Invisalign update (aligner 10/24)

A couple of weeks ago I went back to Pure Orthodontics for a check up and to collect my next few aligners. They took some update photographs and polished up some staining around the attachments and had a look at the progress. The ortho was really happy and said I could start wearing each aligner for one week instead of two. I am so excited about this as it is going to speed up my treatment from what I thought was going to be 48 weeks, to potentially only 30. This also means I will be due to finish at the end of November this year rather than it carrying on into next year.

So how has it been? It has been absolutely fine. All the anxieties I had about brushing my teeth at work or in public were not needed. It is a bit of a hassle but I do it and it is not a problem really. I can definitely see that movement has happened. The two teeth that are either side of my front teeth that bothered me most as no longer sticking out so much. Looking at the video plan of my treatment all of my teeth are being pushed out to create room then will be pulled back in to form a nice straight line. The down side is that at the moment I know my front two teeth have been pushed out a bit and especially with the aligners on I feel very 'toothy'. But hopefully when they get moved back in I will be happy.

If Invisalign is something you are considering but putting off, I'd definitely recommend you to just go for it. The sooner you start, the sooner you finish!

If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments.

Starting my Invisalign journey

As a child, like many others I had braces. At the end of my orthodontic treatment I had lovely straight teeth. However, over the years my teeth have started to shift out of place again. Noticeably the two either side of my top middle teeth and also my three (I had one removed as a child) bottom middle teeth. Over the last year I had been considering Invisalign or something similar after seeing a number of Youtubers I watch going through orthodontic treatment and getting fabulous results.

I saw an advert in April for Pure Orthodontics in Chelmsford who were having an Easter deal and offering £500 off the treatment. I had heard of Pure as a reputable ortho in Chelmsford from a number of sources including my boyfriend's brother who has lingual braces from there. I gave them a call and got booked in for a free no obligation consultation.

From the moment I arrived at the consultation I felt very comfortable there. The staff were very welcoming and the waiting area looked very plush with its comfy arm chairs, water cooler and coffee machine. Not to meantion the round frosted glass treatment rooms with sliding doors. They took photos of me and my teeth from all possible angles and then sat me down to explain the options and prices.




From Pure Orthodontics Facebook page

I had gone there with Invisalign in mind and even after they had explained the other options, I still felt that was the best for me. I went home with the information pack and slept on it for a few days, then bit the bullet; gave them a call and made an appointment for my Invisalign scan. I also managed to haggle some more off the price, so it's always worth asking!

The scan is pretty easy. They have a hand-held scanner that fits in your mouth and it creates a digital imprint of your teeth (rather than the old messy impressions that you might have had as a teen). I had x-rays on my teeth that day too. Then I was told in two-three weeks I'd get a call to let me know when my Invisalign arrives.

The call came and they couldn't book me in for another three weeks! I was pretty disappointed to think that my aligners would be sat there waiting for all that time and I was wasting time in getting started with my treatment. I rung up the next day (and was planning to every day in protest) to ask if they had any cancellations. As luck would have it, they fitted me in that evening.



Starter kit

I went in and they showed me how to put my aligners in and remove them and gave me all the info I needed to know. You're meant to wear them 22 hours per day and you have to brush your teeth after eating or drinking anything other than water before you put them back in. They also gave me a starter kit which included Retainer Bright to clean my aligners, a travel toothbrush and toothpaste, floss and a box to keep my aligners.

Off I went with a slight lisp and everything I needed to make a start with my treatment. The lisp lasted no more than 24 hours, you soon get used to having the aligners in your mouth. The thing I was most dreading was cleaning my teeth at work after eating, which in fact hasn't been as bad as I was expecting. The worst thing has been having to refuse a doughnut at a work meeting because I couldn't whip my aligners out in there in front of everyone! :)

My first aligners

I'm almost 2 weeks in now and definitely ready for my next set of aligners. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Work work work | Work OOTD

I got this dress from ASOS around September time last year. I didn't really wear it through the winter because I don't really like pairing black dresses with black tights, and thick black tights are a must for me through the winter.


When browsing on ASOS last week at their "work wear" collection I saw the dress and thought to myself how nice it looked, then a split second later, I remembered that I actually own it! So I decided to get it out my wardrobe this week and dust it off now that the weather is brightening up.

It is a very simple piece, but looks really smart paired with some black heels. Also, I find a 'hair-up do' adds to the smartness of the look. Not bad for £30 and they also have it in the maternity range for only £25 I noticed when finding the link for this post.


What is your favourite work dress?

L'Oréal Beauty and the Beast lipstick collection

I heard about this collection by L'Oréal before it came out via social media and was really interested straight away. I, (probably like many of you reading this) have a weakness for lipsticks. My initial excitement was short lived as I soon found out that they were going to be exclusive to Amazon Italy. 

Then they were released and all of a sudden people in the UK somehow had got hold of them. Apparently, although challenging, it is not impossible to shop on Amazon.it.

Armed with my knowledge of navigating Amazon.co.uk and Google translate in another tab of my browser; I was able to make a purchase. They didn't have them all in stock at the time. In fact, they had already sold out once and then restocked. There were a couple of other colours available (there are seven in the collection) but these were the ones I thought I'd be most likely to wear.

They are part of the colour riche collection and are actually shades that already exist, they have just been repackaged for the release of Beauty and the Beast. It cost me just under £30 to get these 3 including delivery. The regular colour riche's are £6.99 in Boots, so you are paying a bit extra for the packaging and the fact they have been shipped from Italy.

Lumiere is the shade 231 "Silk" and is the perfect nude for me. A subtle hint of sheer colour and a lovely sheen, perfect for every day wear.

La Bestia (or "the Beast" in English) is 703 "Oud Obsession". This is a deep chocolate brown, which unfortunately looks quite patchy because of the sheerness of the formula. I hope that can be avoided with a decent lip liner as a base.

Spolverina or Fifi the feather duster is a rich deep plum colour which seems to have a much more even formula than la bestia. It is the colour riche shade 374 "Intense Plum" which describes it perfectly. You definitely need a lip liner with this one though to stop it bleeding.

I would quite like to have bought the rose too as that looks like it would be a good staple red to add to my collection. I'll just have to wait and see if it comes back in stock.

Red and black, a perfect valentines match

Last week, I was browsing around Miss Selfridge in Outfit at my local retail park and spotted this gorgeous bucket bag hanging in a corner. What first caught my eye, was the flash of red on black which reminded me of a pair of Louboutins.

I told myself I didn't need another bag (having recently invested in a Kate Spade Byrdie) and reluctantly walked away after admiring it for far too long. 

This week, I was browsing through my personal emails one morning after arriving at work early and saw a sale email from Miss Selfridge. I followed the link to the site and there was the bag with 30% off. At that point, I just couldn't say no any longer and virtually threw it into my basket. The rest is history as they say!

 

Perfect for a valentines date too. Click here for the bag.

DIY Balmain style jumper

I recently saw Victoria from In the Frow wearing a gorgeous Balmain roll neck jumper in one of her YouTube videos. It is such a simple piece but the addition of gold buttons on one shoulder turn a basic roll neck into something much more sophisticated. However, the £575 price tag makes it somewhat less desirable to me. So, I had an idea! Why not do a DIY of this straightforward, yet stylish piece?

I headed over to Primark and bought a black roll neck jumper for £6. I sized down as I wanted it to be really fitted. Then I popped into the local market and picked up five gold buttons with an anchor detail on. 

 

I worked out the placement of the buttons and sewed them on one by one with black cotton. It took about 20 minutes in total. 

This is the finished jumper. The buttons don't sit quite as well and flush with the jumper because of the style of them. I think I'll keep an eye out for some other buttons to switch them with. Also the weight of the buttons is a slight issue as the ones on the neck cause it to droop slightly. 

It is quite an easy DIY though and not a bad saving.

Balmain = £575

Primark jumper and buttons from market = £7.75

Total saving = £567.25

What do you think?

How charming | Pandora charm birthday collection

I just turned another year older and my family made a great start to my Pandora charm collection. You may remember from this post that I bought the bracelet as a treat to myself during the summer and up until now I had been wearing it plainly with no charms. 

My boyfriend got me the October signature heart birthstone charm which is an open carved heart shaped charm with the birthstone in the center of each side. It is double sided so it looks the same even if it swings round. He also got the curious cat charm which is a single sided very cute little cat face to represent our lovely cat Alfie.

My brother got me the sister's love charm which is a heart shape with 'sister' engraved and a pink cubic zirconia. It is double sided, so it has the engraving an jewel on both sides.

From my parents I got the vintage E charm which is again double sided, an open carved sphere and the letter E carved with 3 small clear cubic zirconia's in the letter.

I'm so happy with my little collection of charms that are all special in their own way. 

At some point it would be good to get a rose gold one to match with the clasp and put in the middle of my other charms. But for now, I am loving the look of this.

Which charms are your favourite?