Bey

Beautiful. Boss. Real. Fake. Hollywood. Houston. Fierce. Fearless. Flawless? Beyonce.

On typing the name and stature that is Beyonce, my somewhat outdated Windows 8 processor prompted me to correct my spelling mistake, well what do you suggest I queried, 'beyond' it replied. Hmm very convincing, as in fact Beyonce defines the word 'beyond' in all aspects. Many may disagree but in the public eye and in the spotlight of the media this is indeed a fact and not just biased opinion.

I am grateful for Beyonce. Growing up I envied my older sister and cousins who were blossoming in the attitude era, an age when girls were telling the world just how independent they really were becoming. In 1999 Destiny's Child released the 'Writings on the wall' album,

Attitude!

I firmly believed that Beyonce owned this album, other voices were outshined and over shadowed by her amazing vocals that I just knew she couldn't wait to shake off her bandmates. The album was a huge success and listening to Chiamamanda Ngozi Adiche's 'We Should All Be Feminists' in 'Flawless' and seeing the visual to 'Pretty Hurts' I realise that I was wrong, it's not about competing with your sisters and your girls, its not about being better per say but being the best you can be and still appreciating the hard work and effort of others.

The 90's calling to me!

In saying this I also understand that jealousy goes hand in hand with unhealthy competition but growing up I couldn't help but think really? I've been mugged off, 1999 what a time to be a teenage girl and not 5 years of age. A time to confront boys with 'Say My Name', lay down the law with 'Bills Bills Bills' and switch the rolls in 'Confession', how could I help but feel cheated when my teenage years was greeted with women who lacked consistency and who were just scared constantly putting themselves down. I have to admit some lyrics were quite demotivating, I was advised that 'sometimes love comes around and it knocks you down' and in attempt to make light of the situation I was told to get back up when it does, however it didn't sound convincing enough. Then there was another female artist who I adored, but she ignited the insecurities I didn't know I had, she was scared of loving a man although she wasn't scared of lions tigers and bears and as a young girl with absent father issues this isn't something I needed to hear.

 Instead I looked forward to Beyonce who was fearless, even though it wasn't right for my situation she showed me how a man should treat a woman when in love with her song 'Daddy' and how not to be scared of any man in 'Yes'. In '09 she released 'Halo' and presented to the women of the world love, in the form of a beautiful, hazel eyed Michael Ealy. (I'll give you a moment to wipe your drool)

That Bootay!

But in a bid to stay relevant in the same year she embraced the single life, in 'Single Ladies' a movement I've always been apart of but I couldn't help but question Beyonce, by this point I was confused, the same way a lot of you were about her detailed sexual adventures with her husband in 'Drunk In Love' 'Yonce' and 'Partition' wasn't this the same woman who cussed out girls in the song 'Nasty Girl'? There seemed to be a double standard when it came to Beyonce, she was able to be half naked in her videos yet we bash video vixens everyday. Isn't she the same I questioned, until recently I was posed in a predicament. Guys in the street see me and my two friends on a night out usually walking tall in air max's or my over used KG boots and yell 'Hey! Destiny's Child!' and hearing them chant 'Beyonce' when I walk by never gets old as does the eye roll they receive. It took me a long time (literally my whole teenage life) to accept and embrace my body, my hips, my thighs and my derrière the way Beyonce does, but now at the age that I am I finally understand the difference between Beyonce and these video vixens. She taught me to love my body because it's mine, these dancers love their bodies because of men and that in my opinion is wrong.

Black & Beautiful

The visual to 'Pretty Hurts' opened my eyes and reinstated her message that you need to fall in love with yourself first. However, this video also stirred up old feelings I had about Beyonce's presence and demeanour, I used to think of her as a beauty pageant contestant, rigid and almost too perfect, a wide and empty smile. I remember watching ITV's 'A Night With Beyonce' and when asked what her biggest insecurity was she replied, 'these ears' and again I found myself thinking Are you for real? That's it, you say it without flinching, wrinkling her nose and cringing, she provided an all too perfect and polished response. So aged 16 I decided Beyonce was fake, a phoney. You're married, not single. 'Run The World' had all my white and Asian girl friends feeling empowered, but the boys seemed to take my pride as the common angry black girl, fuelled with aggression and just a headache. However, Beyonce would always be the first to drive home her pride in being black, although many of you may bear controversial responses to her very light skin tone she is proud of her skin and heritage as am I. But I learnt that without her help! 

It's only now aged 19 that I realised what I had been missing in my teenage years, Beyonce has been

Bey back, back in the day

there for me the whole time. My family were able to play any Beyonce album at all our children parties, passing the parcel to 'Lose My Breathe' 'Crazy in Love' making up dance routines in Grandma and Grandad's front room to 'Welcome to Hollywood'. We never skipped a track on B-Day and all the kids tried their hand at lip syncing the words to 'Listen'. The 'Crazy in Love' booty shake was a world wide phenomenon and it was fun to do, I will never forget my cousin trying to learn the entire dance to 'Ego' and then 'Dance for You' no way did it uphold the same taboo as Miley Cyrus tarnishing the hard work of Youtube's Twerk Team and creating an army of pre-teen girls uploading failed attempts on Vine.

With this self titled album she brings back all the attitude I wanted to be embraced with growing up, she helped me understand that now was the right time that I needed to hear this music. Her message in her words were "finding the beauty in imperfection" and to "enjoy your life, it's short". All of a sudden it made sense to me, the obvious became visible, she is human, she isn't bionic and she isn't always Sasha Fierce, she admits that you're not too big to lose. Beyonce made no mistake with her music but made some decisions that had some people lost. She is a mother and she sings about that, she blogs about it and shares it with us all, she's also a wife and a lover and isn't embarrassed to explore this in her music either, I mean did you see the Grammy's!? Finally she is a woman, who once was a little girl, she shows her growth and I am glad I grew with her. Music never dies and I am still inspired by listening to retro Bey, old albums, interviews and outfits. Although their is a physical change the goal has always been the same. Be fierce, be fearless and be free to be who you are. 'Grown Woman' shows exactly what I'm talking about, the old clips of her younger self performing (and scarily morphed mouth using CGI) shows that some of our best memories are in the past and it's okay to go back and relive it to remind us of where we've come from and where we're going. So I mean it when I say I am grateful for Beyonce. Long Live Queen Bey.

Camden Town

Last week I went to Camden Lock with my cousin to have dessert at Chin Chin Laboratories.

They serve Ice Cream made with liquid nitrogen-generated steam in three flavours, I had the Pondi cherry-vanilla topped with hazelnuts.

It was so yummy! If it's your first time they talk you through it and explain that using liquid nitrogen to make ice cream results in a smoother texture and stronger taste, which contrasts so well from the crunchy hazelnut toppings. The parlour is very small and cosy, neatly tucked away in the midst of Camden Lock but you cant miss it because that sweet smell of ice cream just draws you in! The price is reasonable and they only take cash but don't worry, the staff are so friendly and kind they'll show you where the infamous cash machine is.


I'd definitely go again, for a quirky catch up date with a friend and then do a spot of Camden Market shopping.

LoveSounds-Midnight Memories

Wow! What a way to kick off the pre-birthday weekender for Master Harry 'Prince Charming' Styles who turns 20 today! Ohh my gosh! I mean oohhhhhh ma GOSH!! Boy blossoms into man and the Midnight Memories roll on! Their latest video was released live on Vevo and well what can I say? The video speaks for itself, if you're at the age where you know what you need you obviously understand that the boys have granted your every wish! Except that one when you ask to be that old fogey on the mobility scooter so Mr Styles could blow you a kiss or two and Tommo could smooch your delicate, wrinkled hand!! Pure LOL-age! 

The video captures the true and vital essence of teenage life in London, and the message carries globally as the dynamic fandom strikes again to break the vevo record and crash the system altogether! When I think of Midnight Memories a drunken night filled with endless selfies and a barrage of typo tweets stumblin in the street springs to mind, I mean we've all been there right?!

Liam surely has, whose to say he didn't have to get into character for the video, he became Funky Buddha's most relevant party animal post festival season and is still going strong! Same again please love!

With all this time off, the boys have become restless! Taking chunks out of doner kebabs isn't the only mischief they've gotten up to, they sparked some controversy recently making for some real midnight memories including Liam's sassy tweets, the break up of the boys and the infamous "professional fangirl" in other words, he who shall not be named! Louis' explosive live commentary of CBB on Twitter and some late night rendezvous that most of us just can't Hendall! Zayn's selfishly seductive selfies and Niall's banterous chuckle worthy tweets with the lovely Rochelle Humes! Gosh you'd of thought 9 months of touring would make you tired right!? Maybe we should all take a leaf out of their books and get on with life, make some midnight memories and dedicate it to them! This one's on me boys! 

*These pictures have been sourced from either Google Images or Twitter (I You Doodled the top one myself :)*

LoveSounds- The 1975 LIVE IN CONCERT!

So last week I went to work, caught up with some Greys Anatomy, joined a new gym oh and I saw The 1975 live in concert. Anyway the highlight of my week had to be that customer who-OMG OMG OH. MY. GAHD! I SAW THE 1975, MATTY, GEORGE, ROSS AND ADAM (okay enough with the caps lock, deep breaths) I saw them all live on stage, in the flesh and basked in their presence.
 I was actually supposed to go alone and I was terrified, what if I looked crazy by myself I thought, NO CHANCE MATE! Have you heard of a certain past time called, Indie Moshing? I've been to concerts before but this was my first actual rock/indie concert and I was in for real a treat! Indie Moshing oh how I love you, we moshed and moshed the night away and I ended up closer to Matty than when I started the night.

The crowd was so united it was like we were one big, rather aggressive, sex starved family chanting 'Sex! Sex! Sex!' I was fully immersed like Matty was after diving into the crowd two minutes into 'The City', the first song! I concentrated on connecting with the music and the boys on a spiritual level, I devoted my mind, body and soul whilst praying for another mosh session so this 6ft2 guy would disconnect his painfully bony elbow from the indent of my crooning neck. I shared the joy of the pain with one of my bffl's as I persuaded her to buy a last minute e-ticket for the sold out show at the O2 Academy Brixton. If she hadn't already proved her worth and value to me as a best bud in the, well 18yrs that we've known each other, that night she surely did, I thanked God and O2 priority moments for her existence as her O2 contract is what got us from the very back of the queue to the priority queue right at the front...stay with me now, I know it's a lot to take in. I was incredibly emotional so I moshed for mankind as I released all that energy, love and passion. Matty shook his hair as hard as George clashed those cymbals, I felt Adam tug on my heart strings as he caressed his guitar and Ross modulated the pitch of my very existence when he played that bass.

Everything suddenly became very surreal, this ethereal lighting created a hazy understanding of what my life had become, why hadn't I felt this euphoria before? Or everyday for that matter? Who was this girl screaming, crying and shaking uncontrollably whilst clutching onto me? And where was that loud screech coming from? Is that me? Is that Matty on the balcony?! Yes, they gave us everything, Matty sacrificed his body about 3 times to the restless audience, they gave us their pure talent and love they even gave us a bottle of water for Gods sake man! It was only right someone threw a lollipop on stage, a small token of our love. Matty gave us his most sensitive side, he sung 'Is Their Somebody Who Can Watch You?' a song for his little brother, this song means so much to all of us, he told us to put our phones away, because this ones for us, so in true concert style we put our (their-I'm obviously not cool enough) lighters up to show some lurve!

09/01/14

To sum the night up in one word would be impossible, it was a full on out of body experience, the night is one big blur of euphoria and a blue beam which is the visual representation of the load screams that penetrated my ears. We ended the night herding out into the lobby to buy tour tee's chanting 'Sex! Sex! Sex' I do love a good Indie Rock concert. What's that you say? Bournemouth Feb 14th? See you there love! xx 

Life Advice-Eat Clean > Get Lean

Hey Everybody! Now that all the festivities have died down and we've finally said 'No more' to the heaving snack cupboard, I think it's now time to embark on a 'Eat Clean, Get Lean' lifestyle. Notice I didn't use the word 'diet', this is because I am deadly serious guys, I'm so Pro Green it hurts!-Literally. I dropped my old gym membership, with its cheap benefits for my new local gym, more expensive and more hard work. But this new lifestyle means more effort, I have to cook my own meals (I still live with my ma!) and be sensible when it comes to portion control and timing. I'm getting the hang of it and it's so fun, making new meals, trying out different meal plans and working out which releases those endorphins! I'm a happy chap these days, I tell ya! 

However, about a week ago today when I decided to go all the way, I made a rather ill-advised decision. Scrolling on one of my new favourite apps 'Pinterest' I came across the Victoria Secret Model diet and got sucked into the dark side, where unfortunately, there are no cookies, or sweets, carbs and oh of course no meat. Zilch. I thought what could I do to improve my fitness and general health, I definitely cannot train twice a day like Adrianna Lima and carbs and meat make up most of my meals; overwhelmed I took the plunge and rose to the challenge, no meat for two weeks.I eat meat literally everyday. Now there's nothing wrong with not eating meat, there are many healthy pescatarians and vegetarians, the difference is, they have a healthy alternative which I didn't consider. Day 7 on my meat free diet I felt lighter and pretty keen to carry on, I lined (and I use this term loosely) my stomach with Special K honey nut clusters, with crushed walnuts and hazelnut soya milk (another substitute) and headed off to my local gym.

I met with a personal trainer and we worked out my short/long term goals and a six week workout plan. Everything was going well and he seemed pretty impressed with me if I say so myself, that is until I fainted in true East-end duff duff moment style towards the end of my workout. Typical. There could only be one explanation-fatigue. I was zapped with minimal energy! We finished up after I came round with crimson cheeks (obviously due to my cringing) and I walked out head down ashamed of myself. I felt guilty because I couldn't finish the workout, in true honesty the old me would have given up and succumb to the wet towel, Gatorade, pack of sensations and a pack of strawberry laces treatment; but the new me took it on the chin and learnt a good lesson. 

So guys and dolls once again I have some advice for you, when cutting foods out make sure you have an alternative which is just as good. For example, I made Thai Coconut Prawns, a meal without meat which instead consisted of really tasty prawns, lots of spicy peppers like scotch bonnet and finger chillies to boost metabolism and some fresh Sugarsnap peas. Obviously I need to find a way to incorporate protein into my diet if I'm not going to eat meat otherwise it's back to the drawing board. When feeling peckish, which is standard for me go I for some homemade Granola which is incredibly easy to make you'll kick yourself for not thinking of it sooner. I made a really simple one earlier, it contains, oats, maple syrup for all my sweet tooth sistahs! dried blueberries, chia seeds, walnuts, pecan nuts and banana. You can have it with yoghurt, milk (flavoured soy milk if you're fancy like moi) and add more fruits if you're feeling blue. 

Bottom line is kids, be safe when it comes to your health, I was scared as I had no control over my body, my brain was literally starved and parched, much like me now, where did I put that Granola? Oooh Acai Berry Juice! See ya xxx 

Finding The Right Shade

Hi Guuuuys! I hope you're all alright this is my first beauty post and it's all about them liipppsss! Finding your weapon of choice is ridiculously complicated, I usually feel just as mind boggled when looking for the right lipstick as I did when I sat at the back of my maths lessons-out of place and damn we'll confused. As perplexing as it may seem, patience and good lighting go a long way when testing out different, brands, textures and shades of lipsticks. So for a second forget about that dry spot on your face that just caught your eye in the mirror by the beauty counter and grab a shade, any shade! Okay not just any shade, you know what I mean!? 

Everyone's different and so is every brand so finding the right shade is HARD but not impossible. My go to brand (as a beginner-which I still am and probably always will be) is Topshop. Seriously they have so many different types of lipsticks that range from pencils to tints and even crayons. I personally have bought 3 lipsticks from Topshop, the first was a lip tint in the shade Bitten Berry. For my first attempt I was SO IN THERE! The tint is thick and glossy but not sticky at all, it stains your lips and is very vibrant. This is so my shade and that's why it works, I like the tint because It doesn't require much effort to sustain and pull off. HOWEVER! It's been discontinued, but check online as it may still be available there. 

Discovering my second shade was NOT a good time. It is a nude lipstick in a creamy finish and dirty pink shade, called Beatnik, I bought this lipstick because I thought it would compliment my skin tone, I thought that sticking to a soft neutral shade would be just fine. BOY WAS I WRONG! I tried all the techniques that I knew of, moisturising my lips first, using a liner, mixing colours-this just wasn't working out. I know that using a lipstick is scary because of the texture that can show if your lips aren't as baby soft as they could be, and shimmer is just a big fat no for some of us! 

Finally, the most recent buy from Topshop is again another creamy finish lipstick, which is important if you already have lips that are prone to drying out. It is in a dark pink slash purple shade called Damned, I now understand that I can have a pop of colour when it comes to lipstick, I just need to line them properly and choose warmer rather than cooler tones. 

To prep my lips for some smooching action! (I'm just juicing it up calm down) I use the LUSH lip scrub in Bubblegum because it lightly exfoliates my lips and leaves me feeling LUSH. 

Then I smear my lips with the Body shop Born Lippy lip balm in Watermelon! YUUUMMMM!!

I hope this helps if you're new to lipsticks and all that jazz and if you're a pro have you got any tips to share? Please bring forth all your suggestions, Thank you xxxx 

Life Advice-New Years Eve

Hello & Happy New years to all my readers out there! 

This post is a little more serious compared to my previous topics, don't get me wrong I'm dead serious about all this boyband/fashion malarkey but this is like life or death serious- lol-no laughing. *clears throat* I should have predicted this would happen a lot sooner therefore this post would have been written for you all to read and take heed. (I'm really trying to be serious here but I just rhymed unintentionally lol) 

We all get caught up in the hype surrounding New Years Eve and the immense partying that usually goes down, I definitely planned to be apart of the loud, free spirited crowd who stumbled down the street with all my mates down from Uni, but it didn't end that way at all. I was stumbling down the street, but with one of my closest friends who was completely comatose from drinking too much too fast. Although experimenting with alcohol can be fun as you feel complete euphoric adrenaline pump through your body, what young people in particular are unaware of is the fact that this alcohol which lots of people will refer to as the Devil's nectar, is flowing straight through your bloodstream and slowly poisoning your brain. 

Going out clubbing or even to a house party is my idea of fun, being surrounded by all your mates, loud music and a thick bass making your chest vibrate is complete escape from a mundane and dead week at work or college/uni but when that good night is ruined by someone elses irresponibility you have to know what signs to look for and keep calm so you can be an efficient help. Here are some tips for you:

When drinking:

-Know your body, personally if I drink on a full stomach a chunder is defo approaching but it is not usually a good idea to eat on an empty stomach 

-Never put your drink down-You dont want to get SPIKED 

- Pace yourself, unless you're a complete lightweight you wont feel the effects immediately, take your time, you've got all night there's no rush

-KNOW YOUR LIMITS- I can't stress this enough, limits are based on the individual, size, weight, age and gender all constitute how your body is affected 

Helping A Friend:

-Give them water but no too much because it will fill them up and force them to be sick which isn't always helpful 

-If they are chundering, make sure you lean them forward so they don't choke-DO NOT EVER force them to be sick! Their brains aren't functioning properly so their gag reflex isn't good, they could choke and potentially die. 

-Don't try to walk them around if they are unresponsive (but obviously still breathing) again their brains are slow and trying to make them walk could cause both you and them injury 

-DON'T LEAVE THEM, no matter how tempting it may be to get back to the party, your friend needs you now more than ever, if you leave them alone anything could happen, they are completely vulnerable and helpless 

-Get help, no one expects you to do this alone, if things get too scary and there's no one to help call the emergency services and they'll take over 

Anyway, keep safe guys, you don't want to be that friend and you definitely don't want to be the person left responsible for someone else's life. 

This Was Me

HAVE FUN but be responsible for your body!