Tough Mudder

Hi there!

If you've been following us on twitter or reading our fitness posts then you will be aware that we both took part on a Tough Mudder challenge two weeks ago.

If you don't know what a TM challenge is then here's a quick run down; each course is designed by Special Forces and is between 10 and 12 miles long. There are roughly 20 obstacles on each course but this could vary, particularly if you have completed a TM course before as you will have additional obstacles available to you that first timers do not.

The obstacles vary in their challenges; you could be required to climb a wall, swim through ice, crawl underground, jump off a plank into water or run through electric wires. You don't find out until the week before what the course is like nor which obstacles you will have to endure.

Here a few snaps from our day!

The official photos from the day are great and provided free which is always good. As events like Cardiff Half you have to pay for the photos. TM is really all about team work and you come away feeling like you've really achieved something and even if you didn't fully know your team at the start you will at the end.

It's such a friendly environment all the way around and everyone helps everyone on the obstacles which is great. As things like the 10 feet walls (one of the hardest obstacles for me!) were fine at getting people over but without the help of other teams your last person wouldn't be able to do it.

It's definitely something that pushes you to your limits but all of us that did it totally loved it and can't wait for next years south west event to do it all over again. We've all said we'd tailor our training differently if we did it again so here is some of our advice.

• Road running isn't all that helpful. The course is very hilly, after obstacles this is especially tiring. As much as possible run on hilly routes and uneven ground. It's a lot of running through wooded areas so over rocks and twigs.
• You need the upper body strength. (We both tried hard to do this!) Think press ups and pulls up. These sort of movements help build the strength you'll need for the day especially to be able to pull yourself over some of the smaller walls. Luckily the boys helped us with this.
• A good general fitness level. There is no point focusing on one thing. The next day everything hurt including the abs. This course uses every muscle!
• You will complete. Friend of ours had previously told us it was more of mind over body and towards the end it really was. When every part of you aches and you've been going for over 3 hours it's hard to get the energy to do some of the obstacles but you will find the strength to do them.
• Have a good supportive team around you. A few tall strong men will be helpful on the day!

Have you ever done Tough Mudder? We can't wait for next year!

Love L & M

xxx

Good Things Manuka Honey Creamy Cleanser

Hello!

I cannot believe it is the end of August already, this year is flying by. and where on earth is all of the summer weather? Is it now autumn already??

Today I have a review on a facial cleanser that I saw one day in Boots and had to snap up. As I'm sure I've mentioned a zillion times already I have recently become unemployed because I hated my job so much and was made to feel so uncomfortable that I left without another job to go to. This is quite scary really and takes some explaining in interviews but basically for blog purposes it means that I am super skint!

No longer can i afford my number one cleanser in the form of Origins Checks and Balances at a cost of £17 so I've been seeking out a cheaper version with all of the same qualities that I look for:

• Removes majority of make up (I have to use eye make up remover/micellar water anyway for my super sensitive eyes so as long as its 90% removed I'm happy)
• Leaves my skin feeling clean without feeling 'squeaky clean' and tight, and ideally with a bit of hydration too
• Smells good
• Lathers well without a load of chemical nasties

Impossible?? I thought it might be. Until this one!

Good Things is a brand I've previously blogged about (link here) and I loved the ethos of the brand and also the product I previously tried, which is sadly no longer available.
All products are free from SLS (foaming agent) parabens and mineral oils which to me is a pretty good start.

I chose the Manuka Honey Creamy Cleanser as firstly I'm obsessed with manuka honey, it smells good, tastes good and has a ridicukous amount of amazing properties. I love Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey mask for this reason and was interested to see how a cleanser works out too.
My skin is also getting older, siiiiiiiigh, and tends to needs more hydration than my younger oil slick face days and so a creamy cleanser sounded like the right option.
Lastly the price of £4.99 (its currently on offer in Boots for £3.33!) was very appealing. 3 for the price of my normal cleanser?? Surely worth a try!

It also contains Royal Jelly and Beeswax which was interesting. Straight from the Boots website you can see the blurb here:

Cleansing is the key to great-looking skin and this creamy cleanser has it all.

Super-hydrating royal jelly, rich in amino acids, helps to condition and replenish skin while the antibacterial properties of manuka honey ensure skin is thoroughly clean and balanced.

Black raspberry extract and vitamin E, both full of antioxidants, helps give skin a radiant, youthful glow.

This sounds like the perfect compromise to me, this cleanser should still remove the grime and oil from the day with the help of the antibacterial properties of manuka honey but also hydrate it with the royal jelly and help it glow with antioxidants. Sounds like a miracle!

Alice Hart Davis certainly seems to know her stuff and I have really enjoyed using this cleanser the last few weeks. I've been using a dollop of it applied to damp skin and removing it with a muslin cloth.
This seems to remove almost all of my make up, though it does have a little trouble with some eye make up but this isn't an issue for me as I have to be careful with my eyes and use a separate remover anyway.

The smell reminds me of warmth, if that makes any sense whatsoever. It reminds me of warm baked goodies coming out of the oven and is quite a comforting smell which I put down to the manuka honey.

I really cannot fault this product for the job nor the price and luckily for us it's often on offer at Boots!

Also in the range is a face mask, face scrub and daily moisturiser; all of which I am sure will find their way into my handbag on my next shopping trip!

Have you tried Good Things before? Do you have a favourite product?

Have you tried any from the Manuka Honey range before?

Let me know!

L xxx

Ted Baker: That's a Wrap Nail Wraps

Good evening!

Hope you're all looking forward to the weekend, even of the weather is dreary and grey. I already posted earlier on my review of Slender Tox Tea but couldn't resist writing up another review of these beautiful nail wraps as I drink my tea and watch Harry Potter. It really is one of those wintery evening already!

We were kindly sent these super cute nail wraps to try.....as a nail wrap virgin I was apprehensive how they would work, how long they would last and if I would get on with them at all!

First off the packaging. I always love nudes and metallics and so this packaging appeals to me a lot, if I saw these on a stand I would definitely be drawn to them. We were sent two different colours to try and so I picked these, and M picked the darker version of the same floral pattern.

There are 14 nail polish strips to use and each one varies in width so you can pick the perfect size for your nails. Like the back of the packaging states; if you've no time for polish this should be perfect for those times when you need super chic nails in super fast times.

I love the floral pattern that is unique to Ted Baker, I'd love to get my hands on their kimonos in a print like this and don't even get me started on the make up bags!

You can see the variety of sizes of the nail wraps in the picture below, they even have the actual measurements on them too.

So once they are taken out of the packaging you are left with a silver foil wrap which keeps the wraps themselves clean, tidy and stops them from drying out.

The instructions are pretty simple; choose your nail size, peel from the bottom where the measurement is and apply to the base your nail in the correct position. After this all you need is to press firmly down onto the nail wrap and use a nail file to remove the excess nail wrap that you don't need. you just need to file downwards at the end of the nail and the excess seems to fall off leaving your nails perfect!

This was the first time I'd used nail wraps and although they really are easy, it does take some practice just to get the application at the base of the nail correct as once that's done the rest is easy. Also i have what some people call 'pianist fingers', which basically means my fingers and nails are really long and narrow. My nails, even when filed down REALLY short seem to be longer than anyone else's when they're fully grown! This meant that they didn't fit my nails 100% perfectly width wise but they still looked pretty good.

i loved how simple they were and they lasted a whole weekend. I doubt on me they'd last much longer with working in labs and they did start to wear. They would be absolutely perfect for a wedding or hen weekend and I'd buy them in future for this, especially the summer ones with floral patterns like this!

I really like how all of the nails are unique; i could never recreate my own version of this with nail polish so i love the flexibility nail wraps give you.

Have you tried Ted Baker nail wraps? What did you think?

You can find them at Boots for £7.50 and there are four different versions available!

L xxx

SlenderToxTea Detox Tea

Hello!

A few weeks ago I was sent a 14 day teatox by the lovely people at SlenderToxTea. I've always wanted to try one of them but just couldn't decide which as I was overwhelmed with the amount of choice!

Luckily for me SlenderToxTea saw my confused tweet and offered to send me a trial, which of course I could not refuse!

The 14 day trial included 14 Daytox morning tea bags, and 7 Sleeptox  night tea bags in separate packets to make it easier to distinguish between.

I like the packaging, it's easy, resealable and easy to tell which is which, making it that much better for people like me who are somewhat of an ogre in the morning. Reading and trying to work things out isn't what I need!

So what do you do? The Daytox tea bags are to drank in the morning, as soon as you can to getting up. You make it using warm water and leave it to brew for a few minutes only. start off with a shorter time and build it up if you prefer. Don't do what I did and make it with boiling water, it's very potent that way! Always make sure you read instructions yes??!

I was surprised when first trying the morning Daytox, it smelt quite strong but actually didn't taste of much at all which I definitely preferred. I find green tea to be too strong for me, taste wise, and tend to drink it in tea bags with peppermint to help the taste so I was apprehensive this would be just like green tea and I'd hate it.

So I was pleasantly surprised and found it easy to add this in as an extra tea in the mornings, also adding an extra step of hydration to my day so it was a win win situation.

As you can see from the ingredients in the picture above the tea does contain green tea but also a number of other ingredients that I don't know the function of.

The Sleeptox is slightly different and only requires you to drink a cup of this every OTHER night. Definitely read the instructions on this one as although it's brewed the same you only need one on alternate nights........don't try and drink it every night like me!

You can see the list of ingredients in the sleeptox in the photos above, some are similar but there's a few more additional ingredients in the night one.

I also found this tea to taste similar and although it smells strong it's really not a strong taste at all.

So what did i think?

It does suggest that you use the tea bags and complete the tea tox starting on a weekend to allow you to get used to the effects. I'm glad i started this on a weekend just so that i could get used to brewing the tea, when I needed to have them etc. I didn't find the effects to be too off-putting though everyone might react to this in different ways.

I did get some of the 'cleansing' feeling and of course my trips to the little girls room did increase (no blushing here!) but this was in no way uncontrollable and after all the horror stories of some people not being able to leave the house.........I would have to dispute that!

I completed the full 14 days in work without anything different aside from more frequent trips to the toilet so if you work in situation where you are unable to get to the bathroom easily (such as a teacher or nurse) then I probably wouldn't recommend it. As i said, it's nowhere near uncontrollable but you will need toilets available to you!


I did personally find that the Sleeptox teas were more potent than the Daytox teas, though this is probably having had a 'double dose' more than it being more potent in itself. As i mentioned earlier on I did make the mistake of not reading the packet and for the first three days had both a morning and night tea which was WRONG AND DEFINITELY DON'T DO IT.

How did i feel after completing it?


Well I weighed myself pre and post Teatox and lost 3 pounds. This was definitely a step in the right direction having put on a few lately with stress and was a good booster to continue with further healthy eating and exercise. I didn't change my diet in this time either so definitely this was just from the tea.

I also had increased metabolism and energy as i didn't feel tired at all, probably as my system didn't need to spend its' energy getting rid of the toxins in my body.

As it goes with looks, I 100% believe it has made me look smaller because the bloat in my stomach reduced considerably and made me feel so much better about myself and more comfortable wearing my clothes. I also took photos pre and post teatox and there's definitely a difference in my stomach especially when viewed from the side as its a lot flatter. However I don't feel ok with publishing these on the blog for everyone to see, but I promise you there's a noticeable difference 

I'm not convinced this is a permanent solution and for this reason think it's perfect for a special event like a wedding, holiday or graduation etc but not for permanent weightloss as I think when you stop the weight will slowly come back on without a permanent lifestyle change.

The 14 day Teatox package with both Day and Sleeptox comes in at £19.99 with free P&P. I think for an event in your life that you want to look your best at, £20 is worth the money as it really does work in helping you reduce the bloat and lose a few extra pounds. Before a holiday it would be ideal to give you a boost before getting your bikini out but long term i think it would be too expensive to feasibly drink it all the time.


That being said, if you've got the cash to splash I'd be one of those buying it every other month to help keep the bloat at bay and cleanse out my toxins to help my body metabolise the things it actually needs.

Have you tried Slender Tox Tea? Have you tried another brand of detox tea?
Would you buy the tea for an event or for long term?

Slender Tox have a number of products on their site and provide a variety of tea packages. I'm most interested in the Slimming Patches that they have recently brought out, a patch that can help with weightloss of 2-4 pounds a week without side effects?? Sounds like a miracle!

L xxx

OOTD: Oasis Maxi Dress

Hey there!

I'm not really one for an OOTD post. Mainly as I think my wardrobe is quite boring (I love tailoring, jeans and monochrome) but also because I just haven't ever really got my head around them.
I do really like clothes but this never really reflects in posts unless I have a haul and throw them all at you at once! so I've decided to start sharing with you some of my new buys.

This maxi dress from Oasis was my first ever maxi.....that might seem ridiculous to some of you as I know a lot of people live in them but as a tall lady I find it hard to find ones that fit me. This time though, I didn't care if it fitted or not as i loved it!

Considering that my wardrobe is full of monochrome this is basically the closest I'm going to get to a perfect maxi dress for me! It's cream and black, so not quite spot on but for spring and summer I think that's even better.

I absolutely love prints like this and find them so easy to wear; you can add any colour to it in the form of a blazer, cardigan, bag or flats and instantly jazz it up for a wedding or wear it the pub for a summer evening.

Another reason why I wasn't sure about them was the way they fit me. As a curvy girl i need things to pull me in at the waist and flatter me either side of that so the black belt that come with the dress was an absolute essential. It pulls me in at the waist and distracts from the lower belly which is possibly my most hated part!

The capped sleeves are a nice detail and the V neck draws your gaze upwards towards the chest area but luckily it isn't revealing either.

Here it is on in the changing rooms:

It seems to skim over everything else perfectly and I was so pleased to finally find a maxi dress that i felt comfortable in.....now I know why everyone raves so much!!

It also *almost* fits me length wise too, it's the closest I've come to finding one that's long enough so I just bought it without thinking about it too much. It's about an inch or so too short which is a shame but as long as I stick with flats it will be fine.

Where do you get your maxi dresses from?

This one was about £40 from Oasis, I can't find it anywhere on their site or Debenhams and hadn't ever seen it there before. I think i was just very lucky to find it!

L xxx

Life Update

Hi all! 

I've been absolutely shocking at writing posts the last few months, sometimes I managed to schedule a load of them and others I've just had to let the days roll by as there's just been no chance for me to get onto my laptop. It's very frustrating when I have so many things to write about and share with you!

I thought I'd ease in gently and get started with a life update post. Things have been so busy but I've got plenty of photos!

As I've previously mentioned I have finally quit my job after a fair few months of being extremely unhappy. The photo above shows one of the mountains surrounding Abergavenny and it's a very pretty place especially as it seems to have it's own weather system!
It was nice for it to be sunny during my last few days there. I've been attending lots of interviews so revising for them and the travelling has left me pretty exhausted. Here are 2 of my outfits, I do love a shift dress and my favourite black blouse always comes in handy!

I've mentioned that my mum has been ill recently and had had an operation. I'm so pleased that she's done so well and has barely taken any painkillers so I'm really proud of her. She came home early from hospital and is now resting in bed so fingers crossed she'll make a quick recovery at home too.

In light of her being in hospital I've been making food for the family which is no easy task as my mum is AMAZING at cooking and it's not really my area of expertise. Having said that, we've been stuffing down some lush meals lately including an amazing burger from a new local company called Got Beef, fully recommend them! I've also made Sticky Chicken with broccoli and sweet potato chips (recipe here) and my first ever taste of bacon and pancakes YUM.

My awesome colleagues got me some amazing presents, I'm still in shock they got me these as they are PERFECT! I do love my spirits as I'm allergic to wine so they got me skull full of vodka from Crystal Head which is so cool don't you think?? I don't think I can bring myself to open it yet!

They also got me some really posh handmade chocolate from Amelia Rope in Wholefoods, I'm going to do a separate post on these are they were so lush and I'd love to support brands like this more.

M went shopping last week and snapped up some SUPER bargains....all of the below she found in Debenhams on offer for £3 or so each which is unbelievable. We still can't work out why it was all being sold off but this lot was worth £95 and came to around £21....couldn't say no to that especially after the reviews I've seen on the serums! full posts will follow :)

Apart from eating and shopping me and M have also completed Tough Mudder. It was a really fun day but we were so exhausted afterwards we ended up driving straight home and skipping the after party! Next time (we've already agreed to do it all again!) we know to pick an earlier time so we have time to shower and dry off properly before everyone else starts queueing!

This weekend felt really boring in comparison to last weekend, so we decided to walk up Pen Y Fan which is one of the highest peaks in Wales for a bit of exercise and took my dog. He does love being a bit of a poser!

The last few weeks and months have been super stressful and time has sometimes flashed by really quickly. Now that I'm unemployed for a hopefully short time, I'm planning on enjoying myself and sorting my life out!

I've had a clear out recently but I may do it again to get rid of clutter and minimise everything. Mostly I'm looking forward to spending time with friends and hopefully having a fair few jugs of Pimms!

What have you all been up to recently? Do you have any interview tips and tricks?

I'd love to hear them!


L xxx

Life : Tips to help long distance relationships!

Hey All

A very late post from me. I had a fair few beauty post I have lined up to write at the moment but just haven't had the time and now it's 11.30pm I don't have the motivation either but still want to write. With C leaving me the early hours of this morning for a minimum of 6 weeks I found myself wanting to write about relationships! Beauty to resume next week!

Long distance relationships seem to be something I manage to get myself into. After the first one I said never again and here I am on my third one! They've been three very different relationships. 

Ex 1 (G) I was with for 3 years. We broke up just before we graduated!

Ex 2 (A) I was again with for 3 years and we broke up last July. He's been mentioned in early blog posts!

The Current Dude (C)

All 3 were different types of long distance. G was while we were both at uni. During term time we saw each other for 1 weekend a month, he was in Liverpool and I was in Cardiff we couldn't find time for more. It worked for us. A I met as I finished uni which meant we were about to go separate ways. Things got rushed and for 9 months we saw each other every weekend meaning every other weekend meant 5 hours were spent on a train! C is a grown up long distance. His job means he's away from me for extended periods of anything between 2-10 weeks depending on the job.

me and G (facebook means old photos still exist!)

Hindsight truely is a wonderful thing!

The number one and most important thing in a long distance relationship (and any!) is trust! I can honestly say I've not had it before C! Both G and A's phone's I checked. Both of them I then found conversations with girls I wish I'd never seen! Trusting is never easy but if you are honest about the little things it helps! I think if you are with the write person you open up about things you never thought you would! A is a perfect example of this! C has been open about everything from the beginning from small to big things so I've never had a reason to doubt him.

For me once the trust is gone it's gone. I'm a fine one to talk as many times I've taken a cheater back! But you never truly get over it! (maybe that's just me!) From experience I've found distance makes it harder. You almost expect them to cheat again as they can get away with it. It's also harder to forgive and forget when you don't always see someone! I personally find it gets bought up in every argument!

Give yourself time to get over the ex. This is one I've only realised in the past year! My relationships tend to finally come to blows when in all honesty they should have ended months ago so I usually move straight onto a guy thinking I'm over the one before! The rebound for me never works. This time I took 6 months of dating. Being single for a significant period allows you to fully heal and be ready for the nest relationship!

Me and A he had an issue with photos hence why I could only find one with L in two! Who's lipstick I love in this. Need to find out the colour!

Onto more specifics for long distance! I always seem to here from people the following :

• absence makes the heart grow fonder
• you appreciate the time you have together more
• I'd love 6 weeks away from my other half
• you're a busy person anyways

None of these are in any way reassuring when all you want is a cwtch (I'm definitely almost Welsh now, plus cwtch is the best word!) after a crap day!

When you know your time together is limited and on a time scale be a little selfish and spend more time with your other half! Good friends will understand this but obviously don't take the piss and permanently ditch your friends just as your other half is back. They will be the one's who make the weeks pass quicker when they are away!

Find a way to communicate when they are away. C and I had satellite phone conversations when he was away last time (hopefully it'll be skype this time!). Satellite phones meant if I was lucky 2 calls a week. But on the other hand it meant we always had lots to talk about and you really look forward to those days. 

Know how often you'll speak to them. Don't set unrealistic expectations. Whether it's uni or work your other half is away for not all their time can be for you! Agree how often you'll talk so you can learn to adjust! It's surprising how quickly you'll adjust. I tend to struggle for the first and last week he's away but the 4-8 in the middle are usually ok!

Only silly pictures of me and C seem to exist at the moment! Need to get him in on the selfie trend haha! I have a few more drunk photos of us but I look shit in them so they aren't going on haha!

Start a new hobbie. Evenings after work are the worst to spend on your own. I'm very much a gym bunny. This means I don't usually get home till 8.30 some nights. By the time you eat and stuff then it's time for bed! Don't leave loads of free time to miss them. See friends, if your skint go for walks with them or try your hand at a new hobbie! I've recently gotten into crafting!

If you miss them tell them! Sometimes when C is away even if he can't receive them till he gets back I email him. I find after a long day if I want to talk to him sending and email and writing it out makes me feel better even if I know he won't even read it for two weeks and probably won't reply as it'll be stuff we've already spoke about. I find emails and writing it down a lot easier!

Very random post from me! Hope there were some helpful tips in there somewhere. Mainly just a ramble for me!

Had to include this as I love it! L and I are both tall ladies! C is only 5 ft 10 and a half! I'm giving him the half as he is a smidge taller than me! He was teasing me all last night for posting this on fb! My response was to call him Tyrion! He'll learn I always win! Ha!

Love M

xxx