The Problem With Birthdays

Ok. It's my birthday tomorrow (the 23rd of April) and I know it's stupid, but I'm not a big fan of birthdays. It's not that I won't go to a party or anything- I don't mind other people's- it's just mine I don't really care for.

Some adults don't really like birthdays because they're older or whatever, and people think that's the case with me, but really it's not. 

I have a severe in confidence, and I hate anything that's all about me- hence why a day that my family and friends dedicate to me is a terrible situation.

When I was younger I loved it! All the presents, and friends and family gathered around (and the sweets of course), but over the last few years I've just fallen out of love with all the celebrations- and it kinda sucks.

I mean there's nothing I can really do about it- apart from force a smile and hide an embarrassed blush of course- but I just feel bad for putting people through such effort for me. I appreciate every effort, but I just feel too awkward to enjoy it y'know? 

I'm a bit of a social casualty :P

Anyway, kind of dreading my birthday tomorrow (technically in an hour, haha). Sorry for posting such an awfully personal post but I'm planning a birthday haul in a few days :D

Love you lots,

Elle :)

♥ Girl Online - Zoë Sugg - Review ♥

Girl Online has received a lot of criticism due to the fact that at least some- it not all- of the book was ghost-written. I have been a fan of Zoe for over two years, so I quickly got over it. Even if it was ghost-written, wouldn't you rather have young people reading some form of literature than not reading at all?

Girl Online is the first of two books by Zoe, and I feel that it depicts life as a teenager these days really well. The protagonist is named Penny, a year eleven girl from Brighton. Penny is fighting the age-old problems that nearly every teenager goes through- mean girls, boy touble, spots -and also some modern ones, such as trying to take the perfect selfie and choosing which emojis to add to a text message.
 Penny suffers from panic attacks and anxiety, so, like Zoe herself, starts a blog to speak about her problems, which soon has a big and supportive following.

I have one piece of somewhat constructive criticism about this book- whoever was describing the characters needs to describe them more, as I didn't know what age some people are until near the end of the book!

I think this book is really good, and I recommend it to everyone- whether you're 13 or 33 :)

Have you read Girl Online?

What do you think of it?

Lots of love,

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My 2015-2016 Project :)

I've made a decision. I love animals, and have two dogs and a couple of fish myself. I've always been 100% against animal testing, but I've never really done anything about it other than say 'Oh doesn't animal testing suck?'. I want to do more. Much more.

I was watching one of Emma Blackery's videos (on her second channel), and she said that she was going to try to only use products made by companies that don't test on animals. I thought it was a great idea!

I received a lot of makeup for Christmas this year, so I'm going to use it all up, but when a product is nearly finished, I am going to start looking for a cruelty-free alternative. I'm aiming to only be using products that are not tested on animals by the end of 2016.

Anyone want to do my project with me?

What's your opinion on animal testing?

Lots of love,

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School Stories #1 | The Time I Climbed Out A School Window :P

Way back in first class, when I was eight or nine, I really needed to go to the bathroom. The toilets in that classroom were a room straight off the classroom with two stalls an two sinks. Anyway, this one day I went into one of the stalls and locked the door. After I had finished in the toilet, I tried to unlock the door, but the lock came straight off in my hand :P I had forgotten that the stalls lock was broken! After about ten minutes of violently shaking the door I saw that the window was opened a crack. The window was about 6 foot high- it was a super high window- so I climbed up on the toilet and hoisted myself onto the window sill. It took a lot of maneuvering, but I managed to squeeze through the crack in the window and sit on the windowsill on the other side. It was a big jump from the sill to the grass, but somehow I made it :) I walked around the school looking for a door to get back in, but since it wasn't lunchtime no doors were open. I walked back to the window into our classroom and watched my teacher fretting, obviously thinking I had run away. I gathered some little stones to stand on so I could see in though the window properly and knocked loudly. All my classmates turned around laughing, and when my teacher turned around she screamed :) My teacher got the secretary to let me back in. I didn't get into any trouble, as I explained the situation. Anyway, that's the story about the time I climbed out through a school window :P

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATE <3 ILYSM xxx

Here's the thing. I'm really sorry to say this, but I won't be blogging too much for a while. I'm going though some deep shizz at the moment. But I promise I won't just leave, there will be occasional posts. Please stick around and check back for my next post. I love all you guys ♥ ♥ ♥

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Things Are Looking Up

2013 was not a great year for me. I was offered so many opportunities, but I didn't get accepted into any of them. My New Years resolution was to be optimistic, and stop being so negative about everything. I think it's been working :) 

2013 started of pretty well for me. My cousin had a baby on Christmas Eve, and I saw her for the first time in February 2013. From April things started going a bit downhill. I started getting more tests and more work in school, and I started getting a small bit stressed. I began to do worse in those tests, and as the month went on, my average was down from 96% to 85% (Still an A but you can see the difference). The next few months didn't get any better. I was still worrying and I started having panic attacks, but worse still i didn't know what they were until December. I had an un-eventful summer and everything seemed okay. In September my scores were getting as high as 92%, but still a bit off where I was at that time in 2012. This is when I auditioned for a pantomime. It sounds silly but I've always fancied a career in the performing arts, and I had a great time at the audition. I didn't get in. That was a huge disappointment, and it really damaged my self-esteem and my hopes of being an actress. Then in November I applied for something else (to do with music) and I didn't get accepted. I had no confidence left by then, and I decided that I'd never make it as a singer or an actress, and I gave up for a while. I started my blog in late December to give myself something to do and something to wake up and be happy about. This has worked and I can't believe all that I've accomplished in 2014 so far :)

I have gained over 400 followers in the space of a few months, and I can't even begin to explain how grateful I am for every single one of you. I have been getting better marks in school (I'm now back to a good 96%), and I've just been having a better year altogether.

This was probably the most boring blog post I've ever written, but I just wanted to let you know that because of this blog, because of every single follower, my life has changed for the better.

I know there's been a severe lack of posts recently, but I'm working on a top secret super exciting project :)

Thanks for reading!

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She Is Not For Sale

Today I will be branching away from my usual fashion and beauty posts, to write about something serious.

Human trafficking.

There is a link between fashion, beauty and human trafficking may seem odd, but more and more people in the fashion and beauty industry are starting to address this problem. Fashion brands such as Top Shop and All Saints are now using fashion to combat human trafficking.

Human trafficking has become more lucrative and much safer than selling guns and illegal substances. It is an increasing crime, and as bloggers we can help spread spread the word and together, we can help put a stop to human trafficking.

As girls and women, we should be more aware of this going on all around us. There are more slaves alive now than there has been at any time throughout history, and the industry is worth over $32 billion USD. Be careful and aware where you shop, and even where you get your nails done as that can have an impact. 

Thank you so much for reading, and if you can, please blog about this subject to help raise awareness. 

She Is Not For Sale

'This Subject Isn't Pretty, But Reality Isn't Always Pretty'

Why Instagram Was Just A Phase

Two bad posts about Instagram. You're probably thinking I don't like it much. I don't really. I used to but it turned out that after a few weeks of posting selfies and reblogging random messages, it gets pretty boring.

The concept is good, sharing pictures and following accounts, but it's very limited in what you can do. For celebrities it's good because you can show fans just daily life in photos and short videos, for average people, not so much.

In Ireland (You'll come to know that most of my rants are based on European issues), a good 60% of teenagers with iPhones were on Instagram at its peak last year, but that number has dwindled a lot.

People possibly thought it was fun to share funny pictures like that... Until snapchat came along and Instagram became nothing more than an I-go-on-it-when-I'm-bored kind of app. For me, I honestly prefer Tumblr. It's like Instagram, only less limited and boring.

R.I.P Instagram- You were fun while you lasted.

{Reading this nearly a year later, 27/12/2014, with a severe Instagram addiction. Whoopsies!}

One Thing I Can't Believe

I like Instagram, don't get me wrong, but there are some things that circulate around Instagram that are just plain stupid. Take for example, a picture about animal abuse. I am totally against animal cruelty, but when there's photos saying things like 'Repost this if your against animal cruelty- Ignore and you don't care', or posts about serial killers that say  'Reblog this post or your mum will die tonight'. It's crazy! Do some people honestly think that animal abuse will magically stop if you share or re-blog a little picture? No, It won't, and you're not a bad person for not sharing it.

Just one example (From my friends Instagram).

If you do like to send things like this to others, then that's fine. But I personally don't like to so don't hate on me. When I was 11 or 12 I would re-blog these spam-like messages but I don't think it's worth it anymore.

Until next time! Bye!