BLOGMAS #19- OOTD CHRISTMAS PARTY

 

You have probably heard me banging on about Christmas party outfits and panicking about what to wear for my work party on Friday, so I thought I would share with you the outfit I finally wore!

  I was wearing....   Strappy lace bodycon- £39- Topshop SAGITTARIUS Platform shoes, £58, Topshop Gold sequin embellished clutch- £39- New Look  

I tried to keep my outfit quite simple... I think everyone panics a little over trying to get the balance between night out/ party wear, and something appropriate for being out with your work colleagues! If you're wondering what my friend was wearing- it was the khaki kimono swing dress, £45 from River Island. I thought she looked amazing! Such a subtle but very festive dress...

  Have you had your Christmas party yet? What did you wear?  

BLOGMAS #18- LAST MINUTE GIFTS FOR HER

  Left to right... Mini lipstick charms- £29- Charlotte Tilbury White chocolate truffles 600g- £10.95- Carluccios Jo Malone London Red roses bath oil- £17- John Lewis Faux fur pom beanie hat- £14- Topshop Believe pendant and gift card- £15- Topshop Bah humbug Christmas clutch- £20- Topshop Lancôme La Vie est belle Eau de parfum 30ml- £45- Boots Colour chrome copper!- £4.99- Models Own GARROW metallic leather crystal bobble purse- £69- Ted Baker Barbour tartan lambswool scarf- £27.95- Barbour

 

 

Whether it be your mum, sister, grandma or best friend, you may be panicking if you have left their Christmas gift to the last minute. I had this same panic at the weekend as I put the finishing touches to my mums present- I managed to pick her up some beautiful candles from Marks & Spencer (on offer for 3 for 2 at the moment), and bought her a beautiful festive candle holder from Raby Castle- a local visitor attraction.

 

However if you are in need of a little inspiration, don't worry, as there are so many wonderful pre Christmas offers to take advantage of! I have to be careful with this post, as some members of my family will actually be receiving a couple of these gifts this Christmas...

 

Some of my favourites include the Charlotte Tilbury mini lipstick trio, Believe pendant by Accessorize, Barbour tartan lambswool scarf, and the white chocolate truffles by Carluccios- they have a couple of pop up shops now. I have tried my hardest to cater for all ladies, for every price range- as lets be honest, I'm sure a lot of us will be pretty skint right now!

  What have you all been buying this Christmas? Have you finished your Christmas shopping?  

BLOGMAS #15- PARTY DRESSES

 

 (Left to Right) Sunbeamer fitted sequin dress, £185, French Connection Silver foil jacquard dress, £34.99, New Look Raven sequin and feather dress, £275, French Connection Lunar sparkle sequin wrap dress, £160, French Connection Silver metallic Bardot skater dress, £42, River Island TALL/ PETITE Lace skater dress, £100, Topshop Tinsel wrap A-line dress, £49, Topshop ASOS Armour mesh mini dress, £100, ASOS Zig Zag glitter body con dress, £30, Topshop Floral crochet bodycon dress, £39, Topshop Embellished low- back bodycon dress, £115, Topshop  

Ok we are now in full swing of the party season, and with only 10 days till Christmas you may have already had your work Christmas party, however mine is Friday and I found it so difficult to decide what to wear! On top of that there is also Christmas day, Boxing day and New Years Eve outfits to be thinking of...

 

I had a total panic when I started looking for my party outfit, as although we are going to a bar after the work Christmas party, I still feel as though your outfit should be 'work appropriate' as lets be honest, you are going to be around your boss for a lot of the night. Therefore finding that balance is very difficult. I have actually opted for the Floral crochet bodycon dress, £39, Topshop, as I felt that the simple shape and design was suitable for both occasions- please correct me if I'm wrong and save me the embarrassment...

 

So, to give you a little helping hand, I have compiled a few dresses that I spotted on the high street and online whilst I was searching for my dress, that may help you out this party season. I have included dresses for all budgets from a few different retailers including; Topshop, River Island, French Connection and ASOS.

 

I absolutely love all of these dresses and think there is something for everyone, whether you want feathers and glitter, body con and lace, or sequin and skater I hope you find your perfect dress! Some of my favourites include the Raven sequin and feather dress, £275, French Connection, Zig Zag glitter body con dress, £30, Topshop and Tinsel wrap A-line dress, £49, Topshop (I have this dress in silver and white to wear on Christmas Day!)

  What are you all wearing this festive season? Leave me a comment below! :)

BLOGMAS #13- FESTIVE NAILS

Just a quick post to share with you some Christmassy nail ideas! I always keep my nails quite simple, as I am totally rubbish at nail art, however seen as its almost Christmas I thought it high time to splash on some glitter!

The two nail polishes I have opted for are from the Maybelline Color Show range, in the shades Burgundy Kiss, and Rose Chic. I thought these were the percent combo, also who doesn't love a burgundy berry colour and a rose gold glitter at this time of year?! 

I bought them both from ASDA who had them on offer for just £2.50 each- although don't hold me to it! 

I would love to give some nail art a go, so if you guys have any nail posts or ideas please share in the comments below!!

BLOGMAS #4- CHRISTMAS WISH LIST

  Heart Stacking Ring- £50- Pandora  The Magic of Christmas bubblebar- £5.95- Lush Michael Kors Parker ladies Chronograph rose gold bracelet watch- £229- Fraser Hart Star Shine ring- £35- Pandora GARROW Metallic Leather crystal bobble purse- £69- Ted Baker Gold plated Antler necklace- £14- Topshop Lancôme La Vie est Belle Eau de Parfum 30ml- £45- Boots JILLIE Small glitter bow trim wash bag- £27- Ted Baker Gold plated block heel ankle boots- £45- Missguided Pom Pom Slipper (Mink)- £12 Next Glitter Gel (Red Carpet)- £4.99- Models Own Holly Gollightly- £4.95- Lush

 

Ok I think everyone goes a little bit OTT with their Christmas wish lists.... as you can see.

I hope for only a small amount of these presents but I thought I would share with you a complete wish list of my favourite bits and pieces this Christmas...

 

Some must haves on my list include some beautiful rings from Pandora... I used to receive a new charm each Christmas to add to my bracelet, now I have a severe obsession with their gorgeous selection of rings. I am also crazy about the new Lush Christmas collection- although they are a bit pricey considering that with the bath bombs especially, you plonk them in the bath and then their gone... £5 gone... however I think they are really too lovely to ignore! Not only do they look extremely festive but they smell divine.

 

Of course Michael Kors is at the top of my wish list... being one of my favourite brands, I adore their Chronograph watches and handbags.

 

I have also found that Ted Baker have some beautiful accessories, I am definitely a Ted fan and I absolutely love their purses and makeup bags.  Scent wise, I love the Lancôme La Vie est Belle perfume, and I also think the new Paco Robanne Olympea perfume smells amazing!

 

What have you all got on your Christmas wish list? Leave me a comment below! :)

 

BLOGMAS #2- CHISTMAS TREE

Second post in a day... I can see I'm going to be doing a lot of catch up posts this Blogmas! Anyway- so I put the Christmas decorations up on Sunday, too early? I tend to put them up around the 30th of November as I couldn't bare not having a Christmassy home for the whole of December!

 

We always go for a real tree... although they come with a hefty price tag- £44... it is completely worth it to have that Christmas tree smell filling your home. We tend to get ours from Raby Castle, a local medieval castle. We go each year, as they also have a lovely Christmas market, Santas Grotto, Christmas shop, and the best countryside grounds. Although the weather was awful we still set out to find the perfect tree.

 

Once you have the tree up, you might as well put the rest of the decorations up. Although some people colour coordinate their decorations (I aspire to be one of these people), you can see ours tree is the complete opposite... we add to our decorations year on year so its a pretty random mix!

  Have you got your decorations up? Leave me a comment below!

BLOGMAS #1- LUSH FAVOURITES

 

Ok so my first #Blogmas post is a day late, oops. I am going to try my absolute hardest to get some posts scheduled to take part in Blogmas again this year- last year I found it was such a cute thing to do during the run up to Christmas, it really got me into the festive spirit! I would definitely recommend getting involved, and blogging about all things Christmassy!

 

So to kick #Blogmas off, I thought I would start with a little wish list. Have you been in Lush recently? If you have, then like me you were probably blown away by their huge array of festive bath bombs, Christmassy soaps and bubble bars.

 

For Christmas I actually asked for 7 of these.... ikr, a bit obsessive. Although they have a wide range of Christmas gift sets which include festive favourites and best sellers, I just couldn't find one that had all of the items I wanted, so I made my own!... if you want to do the same you can get your bath products wrapped in a Christmas scarf, so cute.

  My favourites from the Christmas range are:   - Bar Humbug - Peeping Santa - The Magic of Christmas - Holly Gollightly - Candy Mountain - Yog Nog - 5 Gold Rings - Snow Angel - Magic Wand   ...Sooooo kind of the whole range!  Have you got any favourites? Have you bought any Lush products recently? Leave me a comment below!

*Christmas Indulgence

* (Left to Right)  Linea White Christmas botanical candle- House of Fraser- WAS £16 NOW £8 Linea small bark tea light holder with star detail- House of Fraser- £12 Stag Tapestry cushion- Next- £12 Linea silver mercury heart glass decoration- House of Fraser- WAS £6 NOW £4.20 Linea snow dusted wreath with pine cones & red berries- House of Fraser- WAS £40 NOW £28 Lit heart garland- Laura Ashley- WAS £45 NOW £31.50 Linea white wooden advent calendar with light up town- House of Fraser- WAS £45 NOW £31.50 Yankee candle Christmas tree tea light holder- Boots- £12.99 Let it snow tapestry cushion- Next- £12 Kissing stags teelight holder- Marks & Spencer- £69

 

With Christmas fast approaching it is certainly time to think about preparing for the big day! For me, Christmas is almost all about the build up, who doesn't enjoy cosy nights by the Christmas tree? At home I just love creating that festive atmosphere, with just a few special touches, your home will be prepped in no time...

 

The mood board above represents Christmas indulgence. We all over indulge on food, wine, chocolate... and presents, so why not indulge your home? Here I have included a few festive pieces that you can use to bring your home to life this Christmas, from stockists such as House of Fraser, Next, Marks & Spencer and Laura Ashley.

 

Some of my favourite pieces from House of Fraser in particular include the snow dusted wreath, mercury heart glass decoration and white Christmas botanical candle- you can find their full Christmas range HERE.  I also love the array of Next home furnishings and Yankee's must have scented candles. Whether you want to fill the air with a festive scent, add comfort to your home with some decorative home furnishings, add some intricate table details or hang a wreath of pine cones and berries to your door, its time to start making those extra special touches this Christmas...

#Blogmas Day 18| Top 10 Christmas films!

Okay so it is less than a week till Christmas now so to get in the festive spirit why not whack on a Christmas film?! I absolutely love it when TV channels begin to show all of the Christmas movies... there is even a Sky channel dedicated to Christmas movies, it couldn't really get any better. So if you're looking for a little inspiration of some Christmas films to watch on those cosy nights in, have a look at my 10 top picks!

1. The Santa Claus, and The Santa Clause 2 & 3

2. Elf

3. Home alone 1 & 2 (not keen on 3 and 4 without Macaulay Culkin)

4. Grinch

5. Nativity! 1,2 and I've just seen 3 it's so good!

6. The Holiday

7. Fred Claus

8. Deck the halls

9. Muppets Christmas Carol

10. Miracle on 34th street

What's your favourite Christmas film? Leave me a comment below!

#Blogmas Day 17| Christmas Decorations!

Right, well when thinking about what I could do todays blogmas post on today, I remembered I meant to share with you a Christmas decorations post! I actually put these decorations up on the 29th of November... this might seem excessively early to you all, and when I told my housemates they were mortified of how early I was but it was the only weekend I was back from uni so why not?!

 

I don't know about you, but putting the Christmas decorations up is one of my absolute favourite things about the festive season, they just make your home look so cosy and inviting, and what is better than living in a beautiful Christmassy home throughout December?

 

When it comes to decorations, it becomes an expression of yourself, and that's what makes your tree individual. Do you love a real tree? Do you hate tinsel? White or colourful fairy lights? Is your tree colour coordinated? The possibilities are endless. At home we tend to stick to a real tree which we buy from a local castle, they make your home smell divine! We always get a huge tree, the rule is it has to be taller than all of us! Then to decorate, anything goes really, everyone puts on their favourite decorations and all of the hand made bits and pieces are saved till last. Although some people hate tinsel, I really like it! I just love the different shiny colours.

 

As for the rest of the house, well, I wish I had included a picture. Me, my brother and sister aim to transform the house into a Santa's grotto, so we have a lot of paper chains and snowflakes daggling everywhere imaginable. Have you ever seen the Christmas film Elf? When he transforms the department store that is basically us.

  What are your Christmas decorations like? I would love for you to leave me a comment below! :)

#Blogmas Day 14| Festive Lip Balm

Frosted Cranberry Lip Balm- £4- The Body Shop  

If you haven't been inside one of The Body Shop stores recently you are seriously missing out! Their stores smell absolutely divine and are jam-packed full of the most amazing Christmas gift sets, and products that are perfect for making you feel extra special in the run up to Christmas.

 

I Don't know if any of you have noticed but inside this months issue of Cosmopolitan there is the perfect festive treat for you. The magazine contains a little gift card with a minimum of £3 credit on it, all you have to do is take it into one of The Body Shop stores to reveal your prize! You could win anything between £3 or £50 off on Body Shop products (no minimum spend applies) or even £1000! Anyway when I went to see what my prize was the other day I found it was £3 but I was really satisfied with it, not everyone can win £1000 right?

 

I have had my eye on the 'frosted cranberry' range that The Body Shop has at the moment, if you remember, they had a similar product range last year called "cranberry joy", I had the body butter for this last year and I just loved it. Not only does it smell typically fruity and wonderful, but it has an added festive touch to it, the scent is divine!

 

I am a massive fan of lip balms at the moment, as during the cold months my lips are so prone to cracking and becoming sore, so I love to use a little balm to soften and smoothen them. Despite having several lip products on the go at the moment, when I saw a frosted cranberry lip balm I knew I just had to have it, and with my voucher it only cost me £1, bargain! (it is still only £4).

 

The thing I love most about this product is the fact it is so smooth and easy to apply, you only need to add a little but it adds a lovely shine and reddy/pink touch to your lips, plus it smells absolutely gorgeous! I highly recommend you bag yourselves one of these, or if you're buying Christmas presents this year, it would make a perfect little stocking filler :)

  What is your favourite body shop product range? What's your favourite product? Leave me a comment below! :)

#Blogmas Day 13| Festive Nails #2

 "Little angel"- £2- Claire's  

This is the second of my festive nails posts, what?! I never change my nails this often! Really.. I literally change my nail polish colour every month minimum, but seen as its Christmas I have so many lovely Christmassy nail polishes, I just want to try them all out. This one in particular is from Claire's Accessories, now if like me, you used to spend all of your pocket money on Claire's hair scrunchies, sparkly hair clips, fluffy purses and garish eye shadow palettes when you were younger, you probably stopped shopping at Claire's a long time ago. However, after popping in there on a couple of occasions recently, I remembered just how much I loved it. I am such a girly girl so I can't resist their jewellery and most importantly, their nail polish collection.

 

I have been looking for a snowflake effect nail polish for quite a while but don't really have the money to spare for a Nails Inc one, so when I found 'Fluffy' on their shelves I just had to have it (I probably should have included it in this post but never mind!) Anyway for £3 I thought it was an absolute bargain, and on that day all of the nail polishes were in the sale for just £2 EACH. This is when I decided I would try 'Little Angel'- a glittery pink polish, right up my street.

 

I knew I wanted to go for a full glitter nail but I know that with some glittery nail polishes it can take quite a while to apply layer upon layer of glitter until it starts to even become noticeable, and by that point you've put a big squishy dent in them anyway. So, I used a plain pink nail varnish as my base colour (you can see it on bits of my fingers in the picture as I forgot to clean it off) but this helped to provide a base in which to apply the glitter, it only took 2 coats! It also dries quite quickly and the effect is beautiful, and exactly what I wanted, although the picture makes it look a little darker than it is.

  Have you seen any great glitter nail polishes that you think I may like? What polish are you wearing at the moment? Leave me a comment below! :) 

#Blogmas Day 10| Party wear!

1. Lurex crop top- £22- Topshop| 2. Crystal embellished bodycon dress- £22- Topshop| 3. ALDO beaded box clutch with chain shoulder strap- £45- ASOS| 4. Sequin cami top- £25- ASOS| 5. Sleeveless feather trim top- £45- Topshop| 6. Maddiee crepe fur trim mini skirt- £24.99- Missguided| 7. All over sequin co ord- £110- ASOS| 8. Bonded seam corset- £45- Topshop| 9. Lace bodycon dress- £100- Tophop| 10. Silver platform gemstone statement heels- £65- River Island.  

The Christmas party season is well under way now, unfortunately I haven't actually been to one this year...but I am still thinking about, and planning my outfits for Christmas eve and day, and New years eve/day, I don't know about you but I absolutely love to have a special outfit as it is a special occasion! I am certainly not the type of person to chill in my pj's all day! However if you've left it a little last minute to find yourself a party outfit, or like me you're planning ahead to New year celebrations I hope my party wear compilation gives you a little bit of inspiration!

 

From this you can definitely tell what type of style I go for, anything sparkly. But I guess it makes your outfit more festive, right?! And anyway, the festive period is definitely the perfect opportunity to go OTT with the glitter. A lot of my top picks are also black, there is just something so classy about black and it makes it so easy to accessorise your outfit as practically anything goes.

 

Some of my absolute favourites from this collection is the lurex burgundy crop top, the fur trim skirt and the bonded seam corset. I'm such a fan of sequins, faux fur, feathers, corset and crop top designs at the moment, I can't get enough of them right now! There are so many amazing pieces on the high street which are perfect party wear, and plus there are so so many offers on too, for example 50% off selected party wear items at Missguided at the moment. Don't forget 'party wear' is not just an LBD or an OTT sparkly dress, you can be casual and dress up with accessories, or have one statement piece in your outfit, so don't be afraid to mix and match!

 

What is your favourite item from my selection? What are you wearing this festive season? Leave me a comment below! :)

#Blogmas Day 7| Christmas Jumpers

 1. Alycia fluffy knit cropped jumper, £15, Missguided|  2.Christmas tree jumper in snowman fairisle, £35, ASOS| 3. Grey snowman Christmas sweater, £28, Next| 4. Christmas jumper with Rudolph winter scene, £32, ASOS| 5. Navy snowflake boxy sweater, £26, Next| 6.Christmas tree DIY knitted jumper, £22.99, Misguided| 7. Scatter embellished necklace jumper, £46, Topshop| 8. Co-ord Christmas jumper in reindeer fairisle, £35, ASOS| 9. Sparkle fluffy jumper, £32, Warehouse| 10. Red snowman print Christmas jumper, £19.99, New Look

 

One of the most Christmassy fashion traditions which I never ever actually take part in is the festive jumper trend. They are absolutely everywhere, and it's not like I wouldn't want to wear one, but I just feel like I never ever have an appropriate occasion to wear one, instead I simply stick to my fluffy and glittery jumpers... kind of festive I guess!

 

Anyway... even if I am not the biggest fan myself, I know a lot of you are! So I have decided to compile a selection of Christmas jumpers from the high street and online that I would personally love to wear over the festive period. What I have actually noticed from searching for these jumpers is that they aren't actually very cheap, for some reason I expected such a novelty item to be a little bit cheaper, but I guess you can wear it throughout the festive period and for many Christmases to come... so really its just as much as an investment piece as an LBD!

 

Just a little post today, have you been wearing a Christmas jumper? Do you like them? What is your most festive piece of clothing? Leave me a comment below! :)  

#Blogmas Day 6| Gingerbread house!

Okay so it might have a massive hole in the roof, the walls are stuck together by the skin of their teeth and I have been told it looks like a gingerbread man crime scene, but this was one of the most fun things I have done in ages!

 

My boyfriend came to visit this weekend so seen as we won't be seeing much of each other before Christmas, we decided to have a super festive weekend together instead! Honestly, making a gingerbread house is the most difficult and frustrating things to make in the world, but so completely worth it! I can see the idea behind it, you make the perfect mixture, cut out the gingerbread pieces to the exact millimetre, everything falls into place, and everything is decorated fabulously to make a culinary masterpiece... but in reality it isn't going to happen. Some of your pieces will be thicker than others, some will be burnt to a crisp, and you'll spend half an hour holding all the pieces together and hoping the masses of sticky icing will act as super glue.... just for it all to fall to bits time and time again.

 

However, it's what makes it so fun! If like me you had no idea where on earth to start making your own gingerbread mixture, then you can pick up a gingerbread house kit for just £5 in Sainsbury's, or quite cheaply in other supermarkets too, although I do recommend you buy a lot more sweets and icing to decorate!

 

Just a quick post today anyway, i'm off to munch my way through this gingerbread house... have you made one? I would love for you to send me a link to your picture or comment below! :)