It's been a little while, hasn't it? Recently I have taken a little step back from my blog for a couple of reasons: firstly, essay deadlines and constant teams meetings meant I barely want to look at my laptop once my uni work is done. Secondly, lockdown and being home all day has definitely limited my inspiration to write. It is of course difficult to write about what I get up to in London (the theatres, the museums) when there is literally nothing going on, but without popping into shops, seeing others and feeling inspired, it is even challenging to write about beauty. I hope many fellow bloggers can relate! We've been in lockdown, or at least some form of restrictions, for over a year now, and over that time I've definitely changed my habits when it comes to makeup purchasing and wearing. 

 

One of the first major changes to my beauty routine during the last year has been wearing a far lighter base. I can't even remember the last time I wore foundation, maybe when I took my last theatre trip before lockdown last year to see Dear Evan Hansen?! It just isn't something I find myself reaching for these days, it feels like such an effort to apply. I'm also convinced that laptop webcams and Zoom calls don't make imperfections quite as obvious, so often even skip concealer when it's a day spent in front of the laptop! This has been a very freeing experience and I definitely can't see myself returning to a heavy base when things eventually return.

 

I'm really not a fan of online makeup shopping - not being able to feel the product, see the quality of the packaging or check it will match with my skintone properly just isn't for me. So while the shops have been closed for a majority of the past year, I have been 'shopping my stash' and discovering some new favourites of what I already own. I spoke about this in my project pan post in January; I'm really trying to use up products in my collection before going out and buying new items, because there's plenty to go through!

 

This is a pretty obvious one - as someone who loves lipstick, initially wearing a mask infuriated me, but now I've got used to the fact that most of my lipsticks are just going to be sitting there and looking pretty for the immediate future. I still wear lipstick from time to time because I love the shades (and also see point above, I'm trying to use up a few things!) but I have actually found myself reaching for a lip balm far more. Leaving my lips bare makes them dry, so lip balm has been a good alternative, especially as a clear one leaves no mark on my mask! I really thought after I left high school my time of applying lip balm daily was over, but I have rekindled my love - although the Maybelline Baby Lips I was obsessed with have stayed in the past! My favourite lip balm today is the Fresh beauty lip treatment - it's so easy to apply and perfect to pop in a handbag.

 

Many of us have had to adapt to at-home routines while the salons have been closed, and one of my favourites has been learning how to paint gel nails. I recently wrote about my routine using Le Mini Macaron products, and it has definitely been a positive skill to learn - it saves money, is so much more convenient even when salons do re-open, and is fun!

 

Over the past year, something I have spent far more time doing is learning about what skincare products work best for me and adding some additional steps into my routine. For example, before lockdown I had never really used a facemask, but now I am a huge fan of the clay ones that you pop on for a few minutes! It doesn't even take that much time out of your day, but is so relaxing and perfect to eventually add to our lives when they become busy again for a few minutes of de-stressing.

Have you experienced any similar changes to your beauty routine over the past year? I would love to hear!

There's no better treat than going to a nail salon and getting a gel manicure - I don't go too often, but it is so relaxing and I love how long it lasts. Sadly, it feels like they won't be opening up anytime soon, so I decided to work out how to do it myself - it is seriously easier than you'd think!

One of my main pet peeves of wearing ordinary nail polish is how easily it chips - on my index fingers, it will chip after a day, no matter how good the quality of the polish is! So, especially during lockdown, I started doing it less and less often because it felt like such a faff, having to repaint them every few days. This was my main reason for working out how to apply gel polish myself, now I only have to reapply every couple of weeks, or sometimes even less frequently, which is such a win win for me!

There are three key elements to achieving a gel manicure at home - shaping, painting, and removing, and I'm going to talk through how I achieve each one.

 

 

So, until I started going to a nail salon about a year ago, I had no idea how important shaping and maintaining your nails is. But then I went to get a manicure for my birthday a couple of months ago, and they spent well over half the time actually looking after the nails before putting a drop of polish on. That was when I realised, no matter how pretty the polish shade is, it will always look a mess if you don't pay proper attention to your nails first!

 

The key tools you will need for this are a good, high quality nail file (I've recently realised how ineffective primark ones are, sadly), a buffing block and a cuticle tool - I picked this one up from Boots mega cheap, and it does the job perfectly. Using the cuticle tool to push the cuticles back and then remove them with the other end is a little bit of a weird job, I did start to squirm a bit when I thought about it too much! But it makes the world of difference to how your manicure looks, and the polish will last longer too. 

 

I also like to take the nail file to make sure all my nails are roughly the same size - yep, difficult when there's always that one that has just broke, but as much as possible! I'm not the best yet at shaping them, it's still something I'm getting my head around, especially as I prefer a rounded shape and all my nails seem to be naturally square, but I'm learning!

Finally, take the buffing block to buff the surface of your nails, this will make the polish apply easier to the nail - if you have a smooth surface, it's just going to slide right off!

The big difference between regular and gel nail polish is the use of the LED or UV lamp for curing. This is one reason why I actually much prefer gel polish - I hate waiting around for polish to dry, and often smudge it before it's ready!

 

 

There are so many lamps on sale in a range of prices. To start myself off, I purchased a gel polish set from the brand 'Le Mini Macaron'. The sets come in a range of colours, from white, light pink, red to the burgundy I chose. This includes a little mini LED lamp in the shape of a macaron to cure one nail at a time. It's super cute and easy to travel with, which personally suits me more than a big lamp that cures the whole hand at once. 

The set also included a polish in the shade 'Cassis' to match the lamp, a couple of tools and a USB lead to attach the lamp to a socket or device (I use my laptop) in order to power it. This makes it even easier for on the go use! 

I also recently purchased a further two shades of Le Mini Macaron's polishes, a pink (Honey Ginger) and grey (Sugar Stone). When applying, make sure to wipe off the brush along the top of the bottle so you only apply a very light layer - it's all about building up the polish to ensure it lasts! I usually go for three coats, although I may opt for two if it's a dark shade like the burgundy.

 

You may be thinking, what about a base coat or a top coat? Well, one of the reasons I was drawn to Le Mini Macaron gel polishes is that they are a '3 in 1' with a base and top coat part of the formula. However, they do offer their own top coat, which I think would be a good idea to ensure it lasts for as long as possible.

One of the biggest difficulties of doing a manicure at home is doing your alternative hand - for example, because I'm left handed, my right hand always looks great, but then my left will be a complete mess! Well, luckily I have a couple of tips to help you out here. Firstly, I suggest keeping your unnatural hand still holding the brush, and let the fingers you're painting do the work, moving them around the brush because they will be far steadier! Secondly, use a tool like a cuticle pusher or a cotton bud to wipe up any mistakes, like nail polish on the skin - this is important before curing because polish left around the nail will make it easier for it to chip! Now my left hand actually looks as good as my right!

 

An optional step to finish off is adding some hand cream and cuticle oil to achieve that relaxing feeling straight out of the salon - The Body Shop is my go-to for these! 

Eventually, we will get to the point where the nail growth is getting annoying (mine seem to grow so fast!), maybe it has chipped a little, or perhaps you just fancy trying out a different colour. Removing gel polish is more difficult than regular polish, but I guess that is the price you may for them to last so long! I had an absolute mare with Amazon when trying to purchase some remover (they just casually lost my parcel), so ended up getting the Red Carpet Manicure gel remover from Look Fantastic. It's not the most effective, but it is very affordable! Soak a cotton pad in the remover, then place it on your nail with some tin foil around it for about quarter of an hour! Then you can reuse the cuticle tool to scrape off any excess, and you are ready to start the cycle over again!

 

Achieving a gel manicure at home is super easy, and makes for a perfect pamper evening. I miss nail salons as much as the next person, but this is a fine alternative! Gel polish lasts so much longer than regular nail polish, and I don't feel like I'm walking on eggshells waiting for it to chip! Have you been doing your own manicures during lockdown? I would love to hear!

Let me put my cards on the table - I did not enjoy Everything I Know About Love. The raved about memoir by Dolly Alderton won a National Book Award for Autobiography of the Year and has countless high praising reviews... but let's just say it wasn't for me. I struggled to find its purpose and simply didn't enjoy the narrative. So perhaps it's surprising that I was so excited to read Dolly's debut novel, Ghosts. And maybe even more surprising, that I absolutely loved it.

 

As expected, when the novel was announced I didn't exactly rush to pre-order, but when I heard her interviewed on one of my usual Podcast listens Off Menu, the plot piqued my interest. A story intertwining friends, family, romance and self-exploration, it surprisingly sounded right up my street. I decided to trust some early reviews and give it a read, and I am so glad I gave it a chance.

Ghosts is written from the perspective of Nina Dean, a food writer living in London who turns thirty-two years old in the novel's prologue, taking us through the 'weirdest year' of her life. Her dad is disappearing from her to dementia, she's struggling to connect to her best friend who now only talks about being a mum, and her ex-boyfriend is moving on with his life without her. In enters Max, the charming and romantic love interest - but in this world of deleting and 'ghosting', is he too good to be true?

 

Ghosts isn't a simple love story - and it certainly isn't the 'rom com' style, happily-ever-after kind. A range of romantic relationships are explored including from Nina's relations with her current boyfriend, and her ex that she remains good friends with, but also of her friend Lola who has been in the dating game for a decade, the complacent marriage of her best friend Katherine, and the changing dynamics of her parents' relationship as her mum struggles to cope with her dad's illness. Touching upon the subject of Nina's dad's dementia, Dolly explores the impact of past events and memories of a person, including returning to an old family home and eating childhood foods, which I found very insightful.

The novel is packed with hilarious quips and observations about life, as the character Nina experiences her current boyfriend meeting her ex, being single at a wedding, and discovering she is living in a flat above a psychopath (or so she thinks). Even Dolly as the author doesn't take herself too seriously, describing one character as someone who reads 'overhyped memoirs written by women under thirty having feeble epiphanies about themselves' - a gentle mockery of her own success that made me laugh out loud.

The novel reminded me so much of a couple of my favourites I read last year; Expectation by Anna Hope, and Olive by Emma Gannon. They are cut from the same cloth - witty female protagonist(s) living in London, dealing with their friends moving on without them and struggling to keep the bonds they once shared. If you've already read either of those, I can promise you now that you will love Ghosts - and likewise if you haven't read them yet, and are looking for something else after reading Ghosts, I am pointing you in the perfect direction!

 

My first read for 2021 was one of the best books I have read recently, a solid 4.5 star read and a great way kick off the year. I would love to hear what your first read of 2021 was, (or maybe will be if you haven't got round to it yet) and what else you are planning to read this year!

Starting a new year, we always have a few goals and one of mine is to finish up some of the makeup products I have in my collection. Okay, at least hit pan on them! Based on the project pan idea that has been around in the beauty world for quite a few years now, I won't be buying anything new until I have finished these up - so this goal goes hand in hand with my much bigger goal of not buying any new makeup this year. It might seem a little crazy, being a beauty blogger, but the past few months have really made me take stock of what I have already in my collection, and what I actually use. I won't be including products like mascara or concealer in this post, because I go through each of them every six months so it feels pretty pointless to include them.

 

Having been featured in many a blog post, my Too Faced bronzer is one of my all-time favourite products. I bought it in New York which feels like absolutely ages ago, and despite using it most days since, I still haven't made a real impact on the pan. This is one of those that I doubt I would finish this year, even if I wore it every single day, but I would love to make a bit of progress with it. 

The Colourpop highlight in the shade Flexitarian holds a very similar place in my collection as the Too Faced bronzer - bought it in New York, have used it loads since. It has a good dent in it, yet it still has a long way to go. It is my favourite highlighting shade, a gorgeous champagne shimmer that suits my skintone both in the summer and winter.

 

This is one I seriously think I can finish this year! I bought the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow pomade (in the shade Ebony) right at the beginning of last year, and since I don't use any other brow products, a good portion of it has already been used. It's already lasted a lot longer than a brow pencil like ABH's Brow Wiz, that only lasts me from 3-6 months, so it is far more cost effective. I've been estimating that it will last me about eighteen months, so I imagine half way through this year it might need replacing!

 

The Sky Wash in the shade Valley is on the list to remind me to use it more often! I bought this literally two days before the Glossier shop in London closed for lockdown last year, and because we then spent so long indoors, it never really got its chance to shine. The orange tone is perfect for the spring season, so I'm hoping I can try and get it used then - being a liquid eyeshadow, it won't last as long as powder products!

No, I'm not aiming to finish the entire palette this year - that would be a difficult feat for any palette in my collection, let alone the one I've only had a year! But certain shades in Soft Glam I use every single day, pretty much, and it would be great to hit pan on them over the next year. Dusty Rose, in the bottom left, is my everyday go-to eyeshadow - it's the perfect base for any sort of look, especially a dusky pink. I get a lot of use out of Burnt Orange, Sienna and Rose Gold too.

 

I am determined to finish a whole lipstick for the first time this year, and I have no doubt it will be Velvet Teddy! One of my favourite lipsticks, there is only a tiny stub left of it now. Once I'm done, I will certainly be repurchasing a brand new one - replacing a lipstick because I finished it feels like such a feat!

I doubt I will use Very Victoria up as quickly as Velvet Teddy, simply because there is far more left of it. However, it is my go-to lipstick that I reach for almost everyday, so although I maybe won't quite finish it, I really hope to be on my way by the end of 2021.

I've read and watched many project pan posts over the years, but never thought it could be for me until I considered attempting to not buy any new makeup this year. I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to use up some of my favourite products that I already own, to make space for new things. When it comes to things like mascara, I only have one on the go, and just replace it when it is finished anyway, so of course when I say buying no new makeup, I don't mean not replacing things! But when I have so many lipsticks and eyeshadow palettes already, I really want to try not to buy any new ones, instead making use of what I already own.

 

What makeup products do you want to use up this year?

 

It feels difficult, or maybe downright ridiculous, to write about looking forward to the new year, when we've just been plunged into a lockdown just like where we were ten months ago. I've been unmotivated to write this one, but am desperate not to break blogging tradition!

The aim of this post is to look back on the goals I made in my 'Hello 2020' post, see if I achieved them or want to extend them into this year, and perhaps add a new goal or two. Last year I actually only made three goals - perhaps I was somehow aware that 2020 wasn't going to be an overly productive one.

 

My first was 'Read more books'. Now if you've read my recent round up of all the books I read in 2020, you'll know that I achieved this one and then some. My goal of twelve books for 2020, and my actual achievement of 36 books, may not look like a big number to some, but considering I only read five in 2019, I had come a long way.

I really want to continue with this goal into 2021 - I'm so glad I let reading back into my life this year. I am excited about new releases like never before, exploring different authors and genres and most importantly, have rekindled my love for books that I seemed to have lost over my teen years. 

 

My second goal of 2020 was to put more time into my blog. This is a trickier one - I think at times, I really managed this, and at others I didn't. There were points where the endless staying inside sucked the inspiration from me, and others where I tried new ideas and wrote posts I was really proud of. I'm still torn between two mindsets about my blog this year - between being super organised and scheduling everything, or just going with the flow and writing when I feel like it. Honestly, the latter will probably be how I end up approaching it, because at the end of the day, blogging is a hobby, so I need to enjoy it!

The final goal I made last year actually made me laugh because I didn't even think about it the entire year - keeping up my French knowledge. After I finished my A Level in French, I really wanted to keep my skills up because they had come so far, but unfortunately this never became reality! I think the closest I got was watching Emily In Paris on Netflix and being proud of understanding what her French co-workers said behind her back!

 

A new goal I want to make and stick with in 2021 is to make more time for artwork. You would think that last year, what with that huge lockdown, I would have had plenty of time for painting, and yet I only did two and a half paintings last year. Not great. Painting and drawing is one of my favourite hobbies, and the only one that makes me truly forget about everything else for a couple of hours. I find it so useful to relieve stress, so I really hope I can get more creative this year.

Buying less clothes and makeup is a big goal for me this year too. I did pretty well makeup wise last year and this year hope to stick with the rule of only buying replacement products eg. a new mascara or brow product when they run out. I'll soon be posting a 'project pan' style post about the makeup products I want to try and use up this year to make room for new things, so stay tuned! Buying less clothes is going to be more difficult - at first I was going to say no new clothes at all, but that would be lying as I have a list of a few gaps in my wardrobe I really want to fill this year - an oversized blazer and some good sandals being two I really want to find this spring. It's not that I buy over excessively, or that I'm in the habit of buying clothes I get bored of - I'm such an indecisive shopper that about 95% of my wardrobe are items that I love and will cherish for years. But because I love them all, there's plenty of them for now!

 

Are you making any goals this year? I was in two minds whether to even make any, since the start of 2021 doesn't really feel like a fresh start, but it's always good to try and make some positive changes, isn't it? Let me know how you are feeling about the start of this year!