Thoughtful Thursday - Mindfulness

Hi Internet Friends,

Today Thoughtful Thursday is about something I only recently discovered. Mindfulness. I was in a shop one day and my Dad noticed a book called 'Mindfulness on the go' by Padraig O'Morain. After reading the blurb, I discovered mindfulness is brilliant to help you stay calm. Just perfect for someone like me.

So, what actually is mindfulness? Well, it's basically the practise of constantly returning your attention to what is going on/what you are doing, hence making you more aware of what's going on around you and less on worrying thoughts and feelings. Mindfulness has many benefits. It's really simple to incorporate into your everyday life, helps with stress, anxiety and worrying thoughts, helps you gain more control over your thoughts, and finally it helps you control your emotions a bit more which can help add stability to your feelings. It's brilliant for a hectic lifestyle as it helps you stay in control.

As I mentioned earlier, the way I discovered mindfulness was through the book 'Mindfulness on the go' by Padraig O'Morain. I fell in love with this book whilst reading it and it's now my essential go-to book when I feel anxious. This book helped make me aware of so many different mindfulness practises, all which are incredibly simple to do whilst living my everyday life, without it being obvious to others. It gave me an understanding of what mindfulness is and how it can benefit me. There are so many different tips and ideas in this book for so many occasions I would most definitely recommend reading it. A final brilliant thing about this book is that you don't have to read it all in one go or in any particular order. If you need to learn some mindfulness tips for relationships for example, you just turn to that chapter and at the end there's several pages with different activities you can do.

The book also recommends some websites and some of these are below so you too can begin to look into mindfulness and help make your daily life slightly easier.

www.freemindfulness.org

www.everyday-mindfulness.org

www.mindful.org

www.padraigomorain.com (here you can sign up for a free newsletter and free daily mindfulness reminders and quotes, as well as find books and other useful resources).

If you didn't know anything about mindfulness or have heard about it and not looked into it further, I hope this post helps introduce you to such an amazing practise and helps you deal with life's daily stresses and worries.

Love and Hugs,

1 More Blogger xox

Favourite Beauty Products 2

Hey Internet Friends,

A fortnight ago I posted a Favourite Beauty Products post on this blog. I absolutely loved writing it and so promised another one. So here it is!

Lip Liner & Lipstick
I love using lip liner as is can help shape your lips to how you'd like them to look, as well as help them look larger. I always try to use one that is as similar to my lipstick as possible. It's no surprise that I use a Lip liner and Lipstick from New Look, both in the shade Camel. This nude lipstick still helps add colour to your makeup but without being too over the top and so it matches with most outfits, as well as other makeup. The lip liner costs just £1.99 and the lipstick just £3.99 which I think is a brilliant price for such high quality products.

Contour, Highlight and Blush
I've always used blusher, especially since I'm quite pale as it helps add colour and warmth to your face, but it's not been until recently that I have also started to contour and highlight my face. I love it! You can make certain features stand out and emphasise what you have. You can also create the illusion that your face is slimmer.

The blusher I use is a Natural Collection blusher from Boots in the shade Peach Melba. It only costs £1.99 and so is incredibly cheap, however it's incredibly pigmented and lasts such a long time.

For contouring and highlighting, I use the Makeup Revolution Sculpt and Contour kit which can be purchased from Superdrug for £3.50. It does come with a blusher, however I much prefer my one from Natural Collection.

Nail Varnish
I love wearing nail varnish as you can change it to match different aspects of your appearance and colour co-ordinate it with your favourite lippy or handbag. I find my nails are often stronger and break less easily after coating them with nail varnish and so they tend to grow longer. It will be no shock to see that yet again, I have opted for a makeup product from New Look. The Matte Nail Polish in the shade mink is absolutely gorgeous. It's fairly subtle and so goes well with almost anything. Another bonus is that I find it also dries incredibly quickly!

So, that's it guys! The second part to my Favourite Beauty Products. I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to let me know which beauty products are your favourite, even if I haven't mentioned them on here as I am always looking for new thing to try.

Love and Hugs,
1 More Blogger xox

Thoughtful Thursday - Social Media

Hey Internet Friends,

So, today's Thoughtful Thursday is all about social media and whether it's a good thing or not. Lots of people, including myself, use some form of social media but is it really worth it?

On one hand social media is brilliant as it enables you to communicate with people worldwide incredibly easily. This can be great if you want to keep in contact with family members or friends who don't live near by. It also allows you to interact with your favourite celebrities which would be incredibly difficult without the use of social media. Another bonus of social media is that you can openly express your opinion about a topic and find people who feel the same way as you. This can quickly lead to conversation and before you know it, you have another friend. Finally, social media can help broaden our knowledge on what's going on in the world around us. It provides us with so many links to and comments about different news stories, which helps make us all more aware.

On the other hand however, social media can often cause problems. For starters, you will always get people who share ignorant opinions which can be offensive to others. From this spring the haters and bullies who spend their time annoying and upsetting people as they have nothing better to do. Social media, unfortunately, makes it easier (in my opinion) to come across unpleasant people who may be lying to you about who they are. If it goes too far, you could end up putting yourself at risk. Finally, social media is full of photo-shopped images of celebrities and models. If you come across these often, it can occasionally lead to negative thoughts about yourself as you see more and more of an unrealistic ideal.

As you can see, social media has both advantages and disadvantages. I personally think it's a brilliant thing, provided you stay safe. What do you think?

Just as a side note, if you are experiencing any bullying online, make sure you don't go through it alone. Get help online or talk to someone you trust about it. Remember to report any horrible behaviour as it can prevent some others from being targeted.

Love and Hugs,
1 More Blogger xox

Favourite Beauty Products 1

Hey Internet Friends,

First of all I'm so sorry for not posting in ages. I just haven't had any inspiration at all and any ideas I've had just don't seem good enough. Secondly, I hope you've all had a lovely holiday season and happy new year! Now, on with the beauty products!

Exfoliators
It's incredibly important to use exfoliators every now and then to help remove dead, dry skin which helps make your skin feel much smoother. This can help unblock pores which is beneficial for your appearance as it means you're less likely to break out with spots and blackheads. It can also help makes pores appear less noticeable.

For my face, I use the Tea Tree Exfoliating Scrub from Superdrug. Costing just £3.29 for 75ml, it is brilliant for keeping those pesky spots at bay, without being too harsh on skin. It contains tea tree and peppermint oils as well as granules of walnut shell to give your face a thorough cleanse.

For the rest of my body I have recently started using the Blueberry Body Scrub-Gelee from The Body Shop. For a 200ml tub, this body scrub usually costs £13.00, however it is currently reduced to £6.50 and so is an absolute bargain. Again, it's gentle on the skin but helps cleanse incredibly well. It has an amazing blueberry smell, but isn't sickly or overpowering as certain products often can be.


Moisturisers
If you want to keep balance in your skin and keep it super soft, its a good idea to use moisturiser daily. It can work brilliantly as a base for makeup and also works as a barrier for your skin to retain the required amount of moisture.

Before applying my makeup, every morning I apply Superdrug's Tea Tree Moisturising Face Cream. It costs £3.29 for 30ml but lasts absolutely ages as a little goes a long way. The pump on it makes it super easy to get the right amount you need each time without using too much. It's perfect if you are prone to spots or have fairly oily skin like me.



Foundation and Concealer
A few months ago I discovered the Pure Colour makeup range at New Look and have fallen in love with it. I didn't have very high expectations to begin with due to the fairly cheap prices, however after using some of the products I fell in love with them and now I mainly purchase my makeup from there.

The foundation I use is the Pure Colour Liquid Foundation which costs just £4.99 for 35ml. This is an incredibly reasonable price for such a good quality foundation. It is a semi-matte foundation that provides medium coverage and is oil free and enriched with vitamin E to keep your skin looking fabulous. It can ve applied so easily and doesn't look cakey at all.

The concealer I use is the Pure Colour Liquid Concealer. It's so easy to use due to having a small brush attached to it which the product is released through to ensure precise application. It lasts a very long time due to such brilliant coverage meaning you don't have to use much and at £3.99, it is well worth it.

I hope you guys find this all useful when looking for new beauty products. I haven't covered all of my favourite beauty products so keep your eyes peeled for a second beauty products post coming soon. You can let me know your favourite beauty products either by commenting on this post or by contacting me on social media (links can be found on the contact me page).

Love and Hugs,

1 More Blogger xox