Tip Friday #1 Different ways to use nail polish

Today is going to be the start of a new series on my blog. I may possibly take them onto my youtube depending on how it goes. So every friday I will be posting a blog post with a tip in; it may be beauty, hair, skincare, health, fitness, fashion or home decor related! As you can probably grasp these are only gonna be short and sweet blog posts, so let's get on to the first Tip Friday!


Now if your like me and try and get more for your money from the products you'll find this post interesting as it includes all the different ways you can use nail polish besides painting your nails!


One of my favourites ways to use it unconventionally is to change up your shoes. Your probably thinking what?! But if your like me and lust after Christian Louboutin's but can't afford to part with that much cash for them, buy a opaque creme red nail polish and use that. For this you will need masking tape and put it around where the sole meets the shoe (to prevent any shakey hand mistakes). Paint one cost and let it dry then paint a second for a more opaque finish and the best part is because it's nail varnish and not paint you can take it off with nail varnish remover! Note: This works best if you don't paint the bit you walk on, then it's less likely to chip!


This next option I use quite regularly when I wear my little ballet flats. Now I can often scruff the toe section of my shoes, so what I've started doing is having a colour of polish the same shade as my shoes so that I can just paint over the scuffs, this is especially useful when they are brightly coloured as you often don't get bright shoe polishes. Plus it's probably cheaper!


Now if you buy fashion jewellery, basically anything that is like a painted metal, you'll notice after a few wears the colour'll start to change because the metal is oxidising with the air so to prevent this you can take any topcoat (I just picked up a really cheap one that I use especially for this) and before you start wearing it, paint metal bit and the clear top coat will lock out the air. This will keep it looking like you've just bought it and not had it for donkeys years! This works especially well on large fashion rings and it's what all the girls in my work do when they buy their rings.


Another use for a clear top coat was something my grandmother always told me. It was to ALWAYS keep a bottle of clear top coat in your purse, just because you can use it for so many things. One of the reasons I personally like is using it if you've got a ladder in your tights, granted this won't work if the ladder is the size of your blackberry (the phone not the fruit) but if you've just got a little pull, put a little bit of the clear topcoat over the pull and around the outside edges especially and the edges will harden and prevent the pull getting bigger!


Hope you like the first edition of Tip Friday, I apologize for the latest I will more than likely be posting very late thursday evenings verging on friday mornings, so it's here for you guys to read!

Organize It! How I organize my jewellery

You may not know that I am a bit of an OCD freak, in the fact that I have to have everything organized and in its place and I HATE when my jewellery gets lost or I go to put on a pair of earrings to find I've lost them weeks earlier! It frustrates me being disorganized which I know isn't a bad thing sometimes, but it means I end up staying up till 1/2am doing things like ironing, laundry, tidying, organizing and cleaning!


I have been searching for must be months for a way to organise my jewellery. I've been looking for something that would keep it all nice and organised while keeping dust free and easy for me to view and pick jewellery out without having to take everything out and move things around. For this I use two different things.

The first is this which is a tackle box/organizer which I actually use to organize all of my earrings! I got this little box from home bargains ( it's a store in the UK which sells things at a discounted price, for those who don't know) I believe it only cost either £1.99 or £2.99. The make of the box is Stanley, the general/marketed uses for this was shown as like a drawer organizer for all your little bits and bobs. The box has moveable dividers in it if you wanted to hold other items in it or put bigger items in it, at most it has 32 sections in it. The top of the organizer also have strong clips that hold the lid on so if for instance you dropped it like I tend to do or accidentally knock it off wherever your storing it's not going to fall and earrings end up everywhere!

As you can see I don't really have any majorly big or dangly earrings which makes this perfect storage for me. I split my earrings up in this storage, for instance I keep all my pearl earrings together, I keep all my work earrings together, I keep small dangly earrings together, pink tones stud earrings are kept together etc. I find this the perfect storage for cheap and because it's flat you can store things on top of it or store it on top of things while keeping your earrings safe and dust-free and your less likely to loose one out of the pair!

Now this is where I store everything else. This little beauty only costs £3! Yes you read that correctly! I got this from Primark when I'd popped in there one day with my mother, I totally didn't expect to see this there in the home section. I know some primark's put it with the jewellery and some with the home, you just need to have a little hunt for it! Now these come with 16 small pockets on the top of both sides and then 8 bigger sections on the bottom of each section. Each of the pockets are wipe-clean plastic so you can also use this to put your jewellery in when travelling and just roll it up. This also comes with a hook like on hangers so you can hang it on the back of the door or hang it in your wardrobe (which I do). This is great if you don't have a whole lot of room for storage! I believe it also comes in several different colours.


Now I have been searching for one of these organisers for literally months but every one I found was priced in excess of £20 at least whereas £3 is much more cost effective and if your not that keen you haven't wasted whole lot of money. Now I will double things up like bangles or little bracelets or little necklaces (don't worry they don't get tangled!) so that I use the space more wisely. I do find if you use this kind of method or something similar you can store loads you could even use it for earrings if you want cause I know the long feather earrings fit in there and the feathers don't get smushed! (Little tip if you want to store large feather earrings put the little bit you put in your ear in first. Kind of like a weight, get it?) I personally love these types of organizers as I don't want to spend ages shifting through my jewellery and picking things up and having to untangle something for it to be tangled the next morning and having to do that EVERY morning! I'm definitely going back to get two more. One for all my work jewellery cause I'm mounting up quite a bit an one for when I'm travelling.


Now I have noticed Primark have started doing a whole lot of organizing bits for home and yourself, so I definitely be checking them out and reporting them back to you guys! Last time I had a quick look when I popped in there, they had what looked like a scarf organizer, so come pay day I will be checking that out! 


How do you guys store your jewellery? Have you thought of a new way to using something differently to the manufactures 'advertised' use?

Fitness Update #1

So a few weeks ago I wrote a post about fitness, healthy eating and training to run a 10k. So now I'm gonna write my first update, at first I was gonna do weekly updates but it takes a few weeks for my body to get used to a certain type of exercise well the more physical side of exercise cause I mainly am and always have been a dancer therefore I am rubbish at running (good for someone running a 10k in like a month and a half!)


So far I've been running mostly every other evening, I say mostly cause I personally prefer to run at about 5pm and as I sometimes work evenings this makes it harder but I still to make sure I run even if I don't feel like it. I still do bits of exercise on my 'off days' but not as often as I would like but starting Monday I will be strictly enforcing this!

I used to be a big soda drinker, diet coke was my weakness, partly because in my old job we sold it and also I was paid in cash and got tips so I was left with loads of change which didn't help but now I work in Liverpool I found myself drinking less. I drink probably average it to be 1 can every 2 weeks if that but the only soda I'll drink is 7up free which is a little bit better cause it doesn't have preservatives and things in it. I have found myself not craving crisps and chocolate but actually starting to crave fruit and salads, which is brand new to me cause I used to be more of a fruit person than a veg person. If I do feel like something salty I will eat a handful of sea salted pretzels which I can eat the same as a bag of crisps for like half the calories etc and I generally only eat maybe half a portion because I find them very filling.


I did start this at 65kg and currently weight 60kg so I have lost some lbs so I'm going to start focusing on toning now from monday so that I can start to see a change in inches cause they always say measure by inches not lbs cause muscle weights more than fat. I have had to get my body used to eating regular meals as I didn't use to I used to eat maybe 2 meals a day cause of scheduling so I'm making that one of my proirties with the toning.


I will not be posting before pictures just yet cause I'm really not comfortable with them myself! So been patience when I'm a bit more happy with my body I might do it for you guys.


My running training is getting there but I've had to sit it out this week because I had a muscular complaint with my Achilles heel first then I started to get pain in my left calf and couldn't walk up stairs without it hurting, the pain has since disappeared so from Sunday I will be starting up my running. I'm not sure if the problems in the bottom of my leg were just a fluke accident or to do with my knee condition but don't worry I run with my knees properly strapped up as to not risk anything! I am though going to up my training and start running everyday as much as I can. I am also going to be starting a gym I'm just looking at prices etc atm. I'm kind of swaying towards total fitness atm, partly cause my mum gets a discount but I might check out the gym I get discount on with work cause I get perks like with my job I also get BUPA discount if I wanted to join them. I found out the other day my 10k race will be timed with a chip in the back of my race number, so I might just post my finished race time, it might be a very embarrassing but oh well! :)


What's your usual workout at the gym? Have you ever tried total fitness?

25 Questions Tag!

So I was getting bored the other day and decided that I was gonna film a tag video instead of tidying my room, naughty I know! But my room is clean....now :) All I ended up doing for this was just basically putting 'tag' into the youtube search bar and picked the first one that took my fancy. The first one that came up for me that I watched was by Blair 'Juicystar07' but it seems like a very popular tag on youtube anyway with hundreds of people doing it, and its a great way for you guys to get to know a bit more about me! So here we are~

And here are the questions for all you lovely guys and gals:

1-Do you have any pets?

2-Name 3 things that are physically close to you.

3-What's the weather like right now?

4-Do you drive? If so have you crashed?

5-What time did you wake up this morning?

6-When was the last time you showered?

7-What was the last movie you saw?

8-What does your last text message say?

9-What's your ringtone?

10-Have you ever been to a different country?

11-Do you like sushi?

12-Where do you buy your groceries?

13-Have you ever taken medication to help you fall asleep faster?

14-How many siblings do you have?

15-Do you have a desktop computer or a laptop?

16-How old will you be turning on your next birthday?

17-Do you wear contacts or glasses?

18-Do you colour your hair?

19-Tell me something you are planning to do today?

20-When was the last time you cried?

21-What is your perfect pizza topping?

22-Which do you prefer hamburgers or cheeseburgers?

23-Have you ever had an all-nighter?

24-What is your eye colour?

25-Can you taste the difference between pepsi and coke?

Feel free to film your own version and either leave it on here or video response me on my actual video for me to see.

Stay beautiful guys!

Primark Pastel Blazer

I know this has done its rounds on the blogosphere and possibly on youtube as well, but I can't not tell you guys about this great blazer!


I love using light, thin blazers as cover-ups or take the chill off come spring/summer but they're also great fashion pieces. The blazer in question is the fabulous milky pink blazer from primark which only cost £15. Come spring I love these ice cream shades and when payday finally rolls around I might end up going back for the mint green colour! Apart from those two shades they also do it in patterns, I've seen it in black with an elephant pattern on it, I've also seen it in a white colour which I won't be buying because I always seem to spill something on myself when I wear white! :(

Now I only bought this blazer on friday and I am in love with it already! I am size 12 with an hourglass figure, I was also fortunately...well unfortunately granted big boobs thanks to god and genetics and I love that this doesn't button up as it's more flattering on my figure. It's a lovely waterfall front with white inside so if you wanted to roll up the sleeves you have the white of the interior and then you see the pink colour through it. 


I wore this for mother's day which if you live in the UK was time for sunglasses and I stayed lovely and cool! I'm going to do a seperate post styling this blazer, I might do some more spring/summer styling posts/videos.

This is definitely going to be one of my spring/summer favourites cause it's such a light silky material which means you means you can fashionable while staying cool. I know Primark have been increasing their prices but I feel that the quality of the fabric and materials are getting better so I don't mind paying the extra! 


What are your key spring items?

Collective Haul~Lush, Primark and Accessorize

Here's my latest video guys. Yes it's only a collective haul from Primark, Lush, Whsmiths and Accessorize, but I thought I'd start posting my latest uploads on here as well so you've all got more to read well see.

This was filmed a couple of weeks ago, yes I know it's getting a little bit old now! Although I will be filming a new video tomorrow which I will be writing a blog post about tomorrow for those of you that prefer to read blogs rather than watch videos :) 


Your all fabulous!

Fitness and Healthy Eating Routine

I'm doing a bit of a different post today. You guys probably won't know but in May I am actually running a 10K race in support of a charity, the charity I'm running for is The Olivia Rae Foundation. This charity is really close to my heart as it's was founded after the unfortunate passing of my best friend Olivia, her parents set up this charity as Livvy was really involved in the arts and this foundation supports projects in the arts in the local community. I will be doing another more in depth post about the charity later because it really is amazing!

So today I'm going to do a bit more of a fitness post, as attempting to run a 10k for someone who doesn't normally run will be a bit of a challenge but it'll give me something to look towards and hopefully it'll start me on the track to running more often because I've started to realise that I actually really like it.


I'll start of with the fitness side of it, I've started running in preparation for the 10K. I started on a Monday and run every other day, on the 'rest days' I still try to do some form of exercise. On the days where I run, I run for roughly 45-60 minutes as I am lucky to live 5-10 walk from the beach. I briskly walk down to the beach and the stretch once I reach it, I then run for 2-3 minutes and briskly walk for 1. I find this effective for me personally it also helps because I am new to running. I rarely go running without my ipod as I find I push myself further when I'm listening to music as I don't get as bored doing it. I try as run till I start to get tired or it starts to get too dark or my dog starts to get tired. I also walk my dog once a day for about 20-25 minutes (don't worry he gets more than one walk, we take it in turns).


On my 'rest days' I do activities like walking my dog, I do this once a day for 20-25 minutes. I also do my Pump It Up DVD, I try to do the warm-up and cool down as well as 3 out of the 5 workout sections. I also like to do a lot of household chores, your probably thinking what? You do household chores to burn calories! You can actually burn calories doing housework. For instance I'll try and hoover the whole house in one go, with having a dog and cat that is quite a task, stripping and making all the beds. Little things like that where I'm still burning calories but also being productive as well.


Now for the 'diet' side, I don't specifically diet or follow any diet. My 'diet' isn't a diet it's a change of lifestyle, a change of what I ate. This is what works for me and my body and my condition. Yes I have an invisible condition, to do with my blood. I am actually B12 deficient, now there are different types you can be and I will do a bigger post on my 'condition' later but for this post all your need to know is that my body doesn't carry B12 in my blood and doesn't absorb it from my food, therefore I have to have injections for it and to make sure I try and eat food that contains B12 in them.


On a usual day I try to follow this basic plan. I try to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner with two snacks, one between breakfast and lunch and the other between lunch and dinner. For my snacks I try to stick to snacks that are 200 calories or under, for the rest of my meals I try to stick to healthy options. For instance if I crave pizza I will make my own (so I can control exactly what is in it) but I will pair it with a salad. I love using Sweet Chilli sauce as a dressing and topping to give it that extra flavour and the one that I bought from tesco's is only 56 calories for 2 tablespoons and i generally use less than that! I am also a HUGE chicken person, I don't often eat a lot of red meats, only occasionally when I have spaghetti bolognese. I eat chicken after I been running especially for the protein. I also eat a lot of fruit and have recently got into eating salads as well. I try and stick to having some protein, carbs, veg and dairy at meals but more so with my evening meals.


With the snacks I did a lot of research as to different snacks that are 200 calories or under and healthier. I'll list a few that I like:

• Apple slices with peanut butter and banana slices with peanut butter.
• If I'm craving something salty e.g. crisps I'll have a handful of salted pretzels or a small bowl of salted popcorn.
• If I fancy something sweet I'll have half a tube of smarties or 1-2 squares of dark chocolate.
• I buy frozen fruit as well as fruit for use in smoothies or for desserts/breakfast as I find they last way longer, therefore there's no sudden rush to eat them.
• I eat granola with yoghurt as a snack as well as for breakfast, I just half the portions.
• I love picking up fresh fruit when I'm out rather than buying a chocolate bar or a bag of crisps or some pop.

These are some of the things that work best for me and my body in particular. I am in no way a dietitian or nutritionist, I am just saying what personally works for my body and my lifestyle, before you undergo anything like this it's best to sit down, think about it and plan it out. You need to think 'Can I commit to having 3 set meals a day or will my job get in the way?!' 'Can I commit myself to running 3/4 days a week and still doing exercises on my rest days?' If your saying no to questions like these, you need to sit there and do research, try different things out till you can figure out which questions you can actually say yes to!


I will be doing more fitness posts and more posts about my 10K journey I might even film some vlogs along the way when I'm running (well when I stop for a break!) but I just thought I'd put it in here for a break from all the beauty stuff all the time! I will be spreading these posts out, possibly one every two weeks as it's only 3 months till the actual race! Nerves!!!!


What do you guys do to stay fit? Don't forget your fabulous no matter what you look like!

Nail Of The Day- French Manicure

So I though I'd take a crack at doing my own French manicure instead of spending money on getting acrylics or gels done. If Karen is reading this she might be slightly proud of this as we had a conversation about this! :)


This is what they look like, I used my OPI start to finish base and top coat then for the nude/ natural colour I use my 17 nail polish in forever. I've used this on its own a couple of times and I've found you have to use about 3 coats to get opaque and you can still see little bits of the tips underneath! For the white tip I used a polish I actually got in a prize from Karen, it's the Rimmel nail tip whitener with minerals. This polish has a slanted brush which I found made it easier to use and easier to get into the very corners on my tips.

Now I am not the best person in the world when it comes to painting my right hand, hence why I never try any nail designs. I will say bough that it took several goes at my right hand before I was left with something I'd be happy with for my first shot. It did take me close to an hour to complete this as my right hand was a big annoyance, but I'm going to keep practicing an hopefully get better! I do want to try doing different coloured French manicures.


What are you great tips for doing French tips when you do your nails?