Wednesday 29 July 2015

BRITNEY SPEARS FANTASY INTIMATE EDITION EDP REVIEW




Hi lovelies! If any of you have been reading my blog or following me on Instagram for a while now, you'll be aware that around a year or so ago, I had a bit of a mad obsession with perfume and literally bought dozens in the space of just a couple of months, so for quite a while, I've been on a bit of a perfume ban in the hopes that I'd start to use up some of the perfumes I already had. So, despite giving a couple of perfumes away to friends and family, I never actually finished up any of the scents I'd already bought, but when I was out shopping with my lovely boyfriend and he offered to buy this for me when I spotted it, I just couldn't say no!

Britney Spears Fantasy Inimate Edition is a take on the original Fantasy, which I'm sure we all know. The original is a defintie nostalgic scent for me, it's super girly and very sweet and reminds me of candyfloss, cookie dough and sugar! Despite absolutely loving that scent still, I do think that sometimes it can be a little much day to day. In my job as a beauty therapist, I'm often up close and personal with people doing things like lash extensions, waxing and facials and when someone is that close to your face, you don't necessarily want them to smell strongly of funfair snack stalls! However, while I do love a fruity floral or fresh scent, sometimes I do like to wear something a little sweeter without being overpowering and this perfume defintiely ticks all the right boxes.

The official description says that this scent 'opens with a fruity zest of litchi combined with the elegant scent of violet leaf and sunny lemon. Airiness originates from ozone notes which cool down and refresh the floral heart encompassing lily of the valley and elegant jasmine, with a hint of gourmand chords of brown sugar and animal chords or genet. The base is warm, comfortable and creamy, decorated with a blend of vanilla, heliotrope, Laos, benzoin and sensual white musk.' First up, 'genet' is a new one to me and while the little cat like animals are cute, it strikes me as very odd that they can/ would want to get the scent of a mammal into a perfume. This is one note that I cannot or don't know how to detect, so for now I'll ignore that one! I do agree that the opening is fruity and while I do get the Violet in the opening, I also detect it in the dry down too. A few seconds after spritzing, all I can smell is the ozonic notes for a little while, followed by a slightly fruity, slightly floral and subtlety sweet scent. 

This doesn't dry down very musky on me, however I can detect the white musk, which is something I wouldn't generally like, but the vanilla and brown sugar slightly counteract this, leaving you with a sweet, but not too sweet lingering scent. Honestly, it depends when and where I spray this as to what I can smell, for example, on my skin, this stays fairly fruity floral, however on my hair and clothes, the vanilla and sugar notes really come out, making it blend nicely together to create a very feminine, subtle scent. 

The lasting power on this definitely isn't as good as the original Fantasy when applied on the skin, however one spritz on your clothes or hair and you'll be getting little whiffs of this all day long! What's nice about this, is that it's subtle enough that you can re spray a few times during the day and it'll never really be too overpowering or strong, which is a risk you take with the original. 

Before I end this post, we can't ignore the bottle can we? If you know the Fantasy fragrance line, you'll know that they've never strayed from the classic Fantasy Shape (Naughty and Nice editions aside) and this one has to be my favourite one yet, the Pinterest perfect white bottle with rose gold and pink detailing is just gorgeous. They were very clever this with this one as I'm sure many girls will buy this for the bottle alone as it just looks so perfect on any dressing table!

Overall, I would say if you don't do sweet scents at all, then probably steer clear, however if you do like something sweet, or fancy something a little different to your usual florals or fruity scents, then this will be absolutely perfect for you! At £30 for 50ml or £23 for 30ml, this isn't the cheapest celebrity scent, but it doesn't smell like a typical, cheap celeb scent either, so you're getting a fab quality scent for a great price.

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THE GREAT BRITISH SURGICAL STATS - MY VIEWS




Hi lovelies! Recently I was sent this infographic from New Birkdale Clinic on cosmetic surgeries and the 'surgery trends' in the UK. I was actually quite surprised by some of the statistics and numbers on these, particularly the above about the number of surgeries on Women vs Men. I guess I expected there to be more surgeries on Women, however I think the difference here is huge!

In my opinion, as much as the idea of cosmetic surgery terrifies me, I do understand why people do it and disagree with anyone who says it's wrong. I do think the number between men and women is slightly alarming, as I know there are a lot of pressures on women to look a certain way and I don't think surgery is the answer if your reasons are because you're jealous of girls in magazines or of Kylie Jenner's lips, however if you are insecure about something and surgery would make you feel better and more confident, then I personally don't think anyone should tell you that that's wrong.

What are your thoughts on this? Would you ever consider surgery for anything?

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Monday 27 July 2015

THE BRIT'S GUIDE TO GETTING MARRIED ABROAD*



Hi lovelies! As it's summer, it's wedding season and recently I found this infographic that I thought may be useful to those who are planning a wedding at the moment. While it's a little way off for me being only 21, I think most girls would be lying if they said they never think about it! I think getting married abroad is a great idea, but it's definitely something that requires a lot of thought and this covers a lot of things that I definitely wouldn't have thought of, such as visiting the area beforehand to track down hair and makeup artists, you may look at the venue, but these are definitely things to think of.

Another great point that I hadn't thought of is arranging insurance for your big day. Debenhams Personal Financeoffer Wedding Insurance, which I think would be a huge weight off your shoulders when planning a wedding, as you'll be safe in the knowledge that should anything not run as smoothly as you'd like on the day (though hopefully it would!) you'd be covered!

What do you think? Would you like to get married abroad?

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Saturday 18 July 2015

DEAR 16 YEAR OLD ME

Hi lovelies! With the summer holidays coming up for some, I've recently had a lot of younger girls in my salon for their proms, my Sister and Mum both work in schools and have been talking lots about end of term etc and my timehop app has been kindly reminding me of my secondary school prom, so reflecting on that and how much life has changed in the past five years, since leaving school and being two years out of my teenage years (how did that happen?). I did a post called 'A Message to 15 Year Old Me' three years ago here when I was 18, so now I'm going to do it all over again with three more years of life experience (which clearly makes me an expert.. *insert winky face/ see no evil monkey emoji here*), so before I go on any more further explaining a post that was already explained well enough in the title, I'll just get right on in.

Dear 16 Year Old Me...

First off, nice job deciding to go back to blonde, dying your hair dark brown was an effin terrible decision and your friends and family slightly suck for not telling you but are also kind of fab for letting you do your thing, but for god's sake get a professional to do it you do not need to dye your own hair every two weeks. While we're on the topic, don't buy MAC's sushi flower eyeshadow, it shouldn't have been invented ever and coral eyeshadow is a terrible idea.

So now let's get serious (though poor hair and makeup choices are pretty serious, so sort it out), you're just leaving school and you're off to college thinking that that makes you super grown up and that you know everything. Plot twist, you're wrong.

Some of the friends that you think are gonna be around forever won't be and trust me that's a good thing. As you get older you learn that some people are just not worth your time. You've done an okay job so far of ditching some pretty shitty people, but keep going, you've got more weeds to pull. Don't be afraid to keep your guard down, getting hurt, mostly by friends is all part of a learning experience and in future, will mean you're a much better judge of character.

College will change your life, you'll decide that art, design and fashion aren't what you want to do really and you'll freak out about your future, but in four years you'll have your own business so ignore the teachers telling you you're wasting your future by not doing A-Levels, keep doing you, don't be led. College is also where you'll meet your long term boyfriend, the whole situation could not be more badly timed, but roll with it, it all works out for everyone in the end and you'll be the happiest you've ever been.

Revenge is never, ever the answer. You may feel good hurting those who hurt you in the moment, but in the end, you're just as bad as they are. Happiness and indifference to those who want to bring you down is your greatest weapon, haters are always gonna hate, so do your squats and let them hate you.

Finally, your good friends and family mean the absolute world to you, treasure them, a lot's gonna change in the next few years, embrace every single day and get your shit together and learn to walk in a proper pair of heels, seriously your prom shoes were embarrassing.

And one last thing, you do get a dog eventually don't worry, she's a Chihuahua and she's absolutely worth the wait, she may even be sassier than you.

Chloe xoxo


So, to any girls younger than me, maybe just leaving school or going into sixth form, I'll leave you with these three tips.

Get rid of shitty people.
Fake friends aren't always easy to spot, but if you have them, just let them go. You have one life to live and it should be filled with people who bring you up, leave the nasty, bitchy or negative people in your past where they belong.

Do you.
Obviously you need to think about your actions, but don't always try to please people, sometimes doing what you want and taking action to better your own life is more important than what you think others expect of you, in the words of Joey Tribbiani, grab a spoon!

Have a professional do your hair and eyebrows.
Thank me when you check your Timehop app in two years time.

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Wednesday 8 July 2015

BAGSY: HAIR WONDER REVIEW



Hi lovelies! Today, I'n going to be showing the first of many super excited new products from 'Bagsy'. Bagsy is a relatively new brands and may just be one of my new favourites. The entire range is designed to be super easy to use, pretty and small enough to fit into your handbag. All of the products as you will see in my upcoming posts are absolutely gorgeously packaged and have super cute prints, quotes and colours to make them even more beautiful!

The product I have to show you all today is the Hair Wonder, a dry shampoo with a difference! I've been super careful with my hair recently as I'm trying to grow it nice and long so that means trying not to wash my hair too much, as we all know that's not good for your hair! So, dry shampoo is an absolute must for me and this one is fab as it's infused with vitamin B5 and oat oil, meaning not only does it banish oily roots, but it doesn't leave you with that dry powdery feeling that many dry shampoos give. What I love about this is the fact that you don't need to use much at all. One quick spray over the roots is enough, so the bottle actually lasts a very long time.

While the look of a dry shampoo isn't the most important thing, this bottle really is so pretty, it has a cute blue floral design and metal lid, making it feel very luxurious and high end, which is just a bit nicer to use than cheaper dry shampoos. This retails for £5 for 75ml, which for a product as gorgeous as this, is a pretty good deal if you ask me! While the consistency, packaging and size make this quite unique, the biggest difference for me with the Hair Wonder is the scent. Most dry shampoos do have a scent but this one is beautiful. It's got a very pretty, light, fresh floral scent that actually lasts in your hair. I find with most dry shampoos you smell them on first spray and that's it, but the beautiful scent in this one lasts all day long and I've actually had people comment on how good I smelled when this was all I was wearing, so I absolutely love that!

So, overall, if you fancy a bit of a 'nicer' dry shampoo, one that will fit in your handbag and one with a beautiful scent, I'd totally recommend this. I'd particularly recommend this to those who like me, have quite fine hair, as it just disappears and doesn't make your hair feel thick and gross at the roots like some dry shampoos can do!

What do you think? Will you be checking out the Bagsy Beauty Products?
Check out their website here and shop the range on Feel Unique here.

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Tuesday 7 July 2015

IMPORTANT LASER HAIR REMOVAL FACTS*

There is a constant battle being fought all the time in our own homes. It's the battle against unwanted hair. No matter how many times we break out our tweezers, razor blades, or wax, we just can't seem to keep it away. If this sounds like every week at your how, it might be time to explore other options, such as laser hair removal. But before you do you should know all the facts about the procedure. So, here are some of the most important facts to think about.

It's Not a One-Time Solution to the Problem
One thing that you definitely need to understand about laser hair removal is that it isn't a one-time solution. Yes, it might kill some hair follicles the first time, but it's unlikely to kill all of them. It might just damage them slightly. That means that the hair can grow back, but it should take quite a while. In order to get the best results and keep it away as long as possible, it's usually recommended that each patient have a series of 3 or more treatments. Once that series is done, you may be able to go for long periods of time without having more, but eventually you may want to repeat the process.

Considering the Costs
The next obvious thing to consider is the ongoing costs. Every procedure costs money, and you may need to have the procedure repeated multiple times. Granted, you could go months or years without treatment after the initial series, but those costs still need to be considered. When you are making those calculations, just remember what you'll be saving. That includes time saved that you would have otherwise spent waxing or shaving. It also includes money saved on other hair removal products and devices. So, it's easy to see how the costs of laserhair treatment can be offset.

How the Actual Hair Removal Process Works
If you aren't sure why a laser procedure can do a better job of removing hair than anything you'd do at home, the answer is simple. It works by zapping hair follicles. Those are essentially the roots of each individual hair. You see, hair is a lot like a carrot or any other vegetable that grows underground. A bit of it shows above the surface, but a lot of it lies beneath. As the laser heats up, the hair you can see on the surface is zapped away, but so is the hair that you can't see, which stays below the surface of the skin.

That extra penetration and targeting of the roots is the reason that this procedure can be so effective. The hair should stay away longer, since it will need that extra time to regrow all the way up from the root. Of course, it can also be a great procedure because it may kill some hair follicles, preventing that hair from ever coming back at all.

The Targeting System Isn't Always Perfect
A final thing to consider is that the targeting system used during the procedure isn't always perfect. It tends to be much better at targeting hair when the patient has light skin, since it looks for darker areas. So, if you are not a light-skinned, dark-haired person, you might have a harder time finding a specialty laser designed for your skin and hair type. Nevertheless, the hunt may be well worth it in the end.


Thursday 2 July 2015

SUMMER LOVIN'


Hi lovelies! I don't know about you guys, but I am just loving the summer trends this year, fringing, suede, off shoulder style tops, denim, crochet, embroidery, it's all very hippie chic and I for one am just obsessed with it! There are just so many things that I'm absolutely loving this year that I thought I'd put together a little wishlist of some of the bits and bobs that I'm loving right now. Whether it's shopping online, instores or from catalogues (tip, Catalogue Spot is a great place to shop from and compare catalogue prices not just for clothes but all kinds of items!). I'd love to hear your thoughts on my picks!

This stunning playsuit from Miss Selfridge is unfortunately out of stock in my size online but if I see it in a store I'll definitely be picking it up as I'm just obsessed with it! I have a button front denim mini already, which I absolutely love, but I really want to get a white one like this one from Topshop now. I think the A-line style is just gorgeous and white is by far my favourite shade to wear in the summer. I recently bought a tan suede skirt which has quickly become one of my most favourite items in my wardrobe so I think this tan suede dress from Topshop would make a fab addition to my summer wardrobe! I can't imagine it's the coolest thing to wear, so may have to be saved for those not quite so hot summer days but I love it none the less!

The off the shoulder, bardot style dresses and tops are popping up everywhere lately and my wardrobe is slowing getting more and more full of them! This Embroidered one from Topshop is one the prettiest I've seen and I think it would be so beautiful and easy to wear for the summer time. I'm loving the open toe boot trend and these fringed ones from Topshop are just amazing. I love that they're open at the back so they won't feel too hot, but still give the look of a pair of boots. These suede Nine West flats from Kurt Geiger are currently on sale and proving very difficult to resist too! I'm not really one for smaller bags generally as my MK collection is my pride and joy, however I am getting into smaller bags more for the summer as carrying a big heavy bag can make you feel even hotter on a hot day! This black fringed one from New Look is beautiful and would go with just about any outfit for the summer.

I'm always on the lookout for affordable summer clothes like Summer Dresses, shoes and accessories and StyleWe has a great range which is definitely worth checking out too!

What do you think? What are you loving lately?

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