Autumn/Winter Essentials

December is almost upon us now and as much as I do love autumn/winter and I'm so excited for Christmas and New Year's Eve it can be a struggle to get through winter without some of these essentials!

• LIPBALM. First and foremost lipbalm is so important, there is nothing worse than dry, cracked lips that just get more and more painful! My favourites are Palmers cocoa lip balm or the classic Carmex
• Moisturiser. Similarly to dry lips, there is also nothing worse than dry hands so a good moisturiser is essential!
• Scarves are my favourite accessory in winter, just as much as they can add to an outfit, they give surprising warmth and I'm definitely going to be wearing mine everyday!
• Jumpers are the one winter essential that everyone loves to own. I have so many, especially turtle neck/roll necks. I keep buying them and buying them and buying them. I think the style really suits me and they're super easy to wear. 
• Dressing gown. I may sound like an old woman but I love nothing more than cosying up in my dressing gown with an essential hot chocolate to watch a Christmas film (it's November, it's acceptable okay!) or the X factor on a Saturday night. Mine is so soft and covered in hearts, I find it super comforting and the hood makes it soooo cosy
• Hats. This year seems to be a super windy year so it's the perfect excuse to throw on a cute little beanie to keep your hair tame. But hats also keep you surprisingly warm (who knew eh?) 
• An Electric Blanket is something I never knew I needed until I had one. It is the most incredible thing I currently own. There is no feeling quite like getting into bed and it's already warm and toasty for you and there's no need to do the bed warming dance (you know the one where you wriggle all about to warm every inch of the bed? We all do it don't lie).
• Coffee is key. It'll warm up your insides and your hands all at the same time. What more is there to say really?
• Boots are 100% the essential winter shoe. It's no good having a bit of your ankle showing when its about 3 degrees outside. I've had my little furry brown Topshop boots for almost 2 years now (I mentioned them in a post about a year ago)  and they're still going strong but I am definitely eyeing up these beauties from River Island, they have the perfect heel size (basically nothing, ideal for someone who doesn't want to be any taller) and they are a lovely material and shape (i'm obsessed someone pls buy them for me?)
• Thick woolly socks, because lets face it there is nothing worse than cold, numb feet! 

Hope this 10 essentials help you survive the cold winter months. If all else fails get into bed, hibernate and come out in about April/May when the sun decides to shine again! 

Thanks for Reading!

Charlotte

XO

Acceptance

It's been far too long since I last posted- apologise but here is a mid-week post to make up for it! 

If you were truly honest with yourself do you think you really accept yourself for who you are, flaws and all. Or do you constantly wish to change something about yourself like your big nose, your tummy fat or your chubby legs. I'm sure, like me, majority of you are in the latter group, but it's not your fault (and it's probably not even true!)

We live in a society where doubting yourself, striving for an unattainable perfection and knocking yourself down is the norm. How many people do you hear actually say they like things about themselves on a regular basis? Or if they do someone will reply with a sarky comment or they'll receive some rude words in return (this has happened to me before when I've tried to be confident and comment on part of my appearance). How many young teenage girl's profile pictures do you see with their friends commenting 'oh my god babe you look gorgeous' or 'ugh your face.. jealous' etc and generally the girl in question always replies 'hahaa says you' or 'no not really but thanks anyway' and continue to put themselves down. Now I realise some girls do this for attention as they just want people to confirm their perceived beauty but some genuinely think this about themselves and it's quite sad. We spend hours criticising every part of ourselves because we cannot accept who we are and now I've decided this needs to change. 

I don't want my sons or daughters growing up hating themselves because it is tiring and life is too short. I want them to grow up happy with their body and their personality. Not worry if perhaps their laugh is a bit odd or if they have a mole on their skin etc. It's these little quirks and perfect imperfections that make us all unique. 

I want to help promote self-acceptance because I really don't think enough people are truly happy with who they are (me included). Why should we feel ashamed with what/who we are and what gives people the right to make you feel that way?? Be strong in yourself and know that you are good enough or pretty enough or clever enough. Know that it doesn't matter what other people think of you, the only thing that is important is that YOU know you are a good, kind person and that actually you are beautiful. 

In the end we're all going to die and the years you've spent worrying you weren't good enough or you weren't perfect will be wasted years you could've spent being yourself and just being happy, so make the change now before it's too late! 

Thanks for reading!

Charlotte

XO

October Favourites

So we've somehow already finished October and while it has been a cold and rather quick month I've done so much and actually tried a few new things which I've fallen in love with.

First and foremost can we please discuss Perfect, the first single to be released from One Direction's new album, Made in the A.M. I heard it just as I was getting out of the car to go to work and as soon as I had finished coaching at 9am I listened to the song on repeat for the next 24 hours. It is literally perfect. 

I've been testing out a few new makeup products such as the Makeup Revolution Iconic 3 palette and three Rimmel London lip products. I've written a full review of the Makeup Revolution palette here explaining exactly why I love it. The Rimmel products are two lipsticks and one lip pencil. The pencil is the highly raved about Eastend Snob which I'm obsessed with and the two lipsticks both work really well with it. The first lipstick is from the most recent Kate Moss collection of nudes in shade 45. It was something I'd had on my wishlist for a while before I bought it and it is the perfect nude for my skin tone. I'm always worried that nudes don't suit me but this has a slightly peachy tone to it, I used the Rimmel guidance which was on display with the product and it was spot on. the pigmentation is good and the staying power is impressive. I wore it to the Rowers Ball and I certainly had a lot to drink, I ate and did a hell of a lot of talking and I only had to top it up once! The other lipstick is from the new collection called 'The Only One' which claims to provide 'long-lasting colour, comfort, moisture and wear'. I tested it on a pretty normal day of driving, talking and lots of eating and the longevity is definitely there. As is the moisturising and comfort properties. I chose it in 'It's a Keeper' which is very different in real life than on the boots website but thankfully I actually bought mine in store and after about 20 minutes stood in front of the Rimmel counter making swatch after swatch on my hand before finally deciding on a colour! 

Being able to do my own food shopping has been quite liberating because I can literally buy the food that I want so I have been buying exactly what I want and every single week sweet potato is going into my trolley. I have only made sweet potato mash as it's my favourite but I'm soon going to venture into fries/wedges as mash could get a little boring. In true Nando's style I've been using the 'rubs' you can buy in Tesco to give my chicken some added flavour. Mine is the medium garlic and I find they're such good value for money. They last around 3-4 meals, depending on how much chicken you want to eat/how spicy you want it to be! 

Whilst trying to cut down on my processed foods and eating a little healthier I'm on the search for the perfect snacks and soft apricots are slowly becoming my favourite. I first used them to cook my Fruity Flapjacks (which will soon be a blog post) and I had a few left over and I loved snacking on them so since then I've bought more and they're always in my bag in case I'm ever a little hungry! 

Despite the cliche I do love Starbucks, especially when it's cold after training and all I want is a warm coffee!Thankfully I think I've finally found my perfect drink. It's quite boring but it's a simple Vanilla Cafe Mocha. The perfect mix of coffee, vanilla and a little bit of chocolate- what more could you ask for?! The food in Starbucks is also super tasty right now. I tried the Mumbai flatbread and it was DELICIOUS, I highly recommend.

But my favourite favourite of this month is this video. It is a selection of some of the best moments I had rowing this past year and I cannot help but smile every single time. I made it with my best friend and it was so much fun watching old clips and reliving the memories! 

No fashion favourites this month but I have just been shopping (huge haul post possibly) and so we'll see what I love at the end of November!

Thanks for Reading

Charlotte

XO

P.S. Pics coming later