Blogmas day 9 - a little treat for Christmas

This year for the Christmas break I have saved myself a book and I can not wait to start it. Due to Uni work this year I haven't really had a period of time to have sat and really enjoyed reading this so I thought I would treat myself, after my assignment is in I can spend all my time back in Westeros.

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It's been quite hard not to just start reading this but I've been good and resisted. I love reading and I've really enjoyed this series, I wasn't sure if I would or not as I've not read anything like it before. This is quite a big book at 1045 pages but I have about 2 weeks off and I'd like to challenge myself to get it finished. 
This year I've struggled with chronic fatigue which in turn means I've struggled at work and doing my Uni course. I think I left this book for Christmas so the year ends on a high, I won't have assignments to worry about and I know I can just sit back and relax.

Feel free to follow me on Goodreads, I'm always on the look out for recommendations and just a general nose at what other people are reading.

Will you be reading anything this Christmas?

Blogmas day 8 - some words

So I failed again at Blogmas. I can blame my chronic fatigue for that, last week I felt so exhausted I literally did nothing but mope about in bed. Feeling 'better' I went to the German market in Birmingham yesterday but failed to take any pictures. Despite being dressed for Artic conditions I was still freezing so I spent the time tensing up and shivering. I'm now suffering from shoulder pain due to this so thank you cold winds. I'm really not built for cold weather and it amazes me every time I survive a winter.

Today I've been trying to get my Christmas shopping finished and I think I'm nearly there. Next it will be the yearly battle with wrapping paper, seems it's a skill I am yet to master.

We left it too late to get an advent calendar this year so I'm not counting down the days with a bit of chocolate, lesson for next year, get them early. I'm also not counting down the days with beauty samples as the YouBeauty advent calendar has sold out. I took too long umming over getting it and when I finally decided to treat myself it was too late. Never the best at making quick decisions.

Exciting news, I only have 6 more working days and then I'm finished for Christmas, I honestly can't wait!! In those 2 weeks I also have an assignment to get done and submitted as I really don't want to be doing it over the break, it was not fun last year. I also need to make the decision if I will be carrying on my Uni course next year.

The tree will be going up on the 12th but once I've finished work the fun will begin so for now I'm just counting down until the 18th.

Blogmas day 3 - Christmas tag

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I saw Fee from Makeup Savvy do this tag and thought it looked like fun so here we go.

1. What is your favourite Christmas movie/s?
There are a couple of movies that I watch every year without fail. The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Grinch and Elf. This year I'm also adding The Hogfather to the list even though technically it's a TV show. 

2. Do you open your presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
Definitely a Christmas morning opener. I think when we were younger me and my sister were allowed to open one present Christmas Eve but I much prefer to leave it all until the big day now I have a bit more restraint.

3. Do you have a favourite Christmas memory?
Due to having a poor memory I can't say that I do have a specific Christmas memory. I did really used to enjoy my nan & dandy coming up on Christmas and just having a day with the family.

4. Favourite festive food?
All of it! I love gingerbread men, the cheese board, all the little picky bits like Cheeselets (I think that's what they're called) and just the general acceptability that it's ok to eat obscene amounts of food.

5. Favourite Christmas gift?
I don't have a clue! I think as a kid I probably had favourites but it's highly unlikely I'll remember. I hardly ever write a list so everything I get is a surprise and that's one thing I really like, not knowing what I'll be getting and enjoying it all the more.

6. Favourite Christmas scent?
Hmmm I have no idea! I don't think there is anything I associate that much with Christmas, possibly a Christmas type Yankee Candle at a push. 

7. Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions?
I always watch The Nightmare Before Christmas, this is probably the only running tradition I have. Sometimes we have a little rummage around the presents but I think everyone does that!

8. What tops your tree?
This year it's a star.

9. As a kid what was the one (crazy, wild, extravagant) gift you always asked for but never received?
I don't think there ever was anything that I asked for that wasn't reasonable. I was lucky that I usually got what I asked Santa for.

10. What's the best part about Christmas for you?
Pretty much everything. The food, decorations, the happier mood (most) people are in, playing board games with the family and arguing over the answers, Christmas TV and music and obviously presents although wrapping tests my good cheer. It's my favourite time of the year and I'm so excited for this one to hurry up!

If you've done this tag let me know, I'd love to see other peoples answers.

Blogmas day 2 - pretty books

As a lover of a good book I was very excited (more than I probably should have been) when I saw these editions of the classics last year. These are the Penguin Clothbound Classics Collection and I think they would make a great gift this Christmas. The cover designs are beautiful, the only downside to this, as you can see from the faded flamingos on the white book tend is the pictures tend to rub off. They all have a built in bookmark which I do really like. I think there will be at least one book for everyone in the collection.

I have 9 books which are -

So far I have read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and The Hound of the Baskervilles, I'm currently making my way through Inferno which is both in Italian and English. What I really like is that at the beginning of each book there are a few chapters about the authors and how they came to write the stories. The Lewis Carroll introduction was very interesting, I'd quite like to find out more about him.

There are 2 more books that in the New Year I will be adding to my collection -

 

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The Travels by Marco Polo and The Iliad by Homer. By the time I get these I will have hopefully found room on my bookcase to put them!

I got mine from Amazon who seemed to be the cheapest when I bought mine last year. I believe prices vary between £11 to £14ish which I think is fair for such a lovely thing.

 

Has anyone else got any from this collection?

 

 

Blogmas day 1 - and it beings!

Decembers finally here and the countdown to Christmas begins! This is my favourite time of year and once the struggle of present buying is done I will be in full Christmas spirit. I'm really looking forward to the time off work, the large amounts of food I intend to comatose myself with and just the general nice feeling that comes with Christmas time. 

I will try to refrain myself on the excitement level at least until the tree is up.....

BBB Dreambox 2

This is the 4th beauty box from Jane, better known as The British Beauty Blogger. I think this is probably my favourite box so far and I do hope she continues to bring out such amazing boxes. This is the second one she has done with Latest In Beauty and due to high demand it broke the LIB website, definitely something to be proud of! Luckily I put my name down on the waiting list and received my box within a couple of days of payment. Jane was great with keeping everyone up to date with what was going on which I'm sure was very much appreciated by all.

Onto the box -

The only beauty box that comes this packed full of goodies. For £21.95 you get 18 products and I believe a value of over £100.

Le Couvent des Minimes - Gardener's Hands Healer
This sounds like it's going to be a very intense lotion which for winter time is a must as there's nothing worse than cracked skin. This contains 20% shea butter and 7 healing plant extracts.
Burt's Bees - Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream
This is more of a wax consistence in that it is a hard balm which melts to the touch. I already have one of these little tins and really don't use it as much as I should. It smells really nice and I could imagine this tin lasting a very long time.
Essie Polish
I received Toggle To The Top which I have seen described as red and raspberry so I'm not sure what colour it actually is! This is one of 3 colours that can be found in this box. I'm really happy with this glittery shade, perfect for Christmas time which when I'll be donning it.

Kerastase - Bain Satin 1 & Lait Vital
A shampoo and conditioner I've not tried before. I've heard these leave hair soft so will give them a try.
invisibobble - the traceless hair ring
3 hair rings that don't leave the usual line that normal hair bands do. Great for people who sleep with their hair up.

Eylure - Brow Crayon in mid brown
This is noted as being long lasting and blendable. It is a twist up pencil which saves on product waste from sharpening. I do nothing with my brows but I know a lot of people will be happy to have this in their box.
Ardell - Demi Wispies
Natural looking lashes that I've heard a lot of people talk about. I've worn lashes before and found them easy enough to use, I may give them a go around Christmas when I've got a few events to go to.
Ciate London - Lashlights
I got Electric which is a lovely blue which should go nicely with my brown eyes, I may be wrong! There are 6 colours in the boxes, all look very bright. This is to be brushed on the tips of the lashes after mascara has been applied. I'm hoping this is going to be as bright as it looks in the tube.

Elizabeth Arden - Eight Hour Cream Lip Protectant Stick SPF15
This is basically the cult Eight Hour cream in stick format. It has UV protection and provides moisture which is very much needed for this time of year. I do have a sample of the Eight Hour cream but am yet to use it but as a lip balm addict this won't go to waste.
LOLA - lipstick in Strawberry Fields.
This is a beautiful pink and I'm so glad I received this shade, the other available is Sunset Red. This lipstick claims to be hydrating and highly pigmented. Really looking forward to trying this out.
Sleek - Pout Polish in The Show.
This is a baby pink which I hope comes across on the lips, the other shade available is The Afterparty which is a hot pink. These 2 mini shades are exclusive to the box which is a treat. I haven't tried a Pout Polish but they look like they will give a nice gloss to the lips. Also contains SPF15 for some added protection.

mio - Double Buff
This is a dual action enzyme exfoliator which I'm honestly not sure what that means. Again another product suited well for this season, you can never go wrong with exfoliation.
NUDE - ProGenius Treatment Oil
This oil is packed full of omega which softens your complexion overnight. Since breaking out from using an oil cleanser I'm a bit dubious about putting oil on my face. I shall brave it and fingers crossed the outcome is good skin rather than all hell breaking loose.
The Body Shop - Beautifying Oil
There are 9 different scents for this box and I got Cocoa Butter which smells lovely. I have had one of these before in Mango and ended up using it as a bath oil as I found it a bit too messy. It worked just as well at moisturising. This is a dry oil which can be used on body, face and hair.

Agent Provocateur - Fatale
Perfume sample. I'm never interested in these samples but I know lots of people do enjoy them.
Vichy - Aqualia Thermal Light
This is good for normal to combination skin, this gel-crème adds a nice boost of moisture into dry and tight feeling skin. It also gives 48 hour hydration so I could imagine this would benefit people with really dry skin. Hopefully this won't be too heavy for me as I find a lot of moisturisers are.

Bourjois - Delice de Poudre Duo
This is their best selling product, a bronzer and highlighter duo. I never use bronzer so I won't get any use from this but it is still an amazing product to find in the box. You can tell Jane really put a lot of thought into the contents.

Over all this box was definitely worth the money and I'm really looking forward to trying a lot out. As always a lot of thought went into this and she handled the website problems perfectly. Another box well done.

Lush haul

Enjoying baths as much as I do it's only right that I add little extras to them to make them just that more enjoyable. There is nothing better than a hot bath and a book. I only picked up a couple of things this trip.



Top is Candy Mountain bubble bar. I think I can get at least 3 uses out of this, you crumble bits under running water and it fills your bath with bubbles. It smells amazing, so sweet and glittery. This is £2.75

Bottom is Shoot For The Stars bath bomb. This is scented with Honey I Washed The Kids. Interested to see how this transforms my bath. This is £3.50.

 



Lastly I got Fun gold. The lady in the shop demonstrated just how much this bubbles up and I was sold! Also the scent is amazing, this is also scented with Honey I Washed The Kids. This can be used as a bubble bar, shampoo or body wash, it can also just be used as something to pass the time away with. I don't believe I am artistic enough to make anything from this but I could imagine kids would enjoy this side of it. This is £5, quite expensive but I was told you can get about 20 baths from it so maybe not such a bad price.  

 



As a thank you for donating a £1 to the Lush charity I got this little pot of their new hand and body lotion. This will probably be used as a hand cream now the weather has started to brutally attack my hands.

 

This is probably my first proper Lush haul, the smell of the shop always put me off in the past. Since being gifted and trying out some of their products I have decided the assault on my nose is definitely worth venturing in and seeing what they have. If you don't have a shop near you you can always have a look online here.

 

 

Soap & Glory Your Own Sweet Lime

Another Christmas gift set from Soap & Glory and it's my favourite scent they have done. This set is £10 but Boots currently have their 3 for 2 offer on all Christmas sets.

Inside are 4 items, shower gel, body scrub, moisturiser and a scrubby thing (what the hell are these called!?) A nice little gift set for any Soap & Glory fan, unless you hate the scent than not so much.  

I have also shown the contents of The Next Big Thing here.

Soap & Glory The Next Big Thing

That time of the year has arrived again, I go to Boots and pick up some of the Soap & Glory Christmas gift sets because I just can't help myself. Sadly quite disappointed in this years offerings, not much stood out compared to last year. I still picked up 3 sets and first I'll be showing the big gift set they bring out every year. This is £60 but contains all full size items so the value is much more than what you pay. 

  
This year they have housed all the products in a drawstring bag which with the Christmassy box is a nice touch.

Inside there are 10 full size products and this years box contains -

Orangeasm body wash, Whipped clean shower butter & Butter yourself body lotion.

Off your face 3-in-1 cleansing clothes, The righteous butter & Sugar crush body scrub.

Heel genius foot cream & Hand dream which is a more intense version of Hand food.

Thick & fast mascara & Sexy mother pucker in charm offensive.


This would make a nice gift or even a stock up for yourself. This is such a good value set with a good mixture of their items. This was on the 3 for 2 offer along with all Christmas gift sets in Boots 

Sephora haul

I placed my first Sephora order and I'm really impressed at how quickly it arrived. I've picked up a couple of their Christmas sets, there were a couple of other things I wanted but due to restrictions they wouldn't ship the items to the UK. 

First I got the Sephora favourites - give me more lip. A sample box of lip products from different brands. This was $59 (£36.60) with a value of $192 (£119.10), these are mostly sample size but very generous samples. This is such a good way to try out different brands. I wish stores over here would start doing these sorts of sets.

Inside there are 17 products grouped into reds, nudes, dark and light pink.

First the reds -
Hourglass Opaque Rouge liquid lipstick in Icon - 0.03oz
Kat Von D Everlasting liquid lipstick in Outlaw - 0.10oz
Sephora collection 10hr lip ink in Rouge Infusion - 0.068oz
Laura Mercier Crème Smooth lip colour in Red Armour - 0.09oz
The nudes -
Stila Stay all day vinyl lip gloss in Nude - 0.04oz
Laura Mercier Lip glace in Blush - 0.10oz
Too Faced La Crème color drenched lip cream in Naked Dolly - 0.05oz
bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie lipstick in Speak Your Mind - 0.05oz
Make Up Forever waterproof lipliner in (I think) medium neutral beige - 0.025oz
Dark pinks -
Tarte LipSurgence lip tint in Moody - 0.06oz
Fresh tinted lip treatment in Sugar Berry - 0.07oz
OCC matte lip tar in Black Dahlia - 0.08oz this also came with a little brush.
Buxom full-bodied lipstick in Menace - 0.04oz
Light pinks -
Bite Beauty luminous crème lipstick in Palomino - 0.07oz
Tarte LipSurgence power pigment in Flush - 0.04oz
Benefit Posiebalm hydrating tinted lip balm - 0.01oz I did have to squint when I opened this to see the product but I eventually managed to find it. Tight Benefit, very tight.
Too Faced melted liquefied long wear lipstick in Fuchsia - 0.16oz

Apart from the reds which I have already passed along I am looking forward to trying these all out.

I also got the Tarte dream come hue 12-piece collector's set. This set contains 12 full size products, 6 blush and 6 LipSurgence. This was $175 (£108.75) with a value of $300 (£186.43).

Charmed, Lust & Enchanted. Charmed seems to have squashed itself against the lid which is a bit annoying. 

Elite, Moody & Lovely. All the LipSurgence have a slight minty smell which is different from the usual sweet or rose scents products have.

TR - exposed, BL - blushing, BR - dollface

TR - true love, BL - tipsy, BR - natural beauty (I have possibly got natural beauty & true love mixed up but honestly not sure)!

I like this set as I've wanted to try out both the lip and blush products, the oranges and reds though will be passed along.

Finally I got a Tarte LipSurgence in energy. This is a skintuitive lip tint which means it will react with your skins pH and give you a customised pink colour. This was $24 (£14.91).

Lastly are some samples I received. There was code for a free mini Tarte mascara so I picked the lights, camera, flashes. Out of the 3 samples you can pick I only selected one as pretty much all the others were foundations. I got the Ren glycol lactic radiance renewal mask. I've just run out of my sample of this mask so thought I would pick up another.

So I totally get the hype around Sephora, their sets they put together are something I think UK stores are missing and are very good value for what you get to try although the total value of the sets I am dubious. A shame not everything can be shipped to the UK but there is still plenty that can be purchased. Now I just need to find a US drug store online that will ship to the UK.......

Sets can be purchased here Sephora

Resin mold haul

For a couple of years I have been making resin jewellery and for certain designs I order from Moldedfromlove which was originally an Etsy shop but they now have a website - here
They ship from America but the prices are good and the quality of the molds is really good. I placed an order in January and it arrived I think the same month so pretty quick.

 

 

 

The lady who runs the business always sends extras which I think is a really nice touch.

 

 

This order I did receive 2 molds that weren't the ones I had asked for and 1 mold which I didn't even order. Because it was a big order the owner explained I should have given the links to the items rather than just the titles. I can live with this and make use out of at least one of them. I was also missing 3 or 4 (I can't remember) molds I did ask for, I am still waiting for those to be sent out. 

 

This is the first time I have had any issues when ordering but now they have a proper website things should be a lot easier to order. 

 

When I finally get around to making some pieces with these molds I'll do a post with them. Are there any other crafters out there with blogs?