Tania Michele

Monday, 7 August 2017

The Harry Potter Tag

I was tagged by the lovely Cassie from Zombie Goddess Beauty to the new Harry Potter tag that she's revamped! You can check out her answers to the tag here.

I am massive Potterhead, and its the one franchise that I've never thought 'umm' about. I've been loyal to it since 2001 when I read the first book and the films started! So this tag is perfect for me to do - so lets get to it!

1. What house are you in?
Gryffindor! This was the house I was first sorted into on an online quiz back in 2002, and also my house on Pottermore! Plus I love lions...

2. What is your patronus?
I've always said a unicorn, because they're unique like me! I got a Swallow on Pottermore and I dislike birds intensely, so I'm sticking with unicorn!

3. What is your wand?
Pottermore has given me an 121/2 inch Hornbeam Wood and Dragon Heartstring wand, so that is what it shall me!

4. What would your boggart be?
Seeing family dead and lots of fire

5. What position would you play in Quidditch?
I like to think Keeper, as I cannot hit or catch anything for shit - so Seeker, Beater and Chaser are all out of the question!

6. Would you be a pure blood, half blood or muggle born?
Probably half blood? As there is barely 'a witch or wizard alive who isn't half blood or less!'

7. What job would you want after to have after graduating Hogwarts?
I think a Healer would be awesome! We don't get to see a lot of them in the series, but they must have pretty cool jobs with all the spells they can use.

8. Which of the deathly hallows would you choose?
The invisibility cloak. Just think of being able to sneak about doing random things without being seen!?

9. Favourite book?
Prisoner of Azkaban. We got to meet Sirius, Pettigrew and REMUS BLOODY LUPIN.

10. Least favourite book?
Goblet of Fire. It always felt like a 'filler' book to me, as it was there to just bring Voldy back. I still love the story, but it's the least fave!

11. Favourite film?
Philosopher's Stone! I will never get over seeing Diagon Alley or Hogwarts for the very first time. Such a gleeful feeling.

12. Least favourite film?
Goblet of Fire, all for the same reasons as the book being my least fave!

13. Favourite character?
Fred and George Weasley. In the books they have many, many, more funny moments than we see in the films. Their jokes, banter and general presence in the book is always my fave thing to read.

14. Least favourite/most hated character?
Anyone who doesn't say Umbridge for this is lying.

15. Favourite teacher at Hogwarts?
Professor McGonagall! She is the most badass Professor there, an animagus and generally kickass. I'll never get over her sass or the 'have a biscuit Potter' plot twist.

16. Least favorite teacher at Hogwarts?
Professor Binns. Yes, we never see him in the films, but he's in the books and is sooooo dreary.

17. Do you have any unpopular opinions about the series?
None that spring to mind!

18. If you could save one character from the finale battle who would you save?

FRED WEASLEY. I cried for like a day and couldn't read the next chapter for a few hours after realizing he had died. My soul was ripped apart!!

I am now tagging these lovely ladies!

I cannot get enough of Harry Potter, so I have loved doing this tag!! What would your answers be? Let me know! Hope you have a great day and keep safe :)

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Friday, 4 August 2017

Vamp Stamp Eyeliner Tool!

I'm sure if you're a lover of beauty, you've likely seen this product on Instagram and Facebook via adverts a lot. I've seen the Facebook ad so many times, I think I could recreate it myself...

Anyway! I ended up caving to the adverts and ended up buying the eyeliner wing stamp, also know as the Vamp Stamp! I purchased this off of CultBeauty for £22.50 - yes, it's not cheap at all. There are three different sizes to try out. Kitten, Medium and Large. I went with Kitten, as I wanted to try this out before trying any of the larger sizes.

It arrived a few days later and I first tried it out on my hand, as you can see below. It didn't turn out great either time - but I think this may have been down to doing this photoshoot in the garden on a bloody hot day, and the product dried up before I stamped it!

The stampe is double ended, so you have a wing shaped stamp for each eye. All you do is cover the surface in eyeline (liquid is best) and then stamp it on. You can however, get the Vamp Stamp VINK eyeliner ink to use with this if you want.

I eventually tried it on my eyes the next day and was pretty happy with how it turned out straight away. It's a clean straight line, and it's super easy to do. Just draw the liner onto your eyelid, and then stamp this onto the end to meet up with the line!

I really love this and it's saved me hours of trying to get matching wings the past few weeks. I think the medium one would have been a better size for me as I have quite wide eyes, and this one is just enough to peek out the sides when I'm looking head on!

What do you think of the Vamp Stamp, and have you tried it before? Let me know. because I am loving this handy product, irregardless of the price! Hope you have a great day and keep safe :)

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Wednesday, 2 August 2017

Social Anxiety

I've no idea how to really word any of this post, so please bear with!

The first time I really noticed I had anxiety was when I was 15. That's when I realised what it was called and what it meant was happening to me - that and panic attacks all in one. I figured out what triggered me or made me feel 'off' by the time I was 18. By about 22 years old, I'd worked out certain techniques to help me calm down and what to do if my anxiety would trigger a panic attack.

The good thing is that in the past 8 months, I've only had about 6/7 pretty bad panic attacks, and a small handful of little ones that were easy to deal with.

Since figuring out what all this anxiety and stuff was, back when I was 15, I've maybe been lucky in only having 100, or less, major panic attacks. I think that's pretty good going for a 10 year time frame - but there are some times that I can go months without one, and then other times where I am having them every other week.

Social anxiety is my worse downfall. I'll say 'no' to a social outing 90% of the time. The 10% I say 'yes' are normally when my best friend Nicola is there, or I'm going somewhere familiar with friends I'm okay with!

Last month I had three social outings over one weekend and it was a weird thing to look back on! I spent the Friday night with Nicola out at dinner, and had no anxiety whatsoever about it. Saturday was a night out with some friends from work, and we headed to town to the bars for drinks.

I remember having a massive panic attack that morning and had a few smaller ones while I was getting ready to go out - but I still went. I really tackled that fear and went out for a few hours. I was a strong 8/10 for anxiety the whole time as it was super busy at one bar and I felt like I was being pressed into a small space... I got home and could still feel my heart beating and my legs felt like lead from how many times I had been tapping my feet to keep me occupied with that and not the situation I was stood in.

The Sunday, I went to a nearby pub in the evening with a couple of other friends from work, and had no problem with that at all - even though it was a totally new pub and with friends I'd not really gone out with before! I was super proud of myself for doing that!

So what triggers me? It can be a handful of things, but these are the ones that make me feel the worse:

Large crowds of people
Unfamiliar places
Going somewhere new
Going somewhere alone
Driving long distances
Getting confused in a situation and not sure how to deal with it
Arguing with people
Social gatherings

How do I deal with it? There are really only a few things that I can do when my anxiety get's really bad, or a panic attack sets in:

Count to 20
Use the 5 senses to 'ground' myself
Sit opposite a widow and look to the sky - makes the room feel bigger
Get fresh air

If you have any techniques that might help me or someone else deal with the above, please let me know as I'm, always looking for new ways to help me calm down quicker! Sorry this was a really rambling kind of post, but it's so hard to word something like this; so thank you if you made it this far! Hope you have a great day and keep safe :)

Monday, 31 July 2017

Monthly Favourites #27 - July

Another month is over already! We're way over half of the year gone, but it feels like it was January not two seconds ago!! I've not had the most fabulous month, but I've still tried to find some good things about June to put a smile on my face! Let's hope August is a lot better!

Song

I've been addicted to this song in July. I love RuPaul as it is, and I've been watching Todrick's video's since his 'Splits on Trees' video. This song is so catchy and I find myself bopping along to it whenever it comes on my iTunes! This video is incredible, and I've never been so attracted to a Lion before 😂

Picture

My favourite picture from this month is of my new set of DVD's that I bought on payday! I've not bought any film for a while now, so I got my hands on a few offers that were on! And I've finally got Community on DVD, so I've not got to watch grainy versions of it on YouTube anymore!

TV Show
I am so happy Game of Thrones is back!! The first episode was a good opener for the season, plus that opening with the Frey's was AMAZING. I've picked a picture from last season to avoid any spoilers!!
Episode two was on last week and what an ending. Is is wrong I have a a mini weird crush on Euron Greyjoy as his guyliner skills? Such a good episode and I am about to watch last night's as this blog post is going live...

Movie
I've been having a little Marvel marathon this month - I've done it all out of order right now, as I plan on doing a full timeline marathon sometime next month when work is a little less hectic! I'd forgot how many little funny moments were in the movie, and it makes me super excited for Infinity War!

Hope you enjoyed these faves for July! What have you loved this month yourself, from each category? Let me know! Hope you have a great day and keep safe!

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