A Beginners Guide to Dry Brushing

31 August 2015

You may have heard of dry brushing before, but I'm bringing it up again because along with many other benefits, first and foremost it exfoliates your skin. Coming up into the warmer months is exactly when you want your skin to be looking it's best, and it'll need a little extra TLC after all those layers of warm clothes and lack of sunlight.

Why Dry Brush?

It makes your skin softer. Dry Brushing exfoliates away all of the dead skin chilling around on your body, so that your skin can regenerate and heal. Once you scour away all that ick, you're left with beautiful soft skin. Ready to be slathered in moisturiser or faux tan. 

Stimulate Your Lymphatic System & Improve Circulation. I sometimes get really sore arms and legs, which means that you can gently prod me in the shoulder and I will try not to wince, because it honestly seems ridiculous. Toxins build up in your system over time, and brushing in the correct direction directs all those toxins right out of your body, well in a matter of speaking. 

Help Reduce Cellulite. We've all got it. You've seen those bitchy magazine headlines, "OMG Scarlett Johansson has cellulite! Fire her from the Avengers!" I'm exaggerating but only slightly. We all have it but that doesn't mean it's pretty. Dry brushing on a regular basis is known to help budge those pesky fat pockets that make your legs all wrinkly. 


What to Use

Get yourself a natural bristles brush, one with synthetic fibres can cause damage to your skin. I got myself a Manicare Dry Bristle Brush from Priceline, as you can see I didn't get one with a handle, which probably would have been worthwhile getting. But I usually just get my partner to have a go at dry brushing my back in the areas I can't reach. The hand held one means I can hold it easier when I want to focus my brushing on problem areas. A dry brush with a handle is also available at Priceline. 

The body shop also currently has some great natural bristled brushes for only $12.95. Definitely worth a look at. If you want to dry brush your face, I recommend getting a smaller and softer brush to use on it. You shouldn't be using your body brush on your face, it's too rough.


[source]

How to Dry Brush

  • The best time to Dry Brush is right before you plan to have a shower or bath, so all of those icky dry skin cells you've just exfoliated, can go right down the drain. The morning is good too as a lot of people say they feel energised after dry brushing, so it's a good start to the day.
  • Start at your feet and using long even upward strokes, brush from ankles to knees.
  • You will always be brushing in the direction towards major lymph nodes in your body. Such as the underarms, groin and base of your neck.
  • Circular motions are okay too, especially on areas you would like to focus on.
  • Brush over your legs, your abdomen and butt. Spend a little extra time on the booty and upper thighs if you want to work on that cellulite. Always brushing upwards towards your heart.
  • Brush your back, either with a brush that has a handle, by using contortionist skills or get someone to help you out.
  • Brush up along the outside of your arms, then lift your arms up and brush downwards on the inside of them, and near your underarms.
  • Finally brush your shoulders and chest, being careful with sensitive areas. 


Helpful Tips

Don't brush too hard. Your skin is going to go a bit red due to stimulation, but there is pinkish and then there is red raw. Calm down, that's not what dry brushing is about. 
Avoid brushing sensitive areas, red patches, sunburn, open wounds or rashes. Hopefully that's pretty obvious. 
After showing, give your body a good moisturising. I love using my Bondi Sands, Gradual Tanning Milk. Because then I'm moisturising, and tanning! Not even sponsored, I just love the stuff!
Be consistent, it can take quite a bit of consistent daily brushing before you will see much of the magical benefits. Apart from the lovely soft and glowing skin. 

Have you ever dry brushed your skin? What did you think?



Follow
Follow Me on Bloglovin' / Follow Me on Instagram

Surveys & Competitions

28 August 2015

Hello hello, loyal friends, readers, fellow bloggers & followers. I need your assistance, on two different matters! Both which I will explain what they are and why you should help me out! 

Ready?

Anonymous Blogger Survey

What's one of the most, and probably the only taboo topic when it comes to bloggers? Ahem. It's how much we get paid. I get it, I get the hush hush. But for newbie bloggers, myself included. Man we are so so confused. We're also pretty sure we are getting ripped off for the solid work that we are doing. 

I have created a completely anonymous survey that goes over things like monthly unique views, your followers as well as how you gauge your followers. (like through what platform?) And the big question, how much you charge per sponsored post. So it's not a specific, 9/10 questions are multiple choice, including the sponsored post rate. Mostly I want to get a rough idea, that I can then share with everyone and everyone can be better informed on how much they should be charging.

Sound good?

Heritage Bank's Blog Awards

There are a lot of blog awards going around at the moment, I've already voted for Jordan & Rhianna in the Bloggers Blog Awards. Slightly less exciting, but still cool is this Australian Blog Awards that I'm apart of. There are a few different parts of it that you can win, and one of them is by writing a post on saving money and being voted for. I wrote the post "Taking Control of my money in My Early Twenties" which talks about how I organise all my money on a day to day basis, which allows me to be able to save money so well. 

I only have a small amount of votes so far, so that's where you come in! I would love for you to give me a vote! To vote all you have to do is fill out a small form, name and email. There is a 25 words or less part on why you are voting that is completely optional but if you do choose to write a reason, you have a 1 in 10 chance at winning a $100 Cash Card! Not too shabby. 

You just have to click the link in the email when you receive it, to confirm the vote. A lot of them having been going to the spam/junk folder, so check there. Also when using emails that end in "@hotmail.com" I've found the email never shows at all! So probably use another one if you have it. 

That's it!

Thanks so much for all your help everyone!
And in case you didn't realise, those big swirly font banners are buttons to the survey and competition!
I'll keep you updated on the results of both!
Cya! xox



Follow
Follow Me on Bloglovin' / Follow Me on Instagram

What's in My Bag?

26 August 2015


I've seen quite a few people do posts like this and I think they work because people are just naturally stickybeaks. (do people say that outside of Australia??) They're nosey. In fact I think that's why my blog does so well amongst the general people I know. But I love it! I'm nosey too, I'll be the first to open cupboards and drawers, what am I looking for? Nothing! I don't know I'm just looking! 

Here's what's in my bag! 

Status Anxiety Wallet - One of my precious brown leather babies, it is the perfect size to carry all my cards and cash. I will likely only ever buy my wallets from this designer from now on. I guess unless I find something better. 

A Small Pack of Tissues - Seriously my nose is runny all year round. My bag usually ends up just filled with half used tissues. It's currently clean, but inevitable.

Tampons - Hey did it ever kill you to be prepared? The boy scouts were onto something there.

Ear Care Antiseptic Spray - If you read my most recent Life Lately post, you would see that I got 3 new piercings in my ears! My helix and third lobe holes. I really don't want them to get infected so I've been going to town with the spray and cleaning them. Good to have some sprays on the go.

Revlon Colour Burst Lacquer Stick - Have you used one of these giant crayon things before? They are fantastic. I have this baby permanently in my handbag in case I need some colour. This dark shade is perfect for Winter, but I may have to grab a nude shade for the upcoming warmer months.

Keys - Gotta be able to get into the house and car. I've got my garage door clicker on there too. Most importantly my everything is awesome Emmet key chain. He's a torch and wow he is soo useful! There are definitely more times than I realised that I need a torch. Love you little lego guy.


My Status Anxiety "Premonition" Bucket Bag - I thought what the heck, I got a new job let's get a new bag to go along with it! Excuses excuses. This bucket bag has all the right room for everything, and pulls closed super easily with those little tassells. It has a second shorter handle that I thought first, ugh I can't remove this I don't want it, but it's actually really handy and I have used it a bunch already. You're a winner in my book pretty bag, never too late to jump on the bucket bag trend. 

Blistex Lip Balm - There is nothing worse than having chapped lips. Ugh. It's easy to get them in the wind, basically during any season. Ladies (& gents), PawPaw ointment doesn't work, feel free to google the million reasons why. Blistex balm on the other hand, does. 



Kitti Black Shades* (available here) - These sunglasses by Quay Eyewear are so glam! I received them online from PureModa, I literally picked them out Monday afternoon and they arrived first thing Tuesday! That is what a gal wants when shopping online. These babies are the perfect accessory to glam up any outfit. I thought that they might have been a bit too cat eye, if you get me, but they're perfect! 


Thanks for having a looksie in my bag! Drop a link in the comments if you have a similar post so I can also have a stickybeak in your bag! Haha! If you don't use that word where you're from, make sure to insert it into your vocab, you won't regret it. ;)
Cya! xx

I've created an anonymous survey that I would love for fellow bloggers to partake in! It aims to gather data on sponsored post rates, it's a very short survey, but I would love for you to have a go!
You can complete it here!

* Some of these items may have been sent to me for review. All comments & views are my own. 

Follow
Follow Me on Bloglovin' / Follow Me on Instagram

A Quick Review: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

24 August 2015


Having never seen or even heard of the tv show on which this movie was based, did absolutely nothing to distract from my enjoyment for this film. It has everything I love in a film. Witty one liners, lots of action, strong female characters and plenty of eye candy. 
What can I say, i'm only human.

Women lining up to see Magic Mike 2 are fooling themselves, unless all they want is a male stripshow on film, then go for it ladies. The irresistible character and charm that are Armie Hammer and Henry Cavill, well it's just a tad ridiculous. How can so much attractiveness go into just two men. If you know me, you know I'm hardly one to swoon, (unless it's Lee Pace) but these men now have my utmost attention.

I mean there's nothing more attractive than a man that knows how to dress, and the outfits on all the cast in this film are droolworthy. The high class sixties fashion on the actresses, especially Alicia Vikander, made me wish that sixties fashion was back on trend.


If you hadn't gathered from my rambling yet, this Guy Ritchie film is gorgeous. The cinematography, superb. I just can't look past a good spy film, and this movie hits all of the right notes. With short romantic scenes, plenty of humour and suspense, this film ticks all the right boxes in my book. 
There's not much more to say than that. If you want to go to a current film that had my partner and I whispering to each other mid film, "this movie is great!" then this is the flick for you. 
Cya! xx




Follow
Follow Me on Bloglovin' / Follow Me on Instagram

Taking Control of My Money in My Early Twenties

22 August 2015


I didn't really start working until I was out of school. I had a short lived career as an ice cream girl in High School, that paid around $50 a week, but I never exactly had access to any money to manage. 
I know too well that when your first paychecks start rolling in you go a little nuts. 

Suddenly the whole world has opened up and you have access to so many things you didn't before. I could actually have a wardrobe of cute stuff! 

Saving Money

Saving money has generally come easy to me, not because I don't want to buy stuff, oh lordy I do. I want to buy all of the things, in fact at this very moment there's a 96% chance I have multiple tabs open to online stores. Because the world of online shopping is a magical and terrible one. 

Understandably you'll go a little cray at first, but start putting money away immediately. I know how boring, but I'm talking like $10. Ten measly dollars, if you absentmindedly put away even $10 a week, at the end of the year you've got over $500 to play with! You could even get yourself a little side hustle going to help boost your savings - from games that pay real money, to monetising your hobby, to blogging, there are so many options out there that you can get involved with.

My partner often uses the not too smart reasoning that he's not saving as he has nothing to save towards. Ridiculous. You honestly don't need a reason to start saving, but once you have one you might almost be halfway there. 

Saving for no good reason is also good as an emergency fund. 
If I didn't have savings, this past week when I had my car serviced ($$) and then was informed I need four new tyres ($$$$) I would have been in one hell of a pickle. 

You're always saving for something even if you don't know what it is yet. 
Solid advice. 

Divvying Up the Paycheck

I have 5 of my own bank accounts and 2 that I share with my partner. I'm sure this seems crazy to some but it is amazing when it comes to organising funds, and at a glance you can see what money you can and can't touch.  I've labelled each account too, on my online banking.

I have my "Work Payments" account, all of my wage from multiple jobs goes into here first. There's no debit card attached to this one, I have to transfer money from it to my "Main Debit Card" account, which sole purpose is just random spending. I have a lot of auto transfers that come from my work payments account. I also have to be extra savvy with my money as I get paid from two jobs fortnightly. 

So by using my smarts and a good calculator I've set up auto transfers that work properly and make sure all my bills are covered. 

It might get confusing here, but I pick out my monthly and quarterly bills, and divide them up so I know how much I need to put away for them on a weekly basis. After I work that all out, how much do I need for bills, rent and groceries each week, I double it.

 Because I get paid fortnightly, then that whole amount gets auto transferred to "My Bills Account". It has a card attached to it to, so I can easily pay bills online, and I also have my petrol money on it.
 
Just to make it more difficult, I have a "Groceries Account" and joint "Bills/Rent Account" with Josh, so my money goes from my own bills account into those two weekly, and I have cards for them too. So groceries are a breeze and we have a set food fund. Phew! Then I have my "Car Payments Account" which I can't access unless I go into a bank, once a year I go in there and withdraw out all of the money I've put in over the year to cover my green slip, car rego and insurance. 

I'm sure that might seem confusing but I cannot imagine life if I only had one account! I think I might start hyperventilating now! My final account is my "Savings Account" it doesn't have a card attached to it either, but I can still easily transfer in or out of it. I try to only put money in and not take it out, but you know, it's hard. I usually put a certain amount in after I get paid, and then leftovers in just before I get paid again. 

Keeping Track with Apps

I love my iphone and being organised. It has my calendar and my general life on there. It also helps me keep track of my funds. After years of trying to find the perfect money tracking app, I have found my love, and I've blogged about it before. 

Savings Goals is a cute little app on iphone that allows you to set saving goals, and stick to them. How much money do you need to save per week/fortnight/month to reach your goal by a certain date?? Fill out all the details and it live updates as you let it know you've saved the money. It even notifies you when your next savings deposit should be. Plus you get to see a little money box fill with coins as you get closer to your goal. 

Spendee! I love seeing my money divided by category and by shop and how much money I made this month, how much money I saved and oh dear did I really spend that much on clothing?? Spendee is available on iPhone & Android phones. It now even has a pro function where you can create multiple wallets and track your spending with your family. I could see how much money Josh spends on beer. I'm sure he wouldn't want that though. 

It's so pretty and so easy to use. I can literally see that I saved 46% of my overall earnings last year, and that is freaking amazing! I mean go me. I furnished my house and vacationed in the USA for a month on that 46%.


Taking Control

I honestly don't find it particularly hard to keep in control of all my money. I work a lot, and it's important to know when you can and can't spend. As I take all of my bills/rent/petrol/groceries money out as soon as I get paid, I know that I can do whatever with my remaining money. Sometimes I splurge and sometimes I put it all away in savings. 

I know that some people struggle with this a bit more if they have loans or debt to pay off, which is understandable. For instance, those that went to college or university may have student loan repayments to think about as well (although they can make this easier by refinancing their loan with Sofi - click here to learn more). Nevertheless, even though it may be more difficult in these cases to effectively manage your money, it's definitely still possible. Create a system that works for you, and stick to it.

You can't really save until you know much money you actually need for general living purposes, so once you have your money sorted out and organised, you will know how much money leftover you have to put into savings!
It's not that hard, you can do it! 
Thanks so much to everyone who voted for me in the 2015 Savvy Saver Blog Awards! I won most popular post in Finance! Hooray! 



Follow
Follow Me on Bloglovin' / Follow Me on Instagram

7 Fresh Flower DIYs

21 August 2015

There are so many cool things you can do with fresh flowers, a lot more than just putting them in a vase. (That's pretty too!) So if you find yourself with a beautiful abundance of fresh flowers here are 7 lovely ideas on what to do with them.

1. Flower Cake Topper // Alma Camponesa

This kind of thing would be gorgeous for weddings and baby showers. The trick is to wrap the stalk in aluminium foil so as not to get the flowers on the cake. I would definitely make sure you wash and air dry the flowers before using them in the cake too. So there's no nasties on petals. 

2. DIY Floral Letters // Honestly Yum

This beauty is made using metal marquee letters and green florist foam to keep the flowers in place. You could also use cake tins that we in the shape of certain letters. How cute would T&J look in flowers at Josh and my future hypothetical wedding?? Adorable. 

3.  DIY Corsage // The Bride's Cafe

I've never actually been to anything that requires a corsage but they're on movies all the time so someone is using them. This DIY is lovely and simple and even incorporates one of those cool snap bracelets into there so you know its good.

4. Pressed Flower Phone Case // The Etsy Blog

This is probably the only way you could ensure you had a unique phone case. As it's pretty unlikely someone has used the same flowers in the same arrangement that you have in their own pressed flower phone case. Just grab yourself a plain phone case, clear or white and then mix up some clear resin and get pressing!

5. Fresh Flower Bicycle Handlebars // Lovely Indeed

I seriously love this it's so beautiful. How is it that any DIY with fresh flowers just screams weddings and pretty parties. Because it does. Even on a bike, you just expect that now a bride will be riding this bike as it is so beautiful with the fresh flowers on the handlebars. 

6. Spring Floral Crown // Green Wedding Shoes

While flower crowns are no longer as big of a thing as they used to be. Have you ever tried one on and looked at how cute you are? Because guarantee that it improves your cuteness like tenfold. Lana Del Rey knows this secret, that is why she wears them so often. Get into the spirit and make your own fresh flower one. 

7. Fresh Flower Wall // Green Wedding Shoes

The perfect photo backdrop for your next party. These gorgeous roses and flowers just washi taped to the wall make for a beautiful backdrop for any photobooth or just to help create a lovely atmosphere for all your guests. 

--

There are so many things you can do with fresh flowers, way more than I would have ever guessed. At least I know that next time I get a bouquet of flowers there are more options than just putting them
straight into a vase. If you don't have a garden overflowing with flowers to pick, then I might just have the thing. 

An online florist, FreshFlowers.com.au, has a wide selection of bouquets you can choose from. They can deliver flowers to Sydney and most urban areas nationwide. You can expect the flowers at your doorstep on the same day you ordered them. They even deliver on Saturdays! Rad.


Have a good weekend!
Cya! xx



Follow
Follow Me on Bloglovin' / Follow Me on Instagram

Life Lately 19/8

19 August 2015

I feel like a lot has happened in the two weeks since my last life lately post. I've almost been too busy to stop and breathe and even missed out on one of my regularly scheduled post days. Sorry babes, and I've gotta cut those Saturday posts out again. Back to Mon/Wed/Fri again. 

That photo above is of me on my lunch break visiting my mum before the incident where I had to deal with that major creep. If you haven't read the story you can read it here. It was creepy as hell, and unfortunately it's not over. I made a statement to the police, and then he appeared at my second workplace. Which as f*cking creepy as that is as well, no one is sure on whether it's a coincidence or not. As he was wearing a tradies workman outfit (both times) and my second job is at a hardware store. He didn't buy anything though. Scary shit.

Screw that guy. On Saturday I walked to the Hunt and Gather Markets with Josh and had a lovely time. The weather definitely could have been better but I bought some really cute earrings from a shop called Jika. On Saturday night I went to a fundraising event for Reclaim the Night which is all about freeing women from sexual violence. 

I went with Chezarne and for $15 donation we watched two movies, the first film "In a World" was really cool, and I would fully recommend it. Gah the second movie "Tank Girl" was just shocking. It was so bad. I hated it. I'm sorry, it was for a good cause but what a terrible movie. 
On Sunday I ventured back to my home town to go to the Maitland Aroma Festival with this gal Emily. We had the most delicious burgers wow, there was soo much good food to eat! I don't actually know how we picked a place. I also had this coffee popsicle by Loco Pops and it was just coffee and condensed milk. 10/10 Would eat again. 

How cute are we? We got picked out to get photographed for the local paper, Page 3 bitches!
Day ended with cooking stirfry with Josh and watching Mad Max Fury Road. I hadn't seen that movie yet, and it's really good. I also recently went and watched "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." at the cinema and it is so quality, I will probably do a review up, because there are many things I want to say and they are all good. 

I went and got my bangs cut a lot shorter today, they have been growing so fast! So as well as being a new style, that i am totally digging btw, it will last me a lot longer. Phew. I also went and got 3 new piercings! That had been on my todo list for ages. 

I dragged along Chezarne for moral support and hand holding, and also I probably wouldn't have followed through with it if I hadn't told her. I got my third hole done on my lobes as well my helix. It huuurt. The helix hurt the most, it kind of hurts a little bit now. But it wasn't unbearable. I've just got to try and get through the rest of the healing process, bumping it as little as possible. But soo much hair touches it, agh. Hair up now and forever.

 I went to Diabolik because it's pretty close by, I didn't have to make an appointment and the piercing guy Matt was so nice! He talked me through every step, and showed me what he was doing, which is so great. I literally won't go anywhere else now if I wanted more piercings. 

UPDATE:
Woot! I got a new job! In a boutique clothing store on a great street right near my house! So I can walk to work and everything. I'm so excited. It's permanent casual 2 days a week. It's just lovely. Feel free to message me on facebook/instagram for more deets like what store! Obv I'm being a bit more private atm after the Major creeper incidents of late. 

Cool Things :



Follow
Follow Me on Bloglovin' / Follow Me on Instagram

My Best Tips for Entertaining Outdoors

17 August 2015

I've lived in this townhouse for a short while now, and have only entertained an actual larger number of guest once, due to it being so cold. Our best area for entertaining would have to be the decked courtyard area out the back, and now that it's actually warming up a little we can actually think about entertaining for real. 

Here are some of my personal favourite tips for when you're entertaining outdoors. 
I'm sure you don't exactly want to be embarrassed about entertaining people outdoors at your place, whether it's the style of just the general set up. It's not hard to get your courtyard or backyard into shape. 

Plants - I personally love plants, if you hadn't already guessed. They give any outdoor area a vibrant and fresh kind of vibe. Just make sure they're not too crazily overgrown or half dead when your guests come around. Give them some TLC beforehand, so they look their best. 

Outdoor Seating - I actually had people over just before we received that beautiful bench from the photo, but we have plenty of seating in the house already that we brought outside. Dining chairs, benches, and a random stool, all worked perfectly when we brought them outside for people to sit on and chat.

Decking - Okay okay not a requisite. But have you seen our courtyard before and after shots??? Gah! I mean how lovely and inviting does our courtyard look now that we have a deck. Exactly. If you're interested in having your own deck installed at your place, I'd check out Additions Building. If you've got a larger outdoor area, a Patio can be a addition to your backyard as it makes the area a lot easier to entertain in. 

Lighting - So you need legit lighting so you can see what you're doing when it gets dark, but then fairy lights or my favourite festoons are also amazing! They really help create an atmosphere that gets you in a party mood. Well I think my garden lights are cheerful!

Table Space - I've only just acquired a giant spool outside that can now be used as a table. It would have been super handy when we were entertaining as it's extra table space, for barbecuing and holding the cooked and raw ingredients. It looks really cool too. 

A Barbecue - I don't think your outdoor entertaining area is complete without a BBQ honestly. I'm not sure if that is mostly an Aussie thing?? We don't generally put shrimps on the barbie either guys, also we call them prawns. Ha. A good old Aussie Sausage Sizzle is what we're all about. (It's actually what my workplace is known for!) If you don't have one, what how are you even enteratining guests? With Pizza?? I guess pizza is okay too. 

 I had so much fun at our first house gathering. Because we're poor college kids, we asked everyone to bring a plate of food each, and we would supply a lot of the main stuff, sausages, salad, nibblies and some drinks too. 

Everyone was incredibly obliging! So lovely. We ended up with a lot of dip and nibblies, as well as pasta salad and side dishes. It was the best and made entertaining everyone so much cheaper and less stressful for us overall. 

Music is also an essential, we set up a spotify playlist that played through the tv, decide whether you want it loud enough to dance to, or as chilled background music, it's okay to mix it up throughout the night. 

I can not wait until it gets warmer and we will invite everyone over again! It will be a lot nicer with the warmer weather and when daylight savings starts! 
Cya! xx
Do you entertain at your place? What's your outdoor area like?




Follow
Follow Me on Bloglovin' / Follow Me on Instagram

The Blogger Interview Tag

15 August 2015


Hey everyone! I've been incredibly slack at blogging this week and it's made me so very sad! I worked 6 days in a row with hardly any free time to myself. Then I had to deal with this creep which also managed to take up even more of my free time when I had to report him to the police. Then on Friday he turned up at my second workplace, no one is too sure whether it's a coincidence or not. I don't want to know. 

Moving on I hope to actually do some blogging now and in the coming weeks. As well as being back on schedule of Monday, Wednesday & Friday. With an occasional Saturday post. 

Bash from "Hey Bash" was lovely enough to tag me in this Blogger Interview Series, and I don't tend to do tags any more, but I've been so distracted lately that I thought this post can help get me back on track. Here we go!


How did you get into blogging?

So one day I stumbled onto an amazing blog "A Beautiful Mess" and I was hooked. Absolutely smitten. How can I be a part of this world? I started my creating my very own tumblr, "Nifty & Crafty" that posted and credited all of the cool DIY, crafts and articles from sweet blogs around the net. My very own DIY blog, sort of. 

I started creating my own posts thrown in there as well. I'm not very DIY savvy, but I tried my best. One of my fellow DIY tumblrs, started her own blogspot and I decided to follow suit and make the leap. Once I broadened my horizons and realised I could blog about more than just DIY. (Which I sucked at) everything sort of leapt into focus, there I was, a blogger!


What advice would you give to a blogger just starting out?

Network! Oh my lord, I regret not networking at the beginning so much. What on earth was I doing. My blog will be 2 years old in, February 2016 and I still feel like I am so far behind other bloggers who have been blogging for the same amount of time because I wasn't networking or putting myself out there! 

Secondly, quality over quantity. You may think you need to post all the time when you first start out to gain a lot of followers. But you might just end up posting crap. So it's not worth it. 


What would be your dream campaign?

I honestly would love to just see more opportunities for bloggers in Australia, especially those in regional Australia. I could travel 2 hours south to Sydney for blogging events, and I would love to. But frankly I just don't have the time. 

My dream campaign would be anything surrounding my favourite brands, any brands that I am incredibly passionate about would be amazing to write for! Lots of fashion designers preferably. But that's not going to happen unless I put more effort into a fashion side of the blog.


Do you have a plan for your blog?

The niche or overall theme of my blog, i think is lifestyle, and I chose this theme as it is very broad and allows me to write about a variety of topics, with them all falling under the lifestyle category. Interior design and my home life is very important to me, but I am also very fashion conscious and love reading about beauty and trying new makeup products. 

In the future I would love to add more fashion posts in, especially seeing as I have a job where I can get dressed up in cute outfits, so turning those into outfit posts would be amazing. I have already started working with more companies, but I would like to continue doing so, and improving my photography skills as well. Basically I want to continue to improve my blog!


What do you think about rankings?

I would love to pretend I don't care, as does everybody but ranks are an important part of any bloggers lifestyle. Measuring overall ranking is pretty hard as your loyal blog readers can follow you on a large variety of sources. I mostly tend to view bloglovin followers as well as daily pageviews. Bloglovin' also has an overall ranking for your section, mine is under "Lifestyle Blogs". I don't think my rank is that bad seeing as I only have a bit over 400 followers, compared to the thousands and thousands that other lifestyle blogs have. Maybe one day I can reach for the stars!


Tag You're it!

You don't have to do this tag of course, but it was pretty fun and short. So here are 5 lucky ladies. 
Good luck girls! 
Also feel free to do this interview even if you haven't been tagged! It's fun!


Cya! xx




Follow
Follow Me on Bloglovin' / Follow Me on Instagram

Dealing with Creeps

11 August 2015


This is not a how to. This is a cautionary tale, a retelling of a situation that I found myself in, of which I was not prepared for. 

One of my jobs involves me working in a mens and womens clothing store. I work with other staff a lot but I often have hours at the beginning and end of the day, to open and close the store by myself. 
I can honestly say I had never felt unsafe working by myself, my store is inside of a bustling shopping mall, where there are always plenty of people around. 

Today in the late afternoon, things were quieting down in the store. The store was empty and there was less people in the shopping mall overall. Which was common for a weekday nearing the evening. The store I work in, is an odd shape, kind of L. So if you're at each end, you can't see the other end. It's annoying when it comes to watching for theft, it's an annoying store shape in general. 

I started wandering the store, tidying up the racks, as you do. Right around one corner of the store. I came back around to the other corner, where the counter is, to find a man standing in front of the mens jeans shelves. Let's just call him MC, short for "Major Creep". MC Didn't actually look creepy at all, he just looked regular. Black hair, dark tanned skin and a tradies uniform. He was holding a pair of jeans, and he asked me if he could try them on. 

Of course I say, letting MC into the first change room. I went back to pottering around the store, tidying, fixing racks. Generally forgetting that this guy was even in the change room really. I made my way around the store. Before coming back to an area of racks that are kind of in front of the change rooms. The rooms are visible from where the racks were, and I was facing them. Absentmindedly tidying. 

5 Days Foundation Free

8 August 2015


As you can see, I look totally impressed in this photo. I'd decided to do 5 days Foundation free, Monday to Friday, and I took that photo on Monday morning. I was going to use concealer but I thought that's kind of cheating so I'll count that out as well. 

Why Do it?

A few reasons, I'm a full face of makeup kind of girl. While I don't usually bother if I'm home all day, I definitely do when I'm going out somewhere, or to work. Removing this step is sure to save some time at least when I'm trying to leave the house. My skin has been awful lately also, more breakouts than I can ever remember having, so the no foundation rule will give my skin some time to breathe. 

The other day at work, one girl that usually wears quite a bit of full faced makeup, came to work completely bare. While she still looked good, of course, she looked completely different! Paler, perhaps a bit more tired. It made me think, how many comments would she have received throughout the day. From fellow staff, friends and customers? How many people don't actually realise that it's because she's not wearing makeup, and think she's just sick?

The Challenge

Go foundation free, Monday to Friday this week. Record people's comments on my appearance. See if the comments lessen as the week goes on. The first day is usually a shock to most people, but I'm assuming they'll get used to it as the week goes on.

I didn't post this at the beginning of the week, as it's kind of also a bit of a social experiment and I didn't want that to affect anyone's reaction at all, if they had read the blog post. Better to reveal it after the challenge is done.


Day 1:

I've done my brows, and I have mascara on, but that's it. Not too much of a challenge today,  I'm mostly at home, but I work for the next 4 days, Tuesday to Friday. Josh sees me without makeup all the time, so I don't look any different to him, and also he's not an arse so he wouldn't comment anyway. 

I did end up venturing out to get groceries, where I saw a friend, and then visit my mum to make her dinner. But no comments of any sort from anyone. I didn't feel anxious about my foundation free face either. So we'll see how the rest of the week goes. 

Day 2:

First day of work for the week. No foundation but I have my brows and mascara done. I worked of a night, and didn't actually have much interaction with anyone at all as we were doing stocktake. No negative comments, I uploaded a chubby cheeked selfie, but in black and white, so you can't really notice the lack of makeup anyway. But so far so good. Tomorrow is 9-5. So we'll see how I go. 

Day 3:

I was outside all day today, only working with one team member for most of the day. Foundation free! I worked on my face tan a little bit. Uneventful. 

Day 4. 

Working 1pm - 9pm. Foundation free. Seriously nothing to report.

Day 5. 

Screw it, I'm wearing foundation today, I like when my skin looks flawless. I start work at 12, but beforehand I go to a plant shop to see their latest shipment of cacti, and then I buy the cutest one and head down Darby St, to buy a pot for it as well.

Working 12-7. I actually get my first god damn comment of the week, during this shift, about how tired I look, and I am wearing foundation and concealer. Is it because it's late in the day and the foundation has settled into fine lines and made my eye bags more noticeable?

Honestly have you ever been told you look tired and thought, "Oh I really feel as though this person made that comment as they care about my general well being." No. 




Overall Conclusion 

I am seriously shocked the way this challenge turned out. I either don't look that shitty without makeup, or people were just too polite to say anything. 

This definitely saved me time when getting ready of a morning, and allowed me to moisturise and care for my skin a bit more. 

I also feel a lot more confident in leaving the house without makeup. Even if it honestly was people just being too polite to say anything. Screw them, people shouldn't make negative comments towards others anyway! 

I'll definitely still wear foundation and concealer, but I no longer will feel like a social pariah if I leave the house not wearing any! 


Do you wear foundation and concealer everyday? Do you get comments when you go bare faced??I want to hear about it all! Leave your stories in the comments!






Follow
Follow Me on Bloglovin' / Follow Me on Instagram

Life Lately 5/8

5 August 2015


What on earth have I been up to since we've spoken last. I worked a bunch of long shifts but then actually managed to have some free time on the weekend, not without work trying to call me in on every day off that I had. 

The weekend weather was absolutely beautiful. I went to the markets, I ate bagels and drank coffee. I relaxed, found time to write blog posts. As well as take a bunch of photos. I bought myself the cutest little bell for my bike and finished decorating it
I even stopped resisting the urge to buy plants and purchased three to go on my little spool table outside in my courtyard. 



On Saturday night I went out with a few friends to Bocados in Newcastle, for tapas. We started at Soho for shots,  I've never been to Soho before and was pleasantly surprised. They have a crazy range of different flavoured shots, and as someone who definitely never does shots, I did three. So surprise.
We did shots, ate tapas and then a couple came back to my house for sticky date pudding and vanilla ice cream. Which was a quality way to end Saturday night. 


A new episode of one of my favourite games came out these last few weeks. Episode 4 of 5 I believe of a game called "Life is Strange". You play as Max in this strong story driven video game, a girl who can rewind time. Every action and decision you make affects the outcome of the game, which is a really cool concept unbeknownst to me before playing this. It's available on a large variety of platforms, and I can not recommend it enough. I want to play it through again already just to change my answers on a separate save file!

We've had the cutest little daily visitors to the Garden entrance at work, these little duckies arrive at the same time everyday, hang around for a while,  before heading on home. They definitely have been amusing the staff and the customers with their cuteness. 

I have a busy rest of the week ahead of me, working both jobs, as well as getting my brows done at a new place, as my beloved Browtique is so popular now it's practically impossible to get into.  Penny is said to be wonderful, so I'll see how it goes! (hopefully post a before and after!)

Anyway I just worked stocktake with Tilly, and I need to go to bed so that I can get up and go back to work again tomorrow. 

But before I go, here's some cool stuff I found from around the web.

Cool Things I'm Loving Right Now:



Follow
Follow Me on Bloglovin' / Follow Me on Instagram

Lucid Dreaming: A Beginners Guide

3 August 2015

Hey guys, today I want to chat about something that I think is really cool. You may have heard of it before, (have you seen Inception?) or maybe you have no clue what it is at all. I'm going to be a brief as I can under each subheading, but if people want to know more about it after this post, then I can write up another one that's more in depth on certain points. 


Lucid Dreaming - What is it?

Lucid dreaming is dreaming whilst being aware of the dream. "Conscious" Dreaming. In a Lucid Dream, the dreamer knows that they are in fact asleep, and with that knowledge they can make choices and changes in the dream. It might sound a little farfetched but it's completely real, and once you master that, the possibilities are endless. 


Dream Journalling

So this is the most boring part, it requires quite a bit of commitment and practice to actually start having lucid dreams. But once you get the theory down, you'll be ready to give it a go. The first step is creating your very own dream journal, it can be handwritten or even typed up. Every morning when you wake up, write everything you can remember about your dream, down into your journal. 

This process is important as it helps you practice remembering your dreams, as well as spotting common dream themes that pop up a lot, which will help later when you need to start actually giving it a go. Try setting your alarm clock a bit earlier of a morning to give you more of a chance to write your dreams down. 

Reality Checks

These will be your best friend when you're trying to learn to lucid dream. The trick to doing them, is trying to make them habit, which means doing them when you definitely know you're awake. There are quite a few different ways to check your reality, and whether or not you're dreaming or not. My favourite and (mostly) no fail check, is holding your nose with your fingers and breathing through your nose. In waking life, it obviously doesn't work. But when done whilst dreaming, you can still breathe.

It's best to always know a few different reality checks, so that you can try others if one fails. Look at your hands, they will almost always be weird with possibly too many or too little fingers. Try to read something, it will be difficult, and it may not even be words just symbols. See if you can put your hand through a mirror. Seriously. 

Your brain is a tricky bugger, and will try and explain away your reality checks. One time I tried the holding my nose check and convinced myself that I just wasn't blocking my nose properly that's why I could still breathe. Practising these during waking hours is critical to doing it in dreams, ask yourself "Am I dreaming?" and then give a reality check a go. 

Even though you know you're awake now, the point is to remember to check when you are dreaming. Some people reality check every time they walk through a doorway. If something becomes enough of a habit, you will do it automatically in your dream. 


Hey I Think I'm Dreaming!

Congrats! You've asked yourself, "Am I dreaming?" You've done one or two reality checks, and they have confirmed it. You're asleep! Woah calm down! Unfortunately it's pretty common for the first few times you realise you're dreaming, to accidentally wake yourself up, due to being well just pumped to finally have done it!

Take some deep breaths, and try to steady yourself. If you start to lose focus on the dream there are a few tricks you can try. Concentrate on your hands, just give them a good stare. Spin around, don't worry you won't get dizzy. But it can stabilise the dream. Grab onto something, like a light post, an elephant, whatever is around. Grass doesn't seem to work for some reason, so don't grab that. 

Shout that you are dreaming. "Increase lucidity!" It sounds dumb, but hey nobody's going to hear you.


Now What?

Go nuts! Do whatever you want to do. Take control of a nightmare, or of a recurring dream. Read this list of 101 Ideas for Lucid Dreams, or create your own! Find your spirit guide, talk to other dream characters and ask them questions. If you can imagine it, you can do it. 

It's also helpful to look into other methods of inducing Lucid Dreaming. I won't go into them today, but you can read about them in the links below. 

Any Questions? 
I'll answer what I can! I've read soo much on this over the years, so I will help out any way I can.
Most importantly, 
DON'T GIVE UP!
It can take quite a while before you actually have a lucid dream. But trust me, it will be worth it!


Keep Reading:

LD4All - Has been my favourite Lucid Dreaming website for years and years. They have so many guides as well as an amazing forum. 
A Guide to Lucid Dreaming - Free People did a small article a while ago on Lucid Dreaming that is also helpful.







Follow
Follow Me on Bloglovin' / Follow Me on Instagram