As you will know if you follow me on my other social medias, it was my school's prom on Friday and whilst I tried to film as much as possible of my whole experience, I didn't get much chance to film my makeup. Therefore, I thought I would write a brief blogpost for you to show those of you who are interested what makeup products I used on the night!

 The palette itself comes in a black matte box which has the details of the palette and also advice on how to use it on the back. The actual palette has a shiny gold outer packaging, which looks beautiful but will quickly harbour finger prints! However, the plastic exterior feels very secure and is an ideal size to take on the go. The palette also has a large mirror inside which is ideal for travelling! You're also given a small highlighting brush within the palette which is actually very soft and a good shape for applying the highlighters to cheekbones and down the bridge of the nose.

The highlighters

Top left, Ecliptic // Top right, Hemisphere // Bottom left, Subsolar Bottom right, Equinox

Since I've been blogging for almost three years I thought it was about time I share some of the things I've learnt with those of you who are new to blogging or are thinking about starting a blog!

1. Don't get hung up on the numbers
When you first start your blog it's easy to get obsessed on the numbers; page views, comments, followers. After a while you'll soon realise these things don't really matter. In my opinion, it's more important that you enjoy making the content you create and that even if you only have a small audience, they are engaged! Focus on your content, and the numbers will follow.

2. Find your theme
Before you start your blog it's important to have an idea on what kind of content you want to create. If you're not sure, my advice would be to choose something you're passionate about. Whether it's photography, beauty, fashion, or something else entirely, in the first few months of your blog it's important to have a consistent theme as this is what will attract people to your blog. After all, if someone visits your blog to read a beauty review but the rest of your blog is based around cars they're less likely to follow your blog as the rest of your posts don't interest them. Bit of a random example, but hopefully I made my point clear!

After a few months, you can expand your blog and incorporate more topics once you have established a loyal following. For example, on my blog I now do beauty, photography, and lifestyle. Obviously, you can post whatever you like since it is your blog, but if you're interested in growing your blog, try and stick to some sort of theme.

3. Invest in a good template
If you're not very experienced in HTML and coding, you may want to consider investing in a good template for your blog, as this is one of the first things your reader will see. Whilst your content is the most important aspect, reading it off a pretty blog is always much more satisfying!

You don't have to spent a fortune to get a nice template. There are hundreds of free templates online or if you're using blogger there is also a template option where you can alter fonts, backgrounds etc. Alternatively, if you want to spend some money on your blog you can buy a template off of sites such as Etsy. In my experience, I've always found it more beneficial to buy a template as they're usually more professional-looking and well coded. You don't even have to spend lots; I got my blog template on Etsy for £3!

4. Create a timetable for your blog

credit: careergirldaily

When your blog is just starting out, consistency is key! You should try and establish a timetable for when you plan to post, but make sure it is realistic! Take into account your other commitments and make sure you have to the time to maintain your blog, as it will take up a lot of your time if you're committed to it.

If you don't have the time to write a post three times a week, you can take advantage of the schedule feature on blogger and bulk-write lots of post and schedule them to go up whenever you like. This is especially good if you have a holiday coming up and can't guarantee you'll have an internet connection to post when you're there!

5. Spent time on the photos
Make sure you're including photos in your posts; These are one of the first things that your reader will see! Even if you can't afford to own a DSLR camera and are using your phone, make sure you're taking photos in good-lighting and with a clean background! If you're using your phone, take advantage of the apps to edit your photos to improve clarity, brightness, and sharpness to improve quality. It's also important to make sure your photos are large and will attract the reader's attention. Even if you can't take photos yourself, you could always find photos online - just make sure you credit whoever's photo it is!

So those are a few of my top tips for any newbie bloggers out there! Hopefully this helped you and good luck with your blog!
Jess

Hello everyone, today I thought I'd kick start my summer of blogging by talking you through some of my current beauty favourites! Now that it's finally getting warmer, it's time to put away the dark lipsticks and pull out the bronzers! I'm going to start off with some of my favourite eye-products:



I picked up this palette a few months ago and I am still loving it now! There is such a good range of shades in this palette that it's really easy to create either a simple nude or golden eye look. I'm also so impressed by how pigmented the eyeshadows are and the fact there is also a mirror, making it great for travelling! My favourite shade from the palette is gold coin.

Benefit has been one of my favourite makeup brands for quite some time and high beam is one of my favourite highlighters I've tried. The formula somewhat resembles that of a nail polish (a weird comparison I know, but if you've tried it you'll know what I mean!) meaning it's really easy to apply and blend using only your fingers. I like to either use this on top of my primer to act as a natural glow on my skin, or over my foundation for a bolder look.


Despite the fact I only own two, Mac lipsticks have quickly become one of my favourites! I picked up this shade because it is the perfect pink nude for summer and the satin formula means it sits really nicely on my lips and doesn't dry them out! Another bonus of the formula being somewhere between matte and a cremesheen is that it is really pigmented and also long lasting!



With the sun finally deciding to make an appearance in England, that means it's time to start bringing the bronzers out! Hoola is one of my favourite bronzers as the matte formula gives a really natural look and unlike others I tried it doesn't leave you looking orange. The bronzer is also really easy to build up on if you want a more intense look and the brush is actually the perfect size to fit the hollow of my cheek!

So there you have it, a few of my current beauty favourites! Expect to see posts more regularly now as I've finally finished school and actually have free time!

Jess

*pssst...this post is a little different to usual but I thought I'd go diary-style for once and just have a chat about my day, hope you don't mind!*


Do you ever have those days where everything just goes right and it's perfect? That's the kind of day I've had today so I wanted to write about it.

So the day started at roughly 8am, when I woke up. I didn't set an alarm or anything, my body just likes to wake me up nice and early every. single. day. even when I could lie-in...Nonetheless I didn't have to be out of the house until 11:45 so this gave me plenty of time to get ready. (By get ready, I mean I spent another 2 hours in bed on Netflix and then crawled into the shower)

By 11am I was up and ready after having a cup of tea and getting a good caffeine-boost, but I was feeling a bit anxious. At 12pm I was due to go and have a job interview and trial-shift and a local cafe. I'm not really sure why I was so worried since I knew the owner's well - and was pretty skilled at the art of washing up - but you know how anxiety can be sometimes, so I was having a bit of a mini internal meltdown on the way there.

When I arrived I was a few minutes early (because I hate being late!) and I immediately wondered why I was so nervous in the first place! It was fine, everyone was lovely, and I didn't feel stressed at all. At the end of my 4 hour shift I left with £15 and the promise they'd be in touch soon because they definitely wanted me back :) All I did was serve ice cream and do so much washing up my hands wrinkled up into raisins, my ideal job!

The day then got better when I got home and after having another cup of tea and putting my feet up, we went to the beach. I've said this before, but I absolutely love going to the beach, it is so calming and instantly relaxes me. After walking along the beach, camera in hand, and completely tiring out Tilly (our dog) we ventured home,where I curled up on the sofa with a fluffy blanket and started writing this post.



So yeah, that's a little summary of my day. I know I don't usually make posts like this but I just felt like writing about my day today since I don't really find time to keep a journal anymore, but still want to remember special days. Today has been a good day, how was yours?

Jess

I go through phases, a bit like the moon. I can go for days without leaving the house and feel perfectly content with my lack of human contact. Yet, other times I just want to be out with other people. After four days without leaving the house, I decided it was probably time to move transition into my next phase and actually socialise with, you know, real people.

This morning, my family and I took a trip to a local woodland area thing (I don't know it's actual scientific name, okay?) and I took the opportunity to take some pictures and actually appreciate the wildlife.

Despite being a confessed introvert, I enjoy the outdoors. Granted, more the nature than having to actually socialise, but I like the smell of the grass, the hum of the birds, and the crack of twigs beneath my waaay too muddy converse.

The main point of this post is, whether you're an introvert like me, or an extrovert, take the time to actually appreciate the nature, because I think it's pretty freaking cool (despite the fact my converse needed a well-deserved trip in the washing machine afterwards!)
:)

Hello everyone! As you will probably know if you've been following me or my blog for a while, I'm a self confessed bookworm! Therefore, I've read my fair share of books in my past 15 years of existence, so I thought I'd make a quick post to share with you some of my favourite books! In no particular order:

Source: Tumblr

Hello everyone, a few weeks ago I did a video on my YouTube channel all about exams and revision, so I thought I'd summarise the main points into a quick blog post for you all!

Having tested out this mascara a couple of times, I'm really impressed with it! I love how much volume it adds to your lashes; I wouldn't say it gives as good length as rollerlash does, but nonetheless, it is great for a natural look and is really easy to build up! I feel like the shape of the wand is really good, and the formula of the mascara means it stays in place all day without giving you those nasty smudges under your eyes!

Hello everyone, happy 2016! To kickstart this year of blogging I thought I'd do a post telling you about my goals for 2016. I did this last year and you all seemed to like it, so I thought I'd do another for this year!