Wednesday 31 December 2014

New Years Resolutions

Every year, I make a few new years resolutions, and most of the time they become 'First quarter of January Resolutions' but anyhoo, it wouldn't be a new year without the resolutions!

In 2015 I will try to...
 

Eat healthier In 2014, I managed to lose a little bit of weight and I felt a whole lot better for it! Recently, with it being Christmas, there has been lots of meals and tasty but unhealthy food available, (but hey, that's what Christmas is all about) and the last few days or so I've began to feel more tired and not my usual self so I'm looking forward getting back on track and just generally eating healthier foods : )

Take more pictures I've never been much of a photographer really, I've always been more of an 'enjoy the moment and remember' type of person, however since starting this blog, I've found myself wanting to take pictures more and actually enjoying looking back at things I've done.

 Stress less Recently, I've found myself getting more and more stressed about little things, and I've found it has impacted on my overall mood, I'm going to combat this by making more lists which will mean there are less things on my mind, and I'm going to spend more time doing fun things like painting my nails and making more Pinterest projects- yes I'm aware that sounds incredibly boring and old minded for an 18 year old to find nail polish and Pinterest fun but I'm 54 at heart :D

Write in my 2015 diary every day Back in 2012, I decided I wanted to write a passage in my diary every day, just to have something to look back on in years to come, and to my own surprise I actually completed it. This year I want to do the same but at the end of every day, I want to add a little sentence or 2 about something that has happened that day which I'm grateful for. I got this idea from Pinterest and the person had used a little mason jar and some coloured paper. I thought it was a nice way to start seeing the good in everything. 
 This is the diary I'm going to use, my Mum got it for me for Christmas and I love both the colour and design on it : )

Keep up the blogging! Although I only started blogging at the beginning of December, it feels like a lifetime! (in a good way of course) I feel I've been very welcomed into the community and can see it is going to be something I will enjoy doing for years to come.

I hope that you are all having a lovely New Years Eve, and feeling ready for 2015 to begin.

If you have any New Years Resolutions set or bog posts about them, then I'd love to hear about them in the comments below, and I'd like to wish you all a very Happy New Year!! 

Saturday 27 December 2014

Wilkinsons Kiss Range- Clay Time, Apricot Lip scrub, and Prime of Your Life.

Hello! Did you all have a good Chritsmas? 
We had a lovely relaxing Christmas which was well needed however by Boxing Day we were going a little stir-crazy, so we decided to check out the shops and the sales. 

Whilst in Wilksinons I spotted the kiss range and couldn't help but liken the products to Soap and Glory- only, at a snip of the price. Intrigued, I decided to pick up these 3 products, they weren't on sale but are fairly new and quite a bargain already.


 I got a clay face mask £3, a lip scrub £2 and a primer £3 (I had read great things about the primer and had already decided I wanted to buy it and review it for you) 


Clay Time Face Mask

As you can see, I've already given this a good try and I love it! 
The scent is beautiful but difficult to describe, I would say it smells clean with a hint of mild soap its a very feminine scent as the outer packaging would suggest.
The mask itself is very thick and a little goes a long way, it glides onto the skin like a dream and sets within 4-5 minutes. The directions say " leave for 5 minutes for a quick skin treat or up to 15 minutes for a deep cleansing facial." The mask leaves my skin feeling cool, hydrated and smelling fresh.

Apricot Lip Scrub

This was the one I was most excited to try! We all know this is going to be compared to the Lush lip scrubs as there aren't many lip scrubs on the market, however I would go as far to say the product itself is just as good as Lush's version. Apricot is the only choice of flavour- at the moment, that is. I suspect that if they sell well, they may bring out more variations in the future. 
The scent is pleasant and reminds me of the St. Ives apricot range.
The texture is practically identical to the Lush ones- it buffs away all the dry skin on my lips and leaves them feeling smooth, and even looking a little more plump as all the exfoliating increases circulation. 
This little pot only costs £2 in comparison to the Lush ones which are currently £5.50 although this one contains 10g of product whereas the Lush are bigger containing 25g. 
All in all I'm very pleased with this little gem, and since a little goes a long way, I think it will last me for months making it great value for money!

Kiss Light Reflecting Primer

  This primer apparently contains Silica spheres to diffuse light and help to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It also moisturizes the skin with vitamin E and other oils. I feel this primer did smooth out my skin making it a good base for makeup however I can't honestly say I noticed any light reflection and my skin didn't appear any more dewy or luminous after use, although this could be down to my foundation (currently collection
Lasting Perfection) which is a full coverage, 16 hour foundation. I found that the application of my foundation was noticeably better- it was easier to smooth onto my skin and I found it stayed at the 'just applied' look for longer.

All in all I'm very impressed with the Kiss range, I love the packaging and I think that the products are fabulous for the price. I'm tempted to go back and buy it all!

Have you tried anything from this range yet? What did you think? 


Sunday 21 December 2014

Seasonal Sundays #3- Festive Hot Chocolate

When it's cold outside, I think there is nothing better than a hot chocolate to warm you up (in my case, defrost me from the inside as I am constantly cold with toes that feel like frozen baby carrots- what a lovely mental image for you!) So, with the weather in England turning arctic, I decided to share with you my favorite hot chocolate recipe 


                                                     Mmmmm melting marshmallows :p



Instructions:
Fill your favorite cup with milk then pour the milk into a pan on low heat and add the chocolate- any chocolate you like- galaxy, aero, dairy milk etc (I used a mars bar :P) then stir continuously. Wait until the chocolate has melted and the milk turns chocolate-y. Resist immediately drinking as now is the time to add a pinch of salt (yes, sounds gross but brings out the sweet flavor beautifully) stir then pour into your cup. Add marshmallows, cream or a candy cane- or all three if you have a sweet tooth! 


Perfect for sipping by the fire whilst watching some Christmas TV 

There we have it, this post draws Festive Fridays and Seasonal Sundays to a close. With only 4 days to go until the big day, I hope you're all ready and raring to go for the gift giving, mince pie munching, party popping season and I also hope this mini series has helped you enjoy/ get set for the festive season.

So I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and I will be back shortly after the big day!




Friday 19 December 2014

Festive Fridays #3- Easy Festive Nail Tutorial

I love- and have always loved the look of beautifully manicured nails, I think they can make you feel so much more glamorous, however, I'm very clumsy and lack patience so nail art is not really my forte (ya don't say...)
This is my go to nail look when there are parties on the horizon, because it takes less than 10 minutes, requires no special nail art tools and can be customized to any outfit!

You will need:
A glitter nail polish,
Your favorite nail polish.


                                               I chose this combination
                  Left: Barry M- Mermaid                       Right: Barry M- Greenberry



                                    First, apply one layer of nail polish

                                             
                                          If need be, apply a second

                        Then apply the glitter nail polish on 3/4 of the nail.

         Allow to dry, then apply another layer of glitter polish on 1/4 of the nail


                      Lastly, when dry, apply glitter polish on the tip of the nail.




Allow to dry (it helps if when tacky, you place your nails in icy water) then admire your festive party nails!

P.s I'm sorry the pictures aren't really top quality, these were the best of a bad batch as it's been a really grey day outside and when I tried to use bright, artificial lighting it just showed up how dry my hands are with all this cold weather xx



Thursday 18 December 2014

Lush Star Light Star Bright Review

I included the star light, star bright bath melt in this Lush haul and noted that it is extremely glittery, I was intrigued by this novelty and after trying it out, decided to do a review on this shiny little gem!

 
                         As you can see, there is a lot of loose, glittery powder
                            that transfers onto the surface/ your hands
       As soon as the star hit the water, the excess glitter sank to the bottom of the tub and the star began to slowly spin.
 
Picture taken after about one minute- the melting oils began to disperse outwards into the water.

       After another minute, deep midnight Blue swirls began to circle the star.
 As you can see, this is after all the glitter had dispersed and much of the star had turned the water buttery and smooth.
 The bath water was left this lovely pastel Blue colour and although the picture doesn't do it any justice, you can see the glitter particles are plentiful yet delicate. 

After the bath, my skin was left feeling moisturized and smelling clean- mainly citrus-y although it was not too overpowering. The glitter that stayed on my skin was twinkly but didn't look tacky- more like a highlight, and it resembled the body shop sparkler spritz. Very Christmas-y!

All in all, a very good product which I will definitely be stocking up on before it disappears for another year...

Have you tried the Star Light Star Bright bath melt, or any of the limited edition Lush Christmas range yet?





Monday 15 December 2014

Christmas Gift Guide

   ♫ 'Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la laaaaaa la la la la
Not feeling it? Still got those last minute presents to buy? Stressing about what to get for
that person who already has everything? Read on...

For the reminiscent 80s baby/ 90s kid - this

For the gaming geek - this

For the Photography enthusiast - this

For the girly girl - this 

For the tea addict - this or this

For the phone addict - this

For the Rapunzel - this

For the hairdresser/ dry hand sufferer - this

For the Labrador lover - this  

For the sentimental - this

and finally, for the alcohol lover - this

So hopefully the people in your life will fall into one (or several) of these categories
and you will struggle no more! : )  

          Good luck with the Christmas shopping, there's less than 2 weeks to go!


Sunday 14 December 2014

Seasonal Sundays #2- Building a Gingerbread House

Since about mid November, whilst scrolling through Pinterest, I have seen various pins of gingerbread houses. With this being a mostly American tradition, I've never built one, although I do absolutely LOVE gingerbread- there's something so warming and Christmas-y about it! So with that in mind, whilst wandering around Tesco's, I came across a 'make your own gingerbread house' kit and I just couldn't leave it on the shelf- granted, it is probably marketed at 4 year olds but ya know, young at heart and all that...

Soooooo, here it is.

                     Step One- Stick the 4 walls together and ice the roof
                          Step Two- place the 2 roof tiles on the house
         Step Three- ice the windows- it's easier if the gingerbread is flat to the table, therefor it's better to do this first, however I just placed the whole house on its side.
                 Step Four- Be really clumsy and fail at successfully moving the house...
                             Step Five- Compose yourself and re-build.
            Step Six- The best part- decorate the house with sweets and icing
Step Seven- add icing to look like icicles and your gingerbread house is complete!

Friday 12 December 2014

Festive Fridays #2- Manchester Christmas Markets

Last week, we went to Manchester for the Christmas markets- I've never been before and thought it would be a nice thing to do to get into the Christmas spirit. We walked round and thoroughly enjoyed it, although it was quite chilly! All the stalls were dressed so pretty with fairy lights (I'm obsessed with fairy lights all year round but at Christmas, I think they look 10 times more  magical). We went on a Monday so it was fairly quiet which meant I got lots of pictures.

Just a little disclaimer- if you're craving sweet things, this really isn't the post for you :p

Mmmmm white chocolate fountain- don't mind if I do!
  

I want this tree jewellery hanger on my dressing table... and all the jewellery too! 

                   There really was something for everyone, the only thing I didn't                                                      manage to find was a Father Christmas... ; )
                                                

Tuesday 9 December 2014

Lush Magic Wand Review

Lush Christmas magic wand bubble bar

I included the magic wand bubble bar in this lush Christmas haul and I have to 
                                                     say I've been very impressed. 


With just 7-8 seconds under the tap, the wand turned the bath water this lovely 
                                                                    blush colour.
                Mounds of bubbles appeared, they looked like fluffy white clouds : )

♡  The scent from the water was very mild and calming- unlike the scent direct from the wand, which is sweet and uplifting.
♡  The water and bubbles were clean- there was no glitter, confetti or petals.
♡  After the bath, my skin smelled clean and felt soft. 


I left the wand on the side to air dry and within about an hour, it was back to normal- and look, I have hardly used any! I would estimate it will last me 14+ baths. At £5.25 each I think it's pretty good value for money. 

Have you tried the magic wand bubble bar? What did you think?



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