Amy Rowley Beauty - An Introduction to Glossier

If you haven't heard of Glossier over the last 6 months, let's face it, you must've been living under a rock. The new beauty brand to recently land in the UK has rocked the blogging community into complete panic and everyone has been dipping their hand in the pot. It's safe to say after watching countless videos and seeing all of the Instagram posts, I was already hooked and couldn't wait to get my hands on some of the products. Christmas seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so and so I eagerly waited for the Glossier items that were on my xmas list.

Low and behold on Christmas Day I was lucky enough to open two of the pretty pink pouches including lots of Glossier goodies. Here are my first impressions on some of the items and my honest opinion on the brand as a whole.

Milky Gel Cleanser - 

I was completely intriugued to see how well this worked in comparison to my normal Clinique balm cleanser and so far I haven't been disappointed. The smell is soft and subtle but leaves my skin feeling fresh. I would recommend two cleanses to ensure you get all your eye makeup off but you will be left with squeaky clean skin if you follow this method. I also think its important to note that I feel as though the Glossier brand has got it's pricing spot on. Not to spendy and worth the price tag.

Priming Moisturiser -

If you have read any of my previous beauty blog posts you may know that I struggle quite often with dry skin and Eczema on a daily basis. For this reason I feel as though I need something with a bit more of a packed punch when it comes to moisture. It's gentle and light though, so this could be perfect for the summer months instead.

Boy Brow - 

One of my favourites and I know it's popular amongst many. This simply gives my eyebrows a little bit of texture and leaves them feeling secure and in place for the rest of the day. It looks great on its own for a no makeup look or on top of my normal brow pomade.

Lipstick in 'Cake' - 

I LOVE this! In my eyes, it's a completely subtle balmy version of Velvet Teddy from Mac. A peachy nude with a hint of brown that leaves my lips with a hint of colour, without the matte and sometimes quite drying effect. The perfect every day lippy and it fades like a dream.

I also just wanted to leave a quick mention to the Glossier perfume. My little parcels came with a small tester and I have to say, I'm obsessed. It's a clean, fresh scent and for the days that I wore it, I was showered with compliments. Sadly, I have run out of the tester now, but this Is the first thing on my Glossier wish list and when I have finished my spending ban (I'm trying to be good *laughs*) I can't wait to get my hands on the full size.

Other Glossier products that I am eager to try are; the bounce serums, the skin tint and of course the 'Solution exfoliating skin perfector' has caught my eye.

Have you tried Glossier? If so, what are your thoughts?

Thanks for reading lovelies x

Amy Rowley Style - Three Jackets You Must Have This Season

January is in full swing and the weather here in the UK, is as always, very temperamental.  Because of this, your jacket is the best way to make a fashion statement. After all, it's the main item of clothing that everyone will see. I thought I would talk you through 3 of my favourite types of jacket (or coats) that are on the hight street at the moment.

First thing's first, we need to address the comeback of the puffer jacket. Yes, that's right all types of puffers, short, long and in all sorts of shades. They are all over the high street and even in the likes of Tesco! I'll happily say that if you had told me a couple of years ago that I would be buying a puffer jacket, I would have laughed and thought they looked silly. However, now I love them. I had been on the hunt for a beige coloured puffer jacket for a while and when I spotted this one on ASOS I saved it straight onto my Wishlist. When I saw that it went down into the sale I knew I had to have it. Not only is it super comfy and causal but it's lovely and warm too. I have styled it up in lots of ways including the outfit below. 

Outfit

- Puffer jacket- Vero Moda - 

- Leather look jeans Missguided -

- Boots - Zara - 

- T-shirt - Topshop - 

Next up, the teddy jacket. These are absolutely everywhere and for good reason too; they are gorgeous. I currently have my eye on a couple that I will link down below. Do I think they will be back next year? Yes, I truly believe they will be here to stay. Pair them with a pair of leather look trousers and roll neck jumper for the perfect cozy look.

Teddy Jackets

- Topshop - 

- Topshop - 

- Missguided -

Last but by no means lest, the faux fur jacket. Again, there has been a bit of a craze for these this year, just like every other. Who would blame anyone though? They are so warm! The perfect jacket to wear over a dress on a night out, or to give a simple outfit the touch of luxury it needs. Once again I have linked some of my favourites below. 

Faux Fur Jacket 

- Topshop - 

- Missguided - 

- Zara - 

What jackets are on your current wish list?

Thanks for reading my lovelies x

Amy Rowley Lifestyle - Update and Round up of 2017

It's safe to say, I have completely lost my blogging mojo. Last year was such a whirlwind and as 2017 drew to a close, things in my life got busy, stressful and it simply meant my blog took a back step. BUT! Yes a big but! I want to get back into the swing of things and I am determined to ensure that I keep my blog updated as frequently as I can. I'm not going to go completely crazy and set myself set days and times, but fingers crossed you will be seeing a lot more from me in 2018.

I thought it might be nice to do a small round up of my achievements in 2017, a nice way to ease myself back into blogging. I think it's easy to say that 2017 was one of my best years yet and I was happy to accomplish things that I thought I never would. Below are my top 5 achievements/experiences of 2017 as a little insight into my life for the past year.

1. I secured myself a job I love!

2017 started for me, with a great opportunity in a marketing role. Never did I know how far I would be able to come in such a short space of time and how happy it would make me, working in a job that I love. It was completely daunting at first and I won't lie, I had my wobbles, however I'm proud to say I am now a marketing manager at an agency I love and with people I couldn't imagine not seeing every day. Oh god it's cheesy I know! *laughs* In my first year of my role, I have been promoted, seen the business grow, travelled with the job and had so many laughs.

I won't lie, my job plays a big part in my disappearance with Amy Rowley, but even though it can be stressful, it's important that I now have a career focus and a path I can't wait to take.

2. I passed my driving test!!

Honest to god, I never thought this would happen! Anyone that knows me, will understand the struggles I had with driving, but honestly my life has completely changed since passing my test. I can't imagine not jumping in my little car and whizzing to my friends of an evening. This was such a massive part in my year and even my life, it just showed me that if I put my mind to something I can always succeed. My anxieties held me back for a while but it was important that I fought them and made this a reality.

3. I travelled...

I aim to visit at least 2 or 3 different places each year and in 2017 I definitely did this. I managed to visit Budapest, Amsterdam, Turkey, Paris and Edinburgh and made some incredible memories. My favourite trip of the year, if I had to choose, had to be Budapest with one of my best friends. We honestly had the most incredible couple of days and I can't recommend the city enough.

4. I worked on my confidence.

Every year I see my confidence in many situations improve and I am happy to say 2017 was no different. I went to my first blogger event, met some incredible blogger friends and simply learnt not to care so much about what everyone thought. I aim to continue this in 2018.

5. I learnt that friendships are important

As you get older, your friendships really do change and you start to see who will be in your life for a long time and who actually might not. It is so important to spend time with people that support you, love you and who understand you, even on a bad day. 2017 allowed me to see who I want in my life and who I want to ensure that I always have time for. It also made me realise how lucky I am to have such a lovely bunch of weirdos around me that make me smile and laugh. I am to make even more time for them this year and I promise to get better at texting back!! *laughs*

Hopefully I will be back shortly with more content and rambling.

Thanks for reading my lovelies x

Amy Rowley Lifestyle - Banana Tree Chelmsford Review

Oh hey! It's me..after what feels like a lifetime I am finally sitting down to write a new blog post and for good reason too! A couple of weeks back I was kindly invited down to review the new branch of he Banana Tree in Chelmsford. As a food lover at heart, I love an excuse for a girly evening with food and cocktails so I jumped at the chance and let me tell you now...I wasn't disappointed. 

I wasn't really sure what to expect as this was the first time I had heard of the Banana Tree but after looking at their website I was suprised to see that their other branches were mainly based in London. With Chelmsford's new addition 'Bond Street' it's safe to say their shopping and dining areas are going up in the world, who else agrees?

When we arrived we were kindly shown to our table and handed the menu. After a long day at work, myself and Zoe ( a fabulous work friend) were more than happy to receive all of the food choices and of course the drink menu, which included a mixture of yummy cocktails that we were keen to try out. We decided to go with the Lychee flavoured cocktail which we ended up reordering several times as they were simply delicious, so that is definitely worth a try if like us you love a cocktail.

Now lets get down to business, with our food choices, as of course that is what you're here to read. We decided to go with a starter so that we could road test as much of the menu in one setting. Zoe went with the chicken dumplings in fresh herb sauce and I decided to try the crispy seafood money bags. Zoe was certainly impressed with her dumplings as before I had even managed to ask to try some she had devoured them all with a big grin left on her face. The seafood money bags were just as good and for someone that normally leaves a little bit of their starter to make room for their main, this time round I couldn't help but finish every single one. The sweet chilli dip was the perfect finishing touch to a super scrummy starter. 

For main, Zoe chose Taramind Crispy Fish with Thai Basil Glaze, which I did manage to take a sneaky bite of and have already mentally noted it down to try on my second visit. I decided to try the Thai Classic Roast Duck Curry. I'm a huge fan of duck and so wanted to try it in a slightly different dish. The waiter informed me that this didn't come with rice but if I wanted to, I could add on a mixed side which at an extra price of £3.95 was the best value side to go with. What I wasnt ready for, was for the side to take up my entire plate, a mix of rice, salad and prawn crackers...It surely was worth the money and worth getting if like me your eyes are bigger than your belly. Of course I didn't manage to finish the entire course, but I did try my best to eat as much as I could as the entire dish was very yummy. 

After seeing social media posts showcasing very cool swinging chairs, I was surprised to see that they weren't there when we visited, after all imagine the boomerang. However I have been notified that they are now up and running again so if you are keen to visit the new branch of Banana Tree you can be sure to have a bit of fun sipping your cocktail in those. 

Overall, my experience at the Banana Tree, Chelmsford was a great one and I will definitely be returning with other friends very soon. If you're in the area for an evening out or shopping and need a lunch break, this is the perfect pit stop and you're sure to be delighted with the tremendous food, cocktails and customer service that I am sure you will be greeted with. 

Thanks for reading my lovelies x

Amy Rowley Style - Sunday Funday

Sunday, the one day of the week that can often be misconstrued as a waste, a slump day or even time to get hung up on the fact that Monday is just around the corner. But this is not the case and today I wanted to share with you ways in which your Sunday should be spent and how to make the most of SUNDAY FUNDAY. 

As the jumper suggests, Sunday can be bundles of fun and can actually be the perfect day to slap on some make up and head out the house. After a few years of spending most of my Sundays hungover with a dominoes, I've learnt to appreciate the second day of the weekend to its fullest. Yes I sound old, but honestly i'm on to something here I promise. 

Below are five activities to get involved with on a summer Sunday in England, some more extravagant than others. 

Outfit

Jumper - Newlook

Jeans - Asos 

Bag - Bershka

Trainers - Stan Smith 

Strawberry Picking 

Strawberry picking or fruit picking whatever your sweet tooth fancies, it's a great way to spend a summers afternoon. Take your kids, younger cousins or even just your friends that are big kids just like yourself. You will probably eat more berries as you're picking them than what you end up taking home. But you could have enough for a fruit crumble or homemade dessert if you're lucky.

Beach Picnic 

If it's a sunny day, then a picnic by the beach it's the perfect way to spend your Sunday. Pack up the strawberries, crisps, chicken strippers and cocktail sausages into a basket and head down to the seaside, with your partner or friend. The sea air will do you the world of good and it's a great chance to catch some rays while the British summer is still in full swing.

Exploring London

If you don't mind jumping on a train, then London can be the perfect Sunday city. Everything is still open, you can simply wander new parts of London that you haven't visited before, take some snaps and find a cute yet yummy cafe for brunch. Yes brunch, my favourite time of the day.

Bike Ride

Exercise and a right laugh - Bike rides are the perfect Sunday activity. If like me you don't own a bike, whip your phone out and google rental bike hire in your local area, i'm sure you will be surprised. Find a nice scenic route and take plenty of water for your journey, or at least to keep you hydrated until you find the nearest pub on route. You might ache a little the next day but that's what it's all about it. 

Discover a New Town 

This is possibly one of my favourite things to do, especially after learning to drive, but pick a town near to where you live, park up somewhere and just explore. Living on the edge of Suffolk means there are plenty of cute picturesque villages to choose from with quaint little shops and cafes, perfect for afternoon tea when you're feeling peckish. 

These are just a small range of activities that you can fill your Sundays with, but there are plenty more where that came from. Let me know how you like to spend your Sundays, whether it's chilling with family or heading to the gym for a quiet work out. 

Thanks for reading my lovelies x 

Amy Rowley Lifestyle - Taking a Break

It's safe to say I haven't posted regularly in a while and not only have I missed it, but its added to my long list of stressful things. STRESS. A word thrown around a lot and a feeling that no one enjoys. And yes, you guessed it, that's where I've been; simply tackling life, being busy and more importantly feeling stressed more often than not. 

Because of this, I thought I would use my stress and turn it  into something productive...a blog post of course. Below are some of the things that I believe can help to relieve your levels of stress and ensure we take a little breather from life when needs be. 

Outfit 

Maxi Dress- ASOS

Sandals - Office (Old) 

Bag - Bershka

Belt - Topshop

Taking a break.

First things first, it's okay to take a small break. Let yourself work through the thoughts that you're tackling and take a step back from certain things in your life, allowing you to relax where possible. For this, it meant that my blog had to take a back seat, which is unfortunate, but it had to be done. we don't always have the energy to carry on typing and thinking when we get home and sometimes we all need to shut off for a little while. Don't ever be ashamed of recuperating and letting yourself sort things out.

Sleep. 

Next up is sleep and for anyone that knows me they will be chuckling away to themselves, but my way of dealing with stress will often involve in good ol'naps. A nap at any time of the day, in any position, as long as it's a nap. It may seem silly or weird, but it can be the only way of shutting your brain off for a little while. Amongst many others, I suffer from anxiety on a daily basis and for any that share similarities in this, you will know that it can become draining and essentially exhausting. Taking yourself to your bed (my favourite place) to have a short but sweet nap, can sometimes be exactly what you need to power on through the rest of the day.

Exercise

Something I don't do enough of, but will without a doubt level out your stress levels, is exercise which is the main reason that I've joined a gym. A new thing for me, after having a good two years of no gym activity but something that i'm excited to do. It's time to set goals and enjoy running off any stress that may have built up throughout the day. 

Learn to say no 

Last but not least, a very important point is to ensure that you spend your time as you wish. It can be so easy to say yes to everything and try to please people, something I do way too often, but your time should be spent as you wish. For me, this means making time to see my family more and also to spend quality time with  my boyfriend. For those that live with your partner, you will know that it's not till you get out of those four surrounding walls that you spend quality time with them and make those memories that you never forget.

After a month or two of being of the radar, I hope to be posting more regularly and get back to the blogging game. I really hope you enjoyed this post and if you can relate to any of these points then give yourself a break, because sometimes we all need one.

Thanks for reading my lovelies x 

Amy Rowley Travel - Budapest City Break Part Two

Better late than never it's me again, with another Budapest ramble and yes, I'm still obsessing over the incredible food that I had whilst I was there. If you missed my first blog post then read it here, perfect if you're a food lover like me. 

So rewinding slightly, let's talk about the cool things to do and see that Budapest has to offer. As I said previously I wasn't sure what to expect or what I was really planning on doing until I got to the city, but once we had arrived it was clear as to how we were going to spend our time. 

Going in the height of June, the weather was either high 20' or early 30' degrees. So yes, very hot. In some cases too hot to be walking around for 7 hours, so we decided to mix it up a little and spend our days doing both relaxing and exploring. 

Things to do - 

Bar 360 - 

Great views and cocktails, what more could a gal want when she is on her holiday. Located a bit further out, but worth a walk I couldn't recommend it enough. We went to a handful of bars whilst we were in Budapest but this was by far my favourite. Shamefully, it was the one place I didn't get a picture of, but if you search it on Instagram you will find plenty of picturesque snaps. 

Buda castle -

 On our first full day we decided to have a little walk around the castle gardens and soak up some architecture and historical sights. It was beautiful of course and climbing up the castle was lots of fun in itself, you could see for miles across the city. The gardens and castle were kept lovely and everything seemed so peaceful and quiet. It's probably good to mention that me and my good friend decided to caption our entire trip and Budapest in itself...'chilled vibes', not only was this a running joke throughout our entire trip but it was simply how we were left feeling everywhere we went. Chilled, relaxed and content. 

Gellert baths -

 Moving on from that last point and flowing into the next quite nicely, next up on our check list were the famous Budapest spa baths. We went to two during our stay in the city but Gellert baths had to be our favourite. There was a main outside pool with sun beds and umbrellas, perfect for catching those rays on a sunny day like we were lucky enough to have. Inside is another pool and a choice of thermal baths, that were super relaxing at around 36-40 degrees. We spent time in both just taking it all in and simply enjoying some chill time, which let's be honest, we all need every now and then. 

You can choose to spend a full day there or just a couple of hours so there is no rush to leave if like us, you want to stay relaxing for a while. 

Walk, walk, walk -

My last recommendation and one I tend to say a lot after being to a city is to simply get those comfies on and walk, walk, walk. 

I like to just walk around taking pictures and soaking up all the architecture and sights. The bridges are beautiful and if you want to see the city from serious heights take a little hike up Gellert hill, it really is breathtaking. 

I managed to take a lot of snaps whilst I was there, as always.. so here are a few more of my trip for you to take a little look at. 

Of course, the question is...do I recommend Budapest? Without a doubt yes yes yes! Book a trip now if you can. It by far has to be one of my favourite places and at the top of my list along with Edinburgh and Bruges. I will no doubt be returning in the near future, to explore more, maybe in cooler temperatures next time, who knows. 

I hope you enjoyed both of my little Budapest posts and I would love to know or hear about your experiences. Where are you off to next? 

Thanks for reading my lovelies!