Learning to love yourself.

Trust me, I am no expert on the topic of  'loving' or even liking yourself but I got to a point in my life where I was so tired of criticising everything I did and putting myself down. For the past couple of weeks I feel like I have really tried to turn things around I can see the positive change that's happened in my life recently. Okay so I'm far from being at the point where I can say that I love myself but slowly I can feel myself changing and being more positive about my flaws and my body and turning what I dislike into something I can develop and change for the better. I've never been the most confident I've always had very little confidence in fact. I didn't want to become someone who was too overly confident but I hoped eventually I would turn into someone that's perfectly okay with who they are. Being positive isn't always easy, but you've literally got to put yourself in a new frame of mind, empty out all the negitivity in your brain and try and fill them with happy thoughts. I've been choosing happiness a lot recently and it's made life a lot easier.
I thought I would share with you a few ways that have helped me personally with learning to like myself.

• Care less about what people think of you, don't stop caring but don't care too much. People will always have their own thoughts about you but don't let their opinions of you define yourself. 
• 'Me time' Take a break, hang out with yourself and sometimes you discover things about yourself that you never knew
• Choose happiness - Choose the way you learn to cope with things I'm not saying you always have to be happy, It's healthy to be sad sometimes but don't let the little pointless things stress you out 
• Comparing yourself to others is the worst thing you can do, I've spent my whole life doing it. It's great to admire other people's qualities but don't obsess over what other people have and what you don't have. You are you, everyone is made differently we can never be anybody else and I think the sooner we accept that the sooner we'll start accepting ourselves
• Life is too bloody short to waste your time hating yourself when you could be doing so many other more important things. We'll always have something we don't like about ourselves but either do something to change that or we just have to accept that we have to sometimes live with what we don't like. Days go by way too quickly, Imagine being 90 and regretting every single moment you spent hating yourself and because of a result of that you lived an unhappy life. We only live once surly we should make that as happy as possible. 

I know it can be so hard to accept who you are and to like your Image but I think it's so sad that many of us spend times wishing we were someone else. But it just takes time, learn to be your own friend rather than your own enemy. 

xxx

London haul part 1

Hey all!
I went into london for a little while today and did a little shopping in Oxford street, actually I say a 'little' it was probably a bit more than what you would call little I blame Primark! I thought I would do the hauls in two separate blog posts because I didn't want this to end up being one huge post that you'd be falling asleep half way through reading. So even though I didn't buy a huge amount in Superdrug but thought I would go ahead and show you all what I bought anyway!

Revolution Eye Pallet

I had actually been hearing and reading quite a few things about this pallet and I thought they looked so beautiful, every single pallet Superdrug sold were such gorgeous colours but I tend to stick with the nudes and the natural colours so this was perfect for me. I didn't expect it to be as cheap as it was either, I have yet to try it but hoping it's as good as it looks!

Real Technique Brushes 

I debated for a short while in the shop whether to get a whole set of brushes or just pick them out separately (How do you buy your brushes?) I have a few real techqniue brushes and loved them so because I was familiar with the brand I wanted to get ones that I haven't yet purchased. Although I would love to try some new brushes so if you have any recommendations I would love to hear them!

Zoella's Fiz Bar 

I haven't actually tried any of Zoe's products before but have been meaning to buy some, As you may or may not know I do love my baths so it was obvious for me which product I wanted to try first. I also love the fact that it says 'Do not eat' on it, and no I haven't tried eating it (:

And that's pretty much what I got from Superdrug, oh apart from some sugar free gum. There's a nice short and sweet haul post for ya, but if you like haul posts keep an eye out for part 2 where I purchased some things from Primark and Forever 21. 

Have you tried any of these products? If there's anything you recommend me trying from Superdrug next time I go please let me know. 

I've also got a question that's completely un related to this post but can't find a way to solve this problem. My profile picture comes out blury every time I change it to a profile picture, the original is a pefectly normal picture and not blury anyone know how to make it clear? 

xxx

Current favourite bathroom products

Hair - 

I've been a big lover of this John Frieda Brilliant Brunette shampoo and conditioner for a long time. I just find that it's a product that works best on my hair more than any other type of shampoo. Having a scent to it that makes you feel like your on holiday is also a bonus!  

I had been hearing a lot about this Argan Oil of Morocco shampoo and of course had to try it out myself and yep, can't fault it! 

Body 

Waitrose bubble bath's are always really nice! I am currently using this Ginger & Clementine which honestly doesn't have the strongest smell to it but it still always feels really relaxing to use. I also pretty much love to use anything from Soap & Glory, their body scrubs are always amazing. I like using the travel size products I just find them a lot easier to keep and that way I know I'll use all of the product before getting a new one. 

Face

You may have guessed that I am a little obsessed with Simple products as mentioned in a previous post. This Kind to skin Vital Vitamin Foaming Cleanser leaves my skin feeling so fresh and smooth, It's definitely something I recommend if you haven't yet tried it. 

Simple cleansing wipes are always great to have! 

I promise I don't have an obsession with Ginger It's just coincidental that this and the bubble bath are Ginger scents haha. John Lewis soaps are always lovely to use, It's a pretty colour and lasts really well too.

What are your favourite bathroom products? 

xxx

Things I'd like to achieve by the end of 2015

I really can't believe that we're almost half way through the year already. I was sat here thinking to myself what have I actually acheieved this year? Back at the start I had a list of things I wanted to get done and things I hoped I would have achieved. But as each day quickly flew by it's lead up to this day when I've realised I've not actually done much at all.

If your in the same position as me there's still plenty of time to get things done yes six months have gone but we still have six months left. So I figured I would create a list again and post it on my blog and hopefully by the end of this year I can look back on it and at least would have achieved most of them or at least tried! 

Be Healthy/More exercise 

I admit this is something I haven't been doing so well, the temptation of cakes and yummy food takes over me and I just seem to give in to them all the time, oops! I have been doing a little bit more exercise but definitely need to do a whole lot more. 

 Over the last couple of years I've been considering doing Trek America, after doing research about it and hearing other people's experiences about it I'm so sure that this is something I would love to do. Now I just need to decide which tour and when I'd like to go! I'd also be going on my own which is a little daunting. 

 I eventually want to leave my job and start doing something that I'm proud of and that I love doing. I haven't yet found a job that I love and enjoy and I hope that sometime soon or someday I can find that. 

 Be happy/positivity 

This is something I've been trying to work on, I've done well in some situations but mostly I let the negativity take over me. This year I wanted to focus on myself and wanted every day to be an opportunity to get to know myself more and like myself. 

I also wanted to do something completely out of my comfort zone, I didn't have any idea what that would be but I wanted to do something that no one would expect me to and that I wouldn't expect myself to do. 

What would you like to achieve this year? 

xxx

What's on my playlist?

Hey all!

Listening to music is one of my favourite things to do, I am constantly with my headphones in jamming away to my favourite songs and drifting off into a world of my own. I love being nosey and seeing what other people listen to so I thought I'd share with you what I've been listening to.

I should add that my taste in music is actually quite random! I'm very into my country music and a lot of pop and alternative. I honestly just tend to listen to music that makes me happy, I couldn't care less if it was popular or not. There's a lot of songs that are way out dated now but I still listen to them because they bring back good memories and there's a lot of songs that I used to listen to when I was about 10 that I still listen to now because they just simply make me happy. 

Most played Artists - 

McFly

Taylor Swift 

Imagine Dragons

Kelly Clarkson

The Band Perry 

The Dixie Chicks 

Busted 

George Ezra

James Bay

Ellie Goulding 

The Veronica's 

Michelle Branch

Lorde 

Michael Jackson 

Walk Off The Earth 

Who have you been listening to lately? xxx

Delicious fruity frozen treats!

Chocolate coated strawberries & Chocolate coated banana with a little peanut butter

To me there's nothing better than having frozen fruit on a hot summers day, of course Ice cream is great! But at least with these it's a little healthier. They're so simple and quick to make. 

You can use any fruits you like but I went with strawberries and banana's. It's strange because I don't like strawberries but I love them frozen and espcially covered in chocolate! 

I used two types of chocolate. For the strawberries I used Galaxy and for the banana's I used cooking chocolate. 

Chop up your banana's and place them on a sheet of greese proof paper. I didn't put peanut butter in all of mine because some people in my family don't like peanut butter, very weird! (not that I'm calling you weird if you don't like peanut butter... ) But if you do choose to use peanut butter just spread as much as you want on top of the banana. Melt your chocolate and literally just either dip your fruit in the heavinly chocolate bowl or use a spoon to pour the chocolate on top of the fruit. 

Then leave them to freeze over night, and while your sleeping you'll be dreaming of those tasty treats you'll be having the next day! 

A while back I came across Ingrid Nelson's video where she made those Banana treats and have been loving them ever since!

Hope you enjoy them! xxx

The sweet smell of summer & Out door adventures

Hey all!
It's been such gorgeous weather lately and I absolutely love England when it's like this! I've been out and about recently and wanted to share a bunch of photo's with you of what I've been up to.

Keep an eye out for some more posts coming soon, hope your having a good weekend. What have you been up to?
For more of my photography updates feel free to follow BryonyPhotography on Instagram.
xxx

How I organise & arrange my drawers

Seeing as I don't have enough room for a 'desk space' in my bed room and couldn't do one of those 'How I arrange my desk' posts instead I thought I would share with you how I arrange my Chest of drawers. Over the past few months I have been re decorating my room, adding finishing touches to it and things like that and I'm so happy that I'm pretty much done. The only thing left for me to do is paint that wall above, right now I'm deciding between a pale pink or a pale blue! I'm so pleased at how everything has turned out. 

On the left I've got my Jewellery box which I absolutely love! I purchased It from Home Sense quite a while ago. If you haven't heard of Home Sense before it's a shop that sells things that are really unique and most of them are 'one of a kind' meaning that they don't usually have many of one product so once it's gone, it's gone. If you haven't been there yet I really recommend going there because I often find really lovely things from there. 

The boxes above my Jewellery box are just things I put in there if I can't find another place for them to go. The second box up is also from Home Sense, the third box up was a gift box someone gave me for my birthday and I'm not too sure where the last box was from. 

The drawers on the right are actually one of my favourite things in my bed room although I can't remember the name of the shop I got them from. I love the tied hearts on the drawers and how it's made out of wood. They're perfect for keeping things like rings, hair ties and various other small things that usually end up missing. Although the drawers are small they're quite deep so it'll fit plenty in them. 

Sorry, I'm pretty bad when it comes to remembering where I got things from! But this wooden 'Love' sign was something I noticed on a shopping trip one day and just thought it would look cute placed in my room somewhere and they ended up on top of the wooden drawers. 

This mirror is something I got from Ikea. Ikea is definitely one of my favourite places to shop for bed room Items. I mainly use this as decoration and hardly use it as a mirror, but I think there's something really elegant and special about it.

Pink Lampshade - Ikea £14

Flowers (which aren't real) I believe were from Home Sense.

Just realised how dusty this mat looks, probably should have wiped it before taking a photo of it haha. 

Once my room is fully completed I'll be sure to share a few more pictures with you maybe even do a bed room tour post? 

xxxd

Favourite Simple Products

'Simple' has been a new obsession of mine lately and have tried various products and so far have loved them all. There's many yet for me to try but just in case your new to Simple or are looking for something to purchase here are some of my favourites that I've tried.

One thing that I love about Simple is that although the products are made to do different jobs they all have one thing in common which is that they leave my skin feeling so incredibly fresh, clean and soft!

To be honest I never had the best skin care routine, I admit I am pretty lazy with that but had enough of my skin feeling dry and breaking out or getting those horrible black heads. No one wants spots eh? I mean of course I washed my face but that was pretty much it. After seeing so many reviews about particular Simple products I wanted to try them out myself. So over the past couple months have tried a few products and thought it was time to share what I loved about them with you.

My most recent purchase is the Kind to skin vital vitamin foaming cleanser which I have to say is probably my top favourite of the ones that I've tried. It's something that I'm using every morning and most nights, you don't need to squirt out a lot just pump it a couple of times and massage it onto wet skin and wash it off. The first time I did it I literally kept touching my face (without that sounding creepy or weird!) but It was just so soft and felt so clean, smooth as a babies bottom as they say!

I also feel like this would be amazing to use when your away on holiday somewhere hot and sunny, I can imagine the freshness that you'd feel after using it when you've been sweltering in the sun.

Next up is the Simple Kind To Eyes Soothing Eye Balm. My eyes are pretty sensitive and when they're tired they can become irritable. sore and itchy which then makes them dry. This was only around £3 or so I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) so it's not amazing! But It's definitely worth that affordable amount of money. I feel that it definitely hydrates my eyes and makes them feel a bit more awake. 

This was something I picked up quite a while back and sort of forgot I had it but sticking to my taking care of my skin routine I figured that I'd start using it again. With it's Vitamins of Pro - Vitamin B5 and Vitamin E definitely leaves my skin feeling moisturised and soft. 

Lastly I've been hearing about this Eye make up remover everywhere so I couldn't not try it. I can see what the fuss is about, this has probably turned into one of my favourite make up removers. I actually use it on my face too. 

What do you think of Simple products? Let me know if there's any others I should try. 

xxx