Life Lately

Hey All

Yet another week and I keep struggling to find time to post. I've got so much I want to post about but life is well and truly speeding by at the moment.

This week I have had a better excuse after and being ill. I think a combination of a long weekend, lots of stress and being busy in most aspects of my life all caught up with me.

My other half has been back from his 6 weeks away for two weeks now so a lot of time has still been spent catching up with him.

The weekend before last we did the Cardiff half which definitely had me saying never again. From mile 10 was sheer pain for me after pulling something in my foot. I've never been so close to crying as I crossed a finish line but I do find the half marathon very over whelming at the finish line. I do think it's actually harder than tough mudder in a lot of ways I'm sure I'll be persuaded to do more I always do.

I also introduced the other half to two of my oldest friends for judgement! For once I think I may have one they approve of!

This weekend I was in the lake district with the other halfs work. It's set up like a top gear challenge.  The biggest rule I hated, no sat nav!!! I definitely can't read maps and got us lost in the first four towns we had to pass through.  The route was also a scenic one with stop points and a quiz along the way. We ended up travelling for almost 11 hours but it went surprisingly quick and I can now read a map. I think I need to prepare myself quizs for journeys!

Saturday was spent at a local show and then exploring the local area. We decided to take my new walking boots up ths mountain to test them out. About halfway up friends decided they were turning back so somewhere along the line it got decided we'd cut down the mountain so we could still follow the path back along the river as planned. Disaster for the girl that can barely stand upwards let alone going down steep hills with rocks and streams. I managed to catch my laces in my boot loops, tie my feet together and do a few rolls before landed in a river like a rag doll. Luckily I put my hands out so a few bruises and no lasting damage later! You really forgot how much you use your hands till you bruise both of them!

Last night was spent at a gig in Bristol seeing Laura Viers. She's someone I'd heard a little about but not loads. I really enjoy going to gigs so I don't mind if it's people I've mot heard of. It was a really small but good gig! I'd definitely see her again.

After a late megabus and a busy weekend ahead (L and I are off to catch up with uni friends, go to Harry Potter world and have a Harry Potter filled geek catch up. I can't wait! !) Tonight will be spent catching up witj homeland! I can't wait to see this weeks episode!

Love M

xxx

Nip and Fab: Clean Fix Oil

Morning lovelies!

A few weeks ago M picked up all of these goodies for us both, everything was massively reduced in Debenhams and some were down to £3 - something that we obviously just could not ignore!

We wrote about the Viper Venom Serum from Nip and Fab and you can find the review here.

The triple pack of Clean Fix oil was irresistible, we've both been looking for a way to get into double cleansing and this was it. Three bottles of this should have cost us £30.75 but the pack was reduced to £10.25, this was then further reduced to something like £3 which was just unbelievable! We couldn't wait to get them home and give them a try.

I have always liked the designs of the products from N+F, they have a simple design where the colours change dependant on the range and everything feels really sturdy.

The clean fix oil claims to not only be a cleanser but also a make up remover which i was keen to test, getting rid of heavy eye make up is always something I need!

After reading the bottle I was disappointed however to find that it contained mineral oil and this is something I really try to avoid putting on my face if i can help it and many other face oils don't contain it so i don't see it as a necessary ingredient.

Having used it for a few weeks I can say that it definitely does remove make up very easily, the oil turns to a white milk when rinsed off and then you can cleanse your skin properly without it being covered in grime.
It was the perfect introduction for me to double cleansing and I'd look into buying another oil to cleanse with, however this one just isn't right for me. I don't want to use mineral oil and also, this is no longer available to purchase anywhere that I've looked! Maybe they're reformulating or repackaging it as oils are big news for cleansing nowadays.

The smell of this was lovely which I feel I should mention but it also just disappeared from the bottle and after just a few weeks of usage I could easily have finished it.

On a side note, I've started using it to clean my make up brushes and it works WONDERS at melting the excess make up off the brush before I can cleanse it properly with baby shampoo and ensure it is bacteria free. There's always a silver lining eh!

Have you tried cleansing oils? Which would you recommend? Do you avoid mineral oil?

L xxx

Hey All

I'm currently heading up to a weekend in the Lake District with the other half and his work colleagues. After a stressful first 5 hours of me trying to navigate a route from maps (sat navs are banned as it's a challenge!) I've got 10 minutes break whilst we are on the M6. 

The Nip and Fab Clean fix Facial oil is another one of the bits I picked up for us when Debenhams had them massively reduced. I used to swear by my No.7 eye make up remover but lately I've let my skincare slip. (Another reason for the big nip and fab haul!) 

As an oily skinned person oil cleansers never appealed to me but as this was so reduced I couldn't not grab it. It's a very thick oil and I find about half a pump does my eyes and face. I love the fact it has a pump as I imagine any other form would be annoying with an oil.

The oil melts into my skin and literally dissolves all of my eye make up including they're real! I then remove it using a hot cloth. My skin feels so soft after! I tend to use a scrub or a second cleanser and use the oil pure for make up remover.

The downside is that it does contain mineral oils so I have been concerned about it clogging pores and breaking me out. But so far so good.

It leaves my skin feeling really make up free but it does seem to be going down in the bottle. For the full price honestly I don't think I'd pay for it. I just can't fully get my head around oil cleansers. 

Are you a fan?

Love M

Beauty Blender

Hi pals!

Just a quick review for you today, you might have heard of it yonks ago but sometimes I fear I live under a rock.

The Original Beauty Blender came onto my radar when M told me about it (many times!) and raved about how good her dupe one was. I just couldn't get over the sponge applicator things and decided my Real Techniques were enough for me.

The BB as it will now be called (I'm lazy at typing right now, 4.30am starts all week have ruined my body clock!) made it's way into my life courtesy of my aunty who gave my her Birchboxes that she had been bought as a gift - what a super hero she is!

I've loved getting them as you can imagine and have had a lot of fun rummaging every time one appears. This one was particularly exciting though when i realised i had a REAL one!

Let's face it, the pink excites me. It's super girly for a gadgety kind of thing and I almost didn't want to get it dirty by adding foundation, but i took a deep breath and got over it.

I have been told that using the blender whilst wet is the best way forward so I run this under the tap quickly and squeeze/shake off the excess so it's damp. I have found from experience that using a thicker foundation such as Vichy Dermablend as opposed to something thinner like UD's Naked Skin works better but that may just be me. I found thicker products easier to blend out and give an even coverage whereas the thinner products tended to move around my face!

Here's a photo of my face where I've applied Dermablend with the BB. It creates a flawless base for other products to be added onto and the pointed end helps to blend around the nose and eyes, and is great for concealer application too.

It also comes with it's own nifty little cleansing block which is very handy and lovely surprise!

I've used this a few times and washing the blender is easy, rinse it under the tap, rub the bar onto the sponge and lather it up before rinsing. There really is no excuse but to wash this one regularly (though I always seem to find one!)

I have totally come round to the idea of a Beauty Blender and have been enjoying using it on my face in the mornings, definitely a girls version of a gadget!

It creates a flawless base quite easily, and although you might think it will take you longer than using a brush it actually doesn't which surprised me. The only drawback i can see is that it costs £16.50, which by all accounts is a little excessive. It's more expensive than a lot of brushes which seem to have a lot more work gone into them, if it was price more at the £10 mark i probably wouldn't have batted an eyelid!

Having said that, if that's all that I can find that's wrong with it....maybe it is worth the price.

Have you tried the Beauty Blender before? Are you a lover or a hater?
Have you found a comparable dupe?

L xxx

Fitness Friday: Top 10 Tips for Clean Eating

Hi all!

It's been a little while since I've written a Fitness Friday post, but I felt compelled to write one this week after continuously seeing posts on Facebook, tweets on Twitter and comments on Instagram about how hard it is to eat clean and find time to make things, to find recipes etc etc etc. 

EVERYTHING IS HARD.

Let's just get that thing right out there. Life generally is hard and you go through it having to work for things you want and quite often, there are setbacks.

If you want a holiday, you save hard and give things up for it knowing that the end result will be worth it, why don't people treat eating in the same way?

You can always come up with excuses; I ran out of time, the ingredients are expensive, it's too much to cook all the time, I don't like eating x/y/z......

All it takes is a bit of preparation and effort on your part and you can have meals quite easily. Here's my top 10 tips to help you out.

1) Write a meal plan - plan 7 evening meals, plan 7 lunches, and plan a variety of breakfasts and snacks. If you plan it all out and know what meals you have available to choose from then you have no room to deviate, and can actually look forward to meals knowing what you are having. To eat clean you will have to cook, accept it now!

2) Bulk buy everything in - clear out the old (or use it up if you wish) and then bulk buy in everything that you will need for a few weeks of meals. Obviously you can't buy fresh foods in for that long and if you don't have much cupboard or freezer space then this may be a challenge but the less you have to go to the shops the less you will be tempted. Also it means that you can....

3) Have a cooking day - doing this is essential for me! I make sure all ingredients are available and batch cook meals, snacks etc all on one day, i.e. a Sunday. If you cook a chilli, bolognese and a curry in one go with enough for a few portions of each it will take you a large part of the day, but will save you hours during the week. I also roast some veg, cook a whole chicken, a packet of quinoa and bake some muffins using this recipe here so that I have lunches and snacks for the week. It's tiring sure, but saves so much time and effort in the week it's worth it.

4) Swap things slowly - Or as fast as you like! Some people prefer to go cold turkey and others are all about a gradual change, but the easiest thing you can do is to swap your foods, that way you can still have them. For example, swap your white rice for cauliflower rice, swap spaghetti for strands or courgettes (courgetti?!) or even simpler, just swap chocolate and crisps for fruits, nuts and yogurt. There are always alternatives and fresh produce is always a better choice than anything that comes in a packet. There are so many small changes you can being to make that I can't even begin to list them!

5) Plan the freezer and cupboards - there are a lot of alternatives to save you running out of fresh ingredients. Frozen fruit and vegetables can be lifesavers and you can stock up on meat and fish if you have the room when it's on offer. Tins are also great, chickpeas go in almost any meal to bulk it out cheaply as well as loads of different types of beans, plus fruit and veg. Tuna is also something that can be bought quite cheaply and be added last minute to a salad.

6) Variety is everything - batch cooking is great but don't fall into the trap of eating the same thing, variety will keep you enthusiastic and motivated and finding new recipes to try is fun, especially when you find a recipe for brownies or muffins that contain clean ingredients!

7) Always take snacks in your bag - NEVER leave home without a snack. My bag is constantly full of food; fruit, nuts, pretty much anything like that that can help when hunger strikes and will stop you from buying crisps or sweets when in a weak moment. I get laughed at for always having food, but I've saved so much money and stopped myself from eating unnecessarily bad foods so many times it has been worth it.

8) Increase the number of meals you eat - Eating more often but smaller amounts is a much better option than bigger meals less often. Eating more regularly will stabilise your blood sugar levels and keep your metabolism going which are all positive things! Never skip a meal, eating because you are hungry is vital, don't cut down on what you're eating just swap it for something else. It's also quite exciting to eat 4-6 meals a day don't you think?!

9) Keep your motivation going - Create Pinterest boards, follow 'fitspiration' accounts on twitter and buy fitness and health magazines. Seeing everyone else working out and looking healthy and happy will want you to do the same; it's also invaluable for new recipes, workouts and exercise ideas to boost your enthusiasm and dedication.

10) Don't sabotage your hard work - I believe in rewarding yourself for your hard work, and over time have changed this from a bar of chocolate to magazines, books, shoes, anything that isn't going to add calories to my day. Of course I have treats, I go out with friends for food and cocktails and I have bad days that mean I end up on the kitchen floor with a jar of nutella and a spoon. I try to work off my daily problems and frustrations to help with this but avoiding adding additional salt, sugar, alcohol and bad fat to your day can only help. A cheat meal once a week is ideal, look forward to it and work hard knowing you can reward yourself at the end of it, but as they say, one cheat meal won't make you fat, but one salad won't make you skinny!

What do you think of my tips for eating clean? Have you been trying and failing to eat healthier?

What would you add to the list?

I'm always looking for inspiration so send blogs or pinterest boards my way if you have favourites!

L xxx