Healthy Habits

This is probably the kind of post that should have gone live back at the beginning of January as part of a "New Year, New Me" type thing. But final year brings some pretty tough January exams and I am only just feeling as though I have got my life back! I made a few resolutions back in my post a few weeks ago which you can have a little read of here. But there a few smaller little changes I have started to make in my life that I think will lead me towards my 2018 goals. So I thought I would type them all up into a post about the healthy habits I am trying to get into this year.

COLD WATER
As soon as I wake up I am trying to splash my face with cold water. Sounds horrendous but after I feel so much more awake! I am also trying to run the water cold at the end of my shower to help my skin and hair look healthier.

LEMON WATER
After splashing cold water on my face and before my shower I drink a warm lemon water to help flush the digestive system and rehydrate my body.

DRY BRUSHING
I do this just before I shower to exfoliate my skin and increase blood circulation. It takes about 5 minutes and feels a bit like a massage in the morning!

STRIP BACK SKINCARE
Gone are the days where I am throwing twenty different products at my face every morning and night in the hope that one of them might work! I know have a skincare routine that I am really happy with and takes about half the time. And my skin has never looked better!

HEADSPACE
If you haven't heard of the meditating app Headspace then you are probably living under a rock! But did you know that if you are a student and already have Spotify then you can get it for free?! Really trying to get back into mediating. Think I am going to need it with all the stresses of final year!

SUBSTITUTING COFFEE FOR TEA
I drink herbal teas anyway, but last year I really got into coffee. I can't drink black coffee (yet!) so my coffees were always milky and full of sugar. Although the main reason I am trying to cut back my coffee intake, without going into too much detail is because coffee usually upsets my stomach! I haven't had a coffee in 2018 yet and I don't even miss it that much!

DRINKING WATER
Possibly on everyones healthy habits list but it is so important. I am still learning how to understand when I am hungry and when I am actually just thirsty, but I'm getting there. And I also try and always take a water bottle out with me when I leave the house.

BEFORE BED READING
I am quite possible the worst sleeper you have ever met. It takes me hours to fall asleep and when I finally do it is rarely a deep sleep, so I wake frequently during the night. This is an area of my life that needs a lot of work. But turing my phone off and reading a book before bed seems to be helping.

SUNCREAM ALWAYS
I have been wearing suncream pretty much everyday since I was about 16 and read that it would stop me getting wrinkles in a Vogue magazine! These days it is just part of my face routine and works as an amazing makeup primer.

STRETCH AND WALK
Unfortunately most of my days are now spent at my desk hunched over my laptop. It's not healthy, but it's just life! I can't always commit to proper exercise, especially as my gym is currently being renovated. But making sure I get up from my desk every now and again to stretch a bit and trying to walk as much as possible makes me feel so much better.

CUTICLE OIL
My nails are dry and weak and need a lot of extra care to keep them looking decent. I keep a cuticle oil and a hand cream on my desk and try to use them both a few times a day.

FIND A CREATIVE OUTLET
For me, my creative outlet is this blog and also a scrapbook I am currently making. When I've had enough of work for the day it's nice to have something I can do other than just watching TV for hours that also feels productive.

SMOOTHIES
Coming back to uni after the Christmas holiday means I have been reunited with my Nutribullet and I couldn't be happier. It makes upping my fruit and veg intake so much easier, plus I am now throwing in superfood powders and chai seeds to make it even healthier!

...I think that's it! Now I am seeing these healthy habits written out it looks like a lot! But I promise that it isn't and they quickly become just part of your daily routine. Let me know in the comments if you have any other hints and tips to add!

Speak soon xx

My Top Three Trends for S/S18

I am sat here at my desk doing everything and anything apart from revision. I have already been swallowed into a downward YouTube spiral of home tours and wardrobe clear-outs, and gone through every single item in the Zara sale, only to be left disappointed. So I though now was the perfect time to focus on my fairly abandoned blog!

Since I have spent the best part of a fortnight in tracksuit bottoms and no makeup I am in no position to share any of my own styling photos. So I thought I would scroll through another site that is amazing for procrastination, Pinterest, and share some of my style inspiration for 2018.

 

D E N I M

2017 was the year that I finally started venturing away from super skinny jeans. I bought a pair of distressed denim jeans (to my parents disappointment) and I am completely converted. I wear then with trainers or flats during the day, boots in the evening and heels for a night out. This has started an obsession with all things distressed, as you can see below.

S P O T   O N

Polka dots are set to be huge for SS18, particularly in monochrome shades (yay!). I think the key for this trend is delicate polka dots on floaty fabrics for a really feminine feel. This trend looks great with denim and brown leather accessories.

 

S A T I N

I'm not one to experiment too much with colour (as you can probably tell!), but I do love to play around with fabrics and texture. Last year I was all about velvet, but Spring/Summer calls for lighter fabrics...cue satin. The great thing about satin, like velvet, is lower price points are just as good! This trend channels a bit of a nightwear/lingerie style making it feel really sexy.

So those are my three favourite trends for the coming season, and now I am probably going to spend the rest of my evening shopping for them! Would love to know what trends you are really excited for this season!

Speak soon xx

A Step in the Right Direction

Before I start I will clarify that despite the title this post is not about the changes that I am going to make for this new year, although maybe that post is coming soon. Instead this post is about something equally as important, the basic black boot.

For a couple of months now I have needed some more black boots. To cut a long story short I had a pair which I lived in, that had been reheeled about 5 times, and on a partially great night out the heel said goodbye to the rest of the boot (possibly due to some questionable dancing). Once the heel said goodbye to the boots I decided it was about time I did too. They say that you don't miss a good thing until it is gone, and boy is that true! For the last two months I have really struggled with what I should be putting on my feet. Trainers are great and comfy, but they leave my feet freezing and my poor ankles even colder. And high black boots make legs look twice as long (especially with black jeans), but they make having to get an escalator at a train station absolutely terrifying. Essentially, at this time of year, nothing beats a good black boot.

As it turns out though finding the perfect black boots is a very difficult task. There are so many options it makes it almost impossible. You have to choose your desired heel height, the toe shape, buckled or no buckle, fabric, finish and just about everything else in between. But when you have something fairly particular in mind it makes it even harder. I knew that I wanted leather boots and was willing to spend a bit more on something that would last. I also wanted a heel, but a low heel so that I would be comfortable spending a whole day walking around London in my boots. And finally I wanted a matte finish and not a pointy or square toe.

I don't even want to think about the length of time that I spent scrolling through every high-street, mid-market and department store. But I finally found the perfect daytime black boots. They are from Kurt Geiger and they are everything I wanted. They are comfortable but look so chic and they are leather. They are a bit of an investment but lucky for me they didn't go down in the sale! You can find them here if you are interested. So get ready to see a lot more of these incredible boots!

Speak soon xx

My 2018 Goals

I'm going to skip the rambling about how I can't believe that it is 2018 and get straight into this post! I've just had a quick look back at my 2017 Goals post, which you can have a read of here, and I quite like the structure so I think I am going to stick with that. Basically, I am going to look back at my previous goals, whether I achieved them or not and then set my new goals for 2018. So here goes...

DRINK MORE WATER
I actually think I am getting better at this! I pretty much never leave the house now without a water bottle. I have had this on my list for years now so it is drilled into my routine, and I think it is time this one can come off!

FIND MORE ME TIME
In 2017 I found much more time for myself. A bubble bath on a Sunday night, getting my nails done and going to the gym all became part of my routine and I don't think I could go back to how I was before. 

 

GET TO BED EARLIER
6 months ago I was well on track to achieving this. And then I went back to uni! I'm still getting up fairly early, but I am going to bed a lot later which actually just means I am getting a lot less sleep than I should be. I think this one needs to go back on the list! 

READ MORE BOOKS
I read more books than the previous year that's for sure. But I still don't think it's enough! I think this one is going to stay on the list and hopefully help towards the above goal. 

WEAR LESS MAKEUP ON MY SKIN
Nailed it! I am so lazy when it comes to makeup these days and I kinda love it. If I know I am hardly going to be leaving the house I will wear nothing. And if I am it will usually only be a bit of concealer and powder and maybe something on my eyebrows. My skin has improved so much and I even feel like my eyelashes are growing again after ditching the mascara. 

VISIT MORE OF LONDON
Yes and no. I did visit London a fair amount this year but there is still so much that I want to explore! I have even started to keep a list on my phone of places that I read about of people recommend. So maybe this one should stay so I can start ticking them all off!

SPEND MORE TIME ON MY BLOG
Erm..no. Unfortunately this year I kind of lost my way with my blog. I didn't make the time for it and then because I stopped putting the effort in it became something that I wasn't as proud of. This needs to stay. 

And so my new 2018 resolutions are as follows:

BUDGET

 

GET TO BED EARLIER

READ BEFORE BED

WRITE IN MY 5 YEAR DIARY EVERYDAY

EAT LESS MEAT AND MORE VEGGIES

LEARN A NEW SKILL - POSSIBLY CALLIGRAPHY

VISIT MORE OF LONDON

WORK OF MY BLOG

Speak soon xx

 

Hello 2018!

Despite everything that was going on in the world 2017 was actually a pretty good year for me. I spent the first part of the year interning at ASOS and then in September went back to uni for my final year. I have been on some amazing holidays skiing, Bali, Cornwall and Budapest and had some of the most incredible experiences (being hugged by elephants is definitely up there!). I got my fitness and eating to a place that I am really happy with, its not perfect, but it makes me feel good and I actually enjoy going to the gym now! I went to a dermatologist and now my skin is the best that it has ever been. And I even found the time to read multiple actual novels! All in all I am looking back at my 2017 and smiling at all I have accomplished.

2018 is set to be a pretty big year for me too. This year I will graduate, leaving full time education forever. I will start my first actual job at ASOS working as a Buyer's Administrator. I am going to New York for the first time ever! And I will turn 22, which for some reason sounds so much older than 21. Basically, I am going to end 2018 as a proper adult with a job fending for myself in the actual real world! It's a scary and exciting thought. Although as I sit here writing this, procrastinating from revision of my January exams I feel like I am ready.

For Christmas my parents bought me this beautiful 5 year diary. Each day you write a sentence and by the end of the 5 years you can look back at what you did on that day for the previous four years. It's a beautiful idea that I am so excited to start, and as someone who has never kept a diary before I think that a line a day should be manageable. I have decided that I am going to keep this diary honest, which means that not every day is going to be perfect. If I have a rubbish day I am going to write it down, because that's just life. And it might be interesting to see what I wasted my time worrying about 5 years ago!

So here's to the next year and everything that it has to offer. Speak soon xx