Favourite Blogs #10

Hello again; every month I enjoy discovering new blogs and rediscovering some old favourites. It's a fantastic way to find inspiration and get to know other people. There's something nice about getting to know a person through their likes and dislikes - blogging is a positive way to find out what you like and dislike. At the minute I've been reading a lot of blogs, through twitter and instagram, I like finding out about new blog posts, new bloggers and getting some honest reviews on a variety of things. Bloggers are usually honest, far more relatable than print in a magazine and they also cater for people like me; if I want to know about a make up product for someone with pale skin, I'll look out for a blogger that fits that category. There's definitely a blogger available for anyone, if you look hard enough. I'm loving twitter as way of communicating with other bloggers, and it's an easy way of clicking on blog post that takes your fancy. To have a look at any of the blogs below, just click on the blog URL and it'll direct you straight across!

 

www.icecreamandclara.co.uk

Elizabeth's blog is ultra feminine and undeniably pretty; the soft pastels, natural make up looks and whimsical, pretty photographs of countries such as Italy, it's definitely a dreamy blog. I've been reading this blog for a while now as I love the layout and the romantic theme; there are make up reviews from brands like Benefit and Too Faced, which is lovely as they're quite expensive so it's nice to see honest reviews on them. She's also a fashionista, with many blog posts focussing on outfit choices and what she's listing after from the shops at the moment. There are also some cute little snippets of her young child; he's got a lovely little face and it's crazy seeing how quickly they grow! I also like her book reviews, she's got a classic style in all areas of her life.

 

www.parlezvousparisien.wordpress.com

I actually found Abby through her twitter page; ever since then I've really been loving her blog! Although I've been to Paris myself, her photography and posts just capture a magic about the city that I've never managed to see. Alongside her Paris posts, there are also fashion, beauty and travel based blog posts; my favourite of these are the definitely the travel posts. She has a way of capturing the parts of the world that most of us overlook. I've always wanted to visit Budapest and her post on the city has definitely encouraged me to make a trip sometime as it looks incredible! I'm a sucker for beautiful architecture and you'll love this blog if you also adore architecture, particularly those in Europe.

 

www.youcancallmecaz.blogspot.co.uk

Another blogger that I've discovered from my new love affair with twitter; I fell in love with her blog instantly. The layout is simple and pleasing to the eye that it's just a lovely read. She's a blogger who covers a variety of topics such as beauty, travel, lifestyle and fashion. I admire her honestly, particularly when it comes to mental health topics such as anxiety. She's open with her readers, addressing her life regrets and also posting some honest reviews on a variety of things including films but mostly make up products. I like that she reviews mostly drugstore items as that's more realistic for my budget, so I was excited to read her posts on some MakeUp Revolution items as I do like to know if something is worth it prior to buying. Plus, I really loved her 'Dear Friends', it said so much about how she great she clearly is as a friend! 

 

www.elleanorwears.com

I originally found Eleanor's blog through her instagram page; I really like how she covers so many different topics such as beauty, fashion, lifestyle and feminism amongst many others. As a sufferer of mental health myself, it was so reassuring to see her share her own mental health story; it's fantastic that blogging has become an outlet for these kinds of issues. It was a great way to remember that you're never alone. Her taste in books is also great, as an avid reader myself I do love a good book review! Anyone who blogs about Harry Potter is always going to be onto a winner with me, as it was basically my whole childhood. Regardless of all of these things, her blog layout is also simple but effective as it's so easy to follow. The blog headings allow you to pick what posts you feel like delving into, which is very helpful.

 

A month in instagram #11

Hello again! Looking back over the month of May, I've actually had a pretty good month. I've spent a lot of the month seeing friends, going for walks and just generally enjoying the beautiful architecture of London. Seeing Spring transition into Summer is one of my favourite things; I love the longer days, the brighter, more blue skies and seeing nature bloom. It's such a cliché, but it really is lovely to simply step back and watch the world go around. Over the past year I've spent many hours being unhappy; ultimately I'm learning that you have to create your own happiness. To do so, I've realised that I like going for walks, I enjoy having dinner catch ups with my best friend and basically I look for happiness in the everyday. Happiness (for me) has come from the little things in life; the thins that you often overlook when you're desperate to achieve the 'life goals' that you feel like everyone else has achieved. During May, I've learnt to stop comparing my life to that of others and really focus on myself and what I want from my life. I want happiness, so I've created my happiness. Instagram is a fantastic way to visually remember all of the good times that you've experienced throughout the month; moments that you wouldn't remember otherwise. Here's to an equally lovely June!

 

 

 

Happy Things #22

 

1. The first day of this week is a bank holiday Monday, so naturally I'm super happy about that as it means a day off for me; I'm still getting my head around getting them off now as I never have done before. I've got no plans, but sometimes it's nice to just chill out and recharge your batteries.

2. To start off a good week I've had a cheeky plate of pancakes for brunch, which has completely broken my attempt at a diet but that's ok. Pancakes always make me feel happy and a bank holiday is the best excuse to have a bit of a day off the diet (which isn't going that well anyway).

3. I've got a long week at work this week, but I'm planning to get through it by reading and blogging to empty my mind of any stress that will inevitably come out of me towards the end of the week. 

4. Although I'm not the biggest fan of the hot weather as the heat makes me feel a bit overwhelmed, but I do like the sunnier, longer days that come with summer. During the week I'm going to try and go on several walks down by the river as it really calms me down and empties my mind of any stress. It's so important to take some time out and have some me time every so often.

5. My mental health is definitely doing fairly well at the moment, actually much better than it's been for several years. I think I've finally found some ways to try and combat the bad thoughts with little rituals that really work for me. Taking life a step at a time has really helped and I'm looking forward to enjoying the rest of the year now.

 

Favourite Instagrammers #11

Hello again! If you're a regular reader of this blog, then you'll know just how much of an instagram fan I am. In all honestly, the app has begun to irritate me a little recently, the follow/unfollow game is giving me a headache. However, I do really like how it's a super visual platform; I've recently started liking Pinterest for the same reasons, but I find instagram easier to use overall. Instagram is one of the apps on my phone that i use more or less every single day as I do love seeing others posts, as well as posting myself. I'm not bothered about if an instagram feed has a theme or not; personally I don't stick to a theme as I use it as a way of documenting my life and promote my blog. I'm really interested in following more bloggers, let me know your usernames in the comments and I'll give you a follow! :)

 

katy_who

I've been in love with Katy's instagram feed for a few months now; there's something addictively beautiful about her ethereal, floral forest photograph collection. Her wild mane of hair really fits the forest, wild theme; her photographs are very influenced by nature and the seasons, for example at the moment she's capturing the blooms of spring. Alongside the nature photographs there are books, architecture, outfits for days and stationary. Her creative flair is obvious throughout the whole feed and although there is an obvious theme it's beautifully done. Her feed is perfect or those who love travel and nature as each photograph fits into that mold. Even with a theme, each image feels personal and there's always a lovely caption that makes you feel as though you're getting to know the person behind the feed.

 

sirenandrose

I've been following Megan on instagram ever since I stumbled across her then blog, thebriarrose a couple of years back. Her feed is mostly food, pastels, Disney and cosplay characters. I really like how each photograph has a story to it, she always writes a detailed caption of how the image makes her feel; it's like you really get to know Megan, her likes and dislikes. Overall she's a girly girl, but I don't feel overwhelmed with pastels and pink. Her photographs of the Cornish coast, of the city of Bath in the full bloom of spring are simply gorgeous. On a side note, she has the loveliest crockery too; all flowers and delicate prints.

 

parlezvousparisien

I found Abby's blog and instagram page very recently, through a twitter blogger chat and instantly fell in love! It's really interesting to see Paris from another Londoners point of view, even though I'm not a fan of Paris. That said, Abby captures Paris in a way that I've never seen; all beautiful architecture, secret cobbled streets and of course, some of the world famous monuments such as the Eiffel Tower and The Cathedrale de Notre Dame. I like the snippets of French culture in the form of food, drink and general lifestyle. I do like to travel, so I enjoy seeing the world through other people's eyes; even the grittier side of the Parisian streets are photographed and shared, it's nice to see all sides of the city, not just the tourist areas.

 

perksofbeingsharna

Sharna's feed is definitely that of a beauty blogger; with her Pinterest worthy interiors, millions of make up products and on trend accessories spread across many of the images. Quirky desk accessories, such as patterned cats, candles and plants are frequently featured in her photographs. I like how she comes across as supe positive, writing captions that describe how much she loves a specific mascara, or hand cream for example. A lot of her photos are pretty in pink, it I feel like they're not doused in pink; although she's a girly girl, you don't feel overwhelmed by the girlyness. She's honest about what make up uses and rates how good it is, which is always useful when you want to buy some make up; reviews from others always persuades me a little bit more!

 

chloerebeccablog

Although Chloe doesn't have millions of followers, she come across as super relatable, especially because she doesn't have a theme. Focussing on lifestyle, fashion and beauty, there are many images of her travels in various cities, in the UK, Hungary and Italy to name a few. She seems super positive and often engages with her followers in the comments. Definitely a summer lover, with lots of photographs of beers in the sun and general enjoyment of the longer days and better weather that we're having in the UK at the moment. I haven't followed her for that long, but I instantly liked her feed as she's keep it real; there's more to enjoy than an instagram theme.

 

Book Review: The Girl On The Train

 

Initially I wanted to read this book out of curiosity; there was a ridiculous amount of hype surrounding it and it seemed to be top of the book charts for months. For a new author, Paula Hawkins reached the writers dream pretty quickly; sadly I found the writing style to be incredibly irritating. The use of three narrators worked well, I actually do like seeing a situation from different perspectives but I wasn't keen on the fact that every narrator was female and completely unreliable. As a reader we're introduced to Rachel, an alcoholic; Megan, a cheat and Anna, a liar. As a woman myself, I found myself hating that each of these women were solely dependant on the male characters, who were portrayed as strong and capable. The male and female dynamics really focussed on the males being the dominant and the females being submissive. Only one female seemed to have her head screwed on, which was Rachel's landlady and friend, Cathy; but even she was reliant on her boyfriend so there was no real strong female lead, which disappointed me from a female author. I feel like I was expecting more from the book, given all of the hype surrounding it. 

All of the characters were majorly unlikeable; probably the most bearable was Rachel as although her reasoning was a little off, she did at least try to do the right things, even if she went about it in the wrong way. However, I feel like her narrative was fairly unbelieveable; yes, I understand that using an unreliable narrator is a fantastic literary technique (when used correctly) but with Rachel it was a bit strange that at the start of the novel she apparently couldn't remember anything when she had been drinking to suddenly towards the end of the novel she could remember everything. Actually, Rachel's drinking is the key to most of the novel; whenever she drinks she's a different person. She's definitely braver when drunk, but ultimately her mental health isn't the best due to her alcoholism. For much of the novel I was frustrated due to her lack of realisation for what drinking cost her; a husband, a job. Alcohol makes her a liar too, pretending to her landlady that she goes to work everyday by getting the same two trains in and out of London that she did when she had a job and a routine.

From the train window she watches her ex-husband with his new wife and family, as well as a couple whose lives she imagines inside her head in their houses. On the surface, Rachel has massive mental health issues, spurred on from her drinking. When you realise that the house she watches was once he own home, you can understand why she feels so pained but strangely obsessed with peering in. She's clearly still grieving for her old life. There are several twists and turns in this novel, but overall it's very slow to gather any momentum. I was actually relieved when the novel started to fully shape, although it was fairly predictable throughout. It was fairly interesting to view the novel from Megan's perspective due to her involvement within the murder; a serial adulteress with no inhibitions about lying and cheating to her own husband so she's equally as unreliable as Rachel is to the reader. Even worse, Megan lives a few doors down from Anna, the third narrator. Married to Rachel's ex-husband, she is also a liar and a cheat as she made her way from mistress to wife and mother. Most of the novel focusses on the feud between Rachel and Anna over their shared love of Tom.

The three person narrative was carried out smoothly and worked well, but the three characters were so similar at times that they almost morphed into the same person, making it difficult to distinguish between them. At times the phrases and descriptions of the same event were almost identical; I found the characters irritating, making the book difficult to read. I feel like Hawkins used the idea of the broken woman to keep interest open in the novel; I enjoyed it more towards the end of the book, once it had picked up the pace a little and I was actually surprised in the end. I thought it was predictable but I was very wrong in terms of who actually committed the murder; early on, I assumed I knew the whole story straightaway and I was pleasantly surprised to have been wrong. If you plan to read this book, try and read it with an open mind, rather than following a 'whodunnit' set of theories. My main issue with the book is how women and men are represented, they're shallow and lacking any real substance. Likewise, alcoholism is a genuine issue mentioned regularly throughout the book, but it's also skimmed over in a sense; Rachel just suddenly ceases drinking, which in reality, seems completely unbelievable for someone so reliant on it. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it. It didn't live up to the hype or my expectations, which was a shame.

 

Happy Things #21

 

1. So I've made plans to see my best friend at the weekend, which is always a pleasure. It's lovely to have that person who you can rely on and can effortlessly cheer you up.

2. My reading list is literally growing every single day; it's keeping me busy and is a fantastic way of keeping my mind in a positive place. I'm learning that the more I use distractions, such as reading, my mind feels much more at ease with life. It's a good feeling.

3. This is a very strange contribution to this list of positivity, but I'm actually really happy with how my eyebrows are looking at the moment. After years of overplucking I think I've finally found the perfect medium between too thin and too bushy, which is exciting.

4. I've got a lot of blog posts planned and I'm excited to see them posted over the next week; blogging is such a good hobby and it's really changed my life over the past year. I'm getting more involved with the blogging community and I'm enjoying it so much.

5. The weather seems to indicate that summer is definitely on its way; the blue skies, the sun... I'm enjoying the nicer weather as my mood definitely improves when the weather is lovely.

 

Beauty Confessions Tag

 

Hello again! I found out about this tag from lifewithb and actually I've completed another tag through reading her blog, which is awesome by the way! I love getting inspiration from other bloggers to post on my own blog. I think most people have a bit of a beauty addiction and I'm certainly no exception to that; this tag was super fun to do and very easy because there's so much to talk about. If you're interested in beauty, keep on reading!

1. What is your biggest beauty product addiction? (Lippies, blushes, highlighter, bronzer, mascara, etc.)

I'm in love with pretty eyeshadow palettes at the moment, but honestly I think it's lipsticks as I own so many lip products. I have so many liquid lipsticks and lipsticks but literally when I swatched my lipstick collection for a post I realised how many lipsticks I actually have, as well as how many of them are red, haha! I am trying to buy more of a range of products and shades now.

2. How many products do you have from your addiction?

I actually have so many lipsticks... In total there's probably at least 15, which doesn't sound like much but without realising I always seem to end up having more lipsticks suddenly appear! Aside from lipsticks and considering my whole make up collection I definitely own too much stuff. I have a stacking make up box and five make up bags as well as pots full of brushes. The addiction is real!

3. What is one type of beauty product you hate? (highlighters, hairspray, etc.)

I'm not a fan of hairspray, although that's likely from years of overuse from when I was a dancer. I'm also not a lover of cream products, like cream blusher or highlighter because they feel super sticky on my skin; another thing I hate is too dark foundations... Even most ivory shades are too dark for me, which is a nightmare.

 4. What has been your biggest challenge in beauty? (ex: a technique you learned or leaving a beauty comfort zone)

It has to be the perfect cat eye flick! One eye is always perfect and then the other just won't ever match. It irritates me every single time. Aside from that, I have my boyfriend to thank for encouraging me to understand that less is more. I know that sounds a bit pathetic but I used to wear a complete full face all day, every day and my skin was so bad. Now I let my skin breathe much more often, but at the same time it's hard to be fine with wearing only a bit of concealer and mascara for everyday. It sounds so self centred but it was so difficult for me to learn to love my natural face!

5. What is one beauty comfort zone you don’t ever think you’ll leave?

In all honesty the one product I need in my life is mascara, I really love the ways it opens up my eyes and helps me to look more awake. Another thing I love is a classic red lip, I always feel so sophisticated and 10 times prettier when I've got a red lipstick on for a night out.

6. What is one beauty thing you suck at? (ex: eyeliner like cat eye or taking your makeup off at the end of the day, etc.)

I mentioned in another of these answers that I'm awful at the cat eye look; one eye is always good and the other awful. I'm also not great at contouring; I'm always trying to improve my technique and I've watched countless YouTube videos on how to contour like a boss but I always end up looking like I've got three different shades in straight lines across my face... Even blending doesn't work wonders for me.

7. What is one thing in beauty that you don’t understand its hype? (Technique, trend, etc.)

There are so many weird trends and techniques around at the moment, like using a tampon and other crazy stuff as a beauty blender... I'm always freaked out by textured nails too, like velvet or fur and stuff. I have no idea why but I just hate it!

I have no one in mind to tag to complete this 'tag', but if another blogger is reading this, I'd recommend this tag as not only is it fun to complete it's another post idea which is always great! :)