28. New Hair

I've been thinking for a while about getting my hair cut shorter. My first inspiration was Lollipop26 when she decided to go for the chop to grow luscious, damage-free locks back and then We Are Glitter went for the chop too! I thought their hair looked gorgeous. So since then, I've been umming and arring about what to do. I decided a couple of weeks that I was sick of my split ends and general dryness of my hair and I was so fed up with trying to get a comb through it after washing.

I had a hair appointment for a full head and cut so I was brave and went for the chop. The result?

I love my hair again! Apologies for the photo. I look like a rabbit in headlights. My hair feels soft, is split end free and I can mess it up and get some real volume (not shown in this photo!). My hairdresser cut long layers to give body but so it's not too short when tying up. She then cut in a shorter side fringe as my fringe had totally grown out which adds a bit more interest to my previous rather ordinary mane.

My boyfriend likes my hair now because he can actually get his hands through it instead of me very unromantically screeching in pain from the knots! And it doesn't take quite a long to dry so he doesn't have to put up with the sound of my hairdryer for quite as long!

One thing I'm struggling with though is new hairstyles. Do any of you have any tips for easy up dos for shorter hair?

Naomi
xx

27. In and Out

I've seen a few people do In and Out blogs so here's a round-up of my current thoughts:

In
Carmex

This has to be the best lip balm going, especially the strawberry scented version. Carmex actually moisturises your lips (unlike other products such as Vaseline which just sit on your lips) and you can feel the effects for ages afterwards. It contains menthol so when you apply, it makes your lips feel tingly. I'm sure menthol is meant to make your lips look fuller too. Always a bonus! And it contains SPF 15 :)

MAC Dazzleglass


My friend went to Dubai and brought me back Baby Sparks. The MAC website describe it as "pale pink with violet pearl". It looks great on it's own or over lippie and really makes your lips sparkle. I love the vanilla smell too and the brush applicator. I find the brush is better than the spongey one.

World Cup
It's the first England match tonight and I expect the whole of the county to be glued to the TV with a hot dog in one hand and a beer/glass of wine in another. I like that the World Cup brings unity to the country and for once, we all want the same thing (England to win of course!).

Glaceau Vitamin Water

Image from www.vitaminwater.co.uk

These are expensive, around £1.70 per bottle but they taste amazing. The idea behind the range is that there are several different flavours with different vitamins, minerals and good stuff to help you through your day. The waters have different names such as Defence (my fave), Revive, Energy and Power-C and then a description about what they do. Do they work? Well I don't know but I like them for a treat every now and then and it beats just drinking water all the time.

Out
Baptise Dry Shampoo - Gold Shimmer

The photo above shows the amount of shimmer involved. I'm talking a whole pot of glitter not a subtle shimmer. I saw this in Boots last week and as they didn't have my usual Blush one, I thought I'd try this out. Warning: don't buy this unless you wish to acheive a gold glitter dandruff look! Not good. And then I didn't think about the fact that everytime I use this, my friends will know I've been too lazy to wash my hair. I'll stick to the Blush or Tropical one next time!

England Car Flags

Ok call me a snob but I find these flags so tacky. I feel like walking up to the car in question and snapping them off. Yes we're in England, yes we're all supporting them in the World Cup but please don't offend my eyes with this rubbish.

Lack Of Sofa and Mess
I've just moved out of home after living at the same house for all 25 years of my life into my very own "home". Or at least it will be a home soon but at the moment all I have is a king size bed (this is luxury after having a single bed), a TV and a borrowed big bean bag in which to try and relax. Although I think it's lost some of it's balls:( I'm saving up for a sofa which I hope will make a bit of difference and hopefully some sort of storage units so I don't have to rummage around numerous bags and boxes to find stuff!

That's it for the time being! My boyfriend's just bought a motorbike so I'm going to go and ooh and aww over it.

Naomi
xx

26. Under The Sea - Update

Sorry I've been so rubbish with updating my blog. I've just completed on my first property so it's all hands on arranging carpet fitting, flooring and buying beds and other housey type items. I'm trying not to turn into one of those boring people that blarr on all the time about house stuff so this blog is strictly forbidden with any talk of that!

I wanted to write an update on the sea kelp tablets, incase anyone is interested (serious lack of comments on my previous post so I hope this isn't boring?!). Anyway, weight loss wise I haven't noticed any drastic results and to be honest I haven't seen any improvements in the condition of my hair or nails. But I was talking to my friend who said that you have to wait around 6 weeks to see any results so we'll see. And the tablets only cost about £1.50 for 90 (300mg in strength) so they're not breaking the bank.

I have a couple of blog entries I'd like to write about so I just need to set aside some time! I will be better at updating in the coming weeks.

Naomi
xx

25. Under The Sea

I'm talking about sea weed and in particular sea kelp. I learnt today that sea kelp can improve the condition of your skin, hair and nails and also aid weight loss. I don't know how I haven't heard of sea kelp before because I've heard of most herbal style concoctions/tablets that claim to aid weight loss but not this one.


I'm not overweight but my weight can fluctuate 5 pounds up and down and as I'm only 5"2 and a size 8, I can feel a big change when I'm at my "largest". I hate it when my clothes feel that bit tighter. I think I wrote on a previous post that I'm a smaller person stuck inside an obese body and sometimes my obese side gets the better of me! I'm blaming Easter as all the chocolate somehow trained my body into craving more and more. Bad times.

So, I'm at what I would call my "largest" which is 5 pounds heavier than my smallest and preferred weight. I usually cut out most snacky foods and try to eat less at work and for dinner. Combining this with my normal gym routine usually sorts my few weeks of reckless eating out.

Now I've read a lot on the internet about sea kelp; some people swear by it, some people claim nothing happens, some people experience side effects such as tummy upsets so I'm going to try it out and see if anything happens! I'm planning on taking the tablets for 1 month from today and after that, I'll let you know my thoughts and hopefully results.

I'm not taking sea kelp purely for the supposed weight loss effects but my hair is fine and my nails always seem to split so I'm interested to see if there are any improvements on this front.

Have you taken sea kelp? Do you have any thoughts on it's effects?

Naomi
xx

P.S Tablet number one taken and it smells like the sea. Pleasant!

24. MAC Soba Eyeshadow

I'm completely addicted to eyeshadows. Brown eyeshadows in particular. Any colour, any tone, nearly any finish (I can't stand matt) but as long as it's brown, I'm happy. I do wear other colours but 9/10 times there will be brown present.

My favourite brown eyeshadow of all time is MAC's Patina (Frost). It's a gorgeous cool shade which I use pretty much everyday. Anyway I digress, I am getting somewhere I promise! I picked up MAC Soba the other day as I fancied a muted, pale brown shade to wear either all over the lid or on 2/3. The eyeshadow has great reviews on Make-Up Alley so what do I think?

The first photo is of the pan and I would say the colour is spot on in this shot.


Here's Soba on 2/3 of my lid with Mulch on the outer 1/3. (Apologies this is a crap photo but I did a 10k race yesterday morning and this was taken after. Yes, I do exercise in make-up but it was a very neutral look in my defence!)


I heart Soba lots and lots. It's a Satin so has a sheen with a very small amount of shimmer which makes it perfect for an everyday neutral look. The colour goes on brilliantly and lasts well. I have hazel eyes and Soba is understated enough to show off the true colour of my eyes without being overpowering.

I would definitely recommend Soba to any hazel eyed lovelies.

Naomi
xx

23. Review: Barry M Palest Lavender (129)

Yes I know you've all seen and heard about this lip paint before but I finally decided to jump on the Lavender Whip dupe bandwagon. The reason behind this is my previous post on OPI's Panda-monium Pink nail polish which I love so much and I'm constantly wearing it so I felt I needed a lipstick to match!

I popped into Boots at the weekend to pick up a couple of things and ended up with heaps more than required, as you do....anyway I was walking past the Barry M stand and Palest Lavender caught my eye because it matches my nails perfectly. Amazing.



I find the texture of Palest Lavender much more creamy and moisturising compared to Marshmellow (101) which is rather drying. The colour lasts well and looks good with or without lip gloss (because of the reduced drying out your lips factor). For £4.25, you really can't go wrong with this lipstick and it's a lovely summery bright colour.

Naomi
xx

22. Review: OPI Panda-monium Pink

Whilst in Sallys last week, I was perusing the OPI stand and came across Panda-monium Pink from the Hong Kong collection.


I love anything remotely pink but what I like about the colour most is that it's pinky lilac so it's bit different. The colour reminds me of Mod About You but it's slightly darker. And the best thing is that the polish cost me just under £5 :)

Verdict from the Chip Police: After 2 days, a small chip was noted on the middle finger but otherwise, no chips to report 4 days on.

I love pastel polishes, especially now the weather's starting to warm up. Which ones are your favourites? The new Barry M collection seems popular at the moment.

Naomi
xx