John Greed's Blogger Challenge

Hello!

So it seems John Creed have been hit by Cupid's arrow and in aid of Valentine's Day they've been lovely and hosted a blogger challenge giveaway! One lucky winner can win their jewellery wishlist, whilst another 4 bloggers can receive a £25 gift card as runners up. Pretty good!

Now, after giving their site a good going over, I can tell you it was no easy task of selecting just a few items (in keeping with the £250 limit). I love jewellery, like I love my make-up...A LOT!

Anyway I managed it somehow and was even under budget!

I love my Thomas Sabo bracelet and I love layering bracelets up. I think the Talia silvered pearled bracelet would look great next to my TS!

Way back when I was a blondie :)

I just love this bracelet! I've always really loved snakes...and even got to hold a HUGE one whilst on holiday in Greece once! I'm usually drawn to quite different and quirky looking jewellery and I think this ticks those boxes. I was also born in the year of the snake, so it's just meant to be haha! :)

My Pandora bracelet

I've been a massive fan of Pandora for a few years now and I've ensured my bracelet is full of meaningful charms, such as the 'forget me knot' charm (next to the football) to signify my late great Grandma. 

I love this set and think the glass mauranos would fit perfectly next to my 'dangly' charms. The red would really bring the colours in my bracelet together! As for the 'I Love U' charm in the set, I'd give this to my mummy...cause I love her :P I'm not afraid to admit it!

It's all about rose gold.

As for the rose gold studs, I love these. As you can see from the pic above, I love a bit of rose gold coloured jewellery but I don't yet have any earrings. The hearts would compliment well :)

boohoo.com

I've been loving the wine/maroon colour that is all in at the moment and recently purchased the above jumper, along with other wine coloured clothing pieces. Wouldn't the amber necklace look just amazing teamed with this colour?! 

So, all with a total of £237.44...not bad, not bad! 

For your chance to enter click here. Good luck!

January Favourites 2013

Hello! Erm, where did January go?!

So I've been liking quite a lot over the past month, but I've decided to cut down my favourite list and I've chosen just 5 things to blog about. However, if you do want to see my full list of favourites, I did Youtube them so you can have a watch here...

Click me :)

But if you'd prefer a refined version carry on reading!

Chanel Perfection Lumiere (£36- Debenhams)
Sigma Round Top Kabuki F82 ($18 approx. £11.45 @ sigmabeauty.com)

Being a girl who suffers with acne and oily skin, it's all about the face makeup for me. Foundation in particular. I was quite reluctant to pay Chanel's price tag at first, but after my birthday in December I decided to treat myself to the Perfection Lumiere. I was matched up at a Chanel counter as shade 32 Beige Rose and I found the whole service really nice and friendly...not fake like the 'counter ladies' sometimes are.

I first applied the product with my fingers, my then method at the time, however I didn't feel it was giving the best finish for this particular foundation. I decided to give my Sigma F82 brush a go, which I'd previously only used with mineral make-up. I also wet the brush a little, so that it was damp, to help prevent product 'soak-up!' 

I immediately loved the results!...The foundation provides great coverage but has a very light-weight feel to it. It does have a certain fragrance about it, which to be honest I wasn't mad on at first but it didn't bother me too much and now I don't even notice it. It's great for keeping shine at bay, so for all you fellow oily gals out there then I'd say give this one a try! 

I adore my Sigma brush. It's super soft and imo does a fantastic job of applying the Chanel foundation. Definitely the most airbrushed finish I've ever experienced. I want more Sigma brushes! :)

Maxfactor's Clump Defy Mascara (Boots: £10.99)
Soap & Glory's Heel Genius (Boots: £5.50)
Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Balm Stain (Romantic 045- Boots: £7.99)

I've been a fan of Maxfactor mascaras in what seems like forever, so when the Clump Defy came out I just had to try it! I did a full review here, but basically it does as it says on the tube...clumping is a thing of the past! The application is made easy by the curved brush head and I like how it separates my lashes. Good stuff :)

Being a bit of a fitness freak, yes, if you didn't know, I am a rather big fan of that thing called exercise, my feet get a lot of hammer. Consequently it causes rather gross effects such as itchy, dry, cracked heels. Yeah, I did say gross. Anyway...Heel Genius appeared to be just what I was looking for. Indeed it softens the skin, baby soft style, and gives a rather tingling, cooling feeling so indeed helps with the itching! I really like this product in conjunction with my Pedipro device (buffs off dead skin...nice!) Oh and the formula is blue/green and smells nice!

Last but not least, the good old Revlon balms. These have been seriously popular with other vloggers/bloggers and I couldn't restrain from buying one for any longer. It didn't disappoint! I love the texture of these lip balms. They are seriously nourishing on the lips and can be applied neatly thanks to the lip-penciled design. The thing I found most surprising about these were their colour pay-off. The colour is seriously build-able and in the shade Romantic 045 you can get a pretty decent red lip out of it! The scent to these is pleasant with a hint of mint and I definitely want more of them!

New Fave Gym Machine

Hello. Hope you are all well and fighting fit! :)

After a recent bad patch, confessions, I've got back onto the fitness band wagon and have tried to eat a little healthier. As it were, I'm back :) My chest infection seems to be clearing too...wooo!

So, over the past two days I've dragged myself out in the cold, wet weather, despite wanting to stay in PJs, and I've managed two cracking gym sessions- if I do say so myself! :P As I've said before, I'm not a massive gym lover (I'm more of a fitness class fanatic) so I usually only manage to workout for around the hour mark.

However, perhaps it's because I hadn't worked out in over a week? But my last two sessions have been closer to the 2 hour mark! Yes, I was feeling energetic I guess! I also feel the sudden time increase was due to a new machine discovery.

Having only recently joined my current gym (Gym4All) I hadn't got the chance to fully explore all of their equipment. I noticed there were two strange looking machines among the standard cross-trainers and after watching someone using one, in a curious how-do-you-work-it way, I decided to give it a try.

The machine was called the Helix Lateral Trainer...however I'm unsure whether all of these types of machines have this name, or it is just the specific brand name of the one I used?!

Anyway...As you can see from the picture, and if you've never used one before, it works your legs similar to how a cross-trainer would, except it moves in horizontal circular motions, as apposed to the vertical forward and back!

It very much reminds me of some sort of skiing motion...not that I have ever been skiing before! There is definitely a certain amount of hip movement required and it feels quite funny to begin with. However, very quickly you'll feel the burn in your legs, generally the thigh region, and the burnt calories really start to add up fast!

When I first tested this thing I only managed a pitiful 4 minutes at a resistance of around 5-7 before deciding my legs hurt too much. But, after using the machine a couple more times since, I feel I've got the hang of it and last night managed a grueling 20 minutes, which believe me took some doing! Sweat galore! 

So, despite waking up a little stiff this morning, I'm feeling good about my recent activity and I have a feeling that the Helix Lateral will become a staple in my gym session routine.

Have you ever tried this machine? What do you think? :)

Twitter: @ellie1989

Makeup storage :)

Hello. So after moving back to Uni after Christmas hols and receiving some great beauty gifts, I felt my make-up collection needed some organisation in its life (I do love personifying things don't I!)

Before

Indeed my storage system was becoming very cluttered and messy! So I decided to have a gander at what the trusty eBay had to offer.

I decided to order this little beauty for a bargain price of £20- http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370733931898

After

Despite some issues with the original item being lost in the post, I found that the seller was great at communication and sent out another one with no extra charge. It doesn't fit all my make-up but I'm pretty impressed with it, what do you guys think? :)

Confessions

Hi guys.

So I haven't posted in a while, mainly because I've been a bit naughty of late. I came down with a chest infection which has generally put gym sessions and the like on hold. Don't you just hate it when you want to do something but illness gets in the way!

I felt the picture was quite apt...I definitely feel like a round blob at the moment! I've been attempting to cheer myself up with food...but of course in times when you need comfort you reach for the comfort food... and the enjoyment and happy effects are short-lived. In fact you then end up feeling worse because you now feel ill and also fat...Well this is what happens to me at least. Do any of you guys get that?

So now, having consumed a home-made gammon, egg, chips, peas etc meal, a yoghurt, a mini kinder bar, a helping of melba toast with houmous, two satsumas to try and curb the chocolate craving but then failing anyway and eating a cadbury's fudge bar with a hot chocolate drink- all after 6pm, I'm sat on my bed thinking...IDIOT! lol.

I wouldn't usually mind too much if it wasn't for the whole medium sized dominoes pizza I ate last night followed by nearly a full share-sized pack of cheese savouries. I have sinned. Sinned big time. I confess!!! Phew...feel a little lighter now ;) But we all have moments of weakness don't we?! Or moments of greed in my case.

As far as I'm aware, based on the last time I checked a week or so ago, I'm still maintaining my goal weight...so I guess that is something. But, I just hate that guilty, fat, bleurgh feeling you get after eating waaay too much. Never learn!

So there we go, I too have bad food days. Tomorrow is a new day.

Tweet me: @ellie1989 ...let me know your confessions or message me here.

Max Factor's Clump Defy

Pictured before going to University :)

Hello! So, I blogged about buying Max Factor's Clump Defy Mascara and as I promised...here's my review of it.

I've been a fan of Max Factor mascaras for a couple of years now...with the False Lash Effect taking 1st place in my mascara collection for the whole of 2012, and much of 2011 tbh!

When I heard this new guy had hit town I knew it was only a matter of time before I'd have him in my collection! Not too sure why it's a male, or why I'm giving a mascara a gender but hey ho! So, when I saw that Boots were doing a special offer, £11.99 reduced to £7.99, it gave me that extra push to buy it.

The brush is fairly similar to that of the False Lash Effect with its plastic spread out bristles and feels pretty similar when applying. However, the Clump Defy brush differs with a curve and the brush head is slightly smaller. It reminds me a little of the Maybelline's Falsie's brush, shape-wise.

When first using the mascara I have to admit I was a little disappointed. Unlike many new mascaras, that are quite wet and perhaps over-coated with formula, I found this one didn't seem to have as much product on the brush as I would have liked. However, as I often find, the second use of a product is always a little easier, especially with mascaras that tend to need a little 'breaking in' as it were.

I've been using this product near on every day now and I really like the results it gives. It really lives up to its name as I haven't experienced any clumping whatsoever! The brush is really easy to work with and makes applying mascara to the tricky parts of the eye a piece of cake.

I usually find the lashes towards the inner corners of the eye pretty fiddly, with most mascaras creating a 'blobby' issue with too much product taking hold. However, this isn't the case for the Clump Defy, making it really easy to restrict how much product goes on. And for this reason, I have to move my False Lash Effect mascara off its pedestal and give the Clump Defy 1st place!

Well done Max Factor, another brilliant mascara!

Feeling hungry?...Graze box!

Hello! Hope you are all well.

So, you may have seen Graze boxes being advertised on the TV (they are plugging it a lot lately!) but I thought I'd share with you my experience of them.

How does it work? Well you basically sign up online at graze.com with the idea that a box full of yummy delights arrive at your door each week. You can select what day you'd like to receive your box but it doesn't require a signature, it is letterbox sized and comes along with your royal mail post so there is no inconvenience there.

How much does it cost? This can apparently depend on the time of when you started ordering the boxes but mine should be £3.89 each week so I'll go with that. However, as I've been a graze customer before (I stopped my orders last time as I didn't really have the money), they've given me 3 half price boxes which is one of the reasons I started the orders back up.

Food? I really like the kinds of food the boxes contain as they are often nutrition in some way and provide a great healthier snack option, rather than grabbing that chocolate bar! Seeds, dried fruit, nuts, cake, dips, popcorn and bread are just some of the things that may appear in your box. You aren't 100% sure what will be in your box but you do have a certain amount of control over what you don't want to be sent. There's a rating option where you can choose to bin items whereby they'll never send it you. Then there's the options of try, like and love and a send soon. Perhaps self-explanatory but they'll try to send you the things in send soon first!

You can cancel at any time, providing it's not on the day you have a scheduled box! There's also an option to postpone boxes, say you were going on holiday or just wanted a break or something.

Here's my box that arrived this morning. I already knew what to expect as Graze email you the night before to tell you what you have in your box, if you want to peek. I personally can never resist!

Inside...

I've had this one before and really enjoyed the chopped dates, yum! I'm a pretty big fan of seeds and nuts too so this is a nice treat for me.

Really excited to try this...tea and cake are a new addition to the graze boxes. I love carrot cake but usually avoid it because of the fat content. However this is only a tiny piece and at 88 calories, I'm sure I'll be fine! :)

Another new addition to the graze boxes. I love microwave popcorn!

And finally...yum yum yum. I love the graze dips and I couldn't resist these breadsticks and dip for long. I really enjoyed this as a little lunchtime snack! The dip was delicious.

If you want to try Graze but you're unsure about whether it would be your thing or put-off by the cost, why not try one for free?! Just enter this code, 3CTZKFGT and receive a free box. Just remember to cancel after you receive it to avoid a weekly charge if you don't want to continue it!

Let me know what you think if you try it, or you've tried it! Comment here or Tweet me: @ellie1989