International Women's Day 2014

image taken from weheartit.com

Hello and Happy International Women's Day!!!

So International Womans Day is a pretty important day and in some countries it is known as a holiday where mums, grans, girlfriends receive gifts almost like a mothers day. Its a day that represents celebration and recognition on how well the treatment of us Woman has improved. Many many moons ago it was believed that Men done all the "hard work" and Woman stayed at home and done the cooking the cleaning and raised the children, know I don't have any children but I would have loved to see men do the cooking and the cleaning back then. Times have changed now and Woman are still fighting to be classed as equal to the men in many working environments and slowly we are getting there. International Womans day is more than that though its a day that shows just how awesome we Woman really are from ones that have been fighting illness, abusive relationships, depression we are all different shapes and sizes but we are all Awesome!! And today I am going to share with you some Woman that are a true inspiration to me.

My number 1 true inspiration is my mum, together we have been through so much. If I ever have a problem about anything she is the one I turn to and I know that I can trust her. When my Dad left us I was about 12yrs old but he had been working away from home before he actually left us that we were already used to it being just the 2 of us at home. Growing up I didn't exactly have the best teenage years and I cant even imagine what I put my mum through but she always stayed strong for me and tried her best to understand what I was going through. When she met my step dad almost 9 years ago I was so happy for her, she has this new lease of life about her and is truly happy. She always has a positive side about her and I know that no matter what I do with my life she wont care what it is as long as I am 100% happy. I love my mum to bits and I only hope I am exactly like her.

 

My second Has to be my Granny, when I was a kid I used to always go to stay with my Granny and Grandad on school holidays. They lived in a big bungalow out in the middle of nowhere up here in Scotland. I loved to help my granny with anything round the house including washing the plastic fruit she kept in a bowl, she taught me to cross stitch and she always allowed me to stay up late watching late night movies. My first scary film I watched was The Birds and I watched it with her. When my grandad passed away almost 8 years ago I'm not going to lie I was very worried the affect this loss would have on my Granny. My Granny and Grandad were each others true loves they were the only true love relationship I grew up around. Well she has showed us we have nothing to worry about! Turning 87 this year and does not look a day over 60 we say to her. She still does her house work, is always hoping on the bus going here and there out having latte's and cake (she even has her own costa card), treating herself to new bags and purses. She shows me that life goes on and you got to live each day and keep being positive. Love this woman to bits! I can only hope I'm as healthy as she is when I am her age.

 

 

Now for my third, It had to be someone that I have never met but I find really inspiring. There was many ladies on my list but I had to go for Miss Audrey Kitching!! This for me is the original pink haired princess, I have followed and looked up to this beautiful lady for years and years, since before the pink hair when it was blonde with black underneath and a turquoise blue streak! I stumbled across this lady on livejournal I cannot even remember how but I did and there was just something about her even from her early modelling day photos that I just thought she is awesome that for a time I just wanted to be her! Years of following her and many different hair style changes later she still inspires me to do what I want to do and believe in myself, you guys should check out Audrey's Buzznet page by clicking here.

 

 

Which lady inspires you? leave a comment below I would love to read them and reply

 

That's all from me today hope you enjoyed this post and Happy International Women's Day!

 

Lots of Lovies

SparklySJ

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Bye January! Hello February!

Waaaaahoooo!

 That's us out of January guys!! I actually feel that its gone pretty quick. Pay day has been and gone, the bills have been paid now we are skint again counting down the days till next pay day haha. 

I didn't do much in January really it was all about saving those pennies although I did get myself a few treats throughout the month, all in the name of blogging of course! If you follow me on Instagram you will see what I been treating myself to lately (click here --> SparklySJ). One thing I did get to do at the end of the month was go to Glasgow and see the band City and Colour! Hands down one of the best live bands I have ever seen. The frontman Dallas Green's (from Alexisonfire) voice is just amazing. I did have a wee visit to first aid about an hour in to their set due to being too hot and almost passing out. My own fault really as I hadn't taken off my jacket but a little sit down and some water I was fine and went back to watch them. Even caught my favourite song Two Coins (check it out on youtube here). Being back in Glasgow to see a live band got me all excited for next time, which is gonna be Katy Perry!! I am super excited to see her its only 105 days to go.

 I also got my hair done Yay!! I hadn't had my hair done since October last year so it was badly needing done. I went for a little bit of a change and went ombre! They lightened up my hair and removed the almost black I had in from last time then they lightened my ends and slapped on a warm brown tone on top. I love it! I think I might even go a little lighter in the summer months. Talking hair and beauty I recently purchased Lauren Conrad's book Beauty, what an awesome book! Full of handy tricks and tips its really inspired me to try out different make up looks. If i have any success with them you never know I might do a few tutorials!

So now that's us into February, I have a few blogging ideas for this month lots of skincare and make up!! I'm even thinking on doing a regular blog post every Tuesday with just little fun random facts?! Like what I been loving or hating that past week. Its also Valentines Day this month Gordee and I never got to spend it together last year due to him being up a mountain (work purposes) so I think we might go for a nice meal this year. I always find February to be a rather quick month probably cause its my birthday in March and I get excited for it. Whatever this month brings either it be good or bad I intend to always having a smile on my face and I hope you guys do to!

Is there anything you lot love about February? Any Valentines plans? love to read your comments :) till next time.

Lots of Lovies

SparklySJ

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any images here that aren't my own are from weheartit.com 

Favorites of 2013!!

Heylo!!

I cant believe that we are so close to the end of 2013 and closer to starting 2014! I don't know about you but I feel that this past year has just gone flying by. So with that in mind I thought I would do a post about my favorite products I used and loved this year! As I only started blogging at the end of October there will be products that I wont have mentioned before so this gives me the chance too let you know on what other lovely things I have enjoyed this year.

 So to start we have my bathroom items:

For body lotions I have enjoyed many Soap and Glory items, mainly the Sugar Crush Body Butter £10.50 I love the thick luxurious consistency of this body butter and the smell is so lovely and zesty. Another popular lotion was my Body Shop Mango Whip Body Lotion £3.00 this stuff is not only super moisturizing it smells amazing!! I bought this the body spray and the little bottle of perfume so i could layer the smell and it lasted all day, whenever I smell it now it reminds me of summer adventures with Gordee.

At Cleansers we have the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish £14.75 the is jammed pack full of natural ingredients its gentle to the skin and removes stubborn make up perfectly. My everyday cleanser has to be my Cetaphil £8.35 I just love this stuff, its fragrance free and does not irritate my skin.

I had to add the Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub £5.50 for perfectly soft smooth lips plus it tastes yummy.

On to the skin 

The Body Shop Vitamin C Skin Reviver £14.00 is still very much a staple in my morning routine, I love that it wakes my skin up in the morning, prepping me up for another day. I done a full blog post on this here. For my moisturiser I have tried a few different ones however I always go back to Superdrugs Vitamin E Intense Moisture Cream £2.99 its thick and creamy, smells beautiful and is packed of healthy vitamins which I feel has really helped heal my skin from scarring and keeping it healthy looking. For a full review on this I blogged about it here. My night time moisturiser has to be the Soap & Glory Beauty Sleep Accelerator £13.00 to start it smells of peaches! and its super moisturising to the skin. Since using this my skin has felt a lot more plump and looks a lot healthier. I featured this in one of my first blog posts and go a bit more in to detail about it here. And lastly where would I be without the Origins Super Spot Remover £14.00 I would be a spotty stressed out mess that's where I would be! This stuff has well and truly impressed me and without a doubt I will continue to purchase. For a full review I blogged about here.

Lastly hair!

I cannot live without a can of Batiste Dry Shampoo £1.48 my hair can get terribly greasy so in the days between washing this stuff is a savior. Making my hair feeling fresh and lasting another day. This year I have really cut back on drying my hair with a hair dryer and letting it dry natural when it dries naturally it tends to go wavy at the ends. I used to find this frustrating but this year I decided to embrace it, I spray a little bit of Toni & Guy Casual Sea Salt Texturising Spray £6.50  to the ends to add a little bit of texture. Before I wash my hair I like to treat it once or twice a month with a VO5 Hot Oil £4.29  just to give it a bit of a boost with moisture, it always feels silky soft and shiny after I use one.

So that's the end of my favorites of 2013 part 1 hope you wonderful lot have enjoyed it, part 2 will be shortly with my fave make up and nail treats. Whats been your favorite products you have used this year?

Lovies 
SparklySJ
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The Christmas Tag

 

Now that we are well and truly through the festive month of December I'm going to do The Christmas Tag, the lovely Freya over at Beauty and the Button done this and tagged me in it, you can check out her blog here. Now that I'm all in the festive spirit I figured why not do it now! So here we go, I answer 10 questions all about Christmas then to finish I'm going to tag a few bloggers I think might enjoy doing this.

1. What's your favourite Christmas song?
Oooo now I do enjoy a good Christmas song but one of my top festive tunes has to be The Pogues song Fairytale of New York featuring Kirsty MacColl. Whenever I first hear this song when its slow to start then all the instruments get going I'm like Yes!!! Christmas is coming!!

2. What's your favourite festive drink?
This has to be hot chocolate. I don't drink it much throughout the year, however when it starts getting cold I make sure that the cupboards are stocked up nicely with lots of hot chocolate sachets.

3. Any favourite Christmas films?
I have 3! First is The Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton, this is one of my favourite films that I watch quite a lot more in December. Home Alone would be my second, you cant not watch this film at Christmas time its one of the best Christmas films. My third favourite is The Grinch! I love Dr Seuss and I think this version is so good Jim Carrey does such a good Grinch.

4. What's at the top of your Christmas wishlist?
I am going to be honest here I haven't actually made a list of things I would like and I'm not overly fussed either. I have given Gordee a few hints of some nice skincare or fragrance sets I would like but Christmas for me is about spending it with my family eating all that lovely food having a few drinks and having a laugh. This year is the first year Gordee and I will be spending Christmas together, so I'm excited that I get to spend it with him and my family up here in Scotland.

5. Favourite festive make-up or nail look?
This has to be dark lips, I love the barely any eye make up with a bold dark lip look. I do have a nail look which I am waiting to try a little closer to Christmas so I will be featuring that up on the blog.

6. Favourite outfit at Christmas? (LBD, Christmas Jumper, Pjs)
I live in my winter cosy pjs throughout December, unless I have to leave the flat then I layer up. I do have a Christmas jumper but I'm not wearing that yet till the last few days of work ;).

7. Play out in the snow or enjoy from the inside?
Defiantly enjoy from the comfort of my own home. I live in an area where when it snows it can really snow! I love looking outside and seeing a blanket of white, I do not enjoy walking in it cause I would hate it if I slip fall and look like an idiot!

8. Wrapping presents - love it or loathe it?
Ah! I loathe wrapping presents its so time consuming and I make such a dogs mess with it. I apologise to any of my friends reading this but yes your presents wont look the best haha.

9. Favourite Christmas food?
Mince pies! I love mince pies! I only have them coming up to Christmas times. Heat them up a few seconds in the microwave with a smidgen of cream, yummy.

10. What's your favourite thing about Christmas?
Spending it with the ones I love and having a lovely time together.

And there we have it.

Next up a few Bloggers I nominate to do the Tag
Bethany
Katrina
Steph

Enjoy guys!!

Lots of Lovies
SparklySJ
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If You Go Down To The Woods Today

This weekend my boyfriend Gordee and I decided to try and be a bit more healthier and active. By doing this we went for a winter walk in the woods. There is nothing better than going out there and getting some fresh air in those lungs with the wind blowing through your hair and having rosy cheeks. Plus the endorphins you get is just awesome, we both felt really good afterwards knowing that instead of sitting in the flat watching movies the whole weekend we actually done something productive. I love going to places I haven't been before and taking in the scenery, living up in Scotland sometimes I don't realise how pretty this place is that when I do I instantly fall in love with it all over again. Even though I can have a moan that there's not many shops where I live I do appreciate the scenery! I thought I would share with you guys some of the photos we took on our adventures.

 

Hope you like the snaps :)

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend and maybe this has inspired you to go out on your own adventure walks.

SparklySJ
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