June Birchbox

June Birchbox £12.95*

STYLondon Temporary Tattoos £7.99

REN Firming Beauty Shot £36

Beauty Protector - Protect and Detangle £14

Cowshed Body Lotion £20

Pixi Lip Balm £8

Penhaligon - Iris Prima £85

This month's Birchbox is in partnership with French Sole, the box is beautiful and has this colourful flower pattern on and in the box you also get a shoe bag with a matching print! My favourite item in the box is the STYLondon Temporary Tattoos, I wore one I'm this instagram photo and think they look so pretty, especially for summer. The one I had on lasted for such a long time too! The Knackered Cow Body Lotion is such a good size for a sample, I have very dry skin so always love getting body lotions in the boxes as they come in handy! I also love getting Ren products as I have very sensitive skin so it's nice to be able to try out skincare products before purchasing the full sizes! 

What do you think about this month's box?

Mawson & Company Styling Bar

Mawson & Company Styling Bar £25*
My hair salon opened a styling bar last week, the perfect place to get your hair done for an event like a wedding or prom. I've already mentioned the salon briefly in this post so you can read that if you would like to know a little more about my haircut experience. They invited me in to try the styling bar, I've never really had my hair styled before, except for my school prom years ago where I had quite a simple style so it was exciting to get it styled by a professional rather than attempt it myself, which usually ends up very messy with 5000 bobby pins in my hair! The appointments are 30 minutes long so great for an event as you can pop in quickly, mine took less than 30 minutes to do so it really is speedy! You can pick from 7 different styles so there is something for everyone including a Crown Braid, Beach Curls and a Backcombed Ponytail among other lovely styles. I chose the Crown Braid as I love any type of braid although I wasn't sure if it was possible with my short hair. However the stylist, Ross did manage this beautiful braid and it stayed in place perfectly all day! As I said in the previous blog post, I love Mawson & Company, the salon has a great atmosphere and everyone is absolutely lovely! I think opening the styling bar is a brilliant idea, while there are a few of these kinds of things in London, there is nothing like it in Winchester. It is definitely somewhere to check out if you want your hair styled perfectly while also being long lasting so you don't have to worry about it falling out throughout the day!
You can check out their Facebook page here and have a look around their website here!

#EnjoyLifeMore

Today's post is a slightly different one, I was asked if I wanted to take part in a little competition and get involved with the #EnjoyLifeMore challenge. I simply have to pick a photo of a memorable milestone, it took me quite a while to think of one that was blog related. In the end, I chose this photo; from just under two years ago when I was featured in a little magazine. It was quite a strange and surreal thing to happen, to see my face in print but it felt so nice to feel like my blog was getting somewhere and improving! Even though with university getting in the way a bit, my blog has not been updated as regularly as I would like it to have been, I am still so proud of it. I don't think people always understand  how much time and effort I spend on my blog, it takes so long to take and edit photos as well as writing each post and promoting it so it's nice to feel like it's going somewhere! Please vote for my image through the link here and then click on my photo!

How To Grow Your Nails

For years I have had awful nails as well as them being short and me constantly picking them, the skin around my nails had also been completely ruined by me. When I left my job two months ago (where I couldn't wear anything on my nails) I decided to make an effort to grow them. I now get so many compliments on how my nails look and love rather than loathe painting them! Here are a few of my tips to grow your nails and keep them looking lovely! 

Use hand cream to massage cuticles

This will stimulate growth as well as avoiding chapped and dry skin on your hands, this works great for me as it softens any hard skin around my nails which stops me picking at it and making it sore!

Always Apply a Base Coat!

It's important to always apply a base coat or strengthener under nail polish or when you have no polish on. I use one from Essie as my nails can bend when they get long, so this makes sure they are stronger and less likely to break. It can also ensure your nail polish stays on for longer.

Keep your nails trimmed and not too long

I trim my nails every so often to make them all an equal length, while long nails are nice, I try not to make them too long as they can break in awkward places, making it painful! Also file them, a rounded shape is good as it means they are less likely to get caught on things and snap off. 

Paint Them

The one thing that actually stopped me from picking my nails was painting them. I wasn't allowed to have nail polish on my nails for work, so for nine months, they were barely painted! When my nails are freshly painted and neat, I don't pick them as I don't want to ruin them! Another tip if you have the money is to pay for a manicure, if you are paying to have it done; you are less likely to ruin them.

Chew Gum or Pick Up a Stress Ball

If you bite your nails, chew gum to stop yourself doing it or if you're like me and tend to pick them, buy a stress ball or something to hold, to stop you from the nasty habit! 
Do you have any tips for growing nice nails?

Hobbs Alderley Bag

Hobbs Alderley Bag £199

I work opposite a Hobbs store and for weeks I was staring at this bag in the window before I took the plunge and bought it. I absolutely love the colour, it's very in trend for spring/summer. However if you aren't a fan of the bright yellow, it also comes in blue, green and red! It has a short strap if you prefer putting bags over your shoulder or holding it in your hand but also has a long strap which I tend to use more often to have it across my body or on my shoulder. While it is good as an everyday bag, you can't pack a lot in it as it bulks out and makes it quite difficult to close; however there are still compartments for your phone and a zipper. I think this is the perfect bag if you love statement pieces and I have received so many comments and questions asking where it is from!

I cut my hair off! Favourite hair products for styling short hair

I'm the most indecisive person in the world, about a week and a half ago I decided I was going to grow my hair long again. The next day, I was booking myself into the hairdressers to get it all chopped off. My hair had grown past shoulder length and was irritating me, so felt like I needed a change. I was feeling a bit underwhelmed with my current hair salon and after reading a few reviews, booked an appointment at Mawson & Co in Winchester. I went in, armed with a couple of photos of the kind of length and style I wanted and got it chopped! I honestly cannot rave about this salon enough, it was lovely, no one seemed snobby (unlike my previous salon) and it was such a brilliant environment. Honestly, amazing. I am so happy with the end result and wish I was able to style it like the hairdresser (Rachael) did (the above photo was taken straight out of the salon). Their customer service is brilliant and will definitely be going to this hair salon for the foreseeable future!

On to my favourite styling products, my favourite shampoo is the Lush Big Shampoo (£12.25). This is a sea salt shampoo, the texture is quite strange to begin with as there are large chunks of salt and it feels strange putting it into your hair. However it leaves your hair with more volume and texture as well as leaving it easier to style. When it's still damp I apply a tiny bit of the Bumble and Bumble Texture Hair Creme (£22.50) which again creates more volume, texture and makes you hair look more tousled. The Toni and Guy Sea Salt Spray (£7.49) is great to use if you want even more of a messy look, although I don't use this everyday! Since getting my hair cut I have been wearing my hair slightly wavy and messy, I dry it with my hairdryer and a diffuser attached which gives it more of a 'bed head' look, adding volume and creating a lovely natural looking wave. Once I've done this I go over a couple of pieces with my hair straightener using the 'ribbon technique' (have I just invented this name? Basically curl your hair with your straightener!) to create a couple of curls. To finish my hair I either use the Percy and Reid Dry Instant Volumising Spray (£14) or the Charles Worthington Texturising Spray (£6.99) which adds body! Finally, if I'm having any problems with oily hair I will use Batiste Dry Shampoo (£2.99) which is my favourite dry shampoo!

What do you think of my shorter hair?!

Three Healthy Yummy Snacks!

Vegan Chocolate Fudge

Ingredients

150ml Coconut Milk

3 Tablespoons Coconut Oil 

35g Cacao Powder 

150g Dark Chocolate Chunks

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

This is such an easy recipe and is a lot better for you than normal fudge, although it is very rich! You just put all the ingredients in a pan and melt them all together on a low heat, mixing gently. Then, once it's all melted together, pour into a tin after lining it with baking paper. Pop it in the fridge for at least four hours, take it out, cut into small pieces and then store in the fridge! 

Banana and Dark Chocolate Lollies

These are my favourite of the three, cut a banana in half and stick a lollypop stick or anything you can hold into the bottom of the banana, coat in dark chocolate (or milk/white if you're having a treat!) and then cover in nuts. I used almonds and hazelnuts but you could also use dried fruit! Put them in the fridge until the chocolate sets and then enjoy!

Frozen Grapes

This is the simplest recipe, just put the grapes in a bag or bowl and put in the freezer, I usually do them overnight just to make sure they are fully frozen! This is great if you are craving sugar as they are healthy but still sweet!

Do you have any recommendations for yummy healthy snacks?

May Birchbox

Birchbox £10 plus £2.95 delivery*

RMK  Point makeup remover £20

Caudalie Radiance Tinted Moisturizer £27

Mirenesse Mattfinity Lip Rouge in New York, Paris, Sydney £21

Wah London Press on Nails £9

Parlor by Jeff Chastain Moisturising Sea Salt Spray £17

Number 4 Reconstructing Mask £36

The tag line for May's Birchbox is "free your mind." The box is blank and there are a pack of crayons in the box to have some fun and colour it in! There are lots of great goodies including a full size pack of Wah London Press on Nails, I am obsessed with my nails so I love these, the pattern is very quirky and pretty! They're also a good length for everyday wear as they aren't too long! I also love the Lip Rouge from Mirenesse, this colour is a bold but very wearable shade and even though the finish is matte, it doesn't dry out my already dry lips! Another favourite in the box is the Parlor by Jeff Chastain Sea Salt Spray, I always need more volume and texture in my hair so constantly use sea salt sprays in order to get a messy, textured look!

What do you think of this Birchbox?