Thursday, 23 July 2015

Dealing With Depression

Hey!
Today I want to talk about a more serious topic that I never thought I would be willing to discuss on social medias anywhere... And that topic is depression. 


Depression is something very personal to many people, a vast majority of those also don't know they have it. I guess I've wanted to post about this because I believe it is an important topic in today's society and it became something that is now more spoken about, which is great!


Over the years I've went through different fazes of depression. Sometimes they were mild and I just felt s#*t all day but I could still go about my everyday life as normal. Sometimes they were moderate, like for the past week, where I managed to smile and pretend it's all good but the second I get into my room or someone says something, even a word, that doesn't feel right to me, I just start crying. And sometimes they were pretty hardcore, where I wouldn't be able to go to bed at night without crying for weeks in a row and I would excuse myself from leaving the house.

Right now, I'm going through a moderate faze of depression. I've cried several times today and I am super sensitive to what anyone says and does. The worst thing about it is that when I feel like this I tend to want everything my way, and if it doesn't go like that I turn into a hugeness of tears, and I get annoyed at people really easily. This has made those people angry at me because they don't understand what I'm going through and I'm too afraid to admit that to them myself. Following up from that, I get more angry at myself for being like this and I just start crying, because getting arguments in times like this really isn't great.

Now I'm not saying of this because I want you to feel sorry for me or I want to gain attention. I am saying this for yours and mine benefit. I say 'yours' because I feel like if any of you are feeling like this, I want you to know that you're not crazy and you are not alone. I really hope that this posts at least helps one of you to feel that it's ok to cry and to be angry and to be an emotional wreck - It's not a crime. I also 'mine' because people always say that speaking about it is the best solution and even-though I don't really want to talk about it to my family/friends, it helps me to at least write down what I'm feeling and get some of those emotions out there.


What can you do to stop this and help yourself or someone that is going through a similar thing?

Well, sadly there's not too much, I wish I could tell you one solution that truly works in seconds and is guaranteed for everyone, but I can't. I can however tell you all this:

It's good to talk to somebody. This makes me sound and bit hypocritical. But it's true, during previous 'fazes', I have discussed this with my mum and I found that talking helps. If you don't want to talk to someone, I understand. You can try writing it in a journal or maybe even on a blog; just find a way to get your feelings up and stop them from dwelling inside of you.

Get a hobby. I find that at times like these I feel the least motivated to do anything. However, I also feel like photography helps. So yes, I may struggle to get out of bed and I may hate the fact that I need to interact with the outside world, but I think a hobby such as photography helps to get your mind off things.

Go outside. As I said, the thought interacting with the outside world  may be dreadful, but the fact is you don't really need to interact at all. Just go out, put on some headphones (try opting for more upbeat songs) and go for a walk, sit in a park, sniff some flowers... Anything! You'd be surprised at what the outside has to offer. You can even take out a book and sit on a quite bench and just enjoy yourself.

And last but not least, give it time and cry it out. Sometimes crying can be good, just get rid of all of those tears inside you and see how much better and refreshed you will feel afterwards. Whether you cry for 5 minutes or for weeks, you'll get through this with time. And trust me, after you're done with it, you will feel amazing and really start appreciating life more.

I hope this post helped some of you and if there is anything you take from this, it would be:

it may feel like a struggle now but you will push through this and it'll feel better than ever!
Till next time,
Anna.xo


Monday, 20 July 2015

My Top 5 Summer Skincare Essentials!

Hey! Summer is here and I know a lot of you have just started you holiday. Today, I decided to give you some of my skincare essentials to get you summer ready!


1. Nivea Sun Protect & Refresh
Lets get the boring stuff out of the way first. SPF is so important in the summer and I love this Nivea sun protection mist. My one doesn't have the highest SPF, but when you're in England, the sun doesn't say 'Hi' as often. However I would recommend getting a higher SPF for better protection. I love this because I hate applying lotions in the summer, I find that they can leave me feeling sticky and sweaty. This was one of the main reasons why SPF was never really my thing. However, this mist is great as it is also cooling so it's a great refresh for when you're on the beach. Another great thing about it is that it is water resistant so if you're around some water, this is a great product to have around! The only negative that I have to mention is the smell. It has quite a strong floral scent that tends to linger for a bit, so it may interfere with your perfumes. I personally love the smell but I know some people may not be the biggest fans of it.



2. Garnier Summer Body Moisturising Lotion
This product says to give you a sun-kissed look and it contains tanning particles so that you can develop a light gradual tan. I really like this as it does provide some extra glow and colour to the skin and as for someone that never got into tanning because it genuinely frightens me, this is a great alternative. It is a gradual tan so I recommend applying it once a day for a couple of days to see results. Don't apply for too many days as it may actually get patchy - at least that's what happened to me but it wasn't really visible as it just happened in areas such as elbows. I would also recommend the darker bottle of this because even though I am as pale as paper, the colour isn't very visible. Furthermore, I'd say you should apply this at night, purely because I ring some parts of my body feeling quite sticky after application. Apart from that, I've really enjoyed using this product and would definitely recommend it.

3. Soap and Glory Scrub of your Life
I would recommend any scrub really but this is one that I've enjoyed using lately. It smells gorgeous as with most Soap and Glory products and leaves you feeling super smooth. This particular scrub has small pink particles which help exfoliate your skin. I believe that they may feel a bit harsh on sensitive skin, but that doesn't mean that if you have sensitive skin you should run from it, it just means that you should be more gentle. Scrubs are great in the summer and they help me out a lot. They can help to increase the staying power of your tan and make shaving/waxing a lot easier. 




4. Simple Kind to Skin Vital Vitamin Day Cream
I didn't think that this would have been in my summer essentials blogpost, purely because it is quite thick and as you've probably guessed, I prefer much lighter consistencies during the summer. However, this cream has been great for me, it has light-no fragrance and it congaing SPF 15, which isn't very high but at least it's something. It sinks in to the skin super quickly and makes it feel really moisturised during the day without being sticky which I love. It is also a great base for makeup as it smooths out the skin nicely.





5. Simple Kind to Skin Deep Cleansing Face Mask
The last product is also from Simple and it is a face mask. I absolutely love this and I've never tried anything like it. It feels really nice and hydrating on the skin and it layers in a white/transparent layer. The mask doesn't dry so you can feel free to talk and eat without it doing everywhere and cracking; though you probably won't have to as its very quick (3 minutes) which is great when you're on the go. It's a mess free face mask that leaves your skin feeling soft and plump!

So that is it for my top summer skincare essentials, I hope you enjoyed this little run down of products and found it useful. If you have any summer skincare essentials that you'd want others to know about tell me about them below!

Till next time,
Anna.xo

Friday, 17 July 2015

Starting Blogging Again and New Blogging Schedule!

Hey!

I don't really know how to start this blogpost, so I'll just leave the intro with a 'hey'... Life's been a bit hectic lately and my social medias weren't exactly the first thing on my mind. But I'm back and I have a plan for a new beginning!


I've been wanting to write this blogpost for a while and now I've finally planned it all out! I really want to start blogging again, but something that I don't want to do is get lost and not knowing when to write, what to write about is me feeling lost. I feel like I can stop this however and here is how; I've planned out a weekly schedule for my blogposts and I want to share it with you all. Here's my plan:

Get Beautifying Monday!
DIY Tuesday!
Photography Wednesday!
Lets inspire Thursday!
Back to the beauty Friday!
Blog like a Vlog Saturday!
Something new Sunday!

Now let me give you more detail on some of these:

Get Beautifying Monday! I've created this blog to talk about beauty, hence its name, so I gathered it would only be right to start off with some beauty. This will range from reviews and hauls to favourites and essentials.

DIY Tuesday! I wanted to start more DIYs, I've always enjoyed looking at DIYs but I've never actually sat down and got the stuff in order to do them. I hope this will push me to do those more. Aside from just everyday DIYs, I will also happily post cooking and baking posts and some house decor.

Photography Wednesday! I've also gotten back into photography which makes me so happy as it has always been a hobby of mine but I lost the inspiration for a while. On Wednesday, I shall post different photographs that I've taken over the week, tell you any photography tips I may have, talk about photography equipment and give you some pointers when editing photos.

Lets inspire Thursday! I am a person that loses inspiration quickly and I always need something to keep me going. Thursdays will be the days where I might post a minor rant, but try to make sure that the message behind it is worth it. On this day I want to make you think and put a smile on your face.

Back to the beauty Friday! As I mentioned earlier this blog started with beauty in mind so I feel the need to have another beauty day. This may also invoke some style inspiration, OOTDs, celebrity get the looks, routines and much more!

Blog like a Vlog Saturday! I have stopped with my YouTube channel for the time being. I want to focus more on school and blogging and video making takes a lot of my time away. However, that doesn't mean that I won't want to tell you what is happening in my life. Saturdays will be like blogs, but with words and pictures.

Something new Sunday! Sundays will be different every time because they will contain any extras that I didn't manage to categorise, whether these are challenges or just sentimental posts. These are also the days where I want you to join in and tell me what you'd like to see... Be creative with your ideas!

I gave you a rundown of all of the different days of the week and their themes. This doesn't mean I will be posting everyday of the week. It just means that my content will depend on what day of the week I post. Some weeks you might get 5 blogposts a week, some weeks you might only get one. It all depends on my schedule.

So what do you guys think? Yay or nay? I really hope you're all as excited as I am for this new chapter!
Till next time,
Anna.xo

Friday, 2 January 2015

Happy New Year!!!

Welcome to a New Year!


2014 has been an eventful year for all of us. Some will remember it by the negative memories, and hopefully a lot of us will remember it for the positive memories and the new relationships that were made and discovered. Most of us have probably lost a friend or someone that was close to us, but most of us have also gained a friend who is now someone very special to us. Now as we let 2014 disappear into the distance, we welcome 2015 with open hands. There were quite a few of very special moments this year...

As a community, this year we have reached 100 subs. I would never be able to do this without you all. We are starting this year with almost 150 Dubletts! That is crazy because even though it might not seem like a lot to most of you, it actually means so much to me. So, thank you for all the support and recognition from all of you.

I've also got into contact with a few more people in the YouTube community and made friends with some of the other girls on YouTube. I even made good friends with some of you, which makes me really happy as talking to you all is a pleasure!

Some of my favourite moments of 2014 were going to Italy to visit my dad as there was just something special about it and I felt very privileged to be able to spend my summer in such a beautiful place. I spent the summer with my closest family and it really made me happy. I also had a weekend away with my best friend in Brighton where we stayed in the hotel and had a view of the Brighton Eye. We spent most of the time at the beach and came back with really bad sunburns, but I guess that's all part of the fun! Make sure to wear suncream because that shall save you all from having to stay in bed for a few days in pain. It was a weekend that I won't forget as it was very special. 


I ended the year on a positive note and on quite some good luck. My december was actually amazing and everything worked out the way I'd want it to so thank you to those who made this month special to me as I always see it as one of my most important time of the year with my birthday and Christmas and New Year's Eve. It was also the time of hard work, revision and many exams over the course of the first two weeks. Now it's just a waiting game to get my results at some time this month.

 There was a time this year when I felt crumpled and all I wanted to do is stay in bed, not talk to anyone and just watch videos and be miserable. Hence, the reason why I took a pause from YouTube. I am planning to start regular uploads as my life is going back into place, first though, I need to get myself another SD card!

I think this is all I'd like to tell you about my year, I would love to know your highlights of the year and how you made this year memorable so please make sure to tell me below. As for 2015, I decided that I don't want New Year's resolution apart from taking life how it is given to me. I think a lot of the time we don't live to the fullest and we might take a day for granted, I don't want that happening this year. I want to have something to be happy about at the end of each day and be able to reflect positively on each month of the year. I want to stop being worried and scared about every decision, I just want to take it and make something good out of it. I don't want to end this year on a regret and on a 'What if...'

Is there anything that you would like to achieve this year, any goals? Tell me about them and make your deems a reality. I love you all and hope you all have an awesome heart!

Byee.