Practice makes Perfect | Training

I spoke about this a little in my last post, but here's a little more information.

I'm someone who's adored make up for a long time, but I never got knees deep into it till University.

I started doing hair and costume backstage (as I was part of a performance course) and rocking up to lectures with bright purple unblended eye makeup, perhaps not on of my better moments, but I thought I looked bomb as hell with it.

I was experimenting with makeup tones then suddenly I stopped, I'm not too sure why and it took a while for me to get out of the rut I'd gotten myself into. 

 

I decided to try again, built up my confidence then allowed myself to get knocked down in 2015 after failing the makeup trial test for a counter. 

However...

At the beginning of 2016, when I started getting my mental health under control, I started playing around again, it started with bright lipstick, then I taught myself how to apply eyelashes, played with coloured shadows, and even applied for a job in Mac!

This is what look I wore on my makeup trial.

and this is the look I did on my friend I'd taken with me, I think I did pretty well considering, I had 30 minutes and I got stopped by a customer who thought I worked there.

Sadly I didn't get the job this time either, this was mostly due to my lack of sales experience as the job would be in a brand new store. 

On the journey home, I set up my Facebook page 

www.facebook.com/NatalieLeanneMua1

I was doing really well for a while gaining followers and experience using friends and family. I did have to take a break till Christmas due to my head injury, but I decided to get back into it. (my doctor said do thing that calm and de-stress you and this does)

 Around this time a lovely little meme was going around asking "Are all the girls finished becoming MUA's for the year" and I did sadly feel the need to defend myself, no I'm not a qualified MUA nor do I say I'm such, I'm training and saving money for a future course. Plus the fact that people come back to me proves that I have some sort of talent for this.

I'll keep trying to get better, and I'll keep working on different looks, I have customers now who keep coming back, and my following is going up all this time, It's all a little bit overwhelming but I love it. 

 What I'm trying to get at here is, regardless of what people say or think or even what that little voice at the back of your mind says. Keep trying, keep perfecting your trade, if you want to do something and you have a love for it. Believe in yourself and you'll get there.
If you look at my older photos and compare them to the newer ones you can clearly see the improvement, and the same will happen to you.

Practice makes Perfect.

Please feel free to ask any questions, or for any kind of looks you want to see, and if you want you can click the link to check out my Instagram page....

www.instagram.com/natalieleanne

It's Been A While | Update!

Well Hello There.

Wow, so It's been a very long time since I last posted a blog, after promising to be more consistent!
 

I'm terrible I know.

How about I explain?

So my last post was in June 2016 - almost a year ago - and it was about my therapy sessions.
I was doing rather well if I do say so myself, I was getting out more, stressing out less, and had general control over my life.

I'd travelled to London to see the amazing Melanie Martinez a few months prior with people I barely knew, everything was looking up.



Chav used "Rock Throw" and it was "super effective"

On the 19th July, whilst playing Pokemon go I may add.
I sadly had a rock thrown at my head, by someone who could only be described as an irresponsible child, or "12-year-old fetus" which is what I called him on my snap chat right after the incident. (yes my first reaction was to start a snap chat video, don't judge me)

I would upload photos and videos of the damage done but I doubt anybody would want to see that, even though I am pretty hilarious.

I took a few weeks off work and returned after being told by my GP that I fine. I carried my life on as normal.

And by normal I mean, my control over my mental health was lacking, my medication was upped and I became somewhat a hermit. Thankfully I was still in my therapy sessions and managed to work through everything. My medication is still significantly high, but everything is thankfully under control now.

Kitten Attack
I got a kitten, searched all over for a black cat with white little socks, and came across this little fellow.

His name is Miko, he's an adorable little chap!
 

He does have a few weird quirks, like climbing everything, sticking his paw in the water bowl and licking his paw to drink, he also likes been chased and responds to a whistle like a dog.







Interview?

 
I had an interview for Mac Cosmetics and got to the final stage, but sadly I didn't get the job as it was a new store and they needed people with sales experience, which is fine.

I started my own make-up venture and it seems to be going pretty well, I gained 100+ followers on my make-up page in like an hour. Feel free to give it a like!


www.facebook.com/NatalieLeanneMua1

My Instagram seemingly blew up as well, I know 500+ followers isn't a lot where Instagram in concerned but for me it is. 

www.instagram.com/natalieleanne












Theatre. 

 
Middlesbrough Youth Theatre's show that year was West Side Story, and if you have me on facebook you'll of seen how utterly amazed I was by each and every person who was a part of it. I'm rather proud to be a part of such a great company.




Kitten Attack Part 2
 

Miko needed a friend! We decided to call "him" Gizmo. Till we got him home and discovered he was a she. her name is Freya now. 

Freya enjoys using her claws to climb up your legs, sitting on your head and constant purring.


 

It took a while to get Miko used to the idea of sharing his home with another kitten, A lot of time spent changing the room one was in so they could get used to the smell of each other.

But they love each other now!






So as you can see, everything seemed to be fine...


Sadly something didn't feel right, I was still getting pain and migraines from my injury that had happened around 3/4 months ago.
 

I went to the doctor multiple times and they kept saying that everything was normal, but you just know when something is not right.

Finally I was told that I have concussion and vertigo, but still, I felt like there was something else.


It took 5 visits and 3 different GP's to be heard I've now had a CT scan which was thankfully normal and I'm being referred to a Neurologist so hopefully, I'll know what's wrong with me soon!


I've been off work since the 11th December 2016, and I'm going stir crazy, never thought I'd actually miss working, but I do. This whole "try not to do so much and rest" thing is not good for me!

I NEED TO DO SOMETHING.

 
So for now, I'm spending most of my time, putting make-up on my face for the sheer fun of it, and killing people eardrums on Facebook and snap chat with my singing! (snap chat = natalielobrien)with the occasional funny video, I'm hilarious trust me. Annoying my kittens with non-stop hugs, which Miko loves, Freya, however, does not. My friends escort me in leaving the house if I feel up to it, so I don't go crazy or have a dizzy episode outside on my own.


So other than spending my time in constant pain, everything seems to be good.

And that's my update done.





Again I'm sorry I've been away for so long, but you know a lot has happened. I will try to keep on top of this whole blogger thing, but I won't make any promises this time.


If you'd like a whole post on what my therapy sessions were like and how I've finally managed to get my mental health in control please let me know!

The First Session

On Monday 20th June 2016 I had my first ever therapy session, for my mental health.

I had been putting it off for a while, as actually sitting there and talking about my feelings and thoughts face to face, terrifies me.

I had asked my very very good friend Lynne for help finding somewhere I'd be comfortable going to, and she had found a place, in which the meetings take place over the phone. Which is utterly perfect for me.

The first thing that was required was an introduction, to both the sessions and to the lady that would be holding them.

The woman who'll be helping me through my next steps in this journey is named Amy.

She's a very lovely lady and made me feel very much at ease and comfortable.

At the beginning of each session, you're required to answer a series of questions.

All based your the last two weeks (I have a session every two weeks)

You answer these questions with;

 Not at all, Several days, More than half the days and nearly every day.

I found that after the introduction session (two weeks later) that my scores had already gone down, only slightly but still it shows improvement.

So... During my first proper session, we spoke about my feelings throughout the weeks prior, explained why these things happened and talked about life.

We then moved on to something called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or CBT for short, which in layman's terms is learning how both thoughts and emotions connect to your physical and mental behaviour I.E

If you feel like you cannot do something, so you panic and feel ashamed, therefore you don't try to do it, and that cycle repeats.

It's all about changing the way you think about things.

To show this I was asked to take part in an activity called " My Hot Cross Bun" - rather silly name, but it works!

Example below...

After we spoke about this we moved out to the area of Sleep paralysis / night terror.

I have been suffering with these since before I can remember and I've been researching them just as long, to find a reason that explained it and made me feel "normal"

To my surprise Amy had found something myself and doctors have not.

"Hypnagogic Hallucinations"

We went through the site together and came up with ways I could normalise the figure that visits my dreams. 

We spoke about how treating this figure as something scary would make me feel worse but if I tried to view it in a different light such as treating it at something that's just waking me up, or even realising that it's not real. Would completely normalise it.

We also spoke about how this only seems to happen when I'm stressed or anxious and how it may never actually go away, but that everyone experiences at least once in their life.

It's fair to say I feel one thousand times better after this hour session, and this is just the first one!

I urge anyone who is suffering in silence or who feels completely alone and lost, who doesn't know what to do next.

Go to your doctor, Try and get help. 

Here're some helpful links 

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Counselling

http://www.mind.org.uk/

www.insighthealthcare.org

http://patient.info/doctor/hypnagogic-hallucinations

What are you're thoughts on the help available for mental health?

What would you suggest to someone struggling with their mental health?

Life Hack - Chafing

Hello All, and welcome to my first life hack post!

For all of us out there who don't have the ever loved thigh gap, but would like to wear a dress or skirt without feeling the impending doom of CHAFING, keep reading.

For those of you who may not know what chafing is, I took to google for you and got an explanation;

Chafing - refers to the irritation of the skin caused by repetitive friction, usually generated through the skin to skin contact of multiple body parts.

I've done my research on this as it's something I struggle with myself.

There are a few different thing you can buy to help with this.

From applying talc powder to your thighs to using a face primer or even spending a high amount of money on little shorts to wear under your dress.

But let's face it, it's a lot of effort and as a lazy person I don't want to do that, nor do I want to spend money of tight fitting shorts that are going to cause me to become hotter.

My solution? TIGHTS

and no I'm not saying just wear full-blown tights for the rest of your life, free your legs.

Cut the tights to the length you need, I tend to cut up to 3/4 inches above the knee.

This will stop the chafing. and not make you too warm in the summer heat, but it's also pretty cheap.

you can get cheap tights from anywhere - Primark is my favourite.

You can also just use your old laddered tights, I mean who's going to see them?

So there you have it 

What are your favourite life hacks?

Would you use this one?

The Revamp

I'm not sure if you'll have noticed but, I have spent the last few week revamping all of my social media.

It all started when I was looking through my Instagram feed, I noticed that my newer photos looked great and the represented what I'm all about. The older ones, however, just looked like they were thrown on there.

Which is not aesthetically pleasing to me.

So what did Natalie do? She deleted everything that was not from this year.

Obviously, I saved the photo's that meant a lot to me, and most of them are uploaded onto my personal facebook if I ever need them.

I felt like a huge weight had been taken off my shoulders, and since then I've been getting compliments about how nice my page looked. I know that's not a massively huge thing for everyone but you know, I spent time creating that.

After this, I took to twitter and deleted nearly everything (which wasn't much as I don't really use twitter - this will change!) I update the profile photos and changed the banner.

Tumblr also got a little revamp, but that was just deleting photos and shares, like old Instagram uploads.

I'm so much happier with house everything looks now and I'd be REALLY grateful if you'd all take a look 

www.instagram.com/natalieleanne
www.twitter.com/NatalieeLeannee

www.natalieleanneobrien.tumblr.com

What do you think about deleting things?

Do you like the new look?

The 13 Personal Questions Tags

Hello and welcome back! I was searching round the internet and came across this tag! So I thought 

"why not?"

I tag everyone who reads this.

1. What do you order at Starbucks?

I'm not the most adventurous person when it comes to drinks (unless they're alcoholic).

but I do like a good old Caramel Macchiato . But if it's even slightly warm outside I opt for a Caramel Cream Frappuccino (with out the whipped cream). However I do enjoy the new Smores Frap!

2. What's one thing in your closet you can't live without?

Can I pick two options? Black tights and a Black dress. Regardless of what the weather is like. 

3. What's one thing that most people don't know about you?

When I was in secondary school, I was the quietest person ever! (unlike now). I also tend do dwell on things too much, despite the carefree attitude people think I have.

4. What's one thing you want to do before you die?

You know I've never really sat down and thought about this... I do just normally go with the flow. But I guess everyone has a bucket list right? 

I'd absolutely love to swim with sharks, perhaps even befriend one and ride off in to the sunset with him (I'd call him Bruce)

I also want to travel more, paint my own house white, learn how to shabby chic things.

5. What's one food you can't live without?

My first thought was pizza and donuts.... but when I tactfully thought on it, I realised I actually live on microwavable noodles.

6. What's one quote that you live your life by?

There's actually two.

"Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance" this is from a play i believe and in my mind it basically means, just keep trying, keep moving forward, you'll get where you want to be eventually!

And also the ever popular

 "Do more or what makes you happy" 

I think that one pretty much speaks for itself.

7. What do you like and dislike about the YouTube/Online community?

Honestly I'm sadly not that much involved as I went a bit MIA for a while, but from my understanding and knowledge I'd have to say It's the trolls or the negative people. If you don't like what you're watching or reading click the X button, you don't need to post something horrid. We all should be supporting each other not spreading hate.

8. What's your number 1 song on your iPod/iTunes? 

I swear my Spotify get's hounded every single day, honestly the most played song is likely some pretty little cover by Daniela Andrade / Jasmine Thompson / Noah Guthrie.

We cannot forget the WHOLE Crybaby album, though. Melanie, why are you so perfect?

9. What kind of style would you describe yourself as having?

Black. Yup. If its black I'll wear it.

Seriously though I live in black dresses tights, heels, and a black jacket.

They represent my soul.. haha.

10. Favourite number? 

13.

11. Two hobbies?

If you asked my boyfriend this he'd say moaning. But it's shopping for make up and applying make up. I just find them both so therapeutic. Regardless of the damage it does to my bank account.

12. Two pet peeves?

Eating loud/making noises whilst eating. If you do that, please don't! Just stop.

"I'm not being funny but..." "no offence but..." you do mean offence and you are being funny. Stop.

13. Your guilty pleasure?

Donuts. I know I'm on a diet but 12 aren't going to harm me.

They make me happy OK?

They're pretty and they taste good.

What do you think about tag posts? 

What kind of posts would you like to see from me?

Trip to London

At the end of April myself and a few others took a nice little trip to London to see the amazing Melanie Martinez!

It's fair to say I had an utterly amazing time, just what I needed.

my partner and I allowed ourselves to spend and do what ever we wanted,

as it was our first trip away for a while , that meant shopping and food.

We booked to stay in a beautiful apartment.

How stunning is that I'll leave the link here for any of you that would like to visit.

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/9527125?checkin=26-04-2016&checkout=28-04-2016&guests=4&s=_DOTTSxd

After we settled we decided to venture in to London. 

The day of the gig we were walking round trying to find a nice place to eat, we ended up in an Angus beef house place, and were served by the most lovely man ever, he may have taken selfies with us.

We then walked around more, I must admit I did end up almost running in to Lush on Oxford street and spent nearly 30 

minuets in there and the contents of my bank account.

Then we ended up in Mac Cosmetics, at this point let me tell you that I may no in fact I do have the best boyfriend in the world (sorry guys)

It all started with him saying I could have that lipstick I've been wanting since November 2015 (matte royal), the sales lady was very good at her job and I ended up with a whole new base as well as the matching liner for the lipstick.

After this it was a mad rush home to coat ourselves in cute things and glitter, only to get caught in a London downpour, thankfully we made it to the show with 10 seconds to spare.

Melanie was unbelievable, she was far better than I thought she was going to be, and even that was a high standard, I may have fallen in love.

when the concert was over we all met up with our friend Max and venture to a gay bar at had a fun, energetic end to the night.

P.S were going to see Melanie nearer to the end of the year - I may even vlog it. 

Do you LOVE Crybaby?

What is your favourite place in London?

Life Update

Hello all...

It's been a rather long time since I've given an update or even blogged properly.

Since April I've taken the first steps in to seeking help with my mental health situation. 

Which is why I felt the need to take a step back from social media as a whole really.

Sometimes we need that break.

I wasn't happy with anything I was doing or the content I was uploading.

But I'm back now, I'm not a 100% yet but I'm getting there.

I'm very lucky to have such an amazing group of friends and family around me that have been there for me at all times, day or night.

I'm currently going through the process of editing and deleting things on my social media, Instagram has already completed it's transformation, and I'm so much happier with it.

You can most certainly expect the same thing from my blog and also my YouTube , when I get round to it.