Choosing your GCSE's

Hello guys, it's Emma and today I have a topic most teenagers go through in their life : GCSE's. At the moment, I'm going through the process of choosing my options, and I have a few tips to make it a little easier for you along the way.

One thing to ask yourself whilst going through this process is what you want to do with your life. For me, I would like something to do with photography or music. Then, once you've figured out this, try to base your options around this. At my school, we can choose to do Core & Additional Science or Triple Science. I chose Core & Additional, because it gives me more options from block 3 (We have 3 blocks, first is the sciences I just mentioned, second is all Humanities and Languages, third is all the other subjects like Art & Design, Child Development, etc.). If you can't figure what you want to do when your older, that is perfectly fine. Choose the subjects you love as it will be easier for you to concentrate and get a better grade.

You also have the chance to do the English Baccalaureate. This is a selection of subjects you take as your GCSE's together and will better your chance at getting into college / university. Personally, I think this is pointless but if you don't know what to do for your options then this would probably be good for you. However, you have to be confident and secure a C grade or above in all the subjects. Subjects for the English Baccalaureate are :

• English
• Mathematics
• Geography / History
• Triple Science / Core & Additional Science / Computer Science
• French / Spanish / German.

Do not let anyone pressure you into choosing something you don't want to do. This is one thing I was told repeatedly throughout this process, and you will to. If you don't like a subject - say French or German, don't let your mum or dad or nan push you to do it. At the end of the day, unless your planning to travel the world or move around, you wont ever use a second or third language anyway. Also, try not to choose a subject because you like the teacher or your friend's choosing it. Chances are, you wont have the same teacher and you wont be in the same class as your friend.

There are subjects that are core and you can't get out of doing them. For me at my school, as far as I know we have to do Maths, Learning for Life, English Literature and English Speaking. They almost made RPE (Religion, Philosophy &  Ethics) a core subject, and not a lot of people were pleased about it.

I hope this helped anyone going through this process. I have a friend with a blog who wrote a similar post, her name is hollybeautyxox.

I love you, Emma xx

And for anyone wondering, these are what I chose :
Core & Additional Science, History, Art & Design, Music and Music.

I Love You All

Hey guys! It feels like forever since I've blogged even though it's been 2 weeks :/ I'm really sorry, I've been busy lately - I'm choosing my options and there's some things going on with my family at the moment. That brings me onto the topic for todays blog post : depression.

Depression is more than feeling upset or or fed up for a few days, it's a genuine health condition. I'm sure we all go through phases where we all feel a bit down or unhappy, but depression is persistently feeling like this for weeks or months. It's a real illness with real symptoms, and it is not a sign of weakness and you can't simply 'pull yourself out of it.'

Depression has a wide range of symptoms and can effect people in different ways - ranging from lasting feelings of sadness and hopeless to loosing interest in things you love and feeling a bit tearful. Someone I know has depression, and she had a lot of the symptoms of anxiety. I'll list some other symptoms here for you :

• Feeling constantly tired
• Sleeping badly
• No appetite
• Sadness
• Complaining about aches and pains
• Persistently low in spirit
• Stress
• Suicidal (most of the time this only occurs in serious depression)

Most of the time, depression treatments involve medication or taking treatments, but I think one thing that really helps is being around the people you love, and people who love you. Other benefits include making lifestyle changes such as getting more exercise, cutting down on alcohol, stopping smoking and eating more healthily. 

The aim of this post is to raise awareness, and to let you know that wherever you are in the world, you're not the only one battling this. You're strong, and can get through this rough patch. I love you

    Emma xoxo

February Favorites

Hello everyone! So February's already been and gone in what seems like a click of the fingers. Today I thought I'd share a few of the things I'd been loving during the month.

I'm going to start off with non - beauty related products and start with my favorite TV show; Pretty Little Liars. Oh my god. I started watching this towards the end of January on netflix and am now on 5x8 and can I please just say how much I have fallen in love with this. Everyone in my school is talking about it, and how A's going to be revealed in two weeks and I can't wait!!

The music I've been loving I've made into a playlist on spotify that you can access here : February Music Playlist and listen to whenever you want :)

My favorite food of the month has to be brioche with chocolate running through the middle. My mum has brought so many packs of these and me, my brother and sister manage to devour them all within a week.

During the last few weeks of February my foundation ran out and I was on a tight budget to get a new one asap, so I popped down to my local superdrug and picked up the NYC Skin Match Luminizer in the shade light. This was only £2.99, and it's not the best coverage but it gives my skin a healthy glow that I've been loving.

Whilst I was in superdrug I saw a duo eye liner that's been advertised on TV a bit within the past few months : that is the Maybelline Big Eyes Eyeliner. This noticeably makes my eyes bigger, and stays put for a long time which is what I love about this mascara.

If your a person who likes to dye your hair, or wants to dye it but is worried about it getting damaged, then do not worry any longer. Last month I dyed my hair from ombre to a dark blonde/light brown using Olia and it is still in a really good condition - if not better. And I love the way it turned out, my hair looks blonde and you can still see where it was ombre before but it looks more natural.

So that's it for my February Favorites, I hope you enjoyed them and helped you find something to either watch, listen or try out.
Love, Emma x