Writer's Block | Blogging

Whether you are writing blog posts or essays at university or doing presentations at work, everyone goes through a period of writer's block. It's that moment where you are feeling completely uninspired and you just don't know what do say.

I love writing, I always have and I've had my blog for nearly 3 years and it's only really this year that it has changed into a much more wordy being and actually just a lifestyle blog. Now I just kind of write about what I am up to and just my general thoughts which is great but it's quite hard to write about that stuff if you're just feeling a bit shit in all honesty. However, I'm quite fortunate in the sense I have always been pretty organised with my blog which means I have several drafts and only post once a week, as much as it breaks my heart to say that. This means, I can literally take a month off and no one would know because every Sunday something will pop up. 

In July, I just really struggled to write, no matter how many beautiful walks I went on, no matter how many delicious dinners and drinks I had, I just felt like I had no words to write.

So at the end of July, all of a sudden I only had two posts left and knew I needed to write something. Quite often people say you can't force things you just have to go at your own pace which to a point agree with, however another really big part of me believes sometimes you just need to suck it up and push through it which is kinda what I did. On Sunday I was looking around my room thinking about something to write when I thought why not a beauty post? Beauty was originally what I wrote about when I first started but this year I became bored of it but it's something that comes quite easily to me and I was trying out a new skincare product so I thought I would just try it. It kinda worked because it just got me into the natural rhythm of writing again.

I do think sometimes everyone needs a break so I never feel bad about taking time off my blog bit I definitely felt that recently it wasn't so much of a break as opposed to actually not wanting to write, ever! So I felt that teasing out the words a little bit was the best way to get around it.

I must admit that during my break I kinda wished I had a vlog channel or something because it would just be easier to ramble to a camera as opposed to sitting and writing but it's too time consuming and you need a lot of stuff so I considered snap chat but I'm still not sure.

What are your tips for when you feel uninspired?

Lancome Visionnaire Nuit | Beauty

Oh yes, today we are talking about wrinkles as much as it pains me to say I have got a bucket load of wrinkles and it's my birthday soon! Fab! I thought I would share with you my initial thoughts on the Lancome Visionnaire Nuit but let's just give you a bit of background first...

My skin has been through a lot, because I used to have horrific acne I'm quite badly scarred and this had aged my face quite badly so recently I have just felt that I need to do something about it. The thing is, I'm getting into a really good cleansing regime which is great and I'm loving the products I'm using on a daily and weekly basis so I didn't really want to change this so I thought I would opt for a night time product.

There is a pretty massive Sephora in Florence's main station Santa Maria Novella so this is where I go for all my make up and stuff which meant naturally I found myself lingering on the skincare isle. The are SUCH a vast range of anti wrinkle products and it's quite tricky trying to figure out what you need, I didn't need a cream for women who have like 60 year old skin but I wanted something a little more than a glorified moisturiser. After having a chat with the very lovely store assistant I ended up with the Lancome Visionnaire Nuit night cream/oil, now I don't want to talk about the price of which you can easily find online but right now I'm at a stage in my life where I just really want to invest in me, which sounds shallow I know, I know!

After I bought the product I actually read the reviews, which is a little backward I must admit but sometimes (I mean, always) I'm impulsive with purchases so I just went with my gut. The overall feed back was actually really good, a lot of people appear to have said the cream was amazing and people saw results instantly. Even on the box itself it says you can see results from the first night. So I smother myself in the stuff and go to bed expecting to wake up like Blake Lively...unfortunately that did not happen! I mean, it's a cream not a miracle worker. But the second day, I noticed my skin just looking overall smoother, really interesting.

Visionnaire Nuit is a really odd cream, it even comes with a little spoon! I kind of struggled to figure out how much to use so I watched a little tutorial online first. It's more of a gel that when you add to your hands it kind of melts into an oil, very smooth and luxurious! It's definitely a night cream because it doesn't really absorb into your skin very quickly you still feel it present for a while before you fall asleep but I don't mind it. The one thing I will say, which I have noticed other people picked up on as well is the scent. It's pretty bloody strong and a bit of a granny scent if you ask me. Some people said it gave them a headache or that they couldn't sleep, I think that's a tad dramatic but I found that after an hour or so the scent subsided, but it will rub off on your pillows so be aware. Thank god I sleep by myself at the moment is all I can say...sexy stuff!!!

I have been using it a week and already my forehead looks way smoother, we have to bear in mind that my wrinkles aren't deep just yet so Visionnaire Nuit is a perfect match for me. I have even found myself going out without make up at the weekends just because my skin looks fresher than what it did a couple of weeks ago. This cream won't work on my deep acne scars but for my expression lines on my forehead and around my eyes i'm actually pretty impressed so far. I will actually follow up with my thoughts on this cream after 4 weeks though because apparently that's how long it will take to see full results so keep and eye out.

What anti wrinkle cream do you love?

Gucci Dionysus Bag | Fashion

I know, it's bloody rare that I write anything fashion related but I guess I was just so excited at buying my first high end luxury purchase that I wanted to share it with you guys.

Now, if you follow a lot of fashion bloggers you will have seen the Gucci Dionysus bag, bloggers bloody love them. However most common ones have the traditional Gucci print on them and they are customisable which is pretty cool but I think it's the horseshoe tiger heads that make this bag immediately recognisable. When I first saw this bag with the Gucci print I was not interested at all, in fact I'm not that much of a Gucci fan I'm more into brands like Alexander McQueen or Saint Laurent, not that have the money to purchase from these brands frequently, but just to give you an idea on my preferences.

My opinions on the Dionysus started to change when I saw in it store, in person, there was just something about the bag that was powerful and yet classy, it's a very structured bag but very versatile. This being said I still wasn't sold on the print and it was fractionally too big! A few weeks after this, I discover this stunning blue suede version and literally fall in love. I definitely have a thing for blue bags, I think it's because I wear so much black I like the contrast of an accessory like this. I also noticed that this was slightly smaller than the standard Dionysus, height 4 cm less, length 2 cm less - so really not much in it but it is still technically the small Dionysus.

I was quite surprised that the chain on the bag was really light, it's a really good thing as a bag like this would be very hard to wear if it was heavy. I tend not to carry a lot around with me, I don't have a purse just a card holder and I tuck any cash I have into that and the change just stays loose so a bag like this is perfect you can actually fit a lot in it providing the items are slim, don't go thinking you'll be able to fit a make up bag in it, if you do it'll look bulky and distort the shape of the bag which would be a waste of money quite frankly. Speaking of which...money...I'm not going to discuss how much the bag cost me, I mean anyone could easily find the bag online so if you want you can find it out. Though I don't think you can find this particular size in this vintage blue colour on Gucci.com but other online multibrand sellers have it, this is a new release for FW16.

I think because it's suede it should wear quite well providing I look after it, the lining is actually a nubuck leather which is deliciously smooth to touch. I also really like the contrast of textures between the two materials, I think it really brings the piece together.

For me this bag is perfect, I go to a lot of industry events with work and as soon as I get the opportunity it will be out and about. I have been wanting a statement bag for years and at the age of nearly 27 I think I'm entitled to treat myself.

What was your first investment piece?

Work Travels | Lifestyle

If you have been following my blog a little while now or even if you follow me on Twitter you will notice that I travel a lot for work! I mean, 6 months into this year and I have been to 5 countries and 6 cities. I never really envisioned my life taking this sort of adventure but I can honestly say I love it.

Right from the start of the year I made sure I shared with you guys each new city I went to because it was something I personally would like to write about and kinda felt like most of you guys might like to read about.  Recently though I haven't written about my two last trips, LA and Madeira. I feel like these two trips were actually very hard to put in words what it was like because I actually didn't get a lot of opportunity to be a tourist and that's the catch when you travel for work, I'm still very much working.

When we went to LA I was told quite last minute but I was so excited I mean, LA everyone knows where it is and everyone wants to go there at some point in their lives. The thing was with this trip though was that we landed on Thursday and flew home on Monday, it was basically a long weekend, which is a 13 hour flight, plus a little extra because there are no direct flights from Florence, it's pretty exhausting. My company was there for an event on Saturday, but we still had to set up our booth on Friday. We did get some free time but the thing with downtown LA is, it isn't all that safe, you have to get Ubers everywhere and for me I prefer to walk. On Monday before heading the airport we had to sort out shipping of the items to go back to Italy which is always a bit of a headache. I did like LA but I just didn't have enough material to write a post.

Moving onto Madeira, this was a bit of an odd one, whilst it was definitely for work it was also a sort of get away that our partner wanted to do for us, which was lovely but can you imagine going up a mountain side whilst checking your phone for emails? On the one hand breathtakingly beautiful but on the other hand not very relaxing. I definitely got a lot more down time than in LA because I stayed and extra day and the whole set up was a little different but I got a little lonely! I stayed out there for an extra 2 nights which isn't long at all but when you are by yourself it's a little boring plus the average age of Madeira is like 55 so the night life isn't exactly buzzing.

I am so lucky to be able to visit all these wonderful places but sometimes I do miss being a tourist and seeing a city from a different perspective.

Do you travel for work?