#BlogLife899 - Ask Laftan Anlamaz - Is this what passes for romance??

I have six episodes of this dreadful series to get through. I do not fault the acting at all, sometimes it's a bit hammy over the top but it's entertaining-ish.

This is a fluff post so I'll just share what it's about, I might have done this already though.

I'm watching it on Youtubey, but half the time the English subtitles are missing so that's really annoying.

It actually reminds me of two other shows, Kiralik Ask because it's a similar plot with the boss/employee, huge deception between them.

And then also Sefirin Kizi because of the constant abuse. I stopped watching both of those shows because I couldn't stand it any longer, deceiving and hurting someone you care about, is not my idea of romantic escapism.

Anyway back to the show, the main character Hayat and Murat have a contentious relationship.

She starts off as an unqualified assistant who masquerades as someone better qualified and a friend of the family but no-one knows what she looks like, so she gets away with it.

I can't stand that both the main characters are unlikable self centred egotistical people that only care about themselves.

When their friends are having a hard time, they bring it back to themselves for sympathy......Yuck!

Also the problem with a lot of Turkish dramas is that somehow the writers think disrespectful abusive tyrants are romantic heroes????

Why?? In real life they would be dumped and avoided. Do you want a partner that's constantly painfully and forcefully grabbing your arm and dragging you places?

Do you want someone throwing all your mistakes in your face, all the time and plummeting your self esteem to nothingness?

Lastly do you want someone yanking your wrist so hard you're yelping in pain? Slapping your face? Pushing you?

Forbidding you from leaving the house or talking normally to any other males???

No, no, no you do not!! So you can't help but wonder, what are the writers thinking when all this is acceptable, lovey dovey behaviour?

The fact that the friends and family are pushing them together and she almost dies at the end, sickens me but I'm nearly at the end so I just want to see what the result is.

In my head, she's left him to be with someone normal that doesn't abuse her but obviously I know that is not the case.

If the two leads have strong opinions, that's fine, you can get some back and forth, when there's obscene jealousy and violence though? Nope nope nope, just wrong.

That wouldn't work in real life, first it's grabbing, then slapping, then eventually it's punching, it doesn't suddenly improve.

And it's worse that he's manipulative, first nice and apologetic but when she doesn't accept it, he blames her and invades her personal space, not giving her a moments peace.

It's suffocating to be with someone that possessive that you can't have your own interests and career without them.

She literally wants to thrive and he wants her to be a good lil wifey and dote on him constantly and make him bloody coffee?

So he critiques her work, her passions because he's jealous she wants to do something without him.

Is that disgusting or what?? I can't recommend it at all, started off cute and then just got so bad.

Plus they don't trust the other is faithful at all. What kinda marriage is that?

On one hand it's sad and on the other, they just play so many games at each other's expense and it always backfires.

So dumb! Sorry I did want to like this but I just don't. It's something that bugs me, that thing of being made to feel bad or incapable constantly pushed buttons and being manhandled???

Nope can't stand it! The last straw was him saying You're not allowed to leave the house and he was purposely getting dolled up as though he was gonna cheat on her..

I mean seriously???? She's not a wife, she's a prisoner and yet he can say to her Where have you been? With whom??

But heaven forbid she ask him the same thing. Ugh! Watch it if you must, me personally I prefer when the males respect their partners.

#BlogLife844 - Samsung A16 - Was it worth the dramas?

My previous phone is the Oneplus Nord ce2 lite so I'm going to compare the Samsung A16 to that.

I do actually really love the colour, it's light but it's just a classy green.

To me it's different from the usual dark and dreary blue, black, grey nonsense. 

Unfortunately it's a lil bigger, a lil heavier and oof chunkier. I hate the fiddly sim and memory card removal but I have to do it.

Plus all the app transfers which I might ignore, oh and the updates.

The battery came 50% charged, I just set up the wifi and then it prompted me to restart it.

I had some problems with Googly it said it wanted me to authenticate on a different phone that I don't use, but eventually managed it.

I just tested bluetooth, sound is good. Mobile data seems fine, the real test will be when I'm outdoors and it just fails.

Normally they used to send the settings via text, I wonder if it's automatic or maybe I need to request it?

The sim seems to be working fine, although it's got a different phone number.

I might have to call EE about that also, he did say, your number would remain the same.

It's running android 14 at the moment. I have to remember to make the sd card the default storage, it popped up on the camera which was handy.

Now I'm downloading musicolet my preferred music player with the option to speed up songs.

I need my adblock browser and my games. At some point I have to test the calls and texts, although a text did come through, it must be working.

It's nice that dark mode is an option but I don't like the keyboard being black, I need a good theme.

Even though they have the complimentary samsung store themes, they seem a lil dull.

I prefer Zedge, sometimes you have to watch an advert but the quality and choice is amazing.

I found a way to change the samsung keyboard colour, turning on high contrast, closing the settings, reopening them and picking layout, lets me select, from yellow or blue.

I think I've finished with the apps now, the bus, the games, etc. I can already see a huge difference in the contrast.

Samsung just seems so vivid and sharp compared to the OnePlus.

Plus once I changed the timeout screen to longer, it actually stayed awake, unlike the OnePlus that just turns off, no matter how long you set it.

I need to see how it performs when I'm multi tasking. I usually have several apps or games open.

Plus I don't need to have it on half or nearly full brightness to see clearly.

I think it will definitely be an improvement but we shall see down the line.

Some more observations are that it's really laggy and struggling with the graphic heavy game Looney Tunes World of Mayhem.

It struggled to load, log in and settle. My old phone the A41 has no issue whatsoever.

Maybe I have to fiddle with the settings. It's a bit of a joke for a new phone not to handle a game....

Also what's making this process slow, I am adding the bookmarks manually, I only want the basics and unlike the OnePlus nord...

It doesn't pop up with that prompt, would you like us to use your saved passwords and log in for you?

I keep having to look them up one by one and unfortunately LastPass is hiding them lol.

Ugh I just want the necessaries like email, blogger, discord, twitter, that's probably it actually.

That felt good, I had been putting off changing the recovery/security back up email and as I was logging in on the phone, it just seemed easier to change it.

At first I was going to switch from msn, which I no longer use to the protonmail but then they said something about inactive accounts being blocked or closed and I don't use mine much.

A more realistic one is my phone number which doesn't change.

I just opted for a safety text to recover my account that is so much easier.

If ever I have to use the library computer again, they can just text me the code.

Sometimes there is so much security, I can't even get in, yeesh!

Crikey that was easy, blogger just logged me in and loaded straight away.

Ok strangely enough on my second or third attempt to load up Looney Tunes it seems to work fine. Very odd!

I spoke to EE customer services. Apparently the handset cost was supposed to be £30 but they waved that so maybe that was the culprit for the supposed accessory charge.

He said there didn't seem to be any outstanding costs they billed me for, but to keep an eye out for my next bill just in case.

Also he didn't know anything about the 10% off, he said that might have been the handset offer.

I hope not, I hope it's a reduction for the line rental every month, I guess I will find out later.

Some key differences, the battery is lasting a full day. The screen is staying on, which I am thrilled about.

There is a lock screen that sometimes comes on, I have to disable that.

There's been no crashes while I'm switching tabs and games. Phone calls are fine.

Oh something confusing, shoot, I don't know how to disable voicemail. 

I might have to ring customer services back and get them to do it.

Maybe that's what I did last time, I can't recall. The only other difference is pressing the side buttons to alter the volume or switch the screen off.

It's awkward, it doesn't seem to press seamlessly, takes me a few tries, eventually I will get used to it.

#BlogLife8833 - Chatty Chicks Watching Flicks 17 - Bridget Jones 4

I was searching for something new to watch and up it popped, Bridget Jones 4, I wasn't sure what to expect.

I didn't see any spoilers or watch any trailers, I wanted to be surprised at the developments.

Hmm we gained Hugh/Daniel back and lost Darcy/Colin. I hate that.

There seem to be even less laughs than the third installment. She's still enduring judgemental dinners.

Still romanticising, every guy to be perfect for her. Why would you date someone that much younger?

Why would you rush it, knowing this is your first date in 4 years? She still isn't thinking anything through, will she ever grow up?

And flipping hell I wish she would fix her damn hair! She maybe digging the younger guy, half her age, but we all know she'll end up with the rule stickler, the teacher.

I kinda wish she would pick someone more free spirited, less uptight, less perfectish.

This is the worst film in the franchise to date. I don't recommend it, maybe it will get better.

I'm halfway through. So he just ghosted her? After saying I wish I had a time machine?

But I mean really, she is twice his age with 2 young kids, was it ever going to be serious? Noooooooooo!

Just block and move on! Does she ever learn? Trying an experimental lip serum?

Now she looks like a damn puffer fish! You're a Mama now, come on think!!

Not even the return of Hugh Grant could save this trainwreck. It was depressing, disappointing and a snooze fest.

Don't waste 2 hours of your life watching it. I don't know why, it just annoys me.

Maybe because I was looking for growth and maturity and it's just the same floundering.

I constantly feels like she's looking for a guy to save her instead of embracing a lil independence.

And with the men that were there, it just lacked chemistry. It was a film, I wanted to get lost in and feel warm and fuzzy.

Instead I raced through it, pleading for it to be over.

#BlogLife582 - My happiest and only painkiller is music

Song of the day - Olatunji - Wining Good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk6a8ZcaPs0&list=FLI0DEk_aDykRP0sJnme-JBg&index=1

Afternoony all on this bright Thursday where the sun is shining brightly but it's extremely cold indoors.

Hmm I got my earbuds today and the case was half charged. It took 2 hours to get it to a 100%.

But the T82 earbuds themselves are saying they are only 70% full. It's nearly 2.40pm we shall see.

But fast charge it is definitely not. I'm sure my other cases only take about an hour.

Alright I just confirmed it can't connect to two devices, boo, that's a shame. I can't switch between the laptop and the phone seamlessly.

It's definitely comfy, very minimal. I can't see any buttons or controls but I tend to use my phone or laptop to control the volume or switch songs anyway.

D replied to my email and said he would rather fully concentrate and not rush than give me a quick meaningless reply.

He prefers to take his time and write me something longer and impactful instead, which I can respect.

The volume has the capacity to be really high. It's on low and loud so that's a nice feature.

I was doubtful but it does seem to have stereo sound quality, even on the louder side, it's still clear and not distorted.

It's Bluetooth 5.3 and the battery is draining really fast. I wonder if it's a dud pair?

I'm cooking some salmon nuggets but I wish I had a dip to accompany them, if I remember correctly, I think they are on the dry side.

I'm trying not to purchase condiments too often because of the salt and sugar content but there are times, when the food is sooo dry, it needs something to compliment it.

Ooh just tried out the Nivea Gentle Cream Wash, it smells lovely and is infused with almond oil.

Is a lovely pink shade, it's not too thick which I prefer, it glides on and washes off easily.

I honestly can't tell if it has beads or not, but if it contains them, they are extra tiny. 

Something felt a lil grainy, I don't know. The results are my skin looks and feels smooth but my forehead is dry.

Hmm so it's a mixed outcome but it is only my first try. I am attempting to moisturise every day and that helps but I feel my face is really beginning to get severely dehydrated.

I don't know if I recommend it yet.

Okay that is nuts. I have just checked the battery percentage as it had gone down to 50% and now it is saying 70%.

I think it's possessed. I'll guess I will have to monitor it.... Weird!!

Hmm now it says the battery is dead in one earbud and the other says 60%.

Three lousy hours?? Instead of 10?? Ripoff!

#BlogLife431 - Nord CE2 Lite - Samsung alternate??

I've had some time to mess around with the new phone. Well the newest Nord as they are both new actually.

I've put the Honor 7A and the Samsung A13 away and I'm going to use the Samsung A41 for alarms and games and the Nord will be for everything else.

Those 2 feel like the lightest which is beneficial for my hands to keep them relaxed and not overly strained.

I'm not sure when Android 13 is coming. It's out in India but not sure about the UK.

The Nord came with 12 and then there was some other security update. Technically the operating system is Oxygen and that's 12.1.

Comparing it to my A13, the first thing I noticed I guess was the size, they're practically the same but the CE2 Lite is well, lighter ha.

The next thing was the display, Samsung is bright and clear, the Nord is really dark and dull.

I'm not an expert reviewer but I have to switch the brightness to nearly halfway in order to see the screen better, whereas with the Samsung I can have it low and still see everything clearly.

The Nord introduces this "Game" feature to rival Google Play Games, with that, it's easy to take a screenshot but I haven't figured out how to do that with the Game app.

To do a screenshot I swipe 3 fingers down and that's the way I've been doing it, not ideal and it takes many tries which is time consuming.

Ahh the battery lasted me a day and a half, with gaming, calls, texts, internet, downloads and high brightness which was very cool.

I'm still surprised it came with a proper wall plug and usb c wire. It took about an hour to charge it halfway.

I'm also surprised there were different colour options, if it was reasonable, I definitely would have gone for the green, that looked so different and unique.

But I love the light blue shade, everytime I look at it, I get happy.

I can't comment on the customer service too much. I only dialled the number once and I think I was taken to an Indian call centre, the line was really really bad and I could barely hear her and vice versa.

Switching it off used to be a pain but then I messed around with the settings and repurposed the buttons.

On the right side is a functional button and it used to say, unblock the mic and now a long press comes up with a slide to restart or power off the phone, muchhhh better.

When you swipe the left screen it has a horrible Google news feed which I hate.

I think the only way to get rid of it is disable and re-enable Google and that works, probably until you use another Google service and then it reappears.

I also had to hide the silly spotify and netflix nonsense which I will never use.

I really miss the Samsung wallpaper app and the alternative I found is Zedge which I used years ago and forgot about.

If you download the app, it will apply it to your phone directly which is so much easier than trying to download a picture and then it is a struggle to add it to the screen.

Umm I think most are free and you watch an advert to receive it, which I can live with.

I just find the wallpapers look bland. I think I will try a HD version and see if that is any better.

I thought it was having power save on but I disabled and it's still really low quality.

It's not enough to put me off but it's not something I can recommend either.

It is going to take some getting used to, having the volume keys on the left side, it just feels unnatural.

Oh one thing that is driving me nuts, the screen keeps timing out at 15 seconds even though I've set it to 30 minutes, 4 times, grrr!!

Another thing I hate is when I turn it off to charge, as soon as the usb cord slides it, it turns the phone back on grr.

I like it to have a rest and for me to have a break. The font is really unclear, it really needs a bold option.

There is a setting in Accessibility but that makes the font fainter in the music app, which is not a good solution.

I'm constantly attempting to not strain my eyes. The HD wallpapers look a whole lot better.

Something that surprised me was that in the high graphic game of Looney Tunes, it was quite jumpy on the regular setting but on high performance mode, ran more smoothly.

I know that game only works on the newer smartphones because it's probably a ram hungry app.

Oh another thing which I rarely see nowadays in the bluetooth section which has been easy to pair devices, it has a checkbox to hide it from being visible and that's a lovely security feature.

The wifi has been mostly smooth, I think it's only disconnected once or twice.

It does bug me a lil the front camera is prominent and I think you had to somehow hide it, app by app, to get the full screen mode, I've no idea how to do that.

I just checked and the current keyboard is Gboard. It's alright, it doesn't always correct errors.

I do love the pink shade though, that's really fun. At some point I might switch back to Samsung, I think that was the most productive one for me.

The camera images seem more defined than my previous phone cameras.

I can't always tell as my eyes are so bad but to me it seems sharper and improved.

I really love the fact that it came with a free case, a wall charger and a usb cord.

For the choice of shades and the accessories, it beats Samsung in that respect.

Samsung screen display is much higher so I guess it depends what you are looking for, the cost for OnePlus phones is cheaper also.

I don't know if I would permanently switch from Samsung. It's really just the dark and dreary screen of the Nord phone.

Maybe they have fixed the issue with newer phones but nobody wants to have their phone constantly really bright, depleting the battery do they?

I'll have to keep using it and maybe I will find it gets easier or they will maybe a software update or I have no idea, find a way to make it better visibly.

I guess that is the main issue for me, everything else I can tolerate.

#BlogLife414 - Mademoiselle speaker over to you...

Today wasn't as hectic maybe because I was up earlier and got a jump start, no naps sadly but maybe it's just as well, that it is helping me to tire out earlier.

I had time so I just finished charging the new speaker in flashy red.

It's called the Braven mini and it supposedly had 1900mah battery life, equal to 12 hours of playback and Bluetooth version 5.0 but it's not confirmed, it isn't stated anywhere that I could see.

First I had fun trying to locate where to put the usb c wire inside to charge it, you peel back a tab and it's hidden there at the base.

A red light came on but I wasn't sure if that mean't it was dead or charged but a few hours later, the light came off.

Hmm that was a slow charge!! I do love the reddy/plum colour though.

Alright just paired it with the laptop, the pairing name is BRV Mini and it was all set.

It has this funnily lil musical number when it's switched on and connecting, makes me laugh.

It is loud!! Whoa!! I'm satisfied, I got it as my laptop speakers are too low when playing movies with others around, talking, background noises etc.

When it's me by myself they are adequate. It's designed to be used outdoors, that's why it has a long battery life and is quite sturdily built.

I personally just like electronics that last for ages on a single charge. I'll pair it with the phone, just to see if it's just as easy.

Initially there are no problems. I will test it properly when I am away from home and see if it stays on or just randomly switches off, as some bluetooth products like to do grr.

Yikes I had a crazy morning. I wrote this yesterday so it's all a bit, over the place.

Firstly dictator calls when I'm eating breakfast. Finally but I didn't see/hear it because I forgot to put the volume up.

I normally mute it late in the evenings as I don't generally want to be disturbed and especially if I forget to take it off and someone rings while I'm asleep, that irritates me to no end.

I'm not going to call him back, for some reason he never answers when I do anyway so screw that.

It's like he gets offended when I use his personal number, but he's allowed to use mine. Pffft!!!

He has email,text, so when he tries again, I'll be mysteriously available but until then I'll be busy ha..

I'm still not over that.... Being dismissed over being four minutes late bit!!

As I was checking my emails I noticed that EE had said my bill is here and it's been paid.

I always frequently check my bank balance to see if it's normal, as sometimes there are scams or unusual amounts paid out.

If you recall I recently switched from BT to EE and she said my new bill would be £15.30 each month with the complimentary A13 phone.

That was on the 24th October and I got my first proper bill today which had me outraged.

As EE gouged me on delivery costs £7 and then early contract costs, oops actually no, thank goodness I didn't have to pay that.

Which is good as that would have been the first time and EE and BT are supposed to be the same merged company in any case.

What was strange is the doubled amount billing, it was £30.60!!

I immediately thought Oh no, I've been scammed and will be paying twice as much, locked into a contract for 2 years.

Again if I attempted to close my account, they would charge me 2 years worth of payments.

I queued up and waited 5/10 minutes, (always best to call in the mornings) and spoke to a nice operator who explained that the reason it was doubled was it contained 2 months worth of payments.

But from January onwards it would be relegated back to £15.30 which is the strangest thing I've ever heard.

Although she did add, every April it increases by a few pounds. Grr, the cheek!

I joined at the end of October (24th), they should have charged 1 month and a half or just 1 month lol.

But I'm relieved that's just a one off cost and not for the length of the contract, that had me soo worried.

My broadband and landline phone is £30, so altogether it's £45 which isn't that bad.

I was paying £50 and upwards before, which means I'm saving more than I thought.

A nice extra fiver. Oooh I'm excited my Bodycare order with hermes is out for delivery from 3.30pm - 5.30pm.

I can't wait to test, test, test and write reviews next week.

#BlogLife3405 - No meal without wholemeal

Good afternoony to you all. I truly hope your day is going well. Mine is a disaster.

The nausea was bad again today and I still would have been early albeit with tears running down my cheeks because of all the heaving.

However the bus decided even though I track it, to arrive early. I missed it by seconds grr! Then the next one after was really really late.

That completely through me off waiting about 20 minutes in the freezing cold, hopping from leg to leg as the pain set in.

I still arrived just 4 itty bitty minutes late. I know it's not ideal but come on it's just 4 freaking minutes.

Even the receptionist when I called up to notify I had arrived downstairs was saying, Oh I'll get him hold on..

Then err umm sorry Dic-tator (emphasis on dic) is in a meeting, I'll come down with some documents.. He'll be in touch blah blah, go home!

What an ass! You couldn't wait a lil bit for me and our meeting was going to be 4 minutes long was it??

You command I be there and then can't even have the decency to see me, even though you damn well know how rough this journey is for me.

Go screw yourself!

I washed my hair and the cute flicky curl it did, totally disappeared. I pinned it back but it just didn't seem the same.

There was no way I could face putting on makeup with my stomach retching so I just left it.

Today's outfit was the shiny red tiger print top and blue trousers. It all fits so nicely.

What a relief to actually walk around and not be worrying it's too long, too loose, too tight or too small.

This was the blue trouser set, I don't even recall buying it in navy, but as the special offer is still going. I just bought it in black, the only other colour was chocolate and ick, no thanks.

Oh and the Dickie's socks I bought are a lil misleading. Heavy duty pffft, purleaseeee.

At best they are a medium thickness, they are not like the thermal socks you see, those are actually dense!

The fit is a bit above the ankle length, comfortable to wear and warmish but then I have the fur lined booties on.

I just took them off and even with the heating on it's not great, it's as though I am wearing thin socks.

They suit my purpose however as I wanted something thick enough so that my skin wasn't rubbing against the footwear and I don't have that issue, so for me I would recommend it.

It depends on what your purpose for buying them is though. I finally got to pay one of my bills.

The dictator hasn't called me back, if I'm napping later then he'll have to wait.

When I got home I couldn't wait to sit down, it felt so good to rest that I had to psyche myself up to stand and take out the bins.

Sprawling out turns into Narnia land. I was fine, didn't feel the pain or aches and then the delivery food driver got lost so I had to get up and dang..

I felt the intensity. I don't want to be up much so I have my drink and Just Eat had 25% off for cyber monday so I took advantage of that and will have meals for a few days.

I have no appetite and I don't feel like forcing myself to eat, even though it's past 3pm now.

I did get snacks in, cereal bars, crisps, mini strawberry trifles but no wholemeal rolls sadly.

I didn't fancy white so picked up some croissants instead. The only thing I really fancy is soup.

I don't have the energy to even hang my clothes up. I should get my blankie as my back is hurting but it's too much effort.

I can't believe there is another meeting tomorrow, not with dictator unless he requests it but with someone else.

#BlogLife319 - Blink Intensive Tears eye drops review Update

I finally got these and I'm not sure if they are re-wetting drops but I don't think they are.

I paid £4.50 for them and they are 10ml in size. They are thin but not watery and don't sting, thank goodness.

As soon as I put them in my eyes were blinking and crying but after about a minute they stopped.

I feel refreshed and my lenses are comfortable again. It feels like I took them out and cleaned them and popped them back in again.

It will be interesting how they work on fogged up lenses. I think that is the purpose of re-wetting drops, probably stops you from having to remove, clean them and insert them back.

The writing is too small for me to read it but the box claims it's soothing and long lasting for dry tired eyes.

Suitable for use while wearing with soft or hard contact lenses, which is something I look for in drops as it is more convenient, not to wait around for the required safety time to lapse.

I've started storing mine in the fridge as I want that coolness. The humidity is steaming up my lenses really badly and I can't see or read properly and I can never be bothered to remove them as this usually happens in the evening before bedtime.

I'll let you know later, if the cost is justified!!

Providing long last relief is a lie. Within a few minutes, my eyes don't feel dry as such but they do feel tender and a bit raw already.

I don't recommend them for the price, I'm sure there are better ones out there and they don't soothe for ages.

I'll keep looking for the one that really impressed me, maybe it was Murine?!

The heat is back so my lenses got fogged and I tried to sprinkle the eye drops and blink to see if it would help clear things up...

Result, nothing happened. I really wouldn't bother with these.

#BlogLife288 - Blinking or flirting with me? Update

The door has been going nonstop today, deliveries and more packages. I had Iceland, 1 private, 1 ebay parcel my drops and a Greggs sandwich order.

I've never heard of the brand SuperEyes but the reviews across the board were positive and my eyes with the hard lenses are very dry and itchy at the moment so I needed some comfort.

I know you are not supposed to rub the eyes but I do it to clear away the grit, the itch and because it is sooo satisfying.

I wasn't sure if you could wear these with contact lenses. I always have to check the label, otherwise I would have to hold off from inserting the lenses for up to an hour or so.

Not all drops are allowed, with rgp lenses you have to be extra careful. I did google it though and the box did say contact lenses friendly.

Luckily I can wear them while I already have the lenses in. It's a 15ml bottle and a lil drop comes out but I prefer that, it's less waste.

I never have great aim, these seem to mostly go straight in my eyes though and felt cool and refreshing. I had this sense of immediate hydration.

Although I have to admit, they did burn slightly because my eyes were probably raw at that stage. I've learn't for me, that the best time to put drops in, is the mornings.

Mostly your eyes shouldn't be that red, irritable and barren at that stage so less likely to be sensitive. The worse shape that your eyes are in, is the more pain you will feel, applying the drops.

I don't know why that is, as something designed to soothe but that was confirmed by the optometrist. However today wasn't that bad and it was still fairly early.

Good heavens at night time, my eyes just feel completely inflamed. The computer, the lenses and also the humidity at times.

I no longer wanted to itch and it went back to feeling as though I don't have lenses on, which is the way it used to seem.

The price will vary, Savers apparently has them at £1 but I bought them from ebay for £2.50 with free postage.

This one was just for Tired Eyes, I have seen different versions though and they were pricier on Ebay, not sure if they are the same amount in Savers..

I used to buy a lot of drops, well mainly I got them free actually from the hospital or optometrists but now I'm not visiting them anymore, I have to buy my own but I forget to use it and it expires.

I can see myself using these up daily or even multiple times a day because it's useful to feel invigorated, especially if I'm writing and have to stop the creativity midway through due to the burning.

I do recommend them, much cheaper than the alternatives out there, a bigger bottle and better value as it will last longer.

**Additional notes**

I just wanted to add that, these will not clear up fogged over lenses. I tried and it had no effect.

If you want to do that, remove your lenses, re-clean them and insert them back and that is the best way to fix it.

I would avoid purchasing them if your eyes tend to be on the delicate side as the sting can be vicious.

I made that mistake and it was burning for a while and it was really unpleasant.

It's fine if your eyes are normal and they do soak the eyes nicely but they are very thin drops and will not be suitable for everyone.

#BlogLife167 - Picky pasta/noodle preferences updating

As winter is settling in and the days are getting chillier. I grabbed a few different brands of pasta pots to try out. 

I don't have hot drinks loaded with sugar so this is an alternative to warm me up from the insides.

I have just tried for the first time Soba Yakitori Chicken for a £1. It smelled good. It came with free soy sauce I guess it was. A tiny packet but adequate.

I mostly filled it with water, do not drown it completely, otherwise it will spill over and they recommend three minutes in the microwave but I have found four works better.

Mix it thoroughly and then put it in for that extra minute helps it to cook properly. I then let it stand for a few minutes and it was done.

It was nice, it had seasoning and flavour to it but I have had a lot better. I don't think I would buy it again, I'm sure there are better versions out there.

To date my favourites are Batchelor Macaroni and Cheese which is probably now discontinued. This version was in an Americany style box and it was delicious.

They then cheaped out and did a pot version and took the flavour away and it's really bad.

There was another one Tesco used to sell in a yellow tub but I can't remember the make, that was tasty.

I bought a few others and will add my notes here, when I've sampled them.

**Update**

I kept the Soba tub and am now trying the Super noodles, chicken flavour. I don't recall sampling this before and it smells great.

For such a small packet, they pack a lot into it. It was 60p and I had to break it up into small pieces, apply the sauce, fill it with water and only cook it for 2 minutes firstly to break it down.

I'll let it dissolve and then maybe more water and another two minutes should suffice.

At one and a half minutes it was close to bubbling over, so I have just switched off the microwave and left it to set so that the water can evaporate.

I find usually there is water/sauce left at the end but it's better that the pasta is thoroughly cooked.

It doesn't ever taste watery though, which is the nice thing. Usually it has a hint of whatever seasoning they use in the packet :)

They also look different to how I imagined them, they aren't skinny noodles, they are quite dense.

Conclusion, certainly much tastier than Soba, careful you don't water down the flavour though.

Highly recommended to wave off the chill and fill you up.

**Update**

I tried out Batchelors chicken and mushroom pasta as I like the mushroom sauce but not the actual mushrooms themselves.

I didn't taste any mushroom bits, thank goodness and it smells like soup. Very appealing.

This seemed to cook really fast even with chunky pasta. The sauce was enough and after about 3 minutes..

I just left it to set. For me it's filling because my appetite is still weird, so I can happily snack rather than partake in a big meal.

I also tried out the Batchelors bacon mac n cheese because I was craving macaroni and that was the only version left.

Cooking it smells horrendous as I never cared for that pork scent.

It cooked fairly quickly after 3 minutes and wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Probably just on the dry and salty side. It was alright but with a hint of bacon which I was hoping would be more non existent, it's my least favourite of the bunch.

**Update**

I have just tried the Mugshot Roast Chicken version and I thought that would be a high quality product but I hated it and binned it.

It was bland and didn't cook properly unlike the others. Soft and gloopy and had no taste whatsoever. I won't be buying it again, it was awful. Ick.

#BlogLife163 - Epilators - From hair to nowhere

What is an epilator? 

For me it's a exorbitant miracle device. It's an electronic hair removal apparatus that uses tweezers to pull the hairs out.

What brands have I used?

I think I've only used two. Braun which cut my legs to shreds and was really painful and broke and Panasonic which was a lot less irritable and easier.

The braun lasted a year and died. The first Panasonic lasted four years and the second one is going on now for seven years which I find astounding!!

What is the rough cost and do you have any tips?

At around £80 you better believe I searched everywhere on preservation tips and the best one was..... As soon as you finish using it, rinse the head under the tap to avoid clogs and eventual ruin.

Does it hurt, tell the truth??!!

People kept saying if you can handle waxing, you can take an epilator. I only found my armpits painful when it came to waxing.

Oh except for the bikini line, never again. Oh wait, the back of the legs are no picnic either.

There are so many different kinds, wet and dry, ice, specific regions, corded/uncorded..

I must have watched a dozen youtube videos and cringed. I read what seemed thousands of reviews and did my research for this epic investment.

For waxing you need a certain amount of growth but for epilating it is supposed to work on short hairs also.

Another tip for razor bumps/burn is aloe vera. That stuff is gold. Exfoliating regular is also a must and as painful as it makes it, go slowly, not fast, to get to the roots.

What is your recommendation?

If you can afford it, definitely go for the wet and dry, that is a game changer!! It's almost fun to use it in the shower and it hurts a lot less.

Where do I use it?

Arms,

Hands,

Chin,

Lip,

Armpits (which often catch a bit of skin and hurts)

Legs/Thighs,

Bikini (I tried once and I actually think it was so painful I may have wept lol)

Where have I seen a difference in less growth?

My arms, my chin, my legs, mostly my thighs. The hairs used to be really dark and then became softer, thinner and a bit lighter.

My thighs especially have patches of no hair growth at all anymore.

A final confusing confession

When I was really little I was fascinated about shaving so I tried it once and that coupled with the handheld tweezing, made it go from a few hairs to a lot more.

There is now quite a few which I hate but the weird thing is, the right side of my face has stopped hair growth but the left side has a lot.

Maybe I haven't been epilating properly.....?!

#BlogLife121 - Mistplay App update

I have been using this app for about nine months now. It didn't seem that long ago since I discovered it. It is still a bit buggy where I will be playing a game and suddenly it pops up with a message..

To signify I am no longer being rewarded so I have re-click on Mistplay to keep benefiting from the perks. They haven't added Paypal or made it available for Apple users but I hope those additions are forthcoming soon.

I think I have redeemed about 5 times altogether and my current balance is about 996 units. Which is pretty nice overall. Just for playing games.

There are still irregular codes and competitions running on their social media pages which helps. I am just a bit sad about the gameplay.

I really have come to love Daily Themed Crossword even though it is a low earner at 1 unit but it's fun with large and mini types of puzzles.

The only issue is the abundance of adverts and I keep doing the same ones over and over. It doesn't seem to register them as completed which is annoying.

However the plus side which I have never seen before is that, when you are on a streak or maybe just randomly it sprinkles letters across the board for free.

I don't know about you but I typically get stuck or think there could be more than one possibility but here at least with some letters revealed, it's less frustrating.

I uninstalled most of the games as the rewards were taking too long to collect and it doesn't register accurately the time spent playing.

New games pay you faster so that is what I look for. I just hate that the dull ones pay a lot and the fascinating ones, do not but some I can leave running.

I am currently playing Pop Slots casino as that has the maximum 4 units to earn but it is very boring just running slots. It does level up fast though :D

Also I spotted a new game which was Solitaire Cruise, I wish they had the regular version, instead of tri-peaks. It's still challenging and interesting but I prefer the original game.

That is for 3 units which should help me cash out faster. That's it really. Just keep looking out for new games and be aware that they can modify the amount of units for that game, at any point.

Any questions, just ask and I'll get back to you.

#BlogLife117 - JRH16 Headphones review

I would normally post this on Amazon but for this product, I think they have completely stop accepting them and that is because there is a site that used to be called Amz Reviews..

https://www.myvipon.com/index.php

Who is now named Vipon where you can browse for products and get a significant discount to use on Amazon, in exchange for a truthful review.

It used to be much better, by the fact that a lot of premium items were completely free and as long as they were over £20, you wouldn't have to pay postage either.

I got an electric toothbrush. Various beauty items like cleansers. Beautiful, high quality maxi dresses for a fraction of their worth and so forth..

You apply the code at the checkout and it just varies from half price to a couple pounds off to most of it reduced. Most of the time the codes work and they go lightning fast so if you are after something, check in the mornings.

The headphones were priced at £30. I had £15 off with the code. Plus I had £10 Amazon credit and had just redeemed £5 from Mistplay. Making it free :)

Some people are still so grateful for the deal that they hide the negative aspects. I do not because when I read feedback, I like the good and bad points.

I wasn't even sure if this could connect to multiple devices but I just tried it on my chromebook and Samsung A41 phone and it worked without incident. 

The name that will come up is JR H16. To turn off the bright light on the headphones, just press the volume buttons down together and you will see the light go off. After using it for 18 hours I had 40% left on the battery.

Then I stuck it on the charger which took roughly an hour and a half to 2 hours to fully restore. Compared to other headphones the battery drains really quickly, it's hard to believe it's long life. 

However I had been keeping the light on, so I'll do a new test and see if lasts more than half a day.

They are comfortable at first but after time passes, they start to feel tender on the ears. Also they have the smallest ear cups I have owned for a while. I'm not sure if that will make the sound leak.

I have the black version as I am not bothered about the colour. These arrived lightning fast on the basic free delivery. 

I ordered them on a Thursday and the next day they showed up in the afternoon. I was surprised but during non holidays, Amazon does deliver quite quickly.

I bought these to replace another cheap set I bought on Ebay that refused to connect to bluetooth and the sound was horribly distorted. I find Amazon has better overall quality.

I'll be using these for music mainly, some videos and possibly the occasional phone call, although the quality always seems poor for calls. I haven't attempted that yet but I'll try and add the result when I do.

When you plug it in to the charger there is a red light and when it is fully renewed, the light disappears and you can remove it. It came with the usual usb cord and the wire to plug it in and use it without bluetooth, if that is your preference.

The only negative I see so far is that when I pause and resume a video, the sound doesn't reconnect straight away, so I lose a few seconds, I haven't experienced that before. Also I have just checked the call quality. 

I can hear the person clearly but the person listening to me on the other end says I sound a lot worse and unclear compared to how I sounded before when I wasn't connected on the headphones.

February musings

I've just heard from Bzz and looks like I will get my sample of eye drops either this week or next as it's been posted, finally. 

I could do with them actually as my eyes are dry and yesterday they were quite irritable. 

I am down to my last saline bottle and shopped around and made an offer on Ebay and got a 3x for £10 deal which was accepted.

That is so unusual because sellers list make an offer but 99% off the time, they reject reasonable bids in favour of greed but this time, maybe the person was in a good mood, so yay :)

Else I would be stuck as it is scarce at the moment. I need a clothy thick heavy headband but I haven't seen many that will stay in place.

There are some yoga types but I am not paying £4+ for a lousy headband. I've tried out the Aromatherapy Associates lip balm and it is moisturising but it doesn't prevent chapping.

It is just effective in the moment but not overnight. On to the next brand, when it finishes. I have to start thinking about Mother's Day.

I usually just do a gift basket, maybe I will do drinks, nibbles and a gritty book as she likes mystery or thrillers, as long as it isn't part of a series.

She has enough beauty stuff and scents and she adored the perfumed lotions that I bought her for Christmas. They smell divine and are long lasting. 

I really hope she manages to get her shower sorted soon.

We are now at the same point where it's a strain to get in and out of the bathtub but soon after I moved in, I bought a cute lil wooden step thing that really helps.

I might browse Eden, the Christian bookstore. As long as my order is a tenner, the postage is free. I've bought a few things using Paypal for mama and haven't had any issues.

Ooh they have book lights. That's a possibility but I think she already has a few lamps. There isn't that much choice but for someone religious, it's a cute theme in their gifts.

In the past I've bought notebooks, bookmarks, pens, books. Ooh I just remembered she loves those wildlife documentaries.

I might add those to the basket too. I haven't logged in to Duolingo for a while but I did recently. I was trying to learn German again.

I thought about learning Italian and Spanish too but I can't seem to keep my interest. I will do it for a while and then it gets too difficult.

I keep mixing it up and getting it wrong. It is a fun way to learn with hearing the pronunciations and seeing it written but I have so much taking focus at the moment.

My Samsung A41 baby :D Update

I was fretting so much that the courier today who arrived promptly at 1pmish after the text/email hour window was going to refuse to hand over the phone.

Now they have this new photo identification thingy. Passport or driving licence required. I don't drive and my passport is years out of date because I can't travel.

Luckily though he just glanced at it and nodded and I had my new baby in my hands. I haven't had a Samsung phone in years because of the appalling battery life.

I hope it's improved. This A41 has a 3500mah battery capacity and the G6 Play had a 4000mah battery. As usual putting the fiddly sim and memory card into the tiny tray was a pain but I managed it.

I was surprised there was no music player but I remember I've been using Dub for ages now as you can increase the speed and when I'm outdoors lacking energy. I need something up tempo.

Spotify and Netflix were also installed. I get 6 months free of something but I can't remember what. It's probably BT Sport which I don't watch and it was 6gb of data I get with the Halo deal.

Still the same unlimited broadband/wifi, minutes and texts. It kept saying it could copy over most of my information and downloads but that wasn't the case.

I had to manually add numbers to the phonebook but at least this time I could have the option to save them on the sim card. I had to download my apps and games.

The updates didn't take that long. It did it twice. I've got Android 10 and supposed to get 11 next year I think. I had version 9 on the old phone.

I'm so relieved it is lightweight. The other phones, one is even smaller but heavier and this is the biggest being 6.1 inches yet weighs less, thank goodness.

I haven't got a red case yet. Saw a few deals on Ebay. I'm not going to pay a fortune. I will just get those rubbery cases that are not too heavy.

I like that it has it's own note app. Hopefully it has auto save and I didn't realise that instead of signing up to samsung I could just use google instead.

I already put some Christmassy wallpapers on. I must have fast charging because it seems to be a bigger cable. I tried using my regular charger and it wouldn't fit.

It is lightning quick. I think in just under an hour it was fully charged. It had about 30% battery life at the start but after the downloads and customisations it depleted.

I didn't have any trouble pairing my bluetooth headphones. The mobile data also seems to be working fine although I didn't test it for long.

I'm really not keen on the settings menu being at the bottom in the Samsung browser and not on the top at the side but I guess I'll used to it unless I make Adblock my primary web application.

I haven't seen any lags. I'll test it tonight when I'm half asleep. At least it'll be comfortable to hold. It's very illuminated on the lowest setting but maybe being on adaptive brightness helps.

No issues with calls and texts. Very clear and straightforward. I deleted all the bloatware I could and now have 46gb available from the 64gb of internal storage.

The Edge Lighting notification is disappointing. I thought it would be more prominent. Eye catching to quickly alert to messages or calls.

Just seems very modest and barely noticeable. I got to experiment with the gaming and videos and then I'll really see if the battery performance has improved.

I'll update later on at some point. It's now the afternoon and last night I was watching a movie and doing some internet surfing. I didn't game as I was too tired.

The battery is now 61% after making calls. It is very sensitive to knocks and I don't know why the location keeps turning itself on. 

I saw the Edge Lighting on full screen with no applications open for the first time and it is indeed bad. Not something that would make me take notice at all.

Oh another thing I realised. I think they turned a stand alone music player into Youtube Music. I don't really understand how it is supposed to play my mp3s as nothing comes up.

I downloaded Dub Player anyway. It was too confusing. I'm probably missing a setting and actually I would prefer the original Youtube application as that gives me notifications.

So far I am happy with my choice. I just cringe at some things. Why did Samsung just change my Google email address??? The Samsung keyboard is way too high it takes over the screen and I can't reduce it.

I'm trying it out though as SwiftKey with it's auto correct doesn't always work well. It does seem to fix my typing errors. I'm going to stick with Samsung for a bit.

I don't use pin codes or the finger print scanners as I want quick access and my phone is never left unattended unless I'm with family or friends and they know not to just pick up my phone without asking first.

I don't know what they call it but the front dip thingy doesn't bother me at all. I was too sleepy last night but today I realised. When gaming or watching films..

It disappears so you get the full screen experience. I think that is clever. I'm glad they did it that way. My favourite things are the brightness and the weight.

For other phones I would have to make the screen a highly illuminated which would kill the battery quickly, with this one I set it a fraction and it is crystal clear.

The reason I'm obsessed about the weight is because my hands and the rest of me suffer from chronic pain. It is not even from doing strenuous activities.

It is literally from anything. Just typing now. I feel painful twinges. The phone is so comfortable in my hands and it doesn't feel enormous. The phones lasts a day and that's perfect for me.

Anything else you want to know, just ask.

Whine for me, wine for you?

Please permit me a little self indulgence today. Although I've just given myself a spa-like experience. I need to declutter my thoughts. I sometimes think about deleting this entire blog. Other people have uplifting and helpful blogs but mine are just endless blathering about this or that. Nothing really significant to anyone else but me. It doesn't lift anyones mood or inspire them.

Are my posts interesting..? *Silence fills the room*

How do you promote a deeply personal blog, when you're not entirely convinced you want the world to read it?

Would it really matter I guess is what I'm wondering if I disappeared? Probably not I'm thinking. People would just find another rambler. I'm not fishing for attention or compliments. I just feel a little insignificant at the moment. Maybe it will pass and maybe it won't. 

I just had to get that out in the open. I don't feel better but at least it's not consuming me anymore.

Now on to my Superdrug parcel that I received today just before 1pm. Inside was a cheap lip balm, three months supply of Perfectil multivitamins, two Herbal Essences conditioners. Passion Flower and Argan oil.

As you know I love my essential oil fragrances and yet I've never tried Radox before. It was sheer bliss trying the Radox Sage and Sea Minerals Bath Soak for the first time, with the heady scent wafting into my nostrils as I applied it like a shower gel. Oops I got that wrong. It doesn't contain essential oils. It is just a nature inspired scent. It still smells wonderful though.

I coated a liberal amount of the Herbal Essences Passion Flower conditioner on my hair and it felt so smooth. Gloriously decadent and the scent lingered long after I washed it off too. My hair is so soft and easy to manage. 

I'm so glad I took the two for one offer. I wasn't sure if I liked Herbal Essences but the Bio Renew range at least is wonderfully moisturising for my dry scalp. 

It was fairly easy to wash off but as I had used a liberal amount I rinsed it a few times just in case any residue lingered. I would definitely recommend trying it but only when it is on offer. 

Between the creamy face wash, the strongly scented bath soak and the medium thick shampoo. I smell gorgeous and my skin feels like velvet.

Do you feel beautiful?

Well, do you? I don't but I do consider myself to be adequate. Inside I feel cute, calm and playful and potentially my beauty can radiate from that?

Is it just me or are compliments hard to accept? I mean not all flattery but some of it just seems disingenuous. I recently unsubscribed from an asmr artist because he favoured the mush. 

A compliment can take you by surprise and it's sweet because on that day you might need a boost but if it is overused those special words lose their impact.

I wonder if there is any one of us that can genuinely look in the mirror and be completely content with the image staring back at them. 

For me personally, aside from my baby pictures I like my face but my hips and tummy, not so much.

At school I always thought it was my job to build up peoples confidence and neglect my own but as I matured I realised we all have to work on ourselves. 

I can walk right up to you and say "You have exquisite eyes." If you're like me however and have always been disappointed in that feature then it seems meaningless.

I think we should all just smile and say "Thanks." Whether we believe or not. I'm trying to stop being cynical and think that people have an agenda. 

Maybe, just maybe there is some truth in those saccharine words..

At about 3pmish the postman buzzed with the first of my parcels. It was my L'oreal Paris Fine Flowers face wash. I had basically finished my other one so decided to get started with it. 

Initially the first time I used it, there was no strong scent. It is a gel/cream combination and I normally avoid creamy textures as for combination skin it feels too heavy but as this foams when mixed with water, I thought it would be a safe bet.

I wet my face brush and generously applied it, while it was spinning and it quickly foamed up. There is an instant softness as soon as it hits your skin. 

Very luxurious. My blemishes seemed diminished. It washed off very easily too. I'm not sure how effective it will be at removing my scars though. 

I wouldn't apply a moisturiser afterwards, it was that hydrating. Incidentally, the reason I apply a moisturiser first, then my cleanser afterwards is because of the same combination skin.

No matter how "light" moisturisers are advertised as being, they still sit heavy on my face. Whereas if you apply it and then wash it off with the cleanser, your face is hydrated but without feeling suffocated.

I'm still waiting for my Superdrug beauty supplies to arrive the tracking didn't move at all today which was disappointing but I expect tomorrow it will turn up. 

My duvet will probably turn up next week as there seemed to be a mix up and a replacement is being sent out.

I like how retailers are content to do absolutely nothing until a complaint is made. Why not get in touch with me and apologise for the kerfuffle. 

The first time I make enquiries I'm polite but if I have to chase it up a second time.. Watch out!

I finally got around to using my cordless shiatsu massager on my back but I think I over did it. The problem is, it is quite brutal when I wear thin tops. 

The nodes feel like a block of wood especially when the heat is off and it is rotating against my bony shoulder blades. On the small of my back it feels heavenly though. Which is where I normally apply it.