4 Things Working Part-Time Has Taught Me

If you're a regular reader of my blog posts, you will have noticed the lack of content these past few weeks. The title of this blog post is the reason for that. I have been working A LOT this summer. In fact I have done more shifts than I originally thought I would. There are many benefits to working during your summer. One of those benefits is being able to make money (obviously).
With moving out of my family home to live on Campus for University, I have had to save up as much as possible. I have also had money on the side, in order to do fun things on my days off.

Despite money being the biggest benefit of working, I have also learnt a lot, which I feel will come in handy.

Today I thought I would share with you, the things that working part-time has taught me.

1) Patience is important

I work in hospitality, so service is the heart of my role. Of course I do other things behind the scenes but ultimately my job is all about the happiness of the clients/customers. I meet some lovely people on my shifts, however I also meet some....difficult people. There are people who aren't the most considerate and often make my job far harder. With that, I have had to learn to have patience. I have never been a confrontational person, so in that aspect, everything has been fine, but sometimes clients make you feel super anxious and frustrated. It is very easy to let certain comments, looks and demands get to you but with time I have learnt to be patient and just take the punches. Sometimes it may be a case of the client not enjoying their meal but because you're the first face they see, they take it out on you. Another example may be that you are working in front of house and a client wants to move seats but company policy prohibits that and they start to complain. I have come across some of the most stubborn people but i've just had to learn to be patient. Sometimes it's hard. Very hard.

2) Be Open-Minded

Working for an agency comes with many opportunities to do a variety of shifts and meet tons of people. I've done weddings, company events, concerts, sports games, ceremonies etc. I'm constantly doing something different. No shift is ever the same, even when you're doing the same event all week. When I first started back in December last year, I never thought I would do the things I have done this year or been to the places I have. I have done shifts all over the country, this summer alone. I also thought I would stick to the shifts within my own city and didn't really think to do so many different jobs but I have and I'm so grateful. I have done bartending in Bristol, Waiting in Cambridge, a wedding in Worcestershire and so much more. My job has taught me to take more opportunities and try new things.

3) Talking will always beat Online

I am on casual contract, which means that I don't have a certain amount of hours I must do per week and I don't necessarily get given shifts at any time. Most the time I book shifts for days I am available and they respond by confirming it or giving me something else. For MONTHS I booked my shifts online and my applications would get ignored or rejected. At first I thought it was because they just didn't like me or perhaps they had favourite employees but actually it's just because talking beats online. When you book shifts online, it gets completely lost in the system. My agency has over 500 employees which explains why that would happen. A lot of the time your application won't be seen at all because of the amount of applications made. However, when you call up or go directly to Head Quarters to book your shifts, they will always have work for you since they can give it there and then. I have ALWAYS gotten work whenever I have called, whereas I rarely get them when I use the app or book via website .Although this is a lesson for my place of employment, I feel that it has taught me to do more things traditionally. We get so caught up in doing things online because it's easier than talking, but actually there are many benefits to picking up the phone or visiting in person. You see results a lot quicker, you build relationships and develop communication skills.

4) There is nothing to worry about!

I used to always get nervous before a shift. I still do sometimes but I have gained so much more confidence compared to when I first started. In fact, I have gained confidence this summer alone. I used to work myself up over little things and panic because of fear that I would mess up. I have learnt that there is nothing to worry about. I used to be so scared to drop a hot plate or spill drinks. I've done both those things at least 3 times and I'm yet to lose my job over it. I really did used to believe that I would get the sack for dropping a plate. It's basically a part of the job. Nothing ever goes perfect. You have good shifts and not so good shifts but you learn. I have gotten better at waiting and I know there is far more to learn.

These are just 4 of many things that working part-time has taught me. I don't always enjoy working but I never regret doing a shift.

Do you have a part-time job? If so, what have you learnt from it?

Thanks for reading,
Have a great day X

Unpopular Opinions

At the end of my last post (Here), I mentioned that I have a lot of unpopular opinions that I could rant about. I decided to share them because I don't voice my opinion too often and want to get out of my tent of comfort. I'm hopefully going to make this into a little series I guess. This will be part 1 of many (If you guys want them).

Disclaimer:

I have no intention to cause offence or hurt, in anyway. If you disagree with me then feel free to voice your counter argument in the comment section. 

*In hales* *Exhales* Let's do this.

1)  There are only 2 genders
- Please don't come at me for this because my opinion won't change

2) The Kardashians are one of the main reasons for the failure of this generation
- I have no idea how to explain this without disrespecting them so hopefully they will never read this LOL. I obviously don't mean in terms of violence and terrorism etc. What I mean by this, is that the Kardashian family becoming so mainstream has led to way too many girls wanting to look exactly like them, increased self esteem issues and increased cosmetic surgery procedures among young adults. Not only this but way too many people now aspire to be social media influencers as a career, which in my opinion is not a good career aspiration.
-Yes they've somehow managed to build multi-million dollar empires over the last decade just by being attractive, but I don't respect the process and at the end of the day I would rather be respected than rich.

3) Leading on from number two: Plastic surgery doesn't fix insecurities 
-When it comes to plastic surgery, I have very mixed opinions. I personally don't think I would get it but if someone else wants to get it, that is none of my business. When someone gets something done, I don't look at them any differently (If they are honest about it), however if someone's whole body is fake, I definitely start to lose respect for them. There is a reason behind this so let me explain.
-When someone chooses to change everything about them, there are 4 things I think of.
--- They took the easier route rather than learning to love what they have
--- They would rather risk their health for the "perfect" features than to work on their self esteem
--- They are choosing to waste thousands of £ on something that ultimately doesn't matter
--- They had a lot of insecurities to begin with that needed to be dealt with
- I just don't think cosmetic surgery is ever the answer to low confidence.

4) Dr Alex on Love Island needs to go home
- His time surely must be up by now? I'll be checking Twitter for when he is on his way to the airport. This guy has been hurt more than his patients.

5) Most trending Instagram comedy sketch videos are trash

6) Kpop is overrated
-I've heard a few songs and I don't get the hype. To be fair, BTS seem like fun guys

7) All this advanced technology isn't good, its terrifying 
- Listen here. If you think I'm using facial recognition to unlock my phone so that the government can store my retinas, you must be crazy. I'm already using finger print recognition and really skeptical. People think the facial recognition feature on iPhone X is amazing. I DON'T! It's terrifying and it makes me think the end days are approaching No thankQ. I've read 1984 by George Orwell...

8) Android is way better than Apple. 
-Samsung all the way!

9) Milkshake is gross

10) Nobody should be allowed to use the N word
- Even as a young black woman, I don't think the N word should be used at all. I get why it was reclaimed and used, but it has such strong history. I don't think our ancestors would want us to use it and it causes so much unnecessary controversy.

11) Most of this generation look at social media, to make political judgments rather than gather their own thoughts and ideas
- I don't know if it's cus we're brainwashed, lazy or sheep. Could be a combo of all three.

12) I'm not a huge fan of Bananas
- Nobody hypes up Nectarines and Kiwi but they're so good. I have to be in the mood for Bananas.

13) Black History Month is just to tick a box
- When it comes to Pride, everyone goes all out. Music Festivals, Rainbow everything, Banners etc. On the other hand, black history month isn't any where near on that level. We learn about the same people every year, there is a solid focus on slavery rather than how far we've become and it almost feels like it ends once you graduate high school. I thought it was overlooked in school and then I graduated. Never mind overlooked, we pretty much just get a hashtag. It's just a part of a To-Do List that gets ticked off to say we have been acknowledged.

14) Men aren't trash
- Some are, don't get me wrong, but for the most part I think they're just very different to women. We misunderstand each other.

So this was Part 1 of Unpopular Opinions. I can breathe now. Hopefully nobody is crying or driving to their safe space. If you enjoyed, let me know in the comments so that I can do plenty more. I have a lot of opinions.

Thanks for reading,

Have a great day x

Why I Stopped Watching Love Island/Rant

Yes you read that title correctly. I stopped watching Love Island *cries in Spanish*. Hear me out though because I'm going to explain why. I thought I would write a blog post about it just because I kind of see Chelle Belle as my online Journal in some ways, so why not.

For those of you who do not know what Love Island is, it is a UK reality dating show where a mix of men and women over 18 live in a villa together in Spain for 6-8 weeks. The aim is to couple up with someone you think you're attracted to and have a connection with. There is a grand prize of £50,000 for the best couple (voted by the public). There have been some success stories and some....not so much. There are challenges, dates, drama and 'fun'.

First of all, let me just let y'all know THIS IS HARD! It's very difficult to suddenly stop watching a show mid way through, whilst you're totally addicted to it. That's kind of the main reason why I stopped. Addiction.

I have been watching Love Island since season 2 and every year I have been reluctant to keep up but somehow lust of the flesh took over and I ended up watching it. Even when I knew I shouldn't I did and part of me ALWAYS regretted. Of course it is great entertainment but sometimes you have to give things up that are entertaining, in order to maintain other things. Let me explain deeper.

When they announced the release date of season 4 along with the brand new cast, my initial feelings were excitement but like each year it was also a feeling of conflict. Up until the DAY of the first episode I battled with myself over whether I should watch it or not. Probably sign number 1 that I should have gave it a miss. I watched it anyway and from there I was in my room with my laptop ready to tune in at 9pm every evening, even when I had an exam the next day. I prioritised the show over doing the necessities that needed to be done. I became lazy. Something that I never thought I would say. You may be reading this thinking "Rochelle it really isn't that deep" but its something much bigger than that.

I put the show before everything and that isn't OK. I would delay Bible Study to watch something that focuses on lust, I would come home from a day with friends and the first thing I did was put ITV Hub on, I would constantly make it a topic of conversation. I even managed to get other people addicted to it and I didn't even feel right watching it myself. It became addicting and the minute something begins to consume my life, I have to cut it off. I have always been that way. Cheryl Cole once said that "too much of anything can make you sick". That one lyric has always stuck with me. You should never let something CONTROL YOU because YOU ARE IN CONTROL. I refuse to let this show control my thoughts and actions, especially when I already saw it begin to happen.

Love Island genuinely made me scared to let my guard down or catch feelings. Like genuinely. Watching Laura, Georgia, Samira and Alex get mugged off made my guard go up higher than I ever thought a show could. It made me close myself up even more than usual and put a cage around my heart for a hot minute. Except imagine the keys for the cage went missing. I was really prepared to have high security and let NOBODY in. However life shouldn't be like that. I was sitting in church and realised how much damage that can do. You should guard your heart but always have the key to control who can go near it. You should always be open to letting people in, because you never know what important people that may give access into your life.

Although its a heavily edited TV Show, these are real people with real feelings so I couldn't help but think, if these things can happen to beautiful girls like this, it can DEFINITELY happen to me. I really had to think, is it worth damaging my self esteem and mental health, just for one hour of entertainment? The answer was of course no. No matter what people think or the direction everyone else is going, you must ALWAYS prioritize yourself. Everyone else may not see it that way but you need to stay in your own lane. The minute you try to switch it up when you know you can't, is when accidents happen.

Another way that the show was changing my actions was through reaction. One of the best parts of the show is being able to read or hear other people's opinions about events going on in the villa. I would have Twitter open at all times whilst watching an episode, to share my thoughts and hear everyone else's. That seemed OK until I really sat down and thought about it. Some of the jokes that I thought were funny at first weren't so funny. Jokes about Laura looking older than 29 started off as funny but then I just felt sorry for her. She is constantly being shamed for just aging. Something we all do...
I realised that she has no idea that she is being shamed for not looking young like everyone else. She shouldn't be made to feel bad for being natural. Whether she looks 29 or not, she is and its unfair that she is insulted everyday for not looking like other 29-year olds (without knowledge of it too).

When Charlie came into the villa, Samira openly said that he was her type. Blonde. Everyone jumped at her throat for it but didn't question it when Wes said the same thing about Ellie. Even I was guilty of being like "what is wrong with you Samira?" but that is so unfair. Just because she is black, doesn't mean she has to be with a black man. So many people said it "reflected her insecurities" but actually, maybe she just likes white guys? Just because her TYPE is blonde, doesn't mean she isn't open to dating black guys. I'm sure she has. In fact, maybe she does love her chocolate men but knew Love Island wasn't going to come through with too many options. Like how white girls don't like all white guys, black girls don't like all black guys. Perhaps Josh just didn't give her the flutters?

There are so many unpopular opinions I could share, that I may make an entire post dedicated to ranting about them. My point though is that I followed the crowd and judged, just like everyone else. That really isn't me and I'm surprised I even allowed it to happen. I bet Adam and Megan aren't even as bad as they seem  but they have had sooooo much hate.

I for one do not want a show to turn me into one of those judgmental girls that I cannot stand and if I have to stop watching it, in order to improve my character rather than taint it, I will.

I don't know how many of you will have read to the end or even care, but if you did I'm sending you a virtual red velvet cake to say thanks.

Thanks for reading,

Have a great day x

4 Reasons Why You Should Go to Open Days BEFORE Applying For University

Hey guys! Hope you're having a great day. I'm back with another post on this beautiful sunny day. I don't know if it's hot where you are but it definitely is in the UK and that is very rare. I have my cold water and my music playing, whilst I'm sitting in the sun, so I'm pretty happy right now. I thought I may as well take my laptop out with me and do my first uni post of the summer.

If you are new here, I am actually starting university this September and I plan on sharing all my university experiences with you all. From moving preparations to story-times (if anything interesting goes down). I have done other uni related posts which you can read after this post!

Being fresh out of year 13, I thought I would do a post related to the actual application process. One really significant and beneficial part of applying for university is going to open days. Today I am going to share with you the reasons why you should go to them before you begin your UCAS application.

Here we go!

Gives You An Initial Idea Of The Course

I found that going to Open Days before applying to Universities made things less overwhelming and gave me some sort of idea what I would be studying if I attended that particular uni. I knew what course I wanted to do already but I know that this isn't a decision made by everybody during the early stages of applying. By visiting Universities before you start your UCAS, you have an idea of what each university specializes in, what modules are taught, course options etc. My first open day was actually 2 days after my last AS exam in year 12. I am glad that I went that early on, as I considered doing a joint honours which I didn't really know was an option just by looking online. After talking to course leaders, I found out that I could do a joint honours and learnt about the benefits of it. 

Open days really invite a fresh perspective and new options that you wouldn't be exposed to if you didn't go to open days. 

Get A Real Feel 

If you are like me and have always wanted to move away from home for university, this is important. Going to Open Days allows you to get a real feel for the new city or location that you could potentially be living in for the next 3-4 years. You will never know whether a region feels right for you unless you visit. I went to cities that looked amazing in pictures, but it didn't feel right when I visited in person. It was still very beautiful but I just didn't get the vibe I wanted. This made it so much easier when it came to the UCAS application as I could already eliminate certain options and narrow my choices. 

Things I considered were the culture, population, town centre and distance from home. My mum drove for all of my open days so we were able to see how far it actually was from home (Important). 

Speak To Real Students

For me, one of the best things about the open days I went to was the opportunity to speak to some of the students. The university staff and course leaders are ALWAYS going to try and paint the university in the best way possible, for obvious reasons but the students are more likely to be completely honest. This is exactly what you need. I went to one university and I spoke to one girl who's flat we went to look at. I loved that she was super honest about her first year experience and she gave me loads of advice. She talked about the work load, the small flat she was able to work with and what it was like to live in the town. Speaking to people who really understand and remember what it is like to be in your position is really beneficial. I hope to be a massive help to future students once I'm in first year. 

Saves Time

I know that it is pretty common to visit universities throughout the year (which is totally fine- I did it too), but doing it early saves you so much time. TRUST ME when I say this. You are going to need all the time you can get in year 13, so make the most of it. One thing I found was that no matter how much work I did, it never felt like I had enough time to do everything I wanted to do. By visiting universities the summer before year 13, or between Sep and Dec, it allows you to have more time for your actual A-levels/course. 

There are so many benefits to going to open days before doing your UCAS application. Hopefully if you take my advice on board, you will be pleased with your experience and carry a lot less stress. 

Thanks for reading,

Have a great day x 

Glowy Makeup Routine

During the winter I prefer a semi matte finish with lots of neutral tones but during the summer months I look for super glowy and bronze skin. There is something about having radiant and tan skin during the hotter season that I adore. Recently my makeup routine has been exactly that. Today I thought I would share with you all my summer makeup routine.

Disclaimer:

I do not wear makeup every single day but when I do, this is most likely the outcome.

Skin Prep

This is a very important step to getting a natural and fresh face. Your makeup will only look as good as your skin underneath. Don't get me wrong, my skin is no where near perfect but I do try to look after it as much as possible. A couple pimples won't hurt but the smoother the base, the better.

I don't do too much when it comes to prep. I obviously wash my face in the morning and I moisturize. The only extra steps I have been taking lately has been using SPF and primer. A lot of the time I don't bother with primer but it does make a difference in the heat.

I have been using the Rimmel Lasting Perfection primer. It smooths out the skin and creates a long lasting base.

Foundation

When it comes to the foundation, I have been changing between two different methods. The main option is a mixture of two foundations to create a soft and natural base. I use a few swipes of the Revolution fast base stick foundation in F12 and a pump of Maybelline Super Stay in Warm Sun. The finish that you get from mixing the two is so beautiful. The revolution foundation is a dewy finish whilst the Maybelline is matte, creating the perfect balance.

The other option is to use any foundation with some moisturizer to make a tinted moisturizer/BB cream consistency. This is perfect for days where I want my skin to be evened out and cover where necessary. I usually use equal amounts of moisturizer and foundation.

Concealer

The concealer that I have been using is the Revolution conceal and define in the shade C8. It is FULL coverage and covers my dark circles. A little goes a long way in my opinion. I like to highlight between the brows, the bridge of my noses and chin. 

Powder

I don't have majorly oily skin however it does get oily during the summer, as you can imagine. To avoid my skin getting super greasy and creasing, I always dust a little powder over my face. In the day-time I just dust some Rimmel Stay Matte Powder all over my face however I sometimes bake under my eyes with some Airspun loose powder if I feel to. 

Left: Bronzer Topper
Middle: NYX Buttergloss in Madeline
Right: NYX Sandstorm Lipstick

Bronzer

To bronze my skin and add some warmth I have been using my Wet n Wild contour duo. I use the bronzer side on my forehead, cheekbones and my nose to balance everything. I am looking for new bronzers to try and hopefully I find the perfect shade, but this works for now. If I want that extra glow, I use the darkest shade in the Revolution Golden Sugar 2 Rose Gold Blush Palette as a bronzer topper. It looks beautiful when the light hits it.

Highlighter

I LOVE highlighter so this is always my favourite part when it comes to my glowy makeup routine. I have plenty of options but for this look in particular I gravitate to my gold shades. My favourite to use is the Maybelline Master Chrome Highlighter. I pretty much just go ham with it. I like to put it on my cheek bones, nose, above the brows and on the brow bone. I also like to highlight my cupids bow and chin. It sounds obsessive and unnecessary. You would be absolutely correct if you are thinking that.

Of course I always make sure to wear mascara and do my brows too.

Lips

Glossy lips are THE ISH during the summer. I think I am more of a gloss person over matte anyway but I love a glossy lip in the summer time. My current fave  lip combo is NYX Sandstorm with the NYX buttergloss in Madeline over the top. Sometimes I use Madeline alone too

So this is my general glowy skin routine. It's one of my favourite type of looks to do. When it comes to makeup I stick to quite natural makeup. Maybe I'll go more out of my comfort zone one day.

Thanks for reading,

Have a great day x