Life lately - where I've been

This is definitely the longest I've gone without writing on my blog, and I thought it was about time I did a little update. Since we last spoke I have turned 22, bought a new car, officially became a trainee reporter for the Nottingham Post (and interviewed McBusted), booked my first holiday abroad without my parents and got myself the loveliest boyfriend. As you can tell a lot has happened and sadly while I've managed to find the perfect work/life balance, this blog has taken a back seat. 

I'm not saying I'm going to stop writing on here because I'm not. Although I write for a living, sometimes it's nice to get my own thoughts out on paper, instead of other people's. It'll just be less frequent - probably once a month - and more lifestyle focused, rather than beauty.

What have you been up to over the past month?

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Outfit of the day and a blogging break

Recently my blogging schedule has gone out of the window and I've decided to take a bit of a blogging break. This could be for a couple of days, a couple of weeks or even a few months. I won't go into too much detail but I think I need a bit of me-time, and a step away from social media. It won't be forever, I absolutely adore blogging and the escape it provides me. But I need to put myself first sometimes.

In case you didn't know, I've been working for The Nottingham Post for the past four weeks and because of this, I've featured in their newspaper and on their website a couple of times. If you're interested, you can view my features here and here. I quite like the outfit that I put together for their "fashion blogger" segment so decided to showcase it on my blog.

I do apologise about the photo. It's no secret that I'm useless when it comes to taking outfit photos. But the sun was shining so I definitely made the most. I've recently been adoring midi skirts as I find them flattering and classy. I'd be eyeing up this one from Matalan for ages so when I saw it in the sale, I knew I had to snap it up. I also love the fact that it's pink too.

Top: Matalan

Skirt: Matalan

Necklace: New Look

Shoes: Primark

What clothing items have you been loving recently?
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LIFESTYLE | Happy 4th birthday Bamboozle Beauty

Four years ago today, I sat down and registered on Blogger. I had no idea what I was doing, all I knew was I wanted to share my experiences and love of beauty with the world. I never imagined that blogging was something I'd still be dedicated to and doing four years later. And I certainly didn't expect the blogging industry to blow up like it has done. It's crazy! We're no longer considered as customers with an opinion - we're taken seriously and it's fabulous. This is a career for some people and many vloggers are seen as celebrities. It's been a beautiful thing to experience and be a part of.

I don't want to ramble on too much but I did want to mark my blog's fourth birthday because it's something I'm proud of. I love my blog. It's a form of escapism for me. A way to share my love and my favourite things with you lovely people. And since starting Bamboozle Beauty, I've achieved a lot. (In no particular order) I met the Spice Girls, danced onstage with Britney Spears, started university, passed my driving test, turned 18, turned 21, been invited down to London for incredible events, worked with some of my favourite brands and that's just a few of the things. It's overwhelming to think about how much I have changed as a person in four years and how much this blog has achieved in four years. It's flown by.

But yes, happy birthday Bamboozle Beauty! And I hope I can say "happy fifth birthday" next year. Thank you for all of your support - it means so much to me and I love each and every one of you.

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LIFESTYLE | Today, I'm 21

Today, I am a woman. Well, that's a slight exaggeration but I do happen to be 21 today. It's crazy, isn't it?! I still feel like a little girl who loves to pop on make up, dance to Britney Spears and sneak biscuits up to her bedroom. I suppose it's true; no matter how old you get, you still feel young at heart and despite all of the responsibilities, it's refreshing to know that I can still have fun. This year is a big one for me. I turn 21 (obviously), I will get my braces off and I will hopefully graduate from university and step foot into the big wide world. It's quite scary and I've already had a lot of "so, what will you be doing after uni" questions and the answer is, I have absolutely no idea. I'll think of that when I come to it but for now, I'm working damn hard and enjoying my last few months of freedom. I will be posting a "what I got for my birthday" post soon seeing as I didn't do one for Christmas - I simply didn't have the space to photograph everything! - so look out for that. Over the next two weeks, I'll also be doing work experience (at a real magazine!) so this blog may falter a little bit sadly as I'm going to be working "real people hours." Kill me now. But it is Bamboozle Beauty's 4th birthday on the 17th of January - madness!

I should probably get back to doing grown up things now, have a wonderful day and have a drink for me.

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It's a beautiful life...

Phew. Hello. It's nice to just be able to sit down and type. As you can probably tell, I've been a bit slack on the blog recently. It's not because I'm getting bored of it by any means, it's just because my third year at university is a lot more hectic than I could ever have imagined. The workload is piling up and it's rare that I get a moment to myself. But blogging to me is therapeutic and after a bad time recently, it's something that I need to do. Today, I'm writing this after catching up with BlogLovin, my emails and everything else blog related. And after this, I'll be doing university work sadly.

I'm fully aware that a lot of people who follow me know about my bad skin. It's something that I've suffered with for many years now and something that still affects my life greatly. Despite the fact that I have a wonderful skin care routine, eat well (recently anyway, I'm on a diet) and I'm in my 20's, my skin is still bad. More recently, it's taken a turn for the worse and even though many doctors over the years have told me that there's nothing they can do for me, I decided to go back.

This time, I booked an appointment with the nurse. I've read many stories about the contraceptive pill and lots of you have recommended it to me before. I went in, told the nurse I wanted the pill for my skin and after years of waiting, she brought the dermatologist into the room to see me. The dermatologist told me that they were going to "hit my skin hard" and get rid of my spots quickly. I'm now on Yasmin (the pill), Tetralysal and Epiduo.

Walking out of the doctors, I couldn't have been happier. Infact, I wanted to break down and cry. My skin has affected me for a really long time and constantly I've been told that it's something I'll have to live with. I'm now on a 6 month treatment course and I'm nervous - but excited - to start. I've been warned about the side effects and I'm having to be monitored closely. My skin will be dry but luckily I have many skin care products to help with this.

Yesterday, I took the pill for the first time. If any of you know me then you'll know that I struggle with tablets. I can't take them and I've always had to request medicine. When taking the pill, it took me three glasses of water to swallow it even though it's tiny. This morning however, I swallowed it with my first gulp which was a huge achievement for me. The Tetralysal on the other hand are huge capsules so I'm worried about taking them and waiting for my friend to get back home to help me - oops!

But yes, I wanted to write a chatty post today to let you all know my current skin situation. I will be keeping you updated if it's something that you're interested in. If you're someone like me - who suffers with bad skin - and the doctors keep turning you away, please continue to pester them. It may have taken me six years but I've finally got something out of it (although I now have to pay for prescriptions, gah)!

I hope you're all well and normal blogging will resume soon - hopefully xxx

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Farewell Google Reader

Just a little chit-chat post for you all today. As you may or may not know, Google have decided to sadly get rid of their Google Reader and although nothing has been confirmed yet, there has been a lot of speculation over what will happen with Google Friend Connect. 

When I first started blogging, there was no BlogLovin, there was no SheSaidBeauty, there was Google Friend Connect, RSS Feeds or email subscriptions. But as the blogging industry has grown, so has the available blogging following platforms. For me personally, I'm extremely sad about the (apparent) loss of Google Friend Connect. Although it's not as pretty and as easy to use as BlogLovin, it's where the majority of my readers are and it makes me gutted to know that I might be losing some of you after the hard work I've put into my blog.

So this post is just me letting you know other ways that you can keep up to date with Bamboozle Beauty if you do want to continue to be a part of my little community. There are many different ways that you can follow my blog and you find the majority of them here. My personal favourites are the following:

Twitter

By following me on Twitter you won't receive a lovely list telling you when I've published a new blog post however, you will be able to keep in touch and up to date with me. Every time I publish a new post, I'll send the link to Twitter and inform you all what it's about. I'm also very active on Twitter, love a good old chat - especially about beauty products - and meeting new people so if you're up for a natter, follow me and I'll follow you back.

Facebook

Whether you love it or hate it, Facebook is one of the biggest social networking sites on the web and it continues to grow on a daily basis. These days, it's great for keeping up to date with your favourite bloggers and YouTubers. Like Twitter, I post every newly published post onto my Facebook page and keep you updated with anything happening the world of Bamboozle Beauty.

BlogLovin

This has quickly become my favourite way to keep up to date with my favourite bloggers. I follow a lot of blogs via this website and it makes reading posts much easier. First of all, they have their very own app which means no matter what I'm doing, I can read blogs which for me, is wonderful. Also, they give you the opportunity to "like" a blog post and my heart beats a little bit faster whenever I receive a new like on my post - they always make me happy! Thirdly, you can import the blogs you currently follow on Google Friend Connect into your BlogLovin account by clicking here - they couldn't have made it easier if they tried. And finally, they have "popular pages" and "up and coming pages" which means finding new blogs to follow is an absolute doddle.

Like I mentioned earlier, there are many other ways to be kept updated with me and my blog including Instagram, She Said Beauty, Bloggersdotcom, Google+, Pinterest and Baobella. You can find more of my social media links here. It'd be great to keep you all aboard on my blogging journey - I'd hate to lose any of you.

xxx

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Goodbye Google Reader

In case you haven't heard, Google Reader is shutting down. I'm pretty sad about this. I got my first follower on Google Reader and I've built up a big and loyal following that way. Although there's been no mention of it yet, I'm guessing Google Friend Connect will soon be gone. If you're a user of Google Reader, I'd highly recommend importing your "following list" onto BlogLovin'. You can do this here and find out how to here. I've already done so, I can't deal with missing posts by my favourite blogs! You can follow my blog via BlogLovin, HelloCotton and She Said Beauty.

So yeah, just a quick heads up for you all and thank you for staying loyal via Google Reader.

xxx

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My blog's 3rd birthday!

Wow. 3 years. How quickly has that gone?

I must say, this past year has been without a doubt my favourite blogging year. Since starting university my passion for writing has grown an awful lot and so has my love for all things beauty. Blogging has given me so many opportunities that I would never have been able to have if it wasn't for my own little section on the internet. It's not only given me journalistic knowledge but also beauty knowledge and of course, it's given me the opportunity to talk to people who love the same things that I do. I say this every year and I will continue to do so for the rest of my blogging years but thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your support. If I'm feeling down about something or just under the weather, I can rely on your all, your lovely comments and tweets to make myself feel better. We're like a family and I love seeing our family grow every single day.

Blogging is something that has changed a lot since I first started. When I started, there weren't half as many blogs as there are now and "press samples" were pretty much unheard of. Now, blogging is taking over the beauty industry and bloggers are regarded as genuine sources to find out about the latest beauty info. And if there's ever a product I'm looking into buying, I will always type in "*insert product name here* blogspot" into Google and see what other people like myself think. I'm so proud of how much blogging has grown. It really is a great 'industry' and it's lovely seeing the amount of respect we now receive from industry professionals.

I was 17 when I first started blogging. I'm now 20. I've grown so much as a person in such a short amount of time. I've since learnt to drive, got a car, passed my A Levels, started university, been to blogging events, met new friends, lost old ones and of course, danced onstage with my idol. It's been a whirlwind 3 years and I look forward to the next 3 years. Life throws some obstacles sometimes but no matter what, things get better. Always. 

Once again, thank you for all of your support. It genuinely means so much to me.

xxx

Update

This is just a quick update to let you know that I am still here and I am still blogging. I've just been really busy recently. I have a law assignment due in next week and law isn't my strong point so I need to put all of my focus into it. It's also my birthday on Friday and I'm back at university so I'm meeting up and catching up with my friends. I hope that you all understand and I hope you're having a lovely 2013 so far. I have lots of blog posts coming up, they're all planned I just need to take pictures and write them. Normal blogging should resume on the 21st of January. I also have an anti-ageing skin care routine post that is scheduled for next week to keep you going. Really sorry about this it's just life is a bit hectic at the moment!

xxx

New Years Resolutions

- Lose weight. I've never, ever set this as a new years resolution and I'm not going to do a full on, crash diet. I'm just going to be healthier. Blogs being my books and YouTube being my TV has made me realise that being healthy is key to being happy and if I start looking after my health a bit better now, my body will thank me for it later. So now more late night snacks!

- Start an anti-ageing skin care routine. I hit 20 in a few days till (the 11th to be exact) and I've always read that 20 is the age to start your anti-ageing routine. I guess I've already started it in a way. I always use SPF (even when it's snowing) and I do take good care of my skin. But prevention is better than cure and I'm pretty scared of wrinkles - especially because I already have dark spots on my skin from spots so I'm going to be searching through a lot of anti-ageing skin care products throughout 2013.

- Knuckle down at university. I already try hard on my work when it comes to assignments and exams. But I want to try hard all year round. I don't just want to spend a full week or two doing an assignment. I'm going to come back from every lecture and re-write my notes. Maybe. Hopefully. We'll see.

- Continue blogging. If I do say so myself, my blog has improved a lot this past year. And I want to continue to improve it. I want to change its layout, practice my photography more and just generally get better and more interesting when it comes to writing posts. 

- Start saying "yes." I sometimes struggle to say yes to things. A lot of the time, I'll say no to things that are happening because I either think I can't afford it or I have too much work on. But the thing is, I only have another year and a half left at university and I don't want to leave with any regrets. So the next time I'm a little bit skint and me and my friends want to go somewhere, I won't put it off because I'm poor, I'll say yes and figure a way round it with a little bit of money.

So these are my resolutions. I've never really made any. But I'll look back this time next year and see how I've got along. What are your new years resolutions?

xxx

OOTD: Don't You Leave Me Brokenhearted Tonight & Update

Another outfit of the day for you all! I think I need to get a better tripod because mine keeps collapsing for some strange reason. So maybe that's something I'll spend my student loan on. Do you have any recommendations? Not expensive ones. Ideally not more than £10! I'll also have to ask my sister if I can steal her camera because hers is better when it comes to taking outfit shots.

Cardigan - Warehouse

Dress - Primark

Leggings - Primark

Necklace - Tally & Hoe*

I'm still awkward when it comes to taking outfit pictures, as you can probably tell. It just seems weird standing infront of a camera and posing! I love this dress. I've said it before but the fit is so nice. The camera didn't really pick it up but it fits on the top half and then flares at the bottom. It creates a beautiful silhouette and generally just makes me feel confident. As you'll probably be able to tell from my OOTD's my outfits are all pretty much exactly the same. Leggings, a dress, cardigan/blazer, necklace. I'm not the most fashionable person in the world but I do like wearing what suits me and what's comfortable for me. Oh and I love bird prints too! I also curled my hair with my GHDs.

I'm sorry for the lack of updates recently but I'm currently in Freshers Week which is completely hectic and this is the first time that I've been able to sit at my laptop with enough time to write a blog post. This outfit is pretty old but I didn't just want to write an update post on its own so I thought the outfit would go well with it. Next week is my first week of university lessons so I'm not too sure if I'll have a lot of time then either. But give it a couple of weeks and I'm sure I'll be back into the swing of things in no time!

xxx

*PR Sample

UPDATE: Sorry

Just a quick, early morning post. Sorry about the lack of posting recently. It's mainly because I'm working 6 days a week and I've been busy moving out of university etc. But as soon as I'm back and free, I promise I'll resume normal posting. I've missed blogging regularly a lot and I have lots of exciting products to share with you! I'll announce the winner of my giveaway formally on my blog either tonight/tomorrow so look out for that!

xxx

UPDATE: Holiday, University

Hey guys! I must apologise for being a bad blogger. I guess I should also say that I did pass my first year at university which I was very happy about as I was so nervous about finding out my results! I thought that once university had ended I'd be able to blog more but I just haven't had the time and it's been pretty hectic recently.  But hopefully after my holiday, I'll be blogging normally and regularly again. I say hopefully but don't quote me on it!

I am going on holiday today for 5 days and I originally wanted to schedule a few posts to keep you all busy whilst I'm away but unfortunately, I haven't gotten chance to so I'm really sorry about that! But hopefully everything that I wanted to write about and schedule will have a post after my holiday. Plus, if you want to stay in touch/keep up with what I'm doing on holiday then you can always follow me on Twitter as I'm an addict. But yes, I hope you all have a wonderful week and once again, so sorry about being a bad blogger!

xxx

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UPDATES: Would You Like To Advertise on BamboozleBeauty?

I've been seeing a lot of bloggers advertising small businesses and blogs on their blogs recently and I think it's a great way for those business and blogs to gain some exposure and also a way to help keep my blog running. I've never really wanted to use the standard Google Advertising as I'd prefer to advertise blogs like myself and other businesses.

I'm not entirely sure if this is something that I'm going to do yet but I wanted to write a post to see if any of you would be interested in advertising on my blog. The adverts would run on a 28 day basis and I would alternate the adverts regularly so that everyone would get a fair chance of being on the top spot. Your advert would be featured underneath my HelloCotton widget and all adverts would need to be 165px by 165px maximum. I'm hoping to run a maximum of 10 advertisers a month and on the first day of every month I will make a blog post introducing all the advertisers so that my readers can get a feel for your blog instantly.

Obviously we've just started July so the first time I'd run the 28 days if it happened would be from August 1st until August 28th.

August 2012 price - £3 for 28 days

My blog is a UK Beauty Blog and I generally post about skin care, hair care, body care and make up. But sometimes I'll feature lifestyle and fashion posts. Your blog or business doesn't need to be about these areas to be advertised though. My stats are available upon request and for any further enquiries please contact me on -

x.x_Jemma_x.x@hotmail.co.uk

(Please do ignore my tacky 'I-was-14' email address)

xxx

A Quick Update

Hello, I hope you're all well?

I'm really sorry that I haven't blogged for a while but I've been working really hard and just haven't had time. I've missed blogging a lot and I'm hoping to be back blogging regularly very soon. The good thing about working a lot is that I now have a lot more money than usual so I should be buying lots of nice things that I'll be able to blog about! I'm also hoping to attend a few events soon due to possibly being able to afford train tickets so it's very exciting! I am back in Lincoln every Saturday for working on Sunday's which means that I should be able to get at least one blog post a week up which although isn't a lot and I'd like to do more, it'll have to do for now. I thought I'd leave you all with the video to one of my favourite songs at the moment -

I'd also highly recommend listening to Justin Bieber's - Believe album, it's incredible.

Have a great week :)

xxx

Cosmopolitan Blog Awards

They're back! The Cosmopolitan blog award nominations are back opened again and I'm so excited. I love that blogs are getting recognised by magazines. It's great to be able to work alongside them instead of against them. I'd be honoured if you would vote for me as Established Beauty Blog but even if you don't vote for me, make sure you vote for your favourite blog as it's a great way to recognise blogging talent. And make sure you enter your email address as you'll then be entered into a prize draw to win £500 to spend at Next!

xxx

Help & Update!

Hey guys!

So just a random post today. I was just wondering if you'd all be able to complete this survey for me please. It's regarding beauty boxes and your preferences for what you'd like to receive in them. My friend's sister is hoping to start her own beauty box company so it's just a little bit of market research to find out what us beauty addicts would prefer to receive!

A big thank you to all who take part.

And another little update - to everyone who took part in my BB cream giveaway, please hold tight! I'm trying to get a hold of 2 more vouchers so that you can all receive one.

xxx

Dedicated. A little bit obsessed.

Full, normal posting will resume on Friday.

xxx

Mini Break!

Hello my lovely followers!

It's nice to see that I've gained so many new followers over these past few weeks so I'd first of all like to say a big hello to you all. It's great to have you along and I hope that you enjoy reading my blog.

However, unfortunately for me I have a lot of university work at the moment and for the next few days, I really need to focus on it. I didn't just want to leave you all wondering where I was so I thought I'd just give you a little heads up. Expect some posts late next week - possibly Thursday/Friday/Saturday time. So not too far away but far enough away I guess. I'll miss blogging but for once, I need to put my work first!

Have a good week and remember if you need me, tweet me!

xxx

2 Year Blogiversary!

Today my blog is two years old! I can't believe how much has happened in the past two years. As well as a thank you post, this will also be a reflective post so I hope you enjoy it! And make sure you use the comments to  let me know what you've achieved in the past two years - I'd love to know!

So here you can read my first ever blog post! It's nothing special and I just wrote a few things about me but for me, it's very cringy! Since starting my blog, I've achieved a lot that I'm very proud of.

I paid for me and my sister to go to London for her 19th birthday back in 2010. We went to Madame Tussauds, London Dungeons, Wembley, on the Eye and many more! It was a such a lovely experience and my first time in London sightseeing.

Me, my sister, my dad, my dad's girlfriend and her two sons went to Whitby in 2010 on holiday for a week. I really enjoyed it - it's such a beautiful place. And although the weather wasn't exactly tropical, it was a lovely week!

I passed my drivers test and got a car in 2010. It sounds cliche but driving has really changed my life. It's given me a lot of freedom and there's nothing I love more than being on the road with my music blaring out. Perry (the Picanto) is my baby and although he's not with me at the moment (I've left it at home), I miss him :(

I turned 18! I've loved being 18 and I'm really sad now I'm 19 to be honest haha!

Me and my sister went to see Katy Perry in 2011. We're both huge fans of Katy and it was a pretty hectic day because my sister had to travel back from university and then back to university so she could go out. But it was definitely worth it!

My hometeam Mansfield Town made it the FA Cup finals (I think) at Wembley and although I don't like football, of course I went along. We ended up sitting in an executive box and the entire experience was incredible and one that I'll possibly never get to have again!

I went to my first bloggers event with TRESemme, Miss Selfridge and BNTM. It was great to meet other bloggers and just chill out and talk about of course, make up and fashion!

Me and my dad's side of the family (same as Whitby) went to Cornwall in 2011 camping. I'm not a big camping fan at all and I'll never go again. But Cornwall is a beautiful place and as you can tell from the picture above, the views are stunning.

My sister paid for me and her to go to Butlins for 4 nights for my 18th birthday and it was amazing! Our mum and her boyfriend also came to see us for a few days (and buy us food lol). It was a great holiday and my sister is 21 this year so who knows where that will take us!

Our grandparents took us to Salou as a well done for everything and what would possibly be our last holiday with them. My well done was for passing my A Levels and getting into uni and Amy passed her first year of uni. It was boiling and we had a lot of fun!

I started uni. I haven't been here long but it feels like a lifetime. I'm enjoying every moment of it and the people I've met are definitely friends for life. I know I'm happiest here.

Do I really need to explain this?

I apologise for all of the pictures!
A big thank you to everyone who has supported me these last two years. I can't believe how much this blog has grown and also how much I've grown as a person. I love you all and cannot thank you enough.
xxx