August Birchbox Review

This month's Birchbox was designed by Etsy seller Nikki Strange. This month's birch box design came as a unique design and there was a chance of receiving 1 of 10 designs made by Etsy sellers and the theme was "Live a life beautiful".

Inside I received...

Eye Shadow Crayon in 'Fetch' by Dirty Little Secrets
This product I got to choose the shade and I've tried this product out and I love it! The shade is beautiful subtle; it's very neutral with a little shimmer. It's very easy to put on as not brushes are needed and it has a lovely creamy texture. Just scribble a bit onto your eyelids and blend in with you finger and off you go! It can also work as a base coat of powder eye shadows and it can also be used as a highlighter so two-in-one - fantastic! And it's lasts all day but it easy to take off at the end of the day. I got this as a full size product and it's a decent size and a little goes a long way so it's going to keep me going for a while. The RRP of this product is £10.50.

CLĒ Cosmetics Melting Lip Powder in Red Cherry
This little sample, tough it may a sample a little goes a long way. It can be used as either a lip colour or a cheek tint and goes on as a lovely matte finish and as a bonus it's smudge proof so is long lasting throughout the day. The RRP of the full size product is £15

Dr Botanicals Pomegranate Regenerating Sleeping Mask
This product I have tried out. Just cleans your face before bed and apply a small out and work into your skin and you wake up with lovely refreshed skin. It smalls amazing too. "The antioxidants [in this product] will rejuvenate tired skin so when you'll wake to a glow, hydrated complexion". The RRP of this product is £14.90

ModelCo®  Eye Define Crayon Liner
This was another full size product which I haven't used yet as I'm wanting to use up my current eye crayon. It's a twist-up crayon, so no need for sharpeners (yay!)  and lasts all day, perfect! The RRP of this product is £11

Bumble and bumble. Don't Blow It Hair Styler
This was a sample size and not one I've used yet but I love Bumble and bumble's other products from previous purchase's and Birchbox's but I'm eager to try it out as I often don't blow dry it's designed for towel-dried hair which isn't going to be blow dried as I often don't bother to blow dry my hair. The product uses "plant based conditioners to enhance you hair's natural texture and shine". The RRP of the full size product is £24.

All products can be bought in full size from the Birchbox Shop and if you wish to subscribe to Birchbox follow this link https://www.birchbox.co.uk/invite/pm6lh to earn £5 to spend in the Birchbox shop and each month new subscribers also receive a free gift. Birchbox costs £12.95 each month including P&P and there are different subscribing options and you can cancel anytime.

Hypermobilty Eduction Session

So yesterday's appointment was a bit different.

Patient Transport arrived to pick me and Dad up. We took a pit stop at Peterborough Services and I had my obligatory Costa along with their mini gluten.dairy free cherry bakewells.

We got there a little late as the crew member diving couldn't find the hospital and I was madly trying to get in touch with literally anyone at UCLH to say we was coming and one our way as the appointment letter said if you arrive late you may be turned away and I desperately didn't want that to happen and have a wasted trip, plus I'd made sure that the appointment was during the summer holidays so Dad could come with me (he's a teacher). 

So once we got to UCLH it was a made run, (well, Dad running pushing me in my wheelchair) from the main UCLH building to the Education Centre. We was a little late but we got in most of the session and the physio who took the session is going to email me the power point.

The session covered things like what is hypermobility, pain, symbols and management of symptoms, nutrition and abdominal symptoms, autonomic issues/symptoms and tips for management, posture and footwear (so no more ballet pumps for me!). It also covered the two treatment pathways following the session which is the COPE Pain Management Programme and the Hypermobility Exercise Programme.

We (Dad and I) had a good chat with the physio afterwards, asking things like what of the two treatment options I should do first (I went for the pain management programme first and then to to the excise programme after so hopefully when I do the exercise programme my pain would get in the way so much). I was also anxious about how the exercise programme would affect me M.E and the physio had some knowledge of M.E. and so reassured me that they would work within my capabilities and not push me to breaking point and would build me up slowly at a pace I can tolerate both in terms of my hypermobility and with my other illnesses.

When the physio covered the slides on autonomic issues - things like heart rate, temperature, dizziness - all pre-seizure symptoms so I'm going to trial some of the advice for managing autonomic symptoms like increasing my salt intake (easier said than done as I really don't like salty food), drink more and have smaller meals as the amount of times I have seizures after meals is rediculous but apparently having smaller meals reduces autonomic symptoms as all the blood isn't rushing to to the digestive system.

So all-in-all it was a very productive and valuable day. The physio wasn't sure how long the wait was for the COPE Pain Management Programme but hopefully it won't be too long and then when I've done that I can be referred for the exercise programme.

I left feeling so lucky to be under UCLH now for my hypermobility after so many years of locally hitting brick walls and no one really listening to me or doing anything to help and support me. I have an amazing team of different specialisties that all specialise in hypermobility related complications and other co-mobidities.

Before heading back to the ambulance we took a quick toilet break then whizzed over to the main UCLH building to grab a coffee and a snack and then we set off home.

I had a few seizures on the way back home, probably because I was so tired but travelling via stretcher now for my London trips is defiantly the way forward and I had a nap and I'm loving my new beats headphones as listening to music/audiobooks defiantly help pass the time on long journeys. 

Gunby Hall - Day out with Dad

So on Monday Dad and I went to visit a National Trust place in Lincolnshire called Gunby Hall. It wasn't actually that far away and only took about 45 minutes in the car which was nice and manageable. 

We arrived around 12.30pm and sat in the courtyard and had our packed lunch. We had nice weather for the day - not too hot but not too cold and no rain.

We got a map of the wheelchair accessible route round the garden and so after lunch we set off round the gardens and there was lots of beautiful flowers in bloom.

We then stopped off at the tea rooms and sat outside and had a coffee and cake.

Next we headed into the house. This wasn't wheelchair accessible so I used my crutches and there where seats dotted around to sit on and rest.

In the first room we entered there was someone playing the piano which was lovely to listen to (see video). We wondered round and unlike most National Trust properties all the items in the house belonged to the house. We wondered round and peered in the various rooms and I enjoyed looked at the titles of the books dotted around on shelves and in the library and also spotting William Morris wallpaper and other wallpaper designs (textile design geek here).

It wasn't 100% wheelchair friendly as most of the paths where gravel and I had to rely upon Dad pushing me. Some of the paths where also a little narrow, but I have a narrow wheelchair so we managed okay there was also some mini steps that where marked as grass ramps on the map but they wasn't any so at times Dad struggled especially with the tip guard being so low on my wheelchair (which needs looking at) but we did manage it. So if you're a wheelchair user I would recommend that you'll need someone with you if you're in a manual chair, it may be easier in an electric wheelchair, but that depends on your chair and I've never used one and you'd need a narrow-ish scooter too to get round some of the path but I'd say it is possible. But all-in-all it was a pleasant wander round and I'd say in terms of accessibility it depends on whether you can walk around as it's not huge and it depends on your wheelchair/scooter.
There was also a church to visit but that wasn't part of the National Trust and we didn't take a visit to that. 
They also go guided tours of the gardens which tells you about the gardens and grounds and the plants there, but we didn't go on one.

It wasn't full day out which was nice as it wasn't too tiring. I was in a some pain from walking round the house but unfortunately due to the nature of of old houses which are often listed buildings which the National Trust look after they are not built for wheelchair accessibility unfortunately which makes it hard when you're like me an enjoy visiting places like the National Trust.

All-in-all it was a lovely afternoon out and somewhere I'd recommend visiting.