2015 so far...

After an amazing Christmas I had to begin job hunting again. Neither Lush, or HMV had any permanent vacancies available so I needed something as soon as possible. I applied for a few things and ended up back in retail, this time working at The Fragrance Shop, by 19th January! I was still looking for a graduate job but nothing had caught my eye yet and I needed something until then.

The year was going by fairly uneventfully, but in April Tom and I moved in to our first proper house! Having been at the flat for almost two years it was time to move on to something bigger and better and since Tom had secured a graduate job, we knew we would be able to afford a nice place.

I had also been offered the assistant manager position at work due to the current assistant manager finding out she was pregnant. I was actually really surprised and grateful that I was asked after such a short amount of time being there. I felt like the pressure to find a graduate job was off and, whilst I was still looking, it was a bit of a relief that something better was coming along.

In May we got a car! Tom was starting his job in June and needed a way to get there and back easily.

July came and it was time for Tom to graduate, he worked his backside off and ended up getting a first class! I was beyond proud of him, he wasn't sure if he would get it but he so deserved to so I was really pleased it worked out for him.

 

After graduation it was time for our birthdays! We ended up going away for two nights to Edinburgh, it was really nice to get away and I saw so many penguins at the zoo.

 


When we got back, I took my driving test and passed, FINALLY! Better yet, I passed with no minors which I am insanely proud of.

At the end of August I left my job at The Fragrance Shop because I had been offered a graduate job at HP. I loved working at The Fragrance Shop and the girls there were amazing, but I am proud of myself for getting a graduate job and I am excited to start next month.

So that's it, that's 2015 so far. I will keep updating this (I hope) so that I don't have to do a whole year of catching up next September!

Thanks for reading,

A year goes by in the blink of an eye...

I sat a few days ago thinking about my blog, what I hadn't realised is that a whole year has gone by since I last posted. I miss posting and hopefully I'll keep it up because, quite frankly, I have nowhere else to rant/express my feelings without the risk of bugging people.

Anyway, so a year has gone by and a lot has happened. Last September I posted that I started work at Lush and I was so excited about it. I was working with some of the nicest people I've ever met and it really didn't feel like a job because it was so much fun! Even when it got busy. Despite how much I loved it, with only a few hours a week I wasn't earning enough so, after running it by my manager, I took a second job at HMV which I started in October.

Juggling two jobs in retail over the Christmas period was ridiculously hard. The job at HMV was fine but the customers were awful. They were rude and their lack of knowledge about what they wanted made my job so much harder. I get that if you are buying for your teenagers then you might not know the exact name of something they want. But please, at least go in with an idea of what it is. I am not a mind reader, and neither is anyone else in retail, so think before you shop!

So basically through October, November and December up until boxing day I was juggling two jobs, trying to earn as much money as I could as my partner, Tom, was in his last year of uni stressing about his dissertation and everything else. It was really tough. Then, on the 4th December we lost Tom's nan, Doris. She was one of the most kind, caring and supportive people I've ever known. I think when Tom and I were first together, I was most nervous about meeting his nan out of all of his family because he spoke so highly of her and I just hoped that she liked me. It's safe to say that she did, and she was one of the most encouraging people towards us. While some of the family unintentionally made us feel guilty about moving away for uni, she encouraged us and said that as long as we are happy, she was happy. I really miss her.

So, I really wasn't in the Christmas spirit last year. Working in retail over Christmas just kills any joy you have for Christmas because all you hear is people moaning that they hate it, and they can't wait for it to be over. I usually love Christmas but I just really wasn't excited. I remember about two weeks before Christmas day, Tom was getting giddy. I don't just mean excited for Christmas, I mean he was bouncing off the walls! I could not understand why, I just put it down to the fact that he was trying to make me excited because I had been a bit miserable about the whole thing. Don't get me wrong, I was excited to have our first Christmas together in our flat but in general it felt like just another day. I remember walking home from work at 8pm on Christmas eve thinking "it just doesn't feel like Christmas".

On Christmas day, something amazing happened. Tom proposed! Now, we had talked about it in the past but I never, ever expected it because we had never had the money for him to buy a ring.
So we got up in the morning and after we had opened our presents I told him that I was going to call my mum and everyone to thank them for my gifts. He told me that I had one more present to open and I looked around and disagreed, (we knew everything that we had bought each other and I was nothing missing). I was instructed to go and fetch my mystery present from the computer desk drawer, when I opened the draw there was a small box, wrapped up. I took the present back to the front room where he told me to open it and inside was a beautiful engagement ring. He took the box from me and said a few lovely things, then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I cried, and obviously said yes! He told me that he had the 'blessing' of my family, which is something that was important to me because my mum is quite old fashioned and would appreciate that so much!
Then he told me the trouble he went through with my ring! Basically he had bought a ring from a store, gone home and then after looking at it again decided he didn't like it. He told me that it was a nice ring, but he wanted 'real' diamonds which the first one he bought wasn't, so he took it back and bought a real diamond ring from somewhere else. (Please bare in mind that real or not real, it wouldn't have mattered to me, but he always wants the best for me and I think that is adorable!). The shop didn't have the right size ring so they ordered it in, and he got a text on Christmas eve to pick it up! 'Just in time', he thought, but there had been a mistake made and the wrong ring was sent to the store. This meant that the ring he proposed with was too small so I couldn't wear it until after Christmas when the right size arrived! I was obviously gutted but it wasn't his fault, and at least I could look at it.

So, it all made sense. The mystery of the 20 year old man that was strangely excited for Christmas had been solved! He had been running around the shopping centre, visiting various jewellery stores whilst dodging where I worked so I wouldn't see him and question it. I was and still am in love with my ring. I have had a 'wedding board' on Pinterest for a few years now, because I love coming up with ideas even for things way in the future. He had used the board to see what kind of engagement rings I liked and he picked the perfect one. I definitely have a keeper.

Our Christmas together was amazing and we entered the new year as a newly engaged couple, with even more things to come in 2015. See my next post for news on 2015 so far!

My Lush hair regime!

Hi guys!

So I've been using some Lush hair products for a while now and I thought I'd share with you what I use and what I think of them!

Here's what I'm currently using - Jumping Juniper shampoo bar and American Cream conditioner.

Firstly, the Jumping Juniper shampoo bar. This is actually a purple colour but the lighting on the picture makes it look kind of blue. Anyway, I chose this one because it is good for oily hair, and my hair gets greasy quite quickly. It contains things like juniperberry, lavender, rosemary and lemon and lime oils. The smell of this is very subtle, which is how Lush intended it to be, but when you can smell it, it is a very pleasant smell. 

I was a little skeptical of the solid shampoo but it lathers SO well and feels just like liquid shampoo does on the hair! The only thing I found with this is that it dries my hair a lot. When I rinse it off I can feel how dry my hair is and I could never leave the shower without conditioning or it would be in an awful state when I tried to dry and style it. Basically this is kind of good, because it is designed for oily hair so it is meant to take away excess oil, but I don't think my hair is oily enough to benefit from it.

I probably would buy this again and just make sure that I condition afterwards (which I do anyway) but I would prefer to try another shampoo bar to see how my hair feels after using those.

American Cream conditioner is my absolute favourite! It is not particularly thick compared to a lot of conditioners on the high street, but it is a lot thicker than some of the other Lush conditioners. When I put it on, it seems to disappear as I don't get that slick, silky feeling that I've had with other conditioners, but after leaving it for a few minutes and washing it off, my hair feels very smooth and soft. This is even after the dry feeling I get from the shampoo bar. Also, when I dry and style my hair it is very soft and shiny!

The best thing about this is the smell. It describes itself as a strawberry vanilla milkshake, which is a fairly accurate representation of the smell in my opinion! I adore it, and the smell actually stays on my hair for 2 or 3 days after using it which is just amazing!

I would definitely buy this again, for the rest of my life! I am intrigued by the solid conditioner 'Jungle' so I might try that in the future if I can tear myself away from American Cream.

Thanks for reading!

Let me know what your hair care regime looks like or tell me about your favourite products!

Thoughts on Apple and the iPhone 6

Hi guys,

So recently I've had a few things to say about the new iPhone on Twitter and I thought I would create a post to explain my feelings.

To most business savvy individuals, Apple is a company that is admired and looked to for inspiration. I personally think that the way it operates is quite shameful. As you all may know, I am very pro-CSR and this is something that Apple tries their best not to address. They do not publish a sustainability report - which in 2014 I think is appalling - instead they have a website describing, quite vaguely, their contributions to 'helping the environment'. I feel that taking care of the environment should no longer be classed as corporate social responsibility, it should be necessary for every business, therefore in my opinion, Apple has no claim to operate responsibly at all.

But the main reason I don't like Apple is because I feel that they mistreat and exploit not only their workers overseas, but also their customers worldwide. People will argue that Apple are a good business because they 'know their market'. They do know their market, and they know that they can charge £600 for a phone that is far from the best on the market. Apple were once, the most innovative and 'best' producers of smartphones, and held their position for a number of years. They made a name for themselves as a premium brand and resulted in being 'trendy' and popular with teenagers and young professionals, creating almost a cult following. For some reason, these people haven't moved on. I found a picture on the internet that I thought was quite amusing..

This picture sums up my feeling about iPhones. Apple perform what is probably the oldest business trick in the book. Something which is rarely seen in the technology industry now. They imagine what they want the new iPhone to be like, all the features it should have and then slowly add these features onto their next three or four releases. This quickly outdates the 'new' iPhone and deprives their loyal customers of features that should be on the phone and have been on other phones for years.

Apple are not the most innovative anymore. They produce phones missing all the latest features, knowing that they will still make a shed load of profit because of the massive price tag these phones come with. 

Admittedly, the quality that iPhones have is generally good. The phones look nice and feel very sturdy. However, this is something that they have seemingly overlooked with the iPhone 6 plus, as people are reporting that their phones are bending in their pockets. I cannot accept any excuse Apple have for this. The defense that their phones are 'lightweight' and so are made of aluminum which is easily bent is hardly a good defense. For one, other phone companies have made similar size phones that are not easily bent. Also claims that the phone is made of that specific matierial to be more lightweight is rubbish. The Xperia Z3 is a similar size and is actually lighter than the iPhone 6 plus, it is also a lot more sturdy and does not bend in your pocket.

In all honesty though, I don't blame Apple for exploiting their customers in this way, it has always been a business that will try and make the biggest profit that they can - which is probably why they can't be bothered investing in a CSR strategy. Arguably, all businesses have a purpose to make a profit and they do this remarkably well, even in economic downturns.
I do however, blame their customers for not being tech or business savvy enough to know that they are being taken advantage of by a company that they are religiously loyal to. Either that or they just don't care about wasting money. Hopefully these people will wise up and take their business elsewhere in the future. Or maybe Apple will begin operating honestly and give their customers the best that they can give (probably not).


Thanks for reading!

Lush's 'Dream Cream' and 'Vanilla Dee-Lite' Review

Hi guys!

So I recently used two different Lush body lotions and I thought it might be a good idea to do a kind of comparison review on them. The lotions I used were Dream Cream and Vanilla Dee-Lite.

I'll start with Dream Cream. As you can see from the picture, the one I used was the new, self-preserving formula. It's mostly the same as the old formula but it doesn't have any parabens in, it contains more olive oil and is more organic. It is also a little thicker than the old formula.

I like the smell of Dream Cream, a lot of people instantly pick up the floral rose scent, but for me I mostly smell lavender. I think this is because my nose is more sensitive to lavender and I usually don't like the smell but I have found it is quite pleasant in the Lush products I have used. In other parts of the world, Dream Cream has actually been doctor recommended for treatment of eczema and it is tried and tested by people worldwide with sensitive skin or skin conditions. I have neither so I cannot comment on the effectiveness for me but it does leave my skin feeling soft and moisturised, and smelling nice!

Vanilla Dee-Lite is another body lotion that is said to be good for skin conditions, again I can't say how effective it is for those personally. The predominant smell I pick up is vanilla (hence the name I suppose), but it also contains things like kiwi and coconut oil.

This lotion comes in a bottle as it is a little runnier than Dream Cream but it is still thick enough to use without making a mess! I actually really love this product, I applied it around 5 hours ago and I can still smell it on my skin which is really nice.  I have naturally soft skin and have always found that body lotions stay on my skin for a long time before sinking in which is actually what happens with Dream Cream! This sinks in pretty much straight away which I am really pleased about.

Overall, Vanilla Dee-Lite wins it for me, the smell is more to my liking and it sinks in so much quicker, I would definitely buy this again, meaning that I would have no need to buy more Dream Cream. That said, I will continue to use Dream Cream until it has ran out because it still is a gorgeous lotion!

Bare in mind that Lush products are all about you and your skin/hair. People have different experiences with different products so I would never disregard a products just from things someone else has said. Your favourite lotion might be a different one entirely!

I welcome any questions or comments you have about this review or any other product you have in mind so please, get typing below :)

Thanks for reading,

My Lush Recruitment Experience!

Hi guys!

So I know I haven't posted in ages. I've had a pretty uneventful summer but I did get hired at Lush to join their team for the Christmas season, so I thought I would share my experience. I actually read a few blogs to prepare myself for what was likely to happen during the interview process so hopefully this will help someone in the future.

Basically I saw the advert for staff in my local Lush's shop window. I applied according to the instructions on the advertisement, by sending in my CV and a cover letter to the email address, and two weeks later I had a phone call and email inviting me to a group interview.

I have to admit, I was a little scared and intimidated by the idea of a group interview, I'm not a very self-confident person and I find it hard to stand out in a crowd so I was worried I wouldn't have an impact.
The group interview started with an introduction to the staff and the general job and then consisted of three 'stations' where we completed different tasks in small groups. The first station I went to was the 'demo' station, we watched a demo done by a member of the team and then we had to pick a product to demo to our little group. I chose 'Ickle Baby Bot' because it is adorable and I did my demo mentioning what I knew about the product etc.

The second station I went to was a 'getting to know you' chat, we basically talked about ourselves some things relating to Lush and others not. It was literally just a nice little chat with my small group and two members of staff.

The third and last station was 'finding the perfect gift'. We were each given a basket, a scenario of who we were buying for and were told to pick no more than 3 things. My scenario was that I was buying a gift for my 12 year old sister who hates pink and glitter! I picked, the Tisty Toasty bath bomb, Dorothy bubble bar and Popcorn lip scrub. I kind of sold it in a way that I knew 12 year olds were tricky, in that they kind of want to be grown up but still a kid and my products reflected that without being pink or glittery! I also didn't want to be predictable and go for some 'Fun'. Once everyone had shown the group what they chose, we switched our baskets and scenarios to the left and then had to add one more thing to the new basket. My new scenario was buying for my older brother who likes to look after himself but hates 'Dirty' products. I added Rub Rub Rub to the basket ( I can't remember what was already in there) but I made the point that it is a nice, more masculine than feminine smell and it can be used on body and hair, which is what a lot of guys like to do anyway, and that it exfoliates so will make the skin soft and get rid of dead skin.
I really enjoyed this section, I think I'm quite intuitive when it comes to buying gifts to suit people's needs and I found this task really fun.
When it was over we were all given a little freebie and sent on our way.

I only had to wait about 5 days before I had a call and email to invite me to a store trial on the 9th August! I was so happy. The store trial was quite straightforward, I had a little introduction with the manager in the store room and then a small tour of the shop. She pointed out the most popular products and told me some facts I could use while I was working. Then I was let loose on the customers! The staff on shift there kind of stepped back and let me speak to customers so that they could see how I was with them, but obviously as it got busier and I was already occupied they spoke to the other customers. I actually really enjoyed the trial, although I'm kind of shy and not very confident, I have this weird 'work-mode' switch where I will talk to anyone confidently because I have to for the job! I felt the trial went really well, I sold quite a few products including a gift set worth almost £60, the manager and the rest of the staff were very impressed with that, as was I! Once my time was up, I was asked some questions by the manager, things like why I would like to work there and my availability etc and then I was sent on my way with another little freebie!

Now, because my shop trial was one of the first, I had to wait from the 9th August until the 25th August to find out the verdict! This nearly killed me. On the 25th I got a phone call from the assistant manager telling me the good news, I got the job! The call was followed up with an email letting me know about the training days etc. I was so happy because I actually turned down another job in that time, hoping that I would get the Lush job (probably not wise but I'm glad it worked!).

For anyone out there hoping to get a job at Lush, there isn't any real advice I can give other than be yourself. People have a perception of Lush staff being loud/lively, a little alternative or bohemian and vegan or at least vegetarian. I'm a perfectly normal, fairly quiet carnivore. I'm not even a massive Lush 'addict', I have some product knowledge but I'm not a complete handbook. Everything I had tried from Lush before my interview I had loved but mostly I have a passion for the way they do business (you may know I'm a massive business and ethics geek). I also have a pretty empty CV in terms of retail experience, my last job I had when I was 14 which was in a local grocery store. The manager and staff clearly saw something in me that they liked and decided to hire me. As the job is just until after Christmas, I am going to do everything I can to try and get them to keep me after Christmas! Fingers crossed.

Anyway, I hope that this will help someone prepare themselves in some way for an Lush interview! I do live in the UK and I know that the recruitment process differs from store to store across the country and the world but a lot of the things I read were similar to what I experienced.

Thanks for reading,

University of Sunderland Graduation, 2014

So, I realise I haven't blogged in a while but I wanted to share my graduation experience.

I graduated from the University of Sunderland on July 10th, 2014 at the Stadium of Light with a first class honours degree in Business with Psychology. 

Before the ceremony I was super nervous, I'm not very comfortable being in front of a lot of people and the idea of walking across a stage (in heels, which I never wear) to collect my certificate, terrified me. Not surprisingly, I set my alarm to wake up early so that I would have time to greet the family and get ready and basically just panic. It was a full house when the family arrived; me, my boyfriend, my mum, dad and brother and my boyfriend's mum and dad all crammed into my living room while I took time out of getting ready to open my presents and cards. I got some beautiful gifts including; a Pandora bracelet and graduation charm from my boyfriend, a cute teddy and mug from my little brother and a whole host of graduation related gifts from my mum.

My beautiful graduation gifts

Once everyone was ready, we picked up the tickets and headed off to the stadium where I had to walk for what felt like miles to find the 'robing area' and photographers. Once I was all ready and had my picture taken we went to our hospitality area where we waited to be called in for seating. 

                           The ticket            Me and my boyfriend before the ceremony

After I found my seat and the stadium started filling up I was happily greeted by some of my friends who were (to my relief) sitting next to me. Once all of the students and the guests were in their seats a marshal told us all to take off our hats (we weren't yet qualified to wear them) and then ran us through what was going to happen. I was feeling a lot less nervous at this point as I found out that I was going to be crossing the stage towards the end. The ceremony was nice, it lasted around 90 minutes including the speeches etc. When it was almost my turn to go I got really nervous again, but it was over in a flash and I didn't trip or fall so I felt like it was a success!

Graduation selfies with my mum, brother and dad

Once we'd had some food at our hospitality area and I had given back my robes and hat, I ordered a DVD of the graduation for my nan to watch and my mum bought me a souvenir T-shirt, then we went back to my flat for cake. My mum had an amazing cake made for me, it was chocolate too! Later we went out for a meal for tea to celebrate.

        My souvenir T-shirt             The best cake I've ever seen

The whole day was really organised and a lot less scary than I had imagined. it was so nice for my family to come and see me graduate and I'm so happy I got a first like I wanted. For me, graduating didn't feel like the end of my university life. I was expecting it to just hit me that I'm not a student anymore and it just didn't, it still hasn't really. Nonetheless I'm happy that I had the experience! 

After graduation, I went back home for a few days to spend time with the family and then I came back to Sunderland and picked up my degree certificate (the one they give you at the ceremony isn't the real one!!)

My degree!!

I hope everyone who graduated this year had an amazing day and I wish you all the luck in the world for the future!

Thanks for reading!