Why It's Ok Not To Have A Job

Now that I've finished university for the summer, everyone and their mother seems to be asking me if I'm going to get a job. And they are surprised when I answer blankly - no. "But why? You have so much time on your hands now" they ask. This baffles me so much. Why is it considered socially unacceptable to have a bit of well deserved time off. I don't think people understand how stressful university actually is. There is this big stereotype that students don't do anything, and for the small minority this is true. But for the vast majority of students, university is a seemingly endless pit of fire when relaxation goes to die. I understand that there will be moments where I wish I had something to do, but for now I'm just enjoying the free time to relax and catch up on all the things I've been meaning to do for ages. 

For the last few years I have wasted my summers scouring for part time jobs, and the amount of rejections I've had are unreal. I have found, in my extensive searching, very few jobs that are consistent with a demanding academic timetable. Being told I'm 'overqualified', 'not the right person', or just 'not suitable' (how can you even be overqualified for a retail job? HOW?). Even if I did possess the necessary experience, iron-clad referees, and the qualifications, the summer jobs that were so seemingly abundant, no longer exist. And at this rate, the summer will be over by the time I get myself a summer job. So with that, I thought I'd share with you the reasons why it's ok not to have a job!

Take the time to unwind // If, like me, you're in university (or school/college) you'll know that it can be very hectic and stressful. Everyone deserves a bit of time off now and again, so enjoy it whilst you have the chance. If you want to stay in bed till 3pm - do it. You won't have the chance to do it when you have a job.

Set yourself some career goals // If you don't know what your dream career is yet, don't worry! People in their 30s and 40s still aren't sure! Spend time setting some goals and if you aren't sure what you want to do, sit and think about it logically.

Expand your skillset // It's ok not to have a job as long as you aren't sat around in your pyjamas watching the latest season of OITNB day after day. Take this free time to enhance your CV. Take a course, gain some volunteer work experience, start a hobby. What you do now will heighten your job prospects for the future, and if you are currently applying for jobs - you will have more interesting things to talk about in your interview! I recently took a course in CPR and it has gone straight onto my CV - plus it will prove useful at some point in the future I swear!

Learn something new // Similar to the above point, spend your time learning something new. You can add these onto your CV, and you may even find something that helps you destress once you have a job. Learn a new language, learn to drive - learn something that you've never had the opportunity to learn before.

What do you think, is it ok not to have a job?

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Lush Ray of Sunshine Gift Set

I recently finished volunteering at a high school after working there for a whole year around my university lectures. As a little thank you all the staff in the department spoilt me rotten; buying me chocolates, cards and the Ray of Sunshine gift set from Lush. I don't know whether they knew I liked Lush, or whether it was simply a guess, but I was really happy either way. So I thought I would put my camera to good use a snap a few photos before I used everything! The gift set retails at £16.50, and includes four product miniatures wrapped in a holiday themed wrapping paper. I was forced to open up the pretty wrapping paper even though I knew what was already inside, so apologies for not having a photo of the pretty wrapping! Inside the gift there was a The Olive Branch Shower Gel (100g), Sugar Scrub Shower Scrub (50g), Each Peach and Two's a Pair Massage Bar (30g), and a block of Sandstone Soap (120g). I've never actually tried any of the products included, but they all look and smell gorgeous. I'm most excited to try the Sugar Scrub as I've never tried any of the body scrubs from Lush, and the bright green colour product looks so interesting! 

The Olive Branch Shower Gel // I had convinced myself that I didn't like the smell of this, but I don't know why because it smells incredible! Lush describe it as smelling like the Mediterranean, and I can totally see why; it is made with fresh mandarins, bergamot oil, vine leans, and olive oil! This is unlike any of the shower gels I have used before as it specifically says you can use it on your hair too. So I'm excited to give that a try! 

Sugar Scrub Shower Scrub // I didn't even realise this sort of product existed, but now that I know that is does it's not surprising that it comes from Lush. This particular product is a bright green colour, similar to the Avobath bath bomb. The smell reminds me slightly of Christmas. I'm not sure why as none of the ingredients shout out a typical christmas. But it has the spicey sort of smell if you get what I mean. 

Sandstone Soap // This smells slightly similar to the Sexy Peel soap, however has quite a gritty texture to it. The gritty texture makes it perfect for exfoliating your skin, and leaving your skin nice and soft. It is made with several different oils, so is perfect for soothing dry skin!

Each Peach (And Two's A Pair) Massage Bar // This smells amazing - like lemon and white chocolate. Other than that I have no idea what to say about it. Although I've tried various body butters and body conditioners from Lush,  I have never actually tried one of their massage bars. I'm generally too lazy to smother myself up in body moisturiser after I get out the shower. I know thats bad, but I ain't got time for that. This sounds like the perfect product to me as you literally rub it over dry skin and your done. No greasy-ness. Just soft, scented skin. 

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How To: Airbrush In Photoshop CS6

Probably a slightly controversial thing to write about, as there will probably end up being some people who will be all "you airbrush all your photos", "you're fake". But do you know what? I don't airbrush my photos, but it is a useful skill that can be used to edit photos that aren't necessarily portraits or selfies. Whilst doing A-Level photography, which seems a whole lifetime ago (but in reality was only a few years ago), knowing how to airbrush seemed invaluable. My portraits looked more professional, still life shots looked sleek, and I used the technique on pretty much every photo I took as part of my exhibitions. Now there are quite literally millions of ways to airbrush a photo, but one of the main reasons I prefer this particular technique is for the sheer simplicity of it (alongside the results it gives obvs). It's sort of like boom, boom, boom and you're done. And on that note, I'll get on with showing you how to do it...

For this little tutorial, I'm using one of my own photos as I know my friend won't mind me plastering her face on the internet as she is completely used to it. So once you have selected your photo and opened it up in Adobe Photoshop, we can begin. Now one of the first things I always recommend doing whenever you're editing a photo, is to duplicate the layer. Essentially this means if anything goes wrong, you can delete the duplicate layer and you're left with where you started. The more layers you have the better, as you are able to delete specific sections of your editing process. To do this you simply hit Ctrl + J on your keyboard (CMD + J on a Mac), and Photoshop has done it for you. If for some strange reason this doesn't work just go to Layer > Duplicate Layer, and just hit ok when a box pops up. 

Working on the new duplicate layer you want to change the layer blend mode to 'Overlay'. To do this you look on the right side of the screen, and you'll see a drop down box. At the moment 'Normal' will be selected, but to change the blend mode just click on 'Overlay'. Now when it has changed, you'll be like 'woah, why does my image look so orangey and dark' - DON'T WORRY! This is completely normal and it won't look like this for long! You then want to invert the layer, which is very important so don't forget!

Next you want to add a High Pass filter over the top. This makes your photo look quite blurry so that the skin still looks natural when you have airbrushed your photo. To do this you go to Filter > Other > High Pass, and when a window pops up asking you to adjust the pixel radius using a slider, you want to set it to 10 pixels. The pixel radius is usually set at 10 anyway, but if not just drag the slider along.

Similar to the last step, you want to go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. When the window pops up asking you to set the pixel radius. Set the slider to a radius of 3 pixels. Any more and your photo will look too fake, and if set any less the airbrush will be too sheer, and you will have completely wasted your time. Now you need to add a layer mask, which seems a bit stupid considering you've done all this work. But what this does is allow you to airbrush the parts of your image that you want to work with - rather than the whole thing. To do this you simply hold down the ALT key on your keyboard, and click the 'Add A Mask' button on the bottom right section of your screen. It will look like a rectangle with a smaller circle inside, if you can't see from my screenshot.

You're all thinking "this technique is meant to be teaching me how to airbrush, so when are we going to get to using an actual brush", well now it's time to do just that. Hit B on your keyboard, or select the brush tool from the toolbox, and select the preset 'Airbrush Soft Round 50% Flow' brush. Once you have selected your brush, the most important thing I need to tell you is not to click off the tool or swap layers or do anything until you are happy with your image, as otherwise you will have to repeat the whole process again. With the brush you want to simply brush over the areas of the image that you would like to airbrush. For example, if you are doing a face, you want to brush over the forehead, nose, cheeks, chin, etc. - but you need to avoid any natural lines and markings such as dimples and the contours of your nose otherwise your image will look flat and unnatural.

And you're done! I told you it was easy!

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