read my article on why festivals are such a big deal!

Sorry i have been SO absent from this blog lately!!

I've been doing a lot of writing for my student paper, Gair Rhyyd. You can view one of my articles from 2 weeks ago below. It's about the importance of summer festivals and to be honest it's a piece I'm really proud of!
I'd love it if anyone could take the time to read it!

Beth.

http://www.cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk/gairrhydd/the-glastonbury-effect-why-festivals-are-a-summer-necessity/

why tattoos shouldn't require justification.

I love tattoos. Fact. I think tats are great. Like many things I love; food, fashion, fragrances, there are obviously varieties of tattoos i don’t like so much (designs that have clearly been picked off of a tattoo parlours wall like cheeky red devils and butterflies, tattoos on the lower back or ‘tramp stamps’ as they are oh so endearingly called, and my all time pet hate - tribal designs, to name but a few), but I still love the idea of tattoos. Of expressing yourself through an art form which has existed and been perfected and globalised over hundreds of years. This statement however, is hardly a shocking, controversial statement. A few decades ago it may well have been, but nowadays, getting a tattoo is the norm. When I think about people I know, most of them have tattoos. Whether it be full sleeves and a chest piece or a dainty tat on their ankle or wrist. Tattoos have become a normal part of growing up and of individualisation for many. 

my first ever tattoo. It's a T.S. Eliot quote from 'Return of the Magi'. Countless times i've been asked what the quote means to me. I might make up a ridiculous and shocking answer next time i get asked. 

This doesn’t mean everyone loves tattoos though. In the same way I like tattoos, some people don’t. They may find them distasteful, ugly, or simply don’t like the thought of permanently inking your skin. Which is fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinions. And it’s our bodies so we should be able to do with it what we wish. Which brings me on to what i’m about to say...

Why you may not like tattoos, why do so many people who don’t like tattoos feel the need to ask so many questions?  To quite literally judge us for having tattoos.

A couple of things have made me think about this more in depth...

The first is this article:'just one little tattoo'. I understand that tattoos may not be to everyones taste, but this woman refused to speak to her son when she found out he had a tattoo, claiming her son making the decision to get a tattoo 'devistated her'. Her son had not murdered or stolen from someone, yet in my opinion, she treated him like a criminal. Her views, while she admits this, are extremely exaggerated, as well as cynical, and goes to show that people out there still have such a hatred for tattoos. I don’t understand this. You wouldn’t hate someone for wearing a pair of shoes you don’t particularly like, so why would you display this toward someone with tattoos?

       The second was the picture below which shows one of ‘Thug Wife's’ many tattoos. In case you can't see, on the side of her fingers it says 'do not ask me about my tattoos'. I found this really interesting because this beautiful lady is covered in tats, and clearly for her, her tattoos are personal. She doesn’t want to be constantly asked about them. Seeing this photo made me feel better about my own feelings surrounding this topic. I wondered if I was being selfish or ridiculous for getting fed up with people asking me about my tattoos, but this made me realise that I wasn’t being selfish at all. My tattoos are my own, after all. 

Like I said above, I don’t like tribal tattoos. But I don’t go up to someone with tribal tattoos and ask them why they got it, doesn’t it concern them, etc. I may not like their tat, but I don’t judge the person. I understand many people may not like my tattoos, but I don’t expect to be judged because of them. I got my tattoos for myself.

Too many people seem to think that tattoos are like gallery art. Tattoos are art, but they belong to the individuals body, not for a gallery for the public to look at and discuss over a glass of pinot. My tattoos are MINE.

my tat on my thigh. it doesn't mean anything, I just like it. Hope that's alright.

I understand that when you get yourself inked, you obviously have to prepare that people will ask questions, especially if your tattoos are out on display. There is nothing wrong with healthy curiosity. People may wonder what a scripted tattoo says, or what a tattooed symbol means. It’s when it gets beyond healthy curiosity that for me, it becomes a bit of an issue. People seem to think its ok to go beyond ‘what does that tattoo say’ to ‘why did you get that?’ ‘what does that mean to you though?’ ‘aren’t you worried you will regret that?’, or my favourite, no words, just a look of pure judgement.

So many people bring up that classic R word too. ‘regret’. ‘what about when you are old?’ seems to be the classic go-to line. People forget that while tattoos may seem unlikely on the older generation now, as generations become older, tattoos on older people will become normalised. As I mentioned above, more and more people are getting tattooed now. So when I’m old, most other old people will be inked too. It won’t be some sort of abstraction to worry about. Not that it should be anyway. Even if this wasn’t the case, why should age be a factor? Why should I stop doing stuff I really want to do now, and not impulsive things but things i’ve thought really hard and long about, just because of my wrinkly years, when i’ll most likely be wearing more clothes than I am now at 19 anyway.

My awesome Harry Potter deathly hallows tribute tattoo. Weirdly, I was quite concerned that people would react negatively to this, but now I've realised it doesn't matter because Harry Potter is amazing!! And to be honest most people have shared my enthusiasm for this tat.

It doesn’t help when these cynics say little words with negative connotations either. Ie. Tattooing your skin becomes ‘branding your skin’. No. Getting a tattoo is not the same as being a cow getting sent to the slaughterhouse. A tattoo is a different mark. A brand has an ugly purpose. A tattoo has no particular ‘purpose’ and thats one of the things that makes tattoos so endearing. I often think the brilliant parts of life are the little things which actually offer no real purpose, but when you think about them, are wonderful none-the-less. 

Tattoos can be fabulous, beautiful, and make a person distinctive and individual. Tattoos are also personal though, and aren’t public property. Everyone will have their opinion on tattoos, and body modification in general, but don’t allow your opinion to make you judgmental or cynical, or let your curiosity, be an excuse to be nosy and preachy, because at the end of the day its only skin. It’s not really the skin we’re in that matters, or the body art decorating that skin, but the person in that skin.

Tattooed Beauty Kat Von D. 

stuff i'm loving this week.

Hey everyone, hope everyones having an ok start to the week!!

In the past week i've found some awesome stuff which I thought I would share with everyone.


This song by Palma Violets is truly amazing. Zane Lowe Featured Palma Violets on Radio 1 the other evening, and I fell in love. They are very reminicent of 70's rock, yet with a totel modern edge.

Palma Violets - Best of Friends

Another new song I'm loving thanks to Zane is Everything Everythings new song, 'Cough Cough', like the Palma Violets song its very experimental and rocky, and hails back to Everything Everythings roots. 

Everything Everything - Cough Cough

Yet another song i'm going wild for is this amazing song by Deap Vally, which demonstrates that girls really can rock out!! I'm loving the trend in music at the moment which hails back to original thrashy rock music and brings it up to date in the modern era. Plus this song screams girl power!!

Deap Vally - Gonna Make My Own Money

On a non-musical note, I have ordered some of these disco pants from Boo-Hoo woooo!! I've wanted a pair of disco pants for ages, but the original ones (from American Apparel) are about £70. I can't afford that!! So I've found this much cheaper alternative which I have heard from reliable sources are still made with amazing material, are tight fitting, and simply make you look amazing. Plus Boo-hoo offer lots of different colours and styles. 

Nail art is all the rage at the moment, and i've been crushing on the nail studs that Wah! Nails do for some time. I've now found out you can do this yourself! at home!! amazing. All you need is some nail studs which you can get here, at 'sparkly nails', who also offer all sorts of other cheap nail art essentials. 

An example of studded nails

Speaking of funky nail art, I've also been adoring the trend for 'caviar nails', they look gorgeous!! You can get your own kit here from Asos. I can't wait to try both the caviar and the stud look out. I'm so terrible at nail wraps so hopefully this will be an easier AND more glamourous alternative to gorgeous and fun nails.

An example of Caviar nails.

Last but not least, after browsing the internet, I found this amazing article by Gala Darling. It's all about goal-setting and I found it really motivational and inspirational. It's quite old (from 2007) but it's still eey much relavant and handy for anyone who needs their arse kicking in to gear!!

Reading Festival 2012: The best weekend of my life!!

Hello readers!!
Yesterday I got back from Reading Festival. I went last year, and after going this year I've decided to go every year. It was by far the best weekend of my life, despite the fact that I have lost my voice from shouting and screaming so much!!
I decided to take disposable cameras, because I keep losing my digital cameras at festivals, so I need to get the photos developed, and then I'll put the best ones on here, but in the mean time I thought I'd write a bit about the bands at Reading and the camping!
Me and my friends decided to go early bird, so on the wednesday instead of the thursday, which was such a good shout because we got a really good camping spot and could just chill on the thursday. Reading is a massive festival so you can't ever really get bored as there is so much on offer for campers. Reading has plenty of stalls to buy pretty much anything, a fair, two silent discos and loads of food. Plus when you camp with lots of people, and/or meet new people, you have a lot of fun!!
I think the line up for this years Reading was one of the best I've seen. On the Friday, The Cure headlined, but to be completely honest, their set was very boring. As one of my friends said, it was the sort of music to slit your wrists to!! The first band I saw on the friday was Cancer Bats, a heavy canadian thrash/punk band. They were absolutely amazing. Even if you don't really enjoy 'heavy' music, you can still apreciate the atmosphere of seeing them live on the main stage.

Cancer Bats

After Cancer Bats I watched spector, who I saw live back in March supporting Florence + The Machine in Cardiff, and they didn't dissapoint. Fred Mcpherson (the lead singer) has an absolutely amazing voice. After Spector we headed back to the mainstage to catch Crystal Castles. I saw Crystal Castles last year in the NME tent and worried the sound wouldn't be as good on the main stage, but they were amazing. The crowd went mental! I was close to the front and felt like I was going to die! I went to the side a bit so I was slightly more out the crowd for Not In Love, which has stuck in my head as one of the best songs I heard them perform. Alice Glass is just so crazy you can't help but adore her. I then went and watched Touche Amore in the Lock Up Tent. Touche Amore are heavy, yet melodic. They're songs are short, and they remind me a lot of La Dispute. They were really fun to watch, evn though I did fall over in a mosh pit!! A bit embarrasing!

 Crystal Castles

After La Dispute we watched Bombay Bicycle Club, who I saw last year and found a bit boring, but this year on the mainstage they really impressed me. Lucy Rose was there and did some of the vocals which definitely improved the set.
A band I hadn't planned on seeing but who were amazing was Sleigh Bells. As The Cure was boring us a bit, we watched Sleigh Bells in the Festival Republic tent. There was an amazing atmosphere and a lot of people there to support them for what was apparently their first UK show.

Sleigh Bells

The saturday however, was the best day of the festival. I was already amazingly impressed with the line up and didn't think it could get much better, until Green Day turned up and performed a secret set at about half 11ish in the NME tent. There is something so amazing about seeing such a huge band perform in a relatively small space. Billie Joe Armstrong really warmed the crowds up. Green Day were one of the first bands I got in to when I started liking alternative music, when I was about 11 or 12 and trying to find my own feet, so seeing them live was absolutely incredible. A highlight has to be when they played Minority, even though I wish they had enough time to play Jesus of Surburbia.
Another highlight of the saturday was seeing OFWGKTA (Odd Future). I liked Odd Future but they turned out to be better than I expected. They are a group like no one else, from their music, the atmosphere, their cult following, to the way they make their money through clothing rather than music. The fact that they are like no one else really translated in to their live performance. The crowd went crazy for Tyler, The Creator. A highlight was when they closed their set with Radical, and were joined by punks Trash Talk, before being kicked off the stage for going over time.

Odd Future

 Green Day

Another highlight from the saturday was Florence + The Machine. She was incredible, and the whole festival atmosphere just added to her performance. She got everyone in the crowd to hug eachother, and as she continued with her performance the rain fell. When she performed Shake It Out, the rain became so heavy, yet this just made the performance more amazing. Florence's voice is so powerful, and her whole set felt incredibly magical.

Florence and The Machine

Kasabian headlined the saturday, and if i'm honest, they were slightly dissapointing. I expected more from them, but they just didn't do it for me. They were ok, and Fire was great live, but it wasn't amazing, and kind of makes me wish I went to watch At The Drive In headline the NME stage instead.
On The Sunday I went to watch Howler perform on the NME stage. Jordan Gatesmith, the lead singer, was so good. The crowd wasn't as big as I expected, but they did perform fairly early in the day. The crowd did go mental for Back Of Your Neck however, which they closed with. One of the best acts from the sunday however was SBTRKT. They were more lively than I expected, and they were amazing. Pharoahs and Wildfire were so good live and the crowd were really lively.

Jordan Gatesmith from Howler

Of course, the main highlight for me from the Sunday, was the Foo Fighters closing the festival. They were mind blowing to see live. These Days and Hero were amazing, but when they closed on Everlong was the highlight for me. Watching the fireworks and the confetti fall from the sky as they played was very emotional. Dave Grohl is such a good frontman and proved that throughout the performance, as he constantly talked to the crowd, and got all of the 10,000 people there to sing happy birthday to his mum, which was so cute!!

The Foos!!

All I can say is bring on next year!!

Crystal Castles performing Not In Love

Foo Fighters Performing Everlong

EFT: My new discovery, but does it work?

I heard about EFT some time ago. EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Therapy. Its a technique used to rid the body and the mind of negative energy, thought processes, physical worries, etc. I first heard about EFT through the brilliant Gala Darling, who wrote about how she used it to overcome her eating disorder. When I first read it, I believed what she wrote, I thought well that worked for her and thats awesome, but I wasn't sure if it was something I believed in myself. I'm a very open minded person, I believe in things that a lot of people in the busy western world would dismiss, like the use of meditation. However for some reason, i just couldn't fathom how EFT could really get rid of some things. Especially stuff like allergies, as when Gala wrote she first used EFT, she wrote that she used it to combat her asthma. Could this technique really get rid of asthma?!
So what is EFT all about? EFT uses something called 'Meridian Tapping', where you tap certain points on the body in order to get rid of negative energy. You tap the 'karate chop' point of your hand (watch the videos below to get more of an idea how to do this) while saying 'even though I [have this problem] deeply and completely love and accept myself'. You then go on to tap other points of the body while listing the problem. This is meant to allow the negative energy to rise out of these points. It is also meant to be really important to say that you LOVE AND ACCEPT YOUR SELF, DEEPLY AND COMPLETELY. I could understand saying this when it came to using EFT to combat the likes of depression and eating disorders, but for allergies? really? Well apparently so. We must accept ourself, to realise that these things are not A PART of us. It may seem like your depression/eating disorder/asthma is a concrete part of you, but its not. EFT helps to unblock the paths in the body, which block up the energy creating negative thoughts/feelings/physical issues.  Even though I first dismissed EFT, I like trying new things, so I thought i'd give it a go. Yesterday I felt overwhelmingly hot for no apparent reason, so thought I'd try it for that. Its such a small thing, but I gave it a go. I then drank some water, and lied down for a couple of minutes. All of a sudden i felt very very cool. It was amazing. Of course this COULD have been a coincidence. It could have been a trick of the mind. But all you have to do is type EFT in to google and there is so much information on it, with tonnes of people claiming it has worked for them. 

EFT is something I have only just begun using/becoming fascinated with. I have only used it once, I don't know much about it. Maybe it doesn't work. I'll definitely blog more about it when I know. However it clearly works for some and thats great. While I first dismissed it (you have to admit, tapping parts of your body while talking to yourself sounds crazy!!) when you think about it, it makes sense. The use of holistic approaches to medicine, where the mental, emotional, and physical are all taken in to account together, has been around for thousands of years. People constantly brag about the use of acupuncture, where needles are put into pressure points of the body. Maybe we rely too much on therapy and drugs, and not enough on being in tune with our own bodies. This therapy not only uses the mind, but it taps in to the nervous system of the body!!
EFT can apparently be used for everything, from anorexia to insomnia, migraines to allergies, weight loss to quitting smoking, etc etc, and can be used when going through other types of therapies. You can even do it on the go. When you get stressed, just tap the karate chop point of your hand a few times to get clarity and control back.

This video is a great introduction to EFT.

let your lazy day be the day you totally change your life!!

WOAH! I haven't written in a month? I'm so sorry guys, I've gone and done it again. i say I'm going to write more, then I sort of, let it slip. Last time I wrote was just before I went to global gathering, which by the way, was frigging awesome. I raved until the early hours, I tried that funky thing where oxygen goes straight to your brain, and I had more cheesy chips than I care to remember. All in all, it was amazing. And this weekend i'm off to yet another festival (This time Reading Festival, wooo), and that made me realise how long it's been since I wrote, and how I needed a bit of a kick up the bum.
Anyway, today I am having what I like to call, A lazy day. I'm sitting on my sofa while 'Three in a bed' plays on my TV. I'm not working. I'm not doing anything. I'm resting up for this weekend where I probably wont sleep for 5 nights. However I'm also using the day to write, to read up on information on getting a job in the journalism industry, and to update my CV. Without even moving my lazy student muscles off of my sofa.
It's made me think, that these lazy days are actually the perfect opportunity to do that thing you've wanted to do for so long but haven't. I'm not talking about the thing you've needed to do, like sort out your banking. I mean the thing that you've wanted to do. That thing you've needed to kick start yourself to being the person you want to be. To getting the career you want, to lose that excess weight, or to reinvent yourself in a completely new way. The problem so many people seem to face, is that they are waiting and waiting for something to happen. But we need to make opportunities happen. If you aren't working, aren't busy, then do it. You can still lounge around and get a lie in, yet get the ball rolling on changing your life completely. Here's how. 

Take advantage of the internet...
We all know the power of the internet. We spend enough time on it. We're constantly on facebook and twitter to keep in contact with people. We play games or watch funny youtube videos for entertainment. We listen to our music on it via spotify. We read the news on it. We even do our shopping on it. Yet we don't seem to use it to our true advantage. Through the power of the internet, you can find blogs or forums discussing topics that you have needed help on, find those inspirational words to kick start something (maybe this blog post will be that for you? I hope so!) You can also go one step further. Is it a job you are after? Scour the internet for job/intern/work experience opportunities in the sector you want to go in to. You may even simply find a website specifically targeting people like YOU with your interests, which will help. Are you dying to get out of your hometown and explore the world? Use the internet to do some research (websites like lonely planet and STA Travel are great places to start) then go ahead and book something!! 

Write...
Ok so I'm going to be bias on this one. As a writer, I do clearly think writing is great. But even if you don't have an amazing way with words, that doesn't matter. It's not about that. It's about getting your thoughts in order, and to understand yourself and your needs a little bit better. Buy a notebook and start writing. Whether its in a diary format, or a list format, or a set of mind maps or doodles or whatever, writing down those niggling thoughts and getting them in order stops our minds being stagnant and helps us realise what we need to do to get where we want to be, and makes us actually do it!

Start blogging... 
This is also to do with writing. If you have specific interests in something, and want to reach a wider audience, then blogging is a great way to do this. As is twitter. Start using the internet and social media to your advantage to take yourself in the direction you want to go. Social media is the future. And it's now the present. Because things are moving quickly.

Basically, my point is, if you start doing something, even if it's something small like researching the country you desperately want to travel around, or write a list of the ways you can make it in the journalism industry, it will kick start YOU. What I mean by this is, we can't truly be ourselves until we're on the road to doing what we want to. If we're stuck, and spending our lazy days just sitting around doing NOTHING, nothing will happen. Of course, you can't just start stuff and then expect the cogs to just turn by themselves. You do have to keep the cogs turning. It will get easier, but they will never move automatically. Not this time. So next time your aimlessly doing nothing, start doing something, and then let that inspire you to carry on doing 'somethings' until you get to where you want to be!! To get where we want, we do need to make a change somewhere. And it's easy to put it off until 'tomorrow' or 'the next day'. But why not now? Be the change today, so you can get to where you want.

You go girl!!

Festival 101, #2: Beauty.

Most females have a daily beauty routine, and doing something like camping can shake this up a bit, especially when you're camping at a festival!! I think that festivals are something which is quite easygoing, so I don't think its right to take our entire make up stash and doll ourselves up every day, buuuut I still wouldn't want to go around wearing no make up. Some girls feel confident doing that, I don't. I feel a bit naked. Also festivals are somewhere you can experiment and be daring, not just with fashion but with our hair, nails and make-up too, so what do we do?! Below I've listed what I think are the best things to do when it comes to the essential, and not so essential, in terms of festival beauty, as well as the items i'm planning on taking, and the items i'm definitely leaving at home!!

Make-Up...
When it comes to make up there are a few things we consider essentials, that we would put on even if we are just popping to the shops. This is what you NEED to take to a festival. Mine are:

• Foundation - My skin isn't horrendous, but it's not flawless either. Foundation gives me an even, glowing complexion. I use YSL Teint Radiance foundation. Even though this is quite pricy I'm still going to take it to my festivals because it makes me skin look great!
• Concealer - Just in case a massive spot pops up on the end of my nose. Not. Cool. At the moment i'm using Benefit Erase Past Concealer, which like it says on the tin, is like a paste, so will cover all major flaws quickly and easily.
• Mascara - If I wear no eye make-up I just don't feel awake. I use Lancome Hypnose Drama in black.
• Eyeliner - A simple black pencil eyeliner will do wonders for anyone.

Anything you don't consider an essential, don't take. An essential isn't something you necessarily normally wear on a daily basis. I wear bronzer every day and blusher and liquid eyeliner most days, but they aren't my bare essentials so I'm not taking them. Think about what you really want and need.

Nails...

Festivals are the perfect excuse to get funky with the nail art. Even if you are wearing next to no make-up, your nails will brighten you up. Go for something glittery or bright, or if you're a dab hand with the nail art pen, add some cool designs.

And everything else...

• Buy a cheap, yet still nice smelling, bottle of perfume. I would never of thought of this but my friend recommended it last year and it's a great idea. When you aren't washing for that amount of time other than with baby wipes, a spray of perfume will spruce you right up! Don't take your most expensive bottle of Chanel, just take a smaller, cheap bottle of a perfume you like! 
• Glitter! Take some loose glitter and put it on your face and body, or some dazzle dust and put it on your eye lids! Go excessive with it to, if you can't now, when can you! Barry M also do some great loose glitter which i recommend!
• UV Paint. A festival essential! You can get this online, or in a lot of alternative stores. I like Stargazer's body paint.
• Moisturiser. You don't want a dry face and it'll provide a good base for foundation. It's also great if you're not taking foundation, especially if you get a tinted moisturiser.
• Lip balm. Because dry lips are no fun. I like Lush's Honey Trap lip balm. 
• A fun coloured lipstick. If you are a bit of a makeup junky and can't stand the thought of leaving too much makeup behind, take a bright outrageous lipstick with you to stand out from the crowd. I love Urban Decay's Super Saturated High Gloss lip pencil in Punch Drunk.