I have originally filmed and started to edit two videos where I share my favourite things from July, August and September 2018, but because I filmed so much footage for each of them, I have found it too overwhelming to cut them down in a way that makes sense, so I have decided to publish some blog posts about them instead as well as give a life update. Also, I have come to the decision that I will no longer be making Quarterly Favourites videos for my YouTube channel because they have not received as many views as some of my other videos and I have fallen behind on filming and editing them this year for reasons such as illness and being away with my family, therefore I found it easier to publish them as blog posts instead.

Here is a rundown of what’s been happening in my life this quarter:

In July I returned from my holiday to York with my parents. Shortly after that, I received the sad news that one of my former primary school teachers passed away. Towards the end of the month, I began having some financial concerns, so in the first week of August I began to receive support in resolving the concerns in addition to looking for work.

August also saw me applying for a job as a motion graphics designer at the Southbank Centre in London, but I wasn’t selected for an interview. On the plus side I saw the Spice Up London Spice Girls exhibition in Islington and it was absolutely brilliant. My mum, my sister and I spent one Friday evening in Covent Garden where we ate at an Italian restaurant called Café Murano, had ice cream from Venchi and saw ‘The Lion King’ stage musical. I will discuss Spice Up London and ‘The Lion King’ in more depth in Part 2.

At the beginning of September one of my friends shared some more sad news and I even applied for an apprenticeship in animation, graphic design and video editing; however I never heard back. The highlight of September was when I took part in the Tusk Rhino Trail around London, which I will also discuss in Part 2 of these blog posts.

Anyway, now I will discuss my favourite YouTubers and channels, films, song and beauty/body care products.

YouTubers and Channels

Honourable mentions

Em Sheldon

I first heard of Em when I heard she was going to be a potential panellist for the panel discussions at #BlogConLDN 2018, but due to personal reasons she couldn’t make it to the event. Videos of Em’s I particularly enjoyed were her fashion haul videos and her vlogs such as one where she visits York because it reminds me of my own holiday there.

Madison Sarah

The first time I ever came across Madison (AKA Mads or Maddy) was when she collaborated with Misha Grimes, who attended #BlogConLDN. Like with Em, Madison’s clothing hauls were also a joy to watch.

Erie’s Life

Erie is a high school student from the U.S.A. My particular favourite videos of hers were the summer hacks video, tips of what to do when you are bored and Back to School Life Hacks (Collaboration with Rachel Grace). Due to Erie’s high school commitments she has not uploaded a new video for two months as of the publication of this blog post, but I hope to see more content from her when she is not as busy.

Jen Scott

Jen hails from the U.K. and she created her own beauty look inspired by the 1990s. Other content Jen has created for her YouTube channel includes car boot sale hauls (Note: a car boot sale is a bit similar to garage sales or yard sales in the U.S.A. except that people in their U.K. drive their vehicles to special fields and sell their items from tables or blankets on the ground just outside their vehicles.), monthly life update videos and a time lapse of her painting a beautiful sunflower painting on a canvas.

Creative Lauri

Lauri is an American-based home stager, which is a person who prepares “a private residence for sale in the real estate marketplace” in order “to make a home appealing to the highest number of potential buyers,” so that a property will be sold more promptly and “for more money.” (Source: Wikipedia – not the most reliable source, I know!). In her spare time she makes craft videos and runs live jewellery auctions on her channel. Lauri turned a vintage frame into a farmhouse-style mirror, which matched the interiors of her home perfectly, on a $5.00 budget. I also enjoyed Lauri’s faux cherry pie tutorial where she also purchased its supplies for $5.00 from Dollar Tree.

Melanie Hinde (Princess Ninja and Keto)

Melanie Hinde is yet another U.S.A.-based YouTuber. The first video I watched of hers was the one where she shared some fun facts about the year she was born. During the quarter this blog post is about, Melanie Hinde’s main content consisted of live streams about her keto diet updates. She has also made some more comedic videos such as a Snapchat rant about slow internet access and a video where she sings into a fan.

Rachel Grace

The first time I heard about Rachel Grace was when she collaborated with Erie from Erie’s Life to share some very useful back to school life hacks (although Rachel is at college, the hacks can be very fruitful for all students whether they are at school, college or university). Other content of Rachel’s that was worth watching was a college grocery haul video, videos where she and her friend Mason reacted to early videos they made together and a vlog where she has her hair cut, makes a smoothie and tells a funny story about herself and her brother.

Laura and Isabella

Laura and Isabella are two sisters from the U.S.A. who, like Melanie Kate, have asked me to subscribe to their channel when they commented on one of my videos, so I decided to give their channel a go. Videos of Laura and Isabella’s I particularly enjoyed watching was a video about the reality of summertime struggles, their birthday vlogs, a storytime-type video about something scary that happened to Isabella outside a gas/petrol station and a video where they experiment with ASMR.

OnePotChefShow with David Chilcott

When my mum and I were at my grandad’s house in August, I showed her some YouTube videos and she recommended the OnePotChefShow with the Australia-based David Chilcott. We watched his one-pot caramel fudge video from 2011 together. I am glad my mum recommended his channel because I enjoy watching cooking and baking tutorials on YouTube. David is a rather amusing chef and not only did I like his one-pot fudge video, but also I liked his more recent videos on how to make cheesy garlic bread mini pizzas, movie night shareable twists and Oreo cheesecake cookies. Mum, if you’re reading this, then thank you very much for the recommendation.

 Films

Zootropolis

‘Zootropolis’ (known in certain territories as ‘Zootopia’) is a CGI Disney film where a rabbit named Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) moves to Zootropolis to become a police officer and teams up with con artist fox Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman) to solve a case. This is a very entertaining film. Not only do I like the main characters Judy and Nick but I also like Flash the sloth (voiced by Raymond S. Persi) and Gazelle (voiced by Shakira), the animation, the background designs, the references to other Disney films such as ‘Frozen’ and Shakira’s song ‘Try Everything.’

Incredibles 2 and Bao

‘Incredibles 2’ is the sequel to ‘The Incredibles.’ In ‘Incredibles 2’ Helen Parr AKA  Elastigirl (voiced by Holly Hunter) participates in a publicity stunt that regains public trust in superheroes while Bob Parr (AKA Mr Incredible) adapts to becoming a stay-at-home dad. While I felt the film dragged on a bit, there were some funny moments and I liked the action scenes just as much as those in the original film.

The main feature was preceded by an animated short named ‘Bao’ where a lonely mother makes a dumpling that appears to come to life like a real boy. Although this short was weird, I also found it very sweet to watch.

Finding Dory

‘Finding Dory’ is another Disney-Pixar sequel and it follows ‘Finding Nemo.’ In ‘Finding Dory,’ Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) remembers she has family, so she goes on a search to find her parents. Even though I enjoyed ‘Finding Nemo’ slightly more and I initially felt that a sequel was unnecessary, I liked the concept of Dory’s determination to find her parents, the film is full of bright colours like its predecessor and there are some hilarious characters such as Destiny (voiced by Kaitlin Olson) and the seagulls from the first film that say, “Mine, mine!”

Song

Ariana Grande – God is a Woman

Like with ‘no tears left to cry,’ I decided to give ‘God is a Woman’ a listen after I heard a lot about it on social media. ‘God is a Woman’ has a laid back vibe and I like its female empowerment theme. Although the music video is a bit strange what with the screaming gophers part, I like how other parts of it were inspired by works of art.

Beauty and Body Care Products

Lush Cupcake Face Mask

While I don’t shop in Lush very often because it is quite expensive, their Cupcake Face Mask is a product that I first used several years ago, but I decided to try it again more recently. It has a gorgeous chocolate-mint scent and it leaves my skin feeling smooth afterwards. As an added bonus if you bring five clean black pots to any participating Lush store, you will get a fresh face mask for free.

Lush Pink Peppermint Foot Lotion

This is another Lush product I first used many years ago and chose to try again. Formerly Fair Trade Foot Lotion, Pink Peppermint Foot Lotion certainly lives up to its name. It has a rather pleasant shade of pink, the minty scent is lovely and it gives my feet a wonderful cooling effect. I especially like to put this on my feet followed by some socks before I go to bed.

Imperial Leather Marshmallow and Refreshers chews shower creams

I originally tried the Imperial Leather Marshmallow bath cream when my mum bought it for me to use in the bath at her and my dad’s house and it has a subtle yet sweet fragrance. When I heard about the shower gel version, I decided to give it a go since I have a shower in my bathroom, but no bath in my flat. I bought it in Boots alongside the Refreshers chews version, which was very new to me (other varieties such as Love Hearts, mermaid and unicorn were available). The Marshmallow shower gel had the same subtle sweet scent as its bath cream counterpart while the Refreshers chews one smelt exactly like the sweets it is based on.

This concludes Part 1 of my favourite things from July, August and September 2018.

Links to my favourites

Em Sheldon: https://www.youtube.com/user/Emshelx

Madison Sarah: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDNc00-owVLIrau1qVnA7LA

Misha Grimes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMOTCjsUTvu_O4Rj1i06VtA

Erie’s Life: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiBeoUVfmmw_GOnduK-bgIA

Jen Scott: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChJkSttiPXyc0dgAgRUJRMg

Creative Lauri: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEW1PH6e5wkolTvBzj09uyw

Melanie Hinde: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAl8BDdGT3FKMevG9kAEtLQ

Rachel Grace: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoK9ahHTGsXP6GrVfebwZvw

Laura and Isabella: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC-yqiJkcBBy57ONSDSuccg

OnePotChefShow with David Chilcott: https://www.youtube.com/user/OnePotChefShow

Lush UK: https://www.lush.com

Imperial Leather: https://www.imperialleather.co.uk/