Hi everyone!

It's been a while since I've written a general chit chat blog post (my last post was back in April which is crazy!) You may have noticed the new redesign on the blog, I decided to revamp it all a few weeks back to freshen it all up after a 3 years of writing! 

So if you've read before, I am a couch to 5k runner and the running bug has definitely bitten and latched onto me the past few months. As I'm off to university in a few months, I decided to make a list of things I wanted to do before I leave in September. On the list was buying my web domain (check!) and running a 10k race.

The maximum distance I had ran was about 5.5 miles, so 6.2 miles shouldn't be too much of a challenge if I put my mind to it. I run with an incredible group of runners in Royston and I was chatting about my 10k challenge and I was given a few ideas which ones to take part in.

A few ladies were doing the Race for Life 10k and after looking into it, I finally decided to sign up! 

The Race for Life also felt like a good option to take part in for a few reasons: 1) it was local and around the city of Cambridge 2) my mum ran this exact race about 10 years ago and 3) in was in aid of Cancer Research UK.

I wanted to help support Cancer Research and decided to set up a fundraising page (you can read about my reason to take part here: fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/graces-fundraising-page-143) and I set myself a goal of £200 to raise for Cancer Research UK

I never like morning running. I don't feel like I have enough energy and my running mojo isn't in full swing until late afternoon. However, the race began at 11am and mum was persistent that we get there early...2 hours early in fact!

The nerves were starting to set in around 9.30am but we soon met with my lovely running friends and after embarrassing ourselves in a entertaining warmup - we were ready to set off!

The course was mostly flat and it went round some incredible sites of Cambridge. Through the market square, the college, the back streets and up & down the canal. As you may know, Cambridge is very busy at the best of times, so you can imagine the response we got when 4,000+ women were running up the street in pink!

The first 5k was really fun, it was busy & lots of people were cheering, however when the second 5k came along it became quite quiet - luckily I wasn't alone when running the second 5k!

I completed the race in 1hr 18mins which is a PB for me! I am still extremely proud of myself and I raised a whopping £300 in total for Cancer Research UK - which I hope will help get one step closer in finding a cure someday.

I'd like to thank all of my wonderful sponsors - you definitely helped me get me round the course!

Now it's my first 10k out of the way, I'm deciding what the next challenge will be!

See you in the next blog post,

Hi everyone!

Today marks a special day (and I'll be honest I nearly forgot) but gracelaurent has been running for 3 years!

Life has been super crazy at the moment, so this anniversary has completely slipped my mind, however I couldn't NOT write a post to see where I'm at today in comparison to where I was this time 3 years ago...

This was me at fifteen years old (cringe). I was still at school, facing my GCSEs in the summer and just managed to get offers back from colleges that I wasn't very keen about. I wasn't very outgoing, I stayed in line at home & school and life was just ticking along, day in, day out. 

One day I had the crazy idea of starting my own blog. Why? Originally, this was meant for a personal use type thing - logging what I'd been up to, highlighting some crazy events and posting some beauty DIYs here and there which I had been using through some research and thought people should know about these things.

The comments back were pretty much what I expected in the first year: Mum commenting on every post giving me support (which is the best support you can ever get really) a few friends congratulating me on getting this far with the whole thing and then of course you will get the comments online and offline of people giving you stick for actually doing something different. At the time I was close to shutting this down and giving up, but what was the point in that? I was enjoying myself - writing in my own style - no marks or grades to tell me how bad or well I was writing, it's my freedom!

 So where are we now 3 years down the line?

Granted, I'm not writing as much as I'd like to be but time does seem to be running away from me this year and I'm struggling to keep up with it all (my Dad's just hit the big 50, hence why my brain has been distracted from today!)

I currently work for an independent local magazine and marketing company during the week - something which I never thought would happen to little old me! I write my own column each month about beauty tips and DIYs, as well as helping out with other bits of content in the magazine and a few extra tasks as well - I am in my element right now!

I finished college back in June studying an 18 unit media diploma and ending up with 2 Distinction Stars and 1 Distinction - which I was pretty chuffed about!

In September, I will be off to the University of Lincoln to study Journalism. Am I worried about how much stress I might be under? Yes. But will I enjoy the crazy ride which it'll take me on? Yep. 

Also, remember that goal I set saying how I wanted my own domain - we finally achieved it this year! Back in February I bought gracelaurent.com - so no more .weebly anymore! One thing to mention which is something I ALWAYS get asked when someone is on my Instagram, Twitter or on here - how to you pronounce "gracelaurent"? I've had many people think it's a French name and people pronouncing it in very questionable accents or just saying it how you see it - making it sound weird to me! In my head (and you can do whatever you like with this information because it probably doesn't matter too much) is
​"Grace-Lauren-Tee"! 

The audience has grown quite a fair bit since we started out back in 2014, and whether you're an old reader, new reader or even my Mum reading this - thank you for all your support and checking up with what I'm doing every so often - it wouldn't of happened without you all!

I always say "I'll aim to write more" or "I will get back on track" but this is a promise which I keep breaking. I will continue to write when I can and schedules have completely gone out the window - but trust me I want to make it to four years here!

See you in the next blog post,

Hi everyone!

Since my local running club are re-starting their couch to 5k course this April, I thought I would share my experience of taking on the challenge of being able to run 5k in a matter of weeks and with hope, my aim is to convince some of you lovely readers who may have been in the same position as me and want to start running!

After losing my Granddad in March 2016, my only way to cope with the grief was eating everything and anything sweet and delicious. At the time I was still at college, so I was still walking to and from the train station on both sides almost everyday and junk food and snacks were available from the canteen whenever I fancied it. I started to gain a bit of weight, nothing incredibly noticeable to everyone but to me I could notice it. As well as this I started to feel out of breath after walking up some stairs for the first time in a while and general gentle exercising started to get harder.

After finishing college in June of 2016, I still carried on sitting on my bum most days, stuffing my face with comfort food and I wasn't doing anything to help shift the weight or improve my fitness.

In July 2016, I started running by myself with the dog - but I was running out of breath quickly and giving up halfway round - this is when I knew I had to do something! I joined the Royston Runner's Couch to 5k course.

So I joined the group just 2 weeks in. The first week which I did was running for 1 minute and walking for 3 minutes (something along those lines - my memory is a little hazy!) This seemed like an absolute killer to do and if I'm honest the minutes running used to drag and the minutes of walking seemed to go like a flash.

I wasn't sure I'd be able to carry on and I was close to missing sessions, going back to sitting in bed with a plate of food, feeling sorry for myself and giving up. However, the commitment that everyone else in the group to come back the following week made me feel like I couldn't let the other guys down! 

I met so many inspiring beginners and expert runners in this group and if they were coming each week to carry on the sessions then so could I! As the weeks progressed, the running lengths got longer and the breaks got shorter, which made me start to see improvements each and every week. Even if you feel like walking a little bit longer, no one is going to judge you for it if anything, they're going to be cheering you on for actually coming out and doing it!

By the end of the course you WILL run a whole 5k without running and trust me - it's not as scary as it seems!

Hi everyone!

I've always been a meat eater, and I can't see that changing anytime soon. Trust me, I've tried to convert my diet by watching those videos being shared out on Facebook, which puts me off for about 2 hours but as soon as I see something as simple as chicken nuggets, the video would be wiped from my brain (until I see it pop up again...)

However, I'm sure we can all agree that animal testing isn't that fun. In most cases, the animals are suffering long after being tested on which obviously isn't too pleasant to see or think about. So I decided to visit a blog which has studied most makeup brands and listed all brands which don't test on animals. So how cruelty-free is my makeup collection?

Now, I've already purchased all these products and I feel like the ones which DO test on animals shouldn't be put to waste. To separate each product and to know which brands I shouldn't be buying in future, I've stuck white labels on the products which do test to remind me for future reference.

Now, a majority of my makeup is from KIKO - as I've said in the past I'm obsessed! Now, the website states that KIKO have yet to respond to these questions which made me a bit unsure whether or not they do test on animals. However, I reverted to Google and under KIKO's terms and conditions it states that they DON'T test on animals *insert sigh of relief*

I do have a few bits from Urban Decay, which I like to use on special occasions due to their products being high-quality product (and they have the most gorgeous pieces of packaging too!) I knew this one already that Urban Decay DON'T test on animals. However, I didn't know that their parent company L'Oreal (which I didn't know was them) do test on animals. But I'm just going to accept that that Urban Decay is a brand which I will be buying from again.

From the age of 15, I used to be obsessed with Rimmel London products as they were easily accessible from my local Boots and their products are at an affordable price. I still buy the occasional product when popping in like a new lipstick or eyeliner in case my original has run out or I want to try a new lipstick shade. But from searching on this website I have discovered that they DO test on animals. This means a majority of my lipsticks won't be making a return in my makeup collection!

I've been buying these brushes for a long old time, they're fantastic quality and last ages! Thankfully Real Techniques DO NOT test on animals! Also, the BeautyBlender (different brand) is 100% vegan - another reason to get your hands on one!

Above is my makeup collection split into two. To be honest it's pretty much 50/50!

A key trend with the products that do test on animals are mostly lipsticks in my collection, surprisingly most of my brushes are cruelty-free which did surprise me!

Other brands which were in my collection were as follows:

Barry M - DO NOT TEST
Benefit - DO TEST
Bourjois Paris - DO TEST
MAC - DO TEST
Maybelline - DO TEST
No. 7 - UNKNOWN (Google claims that they DO NOT test on animals)
Seventeen - DO TEST (which makes me sad because their mascaras work wonders on my lashes!)
W7 - DO NOT TEST

To find out how cruelty free your makeup bag is - you can click through to this handy website Logical Harmony: www.logicalharmony.net/cruelty-free-vegan-brand-list/ which lists all brands that don't test on animals. If your chosen brand doesn't show up it means that they do test on animals.

​See you in the next blog post,

Hi everyone and Happy New Year!

Well, 2016 is offically over. Needless to say it has been one of the years to remember, but possibly not for all the right reasons...

However, I am refusing to to dwell on some factors and focus on the good which happened in my life over the last year.

Now, after writing my blog post all about UCAS (you can view that by clicking here) I had just finshed sending off my application. I wasn't too worried at the time about whether or not to go to university, so I deffered all entries as I wasn't sure if I was 'mature' enough to go in September. After applying and being accepted by 4 different universities to study journalism - I can happily say that this September I will be a student at the University of Lincoln...and I'm just a tiny bit excited!

After studying at Long Road in Cambridge for 2 years, I finally finished college. Looking back now, it was probably the most eye opening 2 years of my life yet. I've met the most amazing people, learnt some valuable life lessons and skills which have helped me massively! I ended the year with D*D*D (which translates to 2 A*s and an A.) I couldn't be more content!

I had been working with The Listing magazine for a few months part time and was given the immense opportunity to work 3 days a week behind the scenes of the magazine. In the space of 7 months the magazine has achieved so much and I have been fortunate enough to be a part of the team during this time!

2013 was the year when I went to near enough a concert or live show every month. The previous years have been pretty dry and I didn't go to see much live. This year I was fortunate enough to go to Reading festival, see Beyonce live (something I never thought would happen in my life ever!) fall in love even more with Twenty One Pilots and find the amazing talents of Jeremy Loops...It's been a busy one to say the least!

I'm a very nostalgic person, so birthdays are always a tough one for me. The thought of another year of growing older has always scared me a tiny bit. When I was younger, being 18 seemed like such an old age: being able to drink, go out, be independant and even be able to see an 18 rated movie meant to me than you were officially old. I couldn't disagree more with past me! 

Being able to celebrate my 18th alongside my family (mum ws celebrating turning 50 and my parents have been married for 25 years) was one memory I am going to cherish. 

So 2017, what are we going to achieve? This time round I would love to be more motivated and create more this year (as well as spending time watching more films and possibly seeing a live drag show...) Transitioning from work to university is going to be a massive shock to the system, but I'm ready for it!

See you in the next blog post,