my fifteen minute make-up routine each morning!

During the winter, I usually have to get ready in the dark and for this reason, I try and keep my look as simple as possible to prevent over-egging my eyes or cheeks. Because time is also limited before I have to leave the house and because I try and sleep as much as possible, I'm trying to keep my routine as minimalistic and with as few steps as possible. I never used to bother much with make-up but over the last year or so, I've done to appreciate how much better (and healthier) I look with it on.

My first photo shows the products I used about six months ago.

From L to R: Shu Uemura eyelash curlers, Tony Moly Panda's Dream Volume Mascara, Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow Promade, Pixi Clear Brow Gel, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Eden, Too Cool for School lip crayon, Missha BB Cream, Urban Decay Naked Ultimate Basics, Nars blusher, Bobbi Brown lip tint and NYX's Matte Finish Spray.

Primers are kind of an essential for my oily lids so I try and use a lid primer if at all possible. This one from Urban Decay was something that didn't work for my sister so she gave it to me. I'm more of a matte eyeshadow girl so this Urban Decay palette is perfect for me. I like an understated look during the day so the shades in this palette are perfect for that.

Being oriental, my eyelashes are straight and not the longest so eyelash curlers are a bit of an essential for me. At least, I thought it was (more on that later).

This Missha BB cream is a cult favourite among those who use BB creams and I like its light, dewy coverage that evens out skin tone. Western BB creams just don't compare.

I'm also quite pale so I need blusher to make myself look more healthy so that's one step that I knew had to be included.

To finish off my look, I always have a tube of lip balm knocking about. There's always a tinted one in my handbag, one in my coat pocket, one on my desk, one in the car, etc. You name it, I probably have one in there. My favourite of all time is the Bobbi Brown lip tint which adds just the right amount of pink to my lips without looking too overdone.

A lot has changed since and this is now my go-to look:

From top L, clockwise: Mac Pro Longwear Paint Pot, The Body Shop eyeshadow, Estee Lauder Double Wear concealer, Estee Lauder Double Wear eyeliner, Hourglass Ambient Light Blush, Mamonde Creamy Lip Tint, Tony Moly Panda's Dream Volume Mascara, Anastasia Beverly Hills in Dip Brow Promade, Pur 4-in-1 Pressed Mineral Make-Up.

I start off with a light mineral powder base for a light coverage. This one from Pur is surprisingly good - it is buidable but I usually only do one light sweep across the cheeks, nose and chin and I'm good to go. This is my first foray into powder and it actually offers surprisingly good coverage. Excuse the extremely bling packaging; it was on sale at Beauty Bay as it was a 10 year anniversary edition. Concealer is used from time to time for when blemishes come up or if there are imperfections to cover. I think I use it about once a week on average (if that?). 

The Mac Pro Longwear Pot in Painterly is ideal as a base for my lids and as a nude colour too. Sometimes, I add on The Body Shop's Colour Crush in Caramel Flirt which adds a little shimmer. An eyeliner adds the illusion of depth to my lashes and this, coupled with my mascara, meant I could forego the use of an eyelash curler if I was really pushed for time. This sounds weird, I know, but I can apply this eyeliner in the matter of seconds and I really like how it looks.

Finally, a light blush makes me looks more awake and healthy - this Hourglass offering in Dim Infusion offers just the right amount of colour for me - and the Mamonde Creamy Lip Tint is moisturising and finishes off a simple look nicely.

I'm still trying to taper it down further so maybe I'll blog again in a few months' time if I achieve that :) What's your daily go-to look?

book review: do no harm by henry marsh

On the whole, I try not to read too many 'medic books' but I borrowed Do No Harm by Mr Henry Marsh from my friend after hearing rave reviews about it.

Do No Harm is a memoir of Mr Marsh's time, mainly as a consultant neurosurgeon. Each chapter follows at least one case, through which a learning point often manifests itself - be it that the operation should never have proceeded or that the National Health Service (NHS) is becoming more and more fractured.

Neurosurgery is a field that can seem daunting to those not in the medical field. Mr Marsh does a good job of simplifying things down as much as possible without omitting the parts of a medical journey that every healthcare worker goes through (such as the emotions and perpetual internal question of 'am I doing the right thing?'). It was interesting to read about the cases that he remembers the most and why, as I'm sure he'll have done more than several hundred cases throughout his whole career! Having spent several days at a neuro-disability hospital on placement earlier on in medical school, it brought back some memories and feelings of my own. Even now, I'm a strong advocate of the best outcome for the patient and if this means doing 'nothing', then that's fine. And that's the message I got from a few of the cases he discusses.

Speckled within the book, there are a few sprinklings of his private life and how they were affected by his career and vice versa.

Overall, this book was brilliantly written and I really like the way he's made each chapter about a patient (or two) - a great way to remind us that patients are also individuals and not just a hospital/NHS number. A solid 9/10 from me, especially because I didn't expect to like it (as I'm not a big fan of what I call 'medic books'!).

my week #255

This was my week in the Intensive Care Unit and I enjoyed it a lot more than I anticipated. This is the first placement where I've really felt at home and could even see myself doing for decades to come. There has been plenty of drama (good and bad) and it is nice to know that my understanding of human physiology isn't as bad as initially thought.

You might have seen that I talked about an event that happened on Wednesday morning. A patient had a cardiac arrest and it was my first one ever. The week previously, I'd had Immediate Life Support (ILS) training and in my first year, Basic Life Support training but nothing could have prepared me for the events of that day. At the time, I was calm but I remember my brain just thinking 'concentrate on chest compressions as that's all I can do as a student' and 'please come back' to the patient. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is seriously traumatic for both patient and healthcare personnel and was completely different to the ILS training day. After a good sleep on Wednesday night, I woke up feeling absolutely fine on Thursday but this was all because my mum was the one I 'debriefed' to. She also works in healthcare so she understood and just listened to me spill everything that was in my mind. All I'll say now is that I hope the patient is in peace and in a better place.

How was your week?

introducing stationary from Jeeves and Co. Design Studio

Last year when I went to Stockholm for a brief holiday, the first thing I bought were stamps and postcards to send to friends and family back here in the UK. Every Christmas, letters are also sent to friends around the country so letter sets and correspondence cards are something that will see a fair bit of use in my collection of stationery.

When Pippa from Jeeves & Co. Design Studio got in contact, I knew that their custom selection of stationery would be perfect to share with you guys. The beautiful designs are the work of Pippa Geaves and all of her products are 100% recycled with a proportion of profits going to the Woodland Trust. A further plus is that all of the products are made in the UK. Earlier this year, I decided to go vegetarian in an effort to be as eco-friendly as possible (but also because of various other more personal reasons) and stationery like this is one way to maintain that philosophy.

The products arrived in a well-packaged box that included a cute correspondence card with a personal message from Pippa herself (always a nice touch!) and a business card.

In the package were two cards and two correspondence sets.

The cards are made of high quality 100% recycled card. The inside is left blank for you to include your own message and the envelope is a brown kraft style. These are the kind of cards you'd expect to find in that kitsch village craft shop run by someone local - and actually, those are the kind of shops I currently buy my cards from. There's nothing like supporting a local business. 

The first of the two corresponding sets is the Cat Attack one which is comprised of five sheets of writing paper, five correspondence cards and ten white envelopes. You can customise these quantities to your liking and also customise the header too. I chose to just have my name as the header but you can include an address, URL or even social media handles if you so wished.

The cat illustrations are absolutely beautiful and the quality of printing matches the quality of the paper. These are the perfect correspondence stationery for when you want to be a bit more playful with a bit more personality showing through compared to the floral stationery sets you see crowding the shelves of stationery stores.

If the Cat Attack set is a bit too plain for you and you want something a little more sophisticated, then how about the Cosmic Forest set?

This set features eight different characters and you can choose a set which features just one of the eight or a set that has a variety of them. My favourite bit of this set are the paw prints that adorn the edges of the paper and correspondence cards. This set has a more mature but playful air about it and is again, printed on 100% recycled paper. The headers are customisable and with a potential change of address in the next twelve months or sooner, I chose not to have my current address printed there.

All in all, I'm impressed with the beautiful stationery on offer here. The quality is there and the permutations for customisation mean that though the designs stay the same; the paper, envelopes and header can totally vary from person to person even if they have both chosen the same set. I can see these sets being the perfect gift for someone who adores letter writing so if you know of someone and their birthday is coming up... Well, I'm sure there'll be a design that'll suit them perfectly.

What do you think about Jeeves and Co.?

** Although these items were supplied free of charge, I have reviewed them as if I had paid for them and as honestly as possible. Thank you to Pippa for affording me this opportunity to review these notebooks :) I do not receive any commission for the links on this page.