Spend or Save?

A lot of factors differentiate a female from a male but one of the most obvious is: we like to shop. We simply like to spend our money in clothes, accessories and beauty and they are never too many for us; so, it's good to prioritise and know where our money is worth being spend or saved. 

I am really picky about anything; I won't buy the first thing I see and some times it seems impossible to buy anything at all as I just can't find something I like. Here's a round up of my clothing and accessories picks, where I spend or save and why. 

Coats - my biggest obsession; for me there's no such thing as too many coats and the more the better. All colours, styles and materials. I will spend my money on a coat. I love them and they last you a good time. Also, as I live in Scotland I will most definitely use them often - come winter or summer. 

Shoes - another piece I will splurge on due to its lasting quality. Good shoes can last you years and a pair of shoes is so versatile giving you so many uses with so many outfits. It's hard to grow out of shoes the same way it may happen with a top. But, the only shoes I do not splurge on are ballerina flats. With all the rain in Scotland there's really no much point; I buy them at Primark mostly for no more than £8 and let's just say that my collection has achieved a pretty decent size. 

Bags - this one depends a lot; normally, my bags are mostly black, they go with anything and last me forever therefore I won't mind to spend a little more and get that bag I've been eyeing for ages. However, I am currently trying to control bag purchases as after a certain amount and styles have been purchased, it stops being justifiable to get another black handbag *sighs*.

Jeans - I find it really hard to find jeans that I like and suit me and that is pretty much my condition to buy them; nothing else. Therefore, my favourite shops for jeans are River Island, Gap and Topshop. I used to love some jeans from Forever 21 but somehow I can't find that specific style anymore. However, for the past year or so I've getting more and more disappointed with Topshop. Although I love their black Joni jeans, after the first wash I notice a significant difference on the colour. Also, given the thin material (I reckon) they end up ripping so easily on your inner tights; happened to me a few times and also to a few of my friends. It just feels like a waste of money if you need to buy new jeans every 3 months. I still love you Topshop. 

Anything else, tops, jewellery and anything you can think of, I would normally save on. I am a big H&M lover which is pretty affordable. However, lately I've been investing a little more on some basic tops and jumpers. I am pretty basic when it comes to my upper body clothing; grey, white, black and dark blue are my go to basic colours. Therefore, I've been trying to stock some more long lasting/better quality basics which are just everyday staple pieces for me. Every now and again, like anyone else, I might go for the little splurge on something that I would normally not spend much on. After all, you need to live a little and take a walk on the wild side and all that jazz ...

Where do you like to splurge on and what item do you obsess about? 

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My Thoughts On: University

Everyone is either talking about university or about to start it. Today I thought I would share my opinion and my little experience on the subject. Where I come from, going to university is a big thing. You just grow up doing everything that will lead you to that one day when you leave your parents house to pursue further education. To illustrate my point: when I decided to come to Scotland, someone told me 'why don't you just do your exams, finish your high school, go to university, get a job, then you'll find someone, get married and have kids'. I was 18 years old and even then I knew I wanted more from life than just university-job-marriage-kids.  

Today, a few years later, I am about to start university in a week's time. I am 23 years old, foreign in this country, all my classmates back home have graduated and it's fine. Sure it was a hard to see them all finishing their degrees and here I was still waiting to start mine. Was also hard to miss out on so many academic traditions back home but deep down I knew this was the best option for me. 

A lot of not so wise choices have led me here but I have no regrets. I studied sciences back in high school. I've always wanted to be a veterinary but chemistry happened in my life and we just don't go along. I hate it, I don't understand it and I've given up trying. Then came the Law. I was set into applying for Law back home before moving here. When I made the jump in September 2011 I still intended to study it over here. I applied to university to start in 2012, got accepted but due to financial reasons I wasn't able to go. European Nationals are not entitled to a student loan until they've been residents in the UK for 3 years. My parents couldn't help me given the economical situation of our own country. So I postponed it and that was the best thing that ever happened to me. 

Since 2011 a lot has changed and so did my mind. I studied a couple of modules on Scots Law which made me realised how much I enjoyed Criminal Law. That's when the doubts started. I enjoyed Law but I was much more passionate about the criminal side of it. Last year I did a HNC in Legal Services (with Criminology and Police Studies) as I wanted to find out if Law was what I really wanted. I enjoyed it a lot and I learned so much but I quickly realised I wanted something within the Criminal Justice system and more practical. 

This seems like a big ramble but it's all just to show how much your ideas can change and that's perfectly fine. I'm glad it all happened this way because today I'm much more certain of what I want to do. I'm grateful for all the experience I gained along the way which helped me through the process. I've considered not going to uni. I've considered doing something completely different too. There is no point going to university if there's nothing there for you. Paul (my boyfriend) is a good example of that. Started one degree and dropped out. Started another one which he finished but at the end of the day, he did it because he was sort of pressured into it. He doesn't miss it, didn't enjoyed it at all and wouldn't go back (his words). 

Here's what I know: we all have doubts. If you ask me 'am I 100% certain?' no, definitely not. But I'm far more certain now than I was 5 years ago. And I can also tell you that I have that feeling of excitement and 'can't wait to learn everything'. And that is because I have a huge interest on the degree I am about to start. Hell, I screamed like a maniac and jumped around the house when I got the update saying I got accepted to this course. I guess that means something. You should feel the same way. There are so many successful people that didn't go to university or did go but now they are doing something completely unrelated to their degree. Just take a look at some of the most recognized Bloggers and YouTubers! Do something that you love and know that is never to late to go after your dreams. 

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Moving Abroad

Exactly four years ago, I got on a plane, left my country behind and moved to Scotland. Today I write this post as a reminder, a celebration and a little story, for anyone thinking of taking the leap. Words of encouragement will always be needed because leaving the country where you've lived all your life is not easy. But, people constantly search for something more, something better or a place away from home where they can feel more at home.

So let's start from the beginning: long story short, I always dreamt of studying abroad. I was madly obsessed with moving to the UK one day and had a huge love for London where I spent two weeks of my summer when I was 17. Needless to say that only increased the urge to move. Two years later, after numerous research and planning, I booked the plane ticket. Truth to be told,  my father insisted that I should go to university, graduate and only then leave. However, high school was coming to an end and economically, my country was not the best place to be and when things started to decay even more, he realised it was time to let me go. 

I had never been in Scotland before and definitely had no idea what this accent was all about. I was 19 years old when I landed in Glasgow on a Saturday afternoon. I remember seeing an unusual amount of people wearing kilts as Scotland was playing that day. Everything was new and exciting. The plan was to hopefully find a job so I could settle here and eventually apply to university for the year after. Obviously nothing ever goes as planned and four years have passed and so much has changed. 

Although I wanted to leave home, that didn't make my decision any easier. People don't believe that you're really going to do it. They don't understand why would you leave everything and go into the unknown as I did. I had a friend asking me the day before I left 'are you really going?'. Yes, in a way I had no other chance. My country had nothing to offer but poor living conditions. Today I look back and I'm glad I came. There were many ups and downs and struggles but at the end of the day, I feel at home here. I know I'm missing out on a lot of things and it's impossible to describe how much I miss the food and my family or the fear I have that people may die and be born and I won't be there to see it ... but I know I will always do the best and everything I can not to loose that part of me. 

Scotland has given me so much. I couldn't be more grateful. I had opportunities here that I would have never had back in my country and that's what brought me here. The day I decided to move I only had the hope of better things and an education abroad. It might not seem a lot to some people but the obstacles I had to overcome for the past four years only helped me to achieve everything that I am so proud of today. The reality is, people in the UK move all the time, to Australia, New Zealand, USA and as many difficult situations they may encounter, language won't be a barrier. The language was definitely one of the hardest changes to get used to. I knew English, but hell, Glaswegian is a completely extreme of the spectrum of the English language. But with time, I got there and without even realising, I just learnt. 

In the end, all is worth it. Anyone should take the leap and find that place where you think your heart is. It doesn't matter what reasons make you do it, but just do it. Don't think too much about all the details because nothing will go exactly as planned and there will be a lot of improvisation along the way. But hey ho, what is important is that it works. I can tell you that when I look back, I asked myself 'how have I done this?'. I was only 19 years old, came here with no job, no idea of anything. I didn't know any better. If I had to do it again, in all honestly I don't know if I would have the courage but that's because now I know how hard it was. At the time I just went along and dealt with a situation at a time. Two really big clichés that I can leave here for you: if you never try, you'll never know and there are far better things ahead than any we leave behind. 

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My Thoughts On: The Contraceptive Injection

Every once in a while I am hoping to do a different type of posts which will be a little more personal and that will reflex my opinion and experience in specific situations or subjects. I hereby must declare that I am no expert in any given topics however I truly believe that some times it's good to hear or read from someone who has been there or done it before and what are their thoughts. After all, isn't what we do - everyday - when we read our holy beauty blogs? And I couldn't be more grateful for them. 

The subject is not the most conventional on this one. Contraception surely is not a topic that we just pick over lunch or drinks with friends but is still present in our everyday lives. In my case, as any other gal, I used to take the pill and had always been very responsible about it. So when I heard about a contraceptive injection that would enable you to forget about contraception during a whole period of 12 weeks ... I was thrilled. 

I am not going to go into a very detailed description of this as if interested, you can always have a look through the NHS website. However, I can tell you that my selling point to try this method was the fact that most women would stop having a period altogether. It is ridiculous but we all know well how much hassle that time of the month is for us. So, I went to my GP and after a short chat about what this is, side effects and other options of contraception, I then started taking the injection every 3 months. Everything was going well until I started to notice some of the side effects. They warn you for some breast tenderness but in my case it reach the point of me not being able to sleep on my side with my arm on top of my breast. But the worst was the acne and that's why I decided to write this post. I wish I had been able to have access to more testimonials rather than just the standard list of side effects which come with the injection itself. 

My once clean and clear complexion became more spotty than ever. And unfortunately they weren't just the regular superficial spots ... it was that under skin, enormous and painful acne. Nothing would clear my skin. Nothing that I had used before, nothing new that I decided to try. I had never seen my skin in such a bad state. In the beginning I didn't care much and didn't even connected both things. It wasn't until I had tried every product under the sun that I started to think what had changed and when was it that I started the path to destruction of my complexion. I now decided not to take the injection anymore as I don't think the side effects are worth the rest. Specially when your skin ends up in such a bad state that you don't even feel good about yourself. 

Now my skin is finally clearing up and I just wish I had stop this method sooner. Bare in mind, not everyone reacts the same way and I'm merely expressing my experience so it will perhaps serve as a reference for someone else. 

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