December Beauty Favourites

Its hard to believe this is my last beauty favourites of the year so I thought I'd try and end on a high, it's also the most colourful bunch of favourites I think I've shown in the one post, what a joke. All of my favourites are actually old beauty products that I've fallen back in love with, there's absolutely no new things, I think thats also due to the fact I tried to save my money for Christmas presents and parties and the like and not on me - I couldn't justify the spend so yeah heres my December faves... 

My ultimate favourite which will be probably featured in every favourites post I write for the next year (well, maybe not a year but you get the picture) is my personal MAC quad - I'm actually going to write up an individual post about this but I really wanted to stick to neutral colours because lets face it thats as experimental as I get and I love all four of these shades to bits. Another thing that I'd forgotten about was my Collection concealer and I didn't even think that could happen, I lost my old tube and bought a replacement and lost that too so I was making do with lighter coverage concealers I had but it just wasn't the same so when I found it, eventually, you can imagine how happy I was!

Rebel is another firm favourite of the month, red lips definitely scream Christmas so for the days when I wanted a bold lip but not too bold I was reaching for this - nothing beats a berry shade and I'm so glad that I have this as a go to! I've also more recently been reaching for a lighter base - this is more for work when I really can't be bothered but don't want a full face of makeup and no matter how many times I'd tried it in the past the Rimmel Match Perfection foundation just didn't give me the coverage I needed but I tried using a different foundation brush and it just seemed to work so I've been applying this to my face at every opportunity since.

This sort of ties in with my last favourite and if you read my post a while back you'll know I ordered a bunch of brushes off Ebay and I haven't been using anything else since, no joke. They're mainly for applying foundation but even still, I might just have to buy a few more. So there's my beauty favourites over with for 2014, hope you enjoyed them :)  

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s what beauty things have you loved this month?

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December Non Beauty Favourites

Last month I didn't even post one favourites post, let alone two but since this is my last chance to write up a favourites post for 2014 I thought I'd be extra nice and do my typically non beauty and beauty faves. I always like to chuck in some lifestyle as well because I love reading little snippets on other peoples blogs too and its a tradition I'll be keeping regularly on the blog, in the New Year. I usually post my beauty favourites first so I thought I'd do the opposite, so alas heres my December non beauty favourites of the month, enjoy!

It wouldn't be a December favourites without a few Christmas movies, the ones that I've had on a loop are definitely Elf and The Holiday, even Love Actually's taken a backseat this year but I just had to give these a mention. Another favourite this month which isn't pictured is maybe a bit strange but its fluffy socks - I think I've made a new challenge to myself to own as many pairs as I can in every pattern and colour under the sun. I'm definitely set for the rest of Winter but they're unbelievably cosy and I'm all about comfort! In fact I'll probably end up buying more, if I'm honest....

Chocolate is always a favourite but even more this month, there's so many snacks and treats that its hard to not eat them at every opportunity and I've been doing just that. A tub of celebrations and numerous selection boxes should not have my name on it, who really needs a New Years diet when you've enough chocolate to last you until Easter! As with all chocolate binging my skin might be suffering from the odd spot or two but for the amount I'm eating it should be a full scale breakout so I'm counting myself lucky, however my new Origins face mask has come in pretty handy.

I've only used the drink up intensive mask overnight to give my skin a bit of a lift and revitalize it a little and surprisingly its worked and my skins on the road to recovery, thank goodness, but I can definitely see myself using these masks a lot in the new year. Another favourite would have to be Soap&Glory's Hand Food, I've been working a lot and my nails have been all bleh as a result until I found this in a drawer and I remembered just how amazing it is and within a day or two they're all back to normal and this has its place now on my bedside table so I can use it constantly.Lastly I picked up a ring from Urban Outfitters and its the cutest thing ever, I love finding little pieces of jewellery that I can mix and match - usually all sorts of silver rings and this is perfect.  

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s what non beauty things have you been loving lately?

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Weekly Ramble #8

The Sunday after Christmas, in fact the week after Christmas isn't really that great - everyones a bit down that the big day has came and gone so quickly.... then they pick themselves up and put on a cheerful front for the new year. This years pretty much the same. I've worked a lot of the week so honestly I just want to jump into hibernation and sleep until Spring, if only!  

This was just a quick snap from Christmas Day, I tried to crop out the presents because I really don't like the whole showing off with hundreds of presents look that some people do - it's just not me but this is a lovely photo of one of our main trees and the surrounding decorations. I absolutely love this time of year, everythings so cosy! I also finished wrapping my friends presents and gave them out too!

A random photo from through the week of some of my beauty bits and pieces, I had a good old sort out for the New Year and all that so I have plenty of room to start again or treat myself to newer things. Also how adorable is that little panda?

It was all about that red lip and highlighter glow throughout the party season - absolutely fool proof and I've been loving using these two lip products to death, practically.

 Its all a bit of a downer really, Christmas being over but this week was filled with plenty of festivities in the run up to it, I had every Christmas movie under the sun playing and I'm pretty sure my brother wanted to hit me at some point for it oops! And although I may have left some last minute present buying (by that I mean Monday and Tuesday) it all worked out on the day and now I need to sleep for a long long time. I've also managed to eat my body weight in chocolate so I'd say thats another success and my Christmas playlist & movies have been hidden away for another year!

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s what have you been up to this week?

Christmas Time!

I just want to say a massive Merry Christmas to all of my blog followers and anybody else who may be reading! This is a bit of a short post mainly because today is all about spending time with my family & relaxing, as it should be and I've only just got round to having some down time of my own and typing this up, at half ten at night sorry everyone. I'm also quite shocked how fast today has flown in (and thats saying a lot when you've been up since 8am - thats like the crack of dawn on the holidays) but its been amazing nonetheless.

I think because I've been working crazy hours in the run up to Christmas and I really have had to juggle everything about instead of leisurely buying presents for everyone I've learnt to appreciate Christmas even more, if that makes sense? Yesterday it felt so weird to be working on Christmas Eve instead of watching Christmas movies and visiting friends/family and tomorrow I'll be working Boxing Day - not before a sneaky early morning trip to the sales, I couldn't not take advantage of those so today was my proper day off and it meant I was more appreciative. 

A typical morning in our house on Christmas is waking up (usually at a ridiculous time) although its getting later as we get older, no 6am starts anymore and unwrapping all of our presents in front of the tree which I absolutely love doing - it makes it all the more fun ripping the paper off, I know some people don't get their presents wrapped but I personally prefer it! After presents its all about the food, both breakfast and starting the lunch and playing/looking at everything that we've got in more detail I guess and thanking everyone :) Once the foods on its time to settle down and watch some good old Christmas movies or Christmas tv until lunch time which usually works out at mid afternoon. 

By 4pm everyones off for a nap, its just that time in the day when everything catches up on you and you need a little energy boost for the rest of the day and the Christmas tv programmes like Doctor Who, Coronation Street and Strictly Come Dancing - I told you my tv habits are like I'm like sixty five at heart, not always a bad thing I guess. In amongst all of the tv watching and the odd board game or two, I consume as much chocolate as physically possible, I hope I'm not the only one! This year I actually made everyone play Cluedo this year, its a tradition that everyone disappears whenever I get it out but this year they didn't and I surprisingly won the game, what can I say I love being a detective?

So maybe this post wasn't as short as I thought it would be but I'm definitely tired and I've to get up early for work and shopping tomorrow so I'm sure I'll be out for the count by half eleven... I'm getting old but I just wanted to say a huge Merry Christmas to you all :) I hope you's all had a wonderful day with your friends and family, you stuffed your faces and Santa brought you everything that you wanted! 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s whats your Christmas Day like? 

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Dear Santa: Wishlist

From time to time I love a good wishlist and whats better than making one at Christmas time, I think its a habit of mine to make really unrealistic and blooming long lists, did anyone else ever cut out half the Argos book for Santa just because it looked pretty? Well at least I'm older and they're a bit better than what they were (well I try) but this is still a hefty wishlist and I wouldn't even expect half of it, not to mention it would probably give my parents a heart attack! I still thought I'd publish it on here because I love reading wishlists and getting some inspiration for my own, so I hope it helps.  

Of course theres some makeup bits and pieces on there like a Nars blush, their foundation and concealer mainly because I couldn't justify buying myself it through the year, a MAC lipstick to add to my collection, MAC Fix+ because I've heard so many good things, a paintpot because one is not enough and a replacement of my Studio Fix. Theres also some lip crayons from Soap&Glory, there is an actual set including three that you can buy but I couldn't find the link for it. I think that's pretty good on the makeup side of things. I did also mention the Zoeva brushes which are stunning and would look amazing, hint hint on my dressing table. 

I also included a lot of miscellaneous items like fairy lights for my room because I can never find any that don't resemble Christmas tree lights, a diary and organiser for the new year, socks as I'm forever losing mine - I swear someone steals them, a watch in brown and black - just plain staple ones that'll go with everything and still look pretty, some jewellery (maybe) and a phone case for my iphone 5 because again I can never find any that I like. 

Also some perfume is a lovely stocking filler and this year I'm hoping that I get One Directions You and I perfume and Christian Dior's J'adore - both smell incredible. Whilst we're on nice smelling things anything from Lush is a lovely gift or even Soap and Glory too. I did ask for the Emma Hardie cleansing balm which was in a set and almost half its usual price, a pair of GHD's (there a long time investment ;)), a Zara City Bag and some Disney DVD's.  

As I said at the start I would never expect even half of this but these are things on a very long list of things I would like and I'll probably buy myself them throughout the new year but I just thought I'd share as it might give others a late idea of what they want. 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo

P.s whats on your Christmas lists?

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Blogmas Day 23: A Festive Lip

Throughout the year you're lucky if you find me wearing anything relatively bold on my lips & apart from the odd pink its mainly nudes, my ways are changing but come A/W I jump at the chance to wear the boldest colours in my collection (I say bold, but I'm not brave enough to rock deep purple/black, probably ever) such as berrys, purples and reds. I love a classic red at Christmas as it just makes my simple makeup pop and really gets me feeling festive - this year I've been rocking it whilst shopping and I'm loving it - I think that may have something to do with my latest MAC purchase and a certain Russian Red lipstick though.....  

If you read my most recent haul post here, you'll know I picked up two lipsticks from MAC, one an everyday pink and the other red. I realised I had no matte reds in my collection that weren't completely drying and I thought this would be the perfect solution. I was caught between Russian Red and MAC Ruby Woo and in the end decided that the less drying one would be best! I thought it would be too bold for everyday wear and I'd have to use it for night time instead but surprisingly its not too in your face for during the day and I've wore it a lot whilst shopping in the run up to Christmas and visiting the Chistmas market (read: mainly eating). 

The lasting power is superb, as I said I've been eating a lot whilst wearing this and instead of it rubbing off its stayed put which is seriously impressive. The pigmentation is also amazing on this certain lipstick as with all MAC lipsticks (the photo doesn't do it justice where it looks more pink than red but it isn't) and has the typical vanilla mac smell which I love too. Although its one of the matte formulas it actually feels creamy on application and has a sort of shine to it when on the lips rather than just normal matte and its a colour that'll never be out of fashion. In fact I think it'll be repurchased for my collection for years to come, its just a lovely lipstick thats timeless. I would definitely recommend it to all as it seems to suit most skin tones perfectly or even giving it a swatch next time you're near a MAC counter, now all I need is a red lipliner and I'm set. 

My MAC lipstick collection is definitely growing slowly but steadily and I'm so happy to have a red in there as a staple.... I might even have to get a new lipstick holder, oh the problems of a beauty lover. 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s Whats your favourite MAC lipstick? I need to get my hands on some more. 

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Blogmas Day 21: Weekly Ramble #8

Recently the days are just coming and going in the blink of an eye, it's officially Christmas Eve in three days and I'm beyond excited (not for working on Christmas Eve) but the whole holiday in general - its probably my favourite time of year! This weeks been all systems go and it feels like I haven't had a moment to myself, not the best way to spend the week before Christmas but I suppose I'd rather be a busy bee than doing nothing. 

I travelled up to University for a couple of days in a row which meant 5am starts and long days where I was going straight to work and staying there until 10pm - safe to say I was falling asleep standing up and I didn't think that was possible but at least my placements all sorted and I'm ready to go in the new year. 

I worked, a lot. I've been busy in work as you can imagine its packed due to everyone leaving their Christmas presents shopping to the last minute, I'm hoping it'll calm down soon. I met up with my friends to exchange Christmas presents and cards - something I love doing, I love seeing everyones reactions! Also went for dinner in Frankie & Bennys with my friend and visited the Christmas Market for the very last time, I say visited it was more like I stuffed my face with as much food as I could, chocolate marshmallow waffles, mulled wine, potatoes and paella - the lot and they were all incredible! 

I've also been trying to fix my posting schedule out so for the next day or two there might be more than one or two posts - just keep an eye out :) Hope you've all had a good week! 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s whats everyone been up to?

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Blogmas Day 19: Beauty Essentials

Its crazy to think that I'm more than halfway through my attempt at Blogmas (I think I'm doing pretty good so far) and that its Christmas in six whole days - thats less than a week! And I've still to buy some presents for people with absolutely no spare time, talk about rushed and last minute! The one thing I do love about this time of year (not my lack of social life) but the parcels that the postman brings and all the deliveries being made - that being said my postman brought me something I was looking forward to this morning.... makeup brushes! 

Lately I've been wanting to expand my brush collection, thinking that flawless makeup comes from flawless application, long gone are the days of using my fingers to apply foundation and so I came across this set of 10 makeup brushes on Ebay for a bargainous price of roughly £8. Now I'm so used to using my Real Techniques brushes which are roughly £8-10 each (not expensive at all compared to most) so you can imagine how surprised I was when I found out it was £8 for all ten brushes! 

The first five brushes are much smaller and can be used for concealer and eyeshadow and the slightly larger kabuki brushes for foundation, bronzer and powder - pretty much everything you need a brush for. I think I'll probably get more use out of the larger brushes though when I'm applying my foundation but they'll all be used. I actually applied my foundation today with one of the brushes and I loved it - the bristles on the brushes were incredibly soft and allowed me to build up the coverage I needed and evenly. They also come in a range of colours but I chose the boring black and silver as I think the packaging is classier than a bright pink, probably more age appropriate too but other colours are available. 

I ordered these earlier in the week, I think it was Monday and they arrived this morning so it was incredibly quick delivery especially for this time of year where the postal system is up the left and it takes ages for standard delivery so nothing but positive things can be said and I just can't wait to try out the rest of these brushes - I've a feeling I'm going to love them! 

Thank for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s what brushes do you use to apply makeup? I need some suggestions, a MAC 217 is high up there on the wishlist. 

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Blogmas Day 17: Origins Mask Marvels

If you've read any of my older posts you'll know that I love a good face mask, in fact I probably have a collection thats considered unhealthily large yet I can't stop buying them! The Origins face masks are probably raved about by everyone and they were top of my skincare wishlist (yes, thats a thing) for so long and then my Christmas list for this year because I could never justify the hefty price tag, (well hefty for a student)... until a few weeks ago when Boots decided to have to most amazing offer.

The Origins Mask Christmas Set includes three of their most well known masks, the Clear Improvement Active charcoal mask, the Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask and the Out of Trouble 10 minute mask and I've really wanted to try all three. This set was on offer at less than half price so £23 for three products whereas one on its own usually retails at £20ish so I knew this was definitely a good offer and a chance to try out all three and find a favourite :) 

The masks are 75ml in comparison to the usual 100ml tubes but 25 ml less for two extra masks was a bit of a no brainier for me. As soon as they arrived I couldn't wait to try them out and as far as smells go they smell amazing, always an added bonus! the packaging is so cute, I love the colourful design and because there's blue in the colour scheme as well it doesn't look too Christmassy and can be used all year around. 

This would be such a cute stocking filler or Christmas gift for someone who loves skincare of even just loves a pampering session (and who doesn't love one of those on a Sunday night?)  I basically can't wait to try these out and see if love them or not, I'll let you all know I'm sure. I'm pretty sure this won't be the first and last thing I buy from Origins though - their products are so cute! 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo

P.s have you tried anything from origins? Or their face masks? What did you think? 

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Weekly Ramble #7

A weekly ramble post wasn't something I was planning to do, funnily enough weekly, but for the month of December I want to be able to look back & see what I've been up to. This week was very same-y to last in that I consumed far too much food, its the season for food and all that and I spent most of my time humming along to overplayed Christmas songs (and not the good ones) on a loop in work, two more weeks & I'll be climbing the walls. 

After seeing the trailer for Interstellar and never having the time to go and see it I decided that this week it was now or never and I was not disappointed - it was definitely long, maybe a bit too long (the phrase numb bum applies) but it was sooo good! I'm actually all for movies about the world ending, how cheerful! I made the most of a Group On offer of my mums and made a large-ish order of photos to be developed for my photo albums and they all arrived this week, granted I need more albums now but the savings were amazing, I think it cost for 400 odd like £6/7 with postage and packaging instead of more like £20 odd, they're all superb quality too!

I finally carried out the tedious task of cleaning all of my makeup brushes, I say finally when its probably been a week but its just so boring. I have made an order for new makeup brushes from ebay though so I'm hoping they arrive soon.

I've also been told the amazing news that my placement is all sorted and I'm starting in the new year AND I'm being offered a permanent part time job, somehow I think 2015 might be a good one? :) Oh and all of my christmas cards / letters have been sent bar a few, included with a long and rambly message inside, who doesn't love that. Anyways this week has flew in and I can't believe its only ten days to Christmas Eve and eleven to Christmas! 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s what have you been up to this week? 

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Soap & Glory: The Next Big Thing

Every year I'm late to the party and just miss out on the massive Soap & Glory bundle, I never know when it's going to be on sale or else it just flies off the shelves (literally) far too quickly for my liking and this year I was putting my foot down and buying it for myself. I'd seen a few blog posts recently about it coming up soon (by mid December, now I was starting to panic), I'd been religiously checking the Boots website and luckily yesterday I received the wonderful email telling me it would be available from today onwards. 

The online version of the next big thing

The in store version of the next big thing

There are two variations of the Soap & Glory: The Next Big Thing set this year, one for those buying the gift online and another for those bought in store, they're both designed by London fashion designer Hattie Stewart and I love both of the designs equally. I think I might prefer the instore version just a smidge more but I'll probably end up ordering the online version for handiness. Both boxes contain the same amount of products, a whopping ten products are included in these, such as body wash, body scrub, hand cream, one of their lipglosses, mascara and body butter. 

I haven't tried too much from Soap & Glory but the things that I have tried I've absolutely loved - I think the signature scent plays a part in this and the fact that they're pretty great products too! Each of these products included are full sized, not just minis which is really impressive (probably heavy too) with a massive value of £76 however for this week and being one of Boots most popular star gifts, the gift sets only priced at £29 which is incredible value! For someone who hasn't tried that much from S&G like myself it's ideal as you get to fall in love with test out so many products at once. 

I'm definitely going to be making an order later on this morning, I just need to get my hands on it and I would advise you to make an order as soon as possible. These gifts sets due to their amazing value really do fly off the shelves and mums go crazy and buy three / four at a time, not thinking about how they're going to transport them home but I guess they want a bargain, same as everyone else.... all in all, I think I need it. 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s what do you think of the S&G bundle this year? Is anyone getting it? 

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Blogmas Day 10 - A MAC Haul

Around Christmas I'm not a fan of ordering everyone's presents online I love going out, buying things in person and managing to soak up the Christmas atmosphere at the same time. A few weeks ago Debenhams had a little reduction on all their beauty and fragrance products and I'd finally had enough of my half empty quad (easy to do) so I made an order to complete it but of course no MAC order is that simple so a few extra things may have landed in my basket and when it arrived yesterday I knew I'd have to show you all as soon as possible!

I already had a quad with two shadows in it but everytime I went to buy another I got distracted by other beautiful MAC products and forgot - therefore before Christmas I knew I'd have to finish it off, opting for Cork and Woodwinked - two very popular shades and for good reason. I don't want to go into too much detail but I'll be doing a post on my finished quad with swatches soon so keep an eye out for that post ;) For ages now I've also been reading blogs / watching youtube videos and the two that appears everywhere is that of MAC Omega and Charcoal Brown so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and ordered an empty duo palette to fill.

This may seem a bit of an odd one but I haven't any sharpeners for my lipliner and I'm definitely not going to use my eyeliner one so I decided to pick up this little one which looks so cute and will probably be used to death. There was a sample of MAC's zoom fast black lash included as well and surprisingly I haven't heard all that much about their mascaras so I'm eager to try this out too! The last two things I bought and probably my favourites are two lipsticks: Russian Red because I have zero red lipsticks in my collection (well apart from an orange-red but that doesn't count) and red always comes in handy around the Christmas months when you want a simple but traditional makeup look. 

Also I opted for Please Me, a stunning pink which I'll be able to wear everyday, it's not too pale that makes me look washed out so it's a winner. The two of these lipsticks are matte but as you know I quite like matte and they have the typical MAC vanilla scent so I'm in love with them already. I'll probably review them in a few weeks as well once I've used them enough so keep checking back ;) It may not seem like a massive haul but my bank balance would have to disagree, I hope you enjoyed it! 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s have you bought anything from MAC recently? I love getting new ideas for my wishlist 

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Blogmas Day 8 - Benefit Cheeky Sweet Spot

Christmas time is time for plenty of new beauty releases and this little gem definitely caught my eye right away. I have to hold my hands up already and say that I don't actually own that much from Benefit although I'd always eyed up their beautifully boxed blushes, I think it was just too hard to choose just one so when I saw their limited edition Christmas blush palette containing six of their eight blushes, I knew I had to get it and it hasn't disappointed at all!

It's beautifully packaged, I'm obsessed with the whole gingerbread house theme and the festive print inside as well just ticks all the boxes for me. The box o' blushes comes with five blushes, one majorly hyped up, maybe even cult status bronzer, a highlighter and a blush brush - all very handy to have in one. I think it'll be a toss up between Dandelion and Coralista as my favourite two, I'm all for subtle blushers although the rest are equally as gorgeous.

It's a tin case which houses the blushers but I actually prefer this as it means its easy to clean and it'll be a lot more durable than their ordinary packaging over time. I honestly can't wait to use this and well I don't think I'll have to purchase a Benefit blush for a long time after, it'll keep me going until next year at least! The blushers and bronzer are more or less the same size as the full sized boxed blushers which usually retail around £23 each so you can imagine my excitement at getting six, a highlighter and a brush all for £29.50, definitely bargain of the year! I also managed to get this in my local Boots as well so I got plenty of Advantage Card points too - always a positive!

The only downside is that everyone is trying to get their hands on them for Christmas presents because lets face it who wouldn't want a Benefit Christmas set under the tree and they may be sold out in a few places but I know my local Debenhams/Benefit counter had a fair few left so always check in there if you're looking to get your hands on it as well. I'll probably review these once I've used these for a while but for now I'm over the moon with this little gem.

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s have you tried or asked for any Benefit Christmas sets for Christmas? They're so adorable!

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Weekly Ramble #6

This weeks been a bit of a hectic one, work, work, blogging, work and trying to fit in some shopping, unluckily the shopping has had to be done online but I'm hoping to properly go Christmas shopping this week! I've been absolutely loving Vlogmas & Blogmas this year and so far I've managed (counting today) to post 6 days out of 7 - a complete success! I haven't posted one of these Sunday rambles in a while but I thought I'd update you all on this busy time of year.... 

Took a trip to the Christmas market - it's become a yearly tradition and I love it. Its always so festive and there's such a nice atmosphere - I still haven't braved a kangeroo burger or crocodile dish but who knows there's time still. A nice crepe and paella will do me fine until :)

Ate my own weight in chocolate (its seasonal so it's acceptable) and finally got round to seeing Mockingjay - the film was blooming brilliant and I'm so glad I'd already read the books to find out what happens in part 2, talk about a cliffhanger? If you haven't seen it, you really need to! 

May have slipped and made a huge-ish MAC order which is due to arrive sometime this week, in fairness I needed to finish my quad (so I could ask Santa for a new one) and a few other things just happened to fall in my basket, oh no! 

Finally purchased my Christmas cards for this year and I'm so excited to write out little messages and send them to my friends. I'm also sending cards to my readers, I think I wrote about it a few days back if you're interested but these cards are literally adorable and I love them - the green envelopes are such a nice finishing touch too!

So a busy week and next week will probably be the same if not more but I'm going to keep at Blogmas so keep an eye out for my new posts! I also managed to track down new batteries for my camera so my photos will no longer be of terrible quality, thank goodness! 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s What have you been up to this week? I'm so excited for Christmas already!

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Christmas Gift Guide #1: Stocking Fillers Under a £5

At this time of year I absolutely love reading gift guides and finding inspiration as to what to buy my friends & family, almost as much as I love putting together the presents themselves. Therefore this year I knew I'd have to do a few gift guides of my own for all budgets, this being the first and the most budget friendly! I've seen a lot of gift guides under £10 but I tried to find a few things less than a £5 instead, that extra £5 makes all the difference, so I hope you enjoy and maybe get some inspiration yourself! 

After I'd finished this post I realised just how big this gift guide is but the bigger the better I hope. Christmas is pretty much a time for beauty and bath products with the odd seasonal thing and a bunch of candles, at least in my eyes so it may not suit everyones tastes but it should suit most. The crackers I added as a bit of a novelty, I think I'm going to include one in each of my friends presents this year, mainly because they'll have no clue what they are and its a bit of fun so I thought I'd sneak that one in. 

Candles (and usually cinnamon smelling things) always find their way under the tree, Yankee candles are probably my favourite and I thought this little miniature with the Christmas-sy packaging was adorable. Impulse is something I always used back in school just for a quick spritz and from then on I've been using perfume but if you're just popping to the shops a quick spritz of this can never do no wrong so I'll probably stock up on a few of these and the Ted Baker body spray. Lush is also no stranger at Christmas and I always love picking out a few Christmas bath bombs such as the Santa and Melting Snowman (bit twisted I know, not one for kids) - they have such an amazing range! 

This year Boots are on point and I practically want to buy half of the 3 for 2 gift section, thats where I've found most of these bargains such as the fat face compact mirrors, one for each friend (thats three stocking fillers in one), some tanning mitts because Christmas season is tan&party season and also the products from Bleach London, a cute jelly purse, anything jelly and squishy is a big yes and a glittery photo dome all for under a £5! Also Christmas ornaments/ beauty gifts are becoming popular and I love them! I've included a few from Soap&Glory containing lip balms and lip glosses, a Balmi lip balm bauble, a No7 star containing a surprise nail polish and a Topshop nail pyramid as well which I find so cute. 

I then added some miscellanous things in like nail files from Topshop, if all else fails you're always going to need one, rings because I'm obsessed at the minute and Christmas socks because its always nice to be warm and cosy yet festive at the same time. The most practical of them all is probably a cute diary for 2015, it may seem like a long way off but it's not and it's always good to start the year off organised. The most important in my eyes though is chocolate, chocolate is a must in every stocking and Terrys Chocolate Orange just screams stocking filler to me! Well I think thats all of them covered and apart from I think two gifts on the list you can find them all for under a £5, what bargains! Let me know what you think! 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s can you think of any gifts under a £5 or which of these have you tried? I still need to start my Christmas shopping and theres three weeks to go! 

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Blogmas Day 4: The Christmas Tag

This wasn't the post I'd prepared for today but as soon as I woke up and saw that the lovely Kenzie from (behindhazeleyes) had tagged me to do the Christmas Tag, I knew I needed to get it up as soon as - it just seemed like such a lovely and very fitting festive tag. It's also got me even more excited for Christmas than before which I didn't think was possible.... 

1. What is your favourite Christmas Movie? 
Is it a cliche if I say Elf? It'll always be my childhood favourite, that and the Polar Express - they're just THAT good, I think the x1000 dvd re-runs in school at Christmas over the years also played a major part in it. My two favourite 'grown up' movies, aka not kids films (even though they're the best) are Love Actually and The Holiday & although they're Christmas movies if I could get away with watching them everyday I so would.

2. Do you open your Christmas Presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?

Christmas day always, I always find it nicer waiting until the big day, usually at an outrageous time and everyone unwrapping their presents around the tree. As I'm getting older my presents are usually more expensive and smaller in size, I'm no longer asking for bikes or anything so its nice to open them all together.

3. Do you have a favourite Christmas memory? 
I don't have a favourite memory as such, I actually enjoy every Christmas and the excitement of the day and spending time doing barely anything in a Christmas jumper and having an excuse to eat your weight in chocolate and watch movies on end although one year it did snow on the day and that was pretty magical, just because I've always wanted a proper white Christmas.

4. What is your favourite festive food? 
Does chocolate count? I love the big tins of quality street, advent calendar(s), after eights, terrys chocolate orange, selection boxes, malteaser reindeers, the lot, I think everyone now understands I have a problem with chocolate. On a serious note though nothing can beat a big traditional Christmas dinner, its like a Sunday roast dinner but better (and thats hard to beat!)

5. What tops your tree? 
We have two trees, one main one and a little one so one tree has an angel and the other tree has a star - so we're mixing it up a little.

6. As a kid, what was the one crazy, wild, extravagant gift you asked for but never received?
I think I asked for a massive treehouse one year, funny thing is we don't have a tree anywhere in our garden and it probably would have taken longer than a night for Santa to build. I'm still holding out for the Christmas I wake up and find One Direction under the tree though, a girl can dream right?

7. Do you prefer a real tree or synthetic? 
Surprisingly we've never had a real tree although I love the smell of them so I'd have to say synthetic.

8. What's your favourite scheme for decorating a tree? 
I don't really have a scheme, lights are put on first, then tinsel, then all the sparkly and glittery ornaments second last before the star or angel, The only scheme I maybe have is a colour scheme, I like the traditional red, gold and green - none of the blue and white cold nonsense.

9. Giving or recieving? 
Always giving. I thinks its all a part of it, I love putting together little gifts that I hope people love and decorating them - decoration is seriously important and time-consuming :)

10. Christmas Day fashion? 
For the better part of the morning Christmas pyjamas are a must, its tradition and then after I'm awake and had breakfast I'll change into either a Christmas jumper (which I still need to buy for this year) or else some fancy-ish clothing I've bought for the day. I think it'll be the jumper this year!

11. What's your favourite Christmas song? 
This might quite possibly be the hardest questions ever, I don't have favourites, I just sing along to practically everything Christmas related. I do love Jackson 5's Rockin' Robin though, its just so upbeat and happy.

12. Christmas cards or texts? 
I'm old fashioned and if you've read Tuesdays post (link here) I'm all for Christmas cards over texts anyday - I love sending and receiving them. I do send all of my contacts a Christmas message though as soon as the clock strikes Christmas Day - usually not able to sleep from the excitement of Santa arriving, not long now!

I hope you enjoyed reading and I'm also tagging the following the followers to do this and of course anyone else who wants to (please leave links if you do), I love reading tags :)

Una from lacy floral
Taylor from another fashion fanatic
and Genevieve from vievelle

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s What's your favourite thing about Christmas?

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Blogmas Day 3: Naked Basics Review

At this time of year I always love putting together little bits and pieces (presents wise) to make up one diverse and usually massive present - stocking fillers are so much better than one big massive present especially if you're buying for friends. This post is all about Urban Decay's Naked Basics, something I treated myself to months ago, way before the Basics 2 Release but I think we can apply the rule, nothing ever beats the original here.

This Naked Basics Palette is an absolutely perfect everyday staple, as someone who barely uses any colour but nudes on my eyes, actually scratch that, someone who doesn't use eyeshadow on a daily basis this ticks all my boxes for when I do decide to. I also own the original Naked Palette but this trumps it on the basis that its adorable, pocket sized and I can take it on the go with me - plus it comes complete with a large mirror for handiness purposes of course! Urban Decay are also notoriously known for shimmer and glitter but surprisingly all these little ones are mattes - no shimmer at all which is a bit plus in my books!

I especially love that I can use the lighter shades throughout the day and then if I'm popping out at night I can simply apply a few of the darker shades or the black as a liner and I'm set to go, no lugging about three palettes. Similar to other Urban Decay shadows I've tried they're exceptional quality and they may be my favourite, if not my second favourite eyeshadow formula ever - they're definitely up there. The shadows are all warm toned and my favourites would have to be W.O.S, Naked 2 and Faint, with Venus as a higlight - more or less them all right? You can never pick favourites....

However this is a firm favourite in my makeup bag at the minute and probably will be for a long time yet so I thought I'd share it as its something I'd be happy to receive as a gift! It usually retails around £21 but for six shadows that works out at less than £4 each #bargain. You can actually find it here Urban Decay - Naked Basics on the haveyouseen website.

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s have you tried any of the Naked or Naked Basics Palettes, whats been your favourite?

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Blogmas Day 2: Something a little different

After leaving a sneaky clue at the end of yesterdays post, I'm extremely excited to post today, in fact its probably one of my favourite December's posts to come and its only day two! At this time of year I love giving (and recieving if I'm lucky) Christmas cards and seeing all the different & utterly cute designs on them all. I also love adding my own messages to the card which are usually long but I think it just makes it all the more personal than a 'Mere Merry Christmas' although that's always nice too!

This year I was buying a card for my friend in Hong Kong, sending my first international Christmas card as you will and realised how fun it actually is receiving letters or cards - an art thats forgotten for the use of social media and the internet, sometimes old fashioned is better in this case! As an after thought I did think about blogging and how the community is so friendly over twitter but with all the different timezones its hard to chat to everyone so I thought it would be a nice idea to send Christmas cards to some of my readers (only if they want me to of course, I'm not an oddball). I've seen a few others do this kind of thing and thought it was a wonderful idea.

I'm all for writing letters and learning things about other people and where they live, a real eye opener and all that, in fact I remember having a penpal in primary school or else it was first year of secondary school, from France and it was so interesting but alas it was only for a short period of time, fun as it was. Therefore in the next few days I'm going to write my Christmas cards and cute, probably far too long and waffly messages inside and sending them on the weekend (fingers crossed), just so they arrive in time for the big day - nothing worse than late cards, well except for late birthday cards. So if you fancy recieving or sending Christmas cards you can either leave me a comment letting me know what you think, email me at jennyseverydaylife@hotmail.com or tweet me @JennysEveryday_ :) Hope you liked this post, it was a bit different for me as well!

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s what do you think about sending things by post instead of social media? Let me know if I'm the only one who prefers harassing the postman for delivered letters

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Blogmas & Daily Blogging

At this time of year theres Christmas posts galore and many youtubers take part in vlogmas, with the blogging equivalent being blogmas and last year I remember reading so many blogging posts and thinking that it would be so fun to do, so this year since its my first Christmas blogging I thought I'd take part and for the next month I'll be daily blogging. I've only tried this once before, the month of June - my birthday month to see if I could do it and it turned out to be a success so I thought I'd try it again, only with the Christmas-sy theme.

Currently I have 60 drafts waiting to be published, (well there was) in fact theres probably way less now that this is posted and a lot of them very Christmassy, can you tell I'm excited? I've decided to schedule a lot of my posts for mid morning so they'll be a set time for everyone to read them (if they fancy it). Also December is a crazy busy month, I've two jobs to balance in which I'm doing as many hours as I possibly can and hopefully I'll begin my placement sometime soon so finding spare time in between all of that will be hard, let alone finding spare time to blog but I'll try my best. I don't want this post to be too rambly, its just simply to let all you lovely readers that I'll be daily blogging in the run up to Christmas and if you do fancy a read, I hope you enjoy them :)

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s keep an eye out for tomorrows post, its a special one ;)

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No7 Skincare

As you may have guessed from my recent posts (I say recent, it was probably a week ago), I'm on a reviewing craze at the minute, I like to mix up my posts normally so they aren't too boring or same-y .... thats definitely not a word but recently I've found a lot of products that I've loved and wanted to share with you all - the phase will probably stop, soon but in the meantime enjoy!   

I also mentioned that skincare posts are going to frequent more on my blog and so this skincare product and review duo are perfect. I've always wanted to try the Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanse & Polish but I could never get my hands on it, luckily my local Boots now has a stand (thank goodness) so with a No7 voucher in hand I opted for the next best thing. I decided to buy No7's hot cloth cleanser in the travelling size just to see if I liked it and it worked, plus I can't get over how cute it looks.

This cleanser comes in really handy when I'm feeling lazy or my skin needs revitalizing, I simply apply the cleanser in circular motions with my fingers, then use the provided muslin cloth over my face to open my pores and then simply wash off (or polish it off) with the same cloth. It sounds like a lot but honestly it takes two seconds and it leaves your skin feeling fresh and lovely. This is definitely one of my shorter reviews but honestly I can't rave about it enough, its a great skincare product - not one that I would use daily because that would be a waste but every so often I'll just pop it on.

Another great thing about this is that its suitable for all skin types, No7 usually have ranges within their skincare products aimed at specific skin types but that isn't the case with this so practically anyone can use it. Its a great size for taking on the go as well and I can't wait to repurchase this when its finished, I might find it in some of the No7 Christmas sets too, I'll have to keep an eye out. Hope that helped a little, I'm still a proper skincare routine newbie but I'm getting there!

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s have you tried any other hot cloth cleansers? I'm dying to try Liz Earle

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Urban Decay: All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray

After posting my 'blogging update' post at the start of the month I sadly haven't posted as much as I promised, all my excuses can be found here (link) but I haven't even had a minute to watch xfactor and thats serious business. I feel like a workaholic, kudos to anyone who has a proper full time job and blogs on the side, it takes some serious organisation! I'll stop before I really ramble, todays post is all about the Urban Decay all nighter makeup setting spray, an absolute life saviour in a bottle. 

My typical Saturday as of late is to wake up around 8 to get ready for the day (including doing my makeup) and leaving the house for work and then travelling to my other work, usually I don't get home until after 10 at night so you can see why I need long lasting makeup on my face. Although MAC and Estee Lauders foundation do the trick (in lasting terms), I can't justify using them all the time because they're blooming expensive (well compared to drugstore) and I like to save them for more special occasions. 

The all nighter spray is you might have guessed by the name is ideal for nights out when you want your makeup to remain on your face but I've found it comes in handy for day to day use too. I purchased this via Cohorted a few months back - an absolute gem of a website for beauty lovers, definitely check it out! I'd been eyeing up the full size spray for ages but I couldn't justify the price tag but then this travel size appeared and it sounded perfect. Its usually priced around £9 but I managed to get it for £6, an absolute bargain and next time its on the Cohorted website I'm definitely going to stock up!

Its so simple to use, I simply apply it after my foundation and powder, now it does take a bit of getting used to, at first I thought with my eyes shut I'd miss my face but that was all just in my head. My makeup stays in place so much longer and has a sort of fresh glow to it, something that comes in handy for someone who usually forgets to apply primer (beauty sin, I know!), its also oil free so its suitable for all skin types and when this is finished I'll definitely be re-purchasing.

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo 

P.s have you tried any of the urban decay sprays, what do you think? 

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