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!

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!!

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?