SUMMER HEALTH KICK

For months on end our heads are bombarded with messages from the media about how we should eat more healthily, try the newest fad diet and become 'beach body ready'- this usually starts just after Christmas, however shouldn't we be thinking more long term? Rather than starving yourself for months and stuffing yourself with dull salads on the weeks leading up to your summer holiday (I believe it is more a form of punishment) why not change your diet and the way you feel about food in the long term?

 

So I had my summer holiday back in May- I did no preparation for it whatsoever- however I was blessed with a bug the weekend before so I ended up shedding 8lbs... in no way am I saying this is a good idea! What I'm trying to say is why bother? It's now the end of August and I bet you're wondering why I'm suddenly doing a health kick post- the reason is that I am planning a slower change in what I eat, and I most certainly wont be cutting sweets, chocolate and takeaways out of my diet!

 

Here are some ideas of how you can make tiny changes to your meals that will lower the calorie count, increase the vitamins and minerals you intake, give you more energy, and lead to a healthier lifestyle. You will notice I have included eating out in this post- I tend to find it so hard to keep on your diet if you're eating out but it doesn't have to be!

  Chickpea, spinach and tomato curry with halloumi cheese

Why not replace meat in your curry with chick pea's- it may sound gross (my boyfriend thinks so) but these will also be filling and are a healthier alternative. Similarly spinach isn't just good for your muscles... ;) it is crammed full of vitamins, similarly the halloumi cheese adds a little extra to the curry. Team this with Boiled wholegrain rice and add some spices.

  BILL'S- Crunchy kale leaf salad

Am I the only one who finds it hard to eat healthy when I am out for a meal....? too much temptation! I will admit, I was sceptical when I chose a kale salad... salads are always so dull and boring! However the flavours in this one are amazing- Kale is very popular at the moment for being good for dieting and for jam packing your meal with extra goodness. The salad also contains avocado, almond nuts, vinaigrette dressing, onions, pepper and roasted aubergine and courgette.

 

Vegetable cous cous, Roasted vegetable and mushroom

I have been off cous cous for a very long time- like since I was 7 ever since I was ill after eating cous cous one time. However now I have discovered a variety of flavours, I used vegetable, teamed with roasted courgette, carrots, onions,  big mushrooms and fennel.

  Definitely give something like this a try- even if it means just swapping one meal a week. Diets aren't all fast days, no carbs and no treats!   Any food recommendations? Let me know! :)

JULY/AUGUST CATCHUP

I haven't done one of these posts in a while so I thought seen as I have had over a month off from blogging I should probably explain why!   JULY So July was basically my birthday month...   London Zoo- Seen as I was spending the weekend in Guildford with my boyfriend, we decided to make the most of London, visiting London zoo and Oxford Street. I just love the zoo, situated in Regents Park, the Zoo is home to many exotic animals and has many shows every day to watch, it is also a stones throw from Oxford Street...   Portsmouth- The day after we decided to go to Portsmouth as it was only an hour away, unfortunately the weather was horrendous so instead of walking around Southsea, we ended up in a designer outlet, the cinema and Zizzi!   My birthday- So the 15th July was my 20th birthday *cries*, I spent it going for lunch with my dad and crazy golf, then bowling and a family meal in the evening. I was treated to so many lovely gifts including a Michael Kors bag, Follie Folli necklace, Prada candy perfume, Pandora ring, Michael Kors purse and Real Techniques makeup brushes.   Holiday 1- I spent a week in the Lake District with my mam, brother and sister. We have visited the lakes almost every year since I was born, it is such a lovely place to explore!   York- I absolutely love York and so I spent a couple of days there after my birthday with my boyfriend, thankfully again the weather was lovely and we spent the day shopping, walking through the parks and along the river. I also discovered the most amazing homemade lemonade stand...   AUGUST   New job- I just started working at Barbour! I am currently the new UK Marketing intern for my year placement.   Paris- As in my previous post I mentioned my visit to Paris, it is such a beautiful city with so much culture and style, definitely one to tick off the bucket list!   Disneyland- I spent a week at Disney this year and loved it! Definitely one of my favourite places, I highly recommend you visit... its the perfect place to forget your worries and act like a complete child!   What have you all been up too? :)  

DISNEY LAND PARIS

This post definitely has something to do with the holiday blues...  last week I was looking forward to a day wandering around Paris in the hot summer sun, now- I am sat in my office in the North East of England, and guess what? It's 13 degrees and raining, sad times.

 

Don't holidays seem to just fly by? We started off our family holiday by visiting family in Kent, before getting the Eurostar on Monday morning. We then made our journey to Disney Land Paris (We stayed at the Davy Crockett Ranch hotel), Disney is literally one of my favourite places to visit, you can act like an utter child, get carried away buying every piece of Disney merchandise you can lay your hands on, walk around wearing the silliest of Minnie mouse ears... oh and queuing hours for rides even though the target age is probably 10. As well as that, we spent one day in Paris, visiting the Louvre, Notre Dame, love lock bridge, the Eiffel tower, the carousel in the Tuilleries and finally dined at the cutest Parisian café.

 

So what were my highlights?

 

1. The Disney Dreams firework display- every night a 20 minute musical display sees the sleeping beauty castle lit up with lights, projected images, fireballs and fireworks, a must see!

 

2. Minnie mouse ears... yep I wore them the entire week.

 

3. Love lock bridge- Although some may see it as a little cringey, and whilst I didn't add a lock myself, I think it is the most lovely of ideas that you attach the lock to the bridge and throw the key into the river.

 

4. Casey Jr rollercoaster- (the Dumbo train ride)- the average age was probably 5, so whilst this rollercoaster was hardly thrilling, it did break down, meaning we had to be 'evacuated'- definitely one thing I wont forget!

 

5. The weather- After weeks of sitting in the office admiring the glorious August sunshine, we were blessed to find that Paris was basking in 28-34 degree sunshine the entire week- tans all round!

 

6. Pastries- A given really. If you visit Paris, you must visit a cake shop or patisserie.

 

7. Davy Crockett Ranch- For those of you who haven't visited or heard of this Disney accommodation, it is at the lower end of the price scale and is cowboy themed, leaving you to stay in little log cabins situated in the woods, if you're a fan of 'the wild west' this hotel is definitely for you.

 

8. The parade- Every afternoon just as the firework display happens each day, so does the parade, allowing you to see all the Disney characters on huge floats, amazing!

 

9. The Rainforest Café- situated in Disney village the café is perfect if you want a meal with a difference.

 

10. Main Street USA- This is probably the most iconic part of the park leading you to the sleeping beauty castle. With a 1940's theme, the street boasts old fashioned stores stocking all kinds of Disney products, meet and greet areas for Disney characters and some of the best cafes and restaurants in the park. Not one to be missed!

 

So now that I have got back from holiday, just like everyone else I want to go away again... any suggestions and recommendations? Hehe. Where have you all been this summer? Leave me a comment below!

 

PINKADILLY CIRCUS

 RIMMEL LONDON 5 PAN EYESHADOW (PINKADILLY CIRCUS)- £6.99- SUPERDRUG

 

I very, very rarely actually find an eye shadow that genuinely suits me, of course I have read every magazine article, makeup tutorial video and instruction leaflet going about what colours suit what eye shape, skin tone and colour, but I am still not convinced. By rights I should be able to carry off greens and gold...even the smoky eye look, but trust me- I don't.

 

I finally found comfort wearing a Benefit 'leggy' eye shadow which I picked up in an old Benefit makeup palette I received as a Christmas present... a nude pink shimmer eye shadow which completed my every day natural look. However when the time came to replace it, of course Benefit had discontinued it! So I found an almost replica eye shadow which I found in the 'pinkadilly circus' Rimmel London palette- swatch time.

 

By day I tend to combine numbers 2 and 3 - a nude pink and taupe shade to combine and blend into the perfect shade. Using the lighter tone towards my outer and inner lids and the darker shade across my lash line for definition.

 

By night you can added in number 4, a brown/bronze shade to create the smoky eye look without the panda eyes (this always seems to be the end result for me!), number 1 as a highlighter for the inner eye, and you can use number 5 for a pop of colour... I am still yet to attempt this as I fear I may end up with the just punched in the eye look.

 

Have you used this palette before? Have you discovered any good techniques? Also if you could recommend eye shadow colours that may suit me then please leave me a comment below! :)

 

FRIZZ OFF

BEFORE                                                               AFTER

  Okay ladies today I'm talking frizz, of the hair kind. I suffer hugely with frizzy hair, in cold weather, hot weather, humid weather... practically all the time really, and since the weather has been ridiculously hot and disgustingly humid in recent weeks, I called upon my ultimate frizz taming product...   THE PRODUCT The product itself is by Lee Stafford and is called Frizz Off- Keratin Blow dry smoothing spray. As we all know, keratin is huge in the hair blogging world, especially for those of you who share the same thick frizzy hair type as me, however I did always doubt the hype...   WHEN DO I USE IT? The product is meant for use on damp or wet hair, to be used before blow drying to aid the drying and straightening processes, which aims to leave you with straighter, smoother and less frizzy hair. However, I found the effects only really started to show after straightening.   HOW MUCH DO I APPLY? I would say apply generously if you have thick hair, 7-14 sprays depending on length as the spray isn't heavy or greasy, but be careful if your hair is thinner as you don't want to end up with a greasy looking blow dry...   HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? £10.99, so yes it is a little more pricey than similar products by brands such as Treseme and VO5, however if you are looking to buy this product, bide your time, as Boots always has some sort of offer on Lee Stafford products!   DOES IT WORK? In my opinion, yes. But all hair is different so it really does  depend on how your hair decides to behave... as you can see from the before and after pictures (both taken at the end of hot and humid days) you can see the before picture has a layer of 'light frizz' and yet the after picture shows smoother hair with virtually no frizz!   I would definitely give this product a go as it really has worked wonders for me in this weather, but if you do think its a little pricey, pop in to boots and see what offers you can grab!   What is your hair saviour?

My Holiday OOTD's!

I'm back!!!! So last week I was in Playa Blanca- Lanzarote, in fact at this moment in time I was at 'Rancho Texas' animal and waterpark... now I am currently sat writing this post whilst it is 10 degrees outside and spitting on to rain... holiday blues? I think so. Anyway, I thought I would share with you a few holiday OOTD's, I must say my denim shorts were a fave and so were my crop tops, so easy to mix and match with! I am definitely missing wearing my beautiful bikinis as underwear :( haha! I am not missing however the multiple outfit changes I didn't know were required on holiday!

 

1. Saturday night- Topshop folk print blue crop top £16/ Topshop petite 3d flower skirt £36/ Topshop WALLFLOWER tan wedges £52/ Topshop Tan leather handbag (last year)/ Topshop crop denim jacket (3 years ago)- Wow. I just realised my entire outfit was Topshop... I just loved this outfit as all of the items are so versatile and perfect for going for a meal and drinks!

 

2. Wednesday- Fuertaventura- Topshop MOTO Rosa denim shorts £28/ Topshop folk print 3/4 crop top £18/ Sainsburys tribal print beach bag £18/ New Look gem sandals £19.99. This was probably my favourite beach outfit, this day was particularly hot when we took a boat trip to Fuertaventura so this outfit was great for just wearing my bikini top with shorts, and sticking my essentials in a beach bag (check out Sainsburys collection of beach accessories, they are all fab!) 

 

3. Monday- Rancho Texas animal park and waterpark- Miss Selfridge cream crop top £8/ Topshop Moto denim shorts £28-I promise i'm not wearing a bright bra under a cream top, it was actually my bikini!

 

4. Evening meal- Miso cream cotton mini dress- I have had this dress for literally about 4 years now, I have no idea how I still manage to squeeze myself into it, but I just love it! I particularly love the big flower corsage on the shoulder (you cant really see this from the picture).

5. Sunday night- Topshop crop top £16/ Superdry cotton beach skirt £36- I love this outfit! It just makes me feel so girly and holiday ready! The skirt is a little pricey but so comfy and is perfect with a crop top combo.

 

6. Monday night- Topshop crop top £16/ H & M cream and silver skirt £19.99- You can tell this crop top got a lot of wear! You also cant really see the skirt but it was a cream textured skirt with silver detailing, it is so perfect for all occasions.

 

7. Timanfaya volcano- Topshop cross over back sun top £26, Pink converse, Topshop Moto denim shorts £28- So as I was going up a volcano and going on a camel ride, I had to ditch the bikini and flip flops and instead put on my trusty converse.

 

8. Playa Blanca- Papagayo Daroda beach- New Look pink frill bikini top £7.99 and bottoms £3.99-I just love bikinis, and especially this one, it was so comfy and looked so girly!

 

What do you think of my holiday outfits? Are you off anywhere nice this summer? Leave me a comment below! :)

YSL GLOSS VOLUPTE

I don't know what has happened to me recently, I seem to have become really lucky when it comes to winning makeup, firstly I won a lot of benefit cosmetics makeup as part of their #rollerlash competition, then I entered the lovely Jen's Journal's giveaway to win a Yves Saint Laurent lip gloss- 101 IRIDESCENT. 

When my parcel arrived I was very surprised to find it packaged in a beautiful floral gift box (which will more than likely be used for makeup storage) which was filled with beautiful tissue paper and star conffeti, it looked amazing!

I am not really a fan of spending a lot on designer makeup as I think it works just as well as other high street brands, and I go through makeup that quickly that I would never be able to afford it, although I am a hoarder of MAC lipsticks! So when it came to this YSL lip gloss I couldn't wait to try it and see if it was worth the money.

I found that the angled and flexible brush applicator worked absolutely brilliantly and helped to apply the lip gloss precisely and evenly, the colour is also lovely and works as a beautiful nude, shimmery gloss. Although when it comes to making your lips more voluminous, I'm not sure whether I agree! 

What do you think? Leave me a comment below :)