January Favourites, Superbowl 2015 predictions - Saturday's with Payton

Hey!

It's Saturday and it's not just any Saturday but it is the last day of January! PLUS it is the day before the Super Bowl! Anyway all this week I have been thinking about what to post today and I had two ideas, my January Favorites and the Super Bowl (I know that the Super Bowl doesn't happen until tomorrow but its the same weekend!) So I thought that I would put my two ideas into one post, so here it goes!

Firstly, here is my January Favorites as many of these products have been life-savers and just amazing this month!

These are my favorite beauty products:

Hair - Batiste dry shampoo (£2.99) - this product is not just amazing when your hair gets greasy but when you want a little more volume in your hair it works a treat! plus when you have the product in my hair feels so soft which is an added bonus! 

Make-up -  Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 Palette (£22 or $29) - I just love this product, I have had this product for just over a month and it works so well with my skin tone and my other makeup products so that it is so easy to create many different looks effortlessly! If you want to check out my full review on this product then here is the link: http://sevensweethearts.blogspot.com/2015/01/urban-decay-naked-basics-2-palette.html

Skin Care - Tea Tree and Witch Hazel skin care line from boots - The products I have are  the Night Treatment Gel (£2.99), the Shine Control Day Moisturizer(£3.59), Exfoliating Face Scrub(£3.79) and the Face Wash(£3.59). All of these products are amazing to use, they help keep my skin soft and smooth and help get rid of spots plus they do not make me break out as bad also a massive bonus is that they are pretty cheap to buy! If you want a separate review on these products, comment below!

Here is a list of my other favorites from this month:

Favorite song - This is home by Bryan Lanning -This is Bryan's first ever single and it is absolutely amazing and it brings tears to my eyes every time I listen to it, plus the music video to go with this song is so beautiful, check out this song here as I know he would love you to buy it : https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/this-is-home-single/id958740203

Favorite TV Show - It has to be Broadchurch! I just love this show so much, I never thought that I would like a Crime-Drama show ever but I do! I will be giving you a Series 1 review when I have finished watching it, which will hopefully be soon! So stay tuned!

Favorite game/app - This month my favorite game/app has a tie as I cannot decide my favorite, my favourites are crossy road and 2048 plus

Favorite food - This has to be Honey Cherios! Don't ask why, just eat them and you will find out why I love them!

So those were my favorites from this month, some of them were a bit random but you know, you just have to live life on the edge sometimes!

Anyway I would have added the Super Bowl into my favorites this month however, this year the Super Bowl is on February 1st, 2015 so technically I couldn't add it in here but if I could, I would! Anyway the Super Bowl this year is between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona! These are the times that I wished I lived in the USA but that's okay, you are probably thinking it is a little strange for an English Girl to like American Football, but I have to thank the TV show Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making The Team for opening my eyes to this sport! Anyway I can't really say much at this time of posting as the game hasn't happened yet so I am going to leave you with my predictions: I think that it will be a close game between these two teams which make it hard for me to pick, but I will go with the Seattle Seahawks, seeing as it is the second year in a row that they are in the Super Bowl final, we will see how the game plays out and who will win!
Although I cannot wait to watch Katy Perry's halftime show performance because it will be amazing!

Anyway, thank you for reading this weeks post, I hope you have enjoyed reading my favorite products this month and I definitely recommend every single one of them to you!

See you next Saturday!

Payton <3

January Favourites - Lollie

Hello there everybody, Welcome back to another Friday with me, Lollie. So January is over tomorrow and I am going to do my January favourites today and I'm going to do it every month.

Okay, here goes!

Monthly playlist

- Top of the world by Greek Fire

- Worthy by Jacob Banks

- Yearning by Kitty Brucknell

- Glitter in The Sky  by Kitty Brucknell

- Where's The Fire  by Kitty Brucknell

- Naked Truth by Kitty Brucknell

- I Know Things Now by Lilla Crawford from the film 'Into the Woods'

- Agony by Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen from the film 'Into the Woods'

- Love Don't Roam by Neil Hannon from Doctor Who

- The Long Song by Murray Gold from Doctor Who

- I Can't Decide by Scissor Sisters

- Geronimo by Aura Dione

- Chances by Athlete

- 23:59 by McBusted

- Black Black Heart by David Usher

- All the Things She Said by t.A.T.u.

Song

My favourite song from this playlist is Top of the World by Greek Fire as it is the song on the trailer for Big Hero 6!

Film

Big Hero 6 is out today in the UK, however I have watched it online before hand and I'm going to see it tonight. I don't know why I love the film, I just do. I think it's the whole Marvel and Disney mix and the fact that Hiro, the main character looks like Jack Frost (Rise of The guardians) and Hiccups (HTTYD) son... Ash will agree with me on that one!

Beauty Product

Okay, anyone that knows me, knows that I have a great obsession with Carmex lip balm... I own seven of them - SEVEN! That's one for each of the sweethearts! They just sooth my lips and I always find myself applying more when my lips feel a little bit dry. It's got to the point where I panic if I don't have one of the tubes on my because I constantly feel like my lips are going to crack. I think I have a problem...

Game

I have 2 favourite games this month - The Sims 4 on my Laptop and Shades on my IPhone. I kind of got Belle addicted to Sims 4 and she got me addicted to Shades! Check both of them out! The Sims 4 is about £30 depending on where you buy it and Shades is free to download from the app store.

App

I think this app is the favourite of all the sweethearts this month - Polyvore! It is a fashion app that can be used on a mobile and on the computer and it makes anyone look they have a sense of fashion. You can create outfits and share them with other people.

TV show

Broadchurch, Broadchurch, Broadchurch, Broadchurch! David Tennant and Olivia Coleman are absolutely perfect working together as Hardy and Miller. Also, Broadchurch is full of plot twist and keeps you gripped! The only annoying thing is if you miss a split second you miss a lot. Summer and Payton understand my feelings about it.

Actor

John Simm, okay right. He is one of the best actors I've come across. He's amazing in Doctor Who as The Master, as Jipp in human Traffic, as Sam Tyler in Life on Mars and in Hamlet on stage. I can't stop watching the films and TV shows he's been in - Doctor Who, Life on Mars, The Devil's Whore, Prey, Human Traffic.

Singer

My favourite singer is Kitty Brucknell. She is running for Moldova in the Eurovision this year with her song Remix, I would recommend a listen to it on Youtube

Food

I have this thing for apple Nutrigrain bars ( or bras... Bri knows). It got to the point where I ate 12 in one weekend - yeah I like them that much.

Book

Geek Girl - Picture Perfect by Holly Smale. I will be doing a review on the new instalment of the series - Geek Girl - All that Glitters, when it comes out, so you have to look forward to that.

That is all for now. I hope you enjoyed this and you do go and check a few of these out. I'll be back next Friday in February ( as if it's February all ready) with the next in the series of Lollie's brain!

Until next time, Allons-y!

Lollie xx

Delicious cookie in a mug recipe for you all- Love Maya

Heya guys!

It's Thursday already (again yes I know, where does time go aye?). So I did have an idea what to post today, had started to plan it. But unfortunately with the stress of sixth form taking its toll, I unfortunately haven't had a chance to finishing writing it, and rather than rushing it I thought I'd save it for next week for you guys. 

So instead today, I decided to post another baking recipe for you guys to try. This is a no fuss, disaster free, super simple chocolate chip cookie In a mug recipe. This is great for delicious and simple desserts, or simply as a snack when your hungry.

For this, you will need:

~A tablespoon of melted butter

~One egg yolk

~A tablespoon of caster sugar

~A tablespoon of light or dark (I prefer to use light) brown sugar

~Three tablespoons of plan flour

~Chocolate chips -of any sort and any amount, whichever suits your personal preference. 

1. So firstly, in a microwaveable mug, mix together the butter and yolk until combined. 

2. Add in all the dry ingredients (flour and sugars) and mix thoroughly.

3. Lastly, mix in the chocolate chips, or if you prefer just sprinkle a few on top. Personally I find it nicer to mix them in. 

*TOP TIP* for those wanting an extra naughty treat, mix in a spoon of chocolate spread, melted chocolate or Nutella for an extra tasty treat!

Bake this in a microwave for about 60-90 seconds, depending on the power and quality of your microwave. Careful, your mug may be hot!

Leave to cool slightly, and enjoy!

Here's what is should look like. Hope you have fun baking these! They're so irreversibly gorgeous.

Until next week

Love Maya ♡

The glory of the bra - Wednesday's Child

G r e e t i n g s  E a r t h l i n g s

I'm going to be brutally honest here. I have absolutely no idea what to write about this week. In the revolving door of crap that is my life, there has literally been nothing noteworthy. I've had an entire week to live my life and I've done nothing. 

Well, that isn't entirely true. I bought some really cute bras today. So let's talk about bras. Let's talk about how freakin' cute bras are. 

Don't want to talk about bras? Well that's a crying shame, because I'm a chick, and I wear bras. And bras are hella cute. (And really, incredibly useful.)

Let's talk about guys' reactions to talk of bras. I've been needing some new bras for kind of a while, so I was waiting for my mum to pick me up today so we could go out and get some. When I mentioned I was going shopping, all of my guy friends were like 'Oh, what are you going to buy?' So of course, I told the truth. I was going to buy bras. 

The reaction was similar to if I'd told them I was planning on going on an adventure to murder innocent people, or pillaging the neighboring town, or describing a gross medical thing in detail. "Woah Bri, that's too much information like woah oh my god you can't just come out with that"

Like dude, come on it's a bra. What's so taboo about a piece of clothing that literally just holds fat in place so you don't jiggle around like some god damn piece of jello good Christ. They acted like I'd spilled some nuclear launch codes or some shit. Like, it's a bra. 

It wasn't even like I was telling them the intricate details of my boobs. I didn't. I just mentioned the fact that I was going to acquire an imperative item of clothing. Like, I need those things to survive the day. Would they rather I went braless? I highly doubt they would. 

This swiftly brings me on to the item of bra straps. You know, those things that look like vest top straps that hold the booby-holders up. These are A+ important to basic bra etiquette, (unless you have a bra that is designed to be strapless.)

I've got an off-the-shoulder top that I sometimes wear to school, and as it's off the shoulder, there's no way to hide my bra strap. Some of the reactions I got were pretty ridiculous. One guy reacted by pinging my bra strap, another pointed out "I can see your bra strap" (To which the only reply is "So can I.") Like, it's a bra strap, dude. It's literally elasticated fabric. Get over it. 

Okay, so this was a pretty odd post, but it's just something that's been on my mind for a while. (Does this count as a Let's Get Mad About?)


But anyway, have a good week kids, don't do anything I wouldn't, and as always;

I'm with you 'till the end of the line, folks ♥ 

January Favourites! - Tuesdays with Ash

Hey guys! =D

Ash here with my January favourites!! I know for a fact that a lot of bloggers will be doing this thing around about now so I thought, why not join in?

1. Since I just can't choose one song, I have decided to name my top 3: 'You Ruin Me' by The Veronicas, 'Air Guitar' by McBusted and 'Up' by Olly Murs featuring Demi Lovato. 
2. I've been loving the book The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (aka: J. K. Rowling!) and I plan to finish it very soon!
3. My favourite film has to be Big Hero 6 (which I'm sure Lollie will agree with me on this one!) as I fell in love with the characters and Baymax is just so damn cute!
4. I've been hooked on the TV series recently called In The Flesh and I am so disappointed that it won't be sticking around for a third season! So much wasted potential!! =(
5. This one is going to be quite random but I got a Lynx Attract For Her deodorant body spray for Christmas and it smells gorgeous! It also comes with a shower gel and I've been using that too! Unfortunately though it's limited addition so I'm going to have to stock up on them quickly!
6. Another beauty/healthcare product is AVON Ultra-Moisturising Body Lotion and it does exactly what it says! Also, it's floral scented and smells lovely.
7. One last beauty/healthcare product is my Garnier Exfobrusher and I use this in the shower every other day. It has really helped to clear up my spots recently!

Right, that should be enough I think! Heh, what a coincidence... 7 is my lucky number! =3

I'll see you guys next week for my second instalment of writing tips! Sorry that this post wasn't very long!

Ash xx

Character reviews and Ian O'Shea

Hey guys,

So I've decided that I'm going to do a book review series but with a twist! I'm going to be reviewing characters from the book and telling you guys what I love about each character; I'm going to do a review five characters per book/book series/film,

Now I will be analysing the character from the beginning to the end- so there will be spoilers, 

The first character that I will be talking to you guys about is Ian O'Shea.

Ian O'Shea is one of the main characters from the Host, by Stephanie Meyers the author of the hit series Twilight, now if you haven't read the host because you don't like Twilight, please give this book a chance because it's my favourite! Another thing you should know is I haven't seen the film! So this is purely based on the book. 

The whole plot of the book is that aliens have invaded the earth in the form of small worm like creatures that take over the mind and erase the human host. Wanderer the invading soul is given Melanie Stryder body to be her own but when she wakes up in her new body she finds that she can hear Melanie in the back of her head, with Mel filling her head with vision of her baby brother Jamie and her true love Jared, Wanderer sets out to find them. Once Wanderer finds Melanie's love and family a new problem arises, living with a group of 30 odd humans and being the only soul in the body they love, Wanderer is faced with falling in love, having to fight for survival, facing the emotional battle with having Melanie trapped in her head and fighting with her own thoughts.

So Ian is one of the rebel humans living in Jebs caves with his brother Kyle. Ian and his brother apparently look the same and even sound the same when Kyle isn't shouting. 

In the beginning of the book Ian is the one that actually tries to strangle Wanderer when Kyle and Brandt are fighting Jared, later on in the next few chapters you see Ian open up to the idea of having a soul living with them. When Wanderer and Jeb start working in the filed Ian joins them despite being wary around souls, soon Ian and Wanderer have a close friendship that for Ian and later Wanderer turns to love.

I love Ian because of how he overlooks the fact that wanderer Is an alien, a soul but learns to love and protect her, one of my favourite scenes in the book (so hard to find just one!) involving Ian, wanderer and Jared. In the book after Jamie is ill from his knife wound wanderer realises that she had 'lost' Melanie. Despite Ian being in love with wanderer he still finds Jared to come and kiss wanderer to get Mel back; I think this really shows how amazing Ian is- he puts Jareds love for Melanie over his owns feelings. Another scene I love is when Ian, Wanda, Wes and Lucy are playing football and Ian knows when Melanie and Wanda are communicating- I love this just because Ian realises when Melanie is talking and still talks to her and Wanda as two different people. 

Another thing I love about Ian is how even though he is faced with the problem of falling in love with his sworn enemy; he still loves wanderer in her new body at the end of the book. At the end of the book Ian tells wanderer that he held her in his hands and she was beautiful; I find this alone represents how amazing Ian is. Earlier in the book wanda and Ian are talking about how he would squash her if he saw her out of a body, even though she didn't ask him too he still knows how to make her feel worthy.

In the end of the book there is a scene between wanderer and Ian that really strucks a cord within me- in this scene Ian cracks when he finds out that Wanda is planning on giving Melanie back her body and leaving; Ian completely breaks and turns to a sobbing mess- I think this shows actually how vulnerable he is.

I love Ian and I would recommend reading the book to get the really feel for Ian's character. 

Ian has to be one of my favourite characters due to the fact that he just so lovely to wanda and is so loyal to his family. 

"It's not the face , but the expressions on it. It's not the voice but what you say . It's not how you look in that body, but the thing you do with it. You are beautiful"- Ian to Wanderer 

" I held you in my hands Wanderer, and you were beautiful" 

"Ian stood above me, his chest heaving with exertion and fury.for a second he turned away and put the door back in place with one swift wrench. And then he was glowering again. I took a deep breath and rolled up into my knees, holding my hands out, palms up, and wishing that some magic would appear in them. Something I could give him, something I could say. But my hands were empty.

" You.Are.Not.Leaving .Me." 

His eyes blazing-burning brighter than I'd ever seen them, blue fires.

"Ian," I whispered. "You have to see that...that I can't stay. You must see that." 

"No" he shouted at me.

I cringed back, and, abruptly Ian crumpled forward, falling to his knees, falling into me.

He buried his head in my stomach, and his arms locked around my waist. He was shaking, shaking hard, and loud, desperate sobs were breaking out of his chest.

" No,Ian,no"  I begged. This was so much worst than his anger. "Don't,please.Please, don't"

"Wands" he moaned.

" Ian,please. Don't feel this way. Don't. I'm so sorry. Please." 

I was crying too, shaking too, though that  might have been him shaking me.

"You can't leave me." 

"I have to, I have to," I sobbed. And then we cried wordlessly for a long time"

Thank you for reading this week! Please comment or tweet me and tell me what you love about Ian or another character in your favourite book; I'll be doing four more characters from this book and then maybe another book!! 

See you next week 

Belle xx

21 Funny Questions Tag with Saturday's Payton

Hey!

It's Saturday again which means that it is a post from me, your Miss Saturday here on the Seven Sweethearts blog....... it's Payton!

This week I thought that it would be fun to do a tag and as you only read posts from me once a week I decided that it would be good for you to get to know me better so I am going to do a 21 random questions tag where my answers will probably be very random, so let's get started!

1. Are you named after anyone? I don't think that I am named after anyone, although I like to think I am named after someone really amazing!

2. When was the last time you cried? The last time I cried was when I was watching a re-run of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making The Team,I know that's sad but it's true as my favorite person go cut.

3. Do you have kids? No, I think that I am a bit too young to have kids and besides that I need a boyfriend to have kids with!

4. If you were another person, would you be a friend of yourself? I think that I would like to be a friend of myself, although I think that I would have to see myself in small doses as I sometimes can barely stand myself at the best of times!

5. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Uhhh.....yeah totally! I asked Ash this question when I saw this tag and she said yes so I am going with that answer!

6. Will you ever bungee-jump? I don't know, I would probably be too scared to do that although I would like to Sky-Dive if I had the chance!

7. What’s your favorite cereal? I don't usually eat cereal, although at the moment I am in love with Rice Crispies and Honey Cheerios!

8. What’s the first thing you notice about people? I notice what they are wearing and their hair and their eyes, well I think that's what I do!

9. What is your eye color? I have always said my eye color is blue so I am going with that although my eyes can somethings be a blue-green color which is really pretty.

10. Scary movie or happy endings? I am always scared at something as I always get scared really easy, I am trying to watch more scary movies though to stop me being scared of anything so the most recent scary movie I have watched was Lesbian Vampire Killers (which stars James Corden) and that film is a horror-comedy so I hope that counts! From this I will say that I prefer happy endings because I mean who doesn't want a happy ending?

11. Favorite smells? Anything that smells nice maybe? I know a lot of people say this and I know it's weird but I love the smell when you are at a petrol station, I don't know why? But I do love flowers and perfumes and that which smell nice!

12. Summer or winter? How can I choose between two awesome seasons! Both Summer and Winter are amazing times of year as Summer you can go on holiday and it is warm but in Winter you have Christmas and my Birthday, so I don't know the answer to that one, sorry!

13. Computer or television? Computer all the way! C'mon with a computer you can do so many things INCLUDING WATCHING TV which makes you have both things!

14. What’s the furthest you've ever been from home? The furthest I've been from home is Cyprus, that is about 2,000 miles however I will be travelling further than that when I go to New York with Belle in October (New York is about 3,400 miles away from England)

15. Do you have any special talents? I don't think I have any special talents that are good really although I can still get my foot up to my head so I am sort of flexible!

16. Where were you born? I was born in a hospital........in England.

17. What are your hobbies? Well I don't really have any proper hobbies, if you call watching TV and YouTube a hobby then I do have a hobby, although doing this blog with the other girls is a hobby!

18. Do you have any pets? Yes, I have a billion and one pets. Seriously though I have 6 cats! Oh and there's a few fish in this fish tank we own in our house. 

19. Favorite movie? Why do you have to make me pick a favorite movie? Like this answer changes on a daily basis, actually like three movies have just popped into my head so here they are: Pitch Perfect, Hunger Games, and this one isn't quite a movie but its a movie length and its The Sound Of Music Live! (the one starring Carrie Underwood)

20. Do you have any siblings? Nope. Only child swagg! 

21. What do you want to be when you grow up? A Princess, well that's most little girls' dream, I actually want to work with children and I don't know in what way whether it be a teacher but I love Psychology so something to do with Children and Psychology.

Right that's 21 questions and answers all about me, I hope that you enjoyed getting to know me better, comment what things about you are similar to me, because I would like to know!

See you next Saturday!

Payton <3

How to Become a Better Human: Dealing with Stress - Lollie

Yes, it is that time of week again my faithful friends - it's Friday. The day you look back on the week and think 'Where did it go?' or is that just me?

Before I start, something happened this week - Our blog started booming and page views soared and we got a comment which was unexpected, so thank you!

Anyway, as I promised in my first ever post, I am doing something today called 'How to become a better human'. This is going to be an on-going thing where I will cover things from health, relationships, life-changing choices and also small day-to-day things that might help your life be better and give you a better chance of surviving.

The first topic I have picked is stress. This past week, the pressure of sixth form has been getting to me, I know the other Seven Sweethearts can relate. I am doing three coursework subjects and trying to keep on top of them is exhausting. My mind seems to be jumbled and confused 24/7 and my concentration span is at 0. I suffer from constant headaches and I feel sick for no apparent reason. If you think you might be stressed, here are a list of symptoms:

·         Low energy.

·         Headaches.

·         Upset stomach, including diarrhea, constipation, and nausea.

·         Aches, pains, and tense muscles.

·         Chest pain and rapid heartbeat.

·         Insomnia.

·         Frequent colds and infections.

Now in psychology, we have been learning about the two types of stress. You have acute stress, which is to do with short term situations that leave you stressed, for example, your car breaking down or your computer not working and then you have chronic stress, this is seen to be the most serious of the two, often occurring due to a massive build up of acute stress over a long time period, or a major life-changing event that has caused stress.

I'm going to talk about acute stress. Things that can be seen as acute stressors include deadlines, getting to school/work on time, making sure you get enough sleep etc, etc. These can also be called daily hassles - breaking a pen, seeing the person you hate, losing a key.

Although you may feel as though all this is getting on top of you - don't worry. We have these daily hassles but we also have things called daily uplifts, things that make our day worthwhile and push the hassles away. These could be reading your favourite book, receiving an unexpected text from someone, getting a hug, a phone call with someone you love, seeing a picture of your favourite actor (if you're me, that's John Simm at the moment) or having some food that you like (or maybe it's one of your friends giving you a small jar with '25 reason to smile when you're feeling down' written down on small pieces of paper and folded into it - thank you Belle!) If you take a moment when you are stressed out to let one of these uplifts come your way, you could feel much better.

If you find you are still feeling stress, here is a list of things that might help you to relax or relieve that stress:

·         ·         Go to the beach
·         Be positive
·         Sing a song
·         Pet a dog
·         Tell a joke
·         Listen to music
·         Blow bubbles
·         Take a nap
·         Dance a jig
·         Take a walk
·         Write a letter
·         Have a cup of tea
·         Ask for help
·         Smile
·         Take a break
·         Do it now!
·         Stretch
·         Keep a journal
·         Hum a tune
·         Practice patience
·         Get up early
·         Meditate
·         Do Tai Chi
·         Play a drum
·         Prioritize
·         Give a hug
·         Throw a ball
·         Play with a child
·         See a movie
·         Plant a flower
·         Say "No"
·         Set Limits
·         Eat a snack
·         Read a book
·         Practice kindness
·         Light a candle
·         Laugh out loud
·         Lie in the sun
·         Walk in the rain
·         Run in the park
·         Talk to a friend
·         Take a bubble bath
·         Avoid negative people
·         Take a deep breath
·         Ask for what you need
·         Go to bed on time
·         Walk a labyrinth
·         Give a compliment
·         Clean a closet
·         Go barefoot
·         Give a blessing
·         Watch a sunrise
·         Say a prayer

Thinking carefully about the lifestyle choices that you make is also a big factor in relieving stress. Make sure you get enough time everyday to just sit back and relax.

- Learn how to say 'no'.
Simple, but effective. Where a 'no' is the appropriate response, say it without guilt.

- Manage your time.
Don't overdo things.

A simple method is to:

·         List the things that you need to do.

·         Put them in order of importance

·         Decide what you need to do yourself, and what can be delegated.

·         Decide which needs doing today, next week or next month

·         Decide what doesn't need doing after all, and drop it from the list.

I find that making lists works best for me. I make lists for everything. I even make lists for my lists... but it helps me be  bit more organised and puts what I need to achieve into perspective.

- You could always try 'Desk Yoga'

Alternate nostril breathing

Fold your index and middle finger (2nd and 3rd fingers) towards your palm on your right hand. Then place your left thumb under your right nostril to 'tap' it up. Inhale from the left nostril to the count of four. Gently pinch the left nostril with the right ring finger (4th finger) to the count of 16. And release your thumb and exhale through the right nostril for 8. Now inhale through the right nostril for 4. Hold for 16. Exhale through the left nostril for 8. Repeat for several minutes.

This exercise balances the brain's serotonin, the chemical that regulates happiness. The pattern of inhalation (4, 16, 8) means that the air is pushed down to the bottom of the lungs and more toxins are released on exhalation. You will feel relaxed after this exercise, particularly in the shoulder area, and may experience heightened perception'

Now this doesn't work for me but if I find my concentration slipping, I'll breath slowly and relax for a moment and then maybe stick my headphones in so it is just me, the music and the work.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING: If you're ill, rest.
When stressed, your immune system lowers itself, making you vulnerable to illness. If you are ill when stressed - DO NOT CARRY ON, TAKE A BREAK. If you don't it'll only make you more ill and in turn, more stressed.

I'm sorry if this has been a little bit of a downer on your Friday but I felt like it was a serious topic that I needed to address :)

Until next time - Allons-y!

Lollie x

My Top 8 Beauty Products -Love Maya♡

Heya guys!

Once again it's Thursday, and again-this week has gone soo quick! Where does time go aye?

So today I thought I would share with you my top eight beauty favourites. This is both skincare and make up products. I do like to try my best in keeping my skin spot free, bright and glowing. However, there are times which I do have small break outs or redness within my skin.

8. My 8th beauty must-have would defiantly have to be my eyelash curlers. I unfortunately wasn't born with the luck of having naturally curly eyelashes. So I therefore swear by this tool. 

Top tip: I like to heat up my curlers using a hairdryer for 5-8 seconds, just to ensure my eyelashes hold the curl all day. 

7.  At number 7, my beauty recommendation would have to be the neutrogena spot stress control 3-1 cleanser. I bought this recently, around November time and ever since I have been in love with it! Whenever I have a break out I like to dab some of this on the spot with a cotton wool ball. I find it works wonders, in shrinking the spot and reducing redness rapidly.

6. At number 6, it would be the simple cleanser and toner. I have sworn by this stuff for years now. I tried using the combined toning cleanser, however I haven't found it as effective as the individual products. I like to use this product both morning and night as its light enough for me to do so. It's both hydrating and moisturising for my skin, and leaves it glowing and radiant. 

5. My 5th top beauty pick would be the Nivea lip balm sticks. I've always loved these as they are soo hydrating and never leave my lips feeling oily. However, towards the end of last year, I found they now do fruit flavoured, high shine versions. Not only do these taste delicious, but they also produce a slight tint to your lips which I think are great for an everyday lip when you don't want a full lipstick look. 

4. The next four products are makeup based. Firstly, the Rimmel stay matte pressed powder. I've used this products for years now. Even after trying other brands, I always revert back to this product. Even though I have pretty fair skin, I use the shade 006,warm beige. I love this product because it is really light on your skin but also produces a good, lasting coverage.

3. Into the top 3 now! At number three, I'd have to pick the Bobby brown gel eyeliner. Up until about this time last year (January 2014), I was never an eyeliner person. I found it to not suit me very well and quite frankly, I was always rubbish at applying it. But since experimenting with new makeup products, this rapidly became my favourite. I started to use kohl pencils and the felt tip pen style eyeliners, but I found these not very long lasting. I then branched out to gel eyeliners, and I have fallen in love with them ever since! My favourite currently would be the Bobby brown one, not only because it's long lasting and easy to apply, but because I finds it never dries up in the pot-highly recommended!

2. At number 2 would have to be the collection lasting perfection concealer. This is another product that I absolutely swear by everyday. Like it says in the name, it is very long lasting and it has fantastic coverage. I would never use and love a product as much as I have with this. I would highly recommend this to everyone as it is such a fantastic product!

1. And finally, we have reached my top beauty product. If you haven't yet tried this product, I would highly recommend you do so. It's the benefit high beam liquid highlighter. I always have and always will love benefit products, but this is by far one of my favourites. It leaves me with glowing and radiant skin. I've tried different brands and types of highlighters, but for me personally, this is one that works best for my skin.

And that's it for today guys, I do apologise if it was a bit lengthy. But I swear by all of these products and would highly recommend these to anyone. Most of the products I have listed are relatively cheap and can be found in any high street store/drug store. 

Hope you have a lovely week and I'll be back next week with some more tips and reviews for you all. Comment below some of your favourites, I would love to try some out!

Love, Maya♡

Guess Who's Birthday It Might Well Be (The pain of an Epilator examined) - Wednesday's Child

GREETINGS Y'ALL!

*Mario voice* It's a-mi

Good morning/evening/afternoon all. It's my birthday today, and as it's been an interesting week I'm gon' share it with y'all. First of all, I've finally got my script for the play I'm gonna be in with my drama group, and I'm super exited as it's probably going to be the most professional show we've ever managed to pull off. My character is Eryn, and although I don't want to give too much away as I'm hoping the other six sweethearts will come watch the show (and therefore I want as much of it to be a surprise as possible), I'm going to tell you one thing. I have a monologue, and yesterday at drama when I started practicing it, I made one of my friends cry. (I was told afterwards that he hadn't cried in seven years and he hated me etc. etc.). 

So yeah, apparently I have a gift to evoke manly tears of man-pain from my cast mates, which is an effective and brilliant skill to have. 

Anyway, it's my birthday today *sounds of distant party poppers* and I'm going to give you a quick run-down. I got my L plates as I'm filling in for my provisional license (which is needed to learn to drive in the UK), got the money for the application, a dress, a really cool poncho-/blanket thing (it's so freakin' warm), and an epilator. 

Now lemme tell you about the epilator. This thing is a hair removal thing, that's kind of like waxing. It looks like an electric razor, acts like a waxer, but is actually a plucker (?). 

An epilator effectively plucks your leg hairs. It's quicker and more effective than shaving, and as it pulls the hairs out instead of just cutting them at the surface they take much longer to grow back (apparently I'll only have to do this once every two weeks instead of shave twice a week (which by the way I literally never do)). The only downside is it's a damn sight more painful than shaving. Like it took me three attempts to get both my legs done because I had to keep stopping. It's very painful the first time around. But I've been promised that it A. becomes less painful the more often you do it and B. the hairs grown back softer the more often you use it, which is the opposite to shaving. 

Also, once you get used to it, it's a lot quicker than shaving. Shaving takes me about twenty minutes to do completely, and always tends to become some kind of slightly strange aerobics class in my shower, but as this is electric, you can do it any time (in your bedroom with loud music playing to drown out your tears of pain would be good). This takes probably about ten to fifteen minutes tops once you're used to it, so cuts off some time and can also be used whenever, so you don't have to irritate your family by spending forever in the bathroom. 

That's pretty much all that's happened this week, so I'm gonna leave you here. Have a good week, and as always,

I'm with you 'till the end of the line, folks ♥ 

My Top 3 Animes! - Tuesdays with Ash

Hey guys! =D

Once again it's Tuesday so you're stuck with my post for today! As usual, I've been struggling to think of an idea for a post when it occurred to me. As well as reading books, what's my other favourite thing to do? It's WATCHING ANIME! =D

If you guys have no idea what anime is, it's basically Japanese cartoons. Most animes are based of manga which is the Japanese equivalent of comic books. Between the two I prefer watching anime than reading manga but I know that other people would disgree with me. I got into anime probably almost 4 years ago when two of my close friends persuaded me to start watching this anime called Naruto. I wish I'd discovered it sooner! =P

Like the post title suggests today I'm going to list my 3 favourite animes that I HIGHLY recommend that you watch. I would list more but, honestly, this post would never end!

1. Naruto/Naruto Shippuden - Kishimoto Masashi

This was the first anime that I ever watched and I was hooked after watching the very first episode! The anime is based of a boy called Naruto Uzumaki who is instantly likeable due to his hyper-activity and his caring yet stubborn personality. He lives in a village called Konoha and he's training to become a ninja like his fellow classmates. He is an outcast in the beginning due to his past (which I shall not mention cause SPOILERS) but he eventually earns everyone's respect and makes friends. The first season is called Naruto (original name I know) and the second season is called Naruto Shippuden where it's been 3 years since we last saw Naruto in the first season and he's all grown up =3

The manga for Naruto Shippuden ended 10th November *cries* after the whole franchise had been going on for 15 years! One of the longest every running manga ever! The anime hasn't caught up to the ending yet but I read the last chapter online and oh my God I cried buckets! D'=

Naruto in the second season

Naruto in the first season (so cute!)

  

2. Attack on Titan 'Shingeki no Kyojin' - Hajime Isayama

This next anime is (I think) the second major anime that I watched and seriously it doesn't mess around! Within the first episode you were thrown into the action and storyline and the plot twists, OH MY GOD THE PLOT TWISTS are amazing because you never see them coming! The protagonist is a teenage boy called Eren Jaeger and in his world there are huge humanoid creatures called Titans that terrorise mankind by eating them. There city is surrounded by a huge wall that keeps the Titans out, until one day the Titans manage to break through. 

Eren signs up to help fight these Titans along with his two best friends and if you don't like gore then you probably won't enjoy this. The animation in this anime is absolutely stunning and the theme tune is so catchy! If you like to watch something with immense action and gore and brilliant story lines with original context then this anime is so for you!

Eren Jaeger

One of the main Titans

3. Kuroko no Basket - Tadatoshi Fujimaki

This next one is quite a strange one for me to watch as it's about a sport and I don't do sports! XD This anime revolves around a basketball team and the two main protagonists are Tetsuya Kuroko (he's meant to be the main character but you wouldn't think it) and Taiga Kagami. This anime is hilarious to watch as Kuroko is practically an invisible boy who doesn't show much emotion (but still adorable) while Kagami is a boisterous hot-head who likes to make his presence known. Even though they are worlds apart personality wise they are best buddies when it comes to basketball and I just love their bromance!  

Kuroko was originally from a famous basketball team called the Generation of Miracles and he was known as the 6th Phantom Player due to people never noticing him and even forgetting about him. However, the Generation of Miracles separated when they moved to different schools and now with the Winter Cup approaching Kuroko will have to face his old teamates once more...

Tetsuya Kuroko

Taiga Kagami

                           

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and that you'll try out some of these animes!

Ash xx