This Works The Dream Team

This was the only sale purchase that I made after Christmas,and it's not like I was trying to not spend, it was the opposite I wanted to find some sale bargains but nothing took my fancy, apart from the This Works the dream team set from boots (£6.66 originally £10).

I really struggle to get to sleep most nights, especially on a Sunday and when my boyfriend works night shifts, I just can't get my brain to stop thinking, I go over everything that is happening at work, I make plans in my head about saving money, getting back to the gym and losing weight, I think about what I want to say in blog posts, and I even go over events or conversations from the past that were difficult or cringey and think about what I would do differently. On these nights I know I need to relax and try to empty my mind but it's easier said than done. 

The This Works deep sleep range has always caught my interest, I have always known that it wouldn't be a miracle worker but anything that can help is welcome. The main reasons I hadn't tried any of the products before was the price, the full size pillow spray alone is £15, and what if I don't like the scent and it becomes overpowering, there isn't much you can do once you have sprayed it on your pillow. 

I really wanted to try these tester sized products and hunted them down in the Boots sale, I'm very pleased that I did, I absolutely love the scent of the range. It contains lavender but there are also a range of essential oils too such as wild chamomile and vertivert (not sure what that is), the scent is lovely and subtle and not too overpowering, however I found you only need to spray it once or your pillow becomes a bit wet! I'm not as keen on the stress less roller ball, when I applied it to my pulse points I could never smell it, there is a chance it is working subtly but it's a bit too subtle for my liking.

I have found that my sleep pattern is slowly getting better, I only use the spray every few nights as I don't want to overdo it, and I have made other changes such as avoiding fizzy drinks in the evenings, I don't think that the pillow spray has made a difference to my sleeping on it's own but I do think it may of helped even if it was in a placebo way. I really enjoy the scent of the pillow spray and I will probably end up getting the full size at some point, it's currently on sale at Beautybay.com for £11.85.

Have you tried any aromatherapy products to help you sleep?

Elaine

Barry M White Foundation Creme Review

I have really struggled to find a foundation/BB cream that I like as much as my Garnier BB cream for oily/combination skin, over the winter months I can't use the Garnier BB cream as it is  just too dark for my even paler winter skin, even though it is the light shade.

I have been a bit naughty and carried on using it hoping that blending it out and by using a lighter shade powder on top it will magically make it look the right colour, but it really doesn't, as Rachel pointed out I was looking a bit orange! She recommended that I try Barry M's white creme foundation, one of her friends mixes the white foundation with her normal foundation to make it the right shade. I have quite a few foundations that are that bit too dark, as they matched me in the summer or I have bought a foundation assuming the lightest high street shade would suit me and it hasn't, so I went out to get this straight away.

The foundation costs £6.19, I managed to get this at a large Superdrug, but out of interest I recently had a look in my local Boots (which is quite large) and they didn't stock any of the Barry M foundations, so this might be a bit tricky to find, especially if your local Boots or Superdrug have a smaller Barry M concession stand.

The foundation creme range is described by Barry M as...

 'Suitable for all skin types and available in a complete colour range to provide the perfect base for make-up. The creamy base is enriched with moisturisers and vitamins that help keep skin smooth and supple for all day wear.'

The creme has quite a thick consistency and does feel moisturising, I do find that when I use it I have to make sure I give the tube a good shake as it can get a bit watery. As the creme is thick, you only need to use a small amount especially if you are mixing it with another foundation.

The shade itself is a bright white, I don't think even the palest of skin tones could get away with wearing this on it's own, but I find that it mixes well with other foundations and you only need to use a small amount to make the shade lighter. 

I was a bit concerned that it may make my skin oily, especially as my Garneir BB cream manages my shiny skin so well, but it didn't make much difference I did have a little bit of extra shine but it wasn't as bad as when I use other foundations and a bit of powder sorts it out.

You have to be realistic with this foundation it's not going to create your exact skin tone but if you find that even the lightest high street foundation is just that bit too dark or if you have loads of your favourite summer foundation left you will find this white foundation creme extremely useful. I really like this foundation I'm soo pleased that I discovered it! I can definitely see myself repurchasing this many times.

 Elaine

New Year Promises

I'm not big into resolutions I don't stick to them and I think sometimes when I make them I know secretly that I won't achieve them as I don't have the heart to do it or they just aren't achievable!

Last year I was in a bit of a funny place I really wanted to do something big and achieve something, so of course I decided to do a zip wire from the top of the Baltic art gallery across the river Tyne, if you don't know Newcastle the Baltic is a very tall building! I was absolutely petrified of doing it and got cold sweats just thinking about it, so when my friend at work dropped out I saw that as my way out and I was so relieved but then I just beat myself up because I didn't do it, even though I didn't really want to do it in the first place!

So this year I'm wanting to work on more long term changes that aren't just knee jerk reactions on the 1st January that I will hopefully stick to, these are things that I had started to work on before the start of 2013 and I'm hoping to carry on this year.

Get Healthy

For the past couple of months I have been going to Slimming World and have managed to loose one stone, I'm really pleased but I know I could have done better, I constantly sabotage myself and then beat myself up about it, which leads to my weight yo-yoing constantly, I have lost 2 stone and then gained it all back again soo many times. I'm pleased with my achievement  but I know if I had stuck to my diet properly or even just a bit better I could have been nearer my goal instead I kept finding reasons why I needed a chinese takeaway or pizza.

However I am pleased that even when I have been off the wagon I have managed to maintain my weight instead of putting it all back on again, so I am hopeful that I am starting to put my yo-yoing behind me, so that is my goal, yes I want to loose weight but more importantly I want to stop beating myself up when I make mistakes so that I can be healthier and maintain my weight instead of going off the deep end.

I've been doing slimming world with my mam so I think being able to support each other has really helped. 

Be more confident in my career

When I started my new outreach job earlier this year, I was surprised that I was able to actually do the job! I had been working in as part of a small close-knit team in my previous role and now I was working independently, so although techincally I can do the job I was worried that I relied on my colleagues for advice and support too much, and I wouldn't be able to do it on my own.
But I did, and I feel proud of the work I have achieved since starting the role and the support that I have given to people to help them to make changes in their lives.
This year as part of my role I am going into the local college to speak to students to raise awareness of Domestic Abuse and unhealthy relationships, I am absolutely petrified at talking in front of a large group of people, just thinking about it makes me feel very anxious.
I know I can do it, but I constantly question and doubt myself, so this year I want to work on banishing my confidence demons and trust in my abilities more. 

Blogging
I want to be more confident in my blogging abilities. 
Rachel has always been more creative than me and has more skills in photography, I have always assumed that most of the good things about the blog have been down to Rachel, and I'm the sidekick who is obsessed with all things beauty but doesn't have the skills yet to make it great. Rachel has never made me feel this way but it is how I felt. 
If you are an avid reader of the blog you may have noticed that there haven't been many posts from Rachel in the past few months, Rachel has had a few things change in her personal life so hasn't had as much time available to focus on the blog. So I was left in the position of leave it until I can blog again with Rachel or keep going on my own, I kept going on my own and it made me realise I can do it. I cringe a bit when I look at posts from the first couple of months of the blog, they are really bad, but it helps me see how far we have come with the blog.
So this year I want to focus more on blogging, I love writing the blog, but I'm not very organised and often don't know what to write, so I want to get a blogging notebook to write down ideas and keeps notes when I am trialing new products, I'm hoping this will help to make me feel more inspired and focused on developing our blog.

What are your New Year Resolutions?

Also would you interested in posts about my journey with weight loss? or has this been overdone?

Elaine

2012 Favourites... Moments

I have really enjoyed 2012, there have been some great moments this year that I wanted to share with you.

Blogging

I'm soo pleased that Rachel persuaded me to start a blog with her, she had been listening to me talk about makeup and beauty blogs for soo long and I don't think I ever would have thought I could write a blog on my own, so it's been really great starting a blog with her. I have enjoyed everything that has come along with it.

Cats

We adopted two white cats in April! They are soo cute but are both identical bright white so it took a little while for us to realise which cat was which. I love cats so I was really excited when my boyfriend finally agreed to getting them. They are a bit naughty, if you follow me on twitter or instagram you will see the state of my Christmas tree, but I love having them around.

Going to Morecambe with my family

We have 2 young nieces who we adore, we see them every weekend and I really look forward and cherish my time with them. It's started to become a bit of a tradition to go on a week caravan holiday with the girls and the family and this year we went to Morecambe and we had soo much fun together, it was even better that we managed to time it right with the only heat wave of the year. We had a great time going to the beach and Blackpool zoo, it was lovely to have the time to spend with my family.

Olympics

This summer I was hooked by the Olympic and Paralympic Games, but my favourite moment out of the whole of the games was during the opening ceremony when the torch was passed onto the new generation of sport stars and they were given the opportunity to light the cauldron, I absolutely loved the song Caliban's Dream by Underworld, it was just really perfect. You can see it on You Tube here.

Paris & Getting Engaged!

I went to Paris in September with my boyfriend and had such an amazing time, it was such a great time getting lost and exploring all the french pharmacies (well not sure how much Mark enjoyed that) and we went to Disneyland too! We even walked up all the stairs of the Eiffel Tower it's something I regretted doing after the first flight of stairs but I did have a great sense of achievement at the end but I was very pleased to see a lift to the very top.

But my very favourite moment of Paris was when my boyfriend proposed whilst we were sitting in gardens at the Lourve! It was such a lovely lovely surprise, and I adore the ring I love the vintage style. Rachel and my boyfriend did good picking it! I'm really looking forward to planning the wedding in 2013, so expect a few wedding posts!

London Fashion Week

Can you spot us??

Rachel won a competition with The Body Shop through pinterest to see the Ekaterina Kukhareva S/S13 show at London Fashion week, which she kindly invited me along to as well, the whole weekend was such a drama but such a good time!

It started with Rachel sleeping in so we nearly missed our train, it's not the most convenient or cheapest to catch another train to London when you live in Newcastle! 

Rachel was mugged on a night out and had her bag stolen, it was a really terrible thing to happen but Rachel was safe which was the main thing but then she got to be involved in a police chase around London as they tracked her iphone to catch the mugger, she got her phone back but the guy had sold it on so they still haven't caught the bastard. 

The next day we headed to Covent Garden to see a Fashion Scout show, which was amazing, we were on the front row so we are in a few of the pictures, we also got to meet the talented makeup artist Lan Nguyen which was amazing we got to have a chat with her about spring/summer 13 trends and got some tips too.

Oh yeah I also got yelled at by a fashionista at Somerset House! Fun times!

It was such a fun, nerve wracking, exhausting weekend, we were literally hysterical on the train back to Newcastle I felt sorry for the other passengers having to listen to all our babble and laughter! I will never forget it!

This year I also got a new job as a support worker (on secondment), I have really enjoyed the challenge and getting to know my new colleagues, it has given me soo much confidence in my abilities that I will take back to my normal job mid 2013.

I have really enjoyed this year but I am looking forward to 2013 and I'm hoping it will be a great year!

Elaine

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

We wish everyone a brilliant 2013! 

We want to take the opportunity to say thank you to everyone who takes the time to read our blog, it's really appreciated and it still gives us a thrill to see people reading and commenting our posts.

Elaine & Rachel