Tips For Drinking More Water

If you read my 2015 post you'll know that it was a goal of mine to drink more water this year. Three months in, I'm still keeping it up. I've noticed a few things that helped me to remember to drink more water and mixed them with Pinterest ideas to form a few tips.

Buy cute bottles.

As odd as it may sound, a pretty bottle to drink from is the easiest way to get motivated to drink. I got two VOSS bottles from Amazon that are just slightly nicer than your average supermarket bottle or a glass. You can also take them around with you everywhere you go and count your intake in 500ml portions.

Count days.

I saw on Pinterest the idea of creating habits through counting. It can take 30 days to form a habit, so drink water for those 30 days and count them as you go. Simple sticky notes on your wall numbered with a marker can be an easy way to keep track. After those days are up, it should be more of a habit to drink lots of water every day.

Use your phone.

I'm sure there are many apps of the sort, but iDrated is a free and useful app to track your water intake. You set your own target and put your measurements in as you go, with reminders popping up if you go too long without a drink. If you reach your target or get close in the day, you get medals that show on the page. There's a graph to show your average intakes for the week and you can look back at the months to see your progress. If you're not sure on your target, you can simply put in your weight etc and have it calculate for you. 

Do you have any tips for drinking more water?

Alice.

Everyday Red Makeup Menu

With red being my favourite colour, I've found my own favourite ways of wearing a red lip in different situations. I always make sure I've got a slightly bolder-than-usual eyebrow going on and a clear bace, so that nothing is to interfere with the lipstick. With an everyday red lip, I tend to keep the eyes quite light and the lashes separated, to keep the attention nearer the mouth. Playing around with blush is always paired with red lips; for this look I keep it quite subtle, but not so little that you're washed out. I think that the easiest way to dress-down a bold lip is to go for a soft hairstyle - I just added some texturising spray to my natural hair - and to go even further, wear something slouchy (I threw on a baggy cardigan from Boohoo over my outfit). 

In need of a high-coverage base, I reached for my Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation in Sand. It's perfectly buildable and you can get away with only powdering once. To brighten up my under-eyes I went for Rimmel's Wake Me Up Concealer in True Ivory, and to set both base products I used Rimmel's Stay Matte Powder in Peach Glow. I added definition to my face with the oh-so-classic NARS Bronzer in Laguna, colour with a NYX Blusher in Mocha, and added some glow with the highlighter from my Sleek Contour Palette in Fair. As usual I filled my eyebrows in from my Naked Basics palette - Urban Decay's Eyeshadow in Faint, to be precise. For the eyes I used a loose pigment, Lily Lolo's Mineral Eye Shadow in Vanilla Shimmer. It was my first time using it and I'm really happy with how it turned out, especially since it didn't meet my upsetting expectation of turning my eyelids into disco balls. For everyday mascara I've been loving the Lancome Hypnose Star Mascara in Noir Midnight, and so chose that. Finally, the lipstick. I chose Rimmel's Lasting Finish by Kate in 01. Not too dark, nor too light, and it's fairly long lasting - overall, it does what it says on the tin.

What's your go-to everyday red?

Alice.

SLENDERTOXTEA- 14 Day Teatox*

If you read my '2015' post you'd know that it was amongst my resolutions to get fit. I did my research and found that the best way to change your lifestyle in terms of diet and exercise was to first do a detox to cleanse your body so that your new, healthier habits will be able to have their full effect. 
SLENDERTOXTEA offer a 'teatox', which is essentially a detox with teas. I tried the 14 day 'daytox' alongside the 14 day 'sleeptox'.
The daytox contains 14 tea bags, and you're supposed to take one each morning. The sleeptox contains 7 tea bags, and you're supposed to take one every other night. The benefits of both include increased energy, colon cleansing, increased metabolism efficiency and they also aid weight loss. All the details and instructions etc come with the tea and it really helps to get you clued up before you start.


You can buy the teas here

How I found it: I expected the taste of the tea to be poor, as all detox style teas I've had before haven't been pleasant. To my surprise, the taste wasn't too bad at all. My stomach felt settled constantly and I feel like I got great changes without doing much.

How much weight I lost: 6 lbs

What changed: I had a lot more energy than usual in the days and went to sleep a lot more easily. The energy definitely helped to boost workouts. 

Would you ever try a 'teatox'?

Alice.

LP Brookies

It wasn't too long after Lily Pebbles shared the recipe that 'brookies' became half an internet sensation. 'Brookies' -meaning a brownie mixed with a cookie- are supposed to pick up the crunch of a cookie with the inside chew of a brownie. A mouth-watering idea with an instagram-worthy outcome, no wonder so many bloggers have taken it upon themselves to dash to the kitchen and have their own attempt (myself included!). 
You can find the recipe here, and for an advanced warning- it makes a lot of brookies.

My final outcome: I loved them! They went down a treat with everyone who tried them, they're light, and they look great. I found they taste best dipped in something (I used milk), as they're a lot more brownie-like. Easy recipe, providing you allow yourself some time for it. 

Have you tried 'brookies'?

Alice.

Nanshy Blending Sponge*

The 'Marvel Makeup Blending Sponge' is designed to enable a buildable coverage, aiming for a smooth finish. The brand is cruelty free, which is important to look for. The sponge itself is latex free, non-allergenic and odour free. All good stuff.

With all my sponges, I prefer to wet them before use. I feel like it stops them absorbing foundation and generally helps with blending. After soaking this one under the tap, I was amazed at the size of it. This-sponge-gets-huge. It made applying my foundation a lot quicker and the shape of it meant that I was still able to get into smaller areas. The finish was smother than any I've tried before and I especially noticed that I was getting more coverage out of my under eye concealer. The sponge was a lot denser than the BeautyBlender etc, and I felt that I could really get a good blend with it. Overall, I'm impressed. 

How do you apply your foundation?

Alice.