The Festival Wristband Debate...

Woo, yay, Reading 2015!!

I've seen so many people complaining about how stupid people look when they keep festival wristbands on after the festival season. And other people saying how gross it is that you wear the same thing for months on end, without washing/cleaning it.. (Emma.. Kinda..) So let's look at the pros and cons of wearing festival wristbands!! 

Okay, firstly, there is a valid reason behind some people's arguments; scientists have discovered that bacteria on festival wristband is twenty times higher than that found on clothes that have been regularly laundered. This bacteria can cause cuts to become infected, and, if ingested, can cause acute food poisoning. Fun. (To read more on this, click here). 

The next argument people have is that "you look like a pretentious idiot". I've seen a fair few articles, or blog posts, and even tweets, where people complain how idiotic you look when you keep on a festival wristband or two.. It seems a little to me that people are jealous that you've been to a festival and they haven't.. But they do have a valid point, as literally everyone goes to Glastonbury now, so it is a little bit common, and not as cool as it was.. 
Then there's the fact that, apparently, festival wristbands smell bad. I've not noticed it, and I've been wearing mine since the end of August, after spending the day in a field, and using hella gross festival toilets.. (eugh.. All of those germs...) But if you wash everyday, and you wash your wristband everyday, it shouldn't be that bad. And people wear watched all day everyday without cleaning them, so..? 

Yeah, to me, the type of people who complain about people who keep on festival wristbands seem to be the type of people who complain about festivals, so they might be a little bit biased. 

Now onto why you should keep on your festival wristband!!

Festivals are so freaking crazy, and a lot of fun, if you get to see your favourite bands, and hang out with friends, right?! And the wristband reminds you of that!! It's like a constant reminder on your wrist of how much fun you had over summer. Pretty cool, huh? You don't need to flick through photos on your phone to remember how brilliant your weekend was!!

They can also be a conversation-started. I made one of my lovely college friends because of my Reading wristband, which was pretty great. They show what type of music you're into, and what type of person you are.. Or they did.. Nowadays, every fucker seems to be at a festival. Remember when Reading & Leeds used to be for the punks, metal heads and misfits? Yeah, not anymore.. Apparently Metallica have become the band for under-age teenage girls, because they were everywhere at Reading. Annoying, right?! But I guess they're the type of people to cut them off, so.. 

Finally, I guess, it's just nice to have something on your wrist. You don't really need to bother with bracelets or anything, you can just pull on a pair of jeans, a band tee, put on some eyeliner, and go.. Just punk chic.. So that's a thing!! (I do it often, it works pretty well..) 


For me, I keep my wristband on because this was the first proper big festival that I've been to. I know it's only a day one, which is kind of really crappy, but I still had an amazing day, and I hope to remember that for as long as I can. It also helped me to make friends at college, which I've already mentioned, so I keep it on as a reminder of that. And it glows in the dark. Yep.. I wear it because it glows in the bloody dark. Isn't that just amazing?!?! 

Hahah!
So that's the end of my lovely blog post. It wasn't amazing, but I'm trying to get the standard back up after freaking out on you all for a few days!! Sorry!!
Here's to next year's festival season!!
- Dottie. 

So Many Thoughts!!

Oh my gosh, do you ever have days where your brain literally does not shut up? Literally every minute of yesterday, my brain felt like it was in overdrive. I thought about so much stuff. I can't even remember most of it, I only know that I felt exhausted, even though I didn't do much. 

I know I was thinking a lot about college work, because I seem to have finished a large chunk of an assignment, whereas others have barely started it. Like what's going on there? Am I just a nerd? Probably. But I do adore doing college work, especially the written stuff, because I love feeling productive, and everything that we've been learning is actually really fascinating! And it feels so great to be doing something that's going to help me to get the job that I want. Pretty cool, huh?

Um, what else have I been thinking about? Hmm... Well I was on the bus home yesterday, and I realised just how much I love my friends. Like seriously, they all mean the bloody world to me. Now I'm not talking about the people I went to school with, and who were all like "oh, I'm gonna miss you so much, we'll definitely stay in touch!!" and then they never bothered to message me. Nah, I'm talking about my lovely friends who talk to me most days, and always make sure I'm doing okay. I'm so lucky to have them around me!! 

I don't even know, I just felt so overwhelmed with thoughts yesterday, and it scared me. I've honestly never had that much to think about, I can usually empty my brain and just chill out, but that didn't happen yesterday.. I don't know why yesterday was any different to any other day; nothing interesting or new happened, and yet, I had way too many thoughts swirling around in my head.. 

Sometimes there are songs that perfectly describe how I'm feeling, and yesterday, it was Car Radio by Twenty One Pilots.. It's basically just a guy rapping/talking/reciting poetry about how he has so many thoughts, too many thoughts, and how they all keep connecting and changing rapidly, and it's just a really good song... You should check it out.. 

Hmm.. I can't really think of anything else to write, which is quite funny, as this post it about thinking.. Hah.. 

- Dottie. 

Motivational Monday - Practice Makes Perfect

Wow, I've been thinking recently that wow, since starting to play guitar, I've come a long way! I mean, when I thick back to when I couldn't read guitar TAB, and couldn't play any chords at all... Like, wow. Now, today, I'm not amazing. But I'm getting there. I think I've finally found my style, and despite listening to as much punk and rock music as I do, I love to play acoustic melody type stuff. I've also had a bass guitar since January, and despite not really having the time, or the knowledge, to learn much, I can actually see improvement in myself. 

So, I guess the point I'm making here is that practice makes perfect. Like, when you first start anything, be it walking, or writing, or drawing, or driving, you basically suck. Lemme give you an example... 

I've had four driving lessons in my life. I somehow managed to understand what some people say is the trickiest part about driving, the foot controls, but I cannot bloody steer to save my life. (Okay, maybe I'm not quite that bad, but you get the idea..) And this bothers me. But, it's like everyone has been telling me... You can't be good at everything right away, and the more practice you do, the better you will get. True story. 

So here's the thing... A lot of people try to do something, like playing guitar, and they give up pretty quickly, because they're not Jimmi Hendrix or, I don't know, Paul Simon. And here's why you shouldn't give up: 

You shouldn't give up, because one day, you'll look back and realise that, holy crap, you are amazing. And then, when you think of how bad you were before, you'll feel even better that you didn't give up. By not throwing in the towel, you're saying to yourself that you can survive hardship, and struggle, and not being the best. Or perhaps you just want to be the best. I don't know, dude... 

Just reflection... Reflecting and seeing how much progress you've made in a week, or a month, or even a lifetime. Isn't that an amazing thing? To do something, over and over, and to suddenly one day be amazing. 

Jimmi Hendrix didn't get to be amazing by sitting around doing nothing. And you won't get to be who you want to be by sitting around and doing nothing. So go, chase your dreams, and don't give up!! 

Enjoy your week, guys!
- Dottie. 

WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE, MAN?!?!?!

Honest to God. What. Am. I. Doing?!? All I seem to do at the moment is sleep, get buses, go to college, and attempt to eat.. On the odd occasion, I will play guitar, or have a driving lesson. Otherwise, nothing really happens. 

And I seem to be confused about my future, too. I've been looking at some university courses, and all of them aren't really relevant to what I want to do. Or others are just what I'm already doing in college. I'm starting to doubt my decision to do a BTEC course, and now I have no idea what to do. 

I seem to be confused about everything at the moment, I guess. Part of me wants to be this fearless punk girl, who wears way too much eyeliner, and ripped jeans and scuffed Doctor Martens and has messy hair... And then another part of me wants to be cute, and girly, in little floral skirts and snuggly, warm jumpers... I don't know who I really am any more, and it's so weird. And then there's the whole thing of I don't know who I get on with in college, or if I should just hang out on my own because there's an awful lot less drama... I just do not know anymore. 

I kind of really regret not taking A Levels, because I really think I would enjoy it, and I feel like I'm kidding myself if I say that I can do all of the practical things my college course involves. I can ace the written work, but I don't know what the fuck I'm doing when it comes to operating a mixing desk, or using a synthesizer. 

Everything seems to confuse me at the moment.. Sometimes I feel like I want to be alone, and other times I want to be surrounded by people. And the only friend I have at college that doesn't give me partial truths, doesn't do my course... And he ignores me around college... 

There's a lot more that I want to write, but I don't know how to write it, so I'm gonna just leave this as it is now... 

Bye! 
- Dottie. 

My Thoughts on Recent News...

Okay, so hopefully all of you are aware of the things that have been happening around the world recently. If you haven't, I'll just let you know a few things. 

• Around 130 people were shot dead in Paris, with around 350 (I think) others being injured badly. 
• Around 127 (I think) people were killed in Kenya. 
• There was an undersea earthquake in Japan. While there was no casualties, this can still have had some effect on people's lives. 
• A football game in Germany was cancelled because of bomb threats.

There were lots of other things, but I can't find any news stories relating to them, because the only thing that was covered by the media was the attacks in Paris. I saw a quote that relates to this, and it was something along the lines of "One death is a tragedy, a thousand deaths is a statistic". This basically means that we can ignore the suffering and deaths of thousands of people, because we don't see it, we aren't there. But when something happens in the West, like Paris, suddenly, everyone is all political, and everyone is in mourning for those who died. 

I'm not saying that it's wrong to mourn these people, but I feel as though we should also know that they weren't the only ones who died this weekend. Before I properly get into this, I'd like to say that I in no way support what ISIS are doing. I know that it's wrong, but the way that we're reacting to it is also wrong. 

Okey dokey, so, I think I've already established how I feel about the lack of coverage on things other than the Paris attacks, so I can move on from that, even if I revisit it later on. 

So these attacks in Paris. It is horrifying. At least 80 people died (were shot) in a 1,500 capacity music venue. Explosions were heard outside of a large football game. Restaurants were targeted. The attack was coordinated. People died. I cannot get over that. People were killed. And for what? Most of the people killed were under the age of 30. What did they do to deserve that?! They had barely lived! 

For me, personally, the most horrific thing was the attack on Le Bataclan, the music venue in Paris. The thing that helped me sleep that night, after the attacks happened, was the idea that it would have been a large music venue. I mean, terrorists wouldn't attack a small venue, would they? The idea is to cause as much terror as possible, right? Well I was wrong. They targeted a 1,500 capacity venue. My first thought when I read this was 'that could have been me'. It's so selfish, I know. But those people could have attacked any music venue, anywhere in the world. I could have been at one of them. All I could think of was how terrified the people at Le Bataclan must have felt when the people around them were shot. Their friends could have died right in front of them. Or what if you were at the football stadium, and you heard explosions? Or having a nice meal with your family when people fucking died, right in front of you? I will be the first to admit that, holy shit, that really does scare me. It scares me a lot. And it's so wrong. And we act like we care, but do we really? We can say that we'll stand by Paris, but we won't, will we?

And yes, the events that happened were truly terrible. Shocking. It's so awful. Lots of people lost their lives. Families lost a member. People lost a lover. People lost their lives, when they did nothing to deserve that. 

But the way that we have responded is wrong. France bombed Syria. Apparently a few people died. Surely that makes us just as bad as them? I read an article yesterday, written, apparently, by someone who was held hostage by ISIS. It stated that our bombs don't scare them. We cannot destroy what is going on there by killing more and more people. What we need is unity. We cannot argue between ourselves, as I saw some people doing on my Facebook feed. We cannot close our boarders and pretend like nothing is happening out there. Because it is. People are dying everyday and we're just ignoring it. 

We have done nothing to help, other than change our Facebook profile pictures to the French flag. And yes, it does show unity, it shows that we do care, and that we are affected by what has happened over in Paris. But even this might have been turned against us. I saw in my Twitter feed (social media, woo!) that if you haven't changed your profile photo to the French flag, you can be considered pro-ISIS. I don't know if it's true though... The world is a weird place... 

Since starting this post, I've had a driving lesson, and I have no idea what else to say, so the following will now be terrible.  

Okay, I said I'd revisit this, so now I'm going to. All that I've seen on Facebook and Twitter since Friday evening is the Paris attacks. Only a few people took the time to realise that other people died. I feel so bad that I don't know what happened, but it wasn't covered by the media, at least, not as intensely (?) as the Paris attacks. Like, I want to know what is going on in the world that I live in. Is that such a crime? 

And finally, while I'm thinking of it... Why do people feel the need to blame immigrants for this? Like, I swear we (the West of the world) caused this mess? Those people just want to be safe, from the destruction caused by something that they didn't do. 

Wow, okay, I should probably stop writing now, because I don't really know what I'm talking about anymore. 

Okey dokey guys, bye for now!

- Dottie. 

I Did the Pretty!!

This wasn't the post that I had planned for today, but I did my hair this morning, and then my makeup, and I feel pretty!!!

It's weird, because in college, all of the girls on my course always make an effort, and wear pretty clothes, and their hair and makeup is always perfect. If I'm honest, I always feel a bit of a mess around them. I usually rock up at college in a band tee that is too big, and my black skinny jeans that I've been wearing all week. My hair is usually all out of place and flicky from standing at the bus stop in the rain, and my skin is kinda bad at the moment, so that's that. I always feel like a mess. Oh, and I look like I can't be bothered... Which I usually can't... 

But anyway, as I already said, today I've done my hair and makeup, and I'm wearing pretty clothes!! I'm not going anywhere, but I feel cute!! It's nice to know that, even if I don't, I can make an effort and look pretty! 

Also, it's FUN!!! 

So now I'm going to bore you all with photos and some information about the makeup I used... I apologise in advance... 

Okey dokey, so here is some of the makeup that I used. (The nicer stuff!!) I used the darkest Rimmel London eyeshadow to fill in my eyebrows, and it looks pretty cool, hahah!! I might start doing this everyday, because having dark eyebrows is great!! 

The Jane Iredale lipgloss is the one I wore for my prom, and the makeup artist lady gave it to me!! It's probably the nicest piece of makeup I own! It's not super-sticky, like some lipglosses, and I believe that it's not tested on animals, yay!! (I put the Nivea lip butter on before the lip gloss!)

The Barry M Natural Glow Palette 2 contains six eyeshadows, and a primer, which, as you can see in the photo to the right, it's not so great, as it goes flaky... Anyway, I put the pale grey on as a base shae, and used the dark, sparkly purple/grey (next to the primer) in the crease of my eye. Then, I put on some black eyeliner (which was meant to be thin, but it didn't work...), and lots of mascara. 

I look so autumnal!!

The last thing I did was put on the cheap, crappy foundation that I own, and I probably should have done that first... Oops. 
I feel like I should point out here that I do actually know how to do makeup, as my mum's friend is a beautician, and she spent an evening teaching my sister, my mum, and I how to apply makeup properly. I just can't do it very well. 

I curled my hair using my (mum's) hair straighteners, and now my hair has even more split ends, because I don't use heat protection when I straighten it. I also used some hairspray to attempt to keep the curls (it won't work, but still), and some Batiste dry shampoo because I didn't wash my hair this morning. 

And yaaaaaaay, I did the pretty!!!! 
Of course I had to take a million photos of myself, because that's what you do when you feel pretty, right?? The photo to the right is me pulling a stupid grin, and I just like the colour of my hair in the photo above... 

I know that I probably look awful to some of you, but I believe that I look nice, despite my hair not being perfectly curly, and sucking at makeup, and putting together cute outfits. 

But, y'know what, screw you!! I feel pretty today, and I want to document it, so that I can look back and remember the day I actually bothered!! Yay!!! 

Sorry for all of the photos of my face. Maybe you should do the pretty? Honestly, even if you're not going anywhere, just make an effort. For yourself. 

So there we are. I can be pretty! Yay!
Have a nice day, 
Dottie. 

October Favourites...

So October is over, it's now November, which means that it's nearly been another whole year!! It's crazy.. 
Anyway, so I know that it's now the 4th of November, but I wanted to stick to my posting schedule, so I'm writing my October Favourites now. Just one quick point: most of my favourites will be beauty products, so if you don't care about that, just stop reading now. 

Okey dokey, let's begin!! 

My first favourite this month is the Superdrug Deep Action Blackhead-Clearing Scrub. I've used this most mornings throughout October, and although I never had blackheads, it did help a little with spots, and my skin felt so soft!!
You can buy it here for £2.69 (UK only I believe), and a lot of Superdrug-own products are either 2 for £4 or buy one get one free at the moment. Another plus is that all products from the Superdrug range (i.e. Superdrug-branded) are cruelty free, which is brilliant!! I do recommend this face scrub, although I would stay clear of it if you have dry or sensitive skin, because it is quite a harsh cleanser. Maybe try checking out some of the Superdrug tea tree products instead? 



Next, I've been loving the Batiste Dry Shampoo in Original. I have a few days off in the week now, and I can never be bothered to wash my hair, so this is brilliant! I've tried out a few other brands of dry shampoo, but they left my hair feeling and looking worse than it did before I used it. A lot of people swear by Batiste, and I would definitely recommend using it! I used to wash my hair everyday, but now I can leave it a few days between washes without feeling paranoid that it looks gross. Yay!! 
This dry shampoo costs around £3, and you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beauty products. 

Twin Atlantic at Reading 2015.

Twin Atlantic's album The Great Divide has literally been my soundtrack, I love it so much! Every time I listen to it, I'm taken back to Reading Festival, and I'm reminded again how amazing they are live! One of my friends got this for my birthday, and it's such a great album. For those of you that don't know, Twin Atlantic are a Scottish rock band, and they are incredible. You can buy the album on iTunes or Amazon UK here. 

My favourite books last month were the Divergent series. I re-read them, and they're just as good as they were the first time I read them!! I even cried when I read Allegiant, even though I knew what was going to happen. If you've not read them, you should totally add them to your reading list, because they are written really well. 

Okay, so that's all of my October Favourites! This post was inspired by the lovely Vicky over at Wings of Freedom, who has some really cool monthly favourites!! 

Well, have a good November, guys!!
- Dottie.