University Stress

Is anyone else feeling the heat of applying to university? I was stressed out beyond belief. I still don't know where I want to go and I'm not sure if my marks are high enough to get into my program. Last night I was in tears while I was starting to apply, but then I had a nice, calming talk with my mom and she helped me see all my options. I hope that her advice can help some of you if you are stressed as well. This is the essence of what she said to me:

1. Stress won't help anything

She pretty much made me see that stressing isn't going to solve anything. My parents used to put a lot of stress on me to get high marks and to get tons of awards and what not (they are brown after all) but then my mom came to the realization that all of this stress was just breaking me, not making me. Of course, some people work better under stress. I for one get a lot done when I am stressed, but the stress that I was feeling was the wrong kind of stress. The stress that helps be get stuff done comes from realizing that I have to meet a deadline. The stress from university application came from pessimism and thinking that I won't be able to get into my program. So she told me to stop stressing so much about getting into my program and concentrate that energy in trying to raise my marks, and if I can't get my marks high enough there are other options.

2. My options

My mom sat down with me and explained the worst case scenario to me. The worst case scenario would be that my marks aren't high enough for my program. In this case there are two things I could do. I could go back to high school and do a victory lap and retake the courses that I need to get a higher mark in. This wouldn't be a huge deal for me because I am a year ahead in school, but I know a lot of people may be unwilling to do this for whatever reason, whether it be pride or lack of time. In that case there is another option that my parents opened me up to. The second option is that I take either arts and science or undecided major for first year at university and take the courses I need for my program to raise my marks. I know money is tight for a lot of people and if you are in that situation, I would suggest taking the first option. My mom didn't give me this option, but there is a secret third option. You could take a year off. This option is generally for people who are unsure of what they want to do, but since I have everything planned out I won't be taking this option. You could get a job, take some evening or online courses to bring your marks up, and this way you will have some money towards your tuition as well as a better chance of getting into your program. And if you need to, you could use this time to figure out what you want to do with you life, who knows, university may not be for you after all.

3. Talk to your teachers or your school's guidance department

My main source of stress is my marks. I just moved across the country and I am now part of a separate school board and education system and I am so anxious as to how the final exams look like here. What my mom told me to do is to talk to my teachers one on one and express my concerns to them. If you have good teachers, they will try to help you out and help get you prepared for the final exams. If you are unfortunate and have been burdened with bad teachers, you can talk to you school's guidance department, they are there to help students out with their school related or personal problems.

I really hope this has helped take the stress off of some people, I know it definitely helped me out a lot. Good luck with applying to university/college everyone! May the odds be ever in your favour ;)

New Beginnings

When I started this blog, I had the intention of making it into a beauty/fashion blog because I have a passion for beauty and fashion. In fact, after my first degree I am going to study fashion design and hopefully become a successful fashion designer if life is good to me. But, you may have noticed that I haven't written a blog post in almost 4 months. This is because I am super busy with school and I have neither the time or the money to run an active beauty/fashion blog. Running a beauty/fashion blog requires constantly buy new products and reviewing them, doing hauls, having the time to put together DIY's, OOTD's, etc, and unfortunately I do not have that kind of time or money right now being a high school senior and trying to get into university.

So I have decided to approach this blog with a new mindset. I felt like I was trying to force something to happen before, that I was trying to make this amazing beauty/fashion blog which was unattainable given my circumstances. I am the type of person that needs things to be just right, that needs things to be set in stone, and I need to loosen up a bit. I am simply going to write about my day to day life and see where this blog goes from there. Who knows, maybe some day I can start doing beauty/fashion posts, and good ones at that. But until then, I will just write about whatever comes to mind.

I'm sorry for the huge gap in my blog posts and the for the change of dynamics, but I hope you will still enjoy my blog, whoever is reading this.

Why I Believe Extraterrestrial Life is Possible

WARNING. If you have not guessed already from the title, this is not a beauty post, this is a science post. I thought I'd mix things up a bit. Also I can't think of any beauty/fashion post to write at the moment.

Some of you guys will probably dismiss this and think of me as crazy but I honestly think that there could be life on other planets. Why, you ask? Well its pretty simple. Take a look at this picture:

I found this picture on a website called imgur.com. I'm pretty well going to say everything that the post on imgur said, so if you would like to take a look at the post itself, just click here and it will take you to the website. OR you could keep reading, it's up to you. 

So about the picture. This picture was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) around 2003/2004. Basically the HST found a little black, and what appeared to be empty, area in the night sky and focused on in for 4 months so it could take in all the light it could and it came up with the image you see above. The black spot was about a tenth of the size of the full moon. Each dot in this image is a galaxy. Each galaxy contains up to 1 trillion (1,000,000,000) stars. Each star may have a system of planets. There are over 10,000 galaxies in the picture above.

Our galaxy contains approximately 100 billion (100,000,000) stars. Lets say that each star has a minimum or 1 planet, keep in mind that the star that we orbit around (the sun) has 8 planets (sorry Pluto!). That is at least 100 billion planets in our galaxy alone. Lets say that each of the galaxies in the picture has the same amount of planets as the Milky Way. That would be 1,000,000,000,000 planets. And that's just a fraction of what else could be out there. 

Can you honestly tell me that out of the more than 1,000,000,000,000 planets out there, that only 1 of them can sustain life? Can you honestly say that there is no way that there could be ANY other planet that has intelligence on it or an ecosystem thriving on it? Well, personally, I think that it is possible. I think it is possible that there is life outside Earth. 

Just so I make myself clear, I do not believe that aliens or extraterrestrial life have visited Earth. However, my opinion does change with new information, so if someone showed me solid evidence that aliens have been on Earth, then I might change my opinion on that. But until that has been proven to me, I do not believe that aliens come and leave crops circles or abduct humans. But I do believe that somewhere out there, in the vast mystery of space, there could be a planet with a thriving ecosystem and maybe even a species as advanced, both biologically and maybe even technologically, as humans. 

This is just my point of view, I do not mean to offend anyone in any way and if I have then I apologize, and I am in no way forcing you to believe what I believe. 

If you would like to learn more on this topic, here is the Hubble website: http://hubblesite.org/hubble_discoveries/hubble_deep_field/ . And hey, if you want even more, you know how to use Google ;). 

Using BB Cream as a Primer

A little while ago I went to Shopper's to pick up some BB cream. I had done my research and I read so many great reviews about L'Oréal Paris' Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream so I picked it up. I gave it a try and as a BB cream, it did not work at all for me. 

If you can read the label on the picture above, it promises to prime, perfect, hydrate, and correct. Only two of those promises came true in my case. I'm not sure if it is just because of my skin type or skin colour, or if it's just the product, but it did not perfect or correct my skin in a way that a BB cream should. 

Above is a swatch of the BB cream. Unlike most BB creams, it's not even skin coloured which made me a bit suspicious of the effectiveness of this product.

Although two if the promises did not come true, the other two did. This BB cream in particular works wonders as a primer. It keeps my foundation on longer, and my eye and skin makeup looks less creased and smudged. Also, a little goes a long way, be careful not to use to much or you can get a weird sandy residue on your face. You'll know when you've put too much on. It's hydrates well too, so I don't even have to moisturizer before I put my makeup on.  And the best part is that it's inexpensive. 

Lets take a look at Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer Potion. It costs $20 and it is a 11 ml (0.37 US fl oz) tube, plus it's only for eyes. This BB cream costs $18, comes in a 30 ml (approx. 1 US fl oz) tube, and can be used all over your face. Of course, it being a BB cream, it may not be as effective as Urban Decay's primer, but it will definitely work for people on a budget, just like me. 

Blogger's Block

Hi everybody!

Sorry that I have not posted anything in a LONG time. To be honest, I have no idea what to blog about. I really want to do hauls and OOTD's, but at the moment I do not have many fashionable clothing items and I do not have a job so I can't go shopping. So, until I get a job, I won't be blogging too often and if I do blog it'll be on the more life and science  side rather that the beauty and fashion side. I am so sorry for the inconvenience and I'll try my best to post more beauty and fashion posts and to just blog more in general.

Thank you for you patience,

Prakritia.

P.S I will be filming a hair tutorial and maybe a makeup tutorial tomorrow to kick off my YouTube channel, so stay tuned for that.

Covergirl 'Flamed Out' Mascara Review

So I was in Shopper's Drugmart a few months ago looking for new tweezers since I'd lost mine, and I found myself in the make up aisle (big surprise). Of course, me being myself, I walking out with a few beauty items, my favourite being Covergirl's new 'Flamed Out' mascara. I am literally in love with this mascara. In my personal opinion, it's better than Maybelline 'Falsies', and that's saying something. Here is a  picture of it, in case you haven't seen it yet.

I also thought I'd add pictures of the brush, so here it is:

I actually really like the design, I think it's really pretty! I would've expected it to be more edgy, considering it's called Flamed Out ad Pink is the spokesperson for it, but it's still pretty. I thought I'd add some pictures of how it actually looks on because whenever I read a review, I always think it's more effective if you can see the proof of how good the product is. The only make up I have on in these pictures is foundation and concealer. There is no other eye, face, or lip makeup on my face, so please ignore my ugly face and concentrate on my lashes!

Here is my ugly face with only foundation and concealer on.

Here is a creepy picture of my eyelashes without mascara on them

And another even creepier one.

I've applied the Flamed Out mascara to my right eye (the camera on my phone flips the image) and my left eye is bare. Look at that difference!

And here it is on both eyes.

NOW ONTO PROS AND CONS. YAY.

Pros
-give lots of length
-voluminous, as promised.
-only need one coat
-looks natural
-the shape of the brush makes the outer eyelashes bigger, making your eyelashes look super long
-brush grabs every lash
-lasts all day (no raccoon eyes)
-easy to wash off

Cons
-starts too look unnatural after more than one coat
-not waterproof

Tips and Comments
If you prefer clumpy lashes opposed to natural looking lashes, I would not recommend this product for you. I would recommend Maybelline Falsies. When you have a natural looking lash like this, I wouldn't recommend you go really heavy on the eyeliner, I think a thin liner close to the lash line would look really nice and natural. If you are going for the more bold look, again I would recommend Maybelline Falsies and doing a thick (not too thick) liner. Again, if you are going for a clumpy look, do not go for this mascara! More than one coat just ends up looking messy, not clumpy. Also, the applicator is bristle, not plastic, so if you dont like bristle applicators, then don't go for this mascara, but if you do, get this now!

I hope you found my review helpful! If you have any questions don't hesitate to comment below with it and I'll try my best to answer them. Thank you for reading!


Hugs and Kisses

Prakriti

Tangle Teezer/ Tangle Fix Review

So I think I'm a bit late on the bandwagon for this but I thought I might as well put my two cents out there anyways. I was in Fortinos because I needed body wash, and me being myself, I had to go look at every other beauty product in the store. I swear, every single time I go to the supermarket I end up walking out with some form of a beauty product. This time I walked out with Goody's knock off of the Tangle Teezer hair brush, the Tangle Fix.  It's is exactly the same as the Tangle Teezer, but it's just a different brand.

Here are some pictures of the one that I picked up:

I'd heard tons of people rave about it on YouTube and other blogs, so it thought I might as well try it out. At first I was kind of hesitant because it looks scary, I mean look at how close those teeth are! I wasn't sure how well it was going to cope with my naturally curly hair, but I'll tell you right now that it works wonders. Lets go through some pros and cons, shall we?

Pros

-it is affordable, I got mine for 12 Canadian dollars including taxes. 

-it's really gentle on you hair. It doesn't get stuck in you hair or anything like that. It moves with your hair in a sense because the teeth are flexible. 

-I've noticed that the amount of hair that falls out when I brush my hair has reduced drastically (I used to use a paddle brush)

-works on all hair types

-It comes in different fun colours and patterns

-It is SUPER easy to clean. You can honestly just pick off the hair by hand, it's that easy.

-safe to use on wet hair

Cons

-you cannot use it with a blow dryer, the teeth will melt. 

Tips and Comments

I am not 100% sure how long these brushes last, but I would assume it has a long life span because the bristles are flexible and won't kink like they sometimes do in paddle brushes. If you have straight hair, I don't think it would make a huge difference on your hair, but it will definitely help a lot with tangles. If you have thick hair, a lot of hair, or super curly hair/an afro, I would suggest that you section you hair off to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Iwould also   suggest keeping a paddle brush around if you blow dry your hair on a regular basis. 

I hope you found this review helpful and answered any questions you may have. If you still have questions, don't hesitate to comment and I'll try my best to answer your questions. 

Hugs and Kisses

Prakriti 

About Me + 12 Personal Questions Tags

Hi again! Who want's to get to know me a bit better? No one? Well too bad. Have a tag.

About Me Tag

1. Do you have a middle name? Yes I do, but I hate it. It sounds like pasta. It's Rohini. 
2. What was you favourite subject in school? Well, I'm still in school, so my favourite subject in school is usually art, but last semester, I really enjoyed my grade 12 Calculus class. I still love art though. 
3. What's your favourite drink? I think this question is referring to alcoholic drink, but I don't drink alcohol (only a tiny bit on occasions). My favourite non alcoholic drink would probably be Canada Dry raspberry ginger ale. But that is hard to say, because I suck at picking favourites, I'm just too loving! 
4. Favourite song at the moment? THERE ARE TOO MANY. Ummmmmmm, okay I'll name 5, but there are so many more. Read All About It Part 3- Emeli Sande, Lift Off- Jay Z and Kanye West feat. Beyonce,  Hannah Hunt- Vampire Weekend, Bound 2- Kanye West, Why I Love You- Jay Z and Kanye West feat. Mr. Hudson
5. What would you name your children? Oh god, I think about this way to much, far more than I should at 16. I change my mind on this matter quite a bit, but right now I think for a girl Anamika is really pretty and I honestly don't think of boy names. At all. 
6. Do you participate in any sports? I play badminton on my school team. I participate in a few sport recreationaly such as soccer (I used to play on a team when I was little), track, and dance (I used to take hip hop and latin). 
7. Favourite book? I don't read as much as I should, but I think my fave book would probably be Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
8. Favourite colour? PURPLE. I also really like red and metals. 
9. Favourite animal? I love all animals (except for insects and arachnids) so that's hard to choose, but since right now I have a pet bunny, I'm going to have to go with a bunny.
10. Favourite perfume? Mine is not technically a perfume, it's a fragrance mist and it's for Bath and Body Works. It's the Rainkissed Leaves Signature Collection Fragrance Mist. It smells like the smell right after it has rained, it's so fresh and uplifting! Unfortunately, Bath and Body Works discontinued the Rainkissed leaves collection in store, but it still is available online!
11. Favourite Holiday? That is really hard to say considering I've been on so many. I think my most relaxing holiday I've been on was to Mexico. I think this may be due to the fact that I was old enough to appreciate it. We didn't go to any of the super tourist infested place. We got to go to a beach which we practically had to ourselves, we went swimming in the cenotes, and I got to talk to so many lovely locals. 
12. Have you graduate high school yet? No I have not. I am going into grade 12 next year. Isn't that insane?! I feel like just yesterday I was entering high school for the first time.
13. Have you been out of the country? TONS. Of the 16 years that I have been alive, I have visited 16 countries. 
14. Do you speak any other languages? Yes, I speak three other than English. In order of fluency, they are Hindi/Urdu, French, and German.
15. Do you have any siblings? I have one brother, Pranay, who is two years older than me. We're pretty darn tight. 
16. What's your favourite store? This changes a lot for me depending on their stock. Right now, my favourite affordable store is H&M. I also like Bluenotes and Stitches for the most part, but I have a lot of trouble finding things that fit because I do have a defined hourglass figure. My favourite non-affordable store is a tie between Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger (for now). 
17. Favourite restaurant? EARLS. OH MY GOD I AM IN LOVE WITH EARLS.
18. Did you like school? I don't really know. I love learning knew things, but at my old school, I felt really repressed and felt as thought I couldn't be me. I hope I'll like both the academic and social aspects of my new school. 
19. Favourite Youtubers? There are SO many, I'll name a few though. Zoe from zoella280390, Lilly from IISuperwomanII, K.L. from secretlifeofabionerd, Jadah from CallJadahDoll, Dulce Candy from DulceCandy87, Louise from sprinkofglitter, Marcus Butler from MarcusButlerTV, Joe from Thatcher Joe, Alfie Deyes from pointlessblog, oh god there are so many more.
20. Favourite movie? Definitely Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Yes it is a movie as well. 
21. Favourite TV show? Again, there are tons. Friends, Whose Line Is It Anyways, New Girl, How I Met Your Mother, Say Yes to the Dress, What Not to Wear, Game of Thrones, to name a few. 
22. PC or Mac? Definitely PC. It's just so much more convenient for me, I've grown up with it. 
23. What phone do you have? iPhone 5 at the moment. I had a shitty LG Banter before that though, it was my first phone.
24. How tall are you? 5'6" (165cm)

12 Personal Questions Tag

1. What do you order at Starbucks? I actually don't go to Starbucks very often at all, I'm more of a Timmie's girl, but I always order the super fruity drinks at Starbucks, never coffee or tea. 
2. Name one thing in your closet you can't live without. Probably my maxi dresses, any of them. Either that or any of my high waisted bottoms (skirts/shorts/pants). 
3. What's one thing most people probably don't know about you? I can crack pretty well every joint in my body and my knee, shoulder, and hip can all dislocate. 
4. Name one thing you want to do before you die. This is going to be really cheesy, but fall in love and have a long, happy relationship. 
5. What's one food you cannot live without? Bread. I love me some carbs. 
6. What quote/phrase do you live by? Throwback to kindergarten here; treat others the way you would like to be treated. 
7. What's your most listened to song on iTunes? My iTunes is frozen right now and I really want to post this today, so I can't tell you. Sorry :'(
8. What kind of a style would you describe yourself as having? I would probably have to say feminine. I do try my best to keep up with the latest trends though. 
9. Favourite number? 14
10. Two hobbies? Art and fashion design, but those can be classified as the same thing. Art and science. 
11. Two pet peeves? People who try so hard to fit in to the point where they lose who they are and when people try to control my life. 
12. Guilty pleasures? Watching childhood cartoons. Also, hazelnut chocolate and white chocolate. 

I tag anyone who is up for doing this, have fun!

Hugs and Kisses

Prakriti

Blog/Personal Introduction! :D

Why hello there! Welcome to my blog! I have never blogged before but I've always wanted to so I  thought why the hell not? As my very first blog post ever, I thought I'd simply start off with an introduction.

My name is Prakriti Pratijit. My blog name (pronounced pra-KREE-sha) is a nickname/mispronunciation of my name that kind of caught on. I might tell you the story about that later, it's fairly short. I am currently 16, my birthday is May 14th 1997. I am a grade ahead in school because my parents got a bit sick of me and decided to put me into school early. I consider myself a 90's kid even though I'm technically not due to my age, but I've always hung out with older kids and I kind of grew up with the whole 90's culture instead of the early 2000's culture. I currently live in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. I just moved here exactly 2 weeks ago from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Before that I lived in Zurich, Switzerland and before that I lived in Singapore, Singapore, where I was born. I think that is enough about me for now, let's move on to the blog!

This blog is going to be all about fashion, beauty, science, and just everyday life. I am in love with fashion, I've always wanted to become a fashion designer. As for beauty, I'm not expert but I try to be! NERD ALERT. I love me some science. I am a huge science nerd, I have competed in 7 national science fair competitions over 4 years of science fair and I have won awards in all seven of them (not trying to brag). As for my everyday life, I hope you guys find it eventful. I try to live my life to the fullest, hopefully it's full enough for you!

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to read my blog! I really appreciate it!!

Hugs and Kisses
Prakriti