#Blogtober #13 - Birthday haul

Hey girls, I hope you're all well.

Yesterday it was my birthday, and I had an amazing full filled day, hence why I didn't post anything. I have some pictures from the day if any of you are interested in seeing those. But today I thought I would do a birthday haul, as I know many of you like those.

I was very spoilt so not all my presents are shown, I just got my brother to pick a few to share with you all. My parents did a thing where they bought me 21 things that I have loved throughout my life, from TV shows, books, and movies, to food and drinks.

My balloons which are very pink and sparkely and I love them

My cake, with a picture of me at 7 months old, sleeping just after eating. Not much has changed haha

Me and my wonderful family after our wonderful meal.

A select few of my presents: From T-R-L - Doctor Who season 3-6, Art Attack PC game, Sherlock seasons 1 and 2, John Barrowman live at the Royal Albert Hall, 100 verses every Christian should know, 21st wine glass. Second row: Rusks, Bang on the door Groovy Chick colouring book, My little pony Pinkie Pie, Keep calm and join Hufflepuff keyring, Monty the dog with glasses. Bottom row: Nikon D5200, Framed Avengers comic, Signed and framed Doctor Who picture with David Tennant and John Barrowman on it, Framed Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen picture.

Phew that was a lot

My brother put a lot of thought into this gift. I love The Avengers, and comic books, so he decided to get an Avengers comic book from the year I was born and frame it. How awesome and thoughtful is that? He also bought me 2 other Avengers comic books to go with it :) 

My Mum was so excited to give me this, and I can tell why. It is John Barrowman and David Tennant outside the TARDIS and below that, it is signed! I love it!

Another signed present. It was bought like this apparently, and I don't understand why someone would sell a signed DVD. It is awesome!

And the best present ever a Nikon D5200! I took all of these pictures with this camera, and even though I'm still learning how to use it, I think the quality is amazing. What do you think?

I had an amazing day, and am very lucky to have gotten all of these amazing presents.

Have a beautiful day

Dream beautiful dreams; live beautiful lives

xx

P.S. Don't forget that you can get 10% off over at Blogilates using the code "Fit4Fall10"

#Blogtober #11 - Health and Fitness motivation Instagrams, Tumblrs, and Twitters

Hey girls, I hope you're all well.

How has it already been a week since I blogged last? Sorry about that, I've had problems with my computer, and have been kind of ill, but I'm back!

So as you all know I'm very into health and fitness, and because of that I follow a lot of motivational Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter accounts, and they are great. But recently I've been seeing a trend on them, something that I don't feel is right, or healthy. Motivational? Yes, but healthy? No. And that is text posts that say things like "Do it for every time you've hated what you see in the mirror. Do it for every time you cried over your body. Do it for the double-takes. Lose that weight". Basically those posts are saying that being skinny will make you happy, and that is not true! Losing weight will not give you happiness, not in the long term. Losing weight will not make you love what you see in the mirror. What will make you love what you see in the mirror is accepting your body for how it looks RIGHT NOW.It is good to want to be healthy, and have muscle definition, but it won't make you happy.
I am aware that the majority of people who start eating healthy and exercising do it because they need to or at least feel like they need to lose weight, that's why I started it. But please don't do it because you think being thin will make you happy. Eat right, and exercise because you already love your body and you want to treat it right. That is the ultimate motivation, loving your body will make you want to eat right and exercise because you want your body to be at it's best and to function, and look after you.

Another thing I want to mention is that the 'fitspo' pictures they post of the very defined bodies tend to be Photo-shopped, you can tell most of the time if you are aware of it. Yes you can get defined abs, and a lifted booty by working out, but it also depends on your genetics, and how your body is made. Like me, you may have tight hips, meaning that you'll probably never get a thigh gap, or you might have thick, muscular thighs, again meaning you won't have a thigh gap (sorry for only mentioning thigh gaps here, it's the only thing I can think of right now). But you wanna know something? That is perfectly fine, you don't need a thigh gap to look or feel good, you don't need perfect abs to look or feel good. What will make you feel good is learning to love yourself.

There will be another post within the week about loving your body, and how to do that, so please check back for it. And share this post with as many people as you can. Show everyone that being skinny does not mean being happy.

I love you all

Have a beautiful day

Dream beautiful dreams; live beautiful lives

xx

#Blogtober #10 - Avon Mega-effects mascara

Hey girls, I hope you're all well.

Today I went shopping, and I was going to do a haul post, I took the pictures, and was about to edit them, then remembered that I had a few things coming in the post, and thought I would wait until I had everything. Especially as the only place I bought from was Primark, because they have some amazing things in and spent a bit too much in there and felt bad so stopped shopping.

Anyway, I remembered that I had taken some pictures for some reviews, and decided I would do one of those. And as you can tell by the title today's review is on Avon's new mascara, Mega-effects!

How scary does that look? I was a bit sceptical about it too, because it definitely looks hard to use/ weird looking.

What it looks like one after a long day.

From a different angle. I also want to point out that in these pictures I have not curled my lashes or wearing any fake lashes.

What they claim

Avon claims that the brush is an "ergonimic brush for comfort and control" and that it "fits the natural shape of lashes, from corner to corner".  The brush bends to provide 40% more mascara to lash bold volume. 

"Provides panoramic volume and corner to corner coverage for dramatic definition. Flake-proof and sweat-proof".

My thoughts:

As I stated before I was a bit sceptical about this, especially the usage because of the weird brush. But there was absolutely no need for that because it is so easy to use. It gives volume, and covers all my lashes. I can do both eyes without re-dipping, which is great, especially for those mornings when you're in a rush. 

I have worn this when getting my eyebrows waxed, and obviously my eyes watered a lot, but the mascara did not budge. I also have a puppy, and he likes to lick my face, especially my eyes when I'm wearing make-up, and again, this does not budge. There is no smudging with this, and it lasts all day!

Taking it off is easy too. I use Johnsons and Johnsons eye make-up remover, and hold it on my eye for a full minutes, then gently pat away. Doing both eyes takes about 5 minutes, which is not long at all to completely remove all of my eye make-up. I've had mascaras that flake and spread across my face when removing them, which can be annoying, but this doesn't, which I really like.

One thing I don't like is the packaging. As you can see in the picture, it has a lid that you have to take off, then you pull the wand out, which is completely separate to the lid. I like that it is separate, but the first couple of times I used it, the wand was a bit stiff. Now this is only because it is tightly packed, which is a good thing because not much air can get in, meaning it doesn't dry out as quickly as other mascaras, but is obviously annoying because you don't want to break it.

Another negative is that it is extremely wet, so you have to be careful when applying, which isn't hard with the unique brush, not to smudge it. But this can be a good thing, because if you blink a couple of times, it transfers onto your bottom lashes, saving time. It takes about 30 seconds to dry, which might not seem like long, but I normally use quite dry mascaras. 

I give this 4.5 out 5 stars, simply because of how wet it is. I highly recommend this. It is unique in style, and simple to use.

I hope you enjoyed this post, let me know if you've tried this mascara out. And if you haven't go and order from your representative, you won't regret it.

Before I leave I want to give you all a coupon code for Blogilates, which I love. Just use "Fit4Fall10" at the checkout to get 10% off your order, and yes they do ship worldwide. In fact I'm waiting for a couple of items from there too.

Have a beautiful day

Dream beautiful dreams; live beautiful lives

xx

P.S. Check out my last post on a DIY Tote bag

#Blogtober #9 - DIY reusable shopping bag, or Farmers tote bag

Hey girls, I hope you're all well.

Today has not been very exciting, so I didn't really know what to write about. But I made something today and thought I would share my thoughts on it.

Source

Cassey Ho from Blogilates recently posted a DIY farmers tote tutorial on her blog, and I pinned it, thinking 'I'm not very good at following picture steps, but I do want to try it, so I'll save it for a later date'. I had the perfect t-shirt I wanted to use for it, but I was scared that I wouldn't be able to do it using the pictures, and I do love this t-shirt.

Anyway, today Cassey uploaded a video showing how to do it. It's like she read my mind! I got super excited, and decided that I was going to do it along with the video!

This is how mine turned out:

How awesome is that t-shirt, I got it from Primark, about 2 years ago ironically. Anyway 2 years later, and I've decided to change my style and actually dress in clothes that look good on me, and maybe fit me (this was from the mens section).

I had no idea what to do with this top, because I still love it, I just don't want to wear it like it was made any-more. I thought about making it into a workout tank, another of Cassey's creations, but never got around to it. Then I saw the tote idea, and thought it would be perfect. My thinking was, the bag is designed to carry your healthy food shopping, this has a pear on it, OMG THIS IS PERFECT! So I made it.

I used it tonight when I went food shopping, and I'm going to be honest, I wasn't sure how much it would hold, because it is quite small, and I was scared I hadn't tied the tassels tight enough. But it held all of my shopping, minus one thing, and that was because it was in a large cardboard box. 

I didn't buy much, mostly just frozen veg, but there was about 5 bags of those, and they do weigh you down. But the bag just stretched, and it didn't even feel heavy. 

Another thing I love is that you can put it on your shoulder, so you're saving your hands, because let's face it plastic carrier bags dig into your hands, even if they aren't very heavy. 

So in case you can't tell, I freaking love this bag, and would highly recommend everyone making it. It's eco-friendly, it's homemade, it looks cool, and it holds quite a lot. 

Have a beautiful day

Dream beautiful dreams; live beautiful lives

xx

P.S. I posted a Pinterest try earlier, all about the best brush cleansing method ever!

#Blogtober #8 - Pinterest try - Clean your brushes

Hey girls, I hope you're all good.

I know that this was supposed to be posted last night, but I couldn't find the pictures, but I've found them now, so here it is.

How to clean your brushes. I did the second one because I don't have a brush cleanser. So let's get started.

What to do:

First you swirl each brush in warm soapy water

This was the water after swirling one brush, pretty dirty and I had hardly used my brush

You then soak all of your brushes together in more warm soapy water

You do that for 10 minutes

Whilst they are soaking, make your sea-saw for your brushes to dry on. I used 2 small bottles, and 2 layers of kitchen towel.

Once your timer has gone off, go and rinse your brushes with cold water, and re-shape them. If you find that there is a brush that is very clogged up, i.e. your concealer brush, just soak it for a bit longer and come back to it after you've rinsed the rest of them

This is the water after taking out all of the brushes. I was not expecting it to be so dirty.

Finally place your brushes on your sea-saw to dry.

My thoughts:

Oh my word, I love this cleansing method! My brushes had never been so clean before, and I have since done this 2 more times! I have changed it a tiny bit, when I am swirling the brushes I apply some baby shampoo onto the brush as well as the bowl, it just gives an even deeper clean. 

I clean my brushes every week, whether I've worn make-up every single day, or just once or twice. When I did this, I had only worn make-up once or twice that week, and it was still pretty disgusting, as you can see. 

Seeing all that dirt, even just from swirling, really made me realize how crap I'm putting on my face if I don't wash my brushes, and it's made me clean them more regularly. I hope it's had the same effect on you too. 

Overall I highly highly recommend this, it is quick, simple and so very effective. And don't forget cheap, all you need is a bowl, kitchen towel, and baby shampoo. 

Have a beautiful day

Dream beautiful dreams; live beautiful lives

xx

P.S. Check out my last post about my first ever fitness class

Blogtober #7 - My first fitness class

Hey girls, I hope you're all well.

Today has been quite a busy day, well for me anyway. I've been out pretty much all day running errands.

One of the things I did was go to my first fitness class, which you probably already know if you follow me on Twitter. I was so scared, but really excited, and couldn't wait to get there. I had no idea what to expect. It wasn't in a gym, instead it was held in my churches hall, so I wasn't sure the age group that would be there.

Because of this, I didn't know the type of exercise we were going to do. I kept changing my mind about wanting an intense cardio session and an intense toning session, the only thing I wanted was for it to be intense, however that is not what I got.

It turned out that I was the youngest person there, as everyone was in the retirement age, so the workout was not was intense as I wanted. However, that does not mean I didn't feel it and I didn't sweat because I did! There was some cardio, and some toning, but I felt like it was mostly stretching, and wakening up your muscles. I am really naughty and don't bother stretching most of the time, so my muscles are quite tight, so I could really feel my muscles, and it was a little bit painful, but I totally needed it. It made me realise how much stretching is important, and I'm going to start stretching after every workout now.

Everyone was so nice and welcoming, they really made me feel relaxed and because of that I was happy to workout in front of them. I wasn't embarrassed to when I messed up which is always a good thing because I did mess up a bit when some dancing was brought in because I have no rhythm.

Overall  I loved it, I left feeling energised and ready to take on my long day. And it made me want to go to more. There is an easy Zumba class on a Monday morning in a hall next to my church, which I might go to. They have 3 other Zumba classes a week there, but I chose the easy one because Zumba is hard, and like I said, I have no rhythm, so it should be fun. I'll let you know how it goes.

Have you ever been to a fitness class? Was it what you expected? Did you enjoy it? Let me know.

Have a beautiful day

Dream beautiful dreams; live beautiful lives

xx

P.S. Check out yesterdays post a Pinterest try :)

Blogtober #5 - Currently

Hey girls, I hope you're all well.

Sorry there was no post yesterday, I got a really bad headache so didn't bother logging onto my computer, instead I slept for 12 hours. I've still got my headache, but I needed to do some research for something, so thought I might as well do a quick post, hence why I'm doing a Currently :-)

Listening: BreeLovesBeauty doing her September favourites

Eating: I just finished eating a bar of Oso loves your tummy healthy chocolate

Drinking: Water because I'm really thirsty

Wearing: My cosiest pjs because I've been in bed all day

Feeling: Bored. I've been in bed all day trying to get rid of this headache, but I hate being in bed all day, it makes me feel so lazy

Weather: Sunny, which is typical because I couldn't enjoy it

Wanting: For this headache to be gone

Needing: To start saving some money for my mini holiday coming up at the end of the month

Thinking: About the best ways to make money fast, anyone got any tips?

Enjoying: Writing this post because it got me out of bed.

Ok so most of this was me complaining about my headache, but, hey, I'm just keeping it real ;-)

Have a beautiful day

Dream beautiful dreams; live beautiful lives

xx

P.S. Here is my last post in case any of  you missed it 

Blogtober #4 - The 10 day 'you' challenge - 8 fears

Hey girls, I hope you're all well.

I was going through my picture, and realised I still had all of my 10 day 'you' challenge pictures. So I decided to check out where I got up to on this tag, and noticed that I only did two of them, and the last one was back in December, which is crazy! So I decided I would try and complete it this month.

I'm going to put it out there right now, I get scared easily, but I don't have many actual fears, so this post is going to be hard to write. Let's hope I can think of eight.

1. Grasshoppers - Have you ever seen 'A Bugs Life'? I'm sure you have, it's a classic Pixar movie. Well ever since I saw that when I was really young (it was and still is one of my favourite films) the grasshoppers always terrified me! Then a couple of years ago my Mum got Geckos and they eat grasshoppers, and they would always come to the front of their tub whenever I was in the room. I was terrified to be in that room, I felt like they were coming after me!
2. Clowns - I don't know where this stems from, I just know that I've always been scared of them. They are just so creepy!
3. Psychological horror movies - This is something that scares everyone, but I'm really struggling. I'm ok-ish with gorry horrors, even though real life gore makes me sick but psychological are a no go for me.
4. Odd numbers - I've written my true fears, even a few of my deep ones, and now I'm going onto the silly ones. This isn't exactly a fear, it's just I don't like them very much, they just make me feel uncomfortable. Weirdly enough though, I want 3 children, I don't understand either. Oh and my lucky number is 7. But other than that odd numbers make me uncomfortable.
5. Dirty dish water - You know when you're doing the dishes, and there is some food dried onto the plate, i.e. oats, and they start floating in the water? Yeah just the thought of that makes me want to be sick, I can't deal with it. To deal with that I soak those bowls, then rinse before and after washing.
6. Never being a mum - Ok so now it's getting deep because I really can't think of other things I'm scared of. I want to be a mum so badly, that I have a fear I am infertile. 
7. That I'll die alone - This is probably something a lot of people have a fear of, and I'm not really going to get into it. I know I'm still really young, and I've got plenty of time to find a husband, but the fear is still there.
8. That I'll never leave anything worthwhile behind when I die - I'm not scared of dying, but I do want to leave something worthwhile behind. I want to live life to the fullest, and do something that might change the world and make it better, I'm just not sure how to go about it yet.

So I just about did it. If any of you have done this, are you like me and get scared easily but don't have many actual fears, or do you have actual fears, and found this easy? Let me know.

Have a beautiful day

Dream beautiful dreams; live beautiful lives

xx

Blogtober #3 - September empties

Hey girls, I hope you're all well.

As promised in my last post here are my September empties. I didn't finish many products, and even less exciting ones, in the last month, so I'm sorry if this post is a bit boring.

Avon nail experts peeling and brittleness solver; Sure cotton ultra dry anti-perspirant; Tesco nail polish remover; Calypso once a day sun protection; Boots cotton wool pads; Boots cotton wool double faced oval pads; Yankee candle in Clean cotton.

My thoughts on each product:

Avon nail experts peeling and brittleness solver: I was reorganising my nail products, and found this again, with a tiny bit left, but it was so old I wasn't able to use it any more. I was so sad about that because I love this product! It worked so well on my nails, it strengthened them and stopped them peeling, and made the shiny. I have no idea why I stopped using this, but I am definitely ordering some more.

Sure cotton ultra dry anti-perspirant: I did not like this, it was very powdery and went everywhere in my room. It didn't last very long either, considering how big the bottle is, so I definitely don't recommend this.

Tesco nail polish remover: This lasted me for over 2 years, which is a huge surprise considering how often I paint my nails. I don't have much to say on it, it removes your nail polish, and lasted forever, so I completely recommend this.

Calypso once a day sun protection: This is so good. It smell amazing, is highly moisturising, and protects your skin from sun damage, what more can you ask for. Oh and you only have to apply it once. I applied this every morning after my shower, and was very sad when I ran out, but felt there wasn't much point in buying a new tube considering the sun has gone. But I will definitely be repurchasing for next summer.

Boots cotton wool pads, and double faced oval pads: Both of these are double sided, with a slighly 'rougher' side and a softer side. I use the smaller ones to remove my eye make-up with the softer side and apply my toner with the 'rougher' side to exfoliate. I use the larger ones to remove my face make-up using a cleansing water if I'm feeling lazy, and also to wash my face at night. I love these, they are probably my all time favourite cotton wool pads ever (I know that sounds a bit weird, but it's true) and I've repurchased them, and know that I will be using them for a long time.

Yankee candle in Clean Cotton: I love how fresh this smelled, I feel like it was a perfect summer to autumn transition smell. I would burn this any time of the year if I just wanted a clean smell. I think it would be great for anyone who has just moved away from home and is feeling homesick, because, to me at least, it smells like home. 

I did warn you that there wasn't many exciting products, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.

Have a beautiful day

Dream beautiful dreams; live beautiful lives

xx 

Blogtober #2 - Book club Wednesday - Book Q and A Tag Part 2

Hey girls, I hope you're all well.

So my video decided to take all night to upload, but it is finally here. I hope you enjoy it :-)

                      

Have a beautiful day

Dream beautiful dreams; live beautiful lives

xx

P.S. Don't forget to check my last post out, and check back later for my empties post :)

Blogtober #1 - An Introduction

Hey girls, I hope you're all well.

Wow, can you believe it is October already? I know everyone says it, but seriously, where has this year gone? I can't believe I turn 21 this month!

To celebrate the fact that it is my birthday month I am going to post something on here everyday, like Blogmas, but in October :D And yes I know it is the 2nd but I didn't get a chance to write anything yesterday, but not to worry because I am currently uploading a video onto my YouTube channel, which I will be posting on here later on, so you'll be getting 2 posts today :-)

For anyone who is knew to my Blog, the types of posts you will be seeing are:

• Daily life posts
• Beauty reviews
• Book reviews
• Outfit of the days
• Food posts
• Healthy living 
• Tags
• Empties

Well that is all I have to say. If you have any requests please leave them in a comment below and I will try and do them for you. Check back in a couple of hours for the video.

Have a beautiful day

Dream beautiful dreams; live beautiful lives

xx