December 2nd- holiday bucket list

I have a lot of things I want to do this Christmas, so I thought writing a bucket list would be a great idea! Even though I want to do a lot of things, I've narrowed it down as I work full time. I will be trying to add more, but I'm not going to set 50 things. I'd rather set 10 and add 10 more after. 

• bake Christmas cookies

• watch elf

• go to a Christmas festival

• Pinterest DIYs

• put the Christmas tree up with my family

• get someone involved in Blogmas 

• make a festive meal

• rearrange my room- I want to add new festive decor

• take cute Christmas pictures

• kiss under the mistletoe 

• have a movie night with my family where we watch all our favourite Christmas films! 

• start new Christmas traditions

These are just a few things I want to do this Christmas and I hope to complete them all! I will be photographing and will have a blog dedicated to everything I did on my bucket list which I'll post after Christmas! 

Xoxo

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December 1st- things I love about Christmas

Christmas is my FAVOURITE time of the year! I love everything about it, the Christmas songs, movies, decorations, putting up the tree, snuggling by the fire with a hot chocolate and winter walks. 

I love when everyone is in the Christmas mood and telling you what they do for Christmas, if they've done their Christmas shopping and when they're putting their tree up. Everyone being festive makes me happy! 

When I was younger, I always got excited when putting the tree and decorations up. We always keep our decorations in a cardboard box and one year, my dad, sister and I drew on the box (self-portraits) and even though my mum and dad aren't together anymore, we still have the same box with the decorations in! (I will post a picture on Instagram once we get the box out again).

Now I'm older, I still enjoy putting up the decorations and tree- maybe a little more than when I was younger. I now enjoy watching Christmas films and wrapping up warm and going on walks through the countryside. Another thing I enjoy is turning Christmas songs up really loud and singing my heart out! At work everyone says I shouldn't be in this much of a Christmas mood and laugh when they see me dancing and singing along with the songs we have playing. 

I literally love everything about Christmas to the point where I can't pinpoint my most favourite part about Christmas! 

Xoxo

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25 days of Blogmas

So as you know, I'm taking part in Blogmas this year. It's the first time I've taken part in anything like this and I'm excited to be taking part! I've got a whole mixture of DIYs, gift ideas and chatty posts which I can't wait for you to read! I'm writing this blog to let you know what to expect on which day. 

December 1st- things I love about Christmas.

December 2nd- holiday bucket list. 

December 3rd- Christmas wish list 

December 4th- DIY Christmas decorations.

December 5th- Christmas snack ideas.

December 6th- Christmas gifts for her.

December 7th- Christmas gifts for him.

December 8th- winter haul.

December 9th- Christmas tree reveal.

December 10th- DIY Christmas gifts.

December 11th- favourite Christmas songs. 

December 12th- holiday makeup, hair and outfits. 

December 13th- Christmas crafts.

December 14th- winter lipsticks.

December 15th- my perfect Christmas l.

December 16th- favourite winter candles.

December 17th- Christmas baking-

December 18th- favourite Christmas movies.

December 19th- Christmas jumpers.

December 20th- DIY Santa hat.

December 21st- last minute gift ideas.

December 22nd- pampering yourself.

December 23rd- what does Christmas mean to you.

December 24th- Christmas Eve traditions.

December 25th- what I got for Christmas.

I've managed to work out the DIYs around my days off so I'm sorry if they all seem a bit spread out and the order of everything looks funny, I work full time so taking part in Blogmas was something I had to really think about when it came to my days off and what I was doing on which days. 

I'll have December 1st posted up later today! 

Xoxo

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Bloglovin

So I always have people message me on Twitter asking if I have Bloglovin and until people asked the answer was no. I decided to give it a shot, so I'm now on Bloglovin. 

I'm still pretty new to it so I'm not 100% sure how it works so be patient and give me a little time till I fully understand how to use it! 

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/14554625/?claim=jean4m5tqrp">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Xoxo

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Blogmas?

This year I thought I'd take part in Blogmas. Now I know we're only half way through November, but I thought I'd do a post on it now so I can prepare and plan ahead!

Seeing as I've never done anything like this, planning early is definitely a good idea and it means when it comes to starting Blogmas I'll actually know what I'm doing rather than winging it. I'm a massive fan of Christmas so I'm super excited to be taking part in Blogmas this year! I shall be planning and preparing from now till my first Blogmas post on December 1st which gives me plenty of time to decide what I'll be posting and on which day. 

I think I'll be posting everyday till Christmas, and then on Christmas Day I'll be writing a 'what I got for Christmas'. I have been thinking of some ideas and I'll be writing down any ideas which come to mind leading up to December, this way I'll be prepared for my first Blogmas and then the rest should just follow. There will be some DIYs which I will be writing before they're meant to be posted as I work full time so they will have to be done on my days off, which means lots of craft making and baking! 

I will probably be posting in the evening but if it happens to be a DIY then I'll post it in the moring.

I cannot wait for Blogmas and I hope you get just as excited as I do for these posts and to read these posts, I know I can't wait to see what other bloggers write!

Xoxo

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My favourite autumn/fall lipsticks

This was very hard for me to narrow down as I love all sorts of lipsticks this time of the year, but I decided to share my favourites- and yes, they're all dark! I love a dark lip this time of the year, including winter so I wanted to share my favourites with you.

My first favourite is a classic. I mean I think nearly every girl on this planet has this colour. Yes I'm talking about MAC's rebel! This is such a gorgeous deep purple shade and is one I only tend to wear with a simple eye look- don't want too much going on with my face. It's a satin finish so glides onto the lips perfectly!nI wore it to work once and it wasn't wearing how it normally does on me. It was sort of a very vibrant purple shade which didn't suit me at all so I had to wipe it off! I'm not 100% sure why it did that and I've been too scared to wear it since, but its still a classic and I love it all the same. 

Another favourite is the most gorgeous burgundy shade ever! It's divine wine by Maybelline. This is a matte lipstick, but it is so creamy and glides on like a dream. The colour pay off is amazing and it's a drugstore brand so is very affordable. I was looking for a burgundy shade for ages as last year I wore rebel and that was it. This year I wanted to try other colours too, so I thought I'd give this colour a go after hearing everyone rave about it. I am so happy I brought this shade as it's just amazing!

Recently I discovered the soft matte lip creams from NYX. I've been so excited to try these that I brought 4 in total. I got 2 softer colours for more of an everyday wear, including the autumn/fall and winter months. I picked up Copenhagen and Transylvania for this time of the year and honestly I'm glad I did! Copenhagen is a wonderful deep red colour and it applies smoothly onto the lips, but I would advise giving your lips a little scrub with something like mint julep from lush and then applying lipbalm.. #drylipprobs! Transylvania is more of a deep purple colour. As I wasn't able to swatch this till I brought it, I'm unsure of the colour. But I'll make it work! It's still a gorgeous shade whether I wear it or not.

My last favourite lipstick, is New York Apple by MAC. I picked this up in Selfridge's (I'm planning on visiting again and never leaving!) back in July for my birthday. It's a red shade without being too red or too burgundy. It's just in the middle and is perfect for all year round. I'm so glad I picked this up, it's a frost finish. It has just the right amount of frost to it and gives off an amazing sheen. It feels amazing on the lips and the sheen it gives just adds that something else. I've never noticed it before in my local MAC stores but I'm glad my eyes were drawn to it!

MAC lipsticks are probably my all time favourite lipsticks because of the formula and the smell.. I could eat them! I wont, but I could. They have such a sweet smell that any other lipstick I own smells really chemically. The formula is amazing, they're so creamy and moisturising and don't slide around the lips. The matte ones are especially my favourite as they don't dry your lips out!

Xoxo

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'Everyday' autumn/fall makeup

I say 'everyday' as it sometimes changes, depending on how much time I have in the morning and if I'm going anywhere on my day off.

I always start with a primer. At the moment I'm currently trying out the babyskin from Maybelline and the fix + perfect from Rimmel. I've been using the benefit porefessional since it first came out, but lately I haven't been enjoying it as much as I used too. when I use the porefessional, I find it leaves a greasy feeling on my face and my foundation slides around. I'm planning on doing a review once I tested them out.

After I use a primer, I apply my foundation. I switch between the Vichy dermablend in 15 opal and the No7 essentially natural in calico. There are a couple of reasons why I switch between the two, one being that if the other woman on No7 who I work with says my skin looks good, I can't say 'oh it's not one of our products', and the same goes for if customers ask too. Another reason is that if my skin is playing up real bad, the dermablend gives more coverage without being caked on, whereas my essentially natural looks caked on as its only a light/medium coverage. On my days off, I tend to wear the dermablend more as I'm not in work so I can wear my makeup however I want! After I have applied my foundation, I use a face powder. The face powder I'm using at the moment is the No7 perfect light loose powder in translucent. I'm really liking this powder as a little goes a long way and it helps to keep me matte for most of the day. After I have set my foundation, I use my hoola bronzer by benefit to contour my cheekbones slightly to give my face some definition, as having a matte base can make the face look flat. Recently I purchased the sleek blusher in flushed- as part of my Halloween makeup look thanks to Roxxsaurus (I fell in love with the look she did for Halloween and she used that blusher as an eye shadow colour so I had to buy it!) Its a great shade for the autumn and winter months as it gives a healthy glow to the skin.

Once my face makeup is complete, I move onto my eyes. To prime my eyes, I use the urban decay primer potion. I haven't got the original one, I use the tightening and brightening primer but I'm considering buying the original as the one I use now makes my shadows crease. After applying primer, I use my NXY jumbo pencil in milk. I use a white base first so it creates an even base and it helps the colours I'll be using to pop and stand out more. I blend this in with a real techniques brush then use my finger to apply the kiko metallic shine eye shadow in 02 absolutely rose. This is a gorgeous colour and its great for everyday wear. I pat this on my lid with my ring finger as this gives the best colour pay off. After I have applied the eye shadow, I run a dark brown colour through my crease to darken it up. Depending on how I'm feeling and how much time I have in the morning for work, I use the L'Oreal perfect slim liner to line my lash line. I can't do a winged liner but on my days off, I do attempt to do a wing and it never turns out right, but I will keep practicing! If I've applied the eyeliner, I will set it with a black eye shadow as I have oily lids, but if I don't use the eyeliner I just move straight onto mascara. The mascara I use is the dramatic lift from No7. I love this mascara! It gives the look of wide awake eyes, it curls the lashes and adds weightless volume. Now I'm all about volume when it comes to mascara as I have really long lashes, so any mascara I find which gives me fuller looking lashes I'm all for. I apply a couple of coats and I've completed my makeup look.

I will sometimes wear lipstick but most of the time I use a lip balm which adds colour to the lips. As its autumn/fall, I love a dark lip! I especially love rebel by MAC, Copenhagen by NYX and Transylvania by NYX. These are perfect for this time of the year and tie the look together. At work I either wear the lip balm or one of our newest nude shades (Tawny Rose). This is a brownish nude shade, but isn't too brown as has a hint of pink to it.o brought a kiko lipstick which is also a nude shade and I switch it up to wearing that sometimes too. 

I will be posting swatches of the lipsticks, kiko lipstick and the eye shadow on my Instagram so make sure you're following me to check it out. 

Xoxo

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