Whats in my make up bag? Face Wash/Clensers

I don't normally wear make up that often, but I'm trying to make a bit more of an effort since I have moved out, so I thought I would let you all know what my favourite beauty stuff is in the next few blog posts.

Face Wash
I do think it is very important to wash my face on a morning, as not only does it get rid of all the dirt and oil and stuff that it is supposed to, it wakes me up a lot! lol!
I've tried many different facewashes before. I used to use pump/foam based washes like this one by Witch:

But I have to admit they did seem to dry my skin out a bit, especially round the corners of my nose.



I've recently started using the 3 in 1 Pure Wash, Scrub and Mask by Garnier and the first few times I used it, it was amazing! It really did leave my skin feeling soft, which the other previous products failed to do. Plus, if you left it on for over 5 minutes, you would get the same tightning effects you would of a quick mask/facial. I certainly recommend it.

I would also recommend Soap & Glory's Fab Pore facial peel too. It smells lovely and also gives you that 'do it yourself mask' appeal.

What I've had to eat...

Chicken & Mushroom Pasta with Philadelphia Cheese


This again is a really simple recipe to make. All it really takes is cooking some pasta in a pan and frying the rest of the ingredients before mixing them together. I got this recipe from Nosh for Graduates by Joy May (another great book if you want simple (ish) recipes to make but want some variety with food)

Serves 2
aprox. 125g pasta
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 chicken breast, sliced into thin strips
6 sliced mushrooms
100g Philadelphia soft cheese
1tbsp chopped basil
salt & pepper
oil to fry


1. Cook the pasta. Once cooked, drain and return to the pan, adding oil to prevent sticking. Replace lid to keep warm.
2. As the pasta is cooking, heat a little oil in the frying pan. Fry the onion and garlic for 2-3 mins until onions begin to soften.
3. Add the chicken. Cook till no longer pink.
4. Add the mushrooms, cook for 1 minute. Take off the heat and add the cream cheese and the herbs until the cheese has melted. Stir into the pasta. Taste and season.

Recipe comes from Nosh for Graduates by Joy May

What I've had to eat

As promised now that I have moved house I will let you know what meals I have been making every so often.
Last night I made Stir Fry Ginger Pork:

This is a recipe I used to make loads when I was at uni. It is very tasty and very quick to make. I got the recipe from a book called The Student Cookbook by Beverly LeBlanc .
It is just minced pork, leek, ginger, garlic, carrot, noodles and soy sauce all mixed together in a wok and fried with olive oil. When I was at uni, because the recipe was made for 2 servings, I used to make far too much of it, but now I've tried to cut the portion size. It can taste a bit dry, so it does taste better if you drizzle a little honey on it when you are frying the carrots and leek.

What I'm wearing today

Haven't done this in a while as I have been in the process of moving house for the last few weeks, but now I have moved (and have access to a larger mirror), I will try and post a bit more often.
Here is what I wore today and yesterday:

White Top: River Island £35 (I love this top! Its very summery but still keeps you relatively warm)
Vest top: River Island
Jeggings: River Island £30 (I love my jeggings, but unfortunately a lot of places seem to make them incredibly tight and hipsters - but these so far have been very good
Ugg style boots: Tu at Sainsburys (these are one of my favourite pairs of boots, very comfortable and I can wear them with almost anything)

Current Music Love - Swedish House Mafia

I love all different kinds of music, but I can imagine a lot of people I know wouldn't really see me as a dance/electronic music fan. However, I love listening to this sort of music when I'm at the gym or want to get into an upbeat, determined mood!
Even though this song is quite long compared to your average pop song, once it gets going I really like it. Part of it reminds me of 'Thriller' by Michael Jackson (the bit in the video where all the zombies are dancing) and I wonder if they took a bit from it or had it as an influence.
The video for 'Greyhound' is a bit random though.

Moving out!

I've got something incredibly exciting happening in the next week - I'm moving house!
Yes, for the first time since I left university nearly 3 years ago I will be living on my own again! Being in my 20s and living with my parents can be frustrating sometimes, so I'm looking forward to getting some new added freedom and confidence. Of course, having a disability means that I will often need support to help me with certain tasks like cooking and things, but it'll be exciting to prepare my own meals and things. I'm certainly going to try home cooking and not rely on takeaways and ready meals all the time - I may even post some of my results on here ;)
In the meantime, here is a pic of my bookcase! I love my books and I still have more books to pack and take with me!

What I'm wearing...

As a person who has a disability and uses a wheelchair for the majority of their time, it can be difficult sometimes to follow the latest fashions when many of the clothes on offer just won't fit right no matter what the size, or just don't have the same effect when you're sitting in a chair.
However, I try my hardest to look good and I'd hate to be seen with any of the 'grannified' stuff that is often advertised for people with disabilities!
I've not always been very fashion-conscious though and to help me get the most out of my wardrobe I thought I'd post what I'm wearing every so often to see what you think.

Here's what I'm wearing today

Cardigan: MK One 
(I've had this for years, but you can't go wrong with a black cardi right?)
Black Vest top: Marks & Spencer
(vest tops are always a staple part of my wardrobe - whether you can see it or not, an extra layer always keeps you warm.)
Top: New Look
(I actually found this really nice top in the sales, which is a first for me as I normally hate sales!)
Leggings:  TU
(You can get black leggings from almost anywhere now, but I think these ones were pretty cheap and good quality too)

Gyming it!

One of the things I most enjoy doing in my spare time is going to the gym! It might seem odd, coming from a person who permanently uses a wheelchair, but its true and there are lots of misconceptions when it comes to people with disabilities (especially with people who use wheelchairs).

One of the first times I went to the gym, I remember someone asking me 'How can you go to the gym? Its not like you can get your wheelchair on a treadmill!'. It was funny what they said at the time, but I soon realised that with the right equipment and support from dedicated instructors, willing and trained to help people with disabilities keep fit and active, a gym can be accessible to practically anybody!
I first started going to the gym when I was at university and the gym there was excellent - a lot of the equipment was accessible for wheelchair users, including things like the shoulder press machine where you could swing the seat out so you could go in with your wheelchair. They had an arm bike (similar to the one pictured above) where you could get a decent upper body cardio workout whilst being in your wheelchair, and most importantly the staff were trained to support you and make you get the most out of training so you could do things to your ability and build your strength and confidence up!
Slowly, more gyms like this are springing up and that is thanks to the Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI). This is a programme which

"[supports] the fitness industry to become more inclusive - catering for the needs of disabled and non disabled people as well as raising physical participation levels."

Many fitness centres across the UK have signed up to this scheme and at the very least the gyms have to be accessible and have the staff trained to some level on disability awareness. Obviously not all gyms are up to the high standard of having lots of wheelchair accessible equipment and fully trained staff, but its a start and with more and more people in the UK as a whole getting larger and there are probably a lot more elderly people and people with mobility issues, then there is an even greater need to make places like gyms and other sports services to be inclusive and accessible for all.

As I have had my disability from birth and have used a wheelchair for most of my life, it is even more important for people like me to keep on exercising or else we will become less mobile. I had physiotherapy up until I was 16 and I'm guessing like many others, it just stopped being available when I became an adult. That it why I feel it is so important for me to exercise, because otherwise my mobility would be even more limited.

For more info on Inclusive Fitness and to find your local IFI centre visit:  http://www.efds.co.uk/page.asp?section=1596&sectionTitle=IFI+gyms

Birdy

Another of my current music loves is Birdy!

She's only 15 but she has a stunningly beautiful voice! I love her cover of Bon Iver's Skinny Love as well as 1901, People Help the People and Shelter (which as far as I know are all covers too).

Lana Del Rey

I love music and have a big variety of favourite songs, singers and bands!

One of my recent music finds is Lana Del Rey! She gained massive popularity with her song 'Video Games' and that is when I first began to love her music.
I bought her album Born to Die a few weeks ago and I have played it loads of times since. I love her voice, although it sounds quite melodramatic and reminds me of images of femme fetales singing in dimly lit, smoke filled dive bars, it is hauntingly beautiful voice. With the popularity of artists like Adele its nice to have another powerful female voice to add to that list.
I know she's had a bit of a bad rep for not singing well live, but I'm hoping that's just nerves and she'll get more comfortable with it in time!
One of my favourite songs off the album is Diet Mountain Dew and although its not the most well liked song on the album, I love it as its more upbeat than some of the others!
Even though its not on the album another of my favourite Lana songs is Kinda Outta Luck. I found it on YouTube after Video Games was released as Lana had posted it on there when she was first starting out. I really hope she releases it on a later album as I'd love it as a single! I love Lana's home-made video for it too:

Soap & Gloryness!

I've never really been one for smellies and have often groaned slightly if I'd got some for Christmas, but recently that's changed and that's all thanks to Soap and Glory!

I first discovered it when I was looking for a decent body scrub that came out of a squeezy tube/bottle instead of a tub (because I found a squeezy bottle easier to handle), so I bought myself some of Soap & Glory's 'Scrub, Actually' and it worked really, really well, leaving all my dry spots all smooth as well as smelling lovely.

When I have tried 'smellies' before, a few have often had that chemically enhanced smell about them and the fruitiness has faded away after you've washed, but this doesn't seem to happen as much with S&G.

I recently bought the Righteous Butter Body Lotion too (as it came in a bottle, which is again a lot easier) and that has been great too as it smells lovely, although I haven't decided as to whether it beats Garnier's Intensive 7 day Body Lotion in the moisturising stakes though!

I got a few other Soap & Glory smellies for Christmas too, but have decided not to use them until I move into my new house (I have other shower gels and things to use up first too) but I will let you know if they win the test too!

Its strange, when I was younger I was never interested in make up, beauty, fashion or anything, but now I'm starting to change. Wish it happened earlier though because now I'm nearing my mid 20s I'm starting to worry I'll be slowly getting too old to be 'fashionable' and trendy anymore! lol!

Things I cannot live without

1. My Electric Wheelchair:

If it wasn't for this I'd be completely stuck! I know this sounds silly, but it is my legs! My wheelchair is even more amazing as it has the ability to raise up (as you can see from the picture) so I can reach almost everything. It also has indicators and a horn, which although fun aren't really useful. I think it has indicators and headlights because the fastest makes of my chair are only allowed to be used on roads and have to conform to Highway Code standards. Mine doesn't though.

2. My 'Helping Hand':

A lot of people would have seen these things being used by litter pickers in the street, but it helps me so much. If I drop anything (which often happens) I can pick it up (so long it is at the right angle and the right thickness to get the 'claw' round it. The only problem comes when I drop my helping hand on the floor - these things should come with a free extra one!

3. My iPhone:

I've only had my iPhone for 11 months now, but I seriously don't know what I'd do without it! What's my friends doing? Check Facebook! What's the weather like today? I have an app for that! I'm bored. Let's play 'Angry Birds'! The only thing that comes close to it on my list is:

4. My Laptop:

Where would we be without the internet? I can't imagine my life without it! If the power cut off for 5 hours, I would be bored stiff! Chatting to my friends, doing work, finding out the latest news and writing this blog, my laptop is a really hard gadget to live without, even though we don't necessarily need it!

Myths and misconceptions about Cerebral Palsy

Even though I don't really want it to be, one of the first things people would probably notice about me is that I have a disability - Cerebral Palsy in fact. I have had it all my life. One of the things that has often really frustrated me throughout life is when people have the wrong ideas about my disability and what I (and other people with the same condition) are capable of.
I thought I'd address some of these myths here:

1. Cerebral Palsy is a degenerative disability: No. I and many others have the condition from birth and it is something that does not get steadily worse or better. It will affect you for all of your life. Maybe I'll end up being slightly weaker when I get older, but that happens to everyone when they get old. Physiotherapy and exercise helps a lot to keep you mobile, but its not a miracle cure!

2. Cerebral Palsy is a genetic disability/you can find out if your child has it when its in the womb:
Nope! Cerebral Palsy is a disability you can have from birth not something you are born with (if you see the difference). Cerebral Palsy occurs when parts of the brain are damaged soon after birth, usually (as in my case) as a result of being born prematurely. Many things can directly cause this to happen (to a premature baby) such as lack of oxygen to the brain or a bleed to the brain.

3. If you have Cerebral Palsy, then you have learning disabilities: This is something that really gets to me as some people presume this a lot if they have just met me and not spoken to me before. Cerebral Palsy is a physical disability NOT a mental one. Obviously in some cases separate learning disabilities can occur as a result of being born prematurely or some severe aspects of Cerebral Palsy, but it is not the Cerebral Palsy itself which causes issues with learning and mentality. I am testament to this as I studied at a mainstreame school all my life and then went on to graduate from a university with only support to help me physically throughout school.

4. Cerebral Palsy is a really severe disability: In some cases it is, but it all depends on which parts of the brain are affected. For example with myself it is mostly my right side of the brain that was affected. As the 2 sides of your brain control your opposite sides of your body, it is mostly the left side of my body that are affected. Many people who have Cerebral Palsy often have trouble with their speech and this is something that has often got mixed up with the stereotype of people with Cerebral Palsy having learning disabilities. I'm lucky, as it is generally the left side of the brain which is associated with producing the ability to speak and so I am not really affected this way (my legs are the main things that are affected by my disability and although I can weight bare and take a couple of steps with support, I use an electric wheelchair to get around). However I do know a few people who have CP whose speech is affected this way and this still does NOT mean they have learning disabilities. Unfortunately because society doesn't seem to have figured this out yet, people with more severe physical speech and mobility problems associated with CP are often still put into special schools and are not always given the opportunity to communicate fully. Therefore they might not always be given access to the educational standard they are capable of and wouldn't be given as much opportunity to achieve the things they are able to.

Welcome to my blog!

Hey!
After the success of my other blog 'An Atheist Reads the Bible' where I have been charting (or not charting) my long journey through reading the Bible as a non believer, I thought I'd start a blog about more general stuff about my likes, dislikes, views and opinions. Hope this one will be a bit more fun and that I can write in it a bit more often without feeling like I'm writing an essay every time lol!

Charlie