GCSE - A Level... is it really as hard as they say?

If many of you did not know I have just finished my first year of A levels, therefore I have just experienced this jump from GCSE to A level.
 All throughout my GCSE's many people, whether it was teachers or my family said that the jump between GCSE and A level was hard, for a long time I didn't believe them .... but experiencing it this year I realised they were right! if I could go back a year and tell myself to listen to their advice I would, just because there were challenges that I faced all throughout the year that related a lot to the advice I was given by family and friends. Many of you will ask why are you writing this post now? But I thought as some of you could be starting A levels or thinking about doing them next year, thought from experience it could be helpful to have a few hints and tips for getting over the big jump between GCSE and A level...

1. Turn up to all lessons!
     The majority of A level lessons go so quickly! Each lesson can be a different topic to the one it was before, therefore I felt it was important to turn up every lesson to benefit myself. But that's me.... everyone is different.
2. try and work in your free periods
 In year 12 you are blessed with free periods, which the majority of the time I did use as a free period because I  am one of these people that cant actually study around friends and people in school because  I get distracted, so I tended to do the majority of my work at home. But I definetly recommend if you can work during your frees!
3. Meet deadlines
    Meeting deadlines is so important at A level, I remember at GCSE many of my teachers gave me deadlines  but extended it, but at A level the year goes by so quickly and so much has to be learnt that it is really important to meet deadlines!
4. HAVE FUN !
I know I sound boring saying meet deadlines and work but also ..... Have loads of fun and enjoy it will it lasts, especially with friends cause you will be surprised but it will go by faster than you will imagine !!
Hope this post was helpful for many of you, let me know down in the comments what you are taking if you are doing A levels. Also enjoy the year will you can!
love Ashleigh xx

5 tips for exam revision

I know for many people.... me included, their exams are over for the year. However for others their exams have just begun. For me exams are the most stressful time of my life and I know many of you will agree. So this year I decided to create a few tips for myself in ways in which to calm down and stop stressing as much during this busy period. Now that my exams are over I thought I would share them with you , to see if they can help. Kind of like a helping hand :) 

Tip number 1: music 

I am someone who can not work in silence during revision or when I am doing any work. I know many people will repeatedly say that music is a distraction but for me , music was my saviour ! With the right genre of songs I was able to focus and achieve lots of work / revision. When listening to music I am able to listening and work to the majority of music genres, but this year I discovered that I work best to acoustic more chilled versions of popular songs. So on my Spotify which is "ashxleegh" I created a playlist called "chill tunes" full of songs that could work well to. This was extremely helpful when revising in school as bad as it sounds I was able to block my friends and others around me out and get on with my revision. 

Tip number 2: Adult colouring 

I know this sounds childish but colouring was a brilliant distraction to get my mind off my work, once I had decided to stop. It is recommended to have a 10-15 minute during revision every 1-2 hours and this 100% true. Having a break during my work helped me to re- focus and get back into the mindset of it again. Colouring was a perfect way to switch off for 10-15 minutes.

Book: All the bright places- Jennifer Niven (WHSmith £4.99)

Tip number 3: reading 

Although you would be reading from revision notes or mind maps or flash cards during revision, another way to switch off either on one of your breaks or to go to sleep at night, is by reading a book or magazine. I loved reading a fashion magazine such as Elle, glamour or vogue on one of my breaks as I was able to switch off for ten or so minutes but it also allowed me to imagine myself in a completely different world, different to reality and many of the books I read too did exactly that. 

Tip number 4: Movies 

Movies were one of the many ways that would help me sleep at night. If you spend the whole night revising right up until you go to bed, that is not good for you ! I learnt that the hard way as I thought i remembered it and then when I woke up I forgot it. So some nights I watched a film before bed and I know it helped me to switch off but to also remember some information. 

Bad neighbours, frozen fever, my big fat Greek wedding, Cinderella and high school musical 1,2,3 - first 4 HMV, hsm Amazon 

Tip number 5: Exercise 

Back in January I joined one of my local gyms to try and make myself feel fitter and more confident in myself. During exams this was a brilliant place to go to switch off and take a moment away from books and work and to stop myself from freaking out. Although I did not go very often it was a perfect opportunity to clear my head ! Alongside the gym I was playing hockey for my local hockey team. Which again was a perfect opportunity to forget about the stress of exams, even if it was for only an hour. 

I know that these tips may not be for everyone but I thought that hey were extremely helpful and they can help anyone in the same way they helped me !! I wish everyone who has exams the best of luck and I'm sure you will all surprise yourselves !! :) 

Let me know in the comments if they helped anyone. 

Love Ashleigh xxx

Monthly favourites - April

As April is slowly coming to a close I decided to share my favourites for this month. For me April is the beginning of such a lovely time of year ... Spring ! The warm weather along with all the new collections of clothes makes me feel really happy and excited for summer ! So this month I have been loving mainly beauty products however a few random ones too. 

One of my many products I have been loving is my makeup revolution baked highlighter in the shade peach lights. I love this particular shade as I think it is a gorgeous pink highlighter that is perfect for these spring months.

Another one of my favourites this April, is my new urban decay eyeshadow palette. It is the naked palette which is the first palette out of the naked collection. This month I had a black tie event and chose to get my make up down by a lovely makeup artist at my local urban decay stand in debenhams, Milton Keynes. I fell in love with the Colours and the product itself, therefore I had to buy it. I hope to buy more of the naked collection as I was so pleased with the way that the product looked on my face. 

Another favourite of mine is my Rimmel London moisture renew lipstick in the shade 180 or vintage pink. I feel that this is the perfect colour for this time of year as it feels light on your lips but is also very similar to the natural lip colour, which  goes well if you don't want dramatic lips. 

Now on to random favourites, all throughout this month I have been loving my fujifilm insta X mini Polaroid camera, as I love to capture those special moments instantly, and my Marc Jacobs daisy perfume. I got this perfume for my birthday last year but I feel that because it is a sweet floral smell that it is perfect for this time of year. A sweet little favourite of mine this month is my handmade once upon a time necklace from kawaii kandy kouture. They are a small boutique found in Belfast, Ireland but her products can be found on etsy. They are handmade jewellery in the style of Disney or tv programmes and I am a sucker for Disney, so I instantly fell in love with this place. 

Lastly my favourite youtubers and music this month, is little mix's new album 'get weird' but in particular their single 'hair' with Sean Paul , along with Nathan Sykes' new songs 'give it up' and 'kiss me quick'. Youtubers for this months favourites is the sacconejolys, zoella, Lucy and Lydia Connell and Chloe Louise and Jodie porteous or just hides.

Hope you liked this post and let me know what your monthly favourites were too ! 

Let me know what you think in the comments below and if you want anymore more posts like this let me know. 

Ps. Sorry for the really long post :)

Love Ashleigh xx

Building up confidence

I am so so so sorry for the lack of posting recently ... I am someone who suffers from lack in self confidence and recently many people have been making  the confidence that I had doing this blog plummet deep under ground. It made me so selfconscious about everything that it brought me to not being able to write any posts.

What better time than to re start and re boot the blog just after Easter. For me Easter is about rebooting the year and changing  anything that you feel has gone wrong so far this year! For me that is my self confidence. Many people or close friends have told me time and time again to be more confident in myself as there is no reason to put myself down but for me that is a challenge. Four inspirational and talented girls last night told me that you shouldn't care what other people think of you and to be confident in your self because you can do anything !! Going to little Mix's concert last night really got me thinking that I shouldn't care what people think as it is me living my life not them. Therefore I am going to do or achieve things that make me happy. I am going to promise to write on here more often because even if not many people read it , I still love writing posts for readers !! 

I'm sorry it was such a long post. For any of you out there that suffer from self confidence just know I am the same and I can understand the challenges you face! 

Let me know in the comments below if you have any tips for getting over self confidence.

Love Ashleigh xx

Cow necks and fur coats

My favourite go to fashion essentials in my wardrobe at the moment are any tops that are cow necked and my gorgeous fur collared coat from river island they are just the perfect pair for this particular weather where it's cold but you can start to get away with a t-shirt underneath a coat.

Top - Zara / coat - river island/ jeans -t topshop Joni jeans/ boots - Clarks/ ring -Pandora/ earrings-new look 

Let me know in the comments below what u favourite fashion essential is at the moment !! 

Love Ashleigh xx