Reflecting & Looking Forward

2015 feels like it went so quickly, but at the same time it feels like it was quite a long year. So much has happened in the space of twelve months: I went to London with one of my best friends, I passed my theory test, I went to Spain for three weeks to improve my Spanish, and although I lost a few friendships along the way, I feel the ones I have only had for a shorter time have become a lot stronger.

I also want to reflect on last years resolutions to see how many I achieved, and perhaps I didn't achieve them all, but who's to say I won't do so this year?

Be more positive was at the top of my list last year. In my opinion, it was quite naive of me to put this on a list of resolutions. Positivity isn't something that has to be around all the time, nor is it something that can be accomplished in one year. Rather more of something that you build on along with maturity.

Be more confident and socialable is another one. I definitely feel like I have come along leaps and bounds regarding this one. It isn't as if I'm suddenly the life of the party, but I can definitely say that i enjoy meeting people outside school at social events, something which made me feel so awkward just a year ago. My confidence will grow as the years go on, and I'm totally ok with that.

Excercise and keep fit... eheh, this one didn't go as previously planned, I did walk for the first few months of the year, and walked here and there over summer, but I definitely am not fit. What did happen, was that I improved my eating habits a lot this year (which always deteriorates at Christmas) and have even dropped a dress size since the start of the year, which is a little victory in its own right.

Perfect winged eyeliner. Now, I wouldn't say that I have perfected it, so to say, but I have gotten a lot better at it!

Painting my room was a big priority, that actually happened! Woo!

Another one was to contribute to my positivity jar, which I actually did! I can't wait to read all the ones from this year, and start a new one for 2016.

And finally, I had said I wanted to blog weekly. I think all I can explain about this one is that life gets in the way, and I just have to take on blogging when I have time, rather than trying to force myself to do it once a week, 

So what about 2016?

So much is going to have happend by this time next year. I'll hopefully have my full licence, I'll have done the leaving cert and hopefully be off to university to study my chosen course. All of this makes me feel so optimistic for the year ahead, as change like this is going to be hopefully so positive in my life. I have written up resolutions, which have moreso turned out to be in more of a  bucket list format for 2016. 

1. Study more

Obviously in the new year I need to get serious about study. It isn't that I haven't done anything up until now, but I want to study a lot more!

2. Read loads

I have always adored reading, but in the last two years I haven't been able to read as much as I wish I could have. It's also beneficial for my vocabulary!

3. Go on a road trip

With a licence comes the freedom of being able to drive around. My friends and I are already planning a mini road trip for the summer time.

4. Put more effort into outfits

This moreso has to do with getting up earlier in order to have more time, rather than going "meh sure I'll throw this on, be grand".

I hope you have had a good 2015, and if not, I hope that 2016 is full of optimisim and you have a great year.

Kate x

lil positive song

A Little Lace

 So being as disorganised and busy as I am, I have not blogged in a few weeks (shame on me!). Unfortunately some things have been taking place in life which meant that even school had to be put aside, but I'm now back on track and ready to blog!

Since I blogged last, I found out that I am actually a finalist in The Blog Awards Ireland! I'm absolutely over the moon and even though I can't attend the finals in the Tivoli Theatre, I'm still so honoured to have made it to the final! Thank you to anyone who voted for me. :)

Today, I have an OOTD! I am hoping that I can blog OOTD's more frequently as they are definitely one of my favourite blog posts to write and edit.

Top: Brandy Melville

Halter Bra: Urban Outfitters

Ripped Jeans: Topshop (Joni jeans)

I wore this outfit a few weeks back to a friends birthday party and I loved it! I got the halter bra for my birthday (totally was inspired by MissMeghanMakeup to get one) and immediately knew that this green top from Brandy would be the best top to show it off.

The bra itself is so comfortable. It feels moreso like a bralette, but still has the hooks like a normal bra at the back. I feel that the lace halter gives it a cooler vibe and makes me proud to show my bra straps! I love the contrast also between the dark green and the black lace.

I of course had to pair the outfit with a pair of ripped Joni jeans. I swear I live in this style of jeans.

Overall, this outfit was so comfortable. and I'll definitely be an outfit repeater because I love it so much.

See you in my next blogpost,

Kate x

September Favourites

(This post is a day late but let's forget about that shall we?)

Today I am here with my September favourites! The fact that September is almost over is so crazy to me, but on with the favourites!

The first is my earphones which are by Skullcandy. I go through earphones like no ones business, and these ones seem to be lasting the batter. Hence, a favourite!

The next thing is my new Cheap Monday glasses! I got these back in August and I have loved them so much ever since! I love the tortoise shell pattern and the shape of the glasses.

The next thing is a soft matte lip cream by Nyx. I wore this on a night out and absolutely adored it! It stays for ages on my lips and even though it is matte, it isn't drying. I'm definitely dying to try more of these.

A new found love for my old Wonderstruck perfume! I've been wearing this everyday to school and have just fallen back in love with it. It's definitely a nice change to my Juicy Coutour one!

The final beauty favourite is these fake eyelashes by Eylure. Usually I opt for thepre glued  lashes, but seeing as I wanted more dramatic lashes, I got these ones which come with adhesive. Honestly, I find them far easier to use than the pre glued ones and will definitely be using them again.

Last month I went to see Trainwreck with a friend of mine and found it absolutely hilarious! It wouldn't be extremely appropriate for younger viewers, but I would recommend it foranyone  else.

For my birthday I went to see The Scorch Trials with a few friends. I found it extremely different to the book series, but all in all the movie was amazing and I really enjoyed it.

So those are my September favourites! I hope you enjoyed this post and I'll chat to you in my next blog post.

Kate xx

To My Year Of 17

(I just loved the sunset that day)

Today, I have turned seventeen. Although this isn't a landmark age like eighteen, or twenty one or even sixteen, for me, a lot is going to happen during my time of being seventeen. Here are a few of my wishes for the age of seventeen.

A lot is going to happen while I'm seventeen. I'm going into my final year of secondary school, I'll have done my leaving cert, I'll hopefully have my drivers licence and I will also be starting university. Quite eventful!

(two of my best friends and I)

I wish to wear more skirts during my year of seventeen. Probably an unusual/random wish, but where I live, you don't really wear skirts unless you're going somewhere special or going out. Personally, I think this judgement is stupid and I'm going to start wearing skirts not because I need to dress up, but because I feel comfortable in them.

I also wish to blog more during my year of seventeen! I feel like I have somewhat upped my blogging game over the summer, and I hope to keep that up.

(another pretty sunset)

I want to work hard at school and get study focused. During my junior cert year, I did exactly this up until Easter and although my results were good (I got 5 A's and 5 B's), I still feel that if I hadn't of slacked off towards the end, my results would have been far better! During fifth year I felt overwhelmed with the workload and I was easily distracted, which I hope to shake during this year. Of course this year is far more important, so I just want to balance the right amount of work while also resting and looking after myself, as that is equally important in my opinion!

I also want to make the most of it. It'll be my final year of (legally) being a child, which is kinda scary for me. It'll be my year before university and living at home full time, so I want to appreciate the time I have with my family at home before I fly the nest.

(taken when I was in Mijas, Spain)

As I said above, I hopefully will have my drivers licence! I did my theory test and passed it at the start of the summer, which was a great feeling. As soon as I turn seventeen, I plan on getting my provisional licence and getting official licence, so I can have a little bit more of independence and not have to feel bad when my mam has to transport me everywhere!

I want to read more too. I think everyone knows that at some points, life just takes over and you forget to do the things you enjoy. For me, this is reading. Once I get into a good book, it's as if I am transported away from my usual surroundings and can live through the eyes of the protaganist. Such an amazing feeling, right?

All in all, I just want to have fun this year. Yes, this year will be serious, and I will have to take my studies seriously, but I also think that I can't be doing that 24/7.

Sixteen, you've been great.
But seventeen, now is our time to shine.

Lush Herbalism Review

I have decided, due to being back at school, that my blogging schedule from now on will be Sundays only (unless I perhaps magically find time to blog at another time, which I highly doubt).

Also, I am so thrilled to be shortlisted for the Blog Awards Ireland in the 'Best Youth Blog' category!! Public voting opens on September 7, so I would really appreciate if you, my lovely readers, would vote for me tomorrow!

When I went into the Lush shop near Grafton street in Dublin, I knew that I wanted one thing and one thing only: Herbalsim. After hearing glorious reviews from the likes of YouTubers Meghan Hughes and Maddi Bragg, I knew I wanted to try it.

When the man was testing the product on my hand, I found myself telling him more about it than him telling me (in his defence, my friends sister told me that Lush had recently brought on their Christmas staff, so he was probably new and had never even heard of Herbalism)! Then at the till, another shop assistant served me and as soon as he saw that I was buying Herbalism, he exclaimed "GUUUUURL, this is so good! I always remember the price because of Taylor Swifts new album." .
I just love Lush.

(I used this gif again, due to the fact that I have been super busy!)

It comes in the usual large black Lush pot, and for €19.89 you get quite a lot of product. The cleanser itself comes in green lumps, and in order to use it, you have to take a small lump and a tiny amount of water in the palm of your hand and massage it into a paste.

(Terrible post school selfie)

Once I have done this, I massage it into a paste onto my face. The rice bran in the cleanser acts as a light exfoliator which I love as it takes away any dead skin and leaves my face feeling polished. The cleanser also contains nettles, almond and rosemary, with the nettles giving it the bright green colour. I then wash it off with warm water, which although can take a bit of time to wash all of it off, it is definitely worth it in the long run.

I have been using this cleanser for a little bit over two weeks and I have to say I absolutely love it! I feel that it has helped to keep my acne at bay, my skin isn't as dry as it used to be, and it doesn't leave my face feeling tight like some cleansers can. Using this in combination with my Aveeno moisturiser, my skin is just feeling so much better, all thanks to this weird and wonderful cleanser!

All in all, I would definitely recommend this product to anyone who struggles with oily skin or combination skin. Although it is expensive, I feel the product will last a long time.

I hope you enjoyed this post, and I shall hopefully see you next Sunday (which is actually my birthday!).

Kate x

(Just in case you wanted to see it in action)

BTS: Beauty Essentials

   

Today I decided that I would do a beauty essentials post for back to school! I took a slightly different approach to how I displayed my images (just for fun!) to see how I like it. 

And who knows! Perhaps I shall use this approach in future blog posts.

My first essential is that you invest in a good skin cleanser! I recently purchased 'Herbalism' from Lush due to good reviews, and trust me, they weren't wrong! This cleanser contains nettles, rosemary and almonds among other things. I've been finiding this is great for my skin as well as for taking off makeup, and I just know I'm going to be using this constantly during the school year! Expect a review to be on the way soon.

The next thing is a moisturiser. I usually take this moisturiser to school in case I get a dry patch on my face or if I have dry hands. This is a handy travel size and I also love using this when I get patches of eczema (sometimes due to stress, and we all know how stressful school can be).

Lip balms are a huge essential for me! On the left is a Kiko Kiss Balm, which I took to school last year on a regular basis. This is a nice lip balm as it gives a sheer pink colour, while also adding moisture to you lips. On the right is an intensive moisturiser from Blistex. I tend to only use this at morning and night as it is white in colour, but even lip balms such as Carmex are perfect as they save your chapped lips!

Dry shampoo is also a must, especially if you're running late and your hair is looking a tad off. I used this sporadically last year if I ever slept in and didn't have time to wash my hair (nasty).

The final thing is a powder. I realise that not everyone likes to wear makeup to school, and that is completely acceptable! But if like me, you like to wear a tiny bit, a powder is always a good start. This one from Bourjois is lovely as it has hydrating factors as well as elements that prevent shine. It is also quite compact, making it easy to take to school if needed.

I hope you enjoyed this post! Although I will be back to school next Wednesday, I still have another post that I would like to do before I'm finished with my back to school series for this year (how scary is that?). 

See you then!

Kate x

Back to School: Easy DIY Diary

So this year I shall be entering my final year of secondary school (woo) which means that it is going to be a year full of study and exams. Emotions and stress shall be running high, so why not document the horrificness of it all?

I saw a lot of cool, tumblr-esque note books and I really wanted to give it a try for myself!

What you will need:

• Plain spiral notepad of your desired size
• Glue gun or pritt stick (I used a glue gun as my glue stick went missing)
• Tumblr-esque pictures of your choice
• Scissors 
• Plain white paper

I recommend that while doing this that you try to stick to a theme. If you are unfamiliar with the world of Tumblr or Instagram, then you probably wouldn't know that different blogs or accounts use different types of pictures. I chose a slightly filtered theme with darker pictures for my notepad. 

I then printed off the pictures and cut them out,

First off, I covered the notepad in white paper which I glued down using my hot glue gun.

After this, I roughly laid out where I wanted the pictures to go before I glued them.

Once I was sure where I wanted to glue down the pictures, I used my hot glue gun to secure them down. 

And voila! I transformed a relatively boring notepad into a cute notepad where I can document my thoughts and feelings during the LC!

I hope you enjoyed this post and I shall chat to you in my next post on Saturday!

Kate xx

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DIY: Brandy Melville Inspired Sign

Every time I walk into Brandy Melville, I find myself in love with everything in the shop. I especially love the cute signs with their fun captions. Seeing as I had nothing much to do, I decided to try my own DIY sign, inspired by the Brandy Melville signs of course.

The things you will need are:

•plank of wood (I cut mine myself)

•sponges

•masking tape

•paint of your choice

•scissors

•ruler 

The first thing I did was use the masking tape to create a border. I recommend using a ruler to keep the border even.

I then took black paint and a sponge and sponged down the paint. After I let that dry I also went over it again to make sure the colour was solid black.

I then carefully took off the masking tape once it was dry. 

After this, I took a copy book to use as a border and painted over the white paint that was already on the plank. Again, I waited for this to dry fully.

While I was waiting, I decided on the caption 'Mermaid Motel' for my sign. Once I printed it off using the font 'Arial Bold', I cut it out while remembering to keep the middle pieces of paper for letters like O.

I then placed these where I wanted on the plank and kept them in place with blu tack. I then carefully went and painted the letters using a sponge.

At first, the lettering looked a bit iffy, but now that it's in my room I absolutely love it!

I hope you enjoyed this post and I hope to see you on Wednesday, when I'll be starting my Back To School series!

Kate x

Small Haul

Last week, my friends and I decided to take an impromptu trip to my closest town, and I picked up a few lovely things as I haven't been shopping properly since I was in Spain!

The first thing I picked up was a red and white striped tshirt from Penneys. I'm a bit late to the striped tshirt bandwagon, and seeing as this was only €6, I couldn't really pass it up! I already have a navy and white one and seeing as I already have gotten so much wear out of it, I just know I'm going to get a tonne of wear out of this one too! 

The next two things that I picked up are also from Penneys. I bought (more) fairy lights, which were only €1.30. I loved the last ones so much and they really light up my room (ayy geddit? I apologise...). I also picked up a new makeup bag which holographic. It's also slightly transparent, which will be really cool as you'll be able to see my makeup in it. The makeup bag was €5, which is a bit pricey for a makeup bag from Penneys, but I couldn't pass it up.

 We also took a trip to New Look where I picked up this gorgeous black zip down suede-ish skirt! When I tried this on, I just knew that I needed to buy it. It's super comfy, isn't too short and IT HAS POCKETS!!! Pockets are a huge bonus in my eyes, especially for a night out. This was €14.99, which I think is a great price for an essential like this.

We also went to Boots where I took advantage of the 3 for 2 Bourjois deal. I've been needing to buy a new mascara, so I thought I would try this one by Bourjois. I am so impressed by it already! I also bought a topcoat and a lipstick in the shade 05. 

I hope you enjoyed this post and I shall speak to you on Wednesday in my next blogpost.

Kate xx

What's in my handbag?

I don't think I have done this post ever since I got my handbag for Christmas. My handbag is the Selma satchel by Michael Kors and it is the large version. I use this bag so much and it is the perfect size for holding my essentials. It is also perfect as it can hold a cardigan (even my jacket if need be) and can hold a bottle of water (which is an essential I forgot to include).

(working right to left)

The first essential in my handbag is (quite obviously) my purse. I bought this about a year or two ago from Cath Kidston. It has lasted me such a long time and I'm so impressed as it looks as good as new! Also the oil cloth fabric means it's easy to clean if anything spills on it.

The next essential has only become an essential as of late, and it is my Quay sunglasses. I got these from Topshop and they are in the style 'The Love Cats'. I feel these sunglasses are so chic and will last me for years as the style is so timeless.

The next thing is a scrunchie from American Apparel. I feel that if I'm ever out and even if it's only a little bit breezy, I have the peace of mind that if I can tie up my hair whenever I want.

The next thing are Klets which are Spanish chewing gum (they were also in my recent post) in the flavour spearmint. There are twenty eight pieces of chewing gum in this convenient little zip lock packet, which means if I ever need to get a nasty taste out of my mouth, I can.

The last three things go hand in hand. I have my MAC lipstick in 'Plumful', an EOS lip blam in 'Blueberry' and a small mirror which my best friend brought me back as a present from Portugal. These essentials are pretty obvious and come in handy all the time.

So those are the contents of my bag! I hope you enjoyed this post and I shall chat to you all on Saturday.

Kate xx

Current Favourites

I really can't remember the last time I did a favourites post, so I thought I'd show you all some of my favourites as of late! 

The first is the tea tree moisturiser from The Body Shop. I would typically apply this in the morning before I put on my makeup, and I love it because I feel the tea tree has even helped in clearing my skin a bit. 

The second thing is a buffer from Models Own. I got this free back at Easter, and although I thought I'd never use it I actually use it loads. I've been loving using it to prep my nails before putting on nail polish.

The next product is a product that I am obsessing over, which is the Too Faced melted lipstick in 'Melted Berry'. I have been using this lipstick every time I get the chance. I love the colour, it's long wearing and isn't drying at all. I'm so tempted to buy another one in a more neutral colour (not that I need more lipsticks).

The next thing is a highlighter by Nars in 'Albatross'. I love this highlighter so much that I've incorporated it into my everyday makeup routine. It's perfect for everyday as it gives a subtle glow but isn't too much.

The final thing is Klets, which are chewing gum from Spain. I also have a mint flavour which I keep in my handbag and as it has a zip locked bag, it's perfect for keeping them fresh and they don't spill all over your bag. 

So those are my current favourites! I hope you enjoyed and I'll chat to you in my post on Wednesday. 

Kate x