Christmas Gift List: Girls

Next up on the gift guides is girls; be it your girlfriend, sister or just a friend, I reckon there will be something on this list that'll tickle her fancy...

1. The Yule Monty Gift Set, £27 by Soap and Glory. This Limited Edition gift set is an absolute bargain (it's worth £60!) in which you receive 7 body products including their 'Hand Food' hand cream and 'The Righteous Butter' body cream, which I absolutely love, and 2 makeup products, a super volume mascara and a 'Sexy Motherpucker' lipgloss. All Soap and Glory products smell amazing and are great quality so I definitely think you should head down to Boots quickly before these all sell out!

2. Beacon Court Stacy Wallet, £165 by Kate Spade. Every girl needs an ultra chic purse and I absolutely love the pale pink and bow detailing of this one. Although on the pricey side, I believe this is an investment piece because it is so timeless and will go perfectly with any handbag.

3. Couture, £20 by Nails Inc. Everyone says it's the thought that counts and in this instance you really can show that by personalising a nail polish. Nails Inc is giving you the opportunity to customise the lid, whether it be embellished with crystals, studs or just simply sleek, silver metal, pick a colour from a choice of 65 and finally you can add a little personal message on the bottom of the jar.

4. Rose Gold Watch, £259 by Michael Kors. I think this watch could potentially be on every girls Christmas list and for a good reason. The Michael Kors watches are abolsutely gorgeous; I have the silver version of this watch and there hasn't been a day gone by that I haven't worn it since getting it 2 years ago.

5. Flowerbomb Limited Edition Perfume, £75 by Viktor & Rolf. Perfume is a safe bet to buy any girl and this is my personal favourite perfume; it is a very sexy scent that I tend to wear in the evenings and always get complemented on. This year V&R has released a limited edition Christmassy themed bottle (this version is shown), however this does put the price up a little, the equivalent size in a normal bottle costs £55.

6. Personalised Wine Glass, £22 by Not On The Highstreet and Moët & Chandon Rosé Brut Imperial Non Vintage Champagne, £35.35. I think personalisation makes gifts extra special and this wine glass would be perfect for any girl (obviously of legal drinking age), especially over the festive period when you may be drinking a little more than usual. And of course, you need something to fill this glass with and a bottle of pink bubbly would be the perfect accompaniment.

7. Sterling Silver Heart Ring, £35 by Pandora. Pandora jewellery is another fail safe present and along with my woven leather charm bracelet, their rings are another personal favourite which don't break the bank.

8. Christmas Star with Signature Lip Colour, £14 by Liz Earle. This would be a perfect stocking filler; encased in the super cute star packaging is a gorgeous red lipstick, perfect for Christmas time.

9. Alternative Mince Pies, £7 by Hotel Chocolat. Let's put the diets to one side, what girl doesn't like receiving a bit of chocolate at Christmas?! These 'mince pies' have a little twist to them with either praline or salted caramel in a chocolate casing - definitely no dried fruit in sight!

OOTD: Summertime Sadness

Although clearly not summer in the UK, I thought I would pop this post up anyway as I know lots of people go chasing the sun in the Christmas holidays, it's summer in Australia and there's no harm in reminiscing about the sun, sea and sand when stuck inside on a gloomy day, right?
(Beware - picture heavy post!)

Outfit 1:

Kimono: River Island (summer stock but I like these: 1, 2, 3)

Vest: Asos (similar here)

Denim shorts: Topshop (very old, similar here or here)

Belt: Next (very old)

Bag: Zara (different coloured versions here, similar here)
 

 

Outfit 2:



 

Cropped Cami: Topshop (here)

Maxi Skirt: Topshop (in grey here)

(excuse the lovely toilet background)

Outfit 3:





Dress: BooHoo (summer stock but I like this)

Belt: Aldo (very old)

Bag: Zara (as before)

Sandals: Next (very old)

 

Outfit 4:



 

 

Playsuit: BooHoo (here)

Bag: Zara

NOTD: Uptown Glamour

 

 

Glamour has once again teamed up with Nails Inc. for December's freebie, although this time with the addition of accessory designer Kate Spade. There are four shades available: Uptown Glamour (shown above), Soho Silver (surprisingly, a metallic silver), Big Apple Red (a true red - no orange or purple tones) and finally New York Noir (a glossy black). Glamour costs £2 and so you can get all four polishes for less than one full priced Nails Inc. polish, so it's quite the deal!

Uptown glamour is a metallic gold and against my skin tone it looked like it had a slight khaki undertone. The colour is incredibly pigmented which surprised me as with my history of gold/silver shades they can sometimes be quite sheer. My only issue with this polish is that without careful application it can be quite stripy and it did chip fairly quickly, however this could be down to the top coat I used which has gone a little gloopy! Overall, however, I definitely recommend picking up at least one shade (or maybe two...) as they are all gorgeous colours, especially for the festive season and they will be perfect for the upcoming Christmas parties!

 



Christmas Gift List: Mothers

The Coca Cola advert has had it's first airing on TV, that means one thing: it's officially the run up to Christmas! To help ease the stress of deciding what to buy every member of your family I'm putting together a little series of gift guides to provide a little inspiration.

First up is mums...

1. Old Hollywood Eye Palette, £59 by Bobbi Brown. If your mum isn't a makeup maven but loves to spruce herself up for a special occasion then this palette is perfect; providing the perfect mix of wearable matte and shimmery, cool and warm toned nude shades but not too many to be overwhelming. The individual smoky cool/warm eye palettes also look amazing and come in a little cheaper at £37.50 for six shadows.

2. Hand Crème Sample Collection, £20 by Laura Mercier. Hand cream is always a failsafe gift idea for mums and this set includes four of the iconic fragrances: Almond Coconut Milk, Crème Brulèe, Crème de Pistache and Fresh Fig in 30ml tubes. I have tried the pistachio one and the smell is incredible and the cream is luxurious and rich but doesn't leave your hands greasy for ages afterwards.

3. Mini Cologne Collection, £64 by Jo Malone. I know throughout my mum and her circle of friends from the presents they buy each other that Jo Malone is a firm favourite brand of theirs. This gift set contains five 9ml scents: Lime, Basil & Mandarin; Blackberry & Bay; Peony & Blush Suede; English Pear & Freesia; and Amber & Lavender. The scents can be worn alone or layered to create your own signature scent and maths A-Level factorial work says that's 120 combinations of scents you can create, so really this set is an absolute steal! (Don't quote me on this...A-Levels were a fair while back!)

4. Ultrathin Keyboard Cover for iPad Mini, £69.95 by Logitech. Tech products probably don't appear much on female gift guides but there's only so many body products one woman can have! Although my mum likes to think she is some wiz-kid on her iPad, she's not exactly 'down' with the touch screen and it takes her quite a while to write a comment on Facebook (yep, she's got FB!) and so I thought this would be a great little accessory that is easily attachable to help speed things along.

5. Personalised Prosecco, £25 from John Lewis. If you're absolutely out of ideas for presents or think your mum has everything, then alcohol is never a bad idea! However, this is not just your standard bottle on offer at your local supermarket (you have to pull out all the stops at Christmas), this bottle of Prosecco comes in a sleek personalised gift box and you can have a little message on the bottle too!

6. Bow Continetal Wallet, £295 by Mulberry. Handbags and purses are a staple on every woman's wish list and this wallet by Mulberry is sleek and elegant with a little chic bow on the front. I chose the black colour as it's more timeless and will go with every handbag your mum has.

7. Winter Signature Candle, £20 by The White Company. Candles are another classic Christmas present and I think they're an essential for winter time. The White Company's candles always smell amazing and are a bargain compared to other brands such as Neom or Diptique! My favourite scent is actually Seychelles however the Winter candle is described as a spicy warm scent with notes of sweet cinnamon, clove and fresh orange which sounds a lot more appealing on these cold nights.

Sunday Bakes: Banoffee Pie

Who else has the post Great British Bake off blues and, like me, your Tuesdays seem a little bare now and you're missing your weekly sweet fix? If so, this recipe may be the answer to all your baking prayers. You definitely don't need the baking talents of Mary Berry to whip up this dessert, I'm pretty sure even my Dad could make this and he's prone to burning pizza, but the result is luxurious and very, very tasty. In fact, there is no baking involved in this recipe at all, you just need some simple arrangement skills.

Ingredients:
450g Dulce de Leche Original (although I couldn't find this in store so used salted caramel which worked just as well)
20 Digestive biscuits
100g unsalted butter
3 large bananas
300ml double cream
A little bar of dark chocolate

 

1. Place your 20 biscuits into a sealed bag and crush them with a rolling pin (or wooden spoon) until they're roughly crumbed.

2. Empty your crumbs into a bowl and melt the butter. Mix the melted butter in with the crushed biscuits.

3. Pack the butter/biscuit mixture into a 25cm tart tin (I don't recommend a glass one like I used, tricky business trying to portion up!). Press the mixture down to form an even layer and then refrigerate for 1 hour.

4. Spread the dulce de leche over the chilled biscuit base.

5. Slice up your bananas thinly and layer over the dulce de leche.

6. Whip the double cream and top the bananas with this and sprinkle over some shaved dark chocolate (although perhaps try to keep more on the pie than the table!)

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get any pictures of it sliced up and ready to eat as, well, it was gobbled up before I had the chance! Enjoy :)



Living with psoriasis: An Introduction

One of the motivators behind starting this blog was so that I could have a public platform to share how I dealt with psoriasis and what I learnt whilst having the skin condition. It is coming to the end of Psoriasis Awareness Week and so I thought this would be an apt time to start this mini series on learning to live with and manage your psoriasis.

During the time in which I had psoriasis I trawled through the internet trying to find information on what it was and if other people had it trying to reassure myself I wasn't some freak, however I came back with limited findings. Therefore my hope with this series is to relate to other people out there who are struggling, as I for one know as a teenager once covered head to toe in psoriasis that it can impact your life in a very negative way, and potentially help someone, even if just a little bit :)

What is psoriasis?
Psoriasis is an immune condition, which causes symptoms on the skin which tend to come and go at different times. It affects around 2% of the population and can occur on any area of the body in small or large patches. It is not infectious and so cannot be 'caught'.

Everyone's skin is constantly renewing itself. The process normally takes around 28 days; when a person has psoriasis, however, this speeds up and typically takes around 4 days. This over-activity causes inflammation and scaling, forming raised 'plaques' on the skin.

This happens because particular immune cells are triggered and become overactive, acting as if they were fighting an infection or healing a wound. My doctor described it to me in the context of a factory machine. Imagine this machine became faulty and started to speed up, producing more and more items. However, the machine cannot keep up with this quantity being made and so the quality of each item worsens and the items just start to build up as there is no use for them.

Although there is not yet a cure for psoriasis there are many treatments which can be prescribed to help manage the condition and I will feature what prescriptions worked for me as part of this series as well as what I found by myself, confidence issues etc...

(Image from weheartit and specific psoriasis information from The Psoriasis Association and a hospital leaflet as I am no specialist!)

NOTD: Bursting into autumn

 

 

                              

 

                                                         

Red nails remind me of two things; glamorous events to accompany an LBD  and Christmas - neither of which is happening right now. However whilst home for the weekend faced with bare talons and my nail polish collection at university I raided my mums limited offering and found this classic beauty. The colour is a creamy, vibrant, classic pillar box red - I couldn't find the name on the bottle, however I think it could be 'Viva La Diva'.

I have never tried a Leighton Denny nail polish before, however knowing they are a high end brand (around the £11 mark each eek!) I did have high expectations . The application was a dream; so smooth and opaque in one coat (although I did do two for luck), although for that price I think that is what I would expect. I am not sure I would purchase a nail polish from Leighton Denny myself because I would say these are akin to a good quality Essie nail polish which you can purchase for £7.99. However, saying that I am eyeing up their little 4 piece collections which sell for £11 to perhaps pop on the Christmas list.

What are your thoughts on Leighton Denny polishes? Are there any stand out colours worth the price tag?

You can purchase Leighton Denny from M&S, FeelUnique, and BeautyBay.

                        



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University

Everyone wishes their uni was Hogwarts right?

After the anxious wait over summer for AS-Level results, it's that time of year when many people are clicking onto UCAS and starting to submit personal statements (I do not recommend reading these years later, cringe!) in preparation for another anxious wait for replies from universities.

I remember 3 years ago worriedly trying to get my life together, wondering what it was I actually wanted to do. For me, university was always a given rather, it was what I wanted to study that was uncertain. However, with the rise in university fees, the choice of going to university isn't so simple now.

So, should you go to university?

The answer isn't a simple yes or no.

 

If you want to be a doctor or a lawyer, further education isn't a choice and it is something you will have to do. However, for other courses such as accounting, there are other entry routes, for example I know PWC do a school leavers course and a lot more industries are offering apprenticeships so it is something you will have to research into if you are on the fence about university.

 



 

 

There is also the 'university experience' to consider - it isn't 100% about the degree you achieve (although always keep this in mind, as it is very easy to get side tracked, and it is the only thing you'll have on paper after leaving!)

University opens you up to a much larger range of people and experiences. Over the 3 years you will mature and change more than you could imagine. Pre-university I was very shy and now this is the one thing all my home friends have noticed has changed in me. University, in a way, forces you out of your comfort zone and provides you with invaluable life experience, whether it just be learning how to cook something other than beans on toast or giving you the opportunity to learn to speak up and grow in confidence.

 

 

 

 

If the £9,000 tuition fees are deterring you from applying to university there is the age old argument of potential greater earnings if you do have a degree, however if you really feel university is not for you it could be the best time not to go to university with the government backing increases in apprenticeships.

 

I know I am definitely glad I made the choice to go to University despite struggling a little in first year. I have made friends who I know I'll stay in contact with after (n'awwww) and now in my final year my course is specialising into what I would like to do after I graduate I am finding it so much more interesting.

 

(images from weheartit)