Top Tanning Product: Review & Guide!

If you're anything like me and you don't naturally tan easily and when you apply false tan; whether it be a gradual builder or instant, it just just looks orange, fake and patchy then you've come to the right place! I've got a review of a product that will work on any skin type and I am proof!

I have the most awkward skin. My skin is dry, extremely pale and I also have those little red bumps on the upper arm called Keratosis Pilaris (commonly called chicken skin) so whenever I apply any gradual or instant tan, it clings to them and makes an awful patchy, streaky look which just puts me off false tan altogether!

Now that we're in the "summer" season in the UK I thought I'd try a self-tanner I've been hearing great things about on YouTube! I didn't have high hopes because of my past experiences with false tan but it was relatively cheap so I thought I'd give it a go.

The product I'm talking about is something you might've heard of before...Cocoa Brown Tan by Marissa Carter.

Prior to application:

It says you have to exfoliate and moisturise each day for 3 days on the lead up to your application of this product. There are other products in this range that you can use to exfoliate and moisturise with but I didn't want to buy every product in case the tan turned out the same as other tanners and then I'd have wasted money. Also, because my skin can be quite sensitive, I didn't use an exfoliate product in case it irritated my skin, so I just used a regular shower cream and loofah.

Application Process:

• On the day of application, shower first to get rid of any oils or products on your body so you're left with a blank canvas.
• Then I applied a small amount of moisturiser (I don't think they advise it unless it's the Chocolate Whip product in the same range - but like I said, I didn't want to buy every product until I knew it would work for me) to areas with dry patches so elbows, kneecaps and hands. I only applied a small, very small amount just so it went on a bit smoother on the dry areas..Don't go overboard!
• I then let that moisturiser dry in for 5 minutes.
• Then I shook the can and applied about half a palm sized of mousse to the application mitt, which by the way is also made by Marissa Carter!
• I applied the mousse in circular motions ensuring that I covered every area of wherever I was applying it...for example, when I'm applying it to my arm I look in the mirror to make sure I've applied it in the inside of my arm, round the back of the arm etc etc.,
• It dries quite quick so the first time I applied it, I found I hadn't rubbed in a bit on my arm and it left a small line so the next time I applied it, I made sure I kept buffing it in quickly to avoid it happening again!

Once Applied:

• Put on some baggy clothes.
• This product is amazing at giving you the right colour you want! If you are pale like me, leave it on an hour and then rinse off in the shower. If you're a darker colour, you can leave it on for 2 or 3 hours!
• When you're in the shower rinsing it off, you can use a shower gel/cream but do not exfoliate or scrub!
• It says on the can that this tan lasts 5 to 7 days, so on roughly the 3rd/4th day, you can start exfoliating lightly again and moisturising as moisturising straight after your application will wear it off quicker.

This product also claims to have no fake tan scent and instead has a floral scent. On application, the floral scent came through and it was so nice compared to the usual vinegar-like scent that usually comes with fake tans! This product is that extra bit awesome because it doesn't stain clothes, bed sheets etc., as you are rinsing the tan off in the shower!

You can get this product from Superdrug, Feel Unique and even Primark for a very reasonable price of (approx) £6 and the tanning mitt for £3!

I really like this product as it leaves a very natural finish, little to no scent, doesn't stain clothes, lasts a great length of time and above all, it's extremely cheap! 

Each skin type is obviously different so I hope it works for you too!

Let me know if you've tried any tanning products that you love by commenting or tweeting me!

Thank you for reading!

Chloe x

KEEP YOUR POWER

This post is for anyone who is being bullied. Now, if you've ever been bullied in the past, you will agree when I say that a bully's dream is to be powerful and by being powerful it means taking power away from their target.

It isn't easy to stop bullying. That is a fact. But why are we letting these bullies take our power away from us? Without our power, they can't succeed with their dream of being powerful. Granted, this is much easier said than done - try telling someone who is currently being bullied "don't let them impact your life" and they'll reply "it's okay for you to say that, but try being in my position". 

I know 100% how you feel going into school or wherever your bully is. It's the worst feeling ever. All you want to do is go back home and stay in your room all day! Am I right? I'm not just making this post to lie and tell you everything's going to be okay if it's not...I am writing this post to truthfully tell you EVERYTHING WILL be okay. I have nothing to gain from lying to you, so please believe me. 

A trick I like to suggest to those who suffer from panic attacks is something I think works for people who are being bullied, here it is:

When you are in school, college or wherever you are being bullied, put yourself in a bubble and pretend you are somewhere else. Anywhere you feel comfortable, safe, happy and somewhere that no one can upset you. This place is yours and no bully can get in. 

Bullies tend to leech onto people they envy in someway, whether it be your intelligence - they'll likely call you a freak, geek or names like that... or maybe your pretty hair or clothes - they'll likely call you ugly or old-fashioned. When you hear this, know deep down that they feel the polar opposite to this, they 100% wish they were as intelligent as you and they 100% wish that they had your hair or your outfit.   

Trust me when I say that in the future (very near future) these bullies are going to be failing school and dropping out with no one to call friends. They'll be lonely, lonely people with no life aspirations or goals and will think back to the time they felt they had all the power that they didn't achieve by themselves...it was the power they took from their targets.do you think they'll still feel powerful then? 

Always keep your power and the bully will never be powerful. 

If you are being bullied, please reach out to someone. The whole purpose of this platform is to provide support to whoever needs it. Remember, I am only 21 and I'm in my last year at university so I can still relate to whatever you are going through! 

If you want any advice, or just want a chat about it or anything else you're going through, my links are:

Twitter: @ChloesConcept

Tumblr Ask: chloesconcept.tumblr.com/ask

Email: ChloesConcept@gmail.com

Please feel free to use any of these links to contact me :)

Thank you for reading!

Chloe x

Instant Panic Attack Recovery

Interview with the Megan Meier Foundation

Can you tell me a bit about the Megan Meier Foundation?

In December of 2007, Tina Meier founded the 501(c)(3) non-profit Megan Meier Foundation named after her 13 year old daughter, Megan Taylor Meier. Just prior to her 14th Birthday, Megan attempted to take her own life. All efforts were made to save her, unfortunately she passed on October 17, 2006. The day before her passing, Megan and Josh Evans, a MySpace friend at the time, had an argument that escalated into horrible, hurtful messages like, "The world would be a better place without you". Six weeks after Megan's suicide, Tina Meier was informed that Josh Evans was a fictitious creation of an adult neighbor.

Cyber-bullying is rising at such a fast rate and people often forget that the effect it has on victims can be just as damaging as any other form of bullying. What is the main aim for your foundation?

The Megan Meier Foundation currently offers community resources, scholarships, student workshops, and speaking engagements by Tina Meier for students, parents, educator, and other professionals. The mission of the Megan Meier Foundation is to “create awareness, education and promote positive change to children, parents and educators in response to the issues surrounding bullying and cyber-bullying in our children’s daily environment.”

How did you grow and expand your audience?

Tina's initial presentations were to student groups, however she quickly became aware that bullying prevention needed to be tackled on all levels including not only students, but also school officials and educators, parents, and whole communities. Tina now offers presentations to various groups in the hopes that providing bullying prevention information and techniques will lessen all forms of bullying in communities around the US.

How did you reach your audience? 

The Megan Meier Foundation reaches students, educators, and parents through social media and other national and international media platforms including television and radio. We also directly interact with these groups at presentations and workshop, and even at our annual fundraising events: Celebration for Change and Golf Tournament.

What has your foundation managed to achieve?

As of June 2014, the Foundation has managed to reach 209,000 students, educators, and parents through our programs. I've attached our Fact Sheet that includes more information about the work we have accomplished since 2008.

That is an incredible number! I will attach the fact sheet below! Do you have any advice for anyone going through bullying/cyber bullying right now?

One immediate piece of advice for youth going through bullying or cyber-bullying would be, tell a trusted adult. Sometimes kids feel like they can handle it or that it's too embarrassing to tell, but we have found that the best approach to end such situations is by making adults aware. A trusted adult doesn't necessarily have to be mom or dad, but anyone you feel like will listen and help address the situation like a teacher, youth group leader, coach, mentor, sibling, etc. It may also take a few tries to get their attention, but someone will help.

I would just like to say thank you so much to the Megan Meier Foundation for this interview, your great efforts are making huge differences worldwide!

If you would like to check out the Megan Meier Foundation's website, you can here: http://www.meganmeierfoundation.org/ 

If you would like to contact the Megan Meier Foundation, you can visit their Twitter account here: @MeganMeierFndn

Thank you all for reading!

Chloe x

Everyday Simple Skincare Routine

As far as caring for my skin goes, I probably don't do enough but I do realise how important it is so I have stepped it up a notch and now take it much more seriously!

This skincare post is extremely simple and manageable, making it extremely effortless and easy to upkeep and maintain! 

In this post I'll be talking about 3 main products for:

• Face
• Eyes
• Lips

Face:

I have very sensitive and dry skin which means that the face product I use has to coincide with that and ensure they don't irritate my skin. In my opinion, these products will work for anyone no matter if you have sensitive skin or not because it's kinder on your skin and who wouldn't want that? 

The moisturiser I use is Simple Kind To Skin Replenishing Rich Moisturiser. There's many moisturisers by Simple but as I have dry skin, I use the "Rich Moisturiser"! I love this moisturiser as not only is it extremely affordable (approx £2 depending on where you pick it up!) it has no scent and is very soothing and calming on my skin, no irritation or breakouts after using it! As I have some facial redness, some moisturisers tend to flare up my skin afterwards, making the redness extremely prominent (which is something that I feel self-conscious about before applying any creams, let alone after something's been applied and irritated it!) 

It also works great with any primer I use and dries in relatively quickly! All in all, I love this moisturiser! Great buy and something I will definitely be re-purchasing... although it does have 125 ml worth so there's quite a lot in there to see me through for quite some time!)

Eyes:

This is something I've tended to ignore the most out of my skincare routines as I never really see an improvement straight away... I don't really have bags or noticeable dark circles under my eyes so I thought "why bother?" even after knowing that the skin around your eyes is extremely delicate as it's so thin around there! So, I decided to buy something relatively cheap and see how I get on before I take the plunge and buy something a little more expensive! 

I use Boots Essentials Cucumber Eye Gel which costs an astronomical, massive price of £1.50! I couldn't leave it on the shelf for that price! I stick it in the fridge and every night after I've taken my makeup off and moisturised, I apply it under my eyes and on my eye lids. It's such a lovely feeling as its so cold and refreshing! I can't say I've really seen much of a difference, but like I said before, I don't consider myself to have majorly bad under eye bags or dark circles so I like to use it just because it feels nice and soothing! It can't be doing them any harm, right? So why not give it a shot!

Lips:

Okay so this was probably the product I've searched for the longest. Up until a few months ago, I used Carmex all the time and I wish I still could because it was amazing, lasted so long, was cheap and tasted delicious (not that I'm eating my lip balm but the Mint one was my favourite!) but recently my lips have got increasingly more chapped and dry and I'm not sure whether it's because I have pet allergies or whatever but nothing was curing the dryness or helping them from being chapped! I did some research and tried various products but nothing worked! I then found a balm called PapayaGold PAWPAW which is £5.99. I'll put the link here and no I'm not being sponsored for this in any way, shape or form! I bought this last week and already my lips are getting back to normal so I really do recommend this product!

There is quite a lot in the tube so will definitely last you for awhile! To me, £5.99 seemed a bit much for a lip balm, but on the tube, it says it is for "dry, chapped lips and irritated skin" so you can use it anywhere that's irritated, not only on your lips!

Hope this helps! If you want to tweet me, my Twitter is @ChloesConcept!

Thank you for reading!

Chloe x

Anxiety: Guide & Steps to recover from panic attacks.

Hi Bloggers!

Ever feel like things are piling up and you can't seem to see any light at the end of the tunnel? This post is dedicated to Anxiety.

Firstly, I just want to remind you, whatever you are going through, you can and will get through it!

Anxiety:

So sometimes you feel like you're kind of sinking in a state of panic, like everything is totally piling up on you. It can be triggered by any situation that makes you feel uncomfortable, nervous, stressed or even maybe an environment you're not used to! I guess the trigger can literally be anything that causes you to feel a bit different to what you usually feel like. There are different forms of Anxiety such as mild Anxiety and severe Anxiety. Now I think everyone is likely to have gone through or will go through mild Anxiety at least once in their lifetime where a stressful situation will bring on a mild panic attack where for a short while you feel a sense of "I can't do this!" and you panic and worry. This happens frequently for me, but one time I remember well was around exam time. I still get reminded from my friends how I once cried in the girls toilets prior to my GCSE Maths exam and quite honestly, I don't know how I managed to refrain from crying prior to all of my exams because they stressed me out so much! 

Now, severe Anxiety constantly remains at a high level of intensity for a longer period of time. Severe Anxiety may make you feel completely unable to deal with the situation, like you have no power or control and like you cannot for the life of you see any way out...this may then lead you to have a panic attack. Now these can usually last between 5 and 20 minutes but if longer, it could be that you're experiencing more than one panic attack in that period of time.

If you suffer from panic attacks, the best thing to do is:

• Totally remove yourself from the situation you're in. 
• Pretend you are a different person, choose your favourite actor or singer or anyone you look up to and be them for a minute. As soon as you disconnect yourself with how you are feeling right at that moment, you should start to feel a bit clearer.
• Go outside if you can, or go in a different room. 
• Take deep breaths in and out over and over again. 
• Stick your iPod on and put your favourite song on. This will help relax you and make you feel more comfortable as the song you're listening to will have good connotations and will therefore help you regain positivity.

My favourite tip: You can do this now, before your panic attacks begin again. All you have to do is to imagine a place in your mind. Imagine that place so vividly you can see every single detail about it; for example, if it's a beach, imagine the sand between your toes, the scent of sun lotion you've recently applied, the crystal blue sea and the hot, sizzling sun beating down on you. Make sure whatever place you choose has a calming effect on you, a place you love visiting or would love to visit. I think this is my favourite tip as for those few minutes you can totally take yourself out of the situation that is causing your panic attack and place yourself in an environment that can calm you and make you feel comfortable and positive (and it's an extremely cheap holiday without having to actually travel anywhere!)

Don't forget my motto: Take back what's yours! This picture below is one I took on my trip around California. It's one of my happy places, so I thought I'd share it with you!

I hope this post helps you, whether it's understanding what Anxiety is a little bit better or whether it's learning how to recover from a panic attack.

I will be posting guides like this on a regular basis in regards to confidence, self-esteem, depression and other various issues you might be going through, so please stay tuned!

As I always say at the end of my posts, my blog and campaign was set up to provide a place for anyone to visit and feel safe, happy and motivated about life! If you ever want to discuss anything going on in your life, or simply just want a chat, I'm always here to listen and talk!

My links are:

Twitter: @ChloesConcept

Tumblr Ask: chloesconcept.tumblr.com/ask

Email: ChloesConcept@gmail.com

Chloe x

My Campaign...explained.

Hi! I'm Chloe, I'm 21 and I live in the UK. I blog about beauty, fashion, lifestyle & interior but my blog has a twist and that's what I will be explaining in this post.

I'm a Media and Communications undergrad student, just starting my final year uni! I study film, journalism, public relations (PR), radio etc., so I have no option but to have been thrown into the “media world” and I really do love it.

The past few months I've been seriously thinking about what I want to do with my degree and whilst I know I love PR and journalism, I want to start putting what I have learnt to good use. In PR I've had to create campaigns for various topics such as health & fitness but a topic which is very important to me is bullying which also includes self-esteem, body confidence and anxiety related issues. My main reason for starting my blog was to provide a platform for people to come visit and feel safe and at home and know they are not alone. 

I feel that the power that the Internet holds is so massive that we cannot even comprehend it so we just go along and accept it but the Internet is hugely used to reinforce negativity in the world and this cannot carry on. The Internet and everything on it is a huge opinion former, where it influences what people believe and what they do.

I want to use the Internet for all the right reasons and reinforce positivity and motivation on my blog and campaign to help people who are going through any of the problems I have mentioned. My blog is a total safe zone. I provide beauty, hair, fashion, interior and lifestyle tips, tricks and reviews so you can have a little look at that if you prefer but you can also be a part of my campaign, whether it is to help yourself or to help others. I will also be including diabetes type 1 into my campaign as I have had this condition for 10 years now and feel that my campaign can also support those who are also going through what I have. 

I understand that you cannot simply stop bullying, anxiety, increase your body confidence and self-esteem. It isn't that easy, I get it - but what you CAN do is change the way it impacts people and help them to block the negativity and problems that is making people feel negative about themselves. I really can't make it clear enough: YOU control YOU.

A little motto I use in my campaign is “TAKE BACK WHAT'S YOURS” and by this I mean, whatever anyone else has taken away from you, whether it's your self-esteem, happiness, positivity, motivation and so on, NOW is the time to take back what belongs to you and keep it forever!

My blog/campaign is a project which excites me as I don't plan to stop until everyone knows about it and passes it along to whoever they think may need it! I've already conducted many interviews on my blog and in-depth blogger profiles where each blogger is totally honest and inspiring in what they say!

I have huge plans for this and I'd love everyone to know about it and get involved so we can put an end to letting negativity take away what belongs to us... whether that negativity comes in the form of a bully, a doubt in your mind, a past experience or anything that is taking away your right to be happy and motivated.

If you want to talk about anything, whether it be just chatting about your day, venting about something that's going on in your life right now or if you need advice or someone to listen, I'm always, always available and you can be sure it will go no further than me. That is the reason I have created this platform as I know it's not easy to confide in people.

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I hope you guys will come back to my blog again let me know you've dropped by!

My links are:

Twitter: @ChloesConcept

Tumblr Ask: chloesconcept.tumblr.com/ask

Email: ChloesConcept@gmail.com

Chloe x