Weight Loss Wednesday- Slimming World Journey

I really liked doing this series when I first started it so I thought I would bring it back especially as I'm trying a different approach... no surprise there then! 

Last year I did so well and lost a stone in weight before my holiday to Greece and then I moved house, Christmas came and the weight crept back on. I stopped using my personal trainer not because I wanted to but bills have to be paid! 

So when I stepped on the scales at Slimming World 5 weeks ago... I was shocked... Horrified more like! I have put on 2 stone in less than a year! That's bad!! The reason I joined slimming world was mainly because I had heard good things about it both off people I knew and from looking online and I need to lose weight! I really didn't know much about it apart from the very basics that I had gathered from what people had told me. I was nervous when I first went to my group, I was so worried I would be judged or made to feel guilty but that was the total opposite to what happened. My consultant is a lovely lady and makes you feel so positive and explains everything in a way that makes it easy to understand.

It's been 5 weeks now (I did have one week off as I was away) but if you follow my Instagram you would have seen I got my 1/2 stone award last night. I'm so chuffed! Especially as the week before I had put 1 pound on. I was so disappointed! I felt like crying and was really thinking about not staying for the class- basically the way it works is everyone gets weighed and then you have a Image Therapy class which is basically a group discussion about what's went well or not so well for people that week, what you might do differently and any recipes you've made which have been nice/easy. You have the choice you can just get weighed and go or you can stay for the class as well. I always thought I would just get weighed and go but I have been staying for the classes and I think they definitely motivate you and give you ideas, tips and tricks that should lead you to success. So yeah I was really thinking of not staying for the class when I had put on a pound because I was embarrassed and upset with myself (I know it's only a pound but I wasn't happy) but I forced myself to stay and the support I got really picked me up and made me feel better about the week ahead. And I've had a good week!

When you join you get a little pack which has all of the info you need in it and it's became like my bible. I literally have it with me every day! The first few weeks I needed it at every meal but now I'm getting more used to it, I still refer back to it but not for every single thing.

Personally I think Slimming World is easy to follow but is still really effective. I've seen such good results in such a short space of time and I'm excited about what's to come. 

I dunno if I have mentioned it before but I love stationary and the fact that you get a folder and you get stickers and certificates when you hit goals really motivates me and I know that might sound sad but I love stuff like that! 

I'll keep you updated with my progress through this series each week and how I find Slimming World and I might even share a SW recipe or two that I make!

I hope you've enjoyed reading and if you have tried Slimming World before I would love to know your thoughts! There will also be a make up post tomorrow so make sure you come back for that!

Lucy x

Sunday Funday

Sundays are usually a day where I will sit in the house in my jarmies all day with not a single piece of make up on, eat too much and have at least 2 naps. However, today we decided to go out for a Sunday dinner so I decided I would put a bit of effort into getting ready today. I thought I would do a slight bit of colour in my eye make up and nude lips.... nothing crazy it is a Sunday after all! 

So I decided on an orangey smokey eye as I really like the way orange eye make up looks on blue eyes, compliments them well. I also used a full coverage foundation to make my skin look flawless although some nasty little breakouts still did pop through. I always wear a full coverage foundation as I feel like that's what looks best on my face. Now I did take photos of all the products that I used but I do apologise for the state some of my make up is in,it's embarrassing! I probably don't take as much care of it as I should!

So for my foundation I used Nyx Stay Matte Not Flat foundation in Ivory. I absolutely love the brand Nyx and now that we can get it in a lot of Boots stores in the UK it's like my current favourite brand, I'm obsessed! I do really like this foundation I feel it offers a lot of coverage and does last a long time. The only con is I have went through two tubes of this and I am normally the shade Porcelain but when I went to get another tube that shade was all sold out so I had to get the shade Ivory which I feel is slightly too pale, even for me! However, with some bronzer it works.

I then used my favourite concealer, Collection's Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair. I got this after hearing Shaaanxo raving about it. It offers really good coverage whilst still being light enough to highlight under the eyes. You can tell this is well loved :).

To set everything I used the Nyx Contour palette. I got this for my birthday and literally I don't know how I survived without this. As you can tell some of the pans are going to need replacing soon, mostly the light shades but I can honestly say I love every colour in this palette. I think they are all great, nice and pigmented and make your skin look perfect. I also find that the contour colours aren't too dark for me which I have had issues with in the past. I would definitely recommend this palette to everyone! I set my undereyes, my face and did my bronzer and contour with this palette, so versatile!

For brows I used what I have used for the past year or so now which is Illamasqua's brow powder in Thunder. I mix this powder with a little bit of water as I think it makes the brows look much sharper and more defined. I don't really use the rest of the palette, I used to but not so much anymore.

For my eyes I mainly used most of the oranges in the 1st edition BH Cosmetics 120 palette. I absolutely love this palette for creating colourful make up looks. It's really affordable but you still get a really pigmented palette. I used most of the oranges in the crease and under eye area and blended well. I then used the gold shade "bubbly" from the Stila palette on the lid. I then finished off by adding black winged eyeliner, standard.

For highlighter I used a combination of Benefit's high beam and Make Up Academy's shimmer Highlighter.  I used both as I like the effect it gives super glowy, which I would have once not wanted any glow on my face, I was like matte all the way, however now, the more glowy the better! I also used the MUA shimmer highlighter on my brow bone and inner corner to brighten the eyes. Unfortunately, after doing my highlight I dropped the powder and it smashed, absolutely devastated! But I am looking for a good white based highlight, if anyone has any suggestions please leave below because I am lazy and can't be bothered to look for one! Possibly Becca may have one?! Let me know!

Finally to finish I used the Nyx Lip Lingerie in Lace Detail. Now I know liquid lipsticks are all the rage now and I absolutely love them, the thought of ever wearing anything else or a normal lipstick I just cannot see myself doing. I say that then I'll be rocking lip gloss in a years time!  But yeah I love the colour of this one its a lovely nude colour without looking like a foundation lip, not a good look but one everyone used to love! It's also not too drying and doesn't feel sticky.

I hope this has been helpful/interesting to read. I had fun creating this and was a nice way to start off my Sunday.

Lucy x

Look who's back

So yes it's been a while, I don't even know what to title this post! So where have I been?! I feel like life takes over sometimes and things you like to do maybe get left behind for the things you have to do and I know that may seem the worst excuse ever but it's true.

So I was sat at home the other day thinking about my blog, do I close it down or do I leave it up?! But I was sad at the thought of closing it down as I did really enjoy posting on it and sitting here now I love just sitting down and writing down my thoughts so I decided that I would leave it up and start posting again. Not for anything other than a creative outlet and the fact that I enjoy doing it! So what I post about will still be all things beauty, fashion and life related, everything that I enjoy basically! And I know I have talked before on not pressurising myself and setting a target for how much I should post on here but I do like organisation and being consistent so I am going to set a target! So I aim to post on here at least once a week, and if I am having a good week it might be more but for now at least once a week is what I am aiming for!

So a few months back I decided trying to post more make up looks on my Instagram because it was sort of blogging the looks I created but in a quick and convienent way and I kept thinking I needed to put them on here and I just never "found the time". So, if you have read parts of my blog before you will know that I love make up and love trying new looks and just being creative with it- that's essentially what I created my blog for in the first place!

So I want to get back into doing that as that is my true passion it's what I love to do and it's what I enjoy doing. I'll be posting new looks on Instagram again as soon as I can and I will be putting them on here talking about what products I used, what I liked what I didn't, all that good stuff! Of course I'll still do reviews and hauls etc but expect to see a lot more makeup posts! I think why I didn't do this originally is because I doubt myself a lot and thought mainly what if people didn't like it or thought it wasn't good but now that I'm older I really couldn't care less. If I like it and am proud of what I have done why shouldn't I put it on my blog!!

So as it was a while ago I will just put some of my favourite looks below. Let me know what ones you like in the comments below ☺️

Lucy x