A Wander Through My Week | 4 of 52

I've kept up this feature for 4 whole weeks now. FOUR. How impressive is that? (Not every, but it is for me. The little achievements make me smile.)

But where has the week gone? I can't believe that I'm writing another update. In fact, the whole of January has flown by. If we're not careful, we'll blink and it'll be Christmas again. 

22.01.2016

Let's pretend for a moment that I took this photo on Friday and not Saturday *coughs* 

Sometime last week, Hotel Chocolat mentioned on teh Instagram about their sale and their "surprise selection boxes", so naturally I had to have a look on the website and I may of accidentally clicked "buy". All this cost £12.00! What fool turns down a bargain like that?? So far I've tried the Coconut Baby Truffles and the Orange & Almond slab and they are both very nice and certainly live up to Hotel Chocolat standards.

23.01.2016

*sighs* I miss Guernsey. Their annual brochures arrived in the post and they made my heart ache. I'm definitely going again at the end of June for two weeks but hopefully *crosses fingers* I may go for a week sometime with a friend.

24.01.2016

This is what happens when you go to Waitrose and there is Red Velvet Cake reduced to 99p per slice. I blimmin' love Red Velvet Cake. It has got to be in my top 10 cakes of all time. I just wish that more places sold it. Actually, I don't because the temptation would be too much.

25.01.2016

Arrived home from work this evening to catch the end of a Sport Relief advert on BBC1 and I immediately went online to see where my nearest event was and lo and behold, there is one being held in Bath! This inspired me to text Keelin and get her on my side and we're now going to be doing a 6 mile walk because, you know, we want to challenge ourselves. 

I hate most exercise but I could easily walk for miles, so to do it for charity, it's even better. 

You can sponsor me here. Please. I'll love you forever if you do.

26.01.2016

Woke up this morning with a sore throat. EURGH. WHO BREATHED ON ME??!! I'm not surprised I got ill though as at work, you can either be in Siberian conditions or in the locker room where the heating is on full blast so it's like the tropics. Add to that the weird fluctuating temperates outside that the UK is currently experiencing, it doesn't bode well for my health.

Anyhoo, Lemsip got me through the following night of sleep. YAY.

27.01.2016

I get such a thrill opening up new pots of things. Just look at how smooth and clean the top is! Shame it can't stay like that always. [You can read my review of this in the post below.]

28.01.2016

The filters I used on this has given it a kinda Lomo and vintagey look. I likey. 

Went shopping to a shopping mall in Bristol with Keelin today and I was stood in this spot for almost a whole hour because sodding traffic made our bus home stupidly late! We went to catch the bus at 4pm and I didn't walk in the door until gone 7pm!!! What made it worse is that it was cold and windy and everyone was tired from a day of buying all the things so we weren't best pleased to have wasted an hour of our lives waiting and then waiting some more.

That's the end of this week's wander. And this months. WOW. I hope you are enjoying them so far. I know I am, even if it's because it will be interesting to re-read them all at the end of the year.

Love you lots jelly-tots!

xx

Skincare Favourite of 2015 | Emma Hardie Amazing Face Moringa Balm

HELLO THERE MY LITTLE DAFFODILS! 

Yes, I know. January is almost over, so why has it taken me so long to write this? Because I only thought of it last week, that's why. 

I bought my first pot back in June as I knew it was a favourite amongst beauty bloggers and I wanted to see what the all hype was about. I wish I had purchased this magical pot of wonderous things earlier because OH.EM.GEE, this stuff is amazing!

At £38.00/100ml, it's not exactly budget friendly but it does come with a very handy cleansing cloth and it lasts for blimmin' ages. I'm currently on my third pot and I think I've got a couple more uses out of it before I need to re-buy. Also, I don't really mind spending the extra pennies on it as my motto is "you've only got the one skin, so it's worth your while to take care of it!" 

The reason why I've picked this as my 'Skincare Favourite of 2015' is because this:

1. It has cleared my skin up completely. Any spots I get now - especially the ones I get around TOTM - look less angry and red. 
2. It dissolves all your makeup. I do mean ALL. Some face cleansers claim to be good at removing make-up but you will still find a pesky bit of mascara lingering on your lashes. But not this one! I give it a good little massage into my eyes (don't worry - it's really gentle so there'll be no stinging) and then just wipe it off with the cloth. And it all comes off. 
3. A little goes a long way. Just put a small dollop into the palm of your hand, add a teeny bit of water and then rub onto your face. If I'm wearing a face of make-up, I will use a slightly bit more. I've discovered that if you use too much, it's too gunky when removed.

I've decided that 2016 is going to be the year when I'm going to up my skincare game even more. Lately I've become a bit obsessed with Pixi and I've started following the skincare blogger/guru Caroline Hirons for inspiration and general tips and tricks.

Oh, if you want to try the cleansing balm for yourself, you can find it in in M&S.

Toodle-pip!

xx

9 Ways To Survive the Winter Blues

I think we can all agree that January is possibly the dullest and worst month of the year. There are no festivities to look forward to (Christmas seems like a distant memory), the days are short and no-one has any money to spend because of buying all the food and presents during the previous months. 

So it's no surprise that we all get really "URRRRG" around this time of year. Did you know that the 3rd Monday in January has been named 'Blue Monday' as it's the "most depressing day of the year"? Well. That really cheers things up. 

The past few years, I have really suffered from the "blues". I didn't have the energy or the inclination to do anything at all. This year however, something has changed. I don't know what, but it has. Maybe I'm refusing to let it get to me this time. 

There are a few things that I think have helped me and I thought I'd shared them with you today. Spread a little love and joy and all that jazz.

1. Eat copious amounts of cake whilst drinking a huuuuge mug of your favourite hot beverage.
2. Invest in a daylight bulb. Best investment I ever made. I bought mine back in May, so I'm only feeling the benefits of it now. You can buy one here from Amazon and it costs £6.49.
3. Spend quality time with a small child. Even if it's just chilling on the sofa with them. Baby/toddler cuddles are the best. 
4. Binge watch your favourite TV show/Youtubers.
5. Put on a DVD of a stand-up comedian who makes you laugh until your belly hurts. My go to is Michael McIntyre. LOVE HIM!
6. Spend the entire day reading under a blanket or in a duvet cocoon. 
7. Take a long hot bubble bath until you end up looking like this:

not accurate representation obvs. unless you are a prune. 

include this into a pamper evening and you will be guaranteed to feel better.

   

     8. Get some fresh air. Even if it's the coldest day ever. Wrap up nice and snug and take a mini-walk.

     9. Have a Disney movie marathon. Need I say more? Don't forget to sing along!

What never fails to cure your blues?

See you all again soon,

xx

A Wander Through My Week | 3 of 52

Apologies for no other posts this week. I really had meant to write one - actually I've got one drafted - but I've had one of those weeks where I've been too exhausted to do anything other than vegetate in the evenings. Do you ever get like that? 

I feel fully refreshed now though as I think I slept for at least 10 hours last night. I obviously needed it!

And for once, I'm not writing this whilst watching rugby on the TV. Maybe this is a good thing as Bath have lost both their last two matches so if I'm not typing away at the same time, we will win today? 

15.01.2016

Today I needed cake and cake is what I got. I wish I could say that I made them but sadly they were bought from good ol' Sainsburys. And they were delicious.

16.01.2016

I'm not entirely sure how I ended up with 4 lipsticks in my work bag. Especially as I rarely wear them and when I do, I get told I look "foxy" (by a female manager!). *voms*

17.01.2016

How I spent my evening after a busy day at work: 

in a duvet cocoon catching up on the Saccone-Jolys. 

18.01.2016

Spent the day with Keelin and her two monkeys in Bristol and my bus home was a double-decker! I'm like an overgrown child when it comes to sitting upstairs on a bus. It was a shame that the very front seats were taken, otherwise I would've sat there and pretended that I was driving....

19.01.2016

I love Winter mornings when the sky is bluer than blue and it's cloud-free. If anything, it makes a change from the gray and damp days we've been experiencing lately. No snow in Bath yet though! Boo. 

20.01.2016

Do you remember me last week talking about the sale bargains that I bought? This was one of them. I had a proper flick through it and I can't wait to do some baking. One of the recipes that I'm longing to try is brownies, I've never yet been successful in baking them - they never seem to set for me so I end up with chocolate flavoured gloop- so I hope the Primrose Bakery recipe works for me!

21.01.2016

Tonight at Guides, they started their 'Chocolate Badge' and one thing they had to do was Hot Chocolate Tasting, so therefore, I gave myself the very important job of overseeing that! 

As I've got nothing planned for the weekend (except sleeping lots), I hope to spend the time writing blog posts. Or at least finish the one that I've half written!

See you soon!

xx