Wednesday 30 November 2011

Feeling sorry for myself

Four years ago i had a gland in my neck removed. It had developed calcium stones so my salivary gland was blocked. After having it removed the scar wouldn't heal, so i was back for a second operation to clean out any possible infection. Since then its been fine, up until 2 months ago that is...
A lump started to appear in my neck, underneath my scar, it was painful and after about a week the lump had come onto the outside of my neck, it was red and nasty. The Dr prescribed me antibiotics which didn't help. The lump got bigger, more painful then started to puss and bleed (sorry for the grossness!). A different lot of antibiotics were given to me which cleared it up within a week. 
A week ago today my neck started hurting and i noticed under my scar was going hard. A few days later it was a lump again which turned into another red, sore lump on the outside of my neck, The Dr has prescribed the antibiotics that worked before but double the dose this time. If the lump is still there in 2 weeks i am to have surgery again :-(  So now i am taking 8 tablets, along with an anti depressant in one day. I was warned they might aggravate my stomach...might?! 
I was up last night puking my insides up! My stomach felt as if someone was twisting it round and round then poking it with something sharp. I couldn't even keep water down.
This morning the kids woke up early, husband had to go off to work and we had no food in the house. I mustered some energy to get the kids ready to go to the local shop. Just as we were about to leave i rememberd Mr.A had my bank card. This was half 9 in the morning, kids were starving, i was dizzy, baby whinging, dog chewing my new leggings...i wasn't a happy bunny. Mr.A promised me he would come back from work so i only had to wait half an hour. Half an hour turned into 2 and a half hours. By now the toast (with no butter on!) that i had given to the kids earlier had stopped doing its job of keeping them satisfied and they were driving me crazy.
Eventually Mr.A arrived with food (hurray!) and my bank card. He apparently got held up at work, understandable, the Army can be idiots sometimes. 
I decided after my crappy night and even crappier start to the day I deserved a treat....


Chocolate and gossip mags :-)

I have only taken one antibiotic today and so far dont feel sick. I've only had 3 chocolates though just incase.

Was looking forward to going Christmas shopping at the Metro Centre tomorrow but it looks as if Mr.A can't get the day off work, his boss is being a meanie (to put it nicely).

What makes you feel better when you are feeling sorry for yourself?



Tuesday 29 November 2011

Bronze Ambition Bronze Me Mousse

I applied the Bronze Me Mousse last night before bed. It is an instant  + self tan which means it is brown on application then develops over time. You then wash the guide colour off to get the true results. After being dissapointed by Bronze Ambitions instant spray tan yesterday i had high hopes for the mousse.



Blobbity blob

I applied the mousse with my trusty tanning mitt. I've got to say it goes on really well and smells amazing, reminds me of Malibu, mmmm!
It was easy to blend in and didn't get caught up in my rough patches (knees, elbows and my strange big toe which always goes hideously dark with fake tan, haha)
The instant colour was pretty dark so when i woke up this morning i looked like i'd be down a coal mine!
My face was the worst, but i find it always looks silly once tan has developed with any product i use.
I jumped in the shower to wash off the guide colour and am very pleased with the results :-)


As you can see there is an obvious difference. It is a nice golden colour, not orange like some of the cheaper fake tans. It has gone slightly darker around my knees and elbows but that was expected. My strange toe on the other hand hasn't! 
Apart from the colour another important part of fake tan is the smell. I really dislike the biscuit/beefy smell it can give off. I'm happy to say that Bronze Ambition has none of that! It smelt a bit beefy whilst the colour was developing but since washing it off there is no smell what so ever :-)

I will definitely purchase this self tan mousse again, for £3.99 it has given me a lovely golden colour and the smell reminded me off my honeymoon in Ibiza (and thats always a good thing!). I'm not sure if it will replace my usual Laurens Way tanning lotion, that depends on how long it lasts and what the fading results are. I find Laurens Way lasts a long time and you don't get that horrid patchiness.

Bronze Ambition Bronze Me Mousse is available here for £3.99






Monday 28 November 2011

Bronze Ambition Sun Kissed Mist Featuring Mr.A

Mr.A prepared a lovely bath for me this evening complete with music and candles :-) Bless him!
After my bath i decided to try out something from the Bronze Ambition tanning range that I won in a giveaway. I have applied the mousse and shall wash it off tomorrow morning, then do a post on it :-) I've got to say its impressed me so far!
Mr.A came into the bedroom to tan my back for me, then started messing around with all my tanning stuff. I thought this was a great opportunity to test out the "Instant Spray Tan". 


The instructions say to shake the can then spray evenly over the body. Apparantly there is no need to rub in and it dries instantly, hmmm... I beg to differ. 
Here are the results...

Please ignore the ridiculous tattoo, he stupidly allowed someone who can't tattoo to save his life to ink him a few years ago.

As you can see there is an obvious difference in the colour of his skin. The only trouble is, this applies horrendously. Its meant to be streak free but all it did was streak! I thought maybe i was doing something wrong so Mr.A decided to have a go but had the same disappointing results.The lighting in my house is poor so the pictures aren't that great but i was able to get a photo of the streaking that happens...


This streaking happens more on the arms and legs quite badly. There's no way I could use this without rubbing it in. Luckily it washes off straight away with soap and water.
I'm rather dissapointed in this particular product from the Bronze Ambition range, the only positive thing about it is the smell, it reminds me of a summery cocktail! 
I still have high hopes for the self tan mousse that is currently developing on my body :-)

Bronze Ambition products are available here from £1.99




Essie Luxeffect polishes & a little rant!

I'll start with a rant so I can end this post in a positive way...
First off, I have dandruff... real bad dandruff. I have only just noticed! I've never had it before so why now? Could it be the weather? My head was itching so i scratched and it looked as if it were snowing, wtf?! Looks like i better go stock up on the Head and Shoulders.
Secondly, Alfie has been on a destructive rampage. Whilst i was cleaning in the kitchen he managed to rip up the carpet in the living room, chew one of the girls dolls to bits and gnaw through a wire for the surround sound. Oh and he peed everywhere! I am fuming but its my own stupid fault for leaving him, i could kick myself...in the face...hard.
3rd rant... I have no airer to put my wet washing on...silly rant i know but its so frustrating! My dryer likes to shrink things so i refuse to put certain items of clothing in it so the only other option is to use the little peg thing thats for small items. So now i have my granny pants hanging in the window (theres nowhere else to hang it where the dog can't reach).
Lastly, there is NO FOOD in the house. Theres enough for the kids but not for me. Theres hardly any milk left so cereal is off the menu. Pay day isn't until Wednesday, it can't come quick enough. Living of Cadburys highlights hot chocolate is not filling!

Phew, i feel much better now.
Right, onto the nail polishes...

Wow! I am in love. I never thought i would get like this over nail varnish but i have. After seeing this post on The PolishAholic I have decided these have to be mine.

Essie's Luxeffect Collection

Left to right- As gold as it gets, Shine of the times, A cut above, Set in stones and Pure pearlfection.


I have fallen in love with what The Polishaholic has done with them...


I believe this collection isn't out until December in the UK (please correct me if im wrong) but some Ebay sellers from overseas are selling it, a tad overpriced though.

What do you think?




Sunday 27 November 2011

New love- Romwe Online Fashion Store

Whilst browsing some blogs I came cross this fabulous website called Romwe.com. It adds 100s of new items EVERYDAY and ships worldwide. Its affordable, unique and offers free shipping, just what i like! Here are my favourites...


1. I love blouses at the moment, I have a few but nothing in this colour. I love the leopard print!
2. I can imagine wearing this with some shiny leggings and heels with a long necklace or huge earrings. I love oversized jumpers and the colour of this is so pretty.
3. The sparkle on this is so Christmassey! It would look equally as lovely with tights or leggings for in the day or bare legs and heels for a night out.
4. I'm really into skulls at the moment, i don't want to look too "punk rock" and this t-shirt is perfectly girly with that edge that i like :-)
5. Wow... have you ever seen a shoe like this before? And for only £58?! They remind me of the very popular Litas but with a wedge (more comfy!) and leopard print (one of my favourite prints) win win!
6. Skulls + studs + bag = Yes please!!! 
7. More leopard print... i just love this simplicity of this bag but yet the leopard print is so wow
8. I love the embellished collared blouses but never seen one i like enough to part my cash with. This detachable collar is perfect for adding something different to an outfit instead of a necklace.


What do you think of my favourite items? Have you heard of/shopped with Rome before?

Visit Romwe.com here.


NOTD- Midnight Blue & Monster High hunt!

This weekend has been tough, we are so skint! Pay day isn't until Wednesday so until then we are poor :-( I had to borrow £10 from my friend yesterday to get some essentials. All my stuff on Ebay sold so my Paypal account was quite full, its a shame you can't use it to pay for groceries! I've used it to get some of the girls Christmas presents. I've been trying to get my hands on a Monster High Draculaura doll for Willow, but its sold out everywhere! I've managed to find it in a set with another doll (Clawd Wolf) for £30 but its the "Dawn of the Dance" doll she wants. I love the Monster High dolls, they are so funky.
 Last year I had to track down a Barbie Puppy Swim School, i ended up paying a stupid amount for it and she's only played with it once! Kids! Lily is easy to buy for, anything Mickey Mouse or Toy Story and she's happy. When the kids had gone to sleep last night i decided to design a new header for my blog, Christmas themed! I haven't decided when i'm going to put it up yet, might be the 1st of December when the advent calender opening starts. That reminds me, i need to get the girls some! 

Draculaura Dawn of the Dance doll, I need to find this!


Onto my NOTD-
The nail wraps i applied the other day started to bore me. I've got to admit, their staying power is great. Washing up, bathing kids, cleaning and general wear and tear didn't budge them. The only thing i noticed was the very edges of my nails had gone abit white but nothing really noticeable. By now, nail varnish would have chipped. So thumbs up Nail Rock, I'm impressed!
I decided to try out MUA's nail polish, I picked up shade 1 from Superdrugs website and applied it last night. It was hard to be neat with the rubbish lighting in our house but here was the result after two coats...

It wasnt very easy trying to pick up the delicate blue sparkles in this nail varnish with my camera. It looks much nicer in real life. Its a sort of deep purple with dark blue sparkle, from a distance it almost looks black.


I tried to capture its true colour here

Considering this nail polish is only £1.00 I am very happy with it. It was easy to apply, dried pretty quick and has given a nice result. I'm definately going to try more nail polishes from MUA.

MUA nail polish in shade 1 is available to buy here, £1.00

What do you think?




Saturday 26 November 2011

Dolly Blossoms Christmas Giveaway

Claire Louise over at Dolly Blossom has a fabulous giveaway!


The lucky winner will get-


Click here to enter :-)


Friday 25 November 2011

My prizes from Catfights and Broken Heels

Another delivery just popped through my door :-)
Its the prizes i won from the giveaway at Catfights and Broken Heels.
Thanks Nikkay, i love all my little items!

Love the cute little heart shaped note


In my little bag i had-
TRESemme shampoo and conditioner, Morgan De Toi mini perfume, Sally Hansen Liquid colour in Linen, an eyeshadow cream in an icy white metallic colour, a mini nail file and a fabulous ring!

I love giveaways :-D





My prize from It's Em

I was so excited when i won the Bronze Ambition giveaway over at It's Em
My goodies came today...

(Click to enlarge)

How lovely that she included a personal message and her cute little business card! Thanks Emma :-)
I am going to be so brown, can't wait to try them all out.
I will do a post about the products when i've used them (I've already hada sniff and they smell amazing, reminds me of holiday).

Have any of you used anything from the Bronze Ambition range?



Thursday 24 November 2011

Help Me!

I NEED this!!


Its on the Forever 21 website but I cant find it to buy anywhere :-(
There isn't a store near me either *cries*

I am Little Mermaid obsessive to the point where i grew my hair super long, dyed it red and had a huge fringe put it. I know all the words to the whole film and went through a phase where i watched it everyday for a week without fail. Sad i know
I have a few Little Mermaid t-shirts but this jumper is better than them all put together. I dont just want this, i NEED it.

If you know where i can get one, if you have one you're willing to sell or are able to get one from a Forever 21 store PLEASE let me know! PLEASE PLEASE PLEEEAASSSEEE!!!

I'm so desperate i held my breath whilst writing that....



Lick my Leopard

Strange name for a title I know but there is a reason behind it. My husband loves smooth shiny nails, whenever i have painted them he likes to test their smoothness by licking them (yes he is a strange man). This time however, i haven't used nail polish but nail wraps instead. I received them in this months Glossybox and was thrilled that they were leopard print ones. I did them last night...



Aren't they fab? 
They were fairly easy to apply, it was my first time using them so it took me quite a while to do the first hand but once id got the hang of it they applied much quicker. 
It says on the instructions to take the shine off your nail then apply the nail wrap (which is just like a sticker). You are then meant to fold the edges over the tip of your nail but i just couldn't do it, it wasn't sticking over the edge no matter what. So i missed that step and just filed the edges off. Two of my nails had to be re-done as the edges were tatty and weren't sticking too well (probably because i had fiddled with them quite abit).
I dont think they are going to last very long on me, i do alot of cleaning and washing up everyday. I've noticed this morning that one of the nail wraps has started to lift at the tip slightly, I just know im going to end up messing with it.
I don't know if i would buy these in the future, i think £6.65 is a little steep for something you can only use once. If there was a special occasion however i might change my mind, as im not skilled enough to re-create this kind of effect myself.

Here are some of the other designs available...


I love the larger leopard print ones.

Whilst on the website i noticed they also do Eye rocks! I LOVE them! Im definately going to get some for the Christmas party season...


My favourite is the 3rd one, Glimmer AB (how fab would these look with my Louboutins?!)

Nail rocks are available here from around £6.00
Eye Rocks can be bought here from around £20.00

Have you tried any of these yet? What about the Lip Rocks they also do?





Wednesday 23 November 2011

My £1.56 earrings

I love a good bargain me, so when i came across these on Ebay i bought them straight away. They cost me £1.56 and are from Hong Kong. It took about two weeks to arrive but postage was free! I don't know how these sellers can make any money selling things for this cheap and not charging for postage. Im not complaining though, suits me just fine :-)


Available from this Ebay seller.



Tuesday 22 November 2011

More photos from Newcastle

Im usually in bed by now but Ozzy has woken up and isnt showing any signs of going back to bed any time soon so i thought i'd blog.
My friend just posted these on facebook so i thought i would share them with you, they are much better than my photos :-)

Amy (my sister) left, me right.

Me hiding behind a birthday card, i have no idea why...

Lou, me, Jade

Me and Louie

Me looking rather blue

I'm such a happy person!

In case anyone is wondering what makeup I wore here's the list...
Face- Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation, Vivo Bronzer, MAC Dainty blush.
Eyes- Rimmel liquid eye liner in black, NYC metro quartet eye shadows in Manhattan. Dior mascara, Eyelure eyelashes (can't remember which ones, sorry)
Eyebrows- HD brows
Body- Laurens Way tan, Molten Brown shimmer dust (which they don't sell any more unfortunately)


I really hope the little man goes to sleep soon, i am so tired! 







There's nothing a Baileys Hot Chocolate can't solve



This is precisely what I am doing right now. I have made myself a Cadburys highlights hot chocolate and added a shot (or two) or Baileys Irish Cream, mmmm!
I don't usually drink but my friend left a bottle of my all time favourite tipple from the weekend. Today has been stressful so I've treated myself.

If you don't want to read a blog post full of ranting, swearing and whinging then click the cross now...

Rant 1... The postman...
I was expecting a parcel (my glossybox to be precise) and saw the postman walk past my front window. I waited eagerly for the doorbell to ring or for a knock at the door. Instead I heard the letterbox. "Godammit, my glossybox hasnt come today" I thought, so I went to the door to find the dreaded red note... "Sorry you were out". What?! I wasnt out, i was in, sitting right here, a few metres away from the door! So i run out and catch the postman walking off. I call him back and his excuse was "Oh i rang your doorbell, it can't be working" He then goes back to his van and fetches my parcel (which is my glossybox, yay!). Mr postman obviously had no intention of delivering my parcel though as he hadn't even bothered to bring it to my door, instead he just gave me a missed parcel card. WHY? He's a lazy b*stard thats why! This is the second time hes done this to me and i think its disgusting. By the way, my doorbell works fine, i tested it as soon as Postie had gone.
So instead of letting it go like i have before I decide to write an email of complaint to the Royal Mail. Trying to contact the Royal Mail is about as easy as trying to toilet train a Springer Spaniel puppy with mental problems (rant number two is creeping in here). Their "contact us" page had no form to fill in. Their "email us" link was linked to nothing. Their phone number was experiencing technical difficulties. I still cant get through!

Rant 2- Alfie and his toilet habits...
Now I have had two dogs as puppies before Alfie so i know toilet training can take its time... but Alfie is taking the p*ss! Literally! 
When we first got him he was pretty much toilet trained, he whimpered to go out and peed and pooped outside. Then he started doing the odd piddle in the living room, then a poop every now and again. I did the usual, ignored him, put him outside then praised him whenever he did his business in the garden. I leave my back door open all day so Alfie can access the garden whenever he wants but he is now peeing everywhere in my house! Every 5 minutes there is a wet patch on my carpet and its sooo hard not to get mad! I really haven't a clue on what to do now. Puppy pads aren't an option, he won't use them, just rips them to shreds instead. 

Rant 3- Our EX electricity supplier...
First Utilities to be exact. We switched from them ages ago (or rather, we TRIED to, they made it so difficult). Since then we have had a constant stream of letters through the door saying we owe them money. WE DON'T. We paid them what we owed when we eventually left them and about 2 months ago after another "you owe us" letter we rang them and they told us all our debts to them were cleared so ignore the letter. Then today we get a letter from a bloody Solicitor on behalf of First Utilities saying that we owe them £13. My husband was on the phone to them for ages, arguing and got nowhere. It ended with me grabbing the phone and telling the First Utilities idiot that I work for a newspaper and shall be writing about how cr*p they are. I didn't give him chance to reply, i put the phone down in a rage. I don't work for a newspaper by the way, it was a fib, naughty Holli.

Rant 4- Lack of exercise...
I like my exercise, actually i dont like it...i LOVE it. It keeps me sane, its something to look forward to on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evening. I go to Zumba Toning when my husband comes home from work. This week however, I can't go at all :-( Mr.A is on exercise with the Army so won't be home. There's nobody up here to babysit for me so I can't go. After the excessive eating and alcohol consumption at the weekend i am desperate to work out, if i put weight on i will go insane. Some of you may think i'm being silly but exercise and my weight is very important to me...to the point where i am obsessive. Lack of exercise = one grumpy Holli.

Rant 5- Christmas and no money...
I think alot of people can relate to this one. Each month is tight, we never seem to have much left over after all the important things have been paid for. We haven't bought one single Christmas present yet and there is only one more pay day before the big day. I am usually so organised and start buying bits in October but this year wasn't able to. We are relying on the money that someone owes us to buy presents this year... which leads onto rant number 6.

Rant 6- My husbands so-called "friend"
At the beginning of the year we had a small car that we needed to sell in order to buy a big one for when Ozzy was born. My husband was paying for the car on finance, £155 a month. His friend at work said he was interested in buying the car from us and was able to give us the remaining balance in full within 3 months. He gave us the first £1000 straight off and promised us the rest the following month. My husband handed over the car, trusting his friend (me on the other hand was furious he gave him the car without all the money but when do men ever listen to their wives?). The next month arrived but no money... we tried contacting this "friend" but he had vanished, we then found out he had moved batallion and was now based in Scotland, he never told us this. He dissapeared from facebook and we couldnt get through to his phone. We visited his mum who lives local to us and was informed he owes her thousands of pounds to which she has seen nothing of. Great... no car, no money and we were still forking out £155 a month for it. We had to get out a loan to buy another car so we are paying that off too. Eventually this friend got in touch and said he would pay us the £155 a month to cover the finance payments which he did until now. He now owes us over £600, he still has the car, we are still forking out each month for it and he is just coming up with excuses. He likes to pull the sympathy card alot too, using his son as an excuse. His girlfriend has promised us half the money in December, im not holding out too much hope though.


I will stop whinging now, i feel a little better getting these things off my chest. The taste of Baileys has gone from my mouth and if i have another i'll be as drunk as a skunk so for now i think i shall try this...






Monday 21 November 2011

Cherry Pop FOTD

I've had this lipstick for about a month now but thought I'd give it a go today and do a little review.
Its Collection 2000's Volume Sensation lipstick in Cherry Pop.

Collection 2000's description...
"Moisturising lipstick with a luxurious creamy feel, contains up to 40% volumising ingredients to plump your pout in a flash!"



Sorry its a little blurry, i don't know what's wrong with my camera!

On my lips...

(Here I am just wearing Nivea Visage tinted moisturiser in "Natural", MAC blush in "Dainty" and Rimmel liquid eyeliner in black. No mascara, concealer, powder or bronzer. Quite au naturale today!)


I love the colour of this, i think it suits my skin tone well. It applied lovely and I agree it has a creamy texture. I  purposely didn't apply any lip balm to my lips before application as i wanted to see just how moisturising this lipstick really is. I've got to say its pretty good!  My lips didn't feel dry after applying it nor did they feel greasy. I havent had it on long enough to comment on how long it lasts unfortunately. As for the volumising effect, well.... there is none in my opinion. My lips felt tingly when first applied and now they just feel a little "cool", there is no obvious difference in the volume of my lips though.

Volume Sensation lipstick by Collection 2000 is available from Superdrug for £2.99 and is currently part of the 3 for 2 offer. Click here to view.