When we look back on the spring of 2021, one thing will define it. Huddling outside in the biting wind and lashing rain, determined to brunch, at any cost.
Life in the UK is very slowly creeping back towards some kind of normal and now that cafes and bars are allowed to open for outdoor service again after half a year of closure, we’re all keen to make up for lost time.
Sadly, the Great British weather has other ideas. It might be mid-May but the weather is saying October - not exactly the best accompaniment to enforced cafe culture.
Still, as Brits do, we’re making the best of it, shivering into our eggs benedict! And brunching requires a special kind of outfit - elevated casual.
There’s a lot to be said for affordable beauty these days.
Things have come a long way since the days of a couple of sad Rimmel powders and lipstick options, and brands such as Revolution, E.L.F, The Ordinary and Sleek have done so much to make high-quality, trend led makeup and skincare for friendly prices a really exciting space right now.
Suddenly, it’s not just luxury brands that are generating all the buzz for their new launches, and that’s absolutely brilliant to see.
As much as I love the particular thrill of a high-end lipstick or face cream, bagging a bargain is it's own kind of special.
At the end of the day, it’s all about finding what is most effective, whatever the price point. I recently had a bit of a pharmacy spree, and these are the great new products that made it into my basket.
It’s very clear by now that I have a huge amount of love for Beauty Pie.
The subscription skincare and makeup brand keeps going from strength to strength, adding great new products all the time. From supplements to silk pillowcases, there’s a lot they’ve tried out.
In fact, almost all of my skincare routine is from the brand, and increasingly more and more of my daily must-have makeup as well. If you’re wondering how Beauty Pie works, want to take a closer look at some of the skincare,see the Japanfusion skincare line, or take a look at some of Beauty Pie’s best new launches, I got you covered!
I know there’s a lot of love and curiosity about the brand, so I thought I’d share some my latest order. I was so excited to try some of these items. When I pulled up on my drive and spotted my postie I practically rugby tackled him - hey, gotta get that pink box magic, right? If you know, you know!
Bad days - there’s no way to avoid them and they suck.
Sometimes they’re obvious from the moment you open your eyes in the morning, as if storm clouds have gathered over your pillow during the night. Sometimes they creep up and ambush you when you’re least expecting it.
But however they happen, they’re an unfortunate fact of life.
And with the super challenging conditions over the past year and a half, you may have noticed them becoming a lot more frequent.
I know for me, it’s been a fraught balancing act at times. Coming to grips with work issues, pandemic childcare and thornier topics like bereavement and isolation - sometimes I’ve felt myself sinking.
The signs are easy to spot. I feel withdrawn from life and want to avoid social contact. I start to panic about things that don’t normally affect me. And that familiar sensation of something heavy sitting on my chest starts to kick in.
So what do you do when this happens?
There’s a silver lining to everything, right?
One of the few positives of having been a total shut-in due to the pandemic is that we live in the age of online shopping, courier services and subscription boxes, so there’s every chance the daily post brings a nice surprise.
The quarterly FitFabFun box is definitely something I look forward to receiving. A lifestyle subscription box from the US, it generally has a great mix of beauty products, fashion, things for the house and wellness items and some great brands that can be hard to get hold of here in the UK.
Who hasn’t had to turn into a beauty tech throughout this pandemic?
With salons shut for so long, all those little treatments that we rely on to make us look and feel our best have been inaccessible.
So we’ve had two choices - either embrace the natural look (let’s be honest, I was never going down that route) or turn ourselves into our own beauticians.
During this lockdown I’ve balayaged my own hair, done my own facial treatments and learnt how to apply gel nails and how to do my own eyelash extensions.
It’s a one stop shop here - and a one woman show. I’m not going to let a little thing like a global pandemic stand between me and my treatments.
