Beauty Really is in the Eye of the Beholder!

 

I just saw this video on futurefreaksme blog. It is essentially an advert by Dove. Yet it really triggered something in me emotionally and got me thinking... 

Why is it that as women we see ourselves so differently to the way others see us?

If I had been one of the women in that video I would have described myself as having a long face, small smile, thin lips, big forehead and big chin. I have always been a harsh critic of myself. A lot of this stems from the bullying I received as a child for the way I looked. Not that I looked strange, in fact when I look at pictures of myself I see a small, cute little red head but at the time I hated myself. This is pretty much the same for most of the periods in my life. Even if I look at pictures from 6 months ago, at the time I may not have thought I looked nice; too fat, too skinny, too this too that but when I look back I see something completely different.

I sat listening to these women describing themselves. I was literally shouting at the screen saying "that is not true!! you are so beautiful". Upon actually hearing myself saying these things, what I realised was that in fact I was talking to myself. I need to listen to my own thoughts about those women and accept the words myself... 

"that is not true!! you are so beautiful"

So how does it make sense for me to continue with the negative opinions and beliefs I have about myself when I am shouting at the screen to these ladies that their descriptions of themselves are so wrong?

The truth is that I wish I could love myself more and I try everyday. This video has made me see that actually I am not alone in the way I see myself. All these other women feel the same. This gives me strength and courage to try and like even a tiny bit of myself.

I really think that as women we all deserve to love ourselves and there is nothing wrong with that. People say 'nobody is perfect' but actually I think every one of us is perfect... Our flaws make us perfect. Because Nature doesn't make mistakes, we are all exactly how we are suppose to be.

All my love

My Benefit Cosmetics Wishlist... Help!!! What should I buy?

There are so many Benefit items I am lusting after. From the skincare range to perfume and concealer. Unfortunately like my parents use to remind me when I was little, I don't have a money tree damn it!

I have managed to narrow down my faves to these 5 and I can get 2 things and that is all... So I thought what better way to decide than to make a wish list, then ask my fellow bloggers for their advice!

So here are the 5.

Benefit Fake up in light £18.50 

The new Benefit concealer which everyone and their pet poodle is talking about so of course I want it!! I swatched it on my hand in store and it looks lovely and moisturising. Perfect to minimal summer make up.

Benefit Erase Paste in fair £19.50

Another concealer I know but this one is better for darker under eye circles which I definitely have at the moment. Plus it looks so lovely.

Benefit The Porefessional £24.50

I hear this is great at minimizing the appearance of pores and fine lines so I would love to try it.

Benefit Dandelion Brightening Face Powder £23.50

Perfect for creating radiant skin and who doesn't want that?

Benefit Fine One One £23.50

First of all this looks so pretty. I love the texture of it and that it is multi purpose for lips and cheeks. I think it will be perfect for a natural summer look on the go.

So that is it ladies. Which 2 do you think I should go for? 

BLOGGER TAG | I love Spring!

This morning I was not in a positive mood shall we say and was feeling a bit down then the delightful Tamryn from TotallyTamryn tagged me for the I love Spring blogger tag and it cheered me up a little.

So let's get to it! The tag works as follows, answer the 12 Spring related questions and then at the end tag 5 people to do it next!
 
1. What's your favourite spring nail polish?
 
This will probably be a pretty generic answer but who doesn't love pastels in the spring? So number 1 would be pastels, of any colour really. I recently bought a gorgeous Barry M one in a haul post here. And I am currently hunting for a perfect pastel pink shade.
 
2. What is your must-have lip-color this Spring?
 
Deffinitely coral. I got a lovely one from Rimmel and Mac but I really want a matt Coral shade so I have been on the hunt. 


3. Show us your favourite Spring dress!
 
Ahhh so many. Currently I am lusting after this Lipsy VIP Millie Macintosh dress to wear at a wedding.

4. What's your favourite flower?

Roses, roses, roses. I love Roses!!! They are so beautiful and silky and smell divine. Best way to my heart is a rose.

5. What is your favourite Spring scarf /accessory?
 

This is a good question. It has got me thinking. I have a lovely Becksondergaard scarf which is large enough to use as a shawl too and the shades are very neautral so I think that it is perfect for this time of year. You can see it in a post I did here.

6. What Spring trend(s) are you most excited about this year? ( makeup, fashion, or both)

Pretty dresses and lacey shorts. And the lovely light colours. Goodbye black!! Hooray!

7. Favourite Spring candle?

Ahh so many. I love candles. Jo Malone do some beautiful ones but they are pretty expensive. My sanctuary for cheap candles is Sainsbury's, they have been lovely. Like Vanilla and Cotton.

8. Favourite body spray/perfume?

This has to be Miller Harris. All their scents are lovely and natural. My favourite at the moment is Coeur de Fleur which I reviewed here.
 

9. What is Spring like where you live?

In London it can be absolutely roasting which is lovely if you don't have to get on the tube! The you are faced with lots of sweaty people with their arms in the air.. not ideal. Last year I decided to give Borris bikes a go. Cycling around Hyde Park and South Kensington with the sun shining was beautiful.  Scotland can be quite warm but it tends to be quite a few degrees cooler than London.

10. What is your favourite thing about Spring?

First it is the weather being warmer and brightening my mood. I also love seeing the flowers blossoming and the baby lambs jumping in the field.

 
11. Are you a Spring cleaner?

I don't think I clean particularly because it is spring. I like to have a clean out every few months to keep things tidy including my mind. Out with the old.. in with the new :-)

12. Any plans for Spring break or an upcoming vacation? 

In a word.. nope! Perhaps later in the summer when everything has settled down a bit more.

I hope you enjoyed reading my I love Spring tag :-)

The bloggers I tag are...

Ellie at http://www.elliesramblings.com/

Ashleigh Roy at http://www.alloutgorgeous.blogspot.co.uk/

Becky at http://www.beckybedbug.com

Lauren Maria at http://livinginaboxx.wordpress.com/

Ashleigh at http://www.25to30.co.uk/ 

A bit of Baking | Roasted Blueberry Cupcake Fun!

First of all I want to tell you that I am shocking at cooking and baking. More so at cooking because for some reason it makes me pretty anxious and I get stressed. Usually it ends up with me messing up the ingredients or forgetting to add something like flour which has actually happened before. And the whole thing becomes a mess which enforces the idea that yes I am shocking at cooking.

Anyhoo I am really trying to learn how do bake and cook as I feel a little stupid for not being able to. I think the problem is that I have no confidence with it. With this in mind I set out to find a simple but yummy cupcake recipe (who doesn't love a cupcake?) and I happened upon this one by Sweet Peony and thought what the hell, I will give it a go.

And give it  a go I did. I tried my very best.

First thing I had to do was the part of the recipe which made it special which is roasting the blueberries in the oven until the all burst and were melting. This allows them to blend in lovely to the mixture instead of having huge whole blueberries in your cupcakes which I don't really enjoy!

After I had done this. I managed to follow the rest of the recipe to the tee and was very pleased with myself as I spooned the mixture in to the trays ready for cooking. It was all purple and yummy looking. It also tasted pretty nice.

So off they went in to the oven. And I started making the icing. I knew I wasn;t going to completely cover them in the sweet stuff so I sort of concocted my own recipe (this is the part that usually gets me in trouble). How wrong can I go with icing? Well it turns out not that wrong, this time. I used half a cup of unsalted butter, added a spot of vanilla esence then mixed in icing sugar and some philadelphia until I had the right consistency. For me I think the key to the best icing is cream cheese (look at me sounding all like Nigella Lawson).

The hardest bit for me was getting the icing on the cakes. I had visions of wonderfully piped icing looking all professinal and perfect. Well it didn't quite turn out that way. They look kind of like nipples... 

But they taste absolutely divine. I am not sure if you can tell in the pics but the sponge is all purply and lovely.

So here they are. You can see above, I tried out a few different frosting options... which didn't go too well! But it takes practice and I am pretty happy with my little roasted blueberry cupcakes.

What do you think? 

REVIEW | Garnier Goodbye Dry Moisture Match Moisturiser

Since my Aveda Touramaline moisturiser, which I reveiwed here, ran out I have been looking for something else to try. I wanted a moisturiser for under £10 which I could use twice a day, would be very moisturising as my skin is so dry at the moment and was suitable for use under makeup.  So off I went to boots. I saw three I liked and had to choose between; Ponds triple action moisturiser £4.49, L'oreal Triple Active Day multi protection moisturiser dry and sensitive skin £4.08 and Garnier moisture match £5.99(the other two I will try at some point in the future). So I settled on Garnier moisture Match for Dry to Very Dry Skin because I already use their toner which I love having reviewed it here. It was a pretty easy decision for me to choose Goodbye Dry from the 5 other new Garnier moisture match moisturisers as I knew I needed it to be super hydrating. This one seemed like the perfect match for me.

I was really excited to try this. I thought it will be amazing and I will be so happy or it will send my skin in to meltdown. Read on to find out what happened when I tried it...

Firsty I like the box and the actual product container is a really lovely colour of powder pink. It is easy to keep tidy and clean as there is a small hole for the product to come out of and the clip on lid fits very well. Normally I prefer tubs for facial moisturisers and tubes for hand moisturisers. But this tube has grown on me, it sits nicely up on my dresser and you can throw it in your bag if you are heading to the gym or for a day out and feel you might need it. (no idea what type of activity you would need it in your bag for but there you go). You wont have to worry about it spilling.

The second thing to note is the smell. Originally I thought it was a tiny bit too strong but it has definitely grown on me and I haven't got sick of it at all.  In fact now I think it is quite lovely.  I am not sure what the other moisture surge products smell like but I cant imagine they all smell the same.

The product itself is a very pale pink colour, which matches the tube, nice idea! It is a luxurious thickness. Not watery and not nivea creme thick. An inbetween. At first touch I was pretty sure it was the right consistency for what it was suppose to do. Things were looking positive...

It smooths on very well and sinks in nicely leaving your skin feeling soft and looking dewy. It is suppose to keep your skin hydrated for 24 hours. Now, I wouldn't say 24 hours but I would say it lasts for a good 14. This is without makeup. I applied at 10am in the morning, spending the day at home, by midnight it had all but disappeared. I would say at that point you would need to reapply should you need the full 24hours of mouisturiser.

Having used this product for almost a month now. I can say I am very impressed. It has definitely helped with my dry skin, in fact my skin is not really dry at all now. And a few people have complimented me on how good my skin looks. It is great for wearing under make up and leaves my skin with a dewy look should I not apply make up on top.

I would definitely buy this product again. It is now one of my 'go to' moisturisers when I know I need something ulta hydrating that works.

I would say if you want a well priced super moisturising product which lasts well and gets rid of your dry skin, this is it!

I am eager to try more of the Garnier Moisture match range to see how the others fair.

Which moisturiser from the moisture match range do you think is right for you?

Obsessed With Nails and Manicure Fails!

At the moment there is no denying it, I am totally obsessed with manicuring my nails. All different colours, patterns, glitter, no glitter what ever I can get my hands on.  I also like to try out tutorials I have seen on the interweb, with varying degrees of success.  Have a look at my water marble results below... I think you will be impressed.

Mostly I upload my manicure pictures to instagram (AshlyLondon) so hop on over there to see them all but here are a few of my faves which I have had over the past few weeks.  All of them I have done myself. When I am in London I tend to go to the salon once a week for a polish change. I know sounds a lot but it is like £5 for a polish change and £12 for a gel manicure.

Sometimes I like to name my creations. Because, well, it makes me feel special.

Let me know which ones are your favourites (probably the water marbelling) and I am always on the hunt for new tutorials or nail blogs so please leave links below if you know of any

Lots of Love