6 Vitamin Shot

Evening All

Hope you've had a great bank holiday weekend. Mine has been action packed with way too much drinking occuring.

Yesterday I shared some of my meal prep ideas with you. Something I've been enjoying over the past few weeks during stressful and lack of sleep times is 6 vitamin shots. You can find my review here. They are great supplement which is also a great pre gym workout.

Do you take supplements?

Love M

Xxx

Food Prep

Evening all

I thought I'd share what I've spent my evening doing. In 3 weeks time I'll be landing in Cyprus for my brother's wedding so it's time to step up the diet to match the exercise and lose the pooch! I love the quote 'failing to prepare is preparing to fail' I really do think it's true. If you don't have prepare you can be tempted when you're tired in the morning to just grab food in work and after a long day a quick ready meal may be too tempting.

I'm someone who loves cooking and experimenting with food. Lately I tend to go to the supermarket on a Sunday and get my weekly must haves and then see what is reduced and decide from there what I fancy cooking.

For me my essentials for the week are:

• Spinach
• Bananas
• Low Fat Fromage Frais (this has a lot more protein that natural yoghurt)
• Milk (if I've been paid I prefer to go for Almond milk
• Eggs

I'll also grab whatever fruit and veg is on offer for the week.

My favourite thing for breakfast is overnight oats. I tend to make them in batches of two or three as it's easier. I add a handful of oats and then milk and fromage frais. I'm not the type to measure it out but if you a ramekin full of each. These can be topped with anything, I use fruit and peanut butter or add nuts and seeds too. I do also add protein powder to boost my protein intake.

This week I grabbed chicken breast. I made a rub using herbs and spices. I literally just grab random spices out of the cupboard and then fry in a teaspoon of coconut oil. I cook everything with coconut oil now. I have this for lunch then with spinach, red cabbage and cherry tomatoes. If I don't fancy salad I'll grab soup out of my freezer and usually take a boiled egg.

Also reduced this week was beef stock. I decided to make a healthy cottage pie. I fry 4 onions in garlic, salt and pepper and a tea spoon of coconut oil. To that I added 500g of extra lean mince beef and carrots. When the mince had browned I add stock and red cabbage. Whilst this is cooking down I boiled cauliflower and carrots to make mash. I tend to make my mash out of any veg and just boil it down. Swede and parsnip also work. Once it's soft I mash it up and put it over the meet mix and cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

Today I also made egg fried cauliflower rice. This was the easiest thing to do. Just grate the cauliflower, melt the coconut oil in a frying pan. Then add the cauliflower to it and two eggs and fry. Such a quick tasty meal. I eat this on it's own or it's great for with curries.

I also made muffins from the recipe L posted on Friday. I made mine with lemon and coconut. They are amazing. You can find L's recipe here.

I also made some red cabbage with apple. I cooked an apple in a bit of sugar and reduced it down. I just added this too boiled cabbage and will freeze it. I've got veggie sausages so think it'll be great with them and swede.

Lastly I made sourdough bread. I absolutely love peanut butter and banana on toast so prefer to make my own bread. Sourdough is made from just flour and water so it's too bad for you. I use a mix of normal and wholegrain seeded flour. I also added protein powder this week so I can tell myself it's better for me.

So that's me prepped for the week. What do you eat when trying to be healthy?

Love M

xxx

Benefit: Gimme Brow

Morning all!

Hope you all had a good evening last night. L and I are probably rolling round in bed hungover!

Gimme brow is something I've wanted to try for ages. Especially since losing my Browzings. Unfortunately after visiting Cardiff's Brow Bar for Brow Arch March we were both left with one eyebrow a lot shorter than others. L and I have had our brows done at Benefit in Bristol, Swansea and Carnaby Street and have always been pleased so we were disappointed to have been left with noticeably uneven brows. Benefit always have amazing customer service and sent us a few bits to try as an apology. I couldn't wait to try Gimme Brow to try and extend the now slightly shorter brow.

I have the light/medium. I find having blonde brows is harder to make them look perfect without them looking drawn on and powdery. Gimme brow is an amazing little brow product. A tinted brow gel with fibres and a tiny brush to make application easy.

One of the things that put me off Maybelline brow drama was the impractical wand for brows. Benefit have created a easy to use wand that has a small tip to be able to fill in fine gaps. Gimme brow adheres to skin and hair to create full natural brows.

Here is my natural brows. They are fair and need filling in or it looks like I don't have them. As you'll have seen if you saw my post on Facebook photos earlier on in the week.



Below is one coat of gimme brow. I tend to wipe of the excess and quickly swipe over the brows for quick definition. This is perfect for those lazy mornings and when you want more natural make up. Brows are left defined, darker and not looking drawn on.



For me I do love a power brow! I like big full brows but not to dark for my skin tone. No scouse brows here. I find Gimme brow layers up really well but I find it's best to do a few light layers as it can go a little flaky if you do one thick coat.



The thing that has taken getting used to for me is that my brows are coated. They stay amazingly all day but they do feel a little hard sometimes.

I am absolutely loving gimme brow and it's been in my handbag since (I do my make up on the bus alot!). It's quick and easy to apply and great for everyday.

My downside is the price. At £17.50 it's not cheap. If it lasts a while I'm not complaining. So far so good so fingers crossed it lasts as I'm loving the convenience of it.

Love M
xxx

Hey there! 

As M has already mentioned were big fans of defined brows, as mine are black and my skin a rather white shade it can be really hard to define mine without going too far and giving myself the dreaded scouse brow or looking like I've drawn them on in permanent marker.

Gimme Brow caught my eye because everyone's brows seem to look so natural after using it.



As the packaging states, its a brush on fibre gel that adheres to skin and hair and has qualities including being water resistant, long wearing, buildable and most importantly natural looking.



The tube itself is tiny, similar in height to a mini They're Real but with the thickness of a pencil its a really dinky little product that has made its way into my make up bag as a firm favourite. 

It's just SO easy to use and defines and fills in the natural gaps that I have in my brows (thanks to my mum, we have the same gaps!)

The tiny mascara type brush fills in even the tiniest gap without any issues and looks perfectly natural. I was worried my brows would be a bit crispy after using something like this but I haven't had that problem at all

I really do love the little brush, so cute!

You can see Gimme Brow in the pictures below, I've got the medium deep colour. The first picture is without any brow product, second with one coat and the third with two coats. 

You can see how it so easily defines and fills in without looking too 'done' because were all natural beauties aren't we ladies??

The only downside for me is again, the price. I think £17.50 for a tiny tube is far too much. But hey ho, you do have to pay for good quality products!

What do you think of Gimme Brow? Are you a fan of natural looking brows or more defined and powerful?

L xxx

Stages Before a Night Out

Well hi there! 

I have recently read the following link: 30 Stages Girls Go Through Before Nights Out.

I am a FIRM believer that getting ready for the night out is normally just as fun as the night out itself. Don't get me wrong, I love being out with my friends, choosing my shots, throwing some of those new moves I've seen on the dancefloor and wobbling my way to a taxi (via a food outlet of course).

BUT I can honestly say that I ADORE the build up to it as well. A lot of friends dislike and even go as far as to hate it (gasp!) but I truly love the whole getting ready experience and I fully recommend the link above for a few lols as I'm SURE you will have definitely come across a few.

As me and M have mahussive plans for this evening now that her exams are finally over I thought it would be fitting to divulge a few of our favourite stages of getting ready for a night out....enjoy!

1) Our night out begins on Mondays. This is when we begin to scrub and apply copious amounts of tanning moisturiser. Living in the ever rainy Wales a real tan is hard to come by and over the years has left us looking paler than MJ so a fair few coats is necessary for us to achieve the glow we desire. We need to apply normally around 3 coats of this just to reach normal human colour so it takes a while.

2) The week long group message as to what to wear, and priorities....what shoes. We've now come to the conclusion that as we are both quite tall ladies that whatever shoes we wear, we're in it together. In heels we can be up to 6'4 when M wears her huuuuuuge Carvelas and so the shoes take the priority in our texts. Admittedly, it's ALWAYS heels!



3) This is normally followed by furious snapchats of dresses and accessories, normally paired with an absolute mountain of clothes in the background where we have both emptied our wardrobes onto our beds to find the desired outfit. Chaos.

4) This is followed by the Thursday tanning session. This is a full application of 'proper tan' followed by a pedicure. If you're going to have to stand naked and watch tv to let your tan dry you might as well do everything all in one go and not be able to walk at the same time.

5) Drinks orders. Sometime during the week thoughts will travel to predrinks. This used to be easy; wine! But unfortunately as I am now allergic to wine (LORD KNOWS how this has happened) vodka is the usual tipple, occasionally mixed up with rum, pimms and basically whatever else we can mix in with cranberry juice and lemonade. This week? I've got my eye on the £10 bottle of Pimms in Morrisons, deal!
We also get our order in for the containers that will come in very handy later on (see further on for an explanation)





6) The day has finally arrived! Normally on a Saturday we both get up and off to the gym to burn an extra set of calories in anticipation for the sugary cocktails and McDonalds meal that we just KNOW we're going to have later. Excited!

7) With the 'hard work' out of the way, it's just the usual shower, scrub, defuzz, moisturise, apply an extra layer of tan, paint our nails and dry our hair. Easy peasy.........probably need a power nap here too and some food. Whoever decided eating was cheating never lasted long on a night out did they?



8) Next stage? Precision application of make up to the face. Da Vinci hasn't got shit on us; it took him days to paint his masterpiece. We've got our faces down to an art within an hour....ish?
This normally cues the debate of eye make up application first or base first.......Answers on a postcard below. M's a lover of eyes first but I'm a firm fan of starting with a flawless base. Many debates have been had, surely by this time we should be able to apply eye make up without getting it all over...no?
Needless to say it looks like Debenhams exploded into Boots wherever we are getting ready; palettes, brushes, bottles and all manner of product goodness EVERYWHERE.


9) Once the face has been finished, the pre drinks begin. Nice and steady to start, getting stronger and crazier by the 3rd, half vodka, quarter rum, a shot of malibu topped up with cranberry anyone?

10) Hair begins. What a nightmare, straightening is so easy but what about the volume! We're big hair people on this blog and volume is everything, curling almost always wins out for me as rollers take forever to wrap up into my thick and long mane. My arms aren't even long enough to reach the ends of my hair at the back!

11) Then the most dangerous and stressful part begins. The lash application. Having the potential to ruin your entire facial make up application this part is tricky and sends your heart into overdrive. Better sit down and have a another drink to calm those nerves.


12) Think you're ready? Extra application of instant tan. JUST IN CASE.

13) Now it's time to actually get your clothes on and make the final decision on your outfit for the night and do one of our favourite things, the Lipstick Lucky Dip.
Place your hand inside your make up bag/hand bag/drawer and wriggle it around until you find a lipstick, save yourself the hassle and use whichever one you find first, that's our motto!


14) It's selfie time. Snapchat, instagram, facebook, twitter. Absolutely nothing can escape when it's selfie time on a night out with us!






15) Finally ready to call a taxi so more drinks are poured and it's time to settle down and relax after the getting ready sesh is over, this time its doubtful there is any mixer in the drinks at all and it sometimes comes accompanied with a shot of red absinthe. This can send the night one of two ways, but its sure to become a firm fave of a photo if you manage to time it just right:

16) The taxi is probably outside. Never EVER forget that last refill of your glass and our personal favourite; universal containers.
Listen up guys and girls, I'm about to divulge the best secret in the business. Get your hands on some 50ml containers and bob's your uncle, you've got yourself a fair few double shots you can easily just slip into a drink in the loos when the bouncers aren't watching. Naughty? Us? We like to think of it as innovative. Many a time we've filled our bras with them, 2 in each side for a beautiful 4 drinks worth. Even better is the Russian Roulette version; containers full of random types of liquor. Flavoured vodkas, rum and a nasty one: the straight absinthe...horror! Whoever get's the nasty one gets first pick the next time.




17) The taxi is definitely outside. Last minute checks; more powder, more hairspray, more perfume, more lipstick. More tan?
Then comes the putting on of shoes before running out the door to the exasperated taxi man waiting outside.






All sounds exhausting doesn't it?!

What do you think? Comparable to your nights out?

Let me know!

L xxx