Slight Change In Blog Posts.. PHOTOGRAPHY

Hello yous!

 

So I started my blog just over a year ago, but I haven't really kept it up very well.. This is partly because I am very busy with college work and other commitments but also partly because I simply don't know what to blog about! I get really stuck for post ideas and every time I have an idea, it's from somebody else's blog and I don't want to seem like I'm copying them so I don't do it..

But I have had a new idea!

 

Do you ever go somewhere, like a zoo for example, where you take pictures of every animal you see, get home, put them on your computer and then never really look at them again?

Well I do that all the time! So I had this idea..

 

At Christmas, I got a new camera, a pretty posh one at that. I got the Olympus SZ-15 and it really does take amazing pictures! So where ever I go, I take it with me and I take lots of pictures, but then I never do anything with them pictures.
So I'm going to start writing blog posts of where I go and put the best pictures into a post for you all to see. At least then the pictures wont sit on my laptop never getting looked at..

 

I will still do other blog posts too like I started, but doing this will mean I get a use out of my camera and my pictures and I will post more regularly!

 

Let me know what you think of this idea in the comments, Id love to know!
The first photography post will be going up within the next few days (hopefully tomorrow!).

 

Until next time beautifuls,

xx

Hello 2014

So once again, it's a new year.

I feel a bit lame because it's a whole month into the year now and I'm only just writing this post..

Anyway, 2013 was a great year for me. I got to do so many different things and visit so many different places and it was just amazing. So I am hoping this year will be even better!

So far this year:

I went to help out run a stall for our charity at the London Boat Show!

The show personally for me wasn't the most interesting thing because I'm no boat lover, but some of the boats were incredible! I even got to see James Corden! (little fangirl over here..)

My braces came off after a long 3 years!

and I turned 17!

A surprise birthday meal in London with my best friend, the cutest little surprise present from every involved with the charity AND a meal with my family on my actual birthday! I pretty much had a whole birthday weekend and it was the best birthday I have ever had.

My amazing snowboarding cake my mum made, aw

The end of 2013, my anxiety started getting worse again so it stopped me from doing quite a few things, but this year I am determined to fight it and not to let it ruin my year!

I already have so much planned for this year!

More shows in London to promote our charity.

McBusted on tour!

Water sports in Zell am See

More fundraising!

And that's just some of the things! I hope to do so much more this year and experience so many more different things such as go to Summer In The City, visit more places in the UK and even start driving lessons (watch out!).

I also have a secret project I'm working on so keep a watch out on here for it!

I'm really excited to see what this year brings!
Let me know what you've got planned for this year too! I'd love to know!

Until next time beautifuls,

xx

Just Say Yes: Snowboarding in Morzine

In April 2013, I got the chance to go snowboarding again with the Caring Cancer Trust, but this time in Morzine. I had the most amazing time ever and I learnt so much!
You can read about mine, and everyone else's, adventure by clicking here to go over to my full post about the trip on my 'Just Say Yes' blog!

You can also find out how this happened..

Until next time beautiful's,

xx

7 Day No Make-up Challenge

Whether it's just a little bit, or whether they plaster the face in it, pretty much every girl loves to wear make-up. We all just seem to feel more comfortable in it, whether that's to do with taking away our blemishes or just that we cover up our true selves because we don't like it, who knows.

But I wanted to prove to all you girls out there that we don't need make-up, we can be beautiful just be being ourselves!

I am like all you girls out there, I wear make-up on a daily bases and pretty much cover myself up. I feel prettier in it, I feel more comfortable and I find a lot more people talk to me and take interest in me when I do wear it, so to do this challenge, it was a tough decision for me!
But I did it for you girls, to prove a point.

Starting from Saturday 12th October, I put my make-up in the cupboard and didn't touch it.
I went to dancing with no make-up, I went to cadets and I even went to college every single day with no make-up (which was fab because my friend made some good looking boys sit with us the one week I didn't look great at all..). I felt uncomfortable for the first few days, but by the end of the 7 days, I actually debated whether I'd go back to make-up or not!
My skin felt so much fresher, I had so many less spots than usual and it was so much less effort, I could have an extra half hour in bed!

Everyday, I took a picture to prove I really did it.

Don't be afraid to show who you really are, because everyone of you reading this right now are naturally beautiful.

Try this challenge, even if it's just for one day. Step out of your comfort zone and hide your make-up for a day, or 7! See how much better you feel without that stuff on your face clogging up your paws and let people see your natural beauty, because it's there whether you can see it or not!

Don't feel like you have to hide yourself.

You reading this, you're beautiful!

Until next time beautiful's,

xx

Evening Outfit

Outfit
Dress - Primark

Shoes - Shoe Zone

Make-up

Foundation - Rimmel London Match Perfection

Concealer - Rimmel London Wake Me Up

Mascara - Miss Sporty

Eyeliner - Rimmel London Exaggerate

Blusher - Technic

Lipgloss - "The Only Way Is Essex" own brand

Everyone loves to dress up when they go to a party. But to this party specifically, I decided to keep it toned down. I love these little style dresses with a more skirted bottom because it makes me feel really girly! Even if it is a cheapy from Primark, I love Primark! Also, I'm not a big heel wearer so I keep myself comfortable in little dolly shoes. If you're not a fan of wearing heels, don't be afraid to wear something little that makes you comfortable!

Make-up wise, I don't have a big collection, but I use what I've got to give me more of a natural party look!

Until next time beautiful's,

xx

Just Say Yes: First Yes, Snowboarding in La Rosière

The first time I ever said yes was at an opportunity to go snowboarding in the French Alps with the Caring Cancer Trust, a charity that take recovering cancer patients (16 and under) away on holiday as a treat after their treatment.

Here is my story of why and how:

The guys I spent my week with. Miss them all a lot!

I got invited to go to the French Alps with the Caring Cancer Trust by the event organiser from Piam Brown children's cancer ward, the ward I was treated in for cancer 13 years ago. I was taking sponsor money up to the ward after running the Great South Run with my mum, I do this every year because I cant thank them enough for saving my life, when I was asked if I would like to go on the trip. The event organiser said she had invited me because I have raised so much money and done so much for the ward, she would like to treat me to say thankyou. I couldn't believe my luck because I had never been snowboarding or skiing before and it is something I had always wanted to do. I was a little anxious at the time because I wouldn't know anyone who was going with me, but am I glad I said yes! It was one of the best decisions I have ever made!

On the day of departure, I was really worried because it was the first time I had been away without my family and I felt like I was alone. But within 10 minutes on the coach, I felt like I had known everyone for years already. They were all so friendly and welcoming and I realised that they were all going through the same feelings as me. It was a long journey but sharing stories about treatment with the other children made me realise that I'm not the only child that's been through a horrible time with cancer. 

Driving up the mountain and arriving at the chalet we stayed in was beyond my expectations. It was honestly the most beautiful place I had ever seen! We went up to the top of the mountain almost straight away, got our boards and started learning the basics and throughout the week, we learnt more and more. By the end of the week we could all perform spins and jumps! It was unbelievable the amount we had learnt in such a short space of time! All of this was down to our two incredible instructors, Annette and James. They were true stars! 

Our beautiful chalet.

Learning the basics.

Every day, we would go back to the chalet in the afternoon and we would play some indoor and outdoor games and even go in the outside hot tub with an amazing view before all sitting together to enjoy dinner made by the chef, James. His food was outstanding! In the evening, we would either sit down together and watch a film or sit around the camp fire together singing and roasting marsh mellows. Everyone made it seem so homely at the chalet, and the nights around the camp fire were the best nights of my life! 

The incredible view from the hot tub! Never seen anything more amazing!

Night around the camp fire.

At the end of the week, we all got given special awards and shared lots of memories. Two main awards were given out. The first one was for being the best snowboarder, this went to Henry who really deserved it as he was outstanding! The other was the Jenny Jones award, for being the most positive and most supportive to everyone throughout the week. To my surprise, I got this award, and I couldn't be more thankful for it! 

Throughout the week, I learnt that building a great friendship isn't as hard as I have always thought it is. I have made some friends for life on this trip, children and adult! My confidence has grown so much and I also learnt you can do anything if you really believe in it! 

 So that's my story of the first time I said yes. I hope it inspires you to say yes to more opportunities you get!

If you want to read a more detailed story or more stories, then you can read them on my other blog that's all about saying yes by clicking here!

Until next time beautiful's,

xx

Budget Prom Outfit

When you leave secondary school, you are more than likely to have a prom. Prom is a night where the year group leaving come together for one last night in fancy dresses and suits to celebrate the time they've had together at school. (Some primary schools do a prom now which I totally disagree with. I just had a leavers party when leaving primary school but hey ho). It started in America, but us Brits stole it!

When people think of prom, they think a big fancy night with a big fancy dress/suit and amazing transport to get there and all of this stuff that, at the end of the day, costs them hundreds, sometimes thousands of pounds!

However, I really don't agree with that. It's one night! You can find a lush dress and transport and everything else VERY cheap, and that's what I did. So I thought I'd share with you my 'budget prom outfit' for under £100!

Dress
I always wanted a straight down flowy dress. Nothing too fancy, nothing too big and nothing too 'gypsy wedding style'. So I went on a hunt and I found my first dress. I wasn't sure if it was 'the one', but I couldn't bare to leave it in the shop (TK Max) in case I couldn't find anything else and it got sold, so I bought it for a very cheap £36!

Then a few weeks later, I went shopping in West Quay in Southampton with my family to look for more dresses and we wondered into a shop, Jane Norman, that was shutting down so they had 70% off everything. In there, I picked up a few dresses and went to try them on. As soon as I put on the second dress, I knew it was the one! Even my dad was speechless. I bought it straight away for an extremely cheap £25! Bargain!

So even if you do want a big gypsy wedding style dress, you don't have to spend a massive amount. Just look in the right shops and you are bound to find something you love for a bargain price!

Accessories

I knew the kind of jewellery I wanted because I loved what my sister had for her prom six years before, a pretty necklace and earrings. I also knew where my sister had got hers from so I went there too, Debenhams. There, I found a beautiful necklace and earring set for just £6!
Unfortunately, one of the earrings fell out of my ear on the night so I only have one left..

Then on the shelf above, I found a matching bracelet also for £6, so I picked that up too. 

So I got the jewellery I wanted and extra for just £12! Pretty chuffed with that!

On the back of my dress was a big pink bow made of ribbon, so I decided instead of having a tiara like everyone else, I would just have a little pink ribbon in the back of my hair. To get the ribbon, I just went to my local cake decoration shop and got a metre of ribbon from them. I took my dress along to find the right match of ribbon and I actually got the exact match of colour, bonus! A metre only cost me around 75p so I couldn't complain about that!

Shoes

I didn't really know what sort of shoes I wanted, so I just had a look around. However, I didn't necessarily need to purchase any shoes because my sisters prom shoes worked perfectly with my dress, but I still had a quick look around. I found some pretty silver sandals with a sparkly bow on and a small heel, but in the end I decided to play it safe and stick with my sister flat shoes. That meant no cost in shoes at all. (Apart from purchasing a pair of heel grips because they were a size too big, but they were only 99p).

Bag

Everyone needs a bag! My sister, again, had a bag from her prom that matched the shoes perfectly, but I decided I couldn't deal with her bag because it was a clutch bag and clutch bags are not my closest if friends in the bag community. So I went searching for a bag with a shoulder strap. I found one in the shop I found the silver sandals in. It was the same colour as my dress and it had a long shoulder strap, what more could I ask for?! So I got it. Bag sorted! (I don't know how much that was, my mum bought that for me.. under £10 I think!) It wasn't the roomiest of bags, but it just about fitted in what I needed, my phone, a camera and a pack of tissues.

Hair and Make-up

I didn't want anything too 'wowcher' for my hair, just something simple, and I wanted it down. So a half up half down style sounded good to me!
I found a few images on Google to get a rough idea of what I wanted and saved them to take to the hairdressers for them to work around.

I then found another picture, and I got stuck between these two:

I asked a few people and then decided on the first picture.
When I got to the hairdressers, I showed her the picture and asked her to incorporate the ribbon into it and  she said it would be about £25 which is a stupidly expensive amount! But after she did it, she decided to give it to me for £15 which is still pretty bad but more reasonable.
The cheapest way I would reccomend is to get a friend or family member to do you hair for free. I only didn't go for this option because I don't know anyone who is a hair dresser, damn!

Make-up wise, I did want a professional to do it for me (I was bound to make a mess of it myself) but my parents wouldn't pay for and I didn't have any money. So I did end up doing it myself. I practiced a few days before, but it didn't turn out much more than my every day wear, but it did for the night!

So your local hairdresser may be able to do some sort of deal for you, but the cheapest place to go is to someone you know personally who can do it for free, I'm sure they won't mind!
And don't go and spend out a bomb on getting a professional to do your make-up either, it's always worth it to DIY (see what I did there.. yep haha) or even get a friend to do it, you'll still look beautiful either way, natural or made up!

Transport

There was a big dilemma with transport. Seven of us did want to go in something fancy, but then arguments happened and we ended up going just three of us.
We went down the cheapest route and borrowed a family friends car. This meant we got it for free (we just had to pay £5 each for petrol which isn't bad at all!) and we got a driver! We went in a white Mercedes. Nothing to big and fancy, but nice enough to satisfy us!

I apologise if I gabbled on a bit there, but that's how to get a budget prom outfit for under £100!
Who need's to spend hundreds or even thousands of pounds on one night when you'll have as good a night and look just a beautiful going for al the cheapies!

I hope this helped/helps you spend as little as possible but still look just as stunning on your prom night! Let me know in the comments how much you spent!

Until next time beautiful's
xx