You create your own reality.

I wanted to write about something that has become very important to me in my life over the past year or so. Or rather, something I've become AWARE of in the past year (it's always been present). And that is the idea that I and I alone create my own reality. Let me elaborate...

Look around at your life: the people in it, the house you live in, the job you have, your finances and all the rest. They are the way they are (aside from unfortunate circumstances, of course) because you manifested them that way. Now, this whole issue of manifestation is a wee bit controversial, to say the least, but if you're a believer or want to know more - read on.

A few years ago I heard about a book called The Secret. I'm sure many of you have heard of it too... the idea running through it being that like attracts like and positive thinking, in particular thinking as if you already have all the things that you long for, will attract them into your life. The concept, I agree with; the book, I didn't like. But that's personal preference. So I just sort of forgot about it until about a year ago.

About a year ago I was going through a terrible break up, left broke and moved into a random shared house just wanting to start fresh. I met an incredible woman that deeply inspired me and was very spiritual. I wasn't particularly spiritual myself, but had an open mind and was eager to learn from her. She's twice my age and has lived an incredible life. She lent me two fantastic books, Write it Down, Make it Happen and Anatomy of the Spirit; the first being a light and easy read and the second a much more in-depth and medical-style prose. However, I persevered and learned RIDICULOUS amounts in those few months in that house. And I started thinking about what I wanted in my life and actually telling myself that I already had them...

Before I knew it, I had met an amazing group of like-minded friends, a wonderful boyfriend who is very spiritual himself and lent me his favourite read, The Celestine Prophecy and was jetting to The States to have the summer of my life - get this - with one of my other housemates who happened to be American! Things just started happening... it was incredible.

Fast forward to now; I got back from America about a month ago and knew the job that I wanted and projected to the universe how grateful I was to have found it. Guess what? Two weeks later I got invited to the interview and the following day given the job. Even weirder, the one person I know in the city and will be staying with I'm moving to lives down the road from my workplace.

Two books that I've ADORED over the past month have been Barefoot Doctor's Manifesto & Liberation. I thoroughly recommend giving them a read. I ordered my copies off Amazon for about £1.50 each - bargain! Manifesto is, would you believe, about the idea of manifestation and Liberation is about setting yourself free of all the barriers we place on ourselves every day.

So my tip for you: firstly, accept that your life is the way it is because YOU wanted it that way (even if that seems wrong; we often don't allow ourselves the things we truly want believe it or not!). Secondly, understand that you can have all the things that you truly want; all it takes it really believing that!

A bit of a different post, but one that I hope can help at least one person. Please let me know your thoughts!

La Roche-Posay Serozinc

OK, so it's time for my personal input on this rather hyped up product in the beauty world. I was back from a summer in the desert and dealing with a really bad breakout and putting together an updated routine in the hopes that I could combat said breakout. This was one thing I was very certain I wanted to include...

I'll start by saying that I absolutely adore it. I use a moisturising toner, followed by a spray of this over the face before my serum and moisturiser. It was designed to soothe irritated skin as well as offer anti-bacterial protection - great for a breakout! I like that the formulation is alcohol free. It doesn't evaporate easily, thus doesn't dry out the skin.

INGREDIENTS: Water, Sodium chloride, Zinc sulfate - that's it!

Originally, this little sucker could only be found in France, but some clever ebayers have jumped on the bandwagon and started selling it, which is where I got mine. I paid about £13 plus p&p for the 150ml bottle and, although pricier than what you'd pay if you were across the Channel, am very happy with my purchase. The spray is very light and airy, dispensing a delicate layer on the skin and this has definitely helped clear up my spots. I would definitely agree that it's worth all the hype it has been getting!

A Tale of Two Cleansers

If you're in the know with the latest cleansing trend, it seems there's been a transition from the traditional foaming cleansers to those with a more oily or balmy consistency. And that goes for all skin types. Out with the old belief that a cleanser's job is to clean with the skin with a thick foamy lather and in with the new that natural oils should be included to nourish.

As someone with a normal skin that suffers from dehydration, nourishment is key. I am not a fan of foaming cleansers, personally, even if the foaming agent is naturally-derived. I tend to swing towards balms, oils and milks. With a million and one options on the market today, it's so hard to know what to go for. I've tried a good handful from all different price points and thought I'd share two of my favourites.
1. Burt's Bees Orange Essence Facial Cleanser: This was about $10 for 120g, obviously purchased in the States. Burt's Bees products are much more expensive over here in the UK, but I still pay the price because I adore the products - this being one of them. This was (tube finished now) a 100% natural balm/gel cleanser, fantastic for massaging into the skin and removing with a flannel. It removed make-up, dirt and grime and really left the skin soft and nourished but without any kind of greasy film. It smells, as you would imagine of orange and feels really luxurious on the skin.

INGREDIENTS: Glycerin, olive fruit oil, limonene, oat kernel flour, orange oil, oat kernel oil, lanolin, aloe leaf juice, quillaja bark extract, sunflower seed oil, beta-carotene, tocopherol (vitamin e), rosemary leaf extract, soybean oil, canola oil, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate

2. NUXE Melting Cleansing Gel: I purchased this in the M&S Beauty Hall for about £12 (125ml). It wont be to everyone's taste because of the very strong rose scent, but it doesn't really bother me or cause any irritation. It is creamier than the Burt's Bees cleanser and feels rather akin to slapping a thick moisturiser on your face to cleanse with. Again, I remove with a flannel. I find that this leaves my skin feeling really clean and fresh and bright. After having used it for the past 3 weeks I absolutely adore it and would recommend in a heart beat to someone who isn't bothered by the fragrance.

INGREDIENTS: Water, Rosa damascena flower water, macadamia seed oil, parfum/fragrance, coco-glucoside, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, glycerin, benzyl alcohol, capryloyl glycine, sodium hydroxide, citric acid, allantoin, tetrasodium EDTA, dehydroacetic acid, soybean oil, beta-carotene, carrot root extract, tocopherol

Note - I almost always do a double cleanse in the evenings. For both of these cleansers, I use them by themselves in the AM (with a flannel still) and in the PM use as the second step on my routine after my Origins Clean Energy Gentle Cleansing Oil. That's just personal preference as I find an oil cleanser breaks down make-up and SPF best and then I can follow with these to cleanse and nourish my actual skin.

If you've got any recommendations, I'd love to hear about them! I hope some of you find this helpful.



WHERE HAVE I BEEN?!

Hello everyone! OK, so to say it's been a while could well be understatement of the year. I have been out in the good old US of A for a wee bit visiting friends, galavanting around and working on some lovely animal projects. In summary, it's been fab but it was so nice to hop back across the pond and see the fam, friends and beloved bf.

After a summer of little in the way of a hair&skincare routine, almost no make-up whatsoever and the blazing Arizona sunshine, the pampering commenced very shortly after landing back on English soil and I've got loads to talk about in the way of MIRACLE products.

My skin had a horrendous breakout almost immediately after landing. I think it was a combination of a dramatic climate change, stress, exhaustion and hormones. Of course this led to a 'meh' slump, however only two weeks after whipping out the old routine, my skin is looking gorge (if I do say so myself!). So stay tuned for my recommendations if you're keen!

Expect more structure to this blog and lots of beauty tips (and terrors) to follow. But, for now, I shall leave you with one of my favourite pictures of the summer!

Mega Love xx