Well, there it was........ Christmas 2015 gone never to return, I don't know about you ?  but this limbo bit after Christmas always feels a little sad like an anti climax, after all the build up and excitement now it is gone :( 
family have all left and the place just feels a little empty and sad with remnants of junk food filling the place.

The house is still fully decorated, I am a bit superstitious and wont take them down until the 12 days of Christmas are over, although I am seriously thinking it makes way more sense to have a fresh start on New Years Day, all ready for 2016. 
 Talking of 2016, I don't do New Years resolutions but I have a feeling in my waters that this year is for some reason going to be a good one, either that or I have cystitis coming !

I am making plans, not resolutions, I have decorated what was a spare junk room into an office, so hopefully the *plan* is to work in there rather than make the house a tip on blogging days.

The next *plan*  is to shift this rather large layer of fat I have accumulated since giving up work a year ago, I am now at my absolute heaviest, having put on a Few________ ie: more than 2 Stones this year, we could even say a Few x 2 if I were being completely honest.

  WHY ? you may ask, I would answer with No Idea.
 HOW ? you may also ask, by being a total glutton and not moving enough would be my reply.

For some reason I have totally lost the plot in the last 9 months, No I am not expecting, that ship sailed 10 years ago :)  
 But it's all good I have a PLAN lol .  I am not taking up jogging on the 1st of Jan, calm down, I couldn't even run for a bus let alone jog out of choice !  No seriously, the plan is to shift this bloody weight, of course its partly vanity, but it's also because it's making me feel dead rough and out of breath constantly, I am in awe of plus size girls who manage to stay healthy as well as looking gorgeous, but it's not for me.

 Maybe as I have gained such a huge amount in  such a short space of time it is having more of an impact, but whatever it is, I don't like feeling like this and long to feel healthy again. I stopped my beloved Primal /Paleo lifestyle and fell face first into eating junk.

 The aim is to stop brushing Toast, Cake, or Biscuit crumbs from my boobs which have grown massively and be able to see my feet with ease !

On that note I will be doing weekly updates naming brands that have helped and hopefully charting my progress. I hope you will join me, not in the weight loss thing, unless you want to ?  but just as a bit of moral support.  I am 60 this year and intend on looking my best for the occasion :)

Love N Hugz
Lyn x

Hi Darlins,

just wanted to share a lil bit of Christmas at mine with you, I do believe the kids call this photo bomb lol.




















What ever you are doing This Christmas, have the VERY best one.

Love N Hugs
Lyn x

• Hypotonic hydration with hyaluronic acid.
• Key minerals.
• Magnesium contributes to a reduction of tiredness and fatigue.
• Calcium helps in the process of cell division and specialisation.
• Vitamin C contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress.

Hi Darlins,

this post is really more for the bloggers and writers out there, I want to talk about brand loyalty and how you deal with it ?

Our job as bloggers, especially if you work at it full time like I do, is to report and review our honest opinions on products we are lucky enough to be given to try out, and when I say lucky enough, I mean it, I know it's a two way street and we are offering a hell of a lot of hours, testing writing blogs, and tweeting like crazy to promote something with no hourly rate, but I still believe it is the best job ever !  and trust me I have had a few, from cleaning loo's as a single Mum with a small baby, working behind a beauty counter for a well known brand, to Director of a large recruitment Company, and finally owning my own business, which having given up last year found me falling into blogging. 

This brings me to question of loyalty, I was spoon fed the belief that it is a true test of the character of a person, but blogging makes this a dilemma for me, firstly I make it harder on myself by turning down projects I don't find interesting and secondly by not blogging if I don't like something I have tested, I would rather tell the company straight up that I won't be writing about it rather than give a bad review, it's not my job to slate someones company. 
If you can't say anything nice, say nothing at all is my motto.

I have in the 6 months I have been blogging full time come across some absolutely stunning brands with even more gorgeous brand owners, I of course do my very best to promote something I love, but what happens when along comes a job from an almost identical brand that you need to write about.......OMG  I feel awful, as though I am being disloyal,  now I know this is stupid and have recently discussed it with a close blogger friend who said " you don't owe them exclusivity "  which is true, but my stomach still churns at the thought of seeming disloyal.

Let me know please how you overcome this ?  I really do know that you need to be thick skinned for this job, so maybe it's me ?  help................

Love N Hugz
Lyn x

Hiya Darlins,

Now don't laugh, I was out this evening, thinking I would beat the crowds to pick up the Christmas sweets and Chocs from Aldi, I Love Aldi Chocolate ! 





 Well we now have an Ikea bag full of C**P, good job I have a fitness plan for January ha ha. 

I digress, while I was there I was looking along the " Tat" isles as you do, and I spotted a stand of Mirror Shine Nail Polishes, WELL, Shiny shiny shiny, I am like a magpie; they came in Silver, Gold and Bronze, I went with the Bronze and at £1.99 why wouldn't I ?




Having returned home, unloaded the shopping and with a glass of Crimbo Baileys at my side I decided to give it a try...........Oh my lord, it's lovely, a fab metallic, NOT mirror as they said, but a lovely almost rose gold metallic, only 2 thin coats needed and I was done, I cannot at this stage report it's lasting power, but at the moment I think it's flipping fab for less than two shiny pound coins :)

If you have one of these bargain palaces near you, pop in and grab one, super cute for a bit of festive sparkle.

Love N Hugz
Lyn x

Hiya Gorgeous reader,
This really is an offer you can't refuse.......said in my best Mafia style accent.

If you are a user of Gold Collagen then you are in for a real treat this is the first topical product from the Company, and I am here to tell you it's fabulous, as you all know I am a massive fan of *sheet* type face masks, and this one really hits the spot.



Different to a lot of standard sheet masks in that it comes in 2 parts for easy application, and has a "second skin" grooviness going on, it's clear and gel and totally drenched in product.


The mask has been produced to in improve skins moisture, hydration and texture, it contains.....
Pearl Extract ; Derived from the Freshwater pearl, Pinctada martensil, a good source of antioxidants.


Hyaluronic Acid ; Found naturally within the skin, which supports moisture retention, leaving skin looking plump and moisturised.

Botanical Complex; A powerful blend of botanical antioxidants including Red Algae and Tee Tree, which leaves skin fresh and hydrated.

Glycerin; To help the skin attract and retain moisture.

Contains no Parabens, Sulphates, Triclosan or Phthalates.




I applied both parts to cleansed skin for 35 mins, I recommend you relax while the mask is doing it's magic, as it so full of product it will move if you try and get on with normal tasks, and the point is to relax and enjoy.
Once removed I gently massaged the remaining product into my face, I can honestly say it looked pretty good, and felt plumper and bouncier, strange description, but true :)

This mask is not available to buy as a stand alone product, the pack of four foil sealed masks are a FREE gift from Gold Collagen with a purchase of 30  or 90 day supplements.

Offer ends 29th December CLICK HERE for this fabulous offer.

Love N Hugz
Lyn x

Hi Darlins

You would have see be blog about Nailed London Fabulous nail polishes in a previous post Nailed London by Rosie Fortescue  This Gel polish will see you right through Christmas and the New Year, the wear time is phenomenal.

Rosie has designed a YouTube video showing you how to do a super cute Christmas mani at home in three easy steps.

Check out this link






Nailed London Gel Polish is available at Feel Unique

Hope you and your mani have a fab Crimbo

Love N Hugz
Lyn x

Cleaning the house to within an inch of it's life just in case Santa is a producer for "How clean is your house " and of course it will still be immaculate after an hour of being up !

Clean sheets  and towels on Christmas eve in case Santa notices.

New jammies on Christmas eve, don't even ask me why ? when the kids were little everyone had them ;)

Buying food items that no one on the planet ever eats, you buy it because your Mum did, and well.........because it's Christmas........ pickled walnut anyone ?

Buying and wrapping gifts for your pets, then unwrapping them yourself only to be disappointed when said pet isn't jumping with joy, miserable fur baby.

Having a little tipple while cooking lunch which results in a Christmas day burn of some description every year ( oh that's just me then ? ) 

Having a plate with a minimum of 12 different food items on it and wondering why you need a nap.




Going for a walk !!!!!!  what the frig is that about, why does someone always think going for a walk is a good idea ?  I would quite happily drive them.......muppetts !

I'm sure I could go on with this list, and I am pretty sure you have some random oddities that go on in your Christmas home :)  don't be shy, spill the beans, I would love to hear them.

Love N Hugz
Lyn x

 3 Winners will be drawn by Rafflecopter and managed by Billion Dollar Brows, who will mail your prize directly to you. GOOD LUCK Darlins xx

Hiya gorgeous reader, thanks for stopping by.

I really hope this post can help you on your way to a better looking blog, as a total techno dummy, and by dummy I mean I am the woman who would find a dummies guide hard to follow, I am here to tell you that you need no technical knowledge what so ever to have a shiny groovy looking blog.






I took to serious ( ok, stop laughing, semi serious ) blogging back in June this year 6 months ago, and whilst I do have a Wordpress blog, I never use it as I much prefer Blogger, that said, I spent many hours lusting over other peoples blogs along with many wasted hours trying to faff with blogger templates to achieve the same sort of look, only to end up messing up my layout on many occasions.  I had seen people advertising blog designs for sale all over Twitter and Etsy, with prices varying from £10.00 into the hundreds, although cost wasn't my main issue at this stage 6 months into the game I wasn't about to throw money into something I wouldn't be able to grasp.  My research led me to an online company called Pipdig, Phil is simply a god with the patience of a saint.  I chose my design from the range and at £29.00 I thought  "what the heck" if I cant use it then it's not a huge amount of money to lose.

I didn't think it would be possible for it to be this easy, from making the payment, I was contacted instantly, the blog was created within around 24 hours, and I had to do do NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING, Phil loaded it and let me know when it was done...........I couldn't have been more pleased.

The only problem was choosing from the array of fab designs, if you are thinking of having a new design or simply a little refresh, then Pipdig is the company for you, I am thinking of changing the scheme every year or so, a bit like decorating the house :)

http://www.pipdig.co/

Hi Darlins

I was thinking today after sending what I thought was an amusing tweet, well it amused me anyway :)

Christmas, love it or loathe it there is no way of ignoring it, we are bombarded from as early as September when the sun is shining and we are still thinking about late summer holidays, the seasons are now going freaky, 14 degrees in the UK in December.....crazy.


I know it's boring to some people to reminisce especially if you are of the younger generation and get sick of hearing how good everything was when us oldies were kids.  I'm not sure if it was better back then but it was most certainly different,  not a chance would you get a personalised hessian Santa sack adorned with red velvet ribbon If it was hessian it was more likely an old spud sack, in our house it was a pillowcase, and inside that pillowcase was the obligatory satsuma, which wasn't something we had all year round, gawd no, if you were lucky you had a fruit bowl full on a Saturday with some cox's and speckled bananas and maybe a couple of oranges. None of this exotic shenanigans we have today.......pineapple and kiwi indeed:)

In your pillowcase you also had so real nuts, yup in real shells......with no way of opening the flippin things other than trying with your teeth. I do not ever recall succeeding, a selection pack in a string net stocking shape that was nigh on impossible to open, and a small selection of what can only be described as old toot, coz they saved the best for downstairs.



And downstairs was were the real Christmas delights were displayed, orange and lemon jelly slices, Turkish delight with (powder) on, and dates!!!!! Why oh why was there always a cardboard box with sticky dates and a plastic fork?   and if you were REALLY posh a box of Mon Cheri chocolate liqueurs, my Mum managed to get herself a bit squiffy on a box of them during an evening with Dr 
Kildaire.





Was it better, or are our memories just fonder thinking of simpler times?

Love N Hugz

Lyn x

Hiya Gorgeous reader,

 please don't think that this post is going to preach to you about health and fitness, firstly I am no fitness guru, far from it, I am however, the world expert on yo yo dieting, and have done them all from the uber sensible to the extremely bizarre, each with varying results.


Of course I will join the rest of the world and "start again in January" lol.  My relationship with Protein powders has been a very long one, in my younger years I was obsessive about weight training to the point that it was my life, that came to a halt after emergency life saving surgery that resulted in my gorgeous 6 pack being sliced open :(  a 6 month recovery period resulted in me staying away from my passion for years.




I firmly believe that diet is 80% and exercise is 20 %  of the total package, I personally find the primal/paleo lifestyle works best for me,  and my body seems to function at it's best on high protein.

I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to try Protein Smoothies by a company called Rejuvenated, a completely different protein for me, one that is raw vegetable based rather than a whey protein.

Rejuvenated Protein Smoothies come in 3 flavours Strawberry, Butterscotch & Banana and Chocolate, I tried the Strawberry and Butterscotch &  Banana.  The smoothies come in re-sealable pouches with 17 servings in each, they come with a scoop so that you can perfectly measure 1 scoop per smoothie.  And the best bit.......99 calories.  The key ingredient is Glucomannan fibre that swells in the tummy keeping you full for literally hours. Each shake contains 21 grams of pea protein, so are perfect for vegetarians.




I have one for breakfast, and seriously have to remind myself to either have another one or food at lunchtime, I would say they work for me for around 5 hours.

Simply perfect for either keeping on top of your protein levels, or as a meal replacement when dieting.

Mixed with 300 ml water 99 kcals
Skimmed milk 300 ml 204 kcals
Almond milk 300 ml 135 kcals
Rice milk 300ml 249 kcals
Coconut water 114 kcals

At 17.99 these packs are excellent value for money,  See the website for more details Rejuvenated

This review is based on my own personal opinion, I am not a Doctor or Fitness Trainer.

The Lavender Barn: Free Belle Gel Rapide Nail System Worth £85.00: GIVEAWAY Starts 7/12/15 at 12.00 a.m Ends 14/12/15 at 12.00 a.m This fabulous Belle Gel  Rapide LED nail system worth £85.00 ...

Hiya Darlins,

How often are you asked ......."what do you want for Christmas ? "
I don't know about you, but there is something about that question that really makes me uncomfortable, maybe it's because growing up I was taught that greed was desperately unattractive, or is it a British thing where we don't want to put anyone out ? 

As a child I could have produced a list as long as an Andrex roll with puppies, of the thing's I wanted, a Post Office Set, a cash register etc, but nowadays when asked the question my reply is always ........

This post is about skin the 22 yards of it that the average sized body has.






I think we tend to hear the "beauty starts on the inside" saying and think it's about personality rather than what we put into our bodies, I for one know that if I eat c**p I feel and look c**p, you know the feeling when you are off your game, and maybe have too many take- aways or holiday over indulging or even the season we are just entering, all scary times in terms of the drastic effects that can actually be seen on your skin.

Although I do try and keep to healthy eating I am no saint, and have a tendency to rely on creams etc to fix the damage a bad diet and lack of sleep do to my poor face. 

I have been lucky enough to have tried and tested Collagen Shots from a company by the name of Rejuvenated, if you haven't heard of them check out their website Rejuvenated there is also a brilliant YouTube video on there.

I must admit I had never really given this kind thing a thought, and was really keen to give my body some  *Internal Love* so I started on my month of nightly Collagen Shots........no I didn't start injecting myself in the rump, it's not that kind of "shot"

One scoop from the scoop provided.

By mixing one scoop of the powder into water you are giving your body 
10,000 mgs marine collagen, hyaluronic acid, acai berry super antioxidant, combined with vitamin B3, B5, C with zinc and copper.

Mix and leave to stand for one minute

The taste isn't a Mc Donalds milkshake but it really isn't unpleasant, a little bit like diluted berry flavoured fruit juice.



I must admit at first I thought ........ "this is ok, but cant really see it that it's going to do anything"       WRONG.......I can visibly see and feel the difference in my face, the skin feels firmer to the touch and kind of bouncier, sounds mad, but that's the best way to describe it, it definitely looks brighter, and dare I be so bold as to say a little bit more youthful.......ok I don't mean I suddenly look 20, but it definitely has a bit of a glow going on.

It turns from cloudy to clear. ready to drink.

The biggest thing for me apart from my face, are my arms........you can get up now and stop laughing, but those of you who are of a certain age will know what I mean about the "arm" thing !  the inner tops of my arms are definitely firmer, I do have a thing about this area, I think it is extremely unfair that it should show signs of age.......cruel cruel world, but Collagen shots have 100% helped to improve this skin, I can say this with confidence as it can't be anything else !

I can't see me giving up this internal routine now, as besides the visible difference it's making just the feeling of knowing you are doing everything possible for yourself is priceless, and going to bed at night knowing all that goodness is busy working away while you are sleeping is a weird but fabulous thought :)

Take a peek at the Rejuvenated Website you will be pleasantly surprised.

Love N Hugz
Lyn x