2013 Favourites ♥

Hi everyone!

This evening I'm bringing you my 2013 favourites! I've only done a couple of monthly favourites this year because I usually forget to do them or I just don't have 'favourites' of a month. My aim for next year is to have a favourites post every month as I want to start using lots more things and discovering new and old products which I enjoy using. I will be talking you through products I have loved in 2013 and have used lots and lots and will hopefully continue to love just as much during the new year!

♥ Lush Buche De Noel & Angels on Bare Skin Cleansers - I thought I'd try Angels on Bare Skin cleanser again back in early Summer and I loved it! It's full of natural ingredients great for your skin and it doesn't leave my face feeling tight or dry, it just cleans it really well. In October I picked up the limited edition Buche De Noel which is basically the same but more conditioning/hydrating for the skin, when my pot is out I will be buying AOBS again though. Definitely one of my best skincare finds of the year.

♥ Origins Ginzing Moisturiser - After not giving it much thought when the initial hype went round when this moisturiser from Origins was released, I ended up trying a sample sachet as I was trying all different moisturisers out at the time. When I finished my sample I knew I had to get this so I did! This has become my holy grail moisturiser as not only is the scent so tantalising and awakening in the morning it's gel bases which my skin needs, it sinks in really quickly and leaves my skin so soft. It also lasts for ages, I've used it every single day and I've still got just under half the tub left! I'm so happy I found this moisturiser!

♥ EOS Lip Balm 'Strawberry Sorbet' - I finally tried an EOS lip balm in March! I got this from Harvey Nichols when I was shopping one day and well, I really like it! I'm not going to say it's an outstanding lip balm you must try but I find it gives just the right amount of moisture and it doesn't feel greasy. I think many people are disappointed in the UK when they finally try one as they're so talked about but I think one of the main reasons they are so talked about in America is purely because they're cheap and really easy to find! I recently picked up another flavour to try too so that proves how much I like it!

♥ Bath and Body Works 'Be Enchanted' Triple Moisture Body Cream - I can't remember if I bought this this year or at the end of last year but either way when Autumn arrived this year I began applying this nearly everyday! This is very moisturising but the thing I love most is the scent and I really want to try some more products in 'Be Enchanted'! I buy my bath and body works products from *here*

♥ Umberto Giannini Pure Beauty Shampoo (not pictured) - I've been using this shampoo for at least half of this year and it's definitely my favourite. It doesn't do anything particular special but it leave my hair so soft, smooth and controllable and it just feels so so clean!

♥ MAC Lustre Lipsticks (not pictured) - OK so technically not one product but back in April I bought my first lustre finish lipstick from Mac, you can find the review *here* and ever since then it has fast become my favourite formula. I've gone on to buy another and I also got one for Christmas so yes, you could say I like them a lot! They're quite sheer but buildable and are really glossy and lightweight and the three shades I have are gorgeous.

♥ Seche Vite Topcoat - I've been using this much raved about topcoat since around February and I'm sure it made it in to one of my few monthly favourites! Some love it and some hate it but I really enjoyed using it until my bottle became gloopy. It does exactly what it's supposed to do - dries insanely hard (and rock hard at that!) and left my nails super glossy and chip free. I got a new OPI topcoat for Christmas instead of Seche Vite as the downside is it contains one of the bad chemicals (forgot the name, beginning with T?) so thought I'd try another but yes, I really really did like how this worked.

♥ Models Own Pastels - (Ignore the neon pink - I liked it to but I didn't mean to include a picture of it OOPS) I loved the Spring Fruit Pastels collection Models Own released, in fact they were my very first blog post which you can view *here* they are such pretty milky pastels which I can't wait to wear again come Spring.

♥ Barry M Gelly Paints - Another Spring/Summer love were the Barry M Gelly paints! I did a post *here* on them. I have two lovely colours and they had a nice formula and dried oh so shiny!

♥ Essie and OPI (not pictured) - Some more expensive polish loves since the start of Autumn were Essie and OPI! I love the formula's of both brands and Essie in particular their wide brush. I can't wait to add more in the new year.

♥ Nicole by OPI 'Tip of the iceberg' - This was my only topcoat glitter until November and this was usually on top of a cream finish polish throughout most of the year! Just a simple silver glitter which I found myself wearing a lot.

So there we have what I've loved this year! I'm hoping, as I said at the start of the post, to be using more things all the time so I can do monthly favourites because I really enjoy reading them on blogs. 

Let me know what you have loved this year!

Jessica

xox

What I got for Christmas 2013!

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a brilliant Christmas if you celebrate it and got lovely presents and had a great day with whoever you celebrated with! I had a good day and got some amazing presents which I am going to be showing you today as when I asked on twitter last week if you like reading these posts there was a resounding yes! I also enjoy seeing what other people got so if you have done a similar post leave the link below :) Of course, also as a *disclaimer* I'm not bragging and I'm so grateful for everything I got so without further ado onto what I received...

My Main Present

My mum and dad are divorced so I get separate presents and my dad usually gets me one big thing and then some smaller bits. This year I decided I would quite like a bag, when I saw this one! DKNY was never somewhere I would think to look but I was walking by and saw this bag and fell in love! I am really into cream lately so loved the colour and it is so simple yet pretty and it's the perfect size for me. It has a few different pockets and it can be worn as a cross body or the chain can be pulled through so you can have it over your shoulder. It feels such good quality and it is so soft, I LOVE it and can't wait to use it more.

The Beauty Bits

From these bits, my dad got me the pretty box from 'Miss Patisserie' in the left hand corner which has lovely smelling bath bombs, the PINK body spray collection (I love PINK and there scents are lovely!), the VS body lotion (but this was free with a perfume he bought) and the Chanel lipstick which I will definitely be reviewing. My Nan got me the Nails Inc magnetic polish and OPI hand cream set, my little sister got me the light pink OPI and my best friend got me the dark pink OPI! Then my mum got me everything else.

Other

My mum also got me a wire card holder which matches my room well which I really like and the Hollister top which is like a thin sweatshirt but it's lace all over the front (FYI, I like Hollister because they do have nice things and they are soft and good quality, I don't like the gaudy overly branded stuff!) and a plain white hoody which yes says Hollister but I liked it, soo cosy! (and not pictured because I was wearing it when I took the pictures haha) From my other nan and grandad I asked for something to go in my bag...a gorgeous Ted Baker purse in the pale pink colour! Ahh I love this, it's the smaller size but is perfect for me. The gloves and watch were from other family members.

~ ~ ~

So that is what I got this year, as well as loads of sweets and chocolate which I'm currently working through! I love everything I got and am so grateful to everyone who got me stuff :) I wasn't really sure how to set this out so hopefully this was ok and you enjoyed reading. I would love to know what you got or how you spent the day so do please let me know and also on Christmas Eve I reached 300 bloglovin' followers!! Wow! Thank you to ALL of you!

Jessica

xox

Top 5 Glitter Nail Polishes

Evening everyone ♥

TWO DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS! :O (or not really 2 since it's 8pm!) I am quite excited, but not feeling totally festive, I'm not sure why! It seems that as every year goes by, my excitement sets in later and later. This evening I will be showing you my top 5 glitter polishes, because we all know how much I love glitter anything nail varnish! I wear glitter all year round be it on every finger or an accent nail but Christmas time seems to be when the majority are sporting it in some way, so if you will be on the big day or at any party's or even on NYE, look no further!

Onto my favourites...

(I've just realised as I'm writing this the last two are the wrong way round, oops, sorry!)

♥ Models Own 'Juicy Jules' £5: This is probably my least used out of the bunch shown, but it is so pretty! It's a silver glitter with tiny multi coloured glitter specks throughout. This in my opinion is the perfect polish for new years eve! 

♥ Bourjois 1 Seconde ' 14' £5.99: Ahh so pretty! This is a lilac with multi coloured specks. This looks lovely as a accent nail with lilac. I want to try more from this particular range because the brush is amazing!

♥ Essie 'Set in Stones' £7.99: I haven't had this for long and I really don't own many 'topcoat' glitters but this is one of my absolute favourites and I will be buying a back up bottle as it's limited edition. This is different sized and shaped silver glitters in a clear base and you can build it to be as intense as you want. This looks great over any colour and I cannot wait until I layer it over pastels in spring! read more about this polish *HERE*

♥ Models Own 'Pink Fizz' £5: This is likely to be my used nail varnish! I love the pretty rosy gold colour and it is opaque. I just love this colour, I really have nothing more to say!

♥ OPI 'My Favourite Ornament' from the Mariah Carey Christmas '13 collection £11.50: I really like this years Christmas OPI offering and have a few of the shades. This is very 'understated' and has a good, opaque formula. This is very similar to Essie Beyond Cosy from their Winter 2012 collection, so if you missed out make sure to grab this before it's gone!

So, there we have the glitters I would be most likely found wearing! This will be my last post before Christmas, apart from a scheduled one on Christmas day, so I wish you all a very merry Christmas and hope you all have a fabulous day! It looks like I will be doing a 'what I got for Christmas' post since I asked on twitter and there was a resounding yes! I'm shopping tomorrow with my best friend because we always go to the same place every school holidays so hopefully it won't be too packed with last minute shoppers! Talking of last minute, I still need to wrap every ones presents so on that note, hope you enjoyed reading!

Jessica

xox

Winter Skin Survival Guide

Hi Everyone! How are you all? I'm really excited to write this post as I've been planning it for a while as it's pretty long but I hope it will be helpful to some of you and maybe give you some ideas of products to check out! Today, because now we are firmly into December, I'm going to be doing a head to toe guide of how to keep your whole body hydrated during the long, cold Winter months. I've broken into down into sections and hopefully I have covered everything!

LIPS

Exfoliation: I love Lush lip scrubs (£5.50), in fact I have three! These are great if your lips are feeling extra dry as they remove all the dead skin making your lips very smooth, not to mention they all smell and taste great! You can also make a DIY lip scrub using some kitchen ingredients but there will be a post coming on that soon... 

Balms: OK, so I actually don't have many heavy duty balms but I've put a few down on my Christmas list so for the time being I am using Carmex Strawberry Tube (£2.69) and Blistex Relief Cream (£2.59) if my lips need rescuing. For day to day top ups my favourite is EOS Strawberry Sorbet (£5.99) as it doesn't make my lips feel slippery or greasy as it's quite a 'hard' balm if that makes sense? It's fairly moisturising and protects my lips when I'm out and about.

HANDS AND FEET

Cuticles: Keeping your cuticles moisturised is often over looked but even though you may not be able to feel them feeling dry, they do definitely look it! It's also important if you are a nail polish addict like me haha. Two favourites are Lush Lemony Flutter (£6) which is a thick balm which can also be used on elbows, knees etc so a good all rounder. Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Butter (£6) is not as thick as the previous balm so sinks in quicker and is more of a quick fix.

Hand Cream: I have quite a few hand creams however the two pictures are Balance Me Super Moisturising Hand Cream (£6) which definitely is 'super moisturising' this is the most heavy duty one I own and would be great if your suffer with dry hands. TBS Almond Hand & Nail Cream (£5) has a nice scent and is lighter so sinks in quicker but is still hydrating, a good in between if you don't want dry hands but you don't have awfully cracked and dry hands. Special mention to OPI Avojuice (£2.10) because they all smell delicious and make your hands so soft, the little bottles are perfect to carry around and I love mine in 'Vanilla Snowflake'!

Foot Cream: Of course, most just use a body cream to put on their feet but if you like specific foot creams, a good one (well, it must be as it's the only one I have!) is Soap and Glory Heel Genius (£5.50) which when put on before bed leaves me with silky soft feet.

Shower Gel

All three pictured are my most moisturising shower gels so perfect for keeping you extra hydrated. Philosophy Christmas Cookie (£14) is not available in this huge bottle this year but there are plenty of other scents, Philosophy shower gels have my favourite formula, they are super creamy and luxurious feeling so leave you moisturised before you've moisturised! A more budget friendly option is TBS Shea Shower Cream (£4) which containing lots of shea butter is as you can imagine, very beneficial for winter skin! It's a little thin but still works great. Finally, a shower butter in the form of Soap and Glory Whipped Clean (£8) which has a delicious pistachio, almond and vanilla scent. It's thick and looks like a body lotion and you only need a tiny amount.

Body Scrubs & Lotions

Scrub: Only one to show here, which is Soap and Glory The Breakfast Scrub (£9) which smells delicious - just like maple syrup. It's a thick grainy scrub which is one of the best at buffing away dry skin all over, just remember not to eat it! I also like Soap and Glory Pulp Friction (£7) for more regular use or if you want something not as hardcore. Lush do great ones two called 'body butters' such as Buffy and You Snap the Whip which are messy but great if your a lush fan (YSTW smells like black currant too!)

Moisturiser: Ahh, the penultimate point in any winter skin survival guide - BODY LOTION/CREAM! My two current favourites are Soap and Glory Smoothie Star (£10) which again, smells just edible, it sinks in really quickly and well, I couldn't be without it. Next, Bath and Body Works Be Enchanted Triple Moisture Body Cream (£12) wow what a mouthful but seriously, I love this stuff! The scent is divine and this has got to be the most long lasting body lotion ever I can smell it 24 hours later! You can buy this from *HERE* if your in the UK.

 Well done if you've made it this far! I hope you enjoyed reading it and you may have noticed there is no mention of facial skincare, fear not I have a separate post coming up on it! Make sure to let me know in the comments what your Winter must haves are!

Jessica

xox

The Christmas Tag

Hi Everyone and happy 1st December! How quickly has the year gone, wow! I cannot believe we are in the last month of the year and are now only a few weeks away from Christmas! I've been quite disorganised this year as I haven't started my christmas shopping for people and I haven't written my christmas list yet either because I have no clue idea what I want but I will have to get on and do it soon as my whole family keep asking what I want! (So, if you have any gift guides please link me up!) Today I was tagged by my friend Alex to do 'The Christmas Tag' which was created by Rebecca at Flores Y Moda so what better way to kick off December?

♥ ♥ ♥

1. What is your favourite Christmas song?

I love all of the classics you always hear on the radio or on music channels around this time of the year! Some of my favourites are Merry Christmas Everybody (Slade), Step into Christmas (Elton John), Merry Christmas Everyone (Shakin' Stevens) and of course All I want for Christmas is you (Mariah Carey)

2. Which is your favourite Christmas drink?

I'd love to name a Starbucks/Costa drink but I haven't had any of them yet! But I don't really like the sound of any apart from the chocolately ones anyway so I'm just sticking to Hot Chocolate, with lots of marshmallows on top.

3. What is your favourite Christmas film?

I'm not that big on films to be honest and this is the time I'm going to admit I've never watched Elf *gasp* but it's top of my list to watch! So, I actually don't have a favourite so I'm making it my mission to watch as many christmas films as possible in the next few weeks!

4. What is at the top of your Christmas wish-list this year?

I literally have no idea what I want this year as I mentioned at the top, I'm all over the place and constantly changing my mind! My dad usually gets me something 'big' which I want and this year I really really really love a bag I saw at Selfridges from DKNY, it's an ivory quilted cross body but you can change the strap to have it as a cross body or over the shoulder, it's seriously my perfect bag but I don't think I will be getting it because he thinks 'I don't need it'. That is the only thing really at the top of my list, well it is called a 'wish' list!

5. What is your favourite festive makeup or nail art look?

I love berry and red lips for the festive season. My current favourite lipstick is Mac Plumful so I think I'll be wearing that come Christmas day. I really want to do lots of Christmas themed posts this month and I'm sure there will be many nail art posts! I of course love very glittery nails at Christmas too!

6. What is your favourite outfit at Christmas time? (LBD? Christmas Jumpers? PJ's?)

I don't really have a favourite thing to wear I just usually wear whatever I am liking at the time. This year I think I will be wearing jeans, boots and a festive (but not ugly!) jumper, there's one I want from New Look so I think I may buy it later for my Christmas day jumper!

7. Would you rather play out in the snow or enjoy it from inside with the fire and a cuppa?

Hm...Both. It's fun to play in it for a while (I kind of have to because my sister makes me go outside with her) but after the initial 'omg snow!' feeling wears off and it becomes really cold out there and it begins getting mushed up and brown I head inside to have a hot drink and admire it from inside (with angry bangs on the window from my sister)

8. Wrapping presents - love or loathe?

I quite like wrapping presents, it's quite fun haha! It doesn't take me too long because I don't have loads to wrap. I always put some Christmas music on to get into the mood as well.

9. What's your favourite Christmassy food?

Christmas dinner as a whole of course! But I love pigs in blankets so I always look forward to them as I only have them at Christmas.

10. What is your favourite thing about Christmas?

The overall feel and atmosphere of the weeks leading up to it and then the actual day!

So those are my answers! I tag:

Becca's Fashion and Life

Belle Mode

Confessions of a Secret Shopper

Lovely Jubbly

Stylish England

Jessica

xox