Blogmas- Day 6

How I deal with the cold while having a Chronic Illness

Dealing with the cold is often really hard this time of year, especially living with a chronic illness! This is still hard even when I do all of these steps as the heat makes my headaches worse, but the cold makes my pain worse so it’s finding a happy medium. Where I live the temperature changed really dramatically so it made my pain flare up, however I’m going to share some of my tips that might help you to prevent having flare ups xox

Wrap up!

First thing is to wrap up warm. This is an essential for me I wear extra layers all the time even when I’m not even do something outside but then you have the option to take layers off! These are all the layers if I was to go outside for at least half an hour: 

•      A vest top tucked into my jeans under my top
•      Tights under my jeans
•      Gloves
•       Hat mines was four pound out of Primark and is so cute!
•       Scarf, I love the wide tartan ones as they are really cosy as well as fashionable ;)
•    Hoodie
•    Jacket

If I wear all of these I definitely do keep cosy and warm.

Hot water bottle

This is a really obvious one, however I’m not sure if this is just a UK thing or not so I thought I would mention this anyway. Hot water bottles are my saviour honestly I have like 5 a day! This doesn’t only get a heat in yourself it also relaxes you which is always a great bonus. If you didn’t know what a hot water bottle is (you probably do but I will tell you anyway hehe) it’s a wide bottle that you fill with hot water from the kettle, you usually get covers for them I don’t have a cover on it but you get really cute sets with a hot water bottle and a cover. Mines is so dirty but oh well!

Heated mits and booties

You are probably thinking what?! When I was in home bargains about a month ago I spotted this box with heated mits and booties and it wasn’t expensive about £10-£15 which if quite good, especially if it gets a heat in you! These are also scented with lavender which I find so calming. These are available in 2 different colours; cream and light blue of course I got the light blue (it’s my favourite colour ;)). I’m sorry I don’t have the proper name or brand but if you have a home bargains near you check it out or have a look online. 

Blankets

Fluffy blankets are like my obsession, most of the time I have one over me! I feel a comfort from a blanket for some reason. Mines is from B&M and was pretty inexpensive, it’s a gorgeous light blue colour and it’s unbelievably soft!

Bake/Cook

This sounds so silly, but having the oven on makes you so toasty! Also when you are doing heavy mixing you get really tired and warmer as you are basically working out! The bonus is you get to hopefully eat something really yummy ;))

Hot water

You could do multiple things to go in warm water, it’s so easy and is always so relaxing. The following are some ways that I like to get my body in warm water!

·         Jacuzzi – this is one of my favourite ways, I usually go to a local swimming pool which has a Jacuzzi, and I do this once a week. Sometimes I do physiotherapy in it but most of the I just sit and relax

·         Bath – pretty much everyone can do this and it’s good as you can adjust the temperature to your liking. You can also make it fun add bath bombs, bubble bars, bath fizzers etc. which just makes a massive difference!

·         Wash Dishes – this is quite a boring one but I know a lot of people who are in the same position as me want a bit more independence but are too sore/tired to do much. But this is a good one as you can be nice and cosy at the same time and you might earn pocket money!

·         Hydrotherapy – I know this isn’t widely available, but if you do have an opportunity to go please take it. It has helped me so much I have gained loads more strength without causing as much pain. If you aren’t sure what hydrotherapy is it’s basically a really hot pool (around 35 degrees Celsius) and you do physio exercises in there.

 

Slippers

This is something that I have just recently got into wearing and I love them. I got them for my birthday so I am not sure where they are from but they are like my perfect pair of slippers. They are fluffy inside and are like boots but they don’t squeeze my feet. These are now one of my essentials ;)

Fleecy clothes

I am all for anything fleecy and cosy, especially pj’s! I have loads of fluffy pj’s! ;) You can get fleecy clothes literally anywhere for a pretty inexpensive price. Primark is definitely the best place to look for fleecy pj’s and also they are so cheap!

Fluffy fitted sheets

I bet your thinking ‘Emma what are you talking about’?! Well I was in dunelm mill and I saw a light blue blanket type thing, but it was a fluffy fitted sheet! I have never heard of such a thing and I honestly love it! It is so unbelievably soft and this definitely heats me up and has improved my sleep

Heated Clothes

The sub title doesn’t mean actual heated clothes, but I have a little life hack for you. It is to put your clothes on the radiator before you wear them. This honestly makes me feel so warm, especially if your clothes are fleecy!

Hope you liked this post, I haven’t really talked in detail about my pain before so I think I will do an introduction type post please comment if you would like to see that. I was so relaxed while writing this post and was actually feeling warmer for some reason, I wonder if you felt that as well or if it was just me being weird haha! Remember we are doing blogmas so there will be another post tomorrow :)) – em <3

Blogmas- Day 5

Morning Routine-Winter;

Christmas Countdown; 20 days

Hiya guys, leah here! Today's the fifth day of blogmas, i'm actually on schedule for once. Today I'll be telling you guys my winter morning routine, comment yours too!

First, I obviously wake up - or I try to anyway since I either go back to bed or go on my phone to check my social media, read blogs & watch a few vlogmasses until I feel fully awake and ready for the day. That's when I finally get out of bed and put on my dressing gown that I got for my birthday, but today I put on my jacket because my dressing gown was in the wash. After that I go downstairs to see my mother, sister and brother eating breakfast already since I wake up the latest. I usually have some squash with toast and some cereal while I watch TV.

Then I go and make myself look like I haven't been dragged through a bush by just doing my hair and putting it in a plait or side ponytail, washing my face, brushing my teeth and putting on some decent clothes that'll keep me warm and some fuzzy socks, duh! I know this sounds fake but I actually go outside and run around the park that's near my house (if it's not rainy) because I want to get fitter and apparently it helps to calm you, I do this everyday - even if I have school where then I run to the bus stop, but with a heavy bag it's much harder! 

By the time I get home I have to clean out my budgies' (I have 2) cage and refill their food and water. After that I usually talk to them or put on a budgie song on YouTube that they chirp along to as they've been getting really quiet and bored recently. But, they're getting better so that's really good. 

I either do homework and get it over with or just chill and watch TV, my morning routine isn't really that interesting but I didn't know what to else to post, so hope you all enjoyed day 5 of blogmas!

-Leah xxx

Blogmas- Day 4

Real Techniques Brush Collection + Review

Hi everyone I recently picked up my first ever real technique brushes, I got the core collection, starter set and the blush brush. I am overall so happy with them, I had high expectations and they exceeded them! I really want to buy more and complete the original collection as I’m in love <3 < see what I did there ;)

Core Collection

This set comes with 4 brushes and they are all super soft! This is usually £20.99 but are on offer currently on amazon for £13.78 which is so good, over 30% saving.

The first brush is the buffing brush which is amazing! I use this to buff in my bb cream and concealer and to make sure my concealer is blended in under my eyes.

The next brush is pointed foundation brush which I use for my concealer under my eyes. I personally wouldn’t this for foundation or bb cream as I find it quite small as it smears and doesn’t really blend that well. But I do think this great for concealer under your eyes as you can just pat it in then if you use too much you can always just drag it off.

The contour brush which is my first ever contour brush and it’s so good! I personally can’t compare it to any other brush but I think it’s such a good shape to get a nice contour. I have only used this a few times as I don’t contour every day and to be honest I need more practice!

The last brush is the detailer brush which I don’t use, at first it was quite hard and jaggy. If I paid full price I would have been quite annoyed. I have tried it once or twice and I didn’t find this blended very well and didn’t really do much.

Starter Set

This set has 5 eye brushes and is such good value. They contain every brush you would need to complete endless looks. I have had so much fun experimenting with different looks with these brushes! This retails for £20.99 but I got it for £13.28 I think this is great value as the individuall mac brushes are the around the same price as the whole set!

The first brush in this set is the base shadow brush which I have used loads. This is such a good shape and fits perfectly on my lid! I have struggled to find a good brush for my lid and this is definitely the one!

One of my favourite brushes is the deluxe crease brush. This is such a good brush for blending or just adding a bit definition to your crease. I love how it blends so effortlessly and really makes an almost airbrushed look!

The next brush which has such a perfect shape is the brow brush. I use this after I comb through my eyebrows then I use it without product to get a better shape and it does a really good job! I personally don’t fill my eyebrows in as they are naturally filled in and I prefer a more natural brow look. I have tried with some eye shadow and filled them in and it worked well ;)

The fine liner brush is the next one I will be talking about. I have not actually used this however it is still very soft yet firm enough to not be flimsy. I’m sure this will be just as good as the other ones though!

The last brush is the accent brush which I use to put white eyeshadow in my tear duct. This was quite hard at first however softened up the more I used it. This is such a good size and fits perfectly in my tear duct. I have never found a good brush to fit in my tear duct so I was so thrilled when I tried this one

Finishing brush

I only have one brush out of this collection but I love the brush I do have it’s the blush brush. This is honestly such a good brush, this shape is so perfect and I don’t know why all blush brushes don’t all have the same shape. This is probably the softest brush and is so unbelievably fluffy! This was super inexpensive as I got it on sale of amazon for £5.50, when it’s not on sale it’s £9.99 which I think it’s still amazing price.

Overall these brushes are absolutely amazing, I am blown away about how good they were. I saw people using them on youtube and of course Sam and Nic! It’s also really nice that I am supporting youtubers but you are getting a brilliant product. The two sets, the core collection and the starter kit both came with a brush case/stand. The brush case/stand come in so handy when you are drying your brushes as you can hang them upside down! Altogether these all came to £34.02 which is absolutely amazing I will definitely be buying more in the near future.

I rate this product 10/10

Please let me know if you liked this post and want more reviews – em <3

Blogmas- Day 3

Winter Essentials;

Christmas Countdown; 22 days

Hiya guys! Leah here, and we really need to think of a name to call you, instead of guys, know what I mean? If you have any ideas please comment below. 22 more days 'till Christmas! I honestly can't wait.

So, I'll be telling you guys what essentials you'll need for winter! If you have any of these items already please comment which is your fave, because I'm going on a shopping spree soon. 

The first thing you ABSOLUTELY need in winter is a festive sweater! You can't get through winter without a sweater, it's so cold outside and festive sweaters are so cuddly and warm. I usually buy one or half a size larger because it's warmer and cuter  and you can maybe use it next year or whenever you're cold. My favourite ones are the ones in Primark, Next & Asos. Especially Primark because they are pretty cheap and such good quality - I don't have any pictures yet because I haven't bought mine yet, what a crime! 

I could talk all day about sweaters but we need to get on to the next essential, which is bobble hats! They are also super cute and comfy, although they're mostly for outside but you can wear it when you're cold inside (which is what I usually do) so basically they'll keep your head warm. I don't mind where I buy my hats, since most of the ones I find are cute and warm. I usually like ones that match my sweater or ones that are in festive colours/patterns. But that might just be me, what about you guys?

Another thing isn't a thing you can keep forever and wear but a hot chocolate/Starbucks. Just buy hot chocolate powder and then it's easy from there. I love it because it's relaxing and warm. If you want a little more flavour I'd suggest buying either Starbucks blends or an actual Starbucks from their coffee shop, either way it's amazing. What I usually do is I wear my sweater and make hot chocolate, then I go into my room and turn on my fairy lights as I had turned my main light off and I cover a blanket over myself on my bed while watching vlogmases/Christmassy videos - it makes me feel prepared and ready for Christmas and it's so calming. I actually do my homework too, I'm not exactly a nerd but I like to get homework done so I don't have to worry about it, and since I'm getting so much more, and what better time to do it with my hot chocolate? For me it's usually just easier to do it and less stress, tell me if this works for you, if not comment  what it did, it may not work for everyone since everyone's unique. xx

Another thing is quite cute and quirky, but I think you guys might like it so here goes. I think it's cute if you have a Christmas diary to write about your holidays so you'll see how much they've changed during each year. Also it makes you feel grateful for the things you have gotten because you can describe your gifts in detail and what you do which I think makes you feel like a better person. Although, I'm not necessarily need to write in down - you can type it like maybe as a blog or an online diary, if you do make a blog please comment the link and I'll be sure to check it out!

Basically all my essentials are warm and cosy so of course we need to add fuzzy socks & warm pyjamas! Recently, my mum bought me new pyjamas and fuzzy socks from Primark and they are so cosy! Honestly, I love Primark their clothes and items are such good quality and at a reasonable, if not cheaper, price! I'd totally recommend you to shop there. Surprisingly, it helps me sleep better because it's calming and all my worries 

just seems to disappear. I love them!

So that's day 3 complete! Hope you guys enjoyed it and have a lovely day! xx

-Leah xx

Blogmas: Day Two

Favourite Bath Products

Since it’s been getting colder I have been having more and more baths! I’m going to be sharing some of my favourite essentials perfect for a relaxing pamper night, Hope you enjoy. Also I apoligise for no pictures, I took them multiple times but the lighting was horrible so I didn’t include them. Even though I love Lush I’m not going to mention any products in this post as I’m saving them for a separate post, so stay tuned ;) xx

Hair

I lot of people don’t wash their hair in the bath and I never used to until I didn’t have a choice! #chronicpainlife :( I still use the same shampoo and conditioner if you want to find out more about my hair care routine I already have a blog post on that ;)

Shower Gel/Cream

I have been switching between 2 shower gels recently the Zoella Soak Opera and the Soap and Glory Clean on me shower cream. Zoella Soak Opera is a repurchase for me but lasts ages. I love the scent of it and you can still smell it when you wash it off! The Soap and Glory Clean on me shower cream is a new product to me, I have only been using it a week or so but I love it! Its very moisturising and the smell is just so nice.

Bath Bombs/Bath Fizzers

I recently went into home bargains and I noticed they had bath bombs, they had quite a few scents but didn’t seem to have a brand name?! It was under £1 so I thought I might aswell take it in the strawberry scent. I was presently surprised by this it was so silky and made my skin so soft, it didn’t pay off loads of colour but it had a tint of pink. It is now one of my favourites as it was so so moisturising. The next product I’m going to mention is the bomb cosmetics cupcake bath fizzers, these come in loads of scents and are so nice. They smell so lovely and give off quite good colour. These are quite pricey, £3.49 and considering they are small but you can get them in sets on amazon and are lovely to receive as presents. The last product is the Zoella fizz bar which is probably my favourite in this category, it’s so inexpensive but such great quality! I’m not just saying it because I love Zoe, I generally just love this product and would buy it if I didn’t know who Zoe was!

Scrubs

I love body scrubs so much I use them every day, it’s an essential for me! My favourite ones are the Zoella scrubbing me softly and Soap and Glory scrub of your life. The Zoella scrub smells nicer than the Soap and Glory, however the Soap and Glory scrub works better for me. I switch between them and it just depends on what I fancy. I usually use the Zoella scrub in the morning as it’s quite refreshing and at night I would use the Soap and Glory one.

I hope you enjoyed this post and stay tuned for a new blog post tomorrow - em <3xo

Blogmas: Day One 🎄

November Favourites 🌙;

Helloo guys! It's Leαh here + I'm doing the first post of...BLOGMAS! *loud cheers from you* Why, thank you. I am so honoured to be doing this. :P Okay back to Blogmas... Today I'll be telling you guys my November favourites, as you can tell from the mini title. 

First of all, this is quite an old thing but I still love it, I've been loving Zoella's tuttifrutti collection - especially the body mist!

It's smells absolutely lovely! I've been using it a lot recently as you can see it's starting to get empty which means I'll be having to buy another. On that note, it was about £5-6 to buy which is actually cheap because one of my favourites (you'll see soon), a perfume, cost me almost £30 which, I personally think, is overpriced although it smells amazing! The texture of the most when you spray if feels so fresh & quite Christmassy. That might just be me though...  It smells like vanilla with a hint of strawberry, it's a really subtle smell but it's perfect for winter, even though it was made and meant for summer. I'm probably starting to ramble so I'll move onto the next item.

Another Zoella Beauty product - meant for summer again! - is her 'kissy missy' lip balm which is a pretty bold pink.

 The reason I love this so much is because, if you don't know already, I don't wear lipstick or makeup in that matter and this pink shade is perfect because it's quite subtle but you can still see the new shade and it's absolutely beautiful, and it smells like vanilla which is amazing because it's enjoyable when you put it on. It's meant for summer but since it's getting colder outside my lips are getting cracked and this lip balm really helps to hide it for a while and sort of fill in the cracks - it's just lovely. Also, the texture is so smooth and it's so easy to apply, literally it'll take up 5 seconds to put it on, which is a huge advantage for me because I'm so busy and I barely have time to write blog posts - but as I made a promise I will be writing during blogmas, so yay for you! You get to enjoy my ramblings.

This next favourite is AMAZING, it isn't a Zoella product which is surprising since most of my things are from her collection.  But this item is body cream and it basically keeps your skin smooth during colder days, since it's the season my skin gets really dry.

I'm not exactly sure where I got this but I think it might be from TKMaxx. I love this so much because it lasts long and keeps and also makes your skin smoother even if it's super dry - like mine. It also smells like coconuts mixed it with a sprinkle of chocolate and I can smell it all day, it isn't too strong but you can smell it and it's such a pleasure. I totally recommend this, it'll make you feel good and smell good. It also gives you a small tan/glow, since my skin gets paler in the winter this is great to keep my tan. Although I need to buy another as mine is quickly running out, oops!

This is another Zoella Beauty item, I'm sorry but her products are amazing and super cue so I just can't stand watching them on thesuperdrug shop shelves, without an owner to use them!

 

This is quite new to her collection and it's honestly a life saver! It's the perfect size so it can fit into your bag and you can use it any time your hands feel dull and dry. The good thing about this is that when you apply it feels like the stickiness (that feeling you get when you apply cream on your body - ugh!) it immediately feels as if you didn't put cream on your hands, it still feels fresh but you feel comfortable in your own hands. It also smells fresh and minty - the perfect smell for Christmas! It's also packaged it a cute. box which is adorable and it's so attracting that you can't leave it once you see it on the shelves!

The last item is NOT Zoella Beauty, but it's a perfume and it's amazing and it smells... mmmm!

First of all, let's talk about its appearance... it's flawless! The container of the actual perfume is in a pink glass look a like raindrop inside a gold cage - it's adorable and once I saw it I immediately wanted it even if it cost almost £30 which was honestly worth it- although I've tried not to use it too much so it can last. I bought it at Zara, which is one of my favourite clothing/stuff shops, a few weeks ago I believe. It's smells super fresh and when I'm quite stressed as soon as I put this on I feel calmer. I'd recommend this as a Christmas present!

So those have been my favourites in November, there weren't many because I didn't buy too much as I was saving for Christmas gifts and decorations. So, dating of blogmas...COMPLETE!

-Leah xx

5 ways to cheer me up

Sometimes you need a bit of cheering up to make you feel better and a lot more positive. So the following are things that instantly cheers me up and ways that might cheer you up to!

1. Bath treats

Nothing can beat having a lovely hot bath, surrounded by candles glowing in the dark. I love using a cocktail of products including a bath bomb, bubble bar, bath salts, face wash, facial scrub, body scrub, shower gel and shower cream. This makes me feel so relaxed and pampered. My skin all smooth and my face all soft and blemish free. I usually do this once or twice a week to be relaxed and happier.

2. Seeing friends and family

This is probably really cheesy but I don’t know where I would be without my family. I am instantly cheered up especially with my little cousins who are so caring and actually understand the pain better than my first idiot of a doctor! But yeah they are always laughing and happy which is actually very admirable! Also seeing my friends, every week we have been going to a Jacuzzi and having a good catch up you also get a yummy slush that you can take in the pool!

3. Watching youtube

I’m obsessed with youtube I love it so much! It’s actually what inspired Leah and I to make this blog! I love getting all cosy and just relax and watch some youtube videos some of my favourite channels at the moment are Emily Caham, Zoella and Meg Says. There are so many people and videos out there for all moods. I watch Joe Sugg and Caspar Lee when I’m sad and to relax I watch Niomi Smart and Anna Saccone for some reason their voices are so calming! Is it just me who thinks that?!

4. Hydrotherapy

I love hydrotherapy, I have a really nice group and I love how warm it is as my body is always like ice! If you didn’t know what hydrotherapy is; it’s part of physio therapy but instead of doing exercises on a mat you do them in a very warm small swimming pool. I’m in charge of the music and it’s like a little party every week! After we do our exercises we get to play games or just float and relax. For my birthday they got a cake and they sung happy birthday to me! I know a lot of people don’t like physio and I am so blessed to have the best team (after waiting ages and being ignored).

5. Shopping

Nothing like retail therapy! I recently went shopping with my mum to a massive shopping centre and spent all of my birthday money and I had quite a lot!! It was so fun, if I saw something I saw something I liked I got it!! I got loads of stuff and I can’t wait to spend (hopefully Christmas money!)

I hope you enjoyed this blog post and comment below if you want more of these posts xx – em <3