Shaking Away The Winter Blues From Your Beauty Routine To Your Home

Now we're in February I'm well and truly ready to say goodbye to Winter and say hello to Spring. We're of course still a little while away from it actually being warm and with snow, on the forecast for next week, I'm being a little too wishful with my thinking. I'm itching to shake away the heavy blues of winter I've been switching things up a little from my beauty routine to my home.

WARDROBE

There is no denying that we still need our jumpers and thermals on throughout February but who says that the knits can't be on the pastel side of proceedings? I've been reaching for cream sweaters and layering them with t-shirts underneath to create more of an interesting look as well as a small nod to the warmer months on the horizon. I'm pretty smitten this rusty pink striped number from John Lewis which is quite weighty so it still traps in the warmth even in the cooler months.

I've also been reaching for a smaller bag for day to day in the shape of the Kerry bag from Marc B*. It's the perfect shade of pink as it's not so light that it will stain and wear badly but it's still muted enough to be suitable for day to day wear. The accordion esque style makes it super easy to separate all your possessions and things don't get so easily lost which tends to be the case with my beloved tote bags.

HOME

I'm not someone who changes around their entire house for the Winter season and I tend to keep things bright and airy all year around. Not only because I prefer the look of it but also because I take pictures on a daily basis so I need things to be as light as possible when we roll around to the Winter months and it's dark by 4 pm. It's the usual options I find to make the biggest difference like switching my bedding around to lighter bed sheets, picking up a couple of new plants or flowers and generally having a switch around. This year I've treated myself to some huge stems of eucalyptus and I love the light green hues of it and it lasts so much longer than a bunch of tulips too. Which is what I would normally pick up at this time of year but last year I struggled to get them to last longer than a few days and it's far too expensive to keep on buying flowers constantly so eucalyptus is perfect as it lasts weeks.

Another somewhat obvious option is switching around the scents in your home and as I try not to buy candles so much anymore. I've done it with my aroma diffuser, I've been using the amber oil that I picked up when I bought it last January and even though it's absolutely beautiful it doesn't scream Spring. So I've been reaching for the vanilla with berries and it makes such a huge difference in how I feel when I walk in. I'm a huge lover of candles and there is no denying that but I do prefer to use my diffuser as it's not so bad for my living environment and it's weirdly calming to hear my diffuser puff away in the background.

BEAUTY

My skincare routine hasn't changed all too much lately apart from finishing up and starting new products as we're still in chilly February so my skin needs those thick creams to stay happy. But my overall makeup routine has been having a little switch around, my base isn't all too different and I'm currently switching between the MUFE Water Blend Foundation* and on the days where my skin needs a little more coverage the Clinique Superbalanced Silk* and Rimmel Match Perfection have been meeting the brief perfectly. Eyes, of course, are always going to be some shimmery and champagne based with lashings of mascara.

But lips are where things are getting a little more exciting, I'm trying to make sure I'm trying something different every time I wear makeup instead of going for the same shades constantly as we all know that I'm a creature of habit who just loves to reach for those pretty dusky pinks. And even though I'm not straying too far away from my beloved shade I'm going for different formulas and a couple I've been loving are the Too Faced Sweet Peach Lip Oil Gloss*. Sounds nothing like I would typically use right? Oil and gloss sounds like a recipe for disaster when you've got hair that can easily get in your mouth.

But they're an absolute dream as they act like a liquid lipstick, I don't find them to be glossy at all, to be honest, but the oil is incredibly comforting on the lips. The shade I've been reaching for the most is called Papa Don't Peach, now let's not discuss why this is possibly the greatest shade that's existed in beauty history but the shade itself is lovely and makes wearing something slightly peach based when you're pale a breeze. The Sweet Peach range from Too Faced has had a lot of hype online and it's hardly difficult to understand why? I mean just look at that packing and branding? And the smell is quite something too, it smells like a real juicy peach nothing artificial in the slightest.

Like I said my general skincare routine hasn't changed all that much but I've been playing around with some different masks and eye creams which have been lovely. Both masks are from Pixi and my favourite and most fun to use is the H20 Glow Mask*. Which is one of those masks that you will have no doubt seen around the internet as it bubbles up to what I can only describe as a shaving foam. Upon first use, I loved the sensation of it as it was ever so slightly tingly and the good kind of tingle not oh my face is really burning tingle like some masks give. I was sceptical of how much it was going to do for my skin if I'm honest as it could so easily be a gimmick product but I'm so pleased it left my skin feeling so clean as well as noticeably brighter.