The Coconut Balmi | Review

I have been wanting to try one of these lipbalms FOREVER and when the kind people over at Balmi HQ sent me a coconut one to try I was thrilled. Not just because I finally got to try one of these but because I love everything coconut scented and flavoured, summer is not summer without me smelling like a coconut. 

Read more »

SHARE:

1 comments

Yankee Candle Red Velvet Is Back!

Oh I do love a candle, I am unquestionably a candle horder. Right now under my bed is a huge storage box filled with half used candles and most of them are Yankees. I am drawn to them like a moth to a flame, it's an addiction for sure.

Read more »

SHARE:

3 comments

Teapigs Peppermint & Chocolate Flake Teas | Review

I am a huge tea lover. I used to drink countless cups of black tea a day before I decided to go caffeine free. I switched to one decaf black tea a day and introduced flavoured tea as an alternative to my 4/5 cups a day addiction and have never looked back.  

I was super excited when Teapigs sent me these two teas to try (NB: although I was kindly gifted these teas, all opinions are my own) I drink a lot of peppermint tea anyway as its exceptionally good for the digestion and bloating that I suffer greatly with, I normally go for Twinings or on occasion the Clippers ones but I must admit these Teapig version are by far the best I've tasted.

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

Latest In Beauty Box | Glamour Summer Edit

Beauty Boxes - one of the best inventions around and I'm sure whoever came up with the idea of a monthly subscription filled with beauty bits is rolling in it. However, what I really like about Lastest In Beauty is that they do one off boxes that you don't need to pay a subscription fee for and are packed full of amazing pieces.

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

My Favourite Lips Products | Review

This post has been long overdue, I'm obsessed with make up in general but lipsticks and balms are my weakness. Ever since I was a child I would beg my mum when we popped into boots for a new Chapstick and as I got older and had my own money, I just couldn't resist buying a new one every time I saw an intresting flavour or packaging. I am still yet to even finish a whole one, one day!

To this day I have to quickly sprint past the aisle in boots to resist the temptation of buying any more because I seriously have no more room and just not enough time in the day to use that many haha. 

Right now these are my top used lip products. 

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

Motivational Monday | Judgement

Here I am again with another motivational Monday for you, this week I'm talking about judgment. We all judge people, whether we know a person or not - as the quote goes "never judge a book by its cover" and the same goes for people. I've delved a little into this topic before when I did a post a while ago on comparison, which funnily enough is one of my most read posts.

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

Gooey Banoffee Cake | Tutorial

I'm a big fan of Banoffee pie and thought this cake is ideal for you banana loaf or banoffee pie lovers out there as it combines the two perfectly. I used my tried and tested Victoria Sponge (well Mary Berry's) recipe which I know always comes out ok and I'm glad this time was no exception. I made this just yesterday for a birthday and I think it went down well, I liked it anyway!

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

Foodies Festival

Last weekend I won free tickets with Vita Coco (who also kindly sent me coconut water too!) to attend the Foodies Festival in Brighton, it's the UKs largest food festival and is held in 13 different venues across the country at various times of the year.

Read more »

SHARE:

1 comments

The Spring Tag

1. What three colors remind you of spring?

Pastel colours - pink, mint & coral. 

2. What is the first thing you add to your spring wardrobe? 

Normally a new pair of sandals, generally from Accessorize but this year I went a little hair flower bando crazy. Oops.

3. What are your ultimate nude and bright lipsticks? 

My ultimate nude is Mac Creme Cup, it's perfect for every skin tone I think. For me personally my favourite bright lipstick is Mac Girl About Town, it's a bright pink and is a great colour for blondes.

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

Motivational Monday | Happiness

I've spent years doing what I think I SHOULD be doing not because I want too but I want to make others happy and hate letting other people down. I found I would make myself miserable worrying what people would think if I didnt/couldn't do something and would force myself to do it regardless of my own happiness. I saw a quote that said "do only what makes you happy" and thought to myself, what the heck am I doing. 

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

Pink Parcel | May

If you are a regular reader of my blog you will know i reviewed a Pink Parcel box back in March and might have a fair idea of what it is, however if you have never heard of it, read on. Right so, it's a subscription service that delivers your monthly supplies of sanitary goods to you (pads or tampons) but with a little twist at just £9.99, including postage. I like to think of it as a beauty meets lifestyle box.

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

Motivational Monday | Trying

We've all been there, beating ourselves up because we might have failed at something we expected to go well or just didn't get the outcome we wanted. Mistakes though are how we learn, how we improve ourselves. As the quote says "mistakes are proof that you are trying" and do you know what, trying is just as good as succeeding, well maybe not as appreciable but it's enough. 

With chronic illness, I make quite a few mistakes with misjudging what I can and can't do and sometimes I really push my boundaries just to see what I'm capable of. 

Read more »

SHARE:

2 comments

The Body Shop Vitamin E Overnight Serum In Oil | Review

Let me start off by saying, why on earth have I not been using a serum of some kind all these years? I've been struggling recently with quite dehydrated skin and my usual moisturiser just wasn't cutting it. Since I have combination skin which is prone to spots (damn oily skin!) I am always very wary about trying new products or using anything that is either to oily or highly scented.

Read more »

SHARE:

1 comments

Nails Of The Week | NEW Barry M Daylight Curing

When popping into Boots last week for some dry shampoo I made the mistake of having a look at the make up, although it was only a mistake for my bank balance! I saw that they had the new Barry M Daylight Curing polishes on buy one get one half price and after seeing these being advertised everywhere I knew I couldn't just leave without picking one up. You see I'm a bit of a nail polish addict, I own over 100 different colours and find it hard to resist buying new ones even though I really don't need them. 

Read more »

SHARE:

1 comments

Bluebird Tea Co's Candy Floss Tea | Review

I did a review quite recently on the Bluebird Tea Co in Brighton (which is here) but since then I have got a brand new tea and I'm so excited about it, i had to share. 

It's a new limited edition tea called "Candy Floss" and it's their best one yet! The pouch of tea I have is only a sample but since it's limited edition I need to get my ass in gear and buy some more as this is going to be a favourite over the summer. I'm also looking forward to trying this cold aswell as an iced tea with some crushed ice cubes, mmm.

Read more »

SHARE:

1 comments

What's In My Make Up Bag | Summer Edition

So, I did a whats in my make up bag back in October and think it's about time I update you all. My make up changes regularly as I like to try new products and only stick to a few of the same products that I really like. Also, make up tends to be slightly different in the summer compared to winter, out come all the pinks and beautiful bright lipsticks and away go the dark vampy shades until autumn arrives again in a few months time. There were actually a few other items in my make up bag but they were items I don't use regularly and are mostly duplicates of my everyday essentials, plus a few lip liners. 

Read more »

SHARE:

1 comments

Nails Of The Week | Barry M

Oops, I've missed a few weeks on the nails of the week blogging front but I've mostly been wearing the same colours that ive posted before, I have over 100 polishes yet I'm wearing the same 3, figures.
 So here's this weeks!

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

50 Things That Make Me Happy

1.Feeling the sun on my face

2.Putting on pjs when I get home

3. Trips to the cinema

4. Ice cream straight out the tub

5. Going to the zoo 

6. Burning a brand new candle

Read more »

SHARE:

4 comments

The Perfect Cupcake | Recipe

Cookie dough

Since I started making cupcakes a few years ago I've had a fair amount of people ask me what basic cupcake recipe I use. Mainly because they do, if I say so myself, taste rather scrummy! 

I always think the key to the perfect cupcake is the taste, yes it's all well and good that they look great but do you really want to eat a dry or over baked cupcake? I got my recipe from the Good To Know website and then slightly changed it around until I had what I think is a good size cupcake.

Read more »

SHARE:

1 comments

March Films

So, I started what will be monthly film review posts last month & can't help wondering if I need to start watching more films. In 31 days I only watched 4 films, what am I doing with my life? 

I'm going to make a conscious effort just for you guys to start watching more films (plus I do love a good challenge!) 

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

Day Out | Gaston Farm

Its lambing season! Spring is my favourite time of the year, the flowers are blooming, the sun has come out (bloody chilly still though) and it's finally time for lambing season which believe it or not I love more than Christmas time! I know, say what? 

Anyone who knows me knows I am a animal lover, I can't even go into Pets at home without visiting every animal and talking to them in the most stupid baby voice I could possibly make but throw in baby animals (not literally) and you can't drag me away.

This is the forth year running we have visited Gaston Farm in Slindon, West Sussex and every year I can't wait to go back again. For me, it's heaven! Little lambs, baby ducks & chicks to hold and cuddle  is my perfect day out (yes I'm 26 not 6 like most of the kiddies there, oops) 

I thought I would share some of my photos from our most recent visit last week, just so you can indulge in the case of the "awws" too, your welcome 

(just a little awkward reference there, some of you may get that!)

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

Easter Malteaser Traybake | Tutorial

I fancied doing something a little different for Easter this year as I seem  to make cupcakes more than anything else these days and since one of my new years resolutions was to be a little more creative and experimental i decided a no bake tray bake was the perfect idea!

Read more »

SHARE:

1 comments

Bluebird Tea | Review

There's a little shop in the lanes of Brighton, Gardiner Street to be precise that sells the most darling tea blends and this shop is called Bluebird Tea Co.

The sell quite a variety of teas now that you can buy and take home or you can order them online and get them delivered too you (with free samples!!). They also do drinks you can takeaway in store aswell.

Read more »

SHARE:

1 comments

Pink Parcel | Review

For a while now I've seen adverts on Facebook and little snippets in magazines about Pink Parcel, who are a fairly new company that offer a monthly box filled with essentials and treats for your time of the month. When i first read about it i thought it was a bit of a gimmick and probably over priced for what it is. I then saw a few girls on Instagram's boxes (oh social media you've won us over!) and thought for the price of the box you get a decent amount of goods in it and some of the items were in fact quite enticing.

Read more »

SHARE:

1 comments

Living With Anxiety | + My Tips On Coping

Anxiety is such a taboo subject. It's falls under an umbrella term of illnesses/disorders called "mental health" which refers to your cognitive wellbeing. I actually hate the term mental illness, it gives off the impression that there is something wrong with you and your not normal. 

Read more »

SHARE:

4 comments

Rainbow Cupcakes | Baking Tutorial

Recently I made some rather exciting cupcakes, rainbow ones!

They were a lot easier to make than I anticipated actually and I think using gel food colouring was the key to these vibrant cakes.

Read more »

SHARE:

3 comments

Nails Of The Week | Essie

It's that time of the week again.

 Now it's officially spring and sunny (well actually it's pretty gloomy today) it's time to dig out all the spring pastel polishes and put away all those reds and blacks and embrace the light shades once again! 

This week I'm using one of my all time favourite colours that I feel can be used on any skin tone. I am naturally very pale and fake tan most of the year but I love the pastel colours that can normally wash you out, this one however doesn't at all.

Read more »

SHARE:

1 comments

My New Love | Flamingo Candles

I've recently discovered a little company called Flamingo Candles who are based in the UK and there candles are stocked in many shops across the country. The candles are all made from soy wax which  is all natural unlike Yankee Candle ones (sorry Yankee!) that are apparently made from refined paraffin, which explains why they give off a cloud of black smoke after you've burnt them a few times.

Read more »

SHARE:

2 comments

February Films

During February I watched four films, not that many actually. They were a right old mixture too, two horror films, a british comedy and only one of the best films of all time.

Read more »

SHARE:

1 comments

Sugar Free Peanut Butter Crispy Squares

These are such a yummy easy sugar free snack to make! They take about 10 mintues at the most and you only need four ingredients. It makes about 8 small squares or 6 bigger ones deciding on your portion size (maybe just one big one??)

You could probably make these chocolate flavoured if you added raw cacao powder in too, yum.

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

Spring Mini Lush Haul

I swear there is nothing more exciting (well for me anyway!) then going into Lush and seeing all their new products and wandering around eyeing up some new goodies to take back home with you. 

The only downside to Lush is the price, the products are all organic, natural and made by hand so it boosts the price up unfortantly but it doesn't stop me every so often having a little spending spree in there!

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

Nails of the week - OPI Special

This weeks nail polishes are beauty's and both OPI! It's rare for me to wear two colours from the same brand as I have so many but this weeks nails are brought to you by OPI (well not officially but hey OPI, if you read this I'm happy for you to send me freebies to blog about haha) 

Read more »

SHARE:

1 comments

Tricks To Getting A Good Nights Sleep (& My Insomnia Story)

If you had asked me a year ago how my sleep pattens were i would probably of just cried. Sleep is  important, we need it to stay healthy and its often referred as "sleep hygiene".

Six to eight hours sleep a night is the recommended amount of sleep for adults and too little or even too much can have serious effects on our health. I'm not here to scare you in any way with this blog post but to simply tell you how i managed to overcome (for now, let's not jinx it!) my terrible insomnia.

Read more »

SHARE:

3 comments

This Or That Tag

Red or white wine? I would always choose white.

City or countryside? What I like about where I live is you've got city, sea and countryside all close by but I would choose countryside over a busy city like London.

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

Mini Break Away

I've just recently got back from a 4 night mini break away to a Forest Holidays location, a beautiful little self catering site with log cabins, hot tubs and log burners oh & not to forget the wildlife!

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

Magazine Freebie Alert - Benefit Roller Lash

I've been waiting for Elle magazine to come out for a few weeks as it has the new exclusive sample of Benefits Roller Lash mascara which is not even in stores yet, so you can imagine how happy I was when I popped to my local supermarket expecting it to be sold out and there was a copy with the free sample still attached (that in itself is a miracle!!)

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

Sugar Free Banana Bread Recipe

I'll admit i've lost my way with the clean eating in the last week or two as I went away for a few days and basically ate what I fancied whenever I wanted, bad Steph! 

Now I'm back and it's a fresh week I've started back on the healthy low sugar diet that my body prefers and found this no sugar banana bread (perfect way to use up my over ripe bananas!) 

I was surprised at how sweet this bread was considering there is no sugar used, but the brown bananas and raisins plus a little grind of the Madagascan vanilla beans obviously made it just sweet enough.

I am loving this bread and will be making it again for sure so here's the recipe for you guys to have a go at.

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

Top 7 hair products of 2014

This was a hard post to write, I use and try so many different hair products that choosing just my top 7 was always going to be hard, originally it was 5 but I had to add a few extras in but these are my most used and favourite of them all. What's more they are all quite affordable and do different things to help you achieve luxurious hair! 

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

Two Faced Chocolate Bar Eyeshadow Palette - is it as good as it smells?

Two of my favourite things, chocolate and make up! Not only is the packaging cute it smells amazing, make up that is made from chocolate (amongst other things obviously) is crazy but such a great idea too. 

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

What I got for Christmas (haul)

Every year I see Facebook photos, Instagram posts and Youtube videos of what people got for Christmas and being the nosey person I am I love watching or seeing these post, so this year I thought I would do the same.

I want to state now that's this is in no way a form of bragging, I realise just how lucky I am to receive such wonderful and thoughtful gifts and am very thankful and humble for them. I would also like to just say that at Christmas I look forward to spending time with family and friends and just wish for good health to be able to get through the Christmas season. More than anything i would love to just have my health back and would trade in all my gifts (I'd like to keep my Tiffany bracelet if I could though too?) to be well again. 

The following presents were just ones from Christmas Day, I did receive some lovely ones from my girlfriends too! 

Read more »

SHARE:

2 comments

The Christmas Tag

1. What is your favourite Christmas Movie/s?

This is such a hard one! I try to watch as many Christmas films as I can from the end of November onwards but my all time favourite (I've watched it twice already) is Elf. It doesn't matter how many times I've seen it I still laugh. My other favourite and one I watch every year is Christmas with the Kranks. I don't know if is as well known as a lot of the others but it's got Tim Alan and Jamie Lee Curtis in and it's about them deciding to skip Christmas and go on a cruse as their daughter is not coming back for the holidays this year for her to later change her mind the day before Christmas and they have to make it all happen in one day. Hilarious, worth a watch for sure!

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

November Nails

Last month I started nail favourites, this here is last months colours I wore. As you can tell since it was a 4 week month, I may have changed my nail colour more than one a week. Oops, bad habit that! 

Read more »

SHARE:

3 comments

Mini Lush Haul

Back in October i did a Lush haul with Christmas bits in but last week I popped back into Lush to get some Christmas presents (which are not shown here) and I picked up a few bath bombs for me to take away in January to the forest for a relaxing few days away doing NOTHING! 

I decided not to buy all Christmas ones as Christmas will have been and gone by then but I did pick up a few.

As you can tell I think I might have a Snow Fairy problem?? 

Read more »

SHARE:

1 comments

Comparison - how it can steal your happiness

Comparison is the thief of joy. Comparison will cause you to overestimate what someone else has and underestimate what you have or in some cases vice versa. I for one am guilty of doing this on a regular basis if not everyday at some point. In a world where we have the internet and social media it's even easier to compare yourself to others and what they have or have achieved.

Read more »

SHARE:

4 comments

The Autumn Tag

This tag has been going round for the last few weeks & I was tagged by the lovely Emma from Emma Drusilla, so here it is! 

Read more »

SHARE:

3 comments

Healthy low sugar granola

I try to eat healthy as I can and add in the odd naughty thing here and there although sometimes I do have days where I might go a bit sugar crazy I will admit, nobody's perfect! I've been trying to find recipes for healthy snacks and remembered how much I love granola either as an evening snack or for breakfast, the downside though to granola is that most shop bought versions are packed full of sugar and considering this is the first meal you are eating of the day you don't want to spike your blood sugar level.

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

60th Birthday Cake

I love a good birthday me, mostly because it means I get to make a cake! Last month it was my mums 60th (sorry for sharing this mum!) and I decided instead of buying her a cake I could make one. Right up until frosting the cake I was still unsure on how I was going to decorate it and pretty much winged it in the end, I was lucky. Haha. 

Read more »

SHARE:

1 comments

What am I watching? The October Edition

This is my first of monthly posts on what I'm watching on TV and Netflix, I watch many different series on TV rather than films and I'm seriously loving these seven right now.
What's interesting about these seven is how different they all are. You've got reality, horror and comedy!

Let's get started..

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

Halloween inspired nails

I am a bit of a halloween freak. I love pumpkins and all things autumnal so it's only fitting that I like halloween, there's something exciting about the yummy treats that are brought out at this time and trying on scary masks plus I do love a good horror film!

This year I thought i would try something new and rather than plain old black nails like I usually do for halloween I tried something a bit different with some nail polish I already had.

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

That good ol' beauty tag

It's said that the average woman uses 12 products a day. I've seen this little "what's your number" tag going around so I want to see just how many products I use on an average day.  Let's go! 

Read more »

SHARE:

0 comments

Chronic Illness Problems

I tend not to write much about illness mostly because I'm sure no one that is well wants to hear about it, I'm sure if I was I certainly wouldn't.

A chronic illness has taken up the best (I use the term best very loosely) part of 5 years of my life especially the last two. It's changed my life dramatically, I was once a fun, almost carefree somewhat of a perfectionist kind of person I would go out to bars, last night cinema trips, shopping days etc and loved it. Unfortunately a chronic illness like mine means you can no longer do everything you want, yes you can do things still from time to time but I have to pick and choose what I think I can and cannot do. This is depressing. Healthy people take it for granted that you can do whatever you want whenever you want with little health consequences, yes you might feel tired after a long day but you go to sleep and wake up ready to go again. I haven't felt that for 5 years, in the early stages I pushed on through (two years, what a dummy!) and tried to continue the fast paced packed life I enjoyed, little did I know the consequences of doing this and if I had I would of rested back then to save myself from having to be where I am now.

Read more »

SHARE:

1 comments