August Favourites

I have missed doing my favourites posts but I think I needed the break to find some new and exciting things. I would love to hear what you have been loving the past month.

I was lacking a bit of highlight in my make up bag so I thought I would try this Barry M Cosmic Lights Palette. At first I wasn't really sure how to use it especially the more creamy colours but the powders are so  beautiful and give off the most beautiful shine.

The Stay Matte liquid lip colour by Rimmel in the shade Pink Blink has been my go to colour. I love the formulation, it is long lasting and perfectly pigmented. I have my eye on the plum shade. 

I saw this quite a while before I bought it, I instantly loved it but had no idea what I would wear it with until I saw a girl wearing it with a pair of jeans. I'm not really a jeans person but I decided it would go really well with black jeans. I saw this in the sale for £9 and at that bargain even if I only wore it once it wouldn't really matter. I have been wearing this quite a lot I'm not going to lie! Any styling ideas are welcome. 

I am into Vans right now and I thought it was about time I got a new pair. I love wearing them with jeans or dungarees or even dresses. They are so comfortable and this blue pair is the kind that will go with anything, they have little multicoloured speckles on which you can't really see from the picture making them different than other pairs I have seen that everyone has.

I have been looking for a trinket dish for so long to put next to my bed to keep my earrings and bracelets in. I always end up losing something when I take them off in the evening or when I go to have a bath so I just wanted a little place to keep everything together. When I saw this unicorn one in Primark I knew I had to have it. 

There has to be a food favourite and last month it was Kelly's Ice-cream in general but mainly the Chocolate Brownie and Salted Caramel flavour. It went very well with the sunny weather, not the healthiest but so so good. 

Life Update

I feel the need to do this post just because I didn't have such a great a start to the year and lots of things have changed. I feel like I've grown a lot as a person as a result of the things I have been faced with recently.
Unfortunately it has meant that my blog has taken a back seat and I haven't posted as much which I apologise for. I am keen to get blogging again and am excited to get creative with new ideas.

So at the start of the year I was made redundant, I won't fully go into details as it is what it is but I wasn't given a lot of notice and it really affected my confidence, mood and anxiety. I got quite down and my panic attacks got more frequent. I applied for Universal Credit which meant I had weekly appointments with the Job Centre as well as other sessions they advised me on attending.
Having more free time was nice to begin with but it left me with no routine and for a good while I felt like I had no purpose. I had nowhere to be and could get up whenever I liked but this left me with low moods and it would be embarrassing when people asked me what I did as a job. I spent a lot of my time applying for jobs but it left me questioning what it was I wanted to do, my confidence was at an all time low which after a while made me not want to apply for jobs as I just didn't have the confidence to sell myself at an interview.

In March I started my CBT sessions for my anxiety which I will speak about another time, honestly they couldn't have arrived at a better time. A few weeks later I went to an interview course which the job centre told me about. It was a bit challenging for me to even go but I did it and it made me so much more prepared and like I knew what I was doing. I had a couple of interviews all of which I didn't get but I took it all as experience. I had an interview for a work experience which I thought I had done absolutely terribly in, I wasn't wearing 'traditional' interview clothing as I had made the decision to dress in my own quirky style and I felt like that may have worked in my favour. In my other interviews I wore mainly black which is smart but just isn't me at all, I never wear black and I never felt truly comfortable.
I did an 8 week work experience which then lead to me working there permanently as they were impressed with me and my work ethic.
I feel so much better in myself, my confidence has gone up and I just enjoy going to work now as before I didn't. I like everyone I work with and I just enjoy the atmosphere a lot more.

Things aren't perfect but when are they ever, they are a heck of a lot better and I am somewhere now a few months ago I never thought I would be. For anyone who is currently unemployed my advice would be to stay positive, I know it is difficult but keep trying and something will come. Get a routine and keep yourself busy, this will stop your mood from dipping. Go to your local job centre, mine were really helpful they advised me on courses and I wouldn't have got my job without them.
Finally exercise, this will help clear your mind and keep you focused.

As you can see from my picture, I have new glasses. Just another change in my year of changes!