#BloggersXmas Giveaway Winners

Earlier this month we ran a giveaway for 4 lucky bloggers to win one of four goody bags from our event #BloggersXmas back in December. We had a great number of entries and we can now announce that four lucky bloggers have been picked at random to take home the goody bags up for grabs. The winners are: Sarah Trademark All or Nothing Garden, Tea, Cakes and Me A Balanced Belly Congratulations girls! We will send them out to you as soon as possible! Do let us know when they arrive and tag us in any posts you may do so that we can share! Take a look at the original post to see what you'll be getting!

Removing Makeup Before the Gym | Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water

You may have seen my recent post on my winter skincare routine, explaining the importance of taking make up off before bed. The same goes for taking it off before a workout.  I know quite a few girls that wear a full face of make up with fake eyelashes etc to the gym, and even reapply before and after their workout. It may make you feel good. But is it good for your skin?
Personally, I try not to wear make up at the gym, but sometimes my skin is already bad, so try and cover it up as I'm quite insecure about my skin when I break out. If my skin is okay, I don't mind going without. Either way my face turns bright red! In reality, applying makeup for the gym, or not taking it off, is a complete waste of make up, as you'll just sweat or wipe it off.  Think about how much money you'd save if you didn't wear it at the gym! You need to make sure it's completely removed.. I know my gym towel is always orange by the end of the workout even if I've spent a couple minutes wiping as much off as possible! It really isn't good for your skin! Rather than clogging the pores as you sleep, a layer (or several) of make up clogs the pores and forces the skin to harness even more bacteria while you sweat. The bacteria from your skin, from your makeup, from your hands when you touch your face, those floating around in the air.. and then your sweat.. its a germ fest! As you workout, your pores that contain sweat glands become active as you start sweating. Wearing makeup forms a layer, almost like a plug which will stop the sweat from being expelled, but instead being blocked within the pore where the bacteria can be brewed, forming a spot.
Now it's much easier to prevent spots than it is to get rid of them! Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water is my makeup remover of choice. It just seems to effortlessly glide the makeup right off my face in one sweep! I've used it for a few months now and I will definitely be buying it again. It lasts for absolutely ages and gets about 99% of my foundation off, which is a damn sight better than most of the removers I've used. I can't recommend Micellar Water enough!
If you start taking off your makeup before workouts or going to the gym, you'll see within a few days that your skin will really improve!
Do you wear makeup at the gym? What are your thoughts on Micellar Water?

My Chocolate | Chocolate Making Workshop | Islington

As a birthday surprise two years ago, my Fiancé (then boyfriend) bought me two tickets to a chocolate making workshop through buyagift.com, and I only got round to actually booking it April last year (a whole 12 months after I was given them! :O Oopsie!!).  A short walk from my place of work, situated in North London, the venue is beautifully placed on the Regents Canal with large glass windows so you feel like you're on the canal itself! 
The class began with a good old scrub of the hands (who wants germy chocolate- ew!), covering up with an apron and sitting down at a table with around 3-4 other couples and friends.
You could smell the melted chocolate already. I was salivating, like, uncontrollably. 

On our tables were examples of the different stages of chocolate; from the cocoa bean to cocoa butter that's extracted as well as pieces of chocolate of different strengths. These were either super bitter and gross or creamy and yummy!  There were also loads of marshmallows.. which I couldn't help but snack on!

Learning the history of the cocoa bean, the process and going through the different qualities you can find in the shops, we learnt what brands to stay away from if we only want to eat the highest quality.

The first bit of chocolate making we got to do involved three bowls of delicious liquid chocolate; milk, white and dark. Pure, rich, creamy chocolate with incredible flavour, melted into creamy goodness was put in front of my widening eyes.. dangerous.

Our task was to make a giant chocolate button.. out of whatever was on the table. My Chocolate had everything ready; chocolate curls, flakes, sprinkles, nuts, coconut, marshmallows and the three chocolate flavours.. I was in heaven!

I initially did a nice design with dark and milk chocolate, but then I went a bit choco-mad and just kept layering it on. Topped off with white chocolate flakes, this was honestly the best button I have ever tasted .. not to toot my own horn or anything..

Next we got to make fudge and chocolate coated marshmallows using cutters and pattern transfers. We chose to coat them in dark chocolate as it has a higher melting point and drizzle milk on top for decoration. 
Lastly we made truffles.. I literally had no idea how easy it was! You just need to mix it with double cream.. who knew! Piping these into little.. well.. they looked like little poos... we then dusted them in cocoa powder and rolled them into little balls. To finish, we coated them in drizzled milk and dark chocolate and pink chocolate curls.  Before leaving, we began packing them in a golden gift box and plastic gift bags so we could take them home and gift to family and friends.. or just eat them ourselves later!
This workshop is perfect for all foodies and chocolate lovers alike. It combines knowledge and practice and lots and lots of chocolate consumption! You can even book it for team building events and hen parties! If you've not done something like this before, I definitely recommend it. If you're looking for a gift for a loved one, you can buy gift vouchers as my fiancé did. They're without a doubt going to enjoy it!
Have you been to a workshop like this? What would you put on your chocolate button?

Couch to 5K | Week 1 | Day 1

Days keep passing me by and still I am not down to my pre-Christmas weight. I really need to step up my game with more exercise. We've joined the gym again, but with S still recovering from his key hole surgery, he can't quite go to the gym yet and make full use out of it. But I still don't want to go to this new gym on my own! I may pluck up the courage this week. After all, I have actually been there before with my old personal trainer - Tyler. Sticking mainly to weights, with a small bit of cardio intervals, I stuck mainly to one area of the gym. Now I've got to reintroduce my body to the concept of exercise, I feel I'll be adventuring round the cardio section a lot more to start off with. A friend told me about this Couch to 5K app that she'd been trying and at first I was sceptical. But with a little research, I soon found out it was actually provided by the NHS. It's a 9 week programme designed to.. well.. its in the title.. get you from the couch to running 5K in just 9 weeks! The plan is very simple, you start off doing intervals and gradually you start running for longer and longer until boom, you've run 5K in one go. That's something I can only dream of at this point as I absolutely hate running and have never really seen the attraction of it. Well, cardio in general has never really appealed to me. I'm much more suited to heavy lifting than sweaty, red faced, out of breath cardio.  So on Monday this week, I finally plucked up the courage, despite having really bad stomach cramps, nausea and a migraine, I went for it and completed day 1 of the Couch to 5K challenge.  It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, and only actually took 20 minutes. It doesn't help that it was about -4 degrees, so breathing in the cold air at such an accelerated rate was painful. The programmes starts off with a 5 minute brisk walk and slowly introduces you into a slow jog. This is just for 60 seconds, so its manageable! You then slow down back to the brisk walk for 90 seconds and so on. You do this 8 times and then do a warm down 5 minute brisk walk.. how simple and easy is that?! You need to do this three times in the first week at the least, to really see the benefits. In the second week you are running for 90 seconds and walking for 2 minutes, in the third you alternate running for 90 seconds, walking for 90 seconds and running for 3 minutes and walking for 3 minutes. In week 4 you are running for between 3 minutes and 5 minutes, and finally ending up running 3.1 miles (5K) in just 30 minutes with a simple warm up brisk walk. There's even a 5k to 10k app to use afterwards if you're feeling daring! It's actually quite a good way of introducing yourself to running if you've not done it before, or if you just want to kick start your fitness regime. You can do this either out on the street or on the treadmill at the gym, whatever suits you better! I'm definitely going to try and keep this up as well as fitting in the gym and other workouts such as yoga. Combined with a healthy diet and lots and lots of water, hopefully this will be the start of the new me and see me fitting into a size 10 again in no time! Have you used the Couch25K app yet? What are your 2016 fitness goals?

Blogosphere Magazine | Issue 7 Launch | Hoxton

Back in November I took my friend Emily to the Blogosphere magazine launch for their newest issue... issue 7, featuring Samantha Maria. 

Having been so fortunate as to work with the magazine for our BloggersXmas party in December, we can't emphasise enough how great this magazine is. Jam-packed front to back with amazing articles by talented bloggers from across the UK, shedding light on different issues, events and such like. 

Arriving at Hoxton Overground Station, I was quick to get the map out to navigate our way to this venue.. tucked away in a side street under a bridge arch, Motel did't take long to find. Upon arrival, we were greeted with a red carpet and some welcoming, friendly faces. With as much wine on offer as you could drink, my friend Emily and I grabbed a glass and started to look around. 

This was the first time I'd really seen the magazine up close. It really was high quality and felt similar to the likes of Vogue with its thick gsm and weighty feel. A real bloggers mag! I was even more surprised at the level of content that it had, with bloggers with followings both big and small and a well known blogger as the main feature. The celebrated blogger of Issue 7's face was prominent and stunning, adding yet another high end vibe to the print.

We were lucky enough to give bloggers the chance to read Issue 3, starring Fleur de Force, by adding them to our goody bags for BloggersXmas.

We met some lovely people at this event, including Claire Eastham from We're All Mad Here and has a feature on Mental Health within issue 7.

Flicking through copies of past issues featuring bloggers and vloggers like Essie Button, Liberty London Girl, Louis Cole,  Thatcher Joe (Joe Sugg) and Marcus Butler, we noticed the venue had gotten quite a bit busier and louder, so decided to mingle some more. Introducing ourselves to fellow bloggers, editorial staff, and even Samantha Maria herself! We actually managed to talk to the photographer behind Issue 7's cover and learnt of his experiences as a photographer and how he got that cover shot. He gave us a few pointers on photography and we continued to mooch around, drinking wine and meeting new people.

They even had a photobooth at the event, which we couldn't help but take advantage of!

Getting invited to an event like this was a real privilege and I'm so glad to have gone! We each took a copy of Issue 7 home to read and then add to our coffee tables ;) Samantha is so down to earth and lovely, it was so great to meet her!

Did you go to the launch event? What do you think of the Blogosphere magazine?

Goodbye Sleepless Nights | 5 Ways to Get More Sleep

I've really struggled to sleep recently, but since I've done these 5 things, I'm sleeping longer and waking up in the night less!
My brain is always so active when it's time to sleep, which I can never understand as I'm usually so tired right before and then can never get up in the mornings. Running through plans for the rest of the week, random thoughts of things I've done that day, any feelings I have (anger, happiness, sadness) all run through my head when I'm trying to sleep and 11 pm quickly turns into 2 am and so on. Counting sheep has never worked for me and staying up later to tire me out is just too easy and I end up still being wide awake at 7 am.

How to Blog Better in 2016 | TOAD Diaries

Blogging part time and holding down a full time job means it's not always easy finding time to photograph, edit and then write about products, places and experiences. Evenings and weekends are really the only times we have to work on the blog. Then, either there's something round the house that needs doing or we're just too tired. But all excuses are now null and void. 

Blogging is our passion, our hobby and it needs a bit of TLC. After our big makeover/ revamp/ rebrand earlier in 2015, we really want to give this blog a real effort and give ourselves a big kick up the backside. We've been blogging now for almost 5 years (on and off), which is crazy! You should see some of the posts in our archives, they're awful! But we're proud of every single one due to the response we got from other bloggers and girls around the world. Through blogging, we knew that others shared our passion and love for all things beauty (and fashion, lifestyle, food, travel etc!) and that there was a whole community out there, just within our reach. Blogging is just amazing.

With hoards, and I mean HOARDS of products to blog about this year, we've come up with a fail-proof plan to keep our posts regular and consistent. In 2015, let's face it, our blogging just wasn't up to scratch. Posts were irregular, maybe one a week if we could manage it, but with this New Year we want to be better and blog better. 
To do that, we've enlisted the help of TOAD Diaries so that we can plan and schedule ahead, ensuring our blog is in tip top shape this 2016. These diaries are completely personalisable, giving you the choice of size, binding, design, layout, duration, start month etc! You can even add the name of your blog and blog details (incase you lose it!) to make it uniquely special to you and your blog. 

Using a planner like this is great for allocating your time more efficiently is definitely the way forward. Planning both what you will post and when it will go live can even take your blog to the next level; upping your visibility on search engines and giving your followers more regular content. This can only make your blog more successful in the long run!
Seeing our stats increase over the past 6 months, once we started blogging more regularly, has given us the little kick up the bum we needed to keep it up, or one better, kick it up a notch. 
The main benefit of having your blog posts written on paper, is that once they're there, they're almost set in stone, so you feel you have to stick to them (if that's what you think may help you, otherwise write in pencil!). That way, you'll never miss a day's blogging and you can plan the rest of your free time around it!
For a lot of bloggers, scheduling posts online to publish at a particular time, on a particular day, is their way of being organised. However, when we're going to plan our posts a week (or several) in advance, having it there on paper is so much more convenient than having to scroll through the entire posts list. With a simple flick through the diary, you can see exactly what weekday they go out and slot any new ones in any clearly visible empty days. This also helps if you blog on particular days, for example every Monday, Wednesday and Friday so you can see whether the physical day has something scheduled. On post lists on blogger for example, you can only see the date, rather than the day, which is useless unless you have a calendar to hand too.

I'm quite notorious for starting blog posts, or taking photos for future blog posts and then never publishing them. With the use of a special blogging planner, I would be able to tick off blogs once they had been finished and published ON the day that they were scheduled to be. How good would that be?!
Keeping my blogging scheduler separate from my day-to-day planner will also mean no post will get over-looked or forgotten about. With hope, you'll soon be seeing regular, consistent (but varied) posts from us this year!
Keeping posts regular by scheduling them either online or in a diary like this could help you become more organised this New Year, blog better and even grow your blog. 
How do you keep your blog posts organised?

#BloggersXmas 2015 | What's In The Goody Bag

We had such a great time last month hosting the BloggersXmas event and are really glad everyone had such a great time! We've loved seeing all your posts and haul videos. The feedback has been immense! We can't wait to possibly do another next year! Apologies for the photos, my flat is the darkest place on earth and could not get good lighting - time to buy proper photography lights I think!
It took hours and hours of tirelessly emailing brands and PR companies to get contributors for the goody bags. Working behind the scenes with merchandisers and printers, we managed to pull it all together in a few weeks. As you can see, it certainly all paid off, as we managed to get some amazing brands involved!

The bags.. now the bags have had some amazing feedback! I'm quite proud to say it was me that came up with the 'I'm totes a blogger' slogan on in. 'Totes' because its a tote bag.. get it? Anyway, the sponsoring brands were really happy with it and I sent the design off to Total Merchandise who I've dealt with a number of times with things for my day job, so I knew they'd be great. These came a few days before the event, so myself, Kirsty and a few others (my sister-in-law-to-be and my bestie Prittee Perfect Beauty) helped stuff the 150+ bags. It took about 6 hours!

Source

The brochures/event guides/whatever you want to call them also worked really well. They gave bloggers an idea of what to expect, where to find each brand with a printed map of the venue, details of competitions and how to enter, all the details of all the brands that were involved and some ads for some pretty cool brands too! These were printed for a great price by Stress Free Print and arrived within a matter of days. From my days creating a magazine for my final year doing Journalism at uni, using InDesign to make them didn't take long at all. Liaising with the brands for images and text was the main challenge but we think it worked out great.
So what freebies did you get?
Popchips were a huge hit. With the launch of their new flavours, popchips sent both their Sea Salt and Vinegar and Barbecue flavours for you to try. Puffed up discs of crispy goodness, these are only half the fat of normal crisps and are only 79 calories per pack!

Designed2Eat kindly baked some Chocolate Fudge Brownies which incredibly are completely free from Gluten, Dairy, Wheat, Egg, Soy and Corn. They only contain naturally occurring sugars, making it a great guilt-free snack.

Lotil, as mentioned in a previous post, isn't a brand we'd come across before, but we're so glad we did! Specially formulated to treat super dry skin and eczema, Lotil will get your skin in top shape after winter has done it's damage.
Much like bobby pins, hair bands seem to just disappear! No one knows where they go (except maybe the people who pick up after us) but they just vanish. Normal hairbands also leave annoying kinks in our hair, which isn't ideal. Popband have the cutest elastic hair bands. Wear it on your wrist or in your hair, these bands leave you kink-free and stylish. They have lots of different colours, styles, patterns etc. Our favourites are the glittery ones.

 Recently stocked in Boots, Gold Collagen is a health supplement that you can drink! It tastes quite mediciney but it's probably best consumed in one gulp! It not only gives you beautiful skin, fights signs of ageing and restores the skin's hydration.. just in one small bottle! Amazing! You have to drink one per day for 30 days to see a difference, so go grab the rest from your local chemist.

With my wedding planning starting, so does my bridal beauty regime. I'm currently saving to have my teeth straightened with a fixed brace on the back of my teeth, so I can have a fabulous smile on my wedding day. No smile will be complete however, without dazzling white teeth. I'll be using BlanX toothpaste for the foreseeable future as their results have been amazing. Let's hope it can work wonders on mine!

Giving you samples of their three most popular skincare products, Kiehl's have been my go-to brand for skincare for years since my mum first bought me one of their products. 

Bloggers go crazy for Yankee Candle. They've so kindly send votives of their Christmas Eve scent to make BloggersXmas even more Christmassy. Agroposta is a brand we came across a while ago at a new brand launch and immediately were taken by their five flavours; Raspberry, Elderflower, Lemon, Sage Flower and Lavender. Tasting so natural, they can turn any old glass of water into flavoursome juice with this home-made cordial.

We're literally obsessed with anything miniature. Kiss Cosmetics have supplied 10 amazing shades of KISSStick minis and we love them all. From deep purple and reds to colour pop pink and subtle nudes, these are certainly a handbag must-have.
Barry M unfortunately had to pull out last minute due to staff shortages but were more than keen to have some full size products in the goody bags for everyone to try. Getting into the festive spirit with their Dazzle Dust and Glitterati ranges, each blogger walked away with one of each! 5 varying shades of nail polish and 9 shades of eye shadow, we cannot decide which shades are our favourite!
Miglio Jewellery exhibited at the event and kindly provided everyone with their catalogue to take home. Their Alchemy collection is full of beautiful silver and rose gold pieces which we adore. Their geometric earrings and midi rings are to die for! You can check out their e-brochure here. 

Blogosphere Magazine proved a very popular stand at the event with everyone trying to get their paws on the latest issue featuring Samantha Maria (aka. Beauty Crush). Little did they know that each blogger that attended also got to take home issue 3, featuring Fleur de Force! Packed full of amazing bloggers, this high quality magazine is perfect for an afternoon read when your phone battery dies!
There were also some great discounts on offer within the goody bags which we will definitely be taking advantage of once our pay comes in!
We're always on the lookout for new brushes. Crown Brush looks to be our next purchase. With plenty of brushes and brush sets to choose from, you'll be spoilt for choice with their offering of 10% discount! Unfortunately, the validity of this voucher has now run out but keep an eye on their website for deals! Magnitone offered a great discount to grab your very own Barefaced facial cleanser. Certainly an offer not to be missed if you want glowing skin this new year. 
We're so glad we found The Boutique at What Emma Did. The dresses are beautiful and so very affordable with prices from £7 - £25! She's given you a whopping 30% discount on her range - Amazing! We're putting our orders in now.
Chilpa have offered a great discount off their range of handmade Mexican textiles. From scarves, cushions and totes, to makeup bags, bunting and jewellery, you're spoilt for choice from this amazing range. Our final discount on offer is from Bella Kinesis. A fitness-wear brand which offer high quality garments to get you looking great while you're fulfilling your new years resolution. 
For your chance to HAVE all of these amazing products and discounts, simply complete the steps in the rafflecopter below to WIN one of 4 goody bags!  &   

Wren Family Favourites | Recipe Book

I love getting Blogger Mail. I love the unexpectancy (not a word but hey) of it and even though you know it may be coming, you're always excited and full of anticipation when it does.  That's exactly what happened just before Christmas when Wren Kitchens sent us the final, bound copy of their #WrenFamilyFavourites Recipe Book that we were privileged enough to have been a part of. A few months ago, they invited us to come up with our Family Favourite. The one recipe that reminded us of our childhood and one that had been passed down to us. After thinking about it for ages, I finally settled on the Spaghetti Bolognese recipe that my mum had taught me many years ago, and that I've continued to adapt.  To see my original recipe post - click here. Here's what came in the post!  Sections for both Savoury and Sweet recipes, this book is my new favourite addition to my kitchen library!

You can download your very own copy of the Recipe Book HERE!


What's your favourite family recipe?

Back to Work | 5 Essentials for Survival

January 4th 2016 - Z Day - The Zombie Apocalypse is upon us.. well at least that's what it looked like this morning!   Coffee in hand, bed hair and make up-less faces filled the train carriages and streets on my journey to work. Utter silence. Those who dared speak were given death stares by their fellow commuters. I don't think the terms 'morning person' and 'commuters' can ever go hand in hand.  Everyone's been dreading the day we'd go back to work after Christmas and the New Year. Every time we have a week or two off.. or even a day off, it seems to fly by and the next thing you know, your alarm is buzzing at 7 am and you're back at work. Mentally preparing ourselves since the new year, we're still not quite ready to face the early mornings, 8 hour days, late nights and sleep deprivation. But sadly, the day has arrived.  By lunchtime my energy levels have sunk, and due to my New Years Resolution, I refuse to snack on sugar, so shall try to plod along until 5:30. Last night's leftovers consumed, hot chocolate guzzled and heaters on full blast; today is just a haze of emails and paperwork and fighting off the urge to lay down and nap. I'm getting through it though! Hooray! Only a few hours left, the hour long commute home and I can snuggle back up under my duvet! Oh wait.. I need to re-join the gym today. *cries*
Here's the 5 things that are helping me through today (and most importantly, keeping me awake!)
1. Caffeine Everyone needs their caffeine fix. I'm not a huge fan of coffee.. In fact, the smell kind of makes my stomach turn.. too earthy for my liking! So Diet Coke is my caffeinated drink of choice and is really helping me stay awake. Grab a Costa/Starbucks or a can of sweet sweet nectar and drink to your hearts content! We MUST fight the urge to sleep! Make sure you supplement this with plenty of cold water to keep your body ticking over and counteract the dehydrating effect of caffeine. 2. Perfect Amount of Warmth I hate being cold. Literally, winter is the worst season and makes me wish that we were a species that hibernated. Even though being cold actually speeds up your metabolism, as it makes your body work harder to keep you warm, therefore would keep you awake, it's important to start your first day back at work in absolute comfort. It's all about finding the middle ground. My office is super cold so have shut all the doors to create a heat pocket around me. With a standalone heater on my feet, I have a mixture of cold and hot around me. Not too hot/cold I'm uncomfortable, but the perfect mix to make it JUST right. Too warm and you'll start getting sleepy, too cold and you'll be unproductive.
3. Light Working in low light can also trick your body into wanting to sleep, so make sure your work area is well-lit and there's plenty of natural light. If you're not near a window, make sure you have a lamp turned on and everything you're doing is illuminated. This can also help with your eyesight as your eyes wouldn't have to strain as much in order to see. 4. Food The best way to keep your energy levels up is to eat! Start the day with a healthy bowl of fruit and yoghurt or porridge that will fill you up and give your body lots of vitamins to help it function. Lunch should be had at around 1 pm, so that you're not reaching for the snack drawer at 4 pm. Lunch should also be healthy but filling. Anything too substantial or fatty could just make you feel even more sluggish! If you have to snack, eat a banana, as it's full of potassium and can kick start your brain and boost energy levels. 5. Regular Breaks Jumping straight back into an 8/9 hour day after daily lay-ins and late nights isn't going to be easy. It's best to ease yourself back into it. Take short, regular breaks throughout the day, making sure you leave your desk and stretch your legs. 5 minutes could be all you need. Easing your brain in as well as your body will actually make you more productive and will keep you more alert! If you follow those 5 things for the rest of the week, you'll be full of energy by next week Monday and actually feel so much better in yourself too! What things do you do to ease yourself back into work?