Christmassy Update // A few things I’ve been up to in December.

Put Christmas decorations up and decorated the tree.
I put my Christmas decorations up in my bedroom last week. I now have three mini trees, one with flashing fairy lights and another is black with a purple and silver colour scheme. Yesterday I decorated the main tree in the living room so I might do an extra decorations post if I have time.

Been enjoying my two beauty advent calendars.
In a previous post I shared that I have two beauty advent calendars this year. I won a bomb cosmetics one in a YouTube competition and so far I’ve been loving the colourful soaps and pretty bath bombs included. I’ve been surprised with the Wilko one I picked up, there have been some real gems behind some of the doors.

Tried out the Morrison’s Christmas menu.
At the beginning of the month I met up with my good friend and her family. It was a lovely meet up and it was nice to catch up. We had lunch in the Morrison’s café and we tried some of the things on the Christmas menu. The Christmas lunch was reasonable, I also had a snowman cupcake which was insanely good and a wonderful treat.

Had my first Costa coffee black forest hot chocolate.

Oh my was this good! They just recently opened a Costa coffee where I live which I was super excited about. It’s a bit overpriced in there but I really enjoyed the experience of going in and checking out the Christmas drinks menu.

My Mum and I visited our friend and cute Labrador Connie.

This week we went to catch up with my Mums friend which was nice. I really enjoyed this outing, Connie is such a lovely dog and I took some photos of her too. It was fun spending time with Connie as I love dogs.

Went to a shabby chic café with parents.

I had a lovely outing with my parents this month. We went out for lunch in a cute local café. The prices were good and there were some lovely meals on the menu. I had a hot tuna and cheese panini and a deluxe hot chocolate which I enjoyed very much.

Have you been anywhere nice this December? Where do you like to eat out? :-) xxx

Ideas for Christmas Books to Read! :-)

Since a few years back I’ve been making it a fun tradition to read a couple of festive novels over the holiday period. This post is a little different from the kind I normally produce on here but let me know if you like it! So I have a few titles I've read that I wanted to share with you, Enjoy! X

Coming Home for Christmas Patricia Scanlan (buy here)
In unfortunate circumstances Alison decides to visits home for Christmas to spend time with her sister Olivia and family. A romance forms with a sweet Irish man she met back In NYC. This book left me feeling warm and comforted.

Just for Christmas by Scarlett Bailey (buy here)
This book covers all bases, really festive, great romance and beautiful setting. Alex moves to a Cornish cottage at Christmas and meets someone special. A real page turner and a lot of interesting characters including Alexs dog Buoy.

Make my Wish Come True by Fiona Harper (buy here)
Juliet and Gemma are sisters with very contrasting lives. They do a life swap at Christmas and learn a lot about each other. There’s also a bit of romance in this one and some unexpected turns.

A Christmas to Remember by Jenny Hale (buy here)

A bit of a slow starter but the characters were very well written and this made the book for me. Lots of very festive elements to the book as Carrie joins a new family over Christmas as a nanny.

A Winter Flame by Milly Johnson (buy here)

One of my fav Christmas books to read. I was captivated around the idea of the main leads building a theme park called Winter World. I felt like a child again reading this but the romance was lovely too!

The Gift by Cecelia Ahern (buy here)

This book was the one that made me get into Christmas novels and was one of the first I read. The plot and message of the book is brilliant and an amazing page turner with some unexpected twists.

Falling for Christmas by Debbie Macomber (buy here)

A modern interpretation of the story of the birth of Jesus. It is retold through Mary-Jo who is pregnant on Christmas Eve without the comfort of family by her side. This is a heart-warming book.

When I Fall In Love by Miranda Dickinson (buy here)

I’m currently reading this one and it’s not as Christmassy as I first thought. I’m still trying to get into it but it’s light-hearted and humorous so far.

What will you be reading over Christmas? Any books that take your fancy? Xxx

Winter Bread & Butter Pudding with Mixed Spice.

Today’s post is a baking related, I feel like I haven’t shared one of these for a little while and I love reading these type of posts myself. I made bread and butter pudding recently. I used a Sainsbury’s recipe book which is out of date now but I found a very similar recipe online here. Bread and butter pudding is probably one of the easiest baking recipes out there. The core ingredients include bread, an eggy mix and any extras you wish to include. I chose to add honey, mixed spice, cherries and walnuts which makes it comforting for winter time.

You may wish to add other things such as jam, sultanas, chocolate chips…. The list goes on. It’s very adaptable so you can add any extras you want. One thing I will say is I put the bake in the oven for about 20min and it was done so although some might suggest longer I would advise to keep checking while cooking. The finished result was super tasty and because I used wholemeal bread it was also much healthier. It’s a perfect treat to tuck into with the weather we have be having!

So do you like bread and butter pudding? What extra ingredients would you add? Xxx

‘Merry and Bright’ Lush Hamper Review

A couple of posts back I featured a Christmas haul of things to keep me going before the big day arrives. This included some Christmas novels, hot cocoa and a lush gift set. Click here for that post! I’ve been using up the products from the Lush gift and today I will be reviewing them. Click here to buy it priced at £14.95.

Beautiful Shower Gel
The apricot scent to this was beautiful and was something different from the regular perfumes you can expect at Christmas. The shower gel was glittery and lathered nicely.

Celebrate Body Lotion
This bright and zesty body lotion was particularly uplifting and I loved using it. The lotion sank into the skin well and really gave me a boost on dreary days.

Rub Rub Rub Body Scrub
This scrub worked best after running it under water, the texture was gritty so I found I needed to be a little gentler when exfoliating my skin with this. The classic floral scent was pretty but my least fav of the three products.

Would you like to try this out? Or would this gift be perfect for someone you know? Xxx

My First Space NK Purchase // Laura Mercier

I bought the Laura Mercier little indulgences hand & body crème collection after hearing Vivianna Does Makeup talking about it quite a bit over on her YouTube channel. I’ve wanted to try the brand for a while now as its so luxurious and this stocking filler gift set seemed the perfect way to do that. Included are four travel sized hand/body creams in different scents as follows; crème brulee, tarte au citron, ambre vanilla and almond coconut milk.

All of them smell really posh and like nothing I have ever smelt. The scents are actually rather unique and my favourite from the bunch is the crème brulee. They are lovely to use, really nourishing and the scent lingers on your skin. I think the 30ml products are perfect travel size too. The set priced at £20. (Buy here) I was actually super impressed with Space NK customer service, they answered my questions through email and sent along five additional beauty samples along with my order and to top that the postage was free!!

Have you heard of this brand? What’s your go-to hand cream? :-) Xxx

My Current Winter Perfume // Armani Code Satin

I first tested out this perfume on a paper slip in Boots alongside loads of others. I realised after coming home and going through the scents that this perfume would be a perfect purchase and bought the 30ml bottle online for a reasonable £33.99 at Fragrance Direct. (buy here)

Now having my own bottle I’ve been using this sexy, musky and sweet perfume daily. I would say it’s more suited to night wear but I spray a little on my wrists before heading out in the daytime. I’ve already managed to use up half the bottle!

I love buying a winter perfume so the scent will later trigger happy memories. I wanted the scent to remind me of the festive season and I have started doing this with a different perfume each year. Plus the packaging is really glamorous.

Top Notes; Orange Blossom Absolute, Ginger & Pear Sorbet

Heart Notes; Orange Blossom Absolute, Neroli, Arabica Coffee, Sambac Jasmine Absolute

Base Notes; Orange Blossom Absolute, Patchouli, Praline & Vanilla Bean

Have I tempted you with this perfume? What’s your go-to A/W perfume choice? Xx

My Advent Calendars 2015! :-D

I wasn’t expecting to have an advent calendar this year. My previous post (here) described about how I decided to save my pennies and just buy a few pamper goodies for the month of December. However I had been window shopping online at all the beautiful ones and last minute I purchased one for £5.00 from Wilko. I think the one I picked up was a nice budget option including some nail goodies.

I had entered Lauren Wanders Bomb Cosmetics advent calendar giveaway just recently, and to my joy I won the competition. It arrived this morning and I am thrilled with it. It includes mini bath bombs and soaps. Lauren is lovely too, her YouTube channel is fab, she does vlogs, hauls, beauty related content and much more! (here). I’m looking forward to December when I can open my windows now! The scent from the bomb cosmetics one smells lush!

So have you treated yourself to an advent calendar? Which ones have caught your eye? :-) Xxx

My Homemade Pre-Christmas Festive Hamper Idea

This idea came about when I was searching online for a good value beauty advent calendar, some were in the £50s so I wanted to treat myself to something which would be more value for money and still make me feel festive over the month of December. I did actually nab an advent calendar bargain for £5 in the end but this won’t be my main treat.

In my hamper I wanted things that would really make me feel good and to include fun ways of passing the time. Firstly I bought a Lush gift set, I just love the packaging and I look forward to doing a little review blog post on the products. The set included a shower gel, a body scrub and a body lotion which is perfect for a shower girl like me.

I chose two Christmassy books to read over December although I did cheat and I’m half way through the first book. Reading Christmas novels is my favourite pass time and thought these two choices would be perfect. Lastly I treated myself to some hot cocoa by Clipper, a perfect edition to the hamper and a great accompaniment while reading.

I would really recommend putting together a December hamper, you can put as much or little items inside and customize it to your wishes. It’s a nice alternative to a beauty advent calendar I think and it makes a great pamper night in. My hamper came to just over £30 and I know I will get a lot of use out of each item.

So have I inspired you to create your own hamper? What would you put in yours? :-) xxx

Merry and Bright gift set by Lush £14.95 (buy here)

A Christmas to Remember novel by Jenny Hale £7.99 (buy here)

When I Fall In Love novel by Miranda Dickinson £6.99 (buy here)

Clippers natural velvety hot chocolate £2.88 £2.30 (buy here)

Beginning your Christmas Shopping & what's on the shelves at the mo.

I loooove seeing all the gift sets in the shops and online. I popped into both Boots and Superdrug recently and snapped a few photos of what was on the shelves. Christmas shopping can be exciting but also a tiring experience so I thought this post would be a chatty and hopefully inspirational one to start thinking about your own gift buying.

The way I get started is browse websites and go into shops in town to see what’s out. I found with beginning early I could take advantage of some of the sales. I started picking up little bits around summer time. I did a lot of my in town shopping in September and finished off with a few online orders.

Superdrug are excellent for bringing out Christmas stock super early and often with initial discounts. Boots are always amazing for beauty and bath sets and I think their high end beauty sets are just so on point this year. I shopped around to get the best prices on some more expensive items and found Poundland, Primark etc. excellent for stocking fillers.

What are your top Christmas shopping tips? Have you bought any Christmas gifts yet? :-) Xx

Boots......

Superdrug......

Christmas Gift Wrap, Diary, Calendar & Stationery Shopping Haul

I placed an order on Paperchase back in mid-September for a couple of bits I needed for Christmas and the New Year. I decided to be super organised this year with buying a diary and so on. For the past couple of years I’ve been ordering a diary and Christmas wrap from Paperchase. The diaries are such good quality and I love the designs on the gift wrap.

Anyway I thought I would blog it today as Christmas is looming and thought you would like to see what xmas wrap designs I picked. I loved these three designs and thought the illustrations were modern and classy. I picked a pink 2016 diary, this particular style I thought looked so chic.

I had a little nosy in the stationery section, they seem to have different collections and I was really attracted to the Mystic Rose section. Everything looked so pretty and I thought the items I picked out would blend perfectly into my bedroom décor. I imagine they could make really cool gifts too.

So have you been Christmas gift wrap/2016 diary shopping? Which items I bought do you like? :-) xxx

Paperchase

Noto large pink day to view 2016 diary £15 (Buy Here)
Kraft stars 3m roll wrapping paper £3.75 (Buy Here)
Mounted stags 3m roll wrapping paper £3.75 (Buy Here)
Etched animals 3m roll wrapping paper £3.50 Free with offer! (Buy Here)
Antler woodland tissue paper - 3 sheets £2.00 (Buy Here)
Woodland antler gift stickers £1.25 (Buy Here)
White 40mmx87mm rectangular labels £2.00 (Buy Here)
Mystic Rose A6 exercise books - set of 3 £5.00 (Buy Here)
Mystic Rose multi list book £8.00 (Buy Here)
Mystic Rose foldaway bag £4.50 (Buy Here)
Mystic Rose glasses case £8.00 (Buy Here)

Newsagent

Tatty Teddy Calendar £5.99