Keeping Happy in the Dark Winter Months

Everybody knows that January is the worst month of the year, it's a fact. But this year I'm determined to make it 'Joyuary' (I know, trying to find a good name for a happy January proved much more difficult to do). Here are some of my tips to feel a little bit brighter in these dark winter days.

Cosy, cosy, cosy

Being, you guessed it, cosy is something that I cannot live without in the winter months. There's nothing better than cuddling up with a hot drink watching the tele. My favourite thing to do is have a relaxing shower and then put on a nice pair of fluffy socks or slippers, my dressing gown, get my blanket, grab a furry friend and snuggle up in the lounge.

A good moisturise

I love smooth legs. It's like a little treat I can give myself all the time and I love it. Moisturising them makes them so smooth and by doing it in the evening, I get to enjoy the lingering scent all night long. My favourite one to use at the minute, on very special evenings, is the Body Shop Hawaiian Fukui Cream from the Spa of the World range which I got for Christmas. It has an amazing calming smell and it very thick so moisturises deeply.

Feeling great

The best way to feel great during the dark days of winter is looking great. It may sound silly but if you don't like the way that you're looking then you're not going to feel your best. So treat yourself and do your makeup nice, even if you're just popping to the shops. Go on, swipe on that lippie and conquer the winter blues!

Hot beverages

I'm a big hot drinks fan and winter time is perfect for all things brew. Coffee in the morning, tea mid afternoon and a hot chocolate in the evening. Just taking a bit of time out to have a drink can break the day up and give a much needed lift in motivation or a bit of cheering up if you've had a sad day.

Favourite Friday: Frozen

It has to be said I'm totally in on the hype, but my inner hipster has to confess that I loved it before it was cool. I first discovered Frozen in March of last year by listening to the album on Spotify. I have absolutely no idea what made me start listening to it but I was hooked from the off. I'm pretty sure my flatmates hated going into the kitchen when I was there because 9 times out of ten the album would be on repeat. For christmas this year I was lucky enough to get a baby Sven, Sven from the beginning at the film when he's little, from my brother and he even paid to get a felt tag with my name on it, cute! Definitely one of my best presents! I also got a Frozen charm bracelet from my mum and dad which is one of the best things I've ever seen in my entire life. Try and get this off my wrist! These have seriously sparked my obsession with Frozen again and I'm constantly thinking of quotes, sad but true,

"Olaf, keep out of sight" 

"Okay...hello!"

Wintery Browns

At this cold and wintery time I'm taking full advantage of wearing dark colours on my eyes and not being looked at as some depressing saddo! In this look I used one eyes shadow stick, one! I'm the kind of person that normally uses 103 eyes shadows all different shades of the same colour for no reason other than the fact that I enjoy blending. I used the Rimmel scandal eyes eye shadow stick in bootleg brown and just applied it with the stick and then blended like mad with my mac 217. It took me FOREVER to blend it out but I think it's because I wasn't quick enough, silly me. I think that it turned out well and with my new Maybelline colour elixir in caramel infused it was a very warm and wintery face.

Wintery Flavours

I love winter and I especially love winter food! I think it's the fact that its warming and comforting and the 'heavy' flavours come out that have been locked away for the past few months. Soups also come back into play which is great because sometimes there's nothing better than snuggling up with a tasty soup and crusty bread when it's freezing outside. My favourite flavour of soup in the winter time is butternut squash, especially when it's creamy. Last week I went for a meal at a Chef and brewer and I had what I think is a typical wintery meal. For main I had duck with a black cherry sauce, dauphinoise potatoes and savoy cabbage. The sauce made the meal taste really nice and warming and i'm a big fan of cabbage as a little accompaniment as I like the crunch. For dessert I had hazelnut profiteroles and they were delicious. Not too sickly and not too sweet, hazelnut is one of those flavours that is warming and a definite contrast to fruity summer flavours.

Favourite Friday: Silver Eyes

To get into the wintery mood I've been experimenting with cooler tones on my eyes, and you can't get much cooler than silver. I like the way that it's festive without completely overdoing the reds and golds. I still need to find the perfect lip colour to go with it and I apologise for my nails in these photos (oopsie should have pre planned) but I really like the eyes so we're just going to have to deal with it.

After I'd done my usual foundation/face thang, I used the Maybelline colour tattoo in Immortal Charcoal as a base by putting it on lightly with my fingers and did a lot of blending with my Mac 217 brush. I then used the silver in shade in my Virgin Vie palette (bottom row, second from the left) on the inner corners up to the centre of the lid. I packed it on so that it was really light and shimmery. I then used the light silver shade in my MUA Dawn til Dusk palette on the rest of the lid and blended it slightly into the crease. Softly I then put the darker matte grey shade from the Virgin Vie palette (one above the lighter grey shade) and really blended it out so that instead of making a defined crease it faded out. To finish it off I put a very thin eyeliner line using the L'Oreal Super Liner, lined my waterline and tightline with the Rimmel Kohl eyeliner in black and piled on the Clinique High Volume mascara onto my lashes. On my lips I dabbed on Mac Shy Girl but I think that a cool toned deep purple would look better and more festive.