A new year or a new Liz Earle

I don't really see much of a point in New year resolutions everyone seams to give up after a while.

I after the age of 10 or so I decided it was not worth my time getting in a huff about first deciding on a resolution and then some how achieving it.

but this year I have one!

My skin is a walking disaster, and it is all my fault because I don't take care of it the way I should, and sleeping with make up on is my worst enemy. I have decided to do the 3 step regime using Liz Earle products that where kindly gifted to me. I will also be using Estee Lauder's Idealist (Pore Minimiser) to hopeful shrink those unsightly pores.

What new year resolutions do you have? Have you used Liz Earle before, what did you think of it?

Ho HO Ho!!

I would just like to say Merry Christmas to all my followers and I hope you have had a good day!!

Thank you all so much for following my blog over the past few months!

SARAH

XoXo

E.L.F Studio Brushes

Hello lovelies,

I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend.

I never buy things on-line but when I realise I don't own that many brushes as I should, I decided that is was about time I got some. I chose to top up my depressingly small brush collection with a grand purchase from E.L.F. 

Why?

Well, its cheap and the quality is highly impressive for the price. 
I am really happy with this purchase because it has all the basics that I didn't have. 

I love how E.L.F have made it so affordable to buy make up bushes. I always find that you can buy as much make up as you can wish for on the cheap side but this is far from the case for brushes.

 I will be going into more details about the brushes I got and a few other things in a later post.

The New love of my life

Hello Lovelies,

This is well in order.
I bought a pair of the most amazing ankle boots.
At any given opportunity (bar heavy rain) I can be found in these boots.

What I love about these lil babies most is how  unbelievably comfortable they are. You can wear these with anything, even on a night out!! 

These are definitely my favourite shoe of 2011!

These lovely babes can be found in ALDO for €60'ish.  
They come in three different colours, black, grey and brown.

P.S They are on sale at the moment Here, do check em out!!

Brida Hair Inspiration

Hello Lovelies,

If you haven't guessed today's post is about hair.

Now I don't really pay too much attention to my hair. It kinda just sits there and dose its own thing. But since I have picked my head piece, oh i know what your thinking now, where is post? did I miss something? Don't worry you haven't, I will chat about that closer to the time.

Since about the age of 8 I have had short hair, my hair is so thick that its a bit of a pain to manage on a day to day basis with out ending the day in tears trying pull out knots. So short and sweet was the answer. 

But now, I think its time to bring back my long locks! Its past my shoulder now. I'm not sure how long I want it, but I guess it will keep growing it till I am happy with it or till the wedding and get extensions in or cut it depending on what the hairdresser thinks works better. Sounds like a bit off a waist, but between you and me I have always wanted long hair I just never had the patience for it but now is the best time because it's now a goal.

So now I end this post with inspirational bridal hair styles, Enjoy!

Images from here & here

How old is too young?

Hello Lovelies,

"don't you think you're a bit too young?"
A lot of people seam quite shocked when they find out that I am engaged or my age (21).


After haveing a conversion with someone who is agenst marrage, it got me thinking, what do people really think of getting married so young? Do their opinions change once they know the couple or stay the same?


When I think of getting married I don't think of forever I think of here and now, I don't think many people could think of being married for the rest of their lives, regardless of the commitment made. Regardless of how negative this sounds I feel that humans can't really cope with the actual thought of a life time commitment?  It is natural to freak out about things in life and walking down the isle is definitely one of those fears. 


No, marriage is not something that should be taken lightly and I feel it should not be seen as being the "next step up". For some they may say it is "the next step up" by it actually meaning it feels natural and they simply work. Others It may be that they have been together for X amount of time and feel that this is the next course of action, I have seen people split up over this just to avoid the pressure from family and friends.


If we look back 20 or 30 years it would be perfectly normal for a young couple (18 + age group) to be married or have plans of marriage. Yes times where different but 20 years is not that long ago when you really think about it. 


When it was first announced to a few close friends some hinted towards the question 
of a bun being in the oven, this coming form people who are ment to be some of my closest friends.I am sad to say, it didn't shock me. It dose seam to be something people wonder about, you cant simply want to marry because you want to, No you have to be expecting. It seams there really is a lot of negativity around getting married young. It would put a lot of young people off or they would feel they would have to wait till they are at a socially acceptable age.  


This really got me thinking, and here are a few peoples thoughts on the subject, rangeing form people who know me well to not at all. With the questions: What do you think off people getting married young? and what where you're first thoughts when you found out I was getting married?


"I don't think I'd do it myself, but...I wouldn't say it's 'bad'.... - on marage at ayoung age - I think people should wait until their late twenties ideally, but it's all fair enough really."


"First I was wondering if you were serious & then happy for you"


"i think it went from wow shes young to cool she's found the right one for her so early"


"I thought it was crazy cz you are so young but then when you told me how like fast you fell in love and that you just "knew" I thought it was adorable! Crazy but so cute and nice!"


"My initial reaction was like "wow she's so young thats crazy" but the when you talk about it properly I saw how laid back and happy you were about the whole thing I thought it was lovely. And it's so nice that someone is actually getting married at the age our parents would have. Like 30+ is old to get married when you think about it! If you know that he's the one then why not?"


"Honestly, i was ecstatic! I felt such happiness for u! Now i feel the exact same way and cant wait to witness u getting married and spending the rest of ur life feeling the happiest u hav ever felt"


What these quotes have shown is that there is some stigma but it comes down to the couple if its right to get married so young not there age.


Frankly I don't think young couples who want to make a life time commitment should have to justify there choice to others.


What do you think? Is there a too young? Are people better off getting married at an older age? Did anyone else experience negativity when you decided tied the not?

Image from here

Vaseline Cocoa Radiant Review

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If you follow me on twitter you will know my camera charger has decided to go missing and I have been forced out of action for some time now. Hopefully it will pop up soon! So apologies for the lack off blogging.

I have never been a huge fan of the Vaseline's body lotion range. I always found it to bee far too sticky I think that's because that it never really soaked  into my sink properly which is something that has really turned me off using body lotions.


What they say:

This is what it looks like, thick cream and off white in colour.

I have noticed a small difference but I am still a bit iffy about this product. Would I repurchase?  To be honest I don't think I would, I cant stand using products that

make my skin feel sticky. If I was really stuck I would just because it is cheap.

 "Our new Vaseline Essential Moisture range has an improved, non-greasy formulation that absorbs quickly to leave your skin feeling soft and looking healthy. It's the perfect everyday body lotion that leaves your skin silky smooth - while its special ingredients care for your skin just the way it needs" 

What I think:

I had high hopes for this product because of  the natural benefits of using  Cocoa Butter and was excited about their stratys 3 formula. I thought it took too long to absorb. As the day went on I could really feel it on my skin. The weird thing is that when I put my cloths on it didn't stick, so that was a strange plus but the smell of the Cocoa lingered in the fabrics so that was also a strage minus. My skin doesn't really feel that must different but after asking a few people it dose look healthy and it feels some what softer. 

Have you tried this? Did you see a difference in your skin? Did it stick to your skin?

Something blue

Hello Lovelies,

The second nail varnish I got my hands on was Up In The Air by Catrice,


It's a lovely summery blue, and fantastic for night/casual wear. I did think of having the 'something blue' as a nail varnish. for those that know me, I do tend to edge towards things that are a bit unusual when it comes to fashion/beauty. 


In my last  post I mentioned that I am on a quest to find the perfect blue, this is the start of this quest. I couldn't help but think 'blue nails for the something blue'. 


It is different and their is the chance that it will stick out like a sore thumb...don't think anyone would want people to stair at you're hands all day long.  It could work?

I also think its a fantastic base colour for nail art.

What do you think? 

Detox Update

Hi Lovelies,


I always find when I follow something people rarely give update on how they got on or how they feel about it now.


I thought I would let all of you know my thoughts on the Detox diet a few months on, if you have no idea what I am on about you can check it out here! What I love about this detox is how simple it is, its not one bit complicated unlike other detox diets. Granted it is not healthy but its only over a weekend.


I didn't really feel any different after it was over I was just happy it was over. I did change a few things in the way I ate after, unfortunately after a few weeks of college it didn't last that long, Dam those random hours!!


One thing that I really noticed was my apatite shrunk so much!! It really helped me lose weight and my sweet tooth was not as bad as it was. I definitely would do it again as I was really happy with the results, even if its a pain for just two day!


Did any one do this detox how did you find it?  

Is French out?

Hi Lovelies,

Like any girly girl, I love LOVE nail varnish.
It would be rare sight to see me with out nail varnish even if I support the chipped look.


As beautiful as the French manicure look is, I think its overdone. You really do see it everywhere, and at this stage it is almost expected that for any ALL occasions to have a French manicure.


As of late I bought two new nail varnishes...at the moment I am on the quest to find the perfect blue, but, that is a different post for a different time.

I was really excited to try the nude colour I bought from Catrice Cosmetics. Not that it was a nude colour but that it  was a 'ULTI MATE NUDES' oh yes I had to try it. I purchased the not quite but almost baby pink shade '010 Dance Like A Prima Ballerina'. 

At first I was not impressed, with one coat...it look a bit odd, i don't think you could go around with just one coat, even if they say you can.


With the second/third coat, it looked 100 times better and just so so pretty and delicate.

Overall, I think 'Dance Like A Prima Ballerina' has the elegance of the French Manicure  but none of the hassle. I do think if you are a bride to be, and, want to edge away form the French Manicure look the nude look really is the way to go.  


What do you think? should French stay or should it go?

The Wedding and Honeymoon show 2011

Hello lovelies, 
I would first like to say, I am so sorry not blogging in such a long time. Things have been mad with starting college, moving house and freshers week. I wrote this post a long time ago but haven't had time to take photos till now.  


Oh the amount of events I have gone to at the RDS, t'is quite a few.
To brake up my scarily busy weekend I decided that I would go to The Wedding and Honeymoon show in the RDS.

Even thought the wedding is such a long way off I couldn't help but go. I thought I would come out with loads of ideas and a better sense of what I wanted. A few friends of mine said that their relatives got good ideas for their own weddings. 

Look at that Queue!

I was genuinely surprised at the amount of people who where their. I did not expect to see that many brides to be. I was one of the lucky ones to pick up a bridal magazine so I will be oohing and awing over this for the next while.


Their where two things I wanted to get more information on.
1. Invites/save the date
2. Marquees


I didn't get much information. A lot of the people at the stands I felt where rude and unhelpful. They asked questions that they had no interest in hearing the answer and contradicted themselves on important points of information. 


Compared to many other RDS shows everything was all over the place. Groups of stands that you would expect to see next to each other where not. In fact I am pretty sure I only saw one stand for honeymoons which kinda defeats the purpose of a wedding and honeymoon show.

Over all I was not very impressed. I didn't get what I wanted to get out of the whole experience.  I felt it was a bit of a waist of time bar the cake samples which where divine! 


Did anyone go to the show this year? Was it like this last year?  Did you experience the same or did you have a better experience? 

I've got a very important date...

Source

O.K so this is a very VERY important post. 

Two things, we have decided to go the bogger route and the DATE has been booked.

I emailed the priest last Friday with the date and having the vows in English.  Now you probably are thinking why did you not just call. I was scared that he would say no and scared that I would not be able to convey to him what I wanted the same way as I would in English. The relief I felt when he called and said YES was huge and yes I did dance around the living room in my pajamas and jumped on the bed to tell Paul the news. 

The all important date is

13/09/2013

It seams so far away but I know its just going to fly by.

The final day of detox

On Sunday morning I woke up and didn't feel one bit hungry, even though I had gone over 12 hours without eating which I though was strange. 


For breakfast I had some lovely leeks topped off with some lovely leek broth (oh you can feel the love)  


For lunch I had the same. 


Now for dinner you are meant  to have a low calorie low carb dinner such as chicken with veg. As someone who was looking forward to this meal since yesterday and scoured the Internet looking for low carb chicken dishes. You can imagine how excited I was about that. Alas when we got to the supermarket we realised that if we bought all the ingredients that we needed we wouldn't have any money for petrol so we thought a takeaway pizza would be the better option. Oddly enough I was only able to eat two slices before I got full. 


Now for the BIG question would I do it again? 
I would. but only for one day. I talked to someone who did it before and they told I could have built up a lot of toxins and need to get rid of more. 


I feel that I am looking at food in a different light. 


What Have I changed?
I changed what I eat, instead of teas and coffees I am going to opt for herbal tea. 
A low fat smoothie in the morning with some protein powder instead of cereal. 
smaller portions in general. Most importantly sharing sweet things.  


When I started this detox my sweet tooth was out of control. I still have a bit of a sweet tooth and I would like it gone so another detox is in order but not too soon.  


Did you do any changes after you're detox? Would you do this detox?


I would like to say a VERY VERY BIG THANK YOU to all who supported me during this detox, I couldn't have done it with out you! 

xoxo

Detox day one

Before I start I need to say this: Don't have any plans and have a duvet weekend for this!


This morning when I woke up, I didn't make a bee line to fridge like I though I would. I some how managed to get though my usual morning routine before feeling hungry. Major plus I though.


For Breakfast I had a bowl of leek juice spiced up with some pepper and salt and lemon and a handful of leek segments.
For lunch I combined the bowl of leek juice with leeks segments.
For dinner well I didn't have dinner. 


First of all I felt I was surrounded by food and just going to the food store was surprisingly hard. 
As the day progressed I really started to feel the toll of this detox. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed and read a book till I had to go out again. My hope in this detox dwindled. 
I didn't have dinner because I didn't want to sit their trying to force myself to eat it. 


I don't have that detox feeling I was expecting, or is their even a detox feeling. I was expecting to feel lighter I am a bit disappointed with that, in saying that I don't know if I am meant to feel lighter. 
I also don't feel blotted surprisingly


Dose the detox feeling even exist?  Did you feel that feeling?

Detox night one

What you need for this detox:


- 1KG of leeks
- Olive oil
- Salt & Pepper
- Lemon


You first need to wash and cut you leeks into 2cm segments. Boil for 20 minutes, strain water into a container.


You are going to have 3 meals, for you main meal you are going to have a bowl of the water you strained into a container. For snacks you are going to have leeks.


Very exciting huh?


You can spice up you're snacks by adding some salt & pepper/ lemon and olive oil. All optional of course.

All served up 

Its Friday night and I just finished my first leek dinner. I added some lemon, salt and pepper just to spice it up at bit.
My first thought 'god I'm starving'. In all fairness this is to be expected, the last time I ate was 5 hours ago. It been an hour since I ate and it is far from filling, I regret having plans this weekend. You really need to plan a stay in bed weekend.


Because I will be consuming very little calories, I am bound to lose a few pounds. I am almost 100% positive that I will put those pounds back on or more. I think I'm going to have to keep telling myself that any weight loss is a side effect of the detox and not to be disappointed when I gain it back.


One thing that worries me slightly, it that I will be tempted to drink a lot more water. At this exact moment I am really thirsty but I know I am hydrated.


Have you gone on a detox? how did you find it?

My First EVER Detox

Up until a few weeks ago, I never felt the need to go on a detox. I didn't even consider the power of a good detox. 

Why the detox? I gained a huge amount of weight and quite suddenly simply form a massive change in diet. For someone who lost weight at a click of a finger and had a lovely flat stomach, I didn't think much off it. As the months went by my stomach just got bigger and bigger.

As hard as I tried to sick to any sort of diet and I did try my very hardest it just would not work. My arch enemy  got the better of me. sweets, cakes, chocolates oh you are all so deliciously evil! The more I let my enemy win the bigger my sweet tooth became. I didn't have the true determination that you need to lose as much weight as I have to (over 2 stone). Now I feel that I do.  

Since my mother raved to me about how amazing this is detox that stems form the French one thing grabbed my attention, it got rid of any sort of sweet tooth the answer that I have been looking for. The detox is based around leeks, just leeks nothing else for 48 hour. 


This detox hopefully is the start of a clean slate, where I will finally be able to start losing weight for the big day and for myself. What I have planned is to lose a stone maybe a bit more maybe a bit less by this time next year.  

Wish me luck!

How to find the right engagement ring

(this post can apply to any piece of jewellery)


I did a post a while ago about my engagement ring (here) I didn't really go into too much detail about anything out side of the ring search.  I am going to give you my hints & tips and as much advice as I can think off from my whole experience of actually buying 'proper' jewellery not  just finding the right engagement ring!


About my own ring:


-1 carat diamond
- Colour: I
- Clarity: SI1
- Cut: Round Brilliant
-18 carat white gold 




Ring trends:

Yes that's right, engagement rings do have trends! Who would have though? Right now the present trend looks a bit like this, I still haven't made my mind up for this trend (I think its a bit too in your face!)


The Ins and outs:


When I started my search, I didn't think I didn't think I had. What happened was I went into town with the mother and decided to brave Brown Thomas jewellery section. O.K yeah maybe not the best place to start a search, but ya gotta start some where? I felt like a bit of twat when the sales assistant started asking me what type of ring I had in mind,  I really didn't know.  So she brought out a small sections of different rings, more so to see what I liked. It really dose help because you don't think too much about everything that surprisingly goes into looking for a ring. 


I found the technical side to diamonds really daunting at first, as the sales assistant
went straight into diamond jargon thinking that you knew what they where on about. As the weeks went by I got used to this learnt off  the jargon that vomited form sales assistants mouths. I came to the realisation that their is only two thing that are important, Clarity and Colour. Clarity being how imperfect the diamond is and colour well if their is colour in the diamond. 


here are two charts that all jewellers generally use

source

source

(there are more but these are the main ones)

When you pick a few rings that tickle your fancy, don't get put off if the ring is too small.   Bring the ring up to the middle part of your figure (as below) and see how it looks.

You will get a very good idea if it will suite your finger or not.

From this picture, you can see holes in the band. These holes are important, it allows for more light to shine through the diamond. Even if the diamond itself is not amazing quality, having all of these 'light holes'  will give the ring an appearance of having higher quality diamonds. 

Where to start your search:

The best thing, I personally think, is to go into any shop on the high-street.  why? its a more relaxed environment, and, they will give you a booklet about all the basic information you need to know.  

OR

You can have a look at different engagement rings on-line, this will help you get an idea of the style of ring you like. 

Do have a look in antique stores and small jewellers when you have an idea of what you want, you get to see a wider verity of rings (If you live in Ireland and are up in Dublin any time, have a look in Powerscourt in their antique section, they have the most amazing verity of rings and vintage jewellery in general) 

Things to avoid:

Avoid jewellers that claim to give a discount on their diamonds. often the certificate is fake. SO you never know where the diamonds really came from or the clarity and cut is not what they say it is. 

Diamond labs, its not that the diamonds are fake or poor quality. its that the rings you can chose from  are restrictive so if you have a particular type of ring in mind it may be a dead end. you can check out one of the many diamond labs here. 

Dose it suite?

With costume rings you just throw it on and and don't think much else of it. When you start trying on different rings you start to know what suits your finger. What you are looking for is something that looks balanced on your figure not lost or bulky. A sales assistant should know what suits best or just try on a verity of different rings. 

My Top tips

• Don't tell the jeweler's your real budget, they will bring out rings that are way over your own budget. A grand under should allow then to pick out rings that are in your budget.
• When you think you have found the right ring, sleep on it and try other rings just to be sure.
• Lest face it, most couples that get engaged are young and don't really have that much money to play with. try not to focus too much on the quality of the diamonds but on the ring its self. You can change the diamonds any time, but not the ring.   
• If you found the right ring but it was too pricey, go to a small jewellers (i.e one that makes the rings themselves) and see if they can make it for a cheaper price. 
• Check out a small jewellers if you have a design in mind but can't find it. 
• Keep an open mind.