Being lame...

Hello beauties!

I just wanna check in and say hello to you lovelies! I want to apologise for being lame recently and being slack on my posts but I have to be honest and own up! I've been lacking inspiration! So many things have been rushing through my head, so much to do and so little time that the inspiration for my posts seems to have hit a road block and everything I've been working on hasn't come out very well!

But after having put a few things in line and getting some of my ducks in a row I will be back on form and will be getting back into a productive flow and more posts will follow.

I also want to take this time to thank all of my followers, I love you all and love to hear what you think of my posts.

Take care everyone and stay productive!

My Home-Made Roasties

Hello lovely people,

So one of my New Year's resolutions was to cook more and this weekend I decided to put that into action by making a lovely home-made roast dinner! Not a typical roast dinner with yorkshire pudding etc. but I cooked a lovely pork joint and decided to make some roast potatoes and roasted carrots to go with it.

I was very impressed with how they turned out and I wanted to share them with you.  I always thought it was easier to throw a bag of Aunt Bessie's roast potatoes in the oven to cook, but it was so easy and they were so tasty, I couldn't believe it!

For the carrots, peel them, wash them and cut them into bite-sized pieces.  Put them on a baking tray (I drizzled some olive oil onto the baking tray before putting the carrots on), to try and reduce the amount of calories I was adding, I sprayed Fry Light (1kcal cooking spray) on top of the carrots, you can use olive oil if you want but I used this and it tasted great. I then sprinkled some Thyme on top and they were ready for the oven.  

I put the carrots in the over at 180 C for about 40 mins

For the Potatoes, I peeled, wash and cut them into quarters. I then part boiled the potatoes for 10-15 minutes. Once drained, I carried out the same steps as with the carrots and drizzled olive oil on the pan, then added the potatoes, sprayed with Fry Light 1kcal spray and sprinkled with Thyme.  These then went into the oven with the carrots for approximately 40 minutes.

Obviously, this timing is an estimate so if you are trying this yourself make sure you keep an eye on them and make sure you check them regularly. Now I wouldn't ever say I have good skills in the kitchen but I have to say these tasted great, the roast potatoes were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

Do you have any good tricks to make great roast potatoes?

Model Own Beetlejuice Collection in Pinky Brown

Hey beauties,

I just had to share with you my new favourite nail varnish colour, this is part of the Models Own Beetlejuice Collection and is the colour Pinky Brown. 

I love this colour, it is dark enough to be great for the winter months but has a splash of colour which makes it fun and playful.

The polish has a mainly red colour to it but has splashes of pink, brown, gold and purple. Here I have applied two coats and it gives a really good coverage. 

I just love Models Own nail varnishes and I love this colour and the Beetlejuice Collection.

Looking back on Christmas

Hello lovelies,

I can't believe its the second week of January already! It seems like only yesterday I was wrapping Christmas presents and now its all over and its back to the real world!

My family have a great tradition, where we rent a cottage somewhere and pack everything up for a week and spend the whole of Christmas together, which is so nice as we get to spend quality time together and my nan gets to look after us all! The only down side this year, was that there was no wifi! It felt like we were cut off from the world as there was very little phone signal too, which is why my blogging schedule has gone awry. But its back to normality now and I'm trying to get things back on track.

It's crazy how quickly the holidays come and go so quickly, I hope you all had as a great a time as I did! 

My Aunt just sent me a copy of the photo she took of me while I was stuffing the turkey! So I thought I would share it with you. This was my first time cooking a bird or anything like that so its quite nice to have a photo to document it!

My Beauty Fix: Flaky Lips

Hi guys,

So for the next problem for My Beauty Fix, I wanted to tackle flaky lips. Now I'm sure we've all had this at some time or another, but if you are anything like me then as soon as the weather changes and it gets cold, your lips just act like a snake and want to shed, shed, shed! Gross I know but it's just natural and means that you have to take care of your lips more.

Did you know, your lips contain very few oil glands and no sweat glands which means they don't produce the natural oils the rest of your skin does. Your lips lose moisture 3 times faster than the skin on your cheeks. This is why it is very important to take care of your lips.

Fix 1: To tackle dry, flaky lips you can use products like Mary Kay's Satin Lips set (which is an exfoliating mask and balm set) or Lush's Lip Scrubs which contain exfoliating beads that gently buff away the dead skin cells leaving you with smooth, soft lips.  These can be used daily, weekly, or monthly depending on how flaky your lips get, just make sure you don't over exfoliate!

Fix 2: if you don't like the idea of using these sort of products on your lips, then that's ok you can try using a clean toothbrush to gently rub along the lips (try to use upward, circular motions) and this will help buff away the dead skin cells. Just be sure to clean the brush afterwards and keep it separate from your normal toothbrushes so they don't get mixed up.

Fix 3: (or perhaps this should be 1.2) if you don't want to buy new products to exfoliate your lips, then you can try these homemade options I found on Pinterest,

Homemade Lip Scrub Recipes
DIY Lip Scrub
DIY: Grapefruit sugar lip scrub

Once you have chosen your fix and you now have silky smooth lips, just remember to keep your lips moisturised and protected from the cold. For an everyday lip balm, I really recommend Blistex's Daily Lip Conditioner, Carmex Lip Balm or The Burts Bee's range. For really chapped and suffering lips, try Elizabeth Arden's 8 hour cream (the original one, which I keep by my bed as its great for so many things) or they do a specific 8 Hour Cream Lip Protectant.  

If you would like to see more on Mary Kay's Satin Lips set, take a peek at my how-to video,

Thank you for stopping by for My Beauty Fix, if you are having any problems with your beauty regime that you think I may be able to help with then please leave me a comment with your problem or email me at dani@daniduffymakeup.co.uk quoting 'Beauty Fix' in the subject and I will do everything I can to find you a solution!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone! Welcome to 2013 and I can feel that it is going to be a great year!

First of all I would like to wish everyone all the health and happiness possible for 2013 and to say thank you to all of my lovely followers for sticking with me. It feels as though 2012 has been a tough year for many (myself included) but I see a lot of positivity surrounding the start of this year and I know it is going to be a good one.

I'm going to try not to make this a soppy post, but I have had such an amazing response to my blog over the last few months that am I really starting to feel at home with my writing and I absolutely adore the community aspect of blogging that gives me such a smile every time I see a commented posted on my blog or read the amazing posts written by others and I just can't wait for that to grow throughout 2013!

Now as its the start of a new year, the first question you're usually asked is of you have any resolutions? I usually give myself lots of resolutions but never follow them through, but this time I am going to try and make a change!

So what are my resolutions you ask? Well it starts with the usual eat and drink less, exercise more, lose weight and get fit an healthy (but no matter how many times I take up this resolution it's always the hardest one to stick to). My main ones I desperately will work to keep are to remain positive and work harder than ever (if so I'm sure good things will follow), in the past year I have felt like I'm stuck out in the ocean all by my self, trying to hold on but I know that will change this year. To put lots of effort in for true friends, I have met some amazing people in the past year that are so important to me that I want to build those friendships web more. Be creative, even if it doesn't work it's always good to try new things and to be happy! My life feels so fluid (not sure if its the right word, but it feels right) at the moment and nothing stands still so I want to do and feel as much as I possibly can to keep my life happy and moving forward!

Now that I have told you all this, I have to stick to it or ill have you all to answer to!

Happy New Year to all and I can't wait to get to know you better!

What are your New Year resolutions?