I've Been Thinking...

Deary me it's been a while! Time just seems to be moving by so rapidly, and before I know it it's been months since I last blogged. I appreciate those of you who have stumbled upon this post and chosen to read it, I hope that by the end of it you're glad that you did. 

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. I've been thinking about absolutely everything. I'm still trying to find my place in this world, and I'd like to think that with every day that passes I inch a little closer. Last week was an interesting week for me emotionally, as I started the week thinking one thing and then ended it thinking something completely different. It felt like a very long week but I learnt more about myself and what I want then I have in a while, so I'm glad. A weakness I've mine that I'm coming to terms with is that I can get swept up in something too fast, and I don't actually think about whether it's what I really want. I need to remember to take a few deep breaths and think about who I am and what I want before I let my emotions take over. 

I've been trying to brainstorm possible career options and things that I'd love to do and I'm finding it to be so difficult. But I am pressing on and trusting God when He says that there is something perfectly suited to me out there. I know He's got this, I just need to relax. Stressing and making myself anxious about it won't do me any good in the end. However, I did stumble upon something that looked really great, so we'll see if anything comes of it! 

The weather here in Sydney has cooled down and the sky is looking much more grey these days, which I personally love! It's reminding me of being in England and that just makes me so happy, but it also makes me miss England and my little family over there. Those 2 months were so magical and glorious and I still pinch myself every day because I can't believe I actually got to go there! It's been my dream for about 8 years and then it became my reality. God is so good. Even if the wait seems long, it's always worth it. 

Right now I have a lot of free time and I'm doing my best to use it productively (which is actually what led me to write this blogpost). I'm also trying to write a book. But boy is it hard!! I can't even pick a basic plot outline, so we'll see how that goes. At the moment I just have random paragraphs of writing in a few different notebooks and on a few different word documents, but nothing seems to be coming together cohesively yet. 

Something else I want to quickly mention is that a few weeks ago I received the most beautiful email from a lovely girl who spoke such kind words into my heart. She's also the reason that I'm writing again, actually. She reminded me that my words can have a positive difference and I shouldn't lose sight of why I began writing this blog in the first place (and it was to inspire others). I want YOU to know that you're not alone. Whatever journey you're on, whatever season of life you're in, I'm here for you! More importantly though, God is here for you! 
"As for me, I call to God, and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning, and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice..." - Psalm 55:16-17
"The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." - Psalm 34:17-18

God is listening and He cares. He cares so much that He sent His Son to die for you. All your troubles and your sadness was taken care of on the cross. So why do we still hold onto it? I'll admit I'm not good at letting the heaviness go either sometimes. But if you really think about it, it is pretty silly that we still hang onto it. There isn't any point, it doesn't do us any good. So let go! 

Well there you have it, that's today's ramblings splashed onto the page. As per usual my brain is always thinking many things at the one time so hopefully this post made some sort of sense. Just think of it as a little update I suppose, with more to come soon! Oh and if you ever want to chat you can tweet me (@samindigo13) or send me an email at samindigo13@gmail.com 

Love, S.

Image: Tumblr

I'm in England!!!

Dearest of apologies because it has been far too long since I last updated my blog! Major oops. The most exciting thing is that I'm now in England!! I kept blabbing about it since I bought my tickets in May, and I'm in England as I write this post to you right now. I'm going to do my best to update this as often as possible while I'm here, mainly so that I'm able to look back on it in years to come. Instagram is another platform of mine that I've been regularly updating, so I encourage you to go and have a browse (you can do so here). 

So I'll keep this post short and sweet, but I've been in England for almost 2 weeks now! Which means I only have 5 weeks left - boo. However I'm doing my best to make the most of the time I've got here. I've done a bit of exploring around the Norwich area (where I'm staying for the 2 months), and I've also been to Cambridge - which I absolutely adored! I've got a trip to London booked for this coming week which I'm super excited about too. 

The whole point of this trip was to get a real feel for the place, and live it more like a local rather than a tourist. So far I think it's going pretty well. I've tried to incorporate a mix of the two and I'm enjoying things so far. I think my favourite bit is just how Christmassy and pretty and chilly it is here. So much more so than Australia, but that's mainly because it's summer back home. I'm well excited for experiencing my first cold, English Christmas, and I really hope this isn't the last time that I experience this either! 

If you know of anything particular that I should do while I'm here, let me know in the comments! 

Much love, S. 

(Below are just some lovely pictures for you to enjoy. The top one is my friends cat, then me being happy with the Christmas tree, and my friend and I after enjoying a yummy afternoon tea.)

The Countdown is On!

Sooooo I leave for England in 48 days! How crazy. I apologise that I haven't been doing much blogging at all this year, I really need to try and get out of the rut that I've been in this whole time. Today I'm doing another brief update style of post in order to try and get back into the swing on blogging again, and from here on I'll try to make the posts more regular - and more interesting! I have been uploading some videos on my YouTube channel though, so you can go and check that out here! 

The countdown is well and truly on for my departure and I can't contain my excitement. While there are some things that make me sad and I know that I'll miss home while I'm gone, I'm so overwhelmed with all the great and exciting reasons for going that I can't stay sad or worried for long. My dream of visiting England is finally coming true. I'll try not to babble on about this for too long, because that's what I talked about in my last post. 

Something that I want to quickly touch on in this post is that I've been in such a spiritual rut lately. My faith had lost its fire and love and pure excitement for a few months and it was incredibly difficult to get it back. However, last week things finally changed for the better. I met up with and had lunch with one of my beautiful friends and she answered my questions and stilled my worries and concerns and just reassured me that everything I was feeling was completely normal. She spoke life into me and encouraged me and inspired me with her story and it was so refreshing and much-needed for my soul! After that I came home and discovered the incredible Gabriel Conte and Jess Bauer on YouTube and my life is now so much better because of it. I was so desperate for a good Christian couple to be encouraged and inspired by - and then I found Gabe and Jess. They have been such an answer to my prayers and I wish I had discovered them sooner. 

So I say all of that to say that things are better. They're more hopeful and happy and I'm overjoyed about all that is to come. I'll keep todays little post short and sweet, so that's pretty much all that I have to say. I also just want to encourage you that beautiful things are coming your way, and happiness is all around. I know that sometimes it's hard to feel hopeful, but try not to give up along the way to greatness. 

Love, S.

Image: Tumblr 

Bit of a Rambly Update...

It has been quite some time since I have last written a chatty update type of post so I thought it was about time that I did! For starters, I hope that you've been doing well! Feel free to give me a little update on your life in the comments below - I'd love to hear. As for me, life has been pretty up and down these past few months but I feel like it's beginning to level out again which is refreshing. I've had my fair share of down days, and they still come around every now and then, but I'm trying my best to focus on the positive things rather than immediately jumping to the negative. It's a hard journey, but one that I'm focused on doing. 

Soooo for those of you who may not know, I'm going to England at the end of the year! Yay!! This has been my dream for about 8 years and now it is finally a reality. My flights are booked and everything. Today I also hit my money saving target to take with me - and I don't leave for another 4 months which means I still have another 4 months of saving ahead of me. I'm so pleased with myself though because I honestly wasn't sure if I'd be able to save enough - but I did! Now I can stop being so stressed and just carry on saving, now that I know I'll have more than enough. I still need to sort my passport out though, but I'll do that with my next pay check in a few weeks time. 

As for the going to England part, I'm equally stressed as I am excited. I've never travelled this far on my own before so I'm not entirely sure what to expect. The closer I get to it the more excited I get though, so that's definitely a good thing. I read an article a few days ago that talked about how our bodies see anxiousness and excitement as the same (something to do with the way our brains recognise them, it's the same to our bodies, they can't actually tell the difference). What that means is that anytime you feel anxious about something, you tell yourself that you're excited instead and it should hopefully ease your anxious thoughts and your body will just think it's excitement. I've been trying to do this, and it's difficult, but I think it's beginning to work. As I'm such an introverted scardey-cat this is a big deal for me, and one that I need to constantly overcome in order to actually get on the plane. If you have any tips and tricks for overcoming anxiety about flying on planes or living in a different country, do let me know! (P.S. the article I was talking about above can be read here)

So I'll be staying with one of my friends and her family for the 7 weeks that I'm in England, and I hope to explore as much of the UK and Europe as I can whilst I'm over there (which means I need to save as much as I can in order to do so). I'm just excited to do something different and exciting with my life for once, as I'm always so safe and reserved and well, boring, to be honest. I don't know exactly what to expect, but I know that it's going to change me for the better, it's going to push me out of my comfort zone into unfamiliar waters where anything can happen - and I'm actually really excited about that! 

Everything else in my life right now is still pretty much the same. Just working and reading and doing a bit of baking here and there. I actually just spent the last few days watching Stranger Things on Netflix and oh my word you need to watch it!! It was SO good that I'm honestly considering watching it again because I just loved it so much. Everything about it was great - the storyline, the acting, the editing, the music, absolutely everything! It's only 8 episodes long and you'll fly through them because they're so good. 

I also bought some new skincare products this week from a brand called Go-To (you can have a look at the range here) which was founded by Zoe Foster Blake - aka the beauty genius of Australian magazines. So far, so good, but I'll update you once I've actually used them for a few weeks. I was using some bits from Goodness (and I wrote a little blogspot about them, which you can read here if you like), but I wasn't totally satisfied after using it for a few months, so decided to try something new instead. Plus the Go-To products are in pretty peachy packaging and they smell like sherbet and make your skin so soft, so I feel like I could be onto something good here, but I'll know for sure in about a month. 

I should probably stop rambling now, kudos to you if you've actually read all of this, it's much appreciated. I'll just leave you with a few inspiring and encouraging quotes I have come across this week:

"It all begins and ends in your mind. What you give power to, has power over you."

"There is literally nothing in nature that blooms all year long, so do not expect yourself to do so."

I've found these to be helpful, especially when I'm not feeling all that great. Our minds are so powerful, and we need to be extra careful about what information we're feeding into them. Are you feeding it something nutritious or something that's plain junk? Be careful. It's also helpful to be reminded that we shouldn't expect ourselves to be 100% productive the whole time. It's just not possible. I'm definitely not in a 'blooming' season at the moment, but that is okay. My time will come and it will be beautiful. I'm trying to see this time right now as the planting and growth period, where I'm really focusing on planting deeper roots and having healthy soil - metaphorically speaking, of course. Once they're healthy, I'll bloom. It's just the way it works. 

That's it from me now! I hope your day is beautiful and you can find wondrous parts that fill you with euphoric joy. Even if it's something as small as sitting in a sunshine spot, making yourself a nice cup of tea, slathering yourself in gorgeously scented body lotion, etc. It's the smallest of things that make the biggest difference in the end. Lots of little things that equal something bigger, so make those little things a daily priority. 

Love, S.

Image: Tumblr

Lust Have It: June Box

I'll be honest and say that this months Lust Have It box wasn't one of my favourites. I hate to start this on a less than positive note, but honesty is so important here, and it doesn't do either of us any good if I'm pretending to love something that I don't. 

As always I was eagerly awaiting the new months LHI delivery, but unfortunately this one didn't wow me like some boxes in the past have. As I've mentioned before, this just happens sometimes. Occasionally you get a box that doesn't quite match up with your needs, and that is totally okay! It's all worth it when you receive the box that blows you away with excitement. However, I'm sure there are so many people who loved the items they received in their boxes, and I know that companies can't please everybody all the time. But onto the items...

What was in the box...

1. Edgy Tempting Cosmetics Eyeliner Pen in 05 Grey Blue, $15 (full size)
2. Neutrogena Makeup Remover Cleansing Wipes, 7 wipes sample, full size $12.99 (sample size)
3. Neutrogena Deep Clean Gentle Scrub, 15mL sample, full size 125mL for $12.99 (sample size)
4. Sasy n Savy Peppermint & Rosemary Revive Bath & Shower Gel, 30mL sample, full size 250mL for $35 (sample size)
5. Paula's Choice Intensive Wrinkle-Repair Retinol Serum (this was a mystery sample size so I don't have any other information sorry!)

The standouts for me...

The standouts would have to be the two skincare items from Neutrogena. I'm going to be traveling towards the end of the year so I'll hold onto the wipes to take with me on the plane - as they just make everything easier! The scrub is also something that I have heard good things about in the past, but never got around to trying, so I'm excited to finally give it a go. The shower gel is also something I'll be able to use because I'm starting to run low on mine. I have a feeling this will be better used in the morning though because the peppermint is perfect for waking your body up as it's so fragrant and refreshing. As for the other things, I might hold onto them and see if any of my friends are interested in giving them a go, because I'm not too sure if I'll personally get much use out of them. 

I hope you still enjoyed this little review/unboxing post and it didn't come across as too negative or anything. Believe me, I love receiving these boxes each month, but they are a lucky dip and sometimes it's not as exciting as the month before. Something that is exciting though it that my promo code now gives you $10 off your first box (instead of just $5, which is what it used to be) - YAY! So that means your first box will be half price, how good is that?! Just enter the code SAMINDIGO1 when you checkout for the discount to apply - and you can buy your own box HERE! 

Goodness Skincare

Goodness me I love Goodness skincare! So, a little back story...I was on the hunt for some new skincare products, a new cleanser and morning moisturiser to be precise. The ones I was using at the time just weren't all that great and weren't doing anything for my skin. But I didn't want to have to spend loads of money on new products, but I also didn't want to waste my money on cheaper products that just weren't very good. Do you see my potential dilemma? So I spotted these products on Woolworth's website (so random, I know), and was immediately drawn in by their cute and simple pastel packaging. I did a quick search of them online to briefly read some reviews and everyone was writing really positive things, so I thought I'd give them a go - plus they were 30% off, so perfect timing! 

Can I just take a quick moment to say that these products are so good! I almost want to say that they're amazing, but I don't know if that's going too far...but they kind of are! For starters, the range is so affordable. I'll go into each product specifically in a little bit, but nothing is over $20. What's even better is that they are filled with great ingredients and are good for the environment too. They are a new brand that originate from New Zealand and are kind of along the same lines of brands such as Sukin and Antipodes. They don't test their products on animals, their packaging is all recyclable and the products are biodegradable. They also don't put any nasties in their products - so no parabens, petrochemicals, PEGs, sulfates, silicons or harsh surfactants. Meaning it's good for you and good for the environment! Plus they have chia seed oil running through all of their products - which is high in omega 3 and omega 6 (both of which our bodies don't naturally produce) and has them in the perfect ratio to each other. 

At the moment they have 5 products, and I currently own 3 of them, and I plan to pick up the other two at some point as well. To give you a quick debrief of my skin it's oily/combination and prone to breaking out. I have some left over scarring and larger pores too. It can get quite dehydrated in the winter, but still oily at the same time - it's very frustrating! 

I'll start with quickly chatting about the Every Day Cream Cleanser. As I have oily skin I was a little scared this product could go horribly wrong for me, but I love it! It cleans my skin really well without ever making it feel dry or flaky. It removes my excess makeup and works just as well in the morning as it does at night. It does kind of smell like grass, which takes some getting used to, but it's a lovely feeling product to use so I don't mind. 

Next is the Every Morning Moisturiser which is so so so good!! This one has a different scent, a little bit more on the floral/fruity side, which is really nice. It's hydrating without leaving my skin feeling greasy. It is so nice under makeup and keeps my skin happy all day. Finding a good moisturiser has been such a struggle for years, but I think I've finally found the one! If you've got extremely dry skin you might find this isn't hydrating enough for you, but if your skin is like mine then I highly encourage you to check this one out. 

Lastly, the Every Week Face Scrub which isn't like your typical harsh face scrubs. This has a milky consistency and the powdered pumice is so fine that it won't aggravate your skin. It's so nourishing, which isn't what you usually expect from a scrub, and feels so nice to use. If you're after some hard core exfoliation, this one isn't for you, but if you're after something a little more gentle then this is perfect. 

You can currently find the brand in Priceline, Chemist Warehouse, and selected Woolworths stores. The products range from $12.99-$19.99 and there is also an Every Evening Cream and Organic Chia Seed Oil which I have yet to purchase. I have nothing but good things to say about these products and I'm so pleased that I took a leap of faith and bought them. What a great decision that was!

Lust Have It: May Box

Another month, another great Lust Have It box! Sometimes these boxes can be a bit hit and miss for me, as you would expect with these sorts of things, but it's another month where the box has been a hit. Now onto the good stuff that was inside...

What was in the box...

1. Teeez Cosmetics Spectrum of Stars eyeshadow in Sea Glare, $29 (full size)

2. PHR Recovery Leave-In Moisturiser, 15mL sample, full size 125mL for $35.95 (sample size)

3. Lollipops Baume Grenadine, $7.45 (full size)

4. Starlooks Luxe Longwear eyeliner pen, $20 (full size)

5. Urban Skin Co. Infuse Body Balm (this was a mystery sample size so I don't have any other information on it sorry!)

6. Razza Matazz Perfectly Matte Opaque leggings, $11.95 (full size)

The standouts for me...

Once again this was another month where the whole box really appealed to me. I was most intrigued by the eyeshadow, however the shade I received is green and sort of reminds me of a mermaid. It's a beautiful shade, but I can't really see myself getting a lot of wear out of it - unless some sort of fancy dress party comes up! The packaging is stunning and the eyeshadow itself is so reflective and the formula is smooth and buttery, however it's not overly pigmented upon first swatch. You can build it up a bit, but I think I might apply it with a wet eyeshadow brush if I decide to wear it, as that should intensify the colour a bit more. The liquid eyeliner also caught my eye, but when I tested it on my hand it wasn't as pigmented and creamy as I would have hoped. I'll give it a go, but I have a feeling it could get messy very quickly if you're trying to get a perfect wing, but we'll see. The tinted lip balm also stood out to me as a pretty thing just to keep in your handbag for when you need a hint of colour on your lips. The only downfall for me is that it's very sweetly scented and a little sticky, but I'm sure I can make it work as long as I don't wear it on a really windy day! 

The PHR leave-in moisturiser is also something I know I'll get a lot of use out of because I use a leave-in moisturiser pretty much every time I wash my hair, so it'll be nice to try this one out. The body balm is another thing that isn't particularly exciting, but it smells nice and I know that I'll use it. Finally, the leggings. I have to say that I was a bit surprised to see a clothing item in the box, but it's kind of cool. I was given the size tall/xtall so I'm hoping they're not going to be too long for my legs, but I'm sure I can make them work either way. It's perfectly timed too as we're in autumn now and it's definitely the season for tights to wear underneath cute skirts and dresses. 

Overall I was pretty happy with the items included in my box and I'm very interested and excited to test them all out and see how they go. It was a nice little assortment of mostly makeup (which is one of my favourite things to receive), with a few extra bits in the mix that I'll also get use out of. I also judge how much I like a box by how likely I am to use what was included, and I feel like I'll be very likely to get use out of everything in this box!

If you're interested in purchasing one of these for yourself and seeing what goodies you get, you can use my code SAMINDIGO1 to receive $5 off your first box - and you can order your box on Lust Have It's website HERE. Until next month...

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