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Inspiration

Category: Inspiration

5 Motivational Newsletters for Women

General, Inspiration

Happy New Year!

As we’re all starting to get back into our normal routine, I thought that it would be great to keep up the motivation  for the rest of the year with a list of 5 motivational newsletters for women, so that all you ladies can achieve your goals for 2018.

5 Motivational Newsletters for Women

1 | Boss Babe – is a lifestyle brand for ambitious millennial women,  full of motivational and entrepreneurial resources to help you with whatever venture you’re interested in pursuing, whether that be a business, a blog, or just in general. The Boss Babe newsletters also provide exclusive news and access to webinars, courses and much more.

 

2 | Idillionaire – is a lifestyle brand and consulting firm dedicated to inner development and ‘spiritual intelligence’ for the mind, body and spirit. If you enjoy spiritual content, then the chances are that you’ve probably come across an Idillionaire quote before. This newsletter is not exclusively for women, but it’s amazing for those of you that are focussing on spiritual growth!

 

3 | Career Girl Daily – This newsletter is full of career, motivational, lifestyle and beauty advice for millennial women. I’ve only discovered this recently and I can’t wait to try out some of their products. I would definitely recommend this to all my fellow bloggers out there.

 

4 | Career Contessa – is a career site built exclusively for women. With expert advice, interviews, and videos, one-on-one mentoring, online skills-based courses and resources. Career Contessa focus on improving women’s careers, supporting professional development of women at work. This is perfect for any advice you need if you’re looking to change jobs, or even careers.

 

5 | Girlboss – How can I not mention Girlboss? Girlboss Media was founded by Sophia Amoruso for women redefining success on their own terms. This newsletter is full of posts about managing your finances, wellbeing, advice on work, beauty and with motivational articles and podcasts.

I hope that this helps you stay motivated all year round. Don’t forget to comment, share and follow.

 

– Sonam x

(For more inspirational posts, click here.)

New Year, Better Me

General, Inspiration

Hi everyone,

I hope you all are well! ☺

As my last post of the year, I thought it only makes sense to talk about this year and the new year.

New Year, Better Me  🎆✨

Every year my social media is full of people that either use the phrase ‘New Year, New Me’  or complain about the phrase. In all honesty, the phrase does bother me at times, one because we (obviously) remain the same person, it’s the feeling behind the phrase that bothers me the most. Though the phrase is meant to be positive, it seems to carry a heavy feeling with it, most of which seems like it’s full of self-loathing rather than wanting to improve – I’m not sure if I’m the only person that feels this way, you may disagree with me and that’s okay.

I think it’s about time that we show more love for ourselves and embrace who we are, any improvements that we’d like to make for ourselves should be practical and always make sure that self-love is at the centre of whatever we do in 2018.

Goodbye 2017 & Hello 2018.

On a personal level, 2017 has been full of lessons, and blessings and I cannot wait to grow and develop more as a person in 2018. This year Kind Culture hit new milestones, and I have many ideas that I am eager to share with you all in the next couple of months. 2017 has been a good year for the blog I’ve met so many fabulous fellow bloggers, collaborated with brands and companies,  I’m confident that 2018 will be another amazing year and that I’ll be able to take my blog to new heights. I hope you all have just as much success in whatever aspect you need to grow in – so here’s to a New Year and a better me! ☺ ✨

Happy New Years in advanced from me, I hope you all have a fun and safe time.

Lots of love from Sonam x

(P.S. Click on the image below to read my latest review on a great journal to help start your year off with posivity and productivity!) 

MYnd Map MY Journal Review

General, Inspiration, Reviews

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

Earlier this year I tested and promoted the Kickstarter campaign for the 21 day trial version of the MYnd Map My Journal. Over the past three months, I’ve been using the journal to help me achieve some of my goals and keep track of my ideas.

What about the journal…

MYnd Map MY Journal was founded by Rosemary. The journal encourages and inspires you to stay on track with your dreams, goals and commitments. Helping you practice different methods of mindfulness and productivity – in short takes the concept of connecting your goals to make it a reality.

Personally, I like that the journal includes techniques to improve productivity e.g. the 80/20 rule. There are also daily affirmations and positive psychology practices; giving the journal a holistic approach to planning.

Review

Initial thoughts

At first, I loved that everything was like a blank canvas for me to fill in, there was so much to do with this journal to make my own. Every week begins with an intentions table where you can fill in your small goals for the week from  ‘Body & Health’ to ‘Personal & Spiritual’. The whole journal is perforated so I was able to take rip off the page and pin it up on my desk as a reminder during the week. Towards the end of the week, I enjoyed taking time to write my reflections of the week, especially on how happy I was during the week activity. Filling out the journal has also given me the chance to spend more time introspecting, even if it’s for 5 minutes. It’s definitely very therapeutic for me.

After one month… (October)

My productivity had significantly improved. Writing down and physically making note of everything allowed me to remember what I needed to get done. In this past month, I have managed to achieve my goals that I had set for my blog, making a note of what I did on a daily basis also improved the way I went about setting targets for the week. I have thoroughly enjoyed colouring in, it’s given me the chance to just sit down and spend time being in the moment. I also felt that way when I was filling out the daily journal pages.

After two months… (November)

November has been quite productive for me. I achieved my blog and spiritual goals. I particularly enjoyed the quotes that were on the daily pages for this week, now that I have gotten used to using the journal I feel like I’m able to concentrate on following my goals.  The visual tools are brilliant for the days that I didn’t feel like writing much.

The last month  (December)

Coming towards the end of the journal now and the festive season, I decided to focus more on my spiritual growth. Although I haven’t had much time for my blog this month, I felt that I still had quite a few good ideas that I noted down while I was ill. The end of the week recaps were a great way to help me realise what my next steps needed to be, what I should take away from the week and celebrate.

Overall, I feel that this has certainly made a difference to my motivation. This journal is definitely helping me end the year on a positive note and starting the new year full of motivation.

The complete MYnd Map – MY Journal is available to buy online. Click here to see the full range.

Don’t forget to comment, share and follow.

 

– Sonam x

(For more inspirational posts, click here.)

The Girlboss Workbook Review

General, Inspiration, Reviews

Happy Sunday everyone! ♥

In the past month or so, I’ve been able to achieve some of my blogging goals, from sending out e-newsletters, to achieving milestones with my social media following and page views.

The most important goal that I am focussing more on is finding a stable job – during my time at university I had gotten so comfortable with unsteady jobs that it kind of became the norm for me. After graduating university, I began to realise that I need to find a stable job, and that lack of stability has made me a little anxious.

To help work on my career goals, I’ve looked towards inspirational women like Sophia Amoruso, a woman that owns everything she does and is no stranger to failures. Earlier on this year, I read her book ‘#GIRLBOSS’ and I was amazed at how honest she was about her journey. Which is why I had to buy ‘The Girlboss Workbook’.

Review

One thing that I really enjoyed about the workbook is that is has the same bold tone as the #GIRLBOSS book. But  this time round it’s not about Amoruso’s personal and career growth, but rather focussing on your own! As written on the cover, the workbook is an interactive journal full of personality with activities, advice and space to list your goals in life. I particularly enjoyed the drawing activities as it gives you a chance to let go and be creative with your approach to your career, self-perception and relationships.

There is a mix of advice, checklists and templates for networking and personal branding which brings out your entrepreneurial spirit even if you’re not planning to run your own business.

Personally, I found this workbook to be very inspiring and empowering. It gives practical advice to help you grow in life and encourages you to get involved causes that are close to your heart. With action points of what you want to do to help – there’s so much to write and draw about in the workbook.

There are also self-care reminders, and evaluation activities that help you address any negative aspects about yourself, or life, encouraging you to reflect on, and improve those negative aspects. So not only are you improving yourself, but are also continuing to do the things you love while becoming a #GIRLBOSS in your own right.

Overall, this is a brilliant workbook for someone who’s starting out their career or looking to change careers that needs a fun, yet productive, way to start off. I pre-ordered the workbook for £8.31 from Amazon, I have an Amazon Prime account so I got it cheaper compared to other websites that sell the book.

Get your own copy of the Girlboss Workbook here. Don’t forget to comment, share and follow.

Happy Bonfire Night to everyone in the U.K 🎆🎇✨

 

– Sonam x

(For more inspirational posts, click here.)

How Not To Cope With The Monday Blues

General, Inspiration

Hi everyone, ☺

I hope that the beginning of your week is going well. And if it hasn’t gone well, then is post is definitely for you!

Monday is almost everyone’s least favourite day of the week. It’s the day that you have to return to work after a nice weekend break, it’s the first of five days of waking up early – just thinking about it makes you yawn. Unlike Mondays, Fridays are that breath of fresh air where you are full of energy to do whatever you want on your two days off, and wish that the weekend was more than two days because Mondays always gives you that ‘I just can’t’ feeling. Everyone lives for that Friday feeling, but we all hate the Monday blues. And to top it off there’s always that one person who always seems to have that Friday feeling even on a Monday, ever wonder what their approach is to not cope with their Monday blues?

How Not To Cope With The Monday Blues

We can handle Monday’s in two ways; the right way, and the wrong way. The right way is to just take it in your stride and try to make the best out of a bad situation. Keep telling yourself it’s just one day and it will be over before you know it. I like to fill my Monday’s full of different tasks, so I’m too busy to even notice the time fly by. You should approach the day filled with positivity and try to find a few reasons to smile and be happy because it’s Monday. Perhaps you give yourself a special breakfast on Monday to cheer you up? That’s something to look forward to and get you up in the morning!

There are loads of right ways you can cope with the Monday blues, but I want to talk about how not to cope with this feeling. Why? Because the wrong way can set you up with a really bad week that gets considerably worse every day. Lingering negative thoughts can grow, and you end up in a depressed state all because of one day of the week.

So, what shouldn’t you do to cope with the Monday blues?

First off, don’t smoke away the pain. This is something I see all too often from co-workers or random people on the street. People use cigarettes as a smoke screen whenever they’re feeling down or stressed. For most people, they’re at their most stressed on Monday mornings as they go back to work and deal with any work that built up over the weekend. They smoke and smoke, thinking it will relax them, but it just makes things worse. The Monday blues turn into the Tuesday troubles, then the Wednesday woes, and so on. Smoking doesn’t make things better, it’ll just make your stress worse. You develop addictive tendencies, become dependent on cigarettes, and wreak havoc on your physical/mental health. If you’ve been using cigarettes as a crutch every Monday morning, then you need to stop. There are campaigns nowadays to help you stop smoking through your local pharmacy, so it’s easy to get help. Don’t set your whole week on a course for distress by smoking to hide your Monday blues, It’ll never work and will just kick start an addiction.

What else should you avoid doing to cope with your Monday blues?

Well, you should also avoid binge eating to make yourself feel better. I know, I said you could give yourself a special breakfast as a treat to look forward to. But, there’s a difference between maybe eating pancakes or a cooked breakfast, and eating loads of bad food during the day. Their excuse is ‘but it’s Monday’ as if they need this food to survive. In reality, you’re just feeding that depressed state you may be feeling on Monday morning. You start to feel bad because you ate loads of dirty food, and it sets your week on the wrong path. Binge eating will only help you get fatter, not happier.

 

Is that it?

Not just yet. I want to end this post on by saying that you should try to avoid any kind of destructive behaviour when you’re feeling down on a Monday. Yes, it can be a very stressful day, and a lot of people can suffer on Monday mornings. But, destructive behaviour like smoking or binge eating will only accentuate these feelings of stress. Get your week off on a bad foot and it becomes very easy for every other day to fall like a set of dominos. 

So, if you wake up with a feeling of dread every Monday morning, don’t let it get to you. Approach the day with a smile on your face and try to pick out the positives wherever possible. This helps you set yourself up for a more positive week that leads to a healthier body and mind.

I hope you all enjoyed this contribed post on ‘How Not To Cope With The Monday Blues’! ☺♥

Fenty Beauty

Beauty, General, Inspiration, Makeup

Happy Sunday everyone!

I hope you all have been well.

All my beauty lovers will already know about the launch of Rihanna’s beauty range earlier this week, frankly I can’t stop gushing over the products already. One thing that stood out in particular, was that the foundation range has 40 shades making Fenty Beauty one of the most inclusive makeup brands, ever.

As someone who has known many young girls and women that have struggled with finding the correct foundation shade for their skin tone, Rihanna’s range seems to be a breath of fresh air that the beauty industry needed. I’ve seen first hand that the problem is not just skin-deep but it’s the sense of being marginalised by mainstream beauty brands which has been going on for longer than it really should have. It’s such a shame that mainstream beauty brands have only started to become more inclusive in recent years.

What’s worse is the fact that for a long time, not only have women had to choose from a limited range of shades but they have also been shamed for wearing the wrong shade

“Fenty Beauty was created for everyone: for women of all shades, personalities, attitudes, cultures and races. I wanted everyone to feel included. That’s the real reason I made this line.” – Rihanna

Is Fenty Beauty cruelty-free?

Kendo, the ‘brand incubator’ and parent company of Fenty Beauty, also manage cruelty-free brands like Marc Jacobs and Kat Von D. The beauty range is cruelty-free, but it is yet to be independently verified by PETA, Cruelty-free International etc.

“POPSUGAR reached out to BOLD PR, the agency that represents Kendo Brands and Fenty Beauty, and a rep told us that Fenty Beauty is cruelty-free and it is not available in or to ship to China. So there you have it!” – Popsugar

Fenty Beauty seems to be a truly bold and revolutionary brand – much like Rihanna herself! (I can’t wait to try out her products.) From addressing the need to fund education across the world, to making makeup more inclusive Rihanna is a true inspiration. ♥

The Fenty Beauty range is available to buy here in the U.K exclusively at Harvey Nichols.

 

Tampon Tax

General, Inspiration

Happy Sunday everyone! ☺

I hope you all have had a lovely week. This weeks source of inspiration comes from Laura Coryton’s ‘Stop Taxing Periods’ campaign and the changes made to end the Tampon Tax.

What is the Tampon Tax all about?

In the last few months you’ve probably heard the phrases ‘Tampon Tax’ and ‘Period Poverty’ been used in the news in different parts of the world but how did this movement begin? Here in the U.K, Laura Coryton started the modern-day feminist movement by creating a petition on Change.org pointing out that the tax on tampons are “illogical and sexist” given the fact that “crocodile steaks are considered essential enough to escape tax altogether.”

Why are tampons being taxed in the first place?

Tampons, and other feminine sanitary products alike, are taxed in the U.K because of the restrictions put by the EU law. Initally, when the U.K government had become a part of the European Union tampons were taxed at 17.5%, and was eventually reduced to 5% in the year 2000.

If we were still a part of the EU, the process to scrap the Tampon Tax would require the vote of the other 27 states.

Recent Changes

But last year in March, MP Paula Sherriff proposed the tampon-tax-ending amendment, which Parliament had accepted but unfortunately won’t be followed through until April 2018. Not only are Parliament (finally) supporting the cause, but supermarkets like Tesco and Waitrose are also showing their support by pledging to drop the price of their period products by 5%. So when you go to shop at Tesco or Waitrose the tax on tampons, sanitary pads and panty liners will already be paid for! ☺

It’s so inspiring to see how one person can encourage others to be proactive and ensure that change is followed through.

What can I do?

The fact that we still have to protest and campaign for our basic needs as women still shows the dismissive attitude that politics have had towards womens rights, but thankfully we are taking steps in the right direction. As I’ve mentioned before, the government are looking to implement the tampon-tax-ending amendment in April 2018, but for now you can still make changes by signing the petition that I’ve embedded below to get supermarkets like Sainsbury, Morrisons and Asda to pay the Tampon Tax.

2 Year Blogiversary

General, Inspiration

Happy Sunday everyone! ☺

I hope you’ve had a lovely week. Can you believe it’s my 2 Year Blogiversary?! 🎂🎉💃🏽 I can’t believe that it’s been two years since I created Kind Culture.

There is so much more that I would like to achieve and do with this blog, and personally I’m so proud of how far along I have come from being a complete newbie to steadily learning about cruelty-free and vegan products, sustainability, fashion and all the technical aspects that come with blogging.

Blogging has taught me a lot about juggling many different things in one go, from personal issues to work commitments and so on, despite taking breaks in between I feel like I have done okay so far. I think it’s important to celebrate these kind of milestones, even if others may consider it to be small, celebrating your achievements can have such a positive effect on everything you do in general.

I’m so grateful for all of the opportunities that I’ve had through Kind Culture and all of the lovely people that I’ve had the opportunities to work with. Through Kind Culture I’ve managed to be a part of an online community of people that are so supportive and motivating – I honestly feel so blessed!

Thank you for all of your love and support ♥

(Cupcake time >.< haha)

Forever Against Animal Testing

Bath & Body, General, Inspiration, Reviews, Skincare

Hello everyone!

Happy Sunday – I hope you all had a lovely weekend. ☺

Some of you may have already seen the Forever Against Animal Testing campaign that Cruelty Free International and The Body Shop have created to put an end to cosmetics testing on animals on a global scale.

Ban Animal Testing

Animal testing remains a problem around the world, with over 80% of countries still having no laws against testing
in cosmetic products and ingredients. Despite the fact that reliable alternatives are available, millions of animals
continue to suffer. Cruelty Free International estimates that more than 500,000 animals are used worldwide in
cosmetics testing each year.

The Body Shop and Cruelty Free International’s new campaign Forever Against Animal Testing is calling
for a ban on animal testing in cosmetic products and ingredients, everywhere and forever, through
a United Nations International Convention. It is the most ambitious campaign ever against animal testing
in cosmetics, hoping to achieve 8 million signatures. We want to stop all cosmetic animal testing of ingredients
and products, everywhere and forever.

Quick review

Those of you that follow me on my social media accounts will have seen that I have posted and shared the petition to try and get more people involved and I’d like to thank the lovely people from the The Body Shop PR team for sending me a Special Edition Piñita Colada Body Butter with a custom Forever Against Animal Testing sticker on there. I’ve been using the Special Edition Piñita Colada Body Butter for the past few days and I am loving it! It smells like a fresh bottle of tropical juice (lol). The body butter is quite a lightweight cream that works well with the summer with the intense weather that we’ve been having here lately. It’s definitely worth getting before they all go! ☺

As someone who is passionate about the Cruelty-free movement, I feel that it’s important to not only support campaigns like this but to also support the brands that are actively making more and more cruelty-free and vegan products like The Body Shop. Together, we can inspire change in the simplest of ways, so please help us end cosmetic testing on animals by signing the Forever Against Animal Testing petition by Cruelty Free International & The Body Shop. ♥

Don’t forget to share this post and spread the word! To sign the petition click here! (The petition ends in 2018)

– Sonam

P.S: Click here for more skincare posts.