#this mam has changed every single aspect of my personality and I NEED you to understand how high on HIM I am

[littlemixnet]

Jade Thirlwall on Little Mix babies, learning the art of self-love & her first foray into the world of beauty.

As she releases an astrology-inspired eyeshadow palette with Beauty Bay. “I suppose I've got quite a hectic life – or had quite a hectic life, before lockdown," Jade reflects as we chat on the phone one (surprisingly) chilly end-of-September morning. “But lockdown gave everyone a chance to reflect and think about their priorities – and so I’ve come out of that experience with even more of a drive and more of an ambition to achieve all of the things that I want.” Outside of music? For 28-year-old Jade Thirlwall – one third of record-breaking girl band Little Mix – making moves in the beauty industry sits high on that list of priorities. “Whenever we do videos, I’m always the one that sends mood boards to the makeup artist and I’m like, ‘Ohhh we should try this look and we should do this eye,'" she laughs. So teaming up with Beauty Bay to release a 42-pan eyeshadow palette inspired by her passion for crystals, spirituality and astrology (who knew?) seemed like a natural step. "I knew that together we could create my dream palette, something which my fans can use to create out of this world of lewks.” Speaking from her London apartment, Jade is relaxed, open and oozing with passion – for her life in Little Mix, her personal life and her upcoming beauty ventures alike. And not to mention: very happy the weather is turning, so she can roll-out her autumn-appropriate palette on post-lockdown nights out, pronto. “I’m a Northern winter girl. I like the cold. I like feeling snuggly. Yeah. Summer is not my vibe to be honest.” I love beauty – always have done from a very early age. This is a bit of a throwback, but I did a makeup course at college back in the day, so I’ve always had a love for makeup throughout the years. I think Little Mix have tried every single thing you can think of when it comes to different looks and trends. I think it’s known amongst my fans particularly that I love experimenting with colour. And I love the whole glam of it all and all the different eyeshadows. Every time I do a shoot or a video it’s a chance to do a different look – and I’m very versatile when it comes to that. So yeah, it felt like once me and Beauty Bay started working together, they are known for doing the best palettes, so it seemed right. Over the past couple of years especially, me and the girls have started delving into more of the things that we’re individually passionate about or into whilst working together, and it has been really lovely. We’re obviously really supportive of each other’s ventures, and I suppose it gives the fans more of a chance to see what we’re into ourselves. And it gives people that don’t really know a lot about Little Mix or about us individually, it gives those people a chance to be like oh, actually… so Jade is into this sort of thing and Leigh likes this sort of thing and Perrie is into that and… yeah. It has been lovely, and I suppose the last sort of year and a half has given us all a chance to reflect and think about the things we want to do on our own as well as in a group. I’m at a point now in my life that I’m definitely so comfortable in my own skin. I know exactly what works for me. I’m not afraid to try new things and experiment with colour and stuff like that. I think as someone who loves art and stuff in general as well it just sort of lends itself well. It's an art form to me, makeup, and expressing yourself that way is really amazing. So it felt really right [to collaborate on an eyeshadow palette with Beauty Bay]. I suppose lockdown – it has given everyone a chance to gain a better perspective of all the things that they're into. The best version of myself in terms of makeup is just elevating my natural beauty. I think everyone should do that! I think when I first started out in Little Mix and as a teenager, makeup was worn as a mask to cover who I really was, if that makes sense. And as I’ve got older, I’ve realised that it isn’t a mask; makeup is more of an expression of who you actually are, and it’s not to cover yourself up. It’s to elevate yourself. And so, now, whenever I do a look, I don’t tend to cake it on as much as I used to. I do things that accentuate my features already and don’t try and hide it. I think my go-to makeup on a night out or something is just a classic bronze-y beautiful eye. That’s my go-to because it suits my skin tone and I feel like nobody can go wrong with a lovely golden bronze-y eye. And that’s definitely in the palette. I think this palette was an opportunity to show everyone a bit more about myself that may be they didn’t know – like my love for crystals and healing crystals; my spirituality which is definitely something I’ve become more and more passionate about over the past few years. I needed something that kept me grounded and kept me well, mentally and physically. And so, spirituality became a part of that and I’m obsessed with crystals. My mam is obsessed with crystals and so that was one of the first thoughts when making the palette was incorporating all of that. And so, that’s kind of the original inspiration. I feel like the palette – it was important for me to have something for everyone, because I’m well aware that some people don’t like experimenting too much or some people love having loads of fun. So when I agreed to do this with Beauty Bay, I wanted to make sure it catered to every kind of person and every different skin tone. No matter how much you want to be adventurous or not, it’s all in there. I always have crystals with me wherever I am. Certain ones are catered to certain aspects of your life or what you need in that moment. I’ve labelled a couple of shades in the palette after my favourite ones – tourmaline is my favourite, which wards off any negativity. I think no matter how much people believe in it or not, just from a psychological perspective, for me, it’s all about grounding yourself. I think it’s really important to get rid of any negative energy and constantly keep the positive coming in. I suppose I don’t really have a specific religion so I use that as a means to believe in something greater than me and that works for me. There have definitely been a lot of changes in my life recently. A lot has happened. Obviously me and the girls are a three – two of the girls have just had babies so there's been a lot of change in my life. I’ve met someone, fallen in love, and all of that soppy stuff, so – yeah! It definitely feels like, more than ever, a lot has been happening all at once. But it’s so exciting and as we’ve said before, lockdown gave everyone a chance to reflect and think about their priorities and think about things they really want to focus on. I’ve come out of that experience with even more of a drive and more of an ambition to achieve all of the things that I want to achieve and be there more for my family and friends – and obviously go out more and wear more makeup! 'Cos I’ve spent a year and a half in the flat with nothing on and lounging around so it has been nice to start glamming up again. The other girls are loving being new mums, honestly they’ve taken to it so well. I always knew they’d be great mams, I went to see Leigh last week and met the twins who are so beautiful, they just slept the whole time – but you know what, it was so weird because all I’ve ever known is being round the girls and it being us and just us. And for the first time it's actually dawning on us that they’ve had children – actually seeing them there in front of us, like they’re real; it wasn’t a prop. I feel like because of all the music videos we’ve been doing with them pregnant, I don’t know why but in my head I kind of just didn’t think it was real or like – every time we’d been doing a music video we’d base it around their pregnancies, so every character we’d play in a music video would revolve around them being pregnant as well so it was almost like a fun little act that we were doing. So seeing Leigh and seeing the babies was like, “Oh, they’re here and they’re perfect and you’re a mum now and you’ve got to do this.” But I’m so proud of them and they smashed the pregnancies. They were absolute Queens, working hard – and they had each other which I suppose really helped them. It’s amazing. I am hoping to see Perrie soon and be the best Auntie I can be. I’ve never thought about comparing myself - it’s not me, it’s everybody else. It’s other people around me that try and put that pressure on me, I don’t know if being in a group dynamic has may be meant that I’ve got used to comparison and so it doesn’t effect me as much. Everyone’s in different places in their life and sometimes it’s assumed that I should feel, ‘cos I’m a woman, that I’m behind and I should feel a certain type of way that I’m not at that point in my life yet… But I’m so unbelievably proud of where I am at in my life and what I’ve achieved and my career. I’ve got an amazing boyfriend, I’ve got amazing friends and family, and I’m a businesswoman –why would I feel left out?! But it's interesting… like every interview it gets asked like “Are you feeling broody?”, and I’m like “No, hun! Are you?! Do you want me to ask you if you want to have a child or children?". Like, it’s quite a personal question, isn’t it? So it has felt a bit invasive at times… I think that everyone moves at different paces and I’m happy with mine. If my beauty cabinet was on fire, there are three things I'd save. Obviously I’m going to say the palette because I’ve put far too much work into that to let it burn, so that has got to come with us. I feel so proud looking at it – when I see Jade on top of it and I open it and it’s all shades that I’ve named and it’s all colours that I like – there’s no way I’m letting that go up in flames. So that’s coming with us. Then I’d say maybe just a classic nude lip, I’d have to grab. Because I feel like if you’re having a no makeup day, as long as you’ve got a bit of a nude lip on and nothing else, you’re sorted – do you know what I mean? And then finally… third product… may be a brow brush? Which I never thought I’d say but brows are so big now aren’t they, hun? They’re a priority. As long as they’re brushed up and they’re all in the right place then we’re good. X-Factor Jade would've saved three very different makeup products. A fuchsia pink lip, a massive lash… and, what else… brows just weren’t a thing to me then it’s so wild to me like the change in trends and stuff… maybe a lip gloss or something? But I mean, back then, especially for us girls, I think makeup artists got so excited at the thought of a new girl band that anything went. It was just throw anything on our faces and hope for the best at that point. It was a hot mess. But it was also of that time, like pop stars were really doing the most – like you had Katy Perry… it was all really colourful wasn’t it? Nicki Minaj… all these artists who were doing like really bright bold makeup looks and the eye colour would be very different to the lip… and y’know we’d have feathers on our eyelashes. It really was throwing the kitchen sink in so we’ve definitely learnt to mellow down over the years for sure. In ten years time, I’d like to still be performing with the girls. We’ll be doing something together. I’ll have built more of my empire. Maybe more beauty things and more other things I’m into like art and my businesses up North. As it stands, every year I get older I get more confident in myself so I’d like to imagine in ten years time I’ll be at a place where literally no body is going to affect me when it comes to self-love. And maybe I’d be helping to support another girl band by that point as well. It’s getting a bit lonely out here. We need more. So, yeah – I’ll be helping flying the flag there, I suppose.

#jade thirlwall #jt: beauty bay #article #4oct21

[secondsofhappiness]

I have 10 anons all commenting the same issues about this storyline (thank you so much for your messages as always) and I don’t want to clog up my dash so I’ll post them in one post and this is my response to them all :)

I’ve made it clear how I am really struggling with this storyline and I have seen so many excellent critiques written in such a balanced and constructive way and that’s the best way and I appreciate them so much.

In short, I don’t understand the purpose of what they’re trying to do. There is ZERO HOPE in this storyline (and that isn’t the Emmerdale I know and love) and it feels exploitative in more ways than one.

So I get exactly what many of you have said - there’s little to hold onto in terms of happiness. There is no part of this entire storyline (except perhaps that Vic is a sweet, perceptive and compassionate soul) so far that provides any hope. If anything, the more we learn, the more depressing and hopeless and entirely miserable it becomes…

- the purpose of this direction - what the show wants to achieve at the end of this - the show’s awareness of what they’re currently doing

I have EVERY respect for the show tackling difficult and contentious subjects and I have spent years and years applauding them for it and thoroughly enjoying it. They always do it well (with very few minor exceptions) because they weave the difficult stuff in with the lighthearted, never forget the village warmth and always provide hope even in the bleaker or darker storylines.

My earlier posts about this storyline were very positive because I have experience through my work with prison violence and homophobia in prisons and I think it’s a very important and worthwhile story to tell. I had no issue with Aaron going to prison and serving his punishment either as I felt it could be a way for him to grow up and realise the consequences to his volatility.

That said, the homophobia aspects were difficult and tough to swallow but were well done… until they included G*rdon and the childhood abuse issues. That is no longer a story about homophobia in prisons. Yes, the fact that G*rdon as a man is relevant so perhaps due to G*rdon’s actions, Jason instantly targeted him but that’s not about someone being gay, it’s about someone being a sexual assaulter etc. The homophobic language and singling out is continuing which is a good example of the near constant oppression prisoners face. That could have and would have been enough of an issue to explore.

I have talked about how I find this situation twisted and I mean it sincerely. It’s the first time in 22 years that I have ever felt uneasy watching this show.

That’s not a good thing.

I have reached a point after tonight’s episode where I have almost become a little apathetic. That’s not like me at all and not like my normal reaction to the show, especially not to these two characters.

The direction of the storyline feels sensationalised for shock value and unnecessarily capitalising on an actor who can sell any scene/storyline. Use Danny! Have him on our screens always! He’s a truly wonderful actor but Aaron is a character to focus on, to nurture, to respect. He is a character people took into their hearts from day one and it feels he has been forgotten in this, his history used as a tool to create drama and shock.

I wanted to watch the show deal with the difficulties of prison life in an Emmerdale way. I wanted them to raise the issues, to show their seriousness, to have Aaron realise that he has to grow up because this life in prison could be a constant reality for someone who doesn’t take responsibility for their actions, for Rob and Liv’s relationship to be tested but strengthened, for Rob and Aaron’s relationship to undergo the same test…

That could all be achieved without half of the issues this storyline is dealing with.

The timing of it is perhaps something the show didn’t necessarily want but had to live with due to Lucy and Isabel’s commitments but the timing wasn’t so much of an issue as the story of two people in love being torn apart is a classic one, a one everyone can get on board with because it’s tragic but full of longing and desperation. People enjoy that and I would have. So I don’t mind that its post-wedding.

What I do mind is the inclusion of issue after issues after issue that so far don’t seem to be serving a purpose. Aaron can realise the harsh brutalities of prison life in many ways but the show chose to capitalise on his abuse when omitting it would have made NO DIFFERENCE to this storyline at all. Taking out the scenes yesterday would have no effect at all. The homophobic taunting and abuse and even violence would have been enough to tip Aaron over the edge to feeling desperate but no, the show chose to reawaken the abuse storyline, to have Aaron tortured, to use phrases that suggests a recreation of abuse scenes, to comment on a survivor’s ‘want’ in terms of their abuse, to suggest the abuser caused the abuse, to place them in an environment where their abuser/father committed suicide, to take an abuse survivor back to feeling those situations, all while contorted in an abusive way by the person who confessed to driving the abuser to taking his own life.

The purpose of that is unclear and I struggle to see how a valid purpose can be provided other than it was for shock value.

Aaron faced with homophobic abuse and violence and even drug use (which I also don’t have a problem with on the surface - except for a lack of inclusion of Adam/ recognition of Holly but the show may use this later) would have been enough to have him leave prison rocked to act and to grow and to seek help. To take an abuser back to his abuse in such a violent, graphic and consistent way is something most wouldn’t get over nevermind someone of Aaron’s significantly fragile mental health.

I was genuinely disappointed in the show and I can remember maybe two occasions in the past where I have even felt a fraction of that and neither came close to how I feel about this current storyline.

Add in the Rob of it all. Now, Rob is someone with a chequered past, someone who has never carried a relationship without cheating. He has a history that would make anyone uneasy about dating him, let’s be real. He has also travelled a path of learning and change and love. He has found family and home and has worked hard to better himself. When you take a character on a path like that you can never expect perfection. We all enjoy Rob being Mr Shifty and appreciate his morally grey moments (as long as we don’t turn him into a serial killer) which is why I didn’t have too many issues with the November kiss or the hat trick comment etc, all of those moments were moments in his path to find himself and were explained in a way that made that obvious aka November kiss was Rob using Rebecca blatantly but coming to realise he cannot act the same way as he used to when scheming now that he has Aaron and commitment.

I appreciate that Rob will make mistakes and I love that about him. I never expect him to be perfect or to be an angel and I hope they never remove that harsh, acid tongued, snobby, ruthless, slightly insensitive edge from him. That said, the spoilers indicate that he makes a pass at Rebecca (and I’m not getting into the debate about what is cheating and what isn’t or even what the spoilers are suggesting because I feel intentionally trying to kiss someone is cheating and who knows what the spoilers are suggesting). Why is this necessary?

What does it add?

Except to squash the excellent bi rep conversation they have sprinkled in here and there (and see my other posts for my comments on using Rob as a voice for bisexuality because that has its own issues) or to regress Robert from his current position.

To date, Robert’s journey is the best thing about this storyline. He has shown commitment, awareness of Aaron’s feelings (planing a commitment ceremony pre- prison to provide stability, allowing Paddy to visit in his place to keep up Aaron’s spirits etc), humanity and to see him miss another person to the extent that he can’t sleep the same and is worried and stressed and pulling himself in every direction is so new and interesting for the character. To see him descend a little into this hole he has to drag himself out of is a great storyline. It’s long overdue for Rob to be treated with sensitivity and humanity where his emotions are concerned and it’s refreshing.

We don’t need a cheating storyline to depict Rob’s state of mind or his deepening sadness or stress. They’re piling it on each episode - finding out about drugs & violence, caring for a difficult suffering teenager, caring for a kid who isn’t his, running 2 businesses, refurbishing a house, dealing with vandals, working alongside legal rep on an appeal, coping without his partner, feeling helpless to support his partner… the list is endless and significant.

What does cheating (or attempted cheating, whichever you prefer) achieve?

It is sensationalising and used for shock value. Pattern?

Much like the addition of the abuse storyline, it adds nothing. In fact, much like the abuse storyline being included, it makes the post- prison era darker and less hopeful. It confirms Aaron’s worries about Robert’s commitment when this was the foundation for his stress and melt down pre- assault. That feels cruel and unnecessary with the requirement that it has to be handled at some point and that will provide a significant blow to the already fragile relationship - because they haven’t healed from their last argument, they have merely focused on the good pre-court. Ultimately, it adds a significant responsibility onto the show to handle it well because by failing to deal with these two issues cheapens their most beloved couple, cheapens the characters development (both Rob’s personal development and Aaron’s semi pride and surety post trial)…

If the show has a good intention then it is not obvious and I struggle to see the justifications for the choices they’re making. I adore this show. I love it dearly but I feel less and less enthusiastic about the current content for this storyline because it’s far too much, it is no longer enjoyable because I can’t see the wood for the trees and for a storyline that could have been wonderfully character driven and could highlight the issues in a hard hitting it sensitive manner has chosen crassness, cheap drama and has risked excellent work that has come before.

I am well aware I’m watching a serial drama. I’m well aware that I am watching a medium that thrives on drama. But I know my show and I have watched it most of my life and I know what it is capable of and what it does best and this is not it. You only have to watch the sheer stunning beauty and heart ache of Ashley’s dementia storyline to see how you handle something sensitive but serious in a way that honours the characters, the issue and the show itself. I’m just sad that this storyline could not have been handled in a similar way to achieve the same resonance.

#emmerdale #uncharacteristic pessimism #robron #prison pain #tw: abuse violence homophobia #spoilers #ed rambles