5 things that change because of the weather

I know. I've been a bit pants at keeping this up to date over the last month. I have started posts, but not quite got round to publishing them. I plan to be better at it. Starting now.

The last few weeks have been a bit crazy weather-wise. It seems as though once the clocks went back someone decided it was Winter & - click - the weather changed. We, in the South of Wales, have been "lucky" I suppose, in that we haven't had the snow the rest of the UK have had to deal with. I say "lucky" because I wouldn't mind seing just a little bit....

The change in weather has meant a fair change in my lifestyle - what I eat, my skincare, the clothes I wear, my shoes, my homecare routines, spending...ok, I admit the last one is more time of year related than weather, but they do go hand in hand.

I wanted to write a bit about the changes I've noticed and to see if anyone else has some tips to share.

1. What To Eat
Snow, rain, the cold all tend to lead to one pot dishes - stew, casserole, pot roast. Food that is warming, comforting & filling. And what I've found more than anything - full of veg! If I am making a stew I know that I am going to get most of my 5 portions of veg in that one meal. It surely is not a coincidence that all the root veg is also in season right now - potatoes, carrots, swede, turnips, parsnips, celery, leeks - stick them all in a stew or under a joint of meat for a pot roast and it's guaranteed to taste great.


2. Update your Skincare Routine
Now, I know I am not an authority, all I can do is share my experience with you. My winter routine generally has 3 main difference.

First, I have a different moisturisers (face & hand) for winter as I do find my skin needs more moisture this time of year.

Second I have different foundations. A slightly different shade to make up for the lack of tan (ha!) and I am currently experiementing with different types - powder, mineral, cream - to find something that works better with my winter moisturiser. Which will probably be covered in another post!

Finally, lipcare. I suffer terribly with chapped lips every and it is only last year that I managed to get through relatively unscathed! My lips get very dry and it often expands over my lip line making me look like I have gone a bit mental with a lip liner - and not in a good way. I have tried everything, the Vaseline Lip Therapy Rosy Lips is currently my favourite.

3. What to Wear
I am one of those people that always feel the cold. I work in an office where I need to look smart & professional - which can be difficult in Ugg boots - not to mention I really don't like wearing heels when it's icy! But how do you look smart & stay warm in 4 layers of clothes? Not sure I've particularly cracked it, but I've found that smart jumper dresses (over a t-shirt)  are great with leggings and knee high boots (that will also fit an extra pair of socks). Still experimenting, so any advice would be great! :)

Edit (1st Dec)
Handy Link on how to wear your dresses in winter, all ready for Dressember.

4. Home Routines

I'm going to run through this quickly as it may turn into a rant, but briefly this is how my routine has changed (so far):
- Getting up earlier to de-ice the car to get to work.
- Finding places to dry washing as it can't go out on the line.

Alright - not as bad as I thought....but I'm sure I'll think of more.....

5. Spending
Bills go up because you're heating is on. Petrol costs go up because it's just far too cold to walk anywhere. Christmas is coming so you start buying presents. You buy new gloves, scarves, ear muffs, jumpers because you can't find the ones you bought last year. You need your new moisturisers & foundations (see point 1).

So, what's changed for you? How does the weather affect your rotuines? Got some tips to share? Please post your advice below and I promise I'll keep writing. :)

Review: e.l.f. cosmetics Nail Varnish [Smokey Brown]

I came across elf cosmetics on Twitter, on my search to find cosmetic companies. When I found out that they are based just down the road from me (and saw the price of their products!) I had to place an order.

With my recent addiction to nail varnish, guess what I bought!

From left to right the colours are: Mint Cream, Smokey Brown & Purple Pleaser. All in the new collection. All cost £1.50 each. 

I painted my toes with the mint cream and my hands with smokey brown. The brown polish seemed to go on better than the mint, but I think that's to do with the colour rather than anything else. The polish seemed to dry pretty quickly - great for me as I'm a bit rubbish at sitting still and have a tendency to dent or smudge nail varnish pretty quickly.

The colour of the polish on the website & in real life is pretty accurate for the mint. The brown comes out darker than it looks. The purple is a lot brighter (better). Obviously this is on my monitor and may be very different on your screen!

General consensus (from my Mum) is that the Mint Cream should never be used again - although I do quite like it, but is more of a Summer or highlight colour, and the Smokey Brown is a good colour. Bang on trend!

So, well done Elf - I will purchase again! Am particularly looking forward to the Matt Finisher coming in!

Leopard print nails

This is my attempt at Leopard Print nails after seeing GemFatale's blog post & tutorial video.

More practice needed!

Black Nails (Free Nail Varnish)

This came free with Cosmopolitan magazine. I love free gifts.
It is Black n Gold from Miss Guided.
It has a very delicate gold sparkle, that will be great for Halloween and Christmas parties, but was an absolute nightmare to get off!
Good quality product though.

Nails: 17 Lasting Fix (Parma Violet)

I bought this in the Summer (May-ish) to go with my new flip flops.

I have worn this colour a lot over the last few months and don't quite want to let Summer go yet. It's also a fairly neutral colour but adds a bit of fun for work. With my new found want to wear nail varnish & take better care of my appearance, I have (as you know) started wearing a lot more nail varnish. Now I do not profess to be a professional/fashion conscious/any authority at all, but I do know what I like.

This nail varnish is not expensive (at £2.99), but when I first had it went on really well, and even one coat was enough. Now I can tell it's a bit older & used and there are a few bristles on the brush that need sorting out. However, I like it, and its nothing a smidge of nail varnish remover & pair of scissors won't fix!!

Housework & Flying

As this blog has been set up as a lifestyle blog, I thought it was time I posted about something very few of us can get away with - housework.

I know. It sucks.

But when it's done, how great do you feel? There's something lovely about sitting down in your living room when the sofa cushions have been 'plumped', when the floor is hoovered, there's no cob web in the corner, no dust on the tele, everything has been put away & that smell of polish is in the air.... go on, admit it - you like it too! :)

I am rubbish at it. I do it because I have to, plus I will confess hubby is actually pretty good at it too, so it's not left entirely up to me, and I don't have kids to contend with either.

I found it really difficult to get into any sort of routine, as I really didn't want to spend my weekends cleaning, rather than going out, especially as I know often have cakes to make too. Plus working full time there are some evenings I just really can't be bothered!

So I did a bit of searching online and came across FLYLady: "Your personal online coach to help you gain control of your house and home." The essence of FLYing is to divide your home into zones and concentrate on one each week, while carrying out tasks such as a Weekly Home Blessing Hour and the 5 minute room rescue.

While the premise is great - getting & keeping your home tidy with a series of daily tasks, I did find it difficult to keep up with it while having a full time job, and spending time with friends. I don't want to go into any detail about the FLYLady techniques beacuse she has so much valuable information on her website but here are a few lessons that I learned.

1. 15 minutes is a long time - especially if you can manage 15 minutes a day sorting out a room or dedictaed to a project.
2. A timer is indispensible - if you want to get something done quickly set your timer and once it beeps (or makes whatever noise has been set) stop.
3. You don't need to be perfect all the time - don't put off a job because you can't do it perfectly right then, even a quick tidy up/clean/wipe down will make you feel better & make the job easier next time.
4. Work as fast as you can - as well as helping get your jobs done quicker, I found I put more effort it and you burn more calories.
5. Keeping your sink shiny does make you smile in the morning. :)

Review: Betty Hula

When I started this blog I wanted it to be a helpful blog, full of reviews, hints, useful information etc etc. So when I saw @bettyhula on Twitter asking if people wanted free samples - I said yes. This was weeks ago! Unfortunatelt they came at a time when I had loads on at work and was rushing round a lot. Anyway long story short (ish) I DID sample the products I was sent and here (finally) is my review. Betty, please accept my apologies for it being so late!

The products I recieved were Kiwi & Lime Shea Butter Moisturiser and The Secret - anti-aging oil.

KIWI & LIME SHEA BUTTER MOISTURISER

The first thing that hits you when you open the moisturiser is the smell. It's divine! Really fresh and not at all chemically like some creams can be. It's quite a thick moisturiser, so not one that I would use every day, but one to keep for when I fancy an at-home pamper session. It does go on well and my skin felt lovely and soft that evening and the next day, and every now and then I'd get a hint of the lime-y scent which lasted longer than I thought it might.

THE SECRET - ANTI-AGING OIL

Being new to sampling such a wide range of cosmetic goodies - I wasn't entirely sure what to do with this, as I only had a sample (I'm not sure if the full-size product has directions) so I asked. I was told to smooth a few drops onto my face after a bath. So I did.

I was a little dubious at smearing oil on my face, but it was lovely. I tend to think of oil as olive oil type consistency but this was light with a very delicate fragrance. I did end up with more on my hands that my face...but that just meant my hands were lovely & soft too. My skin did feel & look great the next day - whether it looked younger, well I guess I'll have to try it a bit longer to check that out! ;)

All in all I would say that the products are lovely. They sink smoothly into your skin and are definitely worth a night in to try them out. I am intrigued to try the Champagne & Spice Moisturiser but I think, at the moment, it'll have to go on my Christmas list (hubby, if you're reading this....).

I love the brand and the products, and Betty has been great to deal with, I would defintiely buy these products in the future & am looking forward to seeing what other products they develop.

(All images taken from www.bettyhula.co.uk © Betty Hula.)

Wardrobe Planning

I have recently returned from holiday where I took the chance to plan a brand new wardrobe. A walk-in wardrobe! Now I know that I am lucky enough to have a room in my house that we can spare - unfortunately I do still need to share it with hubby (just kidding!) but I thought I would share my tips on wardrobe planning.

One thing we have struggled with since moving into our house 4 years ago is lack of storage. We wanted a nice open, spacious house without clutter. Ha! We didn't realise exactly how much 'stuff'we had, and by stuff I do mean clothes, shoes, bags, scarves, jewellery, coats, etc etc, and how much space it would take up. So here's what I did:


1. Make a list of exactly what you want to store in the space. Will your shoes be stored there or do you have somewhere else for them? What abut coats?

2. Add to this list a rough idea on quantity & space needed. How many pairs of shoes?  Do you have lots of jewellery or will a little box on your dressing table do?


3. What type of storage do you need? Do trousers need to be hung full length or folded in half? Do you have long dresses that need to be hung up or could you get away with 2 clothes rails? What can be stored in drawers?

4. Measure the space you have available & start doodling!

We used the ANOTNIUS system from IKEA and after several sketches and plans now have a lovely, spacious wardobe suitable for all my (and hubby's) clothes.

Feel free to share your tips below and let me know how you planned your clothing space.

Wedding Outfit: Red & White

For my friends wedding I took a leaf out of @LottieLoves1 book and went for an almost vintage look. No black, a fabulous, feel-good outfit. Like a muppet I totally forgot to take a full length photo, so here is a cobbled together (& some quite dodgy) photos to give you a feel for my outfit.

The most full-length photo I have. :(

My dress (Image borrowed from http://www.janenorman.com

My shoes (Image borrowed from http://www.mandmdirect.com)

I also had lovely red nails and a pretty red bow necklace. I also wore bright red lipstick for the first time. And LOVED it. I am usually a bit rubbish, once I leave the house, at reapplying, but to maintain the effect I made sure it stayed bright and fresh all day.

Thanks Lottie - you've done it again! :)

Weddings

Why is is that such a wonderful day can be the cause of so much stress?

I got married 2 years ago & had a fabulous day. I was calm and relaxed all morning - until walking down the aisle (but that's another story).But for my friends' weddings it's a whole other story!

Last week my friend, who I've known forever, got married and while I had my outfit ready, I didn't know what to do with my hair, I hadn't done my nails and was still rushing round first thing trying to get ready.

Tomorrow is another friend's wedding and for various reasons I am again completely disorganised! I have my dress, shoes and bag. I have no idea what to do with my hair, what jewellery to wear or how I'm going to do my make up. And while I would usually have plenty of time to get ready in the morning at this wedding my husband is best man. So we have the groom staying with us tonight and all of the ushers coming round in the morning for breakfast and to get their suits on. Which means that on top of it all I need to clean the house. Plus I am meeting the bride tonight for pre-wedding drinks, so can't spend tonight preening AND have spent the last few nights making the wedding favours (cookies) so haven't had time to practice, shop or plan!

Now I know that this is all largely down to me being completely disorganised and that at my own wedding I had everything planned - to the last detail - weeks before the big day and plenty of people round to do my hair, make up and dress me!

Having said all that - I love weddings!! I love getting ready and seeing everyone dressed up and I know that even if I did have everything planned to the 'T' something would go wrong. My necklace would break or my hair wouldn't go as it should.

I am looking forward to seeing all the boys in their suits tomorrow and being able to offer last minute wedding advice to the groom. The house will be busy & full with plenty of Champagne (& lager) and it'll feel (a little bit, I hope) like my wedding day again. :)

Website Review: MandMDirect.com

www.mandmdirect.com

I was trying to decide what to blog about tonight and have decided to start a monthly series of website reviews. I have recently been scouring the web to find a pair of red shoes to wear to my best friend's wedding (of the year) on Saturday. Apparently I have an uncanny nack of choosing just the thing nobody else wants at the time, so it's been difficult!

Anyway, the bride-to-be told me about the MandMDirect website so I went to have a look. It boasts '75% off your favourite brands'. To be honest I wasnt particularly taken with the design, this is obviously subjective and does sometimes affect my internet experience, but in desperation I powered through!

I found it easy to navigate to exactly what I wanted (women's red shoes, size 3) in 4 clicks using the 'Narrow your search' form on the left hand side and straight to a pair of Firetrap shoes for £15.93 (saving £54.06). I bought them immediately! The checkout process was easy and clear, and delivery charges were fairly reasonable for this kind of website.

I placed my order late on Thursday evening and my shoes were with me on Monday, not sure exactly what time as I was out of the house but they left them in my specified 'safe place'. The arrived in perfect condition, exactly as expected and are fab!

I was very happy with their service and will definitley shop again. My friend has used the site a few times and has had some lovely clothes at great prices, never with any problems.

(No, this isn't an advert or paid for post, neither will I profit from any links on this page, but sometimes it's nice to be nice! Bad word of mouth spreads so much faster than good service. So here is my honest review.)

Wedding Outfit

This is what I wore to my best friend's wedding yesterday.

Details
Date: 14th August 2010
Occasion: Wedding

Dress: New Look
Shoes: New Look
Bag: marc b (Not in picture)
Necklace: Outfit
Bracelet: Mum made it for me for my wedding

Water is good for you

Yup. We all know this, but it is only recently that I started making an effort to drink more water. So every morning I have a glass of water, I try to drink a litre throughout the day in work (plus whatever coffee gets made) and I have a glass before I go to bed.

Whether it actually makes a difference or is just a mind over matter thing - I don't really mind! It makes me feel better in myself, and I am sure my skin looks better too (although, this could equally be to do with my new skincare routine!) Plus it helps to reduce my hangover state! :)

I guess the point is that I have found a way to fit things I know I should be doing into my routine. It's easy and automatic. I make sure my litre bottle is filled and in the fridge before I leave work and I pick it up on my way to my desk in the morning.

101 Things in 1001 Days

On my other blog I have set myself a challenge to complete 101 things in 1001 days - starting yesterday. A few of them are related to this blog, so I thought I'd add them here too - that way there's no way for me to escape! :)

#4.  Start & stick to a beauty blog.
#7.  Sort out a walk-in wardrobe. 
#24. Be able to touch my toes.
#25. Photograph everything I wear for a month.
#26. Stick to a beauty/skincare routine.
#28. Try yoga/pilates.
#30. Own a very expensive pair of designer shoes.
#59. Try a new beauty/make-up/haircare product every month.
#66. Have a week with no alcohol at all.
#72. Hold a clothes swapping event.
#82. Be vegetarian for a week.

I am sure there are a few others on the list that could be included, but these are the main ones. For now!

Bouncing my way to fitness

In line with my new life I have decided to start exercising. I am lazy and not particularly sporty so I needed something that wouldn't take much effort (that I could do at home) and that didn't require any specific skill (catching, balance, throwing, hitting etc.)

I have been hit by the 'fitness bug' before and I purchased a mini trampoline (excuse me - rebounder) which I decided to dig out. I can do it in my living room while watching friends, it only requires me to make sure I stay on the thing and is, according to NASA, one of the best forms of exercise you can do. Perfect!

And guess what! I actually enjoy it!!

The first day I planned to do 30 minutes - I mean, how hard can it be?! Huh. I managed 10 minutes. And felt a bit downhearted, until I found this article that says you should start with 3 x 3 minute sessions a day. :) That I could manage. However I do also have to go to work, and I am definitely not a 'get up and exercise' kinda gal. So I have opted to stick to my one 10 to 20 minute session a day.

Yesterday, for the first time I managed to do a whole 30 minutes - a whole episode of Friends. And I am hoping I will stick to it.

It truly does give you a fabulously smug feeling when you're sitting on your sofa later on with a glass of wine. ;) And in some cases it will even drive you to want to be more healthy and have a glass of water instead. Just saying! Progress at your own risk....

Time for a manicure

I'll let you in on a secret. I am a nail biter. I have bitten my nails for as long as I have had them. I've been much better over the last few years and I do think that I have finally (touch wood) dropped the habit. Until I have a drink or two.

So manicures are fairly new to me as I have never had nails to work on and I am a bit rubbish at it. I kind of figure it must just be practice.... so here is my first proper attempt at doing my nails. I will say that I did have a mini manicure at a spa last weekend, so they weren't totally mishapen to start with (luckily for me!)

Before:

Here's what I did.
- Removed any nail varnish with remover, just in case.
- Washed my hands.
- Masaged cuticles with cuticle remover.
- Used an orange stick to push cuticles back.
- Masaged nails with Nails Inc oil slick pen.
- Moisturised hands with hand cream.

And that was just the prep bit!! I didn't realise how much went into it - but my hands did feel lovely and soft! :) Here are the products I used:

Then:
- Filed my nails to an (almost) square tip.
- Used a base coat with some special ingredient to help my nails grow.
- Nail varnish (finally, the fun bit!) in a very dark brown (almost black) with glittery finish.
- Nails Inc top coat to keep the colour safe.

This was the final result:

But I didn't like it. So I took it all off and did this:

And I enjoyed it so much I decided to try again on Sunday and went for blue:

I am sure there is much more detail & information I could add here - but I'll leave that for another post!  Any tips to share?

New Hair

Today I have been for a hair cut. I think the last time I went to the hairdressers was September last year - nearly a year ago!

From left to right, top to bottom: 1) This is the last hair cut I had, 2 & 3) This was my hair 2 weeks ago.

Forgot to take a photo before I went this morning! But that was the first time I had worn it down in quite a few weeks, and I have worn it up in a pony tail since - so it was definitely time to get it cut.

Now, my hair looks like this:

And it feels GREAT! There's something great about changing your hairstyle, whether a drastic change or just enough that only you notice. How about trying parting your hair to the side if it's usually in the middle? Or styling it a little differently? It can do wonders for confidence. I am a bit crap with my hair (which is why I usually wear it short) and generally do the same thing with it all the time. But I am determined to try different things with it now, and the hairdresser has cut it in such a way that I do have options, but it can also be done very quickly for work.

Skincare and Make Up Routine

This is only day 2 of my new found skincare routines, but I figure it's as good a time as any to write them down so here goes.

Morning Routine
- Splash face with luke warm water (assuming I removed make-up the night before!)
- Dab on eye cream
- Moisturise face & neck with day cream
- Light layer of foundation
- Dusting of sparkly all-over-face powder or bronzer on cheek bones
- Cover eyelids with light base eye shadow
- Add a slightly darker shade on top
- Dab a bit of even darker eyeshdow to outside corner of eye
- Mascara
- Vaseline on lips, sometimes a dab of lipstick
- Liberal spray of perfume

Evening Routine
- Remove make up with eye-make remover
- Use 2-in-1 toner & cleanser
- Moisturise face & neck with night cream
- Moisturise hands with hand cream

This is highly likely to change over the coming weeks, but its a start, and I have managed to stick to it so far!

Feel free to comment below or link to a blog post with details of your routine or where you think I may be going wrong. :)

New Start

I tend to get quite stuck into things once I start them, so the first thing I wanted to do was go through all my make up, cosmetic and skin care products and sort them out. The photo above is everything I could find in a quick 5 minute dash around my house. I probably use one tenth of it on a regular basis - if that!

A bit of background before I carry on - I have been following Lottie's Finishing School Workshop the A-Z of how to become Feminine and Fabulous. This included sorting out my wardrobe (still in progress) and the latest post challenged us to wear mascara for a week. Although I do tend to wear make up, it's not something I do religously and I don't maintain a skin care routine. So I mentioned on Twitter that it was time to start using eye cream and apparently I should have been using it for a while. :) And that is what inspired this blog.

So, back to my make up. I grabbed everything I could find, I threw away everything that had gone a bit strange, was old or that I don't use. Then I selected the products that would become a part of my daily routine (including eye cream).

From left to right I have 2-in-1 cleanser & toner, lotion & eye perfector cream on top of my am/pm 'complete balance' moisturiser and eye make up remover. I'm sure I'll go into more detail on individual products at a later date. These are now in a box next to my bed ready for my before bed routine tonight.

I also separated out the make up that I tend to wear to work so that I don't have to go searching through all the rest of my make up in the morning and don't have any excuse to not wear it:

Again, I'll describe each product in a later post. But it gives you the general idea.

Then I sorted out an 'emergency' make up kit for my bag.

The main idea being that I don't have ay excuse to not wear make up. To not look nice. To not make an effort.

My plan for tonight was to give myself a bit of a manicure...but it's late now and I have no plans for tomorrow night, so it's something to look forward to on a Friday night in.

Good night. Time for my bedtime routine I guess! :)

Welcome to my new life

Hello. I am 28 and a half years old. I know that usually the 'and a half' bit is reserved for the under 10's when the half is so important. But it's dawned on me that I now have less than 18 months before I turn 30. I am not worried about it... I am looking forward to a 30th birthday party. But this knowledge has made me re-assess what I've got going on, looking at my lifestyle and realising that maybe I do need to start looking after myself a bit better.

I don't feel 28. In fact I barely feel 20 some days, and the fact that I am only 5 foot tall and 'petite' means that I don't really look it either. Yes, I know - I'll appreciate when I'm 50, blah blah blah - but it would be nice to be able to buy vanilla extract without being asked for ID!

So I have decided to start this blog. It will look at fashion, beauty, skincare, hair, food and lifestyle in general - all in the loosest possible sense as I do not particularly follow fashion or any kind of skincare/beauty routine. This is all going to be new to me and I'll be blogging as much to keep a record for me as to offer what little insight I have to anyone that chances across this blog.

Thanks for reading!