January Birchbox

I have been a subscriber of Birchbox for about 10 months now, and I love receiving my box now as much as I did with that first delivery.

For those of you who don’t know, Birchbox is a monthly subscription service, delivering 5 beauty products to your home every month. The products are mainly smaller/sample size, however you usually get 1 full sized product.

Why I love it so much

Range of Products

I really taking care of my skin and using new beauty products, and Birchbox allows me to try things that I would either never invest in or have never even heard of before. Plus this is my little luxury that I treat myself to every month and really look forward to arriving.

You can also go on the website and shop for, not only the full size versions of what they sent you, but also a load of other beauty products too. My favourite face cream of all time (Urban Veda Purifying Day Cream) came from here, and although they no longer sell it at Birchbox, I would never have found it without them.

Beautiful Box’s

The box itself is always different but always beautiful and interesting, (the December 2017 box is my favourite so far). They often team up with companies to design the box, which again puts me onto even more companies and products I otherwise wouldn’t have known about.

Beauty Profile

So when your first get started with your subscription, you have to complete their beauty profile which asks you questions about your product preferences and complexion. As a mixed race woman with curly hair, I love this! Whenever I get concealers or bb creams they always match my colouring. This shouldn’t be such a big deal to me, as it shouldn’t be that unusual, but unfortunately it is. It’s a small thing but it really makes a big difference to me.

So what’s in my January Birchbox?

Thermaliv Night Cream

I love this! It smells really fresh and isn't overpowering at all. It feels lovely and moisturising when you put it on and not too heavy. I have combination skin, dry in places, then oily on my t-zone, and this really works well for me. It's hard to say if it made a difference to my skin at this point as the weather got stupidly cold and snowy meaning that my eczema flared up, and to make matters worse the time of the month meant my skin broke out. I will definitely keep using this night cream though and may even order some more.

Lord & Berry Blusher Crayon in Camelia

I don’t really use blusher, I’ve never thought it looked right on me (or maybe I’m just not very good at applying it haha).

This is a lovely colour and blends really easily just with your fingers. I like how subtle it can look, but also that it's easy to layer to enhance the colour. I also used this as a lipstick which worked nicely. It seems quite moisturising on the lips, which is really good for me as I suffer from dry lips, especially at this time of year (damn the cold damp British weather!). This is definitely making it into my daily makeup routine, it's just so easy and quick to use!

Marcelle Waterproof Eyeliner in Charcoal

Personally I only really use eyeliner for special occasions, mainly out of laziness and time saving I think.

I love the colour; it’s not a harsh as black which is nice and once it had dried it wouldn’t smudge at all which is great! It has a very slight sparkle to it which I didn’t notice at first but really like, it is subtle enough for work but also really nice for a more dressy look. I don't think it is going to make it into my daily makeup routine, mainly because of time and effort but for evening and weekend looks, it's definitely a winner!

PARLOR by Jeff Chastain Moisturising Sea Salt Spray

I have naturally curly hair, so I wouldn’t usually use this type of product. I usually use curl cream and hair oils to get my hair to behave, but I decided to keep an open mind and give it a go.

Honestly if there is one thing my hair doesn’t need, its more texture. It didn’t really do anything for me, I need products which reduce frizz and defines curls, and this sea salt spray just doesn’t do that. It’s obvious that it was not made for my hair and that’s ok (I gave it to my mum). Probably a good product for people with different hair types to mine, but just not for me.

Afterspa makeup remover

So I was extremely sceptical about this one. A fluffy cloth that removes all your makeup as well as makeup remover, just with warm water? Pull the other one! How is that possible?

But you know what it actually worked, and by that I mean it did remove all my makeup. What it didn't do however, is give my skin that fresh feeling you get after washing your face. It does make removing eye makeup really easy, like using makeup wipes but without the chemicals which I like. It has definitely make it into my nightly routine for ease and I think has saved me some time and effort. Win!

There are other beauty subscription boxes out there, and I have looked at them as options but for now at least Birchbox is the one for me. To get yours click here and enjoy!

If you’re also a Birchbox fan, or a fan of any other beauty subscription box, comment below or share it on Instagram tagging me @yasminemoxam

My 11 Goals for 2018

If you read my first blog post, you'll know that I have made the decision to change my life for the better, to get out of this rut and flourish and really be happy. So I know it's ok to say I want to change, and even to really want it, but to really make it happen I need a plan, and to figure out how I'm going to achieve this change.

Below I have come up with the areas of my life that I really want to improve and how I am going to go about it. This list will not include everything as I haven't completely decided on some aspects and I am still thinking about things, but here we go.

Career

I currently work for a charity as a receptionist and administrator. It's not that I hate my job, it's just not what I want to do. I am not earning as much as I thought I would be at this point in my life and the job just isn't making me feel fulfilled any more.

In 2015 I completed a degree in Events Management with Arts and Entertainment at Sheffield Hallam Uni. Although I am involved in the event management of a couple of community festivals in Sheffield, I don't really feel like I am doing much with the qualification. I know that working in events is what I want to do, I just don't really know what or how though, which is pretty frustrating. What I do know though, is that I want to do something that matters, and something which helps people.

Health and Wellbeing

I need to take some time to heal, to really sort my physical and mental self out. I want to get back into a gym routine, going at least three times a week, although I'm not going to drive myself crazy about it. Im only going to do what I enjoy at the gym, because otherwise I run the risk of getting obsessed with losing weight and thats not the point of it.

This Blog

I really want to spend the time developing Flourish & Thrive, building my readers and followers and trying to make a difference to people who are going through similar experiences.

Not only do I want to build the blog, but along with it, and through it, I want to build a brand and start selling (I'm not going to reveal what yet, until I figure it out a little more).

So lets break these areas down into goals, because at the moment they are dauntingly broad. Here are what I have decided are my main goals for 2018:

Get physically fit

The goal here isn't really to lose weight but to be health and feell good in myself.

• Go to the gym 3 times a week

• Find classes and routines that I really enjoy (otherwise I know I wont keep it up)

• Eat well, eat healthy but also don't deny myself anything.

Work on my self care and mental health

This is a really important one for me as I feel that it will impact every other aspect of my life.

• Do at least one self care related thing a week, that can be anything from face masks to just sitting alone and reading or listening to music

• Make sure I take my medication everyday and stick to the CBT course I have been put on

Career progression

It is time for me to move on from my current role, even if it is another admin job but with a different company or organisation. I think it would be good for me to move on (especially if it comes with more money! These are not all that specific or measurable but I think they will be important for me to do).

• Apply for at least two jobs a week both in events and admin

• Network and build connections with people in areas and industries that interest me

• Think deeply about what really inspires me

• Research my options and think outside of the box

Gain 1000 followers/readers

I really want this blog to succeed, help people, lead to more opportunities for me and help me meet new like minded people.

• Create and stick to a social media marketing schedual

• Be confident in what I post and stop doubting myself so much

So there they are, my goals for 2018, I may do an update mid year to see how I'm getting on with them.

What are your goals for 2018? Share them with me on Instagram tagging me, @yasminemoxam I'd love to find out what you aim to achieve.

Until next time,

My First Step to Change

A welcome to my new blog, what prompted me to take the plunge and some of what you can expect going forward.

I need to change my life.

This thought came to me one afternoon between Christmas and New Year whilst I was at my desk at work with nothing to do, bored out of my mind. And when I say bored I mean absolutely nothing to do, paperwork complete, no clients in, level boredom.

I had been thinking along these lines for a couple of months anyway as I have been feeling unhappy and unfulfilled in my job, unhappy with my living situation (living with my mum at 25 – I know a lot of people my age have to do it these days but I still don’t like it), and just generally feeling stuck in life.

This thinking is what finally pushed me into starting Flourish and Thrive after weeks of thinking about it, planning bits but then feeling too self-conscious and naive to succeed.

I finally thought sod it! What do I have to lose? There must be other men and women like me who feel like this, feel lost and frustrated and like no matter how hard you work you just keep getting pushed back. So they are who this blog is for, the people who, like me, want to thrive. We can get there together and I will be using this site to share my journey, how I cope, and anything else that I find useful and think will help you get to where you want to be.

I am confident that I will be able to make 2018 a better year than 2017, I know everyone says that but I honestly believe it. I love bloggers such as Grace Victory and Charleigh Victory and they really motivated me to become more body positive and are my role models in starting this blog.

I debated with myself for a while, what my first blog post should be, driving myself mad with an obsession to make it perfect but this came to me on that bored afternoon. Let me know what you think, and what type of posts you would like to see in the future.

All the best my lovelies