Hi my Lovelies!

This is a fairly short post today and on a serious subject matter.

I was looking through Twitter, and watching some of my favourite YouTube channels yesterday, and as usual, I noticed the usual negative comments, and it just got me to thinking how everyone that leaves a comment, a Tweet, clicks the Thumbs up or thumbs down button has the power to either upset a person or make them happy.

All the "big" names on YouTube and the Bloggersphere are used to nasty comments, along with the positive ones they receive. They all state that they don't affect them and that they ignore them, but there are plenty of new bloggers and vloggers springing up who aren't.

Just think, you've put hours and hours of research, editing, and probably frustration when software doesn't do what it should do, to get a blog post or video up, it takes hours to "network", try and get yourself recognised, opening and maintaining Instagram accounts, Tumblr accounts, Bloglovin...so many things to do that take your time, effort and a good old pinch of passion for what you do.  After all that someone comes along and says "well, that's not very original!" when it is, or "you've had your teeth done, I don't like them" when you could've spent thousands of pounds, saved for many years, or "that's so not a good look on you" when you've spent forever on an outfit, a makeup tutorial, and you think you're looking pretty darn good, and the work that went into it!  Then one of these familiar or similar phrases crop up and do you remember the 99 previous comments which commended and recognised your hard work, the ones that make you feel elated and like it was just all SO worth that effort? Or do you remember that one single comment, that slightly horrible feeling in your gut as your stomach flip flops as you decide whether to confront or ignore the person (we KNOW we need to ignore but let's face it, we're only human!).  Suddenly all that hard work seems pointless and you feel deflated.  Yet that one person, their lives carry on, they don't even THINK about what you're feeling when you read that comment, or they do think exactly about what you're feeling because of jealousy or just because they enjoy hurting people's feelings! 
 
So yes, we need to ignore them, we need a good old fashioned thick skin - that person has taken your power away and made you feel like rubbish.  So we need to take away that power.  They WANT you to comment, they want an argument, they want to call you more names!! So take your power back and just delete the comment, block the user, do whatever you like - becausein fact YOU hold the power over what's said on your blog, in your video comments, on Facebook or Twitter.  And the biggest satisfaction is making sure that person has no power and is ignored.  Yes, it hurts, it does, but you started it for a reason and you need to keep on doing what you are passionate about - there will be people all over the world who like your style, share your passions, someone out there LOVES you and looks up to you!  Show them how to deal with the nasties, ready for their own journey through the place you once trod.

And for every person that clicks the Thumbs Down, or says they don't like their style, their work, think about how that little tiny thing to you can keep a person up all night or feel horrible inside.  Just think how you'd feel to receive the same.  If you are going to criticise then let it be constructive, let it be friendly, we all like to know where we are going right and where we are going wrong, we want to please, but there's no need not to be tactful and kind - that person's spent hours on that article and put their heart and soul into it! 

And just remember, whenever you make a negative comment, somewhere a little puppy dies........😱

Be kind, be nice, smile and share, be happy and cause happiness!  One small sign or sentence has a great power - use it wisely!

Take care my Lovelies!
Loz 😘 X x X

Hi my Lovelies!

So, as I used it yesterday for the first time, I thought I'd quickly tell you about the Emjoi Micronail!

The Micronail is available from two places online, Boots.com and Micronail.co.uk.  It's priced £39.99 so to be honest I would go through Quidco to get cashback and use Boots.com as you can also spend or earn advantage points! The refills are currently only available through the Micronail website though.

Now, I do have weak, damaged and peeling nails, which you will see in the pictures.  Emjoi do NOT advocate using their Micronail on damaged nails! I just learn to live with my nails and spend my life trying to make them healthier but the sad fact is, mine are so thin and peeling due to medication so there's not a huge deal I can do about it! 

Anyway, I do have lots of ridges on my nails and so I do like to buff my nails anyway. By the way, the trick to buffing, is - much like they suggest on the Micronail - something you shouldn't do often and something you need to be careful about. When you have re growth and wish to buff the new growth, remember to ONLY buff the new growth, you've already buffed the rest of the nail and you WILL weaken them if you buff over them! The Micronail product states you must only use the smoothing wheel once every 2 weeks - just remember to only do the new ridged/non-smooth growth!

As far as the product is concerned, it has clear instructions, it requires 2 AA batteries which are included, and there is a grey smoothing wheel and a white shining wheel - this also comes with 2 of each so that's plenty to last for a while! Its simple to use, again, please read the simple instructions and note you must only use the grey smoothing wheel for 2 seconds per nail - this prevents you buffing the nail down too much but enough to smooth the surface. You then follow by doing the whole nail with the shining wheel, which you can do every day if you wish, its essentially the same as polishing your nails with a polishing cloth, so the choice is yours!

So here is a picture guide to the stages of my nails:

So, clearly pic 1 is my natural nails with nothing on them.
Pic 2 is after I've smoothed and shined my nails - you'll notice you can see my dry cuticles and nails quite a lot here.
Pic 3 is dropping some cuticle oil in and massaging all over the cuticle and nail bed.
Pic 4 is when the oil has soaked in and I've removed it from the nail bed.

I think that in pic 4 my nails look really healthy and hydrated as well as smooth. The bonus to using the Micronail is that when you buff manually and then use the same steps with cuticle oil afterwards, when you then remove the oil from the nail plate they are no longer shiny and you have to reshine the nail! With the Micronail it stays shiny after your hydrating treatment! And my picture doesn't show it very well unfortunately, but the shine is out of this world, its like glass! 

So all in all I really like this product. I put my nail base coat, polish, top coat etc on afterwards and the application was so smooth and I look like I've done a gel manicure, its so smooth and shiny! I'll show you a pic of the end result, but again as I did this in the evening I just couldn't get the right light to show how shiny my nails are, so you'll have to take my word for that! 

I will be using this product again and again, especially when I'm having my "naked nails" day, because I do hate dull nails, I just love them to shine! Now I can leave them properly bare as I usually go bare but sneak a high gloss top coat on because I just need to have sparkly fingers! 

So there we have it! If you aren't a fan of buffing, this product isn't for you, but if you're like me, who enjoys the smooth glossy look of gel manicures but with the ability to quickly change colours, or who love a natural or French nail, you will love this product! 

With that, you all take care my Lovelies!
Loz 😘 X x X

Does anyone have a particular thing they do to help them relax, and if you do, do you do it often enough?
 
When I was very sick in hospital, my consultant said I could be a mum, do my work, have sleepless nights and generally wear myself out and this would likely make me ill again, BUT I could do all those things so long as I regularly took time out specifically to rest, relax, chill out and recharge myself.

Sometimes it will be a luxury hot long soak in the bath, followed by PJs and my fluffy dressing gown and a film, sometimes it will be switching off on chores at a certain time and reading a book, or it could be blogging or trialling beauty products. It doesn't matter what it is, but it must be stress free and something you enjoy! 

If you struggle to find the time for this, consider just for one minute - when I got sick, I nearly died. And I nearly died because I never ever had a single minute off, I ran myself into the ground. When you consider that, lets just weigh up the facts - wear yourself into a life threatening illness OR have the odd hour or 2 here and there to relax and recharge?  And if you're a mum, wife, dad, carer etc, just think what a better one you will be when you're rested, chilled out, energised, not tired, ratty & stressed!

In other words, relaxing saves lives! And as light hearted as I say that, I also truly mean it. If you STILL think you can't possibly find time to do this, then when you are writing in your diary all your appointments, chores, errands, your families needs, your to-do lists, physically pencil in a day and time for you. And put as much importance into making that appointment happen as you would turning up to a dentist appointment, going to an interview, bringing in the kids costumes by a certain day for the school play....because without YOU, these other things won't happen. So you need to take care of yourself. It's not selfish, it's essential. 

With that, I'm off to grab my favourite snack and put my feet up with a book!

Take time for you, take time today, take time now!  Don't put it off one minute longer, write it in your diary, book yourself in!

Happy weekend my Lovelies!
Loz 😘 X x X

Hello my Lovelies!

How on earth are you all pootling along?

Well my lovely hauls are still in a box on my dining table (oops!) - whenever I've had a big haul it becomes a bit daunting to try and go into detail about each item....I mean, do I do a full on review or swatch for each product? Or just a pic, brand, name, price and a link to the online shop? And even if you opt for choice number two it still takes an awfully long time if you've got, say, 15 items! 

So, in cases of doubt, like this - I choose procrastination! I've decided to talk about these 2 lovely products instead because I'm a little bit of a secret fan of the company Bravura London!  And I'm not sure they're getting enough hype! I started get the Hyaluronic Acid Serum from them when it was on sale, which is fantastic for those dehydrated skin days.  I also purchased their Dermaflannel which is amazing as a microdermabrasion flannel, and yes, it IS worth £11.99!  After all, there's no need to buy any microdermabrasion creams, machines, scrubs etc! Every home should own one - mines been going for a year with no sign of wear, that's value if ever I saw it. And it actually works too!

But, onto these two creams! Now, this isn't a review as I've not tried them yet, however I have tried the ingredients in other products and have been pleased with the results, so this is more about what they are and what they do! There is the Glycolic Acid 10% moisturiser, which is a day moisturiser and is priced at £16.32 and the 15% Glycolic Acid Night Treatment priced at £17.40.

These are aimed at problem/acne issues.  The day moisturiser is stated to be a mild treatment for more dry, mature, spotty or problem skin.  The night treatment is stated as a treatment for wrinkled, sun-damaged, congested, spotty and scarred skin. I.e. ME!

Both are claimed to exfoliate & remove dead skin cells, rejuvenate, revive and moisturise deep into the skin cells.  There is no reason to doubt this as Glycolic acid by its nature does exactly that!  It's one of the smallest AHAs (alpha-hydroxy acids) and is naturally derived from sugar cane, although it is made synthetically.  Its a chemical exfoliant, and safely removes the outer layer of dead skin cells on the surface of the skin, allowing fresh new skin to appear from underneath.  It is targeted as an anti-ageing ingredient and is known to work effectively at what it's supposed to do!  It basically does what it says on the tin!  It also lightens discolouration of the skin, such as sun spots, and clears acne prone & blackhead prone skin. 

WARNING!  As Glycolic acid removes the top layer of dead skin, please remember to use sunscreen whenever you use anything containing it, to protect the delicate new skin as it appears!

As for these creams, they have an ingredient list of reassuringly natural items such as aloe Vera gel, arnica blossom extract, calendula, chamomile etc, all know to be fab for the skin and incredibly calming and soothing for those breakouts and nourishing for the new skin, alongside a list of chemicals known to help the Glycolic acid to do its job well.  It is not all natural, or organic etc., but then it doesn't claim to be!  If you're looking for that then look away now! It has Urea which these days is made synthetically (who wants urine on their face?! Not me thanks!), and its job is to promote rehydration and is a topical ointment for problem and irritated skin and is used in many eczema and psoriasis treatments.  It also contains hydrogen peroxide which along with helping to lighten skin discolouration is also a treatment for acne.

In other words, there is no reason these creams won't do as they claim!  But I will be reporting back anyway! I'm currently having a lovely chin outbreak which is bugging me, so I shall be starting from tonight and see if this makes any difference! Wish me luck on my continual search for the holy grail of Skincare, something that solves all my problems and makes me look young(er) again! 

With that, I'm off to potter round Instagram for some pretty makeup looks and a quick gander at YouTube for any gossipy things I can find! 

Keep your eyes open for my competition coming this week!

Take care my Lovelies!
Loz 😘 X x X

Hello my Lovelies!

Well I've been up to very boring life stuff that's completely stopped my blogging and this has not made me a happy bunny! So what better way to come back than with some gorgeous pics of my latest hauls! Just as a little taster (as its very late now and I have THE most annoying cold!).  I thought I'd split them into departments and do some mini-reviews, so that's something to keep an eye out for in the coming days! 

But for now, some pics to whet your appetite! I've been trying some out, but had to wait on others to get the pictures taken. All the stockists and prices will be coming up in the in-depth write up & descriptions. Plus of course some handy tips on how to save money and even make money! Which in my book makes them technically free........(I'm currently convincing myself that this is true!).

So the first 'department' is obviously makeup. OBVIOUSLY! As everyone knows I'm a total makeup junkie and I hold my hands up to my addiction! I have so many favourite brands of makeup, Tom Ford, Make up Forever, Shu Uemura, Real Techniques, Urban Decay, along with favourite drugstore brands like Revlon, L'Oreal, Bourjois....to name but a very small few in my collection!  But there's one brand I always come back to, the brand my addiction started with, the brand that mainly fills my kit and who's lipsticks take up 80% of lipstick space, the brand I just LOVE receiving and opening of the little black box.....if you've not guessed it now, yes I'm talking about MAC!  So just a mini-haul from mainly MAC really (in comparison to my kit purchases!), but with a couple of other brands in, plus my lusted after special edition copper Sigma F80 flat kabuki - 5 years! It seems like they've been around forever!

Anyway, next is a little Paperchase haul - oh I love pretty, sparkly, bold stationery! I don't know why I love stationery so much, maybe I was deprived of stationery as a child?? Who knows? Anyway, not one to turn down some prettiness and memory making! I bought the big plain scrapbook for all the etchings and notices and scraps important to my kids, and my bold but glittery scrapbook as the "family" scrapbook. Every year or so we fill it with recent pictures, programmes, ticket stubs, funny stories and sayings the kids come out with. It's like a visual journal I guess, and I get to use pretty tapes to stick the bits and bobs in, and cute little stickers to decorate or record family milestones.  I got a similar glittery notebook to use to make notes on my blogging because 50 pretty notebooks aren't enough, no-one can have too many notebooks!  That's just silly! Pfft! Moving on.....ooh something that I know will come in handy, a flexible ruler! That's almost a basic essential! I can't count the amount of times I've thought "what I really need right now is a flexible ruler!"  And Paperchase obliged! 😁

Then we have some Skincare.  I got the awesome Jason hand and body lotion which smells divine (I refuse to use any other shampoo and conditioner at the moment, they leave my hair so clean and soft - if I didn't have short mega-curly frizzy hair, I'd feel like the girl from the Timotei advert!).  So at the bargain prices they sell for, it would be almost rude NOT to try some other products!  You may notice in the picture a Bach Flowers rescue remedy called Hornbeam.....I bought this because it's supposed to help with lack of motivation (me), procrastination (me) and general lethargy at actually doing anything vaguely useful (me). I'm writing my first blog in weeks so I guess so far it seems to be working! 😁

A couple of 'randoms' too - another Anna Sui makeup storage tray - if you see my Twitter page you'll see I already have one of these and 2 of the brush holders. I LOVE these and when I posted them all over Twitter, they all sold out! Go figure, huh?  Anyway, I couldn't help but notice the tray back in stock so that popped into my basket whilst I had the chance! Also pictured below is my current Beauty Love!  Pearl Drops party sparkle tooth polish! A good deep down cleanse is half the battle towards white bright teeth, plus something strong enough to budge any stains (I drink my coffee like mud, I should cut it out but....nah!). This tooth polish cleans your teeth until they literally squeak! And I've tried many whitening products, some have their merits, some don't - but if you want a quick blast of extra sparkly white on the way out of the door you won't go far wrong getting some of this! Its hard to come by for some reason (probably because I have 10 years supply in my cupboard), so you'll need to go to some online pharmacies to find it.  I'll give you more info when I do reviews anyway.  At the minute, it's late and my iPad is having a meltdown with any pictures I'm trying to add so I figure it might be time to leave it there before I throw the iPad at the wall and cry hysterically.  That's never pretty to be honest.

So I will put the last pics below because I can no longer argue and shout at my iPad before my neighbours send round the men in white coats....

Catch you on the next one my Lovelies!

Loz 😘 X x X