Monday 31 March 2014

My Morning Skincare Routine!

For a good few months I have done nothing nice and pampering for my skin. I had a sort of realisation a few weeks ago and decided to make a change! Off to boots I went to compile a new skincare routine to get my face feeling softer and more looked after. 


First thing in the morning I like to wash my face with Boots Simply Sensitive Cleansing Gel, I literally use the tiniest amount and it lathers up nicely to massage into my face.
Once I've washed the cleansing gel off using warm water I pat my face dry and then go on to apply my new favourite facial moisturiser. Another Boots Simply Sensitive product (can you tell I have sensitive skin?) this time in the form of the Hydrating Moisturiser. Again I use the smallest amount and apply it all over my face and down onto my neck, making sure I've covered all my particularly dry areas around my nose and under my eyes.
Lastly, no skincare is complete without looking after those lips. I'm still loving the EOS Lipbalm in Passionfriut even after all this time, it works wonders for my dry, chapped lips!

There we have it, my nice and basic skin care routine which leaves my skin feeling super clean and soft to touch!






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Friday 28 March 2014

When Life Gives You Lemons.. Drink Up!

I am one of those people that always pledges to drink more water, do I? No.. So whilst on a scour of the internet looking at alternatives to drinking just pure water I came across lots of people raving on the benefits of adding lemon to your water intake. Now lemons have never occurred to me as something fabulous, to be honest I tend to avoid it at all costs "Would you like ice and lemon in your drink" No, no I wouldn't! But alas, after doing some research into those little yellow fruits I have been slightly swayed in the way of the lemon.

So, Why should you start drinking lemon juice?
Lets start with the skin,  lemons contain a whole load of goodness for the skin! The citric acid is perfect for combating acne whether you drink it or just use a dab of juice on a cotton ball and apply it to any blemishes, leave it over night, and wake up, wash it off for (hopefully!) glowing skin. Another property thats a perfect partner for glowing skin is Vitamin C which lemons carry an abundance of!
The brain gets some great benefits from a little bit of lemon juice, drinking it luke-warm first thing in the morning helps to stimulate your brain thus banishing any signs of fatigue and in turn enhance your mood to make you feel tip-top and ready to take on the world!
Feeling those pangs of a hunger craving coming your way? the pectin fibre in lemons helps to fight hunger cravings by detoxifying the body and cleansing the digestive system to keep it functioning at its best and absorbing your food properly to keep you hunger free for longer.

How & When to drink your lemons:

Drink it WARM:
 Add the juice of half a lemon into luke-warm water (not boiling hot!!) and drink first thing in the morning before consuming any food and preferably before working out to get that stimulation occurring sooner!

Drink it COOL:
During the day I like to fill my Brita Fill&Go Bottle with water, drop in a few lemon slices and pop it in the fridge for 5-10 minutes, take it out and I'm ready to go with a portable kick for the day!







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Tuesday 25 March 2014

Fitness Diary #1


Work Out or Rest Day: Work Out
Work Day or Day off: Work Day
Shift Length: 9 Hours (8am - 5pm)

5:20AM: Alarm is going off so its time to get up and take a Grenade Thermo Detonator fat burner

5:40AM: Now the Grenade has had plenty of time to get to work and I've got myself ready its time to get outside. The workout consists of a short run followed by some weights work on back, biceps and triceps in the garage.

6:42AM: Workout finished so its time to shower and get ready for work..yay..

7:15AM: In my car en route to work nibbling on a grenade protein brownie, yum!

7:40AM: At work ready for my 8AM start but first its time for a protein shake to tide me over until my first break. With this I take my Grenade Ration Pack Multi-vitamin.

8:00AM: And so it begins..

12:00PM: Finally on my first break! I'm having a small meal consisting of basmati rice, chicken and veg followed by a handful of Neil's Yard milk chocolate covered raisins.

12:30PM: More work!

15:10PM: My next break, yay! a small snack of two pieces of wholegrain toast and butter.

17:00PM: HOME TIME!!

18:30PM: Time for dinner! Tonight we had barbecue chicken sprinkled with a small amount of cheese along with some basmati rice and peas

20:00PM: A nighttime snack of 4 wholegrain crackerbread pieces with some nutella.

10:00PM: Time to sleep, ready to do it all again tomorrow!







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Saturday 22 March 2014

A Few Changes!

Since I've started to get back into blogging I decided to give my blog a little change up as a sort of "fresh canvas" to continue my blogging from without starting a whole new one off. I will be predominantly posting about all things along the lines of fitness, fashion, beauty and life and will probably be posting three to four times a week. I have so many ideas written down ready to make an appearance but first I needed to redecorate!

Here are a few things I've changed..

1. I've gone for a more plain and to the point header.
2. I got rid of the 'Labels' list down the side
3. I changed my picture
4. I removed all the pages from underneath my header, not really needed
5. I removed the 'Contact Me' page and added the email address under my picture on the side bar because who needs a whole page for that?
6. I started an Archive, this can be found on the right hand side of my blog under the 'Past Blogs' heading. I have three Archives, Beauty, Fitness and Fashion. In here you will find any posts related to that topic since 2011. Yes, They are still under construction (do you know how long it takes to go through all these posts!?) but I've found it quite funny to see how my blog has changed since then, glad to say its grown up with me!

Change is good, it makes me more excited to get all my posts up!







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Monday 17 March 2014

BodyCare Hair Haul!

For a little while now I've been contemplating growing my 'Frankie Style' hair out because I just never felt happy with how I looked with the style. However after talking to my boyfriend and hairdresser I came to the conclusion that I should probably make some more effort with it instead of just washing it and leaving it. In light of this I decided to watch some youtube videos (Amy Sass was my fave, I pretty much followed her every step!) and thus a haul ensued as well as some inspired experimentation!
BodyCare isn't somewhere I've ever shopped before but I thought I'd check it out and see if I get any bargains (success)


1. Rounded Bristle Hair Brush - £1.99 A perfect tool for getting some volume in my shortest side
2. Got2b Volumizing Styling Powder - £2.89 I love this for a nice lift at the root, plus you use the smallest amount for maximum umph!
3. Garnier Fructis Matte Gum - £2.59 This is a little GEM. I am in love! It is so light and non-sticky plus it smells so nice! I use the tiniest amount so this little pot is going to last such a long time!
4. Schwarzkopf Supersoft Volumising Mousse - £2.75 I haven't actually used this yet but I found the last volumising mousse a little sticky and heavy in my hair so I thought I'd try out a 'Supersoft' version.. we'll see..
5. Barry M Base Coat, Top Coat and Nail Strengthener - £2.99 - oops, this was a cheeky superdrug purchase that has snuck into this haul. Super looking forward to trying this bad boy out and seeing how good it really is.
6. Schwarzkopf Gliss Ultimate Volume Shampoo - £1 I am pretty much lamping on the volume based products these days so a shampoo is another important one. I massage this into my hair from the base of the back of my head right through to the roots and it definitely helps to add that little -Pre-styled- lift!

And now.. I LOVE MY HAIR!!






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Friday 14 March 2014

NOTN #1

Hello and welcome to a new feature here on itscharr 'Nail of the Now' or 'NOTN' which I have abbreviated it too (ooh, clever me!) where I basically show you what is on my nails, right now.. like right this very second! So without further ado' (is that right? probably not..) here is the first instalment!




Blue Glitter - Barry M - Aqua Glitter
Pink - Rimmel London - Pulsating

I feel like this combination could become my new favourite! Always rocking a block colour with a glitter statement finger but this pink and blue just looks so nice together, I also find that the blue helps to bring out the blue undertone in the pink. 
P.S. Don't mind the messy sides, I realised after I painted my nails that I don't actually have any nail polish remover to tidy up.. Rookie Mistake! 







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Wednesday 12 March 2014

That time I saw Taylor..

Ah, February 1st 2014, one of the best days of my life. After waiting for around three years to actually get the chance to see Taylor Swift, it finally happened and I very nearly cried, seriously.. 

My amazing boyfriend was nice enough to agree to come with me and also nice enough to purchase two Ultimate Red Experience tickets (costing a fair amount) just so that on this day I could be super close to the stage and get a proper experience of the gig instead of being way way way back in the 02. 
The day started off nicely with me being super excited on the train journey down to London, doing a little exploring of the 02 and eating some pizza. Surrounded by girls (and some boys) in costumes and carrying Taylor themed signs I was totally ready to be engulfed in Taylor Swift-ness. 
However, it wasn't all that great once we went to the meeting area for the Ultimate Experience. When purchasing our tickets we were promised a Pre-Show party with food, drinks and fun, what actually happened was we got to sit on a cold floor for two hours waiting for our early entry, but we did get a goody bag with a signed CD (She actually touched it!!) which was better than nothing. Getting our early entry meant we were front row, standing in the pit. I have never been that close at any gig before which just added to my excitement even more.

So, The Vamps were supporting and were actually quite good despite their pop/rock generic songs.
When the RED sign came down along with the lights I pretty much got ready to explode with excitement that I got massively overwhelmed and almost burst into tears at the prospect of finally seeing the person who has helped me get through some tough moments by belting her songs out in the privacy of my car. I love her guys, she is my idol and full on inspiration.

I sang, I cheered, I watched, I loved, I saw Ed Sheeran, I wished it never had to end..

IT FINALLY HAPPENED!!YAY!!














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Tuesday 11 March 2014

Where The Hell Have You Been!?

Hello,
My name is Char and I've been a very bad blogger..
I think the last time you heard from me it was June/July time last year but somehow it has ended up being March 2014 already?

So when I left the world of blogging it was July and I was sunning myself on holiday in Mexico, when I returned things took a bit of a dramatic turn resulting in myself and my mum butting heads a lot and eventually leading to me moving out into Josh's house. Things between me & my mum are all good, I still love her and we get on much better when we aren't living underneath each others feet. From there she decided to put our house up for sale and move about 40 minutes away with her boyfriend, so I had to help pack up the old house and bid farewell to my childhood home, sad..

 If you follow me on Twitter some of you may already know that I have started up my own business doing Sports Massage. The entire preparation of getting everything together, finding a room to rent and getting said room up to scratch took a whole lot of time and money but thankfully its all up and ready now. Things are still a little slow but it's to be expected at a few months in.

I'm in a weird place with make up which has kind of had an impact on my blogging.. I haven't worn in in ages and just lost masses of interest in it. However, I'm starting to miss it, the process of putting it on and the excitement of discovering new products so expect me to be stalking you all to find out whats good these days!

I AM BACK BABY!!









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