The Big 5 0 - How I Decided On My 50th Birthday Plans

Today's post is a little different,  it's a more personal post, so get comfy, grab a drink and I'll start. 

This year is my 50th birthday year, my actual birthday was 14th February and for around 6 - 10 months previous to my birthday, a couple of questions I had rather a lot were "What are you doing for your 50th" or "What would you like to do for your 50th" or "what would you like for your 50th?" depending on who was asking, and the honest truth was, I didn't have a clue, because I hadn't really ever dared think about it. 

A Bit Of Background Information. 

If you've been reading my blog for a long time, you will know that I have health problems that impact my life massively, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  I won't go into too much detail as I'm sure you don't want this to be extremely long, but some years ago after having some worrying complications, some really awful symptoms coupled with extreme pain for months and months, and being fobbed off by my GP, and him telling me "you nurses with your self diagnosis" I did explain that that wasn't the case and that I know my own body and was becoming increasingly worried and felt like there was something very wrong. 

I was finally able to see another GP who listened and sent me for some investigations, and after many investigations that finally resulted in abdominal surgery, and subsequently, major abdominal surgery, I was diagnosed with a very serious medical condition, and the condition had very serious side effects and a prognosis that wasn't good at all. I was told I was at extreme risk of my organs rupturing and me bleeding to death, at any time. 

I had had all the surgery and procedures I could have and every possible test had been done and every way of helping me had been explored, but there was nothing anyone could do, no cure, nothing,  I was diagnosed with a life limiting incurable medical condition.  

Deep breaths..... 

It was thought that I wouldn't make it to 40, a few years at best, it was horrendous, a feeling I will never be able to describe. I had 2 little girls, my partner Simon, and a job I loved and all of a sudden, it was like I'd been ripped out of my life and thrown into someone else's. I remember telling my parents and saying "At least it's me and not one of the girls" and my mum burst into tears and said "It is for me though, you're my little girl" It was awful, I felt awful, I felt angry, cheated, sad, frightened and so many other emotions. 

But this post isn't about my health so I don't want to dwell on that, plus I'll be here all year, but I can discuss that in detail in another post if you'd like me to, but for now, I'll keep it as to the point as I can.

My 50th Is Approaching.

When I turned 40, I had a party with all my friends and family, I'm not really a party in a room with a DJ kind of person but because it was such a big deal for me to make the milestone, I thought a party was in order and I'm glad I did it, it was so lovely and I had the best time, it was amazing to celebrate a milestone I didn't think I'd see.

So when my 50th was getting closer, I knew I didn't want a party like my 40th again, and because my birthday is in February, we couldn't have any celebrations at the house because it's too cold to have an outside seating area and there wouldn't be enough room indoors for everyone. 

I also didn't want a party like my 40th because lockdown really showed me who my true friends are. Now,  don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you have to be checking in daily with me, but you know, once in a while would be nice, especially when people I thought were close to me and cared, never checked in, and I realised it was me making the first contact every time, so a party was out of the equation. 

I wracked my brains and so did my girls and Simon, but we couldn't think what to do, we came up with some ideas but nothing felt right. It's a huge milestone for me and so I wanted to do something special. 

Then I had the idea...

My 50th Idea.

Since I didn't think I'd make it to my 40th birthday, I hadn't ever given my 50th birthday a thought, I suppose I just assumed that I wouldn't be here so I didn't really pay it any mind, and because of this, it gave me an idea, and I finally knew what I wanted to do for my 50th birthday. 

I chose the gift of time...

The Gift Of Time?

I decided I wanted to spend my 50th year with those I loved the most and those who loved me too, those true friends I spoke about up there ↑ and of course my family too. I thought since I was turning 50 and it's kind of a big deal, well it is if you didn't think you'd make it, I would have a 50th year, so from February 14th 2023 to February 14th 2024 I wanted to spend time with the special people in my life, it didn't have to be a huge deal, it could be as simple as someone popping in for a brew, but I decided I wanted to take lots of photos and document the whole year somehow. 

I wrote a post on Facebook, and I sent the same post in a whats app or text message to those who don't have Facebook, and the response I got was lovely, it made me feel very loved and I knew I'd chosen the perfect way to spend my 50th year. 

The Next Part?  

I've decided I'm going to save the next part for another post, so if you're interested in reading it, keep an eye on my social media accounts or my link tree which is here, this has all my social media links, plus any discount codes I have for you to use. 

What do you think of my idea for celebrating my 50th birthday? What would you do to celebrate a milestone birthday? Let me know in the comments section below.

Zoë 

My Christmas Party Outfit Idea's 2015

Hello Lovelies,

Christmas is a time when parties are held, whether it's family or friends holding a party or it's a works outing there are often parties to go to and for those parties it's nice to have a new outfit to wear and even if you don't have a Christmas party to go to it's often nice to dress up at Christmas, in our house we dress up on Christmas day, we either go to my parents or they come to us and they always dress up too. This year it's my friends 50th birthday shortly before Christmas and he's having a party too so I thought I would share with you some of the outfit idea's I've found online whilst I've been looking for a Christmassy outfit and one I can also wear for the birthday party I'm going to, maybe my choices will give some of you some inspiration too if you too are looking for a party or Christmas day outfit.

My Christmas Party Outfit Choices

1. River Island Black Embellished Strappy Cami - £38.00 

2. New Look Black Suede Mid Heel Shoes - £20.09 (was £29.99) 

3. Cherry Diva Jessie Crystal Statement Necklace - £6.99 

4. New Look Black Sequin Lace 2 in 1 Skater Dress - £27.99

5. New Look Black Velvet Sequin Mesh Panel Dress - £17.24 

6. River Island Molly Black Skinny Jeggings - £40.00 

7. Dorothy Perkins (at Debenhams) Black Sequin Clutch - £12.00 (was £15.00) 

8. New Look Black Ankle Strap Mid Heel Sandals - £14.99 

9. Next Black Lace V Neck Dress - £45.00 

10. Next Black Sequin Ombre Dress - £60.00

So those are my picks of party outfits, I chose skinny jeans and a sparkly top as well as dresses as I think with the statement necklace and either pair of heels plus the clutch it would make a great outfit and is a great alternative to a party dress, I often choose skinny jeans and a sparkly top and heels rather than a dress especially if the occasion isn't a formal one. Both pairs of shoes, the clutch and the necklace would look great with any of the dresses too. I can't wear very high heels so both the sandals and the shoes have just a nice size heel for me, I love that the clutch is quite big too so can fit all my essentials in. 

Are you going to any parties over the festive period? Do you have your outfit? I hope you enjoyed seeing my Christmas party outfit choices, which one is your favourite? Let me know in the comments. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always

Zoe x

Sephora Collection - Cream Lip Stain Matte - An Honest Review

 

Welcome back, 

Today I have a review of two of the Sephora Collection Cream Lip Stain Matte liquid lipsticks for you. 

Previously,  Sephora was not available to buy in the UK, but they now have two stores in London, one of which opened in 2023, and they are opening a new store in the Trafford Centre in Manchester in the summer of 2024. But if like me, you can't get to any of the stores, fear not, in 2022, Sephora took over the Feel Unique website and is now online so we can shop til we drop at Sephora without needing to travel to their stores. 

Sephora Collection: 

The Sephora Collection is Sephora's own brand beauty range. Sephora's Sephora Collection is a diverse and extensive range of beauty and skincare products developed and curated by Sephora and typically includes makeup, skincare, beauty tools and haircare. 

The Sephora Collection offers a wide array of products at various and mostly affordable price points. Sephora has a commitment to cruelty-free beauty and many of the products in the Sephora Collection have been formulated without animal testing. The packaging of the products is sleek, modern and simple, nothing fancy just simple but it looks great, I have tried a few products from their makeup range and so far so good, I shall be writing more about the other products I have tried soon.

Sephora Collection Cream Matte Lip Stain:

What Sephora Says:

"Sephora Collection Cream Lip Stain Liquid Lipstick is ultra-matte, full-coverage, long lasting, doesn’t transfer, and is very comfortable to wear.

Celebrate 10 years of no-transfer, extremely matte, and high-payoff colour with Cream Lip Stain.

SEPHORA COLLECTION transfer-free liquid lipstick, power in a bottle since 2011.
- The power to resist thanks to a long-lasting, maskproof, no-transfer makeup result.
-The power of extreme matte colour in a comfortable, non-drying velvet texture.
- The power of intense pigmentation in a thin but high-coverage colour layer.

You’ll never need to wonder how to make a matte liquid lipstick stay put: the answer is all in the long-lasting formula of SEPHORA COLLECTION cream lip stain lipstick. With a texture that feels creamy upon application, before melting into a light velvety veil of long-lasting lip colour.

Cream Lip Stain is:
- A non-drying lipstick with a comfortable and velvety texture that provides great coverage. Thanks to its formula enriched with avocado oil, this matte liquid lipstick provides comfort upon application."

My Thoughts:

I have really liked wearing liquid lipsticks for a number of years now and having tried a couple of the Sephora Collection Long Lip Last lipsticks quite a few years ago (which I cant find on the website, so I think they must have been discontinued) and trying one of the Cream Lip Stain Matte a couple of years ago and liking it, when shopping on the Sephora website, I thought I'd get a couple and see what I thought.

Swatch Photographs Are Not Edited 

I bought two of the lip stain matte, one in the shade Hippy Pink which is shade 69 and the other in the shade Watermelon which is shade 09. The swatches above don't really show how they look on my lips but that is my problem 100%, I have very blue lips due to a medication I use and because of this my lips can throw the shade of lipstick and it can look quite different on me than the swatches I take or I see online.

However, when I look at the lip swatches on the website, they do look very similar to how they look on me. Hippy Pink is more of a peachy pinky nude and Watermelon is a bright orangey shade with a hint of red. Both are lovely colours and to be honest nicer than I expected so I am not upset about it at all.

The lipsticks come with a doe foot applicator and are easy to apply without any messiness at all. They feel very comfortable when applying and do dry down to a matte finish, they don't feel uncomfortable on the lips once dry but if a matte finish isn't for you, applying a lip balm over the top helps but doesn't spoil the colour payoff or how lovely the lip stain mattes look.

I am really impressed by the lip stain mattes, and will be picking up a couple more shades, I like the look of First Dates and Pinky Red but to be honest with there being 40 shades to choose from I think I'll end up trying more than a couple. The lip stains do last well and didn't move throughout me drinking, but I did need to top up after eating which isn't a problem, they aren't huge and fit into my bag nicely with a compact mirror.

I have been looking for photographs of me wearing the lip stains and I have found one of me wearing the shade Watermelon 09 when we had gone away for the weekend to a Butlins 90's Reloaded weekend, so I shall pop that picture below for you.

Please excuse the matching t-shirts and my headband, this was one of the things we did to celebrate my 50th Year. I am wearing the shade Watermelon 09 in this photograph and as you can see, it is quite a bright orangey shade with a hint of red in it. It's a lovely colour though and I do love it, and I love the Hippy Pink too, they are both very "me" shades and I get a good amount of wear from them both. Hippy Pink is a good daytime shade, so I'll wear it if I'm going to the shops or out for lunch, but I'll wear Watermelon more in the evenings or on a summers day. 

I am really pleased with the Sephora Collection lip stain matte and think you would be too, especially if liquid lipsticks are your thing, and if you would like to give them a try, you can find them on the Sephora Website by clicking HERE priced at £12.99 each, you can often find discounts on the Sephora Collection own brand products, and if you have any specific discounts for example, teaching or NHS discounts, you will be able to save some pennies which is always a bonus. 

Have you tried the Sephora Collection Lip Stain Matte? Let me know in the comments, or if you haven't, check them out on the website and let me know if you could pick two shades up, which two shades would they be? 

Thank you for reading

Zoë x