AIMS AND GOALS FOR 2018

It's crazy to think that we're now in 2018. The year where all of us born in 2000 finally become adults. So to me, that's why this year is partly so crazy but also because I am coming back to blogging. I know, I say this every time I have a break from blogging but this time I mean it, the reasons purely because I have too much spare time, I missed blogging and because I am now in a better place than where I was last year when I stopped blogging. Although I'm not sure on what I want to do when I leave and finish college this year, I have good people in my life and that's all that matters, so enough of me rambling on, lets get into my goals for this year. These are in no particular order.

1) Start learning my theory (driving) and hopefully pass it by the end of this year

This one, for me, is quite a big one but not as big as when I start to learn the practical side of driving. Ever since I turned 17 (so for the past half year),  I have known that I want to do the theory side of driving and pass that before I even start to do my practical driving lessons, this is because mainly you have to get your theory before you do your driving test but also because I figure and feel like once I learn my theory, then I will find it easier to do my practical driving test. 

2) Stay permanent blogging

It's bad that I say this all the time at the minute and I know I say it quite often. I know that I always say that I will stick to blogging but in the past I never have, however this time I actually will stick to it because like I said at the start of this post, I am in such a better place (mental wise). This year, be expected to see a lot more blog posts from me.

3) Drink more water

I know that this is quite simple, basic and one of the goals that everyone says & attempts to do throughout the year but I need to stick to this as it will eventually improve my skin but would also how awake I will feel. My aim for water would be 2 litres of water everyday aka four little bottles of water aka eight glasses of water.

4) Figure out what I want to do when I finish college

This goal sounds self explanatory and it pretty much is but it's hard for me because I have never known what I fully want to do for the rest of my life as a job. I know what I like as hobbies and interests but it's hard to incorporate that into a day to day job.

5) Read 15 books before the end of the year

I have always liked reading, I love to read and buy new books. However, last year I got bought a kindle because I was running out of room on my bookshelf but I haven't read much since then so this year I want to start getting myself back into reading and 15 books is my end of year goal.

I hope you liked reading through my 2018 goals, I know there isn't a lot, but to me these mean quite a bit. 

TOP THREE EDITING APPS FOR INSTAGRAM

Normally, if someone were to do a post or something like this, they would probably do a 'how I edit my Instagram photos', well not me! I am switching it up. However, I probably would do a 'how I edit my Instagram photos' if I edited them all the same certain way, but that's not the case. I edit them all differently depending on the lighting. Also, these apps are in no certain order, they're just the three main apps I use for different reasons.

Facetune

This is an app I think I paid for if I remember rightly, I can't exactly remember how much it was though. I didn't used to use this app before because I used to fully edit my photos so there were no need in using or even having this app. I use facetune for whitening my photos, now when I say whitening my photos, I don't mean whitening them fully, I mean whitening the backgrounds of them because they're usually taken on my bed or with a white wall behind. All you do is select the whitening tool, zoom in to where you want to whiten it and then move your finger over that bit but be careful not to go over the items/products that you don't want whitening. That's the only problem with using facetune to whiten.

Picsart

This app I have had for the longest time but recently they changed it where you had to have an account or be signed in which is the only frustration I have found with the app. I use this app for the flip tool. You see, when it comes to taking 'selfies', I take them on the actual iphone camera because I feel like the snapchat camera murders the quality of the photo. When you take a photo (with the front facing camera), it flips the screen whereas snapchat doesn't. Therefore I use picsart to flip the photo back to it's original state.

UNUM

I use this app for seeing how my Instagram feed will look like. This app has the grid so you can see how your feed will look when you upload the photos to Instagram. You can switch and rearrange photos on there until you like how it all looks. i think it's a great app considering it was free and for other apps like this, it would probably cost you at least 99p.

That marks the end of my three favourite editing apps, hope this gave you some insight in to how I would edit my photos and what I prefer for my photos.

20 BLOG POST IDEAS

I am not sure about you but I often find myself going through times where I will have writers block and I won't be able to think of a single thing to write about for a blog post. I'll brainstorm some ideas but it will normally end up being thrown in the recycling bin because there will be something I won't like about it. It would just leave me feeling uninspired. I'm sure every blogger has gone through this phase, so to save yourself from being like this, here is 20 blog post ideas that you could write about.

LIFESTYLE

1) How to do something on budget

2) What's on your phone?

3) Best places to visit in your town

4) Your favourite apps

5) 10 things you can't live without

6) Top shows or movies you need to watch

7) Your favourite blogs

BEAUTY

8) How you organise your makeup

9) Beauty trends you love

10) Your current skincare routine

11) What's in your makeup bag

12) Find some dupes of high end products

13)  How you take care of your makeup brushes

14) Any beauty empties that you'd repurchase 

FASHION

15) 5 ways to style an item of clothing of your choice

16) An outfit of the day

17) Top 5 wardrobe staples

18) How to take an outfit from day to night

19) Fashion trends you're loving this season

20) A shop wishlist

I hope this will help to stop you from writer's block at least one week!

DEALING WITH STRESS

If you were to ask people, 'how do you deal with stress?', everyone would probably say different things on how they cope because it's different to everyone, everyone works in a different way. However I bet there would be a few people that would draw a blank because they might not deal with it very well or maybe, not at all. If you are one of the people that would be left speechless because you can't deal well with stress, may that be exam stress or anything else, then you've come to the right place! Some of these may be simple but most people tend to overlook them.

1) Take a nice, hot bath

This first idea is one that springs to mind for most people when thinking about winding down or dealing with stress but it's also one of the ways that is easy (providing you have a bath that is). Get the hot water running, get a lush product (or some bubble bath (no one is ever too old)) and put it in or run it under the water and let the bubbles appear. Jump in and pamper yourself, maybe do a face mask or a hair mask. JUST RELAX!

2)  Read a book

If you like reading then this one is for you! Go to a book store or if you have a book you like then just grab it, get in to your comfy, cosy place and just start reading. Reading is a good thing for a quick pastime as you tend to get sucked into the book, then the time just passes by but that's why it is so good for being a way to de-stress because as you read, your mind gets taken off and away from the stress.

3) Watch your favourite movie or a few episodes of a TV series (netflix)

Though if you don't like reading and if reading isn't for you then an alternative is to watch your favourite movie or a few episodes of a TV series. This does the same as reading however, obviously, it's more visual and sound rather than reading and words. I could spend so long watching different movies or TV series on netflix, it's ridiculous how good the selection is! In my opinion, I feel like comedy and romance films/series are the best to take your mind away from stress.

4) Listen to some music

Again, this also is one of the most common ideas that would probably spring to mind, therefore I guess it helps, right? As you listen to music, you become so interested in the words which in term leads to you being distracted from your stress + you could have a bit of a dance if you're feeling energetic, that'd help even more!

5) Hanging out with friends

I feel like hanging out with friends could go either ways, it could go one way as you remember the stress and end up taking it out on your friends which could lead to an argument or it could go the other way (in which I hope it goes this way), where you all have fun and forget the stress! You could go shopping or for a meal. As long as none of your friends bring up anything related to the stress then you're fine.

I hope that at least one of these ways helps with your stress, you deserve to be stress free!

5 THINGS I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT

Every time you hear '___ things you can't live without', I bet it gets on your nerves because it seems to be so cliche. However, if you were to rephrase this title as a question and BANG, you've got yourself a conversation starter, also it's a good way to get to know someone too. If you were to ask this, the answer from the person would definitely tell you what sort of person they are or, what they like to do in their spare time. That being in mind, I thought I'd do it as a blog post, so here it goes, (these things are not in an order).

The first thing I can't live without is my phone, same old, same old, right?right. People's natural instinct is to say and choose their phone because it's a mainstream and an effortless answer. Nowadays, people live on them, their lives are technically stored on them (i wish i was exaggerating). I know mine is, I don't know at the moment where i'd be if i didn't have social media anymore, i'm not sure how I lived without it.

The second item is wifi. WIFI, WIFI, WIFI. What more do I need to say really? Everyone needs and survives on wifi, whether you use it for work, for pastime or just to connect with friends. Everyone needs it. Well, technically, I guess you don't need it but it certainly is useful, you could probably survive by going to coffee shops or the library. I'd be lost without wifi though, I couldn't survive.

The third thing would probably be food, I know what you're thinking, technically no one can survive/live without food. If that's what you're thinking then you're thinking correctly. However I just love food, the thought of food makes me happy. I tend to eat when i'm stressed and then also eat when I am bored, I know, it's a bad habit. It's a habit I need to stop but I just can't bring myself to.

The fourth item that I couldn't live without is my macbook. I got it bought as an early birthday present this year so technically, I haven't had it that long but already it's one of the things I tend to reach for the most. It's light so you can take it wherever without it being too much of a hassle and it also looks good in photos so that's just a bonus within itself.

Last but not least is family + friends. I put these together because I feel like they come together in a category, plus it saves me one of my other four things for other items. I couldn't live without family and friends because they make me happy when i'm feeling down and if it weren't for them i'd have no memories. That tops it for being cliche but it's an answer that matters the most out of them all.

So that's it for my five items/people I can't live without, let me know in the comments what you can't live without and why!

What I think about instagram pods?

Instagram pods are something that have been around for quite a while now, I've known about them for at least a year and I am currently in 4 or 5. There are 3 which are blogger related (they include all bloggers), one pod that is mixed between bloggers and 'normal' Instagram users and then one has all usual Instagram users in. It's strange to think that something that once got made purely for bloggers, has spread out onto regular Instagram users. Normally, the pods will originate from twitter, someone will put a tweet out and you'll usually leave your Instagram @ in a reply to it and they'll add you in.

If you didn't know what an Instagram pod is, it's basically a group where (someone makes it) you and other people promote their Instagram photos. These originated due to the fact that Instagram updated and changed how everyone's feeds work, they now work where things that 'you want to see/what they think you want to see' are now at the top of your feed and the most popular, compared to how it used to be where the most recent would be at the top. I hate the current algorithm and wish Instagram would fix it but I doubt that's happening anytime soon, I wish it would go back to how it used to be. People tend to get less interaction and engagement from their followers because at the moment, all you tend to see is the same five posts again and again, well.... unless you fancy scrolling like half an hour down your feed to find everyone else's posts.

Anyway, enough of me rambling about what an Instagram pod is and time to explain my views. I like Instagram pods and honestly can't get enough of them because 1) you get to find new and more people that are into the same things you are 2) you get more engagement due to the fact, you like/comment on their posts and they like/comment on yours so more people in the long term will see your photo. The Instagram pods even out the engagement I would normally lose from my other followers which is why I like them so much. As I am saying I like Instagram pods, that's not me saying I want Instagram to stay this way, I would much rather it change back.

So that's what I think about Instagram pods, let me know your thoughts of it down below in the comments!

Is my everyday makeup expensive?

This blog post is something I have seen on a few people's blogs, infact I ended up reading one throughout the week as it ended up on my twitter timeline. I enjoyed it because I enjoy seeing the makeup that other people use on a day to day basis so I thought I would join on the bandwagon and write this post too.

The typical posts that I have seen involve high end makeup products but for me it's a whole opposite story because I only use drugstore. This is down to the fact that I don't justify spending like £40 on an eyeshadow palette or around £50 just for a foundation. In my eyes drugstore makeup can be the same or sometimes better than high-end makeup, I bet some people would find that hard to believe.

Firstly I start with my face so I use a primer which is the miss sporty insta glow primer, I bought this because it's something that Gabriella (velvetgh0st) raved about once and I haven't looked back, it does the job. It is currently on offer at Superdrug for £2.99 however it's normally £3.49. I bought it when Superdrug were having an offer for 3 miss sporty products for £5.

Secondly, I don't wear foundation, that's mainly down to the fact that I could never find a shade that'd match my skin tone. So the next thing I move onto after primer is concealer, for this I used to use the Collection lasting perfection concealer (£4.19 from Superdrug). I used to swear by it, but then I managed to get paler. That's probably down to the fact I bought that concealer when it was summer last year and back then it was talked up about by everyone. I use the Seventeen stay time concealer (£4.49 from Boots) which Eve Bennett recommended (she's a good youtuber go check her out) because this concealer is in extra fair which I love. It doesn't have much coverage to me, I use it for brightening my under eyes. Then to set that I use the Rimmel London stay matte powder in shade 'transparent'. The stay matte powder is £3.99 from Boots.

After that I move onto mascara. Mascara for me is my favourite part of makeup (apart from lip products) but that isn't because I'm great at mascara because I am definitely not. It's because I 'collect' mascara, its the one makeup item that I have so many of, its a habit. I hardly use most of them to be honest. Anyway back to the actual post, I use the benefit roller lash (currently still the sample size until I can justify spending about £19 on a mascara) for both my upper and lower lashes, however I then go over as a second lair with the Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara (in the waterproof version) (£8.99 from Superdrug) as it makes them more bold. I wouldn't just use the Maybelline mascara alone as it would clump my lashes up like hell.

Next I brush through my eyebrows with a clear gel which is the Rimmel Brow this way (£3.99 Superdrug) mainly because I like to keep them natural. Also (just between you and me) I couldn't fill in my eyebrows right to save my life.

Lastly I would normally (if I was basing this on a day to college or a normal day) use my Maybelline dr rescue lip balm (I think I bought this from Morrisons and was like £4) and that would be it. Though, sometimes I do like to use one of The Body Shops's liquid matte lipsticks (which I highly recommend by the way). The Body Shop's liquid matte lipsticks are £6, however I got all three of mine back before or after Christmas when they had a 20% or 30% off on everything.

That is it, so my everyday set of makeup (which I guess for most people would be the basics or necessities) is £34 (that's with everything rounded up to a full number with no decimals).