Childish

All images can be found on my Tumblr here

Boohoo, no camera so I'm going to have to go with instagrams and found images for a little while I'm afraid. I'm at the beginning of a short 10 week fashion product project and my dissertation at the minute and both are children/youth based hence the slight childish theme. I love tumblr for organising my thoughts and inspirations at the beginning of projects! Please feel free to leave links to any of yours in the comments and I'll definitely check them out, perfect form of procrastination!

I just thought I'd take the opportunity for some final thoughts on my two weeks on Jenny Craig. I had hoped to do a better post with some more images but the burglary has kind of gotten in the way of all that and because I went home unexpectedly as a result I finished about a day and a half early, although I've made the effort to use up what I missed at the beginning of this week. I would save it for another time but it's probably best to do it while it's all fresh in my head. First of all I'm going to say how over the moon I was to find out that I lost around 5/6 lbs on the diet plan! For two weeks of pretty enjoyable food and never feeling hungry I think this is amazing! I would definitely recommend it to anyone that feels like they need to get out of some bad habits. While I can't afford to continue on the plan on my student budget, I have adopted the basic principles of the plan (such as small but regular meals and fruit with my breakfast and salad with my lunch) to incorporate my own foods and I'm hoping to carry on losing a few more lbs if I don't fall into dangerous uni habits of snacking on chocolate when I'm stressed! If you're intrigued check out their website here. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to try the diet and would definitely consider it again after uni as I was so impressed with how easy it was to stick to.

LUCILLEX

Jenny Craig Week 1

Today marks the midway point of my two weeks on Jenny Craig so I thought I'd let anyone that's interested know how I've got on so far! If you haven't heard of Jenny Craig, it's basically a diet food plan that provides you with all your meals and snacks where you just have to add salad, fruits and veg throughout the day along with some other bits such as proteins and fats sometimes. The meals are all so quick and easy to prepare and having it all delivered to your door is incredibly convenient! The weekly consultations are informative and non-pressured and help with keeping you focused and on track with the plan. 

Like a literal answer to my prayers, after a weekend of complete and utter over-indulgement at Bestival, I came home to find an email from the lovely Lauren offering me the 14 day trial. I couldn't have thought of anything more perfect after having had not just one but two Byron burgers from their Bestival stall (eek!!) and an incredible amount of cider and other high calorie drinks. I decided to start the trial when I got back to uni and was in a better routine. I have found it an absolute breeze so far because the meals are all so tasty and the information provided is all so helpful and keeps me on track. The breakfasts of porridge and muesli have been my favourite part and have been keeping me full up all morning. The only meal I haven't been keen on finishing was the pea and ham soup but almost everything else has been to my taste! I've never gone hungry and have in fact not been at all hungry for some of the mid morning and afternoon snacks that are scheduled, which is crazy as my calorie level is only 1,200. I already feel like the Jenny Craig plan has helped me learn better habits in regards to portion sizes and adding fruit and veg to every meal, not just dinner. I've saved up all the days that have my favourite foods for next week so I'm sure I'll enjoy that even more but I will let you know!

If you're interested in the Jenny Craig plan, you can visit their website here. 

LUCILLEX

Palmers Natural Bronze Body Lotion

The sun is shining and we're having to show a little bit more skin all of a sudden so I felt it the perfect time to share with you my favourite gradual tanner! Having had this recommended by a couple of people and always thinking they looked the perfect colour after using it, I picked my up my own bottle in Boots when it was half price so only around £3. This states it is a gradual tanner, but unlike others I've used, I see a really great colour pay off with this the next day. This is great for someone as pale (and lazy) as me but also means you have to be a bit more careful than you might be with similar products with a less immediate tanning effect. 


I exfoliate and moisturise as I would with any other tanning product, and then apply the lotion where I need a bit of colour and sometimes a tiny bit to my face as well. You can apply with a glove/mitt or just with your hands as long as you thoroughly wash them after, I have fallen foul of tell tale stained palms before!! The smell might not be to everyone's taste but I personally like it and find my skin feels very soft and smooth after use due to the cocoa butter. At only £5.35 a bottle I would recommend this for anyone looking for a quick fix or a little summer glow that they can easily maintain.


What's your favourite tanning product?

LUCILLEX

Organix Moroccan Argan Oil

Organix Moroccan Argan Oil £6.99 Boots

It isn't quite pay day for me yet but while I was in Boots the other day I really felt the need to pick up a few hair and skincare bits as a little pick me up and this caught my eye. I've seen it mentioned before but I always feel a bit sceptical about how well cheaper products like this will really work. I haven't tried Moroccan oil as the price tag has just always seemed a little extreme for a student so I can't say how this version compares, but my hair has been calling out for something for a long time and I think I've found just the thing. I get a lot of fluffiness when I leave my hair to dry naturally and when I blow dry and it just tends to feel dry and coarse after a bit of a run of colouring, bleaching and heat styling. Just a little bit of product through to the tips of my towel dried hair reduces any fluffiness dramatically and leaves it feeling soft and manageable until my next hair wash. And the best part is, at only £6.99 this is incredibly affordable for a product that works so well. I'm really glad to have added this product to my hair routine and I would definitely recommend it! What's your favourite hair product?

LUCILLEX

Carry me home

Bag: Lodinatt, Jacket: Miss Selfridge, Necklace: Miss Selfridge, Vest: H&M

I wouldn't say that I'm somebody who's short of bags, but what I do have is a wardrobe full of weeny little satchels and not one bag I can use for overnight stays, days out or travelling. With a holiday, a couple of festivals and much more coming up for me this summer, this needed to be rectified and so when I was contacted by Lodinatt it was as if someone had been listening to my whinges about my lack of such a bag, aside from my poor Mum. I am thrilled with my 'two levels canvas bag', not only is this bag so pretty, it is also incredibly functional. There are loads of useful pockets and compartments, my favourites being the shoe section at the bottom of the bag and the laptop pocket inside, which I use for my iPad. The long, detachable strap is also in keeping with my preferred satchel style and so all in all it works perfectly for me! I tried desperately to get some outfit photos with the bag because I thought it looked pretty brill with my khaki jacket but clearly I was having a bad hair/face/body day so that will have to wait until another day!


Sorry for being a little bit absent this week but I have actually just accepted a new job! I've had a few interviews and trials but in the end I decided to choose enjoyment over hours and will be starting on a menswear concession at a local department store tomorrow. Wish me luck and I hope you've all been enjoying yourselves this week!

LUCILLEX

3 Steps

My skin hasn't been itself recently and I've been noticing a lot of blocked pores and, not spots, but little red bumps on my cheeks particularly (nice). It was making me a little grumpy and instead of experimenting or potentially making the problem worse, I decided to go a little bit old school and invest in the 3 step skin care system from Clinique. I like the idea of having 3 products, matched to your skin type by a consultant to use day and night. I was told I was skin type two which is dry/combination skin, it was a bit pricey and all three cost me £58 from Debenhams. The first step is to cleanse your face with a foaming face wash. You then use the exfoliant to remove dead skin cells with a cotton pad and finally moisturise. It's pretty straight forward to use and doesn't take a great deal of time or effort which is a big plus for me!


I've been using the system for about a month now and I can honestly say that it has dramatically improved the condition of my skin. My pores have virtually disappeared where before I found them very noticeable, my mum even said so the other day! I rarely get a spot and if I do it's nothing that can't be covered. I struggle with dry patches sometimes, particularly around my nose, and the dramatically different moisturiser seems to have combated this and left me with my softer, more even skin. It was the most expensive of the lot though at about £28 so I would expect good things really! I have used about 1/5th of the products, if that, so they definitely last a long time and appear to be good value. All in all I'm very pleased with my skincare and would probably repurchase when I run out as I know it works well for me. There's still a way to go before I can call my skin perfect but Clinique has been a step in the right direction. 


Have you tried any Clinique skin care? What do you think?


LUCILLEX

Hedonist

I spotted the Models Own Hed Kandi polishes the other day and I knew I'd be going back at some point this week to pick some up! I really wanted to get Ibiza Mix which is a multi coloured glitter that reminded me of O.P.I's Rainbow Connection. When I went back yesterday they'd all gone which I was pretty gutted about but I did grab Hedonist which is an amazing neon coral, will be perfect with a summer tan! This is actually my first Models Own polish for some reason and I was impressed. Applied flawlessy and was pretty much one coat opaque. Dried amazingly as well which is a dream for me as I'm so impatient! As it's 3 for 2 in boots at the minute I also picked up my long coveted Juicy Jules and also Mystic Mauve as it is so pretty and girly and everything I look for in a nail colour! I might be giving one or both of these to my sister for her birthday this weekend though as I know she'd love them too! If you don't mind a bit of an 'in your face' nail colour then definitely get your hands on Hedonist or some of the other colours in the Hed Kandi range! Have you tried any yet? What do you think of Models Own?


LUCILLEX

Just Peachy

I made my first MUA purchase from my local Superdrug last week and after a little bit of deliberation over what to try first I decided that I wanted to add to my lipstick collection the most. I already have my perfect red (No 7 Moisture Drench in Siren) and a nice rosy pink from Benefit (Lady's Choice) that I'm using day to day so I went for something a little different for me and picked up this peachy pink colour, which is Shade 15 'Juicy'. For £1 you really can't go all that wrong and as I am on a very strict budget it was nice for me to be able to treat myself to a little something without having to worry about where the money for rent/food/bills is going to come from. I really love the shade and am so keen to wear when the sun comes out! I do wish that the colour was a little more pigmented but I'm really not going to complain about it for £1, I find it quite buildable anyway. The only real problem I have is that I currently have quite dry lips and this does seem to highlight that. It's not that it's drying, it just clings to the dry bits if you know what I mean (sounds pretty vile, sorry!). Does anyone have any advice on quick, cheap and effective ways to get rid of my chapped lips so I can wear this lipstick without having to slather on tonnes of lip balm?


Overall, I would say this is definitely worth a try for £1, I will 100% be going back for more lipsticks and more products!

LUCILLEX

Cheap and cheerful

Recently I have been on the biggest budget/spending ban of my life and it's pretty boring. I have however been learning to hunt for bargains and miracle bargain products and 2 of them are my true loves at the minute. I've been having problems with my skin for the first time in my life, but not spots, blocked pores. Now, I would have loved to have just gone out and spent £20/£30 on some high end product but it just wasn't possible. In Boots one day I just decided to pick up the Neutrogena Blackhead Eliminating Cleanser for £3.99 and I haven't looked back. I never have hot water in my student house, so cleansing at the sink can be a bit of a problem for my skin but this is an easy product to use and it has really cleared up my skin and left my pores much less visible. If you have dry skin however, this probably isn't the one for you!

My hair is finally getting a little bit longer and I feel like I want to start styling it a bit more again. I've become obsessed by peoples curly or wavy hair and when I mentioned the Enrapture tongs to my mum we decided we needed to get up to Boots asap. In my local store there wasn't any Enrapture products available but we did spot the Babyliss pro curls tongs for about £20 and thought we might as well give them a go. Let me tell you, these do the trick! They're easy to use again and on my hair they were really effective for giving loose, soft curls and I'm sure I could conjure up something more extreme and glam if I wished. For those of you on a budget who I feel in need of a little pampering and a beauty boost, these have definitely got my recommendation! 

Do you have any miracle bargain products that you swear by?


LUCILLEX