March instagram

Er, how is it almost April already? Here's what March looked like for me...

Instagram username: @eversojuliet

1. After a year or so of badger-stripe hair, I got a wee bit bored and decided to mix it up. It took me a while to work out that I really wanted to embrace my ginger locks, and make them even brighter.

2. So I got fox hair! And I love it! I've started going to Boosh, and I'd really recommend them if you are in Edinburgh & looking for a new place to cut your locks.

3. I'm obsessed with my windowsill garden, but it's doing so well! I bought myself a water spray as I was going a bit mad over-watering everything (just because I love it so!) and I've bought even more succulents since taking this photo. I do miss having a proper-sized garden, but this is proving to be surprisingly satisfying & fulfills my greenfingered needs!

4. I'm loving rainbow coloured nails at the moment (probably because I'm hugely indecisive about what nail polish to use!) so it was a fun day when I got to try out the new Urban Decay makeup palette, and realised I matched the set.

5. Weekends now seem to revolve mainly around food, which is perfectly alright by me. This was a particularly good brunch. Mmm, brunch.

6. Spring has sprung, and the weather remains as dreich as ever! It's a good thing Scotland is pretty enough to make up for all the rain...

7. An accidental lunchtime purchase, but it was only £4 and look at it! I'm not convinced I actually suit denim jackets, but this one has the most amazing knitted pattern lining, so I just couldn't say no. What do you wear a demin jacket with though? Just a dress?

8. Rileycat came to visit again (hooray!) and was just as fluffy and cute as ever. He's living with Craig but I'm his official holiday home/occasional catnapper, and now that he knows my flat, he settles in really quickly.

9. I'm still obsessed with the anatomical love hearts that were made for the Science Festival's press launch. We had a party for some Scottish bloggers recently, where we showed off the food, drink and fashion parts of the programme, sampled some sci fest beer, and posed with hearts.

10. It's basically always a good month if there's a party with a photobooth involved. Here's Joshua & I at a Google City Expert event in Camera Obscura... which was SO cool. I'm also particularly proud of teaching Joshi how to pose properly in a photobooth. You've got to have a theme!

11. These were the most beautiful macarons on sale in my local cafe. Expensive, given how easy they are to make, but super tasty and so very pretty.

12. Posin' again in Camera Obscura. So much fun!

Everyday makeup

I've been meaning to write a post like this for ages - here's a wee look into what make up I use pretty much every day. I used to be a total liquid eyeliner addict, but changed things up at the start of the year, which means my everyday look is now much more simple & fresh-faced than it used to be!

This is my 'serious make up' face. (It was the best of a bad bunch!).

Benefit Brow Zings in Medium. I usually get my brows done at their Brow Bar, but I like quite a dark, defined brow so I just this to add a bit of extra definition. I put off buying this for ages as it's quite expensive (£23.50 for a wee palette), but it seems to be lasting FOREVER.

Topshop Blush in Flush. This is a really lovely creamy blush. It looks quite bright, but blends in very easily.

Max Factor Pan Stik in Fair. This is a really handy foundation stick. I try not to use too much foundation as I find my skin gets dry quite easily, so this is good for using a wee bit in the morning, throwing in my bag & touching up during the day if needed. I also tend to use this instead of a concealer - it builds up so easily, and is pretty perfect for hiding any blemishes!

Benefit Porefessional. It's a bit pricey, but I think it's so worth it. Makes your skin feel all soft, minimises pores and gives you a super smooth base.

Benefit Creaseless Cream eyeshadow in RSVP. I love this colour, it's a really soft pink that is wearable for pretty much any occasion. This cream eyeshadow is really good too, it lasts a full day without creasing or looking knackered (although you'd want to top it up if you were going out after work).

Benefit Hello Flawless foundation in Ivory. I didn't quite realise how much of a Benefit fangirl I am before putting this list together, but I'm a sucker for nice packaging! I usually use the pan stik first, and then if I think I need a wee bit more coverage I'll add a bit of this foundation. I'm a big fan of it, it's super light, but still provides a nice colour, and is forgiving to lazy makeup application (brushes? what now?).

Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil in Dark Brown. If I'm in need of some eyebrow shaping but haven't got time to go and get them properly done, I use this pencil to try and look less like a scruff. The colour range is pretty limited, but this one works quite well for me.

Vaseline Lip Therapy in Rosy Lips. This is lovely, and I try to always keep a wee tin in my bag too. It smells lovely and the colour is super pretty.

Maybelline Great Lash in Blackest Black. The best mascara!

I feel like I've listed loads of things, but I still think I have quite a simple routine. It takes me about 10-15 minutes if I'm making an effort, or 5 if I've suddenly realised that I'm running late!

How to: make chicken noodle soup

Spring has officially sprung (although it hasn't really shown itself yet), but the nights are still dark enough to enjoy some comfort food.

This is such an easy recipe that, at first, I actually felt a bit guilty about blogging it. Then I remembered how rubbish I used to be at cooking (and the shamefully basic recipes I would google), so I no longer feel bad. Ha! This is for you, rubbish cooks. You can do this. Learn how to make tasty chicken soup from scratch, and enjoy wholesome food that is super cheap, super easy, and uses up all of your leftovers!

To make this you'll need:

• leftover chicken carcass
• vegetables (I used leeks, carrots, swede, onion, celery, spring onions & parsnip)
• garlic
• chilli
• udon noodles
• nice herbs (rosemary, thyme, parsley)

This is a perfect just-had-roast-dinner-and-have loads-of-leftovers soup. To make the stock, take your half-eaten chicken and pick off the meat into a bowl (and stick this in the fridge). Put the bones and skin and leftover bits that look a bit weird into a saucepan, chop up some vegetables, add enough water to cover it and simmer. Add salt and pepper and herbs, stir occasionally, but leave alone for as long as you can.

If I'm making soup on a week on a weeknight I'll have it all going by 6pm, and leave until I'm going to bed. That gives it enough time for a really rich flavour. Mmmm.

Once you're happy it's simmered for long enough, drain the stock and set aside for later. Bin the vegetable/bone leftovers... they have fulfilled their flavour mission.

Now you're ready to make your actual soup! Stick a big chunk of butter in a saucepan, add some onion, garlic, celery and carrot, and sauté for a few minutes. Then add the stock, chop up whatever vegetables you want to add (plus chilli if you want it to be a wee bit spicy), and simmer.

Once the vegetables have cooked for a bit (10 minutes maybe) add in your chicken, then add noodles. Taste your soup to see how it's getting on, and add salt, pepper and herbs to taste.

Once the noodles are cooked, it's ready! Enjoy with bread and butter, and enjoy your super wholesome tea.

Urban Decay Electric palette

Stop everything and look at this. Hello beautiful.

Urban Decay - Electric pressed pigment palette* 

This is the new Urban Decay make up palette... which is a bit of a step away from Naked, the neutral collection that they are super famous for. It is BRIGHT. 

Eight of the shades are brand new (Revolt & Chaos are repeated from other sets), and they've used pressed pigments instead of traditional eyeshadow formulas to create heavily saturated bright colours. Now, I don't really know the difference between a pressed pigment and a traditional eyeshadow, but I do know that it is super annoying when you see makeup that is bright and beautiful in its packaging, but chalky and pale when applied.

L-R: Revolt, Gonzo, Slowburn, Savage, Fringe (top row)
Chaos, Jilted, Urban, Freak, Thrash (bottom row)

So here's how they look on! They were pretty smooth to apply, and the colour was actually just as bright as it looked in the case (although I should say that I used a couple of strokes for each shade - these could be a little more subtle if you only used a bit and blended it in). 

I am a sucker for bright colours, so a couple of these (Gonzo, Slowburn and Savage) really stood out to me. Fringe and Urban had really nice metallic tones throughout, and Revolt is a really wearable silver shimmer. I doubt I'd wear Freak or Thrash on their own, but I like the idea of using a pale gold eyeshadow on my top lid, and using either of these colours to line the lower lid.

I had a play about with a couple of my favourite colours (Slowburn and Savage) to make a corally-pink smoky eye, with a wee bit of gold (Maybelline Colour Tattoo) in the corner of the eye and under the brow. At first I wasn't sure how wearable this would be, but I actually really love it! It's not a Sunday brunch look, but I'd definitely wear this look to the pub, or on a sunny day. I also applied Slowburn over a clear lipgloss, and I'm impressed at how well it works as a lip colour too. 

The Electric palette is released on April 1st, costs £38, and can be bought from Debenhams, House of Fraser, Look Fantastic or BeautyBay.com.

Andy Smith illustration

I've reached a nice point with my new flat where I have finally unpacked everything (hooray), and now that the house sale is all finished & keys have been handed over, I know that I won't have any more unexpected ohhh-I-forgot-about-those-things boxes. This means I get to start decorating properly. which is a good excuse to buy some new art.

I came across Andy Smith through pinterest, and got a bit obsessed. There's a spot in my living room that is desperate for a bit of colour, and I think one of these could be perfect...

Top row

Always right | Lonely | Sunny | Pretend

Bottom row

Party in space | Lose the blues | Stars | Relax