Lifestyle | Fight that Fatigue!

Hello hello hello!

So while my blog's having a revamp, I thought i'd take this opportunity to introduce you to a product i've found that has genuinely saved my behind on more than one occasion now!

This product is from a cosmetic/skincare company called Arbonne (discover more about it at Arbonne.com).

And they're called Fizz Sticks!

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I was introduced to these by my friend Jen, and I was a bit sceptical at first, but I read up on them and decided to give them a go!

As I have fibromyalgia, during longer shifts I usually start to flag. I get really tired, and i just need to sit down and do nothing for a while, while my body resets itself and gives me a boost.

That's where these come in! They are packed full of natural goodness, B vitamins, natural caffiene, fruity-flavours, green tea extract, and only 5 calories!

So I was at work on a mad long shift, something like 14 hours... And it got to around 4pm, and the fatigue set in.... I was very close to getting in the staff bed and thinking of how I could possibly explain to my manager why I was in bed in the middle of the afternoon, when I remembered I had a fizz stick in my bag!

I mixed it in with a bit of water (note; let it rest for a while once you've mixed, or you'll get a mouthful of powder, like the cinnamon challenge, but slightly more fragrant!)

This tiny little packet gave me enough energy to work all the way through to 10pm! 

I've used these whilst i had a horrid cold/cough, and am usining them at the moment while battling a kidney infection, and i'm quite convinced that these are helping me recover much faster than usual!

I also use then while at the gym. I split the packet, and put half in my bottle while working out and half in the one i drink after, and I feel like my performance has improved so much! (So far i've been able to complete all exercises with my personal trainer without havung to stop in between, but shh lets not jinx it!)

So what do you say? Do you fancy giving your fatigue a kick up the bum?

Have a look on EmilyStansfield.arbonne.com and search for Fizz Sticks! They come in Pomegranite of Citrus flavor!

Beauty | Halloween Master Class with Peaches and Cream

I'm back... again!

So the thing is I was quite poorly/recovering from surgery throughout most of October, and therefore, I decided to mostly concentrate on my 30 Days of Halloween hoohar to make that amazeballs, instead of keeping up with my blog and doing the halloween things, which would have made them both a bit half arsed...

But yes, i'm back! And i've got a whole month of shenanigans to catch up on, starting with my visit to Peaches and Cream in Liverpool on the 14th October!

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This place was my fortress of happiness. It was pink, there's glitter everywhere. I have honestly never been to a place which made me so happy just by how pink it looked! If I could have moved in, I would have.

The reason I was here was for a Halloween Make Up masterclass, and for those of you that know Peaches, you know it's about to get epic!

It was Kate who took the class that day, and immediately upon walking through the door you were greeted with the biggest smile (and the best accent). She explained to us how the outfit she'd created was made from rolls of bondage tape (not just a pretty face!), and how today we'd be learning how to create the look of Maleficent. 

She took us through the look step by step, mentioning how you should start on the eyes so that any excess product that fell onto the face can be wiped off without ruining your base make up... which seems obvious, but this never actually occurred to me until she mentioned it...

She was more than happy to stop and answer any questions we had, and she even made time to show us a few little techniques for creating a 'spider web' look using eyeliner!

To say that I travelled all the way from Leeds to Liverpool to attend this workshop, it was definitely worth it!

The techniques I learnt at the workshop have already been put into practise, and i've got to say, my halloween clients this year were 10 times better than last year thanks to Peaches and Cream!

2015 | September Favourites!

September's nearly over, which means? It's almost my birthday month! (and also, there's another favourites post coming for you!).

Beauty

My first beauty favourite is one from Benefit, and it's their 'Gimmie Brow' gel!

This is in the lighter shade of the two available, and what it does is add fibres to your eyebrow to give them the Cara Delasagne effect... Okay it's not actually described as that, but it makes them fuller and thicker, and just all out brow-tastic.

I've never quite worked out how to properly give my eyebrows that bit of oomph. Other people's are easy, but it's always worse when it's your own! This stuff is so easy to use, and you can see the tutorial on the Benefit website here.

It's more at the high end scale price wise, coming in at £18.50, but it's the perfect thing to treat your brows to!

Next up, we have a late addition to my favourites. I only bought this yesterday, (and immediately bought another on online after trying it), but it's amazing! It goes on so smoothly, and from past lip gloss experience I expected to need a few applications before the colour I wanted showed through, but one was all I needed! The colours are so bold and pigmented, and the wearability is amazing! I put this on, and 10 minutes later  I consumed a pizza... and the colour was still there! Barely any loss at all! It's not sticky, it just feels smooth, and gives your lips the perfect colour, and with the uniquely shaped want, if you're only using it on yourself, you don't  even need to worry about getting it right to the line of your lips, it does it all by itself!

This colour is called Aphrodite, and it priced at £5.99... I've got 'Lunch Date' on it's way to me in the post!

Skincare

I don't know what has happened, but recently my face has been a nightmare! Usually my normal Liz Earle products have done the trick to keep acne at bay, but this time, it hasn't even touched it! My face has been a plethora of acne, blackheads, and red patches, so it was time to take some drastic action.

I've been to my doctors before, but whatever they gave me just hasn't worked for longer than two weeks...

I decided to splurge and pick up some products from Perricone MD. I won't talk too much about them, because there's another blog post coming with a full review, but one week in and i'm very impressed, so keep your eye's peeled! 

They do come in at the higher end of the price tag, and yes my purse did suffer! But when it comes to my face, I will spend as much as it takes to give me that extra confidence boost when needed!

Experiences

September has been a month of spontaneity and awesome opportunities! As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I had the chance to be on set as a make up artist with SKEW magazine, and this weekend, I was asked to take part in a Hair Show with Toni And Guy! 

8 Models, in 3 hours... it was knackering, but so worth it!

Also this month, I decided to get some more tattoos! (Which you may have seen already on my Instagram).

I chose to get this one because the last time I had a tattoo, Donna my tattooist, insisted that I get something with some colour! So obviously, I went all out! Donna loved the artist that was the original inspiration for this image, so she loved doing it. Could this be the start of a full sleeve?

And for those of you that know me, know that I am completely and utterly obsessed with Harry Potter. So much so that I thought what better way to always have it in my life than to have him tattooed on my arm? (Judge me all you want, I don't even care!).

So that's it for another month! And just a word of warning, as next month is my birthday month, it's going to be jam packed full of favourites!

Happy reading!

On Set; With SKEW Magazine!

Photographer: Jason Rose

Make Up Artist: Emily Stansfield

Hair: Robert Jefferies

Stylist: Tracey Laycock

Models: Jakub Nowacki/James Palmer

www.skewmagazine.com

Last Sunday I had the incredible opportunity to work on set on my very first professional photoshoot! To say I was excited would have been the understatement of the century.

The opportunity arose when I saw on Facebook that the owner of SKEW (Johnny Clarke) was looking for a make-up artist who could do black eyes, bruises, and generally making someone look battered. Obviously, that's my forte right?

I've never been on set before. In fact, i'd never done any form of photoshoot before that hadn't been on myself, resulting in taking selfies in front of a mirror, so the nerves did kick in pretty much as soon as I left my car to meet the team in Leeds.

Bright pink make up box in hand (because why not bright pink?), Em Scissorhands was ready to take on the world!

This was my first model, (say hi to James), who sat in the chair with minimal facial hair, and a face that it almost felt a shame to trash. So when I was asked to make his facial hair, match his scalp hair, I was a bit stumped. Having never given someone facial hair before, I was a bit out of my depth. So what did I do? Wing it.

Stippling sponge, a mix of brown and black face paint with some eye shadow thrown in, sorted!

The second model was much more straight forward (this is Jakub). A pale face, pink lips, and a defined brow. 

With a few cuts and bruises thrown in for good measure!

I had the best time on this shoot. When it comes to working long hours, you just don't care when it's doing something you love!

I had such a great team to work with, which definitely helps to settle the nerves.

Days like these definitely help you to know that you've made the right career choice, and that you just need to keep pushing until you get where you want to be.

To check out the full editorial, head over to skewmagazine.com , and don't forget to check out my Facebook and Instagram to have a look at some behind the scenes pictures!

Lifestyle | Adventures Down South!

So this week I finally got to get away from it all and go on a little holiday down south to Guildford! (That's in Surrey for those of you that don't know, (don't worry, i didn't either at first)).

My sister was at university down there, so we decided that before she came back home, i'd pop down for a few days to do some exploring!

First, lets talk about the commute... People in London Victoria bus station are mean!

I don't know if it's because I'm used to friendly Northerners who say hello to everyone they meet, irrelevant of whether they know them or not, but I was definitely not feeling that vibe there! Not to mention the lady in her mobility scooter who decided to stop, complain about something, then proceeded to reverse into the reams of people behind her trying to get to their connecting coaches... According to my sister, I managed to witness every type of person you could meet in London in the space of 10 minutes.

But once i'd met my sister at the other end, everything seemed much brighter!

Every one seems to walk everywhere in Guildford, which for those of you that know me, understand that this is foreign to me! So what they do, so that you can cut through the train station instead of having to lug yourself all the way around town, is they give you this thing called a bridge pass. What is basically is, is a little slip of cardboardy-plastic that means you can walk through the station (or over the bridge), and get out the other side, without buying a ticket! Nifty eh?

So the first night was pretty relaxed. Hannah and I went out for dinner at TGI Friday's and had a catch up on each other's lives, then we came back to her room and watched some movies. Now as she was a student, (I say was because technically when I went down she was, but now she's home she's actually finished her degree), I got to stay in student halls and see a little bit what life would be like if i'd have gone to university. To summarise, the take-aways get dropped off at the other end of campus, the kitchen is literally so far away, and I can't seem to understand why anyone would want to transport their food 5 miles between cooking and eating (clearly i'm exaggerating), and if you have a ground floor room, it is absolutely essential that you make sure the curtains are drawn when you are coming out of the shower!

On day 2, Hannah decided to take me around the shops in Guildford, which are pretty similar to the ones in Leeds, but it was in Guildford where I was on holiday, so it was better. I bought a couple of make-up bits i'd been dying to try, and we treated ourselves to some new clothes from Urban Outfitters! I classed mine as a necessity as that morning I realised the only 'outerwear' type thing i'd brought down with me, excluding my coat, was a Harry Potter Gryffindor hoody which i'd travelled down in! Therefore, I definitely had to buy a new cardigan!

Later that day, once we'd got back to her room, caught up on Coronation Street, and rebooted ourselves, we went out for dinner with one of Hannah's uni friends, and my best friend Emily, who also went to university in Surrey! The Nando's down there had just had a re-vamp, and the open day was that day, so we went there to have yet another catch up, and some food! 

Next up, it was time for pudding. We were all really full after the Nando's, but before I went down, Hannah had told me about a place called Creams, which was literally a dessert restaurant. Everything on the menu was some form of pudding. Literally  everything! 

One portion of one of their puddings was the equivalent to a main course, but as I was on holiday, and at times I can turn my stomach into a bottomless pit, I just about managed to force down a slice (slab) of cheesecake and a scoop of ice cream. (The waffle was my sisters, but I could have definitely eaten that too).

Day 3! My absolute favourite day of the whole time I spent there! Hannah and I went to the Harry Potter Studio tour!

It was truly one of the best days ever! A little bit of me thought that it may ruin the magic, knowing everything behind the scenes, but it didn't, if anything it made it more magical!

I won't bombard you with pictures, because I don't want to spoil it if any of you are going, but it's brilliant! 

Conveniently, at the end of the tour, you're led right into the gift shop, so it'd be rude not to spend any money, right?

After getting home from what can only be described as the day where it was officially confirmed that I am not a muggle, it was quite late, so we ordered a chinese. For those of you keeping count, that's 3 meals out and a take away in as many days... Do not tell my bootcamp instructor!

The next day was all about the travel back up north. So armed with snacks, my headphones, and a phone charger, we got on a coach at 10.50 to start our 7 hour journey back home! After about 30minutes into the journey, I fell asleep anyway...

So if any of you want a more detailed blog about the tour, do let me know, I just didn't want to let out too many spoilers!

2015 | August Favourites!

Another month down, already! August has been so busy, but i've still managed to pull together all my favourite things from this month!

So, some of you may know this, but earlier this month we had a bath reinstalled at the house! We've been living with one of those massive walk in showers, and some days, it just didn't suffice with the relaxing factor! So obviously, when the bath was put back in, I had to get myself some bath bombs from Lush!

My favourite is definitely Frozen! (The blue one) It fizzes like a mad woman and has glitter in it. Play the frozen soundtrack in the background and you're basically Queen Elsa!

The larger pink one is a bubble bar. A little less fancy than the bath bombs, but they provide so many bubbles, it's brilliant!

Now, I've been on some adventures down south earlier this week, so I thought i'd treat myself to a few beauty bits i've wanted for ages but held back on buying.

There will be further reviews on these products, but for a first impression, they're pretty great!

The Collection eyebrow palette comes in Brown and Blonde, as I have fair hair, I chose the blonde. Inside each, there are 3 different shades, an angled brush and a 'clear brow mascara'. I usually go for the middle shade for day-to-day make up, and set it with the mascara, and it really does last all day!

I also purchased Benefits They're Real Mascara in Brown. I love the original, and I've been wanting to try a brown mascara for ages too. Brown mascaras really work to bring out your eyes, especially if your eyes are green, hazel, or brown (obvs). While i've been wearing this, I haven't needed to wear any eye liner, as it really opens up my eyes, where as a black mascara can make my eyes look quite small! It cost £19.50, but I definitely think it's worth the price tag!

Earlier this month, I received an email from Topshop saying they had added more items to the sale. I didn't want to buy anything in particular, but I thought, as I'd just been paid I might have a quick look.

I found these! They were £45 originally, but in the sale I think they were £15?! I'm a sucker for a bargain! They're a perfect fit, so if you buy them, you should go for your normal size. I wore them out the other night, and I had them on from 6pm - 2am, and my feet didn't begin to ache once! I could walk normally, no one had to wait for me to catch up because I was going too slow, and to say they're caged, my feet never got cold!

You go Topshop!

Now, the most exciting part of this month (which will be talked about on the blog in due course), was my visit to the Harry Potter Studio tour with my sister. I won't spoil it, (although, in my next post there will be plenty of pictures!), but I picked up this Pygmypuff keyring to go on my car keys, and I just love it! A fluffy pink key ring to go with my pink car!

So there's not many, but they are my favourite things from this month! Let me know in the comments anything you've been loving that you would recommend!

Lifestyle | Let's talk about First Dates

 First dates ay,, we've all been there!

After being single for a while, I thought maybe I should put myself out there for a bit...see what happens...

Now I met my ex through my brother, because they were friends and they worked together (yeah it was a bit awkward), so i've never really been in the dating world. Most of the time, I think it's safe to assume that that was a good thing.

But where do you start? I'm always busy at work, and my social life isn't exactly buzzing, so obviously the right thing to do was to go for a dating website, more specifically, Tinder. Yeah I know, don't judge me!

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So Tinder. You swipe left or right whether you like someone or not, and no-one knows which way you've swiped on them unless you've both swiped right, meaning you like the look of each other, and this then allows you to talk to each other. Sounds simple, yes?

Well it is. Maybe too simple. 

You get chatting with someone, everything seems to go well then, boom! Dick pic, in your face... Or the guys whose first message is 'Sex or pics'. A personal favourite, 'Do you like dragons?' ... 'Because i'm gonna be dragon my ball across your face later'...

So those guys are pretty much a right off straight away. 

Then there's the ones that you get talking to, who seem alright, who suddenly decide that they want you to be the new mother to their two children, and want you to get married and be a stay at home mum, baking apple pies and changing shitty diapers. Yeah, bye!

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Then we move over to the select few you dare to give your number to. The one's who seem normal, who you have a normal chatty conversation with, who will randomly send you a dick pic when you're innocently sat in the lounge eating your spaghetti bolognese, watching tv with your mum. 'So do you like animals?' 'Yeah I really like cats....' Hmm he must have sent me a picture of his pets... Nope! It's a dick pic!

Or, there's the guys who you have nice chatty conversations with who just stop replying, or you leave the staff room to do a root colour, forgetting that you haven't replied to a message until weeks later when you see that there message is still chilling there, without a reply, but by this time it'd just be awkward if you responded... yes it does actually happen.. Sorry Thomas!

But then there's a handful and by handful I mean a maximum of like, 2-3, who you actually think you might be interested in, and with the back up of a friend sat a few tables away, you agree to meet for lunch/ a drink.

Let me introduce you to a few of my first dates; NB Not all of these have come from Tinder, that was just the start point for this blog!

Mr 'I'm Better Than You Because I Have A Degree'

So it seemed to be going well, but then he asked me about my job, so I obviously replied saying that I was a hair and make up artist...

'So you don't have a degree?'

No

'Did you not get into uni?'

I never applied...

'I think you should do a degree, there's plenty of at home courses you can do, but there not as good as going to a real university, but at least it's something and you're not just stuck being a hairdresser'.

He walked home. Alone.

Mr 'So You're Coming Back to Mine right?'

I never actually went on this date. Because in the whole run up to it, this guy was suggesting that we 'skip the dessert and have pudding back at his'. 

How about no.

Mr ' I've seen your face on Tinder so i'm going to assume that I can sit down next to you'

So I was waiting to have a meeting with someone about joining the Fellowship of British Hairdressing. And some guy, who I didn't even recognise, decided to announce to the whole of Starbucks that he'd recognised me from Tinder, and decided to have a seat... 

The most awkward part? When the guy I was meeting turned up from the Fellowship, he stayed there... Sat chilling there like a third wheel on something that could have potentially been a turning point in my career... Bit invasive to be honest!

Mr 'I'm so casual and laid back, and i'm going to talk all night about my kid and my ex girlfriend who's a psycho bitch'

The dinner was fine. The atmosphere was okay. The fact that he talked about his son didn't even bother me, who doesn't like it when someone is open and honest? But going on, and on, and on, and on, about his ex girlfriend (who he was SO over by the way...), just wasn't cutting it. So I mentioned that maybe we should change the subject, to which he agreed. Which lasted for about 10 minutes...

Don't get me wrong, some first dates go well (obviously, or everyone would be single). In my experience, ONE of my first dates have gone well, but then I caught a bug the day before the second date, and well... that's a story for another time.

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