jeezlouisexo: July 2017

Monday 17 July 2017

Glossybox July 2017

Hey everyone, I thought it might be easy to get back into the swing of blogging with an unboxing of this month's Glossybox. This month's box is Summer themed, to get everyone ready for the hot weather and holiday season. 

The first item in this month's box is a couple of spiral hair bands from the brand Papanga. I've never heard of this brand before but I have tried hair bands like these in the past. They're designed to keep your hair in place without breaking your hair. I've found that these hair bands work wonders for me since I use a lot of heat treatment on my hair quite often. They keep my hair exactly where I want it but don't pull and give me a headache. 

The next product is one that I'm super excited about, the A10 small fan brush from Spectrum Collections. I've been eyeing this brush up for a while and when it was announced for this month's box, I was over the moon. Fan brushes are perfect for applying highlighter, giving you an amazing glow!  The super soft bristles are synthetic which means it's cruelty-free (another bonus) I can't wait to use this brush and have a gorgeous glowing face!

Up next is a product that is absolutely adorable, a lip and cheek tinted balm shaped like a macaroon. It's scented with crushed berry and smells amazing. This balm is perfect for throwing into your handbag when you're in a hurry. It leaves a nice sheer finish that is perfect for the summer months! I've never used a cheek tint like this before but I will definitely be trying this out!

The next product is one I will definitely be getting a lot of use out of this summer and it is a soothing after sun lotion. I have quite sensitive skin so even 10 minutes in the sun will make me go a red as a tomato, so having after sun is very important. This lotion is infused with aloe vera and shea butter so not only is it great for your skin, it smells amazing too!

Last but not least is a banana setting powder from Bella Pierre Cosmetics. Banana powder was all the rage a few months ago as the perfect under-eye product. I'd say my skin is quite pale so usually banana powder is a little too yellow for me, and I just look a little bit daft so I probably won't be using this product. 

Overall I'm very happy with the products I received in this month's Glossybox. I'll definitely get lots of use out of the after sun lotion and the small fan brush. I can't wait to see what's in August's box!

Thursday 13 July 2017

Life Update: Where I've Been

Over the past month, I've definitely been a bit MIA from both my blog and all my social media. I don't want to be that person that tries to make excuses for themselves and I'm disappointed in myself that I've been away for so long. 

I don't have a specific reason of why I've not been blogging. I haven't been on holiday, I haven't been ill (except one day last week) I got stuck in a rut, with writers block being a massive problem for me. I tried everything I could to find inspiration for new posts, I tried changing up my desk area and clearing it out but nothing seemed to work.

Blogging has never been about the numbers or followers to me, but it was nice to see that people were reading what I was writing and actually liked my blog. I was so proud of how well my little blog was doing, and of course I had a long way to go to compete with the big names in the blogosphere, but I was happy with how well my blog was doing and it was something I enjoyed doing. 

I put a lot of pressure on myself to stick to a Monday/Thursday upload schedule, being very strict on myself with what posts to upload on certain days. There's obviously nothing wrong with having a schedule or a blog post planner and it was working for me to start with but then something went wrong and I just ended up forcing content, repeating the same kind of posts over and over. I've only been blogging since October of last year so I probably don't have any rights to be complaining about writers block or the struggles it comes with in such a short amount of time but it definitely affected me.

When I noticed I was struggling with my content, instead of announcing a break or just changing things up a bit, I dropped off the radar. There's so many bloggers out there who are absolutely killing it right now and I take my hat off to each and every one of you, you're doing a great job! I really wish I could be one of those people who is super organised with posts planned a month ahead, but I'm not. 

I really liked the schedule and structure I had with my blog but it was really getting me down, to the point where I thought about just stopping altogether. I've decided instead of sticking to a schedule that quite clearly wasn't working for me, I'm just going to write and upload whenever I feel like it. 

So from now on, you'll hear from me when I have something (half) decent to write about, but I won't restrict myself to certain days or a specific schedule.

Thanks for reading