Boohoo blogger Challenge

Well I'm always late to the party aren't I? I'm doing the £50 Boohoo fashion voucher blogger challenge now with a few minutes to spare! Crazy! I know I've not been updating a lot either but I've been working loads of nights shifts and generally being like a vampire with the sleepING part, which isn't fun! I have loads of blog ideas in my head, and this was one of them. So in theme with the 'vampire' part, but not really, I decided to go for an all black outfit.

Fashion vouchers teamed up with Boohoo to do this competition, where you create an outfit under or up to £50. Up to four people can win £50 in vouchers to spend in Boohoo and could get the outfit they created!

Bascially, I just looked at the clearance page and wanted to buy ALL the things!! If I don't win, I really want to go on a shopping spree but I'm meant to be saving. I have mixed feelings about all the pretty clothes I could have since they're on sale, but would like to have money for Paris and Portugal, ah descisions! Anyway there were loads of different outfits I could have created, but as I said I went for all black as you can never go wrong with that.

I built the outfit around the leggings. I've wanted galaxy leggings for a while and will have to finally get some! Since they are quite a statement piece themselves I wanted to pick more simple items to go with it so it wouldn't clash with anything. So I added a beautiful side mixi skirt, with a mesh sleeve crop top that matches well with it I think. I wouldn't show my stomach with it, but I'd tuck the crop top into the mixi skirt since it's long enough to do so. To add some height with the very long skirt as I'm only 5'5" I picked some lace up boots. It says they're sporty which is 'on trend' but they don't look to sporty to me, but they're purdy anyway. I love heels but find it hard to walk in them usually, but these look sturdy enough with their chunky heels!

Altogether this outfit came to £47, which is just under the £50 budget! I would wear this outfit on a night out, or just going to the cinema to watch a film. It's casual but not too casual and would be great to wear in Winter with a nice warm coat on top. I can't wait to start layering up! And hopefully win a voucher to buy all these pretty things!

Roller Derby

My scuffed skates and rabbit socks peeking out of them

Sorry for the lack of updates, I lost my phone connector to my laptop, but now I've found it! Yay! So, I joined Roller Derby. Which is SO. MUCH. FUN! I even used caps locks! That's how fun it is! Sure it's exhausting, sweaty and you get bruises, but it's really a lot of fun.

I first learned about Roller Derby when the film Whip It came out in 2009. I's based on a novel by the same name, and Drew Barrymore directed it, starring Ellen Page. I love Ellen Page and if you like her films, you'll like this one. I didn't think to check if Swansea had a derby team, and they didn't then, but in 2010 they created one. To cut a long story short, I was too chicken to go on my own, and saw a friends friend on fb had been going and asked her about it, so off I went!

Last session, half of the ones above it was their first ever session

I was really nervous, but everyone was extremely nice, and there were all sorts of girls there. Younger girls, older girls, smaller girls, bigger girls, girls with crazy hair colours and tattoos and girls without. There were students and nurses and shop assistants and so on. If you feel intimated by going if you feel like you won't it in, don't. Everyone fits in. And it makes me want to dye my hair really bad now haha. 

They teach you to fall properly, and give you equipment if you don't have it so it's safe, but I did fall backwards about two or three times which give me lovely bruises! But I got better and didn't fall over last week. It's two hours long and boy did I feel it! But hopefully I'm getting fitter, I really need to! I already had my own skates, but they're outdoor skates so not as good but they'll do for now. It is an expensive hobby if you get into it, but with my local team they lend out kit which is nice. First things I'm going to buy though, are my own knee/elbow/wrist pads as the ones they give out stink! Oh em gee it's horrible!

I bought a t-shirt, mainly to wear for practice, no way I'll be on the team for months and months :P

I've been going for three weeks now, and I've improved so much! And my friends and their friends have started coming now, which is great, but where were they all when I was too chicken to go? Haha. If you're interested in joining, just look up your local roller derby team, and they'll probably have a facebook page and just go, I wish I hadn't put it off for so long. And that's a little of what I've been up to!

Last few weeks of Summer, Instagrammed...

Costa. Passout. Road. Carmarthen.
Glossy Box. Dog sitting. Mini flood. Sundae.
BBQ. Giant Rabbit. Chickens. No 7 makeup.
Owly gloves. Hunger Games. Sprinkles and Cupcakes. Cocktails.
Baby shower cupcakes. Winnie the Pooh Onesies. Mist. New Hairs.

Well, here's a little bit of what I've been up to in the last few weeks of Summer. I didn't take a lot of photos, and only picked a few. Some of these photos are from mid August! Ooops! I had Costa trips for catch up with friends, celebrated birthdays, my car broke down again! (I was stuck in a car park, so took a picture of the road while I was waiting) and drove on the Motorway for the first time and went to Carmarthen!

I've received one Glossy Box, and two She Said Beauty boxes, but haven't done a review on them yet, which I meant to do, and took one instagram pic of one Glossy Box haha I suck. I babysat, which also included puppy sitting! Olive, the dog, is kerazy! But cute, look at her with her teddy! We then had a mini radiator flood in our house which made the house stink for days! It was horrible, but okay now, sorta. We're just scared to use the radiators! And I had a Harvester catch up with my uni friends, where we always go and had ice cream Sundaes yum, yum!

I went to my last BBQ of the year I think, a leaving do for my boyfriend with his family. It rained in the morning so they set up tents and a gazebo, and then the sun came out before everyone arrived! During the BBQ I held a giant rabbit, called Cuddles, and said hello to their three chickens! Dorothy, Other Chicken and I can't remember the others name. (They also have one small child, bearded dragon, another rabbit, and the puppy Olive!) In that row of photos, I also bought some No7 Makeup and moisturiser, which I love.

In thanks for babysitting, they got me some owly presents, which was so nice of them! I got owl gloves and an owl scarf which are both awesome! I've worn the scarf a few times, and can't wait for it to be cold enough to wear those adorable gloves! In other awesome news, my DVD of Hunger Games arrived early! I'm obssessed with the books/film, love it! I only got the 12a version, but I've seen the 15 version and it's only a little bit extra of killing so I don't mind. I baked cupcakes in my new silicone molds which were a hit, everyone liked playing with the molds! And I went out with work for a few drinks in a cocktail bar, I had a Starburst, a Grasshopper and a Screaming Orgasm, all of which tasted magical. I need to go to that Cocktail bar more often, it was 2 for 1!

And for the last row, I half organised a baby shower for my friend, I made cupcakes, a terrible cake, paper bunting, and other food but didn't instagram it. Lots of other people brought food or baked cupcakes which was really nice too, and we played baby shower games. I bought some mini trophys from Tesco as prizes, and the games were hilarious. And my friend loved it. I bought a tonne of Winnie the Pooh clothes (that's the nursery theme) and these are two of my favourites. He is going to be the cutest baby evah!! The misty picture is just there to symbolise summer coming to a close, because wtf weather? It looked like something out of Silent Hill, but it's been a lot nicer since. And the last picture is of my new hair after donating the rest of it.

Beach

Beach by lisamello featuring french connection

So as I mentioned in my last post, my boyfriend has moved to Portugal. I miss him, but I've been keeping busy working or going to Roller Derby! I've spoken to him a few times, and he has a lush flat now, but the internets not working properly so we can't skype each other yet. I'm planning on going out there in the end of October. Just need to confirm a few things then hopefully I'll be booking my plane tickets this weekend before they keep going up!

Anyway this is a little outfit which would be cute to wear on a beach out there (even though he's not next to the beach, we can catch a train) and the weather should still be warmish in late October I'm hoping! I'm really liking blue and pink together atm, and find it's more of a Summer colour combo than an Autumn one so I'd like to get it out of my system now if I can!

I've been making some dip dyed shorts, and want to tone up my legs before I wear any (hello derby!) but I love them, and based the outfit around the shorts, keeping it simple with same colours, and brown accessories. Ah Portugal, I need to be there now please! Instead, I'm going to work a close now, boo! Is anyone else sad that Summers over? We never get them anymore do we? 

Donating my hair

Firstly, sorry for the lack of online presence, both with blogging, reading and commentating. My boyfriend moved to Portugal today, and I'm staying here, so I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could. And I helped him pack and sort out his life too so I didn't go online much. I'm a lovely girlfriend I packed his whole suitcase! He only took one suitcase and a bag! How do guys manage to do that? I'd want to take more than that for a holiday, let alone living in another country for the next year or two! He also picked today of all days to travel (Sept 11th, RIP) and I'm muchly sad now, and will probably be spending a lot of time online.

Anyways I digress. So above is a picture of my hair, not the best sorry but it was in the morning right before I went to get it all chopped off! I've been saying I'd donate my hair for months, but then I started to take care of it, and started to like it and want to keep it long! Even though I never did anything with it. I had thick, long, half way down my back length hair and I could do a Lady Godiva... if I wanted too! (Which I don't). The end 3/4's were dyed, but it'd faded as I haven't dyed my hair in over a year. I've had a few trims in the years but the last huge haircut I got was two years ago and I cut it shoulder length. (Then dyed it practically black after a break up, worse decision ever!) Yeah so that's a little hair history for you, sorry for boring you to death!

I went to my local hairdressers, who I go to about once a year (I hate going to hairdressers! I used to make friends come with me haha). I said I wanted to donate it, and I'm guessing they don't really have that many donate requests, and were all really proud of me! So that was a big ego boost! Plus it was quiet and only one other woman was having her hair done, and they all watched my hairdresser cut off my ponytail (She looked scared!), and said I should of have had it filmed! It was really weird though when it was cut off, I wasn't said or anything but it felt really light. She cut less off than I would have liked, because she wanted more to work with afterwards, but oh well. I was taking it home with me so wrapped it up in some tissue and put it in a bag. To donate, not because I'm a creepy hair collecting lady! But I did have fun freaking my brothers out with the pony tail afterwards haha!

I said I wanted a long bob, long enough to put up and I really liked what she did. She also thinned it out for me, but it's still too thick! It's really short at the back which I couldn't get a decent picture of and when I went home I saw my shadow on the ground and my hair was bouncing! Fun! So I like short hair, but I can't do anything with it! I'm useless at styling so it'll never look that nice again, and it's a little bit too short to put up, as its still thick, really silky and won't stay put! I am missing my long hair a bit, but my hair feels really healthy now. Plus I don't miss how long it used to take to wash and dry! Only the end bits still have dye on (I've been dyeing it since I was 12) but I am planning on dyeing it blonde soon! As I'm already bored with my natural colour which is darker than the photo above.

Anyway, the point to this blog, was not just about my hair, but about donating it! I volunteered in a school during my last year in uni, and this little girl in my class had leukemia, so she spent a lot of time out of school, and when she came back all her hair had gone. She wore scarfs a lot, but came in one day wearing a wig made out of human hair and I thought it would be nice to donate my hair, but I thought I couldn't because I'd dyed it. However, a few months ago I looked it up, and they accept all kinds of hair, as long as its over 7 inches in length, and not old ponytails! At the time I looked I thought I couldn't bleach it (I wanted ombre hair) so I didn't, but it turns out you can donate that too! 

The charity I'm donating my hair to is called Little Princesses and you can learn all about the rules here. The wigs for children are free and it takes about 8-9 ponytails just to make one wig! I just donated my hair and some money, but wish I'd done a fundraising event for it, but I was a bit too... um shy/awkward to ask people for money. But I'm glad I did it. I'm sharing this here, in case anyone else is thinking about cutting their hair. If you're cutting a huge amount off maybe think about donating it? You'll feel like a super person afterwards!

The Magic Number: No 7

Last week I was browsing around Boots, and I was thinking of maybe getting a proper foundation and to get my colour matched. I'm a bit shy so didn't really fancy the thought of sitting in a chair and having my make up wiped off for all the world to see my bare, horrible skin, but I did it anyway! So I'm kinda proud of myself! Now I usually wear powder foundation, either Tesco's own or Benefit (Obviously Benefit is waaay better, but the amount of times I've dropped my make up, the cheaper Tesco version is better for my purse). Now what I mean by proper foundation, is I wanted either a liquid or mousse foundation, and not the cheapy kind since if I was going to do this I wanted to do it properly. 

Anyways, I was looking round the No 7 aisle and an assistant came over and asked if I needed any help. She was older than me, and I don't know if you do, but I get a bit intimidated by the younger girls? So glad she wasn't a young, pretty, heavily made up girl, I thought I'd ask to get colour matched and then she had my on the chair and took off my make up. She said a mousse would be better for my skin type than a liquid foundation, as it's more matte (I have combo skin). She used a brush and put it on and it was like magic! It lasted all day and I only put a bit of powder on afterwards as I had a tiny bit of a shine.

I was going to buy it there and then, but she said that next week (as in this week) they were getting new products, shades and a machine that would match your skin colour waaay better and she recommended that I wait. So I waited, and waited, and waited and was really excited when I went back to Boots (I'm sad, I know). I was with some friends this time and we went to a different Boots, but one friend was really excited about getting her skin matched too when I mentioned it. So again it was like magic seeing my skin transformed, and my friends expressions were funny since they said it was so good, and I had Beautifully Matte in Cool Ivory and my friend had a liquid foundation.

The assistant at that counter, like the other, asked me about my skin routine, and I said I used Simple moistersier and she said not to use it. She didn't force No 7 moisturiser on me, but said Simple was meant for people with good skin, so it didn't really do anything for me. Since there was a 3 for 2 deal on, me and my friend got our foundations and I got the moisturiser as well. Oh another tip she said, which we'd been discussing anyway, was about face wipes. She said don't use them either. Once in awhile is fine, but she said it doesn't help your skin. I've been about 50/50 with using face wipes or cleansing my face, since when you're tired it's easy to use them, especially if I'm over my boyfriends but now I'll only use it sparingly or to take make up off and then cleanse my face. 

I've been using the moisturiser everyday now and I barely need to use any of that, or the mousse, and it's been working way better for me. I've ordered some brushes so I'm just using my fingers atm (using the spatula thing to take it out first), so it's not ideal but I cannot wait for the brushes haha. The only downside is, that I do need to use powder on top when I'm working as I'm rushing around in work and I get boiling, but its barely anything. I've been drinking more water lately and that's also making a huge difference, and I finally got an appointment with my Doctors for my skin! However, its on the day my boyfriends leaving for Portugal, so I'm going to be all over the place then but it'll be worth it.Hope you enjoyed my review!

Keratin Smooth: TRESemme

I saw Jess review TRESemme's Keratin Smooth Deep Treatment Masque last week on her blog and knew I had to try it out for myself. Like her, I also have really long thick hair and whilst it's not overly frizzy or anything, I did want to tame it some more and make it feel extra soft. I've been trying out a few products for my hair and really wanted a hair masque, so when she mentioned this, and that Boots had taken 1/3 off the price making it just £3.66 I snapped it up when I next went into Boots. 

From the photo above, you can tell I love this! I've only used it twice so far but there is a huge difference, and I'm actually sad that I didn't bring it down my boyfriends to use. I also didn't buy the shampoo or conditioner to go with it, but I'm pretty happy with what I already have (Aussie products) so I didn't bother.

Inside is a thick white cream which is kinda runny, so be careful when you scoop it out, as I dropped a little when I first did it. You slather it on like a usual conditioner, but I put it on my roots and wished I hadn't. I don't condition the top half of my hair as it makes it greasy, and I found that happened with the TRESemme split remedy shampoo/conditioner when I put it all over, but I somehow thought this would be different haha. Anyways the second time I used it, I put it on the bottom 2/3s of my hair and it was fine. My hair was lovely and soft, and I know I always say that but it really does make a huge difference, and more so than other products I've used. I straightened my hair afterwards which I don't normally do, and it felt super soft and sleek.

Overall I would recommend buying this, and it's making me not want to cut my hair as I like the way my hair looks and feels now I'm taking care of it. However the reason I'm taking care of it, is because I will donate it... eventually. I'm just finding it hard to say goodbye, plus I hate going to the hairdressers! I'm like an awkward turtle in there!