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Showing posts with the label lifestyle

It's Okay to Not be Okay - Wardrobe Envy

Anyone watching "It's Okay to not be Okay" cannot help but be moved by the emotive storyline, entranced by the beautiful animations of the fairytales and totally in love with Ko Moon-young's wardrobe. The costumes have been well planned to convey the character and her personality, eccentric and strong with a confident attitude and a sophisticated manner.   I'm in love with her outfits as much as I love the character and that's not just because she's a writer, well maybe I'm a little biased in that regard. I've taken a section of my favourite Moon-young looks so far and looked for similar outfits to recreate a similar look; Episode 1 - The Boy Who Fed on Nightmares The first shot of Ko Moon-is a beautiful image of her standing alone looking over her shoulder in a black gown set against a glowing sunset.  Its an iconic short of a haunted looking character, as she listens to the voice of her mother telling her she is a monster who will be fo

It's all about the base...

As someone who has word make-up her whole life for multiple reasons I'm always hunting for the perfect base as the first step in my daily makeup routine. Like most, my skin is far from perfect with a few freckles, imperfections and I'm English pale but not the rosey glow kind so I need to attempt to create that flawless fin ish everyone is looking for be it matt, dewy or natural. There are now so many types of primer on the market it can be daunting, do you need BB or CC Cream, a mattifying primer or a tinted one?   As usual I always go to the experts for advice and try the products together which should work together. In any review there's always and best and worst, so I'm starting here with the worst and building up to the grand finale:  The Not So Good  Clarins SOS Primer -in Universal Light  & Ever Lasting Youth Fluid Foundation in 107 Beige  Clarins has always been a go to line when my skin has been most sensitive.  Their SOS

New Year New Skin Care

There's something about a New Year that makes you feel like you're starting over, things can be fresh and new again.  You feel adventurous, confident and full of the promise a clean slate brings.  I always make a list of intentions for my new year, things I hope to achieve. One of my focuses this year is to improve my overall health and wellbeing, starting with my skin care. With the impact of the winter climate, changes in my skin's sensitivity and changes in my lifestyle it's time to try something new. Having stuck predominately to a traditional cleanse, tone and moisturise routine most of my life, I've decided it's time to try a new routine. Sometimes it's good to break out of a cycle it challenges you to try new things and in that you can make interesting and productive discoveries.   There's been a lot of talk and interest building over the last few years around Korean lifestyle, food, clothes, music, drama and of course skin care

Winter Bedding Makeover - Snuggle Down and Stay Warm

It's finally here, the nights are drawing in, the temperature is starting to drop and it's time to say goodbye to my barely there summer duvet and welcome back my thick, heavy, cuddly winter duvet.  Only, the last couple of winters, the synthetic duvet just hasn't cut it, don't get me wrong, it's been okay.  As a 15tog rating it kept me warm on cold nights and it felt like a winter quilt only there was an element of comfort and luxury missing. When I write novels I see them as movies in my head and I always imagine the settings and rooms as though they are places I can open a door and walk in to.  The character I'm writing at the moment has quite a luxury lifestyle, don't hate her she's lovely I promise, but there are a few scenes in her bedroom and I was imagining how her room would look and I was obsessed with her bed being comfortably luxurious, the kind if you jumped on it you'd disappear swallowed but the depth and thickness of the duvet. If

Games Night with Sweet Treats

Life for the most part is busy, so busy you don’t always have the time to spend with the people you love.  For my part I try to catch up with my best friends as often as I can, that time we spend together is really special so in my own way I try to make it the best night until the next night.   Games Nights are a fun catch up evening with friends, we share good food, good stories and play board games.  These nights are about taking the time to stay in each others lives, have fun and create memories which we will take about at Games nights in the years to come.   I love entertaining, I love having people to my home, I love to cook and bake for my guests.  I have a lot of really good memories, which are associated with food, so I like to make dishes that become an integral part of the memory the evening.  There’s something very special and cathartic about preparing food for people you love, so it’s not just the evening’s entertaining that creates.   For my latest get togethe

Festive Reads - Mince Pies and Mistletoe at the Christmas Market

My second Festive Read, yes I know it's still technically September, was Heidi Swain's Mince Pies and Mistletoe at the Christmas Market.   Released in October 2016, this book is part of the Wynbridge series, in this story we are introduced to Ruby who has recently dropped out of university and is heading home to run a market stall for the Cherry Tree Cafe in order to save some money to go travelling. Her dad is not happy that his daughter whom he seems to want to live vicariously through is working as a market trader.  It soon turns out there maybe more to his concerns about her working on the market than it first seemed.  Not only is Ruby faced with dealing with her dad and his strange behaviour but she is working on the stall next to her childhood sweet heart who after three years she still hasn't got over.  Throwing herself in to making this the best Christmas market ever Ruby is determined to being back the community feeling and turn Wynbridge's Christmas mar

Cosy Comfort Food - Fruit Cake

There's nothing better than sitting down with a hot cuppa and a sweet treat.  I love cake, probably a little too much and I love always having something ready to go in my cake tin.  It's always nice to have something ready for that late afternoon slump or for when someone pops in for a chat. I discovered the inspiration for this recipe last year, it was inspired by a Christmas Tray Bake recipe by the fabulous Mary Berry and I adapted it to my taste and store cupboard. It's a little to no rise fruit cake which I cut in to bars for serving.  It's rich and golden and foes great with a cup of tea or coffee. You can use marzipan and icing like I do or keep it plain, its adaptable throughout the year and keeps well if you can stand to stop eating it. Fruit Cake Tray Bake  I stary with 175g of butter or margarine  whichever is your preference and 175g of light brown sugar. Creaming them together until light and fluffy before I add 4 eggs, 175g of plain flour, 450

Festive Reads - A Christmas Tale

I'm a Christmas-a-holic, I freely admit it.  I love the lights, the weather, the feeling.  Most of all I love curling up with a roaring fire, a mug of tea and a Christmas themed novel.  As an indie author I spend most of my time when not in my day job writing so this is the way I relax. As it's now September, the weather is growing colder, the trees are changing to their beautiful autumnal crowns of glory I'm getting started on my pile of festive romance and cosy mystery books. The first on my pile is the charming A Christmas Tale by Cressida McLaughlin, The story focuses on Cat Palmer who takes a young puppy named Disco with her to work at the local nursery.  She soon discovers this was a bad idea when Disco escapes from her bag much to the children's delight and her boss's annoyance.  Fired from her job she decides to start her own business as a dog walker.  Securing clients from her beloved Primrose Terrace where she lives with her friend Polly, he

My Cosy Comfort Food for Autumn Nights - Panacalty

Summer is over, thankfully for me, I'm not a sun person I melt in the heat.  So as soon as the leaves start to turn and the nights start to draw in I do a little happy dance.  I love autumn/winter, I love the deep jewel colours, the cosy jumpers, big thick coats and walking on ground that crunches underfoot. Over the past couple of weeks I've had some time to myself to chill, relax, concentrate on my writing and also my cooking.  I love cooking, I like to play with flavours and mess around with random things I have in my fridge. At this time of year my craving for cosy comfort food starts to grow.  I love food that makes me feel warm and satisfied.  So I've decided to share with you all some of my favourites over the coming weeks and I would love to hear about some of your favourite cosy comfort foods so I can give them a try too Panacalty or Pannack  I'm from the Northeast and we have some regional variations on Panacalty or Pannack as my family has always ca