30.9.13

Rimmel & Revlon | Poundland Finds


Alana went to Poundland again? What a surprise! Let's be honest, no one is surprised. Poundland is my first port of call when buying makeup, especially nail polish. The past wee while I don't think I've gone into Poundland without leaving with at least 1 new polish. Got quite the wee collection going now. (I'm starting to wonder if maybe I should construct some shelves for them all, seen some great diys on Pinterst!)

Anyway, on to the goodies! First up, the nail polishes!


It's Sally Hansen's I've been buying most of, I just can't resist the great deal of getting Sally Hansen polish for £1 when it's £5 and up in all the other shops, so I've built up a fair wee collection of them. I was quite pleased when I went in that there were more Revlon polishes this time. As much as I love SH, I love Revlon just as much and possibly a little bit more!
I'll just be showing you what the shades look like below but over the coming weeks, I'll get some NOTD posts with them so you can see them on.


Spice It Up is a great looking shimmer polish. In the bottle it looks quite coppery with some red and orange tones. This looks really build-able and I'm hoping that after a couple coats it's quite opaque but with a nice glittery shine. I thought it would be a great Autumn colour and would work quite well with my skin tone (paley mcpaleface).


Popular is a really pale pink with two different kinds of glitter in it, really small silver bits almost like Spice It Up and then slightly larger white hexagonal bits. I wasn't too sure on this shade if I'm honest, not the biggest fan of nudes and pale colours but I'm making more of an effort to try them out. 


Emerald isn't quite emerald coloured (in my opinion). I think it looks more grassy coloured. The only green polish I can think that I have in my wee collection is a bright lime green so I thought I'd branch out and try a few more shades.

I've not tried any texturised nail polishes so when I saw this Velvet Polish, I thought I'd give it a go before venturing out into brands. I know this might not be fantastic but I'm up for giving it a go!


When I saw this in the shop I was a bit dubious to get it as I've tried the Wake Me Up foundation and it is wayyy too dark for me, (even the lightest shade) but in the spirit of trying things out, I picked it up anyway! It's called Shimmer Touch and what with the shade I picked up being called Radiant Rose I assumed it would be a nice cheek colour. I hope I'm right as this is the only place I'd wear it! A little really does go a long long way with this product as you can see above. I'll have to make sure when I do use it that I use the tiniest amount possible to avoid looking like a clown!


I always like trying out new concealers so when I saw this, I knew I had to try it! I was quite surprised when I opened it as it had the concealer to cover blemishes then the little inner core that treats the blemishes. I thought this was a great idea and not too dissimilar to Fake Up although I'm not sure what came out first. (Still heavy lusting after Fake Up!). I had to giggle as the shade is 010 Ivory, my old blog was called Ivorysmoke and every time I get foundation, powder, concealer, anything like that, the lightest shade that matches me usually has the word Ivory in it.


Last but by no means least is the Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in 850 Rouge. I am a sucker for a red lippy and no matter how many different (or similar) shades I have, I always like to pick up another! The only thing I need to work on is applying it properly. Some people can fill in their lips and look great, others go a little over their natural lip line and look great (some look really silly though). I always feel like if I go over my lip line that I'll look like a clown but my lips are so teeny tiny that I need to. Catch 22!

What have you found recently in your local Poundland?

27.9.13

Mallzee Launch Party | Events

On Tuesday I attended my first launch party, my first blogging event. I was terrified! So terrified in fact that I invited my friend Lauren along as my +1 because I knew my anxiety would get the better of me if I went alone! It was of course the Mallzee Launch Party!


Now if you've never heard of Mallzee before, they started off as a website but have now moved into apps. This launch party was specifically for their iPhone app (iPad is next then Android). They want to make shopping fun again. Now I don't know about you but I don't really enjoy shopping all that much these days. Especially if I'm having a bad mental health day, going out is enough of a task never mind trying to go clothes shopping! So the idea of being able to go on my phone and have it know what kinds of clothes I like then show me them (it's a clever app you see), well that sounds much more appealing to my serotonin lacking brain!

You heard me right by the way, as Mallzee themselves say, "The more you tell Mallzee which items you want to see more of and which you don't, the smarter it gets!" So the app actually learns what to show you. I am impatiently awaiting the Android version (I'm in the Samsung family!) You can of course find out more about mallzee by going to their website mallzee.com

Now onto the event. Lauren and I showed up rather early, I'm talking 30-40 minutes early. We hung about outside for a while before heading in. We were greeted as soon as we walked in by some of the lovely staff.  They didn't come across as fake or playing happy, they seemed genuinely happy to see each person show up which I thought was great. I know it can get tiring doing events like this but they all kept a smile on their face! Unlike myself, who whinged on the couch because I did C25K two hours before the event started! I stupidly then wore heels (rookie mistake for which I accept full responsibility for) although my foot dramas didn't act up until I was leaving and walking back to the train station (via McDonalds, I'm sorry but we're all allowed a bit of naughtiness now and then!)

Notice my bulging leg muscles!

Lauren and I were papped which I loved but I seriously need to work on my outfits and poses! I still feel really awkward around what I consider to be fashionable people. I kinda still feel like the fat friend trying to fit in. Have no fear though this feeling didn't stay around long, the lovely Laura was showering me with compliments and made my anxiety fly away in an ego surrounded bubble! I'll get more into that later though.



The Bellini's were flowing from the start of the night and I'll be honest due to my inexperience with events, I was expecting one, maybe two drinks but the refills kept coming as did the food. There were gorgeous cake pops made by Cake-Cetera (I might have come home with 3 in my bag, ssshhh) and there were canapes provided by Bespoke Cuisine which were deeeelicious! I totally did it in the right order, alcohol, cake then canapes. Yes well done Alana! ;) 

After a little bit of mingling, although at this point I was almost crying on the couch from my leg pain, CEO Cally Russell got up and talked us through the app a bit more. He's a passionate man and I could tell he was really excited about what he was talking about. He enjoys his job and doesn't just want to push the product, he wants Mallzee to do well and for people to enjoy it.

Cally giving us his pitch.
During his pitch, Cally showed us their new video which I thought was fabby. The girl in the video was at the event and although I was too shy to approach her, I'll say here that she was great in the video and looked beautiful in that and on the night! After he was finished talking, Cally went round and thanked everyone for coming, he seemed so genuine and happy that people did show up. Such a lovely guy!  For some reason, YouTube/Blogger isn't letting me embed the video but you can find it here.

After his pitch, the mingling resumed, it took a while for me to feel comfortable but I got my ass off that red couch and tried to make an effort. No point sitting on the couch with a scowl on my face, these people were nice enough to invite me here so I just sucked up the pain and got on with it. I might have moaned a wee bit but I was met mostly with comments like, 'I couldn't have done that then come here, well done!' which of course made me feel much better. 

Mingle mingle mingle

So back to Laura, I ended up talking to her for quite a while before I left. I've spoken to Laura a few times on Twitter and we had exchanged a couple emails but I was so happy to meet her in person. She's as lovely in real life as she is online! Laura is the International Engagement Officer at Mallzee, she started off as an intern with the company and is now working with them. Success story! She really made me feel more at ease, I think she could probably tell I was feeling a bit anxious/out of place but she soon squashed those feelings. We spoke about my blog, what Laura does with the company, future ideas for both me and her and I just felt so at ease. I can genuinely see Laura and I becoming good friends.

I managed to chat to a couple other people at the event, I even approached someone I recognised from following their blog (and I didn't burst into flames like my head told me I would if I said anything to her!) but the main thing I'll take away from the night, apart from how fabby the app is, is how great Laura made me feel! Now to work on making myself feel that great every day!

The walk back to the station then from Falkirk station to my house was a bit torturous. I didn't think as I was getting ready and stuck on my usual go to red wedges. I forgot however that my feet swell after exercise (lovely image there I know) and my feet rubbed something awful. I'm talking torn skin, blisters and blood all o'er the joint! Not pretty in the slightest. Add that onto my C25K pain and I was a tad miserable (and tipsy) by the time I got home.

However, all in all this was definitely a positive experience. I'm glad this was my first blogging event and I look forward to getting to play with the app when it lands for Android and seeing the Mallzee gang at the FABBGlasgow event on Oct 5th (still need to pick an outfit for that!)

I totally recommend you download the app (which you can find here) and have a nosey at it yourself. If you like it, let Mallzee know on their Twitter @MallzeeHQ. If you don't like it, tell them what you don't like about it! ;)


I wasn't asked to write this post by Mallzee or anyone that works for Mallzee. All opinions are my own.

26.9.13

Couch 2 5K

I forgot to blog about starting this but I'm now onto week two (I completed the first of the three runs yesterday). Oh my god I ache everywhere! I find jogging/walking quite difficult. I get shin splints, my ankles are ridiculously delicate and I tend to fall/stumble quite a lot but I'm still going for it!

So the premise of C25K is that it can get you from the couch to running 5 kilometres or 30 minutes in 9 weeks. When I first heard this my first thought was, yeah right! I can't run for more than a minute without turning into a wee sweaty beetroot!

Both last week and this week (and I'm assuming for the rest of the program) you start with a brisk 5 minute walk then head into the interval training. Week 1 was 60 seconds of running then 90 seconds of walking. This continues for 20 minutes then another 5 minutes walk to cool down and you are done!

The first week I felt like I was breathing fire. The 60 seconds running were lasting minutes and the 90 seconds walking was over in the blink of an eye and I was off attempting to run again. I should probably point out here that my 'running' probably isn't running, it's more a flumpy, jiggly, jog but I don't stop and that's the main thing!

In total I think we did about 8 sets of running and walking. The first 2 runs were ok, I had my energy and the runs weren't too hard. The next 6 runs though were fucking torture! My shins hurt, my thighs ached, my feet were really sore and my lower back kept twinging. I never slowed down though, I was running really slow but I never stopped or just walked. I powered through it and by that last run I felt fantastic! I had a wee spurt of energy and managed to speed up just a tiny little bit and get that last run done.

Look how much I love C25K!

This second week is 90 seconds of running and 2 minutes of walking. I was gobsmacked when Muj told me. 90 seconds of running? I was barely coping with the 60 seconds! However once we set off I just kept thinking that is was only an extra 30 seconds. 30 seconds, what's that?

Because we were running and walking for longer than last week we got round the course a lot quicker than we usually do and I felt like tiredness didn't hit me till further along. Of course with my luck, it hit me on a hill. There aren't many hills on the course but the couple that there are, we always end up having to start running at them  and I am awful at running up hills. And down them. And running in general! I'll get better but for now I'm a total noob!

Like last week, I got a wee spurt of energy on the last run and managed to keep my momentum going, a couple cows even decided to join us which was freaking hilarious. They seen us coming and starting running along too. Muj went to go see them but I forced myself up the last hill (she caught up with me in seconds!).

After this first run of week 2, Muj and I both commented on how we felt like we had exercised but not as much as last week. My body calmed down a lot more than last week and we felt so refreshed it was amazing. I can't believe how quickly my body is reacting to this.


My face obviously didn't get the memo though. Ever since I can remember, my face has gone bright red when I exercise, I used to get so embarrassed, especially in school but now I wear my sweaty face with pride. I know that I've just kicked my own ass and I'm proud of that.

The next two runs for this week will be this evening and Sunday so there are a couple days between each one to give us time to recover although I get really bad delayed onset muscle soreness (or DOMs as they are commonly known) and my feet are currently covered in cuts and blisters from attending an event on Tuesday after my run and stupidly wearing heels (you can read all about the event tomorrow if you're interested!).

I'll keep you all updated as I progress through this program, but I seriously can't see me running for 30 minutes in 7/8 weeks. I hope I am proved wrong! ;)

25.9.13

Weigh In Wednesday | The slightly disheartened edition

Up 0.2lbs this week.  After my first loss last week I was riding on a high then this. I want to believe it's because I've started C25K as my eating hasn't been that horrendous. We'll see next weigh in!

I also pulled out my body composition monitor today and decided I'm going to start tracking my body fat% along with my weight.


After some google-ing, I've found out that the ideal fat % for women my age is 21-33% to be considered 'healthy'. Until I know more about it all, my first goal is to get under 40% then ideally I'd like to get to 30% and see how I feel once I'm there.

 Measurements will start next week, I promise I'm going to take my bloody measurements!

I'm so close to being able to start my sheet of crossing off numbers as I reach them on the scales. I'm looking forward to being able to cross off each of those numbers and feeling proud of myself while I do it!

22.9.13

Birthday/Christmas Wishlist | #2 | Fashion

Welcome to today's birthday/christmas wishlist! Yesterday's was beauty (post here) and today's is... fashion! I never used to be one for fashion really. I didn't get it or just couldn't be bothered trying. However, I'm noticing the older I get, the more I want to put outfits together that work and I like making an effort with my appearance.

Below are just some of the things I've seen around that I love. I could have probably made about 7 more of these polyvore pictures!

B/C Wishlist - Fashion

The whole top row is from an Etsy I was linked to by a friend and I absolutely love it! They are called Activate Apparel (shop here) and they are fab. Very geeky and hilarious vests which I would proudly wear outside whilst exercising. At least I would know why people were staring and I wouldn't get anxious wondering if they were making fun of me!

Both pairs of leggings are from Topshop. I love the Transformers ones, who doesn't want to be Optimus Prime?! And the flock ones are I think would be great for under dresses to keep warm in the winter!

The jumpers are from Asda. I don't know about you but I'm glad it's 'jumper weather'. I much prefer the cold to warm weather. My logic is you can put more layers on to get warmer, you can't take layers off if you get too warm (well you can until you get to your skin!).

The shoes and both pairs of boots are from New Look. I wasn't too sure about cut out boots when I first saw them but they have slowly grown on me and now I lust after them! The other boots I thought would be great with dresses and thick tights or jeans (whenever I get around to buying another pair!). The flats are more of a necesseity. The flats I have are beyond fixing, they lasted a good while considering they were Primark but it's time for them to meet the bin and I need another pair.

What are your thoughts on these picks?

21.9.13

Birthday/Christmas Wishlist | #1 | Beauty

So I said a while ago, on Twitter I think, that I was going to make up wishlists for my birthday and christmas. It seemed like a better idea rather than people asking me what I want and me drawing a blank! I had a lot more fun making this than writing out lists. This way if someone (hiya mum!) wanted to get me something, they would know what it looks like and what it's called so it saves faffing on their part. You're welcome.

Today's post will be my beauty wishes.
B/C Wishlist - Beauty

1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8

1. Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24H (005). Probably the lightest shade they have! I've got a wee sample pot of this and everytime I use it, I get compliments on how good my skin looks! £27.50 Debenhams
2. Real Techniques Core Collection. I've never tried any Real Techniques brushes but I've never heard a bad word about them! What better way to break into using them than their core collection? £21.99 Boots
3. Rimmel Apocalips (Big Bang). I've tried these out a couple times from friends having them and I've loved them. Red seems to be my go to shade for lips these days, makes me feel that little bit more fabulous! £6.49 Boots
4. No7 Airbrush Away Primer. I'm looking to branch out into different primers until I find my perfect one. So far I've only tried MUA and NYC so this is a jump up! £19.50 Boots
5. Katy Perry's Killer Queen EDP. Every time I'm up town and I see a bottle of this, I have to have another spritz, it smells amazing! £30 Superdrug
6. L'Oreal Paris Super Liner Blackbuster. I've seen and heard so many good things about this that I'd love to try it out for myself! £6.99 Boots
7. Topshop Nails (Velvet Underground). Now that I've bought my first piece of Topshop makeup, I'm falling in love with everything else they do! £5 Topshop
8. Topshop  Matte Nails (Mystic). Another Topshop polish, I love both the shades so much! Perfect A/W colours. £6 Topshop

What are your thoughts on these items? Have you tried them? Do you want to try them?

18.9.13

Weigh In Wednesday | The HELL YES Edition

It's finally happened. I weighed in and I'm DOWN 1.4lbs. Sure it's not a huge loss but it's a loss and that's the main point. I've steadily gone up over the past few months then the past couple weeks I've maintained the same weight. My eating hasn't been all that fantastic and I've not done as much exercise as I could have done. I feel I should also point out it's shark week so I was fully expecting a mass bloat, excess water weight and a ridiculous number on the scales, however my body has decided to plague me with horrible skin and murderous cramps instead. I don't really win in either situation.

This is a move in the right direction for me. Now I just need to get a handle on my eating and exercising again and I'll be seeing much more loss in the future! Here's to brighter days!


14.9.13

Haul | Topshop & Primark

Hello! How are we all today?

Today is my favourite kind of post to read so I quite enjoy writing them too, I just don't always have the money to spend! I recently won a £20 Topshop giftcard from Allie on a giveaway that she ran on her blog Rush & Teal (you should totally go check it out by the way! She writes about fashion, style and beauty and has such a fabby wee blog!)

I've written about Topshop before here, in which I talk about finally fitting into some of their clothes however, I knew as soon as I stepped into the Topshop on Argyle Street in Glasgow that I wouldn't be using my giftcard to get any clothes. I was in the frame of mind that I knew if I tried clothes on I would get disheartened and it would totally knock me. Instead I headed straight to the jewellery and makeup part of the shop. So what does £20 get you in Topshop?




First thing I picked up were these wee bracelets. I was at the jewellery stand for a fair wee bit before finding stuff I actually liked. For example, I'm not really into big dangly earrings, bit too Pat Butcher for me and I am so done with the crosses on everything trend. Not a fan in the slightest. After getting past all those, I saw these wee bracelets and just thought they were too cute! These are really positive words so I thought it would be great for if I'm having a bad day, I can look down at my wrist and feel a bit better!



I thought these socks were just too cute to pass up! Now that it's getting into A/W, all the berry and plum shades are coming out and those are my favourite colours! Clothes wise anyway, I've still not mastered dark eye looks without looking like I've been punched! I'll get there one day. Until then, clothes it will be!


I think I only have 1 lip pencil and it's not a very good quality one so I though I should maybe start branching out and getting some. As you can see I went for Deception, a lovely dark red shade. Due to inexperience with lipliner, I had no idea what to expect but this was a dream! So soft but still gives you a nice precise line.


 I'd asked on Twitter the night before what other bbloggers would buy if they had the giftcard, it was almost unanimously decreed that their lipsticks were a big hit! I'd heard about them from other bloggers, in particular Zoe from Zoella but I always thought £8 was a bit much for lipstick (I'm still way too much of a cheapskate at heart!) but I decided that seeings as I had won this money that I should go on and treat myself!

Treat myself I did! I went with the shade Depth and have no regrets, I love everything about it. Totally worth £8 and I will be buying more in the future. It's just deciding which ones to get next that's the problem!




I actually love this combo together. Deception under Depth give it's a nice wee red tinge. Deception is great as a base and I could probably rock it on it's own as well as under liptsticks.

After Topshop I decided to head into Primark, there isn't one in Falkirk so if I'm ever near one, I have to go in! I didn't really have the greatest experience in this Primark, the shoppers were just so rude! I tried to put that aside though and just get on with having a rummage and nosey :)


I recently subscribed to a youtube channel called Katie's Chatting and saw her talking about these handbag organisers in her What's In My Bag video. I've always known about handbag organisers but they've always been ridiculously priced. Remembering Katie talking about these I kept an eye open whilst perusing the rails and finally saw them, reduced to £2! You can bet that went straight into my basket, well it would have done if I picked a basket up. I actually ended up using this as a basket as I already had my handbag and a bag with a 2ltr bottle of water in it (gotta stay hydrated!)

These earrings were just too pretty to pass up. My favourites are the hearts, stars and little birds. As anyone with hair long enough to put into bobble will know, they like to disappear! So I now have 40 and some headbands too. I thought these would be good for when I'm exercising, cleansing my face or doing face masks. 

I finally caved and got some midi rings! My main influence for this has definitely been Paula of The Brantastic Life, her last couple posts have featured midi rings and my curiosity got the better of me! The ones on my middle finger are two separate rings but I thought they looked quite nice bunched together as well.

Another lipstick! D: This smells amazing and was totally worth the £1 price tag ;)

I got these socks in preparation for starting C25K, I've got no excuse now! I have shoes, clothes, socks and hairbands. I'll keep you posted on how I get on with it D:

How fabby are these jammies?! As soon as I saw them, I knew I was buying them. Kitty Purry. COME ON! They were a steal as well at £3 and the icing on the cake? They are a 14-16! Primark sizes are always a bone of contention with me. I once bought a packet of knickers in a size 20-22 and I couldn't even get them on without ripping them! I was an 18-20 at the time as well.

The lace leotard (it is a leotard isn't it?) is a size 16 but is still a touch too small (those weird sizes creeping in again!) but give me a couple months and it should hopefully fit! I got it to stick under sheer tops (when I buy some) or vests for another layer of warmth.

Aaaaand I'm done! I'm very pleased with all my purchases and I'm looking forward to the lace leotard fitting me! I'll keep you updated on that.

What are you top buys from Topshop and Primark just now?

13.9.13

NHS Livewell | Week 2


And we're onto the next week of the plan! You can read Week 1 here and again you can find it online here.


Ok so this week's actions you can see above. 150 minutes of physical activity divides up into just under 22 minutes a day, seems a lot more doable now doesn't it?! I'll definitely be working on this as I've not been exercising as much as I could in the past few months.

I've had the C25K app on my phone now since I read that I would be doing it on this program so I'm quite excited to start that on Monday. Ever since my Race For Life (post here) I haven't really done much jogging/running so I really think this will help me get back into a good routine.

A large portion of my exercise is done in the house, every now and then I'll be feeling really positive and venture outside but I don't usually plan out where I'm going so I will be making routes using Google Maps.

I am really struggling to stay within the 1400 calorie limit. I'm so used to my 1660 allowance from MFP so it's a shock the system. Unless I count my total calories after exercise then I've not been within the 1400 much :/ I prefer the way MFP works with calories as it changes depending on your weight whereas this NHS one is just one allowance for everyone.





There's not really much to say about this week of the plan that isn't already in the pictures. It's heavily focused on exercise this week which is what I need so I'm totally ready to kick my butt into gear!

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