SORRY! update, Dubai and christmas 2012

ahhh! i've been M.I.A for over a month now! I know i'm rubbish :(

This past month has been insanely busy for me, not only have i been buried underneath a pile of uni work, i've been pretty ill this term :( but i'm finally back home in Dubai for the christmas holiday!  Its amazing being back home, loving the sunshine, insane amount of swedish food and being with my family.

loving the sunshine and beach!

I actually haven't had a camera either as my olympus has been having problems but i got a new one for christmas so plenty of posts to come in the near future!

Christmas was amazing :) i absolutely love being home with my family! Because i'm swedish, we celebrate on the 24th evening instead.  We had a massive christmas dinner with all our traditional foods such as salmon, herring, christmas ham, meatballs and prinskorv :)  strange, i know! but its what im used to! Followed by opening our pressies :)

me (left) and my sister in front of the tree!

our christmas tree :)

swedish christmas dinner

Christmas loot!  I'll be posting a haul ASAP.

hope you all had a lovely christmas!

Mallzee launch!

I was approached by mallzee to feature their new site in my blog, I've joined and it really does look amazing!

I know it might seem like a 'promo' post but i wouldn't promote something if i didn't like the idea of it!

It is described as "all about creating a new experience for shopping online. Users create their own personalised shopping mall (Mallzee) by picking their favourite brands and stores. Our fancy software then finds products matching their personal style and showcases them in their Mallzee! There are a number of aspects that make Mallzee social from the integration of Facebook chat to creating polls and browsing friends online wardrobes.  An added bonus to inviting friends to your mallzee is that as the ‘owner’ you earn money every time anyone buys from your Mallzee, including you! (That's right you get paid when you shop?)"

It really does sound like a great concept. I hate searching all the different websites when shopping online, and with mallzee, it combines all those shops whilst picking up on your personal style as well! Its more like social networking combined with shopping (great for bloggers!) So far they have over 200 brands that will be available (including urban outfitters, new look, feel unique, st tropez and so many more).

The website hasn't launched yet, but you can sign up to join HERE!

It only takes a couple of seconds, and they're even having a competition to win £100 to spend once it launches :D  i know i've entered!

Will you be joining mallzee?

Eating healthy on a student budget!

Hello lovely followers,

Now i know that being a uni student, it's quite hard to eat healthily, and can quite be hard on the pocket. Most of the time its easier for us to whack a microwave meal in the oven and be done with it! But there are ways in which you can eat healthier on a student budget!

By no means am i a dietician or telling you to do this, but this has worked great for me.


1. i buy fresh meat and freeze it.  I find that buying 5 turkey steaks (that are quite large) dividing them into 2, makes 10 meals. This also helps with portion control. You can even buy bags of frozen chicken breasts sometimes for about £2, they're great but they're often injected with water in order to appear bigger and then shrink once cooked. Like i mentioned before, try to envision your plate like this:

2. Frozen fruit and vegetables. These are a saviour. I know most people will think 'frozen? how is that healthy?' but there is research to say that they are just as good for you as fresh. Here's an article on why. By buying frozen vegetables, you're already saving money. Fresh vegetables can be expensive, especially if they're not in season, and obviously there isnt much time for you to eat them. Frozen berries also go great with natural low fat yoghurt, or even just as a snack. they're like little ice lollies :-) If you can afford to buy them fresh, then by all means go for it, but if you're on a budget, frozen is great! You can eat a small portion of turkey and then load on the vegetables!

3. If you must buy your vegetables fresh, a great place to buy them is your local market! Often they're much cheaper and you may even find a wider selection. I know the Cardiff market has a great vegetable stand and is pretty cheap!

4. Buying 'filler' foods. These are foods such as rice, bread or pasta. Now this doesn't mean going out and buying a tonne of white bread and pasta, keep it whole grain! White breads and other white carbs are terrible for you!  I tend to pick a healthy carb that i can 'fill' my food with. Such as wholegrain or brown rice. An example of this is that i'll cook half a cup of brown rice, and eat it with  turkey chunks, spinach and tomatoes with a dash of soy sauce. Fillings like these are cheap. However, try not to overload on carbs, and overload more on the vegetables!

5. Cook  large batches of food, and freeze extras for meals. This is great because a) it saves on cooking time, and b) it means you can make larger batches of healthy food, and stretch out how long they'll keep.

6. Ditch the take away menus! Having them in your house or within your reaching distance is often a reason why you order take away. Just think of all the terrible things that go into that kebab they're serving you!

I hope these tips helped, what ways do you try to keep healthy on a budget?

Student discount

If you're a poor student like me, you need every little bit of discount you get!

if you live in the UK, this site is great for you! Discount on all the stores you wouldn't usually get.
Most students don't have have NUS cards, which a lot of the time websites like ASOS use for student discount. Using this website, you can get discount with ASOS, urban outfitters, cath kidston, topshop and so many more!

here's the link :

http://www.myunidays.com/r/Axw0UyIQ9-4

check it out!

my top 5 products for soft and healthy hair!

Hello lovely followers,

Its apparent from my blog that i love to dye my hair and change it up quite often. Unfortunately, this also comes with damage to my hair, and split ends! I am also guilty of over styling with heat tools such as straighteners, curlers and blow drying.

However, i have found some great products that keep your hair looking healthy, shiny and soft!

1. Aussie 3 minute miracle, take the heat: deep treatment

I love this product, not only does it smell AMAZING, but it keeps my fine and thin hair baby soft whilst also building in heat protection.  So once i get out of the shower and blow dry my hair, its already protected from the heat! It lasts quite a long time as well as you only need a little. I would recommend leaving it for 3 minutes or more for optimal softness.

2. Aussie Miracle hair insurance: leave in conditioner

As soon as i have towel dried my hair, i spray this through it generously! I know it may sound a bit much using deep conditioner and then leave in conditioner, but it really keeps my hair health and to protect it from further damage! It also detangles my hair as its prone to tangling!

3. Tangle teezer

image from adorn-hair.co.uk

This is by far THE best hair brush i've ever had! i original got it because i had micro bead extensions installed in my hair, but i've been using it every day since! it just detangles my hair so well, with little to no breakage or damage! it literally just glides through my hair! Unfortunately they are expensive, ranging at about 12.99 but i feel like its an investment! This is a product i can't live without.  Its also perfect for brushing through your extensions!

4. L'oreal Elvive Extraordinary oil

I spoke about this product in my october favourites! It makes my hair so soft and shiny! Its quite versatile, its almost like a serum but it can also be used as a deep conditioning product. I like to use it whilst my hair is still damp, and work it into my mid lengths and ends. Its great to use just before you blow dry your hair, and will give you that soft and fluffy hair with extra shine.

5.  V05 heat protect

I use this every time i use any heated styling tools! It smells amazing too :-)  Even though the deep conditioner i use has heat protect built in, it can't hurt to have that little bit extra help! I just spritz this through my hair right before, comb through and then i'm ready to go with my straightener. Its not a particularly well known heat protector but i really enjoy it 

What are your top hair products?

Brunette for fall and winter!

So as you know, i recently highlighted my hair to a lovely bright blonde, but like most blonde colours do, it faded and went brassy! no amount of silver shampoo could fix it and it just started to wash my skin tone out :(

so i decided to go really dark!  I haven't dyed my hair dark since 2010 so i thought it would be a nice change, especially in time for fall/winter and it would also completely change my look up!

When you dye your hair brown from blonde, you need to replace the orange and red tones that the bleach removed from your hair, so to start, i put a base of this colour on: L'oreal Casting 535:Chocolate

image taken from superdrug.com

This colour gave me rich reddish tones for a base colour to stop my hair going green! If i had dyed my hair straight away with brown, the green and blue undertones would have caused it to go seaweed green (its happened before!).  It was the perfect base and its non-permanent with no ammonia so minimal damage :-)

And then for my permanent colour, i chose the colour: Clairol perfect 10: medium brown

image taken from mybeautymatch.com

This made my hair so glossy and smooth! And i adore the colour it came out, a rich dark brown (with highlights due to my previous ones).

here's the result:

and i LOVE it.  my hair just looks so glossy and healthy, which it didn't look when blonde.  I feel like it makes my eye colour stand out a bit more as well :-)

what do you guys think?  brunette vs blonde?

October favourites!

Hello lovely followers!

So October has finally ended and thank god.  The halloween hype in Cardiff is insane and was driving me crazy.  Usually i love halloween but i didn't get a chance to do anything for it this year so i was such a scrooge about it!

Anyway, grumpiness out of the way, i'm doing my very first monthly favourites :-)

this month i have definitely been a lot more into make up and hair care!


1. Wet n Wild: Mega Glo in the colour 'toasted'

I know this looks a bit battered but i absolutely adore this! Its a perfect highlighter that adds that instant sun-kissed glow or dewy effect to your skin.  I've been using this since winter struck in a desperate attempt to hang on to a little bit of summer! A little bit of this goes a long way. It can be used as a cream eye shadow, blush or even lip gloss! Perfect.


2. Rimmel's Kate Moss matte lipstick in the colour: 107

This is a gorgeous fall lipstick colour. The colour is such a rich deep red. I love the fact that the colour is matte as well, i'm not too keen on shiny lipsticks. I would suggest using a lip balm underneath though as it can be a bit drying!

3. Bobbi Brown under eye corrector in 'light peach'

This product is my absolute saviour. I literally cannot go without it since i bought it! I genetically have VERY dark circles under my eyes, and a lack of sleep does not help my situation. Luckily for me, this corrector removes any trace of them! The peachy tone of the corrector not only hides the circles, but also brightens up underneath the eyes, leaving you looking fresh and awake! My only issue with the product is that its £18 for that tiny little pot, but i have yet to find a decent dupe for it. wah!

4. Chanel Perfection Lumiere foundation

I literally love this foundation to death, and i'm so gutted about the £36 price tag! Luckily for me i found a decent dupe, and i even did a post on this which can be found HERE. It just gives such an even and flawless coverage, and has quite a bit of lasting power. Recently i've been mixing it with my rimmel wake me up foundation and its just lovely! 

5. L'oreal Elvive Extraordinary oil for all hair types

This has been an absolute life saver for my frazzled hair! It can be used on both wet and dry hair, and even as a conditioning treatment! I use it the same way i would a serum and add it to wet hair just before i blow-dry/heat style (with heat defence spray of course!) for added protection and shine! my hair literally feels so soft when i use this! 

Hope you enjoyed this! 

What have your favourites been?

leibster award :-)

Hello lovely followers :-)

Earlier i was nominated for a Leibster award by the lovely Tiffany from http://thelifeofyouraveragetwenty-something.blogspot.co.uk/! Thank you so much :-) Make sure to check out her blog, she has plenty of great beauty reviews and products on her page! 

follow me on bloglovin!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Highlights at home: D.I.Y

Earlier on in september, i posted about how i lightened my hair without bleach using Garnier Color naturals in  110 Sandy blonde, the post for this can be found HERE.
Although i was originally pleased with the results, i felt that after a couple of weeks my hair had darkened and dulled. I really wanted a brighter more obvious blonde, and although i really didn't want to use bleach, i had to.

I decided to look into highlighting my hair at home, i researched it for hours on youtube and i found that the easiest way for me to do it would be to use an at home highlighting kit rather than the foiling method.

This is the result! lovely blonde highlights and wearing my new crown and glory hair extensions

This is how i did it:

I used the Jerome Russell highlighting kit:

(image from google)

Within this kit, you're given a highlighting cap a plastic cap to cover,  a long needle hook to pull the hair through the cap, bleach, developer conditioner, a mixing tray and a dye brush.

Step by step:

1. Do a strand test, depending on your starting colour, you may need to leave the bleach on your hair longer to get the desired result.

2. Begin by combing your hair back off your face, and place the highlighting cap on your head

3. On the highlighting cap will be several holes to pull your hair through. Using the needle hook, either pull hair out of every hole, or every other hole (depending on the desired amount of highlights).  The cap is also broken down into sections so you can choose to add all over highlights, or just crown highlights.

4. Once you've pulled your strands through the cap, mix the bleach and developer together in the mixing tray and add to the hair pulled out.

5. Cover with provided plastic cap and leave to develop, make sure to watch the colour so you know when to wash it off.

6. Once desired processing time is reached, wash the bleach off and apply the provided conditioner.  I also added an extra deep moisturiser as bleach can be quite damaging.  If you find that your result is a little brassy, buy a silver toned shampoo to tone the orange down, such as touch of silver or shimmer lights by clairol.

I found a good video on how to use this technique on youtube:

(video found on youtube, user: skindeepbeautytips)

although its a different brand, its the same process!

Review: Crown and Glory hair extensions

Recently i've been looking to purchase new extensions, but i always have trouble finding the right type.
Although i have very fine hair, i like to buy very thick hair extensions in order for them to blend more and have a certain look.

I usually look for double wefted extensions as they offer more thickness, until i stumbled across crown and glory extensions when they started following my twitter. They offer QUADRUPLE wefted extensions! this means each piece you clip into your hair has FOUR wefts of hair.

Reality TV star Louise Thompson from made in chelsea is known to wear them!

the website can be found here:

http://www.crownandgloryextensions.com

The set i bought are 18 inches in the colour 18/613 (200 grams), also known as blonde highlights and cost £89.99. The hair comes in a huge range of colours to choose from. Each set comes with 7 pieces.  Here's an image from their website on where each weft goes:

i know they might sound a little pricey, but for the amount of hair you get, and the quality, its definitely worth it! Websites like foxylocks sell the same amount of hair for £118.  You definitely make a saving using their site.

Here is them taken freshly out of the box.  Look how thick they are!

The hair is made out of grade A indian remy hair, which means that the cuticle of the hair is kept completely intact.  If your extensions are not remy, it means the hair has been chemically stripped and usually wont last as long.


My experience:

I absolutely love these extensions, i've been wearing them for a week and their texture is still the same despite the heat products i've used! Ive had foxylocks extensions before and i find that i much prefer these purely for the thickness, shine and quality of hair. I thought they might weigh down on my head a little but i've had no problem with that so far.  Absolutely love them :) I feel like they're more of an investment as they will last a lot longer than my previous sets bought.

If you want to see a tutorial on how these are clipped in, let me know!

Here is a picture of my hair without the extensions:

My hair with the extensions:

I layered mine though to make them blend more with my natural hair length

Chanel perfection lumière + cheaper dupe

Chanel perfection lumière review + cheaper dupe:

Despite being a poor student, i am unfortunately such a sucker for branded make up. There have been many times at the end of the month when i'm just eating pasta because i bought myself too much in one month! Recently i have managed to restrain myself and only bought the Chanel perfection lumiere.

Chanel Perfection Lumiere (£36)

'PERFECTION LUMIÈRE controls every detail of a perfect complexion. Its invisible yet perfect correction of all types of imperfections and its "multi-faceted" radiance, colour, comfort and matte finish create a perfect complexion. Universal shades, an easy application, a light texture that glides on seamlessly, adjustable coverage: perfection has never been so simple' According to Debenhams.

I bought this foundation back in August, tax free between finland and sweden and have been using it everyday since. Despite the £36 price tag, i adore it!  

My foundation is in: 50 beige. 

Coverage: its about a medium coverage, but you can build it up if you need more. It really does well to leave a flawless and perfecting look and I find that i dont need to use too much to get a 'radiant' but still natural look.  Not only does it cover the redness in my cheeks, it also illuminates my face to make it look bright and awake. I find it gives me a more 'dewy' look rather than matte. It also has SPF 10. I always make sure my foundation has at least 10 SPF to protect my skin. 

skin type: if you have oily skin, i'd avoid this. Your face would look more oily rather than dewy. It is good if you have either dry or normal skin. But be warned, it will cling to overly dry skin and just make it look worse. It sets well with powder without the surface looking too 'powdery' if you know what i mean.

Pros: good coverage, SPF 10, dewy effect, soft, smooth and easy to blend

cons: price, small bottle (30ml), not good for oily to combination skin.

here are examples:

It almost looks like the foundation is my own skin, but 100x better!

Unfortunately, the price is really offputting. However, i've been using it since august and its still got quite a big product left. As a lowly student, i can't afford to pay £36 every time i need new foundation! 

If you don't want to fork out £36 pounds for the chanel, there is a good drugstore/high street alternative that isn't too pricey but gives a similar effect!

Dupe:

L'oreal lumi magique (£10.99)

Colour is Rose Sand

colour is Rose Sand

(wearing lumi magique)

"With age skin can becomes dull and tired. L'Oreal Lumi Magique Foundation helps give instant skin radiance. You will be glowing inside and out" boots

Again, the idea of this foundation is to give medium to buildable coverage as well as radiance. This too lights up your face and give a more dewy glow. Again, if you have oily skin, i would avoid this product (unless you are willing to blot/powder the whole day). At a price of £10.99, how can you say no??

Coverage: Like the perfection lumiere, this gives medium to buildable coverage, with radiance enhancing qualities. I find that in comparison with the chanel, its coverage is about the same.

Pros: Price! (£10.99 instead of £36!), radiant glow, easy to use/blend, same size as chanel but much cheaper (30ml).

Cons: size (30ml) easily used up if you wear foundation everyday, no SPF (that i can tell from bottle or description), again not good for oily to combination skin.

Overall, i adore my chanel perfection lumiere. I love the finish it gives me! however, when there are other products like lumi magique for cheaper, i may have to give up the chanel and trade in for l'oreal. Otherwise my bank is gonna start hurting :(

How i lost weight and toned up in 2 weeks

I am aware that everyone's bodies react differently and lose and gain weight differently, but this is how i managed it.  I started off at 59 kg (130 pounds) and ended at 61kg (134 pounds), and i am 5ft7. I found that the way to tell if i was losing weight was through pictures and measurements as opposed to weight. This is due to the muscle you build weighing more than fat.  Ladies, don't always judge your journey by your weight!

Here is a before and after photo between the 8th of july and the 22nd of july.

I was so proud of this progress, and this was down to two simple things.  A clean diet and daily cardio/strength training.
Now i know this doesn't happen over night, but it just goes to show how much a change of what you eat and how you exercise can affect your body.

This is how i did it:
On the 8th of July i joined a gym in Cardiff, and committed to go there at least 6 times a week in order to see any change.  If you can't join a gym, start running! its just as effective but costs nothing!
I began with cardio training on the cross trainer and bike, slowly working my way up to 45 minutes of cardio everyday.  As well as this, i started strength training for abs and arms mainly as i felt they were my problem areas, especially as i have scoliosis, i have to build up my abs in order to alleviate back pain.  Funnily enough, i did no butt or leg training but the cross trainer toned those for me!


Diet wise i ate completely clean. This meant NO soft drinks, sugary sweets or anything along those lines. It was ok for me as i'm not particularly a fan of those anyway. Hardest thing for me to cut out were the more savoury snacks like crisps. It was a  high protein diet, mainly turkey or chicken, a lot of vegetables and a few carbs (all either whole meal or whole grain if i do) and the occasional fruit! a diet low in bad fats and sugar.   I also tried to eat good fats like almonds or avocado. I also tried to eat a MINIMUM of 1300 calories a day.  anything under that will send you body into starvation mode, and it'll store any fat you eat. Its counter productive to barely eat!

A massive help was drinking two cups of green tea every day as well, 1 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon.  It helps boost your metabolism and burn fat!

I drank A LOT of water, i could not stop peeing most of the day but my skin was so much better. i think a lot of my weight was water weight as well, so upping your water helps to flush out water retention! If you want to help eliminate water weight, i suggest cranberry juice (the ones without any added sugar or flavouring as they tend to be packed with sugar) and it helps flush excess water from your kidneys!

i cut down sodium/salty foods.  If your body has too much salt and not enough water, it will store excess water in your cells, which means you will hold more water weight!

If you want some ideas for abs, arms and other parts of the body training, check out blogilates youtube, most of the toning exercises i use are from there.
it was a lifestyle change rather than a diet!