Why you need to talk about mental health

Hey guys hope you are well,  today I'm going to discuss something that I have done a few times through the years on my blog and I feel that I need to again as it's as subject that's not going to go away and I think the more it's discussed the more the taboo will break hopefully and that people can reach out and talk. Now the reason and focus on this is obviously we have had a day recently hashtag mental health world day where a lot of attention was brought to this subject, which is in fact brilliant but then once that day goes and everything settles what then? What can people do? Who can they talk to and can we indentify it in friends colleagues and family. 

Locally where I live 3 young men have recently took there own lives, not related not friends and all early twenties and under.  Two of them had a child or children and one had left for work and didn't return home.  The one who had left for work had apparently left for work as normal quite happy and didn't say a word to his partner that he felt down or depressed and seemingly to the outside world had everything.  But he must have been suffering with some sort of anguish or pain and maybe couldn't tell anyone who knows but now awful for that family and friends to go through all that pain to.

So that's what has prompt me to write again as I know through my own experience how much mental health can affect you and not just you but the people around you.  Mental health is my illness that I have to deal with everyday it affects my confidence my ability sometimes to do my job well and even now I cope with my colleagues peers and family. What I often struggle with is perceptions of me from people who don't know me but make the assumption that as I wear makeup and do my hair that I am a fully functioning secure adult, whereas if I had a broken leg or an open wound people would say ah I can see your injuries hope you recover and get well, but as mental illness depression or any other type of mental illness is unseen it's often mistaken for nothing.  I find that still really hard to deal with and I'm so sure many of you do to. People don't realise the battle that it is to get out of bed some days as you may not have slept all night as your mind may have been working overtime causing you not to sleep or when it is time to get up, you genuinely cannot get the strength to do it.  For me I hate doing the school run in the afternoon after work the thought of going into that school yard with all those parents fills me with dread, I also sometimes hate even going food shopping and I've left my trolley in the shop full of food and walked out, some of the people who know me but not well think that's absurd but it's not. 

I also really feel for children and teenagers to nowadays and as I've mentioned young adults, children and teenagers have so much pressure on them now to be a certain way or look a certain way even from a young age, I can remember as a kid literally having a laugh and roaming the streets till it was dusk but the kids nowadays can't do that.  I'm not blaming it but I don't think social media helps, if you child or teen has Instagram or Facebook and posts selfies and doesn't get many likes etc or comments sometimes I know it can leave a child or teen feeling a bit bruised in the pride sense, or if people make personal comments such as pointing out your flaws which ok you know you have but don't necessary what reminding of can leave you feeling low and denting your feelings. 

Not only that tests for young kids and exams can really cause stress in young people, for youngsters to help you can access Youngminds for support and advice. 

But all I can say is if you feel isolated or alone please talk to someone, a parent, a friend, a teacher a tutor, a doctor anyone who can listen or if you don't have that added support because not everyone is lucky enough to have that go to www.mind.org.uk it's so so important to talk. 

Also if you feel so down alone and helpless what I do sometimes is get a piece of paper and list all the bad things I feel and then the good things, don't get me wrong sometimes the bad list is long but then when I analyse the good I feel guilty and my mind makes me focus on that good, so if you feel like that and you can look at even one good thing on your list then concentrate on that, if you can't out one good thing on your list you need to go to the doctors or try to do something for you, you are so important special and worthwhile.  

And if you get any feelings of self doubt and self worth please tell someone your not a fool your amazing. 

Woods of Windsor The Gardeners Collection*

Hey guys hope your are well on this lovely Autumnal day, I literally haven't stopped today up at the crack of dawn to take my daughter to work, then football in a wet muddy field joy, and then I came home washed the car tidied my garden and then took my other son and his friend to the skating rink I'm exhausted.  Who said that the weekends were relaxing.  

Anyway in the week I was really kindly sent a package from the lovely people at woodsofwindsor who sent me three products from there Gardeners Collection. I make no secret of loving lovely things and skincare and beauty products and makeup is right up there so an excited kid in a sweet shop strings to mind.  

So the first item il introduce you to is the Blackberry & Tyne Moisturising Hand Wash, coming in an attractive yet classy bottle which would look nice in your kitchen, the wash is infused with fragrance of Blackberry and Thyme with a combination of green tea and ripe blackberry, white Jasmine enhanced with musk and Amber.  The highlight is the antibacterial healing thyme oil and anti oxidants that help protect the hands so your hands are left clean soft and freshly fragranced. 

Next is the Exfoliating Hand Scrub enriched with the same ingredients as the wash, this differs as obviously it's an exfoliator and contains pumice to cleanse and remove dirt, so if your an outdoor type of person, a keen Gardner which I'm not but I do to it, who ends up with there hands filthy and in my case stained with grass and all sorts this is brilliant for scrubbing all this gross stuff off, but leaving your hands soft and clean but also smelling nice and fresh,  this isint something I would use every time I washed my hands but definitely after doing something that involved my hands taking a battering where they needed some extra help.

And last but not least is the Nourishing Hand Cream this one again has similar ingredients do its other counterparts but contains Shea butter which I love, what is a hand cream without Shea butter.  To me and I'm sure most people who enjoy hand cream Shea butter is the key to softening the skin, so  if you are patient and are keen to look after and care for your hands using this after the exfoliator is great because after scrubbing away any dead skin from your hands and making sure they are clean this makes way for the hand cream to soak into your hands and really give them a nice treat.  

Who are Woods of Windsor they are a brand that has been around for actually around the time I became alive cough cough. They are a brand that has created a beautiful range of fragrances and bath luxuries for you to enjoy for yourself or as a gift.  I actually think this set would make a lovely gift as it not only looks lovely but also smells gorgeous and feels like a treat. This range re-launched in 2016 with new packaging which reflects what Windsor is all about.  I always feel quite posh when I got to Windsor for so many reasons and it's probably due to the castle the flying aircraft overhead and the shops.

This range is also reasonably priced with everything here all being each product under £10 I bet you didn't expect that.

Hope you enjoyed this post 

*this post contains press samples 

Laura x

Darphin 8 Flower Nectar Review

Hello guys it's October now yay.....or nay depending on whether you love winter or summer.  I love summer but I also like autumn winter time, cosy jumpers and boots are nice plus candles burning in the living room.  As much as all that goes on the winter time is not great for your skin and I would step up with the skincare in other words don't neglect it layer layer layer.
If you work in and office cold climates all this literally play havoc with the skin and all the dry patches blotches and flaking skin come into play.  This is enough to make you want to cry but you can help to stop this.
Months ago Escentual a site I buy some skincare of had a big sale where they had money off French skincare so I decided to buy the Darphin 8 flower Nectsr, I was taking a risk as I had never sampled it and I was a little skeptical would it be worth it, would it be good for my skin, would it break me out did I have to worry read on and you'll find out.

The Darphin 8 flower oil is made up of 8 flowers being precious ones like Ylang Ylang, Patchouli,Neroli,Rose Damascena,Immortelle,Jasmine,Iris.   So full of beautiful natural ingredients to soothe and condition your skin.  The benefits of this oil are it helps smooth the look of lines and wrinkles and helps to firm the skin.  To use I use this after my serum and before my moisturiser sometimes I actually use it after a very thin layer of moisturiser so it's my last step before bed, I do this as the smell of this oil is literally gorgeous beautiful and so relaxing.  It's not heavy over powering or sickly it really is nice and a great treat before bed as I struggle to sleep but for some reason this helps me drop off.

Now in the morning I kid you not my skin feels plumped up healthy and glowing and looks clear and radiant I really promise it's got to be this oil it's literally amazing.

The only negative thing I have to say is I don't like the fact that this bottle of oil has no dropper for you to use, to use 5 drops of this I have to literally pour it into my palm and I take my time as I cannot even face the thought of wasting this.   Please put a dropper in, it's much better.

This doesn't come cheap if you don't buy it with any offers on its literally a gulp moment luckily I did and I've just searched and you get it in lookfantastic where there is £32.50 off which makes a big difference.

Proaura Vitamin C Serum with Astaxanthin*

Hey guys hope your all ok, today I'm letting you know how I've got on with a skincare product that I was kindly sent, and knowing my love for skincare and how important it is to look after your skin I was certainly going to give this a try.
So first of all Vitamin C is so good for the skin and the reason for that is it improves your skin by making it look firmer and younger looking.  It helps stop ageing and wrinkling and basically hello science lesson but helps neutralise free radicals and help form a barrier against things that sometimes we forget about such as sun damage, pollution and oxygen that literally zap the skin from good things. Vitamin C is extremely vital to the skin and so important to put into your daily routine.


So what is Astaxanthin, it's actually a powerful antioxidant which has been proven in all sorts of trials to increase skin moisture, elasticity and decrease fine lines and wrinkles, it's a keto-carotenoid and belongs to a chemical compound known as terpenes and is pink in colour, as I've mentioned it's extremely powerful in skincare.
What I had was a 30ml bottle of product with a handy little dropper to place the product in your palm, to use this and how I use it, is to first of all cleanse my face as I normally would then pat my skin dry, I would then press the serum into my face, and then massage in circular motions.  Allow to dry then apply your moisturiser, I use mine in the morning before makeup, letting all the products settle and soak into your skin.  I've been using this for a good few weeks now, I always give it a good couple of weeks just to make sure my skin doesn't break out or react to it.  My skin which is oily to combination didn't react badly to this,
My skin actually feels refreshed and the texture feels really soft and my skin is glowing, I really wouldn't say if this wasn't the case, I am very truthful and love skincare and i was so glad to try this.

This is currently on offer at Proaura


Laura

Product sent for consideration of review*

Lancaster Tan Maximiser

Hey guys had a little bit of an absence as been to Cyprus with my family and I didn't take my phone laptop or any kind of device to connect me to any kind of social media and it was actually really really nice to be away from it.  But I'm back and hello social media and hello new post.  So today I'm writing about a product that you literally cannot or shouldn't not get for your holiday and even you return.

If you like to get a safe tan but prolong it then you literally have to buy the Lancaster Tan Maximiser I cannot find anything close to it equal to it or better.  I buy it every time I go away and sweat if I can't find it.  I don't understand why Lancaster sun products are not as huge as they should be, they should be huge, they are in Europe you can pick them up in most shops or pharmacies but for me I get it in the airport every time I go away.  I bought a 400 ml size (so a large family size) at Bristol Airport and they actually had Lancaster Sun products on offer and if you bought two products a third was free, so hello shopping basket.  I did actually pick up a Clarins 50 SPF for the face and that was amazing for keeping out the nasty rays of the sun on your face.

So Lancaster are typically encased in bright orange packaging which distinguishes them in there range, they are not a cheap brand by a long shot but in this case you really get what you pay for.  Why do I love the tan maximiser and why do I always use it.

The tan maximiser is basically an after sun, so after you have been out in the sun all day or however long you spend out, I shower as normal and then use this aftersun liberally everywhere.  I do this the whole time I'm away and for ten days after I return depending on how much I have left.  This consistency is milky but not runny where it will go everywhere and soaks in well into the skin.  It does have a distinctive smell which I can only describe reminds me of holidays, but that's because I always use it, it's not a horrible scent but not floral or coconuty so don't expect that. The reason I use it is it literally helps my skin rebalance after the sun, as my legs and arm tend to feel dry after sun exposure and this helps soothe the skin and counteract drying.  Not only that it helps deepen your tan and it really does.  Infact when I went into work my colleagues asked me if I had sunbathed using oils and a really low SPF when infact I literally used SPF 30 the whole time I was away and never dipped below that the whole time.  They looked at me amazed as if I was lying when I really wasn't this is what I've used and I didn't tell them, but luckily for you I'm telling you.

Laura x

Tk Maxx a little Mecca of bargains

So you know what I haven't stepped into TK Maxx for years,  I've viewed it in years gone by as a bit of hit and miss.  You know when you go in and have high expectations and come out deflated and gutted you really wanted to buy something and you couldn't. So my daughter was nagging and nagging and nagging some more please can we go up to TK Maxx so we did.  Clothes wise I wasn't winning as I couldn't go through the rails and rails but she did I was more drawn to the homewear and  skincare that was right up in my level.

If your looking for shampoos and conditioners and good quality hair masques I would say you would get a bargain but it's a case of if you see it get it as you will go back up to get what you didn't get but then decide you want and it's gone. There was a huge bottle of Redken Allsoft shampoo I wished I had bought but didn't and my next visit up there it was gone.  Also great for suncreams I bought some Lancaster Suncreams for my children as I really like it for them and online it's expensive but it was half the price in TK Maxx I was loving getting that at a tidy price. Also I picked up some oval sponge brushes you know the Artis dupes but without the humongous price tag.  I had been dying to try them for ages so I was chuffed to get them as I thought even if I don't like them for just over a tenner it won't matter.

I did notice some Elizabeth Arden skincare and Clinique so again great if you are looking for a bargain, these were incased in security boxes in guessing people may have been trying to help themselves to these.  I didn't buy any skincare but it was nice to see great brands up there, oh I did buy a round brush I can't remember the brand it was one I hadn't heard of but I remember on the packaging it said it helped reduced frizz and anti static ness on the hair and infairness it has helped give my hair a good finish and that's great for me as I hate blow drying my hair,

After rummaging round there I went back to the home department they had loads of candles very JO Malone inspired now some made me gag but some were really nice but I didn't buy any I did get a lovely good quality cushion though.

I did buy this huge Wella Enrich shampoo to with all my kids will prob last me about 4 weeks as I'm sure they tip it down the sink or empty it out in the shower.  But it's perfect for fine hair so great days.

My daughter bought some old school Ellesse clothes no thanks I said I wore that when it was out the first time gulp.

Laura

Ps this is not sponsored this is just my general shopping observations

Budget V Premium Mascara can you tell the difference

Hello guys so I'm sat in today having a lazy day huts chilling out really. I went to see Girls Trip last night with 5 of my friends and I have to be fair it literally is one of the funniest things I've seen in years.  I couldn't even drink my water in fear of me spitting it out in laughter the whole cinema was in hysterics constantly the sign of a good film. Defo what I needed and if anyone of you haven't seen it and were thinking of going do go it's worth it.

So I was sorting out my makeup the other day and I was horrified to that I had only three active mascara's left, infairness I haven't bought any for a while plus I've been quite skint so haven't bought too much anyway.  But what I wanted to do was review two out the three that I am using.

So here they are one is by Estée Lauder  the sumptuous extreme mascara in black and the other is from Esscence and is the Rock and Doll mascara which incidentally I picked up in Wilko.

So first of all onto the price points the Estée Lauder  comes in at a jaw dropping £22.95 and that's actually the cheapest I've seen it at Allbeauty.  So what are my thoughts? It's packaged beautifully as you would generally expect from a premium beauty brand encased in an elegant gold case which is not bulky or annoying it's great for travel when your restricted really with your makeup items and you don't want a huge bulky thing hanging out your makeup bag. I use this this with the lash primer that I'm identically I won in a competition. The brush is huge which you can see from my picture it's like a big Christmas tree style brush well I think it looks like one anyway.  You do get a lot of product on the brush and a lot of wetness feeling on your lashes so it feels a bit like a paintbrush slapping paint on the wall.  I use two coats of this and it does give you a good coating on the lashes.  I didn't get any clumps which I do like, I do not like this brush at all for the lower lashes I find this too awkward and big really for getting in at the lower lash, I much prefer the Clinique mascara designed solely for the bottom lashes.  

After a day of wear this did hold well and still looked quite fresh not the best when I've been to gym but then it's not labelled as water proof and lately my face has been a hot sweaty mess after the gym.  Oh and I don't put makeup on to go to the gym I just can't be arsed removing it before work to go.

Now onto the Esscence one you can see from the picture the brush is completely different to the Estee  Lauder one much smaller and difference in shape. The price point I picked this up for about £4.00 so value wise tons cheaper than it's premium friend above.  Packaging wise it's ok a bit clumpy but not gross, quite trendy with the rock n doll slogan this would appeal to my 15 year old daughter. Application wise much drier than the Estée Lauder one, I like the brush easy to use and apply. Now for me I did get quite spiky looking lashes I wouldn't say clumpy but a bit of a weird hedge hog style eyelash look.  Not horrific just different, but after a day I did experience a bit of smudging.  Didn't irritate my eyes or anything like that though.  Again I would prefer the Clinique mascara for the bottom lashes as nothing beats that one for them.  In terms of price I think it's ok, I'm at the age where I want my eyelashes to look like classy sweeping brushes so I wouldn't say this is my favourite but my daughter has now stolen if off me, I don't recommend sharing makeup I will add. 

I like the Estée Lauder one but I don't think anything currently beats Lancome Hypnose or Magnificels unless you can let me know if any can. 

Laura x