The Lo Down - My Life as a Blogger

Hey Guys and Dolls,

I've been blogging almost 6 years now and I love my little part of the internet lots. My blog as you all know by now is called All-Made-Up-21. I named it that as I like nothing more than being all made up and I started my blog when I was 21 years old which seems like a while ago now.

My life has changed alot since I started blogging, first off I've met some amazing people while blogging and I'm now happy to call them my good friends. I've also gotten lots of great opportunities like going to product launches, landing amazing internships and liasing with press officers.

I've gotten the opportunity to work in Market Match PR and The Fragrance Shop Head Office in Manchester. Both were wonderful experiences and I'd definitely recommend anyone to give it a go. I learnt alot during the weeks I work in both office.

I also enjoy going to events and meeting up with fellow bloggers and learning about new and exciting launches. Life couldn't be better right now, I think blogging has really helped me with my fight against mental health problems and for that I'll always be grateful. 

Lastly all of you readers mean the world to me. I'm glad you enjoy reading my blog and I hope you take something from it. If any of you ever want to start your own blog yourself, definitely feel free to contact me and I'll give you the best advice I can.

Laura<3

The Lo Down - My Experience in a Mental Health Hospital

Hey Guys and Dolls,

Some of you may know I spent some time in a mental hospital in 2014. I was at the lowest point in my life after losing a loved one and coming out of a six year relationship, things were hard so I couldn't deal with day to day life anymore.

Life in a mental hospital was different to anything I'd ever experienced before it was a controlled environment with 24 hour supervision so it was definitely almost too much to handle at the start. All your belonging were checked too make sure there was nothing to jeopardise your safety. After a couple of weeks I got used to the routine of going to therapy and classes so I was doing good. I enjoyed the classes and they helped alot.

I was admitted to hospital twice in a two year period for things I don't want to go into so i won't go into it. I think my stay there really helped me alot though I made amazing friends that are going to be my friends for life. If anyone is reading this who may be in the same situation as me then may not want to go into hospital, I know I didn't but once you settle in it seriously is fine and one of the best decisions I made in my life though it was extremely difficuly. 

As there are pretty strict visiting times I missed my family and friends alot. I still have my bad days where I get anxiety and feel depressed but I know with the support I have around me i'll get through whatever curveball life throws at me. I don't know what I'd do without those two people in the picture above, my wonderful parents they mean the world to me and are always there for me no matter what.

I hope this post helps any of you that are going through a hard time just remember someone is always there for you.

Laura<3

My Mini Marathon Experience!!

On Monday 3rd june I took part in the Flora's Womens Mini Marathon. I couldn't have even imagined walking it last year let alone jog it. When I started jogging with my work buddy Alison at the end of April, she brought up the Mini Marathon and how it was 40 days away. Not going to lie I was a bit apprehensive about doing it, I'm by no means a jogger but I accepted her offer. I took it as a challenge, another goal for me to achieve! We started training hard, everyday after work we'd go jogging and not going to lie I was pretty tired after every session. College exams did get in the way a bit and I found myself in the 2 weeks prior to the Marathon not doing as much jogging as I would of liked. Everyone told me that you're suppose to have all your training done by the week before the Marathon, I didn't really pay attention to this at all. I'm pretty sure that's the week that I pushed myself a little harder. Two pieces of advice, drink as much water as possible and buy proper jogging gear well in advance of the Marathon. I bought the latter the weekend of the Mini Marathon and I was in a panic trying to get stuff sorted. Penneys/Primark have a great range of running/gym gear so I'd definitely recommend hitting them up. I picked up a pair of capri leggings from them for €11 which were perfect. They also had a handy pocket in the back that fit my phone, Ipod and leap card, just what I needed!

The day before the Mini Marathon Alison, her Mum and I collected our numbers at the Woman's World Show in the RDS. I personally didn't think was all that and didn't buy anything at it. I called in to see my Aunty in hospital afterwards and gave her some of the treats that were in my goody bag. She was particularly fond of the new Special K Chocolate Biscuit Moments. We had a good chat about everything from College to Marathon. Ever since we were younger she always told us to just do are best and thats what she told me whilst I was there. Little things like that mean so much to me, when my Nanna told her on Tuesday that I finished the Marathon she was beyond proud. My Nanna is seriously the best she called up to me on the morning of the Mini Marathon to wish me the best of luck, she's always been my biggest supporter and believed that I could do anything I put my mind to.

The day of the Mini Marathon was a complete scorcher, I wasn't expecting it at all. I was telling customers in work I was really looking forward to jogging it but only if it didn't rain and if it wasn't ridiculously warm. Of course it had to be ridiculously warm! Having never participated in previous years I wasn't the expecting the big crowds when I turned up. Getting the Luas with Alison and her Mum was crazy, we were so squished! Once the race started and I set my pace, it was all plain sailing. That is until I lost Alison after 3KM, I turned around and she was gone. I kept going alone left's just day I'm so glad I brought my Ipod with me. I waited for a bit to see could I spot her but I was talking to so many people afterwards and they were saying how you always end up losing people. 80,000 people take part in the Mini Marathon so the likeliness is that you'll never find who you're looking for. If like me you like to listen to music while you run, I'd definitely recommend buying one of those straps for your arm. I seen so many people with these and I felt envious, I had to carry my Ipod for the whole duration of the Marathon. Buying one of those holders would of certainly made things easier. Paddy made me a Mix CD of songs to listen to during the Mini Marthon which included a remix of Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams "Get Lucky". One of my favourite songs of the minute, not really feeling  Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines I just don't get why everyone likes it! On the day I told Paddy to meet me at 4pm at Stephen's Green so imagine his suprise when I rang him at 3.13 saying I finished the Mini Marathon. Man I still can't believe myself that I finished it in that time like 1hr 13mins, it's such an amazing feeling. For me the last 1 km was the hardest just because I was genuinely exhausted. Once I stopped jogging to walk for a bit the heat definitely gets to you. The support from onlookers along the way is insane, it's true what they say the crowd really does keep you going. In the last km I heard someone mention the finish line was just around the corner and it gave me the push I needed to keep jogging. A lady from St Luke's Hospital was at the finish line and she asked could she take my picture. I didn't see the picture she took but I'm guessing it will feature in one of the charity's upcoming newsletters. Once I finished the Marathon I was handed this medal which I'm definitely going to be keeping up, for me this was one of my biggest achievement this year after losing all the weight. I really do believe that it's super important to keep setting yourself personal goals that lead to one big goal at the end. After the Marathon Paddy and I headed to get some food, we went to Yum Thai Noodle Bar which is seriously delicious. I love their pad thai noodles which were a great post jogging treat.

The most important thing for me was raising money for my charity, St Luke's Hospital. In total I raised €230.50, €92.50 of which came from all the lovely bloggers that attended the What Bloggers Did Next meetup. When Katie handed me back the sponsorship form I was in serious shock! You guys are such an amazing generous bunch, you definitely made me emotional on the day with all your wonderful words of support. I also have to thank the wonderful Katie Healy who organised the meetup, it really was fabulous and there was such an amazing turn out on the day too. There's talk that a Halloween Meetup is in the works so definitely head over to Katie's Twitter page if you want to be kept up to date on all proceedings.

Having finished the Mini Marathon and College I don't really know what to be doing with myself now. You'd think that a nice relaxing break was in order but to be honest I get bored so easily. I'm already looking into taking part in the 5km Rainbow Run in Dun Laoighre, it sounds like so much fun and I'm so excited for it. The tickets are €25 with a portion going to LARCC Cancer Support Centre which again is such an amazing cause. You can check out the official website here and hopefully I'll see some of you bloggers there on the day. I think I'm a bit far off taking part in a full Marathon, 26 miles seems like a hell of alot to me! Who knows maybe in a year I'll do it, one things for sure I'll start training early.

I hope you enjoyed this post on my Mini Marathon experience, I did a couple of update post leading up to it which you can check out here. You can see what where my beauty essentials on the day and just updates on what I generally got up to! Hope these posts helped if you're taking part in a Mini Marathon or considering taking part next year.

Laura<3

My Beauty Bootcamp Experience

Just over a week ago I was lucky enough to attend the All Ages Beauty & Hair course at Beauty Bootcamp on Upper Fitzwilliam St. When I left my house at 9 o'clock that morning I didn't really know what to expect from the day, but I ended up having such an amazing time. I like the idea of seeing how a certain look/style is done and trying to recreate it yourself, I really think it's the best way to learn. The Georgian building that Beauty Bootcamp is held in is absolutely beautiful and the rooms where the course takes place are big and spacious. On arrival I met the lovely Emma Jane who walked the group (10 in total) through different hair looks. My hair is a disaster at the moment after years of using the straightener so it was quite hard to get the styles to say put. During the 3 hours before lunch, we all learned the basics in blowdrying, curling and how to achieve a glamourous up do (I enjoyed this the most!). I also have my eye on the Remington Volumiser Hot Brush, come payday next week this will be mine. I could see myself using this alot instead of straightening my hair, as it adds that bit of volume and bounce which I really need. I decided on going for a fancy french twist, which the lovely Emma Jane kindly helped me with, I couldn't be happier at the way my hair turned out. All in all I really enjoyed learning a few tips on different hair styles. I don't tend to do too much with my hair in general but I found this super interesting. After lunch it was time for makeup, my favourite part. I know I do have a beauty blog but you can never have to many tips and tricks when it comes to makeup. All the beauty products were provided, all I needed to bring was my mascara and foundation which was optional as there was a great selection of foundations there. The super talented makeup artist, Leonard Daly showed us how to achieve a flawless foundation with a smokey eye, step by step which I found great. I always apply my foundation with a brush and after listening to Leonard for the three hours, I may be converted to using my fingers. It may not be the quickest compared to brush application, but you end up using so much less product in the process which is a plus if you own a rather expensive foundation. My favourite part was when we learned how to contour as it wouldn't be something I do enough. Another product I must buy is the Tom Ford Shade & Illuminate, I love everything about it including the packaging. I may be waiting a while though as this stuff isn't wallet friendly, but it's amazing for contouring and may indeed be a makeup bag must and these claims come after I tried it once. I don't contour enough and the different it makes is quite extraordinary, it looks like I have amazing cheekbones which I didn't think was possibly by just using one product. I loved the look I achieved at the end using minimal makeup but still getting a flawless finish, I kept my eyes quite simple with some browns and purples. I finished the look with my new favourite mascara Giorgio Armani Eye to Kill mascara*. My lashes look so long and full of volume after I use this, it doesn't clump or leave me with spidery lashes. I'm going to do a full review on this soon. At the course you also get given a booklet which shows easy step by steps to creating a makeup look which I found ever so helpful and it's great that I can refer back to it if I need to.

Here are some before and after pictures, I'm half asleep in the no makeup picture, along with my extremely frizzy hair that is almost impossible to work with in the mornings. Being the first no makeup picture on my blog, I wasn't sure if to put it up but I think it's a must with this post.

I really enjoyed my day at Beauty Bootcamp, I learnt so much in the space of a day. I'd love to book a course for my Mom and I before Christmas. It's something I know she'd really like to do herself as she loves learning new tips and tricks. If you want to check out some of the courses Beauty Bootcamp have to offer you can check out them out here. The day course itself would be great for before a hens or even someones birthday party as you'd be all glammed up for the night ahead.

Laura<3