Unsocial Media

Recently I've been strongly considering deleting my Facebook account. There are so many reasons that make me want to so I thought that I would share them with you today. As with anything, there are pros and cons to Facebook and social media I know, but these are just my own personal opinions and I have absolutely no problem with people spending as much time on Facebook as they'd like.

So anyway, here is my list of reasons to convince myself to delete Facebook.

1. Friends?
In my life I have around 5-6 REALLY close friends. We'd talk every other day and meet up every once in a while. I have 507 friends on Facebook. So now I can keep up with 507 people that I barely know and watch them attend weddings, concerts, get into relationships and everything else. And what does it matter to me? Nothing. I mean, while it's great to get the latest gossip on people I haven't seen in years, I really don't care what these people are up to. And I don't mean that in a horrible way but I don't know them. And I'm sure they don't really care what I'm up to either.

2. Under Pressure
This is a biggie for me. I'm not sure if it's the same for everyone or just some weird social anxiety side-effect that I have but I feel an enormous amount of pressure on Facebook. For example, how many likes can I get on my profile picture, how many people will wish me happy birthday or will I be tagged in those photos my friend took? This is no word of a lie but I haven't changed my profile picture in over a year for fear of not getting any likes. Is that silly? Maybe. But it's something that causes me a lot of stress and anxiety and I'm starting to wonder if it's really worth it.

3. Depressing
Again, this might just be me but I spend an awfully long time on Facebook comparing myself to others or comparing my life to theirs. I ask myself 'why don't I look that good in photos?' or 'why isn't my life that exciting?' I see people jetting off on foreign holidays, having crazy nights out and moving to exciting places and I can't help but feel myself getting more and more depressed with each scroll. Why is my life so boring? Why can't I do those things and look that way and have that many friends? It's not healthy and it's not creating a good mind set.

4. Living Life For Social Media
I feel as though this one doesn't just apply to Facebook, but also to Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram etc. Whenever I go anywhere with my friends or have a night out, all I can think about is getting that perfect Snap to show everyone how great my life is. Or people spend ages taking that perfect picture to post on Instagram. I'm starting to feel like me, and those around me, are living our lives just to brag about it later on Facebook. We spend more time perfecting these pictures and posts that we forget to actually enjoy ourselves and enjoy the time we spend with each other.

5. Confidence
I feel like this point ties in with all the other points. With everything I see on social media I honestly feel like my confidence has been beaten and thrashed by everything. I see all these girls looking tanned and thin on Instagram, previous friends with their new boyfriends and relations living it up abroad. Even sending friends requests causes me so much anxiety. What if they reject? Do they hate me? God, I hate my brain. Nothing is ever simple and I feel like Facebook and other social medias are frying it even more.

So, why don't I just quit? That's the question I ask myself every day. If I hate it so much, why not just delete my account and be done with it? The fear of missing out I suppose. What if my friends are trying to organise a day out and they can't get in contact with me? Or how about when I go to college next year and I miss out on all the fun on Facebook with new friends? 

Also, we become so dependant on Facebook it's like an addiction. I can't go a day without checking on Facebook. A 'quick' look soon turns into hours and hours of random searching and pointless posts. 

I think the only option for me is to try and cut down how much time I spend on Facebook day-by-day. There's no way I could quit cold turkey. How do you feel about Facebook and other social medias? Have you ever deleted an account? Leave a comment below and let me know. Thanks for reading.

Everyday Makeup Routine

Hello! How are you? Today I thought that I would talk you through my everyday makeup routine. And before we get started I would just like to mention that I am in no way a makeup guru or an expert at applying makeup. Honestly, I'm doing well if I can make myself look semi-okay with makeup. So, without further ado, let's get started..

1. Having cleansed and moisturised my face in the morning, I start my makeup by doing my eyebrows. I do this because in my opinion, they are probably THE most important part of any makeup routine. Now my eyebrows are awful! Like really really awful. I use the Eylure Brow Pencil in Blonde to map out the shape of my brows. This pencil also has a spoolie to brush through those pesky brows. I then use the Barry M Brow Kit to fill in any gaps with the powder. I generally don't ever use the wax but the kit does have a very pretty highlight which I love!



2. Next it's onto foundation. Recently I've been using the No7 Stay Perfect foundation in the colour Calico. It gives a lovely dewy finish which makes me look a lot healthier than I actually am. I apply this with the Real Techniques Buffing Brush. I then use the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair under my eyes, on any blemishes (a lot!) and to outline my brows and use the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush to apply it.















3. To powder my face I've been using the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in Peach Glow for years! I dust it all over my face and then focus it on anywhere I've used the concealer.

 4. Next up it's bronzer! I use the Benefit Hoola Bronzer and love it more than you could ever know. I use the Real techniques Sculpting Brush to define my non-existent cheekbones, on my jawbone (gotta get rid of that double chin!), on my temples, by my hairline, on either side of my nose and down my neck. I also get a smaller brush and apply this bronzer to the outer corner and crease of my lid to act as an eyeshadow. For blush, I use the Bourjois Little Round Pot Blush in the colour Rose d'Or. This is such a pretty blush with a hint of gold shimmer. I also apply this blush to the centre of my lids with a smaller brush. It compliments the bronzer really well! I then use the highlight in the Barry M Brow Kit mentioned above on my browbone, on the top of my cheeks, down my nose and on my cupid's bow.

 

5. Next, I use Benefit's They're Real Mascara on my lashes. I will generally do two coats on my top lashes and one coat on my bottom lashes. I feel like this step makes the world of difference to any makeup look.

6. And FINALLY it's time for lips. I will always use the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Liquid Lipstick and have recently been loving the shade 17 Cool Brown. It's a kind of brown nude which is so gorgeous.

And there we have it. My everyday makeup routine. Below you can see a before and after shot:

Before

After

I hope you've enjoyed this post as much as I've enjoyed talking you through my everyday makeup routine. I love makeup and how it can really improve your confidence. Having said that, I have no problem with heading to town or that without makeup. After all, that's what I've been given. But there is nothing wrong with wanting to enhance your features and have fun with how you look. Thanks for reading!

I'M ON SNAPCHAT!

Hello! Just thought that I'd let you know that I've made a Snapchat account for my blog. I'll be posting random happenings throughout the day and other bits and bobs.

Please add away. My username is  littlemortal1 

Hope to see you there!

Embrace Your Weirdness

I am a weird person. After almost 19 years this is a fact that I've learnt to accept. Wait no, this is a fact that I love. 

I think something that we all must learn to do is to embrace our weirdness or our quirkiness. After all, aren't these the things that make us unique? Not to long ago meeting new people would be a very suffocating thing for me (okay MAYBE it still is). I would shut down my weird parts that want to break into song at any given time, dance even with strangers around and make extremely inappropriate comments every once in a while. But this wasn't right. I wasn't being me. This wasn't something I could help. I would smile meekly during conversations, nod every once in a while and hope that the limelight wouldn't shine on me at all.

Now I know what you might be thinking, some people are just quieter than others. And maybe you're right but the thing is, I am not a quiet person. I am loud and weird and when I'm with my close friends and family, I never shut up and love being in the limelight. 

I'm tired of being known as the 'quiet one' when meeting new people. I want to scream and shout and dance and sing and be happy and confident with myself. I want to just be my normal weird self. Is that too much to ask? So when I hit the big smoke (Dublin) in September, I'm making a promise to myself that I won't hide that part of me that is slightly strange. I'll embrace it and step out of comfort zone and hope people like me for me. And if they don't, then there'll be many others I'm sure who are just as weird as me (I hope)..

Throughout the year gone by, I met new people doing my course. As usual I barely spoke and pretty much just said what I thought people wanted me to say. Whenever I did make some sort of a witty remark or inappropriate comment I was met with 'Oh my God I'm shocked!' and 'That's so unlike you'. Honestly, these remarks hurt. Did these people not know me at all? Why was it whenever I said something that I would normally say everyone was so shocked? 

I hid myself. And when I started to relax and show who I really was, it was a shock to those around me. I don't want this to be the case. I know it will be hard at first, not shutting myself off from new people but this is something that is holding me back in life. And I swear that I will do everything in my power to overcome this.

I hope I'm not the only one who has this problem when meeting new people. Leave comments below and I'll speak to you soon.

Top Book Picks

Hello again! So in case you didn't know, I am a complete bookworm. There is nothing like being sucked into a different world with intriguing characters and amazing stories that stay with you for years and years. In my opinion a good book will stick with you for your whole life. So today I thought that I would share with you my top book picks. Some I've read recently and others not so recently. However I would like to point out that I've excluded all the Harry Potter books from this list as it goes without saying that everyone should read these books at least once in their life. And with that, let's get started...

1. The Manifesto On How To Be Interesting by Holly Bourne

Now I did a review of this book last year on my blog and it's clear back then how much I loved this book. And let me tell you that my opinion has not changed at all. Even after reading so many books since then, this book is still one of my absolute favourites. The story is so unique and interesting, and a concept I loved reading about as it's something that I myself have thought about. I read it so quickly as well. Holly Bourne's writing was so infectious and made me not want to put the book down (which I hardly did!). I would highly recommend that everyone reads this book.

2. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

When I started reading this book I instantly fell in love. The main reason for me was the quirky narration of the book by death itself. When I first read that death was the narrator I wasn't entirely convinced that it would work or that I would like that idea. However this concept is why I love this book so much. I mean how many other books out there are narrated by death? Also, 'The Book Thief' is the book which introduced me to my favourite character in any piece of literature, Rudy Steiner. I won't say too much because I want you all to read this book and enjoy the wonderful journey that 'The Book Thief' is. Sometimes I wish that I hadn't read this book yet so that I could read it as if it were the first time all over again.

3. Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne

I swear I am no relation to Holly Bourne I just absolutely love her books. Once again this book deals with a really serious issue of OCD but tells the story in such a beautiful, eloquent way. I love the friendships, the narrator, Evie, and everything else in this book. I feel like this book made me laugh, cry and gave me a much better understand of mental illnesses and how relationships are affected by it. This book also shines a light on the subject of feminism, but not in an in-your-face kind of way just in a way that made me WANT to be called a 'spinster'. This is such an incredible read and I think that everyone needs to read it.

4. The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon

This book makes me so happy! It is the sequel to 'The Bone Season' so definitely read that before you read 'The Mime Order' otherwise you'll be completely lost. These books are set in a dystopian future and follow Paige Mahoney (an Irish girl I might add!). One thing I would say is that it can be quite easy to get lost in this book. There are a lot of terms that may not make sense but luckily there is a glossary at the back of the book to help. I think dystopian novels are my favourite so that is why I loved this book so much. It's completely different to most other books of the same genre and has so many twists and turns that I absolutely loved. And that ending? UGH you'll have to read both books to find out what I'm talking about...

5. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Cassandra Clare has only gone and done it again. I didn't think it could get any better than 'The Mortal Instruments' and 'The Infernal Devices' series but goodness me it has (please read TMI and TID if you have not already as they are the most spectacular books in existence. Also they must be read before Lady Midnight, in my opinion, to really appreciate it). This book, like all of Cassandra's books really captures the essence of each character. They are all so memorable and amazing in their own way. Even though this book was so big, I still wanted it to be longer. And once again, such an incredible ending. Love, love, LOVE this book!

6. Legend Series by Marie Lu

Okay, so I've included three books in one here; Legend, Prodigy and Champion. Even though I read these books so long ago, I still count them as one of my favourite series and dystopian books ever. For me I'm one of those people who is generally always disappointed with the ending of a book or series. I don't know why but that's just the way I am. Out of every book series I've read this one ended the best for me. I absolutely loved it! It's original and funny and sad and everything you could ever want from a book series. I love the characters as well. They were so memorable and exciting I could hardly close the book I was so captured by it. I've loved it for many years and will continue to love it for many more years to come.

Wow so that was quite a rant. There is just something about talking about books that really gets me going. I hope you enjoyed this post and love escaping into the pages of a book as much as I do. Leave a comment below on what your top book picks are because I'm always looking for new books to read. Also leave a comment if you've read one of these or plan to read one and let me know what you think. Hope you're all having a happy day. Talk soon.

My Bucket List

The 8th of December. That was the last date that I wrote a blog post. I'm so angry at myself. Typical me, I always start things and never carry them on. It's not like I've been busy or anything. I'm just L.A.Z.Y. 

Anyway, now that that has been addressed let's catch up.. AGAIN. Last time I wrote anything it was 2015. And now here we are half way through 2016. How crazy is that? I feel like my life is passing me by without me even realising.

Around the time of the New Year I decided to write a bucket list. It's not very long yet because I don't want to just add random things for the sake of adding them but wanted to have things that I genuinely want to do before it's too. I though that I would share that with you today (it's safe to say that none of these have been accomplished yet but there's still time.. I'm only 18!).

My Bucket List

  1.    Fall hopelessly in love

  2.    Travel the world

  3.    Have an amazing group of friends that I will know forever

  4.    Get a tattoo

  5.    Write a song

  6.    Have a song written about me

  7.    Write a novel

  8.    Learn to swim

  9.    Go to Harry Potter studios in London

  10.  Watch a West-End or Broadway musical

  11.   Go indoor skydiving

  12.   Learn to surf

I      So that's my bucket list so far. I'm sure I'll add more as I think of them and hopefully they'll get crossed off soon enough. What have you got on your bucket lists? And if you don't have one I challenge you to make one and post it. Thanks for reading as always. Leave comments, you know, if you want.

It's Been A While

So.. what's this site again? It's been so long since I've blogged and I actually am starting to miss it. You see, many things have change since we last spoke. And when change comes, I go into shut down mode until I feel comfortable again. I suppose I'm at that point now that I'm writing again? How about a quick catch up then? Here's what I've been up to since we last spoke..

1. Firstly, I started a PLC (a year-long course after the Leaving Cert) in Applied Science. I wasn't too sure in the beginning. I missed my old friends from school and the routine of school life, but now I am really happy. Don't get me wrong, I still miss my friends like CRAZY but it's getting easier. This year is so laid back and relaxed after the dreaded LC and I really think by this time next year I'll be much more ready to go to college.

2. Driving is going well. I reckon I'm stalling only half the amount I was and I'm half way through my lessons (WOOHOO!).

3. Still eating like a pig.. but at least now I feel bad afterwards.

4. I got my eyebrows threaded for the first time. Hurt like hell, but at least my eyebrows are slowly but surely improving (they were a serious mess)*

5. Completely obsessed with One Direction's new album and Little Mix's new album. And ADELE THE QUEEN IS BAAAACK!! Amazing time for music.

*NOTE: Never touch your own eyebrows! I wish someone had told me this when I was younger. I used to shave my eyebrows.so that there was no arch at all. My eyebrows are permanently messed up. So there is a lesson for you. Learn from my stupidity.

In other news, how excited are you for Christmas? It is without a doubt my favourite time of the year. Everywhere is so festive I can't help but smile. What do you love about the magical season? And what have you been up to the past few months?