New Site! Megan Jane Says

Existing followers! Please head over to the revamped version of this blog: meganjanesays.com.
Looking forward to seeing you on the other side.

The True Definition of 'Beautiful'.

When I think of someone as 'beautiful', it goes far beyond skin deep. There will always be people that are aesthetically beautiful, it's a global blessing. Women with beautiful slim or curvaceous figures, sparkling doe-like eyes, smiles that melt hearts... all of these aesthetic qualities however, should only be considered as pretty accessories in addition to a warm soul, as that is where the essence of beauty is found. You'll understand what I mean if you've ever met someone, naturally judged them via there appearance, and then surprised you as you got to know them. A cheerful spirit or a loving heart are qualities that make someone appear twice or thrice times more attractive. fact.

Looking happy and healthy is a timeless attraction. What is more beautiful than a healthy, happy face or just someone who looks comfortable and relaxed in their own skin? As simplistic as these qualities maybe, they form the basis of all strong relationships, and should not be underrated! I feel as though society today places too much emphasis on the physical and the aspiration to become 'perfect'.

Sometimes competitive fashionista's or make up fanatics can be a little obnoxious, and although I feel that it is a great way through which to express creativity and individuality, when used to an excess, it can be suffocating. Coating the beauty and personality that exists beneath it, and becoming dependent on material things to shape an artificial version. As much as I love fashion and make up for the diversity it provides...when depended upon too heavily and sought to boost happiness, it can break you rather than 'make' you. Love the bare faced, fashionless you first, then accessorize.

My Sister's 'Big Chop' Hair Inspiration

After hours of enthusiastically sifting through 'Big Chop' photo's - Before and After's of women going from having long dead, bone-dry relaxed hair, to lustrous curly fro's, my sister was nothing short of inspired to take on a pair of giant scissors and chop chop chop! She certainly cut away over half of her hairs initial length, but decided against cutting her hair down to stubble, in spite of her impulse to cut down to the new growth .

I admire her bravery for committing so massively to her hairs health, going so far as to cut off ALOT of her relaxed hair in a bid to stop breakage between the natural and processed hair. I know I would find it very difficult to part with my locks. 'I plan to cut my hair really short for next college term' she told me defiantly while braiding her fro into a protective style. I admire her ignorance towards those in society who wouldn't understand the goodness, beauty and health benefits that arise from mixed/black girls who do 'the big chop'. Natural will always be beautiful to me.

So far my sister has had some healthy looking new growth and her au naturelle future is looking wonderfully promising!
As much as I love to see a Big Chop in progression, I could never take on this enormous, waiting waiting feat myself. Even though the ends of my mostly relaxed hair may be dry, I am lucky in that my hair grows about 2 inches a month and I am determined to pamper each strand back to health using some gloriously rich natural products like Coconut and Argan oils that my hair soaks up appreciatively. I need to ditch the heat products to embrace the wild curly mass I was born with.

Why '12 Years a Slave' is the Best Film of 2013...

Some films have the capability to touch and break your heart and open your eyes. 12 Years a Slave did just that and more.

Steve McQueen has laid bare the unflinching truth to give a purposefully uncomfortable, achingly painful insight into the 19th centuries most brutal social structure.
Based on the 19th century memoir of Solomon Northup, 12 Years a Slave follows the struggle of an educated family man from New York who was kidnapped in 1841. Enticed by  the irrefusable offers from a pair of 'fellow musicians'; Solomon is lured to Washington where he is bound, beaten and stripped bare of his identity.

Chiwetel Ejitor (Solomon Northup) captures and summarizes the brutally 'real' and raw sense of being broken into a whole different world, through more than his pained expression that speaks oceans more than words. His performance is flawless. Portraying a man that is slowly broken and beaten into a submissive role containing only the remaining fragments of his former pride...somehow Northup grips onto his sanity and hope in a bid to grasp on to his former freedom. Ejitor's earthy natural, pained, melancholy eyes are heart wrenching

McQueen has fully exposed a frightening reality that for so long has been brushed beneath the carpet, in a way that makes you realize how much freedom is worth, how fortunate we are and how much we have to appreciate in this life...



Lupity Nyong's portrayal of (Patsey) gives blunt insight into the treatment of slave women, a women who is both beaten and bloodied by Tibeats (Paul Dano), the master, through his mixture of sexual lust and hatred and yet Patsey still retain a composure consisting of both delicacy and defiance - a girl with a broken spirit and yet a glimmer of hope . This newcomer captures the raw essence of a girl so caught up in slave survival mode, meaning that morality was inevitably disregarded. In spite of being given the master's 'special attentions', she withdraws guiltily and expresses brokenly to Solomon about how her conscience suffers from it, how she pleas pitifully to Solomon to do what she 'don't have the strength to do myself' - to relieve her with the freedom of death.
She demonstrates how even the most strong and experienced of slaves eventually crack beneath the surface,their dignity, ravished.

12 Years a Slave will masterfully touch your soul. It's delicate execution will break you.
This film will linger in your mind for as long as you breathe.

Tips & Advice on How to Handle your A levels

Little did I know when I turned up for my first day of College, that the leap up to A level would not be a smooth and easy transition as it had been with other years...Oh no, it required leaps and bounds and a couple hops to scrape up the A grades I had been so used to getting at GCSE!
Its amazing how being compacted into classes alongside other committed students can help you focus so much better...for once you are sitting next to someone who is interested in the subject and not screwing up paper into balls or some other pointless creation.

I think it is really important that you study at a college that you feel is right for YOU. Don't stay at school or the sixth form just because your friends are, sometimes it is good to have that space so that you can grow as a person and develop your skills independently as you will have to do at university. It is bad to be too comfortable. Many schools allow their students to stay on to the sixth form even if they don't have the grades, but at college, only the cream of the crop are picked - students need at least a B most of the time to get onto an A level course, meaning you will be among students that will influence and inspire you to maintain a high level of achievement.

Stay focused on what you need to do to get a good grade. 'Assessment objectives' are crucial at A level! Whatever you do, do not ignore them! Make sure you meet all the criteria of the AO's in order to achieve the band (level) you want. Get feedback from your teachers. Even though there may be certain guidelines they have to follow when marking students work, its important that you try and get as much verbal/written feedback about how you can improve your coursework, as they will be able to spot things that your work is missing. Take it all into consideration and make it better and better and better!

Its all about organization. What do you do when you get home? Fling down your bag and coat and watch TV? Browse through your Facebook news feed for a few hours or loiter around the kitchen opening cupboards? These procrastinating, time wasting habits need to stop! Make sure you have study time allocated to each of the subjects you are taking in your planner or diary. Consistent, continuous study is the ultimate key to exam success, you can't cram in all the stuff you were supposed to know just a week or a few days before the exam, preparing your mind over a long period of time will bring out the best in yourself.

Believe in your self. Its a well known fact that your mentality is reflected in all that you do. If you wake up feeling pessimistic and negative, it is very likely that it will make you view everything else for the rest of the day in that same light. If you wake up feeling very positive, this can make even the crappiest days have a positive twist to it. This also applies to your work ethic. If you mentally tell yourself that you are aiming for that A, self motivating and encouraging yourself to reach that goal, then it is more likely that you will achieve it! On the other hand, letting a bad mock test grade or a past failure spoil your confidence in your abilities, will stop you from trying and pushing for the grade you want. Think: 'I can do it!'

Megan,
xox

Star Wars Auditions: How to get a call-back

10^th November 2013, Bristol. 2,500 queuing to audition, 75 call-backs, 2 lead roles. The chance you’ll be travelling to a galaxy far far away is pretty slim so you are going to need this advice.

 J. J Abrams is looking for two new young stars.

A beautiful, smart and athletic girl aged 16-18 of any ethnicity (including bi-racial and mixed race), to play ‘Rachel’.

A handsome, smart, and athletic man aged between 19 and 23 to play ‘Thomas’.

For more character details click on this link.

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Brief outline of my sis who got a call back (lets call her Cassie):
-She is within the age range because she's 16
-She is tall (5"7) and toned
-She is pretty
-She has a strong presence
-She is mixed race, half black and half white (I think being mixed race helps as it attracts a worldwide audience), according to Cassie, most of the girls at the call backs had dark hair and were mixed race!...
____________________________________________________________________________________

So…Do you want to know how my sister aced her audition? Well, the secret’s out. 

    1. Be Athletic. Yes as simple as it may sound I cannot stress this enough. It’s no use turning up to the auditions primed and preened or powdered to perfection if you are about as toned as a bean pole, you will be out of the studio in less than 30 seconds. This is what Cassie said, ‘All the girls around me were really pretty, I thought I had no chance’, but Cassie’s success shows that beauty alone is not enough to fit Disney’s criteria. Bearing in mind that she has a naturally athletic figure, Cassie would also be lifting small weights and planking in the corridor at home to give herself the edge. The casting crew want to see someone with a strong presence. ‘A member of the casting crew smiled at me as soon as he saw me in the line, winked at me saying to his colleague “Could you take this young lady to help her fill out her forms…” and she took me into the studio and gave me a call-back slip. All I did was smile broadly and stand tall with my legs in a wide stance’. From this it is clear that body language is important. Key point: Stand out by appearing bold, confident and strong. Disney are not looking for simply attractive teens to wield a light saber, but attractive teens with power.

2. Be Natural and Humble. Although some may tell you to ‘fake it till you make it’ this will not work with the Disney casting crew because you see… they are not stupid, they know a star when they see one whether they are dressed from head to toe in Chanel or not. ‘There were guys dressed up in suits and ties and girls that looked like they were going to a party, but they weren’t given call-backs. All I wore was a plain long sleeve top and black jeans!’ After queuing for 7 hours in the rain her nerves had vanished ‘By the time I got in to meet a casting director I was so tired I didn’t feel nervous at all!’.

 

4. Dress for the part, not as the part…as fun as it may be to dress up as Leia or Darth Vadar, DON’T, the directors will mentally decline for being stupid before you even have the chance to speak! Dress casual and neat…your body language is what will give them the biggest impression…stand tall and strong, keep eye contact and feel positive and self assured, smile!

5. Get there for 5… at the latest! The London auditions are coming up which will most likely have the most people queuing yet! As you might have read on the news there were people queuing from 2am to ensure that they are seen because trust me…thousands of people are clawing for this chance to be cast as Rachel/Thomas.

So guys, embrace this once in a lifetime opportunity to star in a major motion picture, give it your best shot!

Have any star wars call back stories/advice of your own? Feel free to comment below!
 

Sweet and Breezy Summer Classics you Need...

Its the first day of summer so its about time we stock up on a few summer necessities! It's sometimes pretty hard to separate the things that we want from the things that we need, so I'm going to tell you want staple summer products you should buy so that you can look great without spending a fortune! I know that I have sometimes felt boring wearing the same stuff over and over again, so that's why I've learnt that if you spend your money wisely you can change your outfit frequently throughout the summer, according to your own fashion taste. You'll feel good and eradicate the fear of someone noticing that you wore that shirt yesterday...haha!
1. Tops! Your top half is clearly the first part of you that people that notice, and having a wide variety of tops and shirts allows you to have the freedom to express yourself through clothes. Slogan tees are all the rage this summer and can be bought fairly cheap from places like Newlook and River Island. They are also really comfy which is great for going to the beach to wear over your bikini; chilling at home or even dressed up abit -maybe tucked into some denim shorts with or without tights. Their is a great selection of summer tees on Misguided and I love the Dip dye tee to the left!



Kiara Ombre Tee In Black

Renitta Oversize Melange Tee - Misguided





2. Denim! Lets face it Brits, the weather is not always going to be bright and beautiful so we'll need to be prepared with a few pairs of gorgeous denim for those cloudy, cold or rainy days. Denim jackets are also back in and it great to wear with everything and is perfect for when its a little nippy but not insanely cold. They look laid back and really cool.

Free People Denim Shorts with Embroidered Detail - Asos

Get these summer staples and have an awesome summer!
Megs,
xox