Tag: redhead

7 Ways to look after your skin in the summer months

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I have incredibly pale skin and red hair, some natural, some enhanced. It’s because of both of these things that I have to really look after my skin as it’s prone to burning. I wanted to share with you just some of the things that I do to help protect my skin in the summer time!

Don’t underestimate the level of suncream you need.  

I groan every time I need to pick up a factor 30 or factor 50. That said, it’s important to make sure you do use the right factor for you.

Cover up or stay in the shade!  

It’s easy to be tempted to strip off in the summer (I often do), but if it is super hot and super sunny then covering up is an option. If, like me, you don’t cope well with heat, staying in the shade is a great alternative, you’ll often find me hiding on holiday.

Drink plenty of water  

Water is great for the skin, I’m lucky that I love drinking water but if you’re not you can pick up bottles with fruit infusers to give it some more taste.

Hats may be annoying, but they’re necessary 

Yep, yep and yep. I hate wearing hats but if I’m not going to be able to stay in the shade then I don’t have a choice.

Reapply, reapply, reapply! 

One lot of sun cream isn’t enough, keep reapplying as much as you feel you need to. If I can feel the heat on my skin directly, I’ll reapply.

If you do get burnt, use some moisturising after-sun lotion

It sucks when you get burnt and I get caught out every year no matter how careful I am. In that case, I make sure I use an after-sun lotion to moisturise my skin.

Get to know your skin 

I’m covered in freckles and moles, I know where they are and what they look like. It’s good to get to know your skin so you can check for any abnormalities, you can find out more about that here.

 

 

 

How am I really?

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Hello everyone. I realised reading through my blog that I really haven’t spoken about how I am, mentally I mean. All of my regular readers know about my spine and all that stuff but I did want to write this blog to share my experiences. So how am I really? Well things have been pretty up and down. Even in the last few weeks I’ve been taken hostage by my emotions after a lot of upheavals.

Honestly, I have had my struggles lately. Two of my best friends have moved to New Zealand, I’ve picked up three jobs, going between hospital appointments and just generally learning to cope with the pain of my spine. Not all of these have been necessarily bad or terrible all of the time but as you can imagine it doesn’t make controlling my moods easier. I think the tiredness isn’t easy either.

Living with a mental health condition is just something that I’ve learnt to deal with it. Is it a walk in the park? No. Is it always easy? Definitely not. I am trying to deal with it as best I can though with the help I have and the things I’ve learnt. I still have days where my bed is my best friend and facing the world is what I want to do least but there have been some positives. I’m starting to control the anger and frustration in a healthier way and be able to try and talk to the people around me and just admit when I’m not doing too good and just need some time or some space. I’m getting better at knowing what I need too.

I’m not healed, I might never be, but I’m okay with that. I’ve got through before and no matter how bad it gets, I have some strategies or I know who to talk to because I finally have a good medical team around me. I know right now I’m lucky and when I can pull myself out of that black hole enough to see it, it makes me so happy.

So answering the question, I’m getting through. I’m having more good days than I am bad, which for me is incredible. When I do get sad, anxious or start to develop a panic attack I can look at my tattoo and it reminds me one day at a time, that’s all that matters.

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I’m meltinggggggg

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Now I may not be the Wicked Witch, although damn I wish I could be every night in Wicked, but I’m pretty sure I’m melting right now. I know, I know, how British of me a few days and I’m complaining. BUT! I am not someone who wishes for extreme heat, the only time I can hack it is when I’ve paid to go to another country and have access to a pool and preferably some juicy cocktails. Even in that situation I need to be able to sit under some shade.

This morning saw me putting on factor 30 in an effort to keep myself from turning lobster red. All hail the pale kids, we are the warriors in this fight, the sun is definitely not our friend.  My friend phil has decided all he wants for christmas is some melanin …maybe I should put that on my list too. While I love warm weather, enough to go out in jeans and a t-shirt, maybe a cheeky pair of shorts this is more like walking into a sauna complete with lots of nipples in the street (seriously guys put. them. away. I don’t need to see your man nips).

Luckily I found some happiness in the beautifully air conditioned rooms at uni whilst working today. All in all though it’s been a pretty awesome day, despite the heat. I got to do some amazing work for the uni, get some questions answered about dissertation, have a gorgeous frappachino with the amazing Mr Phil Brookes (who also saved me from not having any tea this morning, what.a.babe.), go book shopping again *cough* book haul *cough* and have a catch up with Joe which always makes me smile.

So I’m afraid that is as much creative juice as I can give right now, my brain is turning to mush and my bed is calling me! BUT as always I love to hear from you guys so drop me a comment below with how you’re coping with the heat where you are! And coming up tomorrow a review of Caitlin Moran’s How to be a Woman.