Lipsticks and Lashes 3rd Birthday!!

It feels so weird to think that 3 years ago today I was sitting here writing my first every blog post! It still makes me giggle looking it now, it was a post about Topshop Makeup and it isn’t my best work! I am hoping after 3 years my blogging skills have improved a lot since those first few posts! I started out very much wanting to blog about beauty but as times moved on and i have changed as a person, I wouldn’t have a clue what type of genre you would pop my little space under now! I tend to blog about what ever takes my fancy at the time from health and fitness, books, travel, DIY, Positivity, Lifestyle… don’t get me wrong I still have an unhealthy addiction to make up so beauty posts are always going to pop up! 

Not only has my blogging style and what I blog about changed over the past few years but I think i have definitely changed as a person and I think I owe a lot of that to blogging. I think i'm a hell of a lot more confident, I get to embrace being creative and I smile a lot more! Its funny how when you find something you love and enjoy it can have such a knock on effect on the rest of your life. 

While i’m being all nostalgic and gooey about blogging I just wanted to say a big thank you to all the wonderful friends i have made through blogging. I may not have met you in real life but I appreciate you none the less. And a big thank you too, to all lovely folk who spare the time to stop by and read my waffle. I can’t explain how much it means!

Anyways I have my first ever Tough Mudder today! Its 12 miles of gruelling obstacles and I currently have a weird mix of nerves and excitement going on! I just hope I make it to the end! Wish me luck!

How has blogging changed your life? Are there any particular posts you would like to see more of on Lipsticks and Lashes?

OOTD: A Beautiful Wedding

A couple of weekends ago one of my beautiful friends got married and I got to attend her amazing wedding. It was held in the grounds of this gorgeous hotel and after a rather wet and miserable week, the sun came out full blast and we could have asked for a nicer day! 

I attended 8 weddings last year, but I always find the ones where it’s a close friend getting hitched means so much more and I definitely felt like that at the wedding. The bride looked stunning in a white lace dress and when the best man was asked to bring forward the rings, he stood in the middle of the aisle and an owl flew from the back of the room to land on his arm with the rings attached! It was absolutely incredible!! 

Anyways I seriously can’t remember the last time I did an outfit and though this would be the perfect opportunity to do one and share with you all what I wore on the day!

 Apologies for the poor quality photo, im in serious need of a new camera!

I AM SO IN LOVE WITH THIS DRESS! It’s from ASOS and is a gorgeous mint green with beaded flowers on the top of the front of the dress. It’s so pretty! I loved the shape as i’m super conscious of my tummy, so it fitted nicely on my boobs and then went floaty underneath, reducing my self consciousness! The shoes I bought last year for another wedding, and they come from George at ASDA, I think they were around £8, which was a bargain as they are super comfy for heels! I kept my hair and makeup very simple and natural.

What do you think of this look?

#BlogLove

Have you spotted the Blog Love Twitter account yet? It's my new baby, it's an account I've started to share some Blog Love, so basically what it says on the tin! I've seen some negative things on Twitter lately between bloggers and it doesn't really make me comfortable! 

The Blogging community should be and usually is an amazingly supportive place and I want to focus on that! I have received so much love from other bloggers that I want to give back. Hence this new Twitter account, share your latest posts and I'll retweet them but also spread some blog love! Share what bloggers you love, whose blogs inspired you lately, and any blog posts you've read  that you've loved! Just tag us into your tweets! 

I'm also debating whether to start a Blog Love Twitter chat under the hashtag #BlogLove that focuses on the positive side of blogging, supporting each other and most importantly sharing some love. What do you all think?

THE AUTUMN BLOGGERS SNAIL MAIL - SIGN UPS NOW OPEN!

The Bloggers Snail Mail is back for the Autumn! Wahooo! Spread the word, tell all your friends, lets make this a round to remember!

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 28^th August. 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 31^st August who your partner is and you then have 4 weeks to get to know them! So the week of the 28^th September, 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!!

20 things that make me happy!!!

1. Sunshine - everyones so much more happier and energetic when the sun is shining!

2. Pretty flowers - the more colourful the better!

3. My girl friends - if im ever need a good laugh or cheering up i know all my girl friends are there to make me smile.

4. Family - i love them all so dearly

5. Exercise - hitting my exercise goals and getting those endorphines moving, always makes me happy!

6. Pug gifs - never fail to make me laugh! I want a pug so badly!

7. Disney films 

8. Books - getting lost in a story...

9. Bags - i have a crazy amount of bags!

10. Cuddle / hugs - I never used to be a tactile person but over the past few years this has massively changed and I love a good hug or cuddle now! There's something about it that just makes me feel all warm and gooey. It's also scientifically proven that a good hug raises your endorphines, those happy chemicals so therefore hugs are super good for you! 

11. My 3 dogs - all of whom are completely bonkers

12. Peanut M&Ms

13.Cider - usually drunk along the harbour in the sunshine - perfections

14. A good old G&T.

15. Snail Mail - i love getting hand written letters in the post! Theres just something so lovely about it, hence why i run the snail mail project.

16. The Sea

17. Thor - Hello Chris Hemsworth!

18. Travelling - im so lucky to have seen some amazing places and cant wait to see more of this wonderful world

19. Tea - you cant beat a goof old cuppa!

20. Wedding proposals - i love wasting time checking out wedding proposals on YouTube. They properly make me blub happy tears!

Im raising money for the MS society with my first ever 10k run!

So today I am being super cheeky and am going to ask you wonderful lot if you would like to sponsor me for my first ever 10k run! 

If you read this blog regularly you'll know that I have been on a bit of a fitness journey and have only started running a few months ago. When I say I've started running, I mean I couldn't run a yard without having to stop and catch my breath! So this has been a massive challenge for me, one I set myself as part of my 30 before 30 bucket list! It's been hard going and has taken a lot of work! 

My run is on the 13th September and I've decided to raise money for the MS society. It's a cause that really means a lot for me as my mum has MS. It's a degenerative illness and it's been awful watching it slowly take my mum. It breaks my heart and I would love to help support the MS society continue their amazing work to research MS with the hope to find some sort of cure in the future as well as to continue to offer incredible support to sufferers.

I would love for you all to sponsor me, every penny really does matter and would mean the world to me! You just need to click on MY VIRGIN MONEY GIVING PAGE HERE!

My Summer of Music!

So as I mentioned last week in my grand return to blogging I have been MIA for the past 6 weeks! Where have you been? I hear you ask! Well I have been having a super summer of fun! I have been on adventures most weekend and having a blast! I have also seen a lot of bands recently and thought I would share it on here with you all! 

Let’s start with my favourites! I managed to blag tickets to the Foo Fighters, I have been a huge fan for years, and I couldn’t have asked for a more amazing show! And I’m also ridiculously lucky that my main man Dave hadn’t broken his leg yet! Yes I am very smug that I got to see them and so many of my friends missed out! They are hands down one of the best bands I have ever seen live, there is no fancy dramatics it is purely them rocking out and doing something they love, it is AMAZING! I also have a massive crush on Mr Grohl and his super shiny soft looking hair, swoon!

Next up I went to the Capital FM Summer Ball, my friend got us tickets and I have to say I enjoyed it so much. I thought there would be a lot of waiting around between acts but there was no such hanging around, the bands came on, played a few of there best songs and on came the next act. It was fantastic and I never thought I would say this out loud (or in public) but I think One Direction were great! They really knew how to work the crowd and you could see they were enjoying what they were doing. Another of my faves from the line up had to be Neyo, I have loved him for years and he didn’t disappoint.

Then a week later I was back up to London to see Take That at the O2. WOW just WOW! I’m a fan from way back in the day and I’m pleased to say the played all their hits. When I say they put on a show they really do, they had all sorts of performers and there was so much going on you didn’t know where to look. It really was incredible! 

Finally last weekend I went to my first ever festival, Blissfield’s a couple of weekends ago and it was awesome! It was a small, quirky festival and was pretty cool. My favourite acts had to be Beans on Toast, go check out on spotify now, just so spot on and then another top act of the weekend would have to of been Grand Master Flash. Absolutely blooming awesome! He was just such a decent guy and he really got the whole audience bouncing.

What a few weeks! I love a wide range of music as you can tell! Music really feeds my soul and is such a big piece of my life. What bands have you seen lately? Any recommendations?