HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY

LET ME TAKE YOU BACK TO WHERE IT ALL STARTED...

On the 22nd of April 2015, 'Helen Marie' was born. Obviously I am not 2 years old, because that is my name. But you know what I mean guys... My blog is 2 years old and it's my little place on the internet where I get to share with you little things I love, the things which are going on in my life, the outfits and clothes I like to wear... Literally anything to do with my life. So I thought I would share with you 5 of my favourite blog posts which I have written over the last 2 years, and that are published on here. I have never actually hidden a post I have written, purely because even though the pictures might be rubbish, or I'm talking a load of crap or its just a complete waste of time, its what I was thinking about at the time and its what was going on in my life then. The posts which are my favourite are my favourite for different reasons, it might of been the time of my life, or the subject or just for the fact I'm proud of what I created.

1. GINGERBREAD MUFFINS
The reason I really like this blog post is just because it was my first ever baking post. I know I haven't really done many of them, but I did really enjoy creating this one and it was a very 'follow along' because I was creating my muffins and photographing them at the same time. I just am quite proud of this post, because it did take quite a bit of time creating it and I did get something tasty at the end!

2. MY TOP 5 LIPSTICKS
This was only my second post that I wrote and created, but I remember making it so well, it only seems like yesterday I was lining all my lipsticks up and trying to get an 'arty' shot which I am still crazzzzy bad at. This post does still get quite a few views now, even though it is nearly 2 years old... haha.

3. MY AUTUMNAL SHADE: RIMMEL 107
I'm not too sure why I like this post so much, because it's so simple and that probably why I do like it so much. I'm not rambling on, theres a few pictures and it just shows my lipstick well. I like the pictures in it too, my dad helped me a lot with this post and it is one I like a lot.

4. ALL THINGS HAIR: MY HAIR HISTORY
I don't think I could do this post and not include this. It took me such a long time to make, going through all the pictures, remembering what my hair was like when, it was a loooong process but was totally worth it as I do believe this is my most viewed post ever!

5. A WINTER WEEKEND
This is my most recent post which I am including. It was basically an outfit post and it was on a weekend where I just chilled with my family and did family things. I really enjoyed the day, and its great that I have documented it. Also, thanks dad... for the photos (another reason why I like the post so much)!

I know this is a very different post for me to create, but it was nice going back and seeing how far I have come. I never created this blog for it to become anything big, and it's not big at all, it's just my little place where I share bits and bobs. Thank you for anyone who has commented or followed to me on bloglovin I really do appreciate it and heres to a few more years... *fingers crossed*

♥

November Favourites 2016

November has been a bit of a rubbish month really.. I've either been really stressed and busy or ill. I've had a norovirus, which was terrible and the worst thing ever. I caught it off my boyfriend, after looking after him for the night. Then we seemed to just pass it onto the whole family, wasn't good. Then I thought I was over that, I am... Just now, I have a terrible cold. I do love Winter, but I always seem to get ill around this time of year. I hate it, I just want to get on with my life. Haha, sorry for the rant!! So there isn't really any beauty/makeup in this favourites, just because I have been loving the same products, I haven't really ventured out. Although I have a few orders on the way from the black Friday sales. I'm sure I will be telling you about those soon!

Paw Paw Lip Balm

My lips always get so dry and horrible in the colder months. I hate not having nice smooth lips, because then I feel like I can't wear any matte lipsticks, and they are my faves. But this Paw Paw lip balm is amazing. It doesn't have to just go on your lips, it can be applied anywhere on any dry patches. It comes in a squeezy tube, so its easy to apply and basically just works.

Michael Kors WonderLust Fragrance

So this is a new fragrance from Michael Kors. I am a big fan of 'Sexy Amber' fragrance. Wonderlust didn't disappoint me, its very fresh and oriental to me. I don't think it suits this time of year too much, but it is just gorgeous. Would be an ideal Christmas present for anyone who loves Michael Kors and wants to buy into the brand. It's got notes of pink pepper, almond milk, jasmine and then theres something a bit more spicy and warm like sandalwood. I'm not the best at describing fragrances, but this is very lovely and is deffo worth a sniff!

Clinique Turnaround Day cream - Rosy Glow

This is the range from Clinique that I have been using for well over a year now, I love it. It makes me skin feel new and radiant. I do have normal/combination skin, it does just work for me. I am putting the day cream in my favourites, because I recently finished my tube, so I repurchased another. I thought, I don't really rave about the day and night cream I use very often, so I took this opportunity to give it a big old rave. Its a revitalising moisturiser, so it is meant to make the skin look fresh, radiant and much more glowing and that is why I love it so much, because it does do all those things. I can tell from my skin, when I have changed to a different moisturiser, because it just never looks and feels as good as when I use these. The moisturiser is also meant to create and reveal new skin cells, thats why its the 'turnaround' range. I have used up so many of these, its scary but I do always go back to it.

Soap and Glory Hand Food

A bit like the Paw Paw lip balm, my hands just get so dry this time of year. With the hand food, I have had one in my bag and one by my bed and I have actually used a whole tube up this month. My hands and lips are always the first things to suffer in the winter and Soap and Glory just know how to treat my poorly hands.

L'Oreal Shampoo and Conditioner

I really needed some new shampoo this month, I just ran out completely.. which really is so unlike me. I do normally use L'Oreal Shampoo & conditioner, I was using the newest one, which is the 'air' something, its to make your hair thicker. But I didn't really like that one as much as the others, but oh my goodness.. I think I've found my new favourite. Its the restoring one, to make your hair thicker, fuller and stronger. Its got 5 benefits and has just made a world of difference to my hair.

♥

My New Hair, How I Style It & What Products I Use

If you didn't know but since year 7 at high school I have been growing my hair, and by the time it was year 10/11 it was somewhere down near to my waste. I have wrote about my complete hair story, so click here and it will take you to that post.

So my hairs long, all one length, and for the last few months I have been having a love/hate relationship with it. I love it because it's so long, and it looks amazing when it's curled, straightened and basically had a lot of effort put into it. I also love it because I am proud that I have actually been able to grow it. However there are a lot of reasons why I didn't like it by the end, it took ages to dry, took ages to style, so most of the time it was just shoved up into a bun, and whats the point in having long hair, if its just in a bun on the top of your head? Also it made my head quite heavy and I just had enough by the end.

Therefore I went to the hairdressers and got it cut. I didn't want anything too drastic because I have obviously had long hair for quite a while and I was used to having it long. So I got some pictures of pinterest and showed them to my hairdresser. But basically I wanted some layers through my hair, I wanted a few inches off it, so it's had a good cut and I also had it washed and styled. I was so happy when she finished it, I was just relived I genuinely loved it!

I've now had my hair like this for about 2 weeks. I have found its quicker to dry and style and I actually do more with my hair now than I did when I had more hair and it was a lot longer. I will go through all the products I use on my hair, but I don't really use too many.

Shampoo/Conditioner
I basically use any, I'm not too fussy. But I do wash my hair twice with shampoo and one of the shampoos has to be my favourite one ever! Which is John Freda's blonde shampoo, it doesn't matter which (enhancing, moisturising..) but just one of the blonde ones, to keep the colour enhanced. I do normally use L'Oreal as well, I like their shine one (pink) and the thickening one (blue). I match the conditioner to the shampoo, so normally its' L'Oreal.

Serum
When my hair is towel dried, I like to add a serum. I do this because I feel like I've taken some moisture out of my hair by washing it. So I need to add some serum to tame my hair, but also add some shine and silkiness back into it. I go between a few serums, but the main one I use is Schwarzkopf got2b Oil-Licious Styling Oil. I have used so much of this, but it has lasted me such a long time. This is a stage I never miss out.

Lightening Spray
Also when my hair is towel dried, I sometimes use the John Freda Lightening spray, I don't use this all the time, maybe once I week. This is the same range as my blonde shampoo. If you are a blondie, you need to try this range - it's amazing!!

Heat Protectant
My heat protectant that I love and have loved for years is Tresemme Keratin Smooth heat protectant. The main reason I love this is because it leaves your hair so soft, smooth and shinny and obviously it protects your hair from the heat.

Styling
When styling my hair, I don't really use too many products. One main product which you would of seen in my july favourites   and that is he Toni & Guy Rough Texturiser, you can go to the favourites too see more about this product. But I use it on first day hair when it is very shinny and doesn't mould into what I want. This really helps add texture and makes the hair easier to style.

Hairspray
Me and hairspray have a very love/hate relationship. I rarely use hairspray, but I wanted to include it because it is a product I use when I've curled my hair, or really put a lot of effort in my hair and I want it to stay. Or I am really having a bad hair day and my hair really isn't doing what I want. So I have found the best hairspray is the L'Oreal Studio/Pro Boost It Volumising Hair Spray - Extra strong.

Dry Shampoo
With my hair I tend to wash it every other day, or every three days. In between washes, my roots do get a little bit oily and they do need a little refreshness, so I use a dry shampoo. I am not really too fussy with dry shampoos, so I switch between them really, at the moment I am using one for Aussie, its the Aussie Winter Miracle dry shampoo, I really like this range, it comes out in the winter time. The reason I have one still is because I stocked up last winter, haha! I do also like Batiste Dry shampoos.

Thats all the products I use in my hair, so the way I style it is really quite simple. If my hair is down, its normally platted the night before to give some waves, or curled in the morning. I use the Tresemme Heat Protectant on it when using the curlers. I also use the Toni & Guy Rough Texturising spray to give it a lot more texture to the curls.

♥

July Favourites 2016

Firstly I am so sorry that this post is going up late, I had a very busy end to July and start to August! July was a lovely month for me, I turned 20, booked a trip to Ireland, hung out with friends more and chilled in the British sun (it was actually quite hot in England - SHOCKED!!) Here we go though,a favourites  better late than never...

Rimmel London Rita Ora Nail Polish - 300 Glaston-Berry
I have been on the hunt for the perfect coral shade of nail polish for quite a long time now, and I found it in July! It's a Rimmel Rita Ora shade - 300 Glaston-berry, its a gorgeous coral shade, good name, its the perfect coral, not too pink, not too red but also not too orange. It was about £3 so good value too. The other reason I love this nail polish is because it actually stays on my nails. Most nail polishes I apply stay on for about a day and then actually peel off, in a layer... so weird, does anyone else get this?! But I find this Rimmel polish doesn't do this, it does last me about 4/5 days (which is amazing for me)!!

Giorgio Armani Si
I have been loving this fragrance this month! Normally I stick to my fragrances, either Chanel Mademoiselle, Alien or Mark Jacobs Decandance, but this month I have been loving Si! I do quite like sweet scents, but I also like them quite strong or woody. Si is a fragrance which I find lingers around on me a while, the bottle is beautiful and I just love the smell of this! I was walking to work one day this month, and I applied this fragrance before I left the house, and I got the most amazing whiffed of this scent! It's also perfect for a wedding... Si means Yes in Italian, and it's also got a gold ring on the bottle!! SO CUTE.

L'Oreal True Match Foundation 
I tried this when it was the old bottle and formula, and I didn't get the right shade, which is quite  ironic, haha. But I thought I would try the foundation again, in the right shade, and also because everyone always raves about it and I agree. It's a great everyday foundation, it hasn't broke me out, its the perfect shade for me and I am quite a pale gal, so it's hard to find the right shade. I use the shade Ivory - 1N for you people who are wondering. It gives a medium coverage I would say, is a very watery formula, but blends in lovely.

MAC Extended Play Lash Mascara
I have been loving this mascara for a few months now, but I like to change up my mascara and make sure I do actually like one, by missing it (if that makes sense?! - Probably not). But I love this because of the brush, it's a skinny brush but the bristles aren't plastic. Because the brush is small, the mascara doesn't go all over your face, it's perfect for getting the lashes in the corner and also on the bottom. I believe the mascara is waterproof, but I haven't had any trouble getting it off, or it watering all down my face.

Toni and Guy Texturising Spray 
I have tried many sea salt sprays, texturising sprays, volumising.. you name it, I've tried it. But late July I got my hair cut (post coming soon) and I needed a little bit more texture in it, because I've now got layers. So I thought I would try this, and I love it. It doesn't leave your hair feeling crunchy, and it doesn't look like you've got product in it. It just looks like its got a little bit more texture, the layers are more defined and the hair just looks like theres more volume.

♥

All things hair: My hair history

I wanted to write a blog post all about my hair, however all the things running through my mind will just create a big looooong blog post. Therefore I am going to create three separate blog posts all about my hair. This is obviously the first post, this is the one where I talk you through my whole hair's history, so if I've dyed it, how I've had it cut and how it's generally changed throughout the years. 

 The other two blog posts, will include things like my hair care routine & what I apply to my hair and then my tips and tricks on how to achieve healthy hair. 

If you want to see my most recent & only hair post (I believe) then click here. 

Okay, so from the beginning...

I was going to add a picture of me as a baby, then I was looking through them and I realised I didn't really have an hair as a baby, so I decided not to bother... as this is a post about my hair history, haha.

This was me when I was in nursery so around 3 years old. My hair was a blonde/golden colour.

This was when I started primary school, there isn't really much difference with the previous picture. But can I just point out, I had no say with the style here. Mum, what was with the full fringe and bob?!

When I was a child my hair was always blonde, in fact if you asked the 5 year old me it would of been 'golden blonde' and for some reason I just wanted to be goldilocks (don't ask)! 

This picture was when I first started high school, my hair was a very mousy brown colour. I really didn't like this stage my hair went through because I have just always wanted to be a blondie. 

A few years after this, I begged my mum to let me have some blonde put in my hair again. So I had a few blonde highlights. 

Shortly after this, I wanted to experiment with my hair style. So I decided to get a full fringe cut in. Yes, this was the biggest mistake of my hair life. I really wish I didn't do it, it didn't suit my face, and it was just very annoying. I only have one picture of this, because I hated it THAT much.

To grow my fringe out, I used to clip it to the side of my face and I did literally wear my hair up for about a year. It was just the hairstyle I used to wear to school. I believe this is why my hair grew so fast because being up I didn't realise it was growing, if that makes any sense. 

After I grew my fringe out, I got some more highlights in my hair and I promised myself I would never cut a full fringe in again.

A few years later, my hair was pretty much all blonde, I never dyed all of my head of hair. It was just from having highlights put in and also using John Freda Blonde Shampoo & Conditioner.

This was me on my prom day, so my fringe had fully grown out by now. I was happy with my hair at this point, it was the right blondeness and a good length.

I did do some hair modelling at a hair salon. When I say hair modelling, I mean I sat in the chair and they curled/straightened and did whatever they liked to my hair. So on this particular day, I got curly hair for free. 

I went through a stage when I was about 16 where I just wanted different colours in my hair. I dyed my hair myself, I got the dyes from a local shop that did piercings and tattoos. The dyes were: Stargazer dyes and they were semi permanent. I went all sorts of colours, like pink, blue/green and purple. I'm not sure why I wanted these colours in my hair, but I thought it was cool at the time. This was during the summer, leading into college. 

I then went through another stage with colour, instead of dying the ends bright colours I dyed it blonde and brown at the ends as a kind of ombre effect that wasn't ombre because my hair was blonde from the top. It that makes sense. 

When I started college my hair was just all blonde. I kind of let it do its own thing. It was a lot blonder here, I'm not really sure why. But I liked the colour here. 

From here, my other and only blog post carries on with my hair history... click here to find out the rest of the story. 

Thank you so much for reading, there will be the other blog posts up shortly through autumn. So get ready for two more hair posts to find out my hair tips/tricks/things I've learnt and also my hair care routine. 

♥