It's been a while hasn't it?

Hey lovely people!

So it's been a long time since I last posted on my blog... Since the 25th of June to be exact... And well I wish I had a really good excuse but I really don't. 

I have just been living life with my husband and my dogs and well... time just got away and before I knew it October arrived and it really hit home that I have been severely AWOL on my blog. 

So onto a fresh, new start and a new subject. 

My cousin Lorraine is getting married next year in Cyprus and she has asked me to help her with all of the planning. She is a very busy lady, with a very stressful job and weddings are kinda my thing so I jumped at the chance. As well as this I will be travelling over there (hubby-less) with the rest of my family to watch her get married and to take the photographs (being a photographer and all) so I have decided that I seriously want to get in shape for it. 

Now I know I have said it a million times before and even put a few posts on about starting a diet... But this time I actually have something to work toward. I don't want to be working an entire day in the Cyprus heat, sweating all over the place and feeling rubbish. I want to be able to do my work and enjoy the day and celebrate with my family. So I joined my local weight watchers yesterday (which is the 1st time I have ever joined a class on my own in my whole 29 years) and I am super determined to make it work this time. 

On that note, I thought it would spur me on and make it easier for me if I brought you all along on my journey. So I will be updating my blog regularly with progress reports... Meal ideas... and I'll do a weekly round up of "What I ate" over the course of the week... Pictures and all. 

I hope you all enjoy coming along with me on this weight loss journey and I would appreciate all and any words of encouragement from you all. 

Until next time...

Take care lovelies.

xxx

Bourjois Instant Dry - Full Review

Hey lovely people!

So time for another little review. This is a product that I have had on my radar for a few weeks. I went scouring the internet, after smudging my newly painted nails for the millionth time, and in my frustration I found this little beauty on ASOS. 

I don't know if any of you are like me, but I change my nail polish 2-3 times a week, and I have a job, dogs to look after, a house to maintain and a husband to keep so I don't really have the time nor the inclination to wait for my nails to dry before moving!

So anyway, I discovered this little beauty, promising wonderful things in the realm of instantly dry nails and I felt super excited to give it a try. It did not disappoint. 

It is a 9ml bottle of wonder and delight, making the process of painting your nails all the more fun and interesting. All it takes is a single drop from the fabulous little dropper provided in the lid of the bottle. Just one single drop on top of your polish will, I found, dry (not harden) in about 20 seconds. 

It really is quite ingenious... and makes simple tasks like getting dressed and doing the dishes a much easier feat to achieve! You can get this little beauty at ASOS for the bargain price of £5.99... and what a price to pay for finally being able to say goodbye to smudged nails???

Hope you enjoyed this post lovelies and seriously hope, if you're a nail polish addict like me, that you will purchase this fab little life saver. You will not be sorry!!!

Take care lovelies. x

It's A Weighty Issue!

Hey lovely people,

So I recently made a decision to lose weight. This is an ever-present thought in the back of my head, due to being really overweight for quite some time now. But as serious as I thought I was being each of the other times, I didn't realise until recently that this wasn't actually the case. I often convince myself that I am absolutely well and truly determined to shift the load, but when it comes down to actually doing it, I never rise to the occasion. 

This time is different! I have not only signed up for the Juice Plus diet, but I've made a commitment with my husband that we will lose weight together.

The thing that got the ball rolling in the first place??? Lying in my bed at night and imagining my poor husband having to arrange my funeral!

Now, let me be clear. I am very overweight, however I have several visits with my doctor keeping checks on things, and other than that I am perfectly healthy. I have no ailments or disorders, and have healthy BP and cholesterol levels. I drink water by the gallon, and have a relatively healthy diet (except for the amount I eat) and so there are no immediate threats of death. But for some reason... since I was a little girl, I have always had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach telling me I won't live past 30. I honestly don't know why, but it's a substantially heavy feeling I've always had. So being 28 and turning 29 this year, you can imagine the feeling of impending doom I am currently experiencing, and therefore this is a last ditch attempt to get myself into shape, so as to not tempt fate any more.

On that note, as mentioned before I've started the Juice Plus diet. I won't bore you all with the details but if you want to know more then just click here. The sole purpose of mentioning it though is my way of committing fully. I've committed my money and not i've committed my word to you all. I will make a point of updating you on my journey every week, whether i've lost or gained and hopefully you will enjoy being a part of this little junction in my life. 

Before I finish, I'd just like to say for the record that I don't believe that happiness can solely be found in being thin or skinny. I am a very happily married woman, and I know for sure that my husband still loves and adores me and would find me attractive at any size. This change in my life is solely for me, and nobody else... So please don't go changing yourself for the sake of somebody else. 

Take care lovelies. x

Rimmel London Just Let It Go - Full Review

Hey lovely people!

So today I thought I would share my thoughts and opinions on this little product from Rimmel. I would like to re-iterate (as I have done in previous posts) that I am in no way, shape or form an expert in make-up, skincare or anything in that field for that matter. I am just a lover of all these products, sharing my absolute honest opinion with all you lovely people. 

So a month or so ago, I was out shopping and was specifically looking for an eye make-up remover. I don't know if you're anything like me, but I have super sensitive eyes. So much so that I have to endure watery eyes every single time I put eyeshadow, eyeliner... and worst of all mascara on. So, you can only imagine the tough and often excruciatingly sore time I have of it, when I'm trying to take it off at the end of night. 

So anyway, while I was browsing the beauty product filled shelves, my eye caught a glimpse of this product by Rimmel. On first impressions, I felt like it would be the perfect thing to try, not only because I find that Rimmel products in general are of the highest standard for being a "cheaper" brand product, but also because it stated clearly on the bottle that it was "gentle", "dermatologically tested" and "suitable for sensitive eyes". So for me it was a win, win, win!!! :)

However, I regret to say that it does not live up to it's promise on the bottle. I tried this as soon as I got home from picking it up, and it quite literally made me cry... tears of pain! Now, after bathing my poor eyes in cool water, trying to numb the burning sensation, I decided that perhaps it was something else that had caused such a bad reaction. Maybe it was in fact just my eye makeup, which as I said before often brings on pain such as this. So on that basis, I left it on my makeup shelf and decided to give it another try at another time. 

I tried using it again 2 days ago... and I can now say, without doubt that this is not a product for someone like me. Quite literally, as soon as I put the cotton pad near my eye, I could feel the water building, and as soon as I began to try wiping, it just became entirely insufferable. 

This makes me sooo sad, because I am otherwise an avid advocate of the Rimmel range, but I have to say that if you have sensitive eyes, I would seriously consider whether or not you want to risk using this product. It is perfectly fine to use on most other parts of my face and hands, and I have used it several times to remove make up swatches from the back of my hand, with no problems at all. But I must stress again... IF YOU HAVE SENSITIVE EYES, PLEASE BE WARY OF THIS PRODUCT. 

Hopefully, this will have been helpful to some of you lovely people, and by all means, if you have had any different experiences with it, then by all means let me know. As I said earlier in the post, I'm not an expert at all, I can only give you my open and honest opinions, which is what I've done. 

Take care lovelies. x

Friday Faves - My Favourite Youtubers (Part 2)

Good morning lovely people!

The sun is shining here in Glasgow and I am in a very good mood. I'm waiting on a new TV being delivered - a 50" beast - and I am chilling out and catching up on all my YouTube subscriptions which appear to have doubled since the last time I shared my faves with you all.

Anyway, I mentioned on my twitter feed, but I thought I'd also mention it here... I'm going to start featuring my favourite blog every week in my Friday Faves. I do have a list of all my favourite blogs at the minute in a list down the right hand side column of this blog - but I've decided to remove that and just focus primarily on one blog per week. I figured it's a nice way to personally get to know a lovely new blogger and get down to the nitty gritty of what they are all about and what they want to achieve through their blog. I thought it would be a super fun addition to my own post and would help you - my amazing readers - to find new and exciting reads too.

So anyway, onto today's business and the addition of 5 new Youtubers into my faves.

1. WheezyWaiter.

 

This guy is an absolute genius and comedian all rolled into one. He somehow manages to take actual real life pieces of news and current affairs, and interpret his thoughts and feelings on the matter in a funny and coherent way. I have literally never stopped watching his videos since discovering him and I think you should definitely give him a watch yourself.

2.Amelia Liana

This gorgeous lady is another of my Youtube faves who is a bit of a makeup guru. She shares makeup tips, shopping hauls, tags and all sorts of other fun and entertaining videos. She is so charismatic and normal, that you genuinely feel like your listening to a friend speaking. Definitely pay her a little visit.

3. Aaman Birk - Girl On Beauty 

So this lovely lady is Aaman and again she is super similar to Amelia Liana above in that she's a bit of a makeup, hauls & tag person. The reason I chose to share her with you too though, is because she's a really great speaker and is super confident in front of the camera. I know that's a weird thing to say really... but I have watched several videos over the past few weeks of young girls, obviously just trying to get into YouTube and they are so shy and nervous that you often can hear or understand what they're saying in the videos. That's why I love Aaman, she is super straight talking and to the point and doesn't waver on her opinions about skincare and beauty products. She's a straight shooter and you should give her vids a watch. 

4. Digital Rev TV

Ok so in my last Fave Youtubers post I shared Matt Granger with you all. He's a photographer sharing his skills and knowledge through reviews and tutorials etc. This team of experts are similar in that sense. However, Kai and Lok, break everything down into layman's terms, making everything more understandable for the less knowledgeable. As well as that, Kai is super quick witted and sarcastic and most of these videos are just downright funny, so if you're wanting to learn a bit more about photographer equipment then these guys are your best bet for learning successfully.

5. Carrie Fletcher - It Was Way Past My Bed Time

Ok, so Carrie, as many of you will probably know is the sister of Tom from McFly... and if you don't know who that is, he is the amazingly romantic guy who sang his wedding speech and shared it on YouTube and it went viral a few years ago. Ok??? Got it now??? Ok, so Carrie is Tom's sister, and she is a star in her own right. She plays a part in Les Mis on the West End in London and has the biggest and best personality a person could have. She is a tremendous singer and often collaborates with her brother and others on her page, singing songs with just the accompaniment of her acoustic guitar. To say I LOVE HER is an understatement. Every time I watch her videos she just fills me with absolute joy. She is one of those people who was sent here to be kind and make the world a better place. You would be bonkers not to subscribe to her NOW!!! 

So there you go my lovelies. Another 5 Youtubers for you to get to know and hopefully subscribe to. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Youtube is a truly remarkable place, full of super talented people, all sharing a little part of their lives, and I feel truly blessed that I am able to enjoy and be part of that... I hope you do too. 

Take care lovelies. x

Happy Mother's Day

Hey there lovely people!

I hope you have all had an A M A Z I N G weekend and for all the UK readers, I hope you spoilt the mothers in your lives and were indeed spoiled yourselves if you are a mummy too!

I have had the most chilled out weekend EVER! My hubby was away at the football for the best part of yesterday afternoon and I decided that I would stay put at home and just relax. I tweeted a bit, caught up with facebook (as it has become slightly neglected as of late) and listened to my crappy (in my husbands opinion) music loudly and proudly!

Anyway, today's post is going to be a short one, because I want to spend some time with my mum.

She is the best mum I could ever have asked for and she still runs about after me at 28 years old. I really don't know what I would do without her.

My Mother, my friend so dear

throughout my life you're always near.

A tender smile to guide my way

You're the sunshine to light my day. 

Remember to always cherish the mothers in your lives, because you don't know what tomorrow will bring. My poor hubby lost his mum as a teenager and my heart breaks for him every year on this day. You will only ever have 1 mother in your life - please remember that and don't take your time with them for granted.

Take care lovelies. x