Blogging Q&A | Happy 1st Birthday The Lipstick Insider

Why did you start blogging?
I didn't really want to start a YouTube channel because I didn't have enough confidence and I didn't know how to edit (and I still don't) so I chose a blog because I knew how to type and (hopefully) string a sentence together and over a year later I'm still loving it and it's a great hobby to have and would recommend it to anyone. 

What has been your favourite blog post to write?
There's been quite a lot and I'm going to link a load of my favourites at the bottom of this post but I really enjoy writing any posts related to journalling and stationery so I really enjoyed making my Journal 101 but there's also a ton more which I really like the finished product.

Will you start a YouTube channel?
I might but not for a while though so no promises- at the moment it's all blog. 

Will you stop blogging?
Probably not for a while as I'm really enjoying it but in the future I might get bored and change my hobbies and blogging might not be one so I don't know if I'll do it until I die or if I stop when I want to and when I fall out of love with it.

How did you come up with your blog name?
Before this blog I had a blog called LouiseSprinkles and the name made me cringe so I wanted a whole new blog with a professional sounding name and one I will continue to like so I had a brainstorming session and this one was my favourite out of what I came up with.

What blog post has the most page views?
Being completely honest I don't look at my page views because that's effort but the blog post that has the most views is my Zoella Beauty Review and the only reason I know that is because it's on my sidebar and it says my 3 most popular posts.

How do you manage your blog and school?
I will do all of my schoolwork during the day and prioritise that and then in the evening I will focus on any blog stuff I want to do but as I don't want to burn myself out I don't do any blog work in the evening and just relax playing Sims.

That was my blogging Q&A with frequently asked questions about blogging and my blog as well. If you have any questions which I didn't answer put them in a comment below and I will answer. This post was actually to celebrate the 1st year of The Lipstick Insider as this day a year ago I uploaded my first blog post on here (even though I had been blogging for a couple of months before this) so all sing along 'Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to The Lipstick Insider, happy birthday to you!!!'

School Q&A

Today I'm going to be answering your questions about school. As in the UK we all start school in about a months time I thought I will answer your questions. This is the first part of my back to school series so I hope you're as excited for that (the series, not going back to school)

What are our tips for going into secondary school?
Firstly be prepared and have everything even if you don't use it at first you will use it so I would recommend bringing an essential/makeup bag with all of the essentials in and you can be that person who always has tissues (me!). 
Secondly remember that you will get a lot of homework (especially in year 7) so you'll need to become more organised. Also remember that you might get a piece of homework on one day due in for the next day so make sure you always have a block of time scheduled in just in case that happens. To become more organised make sure you use your planner that you're school gives you to write anything down and have a set time every weekend that you do your homework and actually do it then and afterwards you can reward yourself.
My last tip would be to actually revise. In my school we've got homework to revise and I hadn't revised because I knew the teacher wouldn't know but now I sometimes regret not revising so now I always revise when I have a test coming up and I would recommend you start doing this from year 7. 

Biggest lesson you've learnt in secondary school?
Sadly secondary school is not like primary school and you will learn a lot of lessons and the biggest one I've learnt is don't care about others. I know that sounds horrible but there will be a lot of people you don't like and if they come up to you don't care and don't talk to them as most of the time they're only doing it to impress others. Obviously care but don't take anything to heart and surround yourself around good people who you like, like you and are not horrible to you. 

Best revision method?
I must admit I'm not the best at revision but my favourite ways to revise (if I had to have a favourite because revision is not good) is using flashcards, which is what I use for geography, or I write everything down on a word document print it off and use that information instead of using the stuff from my book as everything is in one place.

What subjects do you do for GCSE's?
So obviously I do the most important ones and the ones you have to do like English, maths, double science, ICT and out of the 3 languages I chose french, out of geography and history I chose geography and for my actual option I chose drama. My school were going to do philosophy and ethics but they had to stop so now everyone's getting one less GCSE!

What job do you want to do when you're older?
I really have no clue. You might think I'll go into acting because of me doing drama for GCSE but I know I don't want to do that so I'm not too sure.

Favourite thing about school?
Being with my friends!  

Would you prefer to wear your own clothes to school?
It would be nice but I'll probably end up wearing the same outfit over and over again (obviously on different days) and it would mean I would do a lot of clothes shopping so I think there's pros and cons about both.

Why did you become a prefect and why should I sign up?
I signed up because I wanted something that would look good on my CV and before this I only did one thing for the school so I thought I should actually do something. You should sign up because it's really fun and it really gives you a sense of authority and it will be worth it in the future.

Favourite thing about being a prefect?
I really enjoyed doing the year 6 induction day because I got 2 days off timetable and I really liked being in charged which is something that never happens for me.

How much homework do you get?
It obviously depends on your school as every school is different but in year 7 we got loads especially when we first joined however in year 8 we got a bit less and in year 9 we didn't really get much. There was a week where I didn't get any and in loads of weeks I just got about 1 piece.

What is normally in your school lunch?
Usually I have a tuna and sweetcorn sandwich, crisps, a frube, a chocolate biscuit bar or a cake and a drink.

What school bag and pencil case do you have?
At the end of year 9 I had a Hype Backpack and a Victoria Secret Makeup Bag which I used as my pencil case.

Hopefully I answered your questions about school. If you have anymore that I didn't cover in this post leave them in the comments below and I will get back to you and answer them but I think I covered most things.

Stationery Q&A

Today I'm going to be doing a stationery Q&A on anything that relates to stationery because I am a self confessed stationery addict who could talk about stationery for years and years and not get bored.

What is your favourite notebook? 
It always changes as when I get a new notebook that new notebook is my favourite. However my favourite notebook of all time are the WHSmith B5 Neon Notebooks, which I have 2 of, but at the moment I'm also loving my Wilko A5 exercise book because it's slim and easy to write quick notes in.

What your favourite pen to use? 
Well it depends what for... For normal writing I use and prefer to use Tesco Retractable Ball Pens- they're super cheap but make my handwriting look nice and I prefer using retractable pens. For titles (and sometimes colouring) I love to use Sharpies as the colour is amazing and really stand out and finally for colourful writing biros I like to use the Bic Colour grip pens as they write nicely and the colour is amazing. 

How many Sharpies do you have? How do you store them and what do you use them for?
Ok I have a really bad Sharpie obsession and I need to be stopped from buying them so I do have a crazy number. I think I have over 80 as I have a pack of 12 in all of the main colours in my main pencil case, I have a whole separate pencil case with Sharpies in and there's about 23 in there, I have a pot of 28 and on my desk and another pot with a brand new 23 pack in there so that is a lot but when they're on special offer in WHSmith I just have to have them.
Storing them I keep them in 2 different pencil cases and I have 2 pen pots full of them on my desk. I use them for all different things: writing notes, writing titles and I even use them in my colouring book; I use them for anything and everything basically. 

How many notebooks do you have?
I have way too many and I can't even count them as they're all in different places around my room- I should do a notebook collection as there is so many (lol)

How did you get into journalling?
I was watching a YouTuber called PiinkSparkles like over 2 years ago and she was talking about journalling and done the occasional journal videos so I started then. I then forgot about that notebook and started occasionally making different random pages in my binder but I stopped that about a year ago but only recently I was watching a lot of crafty YouTubers and fell in love with journalling and now I've kinda gone all out.

Pros & Cons of a Ringed Planner?
Pros-
-Can take pages out and put your own things in like dashboards
-Make it personal to you with what sections you want.
-Only need to buy the actual planner once and then every year you only need to buy refills
Cons- 
-Rings can be annoying
-You don't get that enjoyment of buying a new planner every year

Best place to buy stationery?
It depends what stationery you want but for general stationery (pens, notebooks etc) I recommend Wilko but for more nicer stationery and more crafty stuff I would recommend Paperchase but you can get nice journalling stuff in Hobbycraft.

Show us your handwriting.
As my handwriting depends with what pens I decided to show you what it's like with lots of different pens.

Why did you start journalling?
I was bored and thought it would be a good hobby to have as I love stationery and wanted somewhere to stick in nice pictures.

Why did you start planning?
It was before year 9 started and I was juggling my blog and school so I wanted somewhere to organise everything so I got an academic planner really last minute and used that on and off until the start of the year when I moved into a 2016 planner which was pretty much the same but in June I bought a Paperchase planner and I don't think I'll go back to notebook planners.

How organised is your desk?
At the moment it's quite organised because I organised it last night. Here is my desk.

Do you prefer paper or digital planners?
Paper as I never look at digital planners and I like writing everything down as it helps me remind stuff. I also like how you can decorate paper planners and make them your own.

What can I journal about?
Anything- the sky's the limit. Anything you're interested about journal about whether that's cars, beauty, home decor, trains etc. Or you could journal about your life and kinda make it like a diary (like I kinda do).

That was my stationery Q&A. Hopefully you liked it as I haven't done a Q&A in a while and I definitely want to do more themed ones. Let me know in the comments for some topics or some questions.

Q&A | May 2016

As I said before I'm going to be doing Q&As on the 15th of every month so here is the one for May so here is me answering 15 random questions which I've chosen at complete random!

1.  Are you a good artist?
No I'm rubbish and I hated art at school and I'm so glad I don't have to do it anymore as for my options I chose drama which is a lot better than art.

2. Whats your favourite boyband?
I don't really like boybands but I do like One Direction and I know their old school now so I don't know whether to include them but they're one of my favourites especially as I have been listening to a lot of them recently. 

3. How long can you balance on one foot?
About 0.1 seconds as I have the worst balance in the history of balancing.

4. Can you build a house of cards?
I don't know as I've never tried but I probably can't.

5. Whats your favourite precious metal?
I really like gold so I would say that and I really like white and gold at the moment so it has to be gold.

6. If you saw someone drop a £10 note, would you claim it for your own or try to return it to them?
I don't know- I would probably do what I felt at the moment. If I did claim it I wouldn't be able to use it as I would feel scared in case I see that person again and I would be really scared.

7. Have you ever been in or had a food fight?
I haven't been in one but it would be cool to be one but a jokey one with friends.

8. Do you prefer tea,coffee or hot chocolate?
Hot chocolate as I don't like tea or coffee.

9. If you invented a monster what would you call it?
This is probably one but I would make a cute and nice monster called PinkiePie, don't know why but I would.

10. If you had a warning label, what would yours say?
Don't go near me this product is rude and annoying and clumsy.

11. Do you watch the news on TV?
No I read it online

12. What was your first car? (or what would you like it to be?)
My ultimate dream car is a Range Rover but not for a first one so I would want a Mini as it would be cool to drive as a student with the roof down looking like a queen.

13. Are you any good at egg and spoon races?
Probably not as I can't remember but I could probably do one if I was walking but not one if I was running

14. Have you ever handled a snake?
Yes actually I've held one.

15. Have you ever hopelessly failed a test?
No but I used to always fail my mini science tests in primary schools and always have to do re-tests and my year 6 teacher thought I was dumb and put me in to do catchup every Monday lunchtime and it was hell as I knew how to do everything.

That was my May Q&A and remember to check back here this time next month for my June Q&A! For more follow me on Twitter @_louisecarter_ and on Instagram @thelipstickinsider for more updates.

Q&A | April 2016

Today I'm back with another of my monthly Q&As because I love Q&As, you love Q&As so I thought I would do them everyone because we all love a good Q&A halfway through the month.

1. You are walking to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss told you if you are late one more time you're fired. Do you save the dog?
OMG this is so hard as I love dogs but if I was going to get fired that would make me want to get to work. What I would is get someone else to save it as I wouldn't be good at saving it anyway.


2.  On a scale of 1-10 how awesome would you say you are?
Darling I'm off the scale.


3. What do you consider is the most important appliance in a house?
Everything is important but the fridge is very important as it holds food and I love me some food.

4. Who was your first teacher?
Mrs Day but when we started she weren't married so she was Miss McCloud and this was in reception.


5. Whats your favourite cartoon character beginning with the letter W?
I don't know any characters beginning with W as I don't like cartoons. 


6. Are you a bad loser?
I don't like to admit this but secretly I am but I don't show it. However I get more competitive if it's a board game but if I loose in anything else I don't really care.

7. Whats your favourite food?
There is a lot and too many to name but my all time favourite, favourite food is chocolate M&Ms- I don't really like the peanut or crunchy ones only the chocolate ones in the brown bag- I could only eat them for the rest of my life and not even get bored. 

8. If you were a super hero what powers would you have?
Basic and boring I know but I would like to be able to fly because it's quick and there will be no other people getting in my way or walking too slow. Only reason I've chose it was the benefit of me and not for anyone else #selfish

9.  Where do you see yourself in 1 months time?
Here living the exact life as I am now. As it's only a month I don't think anything too drastic will happen but something got of the blue might happen and my whole world could be turned upside down. *touch wood*

10. Could you ever be someone's bodyguard?
No because I'm not that strong and defensive. However I am quite good at shoving and slapping people round the face but sadly I wouldn't be able to use it if I was a bodyguard.

11. Whats the most expensive thing you've ever broken?
I have broke a lot of things in my 14 years of life but luckily not massive expensive things but recently I broke my bed (kinda me, kinda the beds fault as it was old) and I'm guessing that was quite expensive so I would say that as I can't think of anything else.

12. If you were to join one of the armed forced which would it be?
I don't know as I wouldn't join any of them because they're not really my thing and it doesn't interest me so I have to pass on this one.

13. If you were to join an emergency service which would it be?
Probably the police because it seems the most interesting and fire I would hate to do as I HATE fires and I couldn't be in the NHS because I hate blood so obviously that wouldn't be very good to work there.

14. Whats been your greatest ever day?
I don't think I have one greatest day but I have a lot of good memories from lots of random days.

15. Do your dreams ever tell you to do anything?
No as I can't remember my dreams!

I really hope you enjoyed this Q&A and remember to come back here on the 15th May for a new one as they're monthly on the 15th!

Q&A | March 2016

After the success of my last Q&A I thought I would make them monthly starting with March so on the 15th of every month I'm going to be answering 15 questions. Before we start how cute is that bunny in the thumbnail!

1. What would you do if you won the lottery?
To be completely honest I would probably waste a lot of it but I would buy a massive house and if I was older I would buy a car. I would then go on a massive shopping spree and buy designer handbags, expensive makeup and loads of clothes. Then maybe give some to my dad and sister and to charity.  

2. Do you like reality TV programs?
Yes- they're my favourite types of programs to watch! My favourite is Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

3. Have you ever been professionally photographed?
Yes because of school photos and once in Egypt my family won a photoshoot so I also had my picture done then.

4. Do you have any secret family recipes?
No as we don't cook! 

5.  Do you believe there used to be dragons?
No I don't believe there was any mythological creatures (except from unicorns) 

6. Whats your favourite pizza topping?
Pulled Pork as I'm very picky with my pizzas and I only really like BBQ pizzas however I do cheese and tomato.

7. What was the last social faux pas you made?
The last time I fell over which was late last year and it was very awkward.  

8. If a loved one was to serenade you, what song would you most like them to sing?
I hate to be one of these people but Thinking Out Loud (I know a lot of people use it as their first dance and I think it's cringy) as I really like that song or I Love You by Little Mix as it's really beautiful.

9. Have you ever eaten a whole tube of Pringles by yourself?
No but I would like to. 

10. Would you rather be the fella in a movie who gets the girl or the baddie with all the good lines?'
The fella who gets the girl because most of the time people prefer the good person and in my experience the fella who gets the girl is hotter.

11. Whats your favourite actress beginning with the letter J? 
Jennifer Anniston love her and Friends. Her character in Friends, Rachel, is actually my favourite!

12. Do you prefer the French or Germans?
I don't have a favourite

13.  Whats your favourite word beginning with the letter X?
Xyst even though I don't know what it means

14. How fast can you run?
I don't run.

15.  What are your 3 favourite internet sites?
1.YouTube
2. Instagram (can you call that one as it's mainly an app?)
3. Pinterest

I hope you enjoyed this and before you do anything else follow me on Twitter and Instagram (_louisecarter_) because you know you want to! 

Q&A

So it's a Tuesday evening at 9:32pm on half term as I write this and I have no idea when this is going up or how long it will take me as I have to make a thumbnail and stuff so it might take me months, years, decades to write a simple Q&A post. I'm in a rambley mood so I apologize. I wanted to do a Q&A as it's simple (lazy) and I can do it with no pictures and the last time I did one was September so it's overdue 

1. What kind of phone do you have?
I have a Microsoft Lumia 640 LTE and I really like it. It was a very early Christmas present as I got it at the end of October last year. The only problems I have with it is that the Instagram is not the one on iPhones and androids as it's a different layout and there's no dm-ing which makes me sad and there's no Snapchat although I probably would only have 5 friends on there. 

2. Do you prefer clothes or shoes?
Definitely clothes- I love buying clothes but I could go for years without buying shoes. I like looking at shoes but I'm happy with what I have and I always wear the same shoes anyway so it doesn't really matter. I recently bought a new pair of shoes from Primark and they're really nice but they're really uncomfortable and they're trainers- it's because there's a massive platform so I need to wear them more instead of my Forever 21 black slip ons. 

3. What would you do with £1000?
SPEND IT! I would be really horrible and spend it all myself as it's not enough money to buy a house and have loads left over to help out your family. I would buy a really nice handbag, then I would buy lots of makeup, especially mac lipsticks and then I probably would blow the rest on random things like Lush, stationery and loads of clothes from Primark (I would probably be able to afford Topshop but I have a cheap heart)

4. What's your favourite non-alcoholic drink?
None as I only drink alcohol- DON'T WORRY I'M ONLY JOKING I HAVE NEVER DRUNK ALCOHOL!!!! I love diet coke and I'm a little bit obsessed with it. Random story but in English we had to write a speech about ourself which was the hardest thing ever but I'm reading mine out when I'm talking about my obession with Diet Coke and I couldn't speak for the whole speech afterwards as I was trying not to laugh and it sounded like I was crying but I was trying not to cry from laughter. Anyway I also love milkshakes like McDonalds milkshakes but don't go to BBs and have chocolate milkshakes as they're disgusting and you will probably spill them on the floor as the lid wasn't on properly (True story- it happened when I went shopping with my friend Cerys)

5. How big is your house?
It's the normal size for a 3 bedroom house. It has a good sized living room, a big kitchen, 2 good sized bedrooms, a small-ish bathroom and a box room.

 6. Are you a good liar?
I am- I'm very good at making up realistic excuses or anything realistic as I'm a very realistic person so it comes natural to me.

7. What do you have on your fridge door?
Nothing- we did have magnets but one day they disappeared. Sad times. RIP magnets

8. Do you sing in the shower?
No I sing anywhere but the shower. In the car, my bedroom, the toilet or whenever says something that is a song lyric I burst into song. Once I was watching a programme and 1 character said a line from Thinking Out Loud and then the other quoted Sam Smith (I can't remember what song) and I made a mashup. I'm weird.

9. Do you believe in aliens?
Sorry aliens but I don't- I don't believe in anything but I pretend to some kid in school that I believe in unicorns and he calls me a fantasy BUT I KNOW THEY'RE NOT REAL SADLY!!!

10. What's your favourite fruit?
I don't really like fruit as I'm more of a vegetable person but I like strawberry's but not anything strawberry flavoured like milkshakes or ice cream but I like normal strawberry's and the scent of strawberry. Especially the strawberry scent from The Body Shop which I could eat.

11. Have you ever given blood?
No I am only 14 and I don't think 14 year olds give blood but I could be wrong

12. Have you ever played golf?
Does TopGolf count? I done that on my activities week in year 6 when everyone else (not the whole year but most people) went Wales I stayed home and one of the activities was TopGolf which I was crap at but I did get one really good shot. When my sister went she met Mark Wright which I was a little jealous as I haven't met any celebrity and it's my dream to meet one. I have also played mini golf on holiday but I always get competitive so don't play mini golf with me

13. Do you collect anything?
No but at one point in my weird childhood I collected stones. Yes stones but I gave that up quickly.

14. What's the worst chatup line you've heard?
"Hey baby, I've got AIDS"

15. Have you ever been in a fight?
No why would anyone want to fight with me? 

16. Were you a member of any celebrity fan club?
No that's never been my thing fan club or anything to do with being a fan like fan mail or meetups like once I was in Lakeside shopping centre the day YouTuber Fleur DeForce had a meetup but obviously I didn't go even though I had watched her for 2 years

17. Are you a giver or receiver?
I have to be honest but I only give when it's an occasion like birthday or Christmas but when I give I give really well like last year my Christmas presents were amazing (especially for my friend Cerys) and I gave my friends large Easter eggs so I would say I'm a giver as I enjoying giving

18. What's your favourite biscuit to dunk?
I'm not very British read my British Tag to find that out link HERE so I don't like tea so I don't dunk but if I did it probably would be a digestive or weirdly a custard cream. I want some custard creams now

19. Have you ever had chicken pox?
Yes I had in reception or playschool so I doubt I will ever get it again *touch wood*

20.. What's your favourite food beginning with the letter p?
PIZZA!!!! Easiest question to answer as what else could it be pasta, which is ok, pancakes, don't have them much, OMG PESTO BEGINS WITH P and I love pesto so much so could I say pesto pizza as I love pizzas with pesto on.

I really hope you enjoyed high Louise (the only thing I can be high on is water as I haven't eaten or drank anything else since 6:30). I should do more posts like this as it you really get to know me more. I'm going to do more posts and a lot more which are personal like little funny stories and funny tags. For me of me follow me on Twitter and Instagram and my username is @_louisecarter_ (I just spelt my surname wrong- I changed it but I called myself Louise Carer)

Edit- I actually made the thumbnail straight after writing this post and I finished it in 50 minutes so I'm really proud of myself so I put it up the next day. I was going to do it now but I thought it was a bit too late as I like my posts going up in the morning and I like them going up at nice times (either o'clock or half past). I have also uploaded a new blog post which is a Buy, Try, Decide- Superdrug