Pamper Evening Routine

We all have times when life gets a little too much and we just need to stop, take a breather and recharge. For me this means a pamper evening.

I like to start by running a bath and applying a facemask. I always like to have a Lush Bath bomb, my favourites are 'Blackberry' or 'Rose Queen', as I love the smell and they leave my skin feeling silky smooth. The facemask I use will depend on what I want. Sometimes I'll just use the Superdrug Cucumber facemask which is 99p or if I want a deeper scrub I'll use my Lush Cupcake which smells so good and chocolatey I LOVE it! 

Bath bomb from Bomb Cosmetics

With the bath running and my facemask on, I'll pop downstairs to get some ice cream, oreo is the best, or Ben and Jerry's (if I'm feeling healthier I'll have frozen yogurt or sorbet). If we have strawberries or raspberries I'll add them too! I also like a glass of milk because I find it calming and it helps me to sleep (I'm such a child I know!)

So tasty!

When the bath is full, I'll choose a Netflix movie, It has to be a romance or a comedy because I need something light-hearted and cheerful, grab my ice cream and I'll get in the bath. Usually to watch the movie I'll rest my laptop on a chair or the (closed) toilet seat! I'll often stay in the bath for longer than necessary because it is so relaxing but when I do get out I'll moisturise with the Nivea Irresistibly Smooth moisturiser. 

Then I'll get into bed to finish the movie. Depending on time I might watch another film or I'll go to sleep with silky smooth skin and a happy belly full of delicious ice cream.  

Bed time!

What's the best way you relax?

Thanks for reading!

Charlotte

XO

Dealing with Failure

Dealing with failure is never easy. You work your arse of for weeks on end then the outcome isn't what you wanted. But I honestly believe failure is a good thing.

I recently competed on the Tideway for Schools Head of the River and going into it we felt confident, not cocky just confident. We'd won at Hampton by 6 seconds, I'd been training hard and our technique had really improved. The day before the race was relaxing and as a crew we felt really bonded. The race, apart from one hiccup as another crew cut in front of us as we were overtaking, went well and we overtook 5 crews. Tired legs aside, we were really happy with how the race had gone.

And so came the long wait for results. When they were finally uploaded my heart was beating so fast and then I read the result. When the coaches asked for the result, I told them and received two mixed shrieks. This didn't help my deflated mood. My heart sunk as I re-read the results. I just couldn't understand what had happened. We'd trained hard, we'd had a good race and then the result was so far off what we expected. I felt like we'd failed. 

With time to think about the outcome, we decided to have a team meeting to discuss the results. The coaches had analysed previous race results from us and the crews we raced. What we thought had been an awful result actually turned out to be not too bad. We hadn't lost time, we had improved and there were external factors that we simply couldn't control and in retrospect we had actually done okay.  

It still wasn't what we wanted though and we can't change that but we can change what might happen in the future. One of my favourite quotes from one of my coaches is 'how you come back from a setback will define who you are as an athlete'. Now we know what we have to do, we can step up our training to achieve what we want at the end of it. We've got training camp in less than 20 days and I couldn't be more excited. We have a goal in our sights and we know it's achievable even with this setback because although we thought we'd failed we actually hadn't. 

Just because we didn't get our result that doesn't mean we failed. To fail would mean we would give up. The key thing is, failure isn't the end of the road, it's simply a small bump that slows you down. For me, failure spurs me on to work harder because I don't want to experience the feeling of failure. Because I didn't work hard enough in Biology last year, I'm having to resit this year and I'm working harder to achieve a better result. If I don't get the time I want on an ergo, I'll train harder until the next one. 

The hugely successful author J.K.Rowling famously got turned down by 12 publishing companies before finally getting her book deal. If she'd given up at every 'failure' she'd probably be a lot less wealthy and we wouldn't have all the Harry Potter books and films that everyone raves about (I wouldn't know, I haven't read or seen any!). If Walt Disney had given up when he was fired for 'lacking ideas' from a newspaper we'd all be living a life without Disney Princes and Princesses, magical theme parks and ridiculously catchy songs. 

There are many famous failures who can inspire us to keep going. So, the next time you fail, or think you fail, take a step back and look at how far you've come, how much you've improved. Think about what you can do to not fail again and just never give up.

Thanks for reading! 
Charlotte 
XO

This Girl Can, or can she?

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks, the 'This Girl Can' campaign should not have failed to grab your attention. Set up by Sport England, the main aim of the campaign is to increase female participation in sport without the fear of judgement. As a (slightly obsessed) rower I understand how essential sport is and to me there is no feeling quite like giving your all in a training session and getting hot and sweaty. But, according to research from Sport England, the main reason women and girls don't participate in sport is for a fear of judgement. For some, getting sweaty or being perceived as the 'wrong shape' or not being fit or skilled enough prevents them from doing something they might actually love. 

On a day-to-day basis, women all over the world are unable to do things that they should be freely allowed to do. In Saudi Arabia women can't drive a car and they aren't allowed out without a male chaperone whilst in Ecuador abortion is illegal unless you are classed as an 'idiot'. More recently, I've noticed more attention is being paid towards women's rights and its's good, it's needed. We can't go on living in a world where it's seen as normal for women to be cat called while going about their day to day basis or being judged for what they wear or how they express themselves.  

Now,  I'm not saying men in every country can do everything they want and I'm not ignoring the fact that men are affected by gender inequality too which is why I'm such a fan of the HeforShe campaign. Pioneered by the wonderful Emma Watson, UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, the aim is to include men and boys in the steps towards gender equality. Men are encouraged to actively participate in the movement towards equality.  

I'm not ashamed to say that I'm a feminist because a feminist, pure and simple, is someone who believes in 'equal political, social, economic rights for women'. I think the key word here is equal. I don't believe women are better than men, in fact I know women aren't better than men we should simply be equal. It shocks and saddens me that women, to this day, feel restricted purely because of their gender. Some women won't have children for the fear that they will lose their job or have their salary reduced because they will take maternity leave. Others, also in work, accept that a man, doing the same job as them, is getting paid more simply because he is a man. 

I watched Emma Watson's HeforShe conversation today which was broadcast on Facebook and she mentioned some quite shocking statistics. I can't remember them all but one I do recall is that '77% of the UK government is male'. That means that less than a quarter of the UK government is female despite there being 28.5million women in the UK compared to 27.6 men (as of the last census). Of the FTSE 100 there are only 4 female CEOs. 

The statistic that shocked me most from Emma Watson's talk was that in the UK 85,000 women get raped per year. After doing more research I found that 1 in 5 women have experienced sexual violence since the age of 16. In some countries the woman is blamed for the rape. In Saudi Arabia and Morocco the women can be punished for her rape if she left the house without a male chaperone. Then there is the argument that many put forward saying 'she was asking for it' because of her outfit choice or because she was drunk and she didn't say no. Barely a week will go by without hearing about some sort of sexual violence towards women all over the globe.

Feminism is something I really believe in and I'll admit that there's a lot that I don't know about it and this post has barely scratched the surface. I think if I get one thing from writing this I want it to generate a conversation or a debate. So many times I've tried with people I know to start conversations on topics aside from the usual beauty, fashion or gossip but more with more depth and meaning like women's rights, human rights and animal rights. Yet I barely get a response, instead I blab on about how upset and angry it makes me while they nod their heads but don't give another view. 

So, I hope you enjoyed this slightly different post! I'd love to hear your opinions in the comments below or tweet me @charrlottee_ !! I really think gender equality is such an important topic and something that we all need to come together to combat. 

Much Love

Charlotte

XO

February Favourites

Dearest readers, I'm so glad spring is almost here, when I saw youtubers like Lily Pebbles posting their 'February Favourites' I didn't know why until I realised that February is actually over! I'm now longing for longer, warmer days with flowers blossoming and the sun shining and it won't be long until I can wear shorts and pretty summer dresses. For now though my February favourites; 

I'll start with beauty favourites because I really don't have many this month. I haven't been shopping and February is such a short month anyway so I haven't bought many new products! However, as the everlasting struggle with my eyebrows continues I decided to try the Collection Work The Colour Eyebrow Kit. Now I really wasn't expecting much from this product, I think it was around £3-4 but I was getting a bit desperate! Luckily I was pleasantly surprised, I use the middle colour which is a medium brown because the blonde was just too fair. The powder can be slightly crumbly but it's not a huge issue as the pigmentation is quite good. It comes with a clear brow mascara and a little applicator with an angled end and a rounded end which I used to begin with but I found using one of my Ecotools angled brushes worked a lot better. The brow mascara does seem to set the brows well but I've only had this product for 2 weeks and already it is running out! It is still a favourite though, for now at least. 

Ecotools angled brush

I've also been LOVING the Benefit RollerLash Mascara which was recently released. I have got a whole blog post for that on Wednesday but I felt I had to include it in my favourites because I love it so much. It does exactly what it says, lifts and curls my lashes making my eyes appear more open! 

My only other makeup favourite isn't actually a product, it is my Zoella makeup bag which I received as a birthday present. I love the bright colours on this and I was surprised by how spacious it is! I can fit all my daily makeup in the plus my tangle teezer and a pack of cotton wool buds which is so useful for when I have morning training and need to take everything into school with me! The only improvement would be to add a little divider or a pocket to separate smaller products! 

Makeup envy

Elnett Heat Protector 

Hair wise I have one standout product which is the L'oreal Paris Elnett Satin Heat Styling Spray for volume. I bought this after one of my friends had the straightening one and I fell in love with the smell. It is so difficult to explain the smell but it's a clean, fresh but slightly sweet smell. I also love the packaging! When I put it on my hair before hair-drying or straightening i really feel like it is protecting my hair!  While it isn't an actual product, I'm so happy with my haircut! I've had around 5 inches off and it feels so much healthier now and it's easier to manage. I can't believe how smooth and silky it is all the time now and the ends are so much healthier. I am sad that I can't do a halo braid or milkmaid braid anymore but (hopefully) when I curl it, the curls will stay in now! 
     

Mopchop!

The rest of my favourites are quite random but I've got three app favourites at the moment. Vinted and Ebay are quite similar as they are both shopping apps but with Vinted you don't bid on an item, you just buy it there and then. All of the sellers are so friendly and I've already made 3 purchases on it. I really recommend it to anyone who loves fashion and is looking for bargains, some of the products are slightly strange but in general there are a lot of high-street items for good prices. I bought a £100 Ted Baker playsuit for £15!!!! Ebay is more well-known than Vinted but I love it too. Ebay seems to have a cleaner layout and I quite enjoy bidding on different items! Although I did have a near-miss when I accidentally bid on an item I really didn't want! 

My phone continually causes me problems when it runs out of battery with 40% left so I invested in an Anker Portable Battery which has saved my life. The charge lasts so long and it's really useful for me to take to rowing events or shopping etc when I don't know if i'll be able to find a plug socket! I don't know why I didn't buy one sooner! 

Music has been a really big part of this month and I'm not quite sure why, perhaps because all I seem to have done is school work! I've fallen in love with Kodaline's new album 'Coming Up for Air'. I love pretty much all the songs on the album, they're great to listen to while working as they're quite guitar-y and calming. My two favourites are 'The One' for its beautiful lyrics and 'Love Will Set You Free' (I'm a hopeless romantic!). I also seem to be obsessed with the glorious Taylor Swift at the moment. She can do no wrong whether it's with her music, her cute cats or being one of the best and kindest singers out there right now. Style is one of my most listened to songs EVER (almost 2000 times) and Shake It Off is my favourite to sing along to in my car!  I love her style (no pun intended) too and her makeup and hair is always flawless. 

I've also been taking my self down a little tour of memory lane by listening to a lot of Disney music. My favourite song is probably Belle from Beauty and the Beast or one from the Little Mermaid!  I watched  Barbie of Swan Lake the other day which was one of my favourite films when I was younger and I enjoyed it so much!!! 

Hopefully next month there will be some more beauty related favourites! Hope you enjoyed this post! What've you been loving this month? 

Much Love

Charlotte

XO

P.S. Lent update- It's all going well so far, I haven't slipped up once and I'm starting to forget that I even want it anymore!!