Sunday 28 September 2014

*Polagram review.




So as you can guess by the title today I am bringing you a review. This is a review of the app *Polagram which you can download on your smartphone. I loved Polagram that much I ordered some more. In the end I had lots of polaroid styled photos and I was very, very happy with the quality of them.








Overall I was very happy with the service, how quickly they came and the quality. I would definitely recommend Polagram for getting photos printed. 

If you would like to get some free prints just use the code: PG9GCQ8M

Do you have any polaroid photos?


*Disclaimer: These products were sent for review purposes only, all views and opinions expressed are my own and are 100% honest.

Saturday 27 September 2014

Learning Lines.


Now you may be wondering what this post is about but for the past few months, I've been staring at this script and if I'm honest I've struggled with it. I still haven't learnt my lines and I need to have learnt them by the 3rd October (My performance is on like the 22nd October but we need to have learnt them for then) and it is a Shakespeare play. I have done Shakespeare for schools for 2 years now and this will be my third year. I know I am capable of learning my lines but being in Year 11 has put a lot more pressure on me, so I will be glad when this is done. For my first year we performed in Leeds and last year we performed in Hull - This year it is again in Hull. We spend a whole day in Hull on the 3rd October doing a workshop and then a whole day in Hull for the performance. The only problem with this, is that I have to catch up on work and I find it really challenging.

Hopefully I will get them learnt within the next couple of days and I'm sure I'll update you.

Do you have any tips on learning lines?


Friday 26 September 2014

My story: Bullying.


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This post has taken me quite a while to write, mainly because I find it to be a topic that is difficult to talk about but I thought I would share my story as it may help anyone who is going through Bullying or you may even be able to share your stories with me.

If you are going to read this post - I suggest you get a cup of tea or coffee, a few biscuits and a comfy chair because this could be a long post.

I'll start from the very beginning. I started playground at the age of 2 and I liked playgroup a lot, I liked the interaction and all the fun things I got to do. I remember that this boy didn't particularly like me and so he decided to push me over and take all the toys I was playing with. At that age I didn't think anything of it, I was only little and it didn't really bother me. Overall though I loved playgroup and went from 2 years old till I was 3.

At the age of 3 I started Nursery, this was the start to my primary school journey and wow was I in for a rocky ride. I loved Nursery, I went full time, all day, every day Mon-Fri. We used to do painting and cards and reading and it was all good fun. I remember one day - I was playing with a kitchen set - it was all wooden and I put my fingers in the "washing machine" to get things out and a boy came and slammed the door on my fingers, he trapped my fingers and I remember crying. Overall though, Nursery was a very pleasant time for me and I loved the fact that I was in blue group and I had a Daisy on my badge. I also had a Winnie The Pooh Bag, how cool was I? Haha!

Then I went into Reception - this was when I got to know half the people I know now. I really enjoyed Reception and I got on with most people, I really loved my Reception teacher too, she was so kind to me. While in Reception I got dared to cut my hair off and at that point in my life I had hair down my back, it was probably down to the bottom of my ribs. I cut all my hair off, to just below my ears and boy did I get told off for that. It took years for my hair to grow back too. I still get tautened by people for doing this.

In Year 1 I settled in well, I liked my teacher. I liked most of the people in my class because it hadn't changed but I remember this one particular day. I wanted a pair of scissors because we were doing art and this other girl wanted scissors and so we ended up arguing over this pair of scissors and then this boy (who I secretly think fancied the other girl) snatched the scissors, opened them up and cut my wrist open. I still have a scar from this - that I will have for life. He then gave the scissors to the other girl and sat all smug. I then had to go to a teacher who had a really big go at this boy but either way I didn't win. I also cried too much.

At this point in my life everything started to get worse with things. It wasn't just the children that bullied me at primary but it was the members of staff - dinner ladies and teaching assistants.

I remember this one time, there was this bench that everyone kept tripping near and really hurting their knee. Well I was one of them and I fell really bad. I cut my knee open, got all grit in it and it stung so bad. I obviously cried because it hurt and all I got from the teaching assistants was "stop being a baby" there was blood running down my leg and for a 6/7 year old to see that, it isn't nice.

In Year 2 that was when some of the staff was really horrible to me, they used to single me out and punish me for things I hadn't done. All of my teachers at my primary were lovely to me, just other members weren't. The dinner ladies used to laugh that I was on my own and my confidence just dipped to a new low.

In Year 3, I gained new friendships and was optimistic about school. Until I started to get bullied. This is when it all began properly and it was the worse thing ever. I started getting bullied by this one particular girl, she still has digs at me now but I am a stronger person. She bullied me from Year 3 to Year 9. She used to cause arguments between me and my friends, get all my year group to gang up against me and she used to call me names. She was a teacher's pet then and she still is now. I must admit in Year 3 and 4, yes she bothered me but the teacher's just told us to be "nice". I wanted peace but she obviously didn't. It got worse and worse and worse and the dinner ladies were starting to gang up on me, they never listened to my side of the story and was biased towards her. They used to sit and point the finger at me and call me "the horrible child".

In Year 5, not only did I get bullied by this one particular girl, had all the dinner ladies against me and most of my year - I then started getting bullied by 4 other girls that were in the year above me. They were really intimidating and they scared me. They used to pick on me when I walked into the dinner hall, they used to call me "yoghurt girl" just because I had yoghurts in my pack up. They used to shout abuse at me in the playground and they threatened me a few times. I remember one time I sat in the toilets all dinner and both of my break times crying,  just so I could get away from them.

I also remember one dinner time they were sat talking about me and then they ganged up on me. They chased me round the playground until I couldn't run any more and then cornered me. This has traumatised me and I will never forget it. What made it worse was, the dinnerladies could see this happening yet they did nothing.

These 4 girls bullied me until they left my primary school and the whole 2 years of me getting bullied by them, made my life hell. I didn't want to go into school because I knew they were there.

At this point I had 4 older girls bullying me, a girl in my year bullying me and several other members of my class pointing out all my faults, as well as other dinner ladies being horrible towards me. By Year 6, I finally crumbled and ended going home every night and crying. The girl that started off bullying me kept taunting me during class, so I told her that if she didn't leave me alone. I would push her. So she followed me, she kept getting in my face and then kept trying to push me over. I turned back and pushed her to the floor. I wasn't an aggressive person and I still aren't. I'd just had enough. I then had a dinner lady shouting abuse at me over how I had pushed this girl over. She made me feel terrible about myself and she still hates me to this day. I was still getting pushed and shoved about by these other 4 girls and I just couldn't do anything about it.

Another incident was when this girl who I pushed over, pulled my hair and so I pulled hers back and I got the blame. I didn't start it but I still got the blame. Everything was always my fault.

In year 6 I had one good friendship and that got broken as I was going to another school. I ended up going to the same school in the end but that's another story. There was then arguments and friction between my best friend and we ended up not even being friends. I then had other people having a go at me for this when really it wasn't my fault.

In the final few months of me leaving my primary I had a cover lesson with this teacher that despises me to this day (she on the other hand was a teaching member of staff, but not my actual teacher) this one day, I had, had a really bad day. I had been bullied by those 4 girls, that girl that I pushed over and the whole class was basically against me. I had been so close to crying so many times that day and was just sick and tired of everything. It was the French lesson we had with this teacher and I fell off my chair - she had a massive go at me and I was again reduced to tears.

My Nana then found out about me getting bullied and it really affected her, she got so upset and she was paranoid about me going to school. She went into school with my auntie and complained to school although my head teacher wasn't in and they ended up speaking to the teacher who I had for the cover lesson who had a go at me. She basically told my Nana that I "Loved being alone" which was not the case at all and she basically made me out to be a bad person. The bullying didn't stop but I was so relived to leave my primary school.

I was so glad to be going to a different school where none of these people would be at but then some things happened that summer and I ended up not being able to go. I ended up starting my high school that I am at now and the bullying commenced again.

I had made new friendships in this high school and I still had the same girl who had bullied me throughout primary on my back. It wasn't nice and she got lots of people in my year to hate me. I also had other girls having a go at me and then other things happened.

In Year 7-8 This boy bullied me, through no fault of my own. He bullied me because he thought I had "broken up his relationship" this was a horrible time for me, as I had nothing to do with his relationship. It was scary in the fact that he shouted abuse at me in the street, down the corridors and he even came to my house, shouting abuse at me and banging on my front door so loud. I was so, so scared and it was a horrible time. I couldn't speak to anyone about it and although the policy is to "prevent bullying" it still happened. Also in this time a teacher called me "thick" and my confidence was already at rock bottom. A teacher also shouted abuse at me and that has scarred me for life.

By this point, My dad found out about the bullying I was suffering and he was really concerned. He was quite angry that I hadn't told him before but to be honest he could see it took me all my time to get a few little words out without bursting into tears. I cried to my Dad about it and that was when I started to feel really bad about myself. I don't like opening up to people very much and so for both my Nana and Dad finding out - it was really hard.

By Year 9 everything had seemed to settle down but oh no, this girl started cropping back into the equation and I told her to leave me alone. It finally got fixed, kind of and she still glares at me to this day but doesn't say anything to me. Along with being bullied I have had others pick on me in the process, arguments and friendships broken and all that jazz. I remember some nights I would sit on Facetime to some of my friends and just cry because certain people were bullying me. Not only at this time was I getting bullied in person but I was also getting cyber-bullied. I had people tweeting me horrible, horrible things and to be honest I didn't need all this on top of everything else.

In Year 10 another 2 boys decided to pick on me - one of them told me that I was "thick" and that I had been "dropped into a lower group" he shouted abuse at me throughout the whole of the year and then the other boy did the same, he said I was a "suck up" and that I was like a "dyson hoover" and had shouted other horrible things about me. When I got my results in August literally all he talked about was me and my results because he was jealous. He still speaks spiteful things about me but I just ignore him. He didn't get the grades he wanted, he didn't even pass, so I feel like before he makes judgements about other people, maybe he should focus on himself.

So now I'm in Year 11 and hopefully this year will be a great end to things, I've had a lot of tears throughout both primary and secondary and I hope nobody has to feel the way I did. There is some other things that occured but I don't feel like sharing them at this moment in time. I've found it extremely difficult typing all this up. I just want to say a massive thank you to you lovely people who read my blog because without you, this would never had been shared and your comments and support mean a lot to me. I want to thank my best friend Em and my other friends Emma, Chloe, Keavy, Shaunie, Jemma and Freya for making me the very happy, smiley individual that I am today. I have my good days and my bad days but all of you people get me through it, I love them/you all.

If you are getting bullied or you have been bullied in the past I just want to say; I know how it feels and you need to stay strong because you will get through it <3

If you are still with me at the end of this post, well done to you!

I hope this post will help a few people, I love you all <3


Wednesday 24 September 2014

500 BLOGLOVIN' FOLLOWERS GIVEAWAY #4


Hello lovely readers. As on every single giveaway post I have ever done, I am going to thank all you dedicated readers for reading my blog and this is your 4th instalment to say thank you.  This is 4/5 of my giveaways to celebrate reaching 500 followers after only 8 months of blogging. I have now been blogging for over 9 months.

So this is my fourth week of my giveaway and so this is the fourth giveaway...



I am hosting my fourth giveaway with Skinetica, I have reviewed their product before which you can see here. I thought as many of you had said you wanted skincare giveaways that I would give you a few. So a bottle of Skinetica is up for grabs.

Rules

- You must be following my blog.
- You have to have liked Skinetica  on Facebook.
- You will be receiving a bottle of Skinetica.
- This is an international giveaway.
- No purchase is necessary.
-  This giveaway will start on the 24/09/14 and end on the 1/10/14
- Complete the rafflecopter below for a chance to win.
- If the winner does not contact me within 24 hours, another winner will be chosen.
- The winner will be announced on twitter.

Good luck everyone!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday 19 September 2014

Make up; Base.


I thought it would be good to share with you all my thoughts on the products I do use.

Now for me the base is the start of the make up, for me make up is like baking a cake. You follow the steps to have a great outcome. So to start my make up, this is the base make up that I use...

Nivea essentials Primer



This is actually a new discovery for me. I never used to use primers on my face because I never thought I needed one. Yes I have oily to combination skin and maybe I should have invested in one sooner. In the blogosphere I have recently seen primer after primer. So although people had said they enjoyed the Maybelline baby skin - no way was I going to buy that after the disappointment of the Maybelline Baby Lips. I also don't give into the hype very often so I wanted to find something that I knew I liked.

So I have recently been loving Nivea products and well I thought I'd add this primer to my collection. It was actually on offer and I got it for £2.98 - so I was pretty happy. You will see most Nivea products that I have appear during this series because that's how freaking much I love them.

This Primer is absolutely brilliant, my make up stays on all day. It controls my excess oil and means I don't get shiny through the day. It makes me look healthy and my foundation/tinted moisturiser or CC cream goes on so much better. It dries within 30 seconds and wow I just love it.


Nivea Tinted Moisturiser



Yet another Nivea product. I also got this on offer and it was like £1.83 or something like that. I love this product to go on top of my primer because this formula is very creamy and blends really well into the skin. On good skin days I can get away with wearing this and of course if I'm being lazy and just want something to give me a healthy glow. It really moisturises my skin and makes me look healthy. It isn't orange and is light coverage but for me, it is all I need.

On a side note to this: could anyone recommend me a foundation? I have the Rimmel 26 Hour Foundation but it is far too orange.

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer




This must be a shock for all you reading, aha maybe not. Obviously you don't need me to tell you how great this concealer is because you've probably already got it but yes it is a great product. It is great for brightening the eyes. I wouldn't say it covers blemishes that well but for £4.19 it's not too bad.


Beauty UK Face Powder.



This is one of my essentials in my travel make up bag and pretty much anywhere I go. It gets rid of all the shine because nobody likes a shiny oily face and it's just a great product.

How I look just with a base:



So that is everything I use for the base of my face. If you have any recommendations please write a comment and let me know them!


What do you use for your base make up?




Tuesday 16 September 2014

It's the little things in life │ The Perks Of Meg.

mm tea || insta: ebbalopez
Source: weheartit

Life is full of bad news and sometimes we get caught up in things that really don't effect us and don't appreciate the little things in life. As we all know life is precious and it goes by so quickly we really have to take in all the little things. For the past 3 or so years I have been quite a negative person, I wasn't happy with myself and who I was. However I promised myself that at the start of this year {2014} I would be positive and would have a positive outlook on life. Blogging has definitely helped me. A matter of fact is: life is too short. Why would you want to spend your days being sad when there is a whole world out there that you can explore? Also if you think about it and take a moment you will find that it is these little things in life that make you smile and even though most people won't understand why you have a massive smile on your face each day, just enjoy it. Embrace it. 
While I was taking a time out from daily stresses and taking in what surroundings I have, these were the little things that made me smile.
- Waking up and knowing that you can go back to sleep/stay in bed.
-- Waking up to a cup of tea that has already been made for me.
- Having a peaceful walk down the riverbank.
-  Making plans with my best friend Emily.
- Replying to emails, letters and comments from you lovelies! {I love everyone who takes the time to read my blog}
- Watching my savings jar grow with all my pennies.
- Baking: I love baking and I have from a very small age.
- Cooking meals for my family. 
- Seeing my little brother Alfie every weekend just to get the biggest smile, the chuckles and the enormous cuddles. 
- Tidying my room and discovering things I thought I'd lost.
- Cookies.
- Painting my nails perfectly for the first time ever. 
These  are just a few things that have happened during my week and recapping them makes me smile and I feel quite rewarded. It's great to be on the upwards to positivity.
After all it is the little things in life.

Monday 15 September 2014

500 BLOGLOVIN' FOLLOWERS GIVEAWAY #3


Good day, all. So you may have seen that I announced that I had reached 500 bloglovin' followers and wanted to do a giveaway and now if you didn't see the idea behind my first or second giveaway I will explain again. So basically I can't believe I have reached 500 bloglovin' followers and I can't believe I have this many readers. Today officially marks 9 months of me blogging and I feel like I really have achieved something. So to thank all of you lovelies that read my blog whether you have been here from the start or whether you are new - thank you all! I have decided to do a 500 bloglovin' followers giveaway where I am doing 5 little giveaways, so that there will be 5 winners and 5 weeks worth of giveaways on The Perks Of Meg. This is just my way of saying thank you and also because I am a student I can't afford prizes such as MAC just yet but eventually I may.

So this is my third week of my giveaway and so this is the third giveaway...

I am hosting my third giveaway with Beegood, I absolutely adore this company and have reviewed some of their products before so I thought I would team up with Beegood as I love this company and I am sure you will too. So up for grabs for one of you lucky readers is a Beegood daily hand cream.



Rules

- You must be following my blog.
- You must be following Beegood on twitter.
- You will be receiving a Beegood daily hand cream.
- This is an international giveaway.
- No purchase is necessary.
-  This giveaway will start on the 15/09/14 and end on the 22/09/14
- Complete the rafflecopter below for a chance to win.
- If the winner does not contact me within 24 hours, another winner will be chosen.
- The winner will be announced on twitter.

Good luck everyone! 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saturday 13 September 2014

Things I Appreciate during Summer │ The Perks Of Meg.


Nature
Source:weheartit



Today I thought I would talk about the thing that I appreciate during Summer. Now I know it's now September and I'm back at school and I've had my summer holidays. If I'm honest this Summer has been pretty rubbish compared to 2012 and 2013 and so I'm a little disappointed but anyway here are a few things that I appreciate during summer.

A lie in /Sleeping In.

This has got to be at the top of my list. Although this Summer I've had about 2 lie ins. I'm a little disappointed but hey ho, my body has got used to waking up at the clock of dawn and just won't switch off for Summer.

Having an excuse to watch an excessive amount of tv. 

Although Summer is supposed to be the season where you spend 99.9% of your time outside in the sun, we never do. Especially in the UK. I mean we get more rain in Summer and basically that is an excuse to stay inside and watch tv. But mainly I don't want TV - I watch Disney films and I LOVE Disney films.

PJ day, every day.

Okay, so this may be a slight over exaggeration but basically when I get the chance to stay in my PJ's all day, I certainly will. I mainly do this on Sundays. My PJ's are literally the comfiest things and if I don't have to get dressed, why should I? It is slightly more acceptable to stay in your PJ's all day though.


Sunsets

I adore sunsets so much, they are so pretty and they just make the sky so nice and they just make me happy.

Baths and showers with nice summery products.

So, I get a bath or shower every day and let's be honest most of us do. So why do I appreciate them more in Summer? Well in Summer I tend to go shopping more, uh-oh my bank balance won't be happy. I always find the time to go to LUSH and at the moment I've been relaxing in the bath with The Comforter and I just find Showers so refreshing.



Baking

There is nothing I enjoy more than baking and Summer gives me the perfect excuse to bake like every single week. I love making Scones and brownies and yummy treats - this is making me extremely hungry.


Quiet Time

Summer is the time to sit in your bedroom and just chill. Maybe read a book or read a blog - it is your time to have a bit of me time but quietly.


Sun

Yes although the sun is quite dangerous and can lead to nasty thing including sun burn, the sun just makes people happy and so lets enjoy the sun while it lasts.

Long Walks On the Riverbank


I have a riverbank across the town from me and I love going for long walks and just having again some alone time.

Getting your long awaited results that you've been waiting for since you did your exams.

Although this can be a thing that I don't appreciate in Summer depending on my results, I do appreciate the fact that  I've waited a couple of months and you finally get them and all the nerves go away.


What things do you appreciate during Summer?



Friday 12 September 2014

What I've Won #1


Hello everyone. So today I thought I'd share with you all what I was lucky enough to win in the month of August. 


The first prize I won was this Nourish mini kit and I absolutely love this. I love the packaging and the products are so good! I won this from the lovely people at Nourish on their twitter. 


The second thing I won in the month of August was this surprise box giveaway from the lovely Claire Louise I was so shocked to have won it as I never expected to and I am still so happy.


In my surprise box there was £25 worth of products and I love every single product. There are so many products to list but I had things from Soap and Glory, MUA, Nip + Fab and some samples. There was some great goodies and I love them all.


The last thing I won in the month of August was a MAC lipstick of my choice from the lovely Abi Rose and again I was so shocked that I had won as I never win anything.


After long debate I picked the shade Chatterbox which is a barbie pink and it is gorgeous.




Have you won anything recently? 



Wednesday 10 September 2014

Increasing Blog Traffic: Twitter │ThePerksOfMeg.



Urban ballerina

Source: weheartit


So today I thought I would share with you all some tips of how to increase your blog traffic using twitter. I'm not saying you should do all these things but these are just personally what I like to do. 

Use twitter.

Using twitter is one of the best ways to increase your blog traffic and that's just my personal opinion. If you have your blogs name as your twitter '@' people will be able to find you easily and basically jobs a good 'un. Basically my twitter is @imcalledmeg_ but unfortantely someone has taken 'theperksofmeg' so I can't have it. So if that does happen then try to get a name close to your blog.

Put your blog link in your bio.

One of the first things I did when I started blogging was putting my blog link in my bio. Some people who claim to be a blogger but then don't have a URL, how hard is it to put a link in your bio? Anyway if I do chat to you or you chat to me during a twitter chat, which you can check out all the twitter chats in this post here then I will probably want to have a little nosey at your blog and so it is just easier for me to click on your profile and click the link in your bio.

Promoting your posts.

In my opinion this is one of the hardest things to do. When you are doing it - it is easy but it can cause a little bit of drama. It is hard to decide on how many times you want to tweet your posts and posting too much can cause people to get angry and you are basically spamming everyone or you can tweet about a post once a week and get lost and not noticed. Personally I tend to post once a day and I seem to get a lot of traffic. Sometimes I tweet morning, afternoon and night depending on how gripping I think the post is and whether it will attract more people. I also like to try and accommodate for any non UK bloggers that read my blog as time zones are pretty difficult I do try and tweet at 1-2am or I will schedule a tweet for that time just so nobody is missing out/ gets the chance to have a read.

Use hashtags.

When I post a link to a new post I have written I always use hashtags. I mainly use #lbloggers, #bbloggers, #fbloggers as well as #tbloggers. Hashtags are another good way to get your blog out there.

Join in with the Twitter chats.

Personally twitter chats are one of my favourite things to take part in. The community is great and you are getting yourself out there and discovering new blogs and also maybe making some new friends. I've made so many blogger friends this way and nobody ignores anybody. I mainly use this to get tips and find new blogs. Again here is a link to my post about the Twitter chats.
Mention brands and bloggers.
I do this quite a lot, I mention my favourite bloggers and I mention brands if I've been to a particular shop or I've done a post on them. By doing this you are sharing content and are getting noticed by the companies and people. This means that your content will be reshared and you may even attract more readers. 

Keep old content alive.

I love to keep old content alive and will occasionally bring back an old post that I've done months ago. Just make sure they aren't too old and will still be quite purposeful.


Reply to tweets. 

As well as replying to your blog comments you should reply to tweets too. Twitter as I mentioned has so many hashtags and well you can easily have a conversation with bloggers. This works two ways because not only do you get a new follower but you get a new blog to read! Sharing is caring!

Retweet mentions.

Retweeting mentions is a way of acknowledging one another and if somebody tweets a link to your blog, definitely retweet it to share it with more people. By someone tweeting your link it is showing you that your followers do actually like your content enough to share it and could give someone else the chance to click the link as most bloggers go on what other bloggers recommend. I especially like the 'Blog links I love' posts.

Sharing content.


The main tip for increasing blog traffic is to share content. Yes you can share your own content but why not share other people's too? You could gain a new friend from it. This keeps your twitter varied and shows to other people that you care about other people's content too.

Ask questions.

This again comes with the hashtags and the replying to tweets and what not. Especially during twitter chats I tend to ask questions to see if anyone may reply. Sometimes I get a reply and other times I don't. However sometimes by asking questions it starts a conversation and then you gain a new friend who may want to check out your blog.


What are your tips and tricks for increasing blog traffic?




Monday 8 September 2014

Taking Blog Photos In Bulk: A few tips │ The Perks Of Meg.


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source: weheartit

Many bloggers (myself included) take photos in bulk and sometimes it can be a little stressful and so I thought I'd share a few tips with you all.

Plan what you need to take photos of. 

There's nothing more annoying when you are ready to take some photos and you can't remember which photos you've already taken for which blog posts. I used to be really unorganised with my photos and used to take them and then write the post as now, I write the post and then think of what I need for each photo and then take it. I also write down my blog posts that I need to write (I have hundreds!) and then have a box for photos and a box for write so when I have done them I can put a tick in the post. You might think this is time consuming and well it is, but at least I know where I am for everything.

Organise everything blog related on your laptop correctly.

I have recently got an ASUS Transformer Book and so all my blog photos that I did have on my old laptop have now gone. My laptop completely died on me - wasn't the best. But even then I was organised with my photos. Every week I sit down and organise all my photos - upload them and then sit and put them into folders. I have different folders which include: recent blog photos, urgent blog photos, PR blog photos, inspiration blog photos, other blog photos. Also if I have lots of different photos for one blog post I will put all the photos into one folder and call it for example 'my lip scrub DIY'. Also once I have used these photos in a post and the post has gone up on my blog I delete the photos purely because they take up lots of room and well I don't need them anymore.  
Make Time.

It is important to make time to do your photos,  to sort out what photos you will take in bulk the next week, to make sure you have all the products you are going to photography, to actually take all the photos and then upload them onto my laptop. As I take about 10 photos for each individual photo - just to make sure I have the perfect one, at the perfect angle and to check that the lighting is fine, I normally have to scroll through them all and delete the ones I don't need. Then comes the editing - I've actually stopped editing most of my photos as I don't feel that they need it, however sometimes the lighting isn't quite light enough and I do have to edit slightly. I have to pick a suitable time to do my photos too - there is absolutely no point you taking the photos at nightime because you really need natural lighting. Now I tend to do them either before 12pm or about 2 o'clock because these are the times when the sun isn't blaring through the windows but is just nice.  I find that weekends are the best time for me to take my photos and sit down and really focus on them. Personally I have to do all this in one go or I just forget what I've done and that isn't brilliant.

Folders

Folders are like your new best friend on your laptop - they are easy to create and just separate all your photos and files. They keep you organised and it just means when you come to wanting a certain photo you know where to find it. 

 Back your photos up regularly.

I personally use Skydrive to back up my photos as it comes with my laptop however you could use iCloud or a memory stick.  This just saves you from having to retake all your photos. There is nothing worse than losing all your photos and having to take them all again. Just make sure you narrow down what photos you want to back up. 

Don't hoard!

Even though you may love the photos you have taken, don't hoard them. Whenever I have completely finished with my photos and I know that I will never use them again, I delete them. If you hoard your photos you are more likely to get confused and your old photos may get muddled up with your new ones. 
What are your top tips for organising your blog photos?



Sunday 7 September 2014

My Results: GCSE.


So as you can guess by the title and the above photo I got my results. I actually got these on the 21st August but wanted some time to accept my grades. Now when I got my results as you can see it says I got an F but it was an administrating error or something and I actually got a C.

So I got a D in French for the second year running, I resat French and it didn't get me anywhere but hey ho.

The most important grade to me was my English Literature and I know teachers say that English Language is what counts but I still wanted a good grade. I expected to get a B if I was lucky so I was expecting a C. So to open my envelope and see an A - was just so overwhelming and I cried. I just worked so hard and when I was saw my breakdown and to think I got an A* in one of my exams is just mind blowing.

In Year 11 I will be studying - Maths, Science, English Language, Business Studies, IT and Childcare. So fingers crossed I will do well.

What did you get in your results?


Saturday 6 September 2014

My Blogging Tools │ The Perks Of Meg.



I probably haven't been blogging for as long as most people and although I secretly made this blog last summer but didn't really use it, I started a fresh from January. So I've been blogging for 8 months and I actually think it's gone so fast. It has taken up a lot of my time but if you put the effort in, it's well worth it in the end. I believe now that I have a blogging routine and I really quite like it. I definitely agree with the bloggers who say that you don't need lots of resources or money to start up and run a blog - I don't have a Macbook but people still like my blog. As long as the content is there and your blog is organised most bloggers aren't too fussed. 

My Laptop - Asus transformer book  T100TA.

I must say this is a recent purchase. In January all the way to mid July I have been using my old laptop but unfortunately my 4 year old laptop died on me, it kept cutting out and it wouldn't connect to wifi - a big disappointment.So I decided to invest in something that was smaller and would be handy for when I leave high school to go to college and what not. The best thing about my new laptop is that it transforms from a laptop to an tablet which means it's great for everything. I also now take this on days out because it is super lightweight and fits in my bag perfectly, I get a lot more blog stuff done. This was a must buy as I also need a laptop for revision and homework/projects therefore saving up £290 wasn't too bad. 

My iPhone 4

Yes that's right, I don't have a snazzy camera to take all my blog photos on, I was going to invest in one but I changed my mind. Basically at the start of January all the way to about June I was using my iPod touch 4th generation - it wasn't brilliant but that is all I had. Then I got an Iphone 4 which although people still don't think the quality is brilliant - it is all I can really afford. My picture quality isn't too bad and in the right light, they are good to go.

Background

For my background I tend to use bed sheets - mine are currently floral and it just makes the product stand out a little more. Sometimes I use white walls and sometimes I take them outside. It really does depend on my mood although most of them are taken on my bed sheets with direct sunlight.

Blogger

 I know some people don't like blogger but to me blogger is my best friend. I find it so easy to use and I can get blog posts organised pretty quickly. Sometimes it can be quite slow or it won't do what I want it to but for now I am pretty content with blogger for my layout and blog posts etc. 

Notebooks

If you haven't guessed yet, I love notebooks, I go through so many notebooks and I even have a diary now. I love to jot down some blog ideas, to-do lists and just keeping general notes that I may need. Notebooks are literally my best friend and I need one with me at all times.

A Calendar

I have recently started a calendar mainly because I like to be organised for the month - Some months I post every single day and others every two, therefore knowing which posts are being written and posted when is very handy. I used to be a person where I would just write when I felt like it but now I feel more dedicated to my blog - I tend to plan 3/4 weeks in advance. 

Ribbet 

Ribbet is my best friend when it comes to editing photos, to be honest because I take them in natural sunlight - most of my photos don't need a lot of editing but when I need to add things to a photo or brighten it up slightly. This is what I go to.

A cup of tea

To get more relaxed while writing a blog post or editing some photos, I like to sit and relax with a cup of tea, true Yorkshire person here. I feel like having a cup of tea next to me gives me motivation and I just love drinking tea. Bit of a random tool but hey ho.

On my blog I am pretty basic with what I use, hopefully in the near future I would love to invest in things like a camera but at this moment in time I am really happy with everything I use.

What are your essential blogging tools? 

Thursday 4 September 2014

500 BLOGLOVIN' FOLLOWERS GIVEAWAY #2.



Hello everyone. So you may have seen last week that I announced that I had reached 500 bloglovin' followers and wanted to do a giveaway and now if you didn't see the idea behind my first giveaway I will explain again. So basically I can't believe I have reached 500 bloglovin' followers and I can't believe I have this many readers after only just over 8 months of blogging. So to thank all of you lovelies that read my blog whether you have been here from the start or whether you are new - thank you all! I have decided to do a 500 bloglovin' followers giveaway where I am doing 5 little giveaways, so that there will be 5 winners and 5 weeks worth of giveaways on The Perks Of Meg. This is just my way of saying thank you and also because I am a student I can't afford prizes such as MAC just yet but eventually I may.

So this is my second week of my giveaway and so this is the second giveaway...



I am hosting my second giveaway with UrbanVeda, I love this company and their products and have reviewed their products before. So I thought why not team up with UrbanVeda to give one of you lovely readers the chance to win one of my favourite products from this brand. My favourite product so far that I have discovered is the Purifying Exfoliating Facial Polish and that is what is up for grabs! I am extremely jealous of whoever wins this! You can find out what I thought of some UrbanVeda products here.

Rules

- You must be following my blog.
- You must be following Urbanveda on twitter.
- You will be receiving a UrbanVeda Purifying Exfoliating Facial Polish.
- This is an international giveaway.
- No purchase is necessary.
-  This giveaway will start on the 04/09/14 and end on the 11/09/14
- Complete the rafflecopter below for a chance to win.
- If the winner does not contact me within 24 hours, another winner will be chosen.
- The winner will be announced on twitter.

Good luck everyone!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday 3 September 2014

My Bad Beauty Habits │The Perks Of Meg.


I know what you are thinking - you are a beauty blogger and you have bad beauty habits? Yes that's right, I just can't completely dedicate myself to follow the rulebook for the beauty do's and don'ts but that is the truth. I'm trying to change, improve my ways but it's difficult when some of these bad beauty habits are through me being lazy, naughty me. But also through stress/anxiety. I thought this post would be fun to share and to give you a laugh at my expense! 

Biting My Nails

Just writing this makes me cringe just a little. This is the beauty habits that I have done for too long, my worst beauty habit, I'd say. At certain points in my life I have stopped but then after that certain event - they'd be all bitten again. This is a really gross habit of mine and makes my hands look vile. I do this mainly when I'm stressed and anxious, I even pick at skin around them and the little wicks that you get. Ew. It is something that is a challenge and I've tried everything - even the horrid nail polishes but I'd still bite away. I need to stop.

Mascara Picking

This is probably my second worst beauty habit. I mainly do this because of boredom. While mascara picking I end up with eyes that look so bare and I end up pulling clumps of eyelashes out, patchy eyelashes are not attractive. I do tend to relax more when I do this but it won't do any favours for my eyelashes. 

Not using Moisturiser

I am so bad when it comes to moisturising, purely because I make the excuse ' my skin is oily, I can't put more greasy into it' however I really should moisturise. I've not started with eczema under my eyes and on my eyelids which is very painful - so now I have to moisturise but I just slack at this and it is not good. 

Neglecting my body

Of course this is another bad habits that I have, I care more about my face than my body. I don't remember the last time I gave it a good moisturise with some body butter or a good exfoliation. There is no excuse either. More or less it gets a good wash and shave in the shower - which I thought you 'd all want to know of course. If I don't change my ways I will certainly regret it when I'm older. 


Face Wipes

I know what you are all thinking, again. 'Do not use face wipes' I hear you all say. Yes you are correct, I shouldn't. But I do. I make the reason that it is 'quick' and 'easy' and totally not expensive. Although I have found that it really isn't quick and all it is doing is probably clogging my pores up more. I can happily say although it is a bad beauty habit of mine I have started to change this and I am now using a hot cloth cleanser. Go me!

Touching my face

I'm really not sure if this is only me but when I get stressed or anxious which I pretty much do 99% of the time - I end up touching my face. Throughout most days especially at school I end up resting my hand on my cheek, rubbing my eyes or picking a blemishes I really shouldn't. Again this is pretty gross. Just thinking about all that bacteria I am transferring onto my face, making blemishes more prone. Another great way to get rid of all your make up - by lunch my foundation has completely gone - I must look a right sight. 


Lack of brush washing routine

Juggling school, my blog, home and social commitments - I can never find the time to spend precious time washing my collection of make up brushes. I do, of course at some point wash my make up brushes. Again I am opening my face to all the bacteria and welcoming blemishes to a new home. Ew. I find that cleaning my make up brushes is like a 'chore' and I prioritise other things over my brushes so I don't have to do them. This is lazy. I totally admire all the loyal ladies that clean their brushes regularly but at this moment in time I am not one of these people. I need to get motivation. I am definitely going to change this and clean my brushes at least once every week/once every two weeks. 

Switching it up

As you may know as a beauty blogger, I am a very lucky person and am entirely grateful in the respect that I get to try lots of different and very great products. A slight downside to this is that I don't commit one product to my face and end up testing lots of products out. Causing lots of breakouts. Also it means that when something else comes along I just simply replace it and forget about another product that I loved. If I stuck with the same products all the time, it wouldn't give me a chance to trial different products out and review them but I'd definitely have less breakouts. Does anyone have any tips to solve this?



What are your bad beauty habits? Are they similar to mine?