Dear...Me

I saw this a couple of weeks ago on another bloggers site and it got me thinking. If i had the chance to write my younger self a letter about what's ahead of me in my life, would I? Would my younger self even want to read it? To be honest I don't know, is knowing what's going to happen in the future always a good thing? All I do know is, this is what I probably would have written to my younger self.

Dear 12 year old me,

Cherish every moment you have, every little thing, every second. The good and the bad. Life is about to change. You have known for some time now that your brother isn't always going to be here. The end is near. Heartache, pain and emptiness will surround you for sometime. You will go through a time in your life of feeling lost. But I promise you this, everything life has to throw at you will make you a stronger and better person. Life will not seem worth living but trust me when I say, it is. It doesn't get better over night but it will. You will have a fear of forgetting your brother but I promise you, that you never ever will and you will think about him most days with a smile on your face.

On the day of getting your school grade results you and mum will sit in the car and cry as you open the envelope. These are tears of joy and happiness. You done it! 

You are going to end up living in a world surrounded by cardboard boxes as you move from home to home.

 There are many ups and downs to come but as I'm writing to you now, I can tell you this...you are the happiest you could possibly be, you have a handsome little boy. Yes, you have a son! This little boy will be so precious to you, as you will find out why around the age of 16. You will love like you never thought it would be possible to love such a small little person. 

Old bridges are being rebuilt and the cardboard boxes are still around but are slowly going as you have finally found a place to call your home and share with your son. 

Mum and you will become very close after you share a very special moment that happens in your life together. 

Don't be scared of what's ahead, you are stronger than you think. Life isn't all doom and gloom, I promise. Just cherish everything that comes your way.

24 year old you.

I hope you liked this very different post of mine. If you had the chance, would you write your younger self a letter?

Until next time 

xoxo

Liebster Award

First I would like to thank Charlie Franklin from Dainty Bride who nominated me for this blog award! 

A Liebster Award is an online award for those bloggers who have less than 200 followers. It's passed on from blogger to blogger to show their appreciation and interest in your blog. Who doesn't like receiving a little award?!

The rules for the award are:

Acknowledge the blogger who nominated you and display the award logo.

Answer the 11 questions that the blogger gives you.

Give 11 random facts about yourself. 

Nominate 5-11 blogs that you think deserve the award and have less than 200 followers. 

Let the blogger know you are nominating them.

Give them 11 questions to answers.

Here are the 11 questions Charlie Franklin asked me:

1. If you started another blog, what would it be about?

This is a tricky one, as I don't think I would start another blog. Everything I want to blog about I post it on this one.

2. Who's your favourite blogger/YouTuber? 

She is more of a YouTuber than blogger but she does have a blog and that's Zoe Sugg better known as Zoella.

3. Do you have a lifetime goal? If so, what is it?

I don't really have a main goal that I'm working towards in life. But I know that I want to be the best I can be and make sure my son has the best life and upbringing I can give him. 

4. What is the one beauty product you couldn't live without? 

I only get to pick one? Um...probably concealer. It's the one product that makes me look half decent when used on its own.

5. What would be your dream wedding? 

I don't have a dream wedding. I'm not one of those girls that grew up planning their dream wedding waiting for prince charming. All I know is it would probably be very simple, no fuss or frills!

6. What's the most embarrassing song on your iTunes? 

Do You Believe In Magic by Aly & Aj. The less said about that the better!

7. Do you have a quote you live by? If yes, what is it?

Live every moment. Laugh everyday. Love beyond words.

8. If you could be a Harry Potter character, who would you be?

Dobby. Who doesn't love him?!

9. What qualities do you look for in a friend? 

Someone that's always there and doesn't judge me.

10. Where in the world do you want to travel?

Rome.

11. What's been your worst makeup mishap? 

Black lipstick! 

Here's the 11 random facts about me:

1. I'm 5"5 

2. My eyes change colour from blue to bluey green.

3. I hate change. Routine is a must!

4. I'm not a morning person 

5. I love American tv shows

6. I love spicy food

7. I got my first home at 18

8. I drive a new model white vw polo

9. I always want what I don't have

10. I can never make a decision 

11. I love makeup free days

These are the people I nominate:

 Marie Jolene

I'm Just A Girl

The Lemon Unicorn
Thoughts In Colour
Once Upon A Picture

Questions for you to answer:

1. What made you start your blog?
2. If you could choice a part of the world to live in, where would it be?
3. Do you still own any of your childhood toys? If yes, what is it?
4. What would your dream job be?
5. What's your worst nightmare?
6. Favourite animal and why?
7. Favourite musical?
8. Do you believe in love at first sight?
9. Famous person you would love to meet?
10. Favourite song right now?
11. What's your summer must have?


Thank you again to Charlie Franklin for this award. I hope you have enjoyed this post.


Until next time
xoxo

'Sweet Treats' April Glossybox

If you follow a few beauty blogs you might have seen that it's beauty box subscription time again and Glossybox is slowly being rolled out. Mine arrived a couple of days ago and here is what I received. 

If you are unfamiliar with how Glossybox works, I explain it all in a previous review that you can read HERE.

This month's Glossybox theme is 'Sweet Treats' but I'm not really sure how that theme relates to this box at all, as you will see.

Emite Make Up Lip Brush £17

The first thing that shocked me about this product was the price! It pays for the price of the box and then some. I don't use lip brushes so I was a bit gutted to see this in my box but I'm going to use it as an eyebrow brush instead as it works a treat!

Monu Spa Warming Ginger Massage & Body Oil £25 for 100ml 

This is a sample size of 30ml that I received. I haven't had a chance to give this product a proper go as it recommends placing a few drops into a bath to leave your skin feeling beautifully nourished but it smells just like warm ginger bread fresh from the oven! 

Me Me Me Cosmetics Beat The Blues - Pearl Pink £5.50

This is a full sized product. You probably know the well known brand and product Benefit Cosmetics High Beam, which I own. This product, dare I say it, is almost a dupe of the High Beam but I don't feel it gives as much of a glow as the Benefit Cosmetics one. But at less than half the price of High Beam, I would definitely recommend this product if you are on a tight budget but still want the look.

TRESemmé Instant Refresh Cleansing Dry Shampoo £4.99 for 200ml 

I received the 100ml travel size. I am very pleased this product was in my box, as recently I have been loving dry shampoo and haven't yet tried this product. Dry shampoo is prefect for those days where your hair just needs a refresh but you don't want or don't have the time to wash it. It's also prefect for giving your hair texture which helps when creating certain hairstyles.

Unica Cosmetics Radiance Plus £12.95 for 50ml

 I received a sample size. This is a organic and 100% natural anti wrinkle and fine lines cream. At my age I'm not really ready to start using an anti wrinkle cream! So this was a bit of a disappointment to find this in my box.

Overall I am happy with what I received in my April Glossybox but I have cancelled my subscription for now, as I'm just no longer excited about receiving this box like I used to be. I am now on the hunt for a new monthly subscription box. 

Feel free to leave me a comment if you are subscribed to a different box that you love.

Until next time

xoxo

Upcycling Glass Jars

Recently I've been looking at empty glass jars all differently. I know that sounds crazy and even a little bonkers, but bare with me and you'll see where I'm going with this. 

Instead of throwing them in the bin or recycling them I've been upcycling and finding new homes and uses for the glass jars.

Here are some of the jars I've upcycled and there new uses.

Old coffee jar and reed diffuser make great vases

Old coffee jars make prefect storage and home decorations 

Old sauce jar with an added ribbon create a perfect storage for makeup brushes 

Hope you have liked this post and it has given you some ideas when you next have an empty jar.

Until next time

xoxo

March Favourite's

If there is someone out there speeding up the time, please stop! I can't believe that March just flew by and its time already to do my favourite's of the month. This month I have a mixture of favourite's, not all of them are beauty related.

The Body Shop Strawberry Shower Gel
Oh my gosh, this smells absolutely gorgeous! As you can see it has been well loved in the month of March. I will definitely be repurchasing this just for the smell alone. Its not overly moisturising but it doesn't leave your skin dry.

Bourjois Paris Colour Boost Lip Crayon

This is in the colour Orange Punch and I love it! I've only recently got into lip crayons and this one is by far the best for long lasting, out of the ones I have tried. I also find it very moisturising and a perfect colour that's not too 'in your face'.

Katy Perry Oh So Sheer

I'm not going to lie, I bought this perfume without even trying it first as there wasn't a tester available to try but was told it was a spring version of her Killer Queen, which I also love once it warms to your skin. This to me really is a perfect perfume for spring summer that can easily be worn day time or night, as its not too over powering. It lasts well too.

Rimmel London Stay Matte Foundation

There is no surprise that this product has made it into my March favourite's as I have spoke about it before in another post. I still highly recommend this if you want a matte complexion that lasts for hours.

Nails Inc Hyde Park Corner Polish

I think I ended up wearing this colour for most of March. Its a very pretty dusky lilac that really did last a long while before it started to chip. 

Disney's Frozen 

I fell in love with the soundtrack before I had even seen the film, so I was really hoping the film was going to be just as good and wasn't a let down. I loved this film! Its probably one of the best films I have seen in ages and its defiantly not just for kids.

Peanut Cookies

I only discovered these at the end of March. I know they are not the healthiest food in the world but as a little treat these taste so good! 

I hope you have enjoyed my March favourite's, what was your favourite in March?

Until next time

xoxo

Blog Makeover

You may or may not have noticed over the last few days my blog has had a big and much needed makeover. I'm finally, happy with how it has turned out!

In this post I thought I would share with you some websites and tips I have found really useful that have helped me create this look at no cost, in case you are thinking of starting a blog yourself or just would like to give your blog a make over.

I'm no 'tech savvy' person but I knew the look of my blog I was after but just had no idea how to get the look I wanted. After numerous web searches i finally started to find other people sharing easy tutorial that I could understand and that created just what I was after.

The first thing I wanted to do on my blog page, was to create my own header. I'm not lucky enough to have photo shop but I found a site called PicMonkey that is easy to use and helped my create my header how I wanted it to look and to the correct size. This is a brilliant website and all for free! I also used this website to create the picture of me displayed on my sidebar.

The second thing I wanted for my blog was the 'follow me' icons. Like I said before, I'm no 'tech savvy' person and didn't have a clue how to do this. I found this lovely page by Liz Bryson with a step by step video on how to do this. This video is so easy to follow and helped me no end!
I also needed to find some free social media icons. I found this page by Carrie that offers free social media icons in every colour you could wish for to suit your blog page.

One thing I noticed when adding photos to my blog, was that they always appeared darker with a grey tint to them and I couldn't work out why. I tried playing around with the contrast and brightness in editor, but still no luck. So I Googled why and found this page which explained why and how I could stop it from happening. Something so simple and easy when you know how!

The last thing I wanted to achieve was changing the margin size between my header and my blog post starting, and also between the gadgets in my side bar. A very helpful website I found was Southern Speakers which explained how I could do what I wanted to achieve so easily. Once you have this code you can then customise it to change what ever part of you blog you wish.

I hope you have found this post helpful and if there is anything you can see that I have done on my blog but not explained above, just ask and I'll do my best to answer.



Until next time
xoxo

Combat Shine

Finally I feel like I'm winning what I thought was a losing battle when it came to beating shine. I have a very oily t-zone and have tried so many products in the past to try and beat it. Starting from face washes to foundations to press powders. I've had my fair share of bad products that have made my face oily all over in less than two hours, yet claim to stay matte for up to 8!

But finally I have found three products that help me stay matte for up to 8 hours! So I thought with summer just round the corner I would share with you what really helps me stay matte, as I think there is nothing worse than being shiny in summer.

L'Oréal Paris Triple Active Anti-Shine Moisturiser 

I believe if you start with a good base, the rest of your makeup will work better for you and help against the shine. This is the best moisturiser I have found that works as it states it should. It absorbs so well into my skin, doesn't leave my face looking shinny and it's also very moisturising. On days where I'm having a no makeup day (best days ever!) this still provides me with a matte complexion.

Rimmel London Stay Matte Foundation 

I have tried many different types of foundations in the past by many different brands at different price ranges. But when it comes to staying matte Rimmel seem to know what they are doing. If you read my March Wishlist blog you will know that I really wanted to try this product. This is by far the best foundation I have used. It's medium coverage and feels so light weight on my skin, that it's almost like I'm not wearing foundation. Best part of all, it works at keeping me matte for nearly 8 hours! I can not recommend this product enough to anyone that wants a long lasting matte complexion. It's affordable and a good colour match too.

Rimmel London Stay Matte Pressed Powder 

This is an oldie but still one of my favourites. As I said before Rimmel really do know what they are doing when is comes to matte perfection. Again with powders I have tried so many different brands all claiming to keep you matte for hours but have failed. As my foundation keeps me matte, I only tend to use this where I need a little extra help on my t-zone. 

I swear by these three products and wouldn't be without them now. I use them all on a daily bases. Have you tried any of these products? Let me know what you think. 

Until next time 

xoxo