My Learning To Drive Experience

I was the kind of person that, as soon as I turned 17, I was out in a car and ready to learn how to drive. I live quite far away from the nearest town, so being able to drive would make my life so much easier, and it also meant no more buses (yay). I was lucky enough that I was able to start lessons with a driving instructor not long after my 17th birthday as well as go out in my own car for some extra practice. That's why I was really excited when Book Learn Pass got in touch with me about doing a post on my experience learning to drive. I loved learning to drive, and would encourage anyone who's able to do it to learn as early as they can.

For my 17th birthday, my mum and dad got me a block of 20 driving lessons with a driving instructor my dad was really good friends with, which was good as it meant we got them at a discounted price. I was really lucky they were able to afford this, as I know that the cost of lessons can be a big reason why so many people don't learn to drive. I was so excited to start my lessons and to be out on the road, and had even got my provisional license sent away for 3 months before I turned 17 - I was far too eager. On the day of my first lesson, I was picked up after school by my instructor and taken to a quiet street nearby most instructors take learners to on their first lessons. I was so excited, but really nervous I wouldn't be able to pick it up. I had no reason to be worried though as I took to it really easily.

My first lesson didn't exactly go to plan though. I was going along one stretch of road when I saw a woman reversing out of her driveway. Since I was on the main road, I knew I had the right of way and kept driving along. She either never saw me or thought she had the time to pull out, but she ended up reversing right into the front of my instructors car. It was terrifying, and even though I had done nothing wrong, I felt as if I had. I was nervous my instructor would be mad at me or that the woman would somehow twist it and blame the situation on me. It ended up working out fine though as they swapped insurance numbers and my instructor got his car got fixed - even though he did need to use a courtesy car for a week. It never even knocked my confidence or stopped me from getting back in the car for a lesson the following week. My instructor even told me he was surprised by how much the situation hadn't phased me, as that really could've caused a lot of people to stop learning completely. I'm so glad I kept going though - why should I let some stupid woman stop me.

I was very eager to pass my test, but still didn't want to rush the whole 'learning to drive' experience. I waited a few months before I sat my theory test, as it is quite a bit of money for a student and I wanted to make sure I'd be able to pass. Thankfully I did pass first time and booked my practical test straight away. I really enjoyed my lessons even though it did get a bit repetitive by the end, but practice makes perfect I guess. I was lucky enough that before my test, I was able to buy my own car that I could practice in whenever I liked. I feel like this was a really big help to me as I was out practicing almost every night, and it also meant I had some experience driving in the dark. So by the time I finally sat my test, I felt very confident that I knew how to drive well. After 25 lessons with my driving instructor and numerous out in my own car, I passed my driving test at the end of 2014 and have been driving every day since.

I love being able to drive and the freedom it gives you. Not only does it mean no buses or taxis or lifts from family and friends, but you can go out and do things you wouldn't have normally done. I even love just going drives at night by myself or nipping out to McDonalds - I actually did put on some weight when I passed with all my fast food trips. Passing my driving test has honestly been one of the best things I've done and I'm so happy I learned straight away. I think the earlier you can the better, because, as time goes by, a lot of people start putting it off and putting it off and end up never learning. It honestly does give you a new lease on life and I'd encourage anyone, who has the money, time and will, to get out on the road.

Let me know about your learning to drive experience or, if you haven't learnt to drive yet, what's been putting you off. Thank you so much for reading my post and I hope you all have a great day!

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*This post was written in collaboration with Book Learn Pass.

Quick Fix Facials: Calming Clay Mask

I love face masks, especially ones that help with irritated or sensitive skin as they're my biggest skin issues. If you read my blog, you'll know I love Lush's Mask of Magnaminty to help with my breakouts. So when I saw this Calming Clay Mask and that it helps with sensitive skin, I just had to pick it up. It's very affordable and easy to find so I thought it was worth a try. I've seen very mixed reviwes on this product but honestly, I've really liked it.

I have to say that a little bit goes a long way with this mask. You don't need a large amount to cover your face and the bottle contains quite a lot. The mask itself is white clay and isn't as thick as I first thought it would be - you can barely even see it on your face after you apply it. You apply a thick layer onto your skin and leave it for around 5-10 minutes. I normally only leave it on for about 5 minutes as I find it works better for my skin that way.

The biggest thing for me about this mask was helping with my sensitive skin. It also helps with red and irritated skin, but I don't suffer from these problems as badly. It contains various ingredients that help with all these different problems - oatmeal to help with dry skin, aloe vera to reduce inflamed skin and moisturise, chamomile extract to help calm sensitive skin and rose extract to help minimise redness. I've used this product quite a few times now and have definitely found it to have helped my skin. It's not as sensitive as it used to be which is the biggest positive for me, and I have noticed my skin has been much more moisturised and smoothe. I definitely find my face to be a lot softer after I wash the mask off, and I've been really happy with the results of this mask,

Now I've seen some people say they find this mask actually increases redness, but I have to say this hasn't happened to me. I've had nothing but good experiences while using this and my skin's been looking much better since I started applying it. It might be different for every person, depending on their skin type and what their main issues are. I myself have really enjoyed using this product and would really like to try some of the other Quick Fix Facials products.

Let me know if you've ever used this product or any of the other products by Quick Fix Facials and what your opinions on them are. Thank you so much for reading my post and I hope you all have a wonderful day!

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Jeffree Star Velour Liquid Lipsticks

I'm totally in love with liquid lipsticks right now, and had wanted to buy one from Jeffree Star Cosmetics for quite a while. Every time I'd go to buy one though, my favourites were all sold out. That's why, when he released two new shades, Rose Matter and Mannequin, I just knew I had to buy them. I've really been loving these lipsticks recently, especially Mannequin, and my love for liquid lipsticks stays strong.

One thing I have to say about these is that buying them in the UK can be quite tricky. Actually buying them doesn't cost too much compared to other brands, but there's a customs charge when shipping them over that I didn't know about. This made buying them a bit more pricier than I really wanted them to be which was quite annoying. It's also what's stopping me for repurchasing more products from Jeffree Star, and would only do it if I was purchasing a larger order. One massive positive though is the fact that these products are 100% vegan and cruelty free. That's something that I really love and wish all companies would follow suit.

 Rose Matter - If you read my blog, you'll know I've been trying out pink lipsticks quite a lot recently. I never used to like them as I always thought they were to bright for me, but just now I'm actually really loving them. That's why I was really excited by the look of this coraly pink shade. This colour looks absolutely gorgeous when it's applied, and definitely doesn't look too bright - it's actually quite neutral. It's nothing like any of the other pink shades I own as most of them are baby and light pink and this one's much darker. The consistency of these lipsticks is one of the best I've ever tried. They don't feel drying at all when applied and actually feel very smooth on your lips. The matte look it leaves looks amazing and is very long lasting - I find it looks just as good at the end of the day as it did when it was first applied. I really love this lipstick right now and am really happy that I bought it.

Mannequin - When I first saw this shade, I just knew I had to buy it. Nude and brown lipsticks are my favourite shades, and this dark nude colour is absolutely gorgeous. It looks beautiful when applied and I've been wearing this constantly since I bought this. The consistency of this lipstick is just as great as Rose Matter and I feel as if I have nothing on my lips when I'm wearing it. The fact these are non-drying is one of my favourite things about them, as that's always a turn off for me in liquid lipsticks. If you're in the market for a Jeffree Star lipstick, I'd definitely reccomend this shade as it's absolutely amazing. I feel like it's became my staple lipstick and is definitely my favourite nude of the moment.

I've really been liking both of these lipsticks and I'm really happy I finally tried them out. The shades are both absolutely gorgeous and their consistency is one of the best I've ever tried. The fact they require a customs fee when buying them from the Jeffree Star website is the main thing putting me off repurchasing, so if I was to repurchase, I'd only do it if I had quite a large order.

Let me know if you've tried out any of the Jeffree Star velour liquid lipsticks and what shades you've been loving. Also let me know if you've tried Rose Matter or Mannequin and what your opinions on them are. Thank you so much for reading my post and I hope you all have a great day!

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My Blogging Process

The process a blogger goes through when writing their posts varies from person to person. I, for one, love finding out how other bloggers go about writing posts, planning their schedule or taking photos and that's why I thought for todays post, I'd share my blogging process. Everyone goes about it differently and each person does what suits them, so what I do may not work out for you. But I thought, if you're anywhere near as nosy as me, you may like to know how I go about planning my blog posts.

Post ideas

I'm not normally one for brainstorming ideas or taking time to think up blog posts. Most of my ideas pop into my head during the day, most of the time when I'm out and not near my laptop. If I think of an idea, I usually write it in the Notes app on my phone then transfer it over to the Notes section in my planner. I write any ideas I have in two columns - one for posts I could write now, and one for posts I'll write in the future. I know it's not the most organised way of going about it, but it's what works best for me.

Planning posts

I use this weekly planner I bought from Paperchase to plan out my blog posts. I write down on every day what I need to do - take time to write posts, take photos, comment on other blogs. I also plan out what specific posts I'll write and post on what days so I know in advance. I then tick off everything after I've done it. I only plan a week in advance because my ideas change so much in my head and I think up so many ideas, I feel like planning just for one week suits me best - plus I think if I tried planning out a whole months worth of posts I'd get bored half way through.

Taking photographs

I know quite a lot of people take photos after they write their posts, but I'm one of the people that takes their pictures first. I just find it easier to write my posts around the photos and then take additional ones if I need to, rather than the other way around. I use a Nikon D3100 to take my photos and use natural sunlight, which means my photos all need to be taken during the day. This can be a bit of a hassle but I find my pictures turn out looking better. I use my white window sill as my background which I just prefer for my pictures as I normally do flat lays for my posts. I'm not a professional photographer in any way, and I definitely think this is the past of my blogging process that needs the most help.

Photo editing

To edit my photos, I use Photoshop CC 2015. It do pay monthly for this and there's plenty of other free photo editing services, but I really like Photoshop and it works well for me. It's very easy to use and barely takes me any time at all to edit my photos. I don't do much to edit my photos - mainly brightness, exposure and vibrance - but it's very easy to use more complicated tools.

Writing posts

I normally plan an hour or so to write a post when I know I'll have enough time to complete it. I normally only write one post a day unless I have a lot of motivation - which isn't a lot to be honest. Some posts I write gradually, such as advice posts, where I'll write a bit every so often until I feel like the post is complete. I absolutely love writing posts, and find myself having to edit them quite a lot after I'm done as I ramble quite a lot.

Posting

I write my posts in advance so always have to schedule them. I have certain days and times that my posts go up - Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm - so schedule them for these times. Scheduling your blog posts makes everything so much easier as it means I don't have to be near my laptop when I want my post to go live. After my post is up, I always promote it on social media, especially Twitter. This helps get traffic to my posts as well as gain feedback on what I've wrote about which I absolutely love. I normally tweet my posts with the hashtags #bbloggers or #lbloggers, depending on if the post is beauty or lifestyle, and #blogginggals. I also always tweet @FemaleBloggerRT as they're an account that helps widen your audience by RTing your post to their thousands of followers.

My blogging process isn't anything new or different, but it works well for me and helps make blogging that little bit easier. Let me know what your blogging process is and if it's anything similar to mine. Thank you so much for reading my post and I hope you all have a wonderful day!

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July Favourites

How is it actually the end of July and the start of August already? It feels like just yesterday I was writing my June Favourites post. Quite a lot has happened to me over the course of the month. including getting myself a new job which has been very exciting for me. Over the month, I've been using a lot of makeup and bought myself quite a lot of new products, which my bank account hasn't exactly been loving but I have been. So here are all the things I've been loving over the month of July.

Makeup

ABH Brow Wiz in Dark Brown - If I'm honest, I'm a bit of an eyebrow novice and never use a lot of products on my eyebrows. I've used gels before but I've never liked the way my eyebrows look after, so decided to give Brow Wiz a little try as I get on best with pencils and crayons. It's not the cheapest product around and I've seen a lot of posts on High Street dupes for it, but I was willing to pay the price if it did the job well. I'm happy to say I've really enjoyed using this product. The brush side is great for shaping your brows, and the pencil side, which is actually more of a crayon, is perfect and easy to use for shading and filling in the gaps. It's made doing my brows so much easier and doesn't make too much of a fuss. It's definitely my go-to brow product at the moment.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Sydney - I feel like I've been going on about these lip creams for forever but I can't help it - I honestly love them. My favourite shade over the course of July was definitely Sydney. I was never much of a fan of lighter pink shades on my lips until I bought this, and it's definitely helped me change my mind. The conistency of these creams is just amazing and I love the way they feel on my lips. The colour of this shade is just beautiful and I've loved wearing it as part of my summer makeup looks.

Kiko Milano High Pigment Wet and Dry Eyeshadow in 37 - I featured this product in a haul post here and have been loving it ever since. This shade is a peachy colour that has shimmers of gold through it, and is very pigmented which I absolutely love. It's a shade that's very easy to wear and blends perfectly with other shadows. It lasts me all day which I'm so pleased with considering how affordable this product is. I'm definitely planning on picking up more of these High Pigment Wet and Dry Eyeshadows the next time I'm within 50 feet of a Kiko Milano store.

Sleek iDivine Eyeshadow Palette in A New Day - I featured this product in a haul post here and I've loved it ever since I bought it. I may not have had it the whole of July, but I've used it almost every day since I've had it, and it's fast becoming one of my favourites. For how affordable it is, the shades are so pigmented and honestly last me all day - and still look as good as when they were first applied. It's made me become a big fan of Sleek Makeup. and I'm looking into buying myself another palette soon.

Urban Decay Naked 2 24/7 Glide-On Double-Ended Eye Pencil - I'm such a massive fan of eye makeup, especially smokey eyes with a lot of liner. That's why I decided to pick up this eye pencil, as I really liked the idea of having two different shades in the one product. This liner contains the shades Perversion and Pistol which both look gorgeous. I like the texture of the pencils as they feel very creamy and soft, and are actually more like crayons than pencils. They have a slight glitter to them which I wasn't sure I'd like but I actually really enjoy, and I've been really loving wearing this product over the month of July.

Skincare

Lush Mask of Magnaminty Face and Body Mask - I've already gushed over my love for this product in a blog post here and I still love it just as much. It smells amazing, feels amazing, and leaves my skin feeling great after I use it. This mask is great for acne prone skin and for people who suffer badly from breakouts, which is a category I come under. It's left my skin looking and feeling much better and I've had very few breakouts since I started using it.

Random Favourites

Will and Grace - This TV show has been around for years but I'm currently rewatching it and forgot how much I love it. I own all the box sets and have been watching it all day every day - I'm a tad addicted to it right now. It's hilariously funny and is the perfect show to cheer me up when I need a laugh.

Macaroni and Cheese - This is a bit of a weird one, but I currently have such an obsession with Macaroni and Cheese. I absolutely love cheese but never ever used to like Macaroni until I tried the Batchelors version and I fell in love. I honestly eat so much of this it's ridiculous - but god it's good.

Let me know what your favourites this month were and make sure to link me your blog posts if you've wrote one. Also let me know if you've used any of the products I've mentioned and what your opinions on them are. Thank you so much for reading my post and I hope you all have a wonderful August!

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