Arthritis and Me

Hello :)

I've been wanting to branch out a bit and do a couple of lifestyle posts on my blog, so I can keep it a bit more varied than just beauty posts. I was trying to think of what to write about, as honestly my life  isn't all that interesting, but one thing I would like to share with you all is my experience of being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis a few months ago.

At only 24, I didn't think it was something I would have to worry about until much later in life. I have had quite a few health problems in the past, and suffer quite badly with eczema, but I have always been reasonably fit. Exercise regularly and all that. But around 8 months ago I started getting pains in my fingers and my ankles.

I didn't think much of it at first, just put it down to wearing heels and writing a lot by hand at work, but when it started getting unbearable, I decided to visit my GP. He ran some blood tests and took a family history, and a few weeks later put me in for a referral to see a rheumatologist.

Getting used to the daily pain was difficult. I take anti-inflamatories and painkillers daily to keep things under control, but flair ups are unavoidable. Wearing heels is completely impossible for me, and there are days where I struggle to do fiddly tasks with my hands such as buttons on a shirt, so I have even had to alter the way I dress to accommodate this illness.

For those that don't know, rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder, where your body's immune system attacks the lining of your joints. I have an appointment in a couple of weeks to look into some kind of steroid treatments which will hopefully help, but to be so young and feel like you have the body of an 80 year old can definitely get you down. I'm lucky in the fact that I can still work full time and have a social life without pain dictating my every decision, however there are days where getting out of bed is a job in itself.

I know there are a lot of people out there that have it much worse than me, but it has been difficult to deal with the changes I have had to make in every day life, as well as dealing with the pain which can get excruciating at times. Fingers crossed some new treatment will help.

I would love to hear any of your experiences with similar illnesses, and methods you use to cope.

Thank you for reading everyone :)

Love to you all x

Decorating Time....

Hello everyone!

One of my favorite things about Christmas is putting up my Christmas tree, and I was extra excited this year as it the first year me and the other half have our own house! We were living in a little studio flat last Christmas so there wasn't much room for decorations, but now I have a whole house to fill its going to look like Santa's grotto by the time I'm finished! All I've done so far is my tree and fireplace in the living room, but I just wanted to share what it looks like. Any excuse for a Christmas post!!

Love to you all x

Christmas Wishlist

Hello :)

I've been meaning to get back into blogging for ages now (yes, I know I keep saying that) and I've been getting so excited reading everyone's Christmas posts that I've decided to get back into things with a good old fashioned Christmas wishlist post!

There are so many amazing products out there that I'm lusting after, so I should have no problem putting this list together. I do just want to point out that I'm not greedy, and Christmas isn't all about the presents for me. But come on, who doesn't love thinking of all the lovely things they'd like to unwrap on Christmas morning.

1. Sleek Solstice Highlighting Kit: I'm sorry, but is this sleek highlighting kit not the most beautiful thing you've ever seen? Plus, at just £10 you don't have to feel guilty asking for it! View this here.

2. Brown Structured Tote Bag - New Look: I have a slight bag addiction at the moment. I don't always like to spend too much on bags because I'm clumsy and heavy handed so tend to mark, scratch or stain them. This beautiful day bag from New Look is perfect with any day outfit, and I do love neutral colours. All for £29.99. View this here.

3. NARS foundation: This is one of my all time favorite foundations. I don't like to splash out on expensive make up all the time, so foundations like this one at £32 is one that I like to keep for a special occasion. Because of that, I can make one bottle last almost a year, and that makes it worth every penny in my book. I believe its nice to have a special occasion foundation for nights out. I'd love another bottle of this for Christmas :) Find it here.

4. Dune Black Suede Ankle Boots from ASOS: Now I know that at £79 these are a tad on the pricey side. However I have always been a lover of heels. The higher the better. But a recent diagnosis of early onset rheumatoid arthritis means my ankles can no longer handle the pressure of heels. I've found it so hard to find a collection of flat shoes that I like, however these would go with so many things, and are the first flat shoes in a long time to get me excited. Find them here.

5. Paisley Print Shirt Dress from Boohoo: I am having a massive love affair with shirt dresses at the moment. My new need for flat shoes has found me teaming shirt dresses with black tights and boots and it is a look that I feel comfortable with. This paisley print dress from Boohoo is a bargain at £20, and manages to bring a splash of colour into a classic style. Love it! Find it here.



So that is my Christmas list for this year. What do you all think?

I'd love to know what you all are wishing for this year :) Feel free to leave your comments and links below!

Love to you all x

A bit of a catch up....

Hello everyone!

First of all, I just want to start by saying sorry for my very lengthy absence. I don't even know what made me stop blogging for such a long time, but it really does feel good to be back at the laptop writing this.

There has been so many amazing products that I've been using over the last few months and over the next couple of weeks I will be writing up review posts on them, so keep an eye on this space for that! Along with that I have a couple of wish list posts that I want to share with you all, and I'm sure we will be seeing more than a couple of Christmas posts popping up throughout the blog world.

Along with some product reviews and fashion and makeup wish list posts, I'm wanting to try and expand my blog by branching into the world of lifestyle posts. I'm loving life right now, and am honestly the happiest I've ever been. I have so many amazing things planned for the future and am excited to share all that with you wonderful readers.

If any of you have any post suggestions for me, all ideas are welcome! I've been out of touch with the blogging world for nearly 6 months so you might have to be a bit patient with me while I re-work out a schedule to fit in with work and personal commitments. How some of you bloggers post several times a week while keeping up with full time work or study is amazing and I'd love it if you could share your tips with me!

That's all for now, but I can't wait to share my posts with you all, and feel free to comment links for me to check out :)

Love to you all x

Bourjois Shine Edition Lipstick

Hello everyone!

There's nothing I love more than a good old fashion lipstick post, and this one is on a little beauty that I bought as part of a 3 for 2; Bourjois shine edition lipstick in the shade Rose.

This is the perfect shade for those days where you want a subtle hint of colour and shine, but don't want a bold striking shade. It's long lasting on the lips, staying put for hours even when eating and drinking, which is perfect for me as I don't always have the time to reapply several times a day, and it is also very moisturising. I feel as though this may end up being my 'go to' lipstick for summer, as its lightweight, nourishing, and subtle enough to fit with those low maintanence lazy summer days. Perfect.

For around £7, the price still firmly in the middle of a highstreet makeup brand, but the packaging feels very good quality.

Aveeno Mousturising Cream

As any sufferer of dry skin knows, finding a good nourishing moisturiser is one of the best things in the world. As a sufferer of both dry AND sensitive skin, finding a cream that feels good and does good is almost impossible.

The skin on my face is fine, and I've tried and tested all manor of face creams with no problems what-so-ever, but when it comes to my hands and my arms, i used to have to rely on prescription medications to keep my skin at bay. Around 3 months ago I decided I needed to take a break from the constant use of steroid creams and so consulted a dermatologist. The first thing they recommended was that I started using Aveeno cream twice a day.

I'd seen it several times on the shelf in Boots and Superdrug, but just passed it off as yet another thing I couldn't try, but once I did, I was hooked. Its around £7 for a 300ml bottle, and using it twice a day I get around a months use out of it.

It's oatmeal based, deeply nourishing but not too sticky, and is formulated for people with dry eczema prone skin. That fits the bill for me completely. The change in my skin is massive. It's soft and smooth, as doesn't get as irritated by the day to day things that used to drive my skin crazy; rain, central heating, pet fur, cleaning products at work. I'm not saying that's its cured my allergies, but it seems to give my skin a better barrier against them, so I have cut in half the amount of medicated steroid creams I need to stop flare ups. I would never try anything else as a full body moisturiser. It wouldn't be worth the risk for me now.

Has any one else found a wonder product for dealing with dry eczema prone skin?

As always, thank you for reading, and all comments are appreciated :)

Zeek App Review

Hello everyone :)

Today I just wanted to do a quick little post on an app I came across through the recommendation of amother blogger. I downloaded it this afternoon, and for someone as addicted to shopping as me, it really will come in handy.

The idea behind the app, is that you can buy and sell vouchers for well know high street shops and resteraunts etc. Its an easy way to get rid of any unwanted gift vouchers, but the real perk for me is that you can pick up vouchers for less than the value of them. For example you can buy £45 worth of John Lewis vouchers for £40. Meaning if your know you are going to be spending somewhere, you can save yourself a bit of money.

When you join, you can claim a free £10 towards your first voucher if you use the code 2i5bil which you can either use as money off your first purchase, or use to buy a £10 voucher competely free. They have loads of great beauty vouchers on their too, and my first purchase was some vouchers for the body shop. I'll use them to do a little body shop haul which I will then post about at a later date.

It's such a good way to make shopping that little bit more justified, or at least that's what I'm telling myself anyway!

Have any of you tried Zeek, and if so what did you think?

Bourjois Instant Dry Nail Drops

Hello everyone :)

I know it's been forever since I last posted, but I had to share this amazing little product with you all. I'm really trying to get back into the pattern of blogging regularly, so fingers crossed there should be more posts to come. 

As for today's posts, it's a little review on Bourjois Intsant Dry Nail Drops. These are amazing! I'm not even kidding, they are truly amazing. If you're as impatient as me when it comes to waiting for your nails to dry, then this is something you NEED. I picked mine up as part of a 3 for 2 along with a lipstick and a nail polish, and I wasn't sure what to expect from them. I know you can buy clear top coats that claim to help nail polish to dry quickly, but this really does work instantly.

It has the consistency of an oil, very similar in feel to baby oil, meaning that it is also very moisturising for the skin around your nails, and works to stop hard cuticles forming. After painting a relatively thick coat of polish on my nails, I used the little pipett in the bottle to put one or two drops of the product on my nails, and straight away they were dry, and also nice and shiny. I love it. 

Even when not bought as part of an offer, you can pick this up for around £6, so very similar in price to a decent high street nail polish. I have only used it twice, so I'm not sure how long it will last, but I can't imagine it getting used up too quickly as you only need a very tiny amount of product per use. 

This really is a must for anyone who hates sitting around waiting for their nails to dry, and I'm pretty confident that's all of us!! 

Thank you for reading everyone, any comments are hugely appreciated :) 

Bargain Rimmel Haul

Hello everyone :)

Today I'm just sharing with you all an amazing little find! The local pound stretcher store has been selling Rimmel makeup at £1 an item! I think it's something to do with them wanting to change the packaging so needing to get rid of old stock, but I'm not 100% sure.

As you can imagine, I went a little over board with my purchases, and I shall be doing a haul post about what I bought later today, but it included nail polishes, lip glosses, and even a couple of the apocalips glosses! These are my absolute favourite and I descovered a lovely little nude one.

I also bought gel eyeliners, and eyeshadow pencils. I'm my head I thought I had spend a small fortune as I started shoving items into my basket, but I got to the till and spent a grand total of £13 on 13 Rimmel items. Amazing huh?!

A full haul post will be up shortly, but if any of you have a pound stretcher near you, I'd definitely check it out ASAP!

Thank you for reading x

Macadamia Oil Extract Shampoo & Conditioner

Hello :)

Well, its been way too long since I last logged in and wrote a post on here. Last August to be exact! To be honest, I don't know what made me stay away so long, but I'm happy to be back.

Today, I'm just going to write a little review on possibly my new favorite shampoo and conditioner, which, at only £1 each at the moment in Savers is an absolute steal. There is also a conditioning hair mask which I tried as well as oil conditioning treatments in the range.

To start with, I just want to start by saying how pretty the bottles are! I have them proudly stood on the side of my bath, and they look so elegant and decorative. I've always appreciated good packaging. The actual product itself is good too! It doesn't have the strongest fragrance, but it does smell fresh and clean, which is the kind of scent I prefer.

Cold winter winds, and an over use of central heating has left my hair insanely dry as of late, so for the last couple of weeks I've been using the shampoo and conditioner daily, swapping the conditioner for the conditioning mask twice a week. In two weeks its given me my healthy looking hair back, and has done wonders for the condition of it, all for only £3 for the 3. I am definitely going to pick up the oil treatment next time my local store has it in stock.

I wouldn't recommend this range for those with naturally oil/greasy hair, as its moisturizing qualities may make matters worse, but for those with normal to dry hair such as myself, its brilliant.

I love finding a good bargain that really works, and that's exactly what this is.

Thanks for popping by and having a look at my little blog - I really am glad to be back :)

Love to you all x