We can’t pick and choose the cards that we are dealt in life. If you are lucky, life can end up exactly like the fairy tales, but for some/many, that isn’t the way the cookie crumbles.
We have pinnacle moments in our life time, learning to ride a bike, our first day at school, experimenting with make up, boyfriends, heart break and, eventually, adulthood. What happens during the first few years of our lives can shape and define the person we become and it’s those who guide and nurture us who really matter.
I remember coming to the top of the escalators of our local shopping mall. In front of me was the store where I was going to spend the next few hours finding an entire skincare routine, filling a make up bag and lots of other girlie stuff. I was 13 and half, all the other girls in my year already had this stuff nailed.
As I turned around to the person accompanying me, I flashed them a sheepish smile. Was she sure she wanted to spend this money on me? The person behind me was not who you would expect, but you can be sure there was no doting mother, somewhat apprehensive of her daughter growing up, anywhere to be seen.
It was my Grandma, and it was at that moment, when I looked back at her, calm and completely collected, platinum hair glistening in the April sunlight, That I realised my life was not going to lack as much as I had envisioned.
As a little girl I had sat at her dressing table, experimenting with make up, I had hidden myself in her wardrobe trying on all of her shoes and handbags and it was her, through her own experiences with sensitive and temperamental skin, who taught me the importance of exceptional skincare.
There isn’t a single night, in the last 15 years where I don’t cleanse, exfoliate and moisturise my skin ready for my beauty sleep and I have my Grandma to thank for that.
I now have my own dressing table, packed full to bursting with the products that really work with my skin type and the brands which I have grown to love and trust over the years, Clinique being one of the most notable. The 3 Step program is one I find myself turning to when my skin is truly in need. The Liquid Facial soap is gentle on my sensitive skin, the skin that I have had to learn a whole new level of respect for, after my acne treatment. The Clarifying Lotion 2 provides my skin with a gentle, non-abrasive exfoliation, meaning I too can experience beautiful resurfaced skin on a daily basis without it being too harsh and to finish I still use the Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion to provide my skin with the moisture it no longer possesses.
I owe my Grandma a lot. She taught me so much. Not just about looking after myself, my skin and my world. She taught me the things I never thought I would get to learn from another woman, she gave me the relationship with a woman I never thought I would have. She changed my path.
Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion 3
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Ad The @fairfaxandfavor Regina High heeled boots have become my entire personality at this point. I don’t think I’ve ever had so many compliments on a pair of boots. #fairfaxandfavor
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Ad To think Queen Victoria would have once walked up these exact steps enroute to afternoon tea with the Dutchess of Sutherland at Spring Cottage @clivedenhouse @iconicluxuryhotels
jacket @reallywildclothing
Scarf @sabinasavage
Jeans @paige
Boots @fairfaxandfavor
AD I think autumn fashion just might be my favourite of them all, just don’t ask me again in winter.
Jeans @paige
Sweater @goelia_official
Socks @calzedonia
Boots @fairfaxandfavor
Scarf @sabinasavage
Fragrance @clivechristianperfume Iconic Feminine
Jacket @reallywildclothing
Belt & Bag @hermes
Ad It’s when walking around the properties and grounds as spectacular as @clivedenhouse that you realise how fortunate we are to have the @nationaltrust taking care of 250,000 hectares of land, 775 miles of coastline and more than 300 properties of historical prominence, with such profound dedication and care.