Abigail's Anxieties

Feeling guilty for being chronically ill...But should I be?So in case you're new to this blog, I'm chronically ill in a few ways. A full list of medical conditions is as follows: Generalised anxiety disorder (GED)Moderate depressionAsthmaFibromyalgiaCostochondritis
And unfortunately having the mix of all of these means that there are and many things I'm unable to do, not only for myself but for others around me. For example, I would often like to be able to carry things for my mum, but because of my fibromyalgia, I can't carry much with the pain in my back, shoulders and arms.
I'm always being told it's okay that I can't do things like that, but it still doesn't suppress the guilt in me, especially when I see people struggling with something.
As I write this, I'm in the tail end of a fibromyalgia and costochondritis flare-up. 24 hours ago I was in such pain that I just wanted to, unfortunately, end it all. I was also burning up, throwing up, and I could…

99p lip mask?! Good deal, but does it work?Testing a lip mask from the shop body careIf you read my last post (which you can see here) then you will know that I tested the glitter peel-off mask from Body care. Well, that mask wasn't the only thing I picked up while I was there.
I also got myself this 2 pack gold collagen hydrogel lip mask (along with something else, but that's a secret for now...) for just 99p.
No matter how much water I drink, how much lip balm I put on and how well I take care of them in general, my lips are always feeling dry, chapped and just uncomfortable. So when I saw this I thought I may as well give it a go, it's only 99p after all.
And while I'm at it, I thought I'd bring all of you wonderful people along for the ride, so here's my review of the lip mask.
By the way, apologies for my appearance in the pictures, but I did this during a fibromyalgia flare-up so the thought of brushing my hair and getting dressed was a little daunting. 
Looki…

Peel off glitter mask: just a gimmick?Does this mask do what it says, or is it just a gimmick to sell?
Skincare is everywhere right now, with so many people having multiple steps in their skincare routine and with so many products available in store.
But sometimes those products can get a little boring, with the same dull packaging and plain colour, so wouldn't it be nice to have something a bit more fun? A bit more interesting? And maybe even a little sparkly? 

If you answered yes to any of those questions then never fear, because Bodycare (a beauty shop chain in the UK) now stock this:





Colour Glow purifying peel off glitter mask.
Now I saw this on the shelf and just like a magpie I was attracted to the shiny thing and the fact that it said it deeply cleanses the skin and reduces acne and blackheads.
I attend university in the middle of Birmingham so my skin is exposed to a lot of pollution so anything that can get any of that out of my skin is great in my book.
So I picked it up for £2…

I'm on medication for my mental health, should I tell people?
Now the answer to this question is obviously going to be different for each person. Some will say "I have nothing to hide, I'm happy for people to know" while others may say "I don't want to be judged for it, I'd rather not have people know",
And honestly, when I first went onto my mental health medication, my answer to this question was a mix of both these answers. 
It almost ended up sounding more like this: "I don't want to hide the fact that I'm on medication, but I am quite young so am I going to be judged for it? Is there even a good age to go on medication for mental health? But I don't feel like this is something I can keep to myself so I need to decide who to tell. How many people do I want to know?" and so on and so on...
Many of you may be going through the same thing right now, some may just be interested in what can go through the process of deciding and som…

Yeah, I'm 21 and use a walking stick. So what?
When you think of the usual person that uses a walking stick on a daily bases, I don't think that a 21-year-old university student who dresses in vintage style clothing is the first image that comes to mind.

But it doesn't have to be, because I have in fact put that image just below for you.




Here's the thing, for me, using a walking stick is part of my daily life,
You see, I'm currently in the process of being diagnosed with fibromyalgia (in fact as I write this, I'm just over a week away from going to a rheumatology appointment to have some tests done to hopefully get a definitive diagnosis so I finally know what's going on) and my god do I have a lot of pain.
My pain is all over my body but the number of intense pain points I have in my body is, in my opinion, stupid. Let's go through the list shall we:
-neck -spine -right shoulder joint -left wrist (thank god I'm right-handed) -lower back -both hips -the entiret…

2018: somehow the best and the worst year of my life.
But Abbie, how can something be both the best and the worst?
Well, let's just say that 2018 wasn't exactly a quiet year in my life.
(and it doesn't look like it's going to be much quieter at the end, seeing that as I'm writing this I'm stuck in bed with the worst cold I've had in years, coughing my lungs up, wishing for my eyes to pop out to relieve the pressure behind them...little TMI? Oh...okay...note to self; don't talk about eyes popping out of skulls or lungs being coughed up too much...anyway!)
In January of 2018, I decided that it was finally time to explore my love of vintage fashion (that of the 1940's and 1950's) and well, it ended up taking over my entire wardrobe. Now in my local town and at university known as the girl that can always be seen in vintage clothing, making me easy to spot and often taking up a lot of room on public transport due to my love of giant petticoats (sorry to…