10 Memes that are far too relatable

Evening all,

So you may or may not know this, but I love myself a meme and recently I've been seeing memes on social media like Instagram and thinking, oh my god, I'm not alone, there are people just like me who love food too much and are rubbish at diets, spend all my money on crap they don't need and are having a mid life crisis in their 20's, so I thought I would share my top 10 with you guys.

Like seriously can I not just have some nice undies from Victoria's Secrets and not have to take out a loan to afford them?

Don't let anybody mess with you, tell yourself you're a bad ass bitch, pick yourself up and move on.

Definitely imagined my 20's to consist of me going to the gym everyday and being healthy, safe to say I'm failing miserably. 

The sad reality of working Monday to Friday, two days off a week just isn't enough.

The fact that I'm managing to write a whole blog post about how relatable memes are to my life says a whole lot about this.

If you can't get home from work after a long day, put on some trackies, take off your make up and rap to lose yourself, when can you?!

This is probably the most self explanatory meme, "new year, new me", half way through the year and you're still a chubster.

Seriously Netflix, I've been watching this all day, stop with your summaries.

Somebody, just take this food away before I end up imploding.

Story of my life, "I definitely need this new top that I already have in four different colours".

I hope these memes have brightened your Monday evening and you've realised you're not alone finding some of these far too relatable.

All my love,

Bex

Lush Bath Bomb Review - Lord of Misrule

Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce to you, my new favourite bath bomb..

Yeah I went there, I cannot say much to you about the Lord of Misrule bath bomb apart from, buy as many as you physically can so you can stock up your stash for the year (at least that's what I'm planning on doing).

Lord of Misrule is part of the Lush Winter/Halloween range which means it's not around all year, much to my intense dismay. One of my pals had quite recently tried LOM before me and said I was in for a treat and boy, he was not wrong. The intoxicating herbal scent of patchouli and black pepper oil releases your inner witch and the fragrance lingers on your skin for quite some time after your soak.

The exterior of LOM's appearance is a gentle green colour with pink specks, it seems pretty ordinary from first impressions, but once you submerge the bath bomb, the bath water turns a vibrant green and the scent fills the room instantaneously. Again for a while you feel like this is the climax of the bath bomb's display which is pretty spectacular in it's own right and gives a pretty spooky feel on scent and sight alone, but then a further development begins to happen.

The pink foam erupts from the core of the bath bomb adding to this amazing effect, it really is incredible to watch this bath bomb develop, mean while revelling in it's pungent fragrance.

The foam from LOM eventually disperses leaving you bathing in blood red water, the water is so soothing for your winter skin and the scent lingers for so long after it's dispersal. While the whole visual display of LOM is commencing in the core of the bath bomb itself is popping candy to add that festive effect. As much as I hate to say it, I can see why LOM is only a winter bath bomb, but it's just so perfect I need it in my life all year round.

Anyway, make sure you stock up now before Lord of Misrule is gone for another year!

All my love,

Bex

I'm feeling 24

Good Morning on this dreary Wednesday,

Much to my dismay it's my birthday, I am usually a big fan of festivity whether it is birthday's or christmas, but yesterday as I made my way home from seeing Elf The Musical (I'll talk about that in a sec), I watched the remaining minutes of being 23 tick by and realised I actually am becoming an adult. That realisation when you are an adult baby who had spent the previous day at Shrek's Adventure tour (again will cover it in a sec), it's pretty tough to come to terms with the fact you are a bonafide adult now. The other day two people at work were trying to guess my age (and I put this down to the fact I must look terrible for my age) but they placed me at late twenties to early thirties, quick to justify themselves they said, they would only place me at that age due to the fact at the tender age of 23, I've experienced so many things. To which this got me thinking, I seem to have packed quite a lot in the last few years and I'm not about to slow down yet.

As you may have read in my previous post, Dan and I have applied for a mortgage and we're now just waiting for the house to become available (mega adult step). But we also made a pact that although we are making such a huge commitment, we promise not to stop living our lives to the max, obviously bills take priority, but we both said we want to see more of the world. So we plan to make a bucket list of places we wish to visit so we can tick them off as we go along.

Anyway enough of this jibber jabber about being old and decrepit, yesterday Dan and myself were trying to figure out what to do with our day off, we have most of the week off together so we wanted to do something memorable. We were planning on going to Brighton Aquarium today but due to the weather looking pretty naff, we've decided to give it a miss. Anyway so we was going to do London Aquarium instead yesterday but wanted to do something in the evening, Dan was looking on a theatre show website to see what different shows are available to buy tickets to. Baring in mind Dan is not particularly a fan of theatre and has ventured as far as The Lion King and Joseph and His Technicolour   Dream Coat, he suggested seeing Elf The Musical. I have wanted to see Elf The Musical ever since it was first announced for release but due to it's limited run of shows (October to January) the tickets are quite pricey, but being my birthday and being so spoilt Dan decided to buy us tickets anyway at £95 a ticket.

In the mean time we got to London Aquarium yesterday and just as we was approaching the building next door he spotted a sign that said "Shrek's Adventure", Dan being Dan was adamant he wanted to do this adventure tour rather than the London Aquarium which we had been to only the year previous. I have to admit, it is well worth the money, it is very much a child orientated tour but if you're an adult baby like Dan and Myself, you'll have a blast. The premise of the tour is you enter the building, get a few photos done before hand and then find yourself in front of Princess Fiona in her non Ogre form. Princess Fiona tells you about how you will go on a magical bus tour to visit Far, Far Away but Donkey then announces unfortunately the tour bus (which runs on magic) has run out and Princess Fiona asks the group to sing along to the 'Shrekcellent' hit "I'm a Believer". It's all pretty cringe worthy, but if you're up for a laugh and a memorable day out where you are required to join in then this is the ticket for you.

After the Shrek's Adventure Tour we headed on to one of our favourite hang out spots in Convent Garden - Big Easy. Big Easy is a Texan style shrimp and bbq restaurant that has just a really cool and relaxed vibe, plus their slushie cocktails are to die for. They also offer a theatre show menu where you can get a starter, a main and a free slushy cocktail for just £10, bloody bargain!

Now back to the main story of this blog post 'Elf The Musical', where to begin it was just incredible, if you're a fan of Elf - The christmas film, don't get your knickers in a twist, being a stage adaption, it's not exact scene by scene, a few things are different but it definitely does not deduct from the overall impact of the show. Ben Forster plays Buddy The Elf, Ben originally shot to fame after winning the 'Superstar' talent search to find 'Jesus' for the Jesus Christ Superstar Musical. His voice is just absolutely phenomenal and his portrayal of Buddy The Elf was just inspiring, I could not fault it. Kimberley Walsh was also a good addition to the cast and did Zooey Deschanel a justice for her portrayal of Jovie. Overall the soundtrack was awe inspiring, the set was stunning and the dancing was mesmerising. I can feel a christmas tradition coming on to see Elf The Musical every year as it immerses you in true christmas spirit.

All my love,

Bex

November

So I think it's more than about time for me to be held accountable for my actions, recently I've been in a bit of a rubbish place due to one thing or another but I've come to the conclusion, this is not me, wallowing in my sorrows and eating myself into oblivion isn't going to help any situation at all.

I'll give you a bit of a back story as to why I've been a bit down in the dumps. On September 25th I was on my way to work when I was involved in a car crash which involved two other cars and a lorry. It sounds a lot worse than what it was, but it wasn't great either, I had to be lifted out of my car by paramedics and taken to hospital in an ambulance for further tests and x-rays to find out the extent of the damage to me. Luckily nobody was seriously injured, I ended up with whip lash and muscle damage to my neck, shoulders and back. I'm currently having to take pain killers every day, having physiotherapy and acupuncture to help with my recovery.

Unfortunately my poor little car didn't make it through, he was only a year old, but he did save my life, he has been classed as 'beyond economical repair', so now I'm going to have to look into getting another car, but currently have a hire car to get me from A to B in the mean time.

ANYWAY so that's the predominate reason I've been down in the dumps, last year I suffered with quite chronic Anxiety and Depression and I felt like I was slipping into old ways. Due to my injuries I'm not allowed to physically exert myself until I've recovered, because of this I obviously can't do any exercise. Due to not being allowed to do any exercise, I've clearly seen this as an excuse to eat nothing but rubbish and I'm definitely starting to feel the effects of using food to cheer myself up. Top Tip, don't use food as comfort, if you're feeling low, talk to a friend or family or exercise. Exercise releases happy endorphins which get your engines revving and gets you "feeling yourself".

So enough of this destructive behaviour, I've had a word with myself and I'm taking full accountability of my actions, my excessive financial spending, eating rubbish and just essentially letting myself rot. This will not be happening anymore, there is no benefit from slowly but surely destroying yourself. I've decided to get myself back on track by setting some November goals which are as follows:

• Take control of my diet - Stop turning to fast food, coffee and ice cream every time I need cheering up and also stop using the 'hibernation' time of year as an excuse than it is socially acceptable to fatten up (it's not).
• Get down to 12 Stone - I for now will have to do this diet alone until I'm back up and running but me and my 12st 10.7lb arse will get ourselves sorted. 
• Drink more water - My fluid in take consists of primarily wine and coffee (I know, not great is it), so I will aim to drink at least 2 litres of water a day and drink more herbal tea and keep coffee strictly as treats.
• Sort my finances - I'm not in any debt or anything it's more a case of stop spending my money on rubbish and start saving as much as possible.
• Be more productive - I have been slacking on this blogging malarky, I have content inspo, but I've been too wrapped up in wallowing in my own misery to actually do anything productive.
• Enjoy life - It's silly really, when something as dramatic as a nasty car crash happens, it's meant to put your life into perspective, I've been so wrapped up in the stress and misery of it all. I've forgotten to appreciate, I am still alive, I still get to breathe and you wouldn't believe how often people take life for granted. I aim to live every second I have and make every second count for something.

It's not all bad, just after the car crash me and Dan had been to a local rural theme housing estate that we absolutely fell in love with, went to see the show home and was sold straight away. Then the tough stuff came, was there a house available for us? Could we afford it? Would we get a mortgage? Well I can answer all of those questions for you, there are 4 houses on the housing estate which have been built but cannot be released for purchasing until the other houses around them have been built and deemed as safe. So me and Dan have been watching the housing estate's website like a hawk waiting for them to be released. But in that time, we have been approved for the house affordability check AND got a mortgage offer secured, so the moment the house is released, we can buy it. So it's pretty exciting to think this time next year me and Dan could be home owners and living in our first home together, plus I get to pimp the house out however I like.

As a summary, I have come to terms with how I have been and how destructive to myself I've been, I'm coming to terms with loving myself and thought I would treat myself to a new hairstyle too (which I will post underneath). I turn 24 in a few days, I want to be able to look back in a year and say I took control of a situation I thought I couldn't and look at how far I have come. I will make sure I get back to posting at least once a week and give you regular updates about my journey to self love.

Just remember you're a bad ass and you can take whatever life throws at you, you are better than this and you can fight your demons.

All my love,

Bex

Autumn and Winter Wish List

Due to my Birthday and Christmas shortly arriving, I have had a few requests as to what I would like for gifts from friends and family. Not that I'm a material girl or anything (I am), but there are a few little gems I would love to have in my life, so let's commence the Wishlist.

1. A James Bay Ticket

I feel like my life would be significantly better if this little babe was in it, I've been desperate to see him for ages and I've been obsessed with his Chaos and The Calm album. So please for the love of god, somebody take pity on me and hook a girl up.

2. The Great Frog London Rings

These may be perceived as bit 'grunge' but they are right up my street, each ring is individually carved with tender loving care and made from sterling silver in sunny old London town at The Great Frog London premises.

3. Daniel Wellington Watch

I've wanted one of these bad boys for aaaaages, they just look so nice, really effortlessly chic. But what's been stopping me from getting the watch is the £120 price tag that comes with it, considering it is just an accessory rather than a needs must sort of thing. But if anyone fancies treating me then head on over.

4. ANYTHING from Lush

I mean you really can't go wrong with me and Lush, it's pretty sure fire no matter what you get, although I am specifically after the Halloween and Christmas ranges, but also would quite like the Gorgeous moisturiser,  I need more Ocean Salt and Mask Of Magnaminty. Not that I'm demanding or anything..

5. MAC

It's mainly just some lipsticks I'm after from MAC, still Stone, Ruby Woo and Whirl. I'd also quite like to try the Fix + Spray from MAC which is meant to be amazing for keeping your make up set all day.

That's pretty much it I'm afraid, as I'm currently saving to buy my first house I'm trying to be less materialisic and save all my dollar to pimp my new house out with. 

Anyway I hope you may have retrieved some prezzie inspo from this post!

All my love,

Bex

Reading Festival Diary

Hi Guys,

I know it's a bit late, but better late than never eh? This year I attended Reading Festival for my sixth year in a row. I had a bloody blast with some amazing people so I thought I would talk you guys through my highs and lows of Reading Festival.

We arrived at Reading Festival at around 4pm on Wednesday 26th August, the queue entering the campsite was pretty rammed due to lack of staff upon entry. But thanks to my faithful trolley I bought from Amazon the trek to the campsite wasn't too traumatic. Once we had everything set up we could finally commence enjoying ourselves.

Reading Festival Favourite Moments -

It has to be Baby Metal, they opened the main stage on the Saturday morning, me, Dan, Meghan and Heather all went to check them out just for a laugh due to them being such an odd concept, but they were actually such a fun band to watch and the music was pretty good too! Also skipping around a mosh pit with Meghan at Cancer Bats to their sabotage anthem, unfortunately in the commotion I was knocked over and had a pile of people on top of me. But with most mosh pits, the occupants are pretty quick to pick everyone up, dust them off and carry on moshing, (don't worry I didn't have any injuries).

Reading Festival Least Favourite Moments - 

I really hate to say this, but it has to be Royal Blood's performance, which is frustrating to say the least. Me and Dan had seen Royal Blood at last year's Reading Festival in the NME tent and I got really into Royal Blood after then as I was so blown away by their performance. This year on the other hand, Royal Blood performed on the main stage and in my opinion, they didn't have enough material to fill the assigned time slot, they had a lot of guitar distortion to fill silences. Unfortunately the lead singer seemed like he had taken MDMA as he had the classic "gurning" motion of constantly chewing which disturbed the vocals.  I was just completely disappointed with them to the point towards the end of their set, I couldn't be bothered to waste my time with their performance anymore so we left early. My second least favourite moment was seeing a "band" called Years and Years (uuuuugh), our friend Heather (was) a fan of Years and Years so she wanted to check them out so we said we would go with her, oh how we would go on to rue that decision. Years and Years is every stereotypical manufactured pop act you could you think of rolled into generic lyrics and lazy dance beats. These factors alone make Years and Years pretty dire.

Reading Festival Surprise Best Acts -

My inner teen has always been really into Panic! at the Disco so I thought for old times sake I would go check out their set. Bloody hell! Blown away with how good they were, they did a rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody which was fantastic and had the whole crowd singing along. Not only that but Brendon Urie's vocal range was absolutely mind blowing, the notes he hit had us all standing in awe. Such an underrated band and I would thoroughly recommend checking them out if you get the chance. Not to forget Mister Jamie T of course, now I've always been aware of Jamie T and his music. I know the classics such as Zombie, Sticks and Stones and Sheila but never massively followed him. Jamie T played the Sunday evening so we thought we would check him out and he was so fun to watch, after a drink or two everyone was dancing around to his hits and singing along. 

Reading Festival Regrets - 

I have to say my main major regret is not seeing Bring Me The Horizon, I've just got their latest album "That's the Spirit", it's a cracking album and I've heard BMTH are a really fantastic live act. I actually have no idea why I didn't see them but definitely wish I did, maybe next time.

All in all, like the past six years, Reading Festival was an absolute blast full of laughs and memories, but by the time I woke up Sunday morning I just looked at Dan and said "I'm too old for this", as much as I love Reading, it's full of 'kids' celebrating their GCSE results and once upon a time I was one of those 'kids' but I think it might be time to move on to pastures new. (I do also say I'm not going to go to Reading Festival every year due to this exact reason but still end up going, but it's completely dependent upon the line up, who knows).

All my love,

Bex

Lush Yuzu and Cocoa Bubbleroon Review

Hi Guys,

Back on the old Lush product review wagon and I've got a good one for you lovelies.

Introducing the Yuzu and Cocoa Bubbleroon:

Now I'm just going to go right ahead here and say this is the best bubblebar (roon) that Lush have brought out in it's recent additions.

It's just an absolute delight and I honestly can't find a fault with it, as you may have guessed from the name the bubbleroon has an amazing moisturising effect thanks to it's coconut and shea butter ingredients.

The bubbleroon produces just the right amount of bubbles and has a refreshing citrus scent which is perfect for that Monday morning pick me up.

I was quite anxious because of the bubbleroon being yellow in colour it may turn the water a horrible colour and stain the bath like previous products. But as I said previously I really can't find a fault with this bubbleroon.

What I would recommend for an ultimate bath time cocktail is the Lush Yoga bath bomb in combination with the Yuzu and Cocoa bubbleroon for the holy grail of bath and aromatherapy experiences. 

All my love,

Bex

St Tropez In Shower Gradual Tan Lotion Review

Evening all,

So a little while ago I was sent a bottle of the new St Tropez - In shower gradual tan lotion, and being a faired skin princess I was in two minds. A) anxious to try it in case I turned into the female equivalent of David Dickinson and b) wanting to be a glowing goddess so everyone can ogle at my beautiful tan. Whether this gradual tan lotion would deliver either of a or b's effects is a different kettle of fish. The main thing that instantaneously put me off of trying the gradual tan lotion is because there isn't a fair/medium/dark option, it's a once size fits all kind of thing. But I thought I would go in for the kill regardless (I was only brave enough to use it on my legs for the first time), but let me fill you in with what my thoughts were on St Tropez's latest product.

So before hand I had one of my typical Lush bath's and used an exfoliating brush to scrub the hell out of my skin and shaved as normal to get a nice even base and get rid of any lumps or bumps. One of the main dreaded things of tanning lotion is a) having to let the tan develop overnight and b) the dreaded tanning lotion stench. I'm pleased to report that the In shower gradual tanning lotion has neither of these problems, you do have to let the tan develop for three minutes while standing out of the bath/shower which is a bit of an inconvenience but it beats staining all of your clothes and bed sheets. The smell to the lotion is lovely as well, one of the most prominent ingredients is the almond oil which gives the lotion a beautifully sweet smell and is really hydrating for your skin.

When applying the lotion, less is definitely more as it gets quite thick pretty quickly so you're better off putting a bit on at a time then gradually adding more. Instantaneously I could feel the lotion becoming really nourishing and hydrating for my skin and could see the colour developing quite quickly.

After the three minutes of development time have passed you then need to get back into the bath/shower and rinse the residue off of your skin, make sure you're thorough and there isn't any left on your skin.

As you can see the tan itself is very subtle but a nice sun kissed glow rather than a "you've been tangoed" appearance. The lotion can be used over a period of days if you would like a darker colour which can gradually be built up. I only used the lotion once and was quite happy with the colour. It's been a week since the lotion application and the colour has only just started to fade. What I would like to really emphasise is to make sure you thoroughly rinse off any remaining residue. As I then went to sleep after the gradual tanning process and woke up with a tan patch on my stomach, elbow and arm (obviously where I rubbed my legs in my sleep). So that's the only real flaw with this product, apart from that I really would say I'm quite impressed with St Tropez's latest addition and would thoroughly recommend it.

All my love,

Bex

Lush Bath Bomb Review - Skydancer - Far From The Madding Guns

Hey Guys,

So I've decided to do a review on another one of the latest Lush bath bomb additions. I wanted to specifically check out Sky Dancer as it's a charity bath bomb where the proceeds of each bath bomb sale goes towards helping fund equipment to satellite tag any future endangered Hen Harrier chicks and help protect them.

Now unfortunately Skydancer has had a vast mixed review from the Lush community, I am also one of those people who have mixed feelings about it, let me explain.

The Skydancer bath bomb itself is visually quiet interesting when you first see it, as you can see in comparison to my hand, the bomb is really large which is beneficial as it is a long lasting fizzer so you get a lot of bang for your buck.

When the bath bomb is first put in the water, the contrast between the yellow and blue is really lovely and the blue bird silhouette lasts for quite some time.

However, if I really am going to be honest, for me this is probably the worst of the latest Lush bath bombs I've used as of yet. The scent it produces is really quite overwhelming, it's allegedly a mix of soft floral notes with over tones of liquorice. But the liquorice is such a powerful musky smell it just completely over powers any other fragrance, I also didn't enjoy the fact the yellow in the bomb is so potent it stained my bath and took ages to get the yellow stains off. I was just sat in the bath looking like I'd had an accident as the bath water was luminous yellow with no real appeal.

All in all, much to my dismay I really would describe Skydancer as a "nothing" bath bomb, except for the fact the proceeds from the bomb goes to a really good cause.  Skydancer was poorly executed, there was no real charming visual display like previously reviewed products, the scent was overwhelming to the point you couldn't enjoy your bath and was a complete nightmare to clean up afterwards. 

Unfortunately this was a huge disappointment, but as I said previously, the proceeds still go towards a really good cause. It may of just been I had a bad experience with it, but regardless check it out for the sake of the Harrier Hen chicks.

All my love,

Bex

Lush bath bomb review - The Experimenter

Evening all, 

Sorry I've been a smidge quiet, as you may be aware, I've been away at Reading Festival, but don't fret! A) I will be doing a post to fill you all in about Reading and b) I will be back posting regularly.

So to kick things off I thought I would brighten your evening with a very colourful bath bomb review, meet The Experimenter. One of the most recent additions to the Lush collection and a fan favourite in the Lush kitchen. 

I can definitely understand why The Experimenter is so popular with Lushie's as soon as you dunk this little baby in the bath, a phenomenal rainbow display commences with a fragrant assault on the senses. The rainbow forming before your eyes is mesmerising enough to warrant buying The Experimenter on it's own merit, but the fragrance that fills the room is just as fantastic.

The Experimenter has a very strong fragrance made from fair trade vanilla and tonka that will satisfy any lover of all things sweet. It's made up of five colours and popping candy to coincide with the sugary sweet scent. 

It seems that a lot of Lush's recent additions have quite a copious amount of glitter involved in the mixture. With Frozen this put me off slightly as it can get so messy, however I feel this adds to the visual display of The Experimenter and the balance of glitter is just right, so you don't look like you have glitter dandruff.

As a whole I would definitely recommend to try The Experimenter at least once. I would say the only major downside to it, is due to the five vibrant colours the bath bomb is compromised of, once the colours have all mixed together the bath water turns into quite a dark dirty colour. But due to the addition of the glitter I feel this is kind of similar to Twilight in the sense it looks a bit like a starry night sky. 

I hope this review helped you make a decision as to whether to purchase The Experimenter or not, happy bathing!

All my love,

Bex

Mac The Matte Lip Collection

Every girl's dream has finally come true ever since MAC have released their recent matte lip collection. Which involves some of the MAC lovers favourite colours but in a matte format for extra staying power, here are some of the recent additions I'm after using.

MAC Antique Velvet Matte Lipstick

This is probably one of the new additions I am most excited to use, I've always preferred a matte finish over a satin finish and I don't think Antique Velvet could be more of a perfect shade to have in a matte finish. I've seen quite a few mua's combining this with the Nightmoth lip pencil to have the smouldering ombre look.

MAC Stone Matte Lipstick

               

The stone lipliner is one of MAC's best selling colours so it only makes sense to turn it into a matte lipstick. Really looking forward to trying this grey nude colour, I can see it becoming one of my staple lipsticks.

MAC Whirl Matte Lipstick

Whirl also began as one of MAC's best selling lip liners thanks to Kylie Jenner's infamous pout. So who can blame MAC for cashing in and turning it into a beautiful pinky nude lipstick.

MAC Ruby Woo Matte Lipstick

             

Hallelujah, praise the lord! I've been after Ruby Woo for a while, as in my opinion it is the most perfect of the MAC red shades. But what has put me off is the fact it's a satin finish, which it's not because I don't like a satin finish (I do), I just feel like a matte finish is more effective and has better staying power. So when MAC announced they were bringing Ruby Woo out as part of their 2015 Matte Collection, all of my lipstick related problems were solved, I will be purchasing this as soon as pay day rolls around.

I hope you guys are as excited as me for the new MAC Matte 2015 Collection and let me know what ones you're most excited to use too!

All my love,

Bex