Izzynterview: Katie Barnett

I'm super duper excited to share today's video/post because it's about my very first collab on YouTube. Ever since I started YouTube I've met so many wonderful people who I'd love to give recognition to, as a thank you to all the lovely support they've given me. 

In case you're wondering, "Izzynterview" is a combination of the words "Izzy" and "interview" because that's what this collab series will be. Every month I'll be interviewing a youtuber (all though I think I'll be upping it to 3 youtubers per video to support more people) and we'll both think of questions and answer them in our own videos. I'm trying to do this as fair as possible, starting with the people that I promised literally ages ago that I'd do a collab with them. 

Here's the video explaining what I'm doing about collabs

For today's Izzynterview I've collabed with the absolutely gorgeous, wonderful Katie Barnett. She's most definitely one of my best friends here on youtube and I'd definitely class her as a real life friend too because the banter we have is off the scale! 

I hope you enjoy my version of the collab

She makes amazing videos including: makeup tutorials, reaction videos, vlogs and much much more. I can't even stress to you how lovely she is as a person and she is honestly such an hilarious person. She could literally make a video about toilet paper and she'd still have me in absolute stitches about it. Please check out her amazing, amazing channel if you haven't already!

So I hope you like the idea of my collab series, I'm really trying my best to do it as fairly as possible and I'm seriously gutted that I won't be able to get round everyone that I want to collab with. The song of the day is Wake Up by The Vamps because when this song came out, I tweeted about it and Katie replied and that's when the true banter kicked off! I hope you enjoy watching, 

Izzy K xxx

Reacting To My Old Facebook Pictures

Ever since I first saw these types of videos I was like yassss I totally have to try that myself. It just sounded like so much fun to do. 

I got Facebook in 2011, which let's face it, was an embarrassing year for most people. I don't really go on Facebook anymore, because every time I log on I get reminded of my awkward 12 year old stage. I mean who wants to be reminded of that? 

Little background information about what I was like in 2011. I was basically the most embarrassing/cringiest person you could ever imagine. Like seriously that's no exaggeration. I know that when you're 12 everyone is really awkward, but I'm pretty sure I even managed to stand out amongst my peers. 

So in summary I think I win at having the worst Facebook profile pictures in existence. Honestly, the worst. And not to mention some of them are pretty random. I'm kinda regretting my life decision, of choosing to use these photos to present myself in front of my friends, family and fellow peers on the world of Facebook.

I hope you enjoy laughing at my misery whilst I react to my old photos. The song of the day is Touch And Go by Ed Sheeran. Thanks for watching/reading :)

Izzy K xxx

18 Things I've Learned In 18 Years

As I'm posting this, on the 14th of January, it is my 18th birthday. You can probably guess that I'm very excited for this birthday because it's a huge milestone.

So as of today I am legally (but not mentally) an adult. Scary times eh? Like, am I gonna be expected to make responsible decisions now? Because I sure hope not! But in all seriousness, I am really excited to be 18, but it still doesn't feel real that I'm a grown up now haha. 

In this video I decided to share 18 things that I've learned in 18 years. They are a mixture of sensible and silly life lessons, but I feel like all of them are "izzyish" and personal to me. But with that said I still hope they are relatable to anyone watching, because after all, that's why I made the video. 

Here is my very first video of being an adult!

Today I would usually have had a full day of lessons, but my 1st Chemistry lesson got cancelled and they school day had been cut short anyway today so I could come home at 2:15. I must say that I've been well and truly spoiled today by my friends and family, for which I couldn't be more grateful for. My family got me a lovely new camera which I'll be using to film my videos on, as well as a fair bit of money that they've been saving up for me since I was little. 

My friends were absolute baes too! My friend Emma baked me mini GingerbrEaD Sheerans because I'm a huge fangirl. They also chipped together to buy me lovely things from lush and Sephora (yes they were able to get things from America for my birthday I can't believe the effort they put into the present). I've received such lovely gifts and I'm well and truly so thankful for absolutely everyone that's made my day so special. Thank you for all the birthday wishes, the presents, and just generally making my 18th birthday a very special one. I don't know what I've done to deserve such great real life, and also internet friends, thank you soooooooooo much! :)

Thank you so much for reading my little post here about my 18th Birthday, I hope you enjoy the video too. I actually have two songs of the day because I simply couldn't choose between 18 by One Direction and 18 by 5SOS because let's face it, they're both amazing songs. And very relevant of course. I hope you all enjoy today too, even if it's not your birthday lol,

Izzy K xxx

The "I'm Trying And Here's Why" Tag

I feel like this  is a stressful time for everyone, and we're all just expected to get on with it even though it can be difficult. So I created this tag just in case anyone else out there feels like me, where they're trying hard but no one seems to notice and still expects more from you. This tag is to spread positivity and help people admit to themselves that they do actually work hard. 

I feel like this gif summarizes my life perfectly at the moment

I think we all have those times where we try to not make a big deal out of things on the outside, but on the inside we're like OMG DOES NO ONE REALIZE HOW HARD I'M ACTUALLY TRYING RIGHT NOW?! Well... at least I do.

If you watched my new years resolution video, you'll know that one of my goals this year is to build up my confidence. To do that I really feel like I have to stand up for myself a bit more, because I feel like I'm not really explaining myself enough to people. I'm certain that most people in my life think I don't put any effort into anything, and to be honest from the outside it probably does seem like that. However, believe me when I say, that I'm trying my hardest at everything. But when you try hard at lots of things, you don't actually go far with any of them because you just get exhausted. I'm sick and tired of feeling like all I do is work, but it not paying off in any way, shape or form. So here is my little explanation that I actually do try and care about the things that go on in my life.

The Rules Of The Tag:

The aim of the tag is to give yourself credit where credit is due, especially if you feel your hard work is being taken for granted.The rules of the tag are quite simple. Basically all you need to do is write down a list of things that you try really hard at, and explain why they take a lot of effort to accomplish. Don't worry about sounding cocky or like you're exaggerating, just say how you feel and let it out. Explain your efforts to the world because it's about time that we praise ourselves for our hard work.

Here are my personal reasons why I try hard on a daily basis:

• I'm studying for my A levels- Going to 6th form is the worst decision I ever made because it takes up every minute of my life. Even if I'm not doing 6th form work, I'm stressing about the fact I'm not doing work. I literally get hours of homework every day and on top of that I try to go over my notes and revise all my subjects throughout the week. So I'd say that I put more than enough effort into my 3 core A Levels which are Chemistry, Psychology and RE. 

• I do an additional A level- On top of my 3 A Levels I'm doing German on the side. I have a couple meetings with my teacher every now and then, and once a week I spend an hour talking to a German assistant, but other than that I'm pretty much doing this A Level in my "spare time" since I don't do the actual lessons. And it's still somehow my best subject. 

• Retaking exams- On top of the A2 exams that I'll be working on this year, I'm also resitting 2 Chemistry exams and 1 RE exam from last year. The amount of work I'll have to do for all my subjects is riduculous but I'm determined to do well this year. 

• Youtubing- The thing I enjoy most in life is running my youtube channel and interacting with other youtubers. The videos themselves take at least 10 hours a week to make, from planning the video, getting ready to film, to actually filming, editing, uploading, making the thumbnail etc. And then on top of that I try to reply to every comment on a video, as well as support other creators on their videos and on my shoutout twitter. It's very time consuming but it's totally worth it because my channel is the only think keeping me sane at the moment haha. 

• Blogging- Even though I make videos, I really don't want to let my blogging slip. I've made it a new years resolution of mine to put more effort into my blog and I'm gonna try to post once or twice a week on this blog and once a week on Izzy K: Reviews and More. Again, writing blog posts takes me ages but but it's something that I enjoy and don't want to give up. And I also try to read as many other blogs as I can during the week, especially from my lovelies over at Beau Bloggers. 

• Dance- Now this is really something that I don't have time for anymore, but I have to continue until March because we're working towards things in my class and it would be unfair to let everyone down by quitting. I probably spend too much time there because my dance school is the other side of town so it takes me 1/2 hour to get there, and then I'm there from 9.30 to 12 on a Saturday morning and then from 6-7.30ish on a Monday afternoon. And on every other Monday, I finish 6th form late and have to go straight to Dance, meaning I have no time at all to do homework on that day. That's not really time that I can afford to have off from studying but as I said, it's an awkward point at the moment so I can't quit. 

• Karate- I've been doing Karate since I was 7 and it is really something that I enjoy. Again I don't have time for it because it takes up my entire Sunday mornings, but I try to make it as often as I can regardless. 

• Driving Lessons- Although this is only 1 hour a week at the moment, I'm gonna try and get more lessons off my parents just so I can improve faster. And then I'll have to spend time learning for my theory test, but I really don't know when I'll next have a spare minute to do that. 

• See family and friends and try to have something that resembles a social life- Most of my family doesn't realise that doing 4 A Levels = having no social life. I'm still expected to see family as regularly as possible, and when they ask me what I've been doing and I reply "homework" they tell me to get out more. I seriously think some people think I do 6th form work for fun and haven't quite grasped the fact that there is so much bloody work to do for it. 

• Try to sort out what I'm doing after 6th form- As well as doing all this and focusing on 6th form, I'm also expected to look into unis/what I'm doing after A Levels. I haven't had a clear head for a while which makes making decisions about what to do for the rest of my life rather difficult. As of now I have no idea what to do when I finish my exams, which means I'll have to spend time working that out. Time that I simply don't have. 

I'm not saying I'm working harder than anyone else, I'm just saying that the amount I do is personally overwhelming for me. I just wanted to use this post as an explanation for why I'm trying to cut down on the amount of things I commit to, because I really can't take on board any more. I understand that everyone is busy in their own lives, and this is just what I get up to in my own. 

I tag all the Beau Bloggers to do this so if you're in that wonderful blogging community consider yourself officially tagged by me. I'm gonna specifically tag a few people just to get the ball rolling with this tag, so they can write their own if they like, but please remember that you're all welcome to write your own. 

Some of the lovely bloggers I tag are:

• Georgie
• Lauren
• Harel
• Lou
• Elise
• Kim
• Rainbow
• Cara
• Catherine
• Professional Daydreamer

I'd love to read your own personal versions of this tag, but even if you are tagged please remember there is no pressure from me to write it if you are busy. It's just a bit of fun to get the things that are stressing you out off your chest. 

The song of the day is Stitches by Shawn Mendes because I've been listening to it far too much over the past week. Do you ever feel like people don't understand that you are indeed working hard, even if it doesn't look like it, or is that just me lol?

Izzy K xxx

My Winter Favourites

Who can believe that it's actually time for another favourites video? At this moment in time, I only make seasonal favourites instead of just monthly favourites, meaning that this is already my 3rd ever favourites video. That seems crazy to me because I feel like I've only just started making these types videos but it's actually been 6 months!

Anyway, here is the actual video itself:

In the video I talk about my favourite skin care, hair, and beauty favourites. And I don't think it's even a spoiler if I say that I talk about a shade by my favourite lipstick brand, Rimmel Kate Moss, but I won't tell you which shade I've been loving this season so I don't give away too much about the video.

But 75% of this video is actually me talking about the music I've been loving. ALL my favourite artists have released music since I filmed my last favourites video, meaning I could not stop myself from blabbering on about what I've been listening to. 

And one certain artist took me by surprise this season so I couldn't resist talking about him in this video. Let's just say I can't... Belieb.... that I've included him in a video! *laughs like crazy at my own joke*

I just want to add that I'm sorry the video looks like it was filmed with a potato. The lighting is just terrible but that's because I had no natural lighting and I filmed this at 7.30am when it was still dark outside. You can tell I'm #dedicated to youtube when I get up at that time in my holidays to film videos before my family is up!

So that was my very first video of 2016 I hope you enjoy watching. I promise that throughout the year my video quality will improve and be less potato-ish. In fact I'm saving up for youtube equipment. The song of the day is Lay It All On Me by Ed Sheeran because it's been one of my faves this season. Let me know what you've been loving this season,

Izzy K xxx

New Year, New Blog

Let's just start of by saying how crazy is it that it's actually the new year. Like how is it 2016 already?

Here's my 1st selfie of the year. 

It's me chilling with my sister's cardboard cut out of 

James McVey from the Vamps cus why not?!

I started of the new year by celebrating with friends at my house and it was a really fun night. We watched high school musical which makes it hard to believe that we're all turning 18 this year, but let's face it you're never too old for that film. I truly hope you all had amazing celebrations too and were able to see your loved ones. I hope 2016 is the best year you guys have ever had!

Now onto the more obvious thing, you may have already noticed that I've completely changed my blog theme, both on this one and Izzy K: Reviews & More. I wasn't happy with my old one because I felt like it looked a bit tacky so I wanted something professional looking so I could be proud of it. I'm definitely more happier with the way this one looks.

However, I still feel like it's a little boring looking. I'd absolutely love to hear your honest opinions on my new design. I'm probably gonna change the theme another million times this year, but I'm gonna try this one out first. I've used the default blogger themes to design this so if you have any free blogger template design website recommendations I'd absolutely love to hear them.

I'm really hoping to work hard on my blog this year and grow it into something that I'm truly proud of. I'm also looking forward to seeing what my fellow bloggers post this year, I know they'll continue to impress me. So here's to blogging success in 2016 *cheers*

I don't have a song of the day because it's just a soundtrack of the day instead, and that would be all the songs from The Sound Of Music, because I've been watching it all afternoon and forgot how good it was. Happy New Year everyone! 

Izzy K xxx

A Summary Of 2015

How crazy is it that tomorrow it's already 2016? Let's just let that sink in!

This is probably gonna be a long post so grab a cuppa and we'll get started. Before we move on to the new year let's take a moment to reflect upon the last year. Obviously, each year is completely different for everyone. So I can't really say whether or not 2015 was a good year overall, because I don't know how other people found it.

I personally had a rather good year. Despite stressing like crazy over my A Levels and other things, I did find time in between to do things I love and try new experiences. I've been working on my channel loads more than I expected too and I've really surprised myself with how much I've enjoyed making videos. I also had many wonderful experience such as going to more concerts than I've ever been to in a year and having a couple of day trips around the country here and there. 

Around the world, the news this year has been fairly mixed. There's been wonderful news such as the birth of Princess Charlotte and also disastrous news about things such as Paris a few weeks ago. But I think 2015 has taught us to keep being positive, no matter what obstacles life throws at us. 

And if you're a Directioner like me you will know it's been quite the year for One Direction. Half the things that were happening just hurt to watch including Louis' baby (?), Zayn leaving, the whole Naughty Boy thing. Well let's just say no more because I can't handle the emotions of it all anymore. 

Since reminiscing is one of my favourite things to do, I've kept a record of the exciting things that have happened to me. Some I have written about on my blog already (if so you can click on the purple writing to read more about it) and other's I'm mentioning for the first time. So here are the highlights of my year:

• January 1st- New Years- It honestly feels like yesterday that we were celebrating New Years eve, and now we're about to do it all over again. I love this time of the year because you really get to reflect on who you are as a person and how to better yourself. It's just so refreshing to feel like you're starting again with things. 

• January 2nd- Applied for the X-factor- I don't think I mentioned this one on here, but on the second of Jan this year we were sitting at the table with family friends when the topic of the X-factor came up. I decided there and then that I would apply (baring in mind I can't sing at all!) just for the lols. I decided not to go to the audition after all when my mum discouraged, strongly discouraged me from going.  

• January 14th- My 17th Birthday- I was honestly so spoiled this year for my birthday and I became the "dancing queen" as I turned 17. I still can't believe the wonderful day I had, and I truly think it was the best birthday I've ever had. 

Celebrating my birthday with my lovely friends in 6th form

• January 17th- Musical Bethan Gig- This year I met a youtuber I've been watching for a really long time, Bethan Leadley. I truly love her music and her videos and she was so lovely and hugged me like 5 time when I met her. Whilst we were there we also met Dodie Clark, who was just filled with personality and simply adorable. I had the most amazing day listening to beautiful music and meeting youtubers. 

Me and Bethan

Me and Dodie

• January 21st- Told My Mum About My Youtube Channel- It's completely crazy for me to think that this time last year, my family didn't really know about my channel. I was so nervous about telling my parents, because they really didn't get the whole youtube thing at all. But to my surprise my mum is so on board with it all and checks my youtube stats more often than I do!

• January 28th- My 1st Blogging Anniversary- Crazy times man! I've been blogging for well over a year. At first, I was expecting to only write one post and get bored of blogging straight away, but from the moment I hit "publish" for the first time I became addicted to blogging. 

• February 14th- Got My Seconds Pierced- Me and Georgie decided to get a second piercing done in our ear lobes. I think I've probably mentioned before that I love piercings so this was pretty exciting for me. And then we skyped whilst watching the film "teeth" on Netflix at the same time. It's so shockingly bad which just makes it even more fun to watch. 

• February 21st- Reached 10 Subscribers- This was a huge deal to me because I never thought that more than 10 people would ever watch my videos. It really started to hit me around 10 subs in that "wow people have actually watched what I'm doing". 

• March 17th- Told My Family About My Blog- I can't believe I waited over a year to tell my family about my blog, but it was just such a random hobby for me to have because I used to hate reading and writing. So I never really knew how to tell them that I do this but they enjoy what I post which is cool (or at least that's what they tell me!)

• March 28th- McBusted Concert- In case you didn't know, MCFLY AND BUSTED ARE THE BANDS OF MY CHILDHOOD! I literally cried when I found out I was seeing them live and the nostalgia from when I was about 5 hit me hard during their show. 

• April 1st- Started Driving- I hadn't officially started driving lessons, but this was the first day that my mum took me driving around a car park. Needless to say, I still need a bit of practice before I can take my test...

• April 28th- Olly Murs Concert- Exactly a month after seeing McBusted, I was heading off to the same arena to see Olly Murs. He's truly such an amazing performer and I 10/10 recommend him to anyone who wants to see a good show. 

• April 29th- 50 Followers On Bloglovin- I remember seeing that 50 people were reading my blog and I couldn't believe that people actually cared enough to follow. 

• June 5th- 5 Seconds Of Summer Concert- 5sos are one of those bands who are born performers. I think I speak on behalf of everyone there when I say they put on an incredible show. I also remember that this was the busiest, loudest concert I'd ever been to. 

• June 29th- 100 Subscribers- Around this time I started realizing that, wow, people really are watching the content that I post on the internet. I'm still not over the fact that over 100 people watch my videos. 

• July 4th- 50 Beau Bloggers- The wonderful blogging community that I'm a part of, reached 50 members. They are truly such amazing bloggers and new members are always welcome. I'm so proud to be part of such an amazing community of talented people :)

• July 8th- Met Sprinkle Of Glitter- I've been watching Louise for years so it was an absolute dream come true meeting her. She's gorgeous in real life too and Darcy was with her at her book signing and she was so adorable. 

• July 15th- 100 Followers On Bloglovin- I'm still so grateful for anyone that's following me and made it possible for me to have 100 followers!

• July 22nd- Germany Holiday- Every year me and my family go to visit more of my family in Germany. We spent 3 weeks there this year and had the most amazing time ever. 

• August 28th- Signed Network Deal With Outspeak- I was contacted by a youtube network who asked me to join them and I was absolutely honored too. They've honestly helped me when it comes to youtube questions I have. 

• August 29th- Got My First Dislike On A Video- You might be like Izzy why would you include this in your highlights post? Well I still find it hilarious because I clearly annoyed someone with my cheesy sense of humour, and I LOVE annoying people it's so fun! And I'm not gonna take it personally because I'm still pretty chuffed with the fact I almost made it 2 years on youtube without a dislike!

• October 11th- One Direction Vlog- This was one of the best concerts of my life and I still can't get over the fact it might be the last one of their's I'll see for a while :( They are just gorgeous human beings that deserve all the success they've had. 

• October 25th- The Amazing Tour Is Not On Fire- Me and two of my lovely friends when to see Dan and Phil live and their whole show was just hilarious. I look up to their videos like crazy so it was an honor seeing them in person. 

• November 8th- Radio 1 Teen Awards- I can't believe I had the life experience to spend the day in London whilst watching some of my favourite acts in the world perform/present. I'm glad I went this year because I'll never be allowed to go again because I'll be too old. 

• November 11th- 2nd Youtube Anniversary- Still can't believe I've been on youtube for 2 years, I still feel like a newbie with the whole thing. My experience on youtube has been 100x better than I thought it would be, and I thought being a youtuber would be amazing in the first place! 

• December 1st- Started Blogmas- Blogmas is one of my favourite times of year because I always have so many thoughts to pour out onto my blog during winter. It went by faster this year. 

• December 22nd- Reached 1000 subscribers- This is basically my dream come true, my dream has come true! I don't think I'll ever believe that it's happened and thank you so much for anyone that made it possible by subscribing :)

• December 25th- Christmas- This is my favourite day of the year and I never get over the wonderful celebrations of the day. I'm so eternally grateful that I've always been lucky enough to have great Christmases. 

• December 31st- New Years- Aaaaannnnd that brings us to today. The very last day of the year and that's absolutely crazy to say! I'm spending the day with my family, and the evening with a few of my friends. I'm already looking forward to the celebrations and to watching the London fireworks on TV!

So that was a summary of 2015 for me. I'm still not over how quickly it just flew by, but I'm glad I have made so many memories to look back on. I have no idea what 2016 awaits for me. Literally no idea since I have 0 plans for after I finish my A Levels. I should probably get thinking on what I'm gonna do but that's a problem for another day!

I hope that you all celebrate safely tonight and that you have the most wonderful evening. I also hope more than anything that 2016 treats you all well and that all your dreams and desires come true this year. The song of the day is Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift, because this year really has been beyond my wildest dreams! Happy new year to you all!

Izzy K xxx