Working out - is YouTube the answer?

Hey everyone, I hope you're enjoying the gorgeous weather! Sorry for the inconsistent posting its the end of the netball season and I'm in a play that is being performed next week. But in the summer I will have more time to post so hopefully I will get into a pattern. I've been desperate to post this post because I personally love completing a good workout; it boosts my body confidence and it boosts my energy levels. I know sometimes going for a run is not ideal and not everyone's cup of tea so I recently have been completing lots of workouts on YouTube to help tone up. I wanted to share my YouTube workout experience with you so that is what I decided to do today.

Picture Source: http://angelphyreallstars.com/exercise-classes/

The first thing is where do you look? Well some of my favourite YouTube channels for workout videos are:

POPsugar fitness - A lot of medium sized videos (15-30min) all with different focuses, they often have special guests or use interesting equipment. I really like their '10 TV Tone-up' video, it is easy to do in your living room and is really toning.

XHIT Daily - Short, high intensity workout videos each with a specific focus, I particularly love their Victoria's Secret Angels workout playlist.

FitnessBlender - Fitness Blender is run by a couple and their videos have a wide duration from 5mins to over an hour. I often use their videos if I want to do a longer more intense workout which really focuses on a very specific area.

The next question is what should my body focus be?

Obviously it is very much dependent on the individual but I think my personal body focus is definitely my legs and abs. Ive seen a huge difference and I think they are the most noticeable.

So is YouTube the answer to working out?

I don't think YouTube could ever be the complete alternate to working out because of adverts and peoples access to YouTube. But I definitely think that YouTube videos are a better alternative to workout DVDs because no one wants to pay for a DVD where they get 1 workout when they can access hundreds on YouTube for free! I would definitely recommend regularly using YouTube videos to workout if you want to get toned because the difference is insane!

Hope you enjoyed this post, see you next time!

Skincare Routine

Hey everyone, so for quite a while now I have wanted to share with you my skincare routine because I only recently regularly started following a skincare routine. Since starting a regular skincare routine the difference has been astonishing and very noticeable. I do this skincare routine every night and it consists of 4 simple stages. All the products I use in my skincare routine are quite affordable and work really well so I hope you find this post useful, let's get started.

1. Facewash

I have 2 face washes Johnson Johnson exfoliating face wash and the simple moisturising face wash. I use both but personally my favourite is the Johnson Johnson one by far the simple face wash is a lot more moisturising but the Johnson Johnson face wash is very exfoliating. To use this face wash first I wet my face then I squirt 2 pea sized blobs of the face wash on my hand, I then rub my hands together to form a lather. I massage this into my face focusing on the areas where I get the most blackheads, I leave the face wash on for a minute before rinsing off. I use this face wash in the mornings and evenings and using it twice a day decreases blackheads even more. What I love about this face wash is that it includes micro beads which are really good at unblocking pores, I definitely recommend this face wash.

2. Cleanser

For cleanser I like to use the infamous Garnier Micellar Cleansing water. I love this cleanser because it makes my skin feel really clean and fresh. This cleanser also comes with a lot of product so it lasts ages! I use a cotton wool pad to apply about half a teaspoon amount all over my face. I think the key to this product is not too use too much, I always end up applying too much. I did actually post a review of this product so if you would like to see an in-depth description of this product then click here.

3. Toner

I use No7's Soft and Gentle toner, to be honest I've never really understood the purpose of using a toner but when I don't use it, I really notice. Recently I ran out of this and the amount of spots I had rapidly increased and my skin appeared more 'patchy'. I use this product after my cleanser and I apply it in the same way. I put a small amount on a cotton pad and apply it evenly across all my face making sure I cover my face completely and evenly. 

4. Moisturiser

The final step in my skin care routine is to moisturiser, before starting a skin care routine I often got a very dry chin which resulted in a lot of chin breakouts. Since using a moisturiser I've had barely any breakouts on my chin, the difference is unreal! The moisturiser I use is the simple kind to skin moisturiser and I love it because it feels so gentle and soft. I apply a pea sized amount (that's literally all you need) using my hands and I massage it into my skin in circular motions. I actually apply this in the morning before make up as well as before bed.

Thank you ever so much for reading this post, sorry if I have blabbed on a bit, I just wanted to give you as much information as possible. I think I would quite like to do more routine posts so comment below if there are any routines that you want to see. Also I have now reached 2050+ page views (admittedly some of them are me just checking what new posts look like) but I just wanted to say a huge thank you to anyone who has even looked on my blog; it means so much to know that people actually read my posts. See you next time,

MOTD

Hey everyone, so at the weekend I went to a barbecue at my cousins and I spent a little while creating a summer makeup look. So here it is...

Face:

Simple Moisturiser

Seventeen BB cream

Natural Collection Powder

Eyes:

Benefits Roller Lash

Makeup Revolution Redemption Palette Iconic 2

(Shades 2&3)

Brows:

Beauty UK high brow

Maybelline's Brow Drama

Lips:

Natural Collection Lipstick in Raspberry

Baby Lips in Pink Punch

Hope you enjoyed this style of post, see you next time!

Alphabet Creams

Hey Everyone, so today I decided that I wanted review some products for you. I decided that I would review my alphabet creams, BB and CC creams. This post was partly inspired by Ella Rose, but I'm not trying to entirely copy or steal her idea. :)

Seventeen BB Cream
This BB cream is almost a rediscovery for me, I used it a lot when I had initially bought it but then I felt like it was too dark so I stopped using it. Then recently I wore this BB cream again and I've now been using it everyday since! It gives a good coverage and it gives a really light dewy finish to my skin. This BB cream does a really good job at evening out my skin tone and I think it is pretty close in colour to my skin tone. This BB cream is available from Boots for £6.99.

The Body Shop All-In-One BB cream
This BB cream gives the lightest coverage out of the 3 BB creams, so it is fantastic for those days that you want to wear lighter makeup. This BB cream starts off as a white colour but when blended it turns to a skin colour. This BB cream feels really moisturising but if you don't blend it properly it can turn slightly orange. This BB cream is the most expensive at £12 from The Body Shop.

Bourjois 1 2 3 Perfect CC cream
This CC cream gives the heaviest coverage by far and I feel like this CC cream is the closest to my skin tone. This CC cream covers my blemishes really well and it has a really nice matte finish. This CC cream costs £10 and it is available from drugstores.

Hope you enjoyed this post and found it useful, see you next time!

May Favourites (Blog Posts)

Hey everyone, so recently I read this post on Joys of being Paige and I have been loving lots of blogs at the minute so I really want to do my own version of this post! So this post is going to be me talking about my favourite blog posts of May!

The Joys of being Paige - What I have learnt in 8 months of blogging

Well of course a post from the Joys of being Paige had to be on this list! I love all of her lists but I think my favourite for the month of May was her 'what I have learnt in 8 months of blogging' post. I find all of Paige's post really useful and extremely well written, I love all her blogging related posts, I've learnt so much that has really helped the development and growth of my blog.

The Sunday Chapter - all of her posts!!! I looked through my saved posts on blog lovin and the vast majority of my saved posts are from the Sunday Chapter. I particularly love her healthy eating and advice posts, he posts make me a lot of motivated.

Bluebelle Bunting - Music Playlist and How to complete a room

I love all of Saffie's posts because you can say that she puts a lot of time and effort into them. In the month of May my favourite posts of Saffie's music playlist and her how to complete a room. I liked reading music playlist because she has a good taste in music and I like discovering new songs. I love her how to complete a room post because her ideas are really pretty and the post have me some fab ideas for my own room.

Ella Rose – Most loved BB creams

I am an avid BB cream lover and I love discovering new BB creams, this is why I found Ella's post really useful. I also enjoyed her summer outfit post and Tanya Burr cookies post (which I have made and failed and made and succeeded).

Totally Elsa - Hand Lettered: Song Lyrics

I loved Elsa's hand lettered song lyrics posts, she is super talented and all her drawings are so pretty. It has made me really want to hand letter some song lyrics of my own one day.

Being an avid blog lover there were a lot more posts that I enjoyed throughout the month of May but these are just a handful of my favourites. I will hopefully add links at a later date. I hope that you are enjoying the summer weather, thank you for reading, see you next time! 

~ Ella ~