30 day challenge - Days 25 - 30

Day 25 - Describe your day

Well today I took my mum back to Ikea at Nottingham because she had to swap a drawer front which was cut wrong. So we spent the day at Ikea and in the shopping complex opposite which has a Next so a haul post is coming up soon!

Day 26 - Describe your week

Tuesday - I was working all day

Wednesday - Working, again!

Thursday - Day off so I did all my housework, and believe me there was alot!

Friday - Working

Saturday - Working

Sunday - Lazy day, did some blogging and watched some films

Bank holiday monday- Again a lazy day but my mum and dad were coming round for tea so it was kind of a family day!

(Image: weheartit)

Day 27 - Describe your month

Soooo August has been a boring month. I’ve been working lots so I haven’t been doing fun stuff! I’ve been to Ikea 3 times, been making up for the fact that I haven’t been for 2-3 years! So overall a boring month!

Day 28 - Describe your year

This year (from September 2009 - September 2010) has been the year where I’ve made the transition from student to proper grown up adult!

I finished uni last April and graduated in June so this last year has involved lots and lots of job searching and application forms and unfortunately lots and lots of rejections, I did have 2 job interviews though. But I didn’t get them :-( But back to the beginning......

So in Sept 2009 I had 2 jobs, I was working 4 hours a week for one company and I worked sundays for another. I wasn’t happy with my 4 hour job and decided to leave in October when I got offered the chance to stop working sundays and work 15 hours in the week instead at my sunday job which I took. But as it was also coming up to christmas I got 15 hours extra for 3 months too which meant I would be earning lots of pennies. I would have got lots of extra hours at my other job if I had stayed on there but you hardly ever got your full dinner break, the customers were rude, you were tripping over each other as there wasn’t room to swing a cat and one particular colleague seem to get very mardy and bitchy when working at xmas and I felt that I couldn’t do anything right so I left! And haven’t looked back since.

Then on 21st December my dad had a heart attack. Me and Chris raced to Sheffield where he had been transferred and at 1am in the freezing cold it wasn’t the most pleasant experiences. When we got there we had to buzz security to let us in and then we got stuck in the worlds smallest corridor as all the doors were locked and controlled by buttons on the outside so we had to open a fire exit and enter again via another! Everything was OK in the end, my dad had his operation and we left at 4 am. My dad came out of hospital on xmas eve but my grandma who was also in hospital after having an operation because she had cancer came out on xmas day. Thankfully they are now both ok!

So onto 2010. In February me and Chris moved house. We were living in a flat near the center of town and needless to say at weekends it was very noisy. We found a house just outside of town with a garage and little garden so we moved in on the 22nd February.

June was my 22nd birthday. I didn’t do much, just had my friend round and we watched TV and I made us a bit of lunch and then me and Chris went out with my mum and dad for tea. Also in June I sold my first car :-( it was getting old and needed abit of work doing to it so it made sense to sell it before my insurance needed renewing. So I sold it on thursday, saw a new car that night and Chris went and bought it for my friday afternoon!

Since then nothing much has happened. Oh no wait something has happened the amount of jobs to apply for has been reduced to a big fat zero so it looks like I’m going to be stuck doing the same one for a while longer!

Day 29 - Hopes, dreams and plans for the next year

So for the next year I hope and plan to:

• Pay off my debts
• Finally buy a headboard for our bed!
• Go on holiday somewhere (even the UK would be fine)
• Finally get a job related to my degree!

Next year I am:

• Going on my first hen weekend! Sooo excited! (and this doesn’t class as my holiday!)
• Being a bridesmaid for the 3rd time
• Save some money and start being more money savvy

Day 30 - Whatever tickles your fancy

Tomorrow I'm launching another blog giveaway so check back tomorrow evening for more details!

Girls Aloud party lashes

Hope your all having a good Bank Holiday!

Today it's 5 months until New Years Eve - how time is flying! So I thought I'd do a post showing the new Girls Aloud party lashes. These are £5.95 a set and they can be bought from Boots.

(Images from: Boots)

I ♥ Next

To me Next always seemed the kind of shop women in their 30's went to to buy their clothes and it was quite expensive. I still had that perception until about 2 months ago when I borrowed a friends Next Directory.

So hers was the Home one but I liked sooo much stuff in it and it wasn't that expensive and I ended up with a few things.

Then another friend of mine gave me the whole Next directory which she didn't want and there was so much stuff I liked. I bought a few things (haul to follow soon) and I came up with a wishlist.

Stripe top - £18

Scarf/hood - £20

I think this is so cute and is ideal when your coat doesn't have a hood.

Ruffle dress - £35

Parka - £55

(Images from: Next)

I think I'm going to get the scarf/hood and the stripy top at the end of next month - fingers crossed they'll still be in stock!

30 day challenge - Days 20 - 24

Day 20 - A hobby of yours

I love to craft. I make cards as a hobby and try to sell them to make abit of extra money. I have a blog for my crafting which is HERE is you want to have a look or follow.

I also love to bake cakes and the recipe I use is coming up next!

(Image: weheartit)

Day 21 - A recipe

This is a recipe for a Victoria Sponge.

6oz Margarine

60z Sugar

6oz Self raising flour

3 eggs

Cream margarine and sugar together, gradually add flour and eggs and beat together to get lots of air in. Separate mixture into two cake tins and bake at 180 degrees for about 20 mins or until the middle is springy to the touch.

This can also be used to make buns, generally it make 18 quite large ones.

Day 22 - A website

It’s hard to narrow my fav websites down to a single one so I’m not. My fav ones are:

Next (Clothes and homewear)

Boots (cosmetics and beauty)

Yankee Doodle (Yankee Candles)

The Glitter Pot (for crafting supplies)

My fav blogs are:

Sprinkle of Glitter

Lily Loves Lola

Makeup Savvy

I Heart Cosmetics

Day 23 - A YouTube video

I’m not into YouTube, making or watching, so I’m going to skip this challenge!

Day 24 - Whatever tickles your fancy

In my last 30 day post in this section I did 5 facts about me you don't know so in this one I'm doing 5 thing that annoy me!

• Customers at work who come up to me and ask me "Do you work here?". No, I go in all shops and pull their stock forward!
• Chris (this is a general one as most things he do annoy me!) In particular leaving his phone charger plugged in
• People who treat you like your their best friend on day and then the next completely ignore you
• My next door neighbours who thud up and down the stairs
• Old people who seem to think that because they're old they have the right to be rude, Grrr this make me mad!

One last post for this challenge tomorrow and it's going to be a long one!

Review - Clinique and B.Liv

Clinique - 3 things to do before your 30.

I've only ever tried 1 Clinique product before, an eyeshadow set, and I wasn't that impressed. Then when I saw on another blog about their '3 things to do before you 30' product giveaway I jumped at the chance to try them.

(L-R: Liquid facial soap, clarifying lotion and dramatically different moisturising lotion)

I used these religiously for the past week and a bit and boy oh boy I wasn't impressed.

Ok, so the liquid facial soap I quite liked. It got off my make-up and left my face feeling clean but then you use the clarifying lotion....

Firstly I don't know why it's called a lotion because it's a liquid and then there's the smell. Alcohol. Ewww not nice. I put it on my skin and it left it feeling horrible. But the dramatically different moisturising lotion didn't change this. After I applied it, it took ages to sink in, left my skin tacky and it seemed to make my pores on my cheeks look huge which I had never noticed before.

Overall I wouldn't buy these products again and I wouldn't recommend them. The only good thing I have to say it that the sample sizes were quite big. I ran out of the clarifying 'lotion' first but the dramatically different lotion would last for ages but I threw it away.

B.Liv - Off with those heads.

I'd never heard of this brand before until May on her blog gave readers the chance to get a free sample.

B.Liv is by Cellnique which is an American company and it's products are aimed at teenagers and young adults with problem skin.

The product I tried is called 'off with their heads' and it aims to remove black and white heads in 14 days without having to squeeze them and it also prevents them from reappearing.

The clear gel gets applied onto problem areas after cleansing/washing but before moisturising.

I used this morning and evening for about a week and I can honestly say that I did see an improvement.

I would buy this product and use it on a daily basis. B.Liv do ship this internationally and prices are: 30ml $49 (approx. £31) and 45ml $63 (approx. £40).

30 day challenge - Days 15 - 19

Ok, I started this challenge absolutely ages ago so I'm going to speed my way through it so I've at least finished it. So this post is featuring days 15 - 19.

Day 15 - Fanfic

I’m not really into all this fan fiction stuff so I’m going to be naughty and skip this!

Day 16 - A song that makes you cry (or nearly)

Ooo this one’s hard. I don’t think there is a song which makes me want to cry but one song which is really inspirational to me is Proud by Heather Small.

Day 17 - An art piece

I’m not really into art, wasn’t good at it at school so had no interest in it but I do quite like Starry Night by Van Gogh.

(Image from: pandalous.com)

The way he sky has been painted looks mesmerizing but also mysterious with the hills in the background and the little quaint houses and church in front of them.

Below is a modernised version of the painting where the cute little houses have changed into skyscrapers and modern buildings.

(Image from: toconline.org)

Day 18 - Whatever tickles your fancy

Ok so I'm going to share 5 random facts about me with you:

• I love to look through people's photo's on Facebook regardless of whether I know them or not
• If I had to go a day without being sarcastic I think it would kill me
• My favourite film used to be A Knights Tale with Heath Ledger. I watched my video so much it broke and I had to get it on DVD
• I'm an only child and I slightly suffer from only child syndrome (e.g. I don't like sharing!)
• My boyfriend's nickname for me is Mooney! And I HATE it! Especially now his friends call me it too!

Day 19 - A talent of yours

Maybe it isn't really a talent but I'm quite good painting nails and doing other peoples for them.

I'll be finishing off this challenge in the nest week or so. This was types up really quickly so I apologise for any typo's or sentences which don't make sense!

Product Wishlist - Naked

This is another product wishlist off another brand which contains no nasty things: parabens, SLS, petrochemicals and phthalates. This brand is Naked!

I first became aware of Naked after seeing it in Boots but I never really took much notice of it until recently. I tried their hand wash and didn't really like it, it was far too gloopy for my liking but that could be because it isn't full of rubbish like the stuff mentioned above.

Naked do quite a wide range of products: shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, body lotion, handwash etc. So here's my list:

1. White Ginger body wash - £3.99

2. Detox Deep Cleanse shampoo - £3.99
3. Sensitive shampoo - £3.99
4. Detox Deep Cleanse Conditioner - £3.99
5. Sensitive Conditioner - £3.99
6. Orange Blossom body wash - £3.99
7. Coco de Mer Body Wash - £3.99
8. Sea Minerals Salt Scrub - £6.99

(Images from: Naked Online)

Naked is available (as far as I'm aware) to buy online on their website and at Boots.

Product Wishlist - Organic Surge

I knew Organic Surge did skincare, I'm currently using their face wash (which is amazing, review in the pipeline), but I wasn't aware of the fact that they also did bodycare and haircare. So I tottered off onto their website and came up with a product wishlist!

1. Sugared Almond shower gel £3.99

2. Shine Boost shampoo and conditioner - £4.99 each

3. Moisture Boost shampoo and conditioner - £4.99 each

4. Fresh Ocean shower gel - £3.99

5. Citrus Mint shower gel - £3.99

(Images from: Organic Surge)

Organic Surge products contain no nasty stuff for your skin to absorb: parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), synthetic colours, smells, colours, chemical antioxidants or foaming agents. This means that they do contain loads of good stuff including pure plant extracts, organic essential oils and no products are derived from animals which means they're cruelty free!

If you haven't already tried one of their products I would highly recommend that you do! They are available from their website, Boots, Lloyds Pharmacy, Waitrose, John Lewis and a few more.

A couple of freebies

Here are a few freebies I received last week.

Clinique - 3 things to do before you're 30.

This contains 3 miniatures of Clinique's liquid facial soap, clarifying lotion and dramatically different moisturising lotion.

B.Liv by Cellunique.
A mini of 'Off with their heads' which removed black and white heads without pain and helps to prevent them from forming again.

I'll review all of these products once I've used them!

Non surgery cosmetic procedures

Whilst doing research for my paraben and SLS free products (post found here) I came across this set of products on Cult Beauty.

Rodial tummy tuck sticks - £48 for 14 x 6g sticks

Surgery cost: £3,800 - £5,200

You simply mix 1 stick with 100ml of water and shake until it's dissolved. Use after your main meal everyday for 2 weeks for a flatter tummy.

Rodial tummy tuck gel - £100 for 125ml

Surgery cost: £3,800 - £5,200
Massage it on to your tummy area daily and you could loose 2cm in 8 weeks.

Rodial Glamotox - £98 for 50ml

Surgery cost: £300 a go
A non-invasive alternative to botox. This a daily moisturiser with SPF and plumping agents. It also has a temporary muscle freezing effect which will help prevent new wrinkles from forming.

Rodial boob job - £125 for 100ml

Surgery cost: £3,400 - £5,000This had ingredients to firm, uplift, plump and tone the bust area. It claims to increase your bust size by 8.4% in 54 days (approximately half a cup size).

Colax Aloe Vera Colon Cleanse tablets - £4.49 for 30 tablets

Colonic Irrigation: £60 for 1 hour treatment

Finally is a product which acts as a mini colonic irrigation. I found this from Boots but it's available from most health food shops.

You take 1 tablet every evening and overnight it works by cleansing you colon and intestines of all the bad stuff in there and it also helps to keep you regular! A few people at work have started taking these and all I can say is that if you're planning on going on a long trip the next day miss your tablet the night before!

Would anyone consider giving these a go instead of going under the knife or just for a bit of a 'lift'? I have to admit I would be tempted but they're a lot of money (excluding the colax) to try something.

Images from: Cult Beauty

Surgery prices from: Private Health

Colax from: Boots

Heidi Montag - Plastic surgery gone too far?

Heidi Montag is most famous for starring in MTV shows Laguna Beach and The Hills from a teenager. We have seen her grown up on TV and we have also seen her change physically. She has had a significant amount of plastic surgery but has she gone too far?

2006 - Age 18/19

In this photo Heidi is au naturel without any cosmetic surgery. She is fresh faced, feminine and most importantly natural. She isn't the most prettiest member of The Hills but she has amazing skin and has the 'girl next door' look.

April 2007 - Age 21

This is after Heidi's first surgery. Her features are still pretty but simple things like having hair extensions and a colour and getting a tan can make someone look a millions times better without having to go under the knife.

Procedures underwent:

• Nose job
• Boob job (from an A cup up to 32 C)
• Collagen lip injections

January 2010 - Age 23

This year Heidi underwent her most dramatic change.

Heidi underwent 10 procedures in 1 day:

• Mini brow lift
• Chin reduction
• Botox
• Fat injections
• Boob job (no. 2 from 32 C up to reportedly huge DDD cup)
• Nose job (no.2)
• Liposuction (thighs, waste & hips)
• Ears pinned back
• Butt augmentation

She also revealed that during her surgery she almost died as her breathing rate decreased to only 5 breaths a minute but she said it was worth it.

She also revealed that she would have another breast enlargement because she wanted 'H' cups for 'Heidi'.

I think that she didn't really need surgery in the first place. After her latest procedures she looks plastic,unnatural and her eyes have that 'alien' look. This should be an advert for not having plastic surgery.

From watching The Hills you can also see a change in her personality. She went from being loud, confident, popular and sociable, to being quite, unsociable and having no relationship with her friends and family. Do you think this is related to her surgery?

What do you think of Heidi's change of faces? Do you think she's gone too far? And what do you feel about her striving to have 'H' cup breasts?

Nail polish collection

I was trying to decide what colour to put on and thought I'd show you my nail polish collection!

As you can see it's quite large, 44 colours to be precise!

1st row - Rimmel: Hot Shot, Sunshine, Coralicious, Rose Libertine, Sky High, Purple Reign, Clear, French manicure rose praline, French manicure nail tip whitener, Cuticle oil

2nd row- 17 & Bourjois: Mint Choc Chip, Fairy Cake, Sherbet Lemon, Exquisite, Royal Indigo, Smoke Signal, Nail Recovery, 31 Bleu Violet, 23 Fuchsia Hype

3rd row - Nails Inc, Models Own & more Bourjois: Top & Base coat, Nail A&E, London, Milan, Lili's Pink, Green Flash, 4, 28, 18.

1st row - Avon & Miss Sporty: Green Tea nourisher pen, Exfoliating manicure, glitter dust (this was a Miss Sport giveaway)

2nd row - OPI, No7, Avon, Boots: Shrek mini's, 60's Mini Skirt, 50's Bobby Socks, Milan, Totally Teal, Betty Blues, Mirror Shine Gold Foil, Nail polish remover pen

3rd row- Miss Sporty, Maxfactor, Maybelline and Sally Hansen: Black, Nail Cocktail (as nail strengthener), See Through Ivory, 1 (I think this is the number), Growth Serum, Mega Shine & finally manicure sticks!

So there we have it, my nail polish collection. I have a couple of NOTD posts coming up so stay tuned!

Review - Body Shop Rainforest Haircare

The Rainforest haircare range is new at The Body Shop. The range consists of shampoo, conditioner, hair butter, detangling spray and a few brushes and prices start from £2 up to £8.

The range doesn't contain parabens, colourants or silicones so it's very good for you. Considering this the prices of the shampoo/conditioner are £2 for 60ml, £4 for 250ml and £6 for 400ml which I think is quite reasonable.

This review is focused on conditioner for oily hair. I've been using this on and off for a few weeks now and I am really pleased with the results. The constancy is thicker than other conditioner and it's colour is the same as the bottle, a kind of greenish grey, but a little does go a long way. It left my hair manageable, silky and feeling fresh.

This range is currently on buy one get on half price which makes it really affordable to try but I would buy this again even if it wasn't on offer.

As this product is so good it makes me wonder why their Banana shampoo is 25% 'bad' stuff. Read my post on that here.

Has anyone else tried this new range? If so what did you think?

Boots bargains!

I managed to get hold of some bargains at Boots last week.

I got a pair of Girls with Attitude false eyelashes for £1.15 instead of £5.50 and a pair of Boots extra short peach false nails for £1.13 instead of £4.50.

I've never used false lashes before so thought I'd get these to try because if I don't like them it's not too much money to waste. I'll let you know how I get on once I've tried them!

Review - L'Oreal Elnett 'Cheryl' limited edition

Yes I admit it, I got sucked in by the limited edition Cheryl Cole/Tweedy Elnett hairspray! I had never used Elnett before so thought this would be a good opportunity to try it and when I got it a few weeks ago Boots had it on 2 for £8 (not on offer anymore).

I have been using this for about a week instead of my usual 99p can of Boots Essentials hairspray and I'm quite impressed by it. I wouldn't use it all the time due to its price but you can tell it's a quality product. It doesn't leave my hair feeling heavy, sticky or dirty but light, manageable and 'swishable'!

The smell of it is really off putting but my usual hairspray is unperfumed so I'm generally not used to hairspray that does have a scent.

I would buy this again even though it is quite expensive (£5.89 for a 400ml) but because of it's size it will last a long time.

Paraben and SLS products and ranges

So after yesterday’s post about parabens and SLS in beauty products and highlighting all the bad stuff this post is about good products, brands, websites etc etc! All 10 products below are free from parabens and SLS.

Pregnancy/baby care.

1. Mamma Mio tummy rub oil - £22.50 (120ml)

2. Baby Organics nappy lotion - £6.99 (250ml)
Bath and Body.

3. Naked coco de mer body wash - £3.99 (250ml)
4. Extra Pur shower gel - £9 (250ml)
5. Yes to Carrots body butter - £8.99 (250ml)
Skincare.

6. Good Things purifying cleanser - £4.99 (150ml)
7. This Works cleanser - £20 (150ml)
Haircare.

8. Tara Smith shampoo and conditioner - £4.99 (250ml)
9. A'Kin shampoo - £7.49 (225ml)
10. The Body Shop rainforest shampoo and conditioner - £4 (250ml)
Products available from:

Cult Beauty Product number: 9, 8, 5, 4, 1

Boots Product number: 7, 6, 3

My Pure Product number: 2

Naked Product number: 3

The Body Shop Product number: 10