Winter Stripes

Hello beautiful people! I am soooooo cold right now.  We went to view a house today and where a little early so stopped off at one of Belfast's popular points Belfast Castle and i just can not get heat back into my body.  Its stunning, the view the grounds the castle itself but my dear frozen bum cheeks it was cold.

The Winter Travel tag: style and essentials

We are heading to Manchester this year for Christmas.  It will be my first Christmas EVER away from home, and although i will feel strange and miss my family i am super excited and glad that Jack gets to spend it with his family :)

I decided to do a post on travel style and essentials as i haven't really found anything like this online so i hope its a useful post for you all for future reference.

The perfect winter lipstick: Rimmel 107

I love Rimmel nail varnishes so I was over having a nosey the other week and I thought I’d try some of their lipsticks.  The Kate Moss ones caught my eye…because I thought the packaging looked pretty.

Hot chocolate and Polenta chips

So... i knew this weekend could have gone two ways...hauled up in the house with no money (or even petrol for that matter) to go anywhere or a trip to pizza express for a yummy dinner date.

Tweed coat and Guinness

Hi lovelies! I had a day off today..well just because, so i slept in late, got up had bagels and coffee watched some day time TV and then took my time getting dressed to take some outfit photos and stop off at the shop for dinner.   Is it just me or does time seem to go 10 times faster these days? I feel so rushed this last while like i have an army general shouting in my ear GO GO GO MOVE IT MOVE IT.

Your skin and winter weather

Source: http://postnoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Banish-dry-skin-this-winter-postnoon-news.jpg

So for the last good few months I have been having really bad breakouts, I don't know if its because of what I'm eating, what products I'm using..is it stress, is it a change in my blood..hormones...or even because I haven't seen the sun for at least 7 months!

God only knows!! So I have been trying everything under the non existent sun to see what helps and narrow down the cause.

Last year when I went on holiday the sun cleared it up brilliantly and I had hoped that was it...but no..it came back with a vengeance..and ok don't get me wrong i can covered it up pretty well with makeup but I still know its there underneath and it can get you down!! Here's some of the thingsthe things I've tried from reading online and tips from friends and family:

No chocolate

Cutting down on sugary foods and sweet stuff does help to reduce the amount I did notice.

Relax

I have started yoga to help me relax as we can all stress out over even small things so its good to learn to control your breathing and is so good for extra blood flow to your head to help keep your skin and hair super healthy and glowing!!! So far so good I am really enjoying it as I need to tone up and get into shape anyway.

Water

it's hard to remember to drink enough water everyday because there are those days where you maybe just don't feel like it. Barbara Currie recommends you drink at least 6 glasses a day. To remind myself I try and drink them with meals instead of coke or milk etc and il have a pint instead of a glass to double up!

Source: http://www.barbaracurrieyoga.com/

Ice cube facial 

Tia Mowry uploaded a post on her site talking about this ice cube facial and I couldn't wait to try it!! It works wonders and you feel so fresh and rejuvenated after. This trick helps to promote blood flow and tighten up your pores so give it a go it really works!!!

Source: http://tiaandtameraofficial.com/blog/post/beauty-bit-diy-ice-cube-facial

The last thing i tried was changing my cleanser from mineral oil based to all natural ingredients, as i have found having combination skin though can become too oily.  So i tried the Purify and Soothe facial cleanser from Elemental Herbology.  I use this with a muslin cloth to gently exfoliate any dead skin cells away, it is like a mini facial for me and i always enjoy scrubbing my face at the end of the day!! Check back for my full review on this product and more from Elemental coming soon!!

MORE ON ELEMENTAL HERBOLOGY PRODUCTS COMING SOON...!!!