self improvement pt 1

25TH JUNE 2025 12:09AM 

 

Ive been thinking about doing this for a while – a personal blog on self improvement. I am going to create an in depth plan and stick to it... I SWEAR I WILL THIS TIME. And its not just gonna be focused on weight – although that would be part of it. Its gonna be focused on EVERYTHING. Looks wise and mentally. By this time next year i will be a completely different person. And not just in the “everyone changes” sort of way. The change is gonna be so drastic, that the people who havent seen me in a year will double look to make sure its really me.  

I have attempted and failed at this a few times, but im finished school now so i have no excuses and no other option. Its happening. Ive decided to go at this with a more positive attitude than other times. If i fail at some point, it is not an excuse to just give up. it means i have to pick it up and work harder the next time. Weather thats some sort of routine, waking up earlier, eating healthier or getting out. I know i need to be consistent. This is the last time im starting. I will change my own life. One of the things i aim to do with this is keeping the blog updated. i always start things like this and never finsih them or continue, like deciding to journal. i look back on my last entry and its been 6 months. I want a weekly update on this no matter what point im at. i feel like it will help me stay motivated and show me how mush ive changed. Im turning 18 soon so my whole life is about to change. Im finished school, taking driving lessons TRYING to get a job (failing miserably now, will be one of the things on my list) and am doing generally better mentally, although there is still ups and downs.

I am starting college this september and as much as i love my bsf and will never not want them in my life, it is time to expand. Get to know people on my own terms. start actually living life and not just surviving. SO!!!!!! Enough ranting. My 33 part list, in detail on how i plan to improve myself and my overall life. Some of these will be long term, others i can start tomorrow. A lot of this will be extremely achievable once i get some sort of income.

PART 1 - PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

This will overlap with mental wellbeing at some points, but apart from those parts i feel like this might be one of the easiest parts. I dont think im ugly, but im definitely not pushing myself to my fullest potential. Im bout to become an absolute baddie... when i stick to this.

HAIR: Theres 3 parts to this - haircare, hairstyles and hair customise.

Haircare. Ive been growing out my hair and it is much better than.... whatever i had at ages 12-16. My undercuts grown out and its to the end of my shoulder blades now. Its breaking though. I have naturally wavy hair and used to straighten it everyday and dye it. I did dye it recently, but have been trying not to straighten it when i can.

I also... used to wash it every. single. day. and then wondered why it would get greasy the next day. SO. i need to establish a hair cair routine. How many times a week i wash it and when. Once i have a job, buy the better quality shampoos and conditioners. Hair Masks once a week and gettinng the split ends chopped every so often. And limiting my use of heat on my hair, and when i need to, using heat protectant.

I also saw something about hair oil and looked into it, and i feel like that could be a simple but effective change i make.

SO. THATS THAT FOR HAIRCARE.

Hairstyles. I dont know how to do my hair. i know how to straighten it and throw it into a messy ponytail. Ive been embracing the waves recently, so thats one thing i would like to learn. I dont know how to keep waves without having to brush and leaving them frizzy and so they actually look nice and healthy. I will be researching that...

I would like to know how to actually style my hair. Heatless curlers, blowouts, plaits, half up half down. Anything i8 could imagine and make it happen on my head. Ive been looking online and saw the hair accessories, star clips, those little clasps you yut around tiny plaits to decorate your hair... Id really like to be at a point where i know and can use them. Hair is such a huge yet underrated part of how someone look - a simple hair change could chamge literally everything....

HAIR CUSTOMISATION. I love dying my hair. Sorry loved. A bit too much. I went purple and red and let me tell you that motherfucker has not left my head since. In the sun, despite being dyed black and dark brown 3-4 times since, STILL SHOWS HALFWAY DOWN MY HEAD?!?! I knew this when i dyed it though so i shouldnt be so suprised. I had plenty of different haircuts too. Layers... bobs.................with *gulp* fringes............

So im growing out my hair now. I long for long growing lucious hair down my back. helthy silky hair. I want thatshape in it like a soft sort of V, and a few layers just to shape my face. So therell be nothing too drastic with this. I also dont lovveee my natural colour. Im a dark brunette but too choclatey if that makes sense? I like it to be a smidgen darker and on the cooler tones side.

Im not too worried about that part for now though, i can dye my hair at any point and usually do it very spontaniously anyway. Once i keep it healthy and learn how to do my hair, the rest should fall in place...

MAKEUP/SKINCARE: This definitely overlaps with a few other parts but wtv.

Makeup and skincare go hand in hand. Skincares more important so im gonna focus on that a bit more.

Makeup. Im not too worried about my makeup. Ive sort of got it down, what works on my own face and the whole techniques thing. The only thing i havent mastered and have sort of given up on is the winged eyeliner. I have slowly created a little makeup collection and figured out what products suit me best and how to use them to their fullest. The one thing id say about makeup is actually narrowing down my collection because i have a drawer full of shit i havent used in years.

Skincare. Ive had quite the journey with skincare over the past FOUR YEARS. I have sensitive skin so not every product works for me and makes me break out or even gives me a rash (looking at you simple). I found the ordinary and la roche posay work the best for me. I recenlty got a mugwort serum and Anua birch 70 moisturiser which have been treating me well.

When my skin gets very built up and needs an exfoliation i use the ordinary AHA 30% =BHA 2% peeling solution which does WONDERS. My problem with skincare, like everything else, is that i am not consistent enough with it. I also used to wear makeup everyday to cover the spots caused by wearing makeup and at the end of the day i just looked greasy and im cringing at the thought of that right now. Ive learned that a clean face with a few visable pimples is soooooo much better than a face full of makeup and clusters of dirty spots underneath.....

SO! What id really like to work on with skincare and makeup - at the end of the day its just consistency. Thatll be it for most things. Im sticking with what i know for now and if i stumble across something new that works, encorperate it swap it out. Wow this is all so simple, ill practically be an alien this time next year!!!!!!

H Y G I E N E

I dont have bad hygiene. Im a clean person. What i want is to be a VERY clean person. Theres definitley some steps i can be adding to my daily routine to really pump it up a notch.

Since this overlaps, im gonna just put it in this section: A signature smell.

My best perfume is eilish and ive been told by a few people that when they smell it they think of me. And its probably one of my favourite scents, so ive decided to make vanilla my signature scent. I also just got gifted a vanilla body spray so that will be the start of my collection of scents.

HERES SOME WAYS I PLAN TO SMELL LIKE VANILLA:

Use vanilla scented bodywash. eg. dove shea butter & vanilla

Use vanilla scented shampoo & conditoner. (found one that links back to the haircare.) eg. Maui Vanilla bean.

Vanilla moisturisers eg.skinny dip creamy vanilla

Vanilla body spray eg. VS Bare vanilla

And ofc, my eilish perfume for the special occasions.

    BACK TO HYGIENE. Oral hygien. I do brush my teeth. But im gonna start flossing, mouthwash just to step it up. My teeth are also quite yellow, something ive been insecure about, so i wanna start using whitening strips, and once i save up enoough, get them professionally whitened.

    I need to get a body scrub and a nice moisturising balm and a GOOD QUALITY razor for shaving my legs. Im not too worried about the technique, just the better quality products will help.

A bad habit i have is biting them, which makes them look absolutely horrific and im SO EMBARRASSED by them.So, one habit im definitly breaking is the nail biting. I have done it before but went into a stressful time and ended up biting them again, just never stopping since. Once i get money, i want to get my nails done. I would like acrylic and once they get to a good length, id do a biab. Its been one of my goals for a while and is something id really like to achive.

The other thing is just the weekly showers. keeping on top of things like eybrows, skincare, shaving ect. But i already do all that now so im not too bothered about that.

FIRST APPEARANCES

My wardrobe will be fixed and idgaf what anyone says. I have a specific image for myself and i will be her. Again, money. Once i get a job, id like to be steadily growing my wardrobe, buying a few peices at a time, until i have all i need to create good outfits. Accessories too. They tend to really MAKE the outfit.

SECOND THING - tattoos and piercings. I just got my nose done and love it. i want:

Septum

Eyebrow

Tongue

^ These are definites. I also want my ears absolutely stacked. But designed in a way that i can gradually get them without any of them looking odd. I also like the idea of a vertical labret, but am not fully sure on it, so if i was to get ti, it will be the last one and not until im fully sure.

Tattoos is the other thing. I know i want them. Im gonna be 18 soon and getting them. I have a few ideas floating around and most are very meaningful. My whole thing is what style i want. Cause once i get my first one in a specific style, theres no turning back. Ive been thinking and researching and it will be brought up again in the future.

Thats really all i can think of looks wise. Weight and fitness is technically part of looks but i wanna categorise it in mental wellbeing.

Im tired now and going to bed. Ill post pt 2 tmr.