Life Update.

Hi guys! As I mentioned in my previous post, I decided to update you all on my life and what I'm up to this summer!

First off, I recently finished my sophomore year in high school. I can easily say that this past school year was a challenge. Not as much as far as my mental health, but more in terms of school works. Having two AP, or college level, courses was really tough. I'm not going to lie about that. But honestly, I'm glad I challenged myself. I know that if I hadn't taken these harder classes I would've gotten a better GPA, but I wouldn't have learned as much as I did. I ended up having a cumulative GPA of 3.88 out of 4, which in my book, is pretty good. I'm proud of myself, for the most part!

Next, I wanted to talk about my mental health. I like to keep you guys updated on this stuff because I don't want to seem like just a girl who blogs, but you know nothing about. If you've read my post Some Good Books, you know that I do suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, and depression. I struggled a lot with anxiety and depression last summer and fall, but I am out of the situation that I was in. Because of that, I've been feeling a lot better lately. That's not to say I don't get moments, days, or even bad weeks, but it's better. For example, a few weeks ago I broke up with my then boyfriend, which probably sounds dumb, but if you've broken up with someone you know how much it can hurt. It especially hurts when you have to pretend to be okay, you know what I mean? Since then, I've really been trying to work on managing my anxiety and keeping myself busy. Keeping busy works surprisingly well!!

Lastly, I thought I'd tell you guys about what I plan on doing this summer. In short, I want to have adventures. I want to do things I would've never thought about doing. I want to take risks and try saying 'yes' more. I also want to put more value into not always hanging out with my friends. I want to practice having some time to myself to go on a walk or explore the city. I think it's important to be self-aware and love yourself.

I think that's about it! Thank you guys for listening to me ramble on. Let me know what you guys would like to see next week! ♡♡♡

-Emily

Collective Beauty Haul. ♡

Hey all, it's been a while, hasn't it? My fault entirely. I plan to do a quick life update very soon, as in maybe later tonight, but I wanted to get out a proper post soon!

So I've been shopping lately, and decided to share with you all a few beauty items I've picked up: almost all new products to me! And even a few high-end ones :)

Anyway, let's get right into it, shall we?

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Let's kick things off by talking about the first thing I bought: Benefit's GimmeBrow in medium/deep.

This product retails for around $24.00

I bought this tinted brow gel because I was tired of constantly sharpening my Maybelline brow pencil and not getting the results I wanted for my brows. So I did some reading on the internet as one does, and found out that this product had great ratings. So I decided to splurge on my first high-end makeup product :'). This was a big moment for me! 

While it was a pricy little guy, it's been worth every penny. Not only does this product keep your brow hairs in place all day (seriously-ALL DAY), but it's tinted AND has tiny little fibers in it to make your brows a bit thicker! This product, in my opinion, is a must-have, especially for lazy girls like me (laziest person alive right here, I swear!).

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Next, now I'm really trying to stay calm, I bought a MAC lipstick. I BOUGHT A MAC LIPSTICK! You guys have no idea how excited I am. One, I'm really bad at buying anything, especially if it's expensive, because I worry I won't like it. Two, I was really scared to even step into the MAC store. But I did it!

Retails for $16.00

Here it is: MAC lipstick in Twig. I originally went into the MAC store with the intentions of buying Brave (I was set on the Kylie Jenner lip, and I heard that everyone was using Brave). However, when I tried on Brave, it was beautiful, but almost my exact natural lip color. It wasn't as much of a change for me, I wanted something slightly more mauve-y. When I tried on Twig, it was perfect. It's not too dark or too light, but it definitely adds a little something, which I adore.

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Now onto LUSH! You all know how much I love LUSH ;)

Retails for $6.95 in LUSH stores only

Firstly, I bought the fresh face mask Love Lettuce. And I LOVE this face mask (get it? I promise I'm not usually this cheesy). It's a nice green-ish color, and it goes on smoothly. My favorite part of this face mask is how it feels when you take it off. I like to wet my face with warm water, and then scrub off the face mask, using it to exfoliate my face. OH MY GOD IT FEELS LOVELY. This mask is filled with ground almonds, which means it's nice and scrubby but not harsh. My face feels so fresh and delightful when I'm done!

Retails for $6.25

Next, I decided to pick up Dragon's Egg bath bomb. I was deciding between Twilight, Honey Bee, and this one, but decided to get Dragon's Egg because I was craving a nice, citrus-y bath. This bath bomb is perfect for that! It's packed with citrus oils, and smell just like lemon to me. Now, this is the only product that I actually HAVE used before, but I couldn't remember if I loved it, or just liked it, so I decided to try it again! I know some people absolutely love this bomb, and others hate it, so we'll see how I feel about it! I'll keep you guys updated :)

That's all for now! I plan on doing a full review on the lipstick and eyebrow gel, as well as a life update, and a post about my adventure I had the other day with my friend Maddie! Keep an eye out for those posts coming up soon. As always, let me know in the comments what you'd like to see next, or if there are any beauty products you'd like me to test out and review. Talk to you all soon!

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Emily