how I edit my selfies

I've been asked a number of questions regarding selfies before; Why do I take them? Why are they edited? Why filter it? To be honest, it mostly comes from friends or family trying to be funny and commenting on them #nofilter. Which doesn't bother me as I know they don't mean anything nasty by it. However, I've had a few people asking me on instagram how I edit my selfies, so I thought I'd do a little post on it.

I use two apps to edit my selfies. VSCO and Facetune. (Although I haven't used Facetune on the above photo, that was literally just VSCO as I was happy with after that!). Both apps do vastly different things. VSCO is more aimed at altering the overall look and feel of the photo, colour balance, lighting and such, whilst Facetune is for editing small parts of the photo like a blemish or spot etc. At least that's how I use them anyway.

When I've taken a selfie, I upload it to VSCO and open up the filters and scroll through them until I find one I like. I never apply a filter at 100% as I find the result a little too harsh, so I'll generally take it back to around 40/50%. I then up the brightness, up the contrast and adjust the temperature to a tad more on the cooler side as I don't like my photos having any yellow tones, but that's just personal preference. I then adjust the tint to add a little touch of pink and then sharpen. That's it! More or less I'll be happy with the photo from there, like the one above, but sometimes when I'm having a bad skin day or whatever, I like to edit it further with Facetune.

Facetune allows you to edit small details of the picture. For example, if I have a spot or a blemish that I'm really annoyed with, I can use some of the tools in Facetune to cover it up and remove it. You can also define certain parts of the picture, for instance, sometimes I'll run the defining tool over my lashes to make them stand out a little bit more, little things like that.

I don't do too much to my photos, if I over edit them they stop actually looking like me. There's nothing wrong with that however, it's just not to my taste. So there we have it, a simple way to edit a selfie!

written by Kirsty - thank you for reading! ♥

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A few thoughts before I'm 25

I am twenty five this year. A quarter of a century. The day I turn twenty five I'll be closer to thirty than I was to twenty. I don't know if I can handle that thought.

Twenty five is a magical number I think. That's the number when people start to treat you like a serious adult. Which is kind of a big deal. I mean, when you're twenty, yeah you're an adult, but people still looked at me like I was young and innocent and no matter what I said, I was always told I'll learn when I'm older. That changes at twenty five. Now I am older. People now look at me like a fully functioning adult in society, capable of taking on the world.

They couldn't be more wrong.

I am, for all intents and purposes, a massive child. When given the choice between going out for a nice sensible meal with Craig and socialising like a normal adult couple or going out for paintball and takeaway after, I'll always choose the latter. I'd rather spend money on new lego than bills. I don't think about having babies and marriage, much to my mum's disappointment, instead I think about where I'd like to go on holiday next. I still love playing with nerf guns and look at the best place to buy lightsabers online. I don't really know how mortgages or taxes work and the only credit card I have has never really been used. In a lot of aspects, I am kind of still a child.

In light of this, here are some things that have only started applying to me more recently, now that I'm reaching the magical number of twenty five. 

1. People are now asking me when I'm having babies and getting engaged.

2. I frequently get asked to come out for quiet nights with a bottle of wine.

3. I now feel guilty about not owning my own home.

4. I want more cats. (that's not a new thing, though..)

5. When a girl friend says they're feeling bloated, you don't agree and ask to call their food-baby chewbacca.

6. Another thirty minutes in bed is totally worth skipping washing and drying your hair, that's what dry shampoo is for.

7. A quiet night in with Netflix and a Chinese sounds more appealing than a messy night out in a club with friends.

8. Baths are heavenly.

9. Lush is also heavenly.

10. If you have really young siblings or young family out with you, people think you're their mum.

11. The idea of working Monday to Friday, nine until five is very exciting.

12. Pinterest and Instagram will give you unrealistic ideas about home decor.

13. Plans for an early night will never happen, especially when Netflix is around.

14. Getting spots at this age will make people constantly ask how old you are.

15. People just assume you have your shit together and know where you're going in life.

In four months, I'll soon be twenty five and I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing with my life. and I am happy with that. I might be wandering through my life having no clue where I'll be working in a few months or if I'll have discovered a new hobby in paper mache, but at least I know that right here right now is exactly where I'm meant to be.

I'm going to relish these four months, hopefully they'll pass really slowly.

Also, the thought of having babies is terrifying.

thank you for reading! ♥

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a little jewellery post

I'm not that much of a girly girl, but I love getting new jewellery. There's something I love about wearing a very plain and simple outfit and then dressing it up with a nice bit of jewellery. So when Rings and Tings got in touch about sharing some of their lovely pieces I was very happy to review them. They kindly sent me a goody bag of a few random pieces from their website, which consisted of a necklace, a pair of dangly earrings, two bracelets and a ring. They came all neatly wrapped up in their own little plastic packaging and then bubble wrapped up and placed neatly into a padded envelope.
I was pretty excited when I opened them up and seen the necklace first, which is definitely my favourite. I wore out it out recently to a new favourite restaurant and now whenever I'm going out somewhere I pop it back on. It's very casual but still looks pretty fancy. Plus, I love how dainty and delicate it looks!
The rest of the pieces I was less keen on which was unfortunate. I didn't mind because it was a random assortment of bits from the website, so I knew I wasn't guaranteed to like everything. Having said that, my mum really liked the gold bracelet and the gold ring, which was too big for me anyway, so she has kept them and wears them out and about. The gold bracelet has a cute little stone at the end and is asymmetrical, which I really liked.
I do actually like the earrings as I think they're really pretty, however I'm not one for wearing large earrings, preferring to wear studs every day. I probably would wear them on holiday, though! The darker bracelet with the green stones is actually really cute, but I'm not really a fan of green jewellery.
There are a few lovely items on the website that I think are really nice. This triangle necklace is lovely, as well as this woven bracelet and this beautiful mixed stone bracelet, too. Everything is pretty reasonably priced too, which is always a bonus! I definitely think I'll be grabbing that mixed stone bracelet when I get paid again!
(*)These products were kindly sent to me for review.http://www.ringsandtings.com
thank you for reading! ♥

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ain't no thing like a chicken wing!

You know when you find a restaurant and you think, 'yep, this is it, I'll eat here forever'? I found that and it is glorious. I've never found a place where I know I will go back again and again, I usually think most places are good, but my loyalties will always lie wherever somewhere new is opening up or somewhere cheaper. Not anymore, let me tell you about Wings.

I had heard a few people talking about Wings and never really paid much attention to it. A restaurant that only serves chicken wings? Nah. I have never been more wrong! Craig and I decided to go out for some food on a rainy, windy day and I mentioned having heard bout Wings. After deciding that it was worth a try we headed up to the Royal Mile and down Old Fishmarket Close to find Wings (which we actually walked past the first time because it was hidden behind some scaffolding!)

For a dull, rainy Sunday it was busier than I was expecting. We were instantly greeted by a giant C-3PO welcoming us, this is when I knew I'd love it. We were taken to be seated by a friendly waitress to a Jurassic Park themed table with giant dinosaur coming out of the wall and decorated with pictures of all the characters. Even the light matched! There were other sections with different themes, too. I spotted Star Trek, Doctor Who, Star Wars and I think maybe a marvel/superhero theme as well. I didn't wander around because other people were eating and minding their own business and I didn't want to be that guy with my camera.

There was a bucket on the table with napkins and menus in, which we browsed for around three minutes before deciding. For a restaurant that only serves chicken wings, there was a lot of choice. You essentially choose the sauce you want from all the different types and then they bring you your wings coated in your chosen sauce. Simple as that.

We both went for a more traditional bbq style sauce, Craig's being a bit sweeter than mine because it had maple syrup through it, I think. We also had some to share, which were covered in cheese! They were absolutely delicious. You get six wings per portion but you can get as many portions as you like, and they come over and check on you to see if you'd like to order more once you're finished. We managed to finish the wings we had and didn't order any more, feeling too full. However, I would have been more than happy to sit there for an hour and then order more, but that's because I'm greedy!

We cleaned ourselves up, given that we were both pretty messy with sauce on our hands/faces, and then went to pay the bill. For three portions of wings, a bottle of Magners and a Pepsi it came to just over £15, which is so cheap! I was genuinely surprised when I seen it. I was expecting at least around £20 and over. As we were leaving we walked past a set of stairs and wandered down for a nosey and seen a tv projection on the wall and other people standing about. We didn't venture all the way down as we didn't know if it was something private or not, but next time I'll be finding out.

Posing for a standard selfie. As usual. Craig joined in, too, even though he didn't want to.. haha.

If you're out and about in Edinburgh and are looking for somewhere a little bit different, definitely give Wings a try!

thank you for reading! ♥

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a gift guide with a difference

red bubble t-shirts - baymax & companion cube, storm trooper, tolkien quote, thranduiling
think geek - charm bracelet and variety of charms
etsy - zelda key holder, deadpool usb, zelda jewellery box, lara croft print, harry potter ring

Everyone loves a good gift guide, right? They're fairly popular around the holidays and stuff, so with Valentine's Day right around the corner, I thought I'd add another one to the gift guide pile! This is a guide for the connoisseur of geekery. I wouldn't really say that it's catered to male or female apart from maybe the bracelet and the ring, it's simple a selection of items that I think anybody who considers themselves even slightly geeky might like.

Craig and I don't really do anything for Valentine's Day. It's not like, 'we don't need a day to spoil each other' type thing, it's more like a can't be bothered-ness. I used to love Valentine's Day, but over the years I've sort of grown out of the whole hearts and flowers thing. I'd much prefer a t-shirt or a gadget. Or, if I'm feeling a bit more romantic, maybe a massage.

What kind of gifts are you giving this year and what kind of gifts do you expect? I'd love to know how other people spend Valentine's Day.

thank you for reading! ♥

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