400 Days!

It has been 400 days since I last blogged while a lot has changed, a lot has still stayed the same. I wouldn't like to say that I gave up blogging but to be honest I just fell out of the motion of doing it. I was fully out of university and head first into my first full time "career" job, after spending 8 hours a day if front of a computer the last thing that crossed my mind was again sitting in front of a computer in the evenings. And then guess what? Life just passes you by, to be honest I have spent the last six months promising that I will get back into blogging because it is something which I do genuinely enjoy. But then I got promoted at work and again life just passes you by. 

Hey, so enough talking of the past and me just giving a pile of excuses and let me tell you what you can expect from my blog going forward. I am currently embarking on a weight loss journey. I am 23lbs down from my biggest weight but I still have 52lbs to go when I will hit my target. I'm aware that it is not going to be easy because the first 23lbs certainly didn't fall off - but I am the worst kind of dieter, a yo yo dieter. It's not sustainable and i'm realising that it has to become a lifestyle change. In the past 6 months, my weight has fluctuated around 17lbs, I can't seem to get the scales lower, nor am I feeling any fitter. 

The kind of posts which you can expect:

• A weekly progress report from myself
• Beauty tips
• Recipes
• Workouts
• General discussions
• Fashion (if I am feeling brave) 

I did start a series called My Big Fat Diary which I am going to pick up, just at the time I wasn't in the right frame of mind to discuss or to keep to the diet plan. Read about my weight story here 

I look forward to posting some more bits up here this week. Here's to a new start.

REVIEW: &Other Stories Body Scrub in Couture Carnival

&Other Stories Body Scrub - Couture Carnival - £7

10/10

What & Other Stories Say: & OTHER STORIES Smoothing sugar scrub that polishes skin to a silken texture and leaves it lusciously scented. Juicy strawberry, raspberry and guava medley is sprinkled with lily of the valley while patchouli, black amber and a gourmet note of praline add depth. 250 ml.

What I Say:  Wow - o - Wow. I LOVE this product, the smell, the way it makes my skin feel. It is really light and gentle whilst being packed full of sugar which is abrasive enough to lift any dead skin cells. After using this it doesn't make look like a lobster (which a lot of products do). I am going to get the whole collection of this scent nd see if I can pull myself to try out o of th others too! 

Pros:

- It's a bargain, I got this a month or so ago and use it twice a week and I still have over half the pot left. For £7 it has a high street price with what I think is a high end quality. 

- It doesn't dry out my skin, it does leave a residue which I know will put some people off. However it is a light thin residue which sort of make my legs look dewy and is a bonus as if I am in a rush I don't have to moisturise or can use a light one which sinks in quicker. 

- At my third point, I wish I could they have invented a way to transmit smells because this smells put of this world. It's sweet but not too sweet whilst being fruity and it lasts! 

Cons: 
- My only con for this product is that it isn't easily available, I know I can order online but I am pretty old fashion and love going to a store and picking up my latest beauty find. I think they need to open up some more stores.

Have you been up to &Other Stories in Regents Street? Have you tried this brand?

Look Beauty LOUD LIPS: Cherry Bomb

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Look Beauty - Loud Lips in Cherry Bomb - £7

5/10

Look Beauty is a brand by the magazine Look they're stocked in Superdrug in the UK or online here. They have a range of affordable make up to suit lots of people. I am a huge fan of their Nail Varnishes called Nail Pop - see here & here so I recently branched out to other parts of their collection. I am a classic Marilyn and a complete sucker for a red lipstick. What attracted me to this one was the fact that they say "Your one-coat route to a super-hot pout." It really bugs me when a bold lipstick just slides off, minutes after application. 

Pros: 

- The boldness of the colour is something I love, as it is a block kind of matte finished lipstick. There is no shimmer or glitter in it which I find a lot in many other lipsticks. 

- I love how long this lipstick last - after the initial look of it being quite creamy it stinks in as a stain and lasts the majority of the day. If wearing it at night you will need wipes or a remover to get this off otherwise it will still be there in the morning. (I know from past experience... oops) 

- And the final but not the least big positive about this lipstick and the brand as a whole is that they are good value for money - this lipstick was £7 which wasn't the cheapest nor was it the most expensive either. 

Cons:

- I found it really drying - I must admit I don't have the best lips and I find that I am always hunting for a thick and creamy lip balm which is why I need my lipsticks to be a lot creamier. This I found would seep into the cracks of my lip and highlight their chapness even with a balm applied before.
- The packaging is quite bulky and the lid is magnetic but it isn't that strong so it comes off really easily in your bag - which is pretty annoying especially when everything you pull out is smeared in red lipstick and let me tell you get gets everywhere.
- Okay so we can see that colour of the lipstick is a lot deeper than when I took a swatch, don't get me wrong I do love the colour in which it has come out. Only it looks a lot lighter too so when I first opened this up I thought I had received the wrong colour it was only when I thought I would try it out, I notice that it came out a lot lighter but not really a massive con but annoyed me.

I honestly do love the Look Beauty's brand but the reason I gave this such a mediocre rating was mainly because the packaging was really irritating. Maybe I just got a faulty one but there is no click or anything which shuts it so when it gets knocked next to something the lid comes off. Have you tried this lipsticks? Did I get baddy? What do you think of these?

REVIEW: Tropic Face Smooth Brightening Polish

Tropic Face Smooth - Brightening Polish - £15 100ml

10/10

What Tropic Say: "Our Face Smooth brightening polish is a skin staple. It contains powerful Acai berries to brighten and gentle alpha hydroxy acids to stimulate skin renewal. It works to cleanse, exfoliate, tone and moisturise all in one, to leave your skin feeling velvety, refreshed and simply radiant."

What I Say: So in the past couple of months my skin has gone through some magical transformation now I partially put it down to my increase in water consumption and better diet. However, if there is one main product which has just made my skin pop into its own it has been this facial polish from Tropic. I picked it up at the end of March at the Vitality show - this was a brand that I have never heard of but was sold by the great sales assistants and the product demonstrations. 

Pros: 

- As you know a big positive for me in a product is the smell, it has a very strong citrus scent - so it may not be for everyone but I love it.

- Once you rinse the polish off, your skin is left so soft - kind of with an oily residue but isn't greasy or noticable on your skin. It doesn't leave your skin feeling dehydrated. 

- It says to use it 2-3times a week but I find just using it once as a treat still has a great effect on the skin. 

- It helps clear up any redness in blemishes too. 

Cons: 

- My only problem with this scrub is the fact that you can scrub your skin too much as it is quite abrasive. So if you over scrub it can hurt your skin - I don't know whether this is because I have quite sensitive skin but either way it is still great once you get the right level of scrubbing! 

- The scrub and oil separate which makes it sometimes a little difficult to scoop a good mixture of the both in a go. 

To be honest, I couldn't recommend this scrub enough, I love it! If you are suffering with your skin at the moment this could be your answer like it was mine. Have you tried this brand or heard of them? 

UPDATE: Where Have I Been?

Hello Everyone,

So I haven't blogged in nearly a month! I know I have been such a sporadic blogger - sometimes I run out of blogging mojo and then sometimes life just takes over. But for me April has been a great month and I have done lots of things which I am really happy about and I am a lot more focused on completely my goals. There have been too big things which has really settled me at the moment.

The first big thing: I have lost weight. 12lbs to be exact which was done in 4 weeks and I'm really proud that I have got myself into the swing of things - so I might do a post on what I've been up to. The main bulk of it is eating less and moving more! Who knew it was that simple eh? Haha, for me it is one of those things which are easier said than done. But nevertheless I ideally still want to lose another 18lbs by 24th September 2013 - so I need to keep my motivation flowing. I know I was doing my weekly posts on a Tuesday as I thought it would be a great idea to keep my focused but for some reason it just didn't help or work it the way I had hoped. I will still be doing some health/fitness/diet post but these will be about a topic rather than just my weightloss journey.

The second big thing: I have been working full time for the past 3 months which means that I have got myself into a good routine. But this also means that a few things have been taking a sideline like my blog. To be honest the first week I didn't really miss my blog but I had a little bit of bloggers block - but I really really miss it. I took advantage of this bank holiday weekend and it wasn't a messy one (trying to curb those calories), it wasn't an expensive one (trying to save up for a few things) but it was a productive one - I sorted out lots of bits and I have two huge baskets of bits and bobs which I want to blog about.

So I just wanted to do a sort of welcome back message and look out for tomorrows post.