Self Esteem - Would You Ever Consider Cosmetic Surgery?

Thursday 31 October 2013

A little while ago, I did a post about self esteem and insecurities.  I got such a lovely response to that post, that it really made me realise how common it is for young women to experience the same body image issues as I have (and do) myself.

I started to wonder what it was and at what point in my life it was, that I started to hate every part of myself.  I couldn't come up with an answer.

The truth is, my whole life I've been told that I'm pretty, beautiful, smart, lovely.  Apart from an old boyfriend who once told me I had “potential to be gorgeous, but wasn't quite there yet”, at no point has anyone ever told me that I'm fat, or ugly, or not good enough.  So why do I tell myself those things?  And why do I believe them so wholeheartedly?

I have often expressed to friends and family that if I had the money, I would without a doubt in my mind, become the next Heidi Montag.  I'd get every plastic surgery I could think of, to try and transform myself into something that I could perceive to be attractive.  When I say these things, in general I'm returned with “that's ridiculous”, or “don't be silly”, along with a laugh.  But what others don't realise, is how genuinely unhappy I am in my own skin.

This got me thinking about plastic surgery in general.  The fact that I feel this way - and so many of my readers have told me they also feel this way - made me think about how many girls must not only feel this same pain, but actually go through with what are, in many cases, unnecessary surgeries.

The most common non-surgical procedure to date is still Botox.  I have read about young women, some still in their teens, going for Botox treatments on a regular basis.  It made me wonder – would I be one of those women if I had the money to spare?  Yes, I most likely would be.

The most common surgical procedures include breast augmentation, rhinoplasty and liposuction.  Would I consider any of these procedures for myself?  Absolutely, if money wasn't an issue.  Do I need them?  In other people's eyes, probably not.  But to me – definitely!

Dr Jeremy Hunt – a renowned plastic surgeon based in NSW, describes his goal as being “to bring out your natural beauty and make you feel and look your best”.  I wonder though, if I were to undergo any, or all of these procedures, would I really feel better about myself?  Or would I still find further things wrong with me?  In my case, the answer is probably the latter.  However, I do know of many women who have undergone cosmetic procedures, and have gone on to live a far more confident and happy life, than they would have had they never done so.  For that, I truly respect surgeons such as Dr Hunt, and what they can do for a woman's self esteem.

I am not in any way, trying to “sell” plastic surgery – in fact, to someone like myself, I would say the change that is needed, is absolutely on the inside.  When low self-esteem is more than skin deep, there is no amount of surgery that would ever be enough – I would place myself in that category.  But I do believe that for a person who genuinely needs, or wants to make a physical change for the right reasons, one of these procedures could be life changing!

I'd love to hear your opinions on this.  What do you think about cosmetic surgery?  Have you, or would you ever consider it for yourself?  As always, please do comment.  I would love to hear from you x
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This post is sponsored by Dr Jeremy Hunt
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Win a $30 Gift Certificate from Dressale.com

Tuesday 29 October 2013

I have a great giveaway to share with you all today courtesy of Dressale!  Two lucky people have the chance to win a $30 certificate to spend at www.dressale.com

 
Here's what you need to do to enter:
 
1. Register on Dressale: www.dressale.com
 
2. Like Dressale on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dressale

3. Follow Dressale on Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/dressale/
 
4. Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/stephanierblog, Instagram: www.instagram.com/stephanierblog and follow my blog via GFC or Bloglovin
 
5. Leave a comment with your social media usernames below

 
The giveaway will end on November 28 and two winners will be announced.

Dressale.com is an online fashion clothing store providing a wide range of high quality custom-made wedding dresses, wedding party dresses, special occasion dresses, shoes and other women's clothing.   All kinds of styles are available to suit your needs. The prices are very reasonable and many discounts are available now.  For more details, please visit their website at www.dressale.com

Good luck everyone!
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Tag: What's on My iPhone?

Thursday 17 October 2013

I love reading tag posts and the 'What's on My iPhone?' tag is one of my favourites, so I decided to do it myself even though I haven't been tagged.  I also thought now would be a good time, since I'm toying with the idea of changing to a Galaxy sometime soon.  I have A LOT on my phone, so I won't go into detail about every single app, but I'll try to give you a good rundown on my favourites.  So here goes...
 
 
My wallpaper is almost always a photo of Marilyn Monroe (no surprises there).  At the moment I have the same photo for both wallpapers.
 
On the first page, I have mostly standard apps such as contacts and settings etc.  I think the only non-standard one is the Mailbox app for gmail.
 
 
On the second page, I have most of my social media apps - Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Messenger, Keek, Tumblr, Pinterest, Vine and YouTube.  I have a few reading apps - Goodreads is a great one for sharing book reviews and ideas with friends, and finding new books to read.  Then I have Viber, which I use to chat with friends for free.  And LivingSocial & Scoopon are coupon and discount apps.
 
On page three, I have Jump-in - an interactive tv guide app, IMDb and Flister for movies and tv.  I have a few shopping apps - Etsy, eBay, Strawberrynet and Gumtree AU.  I also keep my PayPal app with these.  I have the BeautyBites app, my banking apps, a radio app and ShopShop, which I love - I use it to keep my shopping lists so I always have them on me.  Then I have MyFitnessPal and Lorna Jane.
 
 
On page four, I have a few more fitness apps - the Fitbit app and Endomondo.  I have P Tracker (which is just for us girls).  Then I have some meditation apps - Move On, Social Phobia, Positivity, Don't Panic, Healing and Pain Relief.  I love these apps!  My fiancĂ© and I go to sleep listening to one of these, every night without fail.  I downloaded them when I was at my worst with anxiety and I have been using them ever since.  I also have a few games on this page.  I'm not a huge game person, but I have a few that I like - I'm addicted to Pet Rescue and Candy Crush!
 
Page five is mostly photo apps - I have quite a few of these photo editing apps and I use them for Instagram, Twitter and even blogging sometimes.  I also have the Taste app, which is awesome for recipes, and the Clean Eating Recipes app is also great.  Then of course I have my Bloglovin and Blogger apps.
 
 
On page six, I have a couple more photo apps.  I have the TFL Pro app, which is for saving hashtags - it's great for Twitter and Instagram.  I have a few standard apps on this page, and then I just have the link to Selz (it's not an app, just a shortcut) and the Delivery Hero app - a takeaway food ordering app here in Australia.
 
On the last page, I have yet another couple of photo editing apps.  I have the My Talking Pet app, which is hilarious.  It allows you to take a photo of your pet and then animate it and put a voice to it - I love this, I'm such a child!  Then I have WhatsApp, a weather app and Video Star.  I haven't actually tried that one out yet, but it looks like fun so I've kept it for a rainy day.
 
Well, that's it!  I hope you enjoyed this tag.  I'm tagging the following lovely ladies to do this tag also:
 
Taylor from www.taylorscollectionn.blogspot.co.uk (although I have a feeling she may have already done this one.  I think I remember reading it)

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Premium Spa with Organics Australia Ginger & Orange SOS Hand Cream Treatment

Tuesday 15 October 2013

I posted recently about the Premium Spa with Organics Coconut & Vanilla Body Butter.  I loved that cream so much, I decided to go back and try another Premium Spa product, since I was in the market for a new hand cream for the office.

I opted for the Ginger & Orange SOS Hand Cream Treatment.  There was no sample at the store, but I decided to take the risk since ginger and orange sounded like an interesting combination - and it definitely is!

The scent is not something I would usually go for, as it is quite strong and strong scents tend to trigger my headaches.  But that's really the only thing I don't love about this product.  The cream soaks in really well and leaves my hands feeling lovely and soft.  I work in an office, so my hands tend to get really dry from handling paper all day, so intensive creams like this are great for me.  I have also noticed that my cuticles are in much better condition after using this for a week or so.


I would absolutely recommend this if you're on the lookout for a new hand cream.  It has some beautiful, natural ingredients including Australian honey, aloe vera and jojoba oil.  It also contains sunscreen, which is great because our hands tend to be one of the first areas to show signs of aging.  The only thing I would change about it is the scent, but that's purely because it's a little strong for me personally - if it smelled the same as  the coconut & vanilla cream, it would be perfect!

I'd love to hear from you if you decide to give it a try, so please do comment and let me know as always x

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Tag: I Heart Fall

Monday 14 October 2013

I was tagged by the lovely Taylor, from Taylors Collection to do the I Heart Fall tag.  Even though here in Australia it's currently Spring, I accepted so here it is:-

1) Favorite fall lip color?
I’m still obsessed with my Chi Chi lipstick in Hot Stuff, so I’ll go with that one.

2) Favorite fall nail color?
Poppy by Revlon, or maybe Black Satin by BYS.

3) Favorite starbucks fall drink?
I have to admit, I’ve never been to Starbucks!  We do have it here in Australia, but it’s not as popular here as it is in the US.

4) Favorite fall candle?
Black Cherry by Yankee Candles, or Tahaa by Glasshouse.

5) Favorite fall sweater/accessory?
Anything loose and comfy with a nice scarf.

6) Haunted house, hay ride, or corn maze?
Hay ride.

7) Favorite Halloween movie?
Maybe the Saw series?

8) Favorite candy to eat on Halloween?
Reeses Peanut Butter Cups all year round!

9) What are you dressing up as for Halloween?
Halloween isn’t really huge in Australia yet.  It’s only really been acknowledged here for a few years now, and it’s mostly only young kids who participate.  Last year we had maybe 2 lots of trick-or-treaters knock on our door, so it’s not really the done thing here and I won’t be dressing up.

10) What is your favourite thing about fall?
Bringing out the darker shades in lipstick and nail polish.  The beautiful leaves everywhere and the chill in the air as winter approaches. 


Thanks for tagging me, Taylor!

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Premium Spa with Organics Australia Coconut & Vanilla Body Butter

Sunday 6 October 2013

This week, I was excited to try out the Coconut & Vanilla Body Butter from Premium Spa with Organics Australia.  I'm a big fan of coconut as a scent and of course you can never go wrong with vanilla, so I was drawn to this one straight away.
 
My first impression was that it smelled amazing, but I wasn't sure about the texture.  It looks very thick, but feels quite "yoghurty", so I wasn't sure how well it would soak in.  After trying it, I was really pleasantly surprised to find that it soaked in extremely well, and so fast!  The scent lingers throughout the day, but is not too overpowering - it's just lovely!  The smell is probably more coconut than vanilla - but you can tell that there is a little something extra in it.
 
 
I haven't tried any other products from the Premium Spa range, but I love that they are not tested on animals and the ingredients are lovely.  This one has organic Australian macadamia nut oil, coconut, vanilla and almond oil.
 
I purchased from Priceline for $4.99, however I believe it was a 50% off sale at the time.
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BYS Affordable Nail Enamel

Tuesday 1 October 2013

A few weeks ago, I was out shopping and came across the BYS shelf in a random little "cheap shop".  I always see the BYS cosmetics and nail enamels, but tend to avoid them purely because I figured their products couldn't be too great because they're so cheap!  But on this particular day, I really felt like painting my nails and trying out something new, so I thought - hey, why not give them a shot?  They were only $4.95 each, so I got two different colours to try.  One was Black Satin and the other was a bright blue called Step Right Up.

I have been so pleasantly surprised with these polishes!  I decided to try Black Satin first, and I have now had it on for 7 days with NO chipping!

 
 
I haven't tried any of the other BYS products, so I can't comment on them.  But I'm so impressed with the nail polish, I will definitely go back and try out some of their other cosmetics.  I love the fact that none of the products are tested on animals, and they are just so darn cheap!

BYS stockists in Australia include Kmart, The Reject Shop, Glassons and Bardot.  So if you're looking for some new nail colours to try, but don't want to spend a small fortune - definitely give these a try! x
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