$2.99 Per Month to Keep Up With The Kardashians? Umm... No Thanks

Firstly, I will admit one thing. While I used to be one of those people who constantly complain about how the Kardashians' represent fame without talent, in the past six months I have drastically changed my tune. Despite how much everybody loves to put them down for 'accomplishing nothing important', they do in fact have a talent. Besides their own individual talents, their collective talent is being successful businesswomen, establishing a brand for themselves and providing people with entertainment. Whether you like it or not, there's no denying that the Kardashian clan generates public interest and I personally think that is a talent within itself. We could sit here and argue about how 'beneficial' said talent is to the state of the world, but I for one have learned that it's not only futile, but detrimental, to waste time attempting to undermine their family's success.  So yep, I admit that I am an avid watcher of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. After many years of expressing my dislike for their family, probably just because it was the 'cool' thing to do, I now even follow the Jenner sisters on Instagram and get excited every time I spot Kendall in the newest fashion campaign.

Despite my new-found love for the Kardashians, I have to say that I am not best pleased with their newest business venture - personalised apps/websites for each member of the family. While the idea within itself seems great, the problem I have with it is the painful price of $2.99 (£2.29 here in the UK) per month. That might not seem like a lot but if you think about how there will be five separate apps, that's $179 per year. And for what exactly?!  

In the words of the family themselves, 'Kim’s will feature fashion and selfies. Kendall’s will show off her adventures, often shot from a GoPro camera. Kylie is into makeup and her dog, Kourtney focuses on being a mom, and Khloé has a strong bent on fitness.' Umm so basically identical to all the other generic content that many other bloggers/YouTubers publish for free? I don't know about you, but I am not that interested in the Kardashians' daily life to pay for such dull content.

While I agree that creatives should be paid for their work, I really fail to see how it's necessary to make your readers pay just to even VIEW your content. Imagine if all us bloggers started charging people to follow us? Or to click on our websites? It's ridiculous. And even more so coming from a family as wealthy and successful as them. I'm sure they're getting paid billions just to mention companies and drive sales through their shoppable links on the app - do they really need to charge their fans too?

It just seems very strange to me. I guess it's because I'm failing to see their apps/websites as having that much value. Or maybe we're just used to the idea of blogs being put out there for free that it seems weird to have to pay for them? Perhaps the Kardashians are taking a great step by assigning value to bloggers? It's a difficult one. Their mentality may be beneficial to the blogging community in general, but I can't help feeling like it comes across as very greedy and unnecessary on their behalf. 

My verdict? Charge brands/companies to sponsor you BUT don't charge your fans for a subscription which probably won't change their lives in any way. Like, at all. I think the Kardashian game is worth paying for more than this...

What do you think of the Kardashians pricing their apps at $2.99 per month?

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Life Through A New Lens

That title may be a little over-dramatic, but it is true that you don't realise how utterly blind you are until you get new glasses. I'm supposed to have been wearing glasses for the past 15 years but I pretty much stopped wearing them about 6 years ago - whoops. Although I claim that I can see without them (because I can!) it has gotten to the point where I can't read text from far away and I definitely can't drive without them, so it makes sense for me to start wearing them again. Who knows - maybe I can turn it into the next big fashion trend, right?

When I put them on for the first time on Friday it was honestly like switching over to a HD channel. It feels strange because I'm so used to the life of squinting and blurred edges but I reckon I could get used to seeing through this new lens. It is super annoying taking selfies with all that glare though! Sigh... bane of every glasses wearer's life.

What do you think of the glasses I picked out?

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16 Things I Love About Autumn

My favourite season is finally here... I'm so bored of relatively warm weather and am totally wishing for a cool autumn breeze now. Although, I'll probably have something different to say when it actualy gets colder! It may only be the start of September but I'm already mentally anticipating all the amazing features of autumn that are coming up in the months ahead. Who's with me?

1. Crisp weather

2. Crunchy leaves 

3. London Fashion Week

4. Oversized jumpers

5. Wearing earthy tones

6. Fluffy socks

7. Great evening TV (X Factor, Gogglebox, I'm A Celeb...)

8. Dark lipstick

9. Bonfire night

10. Halloween sweets

11. Apricity

12. Onesies

13. Carving pumpkins

14. Warm drinks

15. Bright colours

16. The magical atmosphere

What's your favourite thing about autumn?
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Nina Reads Glamour Mag | October 2015

After last month's monstrosity, I'm pleased to say the least that I didn't find that much to complain about in October's issue of Glamour. It wasn't anything overly *great* but I did laugh out loud at some of the articles and I actually enjoyed browsing through all the gorgeous autumn fashion adverts. Who would've guessed? Keep on reading for a more in-depth run down of the good, bad and ugly parts. Note: poor image quality is a result of me reading/photographing/writing this post during my free period at sixth form (instead of doing my maths homework!)

THE GOOD

Editor's Letter I know we've probably all been guilty of it at some point in our lives, but one thing that really bugs me is seeing people express such a negative attitude about their job. The truth is that you can never achieve anything 'better' until you are grateful for what you already have - so stop complaining and count your blessings in order to bring about change! With the pull-quote "Even the worst jobs can give you great lessons", 'I feel like Jo Elvin's letter is a perfect example of expressing thankfulness for how the places you once were helped get you to where you are today. I did have an image but the quality was so abhorrent that this post is just better off without it.

I just love Karlie Kloss. Even if it is merely a Kate Spade advert. She looks gorgeous and I adore the cute caption underneath this photo - "Even when I'm wearing flats my head still almost touches the clouds!" 

This article was very funny in the sense of 'I am SO glad that wasn't me'. One of my colleagues recently told me the story of how she vomited in a shopping bag on her first day of work (seriously) and I thought that was the most shocking thing ever until I read some of these stories! 

An ENTIRE page of Taylor Swift for me to fan girl over? Yes please. I don't even care that she only ranked 5th on Glamour's best dressed list.

Why I Dislike Competition (But Love Winning)

I know what you're thinking. That post title sounds like a mix between a paradox and the life motto of a sore loser, right? It does initially seem like an absurd statement to make and it actually took me a long time to figure out and comprehend fully myself, but when I did it pretty much felt like a eureka moment and as a result I have more faith in my personal beliefs than ever before. 

As I'm sure most of you are aware, I am a prolific giveaway winner. Multiple times each month I have exciting parcels/tickets delivered to my door and I'm extremely thankful for that. Winning 'stuff' comes so naturally to me now that I've rightly earned the title of 'luckiest person ever' in many people's eyes. So as you can expect, often times people are confused when I tell them that I don't actually participate in what I call 'competition'. Yes, I enter giveaways and love winning them. Yes, I strive to achieve the highest grades possible. Yes, I enjoy getting the top score in quizzes. However, what I don't involve myself in is what I see as almost like direct 'war' between two people. I don't make bets on things, I don't race to complete tasks and I don't need to see somebody else fall in order for me to rise. I have absolutely zero interest in beating others or being better than anybody else. All I'm focused on is working on my own life and improving myself instead of positioning myself in a state of comparison.

Am I making sense? I feel like it's complicated to understand, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't like this competitive attitude people have as it always seems to come from a place of lack rather than abundance. I've had this innate viewpoint of mine for ages but I've never really understood why or how it can be possible to hold it and still enjoy 'winning' at the same time. Until now, when I realised from one of my favourite books that, like war, in competition there aren't ANY winners - we all lose.

"Competition is an example of separation. When you have thoughts of competition, it is coming from a lack mentality, as you are saying there is a limited supply. You are saying there is not enough for everybody, so we have to compete and fight to get things. When you compete you can never win, even if you think you won. By the law of attraction, as you compete you will attract many people and circumstances to compete against You in every single aspect of your life, and in the end you will lose. We are all One, and so when you compete, you compete against You. You have to get competition out of your mind, and become a creative mind. Focus only on your dreams, your visions, and take all competition out of the equation."

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