beauty, fun stuff, make up, questions

The Beauty Knowledge Tag

ramblingmads

I’ve seen this popping up on lots of different blogs and Twitter feeds. The answers are often pretty hilarious. 

For this tag you need a partner or friend who doesn’t use make up or know much about it. I am using the Mr as my guinea pig. He doesn’t get my interest in make up at all. Let’s see what knowledge he has absorbed. 
💋What are these different beauty products and techniques? 

💋Bronzer – giving a tanned appearance 

💋Blusher – making your cheeks pink like a doll

💋Mascara – making eyelashes black and curly 

💋Eyeliner – making your eyes look more Egyptian 

💋Strobing – something to do with disco

💋Eyeshadow – colouring your eyes in 

💋Powder – do you put that on your face? Is it like manual photoshop?

💋Foundation – like a base coat 

💋Concealer – covers spots and blemishes

💋Setting Spray – like varnish or hairspray for your face?

💋Contouring – using your make up to give your face different shapes?

💋Primer – another base coat

💋Lip liner – makes lips look happy 

💋Brow pencil – drawing on your eyebrows after you stupidly shaved them off. 

💋Serum – watering down make up to apply an even coat

💋Cleanser – taking your make up off

💋Micellar Water – no idea, is it for cleaning your face?

💋Toner- matching your make up to your skin tone

💋Was this test hard? Not really, I think I knew a lot. 

💋Why? You didn’t ask for an essay and I had no idea about some of them. Did I win something? Is there a prize? 

I then had to explain what everything was, he still doesn’t get the point of most of these products. He still wants a prize. Bless him. 

If you want to do this tag, go for it. Let me know in the comments, I’d love to see if your partners and friends do any better. 

fun stuff, life

The ‘adult tag’ 

ramblingmads

​Thought this might be a bit of fun as I lay here dying of serious cramps. Join in! 


1 – How old are you and where do you live?

29, almost 30, North London on the border of Hertfordshire. 

2 – Where did you expect to be by this age?

I think I expected to be a bit further along in the old career, own house, maybe married. Life is a lot more complicated than you imagine. 

3 – Are you on track to where you want to be now?

Yes and no. My career took a back seat to health issues and that set me back. But I’ll get there. 

4 – What piece of advice do you wish people told you when you were young?

Life is what you make it, take more risks. 

5 – What advice would you give to younger people now?

Take every opportunity that comes your way, don’t be afraid to jump in with both feet. You never know how it’ll turn out. 

6 – Do you still suffer from FOMO?

I don’t know if I ever have – my decisions are my own and if I’ve ‘missed out’ maybe it’s for a good reason. 

7 – What is your opinion on living at home vs moving out in your 20’s?

Having done both in my 20’s, I can see that living at home can have it’s advantages in letting you save some money, but having your own place does allow you more freedoms at time but definitely costs more! 

8 – Have you had any sudden realisations about life/relationships/friendships since hitting your 20’s?

Life’s too short to be an arsehole. Grudges and fallings out are for school kids, move on. It’s not worth trying to force a friendship – it either is or it isn’t. 

10 – Do you feel like an adult?

Sometimes. I pay a bill I don’t want to pay (like council tax) and feel like an adult because I’m doing the adult thing, but sat on the sofa in my pjs eating dark chocolate digestives (the best kind, I’ll fight you) watching TV on a Saturday morning, feel like I’m still a kid. 


Well there you go, my adulting knowledge in a nutshell. Feel free to copy and play along. 

beauty, beauty boxes, make up, reviews, skincare

Blogger Beauty Box 

ramblingmads

As always this box is a great mix of items curated by bloggers for bloggers (it’s £10 too – hello bargain!)

There are five items in this month’s box, three are full size. 

I love to smell nice, and a fruity shower gel certainly gets me ready for the day. This little bottle of I Love…Mango & Papaya Bubble Bath & Shower Gel is right up my street. 

One of the things that frustrates me the most is my lack of volume – in my hair, I’m certainly loud enough! So hopefully this Nanogen Root Boost Hair Thickening Spray does exactly what it says on the bottle. 

One of the more unusual items is the tub of Derma Babies Full of Hope Heavenly Mummy Nipple Cream. Now, I am not currently a nursing mother so you might think I’d have no use for this but because it’s designed for sensitive, damaged skin, it’s actually incredibly useful if you have dry skin, or even ezcema like me. Plus this is full of skin loving ingredients including aloe vera and olive oil. 

The next is a useful addition to your handbag – fab little bag is a clever and discreet way of disposing of used sanitary products. It’s designed to be opened with one hand, made from biodegradable materials and provides a better way of disposing of tampons than flushing. 

Finally there’s a lipstick from new US brand 4U2 Cosmetics, weirdly the shade I have isn’t listed as one of their Lipaholoc shades. They’ve just launched in the UK with their range of PETA certified cruelty free make up. 

 
Really quite happy with this box, should get a use out of each, unlike some other boxes. 

fun stuff, happy mail, lifestyle boxes, mental health, mindfulness, reviews

Buddy Box – Summer Sun

ramblingmads

The Buddy Box from The Blurt Foundation is designed to help people dealing with mental health issues like depression and anxiety. It’s basically a hug in a box. And this month’s comes with a little summer sun. 🌞

Fruit seems to be the theme too, with pineapples and watermelon popping up on the box itself and inside. 

Inside are some bright, sunny treats to help you get through July even when inside your brain it’s more like November (that may just be me). 

There is a very cute notebook with a fox on it, I love notebooks and own about a gazillion of them, so this is welcome. 

A pineapple scented air freshener. I don’t have a car but my wardrobe/beauty cupboard will look very snazzy (and smell sweet) with this. 
Fruit Fix Pomegranate & Blueberry face mask. I love a good face mask, deep cleaning all the crap out of my skin so I will  be slapping this on for a Netflix session. 

#365 Days of Selfcare challenge card and post-its. Which you can join in with. #365daysofselfcare on Twitter and Instagram.  
Personal note from the Blurt team on a fun card, which I will be adding to my inspiration wall. 

Finally, I saved the most fun till last. As you may already know, I am a stationery nerd. And I love quirky pens and pencils. This pencil is a superhero. This pencil has a cape. 

While the crappy winter weather definitely batters on my hatches, summer can be just as hard. When the sun’s shining and fun is being planned, we need to still be looking after our mental health. It’s hard to be “on” all the time and it can feel impossible to tell people you’re feeling bad when the sun’s out and you’re supposed to be jolly. 

The Blurt team know that and I am telling you, self-care, whatever form it takes, isn’t selfish. If you need to stay in, wearing your pjs, eating Nutella croissants or a pile of toast or a bowl of mashed potatoes, or whatever your go-to is, watching crappy tv, an old film, reading a good book or even just taking a nap. That’s A-OK. 

beauty, beauty boxes, make up, reviews, skincare

Little Known Box – Summer Starts Here

ramblingmads

Five products, three fullsize plus one bonus treat – June’s Little Known Box is crammed with great beauty products to get your summer going. 

Oxynergy Paris Power Infuse Cushion Foam cleanser from France, a country that loves great skincare. Wash your face with this lightly scented foaming cleanser containing amino acids, copper, zinc, calcium and magnesium. 

Manna Kadar is a cruelty and paraben free brand from the US. Fantasy 3-in-1 is a powder blush, highlighter and eyeshadow in a nude blush pink suitable for all skin types. 

PHB’s Anti-aging Serum with Rose & Sea Buckthorn is vegan, cruelty free and Halal as well as being suitable for all skin types. It smells pretty good too. 

Lucy Annabella travel sized treatment oil for skin, face and hair. This has Orange and Marjoram oils for a restful mood. 

In the Buff Mineral Highlighter in Sunshine Glitz is a golden hued 100% natural ingredients and vegan glow.

Bonus: Creme of Nature 100% Pure Argan Oil & Leave in Conditioner samples.  

beauty, beauty boxes, birchbox, haircare, make up, nail polish, skincare

Never-ending Summer with Birchbox 

ramblingmads

This month’s  Birchbox arrived today, all pink and purple, in collaboration with Millie Mackintosh (one of those famous for being famous types it seems). 

This month’s selection contains five items, three full-size. 

LOC x Millie Ultra Gloss Lip Pencil in Bohemian Rose – Birchbox in-house brand Love of Colour lip pencil in a glossy soft pink. 

John Frieda 7 Days Luxurious Volume – this was my pick between two products from John Freida. This is designed to boost volume from the next time you wash your hair with this in-shower treatment. 

Nails Inc in Abbey Road – a teeny bottle of baby pink polish.

High Definition Brow Define in Bombshell – enriched with waxes to boost the long-lasting brow pencil. 
Indeed Labs Hydraluron Moisture Boosting Mask – sheet masks are a big thing at the moment and this one promises intense moisture for dry, tired skin. 

It’s an ok box, not the most exciting to come out of Birchbox and really the Nails Inc polish could be in a bigger size, I will probably lose this bottle at some point. It doesn’t feel hugely summery either – last month’s pineapple print was more so, some summer specific goodies like suncream would be more appreciated, all this pink feels Spring not Summer. 

Thoughts? Are you a Birchbox subscriber? What did you think about this month’s box? Let me know in the comments. 

clean eating, food, healthy, recipes

Potato Salad

ramblingmads

The humble spud has been accused of a lot recently – contributing to obesity, damaging farmland, being ugly. 

I say enough – clean eating is expensive, spuds are cheap and versatile. Leave them alone.  Here’s my potato salad, serve it as a side at a barbecue, or as my friend recommends, under a grilled chicken breast with broccoli  and salad.  

Serves 4 or more depending on hunger

Ingredients

1 small bag of potatoes – I prefer the small salad ‘new potatoes’ or similar. 

Small pot of yoghurt – I use natural yoghurt

Small pot of sour cream or creme fraiche 

Small bunch spring onions

Fistful of chives

Black pepper

Method

Wash the potatoes and boil till soft. While they’re cooking, chop the chives and spring onions (wash them too!). Mix the yoghurt, sour cream, chives and spring onions in a bowl. 

Once the potatoes are cooked, drain and leave to cool. Once they’re at a temperature you’re happy with (can be served warm or cold), use the sharp point of a knife to remove any eyes, peel off the skins if you prefer (much easier on the little potatoes after cooking), chop into desired size chunks. 

Add to the dressing, mix, season with black pepper, if using, stir again. It can now be served or stored in the fridge for later. Will keep a couple of days in an airtight tub in the fridge but is best eaten sooner.  

Ready to eat
life, mental health, updates

I aren’t dead*

ramblingmads

*as Granny Weatherwax would say. 

I am sorry it’s been a wee bit quiet here in my corner of the ‘net. I’m stuck at home looking like a puffy death-beast with flu. I have black eyes from the infection in my head and chest, cant wear make up as my temperature keeps making me sweat it off, oh and to top it off my rosacea and eczema have flared up and I’ve got a lovely acne breakout going on. 

I have products I want to test and review for you, but currently eating cereal, reading Agatha Christie and smothering my skin in various stinky medicated lotions is pretty much all I’m good for. 

So, I’m asking you lovely people to help me boost my mood and hopefully my immune system by sending me cute things on Twitter, tagging me in pictures of your pets on Instagram (@ramblingmads) and telling me what awesome stuff you’re up to in the comments please.  

life

I can’t even

ramblingmads

I rarely, if ever, talk about politics here. But today I don’t feel like I have a choice. I am shocked, 51% of my country voted to leave the EU and become isolated, insular and poor. The NHS won’t be getting extra money, as the Leave campaign claimed, because there isn’t extra money. Businesses will be affected, the pound has already dropped, people who actually know how all of this stuff works warned the nation, and we listened to idiots instead.

Goodbye maternity rights, goodbye NHS treatment, goodbye gay rights, goodbye workers rights, goodbye freedom of movement, goodbye Scotland, goodbye multicultural society.

Hello poverty, fear, unemployment, isolation, and racism.

I can’t today, I just can’t.

life

Horse racing – why I won’t be on the turf

ramblingmads

As a teenager I was a hardcore animal rights nut. I refused to eat meat (not really an issue when my mum’s vegetarian), signed petitions, went to a few slightly iffy demonstrations/marches (which I wince at now) and tried to educate others.

My extended family is quite horsey, my Grandad is from Yorkshire, has shares in a race horse and his winnings on the track have always been a family joke (he has a lucky knack for picking winners). My great-aunt hunts (yuk), and my aunt and cousin both ride.

But while I love horses for being such gorgeous creatures, the horrible things race horses go through turn my stomach.

From the damaging amount of bran in their diets, wrecking their insides, to the whips and pressure exerted on them on the track, to the numbers of horses who lose their lives after falling at jumps or losing their balance on the course, it’s all cruel and totally unnecessary.

At the moment the press is still full of pictures of Ladies’ Day at Ascot, of the OTT outfits and hats, obscuring the horror happening on the course.

I have chosen not to share pictures of the things that go on, they’re stomach churning, but you can look for yourself online if you’re interested.

How do you feel about horse racing? Is it time we stopped beating and killing these creatures for entertainment?