Bean Burst Body Scrub Review*

Calling all body scrub lovers! I've got a very exciting review for you today, courtesy of Bean Burst, so if you think that sounds up your street, then you're in for a right treat - I can tell you that now!

My Fauxchella Lineup*

 

The festival season has well and truly begun - woo! To celebrate this, I teamed up with TickPick to create my own Fauxchella line up and I genuinely can't tell you how excited I am about this. TickPick is a really cool website, which allows you to buy and sell tickets for any events, whether that be concerts, or an NFL game. Doesn't that sound awesome?!

 

As for my line up, I chose all of these bands, and singers, because they really are my favourites that I could have thought of. I listen to quite a wide variety of music, so it was actually pretty difficult for me to narrow it down, but I managed it, and I'm here to share my picks with you today!

My Perfect Movie Night*

 

I've had this post sitting in my drafts for months now and I'm only just getting round to writing it up! I'm really happy that I've now got time to get my teeth stuck into it though, because I think it's something really cool and unique, which I'm sure many of you will also love.

Looking Back: My Summer Makeup Essentials - A Guest Post

 

Ah.. it's been an amazing summer! Today, I turned my reminiscent and nostalgic side into a blog post reviewing my summer playlist.. for makeup! Check it out below..

A Few Days Away: A Photo Diary

 

 

10 Things I Love About Baking

 

All The Bright Places: A Book Review

For those of you who know me in real life, you will understand just how crazy my emotions get. Whether it's a soppy film, something I read online, or even just a cute message that I receive off someone, it's guaranteed to have me bawling. That's just a fact.

All About Anxiety: MHM Post

Do you know what it feels like to be on edge whenever you go out? Can you even begin to comprehend how difficult it must be to switch off, and go to sleep when the thoughts in your mind are buzzing about like busy bees, never ready to settle down?

That, my friends, is what it's like to be an anxious person. Well, alongside many other symptoms, thoughts, and feelings. One of my very good friends Lauren has started up her own campaign surrounding mental health, as she hopes to end the stigma, and raise awareness, so of course I'm going to get involved, and help in anyway I can.

A lot of people often feel anxious, or scared from time to time, but some experience these feelings in a much more extreme way than others. When they start to take over, and become too much to handle, then that's when you know that something needs to be done.

Evidently, anxiety is no joke. It's not funny, it's not cool, and it's certainly not something that people would want to show off about, and publicise to all of their peers. It can make an individual's life incredibly challenging, and even the things that some may think are a walk in the park will begin to fill them with fear. I know this all too well.

I've always been the sort of girl that tries my best to blend into the crowd. I never liked to shout, and scream, and I certainly didn't want everyone to know who I was. The thought terrified me! I'd get embarrassed super easily, and I shied away at any chance that I got, whether that be in the street, in the classroom, or even when surrounded by my family, and friends.

Since starting secondary school almost 4 years ago, it just got 1 million times worse. I was being bullied even more so than I was in primary school, and I was really struggling to fit in, and find people that liked me for who I really was. It felt like no matter what I said, or did, I'd just get weird looks, and bitchy laughs. For someone who already has low self-esteem, and zero confidence, it can feel like such a knock in the teeth to know that you're not accepted, and you're just judged regardless.

Quite a few traumatic events have happened in my life that I don't think I should go into right now, but alongside those, and the bullying, I started to become a very anxious, paranoid young girl. I'd sometimes take the day off school, just because I was too scared to do PE, or join in with group activities. Whenever people came round my house that I didn't know that well, I'd hide away in my room, too shy to even say hi to them. I didn't want things to be that way, but they had for so long that I just couldn't see how I was meant to change.

Despite being surrounded by supportive friends, and family, I wasn't getting much better. I'd squeal every time I had to cross the road, I wouldn't be able to go into shops myself, so half the time I'd just walk out as quickly as I'd walked in, and I'd spend the majority of my time at school standing alone, too afraid to even eat due to the fear of being judged. It sounds ridiculous to those who may not fully understand, but to those who do, you will understand how emotionally draining, and disheartening it can be. You end up getting yourself so worked up when your mind is working on overdrive, and you turn down endless opportunities, just because of this one feeling. Except, it's not just 'this one feeling'. On a particularly bad day, it can feel almost like it's consuming you, and taking over your body, and brain. Nobody should feel so scared to the point where they can't even face getting out of bed that day. Nobody should be afraid of walking the streets. Nobody should believe that they need to change in order to be accepted, and appreciated. Nobody at all.

Over time, I've managed to improve quite a bit. With support, and encouragement from those around me, as well as determination, I've taken baby steps to get to where I am now. I'm still quite a way from where I would like to be, but I'm getting closer, and closer as each day goes by. No matter what other people may say, if something you have done feels like an achievement to you, then that's what it is. It doesn't matter if others don't agree with you. It's a personal thing, and if stepping onto your doorstep without crying is a massive milestone for you, then celebrate, and cheer about it! Who cares if your neighbour wonders what you're doing? You deserve to be proud of yourself.

Now, I'm able to cross most roads without freaking out, or squealing. I'm able to eat at school, even if I don't always have a smile on my face whilst doing so. I'm able to talk to people that I don't know too well, and make eye contact with them. These may sound like insignificant things to some of you, but they are major things to me, and I'm so bloody proud of myself.

Just remember to take baby steps, and do things at your own pace. Don't be too hard on yourself, and don't beat yourself up if at first you can't do something. It's okay to freak out. It's okay to slip up, and go back to your own ways. You're only human, and you're allowed to act however you feel you need to during that moment. Try to be as determined as you can, and even though I do agree that you need to rest up, and take it easy, I don't think that you should ever give up, because with each baby step, no matter how small it may seem, you are getting closer to your goal, and you are defeating your demons, one at a time.

Here are just a few of my top tips for those of you that struggle with anxiety:

• Set yourself little, achievable goals to aim towards each day.
• Consider downloading mindfulness apps, such as Headspace, and Calm.
• Make sure that you surround yourself with positive, supportive people.
• Face your fears, as hard as they may seem. You will feel better for it, trust me.

If you want to read a little bit more about facing your fears, then you can head on over, and read the blog post that I did about it here.

Thank you so much for reading this post. I hope that you found it to be helpful, or inspiring in some way, as it was so personal to me, and if you were looking for some support, then fingers crossed you have now found it.

Remember, you are my strong, sassy soldiers, and you are capable of anything you set your beautiful lil minds too.

Lots of love always,

Jade xo

Some Of My Sleek Favourites

 

Sleek has quickly become one of my favourite beauty brands within the past couple of months. I feel as though they have really been upping their game recently and I've been discovering so many hidden gems, which I had no idea existed! I'm going to be talking about 3 of my favourite products today that have really stood out to me in terms of my makeup collection, but I'm going to be trying out some more things soon, so let me know if you have any recommendations, whether they are old or new!

Tanya Bakes: Victoria Sponge

Hi my lovelies! I've got a bit of a different post for you all today. I feel like I say that practically all of the time, but I genuinely haven't ever done a post like this before, so it's very exciting for me - I hope you find it somewhat exciting too!

Empowering Young Women*

Being a young person, and growing up within today's society is incredibly difficult. I can speak from a personal perspective, because I have dealt with quite a few challenges in the past, and even as the days go on, I can't say that it gets that much easier, if I'm honest.

As a blogger, I'm very kindly given gifts from time to time that I'm able to explore, and then talk about here on my blog. I received this book by Naomi Katz a couple of months ago from a particular company, and since then, I have been doing my research, and also reading it myself to see what I think.

Here's a little sneak peak at the blurb. 'Do you remember your first kiss? Your first heartbreak? Your first bra? The first time your best friend betrayed you? Beautiful: Being an Empowered Young Woman peels back the truth behind becoming a woman in a chaotic world where airbrushed perfection is beauty - when in reality, beauty is who you are.
Beautiful offers strategies to help young women cope with contemporary issues, like body image, the media, relationships, competition, sex and peer pressure. It explores the way adolescents see and talk about themselves, and answers the big questions young women are afraid to ask. Naomi Katz offers truths about conquering adolescence and cultivating a unique sense of self. Weaving together narratives of real teens, Katz, a teacher who has worked with young women all over the globe, proves inspiration for growing girls looking for guidance in an increasingly complicated world.

Whilst I was reading this book, I made notes about everything that stood out to me, and so I'm going to be sharing some of those points with all of you, in the hope that you will want to give it a read yourselves.

It starts off by speaking about cat calling, and how Naomi was speaking to her teenage girl students about their experiences. She admitted herself that she has no tougher time than when she was a teenager. She explains how she wrote the book, because teenage life is hard, and she wants all of us teenage girls to feel good about ourselves, and proud to be who we are, rather than ashamed.

One thing that stood out to me as soon as I started reading this book was that there are little boxes on each page with extra, yet equally as important information. For example, one examples what adolescence is, and how it can affect an individual, socially, physically, and emotionally, therefore defining that key word for young people, who may have been unaware otherwise. She also includes a couple of sentences, or paragraphs on each page, which are the experiences of fellow teenage girls. They are written in italics, so you can easily distinguish the difference between this, and the rest of the text, written through Naomi's perspective.

By including the experiences of both Naomi herself, and other young people, it's actually really reassuring, and comforting to know that loads of other people understand how it feels to be going through the adolescence period in your life. Living with your parents can become tense, and you may find that you're arguing a lot more than you used to, so by reading this book, you'll begin to realise that so many people are actually going through  the same thing as you, even if you didn't think that was ever possible.

Never have I read a book that has completely changed my way of thinking, and my attitude towards life. I can honestly say, from the bottom of my heart, that this book has impacted me in ways that I would have never thought it could have. It allows us to question ourselves, as to whether we're proud of the way we behave, and the way we treat others, how we can become better friends to those we care about, and even if we have hurt people that day, or week. Every single sentence is an eye-opener, and I think that's very rare to see in a book. Naomi approaches every subject in an incredibly sensitive, yet insightful way, and that's something that I, and probably many other young people, admire. She talks about how we tear others down to make ourselves feel better if we're insecure, we are all heavily influenced by the media, and those around us, and she even goes on to talk about how masturbation is normal, and how even though people may do things to fit in due to peer pressure, hoping to become 'cool', it can lead to accidents on the road, and it can potentially ruin, or even end someone's life.

Throughout the entire thing, there are paragraphs, which contain key bits of advice, such as 'Be honest', and 'Be aware'. Naomi encourages people to use their power to impact others for good, and help make the world a better place. Your attitude and language is ultimately what affects others, so make sure it affects them in a positive way.

Everything is covered, from the media, to body image, to friendships, to respect, to sex. It doesn't feel like you're overwhelmed with information, and other people's experiences. Instead, it feels like you literally have a guide to the life of a teenager right in front of you. It's changed my life, and I think that it has the power to change yours too.

I'll probably be doing separate blog posts in the future on some of the things I've taken away, and learnt from each topic, but I think that's enough for now to convince you to pick up a copy of this book for yourselves. If you're from the UK, like quite a lot of my readers are, then you can order it here, or if you're from elsewhere in the world, then you can just Google it, and find a website that will deliver to you!

This book is an absolute gem, and I would highly recommend it to all of you girls, and women out there. You definitely need it in your life. Mark my words.

I just want to thank the lovely company that sent me this book, and I would also like to thank Naomi for writing such a beautifully inspiring book. I absolutely love it, and it's definitely something that I'm going to continue referring to in the future.

 

Are you going to be checking out this book? What are your initial thoughts on it?

 

Lots of love always,

 

Jade xo

Affordable Eye Shadow Palettes

 

We all know just how expensive makeup can be sometimes. All of the hyped up eye shadow palettes seem to be from either Too Faced, Urban Decay, Stila, MAC, or some other high-end brand that half of us teenage girls probably can't afford to keep splashing the cash on anyway. What about the palettes that are just as good, if not better, which you can easily get on the high-street? I know that quite a few high-end brands are now available in Boots stores, but still, that's besides the point here, right? More affordable brands (well, for me anyway!), such as Seventeen and MUA do some amazing eye shadow palettes for just a couple of pounds - and you get at least 12 shades in quite a few of them anyway, which is just a bonus!

 

Today, I'm going to be talking about 2 of my favourites that you can buy in your local Boots or Superdrug. I hope you find this post somewhat useful!

The Power Of Positivity Project

 

I can't tell you how excited I am to be writing up this post!! It's going to be an introduction to the positivity project that myself and Lauren have recently created, and trust me, you will be just as excited as we are once I've revealed all of the information - eeeekk!!

The other night, Lauren messaged me, whilst her brain was practically full to the brim with ideas, all about positivity, and various different things in relation to it. We were talking Twitter chats, newsletters, blog posts - the whole hog! She kept using her infamous sunflower emoji, which we have now decided will be the mascot for this project, as it just symbolises positivity, and happiness, don't you think?!

Over the time that myself, and Lauren have been talking, we have both realised that we are pretty positive people on the whole. I mean, of course we have our down days, but that's something that no matter how hard we try, we just have to face them head on to prove that we are stronger, and we can beat them!

We have had some pretty cool ideas, and to be honest, we can't wait to see where they may lead! We are hoping to quite literally sprinkle sunbeams of positivity everywhere we go, and through this project, we want to plant sunflower seeds in your minds, so that your thoughts, and therefore your actions are as positive, and empowering as they can be! As we will be doing regular posts, we hope that they will act as your main source of sunshine. You can become inspired by them, in order to help you grow along the way, and plant your own sunflower seeds for those around you. We want to encourage you to let the positive thoughts shine out of your souls, and then hopefully, it will be a contagious kind of cycle.

If you would like to get involved in this project surrounding positivity alongside both myself, and Lauren, then please do! Just go for it. We would love for you to take part in the Twitter chats that we shall be hosting, and we would also love for you to make posts all about positivity! However, you have to use our adorable hashtag, which is #TPOP🌻.

Another thing is, if you would be interested in receiving a regular newsletter from us, then please leave a comment below, which lets me know your email, so myself, and Lauren can keep a list of all the people who are up for the idea. If a lot of you would like that, then we shall let you know more details once we have come up with a plan!

Thank you to those of you who have already written posts, and I look forward to reading the rest that are to come.

You can tweet your links to the both of us at iconiclaur, and jademillardx!

Lots of love always,

 

Jade xo

Let's All Have A Casual Chat: Why I Love Blogging

 

One chilled evening in April 2015, I made the decision to start up a blog. I didn't ever really think that it would lead anywhere and it kinda felt like I had delved right into the deep end, but the passion was there in my heart and I knew that was all that really mattered.  

Makeup Of The Month: July

Hi everyone! I've got another beauty post today. How many of you can remember back to when I did my Makeup Of The Month Collab with Eleanor Claudie? Well, that's essentially what I'm going to be doing now! I've got a few new products this time round, and as we're well into Summer, what with the heat wave that we had at the end of last month, I thought that it would be the perfect time to show you the look that I've been absolutely loving lately! What better time to treat yourself to some beauty bits than during the Summer holidays? After all the hard work you have done over the previous academic year, you deserve it! Anyway, let's get on with the makeup look, shall we?

My Blogging Process* ft. Chroma Stationary

 

Being a blogger isn't always easy. You can face many challenges on the way from lack of communication, and interaction, to feeling as though your place on the internet is irrelevant, and one that nobody actually has any interest in.

 

As time has gone on, and I've continued my blogging journey, I've learnt a fair few things, and I've now got myself quite a process that I tend to find particularly helpful. You're probably not going to receive much ground-breaking information, and you might have already thought of half the things that I'm going to be telling you about, but hey ho! It's worth a shot.

My Summer Bucket List / Collab

 

 

So, the Summer holidays have finally begun! Even though I broke up on the 22nd of July, I thought that it was more appropriate for me to do this post now that we're in August, because that's where the bulk of my Summer is, and I just thought that it would make more sense!

Sisterhood Of The World Bloggers Award

 

 Hi everyone! I was very kindly nominated by Róisín from Totally Ró for the Sisterhood Of The World Bloggers Award - so, thank you very much for that, Ró! It's quite similar in comparison to The Liebster Award, which I have also been nominated for a couple of times before. Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading my answers to Ró's questions!

Monthly Memories: July

If July hasn't been one of the most eventful months of this entire year, then I don't know what has been! It's been go, go, go since the start and boy, do I feel emotionally drained now that we have come to the end of it. As I'm now on my summer holidays, I feel like August is going to be equally as hectic, but hey, I'm not complaining, because it's all worth it in the end for the amount of fun and fulfilment that I receive!