A cause for celebration in Covid

One good things came out of this awful coronavirus pandemic…!

While I’ve spent 80% of the lockdown on unpaid furlough with no money and trying to home educate both the kids – until Isla started school in September – I used the time to tick something off my bucket list.

I’ve always wanted to write and publish a book. Back in 2014, I wrote about a third of a romance/thriller that’s semi-based on my expriences but then Isla came along, so that’s still sitting on a USB stick in my drawer.

But then when lockdown hit and I was at home with both kids, I was suddenly blessed with a couple of hours of quiet time each day when Rory would be napping and Isla wanted to have some downtime, snuggled up with a Disney film, so I thought I’d make use of this time and actually do something.

The idea for a children’s book literally just popped into my head one day after I’d been reading Rory his bedtime story, and the image of a tiger stuck upside down in a beehive came into my head. Without giving too much away, I then started to think about what other animals stuck in the wrong habitats would make for an amusing read.

Within a few weeks, my first children’s book was written, proofread by my news editor friend and his fabulous primary school teacher wife, and sent off to five publishers.

I honestly didn’t expect to hear anything, I was just pleased that I’d actually followed through with one of my ambitions and written a book.

So to stay I was thrilled when, in August, I was offered a publishing deal for my book, is an understandment! I’ve kept this to myself for now to make sure it was all going smoothly, but now’s the time!

So at the moment, my book, entitled ‘We Don’t Live There!’ is currently being illustrated and I’m hoping it’ll be in the shops and on Amazon by Spring 2021. Eeek!

So what I’m asking now is for a little help boosting my social media profile so I can promote the hell out of my book when it’s published.

If everyone wouldn’t mind either liking or sharing my Twitter page or my Instagram account that would be amazing – I’d love to spread the word about my debut novel!

And as a footnote, I was told back in 2006 by a bloke called ‘Adey’ that I’d never write a book, it would just never happen and I’d be one of those people who just talked about it but would never actually do it. Well, if you’re reading this ‘Prince of Adeyness’… 

Dip in? Don’t bother…

I’m not usually one for a) writing scathing reviews as I believe it’s more important to spread positivity and acknowledge when businesses do a good job and b) attempt to try the latest beauty trends. But on this occasion, I attempted to do the latter, which has lead to me doing the former…

When lockdown began, I realised that I wouldn’t be able to get my nails done for quite some time, which is something I love doing as a little way to treat myself, so I thought I’d give dip powdered nails a go after spotting an ad for Dipsy Nails on Instagram (yes, I’ve since learned my lesson!).

Claiming to last longer than normal nail varnish, I ordered a kit on April 24th to treat myself for my birthday, and it finally arrived on June 20th. I didn’t realise that their materials are shipped from China, and with the current Covid-19 situation, there was inevitably delays with shipping. Shit happens, but the irony that I wanted to manicure set that would help ease my lockdown blues that didn’t arrive until 12 weeks into lockdown wasn’t lost on me.

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  The kit (pink brush not included, it suggested to dust off excess powder with a soft brush so that’s my own blusher brush).

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  Dipping in…

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  The finished result – bumpy, uneven and generally naff!

Anyway, I settled in to give the kit a try. After filing and shaping my nails, I applied the base layer as per the instructions and dipped my nail into the powder pot at a 45degree angle, which was really fiddly due to the tiny pot size. After doing the same with all my nails and then repeating these steps, the instructions said to use a nail buffer to buff your nails into a shiny finish.

Well as you can see from the final photo, the result after lots of buffing wasn’t great. The surface of my nail is really rough and the colour uneven, and not very shiny at all. I admit, I used an old buffer so maybe someone with a new buffer who has more experience in nails might have had a better result, but I wasn’t impressed at all. I’ve since had to apply a coat of glitter polish to cover the mess.

In fairness, Dipsy have since addressed the shipping issues in a statement on their website (https://shopdipsy.com/ and in the current climate, delays are to be expected, but was it worth it? Not really! In future I’ll stick with normal nail varnish and just wait patiently for nail salons to reopen. Serves me right for trying to be cool and ‘trendy’! Other more fashionable types are welcome to try it!

I’ll have another go to see if powdered nail application is just a skill I haven’t yet mastered. As for how long the powder lasts and how easy it is to get off – I’ll keep you posted!