Lush - Christmas & Boxing Day Haul

As promised, here's my Lush haul, this includes the gifts I received for Christmas, and also what I bought myself during their big sale (which was amazing!) Although I already mentioned it in my Christmas gift post, I'll say it again. I'm extremely grateful for all my gifts, and I'm not trying to show off in any way.

I'll start first with what I got for Christmas. I received pretty much all of these from my boyfriend for Christmas, because he let me pick my gifts, and as this is my favourite shop, I wanted quite a lot!

I decided I wanted to choose one of the gift boxes, and as it's my favourite, I decided on Snow Fairy. I love the soap and the shower gel already, and I haven't used one of the Shimmy Shimmy Glitter Bar's in years, so I was really happy that I got to try one out again.

One of my friends also got me a bottle of Snow Fairy which I'm very happy about, you can never have too much, ever! I then got the Popcorn lip scrub, because every person and their dog has raved about it and I needed to have it!

Something I've been lusting after for actual months, was the Imogen Rose solid perfume. They sell it in a bottle as well, but it was the solid perfume that I wanted, which is surprising as I've never owned one before. This smells so amazing, and smells even after after it's been on your skin for a while. I'll be doing a review on this very soon! You can buy it by clicking here.

The first bar of soap (at the top) is Angels Delight, there will be more on that further down as I bought this myself.

Karma is the second bar, and I've always wanted to buy this, but for some weird reason, I never have. I adore this scent in the shampoo bar, so I'm glad I finally have my hands on the soap. You can buy it by clicking here.

Finally, the last soap I received with Rock Star. The label has came off this, but you can definitely tell from the scent which soap it is. This has always been a favourite of mine, and is the one I always choose for a present for people as it just smells so good. You can buy it by clicking here.

I got some really good bargains in the Lush sale, and I was so happy afterwards (it's like a shopping high). They had 50% off all their Christmas products, and also off some regular priced products. When I went into the store, every single inch had a person in it, and it was nearly impossible to move. Everyone was going for all the gift boxes so naturally I went there first as I knew they were great value.

The one I ended up with (after much thought, and swapping about) was Jolly Hollydays. It cost me only £12.75!

One of my friends got me the Sandy Santa for Christmas (I somehow forgot to put this in my overall photo), but I also got one in this box. I decided on this one in the end as it had three products which I hadn't tried before. I already love the smell of the Karma shampoo so I know I'll love the soap. I can't wait to try all my new things!

I love the Fair Trade Honey Shampoo (you can read a review by clicking here) so I was delighted when I saw it on sale for half price. I ended up getting the 300g bottle for £7 and I had ran out so this was a great bargain. You can buy it full price by clicking here.

My boyfriend got me a large version of the Twilight shower gel, and I love the smell so much that I bought a mini bottle just for whenever I run out.

I love trying new cleansers, so as it was half price I decided to try the Buche De Noel one which I found as I was checking out at the till. Hopefully it's good (although nothing can beat Angels on Bare Skin).

Next was the Angels Delight soap. I bought this last year and hadn't restocked at all this year, so since it was half price I thought I might as well. It smells so lovely and sweet!

You all know already that I love Full of Grace, there's a review if you click here. Half price? Why not!? I paid £3.90, but you can buy it full price by clicking here.

I'd been wanting to try one of these toners for a while, so I picked up Breath of Fresh Air and I've been using it every day since. I can't believe how much make up there is still left on my skin after I take it off at night. I'll definitely be repurchasing this! It cost me £3.95 but you can buy it full price by clicking here.

I have it included in the photograph, but it wasn't half price, but I also bought Grease Lightning because I'd been wanting to try it. I'll be doing a review on it soon, but if you want to go ahead and buy it anyway, click here.

There you have it, my long list of Lush products. I really won't need to buy anymore for a while, but well, I probably will.... Although I definitely don't think I need any shower gel or soap for a good few months, or even until next Christmas. I love them though.

As mentioned, I''ll be reviewing most of these products in the near future. I'd like to know though, is there any particular products you want to hear about first?

Did you receive any Lush products this year? I love to know!

I Was Spoilt This Christmas

I noticed quite a lot of people doing these posts, and also asking for others to do them too. I wasn't sure whether to do one or not as a lot of people see it as showing off, but I decided to go ahead and do it anyway! I love seeing what other people got for Christmas because I'm so nosey, and I'm sure I'm not alone on this.

I'm not too sure how I want to do this, so I'm just going to show an overall photograph of what I got and then point out a few things.

I just want to point out, like everyone else, I'm not trying to show off or brag about what I received. Every year I set out all my gifts like this to admire them, and then I take a photograph, because I like to look back years later at what I got that year. I appreciate everything I got for Christmas and I have an amazing family, friends and boyfriend who know exactly what I like. 

The photo above, and a few others, were ones that I had taken on Christmas day so they weren't set out really for blogging purposes, and are just in any order, so I'll just pick random things out and if you have a question about something in particular, just comment below! The first gift is my Wildfox Couture sweater with the American flag skull on it. I absolutely love these jumpers and I picked this up while I was away as a gift from my mum for me. I then got these lovely Hollister pyjama bottoms from my friend Abbie as she knew I really wanted a pair while we were away but never got a chance to get them. They look so cosy!

 

My boyfriend got me a hot pink electric toothbrush. This may be random, but I've been wanting one for ages so I'm really happy I finally got one! My sisters got me a new curling wand since mine blew up recently, so I'm glad I can finally curl my hair again, and I used it straight away.

 

My mum and step dad also got me the book 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea' as it was one of my favourites when I was younger so it was a nice surprise to get that and I'm actually looking forward to reading it again. They also got me a Christmas bake book, as many of you will know I love to bake. I got two pairs of super cosy slipper socks from my friend Sarah and also my step mums parents which I love because this is what I live in whenever I'm in the house. I also got some slipper socks from Abbie to replace the ones I lost when I was in NYC so I'm so, so happy, as they are made from the rarest of lambs! (not really, but you might understand this joke if you watch MissGlamorazzi's YouTube videos). She also got me the super amazing present of three sachets of Serendipity's Frozen Hot Chocolate mix. If you have ever visit New York you need to go here, and order this drink, so, so good! She then got me two Essie nail polishes I've been wanting for ages, an EOS lip balm, a little donut mirror, and some yummy Hotel Chocolat chocolate which I scoffed today.

My biggest present (possibly after my Wildfox sweater), was a Kindle. This wasn't something I asked for, so was a surprise. I haven't got to use it yet as I'm not actually sure how to use it, but I look forward to putting some good books on it!

My Dad got me these four DVDS for Christmas and I'm excited to watch them all. I've already seen them all apart from I Don't Know How She Does It (although I watched it this afternoon), but I'm the type of person who loves to watch films over and over again. Serendipity has been my favourite film this year I think, so I'm so happy I finally own it on DVD.

My beauty gifts are some of my favourites (obviously) and one of them was a huge surprise. I got the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette from my boyfriend because I'd been wanting it for absolutely ages so I'm so happy that I finally get to use it. I also got the Tarte Lip Surgence from my mum and step dad which I'm excited to try out as I got the same set in different colours last year and loved it. Finally, my biggest surprise, was the Naked Basics palette which I got from my friend Rebekah and I was so shocked when I opened it. I never thought anyone would buy me it, and I'm so super excited to try it out. Obviously I'll have a review up for you all of it very soon! Check out her blog by clicking here.

I realise this is such a long post, and I was completely spoilt this Christmas. I want to say again that I'm so grateful for everything I received this year, and everyone who buys me gifts knows me so well!

You may have noticed that there isn't any mention of Lush in this post, and as it's my favourite, you may be wondering why. This is because I bought quite a lot during their Boxing Day sale and I want to do a separate post on it to show you all everything I got so you can see what reviews I'll be doing in the near future.

To end, I'm going to post my favourite gift...

My Marmie! He wasn't really a gift, but I just love this photograph of him. We got him his own stocking last year and filled it with treats and toys again this year, and he loves to climb inside everything.

What did you receive this Christmas? Either tell me below, or link me to the post on your blog if you've already posted one!

Blogmas Day 25 - Christmas Outfit Of The Day

As I mentioned yesterday (or the day before), here is my Christmas outfit of the day. I couldn't decide between this dress or a skirt and top, but I decided this was most festive so I went with it in the end.

Dress - H&M

Tights - Asda
Wedges - New Look
Bracelets - Pandora (how cute is my new camera charm?) and a Christmas present

Hope you all had a lovely, lovely day and filled up on lots of nice food!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Blogmas Day 24 - Christmas/Holiday Inspired Nails

I debated what to do with my nails for a while. I knew I wanted to have something quite festive, but really couldn't decide what. I also didn't want too much detail in it, and wanted something fairly simple. I had originally thought of doing my nails either red or green doing little holiday bobbles across them, but in the end, I decided upon candy canes.

Very easy to do. I applied just one layer of  Essie's Jag-u-are nail polish, one of my favourites. I then let this dry and took my white Sally Hansen  nail polish that I have from a french manicure set. I started from the bottom of my ring finger nail and very carefully done a thin diagonal stripe. I then repeated this another two times on that nail, and moved to the same finger on the other hand.

I wasn't sure whether to do only the one nail, or do the rest the same, but in a different direction, but I loved how simple and clean this looked so I decided to leave it as it is.

Have you done any holiday inspired nails? If so, link me to your blog and let me see!

Blogmas Day 21 - Christmas Party Snack Ideas

Last night I had my annual Christmas party where I had my friends round for some nice food and our Secret Santa gift exchange. Although it wasn't really secret since we all said who we had bought our present for and then opened them. I never usually open any presents until Christmas, apart from one from my nanny which is usually pyjamas for us to wear on Christmas Eve.

I love making snacks so here are a few photographs of the food we had (I love food photographs). I don't know if this is something people in America eat, or if this is just a British thing, but I actually love cheese and pickled onions on cocktail sticks. So good!

Then we had some lovely cranberry and white chocolate cheese with crackers. Also very delicious, and I do love some nice cheese at Christmas time.

Some carrot batons and a dip selection of Asda. There was also bread sticks and Doritos to dip as well.

If you follow Bethany (Macbarbie07) on YouTube then you may recognise these from her videos last year. She got salted pretzels and melted Hershey's Kisses on top of them, and then topped them off with an M&M. The combination of salty and sweet makes them absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, I left them under the grill slightly too long and the chocolate burnt a bit, I was not amused. Apparently they still tasted just as good though. I also couldn't get Hershey's Kisses anywhere so I had to just use some squares of chocolate. I highly recommend trying these if you haven't already, even as just a snack for yourself.

If you know me, then you'll know I love to bake, and no party is complete without me making some cupcakes. To get into the festive spirit I made some candy cane peppermint cupcakes. I'll not go into too much detail about these though as I plan on putting the recipe for how to make them up in the next few days. I also didn't have enough icing to put on the amount I usually do which made me quite sad, but they worked out okay! Apparently I wasn't having such a good baking day.

Some hot food was also made as you can see from the table. We had some mini pepperoni pizzas for the meat eaters, and also some cheese ones. Then there was loaded potato skins with cheese and onion, cheese and tomato, and cheese and jalapeno. Then there was also egg fried rice, and some cheese bites.

Please, please let me know what type of snacks you make if you're having friends over, or just when you feel like making something nice. I love getting new ideas, and snacks are my favourite!

Blogmas Day 20 - Outfit Of The Night

Another outfit of the day (but actually night) for you all as I went out for my GB Christmas dinner last night. It wasn't somewhere overly fancy but I love this dress and I love my wedges so I thought I would wear them.

Dress - H&M

Tank top (underneath) - H&M

Tights - Asda

Wedges - New Look

Necklace - Marc by Marc Jacobs

Belt - H&M

Bracelet - Pandora

Then some little out takes from my sister trying to figure out how to take photographs on my camera. Then a photo bomb from my sister who was going out for dinner too.

Do you like these types of posts? I was thinking that my blog isn't as personal as it could be in that there isn't too many photographs of me and I think I could do with doing some more outfits of the day. Let me know!

Blogmas Day 14 - Christmas Gift Guide For Her

I thought I'd do a little Christmas gift guide for everyone, for gifts to buy your friend, your girlfriend, your mum, your sister, any of the girls/women in your life. I'll try not to pick things that are too expensive so that there's a range to choose from, no matter what your price range. Since I have a range of followers from the UK and US, I'll also try to choose items from both so that one isn't left out.

The first item I'm going to choose is this jewellery holder that is from Paperchase. It's very cute, and is also available in purple. It has a little tray at the base to store loose jewellery in, such as earrings or rings.

Price : £6.00

Link : click me!

Another item from Paperchase (I love this store), a recipe binder. Perfect for any keen bakers who need somewhere to store all their recipes. It also contains stickers so you can label everything, and a dinner party planner.

Price : £13.75

Link : click me!

Everyone loves slippers, no matter what your age! These ones look super comfy and soft and are from Urban Outfitters. I personally love slipper boots as they look much more cosy than normal slippers. These ones have a fairisle print on them so they look nice and festive.

Price : £14.00 (normally £24.00)

Link : click me!

 

Another gift from Urban Outfitters, these beautiful photo frames. They come in black, white, lilac and blue. My personal favourites are the black and the white, but the other colours are nice too.

Price : £5.00

Link : click me!

A perfect present for any lover of beauty, the brand new Urban Decay Naked Basics palette. A present I would love to receive, or even buy myself as I'm very excited to ry it.

Price : $27.00/£20.00

Link : US or UK

 

This is exclusively from Sephora, so unfortunately none of my UK followers can buy this, and it's a great gift. This is the Lash Stash collection and contains 10 mascaras, eyelash primer, eyelash glue, and a set of false eyelashes. I bought this for myself on my recent trip, and I also bought it last year, and it lasted me all year so it'a a great find.

Price : $45.00

Link : click me!

You had to be expecting it, my Lush gift. I'm choosing only one, because I would happily suggest them all, but this is my favourite. This contains the products shown in the photograph, all which smell delicious. The UK receive the popcorn lip scrub however, and the US get bubblegum. I choose this as a present from my boyfriend for Christmas so I can't wait to get it!

Price : $39.95/£19.95

Link : US or UK

Hope you all liked my gift guide for her. Stay tuned for my christmas gift guide for him!

What did you think of my choice of gifts? Would you have preferred more expensive gifts to choose from? What are you buying the women in your life for the holidays this year? Let me know!

Blogmas Day 12 - Bath & Body Works Holiday Candle

Just a little candle love for you all. Unfortunately I don't  have a lot of time today to write a longer post on something else, but I'm not missing a day if I can help it! I just didn't have time to take any photographs today, and I don't like posts without them as I know people get bored reading them. Anyway....

I bought this candle while I was away in New York, and the same one for my nanny as a present because they were on the fabulous offer of 2 for $20 for the 3 wick candles. All of these candles are absolutely divine and it upsets me greatly that we don't have a store in the UK, and also that they won't deliver (despite the fact I've emailed them twice about it already).

This particular candle is called Holiday, and smells just like I thought it would, of the holiday season. The website description says, "Capture the essence of a yuletide gathering at home with spices and a special blend of cinnamon and clove highlighted by sprightly bergamot" and it's bang on. It smells just like spiced cinnamon and it's delicious. It's exactly what my house always smells like at Christmas time and the scent is always nice and strong.

There's currently a 2 for $22 sale on for all my US followers if you'd like to check it out by clicking here, and for my UK followers, I think we should all start writing hundreds of emails begging them to ship here and maybe they'll listen!

Blogmas Day 9 - Favourite Christmas Films

I thought I'd do a little Christmas themed post today because Sunday is the day I always feel the most Christmassy in the week and I usually watch a film with my sisters. This has been cancelled this week however due to everyone wanting to watch The X Factor final instead (I'm not much of a fan this series).

1. The Grinch

This is my all time favourite Christmas film so it's going at the top of the list. I'm sure you've all seen this film already, and if you haven't, go watch it now, like, right now! It's such a festive film and Jim Carrey is hilarious in it.

2. Elf

Another favourite film, and you all must have seen it. This film makes me laugh so much and it's half the comedy value which is why I love it so much. Will Ferrell is one of my favourites actors though and I'll watch anything he's in. This is one of the most quotable Christmas films and my Facebook timeline is always swamped with quotes every time it's on TV.

3. Christmas With the Kranks

I usually use this film to kick off the festivities and get me in the mood. It's super Christmassy and is full of a lot of familiar faces. It's about a couple who decide to cancel Christmas that year and go on a cruise because their daughter is away. However, she decides to come back at the last minute and they have to rush around trying to pretend everything was normal. A perfect family film!

4. The Santa Clause (1,2 & 3)

I think the first film is my favourite out of them all, and I always really want the hot chocolate he has in it. It just looks so good! This is another film that's perfect to watch with the family. In case for some reason you haven't seen it, it stars Tim Allen who accidentally knocks Santa off the roof and has to put on the suit and fulfil his duties every Christmas.

5. Home Alone (1 & 2)

I should point out at this point that this list isn't any order, as Home Alone is definitely a lot closer to the top. I was very excited about this film this year as it's set in New York during the second film, and obviously I was there last month if you've been following my blog for a while. Despite the fact that I've seen both these films so many times, I still laugh the whole way through it and love the endings when he sets up all the traps.

6. Surviving Christmas

This was quite a new film for me as I only bought it last year when I spotted it in Cash Converters and thought I would give it a try. It's actually such a good comedy and I highly recommend it. It's about a millionaire who rents a family for the holidays if you haven't heard of it either.

7. Celebrate Christmas With Mickey

I know, I know, this is quite a childish film, but it's actually so good! It has a lot of older shorts in it, such as The Night Before Christmas from 1933. That's actually my favourite clip as for some reason it just makes me feel so Christmassy when I see it.

I actually have over 20 Christmas films in my collection so this is only a handful that I actually really love and must watch every year. What kind of films do you like to watch during the holidays? I love to hear of new ones!

Blogmas Day 8 - Nails of the Day

Thought I would do a little nail post for you all since I mentioned how I've been wearing my Essie jag-u-are nail polish everyday. I decided to make it extra festive today, however.

I touched up my Essie polish and then done my own variation of a French manicure by adding some of my new gold nail polish from Avon along the top.

Nice and sparkly!