A lipgloss, that's not a lipgloss!

Well hey there internet!

Hope you're having a decent January because let's face it; it's not always the best month.

 You know, cause you have to back to school and work and you’re already sick of the cold weather (darn you southern hemisphere). But I feel ya, I really do. And I hope whatever tedious thing you are going back to, you are going at it with a positive attitude...because it’s January and you found this rush of motivation that’s come out of nowhere and all of a sudden you have these huge ambitions you want to fulfil.

Anywho, good luck with that.

I haven’t done a review type thing in a while so here it is!

Now the Revlon colourstay moisture stain have been out for quite a while (like everything else I tend to review...ooops...sorry I’m not on trend and up to date with the latest things)

Anywho, here’s a fact about me, I am not a fan of lipgloss. I just don’t like the way it feels on my lips, my hair always gets stuck to my lips and it’s just not my thing.

But when I went shopping in the States last summer I came across these and thought “Hey I might as well try new things seeing as though I’m in a new place” (my mind works in strange ways.)

So I tried it... and I LOVED IT!

‘Finally!’ I thought, a lipgloss that I actually like! It wasn’t sticky or too glossy and didn’t feel like I had this really thick layer of lip gloss on top of my lips.

In fact, it didn’t feel like I had lipgloss on.

That’s because I realised (after a little bit of research) that it wasn’t actually a lipgloss. It was a lip stain. But it wasn’t those crappy felt tip sorts of things like I’ve seen other lip stains turn out to be. (Although those things have sort of made themselves scarce now)

It’s one of my regular lip products I use when I’m out on a daily basis.

It has a great texture, quite pigmented, doesn’t feel sticky on the lips, doesn’t look too over the top glossy and when it dries, it leaves a nice stain on your lips.

Question of the day: what is one makeup product you are not a fan of, or do you like everything!?

Comment below or tweet me @noreenkhanom

I post things about all sorts of shtuff here (Blog)

I express my feelings about things here (Twitter)

I reblog cool and pretty things here (Tumblr)

I post pretty and cool pictures here (Instagram)

CYA :D

Being a better you part 4: positivity, patience and persistence

Well hey there internet,

Now this is a tricky topic and is sort of the one I got a little bit stuck on.

This series has been about being a better you (if you couldn’t tell from the title) and I think one of the most important things you could do to be a better you is to be happy with yourself and accept yourself for who you are.

Life does not always go to plan and sometimes it ends up going down a path that you know it should not be going down yet you can’t help and you go with it.

Or, sometimes there could be nothing wrong in your life but you just feel so depressed all the time.

That’s not your fault.

Your body releases chemicals that causes your brain to think a certain way and that could be triggered off by something small or huge.

You want to know the sad truth about the world? Some people were made to be pessimists and there’s very little anyone can do about that.

But if you have aspirations and ambitions in life then there are three Ps you need to follow to get anywhere:

Positivity- You will be surprised how productive you are when you’ve got a little cheer in your step. Optimism doesn’t hurt, people who are optimistic have hope and those who don’t are just empty people living empty lives.

I look at the people who live in my area, how they live their lives day in and day out. They’ll moan about their job, criticise other people for doing something that makes them happy and just live their life just hating on other people because they’re not happy with own lives.

And I feel sorry for them. The key to achievement is optimism

Patience- Changes don’t always happen overnight.  Just because something isn’t happening for you right now doesn’t mean that it will never happen. It’s going to be more difficult to regret something than it would just waiting for that thing to happen.

Persistence- You can’t expect to fall at the first hurdle, if you persist long enough you will succeed. You’ll never know how close you were to success if you give up.

I came across this quote a few years ago and for some reason it’s stuck with me for so long.

“Be happy with what you have whilst working for what you want.”

I hope, whatever ambitions and goals you have in life, that you achieve them.

Question of the day: what is one thing you are happy about with life?

Comment below or tweet me @noreenkhanom

I post things about all sorts of shtuff here (Blog)

I express my feelings about things here (Twitter)

I reblog cool and pretty things here (Tumblr)

I post pretty and cool pictures here (Instagram)

Being a better you Part 3: The mindset to do it!

Well hey there internet,

One of the biggest challenges I face on a daily basis is the ability to actually get up and do what I need to be doing.

Self discipline basically.

It frustrates me just thinking about it because I think of it as completely ridiculous.

There’s no doubt about it. I'm a procrastinator. I procrastinate like it’s nobody’s business. I procrastinate to the point where I lie in bed and do nothing instead of being productive.

Here’s the thing, I think of myself as a motivated person; however I cannot discipline myself for shit. I am a “oh, I’ll do it in a bit” and a “give me five more minutes person.”

And I am such a bad procrastinator that I failed a year in school because of it.

I know that I have the capability to do so many amazing things I just need to stop being so god damn lazy.

So why am I telling you all this?

Well it’s because I want you to realise the biggest and most important challenge you will face that will stop you from succeeding in what you want to do is not anything or anyone, it’s you.

You are the key to your ideal future.

And for those of you who don’t know what you want your future to be?

Well I would like you to sit down and right down a list of everything that makes you happy, whether it’s small things or big things.

And I want you to look at that list and imagine a future where you that whole list so somehow incorporated in your life.

If your ideal job is to be a vet then be a vet!

Or maybe it’s to become a Youtuber? Go for it! There shouldn't be anything or anyone stopping you from doing what you want to do. No one is in charge of your future apart from you. Not your family, not your friends and not even your pet cat.

Do what makes you happy. Not what makes others happy.

Your hopes and dreams should not be your hopes and dreams. They should be your goals.

Question of the day: What are your goals in life?

Comment below or tweet me @noreenkhanom

I post things about all sorts of shtuff here (Blog)

I express my feelings about things here (Twitter)

I reblog cool and pretty things here (Tumblr)

I post pretty and cool pictures here (Instagram)

CYA :D

Being a better you part 2: your body

Well hey there internet,

I have a large forehead
I don't like my hairline
I have a rather large bald patch in my eyebrow
I have dark circles that I just can't seem to get rid of
I don't like my nose at all
I don't like my chin
I don't like showing off my shoulders
I don't have a flat stomach
My outer thighs are quite big
I have these lumps and bumps from my waist down that you can only see if I was to wear anything tight which I don't really anyway but I still don't like them.

That was a  list of things about myself that I'm self conscious about.

So would it surprise you if I said I'm completely happy with myself?

Well I am.

It's hard to decide whether or not the media is making a difference on how young women feel about themselves.

In some ways it has, I'm going to use myself as an example. 

I'm only 17, so I practically grew up with the internet constantly by my side. I was brought up in a world where I was always told by family, friends and the internet that I shouldn't worry about my size  because I was fortunate enough to grow up in a society that was just starting to change their views about a woman and even a man's 'perfect shape.'

However, even in this day and age where there are loads of people in our society who are constantly encouraging the younger generation and pretty much everyone else to BE HAPPY WITH WHO YOU ARE! you still come across people who are incredibly self concious about themselves because they are comparing themselves to the celebrities who have probably gone through some horrific things just to change the way they look. 

Yes I do get self conscious about things, we all do and that's fine because that's who we are. 

 There isn't anyone in the world that would say "I love myself every single second of every day" because we all have times where we feel like poop and we all have things we don't like about ourselves.

But if you can say to yourself that none of that matters because YOU are happy with YOURSELF then you my friend have accepted yourself and can now live the rest of your life in peace knowing that you are perfectly fine the way you are.

You are wrong if you think that you will be accepted into a group of people if you look like and act like them because the truth is that you will not be accepted by anyone the way you want them to until you accept yourself first. 

And if that group of people still won't accept you then trust me they were not worth your time.

LISTEN TO ME!

 EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU OUT THERE IS AMAZING! YOU ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL AND  YOU ARE ALL FUCKING SEXY IN YOUR OWN SPECTACULAR WAY.

DON'T YOU DARE LISTEN TO ANYONE ELSE WHO TELLS YOU ANY DIFFERENT.

And it breaks my heart and makes me so sad whenever I come across pictures of slit wrists or people posting pictures saying "I wish I was skinny" or this stupid thigh gap thing. You and your body do not deserve to be tortured like that.

It does not matter if you have big boobs or small boobs or average boobs.

It doesn't matter whether you have an arse or not.

It DEFINITELY doesn't matter whether you are curvy or slim.

You are you. you're gorgeous and stunning and others will love you if you just learn to love yourself.

It's ok if you workout, it's ok if you don't workout. It's okay to do your best to achieve the body you want, just don't stress yourself out about it because you're fine the way are. Don't try to lose weight to be like the 'others' do it for yourself. 

I am aware that I am being a little bit contradicting because I'm saying to accept who you are but I'm also saying it's ok to change yourself. That's why this topic is a little complicated. But I'm going to try my best to summarise this in a few sentences.

If you want to/are working out because you want to slim down or get toned or to just generally feel fit and healthy then that's completely fine. In fact, I encourage people to become fit and healthy because it makes such a positive difference in your life. So long as you are doing it for the right reasons.  And if you don't want to workout then that's also fine. But don't, and I'm begging you not to, harm your body in any way for the sake of other people. and don't harm yourself full stop (will talk about this another time) 

Now ...I want you to do me favour. Do you think you can do it?

If you know someone in your life who ...shall we say...isn't confident with themselves then please send them this.

And if you are that person reading this then I know you're probably thinking "Why on earth should I listen to a 17 year old girl who probably cries because her celeb crush is 'so beautiful'"

Firstly, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE FEELS OK? I JUST... I CAN'T. (kidding...kinda)

Secondly, I know that I am no expert on any of this. But I am a young person just trying to make the world a better place and wants everyone to know how awesome they are.

And no I am not trying to suck up to anyone because who exactly am I sucking up to? this blog isn't aimed for a specific person.It's just me sharing my opinion and my message to the world.

And I would like it if you guys could share this too, 

Not because I want loads of people to view my blog (although that would be pretty cool) but because I want to help those who are struggling and I want to help them realise that they are awesome.

Question of the day: what is one thing you like about yourself? and your answer can not be 'nothing' it doesn't need to be a physical thing, maybe you are really creative or you like expressing yourself.

Comment below or tweet me @noreenkhanom

I post things about all sorts of shtuff here (Blog)

I express my feelings about things here (Twitter)

I reblog cool and pretty things here (Tumblr)

I post pretty and cool pictures here (Instagram)

CYA :D

Being a better you part 1: the introduction

Well hey there internet,

Happy New Year! ...It's as if you haven't heard it enough already.

This year I decided not to really have any resolutions because if I'm honest I feel quite happy with myself and I think the whole resolution thing is slightly cliche. 

And from personal experience people tend to put you down for having resolutions by saying "you're not going to achieve that"

Anywho, I don't really want to change anything about myself at the moment.

However, I do think there's a difference between changing yourself and emphasising yourself. Don't worry I'm not telling you to gain weight or anything.

I had this idea about a few months ago but I thought there would be no better time to do it than the New year.

I've decided to start this series about "Being a better you" which involves me essentially giving a load of motivational speeches about different things. 

Being a better you does not need to involve changing anything if you don't feel the need to but it does emphasise the good things about yourself. 

For  example.  I could have made resolutions this year and said "Be less lazy" knowing that I probably wouldn't follow through with it. 

Instead I am saying to myself, "Hey,  I have a lot of hopes and dreams in my head that just sit in my head and keep me company at night, how about I take that to the next step and actually take small steps to get to one of those dreams"

So rather than giving myself a  direct instruction I'm actually encouraging myself to go further with something I'm already doing and taking the next step.

And I want to help you do the same.

This series I want to talk about three things:
- Your physical aspects
- Your mental ability
- Your emotional attitude

3 things that I think if you can get right, then you are on a road to success 

So let's make 2015 kick ass!

I'll see you tomorrow with the next part of the series

Here's to a new year :) 

(random scenic picture I took that may be motivational)

Question of the day: How do you think you can be a better you?

Comment below or tweet me @noreenkhanom

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CYA :D

That's a lot of water!

Well hey there internet!

Last Summer I got to go to see one of the wonders of the worlds. Niagara falls. It was truly a spectacular experience and I highly recommend it for all you travellers there.

We spent the weekend on the American/Canadian border so on the day we arrived we walked over to Canada (that's not something you can say everyday) and caught the sun setting whilst spending the evening in Ontario.

On second day I also had a chance to go in the "Maid of the mist" which was essentially a boat trip to the waterfalls... well... as close as you can get without being completely drenched. It wasn't exactly a safe place for electronics so unfortunately I couldn't take any pictures. 

Seriously we were well away from the actual waterfall but I felt like I was having a full on shower.

luckily we were given some very attractive waterproof ponchos...yeah.. they weren't the cutest things but trust me you needed them.

These pictures don't even begin to describe the amazing views I saw.

Question of the day: What's the one place you want to go to in the world?

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CYA :D

Christmas festivities!

Well hey there internet!

Christmas time means there are all sorts of winter themed events going on around the world like The Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park in London.

Where I live the annual German markets have come to town!

These festive stalls are filled with Christmas/non Christmas related goodies, my personal favourites are the fairy lights stall and the mini pancake stall where I've been indulging in some nutella covered mini pancakes.

Makes my mouth drool just thinking about it.

However, it is not just the stalls that make this place amazing. If you are not someone who gets into 

Christmas spirit then you will if you come here.

The lights, the smells and the atmosphere alone are enough to fill your heart with festive cheer. And that’s if the music in the background hasn't got you to tap your toes to the beat of those catchy Christmas tunes.

Just... look...

*sigh* It's magical

Question of the day: Are there any festive events going on where you live?

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