The New Year Way...

So what have you done for the New Year? Began a new resolution? Taken up a Hobby? Or set yourself a Challenge or two?

Well I definitely have - last weekend I had to schedule my Saturday post as we had guests down and I was working, and I didn't want to be rude to guests (politeness is key don't forget!) but I finally got round to doing this post for you! So what have I decided to do to mark the year 2015 for me...

Don't Let The People Who Hurt You Make You Cry

Over the past few year's I've often been left in tears on many occasions by people who shouldn't be hurting me - well this year, I'm not shedding any tears over people hurting me, I'll just move on and away from them. It might not sound like a particularly great thing, but it will contribute to my overall happiness!

Being Creative

I used to do Art GCSE when I was at school, despite not being the 'arty' type (as much as my teachers told/criticised me in every single lesson) I proved to myself that my teachers were wrong and I could draw - in my own way, not the way they told me was always right. So, this year I just decided I want to be more creative! Make some things instead of buying them - I've already made some really simple labels out of paper/card and recycled my old Yankee Candle pots - One for Cash, One for Pennies and One For Memories which I'll explain later...

Happy With My Own Body

I still feel as if I'm still in a huge battle of acceptance with my body, I'm still not 100% happy with the way I look and my input into my body's look. I want to make the effort of being healthier, and once my injury has fully recovered by getting back into exercise. I don't want to be 'skinny' I just want to find happiness and peace with my ongoing battle with my body - I'll probably post up some related posts as the months go on, what I'm doing, what's helping or benefiting me, and products that might be helping me.

Reading

Since about 2011 till August 2014, I sort of had a lack of picking up a book and reading it from start to finish. I changed a lot as a person while at College and being ill for them couple of years (physically and mentally with battling depression and pneumonia and many chest infections). But in September 2014 I picked up a book and got hooked... Fifty Shades of Grey funnily enough got me into reading again (hold back on them crude jokes...). Ever since I've been reading these genre of books and they've really got me back into the reading bug, I hate going out without my book just in case I have to wait for a long time or get stuck somewhere! 

Rugby

This year I'm getting back into rugby - as many of you know I used to be a football supporter of Blackpool FC, after so many of the troubles at the club, I quit my allegiance of 19 years of supporting the team and supported my birth team of AFC Wimbledon - but if I'm honest, I've lost my love for the game, now days no one plays for the passion of the game, just the money. To me its like you tap a footballer and they go down as if they are injured.

If you know me personally, you'll know my ex-boyfriend was a rugby player, and I have many friends who are fans and players themselves too; so I went to a few games, and found my love and passion had gone to rugby! I've always supported rugby, and kept my eye on my team Harlequins as my mum is into rugby, but only the past two season's I've heavily been supporting. I also went to Twickenham on the 27th of December for the Big Game 7 for Harlequins vs Northampton Saints -  despite the loss, the crowd was amazing, the fans weren't split like at football, the game play itself was fantastic, and to be at the Home of English Rugby gave  me a little buzz - I love rugby more then ever (my friends will be pleased to know!) So, this afternoon, I'm off to Twickenham again! I'm going to the Stoop with my best friend to watch my team, The Mighty Quins against Leicester Tigers! 

Writing

When I was younger I used to write a lot, I used to be a poet as well as a songwriter and then I wrote short horror stories (still pleased to say that till this day Hush Before Your Words Kill Me got an A* in my GCSE coursework and my teacher said that she hadn't seen a 15 year old create such a chilling and methodical piece of work!). But since reading again, I've caught the writing bug, this time I'm writing an erotic romance. I'm not sure if it's going to be a Novel or a Novella yet, and I'm only on chapter 2 of it, but I'm enjoying the peace writing gives me late at night - when nothing else is going on and I can focus without interruptions... Who knows, you guys may even read about the lovely Grace one day if I finish the story!

Making the Effort
 
I found in recent weeks since starting my new job, I just stopped making the effort with the way I look, I just threw on my work clothes, brushed my hair, picked up my badge and bag and went to work. And even when at home, I just gave up making an effort. So now I've decided I'm going to start making the effort to look good again, I'm also going to make the effort to go out more too with friends. I'm very much a work hermit, I work at home, I go out to work and come back home to do more work. 

Making Memories

So as I mentioned above, I have a 'Memories' Jar - I'm doing something that a lot of people I've seen do the last few years and on Tumblr. Every day of this year, I will write a little note of what made me happy that day. On a lot of posts it says to wait till the end of the year to open and look at them... However with my own, it will be for whenever I'm feeling low and I start to feel like my depression is creeping back in. Its to help bring the positivity back into my life, which I've desperately lacked for years. I want to feel genuinely happy, not just like I'm putting on an act to be happy to please others.
Live Life to the Full - Do What Help's You and Makes You Smile.

Happy New Year & May All Your Wishes and Aspirations this Year come true!

Love

Emma Victoria

xoxox

Size 14, 16 or 18? So What! - Body Confidence!

Now its only fair to say that everyone has some sort of insecurity, whether it be that your hair isn't how you want it or that your waist isn't skinny enough. I know far too well what its like to be picked on and singled out just because I'm not a size 8... But truthfully, it shouldn't matter whether you are a Size 8 or a Size 22! A lot of people also seem to think that only people who are considered 'plus size' have body issues, but you'll also find a lot of people who are Size 8 or 10 have body issues too! 

One thing I will say is that you should NEVER feel ashamed about your body. Your body is your temple, you should respect everything about your body. You shouldn't hate your muffin tops or your stomach just because they aren't perfect - your flaws are the things that make you unique and perfect in your own way. 

Photo Courtesy - Eddie Stewart

A lot of people comment about my modelling, which I've started to get into more recently - especially baring a bit more skin. Now, I always used to be very afraid about being a bit more showy on the parts of my body I wasn't happy with. I used to really hate my stomach, my thighs, my neck and the top of my arms. My stomach isn't flat, my thighs are horrible, but why should I hide my body away just because I'm scared what people may think of me? While I was at secondary school, I was subject to many a rude or hurtful comment about my weight just because I wasn't skinny and that I wasn't always the best at sports. I had a really rough time at secondary school, alongside with family problems I was always in a very dark place, I didn't have many friends at secondary school, the majority of my friends were outside school. I always felt very insecure because of my weight. It was only when I went to college did I really become to realise that my weight and figure didn't matter to the people who were my friends. People didn't care that I wasn't skinny or perfect, I had so many people compliment me saying I was a beautiful curvaceous girl, I finally began to regain my confidence. It was only when I started modelling did I begin to start feeling anxious, I was saw modelling as a very stereotypical thing where only girls with flat stomachs could do modelling. 

Another problem I've began to find a lot with society is that people are deciding themselves what the word 'curvy' defines. Some say its girls who are skinny but have boobs and a butt, some say its a bigger girl, etc, etc - but to me, everyone is curvy, no one's body is flat like a plank of wood. A good friend of mine said she wanted to make herself look more curvy, so we went on a shopping trip to find specific dresses that highlight certain parts of her body to make her feel good. The really important thing to remember is that, you should dress to impress YOURSELF - not somebody else! If you dress to impress yourself, and you feel confident in yourself, people will fall at your feet and stare at you down the street! 

Its really important to remember, that your dress size doesn't define who you are as a person, and you never should let it do that either. You should be who you want to be, not what others want you to be. So what you haven't got a flat stomach, why should you let that stop you wearing a bikini?! You should never be jealous of what someone else has, because there's bound to be someone who wants your figure instead of their own. You should love your body, not hate it, if you love your body, it will love you back.

Never let society judge you, and even if they do, just walk away and remember, you are perfect in every way possible!

If you ever want a chat about anything, no matter how small it is, or to even ask questions, just post a comment or email me on Facebook or on anchorsawaybeauty@hotmail.com. 

Stay Beautiful

Emma Victoria

xoxo

My Bathroom Essentials!

As promised, I said I would do a 'My Bathroom Essentials' post and here it is! These are some of the things that I see as a must have to have in my bathroom and some of my favourite products! 

Lets start with some utensils - I always like to have a good supply of body puffs and face clothes! My 2 facecloths are in hot pink and lavender and I bought these from M&Co for £1 each! The body puffs I got from Morrisons in a pack of 6 in different colours I think again this pack was all for around a £1! So an absolute bargain to get some of these! I also think its nice to have bit of decoration in the bathroom and my rubber duck is just the perfect thing to make it cheerful! I really can't remember where I got him, but I'm sure you can find others somewhere!

The next product is something I don't think I could actually live without and thats my dry shampoo! Its always good to have some just in case you need to rush out the house and you just don't have time to wash your hair! I bought mine in 'Blush' cause this is my favourite Batiste dry shampoo and the smell is just lovely! I actually bought mine in clearance for £1 in Boots because the lid went missing so I used the lid of my old can and put it on this, bargain or what?!

Everyone has to have hand wash in your house, and I get super obsessed with having a nice smelling hand wash! I particularly love the hand washes from Waitrose. At the moment I particularly love the Cinnamon Cakes one! It reminds me of Christmas (too early to be thinking about Christmas?) and it just smells so so SO yummy! You can get this for £1.11 in Waitrose/Ocado! 

I always think its super important to keep spots at an absolute minimum, cause I used to suffer really badly with spots when I was younger, and now even when I get one, they get really sore! So I wash my face with the Simple 'Triple Action Face Wash' - I love Simple products, they make my skin feel really nice and cleansed as well as not containing too many unnatural and horrible chemicals! I use this twice a day, and it definitely has improved my skin with spots! You can buy this from Boots for £2.66 - so its also super affordable to keep your skin in tip top condition!

What would my life be if I didn't have Soap & Glory products in my bathroom! First of all, I am absolutely in love with my 'Foam Call' Body Wash - this has a luscious smell and makes your skin feel really smooth! You can get this huge tub (which will last you ages!) for just £6.50 from boots! They have a range of big bottled body washes so you can chose your favourite! Next is the two pots, the first being the 'Scrub 'Em and Leave 'Em' Body buff, this also makes your skin feel soft and the next is 'The Righteous Butter' which is the perfect thing to use after using the body buff! It makes your skin stay softer for longer! The last being the Mini 'Clean on Me' body wash, this is perfect if you go away a lot (like I do!) then its the perfect thing to take with you and it doesn't take up too much space! I think its always important to have travel sized stuff in your house cause you never know when you have to go away at the last minute!

I also think its super important to have lip balm in your bathroom because if your lips are super dry then its good to have plenty on hand! Also, after moisturising my lips, the tend to feel a little dry so its good to keep some with my toothbrush to keep my lips feeling soft! I got this balmi lip balm in Raspberry for my birthday and bought another one so it can go in my handbag cause I love it so much!!



Well I hope you enjoyed my Bathroom Essentials post! I also just want to mention that I won't be posting my OOTW next week as I'm having a break from blogging from Sunday through to the following Sunday (25th August) because I've been blogging every week since January and I'm also going away from Monday to Wednesday and I also have lots of work to be doing next week! 

Much Love

Emma Victoria

xoxo

Budget Beauty! - Dirty Works!

I was in my local Sainsbury's just browsing around, headphones in just listening to Katmen, as per usual, and I went down the personal care section and found yet another vintage looking beauty product... Dirty Works! This company are much like Soap and Glory but for those of us who are rather broke and have no money Dirty Works are a cheaper version! Fab! 

I bought the Body Wash, Body Scrub and Body Spray, as I'm running low on shower stuff anyway as I've been using my 'Along Came Betty' collection which I got for Christmas! (Which I may add is also very cheap and just as good as S&G!!) However I used these products for the second time today, and by god does it make you feel super refreshed and clean! I completely super adore the scent of all these products! I have already gone and purchased my second body spray cause I know I will use a lot of it! 'Dirty Works' have a whole range of products which I know I will be buying! As far as I know you can only buy these in Sainsbury's shopping store, but if I do find these anywhere else I will be sure to let you know, on here or via my personal twitter account! 

You can buy;
The Scensational Body Spray for £1.99
The All of a Lather Body Wash for £2.99 
The Buff Your Stuff Body Scrub for £3.99

Much Love you gorgeous bunch!

Emma Victoria

xoxo

Looking Back & Changing

Now, every new year, everyone makes a 'New Year's Resolution', and do people usually stick to them? Honestly, they'd like to say yes, but the majority of the time people always give up or even forget about their resolution. However, this year I had 2 resolutions for myself. The first was to keep my second new years resolution, and the second was to lose weight. Now this is probably the most common resolution. I am now into my 23rd Day of my new diet, I last weighed myself last Thursday, and I weighed myself today and I have lost 2lb's. Now, 2012 was a really terrible year for me; my brother had major surgery in January (a year today), I fell ill with pneumonia, kicked out of college, 

and many other private issues. The only thing that kept me going was my boyfriend, Ollie; however in November we were both told the heart-breaking news he was moving back to New Zealand. Throughout the year, I began to comfort eat and began not to care about myself or what anyone thought. I locked myself away and wouldn't talk to anyone. But when my boyfriend left the UK, I decided I would change myself for the better, make myself happy. Now I have never really been skinny or slim. But I have tried many diets in the past and just gave up. I now have my own treadmill and cycling bike at home, as well as using 'fun' fitness exercises such as the Wii Fit! I am now doing a calorie control diet, I have 1500 calories (kcal) a day. You can eat what you want, when you want, you just watch your calories! This is working really well for me. I find its the healthiest way to lose weight, losing 1 or 2 pounds a week is healthy. Don't starve yourself, otherwise you will just crave all the time and constantly feel hungry and find yourself wanting to eat even more then before you started the diet!

The thing you need the most during a diet and trying to lose weight, is support and encouragement. Now, I still speak to my now ex Ollie, even though it hurts me emotionally, (its still early stages since he left and we split, be positive and be happy!) But every week we Skype each other,  he asks me how my diet is going and if I have lost any weight. Now if I gain for whatever reason, we talk it through about where I went wrong or what happened, and we work and improve on the previous week. Now, in the diet I am doing, it says that if you go wrong one day, forget about it and start again the next day. Don't dwell and give up if you go wrong once, everyone makes mistakes and has slip ups, don't beat yourself up over it!

I am someone who constantly helps people when they need me (even though I am someone who bottles up my emotions when I am upset or sad, just cause I don't want to be judged, another habit I am trying to break, a challenge? A very hard challenge for me.), no matter how small the problem or issue is. I always listen when people need advice or help, I encourage them if they need it. And if you are doing the same as me and have stuck to your goal, or want to lose weight, then be positive, don't let one bad day get you down when there is thousands ahead of you which YOU can make happy! If any of you lovely people need advice, or even just want a little chat, then I am always here to listen and help. You can comment on here or email me on cutecupcakebeauty@hotmail.com

Now, remember, You are amazing and beautiful. When you do something, don't do it for others, do it for yourself. At the end of the day, you are important and should be happy!

Keep Smiling Beautiful!


Emma
xoxo