HAPPY NEW YEAR!

(Photo: H&M pouch, Essie Rock at the Top, L'Oreal Color Riche Exclusives Lipstick in Blake, Homebase wine glasses)

Happy New Year! 

I feel like 2014 has gone passed so quickly! 

In 2014 I bought my first Chanel (La Diva Lipstick), discovered candy floss grapes, doughnut peaches and fell in love with peonies. The Summer passed me by in a haze of humid sleepless nights and sweltering hot days until we could escape up north for a while to enjoy the cool sea air, snow capped Scottish mountains and great company of family. Autumn, my favourite season was spent drinking cinnamon hot chocolates, crafting little pumpkins and watching Harry potter by candlelight. December was full of feasting, fairy lights and festivities which ended on my happiest moment of the year - getting engaged!

After reading Michelle's lovely post I've decided to write a list of goals for the year 2015, I think it's such a great idea to write down some goals as guidance throughout the year to stay on track to keeping happy, healthy and following my dreams. Here are my goals for the year 2015:

Take time to read more.

Learn how to bake bread, well.

Photograph the stars.

Organise my dressing table.

Take a photography course.

Move more.

(Continue to) Write daily gratitude lists every morning.

Learn the entire words to an album.

Find time to knit.

Make things.

Explore.

Start saving for our wedding, honeymoon and a home of our own.

Visit a farmers market weekly to eat organic food and in season.

Travel. 

Listen to more music/Invest in a Roberts radio.

Thank you so much for reading my blog and leaving me such nice comments throughout 2014. I'm really grateful for all the kind words, support and lovely people that I've met through blogging. 

I hope you have a happy new year, have you got any resolutions?

DECEMBER RED FAVOURITES & A YEAR OF COLOUR FAVOURITES

December has been such a festive month and I've really enjoyed wearing red lipstick and nail polish almost every day. Here are my December red favourites:

Treacle Moon Warm Cinnamon Nights: It's been getting quite cold recently and so I've really been enjoying having hot baths filled with bubbles in the evenings. I love anything cinnamon flavoured and this bubble bath smells amazing - like warm, sweet cinnamon. It's so festive and the scent lingers on your skin, I really love the treacle moon bubble bath scents and they're so affordable at only £2.99 for a bottle.

Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella: I received this as a Christmas gift as part of the Nars Digital World Lip Pencil Coffret. I love the whole set but Cruella, a velvet matte pigmented blue based red, has been on my lips non stop these past few days. It's so easy to apply in pencil form and lasts well on my lips. It's such a pretty shade and perfect for the winter months.

New look burgundy velvet bow: These bows are available in a pack of three colours; burgundy, grey and black. They look so pretty pinned into the front of a bun, into the side of your hair or placed in the centre of a half up do.

Essie Bordeaux: Alex bought this for me for my Birthday in November and I've absolutely loved wearing this on my nails all throughout this month. Essie Bordeaux is a beautiful burgundy red that looks glossy on the nails and is great with Essie Rock at the Top (a gold glitter) as an accent nail. You can see me wearing it in the photo below.

L'Oreal Color Riche Exclusives Lipstick in Blake: This lipstick contains jojoba oil and so keeps lips soft, It's long lasting and is a stunning pure matte red colour.

EOS Lip balm in Pomegranate and Raspberry: EOS lip balms keep my lips feeling so soft as they contain vitamin E, jojoba oil and shea butter. This lip balm is 95% organic, 100% natural, paraben & petrolatum free and smells like berries. 

My last favourite in December and my favourite moment of this year is getting Engaged. On boxing day over candlelight Alex presented me with this beautiful ring and asked me to marry him!

So that's it, my last colour monthly favourites for this year! I've really enjoyed doing my colour monthly favourites, I hope you liked them and all my previous month favourites are linked below:




NOVEMBER BERRY PURPLE FAVOURITES/OCTOBER MONOCHROME FAVOURITES/SEPTEMBER BROWN FAVOURITES/AUGUST FUCHSIA FAVOURITES/JULYS CORAL FAVOURITES/JUNES GREEN FAVOURITES/MAYS GOLD FAVOURITES/APRILS BLUE FAVOURITES/MARCH MINT FAVOURITES/FEBRUARYS ORANGE FAVOURITES/JANUARYS PINK FAVOURITES

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas everyone!

I've already been up for a few hours (too excited to sleep!) and now me and my family are opening presents, eating hot croissants and drinking fresh orange juice. Plans for today include staying in my PJ's for as long as possible and eating a lot of chocolate before putting on some glittery eyeshadow and eating my weight in veggie roast dinner.

Later, Me and Alex will drive home and exchange our gifts before eating cheese and crackers.

I hope everyone has had a lovely day! Merry Christmas xx

CHRISTMAS DAY MAKE UP

I can't believe it's Christmas tomorrow!

Every Christmas Eve, Alex drops me off at my mum's and me and my brother have a little tradition of watching Christmas films and eating festive treats. I've brought with me a festive collection of make up to wear tomorrow, my nails are already freshly painted with Essie Bordeaux but I have packed Essie rock at the top - a gold glitter as an option to add on top later.

I'm planning on priming my skin with Seventeen Skin Wow highlighting primer which is a shimmery iridescent pearl/pink primer to help to give my skin and foundation a dewy glow. For my eyes, I've opted for L'Oreal Color Riche Mono Eyeshadow in 205 Sable lamé (swatched here), as it has light gold glitter running through it to make my eyes look shimmery and sparkly on Christmas day.

For my cheeks, I've packed thebalm Mary Lou Manizer highligter which is a pigmented shimmery champagne highlighter. It works so well on the top of your cheekbones, under the brow bone and in the inner corners of your eyes. For blusher, I've chosen Nars Orgasm to give me warm golden peachy pink cheeks.

I'm keeping my lips simple with just a swipe of lip balm. I would brave a red lip but with all the chocolate and veggie roast dinner I plan on eating tomorrow, I'm not sure it would last! 

What are your plans for Christmas day?

FESTIVE EYESHADOWS

During the festive season I love to wear shimmery, sparkly eyeshadows. Its the only time of year that I feel like I can get away with being a bit heavier on the glitter and so I love to add a touch of sparkle to my eyes. These are my favourite glittery shades to wear:

MAC pressed pigment in Daygleam: One of the most sparkly shades that I own, MAC daygleam is creamy in texture with a pretty gold/beige base and quite large silver glitter particles. I love wearing this dabbed onto the centre of my eyelids.

Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Furore: Illamasqua pure pigments are some of the prettiest eyeshadows in my collection. Furore is a highly pigmented shimmery peach champagne that's slightly metallic and great for sophisticated Christmas parties when you don't want too much glitter.

Topshop Chameleon Glow in Shuffle The Cards: A beautiful multi-toned rose gold eyeshadow that adds such a pretty sparkle to the eyes. This eyeshadow is iridescent, buttery in texture and really pigmented.

L'Oreal Color Riche Mono Eyeshadow in 205 Sable lamé: This is a stunning light gold eyeshadow that has flecks of glitter running through it. The formula of these eyeshadows are so buttery and easy to apply with a flat shader brush or your finger. This looks so pretty swept over the eyes with a bold red lip like MAC Ruby Woo.

Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Static: A beautiful iridescent pearl eyeshadow with violet and pink micro glitter running through it. It looks great all over the eyes or can be used as a highlighter.

What are your favourite glittery eyeshadows to wear over Christmas?

ESSIE NAIL POLISH

I've become pretty obsessed with Essie nail polish recently and my collection has grown quite a bit over the past few weeks. I find that the brush is perfect for applying nail polish, it's so quick, easy and fits my nail really well. I love the Essie nail polish formula as it lasts really well on my nails, especially the darker shades.

Starting from the top is one of the most recent additions to my collection, Essie Nail Treatment Apricot Cuticle Oil. It's such a great idea having the oil in a nail polish bottle to brush on to your cuticles as it makes it so quick to apply. I've been using this every night and can really notice the difference in my nails, it keeps them feeling nourished due to the mixture of hydrating oils.

The next line down are two recently released Christmas glitters, I spent a good 10 minutes in boots deciding between Essie's Rock at the Top which is a gold glitter and Essie Summit of style which is a bronze/rose gold glitter before giving up and buying them both as they're both just so pretty!

Next up are three pinks, From left to right - Essie Peach Daiquiri, Essie Cute as a Button (which are both pretty coral pinks) and Essie A Cute Above, a pink glitter. I normally save these shades for summer but A Cut Above works well over the festive season too.

Essie Aruba Blue is a sapphire foil blue and one of my all time favourite shades. Essie Stroke Of Brilliance a frosty blue glitter and Essie mint candy apple a mint shade that's great for the transition into spring. Last on this line is Essie Vanity Fairest which is so pretty when used for a shimmery french manicure.

Berry shades are my favourite colours to wear on my nails. Essie Bordeaux is a new addition to my collection and a beautiful deep wine shade, Essie Leading Lady a beautiful deep red with flecks of raspberry micro glitter running through it, Essie Sole Mate a vampy berry that works well with a glitter accent nail and my absolute favourite Essie Bahama Mama is a warm plum shade. Essie Angora Cardi is a pretty, creamy dusty rose colour. See me wearing Angora Cardi here.

I've already added Essie Midnight Cami, a deep twilight blue to my wishlist and I have my eye on a few more pink/purple shades for Spring! 

Which is your favourite Essie shade?

FESTIVE REDS

I love wearing red in December, there's something so festive about painting your nails with a sparkly red nail polish or wearing a bold red lipstick. Here's a few of my favourites:

Lips

L'Oreal Color Riche Exclusives Lipstick in Blake: I love Blake Lively, she has such amazing taste and this sophisticated matte cool toned red fits in perfectly with her style. The formula feels slightly more powdery than I normally like in a lipstick but it contains jojoba oil and so keeps lips soft. It's long lasting and a stunning pure matte red.

Sleek Matte Me in Rioja Red*: Supposedly a dupe for the Hourglass Opaque Rouge lipsticks this liquid lipstick is long lasting, super pigmented and really affordable. It dries to a pretty, velvet matte finish and is a beautiful true red. This can be tricky to apply but once dry on the lips it stays put for hours. It's one of longest lasting lipstick's that I've tried and so it is perfect for Christmas parties.

Rimmel Apocalips in Big Bang: This is a creamy, bold red that leaves a satin sheen finish on the lips. I have to prep my lips well before using this as it shows up any imperfections but then it looks so pretty on the lips, is long lasting and fades to a stain. I've written a full review here.

Nails

Nails Inc Tate: A beautiful sophisticated cherry red nail polish which is great if you want something festive without the glitter. Opaque in 1-2 coats Nails Inc nail polish has a great formula that lasts well on my nails.

Barry M Ruby Slippers Red Glitter: Great for fingers or toes this classic glittery red nail polish is a staple for me at Christmas. This is my favourite ruby glittery red nail polish to wear on Christmas day.

Essie Leading Lady: This is a deep red nail polish with flecks of raspberry micro glitter running through it. It's a stunning nail polish and great to wear for the lead up to Christmas.

Which are your favourites?

FESTIVE HOME DECOR

One of my favourite things about December is decorating my home to give it a festive feel. Cosy evenings are made magical with twinkling fairy lights, glittery decorations and tinsel draped around the doors. Me and Alex have been spending fairylit evenings drinking Belvior non alcoholic mulled winter punch (the best!) whilst writing Christmas cards. 

The mermaid-esque baubles are from Tesco and they're my new favourite addition to the tree. Every year me and Alex buy a new special bauble for the tree but I couldn't resist also buying these sequined baubles as they're so pretty!

I also recently purchased the beaded heart decoration from The White Company, it looks so festive hanging on the wall and catches the light making it sparkle.

I bought the little poinsettia from homebase and I'm trying my hardest to keep it alive as I unfortunately really don't have green fingers! With a little bit of light and water It's lasted well so far and looks so pretty in its copper home next to my favourite Anthropologie monogrammed mug.

Lastly I DIY'd a heart bokeh lens yesterday and now I can't stop taking photo's of the tree! I used a heart hole punch for the heart but Alex has since made me a star shape which I'm excited to try out!

Have you decorated your home yet?

LIPSTICKS CURRENTLY ON ROTATION #3

I've been adding lipsticks to my make up bag ready for winter and I've also been enjoying wearing long lasting lip liners recently. These are all currently on rotation in my make up bag:

Rimmel Exaggerate lip liner in East End Snob: I've had this lip liner for a while now but rediscovered it after reading Amelia's post about it being a great dupe for Charlotte Tilbury's lip liner in pillow talk. I love wearing this neutral pink lip liner mixed with balm to create a subtle glossy pink lip.

Revlon Lip butter in Raspberry Pie: This berry pink lipstick is so pigmented and looks really pretty on the lips. I've been wearing it as a stain by dabbing some of the colour on and then rubbing it in to my lips. It's a great winter lipstick and keeps my lips feeling soft.

MAC Retro lipstick: This matte, rusty/terracotta red is great for an everyday red tone without being too bright or bold. It has a satin finish, smells amazing and lasts well on my lips.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Matte by Kate Moss in 107: This rich berry lipstick has a hint of red to it which makes it perfect for the transition into winter. As it's a matte formula it lasts well on my lips and looks so pretty with MAC all that glitters on the eyes.

Sleek Eau La La Liner in Lingerie*: I love the formula of these lip liners as they're creamy, pigmented and long lasting on the lips. This is a beautiful deep dusky rose shade that I've been wearing as an everyday autumn/winter shade.  

Which lipsticks are currently on rotation in your make up bag?

HELLO DECEMBER

There's a definite chill in the air, I have an orange hot chocolate to keep me warm, fairy lights are twinkling around my home and Christmas carols are playing in the background.

I've painted my nails with Essie Leading Lady and today I'm planning on decorating my home, finally putting up the tree and hanging up our stockings!

I'm really looking forward to visiting Christmas Markets, watching Elf whilst scoffing Cadburys roses and baking spiced gingerbread men.

Have you got any nice plans for December?