It's February Favourites time and I'll spare you the whole, 'How is it nearly March already?' chat as I know you're here for the goods.
February has been a quiet month in terms of new, beauty favourites. I haven't strayed too far from my routines or incorporated many new products into my day-to-day schedule but there's a few gems that we need to discuss.
My first experience of the Middle East came from my time living and working in Qatar. As a recently qualified teacher, I decided I'd had enough of rainy England and decided to head to the sunshine, or as it came to be affectionately known - The Sandpit.
Qatar holds a lot of fond memories for me. It's where I met my husband, where we got engaged and welcomed our first-born guinea pig into our lives. So, when Scott and I had the opportunity to return for a long weekend, I jumped at the chance to catch up with some old friends and see how much, if at all, Qatar had changed.
Okay, hold the phone... Say what?
If anyone would have told me six months, hell, even six weeks ago that I'd be considering switching to a plant-based diet, I would have laughed in their face. We're talking serious belly laughs.
A life without meat and dairy is a life I wasn't sure was worth living. That was, until, I started to educate myself a little more.
In January, I had a birthday. And whilst turning 28 didn't fill me with copious amounts of joy, I was a little lot excited to choose the spot for my annual birthday 'stuffing my face' meal.
My heart belongs to a good steak and so I asked that we try out the Marco Pierre White Steakhouse situated in the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr in Abu Dhabi. Scott was happy to oblige - of course, he's quite partial to a meaty meal too, and so off we went.
The restaurant felt much smaller and more intimate than I'd anticipated, which I liked. Whenever I think of a steakhouse grill, I always envisage a dimly-lit setting, cased in dark wood and leather and this didn't disappoint. The flickering fire set along one of the side walls gave the restaurant a homely yet modern feel and with the staff on hand to bring me a cushion to prop myself up in my seat, I was eager to get started and look at what food was on offer.
Have we done cringing over that title? Okay, let's move on...
I've mentioned in 1749506063 million blog posts that I've been a little bit obsessed with blusher lately. I'm going through a phase - one that ranges from feminine flush to full blown, slapped cheek; depending what mood I'm currently in... and I'm entirely okay with it.
The newest additions to my blusher arsenal come in the form of Makeup Geek and Sephora.
It's been a long time since I flaunted my nails on here - mostly due to the fact that I really hate painting my own nails, especially as 90% of the time, they end up a hot, smudged mess within the hour. So, when I was invited along to the House of Allure Spa for a manicure/pedicure a couple of weeks ago, I jumped at the chance to give my nails a much-needed lick of polish.
The newly opened spa features a nail bar, hair salon and space for various beauty treatments. Despite having a lot going on, I was glad to see that it still felt like a place I wanted to relax in. Calm and comfortable.
Plus, can we take a moment to appreciate the decor?
It's safe to say, I'm a little bit obsessed with Makeup Geek.
I know, I know... and so is everyone else right now but when a product is cheap is chips, works like a charm and comes in a whole, glorious range of colours - it'd be rude not to, right?
I featured my first Makeup Geek Haul on my blog, way back in November and from the moment I ripped open the packaging, I was already mentally planning my next order.
*Cue collective cheers!*
I know how much some of you look forward to my 'Shit My Husband Says' posts. It's been a while since the last installment - I don't know if that boils down to the fact that Scott's been having a sense of humour dry spell or I've been ignoring his waffle more so than usual?
Either way, I have a bunch of ridiculous comments for you to enjoy/laugh at/mull over at your leisure.
Why...?
Because Men Are Funny!
Okay, it's still February and technically speaking, we're still around a month away from Spring, but if you're anything like me, it's likely that you're already well on your way with planning your Spring makeup-drobe!
Anyone else going to be hammering all the pinks and peaches?
Because I'm clearly one for planning ahead.. aherm.. I picked up a couple of pink, glossy lip products from YSL whilst I was back in the UK at Christmas - and with one of them already making my January Favourites list, you know they're going to be good 'ens!
Ahh, Valentine's Day. Here you come again with your smattering of heart-shaped declarations of love and the ability to make sane, rational people curl up into a ball and guzzle down buckets of ice cream whilst crying into their H&M sweater.
I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day.
And before we start throwing around accusations, no, I'm not a bitter old spinster with a handful of cats and an evil eye for anyone who so dares to be happy in my presence. I'm one of those happily married folk, although less annoying than the smug ones who flaunt it on Facebook every hour. Or so I like to think.
I don't know about you, but I'm quite partial to a red lip.
Nude lips are always my go-to when I'm feeling lazy or not wanting to make a huge effort but whenever I'm looking to inject some glam/two dollar hooker into my appearance, I always find myself reaching for a bold red.
I'm back with another wittery post today, and as it's Monday - which is the start of the working week for most of you folk, I thought I'd drop by with a tale that had me literally in stitches. Perhaps it'll brighten up your day as it did mine, or it might be one of those, 'you have to be there moments', either way, when it happened, I was very close to letting out a bit of wee and so I'd say that's fair enough reason to feature it on my blog.
Let me set the scene.
Today has, or more specifically is, one of those days where I want to bury my head underneath my duvet and eat an unfathomable amount of crisps... and I never eat crisps.
Okay, I eat crisps but certainly not regularly unless I'm doing it in my sleep, which we can't entirely rule out as I have a tendency to indulge in midnight snacking.
I once had a pretty strong cheese and pickle night-time routine that, on occasion, my husband would chance upon, half-asleep, bleary-eyed but just conscious enough to remember seeing me stuff a piece of cheddar in my mouth and to question me on it the following day.
I believe he still loves me in spite of this.
I've saved this review especially for February - yes, I'm that sad!
When a product has the shade name 'Amour' it would be be rude not to. You know, with February being the month of love and all...
Anyway, waffle aside, I bought this blusher towards the end of last year. The only other NARS product that I own is the NARS Domination Cheek Palette, and whilst that was an ordeal to come by in itself, I love the products that this set contains and knew that I'd eventually have to expand my NARS blusher collection.
That's where Amour stepped in.
Okay, we may need to break out the bubbles because I created a blog series and managed to stick at it for a whole, twelve months. Well, unless you count the fact that I skipped December but we can just sweep that under the carpet, right?
I was undecided as to whether or not to continue Life Through A Lens into 2016 but as it's a really nice way to snapshot what I've been up to for the month, I chose to let it stay. Plus, I'll be straight with you guys, it's an easy post to put together... You've gotta give a girl a break now and again!
January has flown by in a flurry of fighting the urge to stay wrapped up in fleece blankets or face the world and get my shit together. I had a birthday - *sarcastic yay!* and I've been making huge efforts to whip my blog into shape and really work on becoming more organised.
January has also seen me make big changes to my diet and overall health - more on that to come later, but it's involved lots of culinary trails and errors - mostly errors, and in particular, one very potent, pink, beetroot soup. I'll just leave you hanging on that one...
Without further ado, here's the first month of 2016 in glorious picture form. I hope that January has been a good one for you all and here's to a fabulous February.
