Christmas Beauty Haul

I hope everyone had a beautiful Christmas, as usual the whole affair flew by far too fast for my liking. This year I was spoilt rotten (which makes me feel extremely guilty), particularly on the beauty gift front, so I saw it as the perfect opportunity to do a little haul, as usually my budget doesn't allow for anything particularly exciting, but Christmas is obviously an exception.

Yes, this beauty is finally mine. When I opened the Naked 3 palette by Urban Decay I inwardly (and possibly outwardly) squealed in delight. The rose gold packaging makes the palette feel even more luxurious, and as soon as I opened the tin and saw the eye shadows themselves I just knew that I'm going to be obsessed with this for the foreseeable future. Unlike it's predecessors, Naked 3 is composed of mainly rosy tones, which I find really compliments my blue/green eyes, and unlike the latter Naked palettes I can see myself using every colour, which I think is a very rare but desirable trait in a palette. Though a little expensive, retailing for around £37.00, I think this palette is the perfect treat for any make up lover, and I definitely think this is going to be my new beauty staple for the next few months.

I've seen myriad recommendations for the NARS Sheer Glow Foundation, but it was watching over some of Tanya Burr's tutorials that prompted me to put this on my Christmas wish list. This foundation gives the user the illusion of vibrant, flawless skin, cancelling out any scarring or dark circles. It glides effortlessly over the skin on application, and I find it lasts me pretty much all day which is a major plus in my books.

Moving away from make up, to my delight I received various Soap and Glory products yesterday, one of my favourite brands. Firstly I got a 500ml bottle of the Clean On Me Creamy Clarifying shower gel, which smells gorgeous and I'm pretty sure this huge tub last me a long time! I also got the Scrub 'Em and Leave 'Em Body Buff, which also smells divine. My parents also treated me to a new hand cream from the range. I've previously loved Hand Food, which I mentioned in one of my Winter Essentials posts, but I wanted to expand and try something new, so I'm now using Soap and Glory's Hand Cream Super Cream. This bottle is the perfect size to slip into your handbag and the cream is absorbed super quickly, which is essential if you're like me and lack the patience to wait for ages to do anything after application.

 After an abundance of hints, my parents bought me this LUSH gift set, which goes by the adorable title 'Best Wishes'. This set includes some of the classic winter bath treats from LUSH: Snowcake Soap, a Golden Wonder Bath Ballistic and a Luxury Lush Pud Bath Ballistic. I'm really excited to try these out over the next few days, once I can force myself to open it and destroy the beautiful packaging.

I was lucky enough to be given the Groovy kind-a love! gift set by Benefit this Christmas, and I already absolutely adore it. Inside the cute little tin, perfect size to slip into a handbag, it has a mini Benetint, Porefessional and They're Real! mascara, which are all items I've used in the past and loved. It also comes with 4 eye shadows which are all quite shimmery, perfect for the party season, and a mini blush duo of Dandelion (which has been my go-to blush for as long as I can remember) and Gimme Fever, which also has a shimmery quality which I think will be really flattering and I'm excited to try it out. I love getting this type of make up giftset as it allows me to try out a range of products I wouldn't be able to afford individually, and it's a really useful way of trying out products to see if you like them before committing to a full bottle/ tub.

I hope you had a beautiful Christmas and continue to have fun over the upcoming new year, it's come around so quickly! Thanks for reading,
Kate x

Christmas days

It's getting so close to Christmas (squeals)! Over the last few days I've been spending quite a bit of time doing festive activities with friends and family to really get me into the mood, and as I love reminiscing about past Christmases and hearing about how other people chose to spend theirs, I thought I'd share some of my favourites with you guys.

One of my favourite things to do in the run up to Christmas is curl up on the sofa in front of a fire with my family and watch Christmas films. They're a great way of bringing the family together and getting everyone in a festive mood, and there's such a wide selection out there I think it's easy to find a film which caters to every family member's needs. If you want to see which are my Top 5 Christmas movies I did a post about it last week, which you can read here.


Photo from www.telegraph.co.uk

If you're not really into sitting around and watching movies, I think a great alternative is to go and do something Christmassy out and about. Something I do every single year is go ice skating with my friends. There's an outdoor rink which is set up throughout the Christmas months near to where I live, and the combination of the atmosphere and the ice guarantees to get me into the Christmas spirit. I think this is a great alternative if you want to do something active and fun with your friends and family, and it's also a super fun way to exercise compared to running on a treadmill by yourself for an hour. If you do decide to go ice skating, I'd recommend to make sure you're dressed appropriately because it honestly will make such a difference to your experience. I think gloves and a hat are essential, and remember to take a spare pair of socks in case the ice gets into your skates and melts. You don't want to be walking around the rest of the day with cold, wet feet!

photo from amazon.co.uk

My final recommended festive themed activity is playing board games. This may sound mundane and unenthralling, but for me playing board games with my family have made for some of my fondest Christmas memories. There's the classic Monopoly or Scrabble, neither of which I find particularly fun, but I prefer the ones which get you to interact with each other, as I think they often provide more humour. For example, I love Articulate (basically you get a card with a word printed on it, and you have to try and get the rest of your team to guess the word without you saying it) and think it's especially hilarious when you're playing with someone who doesn't understand/ is really bad at the game. I think as well as being enjoyable, board games are a great way to bond with family members you might only see once a year, as they're great ice breakers.

What festive activities have you been loving this year?
Kate x

Festive Five... Films

Being an excitable person, I've never really had much trouble getting into the festive spirit (I start in October for crying out loud), and I always find that Christmas movies are integral in switching my brain from Summer holiday to Christmas mode. My favourite thing to do on cold December nights is to tuck up in bed with a mug of mint hot chocolate (I'd recommend Mint Madness by Options), watching a Christmas film. Since it's just over a week until the big day, I thought I'd compile a list of top 5 festive films and explain exactly why I love them so much.

My first pick is probably one of the most popular festive films, and rightly so. Elf is a comedy Christmas movie starring Will Ferrell (my hero), but if you don't know that I'm assuming you've been living under a rock for the last few years. I watch this movie every single Christmas without fail, and it's one of the few Christmas movies that has the approval of my whole family, which is an achievement in itself.

The next film I'm recommending is Arthur Christmas. I saw this in the cinema when it came out a couple of years ago and I've watched it on a myriad of occasions since. It's a really cute, feel good film, and although it's primarily aimed at children I think it's suitable for the whole family to sit and watch together. 

When I was younger I absolutely hated White Christmas, but after watching it again the other day I've had a change of heart. Yes it's cheesey, yes it's dated, and yes there are better quality films out there, but it's a classic and it makes me feel all warm in side. Bing Crosby is an utter legend, and my favourite actress/ dancer, Vera Ellen, plays a supporting role and manages to execute it flawlessly (I may be slightly obsessed with her). If you're looking for a quick fix to get into the festive spirit, this is it.

 The Muppets Christmas Carol is definitely a modern classic. Although I do like the original black and white version from 1951, I find this to be a lot less morbid and to be honest I like to keep the blubbing to a minimum around Christmas time. This is a light hearted, family friendly adaptation of a classic and once watched you won't be able to shake the songs from your head for days (I'm currently battling with 'We're Marley and Marley, whooo).

My final pick has to be Nativity. I was dragged along to see this by my little sister, and was surprised when I actually enjoyed it. I laughed and I cried, and the star studded cast (Martin Freeman, Ashley Jenson and Alan Carr feature) didn't disappoint. I absolutely adore this film, so much so that I went to see Nativity 2 last year and loved it just as much (especially since David Tennant is in it. How can you not love him?). The children in both movies are adorable, it makes me inwardly squeal, and it's so. damn. cute.

What are your favourite movies which get you into the festive spirit? Feel free to leave a comment down below as I'd love to hear yours and maybe even discover something new. Thanks for reading, til next time...
Kate x