Jade's Secret Corner

Liebster Award

2013-03-15T15:34:00.000Z

Hi all,

Sorry I have been really M.I.A lately, but uni is quite literally kicking my butt now. I have a dissertation due in may, 3 assignments due in april and 2 exams in may, suffice to say I need a beach with a long island ice tea cocktail, STAT!

Despite all this pressure, I thought I'd delight you all with my online presence (ha ha ha!)

I was very surprised when I looked through my emails one morning and realised that Nin over at Prettypug had nominated me for a Liebster award, and sadly it quite literally made my ~~day~~ week!

So here are the rules, I have to post 11 random facts about myself, answer 11 questions asked by the nominee and choose 11 bloggers and ask them 11 questions.

Frankly, I hate talking about myself, but anything to distract me if only for a little while from the never-ending dissertation.

So without further a do, 11 random facts about moi!

I am currently a 3rd year student, studying Criminology with Psychology and quite literally counting down the days until graduation. (Although the thought of me leaving my ~~friends~~, family and new home is very daunting to say the least
I am quite literally terrified of spiders. Come at me with one, and I may actually have to do physical harm to you. Lol who am I kidding, you will most likely see me in a foetal position crying my poor little heart out.
I am an only child.
I have many great friends, but my Mum will always be my number 1 she is definitely what I imagine to have a sister would be like. And she is most definitely the definition of the grand ol' saying 'can't live with her, can't live without her'
I am a very good singer, alas I have unfortunately been cursed with stage fright, sort of a catch 22 - all hopes of wanting to become a famous singer have been thrown out the window
Green and Grey are my 2 favourite colours, if you haven't noticed already.
My family background is Jamaican, but I was born and raised in London
I love to cook, just as much as I love to eat and my favourite food in the whole world would be something pork related, possibly jerk pork
I have 2 piercings (minus the ears) and 2 tattoos
History was one of my favourite classes at school, although I was horrible at it
Handbags, and shoes (flats/heels) are my kryptonite, although I'm still mastering how to walk in heels (lol)

11 questions I was asked...

1. If you could go on holiday right now, where would you go and why?

I'd choose to go somewhere in the far east, maybe malaysia or Bali simply because of the culture and the history places like these are mostly overlooked and I would love to capture all the beauty of these countries before its too late

2. What three songs are you loving right now?

I can't even tell you the last time I properly listened to music. The only music lately I have been listening to is soothing oceans, and piano melodies to help me concentrate with my work, so uh does that count?

3. Summer 2013... what are your plans?

Hopefully go on a pre-graduation holiday with my uni friends to Turkey, then after that its back to depressing England to put my degree to use and look for a job.

4. Dream job?

I'd love to work for myself. Start my own business doing God knows what, watch this space!

5. If you were any Harry Potter character, who would you be and why?

I'd be Hermione, mostly because I am a secret lover of gingers (Ron Weasley!) and who else wouldn't want to be outrageously smart and beautiful?! Girl power is making a comeback.

6. Will you be donating to Comic Relief/what are your reviews on such-things?

As much as I love watching Comic Relief, I won't be donating. To me personally I think charities are all a big scam and I much rather go over to a country and volunteer my time to them. My mum works within the voluntary sector so I know all the ins and outs.

7. Highlight of 2013 so far?

Its too early to tell, I guess a new boyfriend and just finally being happy and content with life.

8. Which items of your wardrobe could you not live without?

Ooh this is a tricky one! I guess my leather jacket and my ugg boots

10. You're getting married; you have complete creative control - what is your colour scheme, theme, etc, - what would you do?

Where do I start?! Although green is my fave colour it wouldn't be one of the colour schemes. Maybe a purple and grey/silver? But I don't want to get married in a church I'm not that religious, and if I can't get married in an outdoor wedding, then I'd rather just get married in the registry office.

11. Name something non-academic you would like to learn to do?

I'd love how to learn to fly a plane. Air Jade here I come!

Ok so here are my 11 questions to you.

When you was little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Who is your celebrity crush (male) and your fashion icon (female)
What one item could you not live without?
If you could be an animal, what animal would you choose and why?
Exercise or plastic surgery?
If you could be or do anything in the world, what would it be?
What is your favourite movie?
If you remember your first ever date (or any date), what did you do?
What are some of your best memories?
If you could back in time where would you go and why?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

Who I nominate!

http://plainandsimplejustlittleoldme.blogspot.co.uk/

http://lolalucy09.blogspot.co.uk/

http://phatfashionandbeauty.blogspot.co.uk/

http://discoveriesofself.blogspot.co.uk/

I don't really know who else to tag, but I'd love it if everyone participated. That would be awesome and let me know if you do it in the comments.

Thank you for being such a loverly distraction as always, welcome new followers. I hope you all have a great weekend and a fabulous week!

Jade

Firmoo Giveaway!

2013-03-03T14:47:00.001Z

Whats this 2 new posts in one weekend?! I do spoil you ;)

Hope everyone is enjoying a very lazy sunday, Lord knows I am. I'm determined to stay in my pj's for the whole day and only surface when food calls my name, but we all know plans don't always go that way.

I thought I would share with you that Firmoo the online optical store will be giving away 100 pairs free glasses + free delivery on the 4th March at 9pm EST (I think thats like 1am in the UK, so be prepared to pull an all nighter) on a first come first served basis. Click the link and it will show you what you have to do to be entitled.

So don't say I didn't warn you, and good luck!

Jade

Super Savvy Me Project: Venus & Olay

2013-03-02T14:11:00.002Z

Last year I signed up for a website called Super Savvy Me created by the company Procter & Gamble (P&G) and it is used as a platform to get help from their top experts, read interesting inspiring articles, get great offers on the latest products and read real reviews from its community - which is where I come in.

This month I was giving the opportunity to be apart of their latest project and test out a new product - the Venus Gillette five-blade razor who has teamed up with Olay and an Olay essentials complete care multi-radiance moisturising lotion (gosh that was a mouthful!) They sent me a package and it looked something like this:

Inside the bag looked like this...

So inside was the 5 blade razor and the moisturising lotion, a handbook and some coupons to get some money off, in the future.

Thank God that it came in time, because the hair on my legs was no joke! I think I was still stuck in winter hibernation mode, so the first chance I got I whipped out this bad boy and set to attempt to remove the hair from my legs. Due to the Olay moisture bars, it felt heavenly to remove the excess hairs and left my legs feeling nice and smooth and soft without having to moisturise afterwards, so I was super pleased with that result and its my go to razor now extra 5-blades also helped with the closeness of the shave which is always a plus in my books (: .

If your a venus gillette fan and you have bought their razors with the moisture bars then you know what it is like when the bar finishes, my only doubts with this product is, how long will the moisture bar last and exactly how much will they charge for the refill blades.

With the facial cream I was a bit skeptical, as you all know my skin is a bit weird and putting new products on my face always makes me weary, so I decided to use this as a night cream instead and so far there hasn't been anything amiss I've noticed, and have actually noticed that my skin feels nice and soft in the mornings. I haven't been using it for that long to properly give you a true review but I do feel it makes me look a lot more 'dewy fresh' (is that even a term?) Hopefully I don't grow extra friends on my face during this time, wish me luck!

If you think you want to be apart of a community like this, then most definitely sign up (here) and maybe next time you can be testing out new products in a different project.

Hope everyone is doing well, on this beautiful sunny saturday!

Jade

Facial Cleanser review: Dr Organic

2013-02-24T15:24:00.001Z

Today I'm going to be doing a review of a product that I have been using for at least over 6 months, that I have not fallen in love with and probably will not be using anything but for forever now - unless I add to it, which is more than likely as I have my eye on the Liz Earle daily gentle exfoliator wash, but thats neither here nor there.

The history of my skin is a grave tale.. (lol) but all jokes aside, I personally can't just use any facial product on my skin as I have a sort of oily/dry skin (Is that combination skin? meh!) most facial products either leave my face dry, itchy or just an overall blahh (know what I mean?) I have found a few things that have worked for my skin such as Avon's own products 'Clearskin pore penetration' which I have found that works magic, but found due to it being an exfoliant I cannot really use it for every day so I went on the hunt to try something new.

I stumbled across Milly from Made In Chelsea's blog one day and she said that she uses a product from Holland and Barrats I cannot remember if she said Dr Organic Manuka honey or Burts and Bees facial products, but I decided to try the Dr Organics option.

There are so many to choose from, as I was only looking for a facial wash I can use every day I chose the tea tree gentle foaming wash and since its tea tree it was a win win for me!

It has literally been a God sent for me. I use it every day in the morning and sometimes at night to thoroughly take off my makeup, which btw works wonders on the eye makeup. I have had this bad boy for over 6 months now and I have not had to repurchase a new one yet, and at £6.19 for a 200ml tube makes for a cost effective investment. The smell is quite refreshing, I guess very um, tea tree-y? And it makes your skin feel very refreshed, without the tautness and tightness you usually feel after cleansing.

Usually after washing my face, I follow up with a facial cream, I was using the Dr Organic Virgin olive oil facial cream, and found that left my face too oily (the name should have given me a big clue) but considering the jar is quite small, it lasted me quite a while and I think I finished it just after christmas, so I decided to try the Dr Organic Manuka honey facial cream. I have not had enough time to decide whether it works for me or whether I truly like it as in all honesty I'm not the biggest fan of the smell of manuka honey, but it leaves my face smooth and soft and thats always a bonus - priced at £8.19 this 50ml jar will most certainly put a dent in your pocket, I sure know it did to mine!

I will be most definitely repurchasing the facial wash, but I may try a new facial cream from the Dr organic range. So a big thumbs up from me and a 10/10 from my happy skin :)

I hope everyone is having a beautiful lazy sunday, and please let me know if you have tried any of these products or any other health store related beauty products!

Jade

Oh, Hello stranger ;)

2013-02-13T12:02:00.003Z

Hello my lovely followers,

I'd just like to start off by apologising for my lack of posts recently, 3rd year has literally been kicking my butt so far and it's only going to get worse! Sigh. Not long left until its all over and I can relax with a cocktail on some faraway island (ahhhh!)

I hope everyone is doing well, and I hope I can finally start posting again soon because I've missed you all and I've missed writing down my thoughts on this big small world.

Happy Valentines day for tomorrow and if your single like moi, just happy thursday <3

Jade

Happy Burlesque and a sexy new year!

2013-01-03T17:22:00.000Z

A couple of days ago I had the chance to go to a Burlesque show. If you know me, anything sexy related I am interested in (lol). So myself, cousin, aunt and mum trekked down to London's Soho to a little club amongst many called 'Madam Jojo's'.

It was only a small little club, and we got their pretty late so we had really shitty seats ('scuse my french) as you can tell from the crappy pictures. I didn't take many either as I was a bit too excited and forgot I could take photos, but I did remember to record the last act (which in my opinion was the best one!)

If you ever get the chance to see a Burlesque show, I really recommend you go and do it if not just for the experience. I enjoyed myself immensely and just maybe have found my calling in life.

Hope everyone had an amazing christmas and an equally amazing New years!

Jade xo

Facial cleansing wipes: Kleenex

2012-12-23T10:45:00.003Z

I'm not really one to care about what facial wipe I use on my face, so I usually pick up whatever is cheap or on special offer. I was in MAC the other day and I was just swatching some colours on my hand and I used one of their facial wipes to remove the lipstick and I noticed the difference straight away.

With the MAC facial wipes it is wetter than its competitors which I guess makes better for removing makeup quicker, so it made me think about the types of brands I use on my face. I can't really use much as it really irritates my skin, believe it or not even Simple products irritate my skin!

So being the cheap skate that I am, regardless of facial irritation I picked up some Kleenex facial cleansing wipes (extra gentle).

The actual wipes itself feels a lot like a wet soft tissue, which I love! It doesn't irritate my skin too much and its just nice and soft to the face, it smells like cream which is bearable and removes all my makeup very well, so far so good.

Jade

Braologie: The posture experts

2012-12-20T11:34:00.001Z

Hi guys,

I was lucky enough to be able to try out this new company called Braologie, through a little competition by Dao over at Mymakeupblog. Let me just say now, that I am truly grateful and thankful for that opportunity as it has been heaven sent!

Braologie is a company that is dedicated to improving the posture of women through the use of posture improving lingerie. By this, I mean it helps correct your back posture, reposition breast tissue all whilst giving you great cleavage.

The great thing about Braologie is it is done all online, in the comfort of your home. They send you a questionnaire which you have to fill in, and if you have the privilege of being in contact with Tallia, then you are in luck as she was amazing and so lovely to be in contact with - this questionnaire will ask you details about your bra size and you have to get the ol' measuring tape out to make sure everything is correct (so no lying here ladies) and you send them 3 pictures of yourself and they will send you a detailed report from professional bra fitters of your needs just from your questionnaire, how brilliant is that?! Better than Marks & Spencers, La Senza and Ann Summers combined!

When I received my report, I was a little traumatized. I wasn't used to getting feedback like that as I am very sensitive about my weight, but I'm glad I did as everything they wrote in the report was true! They sent me a bra and a little vest that sits underneath the bra to me in the post (which all arrived quite quickly) as these are the items that matched specifically to me, and I was shocked to see how beautiful the actual bra was as most shaping underwear are quite ugly and daunting, but this I feel sexy in and if I had a bf I wouldn't mind prancing around naked in front of. The bra was black with a gold-y colour under black lacing, I put it on and my boobs were finally under my chin haha. The only downside to this is no matching underwear, as I love to have my undies match my bra.

Would I recommend this product? Hell yes! I've seen the benefits for myself and I hear some of the horror stories my fellow big-breasted women have and this will definitely help relieve that issue.

Would I buy more? Definitely, as if I keep wearing the one I have to death it will surely end up in tatters.

Thanxs for reading & thank you guys at Braologie for giving me this opportunity! :)

Jade

Sleek Lipstick: Liqueur

2012-12-15T19:09:00.004Z

So I recently got this new lipstick as I've been on the search for a nude lip and I've been wanting to try a high street brand for a while now and I decided to try out Sleek. It's called Liqueur and its got a pinky hue to it with a sheen finish. (Apologies for the lighting in the pictures)

haha do you like my back drop? Its kitchen towel teehee (Improvisation at its best)

I love love love it! I'm still trying to figure out how to wear it as it can be a bit much but thats the fun in applying makeup! Well that's what I love about makeup.

You can purchase this lipstick or any other colour, from the Sleek website or any superdrug store for £4.99

Jade

Abi O Shimmer Tan Boost

2012-12-03T13:04:00.003Z

Heyy Guys,

So so so sorry that I have been very M.I.A lately, I have actually been very busy with moving back into Uni and dealing with freshers week and all that malarky and good stuff. I promise I won't keep it too long till my next post, luckily I have a few things that I have been meaning to write about - so watch this space.

Recently, (meaning a couple of months ago) I was lucky enough to win a blog competition from the lovely and beautiful Annie over at EpiphannieA. The competition was in aid of TFWOC (Tans For Women of Colour) and since I didn't have the chance to go on holiday this year, why not try a bit o' tanning eh?

So this is what the bottle looks like..

What the product looks like...

Blob - What the product looks like

And what I look like...

With Shimmer Tan Boost (flash)

So a HUGE thank you again to Annie, for this amazing product!

As always,

Jade

My Quick Smoothie

2012-10-16T10:00:00.000+01:00

So I thought I would just share with you what I make when I want a quick snack or a post-gym workout drink.

What you will need:

*Fruit

*Yoghurt

*Smoothie maker (or blender?)

*Orange juice (optional)

*A glass and a Straw (Cos lets face it, it adds more fun to it!)

I didn't choose the low fat yoghurt on purpose, I was simply just being cheap as its literally £1 from Tesco's (haha!) however I was being particular with buying frozen fruit and the reason being is because I'm not really a fruit person, and fresh fruit would mostly go off. Strawberries and Blueberries are my absolute fave fruits so a win for me! But you can use whatever fruit you fancy :).

So I was feeling particularly vitamin C-y so I decided to add some to my smoothie this time, which makes it more liquid-y instead of it being thick, but it is really up to you.

Et Voila!

Ze piece de resistance!

Jade

p.s. Can you tell I didn't do french at school? hehehe
p.p.s If you do decide to use fresh fruit add a couple of ice cubes to make it a little bit thicker

I hope you enjoy! (:

The Make-Up Store: Lipstick

2012-10-13T10:01:00.000+01:00

So I've been meaning to do a review on this lipstick for like FOREVER since I probs bought it over a year ago. So lets get on with the review.

I bought this lipstick one day whilst I was in Westfield White City in the Make-up Store. The Make Up Store is a leading make up brand in Sweden created by Mika Liias, you can find out more about this here.

I've really wanted to try one of their make up products because the actual store looks really cute and dinky as it is no bigger than a small box (lol).

The Lipstick colour I got is called Blush and costs £12.50 (but I think actually bought it for £11, I can't remember it was that long ago) - I think I bought this around the time of when my obsession for MAC's Impassioned started and I actually don't remember why I just didn't add on the 50p (or £2) and get the actual MAC Impassioned, but hey ho! (I apologise for the picture quality in advance)

I don't particularly think very highly of this lipstick, which is most likely why I have a whole tube left. Although it is creamy it is still quite drying on the lips regardless of applying a base coat beforehand.

Although it was inexpensive, I don't think I will be buying another lipstick from their store anytime soon. However they had a variety of awesome blushes which I think would be on my agenda next time I take a trip to Westfield.

Have you guys tried anything from the Make-up Store?

Jade

Apologies & CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

2012-09-11T14:12:00.002+01:00

Hey Guys,

First of all I'd like to start off with a huge apology. I haven't uploaded any blogs in a while mainly because I had lost the motivation to blog and I didn't want my blogs to seem robotic and not as easy going as they usually are. I have also been very busy with working at the weekends (which now my contract has ended) and volunteering during the week. I hope you all can except my apology!

But lately I have become more inspired. I guess some may call it a revelation or an epiphany. But I'm going to call it a lifestyle change.

One day I just woke up and told myself 'Jade you are 20 years old, you are in your prime and this is not how you want to look for such a monumental time in your life' thus the idea of my 'ThinSpiration' was born.

You may not all know this but I am a size 16/18 and yeah some may see that as curvy and some may even see that as fat, but I just see it as a burden. I have always been on the chubs side ever since I was little and now I think its time I do something about it.

A very good friend of mine told me about Jillian Michael's 30 day shred so I naturally had to check it out for myself. I bought the DVD from amazon (here) and even acquired myself some weights (here also when I bought these they were much cheaper, I have no clue why they are so expensive now. But have a look around amazon you could probs find cheaper ones too) and within 2 weeks I had notice a difference my face was a lot smaller than usual.

I also changed my eating habits. For 2 weeks I did no carbs - this proved harder than I thought. Coming from a Caribbean background where all you pretty much eat is carbs and protein and eventually white rice was calling my name so I introduced it back into my diet. So now I just cut down my portion sizes.
I try my best to eat 3 meals a day (something which I never used to do before) slowly but surely I'm getting there.

This morning I came across a news article on the Daily Mail about Jordin Sparks. For those of you who don't know who Jordin Sparks is, she is an American Idol winner I think in 2007/(8) I can't remember and she was a bit on the hefty size and now she has lost a whopping 50lbs and looks incredible!!

She has definitely inspired me to go on with this new lifestyle change. And maybe I can share with you guys my progress through it all.

I have a goal, I'd like to drop 2 dress sizes if not more and I have to fit and look good in a bikini for my holiday next summer. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

Maybe this can be weekly thing. I duno but we will see! I hope everyone is doing well and look forward to writing more blogs for you all. :D

The Little Princess Trust

2012-07-30T09:53:00.000+01:00

A couple of weeks ago, my aunty for her daughters summer fayre was organising this event for a charity called the Little Princess Trust, my Aunt had thought that only herself and a few other mothers would be the only ones to donate their hair, but she found that their were 18 volunteers as well as a few children who were willing to cut their hair for the charity. When she told me the success of what happened during the Summer Fayre I had to check out this trust for myself.

What the Little Princess Trust is about, is a charity which provides real hair wigs to young children (girls and boys) up to the age of 18 suffering hair loss from known illnesses such as; Cancer, Leukemia, Alopecia and other illnesses. It allows little boys and girls to feel like themselves again, before treatment and regain confidence to face the outside world.

The Little Princess Trust was started by a couple by the name of Wendy and Simon Tarplee, after they had lost their little girl to a tumor in 2005 and have been going strong ever since.

I just wanted to make other people aware of this as Cancer has affected my Grandma in the past and luckily she has pulled through - I know how agonising that is to watch and to think that a little child has to go through it is absolutely dreadful!
Knowing that there are charities like this out there, that are trying to reach and do something about it to put smiles on these children's faces is something that makes me feel good and actually want to help with.

It costs up to £350 for the Trust to make a wig for a child, so any donation is welcome albeit money or your own hair!

I hope I have inspired at least one person today to feel touched by this charity as I have felt touched, and maybe even donate something to help with the wigs or even letting other people be aware of this charity so that they can also help.

Check out their website and see for yourself: Little Princess Trust

Jade

June/July Buys

2012-07-23T20:52:00.001+01:00

I seem to go through really random periods where I buy loads and loads of stuff and then nothing for oncoming weeks.

Real Techniques Stippling Brush

Real Techniques Stippling Brush: I've heard so much great things about these make-up tools that I decided that I had to have one. I mostly use stippling brushes to apply my liquid foundation as I love the finish. I can't wait to use it, now that we are experiencing some hot weather I haven't had a chance to wear any make up! Au Naturel (sp?)

Tangy nails. Yum!

Tangy Tangerine

Rimmel Tangy Tangerine Nail Polish: As I've mentioned in previous posts I've been on the hunt for the perfect summer orange and I happen to come across it in boots! I absolutely love this orange its so me in every single way as you can see from above in my nail of the week! :)

MissGuided. Misstify

MissGuided Nail Polish: I happened to be in Asda like a month ago, one evening waiting for the mother to finish her shopping and was snooping around the magazine aisle and saw this pink beauty glinting at me through a glossy cosmopolitan magazine, there were other colours but I chose the pink one, so naturally I just had to have it. I'm yet to try it but I love the fact that it came in such a cute box, pretty packaging is a winner in my books!

Rimmel Scandal eyes 'Show off' Mascara. Random Mango & Papaya Lip Gloss. Boujouir 3D effect Lipgloss (03). Maybelline expression kajal eyeliner. Maybelline Master Precise liquid eyeliner.

Maybelline Master Precise Liquid eye liner felt tip

Rimmel Scandal eyes 'Show off' mascara

Make-up er.. essentials?: I had a charity event dinner and wanted to look my best (you never know who is going to bring their beautiful looking heir to such events). I have always been a Rimmel mascara fan, but I decided to go for the 'Show off' mascara as it was on special offer and in my honest opinion Rimmel is yet to let me down! I absolutely love this mascara and its fast becoming one of my faves. It perfectly fans out your lashes, gives it lift and makes them look elegantly long, I always feel like I'm wearing my falsies with this mascara.
I also came across Maybelline's liquid eyeline Master Precise and this is another product I love - I made the move to felt tip liquid eyeliners about 6 months ago and this product by far is one of my favourite liquid eyeliners. It's so thin and provides just the amount of product and is actually quite precise!
The Boujouis 3D effect Lipgloss is also a really nice addition to the make-up family, it boasts an 8 hour wearing time, but if you factor in talking, eating, licking your lips etc its not at all going to last that long.

Essie Nail polishes

Essie Nail Polishes: I went to TK Maxx with my Aunt and was standing in the queue to pay, when I noticed these Essie Nail Polishes. I actually couldn't believe my luck as I had been on the hunt for an Essie Nail Polish for what seems like forever! It came in a pack of 3 and cost me £9.99 which is a bargain as most Essie Nail polishes start at £7, I'm still on the hunt for more so if anyone knows where I can get cheap Essie polishes from let me know (as Ebay has let me down).

Zebra crossing looking Peplum dress.

Zebra Crossing looking Peplum dress: This was the dress I wore for the charity event dinner I went for on behalf of the organisation I am volunteering with. Its from New Look and because I have quite big hips, thighs and bum it suited me really well!

So that's it for now, hopefully as I actually think I am going to place myself on a spending ban. Well until I get back to Uni at least.

Jade

Earrings and Such

2012-07-17T16:00:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

So over the weeks these are some of the stuff that I have accumulated that I thought I would share with you.

Ebay. I found these through another persons blog here

Dorothy Perkins. Sale

Topshop. Sale, really old though! I just forgot to mention before. Oops

Dorothy Perkins. Sale

Earrings - Earrings are my staple jewellery, I always feel naked without them if I don't have any on, I don't really shop in Dorothy Perkins, and I went in there by sheer chance and found these really great finds! I'm not really a jewellery person but I wear my essentials which are my earrings and watch (if I can find it)

Lucky Charms - My aunt just arrived from America this week and I asked her to buy me a box, thanks to my friend (who also has a book blog here) I am now addicted to this!

Ebay here (iphone) here (Samsung s3)

Phone cover - I got this cute little phone cover for my new phone. Its adorable and the penguin itself is like its 3D. You can't tell from the photo but it actually has arms on the side of the case, I'm still deciding on a name for it undecided at the moment.

I think I need to curb my spending, it's getting a tad out of hand. HA. Who am I kidding. In the words of Drake 'YOLO'.

Jade

Beauty Bloggers Unite

2012-07-17T13:00:00.002+01:00

I've just recently come across this blog where it helps bloggers like you and me socialise and find new followers as well as follow new blogs.

I recommend you all have a look and follow new people!

http://www.bbloggersunite.com/

Jade

My knock-off Zara Bag!

2012-07-04T14:06:00.001+01:00

I have finally received my Zara knock-off bag this weekend, which my sister bought me for my birthday in april. I know, I know thats disgusting its July now - but admittedly I was in uni at the time so I had no way of getting my hands on my bag!!

But let me just say I absolutely love my bag! And for £12 from ebay, I'm not complaining lol.

I wouldn't personally pay the original asking price that Zara is asking for, however I would more than gladly wait for my knock-off from china at a fraction of the price!

(excuse the umbrella in the picture and the office in the background)

If your interested in buying click here (I even found a cheaper version for you guys (: )

Jade
xo

Exercise: Getting fit for err.. summer?

2012-07-03T19:52:00.001+01:00

Exercise. The bane of all evil, I wish I was one of those fitness fanatics that would exercise regularly and eat healthily but to be honest my idea of exercising is cuddling in my bed under the duvet, working out my index finger on the remote control for the TV.

Why must it be so boring and painful? Why can't it be fun and enticing?! The only way I can personally exercise is through dancing and I must admit I did a few Zumba lessons and I loved it! However, everything is so expensive to get fit. From gym memberships to buying a bunch of grapes is bloody expensive!! Why push this healthy eating when it is much easier to go up the road and eat something unhealthy?

I have these rare moments where I decide that I want to get fit and healthy and usually works out well, however maintaining it is the boring part, staying motivated is the hard part. I've tried Zumba as mentioned above, but then I had a christmas break in between and lets just say they never saw me again. I've also tried pole dancing - this was my favourite - but then I had exams and they haven't seen me back in ages either! I thought about getting a gym membership, but as it was nearing the end of the academic year I didn't see any point in buying a membership. I've even tried DVD's and using my Wii but yet still nothing.

So whilst revising (cough) I thought I'd find some yoga videos on youtube so that I could take frequent breaks doing yoga (or just not revise at all). Whilst looking through the yoga video's I came across this woman by the name of Tiffany Rothe and found that I liked her style of exercising and decided to give it ago. I felt great after, a smile beaming across my face - proud of myself even and I carried on with my day as usual. The next day, when I woke up I was in agonising pain, I was thinking to myself 'what the hell did I do that would cause me so much pain?!' and then I remembered Tiffany Rothe.

No pain, no gain right? I searched through her videos and decided to do some more exercises, because if I was hurting then it's working right? I absolutely love her workout videos and they're not even long, something you can do in 10mins or so, what I have also found with her videos is that each video concentrates on a different area of the body which is great for all those problem areas - obviously you would have to do it 3 times a day, but for something thats free and on the internet who am I to complain?

I could go on and on about her work out videos, but I don't think that would do it justice. So here is a taster of what she has to offer with one of my favourites 'Butt like a Brazillian' lets face it, who doesn't want a huge bubble butt?!

Jade

Just a few things..

2012-06-28T19:54:00.001+01:00

Whilst being home, I picked up a few things preempting the summer weather (pssssssh yea right!) These are a few things I have picked up in the last couple of months. They're not very interesting, but I'd still thought I'd share them with you!

Snake print peep toe shoe (asda) // brown peep toe shoe (asda) // Heart knitted jumper (asda) // Chains and (something) chiffon shirt (matalan) // multi-coloured dotted fringe top (asda) // tie-dye knitted jumper (asda) // Cross top (asda) // Shoe/boot/wedge ? (room31)

As you can tell I shop a lot in Asda (ha!) I love Asda's clothing especially the label G21 which is mostly what I buy. That chiffon shirt I wasn't originally going to buy as I promised myself I wouldn't own a design like this because to me it looks quite chavvy, it was in the sale for £12 (no surprise there) and I still never picked it up even though my friend was like buy it - when I got home I couldn't stop dreaming about it, I kept thinking about it; how I would style it and with what I would style it with, so after my exam I marched right on down to Matalan and proceeded to buy it and realised it had been marked down further to £9 - bargain!

My shoe/boot/wedge thingymajig was also another bargain buy as I was browsing through another blogger and she had bought some amazing stuff on this website so I decided to look for myself. I saw these boots and instantly thought that these would be amazing for winter, or in other words a typical day in England. They cost me £5 with a £3.99 p&p however because they messed up my order they refunded me my p&p so I am dead pleased with my bargain and cannot wait to wear them.
The person that helped me with my order was really lovely and super helpful, and she probably thought I was a bit rude by not replying to her emails but I'd like to thank them for retrieving my lost order, refunding me my p&p and the fast delivery! I still definitely recommend having a look, they even stock some stuff from Queen B herself 'House of Dereon'.

Anywhoo, this rambling has gone on for far longer than I thought it would so on that note - I hope everyone is having a good week!

Jade
xo

NOTW & New Purchase!

2012-06-20T10:54:00.002+01:00

So for my birthday my boyfriend gave me some gift certificates to go off and buy whatever it is that I like in April and I finally spent them last week.

I caved in and bought some Topshop nail polishes. Let me just tell you now that this was one of the best purchases I've actually made in a long time in regards to nail varnish, and as you all know when it comes to spending money the £2.99 Barry M nail polishes are just within my price range!

So presented with the opportunity I picked up these 2 colours:

Cafe au Lait & Smashing Pumpkins

Cafe au Lait

Smashing Pumpkin

I actually picked up the Cafe au Lait colour because I started a new job, and wanted to look as professional as possible (that and it kills me to have my nails bare!!) to my surprise I absolutely love it. It is a nice nudey pink colour (as you can tell from my nails it is the NOTW) and it didn't need that many coats although for the pink to really come through then you will need a couple of coats.

I picked up the Smashing Pumpkin colour, because I really wanted an orange colour and this is perfect as its not too bright and its not too dull either, it has provided a nice summery flare to my toes which is needed what with this dull and bleak weather we're having!

I really wanna add some more of the Topshop colours to my collection as I am really impressed! What do you guys think of the Topshop nail polishes? And is there any you would recommend that you think I should buy? Let me know!

Jade

Outfit of the day: Courtesy of Primark

2012-06-17T20:27:00.003+01:00

You all must be wondering where I've been and to be completely honest with you I have just been lazy lol. But there's not a day that goes by which I don't think about you all!

I hope everyone is doing well and is enjoying their fathers day! Something to leave you with...

Outfit of the day!

What I'm wearing:

Top: Primark

Crop dark Jeans jacket: Primark

Maxi Skirt: Primark

Earrings: Primark

I did not intentionally wear all these from Primark, writing this blog was the only time I actually realised this! Lol.

I hope you enjoy this new blog entry and hopefully I'll be uploading more and filling you all in with the ordain-ness of my life!!

Tell me if you like these kind of blogs, some feedback would be truly helpful!

Jade

Music: Melanie Fiona

2012-05-10T15:08:00.002+01:00

So for the past couple of months, I have realised that my love for music has dwindled immensely! I couldn't tell you the last time that I actually opened my Itunes Library it is actually ridiculous. I was looking through peoples blogs the other day and came across this blogger (BionicGirl) and was having a look through her blog and came across the singer Melanie Fiona so I had a listen and lets just say I was HOOKED!

I have heard of her before with her rendition of the song 'Give it to me right' but I didn't realise she sang it and didn't search more about the artist.

I kind of wish I did follow up on her because this song alone makes me feel super feminine and sexy, and its defo a 'dance-around-in-your-knickers-with-a-hairbrush-mic' kind of song (don't act like you don't do it!)

She has an amazing soulful voice, which this generation is clearly missing, it is really unfortunate that she is really under the radar!!

She has many other amazing other songs and I 100% recommend you go and youtube her.

So I'd like to thank BionicGirl for bringing this amazing artist to my attention and I will now forever be a Melanie Fiona fan! I have now found my passion for music again (excitement!)

I'm off to go and sing in front of the mirror now (oh and revise :( wish me luck!)
xo

Hair Care Secret: Deep Condition!

2012-04-30T17:47:00.002+01:00

For a couple of years now I have recently started wearing weaves and up until recently with the whole health and beauty craze that I have been caught up in, I decided that I not only wanted to take care of my own hair but it grow it out long.

My hair is relaxed and the other day probably around the beginning of the year, I went to get my hair relaxed in a salon - My mum usually relaxes my hair, and she's really the only one I really trust in my hair and sometimes I trust her to cut my hair but she gets a bit too trigger happy, and everyone knows for a black woman those couple of inches that she hacked off made a difference!

When the hairdresser was finished with my hair I was amazed with how much my hair had actually grown, but being away at uni I don't really know how to take care of my hair and so I would naturally leave it in a bun, which is not the healthiest option for afro-hair as too much tension on the strands can break the hair.
So I put my hair back in weave. Whilst I was back in uni, the hair started getting old so I decided to take it out and wear my natural hair, which was a nice feeling to have my hair out for a while however because I'm used to the length of weaves I don't feel comfortable with how short my real hair is in comparison. But I did it nonetheless, pretty much because I had no choice in the matter.

I decided to do some research on taking care of my natural hair specifically for afro-hair, and to my surprise (sarcasm) there wasn't much information for this and the little information I could find I held onto and tried it out. I wanted to test it out before I told you my secrets but I was too excited and I just need to share lol.

To start off with, lets talk pre-hair craze care. I would usually wash my hair with Aphogee Deep Moisture shampoo and Aphogee Balancing moisturiser conditioner and I find these products really great for my hair and leave my hair soft and silky and to think I randomly just stumbled on this product! I introduced these products to my mum and she took it a step further and purchased the Aphogee 2 step protein treatment and her hair has looked really healthy since.

Deep Moisturising Shampoo

Balancing moisturizer

Two-step protein

Although these products are good for my hair and have aided my hair growth, these products may not provided the desired effects for you, but I still say you should invest in these products (maybe not these particular products) but browse through the Aphogee range. These products can be purchased here (Amazon) and here (Ebay) however, they are available at your normal hair & beauty shop and the price range is £2.99 + depending on the product you buy!

Now that we got the pre-hair craze care out of the way, I can tell you about the real secret! So obviously natural remedies are better for your body in general, and since I have been on this health & beauty craze I tried to ascertain the best products for me and now for you.

It all started with a little bottle of Moroccan Argan Hair oil, you will find loads of reviews and videos on the internet about this product and how amazing it is, which I 100% agree with but this little bottle of argan hair oil turned into a little bottle of Macademia hair oil, which is said to be even better than Moroccan Argan oil, I also came across the benefits of using natural olive oil and using natural coconut oil, well by this time my hair was spinning with all these little facts (but on the plus side the Macademia hair oil smells AMAZZZZING well the bottle I have lol) so I did more digging and found that oils like these are really good for your hair and nails (which is a plus because my nails have actually grown since using this), I found myself a recipe and have never looked back!

Recipe:

Pure Coconut oil

Natural Olive oil (not the cooking kind)

Macadamia Oil

Moroccan Argan Oil

Honey

Aphogee Conditioner

Now you don't have to use all of these oils at once although I do, but this is what I use. It is completely up to you with how much you put in also.

Method: Mix altogether in a container make sure the oils are melted you can do this in the microwave or in a pot on the stove however be careful I tried melting coconut oil in the microwave and lets just say there were some sparks.. Mix in some conditioner and mix until oils have blended in with the conditioner to create the consistency of paste. It doesn't matter if the mixture is hot or cold as long as it doesn't burn you, you should be fine. Once you feel it has reached the right consistency, part and apply this to your DRY hair making sure every inch is covered from root to ends (especially the ends as they can get really dry)

(I usually leave this on my head for like an 45mins to an hour with a shower cap on my head, or you could improvise with a plastic bag lol. This is essentially a deep condition. Deep conditions are especially important for afro-hair as our hair is naturally dry whereas in comparison european hair is oily. If you think about it, if/when you go to a salon which is probably every 6 weeks (if your hair is relaxed) you get your hair deep conditioned, but why wait so long when you can do it cheaper and in your own home with products you probably already own?!)

Method continued: After you feel it has been left on your hair for enough time, rinse, shampoo and dry and style as usual.

Your hair should feel smooth, soft and silky. After drying I grease my scalp as usual and use Tresseme heat protectant spray before blow drying.

There are many benefits of a deep conditioning - replenishing your hair with natural oils and making the strands stronger. You should definitely deep condition if you use a lot of heat in your hair, because of this new health & beauty craze, I have tried to use heat less and less on my hair as that is extremely damaging for hair and I believe it works.

I would just like to say, that I am not a beautician or have any qualifications in hair care, these are products that I have researched for myself and used on myself that I have seen made a difference to my hair.

I hope that this has helped you as much as this has helped me.

Good Luck

P.s. I will update this later with a picture of my hair length! Or you can see in my post about my foundation routine my hair length (here)

Mini Haul: Barry M Nail Varnish

2012-04-23T17:32:00.001+01:00

This year I've really got in too painting my nails myself, I usually get acrylics done as I think my nails are too short, but recently I've decided to give my nails a break and it doesn't help that I have decided to give myself a break when all the beauty bloggers rave on about these beautiful nail polishes!!

Naturally, I try my best to find knock off on the nail polishes that these beauty bloggers rave on about because lets face it I'm cheap. To me the most expensive nail polish I've purchased is Barry M and I am more than happy to stick with Barry M!

In light of the pastel trend, I went along to my local superdrugs and purchased these 3 beauts at £2.99 each they had a special offer on at the time buy 1 get £1 off another - Not exactly the normal deal on Barry M polishes but still great nonetheless!

66 Matt White

318 Peach Melba

317 Blue Moon

I've been after a white nail polish SINCE FOREVERR and I've finally purchased it and it looks amahhzzzing! As you can tell from my nails I am currently wearing Peach Melba and I think it is now my all time fave colour its so beautiful, and it really compliments my skin tone. You can't really see the true blue of the Blue Moon but it is a really pastel-y baby blue and I cannot wait to try this on my nails and see the transformation. Because they are pastel colours, you do have to apply more than one coat, but I don't mind doing this, I enjoy painting my nails :)

Let me know if there are some more cheap, good quality brands out there so I can add some more colours to my collection!