REFLECTION: 2014

So here we are. The last day of 2014 and the last day of blogging everyday for this month. I have to say, I am super proud of myself that I managed to stick to and get something posted every single day. I am possibly going to take the first week of January and do nothing as I am a bit poorly at the minute and I need a recharge.

As everyone will have every year, there's been high points and low points but let's look at the good...

This year I travelled more than I've ever done before. I'm very much hermit and never really leave my little town. In January I was a crazy person and went to Russia for a week. We visited Saint Petersburg and Moscow and the average temperatures were around -26C everyday. Slightly chilly...
It was a lot of fun and a great experience. I was so nervous beforehand as it was something totally different and I don't like not being in my normal routine so I'm really glad I did it and especially in Winter to get the proper experience!

SO COULD I BE A DAILY BLOGGER?

This month I set myself the challenge of posting on here every single day of the month. Other bloggers do this all the time so shouldn't be too hard, right?
At the start of the year I said I'd try be more active and regular on the blogging front but that didn't really last. I dip in and out of posting regularly. I love it when I do it but sometimes it's really hard to find the motivation. So I figured, if I could attempt daily blogging for a month then maybe I'd kind of force myself into a routine. I never wanted to come out of the challenge and then be all "I'm a daily blogger now" because boy... I definitely cannot keep this up! But if I can get myself into some kind of routine for maybe 2-3 posts a week, that'd be good.

What are the drugstore brands best at? | Urban Decay Naked On The Run palette review | New Years Eve make-up | A powder better than MAC?! | Book review: Sali Hughes; Pretty Honest    

NEW YEARS EVE MAKE-UP LOOK

It's only a few days until we see out 2014 and welcome in 2015. I'm staying in this year with a couple of friends and we're going to cook some food and have drinks and play games because at nearly 23 I am SO hardcore it practically hurts...

Whether you stay in or go out, I think it's always nice to dress up a little so here is the make-up I wore on a night out recently that I'll most likely be using again for NYE.

 

2014 FAVOURITES

I don't tend to do monthly favourites but I do enjoy seeing everyones end of year favourites. I've put together my favourite things from beauty and skincare to films and music so let's do this!

IF I WON THE LOTTERY...

I hope you've all had a lovely last couple of day with whatever it is you've been up to. I have still blogged so if you weren't online then please go and have a catch up.
There's now only 4 more days left of blogging everyday this month and I can't quite believe how fast it's gone. There's going to be a full post about that in a couple of days though.
But for today I thought I'd do a "Luxury Beauty Wishlist".

I was a bit wary and cautious of posting this prior to Christmas Day. I just can't get comfortable with the idea of presents and I didn't want to seem as though it was coming across as throwing hints and boasting or something. Which I'm more than sure it doesn't but yeah!
Besides, it's sale time now so what better time to get luxury products for a cheaper price?!

BOXING DAY BEAUTY

I hope you all had great days yesterday doing whatever you got up up to. Yesterday's post was a little more serious and if you didn't see it then you can click here.

But on to today... Let me guess - yesterday you ate a lot of food, perhaps had a few glasses of wine and completely demolished a tin of Celebrations? As well as getting about 5 hours sleep? Feeling good today? Possibly not.
Well, let me talk you through a mini Boxing Day pamper routine...

GIVE GOOD GIFTS

I didn't want to do a proper beauty related post today as it seems a little pointless. I originally wrote out a post about it being okay to not like Christmas and not to go after those people with metaphorical pitchforks. Which is still true, it is okay to not like Christmas. In our house, Christmas is just like any other day. We sit together, watch films, play games and eat loads. I like that, and by not having tinsel there doesn't make it less valid.

But then I thought I could be using this space to raise awareness instead of spreading what could be interpreted as negativity. We all know that this time a year is for giving but it's also a time of year when we suddenly don't have any spare cash at all as we left everything to the last minute. That being said, I am so uncomfortable with gifts. I like to give people presents but receiving is hard. I don't really get why we do presents... anyway, going off on tangents once again!
I'd much rather people gave their money to people who actually deserve it and need it.

I give money to two charities every month - Alzheimer's Society and Mind. They're both very close to my heart. If you can spare any money and actually want to it'd be so lovely if you could send them, or any charity at all, a little gift today and I'm sure it's going to be appreciated more than they could say.
Also, blood donations are needed more than ever this time of year. I have given blood a few times but for medical reasons, I'm no longer allowed to give. If you are healthy and able to give blood then you really should consider it. Their website tells you were is nearest to you.

I really hope you all have the loveliest day and I hope you're with the people you love.
And if you do have to be alone today, you can use the hashtag #joinin on Twitter. There's more information here.

MERRY CHRISTMAS.


Disclaimer: it should go without saying that nobody has asked me or paid me to talk about these charities. I just wanted to post about them because they deserve attention and donations more than I do.

SLIGHTLY FESTIVE NAILS

First off, apologies for the iPhone photos. I did today's post a little last minute. 

I figured with Christmas Day tomorrow I should add a bit of glitter to the talons. We're just spending all day at home tomorrow but it's nice to dress up a little and everyone likes a bit of sparkle.

I decided not to go OTT so they're not really festive nails but that just means I don't have to take them off too soon ;)

I used a Seche nail polish in Lumiere that came in a Glossybox (I think...) I love this polish. Only need one coat and the colour is beautiful even in its own. Plus I love the name!

I put over the top (a pretty old) Barry M nail paint in Pink Iridescent. It just adds a slight sprinkle of glitter and I think they look really pretty together.

Just so you know, I do have a post ready for tomorrow. It's not beauty related and it's only a little one but quite important so if you do get chance to get online, please pop back over for a read.

If you don't get online then I hope you all have the loveliest day tomorrow and get to spend it with people you love.

EYEBROWS: SLEEK VS BENEFIT

Eyebrows. The last year or two the beauty world has gone eyebrow crazy. With the influence of the likes of Cara Delevingne, eyebrows are back to being big and full which is wonderful for me as mine have always been quite bushy!

With the help of the lovely Benefit girls, they tamed my eyebrows into a lovely shape that I love. Luckily I never did the whole "plucking until there was just the thinnest possible line of hair" so they just needed a little tidying. Benefit, being the self confessed Brow Queens, do amazing brow products for defining, shaping and setting the brows and a few of which I have tried and have been using for a long time. And then I discovered a new release from Sleek a few months back.
Let's see how they compare...

MINI SUPERDRUG HAUL

After The Body Shop event the other day I needed to go to Superdrug quickly for a few last minute presents and so obviously I thought I needed treating too...
I needed to restock on a couple of things but really I just can't help myself. I haven't included the presents I bought but here's what new to my collection...

A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

I've been posting on this blog for a little over two years now (well, it's more like 4/5 but the first couple of years all got (stupidly?) deleted...) I digress...
I thought it would be pretty fun to see how the blog has changed and grown up over the last two years and how writing style and content differs.

THE BODY SHOP #NWFESTIVEMEET

Hurray! Another The Body Shop blogger event organised by the lovely Rachelle at the Preston store. Crazy that it's been a year since the first Christmas event! It was so lovely to see Rachelle and Claire again and also meet Lily.

And obviously I didn't leave empty handed. How could I when The Body Shop let us have such generous discounts?!

EYESHADOW STICKS - WHAT'S THE DEAL?

One product that seems to have had a good year is the eyeshadow stick. Sounds peculiar but is actually genius.

Eyeshadow sticks just make the whole "lazy person that wants to wear makeup" thing so much easier. Draw on the eyelid and leave it bold, or you can draw on a couple lines on the lower half of the lid and use your finger or a brush to blend out for a softer look and then you're done! If you have more time then they're great bases as once they've set, they tend to just not budge all day.

Basically, Somebody decided to take eyeshadow, put it in the easiest to use form (cream, obv), then put that in a stick so you can literally just colour in with it.
Let's all just take a moment to thank that person.

Okay, done? Let's have a look at that ones I have and enjoy...

A LITTLE BLOG PHOTOGRAPHY TIP

Whether we admit it or not, I think it's fair to say that appearance draws us to things. This is applicable to all areas of life and blogs are no exception. I bet if someone asked who your favourite blogs are, they'll be the ones that have a clear layout and great photos (as well as well written content but that's secondary to appearance, initially.)

You see bloggers talking about how to take better photos and improve the overall blog appearance but truth is, we don't all have these big fancy cameras, a couple of light boxes and a huge white room with tonnes of natural daylight to be able to achieve this.

My blog photos aren't great, I know this. BUT I recently discovered a little trick which is especially useful at this time of the year when we get about 40 minutes of actual daylight...

WHAT ARE THE DRUGSTORE BRANDS BEST AT?

It obvious from my little blog that I am a drugstore girl through and through. Sure, we all love the occasional bit of luxury but when the likes of the brands found in Boots and Superdrug are pushing out beauty products that rival, and in a lot of cases beat, high end brands then splashing out can be a little silly. (Disclaimer: I'm not telling you what you can or can't spend your money on. You earned it so spend £50 on foundation and feel amazing if you want. I would if I could afford to.) BUT the high street does bring IT.

Having said that, from trying out a lot of products I've have realised that some brands can be amazing at making one type of product but really suck at another. So today I bring you what I feel brands do the best at...

UNSUNG HEROES: SUPERDRUG VITAMIN E HOT CLOTH CLEANSER

Next up in the series is from Superdrug's Hot Cloth Cleanser from their Vitamin E range. The previous posts can be found here.

HAIR TRAINING

Four years ago I was washing my hair every single day as well as drying and straightening it and I was dying it around every 6 weeks. I used to dye it purple for a while but it didn't stay intense for more than 2 weeks so I used to re-dye all the time before dying it dark brown.
This all resulted in my hair not being in all that great condition. I had a head full of split ends and as I had faux-dark hair, the little white ends were so noticeable and it was quite frankly disgusting.

One day I just decided that I'd abused my hair for long enough and it was time to fix it. I've FINALLY got to a point were I really like how it looks and it's in good condition but it was a very very long process...

A POWDER BETTER THAN MAC?!

Quite a bold statement to make, especially to some? I've been using MACs Mineralised Skin Finish Natural for a couple of years and it is beautiful. It does what it says on the tin - gives a natural finish to the make up as well as setting it and keeping it in place all day.

My latest compact recently came to the end of its life and it was going to be a while before I could get to a MAC counter so I decided to find a cheaper alternative. Enter Bourjois Healthy Balance Powder.

REVIEW: SALI HUGHES "PRETTY HONEST" BOOK

I know everyone on the beauty blogging scene has already raved the new beauty book by Sali Hughes but I thought I'd thrown in my two cents...

Sali Hughes is a beauty journalist who has a weekend column in The Guardian (which is also very good and you should definitely have a read) and Pretty Honest is her first book.

GET ON YOUR PARTY SHOES

Last week I brought you some beautiful dresses fit for the party season so this week I thought if you're still panicking and trying to find the perfect shoes to match, here are some of my favourites out there at the moment.

Whenever I need to wear heels I always wear the same pair I got from Dorothy Perkins 3 years ago. I'm so awful at walking in heels and those ones have a chunky heel and an ankle strap so they make my life easier. And they're black so they go with everything.

New Look | Missguided | ASOS | ASOS | Dorothy Perkins

FAVOURITE IPHONE APPS

Can you imagine if 15 years ago somebody said, "One day you will be able to store all the music in the world, the details of everyone you know and be able to find out literally anything at the click of a button and all that would be stored on one single handheld device" you'd think they were bat-poop crazy!
But as it goes, that crazy person was right. The smart phone dominates and almost everyone has one of some kind of tablet/internet device.

I'm very nosey and like those "what's on my iPhone!" videos/blog posts so I thought I'd throw in my two cents and show you my favourite iPhone/iPad apps. (I'm not sure if all of these are available on Android too, sorry!)

FAVOURITE WINTER NAILS

Yesterday I posted my top 5 lip colours so today is the time to give a run down of my favourite winter nail shades. I'm a huge lover of dark nails all year round. My inner Wednesday Addams wants black nails at all times but I've had people in the past judge me for that in Summer... pssh! So it seems to be deemed more acceptable when it's cold to have dark nails. I tried to make this a top 5 but I cheated and did 6. I just couldn't decide.

FAVOURITE WINTER LIPSTICKS

It's no secret how much I love lipstick and bright, bold colours at that. (Though, I admitted my nude lip love affair last week...) I do wear dark and berry reds pretty much all year but in the colder months it just feels right. Here are my top 5 lipsticks I reach for in the Winter...

REVIEW: URBAN DECAY NAKED ON THE RUN PALETTE

I've got an excited review today for you in the shape of the new Urban Decay Naked On The Run Palette.

Urban Decay are notorious for doing incredible eyeshadow palette and the Naked range has a cult following - and with good reason. My first dip into the Naked world was with the Naked Basics a year or so back. It's got 6 shades that all work beautifully together and it's very travel sized friendly. I then saw the Naked 3, fell in love and hit "buy now" without thinking about anything. So very glad I did. I've never owned the Naked 1 or 2 but I love this palette. The packaging is beautiful and the shades even more so. A year after it's release and I'm still as in love with it.

The latest Naked launch is the On The Run palette and as with Naked 3, I saw a photo, went to the website and added it to the shopping cart so fast that I wasn't even sure what I did...

EMPTY PRODUCTS #1

Today it's time for my first ever empty products rundown. I've collected these over the last couple of months and then when I was planning these December posts I thought I may as well throw this in now!

I like empty posts and knowing if they would be repurchased as that's definitely more likely to convince me to go out and pick it up too. So here is what I've used up recently...

PINTEREST LOVING

Hands up... Who's ever taken a 5 minute recharge break, decided to have a browse on Pinterest and then the next thing you know you're three hours older?
I am so guilty. I open the app on my phone and then just mindless scroll and repin all the pretty things until someone snaps me out of my trance.

In case you aren't aware, Pinterest is a kind of social media site based around images. Think of it as a more sophisticated Tumblr.
It's great for getting inspiration for literally anything from hairstyles to interior design to where tog o travelling. Full of how to guides and photos that quite frankly make you ooze jealousy.

IT'S PARTY DRESS SEASON

I'm not the biggest fan of this time of year (please don't hate me...) but hot damn the shops get some beautiful dresses in stock!
If you're after a new dress for an upcoming festive event then here are just five of beautiful options for you.

ASOS | Matalan | Topshop | River Island | Missguided

LOVING NUDE LIPS?!

Nude isn't something that I usually associate myself with in terms of lip colours. I go bold or go home on a very much everyday basis. All about that bright pink lip all year round! So I have shocked myself by finding a nude lip combo that I'm totally obsessed with. Even my mum was shocked to see me without bright lips the other morning to go to work.

So what is this magic combo...

I have been using Rimmel's Exaggerate Lip Liner in 'Eastend Snob' to line and fill in my lips. I absolute love this formula of lip liner. I have Red Diva too and I'm actually on my second one of that. I prefer it to traditional pencils as it's more of a crayon so a lot softer on the lips and easier to fill in.
Everyone is also going crazy for the overdrawn lips look recently (I get the impression that this is due to a Kardashian girl but I know very little about them...) but this liner is so easy to use to go slightly over the natural lip line.
I then go over the top with the new Maybelline Color Drama Intense Velvet Lip Pencil in Nude Delight. I am obsessed with these pencils! I have 3 colours and they are amazing. They are so soft and creamy, they last ages and so incredibly pigmented. They don't drag on the lips and they're not drying and I think they're only about £3 or £4! Bargain.
The Maybelline pencil looks awful on me on its own but under the Rimmel liner, I love it!

I also really love the Rimmel liner just on its own (photo below) but it's not as long lasting on it's own, especially after food and drink. Still, very pretty and I think I have become a nude lip convert! Who am I?!

Are you more a nude or bold lip person? And have you tried either of these products?

BRITISH FASHION AWARDS: THE OUTFITS

On Monday night the annual British Fashion Awards where held in London. Now, fashion awards and British means you know the outfits are going to be killer!
Here's a round up of some of my favourite ones...

Hands up... how much do we all want Cara Delevingne's Burberry gown?!

UNSUNG HEROES: L'ORÉAL TRUE MATCH FOUNDATION

I'm kicking off my blogging every day in December (I need an acronym or something for this? BEDD? Don't think that works..!) with a new Unsung Heroes post. You can heck out the rest here but my Unsung Heroes are products that I use all the time and completely love nd would recommend to anyone, but I haven't actually really raved them on here before.

Today is the turn of my favourite discovery of 2014... L'Oréal True Match Foundation.

I'M BLOGGING EVERYDAY IN DECEMBER

Right, okay so now I've put it out there I'm going to have to actually do this. Admittedly, December was probably the worst month to do this in what with Christmas and presumably people not actually being online on festive related days but I got the idea in my head so here we are.
Having said that, I think I have already cheated by using Day 1 as the introduction post...

So why am I doing this?

At the start of the year I said I wanted to try and get more into blogging because when I do it, I really enjoy it. BUT I can never get myself into a schedule and so it's all very random when I do post. I try to do Sunday's but sometimes Sunday comes round and I'm just not feeling it so I lie in bed and think "I'm not moving today. I'll blog in the week instead." And then mid week rolls around and I'm too tired from work and think I'll do it Sunday and then the vicious cycle starts and I get bloggers block. I thought if I could challenge myself to post something everyday and see how that goes down, then I may be able to establish some form of schedule going forward.

I have drawn up a little calendar and planned what will be going live on what day. There is obviously a very healthy mix of beauty posts, sprinkled with some lifestyle and perhaps the odd dash of personal posts. On writing this introduction I still have four days blank so I'll have to see/hope I get some inspiration those days.

I'm determined to do this so hopefully you will come back each day to have a read. Please do leave comments letting me know how you feel about blog schedules - what do you prefer/how many times a week do you think is a reasonable amount of posts? Bearing in mind, I do have a full time job also.

With all that being said, I'll see you all back here tomorrow for Day 2 (and the first REAL post). Want a little spoiler? It's foundation related and the next of my Unsung Hero products...