How to prevent creases in your hair

One of the worst things about doing make-up is having to clip your hair back while doing it, giving you an unwanted line or bump in your fringe/bangs. Alternatively, you have to do your hair after your make-up which is less than ideal.

No more!! The best way to keep back your hair: velcro.

Noft side of velcro obviously, but the rougher side. You can buy patches of it online, but I have a much easier and more convenient way to get some, or make it yourself.

Get yourself a big velcro roller, you can get them really really cheap at a beauty supply store, mine was less than 3euro for 6. Now, cut the velcro off the roller, or better yet find the natural crease where the velcro meets and it should easily pull of the roller.

Now, sweep your hair back off your face and press the velcro down where your hand is. It's perfect! It keeps your hair back, no creases, no bumps, no messing of the do. I love it!!! When your make-up is done, simply pull it off and let your hair sweep back into place. This is one of my most annoying problems with make-up sorted, I am so excited I now have this you have no idea. I'm positively giddy!

The over-sized rollers can even be cut in half to make two, so you have a back-up for if or when (lets be serious, when) you lose the other. Or, if you do make-up on clients like myself, it's the perfect way to keep their hair back without messing it as usually clients will have their hair done before the make-up! So you have one half for yourself and the other half for your kit. I'm so excited I just feel like over-using the exclamation point!!!! AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, some of your are probably thinking dear God this woman has gone crazy, but if you do make-up on other people you'll know the importance of keeping their hair off their face without messing it. You could be undoing hours of work with one little clip!

Seriously lads, go try this, I promise it will change the life of my fringed lovelies!

Aila Maritz xox

My Friday 13th horror reality!

When I was younger, I babysat my cousins a lot. It was the only source of income available to a youngin under the age of 16. They were young also at the time, between the ages of 3 and 11 I would imagine, and there were two boys and one baby girl.

Before I embark on my story of terrifying ordeals, I would like to describe their place of habitat to you all. They lived out in the suburbs, far enough from the city and down a very dark and windy typically-shit-irish-country-road. However, they were in a housing estate, one lone housing estate in the wilderness(ahem) so I considered myself to be fairly safe. As it was a housing estate out the country, they had a fairly big back garden with a massive glass patio door the length of the back wall.....with no curtains.

Well, one night I was off to babysit while their parents went off promising to be back between 1 and 1:30 am. So I played with the kids for a while and come their bedtime, off up the stairs they went. Once I knew they were soundly asleep, and those kids slept like planks of wood, I sat down and watched tv. Flicking through the channels I realised from the date and time in the corner of the screen that it was a Friday. Near midnight. And it just happened to be the 13th.

Well, I was understandably freaked out for a second, but logically calmed myself down and continued flicking through the channels. After skipping many horror movies appropriately playing on this specific date, I settled for a random comedy film and watched away.

Now reader, I am known to be a bit of a scaredy cat, jumping at random noises and checking behind the couch every so often when I'm alone in the house. The fact that it was Friday the 13th did not help this one little bit.

The time ticked on, and I was beginning to get a little impatient and dare I say, desperate for them to come back and relieve me from the misery of knowing perfectly well that my situation would make the perfect horror movie. 1am came, and went. 2am came, and alone I was still. Every flicker of movement I saw outside I assumed would be them. I convinced myself I was watching this hilarious comedy, but in reality I was listening to every flicker of noise I heard waiting for them to FECKIN COME HOME.

Well, finally, I heard the door. Although I saw no car pull up I knew it had to have been them and forgot their key, trying to see if the door would open without one. At this stage it was close to 2:30am. Overcome with relief I skipped out the front-room door into the hall to see their friendly faces outside the foggy-glassed front door.....'til I stopped dead in my tracks in the middle of the hall.

No faces did I see, no car outside. No lights or movement in the street outside.

Needless to say, I shat a brick. I'm not one of these girls to walk towards the door and open it to see who's outside. Oh no, I ran the other direction, like a normal person would, toward the phone to promptly ring my mammy to come and get me before the axe murderer-rapist outside the door got to me first.

The phone just happened to be right in front of the massive glass door overlooking the massive pitch black back garden. There was no such thing as cordless phones in those days y'see. Naturally enough, I wailed and ran towards the cutlery drawer and grabbed the most cliché big sharp silver kitchen knife, you know the one they always get in the movies right before they die?

So there I was, staring at the glass, sobbing my heart out and shaking like a leaf, phone in hand. I urgently told my mother the situation and forced her to stay on the phone for the 20minutes it would take my Dad to get there.

20 feckin minutes. Sure at every moment I was convinced I was going to die, and the children would be next. I stared out the window, knife in a ready position, back to the wall, waiting to face my doom. His big hairy head and massive killer hands were just out of sight, I knew it. I couldn't believe I was in this situation. On Friday the 13th. I would die on Friday the 13th and my story would be made into a made-for-tv movie. I have no clue what my Mam was saying to me, in my head she was just there to hear the massacre.

The doorbell. Relief, followed by suspicion. I put down the phone and edged my way towards the front door, eyes ever watchful of all the windows I passed. I could see a big figure, who could have easily been my dad, but could just have easily been the crazy psycho who's about to murder me. The closer I got, the more familiar the silhouette was. However, opening the door I had the knife at the ready. Sure, he'd probably kill me, but I'll have screamed enough and injured him too much to walk up the stairs to get the children.

Well, it was my Dad, THANK GOD. I collapsed in his arms and bawled my eyes out for 20minutes until my uncle came home. I hastily told them my story, them explaining it with one of their neighbours being drunk and probably went into the wrong house. I went home, into bed and slept with the light on, vowing never to be alone on Friday the 13th again.

So, there's my story. Perhaps I was jumpy and over thought the noise, perhaps the fecker saw the fierce mothering instinct in my eyes and the massive weapon in my hand and knew not to cross this bitch.

I shall let you decide.

Aila Maritz xox

Taking Chances

It's the heart afraid of breaking that never loves, the fool afraid of chasing after their dream that never reaches it, the one who never takes a chance that never learns to truly live.

You have to be willing to take a chance on the improbable, no matter how scary that is. I have taken a lot of risks in my life, and none have led me astray thus far. Without delving into the details of my personal life, I'll simply talk about my dream. As is probably obvious, I want to be a make-up artist. Well, I technically am, I just don't work. Yet.

Within the past few months I have taken chances with this. I have emailed stylists, photographers etc. in the hopes of making a few contacts. In doing so, I have made some wonderful contacts. I have the beginnings of a professional portfolio, I have potential photo shoots planned for the future, I even organised a whole photo shoot myself with models and a photographer, the photos of which can be seen here. Just last night I emailed a modelling agency asking if they needed make-up artists and they said yes! So hopefully I will be working with them in the near future also.

All of this happened because I took a chance. I asked random people if I could work with them, and now I'm starting to get a name for myself locally.

My point is, no matter how scared you are, if you don't think you're ready for something, you don't think they'll deem you good enough, you don't think you'll get a certain job, you don't think he'll like you, you don't think it can work out between you and him because it's just too complicated. I promise you, if you take that risk nothing bad can come of it.

Of course, you may get rejected. And let me tell you, if I had been afraid of being rejected with every email I sent I would still be twiddling my thumbs with no contacts and no portfolio. But that's the risk. You don't know what life you're missing out on by sitting there afraid of being hurt. You're life could be absolutely amazing, everything you've ever wanted and more. You just need to trust that it will all work out, and eventually you'll be that dream version of you that's just out of reach.

Please, take a risk, if you see a potential opportunity snatch it up before it's gone. There's only so many opportunities in life, if you don't risk it you'll miss them!

Go, chase your dream, follow your heart, and hang in there if it makes you happy.

Aila Maritz xox

Film Review: Insidious

I had high hopes for this movie. Everyone I know that had seen it said it was "genuinely scary", unlike the mountains of scary movies that have been made in recent years. From the trailer I gathered it was a similar story to Paranormal Activity, but with more action and fright bits. Can't go wrong there, right?

Well, going with my two girl friends, we were shaking going into the cinema to begin with expecting to be traumatized going home that night. For the first 20 minutes we were totally on edge, holding onto each other waiting for the scary bits to embarrass ourselves with chilling screams. Those scary bits never came. Thirty minutes in and still not a notion of a shock scene. There were moments we thought something would happen and braced ourselves, but those moments passed with no action. This was most likely intended in order to build suspense as those movie makers love to do, but I'll tell you it was damn annoying.

However many minutes in(a good aul few) the scary parts began. Now, this portion of the film was.....grand. Nothing spectacularly terrifying, but enough to make us scream to the point of the cinema erupting in laughter. It had the jump factor, but as for the content itself.....well, it was a bit cheesey to be perfectly honest. The further into the movie we went, the more ridiculous it seemed to be becoming. I can't say too much without ruining the plot(and I HATE when movie reviewers ruin the plot), but let's just say the ghosties weren't entirely believable as far as ghosties go. Don't get me wrong, there were some scary monsters to make you scream and freak you out, but I was able to turn the lights out and sleep like a baby when I went home.

When it reached the climactic sequence, it just turned into a ridiculously far-fetched movie. It was laughable to be perfectly honest, the ending COMPLETELY let the movie itself down. It had such potential but was let down by an overactive imagination within the script writers who wanted to turn the ending into a movie akin to "Are you Afraid of the Dark". Once again, I can't say much without ruining the film, but trust me when I say it veered onto the ridiculously far-fetched and cheesey route.

Cool points: Funny ghost busters, jump tactics, suspense, hearing all the girlies scream in the cinema.

Fool points: Far fetched plot, unoriginal, crap ending, misleading us into thinking the child would have a lot of action(he had very few lines throughout), inability to make me leave the lights on.

Would I recommend going to see this movie?

Well, it depends on what you're looking for. My friends and myself had a nice night out and laughed about our girlish screams and the hilarity of the ending on the way home. If it's for entertainment you're going, and want something to laugh about, I say belt away.

But if you want a profound horror movie, rent a classic and stay at home.

Love as always,

Aila Maritz xox

So you think you know me punk? #2

Uimhir a dó! Or number 2 to all you non Irish folk, of my 30 questions challenge in which you get to know me a little better.

• Fictional Book: Well....all books I read are fictional really. I have read a lot of books(English student, hello) and I already picked my favourite book so I feel like they're just grasping at straws here.....but that's ok, I shall play along for you, reader. I'm just going to say the Twilight Saga, that's right I said it! I'm a Harry Potter nerd, a twihard AND an gleek! What you gonna do about it?? HUH??

• Non fictional book: "A City of Surprises: Hidden Treasures of Cork's Northside". Such a lovely book comprised of beautiful pictures of my hometown along with interesting historical facts about the subject of each photo. Where I live has a pretty bad reputation, but this book really shows how colourful and cheerful the place can be! Also, did I mention it was written by my Daddy?

• Fanfic: Well eh, I'm not too sure what this actually means. But from what I can gather, it's something a fan wrote as part of what they are a fan of.....e.g. a fan of twilight writing a 4th book, not actually Stephanie Meyer. This kind of sounds like the short story I wrote about Hermoine Granger going to summer camp while away from Hogwarts...that enough info for the question? The embarrassing Harry Potter thing making sense now?

• A song that makes you cry: Love ballads always make me cry, especially if they're relevant to how I'm feeling at the time. Or songs about death make me sob like a wee babbie.

• An Art Piece: Well, this is awkward. I don't actually have a clue about art,or care for it very much. I'm not one of these people who gets an abstract painting of a dot and a line....perhaps I just haven't found my niche yet.

• Fancy tickler: Cadburys chocolate dipped into tea on a cold day. If you haven't tried it do so, immediately.

Once again, please do join in if you have a spare few minutes by writing your own answers in the comment section! Or even on facebook!

Love ya lots like jelly tots, but not as much as vodka shots,

Aila Maritz xox

p.s. I have absolutely no idea why the second half of this post is underlined and I don't know hwo to change it, sorry if it's annoying!

So you think you know me punk? #1

Well, I'm bored. I just broke my tooth and I'm in pain, thus unable to sleep...in the middle of exams....OF COURSE. So, I decided to do the 30day challenge of random facts about myself, mostly out of narcissism but maybe someone might be interested! Probably not, but that's ok, it'll keep me occupied anyway.

I think I'm going to do this in a few blogposts, not 30 posts but not all 30 questions in one! So here's the first 6 questions to start me off =)

• Favourite Song: Easy. My absolute all time favourite composition of music is Clair de Lune. It's not a song in the modern sense, but as a piece of music it it just the most beautiful sound I have ever heard.

• Favourite Movie: Well, to be honest I don't really have one. It always depends on what sort of mood I'm in, but I definitely love films like The Hangover(of course), Knocked up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Zoolander, any comedy with that whole leaugue of comedians right there! I also love a good drama that I can cry to, or a good thriller to get sucked into. Scary films with a group of girls is hilarious, I scream sooooo much, I should be gagged.

• Favourite Television Programme: I have no one in particular, but I watch Big Bang Theory, 30 Rock, 90210, Desperate housewives, GLEE!, Home and Away, Bones, Grey's Anatomy.....I also watch random episodes of things, like cartoons or random comedy shows you don't really need to follow, but those are the ones I actually do follow(on and off).

• Favourite Book: Harry Potter. I was suuuuch a Harry Potter fan, it's disgusting. I just loved that series, and I'm picking this book because it was my childhood. I grew up with those books, they got me into reading to begin with, and as a child getting lost in that world....I don't think I could ever be enthralled with a book like I was with Harry Potter. It was just so magical!!! I love To Kill a Mockingbird too though, that makes me mature, right?

• Favourite Quote: Oh, I have a few. Again, it depend's on how I'm feeling and what relates to me in the moment, e.g. about boys, about being strong, about love, about sadness.....a good life motto that seems to stick with me always though is thus "Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to become a victim. Never accept anyone's definition of you; define yourself."

• Whatever tickles your fancy: Ok, this comes up every six questions, so I guess it's open to whatever you love. Well, I really love my dog. Sad, maybe, but she's so cute I could scream! She's a little Jack Russel named Holly and she's just awesome. Here is a drunken me(ever a recessionista having a couple drinks at home before hitting the town) being attacked with dog kisses.

Well, that's just a few facts about me. If you feel like joining in please do so in the comment section or on facebook, I would absolutely love to read your answers and interact with you all!!

Happy judging me,

Aila Maritz xox

How to survive exams

Well, well, well.....we meet at last. Final year exams. Now, I'm a very far stretch from a model student. I'm consistently a 2.1, or a B if you will, student, so if you strive to be the best student in the class, I can't really help you.

Hoooowever, on my third year of exams I'm still in my course, never having to do an August repeat. SO, here's my bible of exam time tips to help you get through that nasty month to the other side of lazy days, barbeques and drunken parties.

NUMBER ONE: 8 hours of sleep is for pansies.

Never have I gotten more than 5 hours sleep the night before an exam, and I don't plan on it this year. Now, if you have a week full of straight exams, you'll need at least 6 hours, depending on how well you can function. But if you have days off between as most people do, sleep can wait. Trust me, that extra hours study will seriously pass you the exam.

NUMBER TWO: Whoever says cramming doesn't work is LYING!

It works, every single time, without fail. Of course, this doesn't mean do no studying until the night before(or the morning of if you're me). Buuut, if you haven't covered everything you need to and it's 4 hours to your exam, don't give up hope. Cram your little bum off and don't listen to those teacher nazis!

NUMBER THREE: Be Fat.

Seriously, now is not the time to worry about your bikini. During exams, there's no way you can socialize, unfortunately that's an unavoidable rule. Therefore, your only joy in life is food. Eat your vitamins, and drink your water, but for the love of God don't count your calories. Yes, you will most likely gain some weight, but then there's a whole 3 months to lose that weight so you can look a bit chunky for one month in the name of exams.

NUMBER FOUR: Get out of the house for at least half an hour

I tend to not leave my house during exams, ever. In the days coming up to exams I become an absolute hermit. Today, for example, the most fresh air I got was standing out the back garden in my pajamas for 30 seconds, getting cold, then coming back in. This is baaaaad. You NEED fresh air, you absolutely need a break. I don't mean go on a shopping spree, but take a walk, go for a spin. If you want to maintain your sanity, you shall certainly need to see daylight every single day!

On the other side of that, however, you also need to be a slight hermit. You do need a break, don't get me wrong, but you also need to put in some hours study without any distractions. I'm sorry, but if you want to pass, friends will wait!

NUMBER FIVE: Check Vanity at the Door.

Don't straighten your hair, or have 30 minute showers, or do the perfect makeup in the mornings. Trust me when I say that NO ONE CARES what you look like. Do you want to be the girl with the Degree, or the girl with the pretty hair in the exams?

NUMBER SIX: Google books

I never get to the library, but what I do do is check for my secondary sources on google. Type in the name of the book you want, click google books and it may very will be there, all the ones I used this year were!If some thief stole them from the library which they always do, worry not, for google knows all.

NUMBER SEVEN: Don't Panic!

Look, I'm not going to say exams aren't important. But life will go on, pass, honour or miserable fail. If you panic, you will lose study time. Trust me, I have cried so much and gotten so bogged down with panic that I've lost at least an hour of time I could have used to learn some shit for an exam. Take some Kalms, or whatever relaxation tablets/drops you know of. You can always do the August repeats, appeal or if worst comes to worst, you can repeat and you'll still be here after it's all said and done.

So there you have it, what I do during exams. These aren't perfect, and may not work for every situation, but if I help just one person through their exams I shall be a happy student. Relax lads, they're only exams, and remember the lecturers/teachers WANT you to do well for their own feckin statistics!

Good luck and happy soul crushing studying,

Aila Maritz xox