'Hi Hun... want to join my business?"- No, I don't want to join your MLM.// Anti-MLM

 Hey guys!

I’m doing a collab with one of my best friends, Lorna about MLM’s and they effect on mental health and Eating Disorders. Check out Lorna’s post HERE!

I have recently been watching a lot of Anti-MLM content (Multi-Level Marketing) as a lot of the tactics they use are very shady, and can have a detrimental effect on a person’s mental health. We also have to discuss the types of people they target and the stats involved in MLM’s.

If you don’t know what a Multi-Level Marketing company is, its basically a “sell at home business” in which people sign up and sell products. Pretty innocent, right? Wrong. The catch is, you have to recruit people to have any chance of making money. The reps of these companies (basically the employees who sell the products) will tell you that you make money though selling, and although that can be the case, it is usually not because people who don’t recruit don’t make any money. In the USA, the stats are for people who make money (from the FTC) is less than 1%. 99% of people either don’t make money or lose money. It is a shady business to be involved in. They will sell it that it is a “work from your phone with any free time you have” and make a “side hustle business.” That also is not true.

If you’re anything like me, you probably grew up with some of these businesses in your life. Although my mum never signed up or sold for any of these companies, we did frequent “selling parties” for these companies. I remember Avon parties, Virgin Vie (who are no longer in business), The Body Shop and The Pampered Chef. I never realised at the time that these are considered MLM’s but since doing research and knowing about these companies, it’s obvious and I no longer support MLM’s. The only one I continue to buy for is The Body Shop. For some reason, I consider this one different as their sole business is not selling at home, they have stand alone stores, where you don’t have to support or buy from an individual purchase and there’s no pressure to sign up.

I know that is a lot of info in one go so let’s break it down into individual points:

1.      As highlighted above, very few people make money in these companies. You are more than likely required to buy more than you sell and you have to ty and sell what you have. It is an endless cycle of spending more money than making money.

2.      People won’t tell you this, but the only way to at least try to make some money is by recruiting people (which then makes it a pyramid scheme). You get money from the people you have signed up when they sell something.

3.      These “businesses” aren’t something you can fit into your day and not put too much effort into. The people who make money are on their phones for a large portion of the day and for some, that is their job (they’re obviously making a lot of money off the people down then who aren’t making any money). This takes a lot of work for very little pay-out.

4.      These reps will target people who are in a vulnerable position. People who are content with their life and have a great job in which they are happy with don’t sign up for these businesses. They tend to message people who are unhappy with their jobs, have a low self-esteem, bad mental health, single mums, army wives, lonely people, and people who are “missing” things in their lives. I know this sounds harsh but the proof speaks for itself I think.

5.      People who are talking about MLM’s in a critiquing manner are not “haters” as they are so often referred to. Anti-MLMer’s are not haters, they are giving facts and information to save people time and money.

6.      These businesses will not be a god-send and they have not been “sent to you for a reason.” That is, in my opinion, a tactic to sign people up, to then make themselves money.

7.      Cold messages are a thing, just like cold calls, to try and get people to sign up. Also, in the MLM world, a no does not mean a no, it means a “not right now” and they will frequently teach this to their new recruits. A lot of people who get a cold message will make up an excuse not to sign up but these people can be very insistent until they get a yes.

So, from some of the points made above, there are some red flags that can effect a person’s mental health. I’m going to stary with the targeting of vulnerable people. I personally, when I have having a bad time with my mental health asked for recommendations  of skin care because I wanted to pamper myself, and a girl messaged me trying to sell me something from an MLM. Although she was nice about it and did not message me anymore, it is shady enough to message someone when you know they’re having a bad time mentally. If I wasn’t aware of these companies, I probably would have fallen for it, and a lot of people would have already fallen for it. Targeting people with poor mental (or physical) health is super shady and I hate that these companies and reps think this is acceptable.

Speaking of physical health, there have been stories of reps targeting people with physical health issues such as cancer, giving people hope that some of these products will help these (such as essential oils as an example) or that they can make extra money for treatment or health insurance, which is really not the case.

Let’s now talk about the effects this can have on people with Eating Disorders. There are numerous MLM’s which focus on weight loss and all around a person’s weight. Having a stranger (or not a stranger) telling them that their “weight loss or health and fitness business is just the right fit for them” can be detrimental to someone with an ED. It can go one of two ways, a person who feels the need to loose weight always can feel that it is another way to do this and feed into the ED (if that is what they struggle with), or it can insinuate that a person needs to loose weight, which can be so problematic. Whether a person is a size 6 or a size 26, that can make a person feel crap and send someone into a bad mindset and can create a bad relationship with food.

I am a plus size girl and if I received a message that a person’s weight loss “business” is for me would make me feel so bad about myself and would feed into bad self-esteem, especially after years of trying to develop some. But a person doesn’t have to be plus size for feel this, this can effect anyone of any size, male or female. Please, for the love of god, DO NOT MESSAGE PEOPLE TELLING THEM THAT THEIR WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAMME OR BUISNESS IS FOR THEM!

I could go on and on about MLM business and how shady they are but I really wanted to talk about the effects the have on people with bad or rocky mental and/or physical health. If you take anything from this post, please don’t join a MLM. If that stats don’t do it for you, know the effects they have on people. It is not a good business practice and can effect people in any number of ways. Also consider people who have been in MLM’s, which can cause a person to go into debt (because of the pressure to always buy stuff) and that effect on a person is never good. Please, do your research and think long and hard about whether it is for you. Don’t rush into it like a lot of reps will want you to do.

Eyeshadow Palettes that were Ground-breaking

Hi guys!

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about hyped up eyeshadow palettes that have come out over the years and thought I would compile the list and look back through makeup history. There have been many palettes that were ground breaking at the time of their release and it really shows how trends change and opinions change. Only a few in this list are solid in my collection but they were important to the makeup community none the less.

 

Urban Decay- Naked palette

We have to start at this absolute classic palette. This, in my mind, was the first mainstream palette being really big and popular. The concept of palettes wasn’t really as well known and popular as they are now and this was a staple in many, many collections. This palette was a do-it-all neutral palette and the colours were pretty cool toned in the grand scheme of things. I think it spoke to the time it released, as the majority of the shades were shimmers and there were only a couple of mattes, which worked to do a complete eye look. As the trends have moved on, consumers are definitely going toward more matte shades, even doing completely matte eye looks, but very few people do all shimmer looks and own a lot of all shimmer palettes. The shades in the original Naked palette were a mixture of light and darker shades and a lot of people had a favourite shade that they used religiously.

Since the original Naked palette, they have expanded the range, and it is their most popular range (in my humble opinion). They have various shade ranges such as a cool toned one, a pink toned one, smoky and dark shades and warm reds and oranges. The Naked palette set a tone for future makeup releases.

The original Naked palette has since been discontinued, and I for one was shocked that they did get rid of it. It was, and still is, a staple in many makeup collections across the globe.

Lorac Pro palette

This followed shortly from the Naked palette but this had more interesting shades in, like a red and a blaring gold which the Naked palette launched.  It had a row of mattes and a row of shimmers, and equally matched palettes were not a big thing when it launched. Having more mattes to play around with was a good step in creating more looks out of one palette. It also had a mix of warmer shades and some slightly on the cool side, which had not been seen as much before. I feel like this palette was used a lot by more advanced makeup users and professionals, but it was also very beginner friendly with the shades that were picked. It was a mostly neutral palette which is universally usable and paved a way for more advanced neutral palettes (if that is even a thing).

Since the Lorac palette, they have extended this range to more palettes of the same size, but with different colours and the Mega Pro palettes which were part of the range but bigger. Although big palettes aren’t as popular currently, back in the day, having a big palette was useful and having more variety of shades was appealing to many people.

Urban Decay Naked 3 palette

The Naked 3 palette was also ground breaking. It featured a new variety of nude shades which hadn’t been seen before. They were very pink/mauve toned and rose gold shades included. This palette also had a more equal balance of mattes and shimmers, giving it more variety to work with. Although this palette has now been duped many times over, this was the original and will stand out as being the first to set the trend. This palette does have it’s problems though. It is not very dark skin friendly, as most of the shades are light and could be chalky and there are lack of darker shades to deepen a look up. I remember buying this as a skint student, when I know I shouldn’t have bought it, because I loved it so much. It was my first high end makeup product and I adored it. I also still have it to this day and use is very occasionally. Part of me does think that I should’ve waited for the dupes because there were so many after this release. This is when I saw dupes of palettes for the first time. I feel like this palette started the duping trend.

The Naked 3 palette is still available but I don’t see anyone talk about it anymore and don’t really see anyone using it.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance

This was a breakthrough palette into the warm tones and everyone went crazy for it! Personally, I’d never heard of ABH before this palette but when this released, it got a load of hype for being amazing quality and for the unique colour schemes. There were not as many warm tones on the market at the time and this changed when this palette released. Every makeup collector has this palette (or that’s what it seems like) and it was a highly sought out product. I know I jumped on the hype as soon as I could and I have to agree that it is worth the hype. Another thing which was different is that the palette had far more mattes and only 2 shimmers, which made it stand out more and so many more looks could be done with it.

Following the major success of the Modern Renaissance, ABH then released Subculture and this palette was also ground-breaking but for completely different reasons. A lot of people hated the Subculture and complained that the batch was bad. I got the palette on the first round of release and although it does have some problems, I personally love it!

Morphe 35O

In comes Morphe. They started the trend of big palettes and they since have expanded the range of big palettes to more colour stories but the 35O remains a true game changer. Although this was *probably* private labelled (not sure if this is fact or just an allegation), a lot of people went with the hype. The palette consisted of very warm toned shadows, with little difference between them, gradually getting darker in tone. I feel the looks you get from this palette are similar, due to the nature of the colours picked, but no one can deny the hype this palette got and it paved the way for bigger palettes with more variety to pick from.

Morphe x Jaclyn Hill

I always feel this palette was the start of the major makeup collaboration palettes. This was a very highly anticipated palette when it first released and earned its status in many collections, as the quality is really good (at first release but we will get into this). Many people still use and love this palette, as it has a really good, curated colour scheme that is very user friendly. It was also in the classic 35 pan layout which Morphe became known for. It truly is a staple in so many collections, even now and it stood the test of time.

Since the original release, there has been some drama relating to the palette. Morphe have reportedly changed the formula, and people have reported that the quality is not the same and it does not work as it did before. The changes in formula have also meant that it is not vegan anymore, as the ingredient Carmine is apparently in the new formula. The palette being vegan was a massive selling point and this now not applies.

Too Faced Chocolate Bar

Now, although this palette wasn’t anything new or special in the colour scheme, what set this apart as being ground-breaking is the scent and the cute packaging. Scented makeup wasn’t a thing before this was released, as it smelt like chocolate. Having the cuteness of the packaging, along with the scent of it made it rise to the top of makeup lovers wish list when it was released. From what I can gather from reviews at the time, the shadows actually performed really well. The hype on this has since died down and people have moved onto other things and scented makeup is being done by more companies. The palette has also been duped many times and Makeup Revolution have created a huge line of chocolate palettes which makes the idea of the Too Faced one not as unique anymore.

bPerfect x Stacy Marie Carnival Palette

Although this may not have got as much hype as the others, this introduced the huge rainbow palette trend and was really well received from consumers. A lot of the mainstream palettes were neutral and this was a fun pop of colour which the world needed. The quality of the palette is amazing, which also makes it well received and well loved. I think for a collaboration palette, this was done really well. This palette also paved the way for future rainbow palettes which are all over now and I personally love a rainbow palette.

bPerfect and Stacy Marie have since collaborated 2 more times to create the Carnival XL and the Love Tahiti palette which are also incredible. They really are a solid choice in rainbow colours and the quality is amazing, especially for the price.

Jeffree Star Cosmetics Blood Sugar

Although I do not agree with Jeffree Star as a person or condone his actions, the Blood Sugar palette was incredibly well received. I remember missing out on the palette on first release and it sold out instantly. This was released at the time of Jeffree’s popularity and it really showed with the amount of hype it got. I have this palette and have to admit that it is beautiful and the quality is really great and the colour scheme is so romantic and gorgeous. The Modern Renaissance paved the way to start the red eyeshadow trend and Jeffree Star Cosmetics ran with it and took it further than ABH did. What also made the palette special is that it is cohesive and works well together, as well as including complimentary shades which are more on the neutral side. It works for so many people, as well as people of colour. It is user friendly and introduced a lot of people to bright red, fun shades.

Morphe x James Charles

Let’s be honest, this palette broke the internet. It was so hyped and sold out all the time when it was first released and took a while to get a steady stream of palettes that didn’t sell out super quickly. This palette pretty much has everything someone would need, especially a beginner, as it has a couple of rows of neutrals, a large pans of transition and most used shades, and then your rows of brights at the bottom. This appealed to a lot of people because it was kind of a do it all kind of palette. I know I caught the hype for this and was desperate to get my hands on it. It was well received and reviewed, with it being well liked and people seemed to enjoy the formula. You can see how much effort James put into it, as he still uses it a lot on his YouTube channel.

Since the release of the palette, they have released a mini version of the palette which caught some backlash from the beauty community, branding it as a cash grab. Although I do agree with that it feels like a cash grab, I am glad they have released a mini version because the first is so huge and it puts me off using it so I might pass on my huge one and get the mini version.

Melt Gemini

I for one was so excited for this palette release! I didn’t get it the first time around, and I didn’t realise it was intended to be limited edition. They have since made this permanent with is amazing news. This palette was revolutionary when it was released, as it was full of shades we had not yet seen, swampy greens, browns and yellows. It was grungy and we had not seen these colours on the market yet, as you don’t think of swampy colours to make an eye look. This started a trend of traditionally gross colours becoming trendy. I personally love green, including swampy greens so this is right up my alley.

The palette had some problems on first release, such as it growing mould and breaking easily. I know that my palette puffed out and I had to repress it a few times. Luckily, I reached out to Melt and they replaced it no questions asked and my second Gemini palette is holding up great so hopefully they have fixed some of the issues.

Huda Beauty Gemstone Obsessions

I’m grouping these together because they fit into the same category. Huda Beauty released 5 mini 9 pan palettes of curated colour schemes, being a red palette, a green palette and a purple palette, etc. These started the trend of curated colour palettes and mini 9 pan palettes. As the saying goes, Huda Beauty walked so ColourPop could run, and boy did they run. The Huda Beauty palettes were highly popular because they are small, compact and easy to store, as well as having just one colour to play with. It is great for people who were missing a certain colour in their collection. It was also a more cost effective option for trying Huda’s formula without having to buy the bigger, more expensive palettes.

Huda Beauty have since released more Obsessions palettes under different themes, and they released some prior to the Gemstone Obsessions. I chose to put the Gemstone ones in because they are the ones that stand out the most and started a trend.

ColourPop 9 Pan Palettes

Speaking of 9 pan palettes, ColourPop took the trend and RAN with it. They started with the main rainbow colours and expanded on it and now they have a ton of varieties, all with colour themes. They also have very cute names and they are curated in the colours they pick. I personally ADORE the ColourPop 9 pan palettes and I have pretty much all of them because I love the formula and having the option of a specific colour scheme. ColourPop did what Huda did to a higher level (in my opinion) and made it more cost effective, as well as the formula being amazing. I will continue to buy their 9 pans because I really do love them. I also have some hopes on how they expand the range but that could potentially be a separate blog post in itself.

 

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I feel like that pretty much sums it up! Let me know what you’re hyped up palettes are and what you think are ground-breaking and changed the makeup sphere forever. Also, let me know if I missed anything you think should’ve been in this list.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time, bye! Xx

My rekindled Twilight addiction

 Hi all.

I have recently slipped back into my Twilight addiction and I am not mad about it at all. It’s like I’m 14 again with a deep love for Edward Cullen and hating Jacob all over again. There are a few reasons for this rediscovered love and that’s what we’re going to talk about here.

I have a confession to make. I had never read the books until this year (I know, I am going to hang my head in shame). I started reading Twilight when I was around 15 because I loved the film so much but I never really got into it and I only got about half way through. Then, at the age of 25, I bought the books again, a nice, new, fresh set and began reading. Again, I got to around the halfway mark and stopped. A few months later, I was determined to finish this series so I picked up where I left off and I have now finished them!

I have been really enjoying the books. Twilight was a bit of a struggle to get through, for reasons I don’t know, but I have flown through the other 3. I have loved immersing myself back into the Twilight world and being Team Edward whole heartedly. There are a lot more details in the books and changes the films made which made total sense in the film but made more sense if they had kept it as the books intended. Although New Moon is my favourite book, I have been fully invested and loved every second of reading Breaking Dawn. I feel like it was really well written and I am so immersed in the story (even though I have seen the films several times over).

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I now want to take you back to the first round of my Twilight addiction (I did not think I would be addicted again as a 25 year old woman but here we are). I was 12/13 when the film was released in cinemas and I despised it because it was so hyped up and I thought it was ridiculous that girls were falling for this rubbish. I was totally the I’m NoT LiKe OtHeR GiRls girl when I was 13, and let’s be honest, I can be to a certain degree but I don’t care if I like something everyone else does, because if that brings me joy, then who really cares. I slipped into it by buying the book, saying “I’ve heard the book is way better.” Spoiler alert, I didn’t read the book I bought, caved and watched the film when it released on DVD. Let me tell you, I bloody loved it and that started the whole addiction off.

Someone I was friends with at the time was also obsessed and we would buy everything with Robert Pattinson on and watch all the interviews and videos we could find about him and Twilight. I even made a Team Edward t-shirt and I had something on it about being sparkly and it was so cringe that I only every wore it out once and it was mostly covered. Even then I know how embarrassing I was. I also made a shirt with just Robert Pattinson’s face on and I was going to wear it to the midnight showing of New Moon but I backed out at the last minute.

Then from there, I saw each film either at the midnight showing or on opening weekend. When Breaking Dawn Part 2 was released, a friend and I went to the cinema at 2:30pm for a Twilight marathon in which they showed all the movies up until midnight where they had the premier of Breaking Dawn Part 2 and that was a particular cinema highlight, it was such an amazing experience.

Since then, the Twilight hype faded and everyone moved on with their lives, including me. I would watch them every now and then but I wasn’t a die hard fan anymore. That was until everything was sparked back up with the announcement of Midnight Sun and that’s when Twilight made its return to the fans.

My addiction has started again from reading the books and I have been having a lot of Twilight themed TikTok’s pop up on my for you page and on Twitter occasionally. I’m definitely not mad about all the videos because I am loving them and a lot of them are really funny. Having Twilight popping up a lot again sparked something in me that made me realise how much I loved it. My Team Edward heart sang when I heard Midnight Sun was coming out and I can’t wait to read it (I’m waiting until it is released in paperback because I’m not a huge fan of reading hardback books.)

I haven’t gone full on Twihard but I am definitely back on the train of loving the series again and I am very happy about it. Let me know what you think and if you’ve noticed more Twilight activity on social media that’s making you obsessed again!

Thanks for reading and until next time. Bye!

Joanne xx

My favourite mindfulness/anxiety reducing activities

 Hi all!

If you know me, you know I have a lot of anxiety and worry most of the time and love to be distracted pretty much all the time. Because of this, I thought I'd share with you my favourite things to do when my anxiety is high or just when I want to take some time to myself and try to relax. 

Makeup

Again, if you know me, this will not be a shock. I find applying makeup and creating a new look very therapeutic and really helps to calm me down. Usually when I'm really anxious (and I feel like I want to do a look), I tend to gravitate towards a really fun and bright colour, kind of as a pick me up. I know this will not be for everyone but if you are a person who owns some makeup and/or likes to wear it, I would suggest just applying it for fun and playing around because it can be so relaxing! (I also take photos of these looks afterwards and put them on my makeup Instagram page so its a 2 for 1 deal). 

Colouring

I have always loved to colour! Ever since I was a little kind, it has been one of my favourite things to do and from the rise of adult colouring books, I have got even more into it. I love sitting down and spending a good hour or more colouring in a nice picture or pattern and picking all the cohesive colours. I particularly like colouring in mandala's or flowers but everyone's taste is different and you gotta find what you like the most. 

Reading

I have recently become a little obsessed with reading! I love buying and reading books and find it really relaxing. I also find it's a great thing to do when you can't sleep. Being able to get into another world through words on a page is so therapeutic and relaxing and it's such a cosy activity. I read anything from true crime, to fantasy, to mystery. Reading is also a good relaxation method for a lot of people but I also find it helps me out too.

Journaling

Now, I am not the biggest diary keeper and I definitely am not consistent with this, but when I am in the middle of a panic attack or need to relax, I like to write down exactly what I'm feeling and what I am going through and this helps me to calm down. Also, when I write, I am very logical and write that I know what I am experiencing is not actually happening and I am panicking for no reason and I think that helps. I don't dismiss what I'm feeling, because that's perfectly valid, but in those moments of panic, I need to be logical to calm myself down, because my anxiety is very illogical.

Phone games

I feel like people will say that they shouldn't use their phone to help calm down during an anxiety attack but I find some of the games on my phone relaxing! My personal favourites are Grass Cut, Sort it 3D, CodyCross and Sweet Escapes. Having some fun games on your phone could be relaxing and play it for as long as you feel like. I would recommend staying off social media during these attacks but you do you and do what feels works for you personally. 

Comfort TV shows/films

So I am new to this term but it makes a lot of sense. I saw a Tweet saying that people with anxiety tend to watch the same TV shows or films on repeat as it is a comfort to them and I 100% agree because I do that all the time. My comfort shows include RuPaul's Drag Race, Bob's Burgers, The Simpsons and some Disney Channel shows I used to watch. It's predictable and we know what is going to happen but it is comforting. Honestly, I love going to bed early and watching something again when my anxiety is bad. 

Music

Music is a lot of people's coping mechanism, and it is definitely one of mine too. I love nothing more than putting in my ear phones and putting on my favourite artist or playlist. Doing nothing else but listen to music and focus on the lyrics. There's not a lot I can say about music helping because it does for so many people and that's great!

Puzzles

I feel like such a grandma, but I love doing a puzzle like a word search or criss cross puzzle and it's something for me to focus on and to stimulate the mind. I get that puzzles aren't for everyone, but I love doing them, even just to kill some time. 

Those are just some things that I do to help relax and to be more mindful. Please share some of yours, because I would love to hear those.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time. Bye!

Joanne xx

Where have I been?

 Hi guys!

Wow, it's been a long while! I have not felt motivated to write blog posts in a long time but I have recently got a kick to do them, hence why I'm here. 

Life has been crazy recently. We're all dealing with a global pandemic (thanks Miss Rona) and now a recession because of said pandemic. 2020 is not the one sis. On a personal note, I've actually been doing better. If you know me, you know I deal with Anxiety and this has recently improved. The main reason being we got a dog and he is the love of my little life. He has helped my mental health so much and he is such a joy. 

Now onto the makeup world. I am still in love and obsessed with makeup, this isn't going away any time soon but the makeup community is very toxic right now (obviously not all of it, there are some incredible, unproblematic beauty guru's out there) and I am not really watching a lot of beauty content. I've been watching true crime videos, commentary channels and stuff to just listen to and not really watch. And if I'm not on YouTube, I'm watching stuff on Netflix and documentaries. So my love of makeup definitely is still there but I'm not as invested in the community now. Because I am less invested, I have not filmed a YouTube video in a while. I am hoping to film videos again in the future but I'm not putting pressure on myself to do this, just going to do it when I feel like it.

I'm really hoping to get back into this blog and just having fun with it. I am not going to focus on anything in particular because I don't want to limit myself on what I can talk about. It's going to be kind of random so prepare for that. I can go from something light hearted to something more serious so it's going to be a good mix. I have a post written up ready to go but I wanted to write one before that to just explain my absence to my blog (I am actually really excited about my next post!) 

And that's about it! Thanks for reading and I'll see you all very soon! 

Joanne xx