I ended 2018 as I mean to go on...
During 2018 instead of waiting until the 1st of January to start my so called "resolutions", mid December I decided Why not now? Instead of waiting twelve more days, twenty or even two to start living my best life (so cliché, I know, sorry, yep...) Why not now?
I want to be the best version of myself for myself, I want to love what I do and do what I love, I want to spend time with the people I love and I want to squeeze every last drop out of life. I´ve spent this past year or even two dwelling on decisions I have made, places I´ve missed out on going to, what if this and what if that, when the real problem is NOW. Live now cause you have no clue what will happen tomorrow.
And for the umpteenth time, I can again say I am back. I have taken another long time away from my social medias. I´ve been working, exploring and loving and I have yet again, pushed my social life to the back of my priorities which, in the real world, is actually not a bad thing (lets be honest).
My blog, my YouTube and my photography took over most of my time and life back in 2015 - 2016 and don´t get me wrong, I loved doing it but it just wasn´t good for my mental health so I decided to make that my priority instead.
In the past year, I have tried many times to come back but I never actually do it, I maybe upload one post or film one video but that's it. This time though, I'm hoping to not do that, I'm hoping I can actually stick to it and enjoy it as much as I used to.
Today I´ve started by uploading a video to my YouTube channel, which you can watch here. It is a questions and answers video where I talk about where I´ve been, what I've been up to, confidence, love and lots more! So please give it a watch and show it some love as it would mean a lot to me and if there are any videos you'd like to see, or any posts you'd like me to write about please let me know via Instagram or any other of my social medias.
Now let's get the show on the road!
50 FACTS ABOUT ME
1.- My name is Ellie Marie.
2.- I was born in Burnley, England.
3.- My birthday is on the 22nd of July.
4.- I am a 90s kid, I was born in 1997.
5.- I have six dogs, four guinea pigs, three agapornis and a cat.
6.- I love horses.
7.- I don't like rainy days, they make me anxious.
8.- I finished school when I was eighteen.
9.- I live in Spain.
10.- I still live with my family at home.
11.- I have a YouTube channel with currently, 1621 subscribers.
12.- I love chocolate way too much.
13.- I also love salt and vinegar crisps.
14.- And Maltesers.
15.- And Flakes, but I struggle to get hold of both of these in Spain.
16.- I am quite a country bumpkin.
17.- When I was little I did ballet dancing and taekwondo.
18.- I speak both English and Spanish languages fluently.
19.- I live in comfy clothes 98% of the time.
20.- If I was a boy, I would've been called Charlie.
21.- When I was born my parents weren't sure if to call me Ellie or Rosie.
22.- I love children.
23.- I am 5'9" ish
24.- I really struggle to sit down and watch a film the whole way through.
25.- I don't want any tattoos.
26.- I don't like tea or coffee.
27.- I drive an Alfa Romeo.
28.- My favourite colour changes all the time.
29.- I really enjoy Chinese food.
30.- I am rubbish at reading a book the whole way through, despite how much I enjoy it.
31.- I am right handed.
32.- I love the scent of vanilla.
33.- Tracy Beaker over Justine Littlewood any day of the week.
34.- My favourite numbers are two, five or twenty-two.
35.- I get nervous and talk really fast when telling a tale to people.
36.- JLS and McFly were my favourite boybands growing up.
37.- My favourites change rarely.
38.- I am a messy person.
39.- I prefer even to odd.
40.- I never smoke or drink alcohol.
41.- I've never had a diet.
42.- I rarely give complements.
43.- My favourite weekday has always been Thursday.
44.- I hate having to say no. Or saying no in general.
45.- I have never had an iPhone.
46.- I am really bad texting back,
47.- I hate public speaking.
48.- I am scared of heights, things brains are capable of and people I love dyeing.
49.- I never talk about my personal feelings to anyone.
50.- I really struggled to do the 50 facts about me.
And just like that, March and half of April have past before my eyes taking Easter and mothers day along with them and I honestly don't know what I have done with my time. There are so many things I've been enjoying using but I've kept the list extremely short and only choosing the things I've truly loved these past couple of months and that I've looked forward to using every time.
SKINCARE
In a previous post, I mentioned how important it is to keep your lips moisturized and healthy, especially if you use a matte product on them as they dry out the lips a lot, especially in the colder weather. Recently, whether I wear a matte lippy or not I find myself constantly applying my Anatomicals Never Loose Your Cherry Lip Gloss which I purchased early last year. It seems as if I have re-found my love with it and it couldn't make me happier.
If you have been following my blog for a long time, you will know my struggle with my skin never really has an end to it, every time it picks up it just falls all the way back down again and it feels like a loosing battle. Again this is a product I've loved and missed seen as it was my lifesaver last year and has yet again, returned for a second round.
The E45 facewash is quite pricey (it cost me around 25), hints to why I use it as if it was fairy dust but I totally think it is worth it in the long run. As I said, my skin does fall back time after time but that seems to be most frequent when I lack in this step of my face wash routine at night.
MAKEUP
Bronzers have never been my forte, especially since my mum is my biggest critic (or the most honest person) and every time I apply a bronzer she tells me not to wear as much and comes up with a funny "sarcastic" remark. Well, may I say that all my wishes were granted when I came across this "retro" inspired bronzer by the brand IDC, which I have actually loved products from many times before.
This bronzer just works with my skin amazingly, it gives the perfect subtle bronze that I want, I can build it up as I desire and it wears really well throughout the day.
Recently I re-purchased the Rimmel Match Perfection foundation that I loved and that I wore religiously throughout the beginning of last year and I was so happy to have finally come across it at the Rimmel stand in Primor. BUT . (I know, as soon as there is a but there is something wrong). And you are right, it was wrong. As soon as I applied the foundation I knew there was something fishy, it just didn't look right and after playing around with different concealers, powders, etc I just gave it up as a bad job. I believe Rimmel may have changed the formula of the Match Perfection as I just look like a escapee Umpa Lumpa whenever I apply it seen as the oils just mix with the PH in my skin and yes... It just doesn't do the job.
ANYWAY, after going on an unsuccessful hunt for a water based foundation where I just got weird looks from all the shop assistants, I just decided to risk it and buy my trusty old Rimmel 25 Hour and for some miracle reason, IT FRICKIN WORKS!!! I don't know how, why or whatever, but it just does.
The Rimmel 25 hour foundation is a buildable full coverage foundation that works a dream, wears amazingly and is easily up there in my all time favorites. Definitely one of the best drugstore foundations, and that is a fact, even Zoella said so herself.
PERFUME
The perfume I have been wearing and loving on a daily this month has been the David Bustamante Muy Mia perfume that I got last Christmas as a present and never really used. I love the fresh scent it has and the fact that the smell lingers throughout the day and you can always smell it.
Hey peeps! So today's blog choice of not so much choice is Time Management. If you've hung around here for the past couple of months you will be familiar to the fact that every Saturday I post about a topic from the 52- Week Blog Challenge, and so far not so good.
Said that, today is another not so good one. So today I am going to plan out how I WOULD LIKE my summer time management to be (although it probably won't work) simply because ever since I finished school I have been quite lazy.
First of all, I would like to be Daily Vlogging, and yes you herd it here first. Here is the link to my vlogging channel just in case you aren't already subscribed and you would like to head on over and have a cheeky nosey! *winks awkwardly*
On that note, I am terrible at editing daily vlogs on time, so I would set my alarm every morning for 7:30AM and the first thing I would do would be edit followed by having my breakfast and heading out to walk the pups.
Once I got back, the aim of the game would be either workout and head to the pool if it is that kind of chilled day, and if not, get ready for the day and they head out (this would hopefully be around 9AM).
That's my only "plans" for Time Management. All I would want to do would be this, and then just relax and to whatever needed to be done during the rest of the day, and then obviously early-ish night.
Have you got a Time Management? If so, how do you manage it? I am hoping to start this before the summer just so I have time to get into it and get used to it, but we shall see how it goes, wish me luck!
The number one thing I can advice you about the most, is when you start your channel, you have to pick a topic. For me, my "topic" was fashion and beauty. You don't only have to create videos about said topic, you can obviously through in other videos here and there, that aren't on the topic. You can make things easier to find by creating playlists, so that people can go through and watch the type of videos they are into. There are so many categories of videos on YouTube and that is one of my favorite things about it, there are videos for everyone.
Number two is that you should start an Instagram and Twitter account so you can connect to your subscribers and also to find subscribers, notify subscribers and so on.
try and use you. I would recommend finding someone with a similar subscribing count as your own and recommend reaching out to them to either do a collab, to talk, anything like that. Join YouTuber groups and so on.
Number four, just has to be DON'T BE AFRAID. Don't be afraid of what people will think, don't be afraid of what people will say, don't be afraid of putting yourself out there for hate comments, don't be afraid of what your family, your boyfriend, your dog, or what anyone is going to think. Don't be afraid, just do it. If this is something that you truly want to do, go for it. If you start doing it and you don't like it, or you don't enjoy it, you don't have to continue, it's not a job that you signed a lifetime contract to. If you don't like it you can stop, but don't be afraid to start.
Number five. Do your research on editing and what makes a YouTube channel that will work. Just as you are doing and are reading this, do lots more, watch videos, read other blogs, look at thumbnails, get inspired. You need custom thumbnails, if you haven't a custom thumbnail you need to get one, you need eye catching titles, not click-bate, just good titles.
Those are my five top points on how to start a YouTube channel. Try, it and give it time, you'll love it and you'll get the hang of it. Anything specific such as how to upload a video, make a custom thumbnail, and so on you can find by searching on Google, but this is how to mentally start a YouTube channel, because I know it can be really nerve racking.
What are your tips? Have you got any for me? xx
Ever since I was born I've always been a "smaller than average, very quiet child", saying that ever since I arrived at high school I started growing and getting taller than most of my friends.
This is going to be another one of these posts where I have so much to say that it could end up in a bit of a shambles so please excuse me in advance.
I never had issues with my weight or body physique growing up, I knew I was skinny but this never seemed to upset of effect me as ME.
I remember the exact day this all changed as if it was yesterday, it was all because of one of my close friends at the time, I'm not going to be calling anyone out but if they are reading this, they know who they are.
I was at the age of about 15, I was getting into the teen age where things started affecting me more and I started caring more about boys, clothes, etc and I remember me, my two friends and a couple of her cousins had just been to the One Direction Where We Are film premiere and after the film we went to McDonalds for our supper and whilst sat their my 'friend' commented on my collarbone as I was wearing a vest saying how weird, bony and disgusting it was, and then commented on my elbows, skinny wrists and so on. I am never one to show my emotions so all I did was laugh it of and make it seem like banter when inside all I wanted to do was curl up, especially as we weren't alone and it was as if I had an audience.
This is going to be another one of these posts where I have so much to say that it could end up in a bit of a shambles so please excuse me in advance.
I never had issues with my weight or body physique growing up, I knew I was skinny but this never seemed to upset of effect me as ME.
I remember the exact day this all changed as if it was yesterday, it was all because of one of my close friends at the time, I'm not going to be calling anyone out but if they are reading this, they know who they are.
I was at the age of about 15, I was getting into the teen age where things started affecting me more and I started caring more about boys, clothes, etc and I remember me, my two friends and a couple of her cousins had just been to the One Direction Where We Are film premiere and after the film we went to McDonalds for our supper and whilst sat their my 'friend' commented on my collarbone as I was wearing a vest saying how weird, bony and disgusting it was, and then commented on my elbows, skinny wrists and so on. I am never one to show my emotions so all I did was laugh it of and make it seem like banter when inside all I wanted to do was curl up, especially as we weren't alone and it was as if I had an audience.
Ever since then I have just felt "disgusted" about almost everything on my body and dragged myself down for my legs being to thin to wear skirts, my collarbone being to defined to wear vests, not wanting to show my elbows and so on and it started getting quite unhealthy and even my mum everyday tries giving me little pushes of encouragement on how I can wear anything I want, how I should embrace my body and love it.
I am me and there is nothing I can change about that, we are all individual and we are all different, just like I am blonde and maybe you are not, I also have a super fast metabolism where as maybe you don't, I can and do eat what I want when I want and don't gain weight and I used to hate it! For those of you who don't know, a fast metabolism in non scientific words is the rate at which your body burns calories and breaks down fat. I know for a fact that lots of people who know me or read this will think they'd love to have a fast metabolism too, but let me tell you, it's not all as awesome as it sounds. It has seriously affected me as how I see myself and how others see me and its always about the stereotypical slightly over weight kids that don't want to be seen in a bikini, or get called names. It made me feel like crap. Think the complete opposite of a diet, I was trying to eat the crappiest, fattest foods to try and put on weight.
As one of my favorite people in the whole world once said:
"You always hear about larger people going through a tough time trying to lose weight, slim people can go through just as much of a tough time trying to put it on, but nobody ever thinks of that."
It isn't acceptable to ask or make judgments about somebody's body criteria no matter what size or shape they are. If YOU are happy with your body then so be it, that's all that matters, and if you aren't, chances are you are doing something about it and working towards something you know will make you happy.
Nobody is perfect, let's work together and love ourselves.
Recently on my YouTube channel I uploaded a video all about my 'Every day makeup look' which I shall insert a link to here and these are some pics I took on the exact same day.
I do really love this makeup look and how healthy and fresh faced it makes me look because trust me, I am not healthy at all!
Here is a list of the products I used:
Jurlique Sun Cream with SPF 45
VIVO BeautyBalm in the colour beige
Essence Stay Natural Concealer
Brow Parlour from W7 for my brows
Essence 'All eyes on me' Mascara
MUA Luxe London Highlight & Shimmer
W7 Candy Blush in the colour Galactic
Essence Lipstick in the colour 05 Cool Nude
Essence XXXL Nude Lipgloss in the colour 06 Soft Almond
Onto my hair; this is just my natural blow dried hair, I am lucky enough not to have to do much to make it look okay.
Hey there my beautiful bunch! So on this lovely Saturday evening I am here with my week 12 post of the Blog Challenge and it is all about "the social media phenomenon" which if I am completely honest, I don't know what I have to type about... (awkward), so I have done some research on other 52 week challenges, and today I am going to switch it up and talk about my favorite personality traits.
No one is free of flaws or quirks but there are a few things that I love such as a good sense of humor. Life has ups and downs, hard times and easy times. Everything is easier if you try and have a good sense of humor and it really helps if those surrounding you have one.
Kindness is another one that gets me. Kindness is like integrity, a person who is kind will usually keep your heart safe and your best interests in mind.
Self-Confidence. This just attracts happiness and self esteem and obviously I don't like cocky people, or people who think they are better than everyone else, but self confidence and humor just go together perfectly.
Generosity. The worst people to surround yourself with is those who constantly complain about what they don't have or the money they don't have, especially while spending it on things they don't need. The opposite of generous is selfish, who wants to be with a selfish person?
If you cannot be these things for yourself, you probably won't attract them in others. While we will always attract those who challenge us, and may push us to grow and overcome things, we still attract those who are like us. The key to find your own happiness is to be the things that you wish for and require in anothers.
If you are somewhat like me in the bakery department (or kitchen department for that matter) you start off quite confident every time and quite big headed and always end it on a down side and eating supermarket muffins, well I've got a solution for you. The 2 (or 3) minute mug cake!
For this super-easy recipe you are only going to need the following six ingredients and a microwave proof mug!
- 3 tablespoons of milk
- 2 tablespoons of whisked egg
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 2 tablespoons of flour
- 3 tablespoons of oil
- 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder
Okay, so now you have put all those ingredients in a mug, whisk away until you achieve a nice runny consistency!
Then pop it in the microwave for 2-3 minutes depending on how well 'baked' you want your cake.
Everyone has a 'happy place' or a 'calming place' and so one, so today I thought I'd a very low-key post showing photos of my happy/calming place. Sierra Alhamilla is a place very close to where I live where me and mum like to go to take blog photos, instagram photos and do a bit of hiking and exploring. I believe it is among the quietest, most peaceful places I have ever visited. Where is your happy place?
Valentines Day isn't a day I 'celebrate' or do anything special on, simply because I don't have a partner I suppose, that said I still don't think their should be a day in which you should treat your partner better than other days and what not buy hey-ho *shrugs shoulders* that said, I still have come up with a couple of makeup looks on my YouTube for if you do celebrate Valentines and you are going somewhere special with either your loved one, family or friends or simply if you need a bit of makeup inspo and I am totally loving it. I shall leave a link where you can check it out here and I will list all the products used down below!
Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation & Concealer.
Loreal Brow Artist Plumper.
Essence Gel Pencil.
W7 Lashtastic mascara & Deliplus Maxi Volume mascara.
Essence coverstick concealer.
Revolution London pressed powder.
Boots n7 lippy in the colour 55 pink crush.
Benefit Hoola bronzer.
Revolution London 'What are you waiting for?' pallete
and the colours Now its only me, Take a Chance
& Sex Chromosome.
If you've followed me on my blog for a few months, you will have read one of my most common posts called Follow Your Heart and just for in case you haven't you can read it here.
Since about June, July this year I have been loving everything makeup and fashion and I have been loving watching my makeup drawer grow, but that doesn't change the fact that I still have 5 guinea pigs, 5 dogs and 3 birds and neither does it change the fact that I sit around in pijamas all day everyday.
So far you will be wondering where on earth I am going with this, I'm not quite sure myself but its something like "do what makes you happy and do what makes you you", by this, I mean be a "country bumpkin" as my mum calls me, be a fashionista and do your makeup four times a day, do motorcycling, do Youtube, role around in mud even if that's what makes YOU happy.
In life we tend to let our lives be led by other peoples opinions and we shouldn't be, on the opposite, we should let our lives be led by what makes us happy and things we are passionate about.
The main thing you have to learn in life, and especially as a teenager is to stop caring what people think about you, because that's just going to hold you back from being who you are. People are ALWAYS going to have opinions on who you should be, but there's only one person who can actually choose that, and that is you, no ones comments define who you are.
You are you, don't change that or hide that to please other people.
I've been meaning to this post ever since I slipper the palette into my Primor bag. As you have probably notices, I am more of a neutrals girl, I'd rather war a brown or a gold any day rather than a blue or a purple just because they make me look like an even bigger weirdo with my blue eyes.
When the day I was going to buy this palette came (I'd been wanting it for a couple of weeks) I was umming and aring a LOT about which palette to get as they all looked equaly as great, but finally I decided over the 'What Are You Waiting For?' palette.
It is a VERY inexpensive palette but you would've never guessed, its packaging is very high quality (it looks like a chocolate bar if I may say so myself) and it would easily be perfect to take traveling with you as it isn't at all chunky or heavy.
Scary conversation
Take a chance
Shut my eyes
And my three favorites and most used mattes are:
Million Dollar Contract
Hot Track
Brand New Fans
All in all I think this palette is a great buy and I will definitely be getting another one out of the collection.
Have you tried any of the Makeup Revolution products? If so, what did you think about them? Xxx
No, that you see isn't an otter, it isn't a beaver either, it is a dog named Jack.
We've had Jack since we rescued him at the end of October 2014 and he is the most loving and happy dog ever (or that's how it seems), he loves cuddles, kisses, playing ball, eating, going in cars, barking at other dogs, barking at my neighbour David, even if you are building he is sat next to you supervising and being a boss, but there is nothing he loves more than swimming.
The first time he went in the water, he wasn't very keen and he was very scared, but once we got him out he just wanted to come back in, so he did. He also didn't want us to hold him, so we didn't, we supervised him and let him swim alone in the shallow end (don't worry, his feet can touch the floor). Then he realized he could lay on the lilo's and chill, so he did. And after swimming and swimming and playing and chilling, he is just a pool babe, he treats it as if only me and my mum can go in with him, anyone else is banned, and he loves playing chase with us in the pool but we never let him stay in for more than 15 minutes at a time and he always has a "tantrum" and tries to jump back in.
What funny things does your pet do? I'd love to know! Xx
This is a notebook filled with ramblings and scribblings from last year.
This is a handmade bracelet given to me a year ago.
And this is a picture I took whilst I was on holiday a couple of weeks ago.
All of these things have one thing in common, and that is that they are all memories.
But we all know there are definitions much simpler than the word its-self. Everything we see around us carries a memory and it is kind of hard not be nostalgic about things and sometimes it is easy to just fall in the past and hold on to it rather than just moving on and it is hard because literally everything has a memory attached to it.
This pare of cute "jelly" shoes.
This pair of old trousers.
Even a song by Ed Sheeran can take you back to a time and a place.
My biggest issue is that I live to much in the past. I look at all these possessions whenever I am down or upset and I think how happy I was, and I forget that in the future there will be more memories to be had, ones that are probably more happy and positive than the previous ones. That being sad, sometimes your memories can haunt you, and sometimes I can be looking through old pictures and things and I'm almost haunted by how things were, and in that case you almost want to just forget and want to not think about it.
So memories are a tricky thing, you either love them in such way you even want to try and relive them, or you just hate a memory and you want nothing more than to just move on and forget a memory.
When you think about it, everything is just a memory. A minute goes by, and then an hour and then a day and then that's in the past and that's a memory. Sometimes it is hard to not look back at the past and not feel some kind of sadness, but it is important to remember that everything we have been through defines us in some way, good or bad it has made us the person we are today.
Don't let the past haunt you, let it guide you and help you in the future. Learn from your mistakes so you don't do them again. And the thing about this blog is that it is just going to be another memory in your head, but I hope it is a good thing and kind of a positive one.
Anyway, that is just what I've been thinking of today. Leave a comment telling me what you think about memories and how you think you should move on from the past, and as usual if you like the blog please go ahead and share it, and I will hopefully see you guys soon. Bye bye Xx
