Lisa Gets Leaner | A New Approach

Let's try... again!

Up until now, I haven't wanted to set goals with my weight loss as I regularly get too ill to not rely on high calorie foods to do the smallest of tasks. However. I'm getting fed up with hovering around 14 and a half stone. One of my New Years Resolutions is to lose weight, so I need to do something!

Yes I nicked this from a previous post, shh.

Inspired by my colleague, I am going to set goals and reward myself! As I don't have much money, I can't afford massively inspiring rewards, but I'm thinking it'll be bath bombs and albums! Generally things I long for but can never really justify spending money on these days.

So! My current weight is: 14st 8lbs

My first goal is: 14st

My first reward will be:

Hopefully I'll be weighing myself weekly and posting about that here. As always, no promises do to being chronically ill and never being able to do anything I want to - but I can try! :D

Have you found out for Patronus yet? Mine's a rottweiler! :D

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Early Autumn Make-Up

Hey!

Autumn officially begins today and is my favourite month! Yay! This look is currently what I am going to most, transitioning from summer to autumn, so I thought I'd share it with the world (excuse the bed hair - call it The Autumn Windswept look). 

As I'm sure is no surprise - I use Arbonne's CC Cream all over for my base. It evens out my skin tone, conceals a bit, chills out redness, shrinks pores etc etc etc (full review here). The comes this e.l.f. Eyelid Primer - which seems to have disappeared from their website. That's a shame because it's the best eye primer ever! My eyelids, like my skin, has a fondness for producing oil, so shadow rarely sits in place all day - rather, it prefers to sit in my crease and along my lashline. This stuff keeps it in place for hours and is lovely to apply and blend eyeshadow over. Where has it gone, e.l.f.? Have you discontinued this miracle product? Have you teamed up with Lush to break my heart?

For this look I use the Makeup Revolution Iconic 1 palette which is a vegan dupe of Urban Decay's Naked palette. I pop the dupe of Half Baked all over my eyelid and underneath my eye and blend. Then I go in with the dupe of Smog in my crease and outer part of my eyelid and lower lash line. To add more definition I added a but of the Hustle dupe on the outer corner of my eye. Here's a diagram?

~ First time doing this - do you like it? The eyeshadows haven't translated very well at all on paper, eek! ~

No surprise on the mascara - Lash Vegas Waterproof from Barry M. Full review and why I love it here.

For brows I've gone more natural with my Sand eyeshadow from Arbonne again. The perfect shade for my brows. I don't know what I'll do when I run out if they never make more! D:

As the leaves are turning orangey, I opted for my most orange shade of blush (wish isn't very orange) - Suede by Sleek. Sleek's blushes are fucking glorious and this one is so build-able so you can go subtle or full-blown "THESE ARE MY CHEEKS" and show off your bone structure!

This looks is very much about the eyes for me, so I went for my subtle, more natural highlighter - Linen eyeshadow from Arbonne (discontinued shimmery vanilla). Popped this in all the usual places, as you do. Highlighter done!

Not that you can tell from these photos, but I did add a bit of bronzer on all those spots the sun hits, again, as you do! I use Barry M's Natural Dazzle... which also appears the be discontinued?! What?!

I opted for a glossy, nude lip for this look as it's not quite berry lip season for me, and it just seemed to compliment the eye make-up. I use e.l.f. lip gloss in Bare, which seems to have been discontinued, but is a light browny nude. I feel it gives the overall look a fresh, summery feel, while the eyes are saying "hey,the sun may be out but there's a chill in the air and you're starting to crave pumpkin spice". What lip colour would you wear with the rest of this make-up?


I hope you've enjoyed this look! Do let me know in the comments if you'd like to see more illustrations with these :)

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Sexy Beach Babe Photoshoot

Herro!

I love the whole "how to have a bikini body: put a bikini on your body" thing. I spent my childhood on the beach and in the sea then quit the sandy place of joy when I started gaining weight as a teen. After had one hell of a battle with body image and am now confident enough for bikinis again!

Jet Ski Dog

So, naturally, living 10 minutes from the beach, it took me 'til September this year to get to the damn place. Upon realising summer was coming to an end and I hadn't got to the beach - and more importantly the sea, I got really sad and made a plan to go. Fuck pacing and being sensible when it might be the last few days of actual beach weather! Fuck you, fatigue! Rah!




On the beach I went straight in the sea and asked the boy to take a photo or two for me to look back on for memories sake. I wanted to have photo evidence of me achieving Mission: BEACH. What I found on my phone made me laugh so much I had to share! Here we go:

"I'll just stand in the sea then, shall I?"

"Why are you holding it portrait? Please don't fall off the groyne!"

"I hope that dog didn't pee on my towel..."

"Hehehehehehe, feet!"

What is zoom?

Blub.

GLAMLOL

Tada! The sea!

"It was THIS big!"

I like this one! Why couldn't it be straight? 

Okay that's better - but now I have no legs and the composition is awful.

That'll do?!

"Fucking what am I even doing?"

Ursula Andress, eat your heart out.

This looks so papped! I feel the need to write some pointless gossip about who I'm having sex with, how much weight I've put on, and circle all my cellulite :P

Oh, and this is my favourite:

(lisastockley on Snapchat)

So, there is the most sexy and glamorous photoshoot of my life. I am a babe.

The bikini itself was mixing and matching on eBay.

The top came from one of my second hand Bravissimo searches. I am a Bravissimo girl through and through, but am also poor so keep an eye out on eBay. I wanted a bikini top and this one from Pour Moi was available in my usual Bravissimo size, so ordered it! When it came it fitted almost exactly, then I put on some weight and now it's a little small in the cup but whatever, it almost fits so that'll do.

The bottoms are Figleaves, but don't seem to be available from them anymore. Here is a link to some on Amazon. They're alright - the tummy control is sort-of there. Obviously you can see that my gallivanting in the sea caused them to fall down my tummy a bit so you can really see the outline of my belly but... that happens. Pull them up. I didn't realise and don't particularly care.

It's taken me years to brave the beach in a bikini again, I hope you do too (if you want to)!

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Late Summer Dress | 2nd Hand Style

Hello!

Next from my aforementioned 2nd hand clothing haul from my fabulous chum, is this George dress. It's the first piece of (non underwear or pyjamas) George clothing I've had and when I tried it on I was pleasantly surprised on how... kinda fitted it is! Nothing fits me round the boobs and waist well, but this does! People think I've lost weight when I wear it - but it just fits! It's also a great length (most dresses come up too short for me) and has sleeves - if it had pockets it'd be perfect!

As most dresses come up shorter than this on me,  I need to wear shorts underneath or leggings. This one I can wear comfortably with bare legs in the daytime and whack some leggings on for warmth when the sun goes down. I find this dress lends itself well to summer evenings and late summer in general because of its long sleeves and leg cover, but also the thin, light material it's made from. I feel all this would make it perfect for autumn but the pink flowers make me think of spring and summer? Is a pink floral pattern autumnal? It doesn't go with other autumn shades... I want it to be autumnal!!

I'm sure it's easy to dress this up a bit, but I've been wearing it for casual, easy days and nights so far. It's so comfortable and easy to throw on, I just match it with those same old boots of mine, that same old fake leather jacket of mine and whatever bag is size appropriate for the occasion.

I have urges to hack away at the sleeves and neckline to make it more spring/summer-esque, or try to dye it so the flowers are more autumn-coloured. In fact - I really want to dye the pink another colour! The cut is so autumn I don't understand why the print isn't!

How would you wear it? Do you have much experience with George clothing? Does it all fit so well?! Do let me know in the comments below :)

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Ooh! Oils of Heaven Natural Cacay Face Oil

Hey!

Since discovering Carloine Hirons, queen of skincare, I've had retinol jotted on the side of my brain for when I have money. Lately, I've been having issues with some wrinkles on my forehead and by some miracle, Oils Of Heaven contacted me asking if I wanted to review their new face oil - which is packed with retinol! Huzzah!

Obviously I said yes please. The oil in question is their Natural Cacay Anti-Aging Face Oil*, which is cold pressed from cacay nuts. I'm not going to pretend to have known what a cacay nut is, but a quick Google gave me lots of articles about its anti-aging properties over anything planty or foody - it certainly seems to be flavour of the month! Ooh! Cacay Oil contains vitamin E, linoleic acid and retinol (the vitamin A one, I believe), all good things! Vitamin E contains antioxidants which help prevent aging. Retinol reverses aging. Linoleic acid is an omega-6 fatty acid, which moisturises the skin, with added anti-inflammatory, healing and softening powers, and helps the other active ingredients penetrate the skin! The power of seeds! This oil is advertised as a odourless, fast absorbing oil that leaves no residue. The price tage of £39.99 or 30ml scared me at first, but I have been learning lately, that some things that go on the face are worth forking out for.

Upon arrival I was impressed with the packaging.. The bottle is a good thick glass and will take a lot of skill to break, even for someone as clumsy as myself! Even the pipet is nice and sturdy meaning no post-squeeze leakage, which is great as this oil is precious! 

As Hirons recommends not applying retinoids daily if you're new to them, I eased myself in by applying it every other day as part of my night time skincare routine, before applying moisturiser. Straight away I was surprised how little I needed - 2-3 drops for my whole face and neck, and how quickly it sunk in! Every face oil I have ever tried claimed to sink in quickly, but do they? No. This does! And it leaves the skin dry, yet moisturised. As retinol is basically pointless without SPF, I finally worked some sun cream into my morning skincare routine, and worked up to applying this oil every day. I definitely find it works best for me at night, as even though it absorbs quickly as advertised, for some reason I just spend the day a bit shinier if I apply it before make-up in the morning.

When it comes to odourless? Yes, it has no fragrance. But, it has a similar, nutty scent to flaxseed oil, which I love. This is a faint, natural scent, though. It makes applying it really pleasant. 

After a couple of months' use I have to say - my skin is actually looking better! My forehead wrinkles are definitely looking less severe. They appear more fine and are barely noticeable with make-up on. Before make-up gathered in them a fair bit, but now? Hardly ever! I'm really impressed! The rest of my skin is a little plumper-looking, too!

So, it does the job, but it's still £40. Now, I have been using this for over two months and am only a 3rd of the way down the bottle. Good retinol costs money, and this is on the cheaper end of the scale. It lasts a long time due to needing so little for each use, and it works. I'd say it's worth the money, especially as free worldwide delivery if offered on the official website.

You can find Ooh! Cacay Oil on their website, and also on Love Lula where, using this link, you get a free 30ml bottle of their Rosehip Oil worth £19! The Rosehip Oil regenerates cells and smooths skin as it's rich in Vitamins C, K and A, oleic acid, linolenic acid and linoleic acid. These oils are goooood! And of course, they're vegan and cruelty free :)

Have you tried Cacay Oil? Do you have any vegan retinols you'd recommend? 

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*DISCLAIMER: This post contains a PR sample but my views are 100% honest. (I'm a rubbish liar)