Hello my lovelies and welcome to the last official post of 2017! Oh my god, as if we've reached this time again. I still remember writing this post this time last year when we were counting down to 2017 and now it's time to countdown to 2018!
First question, where the hell did this year go? This might be the quickest year of my life so far; as I've grown up the days, months, and years always seem to slip between my fingers and before I know it it's gone. But this year, I don't even remember hardly because it went that fast. But if you've been here for a long while then you guys will know that this post has become an annual tradition on my blog pretty much ever since I started my blog. I think this is my 4th year doing this post as in 2013 I didn't do one for counting down to 2014. But if you haven't been here before, in a nutshell, this is the post where everything gets thrown into one. We talk about my favourites over the course of the entire year in relation to beauty, film, music, trends, fashion, skincare, and even random favourites. As well as top posts and top personal moments of my year, goals for the year ahead, and this year as an added element to these posts now, I'm going to be reviewing the goals I set myself this time last year for this year to see how well they went.
So without further ado, let's start the countdown with my favourites of the year.
Favourite Artist of The Year
Every single year I have always had one artist that just stands out to me as someone who I've listened to over the course of the year and been obsessed with etc. However, this year has been really difficult for me to pick just one because music this year hasn't been the most amazing of all time but I feel like it's been good in terms of just for the year; it's like represented this year. One thing I've also noticed this year is so many artists have done so well for themselves and really made a statement in the music industry as well as some proper bangers for this year.
I had a list of seven artists that have been my top favourites over the course of the whole year and as you can imagine it's been so difficult to pick just one. So I've narrowed it down to just two and for the fourth year in a row, the girls are still going strong in the top spot.
My first favourite of this year is Selena Gomez. Selena has had such a successful year and has definitely fully broken away from her Disney Channel days. Not only has she released some of my favourite songs from this year, Wolves, It Ain't Me, Nobody, Only You, she's also been getting back into the acting world again by being an executive producer for the highly successful Netflix show 13 Reasons Why. She's had such a successful year and is getting involved in certain areas of work I never expected her to, especially at 25. She's an example of a true female boss who runs her own life. I'm so excited to see where she goes next year with her entire career. Congrats Miss Gomez!
Some true females who have bossed the year with their incredible music, style, and sass is Little Mix. These guys have had a phenomenal year from the end of 2016 all the way to now. In terms of music this year these guys have been on it; Shout Out To My Ex, Touch, You Gotta Not, Oops, No More Sad Songs, Power. These guys have honestly stormed this year, owned the charts, and have proved why they're the most popular girl group in the world right now. So on point with everything they do: style, lyrics, choreography, sassy, and given us some proper power anthems this year. Massive congratulations to Little Mix, I can't wait to see what next year brings for these guys.
Now I know I've chosen my all time two favourites of this year but these were the other guys competing for the top spot and as I've loved these guys throughout the year as well and I just want to give them a little special mention.
Camila Cabello has been doing incredibly well since leaving Fifth Harmony and she has definitely proved why going solo was the best thing for her career. Even when she was in Fifth Harmony, her name was the one everyone knew out of the five of them and even before she decided to fully leave the band she already started doing solo bits here and there. E.g. when she featured on Shawn Mendes' I Know What You Did Last Summer. 2017 is only just the beginning for this already incredible young female; I'm obsessed with I Have Questions, Crying in the Club, and Havana. I can't wait to see where Camila's career leads her too.
Ed Sheeran has been someone else who has had a sensational year in the music industry and was so close to my top spot, he could've been the first male artist ever to be my number one of the year. But even though Selena and Little Mix beat him to the top spot that doesn't mean he hasn't had an amazing year. Divide is by far one of my favourite albums of the year, pretty much every song on it I love. Ed always does really well at sticking to his own style whilst reflecting the music of the time which is one of the reasons why I think he remains so popular year after year. He is more loved and popular now than ever and is definitely regarded as solid gold in the music industry.
Someone who I've always loved since I was younger is Demi Lovato. I loved her on Disney Channel but Demi has made such a big statement and name for herself in the music industry that you'd never think she was on Disney Channel a few years ago. Over the past couple of years she's proven why she's a woman to take seriously with power anthems such as Cool for the Summer (2015), Confident (2015), and Sorry Not Sorry (2017). She's someone with pure star quality who only focuses making her grass greener; she's no competition because she's in a league of her own. Plus, she's got one of the best belting voices in today's music industry. I look forward to seeing her success in 2018.
Charlie Puth has slowly become more popular over the past couple of years. Until this year I saw him as just a "sweet" singer. I don't know if that's the right word but what I mean is he's always been that like young-boy in love type of song vibe which is evident in Marvin Gaye (2015), Some Type of Love (2016), One Call Away (2016), I Wont Tell A Soul (2016) etc. I've always enjoyed Charlie's songs but this year he's really caught my 'Attention' with his new bad-boy attitude in his latest music releases: Attention (see what I did there) and How Long. I have been obsessed with his new attitude and style of music. I can't wait to see where he takes that in 2018.
I've loved Kesha ever since I was a teenager, she's one of the artists I've grown up with as she's grown up and changed. This girl has been through hell and back over the past few years because of the court case against Dr. Luke, which I'm not gonna fully get into as we'd be here forever. But because of all of that it really set her back in releasing new music and it's no surprise she needed time to work on herself and spend valuable time with family etc over that period of her life. But I'm so happy she's back and stronger than ever before. She's definitely not the same girl from the Tik Tok days anymore, but her new music is so raw and real and I love that. I think her new album Rainbow is my favourite album of this year. I love every single song on it, especially Rainbow, Learn to Let Go, and Praying. Kesha is living proof that even the hardest things you experience in life really do make you stronger. I'm so excited to see her flourish in her new style and music through 2018.
Favourite YouTuber of The Year
This one has been a no-brainer for me since this time last year. Now Shane was in the running for my favourite YouTuber last year however I only properly started watching him around October last year I think so I hadn't really experienced his content enough to truly know if he was my YouTuber of the year. However, I said to myself after this whole upcoming year (2017) if I still love him as much as I do now (end of 2016) then he'll definitely be my YouTuber of the year this time next year.
Tah dah, a whole year later and I still adore him as much as this time last year. Honestly if you guys haven't watched at least one video from Shane Dawson, where have you been?! Shane is so different from any other YouTuber on YouTube right now because he is so up to date and current with what people want to watch. One of my favourite things about Shane is it doesn't matter what video he makes, it's his personality that makes people enjoy what he creates. I initially started watching Shane because of his conspiracy videos when I was really getting into that and he is the conspiracy King! But ever since then the love for his other videos, i.e. food, beauty, hacks, weird side of YouTube, adventures with Drew, Garret, and Shane etc. And even more recently, how he creates the perfect balance of random and funny with heartfelt and meaningful. I've watched every single video at least three times because he just makes me smile and laugh all the time. He's at the top of my list of favourite YouTuber's of all time. I'm so excited to see what comes his way in 2018. Congratulations Shane on an incredible year!
Favourite Film of The Year
My second favourite film of the year only made it into the top list a couple of days ago when I went to watch it with Heather for her birthday. I've been seeing adverts for this all throughout December and just from the adverts it looked amazing and I was so excited to see it. As I only saw this two days ago and it's made it as one of my favourites that should tell you how good it is!
This film is absolutely sensational, it is by far one of the best filmed musicals of all time in my opinion. The score is amazing, the story is really interesting, the choreography is incredible, and the cast are sensational. Whoever was the casting director for this film did an amazing job at casting the entire musical. Every single person in this film was cast perfectly, whether they were a main role or a chorus role. Plus, Hugh Jackman is incredible, I never realised until I watched this that he could even sing. He's the perfect front-man in leading this musical to success. I love musicals like this that are about putting on a show or creating something within the story that is already a show, do you get what I mean? Which is similar to La La Land (which I've still not watched yet) but with that said Heather said this was 100% better than La La Land. The story is so easy to follow and it has the perfect balance between acting and song to move the story along. I don't like it when there's not enough songs as what's the point in calling it a musical but I also don't like it when there's too many songs and no acting at all. This has the perfect balance as there's eleven songs in total with a couple of reprises. One thing to note as well is I love every single song in this musical, usually there's a couple in some musicals that I'm not bothered about and don't really care to listen to. But this musical I adore every single song and have had them on repeat for two days straight. Also one thing to note is although the story is a period drama, I'm not sure completely what time period it is, somewhere between 1800-1900, it is uses a more modern musical score which I really like.
It's only been out for a short period of time and has already been nominated for a number of different awards. I'm absolutely obsessed and in love with this musical already; I watch musicals like these and it makes me wish that life was a musical. I'd adore to be in a musical like this one in the future. If you haven't seen it yet go and watch it because it's perfect! Even if you're not a fan of musicals I think you'll like this. Absolutely love, love, love!
Favourite TV Show of The Year
This is another no-brainer for me. This show came out back in September/October and I got so hooked. I absolutely love shows like this where you're trying to figure what's true; the "who done it" sort of vibes. This show had me on the edge of my seat every single time I watched an episode because there were so many twists and turns and you didn't know who you could really trust. Oh my god it was just so good. ITV always make such incredible drama's, I'd highly recommend watching if you love shows like this. It should still be available on the ITV Hub as it's not long finished on TV really. Plus, they're making a season two and I have so many questions left wracking my brain from the first season. I'm so excited for season two it's unreal!
Favourite Fashion Trend of The Year
This year fashion has been a bit of a strange one for me personally. I feel like each part of the year has had a different trend, e.g. bralettes, crop tops, crop jumpers, chockers, pom poms, massive glasses, mesh clothing, clear jeans, fishnet tights under ripped jeans, backpacks, bardot everything, body suits, aline skirts, and probably many more that I can't remember. But either way this year I felt like the fashion industry just went fuck it and threw it all into one big mix. But there is one trend that I feel like has been up at the top since at least the start of the summer this year. Along with the bardot style tops and dress came the belle sleeves/ ruffled sleeves. This is by far my favourite trend from 2017, I have so many going out tops and even a couple of jumpers with these style of sleeves now. I think they're really flattering and add a little something more to a plain top/ dress. Love this trend and it's definitely going to be one I continue loving during the early months of 2018.
Favourite Perfume/ Body Spray of The Year
During this year my skincare routine has still been pretty simple and basic and as the end of the year was approaching I didn't think I was going to have a favourite in this category just because I hadn't tried anything that really knocked me out the park this year, until September.
During September when I went back to uni, the girls and I were in Primark just having a browse as it had been so long since we'd visited the one in Chester. Looking round the beauty and skincare department, my friend Katie and I spotted this and they had this size or a slightly smaller like handbag size. So we both decided to pick it up and give it ago as cucumber and aloe are meant to be good for your skin. I didn't expect anything major as it was only £2.00 but for £2.00 this stuff is amazing. The main reason I'd bought it was because my skin was just not having a fun time and I think it had something to do with not having enough water in my system as my skin just looked dull, tired, and dehydrated. Luckily now after having more water my skin is looking much better but I'm still continuing using this and my skin just loves it. I don't know what it is but it just really livens up my skin and makes it look refreshed and awake. Which is perfect for those early morning starts, when I don't want to put makeup on but still have my skin looking good, and it's even good to just spritz a little bit over the top of my base makeup to help it settle into my skin more. I love this stuff, I first had a mini bottle which I used up in two weeks and now I'm on my second large bottle. I'd recommend giving it a go if you're skins feeling a little dull or even if you just like your skin to look good and refreshed. Love this stuff, it's definitely a staple in my skincare routine now!
Favourite Beauty Product of The Year
This favourite has been clear to me since I started using this product. I ordered this back in April and started using it in May and I haven't picked up anything else since. This is Tanya Burr's Rosy Flush Cheek palette and has been my go-to contour, blush, and highlight kit throughout this year. I just love it, it's the perfect amount of warmth for my skin without looking like a streak of mud on my face, the blush is beautiful and rosy as the palette is named, and the highlight is a beautiful light golden champagne colour. This is the perfect summer contour kit even though I've loved it all year round. I've been using this for eight months now and I've only just hit pan on the highlighter and the other two have dipped a bit but I'm not close to pan yet. It's going to be tough for another set to take it's place in 2018.
Favourite Beauty Trend of The Year
This year everyone was obsessed with glowing skin and warm toned eye makeup, especially in the summer. But one trend I was obsessed with throughout the summer and the autumn was putting highlight on the centre of my lips which really tied these warm toned looks together I felt. The style seemed to work best with matte lipsticks in warm or neutral shades and then applying golden shimmery highlight or eyeshadows to the centre to make the pop. I still love this trend now but I don't apply it as often as I did throughout the rest of the year, definitely a popular one through the summer though. Who knows, maybe it will become a thing for me again in the summer of 2018.
Cheers! Everyone raise your glass for the favourites of 2017. Now if you've been here a while, you'll know that normally this portion of our evening is counting down my top makeup looks of the year. However I've decided to change it to my top posts of the year instead because A, I've not actually posted that many makeup tutorials this year and B, I've noticed this year more than ever my most popular posts in general are more lifestyle based. So I have gone through my whole yearly timeline of blogging this year and picked out the posts that have been most popular with all of you lot. So the way I decided to choose; they made it on the list if they got 80+ views. There's no particular order I'm just gonna go in chronological order.
So the
first top moment from 2017 was getting the opportunity to be President of Drama
Society. Now did everything always go the way I wanted it to? No. Did
everything go to plan? No. Was every single bit of being President enjoyable?
No. But would I do it all over again? Yes.
Katie
So without further ado, let's start the countdown with my favourites of the year.
Favourite Artist of The Year
Every single year I have always had one artist that just stands out to me as someone who I've listened to over the course of the year and been obsessed with etc. However, this year has been really difficult for me to pick just one because music this year hasn't been the most amazing of all time but I feel like it's been good in terms of just for the year; it's like represented this year. One thing I've also noticed this year is so many artists have done so well for themselves and really made a statement in the music industry as well as some proper bangers for this year.
I had a list of seven artists that have been my top favourites over the course of the whole year and as you can imagine it's been so difficult to pick just one. So I've narrowed it down to just two and for the fourth year in a row, the girls are still going strong in the top spot.
My first favourite of this year is Selena Gomez. Selena has had such a successful year and has definitely fully broken away from her Disney Channel days. Not only has she released some of my favourite songs from this year, Wolves, It Ain't Me, Nobody, Only You, she's also been getting back into the acting world again by being an executive producer for the highly successful Netflix show 13 Reasons Why. She's had such a successful year and is getting involved in certain areas of work I never expected her to, especially at 25. She's an example of a true female boss who runs her own life. I'm so excited to see where she goes next year with her entire career. Congrats Miss Gomez!
Some true females who have bossed the year with their incredible music, style, and sass is Little Mix. These guys have had a phenomenal year from the end of 2016 all the way to now. In terms of music this year these guys have been on it; Shout Out To My Ex, Touch, You Gotta Not, Oops, No More Sad Songs, Power. These guys have honestly stormed this year, owned the charts, and have proved why they're the most popular girl group in the world right now. So on point with everything they do: style, lyrics, choreography, sassy, and given us some proper power anthems this year. Massive congratulations to Little Mix, I can't wait to see what next year brings for these guys.
Now I know I've chosen my all time two favourites of this year but these were the other guys competing for the top spot and as I've loved these guys throughout the year as well and I just want to give them a little special mention.
Camila Cabello has been doing incredibly well since leaving Fifth Harmony and she has definitely proved why going solo was the best thing for her career. Even when she was in Fifth Harmony, her name was the one everyone knew out of the five of them and even before she decided to fully leave the band she already started doing solo bits here and there. E.g. when she featured on Shawn Mendes' I Know What You Did Last Summer. 2017 is only just the beginning for this already incredible young female; I'm obsessed with I Have Questions, Crying in the Club, and Havana. I can't wait to see where Camila's career leads her too.
Ed Sheeran has been someone else who has had a sensational year in the music industry and was so close to my top spot, he could've been the first male artist ever to be my number one of the year. But even though Selena and Little Mix beat him to the top spot that doesn't mean he hasn't had an amazing year. Divide is by far one of my favourite albums of the year, pretty much every song on it I love. Ed always does really well at sticking to his own style whilst reflecting the music of the time which is one of the reasons why I think he remains so popular year after year. He is more loved and popular now than ever and is definitely regarded as solid gold in the music industry.
Someone who I've always loved since I was younger is Demi Lovato. I loved her on Disney Channel but Demi has made such a big statement and name for herself in the music industry that you'd never think she was on Disney Channel a few years ago. Over the past couple of years she's proven why she's a woman to take seriously with power anthems such as Cool for the Summer (2015), Confident (2015), and Sorry Not Sorry (2017). She's someone with pure star quality who only focuses making her grass greener; she's no competition because she's in a league of her own. Plus, she's got one of the best belting voices in today's music industry. I look forward to seeing her success in 2018.
Charlie Puth has slowly become more popular over the past couple of years. Until this year I saw him as just a "sweet" singer. I don't know if that's the right word but what I mean is he's always been that like young-boy in love type of song vibe which is evident in Marvin Gaye (2015), Some Type of Love (2016), One Call Away (2016), I Wont Tell A Soul (2016) etc. I've always enjoyed Charlie's songs but this year he's really caught my 'Attention' with his new bad-boy attitude in his latest music releases: Attention (see what I did there) and How Long. I have been obsessed with his new attitude and style of music. I can't wait to see where he takes that in 2018.
I've loved Kesha ever since I was a teenager, she's one of the artists I've grown up with as she's grown up and changed. This girl has been through hell and back over the past few years because of the court case against Dr. Luke, which I'm not gonna fully get into as we'd be here forever. But because of all of that it really set her back in releasing new music and it's no surprise she needed time to work on herself and spend valuable time with family etc over that period of her life. But I'm so happy she's back and stronger than ever before. She's definitely not the same girl from the Tik Tok days anymore, but her new music is so raw and real and I love that. I think her new album Rainbow is my favourite album of this year. I love every single song on it, especially Rainbow, Learn to Let Go, and Praying. Kesha is living proof that even the hardest things you experience in life really do make you stronger. I'm so excited to see her flourish in her new style and music through 2018.
Favourite YouTuber of The Year
This one has been a no-brainer for me since this time last year. Now Shane was in the running for my favourite YouTuber last year however I only properly started watching him around October last year I think so I hadn't really experienced his content enough to truly know if he was my YouTuber of the year. However, I said to myself after this whole upcoming year (2017) if I still love him as much as I do now (end of 2016) then he'll definitely be my YouTuber of the year this time next year.
Tah dah, a whole year later and I still adore him as much as this time last year. Honestly if you guys haven't watched at least one video from Shane Dawson, where have you been?! Shane is so different from any other YouTuber on YouTube right now because he is so up to date and current with what people want to watch. One of my favourite things about Shane is it doesn't matter what video he makes, it's his personality that makes people enjoy what he creates. I initially started watching Shane because of his conspiracy videos when I was really getting into that and he is the conspiracy King! But ever since then the love for his other videos, i.e. food, beauty, hacks, weird side of YouTube, adventures with Drew, Garret, and Shane etc. And even more recently, how he creates the perfect balance of random and funny with heartfelt and meaningful. I've watched every single video at least three times because he just makes me smile and laugh all the time. He's at the top of my list of favourite YouTuber's of all time. I'm so excited to see what comes his way in 2018. Congratulations Shane on an incredible year!
Favourite Film of The Year
First favourite film of this year is Beauty and The Beast. This particular Disney live action was so highly anticipated as I know so many people adore Beauty and The Beast. Back in 2015 when the Cinderella live action was made set the bar incredibly high because the CGI in that film is insane. Live action Disney films to me are meant to bring the original Disney magic to life as what happens in the majority of Disney princess stories would more than likely not happen in real life. The Cinderella live action is one of my favourite films because I watched it and said "That's how you do a Disney live action." So if you guys haven't seen it, I'd highly recommend it.
So with all of that in mind from Cinderella, I expected incredible things from Beauty and The Beast and it did not disappoint. This film is magical, the whole set, the look, the CGI work gone into The Beast, Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, Chip etc. Be Our Guest is one of my favourite numbers in this film because it's insane! The work taken for just one number to be perfect in this film is evident. If you haven't seen Beauty and The Beast, where have you been?! Everyone has been going crazy over this film, especially Primark releasing new things to do with the film left right and centre. By far one of the best films of the year and one of my favourite films of the year.
My second favourite film of the year only made it into the top list a couple of days ago when I went to watch it with Heather for her birthday. I've been seeing adverts for this all throughout December and just from the adverts it looked amazing and I was so excited to see it. As I only saw this two days ago and it's made it as one of my favourites that should tell you how good it is!
This film is absolutely sensational, it is by far one of the best filmed musicals of all time in my opinion. The score is amazing, the story is really interesting, the choreography is incredible, and the cast are sensational. Whoever was the casting director for this film did an amazing job at casting the entire musical. Every single person in this film was cast perfectly, whether they were a main role or a chorus role. Plus, Hugh Jackman is incredible, I never realised until I watched this that he could even sing. He's the perfect front-man in leading this musical to success. I love musicals like this that are about putting on a show or creating something within the story that is already a show, do you get what I mean? Which is similar to La La Land (which I've still not watched yet) but with that said Heather said this was 100% better than La La Land. The story is so easy to follow and it has the perfect balance between acting and song to move the story along. I don't like it when there's not enough songs as what's the point in calling it a musical but I also don't like it when there's too many songs and no acting at all. This has the perfect balance as there's eleven songs in total with a couple of reprises. One thing to note as well is I love every single song in this musical, usually there's a couple in some musicals that I'm not bothered about and don't really care to listen to. But this musical I adore every single song and have had them on repeat for two days straight. Also one thing to note is although the story is a period drama, I'm not sure completely what time period it is, somewhere between 1800-1900, it is uses a more modern musical score which I really like.
It's only been out for a short period of time and has already been nominated for a number of different awards. I'm absolutely obsessed and in love with this musical already; I watch musicals like these and it makes me wish that life was a musical. I'd adore to be in a musical like this one in the future. If you haven't seen it yet go and watch it because it's perfect! Even if you're not a fan of musicals I think you'll like this. Absolutely love, love, love!
Favourite TV Show of The Year
This is another no-brainer for me. This show came out back in September/October and I got so hooked. I absolutely love shows like this where you're trying to figure what's true; the "who done it" sort of vibes. This show had me on the edge of my seat every single time I watched an episode because there were so many twists and turns and you didn't know who you could really trust. Oh my god it was just so good. ITV always make such incredible drama's, I'd highly recommend watching if you love shows like this. It should still be available on the ITV Hub as it's not long finished on TV really. Plus, they're making a season two and I have so many questions left wracking my brain from the first season. I'm so excited for season two it's unreal!
Favourite Fashion Trend of The Year
This year fashion has been a bit of a strange one for me personally. I feel like each part of the year has had a different trend, e.g. bralettes, crop tops, crop jumpers, chockers, pom poms, massive glasses, mesh clothing, clear jeans, fishnet tights under ripped jeans, backpacks, bardot everything, body suits, aline skirts, and probably many more that I can't remember. But either way this year I felt like the fashion industry just went fuck it and threw it all into one big mix. But there is one trend that I feel like has been up at the top since at least the start of the summer this year. Along with the bardot style tops and dress came the belle sleeves/ ruffled sleeves. This is by far my favourite trend from 2017, I have so many going out tops and even a couple of jumpers with these style of sleeves now. I think they're really flattering and add a little something more to a plain top/ dress. Love this trend and it's definitely going to be one I continue loving during the early months of 2018.
Favourite Perfume/ Body Spray of The Year
This time last year I was kindly gifted these for Christmas from my auntie, uncle, and cousins and I have loved these all through the year, especially English Velvet. This year in general I've been more into body sprays than I have perfume because they're a lot lighter in scent to wear on a daily basis. I can't tell you what the top notes and things are in this body spray but it feels really light and fresh which I've loved for everyday use. I've loved it that much that it's basically empty, I need to get another bottle ASAP!
Favourite Skincare Product of The Year
During September when I went back to uni, the girls and I were in Primark just having a browse as it had been so long since we'd visited the one in Chester. Looking round the beauty and skincare department, my friend Katie and I spotted this and they had this size or a slightly smaller like handbag size. So we both decided to pick it up and give it ago as cucumber and aloe are meant to be good for your skin. I didn't expect anything major as it was only £2.00 but for £2.00 this stuff is amazing. The main reason I'd bought it was because my skin was just not having a fun time and I think it had something to do with not having enough water in my system as my skin just looked dull, tired, and dehydrated. Luckily now after having more water my skin is looking much better but I'm still continuing using this and my skin just loves it. I don't know what it is but it just really livens up my skin and makes it look refreshed and awake. Which is perfect for those early morning starts, when I don't want to put makeup on but still have my skin looking good, and it's even good to just spritz a little bit over the top of my base makeup to help it settle into my skin more. I love this stuff, I first had a mini bottle which I used up in two weeks and now I'm on my second large bottle. I'd recommend giving it a go if you're skins feeling a little dull or even if you just like your skin to look good and refreshed. Love this stuff, it's definitely a staple in my skincare routine now!
Favourite Beauty Product of The Year
Favourite Beauty Trend of The Year
This year everyone was obsessed with glowing skin and warm toned eye makeup, especially in the summer. But one trend I was obsessed with throughout the summer and the autumn was putting highlight on the centre of my lips which really tied these warm toned looks together I felt. The style seemed to work best with matte lipsticks in warm or neutral shades and then applying golden shimmery highlight or eyeshadows to the centre to make the pop. I still love this trend now but I don't apply it as often as I did throughout the rest of the year, definitely a popular one through the summer though. Who knows, maybe it will become a thing for me again in the summer of 2018.
Cheers! Everyone raise your glass for the favourites of 2017. Now if you've been here a while, you'll know that normally this portion of our evening is counting down my top makeup looks of the year. However I've decided to change it to my top posts of the year instead because A, I've not actually posted that many makeup tutorials this year and B, I've noticed this year more than ever my most popular posts in general are more lifestyle based. So I have gone through my whole yearly timeline of blogging this year and picked out the posts that have been most popular with all of you lot. So the way I decided to choose; they made it on the list if they got 80+ views. There's no particular order I'm just gonna go in chronological order.
9.4.17 -
Coffee Chats: Relationships & Breakups - 116 views.
24.7.17 -
Try on Haul - 82 views.
29.7.17 -
Baby Names I Love But Wont Use - 90 views.
4.8.17 -
Summer Playlist - 93 views.
5.8.17 -
Visiting Little Amsterdam - 261 views.
10.8.17 -
25 Things I Want To Do Before 25 - 83 views.
22.8.17 -
Try on Haul - 97 views.
25.8.17 -
Tattoos I Love and Might Get - 99 views.
27.8.17 -
Coffee Chats: Living Our Lives Online, Makeup Chats,
and The
Upcoming Season - 126 views.
29.8.17 -
First Impressions of GBBO - 94 views.
31.8.17 -
Sunset Inspired Makeup Tutorial - 133 views.
31.8.17 -
Summer Favourites - 92 views.
4.9.17 -
Mindful Mondays: Opinions on ASMR, New Inspirations, and Our Lives on the
Universe Scale - 160 views.
8.9.17 -
Waterstones Wishlist - 86 views.
11.9.17 -
Paradise Cactus Soap - 136 views.
18.9.17 -
Primark's My Perfect Colour Foundation - 346 views.
20.9.17 -
I've Been Nominated - 203 views.
2.12.17 -
Christmas Decor Haul - 113 views.
3.12.17 -
Winter Skincare Routine - 84 views.
5.12.17 -
Christmas Wishlist - 121 views.
14.12.17 -
Favourite Shops for Christmas - 85 views.
17.12.17 -
Em's 21st Birthday - 111 views.
25.12.17 -
The Last Three Days Before Christmas - 274 views.
27.12.17 -
What I Received for Christmas - 138 views.
These are
my overall top posts from this year and I'm not sharing the amount of views to
brag, I'm sharing it so we can see and compare what you guys have been really
interested in. The first thing you'll notice that the majority of the most popular
posts have come from the second half of the year and that is because from
July-end of September I am at home and don't have uni to worry about and other
parts of my life that had to take priority etc. So basically those are the
months I really use to focus on my blog. Another thing I've also noticed is the
more regularly I keep uploading throughout the month the more engagement I will
carry on getting, especially because I'm promoting my posts on my Instagram and
Twitter constantly. So that's something I'm definitely going to try and do more
of in 2018, to blog more regularly throughout the entire year not just the
second half of the year. Something else that is evident, even though most of
the views on these posts are still quite stretched out, is that you guys prefer
more dominantly lifestyle based posts and especially following me around and
just seeing what I'm up to in my general life. So that is again something I'm
going to try and do more of next year.
I mentioned
this in a different post earlier on this year but there was a point around
April I think where my posts were not doing badly but weren't doing their best,
not as good as they've been doing in the second half of the year. And at first
I couldn't really figure out why as I hadn't been doing anything majorly
different to what I'd been doing before. But then I realised, it was
because I wasn't doing anything different. The problem now a
days if you're a blogger or a YouTuber, it's hard to not fall into the trap of
being like everyone else and doing things like everyone else. E.g. reviewing
the same product as everyone else, doing the same gold eye makeup and red lip
like everyone has already done. I feel like because so many new products as
well as "trends" got thrown out into the world this year,
particularly in the beauty community, that it caused pretty much everyone to
create the same if not similar content to everyone else. And I fell into that
trap and that caused me to see a great dip in my engagement with you guys which
I noticed much more as I'm a smaller blogger.
Fast
forward to now, after I realised that I took a step back to really think
about what I wanted to share on my blog and then took an even further step back
and thought about why I started this blog all the way back in 2013. I started
this blog for me, a place for me to share opinions, advice, makeup tutorials,
hauls, etc. Over the past four years this blog has grown because I've grown and
it's become more me because I've become more me. So even though the posts I do
now still fall into the similar categories of lifestyle, makeup, and fashion
just like anyone else's blog or YouTube channel. I think the reason they're
doing so well now is because they're posts that represent me. I don't force
myself to do them for anyone necessarily, I create them because they're things
I enjoy creating and enjoying reading/ watching from other people and if you
guys really enjoy them too or take something from what I create then that is a
bonus.
To add onto
all that saga already, one thing that also wasn't good earlier this year was I
kept comparing my content to other bloggers which I know I should never do
because A, it's not good for my self confidence and B, I'm never going to
be "as good as them" because I'm not them.
And that is something to remember throughout every area of your life, never
compare yourself to anyone because you're you and not them.
So once that became a realisation as well, I decided to focus on making my
grass greener instead of pining over someone else's. And ever since then
the posts I post became more me again and I enjoyed creating them again and
that reflected on the engagement I received as you guys also really enjoyed
them which then makes me want to carry on making more. I am a firm believer in
everything happens for a reason (however small) and in this case if this
revelation hadn't happened then more than likely the engagement on my posts
wouldn't be as good as it is now.
As our countdown continues it is time to talk about my top moments of 2017. The moments and the memories I look back on with a smile on my face.
This was
honestly one of the best opportunities and hardest opportunities of my life.
Looking back I did realise in some areas where I should've handle problems
better and believed in myself a lot more than I did. But is everything always
going to go perfectly? Of course not because that is life. Even though I struggled
a lot through the second half of the term being President the best part about
the whole experience was seeing these guys grow as performers, seeing
friendships form that will last a life time, seeing pure enjoyment at
rehearsals on these guys' faces, and becoming so close that you consider each
other as family. When you run a society you see a lot of other elements from
another side which is definitely what I saw. I learned a lot about me as a
person and what I can deal with and what I couldn't at the time. Essentially I
grew up a lot during the experience and learnt a lot for next time I do
something like this again and one day I do hope to do something like this
again. But within all of that process we put on two successful shows: A
Night At The Movicals and Made in Dagenham. Which
will always hold a special place in my heart as I continue growing into being
the creator, performer, and director I want to be.
Continuing
the Drama Society hype, something else that is a top memory from 2017 is deciding
to go back for my final year. It's quite a bittersweet feeling going back to
being in the society after running it for a whole year. We got a whole bunch of
new faces this year which is lovely as they're all such wonderful people. But
it also meant a lot to me to see so many people from last year come back again,
so clearly the committee and I from last year did something right to make them
want to come back again. Something else that I notice even more this year after
being on committee last year and experiencing it then is when people are
negative, don't listen, and just don't have an overall positive attitude. So I
notice a lot more of the little things now after a whole year worth of
committee experience than what I would've noticed when I was in first year and
just in the society. It's also bittersweet to see the new committee blossom
into the roles that myself and my committee were last year. The final year in
Drama Society so far has been extremely bittersweet but it is wonderful to get
to perform again and to perform with such wonderful, kind-hearted, and talented
people. Drama Does Disney was an absolute pleasure to be apart
of and bring the Disney magic to the stage with these lovely lot. I'm so
excited for next term when we're going to be doing Sister Act. Such
a fab musical to be doing as my last chance to perform with Drama Society. I'll
update you guys on how that goes when the auditions are done and we start
rehearsals
A massive
highlight for me was performance practice. I spoke about this earlier in the
year on here but if you guys didn't manage to catch that post/ posts;
performance practice was a module I took part in at the end of second year
where we had six weeks to put on a professional show. This experience was
honestly one of the best out of my university experience and something I will
treasure forever. During second year we all grew slightly closer with one
another due to our module choices. But when the majority of our year took part
in this we grew so close to people we hadn't really even spoken to before as we
were together everyday for six weeks. Now you guys know I'm all about
positivity and happiness but during this experience was when a lot of traumatic
events were taking place in the world and we still ask ourselves today when
will it end. But this whole experience together was underpinned by the attacks
in Manchester, London, and in the rest of the world. So this whole time period together really
highlighted to us how much we truly love and care for each other and how much
of a family we truly are. This experience I will treasure forever because it
was the last chance we all had to do a full module together as a whole working
unit and not in small groups. By far one of the best times of my life and I
look back on it with a massive smile on my face. I love these guys to
bits.
Adding onto
that, I passed second year with a 2:1 which is what I aimed to get! I got a 2:2
in first year, a 2:1 in second year, and I'm really hoping I get a 1:1 in third
year. I'm trying my best to really knuckle down this year and get that first!
If I graduated with a first it would honestly be one of my greatest
achievements.
Another
massive achievement for me is reaching over 100 views on quite a few of my blog
posts. I've never ever been close to that number until this year and it means
the world to know that you guys actually read my blog and enjoy my content and
like I said earlier, it makes me want to keep on making more. I pinch myself
everyday when a post gets 100 views or over; I can't wait to continue making
more content for myself and you guys through 2018.
The main
thing 2017 has taught me is who matters the most to me and who my true friends
really are. I feel like I include this every single year as top moments and
memories in these countdown posts but let's be honest if we didn't have our
family and friends what would our lives even be like? Every single year, this
year more than ever, I appreciate my family and friends more and more and I
think it's because of all the awful things happening in the world right now but
also because we're all growing up and going on our own paths in life. So time
spent with them I fully appreciate every single minute because as awful as it
sounds, you never know when that time could be taken away from you.
This collection of photos are across the whole of 2017 and even a few from 2016. I feel so blessed to have all of these beautiful people in my life that I call my family and my friends. These guys make me smile so hard my face hurts and make me laugh until I cry. I am so thankful and grateful to share my life with these guys. I love them with all my heart.
We're officially on the home stretch now my lovelies and 2018 is literally just around the corner. So we've hit the portion of our evening where it is time to talk about our "New Years Resolutions." I personally prefer to call them goals because saying something is a goal gives the thought process of working towards it instead of making sure 100% you have to do it in the year you've set yourself to do it. I made goals last year instead of resolutions and instantly they already felt more achievable and do-able. So that is the first thing I would suggest to guys this year; if you find it hard to stick to resolutions then try calling them goals and take whatever it is throughout the year at your own pace.
So this time last year I had three goals for 2017:
1. Sort Out Your Shit in relation to uni, drama society, personal life, money, health, etc. Overall even though I am not perfect and sometimes in life other things take priority I think I am slowly getting there when it comes to this. I've never noticed this until this year but when I set something to do for a certain day that could potentially be done on another day then I wont do it. So something that is best for me to do is to set weekly to do lists with everything I need to do over the course of the week and then I seem to get things done more efficiently. So that is something I'm going to carry on through into 2018 to keep me on top and organised. I've got a new diary for this year as at the minute I'm just not feeling my Filofax so I'm going back to a diary for now to see if I prefer using that. As in a diary you solely focus on just dates and what's coming up in your current life schedule. Whereas in a Filofax there's room for everything else but I'm not finding it a good way to manage everything at the minute. So we shall see how planning in a standard diary goes for now.
2. To Blog More Often - To be honest, I thought I'd done even worse at blogging this year than I did last year because of how much I had on this year. But when I reviewed the year of how much I've posted, the only months I didn't post anything were March and October because they're two of the busiest months of the year for me, especially for the past couple of years because of uni. I would say that over the course of this year I feel like I've personally achieved this goal. Sometimes it wasn't always regular, i.e. every week for every month. However I made sure I blogged whenever I did have time. By far one of the biggest successes from my blog this year has been Blogust as that was when I really dedicated all my time and energy into blogging every day as I unfortunately didn't manage to find a summer job. But that was when my engagement and views took a turn for the better and kept going up. So for the year a head I now need to find the perfect balance of blogging when it isn't everyday but make sure it's on a regular schedule to keep the engagement I currently have due to recent posts.
3. To Never Stop Showing Love, Being Happy, and Being Healthy - I've had moments this year when I've been down and been struggling. I'm a human and I have feelings and we all deal with certain things differently. But for the most part across the course of the whole year I have been extremely happy and positive and I've been trying my best to not let the small things get to me and I've been trying to use them as ways to evaluate who I am and try and apply them to making me a better person. I've definitely improved my health as I do a lot of walking all around Chester, I'm drinking more water, and eating more fruit. So although it's definitely not complete it's definitely a good start and will definitely keep developing through the upcoming year.
So I've got a few goals for the year ahead as well as hopefully carrying on the goals from 2017 into 2018. But for 2018:
1. Stick to a Skincare Routine - Now you guys will have seen recently I posted my winter skincare routine and it's a pretty basic one simply because I'm still not good at keeping on top of things. So having products that are easy to use and quick and do what I need them to do is exactly what I need at this point in my life as I get quite lazy with things like skincare. But as I've found a facial skincare routine that is currently working well for me, I'm going to aim to stick with it but something else I need to do is figure out a whole body skincare routine. I was kindly gifted so much shower and bath products that came along with skincare bits as well for my whole body. So I really don't have any excuse to not get my use out of them and get my skin looking beautiful and healthy on the outside.
2. For Everyone I Love and Care for to be Healthy, Happy, Loved, and Successful - This year more than ever I've realised how much is changing/ in the process of changing, not just people but situations and that is because we're all growing up. In relation to uni I know that 2018 will be the year that will tell me who I want to remain in my life after uni has finished, some of my friends have already figured out what they want to do after uni or what they're thinking about doing. I haven't even thought about it yet so that is going to have to be something I start to consider soon. Something else I notice more and more is how much my family is growing up, it's crazy now that all of my cousins and I are grown ups. I still remember when we were kids and used to meet up on the weekends to play together. So no matter where myself, my family, and my friends all end up I just hope that we are all healthy, happy, loved, and successful at whatever we choose to do.
3. Take More Opportunities - As this is my last year of uni one thing I've realised, quite recently actually, is that I need to start to take more opportunities for myself. This year I've focused a lot more on me, going out on my own and doing things I like to do or go to things I want to go to whether anyone wants to come with me or not. But something I need to do this year is take more opportunities for myself in terms of my future career. Now that does scare me a bit as I know where I'd like to be but I have no idea how to get there, so that is something else to figure out. Another reason why it's so scary is because I need to focus on uni because it's the year worth the most but I also need to figure out what to do once it finishes as I don't just want to move home and get a dead end job. So that is something I really need to focus on and figure out what would be the best move for me to take. But along the way, if something comes up that could potentially work out, whether that's in regards to drama, blogging, a good job opportunity I need to take it because I'll never know if I don't try.
Well guys, that is another year on Blogger over, done, completed. It still feels only like yesterday when I said I'm going into my fourth year of blogging and now we're going into the fifth year. As if it's the fifth anniversary of being a blogger, maybe in 2018 I'll do a five year celebration post or something. Overall even though 2017 wasn't my favourite year of all time, it was once again met with ultimate highs and ultimate lows but overall wasn't the most horrendous year personally for me. Now whether you've had a good or a bad year, just remember that not every single year can be your year as people say. And I also hope regardless of what 2017 threw your way, good or bad, that you guys are entering 2018 with a clear mind and a positive vibe.
I always say this every single year but I do mean it thank you to all my amazing family and friends for everything they always do. I genuinely would be no where without them by my side. And I even met some new friends from this year at uni as well as blogger friends that I hope to carry on getting to know and supporting through 2018.
As well as my family and friends, I have to say a massive thank you to all of you guys. The amount of love and support you guys have shown to me this year with all the content I've created has been a standout highlight alone. It has been a really successful year for my blog if nothing else and I really hope to carry that success on in 2018 and just get bigger and better. Thank you guys for every read, every share, every like, every comment, every follow because it truly means the world and you guys will never fully know how much.
I wish you all the biggest Happy New Year however you guys celebrate and I hope that 2018 brings you nothing but the good and is full of love, light, and joy.
I'll see you all in January 2018.
Love,
Katie
This is such a lovely recap of the year! So much depth & though gone into iy. Can’t wait to see some posts for 2018! X
ReplyDeleteThank you my lovely, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for the support.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Katie x