A-Level Results Day 2014: A Guide for Everyone

Once upon a Thursday, many moons ago I picked up my A-Level results and quite frankly I didn't have a clue what things meant. I knew I didn't get into my first choice (that B in physics was always optimistic) and I didn't want to go to my insurance place. I therefore went into clearing. An odd process which I knew little about and made most of my decisions based on the fact the woman on the phone said there would be good shopping near by. Yes 18 year old me made wise choices.

Now however I know a lot more about the whole process from going through it as a tutor, so I thought I would use this chance to impart some wisdom and present your options, whatever your situation.

1. "I got better results than expected in my exams"

Congratulations! In this case you have a few choices. If you are happy with your first choice University then you needn't do a thing other than make sure you book your accommodation ASAP. If however you want to take advantage of your improved marks you can enter a process called 'Adjustment'. You now have the opportunity to apply to other universities who perhaps you hadn't though you'd meet the criteria for. If you achieve over AAB, most universities will consider taking you on, so long as there are places available, so get in quick.

2. "My results got me into my first choice university, but now i'm unsure"

Congrats to you too! Most universities will hold an open day this coming weekend so anyone who applies to the university through clearing, or perhaps as an insurance and hadn't been to an open day gets a chance to look around. I would strongly advise you to visit your uni if you are unsure, look around (and potentially book) your accommodation, chat to your prospective tutors and be sure you are happy with your decision. 

3. "I didn't meet the offer for my first choice but they are still holding me"

This happens a lot. If you do not meet your offer the university may try and hold on to you in case they have a space for you to fill if other people also don't meet their offers. The downside of this for you is that often they won't have a space and in the mean while you are unable to accept an offer for another university. Get on the phone to them and get them to release you. They should do this within 24 hours.

4. "I'm in Clearing, there won't be any good places left"

Not True, students with AAB don't count towards the cap that universities can recruit. Also if one department fails to recruit, others may take on extra students to meet the target number. This is a game for universities but for you means that even Top 20 universities and many Russell Group unis will have a few places in clearing....the downside? You need to get in quick.

How Clearing works:

• you phone the university you are interested in and give them your results
• they will let you know if you meet the entry requirements
• if you do they may send you an offer...you cannot act upon this until 5pm on Thursday 14th August, but once offered as long as your accept before it expires, the place is yours.
• once you have a place through clearing you need to get on and book your accommodation and also try and arrange a visit to the city/town if you are moving away.

So there you have it. Your options explored. Results day is a roller coaster of emotions and also mighty confusing if you don't know what your results mean for you. The main thing to remember is that you have lots of options and if in doubt, phone the university/tweet them as there will be loads of people on hand to help you make the right choice for you.

Beautiful Handmade Jewellery for the Budget Conscious

Last week I was looking for some pearl earrings and stumbled across the lovely Sarah from Sarah Brooks Jewellery and it got me thinking about handmade jewellery. I have very sensitive skin so all my jewellery must be sterling silver or gold. I can't do highstreet jewellery *sob Topshop earrings sob* but it has meant that I have discovered a wealth of fantastic British sellers who are making handmade jewellery at reasonable prices, result!

The pearl earrings, as mentioned above are from Sarah and are natural freshwater pearls set onto a sterling silver back. These are utterly beautiful and take on a slightly different colour depending on the light. While some might think of pearls as being the jewellery of choice for grandmothers they are wrong. Pearls are universally flattering and look fantastic either with hair pulled back away from the face or peeking through strands of longer hair. 

My mother has long been an advocate of pearls and I have to admit I wished I had listened to her sooner. Things to consider when purchasing, is it a real pearl and what are the earrings backed with. This is very important if like me you have a nickel allergy.

Follow Sarah on twitter @SarahBJewellery  

The beautiful Bow Earrings were actually a birthday gift from my boyfriend and he totally hit the nail on the head! I had been looking at various 'bow styles' online but hadn't found any that I loved. He found Silver Rose Jewellery on Etsy but she has a full website that showcases all of Katie's beautiful pieces.

Again these are made entirely of sterling silver and are small enough to be really comfortable yet still get a lot of compliments every time I wear them. Check out the rest of the collection online or follow Katie on Twitter @SilverRose3.

Do you like to wear handmade jewellery? Let me know your favourite sellers or those you eye up on Etsy.

The "Whats Up" with Facial Scrubs

Do you scrub? Its a bit of a marmite topic, some people swear by manual exfoliation such as the Clarasonic, others will wax lyrical about acid based exfoliators. Personally my skin can't tolerate either of those as exfoliation so I tend to opt for a simple facial scrub.

In times gone by I used to think that I couldn't exfoliate my skin because it was dry/sensitive. Recently however I have found that my skin needed a polish in order to properly absorb the great moisturisers I was using and heal.

My long time 'go to' face scrub has been the Clinique 7 Day Scrub Cream which is daily gentle but can be worked into the skin to increase radiance and give a super soft feel. As with all Clinique products the scrub is hypoallergenic and tested for sensitivities which is a bonus and as it foams up slightly could also be combined with a clarasonic or similar. Personally I like to lather it up on wet skin and work in with my fingers. I then use a hot face cloth to remove before toning my skin.

A new addition to the fold however is the Soap and Glory Scrubatomic Amazing Daily Face Polish which I picked up recently on a trip to Boots while on holiday having left my Clinique offering at home. This is another 'finely abrasive' facial scrub and I love the smell of it, it smells like the facial wipes and other items in the Soap and Glory Skincare line. 

The scrub states that it is for all skin types and I found that even during a flare up of sensitivity I could use this product although I did find I needed to rinse my skin well and moisturise straight away as my skin felt slightly tight.

All in all these two are very similar and to be honest you probably don't need both in your arsenal. The Soap and Glory scrub is only £9 for 100ml where as the Clinique scrub is £19 per 100ml, so from a financial point of view the choice is fairly straight forward.

How do you exfoliate?

"Home Made" Biscuits

We are back with another Monday Bake to kick off the week. This one is a twist on a traditional 'fork biscuit' recipe which I fondly remember making with my Gran as a child and taste just as good as shortbread but with half the faff!

For this bake you will need:

• 100g butter (unsalted)
• 50g Caster Sugar
• 150g Self Raising Flour
• 1tsp Vanilla Extract 

Cube the butter into a mid sized mixing bowl. Add the flour and rub into a breadcrumb texture. Then add the sugar and vanilla and mix together until the mixture comes together to resemble a dough. At this point the dough will be VERY sticky. Place the dough into the fridge for at least 30 minutes to chill.

Once the dough is chilled, portion the dough into 16(isn) small balls. Roll these in your palms and place onto a greased baking tray. If you are using a cookie press, use a bowl to dust the stamp in flour before attempting to stamp the biscuits.

Once all the cookies are stamped, place into a preheated oven at 180 degrees fan, gas mark 4 and bake for 15-20 minutes.

As you can see, the imprint on this biscuits didn't really hold. In retrospect the mixture is too buttery and they don't hold their shape particularly well. That said they are very tasty and 'fork biscuits' in whatever form they take are a timeless classic.

Right, lets put the kettle on and these will be perfect for GBBO on Wednesday. Norman is fast becoming a fave in our house, who are you backing for this years Bake Off Champion?

Let's Catch Up...

Since I started writing this little blog about 8 weeks ago we seem to be growing in numbers week on week. This pleases me greatly and baffles me in equal quantity, but seen aw we seem to be a collective bunch from across the globe I thought it would be high time to catch up.

If you've been here since the beginning, great stuff, but if not, here is what you may have missed along the way. As an aside, my posts go up at 9am, Monday - Friday and an occasion weekend roundup on a sunday night if I've done something more exciting with my weekend than housework and trips to the supermarket.

R-L

My Sensationail Review complete with spooky pictures of what nails look like under a UV light. Also along the top row is my comprehensive guide of all things to consider when you have guests coming to stay in the OMG The Guest Arrive Tomorrow Checklist...because everyone loves a checklist! Then the final post on the top row is my French Pharmacy Skincare Edit from a few weeks ago, all the great stuff and none of the having to cram into hand luggage...result!

The second row looks at my 'If I Could Only Choose 5' Brushes Edit (it was meant to be one, but no-one is that minimal) followed by perhaps the most foolproof and impressive of all bakes the Lemon Drizzle Bake, courtesy of Ms Mary Berry! Just in time for GBBO. Then finally we have the Chanel Vs Chanel Roundup which I wrote based on being the most indecisive of all beings and ended up spending £66 on foundation....don't tell my mother!!

The final row starts with The Must Have Miniatures Guide, perfect for when only taking hand luggage and needing to get everything under 100ml and into a clear plastic bag. Then we have a bit of a flashback to one of my early posts looking at the Naked 3 Palette complete with a very neutral ducky pink eye. Last but not least we have The Summer Shoes Showdown, a great look at how to have shoes for all occasions without having 100 pairs....I still haven't managed to cull the other 20 pairs I have sitting unloved...oops!

So this is really just a Thank You for the first thousand views, and hope you enjoy catching up on any of the top posts that you may have missed along the way. 

Guacamole Made Simple

Looking for Guac made easy? Well here is your saving grace. I am not a fan of shop bought guacamole, I don't quite trust it. Homemade guacamole will only last a day, how can the shop bought stuff last so long? Either way I don't want to know nor have the preservatives so I have taken to making my own. The recipe below is of course best suited adjusted to your own taste but this is a good base.

You will need:

• One Ripe Avacado
• 4 Baby Plum Tomatoes
• 1/4 Red Onion
• 1 clove of garlic (I used two)
• Lime Juice
• Salt and Pepper

In true lazy girl style I simply add all of my ingredients into a mini chopper and blitz until the desired consistency. I personally like a chunky guacamole but this will produce a smooth puree if you keep blitzing.

Also if you don't have a mini chopper or food processor, mashing the avocado with a fork and chopping the other ingredients finely will yield a similar 'more rustic looking' result.

This pic doesn't actually do it justice, it was pretty green still even though my avocado wasn't quite ripe. Don't scrimp on the seasoning, a good pinch of salt and more of pepper is definitely needed for this beaut. Serve with tortilla chips, veggie sticks or fresh tiger bread for a quick homemade dip that will leave you with a long list of people wanting the recipe off you. 

Going Sulphate Free? Here's the 101

Just before going on holiday I had my colour refreshed in my hair. As a naturally very ashy blonde I have warmer blonde highlights put in to warm it up a little which in the summer definitely compliments my skin tone. When I was taking to my hairdresser she was once again telling me about the benefits of going sulphate free. Sulphates are the foaming agents found in most hair care products and have been widely reported to weaken the hair structure, discourage growth and perhaps the scariest of all even have cancer links. 

I have used sulphate free products before and I am a long time fan of the Paul Mitchell Awauphi Wild Ginger range however is is mighty pricey. A set of the shampoo and conditioner will set your back between £35 and £40!! I have recently however been trying a more budget friendly alternative and after a few washes I can report that it hits the nail on the head.

The L'Oreal Ever Pure Colour Care System caught my eye, mainly because it was on offer but also because of the packaging. I love a tube in the shower, much easier to deal with and stops the wastage of pridcts that you get in bottles.

The shampoo (available half price in Boots) is a great sulphate free formula which lathers easily (a common failure in sulphate free products) and leaves hair clean. It isn't a clarifying formula but neither is it intensely moisturising in my opinion. If you have wiry or very dry hair this one will not be for you. 

The conditioner (also half price in Boots) in my opinion is a little on the thin side for a 'colour care and moisture' conditioner and does not feel as nourishing as some others I've tried. That said my tangle teaser went through with little effort and once dried the hair feels soft and not dry at all. The other slight issue I have with the conditioner is the smell, it is rosemary and mint. It is refreshing but slightly odd combination, particularly when you consider the flavours are more commonly found on roast lamb!!

All in all I like the products and at half price they are a steal. I would be very reluctant now to go back to paying £15+ a bottle for sulphate free products although perhaps next time I will spend a little more time sniffing the bottles first!

Have you gone sulphate free? Have you noticed a difference?

The Review: Sensationail Gel Manicure

I have been a long time fan of salon gel manicures, and last week while on holiday and perusing the aisles of Boots (some things never change) I decided to take the plunge and have a go at the "At Home Gel Manicure" from Sensationail. The starter kit, which contains enough for 10 manicures plus the lamp, retails for £69.99 and promises two weeks of perfect polish. I argued that this makes each gel mani cost only £7 and there is nowhere near me that I could get a treatment for that price!

The kit is available in 5 starter colours and I picked Chiffon Pink. I also had a Boots voucher for 500 points on a £50+ spend so really it was only £65. The instructions inside the kit are clear and accompanied by small pictures which is great for impatient bodies like myself who can't be doing with reading the whole shebang before getting stuck in.

The set comes with the gel cleanser which is used as the first and also final step to cleanse the nais. The gel primer which is the first step and is then left to air dry. A gel base and top coat which is cured for 30 seconds at each stage, and then the gel colour polish. The kit recommends two coats of the colour, sandwiched between the base and top coats, each cured for 60 seconds.

The lamp is LED and mains powered. It beeps after 30 seconds and turns off after 60 seconds which is great and avoids having to get the stopwatch on your phone out. In between steps the gel will be 'tacky' and this is completely normal. This should only be wiped with the gel cleanser after the final top coat, doing this before the final step will worsen the life of your gel manicure. 

I applied only a single coat of the Pink Chiffon as I was looking for something very natural for work and I am impressed by how easy the kit is. I tend to work on a " 4 fingers, 4 fingers, both thumbs" rotation of the layers and this bit does take a little more time than in a salon as you cannot be painting the other hand while one is under the lamp. 

The set also tells you to create thin layers, I cannot stress this hard enough. While it may take more layers to build dark colours (I will be ordering some this week and reporting back) it is worth it as the finish is much better. As a traditional polish user, this is a hard habit to break, particularly on my toes where I had a more concentrated colour.

So have you ever tried an at home gel? I would love to know your experiences. I would recommend this, I was totally impressed by how easy the whole process was and also how good quality the products and equipment seemed. Full marks all round.

The Ultimate Jamaica Cake Recipe

Today's post comes courtesy of my parter Jake who made the most incredible Jamaica Ginger Cake this week, and even remembered to take pictures! (He's a keeper!) So this is a version of a Mary Berry Recipe that is available in the British Book of Baking that accompanies GBBO. In anticipation of the series' return this Wednesday on BBC One, this bake should ensure a perfect result every time.

You will need:

• 225g Self-Raising Flour
• 1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
• 1 tbsp Ground Ginger
• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Ground Mixed Spice
• 115g Unsalted Butter, Chilled and Diced
• 115g Black Treacle
• 115g Golden Syrup
• 115g Dark Brown Muscovado Sugar
• 275ml Milk (not Skimmed)
• 1 Medium free-range Egg, beaten
• A 900g loaf tin, about 26 x 13 7cm, greased with butter and lined with greaseproof paper.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees fan. Mix and sieve the dry ingredients (flour, bicarb, ginger, cinnamon & mixed spice) in a large mixing bowl. The rub in the unsalted butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs (see below)

2. Once the mixture has formed breadcrumbs, warm the golden syrup and treacle in a small pan. Do not let the mixture boil and then take off the heat and set to one side and allow to cool.

3. Warm the milk in a jug and dissolve in the sugar. Mix well ensuring that all the sugar has dissolved into the mixture. Leave this to cool also until it is lukewarm.

4. Once the liquid ingredients are cooler, mix the milk and sugar solution into the flour and whisk well preferably with an electric whisk. Then add in the treacle and golden syrup, soloed by the egg and continue to whisk until you have a smooth thick batter.

5. Pour this mixture into two lined and greased loaf tins. If you are using a silicone loaf tin this is less important (see the purple loaf) however for a traditional loaf tine, even a non stick will need lining and greasing well. Ensure you get the mixtures as equal as possible so that they cook at the same pace. Place the loafs side by side in the middle of the pre-heated oven.

6. Bake for approx 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack to throughly cool. The cake is very light so may fall apart easily (as seen below) this will not in any way harm the taste so worry not!

7. Once cool transfer to a cake tin where it will keep for about 5 days (ours went mouldy :( after 6 days). The cake becomes stickier as it cools and resembles the McVitties Jamaica Ginger Cake that you can buy in stores. Great with a cup of tea!

Hope you liked this weeks bake, it may not be the prettiest bake but it is tasty beyond doubt and great for guests who have a tendency to rock up unexpected!

Would love to know if you are another Ginger fan and have a go at this one.