Sunday Post #6 | Where Do I Go From University? Thoughts

So myself and almost a million other uni students will be heading into their third year of study this September, some with a job planned or lined up for graduation and some who don't. I am one of the students who doesn't. 

I'm not afraid to admit that although university has been incredible, the first year of uni was a huge learning curve and my lessons/lectures aren't all I expected them to be. My anticipations and expectations for these three years were high, I don't know if I expected more because in TV university looks incredible, or maybe I just didn't choose the right course/university for my personal way of learning.

Since the first time I felt-tipped the walls of my family kitchen all I've wanted to do my whole life is make art; make art for a living, make art for fun, . Dedicated to the illustration path so much, I even tried to open a door handle with my two front (baby) teeth so I could carry as many art supplies as possible (they got knocked out of my gob, it was literally a bloody grim sight) but as I grow older and dip my toes into lots of different waters, plan to travel and become sick of working bars, I've found myself straying from what I set out to accomplish all those years ago.

This isn't a bad thing, it actually means more doors are opening, like a career in blogging, social media or marketing (yes, social media careers are a thing), the chance of a tattoo apprenticeship in the future- or both. 

Me at two years old, I think!

For so long art, and my ability to create has been at the core of who I am. It's an unchanging part of my identity but university has really beaten me down this last year (feedback basically stating that they didn't understand my work, or tutors preferring my rough sketches to my hard worked on final pieces) making me realise that aside from tattooing, maybe I won't make a living from doing solely this!

Then we come to blogging; working with PR and communicating to audiences on such a great and personal level makes me want to maybe pursue blogging as a full time thing, alongside making art. Wouldn't that just be a dream? If I enjoy blogging and working with PR this much, surely I'd enjoy being a PR working with bloggers, right?

I was recently contacted by Spotlight Recruitment who are an agency offering jobs in marketing and PR, their website even keeps you up to date with industry news if you're looking to get into marketing all by yourself. 

A lot of the positions are London based, as I assume they are with big brands and agencies, but I can't think of a graduate who is happy residing in their city of study for the rest of their lives anyway. 

I want to explore the world and then get a creative industry job in a city with a hell of a lot of opportunity. Perhaps London, or Manchester, or New freakin' YORK. It's so hard to get your foot in the door as a creative grad which makes agencies like Spotlight Recruitment something I'm glad about and us under-grads need to know about now. Especially if in a year we're going to be thrown into the big wide world of salaries and taxes.

Whatever I do for the rest of my life, I hope it's creative and makes me happy :)

Where did you go from uni? Are you on the same path you set out to be right now? I'd love to know your experiences!

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*This post is sponsored by Spotlight Recruitment but was written before they contacted me! (minus the mention). But do check them out if you're looking for a job in marketing! All words and opinions/thoughts are completely my own.

Thailand Spa in Your Own Home | Janjira Loves 🌴🌺*

It used to be a bit of a tradition that when going away with family, mum and I would spend some time relaxing in the closest spa. Picture us soaking up quartz, salt and greek herbs in turkish and Japanese steam rooms, napping on water beds in borrowed robes and dipping in the mineral pool under the stars. 

This week has been absolutely crazy with travelling to Wales, spending time with my boyfriend's family for the first time and heading back for a few days of hard work before I shoot off to Leeds Festival.

Travelling a lot and being stressed is the perfect way to give me a hella' lot of forehead spots and dry skin never mind leaving me feeling a little tense and in need of some self-love. My days away this week were an absolute dream- the weather in Wales was beautiful and being by the sea felt like a little slice of Greece (or somewhere equally as far away from the UK as possible)!

Coming home was made a little easier by these Thai spa inspired Janjira products that I've been loving e'rryday since my return. They're actually created in Thailand too so it's a real slice of heaven!

For coming up two months now, I've had bad dry patches on my face around my eyes, yet I haven't changed any of my products. Confuuuused! Assuming my skin was becoming sensitive to face wipes, my new make-up devil, I bought a bottle of Garnier's Micellar Water to see if it'd help.

I also tried the Janjira Pomegranate & Acai Micellar water* and have only been using it for a week but it doesn't sting at all, is paraben free, parfum free and completely natural. It's also cruelty free! Can I get a hell yeah? My eczema eyes are completely GONE (and no, I haven't been paid to say that) which is a miracle as I've tried everything, even these skin hydration pills which seemed to work for everywhere else.

The difference between this and regular micellar water bottles is the handy pump! You press a cotton pad onto it and you're ready to wipe off that day old crud on your face. This really helps with wastage and you get exactly the amount of product that you've paid for, so no more worrying that the bottle has opened in your travel bag! I use just a few pumps to remove all of my war paint.

The only issue I have is that it really doesn't taste nice if you wipe your lips with it, forget and lick it after. I also wouldn't recommend getting it in your eyes. Pshhh, no, of course I haven't. *rolls stinging eyes* 

The smell is so refreshing and on a hot day it takes the heat off of your face, cleansing and waking me up right when I need it. The next time you'll see it will probably be in an empties/favourites post!

I was also lucky enough to get my mitts on this Lime & Ginger body scrub. It's a HUGE tub, seriously huge. I think you could buff up three or four people if you absolutely covered them in this stuff AND it smells incredible. Out of the two products I tried, this is definitely my favourite smell. Invigorating, zesty, refreshing yet relaxing, it really takes you to a spa in your own home.

Using it in the mornings leaves you smooth and sugared all day, using it in the evening is really relaxing too and the ginger is nicely warming. 

If walking around like a naked Thai goddess is on your to-do list this week then you gotta try out this out as the oils in it have left my skin so soft, even gently scrubbing my tattoos with it has made them brighter. It's perfect for buffing your body post summer leg shave or pre-tan and is also made of natural ingredients! Janjira's whole range is cruelty free.

The grains in the body scrub are pure refined sugar, ground super small to avoid any exfoliating related injury haha. I have no qualms with this product so far, just super grateful that I was able to try these as I can't believe how fast they've cleared up my dry patches, along with Lush's Elbow Grease (keep your eye's peeled for that post in a few days)!

I want to smell like a fruity lime and ginger goddess forever.

See my favourite beauty products under £10 here!

What do you use for dry skin and that fresh spa feeling? I'd love to know! Maybe one day I can turn my bathroom totally spa themed!

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*These goodies were kindly sent over for trying out but as always all words/opinions in my posts are my own!

Visiting Conwy & LLandudno ⚓️ | Diary & Vlog

If you're anything like me, trips away are few and far between! Getting to go away for a few days is such a treat especially if university is taking a toll or I just need to get out of the city. Days out in the Lake District are one my my favourite things do to in summer but it's not often that I get to go somewhere I haven't been before.


That's not all true. I visited Wales when I was young, stopping at a campsite for a few days with my dad but being so little it's all just a fuzzy memory now. A fuzzy, strange memory of my dad doing campsite karaoke one night and me welling up because of it haha.

So last week my boyfriend Alex took me to Wales, home to his family and childhood life (he doesn't have a Welsh accent though which confused me when we first met lollll). Going somewhere new is always exciting but getting to see where Alex spent his time growing up was a really nice and an experience that I won't forget, it was incredibly beautiful. The nerve-wracking part was meeting his family properly but I quickly felt at home. Hope they liked me, haha!

Prepare yourself for a LOT of pictures, in the traditional Scarlet State photo diary way, or scroll straight to the bottom for the vlog!

On the first day Alex had a lot of appointments so I followed him to them (like the clingy gal I can be) and I played a hell of a lot of Minecraft with his lil bro, Adam. First exploring Fairy Glenn, we then stopped by the shore of Colwyn to indulge in some classic seaside chips for dinner and Adam told me about how one time a seagull swooped down and stole his sandwiches.

A restful night's sleep was had at his Grandad's country home on the hills of Wales before setting out to explore Llandudno, eating some of the best ice-cream I've ever had! Weirdly enough I bumped into my old college tutor from Kendal here, out of all the places we could've been.

We ate lunch at a gallery (kindly treated to), home to this play-doh 'art'. The rest of the pieces were pretty great, suppose I'll never understand modern art!

I also got to have an explore of a pre-show Venue Cymru (the theatre that Alex's dad works at) which was pretty ace as the last time I got to do that was while studying performing arts in school. Don't think I could ever be on the stage now but doing ballet shows as a kid was always my passion.

After coincidentally finding all of the Alice in Wonderland statues (this is where the book was written) we slept at his grandad's again and explored the fields around the house where he keeps a lot of old awesome cars. I couldn't get a good picture of them but there was an old Rolls Royce and a car that looked like it once belonged to Thunderbird's Penelope. So awesome.

The Welsh weather decided it had been too kind to us and the clouds opened up on our final day until the evening which meant nail painting in the day with Emily, Alex's sister, nutella cake baking, a living room picnic and cuddles with Belle the Dalmatian.

Alex took me to Angel Bay (pictured above) with Belle and we had a little walk. Belle is the only and most adorable dalmatian I've met. She 'smiles' when she's excited and looks like Denver the Guilty Dog when she does hahaha. There may be a clip of that in the vlog! These are just taken on my phone and compact camera which definitely don't do the scenery justice. 

My vlog is pretty short and not too chatty, a lot like my Scotland post. When I'm out I like to just capture the view more than talk a lot but you can find more chatty videos on my YouTube channel!

If the video won't load for you, click here.

Have you been anywhere nice lately? Tell me about it!

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Bronzing Rocks & Brows with SEVENTEEN* | Review

If you know me, you'll know that I hold brows sacred. They frame your face and whether they're done wrong or right, they really can change the way you look! Since Cara Deleveigne rose to fame a few years ago, big brows have come into fashion. We can't all get Kylie Jenner's eyebrow arches or PLL Aria's thick brows but a gal's gotta do what she's gotta do to get those caterpillars looking FLY.

So here's another SEVENTEEN post and I'm not even sorry- these products really are great. I mentioned in my Mega Matte post that Lou from Seventeen had sent me an amazing package, these were the other items included in it. Lemme tell ya', I've been using these products daily for the past week in place of Inika Bronzer and Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade and I really do love them.

They're a hell of a lot cheaper and quite comparable! I have to say that at the moment I'm prefering SEVENTEEN's Bronzing Rocks* to Inika's bronzer as the mix of pink and orange gives your face a more dynamic look while the shimmer really makes you GLOW. So perfect for summer skin but also a great contrast or addition to autumn's soon to be smoky eyes!

Plus-they're in rock form! I've used bronzing pearls or beads before but the rocks that this formula comes in are so satisfying (as edible as they look, you probably shouldn't haha). You don't have to dig deep to get powder either, a simple sweep is enough to warm up your cheeks. 

The other product I'm raving about is their Brow's That! Palette*, it's super compact and has everything you need inside it. As much as I am an advocate for ABH Dipbrow (see my sidebar selfie) I have to say that this product gives a much more natural result. I find that with Dipbrow you always have to blot away some of the product, unless you want slugs instead of caterpillars. Whereas with this it's super buildable, like their lipsticks. This means that I can give my brows a natural tinted look!

It even comes with a powder highlighter which I'm loving for making my brows really pop!

The back of the card pictured above has a step by step guide to using the product which is really helpful if you're too drunk to remember what goes where (like I probably will be when I take this to Leeds festival next week). Jokes aside, it really is handy and really thoughtful as I've never used powder on my brows before, so it helps while I'm practicing!

It even comes with a little brush and pencil so you can top up on the go if need be. I'm really loving the packaging and compact-ness of this whole range, especially the bronzing rocks! Such a sucker for pretty storage. SEVENTEEN are also cruelty free. Hallelujaaaah!

What do you use for your brows and cheeks? Are you more of a bronzer or blusher gal?If you liked this post you'll like Beauty Essentials under £10!

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Bronzing Rocks & Brows with SEVENTEEN* | Review

If you know me, you'll know that I hold brows sacred. They frame your face and whether they're done wrong or right, they really can change the way you look! Since Cara Deleveigne rose to fame a few years ago, big brows have come into fashion. We can't all get Kylie Jenner's eyebrow arches or PLL Aria's thick brows but a gal's gotta do what she's gotta do to get those caterpillars looking FLY.

So here's another SEVENTEEN post and I'm not even sorry- these products really are great. I mentioned in my Mega Matte post that Lou from Seventeen had sent me an amazing package, these were the other items included in it. Lemme tell ya', I've been using these products daily for the past week in place of Inika Bronzer and Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade and I really do love them.

They're a hell of a lot cheaper and quite comparable! I have to say that at the moment I'm prefering SEVENTEEN's Bronzing Rocks* to Inika's bronzer as the mix of pink and orange gives your face a more dynamic look while the shimmer really makes you GLOW. So perfect for summer skin but also a great contrast or addition to autumn's soon to be smoky eyes!

Plus-they're in rock form! I've used bronzing pearls or beads before but the rocks that this formula comes in are so satisfying (as edible as they look, you probably shouldn't haha). You don't have to dig deep to get powder either, a simple sweep is enough to warm up your cheeks. 

The other product I'm raving about is their Brow's That! Palette*, it's super compact and has everything you need inside it. As much as I am an advocate for ABH Dipbrow (see my sidebar selfie) I have to say that this product gives a much more natural result. I find that with Dipbrow you always have to blot away some of the product, unless you want slugs instead of caterpillars. Whereas with this it's super buildable, like their lipsticks. This means that I can give my brows a natural tinted look!

It even comes with a powder highlighter which I'm loving for making my brows really pop. 

Got sent some lovely goodies from Seventeen this morning and had to try them all on my face, all at once haha. Can't wait to review these ❤️ brows/lips/cheeks & concealer by Seventeen

A photo posted by SARAH JANE DOCKER (@scarletstate) on Aug 12, 2016 at 9:40am PDT

The back of the card pictured above has a step by step guide to using the product which is really helpful if you're too drunk to remember what goes where (like I probably will be when I take this to Leeds festival next week). Jokes aside, it really is handy and really thoughtful as I've never used powder on my brows before, so it helps while I'm practicing!

It even comes with a little brush and pencil so you can top up on the go if need be. I'm really loving the packaging and compact-ness of this whole range, especially the bronzing rocks! Such a sucker for pretty storage. SEVENTEEN are also cruelty free. Hallelujaaaah!

What do you use for your brows and cheeks? Are you more of a bronzer or blusher gal?

if you liked this post you'll like Beauty Essentials under £10!

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Nudity & Cat-calling: Empowering or Degrading? | Taboo Talk #5

At first I contemplated putting the phrase 'Female Nudity' in the title of this post but thought that with a quick google search, it might not attract the sort of readers I intended. But that's just the thing really: why does 'female nudity' and nudity in general have so many connotations of straight up sex?

There's no right or wrong answer to 'is nudity degrading or empowering'. For different people, a different answer arises. Whilst some may feel empowered by wearing less clothes, some may feel empowered by having the ability to cover up. Whether you're a male or female, if you feel good about yourself and want to show some skin then who's to say that you shouldn't? 

Seeing the Free the Nipple campaign made me feel empowered, that so many people of my gender were standing up for throwing away the immediate sexualisation of female nipples on social media, and in society. Don't even get me started on public breastfeeding. We can't feed a baby in our booth at a café without harassment now? Gimmie a break man.

Some feel degraded or ashamed (yet we should never be ashamed of our naked bodies. We come in all different shapes and sizes and every body is a 'bikini body') while some people believe a woman is degrading herself by posting revealing photographs, she might feel empowered and others might feel inspired to work on self confidence or do the same. 

We should never shame anybody for dressing how they want- frankly, other people's bodies are none of our business (unless you're being assaulted/sexually harassed/flashed at). Not Kim K's nude selfies, not Jennifer Lawrence's nude photos, not the woman in the shop who likes to show her cleavage, not the girl at school who likes to wear short shorts all year round. Another issue which I might save is sexualisation in school; that a girl showing her shoulders or thighs is distracting for teachers and pupils. GET YOUR HEADS CHECKED. 

Sadly, mainly for women and some men, cat-calling is a regular occurrence. It happens equally when we choose to wear a particularly flattering skirt and bra and when we're in a bloody duffel coat. 

I was told by a man on the train yesterday that his 'attractive' male friend likes to whistle and wave at 'larger girls' to make them feel good. You could see his face DROP when I told him how disgusting that was, as he genuinely thought it was flattering. So he's suggesting that women need compliments from assholes on the street to feel good about themselves? No woman needs a man, or another woman, to make them feel good. For all he knows these women he cat-calls were having the most body confident day of their life until then.

I don't know about you gals but I've not once felt flattered, attracted or blessed after being hollered at on the street about my backside. No your hand gesture doesn't make you a god of esteem, you actually look like the biggest douche alive and I wish a black hole would open up underneath you to eat you up forever. 

For the girls- what I'm saying is if you want to wear nude mesh and bralets, do it. Do it for you. Do it because you feel good. If you want to answer your front door or go to the corner shop in nothing but perfume and a robe, do it. If wearing little clothes makes you feel good, SLAY. Post that half naked selfie and revel in it. One day, hopefully, we won't have to worry about being hollered at in the street or have our bodies sexualised by random strangers.

I've also had a nine year old in the street call me sexy. Does he even know what that means? Who taught him to do that? Who taught him that was okay? SO many questions. On the other hand nobody should ever bash others for their clothing choices, including not blaming victims of rape and assault because their clothes were 'provocative'. 

Whether you feel empowered or degraded by nudity, it is not your place to tell someone else to cover up or undress, that their role (a mother, a 'role model', a random girl on Instagram) changes whether they can or can't show some cleavage. Worry about your own body, but if your girlfriend is killin' it in her new dress, you can let her know in a nice way. 

As if she didn't know she was killin' it already.

What are your thoughts on this? Tell me your experiences!

If you liked this you might like my post on double standards.

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