Goals For 2016

Now I don't know about you but I always make New Years Resolutions and never seem to stick to them. Maybe it's my lack of will power or maybe it's the whole idea itself. I find that I have a lot more motivation to change or do well if I'm working towards a goal rather than just trying to change something about myself. This year instead of just aiming to "lose weight" in general I set myself goals to achieve, I set myself a goal weight and an exercise schedule and I found that having something to actually work towards really helped with my motivation. So this year instead of making New Year's Resolutions, I'm setting goals. Things to work towards rather than change instantly.

What I Got For Christmas 2015

First, let me say, I hope those of you who celebrate had a wonderful Christmas, I hope you stuffed yourselves silly with delicious food, were surrounded by friends and family and got positively spoilt! For those who don't celebrate, I hope you had a lovely day regardless! I had Christmas at home this year (last year we spent it abroad in Florida) and I had such a lovely time being surrounded by my family, I feel it's one the main times we're all together all day long and it's such a special day. Plus I know a lot of other members of my family love Christmas just as much as me, so it's always a really nice, happy day. Unfortunately I've been pretty ill the last week or so, so I did end up in bed by 8pm but regardless, I still had such a really nice day. We started off the day by opening presents and having a couple of croissants before the big dinner at 2pm. I was well and truly stuffed by the end of it, we still have some leftovers in the fridge now!

New Year's Eve Party Beauty

Though I will be spending New Years Eve as I have spent the last three years, serving pints to others who are actually enjoying their night (booo bar work), I thought I'd share a couple of my makeup picks that I've been loving recently and I would wear if I were to go out. And with every makeup look I've had this month, it's all about the glow. Dewy base, metallic eyeshadow and highlight on fleek. Because there's only so I long I feel I can get away with looking like a human glitter ball.

Christmas Face Of The Day

I don't know about you but I've had my Christmas Day makeup planned for at least two weeks now. What can I say... I'm organised (or just mad, I'll let you decide). This will be the first year that I'm going all out with my makeup, normally you'll find me bare faced in my pyjamas but since we're having lots of family and friends round and possibly off visiting others, I thought I'd make a special effort. I wanted something that was going to give me a flawless finish, last all day and still be massively festive. So a gold eye and red lips was the obvious choice for me!

The Christmas Tag

Christmas for me really is the most wonderful time of the year. The music, the weather, the general sense of joy that this time of year brings, everything about it just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I've always been more of a home bird, I thrive off spending time with my family and loved ones, stuffing our faces with amazing food and sitting in front of the fire watching all the Christmas specials on TV. I found a few of these tags floating around the internet but I much preferred the questions in this one so I thought I'd go ahead and answer them and maybe give you a little more insight into the person behind the blog.

White Chocolate & Malteaser Cheesecake

When it comes to baking, I tend to stick with what I know, mainly cupcakes and cakes of some sort as the flavours are so easy to mix up and decorating is always fun. But for Christmas I wanted to try out something a little different, as I'm personally not a fan of the usual Christmas dessert options like mince pies, Christmas pudding or Christmas cake. Having not made a cheesecake in years, I thought it was time to try one out again This recipe is super easy to follow and make, mainly consisting of just mixing up ingredients, whacking them in a cake tin and leaving them to set. No baking involved whatsoever!

My Favourite Festive Nail Polishes

Christmas and New Years is the time of year for me when I feel it's totally acceptable to crack out just about every sequin dress or glittery accessory that I can get my mitts on and nail varnishes are no exception. Whether used as a top coat, an all over finish or as an accent nail, glitter or metallic polishes are the perfect way to add a pop of sparkle to your nails. I'm more of an all over the nail girl myself. I've gathered up a handful of the ones I own to share with you today ranging from the more subtle to full on sparkle. A few of these are really old and difficult if not impossible to get your hands on now but there's a massive selection of similar or duplicate shades out there. This is just to give you a little nailspiration this year!

Festive Lips, Cheeks and Eyes

It's officially party season and what better time to crack out the super shimmery eyeshadows, glitter, intense highlight and red lips. If you're anything like me, you'll already have your Christmas day makeup planned. (Is it way too early?) But I wanted to put together a few different bits that I think will work across the festive season up until the New Year, including some adorable antlers from Asda. how cute are these? They're a nice festive addition for parties for those of you who don't feel like going the whole hog with a Christmas jumper.

Beauty Blogger "Get To Know Me" Tag

I was recently tagged by the lovely Rebecca at Northern Soul Beauty to take part in the Beauty Blogger "Get To Know Me" tag. Here's my answers, hopefully this might give you a little more insight into the girl behind the blog.

Makeup Geek Haul | Review & Swatches

I'll be the first to admit that when I heard Makeup Geek were being released on Beauty Bay, I went a litttttle bit crazy. And when I say crazy I mean I originally thought I'd fill a medium Z Palette and then ended up having to order the large which I seem to have nearly filled already. My bad! This is the result of combining dissertation procrastination and late nights. All the shadows I have were bought from 3 separate orders, basically whenever they were back in stock and I could get my hands on some, I went for it.

Gingerbread & Cream Cheese Cupcakes

Baking posts are some of my absolute favourites to write on my blog and not just because I end up with a batch of cupcakes or brownies at the end of them! I love spending a morning baking and decorating, I find it incredibly relaxing and I always get such positive feedback with these kinds of posts. Since we're heading towards Christmas, the time of year when I can stuff my face full of calorie laden goodies and not feel guilty about it, I though I'd do one or two festive themed bakes for you to tempt your taste buds with. I've gone for a very stereotypical yet delicious flavour, gingerbread. Mixed with a cream cheese frosting these are incredibly moist, rich and delicious.

Soap & Glory Makeup | Review

Though I have a few of their beauty products, when I think of Soap & Glory the first thing that comes to mind isn't necessarily their makeup. The mind tends to jump towards shower gels and body butters before it does pressed powder and eyeliner, despite the fact that the majority that I've tried from them are wonderful for the price. I've gathered up my little collection of products from them to tell you what I would recommend and what I wouldn't buy again.

Keeping That Summer Glow

Even though we're moving into Winter now, I still like to do everything I can to keep my ghost like skin looking bronzed and tanned from top to bottom. I've pulled a few bits and pieces from my collection that I use to give my complexion that instant boost of colour that it needs without looking like I've been completely tangoed.

Kate Moss by Rimmel Lipsticks

If you can't afford to splash out on lipsticks from brands like Mac then it's always nice to have a good drugstore alternative. My go to brand since I was young has always been Rimmel. I remember wearing the shade 016 Heart Breaker from their Lasting Finish range religiously when I was in college (that might have something to do with it being pretty much the only lipstick I owned at the time, boy how things have changed). My favourites in particular are the lipsticks in the Kate Moss collections. There's a really nice range of colours and finishes for everyone, and at just £5.49 a pop, they really are great value for money. I've gathered all mine together to show you!

Things To Do This Winter

For my first December blogging, I decided that I want to up my posts to every other day from the 1st to the 25th, it's sort of my attempt to do Blogmas without completely bogging myself down. If I didn't have a dissertation to write, pints to pour and projects to finish, I'd probably push myself to post every day. But unfortunately, life gets in the way sometimes. I've still got a ton of festive posts coming your way, with all sorts covering beauty and lifestyle. The first thing I wanted to do was something a little bit different for me, a list of things to try out or do this Winter season.