Lets have a coffee and a catch up...

Well hello! It feels a little odd to be sat here blogging again after what feels like a massive break! I feel like I've been a bit of an adhoc blogger lately and I don't like it one bit! Life's just been so hectic, so I figured I would do a little catch up post and share with you all what I’ve been up to so we are all on the same page! Right, get the kettle on make yourself a cuppa, and get comfy!
 

I have a pot of coffee on the go here, I have just received this amazing coffee from Perk U Latte, who do a monthly coffee subscription. Forget a monthly beauty subscription; send me coffee monthly and I'm in heaven! I do love a good fresh coffee and I wasn’t disappointed with this. I was sent their Bali Kintamani Organic Natural coffee in a Turkish blend and just from the strong sweet aromas while it was brewing, I knew it was going to be good. It has a strong creamy, sweet caramel taste. It’s described as medium bodied but I would state it’s a full bodied coffee and has a little rustic flavour to it. I can find some coffees a little bitter but this wasn’t at all, it was definitely moreish! If you want to try the brew for yourself, the lovely folk over at Perk U Latte have offered my readers 10% off! Just use the code LIPSTICKLASHES.

So are you comfy? Well shall we start from the beginning of summer… well way back at the end of July I had an amazing two weeks in Turkey. It was so relaxing and we had an amazing time, it was just bliss. I properly had the holiday blues when I got home! It was awful! I felt so down in the dumps! I’m sure I have that SAD syndrome, where I need sunshine or I get a little grumpy!

However I soon perked up as the weekend following I headed to one of my gorgeous friend’s wedding. It was such a beautiful day, they even had an owl fly the rings down the aisle! It was a fab surprise for all the guests and the whole day was just perfect.

Following that, a few weekends later I completed my first ever Tough Mudder. To say I was bricking it would be a massive understatement. It was 12 miles of absolutely crazy obstacles, such as electric wires, skips filled with ice… serious madness! However saying that, it was an amazing day and I am definitely doing it again! It was seriously hard work but there is no way I would have been able to complete it a year ago. I think all my training this year paid off and I was with such an amazing team, I had so much fun.

I also completed another one of my bucket list challenges this summer and completed my first ever 10k! I did it with one of my besties and we completed it in 1 hour 20 minutes and I am so blinking chuffed that I did it! I genuinely couldn’t run 2 yards 6 months ago so it’s been a huge challenge for me and I am so pleased I did it! I am going to keep working hard and am determined to keep running and sign up for some more runs!

Continuing on the fitness theme, I’ve also massively changed my diet this summer and have been sticking to clean eating and man do I feel better for it. I have more energy and have such a clearer head from it. I have also started weight lifting, don’t worry I’m not going to go mad and become some sort of body builder. I’ve been doing it for about 6 weeks and I am already feeling stronger, more toned and fitter.

So there’s a rough summary of my summer, there’s tons more been happening but that’s kind of the highlight reel for now! Now I’m just plotting for Australia, I’m going there in less than 5 weeks for a whole month and I can’t wait!

So that’s me, how are you all? What have I missed?

20 Thoughts from my first Festival!

So way back at the beginning of July (why is this summer going way too fast?!) I attended my first ever festival and actually kind of loved it! I’ve always wanted to go to one but was worried I would find the whole not washing for a few days thing a bit stressful! We went to Blissfields Festival which is held near Winchester and is relatively small, which a few thousand festival goers but it was an incredible atmosphere. Today I thought I would share with you 20 random thoughts I had during my first ever festival experience! So here we go…

Photo from day 2, looking tired but dressed as a hippy and coated in glitter so all is well in the world!

'Err I think I bent another tent peg' 

'The sun is shining, this is bliss!' 

'This sushi roll is amazing' 

'I love this band'

'That women looks like she's dressed as a pineapple' 

'Omg it's lightening! Please don't rain!'

'Omg it's lightening and it's amazing to watch!'

‘Oooh I want to learn how to hula hoop with fire!’

'Thank god for having a torch! Someone has puked all over the toilet seat! Eeeeeew!!!' (No lights in the portaloo!) 

'Wahoo my shower is hot!'

'This gypsy circus is incredible!'

'Err that acrobat man is naked on the stage' 

'I heart glitter' 

'I wonder if I can wake Katie up and get her to drive me home' -4am on first night when the stag do next to our tent won't shut up and I'm seriously lacking sleep! 

'Oooh I managed to sneak a four pack in, whooop!' 

'Why does no body else's feet look as dirty as mine?' 

'Thank god for alcohol gel' 

'I need a fire pit in my garden' 

‘Crepes and melted Mars Bars, why have I never had this before’

‘I need do control my dance moves, my dress has completely split open!’

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!!