I wanted to get some suntan lotion that was recommended to me by a coworker and a friend (Friend = aka JXMoyle) so I bought myself some suntan lotion and after sun lotion by the brand Piz Buin (Half price at Superdrug at the moment. Note: 13th July, 2013).
This is their Tan Intensifying range!
I've never tried it before till today.
(If you'd like me to do a review, let me know in the comments
If you any of you live in the Uk, you know that our summer's are very few and far between and even when we do get some sunshine, it's very short lived. So when the sun does come out, us Brits like to enjoy the sunshine as much as we can!
(Pretty much, every Brit if possible will get outside and lay out in the sun,
it becomes a sea of bodies!)
However this year, we are so far blessed with sunshine on a number of days which has been real nice. I'm just hoping it keeps going for another month - at least!
My friend JXMoyle and I after we got our essentials (for me, the Piz Buin tan lotion and after sun lotion, and for JXMoyle her hairclips), we went out of the mall and enjoyed the sunshine as much as possible!
Here are a couple of pictures of my day!
JXMoyle & I (FX on PicFX app and uploaded onto Instagram @MissNathalie)
Edited on Instacollage on iPhone
Our legs were rather red. I said we were 'Lobsters' since that's what I was called at work! Apparently I was doing a "Lobster impersonation" the last time I got burned.
Thanks Jemma!
Of course as the evening progressed, so did the redness in our skin! Ouch.
There was also a lot of people passing through for the Wireless festival which I heard was featuring Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake. Gutted I wasn't able to go!
JXMoyle and I did a spot of shopping after being outside for so long, I ended up getting a couple of things but also, I ended up trying things on for fun! Here's a photo below of what I tried on at Hollister. Nothing that flattered my figure, which was a shame as some of their shorts did look pretty cute and was on sale.
I wouldn't wear these two items together of course, but just thought I'd take a photo of the skirt as I did think it was pretty but I'm not really a skirt kind of gal.
The top is on sale at the moment at the store, but the skirt is full price, both from Hollister. One thing I've always wondered though, why is it so dark in these stores?
If you are in the Uk, I hope you're enjoying the sunshine while you can!
We all know summer has a short lifespan!
I'll be doing a mini haul video at some point this week.
I thought I would write a blog post about health and weight. It's something I have struggled with for a majority of my life if we want to make it all specific.
When I was younger through to my early teens, I was active. An by active, I mean I did anything and everything my dad would allow me to do hobbies wise. I did judo, karate, kung fu, swimming, tennis, dancing and exercising pretty much everyday.
Now here's the part where I tell you what stopped me... Because all those things I did, I loved it thoroughly and never wanted to stop any of them! They made me happy!
When I was about 13 years old, I got diagnosed with a thyroid condition and I had graves disease. Sounds terrible but in essence, it wasn't as 'icky' as it sounds. Graves disease I believe is the part that refers to the increased heartbeat and to the muscles around the eyes.
My thyroid condition was duo'd with Graves disease so my eyes got affected too. This can cause the eyes to protrude which is not a pretty look (exophthalmos). And at that age, it really made me feel bad about myself 'image wise'. When we're teenagers we always have our insecurities amplified by our own thoughts driven by our hormones going crazy at that age and our peers.
Hyperthyroidism made me feel extremely tired. I read online it's supposed to make you more energetic but I really wasn't energetic at all. I can't tell you how high my heart rate was at the time as it was a long time ago, but put it this way, even if I was just sitting down I was exhausted like I was working out! So all those activities I used to do, I couldn't do them anymore. None, what-so-ever.
The only thing that I saw that was good (If you can call it that at this point) about this condition was, I was losing the weight with no effort. However, having said that, it didn't out weigh the bad that I had to go through.
I had the condition for at least 5 years and that's considered lucky! My mom had the condition, as well as my brother and my sister. I'm the only one out of 4 of us who got over the condition without needing the Iodine treatment nor operation to remove the glands and I'm not on any permanent medication as the rest of my family are.
So having told you all this... I just wanted to tell you about it to give you an insight and background info on my health... But now, present day, the condition has been gone for 13 years now. I get blood tests once in a while just incase it comes back..
Also I wanted to say that my weight has been very up and down as having that condition truly threw me out of my routine and all the activities I loved. Having said that, I am now able to focus more on my health and weight issues. I am not a big girl, but I'm not at my fittest. An there is the problem for me.
After all my experiences good and bad about trying to lose weight, I'm learning every time how I go about finding a good balance with my body. I know I'm not someone who loves the gym, never was, even way back when I was an active person. I'm now learning that not only do I not enjoy the gym, I also need to do different kinds of exercise now to really kick start my weight loss and get healthy. I've always done crunches and push ups but my body is so used to it as I've been doing it for years so I looked over on YouTube and I found a couple of videos that I thought would be great for me.
Here is 1 of the videos I tried out today for the first time and man did it kick my butt!
It's only 20 minutes so it really isn't much time at all and it truly did work out my arms and I really did break a sweat!! I bought myself some dumbbells from Sports Direct (2.5kg) and they were on sale 50% off (£11.99 previously and now £5.99 each).
I also saw this video...
I've always been interested in workouts that incorporate movement that also tone your body. It saves you time from having to do crunches etc and workouts like these usually have you moving in ways that tone your stomach anyway! 2 in 1! *Bingo!* This workout is only 10 minutes! This video is of Tony Horton doing a 10 minute workout with the girls at PopSugarTVFit.
I'll be trying this one out tomorrow or Saturday!
The thing that I love about these workouts is that they are short. Combined they are 30mins, however, I'm not even starting out with that. I'm going easy, taking my stride. Any exercise is better than doing nothing at all! That's how I like to see it. If you workout once a week, then once a week is good enough for a little while, then increase it to 2, or if you want to keep it at once, just make the 1 workout you have that week more intense. Make the duration longer. Eg. Combine the 2 videos as an example instead of doing 1 on different weeks/days.
The important thing is to really give yourself realistic goals. Don't over do it when you know for a fact you won't be able to do it or stick to it. Here's a little tip as well to get you started on getting yourself fitter, instead of taking escalators, if you have the energy and had a good nights sleep, take the stairs (unless it's about 50 floors ha), also doing just 10 minutes of exercise once a week is good too. You'll see a difference eventually. "Slow and steady wins the race!"
Summary/Remember this/Mental note worthy:
* Give yourself realistic goals!
* Aim for doing a proper 10min workout once a week!
* Change up your exercise. (Remember, your body gets used to doing the same thing over and over again that eventually it doesn't do anything for you anymore.)
* Take the stairs not the escalators!
* Don't eat too late at night (but if you really need to, drink some water first and wait a few minutes and question yourself again if you're still hungry and if you are, make smart healthy choices - fruit!)
* Get a good nights sleep so you aren't reaching for food to get energy!
* Pamper yourself and treat yourself when you've reached your goals.
* Don't lose the weight to "look good", lose the weight to "feel good".
* Don't deny yourself "bad foods" cold turkey - unless you can do it! (On weekends having a cake or something sweet isn't a terrible thing. You'll crave it less and stop the binge eating and no flood of overeating bad foods will happen!)
* Be realistic!
* Stay focused when working out.
"The beauty about gaining weight is that you can lose it - again!"
Just as you gained the weight, you can also lose it too.
I will write a post about how much weight I had gained at one point in my life. Like I said, I'm not the fittest person and I've gained some weight these past few months, however, when I remember that one point in my life when I was at my biggest, it makes me feel proud of the size I am now as it's no where near the same size I used to be. So as much as my weight isn't ideal right now, it's a whole lot better. Besides, losing weight takes time and when you aren't given guidance or advice, it just takes a bit longer. Just keep at it and you will get there!
Until next time ~ Allie
PS: Sorry this post was so long but I had so much to mention, and I have so much support I wanted to throw out there! Because I know how hard it is to lose weight... An when you haven't got the support, it's even harder!
I went out with my good friend / godsister Maredith (aka DivaliciousStar on Twitter) yesterday to Harrods!!! I rarely go there, to be honest, I only go there when my godsister is over from the Philippines. She's always been my shopping buddy for as long as I can remember. But since she lives all the way on the other side of the world now, we always do plenty of window shopping and shopping overall whenever she comes over to visit!
So as I was saying, we went to Harrods which is a real nice fancy department store, when you visit London, you HAVE to go there to experience it. The store's structure is amazing, such detail is taken, and the staff are helpful too. For people who are going there to spend thousands, you'd want to have decent staff there of course.
Maredith and I love handbags and purses! Although, Maredith does love clothes more than I do but that's because my figure is quite a difficult one to cater for since I'm such a different size all over. (Size gorgeous is what I like to say! ;) ) A handbag is easy, you don't need a certain figure to make it look good, it just fits on your arm and it looks great! Same with jewellry really.
Staff of Harrods were dancing before opening and counting down.
I arrived at Harrods with just 5 minutes to spare before opening time! They had a little show, which for the most part I missed because of my late arrival, and then they had a countdown... Lots of people were there, and you know how people get when there's a sale right? People take on this 'animal like' behaviour and go nuts over it. It sure is quite an experience. As soon as the doors open, people (myself included) rush into the store to find the section that they are interested in... For me... It's the handbag section!
Maredith and I know each others styles (which is quite different to each other) so even though I was a little behind her getting to the section (I got lost, the store is like a maze, I had to ask for help in finding the section 3 times. Note to you guys: If you go to Harrods, get a map for the store!), she held a couple things for me and I found some things she might have liked too and then met up in the handbag section in the middle.
A life size bear in the gift shop.
Women are the most aggressive shoppers when it comes to sales. Why is it us women love accessories and clothes so much? Anything where we can customise, from profiles online, to how we look and dress, or the game The Sims, we love these things!
There were bags from brands such as DKNY, Chloé, Michael Kors, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Givenchy, YSL, Mulberry, Jimmy Choo, Miu Miu, Rebecca Minkoff, Longchamp, Moschino, Coach and many more. Women everywhere grabbing 5-10 bags at a time and hogging the mirror to see how it looks! You had to be fast at grabbing things you wanted. Even sometimes I'd be reaching for something and someone would come along and take it from my fingertips! I thought it was pretty funny as there would always be another one in the basket anyway, but for some reason, to some of these shoppers yesterday, when someone is reaching for an item, it seems all the more desirable to another and they turn ninja snatching it from right under your nose! *Laugh*
The day got busier as the day went on and it became almost like a stampede. You would move very slowly from department to department, and people would be pushing through you like a herd. Despite all the craziness, the experience was definitely worth it as I got me a couple of awesome things (pictured below).
Pics put together on Instacollage and uploaded on Instagram (MissNathalie).
Product information: Laura Mercier compact palette & Marc by Marc Jacobs iPad cover.
I haven't tried out the Laura Mercier compact but I did swatch the tester at Harrods, I'm looking forward to using it! The eyeshadow colors are warm tones, and the bronzer and blush pigmentation are amazing. This is my first product I've owned by this brand, so I'm pretty excited as you can imagine when trying out something new!
If you'd like me to do a review, just let me know in the comment section of this blog!
How old?!
Telephone's in Harrods.
So this was my rambles on my day at Harrods for their sale and I'd say it was pretty interesting and definitely makes for a good story.
Have you been to their sale before? If so, let me know what that was like for you!
I'm finally starting to get into the swing of things on making videos again. It's like the cogs have started turning once again!!
So you'll be pleased to know I have decided to do 'Face of the day' videos, basically where I showcase how I'd be wearing my make-up for the day!
I would do an 'Outfit of the day' video but I need to figure out where in my room am I going to prop up my camera to film what I'm wearing. It's hard when you're the only person to film, be in your videos and to edit. I need more clones of me!
Anyway, here is my 'Face of the day' video!!!
The list of products I used:
Face Prime (Victoria's Secret)
Vitalumiére Aqua, foundation (Chanel)
Age rewind, concealer (Maybelline)
Brown eyebrow pencil (No7)
Lemon drop, shadow insurance eyeshadow primer (Too faced)
Honey lust, eyeshadow (MAC)
Haux, eyeshadow (MAC)
Tete-A-Tint, eyeshadow (MAC)
Orb, eyeshadow (MAC)
Teddy, khol eye pencil (MAC)
Brown/black, Stay precise liquid liner (No7)
Black, Megaplush mascara (Maybelline)
Black, Lash Lust mascara (Victoria's Secret)
Laguna, bronzer (NARS)
Melba, blush (MAC)
Soft and gentle, highlighter (MAC)
Creme d'nude, lipstick (MAC)
Hope you enjoyed the video! Please thumbs up and comment on the video, also let me know here your favourite products for your everyday routine!
I finally took the leap and did my hair... Ombré style !!!
I absolutely LoVE it !! ❤
I have been thinking about doing this to my hair for probably about a year now.
I know it's something that has been getting done for quite some time now for many people, but I however haven't done much to my hair at all for 10 years.
But I finally done it, and I'm happy I did. I really like it and I've had mass amounts of compliments on it. It really has made my pale skin look not so harsh.
As you can see, it's very much gradual (Excuse my hair, the wind was blowing like a crazy person !!), I did ask my sister to do this for me.
She asked me 'why of all people in our family you asked me? I don't even do my own hair!' and I told her it's because she was the person who always drives for perfection and also she has the best eyesight in our family, also she would understand what I had to explain to her to achieve this look.
I definitely chose the right person as people at work even asked if I had it done professionally. My sister of course took that as a huge compliment!
If you want to know how I achieved this (aside from my sisters hidden hairstyle skills) let me know and I shall post a blog of techniques I researched as well as how to maintain this ombré look. !! ❤
(Pictures above are my hair as is with no dye whatsoever. It can look dark but it can also look really light brown too.)
I haven't dyed my hair in over 10 years!!! I know right? For some girls, that's not the norm, usually us girls like to at least highlight if not color the entire head of hair, but I've made peace with my hair color. I actually love it but lately I've been itching to do something different with it. I'm feeling the need for a little bit of a make over...
Yes, I'm going to Ombré my hair.. Well.. Attempt to ombré it that is.
If you're not sure what Ombré is, it's basically when your natural (or whatever hair color you have at the root) hair color is at the root, or your desired color and it gradually gets lighter to the tips of your hair.
This is kind of scary for me as like I've said, I haven't done anything to my hair in years except have it cut. Also, this is something that can go pretty wrong! I'm getting assistance from my sister because I really need her to help do the back of my head. I want to lessen my chances of this going wrong as much as possible. So an extra pair of hands and eyes is a bonus!
I have my Ombré kit at the ready, as well as an Ash Blonde hair kit. I've researched on YouTube and on Google for people's blogs alone about the repercussion's that may arise when doing this Ombré look, and for people with brown/dark hair, it can cause the hair to go orange or as some call it brassy. Which is why I have the Ash Blonde kit as well. The 'ash' factor of the blonde hair kit is to remove that brassy/orange tone. Also I've read, if you leave it in too long, the ombré part of the hair will absorb the ash tone and can turn the hair green if you leave it in too long as well!
So yes, not only may my hair go orange/brassy but it may also go ashy green if I try to correct it and it could still go wrong then. At this point, if that happens, I'll just have to dye it back to some shade of brown if it goes terribly wrong.
What I don't mind about doing this to my hair is the fact that it's not something that needs to be taken to the root of your hair. So less of your hair is damaged and the part that does get damaged with this look is the tips of your hair really.
(This is how I'm intending on my hair to look but of course my hair isn't as long as theirs. It will just eventually grow out like this - at least, that's the plan!)
Wish me luck!
I will post another blog after I have dealt with my hair. So for now, have your fingers and toes crossed for me in this going right first time round!
So last week Thursday was my birthday. I was turning... 21?? Can I get away with saying that? (Because I'm so honest, just an FYI, I wasn't turning 21. I wish I was!!)
Ahh getting older is actually quite nice. Might sound weird but when you think about all the life experiences you have had, all the ups and down and realise how it's made you into who you are today. It's actually quite a nice feeling. I'm proud of who I have become. I'm far from perfect, but aren't we all in some ways? However, I feel I've done pretty well considering all the things life has thrown my way.
Anyway, back to the topic of it being my birthday last week!
I was actually working on the day of my birthday (May 9th) which is fine as I was wanting the Friday off work so I could spend some time with friends. Since I'm working in retail at the moment, I don't always have the luxury of having weekends off which is when my friends are able to spend time with me.
I definitely had a blast, I kind of celebrated it from the actual date of my birthday through till Sunday. Lots of good food, drink and some awkward dancing with myself. Ha. It turned out pretty fun. Keeping busy isn't my forte so when my birthday comes round, it's easier to keep busy.
I had received birthday cards, gifts, vouchers, and lots of hugs! Which is always nice. I'm sentimental so I'm a sucker for hugs!
Was it your birthday recently? What did you do to celebrate?
Here are some photo's below of gifts and what yummy food I ate!
One of my favourite kinds of foods to eat is Sushi. Especially tempura! Some cards and gifts I got from my colleagues at work. Which was pretty sweet of them to do for me. (Including the cupcakes below!!)
These cupcakes were absolutely delicious!
Vanilla flavour.
I could eat them all over again.
Can you say yum? I could and did 4 cupcakes worth!
Just because we are getting older, doesn't mean we have to act older. I'm a big kid at heart. Trying to have as much fun as possible.
Since she appeared on The Hills quite some time ago, I have absolutely loved her style! I'm talking about the one and only Lauren Conrad. Her style is so simple and chic with a bit of a casual twist unless she's going out on a night on the town. Then you can expect her to go full out in a dress and heels and some black nail polish!
The simple eyeliner look she goes for really emphasises her eyes. Turning them from a more round shape to a bit more of a elongated classy dainty shape. Although her make-up is done so simply, it emphasises her features. I've been trying to do this kind of eyeliner look for so long but can't seem to recreate it on my own eyes. Perhaps it's because my eyes are a bit more round than hers? Possibly...
Aside from Lauren's make-up, her hair always adds a sweet innocence that link perfectly with her make-up. It's just as classy and dainty as her eyeliner. Her hairstyle here doesn't look very complicated but I'm sure for myself, it is complicated! I have never been able to master the french braid since my hair has for most of my life been shoulder length and layered through which makes it impossible to create such a style with no fly-aways. Adding too much hairspray or any hair product to keep those loose unintentional strands of hair will only give the look of the braid a stiffer appearance. Which is not how this look is supposed to go. I shall have to wait till my hair gets longer and then get practicing. Hopefully it won't take too long, right?
Lauren's hair here is something that I can attempt to create.
Here was my effort:
Not bad considering my hair was no where near long enough right? All I used was a curling wand and made sure I curled up to a point of where I wanted the curls to start and made sure my hair was curled away from my face. This is quite a nice, simple, easy look to accomplish once you get passed the awkward ways of having to hold the wand. At least for me it felt awkward.
Not only am I a huge fan of Lauren's make-up and hair simplicity, I do love the way she dresses too. It's casual and chic at the same time. She adds small details to her outfit that makes a dull outfit into something a whole lot more fashionable.
Will touch on the kinds of fashion clothing styles I like another time.
Oh how I've waited so long for thee... You are finally here with the biggest rays of sunshine. Time to get the sunglasses out and get a new look for spring make-up!
Here is my spring make-up look that I put together using the YSL Pure Chromatics eyeshadow palette in #19. I will be thinking of some other spring looks so keep posted! I'm feeling pastels... What do you think?
Products used:
Foundation: MAC studio fix powder foundation - NC30
Concealer: Kick ass concealer by Soap & Glory
Shadow primer: Too faced shadow insurance
Eyeshadow: YSL Pure chromatics - #19 (Can be used wet or dry)
Enjoy the video! Be sure to subscribe, rate and comment as it does make me happy and don't forget to let me know of your channel or blog if you have one so I can check it out too. I love finding new people who are a part of the beauty community.
I wanted to blog today about people I love to watch on YouTube. I've seen many channels, many persona's and many techniques in the "How To's" of putting on make-up and what looks they put together. Of course there are also those "Outfit of the day" videos too! Very inspirational.
I was watching a video just before passing out at 3am by the lovely Evelina Barry, and I was blown - away!! Here's the video I'm talking about below:
I saw this and I was amazed!!! It's so unique to the type of "Outfit of the day" videos I've been used to seeing and producing myself. Mine are very much place my camera somewhere awkwardly and hope for the best it doesn't fall and film what I'm wearing, or there's the good ol' iPhone upload. But this video by Evelina was amazing! So creative it really opened my eyes. My jaw was wide open and wide eyed in amazement! (I hope you've seen the video at this point. If not, watch it!) She definitely got a thumbs up from me for this video!
So there are some people on YouTube who I think are amazing people. I just wanted to mention them in this blog as they do deserve recognition. More so than they already have! If you've not seen videos by the following people, go check them out and encourage them to make more videos!
That's just a few people.. Go check out their channel and see their talent!
Now onto another person who I think is awesome, I've known her since she started out on YouTube, it is Tati (aka GlamLifeGuru). She makes some awesome videos, from tutorials, to reviews, to hauls and giveaways! 1 of my favourite videos of hers are her Monday Madness videos! It's where she finds coupons and deals at her local drugstores and you get to see her little adventure to these stores, and sometimes it would be with her wearing an awesome SpiritHood hat! (FYI: I've just seen there is a UK published site as well: SpiritHoodsUK) Here's a video of hers below if you've not seen 1 of her videos before:
I had no idea which one to pick out of her many videos so I chose these two here! I have to admit I'm a bit 'biased' (however it is a very nice tutorial) of 'The Vow' tutorial as I gave her the Sleek palette she uses but it just shows how she gives some good tips & tricks about how she could put on her make-up. Plus for us who are Uk bound, we can get a hold of the brand of palette she uses! ;] (Forward thinking!)
These are just a handful of people who I think are pretty amazing on YouTube and continue to put themselves out there in the internet world quite often!
You'd be amazed at who you find if you search deep enough into YouTube. I'm always up for checking out YouTuber's who are just starting out (like myself), so feel free to leave me a comment of people you watch, or your channel as well if you have one! I'd love to check it out.
Ok, not so tomboyish dressed but you see the nature right? lol
"....a girl who was quite tomboy-ish came across YouTube videos that consisted of hauls, tutorials, tags and fun vlogs by the likes of Elle, Blair, Ingrid and Fleur. Her interest in beauty/fashion and self confidence/self improvement stemmed from there and manifested into an obsession that many girls go through. It becomes a hobby for some, and a career for others, certainly life changing all the same. Thus resulting in her wanting to take part in the beauty community to share her tips and tricks, her great finds in hauls, and her outfits that she has put together to show others what work well together in her own style of casual elegance (Or just plain casual). So she started to make videos of her own..."
For me, this is me a little more refined. Still casual but some style involved.
I'm that girl who makes videos on YouTube (Brunette Diaries) that are related to beauty and fashion (Let me just add, I'm no expert at all. It's all just good fun!). I was never the type of girl who was into make-up or dressing up. When it comes to picking what to wear... Oh my... It can take quite some time now! I used to wear boyish cut jeans (not like the cute kind you can get now aka "Boyfriend jeans" or anything... Proper old styles that never flatter my figure, look up the 80s/90s fashion) and an unintentional oversized t-shirt. As for my beauty regime, it used to be; shower (wash my face in the process of course), put on moisturiser, concealer and mascara and that was it and I'd be out the door! However, it has now become far more complex than I ever imagined.
This is how my beauty regime is (example: for work), I go have my shower first thing as that's important, we want to be clean always! (I brush my teeth during this time too. Hygiene first ladies!)
Then my beauty regime is this:-
Moisturise
Face primer
Foundation
Concealer
Bronzer
Eye primer
Eye make-up
Eyebrows penciled in
Eyeliner
Mascara (sometimes)
Blush
Highlighter
Setting spray and then I'm out the door (fully clothed of course).
Look how much longer my beauty regime is?! YouTube has certainly made my mornings a whole lot longer. And when I say "YouTube" I mean the girls who make beauty related videos. It's their fault... ;]
Regardless of how long my regime is now it is fun to do once in a while. That regime is for work of course. When I'm not working, it's a bit shorter.
For instance:-
Moisturiser
Concealer
Eyeliner
Eyebrows
Blush
I will admit, I do look more put together 'face wise' when it has some structure. I'm not so multi-coloured of blemishes/spots when I go out the door.
However it is important to look after your body and skin. The "foundation" to looking good is to be healthy as possible inside and out. Make-up is just the fun part, it's replaced playing with good ol' Barbie dolls and her boyfriend Ken. (It is still Ken right? Or has that ship sailed?)
Anywho... So this is me, my rambles and who I am which you will see more and more through my blogs.
I hope you enjoyed this blog! Please leave a comment down below on how watching 'YouTube' videos has changed your life. No matter how big or small a difference.
