When it comes to skincare I've never been very good. My "routine" for the last few years has been rubbing my face under the shower and slapping on some moisturiser when I remember. Every now and then I'd use an exfoliating scrub but that was it. I quite often didn't even bother to take off my make-up if I'd been wearing it. Gross I know, but I could just never be bothered.

Then I got lost in a Sali Hughes/Caroline Hirons YouTube loop. Watching their videos made me realise skincare is important and I need to make more of an effort. Growing up I had awful acne from about the age of 10 until 18. My skins only really been pretty clear in the last 2 years. I tried loads of stuff on that, including prescription treatments, but what worked the because what just leaving my skin alone. Since my oily, spot ridden teenage years my face has become more dry and just leaving it alone no longer works. So I've gone out and gotten myself a set of products and am now slowly training myself into a routine that takes better care of my face.

I'm now where near perfect and doing it every day yet but it's a positive change and my skin is looking better for it. As I've started using lots of new products all at once I have no idea if it's one particular product that's working well or all of them together but I'm happy with the results so far.




I've really not a fan of bananas. I had a banoffee cupcake the other day at work after being told it was a toffee cupcake. It was the worst betrayal known to man. So when I bought this I was taking a risk. Luckily it doesn't smell particularly banana-y. It anything it smells like playdoh. You do get a hint of banana after its been on for a while but it's not too strong and by then I'm washing it off any way. I use this every now and then for a pamper.

I've wanted to go to New York City for years and I wanted to visit Washington DC ever since seeing Night at the Museum. On a whim I booked my flights a couple of weeks ago and I'm off at the end of the month to join some friends for 9 days visiting the Big Apple and Obama's home. I love planning holidays and I have a few things that help me along the way that you might find useful too.

Guide Books



Any excuse to buy some new books, the first thing I did after buying the tickets was run down to my local bookshop and pick up some guide books. While I really like having good old google for tips and things to see from people who have already visited wherever I'm going nothing beats having a flick through a guide book and getting all excited about your upcoming trip. DK guide books are my favourite as they are packed with pictures They're great for making a list of places you'd like to see and then if needs be doing your own research. These ones also come with a removable map so you don't have to lug the guide book with you.



One Note



I LOVE MICROSOFT ONE NOTE. It's a totally underused tool in the Microsoft Office suite. Whenever I'm planning anything, a party, a holiday, this blog, I use One Note as a place to store my thoughts and findings. It's basically a computerised notebook that you can use however you want. For my trip I've made 3 main sections, one for over all plans, one for New York and one for Washington DC. So far the city sections have links for things I'd like to do and see, suggestions from friends and my hotel details. You can see some of the things I got in the main plans section, visa, flights and lists. The tick list part is my favourite bit of One Note. It's available online and as a computer program and mobile app. Ultimately the computer version is the best but they all sync together so I'll have all my information with me on my phone and backed up on the internet.


Google Hotels


This tip was something on only discovered the other day. When you type an area into Google Maps it gives you the option to search for nearby hotels. You can then enter in your dates and it gives you prices on the map for each hotel. Obviously you can then hunt around using your own comparison websites to make sure you're getting a good price but it's a great tool to find out what the cheapest hotels are in a specific area.