WIWT Library Days: Style Tips for Exam Season

It’s that traumatic time of year...exam season. This means early mornings, late nights and spending every available hour of sunlight in the library. Generally at this time of year any sense of looking decent or fashionable goes out of the window because every scrap of energy is being used on staying awake and cramming all the information you can into you’re already over-filled brain. After years of having to go through this ordeal I have come up with a few tips to help dress quickly (can’t be wasting time on outfit choices), sensibly and yet still have an effortless style. An example of this is what I wore today, shown below:

Leggings: River Island
White Converse: Office
Stripey Top: TK Maxx
Hoody Top: Topshop
Leather Jacket: Thrift Shop
Scarf: Marks & Spencers
Iphone Case: Ebay

·      ♥  Layers: I don’t know about you but I find that libraries temperatures fluctuate hourly! You go in early in the morning and its freezing then by lunch time you feel like you have been transported to the Sahara desert. So layers are always a sensible idea so you are able to take off and put on accordingly throughout the day without being uncomfortable. Also we live in England, so you could leave the house and its sunny then by the time you get to the library a typhoon has hit…layers is always a good plan. Another tip is if you want to liven up your look a bit layer up with different patterns; it’s simple and yet effective. One of my favourite tricks is to wear a top with on pattern then instead of stressing over finding a jacket with an opposite yet complementing pattern just throw on a scarf with a pattern. It does the job well and doesn’t look too much at the same time.   

     ♥    Leggings, Disco Pants, Stretchy Pants: For exam season I find that leggings or any stretchy pants are an absolute god send. You are sitting around for potentially hours at a time and you don’t want to be stuck in some horribly tight, sweaty jeans while sitting in a hard, uncomfortable seat (sorry not much can be done do about the seat) but you can take the denim out of the equation. I find by wearing leggings you can eliminate the over heating element and generally I find they are just more pleasant to wear when sitting around all day in that they allow more movement and don’t restrict you like jeans do. On top of that by choosing a black pair of leggings you leave the option wide open for what you can wear with it as they pretty much go with anything BUT don’t fall into the trap that leggings are pants. THEY ARE NOT PANTS. Make sure you bum is well covered either by a dress, skirt, oversized shirt etc.  

·     ♥   Comfy Shoes (flats): The likely hood is that for those rare moments you are not chained to a desk, you are trailing around looking for the right resources to aid your learning. So you don’t want to wearing shoes that are hard to walk in! Keep it simple; a nice pair of pumps or quirky sneakers will do the job perfectly.  

       ♥   Big Bag: You don’t want to be that person who takes the smallest bag to the library then end up carrying hundreds pieces of papers and countless books around! Get yourself a bag that’s going to fit in everything you are going to need for the day; you can use a back pack or a big handbag (Zara have some beaut ones in at the moment!) I am using a Jansport back pack for all of my revision tools at the moment and I love it! I got it a few years ago actually from TK Maxx and it’s lasted amazingly and is perfect for those days when you are carrying loads around as it can hold everything you will ever need. Mine is just a plain denim colour but if you want something a bit more interesting they have released loads with bright, vibrant patterns on that will liven up any outfit. However be careful not to over fill any back pack being used as if you are carry around too much at once you may hurt your neck or back, so please be careful. 
 ♥    Water: Off topic I know but if you are going to be locked up revising for hours in a stuffy library make sure you stay hydrated. Take a bottle with you because most libraries will have water stations you can fill up at because a hydrated mind learns best. 

I hope this will help you survive the exam season and the stress that comes with bottomless amounts of revision! Good luck in any exams you have and if you have an questions don’t be shy to ask, Hann xxx

 

I Gave Blood!

I gave blood for the first ever time today and feel like a hero for doing it! In the UK you are able to donate blood from the age of 17 and being 19 I feel bad I haven’t done it sooner; it was my friend who suggested it and I am so happy with myself for going through with it. After going through it once I will happily go and do it again; you are able to give blood up to 3 times a year if you are applicable. It’s a great cause and everyone who is able should give blood at least once (even if it is just for the free biscuits at the end) One of the scariest things for me was not knowing what was going to happen so I thought it would be a good idea to give you all (if you haven’t done it before) a little run down of how it works. I’m even scared of needles and I was able to do it…I just looked away the entire time. 

If you are interested in giving blood the first thing to do is go on the NHS, Blood website which will help you find a donation near you and help you make an appointment (link below).

http://www.blood.co.uk/SessionSearcher/

 Once you are there you will fill in a form, be told to have a glass of water then you go through to a separate screening room where you just get asked for personal questions (just about past travelling and surgery’s). You will also have a drop of blood taken to test for your blood iron levels but it’s only a drop so it’s easy peasy! From there you are taken to a bed where the blood will be taken; be careful not to fall asleep as I nearly did. As a first time donor I was pretty nervous but all of the nurses were so nice and helpful to make me feel as comfortable as I could be. Your arm is cleaned then the needle is put it; all it feels like is a sharp scratch or like you are having a big injection. The pain is brief and then you are left for 6 – 10 minutes for the blood to draw; it’s an odd sensation but definitely not painful and then that’s it! Bish bash bosh! After the needle is taken out, a plaster is put over where the needle was and you are off to enjoy some juice, tea, coffee and lovely biscuits.

As you leave you are given lots of helpful information on what to do after given blood, possible side effects and how giving blood is so beneficial. For the kindness and helpfulness of all the workers there helped me through it and left me feeling eager to do it again. So please if you can give blood! I hope by telling you how easy the process is it will give you confidence to do it yourself. Its helps save so many lives and it’s so easy to do. Thank you so much for ready, Hann xxx