Hey guys,
Another installment of Music Mondays. I think this week is definetly a throwback of sorts. I have had such a shitty week; it feels like everything is going wrong so I guess I tried to seek solace in old tracks that I knew would make me happy. Sorry you to bring you down but you let me bring you right back up (without the aid of a chair lift) through the tracks you need to listen to:

1. Explode- Cover Drive ft. Dappy

Oh the days when Dappy was relevant. I remember in year 7 when this band was the actual shit. Does anyone remember 'Lick Ya Down'. I used to sing it like I was a Jamaican pop star; obviously I don't do that now. No way I am way too mature. Plus the lead singer reminds me of Rihanna so much.


2. Sight of You - Tulisa


DON'T JUDGE ME. DON'T JUDGE ME. Trust me I hated Tulisa on the X-Factor she was a super boring judge with nothing to say except for the fact that certain acts were 'urban' therefore 'right up her street'. Furthermore her album was on the whole shite except for this song. I love the wannabe ghetto thug life video. I love the angry guy who looks like he could rip your heart out but when he starts crying looks like he could knit rabbits sweaters in his downtime. I just love everything about it.


3. Hey Mama- David Guetta, Nicki Minaj and Afrojack


Nicki Minaj is one of my favourite rap artists. Her style suits her body and I love the message that she gives to her fans. When I went to see her throughout the concert (at least 4 times) she told us to stay in school and get an education. Also I am happy to see that Minaj is able to champion herself as a boss who is sexually provocative. Why should people have to pick one or the other? But anyway this song just screams summer to me, it's fun and I love the rap. Plus the video has a whiff of Mad Max; Fury Road to it. Does it not.


4. Bitch I'm Madonna- Madonna


Controversial choice I know. This song is not for everyone but it is a grower. I thought it was crap the first time I heard it but suddenly the beat just took over and I couldn't stop listening. But I'm not going to sugar coat it even though there were celebrity cameos: Beyonce, Katy Perry, Kanye West, Alexander Wang, Diplo, Rita Ora (so desperate she probably would be in a video of me in a field). They were way too short to compete with the masterpiece of 'Bad Blood.' But credit where credit is due the song is amazing.

5. Going Nowhere- Little Mix


Little Mix are so underrated it hurts. Their last album 'Salute' was so good and I wish it did much better than it actually did. It should've blown up but anyway life is a cruel mistress. This song is an oldie but a goldie from their debut album 'DNA'. If you really want a treat listen to the acoustic version at SiriusXM. AM-A-ZING.

That wraps this week up. I hope you enjoy this posts as much as I like writing them. In a couple of days I'll be going on a Biology field trip even though I won't be taking outfit posts (who wants to see me in a wellington boots looking like a drug addicted rat). But rather I'll provide a feast for the eyes through the scenic pictures I'll be taking.

Much love
Michele
x

Hey guys,

I thought I would start a series about tracks that I think that you would if you would give it a listen. These tracks are normally songs I listen to while I blog or work. Sometimes they make me cry and sometimes they make me feel like Beyonce (jokes I feel like Beyonce all the time) . You can expect a range of music (bar rock- something that I find really hard to get into). I hope to make this a series and not just because of the cool alliterative title but also so I can show you what I listen to and hopefully I can get some recommendations from you guys. But anyway here we go:

1. Keep it movin'- Yazz and Serayah Mcneil
I'm going to apologise in advance this first music post is going to be heavily geared toward Empire the new smash hit, King Lear-esque show that has recently started airing in the UK. After my A-level had ended (Thursday) there was only one thing I wanted to watch which was Empire and it's so good. I couldn't be bothered to go the same pace as the UK (currently on episode 6) so I speeded ahead and I am now on episode 10. The fashion is fierce and the music is so good. Not to mention Taraji P Henson who plays Cookie and slays my whole existence. Anyway all the music on the show is original and produced by Timbaland. This particular song just makes me want to dance all night long I defy you not to do the same,



2. Drip Drop- Yazz and Serayah Mcneil
*Looks away in shame because I picked another song from Empire*. Man this boy, this song it just works. Does anyone remember Ricky from Geordie Shore I swear he had a catchphrase exactly like that- but he was a proper bell-end. Something which this song is not. The beat makes me feel all gangster, like I could make it rain in the club with my £4 an hour job and cat.


3. What is Love- V Bozeman
I promise you the last song from Empire- don't kill me. This song is so different from most of the songs on Empire. It's heart achingly beautiful with so much soul and V Bozeman is just stunning. Seeing the emotion she puts just in the video makes me all teary eyed. Excuse me for a minute I have something in my eyes, it's allergies.




4. The Hills- The Weekend
The video for this dropped last week and it is a show and a half. This song is reportedly about The Weekend and his relationship with Ariana Grande while she was dating Big Sean. The drama! I feel like we're in a playground. But relationships aside this song is a really good look inside the mind of The Weekend. He is well known for being a prolific drug user and this song is able to see into his crazy and chaotic world.



5. Nobody Love- Tori Kelly
I love,love,love,love Tori Kelly. I first found her on Youtube when I listened to her 'Thinking about You' cover originally by Frank Ocean and I couldn't stop playing it. I have been following Tori's career for a while and bought her EP but I was waiting for her to become mainstream and have a breakout hit and I think that this may be it. It's so catchy and fun. Pretty sure I'm going to be playing this all summer.



I hope you enjoy this new series. I have placed them into a playlist on Youtube that you can easily find as it is the same name as this series. I will update the playlist each week.

Please place any recommendations in the comments- I want to hear them! There is only so much Empire a girl can listen to (jokes, probably going to be listening to the soundtrack until I die)

Much love
Michele
X

Hey guys

In April I got the oppurtunity to go to Grenoble, France to see the ILL and the ESRF (really science-y places) for physics. I got to go away with a bunch of girls who I did not know at all and I was so nervous. I didn't want to the kid that sits in the corner and cries or the one who looks like she eats baby rabbits in her spare time. But actually I made some really great friends and although the science wasn't exilarating at all times (I mean there's only so much time I can spend listening to magnets- cut a girl some slack) the people I went with were able to make it great.


Luckily the friends I met loved shopping as much as I did so when we saw Sephora we knew what was going to happen. I bought a lot less stuff than expected and I think that I was so stressed about exams that I wasn't fully aware of what I was doing (I'm a retard I know). But I picked up a couple of things that I would love to show you. Just like to mention that I bought these things in APRIL and I've been keeping them closed off in a high security unit until I could blog about (Ok, maybe not a high security unit but rather in a bag in the corner of my room). I deprived myself of these goodies for you- don't ever say I do nothing for humanity. God I'm such a nice person. I just keep giving. But anway;

                                         


When ever I read Sephora hauls people always talk about the mini products near the tills. I always thought I was above this. I am superior, brilliant and I would never bend to mini travel sized products. But proves I'm not that superior and that's why I spent £7 on a mascara and I  regret nothing. This is the Outrageous Volume – Dramatic Volume Mascara





The Creamy Body Wash in Cotton Flower is amazing. Now before I left I actually read some reviews and many didn't actually love this scent. But I love this detergent/fresh scent but it's not for everyone.








 I normally really like massive statement necklaces and big ass rings. But after seeing some of Anna from ViviannaDoesMakeup's jewelry it made me want to go smaller. I found this ring in a little basket completely separated from everything else. But I love it and I've started wearing it every day, a rarity for me. But it's supposed to be a midi ring but it is massive not just on me but everyone but as long as I superglue it onto my finger all is good.


 To finish I though I would share some photos of Grenoble and the amazing things that I saw,ate and did. If anyone wants a more in depth post on Grenoble I would be open to do one. But there isn't that much except for skiing but the shopping and the food is great.


I only remembered to take a picture after I had eaten some of it- don't judge me.





Why can't the UK have macarons and Sephora on every street corner? Now that would be the ultimate dream.
Anyway I hope you enjoyed this haul. If any smaller bloggers have recently done a haul please post a link so I can check them out. I love reading them because I'm basically really nosy.

Much love
Michele
X

Watching: The DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend for those of you who aren't in the know)
Reading: Genome- Matt Ridley
Listening: To U- Alunageorge, Skrillex and Diplo

Hey everyone,

Recently in the news there have been lots of talk about one family, one person in particular. Unless you're living under a rock (or blind because the name is in the title of this post) you know about Caitlyn Jenner. I mean the Mail Online (I know don't judge- it is a guilty pleasure)  are running at least 5 stories about her daily.

Caitlyn Jenner formerly known as Bruce Jenner Olympic athlete has officially transitioned. The final result was documented on the cover of Vanity Fair and was shot by none other than Annie Leibovitz. Now when I initially heard that Caitlyn's transition was going to be on a cover of a magazine it shocked me a little. Rather than feeling like person working through their own journey; placing it on a magazine cover felt like it had an undercurrent of commercial purpose. Excuse the cynic in me but the magazine cover plus the docu-series that will premiere on E! sometime in the future made me feel like we were paying to see a spectacle rather than serious and sensitive issue that many people struggle with on a daily basis.

 But that all vanished when I saw the cover. I am not a regular watcher of 'Keeping up with Kardashians' but when I do it didn't take a genius to see how unhappy Bruce was all the time and when I saw the cover I saw genuine happiness in her eyes. That made any thoughts of money go away. She just wanted to be able to be comfortable with herself all the time and who is anyone to hate on that.

source

But what I find even more overwhelming is the positive support from everyone- I know that if Caitlyn was a regular person she may have been faced with a lot more prejudice and discrimination. But all twitter/blogs/instagram are so supportive and that has just alerted me to how far society is come. Obviously transphobia is still rife but if this had happened in the 70s/80s I doubt people would've been as supportive. Trust me I've seen it, somebody I knew decided to transition and on the whole everybody was really supportive. But you always have the low-lifes who referred to her as 'it' or deliberately used the wrong pronoun. Seeing these tweets of support and encouragement just make me feel happy so I can't imagine the overwhelming positive iimpact it has had on Caitlyn.

But for me I don't understand why it is so difficult to see Jenner the way that she wants to be seen. It's not going hurt anyone if Caitlyn suddenly wants to be known as her and personally I think that her cover gives people a greater insight into the transgender community. Obviously I am no expert in this area and if you want to do further research I am sure that there are many websites and books. But I think that watching Caitlyn Jenner's journey unfold can give us a little insight into what this journey feels like.

If you want to read the full interview you can buy Vanity Fair or here is a link to a portion of the article

Much love
Michele
x

Watching; Empire
Listening; You Know You Like It- Alunageorge and DJ Snake
Reading: Game of Thrones