Life Hacks for a bad day

I've finally finished all my year 12 exams and the relief I feel is incredible! You don't quite realise how much pressure you are under until it goes away! I am so looking forward to long holidays and the time to get back to blogging.

Today I wanted to do a post about bad days because I had quite a few of them over the past year and found a couple of tricks that really helped me to get through them. I suffer from depression so when I have a bad day, it can easily extend to weeks and weeks if I'm not careful. These are some of the tricks I use to make them that little bit more tolerable.

Create a digital wardrobe
On a good day when you chuck on an outfit and admire yourself in the mirror, take a picture and save it on your phone. When it comes to a bad day you are standing there in the mirror feeling horrible, it can be too overwhelming to choose an outfit, especially when you feel ugly and gross in everything. By having some of your killer outfits saved on your phone, you can flick through and pick one that you know looks amazing, even if you might not feel that way at the time. Though it may sound a bit silly that a bad outfit could ruin your day, when you're feeling dreadful, clothes you're unhappy with and feel horrid in can honestly make everything ten times worse.

Cry!
I think in our society it really isn't accepted that people cry, which I find silly because sometimes a good cry is exactly what you need to let all the yuckiness out. Of course, it's not ideal to be sobbing all the time out at the shops or out to dinner, but don't feel that you have to hold it all in because it can just make you feel worse.

Go for a short walk
Despite the fact that exercise is the absolute last thing I feel like doing when I am feeling sad, a short walk can do wonders. When I walk I find it clears my thoughts, removes from the immediate situation I am in and puts in perspective a little. It's also good to get your blood pumping when you're feeling a little down.

Find a puppy to cuddle
If you have pets, this is the very time to get out there with them and spend some quality time. If you aren't in a talking mood, they are the greatest because they give cuddles and there is no expectation for you to reveal your innermost soul. Animals just seem to have this therapeutic feel about them and it is pretty difficult to feel sad after hanging out with a dog.

Talk, talk, talk
This is a bit of an obvious one, especially for women, but talking is so.freaking.useful. Sometimes I feel guilty for what I feel is 'dragging others down with me' but we all know that's what friends are for, to be there for you in the good and bad, and another person's perspective can usually help. Friends are also just magical at cheering you up, or at the very least providing the chocolate fix desperately needed.

Chuck on that killer lipstick
It's hardly a solution to big problems, but if you just wake up feeling a bit flat, chuck on that lipstick that you know is stunning and it will brighten your day just a little bit.

Save up your compliments
When someone says something really lovely about you, make a mental note of it for the tough times when you're feeling a little unloved. It is at these times that past compliments are of their greatest worth.

Go back to that book
Being a bookworm, I have an ample collection of books that I turn to for different occasions whether I'm feeling lonely, lost or just sad all round. There is nothing better than revisiting one of my favourites and finding the characters I once fell in love with. Not only can a book transform you from your world, you can learn sooooo much about life in them!

I hope some of these help you out and I would love to know what you guys do on a bad day.

Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm - Elusive

When I first saw that Revlon had released a matte collection of the Colourburst Balm Stains, believe it or not, I wasn't terribly interested. I was at Chemist Warehouse when they were having one of their 50% off sale and when I saw that they were $10, of course I was going to pick one up anyway! Having had such success with the original ones (by success I mean that I love them and think they are the greatest inventions ever) I thought I may as well venture into the matte side of life. I grabbed the shade Elusive which I am so pleased with, it is the most perfect, beautiful, dusty pink shade that I can totally pull off as a 'my lips but better' shade.

For someone who wasn't really very fond of matte lip products, I can can that I am now a completely changed woman! This product is honestly so.darn.good and I intend to pick up some more when I see them on sale again!

First up, I think we need to talk about the gorgeous, chunky crayon look-alike balm packaging that so many brands have adopted with the new craze of the balm stains. I am 100% a fan and for some reason it just makes putting on a lip product all the more exciting. Matching the matte nature of the product, these balm stains have matte packaging in corresponding colours to the shade of the product. I was thinking the other day about how challenging it would be to finish up all the product because you really get quite a lot, but I don't know if that would be a more achievable goal for someone who doesn't own a billion lip products...

Like the other balm stains, this is very long wearing and leaves a stain behind as it wears off your lips. Eating and drinking proves to be no challenge! It is so wonderfully pigmented and comfortable on the lips, although slightly more drying than the first range due to its mattified nature. Still, for a matte product it's not bad and I have few issues with it at all.

This is undoubtedly an everyday wear, a stunning mid toned pink shade that I can just, just pull off as a my-lips-but-better shade although it is a little too perfect to be my own! (Apologies for the swatch photo though, it went all strange and looks a bit odd!)

One of my favourite things about this though, is that it doesn't have the same super strong peppermint smell the original ones did, but instead a more toned down spearmint scent that goes away quickly. I personally love scented products but I really did struggle with the overwhelming minty scent the original ones had, especially because mint is probably my least favourite scent of all!

Anyhow, I can't believe I very nearly missed out on the magic of this wonderful, wonderful balm. It's honestly been on my lips non stop since I purchased it (and that was a while ago now...) so it's definitely been a great success. I think I may have even managed to wear it to school once without getting told off (a big achievement!).

Speaking of which, I will have finished all my exams on the 14th and I will be a free woman to wear what I want, do what I want, be who I want...and that is the most exciting and terrifying prospect ever!

Already just thinking about it I struggle to come up with ideas of what I might get up to on my big long holidays because school has been my entire life and I think I will be lost without it...any ideas of cool things to get up to?