The Chronicles of "trying to be more woman" - Episode 18 - Not so Rockin' "Roccabox"

I'M BACK. I wasn't really gone very long but here I am again. This time its a new beauty box which unfortunately unleashed fresh disappointment.....


Recently I discovered a awesome new blog about beauty boxes called Which Beauty Box UK. Through it i've discovered more beauty boxes to try but also gained some more discount codes which rather than saving me money has meant I've bought even more beauty boxes! Through this blog i discovered Roccabox. This monthly box is £10 plus postage and packaging but through Which Beauty Box UK i used a 10% discount code.

If you have been on which beauty box UK before, or have since i've included the link above then you may be asking why did i chose this box? Well if you check out the September blog for Which Beauty Box UK you will see that the selection was AMAZING as were the prior selections for the months prior. I was so excited to give this a go especially as its a blogger edition based on ReallyRee suggestions....


So i began to unbox......

I was getting so excited.... then......

IS THAT IT?!?




Lets begin with what I did like....

Murad - Exfoliating cleanser
I actually picked this up recently in my Latest In Beauty box which I blogged about recently. Since i already had tried and tested this I wasn't wow-ed but it was nice to know I liked this and could put it to use.

Omorovicza - Deep Cleansing mask
This is also available on Latest In Beauty though i haven't picked it up as yet. I am looking forward to using this and have heard great things. It is however expensive so its not a product i'd buy again, but i like that i get a chance to try it.


That is it really for the items i look forward to trying.

I want to give the eyelashes a go as i'm wanting to experiment with lashes, however I just bought four sets of lashes to try so this is just another which will wait in line.

The last is the Pureology, Strength cure shampoo conditioner duo. I'm least excited about these since i'm fairly happy with my current shampoo, oil combo and wasn't really looking to replace/improve.


Its not just me. Jaina who writes the blog Which Beauty Box UK has expressed her disappointment in this box also explaining how although she see's a theme (which i cannot even grasp this theme) this wasn't great for her.

I don't think i'll be trying this box again since i especially didn't like the lack of visibility you had. No previews and as its not that popular, instagram didn't help at all.

Sorry this article was a bit of a bummer but i hope you enjoyed or found it useful regardless.

Peace out ☮🕊䷊

Life - pets are family too

When you call your pet your baby you are always going to get those people who look at you like your mentally unstable. Just like parenthood however there are militant pet owners who will on the flip side tell you you aren't doing enough or your doing everything wrong.


Hi. My name's Laura and I'm addicted to giving my love to animals (even those which are not mine). I am a super animal lover.... Not to say I'm vegetarian or vegan (I love my furry friends but I do still eat some.... 😬). Yes I love animals and not just my own. I give my love to animals I meet on the street, in parks, in zoos and at friends houses (beware friends I could steal your pet). I've long loved furry creatures but as a child left the rearing and care of my creatures to my mum. Poor mum was left picking up dog poop, cleaning out fish tanks and scooping the poop for the hamster. It's only as an adult in my own home that I've met with the other side to pet ownership..... Others opinions of you.


When I bought my first place I was all on my own for a few years. Sure the boyfriend came to visit but it's a lonely life when he wasn't about. To keep me company I invited two guinea babies into my life. It was there my zoo began.....a year later I had also gained two budgie babies. Being that I had a one bed flat I decided (the boyfriend kind of demanded) that four pets were my limit.

Here's a baby Alpha:

Next question? What goes into the keeping of two guinea pigs and two budgies? Well I'm glad I asked. Firstly you need to decide where within the limited space of your one bed flat you can keep these babies? When i bought the guinea pigs from Pets at home i followed all the advices of the sales person. Since looking this up online apparently its not only the worse thing i could of done, but i also shouldn't have even bought them from there. Pets at home do not have the best reputation for the pets they sell but also for how they keep them whilst in their care. In my mind.... that means i rescued them..... right?




Well sales advice was to keep them in an indoor cage which was 1 metre long and 1/2 metre wide. Quickly i learned that two boy guinea pigs in such close confines was not a good idea. In the first 24 hours they fought fairly ruthlessly and poor foxtrot (my lil ginger baby) ended up with an infected bite on his neck. This meant the poor baby was on a weeks worth of antibiotics and painkillers (smelt like calpol and the fact he loved the taste of it tells me it probably was calpol). The next day my baby Alpha (the alpha of the pair - SHOCKER) poked himself in the eye with hay and gave himself an infected eye. This meant i had one guinea pig on antibiotics and painkillers and the other on eyedrops......Not only is it not great that within 48 hours two pets from pets at home were poorly but what was worse was the sales persons advice. When i bought  foxtrot back (pets at home as in house vets) with his swollen neck the sales person asked "if you like we can swap him for another." I asked you. What kind of question is that? That is a living animal....Of course i kept him. I make attachments VERY QUICKLY. It was a fun time for all three of us. I then upgraded to a large outdoor double hutch. Huge in fact as it was nearly 6 feet long and 5 feet tall. It was lovely and thick and in the winter i threw a huge throw over the top with some plastic covering and it was warmer in the hutch than it was in my flat!


Here we have some festive (not so) happy faces:

The second advice given by pets at home which was snubbed by forums i visited was the use of sawdust. Fellow pet owners suggested that sawdust assaults poor guinea pigs airways and also irritates their little feet. I'm not entirely sure about the feet thing but certainly it makes sense about them breathing in the dust of the sawdust. Instead I decided to use either a shredded cardboard (very eco friendly) or horse bedding. Yes horse bedding. I found this great stuff which is made from wood pulp, especially made for ponies post op as it is DUST FREE. This stuff doesn't smell too pleasant to be honest but it agrees with the guineas feet and airways.


Sometimes they even got on:

 

Before i moved again one of my furry babies passed away. Unfortunately me and the guinea baby got a particularly bad case of food poisoning from a cucumber. For a small furry it was deadly. Shortly after his passing we moved and  I soon moved my remaining fur baby back into the house so he wasn't as lonely. I'd love to find him another friend but as foxtrot was bullied by Alpha all those years he seemed to relish having a home to himself. He's an old fella and I'd doubt he'd want to make friends at his age since he's even become a grumpy bugger with me and Glenda. He currently lives in a big 6 feet long, one level on wheels. He loves nothing more than licking his Himalayan salt lick, running through his tunnel and hiding in his hut.


Just me and Foxy these days:

With the budgies i did learn my lesson and visited a breeder rather than a pet shop. I also chose my cage based on forum recommendations. These two are brothers but like the guinea pigs fought like demons. They however unlike the guinea pigs settled with age and now have loving relationship where they share their toys and perches.

My top tip for buying and caring for your pet. Don't make a rushed decision. If you want to purchase a pet then keep in mind how long they will live and how much it will hurt when they go. If you don't have the patience to keep caring for your pets for the years they may be with you, then don't buy a pet. If you can't afford the upkeep for a pet including any possible vet bills, then you shouldn't get a pet. Animal shelters are great places to pick up a new family member, because pets are 100% family, however they shouldn't need to exist. If more people were more responsible when taking on pets then there would be fewer shelters and less pets wondering why they were abandoned and wondering when they will meet their new family.


Well i hope you liked the advice but more importantly i hope you liked the pictures!

PEACE OUT 🕊☮

Fashion edit - "The first step is admitting you have a problem" PART 1

Sunday hangovers is the perfect reason to put together a STUPIDLY large blog. This may take me a while to write but why not since I have nothing better to do. So dishwasher and washing machine on.... Chores can wait til tomorrow... 

Let me tell you a story.... A shoe story. My friends and family know that I like shoes. I like shoes like Kanye likes Kanye.... I have a serious problem. I haven't counted my shoes in years because that would be like admitting to myself that the problem is real. I won't count today either but what I will do is take pictures and tell stories behind my shoes (not all shoes have a story thank goodness or I'd be writing this for years). Please do not count the shoes for me...... I don't need to validate my problem with a number....

 

So here we go. In no particular order I shall present the shoes and provide some stories.... Enjoy.....

 Slip on mules bought in the sales recently from River Island. No longer available in this colour but you can still get them in black......

Bought for the recent wedding I attended which i did blog about... please follow link for more wedding blog funsies. These primark (primarni) wonders were super cheap and so pretty. Shame they gave me huge blisters up my ankles but otherwise really comfy. Bought recently so may still be available in store?

I CANNOT WAIT to wear these in the winter. I got these from https://www.everything5pounds.com/en/ for you guessed it.... £5! These are no longer available so... SUCKS TO BE YOU!

Standard boring leather black work shoes both left and right... i can say no more.

These wonderful things were bought for my besties hen do. Her theme was gym chic so glittery wedge trainers seemed a must. I got them from https://www.everything5pounds.com/en/ and again these are no longer available. There are alternate glitter trainers available on there however so if you are a fan I'd urge you to check them out. As for these babies.... to the bin they go. There were not as comfortable as you'd expect and the wedge was squidgy and doesn't hold its shape.....

OOOO arty shot.....

Just jellies....... Nothing special. One paint covered from DIY and the other SUPER CHEAP from Amazon (I will not include the links to these as I wouldn't buy them again myself and nor would I recommend others to get these).

Another pair of wedding shoes for another stint as a bridesmaid this year. Again to read more on weddings visit my blog page http://torrancestips.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Wedding. Funny story on this is I've worn these the once for the wedding and when I went to put them on again today the strap BROKE. I will be contacting New Look today to complain!

Oh how i love a faux fur shoe. These pompom wonders are ASOS but i actually bought them "new with tags" off EBAY. I don't think these are available on ASOS anymore so again... SUCKS TO BE YOU. I'd really recommend anyone with a shoe addiction to become well acquainted with EBAY. Its a great and affordable way to feed your addiction and "new with tags" means you're getting a unworn product. BE AWARE... some items are listed as "new with tags" but in the description may say things like "worn once to a party". Avoid or report these adverts/sales. This is false advertisement and should not be tolerated in my books.

Worn once, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the look of my Kickers. Shame the rip my ankles to shreds 😪. I bought these lovelies full price so even if I never wear them again, I will NEVER throw these!!!!

Large black knee high boots. Not worn these for a while as my calves got too big for them. I plan to wear them all winter.... or until I walk through them...

OH these beauts. I got these when I was sweet 16. Back then I had my corner shop job and these babies were bought in a sale with a whole weeks salary. For me that was a big spend of £35. Real beige suede from a TKMAXX sale 12 years ago (don't calculate my age please), you'd be working miracles to find these again. I used to wear these all the time until a friend of mine threw up on them. I had them dry cleaned but it besmirched them forever in my mind. Don't think i will ever throw these regardless. Ah.... memories.......

Karrimor hiking boots and primark sandals.

 Ha ha ha ha ha. So; I took up running for a year. As with most my hobbies, once I decide to invest money in an accessory for the hobby I give up. Here's a classic example. These cheap looking, barely there running shoes set my parents back £123 back in the day and were used 5 whole times! They look so grubby as they have been gathering dust for about 3 years in amongst my other shoes. I enjoy running (once I claw back a stamina) so will keep and use these. Vibram 5 finger running shoes are still available if you're interested https://www.vibrams.co.uk/collections/womens-vibram-fivefingers.

More work shoes. One pair (left) unworn from https://www.everything5pounds.com/en/ and the other which have been worn from http://www.marksandspencer.com. These aren't available from either site anymore but do check out Marks's current range of leopard print shoes. They have some shoe game going on!!!

What can I say about these? Sexy? Sleek? I was and still am in love with these Leather high heeled wonders. Bought in Office in a sale I've worn these once and both times ended with crippled toes. Regardless I still have huge love for these sexy shoes and wish I could woman up more and wear these more often. Would also help if I was three inches shorter so I wouldn't tower above everyone whenever I wear these....





                                                                            
  

Welcome to part of the show and tell i love the most. Now for the Vivienne Westwoods. For my birthday one year my other half splashed out on these. Sadly they live in a carrier bag as I used the special box they came in to pass my Guinea Pig onto the Vets for cremation when he died (well he couldn't go in just any box, could he).
I have worn these once and the pain was terrible but I shall wear them again one day. There's a repeating theme with that phrase. I love them but I don't wear them but I will again...... hmmmmmm

TOPSHOP shoesies bought from https://www.ebay.co.uk/

Another present but this one worn MANY times. These were (years ago) from New look. They are almost a whole size too big so I have to pad out the ends and pop in insoles but... WORTH IT. They are super comfy for a night out even with the height of the heel. Black goes with everything so WIN.

BAM! Statement boot. Biker style boot from Dorothy Perkins about 6 years ago. Once again bought in a sale but worn MANY MANY TIMES. Although a tall stiletto heel, these a surprisingly comfortable and offer really good ankle support (something I appreciate as I get older).

Pink and Proud. These leather lovelies from Office were bought... you guessed it... in a sale. If memory serves me well these were under £10 in a boxing day sale some 5-10 years ago. I've replace the heel many times and need to again. Easy comfy and STATEMENT!

So this is some of my collection. I'm not sure how much of the collection this makes up but I'm going to say 1/3. I love all my shoes. I have thrown out two pairs this week meaning I need to begin sorting through again to find a new pair of "regular" everyday shoes to wear.

Terribly, this experience of playing with my shoes today has inspired me to find more. It really shouldn't as this is half the stock under my spare bed, not taking into consideration the stash under my desk at work, the stash in my cupboard in my bedroom and the stash by the front door. Hell I even have spare shoes at my mums and my other half's mums.... oh and those three pairs in my car ..... and those by the back door.... This may be less than a third of my collection.......

Want to see more? Well you best tune in (or sign up to my emailer below) to be kept in the loop. Til next time...... PEACE OUT