Tag: beauty

May Favourites!

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We’ve gotten to May! I don’t know about you but this month we’ve had a bit of a heatwave. The summer is definitely getting there (although as I write this it’s raining, typical). So with another month done and dusted for 2017 let’s get stuck in.

Books 

I’ve had a little bit of a reading slump this month and struggled to get into fiction in particular so this month I’ve been reading a lot of memoirs and general non-fiction. I’ve fallen in love once again with Hannah Witton as I mentioned last month I love her videos and picked up her first book which is about sex and relationships although it’s aimed at a younger audience it’s a great read. I also read Drew Barrymore’s memoir Wildflower (review here) and it was an eyeopener into her life, when I knew little about her. I also enjoyed Luisa Omielan’s first book What Would Beyoncé Do?! Named after her hit stand up show, it was both funny and touching read my review here. I also looked at my feminism shelf and just felt so proud to have all these wonderful books in my possession, I can’t wait to get through them all!

Music

Ed Sheeran was incredible and going with my Mum made it all the more special.

Watching 

I finally finished Game of Thrones and my jaw dropped. I won’t spoil it for anyone but now class GoT as required viewing for all. I also went to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, it wasn’t as strong as the first film but I’ve still had the soundtrack on repeat. Also, Baby Groot is life.

Lush Cupcake Face Mask
Can certainly ‘Slay All Day’ with these
All the cuteness
Vintage Vibes
Gok knows his stuff
Ann Summers Babe!

Fashion & Beauty 

I’m finally adding in a Fashion & Beauty section, I know shock horror. This month I’m repping Lush’s Cupcake face mask which is the first lush face mask I’ve ever used and was great on my face and didn’t make it angry (everything makes my skin angry). I’ve also been in LOVE with Lottie London matte lip glosses and wearing them every day because the colour sticks well and the tones are great for an everyday look. I’m also featuring some beautiful vintage inspired fashion, a bag I made myself and my new dress from VJ Vintage Treasures in Basingstoke! Lastly, two of my new bikinis one from the Gok Wan for Sainsbury’s range and the other from the wonderful Ann Summers as I am now an Ann Summers babe!  Rocking those curves.

In for the chop!
Mmm Thai!
Chilling in the sun
My lovely Wickett
With my Sammy!
Ice Cream for life

General 

First of all, shout to the Ice Cream man who parks up in the work car park when it’s boiling! I’ve definitely been feeling the sun this month laying out with my best friend (pre IKEA trip, another favourite). I also experienced my first Thai meal with work and absolutely LOVED it, I’m nervous about trying new food because of my IBS but I definitely made the right descision. Also, from working I caught up with my friend Sammy who also happens to work for the same company I’m temping for and has become my permanent lunch buddy. And finally my hair got a much needed cut, my Wicket is still adorable as always.

 

 

Finally… 

Miss VJ Vintage for May!

I’ve been named Miss VJ Vintage for May! I’m so excited to wear this sash for a wonderful local shop and thanks to everyone who ‘liked’ on Instagram!

What were your favourites this month? Let me know in the comments below!

Sunday Seven: The businesses you don’t know about, but should

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Today I attended Dolly’s Easter Fair in Old Basing, Hampshire.  During the fair I met some wonderful small business owners and wanted to share them with you all, each include a link to find out more about their products and where to buy them. I wasn’t asked by any of these to host on the blog, however, I feel they deserve it!

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Whiskey and Ginger Candles 

These are gorgeous smelling soy candles. Each candle comes in a brilliant size that is sure to burn for hours, they have also got rave reviews online.

My New Fave

I am in LOVE with the jewellery from My New Fave. Necklaces, Rings, Cufflinks and more are all here. They are beautifully crafted and at a good price.

Dolly’s Beauty Parlour 

Not only am I impressed by the wonderful style, Dolly’s Parlour creates the 50s look of your dreams! She uses cruelty-free beauty products and a lip stain with some of the best colour I’ve seen, available from Le Keux Cosmetics. Worth a look for weddings, parties or just for fun!

 

Juliet Andrews Candles

Now, these WERE a treat! I picked up a chocolate orange smelling candle today but could have easily bought one in every scent. Just some that I remember were Popcorn, Strawberries and Cream, Gingerbread, Baby Powder the list goes on!

Bunny Hop Crochet 

These were absolutely adorable and looked brilliant. There was even one about Unicorn Farts, on the cuter side there was also family portraits and other adorable creatures.

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Siobhan Louise Textiles 

This is an absolutely stunning hand painted box from Siobhan Louise, the detail on this is incredible. She also makes cushions, mugs & more.

 

 

Buttercups & Beautiful Butterflies 

And finally my wonderful Mumma’s business. Papercrafts, wedding decorations, flower wands, cards and earrings. There is no limit to what my Mum can make with card, pop along to her Facebook page!

 

To find out more click on the links below each picture! What are some of your favourite small businesses? Let me know in the comments below!

Why I’m jealous of YOU at the gym..and it’s not the reason you think

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As all of you know, in the last 5 months I have become a gym bunny. Even though there was  break when I was sick, I’ve gone back to the gym and I’m hungry and obsessed to get back. After going on Tuesday, I spent the week waiting for Sunday morning so that I could go again and now I’m (hopefully) going tomorrow as long as my migraine disappears. I have noticed though, that sometimes I look around and feel myself getting a little jealous.

Now, I’m not jealous of people with beautiful athletic bodies, those who don’t sweat when they exercise or look endlessly cool.  I’m not jealous because I want the results without having to work hard. I’m jealous because their bodies work and mine doesn’t always behave. BUT at the same time, I’m learning to love and worship my body that literally had to rebuild a core part of itself, and know how lucky I am to be walking.

I get a little anxious and self conscious at times, not at all because of the way I look, after all the gym is where people go to work on themselves. No, I feel self conscious because of how much slower I am than others, and how little I can do because of my spine. For me, doing an hour at the gym is another small step towards normality for me. An extra five minutes on the treadmill for me is a huge thing BUT when everyone in the gym wants to go on the exercise bikes at the same time (positioned exactly behind the treadmills and therefore with a full view of my bum) and I’m still just able to do a walking pace, and a fairly slow one, at that. I do feel a little awkward I want to shout at them, ‘I’m in spine recovery, I’m not pathetic I promise!, I’m not just lazy’ because this is how I fear others see myself.

I try and tell myself not to care, that most of it is in my mind  and who actually cares what I’m doing? It might be silly but these thoughts go around in my head sometimes. Then then evolve to me wishing that I was fully recovered and I could run or lift a weight that was a ‘real’ weight rather than the tiniest ones that are there because they’re the only thing I can comfortably lift.

There will be a time where I’m a lot better and that’s happening slowly, just under a year ago I had to have help to get up one step and a small set of stairs to my flat were a huge problem. So the fact that I can go to a gym and try and do some exercise is incredible, and I know that. But sometimes, just sometimes, the green eyed monster will rear her ugly head and make me feel a little down, I know that’s normal and one day I’ll be able to throw her off my shoulder.

 

 

Who’s that girl?

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Who’s that girl I see looking at me from a magazine? She’s perfect, she has flawless skin, bright eyes and not a hair out of place, she’s thin, there are no hips, no cellulite, although despite her skinny frame her breasts are fantastic. She’s not real. Tonight I spent a good amount of time watching the above and this afternoon I was reading my normal monthly set of women’s magazines.

Now I’m not going to use this article to bash women’s magazines because I know some who really do support women, although I can’t claim to understand some of the articles. I do have a problem with advertising, because it promotes an image that none of us can achieve. I’ve said many times on this blog that I’m not always happy with my body, especially as of late. I fractured my spine, I put on some weight and I wish I could say so what but I’m surrounded by images of thin and beautiful women.

I’m not saying we ban an idea of beauty, I mean who hasn’t used a good filter on Instagram? Or been happy with a little touch up here and there? Of course we do. I also want you to think about any time you’ve felt a little bit sad looking at pictures or thought I wish I looked like that, because I know that as an impressionable teenager I had these fleeting thoughts but they wouldn’t damage me right? Wrong. In part these images added to my feelings of self consciousness and comparing myself to other women.

In the video about I heard about young women who took on teen magazines to limit the use of photoshop. This gives me so much joy and hope. At that age you don’t always know that these images aren’t real, that you can’t look like that. I remember posing like Paris Hilton (I was a young teenager, and it was the early 2000s, give me a break) in a holiday snap to try and look thinner…I wasn’t fat to begin with. Children and young people are very impressionable, especially as you hit the teenage years your body is doing things you have no control over, your spotty or greasy or whatever.

Now for most of us who are bullied and teased we grow up and shed that awkwardness, even just a little, but at the same time we didn’t have the glare of social media. I just want to educate young girls that this isn’t real and at the same time. I want the media to stop sexualising everything they can, to not cut a model like a pumpkin, carving what they want out of you.

Just preparing for a project I’m going to do and looking at the words used in women’s magazines and they’re almost as responsible as the pictures. I want to do something positive. I want to shout it for the roof tops as I remind my little sister that she is the most naturally beautiful person I know and my little cousin that just because we’re a different shape to my sister doesn’t mean were not beautiful too. I want to make people not feel ashamed to wear makeup or want to get fitter but to know that there are so many different types of perfect and not just the models in a magazine.

Why I’m not a beauty blogger!

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Hello there!

Today I thought I would talk about beauty blogging and why it’s not happening on this channel. Now I want to start off saying that I admire beauty bloggers for what they do, I know some great ones! So this is not a thing against beauty bloggers they’re great, all done.

Now back to me, why don’t I want to be a beauty blogger you ask? It’s not that I don’t want to it’s that I  have absolutely no idea about it. I’m not really that girly, I don’t know much about make up. While most girls were playing around with make up at school (and telling me I’d look ‘so much better’ with make up…erm thanks? I guess?) I was kind of just applying a lot of eyeliner and hating the world. So the older I got I played around with my Mum’s lipsticks, a lot more eyeliner and that was about it. I acquired some blusher and bronzer at some point later from a christmas present. So I had all these odds and ends, no idea about makeup at all and still couldn’t really apply what I had.

Let’s fast forward to my first year at uni most of the girls around me had whole routines and expensive make up. I just kind of looked on it awe at the girls around me. So off I popped to Boots with a bit of cash expecting to know what to buy, how hard could it be? Oh my god I had no idea at all what to buy. What does any of it mean, matte, shiny what, what?!

Now I’m 20 years old, and I’m slowly getting up there with the big boys. I can kind of do winged eyeliner, cover up the spots that used to make me really sad and I have some to die for MAC lipstick, oh and there’s less eyeliner…much less eyeliner. That said, sometimes I still go out and look a little orange from too much bronzer, I still don’t know what half of the makeup counter does and don’t even start me on contouring….all I see is colouring your face. Sorry!

So there you have it, that’s why I’m not a beauty blogger, I don’t have a clue! That and I’ve never wanted to be someone who feels like they can’t go out without make up? I’ve never wanted to rely on it like that, I want to have the choice. How about you guys? Any other 20 somethings with hardly any make up skills?!

Healthy Body (image) Healthy Mind

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2 year difference, left me in 2012 and right me in 2014 

In my bathroom there is a huge mirror, it stretches across a large portion of the wall above the sink. When I first moved in it really bothered me, wheneverI got undressed for my shower or got out of the shower my body was staring back at me, imperfections and all. I’m not a big girl, but I am curvy, my hips have driven me mad for what seems like eternity (jeans shopping, hell on earth) and I’m quite tiny. Something was different when I had a shower this morning. I looked at myself, really looked. I decided there and then I was done with anything to do with slimming down, I was finally happy with the way I looked after a long time of battling with it. Yes my hips still give me hell when I go shopping but I found positives, above them my waist was almost funnily tiny and I could see the tiniest hint of my ribs, that I didn’t like.

I had a fair bit of puppy fat when I was at school before drastically slimming down when I was 17 to the point where I could fit in to an 8 easily and a 6 at times…I hadn’t fit into a size 6 since I was 12 or 13. I’ve always been self conscious and as with most young girls it changed my eating habits at times, if I felt particularly bad I’d avoid eating, sometimes getting so worked up I’d cry over a chinese. I did want to be thin, I didn’t understand why I had lumps and bumps when my sister, aunt and cousins were all absolutely tiny. My Mum didn’t take and shit ‘it’s your build, the same as me’ at 15 it doesn’t make you feel much better at all. My sister is tiny at at times, although she is 7 years younger than me I was jealous, she had a life time of being able to fit into designer clothes ahead of her while I couldn’t fit into their ‘large’ sizes. Crying in the changing rooms was a regular occurrence and there was nothing I hated more than going shopping. I feel right now that my mother was a saint.

Now I love going shopping, although there are shops I avoid because they make me feel uncomfortable. I haven’t done calorie counting ever (because when people do it I want to batter them with one of the huge bags of pasta from the supermarket), I don’t understand when people go on a zero tolerance to carbs diet either. I understand cutting out white bread if it makes you feel ill, things like that but denying yourself food so you look ‘perfect’ I’ve been there, I’ve done it and I just like the cake better.

Every friend I have both male and female have things they don’t like about their bodies, noses, muscles, bums, boobs, arms, legs everything is on the list! It’s completely normal! I’m not saying this new found revelation is going to make me love every big of my body. I’d like to be more toned on my legs and my tum but I don’t want to obsess over it any more. All this said I have friends who either have or are recovering from eating disorders, it’s not the same thing at all. They’re ill and it takes a long time to get better from an eating disorder, I hope that I can help them feel more positive about at least one part of their bodies.

People will nag at me about what I eat, what I do, what I wear I just want to say IT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. I’m going to eat what I enjoy, wear what I feel comfortable. I also make a big deal out of telling people if they look good because it can change someones entire day, it’s not uncommon for me to shout at one of my friends ‘ oh my god your boobs/butt looks great today’ it’s not because I’m gay, it’s because I want people to know that there is always something beautiful about them.

You right there reading this, there is something beautiful about you too, don’t forget it!