Why Blogging? collaboration with Lilacfumes

Hey guys! So recently me and my good friend Chloe (who also has a blog) decided to do a collaboration post on why we chose Blogging over YouTube. Out of many reasons we chose 5 to discuss and hopeful persuade some of you to start a blog! :) So lets get started.

Blogging Community 

This is a main reason for starting blogging in my opinion. The blogger community is huge, and no matter what you want to start a blog on you will always find an audience, and other bloggers willing to give you advice and feed back on your posts. 

More personal with your audience

Following on from the Blogging community I also feel that blogging is more of a personal way to connect with an audience. In blogging you tend to get a lot more comments and questions encouraging you to connect with more bloggers. You can also collaborate and make friend with people all over the world that share the same interest with you!

Improving English skills 

This one is fairly obvious. Practicing correct grammar and language helps your English skills. I also believe you have to think, more than YouTube, on specific points you want to make and what to wright in each post. Also it generally improves your photography skills as you have to use professional composition and how to make a product look its best.

Displaying personality through layout

Unlike YouTube, layout is one of the most important element of your blog. It shows your personality as well as giving people and incite on what your blog is about. Professional layout means professional content right? Personally I find changing my layout fun!        

Leading on to YouTube

If you really want to go into YouTube, blogging is a great bridge platform. Most big and successful YouTubers started blogging before YouTube. Its a great way to find audience and create a dedicated following, after all creating YouTube videos is much easier when you have people watching them. It also gives you a taste of the dedication a YouTube channel may take.

I hope you enjoyed this post! To check out the other half of this post go to Chloe's blog by clicking here. Her blog is fantastic and is definitely worth following! Thank you again for reading!

Do you have any other reasons Blogging is better than YouTube? Comment them below and maybe we could make a part 2!

(P.S- Sorry half of my post is in a weird grey font, i don't know how to fix it :( if you have any suggestions leave them below)

Perfect Vegan Pancake Recipe

Hey guys! So as promised in my 'Going vegan' post I am back with a delicious vegan recipe that I love. I have been eating these pancakes for pudding as i can't really eat much else (other than fruit, which gets very boring after a while) They are super easy to make and they taste wonderful! My brother couldn't believe these were vegan :). I'm pretty sure I found this recipe on food.com so lets get started!

Ingredients - you will need;

1 cup of flour (whichever kind you prefer)

1 tablespoon sugar (whichever kind you prefer)

2 tablespoons of baking powder (I know that seems a lot but you can't taste it)

¹⁄₈ teaspoons of salt (basically a pinch)

1 cup of soymilk (I used unsweetened almond milk)  

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Set out all of your ingredients.
2. Combine the 4 dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder and salt) in a bowl and sift for even fluffier pancakes :)
3. Add the soy/almond milk and vegetable oil to your mixture.
4. Whisk until the mix is smooth with minimal lumps. The mix should be rather thick.
5. Add a small splash of vegetable oil into the pan to prevent sticking and let it heat up for about 1 -2 minuets.
6.  Now the pan should be ready for your batter, so spoon one pancakes' worth of the mixture into the pan.
7. Flip carefully with a spatula when you see bubbles in the middle of the pancake, or if the edges are looking stiffened.
8. Repeat until the batter is gone, and add your desired topping. I used golden syrup on mine but you can use anything you want! 

I hope you enjoyed this quick little post! Let me know in the comments if you try this out :) Speak to you soon. 

Photo creds- vegetariancasserolequeen

(I will be getting my camera back soon meaning i can take my own photos again, sorry for being a bit lazy)

Liebster Award

Hey guys :)  So recently I was nominated to do the Liebster Award by Megan (meganhayess)

Thank you Megan! I have actually already done this tag before but i deleted it so i am going to do it again (obviously)

Rules:

Thank and link the person who nominated you.

Answer the questions given by the nominator.

Nominate 11 small blogs (under 200 followers) who you think deserve this award.

Create 11 new questions for the nominees to answer.

Notify nominees via social media/ blogs.

So, lets get started :)

What is your favourite book?

I have many favorite books, but one of my all time favorite would have to be the one i'm reading now which is a concise guide to dreams :)

If you could meet anyone, who would you meet?

It would have to be either Lana Del Ray or Dylan O'brien because they are both major celebrity crushes.  

Favourite perfume?

I wouldn't say that i have a 'favorite' because i generally pick up any i can find in that moment since i'm always in a rush.

Are you a dog or a cat person (or neither aha)?

Defiantly a dog person because i am allergic to cats (although they do look kind of cute)

Do you have any hobbies?

I have had many hobbies in the past like dancing, swimming and stuff like that but i tend to get bored of doing things quite quickly. However i do like photography, drawing, reading and watching YouTube (if that counts)

Best memory?

I was trying really hard to think about this but i honestly cannot pinpoint my best memory, saying that i will probably think of one within the next few days. 

What is your favourite TV programme?

So recently i have been watching loads of TV shows for some reason but i would have to say its between Outnumbered, Teen Wolf and Some girls.

Nicest person you know?

I know many nice people it wouldn't be fair to just chose one person :)

How would you describe yourself?

Je ne ai aucune idée de ce que ce soit :)

Favourite outfit?

Well i don't have just one  favourite outfit but i love 90's inspired clothes like halter necks, ripped mom jeans, scrunches and huge denim jackets :) 

What would be your ideal holiday?

I would love to go traveling somewhere exotic and experience a whole new culture, maybe somewhere in/around India?

My questions are;

What is your guilty pleasure?

How would your friends describe you?  

What ten things make you happy? 

What is your favourite word?

Where do you want to travel to most? 

Where do you getting your blogging inspiration from?

What is your favourite quote? 

Who is your celebrity crush? 

What is your favourite lush product?

Do you have any new years resolutions 2015?

Who are you closest to in your family?

I tag;

petite pomme 

Lilacfumes

 (you should definitely check these guys out)

 *i have nobody else to tag i'm so sorry ahah*

So i hope you enjoyed this post, i know i said i would be posting a Polaroid review but that has been delayed for a while in till i get my other camera to take photos with back from my dad. Also a HUGE thank you to everyone for helping me reach 171 followers on boglovin'. Its crazy how quick i have gained followers but i am hugely grateful so thank you!  I hope to speak to you all soon hopefully with a slightly more interesting post. Bye!

written in wonderland xo

Going Vegan (kind of)

Hey guys, so firstly i have to apologize for not posting in so long. I was very busy with school which isn't not much of an excuse, but recently i have been wanting to go vegan in the hope to live a bit more of a healthy lifestyle :)  Now i don't know how long i am going to keep this up or how hard it will be but my mum used to be a vegan and she has recommend lots of yummy recipes for me to try out. I will keep you guys updated with my vegan diet and hopefully post some tips or recipes that you guys can try out yourself. If you have any questions about being a vegan feel free to ask it the comments! Also i know i said this ages ago but i have a OOTD collaboration post coming up soon so make sure you look out for that! But anyways thank you guys for reading and i will leave some pretty picture of vegan food to inspire myself, have a great day!

Blog Post Ideas? & My new cactus :)

Bonjour amigos! So this isn't a proper blog post more of a quick update. I wanted to ask you guys what kind of blog post you want me to do, would you guys like to see room decoration posts, OOTD's, Reviews, DIY's or beauty tutorials? Let me know and give any suggestions in the comments below as i am open to do absolutely anything you guys want to see.  I am currently working on a fujifilm instax mini 8 Polaroid review so look forward to that, and i am also hopefully doing a collaboration with another blogger soon. So this was just a quick post, nothing very exciting and as i said i am currently writing a review for my new Polaroid so expect that sometime this week. I shall leave you with some pictures i took of my wonderful cactus that i got from a garden center a few days ago. Speak to you soon!

Written in wonderland xo

Remember me? New and improved!

Hello old friends! Its been a while since i last posted (around half a year!) and i am excited to be back producing content for you all! 

As you may of noticed i have changed the look of my blog up a bit, including my name. I was never entirely happy with my previous blog name ( PoppyTalksAboutNothing ) or the look of my blog as I felt that it looked somewhat 'childish'. Although i am still not satisfied with my blog now ( i'm a bit of a perfectionist ) I prefer the overall look of it. The name 'VeryDarkGrey' stems from my love of wearing the colour black, also i didn't just want to use my name as its rather generic and boring. I hope to make future improvements on my blog both in my content and my layout.

Since i have changed my blog i have also unfortunately had to change my bloglovin' account. This means i have lost all 205 of my followers :( I know it will take a while to gain these follows back so it would mean a lot if everyone could share this post in order to get my blog back out there! 

I hope to be speaking to you soon!

Written in Wonderland xo

Homemade Skin Care

Hey everyone, so I have recently been really into creating my own facial masks and scrubs and thought I would share a couple with you :)

 

Homemade face scrub - 

1. Grind up a handful of porridge oats in a blender, add a tablespoon of caster sugar and mix.
2. Take a small amount of the powdery mixture in a bowl adding VERY SMALL AMOUNTS of water at a time until the mix is a kind of paste (you could also use honey if you wanted.)
3. Gently rub the mix over your face, concentrating on the chin, nose and forehead avoiding the eye area.
4. Rinse with warm water. 

You can also make a simpler cleanser by adding a teaspoon of sugar to you everyday face wash.

Banana face mask - 

1. Mash together half a ripe banana, a tablespoon of honey and a tablespoon of thick cream (you could use olive oil if you have particularly dry skin) 
2. smooth over the face and leave for at least 15 minutes, then wash off.
3. you can store left overs in the fridge, use within 3 days.  

I hope you guys enjoyed this post as a little mid-week post I will post another in a few days :)

 

xo.

 

Soooo... Sorry?

Hello everybody, so as you all probably know i have been inactive on my blog since April and the only explanation i have is that i was kind of lazy... but i am back again :) i just wanted to do a post letting you know that new things are coming soon and i hope you guys don't hate me too much....?? 

I love you :)

Procrastinating Beauty Blogger TAG

Hey everyone, so i saw this post on a friends blog (Chloespicksx) a few days ago. I thought it would be a perfect post for me as i am a pro- procrastinator. Enjoy!

 Name a beauty regime that you rarely do.

I would probably say exfoliate? Although i know its good for you skin and feels amazing, i just hardly ever do it?  

How long will you last with chipped nails?

FOREVER! I literally never use nail varnish remover because i just repaint my nails after it all comes off. With that said though, i do tend to pick at my nail varnish when i am bored so that could contribute to my nails chipping.

How long will you put off buying/replacing a makeup product even if you need it?

Well, normally if i know that i am running out of a product i will buy it before it runs out, genius i know :) But if i really need and i have none left i try to get it within the week.

What is your worst beautyhabit?

Either picking my nail varnish, again, or rubbing my face (that sounds weird i know but just hold on) i tend rub my face causing my makeup to smudge etc. It kind of calms me down in some way? idk. 

Name something non-beauty related that you put off doing all the time?

Homework, washing my hair, writing blog posts, cleaning my room, eating, sleeping, breathing...

When going out somewhere, do you leave getting ready to last minute?

Everything, thats why i am always late! I normally roll out of bed 5 minutes before i have to be somewhere. 

Can you commit to spending bans?

 Ahahahahaha no, i will spend until i have no money and then spend someone else's money

How organised are your makeup and nail varnish collections?

 considering the rest of my room, my makeup and nail varnish organization is impeccable. 

Me!

I hope that you enjoyed this tag and i will speak to you soon, byeeeeee

xo.

About Me!

A few of my favourite things :)

Vital Stats:

Name- Poppy

Nicknames- Popsicle, Pops, anything that you could shorten poppy too :)

Birthday- 17th February 2000

Place of Birth- England, Leicester to be precise   

Star Sign- Aquarius

Occupation- Student

Appearance:

Hair colour- Dark brown, but it's ombre it so its kind of ginger/lighter brown as well

Hair length- Around the middle/bottom of my ribcage (when straightened)

Eye colour- Dark brown

Best feature- No idea, my eyes?...

Braces- Yes, getting them off soon though!

Piercings- My ears and helix, i want more though

Tattoos- No

Righty of Lefty- Righty

First's:

Best friend- A girl called Holly i think, in nursery

Award- Some swimming one probably 

Sport- I swam competitively for around 10 years but i recently quit, it got a bit boring

Real Holiday- I was 3 i think, we went to spain :)

Concert- I have been to around 3 'Big gigs' where there was more than 1 person performing and i loved it :)

Favourites:

Film- I watch too many films 

TV Show- Modern Family, outnumbered and the simpsons :)

Colour- Baby Blue

Song- I love all kinds of music from all different genres so i have no idea 

Restaurant- No clue, Mcdonalds? Lol jks

Store- For clothes probably New Look? I shop too much

Book- HUNGER GAMES!!!! 

Magazine- I don't know i don't read many magazines but probably company magazine

Shoes- ALL SHOES EVER

Currently...

Feeling- Lazy, can you feel lazy? I feel lazy

Single or Taken- Single 5ever

Eating- Well cooking pasta at the moment 

Listening to- The TV

Thinking about- What about i am thinking about

Watching- Modern Family 

Wearing- Pj's :)

Future:

Want Children- Yes

Want to be married- Yep

Careers in mind- A media producer, or anything in media

Where do you want to live- America, Australia, anywhere other than freezing cold England, i love you England :)

Do you believe in:

God- No

Miracles- Just a series of convenient coincidences  

Love at first sight- No, maybe attracted at first sight, but love....Nahhh

Ghosts- Noo, yess, noooooo?

Aliens- Yep but not the classic film kind... I just think that its almost impossible that we are the only life form in the whole universe? What do you think

Soul Mates- Probably 

Heaven- No

Hell- No

Kissing on the first date - Depends

Yourself- On somethings , but otherwise it's on and off.

I hope you all enjoyed finding out more about me! I will speak to you all soon :)

xo.