Chemist Direct Haul

I haven’t done a good old haul post in forever! I haven’t had a massive shopping blow out in ages, don’t get me wrong I still am a shopaholic but my spending has been a little here and there rather than one big haul!

So when Chemist Direct recently got in touch and offered me £50 to go mad and purchase whatever I would like in their online store, I got ridiculously excited! They have a huge range of beauty, hair, body and health products at pretty bargainous prices. I spent an evening browsing the site and ended up with £569.75 worth of items in my shopping bag. Whoops! I ended up going on a bit of a cull and getting it down to £60.50 with postage and packaging.

So here is what made the cut...

Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula Natural Bronze Tanning Lotion – I love the smell of this stuff and I don’t know about everyone else but I’m feeling ridiculously pale and pasty this winter so anything that will add a hint if colour is a must for me right now!

Bare Minerals Nude Beach Glimmer Eye shadow – I have used this shadow before and recently ran out. It’s such a pretty shade, I may do a separate review on this at some point.

Garnier All in One Skin Perfector BB Blemish Balm in Medium – lately I have been using BB creams instead of foundation, I find it a lot lighter on my skin and can’t wait to give this one a whirl!

Carmen Copper Curling Tongs – I’ve recently had 3 inches chopped off my locks so it now rests on my collar bone. I really like the messy hair look, you know that tousled beachy hair style, and I’m hoping these curling tongs will help me achieve that!

Beckhams Signature for Her 75ml EDT Spray – this could have gone terribly wrong as I had never smelt this scent before, but I wanted a new perfume so I thought id risk it! Cue, sigh of relief when it arrived and smelt lovely! I’m not sure this scent would be for everyone as it’s quite a musky manly one but I quite like that about it!

OPI Muppets Most Wanted Gaining Mole-Mentum Nail Lacquer – such a pretty colour!

Inecto Pure Coconut Oil Conditioner 6 pack – err yeah, 6 whole bottles, I know that seems a little excessive bit I find coconut conditions work wonders on the dry ends of my locks!

Have you tried any of these products?

Valentines Day: My One True Love in Life

Happy Valentine’s Day you beautiful people! I hope you are all feeling happy and loved whether your single, married, engaged or whatever!

As today is the day that’s hallmark stamped for love, gooeyness, hearts and flowers I thought I would dedicate today’s post to my one true love. Nope, fear not I have not gone crazy and met a boy or my dream man Chris Hemsworth in the last few days and declared my undying love. Nope, I am talking about my bed. Yes my bed, you read that right, I have to say it was a close call between my bed and peanut M&M’s (yum yum!) but my bed won out!

It’s my favourite place on earth, especially during these cold winter months. It is ridiculously comfy and cosy. I think my love for it has expanded lately with the recent present of an electric blanket. I don’t care if this makes me sound insanely old but it really is the best invention ever! I can’t believe I’ve never had one before.

So because of said electric blanket I now have a quilted mattress protector underneath it which just adds to the comfy factor. I then have a duvet and multiple blankets thrown on top... I can’t explain how good it is!

Oooh and to top it all off? The joys of being single means it IS ALL MINE! I can sleep in the middle and starfish and I don’t have to share it with anyone else!

Screw you valentine’s day!

THE SPRING BLOGGERS SNAIL MAIL - SIGN UPS NOW OPEN!

The Bloggers Snail Mail is now officially one year old!! I can’t believe I’ve been running this project for a whole year! I have had so much fun organising this project and chatting to lots of new lovely bloggers, I really hope you get as much out of it as I do.

Welcome to the Spring round, so here is how it works:

A quarterly gift exchange where you can meet other bloggers from around the world and spread a bit of positivity! People get paired up in March, June, September and December. During the sign up period, every participant will be paired with one other new participant and you’ll spend a few weeks becoming BFFs (i.e. reading each other’s blogs, sending happy e-mails, you name it!). After that, you’ll send your partner a gift from your country that you think they may like from the info you now know about them. There’s a £5 limit on the gifts to make this project as affordable as possible. Be as creative as you can and make it meaningful! Motivate them, tell them all the beautiful things you learned about them, and make them feel special! We could all use a little encouragement, especially from our new friends. Also, each package should include a postcard (or a letter if you can’t find one!) with some motivating love or positive words of wisdom written all over it.

So to sign up for the ‘The Bloggers Snail Mail’ you just need to send an email to whatsinyourmakeupbag@gmail.com, title it ‘The Bloggers Snail Mail’ and include in it your name, where you are from, and you blog! Sign ups will be open until the Friday 27^th February. I will then randomly match you all up aiming to make sure you are with someone from another country or at least in another area from you! I will then let you know by Monday 2^nd March who your partner is and you then have 4 weeks to get to know them! So the week of the 30^th March, you can then send your new buddy their Snail Mail!

Once you receive your gifts, write a blog post about your experience, sharing what you gave, received, and learnt through this being part of this and meeting your new pal.

If you want to tweet about this project, use the hashtag #TheBloggersSnailMail, You can also tag me @GemmaMarieJames and ill retweet your post, so everyone can share your experience!

Please only sign up if you definitely are willing to take part and if you want to be matched with someone from the same country as you to save on postage then please let me know!!

DIY: Valentines Jam Jar Tea Light Holders

Have you heard of the Jam J-Art Campaign yet? The idea behind the campaign is to get people to be more creative and recycle jam jars, you can find out more on their website which is here.  The folks behind Jam J-Art recently sent me 2 jars to play with and I decided to focus on a valentines theme and make some cute tea light holders. 

Here is how to make your own...

What you’ll need...

Jam Jar

Small hearts cut out of tissue paper

Mod podge

Paint brush

How to do it:

Make sure the jam jars are super clean and ready to go. Cut small heart shapes out of tissue paper. I used a variety of colours as I wanted mine to be bright and fun but I think if you went for just one colour that would look fab too!

Next paint the mod podge onto the jar in the place you want to stick a heart. On one of my jars I just went for a central line of hearts around the middle of it and the second one I added more hearts in a more random pattern. Paint over the heart with the mod podge once you have placed it to seal it into position.

Let it dry for around 12 hours and then place your tea light into the jar and light it!

I am so in love with my cute jars! I think they look really fun and they are so simple to make. What do you think of them? 

The Single Girls Guide to Valentines Day

Being single on Valentine’s Day can sometimes suck! You get all the loved up couples rubbing it in your face and you often end up feeling more single than ever. Well I’m here to tell you that we single girls can have a bit of fun ourselves on cupid’s big day, so here are 5 suggestions for the single girl on Valentine’s Day....

• Forget the stress of getting ready for a big date, let’s face it, it is stressful finding the perfect outfit and getting your hair just right. Instead make V Day all about YOU! Crack open a bottle of wine, run a hot bubble bath then throw on a onesie and indulge in some chocolates.  PERFECT!
• Grab all your single pals and head to the most romantic restaurant in town. Who says you need to be in a relationship to enjoy and yummy candle lit meal?
• Throw a slumber party for all the single ladies! Watch funny films make cocktails, laugh a ridiculous amount!
• Send yourself some flowers, make then anonymous and spend the whole day who querying who sent them to you! Who doesn’t love a mystery and it will make all your boring coupled up friends a little jel.
• My personal favourite, star fish in bed! Enjoy having the whole bed to yourself, no sharing!

Valentines Cards for the Non Soppy!

Kanye Loves Himself Funny Valentine Card Funny by diamonddonatello / Funny Valentine's Card. You'll Do Card. Simple Tongue In Cheek...,  / Funny Valentine Card Anniversary Shaved Legs by KatFrenchDesign / Funny Valentine card cute love card funny by AllyElleCards on Etsy / Valentine's Card Funny Horny Dinosaurs. Red by NewtonAndTheApple / Funny Valentines Card Instant Printable by CypressGraphicDesign / I Love You and Cake Valentines Card by RockBakehouse on Etsy / moist valentine card funny rude honest UK by Shazronnie on Etsy / I Want To Punch You In The Face With My Lips by Chubbawuck on Etsy

Now I am not a hearts and flowers kinda girl, I love it happening to other people but when it happens to me... I cringe! Bad right! I love a guy with a sense of humour and this relays into valentines cards. Yes I am ridiculously single but a girl can hope a card may arrive for her! I have seen some cards that aren’t all kittens and roses and that have made me proper laugh out loud so I thought I would share them with you!

Are you sending any valentines cards this year??

January's Health and Fitness Roundup

Source

This is a completely new kind of post from me, a monthly health and fitness update! I don’t usually share this part of my life on here but I’m hoping that by recording it regularly it will keep me motivated and on the straight and narrow!

I have been over weight for a long time, I have an under active thyroid which doesn’t help matters but at the end of the day I have eaten way too much of the wrong things and don’t move nearly half as much as I should! I have finally reached a point over Christmas where I can’t bear to feel bloated and uncomfortable with myself. It definitely affects my confidence and self esteem and I don’t want to live like that anymore. So this isn’t a new years resolution, I think there a load of pants, this is all about a permanent life change. I want to feel fitter and healthier, I want to feel confident in my own skin. So each month I am going to share with you all how I am getting on, so here goes...

Food...

To sort out my diet I have signed up to weight watchers, I have followed their programme before and have really enjoyed it and always seen results. By going each week to get weighed and recording everything I eat on their phone app, it really helped to keep me on track. I don’t find weight watchers limiting, or feel that I am ‘dieting’, I can eat anything I just need to track and stay within my allocated points! I’m not going to lie though I have derailed a few times this month as it was my birthday near the beginning of the month and I’ve had numerous celebrations involving food and drink. I’ve also been a bit poorly for the last week or so have been a bit lazy with food prep but I’m determined to get back on the wagon!

Exercise...

Boot camp x10 sessions

Rowing x2 sessions (3 hours)

Yoga x 1 session

Step aerobics x 1 session

I’ve gone from very limited exercise to doing something every other day at the least over January. I signed up for boot camp, which is basically a circuit’s class 3 times a week. I decided to sign up for the morning sessions which start at 6am (yes it is ridiculously early!) but I have found it a great way to start the day and have to admit I really enjoy it! It’s different every session and is a great mix of cardio and weights. I definitely have seen my fitness improve and I have signed up to keep going in February!

I also go rowing (out at sea) once a week for 90 minutes which I have been doing since I was about 14. I love being out at sea and it’s a great exercise for your whole body. It’s been cancelled a couple of times this month due to the weather so I’ve not been out as much as I like.

I’ve also tried to throw in a couple of other classes but have found it pretty exhausting so this is something I might try again towards the end of February and I don’t want to overdo it.

Progress...

Chest:   -1”

Hips:  -2”

Thighs:   left -2” Right -1”

Bottom: -2”

Arms:  Left -1” Right -1”

Waist: -2.5”

Weight loss this month: 7lb

Total Weight loss: 7lb

I am pretty chuffed with this month’s progress! On average I’ve lost 2 inches all over and I’m 7lbs down! Over all I need to lose 4 stone, I am hoping I can achieve this by the end of the year. I am off to Australia in November and would love to be able to wear a bikini!