WHAT'S IT REALLY LIKE FOR ME TO STUDY, WORK AND BLOG ALL AT ONCE?

Not many of you will know this but I’ve been blogging since around the age of 9-10 when I was going through a hard time due to personal reasons and found that it made me feel invincible. I had my first blog at that age and it was a creative writing and art website (it’s been deleted years ago, but I really enjoyed writing it and creating original images using Photoshop and other software). To say that I did all that at such a young age is crazy, but that’s when I knew it was definitely something I’d want to pursue further as a teenager as I felt that I wasn’t old enough to put myself on the Internet - my blog at the time was anonymous. 

My current blog, my little baby, has actually turned 5 years old this month and I’m very excited to start sharing some more content with you all. After being absent for over a month, I feel like I need to get back into the game and I’m sorry for that, but I will explain what’s been going on with my life for me to not engage fully with my blog and audience.

Let’s be honest, blogging isn’t an easy job to do. I love it, but having to stay on top of my social media accounts, engage in group chats, schedule posts, and reply to all emails is getting a bit too much for me to handle. I’m a third-year university student so you can only imagine the ton of work I’ve got to do this upcoming semester. The blogging community is also not what it was last year, I mean I’ve made a lot of friends but I have also come across many bitter people who see everything as a competition rather than a hobby. Blogging for me is a hobby and something I’d love to do full time if it paid enough, but it seems like so many people join this creative community to get free stuff and bring others down...

I recently left my job at the Disney store and moved onto something bigger - a job in makeup. My new job suits me very well and I love it, I love making others feel beautiful in their own skin and other perks that come with the job, such as the clientele, colleagues and discounts of course. But since starting my new job I feel like I’ve fallen behind on my blogging, not only because I’ve been away on training or had to learn a lot of things, but also because I see beauty at work so don’t want to talk about it all the time on my blog too... hence why I’ve decided to create more fashion content this year as these posts seem to go down very well with you all. I will by no means neglect the beauty side of my blog, I will continue to do product reviews etc. But I will also share makeup looks on my YouTube channel to which you can subscribe here. 

Being a third-year student, I find it really difficult to manage my time especially as my work rota constantly changes making it even harder for me to plan out my days. I would ideally like to do at least 20 extra hours a week of uni work as well as post 3 times a week on my blog, and daily on Instagram and twitter but I don’t see that happening anytime soon... I also recently decided to change my diet completely and slowly transition to being vegan which I’m very excited about and cannot wait to make lots of delicious recipes from The Little Blog Of Vegan. 

With my poor spending habits, I have bought many notepads including a daily diary which will help me manage my time better. I have one for normal everyday tasks and a separate one for my uni work. I also bought a budget planner which I find very useful because it does help me with my spending a lot, and even though I have treated myself a lot this month as it was my birthday recently, I have saved more money than ever and I couldn’t be prouder of myself. This has actually helped with my mental health and I feel a lot more in control of my mind and what goes through it. No more overthinking, and no more letting little things bring me down.

As I have neglected my blog, I will try to write more now that I’m getting back on track with my life, however I find it difficult to schedule posts on time with all the work I have got to do, so please bear with me and I promise I will reward you with a giveaway soon. But for now, I will work my butt off to produce the best content ever for you as well as try to engage myself in more Twitter chats, Instagram stories and posts.

Lots of love,

Maya xo

BLOGMAS 2017 || DAY 16 - THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS SUGAR COOKIES (ZOELLA'S RECIPE)

These might not be the most appetising-looking cookies in the world, but they sure do taste good! I always make some festive treats this time of the year, so I thought it'd be useful if I shared with you my favourite sugar cookie recipe.
This is actually a recipe I got from Zoella's blog and I absolutely love how these came out (taste-wise) as I'm not the best at decorating cakes due to lack of equipment but hopefully I'll be able to share more recipes with you in my new house soon.

You will need these ingredients for the cookie batter:
140g Icing Sugar
250g Butter (cut into chunks)
1 Egg Yolk
1tsp Vanilla Extract
375g Plain Flour

For the icing:
225g Icing Sugar
1 Egg White
Cold Water

The Method:

Preheat the oven to 190oC.

In a mixing bowl, add butter, icing sugar, egg yolk and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Once you're happy with the consistency of the batter, start adding in the flour bit by bit and mix it in until a dough is formed. Wrap the dough in cling film and set aside in the fridge for around 30 minutes.
Spread some flour onto a worktop/chopping board and roll out the dough with a rolling pin (I don't have a rolling pin so I used a cucumber wrapped in cling film hahaha - desperate times call for desperate measures!). Once you roll out the dough, pick your favourite festive cookie cutters and start carving out some shapes. I actually used a pumpkin cutter as I couldn't find any festive ones, so I tried to turn them into baubles but as you can see in pictures they look like something a 5-year-old would make haha. Now that you have your cookies cut out and ready to bake, place them on a baking tray laid out with baking paper to avoid sticking and pop them in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden.
While the cookies are in the oven, you can now make the icing mixture. In a bowl, mix in the icing sugar and the egg white until smooth. If you find the consistency a little bit too thick then you can add a bit of cold water to make it more spreadable. Once you have a perfect consistency, put the icing into a piping bag and decorate your cookies once they're cool. And voilá! 

Obviously, my cookies don't look good at all (it's okay I already laughed at my failure), but they really do taste great and are very easy to make! I feel like this is an easy family task everyone would enjoy - especially when it comes to decorating.

Lots of love,

Maya xo

BLOGMAS 2017 || DAY 15 - GIFTS FOR HIM - AFFORDABLE LUXURIOUS SHIRTS FOR MEN FT. MILL NO. 8

I always struggle to buy gifts for my boyfriend or my dad, because who wants to receive tons of skincare products or alcohol every year for all occasions? Not the men in my family, that's for sure... So when I was contacted by Nehal from Mill No. 8 asking if I wanted to try out their service and receive a free shirt, I jumped to the opportunity as I know my boyfriend loves to wear shirts on special occasions and our 5 year anniversary is just around the corner.

First of all, the website is very easy to navigate so it does save a lot of time when you're looking for something in particular. There is a huge variety of different clothes to choose from - the images included throughout the website are very high fashion and almost persuade you to buy the whole outfit thanks to the photographers and models, of course.

BLOGMAS 2017 || DAY 10 - CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE FOR YOUR MUM - LUXURIOUS PRODUCTS

Who doesn't love a good old scented candle as a gift? Well, I found my new favourite this year and it is the Jo Malone Sweet Almond and Macaroon candle. These are very pricey, this 200g one costs £45 so it is not in everyone's price range, but it does make a beautiful gift for someone special. My mum is a huge lover of candles and I know she'd love this one because of how good it smells. There is a huge variety of different scents and sizes of candles so you really are spoilt for choice!

Another item you could get your mum is a fragrance set. I know it's difficult to buy perfumes for others as you don't know what they like, but Lancome's La Vie Est Belle is a scent that everyone will like. All women in my family have one of these because of how neutral this scent is, and it will smell different to everyone - I find it quite light and fresh but others might find it a little bit heavier.

It seems like either one of these will be a winner, so good luck to you all struggling to find the perfect gift for your mum! I hope this post helps!

What will you be treating your mum to this year?

Lots of love,

Maya xo

BLOGMAS 2017 || DAY 9 - A CHRISTMAS GUIDE FOR A SPECIAL PERSON IN YOUR LIFE - BEST FACIALS FOR ALL SKIN TYPES FT. DECLÉOR

I recently had my very first facial and back massage done properly and I couldn't stress enough about how amazing it made me feel not only on the outside but on the inside too. I've been feeling very stressed out the past few weeks hence my lack of absence on social media and this blog (I do apologise to those who actually take their time to read my posts).
Because I work in the beauty industry, I had the opportunity to book myself for a facial and massage with Decléor for free which was amazing. At first, I was taken into the beauty room and asked to fill out a form which had a variety of skin problems/allergies etc. to fill out, so I circled my main concerns as prone to breakouts, acne scarring, redness, and oiliness. After I had filled out this form, I was asked to strip down to my knickers and cover myself in a towel and lay on my front. The masseuse then used oils to massage my back and put pressure onto my knots to get them out. You can only imagine how relaxed I had felt at this point, I do wear heels a lot so my back hurts quite a bit, but the way she relieved the pressure in my back has really helped.

Moving onto the facial, I don't exactly know what she did but I know it felt amazing during and after! I really loved the mousse cleanser and the phytopeel exfoliating peel which made my skin feel amazing. She also used this clay face mask on me which I really liked and ended up buying as she advised me to wear it overnight to have very fresh and soft skin in the morning. Overall, this was a fantastic experience and I cannot wait to book in for another treatment soon! I think one a month is vital for good skin health, and it's very affordable as you get your money back in products. I know for a fact that I'll be buying a full-size mousse cleanser and the exfoliating peel next.

Have you tried any Decléor products? Would you treat a loved one to a facial treatment?

Lots of love,

Maya xo