture with the names on, but it doesn't wanna upload :( )

The obviously wrong stickers...

Topshop On the Town Lipstick

Topshop Blush in Neon Rose (Loooove these blush's formulation, really high quality, really reasonable price)

Topshop Blush in Pinch

Eyelure Naturalites in Lengthening (some of me fave lashes!)

Lipcote - a 'lipstick sealer' (STILL haven't tried this - need to get on that haha!)

Hope you enjoyed :) xx

Little Cosmetics Haul

Hello my beauties! (I really need a name for you all - let me know if you have any ideas haha!)

I went out today to buy my mum her birthday present and once I'd paid for all of her presents, I had a little money left over so I went off to spend it. I bought a couple of pieces in Primark but you'll see those in an upcoming fashion haul because you can't use clothes and ruin how they first look haha. However, I bought just a few things in Superdrug, and I always take photos before I swatch/use the products so although these will also be in my haul, I thought I'd give you a little preview/first impressions post on them.

Did that even make sense :/? Not sure. Probably not. It's late.

ANYWAY first product:

This is a Sleek MakeUp Blusher in Flamingo. It's a very very bright, hot pink and extremely pigmented so you have to have a light hand with it. This was a bit of an impulse buy and I still actually need to try it on the cheeks - wish me luck :P. I'd say the true colour is somewhere between the photos with flash and without, not quite as dark as with out, but not as baby pink as with. The swatch without flash is quite true to life however.

I also picked up Gosh's Velvet Touch Lipstick in Darling, which is a lovely ol' nude. The picture with flash is most true to life. As you can see from the photo below, it comes up quite glossy and light, but I've yet to try it actually on the lips so look out for that! Also, obviously that's another shot of the blusher beside it.

Finally, I picked up a lighter shade of Collection 2000's Lasting Perfection Concealer to see if it was less pink toned than my 3 Medium and I could use it for my blemishes. I got shade 2 and the pink in it is considerably less noticeable - something to note!

Lots of love!
Jess
xx

Ombre-ing my Hair

Hi guys!

I thought today I would share with you my experience with a branch of Headmasters in London when Ombre-ing my hair. As you would know if you follow me on twitter, you'd know that I had already tried to Ombre my hair at a much more expensive salon and because they were so used to catering for women trying to cover up greys or looking for a much more subtle dye, they failed to make it show up that much. So I decided instead to brave Headmasters, as I'd heard good things about it. I won't tell you which branch I went to just because it's quite local for me, but I imagine from what I've heard from my friends that they would also provide you with great service across the board.

Naturally I went in a little nervous - I was asking for half my head to go blonde and for it to be an obvious contrast haha! I sat down and was welcomed by the hairdresser I'd booked in with. Instead of standing and looking at my hair and face, she sat down next to me and we discussed for a while what I wanted. Immediately, unlike the other salon I went to, she knew what I was talking about when I mentioned dip-dye/ombre and I'd imagine that the salons are briefed on the popular styles of the moment. I showed her this picture of Alexa Chung because I was worried that I would have a re-hash of last time when I don't think the woman even knew what a dip-dye was. However I didn't ask for exactly this, her natural hair is much darker than mine, and there were a few things that I wanted different. Anyway, this was my most basic reference:

The first questions she asked included whether I wanted what were essentially highlights through the bottom of my hair or whether I wanted it to be a block colour (this is the one I went for as it's more obvious) and where I would like it to start - both sensible and neither asked of me before!

When she had begun looking at my hair, she asked what kind of tone we should go for - warm or cold. When I wasn't sure as to what my colouring would suit, she whipped out a sort of chart thing which she held up to my face, and it was clear that the cooler colours suited my skin far better.

As she began to pop the bleach (which is really the only thing you can use to get an immediate effect) into my hair, she was extremely careful to get it all in a straight line so I didn't have a wonky effect (she also had at some point asked me whether I wanted it to go further down at the back and whether I wanted the inner bit of my hair to be my normal colour - both of which I thought would not suit me as much). She wasn't particularly gentle but it wasn't unpleasant and I got on with my reading.

Whilst she was putting the bleach in my hair, she noticed that you can just about see where the failed dip-dye had been before and at the front there was a pretty noticeable line, and it was much higher up than we were doing it. She immediately offered to put some toner into my hair to cancel out that dye and return it to something similar to my hair colour - which worked perfectly and I now don't have two lines!

Eventually the bleach had done it's work and I was off to have my hair washed (all by the same lady). This was probably the most unpleasant moment, just because she was quite rough combing through my hair, but I'd imagine that would be an issue of the individual hairdresser and not across the board. However, I forgave her this because my hair turned out so well. She shampoo-d, conditioned and then toned my hair (to make it that cooler colour). Then I hopped up and was ready for my cut.

I'd explained I wanted it all one length and to just hit the shoulder - I didn't want too much off at all because I quite like my 'grown-out-bob' feel. She took only a few minutes doing this and it was the perfect amount off - she'd really listened. She also cut my fringe really well - making sure that it was rounded and still quite long so I didn't get that 'too-short-fringe' look that I hate on me.

After THIS (yes, there's more!), she asked me what kind of style I wanted it to be blowdryed in. Now I don't know about you guys, but I hate it when I come out of a salon and my hair is all flat against my head and not how I'd wear it at all. I explained I'd quite like it messy but still my natural straight state. She immediately popped back with a little sheet and I think it was 'Glamorous Grunge' or something like that that we went for. She basically added lots of texture with various products, didn't try dry it straight when it already is, and then with some straighteners clamped some sections randomly, which just gave it a little bit of mess
By this point I was practically in love, she'd done EXACTLY as I'd asked and more - I really wanted some straighteners to do her technique afterwards and am still thinking of investing in a pair! I was incredibly impressed, especially when hairdressers can sometimes get it SO wrong.

As I was paying, she filled out a sheet for me, with all the products she'd used on my hair from the shampoo to the styling products - although I realise this was a gimmick so that I'd buy some, I really loved some of the products and am planning on buying them (but that's another blogpost!). They also handed me this new client pack:

This included various deals such as half price off if I introduced a friend, their selection of blowdries they do (all rather lovely) and other bits and pieces. Although I know this is marketing, it is very good marketing, and I was so impressed with their attention to detail and how they show that they value you and want you to come back. I also happened to go to the salon on a Tuesday, when they do colour for half price, so both colour and cut came to £112. This may seem quite steep, but for both of these things, and with such good quality service, I think it's a pretty good deal for a hairdressers in London.

I know I've raved like a madwoman but I think finding a good hairdresser is such an important thing, because hair can go so badly wrong and is almost unfixable until it grows out when it does!

I hope that if some of you are looking for a hairdressers that you'll try a Headmasters near you, because as you can see, I was thoroughly impressed.

If you'd like to see the new hair (it's so hard to get good pictures because the flash tends to diffuse the colour much higher than it is) - check out this OOTD or my newest vid, the 13 Personal Questions Tag.

Lots of love guys!
Jess
xx

UPDATE: I use a Herbal Essences hair mask on my hair - it's in red packaging and it's meant for dry and damaged hair - I only use it a couple times a week and on the bleached parts, not my whole head. However, as I have explained before I have naturally quite oily and shiny hair, so I have not had much problems with dryness. Apart from that I still do the original hair care that is in the My Hair video I did a while back