BLOGMAS DAY 11- THE BODY SHOP CHRISTMAS

Thursday 11th December 2014

14 sleeps till Christmas

It's no secret that I am a massive Body Shop fan, and it's also no secret that the return of the Body Shop and Costa Christmas products are one of the highlights of my year (I lead a small, sad life). And so I return today with one of my fortes: Body Shop, Christmas, and lip balm. 

I will openly say that the Body Shop are one of my favourite places for lip balm, they smell and taste amazing and they work like a dream. I do own one of each type of lip balm that the Body Shop has on offer, but every year I jump at the chance to buy one from their Christmas range (especially since last year's just looked so damn cool). 

This is last year's cranberry lip balm, I have the gingerbread version of this

From what I have gathered, Body Shop bring back variations of their Christmas vanilla and cranberry products every year. I always love the cranberry one, and this year is no exception, however I am not such a fan of this year's take on the vanilla, 'Vanilla Brulee'. Last year's vanilla was a top-notch simple one, but it's just not doing anything for me thing time round. 

Last year's vanilla

There is great disappointment in my household that the Body Shop didn't bring back their gingerbread range (we literally bought it for everyone last year), but this year's new one is definitely an all-time favourite. 

This year Body Shop have brought out a 'Glazed Apple' range and I cannot even begin to describe how good it smells. It has the world's freshest, sugary-sour scent that I am finding super difficult to describe, but it is literally making my mouth water just smelling it. 

The lip balm itself is quite solid, so it takes a while to pick up a lot on your finger, but it's super moisturising and doesn't leave you with that weird white film around your mouth. What I really love about this is that it isn't sticky or greasy on your finger, which I really hate in other lip balms that come in a tin. 

There are three new Christmas lip balms, two non-tinted ones (the Glazed Apple and Vanilla Brulee ones), and one with a beautiful deep-red tint (the cranberry one). I would totally recommend, especially just going into a Body Shop store and smelling the Glazed Apple range.

BLOGMAS DAY 10- THE BLOGGERS MADE ME BUY IT

Wednesday 10th December 2014

15 sleeps till Christmas

Bloggers are bad people, they make us buy things we don't need. And then they make us buy more. I am guilty of this, help me.

1. Barry M Nail Varnish in 'Berry Cosmo'
I saw this on someone's Instagram (she also has a blog, don't worry) and I fell so completely in love with it that I went out and bought it that same afternoon. No buyer's remorse here, it is the most beautiful purple berry colour and is my nail staple this autumn winter (you probably won't see me with any other colour on over the next few months).

2. Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer

This is a much raved about product but it is definitely worth the hype, it is the best thing I have ever used to cover spots and I don't know how I ever lived without it.

3. Sleek Blushers

Another very popular high street product that I'm not quite on board with yet. Sleek have the best colour range though, with every colour you could possibly want for a blusher, and ones that would suit every different skin tone. I also really love Sleek packaging. (I have the blusher in 'Flushed).

4. Rimmel Kate Moss Matte Lipstick in '107'

Yet again I can 100% see why this product is so raved about, it is one of the best lipsticks out there that I personally think looks great all year round and is definitely one of my favourite products. I am dying to try out more Rimmel Kate Moss lipsticks and also some of the non-matte ones.

5. All of the Lush Christmas products
Brace yourselves for the excitement... more on this coming later this week or next (I forget exactly when).

6. Maybelline 24 Hour Colour Tattoo Eyeshadows
I've spoken about these quite a lot, I love them, there's not all that much more I need to say really.

7. Minicellar Water Makeup Remover
I'm not sure how I feel about this product yet, I have one from Botanics, and it is a range that I trust. 

8. Essie Nail Varnish in 'After School Boy Blazer'

I believe this was a limited edition Essie nail varnish for Autumn 2013 and at the time I was looking for the perfect dark, dark navy blue colour and here it is. I saw this on a couple of people's blogs and I wanted it, so I got it. And it's one of my all time most favourite nail colours ever.

BLOGMAS DAY 9- MY INSTAGRAM YEAR IN OUTFITS

Tuesday 9th December 2014

16 sleeps till Christmas

These are my selfies, I'm slightly scared to post them and I can confirm I chickened out of half of them at the last minute. Enjoy my vanity. 

Shirt- Topshop
Jumper- Next
Nails- Barry M 'Berry Cosmo'
Giant Mug- Holland (as in the country(

Look at the forehead on that spot- my makeup less state
Top- Topshop
Jeans- Topshop Jamie Jeans
Leather Jacket (in the background)- All Saints
(Yes this is the Topshop changing room)

Chanelling the inner '90s' look
Shirt- New Look
Jeans- Topshop Jamie Jeans
Lipstick- Topshop 'Infrared'

My best selfie of 2014
Dress- H&M
Choker- River Island
Nails- Topshop 'Cloak and Dagger'
Lipstick- Rimmel Kate Moss matte '107'

Awkward arm alert
Jumper- Next
Jeans- Topshop Jamie Jeans

Cropped Jumper- Boohoo
Jeans- Topshop Joni Jeans
Shoes- Dr Martens
Satchel- Accessorize

BLOGMAS DAY 8- MY INSTAGRAM YEAR

Monday 8th December 2014

17 sleeps till Christmas

I thought today I'd share my year of 2014, through the medium of my Instagram posts. Enjoy. 

April: I turned 17- this is my Game of Thrones themed cake, complete with severed heads on spikes.

 March/April/May/One of those: Easter

August: Casual view from the window of our Barcelona holiday appartment, no biggie, COMPLETE MASSIVE BIGGIE LOOK HOW INCREDIBLE THAT IS

August: Reading Festival- seeing three of my favourites bands near the front. Dead. 

October: I had an operation.

November: the poppies at the Tower of London were incredible, London is a beautiful place at night

November: Thanksgiving with the American friends. This may not look like much but it's the most incredible thing I have ever eaten and I crave corn bread daily. 

BLOGMAS DAY 7- DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN?

Sunday 7th December 2014

18 sleeps till Christmas

I have created a crafty (see what I did there) idea to decorate your home/room/shelf/cupboard/bathroom/garden (not recommended) this Christmas, using either things you already own, or things you can get for dirt cheap. Enjoy.

You Will Need:
-Cotton wool balls
-Black felt
-Orange felt
-Fabric/PVA glue (or glue dots- a genius invention)
-Scissors

To Make:
1. Glue two cotton wool balls together.

2. Cut out five small circles of black felt- two or the eyes and two for the buttons.
3. Glue two of the circles to your snowman's face, and two down his front.

4. Cut out a triangle from the orange felt and glue on.
5. Leave to dry. Simples.

BLOGMAS DAY 6- NIGELLA LAWSON'S BROWNIES

Saturday 6th December 2014

19 sleeps till Christmas

I take no credit whatsoever for this recipe, but it's an oldie and a goodie and it never fails to impress. These are Nigella Lawson's 'Everyday Brownies' from her book, 'Kitchen'.

You Will Need:
-150g unsalted butter
-300g light brown sugar (Nigella specifies 'muscovado')
-75g cocoa powder
-1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
-1 pinch of salt
-4 eggs
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-150g milk chocolate

To Make:
-Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius, and grease a deep, square baking tray.
-Melt the butter over a gentle heat.
-Once the butter is melted, add the sugar and stir until blended with the melted butter.
-Sift together the cocoa powder, flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Mix in with the butter and sugar, and remove from the heat.
-Whisk the eggs with the vanilla extract, and mix with the rest of the mixture.
-Chop the chocolate into chunks, and mix into the mixutre.
-Line the baking tray with foil, and pour the mixture in.
-Cook for 20-25 minutes. The inside should be gooey when cooked.
-Once out of the oven, leave to cool.

BLOGMAS DAY 5- BERRY PICKING

Friday 5th December 2014

20 sleeps till Christmas

Berry colours are definitely my thing, I absolutely love them the most over any other annual makeup trend and they are guaranteed to always look good. Berries are the perfect autumn/winter colours and I feel so in my element right now.

I'd just like to say that I find it super hard to photograph lipsticks properly and therefore I haven't done the individual pictures here, however I do think the packaging of the three lipsticks show the true colours pretty accurately. I am reusing many of yesterday's pictures, though technically yesterday stole them from today.

Lips:
-Accessorize lipstick in 'Infatuated'; my first ever lipstick and where the love of berry stemmed from. It's creamy and quite messy but oh so beautiful.
-Topshop lipstick in 'Beguiled'; I'd had my eye on this one for quite some time. It's quite similar to the Accessorize one but it's more matte, it's beautiful and no where near as dark as it looks in the tube.
-Rimmel Kate Moss Matte Lipstick in 107;  a cult favourite and one of my personal favourites that I actually like to wear all year round. This is a more red toned lipstick rather than purple like the other two mentioned above.

-Vaseline Limited Edition in 'Paint the Town'; similar to Rimmel 107 in that it is more of a red colour (though it comes out as a sheer dark pinkish red), especially fitting here as it smells like berries.

-Body Shop Born Lippy in 'Plum'; this comes out sheer but it has the most incredible smell in the world and I would smell it all day everyday if I could.

-Body Shop Born Lippy in 'Passion Berry'; another sheer purple balm, but much stickier and a lot less creamy than the other Born Lippy (this one is in a pot whereas the other is in stick-form).

Face:
-Sleek blusher in 'Flushed'; I feel that blushers in this colour are difficult to pull off without looking like you've been slapped in the face, and so far I haven't quite mastered that. It's more pinky than it appears in the picture.

Eyes:
-Maybelline Colour Tattoo in 'Metallic Pomegranate'; like dark blushers, it can be hard to wear darker purple/red eyeshadows without looking like you've been hit in the eye. This colour is so beautiful I'm determined to make it work.

-Sleek palette in 'Oh So Special'; I've mentioned this palette way too much recently but it has the most eprfect selection of colours that are suitable all year round. Obviously not all of this palette is berry coloured, but I'd like to specifically mention the shades 'Gateau', 'Celebrate' and 'Glitz'. These colours all have the plus point of being glittery and therefore perfect for the winter party season.

Nails:
-Barry M Gelly polish in 'Plum'; if we do a throwback to last year, this was THE colour of autumn/winter 2013, I don't think it left my nails once. I love love love the Barry M Gelly range as there's such a diverse set of polishes in every colour and they truthfully don't chip. Pictured below.

-Barry M polish in 'Berry Cosmo'; such a beautiful colour that I have banged on quite a lot about recently but well deserves it. Pictured below.

-Ancient Miss Sporty nail varnish with an unknown name; it's berry, it's pretty, it's more purple than it appears on photo.

-Essie 'Bahama Mama'; I'd wanted this for ages and I won't go into much detail about it because that's coming up later this month but it's so beautiful I think I'm in love.