Sunday 24 May 2015

Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub Review


Hi lovelies,

Hope you're well! Seeing as it's my birthday tomorrow I took the opportunity to pamper myself tonight and one product I used to help me do this was Lush's Rub Rub Rub.

I got this at Christmas time and I totally forgot that I had this so when I saw this tonight I thought I would give it a try.

I used this both on my hair and my body as you can use it on both. Here is what Lush says about this product- 'An exfoliating shower scrub that can also be used to wash, volumise and add shine to hair. Packed with mineral-rich sea salt, Rub Rub Rub can be used as a gentle scrub on wet skin, or on dry skin for a really good buff before you get in the shower. Sea salt, a natural antiseptic as well as exfoliant, is combined with lots of lemon juice to leave your skin feeling rejuvenated and it also adds shine and volume to hair.'

This scrub smells divine and I love the colour of it, it's an amazing blue colour! I didn't know whether to use this instead of shampoo or after shampoo so after deliberating I decided to use it after shampoo. When I put it on my hair it didn't lather up as I expected I dunno why I thought it would haha! When washing it out it took some effort but eventually I got it all out! 

I then used the scrub on my body. When using exfoluating scrubs I like them to be quite rough and have lots of texture to them which this one definitely does. Also a little of this goes a long way.

After drying my hair I feel like my hair does feel thicker and very soft but apart from the thickness I wouldn't say there was a massive difference. However, my skin feels soooo soft! I can't stop feeling my arms because they feel soo silky smooth! I will most definitely be using this on my skin again but I don't think I will use it on my hair again. This is one of my new fave Lush products!

What's your fave Lush products? 

Much love, 
Lucy x

Saturday 23 May 2015

Which shape is best?!



Hi lovelies,

Hope you are all well :). So I thought I would do another nail post today and look at what shape is best. To be honest, I have had all three shapes that I'm going to talk about in this post at one point, obviously all have been done using nail extensions! Since getting fake nails I have found that certain shapes go in and out of fashion or some become more popular which has influenced my decision at times but I have never had a shape that I hate or have hated. So if you want to find out which shape I think is best, keep reading....

Square 
So when I first started getting my nails done I loved having them square. I didn't get them as long as I have them now as I think really long square nails reminds me of episodes of Footballer's Wives and that's not my fave look, although if you like them that's fine :). I did love this shape but haven't had it for quite a while now, doesn't mean I won't go back though!

Stiletto 
I got these for the first time last year and it was when the shape first became really popular. I love this shape, I have to admit however when you first get them done I would recommend being careful as they can cause some damage as they are sooo sharp haha! I think these always look on trend.

Ballerina
This shape is the one I have currently and it's the first time I have had it. It is becoming more and more popular and I would recommend trying this if you want really long nails as I don't think this would look as good on short nails. These are probably the longest I've had my nails so things like typing and texting have become a bit of a challenge but I'm managing! 

So which one do I think is best? Truthfully I love them all and I believe I will in the future get them all again. I have to say that at the moment ballerina shape is my fave but I don't think any one is best, in my opinion :).

I would love to know your views, which shape do you think is best? Let me know in the comments below!

Much love, 
Lucy x

Wednesday 20 May 2015

Weightloss Wednesday 3

Hi everyone, 

Hope you are all well :). So I feel a bit guilty writing this as I haven't been to the gym tonight but, I am there first thing in the morning to make up for it! 

I am starting to feel like this whole gym and healthy eating is starting to work as I managed to get some trousers on the other day that I had sadly outgrew but I can now get them on, yay!!!!

So last week I talked about HIIT training so I thought I would continue with the theme and talk about the benefits of this type of training! 

5 Benefits of HIIT Training

1) You burn A LOT of fat
You tend to burn more calories when doing HIIT but you also end up burning more calories in the 24-48 hours after, as your body's repair cycle goes into hyperdrive as a result of the intense activity you do in a HIIT workout.

2) It is really good for your heart
As I said in my post about HIIT you aim to get into the anaerobic zone which is when you feel like you cannot breathe and are sweating a lot- not a pretty sight but who cares as you're working hard! Anyways, it's great for your heart as 'it helps your heart becoming stronger through creating ventricular remodelling, promoting faster cardio output.'

3) Increases your metabolism
So this kind of links to number one but HIIT workouts help speed up your metabolism ( which I definitely need as mine is slower than slow haha) which in turn helps you keep burning calories even after the workout!

4) It's quick!
If you are anything like me then you will hate spending hours in the gym but with a HIIT workout you are only working out for 20-30 minutes, which is nothing really and you get quicker results than you do spending hours at the gym!

5) You can do it anywhere
I know I use the HIT machine to do my HIIT workout which are only in some gyms, but there are hundreds of HIIT workouts that you can do anywhere and don't require any equipment. Just google it and you will get loads of variations so you don't need any fancy equipment to do this type of training... so no excuses!

There is obviously more benefits but these are my top 5, the ones that I think are the best benefits :). I'm not going to lie, HIIT training is intense and can be quite hard going but for 20-30 minutes I feel like it's sooo worth it! 

Give it a try and let me know what you think :). Or if you already do it, what are your thoughts on it?

Much love, 
Lucy x

Sunday 17 May 2015

MoroccanOil Treatment Review




Hi everyone 

Hope you've all had a fab weekend, I've had a nice chilled one so thought I would blog again today as I find it quite relaxing to do. I thought why not do a review, everyone loves those... Well I know I do :)  !

Quite a few weeks ago I decided to try a new hair salon as I hadn't had my hair cut in about 2/3 years, shocking I know! And I just fancied pampering myself. After looking at loads of different I found one and went and got my hair done. Anyways this is kind of going off the subject but getting back to the review, this salon uses all of the MoroccanOil products and this was the first time they had been used on my hair. I have to say I was a bit nervous when I found out it was an oil as my hair does get oily quite easy and that is not a good look!
However, as soon as I saw the finished product I was sold. My hair looked amazing. Now I'm not that naive to think it was all because of the oil treatment but I definitely do think this helped so I decided to treat myself and use it at home.

This was pretty pricey, it was just over £30, but each time you use it you only need a little so this big bottle should last quite a while. 

Each time I use it I use 2 pumps and I apply it to the mid lengths and ends of my hair. This treatment is full of antioxidant-rich argan oil, strengthening proteins and shine-boosting vitamins which helps detangle your hair (which mine often needs help with), speed up drying time and boost shine. It is meant to leave hair 'smooth, manageable and nourished with each use' which I have to agree with! It is my absolute holy grail now. I have used it for just over a month now and my hair does feel like it is in better condition and this is the only new product I have added. It has never made my hair greasy and it makes it look soooo shiny. I have also got loads left so definitely is worth splashing out on! As for drying time, my hair used to take about 30 minutes to dry it fully, it takes 15-20 now which is great as I hate drying it so the quicker it gets done, the better!



Let me know if you have tried any of this products from this range and what your thoughts are on them :).

Much love, 

Lucy x

Saturday 16 May 2015

Primark Haul- May 2015



Hi everyone,

So I was a bit naughty yesterday and did a little bit of shopping even though I'm meant to be saving money! However, Primark is really affordable and have some great bargains so I couldn't resist and I didn't actually spend that much! 

Most of the things I picked up are for my holiday and although I already have more than enough it's always nice to have a few new bits.

So here is what I got :)

Palm Springs Swimsuit £10



I've never wore a swimsuit on holiday before I normally wear bikinis but I loved the colour of this one and the low back is lovely.

Blue Frill Swimsuit £13


I really liked the colour of this one, I feel that blue suits my skin tone and this one also has tummy control so if I'm feeling bloated one day I can still feel great in this. 

Black Bikini- Top £6 Bottom £5


I couldn't resist this one! I love anything with cut out detail and 'caged' detail. I had seen similar ones to this and has to get it- such a bargain for the price too! The bottoms are slightly high waisted, they come up to just under the belly button.

Playsuit £5


I picked this up as I think it will be a good cover up while on holiday, if I'm going to the beach or for a drink during the day can just though this on and for £5 you can't say no!

White Off The Shoulder Top £5


I'm really loving the 70's trend and wanted to investment in a nice off the shoulder top. They had this in a lot of different colours but I preferred the white one. I really love the detail on the sleeves and on the bottom of the top.

Choker £5


This is absolutely amazing! I love chokers and this is so beautiful and a bit different to all of the other chokers out there at the minute. Cannot wait to wear this with the white top I bought!

I did also pick up a black maxi dress for £7 but didn't take a picture as it's just a jersey black dress with spaghetti straps- I'm sure everyone can visualise that :)!

I love going into Primark and just picking up random bits and bobs. All of this came to just over £50 which I think is really reasonable! They really do have some lovely summer things so would recommend popping in and having a look.

Much love,
Lucy x


Wednesday 13 May 2015

Weightloss Wednesdays Week 2

Hi everyone,

So this is a bit of a late post totally lost track of time today! 

This week I've been to the gym yesterday for 2 hours and today for 1 hour and then  tomorrow I'm going on the HIT machine.

So high intensity interval training is obviously a big thing in fitness at the moment and tomorrow I'm going to be doing that with a machine. Basically you do exercises with the machine for 30 seconds and then you get a 10 second rest and you do this for 30 minutes. I have to say I've used this machine 3 times now and I literally have never sweat so much in my life before. When you see others use it, it looks sooo easy but to do it yourself takes quite a lot of effort. The faster you do the exercises the more resistance the machine adds so you have to work harder.

While on the machine you wear a strap that measures your heart rate and it gives a percentage of what activity stage you are at. Basically you aim to get 90% or above and this then means you are working in an anaerobic level which is meant to be great for fat burning and really good for your heart. This is what you aim for but if you can't get there you aim to stay in 80% to 90% range and that's when you are at an aerobic level.

This machine is great to introduce you to HIIT training as you work at your own level and pace with a personal trainer, who makes sure the exercises you do on the machine you can do and aren't too hard for you. 

I feel like you could get really good results with this as in one half an hour session I burnt 379 calories and that was in my first ever session I did! So tomorrow will be the 4th time I've used it and I'm really excited :). Afterwards you get no muscle soreness and I feel like it does increase your energy levels. The only thing is I've never really heard or seen these machines before though which is a shame as I think a lot of people would be interested in them. They are extremely hard work but if you want results, you have to put the effort in! 

The makers of these do have a website www.hitmachine.co.uk (sorry this isn't linked I'm using the blogger app tonight and I don't think it allows you to do that but you can copy and paste if you want to check it out :)).

Let me know if you have used this machine before and what your thoughts on it were :).

Much love,

Lucy x

Sunday 10 May 2015

Acrylic VS Gel



Hi everyone,

So if you follow me on Instagram you will know that I love fake nails.... I always post when I have got a new set on! This obsession has been ongoing for about 2 years now. I know a lot of people say that fake nails ruin your own natural nails but that doesn't really bother me as my nails have never been strong ever even before having false nails. Also another thing that annoys me about my natural nails is before I would have fake nails I would spend so long painting a base coat then 2 coats of colour and then a top coat, let it dry then an hour later my nails would chip! Nothing more annoying haha!!

So that's my reasoning for having fake nails. So over the last 2 years I started with gel nails with extentions but I have went over to the dark side and now I get acrylic with extentions. So I feel like I have enough info about this to let you know the pros and cons of each different type if any of you are debating about what type to get.

GEL
Pros                                                                                                                                                       
-Do not "ruin" your natural nails as much as acrylics do
-Last for up to 3 weeks although I did use to get about 4 weeks as I would put a clear coat on them each week to make them last longer
- The colour does not chip at all 

Cons
-They don't last as long as acrylics in my experience anyway
-Snap a lot easier than acrylics
-Can't change the colour yourself, you can paint over the gel but can make your nails look "thick" and a bit untidy

ACRYLICS
Pros
-Last a very long time I sometimes can get 5 weeks out of my set if I am lucky!
- Can change the colour yourself just make sure you use an acetone free nail varnish remover as if you don't the acetone can ruin them and affect the longevity of them
- The colour doesn't chip as easily as it does on your own natural nail

Cons
-There has been a few times when I have caught my nail and nearly pulled it off and the pain is excruciating it hurts with gel nails to but I don't think as much
-Can ruin your natural nail, mine aren't strong anyways but they are really bad now but that doesn't really bother me

Over Christmas I did have a break from fake nails and although it did save me money I hated how my nails looked and how easily they would chip. So last month I got my beloved acrylics back on! Yesterday I got a fresh set on and it is a lovely feeling. I don't really struggle with mine and I do have them longish but typing this is a but harder with them on hahaha!

I hope this post has helped anyone who is thinking about getting fake nails and for any of you around the North East I go to Glam n Glory Nail Bar in Newcastle and I couldn't recommend them enough. It's only £22 for a full set of acrylics with a normal colour painted on (by this I mean not a gel colour as you can have both acrylic and gel). They also have a loyalty card, which I do have, I think it was £8 for a year but it means you get  a full set of acrylics for only £18! Bargain!

Let me know what you prefer acrylic or gel? Or natural?

Much love,

Lucy x

Tuesday 5 May 2015

Weightloss Wednesdays

Hi everyone,

So I've decided to start this weekly post as I am on a journey of weightloss. Before my blogging break, should we call it, I spoke about getting healthy but then Christmas happened. But the strangest thing was I didn't even put much weight on over Christmas it was more in January and February! Personally I think this is because I comfort eat and I always have done. So when it's horrible and cold outside I just want to eat ALL of the food haha. 

It was only when I stepped on the scales in March that I realised that something drastic needed to be done. Over, we will say, the Christmas period and January and February I have put on 2 stone! I am disgusted in myself.

Now I'm not wanting to fat shame or skinny shame that's not what these posts will be about. It's more my personal journey in losing that 2 stone  and I'm determined. I did try and start in March but I wouldn't say I was trying 100% one reason being Easter and all of the eggs haha! But now I'm so determined, one reason is my holiday in September and I deffo wouldn't feel comfortable in a bikini at the moment!

I have joined a gym and I'm aiming to go 3/4 times per week and along with healthy eating I'm hoping that I'll start seeing results! I have been getting into High Intensity Interval Training which is meant to do wonders for you but I'll save that for another post!

Hope you've enjoyed reading this and if you have any weightloss tops or tricks leave them below :).
I'll be back soon,

Much love,

Lucy x 

Sunday 3 May 2015

I'm back!!!

Hello again,

Long time no blogging! First of all I will try and explain why I haven't blogged at all this year so far but really there are no real excuses except just life! I have been quite busy just in life in general and didn't make any time for blogging and I didn't just want to write posts just for the sake of writing them as I feel there would be no point in that or any enjoyment.

Lately I have been missing blogging and reading a lot of blogs and wishing I still used mine.  So I've re-motivated myself and I will aim to blog 2-3 times per week as long as the enjoyment is still there which I am sure it will be!

So I thought this first post back would be a make up related one as we all know that is a passion of mine so I thought I would talk about the Stila In The Light Palette. This was actually a Christmas present and I was meant to blog about this in January, better late than never!

This palette is absolutely beautiful! You get 10 eyeshadows and an eye liner. The shadows are a mixture of matte and shimmery but when I have used them I have not experienced any fallout which is amazing. The main reason I had asked for this palette as I had heard people rave about Stila and how good quality their shadows were so I was so excited to use this. I have got to say I have not been disappointed by it and it is one of my favourite palettes that I own.

The colours are all quite neutral but include a mixture of light and dark colours which allow you to create both day time and night time looks- very versatile! In this palette you also got a little booklet which showed you different looks you could achieve and how to achieve them but mine is definitely lost somewhere! Never finding that, once I've lost something it is well and truly gone, I have no idea what I do with things half the time haha.

The quality of these eyeshadows is excellent, they are all really pigmented, they glide on and blend out really easily, would definitely recommend! I mainly use this palette for day time looks but because there are darker shades in there you could definitely do a nice dark smokey eye which would look amazing on a night out.

Anyways... here are the swatches!








I feel like the swatches really do not do this palette justice, they go on so pigmented on your eye and the lighting isn't great, I'm trying to work with it haha! The swatches on the left are the top row from left to right, except the very first shadow as it is the exact same colour as my skin so it did not show sorry! The swatches on the right are the bottom row, again left to right. The eyeliner is just a very dark brown shade almost a black. It too glides on easy but is a nightmare to get off which is a good thing as you want it too last! If you are in Boots any time soon I would go and have a look at it, it is amazing!

Anyways that is all from me today! I will deffos be back this week I promise so please come back :). Let me know if you have this palette and what your thoughts on it are. Or what other Stila products you would recommend. Until next time.

Much love,

Lucy x

New Year's Make Up Look Collab with Feyi


Hi everyone,

Hope you all had an amazing Christmas and are looking forward to New Year. I know a lot of people don't like New Year but I am not one of them and I am quite excited for it.

So this post is a collab with the lovely Feyi from Uncover the Untold. She also has a YouTube channel and I would definitely recommend checking her blog out and her youtube, they're amazing! 

We've decided to put together a post about our Make up bag essentials for New Year so I thought I wouldn't only tell you what mine were but I thought I would show you how I applied them too :).

I always wear quite a lot of make up especially when it's a night out so for those of you who like more natural make up this probably won't be a look for you. Since it is for New Year I thought I would include a bit of glitter :). Also my hair is tied up which I won't be doing on New Year but it's freshly washed hair and wouldn't cooperate this morning! 

So the products that would be in my New Year make up bag are:
The Body Shop InstaBlur
Estée Lauder Double Wear
Mac Prolongwear Concealer
Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer
Mac Studio Fix Powder
Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil
The Body Shop Honey Bronzer
Mac Blush in Melba
Mac Liquid Liner
Maybelline The Rocket Masara
Lord and Berry Black Eyeliner
Collection Glitter Eyeliner
Bare Minerals Break Away Lipstick
Mac Myth Lipstick

Eee that's quite a lot of make up I didn't realise until I wrote it all down haha. I didn't include my eyeshadow as I used two shades from the BH Palette but to be fair I never touch up my eyeshadows on nights out. 

So I just did a really matte skin look as per haha with a black and silver smokey eye with silver glitter in the inner corner :).







I hope you like this make up look it's not too complex but if you want a more in depth detailed tutorial on this look let me know. 

I think it's perfect for New Year as it includes glitter and it's very long wearing so perfect for a long night out :)!

Head over to Feyi's blog to see what she has included in hers and I am sure she is also doing a video on it too which I can't wait to watch :). I just want to say a big thank you to her too for doing this collaboration with me :).

Much love,

Lucy x