Sunday, 27 August 2017

BLOGUST | COFFEE CHATS: Living our Lives Online, Makeup Chats & The Upcoming Season


Hello my lovelies I hope you are all well and have been having a lovely weekend and of course welcome to blogust day twenty six. Now I'm typing this up quite late (whats new?) because once again I haven't been able to motivate myself all day to just sit down and type up this post. I don't know why I'm so distracted these days. I want to take a guess and say it's because I'm at home the majority of days at the minute because like we've discussed I haven't been able to find a summer job whilst at home. However I think it's because I'm kind of just waiting for September to roll around because I'm going back to uni in a months time (I can't wait) and because autumn and winter are just around the corner and we all know how much they're my favourite seasons. 

But earlier this evening I did do something slightly productive. I've started coming up with ideas and planning posts for the last few months of the year and I am so excited. I've got some really good ones planned and fingers crossed that they all come together. And here's a little *EXCLUSIVE* for all of you. Blogmas will officially be back this December! *confetti canon goes off and there's cheering from the crowd.* Yes guys you can look forward to a whole month of blogging from me once again this December. I really enjoyed doing blogmas last year but it wasn't organised that well and that's something I want to get better at this time around. But yeah, I'm really excited for the end months of the year because they are my favourite and I feel like there's so many more cool and fun opportunities for blog posts. But before all of that rolls around, let's roll back to blogust. 



So for today's Coffee Chats we're gonna have a bit of a mixture of topics to talk about that kind of all tie together to an extent, some more than others. I've got a feeling this is going to be a long one. So before we start make sure you're sitting comfortably and you've got your coffee in hand and potentially a snack and let's get straight into. 

As blogust is coming to an end it's once again made me realise how much I love blogging and being apart of the blogging community. Sometimes I still don't really know why sixteen year old me decided to start a blog but I'm really glad she did because it has allowed me to really develop as a person and share experiences with you guys that get great responses. It feels so rewarding to know that I can inspire you guys or help express the way you feel through the way I think and type up my posts. It also means it's another way to document my life and look back on how much I learn and change and grow as we move forward into my twenties. But the one thing blogust has brought around is actually new blogging friends. Over the past month I have discovered so many bloggers and just new online friends in general via Twitter and Instagram and if you guys are reading you will know who you are. Now of course I adore my uni friends to the moon and back but not all of them are that bothered about the blogging I do and that is absolutely fine. There is only a few of them who ask me about it and give me ideas about things I can do and of course I am so grateful for that and grateful that they take an interest in something I love doing and grateful that they are happy to help me with some of the posts I do or be featured in them (coming soon...). But it is really nice to find other bloggers who do what I do or do similar things to what I do and really connect to each other and support one another. That's so nice and to all of my new blogging friends who are becoming a little family online thank you guys so much for all of your support over this month and I hope we can continue to love and support each other and grow our little blogging family as we move forward. 

Which brings me to another couple of points about being online; I was thinking the other day how really what we share on all types of social media are only glimpses of our lives. You know the majority of the time we only show what we really want to show. We're so used to not only using filters on our photos but also on our lives on different social medias. So for example, my Facebook is literally just for updates so my family know I'm doing well and tagging my friends in memes everyday. Whereas my Twitter is focused on my opinions about a lot of different things as well as advertising my blog posts as I know quite a few of you from Twitter come over here to read my posts. And then my Instagram is solely focused on things for my blog and taking pretty pictures of things. Like I feel like for this whole month I have been glued to my phone, mainly because I've been blogging everyday (for the most part) and obviously I've gotta advertise them so you guys can easily have the links to read them. I don't fully know where I am going with this point because we all do it. We all filter ourselves to only really show the good parts of life because everyone strives to be happy. I know I've been pretty real on my blog with you guys about my opinions, thoughts, feelings, and my emotions but I do find it funny how I can easily do that with you guys but sometimes not with people I see near enough everyday in my life. I don't find it as difficult as I used to but I just find it an interesting concept to think about sometimes. 

The online world is a great place to connect with different people I suppose we all just need to bare in mind that what people share on Instagram is never 100% their life. Everyone always has something that they don't always share or that they never really talk about, even I do. And I know you'd be surprise and you're probably thinking, "Well Katie what on earth can that be considering you've shared so much of your life with us on here?" But trust me, we all have those things hidden deep within that we don't share with everyone or anyone. Which is totally okay, somethings are meant to only be for us and us alone. I know for a fact what I share on my Instagram is not always 100% me. And I don't mean that I lie to you guys about anything because I say this with honesty I 100% don't. What I mean is I don't share every single memory or a day spent with a friend or if something has slightly annoyed me or I don't agree with something someone said. Sometimes I don't share it all the time because it's not meant to be shared. I'm sure all of you guys have been there at some point or another and understand what I'm kind of referring to. It's the little things that don't always have to be a big deal on social media even if they mean a great deal to us. One thing I've done really badly this month is compare myself to others online, especially in terms of other bloggers. I do NOT mean this in a negative way towards any of the bloggers I follow and their blogs I read because it's not to do with them it's to do with me. You know sometimes when you see what other people are doing and sometimes you think "should I be doing that?" or "is that something I need to do?" and the honest reason I've been feeling this way is just because their blogs and all of their themes are incredible and I ask myself that awful question of: "Why am I not as good as them?" 

I hate that question and I hate myself for even asking myself that. I've done it a lot throughout my life when I'm feeling at low points or my mood is not as lively as it normally is. Obviously being a performer sometimes you think why are they so good at accents and I'm not or why are they so good just acting that part and I'm not. And we've probably all done it throughout all points in our lives, we're humans, it's only natural to feel this way sometimes. I think the main reasons sometimes these thoughts creep into my mind is just because I want to be successful at everything I do. When I can't do something or figure out how to do something it really eats away at me and gets to me. But then sometimes I think, but I bet there is someone out there saying something similar about me. I feel like we all do this, we strive for more and although that isn't always necessarily considered a bad thing. The majority of the time we waste so much time looking at if the grass is greener on the other side instead of taking care of our own grass. Which means we constantly wish for more instead of being grateful for what we already have. And I'll admit I've been guilty of it this month in terms of wanting to be "as good as" whoever that might be. And to some of you it might seem like jealously and that's okay. Maybe it is a little bit of jealously. But I think these feelings develop when we aren't told that what we're doing is really good. 

And the one thing that helps in this department is actually compliments. You'd be surprised how incredible giving and receiving a compliment can make you feel. I feel like were taught from a young age that liking parts about us is vain and giving out and receiving compliments only makes people have a big ego. And I think that is completely wrong. If we weren't told we were doing a good job somewhere along the line then we'd lose our passion for anything that we do or want to do. And giving someone a compliment doesn't have to be a big thing, it could be something as small as "I like your outfit" or "your hair looks nice." Giving and receiving compliments should be seen as a nice exchange between two people, whether you're friends or not. Earlier this year one of my friends on my course at uni; it was assessment week for Live Art and for her performance she got you to do a series of activities and it was to show how we can all love each other more. She got us to write down a compliment for someone and a series of other things. After we shared our compliments with one another it made us all feel just really nice and uplifted. She mentioned that she actually keeps a compliment journal and has noticed that the positive comments are much more prominent than the negative ones, in fact she said there was barely any negative ones. So ever since that day I've been doing the same thing. I need to actually get a nice notebook to keep it all in but it's actually crazy how the power of a compliment can help people. So for example, there have been points this year when my blog hasn't been doing that well and people hadn't really been reading it that much and I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. I was doing everything near enough the same as I was before and for a while it was frustrating me so much because I was putting all this time and effort in for barely anyone to read it or comment on those posts. I just felt like I wasn't really getting anywhere and because of all that there was a point when I was like "should I just stop?"  and even though these negative thoughts are not nice to think about sometimes it actually takes these thoughts to change your mind. When I hit this point I thought to myself, "No, you need to keep going because this is something you love to do" and I'm glad because if I hadn't of carried on and if I hadn't of decided to do blogust this year I wouldn't of met all of these amazing other bloggers who I love to bits and they are so amazing as content creators and online supports and most importantly, friends. You know that saying about an arrow that mentions when things are pulling you back it's because something is going to spring you forward. Well I believe in that saying because if I hadn't of kept going I wouldn't be sharing this experience with you guys today. Recently all of my new blogging pals have been letting me know how well I'm doing with my posts and that they're really enjoying them and they admire how I'm actually managing to blog (almost) everyday. And all of that just makes me feel amazing. As well as all of the comments I get from you guys. No matter how big or small it gives me the encouragement to keep going and keep putting in this hard work for you all to enjoy. So next time you see someone in the street with a nice outfit on or one of your friends is doing well at something they love. Give them a compliment because it wont only do them the world of good, it will also do you the world of good. I'm a firm believer in you only get back from the world what you put out there. A compliment might seem like such a small thing to some people but it might mean a big thing to someone else. We should all uplift one another much more than we do and by giving out compliments it's a great way to do it. 

I may link this subject area into my Mindful Mondays post this up coming week as I could talk about it all day. I also mentioned this phrase in this weeks Mindful Mondays post, "Never give up. Always keep going."


Right my loves, normally after a big deep and meaningful chat you'd expect me to go "Right that's it for this today's post..." but this time you are mistaken. I have some other areas of different subjects I still want to talk about that are hopefully going to be a bit lighter than section one of this post. I know it seems a bit of a strange set up to go from really deep and meaningful chats but it was the only way it would really flow. But don't let this next part of the post let you forget what I spoke about with you all in the first part just because our next section is going to be a little less deep. 


I know we spoke about makeup in our last Coffee Chats post but this time I've got a little bit extra for you, even though I'm gonna share with you some products I really wanna try. So recently I've been thinking a lot about how we're all different when it comes to makeup, especially in the way we apply it. Like for me, I don't know how anyone can just powder over their face with a brush. I have to do it with a brush and then pat it into my skin with a puff applicator and then blend that out with my buffing brush so it doesn't look like a caked up mess. Like for me I always like to have a proper blank canvas before I do my makeup and then add the colour and the glow back to my face with the products I use. I can also never apply my eyebrows before I do my base makeup and I always apply my highlighter on the apples of my cheeks as well as my cheek bones because all of that works for my face shape best. It fascinates me that we all have a different way of doing things with makeup and I love how as I've grown up it's become known more rightfully as an art than just something we "have to do" to look good on a day to day basis (which isn't true at all - I find myself wearing barely any makeup the majority of the time these days). 

I think that's why makeup has become such a big industry because it's now rightfully known as a skill and an art to be able to do makeup. I'm not gonna lie to you guys, when I wear makeup, and I'm talking about my full on glam with my brows drawn on, super voluminous and long lashes, with perfectly blended eye-shadow, and bold lips, I kindly get compliments quite often actually about how good it is and people wish they could do makeup like I do. But when I post these tutorials for you guys it can take me between three-five hours sometimes to do a full makeup look. Obviously it depends what kind, if it's more day to day then that'll take two and a half hours maximum. Whereas anything to do with festivals, a night out, or Halloween (best example) it can take me five hours to get ready. And some of you might be thinking that's a bit excessive and you know what maybe it is. The reason it takes me so long is because, one - I hate being rushed around which is why I like to start getting ready early. Say if I'm going out at 7:00pm, I'll start getting ready at 1:00pm because that way I know I'll have all my makeup done, my hair done, and my outfit 
ready by the time I need to leave (even though I'm still late to everything). And two - because I enjoy putting it on. I've mentioned this before to you guys but I love how I look when I have makeup on. When we wear makeup we do it to enhance our natural beauty that we already have and makeup is meant to be fun. If you don't like it you can easily just take it off and start again. You can become anyone you want to be with makeup. For example, one day I will want to wear full on makeup with my brows looking on fleek to perfection and my highlighter glowing to the gods. But then I'll have days when I'll want to just let my natural beauty shine through and add some lip balm. And then I'll have days when I wanna turn myself into a vampire and get those dead vibes with grey contour. The possibilities are forever endless. 

I've noticed over the years I'm quite a perfectionist when it comes to doing my makeup. Like I wont go out until I am happy with how my face looks which is probably another reason I take forever to get ready. But I don't mind it, I find putting makeup on really therapeutic, especially when I haven't worn it properly for a while. And then when I've got it on I honestly feel like I can do anything, I feel so fierce and that I can slay everyday and that is the best feeling. One reason I think I make sure I look perfect is because I remember when I was younger people in school used to call me ugly and let's be honest who didn't have that in school at some point? I remember when I used to wear makeup because I felt like I had to so other people wouldn't make comments. I remember when all I used to wear was concealer, powder, and mascara. And now look at where were at. Contouring wasn't even popular when I was in school. One thing I've noticed over the years and I've discussed this with friends a lot is how my generation of 19-21 have grown up as makeup has changed over the years. What I mean by that is we remember the days when all you needed was some mascara and concealer to go about your day. Whereas today, the younger generations wont know that because having absolutely flawless makeup is the in thing. I feel like from 2013-present the industry of makeup and fashion has just blown up everywhere due to the power of online influencers and social media. I still remember when eyeliner became a popular thing when I was in year 10-11. Everyone was wearing it but eye-shadow, brows, and lipstick wasn't even a big thing compared to now. I do wonder if the makeup industry will ever die down again but then again with the amount of demand for it and the amount of influencers there now are in the YouTube and blogging community, I highly doubt it's popularity is going to be decreasing any time soon. It just baffles me to know at one point the world of makeup only cared about concealer, mascara, and eyeliner and now everyone has to have the perfect brows with the perfectly contoured face and the perfect long lashes and the perfectly blended eye-shadow etc. Obviously I love makeup and that's never going to change but it's just crazy how different it is now to just five years ago. I remember when I never used to contour because I didn't know how to do it and then one day I tried it out and ever since then I haven't stopped. Crazy how trends really stick with us if it is popular in our society. Like now I can't imagine not contouring and it's funny to think that once I didn't do it.



Makeup isn't the only big industry right now, fashion at the moment is probably at it's highest peak in years right now. I feel like these days the beauty and the fashion industry just go hand in hand. Everyone always wants the same things and everyone seems to wear similar styles of things whether that is makeup or clothes. In terms of myself, I'd say makeup is more likely to influence me than fashion does simply because anyone can wear makeup. Makeup is not a one size fits all whereas sometimes fashion is. Like there are lots of things in fashion at the minute which I love but I cannot wear just because it genuinely doesn't fit me or doesn't look right on my body shape. The amount of young teenagers I see these days walking around in Nike airs, ripped jeans, and a plain white crop top just baffles me. No offence to you if you do, but to me it just feels like people who do that don't have a personal style. Feels like everyone is just trying to be as good as or the same as when it comes to their sense of fashion. I just don't understand why that has to be the case. Yes sometimes we do like similar things to our friends or the same things as our friends. But whenever my friend and I have the same top, it will always look different because of who's wearing it even though it's the same top because we've all got a different personal style. You get what I'm saying? 



This image is the best I can find to kind of visually show what I mean to you guys. I'm aware this is the same woman in each style but imagine different body types in each of these styles of outfit and just picture how different they'd all look. 

For me at the minute the fashion industry is a bit all over the place. Like there's every trend in the book out right at this second. Bralettes, a-line skirts, gingham everything, flared sleeves, ripped jeans with fishnet tights, embroidery is on every denim and leather piece of clothing going, and bohemian style clothes are all the rage this summer. There's just so much out that I don't even know how the autumn fashion game is going to give us anything remotely new. Having said that, I am excited to see what autumn fashion throws at us this year because I've already seen a few things that I already want to buy! 

However, the two colours that I think are going to be big for me this year, at least at the start of autumn, are going to be khaki and grey. I love these two colours anyway but lately I've been buying a lot of grey things and I've been really into khaki coats etc. One thing I really want to get this autumn is one of those biker jackets, I really want to find a black leather one as I've never had a leather jacket but I've always wanted one. I think it would look really cool with my black high heeled boots and black jeans - I think that would just look so cool in the autumn. However, there is currently a grey suede one in New Look curves that I really wanna get. 

It's this one and I've seen this in the store and I've tried it on and it fits quite well. I'm normally a size 20 in coats but I tried on a size 22 just for the extra comfort and room because these kinds of jackets are always quite fitted. But it actually fit really nicely, however I probably wouldn't do it up because I really don't think these jackets look that great when they're done up. But I can just imagine wearing this on a night out or on a day when it's slightly cooler with a scarf around my neck but the sun is still shining. New Look have got a whole load of these in right now as well in the normal range so there's so much choice. They have this grey one in the normal range as well as a deep brown/red coloured one and a mustard yellowy brown one, which I really want but the smaller sizes are too tight for me! So I hope they potentially bring out more colours in the curves range. If you guys want to check out this jacket above, then click here

And if you guys want to check out more of their biker jacket range (for women) then I've got another link for you with all of their current jackets on here

Another top I really love and again this one I think would look so cool with a leather jacket, black jeans, and high heeled boots. I don't know what it is about autumn but I just love transitioning into deeper coloured outfits, especially for nights out. I love wearing jeans and  a nice top on a night out because not only are you comfortable (for the most part) but it's kind of a dressed up casual outfit, especially with a pair of chunky heels. I just love wearing this kind of style and I wish I wore it more often but I always find that my style changes depending on the season were in. I'm not sure if this is in the normal range at New Look, but if you're curvy like me then this is definitely one for us as it's in the curves range. I probably will get this at some point as it's not too expensive considering the price of some tops these days. I just love the print and the lace sleeves. Click here to check it out. 


For this next one, I can't find an image of them that I can save to add on here and I can't find a good replica to show you guys what they look like. But anyway, not all of you might know this, I love boots. I mean who doesn't? But I adore winter snow boots because they're so comfy to wear and the sole is chunky on the bottom and they make any outfit just look so much more wintery and cosy. I currently still have a pair that I have had for about 3/4 years and they really have served me well. I've worn them every single day for the last 3/4 years in the months of autumn and winter. But now they are sadly on their last legs. The sole is starting to get thinner and now they're not actually that waterproof anymore so I think it is time for a new pair. And I've managed to find a pair on Amazon that I quite like and are similar-ish to the ones I have now. So they're all white, whereas the ones I have at the minute have a black sole, with cute little white pom poms on the side with synthetic fur on the inside and the outside and they're just slip on so it makes them easier to just put on. Also the reviews are really good because it's always awkward when you order things like shoes online from somewhere that isn't always easy to just return them too. There's also so many different colours: white, black, tan, beige, grey, purple, navy. Also for some of them you have an option for normal or knitted which is nice. If you guys want to check them out for yourself, click the link


Continuing on the lines of footwear and in particular boots. Honestly boots are my favourite shoes to wear. They're so cosy and comfy, especially my brown Sketcher ugg boots and of course snow boots. I do love fashion ankle boots but I always find I can never find any that look good on me simply because I'm so tall and due to that sometimes my leggings and jeans ride up over my ankles slightly which does not look great in ankle boots. So I'm currently on the hunt for some ankle boots that go just slightly higher than my ankle. So ones that will sit just above on my shin. I've always wanted a pair of Chelsea boots as they look so gorgeous when people wear them day to day in the autumn. I think ones with a little bit of heel look the most flattering but not so high to the point that my feet are gonna kill after wearing them for five minutes. Here's a few I've found that I quite like the look of. (click pictures for the link) 









I love the look of all three but I especially love those khaki ones. I love the khaki with the copper/golden details on - I think it's a really nice colour combination. Plus all these boots sit just above the actual ankle and on the shin. 

As well as fashion, there's also a whole load of makeup I still want to get! 



I feel like everyone has this palette but me! I desperately want this as I've been loving warm toned eyeshadows all summer and I know that love is going to continue into autumn. I love the Naked palettes, I have the Naked 3 and the Naked Smokey and I want to get this one to add to my collection. It's crazy how much my makeup taste has changed in these last few months. I remember in March and April all I wanted to wear was cool toned pink eyeshadows and that was when I was reaching for my Naked 3 all the time and then since May all I've worn is warm toned eyes. I just find it funny how our tastes change throughout the year and I don't even know what it is in my brain that changes my mind on makeup throughout the seasons. Do any of you get that? If you do let me know in the comments. But yeah, I really want to treat myself to this at some point as I don't think I can wait until Christmas. If you still don't have one and wanna buy yours and check it out, then click here





L'Oreal are just killing it with their mascara game right now. First they released the Miss Baby Roll, which I still haven't tried! I need to try that one as everyone raves about it but more recently they released this one. I know that some people have said this is a dupe for the Two Faced better than sex mascara because the bottles are very similar shapes as well as their brushes. Most recently I saw Sophie from sophdoesnails on YouTube test this mascara and oh my goodness it's amazing. If you guys want to see it in action then click here to watch Sophie's first impression/ review. It made her lashes so long and lengthened with a little bit of volume. I really love the look of the bottle as well as what it does for your lashes from Sophie's video, I desperately want to get this. If you guys want to go and check out this mascara, it is sold in both Superdrug and Boots but at this moment it's better value in Boots because it's £9.99 in there whereas in Superdrug it's £11.99. But also in Boots right now there is an offer on - 3 for 2 on selected L'Oreal products. So here is a link to this mascara via Boots but don't forget to check out their 3 for 2 offer as well. 





Sorry to have to use a promo photo from the Superdrug website but I cannot find a photograph of all of these together. But if you love makeup and haven't heard about these, one - where have you been? and two - you're gonna wanna get these in your autumn makeup collection ASAP! 

This year Makeup Revolution have been killing the game with all of their new products they've brought out, especially within the last month. There's so many new things I want to try from them and if you guys want to check out their liquid highlighters in more detail as well as something new and exciting that they have announced today which they're releasing soon then go and check out their Instagram @makeuprevolution

I really don't know what shades I want to get, I really wanna try all of them. But I've seen a couple of people play around with them and the best shades for pale skin are starlight, champagne, and luminous gold. So they're the three I will most likely try first and at the minute in Superdrug, they're 3 for 2! Some of them are out of stock as they're only online at the minute but are coming to store soon. You can check them out at Superdrug  here  and check them out at tambeauty.com  here


Barry M are also bringing out some liquid chrome products that are very similar to these and I really want to try Barry M's versions too. Check out Barry M's over on their Instagram too @barrymcosmetics




Well my lovelies I think that is it for this post. Once again I know it was a weird set up but I hope you enjoyed nonetheless and as always take some inspiration from this post. Let me know in the comments your thoughts in general about some of the areas we spoke about today. 

And yes I know we used this image above but imagine one of them is you and one of them is me clinking our mugs together after a good old chat together. 

As always thank you guys so much for reading. Don't forget to follow me on all my social medias linked above in my header as it means the world. And once again, hopefully I will see you tomorrow for another one. 


Love,

Katie

 

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