I always like to use the end of the year as a time for re-evaluating myself and the kind of person I've been throughout the past 12 months. I think about the things I did, the opportunities I had, the people I met and most importantly, all the regrets I have. But I don't go through it all in a negative way, I use it to understand the kind of person I'm becoming and the kind of person I want to be in the next year. I've made a lot of mistakes this year, a whole massive load of mistakes that is and I'm sure not proud of them but if anything they've been learning curves for me, they've made me realise things and helped me figure out what I'm doing with who I'm becoming. So Instead of writing a post on all my so called 'New Years resolutions' that I'll never keep, I thought I'd write down 16 things I've learnt in 2016 that I'll be taking through to next year.
I'm back again withhh... another eyeshadow review. Talk about mixing it up over here haha! A while back in a post I mentioned the Freedom Pro 12 Palette in 'Secret Rose' and told you how I'd review it, now months (and many many more months) later that review is finally here. I took my time I know. This palette I used to use daily and I honestly can't get enough. It may not be my current go-to palette but if you're on a budget it's perfect, and I doubt it'll be long before this turns into a staple for me again. The packaging and colours in this are not just gorgeous, but such high end quality too. I would never have expected this £4 palette to act like a £24 one but that's exactly what it does.
Connecting with the people around us is something we all have to do whether we like it or not. Generally we surround ourselves with people that make us happy, however we will always come across and waste time on others that just aren't worth a single second. Now you all know that I use this blog to vent quite a bit, I turn my own life mistakes or life 'happenings' (if you'll call them that) into helpful tips and messages for you guys and I'm glad that so many of you love this. My whole life I've been too nice, if that makes sense. I've let people constantly walk over me, I've forgiven everyone even over something big or after the 50th time, and deep down I know I shouldn't. I know I'm basically giving them permission to hurt me in a way because I let them do it, I don't stop them. That's probably the biggest regret I've had in my life, I've always let people use me and I've never stood up for myself. I know it can be hard for some, especially if you're shy like I used to be, but I mean it when I say people like that aren't worth a second of your time and I really hope some of you will read this and make the change to not let other people treat you like crap.
I'm sure most of you can say that you have things missing from your life. Whether it be a boyfriend, a job, hope (or if you're like me, all of the above.. ha) we all have that one missing piece that we just need to find to fit our puzzle. I know a fair few of my readers noticed that recently my blog has been MIA, non existent, offline. I had a few technical issues which resorted to my blog not being accessible to anyone, including myself and boy did I feel like something had been missing. I've always loved this blog but I never realised just how much of a big part of me it was until it was gone. I felt like I wasn't me, like there was a slot with nothing inside of it and nothing in my life made sense without it. Okay you may think I'm exaggerating slightly and maybe I am, but this little internet space takes up an awful big part of who I am and it made me think. We're all searching for something, or even someone to 'complete' us, if you want to put it that way that is, but why?
Beauty reviews are still partially new to me, this blog may have started as a beauty blog but over the years it's transitioned into a handful of different topics, beauty of which has taken a major back seat. I want to change that though, I love makeup and I really want to start incorporating it into this blog more so I thought I'd review one of my new favourite palettes. I will apologise for the photo quality, without a proper camera the only thing I have to use is my phone and it doesn't take the most HD quality photo's out there but it'll do. Now I don't know about you but I originally heard about Zoeva for those gorgeous rose gold brushes that I'm sure we all lust over (which trust me I will own one day, just you watch!) but when I heard a fellow blogger raving about this palette I just had to jump on the bandwagon.
I've found in my quest to be more positive that one of the most important things to keep me going is quotes. Quotes, more quotes and oh look, even more quotes! They keep me motivated and inspired and I can hands down say I don't know how I'd stay sane without them. So inspired by the wonderful Sprinkle of Glitter I thought I'd share a new quote with you every single Monday in a series called "Inspire Me" to help keep you motivated for your week, I've always found Mondays to be quite refreshing and reading and thinking about an inspiring quote at the beginning of every week is an amazing way to keep both myself (and obviously you guys) motivated! Choosing a quote for the first week was super hard not going to lie, I have so many incredible ones that I basically live by, but in the end I decided this one was a good starting point!
Autumn has to be one of my favourite seasons, as soon as it hits September I am in Heaven. The last few months of the year are by far my favourite and they're what I look forward to the rest of the year. From Halloween to Pumpkin Spice Lattes to Berry Lips, dark clothing and Christmas I'm in love. Something I've always wanted to do on this blog are fashion based posts, but due to my extreme lack of self confidence and the fact that I'm not exactly model material it's been quite a difficult thing for me to actually be able to do. Last Autumn on a trip to Manchester my friend Patrycja and I filmed an Autumn Outfit Of The Day video, it took a lot for me but we took a few snaps while filming that I thought I could upload here. I apologise for the fact that I only appear in one photo but we've all got to start somewhere right? I'm slowly trying to get myself used to the idea of having my photograph taken for fashion posts as I really want to start incorporating them over here, so in the near future expect a few more of these.
Lately I've been feeling super inspired to write, which is good news for all of you lovelies since I'll be back posting more than once a month! I'm beyond happy that i'm out of my creative block meaning I can finally write again, it took some time but I am backkkkk so you'll have to put up with me for a lot longer! I just want to say thank you so much for all the support you've been giving me on twitter lately, reading through all of your lovely and kind DM's really does make me happy and puts a massive smile on my face and I couldn't ask for better readers than you lovely bunch. Soppy stuff aside, thank you! I've planned out a bunch of posts and I have so many ideas floating around my head I can't help but feel like a new person. Or does that just sound weird? Hah, oh well.
I'm sure we all know the feeling of when you just can't help but think the world and everyone in it is completely against you, it's a natural human thought we will all have a few times in our lives. However some people will feel it a lot more than others and it can really get you down if you let it take over your mindset too much which is a straight up cause for trouble. I mean I know perfectly well that the world isn't against me and it's all just in my imagination, but when everything you could possibly think of is going wrong it can definitely get you down and make you feel like everything isn't worth it, and right now I know this feeling too well. I don't want to feel like I do, no one does, so today I thought I'd share a few ways to help you out when you're feeling like this, but remember that you are not alone!
One of my worst habits happens to be how much I cling to the past, now I know it's something everyone does but my problem is I let it affect me and my day to day life way more than your average person. I won't go too in depth (because let's be honest, no one wants my life story), but it's such a dangerous thing to do. Okay yes, the past has happened and some of it sucks, but holding onto it for dear life is not going to get you anywhere. Things change, people change, hell even you change! I'm a firm believe of 'everything happens for a reason' and 'the right time' (but they are two completely different posts for a very different day i'm afraid) and I really need to learn to stop stressing over the past. Life happens, shit happens, get over it. Living in the present and looking towards the future rather than having your eyes set back are so so important and I really can't stress it enough.
Loneliness can come in a ton of different ways and I just want to start off by clarifying that I think there's a big difference between being alone and loneliness, as human beings we need time to be alone, it's good for our mental health, however when that turns into feeling actually alone and isolated that it becomes a problem. One thing that my readers seem to love is when i'm open, when I write about how I feel because a lot of you seem to relate and that seems to be what's growing my blog. It's hard for me to be open because i'm quite a closed person, I don't like letting things out in the open especially to people I know, which is why using this blog as a form of escape has become a regular thing, and the fact you guys love it just makes it all the better.
Now i've always liked being on my own, like most bloggers and internet people I'm an introvert. Until recently I found it extremely impossible to be social, especially for long periods of time but now I can manage it, to a certain extent that is. I've come a long way from the person I used to be a few months ago, but in becoming more social the loneliness has somehow creeped in unnoticed.
Okay I know this post is being uploaded a tad late but i've been so busy lately so I apologise! I have so much going on right now it's kinda crazy, but don't worry I'll still be regularly posting on here, you all have nothing to worry about! Lately I've been both the happiest i've ever been but also the saddest i've ever been, which is hands down one of THE most confusing thing's ever and makes 0 sense, but I'm just trying to roll with it. If you read my June goals post (which you can find HERE) you'll be happy to hear that I have completed 3 of the 4 goals!! I hit 1,000 bloglovin followers a few days after the end of the month, so thank you all so so much for that, it means an awful lot and i'm so happy with where this blog is heading at the moment! I've kept up the regular posting and I've also organised my bookshelf, so my productivity levels are feeling greaaatttt right now.
Our generation are social media addicts. As soon as we wake up the first thing we do is check twitter or Instagram or even facebook. We get labelled unsociable and social media is portrayed as this big bad wolf that has a massive hold on us, but is that really the truth? We get told we're wasting our time and to get off our phones, but is it really that bad for us? I ran a poll on twitter asking what peoples thoughts were, and got a ton of DM's with everyone's opinions on the topic and to be quite frank it was rather interesting. Every single person had something different to say about it, but the majority agreed that our social media addict generation has both it's ups and downs.
Even I get bored of my blog every now and then, sometimes a change is majorly needed even if it is just a slight revamp. Sometimes you want to go all out and completely refresh everything, but if that isn't that case I thought I'd share 4 tips to just revamp and spruce up your blog. Think of it as a little spring clean if you want, I can guarantee you'll feel a lot better after doing some of these. Also don't ask me why I didn't do 5, I know that probably would have made more sense but hey ho I'm a fan of even numbers, even the volume has to be even around me. (Yes I'm one of THOSE people)
Why I haven't done more reviews lately I honestly have no clue, I guess the whole idea of writing them is quite daunting to me because I'm not quite sure how. All these lifestyle posts are good and easy because it just comes naturally to me, however no matter how much I love makeup and books I always find writing reviews so much more difficult! Today I thought I'd mix all the deep posts up with a review (got to practise somehow, right) of my most recent foundation purchase. I've used 2 Giorgio Armani foundations before, this being the second one I've tried. It may be a high end product and far from cheap, but boy is it worth the money. I first got this foundation after trying the 'Luminous Silk' one (eventually I will review that too), I was reluctant to spend the money at first considering I'm more on the poorer side of life, and the last thing I want to do is spend excessive amounts of money on a foundation I don't even like! However after taking the plunge I did not regret it one bit, in fact investing in Giorgio Armani foundations is probably the best risk I've ever taken.
(Photo credit to Yasmine Summan who took these photos for me)
Sitting down the other day I realised that at times I can be a very closed book. There's so much stuff that makes up the core of my personality that pretty much no one knows about and honestly I have no clue why. Now I like to think I have a strong friendship with both my readers and fellow bloggers, so I don't think it's quite fair that you all don't know much about me when you're all so open on twitter to me. Being a blogger you don't tend to talk about yourself very much, it's mostly reviews or your thoughts or what you're up to that people are interested in. I often feel like people don't care about me as a person but lately I've realised just how untrue that really is. My readership has been growing quite a lot lately and I feel like I have a connection with every single one of you, so it's only right that I share with you a bunch of things I tend to keep hidden and that no one knows, after all no one likes a robot.
We all get sad sometimes, it's human nature, so why do we shame sadness? Being down sucks, it really does and when our mood is in the dumps we tend to keep it to ourselves due to the fear of what others will say. "Just get over it?", "don't be so silly!", "man the hell up". Those are all very common comments I get when I'm sad and I tell someone about it, I'm sure quite a few of you have heard similar reactions and I'm sorry but why? What's wrong with being sad every now and then? There's nothing wrong with it but don't let it take over your life, use your misery to your advantage. Okay I bet most of you are wondering what the hell I'm rambling on about, but let me explain.
Being a blogger is far from easy, but just know that with every blog related problem you face and think you're alone in, I bet we all go through too! I spoke to some of my blogging friends about problems they face and as it turns out, almost all of them tended to be quite common. So today I thought it'd be just a little bit of fun if I shared with you all blogger problems we all have, and hopefully it might make you feel better! I know realising I'm not the only one who faces these boosts myself up a little bit, and maybe it will you too.
Okay so todays post is a little different, it's more of a light hearted comedic one, the type of thing I've always wanted to try writing but have been too scared to actually do. It's never too late to step out of your comfort zone and into deeper waters so today I thought I'd share with you 'signs he isn't worth it'. I've been having a lotttt of guy trouble recently and for some reason I never learn when I need to just kick the dude out of my life, do a little hair flip and strut off with my head held high. After all, that's what they do in the movies. I think.
I used to do monthly posts all the time a while back and I've noticed that since I've stopped I've lost all motivation throughout the month completely, so I'm bringing this series back! Lately I've had a lot more determination to achieve things. I've been treated like nothing by a lot of people that have come into my life and that's become my motivation. Showing them that I am worth something, I am doing something with my life and I'm not this useless little thing they all seem to think I am. I know I don't need people like that in my life but you have to admit that proving them wrong would feel pretty good, right? These goals are a mixture of both slightly bigger ones, and even just some small stupid things. Even they can make you feel more put together and happy.
Now this blog originally started off completely beauty themed and that was my plan for it, however over the years I've dabbled in everything and have mostly drifted towards lifestyle since I find for me it's more my thing, however I really don't want the beauty aspect of this place to disappear. I've been super into stepping out of my comfort zone lately and buying different products that I've never tried, and I really want to get more into the swing of doing product reviews since I have so many planned yet I never actually do them! For the past few months I've been obsessed with Benefits Porefessional, however as you may or may not know it's kinda extremely pricey and I couldn't afford to keep using it on a daily basis which is why I was on the hunt for something new (and slightly cheaper). Enter Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser Primer!
In my last post I mentioned how I currently don't have a camera so I'm struggling to take photos for my blog posts, but late last night (at about 2am to be precise), I decided to try using my iphone to see how the quality would turn out, not going to lie I was pleasantly surprised! It may not be fancy material but for now it'll do so expect more fashion, beauty and book posts coming up now I have at least a slightly decent camera to use. Okay so my iphone is my life, and it's essential to this blog in so many ways, a fair few of those being the apps that I use. So today I thought I'd share with you all the 5 apps that are essential for me and how I run this blog!
Don't get me wrong I hate following the crowd and being a sheep but seeing so many bloggers posting lists on things that make them happy recently has really made me smile. Sharing positivity is such an amazing thing to do and it creates such an uplifting environment that I couldn't help but decide to make a list myself. I had a good think about it and created this list at 3am, there was so much more I could have added but I thought I'd keep it short and sweet. So without further ado and me babbling on for too long, here are a list of 30 small things that make me happy.
Ever since we were little kids we've all had an idea of 'our dream'. From a dream job to a dream boyfriend to a, I don't know, dream house, we've all had that little space in our head where we've planned out how we want everything to work when we grow up. That's a totally normal thing that everyone goes through and it's okay to have these big dreams and these big plans that we want to happen, so many adults shoot them down for not being realistic, but honestly it's good for you to do this and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Today I thought I'd do something different and share with you all my 'dream life'. I've seen quite a few bloggers doing something like this and I thought it'd just be a little bit of fun to do a post on too. Some peoples 'dream life' includes big plans, big and very difficult plans that they may never live, but I like to think mine aren't too unrealistic, or I hope anyway.
While sitting on my bed the other day in my underwear redesigning my blog (do you guys likey?) I came to a very real realisation that this was what it was like to be a blogger. You're probably thinking "what on earth are you talking about?" so let me elaborate. I have a proper point, I promise. When we go to blogger events and even just look at bloggers on social media everything looks so glamorous right? Now just have a good think and imagine how you'd see said glamours bloggers actually blogging, writing out their posts.
This is the second month of me doing this little series and I have to say I'm quite surprised I remembered to do another one! I got a lot of comments on twitter about how people enjoyed the March version of this and since there was so much love for it I may have to keep it up every single month. I enjoy sharing my personal life with you guys and keeping you all up to date on everything I'm doing, I mean hey I am a blogger what are we for?!
Don't get me wrong I love having a busy schedule. I really do love being away from home and always having things to do because it means when you do get time to sit and chill and unwind you appreciate it so much more than when you do it all the time. Having a balance is a key thing but it's important you're not so busy that you completely forget to have any relaxed time to yourself. I find myself a lot happier when I have a break from the outside world, from my friends and family and focus on myself. These are the moments you can really reflect on yourself as a person, your well-being, your stability, your life and everything else. Take a breather and focus on you.
For my birthday this year my Nan decided to get me a few presents to go with the birthday money she had, and god was I shocked at how well she knew what to get! I've never been one for organisation, in fact I'm probably one of the most disorganised people ever. Nothing in my room has a place and everything is just splattered everywhere. Literally. I'm hoping to redecorate my room soon but firstly I need to start by being more organised or it's just going to continue looking like a massive tip even when it's finished. We want to avoid that, right?
I've seen posts like this floating around on practically every blog for practically, well ever, yet for some reason I've never had an interest in doing one. Until now that is. I don't share much of my personal life on this blog and I'm not too sure why, I take a lot of pictures and I do a lot of things so I thought I'd start sharing monthly pictures with you all. So without further ado and me babbling on, here are some (late) pictures of how my March went!
Considering i'm a supposedly massive book worm, my love for books always lacks to show over on this blog which is a real shame, hence why I'm going to be posting a lot more about them. Don't worry, they won't take over my blog completely, but they will get their fair share of the spotlight. Now i'm the kinda person who can't just read one book at a time, I have no clue why but I've always been a juggler for some reason beyond me. Today I'm going to share with you the 3 books I've currently got in the mix.
It's taken me years to finally understand, but now I get the power of surrounding yourself with the right people on such a strong level. In the past I thought it didn't make a difference, I had people around me who were positive and lovely and I thought they were the 'right' people, but it didn't make any difference to me. I wasn't necessarily happier, I mean I loved them and enjoyed being around them but it didn't influence my life in any way. Only recently have I actually experienced just how important it is, let me explain.
Now I've seen a LOT of these posts floating around the internet the past few weeks, and I feel like they're more of a tradition at this point so I can't not write one. I'm not going to lie to you, I have absolutely no clue where I want this year to go, I haven't even thought past what I'm doing tomorrow but I've decided that I'm not going to get anywhere like that. If I don't set goals then nothing will happen or get done, I'm one of those kinds of people, so these are just a few things I'd like to achieve this year. Granted some of them may be small, and some more way too unachievable, but anything can happen. Right? I'll keep telling myself that anyway.
I feel like I should apologise for the lack of posts on here as of late, but I realised that I do it way too much and I'm just going to hope we're on a level of friendship where you trust me enough to know I have good reasons, right? Being away from my blog has made me think just how much I miss it when I don't post, this place means a lot to me and being apart for a long length of time is just too much for me, so I'm back for good now hollaaaaahhh. This post isn't going to be a typical 'new year new me' post regardless of the title, but I feel slightly off if I don't make one.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
