January Joy?

Here we are with one week left of January 2018. How are you feeling? Over it or sad to see it go?
I have to admit, I don't think I've ever met anyone whose favourite month is January. I usually class it as being like an entire month of Mondays. I can't believe that New Years was only 3 weeks ago! It feels more like 3 months!

This year I've been trying to enjoy January for what it is; to find the positive things and to try to live in the moment, rather than constantly longing for something else. My Mum always tells me to be careful not to 'wish my life away', and I think there's a lot of wisdom in that.
However, on the darker January days, when the sun doesn't make an appearance and the black ice creeps out, it can be a big challenge to find this time of year enjoyable.

As we've only got one week of January left, I want to decide right now to make the most of it and find the joy in each day. Here's a few of the things that I've been doing and will continue to do this week:

1. Blogging
Starting this blog has been my best decision so far this year. I've really loved the space to write about a variety of different things, and I'm excited to expand this into other areas throughout the rest of the year. I'd been a bit apprehensive about blogging as I wasn't sure that I'd have anything to say. But actually, I keep feeling inspired to write. I know that it's only early days, but I'm being relaxed about it and am doing it as something that I enjoy, rather than having a strict blogging schedule or anything like that. There's no pressure to achieve here.

2. Staying Cosy
One of the best bits about Winter is getting all cosy with knitwear, blankets, candles and cups of tea. I seriously miss this during Summer, so I'm trying to remember that and make the most of the opportunities for cosyness while they're here.

3. Getting Up Early
In December I started getting up everyday at 6:20am, and I have been loving it! I am not naturally an early bird at all, quite the opposite in fact! But I've found that if I do it everyday then my body-clock adjusts to the waking up time and it's not so bad. I've really come to treasure that time of quiet slowness to start off my day. Not rushing around but having breakfast with my husband and watching as the sun comes up - which is happening earlier and earlier as the month goes on!

4. Reading My Bible
Last year I followed a read the Bible in one year plan, as I wanted to be able to get the scope of the whole thing, and I wanted to know that I'd definitely read it all! This year however, I'm going to keep using the same app but I'm not going to go back if I miss a day. The app that I use has an audiobook function, so part of my morning routine is David Suchet (a.k.a. Poirot!) reading me the Bible whilst I do my make up.
I love starting everyday with Jesus; it helps to put everything else in life into perspective.

5. Capsule Wardrobe
As you'll know from my other blog posts, I've been challenging myself this month to only use a wardrobe of 12 items of clothing. I've had to exercise a lot of self-control not to go clothes shopping, but actually I've really enjoyed the project overall!
I'll be writing a post in the next few days all about where I'm going to go from here: keep the minimalism or release the clothes from under my bed?!

6. Taking It Slowly
I always think that this time of year is deceptively busy. We might be led to think that all of the busyness happens around Christmas, and that once that's over we can all return to our quiet lives, but every year I'm surprised at how hectic January is!
Last year I got really ill in early February, because I was so run down from the busyness of life. This year I'm trying to take things a little slower, be wise about what I say yes to, and try to look after myself. Particularly as I'm going through a tough time at the moment in my personal life.
It's important to be kind to yourself. As part of this, I'm going to try to get some early nights this week, especially as one of my eyes has been twitching from tiredness over the last few days!

Do you have any tips for enjoying January?

Lisa x

Beauty Bar: Brows

Over the last few years, bold brows have shown up everywhere. Gone are the days of over-plucking for the thinnest brows possible; now a much more natural look is favoured, and the search has been on to find a product that can make our brows thicker and bolder.

For this post I've tried out a few different products to compare them to one another. There are lots of different brow needs out there; for me, I naturally have full brows but the hairs are blonde so they're often almost invisible.
I first noticed this when I saw a photo of myself where sunlight was shining on one side of my face and made it look like I only had one eyebrow! Since then, I've been trying to achieve a fairly natural looking brow that's a few shades darker than my own.
Here's what I've found:

1. Benefit Gimme Brow
Shade:1
Rating: 3.5/5
I find this product to be very hit and miss. Some days it's really quick to use, other days it tends to clump up and I end up with more product on my skin than on the actual hairs themselves. I think this might be easier to use on brows that are already pretty full and bold, and that just need a little something extra.

2. L'Oréal Paris Eyebrow Pencil
Shade: 02 Blonde
Rating: 4.5/5
For me, this eyebrow pencil is perhaps the most reliable and consistent of all the brow products I've tried. This is the one that I reach for if I'm in a rush and need a product that will get me good results fast. The only negative thing that I find with using an eyebrow pencil is that it can be easy to be too enthusiastic and create a 'drawn on' look that isn't very natural.
I love that it's double ended, with wax for keeping hairs in place, and a little brush for achieving a more natural look.

3. L'Oréal Paris Micro Tattoo Brow Artist
Shade: 103 Dark Blond
Rating: 3.5/5
When I originally bought this product I really liked it and filmed my first impressions on my Instagram Stories (@lisaerinwoodson). However, I've since used it daily for a couple of weeks and sadly my rating of it has gone down slightly.
The idea behind this eyebrow pen is that it is a semi-permanent version of microblading. In terms of it being semi-permanent I have been pleasantly surprised that even after I've taken off my make up and done my entire skincare routine, my brows are still slightly more visible than they would naturally be. The bold colour is gone, leaving a much more subtle colour that suits a no-make up look.
The pen nib is split into three fine points, which when I first used the pen worked really well without having to apply a lot of pressure. It was highly pigmented and the three point nib gave a much more natural look than the single nib alternatives. However, the second time I used it the pen was much less pigmented, meaning that I needed to apply way more pressure, which was trickier to use and gave less natural looking results.

4. NYX Micro Brow Pencil
Shade: Taupe
Rating: 4.5/5
One of the things that I love most about this product is that it comes in a cool blonde tone! So many products only have one blonde shade, which is usually a warm yellow colour and doesn't look right with my skin tone, meaning I have to go for a light brown, which is a bit too dark for me.
I also love how thin this pencil is - great for creating a natural look - and it's wind-up so it's always precise and never needs sharpening.

I think for me, the winner has to be the L'Oréal eyebrow pencil, which I occasionally use in combination with the L'Oréal Brow Tattoo pen.
How about you? Have you tried these products before? Or do you have a favourite that isn't on this list?

Lisa x

Wedding Bells: The Budget

I have never been a lover of finance or really anything maths-related, but one of the crucial things to work out before doing any other preparations for a wedding, is the budget.
Wedding budgets can vary massively and this will impact basically all of your other planning decisions, e.g. venue, number of guests, any music or entertainment, the honeymoon, etc...

The first step is to sit down with your future husband or wife and have a frank chat about where this budget is likely to come from. It could be savings, help from parents or donations from friends.
Then if you're hoping for some outside help, bite the bullet and have those conversations. It's always a bit awkward to talk about money, but just ask if that person would be willing to give anything towards the wedding and see what they say.
A way that a friend of mine thanked all those who had contributed to her wedding, was to allocate each monetary gift to something specific; this meant that when the couple wrote their thank you cards they could say that the money was used to buy the flowers/wedding cake/invitations.

Once you know the budget you're working with, my advice would be to sit down together again and create a spreadsheet that has everything you'll buy on it. I found Pinterest really helpful for this, as there are loads of checklists on there that help you to think through every part of the day. I also found it really helpful to ask a few close friends who had recently got married, what the breakdown of their budget was - once again, money can be a sensitive subject, so maybe have a think about who you ask!

Then go through each item on the spreadsheet, prioritising the most important things as we talked about in my previous wedding blog post, and put down a realistic budget for each of them.

Keep referring back to this spreadsheet with every purchase you make. Weddings can so easily become very expensive, so make sure you're keeping track of your spending and logging all receipts.

Also, if your wedding budget is small, don't worry! I have been to some absolutely beautiful weddings that have been done on a tight budget. In fact these have been some of the most creative and personal weddings I've attended, where every aspect of the day reflects the couple getting married. Sometimes the bigger the budget a couple has, the less personal the details of the day are. This is because not being able to just buy things forces you to come up with creative alternatives or make things yourself.

The point is, you can create a really special day no matter what your budget is. You just have to sit down and work it out, then stick to it!

Do you have any wedding budget tips?

Lisa x

Evading Those January Rays

January weather in the UK = cold, dark and rather uninspiring. At this time of year I can hardly remember what sun cream is, let alone contemplate putting it on my face. So why did I buy a tube of it yesterday?

Sadly, it's not because I'm off to somewhere hot and sunny, and it's also not because Leeds has inexplicably been forecast a heatwave (the reality is basically rain and snow forever).

I actually bought it after watching a documentary on BBC iPlayer called The Truth About Looking Good with Cherry Healey. (Which I SO recommend for anyone who is a fan of beauty and skincare.)

On it, a scientist said that 75% of lines and wrinkles are caused by a lifetime of sun damage, and that this damage isn't just caused by being on a beach in Barbados, but also by sitting indoors, in front of a window, in the middle of winter. This is because UVA rays are not blocked by glass.
I couldn't believe that this could be true, but when they compared the wrinkles around each eye of a coach driver, the side that tended to get the most sun exposure through the coach windscreen, had noticeably more lines.

Apparently, we should be wearing something with both a high SPF and a high UVA rating everyday. The UVA rating is shown in stars, often on the back of a product. I'd thought that a product containing both of those things would be easy to find, but I actually couldn't spot anything at all in Superdrug, and could only find 2 sun creams in Boots that had anything above a 3 star UVA rating (the scientist said you need at least 4 stars).

So many brands, such as Garnier Ambre Solaire and Hawaiian Tropic, only had a UVA rating of 3 stars. In the end, the only 2 products I found with 5 star ratings were both made by Boots: one from their No7 brand and the other from their Soltan range. As there was a £9 difference I went for the Soltan option; why pay more than double the price when the skin protection is the same?

I was, however, really pleased to see that the daily moisturiser I already use, from Boots Botanics (see the photo at the top of this post - which I promise is not sponsored by Boots!), is SPF15 and has a 5 star UVA rating! So my new routine is to use that in the morning, then top up with a bit of Soltan at lunchtime.

Are you someone who wears sun cream daily?

Lisa x

Capsule Wardrobe: When Inspiration Runs Dry

So here we are: half way through. The middle point. 16 outfits worn, 15 to go.
By this point I've worn almost every item of clothing several times.
I've found that doing this challenge in winter has seriously decreased the number of clothing combinations I can do; because it's so cold that I basically never take off my jumper. So it's pretty much a choice of 4 jumpers with a selection of 2 pairs of jeans or 1 skirt...

I have found that having free reign over accessories has really helped though, particularly with jewellery and scarves. I was very excited to receive this month's Gambettes box (a subscription box where you get 2 pairs of tights a month), as fun tights can instantly make me feel more excited about an otherwise very simple outfit.

I also have to admit that I've started to daydream about some of my off limits items of clothing... a bit sad I know! A velvet green dress previously owned by my mum and Aunty, a cosy and oversized pink hoody, and a pair of black denim dungarees to name a few...

But I am at the half way point! And I'm proud of myself for that and determined to stay strong for the rest of the month.
I'm starting to also think about what to do once January is up: keep it minimal or release the clothes? There may well be a post coming next week all about that...

Do you have any tips for getting through the halfway slump of a challenge?

Lisa x