In October 2013, me & the boyfriend decided to finally make that trip to Madame Tussauds. I'd been before as a child with my Mother and I remember having my photo with Brad Pitt, Darcey Bussel and The Beatles, who at that time I didn't know who they were, and I even thought Jean Paul Gaultier was a prisoner (why I would think they would spend thousands recreating criminals I don't know)  but maybe that's just proving how young I was during that trip, & it was definitely time to revisit this landmark.

I went a year ago, so things may have slightly changed now, but I've just made this decision that im going to try to go through all, well a lot, okay a few of the albums in my mobile & try to blog about them, so cheers to 1 down when this is posted!

Madame Tussauds opened over 200 years ago, & in 1835 got its first permanent location base at Baker Street Bazaar, where visitors originally paid 6 pence to get in. It now resides at Marylebone Road, and has done ever since 1884 and has literally been a busy tourist attraction since day one!

Madame Tussauds was born as Marie Grosholtz & learnt her skills from Dr Philippe Curtius, and was forced to make death masks during the French Revolution which are also on display at the waxwork museum, along with the Guillotine that beheaded Marie Antoinette, and the oldest figure on display, Louis XV's sleeping mistress, sculpted in 1763.





Madame Tussauds is split up into numerous sections, and I will show you a few of the snaps I took (not including every waxwork), taking you through the museums journey in the order it appears in.

As you enter your welcomed to the celebrity red carpet 'party' event, section 1.

Below I have snapped,

Emma Watson,
Colin Firth,
Kate Winslet,
Dame Helen Mirren,
Victoria & David Beckham,
Chanelle Sadie Paul,
JOKES!!
George Clooney,
Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie,
Leonardo DiCaprio,
Naomi Campbell,
Jennifer Lopez,
Morgan Freeman,
Taylor Lautner,
Jean Paul Gaultier,
Johnny Depp.





Section 2 shares the same area, and covers a few Bollywood stars.

Below,

Madhuri Dixit-Nene
Aishwarya Rai
Shah Rukh Khan




Section 3 covers film.

Below we have,

Shrek,
Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's,
Tinkerbell,
Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch,
Charlie Chaplin,
Daniel Craig in James Bond,
E.T. in E.T. Phone Home
Stephen Spielberg,
Bruce Willis in Die Hard,
Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator.





Section 4 Sport.

The first photo is dedicated to The Olympics 2012,

Tom Daley,
Jessica Ennis-Hill,
Olga Korbut
Usain Bolt,

Second photo is associated with football,

Christiano Ronaldo,
David Beckham (making his second appearance),
Jose Mourino,
Pele,

Final photo is a mix of sports,

Tiger Woods,
Muhammad Ali,
Rafael Nadal,
Jonny Wilkinson.






The Royals are in at section number 6.

And personally I think we fit right in, no?

The Queen - Elizabeth,
Prince Phillip,
Duke of Cambridge - Prince William,
Duchess of Cambridge - Catherine 'Kate' Middleton,
Princess Diana - of Wales,
Prince Harry,
Prince Charles,
Duchess of Cornwall - Camilla



Section 7 continues on to be culture,

Few below are,

Albert Einstein,
Stephen Hawking,
Vincent Van Gogh.



The next section is our music stars. One direction have their own photo opportunity section at the towards the beginning of the tour, after the red carpet party, but I am showing them here with the music stars, as that is officially who they are.



Below,

Britney Spears,
Beyonce,
Cheryl (now Fernandez Versini),
Bob Marley,
Justin Bieber,
Robbie Williams.





Continuing on to World Leaders, section 8.

The Men!

David Cameron,
Boris Johnson,
Barack Obama.




Section 9 & 10 is the Chamber of Horror & Scream! Which most of it you couldn't take pictures so there's not really too much to show.  I'm always petrified of jumpy things or dark areas, or the thought of something touching me, but we were reassured no one or nothing would touch us, so me & Fran ended up leading the small group through, I screamed at every chance possible,  and after one person scaring the living daylight out of me, he then asked to touch the bun on my head! After ages of me holding up the followers behind me arguing with him that we were told no one would touch us, I finally gave in & let him grab it! A weird scenario, but it only enhanced my memories & petrified pleasure of the chamber tour, to be fair that may have pretty much been the only time I opened my eyes!



Section 11 is behind the scenes at Madame Tussauds,  which I didn't take pictures of, other than the historical pictures I started this post with.

12 is the Spirit of London ride. This was a lovely tour in the infamous London black cab. It started with Elizabethan London, William Shakespeare,  The plague, The Great Fire of London killing off the plague, Sir Christopher Wren, The Battle of Trafalgar,  Queen Victoria, The Industrial Revolution, The World Wars, The Swinging Sixties, The Seventies, The Eighties and beyond, bringing us right up to the bright lights, sights & joys of current London.









The final chapter of the waxworks were Marvel Super Heroes, section 13. My partner really enjoyed this section, & I was overly impressed with the ginormous Hulk waxwork prompting me to pretend I was being attacked by the one and only Hulkster!

Below,

The Incredible Hulk,
The Invisible Woman - Jessica Alba,
Captain America - Christopher Robert Evans,
Nick Fury - Samual L Jackson,
Iron Man.
Spider Man.





This then followed on with section 14, a 4D Movie Experience of the Marvel Super Heroes, which was fantastic & we both thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Museum then ended like the tourist attractions all do, with the merchandise shop, which I clearly wanted to purchase anything & everything!  But we did narrow it down to a plastic 'Madame Tussauds' drinks container with a straw, which I think I have used once, twice at a push!

I'm so glad I got to revisit Madame Tussauds again, but the only thing I would change if I got to go again, would be to take the journey much slower. As it gets so busy, you tend to rush to take a picture with a waxwork, otherwise you get no chance, but this also meant, I jumped in, got the shot & didn't really spend as much time taking in the actual detail & pure beauty of these waxwork figures.

But none the less thank you for a pleasant experience.

Muchos Love,

Chanelle SP
xoxox

Well here's a bargain I can definitely say I'm overly impressed with!
There's always that risk with purchasing low priced make up products, but honestly this was a risk well worth taking!

New Look.... known to most as a reasonable priced high street retailer for the latest fashion clothing, well now they've produced their own line of make up, beauty & fragrance and I love it!

The make up range currently consists of...
4 liquid foundation colours (at present just for the lighter skin tones)
4 pressed powder compacts
4 colour pallettes of bronzer
4 liquid concealers released through a small brush
4 matte blusher colours
10 single eye shadow pots & 4 colour pallettes each including 5 eye shadows
Numerous selection of liquid/ pencil eyeliners
Brow pencils
4 lip liners
12 lipstick colours in reds, pinks & oranges
6 lip gloss colours
Mascara varieties in volume, resistance, definition & length
And a whopping 30 colours of nail polish.
They also have a range of brushes as well.


Okay so far I've only purchased three products, but I will deffinately be adding a lot more to my collection.

My first purchases consisted of a 'warm nude' 5 colour eyeshadow pallette, an absolute steal at £4.99 the colours are great for everyday wear, or you can vamp up the eyes by using the darker section of the pallette and go for a smokier effect.

Yayyy another one scratched off my 2014 bucket list! Number 47.... This year I celebrated Halloween, and not only that,  I also carved my first pumpkin! I deffinately had the best Halloween, and I got to spend it with my loved ones, even if we did celebrate on completely the wrong days.

Halloween was on a friday, and it was my Grandma's last evening before she headed back to Spain the next morning,  so we spent that evening with a Chinese takeaway! Yes not very Halloweeny but I loved it nonetheless, we also had my cousins around so that made  it extra special too, while enjoying watching Mum answer the door to the trick or treaters, and eating all the leftover sweets once she brought her pumpkin back inside.


Okay I spent most of saturday in bed as my allergies were playing up so I didn't want to open my eyes, and to make matters worse, I left my glasses back in London and couldn't stick my lenses in straight away as my eyes were just puffballs! I deffo didn't need a Halloween costume during the day thats for sure! Anywho I'm glad that at around 8pm after a glass of wine I decided to get ready and make an effort!  After 9 we headed to the Halloween party at The Fiddlers Elbow, and lets say we were well underdressed with our headbands & matching coloured dresses to our themes (cat & pumpkin), as oh my everyone made a cracking effort! It was a real pleasure to witness all these spooky & entertaining costumes! Wellingborough & The Fiddlers, you did us proud! Sorry my pictures underestimate the effort made by everyone that night!





Luckily Sunday I wasn't hungover as I got to finally do what my initial plan was for celebrating Halloween..... CARVE A PUMPKIN YAYYYY!

So Francisco (the bf) annoyingly had to make this into a competition and he'd been harping on about it the last couple weeks, so guess what... let the battle commence! Okay I know Halloween is supposed to be all creeping and gory, but with me being way too feminine, I had to go for something cute obviously!  I started my hunt through loads of Disney pumpkins & fell in love with someone's version of the Fairytale Castle & a version of Frozens Olaf.... then it hit me, okay worse, it broke my heart! I've never ever carved a pumpkin,  there was no way I was pulling off these designs. I then stumbled across a Mickey Mouse, and the fight was on! Francisco on the other hand took his inspiration from a pumpkin that was in a picture with Eminem....

We had previously purchased some carving tools from Sainsbury's for £1.50 which were just perfect for bringing our designs to life, although slightly fragile after we created our masterpieces, so thankfully my mum purchased a £2.99 pack in the half price sale, (now £1.50 you know cause by sunday Halloween was clearly over) which are now in the cupboard ready for next year, this pack had two of every tool & a stencil pack of designs too! Gotta love a bit of Aldi - thanks for the bargain!

I actually had the best time carving my pumpkin, I started by carving off the top, and surprisingly even enjoyed scraping out all the insides! I then drew my Mickey, although slightly misshapen as I didn't have a stencil, and I also wrongly carved from the outside inwards, rather than the other way, but this was all a learning curve for me, and quite frankly I'm actually really happy with the outcome & I may, just may, have slightly fell in love with my Mickey pumpkin!!


Woop go me!

Here's a few pic collages of the pumpkin process, and in the pictures of all three pumpkins, my Mum's is on the left, & Fran's on the right!









To be honest I was actually impressed with all three of our pumpkins, as both Mum & Fran's were carved extremely neatly... but I deffo went for the trickier design right...!?

Can we say     Chanelle 1   Francisco 0     ????? ;)


Muchos Love,

Chanelle SP
xoxox

64 on the 2014 bucket list - participate in the 100 Happy Days Challenge!


Can you be happy 100 days in a row.....!?


Okay so this challenge became popular in 2014, I believe founded by Dmitry Golubnichy from Ukraine, who at 27 years old told www.today.com he 'fell into a trap if sadness' not appreciating the finer moments in his life, then prompting him to start the 100 Happy Days Challenge, this consists of finding a moment each day, whether big or small that makes you happy & capturing that moment. He started his challenge in October 2013 with the #100happydays on his instagram account @dimochkino straight away this caught on & became the new phenomenon for social networks this year! Golubnichy also created the website www.100happydays.com

So April 14th I started to think about this challenge, and my initial thoughts were that I'd be over the moon if I made it to 15 days as I really couldnt imagine keeping up with this "happiness" but luckily my good friend Tunde was there to prompt me on my way. Well let's just say I failed the first day!! I posted a tweet about my happy moment, forgetting to include an image, so I decided I was to start the challenge the next day, April 15th 2014...


My first day was having a starbucks, paid for by Santander (after being reimbursed £3 for them overcharging me the year before) and my name being spelt correctly,  nothing major but a nice moment that brought me happiness. Others consisted of days off, new make up, Barbie, time with special ones, many coffee dates, food, loving London, days on set, the seaside (Brighton), more coffee dates, even appreciating having days off while poorly, posing, drinks, random jobs, and again more posing....


So yes this shows that I don't have the most exciting life and some of them were quite boring, but it was finding that moment, even if I'd had a pretty rubbish day, to appreciate something that was good about my life, and honestly maybe this challenge is what's made me aware of it, but I do have a pretty good life, I have the BEST family, a caring partner, good friends, yes my career is a challenge, but can offer many rewards, so I really wouldnt ask for a different life, I love the struggles, as they make you value the precious moments, no matter what they are.


So please take up this challenge, its honestly actually FUN!

Another great thing it's useful for is like being a mini diary, and you can check back on what you've been up to the last 100 days!

Heres the snaps of my challenge....


Muchos Love

Chanelle SP

@MissChanelleSP xo

People create bucket lists for their life and what they want to achieve or experience, and then you have the 100 things to do before you die, top places to dine at, or spa weekends etc etc. So I've decided to do one for my life in 2014. Now this is not all about crazy experiences, it's literally about everything, so maybe where I'd like to visit, or items I want to buy (big or small), literally just random things, so some are easily achievable as I've got to be able to scratch some things off my list!

My plan is throughout the year to be ticking numbers off my list and if your lucky, blogging about them too!

Anyways enjoy, if you manage to read through all of them without getting bored!

So here's to 2014 !! Let's see what's marked off by 2015 (which is crazily now only 9 months away!) (NOW WHICH IS ONLY 7 MONTHS AWAY AS I STARTED WRITING THIS IN MARCH & IT'S NOW MAY WHEN I'M RELEASING IT!!) ..... ITS NOW AUGUST LOL!






1. Ultimately have my dream job! Not going to state exactly what it is, but all who know me well know what my current dream job is!

2. Buy an eos balm.

3. Go to Disneyland Paris - Thinking maybe for the November fireworks as summer would be way too busy!

4. Create a memory jar of 2014.

5. Get my lips re-filled.

6. Appreciate my natural hair length - To go the whole year without wearing attached (weaves or bonds) extensions & only wear my clip-ins when needed! - Okay I've broke this, I wore weave for around 3 weeks, then saw the light!!

7. Feel confident without false lashes.

8. Create a blog.

9. Try to blog at least once a week.

10. Try to complete Vicky Pattinson's work out dvd to the fullest to get results.

11. Try and visit my Mummy more - I'm in London and she is not, the journey isn't long as she's not too far North of London, but the cost of trains are sadly highly priced so can't afford to visit as much as I'd love to, but we do speak daily :) I've literally been going loads now, as I can be quite flexible with my timings, midday or late at night have the best deals!

12. Floss my teeth... get into the habit of doing it as often as possible/needed.

13. Get my glasses perscription up to date - I always have my contact lenses to match my perscription, but my glasses have not been increased in possibly around 8 years!! If I leave the house in them, I cannot see!

14. Read positive/ inspirational/ motivational quotes.

15. Experiment in different hairstyles - including using hair pieces like flowers & bows.

16. Do not buy anymore foundations in 2014 - I currently have 5, that should last me! - I broke this too, but I love my illamasqua foundation!

17. Try and attend the odd ballet/ dance/ zumba class (what i can afford) to regain strength,  stamina & get back some basic dance ability.

18. Let things go! - I really need to get over some things quicker.

19. Aim to brush my teeth every night, not just every morning and the odd night!

20. Do a massage or spa package from groupon, wowcher or some discounted place - I've done it before and you get such good value for your money.

21. Do a floatation session - looks relaxing, I'd love to know if it actually is!

22. So july the lease is up on our studio, so I would love for us to find somewhere where the kitchen isn't in the bedroom!

23. Watch less television - on my days off I don't switch on the tele anymore in the daytime, and then after a couple of months of not watching it I treated myself to a bit of daytime tele and it was a nice luxury.

24.  But on the other hand, watch the news more - I'm not fully aware of what's going on in the world, which isn't too handy.

25. Bake a cake, or cookies or muffins! Any form of baking will do.

26. Buy a new board game and play it - fun time without technology really means a lot to me.

27. Learn how to make pancakes like my mothers - pancake day is tomorrow,  meaning I have a matter of hours to learn. Bless mum did send me a 'How To' pancake email this morning.

28. Have my average weight as 8 stone give or take a few pounds, rather than being between 8 and a half & 9 lol.

29. Clear out facebook - whether that means deleting people I don't know or starting from scratch again, or maybe deleting it altogether!  Ha we'll see.

30. Sleep in a tent, or go glamping! :D

31. Go to The London Dungeons - I've been before I think 7 years ago and I loved it, so I deffinately want to go back.

32. Experience The London Eye.

33. Watch Charlie and the chocolate factory at the West End.

34. Try and do more coffee dates - This is now happening, my bank balance tells me I'm enjoying one too many lunch dates!

35. Stop 'completely' wasting my days off - limit it to a couple of hours max.

36. Decorate my nails more - with colours and gems, also try and keep my natural nails. My nails are in such a state from wearing acrylic nails for so long that I really want to rest them. - I've also started shellac, so I just need to get more colours now.

37. Do a Juice Diet.

38. Drink more water! Yay I've purchased a Water Bobble & it's fab, I'm deffinately drinking more water.

39. Read a book, even if its an autobiography.

40. Go to the Professional Beauty show at the Excel.

41. Go sightseeing in London and actually take in the view rather than constantly rushing around to get places. London has so much to offer, I really want to appreciate all if it.

42. Skype the family more.

43. Upgrade my phone - Woop upgraded to the iPhone 5s in gold, with a whopping 5GB of data!! - Then the screen smashed & now it's replaced it doesn't have full sensitivity, typical!

44. Buy a Samsung tablet. - Although it's actually quite slow,  I'm unimpressed.

45. Take long walks in summer - Summers now over, I'm not sure if this happened!

46. Wear more heels! - Deffo doing this more, it hurts & feels good all at the same time!

47. Celebrate Halloween - even if only carving a pumpkin - Okay I've found out I'm working on Halloween, but we can still make this work!

48. Keep on top my diary - today 03/03/14 opened my diary and realised I last wrote in it on 03/02/14 a whole month! - Tut it's now May 1st & I don't even know where it is! 18/08/14 & I'm deffo better at this now.

49. Buy a glitzy phone case for my upgrade. Which I did & then 3 days later my screen got smashed & the case cut my hand so it's now in the bin! Buttt a touch of sparkle case is on its way :)

50. Laugh more - loosen up a little!

51. Once a month have a few glasses of wine and get tipsy while watching television with the partner - Okay so I actually do this with Blue WKD not wine ha!!

52. Network more - I find it a big effort, but its always good to know the right people ;)

53. Learn more about history and inspirational people who have fought for good causes - Ooo I learnt a bit about the Queen & all the counties she's attached to, & that Bill Gates owns Microsoft,  & was never a President!

54. Get over the fact I'm turning 25... I still look 16!!! - Oh & now I'm 25 & 1.5 months old! - Now not too far off 26!

55. Get my horse hoof charm put back on my Tiffany bracelet.

56. Try international food - I've been having a lot of Thai food this year which I'm loving, but I also ate at SAMA the Asian Kitchen which was actually really tasty,  although I still couldn't hack the spice (which has now shut down which is a shame)

57. Enter all competitions - even though I NEVER win!

58. WIN a competition!! - I did!!! I won an Avon lipstick since starting this blog post! - OMG & I won real Ugg boots from Ugg!!!

59. Use old make up before wasting money on new products that do the same thing.

60. Eat more fruit.

61. Go to the Olympia beauty show - Which I did, & only purchased nail polishes as I felt there weren't much on offer.

62. Perform in a play. I performed at The Brighton Fringe festival

63. Go to a fair - was just a small one, but was great going on all the rides at Clapham Common funfair!

64. Complete the 100 Happy Days photo challenge - currently I'm on day 16, hopefully today will be posting this blog post! Now on day 85 and still haven't posted this blog! I did it! ! I got to day 100!

65. Learn how to do a half decent bouncy blowdry - Okay it's not necessarily bouncy as I think I put too many heavy products in my hair, buttt I found the perect blow dry brush

66. Chillax on my obsession with chocolate and sweets! - Okay it hadn't happened, but now it's November & my teeth are really suffering,  so I might almost be accepting that this has to happen.

67. Spend a day by the seaside - closest being Brighton or Southend on Sea. Spent 8 hours getting sunburnt on Brighton beach, but now loving my tan!

68. Get on these Shellac nails - someone I know purchases it off Ebay & also the LED dryer, sorted! - I'm on it, as said previously I just need to build on my collection. - Although now L'oreal do a fabulous gel effect collection - Infallible Nails.

69. Get back on Spotlight - The Actors directory!

70. Keep up with stretches & sit ups!

71. Watch as many films as possible, including all genres - Cartoons HD is officially the best app! - Cartoons HD is now closed! EMOSH! - IT'S BACK! Well some films are anyway.

72. Watch the fireworks on The Thames at New Year 2015 - unless I'm fortunate enough to celebrate in another country! - Okay apparently they now charge which is annoying,  and no I'm not spending it in a different country,  although I will be travelling to Spain the week after though! I would now like to spend New Years in a hotel with a spa :)

73. If we are lucky enough to have kitchen space in the next apartment, I would love to learn to cook!!

74. Find a good (reasonably priced) product to lighten the dark circles under my eyes - any advice please give. - Well I love my new Mac concealer,  that does the trick, also purchased an Illamasqua concealer,  so looking forward to trying that too.

75. Go to church - even just once, just to say thank you! Life is stressful yes, but honestly at the end of the day, I am thankful for everything... Every challenge is an experience. - I really need to now, after what we experienced,  my family is very thankful for everything.

76. Have a translation book in my bag - I will learn BASIC Spanish!

77. Get some casual/smart mini boots! - I have tan, I now just need a black pair. I now have the same ones in black, I love them!

78. Get my hair cut! - Finally had my first trim in like 6 years in August! Hopefully it will grow a tad now!

79. Do a teatox - Okay I started one, but dudnt stick to it properly, so I must try again.

80. Try meal replacement shakes - I have these, again I just need to stick to it.

81. Clear out everything! - Junk, clothes, be brutal!

82. Be more fashion daring/ experimental - I'm completely trying new things now, I've purchased my first jumpsuit and I wear frilly socks with boots, and i even get my toes out now which I didn't before, I just need the body and the money to push those boundaries even further.

83. Try a bold every day lipstick - so I handed in my 6 Mac empties, and got a free lipstick, I used this moment to go for a wearable red colour - Ladybug

84. Try and be adventurous with food in the cupboard - example being I just made microwavable rice with tinned tuna & tinned sweetcorn!

85. Purchase a portable charger - the amount of times I've not had access to a plug socket & then my phones died, especially days on set, and we all know how long iPhone batteries last!

86. Go to the theatre - Okay technically I did, as I took the boy for his birthday in Jan to see the Lion King,  but we made a pact that if we didn't go on holiday this year,  which we aren't,  then we would go see Charlie and the chocolate factory,  so hoping that happens by the end of the year! - This isn't happening ! :(

87. Get an Olaf from Disney's Frozen Movie - I love my Olaf and he gives warm hugs!!

88. Get my teeth whitened -  I would ideally like them straightened too,  but that isn't happening in 2014 lol!

89. Find somewhere in my freelance price range to have acting classes - & preferably pay as you go as I cant always guarantee I'm available to attend.

90. Get new headshots - I love my headshots, but I would like some with my natural length hair, maybe even with naturally curly hair too!

91. Go swimming!  - When I move in the next few weeks, I want to find somewhere local to go swimming and relax afterwards.

92. Buy new bras that fit properly - sounds like a rubbish one but I generally need a whole new wardrobe for bras - I finally have a few more!

93. Think of and find a decent present for the boyfriend for Christmas, and then for his birthday the month after.

94. Take advantage of priority moments from O2 - including the Monday £1 lunch deals!

95. Get over 1,000 twitter followers! - I have around 75 to go! - I now have around 20 to go, but it's a struggle lolol!

96. Buy a make up clutter box - A nice transparent big one - Okay so I can scratch this off kinda, as I got a cheaper one, well basically draw separators so I do now have a kind of neat beauty draw.

97. Do Groupon/ Wowcher dates.

98. Make it Christmas in the flat in London!

99. Listen and dance around to music more - Always puts me in a good mood! - Love a bit of Capital FM!

100. TRY MY HARDEST TO GET THROUGH THIS LIST... - I have 4 months left! - Now 1.5 months, and it's clear some of these won't be getting scratched off this list.... this year anyway!!


Thanks for reading

Mwah

CSP xo