Good morning beautiful ladies and handsome gents!

You are probably asking what I've been up to?  My absence has been due to finishing university this past June 2011.  I've been actively seeking work for the past while, and so far have been unsuccessful (like many other university students).  However, for the last few weeks I've been concentrating on putting all my efforts into seeking employment and also into graduating! 

My graduation ceremony was held on 21 November 2011 at the Coventry Cathedral.  It was such an amazing day!  I chose a fabulous floaty chiffon style dress that nipped in at the waist.  I teamed my dress with a gorgeous purple sequinned long-sleeve cardigan, black opaque tights and patent black heels. 

My beauty regime included the usual cleansing, toning and moisturizing.  I kept my makeup really natural with: 1) A Coating of foundation (Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in shade 52)
2) Concealer (ELF - light)
3) Soft natural eye shadow (NAKED pallette)
4) A double coat of mascara (Max Factor False Lashes in Jet Black)
5) Beautiful blusher (Bourjois)

I graduated and then had a lovely glass of bubbly with some amazing canapes!  There were rum truffles, prawns coated in yummy breadcrumbs (with sweet chilli sauce) and loads of other little bits.  I loved every moment!

The three pictures above was taken by my amazing friend Paul McKelvie!  He is an awesome photographer and all-around creative genius! 

Just to let you in on the diet....it is not doing too well...I will be putting more focus on it now just before christmas!  Also please stay tuned, tomorrow I'll be showing you how to make your OWN christmas decorations for a very small price! 

Have you recently graduated?  Did you enjoy it as much as me?

Time out...

It is with a bit of a heavy heart that I blog this morning.  I've taken the decision to stop blogging for the next two weeks as there are things that I have to concentrate on.  I feel that I will not be able to devote all my attention to my blog and I don't like doing things by halves.

I'm not sure if many people regularly follow my blog....but I cannot blog and not do a good job at it.  My life has just been turned upside down and there are some really very important things that I have to concentrate on to sort things out. 

I'd like to apologise if you do follow regularly or look forward to anything on my blog.  Please bear with me, I'll be back as soon as I sort things out and I'll be back to my best!

Enjoy your day, know that you are loved and that you are special.  If you need any time out it is worth taking. 

Party Season Scares...

It is less than twenty days until we move into December, which is also known as party season!  This is a rather scary thought!  I've piled on some weight over the past few months as the weather has slowly turned colder and colder.  I've got to seriously get rid of some of my extra saddle bags and wobbley bits before it gets out of control again!

So I'd like to invite each and every one of you to follow me in the journey of loosing a little bit of weight before the christmas parties start.  I was sitting watching the Lorraine Kelly show on ITV1 and decided that I was going to start following their plan, The Little Black Dress Diet, along with starting to work on Yoga/Zumba/and the fitness band used on Lorraine's website.

Lets get Jen Aniston's amazing legs and abs girls!

Are you up for it? 

If you do, I'll be keeping a little diary on my blog, as well as posting additional tips/tricks and recepies here.  I can't wait to get back to being 8lbs (8 pounds haha or 4 kilograms) lighter! 

If this doesn't show you what the difference of losing 8lb is, then nothing will!

Let me know what you think and if you're going to join me!  :)

Skin hassles? No problemo...me solvo!

Have you had skin that is constantly dry, uncomfortable and peeling?  Do you break out regularly?  Do you feel like you have MASSIVE pores?  Or do you just feel your skin could be better??

ME TOO!  

Luckily there is a little something on the market that can help with ALL these problems!  :-) This makes me so happy.  

You're probably asking, "What on earth can it be that can deal with these issues?"  It is actually called the Clarisonic Sonic Skin Cleansing System!  

The Clarisonic is just like an electric tooth-brush... but for your face. (It actually is made by the same company that invented the Sonicare toothbrush.)

 

Consisting of an electronic spinning brush, the Clarisonic Skin Cleansing System uses revolving brush bristles to uniformly exfoliate your skin. It feels good, massages your skin, and when you are done-- your face feels smoother and because of the massaging nature-- you are left with skin that is slightly glowing. (Depending on the Clarisonic model you have, there are even different brush attachments so that you can exfoliate your various body parts in addition to your face.)

Promising to remove 6x more makeup and dirt than washing your face with just your hands alone, an added benefit to using the Clarisonic face brush is that afterwards, your skincare products will work more efficiently because they can be absorbed into the skin more easily thanks to the removal of the layer of dead-skin cells. 

 

 

If you have normal skin, this is a perfectly fine product that will not cause any harm, and can be an enjoyable way to exfoliate your skin.

Those that should avoid this product, however: anyone with very dry skin, or acne prone skin.

Even though the Clarisonic works off a timer so that no facial area can be too aggressively scrubbed, the revolving bristles may still rub away too much skin for those suffering from dry, flaky skin. Uncomfortable, raw skin can result, and the Clarisonic is supposed to lessen the amount of skin care products needed-- not cause extra usage to combat the excessive drying that will occur.

You should also definitely avoid using the Clarisonic if you are suffering from any sort of Acne breakout. The revolving bristles will be too abrasive for the delicate, inflamed skin, and will interrupt the healing process--potentially causing scarring. (Can you imagine scouring the skin pictured to the left? A bloody, infected mess would be the end-result!) In addition, by disrupting active Acne with the Clarisonic, you may inadvertently make the situation worse by adding new bacteria (that is on the brush bristles) into the wound.

This is an amazing tool for exfoliating your skin (you can also get the Clarisonic Plus for the face and body).  The only thing likely to put people off is the price tag.  It costs anything between £150 to £175, which can be eye-watering.  This will not be for everyone, but is definitely something to consider to place on your christmas list.

Have you currently heard or actually have a Clarisonic System?  What do you think of it?

A little monday delight

Guess what?  I've been baking again!

I hope you've all had an amazing bonfire night on saturday. We had a massive party with fireworks and hotdogs!  It was a lot of fun and I just can't believe that monday has come around again so soon! 

Chin up though matey's!

I made the lovely chocolate cupcakes again, but this time I used a piping bag to decorate the top. 

These cupcakes can be made in a variety of different flavours and colours.  These particularly are chocolate with a chocolate buttercream topping as before.  They'd make a brilliant and thoughtful gift over christmas and only take a few hours from start to finish yielding between 16 to 18 cupcakes. 

From about mid November, I'll be showing you easy peasy edible gifts that can be made for a christmas hamper or just to treat that someone special in your life. 

Hope you have a fabulous monday...and if you have the blues, just remember that you are special and loved!  Oh, and it is cuddle-month!  *I named it officially as cuddle-month today*

The skin pick me up that YOU need!

Evening everyone...

Guess what?  It is friday!  WHOO HOOO

Tonite I'm doing a quick review on The Body Shop's:

Tea Tree Skin Clearing Lotion

 

A light, non-oily moisturising lotion for blemished skin. For use after your Tea Tree cleansing regime.

• Provides lightweight hydration
• Easily absorbed
• With shine control for a matte finish
• Antibacterial action
• Clinically proven to give clearer-looking skin

It costs £7.00 for 50ml, which might put people off.

My views:  It is excellent and has been in my make-up bag for over 7 years now.  I've recently started breaking out quite badly due to a hormone imbalance and have needed to quickly dry spots out.  I've applied this blemish fighter overnight and it dried all spots by the next morning.  The spots healed much quicker and my skin was clearer in a much quicker time than normal.  I've really got a soft spot for this particular product because it works really well, is mild and friendly to skin but also has a nice gel texture.  It is also a moisturiser with a light mattifying lotion leaving the skin hydrated and moisturised. The bonus is the fact that The Body Shop does not test their products on animals, and have really amazing values.

Highly recommended!

Thought of today:

  I hope you have an amazing weekend ahead and enjoy every bit of it!  If anything is making you happy take the above picture and smile...things will get better!  Chin up chicken! 

Have you tried any of The Body Shop's products that you fell in love with?  Which ones?  Let me know ;) 

 

 

Lipbalm Smipbalm....

G'day matey's

I'd like to apologise for blogging so late at night....but things have been decidedly busy today. 

I'm talking lipbalm today....it is the one beauty product I cannot live without.  I'd give up mascara/foundation/blush but NOT lipbalm.  I actually collect balms.  :)

I've got to say that my favourite at the moment is the Rose Petal Salve by Rose & Co Apothecary for the simple reason that it is beautifully scented, very nourishing and moisturising and is multipurpose.  You can use it as a lipbalm, moisturiser for dry spots on your body, as a browtaimer and even to mix with a highlighter.  It is pricy at £5.50 but you get a huge tub that can easily slip into your handbag.

I like all the rest of the lipbalms and would repurchase all of them.

What are you interested in?  What lipbalm can you not live without?  Let me know!

Movember!

Hello there readers!

Now if you didn't know, yesterday was the start of Movember.  If you are not sure of what exactly that is, it is a time for men to grow a beard/moustache during the entire month of November and raise funds (very much like Walk/Run for Life in aid of breast cancer).  Movember supports a very serious cancer, Testicular/Prostate Cancer!  

Now some ladies might be put off by Movember, but please remember that any man is susceptible to testicular cancer and it is a very serious issue.

• 1 in 9 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime – a new case is diagnosed every 15 minutes.
• Testicular cancer in the UK affects younger men between the ages of 20 and 50. 1,990 men were diagnosed with the disease in 2007.

So with these statistics along with growing a moustache or beard men, it is important to regularly check your tackle (or whatever strange name you might have for it!).  Ladies you can help your husbands and boyfriends (don't be shy now!) to check for lumps/bumps or any abnormalities.  It is also important for men to realise if anything abnormal (or out of the ordinary) occurs down below that it is important to get it checked out by your GP immediately.  Better to be safe than sorry!

Ladies can also get involved ;)

For an excellent tutorial on 'How to Check Your Testicles' have a look at the Embarrassing Bodies Clinic Website.   There is a video there that shows you graphically what to do. There are also lots of statistics, events and information on the Movember Website.

Please support this very worthy cause.  Just like breast cancer in women, it is important to realise that our men need help and support with a manly-cancer too.  It is only for one month every year and it can be so much fun! 

My story on the inside...

We all love to look beautiful on the outside...having the latest make-up, clothing, shoes and bags is always a great feeling.  But sometimes we forget about another aspect of beauty.  That is to say, inner beauty.

You can look absolutely fabulous on the outside, but if you are mean and horrible to people, it shows through the perfect outer exterior.  If you are kind, humble and faithful to your friends and people that you encounter on a day to day basis, it is much more appreciated and admired than being ultimately beautiful.

In previous years, if I chose a boyfriend, it would be on the sole reasoning of outer beauty.  Is he handsome, sexy, dresses well etc etc?  I've found that picking a partner in this way causes more grief and confusion than picking someone with the inner beauty key.  All the guys that I met that were beautiful, were also very arrogant, conceited, had no humour and really and honestly bored me to tears!  I have not had many boyfriends at all, however I've had one or two guys that I dated briefly that had these bad qualities and a lovely exterior.  I'm by no means tarring every 'good looking' guy with that same brush...it just seems there are a lot of 'ugly' good-looking people!

When I met my husband I can honestly say he was not the 'type' that I would have gone for normally.  He was very different but in a very good way!  The first thing that was different about him was that he was a friend, and he made me feel at ease.  There was no tension or problems when chatting with him because he was just relaxed and happy.  Secondly he really knew how to light someone's life up by joking and laughing himself.  To this day, he is the only person that can make me burst out laughing even when I'm wound up or angry.  And thirdly he was there for you when you needed him, no matter what!  And the bonus points:  he wasn't arrogant or conceited!

This proved to me that inner beauty won out!  Because of inner beauty, I've been with my husband for nine years prior to us getting married and a further two months after we were married.  (And no we won't be doing a 'Kim Kardashian' and getting divorced after 72 days of marriage)!

We often judge people when we first meet them by the way they look. It has always been said; you cannot judge a book by its cover. So look inside when you first meet people and look for that inner beauty, in the long run it is far more important than outward beauty.

It often takes inner beauty to realise outer beauty.  You cannot appreciate beautiful things without inner beauty.  This includes a beautiful sunset, an amazing smile and beautiful people.  If you have inner beauty it radiates out of you, from your smile to your eyes!  It is truly an amazing quality.

 

The good news is that it’s never too late or too soon to evolve your inner beauty. A good place to start is to create self-awareness by locating your passions and using them positively to create self-satisfaction. Then your inner beauty will grow and radiate to your outer self.

Take time to find your unique gifts and develop them. Get motivated to create self-satisfaction and a positive self-image. If you do this, you will make your life richer and more meaningful.  And remember, something that may be beautiful to you or me, might be hideous to someone else.  We are all unique and need to take that into consideration. 

For those with a sense of humour:

Just for a bit of a laugh :D

Have you got any great stories to share about inner beauty vs outer beauty?  Let me know!