Spring Favourites 2015

Hi everyone, well it's that time of year again, the flowers are blooming, the sun is finally coming out and so that can only mean one thing, it's time for my Spring Favourites :-)  If you would like to see what lovely things I've been enjoying over the last couple of months, just read on.

Firstly I have really been loving baking over the last couple of months.  I made my very first batch of cookies back in February and have made a few more since then, thankfully they have improved quite a bit with a little practice,

I've also made scones and my own mini chocolates (post coming soon).  I'm really looking forward to making some cakes and many other things too over the coming months.  I've always wanted to get in to baking as it's something I really enjoy and reminds me a lot of the cakes and other lovely things that I used to help my mum make when I was little, so I'm really happy that I've finally started doing it.  I've also been buying quite a few little bits here and there to help with my baking, so if you would like to see a kind of bakeware haul, let me know in the comments.

Yep it's true, I succumbed to the hype!  So in February my friend and I finally went to see the notorious Fifty Shades of Grey movie, I'd had already worked my way through all three books, which I really enjoyed and I was quite looking forward to seeing the film too.  My friend however had not read the books and I think was actually quite brave to go and see the film with me, especially as she didn't really know what to expect!

As usual the film didn't match up 100% to the books but then when do they ever, but even so I thought it certainly had a good go and I really enjoyed it, I think my friend did too.  It certainly had quite a few embarrassing scenes that you would not want to sit and watch with the family, but I thought it got the main storyline over pretty well and was quite a good adaptation.

As for Jamie Dornan, as good looking as the guy is, I honestly thought his acting abilities left a bit to be desired, he didn't seem genuine enough for me as the highly delectable Christian Grey.  But I thought Dakota Johnson played Anastasia really well and made the character very believable, so well done her.  So just a year or so's wait until the second instalment then, it's a good job the dvd is out soon ;-)  I also absolutely love the Fifty Shades version of 'Crazy In Love' by Beyoncé, it's so dark, sultry and sexy, brilliantly re-done just to accompany the film.  You can have a little listen to that here, along with watching a few clips from the film, you're welcome :-)

My favourite YouTuber lately has to be the lovely Jim Chapman.  Now I've been happily watching his videos for about 2 and a half years and I don't think I've ever missed one, but I feel like I've re-discovered him again lately.  His videos always make me laugh without fail, I love the way he's so upfront and honest and will talk about absolutely anything no matter how personal or rude it is!  He is one very funny and friendly guy!

As many of you (who have been a follower of my blog for a good while) will know, I am the hugest Linkin Park fan, their music is just the best thing in life BUT, I am also a huge fan of old 90's dance music, which not that many people know about me.  It takes me back to my boarding school days and I have so many great memories with so many of the songs, I loved it all then and I still love it now!  There's way too many to list so I have created my own playlist on YouTube, which you're quite welcome to go and have a listen to and please feel free to have a dam good giggle at all the cheesy videos and ridiculous outfits :-)  I've got all my main favourites on there including Snap, Corona, East 17, Haddaway, 2 Unlimited, and many others, as well as my all time favourite 90's dance track Mr. Vain by Culture Beat, ooh best tune ever :-)

Keeping on the theme of music favourites for the minute, I've also been loving a few other various tracks and albums.  I've recently started listening to the Clubland cds, mainly one of the last ones, number 26.  It's got some really great songs on there including Paloma Faith's 'Changing', 'Liberate' by Eric Prydz and 'Resonance' by Talal Riley, I also love 'Stay High' by Tove Lo but there's loads of others too, I've just been listening that constantly lately.
I've also been enjoying a few random tracks I found on YouTube, 'Love Rain Down' by Gary B which is a really lovely chilled out song, I also found 'Wish You Were Mine' by Phillip George, I am just obsessed with this it at the moment it's SO good :-)

So my old mobile phone, was starting to seriously get annoying, it was so slow it would take me 5 minutes just open an app!  So I saved and saved and saved and then saved some more and got myself a very lovely brand shiny new phone about 8 weeks ago.  It is a Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, it's a good upgrade from my last phone and I love that it has a lot more space on it and a bigger ram, so it takes me seconds to do everything rather than minutes!  If you'd like to know what apps I have on there that I rely on and use all the time, let me know in the comments and I'll do a post about it :-)  I am so, so happy with it and now it never leaves my side, most definitely my favourite new toy :-)

I also picked up a few little accessories for my new phone recently, one of them is this adorable little Koala bear dust plug.  I mentioned this on my Christmas Wish List post and I finally couldn't resist it anymore so sent off for it, I just think it's so cute!

I also picked up these really pretty phone cases from a shop on Ebay called Maggi Chic, they were all less that £5 and I just love the choice of patterns and images, they're quite different to anything else I've found and I think they'll gorgeous.

Ok finally on to a couple of beauty favourites, there's actually been a good few of these over the last couple of months but I thought they deserved their own separate post, so if you would like to read about my Current Beauty Favourites, you can click on the link :-)  Apart from all of those, I've been loving this new eyeshadow palette that I got from Boots a couple of weeks ago.

It's by Collection, it has 6 different shimmery eyeshadows in including a very good pigmented matt black (which is great for eyeliner) and it was only £3.99.  There are 3 different palettes available in this range, but I went for the Nude Grey, as I preferred the slightly more darker grey/beige tones.  I just think this is a really great little palette, it's very affordable and ideal for travelling with as the packaging is quite sturdy too.  I love eyeshadow palettes that are small but have a good selection of shades that will work well for a basic every-day look as well as darker shades for evening looks and this is ideal for that.  The quality of the shadows are really great too, they last well, blend well and give a nice coverage, so a big thumbs up for that!

Another beauty item I've been really enjoying using, has been this Soap and Glory Gloss Stick in the shade Raplumsel.  I've used it such a lot since I bought it and it's now become a staple in my makeup bag!  I love that's it's such a subtle sheer gloss and it even leaves a slight stain, which I really like.  I've tried the famous Nudist shade too but I just think that's a little too sheer for me.  I also have Plum Jam but I've not been brave enough to try that yet!

And finally, a couple of weeks ago it was Easter :-)  I was a very lucky girl and received 4 gorgeous chocolate Easter eggs and have been happily munching my way through them, I still even have a whole egg left to finish!

I hope you all like this post, please let me know what things/music/products you've been enjoying lately in the comments, I'd love to hear about them :-)

Until Next Time Stay Happy ♥

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Winter Favourites 2015

Hi everyone, this past week has been so chaotic and stressful (hence the late post), that I decided to concentrate on all the lovely things I've been enjoying over the past few months, so if you would like to see my list of Winter Favourites, please read on :-)

To start off with I couldn't wait to tell you about the wonderful slipper-socks that I got from British Home Stores just before Christmas, they were only £6 and I wear them with and without extra socks depending on how cold it is.  They're fleece lined to so they are super cosy, comfortable and soft and wow do they keep my feet warm!  I've been loving wearing these so much over the past month or so and find myself putting them on everyday now.  I really like the patterned too, even though Christmas has been and gone for another year, they're still so festive!

I am most definitely not a fan of the colder weather, in fact I hate it!  The ice, the cold winds, the ridiculous amount of layers of clothing we have to wear, it's awful but there is a silver lining, one good thing that always helps me get through these chilly winter days, hot chocolate! :-)  I know I've mentioned about it before and yes I'll admit I have a slight obsession but I cannot go out the house these days without popping in to my local Costa for one of their gorgeously tasty hot chocolates, they are the absolute best!!

As I mentioned in my 'Last Minute Christmas Shopping' post, I finally manage to get hold of some pretty little fairy lights.  I've been after some for ages but couldn't find the sort I wanted, but I got a really nice pack of 20 lights for just £1.50 in Primarks, I couldn't wait to put them up in my room and I just love them, I think they look so pretty!  It amazes me how much light you actually get from just 20 little lights too!

I also seem to find such great little items in Primark every time I go in there, like these two packs of rings that I picked up last week.  There's 5 rings in each pack for only £1.50 each and they are just so cute, I really love having the option of gold or silver to wear too.  This is the third lot of rings I've bought from Primark and no doubt they probably won't be the last!

On a little shopping trip to Boots a couple of weeks ago, I was very happy to see they had a 'buy one get one half price' on the Soap & Glory products, so I picked up one of their Gloss Sticks in Raplumzel which I've been really enjoying, as well as the Lip Shine Lacquer in Charm Offensive, which is just beautiful and I've been really loving wearing it, it's the perfect shade for me and I love the non-sticky smooth texture.  The staying power is pretty great too, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what the other shades are like!

Another recent purchase that I've been loving lately, has to be the Urban Decay Naked On The Run palette which was a little Christmas present to myself.  After using it for a short while to test it out for my review post (which you can find here), I found that I loved it so much that I've been using it nearly all the time!  It's just so handy and the eye shadows are so versatile, especially my favourite shade called Dive, a really beautiful rose gold, it's so pretty for a day-time look combined with the included eyeliner and mascara, which is what I've used in the pic above.  The lipstick I'm wearing is the above mentioned Soap & Glory Replumzel gloss stick, such a lovely shade! :-)

Last year for my birthday I was bought this gorgeous rose throw from Tesco and for a long while it sat in my wardrobe but over the past couple of months, it has been invaluable in keeping me wonderfully extra warm and cosy at night.  I lay it over my duvet and it really keeps in the warmth, I think it looks really beautiful too and oh my goodness it is SO wonderfully soft :-)

Along with my pretty fairy lights, I've also been loving my little battery tealight.  I have it in one of my Ikea pots and it gives out a lovely realistic glow.  I got it around Halloween from Wilkingsons for just 50p, I've been on the look out for more since then but sadly they've not had them in stock but I'll keep looking because I'd love to have some more dotted around my room!

I've lost count of the times the weather forecast has promised us snow so far this year, but sadly every time, it's come to nothing.  I'm like a big kid when it comes to snow, I just love it and thankfully, usually, we always get a good bit around this time of year even right into March, so fingers crossed, I will get my lovely snow!

Another thing I do love about this time of year, especially as we start to drift into spring, is seeing all the new spring flowers, leaves starting to appear on the trees, the dark nights not starting quite so early and knowing that finally the warmer days are on their way :-)

My final favourite this season, has to be Valentine's Day.  Now normally I try to avoid this particular day like the plague and walk through the shops hiding my eyes!  But this year I decided to get in the swing of things and appreciate the day for what it really means, giving out love to those that I care about!  And so on that note, expect to see a very Valentine-themed post coming up later this week, which will include a little giveaway, a gift from me to you :-)  And if you follow me on Instagram, look out for a little news on there too ♥

Until Next Time Stay Happy ♥

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Autumn Favourites

Hi everyone, I was going to write up this post a couple of weeks ago but a few of days before I was due to upload, I was very kindly nominated for the Liebster Award by Jasmine from Color U Bold, which you can read about here.  So as it's only just crept into Winter, I thought it would still be ok to do this post!

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know that I'm not one for doing monthly favourites posts, I just don't buy or try out enough items or products to warrant doing them, instead I like doing seasonal favourites.  So if you would like to read on further, I will show you a little selection of the things - beauty and non-beauty, that I've been loving over the last few months :-)

1. Autumn leaves, I just love watching leaves turn all the gorgeous red, orange and golden colours of the Autumn and walking through crisp freshly fallen leaves when it's starting to get a real chill in the air is just a little bit special!

2. Hot chocolate, I have a real love for this stuff, especially the ones from Costa, they honestly do the best hot chocolates I have ever had, gorgeous!

3. As you will all probably know by now, I LOVE Halloween and this year was no exception, I decorated my room, I managed to come up with some really fun ideas for future costumes and myself along with 2 of my best friends got invited to a fancy dress party for the first time in years, check out that post here.  So all in all, Halloween was a lot of fun this year and I can't wait for the next.

4. One of the new songs that I've been obsessed with lately is another one that I found on YouTube, it's be Lindsey Stirling and it's called Shatter Me.  It's not only an amazing piece of music (played by Lindsay), and a beautiful video, but the vocals sung by Lizzy Hale (of Halestorm), are really amazing, she has such a great voice.  Definitely one to (try to) sing along to!

5. Rimmel Brow This Way kit and setting gel.  Now I've never really been one for doing the brows, I never really saw the point and didn't feel like it made much of a difference. . . Until recently.  I started off just using a basic matte brown eyeshadow as the brown pencils always looked too dark and thick, but I still wasn't happy, so about 6 weeks ago, I picked up these two little treasures and what a huge difference they make!  I use these every time I do my makeup now and yes now I get it, the brows do make a difference, when they're done properly.

The little kit even comes with it's own spooly and angled brush to help perfect the look and the gel works brilliantly with the kit, to set everything in place, lovely!

6. Another beauty favourite this season, has been the Tanya Burr lipgloss in Aurora.  I originally bought 3 other shades from Tanya's collection back in the summer and although I wasn't initially impressed, I did persevered with them and now love having them in my makeup stash, click here to read my review.  But it wasn't until I bought this gorgeous shade that I really got excited about these glosses.  Aurora is the kind of shade you could wear for any occasion, with any outfit, any time of the year and it will still look beautiful!  To me, it's the perfect lip colour :-)

7. I just love re-watching old TV shows, Ally McBeal, Ghost Whisperer etc but Roswell was always one of my real favourites.  I've had the box set for absolutely ages maybe even a year but just never got round to watching it.  So I finally fished it out from the back of my cupboard a couple of months ago and been really enjoying watching them all over again.  It's such a great series, a great story, great characters and a cute love story too.

8. Another amazing song that I've been loving over the last few months, is from my favourite band, I think I've mentioned them a few times!!  (ok a lot!)  It's by Linkin Park and it's called A Line in the Sand, it's taken from the latest album The Hunting Party and Oh My Goodness, it's incredible!  If you like the kind of powerful music that makes you feel alive, full on rock vocals and some of the most astounding guitar riffs you'll ever hear, then you'll love this too :-)  Definitely worth a listen, trust me!

9. For the last of the beauty-related items, I recently picked up this hairbrush from Primarks, nothing too exciting, it's just a hairbrush!  I got it just to replace an older style one I originally got from Primarks last year that had started to wear out, they don't sell that one any more so I got this one instead and I have to say, it's really, really great.  The bristles don't snag at all and it always makes my hair feel silky smooth.  It doesn't work too well with damp hair but my Tangle Teeser sorts that out just fine and for only £1 you can't really complain.

10. This seasons bloggers:  This is just a little list of blogs that I've either found recently or been reading really regularly over the last few months, some new some old.  Either way, they're all well worth checking out.
My Crazy Beauty Journey
Media Marmalade
Autumn Leaves
Milk Bubble Tea
Porcelain Beautyx

What things have you been loving lately?  Let me know below.  And, if you would like to check out my last few seasonal favourites post, just click on the links below :-)

Winter 2013

Spring 2014
Summer 2014

Until Next Time Stay Happy ♥

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