March Birchbox - International Women's Day

Happy International Women's Day! Not that we deserve just one day! Just like last year, this month's box celebrates IWD. Celebrating and empowering women of the past, present and future is so important. I went to an all girls' school and we were really encouraged to push ourselves to be successful. It was even in our school motto. Let's continue to celebrate all the women in our lives, remember those incredible women in our past and empower the women of the future.. and why not treat yourself too! Beautiful Birchbox goodies for beautiful women? I think so! 

March Plan With Me - A Few Changes

It feels fitting to share my March bullet journal spread, for the first blog post of the month, which falls on the first day! I really enjoyed creating and sharing all my spreads from last month, and was excited to start with the next. This month's theme follows Amanda Rach Lee's March Plan With Me. I decided to go all green and I really like how it has turned out. Amanda's spreads are always very easy to recreate, and look great.

Current Beauty Favourites - February 2020

As someone with a ridiculous amount of beauty products, I so often get drawn into using the same products again, and again. So when I find a new (or old) product that I really like, it is always quite exciting. It has been a while since I did a favourites post, and I've discovered some great products, which I cannot believe I wasn't using for so long before. A lot of these have also solved a lot of beauty 'problems' that I was having.

Is My Beauty Stash Recyclable?

The impact of plastic on the environment feels like a never-ending struggle. At the end of last year, the Royal Statistical Society found that only 9% of all plastic is properly recycled. Whilst more brands are bringing out plastic alternatives, coffee-shops offering discounts to customers with reusable cups; the one area that I don’t think gets discussed enough is plastic and the beauty industry.

My Desert Island Beauty Picks - Makeup Brushes

In all my desert island beauty series, I have featured at least three of each product. Whilst it is mainly due to my makeup obsession, it is completely unnecessary. Unless you are a makeup artist, we do not really need to have excessive amounts of one type of beauty product - and that includes beauty tools. For obvious reasons, a makeup artist has a plethora of different brushes in their kit, for sanitary purposes and for creating varied, editorial or commercial looks. But do I really need more than a couple brushes?

February Plan With Me - Switching It Up

I love my bullet journal. Over the last year it has made planning my blog and social media content so much easier. However last year was not my first dalliance with a bullet journal. I first started using a bullet journal in 2018, and mainly followed the style of Amanda Rach Lee - with trackers, monthly layout and weekly spreads. However as the months went on, I was using the trackers and monthly layouts less and decided in 2019 to change. Yet I really missed doing the weekly spreads. So this year, I'm mixing them together!

Some Of My Goals For 2020

A few days in 2020, my family and I were discussing our resolutions for the year. I realised that I hadn't thought of any. Whilst I prefer goals, I actually struggled to think of what I wanted to achieve. There are always a few that we all like to achieve, fitness, reading but this year I really struggled. What I have decided to do this year is not set out all my goals for the year at once. Let the months go by and see what happens. Adapt or change if necessary. I feel like that takes the pressure off. Here are my goals so far!

December Birchbox - Ready, Set, Glam

I can't believe that it is time for the last Birchbox post of 2019! This month, we received our goodies in this gorgeous velvet bag! It is the perfect size to use as a clutch, or a travel makeup bags. I love the combination of the navy bag with the pink star and zip. Navy and pink is a surprisingly good colour combination which I would never before put together, but in the last year or so I think it really has grown on me. Lots of the goodies this month are perfect for getting ready for the festive season! Let's see what's inside.

The Most Delicious Chocolate Cake

If I could only eat one type of cake for the rest of my life, it would be chocolate cake! I am a serious chocolate lover but especially in baked goods! Today was my nana's birthday and I decided to bake a chocolate cake for her. It is very easy and tastes amazing. It also stays moist for days after - so you can eat it all week long. That is if there is any left! I love finding new recipes so I thought I would share this one with you. I'm definitely making it again!

Are You Bad At Sticking To Beauty Routines?

My name is Ellyn, and I am bad at sticking to beauty routines. I've written three posts about this in the last three years (2017, 2018, 2019) and guess what, I'm still not any better. I feel like many of these are quite common - or at least that is what I'm telling myself! I'd like to think that some of these are quite common, no matter who you are! As I have said in all of these, I really hope that one day I will be better but who knows! Check back in 2020!

Blogging Things To Complete In December

I can't believe that I am writing the last blog post of November. It is crazy that my next blog will be in December - and that's Sunday! As well as the lead-up to Christmas, December is also the time that we all start to get organised for the new year. As many of you reading most likely have a blog of your own, I thought I'd share some of the things that I am doing for my blog during December, to get ready for 2020.

Crumbs & Doilies - The Best Bakery Ever!

It is no secret that I am obsessed with Crumbs & Doilies. I would happily spend every day there eating as much cake as I could. Crumbs & Doilies was founded by Jemma Wilson (aka Cupcake Jemma) as a stand at a Sunday market. Since then it has evolved to a fully fledged bakery, with its own store in Soho. It is one of my go-to visit places when I'm in Central London. As I love it so much, I thought I'd write a post all about it - hopefully convincing you to visit!

November Birchbox - Birchbox X Frozen 2

The snow glows white on the mountain tonight, not a footprint to be seen. A kingdom of isolation and it looks like… ok let’s stop right there. We are not here for karaoke! If you hadn’t guessed by know, this month’s Birchbox is all about Frozen as Frozen 2 is released this month. I’m looking forward to seeing Olaf, as he is my favourite character, and of course what song is going to be stuck in my head! Let’s see what was inside this month’s box!

Autumn Treats - Cinnamon Cake

I love all things cake, making, eating and of course, The Great British Bake Off. I recently did a cake baking course which was really good, and I made the best cakes I've ever made. I'm still in the cake-baking mood and ever since finishing the course, I've wanted to start experimenting and trying new flavours. Cinnamon is one of my favourite flavours, and it screams autumn. So I decided to make a cinnamon cake. I also swapped out regular caster sugar for golden, to add a nice buttery flavour to go along with it.

New Additions To My Beauty Routine

As a beauty addict, I have a lot of stuff. From makeup, skincare to haircare, I have a minimum of two per product. I can just about close my makeup drawer. Whilst I try to justify my beauty purchases, sometimes a few bonus items appear. In certain products I have particular favourites, but occasionally I like to change things up and try new products. I've been switching out a few products and have enjoyed them so far so I thought I would talk about them. I love hearing about new products, even if my bank account would like me not to purchase it straight away!

Cruelty-Free Beauty Brands - Hair & Skincare

Back in May, I posted a #GRWM featuring only cruelty-free beauty brands. More and more of us are wanting to use cruelty-free and ethical brands which of course is a great thing. To go alongside my GRWM post, I thought I would share some of my favourite skincare and hair care brands that are also cruelty-free. I use a variety of products from these brands, and whilst some are newer than others, I would personally recommend every product that I've tried.

How I Plan My Content - Creating Photos

I've written a couple posts in the past about how I plan my blog content, and my blog planning essentials. However these focused purely on the planning side, so I thought I would talk about the next step - taking photos. Creating flat lays is one of my favourite parts of creating content. Over the years, I have honed in on how I create my flat lays, almost getting down to a formula. Today I am spilling all my secrets!

October Birchbox - Reach For The Stars

As soon as I started typing the name of this month's box, I couldn't help but continue in my head - 'climb every mountain higher'. Shout-out to all the S Club 7 generation out there! The design for this month's box is absolutely stunning, it reminded me of Amanda Rach Lee's bullet journal spread for this month, and one of the wallpaper that she designed for her collaboration with The Sorry Girls. This month, Birchbox are supporting Look Good Feel Better as October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Throughout the month, Birchbox will be sharing content from LGFB. The charity offers help and support to help people with the visible and emotional side effects of cancer treatment with free workshops, printed materials and online tutorials. Let's see what's inside this month's box.

September Birchbox - Sweet Simplicity

Even if you are not in school anymore, there is something about September which still makes us want to start fresh. I also still get the desire to run to WHSmith and pick up lots of stationary goodies. Watching bullet journal videos probably doesn't help! This idea of refresh and focusing is also the theme behind this month's Birchbox. When I saw my box this month I was very excited as all but one were brands I've tried before through Birchbox, and have enjoyed everything I've tried. However these are all new products so I am excited to give them a try! Let's see what was in my box this month!

Why I Still Read Magazines

It is no secret that print magazines are in decline. With the rise of social media and digital platforms, more magazines are sharing online rather than print. Many magazines have stopped altogether in order to go online (Marie Claire announced yesterday)  or have just stopped completely. However I will never not read magazines. From weekly's to monthlies, I am always got a magazine in my reading pile. Whilst I do read a lot of content online, such as blogs, there is something different about having a physical copy, just like in books. Today I thought I would share my thoughts on why I'm going to keep reading them!