Birchbox: Tiny Tweaks

I've felt like it's been an age and a day since my last beauty box, so this one was much awaited for!

This box is based on our New Years Resolutions. It's focus is instead of setting ourselves massive targets that we are almost 100% going to fail, to instead set ourselves smaller ones, or 'tweaks' as they have referred to them, but tweaks that by the years end, have had a big impact on our life. Looking at resolutions as tiny bitesize pieces instead of one annual huge target is a little less daunting and something that we are more liable to achieve.

The first thing I noticed about this box is they have changed their internal packaging slightly. Instead of receiving the fabric drawstring bag, they were placed in baby pink tissue paper instead. Personally I find this more useful (recycling for gifts!). The drawstring bags I struggled to find a use for, and just used to keep them for the sake of it. I think I used one once, and that was for a weekend away to put dirty underwear in! I'd be intrigued to what you use yours for, so pop a comment below!

I was really happy with this box due to the variety. It really has got THE perfect array of products for every part of your beauty regime - hair, body, face and health. Not to mention the cult product that has been doing its rounds for the last month or so in the blogosphere.

From L-R

Phillip Kingsley Moisture Balance Conditioner - I've literally just finished a Phillip Kingsley Moisture mask, and as you know, I'm not massive on hair products, so although this wasn't the most exciting product, I know my hair could do with any savior product at the moment because it's feeling horrible. The only downside to this product is its only 20ml, so it'll just cover one application and that's it (and maybe not even that due to the length of my hair!) so I won't be able to give this a proper trial run to see if I like it.

Benefit PoreFessional. I love silky primers, and although I'm not excited to try this out as such (mainly because I'm actually trialing a primer at present which I think is amazing, so I've become quite comfortable with that), I do however like the concept that I have received a Benefit item in general, mainly because its nice to recognize and receive a well loved brand.

Rodial GlamTox (Night). Although this specifies 'Night' on the tube, it does state it can be worn in the morning instead. It claims to smooth over complexion and plump fine lines. It retails at £75 for a full size so something must be good about it!

Vasanti Detox Facial Cleanser. I'm excited to try this out because it states it is a foam cleanser, which I love. It claims to wash away toxins and 'any last traces of foundation' which I always seem to have lingering on my skin.

Premae Anatomy Nutrients Instant Renewal Body Oil. I've really got into my body creams of late. Whether because I know I'm on a mission to reduce my ever-growing stash of them or not, I don't know! But either way, I've got into the habit of applying creams to my body (almost) after every bath/shower. I do have a body shop body oil in my stash that I rarely touch, and I do tend to prefer to wear oils more in the summer, maybe on my legs to give them a bit of a sheen too, because I don't like feeling too greasy, however I am looking forward to giving this a whirl. It claims to not only moisturize, but tone and detoxify the skin too.

Itsu Miso Soup. All previous food samples I have been sent via Birchbox, I can honestly say I haven't liked. I have received quite a few herbal teabags before which I'm really not a fan of. This soup has intrigued me because instead of it being a powder, its a paste. It also claims to be only 42kcals, so although its good health wise, low calorie food doesn't always taste the best, c'mon, admit it! I will however fetch this to work with me to try out (tomorrow, maybe!) and give it a whirl. It states a few ingredients on it (wakame, spring onion and tofu) so so far, I'm not convinced! It's also £2.25 for 3 sachets which I think is a little pricey!

Were you impressed with this months Birchbox?

2013 Reflection

With a brand spanking new year being only a matter of hours away, I thought I'd take this time to reflect over 2013 to see what it brought...

Travel - I had to look over photos in order to remind me what has actually happened this year and noticed I've done my fair share of travelling. June saw me go on the biggest and most anticipated holiday of them all - Florida, something that I'm actually still halfway through blogging about now. This holiday brought back so many childhood memories which have almost been erased and replaced, which is sad. The holiday also stamp-marked a few issues with my family and made me open my eyes to others personalities; something of which I will not discuss on here but was a turning point for me. A month later both me and my boyfriend spent a few days in Manchester in a gorgeous hotel for his 30th birthday. A month later I was lucky enough to win an all inclusive holiday to Turkey, so we jetted off again to spend a week in the Autumn sunshine. No sooner had we landed on English soil, we were trotting off to London for a few days, mainly so my boyfriend could go to Comic-con (another birthday present). Fast forward 4 weeks and I had won yet another competition to go back to London for an all expense paid trip to Pineapple Studios (which included a dance class, being judged by Arlene Phillips(!), tea at The Hilton, West End show (Billy Elliot FYI) and a hotel). So all in all, 2013 has been rather kind to me on the travel front!

Family/Relationships - Without going into TMI, I have almost learnt to accept an ongoing issue with my boyfriend. It's been hard, and at times I've come close to ending our relationship but I have to remind myself that no-ones relationship is 100% perfect, no matter how flawless it appears on the outside.
My mum moved house - a house I'd spent the last 8yrs of my life in before moving into my own home. This is the first home of my mums that I officially have never lived in (or never will). In a strange way, that thought is a little scary. It's a reminder that I'm an adult and will never live with my mum again. I have lived in my own home 2.5yrs and never had a problem with it till my mum actually moved, and the above thought then entered my head. Silly little thought process I have!
My niece is growing up way too quick and I only realized it a few days ago after not having seen her for 5 months. I noticed how her speech has developed and she is stringing sentences together a lot more now, and saying things that you wouldn't expect a 3 and half yr old to say! This saddened me a little, even though she isn't my child. She's growing up and slowly losing her baby cuteness.

Work Life - I have come to a point at work where I feel I am just plodding, and hitting the 'stop' button one too many times now. Lots of things have changed, and still are changing. It seems new rules are constantly being put in place and management appear a lot more stricter which is making it a more 'nervy' place to work (for reasons I wont go into on here). My actual job role I feel I have lost all love for to the point of almost not caring at all. I remember when I first started my job, hand on heart, I used to love it. Then as a year or 2 passed, this 'love' turned into 'ok', fast forward another 2 years, has now turned into 'dread'. I count the hours down each day which is not how I want to live.

Hobbies/Interests - For those that don't know, I'm a comper in my spare time, and this year has been the biggest so far in terms of prizes (which makes sense, considering the time and effort I've put into it!). It's paid off a lot though, and I've won some really good stuff (which I'm contemplating doing a blog post on). It gives me such a buzz and I've become addicted. Unfortunately its a time consuming hobby so I'm trying to make the most of it before I have children! I sometimes even struggle to do it just with a full time job and running a house! My other interests are obviously blogging. The last few months I've become addicted to reading certain bloggers (which can be quite time consuming but so inspirational!). I do try and blog as much as I can but comping takes first priority with me a lot of the times. As of a few days ago (Christmas day, to be exact) I also adopted another hobby, something I've been wanting to get into for a long time, sewing! My boyfriend kindly bought me a sewing machine which I've already spent a fair few hours on. Soon I wont have any spare time left! Its still early days yet but I aim to be making small home accessories by the summer. 2013 was also the year I decided to hang up my camera (and tripod!) and call it a day with filming Youtube videos. It was taking up too much of my time, and although I do miss it at times, I never closed the door completely, and promised to be back with the odd Primark Haul (which I have in fact footage waiting on my camera from a month or so ago, oops!). I do still upload my travel videos there though, when I have the time.

Health - This is a bit of a sore subject with me. Health wise I'm ok - I'm quite lucky in the fact that I've never had anything 'wrong' with me. I never visit the Dr simply because the majority of the time, I feel fine. However my weight is a different story. I'm piling the pounds on by the month and noticing clothes getting tighter and tighter, however the last few months, I've been in a strange (and arguably) worrying frame of mind. The frame of mind where I don't care how much I eat, it doesn't matter, the weight wont show, one more wont hurt, 2, 3, 5, 10 more wont hurt. It wont matter because I'm already 'chubby' so another 10 chocolates isn't going to make a difference. I've done no exercise since I care to remember, but there's been no guilt there, with any of it. This obviously makes it harder if I did want to try and do something about it, but now I feel if I do do something, I'll lose motivation, because deep down, I don't feel ready, but then my state of mind at present, I never will feel ready, therefore just getting bigger and bigger. Small tasks I'm noticing are becoming more effort now. I've lost pretty much all love for clothes shopping at the minute because I know I'll just find it depressing. Woah - I've gone off on a tangent! In conclusion (!) - 2013 has been a bad year for healthy eating. I haven't stepped on the scales for approx 5 months now (I was a weekly 'weigher-inner' before). I do have one short term plan for the new year to give my body a detox but after that, I'm not sure where I'll go...

All in all, 2013 hasn't been too bad to me! Fortunately for me, the majority of 'negative' things that have/are happening in my life, I am in control of, and I can change, which I am thankful for. It could be much, much worse.

What are your highlights of 2013? I'd love to hear them!

Review: Elegant Touch Rainbow Leopard Nails

I picked these up when they were on offer in Superdrug about a month ago. I saved them for Christmas time (despite the lack of festiveness!). I'm not actually a fan of leopard print, but it was the colours that drew me to these.

Application

I love the fact that these, for the most part, are hassle free to apply. No messing about with glue, so they can be done on the go with no sticky fingers! It did take me a while to get used to peeling the stickers, and I initially found this quite time consuming, however I soon found a knack of how to do it. The nails were helpfully numbered, with a small 'tag' attached to each nail which helps guide you to ensure accurate application to each hand. These 'tags' were easily snapped off. I did sometimes find certain fingers didn't have a suitable sized sticker to match, although I've got very petite nails so this is a common problem for me. All large nails and stickers end up getting wasted because they're way too big for even my thumb. However I just had to work with what I had.

Longevity

I applied these the night before Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve morning came and I woke to find that one had come off during my sleep, which didn't bother me too much as the others still felt pretty intact. I went to work Christmas Eve and there wasn't any issues (although I did pop the stickers in my bag just in case!). It wasn't till Christmas Day that they really started to lose their stickiness. Just before I opened my presents I had to re-stick 2 nails. During unwrapping, I lost 2, and by midday they were all ready to come off. So on average these lasted approx 2 days.

I loved the design on these, although not too sure of the average 'lifespan' of these once applied. They occasionally left a glue-type residue (which was the remnants of the sticker). This could easily be removed.

What do you think?

Welcome 2014!

My blog feed has been over-flowing with NY resolutions, and I told myself I'm not going to do one this but I do enjoy looking back on them once the year has passed, to actually see how motivated I have been. However, this year I'm going to break my resolutions into smaller sub categories, and try to avoid the common 'Try to lose weight' aims, cos lets face it, that's boring.

Health

❤ Drink more water. I honestly don't drink enough, of any fluid for that matter. If you poured all my daily fluids for one day together, I'd probably just fill 2 pint glasses. Not good. I forget how crucial water is to our bodies. Not only do we need it to digest food, but our vital organs need it as well in order to function properly and to send messages. Also it helps to oil our joints. I've noticed more pain in my knee joints this year, and this may well be a cause. I also suffer with headaches. I'll go through bouts of having headaches every single day for a few weeks on end. Again, this is probably a cause. Ok... before this turns into a biology lesson....

❤ Exercise (Yes, I know this is a common one but hear me out!). I don't do exercise, end of. I only do it when I'm on a mission to lose weight, which shouldn't be the case. At present, my body needs it more than ever now, so even if I drag my boyfriend out once a week for a long walk. One long walk is better than no walks at all.


Beauty

❤ Wash those flamin' make-up brushes more often. Uh, such a tedious task but really, germs galore on those things and I often one where those occasional blemishes come from on my cheeks. Blusher brush I'm looking at you.

❤ Have more regular hair cuts! Never been a hair person, and never probably will. I have a sister-in-law whose a hairdresser and it still doesn't change things. My hair is really long now and I haven't had a trim in a long time.

❤ This was on last years list, and although I tried, it never happened. Banish my nails of those horrid yellow stains from nail polish, which means wearing less dark colours and baring all occasionally (which is hard for me because I'm conscious of them!). It will also help if I'm not too lazy and start using a base coat EVERY time I paint my nails, and not just 'when I can be bothered'.


Hobbies/Interests

❤ Comping is a huge hobby of mine, sometimes that huge that as soon as I get in from work, I'm comping till bedtime. Because of this, I start to neglect other priorities (such as washing up.. oh the joy), so my housework occasionally suffers because I'm too busy being addicted. No matter how much of a buzz I get from it, I'm going to set myself a certain amount of hours each night.

❤ Have a blogging schedule. This has already been half compiled. I have monthly blog posts that I aim to cover each month. I may have set myself up to fail on this (because I really have to be in the mood to blog) but we'll see how we go.

❤ A new hobby came into my life at Christmas; sewing (with a machine, not by hand!). I aim to be able to do simple home accessories (i.e. shabby chic hanging heart garlands) by summer 2014. I'm a beginner, ok!

❤ This is a repeat from last year but - read a book a month. I really do love to read but I didn't manage to complete this - I think I read approx. 6-7 books in 2013, which actually isn't a great deal considering, but I recognize where I was going wrong. I was only reading in bed (and the occasional train/plane journey). Sometimes I drop into bed and I'm so tired that I just go straight to sleep, therefore not being able to pick a book up on a daily basis. So, from this year I will not keep my book on my bedside drawers, but move it around the house. Read it on the couch, whilst I'm waiting for food to be cooked, I may even take it to work and read on my dinner break, being the anti-social person I am.

Home Life

❤ Create a house chores schedule. It worked last time, it should work again.

❤ Decorate the hallway/landing and get it looking how it looks in my head

❤ Make the back bedroom more presentable (instead of a dumping ground!) and create a little 'office' space in there for me and my computer! I really miss sitting at a desk to type. I'm obsessed with stationary and notebooks, and everything having their own little place, so this will be a dream for me!

❤ Those little but annoying jobs that need doing round the house that you keep procrastinating about? Do them!


Me & My Outlook

❤ I'm not going to say stop worrying (because that would be impossible for me), but I've learnt over the past few months that its never as bad as it first appears. That situation that you've just been put in that's filled you with dread. Don't go home and fret about it all night, because when it happens, its never as bad as it first seemed, then you kick yourself for wasting all that time worrying.

❤ Lower my expectations. This is a biggy for me. This is what creates arguments. Peoples expectations of others are set too high, so when those expectations aren't met, frustration and anger set in. For example, (and a very common and real example in my life!) - I go to work and my boyfriend has a few days off - I arrive home from work expecting my tea to be waiting, and the house to be spotless. I walk through the door and the tea has only just been put in the oven, and the mess that was there before I left the house that morning? Its still there. I analyse the situation and realize that in fact my boyfriend has spent the entire day in front of the TV playing on his PS3, and hasn't moved a muscle till now. Frustration and anger sets in and I begin questioning him, asking him why he hasn't done anything. This gets a reaction and an argument begins to bubble. This is a very common argument in our household, and we've had many screaming matches over it, but I just have to learn that this is a man we're talking about. And yes, some men are very domesticated, but the majority? Far from it. I have to remind myself that its not in a mans nature do use their initiative to clean. And when they do do the cleaning, try not to be critical and think/tell them they've done a half-ar$ed job (they have, but lets not go there) and that its not up to your standards. You're a woman, and in terms of cleaning, you have different standards of home cleanliness to men, and clean in places they never even knew existed.

There's probably a few more, but this is the main bulk of it for now.

Wow, I've got a few challenges ahead of me for 2014.. bring them on!

Sale Buys: Shabby Chic Home Accessories

A few years ago on boxing day I'd find myself rushing to all the clothes shops, raiding the rails for the best bargain dress. Now I find myself scouring all homeware shops instead, attempting to find cute little accessories to add to my home. How times change.

I was extremely grateful that the Boxing Day sales in my town were no way near as crowded as I'd anticipated, therefore giving me the ability to leisurely browse the aisles. In doing so, I managed to walk away with a few treats.

Being from a small town, I don't have a great deal of choice when it comes to home interior, or everything for that matter. I do usually shop in a larger city when I can, but with not having this planned, I had to work with what I had.

BHS had a really good sale on their home accessories. I've bought a few things from there in the past and I'm always pleased with their quality.

Jug - RRP £15. Sale - £7.50

This rose embossed jug/vase is from their Vintage Maison line. I've been wanting a jug for so long to pop flowers in, but have never been able to find the right one. This would look perfect both on my kitchen windowsill or even in my dressing room. I almost bought it at full price a few days before, so I was glad that I waited, being reduced by 50%.

 

Clock - RRP £12.Sale - £6

I was debating for a while whether to get this floral block clock or not, because I was undecided (and still am) where to put this. We are decorating our hallway shortly so I was toying with the idea of putting it there, but I'm not sure if it'll be wasted. Either way, its white so it's easy enough to place anywhere (when the time is right, no pun intended!)

Bird Dish - RRP £5. Sale - £2.50

I originally bought this bird 'dish' to put in our hallway once its done, beside the front door, so keys can be thrown in there as Mike (or myself) comes through the door. However after purchasing, I realized that in fact we both have a bunch of keys, not just one single one, so they wouldn't fit! So I'm trying to think of another storage idea for this! I know a few people store their rings at the bottoms... I'll get my thinking cap on! Either way, I couldn't leave this bargain sat in the shop at £2.50!

Book-ends - RRP - £12. Sale - £6

We don't actually have any shelves up in our house yet, but I definitely plan on getting some soon because I have books that need to be housed, so when I saw these in the sale for £6, I thought they were the perfect bookends. I probably wont put a picture in the middle, but the option is there in the future.

Hanging Heart - RRP £16. Sale - £6

I spied this on a random pop-up shop in our shopping precint. I've been admiring their home accessories for the last several weeks every time I walk past, but thought that most things were over priced. I re-visited when I noticed they were having a sale, and spotted this hanging photo plaque. I know the general idea of hanging photo frames have been around a while now, but I loved the detail on these wooden hearts, and thought it was a little more unusual than others that I have been seeing. My living room is (or was) teal, but I've been slowly (but accidentally) incorporating more blue tones into the room, so I'm hoping this wont look too out of place in there!

 

Have you found any good home accessories in the sale yet? If you've blogged about them, pop your links in the comments below!

 

 

Bloggers: Mission Clear Out

I am an organized person. It was only recently that I found at as a child I used to have boxes, bags and compartments in drawers for different items. My mum told me how I was always taking items out of one box and putting them 'where they belong'. I'm still very much like that now. I have a place for pretty much everything. Being unorganized makes me feel a bit jittery and unsettled.
I was one of those kids in secondary school that HAD to have my school bag and books ready the night before. Now I'm older and in work, I HAVE to have my outfit hung over the bannister on the landing for the next day at work. Rushing round the next morning trying to find something to wear annoys me.

It goes without saying that I also love to tidy, sort and clear out once in a while. It makes my mind feel more 'fresh' and makes me feel more motivated. This goes for all areas of my life, from physical clear outs of that horrid cupboard where all the letters get shoved, or a computer clear out of all those duplicate photos, or even an internet clear out of blogs that I no longer read.

I'm not sure about your newsfeed but since my blog has been live, (which is probably almost 3 yrs now), I've added many blogs along the way. As the months tick by, I find myself bypassing the same old blogs in my reading list. Occasionally I'll think 'I really must have a clear out of my blog feed', but of course never do. So, with a new year fast approaching, I've decided to begin uncluttering my life, starting with my blog.

I'm actually quite fussy on what I look for in a blog now, and found that a lot of the blogs that I 'unfollowed' were purely down to the fact that they blogged about products that would cost me a months' wages if I were to buy them. Sorry, but I refuse to spend £30 on a lipstick, or £50 on that amazing body butter. I'd rather get 10 products for the price of your one. In my life, these blogs are unrealistic, therefore I am unable to relate to them. I look for blogs that are 'down to earth', products I can buy that aren't going to break the bank, common interests, and people that inspire me. If I'm honest, the appearance of a blog also swings it for me.. bad quality photos and an ugly or confusing layout and I'm outta there, unfortunately.

Before I began my 'cull', I had accumulated 149 people that were sat in my reading list. After my clear out I managed to get it down to 85. To those 85, you lucky, lucky people. Since my clear out, I have been on the hunt for fresh new reads, ready for a fresh new year.

So, if you live in the real world, do real, achievable things, and blog about lifestyle, travel, home interior or beauty, then pop your link in the comments section below, and I'll gladly check you out. Oh, and if your blog is sparkly, floral, cutesy and full of girly-ness fun then I'll probably like you even more!

Have yourself a Merry little Christmas...

I wasn't going to do a post focusing on Christmas (that has swam past us like it never existed), but then I felt like it didn't seem right to continue with posts without a mere mention of my own celebrations.

This year was a very quiet one for us. Myself and my boyfriend exchanged presents in the morning, then went over to his parents house for Christmas dinner, just the 4 of us. We were later joined by my boyfriends younger sister and his nephew, before resorting back home to chill.

Christmas in my living room...

The last few days have been a bit of a blur if I'm honest (and no, not through alcohol either!). We actually braved the boxing day sales yesterday (and was so surprised (but glad!) of the lack of crowds!). I picked up a few home accessories which will be coming in a blog post shortly.

Present wise, I got pretty much everything I asked for. As many of you know, I love to travel (whether it be in the UK testing out new hotels, or further afield), so one 'main' thing that I asked for was a night/weekend away. Although that hasn't been booked yet as such, the main focus is there - Mike got me a pair of tickets to go and see Ant n Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway in Manchester. I've got a bit of a thing for Dec (for those that get them mixed up, its the smaller lighter coloured hair one!) so that along with a weekend in Manchester is right up my street. We both love Manchester, and have visited there a good handful of times since being together, so its becoming tradition to go there on a break now! My crafty side also asked for a sewing machine. Now I didn't think I was going to get this because my boyfriend believed it was going to be one of those 'fads' that I'll use a few times then it'll never see daylight again. Because of this, he didn't overly splash out on one, 'just in case', but instead got me a middle of the range one. Although he did promise that if I 'prove' I am using it enough, he will buy me an upgrade!

My Presents..

I also got lots of vouchers to spend it various shops, nail art goodies, home accessories, candles, bath products, PJs, notebooks and way too many chocolate treats that I am now officially sick of the sight of! (and yes, I did just say that!).

I'm sad that my Christmas holidays are almost over. I have just the weekend left to play with then I'm back to the grind. New Years Eve is going to be another quiet one for us. We've decided to go for a meal then see where the night takes us (home, probably!).

How cute are these wine decorations? I won them (and the wine!) as part of a hamper...

 

I hope everyone had a fab Christmas!