Finding Inspiration to Change the World...

Taylor Swift has been one of the main inspirations in my life for many years now. To me she's more than just her 1989 album and short hair. I came across this image on Tumblr a while ago and haven't been able to shake it since. I felt like I lost myself a few years ago, and have been clinging to anything to get who I was back. The past few years have held a lot of rainstorms. There have been too many moments where I've completely lost it. I've found myself crumpled on the bathroom floor more times than I would like to admit. I seem to continually refuse to deal with things, which causes them to build up until I explode. This leaves me having to deal with my broken self all over again. It's not healthy. 

I love the final line of this speech that Taylor gives. She says, "I now believe that walking through a bunch of rainstorms gets you clean." Something I have refused to do, no matter how hard I find it to be, is to stop walking. You fail when you abstain. I will always keep walking. Keep going. Keep fighting. Keep pushing. Because there is always another side to the mountain. A bright side with a downhill slope. 

Last week I cut my hair shorter. I decided that I needed change and I needed healthy hair again. I think that was when these more empowered thoughts really came to mind again. I try to have a positive outlook on life most of the time, but I've been feeling down lately. I've been feeling lost, actually. I needed to find myself again. I needed to shake and change old ways and find out who I truly want to be. In the foreword of 1989 Taylor writes, 

"The debate over whether people can change is an interesting one for me to observe because it seems like all I ever do is change. All I ever do is learn from my mistakes so I don't make the same ones again. Then I make new ones. I know people can change because it happens to me little by little every day. Every day I wake up as someone slightly new. Isn't it wild and intriguing and beautiful to think that every day we are new?"

We break and we bleed and then we heal. We change and it hurts but we are strengthened. I am very much obsessed with becoming someone who is completely comfortable in her own skin. Because this is it. This is what I get. I get this life, and this body, and this mind, and it is up to me to be okay with that. I think I'm slowly becoming okay with that. 

Earlier today I bought Taylor's fragrance called Incredible Things. Priceline was having a half price sale on perfumes so I decided to treat myself. More so than that, I wanted to cement this mindset that I had formed. A mindset that incredible things can and will happen to me. I am beautiful, and courageous, and strong. I have the ability to change the world. I refuse to not believe that these things are true. It breaks my heart to think that there are far too many girls out there who don't believe these things about themselves. Whenever I spray this perfume I will think of these words. Whenever I catch the scent on my skin during the day I will remember this mindset. 

I try to live with the thought that something good and wonderful is about to happen, and so should you. I want to encourage you with the reminder that even if you're in the middle of a rainstorm right now, you'll get through it. You'll come out the other side cleaner than you were when you went in. You will come out stronger and with a new drive to fight for who you are and what you want to be. Don't be afraid to live your life with confidence. For too many people are. I used to be too afraid, but it's something that I'm working on. And remember, those who are crazy enough to believe that they'll change the world are the ones who actually do. So let's be world changers. 

Love, S. 

Lust Have It! | July Box

Can I just make it known from the get-go that I am SO impressed with this months box! You definitely get your moneys worth in this box - and more. I'm just going to jump straight into the products because I'm so excited about them all!

The item I was most excited for was the Be a Bombshell 'The One Stick' (full size, RRP $24) in the shade 'Southern Belle'. This was the item that we got to choose which shade we wanted, and I picked the more coral toned pink out of the two options. Think of this as being like a NARS Matte Multiple. You can apply this to your lips, cheeks, eyelids, or wherever you fancy. I don't have many corals in my collection, which was why I picked this shade. I really love the colour and the texture of it is smooth and creamy. I'm very curious to see how well it lasts on both the lips and cheeks, because sometimes it can be hard to find a product that lasts well on both. I can see myself reaching for this product more and more as the warmer months roll around. 

The other lip product I received in this months box was the Be a Bombshell Lip Gloss (full size, RRP $21) in the shade 'Taupeless'. I do have to admit that I wasn't totally blown away by the colour, but I don't really have any peachy-nudes in my collection, so it will be a good colour to have. I do find lip glosses to be quite sticky sometimes, so hopefully this one isn't too bad - but I'll have to test it out a bit and report back. 

The last make up item was the Hikari Eyeshadow Quad (full size, RRP $22.50) in 'Halle' which includes the shades Almond, Champagne, Majestic and Brownie. The colour pigmentation isn't too bad, and I do really like the shades I received. Particularly the bottom right hand corner, which is a peachy/golden sort of shade. I have been on the hunt for a shade like this for quite some time now, so I'm very pleased to finally have one! 

The skincare item that stood out to me the most was the Racinne Ultimate Aqua Blanc Concentrate (full size, RRP $51). From what I understand, this is a concentrate/serum type of product that you use as a treatment after toning and before moisturising. The box says that this product instantly energises skin cells, promotes blood circulation and removes dead skin cells, which further regenerates healthy and translucent skin. This type of product is totally up my street, but as I've only just started using it I haven't seen any results just yet. 

The last item was the Paula's Choice Intensive Wrinkle-Repair Retinol Serum (deluxe sample size, full size retails for $52). While I don't yet have to worry about repairing wrinkles, I do have some dark spots, which this product claims to also target. I haven't tried this out yet, but I am keen to in order to see what difference it makes. Although it isn't full size, it is a very decent sample size which is great to see. 

There was also a bonus item which was some sample sachets of the Garnier Fructis Full and Luscious shampoo and conditioner. Sachets don't particularly excite me, but they come in handy for travelling or if you've run out of shampoo and desperately need to wash your hair. 

As I mentioned before, I am so impressed with this months box. I feel like Lust Have It are just getting better and better, and I'm excited to see what next months box will contain. If you like the sound of this box and want to join in on the fun, you can check out their website and sign up here. Also be sure to use the code 'SAMINDIGO1' at the checkout to receive $5 off your first box! Now I'm off to play around with these products and get overly excited in anticipation over next months box...

*This product was sent to me for consideration, but all opinions are my own. This is not a sponsored post.