Mindfullness - Quotes, thoughts and calming techniques.......

Hey Lovelies, 

I'm going to be doing something a little bit different today. My blog is mainly centered around beauty, fashion, skin care and home decor which i love and i'm passionate about all these topics but when it comes down to the bottom of it all these things are well....superficial! 
Painting make-up on can't paint a smile on your face. 
Having heels will increase your height but can't make you walk any taller
Having a beautifully set out room doesn't mean everything in your life is laid out to plan. 

And i want all of you to know that everything i said above is OK, it's OK to not be happy all the time, it's OK to have insecure days, it's OK to not know where you're going in life. 

What's not OK is for people to be forced into depression, it's not OK for people to put you down and it's not OK for people to make you feel worthless. 

For many years i have suffered with anxiety and i have it under control now and i want to pass on some advice to all you guys out there to help you, even if it only brings a smile. Being in the blogging world we see day in and day out beautiful people posting pictures, perfect blogs and it's not unnatural to want these things, but we women seem to all have self esteem issues that mean we doubt ourselves or constantly compare ourselves to others. To make it worse when we compare we drive ourselves crazy looking at other girls/boys blogs wishing we had what they had, instead of taking a step back to look at the bigger picture which is "yes they are beautiful, yes their blog is perfect, yes their pictures are amazing" but remember SO ARE YOU! 

You'd be amazed the number of people reading your blogs thinking the same thing about you. It's good every now and again to think "ooo i really like that i'd like to recreate that" because this is growth but when we constantly obsess about how good we are or how bad we are we're on a road to nowhere. 

This quote is very true. Wonder why all the top CEO's are all cocky, arrogant people??? Because they believe in themselves. Being arrogant isn't a pleasant trait to have but having inner confidence speaks volume. You can walk into a room of strangers not say a word and know instantly who's the confident people of the group. It's also attractive when people are confident - you'll find you'll attract a lot more friends, work opportunities and potential partners by having some self confidence. If you believe you can't do something you never will, if you believe you'll give it your best shot and you'll hopefully succeed you're more likely to do it and do it well =)

Like above even the smallest things in life....if you believe you can you will =)

I saw this on a coaster last week and fell in love with it. I recently have had some big changes in my opinion of which direction I want my life to go and it may turn my whole world upside down but the fact of the matter is I have had these aspirations since I was a young girl and only recently did I realise only I can make them happen. But why shouldn't you make your dreams come true? Follow your heart and your gut instinct. If it all goes wrong at the end at least you can say you tried. My biggest fear is to get to 60/70 years old, look back on my life and think I never did anything with it, or I never chased my dreams. 

And last but not least! My favourite musical and my favourite quote ever. I want this tattooed on me. "Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise" Is just the most perfect words written in my opinion. To know that no matter how bad it gets, how many times you fail another day will come and you can try again, a fresh start to do whatever you wish to do. 

Things that help me:

- Keep a notebook (or somewhere to write things) when I either have really nice ideas or when I get anxious or panicky I write it down. It's like a release to write it down is to get it out of my head. 
- Stop and look at your surroundings - actually feel the wind on your face or the sun on your skin. Listen to the birds singing or the traffic going by, really take it all in. This is called being mindful. 
- if you're anxious look around you find something and tell yourself three facts about it. i.e. Tree: 1. it's really tall and brown, 2. The leaves are blowing gently in the wind, 3. The grass around the tree is long and soft. - It's impossible to truly think of things and remember what you were anxious about at the same time. It calms you down. 
- Exercise - not everybody's cup of tea but it relieves stress. 
- Try to get into a good sleeping habit, you'd be amazed what you can face after a good nights sleep. 

I hope this has given some of you some good ideas and a bit of hope. We live in such a negative world it doesn't hurt to spread some positivity.  Let me know if you would like to see more of these posts or of the techniques I have lots more that have helped me. 

Remember you're you and people like you for you!!

Love you all

Lizzie xxx

Look of the day - Meet and greets

Hello my lovelies, 

Hope you've all had a fabulous weekend, i can't believe how quickly time off work goes and it's back to it tomorrow. Today was a day of meeting with family and going to see people. I wanted to be presentable but not too dressed up. 

 For my make up I used:

- Benefit Porefessional Primer
- Estee Lauder - Double wear foundation shade "Desert Rose"
- MAC ProLongwear Concealer shade "NW20"
- Urban Decay Naked Basic Pallet 
- MAC - Gel Liner in black 
- HD Brow Pallet in shade "Foxy"
- 2 true bronzer (shade doesnt have a name or number)
- MAC blush in shade "Melba"
- Rimmel stay matte powder in shade "004"
- Maybelline Falsies mascara in black
- MAC lipstick in "hot gossip"

It was very simple and didn't take long. I used the eyeshadow pallet to underline my bottom lashes. Used the bronzer to give slight contour and a nude lip to finish it off. Perfect for when you want to look complete and presentable without it being too time consuming or look to heavy. 

As you can see up close a very subtle eye look(although you cant see the dark in my crease very well in his photo) and also how i shape my brows and fill them in. 

Next is hair - i'd just taken a shower so my hair was fresh. I let it dry 80% naturally and applied a small amount of the Revlon Orofluido oil to the mid and ends of my hair as you can see from my photos it doesn't look greasy or weighed down. 

I blow dried my hair with my GHD AIR hairdryer with no nozzle until it was completely dry. As im useless at drying my hair with a brush i have to create the "blow dried" look with my straighteners. Its very simple i straighten my hair then ad a slight twist at the end. You can see how it came out. I love it, it's nice to wear yours hair straight but the twist just adds a bit of volume and movement so it's not completely flat. With a little hairspray it stays like this. A little touch of elegance. 

Next my outfit - It's still really cold here in the UK (but no snow thank god) so a warm but comfy attire was needed. I chose simple jeans from River Island, they're skinny but they're higher waist-ed not the low rise ones so you don't have the worry of hoicking them up every time you sit/bend down and there's no worry of them slipping down to show your underwear when you walk. 
I have a plain long tank top on under neath from Primark. And to say it was only like £3.00 it washes really well and i put them under everything (i buy a selection of colours)I then put this crop jumper over the top from Bank, it's not the thickest but i was warm enough. I like the buckles and the edginess it gives the outfit.
To finish off i wore my khaki wedges from New Look, comfy and stylist at the same time. 

  
If you have any requests on blogs you would like to see i.e. how to fill in your brows please let me know =)

Niget Niget
Lizzie x

Hair Care - For an Oily scalp and hair treatments

Hello lovelies,

Hope the start of the week has been good to you. I did my body skin care favourites, and here's my hair care. I have a really oily scalp so finding products to suit my hair can be difficult. Here's my favourites so far.

Shampoo and Conditioner:

I use two shampoos one everytime I wash my hair the other once maximum twice a week.

John Freida Sheer blonde highlight enhancing shampoo: I bought this when I was blonde and like the formula so I've carried on using it. I don't find it dries out my hair and it doesn't make it too oily either. I wash my hair every other day. I know they say that the less you wash your hair the less oily it gets. That isn't the case with me. I've tried it and I just end up looking like I really need a wash no matter how much dry shampoo I use. So every other day it is for me.

Kerastase Clarifique Shampoo: I ADORE this shampoo. A friend told me about Kerastase and I thought i'd give it a go and omg am I glad I did!! This is a clarifying shampoo specially for oily hair. I don't use it every wash as I found with other clarifying shampoos it can give me a dry scalp and personally id rather have oily hair than dandruff. It's perfect for clearing your scalp of any excess oil that has built up over the week, it's also perfect for if you've used a lot of product to really clear your hair of all product left in the hair. It's £16.00  bottle which isn't cheap but totally worth it. I'm looking into getting the conditioner.

Loreal Ever Pure conditioner: I love the smell of this, it's really minty and smells so fresh. it's a little too oily for my hair but i'm finishing the bottle anyway. I like that it has no sulphates so it's less damaging to my hair. They do a whole range on this and I would definitely recommend it to my friends to try it.

Herbal Essenses Beautiful Ends Hair Mask - I rarely use a hair mask with it being so oily, but at least twice I month I try to just to make sure it stays in tip top condition. This is lovely and at only £5.00 it's a good drug store mask. Smells beautiful and I definitely see a different and feel a difference in my hair after I've used it

Revlon Orofluido Oil - I have always been a little sceptical about oils especially with having an oily scalp but after trying this I am a total convert!! I only apply this to the mid-ends of my hair but what a difference it has made. My hair is so healthy. It is more of a medium weight oil so definately don't use it on your scalp unless you have really dry hair. I constantly get comments on how soft my hair is and how healthy it is. Definitely worth a purchase! This is a professional product so you'd have to go in a salon to buy it.

 

Batiste Dry Shampoo - An absolute essential for anyone!! I buy the one for brunette hair as it doesn't leave as much of a white mist on your hair. I use this on my second day hair as it will already start to look a but oily this just freshens it up for that day until I re-wash it.

 

 

My Tips for hair care:

 

1. Find a shampoo and conditioner that suits you.

2. Get your hair cut regularly - My biggest pet peeve is girls with really long hair who refuse to get it cut and it ends up looking like straggly rats ends. If you're growing your hair have it cut every twelve weeks, if your maintaining your hair have it cut every six weeks. Just ask for the dead ends taking off or in my words "what it needs and nothing more" This way it stays healthy and looks healthy.

3. If you have oily hair blow dry it, or at least blow dry the roots - mid length. If I let my hair dry naturally it gets oilier quickly when I blow dry it the cleanliness lasts longer.

4. Most people put a lot of emphasis on keeping the damaged ends moisturised which I agree you should, but how it is at the ends represents how you looked after it at the root. I never put oil on my roots but when I have conditioned I used a wide tooth comb to brush through my hair this conditions my hair without making it look oily. Try and keep your hair healthy the whole way down.

5. Try to wear your hair up without using any heat every now and again. Heat damages your hair so try to lay off it all the time.

6. I colour my hair all the time every 6-8 weeks to be exact. And I change the colour all the time I just get bored with it. So make sure if it's bleach you have that you're completely taking care of your hair and maybe go dark every once in a while to get some condition back in it.

 

Let me know your favourite hair care products and if you have any great tips too =)

 

Lizzie xxx

 

Happy New Year =)

Hey guys,

Just a quick post to wish you all a very happy new year =) 2013 has been a wonderful year for me and i'm very much looking forward to next year. I wish you all happiness and health, enjoy your plans for the evening. Don't forget to enjoy the smiles, share the tears and make every second count. If you have a resolution make it a good one and enjoy it coming to life.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

lots of love

Lizzie and the Cats =) xxxx