I was blessed with inheriting my dad's thick, dark hair. Not only on my head but also all over my face. Cheers, Jeremy! Since I was 15, I've spent my days bleaching, waxing and plucking it to try and achieve smooth-faced silkiness, but I've always intended to undergo laser hair removal at some point. In fact, it's one of the 101 in 1001 goals I wrote three years ago. As fate would have it, Skin Image Manchester got in touch to ask if I would like to review one of their laser hair removal treatments. This was my chance and I was going to grab it with both hands! I felt a little apprehensive, but this was something I'd been planning for fourteen years, so I was going to conquer my nerves and go for it.
THE CLINIC
The more perceptive amongst you may have realised that Manchester is nowhere near me. However, my brother lives up that way and it had been a long time since I'd paid him a visit so I figured this was my perfect opportunity to finally make the journey up north. I treated myself to a hotel near Piccadilly Gardens and this turned out to be a good choice since the clinic is only a 10 minute walk away, just off from the Town Hall. Inside, the clinic is bright and airy, with squishy sofas to relax while you wait. The staff are friendly so even though I was a little nervous, I was put immediately at ease.
According to Twitter, at least three of you have noticed I've been AWOL over the past four months. In my almost-six years of blogging, this is the longest break I've ever took and it felt a little weird but it was an absolute necessity. Now I'm back and, well, probably not better than ever to be honest. On a par with ever. Woohoo!
So where have I been? The answer falls under three headings- dissertation, travel, and personal crap I'm not even going to begin to get into because we'll be here forever and really it's not that interesting.
Hey, you know I love the Alps? Of course you do, I never stop banging on about it! The Untersberg in Salzburg is my favourite place in the world- there's nothing like standing at the peak and looking down over the beautiful scenery below, or being surrounded by clouds if it's overcast. It's like being in heaven! It's hard to explain my love for this place, so consider this post an ode to the Untersberg.
There was a time when I refused to touch a product before I'd photographed it. Evidently that time has passed. You won't judge me though, will you? I bought Botanics Hydration Boost Micellar Cleanser after having trouble with the product that I thought was the perfect solution- Garnier Oil-Infused Micellar Water. After having problems with dry, flaky skin on my face, the oil-infused cleanser worked beautifully for weeks... and then suddenly things got even worse than before. My face started getting feeling really tight after use and flaking worse than ever. I switched to this and everything has settled down again. What a relief!
I went back to Salzburg for my birthday, because where else would I go? Rather than writing another 'I did this, then did this' post like the other twelve Salzburg posts I've written, I thought I'd write a more general post explaining why it's such a great city. My Five Reasons You Should Visit Riga post went down well, so I'll use this structure again to share why you should visit Salzburg.
Hover over each photo to see where it was taken
I don't tend to be too adventurous with my food. Although I like to try new things, I find that I end up going to the same places over and over again. So when Giraffe invited me to try out their Basingstoke branch, I was eager to expand my culinary horizons with their signature global-inspired cuisine.
In 2007, I bought a yellow Spongebob t-shirt. No judgment, it was cool at the time, ok? I wore it to my friend's house, we took photos on her crappy little camera, and uploaded them to Facebook... and I was absolutely horrified. My teeth, which were always on the discoloured side, were pretty much the same colour as the top. After that, I vowed never to wear yellow again and I managed it for almost 10 years when Leona decided she was going to have her bridesmaids dressed in yellow. I'm pretty sure she took several deep breaths before telling me because she knew there was no way in hell I would ever wear the colour. But, you know, she's my friend and it was her wedding and I figured I could just keep my mouth closed all day. I actually loved the dress in the end so, shortly after that, I decided enough was enough and I booked myself into the dentist to sort everything out. After some pretty intensive treatment, I was ready for my whitening course, which I'm currently halfway through... and look! This is me, wearing a bright yellow dress and bloody smiling with my teeth. A year ago, I wouldn't have dreamed of doing either of those things so this is an absolutely massive step! God, it feels good!
Dress: ASOS (similar here)
Vest: Primark (similar here)
Shoes: Primark
