London Docklands

So I was actually meant to do this post back on Tuesday when I actually went to the Docklands for my geography trip...but then we got back later than I thought we would so I gave up on that idea and then it was my birthday, so I just got a little distracted to be honest! But more on that later...

It was a crazy long day, that's pretty much all I have to say about it. We didn't actually go very far but it felt like it because it was a hot day and we were walking and getting different trains and stuff everywhere. Rather than explain what we did, it might be better to explain the couple of pictures I took and explain bits about them instead. So here that goes!

Just Relax Guys...

Sometimes life can get pretty stressful, school, family and friends...they all pile up on you and you just need some time out. It's hard to get that though in the 21st century. Social media has completely taken over our lives to the extent that it's almost impossible to get away. 

People expect texts and emails to be read and answered to in minutes, constant updates and posts and Facebook notifications that can't wait more than five minutes - especially apparently if it's for a game, which ends up being played for all 24 hours of the day...

Every day, we should make an effort...spend at least an hour away from the computer screens and phone screens entirely, go and make yourself a cup of tea, grab some biscuits and a book and relax. Those essays can wait, your friends and family can wait. If you don't do something like this every day, it can begin to build up. We get stressed in this century due to our lifestyles, we let work stack upon us and eventually we collapse.

Look after yourselves guys, know your limits. 

Try and do the 90 seconds relaxation exercise at least once a day, visit the quiet place and the thoughts room. Don't let Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, Google+ or even blogger take over your life. Be yourself. Not the person behind the computer screen.

Forever21

So this is the first time I've ever actually ordered from Forever21...I've been in the stores but they're not as popular over here in England as they are in America and if you don't live in London - I don't - then they're pretty hard to find! 

It came pretty quickly actually, I ordered it on the Saturday I think and it came by...Tuesday? I also ordered a ton of other stuff from other sites and everything and Forever21's was the first to come.

I only ordered three things actually, but I'm pretty happy with what I did order...well I don't think you could be unhappy with it because they were all pretty basic items, just replacing things that due to numerous reasons, I'm unable to now wear...

On with the stuff itself then!

Planet Spa

I think it's time to finally introduce you to my miracle products! Why are they miracle products? Because they're insane cheap and they work so good! It's like heaven! Ahaa~ if they need skincare in heaven? They probably all have perfect skin in heaven anyway...

It's a range just from avon and it's called 'Planet Spa' and yeah, they pretty much sell everything in this range with different scents and countries and everything, so I'll just get on and share my individual favourite products!

This is my ultimate favourite mask I think, it's Japanese Sake and Rice and I use this like once a week - otherwise it ends up drying out my skin - and I just stick it on when I get home from school or whatever and get on and do everything else for a bit and then like 20 minutes later just peel it off, it doesn't even really need water...but I always just wash my face afterwards to re-hydrate it. 

 It says it's a 'smoothing' and "removes impurities for a cleaner, refreshed look" I'm not sure whether I look cleaner, but I always feel it after I use this one...It also takes off all of the dead skin and gross stuff so it just leaves behind the baby skin when you take it off - so technical there...

 It's really just a white mask, there's not much to it really...it's hard to take off if you don't put it on evenly though, but that just comes with practice!

 I've never had sake so I don't know whether it actually smells like sake, but it definitely smells of rice and it's quite nice because it's not too strong but smells enough to make a difference

It does make my skin smoother and it's great because I personally have pretty oily skin and this mask drys this out and takes out all of the gross oily bits but leaves enough so I don't go the opposite way and dry out!

They're both quite thick the Shea butter mask is heavier than the Olive oil one and is more conditioning...

The Mediterranean olive oil hair mask claims to be conditioning, considering I just use these two masks rather than a conditioner, I think it does that pretty well! The African shea butter one claims to be restoring and it's good for after I've put lots of heat and products on my hair which dry it out. 

 The African one smells crazy like shea butter, I can open it on one side of the bathroom and then get in the shower and like 10 minutes later still be able to smell it really strongly. I love shea butter as well so it's great, you can't smell it as much on your hair after you've used it though.

The olive oil one however doesn't smell of much, a little bit of olive but that's about it. But it's good for everyday use when you don't want the smell of your hair to overpower everything!

It's great for everyday usage, I alternate between these two products, using the Shea butter on the weekends and the Olive oil during the weekdays because it's less conditioning and heavy. It smells enough to smell nice and fresh but not enough to be gross and overpowering.

Now I seem to have a thing against moisturizer, so instead at the moment I'm just using this on my face and neck. It smells great and it's quite thin and hydrating. When I use moisturizer normally, it causes my skin to get oily and greasy and then I break out most of the time so this saves me from that. It's also a pretty small bottle at 50ml, like the olive oil hair mask, and therefore good for travelling as well!

So these are my top three products. I swear if I got trapped somewhere then all I'd need skincare wise is these and some water and I'd be sorted for life - or until they ran out anyway...

I may need to start using some more proper eye creams and wrinkle prevention creams and everything now though just in case so I'll check those out and update later on those,

Until then though, have a nice day guys!

Nasty experience with online shopping...DONE!

I haven't ordered much online that I haven't seen already, when I go and order clothes online usually they're just because I've gone into a shop and they didn't have my size.

Last week I ordered a top and a facial cleansing thing...eum yeah.

It didn't go well. Well actually. It arrived fast so I suppose that's good but when I got it, it was pretty awful quality. I'm debating whether I actually want. If I don't though I won't return it, it's more expensive and I'm lazy. I'll stick it on eBay or something though and it'll be dead cheap because I just want to get rid of it!

In the picture...it looked pretty basic so I didn't understand how they could get it wrong, but I guess for a Hong Kong company trying to work as cheaply as humanly possible..it's pretty easy to do! 

Well if I just explain my main problems with this top and then you can decide for yourself whether you want to buy it...

1 - The stitching. This really bugs me, it's only a little flaw technically this just makes it look cheap! White stitching has been used on the collar and it's crazy visible. If they'd used black...then this problem would have been solved!

2 - The material itself! It felt to me like the kind of material used for tents...like some crazy waterproof thing. It's just a top! I'm not planning on living in it! So why such a strange material choice? But my problem is that they didn't say what the top was made out of when I bought it!

3 - The amount of creasing and flaws in the material. The amount of huge creases...and just the ones that look like no matter how much you iron, it'll never go away...Way more than the normal amount you get when something is being shipped!

4 - The buttons! Or lack of them rather...The buttons are simply sewn onto the top of the top and don't work...so then the head needs to be larger to get a head inside it...so therefore it sits weirdly. So many flaws with not having a couple of buttons on a non-stretchy top! So I guess me and this top are not meant to be! To be fair, it was pretty cheap and therefore of course it's not going to be great...but it was more than some primark stuff and they look more expensive so I guess it just depends really!

I also bought a cleansing device thing...that Lindy Tsang had and I've seen some people with it...I was going to use this...but I don't think I will honestly simply because the packaging was damaged when I received it...to the extent that it looked opened. So just in case, I won't use it because I don't want something weird going on my face! Ahaa~ remember you should always be careful with Hong Kong sellers! I always was when I bought Lolita clothes or Seifuku...so I don't know why I've begun to lax that now! Generally I don't buy from sellers from Hong Kong due to their reputation, and this is why! So I won't be doing that again! I think I'll stick to Korean and American suppliers!  Anyway, have a nice day guys!

Yay! No more physio!

*well until I hurt myself next time anyway!*

I've finally got over my back injury from karate in March and it feels great. It's been getting there for a while, but I just wanted to write this to say "take that doctors!" as much as I love my doctor, I had to deal with him stuffing as many pain-killers and stuff down my throat for a couple of months before I just gave up and went to the physio instead...best decision of my life. After an hour of it...it was great :)

So this is just a little message to you all...if you ever hurt yourselves, get physio. Don't drug yourself up. Physio, yoga and acupuncture is the way to go!

Thanks to my physio man and still thanks to my doctor because I love him! <3 Here's my commemoration photo that I took once I left the clinic today! The red patches are where I had the electric shock thing...yeah I don't know how to describe it...! I have these circles going down my spine and along my shoulders! Normally these don't fade for a couple of days, but I only have them on my lower back normally! Today I had extra ones done...so I'll have fun in school tomorrow then! Have a nice day guys and don't injure yourselves! <3

Book Haul!

So on Friday I went to the library...I was originally looking for the books that myau-club bought the other day and one by Kazuo Ishiguro that I partially read last time I was at Center Parcs and then forgot about!

I couldn't find them...yet I did finally manage to get hold of The Uninvited by Geling Yan which I also started at Center Parcs one time and  then never finished it~ So now I can finally finish! I also seemed to go around and pick up every Chinese and Japanese written book...but I managed to shorten it down to just these four and two manga because I haven't read any in forever!

I got Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong which is set in Shanghai in 1990 and I saw this because other than Asian literature, my second favourite is crime...So I think this will be my favourite of the four!

I also managed to find something by Kazuo Ishiguro - I was originally looking for An Artist of the Floating World, but someone else had it out - so I got The Remains of the Day instead...Ishiguro is a British-Japanese guy and I like him so it was nice finding something in the library because usually his stuff is pretty popular so it's hard to get it!

And finally I got February Flowers by Fan Wu...I genuinely just picked this up because the cover was pretty! So I'm not sure how this will turn out...hopefully it'll be good!

For the manga, I just got the first Crown of Love and Neko Ramen...just because it's fun! Maybe it'll motivate me to draw again? Probably not though! Ah well!

Here's a picture of all the books I got, any recommendations for what I should read next? 

Have a nice day guys! School again soon, so hwaiting! :3

Katie on... The Hallyu Wave

Some of the key idols (if you'd like the name of anyone in this picture then
just ask because it's effort to write them all down :L)

Between the elitist k-pop fans and the old school ones - aren't they usually the same thing though? - there's been lots of discussion...about the Hallyu wave...Which is always great until it comes to your country. This is just a rundown of my opinion, what's been going on and maybe you'll even get yourself a definition of Hallyu considering some of you may not actually be k-pop fans!

First thing's first, Hallyu. The Hallyu wave is also known as the Korean wave...I think the word Hallyu comes from some Beijing journalists but don't go quoting me on this because...well it might not be true! But it's not from Koreans I don't think...

It pretty much just refers to the amazing spread of Korean stuff around the world which is like a massive wave. By Korean stuff? It usually means music, dramas and movies...although I guess you can include fashion and stuff like Ulzzang in there as well! So like pop culture stuff...?

Japan don't seem to like it that much really at the moment because they're now not making any decent music because they spent too long distracted by school girls who sing and dance and now the Koreans are making all their music for them and they're even writing them in Japanese! Ahh! How nice?

The main countries involved other than South Korea obviously are China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, North Korea (ikr? Something foreign in N. Korea? What is the world coming to?), some countries in the Middle East and America and now Europe as well...here in England we seem a little slow to get it started.

Even though SNSD (Also known as Girls' Generation in English speaking countries, 소녀시대 in Korean ones and 少女時代 in Japan) were the first ones to go and perform in America as a group - which you can watch here - JYP's Wonder Girls and YG's Big Bang and 2NE1 seem to get more attention to be honest. BoA has already 'established' herself in America - but whilst I say established...you speak to most typical Americans and they won't have a clue who she is really...Sorry BoA unni, I love you and all but your American debut didn't really take off that well!

The Wonder Girls have their American movie on TeenNick, which still hasn't been aired in England yet as far as I'm aware, and you can watch the trailer for it here. I have actually seen this film though with Imaarocus...he loved it...although he IS 8 and if it's Korean then he automatically loves it anyway so I don't think he's the best critic for the film, you'll just have to watch it yourself to be honest.

My point being...although SHINee came over last year - which I missed *forever crying now* - and so did CUBE - which I didn't go to simply because Hyuna will be there, so I decided to miss out on seeing YoSeob and a potential meeting with the amazing Gina Choi because of HyunAh...thanks for that! - and now Will.i.am and Jeremy Scott are both obsessing over 2NE1 *they're mine bitches, back off ;D* and Big Bang are winning European awards everywhere...and yet even with all these awards and promos, Hallyu hasn't really taken off in England yet.

Although I'm kind of against Hallyu wave in the UK, I'm sitting here feeling sorry for myself because you've all got access to Korean goodies and I have to either walk into HMV and pay a stupid price for an album with the beautiful Kim HyunJoong's face on it...or ship it in from Korea for another stupid price and wait like a month for it to get here anyway....xD (okay, now I'm just complaining).

I am actually partially glad that K-pop, K-dramas and K-movies haven't taken off to the same extent as they have in other countries? Why? Because of stupid fangirls who are like 13 and love everything they see and will ruin my poor Taemin and TOP and turn them into...well like One Direction and stuff :L and that would suck.

I think I'm just happy being an elitist for now...and if I want stuff I'll just have to jump on the next flight to South Korea and go and get it myself.

And this is coming from a K-pop fan who's been around since...2006/7 I've now calculated roughly...that's not including my love for TVXQ/DBSK/THSK/and-whatever-else-they're-now-known-by-in-other-countries because I've loved them since Jaejoong was born *even though he's 10 years older than me*

I think this post has turned into a semi-spaz over idols, but I haven't done this in a long time so please excuse it just for once okay? I am still young for another couple of months and therefore I am still allowed to act like a kid and fangirl over groups like SHINee and LED Apple *OMFG* and JYJ okay?

But do you know what I can't wait for in England?

2NE1!

Will.i.am and 2NE1...whilst wearing Jeremy Scott...in England. Wouldn't that be awesome? Yes. Yes it would be.

Just look how awesome they look! ;D
And for those that don't know
(left to right: CL, Dara, Will.i.am, Park Bom and Minzy)

Just listen to Will.i.am chatting about these girls! And just so I know you watch it, I'm going to embed it because I know that none of you click on these links...Yep! I'm watching you guys! ㅋㅋㅋ

And if you remember back when Heartbreaker (G-dragon/Kwon Jiyong) came out, GD was accused of it sounding like Flo Rida's Right Around...here's Flo Rida with the lovely G-dragon chatting about what he thinks of the songs...

GDRAGON WAE U SO CUTE???!!! xD
Anyway.
Calm head back on.

That was a basic introduction to Hallyu Wave.
If you don't listen to K-pop but you just want to stay up to date with what's going on and want to know who the key players will be over here? I'm going to definitely put my money on 2NE1 and Big Bang...perhaps Wonder Girls and Girls' Generation and maybe BoA will even make a comeback even if she is getting older now! So...

From SM Entertainment we've got: Girls' Generation... (I honestly don't think SM will bother even promoting Super Junior much anymore, the same applies for DBSK's remaining two members - Yunho and Changmin - and BoA) and maybe SHINee a little bit.

From YG Entertainment we've got: pretty much everyone! Although the key two will and already are 2NE1 and Big Bang.

From JYP Entertainment: Wonder Girls...don't think 2PM, 2AM or Miss A will do much really.

From CUBE: Maybe G.NA? Not sure about B2ST or 4Minute really...

Others? Maybe some will get into actual bands like CN Blue, FT Island and LED Apple...but I don't think that'll ever go mainstream.
Perhaps there will be stuff on soloists like IU, Ailee, Jay Park etc.

But the key people to check out are in bold and I've linked each artist to a song for you to check out!

Have a nice day and hwaiting! ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

The Dark Side Of My 2011

The Truth Behind 2011's 22lb In A Week's Weight Loss...

As you may have seen recently through my twitter, I've been reflecting upon the mess I was in last year. From about March all the way through to July/August sort of time, I had fallen ill and was losing weight rapidly. I took about just over a month off of school - and I never take time off school, until last year I had not taken more than one day in a term off - around my GCSE's...

It was pretty awful.

But how did it start?

Well if you've been around for a long time and remember it happening, you'll remember that I lost 22lbs in a week and a half...and that was in March when the trouble first started and from then until now I've gone from a size 12/14 all the way down to 6/8. But I would not recommend it to anyone to be honest... It was horrid. Not going to lie.

At the time, I just told you all that I had fallen ill. I did in fact fall ill with different infections, colds and minor diseases all at once. (which was the main reason for the initial 22lb weight loss...when you get ill, your energy gets used up fighting the bad stuff xD...that's in really simple terms!)

But that was of course triggered by something else, my immune system can't completely drop and let in all of these infections and diseases just for no reason right?

I think this is the first time I've said this online, but over a year after the event, I think I can just come out and say everything now and actually face the problem myself and deal with it.

At the time, I was interested in Gyaru. Many Gyaru models are around 30-40kg and at the time I was like 55kg...now this doesn't sound that bad to you? ...I'm 148cm tall. I wasn't obese...but I certainly wasn't at an ideal weight either. But I did start reading Ana tips and Pro-Ana blogs like this gyaru one...

I spent most of my time reading Japanese Gyaru Magazines and staring at these girls, in the end I gave up. I started the Morning Banana Diet and stopped eating pretty much everything other than bananas. I completely stopped eating breakfast and lunch...I would eat dinner and then proceed most nights to be sick afterwards.

Life wasn't particularly great then.

I wasn't losing much weight. Certainly not the amount I was wanting. And I was getting worse by the day. I suffer from pretty much most deficiencies at the best of times...in particular, I'm anaemic. As I was barely eating anything, my iron intake was pretty awful. For the whole of last year...I did, 2 PE lessons? Simply because I wasn't strong enough.

The time that wasn't spent in the hospital or at home, I was in the medical room.

I did try and pretend I was fine though.

It was only when I started losing weight that the problem arose. I began to come down with infections, the worst being chest and lung...after this...well I think it's pretty obvious what happened. My body tried to fight these, but because I hadn't eaten in weeks...It did fail. The energy wasted in fighting my infections, transferred to weight loss...

I have only just got my weight stabilised properly, and it has been slightly worrying.

Yet this journey has definitely been a lesson to me.

I've learnt my body. My limits and where no person should take their body to.

However, this has left me pretty sensitive...I gave in partially due to media pressure and dissatisfaction...this has led me to notice others who are in the condition I was more. The point of this post is not pity, it's not to make you feel bad or gross you out. Rather just awareness. Love your body guys, even if you are slightly overweight, never stop eating. No matter the circumstance. There is no exception. I don't want to see another person go through what I did.

Although I'm more than happy with the stage I'm at now, as you can see through my activeness - is that a word? - in the ulzzang community, I'm pretty happy with my body...and yes, especially my face.

There was definitely better ways to approach my goals and ways that would not leave me in this position. I've now been left with conditions that I'm not sure will ever leave me, sure they're silly minor things...but when we're old and have loads of serious age related health problems, I'm just going to have one extra on the list now.

(and you don't want to deal with stupid "Have you had plastic surgery?", "Who was your surgeon?", "Where did you get your tummy tuck done?" etc. questions...xDD)

So, save yourself from that guys.

Stay away from the pro-Ana sites, the gyaru weight loss sections...

Enjoy your body. It's yours. Although I don't believe in a God, your body is still a gift. Look after it. 

I'm sorry if I've depressed you guys now, but I thought it was an important topic to address and I thought you guys should finally find out the reasons behind my loserishness last year. Here's a quick set of pictures quickly to display the actual difference.

Before - 55-58kg
Midway - 48kg
After - <43kg
Now - 45kg-ish 

QUICK EDIT: Sorry for this guys, but I wanted to share this video about Thinspiration... Thanks!

Garnier's BB Cream

So as you probably remember, ages ago I tried out the original samples for Garnier's BB Cream and this was from the initial testing, then when they finished it and got promoting it everywhere, I decided to go out and buy myself the finished product. I have mixed opinions of B.B. Creams...Korean versions? Yes. Chinese versions? Occasionally. English versions? Barely ever. I've tried out lots of British 'BB Creams' and the majority are honestly just repackaged foundations. I turned to BB originally due to skin whitening, my body was whitening due to the treatments I was putting on it and therefore British makeup was far too dark and heavy for my new skin tone *which you can view here in part 3 of my skin whitening post*. When Garnier announced this BB, I thought all of my base problems would be solved...turned out they weren't. I've nearly finished my bottle of this BB now...although admittedly the cream is better than foundations, it's like a crazy hybrid... Honestly, I haven't tried many BB Creams, so I have little to compare this to. It's not great though...

 So the actual name of this "BB" - I'm still reluctant to call it that - is Miracle Skin Perfector...there's so little coverage however that I don't feel like it lives up to that...It also claims to be "all-in-one" I'm not sure what the all is...but it certainly isn't BB

 Is so orange! And this is my biggest problem with it.I wouldn't be bothered about it being more of a foundation if it was the right colour, but the reason I left foundations and "mainstream" British makeup was due to the colour. With Garnier's, there's only two skin tones - light and medium - now the other products in the Garnier range I own are the colour "very light", so what happened to that tone when making this cream? Did they just assume that none of us would use it? *slightly lazy there Garnier*

 It smells of nothing so I can't really comment on it...it does smell a little like paint though, not going to lie...which is slightly worrying, I don't want to be literally painting my face daily.

It is the first BB Cream in Britain at the end of the day, it gave way to the new ones and I think eventually Britain will catch-up with Europe and Asia and develop some good ones, I doubt however they'll develop ones for lighter tones due to Britain being pretty much completely against skin whitening/brightening/bleaching. (Which could also be why Garnier's BB, although it contains SPF...it's only 15 - what does SPF 15 do?? Nothing.)

Just to show you the colour of the BB...fancy looking like
you just came out of TOWIE using this "BB Cream"?

Garnier's Intensive 7 days challenge

 Thanks to Garnier's body range, I had the opportunity to test out the Softening Lotion (Shea Butter) from the Garnier Body Intensive 7 Days range.
In this range there is also a Gel-cream and Hand cream.
Within the set of 7 sachets of lotion - one for each day - I also received two 'skin readers' with instructions on how to use them. They each had a black circle on which would pick up dry skin. I tested one out before I tried the lotion and then the other the day I finished the final sachet. As you can see from the photo of the readers below, the lotion clearly gets rid of dry skin!
So I have no complaints there!
It also smelt of Shea Butter so that was great as well!
(even if it wasn't insanely strong and seemed to just wear off unless you were 2cm from your leg/arm etc.)

So for an overview quickly:

 It gave a whitening, brightening and smoothening effect on the skin making the legs overall better, because the dead and dry skin is being removed with the lotion, the new skin underneath becomes prominent and this is lighter so it's good for those wanting lighter leg tones.

 As seen through the skin readers, the "level of dry skin cells" has decreased, the lotion claimed that we would "see, feel & smell the difference" I definitely see and feel it...but I'm not sure about the smell to be honest!

 Smelt like Shea Butter, but wasn't too strong for it to be overwhelming...yet wasn't strong enough either to be worth it really. So don't buy it for the smell...you'll be disappointed!

The lotion gives smooth, even, non-greasy skin and is also cheap at currently £4.99 from Boots for a 400ml bottle.

Therefore, I do recommend it to try because it definitely worked for me and I'll be buying myself a full bottle so feel free to have a go yourself and feedback to me if you like!

*Request yourself some samples as well by clicking on this link*