My face

Anybody that knows me well knows that I love make up. Some people’s favourite item is mascara, for others their trademark must have is lippie but the product I cannot live without is foundation. It may sound boring but for somebody that has rubbish skin it truly is a Godsend. I have tried many but my foundation of choice and the one I keep going back to is Estee Lauder Double Wear. This stuff is amazing! I was introduced to Double wear whilst working for Lauder in Leeds and despite trying many others I always go back. It’s like an old trusted friend that you can always rely on.

Since I was about 15, going out without foundation has simply not been an option for me. On an overnight stay anywhere, my foundation is the one thing that I double check is in my bag. I have had rubbish skin for as long as I can remember and it’s not for lack of effort on my part. I have always looked after my skin, taken my make up off, cleansed twice a day, moisturised, you know the drill. But despite all of this my skin has always been a massive issue for me. Before going away on a beach holiday in the sun, as well as the familiar excitement I also get the fear. Ridiculous I know but I absolutely dread having to go bare-faced. I envy those girls that swish along the beach and dive into the pool with gorgeous glowing skin. Just to make things worse, over the last couple of years I seem to have developed rosacea. I get a nose as red as Rudolph’s when I indulge in all of the things that are said to make it worse.  Sun, alcohol and spicy food. As you can imagine the trips to Sri Lanka and India in the last couple of years weren’t great for my face.

The other fear for me has been the gym. Not the actual exercise itself but having to bare my face. I don’t want to be seen to be the stupid, vain girl that plasters herself in make up just to go and work-out but I don’t want to get that major sinking feeling when I catch a glimpse of my complexion in the mirror. I want to be able to stand up tall and be confident but without my foundation I just can’t do that. As the red blotches appear, any ounce of confidence I have seems to disappear. I can’t actually believe I am typing this as many of my friends will not recognise this description of me. I come across as the bubbly, confident girl that loves to wear make-up because I like being glamorous, not because I want to wear a mask. I do love any opportunity to be glamorous too though, don’t get me wrong!

 I love foundation because it can make you feel like you have good skin and can give you a confidence boost but what I really want is to not have to slap on Estee Lauder Double Wear for a trip to Sainsbury’s just so that I look acceptable. This year has been a big turning point for me and for the first time in a long time I have been going out without make-up and without scaring small children. I looked in the mirror this morning and didn’t hate what I saw and didn’t have any major red patches on my face. So what has changed? I can put it down to a couple of really simple things.

In February last year I went to see a lady that my friend has been suggesting I visit for a long time. I get hay fever really badly and when I say really badly, I’m talking more than a sniffle and bloodshot eyes. It’s to the extent that come June I have to go into hibernation in a serious way. I have had it since I was six and I am now 29 and I hope every year that this is the year I will have grown out of it. I have tried everything that the doctors can offer me apart from desensitisation (Where you have regular injections of the allergen to desensitise you) and I end up on steroids most summers. I used to work in a pharmacy and it always made me feel better when customers would come in, greeted by my snotty face and puffy, swollen eyes to say “Oh, at least you’re in the right place!” Obviously, because the conventional medication was clearly working for me. Idiots!

 I don’t really know how you would describe Natasha but she is a homeopath/microbiologist/witch doctor/wonder woman that has changed my life. I had to wait 9 months for an appointment and in the end Lucy sacrificed hers for me as booking a slot in before the hay fever season was due to start wasn’t looking likely. After prodding me with an electrode on my toe and thumb she listed a number of things that were out of balance and she went on to tell me that I should avoid dairy as it was the root of all of my problems. A bit of cheddar every now and then causing me to feel this rubbish! Really? Ironically I didn’t even mention my skin as although it bothered me I could plaster my face paint on and life was all good.

As well as the dairy suggestion she also gave me a list of homeopathic potions that she wanted me to take but I figured it was best to do one thing at a time to see what was working for me. So, in February last year I gave up dairy and the result: My hay fever has improved dramatically and magically my skin has also improved. I didn’t even think I indulged in a lot of dairy but it is sneaked in things that you wouldn’t even imagine. So reason number one for improved skin is eliminating dairy from my diet.

Reason number two is the Dove Beauty Cream Bar. This little bar of goodness costs about 50p and since I have been using it my skin has never been better. I cannot believe I am actually uttering these words. A fan of expensive skincare, I have indulged in all sorts of lotions and potions in the past. As I said earlier, I used to work for Estee Lauder so I had an amazing staff discount and amazing skincare at my disposal and use it I did. I work in PR and used to work on Dove. Despite loving the body care, a skincare snob, I would never have dreamed of cleansing my face with the Dove Beauty Cream Bar. In hindsight, I think I may have been giving my skin too much love and it was fighting back big style. Now I use my Dove bar twice a day. Once in the morning and once in the evening after removing my make-up and then I apply my regular moisturiser.

I do however have another trick up my sleeve and this is my absolute favourite thing. I brush my face. Let me be clear, this is not because I resemble a werewolf. Last year I started reading beauty blogs more and there was one thing that kept cropping up. What was this Clarisonic that I kept reading about? I just had to have one. For anybody that follows me on twitter, you will remember I tweeted a lot about just how badly I wanted one but I couldn’t justify spending that much on a giant toothbrush for my face, could I?

I remembered a little gadget that I got for Christmas a few years ago that was lurking in a drawer somewhere and I hunted it down. I don’t even think you can buy them anymore but in essence it is a cheap version of a Clarisonic. I started using the Phillips Visapure Soft Sensor and I did notice my skin improving. I even started getting comments on how well I looked.

This just made me want the Clarisonic even more as this little brush didn’t even operate at sonic speed so I took the plunge and ordered a Clarisonic Classic before Christmas. www.Clarisonic.com So what is it? The Clarisonic is a 2-speed sonic cleansing system developed by the makers of Sonicare toothbrushes. (I want one of these too now!)  

The Skin Cleansing Brush uses a patented sonic frequency of more than 300 movements per second to clean, soften and smooth your skin. The benefit claims by Clarisonic are:

• 6 x more makeup removal
• Skin is soft and smooth
• Cleanses so well that products absorb better
• Gentle for use twice daily
• Reduces oily areas, dry skin patches and blemishes
• Reduces the appearance of visible pores
• Reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles

I would be inclined to agree entirely with these claims and my skin has definitely improved but as lines and wrinkles isn’t a major concern for me  ( just yet but I have a feeling it will be soon)  I don’t feel I could fairly review this benefit. I absolutely love my Clarisonic and wouldn’t be without it. True love!  

Having bad skin makes you feel rubbish.  My Clarisonic tweets of longing and then of love have even encouraged others to go and buy one and I don’t think I have read a single review from a disappointed customer. The only thing I regret is that I didn’t opt for the Clarisonic Plus which has a head for your body too and obviously that I didn’t take the Clarisonic plunge earlier.

My complexion is still far from perfect but I am getting there and I wanted to share a couple of the things that have worked for me as they may work for others too. Happy Saturday people, I am off for a swim.

WARNING! Before you read this, please be aware I will be making confessions about my wild lifestyle.

Hello, my name is Karleen and I am an addict. A ‘back to school’ sign in Ryman’s window is like a blue light to a bug for me. I just can’t help myself.  I forgot to list it on blog post one as one of the things I like. I don’t just like it but I love stationery. I own so many pens and some people would see it as a problem. I remember a time at uni when one of my new housemates was rooting around in my room for something when she came across a large red Chanel branded box. She slowly lifted the lid to see what beautiful belonging was being encased in the large red box. She looked down and then she looked straight back at me. “What the hell is this!?”She didn’t understand why the box contained a huge array of pens. Cat's reaction to my pen box made me realise that perhaps I like pens more than most people.

The box contained a lot of pens. I like all sorts of pens and I own a massive range of different colours, different brands, highlighters, silver pens, gold pens, highlighters, fineliners, Sharpies and I even have a pack of those italic ones like your primary teacher had to write your name on labels. I can't walk past Paperchase without buying something and in fact it doesn't even have to be a pen. I'd be more than content with a pretty notebook.

 As the nieces are coming over tomorrow to do arty stuff I obviously had to go into Ryman’s to buy some extra glue, wobbly eyes, coloured lolly sticks, you know, the essential materials. This was to be added to the box of feathers, pipe cleaners, silver stars, little crystals and scrap paper shapes that I already have, for the benefit of the girls, obviously!  I couldn’t possibly walk out of there without buying something for myself so I went for the uni-ball 10 piece pen selection. I love buying new pens nearly as much as I like buying new make-up and in essence make up is like paint and crayons for your face.

I did pick up a multi-pack of Sharpies but I was really good and I had a quiet talking to myself before neatly placing them back on the shelf. *Tear rolls down cheek*With my art and craft supplies in hand I trotted out of the shop swiftly as I had a run to do but not before I had offered my expert stationery advice to a fellow shopper. I’m pretty good at persuading re. the benefits of specific writing tools and she purchased a Sharpie. The sales asssistant acknowledged I was doing his job! Well I had to, he was hardly tip-top on his product knowledge *tuts loudly*

As you know, my calf was niggling me last night and I had a night off running and opted for swimming instead. I wish I’d done the same again tonight because my leg is definitely not happy after my 4k loop. Despite being keen to beat my Parkrun time tomorrow morning, I am really nervous about injuring myself and I fear I may have fallen into that foolish trap where I have done too much, too soon. My leg is really quite sore. I am so annoyed at myself but onwards and upwards so I am going to head to the gym first thing and do some swimming and stretching. Opting out of Janathon on day 7 is just not an option for me. Catch you tomorrow, I’m off to play with my pens.

Ps.I do hope I didn't shock or offend with the unveiling of my not so secret addiction.

The niggle that is continuing to niggle

I was planning a run this morning but upon jumping out of bed it was apparent that the niggle in my right calf that was bothering me last night was still bothering me today. Although I am going to stick to the Janathon rules by doing some form of exercise every day, it would just have been plain stupid to go running. I don’t want to even slightly jeopardise my chances of taking part in the Semi de Paris.  

Me and my Kindle trotted off to work and after a productive day I headed off to the gym. I wasn’t risking anymore emails or notes from Betty and Guy. No sweaty gym for me today but straight into the pool. I did 60 lengths which was a little more impressive then yesterday’s 400metres. I swam 1200 metres in total and I actually really enjoyed it. I then went into the sauna. After a good stretch I did 80 sits ups and a few other Pilates style core strength exercises. I will be back to the running, leg permitting, tomorrow.  

When I started my blog on 31^st December I wasn’t even aware of Janathon.  My random blog seems to have turned into an exercise log, so over the weekend, when I hopefully have a little more time on my hands, I am going to write about some different subjects. After all, there are only so many ways you can say ‘I ran 5km today’. You can jazz it up with a few things along the way but this wasn’t what I started the blog for, although it seems to be acting as a great motivational tool.

I have a busy weekend planned with a bit of running in between. Auntie Karleen has volunteered to turn her home into a kindergarten crossed with an art studio. I love any opportunity to do a bit of art and crafty activity and I love my nieces even more so I am going to combine the two. I have invited the two princesses over to make some masterpieces.  I may even chuck in a little trip to the pond to feed the birds too.

 I’m pretty sure there will be some comedy value to be found amongst the chitter chatter. They are 2 and 4 going on 74, like a pair of little old ladies nattering away. For those of you that follow me on Twitter, you may have seen that I had a few seconds of fame on New Year’s Day. I was on the show ‘Magicians’ as a super excited audience member. I was actually accosted on my lunch break when the production runner offered to pay for lunch if we came to watch a magic trick. After an hour of freezing in the park I regretted saying yes. Anyway, I digress.

In short, I was in the background while a dude did a magic trick in a park. Both nieces were super excited to see me on the TV but the four year old did have a bone to pick with me when we had a chat on the phone a couple of days ago. “Auntie Karleen, I saw you on the telly but you forgot to wave to us or say hello. Next time we’ll have to shout to you so that you remember.” Well, that told me!

Sunday will be the dreaded second long run but I am actually quite looking forward to the challenge this week. I will follow this with a sumptuous Sunday roast as a good friend of mine is going to come over for a dinner that I been promising her for a very long time. I may even indulge in a little baking and if you are very lucky I will even share my recipes with you. The other thing I have on this weekend is Parkrun. I don’t want to jinx it but I really want to try and improve my time by at least one minute thirty seconds. I have said it now so there is no going back and with Janathon in mind I will of course keep you updated with all of my physical activity, well almost all of it.

The Irony

I have done more exercise this week than I have done in a long while. I have even been documenting it for Janathon so you all know exactly what I have been up to yet today I received two messages reminding me just how slack I have been of late. How very charming!

Whilst bounding down the stairs and leaving the office I had a little check on my I-Phone to see what I had missed.  I was greeted with a message from Betty at Roko. Betty is concerned about me as she hasn’t seen me at the gym for a while and she wanted to check I was ok. Betty and I have never met but it’s nice that she seems to care about me.

As you all know, I haven’t been to the gym in the last few weeks as I hurt my back and needed to rest until I was fully recovered but I still got a huge pang of guilt when I read the email. The only thing that made me feel good was that I had reported in last night via my blog to say I would be hitting the gym today. When I replied to Betty I smugly told her that I was in fact on my way home and then I would be going straight to the gym. I hope I don’t turn into some kind of stat in a report as one of the people that returned to the gym as a result of her email. Joking aside, it’s nice that Betty from Roko cares. I have been a member at many different gym chains in my time and I can honestly say nobody else has checked that I am ok when they haven’t seen me for a month and unfortunately there have been several  months that I haven’t been near the gym.

When I got to the gym I clocked in at the little machine with my personalised pin number so that my workout could be logged. I was greeted by another message but this time from my trainer Guy. Guy and I have met but only the once when I first joined the gym in November and he put my programme together. He had messaged me to let me know that I hadn’t achieved my target of three cardio sessions per week. Massive fail and another pang of guilt for Miss Smith. I just don’t do failing so just as well I had my gym gear on and was ready to hammer the treadmill for a serious cardio sesh.

I love my new Adidas running leggings that my girlie friends bought me for my birthday but I forgot that they are ‘climawarm’ built specifically for winter. They are great when I am running outside but please note, they are not so great inside on a treadmill. I have never ‘glowed’ so much in my life. I didn’t know I could look so disgusting. I am not one of those girls that bounds out of the gym looking fresh and beautiful. When I work out hard I look like I have been working out hard! The fact I looked so rough must show just how hard I had been trying. I ran 6k, swam 20 lengths (which disappointingly is only 400m) and did another 50 sit ups. Another point to note: Sit ups and planks are really not a good idea when you have an annoying tickly cough like mine that persists throughout the day and at bedtime too. However, there is a little pleasure in the pain when I cough, as it reminds me of the effort I am putting in.  In the words of Gordon Ramsay, Janathon day 5- done.

My new travel companion

Today was the first day of work in 2011 and the fourth day of Janathon. The alarm went off at 5:45 and it was as dark as night. The consolation prize was that I’d left my running kit on the radiator to dry so it was toasty warm when I pulled it on. Just as well because it was rather fresh outside. Earphones in, woolly hat on and I was away for day 6 of the running.

It was a little eerie, just a couple of cars about and a few other runners pounding the streets. I planned 4k today as this route was the safest and most well lit. My calves felt really tight and my knees were aching so I was pleased I was only doing 4k. It felt more like 40! I nipped round as fast as my legs would carry me so I could get home,  get showered  & dressed as soon as possible and then on the tube to work. Why the rush I hear you ask? Today was the first commute with my new travel companion. Meet the Kindle. I look pretty pleased to meet it on Boxing day.

I love it! I love the way it feels, the way you can buy a new book in less than a minute and the way that you turn the page at a click of a button. You can hold it in one hand and still turn the page easily without the risk of ripping it. Don't fret if you lose your page either as this companion will remember exactly where you got to.  I did feel a little like a kid showing off, whizzing up and down the street on my new bike on Christmas Day but I didn’t care as I was in my own little bubble of calm  when everybody else had their knickers in a twist about fare increases.

 I’m normally a bit of a traditionalist and thought I’d never tire of flicking the paper pages in a book, being able to see how far through the book you’ve got to encourage you to read more. Kindle has even mastered this with a percentage bar along the bottom that just wills you to read a few more pages and the way the print looks like ink on a page. Purely magical! It’s official to say, I love my Kindle and I haven’t even had the pleasure of taking it on holiday yet.

The first day back to work went swimmingly and talking of swimming I was planning on going to the gym for a swim tonight. I confess that by the time I got home, after a little detour to the apple store for a gift for my brother, it was 7:30 and I was starving.  I opted for a little action on my lounge rug instead. 135 sit ups, 10 planks held for 20 seconds each and 60 press ups later, my sofa was calling me and who was I to ignore it?

It is ages since I’ve done some treadmill running. I enjoy running outside so much more but I think tomorrow will call for a gym session just so that I can get the distance in. It’s so dark in the mornings and it’s already dark by the time I get home so the longer routes that I started running in the summer just aren’t a good idea for a lady on her own in the darker winter months. The gym means I can wallow in the Jacuzzi as a reward too and I think I deserve just a little wallowing. If I’m really good I may even throw in a little steam room sesh.

I am loving life right now!

I will be honest with you. I’m a little bored of the negative facebook status updates and tweets I have seen throughout today. People moaning about the holiday being over too quick, back to work tomorrow and whatever else they can find to be miserable about . Blah blah blah! Life is too short. I am completely understanding of the ‘back to school’ feeling as I still get Sunday night fear every week but I am pretty sure there are plenty more positive things we could all be saying. I am going to buck today’s trend, be different and tell you all why I’m loving life.

On New Year’s Day 2010, my boyfriend and I were walking back to my best friend’s house in Sheen to collect our car and we had serious New Year’s Eve induced hangovers. I grew up in SW14 and I still have a special place in my heart for South West London. At the time we were living in the sticks out near Heathrow. I was keen to move back. My friends are here, my family are here and I just love the area but I didn’t want to be seen as the bossy girlfriend that moves her boyfriend to live next door to everybody in her life. Much to my delight when I asked Jon what he thought of the area he declared he would quite like to live here. Green light! By the time we’d rocked up to Lucy’s we had given ourselves 6 months to find a new home in Mortlake or Barnes. Wahoo!

We moved to Barnes in May and it’s the best thing we have done in a long while. Running gives you a lot of time to think and whilst out on my day 3 Janathon run I had a little think about why I love Barnes. There are so many things that I like it would be really hard to say it all in to one post. Here are just a few of the things that helped me through my super painful 6k run today.

I love being close to my friends and family in amazing surroundings. When it snowed I went to Richmond Park with my sister, boyfriend and niece. Richmond Park is beautiful and is one of my favourite places. If you haven’t been then go. The Isabella Plantation is just amazing in Spring time. I’ve put some of our Richmond Park snow pics below.

I love living close to Barnes pond and to my best friend Lucy. We also took advantage of the snow and hung out at Barnes Pond to build a snow deer with her husband Paul. I like to be different! Excuse the ugly stain down my jacket. Among the excitement, I managed to spill coffee all down myself. Ihave mentioned before that I am a bit of a secret geek. I’m a wanna be birdwatcher (yes,really) so any opportunity to do a bit of twitching I’m there. Check out the coots between Lucy and I. If we met it's probably not the first thing you'd guess was a hobby of mine.

When I was running today, I have to admit I did have to stop to stretch my poor legs. They were screaming at me by the time I got to the Mall in Chiswick after 5 days of running. In fact they were screaming at me before I even left home. I was going to go out straight after breakfast but my bed was too much of a temptation. It was my last chance for a lay-in so lay in I did and finally set off at 1:00 this afternoon. Today’s run was tough but I kept telling myself how lucky I am to have the opportunity to run in such a beautiful area. Below is Barnes Bridge where I start my run and the other picture is one I took today when I reached Hammersmith Bridge. This is the halfway point in my 6k run and when the bridge comes into view it makes me smile. When I saw the Heron I just had to stop to take a snap. I kept on straight away though with no walk breaks but I have to admit it was really hard.

When I got to Lonsdale road that runs parallel to the towpath, I was so close to stopping for a break but Stonebridge, Put ‘em high came on my I-Pod. It’s Lucy’s favourite song and gave me the boost I needed to power on through. I felt so good when Barnes Bridge was in sight and when I finished I took a moment to just sit and look at the river. Despite my sore muscles I was beaming from ear to ear.

When you glance to the left of Barnes Bridge you see the White Hart Pub. I think it's actually officially called ye White Hart but I feel a but stupid saying that. It’s a fab pub and they are on Twitter too.(@WhiteHartBarnes) Barnes has some great pubs that are brilliant for catching up with friends and I even managed to get my Mum and Dad down to the White Hart with my sister and friends on Christmas eve to have a birthday drink with me. Mum and Dad aren't your typical pub type so it was great to have them there.

Being a wanna be twitcher I love that the London Wetlands centre is just down the road from where I live. I persuaded Jon to come for a walk there this afternoon as we are actually members. It really is incredible that such a nature reserve exists in London and we saw swans, diving ducks and even a crane. They have an ‘introduction to birdwatching’ course in February  and I am seriously tempted.Despite my two  bird handbooks, my twitcher knowledge is just not up to scratch.

I love living in a place where you know people in the community. When out and about I normally bump into somebody I know. Despite being in London, Barnes has a real village feel. We even have a farmers market on a Saturday and it’s quite likely you’ll catch me there salivating over the amazing food.  After the wetland centre walk today I bumped into one of the Team Bangs on the Run girls out on her run. Gemma was going for it. Another thing I love is seeing people with a target and working hard to acheive it. Seeing all the the Team Bangs on the Run updates and faboulous support we have receivedso far has been great. Thank you to everybody that has supported us and donated so far. We really do appreciate it and it is definitely helping me with my training. 

Another thing that I am loving right now is my Kindle that was a joint present from my brother and sister. It is amazing! I love the way that that you can turn the pages at the click of a button even when you are holding it in just one hand. The final thing that makes me really happy is that despite being ill for most of it, I managed to have a brilliant Christmas spending time with our  friends and family. I even managed to squeeze in a 'Christmas day' dinner with my friends on 28th December.

 I could go on and on here about things that I love but I think this is enough love for one post. Come on guys, before you post another miserable and negative status have a good hard think. I don’t want to sound preachy but there will always be somebody that is in a more unfortunate position than yourself. Think of something positive to say, embrace life and if you are unhappy then try and change things for the better.

The dreaded long run

According to my training schedule the next eight Sundays are all booked in for ‘long runs’. Sounds rather appetising don’t you think? I was nervous about the long run today. I want to train hard but as a sports massage therapist  I know the biggest mistake that most beginner runners make is doing too much too soon. The training schedule said 6 miles. Yuk!

I have to say, when I got up this morning my legs were not happy and they were certainly not up for the 4^th run in as many days. A little part of me could have quite happily exchanged my run for a little swim at the gym just to make sure I was abiding by the Janathon rules. Admittedly, the mini swim would have been the wimp’s way out but it would still have been exercise. However, I got two lovely tweets which made my day and gave me the extra push to knuckle down.

The first tweet was from the lovely Sam flowers (@companybeauty) saying ‘Just been for a run thanks to @karleensmith woo hoo! 2011 is the year I get fit!’ and the second was from @LissyBea ‘@karleensmith just found your blog thru this tweet & saw about  Janathon-signing up now, thanks-needed something to get me motivated again!’. What a boost! It was just what I needed to encourage me to pull my running shoes on so thank you ladies.  

Looking delightfully attractive in my running tights and sexy running hat (hiding very bad hair), I set off from my Mum’s house in Mortlake and ran towards Chiswick Bridge.  I ran along the Thames towpath, past the Budweiser Brewery and under Barnes Bridge. I continued along the muddy path on to Hammersmith Bridge. I was feeling good and kept running. I crossed the Bridge and still I kept going before heading back towards Barnes on the North side of the river. Still I ran. This was like a Forrest Gump performance for me. I would normally have stopped for a walk break by now but I had come this far and was determined to keep going without a break. It was tough but little things along the way kept me going. Two French bulldogs playing in the park, smiling families out walking on a Sunday afternoon or another old school song on my I-pod that triggered fond memories.

I made it back to my Mum’s without a break and ran 5.9 miles (9.5k). I did resemble a sweaty beetroot but I was a very proud beetroot. I’m sure things can only get better from now, apart from the severe muscle soreness that I am pretty sure I am going to experience tomorrow. I think the wimp swim and jacuzzi may have to be called upon.