Shop and shred!

So the clothes shopping did not end with the TopShop haul the other day, there is one more item (just one though, not so bad, is it?) that I picked up.

This simple one shouldered, red top from Republic.

There was no question when I saw it on the hanger that it was coming home with me. This is quite a simple top with a ruffle along the shoulder and round the neck line. With another one down the shoulderless side seam. There are probably lots of similar tops out there but not this one, in this exact shade of red. There are many shades of red that I can not pull off but this top is in the one very precise and maybe only hue that flatters me (tanned or natural) and in fact, seems to give me the "glow".

Just looking at this bright colour makes me smile and feel more alive.

However sadly, this top is not 100% perfect. It clings (in whatever size I try). In fact, a lot of tops seem to be clinging around my tummy area lately. I'm hoping that all the good fruit and veg I'm eating is just causing a little bloating but I fear otherwise.

Nevertheless, I wanted this top!

After all, it is red (that red), one shouldered and very flattering (as long as I cross my arms or keep my gaze up). I doubt I will find a top as near to perfect for a long time and in the meantime, I know that if I walked away then I would regret it.

So I brought the gorgeous red top!
And promised myself that I would just have to use some control underwear or some layering or a big belt to wear it or some very high waisted trousers. That is, if I haven't toned up a little more by then.

Which brings me to, Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred.

I have started shredding. So far I have done it three days straight and I WILL be doing it for another 27. At the moment, I'm shamelessly clinging to level 1 but I will push myself up to level 2 and then level 3 soon. I will, I've promised myself!

Jillian is tough with all her 'pain is fear leaving the body' talk and suchlike. Yet in twenty minutes, I do get a sweat and aches start, which last the day, so surely it is doing some good.

The twenty minute regime is made up of three circuits. Each circuit has three minutes of strength training (you need weights), two minutes of cardio and one minute of abs. Then of course, the workout includes a warm up and a cool down.

The two things I like about this fitness regime is that you don't need any coordination and it only lasts twenty minutes. I've been doing it first thing in the morning before my Green Monster.

I think if I left it any later in the day then I might not find the motivation and also, I'm finding once the workout is done then I feel good. So the last couple of days, I have felt pretty good all day and I'm sure it is because I dragged myself out of bed and in to some jumping jacks!

Has anybody else done the shred? Did you keep it up? What can I realistically expect to achieve in 30 days? Do you find yourself making some compromises in order to add another gorgeous addition to your wardrobe?

X

Getting the Glow with a Green Monster!

I'm liking the Green. . .

My mission is to make more of myself. I've previously talked about how I go through phases. One week, it is all about the lipstick. The next, it is all about the bling and then the next, haircare. At the moment, it is less about the products (just a little less though) and more about good old fashioned science or as I prefer to call it 'beautiful living'.

I'm trying to find out more ways of living which could actually help me make more of myself now and in the long run.

Yesterday I had my first 'Green Monster'.

Typically of me, I forgot to take a picture so this one is from the Green Monster Movement website. Mine didn't look quite as good.

In fact, mine was browny. It looked gross and it smelt foul but actually it tasted ok. It certainly tasted yummier then my very first green tea. These green smoothies are supposed to give you a HUGE increase in energy and decrease your cravings for sweet things. Oh and this is a direct quote from Angela the founder, 'My skin has also become more clear and my hair and nails started growing like weeds!'

Yay, I'm excited about this little drinkie.

The main ingredient is spinach. This or kale is mandatory as is some form of milk. However as long as these two ingredients are there, you can add any other ingredients you want (many people do choose seeds and fruit though), blend and ta dah, you have a Green Monster!

Since I can never have too many antioxidants, I added 5 or 6 large strawberries then a banana and a very small scoop of sunflower seeds to my little Monster.

It tasted like a creamy banana, strawberry concoction with a slight tinge of something else.

Obviously, the spinach or the kale is always going to add some nutritional goodness. Spinach has Iron, Folic Acid, Dietary Fibre and Vitamins A, C, E.  Milk provides the Calcium but the rest is up to you. You can make your monster as calorific or as slimslime as you like.

I had my monster for lunch today and along with the leftover strawberries, I didn't feel any hunger pangs or any need to top my meal up with anything else. I will certainly be having more and it will be a bonus if my skin starts to glow!

I found out about Green Monsters in Gemmas fabulous video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1UF0AIILk4&playnext_from=TL&videos=9QAsnig1oxo  Gemma always provides excellent links and information. I love her channels!
There is also a whole movement here http://greenmonstermovement.com/.

I also think that many of you will love 'Oh The Glow', the blog where the Monsters originated.

Angela is a health blogger who has completely changed her own life and got her glow again. Now, she is inspiring others to do the same. This blog is so different to any I've come across before (admitedly I haven't really lurked in the "healthy living" communities) and you really have to take a peek to see what I mean. I only found it on Friday night but I stayed up hours reading Angela's stories and her amazing ideas. Today, I can not stop talking about this blog. Check it out here http://ohsheglows.com/

What with green monsters and green teas, I'm now starting to think as long as it is called 'Green something', it will be good for me!

Have you tried a Green Monster? What do you think of the inside out approach to beauty and life?

X

Post Rewind: Just delivered!

This is a Post rewind from January. I will do a more through update on the Sigma brushes soon. Until then, please check out some recent musings here http://essjay23x.blogspot.com/2010/07/ins-and-outs-for-june.html .

Look what was just delivered last Friday and it wasn’t even a birthday gift!

Sigma, yayyy. Let’s open it up. . .

Oohhhhh and look what else I got? These little extras (below) were freebies that I was not expecting.

A travel brush for eyes, SS217, and a very useful grey eyeshadow in the cutest little package.

Wow, can I just say that I am very impressed? I paid for standard delivery and they arrived within a fortnight carefully wrapped in the prettiest little bag AND as well as the brushes that can do no wrong, the free brush and the free shadow. There was also beautifully illustrated instructions so that newbies like me, not as familar with all this make up marlarkey, has all of the help possible to paint their face beautiful.

Now I know there is lots of information out there on Sigma. If you want to know more, just search Sigma brushes on You Tube and there will be plenty of videos to pick from and I’m sure if you do the same in Google or something, plenty of blog posts will come up. If you would like me to do a review, I will but you probably all have your own set already and if you haven’t then you might be better off watching/reading a review of someone who knows a little more about the technicalities of make up. However, I will leave it up to you and if you want me to have a go then I will. Update 7/10, I think I will do a quick post soon on how I have got on with these brushes over the last six months.

For what it is worth, I will tell you now that I’m officially in love with SS219. I can finally do eyeliner (sort of), whoop and I finally understand why people say that brushes really do make a difference. Update 7/10, I rarely use the SS219 to line my eye any more. Please see http://essjay23x.blogspot.com/2010/07/ins-and-outs-for-june.html  to see what Sigma brush I am now using.

You may also be interested to know that it was the 12 piece professional brush set without the brush roll that I purchased.

So what brushes do you girlies own? What brushes do you want? What do you think of Sigma? Am I just another victim of hype? Don’t forget I love to read your comments.

X

Making the best of a bad hair day!

Oh, I had a bad hair day today.

It was my hair appointment day. I normally have one about every 10-12 weeks. New hair extensions and a cut.

I hate the process. The hour or so when my old extensions are out, but my new ones are not yet in, is agony. It sounds pathetic but without the security of those extra inches, I do not feel like me and of course, in the hairdressers there are all those silly mirrors and all I can see is this reflection that does not look like me at all. It is horrible and really throws me. For that hour or so, I act differently and squirm a lot. I'm not always the most confident or bubbliest of people but there I am so, soo lost, so awkward and completly dazed. I guess for more then four years now, I have worn extensions everywhere. I even made sure my clips in were in securely when I did a parachute jump in Australia. For me, they have become like a piece of clothing (and more), without them I am naked and very self-concious.

I don't really know how to explain it. I know how silly it sounds but I can't help the way I feel. Somebody said maybe I feel how those girls feel who get their nails done every week or so and then for some reason stop.

I know it is a silly thing to get so worked up over and I know, that it is all relative. If, God forbid, I had some awful news at the salon about my health or somebody close to me or some other real 'crisis' happened then I know that my hair would be forgotten just like that. I know there are many people in the world with real, real worries that I can not even comprehend but when it is just me, my hair and the mirror then I can't help it, a switch goes off and I do not think about that and all I think about is my hair. It is not necessarily that I think the extensions look better. It is just that I identify myself now as somebody with all that hair and when there is some reminder that I haven't really got all that much hair then something in me gets confused. I'm not sure, it is difficult to explain. I think if you're thinking of getting extensions or indeed any kind of fakery, you should consider the addiction factor and what that could cost you both in money and confidence.

Anyway, never mind, normally it is just a hour or two and before long, I'm skipping out of the salon with my extra inches and for the first two weeks or so, that new hair is so shiny, soft and silky and basically I'm a very happy girl.

Normally . . .

Not today!

Old extensions out and then argh, I'm told my new hair hasn't arrived and I have got 24 hours plus au naturalle.

Oh and by the way, au naturelle was cut quite nicely at the back (free of charge, for obvious reasons ie. I had lost half a barnet!!!) but the front (where the work was so badly needed) had to be left until extension time for blending reasons.

My first thought was rush home, lock the door and cry (again pathetic, I know).

I didn't cry (maybe because my Sideways Cross necklace was waiting for me) but I did rush home and I did think about getting my clip in extensions out but then I thought, this is bad. Nobody can see me and well, I'm not planning on having short hair for a while so make the most of it so I had a bit of a play. Styling my hair this way and that and I have to concede that my natural hair is slightly more versatile then I feared.

This is my favourite style of the day.

I love this look. I think it is really girly, pretty and timeless. It took me two minutes at the most.

I can do it with my extensions but normally don't bother as it takes, at least, three times as long and is a bit more complicated. I had a bit of help from the hairdresser with this version (shown above) last year. It is all that trying to backcomb the hair without matting or getting it caught/tangled in the rows, pulling the sides of the hair back smoothly while trying to keep all the rows concealed, trying to find and attach a clip (or combination of clips/bands) to keep all that hair in place.

So in conclusion, I will be going back for my extensions tomorrow but the surprise break we had from each other was maybe not as painful as I imagined.

Maybe in fact, it was a very, very, very small step on the road to recovery from my chronic addiction which is good in light of the infamous Naomi Campbell picture which hit the newstands recently. It is alleged that she may have some form of alopecia due to adorning hair extensions.

Like some smokers and many people addicted to all different things, I do intend to give my extensions up. One day!

Have you ever had any shock, horror experiences at the hairdressers? Do you change your hair often or is there only one way/colour/length you would ever have your barnet styled?

X

Share The Love!

Hi everyone!

You may remember that I did some Sharing The Love on You Tube recently. I'm not really sure if You Tube is my thing, I think I'm more comfortable blogging. For now, I have made my videos private but I'll probably change my mind again tomorrow.

Anyway just in case you are interested, here is a quick rundown of who I mentioned in my Share The Love videos.

***YOU TUBE CHANNELS***

Claire
http://www.youtube.com/user/FashionTeller17

Claire has a blog and a You Tube channel. Her blog is amazing and her channel is a little bit newer but I chose her as a You Tuber just because when she is talking about style and fashion she is so passionate and in to what she is talking about. I find her energy contagious. On my mission, I think I've got sidelined by beauty a bit but I've started to think more about style and adorning pretty things as I read more of Clare's posts and watch her videos. A couple of her videos are quite different too. One is dedicated to her shoe collection. I've seen tens of make up collection videos before but a shoe collection one?! It worked though, a great vlog. Then there was another chatty vlog about how she thought her style was evolving. Again I've seen chatty videos before but never one, that took this angle. So hopefully there will be some more videos up soon. In the meantime, check out her channel if you haven't already and of course, check out her blog http://www.thefashiontellersnotes.blogspot.com !



Tanya Burr
http://www.youtube.com/user/pixi2woo

When I did my Share the Love videos, I was really in to my Frenched which I doubt I ever would have been able to pull off if I hadn't watched Tanya's wearable red lip tutorial. I know she is quite well-known but all of her tutorials seem to work for me. I have been working her Lady Gaga lippie (I do like Satin Taupe) look recently and it is quite wearable. I've learnt loads from her and she is a trained make up artist so hopefully everybody can pick up something from her.

Tanya also has another 'fun' channel which is a good way to wind down if you like 'A day in the life' type videos.

Oh and of course, look out for the jewellery Tanya wears in her videos because some of it she sells. Remember a certain dancing ring!

Alex
http://www.youtube.com/user/alex27393

To be fair, I have not watched lots of Alex's videos yet but I found her channel when I was searching You Tube for some extension videos and I watched one of her videos and then another one. I thought they were good and she covered hair, beauty, make up. She has more then fifty videos up and seems really in to making her channel a success. I have subscribed and think that her channel could be one to watch.

Kathy
http://www.youtube.com/user/xxsgtigressxx

I wasn't aware of Kathy's channel before but she does have a big following so maybe you are already subscribed. However, this channel she is new to me and wow, am I pleased that I found it. I became aware of Kathy's videos after Laura (Lollipop26) tweeted that the only tutorials she ever watched were on this channel. There are a lot of make up looks on this channel which I will soon be exploring but the video that I have been watching over and over with my 209 in hand, is the Perfect Liquid/Gel liner tutorial.

***BLOGS***

Nicoletta
http://nicolettasbeautyspace.blogspot.com/

I remember saying in my video that Nicoletta's blog was my current fave and I still look forward to her posts now. I think Nicoletta is quite new to blogging -I've probably only followed her a couple of months- but you would never know. She does a lot of faces of the day but also throws in fashion, hair, reviews and more general posts. She did a lovely one today about appreciating the small things such as a morning with her son and some toast. Nicoletta seems really friendly and posts almost, if not, every day.


Muhsine
http://bubblegarm.blogspot.com/

You all know that I am a big fan of Muhsine's blog. It covers everything make up, natural beauty, hair and she is just so stylish that you'll probably find some style inspiration in there too. Muhsine's photos are great and her posts are always inspiring. She consistently produces very clear swatches with through comparisons. She talks fairly about many different brands. A great blog to check out if you are in to seeing how some of the less hyped brands fare compared to MAC and Nars. The posts on this blog are not ones that could be written without some knowledge, thought and research. Oooh and the odd purchase or so!! Thankfully Muhsine posts several times a week and in addition to this, there is a whole wealth of information on her blog in the form of earlier posts. Sometimes if I have a question (or a blemish), I just search Muhsine's blog and Bingo, a remedy is found!



IKWYWTS
http://iknowwhatyouworethissummer.blogspot.com/

A new group blog set up by Gemma from Gem's Maquillage. You may have heard about it but basically you submit a half decent photo of your outfit of the day and Gemma/Victoria will include it in a cute little post with a few more OOTD's from others. I'm very nosy and love seeing what people are wearing. It is great to see what we wear in common and what more unique pieces people use to distingish their style. There have been points where I have been obsessed with this blog and trawled the net to try and find something spied here. This blog is also a great way to find new blogs as under photos, IKWYWTS will link to the person's blog.


Laura
http://emeraldgreen88.blogspot.com/

Laura's blog is brilliant. She posts regularly, does a lot of looks with a lot of different products. One look that I always remember is a Bollywood one. The looks are always creative and to me, Laura's technique appears spot on. Laura replies to a lot of her comments and seems an avid reader of many blogs herself, I'm sure she has 'matchmaked' a lot of blogs with new followers in Blogland, as she often tags or refers to interesting posts or competitions she has read. Also Laura is so on the ball with future collections, she knows what is coming out and when. A great blog to turn to when compiling wish lists. Laura also does beauty reviews and hauls.


There we go, I know some of my mentions are more well-known then others but I hope you find somebody new to follow here.

Oh and of course, there is Laura, Lollipop26 (http://lollipop26writes.com/) but you are all following her anyway but just so you know I would highly, highly recommend following her if you live on Jupiter and aren't already.

Are there any other amazing channels or blogs that I should be subscribed to?! Let me know and I will check them out.

X

PS I have done a post or two like this before so flick through my wordpress (http://essjay23x.wordpress.com/) archives to see who else I have rated if you are interested.

POST REWIND: Adding Coralista and removing brows!

So, what else can I tell you about my little spree on Monday?!




As you know I went to buy Coralista.

There are such amazing reviews about it. Many say they think it will be a favourite blush forever. It is a bit of a transition for me. I am used to Benefit blushes. However, I normally use Throb or Dandelion which are much pinker. Coralista is more of a peach and it looks quite tropical and summery. I was interested to try this because with my green eyes, I have read in Amy’s make up artist series (Dazzledust25 http://www.makeupandbeauty.ie ) that peachy type colours are complimentary around my eye area and I’ve heard this before. A lady at Estee Lauder once said the same and gave me the most beauty peach and grey eye look. So why not on my cheeks? Coralista is not a bright, bright bronzing peach and so I think it will be ok with my skintone but I will let you know when I have worn it a little more. I have to admit the change from pink to peach is taking some getting used to but just look at the packaging, it is so summery.

Now obviously as usual at a make-up counter, the friendly Benefit assistant seemed keen to add on sales and when she asked me if there was anything else I was interested in, the brow bar sign seemed to be flashing at me. I have not noticed one of these at Benefit before and after just seeing all the random hairs in the mirror when we tested Coralista, I decided to ask about it. The assistant explained that Benefit were now offering a brow service at their brow bars and funnily enough, I could have an appointment in twenty minutes if I wanted one.



I decided to go for it. I am awful with my brows. I overpluck and use hair removal creams and I always get the wrong hairs and then I try to correct it and well, it got to a point about six months ago where I had to vow to leave my brows alone, they were thin, stringy, gappy and totally asymmetrical. On Monday, you could see they had grown back enough to have a little shape and there were certainly some random hairs to get rid of. Here is a picture before Benefit worked their magic!

Excuse the random hair in the middle, that is barnet hair! My brow hair didn’t grow that long. . !



The assistants explained what they were going to do and went through all the safety information. I explained to them that I have been to salons before and they normally give me a little wax and maybe a tiny tweeze and then I’m out in less then ten minutes, disappointed because there is no big difference to my shape. Then I’ll get home and try to rectify it myself and we have the whole over-plucking/shaping thing again.

Well, this time I was not disappointed with my eyebrow shape. The benefit assistant waxed, tweezed and trimmed to get a much more defined shape in my brow as you can see here.

The photos are not great but you get the general impression!

I also had a tint and my upper lip waxed. I would say if you go to a Benefit bar and just want a shape, be careful as it is very easy to add services on as they are suggested to you. The assistant also made another appointment for me even though I said there was no need. She said that, I could cancel nearer the time and pencilled it in.

All of this cost (£27 approx) about the same as I would normally pay in the salon and I was a lot happier with the result. The asssistants even used Benefit products to make up my brows and my lips (I chose the lovely Jing-a-ling lipstick) and to conceal redness before I left. The only downside is that I was sat on a stool in the middle of Boots (albeit in a corner) being waxed and I’m a bit of a wimp!

Ovarall, I would like to go back and have my brows maintained at this Benefit Bar and hope that I can fulfil the follow-up appointment that was made for me. I was given a loyalty card so that on my eighth appointment, I get a discount or free gift.

So, have you used the new Benefit brow bars? How do you shape your brows? What shape do you desire?

X

Scarf delight!

Hi Girlies *waves gorgeous scarf at you* So today I have done an ickle bit of shopping. Quite a boring but wise haul really, mouthwash, antihistmines, rollers and the most humongous brush. Of course, as useful as they all will be. It would not be the done thing to return home without something a bit more treat-like. So I just had to find something that little more special. . . Ching ching!!!    Yay, my own McQueen scarf. Sort of. Obviously this is not a genuine Alexander McQueen scarf, like the treasure that Milly from Pearls and Poodles http://pearlsandpoodles.blogspot.com/search/label/Alexander%20McQueen%20scarf and Clarehttp://thefashiontellersnotes.blogspot.com/2010/02/im-barbie-girl.html  (and now Jess from Star Violet beauty) adorns but there are some similarities and I expect it was designed as a much cheaper alternative at Miss Selfridge. I have had a quick peek again at Milly's blog and my scarf, as special as it is, is by no means the same as her absolute beauty. Obviously the two, with mine at £12, are not going to compare. The teeth in the skulls are different, the border of the scarf is different, the skulls are proportioned and placed differently, the McQueen scarf looks bigger and much whiter and as Jess said, their scarfs are silk and so, so, so soft. Mine just feels like a scratchy hanky and already has a loose thread but I love it and my scarf has a little bit of appeal in a kind of poor 'orphan scarf' way! I'm glad I found my scarf lovely because after seeing Milly and now Jess (Star Violet http://www.starvioletbeauty.com/2010/06/god-save-mcqueen.html ) so proudly flauting theirs, I was almost about to part with £145 for one just like theirs and I can't really justify it at the moment. I think I will evantually because their scarves look so divine. I hope they keep making regular guest appearences in the girls's posts and videos. However, now that I have my £12 darling, I can wait a little before I purchase the Queenie. I'm going to use my scarf lovely to roadtest the whole notion of scarves while I save a little more. That way when I finally purchase a McQueen beauty of my own, I will know that I really want it for what it is and that it suits me. Until now, I have never really worn a scarf. I'm not even sure how to and £145 seems a lot to spend on my very first one but one day . . ! Right, that is enough dreaming, my scarf and I are off for a dance around the living room! Let me know if you have picked up anything nice lately. Until next time *gives a little jump and waves scarf madly* *And again* *And again* *And again and . . . skips off* X

My Summer Scene!

Hey Girls So I'm feeling all summery today and it is raining, typical! I think my summer feeling is a little bit down to the sun we had earlier this week, the fact that it is a bank holiday (and therefore should be sunny) and a whole lot down to the fact that my fake tan break is over. Oh yeah!!! I am loving the combo of St Moriz and Boots Body Butter. I took a fake tan break because I'm rubbish at it. I get streaks, patches and very funny looks but no more! Everybody says that St Moriz goes on smoothly but isn't that easy for tanning whizzes to say?! Except this time, they are right. I'm very late on this bandwagon but St Moriz does go on seamlessly even when I mix it haphazardly in with my moisturiser. I am loving it! The only self tanner that I have ever found to apply so well is Make Believe but that costs so much more then my darling St Moriz. Now I have a tan to flaunt and I'm skipping around. I feel so full of life that I might have to go puddle jumping later to celebrate my new tan. Isn't it funny how a simple tan (no foundation or concealer required, yay) can change the way you feel?! I even added lots of colour in to my look today. St Germain on my lips, that gorgeous Claires Acc Nail Varnish on my nails that I have raved about before, a slick of All That Glitters across my lids. So simple and with all the time that I saved today, I even tried waving my hair with a concial wand but aherm, might need a bit more practise there and today, it had to be straightened out. Ooh and then time to accesorise. No black today, absolutely zero which is pretty amazing for me. Nope, it is tan and colour all the way. Here is a little pic. Sorry it is a bit blurred but honestly like I said, I've got the summer bounce today and I couldn't stand still long enough to take this properly. I actually don't look too tanned in the pic but this is about as tanned as pale old me should go. I've learnt from my mistakes hence the moisturiser add in. Now all I need is a little sunshine and my summer scene will be perfect! Hope you're having a nice bank holiday and maybe a sunnier one then mine. Made use of my look today and added a couple of videos to You Tube. Check them out if you get a chance. Don't forget, it always makes my day (even a rainy one!) if you follow or comment on my posts or videos! Would love to see your OOTD or hear about your fake tan expereinces so leave me a link to your posts or comment here. X

Tea for me!

Well Girls, now, you will see a cup of tea. Ta dah! What is more, it is a cup of tea which I have drunk and enjoyed. Tra, la, lah, la . . ! As long as it is green, tea is now my new favourite thing. Since Sunday, there has been a new ritual at Little Palace d'Essjay and that is two mugs of green tea for moi, a day. Many of you may be surprised as I have spoken before about the fact that I only drink tap water (and very little of that) on a day to day basis. Yet within four days, there has been a complete turnaround. I love my green tea and I can not imagine living a day without drinking it. Now, this may sound a little dramatic. It is early days but the green tea really has made a difference to the way I have felt. For me, there has certainly been more of an immediate and obvious change then what I feel the multivitamins or the Evening Primrose Oil or the Cod Liver Oil achieved. In short, I have been bouncing around these last few days. I've heard about Green tea before but it was BelleDuJour NYC's recent video, http://www.youtube.com/user/BelleDuJourNYC#p/u/9/IGemLmAmlGg , which inspired my new daily routine. Dara claims it is her no 1 beauty and health secret. She says that it makes her skin so vibrant. Well, I had to try. To be honest, I slurped and swallowed those first awkward few mouthfuls on Sunday with my skin, in mind. However although it seems to have done my skin no harm, the real difference I feel is in my mood and energy for life. I've been skipping around from the moment that I had that first mug on Sunday. At first, it tasted revolting. However by Monday, I could feel the difference and this compensated for the gritty taste and now I don't really taste the tea at all. It is just that warm aftertaste (and feeling) that I crave. Apart from the intitial taste, the only other low point was that I felt slightly nauseous on Monday. This may have been the shock of the caffiene in my system- apparently green tea can have more caffiene then coffee or it could have been my stomach suddenly having to cope with the fact that I was actually drinking something which is quite unusual for me! The nausea has now passed and I look forward to my green tea. Apparently there are lots of other benefits of drinking green tea. I don't understand it all yet but apparently it is packed with antioxidants which can rid our bodies of the toxic byproducts 'free radicals' which can benefit all areas of our life from beauty to health. Some studies even suggest it can help with cancer. Then of course, there are some who believe it can help in weight control. Again something possibly to do with the antioxidants boosting metabolism which means you burn more calories doing the normal things you normally do or something . . ! I do want to find out more about all these long term benefits but for now, it is enough that this tea just makes me feel good. If you want to find out more about green tea, you might find these references a good starting point: University of Maryland Medical Center http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/green-tea-000255.htm Beauty Brains http://thebeautybrains.com/2010/04/10/is-red-tea-good-for-your-face-2/ An article about tea http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/tao-of-tea EHowHealth on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYnjifWDot8 I purchased my Birt&Tang Organic Green Tea (20 bags) from TKMaxx for less then £2. Oh and Girls, if you do decide to have a cup then please read all the warnings and disclaimers with your product. As great as it is for me, Green tea is not necessarily suitable (or safe) for everybody. So have you tried green tea or any other exotic beverages (if it is not tap water then as far as I'm concerned, it is exotic!)? I'd love to hear your suggestions and comments. I'm not sure about Nettle(!) Tea. Ooh and look out, the next post will be my 100th since the mission began!!! X

POST REWIND: The first date: My MAC!

My post about Blackberry got me thinking about how excited I was earlier in the year when I had my MAC haul so I decided to share some of that excitment with some of you newer readers, this post was first published in January http://essjay23x.wordpress.com Well, well, well . . . My MAC and I had a date this morning! Here is what I learnt about My MAC. Firstly, we have Blackberry. A matte finish eyeshadow, it is very dark purple/brown. I have swatched but it was quite a hard colour to photo and it looks more purple in reality. Then we have Modelette, a beautiful peachy neutral with a satin finish. I think I could get a lot of use out of this. I have already used it on my lid today and it just slipped on so easily over Untitled. Very impressed. Next up is Shale. This was one that I personally picked out yesterday. It is beautiful and reminds me of Barry M Mushroom. As soon as I picked it up, I knew that I wouldn't be putting it down again. I think I would normally use this on the lid or as a highlight colour but today I was playing and wanted a bare minimum look for the day so actually used Shale to contour Modellette and I think it worked ok. This is a satin eyeshadow. Embark. Wow, what a strong impact this heavy chocolate colour is going to make. I think it goes without saying this is going to be a strong contour colour and good for smoky eyes. It reminds me of the contour colour in Big Beautiful Eyes from Benefit. This has a matte finish.   Here is Untitled, my paint tube and I like it. I mentioned that I usually use concealer (erase paste) or cream shadows as a base but I used the tiniest amount of this and poof, there was a base. It is also a nice colour, nude with a little pink and I think you could use this without shadow, a little mascara and viola, your eye is made up. The swatch actually photographed quite well. Hue!!! I like it. I applied this on to my lips and just used my normal Revlon foundation underneath to take any red out of my lips. It is meant to be a glaze lipstick and looks very neat, tidy and groomed which is kind of the look I want to go for. I also believe that this lipstick might have a bit of staying power because when I was swatching, it was worse then the shadows to clean off. Underage. I am not that familar with glosses. I wore this over Hue and it felt quite heavy and sticky on my lips but it is lasted for three or four hours until I ate a meal. I probably will not apply as much next time. Mineralise Natural Skin Finish in light to medium feels lovely on my face but you just can not see anything in the swatch. I have to say that I think it is the softest powder that I have ever applied to my face which surprised me since it is not even loose. The shadows too feel very soft on my lids and weightless.The only weight or mask like sensation that I feel is on my lips but I kinda like it. It is reassuring to know that there is something there. You may have noticed that I stuck to certain products. I don't think I heard one British guru recommend the concealers and many were wary of recommending the foundations because people have had breakouts when they start using MAC foundations. Nobody seemed to have much time for the mascaras either and when it came to blush, there seemed less reviews available and aside from that, I have one Maybelline blush and my other blushes are Benefit which leads to me one of my other purchases yesterday, Coralista, another yay! Yesterday was a good day for me Have any of you tried any of these MAC products or Coralista? Are there any products that you want to warn me off? X

POST REWIND:Look, look . . .

My post about Blackberry got me thinking about how excited I was earlier in the year when I had my MAC haul so I decided to share some of that excitment with some of you newer readers, this post was first published in January http://essjay23x.wordpress.com/ I got my first MAC products, yay, yay, yaaaaaaaaaaaay! We have (from the back and left to right) Untitled; Blackberry; Mineralise SkinFinish Natural in Light Medium, Embark, Modelette, Shale, Underage and Hue. Whoo, these little purchases have made my week. I have the week off and this is just how I wanted to start it . . . with MAC! You should have seen how tightly I was holding my little bag. I can't wait to wear them all properly. I'm hoping that I will not be disappointed. I shouldn't be. I did do a lot of research. I went with a whole list of colours that gurus such as Lollipop26, FleurDeForce, Dazzledust25, AllThatGlitters, JuicyStar05, OxfordJasmine and so many more, have talked/blogged about and that certainly helped to guarantee Hue and Underage a home but with the eyeshadows, there were just so many on the shelf and you could not see the names without picking the actual shadows up and looking on their rears. I soon gave up on that and just ended up picking the ones that I actually liked the look of. I wanted mainly neutrals but one or two colours to shake things up for more made-up looks. I already had purples in mind and when the assistant suggested them . . . sold! Going back to lips. I tried three lipsticks. The lady suggested Patteserie and I asked to try Hue and Angel. Angel just seemed a little too pink for me. It came down to Hue and Patteserie. I hope Patteserie becomes part of my collection evantually but I guess as I already knew about Hue, that is where my heart stayed. I tried two lipglosses. Fantabulous and Underage. This was easy. Fantaboulous really did look purple on me. When I've seen people wearing it in videos, it looked conventional and I would be surprised to find out that it was a purple gloss but on my lips, you could certainly see that it was a very purple gloss. Just slightly too outrageous for me . . . at the moment! I also have a paint tube (there is more in the tube then the pot for the same price) and the assistant said that she preferred tubes. I got Untitled which is a very subdued nude with a trace of pink. I will be interested to see how this works as I have always used either the Benefit cream shadows or concealer as eye bases. That is, if I used anything at all. The Mineralise Skin Finish Natural seems a bit of a 'boring' purchase compared to the shadows and lipsticks but it was the one 'boring' product that so many gurus bothered to rave about and, maybe I'm a bit dense but, I don't see the point in raving about a 'boring' finishing powder unless it actually works. Also get this, I'm still off the fake tan and was colourmatched for this powder and it seems the lightest was too light, wow! Well, I hope you enjoyed a little peek in to my shopping bag. Expect to see a lot more of these products in future posts (after all, I've got to get my moneys worth). Also be warned, todays shopping did not stop in MAC . . . Can you remember your first MAC product? What products do you aspire to? X

POST REWIND: Does time equal beautiful hair?

Post rewind again, here is a post from January of this year. http://essjay23x.wordpress.com/ Have you ever had a question where no matter how many times you ask it, you never get an answer to pause your pondering? I have. Some of them I am even willing to share with you. Here is the first one and guess what? I may just have found an answer. Years of hair extensions, straightening, blow drying, travelling and drinking too little of the right things has left me with damaged and dry hair. Now (and I'm quite proud of this), it is not as damaged or dry as it used to be but I think to some extent, my hair is always going to be dry and quite possibly damaged. Every time that I go to the hairdresser, I'm reminded that conditioner is my best friend and I try, I condition and I condition. And this is where we come to my question, many conditionors such as Aussie's Three Minute Miracle say that if you leave this conditioner on for X amount of time, you will get a deep conditioning treatment. Great but I'm always looking for more and so we come to my big question! I wonder if maybe I took the recommended leave in time and multiplied by 3 or 5 even 10 before rinsing out. Would that mean I would get multiple results? Does 10 times longer equal 10 times better conditioned hair? I have spent hours sat in the house, a towel on my head. My barnet saturated in conditioner underneath and I want to know has this made any difference to my hair or has it all been just a blatent waste of time? My hair feels ok especially compared to how it used to feel. On the other hand, maybe it still would have felt ok if I'd only left the conditioners in for just the recommended time and not hours longer. Maybe the product does its work in the recommended time and then once this time is up, all the goodness has ran out and any extra time, is pointless because there is nothing left in the conditioner for my hair to absorb. Well as sad as it seems, this has troubled me for a long time. I even e-mailed Aussie once to ask them what they thought but I got no reply. So I kept on slathering the barnet and sitting in the towel just in case that was making a difference. Then one day, I asked about this on the wonderful forum at Beauty Judge.com ( http://www.beautyjudge.com ) and got quite a few responses. Some said that to get extra conditioning, you should leave the conditioner on for about twenty minutes and then rinse out. Another said not to leave the conditioner on for too long in case, it was a protein one. Conditioners are either protein or moisture based and apparently too much protein is bad for your hair and another said, that if your conditioner (I'm guessing, moisture or protein) is left on your hair for too long then the product will just dry your hair out. Somebody else said adding honey and olive oil to your conditioner can be extra moisturising. Such great responses and plenty of ideas for experiments to come. However, there was one response which I wanted to look at, in more depth here. I was referred to a post on the Beauty Brains website. thebeautybrains.com/2006/08/03/how-long-…ioners-in-your-hair/ This was actually quite a scientific post (for me!) but possibly explained in simple terms an answer to the question that I had always been wondering about. Basically Beauty Brains say that not only do you not need to keep conditioners in for hours (ahem!) but that you do not even need to keep them in for the recommended amount of time stated by the brand. Apparently conditioners mainly work on the surface of the hair and little penetration is needed. The conditioner hits the surface of the hair as soon as you apply it. I'm guessing you would only need time if the product needed to work in to the hair to work which it seems conditoner in the large, does not. It seems it is better to spread the conditioner through all the hair so all the individual hair surfaces are covered and to take your time doing this rather then slapping it on your head and then leaving it there untouched for hours. Apparently companies give recommended leave in times etc to give their product a powerful image. Beauty Brains do admit that oil based conditioners such as Coconut do need time to penetrate but I believe, in most markets these are not the most purchased conditioning products. There are a couple of responses to the blog post and they seem to question the Beauty Brains's theory. There is also another interesting post which suggests if your hair needs lots of conditioning. You could use a rinse out conditioner as a leave in as long as your hair seems happy and does not feel weighed down. The rinse out conditioners apparently are stronger then the leave ins so it is not worth using a leave in as a rinse out but a rinse out could be extra conditioning to your hair if you apply it to towel-dried hair and leave it in. Due to the concentration and weight of a rinse out conditioner, not all hair types will be suited to this but if your hair looks, feels ok and basically seems happy then Beauty Brains suggest that this is ok as long as your skin does not feel irritated and you confine such conditioning to the ends of your hair only. http://thebeautybrains.com/2006/08/07/whats-the-difference-between-rinse-out-and-leave-in-conditioners/ Hmmm, so how does this reconcile with the earlier Beauty Brains post which suggests there is little bonus from leaving a conditioner in before rinsing out? Is there a difference here because you will never rinse the product out? I'm starting to lose track a little now. Maybe the brain ache has set in but none of this seems too dangerous to me so I think I will try some of these ideas out and see what happens. If it is anything exciting then you will be the first to know. Who knows? Maybe I can banish dry hair forever, after all? I hope I have explained what I have learnt ok but I suggest before you put any of this in to practise that you check the posts yourself in case I have confused or missed anything. What do you think? What do you do when it comes to conditioning your hair? What is your hair like? Any hair tips or myths that you want to expose? Any hair growth tips? What beauty questions have spent a lifetime bugging you? Your comments and subscriptions will always be welcome here;-) Right, I'm off to explore the Beauty Brains website further. I think it could become another obsession! X

POST REWIND: Big Beautiful Eyes

This post is part of my Post Rewind series. This review was first posted on my wordpress blog in January. You can see all of my posts on http://essjay23x.wordpress.com if you are interested. I hope that you enjoy this review. I know that this is yet another review of a Benefit product. As you know I have only recently took a real active interest in make up. Until then, I stuck with what I knew or what I was told about. Benefit is one of the few higher end brands with a counter near my home. I also guess that the gimmicky and fun nature of their marketing made them a little less intimidating so when I couldn't find something in Boots or Superdrug then Benefit was my go-to brand. Obviously I'm now extending my reportoire of brands (MAC!) and products but at this early stage, I can only review these new brands to a point because we are still getting to know each other;-). So for today, it is back to Benefit and Big Beautiful Eyes which was on my wish list for a long time. There are three shadows in the palette, all of them colours that I (as make up naive as I was)already had something very similar in my make up collection (Gift sets, Argos gifts, Rimmel, Maybelline etc). So for months, I hurried past the Benefit counter and then one day, the promise of Big Beautiful Eyes was too much and I brought the palette. I thought it would change my eyes forever. It didn't matter that I already had almost the same colours just in a different brand. Benefits were the ones that were going to give me big, beautiful eyes! The palette is currently retailing on the Benefit website for £21.50. Twenty pounds plus may seem quite expensive for a box that fits easily in to your bag. However, it is Benefit so the box is beautiful and I think, you will find that they have managed to get quite a lot of product in to this little palette. You also get two mini make up brushes to apply the eye make up and a lesson plus a mirror to see how you are doing. I have lost the lesson but I do remember that the instructions and diagram(s) were very easy to follow. They showed you which shadow should go where and for what effect. I think it showed you how to achieve two different looks. One more everyday and then one, with a bit more contour/liner when you want your make up to be more obvious. I have heard presenters on the shopping channel say that this palette contains all the eye make up you need for every occasion. I've got to say the looks are gorgeous but I don't think, somebody like myself with no particular make up skills could get a look to compete with a full on black smoky eye using this palette alone. In a way, the colours are too nice. The lesson is very useful and as I said, explained well. It seemed to go in first time and it has not bothered me that I have lost the lesson now. You probably could use this kit for the first time without the lesson but I wouldn't, it only takes a couple of minutes to read, and so many brands just expect you to pay a high price for the product and work the rest out for yourself, so it is nice to see what Benefit suggest.   You can see a swatch of the make up products above. We start with boing the concealer then the light pink shadow and then the lid colour a medium brown and then the heavy chocolaty brown contour.  I tried to swatch them all over the boing as this is how they should go on your eye lid. The shadows are in neutral colours which I expect could be duped by products within most make up brands. However, these seem to blend and do what you want them to do very easily. They also seem quite soft and at home, on my skin. There is no irritation or fallout. I have used this palette several times and I'm pretty rough with it. I expect that I have sat on it, thrown it in to the drawer and trodden on it. Yet unusually for a palette, all of the shadows are still sitting in their correct slots and not falling out all over each other which is very handy as the liner shadow is a very heavy brown. The shadows seem to work well with the Boing concealer (my concealer is a little mucky but I don't think it is directly from the shadows in this palette maybe my mucky fingers or brushes!) which I use as a base for the shadows to stick to. I think Benefit suggest that you can use it around your eye area for dark circles etc but the Boing in my palette is 02 and I prefer to use my 01 Erase Paste for this. I'm not sure if Benefit offer some Big Beautiful Eye palettes with different concealer shades or not. The packaging is gorgeous, brown and. . . cardboard! So for a palette which you might use going from A to B, this may not always be that pratical. I always keep my cardboard palette in the cardboard sleeve. I expect a lot of people just throw the sleeve away but I'm glad I didn't. My actual palette is in the same condition that it was when I purchased it. The sleeve is battered but still manages to protect the palette inside. As I have said, I have used my palette quite a lot. About a third of the time, I try to use it as suggested for big, beautiful eyes. I think the look is lovely and the eyes certainly look wide awake and alert when I apply it as suggested. I do not normally use the brushes provided but some of my own eye brushes. I think I do still have the brushes somewhere though (and Benefit labelled what they're for on them) and they would be useful if I was going away and wanted to take the palette with me which I may well want to because as well as the Big Beautiful Eyes look, there are other ways you can use these shadows. Sometimes I have used a shade alone on the lid. I have also layered the shades over each other on my lid for a really nice soft brown colour (almost plummy) as the (bad;-)) picture below illustrates. On occasions, I have used the pink to highlight above my cheekbone and used the two browns to fill my brows in and although a little dark for me, blended in to my foundation even the concealer could be useful. I would recommend anybody to buy this palette. You can do a lot with it and if you're starting a collection. Buy this palette because you are going to want these colours anyway and these are really good quality and great value for you! You will learn about make up and get some great looks but just remember it is still your eyes that you are applying the make up to and make up can only change you so much. A lot of the Benefit titles are so aspirational and deep down as silly as it seems, I guess I was a little disappointed that it was still my eyes! I've got this bad habit of expecting miracles. . ! If you got this far, thanks for reading yet another Benefit review. Don't forget I love comments and it would make my day if people continued to subscribe.  X

Coconuts, coconuts . . !

So summer should swiftly be on it's way and I wonder if this is why I have suddenly developed a fetish for coconut. I have never really took to coconut products in the past. I don't like or dislike coconut branded/type beauty products. I have never given them enough time to find out. No because as a child, I hated all things Coconut-tainted to eat. However, I have recently been embracing all things Coconut-like. I'm trying to keep my mission as organic as possible and the word Coconut in the branding simply makes the product seem more pure, full of goodness and sunnier! Also, guess what? The scent of coconut is so much better then the taste. It is sweetly divine and I love it! Let me share with you my current Coconutty fave. The Pink Cow Coconut Creme Body Scrub I use this every other day as recommended and it keeps my skin looking rejuvenated and fresh. It is not a heavy duty exfoliator but if you keep using it regularly then evantually it will easily maintain 'fresh' skin. This product smells as delicious as it looks and actually does seem to be a 'beauty goodie'. It has not being tested on animals and is paraben (and allergen) free. There is no doubt that I may well repurchase this product especially as it only costs £2.99 (Boots). Then as if Coconut is not summery enough to induce purchase then have you read the little blurb on the front?! 1. Take half a coconut and make sail on a lime blue sea. 2. Be peaceful. . . tell your heart a fairy tale. 3. Say hurray for 'NO PARABENS' Ha, I love this. A perfect bathtime product at a rock bottom price. Likey! ******  I have also been enjoying The Body Shop Coconut Body Butter. I love body butters. Love; love; love! However, I've only ever used Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter and yummy Vanilla. Until now. Yep, I've discovered Coconut which has the same beautiful scent as my Pink Cow body scrub and, as usual with the Body Shop butters, that beautiful scent lingers all day. Yay! This body butter is a lovely alternative to perfume now that summer is approaching but for those perfume fanatics (aherm!), it also works well as a base for perfume scents. I've used it layered with Stunning and Flora and this coconut gem has not failed me. I really feel pretty and more inspired to do something when there is a hint of coconut in the air.   The ultra-moisturising Body Butters from the Body Shop retail from £5 and I believe you can currently get a free one with the June issue of Marie Claire. I'm not sure if Coconut is included in the offer though. . ! And finally as we are talking coconuts, I should mention Coconut Oil. I have Coconut oil which I purchased from Holland and Barrett and I have been using it on my hair after reading a post by Muhsine  http://bubblegarm.blogspot.com/2009/06/coconut-and-vitamin-e-oil.html. I have used the oil in a couple of ways. Firstly, combined with my conditioner/mask and secondly, alone. The first couple of times that I used the Coconut Oil, I My hair shone so much and it needed  little less styling when it is been conditioned with the coconut oil. However after the first couple of washes with the oil, it seemed to build up and make my hair look greasy even when I had rinsed it out. So I tried shampooing it out too but I still needed to shampoo again the next day. Bear in mind the following: I have a tendency to overuse products; I was using the Naked Shampoo (one which has maybe underwhelmed me a little) and that I was also using Morrocan Oil afterwards on my towel dried hair but I still feel there was some additional build up courtesy of the Coconut Oil. I probably used about one and a half to two tablespoons. I think the suggested amount is a tablespoon but my extended hair is longgg! Despite the build up, I will be using the coconut oil again but as a more occasional hair treatment maybe once a fortnight or so AND I will only be applying it to the bottom half of my head (ie.all the hair that would be pulled back into a ponytail) as I do not want greasy roots. I'm not sure that there is much of a coconut scent with the oil compared to the other two products that I have discussed but maybe all that rinsing has banished the scent or just maybe, I am always too busy fretting with my hair to notice the amazing aroma that the oil is giving out. Do you have a favourite flavour when it comes to beauty products? Why not grab something coconut-like and give the summer a little encouragment to make its grand entrance?! X

MUA Nail Polish!

So everybody is allowed a little treat now and then, right?! Look, what I have purchased from the new Superdrug brand, MUA.  I chose this nail varnish because it reminded me of the dark murky on trend shades that I keep hearing so much about (Chanel Greige and Particuliere et al) that I'm curious about but too sceptical to fork out for. I brought a similar nude browny shade from Rimmel (Euphoria) earlier in the year and at the time, I remember been quite disappointed with the colour but since the MUA products are only £1 each and 'murk' seems so on trend at the moment, I thought I might as well pick this one up. After all, I could always blog about it! Despite the colour, it wasn't long before I just had to have a play so I tested this polish only once with very quick and careless application yet I was quite impressed. So impressed that I had to post a little rave quickly. Let me tell you why. First, there is the colour which I love. I applied three coats and although the colour is subtle, it is not sheer. Secondly, the formulation dried very, very quickly. Literally within a couple of minutes. Thirdly, the brush was quite easy to use and the polish smooth to apply. I don't think you should wear this polish if you want to make a statement, it is a little lighter then Greige et al appear to be. However, to add a little interest to your nails then this might be a polish, you want to consider. I would say this MUA one is almost metallic but quite a light, sheer one. The density does seem to change a bit when it catches the light. I felt quite comfortable applying this varnish and adorning the result and if I feel that way, the amateur I am, then it is unlikely that many of you would go wrong with this polish and for £1, it could be worth a go especially if you have not yet grabbed a ride on this nail colour trend. Please bear in mind, I have not given this polish a proper road test yet but at the moment, I would not hesitate to repurchase a nail varnish from this brand and indeed, I am likely to go back in a couple of days to try a few more of their products. For £1, I didn't expect much and this little pot of polish seems able to deliver so much more. What with Sleek and MUA, Superdrug certainly seem to be gaining ground in the battle of the drug store budget brands. Have you tried MUA? What do you think? Any recommendations? My MUA nail varnish does not seem to have a name but is marked as shade 10. There is 6.2ml in the bottle for £1. My Rimmel varnish was 8ml. X PS Have you checked out Fleur de Force's You Tube channel lately, she has two competitions going at the moment. One for Sleek and one for MAC. You can also find her new blog here http://www.fleurdeforce.blogspot.com

What you put in . . .

What is it, that they say?! You get out what you put in . . . So you all know that I want the locks of Rapunzel, Angelina Jolie or at a push, Catherine Zeta Jones. Fussy, me?! Anyway, it follows that I'm always very aware of the products that I use on my hair but I am also now thinking of how I may affect my hair and appearence generally by what I put in to my body. At last, I do seem to be drinking a little more water. Last week, I was very, very good and drunk lots and lots of water. This week, well, I'm drinking a little more then I'm used to and I'm determined to drink more. It was watching one of Kandee's vlogs that did it, she explained how if you weren't drinking water, your toxins would escape another way through your pores causing spots etc. Oh! I knew that but maybe it was the way she put it but I just had visions of all this mud like substance coming out of my face leaving big boils behind. Eurgh, I must go and get a glass of water . . ! So maybe at last, I'm nailing the water thing but that is not the only goodie that I'm putting in to my body. I am also taking Evening Primrose oil tablets every day and a teaspoon of cod liver oil plus a multivitamin tablet to see if this makes any difference to the health of my hair. Evening Primrose Oil is more of an all rounder which I first heard Tanya, Pixi2Woo, talk about. It is supposed to help balance hormones a little which in turn is supposed to be of benefit to the skin. And although, my main focus has always been. and probably always will be, my hair (I think every girl is either a hair or skin one, which one are you?), any help with my skin will not be thrown back at ya. My skin is an absolute nightmare at the moment and yet tomorrow, it could be perfect. Ever since I began this mission, my skin has being one extreme or the other. Before the mission, my face was quite soft but I did get the occasional spot. Now I'm either broken out or glowing. When it is bad like today, it feels so bad and I'm almost craving my old skin and am so tempted to go back to my negligent old ways. For now though, I have products to use up so I will persevere and hope that the Evening Primrose helps. Cod liver oil has vitamins and good fats for good hair and skin. Again I've been using Cod Liver oil after seeing Kandee's vlog. I'm not sure if it is really necessary if I'm taking the Evening Primrose Oil but hey, at least I'm doing things wholeheartedly. I will probably only use one in the future and it may well be the Evening Primrose Oil because I'm not sure if Cod Liver Oil does so much hormonally and also the recommened Cod Liver Oil dose is two teapoons a day which is 80 calories! So on good days. I have only been taking one. I am only 5ft2 (if that) so hopefully this is enough but I'm afraid to say it is the calorie intake rather then the taste that actually puts me off this product. Saying that, my hair does seem to be quite healthy at the moment considering that it is my hair. It could just be that it was cut only a couple of weeks ago or it could be the natural product approach I'm trying to take such as The Naked Haircare range or it could be the Coconut/Olive oil treatments I have been conjuring or it could be the supplements or it could be the amazing Morrocan Oil! I must say I think the Morrocan Oil is helping. Touch wood but I do not seem to have to straighten my hair just to get my hair flat enough to leave the house anymore. I can honestly say that on a daily basis, I am only straightening my front sections very briefly and other random strands occasionally as and when but the whole head of hair is actually only been straightened once after a hair wash, two to three times a week. Considering that once upon a time not so long ago, my whole head was often been straightened very throughly at least once a day, this is exemplery behaviour from me and I'm expecting to reap big hair rewards in the long term. Just maybe real, real long hair could be all mine! In the meantime, feel free to comment or/and follow. I love to hear what you all think. You could always tell me if you are more about your skin or hair, make up or clothes? It always seems to me that a girl favours one over the other. Also any skin remedies for consistently clear skin or hair conditioner recommendations, I'm looking for a new product to retry. Hope you are all ok and had a sunny weekend despite the weather. X