Bikini and Body Confidence

Hello everyone,

So I was browsing the internet for some summer beauty inspiration and came across a post from Super Savvy Me that stated that 'Most Women Do Not Feel Confident In A Bikini!' Well upon reading this I thought, tell me something I don't know! I think it's safe to say unless you're an amazingly confident person who never has any worries or fears - in which case I'm extremely envious of you - that we all have had that moment of dread when thinking about going out in a bikini. It's the whole idea of being fully exposed and having everything there on show for anyone to see. No matter how tall, short, fat, thin or anything in between most people will have a body hang up in some way or be just a little bit self conscious of the way they look. The best part being that more often than not, no one else cares at all and it's all in our heads! 

But this got me thinking how self conscious I actually am when going away or knowing I'll be seen in just a bikini. Now most people if they see me wouldn't believe I'd have any issues at all. I am very very slim, too slim in fact and could probably do with putting on a bit of weight! But that doesn't mean I don't have body worries. I'm forever plagued with the whole thing that because I'm so slim literally I feel like everything and anything I eat goes straight to my stomach and then I end up with a nice little food baby! Not what you want when you're trying to walk around in a bikini! Of course anybody else would probably be saying 'What on earth is she talking about?' 'Her stomach is so flat!' 'Food baby? Does she need glasses?' In answer to all of these Yes I am probably imagining it and yes I'm making it seem 10 x worse than it ever is. But that's the thing about confidence. It's how you feel in yourself, and often no matter how many times someone else tells you something you still don't fully believe them! 

So I've been thinking about ways that we can have an 'instant' body boost of confidence.There certainly has to be some way of boosting this even if it's just a tiny bit! Super Savvy Me does actually have a few suggestions of their own but I'm not sure how effective they'd be, I mean can something so simple as these things really work? I guess you shouldn't knock something unless you've tried them. So over the next few days I'll be posting a different Summer body boosting confidence idea and here is the first one:

Get a pedicure!

Apparently it really is that simple. According to research they carried out on some of their panel the easiest way to instantly give yourself a bit of a body confidence boost is to treat yourself toes to a pedicure! I know I didn't think that something so small could be effective either. But their beauty editor stated that seeing well groomed, bright and vibrant coloured toes will instantly lift your mood and of course in the summer months we (should) have our feet on show a lot more. (After all we should all be in sandals and showing off our Flip Flops, although if you live in Britain I would beg to differ when that opportunity may be!) 

Going on the theory that this works I suggest we all get ourselves down to our local nail and beauty salons pretty sharpish! I know my feet could certainly do with a bit of TLC as I have neglected them a lot over this winter! In fact my nails are awful looking at them! Maybe a pedicure will give me a boost just because I've had a bit of a pamper! Although if you're like me and a bit strapped for cash right now, a luxury pedicure may be out of the question. So here are some little tips for ways you can treat yourself at home...

• File and Trim your nails to a square shape as this avoids the risk of the nail becoming ingrown. Which I can tell you is not pleasant in any way, shape or form! 
• Next ensure the nails cuticle beds are all removed by using a cuticle remover and stick to push the nail beds back. 
• After this you want to ensure the nails are free of any old polish, so make sure you're using a good quality nail varnish remover such as Andrea Fulerton Pump It Up Nail Varnish Remover £3.99 from Superdrug and cotton pads and give your toes a wipe over. Then use a nail buffer to smooth over the nails and get rid of any flaky bits as this will ensure your nail polish goes on much smoother.
• Now get a bowl of warm water and soak your feet for 10 minutes. This should soften up the skin and make it easier for when you're buffing your feet to remove all the dead and hard skin. 

• As you might have guessed next you should use a foot file to remove all the hard skin off the bottom of your feet, alongside a foot exfoliater/scrub and get those gorgeous smooth feet you deserve. I'd recommend the Superdrug Intensive Foot Scrub £3.49 from Superdrug as it contains gentle exfoliants, jojoba seed oil and aloe vera which will smooth and soften rough and dry skin. 

• Then use a moisturiser, a specified foot one is best such as the CCS Foot Cream 175ml £7.99 from Superdrug. This is as specialized foot moisturizing creams are more effective in dealing with the intensity of the hard skin of feet and will keep the feet softer and less dry for a longer period of time. Which hopefully will prevent any further problems developing.
• Now just give your nails one last wipe over with some nail varnish remover to remove any grease and oil. Before applying a nail strengthening base coat. 

• This is probably the best bit! Choosing which colour to use as your varnish! The hot colours for summer are Bright Pink, Orange and Turquoise Blue. These are some of my favourites below: 

Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream Nail Polish £2.99 from Superdrug.

Nicole  by O.P.I Nail Lacquer in City - Pretty Rose £7.99 from Superdrug.

Max Factor Glossfinity Nail Cerise £5.99 from Superdrug.

But of course you should go with whatever takes your fancy! Once you've selected your colour apply two coats (allowing time to dry in between). Before finishing off with a clear topcoat.

That should just about complete your own DIY pedicure. So what do you think, can a pedicure really be all you need to get that boost of body confidence? 

Emily x

All images sourced from the Superdrug Website. 

Uni Preparations with the help of RHL!

Hello everyone,

It's only actually just really dawned on me the fact my first year at uni is over :( I've had many ups and downs along the way. Times of pure joy and which I can say have been the best moments of my life. But of course this is counteracted with lots of stressful situations where I've felt so stressed and low that I've been on the verge of a breakdown! Although I will admit that personal factors played a part in that too! 

But to think I'm now at the end of what has been a truly incredible Fresher's year. Just where did the time go? It only feels like yesterday I was moving in to my Halls of Residence, a naive and despite being extremely excited I will admit I was a little bit frightened too. I mean it was the first time I'd ever lived on my own. The first time I'd been away from home for what was going to be longer than a week! How was I seriously meant to cope? Would I cope at all? So many questions. I didn't even know who to turn to either. I felt too bad ringing my parents as I knew they were emotional wrecks too! I mean their little girl was moving away and not even a little way away... a whole five hour journey away! So believe me if I wasn't coping and wanted to go home it simply wasn't an option! But fortunately after the very initial homesickness, which if I'm being perfectly honest, only lasted for all of a day or so, I was so happy to have finally gotten true independence. 

So if you're going to be going to uni this year and wondering how you're actually going to get by without your parents, it is easier than you think! One thing I was surprised at was how quickly I picked up so many new essential life skills! I mean I actually learned how to do things for myself. I always thought when living at my parents home that I wasn't too bad in terms of knowing how to do things. I mean I knew how to cook basic foods before e.g. pasta, beans on toast but now I can do full on creative dinners! Students do not have to live off very basic dinners! I now cook everything from curries, to Mexican dishes to inventing my own throw together meals (believe me you can get very inventive when you're faced with a number of foods in your fridge that all need using up before they go off! In fact I may even post a list of some of my culinary inventions soon just to help any new freshers make cheap and healthy foods.Or of course any body who like the sound of some of them and just fancies giving them a go! They are nice, honest.

Anyway back to the skills I've learnt. I of course knew how to tidy up and things. You know all the usual things like making your bed, hoovering, wiping over sides, etc. But you actually learn to see how important it is to do it regularly. Plus I actually make the effort to do things like washing up immediately  I can't stand having dirty dishes laying around now.. a la my housemates! In fact I've become a bit of a kitchen snob! I hate the way my housemates treat the kitchen and the way they're so messy and dirty. Things are getting so bad we've had mould! Yes they're that disgusting  You may think how can I live like it? Well there's two reasons, one uni also teaches you to tolerate people a lot more! But two you also learn that you can't give it to people and clean all their things all the time otherwise they just expect it! So if you're going into halls be warned, not everyone you live with will be hygienic! But as long as you are that's all that's important!

Actually saying that one thing I will admit I didn't do for about a whole 3 months when I first moved in was change my bed sheets! How terrible I know?! But I do have a valid reason, I couldn't physically do it! My bed was just ridiculously difficult to change the sheets and duvet cover on! It took me like a whole hour to do it on my first attempt! Which of course it utter madness! I rung up my Mum to complain that I had such issues with this and she admitted that the bed I have at uni is particularly difficult to put a sheet on due to the strange shape of the mattress (it's a 3/4 bed so it's just a bit bigger than a single but not quite a double). Plus it seemed to take forever to dry the sheets and things anyway! Having more than one bed cover set is something I'd definitely recommend doing! One website you might want to have a look at is: http://www.rhl.org/. Residence Hall Linens actually do some really nice ones and they're affordable too! Plus if you use this special code I've posted at the bottom of my blog post you get a bigger discount as well! So well worth a look at, in fact this is an even more specific link to the RHL website: http://www.rhl.org/ShopBy/Bedding/

Yes girls I know this is only really good if you're from the US but you can get it shipped over like I did with one and it's not that expensive if you get  good deal on the international postage. I'm quite fortunate I have family in the US who shipped it over but I think even straight from the company it's still fairly reasonable! It's just a shame you don't have the same in the UK! America seems to have everything!

DISCOUNT CODE:  "MAYSAVE25RHL" which takes $25 off Value Packs ONLY. 

Anyway I'm sure you're all searching the RHL website now looking at all their products! Do you think you'll be trying any of them?

Emily x

Petrol Station Confidence

Hello readers,

I'm ever so grateful that you're back once again! Or maybe this is your first time reading my blog in which case Welcome! and I hope you do like me a little! 

Anyway so again I've been doing what I seem to do best... procrastinating! It's probably why I end up stressing out so much when it comes to deadlines and the days before an exam. Which is slightly becoming more and more concerning considering in just six days time I will be sitting one :s Yes that is a 'Worry' face! Yet strangely I'm not majorly. Well I kind of am.

Oh I don't know. Put it this way I'm concerned and worried but not so much so that I'm really doing anything about it and still think that some how I'm magically going to be okay in the exam! Even though I know that's certainly not true in any way, shape or form! Maybe I should start revising a bit more? Well I certianly shouldn't be procrastinating as much as I am anyway and spending all night watching silly Youtube clips! 

Although the one I'm blogging about is amazing and will brighten up your day to say the least! I think all I can say is these people are so fun and to be able to just stand there and belt out a tune in the middle of a petrol station is beyond me! Such inner confidence and pride. I really wish I had their sort of confidence, to just not worry about what anyone else thought and just be so bold and out there. I'm jealous of them! I think inner confidence and self belief really is beautiful, especially when it's from too clearly adorable and kind hearted, innocent people as the two in this video!

Jay Leno certianly got lucky when he chose this petrol pump! Think how different this phrank could have been if he'd gotten some miserable person who refused to play along! Well anyway here's the video... I think you'll agree it's entertaining to say the least!

Told you it was good didn't I! What did you think of their rendition of 'Living on a Prayer'? Think you'd have the confidence to sing in the middle of the petrol station? I wish I did!

Emily x

Treadmill Dance Stress Relief

Hey,

I've been having one of the most stressful weeks! Deadlines on assignments are never good and certainly cause me a lot of anxiety and frustration! It seems that with me nothing can ever go smoothly. There's always something that wants to stand in my way and cause me major stress. Resulting in a not very happy bunny! So during one of my most recent outbreaks of shouting/screaming/swearing at my laptop I was actually relatively relieved to hear a little 'Bing' noise that meant I'd received an email. It meant that I could just switch to see something different. As staring at my work was doing my head in and I needed a welcome break! Even if it was just a bit of junk mail. Something to simply look at for one second and then delete. Anything was needing just to break up the constant strain of trying to figure out why I couldn't complete my work! 

Well I'm glad to say it was much better than junk mail. Much, much better than Junk Mail! It was actually an email from one of my friends who I'm always emailing like basically on a daily basis about something or another. Whether we're talking about a project or moaning about the Conditioning Class she runs because of some muck up at the gym or a newbie! But regardless I love her and her little messages always brighten up my day as she's one of them people that is permanently optimistic!  Honestly this woman is never unhappy! She is a constant ball of optimism, hope and happiness. If you need someone to help bring your mood up, she is the one to go to! So to receive a little email from her I knew my mind would be refreshed and I would be able to maybe just about smile for at least a minute! And I'm glad to say her little email certainly did that! 

Why you may ask? Did I receive a bit of gossip? Or was just a nice little message from a highly motivational friend just the answer? Well I will tell you. She actually sent me a link to a Youtube video that certainly put a smile on my face as it's just quite clever in my opinion. Basically it's a man and he combines Fitness and Dancing in a whole new way. I wouldn't say it's a workout by any stretch of the imagination, more just a creative skill! But looks fun and must have taken him forever to master! Or maybe it didn't and he's just one of them naturally talented people that just got it after a play around. Probably joking around with friends because I highly doubt the gym would have just allowed him to start doing that for health and safety reasons! Okay I know most of you will have no idea what I'm going on about still as I haven't actually posted the video. So have a look below. Once you've seen it I question you to say it's not clever/creative/ fun to say the least! 

So what do you think? Could any of you do better?

Emily x

This is something I found rather shocking! I can't believe how little regulation there is when it comes to Cosmetic Surgery. I always knew there were poor standards of practice and that many women and men have been victim to botched jobs, leaving them with less than satisfactory and sometimes downright horrific results. But I didn't realize quite how wide-scale a problem this is. Especially in Britain!

I was always lead to believe that all cosmetic procedures, okay not all but most, were done to a regulated standard and set guidelines had to be obeyed by to ensure patients are receiving safe and well cared for surgery. So I was shocked to find out this was not the case at all! In fact it's the complete opposite! Women and Men on a daily basis in the UK are suffering and it's all because we're unaware of the dangers of surgery due to such poor regulation of the cosmetic intervention industry in this country.

Okay we've all heard of the PIP scandal where women were subject to botched boob jobs resulting in many severe cases of the breast implants bursting and releasing toxic liquid into women's bodies/ Which is not acceptable at all and is scandalous to think women have been subject to this. But we accepted that maybe this was an error and that

Hitbliss - The latest TV innovation!

Hello,

Now this is something I just had to tell you about! It sounds absolutely amazing and I'm genuinely so gutted that you can't yet get this in the UK yet! It's not fair as I want it so bad! Why does the US always get all the best things first? Someone should make it an international release because I bet this would do so so well in places like the UK and probably other countries too! 

What am I talking about you're probably thinking? Well I've just read about this brand new TV service called HitBliss and it just sounds incredible! Okay you're probably thinking this is just going to be like all the other ones out there. What seriously makes this one any different from Youview, Netflix, Lovefilm or any of them other subscription TV services that's taken the world by storm at the moment! I will admit I had the exact same skepticism when I first heard about it as well! I thought I was just going to be reading up on yet another one of them. So to find out why it's so different is why I'm writing about it! Plus I'm hoping that someone (big time manager of Hitbliss hopefully) will see this and realize there is a market outside of America who want this service too! 

So what really makes HitBliss different? I think the reason I like the sound of it so much is because you can genuinely watch all like the best shows and not all ones from like 20 years ago! (Although if that's what you want to watch feel free) but anyway it's all the newest US shows that I personally love like 'New Girl', 'Big Bang Theory', 'Nashville', etc. But you watch them without any fees or adverts! Yes no subscriptions necessary and it's an official service meaning unlike all the torrent and pirate sites ou actually get decent quality videos, with no four day downloads or risk of getting viruses or actually breaking the law! So that's already a winner with me! 

But here is possibly the very very best part of this whole service... you can actually earn money out of it! It's made up of two different sections; HitBliss Store and HitBliss Earn. So in HitBliss Store you pay to stream hundreds of really recent Hollywood movies (think literally just been out films) as well as all the top new TV shows. Wait! You may be thinking, 'She said there was no fees!' Well that's where HitBliss Earn comes in, you earn the money through HitBliss Earn and can use it to pay your HitBliss Store bills. All you have to do is watch a few adverts whenever you have a spare minute, so not even when you're waiting to watch a show. Just any time at all in the day. You can even choose for the adverts to be tailored specifically to only things you'd be interested in, Which to me sounds reasonable and better than having a show stop mid way through for an advert break! Ooh and one other really good thing that I've just learnt is that once you buy the TV episode or film you get to keep it and watch it literally whenever you want!

So it would be really great if we could possibly have this in the UK to me thinks! Please! :D

Emily x