February Favourites

It's been a while since I have done a favourites blog post and if I am honest they are my favourite blog posts to read.  So here are my February favourites!

1. Soap & Glory Hand Food.

This is a scented hand moisturiser which is sooooo good. Like all Soap & Glory products it smells amazing. The moisturiser soaks into your skin really well so you're not left with that horrible greasy feeling you get with some moisturisers. You also only need to use a tiny amount (about a pea sized amount) so it is very long lasting. This particular moisturiser contains shea butter, macadamia oil and marshmallow to give it it's glorious scent.

2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

I am so close to finishing this book and I just had to put it into my favourites because I love it so much. The book tells a great tale of love, hate, cruelty, violence and passion. I don't want to spoil it too much for those who haven't read it but it is a great book and I definitely recommend it. I might do a book review about it in a future post.

3. Fluffy Socks.

I adore fluffy socks with cute patterns on and with February being a particularly cold month I have been making good use of my collection. They are perfect for a cosy night in to keep your toes warm and a must have for the colder months.

4. Soap & Glory Heel Genius.

Another Soap & Glory product that I have been loving this month! This foot cream makes my heels so soft and it smells great. It contains allatoin, glycerin, macadamia oil, bilberry and orange and lemon fruit acid smoothers. The product is amazing and great for hard skin.

5. Colouring.

Not necessarily a product but I have been loving colouring this month.  I usually colour a lot because it helps me to relax but I have found myself doing it more this month, probably because it's so cold outside and I like to be indoors in the warm.

Hope you liked reading about my favourites. Feel free to mention any of yours in the comments below!

Chlo xx 
 
Follow my blog with Bloglovin

How To Be Happy

Being happy is something that comes so easily for some people, but for others it is a constant struggle. I found myself in an unhappy place a few months ago but after taking these steps I can now say I am much happier.

Step 1:

Take a step back. Look at your life, what is good, what is bad. Think about what is having a profoundly negative impact on your life, and, what is giving you an amazing amount of joy and bliss.

Step 2:

Cut out any negatives. If something in your life is making you unhappy cut it out. If you are unhappy in a relationship maybe it is time to move on. If you are unhappy with a study choice you have made at university switch to another course, or, think about whether university is for you. If you are unhappy in your job, is it worth carrying on in a career that is making you miserable?

Step 3:

Surround yourself with friends and family.

Being around those that you love and trust makes a massive difference to personal happiness. The worst thing someone can do is to isolate themselves when they are unhappy, because it will take longer to get rid of the negative feelings. Being around family and friends makes the air around you feel lighter, you can have fun and enjoy life with the people that care about you.

Step 4:

Take some time for yourself.

 
Yes being around family and friends helps greatly with happiness, but having some me time also does wonders. Have a relaxing bubble bath, catch up on those Netflix programmes, read a book. Taking some time out for yourself is a great way to get rid of any negative feelings.

Hope these tips help some people! I am much happier after completing some of these steps and I feel like I am in a much better place now.

BE HAPPY!

Chlo xx

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Review: Maybelline Sculpting Brow Mascara

I have naturally quite big eyebrows which I think I am quite lucky for. They don't require much filling in so I usually just use an eye shadow but I thought I would try something new.

So I took a trip to Superdrug and brought the Maybelline Brow drama Sculpting Brow Mascara. I got the shade dark brown as I thought that would best match by eyebrows.

The mascara made my brow hairs a lot straighter and kind of stuck them together. They do look slightly thicker and have a slightly better shape too but there isn't too much of a noticable difference.

I would recommend this to anyone who wanted a more natural brow look and didn't want their makeup to be too heavy.

Overall I like the Brow Mascara but personally I prefer how my eyebrows look when they are filled in with eye shadow.

Chlo xx

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Review: Models Own HyperGel Polish

A few months ago I went to the Clothes Show Live (the last one in Birmingham, sad times). While I was there I brought some Models Own HyperGel Nail Polish, as I needed some new ones and I had never tried the Models Own ones before.

The polish doesn't require any UV, like some gel polish, you just have to make sure you shake it well before use. The first one I tried was Brunette Red.

This shade is a very deep red and I thought it was a nice colour for Autumn and Winter. The application process was good and the polish seemed to dry fairly quickly. The shade was also very opaque but I still applied 2 coats, as always. I really like this shade, however, after a few hours it already had a chip on one of my nails. The next day I noticed nearly all of my nails were chipped which made me realise that, unfortunately, this polish is not very chip resistant.

The second one I tried was Pink Veneer. 

The inner girly girl in me loves a bit of pink every now and again. I chose this pale pink colour, as I thought it would be a nice shade for the summer and it would go well with some of my daytime outfit choices. The application of this polish was very different to the Brunette Red. This shade is not very opaque at all and i found that, even after applying 2 coats of the polish, I could still see my natural nail colour through the polish. This one didn't chip as easily as the Brunette Red but did start to peel off my nails after only 24 hours.

The third one I tried was Jet Black.

I always like to make sure that I own some black nail polish. It is a great colour that goes with practically any outfit. This shade, as I expected, was the most opaque of them all when I applied it. This shade also lasted the longest, only chipping after 48 hours. However, like the others, it isn't very chip resistant so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who wants their nail polish to last for more than 48 hours.

The final shade I tried was Red Lustre.

This is the only one I got for free at the Clothes Show and didn't purchase myself. The shade is a lovely bright, vibrant red colour which screamed Christmas to me when I saw it. I love this colour. It is fairly opaque but does chip easily.

Overall, I really like the shades of the Models Own HyperGel Nail Polishes but I am disappointed by the lack of strength in the polish. They do not seem to last long and chip way too easily. They would be great if you wanted to just change your nail colour for one day/night, but not if you are looking for a long lasting polish.

Chlo xx

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Health & Wellbeing While On Holiday

I love to travel, seeing new places and experiencing new things is a great part of life. However, it is important to me that I maintain my health and wellbeing whilst on holiday.

I will be traveling to New York in April and I am beyond excited! The last time I went to America I went to Florida when I was 16 and had the best time, I can honestly say Disney World changed my life.

So here are some of my tips to maintain health and wellbeing while away.

1. Meditation and yoga

(Image Source: Google)

Not only is physical health and wellbeing important but also mental. I find that meditation and yoga really helps to focus my mind. Sometimes traveling to a new place can be a bit stressful, especially if not everything goes to plan. If I am on a holiday, where I am saying in a villa or hotel, (like my previous trip to Florida) I like to meditate by a pool or the sea as I find the sound of the water to be very calming. Tuscany is a place on my current travel wish list which has some great villas with beautiful pools, perfect for meditation, which you can check out here. Tuscany has also become a very popular place for yoga retreats, that you can check out here, which in my mind sounds extremely relaxing.

2. Sunscreen (or sun cream)

I have very pale skin and lots of moles and freckles so it is vital that I take care of it when I am in a hot country. Though my next trip will be in America in April when it is a bit colder, on all of my previous trips where the weather has been much warmer I ALWAYS make sure my skin is protected. Sun burn is a nasty thing, it hurts and it doesn't look nice when your skin starts to peel. Not only that but going into the sun without sunscreen and getting sun burn increases your risk of developing unwanted skin conditions or diseases, such as cancer. I always wear factor 30 in a British summer (which let's be honest isn't always sunny) and when i go abroad to a hot country i always use factor 50 for that added protection.

3. Fruit for breakfast 

Eating fruit in the morning is a great way to start the day. Not only does it make you feel good and ready to start your day, it also contains those all important vitamins and minerals that your body needs. I like to start each day with a banana as they are a great source of energy and contain a good amount of potassium.

4. Insurance

This may seem like a boring one but health insurance is so important when you are abroad. If you are to be unfortunate enough to injure yourself to the point you need hospital treatment the costs will be extreme without insurance. It is best to be safe than sorry.

5. Drinking

Of course everyone likes a drink when they are abroad, it is your chance to escape work and let your hair down. But it is important to stay safe, especially when you are somewhere you have never been before. NEVER leave your drink unattended, all it takes is a second for someone who isn't a particularly nice person to spike your drink. Also even if a handsome stranger does offer you a free drink it would probably be a lot safer if you don't accept one unless you see it being poured. Stay safe people!

So there you have it my top 5 tips for maintaining your health and wellbeing while abroad.

Chlo xx

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Revamp

So I decided to make some slight changes to my blog. I started this blog a few years ago and while I still see it as a hobby I feel like as I have grown up my blog should grow with me.

So here are the changes I have made:

1. The name

Most obvious one here is that I have changed the name of my blog. It is no longer 'partywithgiraffes' and is now simply 'Chlo H' with the NEW url being chlohblogs.blogspot.co.uk. If i'm honest I did want 'Chloe H' but that url was already taken so plan b! This is just a temporary name change though and someone did tell me it sounds like 'chlo hates blogs' when you read it, which was not planned and I didn't even realise it myself.  Any other name suggestions would be appreciated. I don't have a middle name so it's a bit harder to think of blog names as I know a lot of bloggers use their first and middle names. I feel like 'partywithgiraffes' is a bit of a mouthful and the new blog name suits as it is my name so it is unique to me.

2. The layout

I have adjusted the layout of my blog ever so slightly by making some font changes here and there to make certain parts easier to read. I may be making further changes to the layout by adding more pages so that I can separate my posts better. At the moment my blog is a bit of everything but the main posts seem to be focused on:

- Beauty
- Lifestyle
- Fashion
- Literature
- Personal

My blog would be much more organised if I could separate these posts onto separate pages. Of course this is dependent upon my computing skills and whether I can figure out how to do it.

I might make more changes in the future to my blog but at the moment I am happy with these slight changes.

Chlo xx

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Making changes

Do you ever just sit down and think what am I doing with my life? Well that is what I did before Christmas and continued to do up until New Years day.

PREPARE FOR A DEEP POST

See I have a History degree and part of me has always wondered whether I did that degree just for the sake of doing a degree. All of my friends were going to University, and I couldn't think of anything else to do, so I thought 'yeah sure I'll jump on that train'. Now I'm not saying I regret doing my degree. I am actually very proud of the fact that I got into University and graduated with a decent classification. But what I am saying is that I wonder whether I did the degree for the right reasons.

So that brings me to my main point. I started a PGCE Primary course in September 2016 after thinking that teaching was what I really wanted to do. But the more I thought about it the more I questioned it. I got onto the course just fine and everyone on the course was super friendly but something was still there at the back of my mind. The little voice going 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!'. So instead of ignoring the little niggle at the back of my mind I went with my gut. I realised that teaching is not for me. To be honest it's not that I was bad at it (blowing own trumpet moment) my grades were quite good and I passed my first placement, it just didn't feel right. I did not enjoy the course as much as I thought I would. So on the 3rd January 2017 I withdrew from the course after a chat with my course leader.

So I am now unemployed, not a student anymore and starting to worry slightly more about my bank balance. But I have to say I am happy. I am happy that I made the right choice. The career wasn't for me so why do it? Hopefully I will find something I enjoy doing and can earn a living from but in the meantime I am enjoying feeling like i can breathe again and not feeling like I am under an immense amount of pressure.

Change is good. 

Chlo xx

Follow my blog with Bloglovin