I wanted to share with you part of myself which I normally don't feel comfortable talking about even with my friends because I'm a pretty shy person.
I have Polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS as its commonly known as. Its something that has affected me since I was at university. There are many different symptoms of PCOS. Some lucky ones might only be affected mildly whilst others may suffer from symptoms such as irregular menstruation cycles, acne, weight gain, excess hair in the places you don't want it and hair loss in the place you do want it! I wont go into the details of the condition because I'm sure you can Google it and find much better descriptions that I could ever give. But I wanted to share with you one of the symptoms that I have experienced personally and that is severe hair loss.
When I was younger I had really thick strong shiny hair but as I got older my hair shed more and more. Over the past 5 years in particular I noticed the crown of my head thinning more. When I look at photo's of myself I can see that my hair near my parting has thinned out alot and my scalp is particularly visible. I felt so embarrassed by it and it has really affected my confidence.
Over the past few years I have made a conscious effort to take care of my hair as much as possible...
Washing my hair every other day or less if I can get away with it with the help of dry shampoos
Using mild shampoos, nothing harsh like the anti-dandruff ones
Reduced heat considerably, drying naturally as often as possible
Using the low heat setting on my hairdryer to straighten and style my hair rather than straightners
No chemical hair dyes at all (until about 2 months ago)
All this has really helped the condition of my hair making it feels stronger and more nourished. I've also noticed that my hair can grow much longer too without needing a cut (around 2 inches) and I have more little hairs growing but sadly I haven't seen any significant improvements.
I have to admit I have never really used any products before which are specifically designed to stimulate hair growth because I have been reluctant to use harsh chemicals on my scalp in case it gets any worse. However I am about to start trying out a few products which have had clinically proven results for some people.
So this is my little heart to heart and my hair story so far. Over the next month or so I will feature a few products which I have been using recently to help me with my hair dilemma which I hope some people will find interesting.
If you have been following me on Twitter you will know that I have been totally obsessed with the Olympic Games over the past two weeks! I've never been hugely interested in sport apart from following Wimbledon or when World Cup fever sweeps the nation but this Olympic Games has completely captured my heart!
The build up to the games in the UK have been simmering with some speculation and skepticism for the past couple of years particularly. As the Olympic Torch was carried through cities, towns and villages all over the UK, I think we began to feel more enthusiastic about the games bringing with it a sense of community as thousands came together watch the parades locally.
Even I was unsure about the Olympics considering the state of the economy and the amount of money spent of it but as soon as I saw the opening ceremony I was hooked! It was absolutely fantastic! Ok, it definitely wasn't the grand spectacular of Beijing but for me London's had soooo much heart! I loved all the greenery and the park vibe at the start. Showing the world the UK's history and huge advancements made in the Victorian era, Emillene Pankhurst and womens suffragette's movement, the ode to the NHS and Great Ormond Street Hospital was brilliant. We complain a lot about the NHS but I do think we are extremely lucky to have free healthcare in the UK.
The James Bond/Queen sketch was pure genius!! Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined the 'Queen' jumping out of a helicopter into the Olympic stadium! It was so funny, loved that it showed some British humour and Mr Bean!! OMG! Playing that one note to Chariots of Fire over and over again and his going into his little daydream ...it was hilarious!! Comical timing was awesome!!
Then my fav part of the whole ceremony! DIZZIE RASCAL!!! Man...he absolutely killed it and everyone did go freaking bonkers!!! lol Mixed it up at the end with some Dhol beats, showing the world the different elements of British culture. Oh and Tim Berners-Lee at the end annoucing the world...We invented the internet goddamnit! lol So cool!!
It was a brilliant opening! Danny Boyle did a great job in conveying Britain's past, present and future by introducing the theme of the games....Inspiring a generation. Everyone was wondering which famous athlete would be given the honour of lighting the flame and in the end it was given to seven young athletes symbolising the future of Britain which I thought was so beautiful! oh and by the way how hot did David Beckham look riding the speedboat on the Thames!! lol If you didn't managed to catch it you see the highlights here.
Some people think that Britain is boring and yes, I agree that traditional British food may not be the most exciting if you compare it to flavours of asia but the thing I love about being British is our embrace of different cultures (Indian, African, Chinese, Caribbean etc) which have all become engrained into our own to form a truely multi-cultured society! I mean Britain's national dish is Chicken Tikka Masala! lol
So after that amazing opening I was totally hooked! There was just so much passion and drama, tears, hard work and heart! It was all just so fun to watch and so emotional too...I couldn't help but shed some tears!
These are the moments that really stood out for me:
The Brownlee Brothers - Triathlon - These two brothers have such a great bond, they train together and compete together. Always supporting each other, helping each other through competition races, they have even been known to step across the finish line together showing their love and unity...they are so inspiring! There was abit of drama during the race when the younger brother got a 15sec penalty but despite this he still won a bronze medal with his brother winning gold.
Rute Meilutyte - 100m Breast Stroke - This 15 year Lithuanian girl won gold! It was a complete shock to everyone including herself! She just couldn't believe she had won, was literately in shock and so full of emotion, it even made me shed a little tear for her...so beautiful to watch!
Chad le Clos - 200m Butterfly - This was SUCH a touching moment! This South African guy Chad le Clos could not believe that he beat his all time hero Michael Phelps in the 200m fly. He was so elated and ecstatic he was just bouncing!! The commentators managed to grab his father Bert for an 'interview' and it was just pure joy!! He was sooo excited and incredibly proud of his son, he kept saying 'Look at my beautiful boy'...you have to watch this vid to understand what I mean...
Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase - Lightweight Double Sculls (Rowing) - These British guys won gold in this event last time round and were so committed to winning gold again. There was some drama when within 100m of the start line Mark's seat broke so there was a short break and the race was restarted. Still they drove hard and fast only to be beaten in the final few moments by Denmark winning the gold. Even though they still got silver, these guys were completely heart broken! They so desperately wanted gold and Zac particular was absolutely gutted, he completely broke down was crying uncontrollable and even as they were being interviewed the BBC's John Inverdale also couldn't help but cry and was struggling to get his words out as he handed over the the main studio. Zac said to John he's so sorry for letting everyone down...but I was thinking to myself..'you haven't let anyone down! You've been working your ass off these past four years and all I'm doing is watching the telly!' Damn that was emotional!!
Mo Farah - 10,000 and 5,000m run - Honestly I can't reall put into words the joy of these two moments when Mo won Gold in these events. Its like the whole of Britain was watching on these two Super Saturday nights, uniting together and willing Mo to win. It was like winning the World Cup but better! Everyone was crazy excited for him! I'll never forget it!
Tom Daley - 10m Platform Diving - Tom has been the poster boy for the London Olympics for the past four years, there was so much pressure on him to perform well not only from the public but from himself. Nine years ago when he was just 9 years old he drew a picture of himself doing a handstand on a diving board at London 2012...this was his dream! He had a shaky start in the prelims and the semi's too but he managed to pull it outta the bag in the Final winning a Bronze medal. He did it! He made his dreams come true! To see the joy on his face and his teams when he won was pure happiness! I love how his team threw him into the diving pool to celebrate!!
And finally the BBC commentators Clare Balding and Mark Foster! My favourite events out of them all were the swimming and diving ones and Clare and Mark really did bring an extra sparkle to the games. In particular Clare, not just for swimming but for so many other sports it was just to lovely to see her genuine passion and love for sports, the atheetes and they way in which she would talk to us like we were friends, she totally made the Olympics for me!
These games were filled with such drama, passion, tears and heart! I think that Lord Sebastian Coe did Britain proud and feel like he really has succeeding in his aim of inspiring a generation. Yes the Games were expensive but sometimes you just have to splurge to make yourself feel better...I mean we all like to indulge in a nice designer handbag or pair of shoes even though we dont really need it...the way I see it is this was the governments way of splurging only difference is this has had a hugely positive impact on the whole country. I can't wait for Rio 2016 now, I'm definitely going to be saving my pennies to try and be there! Who's with me??
Ok so I think I've rambled on about how much I loved it all enough...I hope this didn't bore you too much! Did you watch the games? What were your favourite bits? I would love to hear your highlights!
Hi everyone! I've been abit lacking on the bloggeroo front recently but I've been missing you guys!! What has everyone been upto?? Me? Well, it was my birthday a couple weeks ago and to celebrate my best friend and I booked ourselves on a Spa day at Aqua Sana in Center Parcs, Sherwood Forest. We had such a lovely time!!
Road trip!! Beautiful June day...welcome to the UK!
Sherwood Forest, I see you!!
Yay, Center Parcs...we have arrived!!
Driving through the Parc...
So beautiful and green
Finally reach the middle! :-)
To be honest I'm not a huge spa person just because I'm slightly body conscience and for me a spa experience is about hanging out with my girl friends and having a giggle so the idea of going to a spa in a posh hotel is slightly daunting for me! But I have to say I absolutely love the Aqua Sana Spa in Center Parcs! Its such a lovely friendly relaxed atmosphere with people of all ages just chilling and chatting and enjoying the experience.
As soon as we entered the Roman looking Aqua Sana building we were greeted by a lovely warm smile at reception who ran through the sequence of the day, gave us our arm band passes and handed us the keys to our lockers that contained our robes and towels. There are a few spa options available like half day, twilight spa, treatments etc...we went for the Full day spa not including an additional treatments which was £99 for two. This included a welcome drink and lunch at the Aldo Zilli Restaurant. Once we had changed into our swimwear we went through to the restaurant where we had our complimentary welcome drink...we chose an apple, strawberry and passion fruit smoothie...happy days! :-) Then onto the world of Sauna's!! lol
I couldn't take photo's inside the Spa itsself but here is the outside and reception area...
Reception area
The Spa shop selling Elemis, Decleor, Bare Minerals and others brands of skincare and makeup...
Aqua Sana has around 15 different types of sauna/steam room's and experiences including Indian blossom steam room, Turkish room, Japanese salt steam, Greek herbal sauna, foot spa, spa pool, zen garden and loads more (full list here). I love that there are so many different things to do and rooms/areas to explore so you wont get bored easily!
I've been to Aqua Sana a few times before and my fave thing to do is have a round spending about 5/10 mins in each of the rooms...by then I'm feeling super hot so I go upto to the balcony area on the 1st floor which is open to take in the fresh crisp air and the beautiful scenic view of trees while snuggling up on a full length lounger with THE most comfiest and softest faux fur blanket! Ok so I know this sounds simple but if you've ever been Aqua Sana you know what I'm talking about...going from the hot steamrooms to the fresh air is just so refreshing!!
My favourite is room of all is the Japanese salt steam...it has the most intense heat of them all so I can't stay in there for too long but I love the intensity as I really feel like I'm detoxing and sweating out all the impurities and my skin feels amazing afterwards!
My arm band...bracelets made by me! :-)
As we had the whole day we decided to pace ourselves so we leisurely spent a few hours at Aqua Sana, had our lunch at the Aldo Zilli restaurant which was fantastic, then head out for a walk and check out the main pool. I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed the lunch! We ordered a creamy mushroom tagliatelle pasta and chicken & bacon panini. The panini was nice but the pasta was amazing! It was so fresh and delicate, the sauce was beautiful and you could tell it was made with love...it really was so delicious!
After lunch we decided to take a break, changed out of our swimsuits and had a wander around Center Parcs village shops and parks. If you're not familiar with Center Parcs it is a big holiday village based in leafy forest locations throughout the UK and France. The idea is you rent a chalet for a week or weekend and you can do as many activities as you like or as little as you like. They have looooads of different things to do! Outdoor, indoor and water based sports on their lakes, pottery painting, dance lessons, horse riding, bowling to name just a few and at the heart of the village is a big indoor tropical swimming pool under a huge dome shaped glass ceiling. So we had a little walk around the villiage and shops and stopped for a cheeky but epic dessert at the Pancake House!
Map of the park and restaurants...
Kids play area...
My friend bought me the special Jubilee Cherry one at the bottom...absolutely delicious!!
Indoor courts...
Manmade beach and lake for watersports...
Our waitress at the Pancake House was really lovely and when my friend told her it was my birthday she gave me a complimentary mocktail to say happy birthday which nice. But I'm not sure what was happening because the restaurant was empty apart from two tables when we arrived but we had to wait forever for our dessert (around 45mins!!) I have to admit despite the free drink I was getting quite impatient but when it did finally arrive it was damn good!! Warm and doughy...yum!!
We decided to swim off some of the calories by heading to the main swimming pool! Its such a gorgeous pool, I love all the palm trees and looking up to see the sky...it really does have that tropical vibe...well as close as you can get to tropical in the UK lol!! There are a couple of different slides/rapids which are awesome, a fun wave machine and a seperate outdoor pool with one a plunge pool too...I wasnt brave enough to have a go in the plunge pool though...its bloody freezing! lol
My swimsuit :-)
Bar and a Starbucks inside the dome...
Then we headed back to the Aqua Sana spa for the last hour of our day before we be kicked out by 6pm. So as you can tell I loved the whole day and litterally can't wait to go back again hopefully for a full week or weekend! But the best part of my day was spending it with my best friend :-)
Cherry Lane xoxo
p.s. sorry for the long post...I got abit excited lol! oh and also, it might seem like this post was sponsered or something but it wasnt...I just love the place lol
Hi chica's! Hope you are all doing well! I'm back from my little break and thought I'd get back into the flow of things by showing you a few pieces I have been lusting after and are on my imaginary birthday wishlist! Oh yeah, its on the 29th btw so if anyone would like to get my any of these, I will love you forever! lol :-)
I have to admit I dont really enter many giveaways because I'm always so unlucky and never win anything! lol and I'm also kinda lazy to do all the different entries especially when hundreds of other people have already applied but when I see a really awesome giveaway which isnt too crazy competitive then I do like to give it a go. So last week I just could believe my luck because I actually won one!! Lovely Lauren from All Things Beauty, Make-up & Shopping had a massive 200 Follower Giveaway...Thank you so much Lauren for letting me win your giveaway! I cant tell you how happy I am!! Sooo much awesome stuff! Take a look at what I won...
Hiya everyone! I had been going thru abit of a dry musical spell recently where nothing much has really been inspiring me but I've got my groove back and here are some of the songs I am loving right now...
1.Stooshe - Love Me feat. Travie McCoy: LOOOVE this song but not a fan of the vid...its so distracting from the awesomeness of the song and their voices!
2. Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know feat. Kimbra: So by now I'm sure most of you have already heard this because its been No. 1 in loads of countries but I wanted to share the love! Im so obsessed with this!
3. Emeli Sande - Next to Me: British singer...this girl has got an INcredible voice!!
4. Albin De La Simone - Avant Tout, I Vont You: This is a kinda curveball...I stumbled on this song randomly when I was in an French Connection store in Edinburgh...they were playing it in the store as I was waiting for House of Pinheiro to try some clothes on and its funky beat together with French style totally capture me to I Shazam'ed it and have been addicted ever since lol. I have been listening to the proper studio version on my iphone but I could only find a live version on YouTube *sad face* but you get the idea...p.s. skip ahead to around 55secs
5. Olly Murs - Heart Skips a Beat: This song has been around for ages (I even did a separate blog post about it ages ago here) but I still love it and havent got tired of it yet!
Soooo....what do you think? I hope I have given you abit of musical inspiration to liven up your day!
Brrrr....its absolutely freezing here in the UK! Literally! My laptop weather gadget is telling me its -5 outside!! Ouch!!
This cold weather makes me looks forward to the spring and think about past summers...a couple of years ago my friend Rachel from House of Pinheiro invited me to spend the weekend with her in Rochester and it just so happened that the city was holding its annual summer pinic and were hosting a charity Cherry dessert competition!! Even back then when we didnt know eachother that well Rach knew about my love of cherries and of course we had to enter!! The only rule of the competition was that they needed to use fresh local Kent grown cherries...I made a Cherry Clafoutis and Rach made a fanastic Brazilian dessert. We were so excited about the weekend that we even sewed our own fun cherry aprons especially for the occasion!! We were rushing to make them the morning of the picnic and didn't quite finish them on time...
It was a wonderful day! The sun was shining! Lots of people and stalls and some extremely good contenders for the dessert competition!
The big oval one is Rachel's Brazilian masterpiece
Mine was D...cherry clafouti
Stiff competition
After alot of tastings, the scores were in and the Head Judge, Chris from Topes restaurant in Rochester announced the winner...
and hey presto Rachel's Brazilian delight won 1st Prize!! Wooohooooo!!!! We were soooo happy!! She won a supercute cherry dessert platter, a three course dinner for two at a local 2 AA rosette restaurant and the opportunity to make the desserts in the restaurant kitchen and for the dessert to be served in the menu for the evening...what an honour!!
One our way home with the winning platter outside the restaurant we had dinner
Our finished aprons!
Making the winning dessert in the restaurant kitchen
Rach with Head Chef, Chris
At the restaurant
Winning dessert on the menu with Rach's name!
The final presentation of the dessert...its no surprise they sold out right!
We even featured in the local newspaper!!
You can find Rachel's take on the day here. Oh summer fun!! Please hurry and bring me sunshine!!
My fish!! I got my fish tank tank (Fluval Edge) about 6 months ago. I've always loved fish and think they are just soo beautiful so when I moved back home I decided I really wanted one!! And I also think fish tanks are a really pretty feature to a home. I've got 5 fish in there right now...
Orange platy named Sunset
Neon tetra which is the big one with the blue and red stripes named Blaine
Cardinal tetra which is the smaller one with the blue stripe named Pip
Black guppy which is called Snoop
And our newest member of the fam who was born on New Years Day by Sunset...the small baby platy named Tinie
