What I like to put on my face!

After posting a little note about getting a clarisonic today one of you asked me what I like to use it with so I thought I'd do a post showing you what skincare I use and what I recommend. :) F.Y.I my skin type is oily/combination.

note: I know this post contains a lot of products from two particular brands, I'm not famous enough to be sponsored or anything, they're just brands that I like.

Make up remover...

To remove my face makeup I use the No7 beautiful skin cleansing water. I just pump some onto a cotton pad and it wipes all my face makeup off! I then use the No7 beautiful skin eye make up remover to remove my eye make up.

Face wash... 

If I have just taken my makeup off I like to use the soap and glory peaches and clean face wash but in the morning I like to use the clinique liquid facial soap for oily combination skin. (I use the clinique 3 step skincare system) I've already tried the clinique face wash with my clarisonic and I love it! I'm yet to try the soap and glory one though, I'm going to try it tonight! I don't think I've ever been excited to wash my face before! 

Toner... 

I then use the second step in the clinique skincare system, the clarifying lotion in number 3. 

Magical serums and things... 

Now these are two products that I have fallen in love with! I have quite large pores across the tops of my cheeks and my nose so I'm always trying different products to help shrink them. I haven't been very successful in doing so if I'm honest, until now.. I use the No7 beautiful skin pore refining serum. THIS STUFF IS MAGIC IN A BOTTLE. If I'm about to apply makeup I then apply the No7 T-zone rescue to my forehead and nose area. I'm always looking for products to help control my oily t-zone and this one really does work! 

Moisturiser..

I use the final step in the clinique skincare system, the dramatically different moisturising gel. If you haven't tried this stuff I highly recommend it! and also, where have you been all this time?! 

I hope this all helps! 

Alex 

xxx

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An electric toothbrush for my face?! - Clarisonic mia 2 review

I've been debating whether or not to buy a clarisonic for a long time, (mostly due to the hefty price tag.) and finally found myself in a position to buy one. It's often described as an electric toothbrush for you face and that does make it sound a little scary if you ask me...

Anyway, it arrived today and I couldn't wait to give it a go! Now, using a vibrating brush on your face is kind of weird I have to admit but it does make your face feel squeaky clean and soft! It also claims to do many other things like help to clear your skin, help with fine lines and wrinkles and dry patches etc but obviously after one go I can't tell you if it really does that. (maybe I'll do a review after a couple of months or so?)

At the minute I can't really tell you if it is worth the price tag but at the same time I wouldn't say it wasn't. I am however pinning an awful lot of hope on the dainty little device!

I'll let you know how it goes!

Alex

xxx

hair miracle???

If you're like me and have long hair then you are most probably aware that it can be VERY high maintenance. keeping it conditioned and what not. Well, I may have just found you lovely people a miracle in a box and it is made by the angel that is charles worthington and is better known as the "strength and repair hair repair kit." (other kinds of this kit are available such as one to create shinier hair etc but I haven't tried those yet....)

This kit involves three simple steps to follow once a week for four weeks so it's a bit of a "course" for your hair really.

In the kit you get: Hair repair oil 50ml, strength and repair shampoo 75ml, intensive hair repair mask 125ml,  plastic shower caps x 4, and an instruction booklet. 

The first step is to apply the hair oil to your hair and then cover it with one of the rather attractive looking plastic shower caps and leave it on for ten minutes.

You then rinse the oil out and use the shampoo provided.

Once you've shampooed the hair you have to ring out any excess water from the hair and apply the hair mask for five minutes. I also like to put the shower cap back on here otherwise I'd be covered in conditioner! After five minutes you just rinse your hair once more and style your hair as you normally would.

The result is shiny, smooth, conditioned hair that smells nice too! :) So what more could you want??

Just thought I'd let you all in on this little gem ;)

Alex

xxx

feeling stressed, nervous, excited and trying to be organised at the same time

So this post isn't beauty or anything like that. (sorry) I'm just going to blurt out how I'm feeling at the minute and hopefully it'll benefit some of you lovelies in one way or another :)

Incase you weren't aware I'm leaving for university in exactly 41 days (if you actually weren't aware you can find out more by clicking here) and this gives me a right old jumble of feelings and things.

Firstly I'm excited, it's a new part of my life and I can't wait to be a teacher and everyday I spend a few minutes being excited and then my brain reminds me of stuff I don't want to be reminded of like "ooh what if people don't like me? Why do I have to be a grown up and do things like ironing and cooking tea? Have I bought everything? What if I don't like it and end up leaving again?" *that part should have been read in your most whiney annoying voice* Once I'm finished worrying I then move onto being stressed and think about things like packing etc. If you don't know me then you need to understand when it comes to certain things I like to be VERY organised and packing is one of those things. I like my packing to be neat and tidy and categorised and all that weird stuff. (unlike my room) So the thought of packing my whole life away stresses me out beyond belief. However I have done this once before so I want to share a couple of things with you. (This is also so I can look at these things and remember them when it comes to leaving.)

Solving the scary things... 

1. People WILL like you I promise. I can assure you it's highly unlikely that EVERYONE in your university is going to hate you. 

2. Doing grown up stuff isn't that bad, yeah you won't be perfect at first but neither will anybody else so who really cares if you can't iron or cook to save your life? 

3. If you've forgotten something just get it when you're there. 

4. If you don't like the course that's okay but I'm 99.9% that if you're counting down the days to go you're going to like it. 

5. If you miss home it's okay, everyone is in the same boat. Trust me. 

Solving the stressful things... 

So I think it's safe to say the two most stressful things about going to uni are buying your stuff and packing said stuff so lets follow that theme. 

As far as buying stuff goes I suggest you follow these rules: 

1. go get yourself a piece of paper and a pen NOW 

2. write down stuff you need in order to live day to day life. This means stuff like a duvet and pans etc. 

3. write down stuff you need in order to make life a little easier like pens, pencil pots (you don't want them rolling everywhere) and files. 

4. Go and buy these things. 

Simples. 

Now packing follows some rules too. 

1. Pack the stuff you bought especially for uni. 

2. again, get a piece of paper and a pen NOW 

3. Have a look around your room, what stuff do you already own that you'd like to take with you? Things like Ipod speakers and what not. Write that stuff down like you life depends on it. 

4. Pack the stuff you've written on your list. 

See? not so bad! 

Things people forget that they shouldn't forget but still do anyway... 

First of all when packing you stuff don't pack it on boxes. Pack it in plastic bags. Either buy some bags for life, haud bags for a while or steal the ones your parents have. If you pack your stuff in bags you can fit more in your car boot you see. 

1. Extension leads. There isn't a single student room on this earth that comes with enough plug sockets. These will be your best friends. 

2. Hangers. You need to hang your clothes up! 

3. Phone/laptop/camera chargers etc. How will you use them otherwise?! 

4. Bring stuff to decorate your room so that it feels more like yours rather than an empty room. If you need ideas look at this. 

Have fun lovelies! Let me know how you're getting on if you're in this same situation or if you have any tips to give people! :) 

Alex 

xxx 

To BB cream or not to BB cream?

Be warned, this is a product rave. If you don't like this sort of post look at my previous one here which is a little more on the emotional side but hey ho, beggars can't be choosers.

So everyone has heard, read, lived, and suffered the hype of BB cream and if I'm perfectly honest I've always been a little sceptical for a number of reasons but mostly because 1. I have oily/combination skin and thought it would never work for me and 2. Quite frankly I didn't think one that gave me the coverage I feel I need existed....

But there are clearly some cosmetic angels up there praying for us slightly more "glowing" girls. (Glowing sounds better than shiny okay.) The lovely cosmetic angels at maybelline have found the solution believe or not! Or at least I think so.

This miracle comes in the form of Maybelline's "Dream pure BB cream" and boy do I love this stuff. Now I don't know about you but I'm quite partial to a moderate to full coverage foundation but sometimes I find that when you get the coverage you also get the heavy "I can feel the makeup on my face" kind of feeling and some days I just don't want to put up with that. Or if I've gotten up late I don't have the time to put up with that.

This BB cream gives quite a good coverage yet doesn't feel nor look like there is anything on your face, it just looks like skin. Which is amazing I know. What's even better is it comes in two formulas, one of which being for oily skin! Yay! We can finally jump on the bad wagon! This cream does claim to do 8 things but whether it actually does that all of them I don't know but who cares? It looks good and doesn't slither down my face!

I like to use a primer under this still as I feel this gives it a better staying power and I also like to apply it with the real techniques "expert face brush" which is amazing in itself.

Go get yourself some of this stuff girls it's only £6.99 and it's probably the best £6.99 you'll ever spend. 

Alex 

xxx 

P.S. I am not sponsored by anyone! I just love the stuff.

Becoming a teacher is okay...

So this is going to be a bit of soppy post and I apologise for that... If you're not into that feel free to look at any of my other posts and just skip this one ;)

Recently I've been talking to people that are applying to go to university for the first time and they've been telling me how scared, anxious and nervous they are. Some are even unsure if it's the path for them and I just want to let everyone know that it's okay to feel like that! To do that I want to tell you my story :) This will also give you the chance to get to know me a little better, obviously that only applies if you want to...

It all started when I was at the ripe old age of 17. For around four years I had been planning to go to university to do paediatric nursing only to find out that due to some sight problems that I have (that's a story for another time kids) I wouldn't be able to do it. I was heart broken, I felt lost, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. So I did what I thought was best at the time and just applied to do a uni course in the subject I was known as being one of the best in ICT. So I applied to do web systems development.

It was great, it interested me, I liked doing practical work, my ICT teacher was VERY proud to have a girl in his class go on to do the course... everything was perfect! Until.. dun dun duhhh I went.

So let's set the scene here, I'd moved into university and was two weeks into my course when I realised I couldn't do it anymore. I was feeling incredibly home sick and I thought that was just because I missed home but in actual fact it was because I wasn't happy and I just wanted to feel happy somewhere. I realised that even though I liked the course I could never do it as a job. I'm not the sit at a desk all day kind of person. So I spent a good few hours one night crying to myself worried that I had let everyone down, my parents, family, teacher etc. Everyone had been so excited for me, I was the first girl in my family to go to university I was the only girl in my year to do an ICT course and I felt as though I was going to let all of those people down. Even so I managed to bottle up the courage to phone my mum and let her know what was going on. But I wasn't going to do that without a plan.

The people I lived with at the time were all trainee teachers and I had a massive interest in their course, more so than my own and this led me to the decision that this was what I wanted to do with my life. Something I should have realised sooner as leading up to results day that year I would quite often find myself looking at teaching courses "incase I didn't get in" when in actual fact it was because I didn't want to get in.

So I phoned my mum and we had a little chat and do you know what? She wasn't feeling let down at all. Nobody was, if anything they were even prouder of me for changing my mind and following what I REALLY wanted to do. So here I am a year later sat at my computer, heaps of education books read and weeks of work experience under my belt and about to head back to university once again.

What's best of all is, it's all okay because I changed my mind. That's what I want you to take from this, don't be afraid to change your mind about anything! As long as YOU are happy nobody will mind! Your happiness is what matters really :)

Alex

xxx


A few other tips I'd like you to take into consideration:

1) Only choose to do something if you REALLY want it, not just because you feel you should or because you feel as though it's your only option.

2) Think about the career afterwards and not just the degree.

3) You're never going to let anyone down if you're doing something to make you happy.

4) It's okay to have doubts but when it comes to things like this maybe think about why you're having them.

5) And most importantly, mums are ALWAYS right! My mum had always said I should be a teacher and I never listened hahaha now look where I am!


P.S. good luck to any of you going to university in september!!!!!!

My mission

So over the past couple of months I decided to give myself a little mission. Partly because I like to give myself things to do and who doesn't want to feel like a spy ay? ;) But really, I have given myself the mission to try and step out of my comfort zone.

I wanted to try new styles, new makeup, new hair styles etc.. you get the idea. This all came about because I watched these videos. They're all about helping people come out of their comfort zone when it comes to clothes and that is what inspired me.

Now if you know me then you know I only really wear neutral coloured lipstick and am always jealous of how good everyone looks in bright colours because I always thought I didn't. So that's where my mission has started, new lip colours! I've experimented with a few, red, burgundy, bright pinks... This may seem normal to some of you but to me this is a HUGE change! What's even better is, I'm happy about it! I can totally change up my makeup I don't always look the same now :) It also means if I can't be bothered I can just do simple eyes with liner and mascara stick on a bold colour and there you have it, looking like you've made an effort!

This is only a small post I know but I thought I'd let you know and I hope it inspires you to step out of your comfort zone too :) I promise it's not as scary as it looks out there!!

I'll keep you up to date on how it's going etc :)

Let me know if you decide to do the same! If you do write a post on it so I can see how you're doing and be sure to mention who inspired you in it! :)

Alex
xxx

P.S. Sorry for the bad picture quality, I don't have my camera at the minute :( So I had to opt for my Iphone 4 camera... sad times for all of the photography geeks out there :(

My usual lipstick colours 

My new lipstick colours! Adventurous hey? ;)