Life | holiday prep

So in exactly two weeks I'll be jetting off to Malta to enjoy a week of sunshine, cocktails and gorgeous beaches. I'm going with my boyfriend and my Ma and Pa and I'm so very excited to just have a week to myself with no stresses or to-do lists! I've been gymming and planning for a while in preparation (by planning I mean buying bikinis and kimonos) and now it's time to step the prep up a notch! 

These are the little beauties currently aiding me in me beach body prep. Now, I'm never going to a Triangl model (sob, selling my Triangl Winnie bikini for this reason!) but I do want to feel happy in my own skin. I've really started to focus on my diet and fitness to tone up the final wobbly bits. I've cut down my simple carb intake and upped the fruit and veg content. Plus lots and lots of water to clear my skin and get me feeling energetic. 

I've been following the LDN Muscle bikini guide for a while and have started to see some improvements, so I'm continuing to stick to the brutal regime and punishing myself daily at the gym! 

Soap & Glory's sit tight 4-D smoothing serum is massaged daily into my lower body to help achieve beach ready smooth legs! You really feel the burn with this when you're sitting down and I've been using it daily! It's a weird but not unpleasant feeling and although I'm yet to see any dramatic results the bottle says it may take 14 days...which is perfect timing for me! 

I'm not a tanner, in the sun I tend to singe and my freckles just multiply. While I don't mind this, I do crave that golden glow that everyone else seems to obtain- so I just have to fake it. The clarins liquid self tanning cream is a dream for my face (I never put body tanners on my face, ever!) I'm using it twice a day until I have the tan on my face I like, then I'll drop it to once every other day to maintain. It's not orange, not streaky and it doesn't smell like fake tan. It's just a really nice, light, moisturing gradual self tanner...such a winner.

Another tanning love is the Dove summer glow with soft shimmer. Now, this does smell of fake tan but I'm one of those weirdos that absolutely loves that smell! The shimmer is really subtle and only lasts for the first day of application.

I have this in the medium to dark skin, which I clearly am not however, I thought this might be the most effective and I was right. I put this one once a day and already I've had loads of people ask if I've been on holiday! It's easy to apply and doesn't streak at all, it does feel a bit sticky for a while afterwards though and it's so easy to forget to wash your hands and in between your fingers after applying so be careful. No body likes the tell tale orange palms or tide marks on your fingers! 

So that's a short summary of my holiday prep that's going on at the minute! I love everything about flying, airports and the resulting hot beaches so I'm sure I'll be posting a lot of that in the coming weeks! It's also good practice for my Trek America holiday in September! 

What do you do to prepare for your holidays? Anything I'm missing off my list? 

Review| glam glow super clearing mud mask

It may have come to your attention, the thing I crave the most in the world, and probably the main reason I'm so into beauty and skincare is because I have bad skin. It started in high school with white heads and blackheads that I doused in clearasil and witch hazel. 

Progressing to college and full blown acne was in situ on my poor face. I'd wear three foundations at a time and always wear a scarf so I could tuck my face in and feel less ashamed. 

Fast forward a few years and my breakouts aren't half as bad, however the scars and breakouts I do have still knock my confidence in exactly the same way. It's trivial in the grand scheme of things but it's all I see when I look in the mirror, fellow acne sufferers will vouch for me here. 

The point I'm trying to make is, I'll try absolutely anything once to try and improve my skin. I dread to think how much I've spent on products that do nothing, or worse, encourage the blemishes. However when a well written blog post (I've forgotten who's, I'm so sorry!) rolled into my bloglovin screen regarding the glam glow super clearing mud mask, I was feeling impulsive. I clicked purchase and a few days later a tiny pot of expensive grey goop turned up on my doorstep promising instant results. 

I slapped it on using a real techniques foundation brush I don't like for foundation and waited. It dried pretty quickly to a satisfyingly crispy (gross!) layer but that's not the best bit. You can actually see where this mask draws out the grease and gunk from your pores. The longer you leave it the better it is. 

The real magic comes when you flannel this off. My face instantly feels clearer, redness in many blemishes is reduced and the overall tone is smoothed and soft. 

It's an expensive little jar of grey mud but it bloody works and I'll definitely be repurchasing this when it runs out!  

Have you ever tried anything else from Glam Glow? Anything else I need to put on my to buy list!? 

Review| La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo +. A second chance.

A while ago I got sent, by the kind people at Escentual the La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo + (product name and a half?!) I excitedly slathered it on and awaited amazing results. Unfortunately, for reasons still unclear, I then broke our massively with large, painful, cystic under the skin acne. Mmhmm such a treat. As the LRPED+ (does that work?!) was the only new product I had used, I but the blame solely on it's shiny white and blue packaging and put it in the draw to be forgotten about. 

However, when asking on twitter and around my beauty minded friends I got recommendations for the effaclar duo again and again. No body else had had such a reaction! 

One particularly desperate day, as I was looking at my terrible skin in despair I dug out the effaclar duo and figured it couldn't get any worse. After using my glam glow super clearing mud mask (post to come) I massaged this in and waited. 

A few weeks on now and I have to say, I'm impressed. My skin appears clearer and I haven't had any break outs as yet! My scars are fading, slowly, and any blemishes that do dare to pop up are gone in half the time. 

I realise I'm pretty late to the party on this one but I think it goes to show first impressions aren't always the ones you should go on! Now I'm off to try on those jeans I thought didn't suit me last week! 

Life | my job; a day in the life of a Midwife!

So maybe you know, and more than likely you don't, but I'm a newly qualified (6 months!) Midwife working in an NHS trust. I have to be really careful what I write about my job on the internet but I thought it might make an interesting post and after a little research on twitter (@_tuesdaysgirl) I decided to give it a go!

I went straight to University from college with average A-Levels. I'd always known what I wanted to do, since about year 10 in high school, so I was overjoyed when I got in on my first application as Midwifery is notoriously hard to get on to. I think for 33 places at my uni there where 200 applicants!
If you want to know more about the application process and the course itself I'll do a separate post on that, I've got a lot to say! It's definitely not your normal course and if you're really wanting the student lifestyle I'd recommend reconsidering Midwifery. Our 'freshers' week consisted of mon-fri lectures 9-5 and we worked 37.5 hours a week 45 weeks of the year. Most of the course is placement based with essays, exams and lectures on top so essentially it feels like a degree on top of a full time job...it's tough!

An average day on labour ward starts at 7am. My trust does long days from 7am-7.30pm but others do short shifts like 'earlies' from 7-1 and 'lates' from 12-8. You turn up a bit before 7am as you have to be prepared to deliver a baby at 7.01am if you need to! Handover takes place where the senior midwife from the night shift gives everyone coming on to the day a quick run down of all the clients on labour ward at that time. Midwives are then allocated to a client whom you'll care for until they deliver and can be transferred to the postnatal ward, or home.
Midwifery deals with a very intimate part of a family's life- you're there when a woman transforms into a mother, you're the first person to touch and see a new born baby take it's first breath. It's such a magical time and you've got to be totally respectful of all that woman's choices whether you agree with them or not.
Delivering a baby is relatively simple, the woman does all the hard work. However there are lots of things that quickly turn from normal to abnormal and you have to rely on your training to prepare you for this! If women bleed or babies don't breath your training completely takes over and it's only afterwards when the adrenaline has worn off that you get time to swear and sweat a bit!

Like any job, midwifery has its ups and downs. A day on labour ward can go from utter elation at the most perfect waterbirth to tragedy pretty quickly. Saying that, it's the only area of healthcare that is 99% happy and I love that. It's amazing to watch women as they progress through labour and turn into these magical beings that suddenly become two seperate people. Honestly there's nothing more magical in this world than watching a woman make her family one bigger.

My favourite part of delivering babies, apart from the obvious happy bit, is the watching the Dad's face as they observe their partner bring their baby into the world. Some look pretty confused, some look grossed out but the majority literally beam from ear to ear and some even cry. This always chokes me up! It's hard, hard work but I wouldn't change it for the world.

Life | International day of the Midwife!

Happy international day of the Midwife! It might mean nothing to you, but as a Midwife it's a day to appreciate the hard work that goes into my profession from midwives around the world. I'm very proud to do what I do! 

If you think you'd like a more in depth post about my job then I'd love to do one! I just don't know if people would find that a bit boring? Do let me know on here or on twitter (@_tuesdaysgirl) I'm always up for chatting about the job I love.

" Being a midwife means being an honoured witness to a woman giving birth...and sometimes being the lucky one who gets to catch the baby." 

It's not just the making of babies but the making of mothers that is the true miracle of birth!  Whether you're pregnant, had a baby or have babies in mind for the future you will need and meet lovely midwives. Nobody is a midwife for the glamour or the money and that is evident in the care we give. If you know a Midwife, hug one. 

Life | my tips for the gym!

I'm  not claiming to be a super fit gym freak (far from it) or know anything extensive about training programmes or diets. I hate the word diet in fact, they never work and just encourage guilt when you inevitably fall off the wagon on a Friday night. I have, however, stuck to a gym routine and a healthy eating lifestyle for a good couple of months now and I'm beginning to notice the change. I thought I'd share the things I've found helpful for staying motivated and sticking to it!

* Join a gym; a lot of gyms are offering really competitive, no contract memberships nowadays and they're definitely worth looking into if you've got the disposable cash! I had a Results with Lucy prescription for a few months and while the workouts where fun and did make me ache afterwards (always the sign of a good regime) I just found it so hard to stick to on my own at home! which leads nicely on to..

* Go with a friend; I arrange to meet my gym friend before and we go together, it stops me wimping out because I'm tired and she pushes me to do my best when we get there! I think I make a pretty good cheerleader for her too, and we keep each other entertained. Having a friend with me also makes me feel more comfortable navigating the weights room and the various machines. I know for a fact without her I'd never dare attempt anything too scary looking!

* Buy nice things to wear; I treated myself to some new trainers a month into my gym membership and it's funny how that made going feel worthwhile. With regards to clothes to wear at the gym, they needn't be expensive! most of mine come from either Tesco or Asda and do the job well! If I feel like I look good at the gym I find I work a lot harder than if I'm worrying about how these leggings make my bum look, or if that top is clinging to the wrong bit!

* Get a plan; a lot of gyms offer free personal training sessions as an incentive for joining up and you can ask the staff what kind of exercises you should be doing for certain results. I went one further and bought the LDN Muscle bikini guide because I wanted expert advice on how to change my body. I find that having a plan reassures me that I'm doing enough and also motivates me to go because hell, I've bought the bloody thing so I better go and use it! I find this one really hard work but I'm already seeing positive results and the instructions are clearly illustrated and actually aren't that scary once you get into it. I did have to give the eating plan pages a few reads but I'm on board with that too now! it's changed the whole way I look at going to the gym and has given me something to aim for!

* Change it up; if you go to the gym every day and sit on the bike  for 45 minutes then go home, not only are you going to get really bored really quickly, you're going to plateau and not benefit from that expensive membership! Try classes or a different activity every day, like swimming or running. That's another good thing about having a plan, my LDN Muscle one has A and B weeks and works different muscle groups on different days so I'm never bored.

I think the most important thing is don't beat yourself up if you have a bad day or just don't go. No-one is perfect and no-one never has a pizza. Everything in moderation! Being healthy should soon become a lifestyle; if it ever become a chore you're going to resent it and are more likely to sack it off pretty quickly. I  have loads of inspiration pictures on pinterest and places like that that I can look at if I ever get bored with it all!

Life | OHMYGOD #blogfortrek WINNER

I am in a total state of shock, still. I woke up from a night shift this afternoon, about half 12 to see Trek America had tweeted they'd announced the winner of their #blog4trek competition. I sleepily checked the page to see which lucky girl had got it and when I saw my name, I couldn't believe it. It's such a cliché but I actually couldn't believe what I was reading. I've been squealing and dancing ever since; you know that total elation when something seems just too good to be true? that happy feeling in your tummy and the glow you seem to emit? I've got that today! it's like a happy warm furry cat constantly on my chest- such a lovely feeling.

Long story short, I've been totally buzzing all day, and haven't stopped talking about it to any one that will listen. I'm never, ever lucky with things like this and it's made me so happy! I keep finding myself on the Trek America page researching the Westerner 2 and imagining what it's going to be like.

I want to post a huge, huge thank you to the panellists; i'm honestly so, so grateful. You don't know what this means to me! A big thank you also to lovely PR lady Michelle, who's put  up with my excited garbled emails and hundred questions. Obviously thank you Trek America for opening up this opportunity for me and sending me on the trip of a life time!! and thank you to anyone that liked my photo in the second round, or read my first and third round entries. I'm truly lost for words with joy.

Commiserations to the other 4 girls who got through to round three with me, I honestly never expected it to be me who won. My blog is probably the smallest out of the lot, and their entries where all so fantastic!

I am planning lots of posts leading up to the trip, obviously during the trip and probably a sad little post during the come down afterwards! I hope you'll come along with me and it will inspire you to travel, even if it's just exploring your home town!

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm off to continue to dance round my room. I'm not sure I've annoyed my neighbours enough yet with my squealing!