Redhead Rambles #8

Hello everyone and welcome to ‘Redhead Rambles’. The series does what it says on the tin, it is a redhead (me) rambling about her week. I share what I’ve been up to each week, how I’ve been feeling and what I’ve been listening to or watching. Occasionally I will my share favourite blog posts and links I’ve found useful or interesting.

• My Valentine’s celebrations took place late last Thursday night/last Friday. I got a very sweet card with a badge that says No. 1 Valentine. My boyfriend and I bought each other a bag of sour Skittles without the other knowing – it was hilarious. Great minds think alike!
• On Friday night we went to play mini golf and I really enjoyed it. There were fairy lights and rather large bunnies. The game was a close one too.
• I tried a new flavour at Subway – three pepper chicken – and it was delicious!
• When I mowed the lawns on Sunday I hit the side of my head on a tree. It didn’t bleed but it did hurt a little.
• I have had a productive week blog wise, taking photographs and prepping posts for the coming weeks.
• I gave up on a book as part of my challenge to read 50 by the beginning of September. I skipped through to the end and that was just as dull as the rest of the story. Note to self: don’t persist with books if they don’t grip me within the first 100 pages.
• I have been wearing the grey jumper from my fluffy twosie I ordered on ASOS and I love it! It’s so comfy and soft and even though it’s summer I still get cold easily.
• THIS fitness post from Candice is worth a read! It’s inspiring and honest and real.
• I got some Rocky Road Lattes at the supermarket and there are even mini marshmallows in the box too. The coffee taste isn’t very strong and it does taste like Rocky Road. I prefer the Nescafé sachets but when I finish the Rocky Road Lattes I won’t be getting more coffee. I’m trying to be healthier and I don’t need the extra sugar.
• Cheese on toast for dinner on Tuesday night was delicious!
• I painted my nails silver using an Orly 3D Colour Blast polish.

What I’ve been listening to:

Delta Goodrem – Think About You – Delta is an Australian singer-songwriter with a wonderful storytelling ability. I have listened to Delta since her first album was released in 2003. Think About You is described as a ‘raunchy banger’.

Britney Spears – Glory – When Glory was first released I wasn’t feeling it so I decided to re-listen and reacquaint myself with the tracks. There are a few good bops but not my favourite material from Britney.

Shania Twain – Now – I’m still hyped about getting concert tickets and I’ve got to learn all the words to the album by December.

How was your week?

Follow me:

Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

June Favourites 2017

June feels like the first month in a while where I’ve got a decent amount of favourites to discuss. June has been pretty busy but I’ve been using a few new things and getting back into makeup/beauty a bit more. This month there’s a real mix!

Onto this month’s favourites:

1. ASOS Fluffy Jumper – I made an ASOS order in May and this was one of the items I ordered. I am in love with jumpers and cosy clothes at the moment and the fact this one is fluffy makes it even cosier. It’s a lovely light grey colour so it goes with practically anything. There is cut out, split detailing on the arms and I have included an image from the ASOS website to show the detail close up.

ASOS Fluffy Jumper

2. Impulse – Tease – If you’ve read my blog for a while and seen my empties posts you’ll know that Into Glamour is my favourite Impulse scent. I decided to try a new one and opted for Tease.  It isn’t sweet and vanilla which I normally go for, it has elements of red fruit and wood and is flirty and alluring. 

3. FitBit Zip – I picked up my little magenta Zip last month for an absolute bargain at $29.00. I clip it to my cardigan pocket at work, it’s so discreet and I can’t even feel it. I have also been proud that most days I reach around 8,000 – 10,000 steps. It’s nice to be able to see what that equates to in kilometres and how many calories you burn too. I’ve downloaded the app on my iPad where you can even set yourself goals and challenges.

4. Lancôme Juicy Shaker in Berry In Love – I feel like a staple line for the past few months in my favourites posts has been “this is an item I won in Stashy’s huge two year giveaway” and this is another of those items. I love the concept of these, you shake the tube to mix the colour before applying it to your lips. This doesn’t last all day on me at work but I like it for running errands in town or just for throwing something on. Berry In Love is a very me shade and makes a lovely shade for everyday wear. The texture is nice too, it starts out a bit wet but soaks into the lips and dries down. It doesn’t feel like you’re wearing anything.

5. Scrunchie – I purchased this black velvet scrunchie a couple of weeks ago and it has already had a lot of use. Even though I got my hair cut shorter recently I can still tie it up and because my hair is thick I normally need two hair ties to hold it. I’ve found the scrunchie wrapped around my ponytail three times holds it in place and feels lighter on my head.

6. Max Factor Excess Shimmer in Pink Opal – I have had this eyeshadow for the past 18 months and it’s only recently I’ve started to use it more often. I rave about the shade Copper from this range all the time and I was a little disappointed when I purchased Pink Opal and it didn’t impress me the same. It seems much drier in the pot, less creamy and harder to apply. I have been using my Real Techniques Shading Brush and patting it over a similar colour powder shadow and that seems to work well. It takes a little while to build up but looks lovely in the end.

7. Deadpool – When I first saw the trailer for Deadpool I thought it looked hilarious. I finally got to watch it this month and it is one of my favourite movies I’ve watched in a while. Ryan Reynolds plays the part so well and the humour is witty and funny but not in a silly way like some films. I’m very much looking forward to the sequel!

June’s Spotify Playlist:

---

What were your favourite things in June?

Follow me:

Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Tech/Lifestyle Wishlist

Hello! I know I haven’t been on as much of a beauty kick lately as I normally am – you can probably tell by the lack of beauty related posts. This wishlist is five homey, tech, life, gadgets I’d love to buy. We all have items we want but don’t need and unfortunately, I think that’s what’s making them more appealing!

 

1. Fitbit Zip – Magenta

In the past I’ve been one of those people who has said, “Fitbits are silly. What is the point of them?” They aren’t the cheapest, I’ve heard lots of people have had problems with theirs and they probably wouldn’t make them small enough to fit my wrist. Enter Fitbit Zip: you clip it on instead of wearing it on the wrist, it’s the cheapest of the Fitbit family, it’s simple and comes in a gorgeous bright magenta!

Why I want it: I’m curious to see how many steps I walk in a day. My iPhone has a pedometer as part of the health app but when I’m walking I don’t always have my phone in my hand.

Why I don’t need it: My phone has a pedometer and I’m not sure where I’d clip this so it wouldn’t get in the way when I sit down. The Fitbit website suggests clipping it to your bra which I guess could work as it is only small.

2. iPad Air 2/iPad Mini 4 in Gold

I have always been an Apple girl! I don’t like Apple because it’s ‘trendy’ or certain people use it. I find the technology simple, great quality and all the products I’ve owned from Apple have lasted well. I’ve had my laptop for four years now and while it still works fine and has never had any problems, I’ve been considering downsizing to a tablet. I would still keep my laptop for printing documents and anything else I couldn’t use the iPad for. Sometimes it would be nice to have more portability, if I’m watching videos in bed (which I don’t often do) I could rest the tablet on my desk or on my knee and it wouldn’t be as heavy. The iPad would also be handy for taking blog photos and storing them. I don’t store photos on my phone as there isn’t enough space.

Why I want it: It would enable more portability and reduce how much I use my laptop. I would be able to download the WordPress app and write posts straight onto the iPad. I have the app on my phone but only use that to reply to comments.

Why I don’t need it: Apple technology is always updating so it does make me question how long this would be usable for. My laptop can also perform most of the same functions.

3. Sunbeam London Collection Kettle – Blue

If you know me well, you’ll know how obsessed I am with anything related to England! When I saw Sunbeam had created a London collection I immediately wanted to own something from it. The collection comes in pastel colours and metallics but this baby blue caught my eye! There are two styles of kettle, this traditonal one and a smaller, pot kettle with the handle on the top. I prefer the traditional style as it holds more water.

Why I want it: The colour is unique for a kettle and I love England!

Why I don’t need it: I still live at home with my mum and she already has a kettle.

4. Sunbeam London Collection 2 Slice Toaster – Blue

Not only does Sunbeam make blue kettles, they make blue toasters too! It would be adorable to have a matching set. The toasters came with a 2 slice or a 4 slice option which is good if you have a big family because it means you can do more than 2 slices of bread at once.

Why I want it: Same reason as above, you don’t often see coloured appliances and I’d love to have these in my house.

Why I don’t need it: Again, same reason as above. Maybe I can convince mum she needs these and buy the set for her for Mother’s Day.

5. KitchenAid 5 Speed Diamond Blender – Raspberry Ice

I’m a very visual person and love colour and things that are different. Pink is my favourite colour and I’m sure there are plenty of women who would love a bright pink blender! It would go so well with that Fitbit! Juices and smoothies have become popular lately and I know lots of people use a Nutri Bullet to make theirs but I’d chose this blender any day.

Why I want it: Not going to lie, basically for the colour!

Why I don’t need it: I don’t have a house of my own, I don’t juice and my mum has a blender already.

---

I hope you enjoyed reading about the gadgets I’m lusting after but really don’t need! Let me know if you’ve tried any of these products and what’s on your lust list!

Workout Playlist

Hello, hello! I have had this post in the works for the last month or so and I’m finally getting to share it with you. Ever since I finished school and studying, exercise and eating healthy became a big part of my daily routine. I was given an Exercycle for my 19th birthday in 2014 and I’ve lost count of just how many kilometres I’ve cycled since then. There were times I would cycle 10km a day in conjunction with a 30 day squat challenge or a 30 day sit up challenge. I really like the control and routine exercise gives me.

I’m not going to lie, since I started my job in 2015 I haven’t been as consistent with exercise as I would like. Most of the time I try to squeeze my 10km in before work but when I’m busy or sick (which I have been more than usual in the past year) it gets pushed to the wayside. Being an asthmatic I know not to push myself and wait until I am feeling up to it before exercising again. I control my asthma really well and it never bothers me unless I get sick.

When I made the choice to do Yoga With Adriene’s #YogaCamp I made the choice not to cycle every day on top of yoga. Some of the practices were 40+ minutes and I just couldn’t manage to fit both into my day. Once I finished #YogaCamp I was itching to cycle to the Workout Playlist I had created!

The playlist itself contains 10 songs and is 40 minutes long. As mentioned, I normally cycle 10km which takes me around 27 minutes and upon implementing this playlist I manage to cycle 13.5km in 40 minutes. For my playlist I wanted a mixture of fast and slow tracks. The first three tracks are mid-uptempo and act as a warm up. The middle four are entirely uptempo and the last three are perfect to wind down and cool down the body. This playlist could be used for a variety of workouts: walking, running or a gym session.

 

Let me know what you think of this playlist and which songs you like to workout to!

January Favourites

Can you believe how fast this month has gone?!… January’s almost over already! I have replaced my 30 Days To Love series with a Monthly Favourites series instead. Quite a lot of other bloggers do this already and I wanted to join in because it looks like a lot of fun. I will not only be showing you my favourite beauty products but what I’m reading, listening to and anything else that fits into ‘favourites’.

Here’s the first monthly installment:

Beauty/Fashion

OPI Nail Polish (It’s Frosty Outside) – This frosted silver is so icy it’s hot! I’ve only had this nail polish for a month and I’ve already worn it on two occasions. The polish doesn’t take long to dry at all (wait 10 minutes in between coats) and it’s recommended not to finish with a top coat as it takes away from the liquid sand effect. I can definitely see myself getting through this 3.75ml bottle in no time at all!

Revlon Lipstick (Fire & Ice) – This shade has easily become my favourite in my small but frequented lipstick collection. Fire & Ice has a crème finish as opposed to a matte one, meaning a waxier formula and providing moisture while still delivering high pigment colour. I can wear this lipstick all night without having to reapply it and it doesn’t dry out my lips. This shade of red is perfect for all skin types as it incorporates blue and yellow undertones.

Xcesri Rings – These three rings can be worn altogether or separately and they are so dainty and elegant. Being midi rings, I generally wear the two plain gold bands on my knuckles and the jeweled band on my ring finger.

Zest! Weekend Pull On Jeans – These jeans feature front mock pockets, back patch pockets, a mock fly and a blasting and whiskering surface effect. They are incredibly comfy and the elastic waist is perfect for a curvy girl like me. The colour of the denim is also really nice, I don’t like pale, stonewash blues and these are the perfect mid denim blue.

Fitness

FitMom – I talked briefly about FitMom in Thursday’s Liebster Award post *here* and I really do love the concept behind the project. It doesn’t matter what your fitness level is, beginner, intermediate or advanced, these workouts are doable. What I find useful about this regime is that the founder, Nicola, shows you how to do each move and tells you how long to do each move for or how many reps (reps = repetition) you need to do. Each workout only takes 5 minutes – even better!

Music

January has seen some of my favourite artists release new singles including Ellie Goulding, Kelly Clarkson and Kylie Minogue.

1. Ellie Goulding – Love Me Like You Do

2. Kelly Clarkson – Heartbeat Song

3. Giorgio Moroder feat. Kylie Minogue – Right Here, Right Now

---

What are you loving this month?

Chanelle x

Week In Review: October 27 – November 2, 2014

I post an update here every Sunday giving an overview of my week. Accompanying photos from my Instagram are also included. Here’s the latest:

A couple of mornings this week I have woken up early, like 6am early, and haven’t been able to go back to sleep. Tuesday, in particular was a long day for me and after returning home from town the pyjama pants definitely went back on!

“Pyjama pants back on, been awake since 6am selfie #selfie #tuesday #meh”

I had my job interview at one of the supermarkets on Wednesday which went quite well. The two people who conducted the interview were both very nice and thought my interview skills were excellent. Getting feedback is useful as it gives me reassurance in what I’m doing. The downside is the job is only for a fixed-term basis over Christmas and the holidays.

Wednesday also marked five years since I sang ‘Issues’  by The Saturdays at a school talent quest. I was 14 at the time and I can’t believe how fast that time’s flown! I can still picture the Thursday evening I got up and sang it in 2009. To commemorate the occasion I uploaded three short videos of me singing a couple of lines from the song.

Links to parts 1, 2 and 3.

My copy of My Side of Life arrived on Thursday which was exciting! I’ve started reading it already and have had a sneak peek at the pictures. I love autobiographies because you get to read about everything straight from the author’s perspective and get a real sense of who they are.

This weekend I started my new exercise regime. For the next two months I will be repeating both Jen Selter’s 30 day squat challenge and a 30 day sit up challenge. Instead of doing one challenge each month, I am combining the two. By the end of November I will have completed 15 days of the squat challenge and 15 days of the sit up challenge (including rest days). I will complete the remainder in December. Christmas Day even works out to be a rest day haha!

I printed out November and December from Design Eat Repeat’s 2014 Monthly Calendar and colour coded.

Purple = # of squats
Blue = # of sit ups
Red = Rest day

Hope you had a great week!

Chanelle x

Week In Review: October 6 – October 12, 2014

I post an update here every Sunday giving an overview of my week. Accompanying photos from my Instagram are also included. Here’s the latest:

I started the week off by painting my nails. I opted for a bright pink (Revlon #360 Bubblegum) then accented my index fingers with a simple glitter polish (OPI Pink, Yet Lavender from the Mariah Carey Collection). This photo also features my Hot Pink Filofax, I love how it matches my nails.

This image was taken on Friday. You can see how well my nails held up throughout the week.

This week I launched a new ‘Meet the Blogger’ section. To read about how you can feature on the blog and see my Meet the Blogger post click here and here.

On Friday I was very excited to see I had reached 100 followers, again a massive thank you! My current follower tally is 105. The blog has also had over 800 hits in four months so I’m really quite proud of what I’ve managed to achieve so far.

Over the weekend I completed my 30 day sit up challenge which I started after completing Jen Selter’s 30 day squat challenge last month. I ended up doing 140 sit ups, 7x as many as day one (20). In a weird way I enjoyed doing the challenges and plan to keep on doing a mixture of squats and sit ups through a regime of my own.

Shane Filan released his autobiography ‘My Side of Life’ on Thursday (09/10/2014) and I ordered my copy today. I was reading the previews and it sounds like it’s going to be a thrilling read! I’m currently reading The Road Code so I need to get my butt in gear and finish that before Shane’s book arrives. I hate starting a new book without finishing the one I’m reading first.

Be sure to let me know what you achieved this week!

Chanelle x

Week In Review: September 8 – September 14, 2014

I post an update here every Sunday giving an overview of my week. Accompanying photos from my Instagram are also included. Here’s the latest:

On Monday I was feeling brave and uploaded a short video of me singing to Instagram. I selected Jessica Agombar’s track ‘Double’ and was lucky enough to receive feedback from the woman herself. Jessica* liked the video on Instagram and sent me a lovely tweet. You can view the video below:

View this post on Instagram

@jessicaagombar Me singing 'Double' 🙈

A post shared by Chanelle 🎀🇳🇿 (@chanellehayley_) on Sep 7, 2014 at 5:48pm PDT

*To find out more about Jessica read my introduction post to her here.

At the start of the week I also did a spot of baking and made a banana cake. It was pretty delicious if I do say so myself! If anyone would like me to post the recipe just let me know, I’d be more than happy to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of you may remember me posting about doing Jen Selter’s 30 day squat challenge. I completed that this week and it wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be. In fact, I kind of enjoyed it! I definitely notice a difference in my stomach, legs and bum.

I like having something to focus on so I decided next I would do a 30 day sit up challenge I found on 30dayfitnesschallenges.com. I started on Friday and already I can feel it will be more difficult than the squat challenge. The website itself is really useful as well, it shows you how to do the exercises correctly and lists a whole range of challenges you can do. I printed out the schedule and hole punched it for my Filofax just like I did with the squat challenge.

Today marks the last day of my 25 Songs, 25 Days challenge. I enjoyed selecting the tracks for each prompt and writing a little story about each one. If you missed any of the songs I posted about or want to listen to them again you can with this playlist:

This last week feels like it has flown by! I’m really excited for the week to come though, hopefully my Dainty Doll make up will arrive and I can work more on a secret project that has been my baby since March.

Would love to hear about your week too!

Chanelle x

30 Day Squat Challenge

As of Monday I have decided to take on Jen Selter’s 30 Day Squat Challenge. I heard about it from my brother as he and some of his workmates are also attempting it. I don’t know how tough it will be, but I’m up for the challenge!

I have copied the program into an Excel spreadsheet with three columns; Date, Day and Number of Squats (all pretty self explanatory) and printed it off to keep in my Filofax. After the required amount of squats are completed each day I will highlight that row as shown in the picture below:

Has anyone else tried this challenge? Let me know if you have.

Running Up That Hill

Today I went for my first run in forever!

I think the last time I ran properly was in P.E. in high school!

A friend of mine has been getting into running lately and has an app on her phone she uses to help. She follows an eight week program and runs/walks for the amount of the time the app requires. She’s been going running early in the morning in the forest and has inspired me to also give running a go.

I’ve devised a little route around my cul-de-sac of a few kilometres or so. I went out at 3:40 p.m. this afternoon and used today’s run as a trial to see how long I could run for before I needed a rest. I’m an asthmatic but luckily I don’t get attacks very often. I know not to push myself too hard.

I ended up walking for most of today as realistically I didn’t expect to be able to run the whole distance anyway. In future I plan to run earlier in the day so I get more sunshine and less of an icy afternoon breeze. I’m aiming to go for a run at least three times a week. Hopefully the more I run the fitter I will get.

To all you fellow runners out there –‘Keep calm and run on.’