Happy New Year!

I'm a little bit late to welcome you all into the new year but better late than never right? 

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and an even better New Years Eve! I spent my holiday period pretty much just relaxing and eating. Weeks of university stress had taken it's toll and I really just couldn't be bothered to move from in front of the television!

Unfortunately my break lasted a little longer than usual and now I have a fair bit of work to catch up on and a LOT of dieting to do. 

Naturally, I felt my first post of 2012 should be a quick one, discussing my goals for the year! I changed from calling them resolutions as I thought they would seem easier to achieve if they didn't have such a massive title ha!

1. To lose 4 inches from my waist by 31st December 2012. I've put on a fair bit of weight since I started university, I'm not ashamed to say. I'm definitely not happy with it - although saying that, I don't think there's anything wrong with being my size (10/12), it's just not for me - and want to get back to the size I was. Especially since I own the most beautiful dress that I would love to fit into once again! 
2. To graduate with a 2:1 BSc in Financial Management. I have a LOT of work to do regarding this goal. I was really stupid and wasted so much of my time last year and for that reason I have a lot of making up to do to get my grade up to a level where I can achieve a 2:1, but I think it's doable. I'll be getting my grades back for Semester 1 in a couple of weeks so we'll see what can happen after that! 
3. To get a job for after I graduate. This goal is a little vague BUT it's going to be difficult to get any sort of job after university, never mind my 'dream' job. There are so many business graduates nowadays that the schemes end up rejecting 95% of applicants. I have no idea what the future holds regarding my career after June but hopefully by the end of the year I will be in a job somewhere doing something interesting! 
4. To move into my own flat! I have had a small taste of independence and I love it. I don't think I will ever live with either of my parents ever again now haha. I know that sounds awful but I enjoy doing my own thing too much. I've already started buying little bits and pieces to make moving that little bit easier, so hopefully I will end up with somewhere to put it all! 

I would love to hear all of your goals/resolutions for 2012 so leave a comment or @reply me on twitter :) 

New Live Colour XXL Review

Whilst perusing the hair dye aisle in Boots the other day, I stumbled across a new hair dye from Schwarzkopf. I'm not 100% sure whether this is a new colour or not, but it comes in a new foam formula in new packaging. And the best thing - it's scented. 

I must admit I didn't actually notice it was scented until I started writing this up, however, I do remember smelling it a couple of times thinking it smelt like milkshake. It's actually meant to smell fruity but I wasn't far off!

I love the packaging of this product - I described it as a tall McFlurry to my boyfriend, probably a factor in me thinking it smelt like milkshake!

The dye is really easy to mix, although quite annoying that you have to count out 40 shakes! Which I do feel was the biggest let down of the product. 

Before shaking.

After shaking.

The product holds true in that it definitely is as easy as shampoo to use. All you have to do to apply the dye is scoop it out the tub and rub into your hair as you would shampoo. This means you get an even application all over the hair. You're also able to stick your hair to your head whilst it develops and the non-drip formula means it doesn't drip everywhere. 

 I chose the shade 499 Violet Berry Burst which is meant to give a slight purple tint to the hair. My hair is quite dark and quite thick and so I think this is kind of the reason you can't see the colour that well. It's also super hard to take a picture of a hair colour like that with a rubbish camera! 

Ideally I would have liked the dye to come out more purple in my hair and I am actually awaiting the delivery of a purely purple dye (not as bad as it sounds) from directions in the hopes of intensifying the colour a bit. 

I might also try again with this dye in a week or so. The one good thing about having hair as thick as mine is that, as my hairdresser has told me many a time, my hair will pretty much go through anything and not suffer!

The dye cost £5.99 and is from boots.

I'd love to hear from anyone else who has used one of these dyes or the directions one!

Christmas Wishlist

Christmas is fast approaching and I feel now is the perfect time to get your wishlist's into your family. I sent mine over to my Mum tonight and thought I'd share a couple of things with you that I'm really hoping to get this Christmas!

My list was pretty small as I had previously asked for some money to put towards moving out next year. But the few things on it I feel are quite nice :-) 

Firstly, I wanted a piece of art. Not a proper, Van Gogh style piece of art, just something pretty that I could put up in my room. Naturally, the only thing I saw and loved was this:

It is a quote from Albert Einstein and the paper it is printed on is actually taken from a 1930's book about physics. I think it's such a clever idea printing it on that paper and I just generally love the whole thing. The quote isn't the most meaningful of quotes but when I saw it I immediately thought of it as an opposite to all those 'dream' quotes you see everywhere!

This costs £20.00 and is available here: LINK

Next is the book A Little History of The World by E.H. Gombrich. 

This book was recommended in a youtube video by Kelanjo19. I don't usually jump at the gun with purchasing books on others recommendations, but I have read something she's suggested before and value her opinion a fair bit.

This costs £7.49 and is available here: LINK

The next gift I've asked for is a little random. I'm on a path to good health at the moment and my boyfriend has often suggested getting one. Seeing as I couldn't really think of anything else to ask for, I went for this.... 

Yep, that's a George Foreman grill! I really hope my mum gets me it! I'm so excited for all the different things I can cook on it! 

This is currently half price at Argos at £23.99: LINK

What are you asking for for Christmas? And what are you getting for others?

I'll be compiling a few posts about gift ideas so I'd love to hear yours :-)