December Favourites 2015

It's that time again. I've tried so many new things over the last couple of months and so I thought it was about time I did another favourites post. Due to it being December, the month of Christmas and Christmas shopping, Boots had all of their free gift packages in which meant that, among buying Christmas presents and my regular repurchases, I benefited from a few of these and got to try out a lot of products I wouldn't usually have bought for myself. 

 My first favourite for December is the Simple Micellar Cleansing Water. You can use this as a makeup remover or as a facial clenser post makeup removal and it's just amazing. I use it after I've taken my makeup off. You just pour a few drops onto a cotton pad and wipe it over your face. There's no rinsing or washing it off and it removes all of the yucky gunk from your skin and leaves it feeling fresh and genuinely clean. My skin looks and feels so much better since I've been using this and I would seriously recommend it to anyone who struggles with any kind of spots or acne. It's fab!

 My next favourite is the blusher by Soap & Glory called Love At First Blush. I shared a picture of this on my instagram as part of my daily advent posting and I can honestly say it's beautiful. It blends really well and last really well too. I would definitely recommend buying this. I received it as part of a free gift but I'd had my eye on it anyway. A few of my friends have been using this and they all love it as well so it's definitely worth giving it a try!

 My next favourite is the Bourjois Chocolate Bronzing Powder. I heard amazing things about this powder from various beauty YouTubers and my friends as well. I have a lot of chocolate themed makeup and so I was sure that I would love it. It blends well and smells gorgeous and I love the way it looks on my skin. It is durable and lasts all day. I haven't got any complains at all, I love it. I brought it as a present for a friend of mine and it's the bronzer I tell people to get if they ask me for advice.

 I've also been loving the Soap & Glory lipsticks. I've been wearing them constantly and they were my go to lipsticks when shooting my look book. They sit so nicely on the skin and the colours are just beautiful. They last a long time and show up so nicely on camera. I prefer nude colours when it comes to lipsticks, but they have some gorgeous red shades too so definitely check them out the next time you're looking for a great lip product. 

 2 products I have adored over Christmas are the bourjois nail polish and liquid lip stains. The nail polish is amazing. I put one coat on and didn't need a second and it lasted a week with no bottom or top coat. The red shade is absolutely stunning and was perfect for the festive season. The rouge velvet lipgloss is so amazing. It dries on your lips leaving a red stain that lasts for hours and, unlike most red lipsticks I have tried, it didn't dry my lips out. The only problem I had with it was that, when waiting for it to dry, it stained my teeth a lot and I had to keep getting it off; however, if you can wait for it to dry without moving your lips for 15 minutes or so, I'm sure it will be fine. 

 I've also been loving the soap and glory Archery 2 in 1 eyebrow pencil. This includes a brush to shape your brow and then a pencil to fill them in. I much prefer this to the powder I used to use because it has a much more natural finish. It's so easy to use, I would recommend using this product if you're new to putting makeup on eyebrows and want to get used to it. 

 As you can see in the picture, my next favourite is one I have recently repurchased. It is the Cocoa Butter Formular lipbalm and it's amazing. It's especially good if you wear a lot of lipsticks and your lips get dry. I put it on before doing my makeup so that my lips are soft for putting on lipstick and then again in the middle of the day before I reapply lipstick. Finally, I put it on before I go to bed after taking my makeup off. My lips feel in much better condition since using this product and I would recommend it to anyone who suffers from dry lips. It smells amazing and 1 tube lasts a really long time!

 Finally, one thing I have loved wearing throughout December is a hair bow. I think they're so cute and if you've read my look book you will see how I wear them and with what kind of outfits. The smaller ones in the picture are from Accessorize and the bigger ones are from New Look. They're great for pinning your hair out of your face and also for adding a nice touch to a simple messy bun or pony tail. I love them so much! 

 I hope you all had a great December!

What I Got For Christmas 2015

I should begin this post by saying Happy New Year to all of my readers and I hope you all had wonderful Christmases. Of course, it's not about the gifts and it's not about receiving and I feel like I need to acknowledge that this is undoubtedly going to be a controversial post simply because a lot of people may see this as me showing off. I want to make it very clear that I am in no way trying to show off. For the many of you that follow several bloggers/vloggers, you will know that this is a very common video/blog that people make to say thank you and to appreciate the things we have been given and how lucky we are. If you're not as familiar with the idea of this and depict this as me showing off, feel free to click elsewhere and read a different post. 

I mainly asked for books this Christmas because I've been struggling with keeping up my reading schedule which is a very bad thing for me due to the fact that I need to read as much as I can to perform well in my A Level courses. As a result of this, I needed to select books that I wouldn't usually select for myself. A few of the books I got were recommendations from various people, I then put these titles into Amazon and also wrote down randomly titles of other books that were recommended by Amazon based on my searches. The two shown in the picture are Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and Grief Is The Thing With Feathers by Max Porter. I am in the middle of Gone Girl right now and I'm absolutely loving it! 

 Another thing I was really excited about trying was the adult colouring books. I have always loved colouring and I find it really therapeutic and a great way of relieving stress and so the idea of getting adult colouring books and having it be socially acceptable for me to admit I love colouring seemed like a good idea! The one shown in the picture is butterfly and blossoms themed and I also got a Harry Potter themed one from my younger sister and an Enchanted Forest book as well as colouring pencils. 

 Aside from books, I asked for the Breville Blend Active blender with a built in cup (basically a much cheaper version of the nutri-bullet) which I'm so excited to use. I struggle with eating enough fruit and so by buying frozen fruit and yogurt to make smoothies, I can hopefully make sure I get enough fruit in my body which will hopefully make me and my skin feel a lot better. 

 My main present I absolutely love and have worn so much already. The picture doesn't show it very clearly because it is so small but it's the Libra model of Anna Saccone's Zodiac necklace range. It is made from silver and plated in 18 karrat rose gold and it's absolutely stunning. I've received so many compliments about it. It's a perfect, simple yet personal piece especially for people who are really into zodiac signs. 

 If you follow me on instagram, you'll understand the next couple of presents I received. I got Roller Lash mascara by Benefit and Better Than Sex by Too Faced because I have really short eyelashes that struggle to hold curl. They never show up in pictures and it's so annoying and so I've really wanted to try these two mascaras because they get great reviews. I've been quite impressed with both of them and so I'll do reviews on them both very soon! Secondly, my other sister brought me this awesome body suit that reads 'I'm cooler on instagram.' I absolutely love instagram and so I can't wait to wear this. 

 My best friend brought me some really cute presents. The one I've used the most is the Starbucks travel cup. I am a little bit addicted to flavoured lattes and I drink them all the time, it comes in handy to have travel mugs so that I can take coffee with me to college and work etc. The starbucks ones are great because you can take them in store and they'll put your order in your cup and it's a little bit cheaper. 

 Again, I hope you all had lovely Christmases. If you were wondering where my lightbox is from, click here to find one! They're awesome for doing flatlays for instagram or blogging!