This Weeks Ups & Downs #19

Hola lovelies, hope your weekends been great, out enjoying the sunshine - I've watched it from the flat most of the day!


Ups:
- The weather! Finally we get the summer we want, I love this so much, even if my fair skin hates me for it. I have two skin colours: white and lobster red, it's very rare for me to build a natural tan. Never mind though as the sun makes everyone feel better , I know I'm always in a great mood at the moment :D


- Saturday we went and bought a new baby hamster! It's been nearly a year since our last one died and I haven't felt ready for a new one but we saw her in Pets at Home and the moment she stood on her back legs and looked up, I fell for her. She's called Oreo because she's all black with a white stripe down her belly. She's so noisy already, swinging from the bars and chewing - cant wait for a cuddle!


- The warm weather means less make up! My skin always improves in the summer, and I can go back to just wearing a bit of tinted moisturiser - need to rebut my YouRebel from Boots as I'm nearly all out but this stuff is amazing :)


- It's nearly half term :) one week to go until a full week off work - I'm excited even though I know I will be in school quite a lot any way :(


- Went exploring around where we lived today. It was so nice to get out, plus the weather was great and we walked for ages! Took some nice pictures as well as being a bit silly!
Down:
- We're still on high alert at school, waiting for this inspection, hopefully it will be this week do we get it out of the way!

So there you have it, my week. How was yours? Xx

16 Weeks until summer Challenge - half way point

Afternoon lovelies, so today marks 8weeks until the summer holiday as well as the half way point of this challenge.


It's scary how quickly time has flown, school is still crazy, the wet lather has plunged us into depths of winter and then thrown us straight into an incredibly early summer.


With the change in weather, I find it easier to eat better - I crave salad and cold meals, don't want lots of stodgy foods and have more motivation to exercise.


So these last four weeks, I've really stuck to the diet, ramped up the exercise and actually had some results


Weight loss: 8.5lbs total
Dress Size 14 in top, 14/16 on bottom but more towards the 14 :)


Thighs: Starting - 26.5inch Current - 25inch - 1.5inch difference
Bum: Starting - 44.5inch    Current - 43inch - 1.5inch difference
Hip: Starting - 42inch      Current - 40inch - 2inch difference
Waist:Starting - 34.5inch   Current - 31.5inch - 3inch difference
Arms: Starting - 13inch     Current - 12.5inch - 0.5 difference


I never actually blogged my bust measurement but I started at 36.5 and now I'm down to 34inchs! 


Total inch loss - 8.5inchs all together!


I'm pretty pleased with it at the moment, I feel like I've really pushed myself and am seeing the reward - I have a bigger meal at lunch time ad then a small meal in the evening, plus lots of water (8pint glasses - ooops!)

I'm trying to add more gym sessions to my routine, as well as more walking. I'm also considering signing up for the Palace to Palace Bike race in October for the Princes Trust, I hope training for that will give me a boost.


Added to this, I'm loving fitness magazines at the moment, I adore Women's Fitness for great at home workouts, Weight Watchers for the amazing recipes and Zest is just a great read. I still spend a lot on magazines, but these ones I tear out workouts or things I like and stick them in my fitness book for when I need some inspiration when I'm reaching for the biscuit tin!

So how are you getting on, 8 weeks left until the summer holidays, are you on target or do you need a bit of a boost?


xx

A whole lot of hauling - Primark

Evening lovelies, hope your well. So at the weekend, I posted the first part of my recent hauling, well here is the second part, there is a third part to follow as well :)

I've picked up a few bits, but I need a revamp to my work wear for the summer - just need the sun to come out now!

 I have a black dip hem skirt that I love and will post about soon that I want to wear for school and fell in love with this top. It's actually very see through, but I think with a flesh coloured top underneath it will actually look of, tucked in to that skirt or any other black skirt that I own. I love that its only £8.00, which is a real bargain.


The necklace is another gorgeous heavy metal one from Primark, and for only £4 it would have been rude not to pick it up!

I love the digital watercolour print on this top - I plan to wear this quite casually with again my black cross over skirt again, denim jacket and either my wedge boots, flip flops or my new wedges from Topshop (will show you soon) Its very see through so again I'm thinking flesh colour top underneath as no one wants to see my nude torso :(


Another £4.00 Primark collar that I've seen a few bloggers rocking, 'join the club' springs to mind.

Finally I picked up this off white/grey shirt with contrasting black collar and these cute collar tips. It was the tips that drew me to it. Had I known it would crease quite this much then I might not have picked it up, but nothing a good iron can't fix!


So there we go, another haul, just in time to enable you all at the weekend! xx

NOTD - Models Own Balearic Cool

Afternoon lovelies, why is it that whenever I start to crave bright colours the rain sets back in!


I picked up Balearic Cool a couple of weeks ago and I fully blame Lily over at ETC LLYMLRS for this as I didn't want it until I saw her review of it!


Balearic Cool is part of Head Kandi collection from Models Own. All of the polishes in the collection are inspired by the White Isle and are great for summer. It's made up of 5 different colours, two glitters and 3 Neons.

I picked up Balearic Cool as it was a bright, in your face blue that I could use the cliché of it being like the Balearic sea, but its not, with not a hint of green. Its more like highlighter blue! All of the pictures make it seem much lighter then it actually is.


Now normally I can't fault Models Own polishes, opaque in two coat and lasts for ages. This one was very different. This was really sheer and watery and needed 3 or 4 coats to get it truly opaque. This was really strange and I thought it was just mine but further reading shows that its not. This is not a problem, I just wonder what is different about this formula then others, however this would make a great ombre colour as it builds really well.

In daylight

It lasted really well on the nail, I got 4 days out of it and loads of compliments, especially when it was sunny.

with flash

This is definitely a manicure colour, I think it would look odd on your toes, and it will really pop with a tan!


You can pick this up from Boots, Boots.com or Models Own online for the princely sum of £5. 




Have you picked this up yet?

Rate my design @Nelly.com

Step aside Jimmy Choo, its time to retire Christian Louboutin, there's a new shoe designer in town...ME...


...Ok so I joke, I'm not really about to take over the world of shoes, but I have designed a shoe that could be made into an actual shoe for every to buy!


Nelly.com is currently running a competition to have your own shoe design made into an actual shoe which could be sold! Now I'm a shoe addict, I have far to many shoes, so many that I even have some hidden away so the boy doesn't find them (oops)


However I'm always on the hunt for a specific shoe that I can never find so how could I pass up the opportunity to design it!


So I would like to unveil my very own shoe!

Help me to win, vote on my design here!

If you fancy the chance to have your own shoe design made into an actual shoe then click on the link above, vote for me and then design your own. You could win:

- £2000 to spend at Nelly.com

- Exclusive Goodybag

- Chance to have your shoe design sold

And if that wasnt enough, you also get a £5 gift voucher just for entering, I've already spent mine!

If you enter, link me with your designs! xx

This Weeks Ups & Downs #18

Evening lovelies, hope your well - I'm currently very chilled out nursing my poor shin splints after a very long walk today :(

Ups:
- Two weeks until half term :) I can't wait for my week off, I really need just a few days to get back on top of things with school.


- A few good hauls this week that I'm in the process of writing up, I love having a bit of extra money to treat myself for once.


- Minbin is nearly all fixed, she's been in the garage twice this week to get set up so that she doesn't sound awful and runs smoothly.


- Yesterday we went to look around a new flat. We're hoping that the new development will be completed by the summer next year which gives us some extra time to save up the deposit for our own place. We have enough to pay half the deposit so could reserve a place now - can't wait to start house shopping!


- I'm nearly at 200 followers on blogger, hellocotton and bloglovin, so I'm planning 3 small giveaways to say thank you - just need to decide what to buy and when!


Down:


- It's looking like our HMI visit at school could be anytime in the next two weeks, this means lots of added stress :( Just need to make sure I'm fully prepared and my boards and books are up to date.


- When will we get some summer?


Its been quite a nice week this week, although I've taken a step back from the blog and twitter to try and focus on school. I'm trying to get lots of posts written up over the weekend for a few guest posts as well as to get myself ahead so that I don't have to worry about the blog as much as I do.


How was your week? xx

1) So much product left in there, 

2) I shouldn't be left on my own for very long, 

3) I'm sure June needs a capital letter, 

) One of my favourite words - Summer, although cockles is pretty funny!

A whole lot of hauling - Boots & Superdrug

Evening lovelies, hope your enjoying your weekend.


I've got a mammoth haul to show you as I earnt some over time and it would have been a crime not to spend it! Problem is its quite big and so I've split it up into smaller posts so that it's not too picture heavy.


First up are my recent acquisitions from Boots and Superdrug. I popped into Boots on Thursday after work and today as I was on the hunt for the Soap & Glory Sit Tight XS Intense as I love the original and wanted to try it out, but I couldn't resist some other bits.

 I picked up a real mix of items, some that I needed and others that I didn't but oh well.

 In Boots, the Models Own stand called to me, and they were running a buy two products and get a nail art pen. I couldn't resist choosing two of the Head Kandi polishes. I picked Headonist and Beach Party to go with the Baleric Cool I picked up a couple of weeks ago, these are really bright colours that will be great for the summer! 


I also wandered into Superdrug and did a little dance of joy when I saw that they had a new Essie stand. I picked up Cute as a Button, Turquoise & Caicos and . I haven't tried any of the Essies yet, but I've heard great things so can't wait! 

In Boots I also picked up some essentials and other bits. I bought the new Soap & Glory Intense XS as I swear by the original Sit Tight so I can't wait to see what happens. 


I picked up some more Simple face was, as well as some Nivea Toner and as its 3 for 2 I picked up the hand gel for in my handbag. I needed the eyelashes for a night out soon and love the way they Kimberly lashes look.


And finally I spent some of my Boots points on Benefits new Sun Beam, I've seen some pictures of the launch so can't wait to use this as I love the Highbeam and Moonbeam products so can't wait to try this out!


So there's part one of the haul, I can't wait to show you the rest, as well as getting some reviews of the products written up.


What have you been hauling this weekend? xx

Virtual Hauling - Dipped Hems

Afternoon lovelies - Wednesday is upon us which is nice, this week is reallyflying by for me!

This week I've been looking at dipped hemitems - its something that I didn't think I would be able to pull off with mychunky legs - but I've bought one recently from ASOS and have since fallen inlove.

I think the dip hem is quite flattering reallyas long as it sits at knee length rather then higher up  or lower down asthe knee is for me is my narrowest part after my ankle.

I keep putting these in my basket and think Iwill make them mine very soon - but what do you think?

1) River Island Blue Ombre Leopard Print DipHem Skirt - £30.00

2) Asos Cross My Heart Top - £15.00

3) Topshop Tall Waisted Dip Hem Dress - £38.00

4) Topshop Tall Pleated Dip Hem Skirt - £32.00

5) Light Blue Dip Hem Dress - £30.00

I've been naughty and linked all of these foryou - I blame Kat from Jemima.and.Ted becauseher post the other day was a massive link fest and she enabled me quite a lot!

I'm planning on wearing my black skirt with mynew black wedge boots to toughen them up quite a bit which is more my style (ifyou can call it style!)

So what do you think? Are you embracing thedip hem trends for this summer?

xx

Blog Hopping #1

Evening lovelies - just a quick post tonight as I've forgotten to take photos of me shopping my stash :( 


Wanted to let you know that I'm taking part in a Blog Hop over on Island Girl Insights, and I've found some great new blogs to read (like I need any more!)

Source: Onlineincomestar

Why not pop over there and take part, its so easy! 
Click the link and let me know if I miss any good ones! 


xx

This Weeks Ups & Downs #17

Evening lovelies - who else is sat watching Twilight: New Moon at the moment, are you Team Edward or Team Jacob?


Ups:


- The Sun is finally back. I love the sun, it makes every day seem better and what I choose to wear is starting to get brighter.


- Something amazing happened on Friday, I didn't hate how I looked for once. The diet and exercise craziness is starting to kick in at last :D


- The exhaust fell off the Mini last night as we were travelling on the M25, so sitting on the hard shoulder, some random man stopped and helped tie it back on with the cable from a lamp! I'm incredibly grateful to whoever he was, and my dad has been down today and fixed her up again!


- I Colour B4'd my hair on Monday, and it went really bright orange(see here) but now its much better, and I'm loving being a brunette again.


Downs:


- The boy's Granddad's funeral was on Friday. It was both a sad day as well as a celebration of his life and the family that he built. With 5 children, 13 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren he was loved by a lot of people and this showed with the people who turned up on the day - the sun shone and it made the pain a little less.


- The Mini has been really poorly recently, not sounding great and drinking up fuel. This got worse until last night the exhaust fell off on the M25!! That was very scary!


This week's been quite quiet really, can't wait until half term - thee more weeks and then a week off!

How's your week been? xx

A new love - Flutterface Accessories

Afternoon lovelies - a short post from me, but I wanted to share my new love with you all.


I've recently had lots of fun, browsing Ebay for gorgeous vintage style jewellery without paying Topshop prices. I found one shop online called Flutterface. 


Flutteface was set up by the lovely Joy, where she designs and makes most of the items that she sells. All the products are really unique, and I'm so glad I found her on Ebay!


I bought three pieces from her:

 I picked up the key necklace, the Shamrock necklace and the Hope ring as i was feeling the need for some hope at work at the moment.


Both the necklaces at 18cm so they sit just below where a normal chain would sit. Although they are new, the bronzed material gives them a vintage feel. I must admit I have painted the back of all of these with clear nail varnish just to stop the colour going and ending up with green patches on my skin.


The ring is quite a small fit, I can fit it on my little finger but don't like how it looks there, so I wear it on my middle finger just above my knuckle and it sits quite nicely there. There are a selection of rings, with lots of different words on them, and a secret message inside :)

The packaging is so cute, with the pink and white packets, and Joy even sent this cute note with some little hair grips on them, a really nice little touch.

I already know what I want to buy next, and with most items being under £5, I can see me building up quite a collection.


If you want to have a look, please head over to http://www.flutterface.co.uk and if you place an order let me know!


Thanks for reading xx

Goodbye Red, its been fun...Colour B4 Extra

Afternoon everyone - hows this week going for you? As ever, school is out of control, we are rapidly rushing towards SATS week and the halfway point of this half term.


So for the past few weeks I've been craving change - I haven't been feeling comfortable in my own skin for a while, I don't dress or look how I want. I've spent that last couple of weeks researching ways of changing my hair colour, especially stripping out the red dye.


I've read lots of posts on Colour B4 and decided that I needed to give this a go, however I've been dying my hair red for the past 2years and so knew I would have a lot of colour build up and would need the Extra version of Colour B4. I finally picked up a box at the weekend, and so nervously on Monday decided to use it.


The product claims to strip hair colour back to its lightest colour. A little bit of hair history for you, I have had my hair blonde, brown, red, black and natural - I can't even tell you the last time I saw my natural colour! 

In the box you get the 3 parts, instructions and the naffest gloves ever!

You mix A and B together and apply it all over your hair. With the extra strength you need to leave it on for an hour, especially as I have long, thick hair but if your hair is shorter then you don't need it to be an hour. The instructions advise you to wrap your hair in clingfilm, or my alternative was an Asda carrier bag, and then a towel over the top - this helps the product work as it keeps it warm - do not use this in a cold or draughty place.

After that you need to rinse it for 10 - 15mins to get all the product out of your hair, this is the most boring part of the process, I literally wanted to cry with boredom.

Next, using half of part C, this is a buffer which helps neutralise the product - leave this for 1 min and then rinse it out for 5 minutes, cue more boredom! 

After all of this, use the rest of Part C like a normal shampoo, rinse out and dry. You will be left with lighter hair. 

The process is fairly easy to do, the product stank of something very nasty, but after a while you don't notice it.

I was never daft enough to think it would take me back to my natural, boring brown. I also knew that there was a strong possibilty of it being slighty coppery...I was not prepared for what I got.

Before

After

Look how bright it is! I was not expecting it to come out this ginger. I have never seen anything like this, and looks ridiculous on me. My natural roots show through at the top, and all my baby hair are white!

Cue mad dash to Asda to pick up a brown to cover it - I picked a semi-permanent as I'm aware of not killing my hair with all these different treatments, as well as a hair treatment for use next time I washed it.

And here is what I've been left with now:

This is a bit darker then I wanted but I can live with this. I know I'm going to have to look after it, and the colour will fade but I can keep on top of it more now, slowly I hope I can go back to my natural - non ginger - colour at some point.


So I've spent a grand total of £15 on two boxes to come to this colour and I'm quite pleased really. A strip and recolour would have set me back a lot more at a salon. The Colour B4 did what it said it would do, and I would use it again if I needed to.


So what do you think? Have you tried it before, or thinking of trying it?


xx

Shopping my Stash #12

Afternoon lovelies - its so nice to be sat at in my PJs writing this, usually on my home from work, stuck in traffic and probably a bit grumpy. 


This weeks picks are some old and some new pieces, that I love and can't wait to love.

Face:

 Benefit Porefessional - I cannot wait to try this after reading like a million reviews! 
Benefit Hello Flawless Foundation - I have the powder version and its OK but this was amazing when the MUA put this on me in Harrods, feel this is going to be a bit love :)
Benefit Hervana - gorgeous, glowy skin makes the grey weather all disappear.
Mac Blush in Harmony - bought this off Buya-Power as it looked like a great contour colour, had forgotten about it so hope its good.
Benefit It Stick concealer - I apply this with the Real Techniques Shading Brush to leave a smooth finish
HD Brows - love this, need to use this more often


Eyes & Lips

Benefit Lemon Aid - A great base for my make up, this really helps it last all day, I can even use it on its own to make me look more awake.
Urban Decay Naked Palette - Great for a different look each day, if I was only allowed one eyeshadow set ever again, then this would be it!
Bourjois Coup de Theatre Mascara - great for a subtle lash look, without being overpowering, a nice mascara.
17 Cosmetics Photofinish Eyeliner - I found this at the bottom of my bag, a liner that brings out the colour of my eyes is a good thing really :)
Duwop Venom Lipgloss - I'm not a big lip product person, but I'm trying to change this, starting with this gloss that I got from a Glossybox.


So lots of products this week, what are you using this week?


xx

This Weeks Up & Down #16

Evening all, so nice that I'm not at work tomorrow!!


Up:


- Thank God for Payday - this means I did some serious shopping this weekend, I'll post that haul soon.


- Good Observations at school, had a surprise observation which I hate but it turned out ok thankfully :)


- Starting to embrace my skin a bit more, after weeks I split personality, it's finally calmed down and I'm not having to mix up quite as many concoctions!


Down:


- Never enough money for all the things I want :( one of the problems with blogging is the lack of money for things, but spending a lot of time window shopping on blogs.


- Work is stressful, we're tired, the kids are tired, and we have 4weeks to go until half term :(


- Still fighting the scales, think this will always happen, but things are moving slowly, just hope I haven't undone all my good work this weekend!


So there's my week, an up and down one but not as bad as last week, plus my week in pictures as well!

How was your week? Xx

FOTD: Subtle Shimmer

Afternoon lovelies - how nice does it feel to know that tomorrow is a Bank Holiday?! I have been clinging to this day off for weeks now - need that day.


It's not often that I do a Face of the Day post, a) becuase I often don't have time, and b) I usually hate the way I look in the pictures, but for some reason these ones are ok.


This is the make up I wore yesterday to pop into town. It was really quick and easy, but I wanted to try out my recently purchased Brighton Rock lipstick from Topshop.

I've used:
17 BB Cream in Medium and Maybelline 24hr Superstay foundation in Ivory mixed together.
Benefit Stick It concealor
Benefit Lemon Aid as eye lid primer
Benefit Georgia to powder

 Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Gold all over
Elf eyeshadow - MoonDust for the crease and Ivory for the inner corner
Maybelline Falsies Mascara
HD Brow Palette
Benefit Coralista
Topshop Lipstick in Brighton Rock


I quite like this as it was very simply but the lips were the statement here - and I never wear bright/any lipstick! The gold added the light shimmer, making my eyes seem more awake.


An easy, fresh face for a Saturday shopping :D


Thanks for reading xx

14 Weeks Until Summer - 4 weeks in

Afternoon lovelies - hope your enjoying your Saturday :)


I thought I would give this a few weeks before I did an update, so I'm now a month in - 4 weeks have passed and I'm quite pleased with how it's going!


Weight loss - 4lbs
Dress Size - 14 on top and 14/16 on the bottom, but jeans are looser!


Measurements
Thighs: Was 26.5inch Now 25.5inch
Bum: Was 44.5inch Now 44inch
Hip: Was 42inch Now 41inch
Waist: Was 34.5inch Now 32inch
Arms: Was 13inch Now 12.5inch


Exercise Routine
Spinning - Tuesday, Wednesday, Sunday
BodyJam - Thursday


I'm going to add in 2 extra sessions of Jam on a Friday and a Saturday, as well as buying myself a kettle bell set and using that cause I need to start toning more now!


I'm still following Weight Watchers, with 33 points a day, however I struggle to eat that much. I find that I'm better eating a bigger meal at lunch and then a small meal in the evening as I often don't get to eat until late during the week so a salad suits me just fine :)


I'm quite pleased with how things are going, it's the inch loss I'm most pleased with. From today I'm going to start wearing my HotPant more, I now have 3pairs, 2 HotPants and a new pair of Capri Flares which I won :D so I can't wait to see what a difference these make, I will write a post on them in 2 weeks as part of the 2week challenge!

So, 10 weeks to go, fingers crossed I don't lose any motivation! How are you all getting on with your summer e, are you just starting or part way through!


Let me know! Xx

Trip to London - The V & A Museum

Evening lovelies, hope this week is going well for you. I thought I would show you some of the photos I took at the weekend when I went to London with my Mummy.


Since I moved down South, my mum comes down to visit more often - going to London was always a treat for us Northerners! So she jumped on the train on Saturday and met me at Kings Cross.


We headed over to Topshop (will show you what I bought soon) and then hotfooted it over to the V & A museum. The V & A is like a large collection of lots and lots of pretty things, with lots of things to look at. I headed straight for all things shiny - Jewellry, Silver, Gold as well as fashion and Theatre and Production.


Here are just a few pictures, but I would totally recommend going as its FREE!!!

Just some lovely pictures so why not head over there at the Bank Holiday!