MONTHLY FAVOURITES // OCTOBER 2015

Holy crap, only one more month until it's December. I'm so stocked, its nearly Christmas time guys! Anyway before I get to ahead of myself, here are this months favourites.

Makeup //
Covergirl, Clean Sensitive Skin Foundation in 220 Creamy Natural. Love, love, love this product. It gives such a natural and flawless finish.

Skincare //
Unfortunately I don't have any new skincare favourite for this month but hopefully I'll have something new to share with you next month. Let me know what your monthly skincare favourite is, maybe I could try some of your favourites out!

App //
This month I have been loving my Kindle app. This month I've been making the effort to read a lot more.

Movie //
Forest Gump, hands down. I had never seen this movie before this month but I definitely knew of it. I didn't seem to be like the type of movie that I would like at all but after quite a few people telling me to just sit down and watch it, I finally did. I can now not stop raving on about it, it's definitely a movie that I should've watched a lot sooner!

Song //
Well if you follow me on Twitter you may already know this one, but it's of course the one and only, Perfect by my favourite boys, One Direction. If you have not heard it, ah what are you doing with your life. Definitely go and have a listen if you're interested, it's an amazing song.

Album //
My favourite album on a whole this month has to hands down be The Script, No Sound Without Silence. I have been absolutely thrashing their album on my Spotify.

YouTuber //
Jonlyn, msjustjonii. This month Jonlyn has being vlogging every single day and although I loved her already, I've only fallen in love with her more and more this past month. Jonlyn is so inspiring and I find that we are very much alike, also with views and opinions. I really recommend you add this lovely girl to your YouTube subscription box and be sure to follow her on social media too.

Blogger //
I'm going to link here, My Current Three Favoutite Bloggers post that I did a few posts back if you haven't seen that yet and are interest in knowing who my favourite bloggers are at the moment.

Instagramer //
This month I have been loving the lovely girl from 'seeyouaround' on Instgram. I have fallen in love with her feed and I gather so much inspiration from her page.

Food //
Definitely hands down, without a doubt, Avocado on bagels. I don't know what it is but it's definitely been my favourite thing to eat this month.

Drink //
Apart from water or tea, this month I haven't really been drinking anything else. Due to having a swollen liver, I've really been trying to keep everything I eat and drink especially super clean.

Place //
The Honest Lawyer Restaurant here in Nelson. It's such a lovely place to have a meal and the food along with the service is amazing! But I've also being spending heaps of time at the beach lately as the weather has been warming up!

Photo //

This picture was taken at a place called Cable Bay in Nelson. I had such an amazing day this day!

Book // 

Girl Online On Tour by Zoe Sugg. I haven't yet finished this book as it's just come out but so far I'm absolutely loving it. If you have read the first book I totally recommend reading the second. Even if you haven't read the first one, why not pick up both books? I know you won't regret it! 

Person // 

Definitely my best friend Cassidy. I went through a little bit of a tough time earlier in the month and she really helped me through that. But apart from that she's my best friend anyway so she's always one of favs. 

Nails // 

I have just been loving a standard white nail polish this month. 

Quote // 

"You've got one life so love what you do" >> The Script 

Hair Product // 

Aromas Ends Therapy, Leave in Conditioner with Argan Oil. This product also a heat protectant and really good for getting out knots. A couple other favourite things of mine about this product, it that, one, it's vegan friendly and two, it has an incredible scent and leaves you hair smelling incredible. 

B x

MORNING ROUTINE // UPDATED EDITION

If you've been reading my blog for awhile now, you'll know how much I love a good morning and evening routine. My morning routine is something I know that I can rely on to give me a great start to my day no matter what has happened the day or night before. I feel like that although I'm not to much of a morning person, it's still great to have some kind of routine. I'm always adapting these to what's going to work best for me at the time so I thought that I would share my updated routine with you. I've decided to leave times out of this post just because the timing around my morning routine varies so much due to whether I'm busy or not that day. But with that all being said let jump right into it.

Picture: www.pinterest.com

The time I wake up definitely varies due to what time I went to bed the previous night. However around 1030AM is the latest I will wake up. I don't tend to set an alarm, I like to allow myself to wake up naturally, unless I need to be someone a bit earlier then in that case I'll have my alarm set.

 Within the next thirty minutes of waking up I'll allow myself to check social media, so Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and just take a moment to catch up on anything I might have missed while I was sleeping. Sometimes I won't spend this long at all, I'll usually just take my time though and really allow myself to wake up.

After checking social media, I'll head to the kitchen to make myself a drink and to get a bite to eat. In this time, while having breakfast I'll take the opportunity to check emails and read a little bit. Whether that's the current book I'm reading at the moment, a blog post, a magazine or what not.

Then it's time to head to the bathroom, it's time to freshen up. I don't always shower in the morning, I'll generally shower at night but again it just depends what I have planned for the day. I will clean my face, brush my teeth, moisturise. Then I'll continue through to my bedroom to do my hair, makeup and get dressed. It can take me awhile to choose want I want to wear but by this time I generally can tell, from outside, what the weather is going to be like for the day.

And that's my morning routine. Honestly, it's gone back to being pretty simple and I love simple. It's coming into summer here in New Zealand and I honestly am so excited for the warmer weather!

B x

WAKE UP & BE GRATEFUL

My Pop. One of the greatest men in my life. A 79 year old man with more wisdom than you could ever imagine. He's built his own home with the love of his life, my nan, he's been to war and survived, he's got two of the most beautiful daughters my Mum and Aunty, not only that but he has six incredible grandchildren. And these are only a few of the many things that he has accomplished in his life time and as one of his grandchildren I couldn't be anymore proud of him. 

Words cannot describe how much this man means to me and how much I love him. He was the first man I ever loved. He his my hero, my inspiration and he continues to amaze me. My ole Pop has many of many stories and jokes he likes to share with us all and what a wicked ole sense of humour this man has.

When I was going through the worst of my depression and anxiety he told me something that is going to stick with me for the rest of my life and that was…

"Bon, you just need to do what I do every morning when I wake up. You need to pop you head out from under the covers, take a deep breath in and be grateful that you're alive for one more day."

Replaying what he said to me this particular night still gives me goose bumps to this day and it's something that  has really stuck with me throughout the years. Every day from then on I did exactly that, without fail. Because you know what, he couldn't be anymore correct. Life is a privilege and we need to be grateful for it. I was extremely mentally ill back then and that's something that I have slowly learnt to accept because at the end of the day no matter how bad things in life may be, you're still alive and you still have this absolutely amazing life to make the most of.

Like I said earlier in this post, my Pop is my greatest hero, he has always loved me unconditionally and always been there to support me with everything I do. Words could never begin to describe how much he means to me and the exactly same goes for my Nan. I couldn't be more thankful to have such incredible grandparents around me. I will forever continue to make both my Nan and Pop proud of me, no matter what it takes. 

At the end of the day, the aim behind em sharing this with you guys is that, be grateful no matter what, even for the smallest things. Family, friends, food, water, a home, the fact you can walk and have arms. 

B x 

CURRENT TOP THREE BLOGGERS

Blogs are something I spend something a lot of time browsing and reading. Today I thought I would share with you guys who my current top three bloggers are.

All three of these girls have amazing content, and I alway's find myself back at their blogs reading their posts. I find myself also reading older post of theirs, either ones that I haven't read before or re reading ones that I found interesting.

Lily Pebbles //
Lily Pebbles is probably one of the most inspiring blogger I know and although I don't know her personally I feel as if we are friends anyway. Lily has a post up every morning at 930AM I believe and I alway's find her posts so informative. If you want to check out Lily's blog, I'll leave the link here for you. I think you'll really enjoy Lily's blog!

Anna aka Viviannadoesmakeup //
Anna has an incredible beauty blog and I love it. Anna also uploads daily. I love the way that Anna has her blog set out, I find it so visually appearing. Anna post's are so relatable and I also love it when Anna uploads fitness post every now and then. Again, just like Lily's post I find them very informative and just really great to read! If you'd like to check out Anna's blog then feel free to hit the link here. I'm sure you'll love her as much as I do!

Victoria aka inthefrow //
Holy moly, can we talk about how simple and classic Victoria has set out her blog! It probably has to be one of my favourite set ups. I believe that I have talked about Victoria here on my blog before, and most likely Anna and Lily too. But I can't get enough of Victoria's blog, her content is incredible and her pictures are stunning. To this day, my favourite post that Victoria has done is 'The Cost Of True Fashion' and I'll have it linked here if you are interested in checking it out and I highly recommend that you do. Also if you want to check out Victoria's blog here if you haven't checked it out already and I hope you're going to love her as much as I do!

B x

GUIDE TO BLOGGING & VLOGGING

The purpose of me having my blog is not only to have an outlet where I can just write about everything I love, but it's also to share my experiences, advice and amazing things that I have found really helpful and interesting.

From Left: Lily Pebbles & Anna, viviannadoesmakeup.

I apologise if you thought that this post was me sharing my tips on blogging and vlogging, my next post is going to be a few of my tips however these girls have a lot more experience and last year Lily Pebbles and Anna from Viviannadoesmakeup did a series "Guide To Blogging And Vlogging'.

If you are interested in starting your own blog or YouTube Channel, I highly recommend checking out the playlist that Lily has made of the all the videos. I found it so helpful and every now and then I always find myself going back to it. I've used there tips to help my own platforms and I hope that they can really help you too.

As well, if you haven't already on YouTube or don't read their blogs, they're definitely both worth checking out and let them know I sent you!

B x 

IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS

I've always been a firm believer in 'it's the small things that make you happy' and after going through a time in my life recently where I just felt unmotivated and I felt like I just had no idea where my life was going, I remembered that for now I just need to focus on the little things. I kept reminding myself that I was exactly where I was meant to be at that point in time. I find that focusing on the small doesn't make me feel no where near as overwhelmed.

I think that's it's good and important to remember that life doesn't have to be like how we see it in the movies, sometimes it's the smallest things that make us more grateful. 

// Turning off your alarm for the next morning

// Knowing that you're going out for dinner

// Holding hands

// Forehead kisses

// Snuggly cosy nights in 

// Someone that you admire follows, likes or favourites your stuff on social media

// Waking up and seeing that you still have ages to sleep

// Someone holds the door for you 

// Waking up with out an alarm

// Seeing friends after you haven't seen them in ages 

// Remembering that you have your favourite food/snack in the cupboard or fridge

// Checking your bank account and finding you have more money in there than you thought

// Buying new candles which smell freaking amazing

// Watching movies and listening to music that reminds you of your childhood

// Fleecy PJs

// Looking back on how far you've come

// Getting excited for Christmas 

B x

WHAT'S ON MY IPHONE SIX

I thought it was about time that I did an updated what's on my iPhone post. I did one of these for my old iPhone 5S which you can check out here, if you're interested. But now that I have a new phone, a new layout and new favourite apps, I thought now would be the perfect time to share this all with you.

I'll just quickly mention that I have the iPhone Six in space grey with 16GB. The 16GB is perfect for me as I do also have a iPad and a Mac for I work on these majority of the time. The case I have on my phone is just clear, I love the back on the iPhone 6 and 6S, so a clear case does the job for me.

I don't like the fact that I have to mention this but I'm not bragging at all. I'm so grateful to have the iPhone 6, plus I love watching this kinds of videos on YouTube and reading them on other blogs as well.

My lock screen is of Harry Styles, because lets be honest, he's gorgeous. Then I have my home screen, it's just white as you can see, with be happy written across the bottom, it's super simple and I really like it. On my home screen I have; 

Calendar

Photos

Notes

Reminders

Camera

Clock

Settings

Wallet

App Store

Weather

Maps

Voice Memos

iBooks

Podcasts

FaceTime 

Utilities

In utilities, I just have everything else that comes with the iPhone that I just don't find myself using or reaching for at all. 

Sliding across the page we get into all the funs stuff. I find the first two rows on this page are what I reach for the most and then everything else goes into separate folders. The first two rows contain;

Twitter

Instagram

YouTube

WeHeartIt

Pinterest

Tumblr

Bloglovin'

Spotify 

Lets now check out what's in the folders; 

SOCIAL

Facebook

Lightbox

Viber

Facebook Messenger

ThinkALike

Netflixs

Snapchat

Vine

OnDemand

Blogger

Google +

Creator Studio

EDIT

VSCOcam

Aviary

Afterlight

Squaready

TwinCollage

HEALTH

FitBit

MyFitnessPal

Daily Yoga

Grid Diary

Eve

Daily Horoscope

SWORKIT Pro

Sleep Cycle

Garden Plate

READ

Wattpad

Audible

Goodreads

Kindle

MUSIC

Shazam

8tracks

Pandora

Sound Cloud

NEWS 

Stuff

BuzzFeed

GeoNet Quake 

 Guys, you can now find me on Bloglovin'!

B x

BEDTIMES HABITS

We all know I loving having a morning and evening routine set in place, by the way keep a look out for my morning and evening routines at end of this month, early November. But I thought I would just mention three things that I do at the very end of every night to put myself in a positive mind set and whats really just going to make me feel great.

Grid Diary //
There is this amazingly awesome app on the App Store, called Grid Diary. This app allows you to adapt self reflecting question for yourself. You can ask yourself; How did my day go? Was I productive? Did I workout? You can adapt these to whatever is going to work for you, but one of my favourite questions to ask myself before I go to bed is, from today, what are 5-10 things that you are grateful for? This can be hard when you first start doing this, but it definitely does get easier the more you do it. I think asking yourself that question is a great way to put yourself back into a more positive mind set and be a lot more grateful for what you do have. It can be the smallest of things, it can be that you're grateful to be able to walk or see. It can be absolutely whatever.

Read //
I love to read, whether it's books, news articles, other peoples blog posts, I also use Wattpad quite a bit because there are some amazing stories on there written by you guys from all over the world. I find reading takes me to a complete other space of mind, I really get involved in the book and I tend to imagine how it all would play out in my read. I definitely find reading really relaxing.

Water //
I like to drink a fair amount of water before I go to bed, not only will your body thank you for it but so will your skin. Keeping hydrated is so important, so it's definitely something that I make sure I keep on top of during the day as well.

Those are the three things that I like to do before bedtime, and although I try and schedule at least a hour of me time a day this doesn't always happen depending on how busy I am. With that in mind, that's why I like to have these three bedtime habits, to actually make sure I am having me time no matter my day has been like.

B x

STOP OVER SCHEDULING

I'm a bit of a schedule freak. I like to know what I'm doing and when exactly I'm doing it. Recently I've had a clean out and sorted out my slight scheduling issues. I use to always have to do lists, diaries, note paper, calendars and bits everywhere, I even had it all on my iPhone and iPad as well as on paper, everything use to just be all over the place. Today I though I'd share my tips with you to stop over scheduling your life, and what will help lead help lead a balanced life style.

Picture: www.pinterest.com

#1 Find Out What Your Essentials Are

What do you prefer? Try and boil it all down to the most essential schedules. I couldn't live without a calendar, some kind of note taking system as well as my good ole to do lists. Now obviously you don't have to do a paper and digital, you can just do whatever is going to suit you best. Personally I do both. 

#2 Establish An Outcome or End Goal 

While working so hard to complete everything you need to do in a day, you want to be able to identify what you're working towards, what's going to be the outcome of all this hard work. Personally, if I know that kind of outcome that I'm aiming or if I know specifically what goals I'm wanting to achieve then I'm more likely to stick to my schedule. I think being able to visualise your end goal is really helpful.. 

#3 Don't Make Time That You Don't Have 

By this I mean, make sure your allowing to have days or specific parts of your day to yourself. Plan your week in a way that it's ok if certain things don't get done by Friday, they then can be completed on Monday. This can be hard if you're living a busy life style, but it's really important to spend some time away from you scheduled life and take some time for you. It could just be taking some time to read, go to the gym, or sitting down and reading your favourite blogs. 

#4 Be Spontaneous 

When I say this I don't mean go sky diving or anything crazy like that! What I mean is accept a invite out for dinner with your friends, travel away for the weekend, have some friends over at the last minutes to have a fun games night in. This is creating something fun in your schedule, something that you're going to see in your diary and look forward too. 

#5 Communicate With Friends

While we can all get caught up with what's going on in our personal lives we can sometimes forget about those who really care and love us most. Although you may not have time to actually physically see them, flick them a text. Keep them in the loop about the different aspects of your life. I know that they'll appreciate it and it's going to help you feel less burnt out and stressed. 

I definitely think if you follow these steps it's going to help you have more control over knowing what's going on in your life and help you know when you have spare time for other things including yourself, friends and family.

B x 

KEEPING MOTIVATED AS A BLOGGER

Writing, I love it and as a kid I did too. I use to write about anything and everything and quite frequently I will still do this. I might sit down with pen and paper or I might sit behind a device and I'll just write until my heart is content. Writing has always been a way for me to really be able to work through a number of different events in my life. Although I have my blog and I'm posting three times a week, away from that I'm also writing, honestly, I'm constantly writing. But with having a passion for writing, also comes with having a passion for reading, well to a degree anyway! 

Keeping motivated with blogging can be hard sometimes, we sometimes struggle to come up with new, creative ideas, and sometimes we can get a little down on ourselves. Although I had such a strong passion for writing, I still sometimes find it hard to come up with ideas for my blog, ideas which I know that I'm going to be proud of. Personally I try and keep motivated the majority of the time and I definitely have better weeks then some but coming from the experiences that I've been through here are a couple of ways that I find work really well for me when I'm in a blogging funk. 

Re-Fresh // 

Think about why you started blogging in the first place. There is a high chance that you could be putting way to much pressure upon yourself. Often you here about people giving up blogging because they stopped enjoying it, and I think that it's really important to remember than blogging most definitely shouldn't feel like an obligation, it should be something that you want to do, and something that you look forward to. The key to this is to get energised again and look at what you're dealing with, with a fresh and positive mind set. 

Re-Focus // 

What is it about blogging that you really love? Is it the writing, the photography, sharing you advice, thoughts and opinions, is is the social side of things? Keep your love for blogging alive, and focus on the positives rather than dwelling on the negatives. If it helps, avoid those bits you don't like for a small amount of time and dive deep into what you are loving, really getting some passion flowing again. 

Re-Think // 

While reading your favourite blogs what stands out to you? Consider maybe how you                                                                                                                                                         could apply your favourite aspects of their blog to yours? Really get inspired by other bloggers, that's generally where I begin to look for inspiration when I'm in a bit of a blogging funk, then really expand on there ideas, thoughts, add your own opinions and really make it your own. Sometimes we just need the chance to take a step back and really see what we want to be going with our blog. Don't be afraid to dream big when it comes to your blog, if you have a passion for something, you can make anything happen with a bit of hard work!

B x

FAVOURITE FALL LIPSTICKS

I love a good lipstick and I thought I would share some of my current favourites with you.

Maybelline Colour Elixir in 060 Nude Illusion //
This liquid lipstick range from Maybelline is definitely one of my favourites and I can't wait to pick up more shades but for the time being I have three shade from this range and I love them all however I've found myself reaching for Nude Illusion a lot more than the others. You can layer this on top of your other favourite lipsticks and it looks amazing on top of lip liners as well. I think the formula is great and the brush applicator is great too, it allows you to be really precise when applying.

Australis Velourlips Matte Lip Cream in Par-Ree //
An easy favourite for me! Again it's another nude but I find this stays on a little bit longer than the Maybelline Colour Elixirs but I love it just the same. It's a matte cream like the name suggests and I find it dries matte quite quickly which is nice but I don't know how'd you would get on if you were using any of the darker shades or even a red. But I like the nude shade, it's long lasting and such a beautiful shade.

Avon Lipstick in Vibrant Nude //
Although the name suggests that it's a nude, it definitely has more of a deep pinky tone to it. It's a lovely shade, something a bit more vibrant like the name suggests. A really nice creamy formula, the only other thing that I have noticed is that it can be a little slippery on the lips, so it is one of those ones that you would have to touch up during the day but that doesn't bother me at all.

ChiChi Viva La Diva Lipstick in Game On //
First of all I'm going to mention that I love the smell of these lipsticks, I don't know what it is and I may be the only one, but I do like the scent. This shade is a muted plumy shade that looks gorgeous on the lips and although it's not matte I find it stays put really well. I can't wait to try more shades from this range!

Revlon Colour Burst Matte Balm in 225 Sultry //
I was gifted this from a close friend for my birthday and I can not tell you have much I have fallen in love this this product! It's long lasting, it's matte, it's a gorgeous shade, so easy to apply. And of course I have to mention that it has a gorgeous mint scent to it! This is probably my hands down number one favourite for fall. It's just incredible and I'm definitely going to pick up some beautiful shades for the summer.

B x 

MY LITTLE MINI ME

Ah we all have that annoying older or younger sibling and in my case it's my younger sister. Ok, so maybe she is super annoying at times but really, I love her! My sister and I currently live 415.5 KM away from each other and it's been like this for nearly five months, and although I think it's definitely in the top ten most difficult things I've had to deal with, I can quite positively say that it's brought us a hundred percent closer together! My sister is currently living with my Dad, Step Ma and on of our Step Brothers. It's so weird not having her around, after having her follow me around for almost 14 years but I know where she is know, is a place she loves and although it was hard to see her go I knew it was for the best. I love my and miss my sister more than words could even begin to explain. We're not only sisters but we're also best friends. Nicole is definitely a mini me! Over this past week we've spent together, we've had so much fun and I thought now would be the perfect time to write up a post dedicated to my sister. I hope you guys enjoy this post dedicated to my sister as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

//

Wow Nicole, where should I begin. I miss you might be a good start! I never thought at the age I am now, that I would be living so far away from my sister, but not only my sister my best friend. I miss all the times where we would laugh together, even about the stupid stuff. I miss the fact that we use to fight over who would have the last cookie, or who would drink that last of the lemonade but most of all I miss how we use to fight over who would sit in the front with Mum on the drive to school. I miss catching the school bus with you, I miss you forcing me to write you PE notes, I simply just miss having you here. But despite all of that, I really just miss you, I miss every single little thing about you. It was hard to say goodbye but like you've always said, it's never goodbye, it's just see you later until we are able to see each other again! You make me so incredibly proud, you've come so far in these past few years, and I can see now that you're the happiest you've ever been! Never let anyone ever tell you that you aren't good enough, because you can do whatever you want to as long as you work hard and put your mind to it. I could never put into words how much you mean to me Nicole, you're my little sister and I'm always going to look out for you no matter what! I love you girlfriend and never forget it! xo

//

If you'd like to check Nicole's social media out you can here;
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Nickey_unicorn?lang=en
Instagram: https://instagram.com/nicole.brookex/

B x

GIRLS NIGHT IN & YOU'RE THE HOST

I personally love hosting girls nights in, whether it be with my mum, my sister or some of my closest friends. These are my tips and what I would normally do if I'm going to be hosting a girls night in.

Picture: tumblr.com

Get Your Invites Out //
This is the first thing you'll want to do. You most definitely could send out a group text or email but I love the idea and I definitely thing that there is something more special about sending out your invites. This is definitely an awesome chance for you to get creative and really explore you inner creativity. You could either do them by hand or whip something up on your computer and print it out, it's totally up to you!

Pick Up Your Essentials //
The day or night before you are going to want to pick up all your essentials. Food, drinks, and decor. I alway love decorating my room with fresh flowers, and in the way of snacks I would usually reach for some popcorn, and some ingredients for a cheese plate. Oh and of course we can't forget something yummy for desert.

Prep Your Space //
Your space can be wherever you want it to be, whether it's indoors or outdoors I don't really think it matters to much, obviously it's going to have to be suitable depending the weather but just wherever it's going to be comfy for you and your besties. A cozy boho vibe is personally favourite, with some comfy pillows and blankets. But options are endless really, you could decorate however you want to. Next you're going to want to set up for food and drink. Platers are always good when it comes to these kinds of events. You can just place everything out where it is easily accessible for your guests.

Welcome Your Guests //
You're going to want to make your guests feel as welcome as possible. Start up some simple conversation, offer them a drink and a snack.

Face Masks & Nails //
Now it's time for the pamper session to begin. After you and all your friends have caught up on everything that's been going on you can start your pamper session, you can start with whatever you like, face masks, manicure, pedicures, brows or just whatever you girls feel like doing. You could also get your friends to bring around there favourite pamper products.

Choose Your Movies //
Agree on your all time favourite movies to put on and just relax and enjoy your time together with your besties. I always really like to value this time with my friends and family, sometimes we get caught up in work or school that we tend to forget a little bit about our friends, and family members and of course it's so important to have them around!

B x