January Favourites!

BEAUTY

You could count the amount of times I wore foundation in January on one hand. The cold weather has been taking it's toll on my skin so in an attempt to get it back on track, I focused a lot more on caring for it as opposed to covering it up. At the very start of the month I took advantage of the sales and treated myself to some Liz Earle products while they were discounted. Already a huge fan of their Cleanse & Polish (review), I thought it was about time I expanded my experience of the brand! Both the Instant Boost Skin Tonic and the Gentle Face Exfoliator have been whipping my skin into shape. I intend to write a full review so look out for that soon!

As well as those, I decided I'd try my first product from La Roche-Posay. Serozinc is one of those raved about products that I always put off buying for some reason. However now I've been using it for about a month & a half, I can see why people get so excited about it; it reduces spots like nothing else! I think it deserves a full post of it's own so I'll save the details for that but basically, anytime I see a spot developing I spray a little of this onto the area and it's almost like the spot is stopped in it's tracks and it goes down without a fight. I will say that it can be a little drying but with my Liz Earle products there to tackle that, I think I've found a keeper!

Skincare aside, to go with my minimal makeup I found a lip combination that I've stuck to pretty much the whole month. I've been loving applying Max Factor's Colour Elixir lip liner in 'Mauve Moment' all over the lips for a bit of colour that's just deeper than that of my own. When I included it in this drugstore beauty haul, I remember getting a comment from someone saying they found it to be quite drying and yes, it can be. However adding some lip balm over the top solves that problem, resulting in a long lasting colour which is still comfortable to wear. It's not usually like me to stick to one lip colour for a whole month, I do love to chop & change but y'know what, it's nice to have a go-to that you can rely on!

FASHION

I didn't actually go January sale shopping for any clothes (until the very end of the month, so those things could possibly be in February's faves!) but I did get some amazing pyjama's for Christmas which I've kinda been obsessed with since the moment I laid eyes on them. Look at how cute the top is! So fluffy. So cosy. It's from F+F at Tesco and a matching sleeping mask came with it, something which has really been helping me get a better night's sleep too.

ETC.

Another Christmas gift, but if I remember correctly it was New Year's when we watched Big Hero 6 on DVD. When I watched the trailer I knew it was gonna be good but I wasn't expecting for it to become one of my favourite films! They got the balance between really funny moments as well as heart-breaking ones spot on and the attention to every tiny detail is astonishing too. If you haven't seen it I highly recommend you do - it's gonna be one of those ones I rewatch over and over!

I also want to include the book I've been reading, as well as reading in general in my favourites this month. Something that comes with having CFS/ME is a difficulty to concentrate and ever since I developed it, reading became a real challenge so I haven't been able to pick up many books and finish them. In January however, I managed to read The Difference A Day Makes by Carole Matthews and although it took a lot longer to get through than I'd have liked, I consider it real progress. Anyway, onto the book! For the first couple of chapters I was really unsure whether I liked it or not. That was until something hugely shocking happened (I'm obviously not gonna give away any spoilers but I will say that I had to look up from the book and take a second to process what just happened) and from that point onwards I was hooked. With my rekindled love of reading I might start writing book reviews here so let me know if you'd like to see one for this!