Magazine Best Buys - August

Hello hello!
Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend! It's that time again to review the best August issues to pick up from the newsstand this week!

1. Okay so top of the list is a joint one this week! Glamour magazine and Marie Claire. Glamour has a great piece on Holiday style if you are jetting off this Summer along with a brilliant 25% off at Office valid online and in store until the 7th of August. Meanwhile, Marie Claire is looking ahead to the AW16 season with an exciting trend edit on what's hitting stores soon and a fab interview with the gorgeous Blake Lively.
   The main reason these two are at the top is for their fab Benefit Cosmetics brow freebies! As you may or may not know, Benefit have recently launched their biggest range of brow products yet. The range is made up of 13 products, all in lovely, brand new, silver packaging. You can complete the Benefit 3 step questionnaire on their website to find out which products are perfect for you, depending on your own personal brow style. Click Here to take the quiz!
   
   So the 2 products that are free in this months mag's are the; Gimme Brow volumizing brow gel in Glamour, and the Ready, set, BROW! Clear brow gel in the Marie Claire issue. The Gimme Brow is a third of the full price product's size and comes in 3 shades (Although I've only seen two of the shades in all the mags I've looked at.) The shades are 01 Light, 03 Medium and 05 Deep. It's not completely obvious as all the shades have the same colour packaging but if you look on the top of the box it has the number of shade. To buy the full size Gimme Brow it costs £18.50. . Glamour is £2 - you do the maths & stock up while you can!
    
   The Ready, set, BROW gel is clear so no need to worry about picking up the correct shade. It's a great size and will literally hold your brows in place all day. The sample in the mag is a half size of the full price product that costs £18.50 also! Marie Claire is £4, so still excellent value. I cannot stress enough how brilliant the Benefit website is for tips and tricks, and in this day and age, there is no excuse for bad eyebrows! If you like the idea of the products but want some extra help, pop in to a benefit counter and get them to use the products on your brows and teach you at the same time. I get my eyebrows waxed and tinted along with my lashes tinted all for £24 at the Benefit brow bars and they are fab! Click here to find a store that has a brow bar within.
   
   
2. Okay so back to mags! Number 2 this month is Red Magazine. This months issue has a great insight in to Summer beauty, including tanning secrets, miracle face oils and beach hair saviours! If, like me, you struggle to catch a golden glow in the sun, then fake tan tips are always welcome! There's also a first look at the new AW16 trends and if you are going on holiday this issue will be great to get purely for the free samples! Red are giving away a travel set from The Organic Pharmacy. The set features a Face cream, an Antioxidant lip balm and a Hand cream. Click the links to read all about the ingredients, the products are 100% organic and a great size for your hand luggage!
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   Photo Credit: HarpersBazaar.co.uk

4. Next up is Harper's Bazaar. The August issue also looks ahead to next season's biggest fashion trends with an amazing 50 page portfolio, showcasing beautiful creations by the world's top designers. There's also an exclusive shoot with our British female Olympians ahead of the Rio Olympics and a fab free gift courtesy of L'Occotaine. There's 4 products to collect which include my favourite iconic Shea butter hand cream, the Nourishing almond shower oil and the refreshing Neroli & Orchidee scent. If you are just going for one however, it's got to be the Immortelle Divine Cream. - Not only is it proven to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and even out your skin tone, it also replenishes and revives dry, lacklustre skin after just one use. According to the Harper's beauty editors, it's the one to pack if you are going on holiday, perfect to slather on after a day at the beach! Not to mention the fact it's usually £74 for the 50ml tub!
   
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   Number 4 is this months cheap and cheerful read - Cosmopolitan! This time of year is great for grabbing a magazine for the sunny days out in the garden or even to start your holiday off on a train journey or flight. I don't know about you, but I hate leaving a £4 mag on a train, even if I've read most of it! Enter Cosmopolitan - at £1 you really can't go wrong!
   With it's fair share of Summer fashion pages and a great piece on keeping fit around your working and social schedule, it's an easy pick up.
   
6. Finally a mention to the weeklies! Grazia has had a Starbucks offer for the past 2 weeks, The first issue was to try the new Tevana shaken iced tea for free and this week has the Yoghurt Frappe which comes in a variety of flavours. Head to the park with your mag and refreshing Summery drink for just £2.
   Look magazine has a reader offer for 25% off at Related Apparel and an article on 200 buys under £20 if you fancy some new summer pieces on a budget!

That's my top picks for this month, July was definitely more exciting from some mags, in terms of freebies. However, content wise, now is a great time to be reading the fashion publications to get excited about the new AW16 season that is on our doorsteps. Make sure you pick at least one up and start scoping which trends you want to rock this Autumn,
Enjoy the sunshine & as always, happy reading!

L x

Training for the Marathon!

Hello everybody!
This next blog post is for anyone who needs some motivation to start running!
A marathon doesn't always mean running a 26.2 mile race, the word marathon is also used to describe a long-lasting or difficult task or activity. So with that in mind, if you are running a half or full marathon or even if you are trying to find the motivation to get fitter or run a 5K then hopefully reading this post will help you!
3 weeks ago, I was a complete running novice! I didn't own running trainers, I felt completely overwhelmed by the thought of training and juggling my work & social life with the added stress of going running every other day! I sat down and rationalised the situation. I phoned my super fit, sporty sister for some advice on when to train and how to get started and she was 100% the voice of reason I needed. She told me I didn't need to run everyday - despite what google said, and I didn't need to start with a 5 mile run! Here's my top 5 pieces of advice on how to train for a marathon!;

1. Set a goal! You can always increase this target as you go, but choose an initial point that you want to train and be ready for. I went all out and signed up to run the London Marathon 2017 - I was inspired by my cousin who I watched run in 2016 and motivated by a charity close to my hometown's hearts. I'll also be running the Cheltenham half marathon in September in preparation for the full marathon, there's still time to sign up if you want to join me!
   
2. Start Running! Firstly, find a time that works for you to run. The amount of times I've arrived home from work on a lovely evening only to bail, out of tiredness, on the 5K I had been planning all day, then feeling bad about it for the rest of the evening! Instead, I now do 5K runs, 2 mornings a week before work at 6am and one long run on the weekend. I downloaded the Map My Run App on my iPhone which allows me to track every run and see my pace and time. It's great, as you run it interrupts your music on the headphones to tell you when you've reached each KM mark and tells you the time you did it in along with the split pace which I find really motivating. Each 5K I do, I try to increase my pace/km. See below my 4 of my recent runs;
   
   
   
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   The Sauccony trainers I purchased!

   Get yourself a pair of good running trainers and some expert advice while you're at it! I was advised by more than one person to visit the local running store and be fitted with the correct pair of running shoes for my feet to avoid injury during training. A good running shop will get you on the treadmill and use video technology to watch how you run. From this, they are then able to determine A, which type of trainers work best for you and B, if you need any extra support or in-soles fitted. I went down to my local  Up and Running store to get mine, the in store team were brilliant, quickly found the correct pair of trainers for me and welcomed my questions regarding training. It was great to be able to discuss fitting in training with my own personal lifestyle as they had suggestions and ideas specific to me rather than googling 'running a marathon'! Also, If you are running an event sponsored by the store you'll get 10% off so make sure you tell them what you are training for. Find your nearest store here!
   
   
4. Surround yourself with positive, encouraging people! Training can be an overwhelming thought at the start, so encouragement is key. Talk through your training plan with other runners, but don't panic if their plan differs to yours - everyone is different. That said, be open to suggestions if you are new to running, you can always go back to your original plan if it doesn't work for you! Running with a buddy is also great motivation to get going. If you make an arrangement to run with someone it's much harder to back out on a friend  than it is to bail on yourself! In the beginning I went on a couple of runs with my housemate, Meg, we were both just getting back in to training so took it easy and power walked a bit in-between! You can also join a local running club if you struggle to go alone, if you don't know the best routes it's a brilliant way to learn the area. Most recently I went out with my sister on the bike, she kept the pace for me and kept me going - when she wasn't taking super flattering Snapchat's of course!
   
   
   

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   Fuel your body with the right nutrition! Make sure you have a good dinner before a morning run so you have the energy to wake up and go. I often have a banana right before I leave for my run and then when I get back to the house, I'll make this brilliant all natural protein shake! This is a recipe my cousin's boyfriend put together for her when she was training and she has kindly shared it with me - I guarantee you'll love it too! You can get all of the ingredients in a variety of stores, however I decided to research the best places to buy the ingredients on a budget. Click the links in the recipe below to find the items where I buy mine for the best price!;

   
   

   Natural Protein Shake:

   
   

   1 Banana 

   
   

   1 Tbsp Coconut Oil

   
   

   1 Tbsp Cacao Powder

   
   

   1 Tbsp Peanut Butter

   
   

   1/4 Tsp Cinnamon

   
   

   15g Protein Powder 

   
   

   1 Tsp Honey

   
   

   Handful of Dates 

   
   
                  Unsweetened Almond Milk
   
   
   Pour in the almond milk to about a quarter of the way up the blending jug. Putting liquid in first, stops the powders sticking to the bottom! Throw in the banana sliced in to 3 or 4 pieces. Add the coconut oil, cacao powder, peanut butter, cinnamon, protein powder and honey. I buy the Whitworth's pitted dates (currently on offer at Tesco until 9th Aug - link above.) which I just roughly slice in half to make slightly smaller. These are optional but they do add a nice bit of texture and sweetness to the shake. Pop the dates in and then fill up with almond milk to the 3/4 jug line. Quickly whizz up in the blender for about a minute on a high level. Voila! Pour in to a cold glass and enjoy. These ingredients are all great for muscle repair which is vital when running regularly.
   
   So that's it! I hope these tips help to motivate you to get running or to get started on your training! Of course any questions, leave me a comment. You can also keep up to date with my training on snapchat: LindsJane4 and over on my Instagram.
   Finally, I'll be doing a fashion edit of all of my favourite gym and sportswear including tech accessories next weekend, so be sure to pop back if you are stuck on what to wear when training or if you just fancy some new bits for the gym!
   L x
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Something New Everyday for 30 Days! #30DAYCHALLENGE

The 30 day challenge, as some of you already know was a challenge I took on for the month of June! I had to complete something I'd never done before every single day! As you can imagine it was not without some difficulty that I managed to complete the 30 days.
I found it to be somewhat challenging at times; often up against work, weather and time constraints! but I also learnt a lot about myself and my personal resilience to do something new for each day against the odds.
Despite this, I have had the best experiences in the one month than I've the whole 6 months of 2016 so far! I'd honestly encourage everybody to take on a challenge like this, even if it's not for a blog! Where possible, I've tried to choose activities that everybody can do and that don't cost the earth!
Anyway, I think it's about time I recapped the challenge for you all! I've taken the first 5 days straight from my blog post at the beginning of the month - just in case you think you've read them before!

Day 1 Wednesday 1st of June - I signed up to run the Cheltenham Half Marathon in September. I'm not really a keen runner but I was inspired by watching the London marathon earlier this year and I'm ready to give it a go! I went on my first training run today also - a cheeky 5K around Cheltenham after work with my housemate!

The 2016 Cheltenham Half route!

Day 2 Thursday 2nd of June  - I tried Halloumi cheese! So let me explain this rather daft one! On Thursday we went on an 'away day' with work. While we were there I came across this Cypriot delight at the lunch buffet! After declaring that I'd never tried it, I was met by several gasps from my colleagues - apparently it's a thing! Therefore it counted as day 2 of trying something new! Verdict - delicious!

Day 3 Friday 3rd of June - I bought my very first Lottery ticket! I had a little 'money spider' crawling on me, which obviously, I thought would be a dead cert that I would win. Somewhat disappointed not to have won in the draw, but apparently you have more chance of being hit by a car! Great. -  A new experience none the less!

Day 4 Saturday 4th of June - I went to Wales by car - A first in itself! The first time I went to Wales was earlier this year when I went to watch the 6 nations in Cardiff. However, as I arrived by train I feel it doesn't count! So anyway, not only crossing a border in to a new country but also a new sport! We went surfing at Porthcawl, Rest Bay. Hands down the best day of 2016 so far!

Day 5 Sunday 5th of June - Today I was working in town, so I had to fit my new experience in to 30 minutes during my lunch break! I decided to pop in to House of Fraser and have my make up done at a counter. Something I've never done and actually really needed to do but have never got round to it! I went to Bobbi Brown as they give make up lessons for free! Teaching you what make up and which brushes to use daily to suit your skin. It was amazing and totally free so definitely go and give it a go!

Day 6 Monday 6th of June - Today I went to the beautiful Sandford Parks Lido! It was a fantastic 20+ degree day and all day at work, I was dying to leap in to the outdoor pool! I got out of work slightly later than planned and rushed on my bike to get a swim in before closing time! So worth it, as if I haven't ever been before!! It literally felt as though I was abroad, I uploaded a youtube video you can watch over on my channel to see more of day 6!

Day 7 Tuesday 7th of June - Tennis Tuesdays! I had a brilliant evening at a ladies social tennis club. It was held in the Montpellier Park Gardens, a really lovely place to spend a summer's evening with a great bunch of girls. We had such a laugh and I really enjoyed playing tennis for fun, in contrast to previous coaching sessions I've taken part in. If you click the above Tennis Tuesdays link you can find one near you!The programme is part of the #THISGIRLCAN campaign too!

Day 8 Wednesday 8th of June - I visited my local library today. I've obviously been to a library before, but the first was the fact I was going for the first time in my adult life, to read for pleasure rather than uni work or research! I was a little bit blown away by the fact  that it's free to loan the books still. - In this day and age, it's becoming more and more difficult to get anything for free. If that's not reason alone to go, I don't know what is! I was also so impressed at how high tech libraries have become, self service loan and return machines - easy peasy!

Day 9 Thursday 9th of June - Sunrise Yoga! Today I went to a yoga class before work, it was an early start but a really great way to begin the day. I won't lie, I definitely thought it would be a calm wee stretch out, I was wrong! - Quite the workout! I'd really recommend trying it if you play other sports or run as it gives you a really good stretch in those tight areas including the hamstrings!

Day 10 Friday 10th of June - I assembled my first ever flat pack furniture! I filmed this epic task on snapchat and if you follow me over there then you will know I did come up against a few challenges! The video is up on my youtube channel if you are planning a flat pack assembly it might save you some time to see 'what not to do' first! I did however complete the challenge, and I am so proud of myself for it!

Day 11 Saturday 11th of June - Trying an Alpaca burger. Today was Cheltenham's annual food and drink festival. Naturally I went in search of the most unusual food that I'd never tried before! I found the Moor View Alpaca's tent. You can see me enjoying this speciality on my Instagram here!

Day 12 Sunday 12th of June - Spring clean! Today I had a bit of a Spring clean before I went to work, I used vacuum pack clothes bags for the first time and they are brilliant! Space was getting a bit tight in the wardrobe so I packed up all my winter clothes and they will be dust free and ready to wear when I unpack them again later this year! I also filled 2 bags of clothes for the charity shop. It was really good to get a bit of a clear out! You can pick up vacuum bags in lots of stores, I got mine from Argos here.

Day 13 Monday 13th of June - Trying American chocolate! Monday was a super busy day so the suggestion of trying new chocolate was ideal to sit and enjoy with a cuppa after a long day! I tried the Reese's nut bar and the Hershey's cookies and cream bar - both excellent, funnily enough!

Day 14 Tuesday 14th of June - I made lasagne from scratch for my housemates! I've never made all the components of a lasagne because those jars are so easy! I decided to make it for my housemates as it was one of their birthdays! I've also never made my housemates dinner before. I know it sounds awful, but in a house full of young professionals, everybody is on different schedules so it's hard to coordinate meals!

Day 15 Wednesday 15th of June - Today I threw a surprise Birthday dinner for my housemate, Holly! Hence the pre-organised lasagne! It was so fun sneaking around the kitchen, getting it all ready. I'd baked chocolate cupcakes the night before, and had some great firework candles! We put up bunting and got her a helium balloon. She absolutely loved it! Definitely do this if you get the opportunity, we all had such a great night playing heads up and drinking prosecco! The lasagne went down a storm too!

Day 16 Thursday 16th of June - A trip to the local theatre! So I've lived in Cheltenham for over a year and a half now and have never been to the Everyman theatre. I was so excited when the opportunity arose, to go with a group of lovely ladies from work to see Legally Blonde! We went to Bill's for a pre-theatre dinner, the show was brill and we had such a laugh. A really nice night out, so definitely look in to what's on at your local theatre if you've not been before.

Day 17 Friday 17th of June - Making a card for a 'Bride to Be!' I've made quite a few cards in my time, however, I haven't made one for ages and I've never made one for a hen party! I loved putting it together and it literally took me 20 mins! The bride loved it and it just shows homemade cards really do mean so much more and are much nicer to receive! If you have a spare half hour next time you're invited to a special occasion, make your own card - Pinterest is great for ideas if you're not the most creative!

Day 18 Saturday 18th of June - Hen party day! Today I went on an all day hen doo around town, it was really good fun. The first, and probably last time, I'll drink prosecco with a straw! Here we all are loving life at the Firestation's 'Bottomless Brunch'

Day 19 Sunday 19th of June - Today I watched a french drama series called The Disappearance on BBC iPlayer. It was a really gripping drama about a teenage girl who goes missing at a music festival in her town. Obviously there were subtitles but after a while I kind of felt I was speaking French! Great for a re-cap if you haven't done languages since school!

Day 20 Monday 20th of June -  Learning French phrases! After the tv series I wanted to refresh my memory further! One of the books I loaned from the library earlier in the month, was a book of conversational French phrases. I wanted something that would be easy reading so I could learn a few phrases to use day to day, rather than the typical things I learnt to say at school; the weather, which way to the train station and what was in my pencil case!

Day 21 Tuesday 21st of June - I bought my first vase! Unless you know me, this probably seems like an odd 'exciting first!' I live in a furnished house share and I am yet to have my own home so homeware has never really interested me until recently! I've started to feel much more settled where I live for the first time since I moved here, which is so nice! I love having flowers in the house, but when I bought a bunch that didn't fit my housemate's vase, I decided this would be a great 'something new for the day!' Here I am looking delighted with my Tesco value purchase!

Day 22 Wednesday 22nd of June - Ordering from Deliveroo! So this fab service is the best thing since Uber taxis! An excellent idea that is now a worldwide success! Basically, you order from restaurants that don't normally deliver and you get it brought straight to your door by a deliveroo cyclist or motor cyclist! Myself and my friend Carly ordered from Prezzo and received an absolute feast for our 'school night sleepover!' Great value also as they offer combo deals exclusive to the deliveroo app! As you can see below, the delivery man was loving me asking for a photo! #bloggerproblems. 

Day 23 Thursday 23rd of June -  Dessert for dinner! So as this week was already super healthy, ahem, what better time to go to Kaspa's Dessert House! This is a chain of restaurants that only sell gelato, ice cream, waffles, crepes and other delightful desserts! I had the banoffee waffle with added strawberries! So so good!

Day 24 Friday 24th of June - First ever blogger collaboration! So as you may know I started my blog in March of this year. I wasn't sure how it would work out as it does take a lot of my time and sometimes starting out can be tough when you are such a small fish in a very large pond! However, emails like the one I received today make all the effort worth while! I was asked by Farfetch.com to write a blog post about the 'Safari Chic' trend for this season. My post would then be entered in to a competition with the chance to win opportunities to work with them in the future and vouchers to spend on their website. I was so excited to think my blog had reached such a well known company and really touched that they chose to read my posts and email me such an exciting opportunity. I got to work on the post straight away! You can read it here!

Day 25 Saturday 25th of June - So today I arrived in Edinburgh for a family weekend! My aunty Mari had made a lovely courgette and lime cake for after dinner which was lush! Who knew vegetables made for such great cake ingredients. Oh well carrot cake actually. . . Either way it was delicious and I will be getting the recipe from her asap!

Day 26 Sunday 26th of June - My first Christening - well, other than my own, as my mother pointed out! Today was a really lovely family day! I went to my cousin's little boy's christening. He was so good in the service and didn't cry once, it really was a very sweet morning and a really special occasion. I wore a dress from Oliver Bonas which I belted with a western style Topshop belt. Little Fraser on the other hand channeled the Safari Chic trend in a gorgeous two piece complete with bow tie! Adorable!

Day 27 Monday 27th of June - I bought egg cups! Another kind of random first today, but too cute not to share with you all! I was rushing through Waverley station in Edinburgh to catch my train back to Cheltenham when these wee flamingos caught my eye at the front of the Tiger store! I had to have them and have already put them to good use!

Day 28 Tuesday 28th of June - Cleaning my everyday make up brushes! Okay so this may seem totally gross but it's not that I've had them for years, I was in an awful habit of buying brushes and using them non-stop until they weren't so fresh then binning them and buying a new one! However, now that I've started investing in more premium make up brushes, this method isn't the best! I decided it was time to give them all a good wash! I didn't use a brush cleaner, just a circular of shampoo in palm and warm water! So happy they are now all clean, I can't believe how much make up came off them, definitely give this a try if, like me, you are a bit behind the times!

Day 29 Wednesday 29th of June - I made a Proper Tasty recipe from an online video! I often see people like videos on social media of recipes and quick cooking tutorials but I do wonder how many people actually try them out! The girls at work encouraged me to make this unbelievable pull-apart cheesey, garlic bread. Watch the video here.

Day 30 Thursday 30th of June - The final day has finally arrived! It was definitely time to go out with a bang! After work, my friend Charlotte and I drove to South Cerney Lakes WMSki to go wakeboarding! Such an awesome experience, I literally loved every minute! It just shows you can leave work after a full day in the office and still have plenty time for fun in these Summer evenings! Here I am cruising the lake and showing off my rather fetching wetsuit!


So that is it! 30 days, 30 brand new things I have now done for the first time, 30 new experiences and 30 things that made me smile! I hope this challenge has inspired you to try at least one thing new today or this week. I managed to fit it all in with a busy 6 day working week and really awful rainy 'summer' weather so honestly anything is possible!
In terms of costs, some activities were more expensive than others; the theatre, wakeboarding, the flat pack furniture. However most were great value; my egg cups were 50p each, surfing was only £25 for the all day hire of the board and wetsuit, and the dinner I made for my 4 housemates only came to £12. You can do all of these activities on the cheap too - nothing cost more than £40 which was the wakeboarding lesson! 

A big thank you to everyone that supported the challenge, joined in with me and gave me some great ideas! It's honestly been so rewarding and I've had such a great time!

Any questions, or if you want any alternative ideas to do your own #30daychallenge comment below or send me a message on social media/email! 

L x