Hello. Exactly 9 months ago today was the day that I pressed 'publish' on my first ever blog post, and although it basically only said 'Hi, I don't know how to use Blogger, bye!' and then I didn't touch my blog at all again for 4 months it's still the official beginning of 'Cosmetic Crave'.
I never really know when to say that I began my blog.. Is it February 16th when I uploaded my 'Hi' post? Is it June 25th when I wrote introduction post and two more on the same day but then nothing else all month? Or would you say it was August 11th when I started taking things 'seriously' by getting myself a proper layout and regularly posting half decent entries? Personally, I'd say without putting a date on it that in general 'Summer 2012', in particular, August was the beginning of my blog and it's grown a lot since then. I've had a slow start, being very apprehensive and discouraged by the fear of judgement but recently with more people from my life and local to my area starting up their own blogs on a similar topic to mine then I've had more confidence to share mine with people that I know. For months I just wrote away to myself with a handful of followers and it wasn't that I was keeping it a 'secret', I just wasn't actively letting people know what I was doing - I didn't want anyone to think I was weird.. :)
My friend Lucy (see her blog here: LucyRose) text me out of the blue one day basically saying 'oh my god as if you have a blog, I've wanted to start one for ages' and I gave her the nudge she needed to start one up and she gave me the nudge I needed to be more confident with mine and not be scared of other people's opinions. Since then I've happily been tweeting away and it's without a doubt helped my audience to grow; I love looking at my statistics page and seeing that my views between August and October more than tripled! It's not a statistics games of course, but it's nice to know more people are reading and enjoying and you're gaining more recognition for the hard work that you put in! Blogging is time consuming incase you didn't know!
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| Me & Lucy on holiday in Kavos |
So, after realising it's been 9 months (or however you want to count it) that this page has been in existance and 90% of the people reading won't have a clue who's writing it I knew there needed to be a post to change that all around to introduce myself a little more and give you an insight into my personality and life. There was a choice of two 'tag posts' that I wanted to pinch and merge together to do this post, but I ended up thinking that not many of the questions would be that interesting to answer because not many people will care who I was named after, will you? So intead I've just thrown together a couple of 'interesting' facts about myself and a bundle of pictures too.
Basics:
- I'm 19 but will be hitting that 'half way to 40 mark' in just 13 days - argh.
- Don't want to get too specific here but I come from a small town in the north of England and live in Cumbria on the outskirts of the Lake District.
- I'm lucky to come from where I do because it's a beautiful place where not a lot of trouble happens, but it's quite a rural area meaning we're deprived of the excitement that comes with a city lifestyle.
- I go to the University of Central Lancashire in Preston.
- I originally wanted to go to Nottingham Trent University but had a change of heart in the summer before starting and decided I wanted to stay closer to home.
- Nottingham is five hours away, Preston is one. Considering I come home from Preston almost every weeks it looks like Nottingham wouldn't have been a very appropriate choice.
- I'm now in my second year at UCLan and I study law.
- I have A levels in maths, biology and french.
- I don't have a future life plan. At all.
People:
- When I'm at home I live with my mum, dad and sister.
- My dad works offshore, based at Aberdeen, so isn't at home all of the time.
- My little sister and I have a very love-hate relationship. We can go for weeks on non-speaking terms but when we're on good terms we get on amazingly well.
- We're a similar age (she's 17) but we have quite different personalities so we clash easily.
- I have a boyfriend called John who I've been with for nearly 2 years and love very much. I'd easily say that he's my best friend.
Beauty:
Random:
- I enjoy lazy days in a onesie with a messy bun on the same level as a glam night out with heels and fake tan.
- I've got quite an uncontrollable shopping addiction even though I currently don't have a job.
- If I was given £1,000 there's not a chance I'd save it. Hello shopping spree!
- My boyfriend makes frequent jokes about how appropriate my blog name is because I literally crave cosmetics. I get a buzz from buying shampoo.
- I once had my lip pierced for a total of 4 days before I realised it was a big mistake and took it out.
- My hair has been a range of colours, from blonde, to black, to red, to purple ..now it's ombre.
- 30% of my wardrobe is from ASOS, another 30% is from Primark. 20% is from Topshop and the rest is New Look / H&M / Republic and River Island.
- I would choose to go shopping for make-up/hair and skin care products over shopping for clothes.
- I don't care about high heels; I own about three pairs.
- ..And I don't like wearing lip gloss.
- But I do care about having nicely painted nails. Glitter nails are my favourite.
- 30% of my wardrobe is from ASOS, another 30% is from Primark. 20% is from Topshop and the rest is New Look / H&M / Republic and River Island.
- I would choose to go shopping for make-up/hair and skin care products over shopping for clothes.
- I don't care about high heels; I own about three pairs.
- ..And I don't like wearing lip gloss.
- But I do care about having nicely painted nails. Glitter nails are my favourite.
Random:
- My boyfriend and I are currently hooked on Prison Break.
- I've seen every episode of FRIENDS at least 100 times and I don't even think I'm exaggerating.
- Lost and Desperate Housewives are my favourite TV programmes.
- My favourite recent film is Friends With Benefits.
- If I could be anybody else I'd be Beyonce. Mila Kunis comes second.
- My life is organised by endless 'to do' lists.
- I never stick to these 'to do' lists, I am the queen of procrastination.
- If I could live in any UK city it would be Liverpool.
- I would love to live in New York for a year.
- I would love to live in New York for a year.
- It annoys me that I still don't have any idea what I'd like to do with life, not even a general direction.
- I prefer being at home to being at university for the home comforts and decents meals.
- John's mum cooks up a Sunday roast every weekend and it's my favourite part of the week.
- I eat a lot of pepperoni pizza and pasta bakes.
- I eat too much fast food and junk food and not enough vegetables.
- I eat too much fast food and junk food and not enough vegetables.
- I'd eat Nandos mash all day if you let me.
- ..With strawberry laces for dessert.
- I've seen Take That live and cried because I was so excited when they came on stage.
- I've seen Take That live and cried because I was so excited when they came on stage.
- I used to play the piano, until I got to grade 7 and then quit :(
- I once had two pet rats. They were called Pringles and Banjo. When they died I got two more called Pebbles and Bam Bam - The Flintstones anyone?
- I've also owned multiple hamsters and gold fish.
- I once had three gerbils called 'Tom Dick and Harry'. I wouldn't recommend gerbils as pets - eugh.
- I now have no pets.
- I enjoy cleaning my teeth in the shower.
- I enjoy cleaning my teeth in the shower.
- My coffee mug holds 1 pint of coffee and I can't function unless I've had my daily caffeine fix.
- My Starbucks drinks of choice is a caramel macchiato.
- Our family has recently moved house. I lived in the same place for 19 years so was originally unsupportive of this decision to move. I don't mind at all now because our new house is much nicer than our old one.
- We have a hot tub in our back garden. I went in once and then broke out in an allergic rash the next day so now I'm scared of it.
- I'm lucky to have been on some of the most amazing family holidays: Dubai, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Florida, Lapland, Mediterranean cruise.. the list goes on.
- I've recently been on holiday without my parents: to Kavos with the girls and to Marbella with my boyfriend.
- I would love to travel a lot more and see more of the world.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed a little insight into 'me'.
Find me:
Twitter: @hannahripley
Instagram: hannahripley1
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