SPRING HAS SPRUNG

Spring is my favourite season of the year! It has so many great things about it that I have just fallen in love with over the years, and if you too live in England, you'd be able to see why.

This is the time when all of the blossom starts to grow on trees, the daffodils appear and the sun shows its face (metaphorically, of course)

We know what this means though ... it is getting very close to those all important final exams!

I'll have three weeks off, although this will not feel like a holiday. I will be studying the whole time, but this time off also gives me some time to think more about how I can decorate my new bedroom :)

This also gives me more opportunities to do more fitness and fashion posts, seeing as I won't be stuck in school 24/7. 

Thank goodness!

BEING INTOLERANT CAN STILL BE JUST AS FUN

I love my food. I always have, and I feel so lucky that I am one of the lucky people in the world where food is not a major issue.

Although until recently, I discovered to find that I have a Gluten Intolerance. If you don't know what this is exactly, I'd suggest you look it up as it is quite embarrassing to say on here! But anyway, this means that I can't eat any foods with Wheat, Barley or Rye in it.

I know right, that is a lot of food out of the picture!

All the main fibres I used to be getting into my diet I can no longer have, such as:

• Bread
• Pasta
• Cereal
• Pizza!!

But wait, there is a solution! 

See in this day and age, as technology advances, so too does our brainy knowledge on how we can increase the joys in our day-to-day lives. Now if you are gluten-intolerant like me, there are ways around it.

I can still actually eat bread, pasta cereal and pizza.

Wait what?

Yes, by companies now using different types of flours in the foods, like rice flour, I can enjoy the same foods everyone else does, just from a different source.

But the best thing is, it is a lot more healthy for you too! The price is a bit more expensive- and this was a real shock to me at first when I wanted to buy a loaf of gluten-free bread that was nearly 4 POUNDS!!

But once you are used to it, you feel a lot more energised in the day, more awake and active, and less stodgy. 

Today, most stores will have a special Free From section, containing all of our wonderful treats that we can explore! Even my local petrol station now has a small gluten free area incase I'm on the run and need to grab something.

And if you thought not being able to eat pizza is bad, you'd be happy to hear I can still eat this. Dominoes do their very own gluten-free pizza! As well as many other Italian restaurants I have recently been to. Of course, you can see a big difference in this pizza, where the crunch of the base might be more evident then the oozing soft base. Yet it is food and it tastes great, so I'm just going to have to deal with it and learn to love it.

These gluten-free foods contain far more nutrients and less fat and sugars, so you might be spending more but wow you are not spending this on hundreds of calories.

Of course, food is a necessity, and calories shouldn't always be seen as a bad thing. We need them in our diet, as we wouldn't live without them. With a woman's daily intake being around 1600 calories, we just need to be aware of when we are going over this, and how we can tackle this.

EXERCISE!

As I always say, sweat is a sign of your fat crying. 

GIVE YOUR SKIN A BREATHER

One of the best things you can do for you skin is to simply let it breath.

By this, I mean don't wear any makeup. I find it great when you haven't got any make up on, as you don't have to worry about your eyeliner smudging, your lipstick being on your teeth or having foundation lines.

My skin is annoyingly getting a bit irritated at the moment, and I know this is because of makeup! We love the thing, but it can actually be our worst enemy.

The best thing I make sure I do is if I am wearing makeup, make sure I start with a clean base, and then ALWAYS take off my make up when I get home or before I go to bed.

To take it off, I like to:

• Take off eye make up with a cotton pad and 'Simple Eye Makeup Remover'. It's light on your face, with no heavy strong smell. It feels natural and it lets your make up easily glide off your face.
• Exfoliate (if I haven't in a couple of days). At the moment I'm using the 'Clean & Clear Face Scrub', which I love to use to get rid of excess dirt on my face and get into my pores.
• Cleanse my skin, with 'Simple Cleanser', using a cotton pad. Again this is light and gives you lovely soft skin.
• Tone my skin, with the 'L'Oreal Paris Toner'. It's pink so it looks great with my other products! It smells good and makes your skin feel tighter and look fresher. I find it minimises your blemishes quickly too.
• Moisturise. Going to sleep, I like to use Garnier matte moisturiser, to get rid of the shine on my face from having an oily complexion. Yet it still gives you the moisture you need!

And then.... SLEEP! Rest that beautiful skin of yours and catch your beauty sleep.

FIRST NIGHT OUT

Monday was my first ever night out! I can't believe I've been missing out on this for 18 years now.

Monday's are great due to the tonne of student nights around, so you can get a great cheap(ish) night out. That is off course if you don't put your money in your bra and lose it all on the dance floor from jumping up and down... Yep I know, not too clever.

That's what your first night is all about though, you learn the things you should and shouldn't do. For example, it's ok to drink before you go out, but keep it to a limit. You don't want to peak as soon as you get to the club, that will just ruin your night.

Here is the outfit I wore:


I got the crop top from Topshop and the body con skirt from H&M. Two great basics which you can pair up with many different outfits!

Here are some Do's and Don'ts which I learnt:

DO

• Bring a warm coat with a hoodie for before & after
• Put your money in a safe pocket and give your coat to the cloakroom
• Bring ID and make sure you are actually 18...
• Have a glass/bottle of water ready for you when you get home
• Have a great time!

DON'T

• Wear heels! That would just be painful...
• Put your money in your bra and lose it.
• Wear barely any clothes, make sure you can keep your dignity on the dance dancefloor
• Drink excessively, you'll have a great time whether you're drunk, tipsy or sober (but not paralytic)
• Push and shove people, you're clubbing but you should still have manners

I found out what my party trick was... doing the splits! It was so random, I just thought it'd be cool to tell people, and then I just did it. People thought I was crazy but at the same time awesome for being able to do them haha!

I think even if clubbing isn't your thing, you should at least give it a try once. Things are never how you expect them to be. I expected it to be a lot different, but was pleasantly surprised :)

LEARN TO LOVE YOUR SKIN

I know it's a Monday, but seeing as it is my first night out clubbing *woooooop* I want my skin to look as best as it can.

And what better way to do this than give it the pampering it deserves? I thought I'd give this yummy face mask a go, that I got for my birthday from the 'npw' brand, which I haven't really heard of before but am willing to give anything a try! I'm hoping this will soothe any blemishes I have and soften my skin.


 What I like to do when using a face mask is start off by exfoliating my skin. I use warm water and then use the Clean & Clear facial scrub, and gently work it in for 2 minutes or so.

Then I rinse this off with cold water and a face cloth, just so that it starts to close some pores straight away to stop dirt getting into them.

Now my skin is fresh, I apply this face mask all over my face and going down my neck.

What I loved about this face mask is that it didn't go hard and crack like others. You can still talk without sounding like you've lost your tongue! The smell is amazing and there is a lot of the product in this one pack so you can apply generously to the face for extra relaxing and smoothness.

I then chilled for 15 minutes, before gently washing off with cold water.

And Voila!! Clean smooth skin ready for tonight.

To finish this off, I then apply toner and a day moisturiser with SPF in it, and then my skin is all set for the day ahead.

Mmmm my skin feels so soft now :) just don't touch your skin too much or this can add dirt to your face and add those pesky spots which no one likes!

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE

Today was surprisingly a good day! I thought I would be lying in bed on Facebook and watching movies all day and scoffing my face with thousands of calories. But boy, I was wrong!

I've come to learn that Valentines Day isn't just about sharing your love with your partner, it's especially important to share your love with your family and friends, and that is exactly what I did.

For most of the day I spent it with my mum, helping her shopping and also getting her started on her fitness journey. I taught her ways of helping her with her running technique, and eventually she'll feel confident enough to be able to do this herself. Running is a very tricky task to tackle by yourself mind, so I have every sympathy with her not wanting to run on her own.

That done, I then used my new Epilator on my legs.... OUCH!! It hurt a crazy amount, but hey I now have silky smooth legs, besides the large red dots on my skin...
I would seriously recommend buying an Epilator. I have the BRAUN 'Silk epil' type 5340, in a cute pink and white colour. It also came with a really handy electric face brush with round bristles which you can use to help exfoliate your skin with warm water.

What's great about the epilator is that it pulls the hairs straight from your legs, like what waxing does, however what waxing can't do is keep going over the same area to get each hair. This helped me get every hair and it even has a light to help you find those pesky hairs that don't want to be pulled out.
It is very scary at first but trust me you get used to the pain, and think how much money you're saving from all those annoying razors you are constantly buying! It's even better that the hairs grow back a lot slower and finer, meaning you have to do this less than you would shave you're legs anyway :)

Now onto the evening, I saw some of my buddies from my old school. It was so great seeing them, I literally can't be with them without having a smile on my face. One of my best friends gave me a belated birthday pressie which I am sooo lucky to have.

It's the Benefit Mascara, which I have heard some amazing reviews about and have always wanted to try it. I always get through mascaras so quickly as well, as I just love having long lashes if you haven't already noticed!

It came in this really sweet box too which is apparently from Christmas but I didn't care, it's so adorable!

As I said I would show you how I looked for Valentines Day, here are some quick shots.

Seeing as I wasn't going on a date today, I went for this casual but fun look.

If you haven't already noticed, I like to be quite different to other people. This blouse from boohoo.com helps me with this and it's perfect to wear when meeting up with friends.
It has two large holes in the sleeves which is very different and quirky, with really cool swirls and leaf designs. The material floats very well and the different texture of denim on the collar changes up this look even more.


For my makeup, I went for a natural glow with soft shades of light browns/gold shimmer shadows on my eye lids, along with liner and mascara.
I also used my love of lipgloss which I actually don't know where it came from, but I love to wear it by how it suits my skin tone and how long the colour last for.

My hair felt really glossy today which was perfect for styling with my GHD straighteners. However I make sure I use heat defence so that my hair doesn't get as damaged.


Hope you like this look, and I'll give a review soon about what I think of the benefit mascara!