Mesmerised

They say your hands are the first part of you to age and that you can often guess someone’s age from their hands. If there’s any truth in that, I was an 80 year old woman for a while. I had what you would call “builder’s hands”. Nasty, dry mitts with a texture not all that different from sandpaper. And let’s not forget a lovely set of jaggy nails prone to chipping and splitting. My hand wrinkles offended my eyes and I was sorely tempted to iron them out.

Miraculously, no longer being in education seems to have been the cure of all cures. My nails are no longer chewed and non-existent – they actually have whites to them!

But their continued growth and strength is all thanks to this wonderful product:

Never have my hands been so smooth! If you haven’t already tried Atrixo, I highly recommend it. You can find it in your local Boots for just £2.03 for a 50ml tub.

Never before have rings suited me. It’s like seeing a burger with whipped cream on top – Just. Not. Right. Now I have semi nice ish looking hands, I have a new found appreciation for rings. And this ring in particular caught my eye in last week’s Stylist:

Aqua Tear Druzy, £79, www.redrubyrouge.com

The site also has an array of different colours and styles. The “Milk Tear Druzy Ring” also makes for good ring porn :)

I am so in love with the pictured blue gorgeousness, it’s not funny. But the price makes me cry a little inside. This would be most of my day’s wage gone in an instant.

I know there are similar “rock ring” creations on the high street at the moment but they just don’t compare in terms of quality. I like to think that for £79, this ring would last a life time.

What are your thoughts? Is this ring gorgeous enough to merit the £79 price tag? You can also find me on Twitter: @Lucy_Angele

Birthday summary

Birthdays at my age are weird. I never know whether to celebrate or not any more.

"Hooray, X years ago I emerged from lady parts."

I sure as heck wasn’t in a manger surrounded by livestock. Nor was I immediately presented with frankincense, gold and myrrh. I did however receive a gigantic teddy bear. Apart from traumatic “lady bits”, it was apparently one of the first things I saw.

Birthdays nowadays don’t seem like such a big deal. Especially when like me, your birthday always falls on a really stupid / inconvenient day. Last year, mine was on a Tuesday or Wednesday (I forget…). I arranged a night out and not many came because it was a week day and there was uni / work / exams the next day. 

I wanted to be excited this year. But my birthday was on a Thursday. There was no point organising something for that very evening – it would've been social suicide.

This year I wanted to get out of my rut and be excited for birthdays again. Thanks to the Bank Holiday, I managed to start celebrations early. Here’s my birthday week in pictures:

Sushi lunch with the girls

I originally planned to get and nail art done with the girls too but there weren’t enough appointments available for all of us :( We did however go out Friday night and had a BBQ on Sunday which were both really fun 

Getting cupcakes “to go” and eating them in the park.

Lots of birthday “treats” to share around at work!

Indian takeaway on the actual day

Day trip in search of adventures! The highlight was hiring a boat

Yep, that's me driving! Wearing ASOS cardigan first mentioned here

Yes, a little extreme to go from I'm-not-bothered-about-birthdays to partying almost every night and going out most days… Maybe I milked this birthday a tad? But hey, why not? It’s only your birthday once a year!