TOP TIPS FOR GETTING A DATE ON DATING APPS !

Dating as a millennial is getting increasingly difficult! With social media and an abundance of choice, it's increasingly difficult to understand fantasy from reality. The good thing about social media and dating though is that it makes you realise that there really are an abundance of cool people who you can date and find a genuine connection thanks to dating apps.



Below are my top 5 tips for getting a date on dating apps.


1) Show your personality with your photos.


Let's face it, we're a shallow society and the pics are the first things we look at before even starting a conversation. Really think about what you want to convey. I'm extremely bubbly and smile a lot and put pics of me smiling. I try to have clear, good quality pics too. So guys can see me clearly. Try and not add your friends or family in your pics too! Nothing worse than a crush potentially thinking you're your mate and facing them instead. It's also good to showcase your hobbies too, maybe a holiday pic, going out (not drunk pics) etc. It all gives you material to chat about.

PHOTOGRAPHY:

OLA BAMIGBOYE
OUTFIT:

DENIM JACKET

BODYSUIT

SKIRT

2) Please fill your profile.


It doesn't need to be an essay and I can admit it can belong. But it doesn't have to be painful. I keep it simple, I say who I am, a city I'm from some interesting facts and what I'm looking for as I'm a straightforward type of woman. Try and be funny or show interests if humour ain't your thing. Now you can add your Spotify playlist to your profile and Instagram too! So if words aren't your strong suit then these elements can help.


3)  Be proactive and Respectful

A lot of people are afraid to make the first move. For me, if I want something I go and get it. That goes for dating too! If I see a fine man and he hasn't yet messaged I make the first move. It's a saturated market and I want to stand out!

It's always hard to start the first convo. But again I keep it simple, I usually look at a profile and ask questions about that. If the guy is into the same music as me, I start off by greeting him and then chatting about the artist. Then keep it casual and flow from there. If someone has a dead and empty profile, Hi works just as well.

Please don't be disrespectful! I can't tell you the awful things I've been asked on these apps. You'll get an instant block and your profile will be reported. So be nice yeah?

4) Wear red

No seriously, wearing the colour red really works. Not only is it a banging colour that looks amazing on most skin tones, but it also helps you stand out.

PHOTOGRAPHER

SARAH ANNE CHOA

OUTFIT:

DRESS

LIPSTICK:

BY JESS D

5) Take it off the app


I don't live my life on dating apps and as a result, I can miss opportunities with great guys. So I always recommend getting that number and carrying on the conversation on WhatsApp instead. How do you do this, just say hey I don't really use this app much but I'd love to continue this conversation on WhatsApp. This works 9/10 for me.


And bonus tip, suggest the date within 1 week to two weeks of chatting. Be upfront and suggest something low keys like a meal and drinks. Also, meet in person!


I've been successful with getting dates with the above tips! Let me know how you get on!

HOW GHANAIAN AM I? MY LIVING DNA RESULTS #GIFTED

I am a bit of a biology geek. I love understanding how the body works, why we look the way we do, why we do the things we do. I always question, whether it is nature vs.nurture. One of the things I geek out about is DNA and ancestry results. I watch numerous videos on YouTube about DNA ancestry and I always wanted to take part. By fate, the team at Living DNA reached out to me last year asking to take part in a review. Thy gifted me a DNA test kit, in which I filmed the process on my Instagram stories. Just click DNA Results (the house icon). In a nutshell, the process was super easy.

 Using the Living DNA kit

Firstly, you're presented with a Living DNA  kit, with a swab, a specimen bag, instructions on how to use the kit, and your online profile information, to which you set up your account on Living DNA. So I swabbed my cheeks, placed my DNA in the bag and sent the kit away to be analysed.



The results
DNA works by you taking 50% of your DNA from your Mum and 50% from your Dad. To make you! Living DNA analyses the data in 3 ways, (autosomal, motherline and fatherline). However, if you're a female, you'll never know your fatherline from your DNA. Only males receive this, you'll need to get a close male relative to receive this.

  They track your ancestor's movements at several points in time between 80,000 to 150,000 years ago from the point modern humans migrated out of Africa to where they moved through several eras spanning thousands of years. How sick is that? Not to mention they go back 10 generations.

Sooo, without further ado... here are my results:

I am 93.1% African mostly West African, and 6.9% FRENCH.

Yorubaland- 84.5%
Here's what Living DNA say about this!

Centered around the Niger River Delta, the Yorubaland genetic cluster extends over the modern day regions of Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Cameroon, Ghana, and parts of Niger and Mali. From Ile-Ife to the Oyo Empire, this land has been home to an array of historical city-states and kingdoms, and the people that live here today have an incredibly rich regional heritage. In addition to the Yoruba people themselves, ethnic groups such as the Igbo of Nigeria and Akan and Gaa-Adangbe of Ghana fall into this cluster, with a high level of genetic similarity between the different peoples of this region.

So I am Ghanaian, with a dash of other countries lol.

Mandika- 6.5%
Here's what Living DNA say about this!

The Mandinka are found predominantly in the Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, and Mauritania. Empires such as the Mali Empire and Songhai Empire were hotbeds of international trade and scholarship over a thousand years ago and were well known throughout the medieval world for their riches and powerful rulers.

East Africa- 2.1%
Here's what Living DNA say about this!

The expansion of the Bantu people across Africa started roughly 3000 years ago in West Africa, where a small group of people started to master how to grow crops and work iron. A hunter-gatherer lifestyle was exchanged for farming, leading to the growth of villages and towns, able to support a relatively high population density and the formation of increasingly powerful chieftains and kings. These new agriculturalists appear to have then spread out from their West African homeland across the continent - perhaps due to population pressures caused by their growth in numbers.

French- 2.1%
Here's what Living DNA say about this!

If you have French ancestry inferred that you didn’t expect: We have observed that mixtures of British and Italian ancestry can sometimes be partly mistaken for French. Other mixtures such as of Germanic and Spanish ancestry involving countries neighbouring France may behave similarly. These issues are because it is difficult to tell apart having mixed ancestry recently, compared to having French ancestry causing sharing of DNA with people from similar regions, a little further in the past. French ancestry is also similar to British ancestry for people who have ancestry from all over the UK.

So that's it, I know who I am.. genetically. I am encouraging all my friends and family to do this. Now I need to get my Dad to do it so I can work out our fatherline ancestry. 

Thanks Living DNA

LEESA MATTRESS REVIEW | THE BEST MATTRESS AROUND #GIFTED

Hey and an introduction to Leesa Mattress:

Salutations babes. I am back with another review post, and this time it all about homeware, more specifically about my new mattress from Lessa. Leesa's mission is to help people sleep better. Pretty simple right? Many companies struggle to get the fundamentals right when creating a mattress and I have to say, with someone with back and posture problems ( blame years hunching over a laptop- I am a millennial sue me),  I have enjoyed sleeping on this mattress. Like drool on the pillow enjoyment! TMI? My bad, but if you are looking for a good night sleep find out why this mattress is for you. 

The key facts about Leesa Mattress

• I was gifted the Single Mattress, from Leesa, as I have a single bed. (Sidenote, use my discount code IMLOOKWHATIGOT1 for £100 off).
• The mattress is beautifully designed and engineered with three premium foams for cooling, body contouring and pressure-relieving core support.
• The Mattress comes wrapped up flat, in a rectangle box. To set it up you position the mattress on your bed frame, cut away the plastic covering and the mattress inflates slowly. I wish I recorded it, but placing the mattress was so easy and high tech.
• Leesa is ahead of the game, they donate one mattress for every ten they sell.

Why I love the Leesa Mattress:

The thing about Mattresses is you either get a hard, medium and soft mattress. Which tbh, is never good for your back! Specialist mattresses cost a bomb and that isn't something I can afford! At £399 for a mattress, I feel it is a great investment if you are struggling to have a good nights sleep. The only thing I wish is if the mattress would come in different colours or if you could upgrade the mattress if you upgrade from a single to a double for example.  Even though the mattress is soft, you can really feel that it is supporting your back. I used to overheat on my mattress, but the material is really cooling and doesn't cause irritation. I normally have lower back pain, with my old mattress but this has greatly reduced. I really like that you get a 100-night free trial to really test the mattress. All in all, I am enjoying the Leesa Mattress. Thanks guys!!!

Leesa Sleep Ltd have provided a product for review, and as such are a ‘sponsor’ of the content.

EXPLORING COVENT GARDEN IN LONDON

Collaboration post with Hotels.com “The spending money was gifted by Hotels.com, but all views are my own.


Salutations babes! It's been a while, hasn't it? If you follow me on Instagram you'll know I've been busy shooting for many brands such as lotd, hidden fashion, and isawitfirst .

Summer is officially over! And I ended it on a high at Notting Hill Carnival. I love exploring London and especially Covent Garden. If you are looking to stay in Covent Garden, make sure you have a look at these hotels. However, Last week I explored Covent Garden to explore the hidden gems it had to offer with my girl Char.

Covent Garden is known for its markets, Street performers and an abundance of cute restaurants. Located on the Piccadilly line, the area is closely located to popular areas such as Leicester Square, which is literally 5 mins away.

Armed with my gal pal and meme dealer Char, we did what we both love to do eat brunch! Heading over to the coziest restaurant in Covent Garden for brunch, being the Ivy Market grill. It was my first time, but Char is a veteran and highly recommended it. We had all the trimmings!

I opted for two white hot chocolate drinks, which my tongue thanked me for, but my waistline does not. However, it was worth it. Next, I had the best chicken sandwich with fries literally ever. The service was top notch, and I even got a birthday crème Brulee for my 27th and 9-month birthday (my actual birthday is in November) but I needed cheering up after a difficult few weeks and I'm glad the guys were so cute to do this for me.

Next, we explored the famous Covent Garden market, before walking past amazing street performers. Again the markets were full of really unique goodies, so if you're looking for a gift to really mark that you've been to Covent Garden then please head over. We stopped just outside the Moomin store and I met the love of my life with my mini Moomin. Can I get an awe?

Working in the beauty industry has many perks, like getting to play with makeup and skin care goodies on the regular. However, I always have an itch to see the newest make up. Covent Garden is perfect if you're a make up junkie, with an abundance of stores. I headed over to Kiko to see the rest of the jelly jungle range. I had been gifted the lip glosses a few weeks back so I went in to see and buy a few more goodies. Then I headed back to the ordinary to get my coveted foundation. There are only a few in London with another opening in Westfield London.

We spent most of the day in the markets, so didn't get a chance to see Neal's Yard. But if you love to dance, check out Pineapple studio. I've been there before and the bar life is quite good too. Make sure to head up Cafe Pacifico for unusual but tasty cocktails.