Thoughts On A Thursday #4 - Fomo & Life Envy

Living in a world dominated by Social Media means that we are constantly exposed with the in's and out's of other people's lives, where they're on holiday, what they're having for dinner, what they're wearing that day etc etc.

With 60 million pictures uploaded to Instagram everyday and thousands of tweets per second on Twitter it makes it difficult for us to be satisfied with our own lives. Watching celebrities go about there stylish, exciting day to day lives in exciting places like Hollywood, Los Angeles, Chelsea - eating in 5* restaurants, visiting 5* luxury hotels, can lead to 'Life-envy' upon opening these social media sites.

Many people feel absolutely fine about themselves, and fine about there lives until they see what there friends or other people are up to on Facebook, a recent article told me. Once you've seen that your Facebook friend has had a brilliant weekend and is loving life, it makes you feel the need to share your most exciting memory from the past few days on the internet - just to prove you are not boring old sod. This comes under the FOMO addiction, which stands for the fear of missing out.

People today, due to the over powering need to check social media, have become connected to this fear of missing out. Even if out with friends, shopping or on a date, people feel an overpowering need to check facebook, twitter, snapchat etc just incase something interesting is happening, just incase there missing out on something, just incase somethings happened that they NEED to know.

The addiction also includes updating social media on what you yourself are up to, the need to share with others that you are on holiday, or eating out because if you don't your internet friends may think well.. what? Why is it that we feel we need to share so much of our lives with the internet? Why does your 789 Facebook friends need to know what your at McDonalds with your cousin? Or that you enjoyed your cup of tea watching Coronation Street.

Will we ever be completely satisfied in our own lives or are we going to continue to be swamped in the importance of others. The scariest thought is that technology is still in its early stages compared to the possibilities for technology to come in the future.

The main point I'm wanting to stress in this post is that i think we should all take a moment to step back, and appreciate life for what it is, we all have interesting and unique lives, each different to the next. You may be jealous of someone else for eating in a certain restaurant or for visiting a certain place, but they might be just as jealous for something you've done. The concept of FOMO is interesting and scary, but we should embrace it rather than letting it take over. Allow it to better ourselves, do better in ourselves, not to appear better on the internet.

Disclaimer: I promise I do not hate technology, I realise that this is the second post i've done on the negative sides of technology, but I do value it too. I just value real life more.

A*BC

A week later, and i'm finally updating you on my results. If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know that i've been studying my A-Levels and taking exams, you may remember a post last year where I was confused on what to do next.

A few months back, I decided that if I got the grades I would go to university, as I found a course which is really, really exciting and sounds like it will suit me and get me into the area of work I want to go into. The course is based around media and communications, and i'm hoping to study modules in Journalism, PR, Events Management and potentially Radio and TV. I'm not going to go into what University i'll be attending as that is a little dangerous considering this blog is accessible to anybody on the internet (scary thought).

Fortunately, I got offered a place at the Uni at my interview and I was over the moon, and accepted the place as soon as I got home as my firm choice. I had an insurance choice on UCAS just incase anything went wrong but I had my heart set on my first choice, and planned to work for a year and have a year out of education and try again if I was unsuccessful in my exams.

However, somehow I managed to get grades Distinction* in Health and Social Care, which is equivalent to an A* in terms of grades. I got a B in RE which I was a little disappointed in as I know I could have done better! And I got a C in English, which was what I was expecting. Therefore I got into the Uni! I was extremely relieved and happy when UCAS updated my application and confirmed my place.

Now all i've got to do is wait for my joining details. The University is about an hours drive and 30 minutes train journey from where I live so I will be staying at home and commuting to and from Uni. Some of you may think this is boring and i'll be missing out on 'Uni life' but i'd much rather be at home and around all my friend's, family, boyfriend - it also means I can keep my job here and still earn money whilst studying.

Hope all of you reading who have had exams got the results you wanted and were successful in whatever you plan to do next, whether that is going to University or starting an apprenticeship or looking for work.

And to all of you waiting for GCSE results which I believe come out tomorrow GOOD LUCK!

Celebrity Inspired Make-Up - #1 Iggy Azalea

My Boyfriend has a big celebrity crush on Iggy, and don't we all? Her make-up and style is always bright, bold and exciting. On this miserable, raining afternoon (great start to August ay) I was debating what to do with myself, so I looked through my blog post ideas list and came across 'celebrity inspired make-up' and immediately Iggy popped into my head. I typed her name into google images and scrolled through the pics! My favourite look of hers is the bright pink lipstick and big bold eye-liner look that she does oh so well. So I gave it a shot. At first, I did consider filming me attempt it, and half way through my phone lost battery (note to self - always charge phone before filming) so unfortunately pictures will have to suffice. 

Below is the picture I chose to use of Iggy, I had it in front of me to look at throughout.

 Her face makeup is quite simple so I chose not to use foundation, instead I hid all blemishes and discolouration with concealer. As you can see the make-up artist has used highlighter and contouring to exaggerate Iggy's cheek bones, to imitate this I used my No 7 bronzer just below my cheekbone. 

As I am naturally blonde, my eye-brows are blonde and can hardly be seen. I used 'Cinnamon' from my Estee Lauder eye-shadow palette to colour them in, making them stand out a bit more as Iggy's do. I then used my BROWdrama from Maybelline to set them into place. For a base on my eyes I used Studio primer. Then covered them in 'Freestyle' from my Urban Decay Palette. On the lid of my eye I used 'Cinnamon' again as the lid of Iggy's eyes is clearly darker than under her brow. I then used Ted Baker liquid eyeliner to create flicks on my eyes and coloured it in, a lot thicker than I am used to but I think it looks good, especially for a night out. I then used my normal mascara's that i've spoke of in the past, Illegal Length by Maybelline and Scandal Eyes by Rimmel London. 

On my lips I used a product I got given at London Fashion Weekend last year. I haven't really worn in it very much, but I am definitely going to start to wear it more. This lipstick really completes the look and ties it all together. The lipstick is 'Fuchsia Flash' from Maybelline, if you can get your hands on a bright lipstick I think it's definitely worth it as your lip colour can completely change your face. 

           

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