Revision and Exam Preparation Tips

It's that time of year - exams. As all older teenagers in the UK (and US?) will know, this time of year is stress-filled and revision-heavy. It would be fair to say I hate revision, and my study time is usually not very effective, but I have learnt some techniques which work for me, and hopefully might work for you too.

1. Make a timetable

Structuring your time is essential, because otherwise I am prone to zoning out and playing on my phone (not good). Having a clear plan allows you to be purposeful, and know exactly what you're supposed to be doing when, which helps. 


2. Have breaks

I definitely know from experience that trying to do 4 hours of solid revision will not work. After around an hour of productive revision, my brain just becomes fuzzed, and all further revision is unproductive. It's much better to do effective blocks, rather than hours of bored, bad revision.

3. Break topics into chunks

I always do this with topics, especially things like biology and history, where there is just so much content to learn, that just to sit there and read years worth of notes is not very effective. With biology, I made an A4 page or two of typed notes for each topic, which didn't take too long, and is a lot more manageable.

4. Make flashcards

I used to loathe flashcards because it took hours to write them out. Then I discovered the world of online flashcard websites, and my life was transformed. www.cram.com is my personal favourite, although there are many others. They are an excellent way of learning, for example dates, or specific facts.

5. Don't over-revise

This may sound stupid, but while these exams are extremely important, getting too stressed will be counter-productive and end up making you do worse. Doing revision is necessary, but doing too much, or cramming crazily, won't help you get the grades you want.

Hope this helps!
Love Lucy xxx

BareMinerals Complexion Rescue | My thoughts

I was going to include this in my next samples roundup post, but I decided that it merited it's own post. I finally summoned up the courage to ask at the bareMinerals counter for a sample of their new Complexion Rescue (believe me, it took a long time, I hate talking to people in shops). 

 The lady was very pleasant, and colour-matched me to my shade (01 Opal - the lightest shade naturally). She squeezed me out a sample into this cute pot. On the voucher I brought along it said 'Deluxe' sample, and let me tell you it was definitely deluxe. I got 18 uses out of it! That is a lot! And I was not being scarce with it, I was going all out, assuming it would run out after a week. 

The texture is extremely light, and the colour is perfect for me. It spreads very easily, and so a little goes a long way. The coverage is quite minimal, but having said that, it does reduce redness and cover up acne quite well.

The only negative I have with this is that it is very dewy. I usually like that radiant-complexion kinda look, but I have quite oily skin, and it is more of a shiny-face sort of effect. Coupled with the fact that I have just run out of my Rimmel Stay Matte powder, the shine has been reigning free for the last few days.

  All in all, I am a huge fan of this, and am extremely tempted to buy the full size, but it is pretty expensive. Having said that, bareMinerals is an excellent quality brand, and given how little is needed, it would last a long time. Hmmm...

Love Lucy xxx