Mondays

Why do people hate Mondays so much? I mean, personally, I’m quite fond of them.

I generally spent my Mondays cleaning the house. A full, deep clean. Jak tells me I’m “bleach happy” all of the time because my house constantly smells of bleach and candles. Every other day I go around the house with a bottle of bleach, the bathroom gets bleached everyday, tiles and all. The kitchen gets bleached every other day, and every other day I also add bleach to my mop bucket and bleach all of the floors.

Jak works until 9pm, so I spend my evenings changing my nail colour or cooking lots of food to put in Jaks work drawers in the freezing for him to take to work during the week. Since moving into the house, I’ve found a hidden passion for cooking. I never follow recipes, I simply go through the cupboards, find a base ingredient and add lots of herbs and spices to it and BAM! Perfection.

Tonight I’m going to sit back and relax with Marley cuddled up on the sofa and watch a mystery movie. I recently watched “The Girl On The Train” and I LOVED IT! Seriously, I recommend it highly! It was so weird and mind boggling, but so, so good and I could hardly look away from the screen!

Anyway, I hope your Monday has treated you well.

I’m back.

I haven’t written for months. So much has happened, I’m not really sure where to begin. New adventures. A new home. A new addition to our family. So, so much. It’s been 10 months since I last updated you on how my life is going. 10 long months of everything changing.

 

A new business

In April I started my own business. I’ve always has a passion for makeup and decided I wanted to persue a career in the makeup and beauty industry. What happened to university? I couldn’t afford it. University is expensive. Not only is it expensive but it’s long. So many years, and no guarantee of working in the setting you wanted anyway. So many years, and so much debt at the end of it. Who knows, maybe it will happen in a year, two maybe? But not right now.

Anyway, back to my business. I set up Makeup & Beauty with Jasmine Paige as a hobby along side college and my new job in a caravan park. I wasn’t really expecting it to pick up, just a few clients here and there. It started out that way, and in the summer it really started to take off. Most weekends were filled with Makeup bookings, this is when I decided I’d build up my business. I took extra courses in various beauty treatments, and I continue to add more on.

Makeup & Beauty with Jasmine Paige is a mobile beauty business. I offer a variety of treatments in the comfort of my clients home in which I always try to expand on regularly. I offer my clients the very best in treatments and great customer care.

I began offering my services as a makeup artist at the beginning of 2016. I have always had a passion for makeup and love making people look and feel beautiful and their own skin. Once this part of the business had been successfully running for a while, I decided to branch out and expand my business, offering more treatments to generate a wider range of clients and offer more treatments my current clients would love too.

I now offer makeup application, gel polish, eyebrow waxing, eyebrow and facial threading, eyelash and eyebrow tinting, express facial and skincare, full body waxing and spray tanning. I am also in the process of adding more treatments onto the list.

The business is going great, and I’ve also started working from home. I’m currently in the process of setting up my own home salon. This year, 2017, I have a lot of makeup bookings for weddings which I’m excited about! My most popular treatments with my clients are makeup, brow tint and wax, facial and gel polish!

 

Our first home

On October 30th 2016, Jak and I moved into our very first home together. It had been a long time coming, we’d looked at various houses of different sizes and areas, but I had always had my heart set on a small cottage owned by my Grandma. It was originally lived in by my Taids (Grandfather) mum and dad and has been in the family for years. It’s a small lodge at the bottom of a lane, originally it was part of a hall and was used for the maids to live in. Over the years it’d been expanded and changed, but it’s still just as beautiful with lots of character behind it. In August 2016 we started to change the inside of the home. Not drastically, but making it our own. There was a bit of work that needed doing to it. The kitchen was a large step lower than the rest of the house. We ripped out all of the kitchen and raised the floor so that it was all the same level. Once that was done, we added a boiler-type room to the corner of the kitchen, here we keep our washing machine and mop, etc. We chose the new kitchen and had it fitted, a beautiful white unit with black handles and a black worktop. We had a new oven and new cooker installed, along with a dishwasher as there wasn’t one in the house before. It already had 2 bedrooms, however, they were very small, barely enough room to fit a double bed and not much else. Down the middle of both of the rooms ran a hallway which led to the front door. We knocked one of the bedroom walls out that led onto the hallway and made one of the bedrooms bigger. Yes, this means we have the front door in our bedroom, but we took it out and replaced it with glass instead.

The work took a little longer than the time frame we had in mind, but it was finished by mid October. This meant we had two weeks to decorate. The whole house was magnolia, even the ceilings were, apart from the kitchen which was all freshly plastered. Me and Jak spent days painting everywhere white. Long days, late nights, but it eventually got done. Every room looked so fresh and clean, but still things were missing. I love the colour grey, it goes with everything, so in every room we painted one wall, the “feature wall” grey. The kitchen had one wall light grey. The living room had one light grey wall, and the bedroom had one wall dark grey. I wanted something different in the living room too, which is when I decided that I wanted a grey stone wall.

Along with all of this, we expanded our garden to make it bigger, as well as taking out an old concrete slab that was laying in the middle of the garden from where a shed once stood. The parking area at the side of our house was only large enough to fit one car, so we ripped all of the grass to the side of our house up and put slab all over it, making the parking area very large, big enough to turn a vehicle around and fit about 4, maybe 5, vehicles on it. Along with all of that, at the front of the house going up our lane we had an old concrete wall. The wall only went half way up and was joined by old sheep fencing wire which continued to the end of the property. The wall was crumbling and parts were missing and had fallen down, so we smashed it all down and had a wooden fence built all up the front of the house, along with beautiful matching wooden gates. It looks so much better already!

We still have a lot of plans for the house and a lot of stuff to do. The outside is no where near finished, the whole outside of the house needs repainting in warmer weather, the spare bedroom needs decorating and we plan to have an extension put on in spring, along with a new bathroom and new fencing at the back of the house. I have lots of plans for the garden, including my own vegetable and herb patch!

I love living in our own home. I love to decorate and put my own mark on things, and having my own home gives me the ability to do this. It was so lovely at Christmas, not only was it our first Christmas together in our own home, but it was also my first time cooking for everyone! My Nain (Grandma) and her sister from London came to the house for Christmas day.

 

The new addition to the family…

(Continued on a separate page).

I got my lips topped up!

As you all know, at the beginning of December I got 1ml of lip injections. Yesterday I got them topped up with another 1ml as I wanted a fuller looking lip.

  
At first I couldn’t really tell much difference. I went on with my day and took an afternoon nap and when I woke up they were SO swollen and huge!

  
As the day went on they got more and more swollen and I was so scared! They were so painful and sore and I didn’t know what to do. They never swelled like this when I had them done the first time! I kept putting ice on them and tried to sleep sitting up as I think it was the blood rush from lying down.

I woke up this morning and my top lip was even bigger! It was swollen right up to my nostrils! However, as today went on, the swelling has gone down to much and they look AMAZING!

This just shows that your body works in different ways each time. I had the tiniest amount of bruising last time, but this time could be different and I could get loads! Who knows! Keep you posted xx

  

The build up of my buttocks

I used to be sooooo uncomfortable with showing my bum or wearing something tight that showed it. I felt it was so flat, uneven and ‘saggy’ but I had absolutely 0% motivation to do anything about it. After browsing through my Instagram (link in my ‘social medias’ tab), I decided it was time to get up and actually do something about my insecurity!

  

I started with just doing squats. Starting at 15 squats on Day 1, then adding 10 squats extra per day. Along with the ordinary squats I also did 20 one legged squats, adding 5 extra ones per day.

About a week into doing both types of squats, I started seeing a huge difference already and was LOVING my booty! So, I invested in a vibration plate!

  
I do 20 minutes on the vibration plate, using it 3 times a day, ensuring that I leave at least 2 hours between each session for my body to relax again and get back to normal. I start off just standing on the plate normally for the first ten minutes on a high speed (usually 99). I then bend my knees half way for the next ten minutes on a high speed again. For my second session, I cross my legs and do 10 minutes on one bum cheek and then ten minutes on the other both again on another high speed. For the third session I spend 5 minutes sitting on the plate doing sit ups on a medium-low speed. I then do 5 minutes planking with my hands on the plate on a low speed vibration. For the last 10 minutes I stand on the plate normally again on a medium to low speed to cool down.

I’ve now started on my abs! (I won’t show you a picture of that yet as that’s a different topic).

As well as exercising, I’ve been making my own smoothies in order to keep my hunger under control and replace some large meals. I have small portions of healthy food regularly, 5-6 times a days and for snacks I have 0% fat yoghurt or fruit such as peaches, etc.

  
I’m not at my perfect bum yet but I’m getting there!! Here’s my bum now!

  

I GOT INTO UNIVERSITY!!

Since my last blog post, I’ve had 2 university offers.

The first, Wolverhampton. I liked the university, but hated the city. The interview went fine and the interviewers were so lovely and made me feel really relaxed and comfortable, thank god!
The second, however, didn’t go so well. It was in Birmingham City, the university of my first choice and the one that I was DESPERATE to get in to! This was the only one I really wanted and when I was filling out my UCAS application, I only wrote the other 4 universities in as back ups. I got the train to Birmingham and arrived with half an hour to get to the university itself. I needed to be there by 12:20 in the afternoon. However, I got lost, I was abandoned by my nan, had no money and no train ticket and my phone nap was sending me the complete opposite way! To make everything worse it was a 45 minute walk!!! So there was little old me, alone on the streets of Birmingham, tears streaming down my face, in the midst of having a panic attack (yes, I had a panic attack on the street, how embarrassing!!), eyes red and puffy and no makeup left on my face with not a clue as to where I was going. I called the university and explained the situation and they told me to get there as soon as possible. I eventually made it there, half an hour late, and went in to the test room to take my numeracy and literacy test… In the samples I was only getting 8 out of 12 and the pass mark was 10 out of 12! I was so stressed and worried, but I got 100%!!! I was so happy! I then had my interview and it went brilliantly, I was so pleased. It was then just a waiting game.
Exactly two years ago today I lost the most important man in my life, my Taid. He was the one that made me chose Adult Nursing as a career path and he’s always been the one that’s motivated me to do it. I was, as you can expect, a sobbing mess this morning and really didn’t feel like doing anything. All I could think about was my Taid.

I went to placement and did what I had to do and then at lunch I came home for my dinner before returning to placement. As I was having my dinner I decided to check my UCAS, although I was told it would be 10 working days before I was offered anything. It took ages to load and I wasn’t really expecting anything to have been updated, but then all of a sudden it appeared… I HAD BEEN OFFERED A PLACE IN BIRMINGHAM UNIVERSITY!!! I’m so happy and I did shed a little tear!!

It was definitely something to do with my Taid, it was meant to be. After 4 working days i had been offered a place in my first choice university and on the anniversary of his death too. He did it. We did it. I did it.
So, this is in memory of my best friend, my strength and my hero. Rest in Paradise Taid. I love you with all of my heart and miss you more each day. ❤️

Pointless Blog Post

Tonight’s one of them nights that I desperately need to be sleeping. I should have been sleeping at 8:30 really as I’ll be up and en route to somewhere special tomorrow at 5:30AM! But after a solid 12 hour sleep last night from 19:30 right the way through until 8:00 this morning I’m more than wide awake!

Tomorrow is a massive day. I have my first of 3 (so far) University interviews and I am absolutely petrified, perhaps that’s the reason for my body clock and brain to be working over time. I’m definitely not prepared for what tomorrow may bring, and I also have another Uni interview on Wednesday too! Wednesday’s one is a lot bigger than tomorrow’s interview however as Wednesday’s interview is my first choice uni!

I’m so excited but so, so terrified also! I have absolutely no idea what to expect and keep thinking I haven’t prepared enough or revised the answers to possible questions, etc. although I’ve spent all of my free time for the past few weeks taking extra maths tuition and looking over current affairs in the Nursing Times, etc. I’ve even gone as far as doing maths questions in work!!!

The girls have been encouraging me and helping me along and I can’t begin to thank them enough for all of their support and wisdom over the past few weeks, although they’ve had their own interviews to worry about they’ve still taken time out to help me with things I’ve been struggling with.

Every single time I look at the lost of questions I’ve had devised my brain goes blank and I keep thinking I don’t have a clue what the answer is, although deep down I know I do. Panic mode has already kicked in and I can’t remember any of the answers as in typing this. What are the 6 C’s again?

I was going to keep this blog post short and sweet, and I can feel myself blabbing on about anything and everything I can think of, but the truth is all I can think of is tomorrow and Wednesday. God, I really am terrified. I’ll let you know how it goes..
Wish me luck!! 😭

First Impressions – MAC Waterweight SPF30 Foundation & MAC Mineralize Loose Powder Foundation

Ever since the new Waterweight foundation was brought out my MAC cosmetics I’ve been dying to try it! However, I hadn’t seen any reviews on it and, due to the name, I was put off buying it as I didn’t want to buy it and waste my money on something that I probably wasn’t going to wear.

   
 
On a recent trip to London I nipped in to the Mac cosmetics store in Chelsea and saw this in there and decided to grab it! I really wasn’t sure whether I was going to like it or not. Whilst there, I decided to grab the Mineralize loose powder foundation also. I love loose powder so I really wanted to try this.

I started by priming my face with my usual primer – Nivea Men sensitive post shave balm.

  

Waterweight SPF30 Foundation

My first impression on this is that I really do like it!

The packaging – as usual it comes in the standard black original Mac box. It has instruction on the outside of the box and on the bottle also. The 30ml bottle is so pretty and I love the fact that it’s a little pincher, not a pump! The bottle itself isn’t thick, which means there is a lot of product in it and it doesn’t lead you do believe otherwise by having thick glass around it, which I like!

The product itself – I purchased the product in the shade NC15. The first thing I noticed is that a little bit goes a really long way! I filled the squirty pincher with foundation and just the 1 fill was enough for my entire face, plus some left over which is brilliant! It doesn’t come out too thick, nor too thin, it’s the perfect consistency. One thing I will state is that the foundation is a sheer to medium coverage, however, it is buildable. I did also find that the product blended in better and easier with a buffing brush – I tried half of my face with a damp real techniques complexion sponge and the other half with a buffing brush. This product would be perfect for dry skin as it really hydrates the skin. It also turns very dewy when on the face, which isn’t so great on oily skin, but, if you’re like me, with oily skin and like a dewy glow to your skin, it’s a perfect foundation. I did find that, although it says it’s supposed to smooth fine lines and blur pores, that it did become very cakey and bobbly on the bridge of my nose and around the sides of my nose, which I really don’t like. I’m not sure if that’s due to the fact that I put two layers on or if it’s because I used a beauty blender/complexion sponge on the one half, but the first layer I didn’t notice did that nor did I notice it on the side I used the buffing brush, hence why I said I prefer the buffing brush with this foundation.

   
    
   
I did notice that the foundation needed to be set due to how dewy it was. It was extremely shiny and made my face look very wet and oily. However, what I did also really like about the foundation is that when it WAS set there was no creasing! Usually after an hour or so of wearing some foundations I tend to get very deep creases around my mouth (on my smile lines) which I didn’t notice happened with this foindation.

Another point I needed to make note of is – due to it being a high SPF – it reflects very pale when light hits it, such as a flash, etc. Which is a downside as I love a good selfie!!

  
Mineralize Loose Powder Foundation

The packaging – again, this product came in the standard black Mac packaging. Nothing about the packaging really amazed me, it was just a standard plastic pot with the Matte black lid. When I took the lid off I was unpleasantly surprised with the plastic film and the holes for the powder to come out of – this isn’t something I’m a fan of, I much prefer to take off the lid and the entire product be there for me to put however much I like on my brush rathe than have to tip it out all of the time.

The product itself – when I bought the product, I purchased it in ‘Extra Light’ with the intention of using it to highlight under my eyes, etc. when I contour, however I found it was a lot darker than I thought and was actually the same colour as my skin tone (my fault for being stupidly pale lol!). My opinion on this powder isn’t great. I had high expectations for this powder as I love the Mineralize liquid foundation, but this I didn’t love so much. I found it hard to get onto a brush, when I eventually did get it on a brush it didn’t blend nicely on my face. I found it didn’t go a long way and wore off quite quickly. Not only this but when I took off the lid I noticed there was either nothing or far too much around the top. The one thing I did find is that it does set the foundation well, when you eventually get enough product on the brush. Another down side, how everyone, is that is goes bumpy on top of pores, maximising them.

   
    
   
To conclude this review, I would definitely use the liquid foundation again and recommend it. It’s really lovely for a nice, natural everyday look, or built up for a more dramatic look. As for the loose powder, I wouldn’t recommend it personally because it’s not something I like and nothing to do with it really stands out for me.
Before

   

   
After

   

    
 

Back into modelling

I’m back!!

As some of you may already know, I took a break from modelling in April due to personal reasons, but recently I decided to jump back in front of the camera. On Sunday, after a very regretted night out for my boyfriends surprise 21st birthday meal (worst timing to have a party and a shoot on the same weekend), I was up at the crack of dawn, blurry eyed and fuzzy headed, to get ready. I had absolutely no motivation and it took me an hour and a half to even think about starting to make myself look presentable, but, eventually I managed to pull myself together and, in record breaking time of 20 minutes, got ready and was out of the door! Usually I only do shoots locally, as I’m not the biggest fan of travelling, however, I made an acception for this one due to the fantastic studio and photographer I was working with.
The journey was just over 3 hours, with a McDonald’s breakfast stop included (yes, models eat McDonald’s today!). My boyfriend drove and I sat in the passengers seat in charge of the radio and taking the occasional nap. When we got to the address, it was a short street built up of houses, side streets and a large chapel. For the life of us we couldn’t find the studio, so I turned to the help of my phone to find it. Eventually I met up with Kevin, the photographer, and we headed into the studio, a large chapel that was once used as a Sunday school. Inside it was large with high ceilings, two stories and thousands of props, lights and back drops. The studio owner greeted us in the centre of the reception, at his side was a giant dog (American bull dogs) called Neb, he was friendly and loved to use his tail to get your attention! We sat and had a cup of tea and discussed the shoot plans and PurplePort news (a website we all use). After around half and hour,new got into the swing of things. I got changed and we shot our first set – girl next door. It felt like I’d never stopped modelling! Everything came back to me so naturally and the whole day was so much fun. We shot this scene for around an hour before I got changed again and headed upstairs for a lingerie/bedroom scene. We did a solid hour and a half of different poses, different lingerie sets and me and Kevin both threw out ideas and fulfilled all aspects that we were hoping to.

We took a short ten minute break with a cup of tea and discussed more ideas for the next scene with each other and David, the studio owner. I headed into the dressing room, changed my makeup and lingerie, while Kevin, David and Neb the dog headed upstairs to get the next scene ready. This scene was such a fun one to shoo, it’s something I’d never done before and it was also something I really wanted to try out so I was so excited! I ran up the steep, old wooden stairway, through the narrow corridor and into the all white, natural light studio space… To a foam filled roll top bath!! I dived in, blowing bubbles around the room off my hands and covering my entire body, head to toe, in them. I smiled, laughed and posed for ages until I got freezing cold and had to wrap up in the dressing gown that David kindly supplied me with. I had so much fun and felt like a child at Christmas, haha!

Our last scene was a winter themed one. I went back downstairs and into the changing row here I threw on some knee high boots, a pair of warm leggings and a deep purple red knitted jumper. To match the jumper I applied MAC lipstick in the shade ‘Dark Side’ to give the outfit that finishing touch. I stepped out of the changing room to a large backdrop of snow covered trees, lights above and around the scene and a snow machine over head blowing white snow-like foam. It was beautiful and nothing I’d ever experienced on a shoot before. I stepped into the snow on the set and smiled, posed and excercised my modelling skills in front of the camera. I loved it. After we had finished, I thanked Kevin and David, said goodbye to Neb and me and Jak left for the long, tiresome drive home after a 5 hour long shoot.
  

Kevin Rudge of Ffotograffydd Photography Review

I met and worked with Kevin for the first time on Sunday. Kevin gave great pre-shoot communication, emailing me regularly with shoot ideas, discussing a range of different sets and how we want to do them.

Kevin emailed 24 hours before to make sure I was still okay to shoot. Along with this, he asked if I was bringing a chaperone. I know from personal experience that the majority of photographers do not allow chaperones, but Kevin was more than welcoming of Jak and even offered to take pictures of me and Jak together which was so lovely of him!

He greeted me outside the studio we shot in with a warm and friendly approach. Kevin made me feel so relaxed and comfortable, he was completely respectful of my levels and constantly made sure I was okay, not pushing for more from me than I was willing to do. After the shoot, he text me to make sure I had got home okay  and thanked me for the day. I thoroughly enjoyed my day of shooting and me and Kevin have already arranged our next shoot together!

Manse Studio

It was my first time visiting manse studio, and I must admit I had never heard of it before. I was pleasantly surprised by how large the studio was. The ground floor consisted of a very large studio room, plus a dressing room, reception, office, toilet and kitchen. Then upstairs there was a boudoir studio (all white room with also great natural lighting), a wet room (which unfortunately was still in the process of being built but look AMAZINGLY and I can’t wait to try it out soon!), a set area, dressing room and toilet.

The studio was kitted out with 14 different lights, a snow machine, foam machine, smoke machine and many more. There were shelved and shelved of different props everywhere, and a whole wardrobe of different themed clothes. Everything was supplied, all I needed to bring was my own clothes if needed, makeup if needed and myself! I would highly recommend this studio.

LINKS

Jasmine Paige Official – Instagram
Jasmine Paige – Facebook

Jasmine Paige Official – PurplePort

Ffotograffydd – PurplePort

Manse Studio – PurplePort

Manse Studio – Website

Contour Cosmetics palette 2 review

I noticed that Contour Cosmetics recently had a Halloween 24 hour sale, so I took this as an opportunity to snap a palette up while they were on offer.
I ordered the palette 2 to start with as the shades looked more grey toned and taupe than the first palette, which I thought would match my skin perfectly. I struggle to find the right contour colours when I order new products, so this was a bit of a hit or miss. I purchased it in the evening and it arrived the next morning! I was eager to swatch it and test it out, so I jolted straight to my dressing table and worked my magic! My first impressions before I even tested it were rather good! The colours were really nice – the highlights were all perfect matches and suited my skin tone well, being pale, but I noticed they would also go really nicely with my skin when I have a tan, along with the contour tones! Once I’d started applying it to my face, I noticed how creamy the pans are. They went on so smoothly and a little bit when a long way. They all blended so smoothly and although the the palette gave such a high level of coverage, it didn’t feel thick and horrible on the skin! It felt very thin and you could hardly tell it was there. I have very, very pale skin and I always ha to have the very lightest shade in all foundations, I used the middle colour from the top row to highlight under my eyes, forehead, nose and chin, and I used the first colour in the bottom row to contour. I also used the first colour from the top row to give a bit of pinky tones to the apples of my cheeks were I was going to apply my blush. After I had blended it all together, I wore it for several hours and found that it didn’t move all day! The colours didn’t run of blend in together too much, nor did the makeup smudge or come off which I loved! I’d really recommend this palette to anyone who loves a good contour!!

   
 

Adulting and Peter Pan Syndrome

After discussing a new little project with my nail technician at Nailed It! Welshpool (although she’s more like my second mother and isn’t afraid to put me in my place when needs must!), we went onto to the topic of me finally growing up and becoming an adult. I know, it probably sounds random, but we got on to the topic of this by discussing my nail habits.. Every 2-3 weeks I get my nails done by mumma Emma and it’s always the same scenario.. – make my appointment less than 24 hours before, walk in 5 minutes late, sit down, have a rant and a rave for an hour or so, get my sculpts done, spend ages choosing my gel polish, moan about my cuticles, pay and leave. Normal right? Hahah, not me!! Approximately 48-72 hours later I message Emma and explain to her how all my nails have been bitten off and try to excuse the fact that it was my fault and I can’t help it. HOWEVER, I went into the salon on Friday and by some miracle, I HAD A FULL SET OF NAILS STILL ON FROM TWO WEEKS AGO FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!! So, me and Emma went on from talking about our little nail project to discussing whether I’m going to set a new personal best and have my nails STILL on by next Friday! (I doubt it too) which only means one thing… I’m growning up and adulting.. I DONT LIKE ADULTING!!

Since I turned 19 last month, it’s quickly dawned on me that I have less than a year of being a teenager and actually having an excuse to be immature and lazy and have a disgustingly messy bedroom and bite my nails. Next July I’ll be turning 20 and going to uni and leaving my house behind and I’ll have to start paying bills and budgeting. That’s scary and I don’t like it. I have a very severe case of Peter Pan Syndrome – never wanting to grow up! Adulthood sounds rubbish and boring and I hate boring!

And so, to conclude this discussion, I have come to the desk ion that I’m not going to be adulting next year! Who wants to be an adult anyway?