So, It's Been A While.......

The last couple of months have been......strange, I don't really know how else to describe it. So I'll explain what I've been up to since my last post.

Summer Arrived.

I've never really been a summer loving type of girl, The sun is suppose to make you happy and to motivate you but in all honesty it doesn't have that effect on me. I hate the summer, mainly because it means stripping down into shorts and vests and well we all know I don't have the perfect body and I really admire those who do have the confidence to wear what they want and not care, but me, I hate showing skin, I'm much happier in a baggy jumper and thick leggings, I just feel more comfortable and it's not even because I'm worried about what people think, I couldn't care less, it's me, even in my own home I refuse to wear shorts or a vest (unless I have a cardigan over the top) I feel bare and humiliated by myself. I also hate summer because of the heat, now of course my clothing choices don't help but I'm one of those rare people who can't stand being hot and sweaty, I literally melt in the sun, after 5 minutes I'm looking for shade. I get headaches and feel sick, I literally can't think of anything worse than laying under the sun, hence why I'm so pale.....I can live with that though.

My 22nd Birthday.

So I turned 22, it was fun, I was spoilt as always and I did really enjoy myself.....but as each year goes by, it's another reminder of how little I've accomplished and the older I'm getting the harder and scarier it is becoming. 

Anxiety/Putting Things Off.

So for some reason, I've being putting everything off, even stupid little things like washing my hair....it's gross I know, but I've been supper sluggish and lazy, I feel so guilty about it and I know it's got to change. I've been putting off exercise which is why I probably feel lazy. I've been putting of my veterinary course, I've been putting off cleaning/tidying. I've been putting off going out anywhere. I pretty much just sleep and eat, it's really embarrassing for me to admit and the longer it keeps going on the harder things will become, so I'm going to make a conscious effort to sort this error in my life out.

Losing My Childhood Companion.

My beautiful Jasmine, she may have been an unusual dog, but if you got to know her like I did, she was special and she only allowed people she trusted and loved close to her heart and that wasn't many lol she was very protective. We lost her to cancer in the end, she was 13 years old and had a long happy life. It's hard not having her around, I was only 9 when we got her, shes been there through everything. Every house move, every argument and fallout and every celebration and laughter. I will dearly miss her and It will never feel the same without her.

Now for somethings a little more positive.

Charlie.

We decided to get another dog, my mum has always wanted a Caviler King Charles Spaniel, ever since she was a little girl. One night we happened to research into the breed a bit more, get a bit more information, price, temperament, health conditions, if they get on well with cats etc etc. It just so happened there was one little boy pup left about 8 miles down the road from us and it was the exact gender and colouring my mum wanted. We didn't want to get a puppy so soon, but after we thought about it, we kind of just felt as if it was meant to be, what are chances of the exact breed/gender and colouring to be so close to your home, and for it to be ready to be collected at that time. A lot of people would just say it's coincidence, but it felt a little like fate for us. Although we still miss Jasmine so very much, and it's still not the same without her. At least we have a little something to keep us occupied and positive while we get use to her not being around. 

Diet 

So I may not be exercising, but at least I've kept my diet on track. I still only eat brown rice/ brown pasta, veg/salad and chicken/fish 99% of the times. I've even been adventurous and tried Quinoa and Courgettes....didn't think i'd like them but, turns out I actually do. I've been making a conscious effort to drink more water as I'm pretty terrible at this. I tend to fill up on fizzy and high sugared drinks, which I'm slowing cutting back on.....it's hard ok! I've had a few off days, where I've binged on chocolate but I don't let myself go off the rail, I tell myself it's ok in moderation, you've got to treat yourself a little, but it's about knowing when to stop, trust me, if you knew me 3 years ago......I've improved so much. 

Veterinary Course

I may have been putting it off more than I should be, but I am making progress, I've passed  3 tests so far and currently studying lesson 4. I think because Lesson 2 was such a long, and hard lesson, it took me ages and I found it really difficult getting my head around it, but I eventually did and i'm breaking the lessons up into sections which is helping a lot, instead of trying to cram it all in to my brain in one go....it just doesn't work. 

I know where i'm going/gone wrong and at least me recognizing that is something, so I can take the steps to put it right. I keep reminding myself how far I've come in the last couple of years and how much improvement I've made and not to let it all go to waste. I guess we all have bad days....weeks even months, but noticing the reasons why and not letting them drag us down is the best we can do. Constantly reassuring yourself it's ok to be down but tomorrow is a new day and you need to pick yourself up and try again, just keep trying, no matter how many times you fall or fail, one day, you may eventually succeeded even if it's a little later than everyone else, you still did it, in your own unique way. 

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Pamper Yourself At Home, Go On, You Deserve It.

I'm a firm believer in that we should all make time for ourselves to de-stress, relax and to feel beautiful, now for me, to achieve that "arhhhhh" feeling I have a good old pamper evening. There is nothing more blissful and satisfying than treating your skin and mind to a well deserved break. I guess I would probably do this routine once a fortnight, sometimes even once a week if it's been a bad one.

To begin with I normally give my hands a bit of love. In the winter months your hands can become dry and cracked. So I like to give myself a mini manicure, I start off by removing the polish I'm currently wearing, file my nails until they are roughly the same length, then I give my hands a good old soak in a lovely moisturising soap. I apply cuticle oil, and a generous amount of hand lotion/oil, leave for 5-10 minutes, rinse off making sure all oil is free from my nails, then apply a base coat, I highly recommend OPI's Nail Envy. Apply two coats of your colour of choice and finish with a top coat, I use Seche Vites, it dries so quickly.
On this particular occasion I chose a lovely nude toffee colour which has gold glitter sparkles, I normally go for quite bright colours so this colour was quite neutral for me but I actually love it. It's by elf, I'm not sure what the name or number of it as it came in a set which my my mum got for Christmas. I'm normally a big fan of Barry M's High Shine Gel Effect. Here is a picture:

TOP TIP : Don't worry too much if you get polish over the edges of your nails, as once you've had a long soak in the bath, it peels straight off leaving your nails looking neat and tidy. That's why I always paint my nails and hour or so before I have a bath as I'm pretty messy at it ha. 

Next I like to run myself a lovely hot bath. Surrounded by candle light it gives that extra luxury feel.

While my bath is running, I would normally apply a facemask, but on this occasion I chose not to as my skin was in pretty good condition and as it's quite sensitive I didn't want to disturb it, so I just opted for a face cleanser instead.

On the left are the two masks I would normally use, Cupcake is my absolute favourite, it smells gorgeous I just want to eat it! I normally use cupcake when my skin is a bit on the oily side and i'm getting quite a few breakouts, it really helps to restore a natural balance in your skin. Mask of Magnaminty is green in colour and feels so soothing/cooling on your face. I normally use this when I have those big nasty red sports which are deep under the skin. The green colour helps to reduce the redness and I found it's best for toning down the appearance of the deep rooted ones. On the right is soap and glory's hot cloth cleanser, I'm really loving this cleanser at the moment, It's so creamy, it melts into your face and smells divine but then again everything from soap and glory smells ridiculously nice. This product comes with a muslin cloth but I personally didn't like it, it was too flimsy and cheap, I prefer using a sponge, I just wet the sponge; squeezing most of the water out and pat off the cleanser from my face.

TOP TIP: IF YOU DON'T HAVE A FACE MASK, YOU CAN MAKE A SIMPLE ONE USING JUST HONEY AND GROUND CINNAMON. IT'S GREAT FOR ACNE PRONE/SENSITIVE SKIN.

In the middle we have a bath bomb from Lush - Santa's Grotto. My ultimate must have item when having a relaxing hour in the bath is to have a Lush bath product, they're literally amazing. The bath bombs make your bathroom smell like heaven and they make your bath water change into all kinds of colours, it's magical. I still had Santa's Grotto left over from Christmas as I did get a huge amount of Lush products. Here it is in action:

I really wish you could smell it. I urge you all to go in a lush store just once, I promise you will come out buying at least one item as the smells are so alluring. If you can't smell then I'm really sorry as you're missing out on something amazing and trying to explain smells is impossible.

Once i've spent a good amount of time relaxing and soaking away the days stresses I give my hair a good old clean. At the moment I'm really into John Frieda's Volumising shampoo and conditioner.

Even though I have a lot of hair, and my sister thinks my hair is thick (I'm not so sure) I always lack life in my hair, it's always so flat, I have naturally straight hair so I find it hard to get a little bit of oomph in it, but this duo is working wonders at the moment. Once a week I apply a deep conditioning treatment as the weather, heat appliances and even brushing all take a toll on your hair. I've been using John Frieda's Full Repair Conditioning Mask and it's pretty good, it makes my hair feel super soft but I only really use it on the ends as it can make my hair quite greasy which isn't nice. 

TOP TIP: WARMING UP A BIT OF EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL AND MASSAGING INTO YOUR HAIR WORKS JUST AS GOOD AS ANY OTHER HOT OIL TREATMENT, JUST MAKE SURE YOU RINSE IT OUT THOROUGHLY.

After my bath, I apply my usual face moisturiser which is Simple's Kind To Skin Hydrating Light Moisturiser. If my skin is feeling a bit dry I use Soap and Glory's Beauty Sleep Accelerator. I also apply Soap and Glory's Righteous Butter on to dry patches of my body (Knees, Elbows etc) as normally Lush's bath products are packed with moisturizing goodness for your skin. I apply my argan oil and John Frieda's heat defense to my hair, then give it a good old blow dry because sleeping on wet hair is horrible. I get myself in a cosy set of pj's, and normally watch a movie or read a book. Then I slumber away feeling all nice and refreshed ready to face the day/week. 

What do you do to help you relax? I don't know about you, but after writing this I really want to have a bath!

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