DEAR 16 YEAR OLD ME

Hi lovelies! With the summer holidays coming up for some, I've recently had a lot of younger girls in my salon for their proms, my Sister and Mum both work in schools and have been talking lots about end of term etc and my timehop app has been kindly reminding me of my secondary school prom, so reflecting on that and how much life has changed in the past five years, since leaving school and being two years out of my teenage years (how did that happen?). I did a post called 'A Message to 15 Year Old Me' three years ago here when I was 18, so now I'm going to do it all over again with three more years of life experience (which clearly makes me an expert.. *insert winky face/ see no evil monkey emoji here*), so before I go on any more further explaining a post that was already explained well enough in the title, I'll just get right on in.

Dear 16 Year Old Me...

First off, nice job deciding to go back to blonde, dying your hair dark brown was an effin terrible decision and your friends and family slightly suck for not telling you but are also kind of fab for letting you do your thing, but for god's sake get a professional to do it you do not need to dye your own hair every two weeks. While we're on the topic, don't buy MAC's sushi flower eyeshadow, it shouldn't have been invented ever and coral eyeshadow is a terrible idea.

So now let's get serious (though poor hair and makeup choices are pretty serious, so sort it out), you're just leaving school and you're off to college thinking that that makes you super grown up and that you know everything. Plot twist, you're wrong.

Some of the friends that you think are gonna be around forever won't be and trust me that's a good thing. As you get older you learn that some people are just not worth your time. You've done an okay job so far of ditching some pretty shitty people, but keep going, you've got more weeds to pull. Don't be afraid to keep your guard down, getting hurt, mostly by friends is all part of a learning experience and in future, will mean you're a much better judge of character.

College will change your life, you'll decide that art, design and fashion aren't what you want to do really and you'll freak out about your future, but in four years you'll have your own business so ignore the teachers telling you you're wasting your future by not doing A-Levels, keep doing you, don't be led. College is also where you'll meet your long term boyfriend, the whole situation could not be more badly timed, but roll with it, it all works out for everyone in the end and you'll be the happiest you've ever been.

Revenge is never, ever the answer. You may feel good hurting those who hurt you in the moment, but in the end, you're just as bad as they are. Happiness and indifference to those who want to bring you down is your greatest weapon, haters are always gonna hate, so do your squats and let them hate you.

Finally, your good friends and family mean the absolute world to you, treasure them, a lot's gonna change in the next few years, embrace every single day and get your shit together and learn to walk in a proper pair of heels, seriously your prom shoes were embarrassing.

And one last thing, you do get a dog eventually don't worry, she's a Chihuahua and she's absolutely worth the wait, she may even be sassier than you.

Chloe xoxo


So, to any girls younger than me, maybe just leaving school or going into sixth form, I'll leave you with these three tips.

Get rid of shitty people.
Fake friends aren't always easy to spot, but if you have them, just let them go. You have one life to live and it should be filled with people who bring you up, leave the nasty, bitchy or negative people in your past where they belong.

Do you.
Obviously you need to think about your actions, but don't always try to please people, sometimes doing what you want and taking action to better your own life is more important than what you think others expect of you, in the words of Joey Tribbiani, grab a spoon!

Have a professional do your hair and eyebrows.
Thank me when you check your Timehop app in two years time.