Red walls, bare legs and carbs

Hello Friends

This year Winter isn't here to play games with us, I tried to put up a good fight like I did last year but your girl is cold y'all. I had to whip out my tights, electric blanket and sweaters this last week. I am even gearing up to buy a gas heater this weekend because I refuse to suffer in the cold and the way my bank account is set up, I am not trying to pay ridiculous electricity bills either. With that said... its still not boots weather though! 

I have been trying to take stock of this year to map out my progress on some of the goals I set out to achieve over the course of the year. Some are going great, some aren't quite where I would have hoped and others have completely crashed and burned. Apparently thats called balance! I will share with you an example of a goal that is on track for the most part and another that is a serious work in progress. Here goes, one of my annual goals is to push myself when it comes to staying fit and active. In Summer... because everything is easier and better in Summer... I followed a very strict yoga practice and I had biweekly cross training workout sessions with a personal trainer at the gym. Yay me! 

I have been struggling a bit over the last few weeks and my daily disposition has been to stay in bed living on cookies, pasta and bread. For most of of the year I was all about waking up at the crack of dawn, five days a week to go and train and now I want to curl up in the foetal position and rock myself back to sleep whenever my alarm goes off signaling me to get my butt off to gym. This too shall pass, besides cookies and pasta must be good for the soul. In the spirit of not beating myself up too much I am riding this wave with as little guilt as possible. Yay me once again! Plus I have been getting back into running as I prefer running in the colder months, so its all positive on this one.

One of my other 2017 and beyond goals was to invest in my skin and to not solely rely on the "black don't crack theory". In the beginning of the year I bought a whole new range of skincare products, new makeup geared to take care of what I had self-diagnosed as oily skin and I even visited a dermatologist. So far its all been a trial and error scenario and we are very much in the error stage. Let's just say a very popular (read expensive) skincare brand has not worked very well for me. I have very sensitive skin which requires me to be conscious of my diet, water intake and monthly cycle. Its a lot for me to remember and I haven't been great at it. As a result my skin is not looking great. I swear I am having flashbacks to puberty, yikes!

I am certainly not giving up though, in fact I have an upcoming appointment with my dermatologist. I am low-key hoping she will hook me up with some good drugs that will make this all go away. I must say I have learned so much about skincare, different skin types and that all the advice you read on the internet is not a one size fits all (Duh Belinda!). While I fix my face I just want to say how grateful I am for makeup with good coverage. Also if you are looking to enhance your skincare regimen and you want to go the dermatologist route, hold off on buying anything until you have actually had your consultation, you may save a few coins unlike yours truly.      

About this look, I wanted to make the most of the last few weeks of "bare legs" weather and I couldn't resist the print on this dress or the pleat detail. I also tamed the afro for this look even if this hairstyle only lasted a week. Here are the details:

Dress  -  Only (Superbalist) 

Shoes  -  Europa Art Shoes

Earrings  -  Lovisa

I will keep you updated on how my fitness and skincare plans go over the next few months, even if at that stage I am looking far from fleeky! For those of you, like me, who are about taking stock of your life, here is hoping you are on track with your goals. Hit me up to share your goals, trial and error phases and crash and burn moments.  

Xoxo

B