NOVEMBER BERRY PURPLE FAVOURITES

I can't believe it's nearly been a whole year of my colour favourite series! I'm not sure whether to continue it next year yet, I'm not certain I have enough new colourful products! 

Throughout November I've been really enjoying wearing berry shades, I think they're perfect for the transition into winter as well as working well for autumn. These are my November Berry Favourites:

MAC Nocturnelle eyeshadow: I loved wearing this plum eyeshadow so much in October that I've also been smudging it under my lower lashes throughout November. It's a beautiful deep plum that really brings out brown eyes. You can see me wearing the look here.

Essie nail polishes: I can't get enough of Essie nail polishes at the moment and Essie Bahama Mama and Essie Sole Mate have been constantly on my nails this month. Bahama Mama is a beautiful rich plum shade and Sole Mate a vampy deep berry purple.

MAC Rebel lipstick: I've recently written a full review on MAC rebel here. It's the perfect autumn berry shade that's so versatile and long lasting on the lips. I love to pat a small amount onto my lips and really rub it in to make a pretty berry stain.

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Berry Allure: This gives a lovely berry sheen and feels quite balmy on the lips which means it can still work on blustery autumn days. It's great for a subtle berry lip and looks great with winged liner. I also really love the packaging of these revlon lip glosses!



OCTOBER MONOCHROME FAVOURITES/SEPTEMBER BROWN FAVOURITES/AUGUST FUCHSIA FAVOURITES/JULYS CORAL FAVOURITES/JUNES GREEN FAVOURITES/MAYS GOLD FAVOURITES/APRILS BLUE FAVOURITES/MARCH MINT FAVOURITES/FEBRUARYS ORANGE FAVOURITES/JANUARYS PINK FAVOURITES

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Autumn / Fresh peonies / Rain / Frosty mornings & pink skies / Organic strawberries & almond croissants fresh from the farmers market / Early morning cups of peppermint and liquorice tea in my cosy Topshop fluffy dressing gown

I love the thought of celebrating Thanksgiving and with brands in the UK now embracing Black Friday, I've decided to have my own little Thanksgiving celebrations this year.

I'm making sweet potato mash, rosemary roast potatoes, mounds of buttered peas, yorkshire puddings, sizzling veggie sausages and gravy for tea and me and Alex are planning on having an evening of films and chatting about things that we are thankful for. It's important for me to focus on the good things, to stay positive and to try and keep a happy mindset. I love to spend my time pinning inspirational quotes on my pinterest (along with a few quotes thrown in about cats and pancakes!) and I try to write down 10 things a day that I'm grateful for every morning.

I'm so grateful for everyone who leaves me such nice comments and everyone who reads my blog. I've spoken to such lovely people through my blog, instagram & twitter which has kept me positive through some tough times. Thank you so much and I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving :)

LITTLE HOME THINGS

There's nothing I love better on a cold autumn night than watching a good film (normally Harry Potter!) in my living room with tealights flickering and a big mug of hot chocolate or peppermint tea. I've been enjoying collecting wintry pieces for the home and these are a few of my favourite things that I've got recently:

I've become a bit obsessed with tealight holders and this starry gold one from ikea is the latest to my collection. It's great value for only £2 and I've actually been using this for storing bits and pieces in, I think it would be great for holding cotton buds too! I also bought the little snowflake lights from ikea as they were too cute to pass up, they look so pretty lit up on the kitchen table and I think i'll be able to use them all throughout the year.

My brother bought me the little house tealight holder along with the copper home shaped wire basket from Tiger for my Birthday. I love them both so much and the basket is perfect for storing beauty products in. Tiger have some great things in at the moment and I'm planning on buying these cute little DIY elf decorations after seeing them on Katy's lovely blog. 

The polka dot teapot and mug follow on with the white and gold theme, I actually bought my Gold Anthroplogie monogram mug last year but they have them again this year and I'm so tempted to buy another letter! The Tesco tea for one set is great value at only £8 for a whole little set and I've been really enjoying my morning peppermint and licorice tea from it. The teapot warms up your mug whilst the tea steeps and it means that I can have two or more cups of tea!

Have you bought any bits for the home recently?

LUSH CHRISTMAS

I'm always so excited to see Lush's Christmas offerings and after a trip to Lush on Friday I now have a lovely little haul that's making my whole flat smell amazing! Here's what I bought:

Snow Fairy: This bright pink, sweet candy shower gel is one of my favourite products from Lush. I'm so glad that Lush has added skin softening seaweed to Snow Fairy this year, I've always loved the smell but felt that it wasn't really moisturising enough for the winter months. With this addition, it's perfect to use over the festive period as keeps your skin feeling silky soft and leaves a lovely sweet lingering scent to your skin.

Cinders: This lovely little bath ballistic contains cinnamon, sweet orange oil and vegan popping candy. It's become a tradition for me to buy Lush Cinders every Christmas and whenever I use it the scent fills the whole home and makes me feel so, so festive!

Snow Angel: This is the prettiest bath melt that's full of moisturising ingredients. Snow Angel is covered in gold and silver glitter (which is something I normally avoid as the glitter can get everywhere and sticks to your skin!) but this was too cute to pass up, I'm going to save this for a day when I know I'm just staying in, possibly Boxing day!

I also got two soaps that both smell absolutely amazing. Yog Nog is my favourite of the two and smells like sweet spiced fudge. Both of these soaps contain coconut oil and so leave your skin feeling so soft. Alex actually picked up Reindeer Rock soap to show me as it contains Lingonberry and so reminded him of Ikea! It smells so delicious, like winter berries.

I really love everything that I bought from lush and I've already added the Gold fun bar - a sweet toffee smelling soap/bubble bath to my Christmas wishlist! 

Have you tried anything from Lush's Christmas collection?

5 Fandom Friday: Characters I Would Invite To My Thanksgiving Feast

Whoo, another Fandom Friday! Can you believe Thanksgiving is less than a week away? This month is flying by wayyy too fast! It seems like it was just Halloween! 

This week's theme: Characters I Would Invite To My Thanksgiving Feast!

#1 - Mr. Spock

This would be for my dad as I know nothing would make him happier than meeting his role model. I would probably spend most of the dinner doing weird and random things just to hear Spock say something about it being most illogical and then I too could die happy.

#2 - The 10th Doctor

Tennant will forever and always be my Doctor. My hope would be that during our lovely Thanksgiving feast some kind of hijinks or end of the world scenario will occur and that once we have worked together to make things right, that he would decide to sweep me away in the TARDIS as his new companion. A girl can dream...

#3 - Ben Wyatt (from Parks and Recreation)

May seem like an odd choice until you realize that Ben is pretty much my perfect man with his lovable dorkiness and even if he and Leslie are indeed great together, let's just say this is a world where they have yet to meet and I still have a chance. Once again, a girl can dream... 

#4 - Sirius Black

Sirius has always been my favorite Harry Potter character and I would seriously (see what I did there?) love to hear all about the world of magic AND the Marauders. I'm one of those people that would give up an arm and a leg (okay, not really) for a Marauders book because there is so much storytelling POTENTIAL just waiting to be told. Plus after being cooped up in Azkaban for all that time, I'm sure he would definitely appreciate a delicious home-cooked feast.

#5 - Veronica Mars

It can't be all about the boys! The gal that springs to the top of my mind that I would love to have Thanksgiving dinner with is none other than my girl crush Veronica Mars. If even just a tiny bit of her wit, sass, and awesomeness rubbed off on me, I would be a happy girl.

Who would you invite to your Thanksgiving?

A WINTER WISHLIST

I really enjoyed creating an autumn wish list and so I thought I would create a little winter wishlist too! Here's a few things that I think would be perfect for the festive season and that are at the top of my wishlist for winter:

Topshop Velvet Lace Playsuit: Its the lace detailing on the back of this that made me completely fall in love with this mulberry coloured playsuit. I can imagine wearing it with black tights and heeled boots to Christmas parties or festive gatherings. 

Chanel Camelia De Plumes Highlighlighing powder: This is a stunning, platinum, iridescent highlighting powder that would be perfect to wear on Christmas day!

Kate spade notebook: I love this little gold notebook, perfect for writing lists and keeping notes over the festive season.

Nars Satin Lip Pencil in Majella: I've got my eye on this garnet Nars lip pencil after reading so much hype about them. I think this cool-toned red would look so great over Christmas.

Asos pieces Midi ring: I've may have caved and already purchased this ring! It's just recently arrived and its such a pretty, dainty ring. It fits me as a standard ring rather than a midi ring which I actually prefer and I've been wearing it non stop!

Dior Diorific Vernis Smoky Nail Polish: The bottle of this Dior nail polish is just stunning and the colour looks like such a great winter berry shade. 

What's on your wishlist?

A FESTIVE TOUCH

After seeing the Coca Cola advert on tv last weekend I've decided to completely embrace the fact that its now nearly Christmas. Michael Buble has been playing in the background whilst I've been baking festive treats and slowly adding festive touches to my make up routine. Heres a few things that Ive added to my make up bag:

thebalm Mary Lou Manizer: This highly pigmented champagne highlighter adds a beautiful glow to your skin. You only need such a small amount brushed over your cheekbones, on your brow bone and on the inner corners of your eye to give a beautiful shimmer that's so lovely for the festive season.

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Wash Eyeshadow in Champagne: I bought this eyeshadow a while ago as I read that the Make-up artist used this on Katherine in the Vampire Diaries. I'm already so in love with season 6 and so pulled this out to wear. This eyeshadow is a pretty shimmery champagne colour which is quite sheer so I like to wear this as part of a brown smokey eye, or just on its own for a shimmery wash of colour over the lids if I'm wearing a bold red lip.

Mac RiRiwoo lipstick: Very similar to MAC Ruby Woo, this cool toned matte red is the perfect winter lipstick. I wore this last year in my festive decorating video, it's long lasting and gets me so excited for Christmas when I wear it!

L'Oreal Mono eyeshadow in 205 Sable Lame. This stunning shimmery light gold eyeshadow gives a touch of festiveness to my make up and lasts well on my eyes. These L'Oreal eyeshadows are so buttery and pigmented, see a full review and swatches here.

MAC Mineralize Blush in Gleeful: Aptly named, this wine coloured blush is perfect for the colder months. You only need such a small amount for it to add a long lasting beautiful rosy red glow to your cheeks.

Nails inc Chelsea Square: I'm already breaking out the glitter nail polish and Nails Inc Chelsea square is such a pretty rose gold glitter that is great for the run up to Christmas.

Are you excited about Christmas already?

THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY THIS WEEK #6

Monday: Waking up extra early to get a good start to the week, eating hot croissants smothered in melted butter whilst watching the sunrise.

Tuesday: A fairy-lit evening spent in cosy pj's laughing along to episodes of Friends.

Wednesday: Blasting out Michael Buble's christmas album and planning warming winter meals. So far I've got: creamy winter vegetable & spinach lasagne, butternut squash rosemary & goats cheese puff pies and cinnamon & nutmeg spiced baked rice puddings!

Thursday: Planning a weekend shopping wishlist full of red lipstick and glittery Essie nail polishes (the ones in the photo are Essie A Cut Above and Essie Stroke of Brilliance) whilst catching up on the Vampire Diaries.

Friday: Wearing a beautiful new Nars blusher that I got for my Birthday - Nars Dolce Vita I'm so in love with it already and it's the perfect Autumn/Winter shade! 

What has made you happy this week?

The Walking Dead Group Cosplay at Comikaze 2014

This Walking Dead group cosplay from Comikaze was so good I wanted to give it it's own post! I had to do a double take at the Maggie and Glen! Totally spot on! Sorry I only was able to get one angle of the group, they were just about finishing up so I had to snap these super fast!

I wonder how much planning went into this!

Great job, guys!

MAC REBEL LIPSTICK

It's been such a warm autumn that I'm glad the days are starting to get getting colder now. MAC Rebel lipstick has been on my lips almost every day, it's the perfect autumn berry lipstick and great for the transition into winter.

I'm really surprised at the lasting power of MAC Rebel, most lipsticks wear off me quite quickly but this lipstick lasts me a good 3-4 hours and then leaves a pretty berry stain on my lips making it such a great lipstick for blustery autumn days spent sipping festive hot chocolates.

I've learnt to apply a good lip balm (usually Nuxe Rev de Miel) to my lips before applying MAC rebel as it can feel quite drying on the lips due to it being such a long lasting formula. It's fast becoming one of my all time favourite lipsticks as it's so versatile - it can be worn straight from the bullet as a vampy berry lip, patted on slightly and blended out with your finger for a more natural hint/berry stain or you can add gloss to make it a high shine bold lip. My favourite way to apply it is to just pat a small amount on the lips and really blend it out with your finger for a pretty berry lip stain. 

Have you tried MAC rebel?

Life Update!

Hello friends,

I know it's been almost exactly 3 years since I last posted on here. I can't believe how time has flown! Maybe some of you have been wondering what's happened to me, so I just wanted to share some wonderful news with you: I became the mom of a beautiful baby boy on August 23rd, 2014! I'm afraid that will probably mean no more make up for me for the foreseeable future, but it's for a great reason, so I will not miss it for now :) Please say hi to little Erik!

As we are planning to move houses soon, I will be sorting through my make up collection and try to downsize a bit, so stay tuned for a blog sale in the near future!

Thanks for reading!!

AUTUMN/WINTER MAKE UP TRENDS

As mentioned in my Spring/Summer make up trends post, I love to see the make up that is on trend and then try to incorporate a more wearable version into my make up routine. Some of the trends are going to be perfect for the festive season and I've been really enjoying wearing them throughout autumn.

Ethereal Gold & Silver metallics: A metallic eye with golds, silvers and winged liner was the focus of the Chanel A/W 2014 look and a strip of silver liner was applied in Dior to the upper lids. I think that shimmery gold or silver eyeshadows look great applied lightly all over the lids and then blended out before adding winged liner. I love the Maybelline colour tattoo in eternal gold and eternal silver as they are easy to apply with your finger as a base or as a subtle shimmer to the eyes, they blend out really easily and add a festive touch to your make up. They also look pretty blended under the eye.

Berry stained lips: Although eyes and skin were the main focus in A/W 2014 make up, berry stained lips also featured. MAC rebel is perfect for this look as you can pat the colour onto your lips and then blend in with your finger. This gives a pretty, stained effect that lasts ages on the lips.

Contouring and highlighting: Skin was cleverly contoured and sculpted to give an almost mannequin effect to the skin on the catwalk. The Sleek Face Contour Kit* is perfect to lightly sculpt and contour your face for everyday make up. The contour side is matte and the perfect shade of brown which isn't muddy or orange. Both the contour and highlighter are pigmented and easy to blend, you only need a small amount of product to really make your cheekbones stand out.

Metallic Olive greens: Pat McGrath created a stunning make up look for Dior using liquid latex with pigment pressed on top in blue or green. Natural Collection eyeshadow in Moss Shimmer is a beautiful shimmery olive green with slightly golden tones which looks beautiful blended all over and under the eye. You can see me wearing this look here.

Long lashes: Eyelure have some top and bottom lashes which are great to wear for this look or layering up on your favourite mascara (Mine is still the L'Oreal Miss Manga mascara) will give you a more natural, fluttery long lashes look.

Which is your favourite trend?

Comikaze 2014

This last weekend I got to attend my first LA convention, Stan Lee's Comikaze! It's funny how it came about actually because I wasn't even aware of it until a week or so before when I got hired to work its media and professional registration. Once I learned what type of convention I was working, I immediately got tickets for the last day, Sunday, for my family to attend together as my dad was flying in from Florida Saturday night. 

The first two days I never got further than the registration booths. I arrived bright and early in the morning at 7:30am sharp and worked overtime into the evening. Both days were SUPER busy. At times, the lines seemed never ending. By the end of the day, I was beyond exhausted. And yes, this means I spent my Halloween inside with my sister eating meatloaf and watching Community's "Epidemiology" episode and missing any and all parties occurring over the weekend. I wasn't too disappointed, however, because despite how tiring and non-stop the job was, it was also a lot of fun and I met some great people along the way. 

On to my one actual day of experiencing the convention.... my family and I arrived around 11:30 to the convention center and our first stop? The John Barrowman panel. I have met John several times at Comic Con and have been to many of his panels and he is always hilarious, full of energy, and so warm to his fans. His panel was nothing short of expectation and a great way to start off the con. 

Afterwards, we got lunch from the nearby food trucks. The two grilled cheese trucks seemed to be the most popular and both had about a 30 minute wait. I had gotten a delicious buffalo chicken grilled cheese sandwich from the Oh My Gaga truck earlier in the week so decided to go the healthy route and got a chicken wrap.

Once we got back, my dad and sister went to check out the exhibit hall while I went to the Crunchyroll panel. Their brand managers walked you through a normal day of working at Crunchyroll and talked about what its like working in the anime industry. It was a fun and informative panel and basically described a dream job for me: you get to travel to Japan and go to tons of conventions promoting anime?? Sign me up! If only I lived in San Francisco... 

Left - this sign made me laugh // Right - my dad proudly sporting his Spock shirt and my lovely sister

Finally, I made my way to the exhibit hall and explored the many booths and vendors. I didn't purchase anything (although my sister did get a Gryffindor scarf from the Whimsic Alley booth) but it was fun to walk around. Near closing time, I couldn't help but take pictures with some of the many awesome cosplayers. I considered dressing up to make up for my lack of a Halloween but it was a little too cold for me that morning. Pictures below are all courtesy of my dad and sister.

That wraps up my first LA convention and first Comikaze! Looking forward to many more!

Anyone else go to Comikaze?

BONFIRE NIGHT NAILS

I've been a bit wary of bonfire night ever since a rogue firework burnt its way through the audience when I was younger. The booming explosions echoing through the skies and the thick smog that's left behind means that I always approach fireworks night with an air of caution. This year, behind the safety of our balcony, we plan to watch the glittering skies whilst eating foil wrapped baked potatoes loaded with butter, salt and cracked black pepper.

I've painted my nails in honour of the occasion with Maxfactor Prussian Blue and glittered tips for the fireworks. For the tips I chose five of my favourite glitter nail polishes - On my index finger is Models Own Southern Lights which is a stunning lilac holographic glitter, on my middle finger Barry M Magenta Glitter, my ring finger Barry M Blue Glitter and Nails inc Electric Avenue on my little finger. I painted the glitters onto the tips of my nails before sealing them with Sally Hansen Insta Dri. I really love this effect and feel like its perfect for fireworks night!

What are your plans this bonfire night?

OCTOBER MONOCHROME FAVOURITES

Following on with the colour theme, I thought that monochrome would be good for October as it seemed to fit well with Halloween. Here are my October favourites:

Kiehls Ultra facial cream: This is a lovely, rich moisturiser that sinks into the skin quickly, keeps the skin hydrated and in great condition. I'm literally scraping the last of this out of the pot now and I'm torn as to whether I should repurchase or not as it contains parabens which puts me off slightly. I've written a full review here, it's the best moisturiser that i've used and on the days that I don't use it I really notice a difference to my skin. If anyone knows a good paraben free alternative then I would love to know!

Etsy black cat sleep mask: This is such a cute, silky soft little sleep mask. I don't always wear a mask to sleep but lately as the mornings have been a bit lighter I pop this on if I wake up early and it really blocks out the light and helps me get back to sleep. It was also great to add a halloween touch during October!

Barry M nail paint in matte black: I used this nail polish to create my black cat nail design last week. The effect looked really good on my nails, matte and almost leather like which was perfect over halloween. It also lasted really well and was a nice change from having glossy nails.

Eysilix Eye Cream: I bought this after Caroline Hirons blogged that this was practically every eye cream that you've tried with added peptides. This helps to reduce dark circles, fine lines and keeps the eye area feeling soft and hydrated.

MAC 150 brush: This is my every day bronzer and contour brush. The slightly tapered end sits perfectly in the hollows of my cheeks and it's the perfect size to sweep bronzer over my temples and on my jawline. I've had this for over 4 years now and have used it almost every day in my make up routine. The only downside I've found with this brush is that it sheds when being washed so you have to be quite gentle with it.

SEPTEMBER BROWN FAVOURITES/AUGUST FUCHSIA FAVOURITES/JULYS CORAL FAVOURITES/JUNES GREEN FAVOURITES/MAYS GOLD FAVOURITES/APRILS BLUE FAVOURITES/MARCH MINT FAVOURITES/FEBRUARYS ORANGE FAVOURITES/JANUARYS PINK FAVOURITES