BECOMING A BOOKWORM

Hey guys! This post is a little different because I would really love some feedback on this one. This year I haven't received many shifts at work and I'm becoming a little bored, and as I have applied for university this year I thought what a great time to start reading. I never really read as a child and I always regret that as I do truly believe it can enhance education, understanding and your overall thinking process and just make you a more open minded person. 

Starting from now I want to set myself the 12 book challenge. This challenge means I have to select 12 books that I want to read within the year and read at least one per month. I do have a few books in mind that I would love to read but this is where you guys come in. As I don't have great literature knowledge I would love some recommendations on what books are good reads. Here is my challenge list so far; 

 1. The Hobbit

 2. The Great Gatsby

 3. The Time Travellers Wife 
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I have chosen these 3 books to read purely because the Hobbit trilogy and The Great Gatsby are some of my favourite films so I think I will really enjoy those reads. I loved the film for The Time Travellers Wife too and bought this book years ago so I think I should probably give that one a go to.

So I am a sucker for fantasy, a good love story and anything with meaning so if you have any suggestions please please please leave a comment below so I can extend my reading list! 

HEALTH KICK

Good evening girls! I hope you had a lovely weekend buying more goodies like myself! Today I decided to write something different for you as it isn't beauty related but my findings to keeping fit, loosing weight and eating healthier. 

Without blowing my own trumpet I have never been a girl who is considered as large due to the 11 years of dancing I done, however last year I really loved my food and started my loose my way a little by bingeing on sweets, crisps and all the sugary goodness during sixth form. I noticed I had put on a little bit of weight, maybe just over stone? And my over all health just wasn't as good as usual. My 2015 resolution was to be motivated into loosing this extra weight and making myself feel better again by eating healthier and exercising more so I thought I'd let you know how I'm getting on with my 3 top tips so far.

1. EXERCISE

This is the obvious one. Everyone needs to exercise not just to burn fat but to improve your body's overall fitness. After I quit dance I found it very difficult to commit to certain forms of exercise or other sport activities, but then I discovered Pilates. Now, whenever someone asks me "what exactly is Pilates?" I find it really difficult to answer, but i'll give it a go...

Pilates is a form of exercise to enhance the physical strength of the body and helps to tone the body by tensing muscles throughout the session. The session consists of many holds and positions with very little movement so the session isn't exhausting as such, just a little painful at times, but if you're feeling the pain you must be doing something right, right? I would honestly recommend Pilates if you are someone who doesn't really enjoy physical activity because I am seeing quick results within the comfort of my own home and it doesn't make me tired for the rest of the day.  

2. DO NOT BINGE EAT OR FIND COMFORT IN FOOD

I absolutely love to snack. Chocolate, donuts, crisps and biscuits are all my guilty pleasures but once I began healthy eating I realised I didn't need to consume all the sugar and fat into my body. My excuse was boredom. Just because I would be at home watching films didn't mean I needed to find al the cinema treats in my home when I wasn't even hungry. Now I only eat at meal times so; breakfast, lunch and dinner and if I am peckish during the day I'll snack on fruit or healthier options. You do not need to be putting food into your body 24/7 and once you realise that it makes a big change! 

3. CLEAN EATING

I've heard about clean eating many times before I started and I didn't really understand how it could have such a major affect on your diet and overall well-being. I am not entirely sure if my understanding of clean-eating is correct and being the silly-slow person I am it probably isn't. I think of clean eating as removing all pre-packaged foods from your diet and cooking more dishes yourself. Now i'm not saying you need to go and slaughter a chicken and bring it home but what is the harm in cooking your own bolognese instead of buying a pre packaged frozen one from Tesco? These pre-packaged foods have so many added sugars and salts in them, they do more harm to our body than we would think. So, for breakfast don't buy your packaged pancakes, make your own mix, it's really not difficult and banana pancakes with strawberries really are my favourite on the weekend! For lunch don't leave the house and find the nearest Greggs to pick up a sausage roll, fry up some eggs in coconut oil and make an omelette! And lastly is dinner when you can be the more creative, my personal favourite right now is brown rice with chicken with BBQ seasoning, bacon and spinach! I understand that fizzy drinks are a luxury but are they necessary? They are FULL of sugar and so much for it. I learnt to cut them out of my diet completely unless with the odd alcoholic drink and just stick to drinking water. I get that water can be bland and boring so you can always add sugar free squash to dilute. 

It's really not that difficult to make an improvement on your lifestyle, you just have to know the basics. So try not to go too extreme just start of with one of these tips and let me know if you're seeing the difference! Once i've got used to this I would love to start uploading some recipes which have worked for me so if you would be interested in those kind of posts just leave a comment to let me know! Also here is a link for the first Pilates video which really got me loving it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCg_gh_fppI

TOP 5 BEAUTY HACKS

Good afternoon girlies! I hope you all had a lovely weekend whilst I was working. For this post I thought I would reveal my top 5 beauty hacks (tricks) to help you with makeup application, shortcuts and suggestions for your overall beauty look. 

1. DO NOT OVERESTIMATE A COTTON SWAB

Applying eyeliner and mascara really can be such a messy task, especially when you're still at the stage of mastering the application, however using a cotton swab can make all the difference. Apply your winged eyeliner how you would and use a slightly damp cotton swap to gently remove any product you do not wish to be there to re-shape your wing. This little product of glory can also be used to remove any unwanted mascara which you normally find underneath your lower lash line or on the eye lid. I can honestly say I use cotton swabs on a daily basis. 

2. DO NOT PLUCK UNLESS YOU TRIM

Eyebrows have turned into a major craze in the beauty world and there is so much desire to have perfect brows. If you are wanting to re-shape your brows or decrease their thickness grab a pair of nail scissors and gently trim the brow hair. By doing so you are minimising the hair capacity of the brow without removing anything. This allows you to get a real sense of your natural brow shape before plucking. 

3. DO NOT APPLY MOISTURISER BEFORE YOUR FOUNDATION 

Now applying moisturiser before your foundation is one rule I don't follow. Whenever doing so my foundation just slides off quicker throughout the day. My suggestion would be to apply the moisturiser as soon as you go to bed, this way your skin is full of moisture in the morning without feeling greasy.

4. LIP LINER TO LIPSTICK  

Have you ever come across the most gorgeous lip liner shade however the quality is pretty poor, for example; it's dry, it flakes and it lasts about 2 minutes. What I like to do it apply the nudest of nude lipstick, I use Mac's Siren Song. I then take my lip liner and go over the top of the nude all over the lip. The purpose of this is that the liner provides the colour you want however the lipstick underneath provides a creamy and moisturised finish. It's also a great money saver by buying a quality nude lipstick and saver lip liners. 

5. COCONUT OIL 

Everyone should own coconut oil. I use this product every single day. I apply it to my hair (ends) before blow-drying and after I have straightened it to give a sleek and shiny finish. I also use coconut oil on my eyelashes. By applying a tiny amount onto your lashes before you go to bed it allows the lashes to absorb the moisture so they are able to gain thickness and strength. 

I hope you all take onboard my Top 5 Beauty Hacks, what hacks do you have to share?

2015 WISH LIST CHALLENGE

Afternoon girlies, I'm at home alone feeling sorry for myself today as I'm not feeling in the best of conditions, however thats good news because I can entertain myself by blogging for you all! I wanted to do this post today as even though its not the beginning of the new year its the start of the first full week. I have so many products I have written down on my phone and notebooks all over the house that I wish to buy and never actually get round to it. I want to set myself a challenge for 2015 and you guys too if you're up for it! 

The aim of this challenge is to create a wish list of 12 products you've always wanted but never got round the buying. Each month through out 2015 you will try to purchase one of these items and at the end of the year we will see how many we actually got hold of! 

LETS DO THIS..

I'll start from left to right, top to bottom. Got it? You got it. 

1. Mac Soft and Gentle skin finish - I do own Mac's Global Glow skin finish and it's one of my favourite highlighters so I would love to get round to purchasing Soft and Gentle as I was originally meant to get that one in the first place but the store was out of stock as its so popular. 

2. Chanel Quad in Tisse Venitien - I've lusted over this quad for month now I'm not even sure it's still in stock however Chanel really know how to sell their quads and I'd be happy with any one of the them! 

3. Beauty Blender - I know I know it's really bad that I STILL do not own a beauty blender that I have wanted for ages and I don't even know why?! Maybe I cant understand spending that amount of money on a sponge. Oh well it's "equipment right? 

4. Nars Lovejoy Blush - I only own one Nars blush, to be honest I don't own many Nars products at all however I saw a review on this product last year and I absolutely loved the finish especially for my skin tone. 

5. Mac Face and Body Foundation - I have two foundations that are my top two. One being Mac's Studio Fix Powder that I wear just for every day or to work. I am overly pleased with the foundation and I've been wearing it for over a year now and gone through about 4 of them! However I have got back into the habit of liquid foundations so wish to try Mac's Face and Body. 

6. Mac Kinda Sexy lipstick - I literally only just saw this product last night on Instagram. Someone had wrote a review and uploaded a number of pictures with them wearing it and I just fell in love with the shade! This may even be my January purchase I love it that much. 

7. Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour kit - Okay so what make up fanatic doesn't lust over this product? If you don't want this in your life then you must be crazy! I honestly cannot wait to have this little palette of joy in my room. I mean a palette consisting of 6 different highlights and bronzers? PERFECT.

8. Urban Decay Streak lipstick - Back in early 2014 I bought my friend this lipstick in the shade Native and once I saw it on I absolutely loved it. After researching into these lipsticks I found the shade Streak and its gorgeous with its warm coral-pink tone. 

9. Eyeko Liquid Liner - Now my winged eyeliner still isn't as perfect as I'd like it to be. Its bearable but not spot on so I'm still experimenting with liquid liners and I've heard good things about Eyeko.

10. Nars Duo Eyeshadow in Alhambra - I've wanted this for a while and not really for any particular reason other than I just want to try some Nars eyeshadows and what better way than to purchase one of their duos? I love this little double set in the colours Metallic Rose Mist and Gold Champagne.