Little Loves #3.

I've been a bit lax on the blogging front recently, I'm not sure why, last weekend I had a whole 2 days off while Sam was working 13 hour days and yet I couldn't just sit down and write something. I started a new job the first week of January so I suppose that's taking up a lot of my brain space! I'm enjoying the job so much, learning loads and being more independent in my work. I suppose that can be a first little love on this post but i'll get back into the things I'm sure people will enjoy reading about!

This view.

Last weekend I watched the snow fall, wondering if it would stick and then watching as it did, thankful for the fact I didn't have to go out driving in it! When I can step back and watch the snow without panicking about having to drive in it it can be something I really enjoy. I love those cliche things about how it blankets the world and makes everything look fresh and clean at least for a little while before it turns dirty and grim again! 

The online community and support. 

Junior Doctor, 28, uses THREE bags for life for one week of shopping. Excessive. #smearthedocs #moetmedics pic.twitter.com/ZH2L2i3B7g

— Jacquina (@jacquina) January 10, 2016

A few weeks ago The S*n posted an article online about the Junior Doctors leading the strike action smearing them for their 'lavish lifestyles' dubbing them Moet Medics. They had done some super top notch investigative journalism in the form of going on these doctors Facebook pages and saving their holiday pictures in order to decide for themselves what kind of lifestyles they lead. Any normal, good person of course knows this is ridiculous and I think The S*n forgot who they were dealing with when they decided to #smearthedocs. Very soon a couple of hashtags were born and the online Junior Doctor community hit back in the way intelligent, funny people do: by thoroughly taking the piss. I myself, along with my junior doctor boyfriend (pictured above) joined in with our picture, showing our weekly shop at Aldi, and before I knew what hit me, my tweet was somewhat viral (compared to most of my tweets!) ending up with over 60,000 views and enough likes and retweets that I had to turn my notifications off for a few days and a feature on Buzzfeed, BT and a few other online articles! I'm only including the figures here to show the comparative support. Out of all those views, all those retweets and the articles, I only had 3 negative tweets back about this picture. Everyone else was joining in with the campaign, being completely hilarious and satirical, just how we should be in the face of ridiculousness. I was so happy then, even as a nurse, to be part of that community. You can't bring people like that down, they work too hard and do too much to let idiots (it took 4 people to write the so-called article!) bring them down. Well done Junior Doctors, you're awesome. 

Book Exchange.

How great is it to receive a proper parcel in this time where even your bank statement doesn't drop onto your doormat anymore? Last week my friend Bekki and I decided to exchange some books we had both been loving, wonderful idea, you get a new book for the cost of postage! Bekki completely blew me away with this package she sent me, everything in it was so thoughtful, I can't wait to get started on the book and to do this again in the future! One of the reasons is so I get another go at my parcel! I was so excited I quickly rushed out before the post office closed to buy an envelope and post my book onto her that I didn't think to add extras in. 

Sex and the City. 

I was too young for this show the first time around but I got the box set for Christmas and I'm loving it so far! It is dated of course, I'm only on season 2 so I believe we're still stuck in the early 2000s but I'm still enjoying binging this while my boyfriend plays football manager on his computer in the other room. I swear we don't conform to gender norms as much as this in all aspects of our lives! One thing I can't help but draw parallels from is the fact that Carrie seems to write one column a week and live an amazing life in Manhattan, reminds me of what people these days seem to (incorrectly!) think of full time bloggers. Work one day a week, earn exponential amounts of money and always have time to drink with your friends. I wonder how this affected the people watching it the first time it aired in the 90s, but thats just me, mostly I try to zone out and enjoy the dirty jokes. 

I'm hoping to be back into my blogging groove after this, I have a week off at the moment for my birthday and we're going away for the night as my gift, can't wait! A seaside getaway is perfect at any time of the year as long as theres a fish and chip shop open! 

Let's Talk: Skincare.

I'm no expert when it comes to skincare and for the longest time that really put me off posting about it at all, but recently I've had a routine that I've really been liking and actually sticking to so I decided to share it, although my advice to always make sure you remove your make up? Buy expensive white bedsheets. I haven't slept with any make up on since we moved! And I used to be really bad for doing that. For serious though, here's what I've been using and enjoying lately. 

First off, I'll talk about what I'm working with personally, I have combination skin that is oily around my T zone and chin, but can get dry around my nose, winning all around. I have suffered with acne in the past and I'd say my skin is quite acne prone, small changes in my life can cause breakouts. Recently I've had this quite under control though.

Here is my no make up selfie, my skin is feeling really clear at the moment and slightly less oily because of the colder weather, I have a small almost unnoticeable breakout on my chin. You can see I'm quite pale and have freckles which often makes my skin look quite an uneven tone with redness etc.  I know that sounds quite negative but overall I'm fairly happy with my skin, i haven't actually worn foundation in over 2 months because I just haven't felt the need/ I'm really lazy and just use concealer where I need it! 

Cleanse::

I was always a make up wipes girl but as I saw more and more about how bad they are for your skin and basically how much money you waste I've really tried to steer clear, Micellar water is way better anyway, I really like this one from Garnier and it's so cheap even without an offer although Boots often does it cheaper. It removes my eye make up really easily and doesn't leave my skin feeling tight if I use it for face make up too. I try remove the bulk of my eye make up with the micellar water and cotton pads before doing a proper cleanse with my Liz Earle cleanse and polish. I do the first step mostly to save the muslin cloths from my copious amounts of blackest black mascara. Oops. Sometimes if I'm being lazy i will do a full face cleanse with the micellar water but it just never seems quite as clean. I love Cleanse and Polish because its so soothing for my sensitive skin but makes it feel really clean and the use of the hot cloth afterwards is a perfect amount of exfoliation. 

Moisturise::

Usually I'm lazy with body moisturiser as dry skin isn't usually a problem for me but with the weather being colder I've noticed more dryness particularly on my legs. I only recently picked up the Aveeno lotion but I have no idea why, a while ago I cared for a patient who had a skin condition, she was prescribed this cream and it worked absolute wonders! I am loving it so far all over my body after a shower, it sinks in amazingly quickly and doesn't leave me feeling greasy. It also has no scent to it so doesn't overpower perfume etc if you use it in a morning. 

For face moisturiser I've sworn by this La Roche Posay moisturiser ever since Rosie wrote about it on her blog ages ago in this post. I use it each morning without fail. I definitely think compared to a lot of skincare products out there it's really reasonably priced particularly as its quite often on offer. This is perfect for my oily skin while still feeling like it's hydrating my skin, it also helps with acne and outbreaks. Wonder product in my eyes for sure, I've been through probably 4 or 5 tubes since February, I just wish they'd make a bigger one! 

Eyes::

This is a fairly recent addition to my skincare, I've maybe had it 2-3 months. I'm 23 so didn't think an eye cream was necessary until i noticed that any concealer i used under my eyes was creasing really quickly. I do think this has helped with that issue although I'm not 100% sold on whether it is worth the price! I do really like the consistency of this eye cream from Kiehl's as it kind of turns watery as you rub it in (using your ring finger only around the eye area as I was taught by my mum) and it feels hydrating but not greasy. I'll use up this pot and then look for something a bit cheaper I think.

Other::

This is the part of my skincare that I'm not sure how to categorise. I had heard a lot about the Serozinc mist from La Roche Posay and since I've loved other things from there I decided to give it a try. This is another one where I'm not quite sure of the benefits just yet as I need to give it a longer go but I've been enjoying it so far. It's a really fine toning mist that i spray on after cleansing containing zinc for acne prone skin. My skin has been the clearest its been for a while recently so hopefully this is to thank for that! 

The Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate oil purchase has been a long time coming, I got it at the beginning of october when we were in London after putting it in my basket about 7 times through the year on the Debenhams website. According to Kiehl's this product is supposed to help with moisture and radiance working overnight. I love it, I have no idea why, I'm not sure it particularly has made me look radiant but its such a luxurious step in my skincare routine that I've thoroughly enjoyed. Even with my oily skin i haven't found it to be greasy and in fact I think it's helped to combat this a bit. It smells like lavender and other natural oils perfect for the last step before bed. I use it alone because of my skin being oily but Kiehl's say it can be used as a treatment  before applying a night cream if needed. There are also a load of other suggestions of how to use it (bath oil anyone?) on their website. An expensive product that iId definitely say was worth the price tag for me. 

I haven't really mentioned face masks because I spoke about this more in my pampering post. They're something I do depending upon how my skin feels at the time but my favourite ones are Origin and the Sanctuary thermal mask.

Hope you enjoyed this post about my skincare routine, if you have any suggestions for a cheaper eye cream alternative please let me know either in the comments or on Twitter!