An Announcement On My You Tube Future, And An Unboxing Video

Next month my blog celebrates it's 12th birthday - sometimes it's hard to believe that I've been blogging for so long, I've seen some many amazing bloggers come and go in that time, but some how I've managed to keep at it and stick it out.

It hasn't always been an easy ride, in the last few years especially I've found it hard to stay motivated, and sometimes I've started to wonder if it's all worth while. Life and my health really have started to get in the way at times, and my blog has definitely suffered, posting has been sporadic at best and as a result, my blog hasn't grown in quite the way that I wanted it to. It's a vicious circle I guess, you don't post, you don't get views, you miss out on opportunities and you feel as though you've let people down, and as result you wonder if it's all worthwhile, and if it's worth ploughing energy that you don't really have into something that's on a downhill slide, so you don't post, and the circle continues.

The easiest option would be to give it up, but I don't want to do that, I've worked too damn hard to get as far as I have, and unlike a lot of people who've say they've fallen out of love with writing, I haven't, I still enjoy writing, using my brain a bit, and the whole blogging process, I want to keep going and despite the likelihood that life is still going to get in the way, in 2019 I want to be a better blogger and I want to push my blog on, like I know that I can. In order to do that though, I'm going to have to make some sacrifices, and unfortunately one of them is going to be my You Tube channel.

For 9 years now, I've regularly posted videos to my You Tube channel, I've posted everything from cat videos, to holiday snapshots, to unboxing's and hauls, and it's something that I've really enjoyed doing. Despite the odd nasty comment, I've really found that it's boosted my confidence, and it's given me another way to express myself. For whatever reason though my channel never really hit the heights that I wanted it too, and I found it incredibly difficult to grow any sort of following on You Tube, despite my own perceived failings in that sense though, I achieved enough views to earn a little bit of money from my videos, which was an added incentive to keep at it. Alas like so many small You Tubers policy changes meant that I lost the ability to monetise my videos, I wasn't earning a lot by any means but it as I say it gave me a reason to continue; Around the same time coincidental or not my views dropped like a stone and any form of interaction pretty much dried up.

I've gave it the benefit of the doubt for quite a few months now and I've kept at it, but given the time and the energy (that I don't really have) that it takes me to film, edit and upload even a short video, I've came to the conclusion that I could put both my time and my energy to better use. So after 9 years, I've decided at least in the short term to call it quits on You Tube. I've given it my best shot but at the end of the day I think the odds were always against me. I won't be deleting my You Tube channel so by all means stay subscribed and watch a few of my videos if you haven't already but for the foreseeable future I won't be posting any new videos.

So now that my You Tube channel is officially on hold, hopefully now I can give my blog all the love, time, attention and energy that it deserves. A lot of the content that I produced for my You Tube channel such as favourites videos, and unboxings will translate pretty well into blog posts, so you can look forward to lots of new posts and different types of content, including some unboxing posts, the first of which should be live next week x In the meantime though don't forget to watch my You Tube back catalogue, and please have a little watch of my last video where I'm unboxing the December 2018 edition of Pink Parcel x You can watch below or via this link x



Thank you as per usual for watching, reading and for all your support x

Nails Of The Day - Milani 3D Holographic Nail Lacquer - 509 HD - Reshot And Rewritten

I've got an admission to make guys, I'm a hypocrite! I'm always going on about how much I love the sun and the warm weather but I'm going to have to be honest, hold my hands up and say that I've just about had my fill of summer 2018. We just aren't used to the heat in the UK! Okay we haven't had some of the scary temperatures that they've had in mainland Europe but when it's constant like it has been lately, it's not normal for us and we just can't deal with it. My energy levels are at rock bottom and all I want to do is nap, admittedly I'm in a lot less pain than usual but even the tiniest little thing is stealing ever single spoon from my virtual drawer! Thankfully a month or so ago I had enough cutlery to be able to paint my nails, and shoot a few pictures for the blog; Since then though my hands and nails have gone steadily down hill but at least I have these pictures to remind me of just how nice my nails and hands can look, when they are a little less heat ravaged and dehydrated.

If you're a long time reader then you may have originally spotted a version of this post way back in 2010. Thanks to the Photobucket fiasco the original photos disappeared, and since I loved this polish so much I decided to dig it out again and re shoot it for you. The polish in question is one of the beautiful and unfortunately now discontinued Milani 3D Holographic Nail Lacquers in the shade 509 HD, which is a gorgeous, full on, holographic silver.

Packaged in a slightly retro looking bottle, these Milani polishes have quite a thin brush but they are really easy to paint with especially if you have smaller or thinner nails. I'm not going to lie to you this one needs a bit of effort but it's well worth it. The first coat gives a pretty, insipid, sheer wash of colour, but it dries quickly, and you just need to keep at it, the formula is a bit thin but it's buildable, and with just the 3 coats that you can see here, you can achieve a fabulous smooth, and glossy full coverage finish.

At first glance this polish maybe isn't quite as vibrant as some of the other holographic formulations on the market, but believe me it all depends on the light. The two pictures that you can see above are taken in natural light on a slightly dull day, and the result is a slightly subdued silver glitter, pretty but nothing special, play around with the lighting though and this polish literally explodes into life! Move you hands about and add a little bit of extra light with either bright sunlight, artificial lighting or even with a camera flash like I have here and then the magic really happens!

Get your movement and your lighting right, and you have hands that you can't stop staring at. Every movement or flash of the light results in the most amazing 3 dimensional colour explosion. The effect is amazing and although it takes a little bit longer to achieve than with some holographic polishes, it's well worth the effort. The wear time is also pretty decent which is not only unusual for a polish in the holo formulation but it's also pretty amazing when you consider that this particular bottle of nail polish is now over 8 years old, and it's as good now as it ever was!

As I say I originally bought this polish way back in 2010, and unfortunately like so many things in the Milani range that I've loved over the years, it appears to have been discontinued so it's now pretty unlikely that you'll be able to get your hands on a bottle of Milani HD :( Holographic nail polishes thankfully now though are a lot easier to get your hands on than they used to be. I'm a huge, huge fan of holographic nail polishes, and I'm always on the look for new ones. I've picked up a few recently from the Mark brand at AVON, and I've also got a few new shades from Born Pretty to try and a lovely blue shade from Maggie Anne to try (Check out my Instagram to see some sneaky peeks). There are now loads of brands out there that offer holographic finishes and formulations, and whilst they can sometimes take a little bit of tracking down, if you want eye catching and show stopping nails then they really are a must have! It's going to be a little while before I can try out any of my new colours, but in the meantime if you have any holographic nail polish recommendations I'd love to hear them, my nails may be non existent but I'm always up for buying new polishes so let me know your faves x

A Life Update - Wisdom Teeth Removal, Spoonie Life And Things To Come

Bonjour, mes amis! Did you miss me? It's been a little while since I last posted but there is a good reason I promise.

At silly a clock on Friday morning I was admitted to the day case unit of one of the North East's largest hospitals - the reason? to get the tooth from hell removed. Although it was a long day and there was a lot of waiting around, I really can't praise the hospital and staff highly enough.

 I'd chosen to have it removed with a little bit of IV Sedation, so after I'd gowned up and donned the obligatory surgical stockings, the wait started, and eventually I headed down to theatre - in the run up to the surgery there had been a few issues with my heart and my blood pressure, so everything was rechecked and I was given a bit of oxygen as a precaution. Feeling nice and calm and full of mild sedatives the surgery itself was a breeze, after a few injections of local anaesthetic into my mouth and gums, all I felt was a bit of pressure and a bit of tugging, and the feeling of thread brushing my nose.

After what seemed like only about 5 minutes (it was actually only around 10)  I was wheeled into recovery with a piece of gauze clamped in my mouth for a little bit of observation and a few more tests, and then I was taken back to the ward for yet more tests, and I was eventually given a glass of water! Despite tasting a touch bloody, and having a mouth lacking in feeling, it was amazing - I'd been nil by mouth since midnight and since this was around 1pm I was gasping!

Since I was recovering well, I was allowed to get dressed (after a quick selfie of my puffy face) and preparations were made for my discharge. I was given another drink and a sandwich I couldn't really eat, and then I was given some antibacterial mouth rinse and some painkillers and then I was free to go.

I took my nearly an hour to get home and by this time the pain was starting to kick in, the local anaesthetic was wearing off, and the painkillers were consumed almost as soon as I got through the door, and that's the way it went for the next 3 days - painkillers, painkiller, and more painkillers. My face swelled up, I couldn't open my mouth and I felt as though I'd been hit in the face with a shovel! Liquids and cool drinks we're my friend and solids were a big no no.

Thankfully all seems to have gone well, and the pain, swelling and stiffness has gradually subsided as the weeks gone on, I'm still eating a soft diet, avoiding anything that's too hot and I'm still getting the odd twinge but bar my stitches dissolving, it's over with and that's the main thing.

Like a lot of things though even the most minor surgery can knock a spoonie for 6, and since Friday I've felt utterly exhausted, I've spent 4 days in my PJ's and I feel as though I've slept for Britain. Today though I feel as though I'm starting to turn the corner. So after a mini blogging break I'm back and raring to go.

My face is still a bit swollen and I still think I'm talking a bit oddly, so I won't be making any videos for a little while or showing my face in any blog posts but I still have a few things planned including a recipe which should be live tomorrow, a beauty box unboxing post, and an overview of  some of the products in the OPI Hello Kitty collection. I've also got lots and lots of reviews planned and a little thank you giveaway, so there will be lots to keep you busy. Thanks again for the well wishes and I hope that sharing my experience has been helpful x If you have any more questions though please leave me a comment and I'll try and get back to you as soon as I can x 

Apologies