Got My Exam Face On

I don't know about you, but I attend a university where there has to be some unwritten rule that everyone always has to look good. I am definitely not at a "wear leggings and Uggs to your lectures" kind of campus, but at a "I woke up like this - flawless" kind of uni, and this rule extends to exams. Currently in my final exams, I think I've mastered the art of looking relatively good without putting on my usual face of make up.

The Flawless Base

For my base I use what I have dubbed: The Body Shop Flawless Trio. After my morning cleanse, I use the Vitamin C Daily Moisturiser SPF 30 which ensures that my skin is bright and protected; I then go in with the Vitamin C Skin Boost a lovely silicone-based serum with tiny flecks light reflecting particles which leaves my skin smooth and glowing; then I finish up with the All-In-One Instablur to smooth out any large pores and the look of my 'I was up all night going over my notes' under eye bags. 

This gets me throughout the entire day and I don't have to worry about signing of my exam paper with foundation fingerprints (I tend to scratch my face during exams for some reason). When my skin begins to look a little shiny throughout the day I just use the Kleenex Shine Absorbing Sheets to dab away any excess shine and I'm good to go. 

The Eyes & Brows

As a glasses-wearer, filling in my eyebrows is definitely the best way to define my face. I'm currently using the Eyelure Ink Brow in Dark Brown, and despite having a love-hate relationship with it, it's definitely looking well loved. I keep those in place with the e.l.f. Essential Wet Gloss Clear Brow & Lash and it's a good thing it does its job well because scratching my brows seems to be another one of my nervous ticks. Mascara also helps to make me look a little more awake, and I love my Yves Rocher Volume Elixer Mascara as it adds both volume and length for pretty, natural looking lashes. As you can never know when late spring showers are going to hit, I then seal it in with the Kiko False Lashes Concentrate Waterproof Top Coat Mascara, which is a clear gel-like mascara that makes any mascara you own waterproof.

The Lips

Nerves seem to leave me with dehydrated lips (I must subconsciously chew them) so I need all the moisture I can get. My current go-to lip balm is the Carmex Cherry Lip Tube which tastes like cherry drops and has a cooling menthol zing to it. I also find that lipglosses keep my lips moisturised for longer whilst adding some colour to my lips so I'm currently loving wearing my Yves Rocher Sexy Pulp Volume Gloss in Coral. I love the colour pay off of this, as well as the smooth texture and it'll definitely last through a three hour paper. Alternatively I like these e.l.f Luscious Liquid Lipsticks in the shades Brownie Points (a pretty nude) and Cherry Tart (more on the berry side) though they are more on the sticky side, or this Hema Pretty Lips Lipgloss SPf 15 in Spicy Brown. 

The Nails

Having my nails done makes me feel that much more put together, but experience has taught me that dark nail colours are a bad idea as I've yet to find a top coat that stops them from leaving a dark crayon-like line across my exam paper if I accidentally scratch my nail across it. That's why during exam time I prefer to stick to neutral shades such as the Nails Inc Bleinhem Terrace, a pretty pale coral with slight shimmers, Nails Inc. Oakley Street which is a gorgeous mustard tone that really complements my skin tone or Maybelline Color Show Love This Sweater which sold me on the name alone but also happens to be a really pretty pale nude. 

Do you wear makeup during exams?

Five Ways to Mentally Prepare for Your Exams

Brace yourself. Exams are coming. 

I know a lot of people (who are still in education) have already started their exams - and good luck to you lovely people - but for other June examinees like myself, time is ticking and it appears to be slipping away awfully fast. Cue panic-mode, the desperate wish for some sort of Time Turner and repeatedly asking yourself why, oh why, did you not start revising much sooner, even though if you'd started any sooner you would have started long before the course even started. All of this, as you can imagine, isn't helpful thinking. 

It took me a long time to realise that no amount of exam stress will ever be productive - instead it increases the likelihood of the "what is the point, this is a lost cause" mentality settling with the more pressure and stress and worry that I pile on. It's hard to focus on remembering the facts when you're focused on the fact that you're probably going to end up forgetting them. So this time around, I am making sure that even if I'm fairly sure that I'm not academically ready to sit the exams, I am mentally prepared to go into that examination room, head held high, and simply do my best. 

Here are five ways you can mentally prepare for your exams: 

I. Put it into perspective || Yes, exams are extremely important during the course of your academic career as your success is what allows you to progress, and doing well is also desirable for many reasons (making your family proud, giving you an end over your competitors on the job market, etc.) but guess what? Exams are also not the beginning and the end of the world. In the grand scheme of things, success or failure is only relative to a tiny area of your life, an assessment of how well you did in a certain subject at a given time and under a given set of circumstances. Remind yourself of the importance of exams at this particular point in your life, but don't hinge your entire being or self-worth on their outcome. Pass or fail, you'll still be you, and still be as awesome as you were before you looked at that piece of paper with your grades on them.

II. Exercise || Whether you get your heart pumping with a decent round of cardio or take some time to stretch out your muscles through a yoga flow, it's important to try and incorporate 20-30 minutes of exercise as often as you can manage it (even a 10-minute walk will do). Not only is exercise good for your overall health, you will feel more energised and give your stress an outlet instead of letting it drive you crazy or settle somewhere in your shoulders.

III. Get enough sleep || Ah the temptation of all nighters. Whilst I can't personally pull them (the closest I get to an all-nighter is sleeping around 2 a.m. and then waking up again at 5 a.m.), I've noticed that even the loss of a couple of hours of sleep will have a negative impact on my energy, concentration and stress levels. I'm also more likely to reach for unhealthy foods, which in turn leaves me more sluggish, which in turn affects my productivity levels. Do your best to get your 7-8 hours of sleep, sacrificing something else during the day if possible, to ensure that you get a good night's sleep and wake up feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the day. 

IV. Take a bath || I know, I know, sometimes it seems like there just isn't time to run a bath and sit there doing nothing other than relaxing, giving yourself time to breathe and pamper yourself, but trust me, you will feel better. Baths not only allow you to mentally relax, they offer your muscles a chance to release some of the tension you've been unknowingly building up as the stress of approaching exams mounts, and if you're struggling to sleep, a bath before bed with relaxing, soothing scents like lavender or chamomile will go a long way to helping you get a better night's sleep.

V. Stay positive || The things you say to yourself will affect your overall performance. Repeating to yourself every day "I'm screwed, I'm going to fail, I can't do this" is, at worst, going to end up being a self-fulfilling prophecy, and at best, going to stop you from doing your best. After all what's the point of giving all you can when you're fairly sure that you're going to fail anyway? Instead of encouraging the rising panic in your chest when faced with the looming exam date and the realisation that there just aren't enough hours in the day to ever finish going over your notes with more negativity, confront your fears and stress with words such as "I will do my best and my best will be good enough" or even something more brazen like "I am going to ace these exams" (though obviously don't tell yourself that whilst sat in front of the tv with your unopened books beside you). The subconscious is a powerful thing - you'll be surprised at the difference a slight change in your inner dialogue will make to your overall exam performance. 

How do you mentally prepare for an exam?

(PS: If you're looking for a ways to make your revision session more productive, check out this post.) 

Five Tips For A More Productive Revision Session

As I mentioned in this post, for me May marks the beginning of an intense revision sessions before exams roll around with the month of June, and I'm doing my my best to keep my revision at optimum levels. Some days are better than others, but what's important is to not stress and beat myself up about all the things I didn't do or could have done and didn't do, but rather stay focused and determined to get to the end of this exam period having done the best that I can. 

Today I thought I'd share with you five ways I've found to have a more productive revision session. 

I. Break your time up into chunks || I've noticed that I work much better when I break down a three hour revision session into smaller chunks of anything from 30-50mins, rather than attempting to sit down in front of my books for three hours straight. Chances are my mind is going to start wandering after an hour, and instead of taking in new information, I'll be desperately hoping for the time to be over. Keep your breaks to 5-10mins between each study chunks (but no more or you risk never coming back!), and get up to to stretch your legs, maybe dance to your favourite song to get your mood back up, or reach for a nice cup of green tea to help with an energy slump. To help set your times, I recommend using the 30/30 App, which has to be one of the best productivity apps I've used to date. 

II. Start your revision in the morning || You may not be a morning person but for the sake of your revision, you are now! When you get your revision over and done with earlier in the day, it leaves you with the late afternoon and the evening to chill out rather than having to push yourself to revise when you've more than likely already used up all your reserves of motivation. Plus chances are your exams won't be at one in the morning, so being a night owl doesn't actually do you any favours! Which brings me to my next tip:

III. Make sure you get enough sleep || This is a no-brainer, so obviously it's one of the hardest things to do. I often catch myself procrastinating on going to sleep, finding a whole host of different things I just have to do before I go to bed, only to wake up the next morning still tired, groggy and in absolutely no mood to get stuck into my textbooks. If you can't get the sleep during the night, then don't be afraid to take small naps during the day and incorporate them into your revision schedule so that you're actually alert enough to take in what you're studying. If you're sat in front of your textbook falling asleep, taking a small nap is much more productive than telling yourself you've studied just because you stared at the text for the amount of time you'd set yourself.

IV. Learn the structure of your course || I have this one lecturer who since I first had him in first year when pressed for advice on how to pass his exams, had only this to give by way of advice: "Learn the table of contents". Naturally, I thought he was a little...eccentric until recently it finally clicked in my mind as to what he meant by that. When you know the structure of your course, it allows you to place information within that structure. This makes it just that bit easier to recall the information, especially when you're in the exam, sat in front of your exam paper and your mind is going blank on you. Even if you aren't able to recall the little details, you'll at least have the general framework, and usually, the more you relax, the more information your brain will give you as it remembers the connections you made between the details and the overall structure.

V. Don't give up on your hobbies || This might sound like strange revision advice but experience has taught me that nothing causes revision burnout faster than having nothing to look forward during each day other than...more revision. If, however, you schedule a coupe of hours where you take the time to do something that you enjoy or renews you, revision will feel more like something that you just happen to have to do in preparation for your exams as opposed to something that is slowly but surely taking over your life and sucking the joy and energy out of you. Remember, revision is important, but revision isn't life, and doing your best isn't about pushing yourself until you're miserable.

What are your tips for a more productive revision session?