My Julie/Julia Inspiration

Last night I accidentally fell upon the beautiful film Julie & Julia. If you haven't watched it.. Do. I don't really want to reiterate the story, so watch it instead. It really broke down blogging to me into a more meaningful thing. When I tell people I blog about beauty and nails they often question why I do it and the answer has always honestly been 'I don't know'. But it was actually because I was jobless and needed something to take my mind off my impending doom that was .. moving away from London and finishing my wonderful year at home with my parents, freedomless, penniless and missing the city I fell in love with. As soppy as all this sounds reading it back, I'm not going to delete it. Really it was just about doing something fun.

In the film the main charater Julie challenges herself, and I love challenges, another reason I took on this blog. I didn't do it to become the famous Zoella or Essie Button or Tanya Burr, hell no. But just to see if what I had to say was worth a damn.

I still don't think it is but it is really nice to vent every now and again about things I love.

And the fact is i love more than beauty products and nail art, I mean I'm not completely 1 dimensional.

So I am going to transform this blog, into something more 'lifestyle'. I study fashion so I'll talk about that, I live at home in a rut of student life with my parents, I am an auntie to two beautiful nieces, I love to bake (Mary Berry being my one and only) and I am above all a girl who just likes .. things. 

The next challenge I want to set myself is the Mary Berry Challenge. I got her Baking Bible for Christmas you see and I want to bake from it ALL the time. Only having attempted a few recipes so far I would like to challenge myself to work my way through her book.

I have no intended deadline so far but I would really love to do one recipe a fortnight (I mean I have a life... and am penniless, ingredients cost money you know!)

Watch this space for the first recipe... And more challenges to come! :)

how to be a single valentine

On Valentines Day I am always single.. And I actually love it that way. I devote the day of love to loving myself and allowing myself to be alone and pampered. This year is slightly different I am spending it with my best friend, white wine - and Juliette will be there too..

But if you are alone and the only valentine through your letterbox was from your grandad (or in my case friends mum!) then I have the perfect pamper plan for you.

After a long day in your red lippie, GOSH Cosmetics Velvet Touch Yours Forever (found here) (slightly ironic I know) it's time to wind down...

Start by running yourself a hot hot bubble bath using the stunning fragrances of this Laura Ashley Bath Soak (found here)

Once the bath is to your bubbly requirements, light a few Yankee Candles to add to the atmosphere of what will be your haven today (found here), I recommend this valentines special set with sweet strawberry, grapefruit and hibiscus scents and a gorgeous glass holder.

Now pour yourself a well deserved glass of wine and slink into the bath, lights down and relaxed.

Once you have started to soak as you should, this Argan Oil Hair Mask & Conditioning Treatment (found here) is perfect for treating your hair as you have treated the rest of you, while this softens each strand of your hair apply this lovely Aroma Actives Mask (found here) to make your skin glow just for you.

Now when you have pruned as much as you can handle use this Soap & Glory Righteous Body Butter (found here) to keep yourself velvetty and spritz yourself with I Love... Strawberries and Cream (found here) to cool down and keep sweet.

Now for my favourite part... your nails. Pop on your dressing gown and grab your favourite polish colours, perfect for valentines day I used Avon Real Red, Avon Viva Pink, Avon Pink Creme, GOSH Special Edition Holographic Hero and GOSH Frosted Soft Blue. Pick a design, mine from this year is below, and polish away...

Now kick back order your chinese takeway and stick your fave scary film on!

Happy single valentines day xxx