March Resolution

Wow this year is going by so fast! I can't believe I'm already on my third monthly resolution. Progress report on the February resolution is positive. I get a word of the day every day, and seeing as it's on my phone, I rarely forget to check it! I think one thing I can take away from doing this little monthly challenge, is that when you're trying to make a change in your life, like a new diet or trying something new, try and incorporate it into your daily life/routine as best you can. You need to be realistic when it comes to setting goals, so by adapting it into something you normally do, rather than completely changing your lifestyle, you're more likely to stick to something.

So February saw me stressing quite frequently, and money budgeting like crazy. This has lead to one of the worst breakouts I've ever encountered, a poorly Lauren, and general sad times. My March resolution will be one that contributes to my health and well-being. It is one that I NEED to get under control, and I'm hoping in a month I will notice a real difference, not only in my skin/general health but in myself (naw). My March resolution is:

Drink more water

This might seem very simple, but I don't drink enough water. Working in an office, when someone says 'do you want a drink?', I would much rather have a lovely hot mug of tea or coffee. If it comes down to the choice, it's a no brainer, but I need to learn to ditch my beloved caffeine for something healthier.

"How will you make sure that you do this Lauren?" I hear you ask. Well as you know, I like to think that an app can solve all my problems, so I have downloaded a handy little app called 'Plant Nanny'. This amazingly cute invention, is a water reminder app, that takes the form of a little plant who needs water to survive. You need to look after it by giving it water, and in turn you're supposed to have some water too. This is like a Tamagotchi that makes you healthier, what could be better!? Although you can't play with your plants, you just give them water to live, and in reality it's no where near as fun.

I know what you're thinking! "Well what if you forget about your plants?" Well if you're like me, and you can't leave any sort of push notification messying up your home screen, then that's a pretty good motivator to drink some water. If you have a life, and don't worry about that sort of thing, then the app does send you reminders. This may annoy you, but if you don't want an app to run your life and tell you what to do, then don't download it. I, on the other hand, am a slave to apple, and will do whatever they say.

Also as pathetic as it sounds, one of the first days I'd spent using this app, I went on one morning to log my first drink of the day, and because I'd been bad the day before, it was sad/dying, and I FELT GUILTY! I mean, it broke my heart to see my virtual plant dying because I'd been slacking on my water. I do realise how sad this is, don't worry.

So that's my March resolution. Let me know if this is something you try and do, and how you manage to keep up with drinking enough water!

As always, thank you for reading!

10 'girl' things that i'm bad at

Hello fellow females (and males if you're reading, I don't discriminate). This post will either be completely relatable, or make you think I'm a slobby, lazy non-woman, who needs to stripped of her womanlyness immediately. I'm sure (hoping) that if you're a girl (or even if you're not. Again, I ain't hatin'), you'll come across these sort of things in life, and think "my god I'm so bad at being a girl". This happens to me on the regular, and even though there are lots of girly tasks that I relish in, there are others that make me scream with frustration. Whichever way you take this post, I hope you enjoy reading it/laughing at my sad life.



Without further ramblings, here are 10 'girl' things that I'm bad at:

1) Doing my nails

It's something that I get excited to do in my head, but when it comes to actually doing, I get so frustrated I nearly end up tearing the buggers off my finger. I am a serial smudger, I can't have my nails too long due to wearing contact lenses, I chew my cuticles (yes I know that's gross, it's a nervous habit), and I always forget to put on a top coat because I'm lazy, and this leads to chipping. I am absolutely USELESS when it comes to my nails

2) Cleaning my make up brushes

Now what's the rule here? a quick clean whenever you use it, and then a deep clean once a month? All I have to say to that is: HAHAHAHAH okay then. I actually physically went out and bought some make up cleanser, which is the easiest thing to use! Simply spray onto a cotton pad and wipe away the excess dirt, it could not be simpler, and I'm STILL bad at doing this. I sometimes do this every now and then (when I remember/am arsed to). I also only give them a deep clean maybe once every 6 months (hides).



3) Moisturising my body

I am really bad for this. Unless I've got that amazing Nivea in-shower moisturiser, then this job just ain't getting done. The furthest I'll go is moisturising my legs after I've shaved them, but that's the only time I actually think about moisturising my body. I know it's important, it's just when you've got that post-shower/bath laziness, it takes a lot to get your whole BODY moisturised, and then waft yourself about until you've dried off. Am I right?

4) Having regular haircuts

This is again, pure laziness and forgetfulness. I will leave my hair a good six months without going to the hairdresser to have my mop chopped. I am really really trying to get better at this! I'm trying to get my hair to a point where I'm really happy with it, just at the minute I'm not loving it. I tolerate it, and I am happyish with it most of the time. Hopefully this is something I can work on. I'm considering going for a 'lob' next time I go!



5) Leaving spots/blemishes alone

Right, if I see a spot, it's getting squeezed. I know you're meant to leave them to do their thing, but there's nothing I enjoy more, than a nice big juicy whitehead. My boyfriend and I are actual spot freaks. We send each other snapchats when we wake up with a good zit, we go mad over those viral videos with the freakishly big and bad ones, and I don't think we can make it through an evening without one of us saying 'Ooh let me have a go on your back'. Yes I realise this might be an overshare, but I don't think I'm alone on this! Please let me know if you're also a closet spot obsessive.


6) Painting my toenails

I know this kind of fits into the first point, but I'm even more useless at doing my toenails than I am my fingernails. I think it comes down to laziness again, but I think unless they're on show, then what's the point? I'll only ever plan to do them if I'm going out in shoes where you can see them (sometimes that will even affect my shoe choice - yeah I know).















7) Doing 'the messy bun'
This is not for lack of trying I tell you. The messy bun is one that I've tried to master on numerous occasions, but 9 times out of 10 it just looks messy messy rather than chic messy. There always comes that point too where you've been fiddling around with it for that long trying to make it look good, that your arms start to ache and feel like they're going to fall off. Someone please show me an easy way to pull this look off without looking like a tramp.

8) Fake tanning

I've got to the point with fake tan, where I just don't bother. I used to do it, and I'd look freaking ridiculous. It's something that I've never been able to master doing well. Also I'm the palest person on the planet, so I think that makes it look even worse on me. If there are any tanning products out there that work with borderline albino girls, then please let me know!

9) Wearing Heels

I just can't. I'd rather go out in flats, than have to endure that god awful pain any more. The only heels I can stand are those thick ones that can actually stabilise me for an evening. I wish I could be one of those flawless Carrie Bradshaw types that make heels look so effortless, but that just isn't me. I'd rather go out and be comfortable in my shoes, than want to cut my feet off/look like bambi on ice/be moaning all night!



10) False Eyelashes

This is more of a fear rather than something I'm bad at. As I mentioned, I wear contact lenses, so the thought of messing up around my eye area scares me. I always think 'what if the glue gets in my eye!' which yes, would be an unbelievably stupid thing to accomplish, but have you met me? Again, this is something that I'm going to try and get over, because I do love the look of them when they're done properly.

So there you have it! I'm officially a terrible female. I might do a series on trying to master each of these things for your entertainment, if that's something I can actually get myself to doing! Let me know if you're useless like me, We can start a support group!

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this post

C is for...Cubana and Casino

Our C date crossed over with Valentines Day, so Dan and I decided to go for an evening away. We booked a hotel, and had a lovely meal at Cubana.

Cubana is insane! It's this amazing Cuban restaurant (in case you couldn't figure that out), that serve tapas for a set price per person. They had a fancy Valentines Tapas menu, in which they bought out a million dishes! There was no way that we could finish it all, but it was really gorgeous. The red wine lamb and spicy prawns were particularly scrumptious. Although, as it was Valentines day, we were sat next to two other couples, which made the set-up feel a little bit like speed dating.

The restaurant was lovely, a nice romantic atmosphere, and gorgeous food/wine (good wine is important). Also if you're feeling brave, they have salsa dancing in the bar area, which I got excited over, but Dan rejected flatly. So we decided to go to the casino instead which was just down to road.

I always like going to the casino, as it feels very sophisticated and fun, so as we were all dressed up, this felt like a good choice. This went south quite literally, as on our way there I FELL OVER ON MY ARSE, followed by Dan bursting into hysterics, and 2 minutes of me with the face on. Not ideal.

(Here I am feeling very pretty in my new shirt dress and boots. This outfit is a mixture of Primark and Tesco as I am cheap, but I feel like it looks more expensive than it is!) 

When we got to the casino (I practically ran inside as it was bloody freezing), we got a few drinks, and went over to the blackjack tables, as that's the only game we have enough knowledge on, and feel brave enough to play. I proceeded to lose £20 instantly by losing every. single. hand. Getting the face on for the second time in one evening wasn't the plan, but I had another drink and got over it pretty quickly. Dan went on to lose all the money that he'd won. So we ended up two poor sad people on valentines day. I think we should have gone salsa dancing instead. 

On a lighter note, the evening wasn't as bad as I've made out. We had lots of lols and soppy moments where we felt incredibly happy and lucky to have each other, which is what Valentines is all about after all. 

I hope you had a lovely Valentines day, and thank you for reading! 

CHANEL - Ultra Hydrating Lip Colour

So the day that i went into Boots to buy a Chanel lipstick was a happy one. I never buy any high end make up, and if I do, it's normally bought with my boots points (as was this purchase!). I had heard a lot about the coco rouge ultra hydrating lip colours, and I decided that I wanted a pretty but neutral colour that I could wear every day.

I decided to go with the colour Cecile, which is a gorgeous pink that looks very natural on the lips. This is definitely a 'my lips but better' shade, which is exactly what I was looking for. The lipstick itself is quite shimmery, which I don't normally love in a lipstick, but this one isn't too in your face. It's very subtle and works very nicely. I have been wearing this with my No7 Lip pencil in nude, which enhances any neutral lipstick beautifully.

As the name would suggest, it is very hydrating. It feels more like a balm than a lipstick in my opinion, which I love in these cold winter months when my lips are horrible and dry. I could wear this all day, and it won't wear out nastily. I think it's well worth investing in a really good quality lipstick that you can rely on for every day. I'm so glad I decided to go for this one! Some of the others shades look quite appealing too. I may go for a bolder colour next time. 

Overall, I have to say I am pretty head over heels for this lipstick. It's classic, and just makes me feel pretty when I wear it. I would definitely recommend you go and treat yourself to some Chanel!  

February Resolution

Well January is officially done and dusted, and I am welcoming February with open arms. I like that we can finally get into a bit of normality by not feeling the pressure to be healthy, lose weight, or generally be better people through the January post-Christmas guilt. Having said that, here is my monthly resolution update!

So for the month of January my resolution was to put my phone away when in social situations. This resolution was HARD! It was particularly bad when whoever I was with was on their phone, and I was sat there like an addict in recovery thinking ‘you can get through this, stay strong, you don’t need the phone’.

I can’t say hand on heart that I've stuck to this religiously. There are times when you just NEED the phone, whether it's to rant about celebrity big brother, or if something's kicking off in the group chat. I do feel however, as though it has done me a lot of good to put the phone down when I'm with people. It has made me more mindful of being in the moment with someone, rather than off in phone land.

Overall, I'm quite happy with my January resolution. It’s been tough at times, but definitely worth doing. I’d recommend a month of phone isolation for those of you who are a bit addicted like me (only when you’re around others, I'm not completely insane).

Now on to my February resolution! This may be something that you could try, depending on your job and if it’s relevant to you. I work in a large business, specifically in procurement. I started at this job in September, and one thing that has been really difficult for me (other than finding the will to get out of bed in the morning to go to said job), is the vocabulary that is used in meetings, memos, etc. Sometimes it’s like trying to decipher another language entirely. That’s why my resolution for February is:

Develop my business vocabulary 

(Wow, this looks really boring when you put it in writing)

I downloaded the app ‘Business Dictionary’ which is free on the app store. This app gives you a term of the day, so I plan to use this daily throughout February to try and develop my business vocabulary and sound like I know what I'm talking about at work.

Hopefully this is one that I can get into the habit of learning as I go along. If you work in an office or a business environment, then this could be really useful for you! Let me know if this is something that you would try. Alternatively, you could get a normal dictionary app, and still learn a word of the day. Is it just me that finds a strong and varied vocabulary a strangely attractive quality?

B is for...Brunch

B was a tough one to think of ideas for. We didn't want to go bowling, because we wanted to think slightly outside of the box. Also i'm ridiculously awful at bowling.

We decided to go for brunch somewhere fancy, which was meant to happen last week, but we were both hungover, and Dan couldn't keep anything down so we ended up having a lazy Saturday instead.

This weekend we were a bit fresher, and hungry for a lovely brunch at Maison Mes Amis. This is a local restaurant, which has a bit of a fancy reputation, so we thought it'd be a nice place for a brunch date. 

We both had Croque Madame, which was gorgeousss! Just looking at this picture makes me want to eat it all over again.

I'd like to take the opportunity to say, how amazing is brunch!? Let's just explore this for a moment:

• It's breakfast food, i mean come on. Who doesn't love a good breakfast?
• It's acceptable to have alcohol 
• You can pretend you're a bit fancy for an hour or so
• Most brunchy places serve breakfast until the afternoon (Mes Amis serves until 3pm), so you can have a lazy hungover morning in bed, and then go straight out for food, with time to spare!
• If you go on a brunch date, then you can keep the date going by doing something else afterwards without it being too late
• Alternatively, if your date is shit, then you can leave and you've not wasted the whole day
• It's brunch. Give me some downsides, cos honestly I can't see any negatives. Go with your friends, go with a date, have some drinks, eat some food, it'll set you up for a good day.

Overall, I was very happy with B. It was a nice change, which is really what this challenge is about, getting out there and doing different things.

Let me know your thoughts on brunch! Are you a crazy fanatic like me? If you've never had it, then I would definitely recommend that you try it!  

Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual - The Ultimate Beauty Guide

Today’s post is a little book review. I’m not sure what my opinion on book reviews is to be honest! I love reading, but I’m always very skeptical when someone recommends a book to me, because what someone might tell me is gripping, I might find boring. I think books are very personal, and you can’t tell if you’re going to like one until you’re reading it yourself, and even then, it might take you until you’re halfway through to make up your mind about it. This is a little bit different, as it’s a makeup book, rather than a novel.

For Christmas I received the incredible Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual from my boyfriend (without prompting! I was impressed). Other than being completely surprised that he’d bought me this, I was also extremely excited, as I’d wanted this for quite a while. I know i'm extremely late to the party seeing as this came out in 2008 (!!!), but i think it's still a classic. It doesn't go into great deal on any of the newer makeup trends out there like contouring or strobing, but it's still a fantastic staple for anyone who has a genuine passion for makeup. I thought I would give you a review on what you can expect from the book, and the sort of things that are covered in it.

  

Bobbi Brown is a great talent. It is clear from the first couple of pages, this woman knows what she’s talking about. She states that she has written the book to benefit anyone, whether you're a beginner or a professional makeup artist. It goes through the very basics of makeup application, what works for different skin types, and a series of how-to's, sprinkled with absolutely gorgeous photography.

         

The book is split into two parts, basics and artistry. I have only read the basics section so far, but I am already amazed by this book. I've learnt so many things already, and by applying some of the tips and methods, I see a genuine difference in my makeup. Bobbi goes into detail about exactly what you'll need in your makeup kit, how to care for your products, and how exactly to use them. There's sections on skincare, eyes, lips, specific looks, makeup photography, and the history of makeup. There's something in here for everyone I think, no matter your experience or knowledge.

If you have any interest in makeup, the industry, learning tips, or the history of it, then you will love this book, and I definitely recommend it. Let me know if you've read this, and what you're thoughts are!