Saturday, 26 April 2014

RELAXING 101: HOW I RELAX


Good evening my little beauties

Today's post comes from a slightly stroppy version of myself. Stroppy or jealous, one of those. So the tables have officially turned; it's Saturday night, my little sister is out dancing the night away with her friends and I'm sat here watching Britain's Got Talent with a steaming cup of green tea, wishing that I was out there shotting tequilla slammers & prancing around in heels that make my feet numb.
On a bid to not only save money, but also to stick to my (not-going-so-well) diet, I swore that I'd spent the night cooped up indoors. Three hours later and I'm severely regretting this decision.
This is why I thought that I'd spoil you all to a little post on how I'm spending my evening, and giving you a couple of little tips on how to de-stress and pamper yourself until you're feeling on top of the world! 

So the Easter bank holiday has just passed us, and if yours was spent in any way similar to my own, you're feeling a little under-run, tired and fat (after all the chocolate and alcohol!), and although it's only been a short week, work has dragged and this weekend has been calling me. 
So let's get this show on the road and, hopefully, by the end of this post, you'll know just how to relax, de-stress and declutter your mind and body.
First thing's first, get that bath on! Whilst that's running, grab the most delicious-smelling bubble bath that you can get your paws on and pour under the running water. If you're more of a bath bomb kinda gal, chuck in your favourite bomb and watch it fizz. Whilst you're waiting for the bath to fill, set out your best candles and light them. For me, the Summer Scoop Yankee Candle and the lovely Fairy Dust candles are my absolute favourite, and together they make the most heavenly scent. Mmm!
Now you need all the little bits & bobs. For me, these are:
- a glass of your fave bevvy! For me, it's a cheeky glass of rosé
- your most luxurious shampoo, conditioner and intensive hair mask
- Face wash, face exfoliator, face mask and face moisturiser
- Body wash and body polish
- Body moisturiser and fake tan (if you're partial to a slight glow, like some of us)
- Razor or wax strips
- Fluffy towel
- Your comfiest pyjamas and slippers

Everyone is a little different and likes to do things in their own way, but for me, I tend to jump in and get settled, and then firstly I'll wash my hair and condition it, and then I'll slather my hair mask on, concentrating on my roots. The heat from the bath will open the cuticles in the hair, letting the mask penetrate it that little bit easier, bonus! I'll let that sit right until the end of the bath, using this time to then cleanse my face, exfoliate it and then pop on my favourite face mask. I'll then finish my routine of body polishing and then washing myself, then hair removing with my desired method, (usually with a razor because waxing makes me cry..wimp!) and then I'll take some time to relax and de-stress.. For me, this will be by either laying in the bath and gathering my thoughts, or if there are too many thoughts to gather, I like to lose myself in a new romantic book.. Soppy, lovey-dovey stories make me super-happy! 
When I feel like I've relaxed enough-- usually either when my glass of wine is drained, or when I'm so relaxed that I've fallen asleep and made myself jump, I'll turn on the shower head and rinse off my face and hair masks.. I'll then hop out of the bath and spend a good 5 minutes just sitting in the bathroom in the biggest fluffy towel you could imagine.. Whatever day you've had, a fluffy towel makes everything better. When I feel nice and dry, I'll moisturise from head to toe, and depending on how I'm feeling, I'll usually slap on a quick layer of my desired fake tan, just to give myself a little more glow.
Putting my best onesie and slippers on makes me feel so comfortable, so that's my next step. 

For me, when I've finished bathing, I will run into my room, (it's usually pretty chilly when leaving the bathroom), and jump into bed, making sure that I've gotten everything that I'm gonna want, and then I'll put on my very favourite Disney or rom-com movie.

Next up, I'll take my hair dressing scissors- nothing fancy, just some that I ordered online a couple of years ago, and this is when I give my hair a little trim. I tend to do this every 3-4 weeks, which sounds excessive, but I only take a teensy amount off, and I use a fair bit of heat, so it's usually ready for a treat anyway.. The way that I trim my hair is gonna be my next post, so keep an eye out for this, but a little tip for now;
take your hair and section it into 4. Twirl your hair, a section at a time, like you're flirting with your crush.. like so. You see all the stray hairs that are poking out? Snip the ends et voila! Happy hair.
 After this, I'll take my hair and apply my favourite serums and heat protection, and when it's roughly 80% dry, will blow dry it. This means that I'm not frazzling my hair, but I'm giving it that shine and bounce that a blow dry is notorious for. If I have any intention of going any where, or I just want to feel that little bit more glam, I'll pop my velcro rollers in and just leave them for a couple of hours. 
Then I take care of my face.. Usually I'd be doing this at night, so I'll go ahead with my usual night-time routine and then it's time to sit back, paint my finger and toe nails a cute colour and spend the next hour or so in awe of whichever Disney princess I seem to be watching.

When my nails are dry, I like to take a little time out to grab a cute notepad and pen and just jot down a few thoughts. Putting them on paper makes me feel like I've taken them out of my mind. I then like to set myself mini-goals and targets; e.g. I want to lose 2lb this week. It makes me feel responsible of my own thoughts and helps me to de-stress and de-clutter my mind.

How do relax?

xox

Friday, 18 April 2014

FOTD


Face:
Bare Minerals READY foundation R310
Benefit Hoola
Bourjois Mega Liner 
Loreal Paris Million Lashes mascara
TopShop Rio Lipstick 
MUA brown eyeliner for brows

Blazer : Matalan, £20
Black Cami : Tesco, £6
Chain necklace : New Look, £4

Tuesday, 18 March 2014

WHAT I WORE: ST PATRICKS DAY


Silk camisole: Primark, £6
Dark jeans: Dorothy Perkins, £22
Waterfall jacket: River Island, £38
Shoes: Tesco, £15
Bag: Primark, £12

Monday, 10 March 2014

EVER-CHANGING HAIR


I am blonde.

Well, ombre. But almost blonde.

I've always said that I'd never go blonde, but after dipping my toe in the 'ombre waters' last summer, I craved the sunkissed look & swore I'd go back after the cold, winter months were over, but I just couldn't wait that long..
So just before Christmas, I made the decision to get rid of the dark hair that washed me out, and take another divulge into the world of blonde-ness. I started off just by ombre-ing the ends, just like last summer, but was left feeling a little empty & wanting more to my hair.. After trolling through Pinterest and looking at what felt like thousands of ombre hair pictures, I finally decided that I needed to lighten my hair more, have highlights, and then carry the ombre up higher..After numerous boxes of bleaches and hours of waiting, I am finally happy with my hair, and can go off to New York with lovely golden locks, yay! 


xxx

THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME

I remember starting secondary school, and being asked "where do you think you will be in 10 years time?"
 My answer:  "Well, I'm going to be 21, so that means that Maisie, my little sister, will be 18 and that means that we are going to have a big party. And then I will grow up."

This time last year, my mum called a "family meeting".. Family meetings always include Dominos pizza,a new film and then an argument.. Always. Anyway, this meeting was to discuss the plans for mine and Maisie's special birthdays, and we had our sights on something very, very special and that's where this entire vacation came into plan.

 Honestly, I've been so blessed with my parents; I couldn't dream of a better set of people.. They have given me what most people my age can only wish for, and for that, I'm truly grateful. 


As most of you know, I am a massive, massive Taylor Swift fan and so this was very special to me. I bought the tickets months ago, and have literally thought about it every day since. It was like one big party that I never wanted to end! The tickets were a present from Mr X for mine & Maisie's birthdays and I am just so lucky that I have finally seen her live.


Just hours after the concert, we went off to London, Heathrow to catch a plane with the lovely people at Virgin Atlantic which took us directly to NYC. After checking into the (very fancy) Milford Hotel, right in the heart of Times Square, we went straight out for a little sight-seeing & dollar-spending. The 2 days following this were a complete blur, as we rushed here and hurried there, wanting to make the most out of the small hours that we had remaining.


Then we hopped on board the Carnival Splendor cruise ship. Cruising is something that we have never done before, but thought that we'd give it a shot; boy did we enjoy it! We chose this particular one do to it's 'casual quality'.. No black suits and prom dresses (imagine trying to cram all that into your case?). To say that it was casual, we wasn't expecting anything special or fancy, but I was completely blown away by the decor, the staff, the food, the itinerary.. everything! There was something to do at every hour around the clock.. From yoga at 7am, ice sculpting at 3pm and a movie on the cinema screen at 1am (and you even get free popcorn and blankets!). Hugely impressed. So impressed that I'd get back on it tomorrow if I could.


The first stop on the cruise was Florida.
How silly would I be to go to Florida and NOT visit Disney World?
Very.

So off we went to Disney World, happy as a 5 year old, whilst the boys went to NASA. 
I won't bore you with all my soppy details, but all I'm saying is that I can't imagine enjoying a day as much as I enjoyed this one. Ugh, the magic, the atmosphere, everything! AMAZING!


The second day in the Bahamas saw us dock at Free Port, but there wasn't much to be seen here that we hadn't seen yesterday, so we decided to have a ship day. We baked in the sun, swam in the pool, ate so much that I made myself feel sick.. The usual holiday behaviour.

After this, it was back towards New York we go, meaning 2 full days on the ship with no stopping.. It got majorly choppy at one point, and my sea sickness kicked in for an hour or so, but luckily it passed just as quickly as it had come. There was more than enough things to do.. We spend at least 2 hours on a 'duck hunt', looking all around the ship for 12 hidden rubber ducks.. and we only found 9 of the buggers! 
Getting off the ship made me feel a little emotional, truth be told. I don't know whether it was because I'm used to staying in hotels where you can come and go as you please, but here you obviously stay on the ship for 80% of the time.. That's your home. I'm also not sure if it was because I was thoroughly enjoying it. There wasn't one moment that I thought to myself 'ah, I'm bored' or 'I've had enough'. 


After the long flight home, I was told that we were staying in a cheap hotel for the rest of the day so that my dad can have a rest before the long drive home from London to Nottingham, and I was quite satisfied with that. We got to the 'hotel' (which genuinely did look run-down and b&b-like, so I really didn't suspect a thing), and were told that we couldn't go to the 'room' until AT LEAST 2pm.. Checking my watch, I realised that it was 8am and we had at least 6 hours to kill in a little place called Maida Vale. I was tired, hungry, jet lagged and feeling pretty darn shitty. 
We traipsed around the shops after finally finding a cafe for some breakfast, and then finally decided to waste a couple of hours in a local pub. So I'm sat there, drinking my coke, when a girl walks in with her case, smiling at me.. Literally, you know when something is such a shock that nothing registers.. It was just like that. My best friend, who had tricked me into thinking that she was on her way to Miami, had all this planned with my mum since last September and I had literally NO IDEA ABOUT ANYTHING! 
It was the best surprise that I could ever ask for on my 21st.. I was sad that she wasn't gonna see me on my birthday as she had done every year for the last 10 years, and this just topped off my birthday completely.

My mum has been an absolute gem to us over this weekend, so took us all to the Ice Bar for champagne cocktails and out for an expensive meal with plenty of cocktails. Oh and the shitty hotel was only a fully-blown, fancy apartment. It was absolutely beautiful.

I've been so spoiled in the last 3 weeks, and I can't thank everyone enough, especially my family, boyfriend and best friend.

xxx

BARGAIN OF THE WEEK: EP 2

As you should know by now, I've spent the last couple of weeks gallivanting off to various locations, sunning and shopping, sightseeing and (mainly) scoffing. Oh, the excitement! 

This week's bargain comes all the way from our friends across the pond in the beloved USA.. I took a trip to the very popular store that is Century 21 on the recommendation from a colleague and boy was I glad! If you've never heard of this store, then you are horribly missing out and should book a trip to the US ASAP just to take a trip here. Honestly! We didn't discover this until half an hour before we were due to get the bus back to the hotel in New York to get to the port & I am truly gutted that we didn't find it sooner. Think TK Maxx but with another 50% off the prices. Yep, that's right! 

Brace yourself for this one; 

This beautiful dress, from a bespoke designer, came in at $5 from the original price of $550!! That's like £3.50 here in the UK! I literally could not believe it. I spotted it and ran to the tills with a tear in my eye that I'd missed out on all of those designer bags too, but the tight schedule didn't leave me the room to fulfill my shopping needs. *sob*

xx

Friday, 21 February 2014

SHOES ARE A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND


A night on the town usually means endless shopping for the 'perfect' outfit, right?

Whilst this is usually the norm for me, yesterday I told myself that I didn't need anything new (famous last words?), but that I could do with some new shoes.. I mean, what girl can't do with new shoes- it's our weakness. I have a ridiculous amount of heels, especially black ones, that I wear once and then banish to the back of the wardrobe & swear that I'll never put my feet through such torture again- until next time.

I saw these whilst 'browsing' (totally looking for an emergency new dress) the rails in my local Select yesterday & completely fell head over heels for them. At £18 they are a complete steal and I can officially confirm that I didn't have to take a seat all night long through the crippling pain that usually comes with a pair of pretty heels. They had me dancing the night away until 4am.. Pretty damn comfy as far as heels go. 

Shoes- Select £18