HAPPY 1st BLOG BIRTHDAY

The fact that my 1^st blog birthday is on Good Friday is such a blessing and has such a special meaning to me. I can not believe that it has been a year since I published my first ever blog post on 'brittneymathurin.com'. I can still remember talking to my friend Bonita (click here to check out her YouTube channel) telling her that I was creating a website and was going to start a blog soon.

But before I get into telling the short story of creating 'brittneymathuin.com', I just want to take some time and thank those closest to me that have continued to show support for my blog, and also to those of you who are reading this and have commented on my other blog posts telling me how much you enjoyed it and those that have followed me on my social media accounts as well as the entire blogging community, you all have contributed to the continuation of 'brittneymathurin.com', so once again a huge thank you.

Now that my thank you speech is over I shall now continue telling the story.

Setting up my blog was such a hard task because I did not have a clue as to what I was doing. I remember setting up my account on WordPress then transferring to Blogger then to WIX -which was the worst mistake of my life- and then back to Blogger. I remember coming home after college and sitting at my computer working and working on my blog's content, header and taking tons of pictures of the little makeup that I have. At that time, YouTube was my best friend but once I started setting up my blog's template, it became my sister, I watched videos that were hours long so that I could learn about SEO and HTML -which I still have not mastered by the way but I am okay with what I know so far. Looking at my blog today, I guess those long hours, hard work and determination paid off.

The first year of blogging included long breaks because of my lack of consistency, learning new things as well as visiting many new countries simply by reading other blogs. I am still trying to figure out my niche and still working on being as consistent as possible. What I have learnt is a blogger is someone who is a writer, photographer, website builder, social media marketer, socialite and the list goes on.

I do not know what I was doing with my life before I started blogging and I am so proud of myself for being brave enough to take the first step and simply start. It is honestly the best decision that I have ever made for myself. Thanks again for the love and support, I genuinely love you all!

Don't forget to stay in touch with me through Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Email: info@brittneymathurin.com

HOW TO STAY POSITIVE

Life has a funny way of knocking us down when we least expect it, which causes us to be sad, confused, and sometimes depressed.

Negativity has a strange way of taking over our lives and our feelings faster and longer than positivity does. Which is why if you want to fight negativity you have to constantly keep thinking of what's positive about you, your life, your situation, your job, your family, your health, etc. We have so much in this world to be thankful for that we take for granted. I won't say that I am currently in a negative space or mindset but I do need to be a lot more positive than I am.

One of my teachers once said this to me, "You will never solve your problem if you don't start thinking of a solution". Can you tell that he was a maths teacher? I'm going to share with you all, some things that I have been doing to help me be more positive.

One of the first things I do is get rid of the negativity that is surrounding me and you will have to do that also. Whether it is negative influences such as friends, or things that make you feel worse about yourself. If you stalk other people's social media profiles and get sad because your life isn't so glamourous then stop doing that too. Focus on you and how to make you and your life better, and keep in mind that good things take time.

Expressing how you feel is a great way to get rid of negativity but sadly sometimes, when you tell people how you feel it can get misunderstood or blown out of proportion, so what I like to do is write. I find that when I write my feelings down on a piece of paper I feel so much better after, and I don't have to deal with other people's opinions and feelings. If you like drawing or listening to music, then you can do that to help you express yourself. If talking to others is what helps you then do that, but always remember that there are some people that want to help you, while there are others that only want to hear about your business.

If you're a believer in Christ like I am, you would know that nothing is impossible with God. God did not put us on this earth to be sad for the rest of our lives. As a believer what I like to do when I'm in a negative mindset, is go to YouTube and listen to Joel Osteen sermons, because Mr. Osteen knows how to put me in a positive mood. When I was going to college that was one of the things I did every morning was listen to Joel Osteen sermons which helped stop me from giving a few of my lecturers, lecturing tips.

Believe it or not, there are people on this earth with the intention of purposely breaking you down. Whether it's someone that is making your life difficult at home, at work, at school, or someone who just doesn't like you for no reason. You can't give them that power to break you down, which is why you have to make it seem like whatever they are doing to you or, the way that they feel about you doesn't affect you. Practice a good "I'm mad or sad but you can't tell face", smiling always helps, even if it's a fake smile.

That is just a few of the things that I do to help keep me more positive. Thank you all for reading and I hope that some of my tips help you all out.

Please comment down below if you have any questions or message me on snapchat @brittneyslu, if you would like to have a conversation.

You can follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to stay connected. 

Email: info@brittneymathurin.com

REVLON COLORBURST LIP BUTTER

Before I get into this post, I recently discovered that my blog has made it to 5000 page views. YAY!! This is so exciting and I am so thankful and grateful to you all for all the support and love that you guys have given me.

Lately, I have been experiencing really dry skin and dry lips. I went to the doctor to find out why this is happening and was told that it was because of my allergies. I had no clue that I had any sort of allergies, but apparently I do.

To help keep my lips moisturized, I decided to get a Revlon ColorBurst™ Lip Butter. I don't know why I got a lip butter instead of a regular chapstick -maybe I was trying to be fancy.  The shade that I got is 020 Brown Sugar because I wanted a shade that I could wear every day. On the picture with the swatch it looks silver because of the light bouncing off of the glitter) but on my lip, it looks like a sheer brown lip butter with lots and lots of glitter.

This lip butter is definitely moisturizing and ever since I've started using it, my lips have not been as dry before which suggests that it is getting the job done.

You can follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to stay connected. 

Email: info@brittneymathurin.com

JANUARY INSTAGRAM IN REVIEW

I am truly grateful and blessed to say that January was a good month. January was filled with amazing conversations, memories and realisation of the things I personally need to work on about myself. This was also the month that I did a mini re-launch of 'brittneymathurin.com', and I continue to look forward to working harder to being a more consistent blogger.

My first post on Instagram for the month of January was a picture of myself celebrating New Years Day at a family party. The party was filled with lots of laughter and of course, dancing (in my family, a party would not be completed without dancing). I then posted a picture of my one and only eyeshadow palette that I own, in relation to my first blog post for the new year, which was soon followed by a quote which meant so much to me and my growth process towards becoming a better me.

To explain what the quote means; our perspective and perception on life, beauty, people, food, attraction, etc, impacts our everyday lives immensely, in a positive, as well as a negative way without we even realising it. Let us use food as an example; would you eat something if you perceive it to be disgusting? But, if you look at it from a different perspective and realise that it is beneficial for your health in a GREAT way, then, you would eat it. Perception and perspective is everything.

I have also been trying to work on my blog photography skills, by posting a picture of some M.A.C makeup items that I own, and a picture relating to one of my blog posts, titled, 'Product Empties'. My skills are very rusty and need a lot of work, but hopefully, I get there soon.

My last post for the month of January was a bit of a lazy post. I went over to WeHeartIt.com, where I found a picture of a coconut tree leaf which matched my so called ' white theme', and posted it. I was also missing and wishing that I was at the beach.

That is all that I posted on my Instagram for the month of January. The days fly by so quickly, I can't believe it's already February. Where does time go? I hope February is starting off great for you all.

You can follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to stay connected. 

Email: info@brittneymathurin.com

CANTU || PRODUCT EMPTIES

When it comes to my natural hair, coconut oil and water is the way to go. I have used so many products on my natural hair, some I liked and some I don't want to remember using. I don't stock up on hair products like I used to because I've learnt that less is more. This isn't my first time using CANTU hair products, I have used the CANTU Argan Oil Leave-In Conditioning Repair Cream, and my hair loved it. If you have natural hair -like I do- you either have heard a lot about this brand or have used it yourself. 

CANTU Shea Butter Conditioning Creamy Hair Lotion | When I apply this hair lotion onto my hair, it leaves my hair smelling amazing and extremely soft. I use the hair lotion in my hair to moisturize my hair before I apply my braids, and I use it on my braids as well, to add some shine. The bottle isn't completely empty, and has a little amount left, that I am trying to last me until I repurchase another. The hair lotion is a bit on the pricey side, but it's worth it because it made detangling my hair a lot easier and faster. 

CANTU Shea Butter Define & Shine Custard | Truth be told, I do not know the technical difference between hair gel and hair custard. But now that I have tried both, I prefer using a hair custard than a hair gel. I did not get to try out a twist out or a wash n' go using the custard -since my hair was braided- but I used it to tame my baby hairs, and it kept them in place a lot longer than if I used gel. I used the custard in my mother's 4a/b hair and it made her curls stand out. Just like the hair lotion the custard is pricey, well pricier than the hair lotion, but I don't regret purchasing it.

You can follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to stay connected. 

Email: info@brittneymathurin.com

NEW YEAR, NEW BLOG

Happy New Year! I hope that this new year is already starting off great for all of us. May this new year be a year of change for many of us -in a good way, whether it is spiritual changes or most importantly, changes in ourselves.

I took a long break from blogging for a while, mainly because I was going through a lot of changes in my life, and I needed to regroup, reorganise and set my priorities straight. When I first started blogging, I was so excited to see it grow and to start friendships with some amazing blogging sisters, but then I got a little bit discouraged mainly because of personal reasons.

Now that the New Year has started, I realised that I shouldn't let people's actions deter me from doing what I love, because of their lack of originality. No matter how many times people try to do what you do, they can NEVER be you. I started blogging for a reason, and I will continue to blog until my reason becomes clear, and people who read my blog becomes inspired. Life is too short to worry about others and how they're trying to make it in life. Which is why one of my resolutions for this year is to, "Focus on ME".

I know that a lot of you have realised many changes in my blog layout. I worked really hard on it, and I hope that you appreciate the changes that I have made. I look forward to getting better at doing my makeup, and sharing with you all, a few of my makeup tips and tricks, as well as OOTD, etc. Please stay tuned, because there is a lot that I have planned for my blog for this new, amazing year.

Thank You! To all those who have stuck by me and continued to follow my blog, and to those I may have inspired. Comment down below, and let me know how you feel about the new layout for brittneymathurin.com.

You can follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to stay connected. 
Email: info.brittneymathurin.com