lifeofablonde.co.uk!

Hello everyone so this is just a quick post to tell you some exciting news about my blog!

**THIS IS MY LAST EVER POST ON THIS PLATFORM YOU CAN NOW FIND ALL MY POSTS ON MY NEW WEBSITE INCLUDING ALL OLD CONTENT**

I have worked with Missfluencer a blog design company and I now have my very own website for my blog- you can find it by searching lifeofablonde.co.uk into the top search bar!

I already like having a self hosted website a lot more than Blogger and I would definitely recommend it to anyone thinking of changing over.

Although I have kept some of the same features of my old blog (this one) there are now more features and my page is more interactive in general.

It includes my brand new blog header by Alohalola cards, she is so talented and I'd 100% recommend her to anyone wanting illustrations or blog headers done! Find her on twitter HERE 

I feel like there's so much more to see on this new layout compared to my 'old layout' so I really hope you guys like it as much as I do!

I hope you enjoy my new website and I will see you soon with some exciting new posts including my first ever collab!

My little Dream Catcher...

The other day when I was day dreaming, staring into a specific space of my room, my daze was broken with the sight of my little, old, pink dream catcher hanging on my curtain rail.

It’s one of those things that seems to have always been in my room- wherever I’ve lived it has been there. This caused me to start reminiscing over when I received this little dream catcher, where I got it from, who gave it to me and what did it mean to me? 

I was given this dream catcher as a gift one summer, I clearly remember opening a little brown paper bag revealing this beautiful decoration. I was about 6 when my Grandma gave this gift to me, she had bought it in a Spanish Market near to where she lived in Spain. 

I vividly remember hanging it in my room and telling everyone that entered  ‘It’s magic, it stops you having bad dreams and instead you have good ones.’ It was fascinating to little 6 year old me.

As I got older It seems to have followed me around, when I’ve moved so has the dream catcher-overtime I have forgotten ‘the magic/spiritual’ side to it, it became ‘just a decoration’ this is due to the loss of my wild, young imagination. Age makes you become a realist; magic and dreams merely become stories.

When my daydream was broken by this dream catcher I remembered what this really meant to me: When I was 6 it meant magic, protection and good dreams- I honestly believed that it got rid of all my bad dreams and negativity, obviously this is all psychological but at the time I didn’t know this!

Now at the age of almost 17 (just a couple of months off) It hangs in my room as a reminder- a reminder of several significant things.

A reminder of my Grandma- Now my Grandma is no longer with us, this dream catcher (that has and will always be with me) is a constant reminder that my Grandma will always with me at heart and also a reminder that she always wanted to support me and my dreams.

A reminder of my dreams and positivity- When I see this dream catcher it reminds me that I have control of making my dreams happen (to a certain extent) and bringing as much positivity into my life as possible, kind of like the dream catcher.

Finally, it is a reminder that I should believe in myself but also in the things that mean a lot to me- it reminds me of this because of how I use to have such faith in this little dream catcher and to be honest a little part of me still does.

When I remember the story of this little dream catcher, all my dreams are good ones and a smile is brought to my face!

Thank you Grandma for this beautiful gift that will always stay close to my bed side.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my little dream catcher and the story behind it! I will be back soon with another post.

Outfit of the day- Mom Jeans & Pink Stripes!

So I love the outfit that I'm wearing today and so I decided to share it with you! This is something that I might start doing on a regular basis as I personally love looking at what other people are wearing!

For today's outfit I paired my beloved pair of Toyshop mom jeans with my new pink and white striped tee from Laura Ashley (I picked a few bits up in the sale that I will soon be sharing with you!)

I love this outfit as it's so easy to throw on and so comfortable! I also think it's got a casual but cute feel to it which is perfect for a chilled weekend when you still want to look good.

I thought these baby pink patent loafers went perfectly with this outfit as they kept it casual whilst adding another girly touch of pink! You can find these In Primark for £10, what a bargain!

I have had these Mom jeans for a while now and I have noticed that I always seem to bring them out throughout Spring & Summer, I find them more stylish than skinny jeans and also a lot more comfy, especially as it gets hotter (you don't want tight trousers sticking to you!)

This little brown, pleated belt tied the outfit together perfectly and kept my jeans up too! I can't remember where I picked this up but you could find something like this in Primark.

When I put this outfit on I instantly felt like it was Spring- when it comes to Spring and Summer I love to bring loads of pastel colours into my wardrobe and I have definitely been loving all the pastel colours recently, this pastel/baby pink has to be my favourite over all!

I hope you liked seeing my outfit of the day for a chilled/casual, yet cute look! I will be sharing more of these on here so keep your eyes open for these posts.

I will also be sharing the other tops that I bought from Laura Ashley soon as I have been LOVING there clothes recently, I think they're so cute and girly and I want to share them with you guys!

I will see you soon with another blog post!

A Beautiful BB Cream- Full Coverage Mineral Makeup!

For those of you that have been reading my blog for a while now you would be aware that I have used Jane Iredale’s mineral powder for a good few years, I haven’t switched to anything else as that powder is my Holy Grail product! 

After seeing my mums skin look amazing with Jane Iredale’s Mineral BB Cream called ‘Glow Time’ I knew I had to get my hands on some- I have been reluctant to try this for a while now as I have previously only used the powder and I was afraid that I would glow too much since it's called 'Glow Time'

After buying and using this product I can raise my hands and say that I LOVE IT, it gives me everything that I could want in a BB cream! Carry on reading and I'll tell you all about it...

Coverage and appearance 

With this BB Cream a little goes a long way, so for £40 (which I know isn't cheap) you are really getting your money’s worth, it gives you an amazing flawless glow whilst doing a really good job of covering any imperfections and fine lines. 

For someone with naturally oily skin the word ‘glow’ initially put me off as I was worried it could make my skin even oilier but instead it gives me a healthy glow and doesn't bring out the oily parts of your face. I would recommend setting it with a little bit of powder on those areas that are prone to oil- this helps it stay on even longer and avoids it going patchy!

 I would personally put this at high coverage however for the amount of coverage it provides it feels so light on your skin and it still allows your skin to breath. 

The Feel

Although you can feel that it's there, this BB cream feels so light on the skin and doesn't have that heavy, caked on feel to it, instead It has a nice consistency that applies and blends easily on to the skin. It doesn’t feel like it’s drying or capable of clogging pores which is what you want in an everyday face product- especially when you have sensitive skin! 

Skin Protection

Another amazing thing about this BB cream is it has an SPF of 25- so you don’t need to worry about applying sun cream, or threat about getting wrinkles! It is also water proof for up to 40 minutes so if it rains (it most likely will in England) then you don’t need to worry about it wearing off and going patchy. 

The Colour Range 

There is a good range of shades to suit every skin tone- BB5 is the one I picked up and it is described as light/medium with yellow undertones. I found that this is a perfect match for my skin tone! 

Natural Ingredients, cruelty free & vegan

Glow time BB cream is made from many different minerals and extracts including:

grapefruit extract: which claims to minimise the appearance of wrinkles and pores 
and also Apple extract: a skin smoothing antioxidant that exfoliates, refines and rejuvenates the skin! 

I am delighted to say that Jane Iredales’s products are certified 100% cruelty free by the CCIC Leaping bunny programme! So you don’t need to worry about the use of animals for testing when ordering these products!

This product is also completely vegan friendly so you won’t miss out on this amazing product if you're vegan.

My Verdict: 

If you want a high end, high quality and high coverage face product that is suitable for sensitive skin then I would definitely recommend trying this BB Cream! It is on the pricier side of the scale at £40 but...one tube will last you a long time and in my opinion you definitely get your money's worth with all the benefits it brings to your skin.

You can find this BB Cream linked HERE

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my new favourite beauty product If you did then please say Hello in the comments! 

Question of today is: What is your favourite face product?

I will see you soon with another blog post!

Let me explain...

Hello everyone I hope you’re all doing well…

So lets face it, for a while now I’ve been doing less and less on my blog and I’ve noticed that I’ve started falling out of love with it- I don’t have the same enthusiasm for it anymore and I’m just not as happy with the content as I would like to be!

I barely have an excuse for not posting on my blog, but all I can say is I have been juggling lots of different things at once at the moment and sometimes I struggle to manage my time and have a good balance. instead I become overwhelmed and then I end up avoiding the things that I was meant to do.

So what am I going to do about this?

I’m going to start posting on my blog every week or even more if I can as I feel like this will help me to get back into a routine with my blogging.

I’m also going to start planing my posts and putting more time and effort into them, I will only post them if I am completely happy with them. 

I want to post more of my own photography and pictures, I use to do this all the time however I have found myself doing it less and less recently, I feel like posting my own photography in my posts makes it more personal and readable.

Finally I want to concentrate on growing my readers by interacting with more bloggers on social media- I am already in a few blogger groups and I want to start being more active in them!

I hope you guys are still around and ready for lots of new posts as I sure am! 

Writing blog posts use to be an escape and a way of expressing myself but unfortunately over time it became a chore..I thought I would explain this to you guys and just let you know that I am honestly going to change this.

Today I have just had a chilled day tidying my room, relaxing in the bath and chilling with chad, including going on a nice walk (we love walks) 

Here's a few photo's of my tidy room! As tidy as it gets with all my stuff in it!

That's all for now and I will 100% be back with another post soon!

Perfect Pinterest Workouts/ Work it like Jen Selter

So it took me a while to figure out a routine in the gym- one that worked for me and even harder sticking to it!

Now I have been working out in the gym for a while I have established what workouts give me the best results and feel the best, as well as what's fun to do and gives me variety rather than completing rep after rep of sit ups or squats.

My favourite booty workout!

After spending my time searching Pinterest for 'The best glute workouts' I finally came across one that appealed to me and made me want to do it straight away! Titled as '15 Best Butt workout exercises from Jen Selter' my eyes lit up and I had to try it. 

The workout itself consists of 15 moves that between them, work every single muscle in your bum! 

Doing this workout a couple of times a week really does get you those BOOTIFUL (SORRY) results along with eating the right things! 

I will link this workout HERE for you! 

Mine and Chads favourite Ab workout

Again, it took Chad and I a while to find our perfect ab workout- so obviously I turned to Pinterest! I found and tried a few different workouts and this one definitely gave me the most variety as well as the best results! It for sure isn't an easy workout, you really do feel the burn, but I find it fun to do and I always feel so good after! 

Doing this workout a couple of times a week will definitely give you those abs of steel, just don't forget the cardio along with it! 

The great thing about these workouts is you can do as little or as much as you want by doing the exercises you want and by altering the amount of sets and reps that you do! 

I will link this ab workout HERE for you! 

I hope this gives you an idea of what workouts you can do at home or at the gym! If these aren't for you then Pinterest has endless amounts of different workouts so just have a good look! These two have to be my favourite workouts of all time and they definitely give you ABsolutely BOOTYfull results... Oh dear Lauryn! 

See you soon with another post!

It's okay to feel lost...

This is just one of those blog posts that I happen to be writing at a time when I've been off work ill and I've just had a horrible argument with my mum, I found no comfort from my phone so I have turned to writing a good old heart felt blog post.

**BE WARNED THIS MAY BE LONG & CHATTY* I WILL ADD PHOTO'S TO MAKE IT MORE INTERESTING!

When I left school and started my apprenticeship I guess I just naively assumed that I would finish my apprenticeship, find a job within the council and enjoy it for at least a good few years! Wrong.

Don't get me wrong there are some great parts of my apprenticeship: I've gained so much great experience, people skills and great knowledge and I'm sure I will continue to do so throughout the next 6 months... But, of course there's a but, I have recently found myself in a huge blur when it comes to work: I get up in the mornings, get my bus, walk to work, work in between watching the time pass, sometimes slowly and sometimes not, I finish work and then I look forward to getting to the gym so I can sooth my brain from hours of sitting in an office...

That's my problem, I thought an office job could be for me- answering phones, sending emails, doing paperwork (lots of it) and the list goes on.. but I now feel as though I'm thinking of the office as a prison that I want to escape, a luxurious prison with a kettle, a fridge and comfy chairs but that's besides the point! My creative side isn't quite being fulfilled in the way I want it to be and that is what's making me feel lost.

Although I may now have a plan (I'm not going to share it with you just yet)  I still feel slightly apprehensive of what the future holds for me, the unknown and of simply not knowing what I will be doing in 6 months time- but I guess that's the beauty of life; it's like a story book, things can change so drastically in one chapter from the next and I guess what I'm trying to say is it's okay to feel lost, to be scared about the future and to be reluctant to taking a leap of faith!

Out of all the great things that have come from my apprenticeship, The best thing is the direction it has given me, by direction I mean how it has made it clear that I don't currently want to have an office job and instead I want to do something that allows me to be creative, on my feet and something that allows me to experience a variety of different surroundings!

Soon I am starting a lovely little weekend job in a photography studio called Tiny Feet Photography (you should have a look it's amazing!) as an assistant and I cannot wait to work in such a creative and colourful studio- engaging with lots of different people and families! I really am excited to have the amazing opportunity to have an insight to another career, one of which I am very interested in and even better It's something completely different to what I've been doing and its definitely not office based!

My advice to myself and anyone else who's feeling lost or unsure of what they want to do is: 

• Don't be afraid to take opportunities- What have you got to lose?
•  Do/aim for something that makes you happy and that you enjoy
• If you are always time watching or wishing time away then you should reassess what you're doing! 
• Remember- You don't need to have your whole life planned out, sometimes the unexpected things are the best! 

I will keep you all updated on my new weekend job, how I'm feeling about the future and also my current apprenticeship!

This has turned out to be a long stream of thoughts but I guess thats what a blog is all about! Hopefully my next post is a little more interesting and a little easier to follow- but for now Goodbye x