Dressed for the Job

'Dress for the job you want, not the job you have'

I am a proud believer of dressing however you like and that you should be comfortable in what you're wearing. Unfortunately, many women are under pressure in today's society to dress in a certain way, both socially and in the workplace, this just isn't right. I'm not saying women solely judged by men, because in cases like this the main culprits are often in fact women themselves. Why are we so judgey? Why should we care how somebody else chooses to style their outfit? I take inspiration from the shows season-to-season, but I also believe that everyone has a unique style which in-turn compliments their personality. Use whichever stimulus you'd like, the high-street, the catwalk, other people... If you're confident then you're rocking it! Don't judge others, or you'll be judged back, and we all know we are highly capable of judging back. I've interned for a few publications, and I know there is nothing worse than walking into a room and feeling like everyone in it is staring you down, looking at your clothes and ultimately labelling you just because of an outfit choice, we all have bad days! But if you are looking for some SS16 fashion inso, here are my top picks...

BDG Slouchy Herringbone Button-Down Shirt

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/uk/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=5110582187602&category=NEW-IN-WOMENS-EU

Just Female Crop Denim Flares

http://www.asos.com/prod/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=5983592&CTARef=articlepage|Product3&featureref1=discover&featureref2=women&featureref3=article&featureref4=product3

Topshop Pleat Midi Skirt

http://www.topshop.com/en/tsuk/product/clothing-427/skirts-449/petite-pleat-midi-skirt-5412629?bi=20&ps=20

ASOS Shirt Dress with Frill Detail in Stripe

http://www.asos.com/ASOS/ASOS-Shirt-Dress-with-Frill-Detail-in-Stripe/Prod/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=6222382&CTARef=asomShopLook&featureref1=discover&featureref2=feature&featureref3=asom&featureref4=product+via+gallery&featureref5=242945

H&M Ankle boots with wooden heels

http://www2.hm.com/en_gb/productpage.0367139001.html

Zara Leather Mule Shoes 

http://www.zara.com/uk/en/woman/shoes/view-all/leather-mule-shoes-c719531p3393556.html


K.

Why Girls are Different

So, I know the title of this post is a bit ambiguous, and you are probably wondering what on earth i'm going to say. Is this going to be a feminist rant? Am I going to be discussing deep political issues? Well i'm afraid not, in fact this post is all about exercise and fitness, and until recently, everyone was pretty sure that both men and women should train the same. Some may still believe this, but after some discussion, research and observation I believe girls  should train differently to guys. We are different, no matter how you look at it we are biologically different, our physicality's, how we store more fat for reproduction, differences in hormones, our menstrual cycle, these are just a few. So why do we try and exercise  the same way? Here are the reasons that I think us girls should have a different gym routine to the lads...

1. Women are more capable of training with higher reps

 In Training, specifically weight training, female muscle fibres are more likely to be converted to type 1 fibres (slow yet long lasting) or aren't converted at all, whereas in men they generally change to type 2 (faster but don't last as long). Female type 1 fibres are also proportionally bigger than men's, and show a high resistance to fatigue. Therefore, women can often achieve more reps than men. 

2.Women have been shown to recover faster

Research has shown that women not only need less rest-time between sets, but also recover faster between workout sessions, and therefore are capable of training more often than men. This is because of oestrogen. This female hormone helps muscle repair, and protects muscles by reducing the damage being caused to them during exercise. We are also capable of having less rest in-between sets due to more type 1 fibres, as they have a higher resistance and are less prone to fatigue.  


3. Explosive training doesn't work as well e.g HIIT

As Previously explained, females are better at endurance work, and can work better at a consistent and achievable level over longer periods of time. Men on the other hand deal better with explosive training, due to having more type 2 fibres that are stronger, but don't last as long. It has also been proven that men create significantly more muscle when completing high intensity training than women.

4. The menstrual cycle 

Last but not least, the menstrual cycle. Unfortunately, we can't escape it and we all know we have that time of the month that affects our mood and body pretty damn significantly. It affects some more than others but for around 4-6 days we have our periods, and some may say that whilst exercising in this time, you should do less intense workouts and not push yourself too much. Other research suggests that women may be stronger and more durable during menstruation, this might be something you might like to experiment with if you're looking to hit some pbs!

So here's a short summary of what us gals should do differently... Train high reps 
Do more sets
Rest less time
Train more often
and work with your period!

I hope this helps out anyone looking to change their gym routine.


K.

Sugar Scrubs and Bath Salts

Hey Guys! So I've been pretty broke recently and have been looking at ways to treat myself, and also cheap alternatives  to buying friends birthday presents. So I decided to have a night in with a friend, instead of going out and hitting the town- as i'd previously said... we're kinda broke- and made bath salts and sugar body scrubs! Its simple,f un and easy, so here are the favourite essences that we made...

 Before starting I made a trip to Asda and purchased these cute little jars, 4 for £2!

 We decided to gather everything and anything that we thought might smell good in a bath and beauty product around the kitchen.

Bath Salts

 We used approximately 1 cup full of fresh sea salt shavings, then mixed these with a teaspoon of coconut and baby oil. The first was a fusion of lime zest, 1 green tea bag and a hand full of jasmine. The second (Fruit Cocktail) was a mixture of lime zest, almost zest, strawberry, vanilla pods and extract. It's so simple! You can do this with whatever ingredients you chose. 

Sugar Body Scrub

This step-by-step is fairly similar to the bath salts. I started by using just 1 cup demerara sugar, but then decided to mix it together with 1/2 a cup of sea salt flakes, to reduce the sweetness and soften the colour. I then mixed in double the amount of coconut and baby oil, as previously stated in the sea salts, and started to add ingredients. I decided to keep the sugar body scrub sweet smelling and added vanilla pod, extract, cinnamon and a small amount of honey. 

Enjoy!

K.