It may not feel like Spring is approaching just yet, it's pouring rain and I feel sorry for any lambs being born into the alphabetical storm phenom-on we have been enduring. But... one thing we can enjoy is the fabulous Spring trends that hit the Catwalks last year and now the high streets stores are heaving with their own beautiful versions that I want to spend all my wages on! 

Here are some of the top looks for this season:

Cut-out couture:
Skirt slits were all the rage at London Fashion Week, with many designers jumping on the trend and showing off a bit (well, a lot) of leg. Topshop, Pringle and Issa all had a significant amount of cut-outs in their collections, from keyhole details at the waist to  dramatic split skirts. Slits ranged from the demure, knee-length cuts to ones that reached the hip-bone, so it seems that daring cut-outs will be pretty big this season.

One of my favourite websites who currently do this trend really well is AQ/AQ - they design dresses and clothes for all occasions and I just ordered this dress for a wedding and it fits so amazing I can't wait to wear it! 

Gigi Hadid starred in Couture Fashion Week by walking at the Versace show in this fabulous cut out creation

The cut out cross-front dress I just purchased from www.aqaq.com/

Fashion throwbacks:
From 1970's suede and fringe (Marc Jacobs and Calvin Klein) to 1980's style puffy sleeves and ruffles (Michael Kors, Miu Miu, Roberto Cavalli) to 1990's Kate Moss style bomber jackets, wellies and bedroom chic (Alexander Wang, Saint Laurent and Chloe), SS16 is largely influenced by fashion throwbacks. 

Ruffles, Boho 90s Chic and Fringe all dominated the Catwalk and now the high street stores have created their own interpretations for SS16 

Olivia Palermo just always seems to get it right - she absolutely owns the suede and fringe trend here 

River Island has a gorgeous suede collection at the moment - shop the trend

Sea chic and stripes 

The nautical look is a trend that has been around for a long time and shows no signs of dating any time soon. It is probably one of the most wearable and chic fashion trends and the simple formula of blue, white and stripes is one we can all embrace. Add a pop of red to the outfit and your maritime look is complete. 

Ralph Lauren always perfects the nautical stripes on the catwalk 

                                 

1. Topshop: Red suede court shoes, stripe top and leather jacket
2. Oasis: Striped skinny rib polo neck & peg leg trousers and Striped Shirttails Top
3. River Island: Striped Top and bag - Shop the trend                                        

Gingham
Victoria Beckham and Miu Miu reintroduced Gingham to the SS16 catwalk, making picnic chic stylish once again. There is something really girly about this trend and it is the perfect summer print. Go full on square with a gingham dress, or remain understated with a pop of the design on a blouse or a pair of trousers.  

Victoria Beckham's SS16 Gingham Collection

Asos have a wide selection of gingham dresses, like this one from Jack Wills
Shop the collection here

Gingham trousers from Zara - Shop here

Girly prints

While winter is all about rich tones and fabrics, S/S is an opportunity to liven up your wardrobe with brighter colours and playful prints. From flirty floral to chic checks, prints are set to make a massive comeback again this season. 

Victoria Beckham showed a collection full of vibrant prints in her SS16 Show

Shop girly prints in Warehouse

Mirror Image:

High shine fabrics are always a spring/summer favourite, but for SS16 the trend is more experimental than ever before. From sweaters with broken mirror pieces (JW Anderson) to ruched foil minidresses (Louis Vuitton) this is definitely a trend to watch this season. 

Metallic Pleat skirt from Topshop

Warehouse Premium Metallic Leather Skirt - reduced to €59.15 on asos

                       

My mini fashionista Morgan! I am actually 💞taking style inspiration from my fabulous 6 year old! She's wearing Next, River Island and Custom Vintage Dublin. I just love shopping for girls!X

I always used to hear this phrase but didn't quite get what it meant, until now... In September 2016 I will wave goodbye to my twenties, the decade that brought me a Masters Degree, a beautiful daughter, some amazing jobs, friends for life, and more fashion disasters than I care to think about (especially the earlier 20s) and I am starting to realise that this might not be such a bad thing. Older? Definitely! Wiser? I think I'm getting there! The older we get the quicker time seems to fly by and before we know it another year has passed. I am definitely a regular culprit of being that person in work on a Wednesday saying, ‘Thank God it’s nearly the weekend.’ It's like you wish the days by every week just to get to the weekend, or wish the months by to get to your next holiday or trip away, when in fact by doing this, it’s actually your life that you are wishing away! 

'I need to go there', 'I have to do that', I constantly feel the need to have plans, my life is about filling my diary as much as humanly possible and not leaving enough time for myself to sit back and think about what I actually want to do. I am so torn between thinking ‘Life is short so do what you enjoy,’ and ‘You have to work to survive and live comfortably!' I think this is a regular occurrence with many people. 

I am obsessed with lists, my days consist of lists from start to finish from the moment I get to work until the moment I get to bed, everything has been planned and incorporated into some kind of list. Sometimes it's actually pretty exhausting when you think about it, because the list never ends, once you take something off another thing gets added to it!

1. Work 
2. Go to the gym 
3. Have a cup of tea
4. Relax
5. Talk to my boyfriend for a few minutes

If this sounds like you then do me a favour and STOP IT! Sit back and think about where you want to be in 5 years time and create a bigger picture other than the to do list on your iPhone Notes (yes this is me!) on what you need to do over the next few days. 

I think where this saying 'Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans' comes from is that we get so caught up in the little things every day such as making plans and lists that we actually forget our purpose and push our dreams to one side. Everything up until our early 20s is all planned for us - go to preschool, go to primary school, go to secondary school, go to university, get a job... we actually have a list created for us by our parents before we are even able to talk! 

Your twenties are a funny decade, you are still growing and finding out about yourself and I have definitely spent most of them still figuring out who or what I want to be! One thing I have realised in the last few months is that you should always follow your dreams. You don't want to look back in 20 years and feel like it's too late to succeed at what you really wanted when you were younger. Whether it was to write a book, travel the world, or jump from a plane. We all have different ideas of who we want to be or what we want from life and only we can measure our own idea of success. 

I follow a blog called Marc and Angel Hack Life, by two very wise men. They totally inspire me and I feel sometimes that everything they write is meant just for me. Now that is a talent in itself! Last week I received an email from them entitled: 7 Things You Really Need to Stop Putting Yourself Through,and the following point really jumped out at me:

Stop attaching yourself to what’s not meant to be. – We all have this idea in our heads of how things are supposed to be, but sadly this is why we end up disappointed.  Expect less.  Enjoy more.  Sometimes life doesn’t give you what you WANT because you NEED something else.  And what you need often comes when you’re not looking for it.  When it’s meant to be, it will be.

It’s an annual cliché, you’re broke, your clothes are tighter and you want to crawl back under the duvet at any opportunity, yep it’s our old reliable friend January.

As we approach Blue Monday (18^th January) it is so important to not get sucked into the misery and depression that it can bring, especially when the weather is so bad and payday seems so far away. January is the Monday of months and if it had a face it would be downright ugly but we need to smack it in its horrible face and beat those start-of-year blues!

Here are some top things to do that I find helps to beat the January blues:

1.  Eat well and exercise:

All the over-indulgence during the festive period can leave us feeling bloated and lethargic. By making small changes to your diet and exercising more frequently, not only does your body look and feel better, but it also does wonders for your mind. 

           

      2. Go Dry for January:

It is a well-known fact that alcohol is a depressant, and it can sometimes be the main contributor to our mood in January. There is so much drink consumed throughout December that it can be no harm in giving your body a break in January and you might actually start to feel like a normal human being again!

3. Take advantage of the January Sales:

Buy yourself something nice, even if it’s only small, there is nothing like a good online bargain or a little trip to Penneys to lift the mood.

My €25 January Penneys Haul 

4.  Set realistic goals:

Be patient and know that you are moving towards where you want to be. Write down all your achievements from last year and make a plan of small goals you want to achieve this year. By setting small, realistic goals throughout the year, it keeps us more motivated as we have more chance of achieving them.

5. Always have something to look forward to:

Plan a sun holiday or weekend break with your partner or friends, as nothing quite lifts the mood more than having a trip away to look forward to.  Even if you can’t afford to pay for it all now, just by putting the plans together and setting aside money each month it will keep you positive on days when you’re feeling down.

6. Spend some quality time with friends:

Sometimes the greatest therapy any girl can have comes from spending time with her friends. There is nothing more uplifting when you are in a bad mood than a belly-aching giggle with the girls. Whether you go to the cinema, for a walk or just call over for a cuppa, make sure to spend quality time with your friends this month and it won’t seem quite so blue.

      7. De-clutter:

There is actually no better feeling than decluttering in January. Last year I completely emptied my wardrobes - washed everything I wanted to keep and bagged everything I was throwing out or giving to charity. This can take some time but the satisfaction you get from it is amazing! If you haven’t worn it in 12 months or if it no longer fits, get rid! I find that I forget half the things I own when my wardrobe is messy so by clearing out you might piece some fabulous new outfits together.

8. Create a positivity jar:

I read about doing something like this in December and I just love the idea. This January, buy an empty jar and fill it with notes about good things that happen, it can be once a week or once a day. Then on New Year’s Eve 2016 open the jar and read all the amazing things that happened during the year.

9. Take a break from Social Media:

I think that Social Media should come with an anxiety warning. If anything can get you down it’s seeing how amazing everyone else’s lives seem, I lost count the amount of people I saw on Snapchat and Facebook in Thailand this January. But just remember, Social Media has a rose tinted glass, nobody posts selfies on Instagram of them looking horrible. If this does make you feel bad about yourself, take a break for a few weeks, you can survive this long without seeing what your friend’s cousin ate for brunch.

                                                                          

10.   Pamper yourself:

Book a spa day for you and your friends for the end of the month and you can celebrate being finished with January for another year with a massage and end the dry spell with a glass of Prosecco!

It's January, we're all feeling a little tired and like we're carrying some extra holiday weight. So what better to cheer us up than some wonderful beauty products!

Below I have reviewed three of my January beauty must-haves...

1.       Blank Canvas Cosmetics Master Series Palette One

So it is safe to say that I am slightly obsessed with the Blank Canvas Master palette and like I am with my hair, I am also very fussy when it comes to eyeshadow. Having worked for MAC for a number of years I was totally loyal and never found a brand whose eyeshadow could quite meet the same standard in my (masterfully over-blended) eyes!

Then I became a massive fan of Inglot shadows (I skipped the Urban Decay trend, not convinced) as I found they blend in a similar way to MAC. That was until I got my hands on this clever little number.

With a total of 12 shadows (11 x matte and 1 x shimmer) a mirror and an amazing blending brush, this is literally the only item you need to create the perfect smoky eye. What I love about it is the colours bring you from day to night, and not only are they easy to blend but the colour payoff is amazing.

I like to use Brazen and Strut in the crease with Core on the lid for a natural daytime look. Then to smoke it up at night I bring in Downtown and Cocoa deeper into the crease and around the edge of the eyes. Goddess (the shimmer shadow) is perfect on the lid, inner corner of the eyes and under the brow bone.

I finished the below look off with some Double Trouble Lashes from Penneys!

For €35 on www.blankcosmetics.ie this palette is every girl’s makeup case must-have item.

Face: MAC Prolongwear Foundation NC37, Inglot HD Powder, MAC Harmony to contour and
MAC Blush
Eyes: Blank Canvas Master Palette, Inglot Gel Liner, Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara
and Penneys Double Trouble lashes

2.        Viviscal Gorgeous Growth – Densifying Shampoo and Conditioner

I am quite fussy when it comes to my hair, which you have to be when you have a mop of curls like I do. I have tried and tested nearly every haircare brand on the market over the years and many shampoos and conditioners either leave my hair dry, frizzy or just limp.

Having curly hair is a full time job! But Viviscal 
leaves it feeling amazing. This was after 
my first time using it with a small amount of Bedhead styling 
creme

Because of this, I was very excited to try Viviscal’s new densifying range, not just because it has such a good reputation when it comes to haircare, but also because the packaging just looks so beautiful!

Blended with biotin, keratin and zinc to promote healthy looking hair growth (probably the reason I need to get my roots done again so soon!) this range promises to give you naturally thicker, fuller and gorgeous hair.

The shampoo lathers really well so you only need a tiny amount and the conditioner leaves your hair incredibly soft and shiny. Because it is ‘densifying’, it really thickens the hair after one use and as an added bonus the botanical infused fragrance makes it smell amazing.

At a €11.95 it is really affordable so this will most definitely be a repeat purchase from me, especially as you only need a small amount for it to work.

        3.         Oil of Olay Anti-Ageing Day Cream + Serum

This is definitely a firm favourite in my daily beauty regime and I usually apply it in the morning before my makeup. I find this 2 in 1 cream + serum not only instantly hydrates the skin, but leaves it looking and feeling smoother after one use.

The 2-in-1 formula combines an anti-wrinkle cream with a firming serum, meaning it plumps skin with intense moisture and targets the appearance of wrinkles.

It spreads so well that you only need a pea sized amount and it smells amazing! I am a big fan of Oil of Olay as not only is it affordable, but along with Ponds, it was probably the only cream that our mothers and grandmothers used for years and it seemed to work for them!

There also seems to be really good offers on this cream in most of the Supermarkets, Tesco are currently offering buy one get one free and Dunnes usually have them on a half price offer. 

A New Me... Or Maybe Not

'A New Year... A New Me...' Sound familiar? Every year we do the same thing, over indulge at Christmas in food, alcohol and general merry-ness. By December 27th, the merry feeling is replaced with something a little darker, a feeling of guilt and regret. We ate too much food, we didn't achieve half of our New Year Resolutions that we set last January 1st, and the feeling that we are still not quite the person we had hoped to be by December 31st.

I know this feeling so well, because it is something I experience every year, and it never gets easier. I am the queen of procrastination, 'I will start it again tomorrow, I will give that up on Monday. I will start that task after I make a cup of coffee, ah sure no point starting now I only have an hour left of work..' The list goes on. I am so aware of my faults and I try every day to improve on these in the hope to make myself a better person. I absolutely love Christmas, nothing makes me happier than celebrating with my closest friends and family, I love giving presents and decorations get me so excited that my house looks like Santa's Grotto. But for some reason, by Stephen's Day every bad thing I have said and done during the year comes crashing on top of me, a night I drank too much, a time I could have been nicer to someone, or something I still haven't achieved... all of a sudden I feel like I am the worst person in the world. It is horrific how hard you can be on yourself sometimes, in fact I don't think that anyone can be harder on you than you are on yourself. 

Don't get me wrong, it's not all doom and gloom, by the 28th December I have picked myself up and am back to being my normal happy person again. But it doesn't mean that I have forgotten what I have thought about. I try to turn those negative thoughts into a positive and create small resolutions in my head that I feel will help me to be a better person day by day. It's all about the small steps. I think most of the time it is just the fear, too much drinking in December that by the end of Christmas Day you are so consumed it seems this is what it's going to be  like for the rest of your life!

fear

fɪə/

noun

1. 1.

   an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm.

   "I cowered in fear as bullets whizzed past"

   synonyms:

   terror, fright, fearfulness, horror, alarm, panic, agitation, trepidation,dread, consternation, dismay, distress

Fear: When you find your false lashes in
your hair the morning after the
night before 

I used to have no problem going
for a run after a night out when I was 21

Set Realistic Goals:

What I do believe to be a more successful way of entering the New Year is to set yourself small goals. Don't create unrealistic expectations for yourself, because if you don't achieve them you will feel like you failed. At the start of 2015 I set myself small milestones in my diary - one being I wanted a new job, by the end of April, I had achieved this. I also set myself fitness and financial goals, and although there were some setbacks, by taking small steps I think you create a more sustainable future.

My Fitness Goals: 

I have always exercised, it has just been part of my routine. I grew up dancing and always enjoyed the feeling I get from working out, ok well not always! I have gone through phases of being really dedicated and then falling off the bandwagon. But since the summer, I really feel like I have found something I love so much and I haven't felt this comfortable in my own skin for a long time. It's not that I have lost loads of weight, because I haven't and that's not why I do it. I love the way it makes me feel and although like most women I would still love to be a bit skinnier or a bit more toned, I am nowhere near as strict on my diet as I have been in the past. But more than that, there is a lot to be said for not wanting to make excuses, because I used to be the queen of them!

I have never had a trainer so encouraging before that I actually hate to miss class because like a parent, I feel he will be disappointed in me! But also, I set myself some fitness goals to achieve before the end of the year - one was to hit 100kg in my deadlifts and the other was to do free handstands and handstand pressups. I didn't quite hit the 100kg but I did get 90kg  and I was chuffed with this, for me this was an achievement. My second goal I hit with weeks to go and now I just want to be upside down all the time!

For some people this might not be a big deal but for me it most certainly is, because in September I could barely kick into one and now I am not only doing pressups in a handstand against the wall but I can actually kick into one in the middle of the room and hold it!

This is the first time I have ever gone in to train between Christmas and New Year, because I actually wanted to! For me it is all about moderation, train hard, play hard because life is too short to miss out on pizza and chocolate!

The moral of the story? Anything is possible with a bit of dedication and stubbornness. Set your mind to something and you will achieve.  

Goals to be a better person:

One of my main goals for next year is to quit the procrastination and make it happen today. I stopped writing for a while but when someone asks me what makes me happy in a professional sense, I will always say it is fashion and writing. When I am writing I get a feeling I cant describe and I am so blessed to have found it. I know it is so easy to make excuses, 'I don't have time, I have to much on at the moment.' But I am the first person to say you will always make the time for people and things you care about. So in the words of Nike, Just Do It.

But most of all what I have realised over Christmas is how important it is and how much I love just spending quality time with my family. There is actually no better feeling than curling on the couch or just hanging out with the people you really love, that is what happiness is to me. So I have decided a personal goal for me to learn to say NO. I am too much of a yes person sometimes which means that my time is never my own and not only do I suffer but so does my family as you feel like you nearly have to set aside a date for 'quality time' Yes I think I might have a few hours free Saturday week for that! I think we get to spend so much time with our families over Christmas that we realise it really is the little things in life which are important. I always advise other people that they need to be more selfish, well I think that it's about time I take my own advice! Don't let people mistake your kindness for weakness, they will only respect you more if you learn to say no.

I spend my professional career talking to people about how to be 'more strategic' yet when I look at my personal life I realise I don't quite have my own strategy figured out yet. I know what I want but sometimes the journey is the toughest part. Like standing in a London underground station looking at the lines on a map and not having a clue how the hell you are going to actually reach your required tube station, except the end destination is actually your own success or happiness. 

              

I realised more than ever what is most important this Christmas

I have learned a lot about myself this year and I know that I still have a lot of learning to do. I have made the mistakes but I take something from each one everytime. 

When the clock strikes 12 tonight just remember, that New Year's Eve is about hope, forgiveness, fresh starts, and also it's one hell of a party! Thanks for all your support this year and let's make 2016 the best yet!

In 2016 - Eat the food, drink the drink and take all the selfies you want!!!!