August Favourites!

To be thoroughly honest, August has flown by.  When I realised it was nearing the end of the month I started compiling a list on my phone of thing things I'd been really loving, and although it seems like no time at all has passed, that little list got longer and longer!


Makeup...

This month has been all about the lip products - specifically, lip product rediscovery.  All three of these are items I'd semi gotten into previously, but having given them another try this month have fallen head over heels.

Carmex Lip Balm Tube £1.79, Boots (currently on offer)

Everyone had this in their pencil-case throughout secondary school, and oh boy could you tell by the vanilla-menthol scent that followed us all around.  However, I never really found it that soothing on my lips and in the end migrated to Nivea.  Recently though, I decided to give it another go, as the weather was boiling and the idea of a cooling lip balm was seriously appealing.  Now, I'm addicted.  Somehow, perhaps due to the different weather conditions, I find this a lot more soothing than my usual waxy lip balms and butters and I've been dabbing a little of this on instead of my regular gloss day to day.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in 'Honey' £7.99, Boots

I purchased this a while back, at the same time as a couple of lip butters.  It's quite a drying product, which put me off at first, but if you mix a little regular balm in it's absolutely lovely.  On some people, it stays true to bullet, but on myself it oxidises to a gorgeous bright berry shade (if you've been eyeing up any colour-changing balms such as the Dior, give this a go!)  Best thing though, is the staying power - it really is a stain.  The colour hangs around pretty much all day, and if you've reapplied a few times, till you exfoliate.

The packaging is a very
bright coral, but the product
itself is almost fluoro-pink.
(Similar in shade to Soap and
Glory SMPGS in Fuschiaristic)

Nyx Butter Gloss in 'Peach Cobbler' £5, Nyx website

Mine was ordered from Amazon, but if you're in the UK you can get it direct from Nyx a lot faster.  This is one of those super messy glosses, that if all you do is use the doe foot applicator you end up with a streaky, sticky mess.  One day though, when my lips were too dry for the aforementioned Revlon balm, I decided to give this another go.  Somehow, when you blend it in with your fingertips, by magic the colour becomes your lips.  And stays.





Clothing...

M&S 5 Pocket Denim Jeggings £22.50

I rambled on about these in a post earlier this week - they're the perfect stretchy skinnies, almost identical to the Topshop Leighs - I've been been wearing them all month!







M&S Footsies £3.50

Earlier this month, I went a little nuts and bought a pair of gorgeous suede loafers.  And then attempted to break them in sockless.  Needless to say, this was rather daft, and I ended up with the King of Blisters on one heel.  After a week of hobbling and tlc, I've reattempted the breaking-in process, this time with much more success.  These footsies although thin, stop any chafing and mean I don't have to go full 'trainer sock' - huzzah!



Food...

Pret a Manger 'Jambon-Buerre' Roll £2.50ish

Thickly sliced ham and crunchy gherkins, all wrapped up in a crispy French roll.  Need I say more?

(Apologies for the lack of picture here, I thought I'd taken one in store but sadly can't find it now :(  )



Movie(s)...

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

I absolutely love each and every film Marvel comes out with, and this was no exception.  Hilarious, action packed - but still thought provoking.  We went to see it at the start of the month, and it's kept popping into my mind ever since.  A fantastic summer blockbuster, which I feel also introduces new viewers to the MCU without utterly confusing them!  A must see.

Till the next one :)

xxx

Transitioning to healthy(ish) snacks...

I often ask myself the question - Is eating a hobby?  We do it multiple times a day, and enjoy spending out time doing it.  I'd like to think that it is :)

During the winter my snacking progressively got more and more unhealthy and although the thrice daily meals I was eating were balanced, I'd always get a sugar crash mid morning and afternoon.  

As soon as the weather got colder, all my brain seemed to want was sugar - empty calories - sugar!

Over the past few months, I've managed to find a few things that keep me away from the Dairy Milk bars and Oreos...

For that sweet tooth

Low fat yoghurts

You know my feelings on peaches by now, so it goes without saying that I adored the peach flavour Activia yoghurts.  They're still pretty high in sugar, and nowadays I prefer plain yoghurt, but I thought I'd include them as they're what kickstarted my healthy snacking shindig.

I also loved (and still very much like) the greek style Liberte ones.  I'd thoroughly recommend the blueberry flavour, but steer clear of the honey (far too runny and not half as tasty as the real thing.)  They're made up of a generous layer of fruit compote underneath a helping of thick Greek yoghurt.  Yum yum.

Actimels

I remember picking these up on a whim, thinking they'd be just about bearable when I didn't have time to eat an entire yoghurt.  How wrong I was!  The coconut ones are delicious, and satisfy that little niggle an hour or so before lunch/dinner time.  Also great to chuck in your handbag when you're running late for the bus (just remember to pack a plastic bag to pop the empty pot in if you aren't going to have access to a bin any time soon!)

To satisfy that urge to eat a family pack of Doritos

Special K cracker crisps

These little rounds of salty, vinegary goodness are supposedly lower in fat than baked crisps due to the way they're prepared.  You definitely taste the balsamic vinegar, so they're a little bit more special than your regular salt 'n' vinegar crisps.  They're also on special offer most of the time. (Only issue is that you can easily munch on through most of the packet as they're so moreish!) 

Tesco chilli rice crackers

These are my guilty pleasure.  Not particularly healthy, but as they're so spicy you can't get through the entire packet in one sitting! Sweet, salty, spicy and crunchy - delish.  I originally popped these in the basket thinking they might be like the sweet goan curry crackers that used to come in Graze boxes.  They've a little more of a kick, but flavour-wise are pretty similar.  You used to get them at the deli counters, but they discontinued them a few weeks ago (no jokes, I nearly wept) but the other evening I was browsing the dried fruit selection and lo and behold - they'd repackaged them!  Slightly larger but the same taste, crisis averted.

Fruitaholic

On lazy days where breakfast will have happened so late that I don't particularly fancy a regular lunch, I'll chop up a mango and have that instead.  So fresh and sweet, and you don't get a sugar crash afterwards.

Same goes for watermelon.  Also surprisingly filling, although I'm such a pansy when it comes to chopping it up...

And for the naughty days

85% cocoa chocolate bars from Aldi.  These are pretty bitter, but if you've not had anything high in sugar for ages they're just right and hit the spot.  I honestly think that after a while I have started to prefer things less sweet - I had a moment of weakness and attempted to eat some Waitrose rocky road bites a few days ago and couldn't eat more than a couple as they were too saccharine!

In conclusion, I haven't really lost any weight - but that wasn't the original plan!  I've found though that I get fewer headaches from sugar crashes, my skin is looking a lot better and I feel a lot more alert in general.  Fingers crossed I'll be able to keep this up when I leave for uni later on this year... 

I hope this has helped anyone else that's looking for snacking alternatives - do comment if you'd like to hear about anything else food oriented!

xxx