New in// BB Seaweed fresh face mask from Lush

You guys know I'm a huge Lush fan- I love their eco friendly and ethical stance, their branding is really stylish, and their products have always worked really well for me. They are a little on the pricy side (especially on a student budget) so I was really excited to finally be able to take back 5 used containers for them to recycle and get a free fresh face mask- I picked BB seaweed.

6 years of candyflossoverkill ♡

Can you believe that this little blog is 6 years old already?!!
So I don't know if you guys have noticed, but I've definitely been blogging less this past year. Not because I wanted to, but with final year of uni and dissertation stress, I've definitely been guilty or just throwing up the occasional instagram post rather than my weekly blog posts that I aim for. I even used to post daily in Japan!!

I also feel like, in general, a lot of my favourite bloggers aren't making as much content? Key faves still are (shout out to Kate La Vie, Lizzie Bee and Avril Marie for still making amazing posts!), but on the whole I think a lot of influencers and content creators have shifted to Youtube and Instagram.

But I still love blogging so much! And here's why:

It's your own platform. Compared to instagram, youtube etc. There is no algorithm controlling your own website- it's easier to keep people focused on your stuff, rather than jostling for position on people's timeline.

I also like reading words. I like youtube, but sometimes it just takes a lot of time, and a blog post is a nice medium- concise but still more depth than a single instagram post.

Nowadays, there is a kind of attitude of 'why are you blogging if you aren't a huge blogger' but as a happy microblogger, I'd like to disagree!
I've never made any money from blogging. And it's not like I'd turn down a *good* sponsorship opportunity, but when I started blogging, it was slightly before people made actual money blogging. Back in 2012, people did contact lens sponsorships or got free clothes from Sheinside, but I wasn't on that level. Since then, I haaave had sponsorship offers, but a lot of them were mysterious/ unrelated, so for now I haven't accepted anything. That might change, and I might decide to try and more proactively search for them. I'm also thinking about affiliate links? But I'm not really blogging for money anyway, and for now, I'm so drained from final year and I'm only just emerging from the fog of tiredness.

I also love blogging because it's a creative outlet! I can write whatever I want, and it encourages me to try and push my fashion and content and photography to the next level!
I also looove the blogging community- I think comments on here tend to be so much nicer- compared to bot comments on ig or nitpicky comments on youtube. Not that I haven't got nice comments elsewhere, buuut I love comments from my mutual blogger pals!!

I also love the fact that my most viewed posts are things that actually inform and help people! Specifically, my hair dye reviews and my Japan posts ♡ I've had people in real life, like friends of friends or people from the years below at uni, find my blog *from the search results*!!!
If I can help people a teeny tiny bit, whether by telling people how I survived the JLPT test, or by recommending my favourite silver shampoo, or even just showing what I wore to uni, that's slightly awesome.

So now I've rambled on about how much I still believe in blogging, let's talk about

My favourite posts from the last year:

Empties #12
There's only so much you can do with a flat lay of empty products, so when it goes well, I'm pleased. I'm pretty proud of the photography in this post. I also love reading empties or seeing them on Youtube, so I think I'm going to keep this series going.


Leeds bucket list// Places I want to go in Leeds this year
This is a post that I love- I love Leeds, and I actually went to a lot of those places :)


Bleach London fade to grey grey toner review and before and after
a staple post here- a detailed hair dye review. I always try and include before and after pictures, and how long it lasted/ if it stained my hair, which are things I really want to know before trying a new hair dye.


London OOTD ft vintage and charity shop finds//
This is just a standard OOTD post, but I like it!


What I wear to uni// Vintage jumper and fishnets
This was rare for me, as instead of just getting a pal or my boyfriend to snap some shots of me on the fly, I  did a lil photoshoot <3


Updated Bleached haircare routine (updated) ft. Bleach London, Tresemmé etc//
 I really liked this post because I can see the difference between this and the last one I did. I think the photography has improved, and I really like the products I mentioned too~


22 things I want to do when I'm 22//
I really like reading these sort of posts, and this one is full of a few things I want to get done while I'm 22. Hopefully I'll get a few of them done!

Let's talk about Youtube!

So this year I finally hopped on board the Youtube train, and I've only made 3 videos, and they're all right, not amazing, but I'm really happy I put them in the world! They've had a decent amount of views too, which is always nice.

Next year's content:

I'm definitely going to make some more travel posts, but I also want to make sure that my lifestyle and fashion content has the best photography I can! I wanna make more Leeds content, because it's an amazing city and I love it and I want as many people to appreciate it as possible.
Another plan I have is to re-do my uni advice series from my first year- maybe not make a whole new series, but add a new updated comprehensive uni advice post. Annnd I also need to do a cheeky plant tips post.

Of course, if you've got any suggestions for content, I'd love to hear them!

Thanks for reading! 

I say it all the time but it's sooo nice to have people read my blog! Otherwise it'd just be me screaming into the void...
I hope that Candyflossoverkill is a place that's fun and maybe even helpful <3
Here's to another year <3
-Amy xoxo

22 things I want to do when I'm 22

Sooo, I've been 22 for a little while, and I thought I'd make one of these goals posts again. This year is gonna be a year of changes- I've graduated and am about to enter the world of work.... eep. I've got a really big exciting change planned, and I promise I'll talk about this soon (long time readers can probably guess where I'm off to) but I'm going to wait until it's all sorted. Anyway, here are my plans for this year!

New Youtube video// How to dye your hair pastel pink with Directions Carnation Pink

I've been enjoying my (potentially) last summer of pastel hair, and last time I dyed my hair I decided I might as well film a quick tutorial for Youtube. I know there are tonnes of these videos floating around, but I still thought it might be fun, plus it's good to practise editing and stuff.

Empties #13// My skincare routine and staple products// Bleach London, Toni & Guy, Simple etc.

So this month's empties is randomly full to bursting with some of my favourite products! I've moved back down from Leeds and ended up with a lot of duplicates of things like skincare and haircare essentials. But. I've managed to use up/ condense a lot of my favourites, so it's empties time.