Post Workout Smoothie Recipe

Recently I've been trying to take my workouts more seriously and I'm following more of a routine. I want to get in shape ready for my wedding next year (yes I said wedding eep) and also my honeymoon. I try to work out 5 out of 7 days anything form 30 minutes to an hour, and I really like working out with the Tone IT Up girls. The make working out fun and it also kills you!

Did you know that if you want to help build lean muscle - which you want if you want to tone up, you need to consume some form of protein within 30 minutes of completing a workout!
So today I am sharing with you my post work out smoothie.
This has been my go too, its quick and easy and tastes delicious!

Ingredients |

• 2 spotted/ripe banana's 
• 1/2 pint of a milk of your choice 
• 1 table spoon of smooth peanut butter - I like Whole Earth peanut butter :)
• 1 table spoon of protein powder  
• a dash of cinnamon powder 

Method |

The method is simple, break up the banana's in to a blender, add in the milk, peanut butter and protein powder along with a dash of cinnamon and blend until fully mixed and pour in to your desired glass! You can add an additional dash of cinnamon to the top for extra flavour! Enjoy!

The protein powder I currently have is THIS ONE from Holland and Barrett. I bought 3 sachets for £5.00, you are supposed to use the entire sachet as one drink but I'm cheap and use 1 tablespoon to make it last! I have found some fairly reasonable protein powders in my local Asda so I'll be buying from there next time, and its definitely worth a shop around first before buying a big tub for £40.00!

If you don't have any protein powder or find its too expensive...because it is, just use 2 tablespoons of peanut butter. Peanut butter in its self is an amazing source of protein, body builders swear by it! The banana's are a great carbohydrate and perfect source of healthy sugars to give you that added boost after your work out!

Donating my hair..

So if you read my previous post, you'll know I recently cut off 12 inches of my hair. With the hair that was cut off, I have chosen to donate it to the LITTLE PRINCESS TRUST. A charity that provides wigs free of charge to boys and girls across the UK and Ireland who have lost their hair through cancer treatment. 

The charity works with specialist suppliers and hairdressers who offer wigs that can be tailored to the child's needs. 

The Little Princess Trust is a children’s cancer charity and our mission is to supply real hair wigs to children suffering with cancer, for the duration of their treatment.  However, in addition we assist children with other conditions which also result in hair loss, the most common being alopecia.  Our commitment to these children is different.  Despite being set up to help children with cancer, the Trust is able to supply children that do not have a cancer diagnosis with a single wig.  Whilst we are unable to commit to supplying more than one wig, we hope that this gesture will help the child and family whilst they decide on their long-term plans for dealing with this condition.

On their website there are a couple of video's that outline what the charity does and how much a good quality wig can change the life of a child suffering through hair loss. 

Their are of course guidelines to follow when donating hair such as the hair needs to be of good quality, of natural colour (not dyed blue, pink, green...) and at least 7 inches long (ideal 12 inches & longer).

I spent a long time going through my severed pony tail snipping out split ends to bring it up to standard. There of course is no guarantee that my hair will be used, but hopefully it will! Just the chance to change the life of a child is a wonderful reason to donate my hair, and over the last few years the charity has experienced a great increase in hair donation. 

So if you have #hairtospare or are thinking of having a dramatic hair cut from long to short its definitely worth looking in too!

The Inversion Method

The inversion method, is a hair growth method that involves massaging the scalp for 5 minutes with an oil, then tipping your head upside down for 4 minutes to allow blood to flow to the head, and stimulate hair growth. You do this for 7 days in a row and in theory your hair magically grows an inch in a week!...

So for my week I gave my self a scalp massage for 3-5 minutes - with out oil, I only was my hair twice a week and didn't want to have to do wash it daily. I used oil once in my 7 day period.

After my scalp massage I tipped my head upside down for 4 minutes before slowly bringing my head up. Be careful not to whip up as you can get dizzy.

Its not recommended to do this when you have your time of the month, and its always best to listen to your body.

Before I started I made sure to measure my hair to record any hair growth. Not going to lie I have always been skeptical of this method.

So here are my before and after.

So basically my hair didn't grow even half a centimeter.

The general premise of the inversion method makes sense but I don't understand the hype around it.
I think I'll continue to try it out for a few months and see what happens.

The Hair Diaries | No.1

So I've finally got around to measuring and photographing my new short hair. I'm planning on buying a padded envelope to donate my hair this week. I just keep forgetting to buy one!

So here are my starting measurements and photo's:

taken 25th July 2016

From the crown of my head/end of my parting to the tips: 39.5cm/15in

From my center part to the longest length : 44.5cm/17in

From the nape of my neck to the shortest length : 21cm/8in

and I thought I would measure what used to be my fringe (I can proudly say I have finally grown it out only too 1000 attempts) : 33cm/12ins

As I said in my previous post, when we cut my hair it ended up longer at the front and shorter at the back. In a few months I hope to begin to make my hair more even. It actually looks quite nice at the moment with the graduation so I'm not overly worried about it, but would like my hair to be all the same length. So once I've got a few months of growth I'll take off the 2in difference. I don't want to do it at the moment simply because for me, it will feel to short at the front. 

I'm currently liking the little slice of blonde that I have left in my hair, but as I go through it checking for split ends I notice its definitely weak hair, only the blonde ends and my fringe growth have split ends - the fringe growth because I haven't cut or trimmed it for well over a year. So I do feel more reinforced in my decision to cut all the blond out, but boy do I miss my hair!

Fresh start...

I am not going to lie, I think I may have lost my marbles...

Anyone who knows me, knows I love long hair. And for the better part of 4 years I have been growing my hair out. Unfortunately for the first 3 years I didn't take amazing care of it. I used heat a lot, rubbed it hard with a towel and used Sun-In on it, which is a heat activated hair lightener containing bleach, this was the main thing that killed my hair. The main length was full of split ends and try as I might, snipping them out and oiling my hair the split ends still got me down.

I knew the only way to deal with it would be to cut the damage off and start again. I put it off and off, trying regular trims with only a small amount taken off. But this was taking so long and made no difference. My hair continued to snag and tangle and break. So I grew some balls and asked my fiance to just cut it. So Monday after coming home from holiday, we did. With effort. Scissors wouldn't manage so we grabbed his shaver and about 5 minutes later I was 31cm's/12inches shorter.

Que scream face.

But its ok I attempted to neaten it up, and ended up with a long, A-line bob. Where its shorter at the back and longer at the front.

The plus of cutting all the damage off, my hair feels amazing! Its so soft, manageable and THICK!
The negative is having to start all over again. But I am now very much the wiser and know all about hair oiling and using little to no heat styling and washing it less frequently, so you know I can totes do this.

Over the coming months / years I will be documenting the growth and sharing any treatments or tricks that have aided in the growth.

The before was taken right before we chopped/buzzed it off. It looks fairly nice here. (sad face)
The after was taken today (5 days after) It looks really uneven but I can assure you it isn't. (the camera's angle is funny too!)


With the pony tail I have, I will be donating it to a charity that makes wigs for children who are going through treatment for leukemia and cancer. (I'll do another post on that very soon) Before I send it off I plan to sit and go through the hair and snip away as many split ends as I can for them.

So here's to a fresh start and another long journey!

My Simple Skincare Routine

For me, simple is always better. And its not till I got really simple with my skin care did my skin settle down and begin to look good. I mean, I currently have the best skin of my life, and I do next to nothing with it! Interested? Keep on reading!

Night Time Skincare Routine |

Step one | Cleanse

To cleanse my skin of an evening I use a very simple DIY oil cleanser. Its a mix of Castor Oil & Walnut Oil. Both selected for different reasons. Castor Oil draws out dirt and impurities while Walnut Oil nourishes the skin, fights wrinkles and is a good remedy for infection.

I take 1 - 2 pumps (I re-used an old oil cleanser bottle from one of my love lula boxes) of oil, massage it over my face concentrating on removing my mascara then use a hot flannel to wipe it off. All it takes is two wipes and I'm done. I don't rinse or pat my face dry just allow it to air dry.

Recipe |

Be sure to sake before use as the castor oil is much heavier. You can change up your oils and customise your cleanser to you.

Step two | Tone

My toner is also another DIY. I love this stuff. I notice if I stop using it for just a couple of weeks, my skin starts to break out again, so I highly, highly recommend it! After my cleanse I take my toner on a cotton wool ball, and swipe it all over my face. If I have missed any dirt in my cleanse this picks it up.

Recipe |

I posted this recipe back in July, and since then I have added in one of my favourite spot busters, Witch Hazel. Its a natural astringent and skin cleanser, teamed with Tea Tree Oil Essential Oil, another beautiful antiseptic and Apple Cider Vinegar that regulates the skins ph levels, prevents spots and is also a wonderful help for oily skinned lovies this is my holy grail! This as you may have guessed is my spot prevention step. 

Although preventative I do end up with the odd red spot in which case I grab my tea tree EO and apply it directly to the spot, 1 day later, spots pretty much gone.

Dr.Organic Tea Tree Pure Oil £4.59 from Holland & Barrett

Step three |

Moisturise

Finally I moisturise. I take one pump of my Dr Bronners Orange Lavender Organic Lotion, its says for hands and body but you can use it all over, and smooth it in to my face and neck. And I'm done. If I find I need a little deeper nourishment because I've been outside all day or rubbed my face a lot, I'll use coconut oil instead. But I'm careful to use it no more than once a week as it can clog pores.

Dr.Bronners Orange Lavender Organic Lotion £8.49 from lookfantastic.com

I have had this lotion for at least 2 months and I'm about a quarter of the way through, I love it! It has lasted so well, my skin doesn't get nearly as oily has it did and its just the right amount of moisture for me.

Extras |

Once a month if I feel the urge to pamper myself I'll do a bentonite clay mask (I'll do a post on it) as a real deep cleanse.

Morning Skincare Routine |

All I do is remove step one, and replace with a simple wash with warm water and nothing else and repeat steps two and three.

Over the last 2/3 months I've also stopped using foundation and have found that this has in fact greatly improved my skin in collaboration with this skincare routine. I find now I hate wearing it and hate the way it makes my skin look! Never thought I'd hear myself say that! But with out all that makeup clogging up my skin its aloud it to breath and level out and look happy!

If you give any of this a try let me know how you get on!

Jeni xo

DIY | Verruca Treatment That WORKS!!!!

Verrucas. What can I say. They are evil, horrible little things that can be painful as well as unsightly.
So what are these demons? Verrucas are essentially a wart or a 'Plantar Wart' meaning its in the sole of your foot as apposed to on the surface of your skin.

Verrucas are caused by an infection of the skin by a virus called the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), which is highly contagious. The viral infection is spread through skin contact with contaminated surfaces.

I got my first verruca about 6 years ago, my second about 2 years ago and my third this year. I had tried every over the counter product from Bazuka gel to the freezing kind. Nothing worked. I was so fed up, so I turned to the interwebz to do a bit of googling and found, one specific ingredient keep popping up. 

Vinegar, or more precisely Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV). I had nothing to loose I already had the vinegar so for me it was free and on the 9th of July I started my treatment. 

Treatment is simple. All you need is your ACV, some cotton wool and some heavy duty masking tape. Oh and a sock.

EVERY night, soak a small piece of cotton wool in ACV, place over the verruca and tape in to place. Pop a sock over your foot to keep it all in place and sleep with it on your foot ALL night. Remove in the morning. You must repeat this every night. However it can get a bit painful in the early days so a night off when its too much is fine.

The key to this treatment is PATIENTS and PERSISTENCE. It took me nearly 2 months but honestly its the best thing I have ever done for my verrucas.

Before I go on I'll warn you...there will be up close and personal pictures of my verrucas so sorry if your squeamish. But every forum I looked on only described the treatment, I really wanted to show how it looks so that if you suffer and want to try this you know what it will look like and basically not poop your pants like I did!

These were my verruca's on the 9th of July. The one that's 2 years old has been the most uncomfortable one as its right on the bend of my big toe on a callous.

This is the morning after. As you can see the ACV has cause the surrounding area to swell up and look uber gross and a little tender. From what I can guess, and please note this is just a guess. The swollen are I think is where the root of the verruca reaches. Over time it gets smaller.

Once the swelling receded, it wasn't painful and I could walk around as normal.

Over the next few weeks this is what I woke up to.

This is 5 days after I started treatment, taken in the evening before bed. As you can see the verruca has turned black and begun to scab and slowly die. (yay!)

On the forums it said that once it reaches this sort of stage you can use an emery board to begin to file down the scabbing. Some people said that they dug the scab out. That sounds really gross I'm sorry. But that is what I chose to do as well. After trying to file the scab down I took a pair of sterilised nail scissors as they are much sharper and pried this scab out of my foot. Each time I did this I could feel a tugging coming from deeper with in my foot, the root I would guess.

 I also took the thought that by doing it this way I would get the ACV in deeper. But it was also a uncomfortable way of doing it. Some nights my feet would really hurt so I would always take the night after off. I stand up all day at work so for me it wasn't ideal but I wouldn't change the way I did things.

As you can see over time the surrounding areas of the verrucas have become pink and tender looking as a result of over night ACV soaks the skin has also started to peel. Of a morning though now the surrounding area doesn't swell up as much and you can see the verrucas look no where near as deep as when I stated.

There was a long period of time where nothing really happened much after this but each time I poked at my verruca it didn't feel as deep as it once had.

This was taken today as you can see the ones on the sole of my foot have basically vanished, but the one on my toe is still visible although massively reduced. I haven't treated them for a few weeks. But I'm going to start treatment again on the one that's left.

I really hope that his helps anyone out there looking for an effective way to kill verrucas, I'm so happy that I found this and even more so that its natural and works!

Jeni xo