BEST BOOKS OF 2015

The time has come. It is the end of 2015. And to be honest with you, it was a really, really great year for me in all senses of the word. In 2015, I read an astonishing total of 72 (complete) books; since I only properly got back into reading in 2014, that's a ridiculous number of books. Today a have compiled a list of my favourite books of 2015 (there's quite a few, I read a lot of great books this year) in no particular and very random order (in the order they appeared on my Goodreads shelf). I'm not going to go into detail on any of these books as you can see my thoughts on each of them in my monthly reading wrap-up posts and I have a hell of a lot of favourites, but here we go...

1. 'Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?'- Mindy Kaling
I read this at the end of 2014 but I thought it was only okay. I wanted to re-read it as I wanted to re-read the bits on The Office when they made sense (I hadn't watched it before) and I wanted to read it again before I read her new book. This time round, I thought it was brilliant and I absolutely loved it.

2. 'The Scorch Trials'- James Dashner
At the end of 2014 I became somewhat obsessed with the Maze Runner series, so obviously this was going to make the list. Second books in trilogies are never as good, but I really enjoyed this one.

3. 'The Death Cure'- James Dashner
A great finale to the Maze Runner trilogy, I was slightly disappointed with the ending of this book, but as an ending to the series it was fab.

4. 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'- J.K. Rowling
My family are all obsessed with the film of this book, but I've never really seem the hype until now. It's still not my favourite of the films, but holy cow this book was absolutely incredible. Like beyond amazing. It's definitely now one of my favourite books of the series when it never was before. Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic.

5. 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'- J.K. Rowling
Another surprise Harry Potter to make this list, but this one was so incredible I was slightly in shock. This book has always got hate for being the most long, slow and boring of the Harry Potter series, but I absolutely loved it, so much I can't believe it. I didn't like it at all before but I flew through it and it's now one of my favourites

6. 'Anne of Green Gables'- L.M. Montgomery 
This is my favourite book of all-time, so of course it's included here.

7. 'Brazen'- Katherine Longshore
This is a historical fiction set in the time of the Tudors and Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, which is my absolute favourite period of history. I thought I'd enjoy this book, the first sentence alone is incredible, but I was surprised about just how much I loved it and how invested I got in all of these characters. It's an amazing read and I'd highly, highly recommend it.

8. 'The Princess Bride'- William Goldman
This book is so damn weird. And if you don't get straight on board with the weirdness, I imagine it can be a really difficult book to enjoy. I was hesitant at first because of just how weird it is, but I ended up really loving it and I'm now trying to force everyone else to read it.

9. 'How to Be a Woman'- Caitlin Moran
This book changed my life. It was incredible, hands down one of the top three books I read it 2015. I love Caitlin Moran and just everything about this book was absolutely mind-blowingly incredible. I'd recommend it to anyone of any gender (though maybe 16+). Fantastic.

10. 'Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief'- Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson is a well-known and well-loved series for good reason. It's really enjoyable to read and it's actually genius. Anyone of any age would enjoy this book.

11. 'Doon'- Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon
This is fun, trivial romance with attractive boys and the most gorgeous book setting ever seen. What could be better?

12. 'The Selection'- Kiera Cass
Even more trashy, trivial and fun than Doon, but I loved it so, so much. Sometimes you just want to read a princess book set in a castle with pretty dresses and nice romance and just general everything-is-easy-and-fun, and this delivered all that and more of the same. I really enjoyed it, plus it gave me Miss Congeniality vibes which was a bonus for me.

13. 'The Raven Boys'- Maggie Sitefvater 
I won't go into too much detail with this as everyone must know by now that I am beyond obsessed with the Raven Boys. After the first book this became one of my most favourite series of all-time and I don't think I have words enough to describe just how much I love it.

14. 'The Invasion of the Tearling'- Erika Johansen 
By far the best book I read this year. This is the second book in a trilogy and it was so, so fantastic. I can't give anything away without spoilers but holy cow. I can hardly wait for the third book.

15. 'The Dream Thieves'- Maggie Stiefvater
The second book in the Raven Cycle series and definitely the best of the three published (so far). I loved everything about this book, I am in love with the Raven Boys, this is one of the best books I read this year.

16. 'Heir of Fire'- Sarah J. Maas
The Throne of Glass series is immensely popular and I read all the books currently published this year. I can totally understand the hype, I thought this book was brilliant, I flew through it reading 100+ pages a day, I can see why everyone loves it.

17. 'Queen of Shadows'- Sarah J. Maas
So amazing, I have no words.

18. 'Me and Earl and the Dying Girl'- Jesse Andrews
You wouldn't think it, but this was a really fun, hilariously funny read. I read the entire thing in a day and I really, really enjoyed it.

19. 'Paper Towns'- John Green
This book surprised me for two reasons. Firstly, the premise of this book never seemed like something I'd enjoy, it was sitting on my shelf for over two years before I finally picked it up, and secondly I'm not all that big a fan of John Green. I really, really enjoyed this book, it's definitely my favourite of John Green's works, and I was surprised about how much I enjoyed it.

20. 'Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe'- Benjamin Alire Saenz
This book was just beautiful, it made my heart all warm and fuzzy and I'd recommend it highly to everyone.

21. 'Blue Lily, Lily Blue'- Maggie Stiefvater
I just really loved the Raven Boys this year.

22. 'Moranthology'- Caitlin Moran
This is a collection of some of Caitlin Moran's columns in the Times magazine, and I really like her columns and her writing. I will read anything this woman publishes.

23. 'Anna and the French Kiss'- Stephanie Perkins 
This is another book that surprised me, I didn't think it would be something I'd enjoy, but holy shit I loved it so, so much. I read this entire book in less than 24 hours and had to struggle to stop myself from re-reading it again straight away. I fell so in love with these characters (especially St Clair, you know what I mean) and I spent far too much time thinking about it when I should have been thinking about other things (which also happened with the Raven Boys); I loved this.

WELCOME BACK BLOGMAS

Hello Blogmas 2015!!!! How exciting, it's officially December, and my Christmas Spirit hasn't peaked and died already this year! This is my 3rd time doing Blogmas (3rd, 3rd, 3rd, that's crazy), but we're going to do it slightly differently this year. I'm a busy, busy person. I'm at college for full days on Wednesday and Thursday, I'm at work all day on Saturdays and Sundays, I have coursework due in, it's just not practical to attempt to blog every single day up until December 25th. So I've decided that this year that I'm going to blog every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with a few exceptions. Exceptions include today (a Tuesday, but the 1st), Thursday 24th and and Thursday 31st. I also thought I'd open this year with a nice, chatty blog post, which is what I'm doing right now.

I thought we'd start with a couple of 'Top 5' lists (because who doesn't love a top 5 list?), of my top 5 favourite Christmas songs and Christmas films (roughly in order). We'll start with the Christmas films, shall we?

Top 5 Christmas Films:
1. 'Muppet Christmas Carol' - My absolute favourite Christmas film, it's so similar to the book (and that impresses me), the songs are great and it just warms my little heart.
2. 'Love Actually' - How could this not make the list? The Liam Neeson and Thomas Brodie-Sangster storyline is my favourite by far.
3. 'When Harry Met Sally' - Not technically a Christmas film, but my mum and I watch this every year when we wrap presents and it's one of my favourite traditions and one of my favourite films.
4. 'The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey' - A truly and wonderfully terrible film, but my friends and I have a long-running joke about it and I love it purely for that reason.
5. A tie between 'Elf', 'Four Christmases' and 'The Santa Clause' - Absolutely classics.

Top 5 Christmas Songs:
1. 'The Fairytale of New York' (The Pogues) - I challenge anyone not to love this, it's an absolutely incredible song, the lyrics are genius and it's one of the catchiest things I've ever listened to.
2. 'Step Into Christmas' (Elton John) - Catchy and upbeat and happy and incredible.
3. 'Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time' (Paul MccCartney) - A Christmas Classic.
4. 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)' (John Lennon) - Another Christmas Classic.
5. A tie between 'I Wish it Could Be Christmas Everyday' (Wizzard) and 'Merry Xmas Everybody' (Slade) - Everyones' Christmas favourites.

I'm also going to include a cheeky paragraph here of just general things I love at Christmas time. Two (fairly sad) highlights of my year are definitely the return of the Body Shop Christmas range (watch this space) and the return of the Costa Christmas menu; you know Christmas is definitely here when these two come back. I've never truly got over Costa never bringing back their honeycomb hot chocolate on the Christmas menu, undoubtedly the nicest thing I've ever drunk, but I feel we should give an honourable mention to Starbucks' honey and almond hot chocolate, which is really something special.

What I also love around Christmas time is watching 'Liberty of London' on Channel 4, a short documentary series that follows Liberty, the hella fancy department store, as it prepares for Christmas. There's something just so festive about the Liberty show and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and festive and excited inside. I've watched it every year since in began in 2013 (so only 2 years) but I haven't heard anything about it this year, and I'm starting to get slightly stressed that it won't be on. PLEASE CHANNEL 4, PLEASE.

And finally, a few books that I always like to read around Christmas time; it really wouldn't be Christmas without them, and they make me feel warm and wonderful every time. Firstly, 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens; a fantastic book, a fantastic story and I'd consider it one of my all-time favourite books (I like to imagine the Muppets when I read it). Now for a sad part. And by sad I mean sad loser. The two books it's sort of a tradition for me to read at Christmas are 'Holly the Christmas Fairy' and 'Stella the Star Fairy' by Daisy Meadows, two of the books in the Rainbow Magic series. Yes, I know, sad. BUT I've been reading these every year since I was really young, they're the perfect, lovely books for getting you into the festive season, I feel all warm and happy thinking about them, and it just wouldn't be Christmas without reading them.

2015 was a really, really fantastic year for me, and I hope it was great for all of you too.

Rosie 

PLAYLIST AND WATCH-LIST | FEBRUARY AND MARCH 2015

I haven't been changing up my makeup or wardrobe recently, so instead of doing a favourites this month, I'm going to do a combined 'playist and watch-list' post, everything I've been listening to and watching in the months of February and March.


Watch-List

Wolf Hall- I mentioned this in my 'January Favourites' post, but it finished in February and it was just so, so good. My whole family loved it so much that we've already bought the DVD.

The Great British Sewing Bee
The Sewing Bee was a TV discovery of mine in 2014 and, again, my whole family really enjoyed it. It inspires me to start sewing again, and I have big plans for sewing clothes when the weather gets warmer. The Sewing Bee is just such a happy, feel-good show, I love judging everyone's sewing on whether I'd wear it or not, and I'm now quite knowledge about sewing terminology. Unpopular opinion, but I personally think the Sewing Bee is even better than the Bake Off.

Raised by Wolves
Raised by Wolves is still currently on (we're three episodes in out of six) and I'm really loving it. It's written by Caitlin Moran and her sister so I had high expectations going into it, and it hasn't disappointed. It's funny, it's real, I love all the characters, and I would highly recommend.


Playlist 

'Something's Gotta Give'- All Time Low
This is All Time Low's first single from the album coming out at the start of next week (I do believe April 6th). I have loved All Time Low for a long, long time and this song reminds me of why I started loving them in the first place. I want to scream along to this song as loud as I possibly can. The new album ('Future Hearts') is sounding great so far, I can't wait.

'Blame It on Me'- George Ezra
George Ezra's voice is great, and this song is great. That is all I have to say.

'Like I Can'- Sam Smith
This song. I am in love. I literally cannot get enough of it, I have it on repeat. No words to describe my love for this or for Sam Smith right now.

Sam Smith in General
I'm a little bit late to the party on this one, but I am really, really loving Sam Smith at the moment. As well as 'Like I Can', I'm also really into 'Stay With Me' (obvs), 'I'm Not the Only One' and 'Lay Me Down'. Much love to Sam Smith.

Harry Potter Audio CDs
Stephen Fry was sent to this earth for the sole purpose of reading the Harry Potter audio CDs. I love the books, I love the CDs, I'm excited to listen to the rest of them.

FAVOURITES: JANUARY 2015

So here is the first month that I am trying out my new way of making monthly favourites, and also my first favourites post of 2015.

What I Used
All through January I've been suffering with the worst, driest, most chapped lips and hands that anyone could imagine. I have two lip saviours this month, Carmex Cherry (an old favourite) and Body Shop's 'Glazed Apple' lip balm (a new favourite). Carmex worked miracles for me at the start of the month in calming down the flaky, peeling mess that was my bottom lip (beautiful image for you all there), and the Body Shop lip balm has been perfect for moisturising and keeping my lips smoothy smooth in the last half of the month. Just to add, both of the smell incredible.

What I Wore
I don't really have anything major to put here as I've just been bulking up on the layers because it's FREEZING here. I have got really into dark blue jeans though, previously having been one that preferred black jeans over anything.

What I Read
I couldn't decided between The Maze Runner series by James Dashner or the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan as my favourite so I've cheekily mentioned them both. I read the last two Maze Runner books and the first two Percy Jackson books in January. My family absolutely love both series, and they're probably two of my favourite series of all time. Basically my two new favourite series are aimed at twelve year old boys and I have no regrets.

What I Watched
Wolf Hall started about half way through January on BBC1 or BBC2 (can't remember). The Tudors are my favourite period in history and you can't not love historically accurate fiction. Wolf Hall is a fantastic story, the cast is perfect and it's well acted; a warning though, it is very confusing as everyone is called Thomas.

What I Listened To
It's no secret that my family are very big on country music. I think I've mentioned this before somewhere but we recently discovered Kacey Musgraves, who is fab. Her song 'Follow Your Arrow' is incredible and I challenge anyone not to love it. (Unfortunately I can't find the CD box to photograph it)
I mentioned Kacey Musgraves and 'Follow Your Arrow' in my 'New Year's Playlist' post in early January. 

What I Ate
MEATliquor, MEATliquor, MEATliquor. The most incredible burger place in the world. They specialise in meat and liquor (obviously- though you don't have to be over 18 to eat there). It's loud, you can't hear yourself talk, all the lights are red, you can't see what you're eating and the music is incredible. It's amazing. It doesn't sound appealing- the food is so unbelievably greasy and you eat it off kitchen roll- but the food is literally to die for it's that good. It doesn't sound amazing, but ohmygod it so is.

A NEW WAY OF FAVOURITES

I'm thinking about maybe trying out a new 'Favourites' thing. Instead of making a big long list (though I might still make those occassionally), I might write a teeny little list every month, split into important headings, like so:

What I used 

What I wore

What I read

What I watched

What I listened to

What I ate

This is something that I am going to aim to do each month, and it's not the only monthly blog post that I am going to do. Watch this space.

BLOGMAS DAY 14- 2014 FAVOURITES

Sunday 14th December 2014

11 sleeps till Christmas

Predictably, the majority of the things seen here have appeared multiple times in posts throughout the year, and please forgive me for bombarding, and for also always using the same pictures. Obviously these are not all the favourites I have had during this year, though I do think it is a good representative sample of the best.

The Maze Runner
I am obsessed with the book and the film and that's all I'm going to say because I'm writing a main post about them. It's one of these best things in the world ever and I love love love love it.

I am majorly sorry, it didn't look this blurry on my camera.

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer
This product definitely deserves the hype.

Makeup Brushes
I've got really into using proper brushes in the last six or so months. I'm not sure how I ever lived and how I ever put makeup on without them.

Brushes from Cath Kidston

Body Shop Lip Butter in Shea
First things first this smells incredible. Secondly, it's one of the all-time best lip balms I have ever used, it makes my lips so super soft and moisturised. I use it over night and my lips have actually become dependent on this product, I majorly suffer for it if I miss even one night.

Planner
Everyone knows about my love for my planner. I feel so organised and in control of my life when I use it. I love it so much I'm debating buying either another one or a filofax and having two on the go at the same time.

Essie 'Grow Stronger' nail base coat
Basically it looks after my nails and stops them breaking all the time. I never bother with a top coat on my nails, but I always always use a base coat as it protects your nails from staining from your nail varnish.

Essie Nail Varnishes
I discovered Essie this year and boy was it good. What I love most about these, apart from the incredible colour range, is the brush. The brush is wide and flat and gives amazing coverage that makes the worst nail painter look like the best.

Again, unintentionally and unknowingly blurry pictures, sorry.
Lef-Right: 'After School Boy Blazer', 'Chinchilly', 'Bahama Mama'

EOS Lip Balm
It's a cult favourite in America that the UK are just picking up on (see Topshop and Urban Outfitters), and it's become my daily go-to lip balm. It's moisturising, smells great, has the coolest packaging, and I can see why everybody loves it. The dome makes it apply so nicely.

Water
This may seem a strange thing to put in a 'most favourite things of the whole year' post as water is one of those things that is essential for life, but read on. During the past year I have cut out all drinks except water, tea and coffee, so no fruit juice or fizzy drinks. I have noticed that my skin has cleared up so much during the year, and this may be due to getting older, but I also do believe it to due to the amount of water I have been drinking. We needed to acknowledge that.

Topshop Jamie Jeans 
These jeans are highwaisted so super flattering and they go with everything. They are the only jeans I wear now and they're just the most perfect jeans I've ever seen.

THE ALTERNATIVE FAVOURITES

I have decided this month to pile together my recent random favourites as I thought it'd be a nice change from the normal beauty-and-added-extras favourites, and there's not enough new products that I've been loving at the moment to make a whole post on it. (Everything is kind of jumbled but I've tried to put similar things together).

-The Return of the Costa Christmas Menu 
Obviously the most important first. The Costa Christmas menu is basically the highlight of my year, I love all the festive themed drinks and cakes and super cool cups, last year I'd tried every Christmas drink on the menu by January. There's also the couple of Christmas Starbucks drinks, though Costa just have an overall wider selection; I am super upset that Costa didn't bring back their honeycomb hot chocolate because it was the best ever.

Excuse my horrible thumb.

-Planner
I think I mentioned my planner in another post recently (can't remeber which) but basically I'm obsessed with it. Sadly, one of my favourite things in life is to organise myself and the planner just excites me so much. I basically love my planner like a child.

-Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte
There's more book things coming up this month but I had to mention here that I'm really enjoying 'Wuthering Heights', it's a fsntastic, weird book and everyone needs to read it. It's set on the West Yorkshire moors (where the Brontes lived) and it's fast becoming one of my all-time favourites.

-Goodreads 
I like books and I like to be organised and I like making lists. Goodreads is my new favourite thing and everyone needs to be on it. (I'd say you could follow me, but I only signed up the other day and I'm not actually sure what my username is). Does anyone else regret not documenting every book they've ever read ever?

-New Look
I haven't seriously shopped in New Look in about four years, but they are on point at the moment. Their winter (I'm talking about tartan) range is incredible and I haven't been so impressed by New Look in a long time.

-Cropped Jumpers
All of my jeans are high-waisted so I've really been loving cropped jumpers recently (no pictures as they will all be appearing in upcoming big posts). I find cropped jumpers to be really flattering and they can be dressed up or down with jeans, nice trousers or skirts.

-John Lewis Christmas Advert
This basicially signals the official start of Christmas and we are allowed to get excited. It also makes me cry like a baby, I don't like to think about last year's one.

-X Factor
I don't think I've been this into X Factor since 2010 (I was obsessed that year) but I've suddenly got really into it and there's people I actually like and quite a few really talented people and no one else is watching it this year I'm so alone in the love.

-Elissa Franceschi- Neon Lights
Elissa is an amazing singer and the sweetest person, plus her brother sings in You Me At Six, though that should play no factor as she is incredible in her own right. Her 2013 EP, 'Devoid of Rue' is amazing and I absolutely love every song on it. 'Neon Lights' comes from her latest album that came aout recently (called 'Chemicals') and I love love love it. As cheesy as it sounds, this song made me smile in a way that no other song has recently and I need someone to love Elissa as much as I do as someone will come and see her live with me.

-Body Shop Shea Lip Butter 
This has been and will be featured more in upcoming blog things (ooh exciting) but I had to mention it here. It's basically a miracle lip product, I use it every single night and I wake up with super smooth lips, I feel that my lips are now slightly dependent on it as they're super dry if I forget it for even one night.

SUPER SKIN

In honour of our Baby Lips throwback to September 2013 at the end of September 2014, I thought we'd do another throwback to October 2013- the aforementioned 'Skin Month'. So as a celebration of a month dedicated to talking about skin products this time last year, I am doing my current skin care routine.
I don't know if this is because of simply getting older, but my skin has got a million times better in the past six months, and it's only fair that I share my skin secrets (the main one being that I secretly really enoy washing my face).

Morning:
I wash my face twice a day (as everyone should) using the Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel foaming face wash, and the cleansing and toning lotion of the same range. I occasionally use the Body Shop Tea Tree facial toner, but personally I prefer Boots' one. It should be noted here that Boots normally have a three-for-two offer on their Tea Tree and Witch Hazel range. Next I moisturise my face using my trusty Neutrogena moisturiser; the Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel range and the Neutrogena moistuiser are the only products that I have been constantly repurchasing for about the last 6 years.

Evening:
In the evening I wash my face again, though this time I don't moisturise. Before I wash my face, I take off my eyeliner and concealer (just general everyday makeup) using the Body Shop Vitamin E gentle facial cleansing wipes; though these wipes are quite expensive, I am actually allergic to Simple wipes so I have to use them. Personally though, I think that they work better than Simple wipes, and the packet actually lasts a very long time. In the evening I also use the Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel spot wand, which, despite having a 'Day' and a 'Night' side at either end (something which I personally love), I am bad and sometimes don't bother with it in the mornings. As it is part of my nighttime routine, I thought I'd add that I use the Body Shop Lip Butter in Shea every night before I go to bed and it is probably one of my most favourite lip products ever, it keeps my lips super soft and smooth and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Extras:
These are things which I am trying to make part of my weekly routine, but I am bad and neglect them, and most of the time I also forget to use them. It is recommened that you use a face mask and exfoliate your face at least once a week (I never do them on the same day), and I am trying really hard to make this happen. I have never been all that keen on exfoliating scrubs as I never used to like the gritty, sandy feel of them, but I do quite like the Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel exfoliating face scrub. You can read my post from 'Skin Month' last October to see how I got on with a Body Shop exfoliating face mask but I warn you, it is not good at all. However, the Body Shop face mask that I have always loved and can always see myself loving is their Tea Tree face mask, which I would highly recommend. I would also suggest getting some of the sample packet version of this mask as it comes in little sachets for £1 each and you can get at least three face masks out of each one, depending on the size of your head.

AUGUST FAVOURITES

Whilst on my annual group holiday, the two other girls and myself had a very overexcited moment involving our holiday makeup collections that resulted in a massive shopping splurge when I got home. As you will probably see, the majority of my recent purchases have ended up in my August favourites.

Beauty:
-I have been banging on a lot recently about how white nails make your skin look more tanned but it really is true. My favourite white nail varnish is the Rimmel Rita Ora one in 'White Hot Love' which, though looking shimmery and off-putting in the bottle, is actually a beautiful plain white with an amazingly cheap price tag. Rimmel always do great quality products for low prices and they are fast becoming one of my favourite brands.

-Another Rimmel product is the Colour Rush Balms, not going to lie, the crayon shape of these was the initial appeal but the colour range, like with the nail varnishes, is amazing. I bought 'Not an Illusion' which is a beautiful brownish-rose (if that is possible), I'm not normally a pink-lips-person as I'm not sure how much they suit me, but this looks amazing on and is a sort of your-lips-but-better colour. I love 'Not an Illusion' so much that I am 101% going to be buying the Colour Rush Balm in 'Keep Mauving'.

-The final Rimmel product is the Stay Matte Powder (I have Shade 001 Transparent); this powder is the weirdest and most amazing thing, I panicked when I first put it on because I looked all powdery and pale and weird but after two minutes it has set so my skin looked beautiful and I was my normal colour. I absolutely love this and would definitely recommend for smooth looking skin.

-The Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Pink Gold is probably one of my most favourite current products (apart from the Rimmel Stay Matte), it is the most beautiful eye shadow colour ever. Many people use the Colour Tattoos as eye shadow bases but I personally think they look so beautiful on their own that you don't need to wear anything else. I can't get over the beauty of this product on the eyes, it's a lovely metallic pink and I want the whole collection (as seen on my 'September Goals/Books/Wishlist' post I have my eye on three others, 'Metallic Pomegranate being a definite must-buy).

Clothing:
-My new favourite style of clothing this summer is the camisole (or cami) top. There's not all that much I can say about these apart from that they're perfect for summer and the style is very pretty and flattering. I have two, an olive coloured one from Boohoo which I absolutely love as it is an amazing colour that I would not normally wear, and a pink one from Next which is floral and beautiful (the Next one also comes in blue which I am strongly debating buying).

Top- Boohoo
Shorts- Marks and Spencers

Top- Next
Jeans- Topshop Jamie jeans

-The return of autumn fashion. Good Lord do I love autumn fashion, there is nothing better than tweed, tartan, thick jumpers, thick tights and cute ankle boots. Boy am I excited. (Just putting it out there that New Look have the best selection of tartan clothing and the moment and oh do I love me some tartan).

Accessories: 
-My new favourite necklace obviously had to make an appearance here; I made this necklace myself from a stone I found on Scout summer camp on Brownsea Island (the home of the first ever Scout camp). The stone already had a hole in which one of the Scouts told me was lucky, so I attached it to a leather thread and it has made the most beautiful and original piece of jewellery that I have received a lot of compliments for.

-String bracelets are popular with everybody but they make their appearance mainly in the summertime. My new bracelets this year are from Corfe Castle (in Dorset), from a tourist stand in Barcelona (the ultimate best place to buy bracelets), and from a stall at Reading Festival.

Other:
-Something I just had to mention here, the wetwipes brand 'Halo' (available in Boots) are my new favourite thing, I carry round a packet of them constantly with me and they are just the best. They are super moisturising on your hands and don't make your hands slightly sticky after use (hand sanitiser). I could not live without these wipes.

-Starbucks Mocha Coconut. Ohmygod. How have I gone so long without trying this before? It's incredible.
-The Great British Bake Off; it's not quite the Sewing Bee but it's pretty darn good. It excites my love of baking and cooking and it's just so tense! (Anyone see the scandal of last week's episode, oh my...) (Another thing I have to add is Kate's eyeliner in the last episode, her hair is already perfect but she pulls off the metallic purple eyeliner so well I am furiously jealous of her in every way).
-I am bored with all the music I own so I've been branching out into more bands that I wouldn't normally listen to, my latest discovery being Stornoway. Stornoway are a more folky band that I wouldn't normally listen to but they are incredible, especially their 'Beachcomber's Windowsill' album.

MAY FAVOURITES

I was going to do a haul post as I have had a few mini shopping trips recently but I thought I'd do a favourites instead as I haven't done one of them in forever. I have A LOT of favourites this month...

Beauty:

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer- I won't go into too much detail about this as I will be making a whole post on it, but after the whole wrong-shade-fiasco I have come to really love this concealer. It covers spots, blemishes, dark circles and red patches really well and also has a bargainous price-tag of just over £4.

Makeup Brushes- For a long time the only face makeup I really wore was concealer and that was in stick form so could be blended in with your fingers. For my birthday I was given a beautiful set of Cath Kidston makeup brushes and that has inspired me to experiment more with makeup. I started by using a brush to blend in the Collection concealer and so far I am loving it, it gives much better coverage all over your face and I am thoroughly enjoying the world of makeup brushes.

This doesn't do justice to just how BRIGHT the colours are

Topshop Lipsticks- Now I must say with these is that you must always have super smooth and hydrated lips before you put these lipsticks on as they are quite drying (but that might only be the matte shades) but other than that they are some of the best high street lipsticks. I have three Topshop lipsticks and I currently have my eye on a couple more; my favourite shades this summer are Infrared which is an amazing bright neon-ish orange but you have to be quite brave to wear it out, and Rio Rio which is a bright red with orangey undertones. I don't know if this is just me but I also find Topshop lipsticks are easier to apply than other brands (bare in mind I am absolutely awful at applying lipstick) but I feel it's less messy and less hassle.

Boots Tea Tree Stick- Ever since I began getting spots six years ago or so, this is a product I have found myself coming back to time and time again. There isn't a post where I don't ramble on about how good tea tree is for your skin, and this will be no exception. This product has two sides, one of day and one for night, and it is probably one of the best spot treatments out there. This isn't a product for really bad skin, but it clears the odd few spots up perfectly in three or so days. Plus it has a super good price at just over £3 and you get a lot of product.

Body Shop Face Pack- here's another tea tree product for me to ramble on about, but basically this clears up your spots really well. I'll either do a whole face pack or do it just on the areas I want to clear up and it works a dream.

Mascara in General- For the past few months I haven't been bothering to wear mascara as I find it a pain to get off without pulling half your eyelashes out and I honestly can't tell whether I've got it out or not. When I've been going out recently I've just been putting on a little bit of mascara and I must say it does kind of finalise (right word?) or complete your eyes and it stops you looking bottom-heavy if you're only wearing eyeliner on your lower lash line.

Clothing/Accessories:

This is the skirt with Topshop Infrared lipstick- I am very unphotogenic and bloody awful at taking selfies

New Look Shirt- I was a big New Look fan from the ages of about 11-13, but after I discovered H&M I ignored it completely. Its been a good few years since I properly went into New Look and had a look around, but I was given a voucher for my birthday. This shirt is absolutely perfect, it is thin enough for summer wear and can be dressed up or down or worn with a jumper. I tend to wear it tucked into black jeans with black jelly shoes, but it looks equally as good not tucked in or worn with skirts.

Juju Jelly Shoes- throwback to the 90s here, these came back in fashion last summer but sadly I missed out on getting some (I was not a happy bunny about that). I decided to opt for the high-heeled black ones as they can be worn casually or dressed-up and the colour means they go with everything. I wear them either bare foot or with cute frilly socks (the only time it's acceptable to wear socks with sandals) and they are a must-have in the summer.

Satchel- I will go into more depth on my 'What's in my Bag' post with this, but this beautiful bag is from Accessorize and it has the magic of being larger on the inside than it looks.

Accessorize Midi Ring- I love rings, I love simple rings, and I love midi rings. I got this for my birthday and I have worn it more or less everyday since. In my opinion, it goes with literally everything and it just so pretty.

Here is the notebook with the shirt mentioned above

Other:
New Notebook- I am a sucker for a good notebook and this one is almost too pretty to use. There's a whole range of these with similar slogans on the front but this was my favourite because obviously I am an undiscovered genius.

Snapchat photo of 'Strawberry Buttercream' after the wax explosion 

Yankee Candles- I currently have two favourite Yankee Candles that I got for my birthday in 'sample' from (the samples are great as they cost under £2 each and it's a great way to test if you like the scent before buying a larger and more expensive one). My current favourites are Strawberry Buttercream which I had always thought was too sickly but now I own it I want to eat it it smells so good, and Lovely Kiku which I'm not sure how to describe but there are no words for how good it smells. I keep candles like these on a saucer as I don't have anything to put them in and I think it makes them look pretty.

Pompeii Movie- We took a family trip to see this in May but oh my it was amazing. Kit Harrington (A.K.A. Game of Throne's Jon Snow) is beautiful, his body is so perfect that you want to die and I would 100% recommend seeing this. Bare in mind, it is possibly just down to him that the film is so good as it is very historically and geologically inaccurate (you shall learn that my family are big history nerds) but I am very excited for the DVD to come out.
Wombats- My friend got me the latest Wombat's CD and it is really, really good. It's not something I would normally have listened to but I am in love and it is the perfect soundtrack for summer.
Arctic Monkeys- I was always one of those people who was like 'I don't like the Arctic Monkeys, all their stuff sounds really samey and boring' but after I bought my Reading Festival ticket (moment of excitement here please) I decided I had to listen to them as they are headlining on Saturday and the whole world, their mum and their dog is obsessed. Arctic Monkeys still sound a bit samey to me but they have grown on me a lot, I wouldn't consider myself a big fan but 'No. 1 Party Anthem' from AM has got to be one of the best songs at the moment.
Game of Thrones- It's safe to say my whole family is obsessed my this. We are those people who read the book before watching the TV, and I would 100% recommend doing that as there is so much in the books that is missed out on the TV and the books are fantastic. The second book can get a bit long and boring as it is something of a transitional book, but it is so worth getting through it for the third which is amazing. Read before your watch.

25 DAYS OF BLOGGING CHRISTMAS- DAY 4 | DECEMBER 4TH- FAVOURITES

I have tried out quite a lot of new products in the past couple of months but not enough that I liked and wanted to put in a favourites post so here they are combined!

1. Barry M Gelly Nail Paint in Plum- I put the nude version of this called Lychee in my September favourites post and I have (and will) spoken about it a lot recently but the colour is an absolutely gorgeous dark plum colour that looks black in certain lights but it is my dream purple that I have been searching for for ages and I just love it.

2. Accessorize lipstick in Infatuated- This is a product that I have been raving about even more than the previous one but I just love it sososososo much and I don't think I will ever be able to get over just how lovely it is.

(I think the photos of these first two products are already some of my most used photos...)

3. Simple Kind To Skin Cleansing Facial Wipes- probably the best make up wipes I have ever used and currently on offer in Superdrug.

4. Vaseline Rosy Lips- I have never paid that much attention to Vaseline before as it has always seemed quite boring to me but I am just in love with Rosy Lips it gives the most gorgeous pink tint to your lips whilst curing them of all chapped-ness (plus it has the same name as me, what's not to love!?).

5. MUA Palette in Heaven and Earth- beautiful colours, perfect palette, overall in love with it.

 

6. Hunger Games Catching Fire- this film is absolutely amazing and everyone NEEDS to see it, the books are fantastic and the film is exactly like them, the arena is perfect and the cast is beautiful and I want to watch it all day every day (Catching Fire calendar for Christmas please thank you) ARGH.