India Update 1!

So I did the bucket collection on Wednesday, as you know, and I thought it went alright, but wasn't too enthusiastic to find out the total. I didn't think we'd managed to raise that much. We did the bucket collection on the Wednesday before Halloween, and after a very big Stupid Tuesdays, and it really was absolutely dead in the Union that night.


However, regardless of all of that, I found out on Thursday (at the first India meeting) that we'd managed to raise £84! And I also found out that on the Friday, they raised £150 something meaning that split between the 6 of us that took part, the total £240ish means we have raised £40 each!! I am so pleased with that, it's unreal. I said to myself before the bucket collection that £30 each would be a huge achievement, and to be honest, I didn't even expect £20 each. I am so impressed... and it'll go straight towards my total of £1450! (which is now down to £1400 after an anonymous £10 donation on my page. Thank you to that person, if you're reading this!!

EXCITING! I hope to be able to do more bucket collections soon, but I also have a few big plans for fundraising too, and have already started contacting people... watch this space...

If you want to donate, please visit www.justgiving.com/sharla-bennison. I understand if you cant donate... but please feel free to share this too! The blog, the link... whatever is easiest. I would just love to get my story heard. Thank you so much for reading this!

Ticking off my bucket list; I'M GOING TO INDIA!

So as the title suggests, something really exciting is happening in my life at the moment... I am currently fundraising as I AM GOING TO INDIA IN JULY 2016!!

I am going out there with fellow students at Loughborough Uni, and we are going to help children and women out there who are victims of the tragedy that is HIV/ AIDS. I thought I'd write up a few Q&A type things about the trip, because I'm super excited about it, and thought you might be interested.

When am I going?

• End of June - beginning of July for 4 whole weeks. I have never been more excited about a trip in my life (have I mentioned that I'm excited yet?)

Where in India am I going?

• I am going to the South of India (personally, my favourite part... its where all the amazing food is). We are staying in a place called Madurai.

Why am I going?

• Besides the fact that I love Indian culture, and have always wanted to visit India, I am going predominantly to help the children out there. I want to work with children as a career as it is, and I know that this is a fantastic way to start. As a volunteer, I will be working on a project throughout the 4 weeks.

How am I going to afford it?

• I have a part time job in my Students Union as an Admin Assistant; at the moment, that will be my main way of funding the trip. However, I also intend to fundraise a LOT and spread as much awareness about the charity I am supporting whilst I do so. Finally, I have spoken to my family and friends (and if I haven't already and youre reading this, I guess this is a message to you!) about any birthday or christmas presents becoming donations to my trip. I have a lot of money to raise, but with the help and support of everyone, I know I can do it :)

Any fundraising projects coming up?

• Yes! I have actually just got back from a bucket collection tonight, all dressed up in my Action Top, and the Indian flag on either cheek! Sneaky peak of my gorgeous Action top and paint at the end ;D It was so much fun, lots of drunken people walking by giving us funny looks! The girls (and guy) I did it with were lovely though, and I'm looking forward to the next few months with them.

Will I update my blog about my trip?

• I am so excited to be able to even talk about this. 4 weeks in India (albeit in several months time) is something that I never thought I'd be able to talk about. I will definitely be posting regular updates on how my fundraising is going, anything exciting that happens along the way, and obviously I will blog about the entire trip!!

Do I have a JustGiving page?

• Yes I do! The link is: https://www.justgiving.com/sharla-bennison if you would like to see how I am doing with my fundraising, or would like to donate! I would really appreciate any donations, however big or small, but I understand if you are not in the position to donate, so would also really appreciate shares. Shares of this blog post, of my JustGiving page.. anything that gets my story heard really.

Thanks so much for reading this, and I hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned for updates :D

London Town

 

So the other day I went to London with my sisters and dad, and it was the most amazing day ever. I guess this will be a kind of haul/ descriptive journal of that visit; it was so much fun!

We started off at a really cute store on Shaftesbury Avenue called Japan Centre. This place was not only huge, but was decorated so amazingly, and was filled with the most exciting things! The most exciting bit for me, but probably not for normal humans, was the whole aisle dedicated to green tea; there were green tea leaves, green tea bags and a variety of green tea flavoured things... Some I thought were funny were: green tea jelly, green tea macarons, green tea kitkats and finally green tea biscuits. I bought some green tea bags from here, and a can of a cold green tea flavoured drink. Mmmm.

I headed over to a small hippy shop after this, and picked up some incense and some pink agate. Next we headed to a shop called Forbidden Planet, and we wandered round for ages looking at all the cool things. This is a shop which is full of things from TV shows, movies, comic books and more; basically the worlds coolest "fandom" shop, as my sister calls it. The basement level is a huge area dedicated to comics, anime and loads of graphic novels... not 100% up my street, but I could definitely see the appeal.

We waltzed through Chinatown and Neals Yard, and came across this gorgeous little shop called the "Tea Rooms"; here my dad decided to treat me to my very own tea strainer, and some fresh green tea leaves (with chai) to go with it. As sad as this sounds to the average person my age, I absolutely loved it, and have never been more excited to have a cup of tea... ever.

After there, we headed over to Chutneys on Drummond Street for lunch; this is the best place ever if you like indian food. It was a buffet, and was all you can eat for £6.75 a head; not bad considering its the middle of London! I loved lunch, and definitely ate my fill. Mmmm.

We then went off to Camden Town, which was the sole purpose of coming to London today. We waltzed around for a few hours, visiting and seeing everything we could, including (of course) Cyberdog. If youre not familiar with cyberdog, its basically a really dark, scary shop with lots of UV light, loud music and people dancing on balconies above you. Its a really fun place to visit if you're in Camden; I definitely would give it a go.

In Camden, I bought my boyfriend a coaster with the words "Of course I love you, now get me a beer", and a man with a beer glass on it, and bought myself a gorgeous ring which is silver with a turquoise stone.

It was an amazing day, all in all. My only regret is that it was "London Live"on Snapchat... and I didn't manage to get on it :( I did my very best though... fingers crossed for next time!!

Dismissing the hype...

So if you are an avid beauty lover like myself, you will have heard of the Maybelline Eraser Eye; the concealer that all the big beauty names are talking about right now. I bought this product, after having seen a million reviews on blogs and youtube. I thought that as so many people had been talking about it, it must be good, right?

Wrong. I have had nothing but trouble with this concealer from the beginning. For me, the lightest shade is too orangey, and I'm not even that pale! Its cakey, leaves creases almost as soon as its applied, and its packaging is pants... who uses those foam/ sponge nozzles nowadays? It's not the nineties anymore!! 

I literally can't stand it. I was so disappointed too, because so many people (including my own mum!) love this product, and I had to take out a small mortgage to be able to buy it too... its so overpriced! I think in future, I'll stick to what i know... Lasting Perfection and Rimmel's Hide the Blemish stick. I'm going shopping today for a new foundation (the one i have had for over a year has finally given up on me, so I'm excited to try something else), a new liquid eyeliner and maybe something for my brows... We shall see.

Primark Nails

Long time no see, I guess. So apologies for that!

Last week, I took part as a lead singer in something that was genuinely amazing. I was a part of the MK Dons Disability Teams Awards Evening, and can honestly say it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I got to represent an amazing team of people who put it all together, and perform some smashing hits in a flash-mob type style, with some fantastic dancers and singers, and had an amazing day and night. Me and one of my closest performing buddies, Britney, performed Don't Rain On My Parade (although there was a technical hiccup, and our mics weren't working, I like to think we rocked the stage anyway ;D), and then as a group with three others, we supported Ain't No Mountain, Footloose (and can I just shout out to the amazing amazing amazing dancers who absolutely rocked the dance floor and blew everyone away!), and Everybody Needs Somebody. It was such a fab experience, and I hope to get to do more of things like this in the future!

I am aware that a detailed account of a performance is not why you clicked onto this post, however I am getting to that, I promise.

Anyway, so for this event, we needed to get dolled up to the nines, of course, as it was a suit and tie event. I wore the most gorgeous black body con with fringe, and have attached a picture below (not from the actual night, sadly... we were too busy to take any pictures!) because it was so lovely. I totally felt a million dollars that night, the dress was gorgeous and I had these beautiful false eyelashes on, and false nails.

All was going well during preparation for the evening. I had all my makeup on, lashes were on (they took a while however, but I have absolutely no complaints with them! They went on okay eventually, and lasted the whole evening without falling off once! They also had loads of different styles, so something for everyone. Hats off to Primarni for those), contour was on fleek (lol), and I was ready to start applying my false nails. They took a while, and as I just got nude ones, it was really difficult to tell which was was up with them; I am pretty sure I had them all on topsy-turvy, but they looked alright once they were on. I only had one mishap throughout the night, where one fell off. However I chucked it in my bag and reapplied it later. Apart from that, all was good. I don't like false nails as a general rule (although I guess thats not Primarks fault!), and when it came to the next day, problems began to arise. I tried to paint them a different colour, and the paint just wouldn't dry at all on the nail.

Also, my little finger was swollen, and stinging like you wouldn't believe. I think the glue had reacted badly to my skin/ nail, but either way I just needed it off. Getting it off was the tricky part. I had to attack it with some tweezers and acetone nail varnish remover, and it took me about half an hour. In the process, I split one of the other nails too... so that wasn't fun.

The true test was an hour later, when that one was still stinging, and I just wanted them all off. it took me nearly an hour to get the blighters off, and once I had finally managed, it was a disaster underneath. My nails looked like road kill; they were all red, and the glue hadn't properly come off, no matter how much I scrubbed. They felt really sore, and stinging, and weak.

All I would say, is that if you like fake nails, and normally buy a good brand and have no problems, do not try the Primark ones, as they will rip your nails off. But for a pound, and for one night, I can't really complain too much... can I?

Hello again!

So I'd first like to apologise for the fact that I have been a very absent blogger in the past month. I have just got a new job (some of you on my Facebook will already know), and it involves marketing for a local company. I would like to do a whole blog post on my blog about it anyway, so I won't bore you with the details just yet!

Its also the summer for me, so when I haven't been working, I've been out seeing my boyfriend and my other friends. I thought I'd just update you on stuff I've been up to, just incase you're interested! ;)

So the first exciting thing that happened was I went on holiday to Spain with one of my good friends. We had such a lovely time, and I also want to do a whole blog post on that too. Its just finding the time, ahhh! A week or so later, we went to see Ed Sheeran in Wembley, London, and it was the most amazing experience ever. When he played Tenerife Sea, I cried like a baby! It was epic.

I then spent a lot of time with my boyfriend, as we hadn't seen each other for ages because of his cruise, and my holiday, and uni in general. It was so amazing just being able to chill out at each others houses and spend quality time together. We haven't done much, been on a few dates and went to Crazy Pirate Golf the other day, but we've been exploring Milton Keynes on our bikes, and that has been so much fun! 

The other exciting thing thats happened is I got to see my bestie that I did a previous blog post about (the shopping trip one), and that was awesome. She came down on a Thursday, and didn't leave until the Monday. We went shopping on Thursday (she bought NOTHING... such a fail of a working girl!), out on a night out on the Saturday with my mum and her bestie (my second mum), and that was a messy night... On the Sunday her boyfriend came up (I'd not met him), and my boyfriend came over, and we had a double date at Nandos. The boys stayed over, and we played Cards Against Humanity, Mario Kart and Mario Party, and watched a film. All in all, we had a really nice few days, and I miss her already! I have an idea of a blog post I can do based around that trip too ;) 

Anyway, thats my life so far. I am going on holiday to Wales soon, which is super exciting, and then I am jetting off to Denmark to see my big bro! So more exciting blog posts to come.. they just might take a while!

Lets get fit!

So the other day, whilst playing Wii Fit with my boyfriend and my family, I learned that since I have joined University, I have put on 11 pounds. This may not seem like a lot, but my BMI is now much higher, and I'm freaking out. Hence: FITNESS TIME.

I made a really good smoothie and attempted to recreate it today, so that I could take some pictures and write up a blog post about it. EXCITING. 

Lots of caps lock today... clearly feeling passionate about fitness today. I've been out bike riding with my boyfriend quite a lot too over the past week, and I've actually really enjoyed it. But anyway, onto the recipe. 

So its a pretty basic recipe. I have a Vitamix at home (basically, just a really good blender), and so I will just list the stuff I put in, and let you figure out how to do this in your own blender. I simply chuck it all in, and stick it on the highest whack, but you might need to do this in stages if your blender isn't as powerful.

And without further ado; the ingredients:

• A handful of frozen strawberries
• A whole frozen banana
• A small cup of unsweetened soya milk
• A teaspoon of agave nectar (or honey/ syrup if you don't have any; agave is just healthy!)
• A handful of crushed oats
• A small cube of ginger (optional: if you want to add spice!)
• A teaspoon of Chia seeds (see below).

My final ingredient is a teaspoon of Chia seeds. These are a superfood that are simply brilliant. I'm not 100% sure on what they are specifically amazing at, but I believe it is a protein and fibre source, and they're good at making you feel full, so you don't eat as much in a day. They contain powerful antioxidants (whatever they are) and very little carb. So I add these to my smoothie (only every now and again, they're really expensive and are actually my dad's; if you're reading this, remember I LOVE YOU!).

Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading this recipe and have fun trying it out and adding your own ingredients if you decide to give it a go. Enjoy!

UPDATE: I wrote this blog post a while ago, just didn't post it, and have since made many more smoothies, and many more healthy meals, and have managed to lose 4lb since I started bike riding, eating healthily (and less), and exercising on Wii Fit (don't laugh, it actually works!!). Just thought I'd let y'all know!

Bucket List

So in the past week, I have ticked three things off my "bucket list". I went and met Louise (Sprinkle of Glitter) at a book signing to surprise my sister, and I went and saw Ed Sheeran live in Wembley. I also found out that I managed to achieve a first in my first year of university. Such a proud moment! Three of the most exciting days of my life, summed up in one week. It led me to thinking that I have never actually written down my bucket list... hence this blog post. Here it is! Please feel free to comment any better ideas that I could add on!

1. See Ed Sheeran live 
2. See Taylor Swift live
3. Go and tour America (Florida, Vegas and New York specifically)
4. Visit Disney World in Florida (kind of linked to the above)
5. Skydive (face my fears!)
6. See the Northern Lights
7. See The Script live
8. Meet my favourite Youtubers (Zoe, Louise, Alfie)
9. Visit Paris with my loved one, stand at the Eiffel Tower at night with the lights, put a lock on a bridge.
10. Be Tinkerbell in the Disney Parade
11. Get my Tinkerbell tattoo
12. Swim with dolphins
13. Visit Australia and New Zealand
14. Tour around China and Japan
15. See the Lion King in the West End
16. London Eye for New Years
17. Climb all of Snowdon, Wales
18. Get to the top of a climbing wall
19. See Les Mis in the West End
20. African Safari
21. Take part in a pantomime
22. Reach 10000 views on my blog
23. Graduate with a first, and do a masters in Psychology
24. Get married (eventually)
25. Go to a movie premier and meet the celebs!
26. Get a first in every year of university (1st, 2nd, 3rd year)

These are all I can think of for now, but I shall add to these 26 as time goes on and I remember new things. Hope you enjoyed reading this, and its given you some ideas to add to your own bucket lists!

Review: MUA Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter

I haven't done a makeup review on my blog yet, however I have drafted a few. As I haven't posted in a while, I thought I'd stick up a review!

I have been using this MUA highlighter (in the golden shade, they also sell a pink shade which I am DEFINITELY going out to buy soon!!) for a long time. I bought it back in April, and especially as it's started to get hotter in england, have started wearing it a lot more. I pair it with my Bourgeois Bronzer and my cream blush by Maybelline or my rose gold blush by Sleek, and it always makes me feel super pretty!

Its very shimmery and lovely, and has a good pigment to it. It brings out flecks of gold that  can look a bit strange if you apply to your nose/ chin when contouring. However, on the top of your cheeks and under the brow, its beautiful. Couldn't recommend this more, and its cheap! ;D

The End of First Year

So I don't really know how this blog post is going to be structured. All I know is I wanted to talk about the last year of my life that has been spent in the most amazing place. I finished my last exam yesterday, and my summer has officially begun. Over the next week, so many exciting things are going to happen, and I wanted to write about them, so I can treasure them forever!

My first year at Loughborough University is over, and I am so sad to see it put behind me. When I think back, back to Freshers, and Halloween, and Christmas and Easter, I think of some amazing times and amazing accomplishments that I've managed to achieve on the way.

In semester one, I managed to get a 71% overall; which is a First (top level you can get in a degree). I might not get that overall throughout the entire year, but at least I know I managed to achieve it in my first semester ever at University. Semester one also included several AMAZING nights out, and involved getting to know my flat (and one of my best friends' flat), and several good course mates that I'll love forever. I have made so many friends in Rigg-Rut (my hall) that I know I'll stay in contact with for a long time.

Semester two was when it all kicked off for me though. I've managed to secure myself a summer job, a job in the Union starting from September, and a part time promotion job for throughout. I am so excited to start all of these things, and feel independent. Rigg-Rut Summer Ball was amazing, and I'm gutted to have missed Stage Society's Summer Ball (nothing will hold me back for the winter one!!). Another thing that happened throughout mainly semester two, is that I was appointed as Stage Society's secretary; something that has completely changed my university experience as a whole. I've got to know a whole new bunch of people who I think are absolutely brilliant, and I can't wait for the next couple of years with them. 

Over the next week, I get to chill, work with my fabulous flatmate, experience Rigg-Rut day (celebrating a year in Rigg-Rut), and most importantly, watching series 3 of Orange is the New Black; which came out today!! (oh, and I get to see my boyfriend, who has been on a 17 night cruise, and I've really missed! I guess thats kind of awesome too ;D). 

In a week and a bit, me and one of my bestest friends are jetting off to Spain, and my summer really begins! I'm undoubtedly going to do a blog post about the whole week, but I thought I'd mention it because I'm so excited! Heres to the summer!

It could only happen to me: Leicester Bus Station.

So the other day, I made a muppet of myself. I decided to get the bus back home from Uni on an evening, which I never normally do. I usually prefer to go for the morning buses because they are more practical.

This time, it wasn't feasible for me to get the morning bus, so I got the evening one. This involved a stopover in Leicester for an hour and a half... which I didn't mind so much. I got myself a Dr Pepper and a HUGE bag of Monster Munch crisps (going to attach the photo because it's literally amazing... For those of you who don't know, Monster Munch are my favourite crisps in all the world), and I sat myself down in the waiting room. 

On the screen, it said that the bus to London was going to arrive at 20:50. It was delayed by 35 minutes. After having already been there for an hour, I was not best pleased to see that information on the screen. However, the screen below it said that the bus to London was en route, and scheduled to arrive at the original time of 20:15. So I was unsure of which to believe. 

I decided to download the app, at 20:15 when I had finished my episode of Orange is the New Black, and my snacks. It said that the bus was very close? So I walked outside, saw nothing, and went back inside the warm waiting room. (It was freezing and raining outside).

By 20:18, the app said that the bus was driving away from me, and was headed to the motorway. After several confused calls to my mum, I looked up at the boards. Long story short, I missed the bus because I had not been constantly looking out the window, as I assumed it was coming at 20:50. 

There were two screens. One was a departures screen, and one an arrivals. 

Basically, my dad had to pick me up from Leicester because I was a MUPPET, and didn't understand that the bus FROM London, rather than TO London, was delayed. It was the last bus going south until 2am... So yeah. I was stranded. I had unintentionally spent 4 hours in a very boring, and very cold bus station.

In my defence, I don't think they should have been due originally at the same time, now that's just confusing. Although anyone who wasn't a muppet would probably understand the difference between an arrivals board, and a departures board. Needless to say, I won't make that mistake again...

Am I the only idiot?

Excited about the huge bag of Monster Munch and Dr Pepper I'd purchased.

Very bored, I decided to take a picture of the door...

I was still there... I'd arrived at 18:10.

My fundamental error.

They're not really pooey...

Who am I?

So it has occurred to me that you have no idea who I am. I have people reading my blog from Australia, USA, Ireland and several places in Europe that I've never even visited, let alone know people there. Obviously the UK views are most likely people I know, so if you do know me already, feel free to skip this. I thought I'd do a little portfolio thingy explaining who I am and what I like.

Who I am:

Name: Sharla Louise Bennison.

Age: 19 years old.

Star Sign: Sagittarius.

Hair colour: Fake ginger most of the time, but currently a mousey brown colour.

Eye colour: Green.

University: Loughborough University.

Course: BSc Psychology.

Relationship status: In a relationship with a Mr Dominic Muir. <3

Likes and Dislikes:

Favourite food: pizza, or cous cous.

Favourite soft drink: Diet Coke or Dr Pepper.

Favourite alcoholic beverage (I'm a student, this had to be in here!): currently Dark Fruits Strongbow, but it always changes.

Favourite TV show: Currently Orange is the New Black, but I have also been addicted to Once Upon a Time.

Favourite book: The Fault in our Stars or P.S. I Love You.

Favourite song: again, always changes, but my long-term favourite song is All of Me; John Legend.

Favourite makeup item: I love all of my lipsticks; my fave atm is the kate moss one, i have a corally peach colour and its beautiful.

Least fave food: tomatoes. Can't stand the buggers.

Least fave soft drink: dandelion and burdock; it is GROSS.

Least fave alcoholic beverage: anything with gin, or peach schnappes.

Least fave TV show: um... not sure tbh. There's nothing that stands out as rubbish to me.

Least fave book: I love books, but hated New Moon (Twilight); I wasn't a fan of Jacob, so it was poo.

Least fave song: I literally can't stand most of Sam Smiths music (I know; I need looking at... sad!).

Least fave makeup item: I was really disappointed with the collection lipsticks, although I do have a few that stand out and are good.

Interests:

Books, blogging, wearing onesies all day, singing, dancing and acting.

Thats pretty much it... but last and not least, here is a picture of me! I know you've seen my ugly mutt before in past blog posts, but thought it wouldn't be a complete portfolio without a good old-fashioned selfie!

Hope you enjoyed!