Coconut water | Is it really that good for you?

So last week I decided to treat myself to a little shopping spree in the midst of nursing my looming hangover. Now for those of you who have ever been shopping with a hangover you will understand how painful this experience is, even more so when it's hot and your'e dehydrated. So what better way to rehydrate than to buy some water? I may have mentioned this previously, but I am a bit of a health freak, and if you haven't picked up on this already from reading my blog, you certainly will do in due course. I love researching and testing out all the latest health products on the market and have recently done a lot of research into the benefits of coconut water. Now I must say, this is quite a pricey product and I was quite reluctant to buy this healthy drink at first for this main reason. However, I decided one sunny afternoon that I would treat myself and hopefully tackle my hangover in doing so.

UFC Coconut Water

It even looks refreshing from the outside

Some of those benefits everyone's talking about

When poured it looks just like cloudy water

I quickly broke the seal shortly after purchase and was faced with a very strange sweet taste, nothing quite like anything I had ever experienced before. The taste itself was very overwhelming in fact, to the point where I could barely take more than a couple of sips out of the carton. I decided I would wait until I had got home and refrigerated my beverage until I drank any more. However even after refrigerating, this product still was undrinkable. I am not usually very fussy when it comes to trying new foods or drinks but this was a really acquired taste that I couldn't seem to stomach.

Yet there is no denying the plethora of benefits this drink contains. Referred to as 'mother nature’s' sports drink by marketers and made from Thailand's finest coconuts, this product is very popular with sports personnel. In fact this product has increased vastly in popularity after several celebrity and athlete endorsements. Everyone wants to get their hands on this new American craze it seems, but unfortunately it really wasn't for me. 

All in all despite the taste I can see why people love it. It's a guilt free drink with zero fat, barely any calories, and no nasty artificial additives or sweeteners which you can enjoy when you're hungover, dehydrated or after a workout. Some of it's health benefits include reducing blood pressure, slowing down ageing, hydrating the body and supporting digestive and urinary health. It is also said to contain more potassium than four bananas in just one serving which is incredible - I do love my bananas!

Have you ever tried coconut water and if so what do you think? I guess there is only one way of finding out if you're a coconut water fan and that's by trying it out for yourself!

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Benefit Beautiful | Coralista Blush

So just the other week I was in Nottingham for the weekend and after running low on blusher I thought it was about time I invested in a new one. Now, I am always reading the latest beauty posts on what you bloggers feel are the best beauty products in the business. Yet, I feel without testing these out beforehand, it's hard to know which ones are actually worth investing in. So I decided it was time to sit down and let an expert do the work for me. I have never actually had my make-up done for me in store so this was a nice treat especially after a heavy night of drinking - it felt good to be pampered! 

Benefit has to be one of my favourite beauty brands at the moment. Their products are not only high quality, their packaging is funky and fresh and definitely suits those with younger skin like myself. The Benefit beautician was really lovely and talked me through a range of their most popular products at the moment including their amazing 'gimme brow' which I will definitely be purchasing in my next beauty shopping haul along with their amazing tinted lip balms. I was given about five different blushers to choose from in total and I managed to narrow it down to their popular 'sugarbomb' and gorgeous 'coralista' blush. In the end I decided on the 'coralista' blush as this one was really summery and complimented my green eyes and olive skin much better than the pinker tones which I usually go for. It's always nice to have a change I think. However, I will definitely be investing in the pinker tones for the winter as recommended by the beautician herself. 

My make-up haul consisted of one 'coralista' blush, one Mac powder and a real technique blush brush

Makeover complete

The 'coralista' blush cost me £23.50 in total which may seem a lot compared to some blushers on the market, however I think it is well worth the money. Benefit products are not only long lasting they give you instant results. As the beautician noted, you only need a small amount of this to achieve the desired colour so I am hoping this will last me a good few months at least. I do love a bit if colour on my cheeks but this blusher I feel is also great for a general all over colour too including on your forehead and around your neck area in particular. You may not even feel the need to apply bronzer with this blush at hand. The only thing I would say is that you may need to top up on your colour throughout the day. I always start by applying a minimal amount as it is quite a dark tone and you don't wan't to look orange! Then if I do feel like I need to build my colour up, I can do so throughout the day. The blusher itself comes with a natural bristle brush but I decided to purchase a new blusher brush to go with this as again this was something I was desperately in need of.

The natural bristle brush that comes with this gorgeous blush 

The beautiful 'coralista' colour close up

I went for the 'real techniques' blusher brush which I will be posting about along with my other 'real techniques' brushes in my next post. These brushes are amazing and a must have for any beauty blogger. Until then, I hope you have enjoyed reading and I look forward to sharing with you some more of my beauty secrets.

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My Beauty Essentials

I know this is a popular topic amongst beauty bloggers so I thought I would ‘jump on the bandwagon’ essentially and share with you some of my beauty essentials.

We must begin with my favourite make-up product, one that I couldn't possibly live without, my Clinque Anti Blemish Foundation. In fact this foundation has been a personal favourite of mine ever since I turned sixteen (or old enough to start wearing make-up). I used to suffer from pretty bad acne in my teenage years so finding a foundation that wasn't oily and was designed for covering blemishes was essential. This foundation is very light on the face and doesn't clog your pores like a lot of liquid foundations often do so say goodbye to any further skin imperfections! I think I last paid around £22 for this foundation but it is a great foundation to wear either in the day or at night and therefore well worth the money. You don't need a lot of this foundation to achieve flawless skin so it usually lasts me a good couple of months. However, if you do want to build cover and go for a more ‘painted on’ look essentially, then the precise applicator allows you to measure out exactly how much you desire.

My second beauty favourite has to be my Mac eyebrow pencil. Big eyebrows are very much in at the moment and I love this eyebrow definer. It is very easy to apply and looks very natural to the brow line. It doesn't smudge (so perfect if you like going out clubbing like me) and can often last all day; I never feel the need to reapply. On the downside it is fairly expensive for what it is (£12) as I always end up using it very quickly. However I don't mind paying for quality over quantity in this instance. After trying numerous eyebrow pencils over the years, this has to be my favourite! It comes in numerous different shades and with it being a Mac product you can get one of the beauticians in store to test this out on you beforehand. I usually go for the spiked shade which is one of the darker shades but blends in great with my eyebrows!

Concealer: now I have always struggled to get a good concealer, hence why I have so many different brands of concealer in my make-up bag! However this little beauty has to be up there with some of the best on the high street. Benefit erase paste concealer which is used under the eyes and on skin imperfections does a great job of covering those dark circles in particular, something I know too well about. The great thing about this product is you only need tiny amount and it works wonders! Even though it is fairly expensive (£26) and prominently used under the eyes, it comes in three different shades and is very long lasting. Seriously say goodbye to those bags ladies!

FIND OUT MORE IN MY NEXT BLOG POST...

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