Charity Work in Africa

I've always been one to try and help with charity in any way possible, whether it's me lending my time, giving, or putting fundraising events together.

My school had a committee called "Lesotho committee" So I thought I'd go along and see what it was all about and that's where it started really.  

Lesotho is a country within South Africa, where they speak Sesotho and have their own currency called Maloti. My school had a link with a school called Boquate School, they needed help with building and furnishing a school block, so that's when we came in and the fundraising activities began.

We started with cake stalls, sponsored bike rides, sponsored runs and even sponsored silences (which was definitely hard for some people). We also bag packed, the list is endless really. But we managed to raise a lot of money which we gave in check to the head teacher at the school. The more money we raised the more we gave, we just carried on.

Three years into helping this school out (in 2009), I was offered a place on a trip to actually go to Lesotho (only 8 students) and meet the students at the school to help teach a sexual health program as HIV and AIDS is a problem there. I jumped on the opportunity to go!

30 hours of travelling and I arrived. From Newcastle to Dubai to Johannesburg and then on a tiny propeller plane to Lesotho. When we landed we walked into the airport, literally a concrete shed and signed paperwork.

While I was there I visited the childrens home where 14 children were living, they were the most shy, yet kind children I had ever met, we brought them toys and some new clothes which they were so over joyed with. They have such genuine smiles!

We also visited the school we had the link with for most of the trip, helping teach English, health programs and a lot more. These schools are not like the ones in the UK or America, they are concrete blocks.

We attended music festival where we were listening to incredible African music and children were climbing trees, eating and having fun!

The next day was a contrasting day where we went to visit an Orphanage, two children in one of the groups were HIV positive, passed onto them by the Mother breastfeeding.  It really was a shock to the system, there were not enough volunteers and an overload of children. One member of staff said, "We get babies dumped on the front step, because they can't afford to look after them" The slightly older children helped out by washing clothes.

 The whole school came out to a barbecue near the dam and danced and sang the whole night. No one is self conscious about dancing or singing at all, they just have fun (which we brits need to do more often) It was brilliant!

On the last night we attended the most expensive restaurant in the whole of Lesotho, with an all you can eat buffet, it worked out at £10 a head and the King was dining next door and we were dining with the prime minister, crazy!

I was there for 10 days, I did more while I was there so if you want to find out about it, leave a comment or contact my on twitter http://twitter.com/thejessicafaye 

Here are a few pictures!

What charities are close to your heart? Have you done anything to help in any way? Please let me know in the comments!

Vivid Review!

Swatch of "Shocking Coral"

I went shopping today and bought one of the lipsticks from the Maybelline Colour Sensation Vivid 

collection to try out. I purchased the "Shocking Coral" colour at £7.14 from boots. The fluorescent orange tube certainly explains the colours of this line, they are really bright and pigmented. I bought this one because the Spring season is on it's way and I was really running low of a nice bright, cheerful lipstick and  Corals and oranges are meant to complement blue eyes perfectly!

The colour glides on really nicely and stays quite well. This is one of the more subtle colours in the range, they have some really, really bright pinks like "Fuchsia Flash" and "Vivid Rose" and a super bright orange called "Electric Orange". I really want to wear more lipsticks and I thought Spring is the best time to wear nice colourful lipsticks, I will definitely be going to purchase some more from the range, especially when Boots have a 3 for 2 mix and match deal! Superdrug also have a 3 for 2 deal but the products have to be from the same brand. (Not ideal if you need to buy your regulars!)

I would like to point out that the only real downfall to this product is that non of the lipsticks are sealed, so I would recommend you check them first to make sure they haven't been used or that it isn't crushed in the lid.

 What's your favourite lipstick for the Spring season?

Urban Decay 24/7 Concealer

I've been looking for a good all round concealer for quite some time now. From cheap ones to pricey, and the Urban Decay 24/7 is by far my favourite and is I think it is definitely worth the £12!

The Urban Decay 24/7 concealer is creamy in consistency, but not to heavy and comes in a range of different tones. It's perfect for under the eye to conceal any dark circles or to brighten the eye and to cover up any unwanted blemishes.

It's incredibly easy to apply coming in a pencil form, which can be sharpened. It says it stays "24/7" but in fact I would say it realistically stays for up to 4 hours but even then, it doesn't look bad at all.



I would say that the only real downside to this is sharpening it as it's quite big and the outer coating is plastic, so the Urban Decay sharpener would need to be purchased, priced at £7 but over all the actual product is brilliant and I would totally recommend it for you to try!

4.5 out 5!!

Please comment below if you've tried this product out and comment any products you would like me to do a review on!

Best Dressed Celebrity of the Month-1

 Best Dressed Celebrity of the Month- 1 is a tie between Emma Watson and Taylor Swift.

They both turned up to the People's Choice Awards looking stunning.

Emma who normally tends to stick to dark colours or champagne colours, showed up on the red carpet wearing a statement Peter Pilotto Spring 2013 piece, with daring bold patterns, and cut outs on the top half of the dress.

She wore it differently to how it was shown on the runway by shortening it, removing the slit out of the skirt and finishing it off with a black banded bold hemline. I personally prefer how she wore it as I'm not a fan of 3/4 length dresses.

 She finished her outfit off with a pair of Tabitha Simmons, Bailey Sandals (black), not distracting from the bold dress.

The only criticism to her outfit would be, her hair, even though it looks beautiful, I would have liked to see loose curls, or a pin up, giving her a sophisticated look.

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Taylor took a bold step on the red carpet at the People's Choice Awards, with a deep V- neck line, looking incredibly sexy, sophisticated and elegant in her Ralph Lauren gown. The gown is simple, but it works.

She wore ice-blue tear drop earrings to add a splash of colour, finishing the look off.

Her hair was pinned up, which elongated her neck and her make up was natural with a bronze toned smoky eye.

She sure showed Harry Styles what he was missing.

Thanks for reading, please comment whether you agree with this months celebrity best looks and if you don't tell me who you think dressed the best this month.