Be Fearless

Do you ever just want to take a risk? Do something completely wild and unusual simply because your heart is urging you to take the chance? That's sort of how I feel right now. It's past midnight and I just finished watching a film that was about self discovery, among other things, and it's made me stop and reflect on my life. I feel as though I hesitate too much. I think we all do. We become too afraid of failure that we don't even try at all. I think that's failing anyway. Fear has such a firm grip on my life, and I'm unsure how to let go of it and just live. To be unapologetically honest and intentional in all that I do. 

There are so many words and thoughts that float around my mind on a daily basis, most of which I keep to myself. But imagine if I said some of these things that I was thinking. I wonder what would become of it. Sometimes refraining from saying something can be a good thing, and other times it just hinders you from happiness. I definitely need to speak more honestly than I do. It's not that I lie, it's just that there are so many things I wish I could say, but don't. It could be complimenting a stranger on their outfit, telling a boy how I really feel, being openly honest about how I feel with certain friendships, or perhaps just making it known that I don't feel comfortable anymore. These are unspoken words; haunting words. 

I remember reading something written by Taylor Swift once and she said, "there is a time for silence. There is a time for waiting your turn. But if you know how you feel, and you so clearly know what you need to say, you'll know it. I don't think you should wait. I think you should speak now." That was taken from the prologue of her Speak Now album booklet. I highly recommend you read the whole thing because it's brilliant. I don't want to be haunted by all the words I never said and the chances I never took, but I don't know how to say those words or how to take those chances. Whenever an opportunity is presented I freeze and end up convincing myself of all the reasons why it's a bad idea and why it will never work. That's unhealthy and it's stopping me from truly living authentically. I don't want to be the reason I'm held back. I want to set myself free. 

I guess I've written all this to say that you should speak now, and so should I. You should kiss that guy, profess your feelings, write that letter, quit that job, book that trip, and live as honestly and truly as you possibly can. I don't want to find myself filled with regret because I was just too scared to try. I suppose this as much as a reminder for me as it is for you. These are the words that I need to hear. Life is incredibly precious, and sadly with the tragic events in Paris today, that only confirms this truth. The fact of the matter is that we are not totally in control, and the next day is never a guarantee. But why isn't that reality enough? Why do we still live in such fear over all the things that could possibly go wrong if we just spoke the truth? I wish I knew the answer. 

I want to be brave enough and bold enough to just live. To simply be myself in every single area. To allow God to position me exactly where I need to be, and to fill me with the words I need to say (and the courage to say them). Without Him, I would be nothing. I think that perhaps we need to live a little more fearlessly. I don't think this journey will be easy, but I believe it will be worth it. So here's to living a more authentic life, refusing to be held back by fear, and trusting in God's perfect grace and plan every step of the way! And remember that as long as the sun continues to rise each morning, there is still hope and a chance to make a change. 

Love, S.

Image: Tumblr

RawSpiceBar

Recently I had the privilege of being sent the RawSpiceBar Istanbul spice box. RawSpiceBar are a Californian-based subscription box service that aims to spice up your meals. For only $6 a month you get the chance to experience new and exciting flavours that are delivered straight to your mail box. Each month focuses on a different culture and you are provided with a variety of spices to try and enjoy. 

I love to cook. I love to experiment with flavours. I love seeing what other cultures have to offer. That's why I love what this box has to offer. The monthly box includes three different freshly ground and high quality spices and a recipe card with suggestions of meals to make using the spices. Something I really love about this box is that they include little snippets of information on each of the spice sachets. It's a mix of cultural information and suggestions of how to use the spice - and it just makes it so much more interesting to read. 

The spices I received in my box are:

Baharat - spice staple in Turkish cooking, can be used in a variety of dishes, has warm spices such as cinnamon and clove, coriander and cumin, and sweet paprika. 

Urfa Biber - described as raisins meets coffee, smoky and almost sweet flavour.

Za'atar - originates from the 13th century, brings zest to each dish, can be used as a meat rub or stirred into dishes. 

I'm yet to use the spices, but I cannot wait to. I'm definitely not as adventurous in the kitchen as I could be, but I'm excited to give these a go and experience a whole new world of flavour. 

You can check them out here. 

Zoella Beauty Treats

Once again, Zoe has brought out some more incredible products that I just had to get my hands on. It's still so crazy to me that I own many of her actual products, when I remember many years ago just reading her blog and watching her videos, and now this! It's surreal. With each new batch of products that Zoe releases she steps up the quality. You can really see that she learns as she goes and strives for improvement - which does not go unnoticed. This is only a small haul, because I couldn't spend too much money this time around, but couldn't resist these few bits. 

I'll start with the Two Balmy Lip Balm Duo. This is part of her limited edition Christmas range, so grab it while you can. The super cute set includes two lip balms that have such a beautiful Christmassy design, and are in tins, which makes them feel that little bit more special. They are each a different scent and colour. The red tin is vanilla cream and is a coral/red shade, and smells very sweet and lovely - it's a really nice vanilla scent, not too over the top. The green tin is sweet mint and is a nude/pink shade, and smells like candy canes which is amazing! They both smell like Christmas and will provide you with either a hint of colour, or a lot, depending on how much you decide to build it up. I am so impressed with these lip balms and I know I'll be getting a lot of use out of them. 

Next is the Fairest of Them All Travel Pass & Compact Mirror. This is another one from her limited edition Christmas range. I'm not entirely sure what prompted me to buy this, I think it was probably that I've always wanted a travel card holder (strange, I know!). Plus it's a rose gold/copper colour, so you know, I couldn't resist. While the mirror is sharp in its reflection (not cloudy), it is a bit angled in its placement, so the reflection isn't completely straight. Hopefully that made sense! It's not the worst thing, but just makes your eyes feel a little funny when looking into it for too long. Other than that, I love this and can't wait to look so stylish when using it. 

Lastly is the Blissful Mistful Solid Fragrance. This is part of her permanent collection and has the same scent as the first lot of products that she released. Unfortunately they don't ship glass bottles overseas so I was never able to buy the spray version, so had to opt for this instead. I've never used a solid fragrance before, but I thought it would be a nice thing to have in my handbag. Plus I really love the tin it's in - it's so cute and Christmassy and pretty. It'll look nice in my handbag and even nicer pulling it out to use. I just hope it doesn't melt! Not sure how these things usually go, so fingers crossed. 

I'm once again wowed by Zoe's products and cannot wait to use them! Also, props to Zoe for choosing not to test on animals. That makes me feel even better about using them. If you live in Australia like I do, then the best place to get her products is from FeelUnique, and they're currently on a 3 for 2 deal - so hurry in and grab a bargain! 

Lust Have It! September & October Boxes

I've combined the past two months boxes into the one post for one main reason. I haven't loved the past two boxes. Their birthday box from a few months ago was amazing. I wrote a raving post on how impressed I was with the items I received. Sadly, this level of expectation has not been met in the past two boxes - and I hate saying that, but I strive to always keep these posts honest. Instead of talking about all the products that I haven't really loved, I'm going to summarise the two boxes, and then gush about the one product that stood out among the rest. 

September Box (top two pictures)

The standout item in this box for me was the Designer Brands Twist n Go nail polish remover. I haven't had a chance to use this yet, but I've always wanted to try a nail polish remover pot. This product is vegan and they don't test on animals - which is always great to see! The other items in the box were a lip liner, whitening toothpaste, sample size hair products, lip tint stick, and a sample tea bag. Sadly, just run of the mill products, nothing too memorable for me. In saying that though, the toothpaste and hair products will come in handy whenever I travel. As for the lip products, I'll be passing them on to friends who I know will appreciate them more than I could. 

October Box (bottom three pictures)

I did like the look of this box a bit better than the month before. It included an oil based hair treatment, nail polish, eyeshadow quad, sample moisturiser, sample tea, chocolate, and a highlighter. Even though I have oily hair, and I still plan to try out the hair treatment because I've never used anything like that before - so my hair could probably use the treatment! The nail polish will be passed on to my mum, and I will also be passing the eyeshadow quad onto friends - I'm just not game enough to wear that shade of blue. The one item that impressed and excited me the most and made me forget about all the products I didn't love, was the highlighter. I've been on the hunt for a good highlighter for quite some time now, but haven't found one that I really loved, until this arrived on my doorstep. It packs some serious glow, but there is no glitter to be seen. It's also Australian made, vegan, cruelty free, and contains natural ingredients - YAY! 

I'm hoping that next months box will go back to being amazing, but overall I can't complain. I am so blessed to get the opportunity to try these boxes and review them for you all, and that in itself is good enough. Plus, did I mention how much I love that highlighter! 

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