thumbs for fashion: Health and Nutrition

Partly due to my Race for Life 10K training program, diet plan and health kick, I decided to start a new weekly series on the blog, based purely on health and nutrition.

As someone who has always been exercise phobic, picture the girl from school who would hide in the loos or forge an injury note just to miss double P.E and that's me, so all this training is basically brand new for me.

However, I have always been a diet and nutrition geek, trying out every diet under the sun, from the Cabbage Soup Diet to the Celebrity Slim Milkshake Diet, and so have always had an interest in this side of things. Plus, with my fiancé an aspiring Personal Trainer, I am pretty well informed on health, fitness and nutrition these days.

[Please note, I am not in any way endorsing dangerous fad-diets, in fact today I am very anti them and prefer to eat healthily and stay active, or as active as any exercise hater can be!]

For my first health and nutrition post just watch this space.

Review: L'occitane Ultra Rich Body Cream, Orange Honey

Anyone who reads my blog regularly will know that I am a real L'occitane lover, with what some would call a growing obsession with their products. (Disclaimer: I honestly can't seem to help myself, they're just so luxurious and pretty much, perfect in every way.)

I should probably mention here that (a small) part of the reason I love the L'occitane products so much, is the design and décor of the packaging. You see, I am a major design geek with a love of anything pretty, chic, or ever so slightly vintage, and L'occitane's curiously different packaging style totally meets the criteria, making me, ever so slightly, more obsessed!

I must admit that although I am a fan of all of the Ultra Rich Body Creams, the orange honey one is my absolute favourite, purely because of its gorgeous smell and long lasting fragrance.

When you initially open the lid of this cream, the first thing you notice is the gorgeous smell; it's fruity, fresh and downright divine, and absolutely perfect for smothering yourself in before a night out, a date or if you're feeling special, perhaps even for a day at the office.

With 25% Shea Butter, L'occitane's Ultra Rich Body Cream is thick, smooth and incredibly creamy making it just perfect for protecting and nourishing skin. Plus, with its quick soaking in time and lack of sticky residue, as well as its ability to soothe my Eczema despite the fact it's scented, which any Eczema suffer knows is normally a big no no, L'occitane's Ultra Rich Body Cream is most definitely worth the money.

If you would like to try this product, why not visit your local L'occitane or you can buy it here.

Inside my Make-up Bag

I have recently seen quite a few fashion and beauty bloggers doing posts on their favourite make-up bag items, which by the way, is an idea that I absolutely love, especially when they introduce me to new products - eek! So, as I am such a fan I thought that I would give it a go myself and share the contents of my make-up bag with the rest of the blogsphere...

 

Although it is slightly on the small side, I do just about manage to squeeze all my favourite products into it, on the bright side its smaller size means that it doesn't weigh down my handbag, which is always a bonus.

It's small size aside, the reason I've compromised with this make-up bag is purely because I love its floral print design and its easily wipeable surface - it might sound mad but material make-up bags are just too much effort, especially when you're always spilling foundation like me.

 

 



A quick guide to what is in my make-up bag (going from top left to right): Barbara Daly Foundation, Celline Concealer stick, Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation, Rimmel Fix and Perfect Primer, Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick (colour: Tantrum), Maybelline Rocket Volume Express Mascara, Rimmel Clear Complexion Powder (clear), eyelash curlers, Rimmel Kohl Eyeliner, Maybeline Blush'em, powder brush, sharpener, tweezers, L'occitane Dry Skin Hand Cream, and L'occitane Cherry Blossom Hand Cream.

In case you are wondering what makes these products make-up bag essential, let me just explain why each and everyone of these products are total lifesavers;

Barbara Daly Foundation: I just love this foundation, it's light and easy to apply, doesn't dry your skin out and best of all, it's oil-free - perfect for any oily skin suffers! Its light coverage smooths and levels out your complexion, giving a natural look that is perfect for summer. Available to buy here. (For a more in-depth review have a read of this).

 

Celline Concealer Stick: I'll admit that normally I would always buy a Rimmel cover-up stick, however, when I saw this on sale I couldn't resist giving it a go. Providing a smooth, creamy, light coverage this concealer is perfect for me as I rarely suffer from spots and blemishes, however it isn't exactly practical for covering up spots when they do occur - although great for covering dark circles and small marks, this concealer doesn't seem to be made for anything more.

 

 

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation: As this foundation provides quite thick and long-lasting coverage, I tend to use it primarily for non-day-to-day wear, so for nights out and other events. However, its SPF 18 protection would also make it ideal for daytime use - available to buy here.

Rimmel Fix and Perfect Primer: Unlike many Primer's currently on the market, Rimmel Fix and Perfect is not skin coloured, and so, although it has many excellent qualities, I have found that it doesn't look great worn without foundation, despite what the bottles says. However, I do absolutely love the silky smooth feel of this product, as well as its skin smoothing ability, and its brightening and matifying results. Plus, its low price makes it a fabulous bargain - available to buy here!

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick (colour: Tantrum): Although I don't tend to wear lipstick on a regular basis, I do love the colour and feel of Rimmel's lip products. I just love the bold eye-catching colour that makes Tantrum the perfect colour for nights out and other dressy events, as well as to simply brighten up any day-to-day outfit. (Buy it here!)

Maybelline Rocket Volume Express Mascara: With its jet glide brush and smooth, clump free formula, the quick and easy application of this is amazing, giving massive volume with just a few strokes. What I love most about this mascara is the ease of application and the excellent results from just one application - perfect for the morning rush! (You can buy it here.)

Rimmel Clear Complexion Powder: For someone like me who suffers from incredibly shiny skin, Rimmel's Clear Complexion Powder is an absolute god-send! It works perfectly with pretty much any foundation to help matify and control shine, and best of all, unlike many other pressed powders, its translucent colour means there is no cakey-looking powder residue - for best results I would suggest applying with a powder brush, instead of a sponge! (You can buy it here!)



I had a little accident and dropped my powder but hey ho, it still works the same!


Rimmel Kohl Eyeliner (brown): As someone with naturally pale skin, I always find that black eyeliners wash me out, so as a rule I always stick to a dark brown. Of all the products in my make-up bag, this is most definitely one of my favorites as  I just love the versatile options the eyeliner pencil offers; unlike gel and liquid liners the pencil allows me to choose just how subtle I would like to make my eyeliner. Of course the downside to pencil eyeliner if the smudge factor, however a little trick I use to set my eyeliner in place, is to sweep a small amount of Rimmel Clear Complexion powder under my eyes, this keeps the area dry and pretty much smudge free! (You can buy it here!)

 

 

 Maybelline Blush'em: This mini pallete is perfect for subtly adding a little bit of colour to my often pale cheeks, the two-toned colour of the pallete makes it an excellent product for contouring and highlighting. (You can buy it here!)

 L'occitane Dry Hand Cream and L'occitane Cherry Blossom Hand Cream: These hand creams are both essential make-up bag items; highly moisturizing, quick to soak in, and of course, they smell absolutely amazing. I must admit that although a little on the pricey side, I am a real fan of L'occitane, I just love how moisturizing and high quality all their products seem to be.

 So there you have it, a comprehensive guide to each of my make-up bag essentials - if you have any questions or suggestions please do comment below and I will do my very best to get back to you!

My 10K Challenge: Race for Life

Anyone who knows me will know that I am not sporty at all, in fact the mere thought of exercise turns me into a quivering mess. However, earlier this year I pledged to compete in the 10K Race for Life; you might be thinking that for someone who hates exercise choosing the 10K instead of the 5K was a mistake but you would be wrong - if I was going to use exercise to go head to head with the disease that takes so many, then I wanted a challenge.

So, about four months ago I went out, brought trainers, went for a couple of runs and stopped there - work, uni and general life seemed to always get in the way of my training, but now, with just over a month until the big day, I have a lot of work to do.

I have found a running plan that claims to be able to get anyone up and running 10K in just 4 weeks, so with that, some Mo Farah style healthy eating (here comes the Quorn) and a lot of hard work, I should, fingers crossed be able to cross the finish line.

My aim is to raise 250 GBP, if you would like to help me reach this goal please visit my JustGiving page here. Any donations, big or small will be really appreciated.

Although this challenge is about raising money and awareness of Cancer, it is also a personal goal of mine to be able to run an entire 10K, get in shape and hopefully, get fit for life.

So, the plan is to post on here about my training plan, diet and overall health throughout the 4 weeks to keep me motivated and on-track - all I can say, is wish me luck!

P.S If you have any advice for me please feel free to comment.

Time for a catch up...

For anyone who reads my blog on a regular basis and has felt somewhat neglected over the past few months by my lack of postings, I can only apologise. The truth is that over the past few months I have been super busy and have struggled to find time to do anything other then university work and the odd bit of housework here and there. All I can say is that the last few months of university were a struggle and although all I wanted to do was blog, I had no choice but to dedicate my time to my university work!



Here I am handing in my LAST EVER piece of uni work.....

However, as I have now FINALLY finished for good, I have all the time in world, except of course when I am frantically job hunting, to write and maintain my blog - eek!

All I can say is keep watching this space, as over the next few months there will be a lot of exciting posts to come.

NAILS NAILS NAILS: How to create a two toned manicure

Until a few days ago I had never even considered dipping into the world of nail art, mainly because I have incredibly shaky hands - simply painting my nails can be a struggle! So I knew I had no hope of ever perfecting the art of free-hand nail art.

However, I then read an online Cosmo article based around simple ways to perfect nail designs, such as the two toned manicure - eek!

 

Please note that these still require a little perfecting!

To produce a two toned manicure you will need:

A light coloured nail polish
A darker coloured polish
A base/top coat polish
A role of selotape - yeah that's right, selotape!

Instructions:

1. Begin by soaking nails in warm water to soften the cuticles.

2. Cleanse nails with nail varnish remover, even if already free of nail varnish.

3. Paint nails with your chosen base coat - I always use Barry M's all-in-one basecoat, topcoat and nail hardener, available to buy here.

4. Once the base coat has dried, fully paint all nails in the lighter coloured polish. For this I chose to use Barry M Gelly in Dragon Fruit, available to buy here. (It is up to you how many coats of nail polish you use, I personally always use two!)

5. Once the first colour polish is dry, wait around two hours just to make sure it is fully set and then you can continue.

6. Choose the design you want, either diagonal as I did, or straight down the middle, or if you are feeling adventurous you could attempt a triangular design in the centre of each nail - it's totally up to you!

7. Cut small pieces of selotape of the role and begin positioning them on your nails, the idea is to cover the area you don't want to paint. For example, for a diagonal design, place the edge of the selotape diagonally down the nail, covering one half and leaving the other half uncovered.

8. Then take the darker coloured polish, (I chose to use Rimmel's Lasting Finish Double Decker Red, available to buy here) and paint over the entire nail, including the selotape.

9. Once you are sure the nails are dry, gently remove the selotape from your nails and you should have a two tone nail design, as shown in the picture above.

10. Top nails with a topcoat and voila, your two toned manicure is complete!

Review: Barry M Gelly

Anyone who reads my blog regularly will know that back in February I invested in my very first gel-style nail varnishes from Models Own's new Hyper-Gel collection.

Now, I must admit that at the time I loved my new polishes with all my heart, however, over the past few months I began to slightly tire of the long drying times and sensitive smudge factor of these polishes.

Don't get me wrong, I still like the Models Own Hyper-gels but I decided to try a couple of Barry M's Gelly polishes to see if they gave me a better and slightly quicker result.

After some careful consideration and a lot of umming and arring, I finally decided on a pretty pink known as Dragon Fruit - a perfect spring/summer colour.

After carefully applying my base coat, (I use Barry M's all-in-one base coat, top coat and nail hardener, available here) I then applied two layers of Dragon Fruit (available to buy here) and once completely dry, I then topped with Barry M's all-in-one top coat.

Although the drying process did take a little longer than I had hoped, it was significantly quicker than the Model's Own hyper-gel polishes, which was of course a major bonus of this product. The other thing I just love about the overall finish of the gelly, was the super smooth and shiny finish of the polish, giving my nails a professional gel look.