Happy Halloween!

Where has the weekend gone again?! I find myself saying that every weekend unfortunately...

Yesterday was spent getting last minute bits for the halloween party and decorating the house with candles, lights, spiders, cobwebs and other goulish items! I then attempted to do my make-up as a creepy dead doll.. it turned out something like this...

Today was spent running round after my half hungover boyfriend who is also suffering from a bad back, so I've done everything from tidying up after last nights antics, house chores, a run to the supermarket to buy a cooked chicken (yeah, we're not trained in the chicken department just yet), cooking my first ever roast dinner, ok, minus the chicken, and now catching up on x factor that I missed last night!

For those that still yet have a halloween party to go to, Sleek are doing a fab Halloween collection here, for an affordable £12, which includes 3 essential items!

Did you dress up for halloween?

Sleek Brow Kit

Sleek has introduced yet another new product to their range, the brow kit! Retailing at £7.99 this little compact kit includes everything you need to add shape and definition to your brows. A mini pair of tweezers are included to pluck away any unsightly stray hairs, an angled blush is used to apply the brow wax to create the perfect angled shape, and the remaining round flat brush is used to set the wax and fill any remaining sparse areas.

I am a massive user of eyebrow kits and I'm currently using the HD Brow Kit which I absolutely love, but I will be definitely trying out this one by sleek too.

The kit is available in 2 colours, light or dark, and is available in your local Superdrug now.

I currently have a giveaway that is ending on Halloween! This giveaway also includes a sleek product, so if you are a fan, get yourself over to here now! You're in with a good chance of winning!

Online purchases

So after fretting last night that it is less than one week till our halloween house party that me and my boyfriend are hosting and I still haven't got an outfit, I began scrawling through loads of websites. I want to be a creepy doll. I've found the perfect face make up to do (theres a great one on Youtube!) but no freaky dolls costumes. I have no clothes to hack into and splash fake blood at either, they're all too good! So I've decided just to go for normal clothes but with a freaky face (although my 'normal' face can look freaky without make-up on so maybe I'll just go bare-faced and save all the effort? I think not).

I ended up on Dorothy Perkins website and ended up buying 2 dresses that were in the sale. They won't be to everyone's taste. The 2nd dress I actually bought with Las Vegas in mind. It's obviously a little too summery to be wearing now but thought it'd be perfect for strolling up and down the strip next year.

I bought this to be teamed with black tights. It's quite a versitile dress and could be dressed down for work or dressed up for a more colder night out. I love the detail round the neck and the flattering A-line style of this would suit my figure perfectly. A bargain at £15 reduced from £39.99.

 This pretty little feminine dress was a bargain at £10 reduced from £24. I'm a sucker for lace so I love the lace neckline. Again, another flattering style that suits most figures, cinching you in below the bust to a flowy skirt. Like I mentioned, I bought this with next years holiday in mind, but I suppose you could actually pair this with some thick opaque tights and a black slouchy cardigan and you'll be good to go!

Have you found any bargains in the mid season sales?

Kate x

Battling the bulge!

So I'm one of these girls that has a hang up about her weight. And yes, I do have a reason to, unlike 70% of the female population who have the perfect figure but still find themselves annoyingly 'fat'. I am small so it doesn't help. I wouldn't want to be tall, but the thought of being stretched sometimes so my weight isn't so noticeable really does appeal to me!
I'm not obese, but I'm not slim. I'm what I would call chubby. I started off at uni being a size 8. Back then I thought I was chubby, but looking back, I'd do anything to be that weight again! As the years have passed, my weight has slowly crept up. I'm useless with diets. Every Monday morning I try the 'healthy eating' idea, only to be scoffing my face at teatime of that very same day because I'm starving. I have a sweet tooth, and a big one at that. My mum said I've been like it ever since I was little. Apparently my eyes used to light up as we went past the sweet aisle in shops. Fast forward 20+ years and I'm still that same little girl that eyes lights up when her boyfriend brings her home a chocolate bar...

A couple of years ago I tried Weight Watchers. I did lose on that, probably around 10lb, but stopped going after a few weeks. I was even still paying monthly and not turning up (see what I mean about willpower, what sort of nutter does that?!). I needed real motivation - I needed a hand to guide drag me there and do the journey with me.

I've been recording my weight almost every week for the past 2 years now. On Sunday I jumped on those very same scales and they were 1 lb away from yet another milestone. The scales have never read that amount before. I did a quick countdown in my head to Las Vegas and decided there and then that this has to stop and something needs to be done now. All my friends have babies or don't need to slim, so I turned to my mum who I knew would be up for losing some weight as well. She agreed to come, and last night we went to our first ever Slimming World meeting.

There are several reasons that made me want to start Slimming World.
1) I am bridesmaid next yr for my brother in Las Vegas. I want to look good in my dress and on the photos, obviously!
 2) Deep down I think this is the last holiday me & Mike, (My boyfriend) are going to have before we settle down and start a family, so I want it to be the biggest and bestest holiday ever! And for it to be good, I can't have any hang ups about my weight, otherwise it will affect everything (unfortunately) from swimming to shopping for holiday clothes that I really want but can't have because they wont 'suit my figure'.
3) I want to get fit and slim before I get pregnant, because once it does happen, I think the pounds will be a lot more difficult to shift (and for dangerous reasons too!)
4) To generally increase my confidence. On the very odd occasion of having a slim-ish feeling day, I feel like my confidence increases a lot, so losing a couple of stone, I think I'll be one cocky I-love-me little sh!te! (ppfftt)

I thought those were quite good reasons as to why I need to lose weight. Having an event to work towards too is also very motivating. The wedding isn't till next September, but that gives me loads of time to work on my weight loss. Till then though I'm going to set myself little targets for smaller upcoming events, such as Xmas, my birthday, etc. Events that you generally want to look glam for.

Slimming World already seems a lot more suitable and more appealing than WW. It took me a few hours to get my head around but now I'm in full swing of it and can't wait to have my 1st weigh in next week. The good thing about SW is it isn't a diet. It's a healthy way of eating the right amount of portions from different food categories. Whats even better is you are allowed 15 syns per day. These are your 'bad' foods such as chocolate and takeaways etc. I don't think a full takeaway would cover 15 syns, but you can save your syns up till the weekend and have a big splurge on that much loved junk food, and still lose weight!
Sounds too good to be true? Check back next week to see my weekly loss!

Have any of you been a member of SW?

Click here to check out your nearest slimming world club!

Disclaimer: I am not in any way being sponsored for this blog. All opinions are my own.

October Bargains..

I've been lucky enough to pick up quite a few bargains over the past 2 weeks so thought I'd share them with you...

Clockwise - Gliss Shine Spray, BOGOF (£1.99). Loreal tanning lotion - £2.99 (never tried this one

before but always up for new testing! W7 Nail Polishs in Spearmint & Sheer Pink. BB Samples that I was sent from Garnier. The well spoken about MUA Heaven & Earth Palette (I know for sure you wont need swatches on this!) MUA Quad (bought this because I thought it would be ideal for travelling).

Clean and Clear Goodies! (These are all on offer at the minute in Asda). From L-R Shine Control Daily
Scrub, deep cleansing lotion, deep action cream wash, dual action moisturiser. T Zone Tea Tree facial
wipes.

Swatches (clockwise) from the MUA quad.

I've decided to switch my skincare routine round a little because I suffer with quite problematic
oily skin. I have used a few of these products before, but not altogether. They are all oil-free, so hopefully
combining them and sticking to a strict daily routine I will see some improvement. Does anyone else use
these products? Do you get good results?

From L - This photo doesn't do this top justice. It is the sofest long sleeved top I have ever felt! It's gorgeous burgendy colour with a laddered type effect on it, so something definitely needs to be worn underneath - £10, Select. Rusty brown jeans - Matalan - £15. Long sleeved A-Line style dress with a quirky star print. Perfect with leggings and boots! - Matalan, £7 in the sale!

Navy and red 3 quarter sleeve top with lace effect neck panel. George at Asda - £14.

Gold distressed metallic peep toe flat shoes - £5. (You're probably thinking why on earth have you bought these - it's almost winter! But! I'm going to Las Vegas next year so I'm thinking ahead, and really couldn't turn down this offer! ;-)

A part of me thinks these looks a bit granny-ish, but then another part of me loves the chunky knit design! I've been looking for a 'sturdy' pair of slippers for a few weeks now. The shops are loaded with gorgeous slippers but the soles are so flimsy (I know, I own about 4 pairs of them!). Whereas these have a good sturdy rubber sole, so thought they'd last at least the winter!

Another thing that I've been loving the past week is this lovely chunky knit poncho! I wasn't too sure on poncho's for a while, but I tried this one on in Tesco and fell in love with it. It's shorter at the front and longer at the back, and has a lovely snuggly neck as you can probably tell in the photo. The only annoying thing with this is it likes to leave a trail of fluff on all my clothes, so I've been using my Lindt Roller like there's no tomorrow!

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

NOTD: Autumnal Stripe

I'm one of those people that you'll never see without nail varnish on. I've been wearing it constantly (ok, not the same one!) for around 2+ years. I love how it transforms the look of your hands, and gives you that extra girly touch to any outfit.
Just recently I've become obsessed with nail art. I invested in some dotting pens and started with simple polka dots, then turned to strips and have started with the diamonte nail art (although that one is a bugar to get off so I might just stick to special occasions to get the jewels out!). I have tried certain shapes such as hearts and stars on my nails, but haven't quite got the knack of precision just yet!

Here is a look that I've been sporting for the past couple of days...



For this I used NYC in 'Pin stripe' and Avon's 'Cherry Jubilee' (which is v.similiar to BarryMs 'Raspberry'). I've been working with these 2 colours a lot just recently. I've been trying to slowly incorporate Autumnal colours into my wardrobe, and I'm being suckered in by the burgundy's and rusty browns that seem to be everywhere! However I thought I'd brighten it up a little with some white. I worked with these 2 colours but created a simple polka dot design as well and got so many compliments when I was out shopping and getting served at the weekend so I'll definitely be working on more ideas!

Keep your eyes peeled for more NOTD's

Autumn/Winter Competition!

Today is an exciting day for me... my blog is just about to have it's 1st ever giveaway!
This is to mainly celebrate the quantity of subscribers I have on Youtube. I was going to do this at 1000 subscribers, but the excitement got the better of me!

This isn't the biggest giveaway ever, just a little something to say thank you. I chose these prizes with my own hard earned money (aren't I good to you guys?!). With the seasons in mind, I focused on Autumnal colours which I think would look great in these upcoming colder months.

Prizes include BarryM nail polishes in 'Vivid Purple' & 'Red Black'. The ever talked about sleek storm palette. A new brand to the beauty world, the VIVO palette in Graphite Glamour. Collection2000 Lock n Hold Lipgloss in 'Urban Punk'

All items are brand new (obviously!) and where possible, sealed.

Prizes up close and personal!

Barry M 'Red Black' Again, this is not my hand ;-)

BarryM 'Vivid Purple'

There are far better photos of this on here than mine, including swatches. I couldn't swatch this for obvious reasons!

After seeing this on so many beauty guru's I just had to pick one up for the giveaway. I swatched this palette in the shop and was amazed how pigmented this little beauty was!

  


Collection 2000 Lock n Hold lipgloss in Urban Punk. I own a few of these lipglosses and love them! They are non sticky, have a gorgeous but subtle shimmer, and taste yummy (always a bonus!)

The rules

1. You must be a public follower of my blog via GFC. All blogs must be valid and active.
2. Leave a comment below with your GFC name & email, stating one thing you love about Autumn.
3. To maximise your chances of winning you can do a blog post regarding my competition, including prize photo and a link to my blog.

To give everyone a fair chance of entering, this competition will run for 3 weeks, closing on Monday 31st October.
This competition is international.

Good Luck!