Why am I Here?

Hello,
I'm sorry that recently I've been showing my blog a bit of neglect. I haven't been posting as much as I'd like because I have so much on my mind at the moment.
I make no secret of the fact I suffer with depression and anxiety illnesses but recently I've started taking a new kind of medication. It has really done wonders for my mood and I've been a lot calmer and happier which is like a complete breath of fresh air. I feel like my head is a lot clearer and things are looking up. However, with all pills there have been some side effects, and these are one of the main reasons for my disappearance. I've found that whilst my body has been getting used to them, I have been tired almost constantly. I sleep all night and then can happily sleep for hours during the day too, and when you slot working and attending interviews, doing day to day chores and everything else in, it hasn't left a lot of time to blog. I'm sorry for my lack of posts but for now I need to put other things first for a little while so I'll just be posting when I can. I do have some lovely posts lined up for the next few days though including some reviews, my May empties, May favourites and my thoughts on the latest She Said Beauty box.

The other reason I have been a little less active with my blogging is that since attending the iFabbo conference on Saturday I have felt a little lost. I write this blog purely because I love beauty, fashion and generally fun things and I really enjoy sharing those things with other like minded people. At the conference I realised that I was surrounded by so many passionate bloggers who wanted to achieve real success from their blog, whether that be through monetizing to make money, or by becoming professional bloggers who work directly with brands on collaborations or large promotions. There was a panel focused purely on making money from your blog, a panel about working with companies and another about extending your reach by utilising social media. Now, don't get me wrong, I found all of the panels incredibly interesting and I learnt an awful lot but the whole time I felt that maybe I didn't belong there. Gaining followers and being well known aren't important to me.
What I care about is writing good quality posts about the things I think everyone should know about and sharing them with the people who enjoy the same things as I do. I've never been one to jump on the beauty bandwagon; I don't own a Clarisonic, I think the Revlon lip butters are crap and give me Tesco deep cleansing lotion over Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish any day. When it comes down to it, I write this blog to stray away from all of those hyped up items. If I write a review for something it is because I really love it and I think my readers will too.

For a few days I've been thinking this over and I've felt like a bit of an invader because what I'm doing as a hobby, some people are desperate to do as a career and I've felt like I should back off and let the big fish battle it out. But now I've realised that no matter why I write Three Little Buhos, and even if I only receive 300ish views per day at the moment, if there is someone out there who finds my blog interesting or helpful then that's what counts. I enjoy writing every single post and as long as there is someone out there who enjoys reading my blog then that is all I want to achieve and I will carry on blogging away and sharing my love for all things beauty...just don't expect to be reading about the Bourjois 1 Second Nail Varnish Remover on here any time soon!
Don't stress the small stuff and just enjoy writing, for what ever reason you choose.
Annie x

Birthday Antics and a Lush Review

Hello,
Today has been another lovely sunny day here in Bath. It has also been my lovely mummy's birthday so we've spent the day together having some fab girly time. We shopped, we went out for lunch, we had cake and have spent some time this evening pampering ourselves. Its been really nice :)
On our shopping trip we spent some time in Lush and picked up a couple of goodies; Lovely Jubblies cream for the neck and bust and a pot of Love Lettuce face mask.

Love Lettuce is a face mask that uses almond shells to exfoliate skin as well as drawing out any excess oil and leaving skin beautifully soft thanks to the use of almond oil and a bit of mud :) Its best used on normal to oily skin and worked really well on my combination skin. Because all of the ingredients are natural this only has a shelf life of four weeks and needs to be kept in the fridge. In this weather using it fresh from the fridge was soooo nice because it was so cool and soothing.

Cue much hilarity as we sat smearing green stuff all over our faces.
So as we sat there with green goo all over our faces it began to slowly set and feel a little tighter, especially around the mouth. One thing I liked about this mask is that it smells softly of lavender which, whilst not my favourite smell, is nice for keeping you feeling relaxed whilst you sit there waiting for it to work for 10 minutes.
When dry we agreed that it looked a little like mushy peas or finely chopped up spinach which, as everyone knows, is incredibly sexy...so maybe avoid using this around your boy/girlfriend.
Removal took a pretty long time and we both keep finding little bits of almond shell even now but it really did leave our skin feeling beautifully soft and exfoliated. Around my mouth feels a little sensitive but that is from a little over enthusiastic scrubbing so be careful to take it easy around sensitive areas :)
Over all we both really liked the effects of this mask and would both happily use it again.

Lolly the Grumpy Kitty looked a bit over heated so I thought she'd enjoy the cold pot on her back. She looked like a little table :P

Have you used any of the Lush face masks before? Which is your favourite?
Happy birthday mum, I love you loads!
Annie x

iFabbo Social Media Conference

Hello,
As you probably know, I attended the iFabbo conference in London on Saturday. It was a great experience and I think we all learnt a lot about how to make the most from our blog. Every single panelist spoke brilliantly and their love of what they do was clear and it was an honour to get the time to speak to them all and hear about their success.
I also met so many lovely fellow bloggers which is one of my favourite aspects of blogging events. One of the downsides to blogging is that unless you live in a fairly central location, you never get the chance to meet most of the ladies whos blog you follow so it really is lovely to match up the name with the face and have a proper face to face conversation.
My main job was to take the photos for the iFabbo team to use so I spent most of the day snapping away happily. Heres a few of my favourite photos from the day.

I just want to say a huge thank you to the ladies from iFabbo who put together this amazing event and also for giving me the chance to be there. It was more than worth the 6am start to the day!

Did you go the the iFabbo conference? Which was your favourite panel? I really enjoyed the PR relationship panel and the Social Media utilization panel.
The complete collection of my photos can be found on the iFabbo facebook page, here :)
Annie x

The Time Has Come

Hello,
So guys, the countdown is over and tomorrow morning I will be heading to Kettners in Soho, London for the first UK iFabbo blogging conference.
Its all been a bit mad this evening to be honest. The "chunky cam" (as I like to call it) is on charge ready to take the photos, a more suitably sized handbag that actually holds all of my things has been selected and my outfit has finally been chosen. Now I just have to paint my nails and be excited :)

I have to drag myself, half alive, out of leave the house at about 6.50 in the morning to get my train so its going to be a pretty long one and I doubt I'll be awake enough to blog when I get home, but I'll be sure to fill you all in on Sunday.

In other fab news, I have a trial shift in an LK Bennett store on Wednesday. How perfect would that job be for me? Everyone knows I can't resist a good pair of shoes or a fancy handbag!

Are you going tomorrow? If you are then grab me and say hi! I'll be the one who looks like a clown after having to apply her makeup in the dark at 6am :P I'm uber friendly though and would love to catch up with all of you lovely ladies who are going, and I'll even take a lovely photo of you for the iFabbo website!

Annie x

ps, heres a fun photo for you as I'm in such a good mood :) I honestly cried with laughter when I first saw this picture. Toast = true love

Boux Avenue Bath Grand Opening

Hello,
Today has been a really lovely day. I went to the press preview of Boux avenue, did four hours at work and then sat and relaxed with Kassi drinking iced coffee. Bliss!

Boux Avenue is a lingerie business owned by Theo Paphitis who you probably know as being one of the dragons on Dragon's Den. The concept behind Boux Avenue is providing a boutique experience but with prices that are easily affordable. You are offered an amazing customer service experience, lots of choice and price tags to suit a wide range of budgets.

Today was the grand opening of the 12th Boux Avenue store and I was lucky enough to get an invitation to the press preview this morning from Laura of Fluorescent PR. I met Laura at the event and can honestly say she was one of the friendliest ladies I have spoken to in a long time :)

We were all given a tour of the shop, including the changing rooms with their famous light settings of daytime, dusk and night. There is also a button you press to make a phone call to ask a sales advisor for different sizes without having to pop your head out of the door in your undies in a vehr embarrassing way like some stores.

As well as the usual underwear, swimwear and pj's that you'd expect from a lingerie shop, there was also a fairly wide range of gifts and accessories for sale which were all beautifully laid out on tables making them look gorgeous. I really loved the frilly bags that are in the above photo :)

Everything was beautifully presented all through the store and straight away you can tell how much time and effort has been put into making the store look as brilliant as it does. All of the accessories are colour co-ordinated, the underwear neatly presented and the bras all hung perfectly. Even the pairs of giraffe pj's looked fairly classy in their setting :P

Perhaps my favourite thing about Boux Avenue is the clever way that the products are stored. Instead of battling your way through racks and racks of sizes that aren't popular to get to your size, products are kept in draws according to size and you simple slide it out and find what you're looking for. Ultimate win!
As part of the service in store you can ask for a free bra fitting. I decided to do this because my boobs are a nightmare at the moment and I wanted to find out for sure what size I should be buying. I was seen by a lovely lady called Alie who was super friendly and made me feel completely at ease. A lot of people worry about a bra fitting being really intrusive and awkward but it was perfectly fine. Youd do NOT have to take your bra off to be fitted and thanks to Alie I found out I'd been wearing the wrong size and I now own a bra which fits me perfectly. She showed me how to make sure that a bra is the perfect fit and recommended styles to flatter my boobs (they're rather large and heavy so balconette styles are best for me). It was a really good experience and I would definitely recommend getting a fitting because so many of us get our sizing wrong.

We really were spoilt by the lovely Boux Avenue girls. As a final treat we received incredibly generous goody bags, not having been to an event like this before, I was amazed. In my bag I received a pair of pretty knickers, a tube of hand cream, a pot of lip balm, a memory stick (perfect for blogging when I'm not at home!) and a £20 gift voucher. This was all beautifully packaged in scented fabric rose petals, tissue paper and then sealed in a big box. I already used my voucher to buy my lovely new bra and the lip balm and memory stick have gone straight into my handbag.

Thank you so much to Laura for the invitation and thank you to the girls at Boux Avenue for a great time. I really enjoyed myself.
Have you ever been to a Boux Avenue store?
Annie x

Summer Wardrobe Inspiration

Hello,
recently I've been looking for new jobs because it feels like its time to move on from Sainsburys. I've been called for several interviews now but what I've found really tricky to put right is how to look stylish, professional and yet not over heat in this uber warm weather. I think I pretty much have this down to a tee now but heres a spot on inspiration.

Seriously, if money allowed, I would own this outfit, so so me!

Dress: How gorgeous is this pink dress from French Connection? Its 100% cotton which will allow your body to breathe a lot better than other fabrics. Choosing a bold colour will make you stand out to your interviewer. Its always beneficial to stand out from the crowd.

Blazer: I love mustard yellow paired with hot pink, its a combination that just works. This Topshop blazer is perfect for throwing on over the top for a professional look and can easily be removed if you feel yourself getting a little warm.

Shoes: Skyscraper heels may make you look and feel amazing but during a job interview the last thing you want to be worrying about is having uncomfortable feet for the whole time. These sturdy heeled T bar shoes from Office are practical, look great, and will stay a lot more comfortable for the whole day.

Necklace: I always think a piece of jewellery finishes an outfit nicely. With the high necked dress this lovely gold statement necklace from Accesorize works perfectly.

Handbag: Finally, as such a handbag fanatic I had to add one to the outfit. This gorgeous bag from Fiorelli is large enough to fit any important documents without the need to bend them such as CV's or training packs and I personally think that a leather bag always looks more professional than any old bag you may happen to be using at the time.

So thats my summer job interview inspiration outfit. What do you think? I love warm colours such as fuschia and dusky brown for summer, they make everything feel brighter and make me feel so much more confident.
How about you? What would you wear to a summer interview?

Annie x

100 Follower Giveaway Winner!

Hello,
How has everyones Wednesday been?
I had to take Lolly the Grumpy Kitty to the vets this afternoon so shes scratched me to pieces. Poor thing had to have bright orange dye put in her eyes so now shes a funny colour :P

Anyways, my 100 follower giveaway is now closed and I used good old random.org to pick out the winner and I'm happy to say that the lucky winner isssss...

Alicia!

I've sent Alicia a message so if you're reading love send me your address and I'll post your goodies :)

Congratulations.

Thank you to everyone who entered, I'll be doing another soon for either 150 or 200 followers so keep an eye out!

Annie x