Admittedly we all have days where we can’t really be bothered and just slap on minimum make-up and hope for the best. They usually turn out to be the days where you bump into everyone you’ve ever met, even though you’ve only been out of the house for approximately ten seconds.

On the days where there is enough time to do your make-up properly however, it makes sense to make the products work a little bit harder and last extra longer. After all, you work damn hard so why shouldn’t your make up?

Part of me wanted to include a standard primer in this list, because yes they do make foundation go on better and last a longer but I’m yet to find one that makes me all ‘Oh my gosh, you have to try this!’ and force it on any human within a 1 mile radius. So, well just stick to this trio… because three is, after all, a magic number.

1. Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion.

When I first saw this featured on a vlog I was not convinced. Eyeshadow primer? Pfft come on. Who has the time or the need for this? It seemed a bit like one of them products that are pretty in your make-up bag but don’t really have a point. Oh how wrong I was. I doubted you, so apologies the beauty genies at Urban Decay. The bottle does look a lot like a potion bottle thanks to the lid, so it always raises a smile when it comes out of the make-up bag,  the wand is a bit rubbish though. I tend to just use the wands to haphazardly apply a few blobs then spread them about with my fingers. I use the original version, and boy oh boy does it make the colours of your eyeshadow pop. The colours of almost all brands of eyeshadow seem more pigmented and glide on easily. I was concerned about how different colours would blend with this base underneath, but blending is pretty much the same with or without. I put on my eye makeup at roughly 7.20am and as I write this at 9.50pm it’s still going strong and sparkly. Trust me on this one. If I wasn’t in a polar bear onesie, I’d show you.

2. Maybelline Matt Maker

As a dry skinned gal, shine has never really been a problem, so it was only last summer that I cottoned on to this little miracle. Truth be told I only bought this to try out ‘baking’ that was all the rage a while back. While not impressed with baking, this product has become a necessity for me. A few MUA’s recommend putting your blusher on under your foundation in order to make it look more natural, but adding a fine layer of this gives the same effect and still lets enough colour show through, it also helps set your makeup. Amazingly it makes your skin look like you’ve been Facetuned in real life. Pores, pack yer bags and get out.

3. Urban Decay Subversion Lash Primer.

Does anyone remember in the mid-noughties when brands started bringing out double ended mascara? There’d be semi-decent mascara on one end, while the other housed some sort of white sludge that was so thick and gooey no mascara on earth could possibly cover it well? Looking back, it was just PVA glue probably. Anyway you can forget about them, because this product is like their cool, sexier older brother. It probably plays in a band and has a car. Uh huh.

It is so creamy I’m convinced it contains like 30% cloud. It does look a bit clumpy when it goes on, and the wand is fairly substantial – so if like me, you tend to be sorta still asleep you may end up with it in your eye once or twice. I haven’t used it with an Urban Decay mascara but it works well with basically any brand. If I curl my lashes, then put this on before my normal mascara they look within touching distance of my brows. Yep. That’s my life goal nearly reached then. I don’t wear this every day because sometimes the supermarket and dog walking just don’t deserve such fluttery lashes, but for a day or two after my lashes feel so soft. I didn’t even realise soft eyelashes were a thing, but they are. And it makes your mascara feel so smooth and silky, and you feel a little bit like a princess.

So I guess there you go; 3 little products that make a whole lotta difference.

Anyone who knew me at school or around that time will see the title of this blog post and think ‘what a dick’ because trust me when I say hair was not my thing. When discussing school plays and the Wizard of Oz came into the mix someone suggested I play the scarecrow because my hair was that out of control. True story bro.

So yup. Over the years there has been a lot of experimenting with products and lessons learnt. However learning some fail safe tricks for hair means you can play around with it a lot more and it recovers quicker.  In the past year I’ve gone blonde (like proper blonde, not browny-blonde or dirty blonde) then red which FYI does make you feel a little bit like a mermaid princess. Move over Ariel. And finally settled on a brown/blonde ballyage affair. Every time I go to the hairdressers, at least one of the stylists comment on how my hair shouldn’t be in such a good condition given the amount of bleach its endured.

So here are the three most important things I’ve learnt along the way.

1. Olive oil based products are the stuff of queens. Seriously.

Ok, they usually aren’t made with fancy scents, and aren’t always available on the high street but they are amazing. Olive oil has been used for hair and skin care for thousands of years, although there is little scientific research into olive oil and haircare a lot of people do attribute their hair’s new found moisture and shine to it. I try to use an olive oil based hair mask once a week, during busy periods where I can’t set time aside for sitting round with wet hair I’ve noticed the huge difference they make. Without them my hair often looks duller and any straightening/curling doesn’t seem to last as long.

2. Taking about styling, this is an old ‘un I know… But don’t use heated styling tools every day.

Even though my hair is mega-thick, my regular stylist has (repeatedly) told me that unless you have veryveryvery tight curly hair, you shouldn’t need to straighten/curl/etc a section of hair more than twice. If you have to straighten some of your hair more than twice, you need to look at different brands of straighteners. Before I could be bothered to do hair masks on the reg, I’d straighten my hair in the morning and by 4pm it would be massive and wavy. Tres chic. Now that I’ve got myself into haircare gear, I usually only need to style it once until the next wash.

3. Stop Bloody Playing with it.

I am a bugger for this one. If you ring me and drone on and on and on about something that neither of us particularly care about; chances are I’ve spent half of the conversation twirling my hair, putting it up in a ponytail or trying to create that elusive updo that needs nothing more to hold it up than whatever’s closest to hand. However constantly twirling and twisting your hair leaves you on a one-way road to damage and split ends. Have you ever tried to thread a needle only to take so many attempts that the thread becomes frayed? You get the gist. Instead try to occupy your hands with something else, at the moment I’m apparently into making origami t-shirts out of scraps of paper. I know, it’s hard having this wealth of talents. Lol.

So yeah babes, follow these three tips and your hair should start behaving itself and looking all round happier, healthier and glossier. But you know, if you do have a bad hair day don’t sue me please.

After a mad month that has included moving out, breaking up, moving back home, gal pals and copious amounts of wine, the blogging game is once again ago-go. As with any break-up (I imagine) the weeks following it have all been a bit of whirl, as such, tonight I’ve been looking forward to just relaxing with a good ol’ book.

Unfortunately I think I’ve already read the world’s best book, I mean seriously, it *may*even surpass Gone Girl. I know, unthinkable.

My boss gave me a copy of The Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins along with a Vogue colouring book, and so far I’ve banged on about it enough she’s actually asked if she can borrow it back.

Paula Hawkins’ novel introduces us to Rachel, an overweight, middle aged woman who rides the same train to and from London every-day. In an effort to distract herself from her life, she whiles away the journey watching the inhabitants of the houses she passes– imagining their lives, giving them names.  It’s a game and nothing more. Until she witnesses something that is not supposed to exist in the perfect world she envisions for them.

The character of Rachel is at once tragic yet heroic; to say she is an unreliable narrator would be kind. Battling with a drink problem, lying to cover her tracks and obsessing about an ex means it would be easy to write her off, as many of the other main and supporting characters do.

Alongside Rachel (who is set to be portrayed by Emily Blunt in this year’s film adaption) the book flips between years and moments in the life of Megan Hipwell, one of the couples Rachel watches in secret from the train. From the window in the train, Megan appears to have it all. Young, slim with a loving husband who is ever ready with a strong caressing hand. Embodying the paradox of the creative middle-class, Megan has owned an art gallery, she has lived by the sea; but is anything other than carefree.

We are also introduced to Anna. Though Anna seems to be yet another stepford wife, thrown in only to show just how difficult and alternative the other women are, Anna is one to watch. She has fears we all share; she worries about her appearance, she worries about her husband’s obsessive ex (the aforementioned Rachel), and how she is viewed in the world. She wants the perfect marriage, the perfect life and is determined to keep it.

The book introduces themes many have attempted before, ruined women, past sins and current passions. What this book does differently however, is to force us to examine the self. Not just ourselves, but everyone. Do we, as women, trust ourselves enough?

When life takes an unexpected detour, down a rocky murky path what do we believe? The cliché is that we must spend our lives getting to know ourselves, we must travel, read self-help books and dabble in spirituality at least once. But do we, deep down already know the essence of who we are? When people tell us who we are and how we act, should we believe them? Or should we trust ourselves?

That is the question Paula Hawkins asks in The Girl on the Train and in a world which is proving to be ever more divisive, and more willing to tell us through social media, stereotypes and memes what type of person we are; this novel could not be more timely.

Something absolutely unbelievable and unforgivable has happened. There are less than ten days until Christmas, and as of yet I haven’t rocked any festive nail art. What’s gone wrong with my world? I used to do designs religiously but that seems to have fallen by the wayside these last few months.

This week though, Pinterest keeps sending me little notifications about people saving one of my Christmas nail art pins, and that’s got me all in the mood again. I am sat writing this in some chipped red sparkly nail polish, not a fancy mani… but let’s just keep that between you and me. I’ve rounded up my 9 favourite festive designs; so if you’re feeling really motivated (and a little bit bonkers) you could have a new one every day. If you do, you are definitely more motivated than me, high five for you guys.

This one isn’t a tutorial but I’m pretty sure a clever gal like you can work out how to do it. I love the fun feel and variety with this one, and as it’s currently the one getting all the hits on Pinterest I figured to kick things off with it.

This one is actually a nail stamp plate (who knew there was such a thing?) from Etsy… so I imagine this one is pretty speedy to do if you invest in one of those bad boys. I adore the colours used in this – there are not many times you can see a festive design in such subtle colours

This Buzzfeed article features a whopping 24 ideas for festive nails – ya know, just in case my nine aren’t enough for you *glares*. Jokes aside, it’s full of pretty designs, including baubles. Big up da baubles.

If Christmas for you is less about the big day and more about big nights, it cannot possibly get sparklier and glitterier than this.

Sticking with the glitter, how perfect are these baubles? Swoon.

What I love about this one is how simple it is. The website this is from is now sporting a broken link and it seems there’s no longer a tutorial but I don’t feel like that’s a great loss. Quick, easy and fairly minimalist = perfect.

This one is on here because it is so damn cute. ‘Nuff said.

I really like the idea of candy cane nail art, but in all honesty I don’t trust myself enough to get all the curves the same on each one. I just know if I did one slightly wobbly it would annoy me no end. This nail art still reminds me of candy canes but it’s more abstract. Plus the article I’ve stole this image of includes 101 designs. Happy days.

This final one isn’t too Christmassy but still has a definite winter feel. I love the statement gold nail, but if you prefer the plaid, this article has a load of inspo.

Now I’ve spent my time writing and uploading images of nail art I’m feel pretty embarrassed about the state of my manicure, so I suppose I best sneak off and do battle with it. If anyone can recommend an easy way to remove sparkly polish, that would be a god’ send.