5 Things I Learned When I Went Sugar-free

There is a diet for just about anything right now. It's all the rage. people everywhere are constantly restricting themselves in order to get that hot body.

Now I've never been a huge fan of diets for a couple of reasons:I LOVE food, and I have watched people around me diet and end up completely miserable and starving, which I personally think an amazing body isn't worth. I have never wanted to put myself in their position, and have never had to; I haven't been overweight and haven't had to worry about what I eat.

However I had found over the past couple of years I had been exhausted all the time, despite having a good sleep routine. It was making me a more negative and cranky person and I hated the constant headaches and inability to concentrate.

I made the decision to cut sugar out as much as possible for as long as possible about four months ago because I was curious to see if that would improve my tiredness issue. I don't follow any plan, I just cut out all refined sugars (apart from on cheat days, which are not every week). I still eat fruit and food containing natural sugars, and I allow myself a cheat day every now and again because as I said earlier being miserable because of  a diet is not something I want for myself. Here's what I have learnt over the past couple of months.

1. Being sugar free is not as hard as I thought it would be

Of course the first week was an absolute nightmare. It seemed like it was the one week where my family stuffed themselves with chocolate, ice-cream, baking, and every sugary thing. I sat there and watched them eat the one thing I couldn't have, crying on the inside. I was sure that I would give up after a couple of weeks, because I was miserable and didn't feel like it was making a difference at all. After the first week, though, I didn't crave sugar nearly half as much., and as the weeks went on it became a lot less of a trial. The weeks blurred together and now it feels like something I've been doing all my life. I don't have to hold myself back from eating sugary food because I don't want it anymore.

2. It is easy to replace the sugar with unhealthy carbs and bread

I noticed after the about the third week that I was eating a tonne of carbs, way more than usual. I would fill myself up on bread rolls instead of sugary snacks all day. Once I realized that I was replacing the sugar with carbs I made an effort to eat less carbs, and THAT was hard. It is something I would recommend doing if you go sugar free.

3. Eating sugar free is expensive

Sugar is in everything! It is so hard to find something sugar free, and generally if you do find something that tastes good as well it costs a fortune. To save costs I have ended up avoiding sweet food, and stick to savory, whether I'm at home or out.

4. Being sugar free definitely boosts your energy

I didn't feel the effects of my diet immediately, it wasn't something that happened over night. I don't know whether that's because I wasn't super strict or because it's a gradual process. However when I compare how I feel now, to how I felt at the beginning of the year I feel a million times better! I don't feel tired at all, and I can do so much more each day. I feel so much better and think it was definitely worth cutting sugar.

5. Going sugar free benefited more area in my life than one

Not only do I feel less tired, but my skin looks so much better, I lost a lot of fat, particularly around my stomach, and now I find it easier to build muscle.

My sugar free diet has given me so much more energy, and has had such a positive impact on my life. I feel way more confident and have found a real love for my body. It is something I would recommend to someone who never has enough energy, like I did. I'm going to carry on this diet because it's a regular part of my life now, I don't find it a struggle at all, and love how great I feel now.

Amesmames xx

Lush Review - Yog Nog Bath Bomb

It's the middle of winter. The days are shorter,the weather is colder, school is only getting harder, and each day becomes a real trial. Over the past couple of weeks I've found myself thinking more and more how I don't have anything to look forward to. Each day was becoming more and more repetitive, and boring. Same old school, same old classes, same old work. Bear in mind this is coming from someone who loves routines, and hates change.

When the holidays finally came last week I breathed the biggest sigh of relief. I couldn't have been happier for the holidays in my life. I've been doing little things throughout the past week to cheer myself up from this midwinter low. And what could be better to cheer me up than a hot bath with a limited addition lush bath bomb?Sigh, lush seems to be the answer to all my problems.

 I popped into our local lush store after work on Wednesday, and picked up a couple of goodies, and just having them in my room, smelling amazing, has cheered me up. The first product I bought is the Candy Mountain bubble bar:

I won't say too much about this, as I have already done a review on this product (link above), but it is one of my favourite Christmas products, and will definitely help to cheer my up.

The other bath product I picked up was the Yog Nog bath bomb:

The thing that I love about this bath bomb is it smells like Christmas. To me that is what Christmas should smell like. It is a very spicy, sweet scent that reminds me of spice buns, or mince pies. It also looks amazing, as you can see it has little Christmas tree's, and decorations all over it. As it fizzes it reveals a solid oil center. This then floats around the bath releasing the moisturizing oils into the water. When I stepped out of the bath I felt like a queen, my skin was so soft, and smelled so good.

I would highly recommend this bath bomb.

What makes you feel better in the midwinter slump, I'd love to hear our thoughts in the comments.

Amesmames xx

Goodness Beauty Products

Goodness is a natural New Zealand brand based in Wellington, and available to NZ and Australia. It's products use yummy ingredients such as; chia oil, honeysuckle extract, shea butter, aloe vera extract, and more.
I received the 'grab and go goodness' try me kit for my birthday in April, and have since fallen in love with almost every product.
In the kit are five products: chia seed oil, everyday cream cleanser, every morning moisturiser, every week face scrub, and every evening cream.

Chia Seed Oil
'Super-silky, easily absorbed, nourishing and hydrating organic deliciousness for your face with a winning 3:1 ratio of omega 3 to omega 6.'
When I was first given the kit I didn't really take much interest in this product. I didn't feel the need to use the oil, and I also didn't know how to use it properly. However as the weather has been getting colder my skin has been getting really dry, and breaking out a lot more. I've found myself reaching for this a lot in the past weeks, sometimes using instead of moisturiser in the morning, and applying my moisturiser a few hours later, and it has been a real life saver. I didn't find it made me look super shiny, it absorbed really quickly just like it claims. While I most likely won't be using it all year it has definitely become a winter staple.

Cream Cleanser
'I'll prep you for what comes next (day or night) with all the goodness of apple extract, chia seed, avocado, and coconut oils.'
There isn't too much to say about this cleanser. While I do like it I haven't really felt like it is doing much. It's a nice way to start the morning, but I think I like it more because I've fallen into a good routine of using it every morning and not because it actually makes a difference.

Morning Moisturiser
'I do the hydrating heavy lifting with all the nourishing goodness of bilberry and hibiscus extracts, chia seed, avocado and coconut oils.'
As soon as I used this moisturiser i loved it. It has a much nicer texture and formula than my past moisturisers, it's a lot thicker that the others that I've used. A little goes a really long way with this moisturiser,and it leaves my skin feeling so nice and fresh. I've already bought a new full sized one and am loving it still.

Face Scrub
'I'll buff your skin into shape with all the goodness of powdered pumice, chia seed, avocado, and coconut oils'
This is the only product in the range that I really haven't fallen in love with. There isn't anything in particular that is stopping me from enjoying this product, but i already have an exfoliating face wash which I love, and this hasn't topped it. I haven't made that much of an effort to use it, and I do think that if I made more of an effort I would probably enjoy it more.

 Evening Cream
 'Wake to a high-five from your skin with all the goodness of honeysuckle flower extract, chia seed, avocado and coconut oils'
Out of all of the goodness products this is my absolute favourite. I love how it makes my skin feel right after I put it on, and I love how my skin feels when I wake up. It has such a nice, thick consistency and just like the moisturiser a little goes a very long way. It terms of my skin-care routine, applying this is my favourite part.

What I love about all these products is their refreshing, natural scents. They all smell like fresh flowers and herbs, and it makes the products so lovely to use. If you would like to visit the goodness website click here.

Amesmames xx

Experimenter Bath Bomb Review

Hello everybody, welcome back to my blog. I haven't blogged in so long, I am so sorry! I've got a few posts lined up for this week, though, so hopefully that will make up for my absence.

The experimenter bath bomb. WOW! It was amazing. The most beautiful bath bomb ever! 

This bath bomb was originally sold at lush oxford street, I believe. But this year they have released it to NZ.

I was so excited about getting my hands of one of these bad boys, after seeing so many gorgeous Instagrams of them. And I was definitely not disappointed.

The bath bomb has five colours (one of which you cant see in this picture); pink, purple, blue, orange, and white. When you pop it into the bath it burst into an explosion of colours, marbling together making the prettiest bath possible.

I really liked the scent as well, it was a sweet vanilla scent. It was good to have such a simple smell since the bath bomb is so intense colour wise, it balanced it out nicely.

The only this I didn't like about the bath bomb was the price, $10.00. I think it is a bit ridiculous to charge that much for one bath bomb, even if it is as spectacular as the experimenter bomb!

All in all I loved the bath bomb, and, if the price was slightly lower, would be happy to buy it all the time!

Amesmames xx

Rose Queen Bath Bomb - Lush Review

The rose queen bath bomb is a cute, pink bath bomb. It is quite a bit smaller than regular bath bombs.
When you drop it into the bath it releases lots of little petals, and they float around your bath. To be honest I'm not very into the petals, I found they were quite annoying, and made the bath far less enjoyable than if it had just been the bomb. I know that lots of people like having the petals, but I just didn't like the feeling.

The bath bomb itself smelt, you guessed, it like a rose, It was a very subtle, and very pretty scent. And the water turned a lovely, light pink.

All in all it was a nice bath bomb, it wasn't my favourite bath bomb, but I would buy it again.
What'd you think of this bath bomb? Let me know in the comments.

Amesmames xx

Easter Lush Products

It's Easter time once again, and if you know me, you know that means I am in lush buying all the limited edition products! The Easter range was very exciting this year, lots of bright colours and fresh scents, new products, and a few old favourites. I bought two different products this year. The two products were; the golden egg bath bomb melt, and the bunch of carrots bubble bar.

1. Golden Egg bath bomb

 I'm not going to say too much about this bath both because I have already done a review on it last year (to see the review click here). But i am going to say that I absolutely love this bath bomb, in fact I love it so much that i bought two! They are so beautiful and I think they represent the victory of Christ rising from the grave very nicely.

2. Bunch of Carrots bubble bar

This was something I had been interested in last year, but didn't get around to buying. They look super cute (although not very realistic, I don't know where you can buy pink carrots) and also look like they will last a while, you could probably get about six baths out of them. I was very excited about buying them. After I brought them home i noticed they were quite a different texture to other bubble bars that I had used. They were quite mushy. In the bath they were alright, just like you would expect from a bubble bar, but their scent is the main thing that puts me off. The smell, too me at least, very strongly of soap. At first I didn't mind their soapy smell, but after a few days of them sitting in my room making the whole place smell, I've come to dislike it more and more.

In all honesty I do not think I will be buying this bubble bar again, as I was quite disappointed. I wouldn't recommend it to people either.




Let me know what you think of these two products down below in the comments, I'd love to know if you enjoy them or hate them.

Amesmames xx

Birthday Present Idea's for Teens

In about 2 and a half weeks it's my birthday! I will be turning 15, and I'm really excited! I always love birthdays, not only because of the presents and special attention (which I'm not gonna lie, I love receiving), but because my entire family gets excited and involved. It's kind of a special day for everyone.

We all wake up pretty early in the morning and slip into mum and dad's room, and sit at the end of their bed. Then we open presents, and chat until late. When we do eventually get up we have a special breakfast of the birthday girl/boys choice.  The entire day is just different and special, and I love that!

One of my biggest problems every year is when people ask me what I want for my birthday and I can never remember! So this year I have been proactive, and made a wee list of a few things that I, and I'm sure other teenage girls, would like to receive:

1. Yankee Candle - $33.49

2. Lush Blackberry Bath Bomb - $6.90

3. Body Shop Body Butter - $36.95

4. Make up in general (I used lipstick to represent it)

5. Millie Marotta Colouring Book - $24.99

6. Country Road Bag - $89.90

7. Toms Shoes - $50-$160

8. Victoria's Secret Perfume - $25

9.  Billabong Wetsuit - $159.99

These are just a few things that I would love to be given for my birthday, there are a few other things such as fairy lights and face masks that I didn't put on the list, but otherwise I would be very happy to get these gifts.

I hope that this post has given you a bit of inspiration for future birthday presents, let me know what you would add to this list down in the comments.

Amesmames xx

Christchurch Chinese Lantern Festival

Christchurch hosts this lovely Chinese lantern festival every year. And although I've only been twice it's fair to say that I love it! I love busy atmosphere, and the different lanterns you see as you walk through the park.

It's so special to be able to see people reactions to the beautiful lit up scenes as you walk along the path of the park. I especially love seeing the children laugh and smile at the precious lanterns.

We bought some pork dumplings and green tea to share as we we walked from scene to scene, and they had a massive stage so you could sit and watch some Chinese performances, and learn about the culture.

It was such a lovely experience, and I'm looking forward to next years festival!

Amesmames xx

Lush Valentines Products!

Hello everybody, welcome back to my blog. As you all know, a couple of weeks ago it was valentines day, and with every valentines day comes valentines lush products! This year I was counting down the days till I could rush down to lush and try some of their lovely new products.  While I was surprised with what I got, I was definitely not disappointed!

 The two products I bought were called Unicorn Horn, and Lover Lamp.

Unicorn Horn was out last year, but I could only try out two last year, and I didn't like the smell of the unicorn horn, so I didn't buy it. I did go for it this year because there were only two bath products from the valentines range, and I wanted to try them both.
I really wasn't sure if I would like this bubble bar, I thought the scent was too fresh to be for valentines day, and I thought it would be too plain. I was so wrong!
I think that it suited valentines perfectly! It's lovely fresh scent was actually very romantic, and far more enjoyable than the floral scents of last years valentines range. It turned the bath a delicate shade of pink, and created mountains of bubbles, which I loved.

I added the Lover Lamp bath bomb, which was a new product brought out this year, into the bath after a few minutes, and once again I was pleasantly surprised. It's chocolate-y orange-y scent blended perfectly with the Unicorn Horn, and the red hearts you can see in the picture below melted into the bath, slowly turning the pink bah into a slightly deeper orange-y red colour, creating the most luxurious bath I have ever had! I loved every second, and sat I sat in the bath for ages before my fingers started wrinkling up like prunes.

I am literally praying they will bring these two back next year, because they are so amazing! I can easily say that these are my favourite lush products, and they make the most enjoyable bath you will ever have! I would definitely recommend these to people, as they are so magical, and would probably rate them both 9/10.

Unicorn Horn                                 Lover Lamp

Did you try any of the valentines products? I'd love to know what you thought, leave a comment down below. Hope you enjoyed this post.

Amesmames xx

I Chopped off all my Hair!! - Life lately

Hello everybody, welcome back to my blog. I hope that wherever you are in the world you have been having a great week. Mine has been a little stressful, since I made a rather spontaneous decision to cut my hair to my collarbones (My hair was almost down to my waist before I got the chop!).

I have to admit, I was super nervous walking in to the hairdresser, and even more nervous when she got out her scissors. The only other time I've cut my hair short was when I was 10, I cut it to my shoulders and HATED it with a passion. I so desperately wanted my hair to be long again, and it didn't help that all my friends at school had lovely, long, flowing hair. 

I think the reason I hated it was because I didn't find it girly enough. I was and still am a very girly person, and I felt like my hair didn't portray the right 'image'.

Before /// After

However this time around, almost exactly 5 years later, I've really love it. I don't find it says anything bad about me, it looks healthy, and its a lot easier to maintain, i also love how bouncy it is now, I feel like that shows my bubbly, and energetic character.

I'm not going to lie though, I have had a few mini freak outs throughout the week as I realize what I've done, I almost died when I found out I couldn't do a bun, but I'm going to make the most of short hair, and embrace it before I grow it out again.

In other news, we went stationary shopping today, and it was not a happy reminder that school starts in a week. I can't believe how quickly these holidays have gone, it feels like the last day of school was just yesterday! It will be nice to see all my school friends again, but I am so not ready for all the exams and projects that are sure to come my way this year. I've never been all that good at getting organized and doing homework, and there'll be so much more pressure this year, I don't know how I'm going to handle it. I'm sure there will be plenty of posts about that for you in the next couple of months.

My younger siblings go back to school two days before me, so It'll just be me, Mum, and my older sister who is going to uni this year. It'll be nice to have a catch up with them, because although we live in the same house, I hardly get to have a proper chat with them in between entertaining my crazy siblings and entertaining myself via social media, you know what I mean? I'm hoping for a couple of coffee dates just to talk.

What was meant to be a wee recap of the past week turned into a massive essay, but I hope you enjoyed this post, see you next time.

Amesmames xx

Lush Review: Intergalactic Bath Bomb

Its been so long since I have done a lush review, in fact I think my last review was back in October. So this post is long overdue.

I actually bought this bath bomb on boxing day, when everything was half price. This particular bath bomb could only be bought in a gift box, as it is from the Oxford St range, which can normally only be bought from the Oxford St shop.

I was extremely excited to try it once I saw the bright colours, and was not disappointed when I dropped it into the bath. This is by far the most beautiful bath bomb I have ever used. As you can imagine it fizzes away blue, pink and yellow, and it leaves the bath a lovely deep blue. It really does make you feel like you're in space!
I interested in the smell of the bath bomb as well, because instead of your classic sweet or floral lush product, this bomb had an incredibly strong minty scent. This scent was so strong, I think it could clear up someones sinus in minutes! Before i popped it in the bath i swore i would hate the smell, it was just too strong, but I actually really like it. I wouldn't be able to use it everyday, but every now and again this would be a lovely and refreshing treat.

While I do love this bath bomb and the beautiful colours it makes in the bath, I wouldn't recommend to just anyone because of its strong scent, it would have to be someone I know can handle stuff like this.
I'm now really keen to try out some other Oxford St products, and see if they are as different  and amazing as the intergalactic bomb. Who knows when I'll be able to get my hands on something, but I'll let you know when I do!

Have you tried any of the Oxford St products? Let me know what you think in the comments!

Amesmames xx