The Body Shop Skin Saviors

Don’t you love those shopping trips that start with ‘ooh I’ll just nip in here to have a look at that thing I heard about’, and then end with you buying half the shop? Well this happened to me last week when I went into the Body Shop (maybe not as drastic as half the shop, but more than I intended on).



I love the Body Shop for starters. I feel like they’re one of those trustworthy brands that have been around for years, and really know their shit when it comes to skincare. The make-up range, I’ll admit, I've never really tried, but I have heard some really good things about.

What peaked my interest, and led me to have a nosey round the shop, was a few weeks earlier, I had done the skincare test on The Body Shop website. It takes about 5 minutes to complete, and asks you a few questions about your lifestyle and skincare routine. It then tells you what products would work best for you and your skin. It gave me a few recommendations, but the one that stood out to me was the Vitamin C Glow Boosting Moisturiser (£16). I was in the market for a new moisturiser, and wanted one that was quite lightweight, and could bring a bit of life back into my skin. When I went in store to have a gander, I had to pick it up. It’s lightweight, works for all skin types, and smells glorious. It has a citrus scent that makes you feel awake and refreshed in the morning (which is something I need!). The moisturiser clams to hydrate and energise the skin, whilst revealing a natural healthy-looking glow. It is targeted at dull, grumpy, fatigued skin, which is definitely what I've been working with for the past month or so. I should charge you 10p for the bags under my eyes!



So what’s the verdict? I have to say It's fantastic. It’s definitely bought a noticeable brightness and life back to my skin. It's not quite a moisturiser that I'm used to, in that when you apply it to your face, it dries almost instantly, and leaves your skin quite matified, but still very soft.  An interesting formula, but still very good. It does a very good job at what it claims to do, when it I look in the mirror, it does feel like my face does glow somewhat.

The next thing I picked up was something that a lot of beauty guru's rave about. The Tea Tree Pore Minimiser (£8.50). I wanted something that would prep my skin for make-up without making it too greasy, or too 'layered' if that makes sense. With some primers I feel like they can be a bit heavy, soafter you've put on foundation/powder, you've got a lot of layers of texture there, which isn't nice. This is great and lightweight, it boasts to to mattify the skin, which it does very well. Overall I'm really happy with this, I've been using it every day since I bought it, and it hasn't let me down yet.



Lastly was something that I believe has been a skincare staple for about 20 years. The Body Shop Tea Tree Oil (£8). My mum used to buy this stuff back in the day! She introduced me to it years ago when she found one out that she used to have. I picked this up again, because it is an absolute game changer for spots and blemishes. I get a lot of hormonal spots, and when I feel a really sore, angry one coming on, I use this stuff and it dies down dramatically. I would say it's the best thing that I've ever used for my spots, a very big claim, but it's that good!

It's also worth noting that I bought the Tea Tree Oil and the Pore Minimiser in a pack, The Body Shop always tend to package similar things together in store and it does work out cheaper! I think I paid £12 for both of these together, rather than buying them separately. If you do go looking for something in particular, it's always worth looking at if they come in a little set with something else for a cheaper price!

So this was a little body shop haul, with a few skincare treasures. Let me know what you think, if you've used any of these before, or if you have any more skincare favourites from The Body Shop.

As always, thank you for reading!

D is for...Driving Range

So we couldn't for the life of us think of a D date. I suggested we order a dominoes, which we did (they do sriracha as a topping now - it's a game changer), but we thought we can't really count that as a date. So after much debate, we decided to go to the driving range. Dan's a good golfer, he's been golfing since he was five, and I've never golfed in my life, so I thought this would be interesting to say the least...

We headed over to Grassmoor driving range, which Dan is a regular visitor to. If you're thinking of cheap date ideas, then the driving range is pretty good. Obviously different places will differ in prices, but for us it was £4 for 100 balls.

GOLF IS HARD.
Keep your arm straight, legs shoulder width apart, keep your knees bent, but not too bent, use your shoulders not your arms. I swear Dan could shadow as a golf instructor, but seriously I was a lost cause. I couldn't master how to swing without bending your arms! I eventually got slightly okay-ish at it towards the end. It really is all in the hips (there was a lot of Happy Gilmore referencing).

It also can hurt your hands quite a bit from gripping on the club, but even if you're useless like I am, it is a laugh and something different to do. The whole point in the alphabet dates is doing something that you wouldn't normally do, and I'm glad we went and experienced it, even though I was shockingly bad.

I'm really happy with this picture I got of Dan in action, he does look very pro. In the one Dan got of me, I look very useless and confused! So let's leave this one up and be happy.

Let me know if you think this is a good date idea, and PLEASE if you have any ideas for the E date, share them with me!

Thank you for reading!

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?