Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Beautiful Basics 5th Blogiversary





I’m 28 years old (turning 29 on April 10th) and since 2009 I’ve been living with chronic illness. I’m disabled and unable to live the typical life of a twenty something, but I don’t let that stop me from living a happy and positive life. Life is what we make it so it’s really important to keep an open and positive mind and to embrace every day and every moment. Life is short but life is also beautiful.

Beautiful Basics was born when I became ill. I have Lupus, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Migraine, and some other not very fun stuff as well. The original thought and hope when I first became sick was that I would get better but as time passes I find myself getting worse and worse. It was really hard for me to go from working to being disabled and unable to do much of anything so I sat down and thought long and hard about what I could do and what I wanted to do with my time. 

I have a passion for all things beauty and green living and I’ve always loved reading beauty blogs and watching vlogs on YouTube so I decided to try my hand at blogging. Beautiful Basics was originally a place where I shared very basic beauty tips and hacks but it somehow morphed into a natural beauty blog. I now primarily review natural and organic beauty products. It kind of took on a mind of its own and continues to change right in front of my eyes. I never could have imagined how much my little piece of the Internet would grow and what it would become. Something born out of desperation for something resembling normalcy and out of a feeling of uselessness and hopelessness has become a wonderful outlet for me to write, which I love to do, and talk about beauty, which I also love. 

The past 5 years of creating content for Beautiful Basics and being able to interact with all of you has given me hope and something I absolutely love to do. I appreciate this all so much more than you could ever know. I could have never imagined how many people would read my words or what companies would want to work with me. Each day brings something new and exciting in to my life. Each like and comment you leave me means a lot and I’m looking forward to continuing to grow Beautiful Basics. I can’t wait to see what the next 5 years will bring about!

As a thank you to all of you, whether you’ve been here since the beginning or if you somehow stumbled upon my blog today, I want to give you all the chance to win some fun goodies that I’ve been collecting. You can enter 1, 2, 3 or all 4 giveaways if you would like; However, you can only win one of the prizes. Each giveaway has a separate comment option so you can leave several comments down below. Each giveaway will be open until the 15th. 

There is only one mandatory entry for each giveaway and after that you can do as many or as few of the options as you would like. Be sure to check out the terms and conditions to see where each prize can be shipped. All entries will be verified. Good luck!





a Rafflecopter giveaway



a Rafflecopter giveaway



a Rafflecopter giveaway



a Rafflecopter giveaway

87 comments:

  1. hi
    I have 2 tiny doubts
    where are the terms n conditions ? which one is international ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are in the Rafflecopter form. If you click one on of the options each form has it's own terms and conditions.

      Delete
  2. My favorite peice of jewelry is my diamond tennis bracelet. It is very special to me because it was my Moms bracelet. She gave it to me a few months back when she was diagnosed with Dementia. She was so afraid she would forget to give it to me when her dementia progressed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for sharing. I'm so sorry to hear that your Mom has Dementia. I'm sure it's really difficult but that's so sweet and thoughtful that she gave you her bracelet.

      Delete
  3. I would really love to go to Scotland. My ancestors are from Scotland and it would be so great to see where I come from!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would love to go to Scotland, too! I don't think I have any Scottish in my blood but it looks like a beautiful country.

      Delete
  4. There are so many books I've loved over the years. Right now, I favour the Broadchurch novelization. Also, Not Wanted on the Voyage. And Anna Scanlon's Unravelled.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've heard a lot about Unravelled! I'll have to check it out!

      Delete
  5. I have a favorite red stone (garnet? ruby?) ring. It was given to me by my great uncle. He had a leather good store, and was repairing an old suitcase when it fell out of the lining. I've had it for close to 60 years now, and its migrated from finger to finger as my hands have aged.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's such a cool story! Thanks so much for sharing!

      Delete
  6. I bought the RMS Uncover up after hearing youtubers rave about it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't tried that yet! Do you like it? I've had my eye on their Living Luminizer for a while now but haven't made any purchases yet.

      Delete
  7. I would love to visit so many places. I want to see Maine and Washington. I want to visit Paris and pretty much every other country :) I like exploring new places.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too! Maine looks so beautiful. I'd like to go there too!

      Delete
  8. My favorite piece of Jewelry is my wedding ring. My husband did an awesome job choosing it :) I don't wear a lot of jewelry. I did before I had my daughter. Maybe I will again someday.

    ReplyDelete
  9. On the second giveaway I'm answering the question about purchasing a product after reading about it on a beauty blog. Yes I have purchased products after reading about them. I purchased the ColorPop lippies after reading about them. There have been others but I'm honestly blank to which ones.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ColourPop has some really gorgeous products. I keep looking at their website but haven't tried anything yet. Do you like them?

      Delete
  10. I love antique jewelry and earrings are something I will throw on even when I'm not wearing any other jewelry. Several years back my daughters gave me a pair of antique amethyst and diamond earrings, amethyst is my birthstone, and they are my absolute favorite piece of jewelry because my daughters are my heart and my world.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What a sweet gift! I love antique jewlry as well.

      Delete
  11. My favorite vacation of all time was a couple of years ago my daughters and I took a 7 day Carribean cruise and it was wonderful. We were unplugged at sea and had each other's full attention and didn't have to worry about driving anywhere. I wouldn't take anything for that trip and the memories.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That sounds like an amazing trip! Thank you for sharing!

      Delete
  12. yes i have found an free sample of guilty by gucci perfume and loved it so much went to store to buy it for myself after Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  13. id like to plan an trip to costa rica soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, nice! Costa Rica looks like an incredible place!

      Delete
  14. I'm participating in the international give away & hope that I win as I've never won one !
    I sampled an Indian Ayurvedic scrub made from chick pea & really liked it and got a 100g bottle

    ReplyDelete
  15. Just entered the international one - thank you so much for this <3
    I have sampled tiny perfume vials of a french perfume Reve d'Or by T.Piver and found them to be good & ordered a big bottle of it

    ReplyDelete
  16. For vacation I'd really like to go to Australia one day. I've so many things I want to see there!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm with you on that one. Australia look so gorgeous. I think I'd really like it there!

      Delete
  17. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My favorite books are the series with Jack Reacher by Lee Child.

      Delete
  18. My favorite vacation was the 2 weeks my sister and I took traveling from Seattle, WA to Vancouver, BC, back to Seattle, to Portland, OR and then back to Seattle. We financed the entire trip (airfare, rental car, hotel and food) with our sweepstakes wins. With no men (husbands) we could go wherever we wanted, so we went to the WA Park Arboretum, a WA State Fish Hatchery, International Rose Test Gardens near Portland as well as waterfalls and hiking. I rented a helicopter ride around Seattle using a Groupon and we went zip lining on Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver. We still talk about it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That sounds like an absolutely amazing trip! Thanks so much for sharing. And how cool that you did it all with your winnings! So awesome!

      Delete
  19. I have a necklace and earrings that I wear a lot that I made from green jasper beads and green glass. The set is one of my favorites.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I really like argan oil after getting a bottle of it as a prize. It was a full size product so it wasn't really a sample.

    ReplyDelete
  21. My favorite book of all time for fiction is anything by Per Petterson, especially I Curse the River of Time. My favorite non-fiction book is the memoir by Joe Queenan called Closing Time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll have to check those out. Thanks so much for sharing!

      Delete
  22. After I used a sample size of the Shea Moisture African Black Soap, it is all I ever use on both my face and my body--for cleansing-- (for about 9 months now). And yes, just about every beauty product that I buy has been mentioned in either a blog post or in one of my favorite YouTuber's videos.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very cool! I haven't tried that one. I'm the same way. I always buy things that I read (or watch) about! It's so nice to hear what other people think before purchasing something.

      Delete
  23. For fashion or beauty icon, I would say that the YouTuber PiinkSparkles (Samantha) is an inspiration because she does what makes her happy and doesn't give a hoot whether anyone else likes it or not. I don't have much jewelry, but I do have some garnet earrings (my favorite stone) that my husband gave me on our first anniversary eleven years ago. If I had money to buy accessories, I would go to Anthropologie or the Sundance Catalog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Garnets are gorgeous and what a sweet anniversary present. I'll have to head over to YouTube and check out PiinkSparkles. I'm not familiar with her!

      Delete
  24. No, no trips planned. I work 6 days a week, 12 hours a day, so that would be hard to pull off. The most recent staycation was we just moved back here to the U.S. from Australia, where we lived for over four years. I didn't like it though, so I don't know if that counts. My ideal place to visit would be Norway, Newfoundland, or Iceland.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, wow! Why did you move to Australia? I bet it was hard living so far away. And I understand not being able to take any trips. Sounds like you're very busy!

      Delete
  25. Unfortunately, I won't be able to plan any trip in the near future. I've become involved with parent care, and need to be available all the time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so sorry to hear that. Hopefully you get some time to relax soon, though!

      Delete
  26. My favorite book of all time is Lonesome Dove. I am not a fan of westerns but this was a good book. I so enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, sounds good! I'll check it out! Thanks for sharing!

      Delete
  27. I bought a fullsize handcream by Primavera (a German brand) after I tried a sample. And I bought countless products after reading about them on blogs...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I absolutely love Primavera. I've liked every product I've tried from them!

      Delete
  28. Somewhere I would love to explore would be Europe. There's so many different cities and landmarks to see!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree! Europe looks like an incredible place to visit!

      Delete
  29. My favorite piece of jewelry has to be my pandora bracelet because every one of my charms has a special meaning and come from someone that means a lot to me.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I have bought products after reading about it on a beauty blog because I tend to always need a second opinion before buying a product!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm the same way! Sometimes even a third and and fourth opinion for me!

      Delete
  31. One of my favorite books (still read it every year!) is The Jungle by Upton Sinclair:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I've never read it! I'll have to check it out :)

      Delete
  32. We are heading to Florida in 3 weeks can't wait love traveling

    ReplyDelete
  33. We are heading to Florida in 3 weeks can't wait love traveling

    ReplyDelete
  34. no to both questions. But I would love to try these out. My daughter to. She has problems with her skin.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Thank you so much for a wonderful giveaway! I would love to win those gorgeous books (or anything else for that matter) and your story is inspirational to all of us! Have lovely day and take care 😊

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! Good luck and I hope you have a wonderful day, as well :)

      Delete
  36. My favorite beauty book is The Natural Way to Super Beauty by Mary Ann Crenshaw. It's old school and still somewhat relevant.

    ReplyDelete
  37. My favorite book is Notebook...all time fav

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nice! I've never read the book but I really liked the movie!

      Delete
  38. I read a lot of books when I was younger. I liked Stephen King Novels. My favorite beauty product is always mascara because I won't leave home without it!
    twinkle at optonline dot net

    ReplyDelete
  39. I have tried so many samples and I am sure I bought full sized, I just can't remember all of them. But I do like samples and recommendations from blogs.
    twinkle at optonline dot net

    ReplyDelete
  40. My favorite jewelry piece is a silver angel wing necklace that my sister bought for all of us after my mom passed away last year at the age of 90. So I think of my mom when I wear it.
    twinkle at optonline dot net

    ReplyDelete
  41. I want to go to New Zealand. I've been to many places but that's at the top of my list.
    Thanks for the contest.

    slehan at juno dot com

    ReplyDelete
  42. I've bought shampoo after reading about it on a blog.

    slehan at juno dot com

    ReplyDelete
  43. I like to find accessories at craft fairs.

    slehan at juno dot com

    ReplyDelete
  44. My favorite book is A Wrinkle in Time by L'Engle. It got me to love reading.
    slehan at juno dot com

    ReplyDelete
  45. I would love a vacation in Hawaii! I always wanted to go there. I am happy though with sometimes just taking time off work and having a vacation in my home!
    twinkle at optonline dot net

    ReplyDelete
  46. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Favorite book.... The Alchemist! I have read it over and over again and each time I gain new insight, I see a new light! Xoxoxox Thank you for your blog and thank you for all the wonderful opportunities for amazing products

    ReplyDelete
  48. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov Is my FAVE book of all time.. GREAT read!

    ReplyDelete
  49. I want to visit europe one day. I want to travel to different places in europe as soon as i finish college. I want to meet new people and want to know different cultures!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for reading Beautiful Basics and commenting! I will be sure to respond as soon as I can!