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Thursday 19 February 2015

Getting Started: Gym Haul



Getting Started: Gym Haul

If you saw my post a couple of weeks ago, you will know that i joined a gym! Having not previously brought any gym gear, i headed to the shops to take the leap. I knew gym wear was expensive, so i tried to keep the cost down as much as possible. 



I brought two black pairs of gym tights (?!) 
The one of the left was from Sports Direct - £18
The one on the right was from Matalan - £14


I found it hard to find sports bra's that had padding in them. I want padding for a number of reasons, one being i don't particularly want my nipples on show through the material and the second, if i didn't have any padding, then i would look like a washboard. 


As you can see they also have breathable backs too!


These were both from Sports Direct
The black one was on sale (yay!) for £4

The white was £6


However, the tops is what i had the most trouble with! Why on earth are all gym tops lycra and show all your lumps and bumps?! That is definitely not what i am looking for!
I ended up going into New Look and purchasing two tops that were light weight and slightly longer to hide any potential camel toe from the gym tights!
These were both £6.99


I have already got a swimsuit. But i thought it was practical to pick up another. This ones from Matalan and cost £12


I picked up these sports socks from Asda for £3.50


I also needed a water bottle that i could keep in my gym bag. I got this from Matalan for £4, i especially like the fact you can freeze the middle bit in the summer to keep your water nice and cold.

I have also ordered a Polar Ft4 heart rate monitor watch.
This hasn't come yet but i am so super excited to use it and to see how many calories i burn from each workout. I will be doing a review on this once i have used it for a few months.
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Monday 16 February 2015

My 100th Post: Benefit Roller Lash Review

I cannot believe this is my 100th post on this blog! The time has gone super quickly and i am more surprised that i have kept at it, and kept uploading different posts. It is definitely something i love doing, even if no one is reading it! If you are reading it, then thank you very much, it means a lot.


Benefit Roller Lash Review


Within the March edition of Elle magazine, they collaborated with Benefit Cosmetics to include a sample/travel size of their new mascara which is set to launch on the 12th February. This gave Elle readers, and anyone, to try the mascara before it hit the shops. I am not generally a reader of Elle magazine, but once i saw they were including a benefit mascara, i was all set to buy it the day it came out! The magazine cost £4 which then included the mascara, which i think is a pretty amazing price!

Benefit states that Roller Lash " Is a roller for lashes! The eye-opening Hook ‘n’ Roll™ brush grabs, separates, lifts and curls…while the instant curve-setting formula holds for 12 hours."



This is what the wand looks like, as you can see, it curves slightly and the outer curved part has bigger bristles than the inner part which is smaller, which is supposed to hook, lift and curl the lashes.

I wanted to put the mascara to the test, with its claim for a 12 hour hold. Apologises for the lighting of the next few photographs as they were took in the evening after wearing the mascara all day. I wanted to show how well the mascara would last, and if the curl and lift would actually last the whole 12 hours.

(This was took early in the morning - also apologises for the lighting, natural light doesn't seem to come through until late morning! The photo below is the same photograph, just more zoomed in on the lashes)


These photographs were took after 12 hours and just before i was ready to remove my makeup for the day. I didn't touch the mascara up at all, and you can see that the length and volume is still on the lashes. I had a little fall out throughout the day, but i nearly get that with every mascara, apart from Benefits There Real.  



As you can see from the photograph below, the mascara still has a curl and lift and it hasn't dropped throughout the day.



I think it is safe to say that Benefit has done it again! I am really impressed with this mascara and the lasting power. If you are interested giving it a go, then definitely keep your eyes pealed for this months edition of Elle magazine.

Have you tried Benefit's Roller Lash?
What were your thoughts?
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Thursday 12 February 2015

A Valentine's Day Equivalent of Scrooge

(Image from Google)


I have a few strong feelings in regards to Valentines Day, i believe it is complete overrated, money driven and extremely shallow. It has become so commercialised, that the true meaning has been completely lost. Let's ask ourselves, what does Valentines Day mean to you? To me, it means being with someone that i care about, this could be from sitting in front of the TV all day or maybe taking a nice stroll somewhere. I can tell you what it doesn't mean to me, it doesn't mean an excuse for presents (presents can't buy love and affection), an excuse to be completely spoilt or an excuse to be the worlds biggest cow if your loved one has forgotten to buy you something. 

Presents doesn't equal love.

I truly believe that social media plays a big part in the commercialisation, jealousness and expectation of the whole, day of "love". When Valentines Day arrives, i would advise you all to check the Valentines Day hashtag on Instagram, it will be filled with thousands, millions of girls bragging about what they received on Valentines Day. I am not saying that its not nice for someone to receive a gift, everyone loves being spoilt, but you don't have to spread it around for the whole world to see, to me, that is ungrateful, materialistic and attention-seeking. 

(Image from Google)


53% of woman, that is a big statistic and makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. The relationship clearly meant nothing if someone would end the relationship over something so ridiculous as a Valentines Day present!!

Like i have said previously, i, like everyone else, love receiving gifts, flowers, chocolates but the way that it is now commercialised and broadcasted over social media is wrong. It is a day to celebrate love with the person you care about most, not who got the best present. 

A lot of people thought my perception of Valentines Day would change once i had a boyfriend over the Valentines period, however, this is not the case. My morals aren't that fickle. Luckily for me, my boyfriend also doesn't believe in investing money into such a commercial day, so we will celebrate the day how with what we associate Valentines Day with.


I would be interested to know your thoughts of Valentines Day?
I also hope that you have a lovely day, whatever you do or don't do.

Remember: its a day to celebrate your love for someone and having that someone in your life.

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Monday 9 February 2015

Making a change: I joined the gym!

I am probably the most laziest person ever when it comes to exercise. It's not that i don't enjoy it when I'm there, its actually getting there that i find the problem! I have been rather ill as of late (seventh week in fact!) and after the umpteenth doctors appointment, she made a comment about my lifestyle. How if i was doing something, like exercise, i will be able to fight away bugs better. After, i was absolutely appalled that the doctor had the right to judge my lifestyle, the way i eat and how little exercise i do, i started to think that i wanted to be a bit more healthy. Not for her, but for me (i sent a very long email to my doctors about the comment she made and how it made me feel too! As if she had said that to someone who was really insecure about their weight then it could of had a completely different outcome).

So, i am a bit of a gym newbie. I have joined gyms before, and lasted about a month before i quit and got bored. I never brought any gym gear for that very reason too! However, this time, i have joined the gym with my boyfriend, so we can motivate each other to get off our lazy bums. I made sure i picked a gym which had everything that i wanted, a gym, classes, swimming pool and some cheeky extras such as a Jacuzzi, steam room, sauna. My last gym never did classes, or had a jacuzzi or any of the steam or sauna rooms, so this time i was determined to go all out!

As i have said, i am a gym newbie. So finding what to wear at the gym was a bit challenging! I spent five hours wondering around shops trying to find stuff that i wanted to wear. I already had trainers as i purchased them when i went running in the summer, but i just needed everything else. I may do a blog post showing you what i brought, in hope that it may help some of you!

But one thing i must mention...
Why do gym tops have to be made of lycra?! 
It clings to every imperfection on your body, and if like me, you don't have the perfect stomach, its definitely not something I'm gonna rush out and buy. So thats definitely something i found the hardest to purchase.

I may do a few blog posts in the future, of how i am getting on, mainly in hope you guys can keep me motivated!! As its a 12 month contract, so no getting out of this one. So keep your eyes pealed for what i ended up buying on my gym spending spree, i definitely tried to keep the cost down as much as possible.




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Thursday 5 February 2015

Girl Online book review

So it has taken me a while, but i have finally finished Girl Online! Don't be mislead by the fact it took me so long, only due to the fact my life has been so hectic with assignment deadlines that i haven't had a chance to read at lot lately. So i thought i would put together a kind of review for you all, if you haven't read it and would like to, or you have and want to hear someone else's opinion.

So here we go...

I definitely feel the book is suited for teenagers, it has that young adult vibe to it, and something i would of definitely been able to relate to back in the day! Zoe touches on anxiety really well within the book, as you will all know, she suffers hugely wrong anxiety and she puts it onto paper so well. i also suffer from anxiety, and i could relate to her every word. So she definitely got brownie points for that. The book kind of did something funny to me, something that has never really happened while i have read a book before, i actually felt exactly how the character was feeling. When she felt worried, scared, upset and anxious, i could feel my stomach feeling all those emotions too. I think it must be because i can relate to dealing with some not very nice people back in my school days and it must have brought the emotions back to me of how i felt, i don't want too go into too much detail, just incase there is someone who hasn't read it yet.

I have been speaking to one of my best friends, Laura (who's blog you can find, here) about the ending of the book. She seems to have the same thought pattern as me, the whole book was a really good read (even despite it being aimed at a younger age group than ourselves) however, the end kind of let it down. The end was very quick, blunt and too the point. Kind of like Zoe ran out of words and had to squeeze the ending into such a small space.

Despite the ending, i would still recommend the book. Especially if you suffer from anxiety, or you are in your teenage years, as i think it would definitely be something every teenager would be able to relate too. Congratulations Zoe, this is such a massive achievement, you have come so far and all your hard work has paid off.

Apologies for the lack of photography within this review, i downloaded the book onto my kindle and thats not very pretty to photograph when its all black and white!




Have you read Girl Online?
What was your thoughts?

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Monday 2 February 2015

Ice bar London


I went to the Ice bar in London last a few weekends ago and i just thought i would share with you my thoughts of the experiences. The idea has always been something that intrigued me, a bar full of complete ice?! So when my boyfriend suggested that we go to one in London, i jumped at the chance - quite literally!

The Icebar is within easy reach, just off Recents Street and its situated in a cute little square with lots of different restaurants and bars, it is definitely how i imagine London in the evenings with pretty flowers and fairy lights.

Once we got into the Icebar entrance, we was asked to join a long queue, however, this didn't last long and we was all seen to very quickly. All the staff were so lovely and helpful, and definitely had a knack when it came to throwing the cloak over your head! You are provided with a cloak which has a hood and mittens attached, as it is -5 inside - brrrrrr.

The first drink was free, and the whole cup was made out of ice! Which was pretty cool. We paid for another two drinks (one for each of us) and it came to a whopping £13!! It wasn't like the cups were big either, however, we could tell that they put a lot more alcohol in the second lot, obviously because this one wasn't free!




The whole place was so much smaller than i thought it would be! Like, literally tiny! Once all those people are in there, its hard to see everything and move around because its so small, which was a bit of a disappointment. 
















It was a lovely experience and i am glad that iv finally experienced it. However, i don't think i will be paying another visit.

Whats included in the price:
The price is £16 each
You get 40 minutes within the Ice Bar (which believe me, is more than enough, as there isn't much to do and you will be freezing!)
A choice of one drink


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