My Weight Loss Journey - Slimming World

 

January is a time of year when a lot of people venture into a new weight loss plan. A few weeks in though, and motivation can be lacking - it can be easy to slip back into old ways (I know, I've been there). So, I thought for today's post I would share my own weight loss story. Perhaps it may motivate some, who may now be a few weeks into their new year health kick, to keep going.

My Current Morning Skincare Routine

I've been trying to get myself into a proper skincare routine over the past few months, making sure I take time every day to give it the attention it needs - not always succeeding, particularly in the mornings as I'd rather stay in bed a while longer! But for the past month or so I've been making a real effort in this department - my wedding is just months away and I want my skin looking its best.  My skin is very dry and you can always spot when I've neglected my routine, as all those nasty flakes start to appear and my skin becomes very tight. After many months of testing out a ridiculous amount of skincare products, I've found a morning routine that I am happy with and have been using for about a month now, so I thought I'd share the products I've been loving using with you.

Birchbox - January 2014

I'd seen so many blog posts and videos over the past couple of months from people who had subscribed to Birchbox and I have to admit I was a little jealous of some of the goodies they were receiving. I'd been subscribed to Glossybox in the past but unfortunately felt like I had to cancel due to too many disappointing boxes. But after a while I began to miss my monthly supply of sample beauty products and wanted to give something else ago. So, after a few months of taking a nosey at other peoples boxes and liking what I saw, I took the plunge and bought my own.

Aromatherapy Associates Revive Morning Bath & Shower Oil Review

 

Aromatherapy Associates is a brand I've heard a lot of good things about and have been wanting to try for a long time, but the price tag had been putting me off purchasing for a while. That was until I was having a little browse through the Feel Unique sale and came across their Christmas gifts. I decided to start small, that way if the brand wasn't for me, I hadn't wasted too much money, so their Little Bell gift (along with a few other sale goodies!) made it into my online basket.

Liebster Award

I'd never heard of a Liebster award until I was actually nominated for one, so I've had to do a little bit of research! The award is aimed at helping promote bloggers with less than 200 followers, and is nominated for my bloggers who have also received the award themselves. The word liebster is German for dearest, lovely, and valued.

Beauty Wishlist - January 2014

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Clinique 3-step Skincare Review

 

For a long time now I've wanted to improve my skincare regime, and actually have some sort of routine, rather than just slapping on products when I can be bothered. I'd tried a few Clinique skincare products before and enjoyed using them, so I thought giving the Three Step Skincare range a go would be the best way to get me into a regular routine - three simple steps to follow morning and night. A few months ago, I popped into my local Debenhams and had a consultation with the lady at the Clinique counter, who said I was a type 2 skin type (dry/combination). I decided to opt for the £20 sample pack, which gives you about 3-4 weeks worth of each product, rather than committing to buying the full sized products - I'd heard very mixed reviews about this range, so wanted to give a thorough testing before spending so much money. Let's just say I'm glad I did it this way!

 

Primark Haul

 

I went shopping in the sales a couple of weeks ago and managed to pick up quite a few bargains (see what I got here). One shop I did fail in when it came to shopping the sales was Primark.

Primark is chaotic at the best of times, even more so when there's a sale on - I ended up taking one look at the discount section and walking away! I did, however, have a little mooch around the rest of the store and picked up a few bits and bobs. Apologies for the poor picture quality in this post - I missed my opportunity to take some pics while the sun was out at the weekend, so I had to take these under artificial light in the evening!

 

Dove Nourishing Oil Care Shampoo & Conditioner Review

I'm not really one for changing up my haircare routine. I've dabbled in a few other brands in recent years, but always end up going back to my trusty Aussie Miracle Moist range. It's not the most expensive brand out there, but this year I'm tightening up the purse strings a little and I've recently been on the lookout for a cheaper alternative. And I may have just found the range to convert me.

Soap & Glory Breakfast Scrub Review

Soap & Glory has probably been one of my favourite brands over of past few years - I've always got something of theirs on the go, and their Hand Food never leaves my handbag (other than to put it on my hands of course!). I finished using a tub of their Sugar Crush body scrub just before Christmas and was looking for a new scrub to try, so I was thrilled when this little beauty turned up in my stocking. The Breakfast Scrub has been raved about so much, I was dying to try it but somehow it never made it into my shopping basket on a trip to Boots.

Goals for 2014

I wasn't going to do one of these New Years resolutions posts - I never usually end up sticking to them so didn't want to look back in disappointment at the end of the year after I've failed every single one of them! But after reading a lot of other blog posts and listening to a few of my friends over the past few days, I've found the gentle kick up the backside I needed to make a few changes to my life, and this year I will make them stick....honest.

Hitting the sales

I don't usually like going sales shopping, particularly for clothes. The sales racks are too messy and chaotic for me and I usually find myself either walking out of the shop or wandering over to the full price section and spending more than I intended. However, this time I persevered and, after walking out of most clothes shops empty handed, I managed to pick up a few bargains from New Look.

Best Beauty Discoveries of 2013

Happy New Year!! Hope you all had a lovely time seeing in 2014. I thought I'd start the year on my blog with my greatest beauty discoveries of the last year - not necessarily products which were launched in 2013, but I have tried for the first time in the last 12 months and fallen in love with. Obviously, with my blog still being very new, I don't have any full details reviews of any of these products yet - please let me know if you would like to see any.