Wahanda Salon App

After seeing a few TV adverts about Wahanda, I decided to give it a go. To be honest, apart from the hairdressers, I've only ever been to a salon once and that was a for a pedicure when I was 13 in LA. It does intrigue me, so I thought I'd download it and see what it was all about!

All you have to do it create an account with your name, email and location. It's super simple to join up. The app then finds all the salons in your local area and filters out their treatments into 8 main categories. Each category also has sub-categories. If no-one if your local area does a treatment you want, you can expand your mileage.

The Categories

Hair - filing under hair you can choose from haircuts & hairdressing, blow dry, hair colouring & highlights, hair conditioning & scalp, hair consulting and Brazilian blow dry keratin treatments.

Massage - showing offers of a variety of different massages: therapeutic massage, deep tissue massage, Swedish massage, aromatherapy massage, stone massage and Indian head massage. 

Face - facials, eyebrows & eyelash, microdermabrasion, HD brows, men's facial and eye treatments.

Hair Removal - waxing, hollywood waxing, brazilian waxing, threading, French bikini wax and laser hair removal.

Nails - choose from a manicure, pedicure, gel nails, two-week manicure, foot scrub and nail extensions & overlays.

Body - body wraps, body exfoliation, spray tanning & sunless tanning, body, steam & sauna therapy and cellulite treatments.

Med & Dental - includes dental, teeth whitening, fresh breath, cosmetic injectables, dermal fillers and collagen treatments.

Spa - the spa category searches for local spa's near you so you can book anything from spa breaks to specific treatments.

All categories have the option of all treatments so you can see prices and what salons offer what treatments, or you can go on "other" and search for the treatment you want.

I haven't booked anything yet, but I'm planning on a massage and maybe a manicure!

I really rate this app, it works really smoothly and is perfect if you fancy treating yourself or a salon regular.

Have you tried out Wahanda?

Ellie x

Turkey Haul!

I really, seriously love the things I picked up from Turkey. I do feel a little guilty about some of the fake things I bought, as I normally hate fake goods but I gave in to temptation as pretty much every other shop has "genuine fakes" as they call them, haha. I also adopted a "someone like me will never be able to afford a real one" attitude, oops! Oh well. When in Turkey!

My favourite things out of everything are the patterned shorts and the Golden Rose makeup!

Ellie x

Hello: Marmaris, Turkey

So, I'm finally back. Having nearly 3 weeks off work has definitely been what I've needed, and I've even made some rather large life decisions. The time off to clear my head has been really good to me, and has made me realise what I want to do with my life. Yay!

Anyway, back to the post!

Turkey has never been a place I've thought of travelling to. I've known  many people go, many people love it, and many people return again. I've always been a bit nervous about it, as it's neighbouring some pretty dangerous countries, but once you get there, all nerves just vanish.

We saw absolutely no hints of trouble anywhere in Marmaris, Icmeler, Dalyan or Dalaman. However, during the last few days of our holiday, Istanbul saw a fair bit of trouble.

Marmaris is one of the main beach tourist areas, with many of the hotels situated either on the beach or around 100-200m away! All hotels own their own part of beach, which are chock-a-blocked with beds. The best way to experience the beach is by going on a tour to one of the many less-touristy beaches!

We had an absolutely fantastic time. The resort is beautiful, in a bay with tree-covered hills lining both sides. You wouldn't believe how green and floral it was, especially with the heat. It was around 40'C each day, so very hot! However it was surprisingly comfortable, not too humid and it's so easy to cool down - just jump in the pool! 

I feel like we were very lucky with our hotel as well. We stayed in the gorgeous Blue Bay Platinum, which has been newly refurbished and modern. The outer building is white, with lots of glass panels and silver detailing. It's then lit-up blue at night, which really makes it stand out. Such a gorgeous hotel! The staff are all fabulous as well.

Shopping in Turkey is how you'd expect. Every other shop is filled to the brim with fake designer goods for insanely good prices. Some stores have incredible fakes. Although I don't usually condone fake goods, I couldn't resist in the end and picked up a couple of items, oops!

Some store owners are pushy, they are very good salesmen and will just keep talking. Some do feel quite aggressive, but it's easy to avoid those situations by just walking away if they pressure you before you even get inside! 

Marmaris has a mall called Blue Port which I can recommend, they have an amazing makeup brand called Golden Rose which I'll post a haul on soon. The makeup is so cheap, but incredible quality!

It's really such a beautiful place, I had some moments where I was wondering how much an apartment would cost! If you haven't been to Turkey, I really recommend Marmaris. Make sure you do some trips too!

Ellie x

Ball Colegrave: Flower & Plant Trials 2015

As many of you probably know, I've really gotten into my plants recently. Me and Aaron were quite lucky to get into Ball Colegrave, which is a huge site literally full of new and  "experimental" plants which is usually only open for horticultural business owners and growers. We were put on the list to get in thanks to one of our suppliers at work!

I thought that this would make another very pretty post!

Ellie x

Homemade Pub Favourite: BBQ Chicken Melt ft. Posh Pickles

I'm starting to enjoy cooking. It's something I've never really done before, as I started full time work I didn't have too much to pay for so I ate out a lot, or bought in quick and easy meals. Not good, I know. Anyway, now having a bunch more to pay for I decided that it's more affordable, and better for me, to cook myself!

Thanks to The Bloggers Hub, I got the chance to work with Posh Pickles, who let me sample their Spicy Sticky BBQ Sauce*. I'm a huge fan of BBQ sauce, so I was really excited to be trying this out.

At first I wasn't sure what to do with the sauce as I had a lot of ideas floating around my head, but then I thought I may as well create one of my favourite pub dishes - BBQ chicken melt! The only difference is I used pre-diced chicken, as that's all I had in my fridge at the time.

Cooking up was simple. I just cooked the chicken in a pan on the hob, then when done, I covered them up with cheese and popped into the oven til it melted. Finally, topped with the Posh Pickles BBQ sauce, and served with a side of curly fries we were ready to eat!

The sauce is gorgeous, I highly recommend. It's sweet and smokey, with a kick of heat to boot. I also love that it's not totally smooth, it gives it a lovely homemade feel. Food is better when it's loving made and not from a production line!

All in all, I really loved this sauce. I'm considering buying a full-size bottle, and trying out their other products!

Posh Pickles Spicy Sticky BBQ Sauce - £3

Ellie x

* This post contains products that have been sent to me for purpose of review

Deepening & Prolonging the Life of Natural Tan

As summer seems to be officially here, I thought I would do a post on natural tanning. I'm definitely a fake-tan-free kind of girl, although I have been thinking about it more recently, but I still haven't caved. As I have olive skin, I tan very easily, so my main challenge is prolonging the colour. I haven't really been out in the sun properly for years (due to health reasons) so this year and on my holiday I'm making the most of the sunshine, especially as I look super ill with pale skin!

PROTECT YOUR SKIN

It is so important to protect your skin from the sun, even if you don't burn. The sun can really damage your skin, cause ageing and even skin cancer so I think it's really important that you use the correct SPF for your skintone and where you are in the world, also check out the star rating on the back of your sun cream bottle to check out the protection it gives you from other rays.

For the UK, I use a Factor 20 spray and that is enough protection for my skin tone. For my holiday in August, I have bought Factor 30. My BF however, is very white and needs more protection.

When your skin burns, it really damages the skin and doesn't leave you with a darker tan. It may be darker for a few days, but will quickly fade. You also really don't want that irreversible damage.

EXFOLIATE!

To deepen your tan, all you need to do is exfoliate. By constantly removing that dead layer of skin, you tan has a chance to deepen and darken without being "shaved off". If the dead skin cells aren't removed, they will come off when you shave, which will slightly remove your tan.

For everyday, I use a gentle everyday exfoliator from Sanctuary Spa. For a couple of times a week, I use a very scrubby scrub from Superdrug. It's probably one of my favourite things I've bought recently, as it leaves skin incredibly smooth and soft thanks to the added oils.

AFTER CARE
For my time in the sun in the UK, I only use after sun if I've been in the sun all day at work. Otherwise, I just mosturise as normal. But for my holiday, I will be using after sun everyday, and everyday once I'm back home. After sun helps sooth and repair your skin from being in the sun, whilst helping the colour last that bit longer.

MY TOP TIPS FOR NATURAL TANNING

- Always use an SPF that matches your skin tone, Boots have a good quiz on what sun cream you need depending on where you are and your skin tone. My general rule is the paler you are, the higher SPF and the hotter it is, the higher the SPF.

- Exfoliate for a deeper and longer-lasting tan

- After sun and moisturiser to help look after your skin, soothe and repair it

I hope these tips help!

Ellie x