Liquid Lives

When I was 14 I was diagnosed with IBS - Incredibly young for that diagnosis. Over the years they also have thought that I've had a intolerance to pretty much every kind of food. My stomach is almost constantly in pain. I've tried literally everything to reduce the amount of pain I go through but so far... nothing's really worked long-term. And this is just another experiment!

Smoothies!
I've decided to make home-made smoothies a part of my everyday life. First of all, I don't eat enough fruit at all really (just a banana in the mornings... sometimes) and that can't be helping my nutrition in any way. Or my skin. Or general health. Secondly, I wanted to buy this cup and needed an excuse. Thirdly, and I guess most importantly, I've heard success stories from others in similar situations. 

I started this little project on the 8th February - so it's been running for a week now! Although I didn't have smoothies over the weekend because I was feeling too poorly to make them. Here's my (almost) week in smoothies. I had the same smoothies for some of the days, so these are the three different ones I've had).

(L-R: Banana, Raspberry and Blueberry; Frozen Blueberry and Raspberry and;  Melon, Watermelon and Kiwi)

I can honestly say it's doing me the world of good. Already. I'm less bloated, feeling more fulfilled and energetic and I have reduced stomach pain. Unfortunately, I think I'm going through a little bit of a skin purge, but y'know, toxins and that. I'm going to keep at it! My aim is to keep going until I've done it for 50 days and then who knows, maybe they'll become part of my life long-term. I must say, I'm looking forward to trying the infamous Green Monster this week!

You can follow my progress day-to-day with #thesmoothieproject tag on Instagram!

Do you drink smoothies? What's your favourite recipe?

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Review

I was originally going to be writing about how I have too many black pencil eyeliners and they don't do A DAMN THING DIFFERENT and then guess what? I went to get them out of my make-up bag and I've misplaced them all. What is the irony of that, hey life? 

So I only had three black pencil eyeliners left. And one of them was my Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil. I hadn't used it for a while so I swatched it and suddenly remembered it's pretty damn good. Then I remembered that I got it as a gift in a set last year with three others! (Technically four, a green, but my sister took that one.)

(I know, I need to hoover! I'm a student with a deep-rooted fear of my feet being sucked up by the hoover - not my fault.)

 So this week I've been trying all four of them out again, seeing how they work on my annoyingly oily eyes. They. are. amazing. They glide on in a perfect line without much effort on your own part, sitting stubbornly on your waterline or lower lashline and blending beautifully on your top lid. They're incredibly waterproof from my tests, and need a good amount of eye make-up remover to get rid of every last trace.

Admittedly, I've not got much use for the pink and purple ones (Woodstock and Ransom, respectively) but if put onto the top lid they blend really well into a dramatic eye for a night out. 
The blue (Radium) has a lovely turquoise hue that shimmer beautifully in the light. 
And the black (Perversion) has fast become a daily-face staple. I love simple black eyeliner on your waterline for a day-to-day look but I am used to putting it on in the morning and having to do it again in just over an hour. The staying power on this one is wonderful. I can't praise it enough.

The set I bought is available to purchase here for £19.99, or they are available individually from most Urban Decay stockists at £13.00-£14.00.

(Late) January Bookaholic Round-Up

2013 entered and what did I do? I panicked. It was 2013. The year my dissertation is due in. The year I graduate. The year I have to enter the real world. I turn TWENTY-ONE this year. That means I can DRINK in AMERICA. I have no plans to go to America, but that is beside the point. 2013 is a big year for me.

So how did I deal with my stress, woes, anxiety and excitement? I removed myself from the real world and read... like a crazy reading thing. 

What did I read?

• Matched - Ally Condie
• Only the Good Spy Young (GG #4) - Ally Carter
• Feed - Mira Grant
• The Night Circus - Eric Morgenstern
• Sister - Rosamund Lupton
• I am Number Four - Pittacus Lore
• Looking for Alaska - John Green
• Struck by Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal - Chris Colfer
• Out of Sight, Out of Time (GG #5) - Ally Carter
• Pretty Little Liars (PLL #1) - Sara Shepard
• Flawless (PLL #2) - Sara Shepard
• Perfect (PLL #3) - Sara Shepard
• Unbelievable (PLL #4) - Sara Shepard
• Wicked (PLL #5) - Sara Shepard

At least I got a good start on my goodreads 2013 reading challenge (which is 150 books, btw). The stand out book for me has to be Looking for Alaska. I was a bit late to the whole Nerdfighters thing so a lot of people have already read this but this really is a beautifully written book that carries you along with every single word. Additionally, Sister by Rosamund Lupton is a really intense experience. I don't normally pick up thriller/crime books but this had really good reviews and I spotted it in the library. It was very very good - but don't try reading her other work (awful, just saying). 

Add me on Goodreads here

YSL Forever Youth Liberator Eye Cream - Review

I was very apprehensive to try eye cream. Firstly, my skin is known to react to anything even slightly different than its normal routine and the notion of a reaction that close to my eyes was a bit scary and secondly I really did not want to accept getting old. But I'm twenty and I have the beginning of crows feet and my dissertation seems to have given me permanent puffy eyes. My eyes were in desperate need of help.

I also seriously needed to get over my misconceptions about eye creams (I also had a similar misconception about night treatments...). Your eyes are one of the most important parts of your face - revealing thoughts and emotions. If your eyes look tired and weary, that's what people are going to think of you.
The old and extremely wrinkled are not the only people to get the most out of eye creams. They're not just useful for their anti-ageing properties (although that is a lovely perk) but also have a number of uses such as treating dark circles, puffiness and bags. While concealer can go some of the way in masking these imperfections, the right eye cream can reduce them to a non-issue.

As one of my lovely Christmas presents from one of my big sisters, I got a YSL gift set. The set included a full size mascara, a tester of Top Secrets eye make-up remover and a tester bottle of Forever Youth Liberator Eye Cream. The tester bottle was teeny tiny, but a little really does go a long way with this product.

(I know - crazy chipped nails! I only painted them yesterday, pah.)

The directions say to use this morning and evening, although I have mostly been applying it in the mornings. I have a terrible problem of not being bothered once it gets past 8 o'clock in the evening and I just forget to put it on. But even though I have only been using it approximately to 50% of it's maximum potential the results have been wonderful!

It glides on and smooths into my skin, drying quickly. The skin feels plump and smooth, and my eyes more awake instantly. It's allowed my tired, stressed third-year eyes to return to get some oompf back.  

Now I just have to sell out £43.00 for a full-size one.

See the cream for yourself here. 

What eye cream do you swear by?