Review: Clairol eXtreme n easy Vivid Violet (5RV)

Today, I thought I would review the Clairol eXtreme n easy - Vivid Violet hair dye.

When dying my hair bright and interesting colours, I do normally use Schwarzkopf Live Colour. However, I found this dye for an absolute bargain of £1.47. I was a little apprehensive to try it, as I had originally wanted to go to blonde. However, being pregnant (and totally broke) I had to take a cheaper option.

I bought on Thursday night, and decided to colour on the Saturday.

Standard image of the box. I was looking for a colour indicator chart, but I can't seem to find one. Judging by the colours listed, I was a bit nervous as to how it would look. I expected that it would be very dark and possibly even dull.

Okay, so from the beginning. Obviously, having dyed my hair many a time before, I instantly discarded the instructions and began mixing. Tube of colour labelled number '2' into bottle marked '1', shake vigorously until completely mixed. I did notice, that the colour in the tube wasn't a flat colour. It was sort of a pink-ish colour with different tones running through it, these were a sort of metallic cream colour and a little bit gold as well. These different tones were more evident on applying.

The box states that this dye, has a "non-drip" formula (there again, don't they all these days?). As I'm sure you can imagine, I was sceptical of this claim. Having had these supposed "non-drip" dyes in the past, and still managing to find dye all over my shirt, the floor, the sink - everywhere. To my surprise, this one didn't. True to its claim, it went on and stayed put. As I piled the dye thickly onto my head, it remained where I had placed it. So, a big thumbs up on that front from me!

Standard process with hair dye, leave for 30 - 40 minutes and rinse. I decided to fill this time taking a bath. I figured its a good way to kill half an hour and when I'm done my hair will be nice and purple. The conditioner, a blue tube labelled '3', contains 3 applications. It smelled quite nice, was a nice consistency and I felt left my hair lovely and soft afterwards.

Afterwards, I dryed and straightened my hair and arranged it into its normal style.

Before and After

Above is a before and after picture of the colour. As you can see, my hair was a medium brown sort of shade before starting and had quite a lot of root re-growth in the top. As you can imagine, I was very pleasantly surprised! The colour chart had given me the impression that this would end up quite dark and dull, on the contrary! My hair is now a beautiful bright purple. Not only this, but thanks to its "Colour Blend" technology my hair isn't all one flat colour. You can see in the before picture that my hair was multi-shaded, with hints of blonde and varying shades of brown and I was happy to see these lighter and darker sections through my hair after the dye as well.

Overall, I must say I am impressed. The price I paid was definitely a bonus, but I also believe that this is worth paying £6 for. I would definitely use this again. Thus far, I've had many compliments on the colour and I'm loving it!

I know most people post a little disclaimer at the bottom of these saying that their opinions are there own and they haven't been paid. Well, I am the same. These are my own views of this product and I imagine that some people will have different experiences to me.

Maternity outfits

Okay, so here's a bit of a fashion/maternity post.

First of all, I'll start by saying that I am a size 18 normally. I was quite a comfortable size 18 and here is my post about maternity wear.

Lets agree, that when you find out you're pregnant everyone wonders about maternity wear. Should you buy? Do you buy bigger or smaller? Where do you go to buy them? Do you invest or buy cheap? So many questions that plague us in early stages of pregnancy.

I didn't find out I was pregnant until I was nearly 10 weeks gone, up until then, I had been wearing clothes that were comfy. Jeans, leggings and long tops, dresses, cardi's etc. It wasn't until I was about 15 weeks, right before my honeymoon, that I started to look at maternity things. My first items were given to me from a freebies group on Facebook. Over bump jeans, a shirt and two summer dresses. These were size 16 and fit fine in the early stages. Then my mum was kind enough to buy me some under bump straight leg jeans from Mothercare - these were on sale and proved to be invaluable in those early days! As well as a pretty floral dress, also in the sale at Mothercare, and a swimming costume. I apologise that I don't have pictures of these things from the early days. I had them on my phone but it broke and I can't get them back.

Now I have more in the way of maternity wear. My findings will be different to others simply because of what I found to be comfortable. At Christmas I bought a pack of 2 belly bands, and a pack of 2 nursing bra's, both from Bon Prix. The belly bands have proven to be a fabulous buy, as they helped to keep the growing bump under wraps when wearing jeans/leggings even when wearing dresses and tights! Safe to say that they have been wonderful. The bra's, again great investment piece, and I'm glad I bought them cheaper than the ones from Mothercare or the like. I got them when I was 22 weeks, now at 34 weeks they are getting tight and small. Still, they are far more comfortable than normal ones.

In the past few weeks, my mum has helped me out immensely. Her and her fiance, have bought me a few pieces to help tide me over til the end of my pregnancy as well as be useful for the weeks after the birth.

Here are some pictures:

This outfit, the black tunic dress and the OTK boots, was an outfit I put together when I was assisting with a Burlesque show as acting Compere. I know its recommended that pregnant women don't wear heels but plenty of sitting and I was fine.

Simply Be Maternity Tunic dress

 This one, the black on black and the raspberry cardigan. Was for a shopping expedition with my husband. The jeans were incredibly long, so I am wearing a pair of heels with these as well. The cardigan and the vest are not maternity. The cardi is an oversize slouchy item and the vest is very stretchy so was very comfortable.

Over Bump Jeans by South @ Very

Cream Shirt from Maternity at New Look

Cream Shirt with rest of outfit

Left: Black under bump Jeans @ 26 weeks. Right: 34 weeks

The next one, with the cream blouse below, was for a midwives appointment. This is a beautiful shirt that is well cut (and cost a bargain £6 in the sale). I teamed this a non maternity boyfriend blazer and scarf and felt incredibly smart and well put together.

Here in this double picture, I've tried to highlight the difference in size of bump between 26 weeks and 34. I don't think I've done a very good job of capturing it in this one. The 26 week picture I'm wearing the under bump maternity jeans and a black belly band to stop any flesh being shown if the vest started to ride up. 

Left: Bump @ 22 weeks, Right: 33 weeks

From today

I think I managed to capture the size difference more here. The picture on the right, I'm wearing another bargain item from the New Look Maternity sale. This jumper was £5 and I feel looks lovely with just about everything. I'm wearing it there with over bump maternity leggings from Simply Be. Again, incredibly comfortable. 

I've also recently been given a gorgeous navy blue polka dot maternity dress. This again, is from Mothercare, and looks amazing on. Its so beautiful and so flattering. I've also bought a maxi dress from ebay. I'll uplaod pictures of both of these another day. 

These are just some of the outfits I've been putting together in the last few weeks of pregnancy. 

The best advice I can give would be 

1. Belly bands are a fabulous buy in the early days of pregnancy as they help keep your pants up when you're feeling bloated and uncomfortable. 

2. When it comes to jeans, you will need to find some that are comfortable as you will want to wear them a lot (as I did). I found over bump to be so much better as they really do keep the bump under wraps. 

3. Dresses are fabulous! I have found that a nice jersey dress is great for when you want to throw something on and still look stylish. 

4. Maternity leggings will be much more comfortable than regular ones and much less likely dig into the belly as it grows. 

5. Shoes ... When you get into about week 24/25 you will want to make sure you have some comfy ballet flats. I managed to pick up some red patent pumps in the Boxing Day sale for £7.50 and then slipped in some memory foam insoles. These have been my life saver. Mostly because there is no bending over to get them on, slip on and go! Wonderful. 

I hope I've helped any mummies to be in maternity wear! 

Thank you for reading x

Wedding Post!

Okay, so I know I should really split these posts up over a few days but I really don't want too. I'm going to post on a couple of pictures from my wedding.

If I do say so myself, it was a truly wonderful day. I was trying to achieve a vintage 1950's sort of style for myself on the day. I think I succeeded, and I can honestly say, it was the most beautiful I have ever felt.

 Above is me, just arriving. I wasn't nervous at this point!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-Lord-of-Rings-Elvish-Anyword-Groom-Bride-Wedding-Engagement-Titanium-Rings-Set-/250930397501?pt=UK_Jewellery_Watches_FineJewellery_CA&var=550058398050&hash=item3a6c9e013d

Here, we have our wedding rings. They look incredibly dark, and that's because they are. They are made of Black Titanium.

 My beautiful husband, James. Alongside is us together before saying the vows. I remember he said his vows so clearly and beautifully. Me? I was quiet as a mouse! My voice was waivering and I was so worried about crying and ruining my make up.

Us leaving together

In the car ready to head off to the reception. Married, and feeling wonderful!

This was the most amazing day of my life, I really wanted to just share some of the photo's with anyone who wants to see them. 

Photography courtesy of: http://www.facebook.com/OddPoseUk?fref=ts 

Thanks xx

A year from my last post ... Whats changed?

Hello, hello, hello!

After a year of being gone, I have returned! So much has changed ... And I shall detail below exactly what and how things have changed.

First of all, my last post was regarding my weight loss. How has this been going? Well, it was doing fabulously. I lost a little under a stone in just a couple of months, sadly, things had to change when I left my job. As you may recall, I was suffering with quite bad stress and anxiety. After a while I realised that something had to give. I couldn't keep on working there and being so miserable. I finished working there in May and haven't looked back.

Second, we moved house. This was another reason for having to drop the exercise. At the time we were living in a small one bedroom flat. It had severe problems and wasn't habitable, to the point where it was breaking all sorts of health regulations. Our estate agent eventually got us a 2 bedroom house, not far from where we were living. Its a good size house, and at first all seemed perfect. Sadly it is not to be. We moved here in July, and since moving we've had no end of problems. Most recently, finding large quantities of black mould in the house. As you can imagine, this is not what we want! So, in the past few months I've been looking for a new home.

More news! I may have mentioned last year, that I was engaged. Well, its official. I'm a married lady!! On the 24th of November 2013, I married the most amazing man in the world. My husband, Mr James Newton. It was an absolutely amazing day and with our friends and family present it was beautiful. Unfortunately, I couldn't have a drink at the wedding. I spent all night drinking Britvic 55 and indulged in one glass of Champagne. Why? I hear you ask. Because, in September of last year, I found out that I am pregnant with our first child. We had a fabulous honeymoon to Cuba, where I again indulged a little in a drink but not a lot. Ate some wonderful food, and generally had the most amazing two weeks of my life with my husband.

So there has been a lot going on. A baby on the way, a wedding, possibly a new home. I have everything I've ever wanted, and I am so happy.

More to come about everything.

Mrs Krynn Newton and the Bump!

Has anyone seen my lost inches?

As the title for today's blog would suggest, I've lost some inches. 

After over two months the circumference of my hips has decreased from 52 inches to a fabulous 48"!! Now I know that to most people this doesn't seem a lot, but to me it is. I'm so proud of myself. 

So, I hear you ask. How have I done this? Have I found some pill to lose weight? Some fantastic new trick to reduce belly fat? NO! I have achieved this by good old exercise. Lets take a look at what I have previously done. 

In the past, I was one for fad diets. You know the ones, you can only eat carbs on a Thursday if you're standing on one leg and wearing a fedora. I did weight watchers, that didn't last long. I tried a veggie diet, again didn't last long. I tried cutting out chocolate, this worked - for all of 5 minutes then I soon went back to my old ways. At once point I bordered on anorexia, I didn't eat anything but drank lots of sweet tea and water, I walked everywhere. Soon I found I'd lost lots of weight. Incredibly unhealthy and as soon as I ate again it all went back on. The last year I decided to try something much healthier. As you'll remember for a few weeks I regularly posted on photo's of my lunch. A low calorie soup, followed by weight watchers crisp, bottled water and fruit. I didn't drink caffeine and I didn't really drink carbonated beverages. Again, this worked really well and I down a dress size as I was walking a little too. However, as soon as I stopped all this the pounds quickly piled back on. 

Since then I tried all sorts of tricks. Which I quickly failed at, time and time again. The same story, same sad feeling when I stepped on the scales and saw that my weight wasn't dropping in the first week. Then something great happened. I was signed off work for 2 weeks with stress and given anti - depressants. The doctor explained that stress is caused by a seratonin imbalance, and that by taking SSRI's the mood swings and general bleak feelings would go away. Fabulous! One small problem, they take about 4 weeks to take effect. What was I going to do in the meantime?

I took to Google. Looking for any ways to naturally release seratonin in the brain. 15 minutes of exercise would do the job, or carbohydrates if you're in need of a quick pick me up. Spicy foods releases the same endorphins as laughing which make you feel happier. So I decided to do more exercise and generally follow a better diet. Eating better and exercising nightly. In the first two week, I dropped for 17st 1lb, to 16st 9lb. Then every week I weighed myself and found that I was losing an average of 2lb's a week. I measured my hips just before starting was a massive 52". Today I measured again, and found I was a lovely 48". I've now upgraded my work out to include, Pilates, Zumba and a Kick Boxing Boot Camp.

All I need to do is continue in this fashion and I'll soon be "bikini ready" as they say. I shall weigh myself Sunday and see if these new routines are doing any thing for me.

For now I feel a huge sense of accomplishment in knowing that I'm doing well. 

A Day in the Life.

I've been away for a couple of days ...Back now! 

Today was weigh day. I must say I wasn't looking forward to it. I was rather useless this week. I've done hardly anything in the way of exercise and haven't eaten well. I blame the fact that it was Easter - doesn't help that when I'm put in the way of temptation my strength and resolve usually crumbles, and as I am addicted to chocolate I found it very hard .... Safe to say the scales reflected my weakness, I've gained weight, 1lb and 3oz to be exact. I know in the grand scheme of things its not so bad, but I've been doing so well. However, I shan't let this throw or deter me. I plan to work harder, and its made me more determined. So now I've got a book in which I am writing all the food I've eaten and its calorie content. 

Anyways enough of my calorie counting and weight loss business. Whats been going on this week? Well, fiance and I got our first taste of sleeping apart. I went to help look after my nephew while his mum was in the hospital. So Thursday and Friday was spent taking care of a 4 year old boy. Exhausting! Ah well, guess its all good practice. 

I also managed to get our wedding invitations made. Me and my mom spent an hour and a half in Hobbycraft looking for supplies. In that time, my mum made a million and one suggestions. All of which took me away from my original plan and then ended up going back to my original plan! Now we have 50 of these little beauties. I am so proud of myself! 3 hours of solid work, and this is what I came up with. What do we think? I actually took the inspiration from another blog I found. 

Saturday, fiance and I went to go and get him measured for a suit, for a friends wedding (as he is to be best man). Once that was done I got to spend the day walking around with the mothers of the bride and groom. Oh the joy! At least by the time I was done my friend was out of hospital. A brief visit with her, and then home I went. To spend some time with my lovely fiance. 

All of which has brought me to today. A lovely relaxed Sunday. We're having a lovely steak and veg pie (home made) for tea. I've done a 30 minute kick-boxing boot camp workout, in the bedroom - a nice 362 calories burned off! I've updated my lovely blog (hurrah). Now to kick back and relax with the radio and a good book. I wonder how everyone else has spent their weekend.

A year together.

Well, one year ago today my fiance asked me to be his girlfriend. We realised that we were in love and wanted to be together. So today we've had a good day. Went to visit some friends and James went to look at suits for their wedding.

New nail colour

And again because I love it! 

I have the picture of the nail colour I promised.








Below is a picture of what I intend to be my wedding bouquet. I think this is absolutely adorable! It comes in Ivory as well (which is good as that's what colour my dress is), as well as matching pins/buttonholes. This is £18 and as I mentioned I think its beautiful!

What will be my bouquet.