The 3 Products That SAVED My Dead, Blonde Hair.

3 weeks ago I had my hair dyed blonde, I'd opted for Balyayage which basically means bleach is applied to the ends of your hair, it ensures it looks a lot more natural and blended. Basically ombre, if you will. 100% go for this style if you want the ends of your hair blonde, it looks so much better than the 'dip dyed' version of it & is a lot less 'harsh'.

My hair wasn't in that much of a bad condition before I had it done, although it really wasn't looking/feeling its best.. I knew that having it bleached definitely wasn't going to help my situation so I opted to have an OLAPLEX treatment. Honestly, believe me when I say, this has COMPLETELY transformed my hair. 

Its a deep conditioning treatment which is carried out in 3 steps, the first step is carried out in your hair salon. The conditioner is mixed in with the bleach and applied to your hair, the second step (using a different bottle) is applied to your hair and brushed through after the bleached has been rinsed out, its left on for 10 minutes, & then rinsed out like normal. 

The conditioner is different to the ones you can buy in your supermarkets & drugstores because it repairs the broken bonds in your hair, which actually lasts a bloody long time! Unlike your normal conditioners that leaves your hair feeling soft for a day or 2. The third step is carried out at home by you, you apply the conditioner once a week on dry hair before you wash it, leave it on for 10 minutes (I usually leave it for 20 though!) and wash it out as normal. Ive been using this since I had my hair bleached and my hair is STILL in incredible condition, the only thing I can compare it to is a child's hair thats untouched from heat damaged, it's so so SO soft and genuinely the best thing I've ever used for my hair. The whole process cost me £38 which is brilliant and well worth the money, & you only need to use a tiny amount so considering the pot is relatively small, it will last a long old time.

To compliment the conditioner (I've literally never been so bothered about my hair, I've been trying out so many products because I'm so obsessed with keeping it so soft and shiny haha!) I've been using my new favourite shampoo & conditioner from the John Frieda Frizz Ease collection. Before I had my hair dyed not only did I have a fair few split ends, but my hair is naturally really curly/frizzy so pair the two together and you can imagine how horrendous my hair was haha. 

These two focus on keeping your hair less frizzy and make it a lot easier to straighten, which is handy for me as straight hair is my go to at the moment. They smell amazing too and leave my hair feeling super soft and the scent lasts for ages too, I've even had people asking me what shampoo and conditioner I use because my hair smells so lovely, thats a new one for me! The Frizz Ease collection in general is bloody huge and I'd throughly recommend their products for just dyed hair to keep it looking fab, you can have a little browse HERE if you're interested.

All of the products in this post were purchased by myself and will continue to be a regular one as my hair has honestly never looked so good, who knew dry hair could be saved and brought back from the dead without cutting it haha.

Soph, x

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Are You A Blogger If You Don't Pick A Pumpkin?

 

 Apparently not.

 

We had such a lush morning on Sunday visiting our local pumpkin patch, (who knew this was suddenly a thing? and especially where I live.. nothing ever happens here!) I wanted to take Alfie just so we could take some nice photos for his memory book, I wasn't too fussed about the pumpkins which definitely makes me a blogger haha.

 

It was so windy when we arrived but Alfie absolutely loved it, we popped him on top of a few of the pumpkins which he seemed to find hilarious, and generally spent a good while trying to find the perfect one.

 

We found the perfect one, well nanny and granddad did!

 

 

 

 

 Just look at Alfie's little face?! Our main aim was to choose our pumpkin and carve it together, and get a cute photo of Alfie sat in it. We took so many nice ones of him smiling away which are adorable, but my favourites have to be the ones where he's crying haha! I promise I'm not a bad mum, but they're just too cute not to share. I vlogged our whole week last week as we were super busy seeing friends and pumpkin picking, so make sure you have a watch of that over on my youtube channel, it's definitely my favourite vlog so far!

 

 

 

Soph xo

 

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My Essentials For A Cosy Autumn Night In.

When the colder months finally showed themselves, I honestly could've done a little squeal of joy, don't get me wrong I do enjoy summer but theres nothing like a cosy a night in when the weathers cold outside. I love autumn especially because its that in between season where it isn't too cold & the weather is still kind of ok (she says). As I write this the sun is shining and it's a little chilly outside, honestly my idea of perfection.

 A few nights ago I had an evening all to myself which is pretty rare nowadays! I made the most of every second and decided I would have a little pamper evening, I realised it's been ages since I shared the products I use to do so on my blog, and how I go about having a chilled evening. So this afternoon I thought I would share the products I use religiously to ensure I have a stress free evening. 

A night in wouldn't be just that without a hot drink of some sort, I pretty much live on tea (honestly, I really do, it's worrying) so a cuppa or 5 is exactly what I need to wind down after a busy day of changing shitty nappies and singing to Alfie haha. Believe me it's a very tedious job!

If you know me well, you'll know I'm a sucker for a bubble bath. Theres nothing I love more than crumbling a bubble bar (from Lush obviously, where else?!) under the water, sticking a bit of Netflix on my macbook & adding a bath bomb. Ive recently got through 3 of these sparkly pumpkins from Lush, weirdly they smell like lemon/lime which is odd as looking at it you'd assume it would smell of spices but, heyho, I love it regardless. It has to be my favourite seasonal bubble bar and leaves me smelling lovely. Ive been using this time to catch up on Youtube videos more so than Netflix, I've fallen out of love with Netflix recently as I've genuinely watched 99.9% of the crap on there haha, I'm obsessed with my pal Han's videos at the moment, Alfie and me always sit down to catch up on what she's up to, he seems to just love her which is sweet, she's the funniest little love so make sure you check out her channel here - FABHAN.

Who doesn't love a candle this time of year!? Especially when they smell like pumpkins apples and general christmassyness (I know it's Oct don't judge). People will often visit me and laugh because I've got at least 4 candles burning at one time haha. Yankee's have always been a favourite of mine but I'm obsessing over Bath & Body Works at the moment, this pumpkin apple one smells AMAZING and leaves my house smelling of appley goodness for hours. A cosy night in with shite TV and a cuddly blanket isn't complete without a scented candle, is it really. Im already looking forward to buying the Christmas which I 100% know I don't need but will definitely be getting. 

& finally the last thing I like to use is a face mask, (another product from Lush because I seem to be unhealthily obsessed) the cup o' coffee mask is my absolute favourite from Lush as it completely sorts out the redness in my skin. It smells lovely, so I like to leave it on for around 20 minutes to properly do it's thing before washing it off and revealing super soft skin. Aside from Mask Of Magnaminty I haven't found any other face mask that sorts my skin out as well as this one; imagine me sat on my sofa with my cuppa tea, candles lit, and a face mask on, honestly my idea of heaven even if I do look ridiculous haha. 

Are you as excited about the cooler months as I am?! Give it a few weeks and I'm sure ill be moaning about how cold I am all the time, but for now I'm embracing the season and loving all the cosy nights in to come.

Soph x

*all items in this post we're purchased by myself and all opinions are honest & my own*

Alfie | 2 & 3 Month Update.

Where the bloody hell have the last 2 months gone?!

I genuinely don't know what I've been doing with my life for it to go so quickly!? Whats going on ahah! Im really sorry this post has taken me so long to do (if you care, lets be honest you probably don't) trying to do anything with a baby in the house that has now come to realise when I've left the room is pretty difficult, Alfie just wants attention all the time which, isn't actually a bad thing really, he's a baby so, everything's new to him. But it means anything I want to do for myself like write a blog post, dry my hair, eat, all takes a back seat. Ive mastered eating a meal with one hand free now.

Alfie is doing really well! He's certainly developed his own little personality which at 3 months old consists of giggling at thin air and crying when he's not being cuddled, but he's such a happy boy (most of the time) which is so lovely. He's sleeping really well still, we've been so SO lucky with that, he will generally sleep from around 10pm to 7-8am without waking up once, he's bloody amazing at sleeping through! He has been since he was born really, he even slept through the very first night we brought him home, he's literally a dream child. But yes, I am awaiting the mix up when he starts teething, although I'm not emotionally ready for the lack of sleep yet so, we'll continue NOT to think about that. 

He rolled over twice last week from front to back which literally blew my mind, he's such a little baby so he doesn't look like he should be rolling anywhere yet.. but he does it so happily. He will lie on his front holding his head up watching the tele or looking up at the bright light from the window, and he will also stand holding his weight if you hold his hands. Where is my little boy going?! Im loving that he's changing and growing every day but at the same time, I don't want my baby to grow haha.

We've noticed he's starting to dribble a lot more now, he constantly has his fists in his mouth, so bibs will soon become our best friend and luckily, it feels like we have hundreds. Not an exaggeration at all, we have loads. 

Tomorrow Alfie will be having his first lot of jabs which I'm not looking forward to at all, I've made Matt take the day off to come with me because I don't think id be able to hold Alfie when they do it, I'm sure he'll be fine but it's not nice seeing your child so worried/upset. It'll be a relief to get it out the way though!

Alfie loves;

- lights

- his peter rabbit teddy

- having his nappy changed

- splashing in the bath 

- his sensory area

Alfie dislikes;

- being left alone for longer than a second (!)

- when mummy has to go for a wee, selfish mummy

- being held too much, he likes his space!

- having his arms pulled through jumpers, not sure why, but we need to stay warm love!

To keep more up to date with us and our family life, I upload weekly, sometimes every 2 weeks, over on our Youtube channel, it's super casual and you'll get a beautiful glimpse of me looking slightly worn out but, it'll be lovely for us to look back on in years to come. You can find all of our vlogs HERE.

Soph xo

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August & September | Instagram Photo Diary.

I loooove me a photo diary, possibly because I'm a little Insta obsessed but y'know, aren't we all?! The past 2 months have just flown by haven't say?! So annoying that I always say this, but it will soon be Christmas and I'm definitely not financially ready for that ahah.. 

I finally took the time last month to go through my makeup collection and bin the products that didn't make it through the summer, and I gave away an awful lot.. it occurred to me that a lot of the makeup I own is either pink, or comes in a pink packaging?! This is becoming a reoccurring problem and I probably should stop buying things purely because they're pink.. 

If you're a regular on my blog you'll know that my pal bought me this Too Faced highlighter in September, I won't go on about how much I love it as it has it's very own post which you can find HERE. How bloody BEAUTIFUL is it though?!

I made a HUGE Lush order in September because they came out with all of their christmas and halloween products, I bought so much. Annoyingly though, I've used pretty much all of this already and it's not even been a month yet?! How I'm managed that I've no idea- I'm thinking of placing another order but all of this cost me over £60 and it really doesn't last me very long, so good though. & that giant golden wonder was friggin gorgeous in the bath, I was a glittery goddess for an afternoon, the clean up though was pretty horrendous haha. 

Alfie is 10 weeks old today and I genuinely cannot get my head around the fact that in 2 weeks he will be 3 months old?! I remember posting when he was born and It doesn't feel like that was almost 3 months ago.. I hate how quickly he's growing but he's such a clever little lad now. Theres rarely a time when he isn't giggling which is lush, and he's now trying to roll over?! He's so advanced for his age I can't quite believe it. Love him to bits. Ive also signed him up to a nursery today ready for when I go back to work in March, which will no doubt come around super quickly :(

The end of August and the beginning of September, means doing a makeup shift around. Away go the pinks and oranges, & out come the reds purples and berry shades, which are actually my absolute favourites. Ive been living in MAC's Diva throughout September as I usually do.. but I really must get round to wearing the others, I own so many lipsticks that often they don't all get used, but I'm making it my mission this year to use them all.. a different shade every day maybe?! haha.

Here are 6 of the pinks that sadly have made their way into a drawer until spring, am I the only person who does this because I feel like it's a really silly thing to do?! But I have so many shades that if I kept them all out my bedroom would just look ridiculous. If you're wanting to know the shades I've listed them on my IG HERE.

I'm currently trying to write up Alfie's 2 and 3 month update, but as I'm sure you can imagine it's taking a little while as he's just so needy and demands all of my attention haha.. but it's on it's way, promise!

Soph x

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*all products in this post we're bought by myself, and all opinions are my own*