Ombre Nails!

There are whisperings in the fashion world that Ombre is out, yet increasingly it's been boldly making it's way back into our lives and what I'm loving at the moment is Ombre nails! They are super stylish, incredibly easy to do and actually don't take a lot of time! Perfect for a quick fix!

First off, make sure you have all of your tools, you don't want to be getting up half way through and having to rummage for the rest of your tools! you might ruin your nails!
You will need:

• The nail polishes in the colours you want to use. You can almost literally use any colours, it's a great chance to experiment and have fun!
• A good top coat! This will smooth out the nails and make sure it lasts longer and stays perfect!
• Toothpicks. Great little mixers.
• Something plastic. preferably a plastic sleeve of some sorts that won't make the polish dry out and won't absorb it.

Step 1: Choose your lightest colour and paint all of your nails as normal. wait for this to dry as much as possible for a good base coat.

Step 2: Using the plastic, paint the polish straight onto the plastic so the colours touch, make sure you use plenty so there is no gap.

Step 3: Take a tooth pick and mix the colours together in the middle (use a swirling motion so there isn't just one straight line, it gives it more of a gradient look).

Step 4: Using a sponge (I use a makeup sponge but you can use an ordinary sponge to) dab it in the polish and start pressing it onto the nail. You can do this as many times as you like to create layers but make sure it's dry in between applications!

Step 4: Once you're happy and everything is dry, add a top coat or two for protection, clean up the edges and you're ready to go!

Hopefully this will help you! The pictures aren't great because I did it late at night with a friend and this was my first ever attempt but i'm really pleased with the outcome and I will definitely be doing this again! Perfect for a night out!

The picture is a bit blurry and I haven't cleaned up the edges but here's some experimentation I did with colours! Very easy and very fun!

k.

Thighs the Limit.

The new dark obsession clouding over women of all ages. The thigh gap. We've all seen it and we all have an opinion on it, but who is right? If you type in 'leg gap' on Google you will see how this issue has us all divided, half the sites will be pro gap, encouraging you to work on your own gap and how to achieve it and half will be telling you the real problems and effects of having 'the gap'. (For those of you who have read this far and are confused, a thigh gap is a cavity that appears at the top of your thighs when your feet and knees are placed together.) The general consensus at the moment seem to be that if you want to be pretty, attractive or have the perfect body then your thighs must not be able to touch! It's not physically natural or normal for us to have a gap in our thighs, without being underweight or not yet a fully grown adult, although I want to make it clear i'm not trying to attack anyone and some people do actually have thigh gaps naturally but it's natural to them not something they have had to possibly harm their bodies to achieve.
Yes we all want lovely toned and slim thighs but there really is a limit. Your body needs that bit there and it needs body fat to provide you with a bit of padding so you don't damage your bones and organs. Also it produces oestrogen and other hormones which is something all of us need, it's not really optional, so pushing your body to achieve this highly unattainable fad is damaging your body in more ways than you can count!
People are pushing their bodies to extremes to try and achieve that gap, there are numerous tumblr accounts encouraging you to do severe things such as only eat one small slice of apple every two hours! or grab that fat   to get the gap? Another way people are getting the gap is through Lipoglaze (cosmetic surgery). Lipoglaze is basically where they freeze your inner thigh fat to get rid of it! The Harley street clinic in London has reported a 240% increase in this procedure in the last year!
I thought that society was starting to understand being healthy is key, and was encouraging curves and all healthy body shapes among women but now this! It's like we are taking a step backwards again and it's quickly spreading to the younger generations. Again we are telling them that eating disorders are OK and they should have them to look good. Just like the models. That's where this has all trickled down from but people seem to forget those women really do push their bodies, it's part of the job and hard work, it's not as glamorous as everyone thinks.
I know some women have this gap naturally no matter how hard they try, they will always have it, and that's how you are, its healthy and obtainable for them, they're not purposely doing it to themselves but I would really encourage women who don't have this naturally not to conform to the fad! Your lovely as you are, Touchy things and all, you should just aim to be healthy and happy not worry about this issue. It's just another obsession that we don't need.

Also I would like to add the argument from the other side. Its wrong to attack slimmer women for being skinny if thats how they are and it's healthy for them!
A friend of mine has been picked on, on tumblr, because she has a thigh gap but she is tall and slim and thats how her body is no matter what she tries!
I know some people have said how its a way of making curvy girls feel better about themselves, having the whole 'curvy girls are beautiful, skinny girls aren't' and 'real women have curves'  in the same way skinny people feel the need to say 'curves are ugly and skinny is better'. Neither is better, as long as everyone's healthy and this really is the point i'm trying to make! :)


k.


(P.s I'm honestly not trying to offend anyone, just trying to raise awareness of this issue and voice my opinion. I'm sharing this in hopes that people will gain a bit more of an understanding on the issue, the last thing I want in the world is for anyone to feel bad, harm their bodies or themselves, just trying to promote a happy, healthy world!)

Phill Jupitus at TCAT

Who: Phill Jupitus
When: Monday 6th May
Where: TCAT Tiverton

You're Probably Wondering Why I've Asked You Here...

Phil Jupitus is well known for his appearances on television shows such as QI and Never Mind the Buzzcocks, so it really was to my surprise that he was playing his very own shown in Tiverton!
I honestly didn't know what to expect attending this event. I have been to my fair share of gigs but never for a stand up comedian.
Taking our seats  the audience was greeted by a solitary artist's easel supporting a card simply stating, 'welcome' next to a microphone stand. Simple and Intriguing.

After a short wait his first 'character' graced the stage, rather stiffly and slowly, plodding up to the mike.
The late Vernon Herschel Harley (played rather convincingly by Jupitus) is or should I say was, an acting legend who died at the age of 113 through a family feud. This was really clever, basically Vernon is a dead guy who was brought to us so we can ask him questions about his life and acting (having worked with all the greats!).
Jupitus kept the accent and the character perfectly throughout this segment of the show. He constantly asked the audience to provide questions for him to answer and every time he seamlessly answered with witty comebacks, even amusing himself sometimes!

After a short intermission we were introduced to the late Kurt Schiffer, a captain of a U42B that was part of the German Navy's wolfpacks. He unfortunately died in 1944 after choking on an olive. He strolled onto the stage, ignoring the audience trying to light a cigarette  where he was promptly shouted at by a mysterious voice in the wings, to put it out. With some reluctance he did stating 'I was under the impression, you guys won the was? Glad to see your enjoying all that freedom!'
The tale of 'Schiffer' is particularly hilarious with him explaining all about his marriage and experiences through the war. Again we learnt of him through the audiences questions with Schiffer (Jupitus) making up his answers on the spot. His accent did slip in and out abit during this segment, especially when he was amused or angry but still he played the role superbly and was very quick on his feet with answers and reactions to the crowd. Of course with his working background and death dates, the audience questions quickly veered towards that war and Hitler but Schiffer was quick to declare that he thought Hitler was a 'dick' after meeting him at a car boot sale and buying all his thimbles. It was a rather elaborate tale but utterly hilarious.

After the second and last interval the stage was graced finally by Phill Jupitus as 'himself'. Kind off. It was the late great Phil Jupitus who died on June 24th 2052 on the eve of his 90th birthday. He immediately explains that he is being illegally broadcast and beamed onto the stage by a nerd in Bethnal Green, and that he may suddenly disappear because it is completely banned to do this and the government constantly scan everyones computer in the future playing the songs of 'Alanis morissette' which immediately stops the broadcast.
After this explanation he encourages the audience to ask him questions about himself from this point until his death and what happens in the future.
With no Accents or persona's to keep up, this segment was seamless and incredibly witty, and by now the whole audience had come out of the shock of being asked to do some of the work and were throwing questions at him from all directions! A little audience mocking did go on but thats the fun of it really!
The whole show is very clever in itself and it really takes talent to not have any specific jokes rehearsed and just fuel the show purley of the audience.

I won't spoil the whole show for you but I would 100% recommend seeing this man live. It was superb, hilarious and a whole lot of fun!

Bucket Lists.

Recently I have been thinking more and more about the future, what I'm going to do, going to be, What will be when I die and one thing that rather scares me is not doing anything with my life. Not being able to say 'I've done this' or 'I am that'. Now I know for a fact that I am far from the only one that feels this, especially as you get older, which is where the lovely 'Bucket List' comes into it all.
A bucket list if you haven't guessed is a list of things you want to do and achieve before you die. The be all and end all of to do lists.

There is a bit of a debate about Bucket Lists and whether or not you should make one. The con's mainly are that you may not finish your list and feel awful about it when the time come and that's counter productive because you want to feel fulfilled and happy when you die. Also it can be a bit depressing thinking about dying and can put you off even thinking about these kind of things, but ask yourself
'Would I be happy dying today knowing what I have achieved and done in my lifetime?' I wouldn't and there are a million and one things I want to do before die.
Which leads us onto the 'pro' side of the list. I think a Bucket List will push you to do amazing things, live life to the full and really challenge yourself. You could learn a lot and leave this world happy and in the knowledge that you have done what you wanted or even left this world a slightly better place.

My advice would be, if you write a Bucket List you have some level of commitment, you have to really want to do what you write and push yourself to do them or else you will let yourself down.
Another piece of advice would be to tell friends and family, get them involved too if you wish. It might push you towards doing everything and leave you with amazingly happy memories of times with them.
So personally I think Bucket Lists are amazing and everyone should have some sort of a list. you can have anything at all on the list, anything you have ever thought would be cool or dreamed of doing.

Whilst researching Bucket Lists I came across another blog of an amazing 17 year old girl who unfortunately died of cancer. She had a bucket list and documented every memory on the blog, it truly is lovely and inspirational. Her sister and family now carry on the blog and the list, raising money for the charity 'Alice's Escapes' which allows terminally ill children to have amazing adventures and experiences.
Alice's Bucket List is really inspirational because it is helping others, she has made this earth a little better and made many other children and families happier.

So grab a pen and paper and start writing. Try not to regret anything you haven't done and strive for the next thing! Also try and add something to your list that would help someone else. Put a smile on their face.
Hopefully you will achieve some amazing fetes and embark on fantastic adventures, so when you finally come to actually kicking the metaphorical bucket, you're happy in the knowledge you had a brilliant life.

(feel free to tell me what's on your list!)

k.

For Inspiration...
Alices blog :http://alicepyne.blogspot.co.uk/
Millies fundraising page :https://www.justgiving.com/millypyne

Here's a little insight into my list...

• Swim with dolphins.
• Bungee Jump.
• Cuddle a REAL koala.
• Go on holiday (somewhere outside the uk).
• Go on a hot air balloon.
• Cook a roast dinner from scratch.

and many, many, MANY more! x

30 Days of Squatting? Challenge Accepted!

Recently I have been bored on my computer so I have inevitably fallen into the hype of looking at things such as 'lol cats' and funny pictures. Whilst amusing, this activity is also rather soul crushing but amidst my pointless searching I came across a picture entitled 'The 30 day squat challenge' I didn't think much of it at first and went on to look at funny pictures of pugs doing handstands but it kept cropping up again and again, so without any other choice(and because I was curious) I found myself clicking on the picture.
Basically you are challenged to do roughly a month of squats, starting at 50 and working your way up to 250 in one day!
Challenge Accepted!

Naively, I thought '250 would be easy' I am currently on my 5th day and already my legs are killing me! I have worked up to 70 squats a day and already the difference is amazing! But you really do need to persevere,  its very easy to give up in this challenge!
Online people are raving about this. The soreness will pass and at the end the results will be well worth it apparently!
 Me and my friend are doing the challenge but decided to take it up a level! As well as the squats, we plan to match the amount done daily with sit-ups/crunches and all in one go, where as some people I have seen are spreading it out throughout the day!
So I will keep doing this challenge and update on my day 30, if you are doing it yourself let me know how its going! And for everyone else, I challenge you to do this! You won't be able to walk properly to begin with but it really is an interesting challenge!

k.

Skin! Look after it and it will look after you!

Skin! Something we all have and would have a lot of trouble going about our daily business without it (or even surviving without it for that matter) but a lot of the time most of us don't even think about it and definitely don't look after it! I'm writing this because I have been trying to improve my skin lately and make it look better but it lead me to question how to do this and why! So I thought I would share my findings with you!

Our skin works hard to look after us! It keeps us warm and cool, protects us against the weather (or if your in Britain, mainly just the rain), fights of infections for us so we don't get ill, allows us to feel with millions of nerves in it and much more! It is one of our biggest and complex organs yet we seem to forget about it and mistreat but why should we? You wouldn't treat your heart or your brain like that!
Now for something that may put you off your food but I thought I'd share anyway because it's rather fascinating! we shed about 40,000 every hour! That's almost a million a day! It constantly regenerates and pushes the old, dead, skin cells out leaving you with healthy, fresh and new skin! why thank you skin! The disgusting part is that the skin cells lay around your house and everywhere you go collecting and ending up as dust! Which is an amazing reason to keep your house clean, so you don't have billions of little dead, 'you' bits hanging around!
So here is how to do it and get some awesome looking and feeling skin!

• Eat healthy. What you put into your body can be reflected on the outside. The general consensus is if you are healthy your skin is healthy!
• A very obvious one is to protect yourself from the sun. Sun damage can cause an array of problems such as cancer and can make you age a lot quicker.
• Water is especially important and I can definitely preach this point! If you are dehydrated your skin can look older and tired, something none of us would want so make sure to drink plenty of the right things, especially if drinking alcohol. 
• Sleep.
• Wash of your makeup at night! It can block your pores and damage your skin and then re-wash your face in the morning before reapplying to make sure everything is fresh and clean, it also helps avoid infections although be careful when washing! Strong soaps or over washing can get rid of the skin's natural oils that protect your skin and keep it healthy!
• Face masks can help the appearance of skin, they are quite cheap and come with a host of benefits such as banishing blackheads, cleansing, toning and much more (plus they are quite fun if I do say so myself!)
• Skip a day of makeup. whenever you can, try and not wear makeup that day, even if its just around the house, it allows you skin to breath and promotes it to heal itself, get rid of more dead skin cells and make you look healthy and radiant!
• Moisturize! A lot of the time our skin can lack moisture, especially because of our surroundings and environments  so moisturizers can top up what our skin needs! It's better to get a natural moisturiser, one with less chemicals so your face can breath a lot more. I recommend 'Dream Cream' from Lush, it is amazing and I swear by it! If you want to find out more about it, keep an eye on the blog I will be posting a review on the stuff!
• Try and relax. Stress causes effects on your skin such as dehydration, wrinkles and lines, spots, patchy-ness, redness and a lot more! So chill out and your skin will stay clear and lovely!
• Drink green tea. Personally I think the stuff is disgusting but always try and get a cup of it in when I remember! The tea has anti-inflammatory properties which helps reduce puffy skin and redness!
• Vitamins. If you can try and regularly take vitamins such as vitamin A, vitamin D complex and vitamin C, it will give your skin and your body everything it is lacking so it can keep protecting you and doing its job properly.

So there are a few tips to get you going, it is quite simple but highly important to look after your skin. If you have any other tips or anything let me know! It would be interesting to find out more about this, it's something you have your whole life and as you get older especially you have to take care of yourself and skin is a priority we sometimes overlook.

k.

Cambion, Mind for Murder and Anal Bead at Tiverton Tomato Bar

When: Saturday 30th March

Where: Tomato Bar Tiverton

Who: Anal Bead, Mind for Murder and Cambion.

Who knew such a small venue in the midst of Tiverton high street could provide the backdrop of such a high energy evening? As soon as I arrived at the Tomato Bar there was already quite a lot of buzz and excitement with people everywhere, chilling out surprisingly to the sound of 'Sikth' blasting over the speakers.

Anal Bead

As the rest of the crowd started to ascend on the bar the first band took the stage. There's not a lot of words to describe Anal Bead. They really are a marmite band, you either love them or hate them, and fortunately Tiverton love them! As you can guess from their name, Anal Bead is a comedy metal band that take pride in not taking themselves seriously, so far so that they don't even play the instrument they originally learnt to play! The front man/guitarist is actually a drummer, the drummer is actually a guitarist...you get my point but all this aside they make for one hell of an evening of entertainment! Starting with their infamous song 'Any holes a goal' they had the whole crowd laughing and singing along (other songs include titles such as 'Mayonnaise salute' and the ever popular 'we like boobies'.) At one point the front man 'Frank Dennis performed a song on the shoulders of someone in the audience, although I don't think he was expecting that!

Anal Bead are a funny band that really get the show going with their simplistic sounds, likened to that of 'Lawnmower Deth'. The best way to sum up Anal Bead though was actually posted on the event page for the gig. "Anal Bead are without a doubt Tiverton's best shit band!"

Mind for Murder

Next to play were 'Mind for Murder.' Not a band I had ever heard of before but definitely one to watch out for now! One thing that strikes me about this band was their very effective old school style. Rather than playing fast, chaotic riffs and overly complicated beats they stuck with the once and always great style, reminiscent of bands such as 'Soil and Pantera' and to really drive the point home they even wowed us all with a cover of metal giants 'Crowbar - High Rate Extinction'. The vocals also caught everyone's attention with singer Lewis throwing some new and interesting techniques into the mix to liven things up! 

This band is very connected and work well together, they can listen to each other and respond well to create strong, blasting rhythms and catchy and memorable songs that get everyone moving.

This Bristol based band really deserves everyone's support and I would definitely suggest to everyone to go catch them live if you can!

After a short break with everyone running to the bar, the small room was quickly filled back up again with people desperate to get to the front, even lining the stairs awaiting the return of Cambion.

Cambion

Straight into the set, no messing around and they opened up with 'Death March' a song from their previous E.P 'Last Rites'. With a seamless flow they worked through the first E.P showing of their melodic and technical style that had anyone who could move head banging. A crowd favourite was definitely 'Salem' which had the whole crowd singing along with frontman Elliott. The thing that impresses me the most with this band is the stage presence each of them have. Unfortunately you do see some bands who have great music but let their performances down with lack of stage presence but not this band. Even the Drummer was head banging and wind milling in time with the rest of them whilst blasting out some amazingly technical beats. There sound definitely has a djent edge to it, you don't often see around these parts and you can see how bands such as 'Meshuggah and Animals as Leaders' influence their sound, yet they manage to pull off their own style. 

Finishing the set they played through their latest E.P 'Virus'. What I loved most about Virus was how atmospheric it is, you really get a sense of a story when they are playing. Just like their previous songs, Virus is technical and melodic but you can instantly hear the malevolence in all the songs, it's especially honed in 'Virus part 3' Death'. Although each song follows on from the last you really do get a variety of sounds and Levels from 'Part 1' throwing you in at the deep end to 'Part 5' almost restoring your faith in humanity (Listen to the song/words and you will understand) Clean vocals intermixed with the aggressive screaming and they have perfected the art of conveying emotions beautifully.

Brutal beats, face melting riffs, amazing live sound and all around metal, you can't really ask much more from this Devonshire band yet they strive to give you more.

k.
 Check them out!

Cambion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHdFcjtPXEI

Mind for Murder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lvxp3DeL0g

Anal Bead: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anl-Bead/165274350714?v=app_178091127385&app_data=eyJjb250ZW50LnRyYWNrIjoiMTc0NjIzNDkyMzI1NTExMTY4In0%3D