GIFT GUIDE | £15 Or Under

 Hey Everyone!

Every year myself and a group of 7 friends do a secret santa, when you have such a large friend group it can get expensive to buy everyone a present.. So secret santa always works a treat. Whilst having a look through different presents I decided I would put together a list of my top presents for under £15, these can either be used as secret santa presents or gifts to loved ones (i have to admit, these are mostly things I would want - so aimed strongly for the ladies!)

1. Art Therapy Colouring Book | £12.99
These colouring books are either something you love or something you hate, i know people use them for a calming influence and many of my friends actually already own a few of these! I also know people who find these ridiculous, personally I would love to receive one of these as a gift! Something a little bit different but also fun! I really loved the animal design on the front of this one, but they do come in all loads of a different designs.

2. Molton Brown Festive Shower Gel Bauble | £10.00
These festive shower baubles are a fantastic gift idea, they would be ideal for someone who loves bath and body products! My mum actually received one of these for her birthday and we thought it was so original. They have them in a few different scents and colours, this vintage elderflower one has to be my favourite - i love the sparkly product inside and the gold detailing on the bottle!

3. Hootie Snowy Heatable Owl | £9.99
I really love these as an alternative to hot water bottles, I'm not really a massive fan of hot water bottles as i think they are a bit of a faff.. but you can pop these straight in the microwave for a few minutes and they are good to go! This fluffy little owl would also look really cute on your bed throughout the winter season.

4. Sausage Dog Slippers | £12.99
Oh my GOD. Being the massive Sausage dog fan i am i would LOVE a pair of these so bad! They are adorable but also look like they would keep your feet nice a toasty! They don't just have sausage dog's so make sure you check out the New Look website for all the different designs.

5. Nails Inc Slogan Make-up Bag | £12.00
I'm all for a slogan, so as soon as i saw this i fell in love. This is such a simple cosmetic bag but also so pretty! This cosmetic bag is listed to pop you favourite polishes in, however i would probably use it to put some of my everyday make-up bits in and pop in my handbag.

6. Ted Baker Mini Notebook and Pen | £12.00
A great gift for anyone creative and the perfect gift for a blogger. I'm always jotting down notes but can never find a pen. With this you would have the pen attached and also a gorgeously designed notebook for any ideas which may hit you whilst on the move.

7. Nails Inc Nail Polish Gift Set | £9.00
This ones for all the nail polish lovers out there. This Christmassy Nails Inc gift set includes two gorgeous nail polishes for winter. Kensington High Street is a deep wine red and Basil Street is a beige nude, it also comes complete with professional nail board and a festive looking gift box.

8. Benebalm Tinted Lip Balm | £12.90
These balms by Benefit make the ideal secret santa gift or even stocking fillers. They come in a few different colours, however the Benebalm is the most wintery out of the ones they sell. These will appeal to any lady who loves and appreciates make-up - they are super hydrating but also give a pretty subtle tinted lip.

9. Eve 3D Mug | £9.95
Obviously me being me I had to add a little Disney to the gift guide. This adorable 3D Eve mug instantly caught me eye as Wall-E is one of my favourite films. It makes a change from all the Disney princess items i have in my cupboard - if you where buying this a present they also have Wall-E to match.

What has been your favourite product on my gift guide?

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Getting Autumnal With Apricot

Apricot is a great brand that was created in 2007, when they first started up they wanted to appeal to both Mother and Daughter creating well made staples at purse friendly prices! A few weeks a go i signed up to an awesome company called Type The Hype run by a lovely lady called Gemma - this is a fantastic blogging network which helps bloggers and brands to work together.  Apricot where looking for Mother / Daughter posts and this instantly appealed to me, i was super excited when i got chosen and really looking forward to featuring my lovely Mum on my blog! 

Being really close to my Mum we sometimes like to swap clothes, we decided to pick out two pieces that we both liked so that we can swap in the future. I really love that you could go on a shopping trip together and both pick out pieces from the same store!

After perusing the Apricot website and falling in love with a few different options we managed to narrow it down to these two items, as both me and my mum shop in Apricot anyway it wasn't hard to find something we both liked. We put our order in straight away, chose standard delivery and awaited for our package. I must say i was very impressed with how fast their standard delivery arrived, i had my package within 2 days after ordering! 

I decided to go for an autumnal dress and picked out this black and brown foliage print tea dress*, i wanted something i could dress down or dress up with adding different accessories. I'm really into casual dresses and tights this winter as they look a little more smart than just a jumper and jeans. I paired this with my leather jacket, a pair of thick black tights, black heeled buckled boots and a platted belt. I really loved the quality of this dress, it was double lined so i didn't feel the need to wear another layer underneath, it also had pleated detail and lovely turned up sleeves. Overall just a lovely little dress! Apricot actually sell this in two different colours, so if you didn't like the mustard browns you can go for a more of a multi coloured bright pattern.

My Mum picked out this gorgeous grey and black colour block poncho* and paired it with a pair of skinny jeans also from apricot, some wedged knee high boots, a black polar neck jumper and a long beaded necklace to finish the look, this is a perfect autumnal look. This poncho is so warm and snuggly and is really made well, its a very nice thick material which keeps your warm. They also make this in a few different colours, if the black / grey wasn't for you.

We where both really impressed with both the prices and also quality of these two pieces and will carry on shopping at Apricot for years to come! Thank you Apricot for giving me the chance to feature this on my blog it was so much fun!

Have you seen the winter range by Apricot? What are your favourite pieces?

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*Products marked with an asterix (*) have been gifted / PR Sample. All opinions are 100% my own

ESSENTIALS | Autumn and Winter

 Hey Everyone!

As we are now fully emerged in Autumn / Winter weather i thought i would share a few of my favourite and essential items for the colder months.

Hair Care;
The first steps of looking after your hair during the cold winter months is finding a product that is not only going to nourish your hair but also protect. My top two hair products for this Autumn are the Aussie colour mate shampoo and the mega instant conditioner. Both of these have amazing ingredients which have been paired together to cleanse your hair and then protect it against the harsh weather, not only do these protect amazingly and leave the hair in healthy condition they smell absolutely divine! I would also recommend the 3 minute miracle which is made to deep condition dry hair in just 3 minutes, this tends to be a product i always go back to in the winter months as my bleached hair can get a little dry!

Skin Care;
Even though i cleanse, polish and moisturiser on a daily basis i still find that i get the odd dry patch which i can't seem to control, this doesn't just stop on my face - i also get dry patches on my elbows and hands etc. I have never found a product as a amazing as this Yu-Be Skin Moisturiser and i seem to rave about this to everybody i know.. It claims to be Japan's no.1 selling vitamin-enriched skincare cream and boy does it work. It hydrates beautifully and has a non greasy feel to it, the product is quite thick so a little goes a long way but it doesn't block the pores! It's perfect for these dry patches but also keep cuticles soft and lips at ease!

Body Scrub;
Just like the skin cells on your face, the skin cells over your body can also get blocked. A good body scrub can help nourish the skin by getting rid of dead skin or any left over products - this becomes an essential part of my winter routine and i scrub a few times a week. This hidden gem was actually from AVON and cost a mere £1 and smells like strawberry nesquick. I really love the texture of this scrub as it seems to be the perfect balance of smooth and rough, giving you perfect results!

Body Moisturiser;
A good moisturiser is key in winter, i pop this on daily after a shower or bath and smother my whole body before popping on my pyjamas. If you have dry skin like me i would highly recommend the Soap & Glory ranges, they are all beautifully made with a different scent for everyone! This sugar crush is my favourite as i find the citrus scent wakes me up in the morning and leaves me feeling refreshed.

Foot / Heel Cream;
So just like keeping your body moisturised I also like to keep my feet nourished. Again another Soap & Glory product but probably the only product I've ever used on my feet/heels- but never felt the need to stray away and try anything else. I love the smell and how it keeps cracked heels at bay - I like to pop a thick layer over my heels at night and then wear a pair of cotton socks to bed.. when you wake up in the morning your feet will be super soft!

Festive Scented Candles;
As soon as the nights get dark and cold the first thing i reach for in the evenings is a candle. I have quite a collection and obsession when it comes to candles. But the above Wax Lyrical has quickly become a favourite, it smells like cinnamon and berries and reminds me so much of Christmas! Seriously, check out their festive range - they burn for hours and are really lovely products!

Scented bubble bath; 
I mean, not an essential but one of my favourite things about winter has to be baths. As i mentioned above i love the smell of cinnamon and every time i see this on special i have to buy it - don't get me wrong i love a good lush bath bomb but that can get expensive! This giant warm cinnamon nights by treacle moon bottle, lasts for ages and also foams up lovely. They have tonnes of different scents and one to suit everyone - but this has to be my favourite for Autumn / Winter.

A dark lip;
Ask any beauty blogger, or join in on any of the chats on Twitter and you will find that every blogger has a favourite dark lip shade for the winter which they like to crack out, away with the coral's and in with the berries! And this year, I've really gone for it. I have never really been one for a dark lip, but this year I've come away from my comfort zone and been loving two in particular. One being a Matte lip cream for NYX in Copenhagen and Kate Moss Rimmel 107 - these also look really nice together to create an even more intense colour.

Lip balm;
And last but certainly not least, this amazing Love The Lakes lip balm all the way from the Lake District. I'm not a huge fan of Vaseline, i always find it dries and cracks my lips more than they already are - so when i came across this lip balm i thought i would give it a go. I always have a lip balm in my handbag or on my office desk, but this strawberry one is my absolute faves. It's really nourishing and is made with 98% natural ingredients.

These are my absolute must haves during the cold months, what are yours?!

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October Favourites

Wahhhh I'm so sad to say goodbye to October! It's my absolute favourite month, i love the orange and red leaves, wrapping up warm, watching scary movies, carving pumpkins and dressing up. But another month ends and below is my October favourites!

Sleek Solstice Highlighting Palette | £10.00 

Ok.. so not only is this the most gorgeous gold palette ever (despite when you touch it it leaves horrific finger marks)The highlighting shades which are concealed within are perfect! I already have the face contour kit from Sleek and love the highlighting shade in that, so when i saw they had released this i was so excited to try it! It comes with 3 baked highlighters - Hemisphere, Subsolar, Equinox and then the top left hand shade is Ecliptic which is cream based highlighter. For the price of a mere £10 this has a very high end feel and the shades are all super pigmented, my favourite has been the highlighter with the pink shade - i love to pop this on my cheekbones and compliment it with a nice warm rose shade blusher!

Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium | £84.00 for 90ml 

I was actually lucky enough to be given this as a gift from my mum when she visited New York in September, i know a few friends that wear this and smells lovely on them so I was a little apprehensive to how this would sit on my skin.. this has very quickly become a favourite of mine. I vowed i would only wear this on special occasions but this has proved way to hard for me and i wear this most days! My favourite part of this product is how long lasting it is, i can spray it on a jumper or scarf and it seems to stay put for a few days! The fragrance notes in this product are.. black coffee for the top notes, white florals for the heart and vanilla for the base - they work really well together giving a sweet but slightly musky smell. 

Herbel Essences Bee Strong Shampoo and Conditioner | £1.75 per 400ml 

I have a full head of bleach highlights applied every 3 - 4 months, so if a products claiming it's going to make your hair stronger.. I'm all for it! I'm also a serial hair washer and can't go a day without washing it #sorrynotsorry. I know, you shouldn't do this but i do..  I've found both the shampoo and conditioner to be incredibly light weight, whilst also nourishing, smoothing and making my hair stronger. The massive bottle has lasted me for over 3 weeks.. which again for a every day hair washer is amazing! The main ingredients are Apricot and Honey which give of a really lovely scent.

Rimmel London Exaggerate Lip Liner in Eastend Snob | £3.99 

I first saw this lip liner on Lucy & Lydia's youtube channel. One of the twins was wearing it and they also featured this in one of their favourite videos claiming they had been through about 3 of them and loved the colour. I was intrigued as it looked like a really lovely blush pink - I looked in about 3 different boots and 2 different Superdrug's before i was able to get the colour i wanted. 'Eastend Snob' is quite literally my perfect pink shade and i actually use this velvety product not only to line my lips but all over too. It has really great staying powering and is a lovely little product for £3.99!

NYX Creme Gloss in Creme Brulee | £5.00 

As you can tell, there's a little bit of a theme going on here.. lips! I've never really been into applying much on my lips.. but have had fun with different colours and products this month. This fabulous lip product is this NYX creme gloss in 'Creme Brulee'. I picked this up in Selfridges from their pop up stand - If you haven't heard of NYX 1. Where have you been hiding? and 2. They are a super affordable brand which has come over from the USA. You can now get them from a few different retailers including Boots & Very.co.uk. I have been wearing this with the Rimmel Lip Liner all month and feel they really compliment each other and also my skin tone!

MUA Undress Me Too Palette | £4.00 

Another super affordable brand on the market at the moment and one I've been loving this month is MUA. They are probably best known for being dupes for the famous Naked palettes by Urban Decay. This palette in particular i feel is really great for autumn / winter.. i really love the mixtures of goldy shimmery tones but also love they have a few matte colours in their too. This is a great palette to take on holiday as the colours are really nice and varied. I find these are lovely and pigmented and really great quality for the price!

I hope you enjoyed my monthly favourites!

Have you tried any of these products? And if so, which was your favourite?

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Get The Look | Scream Queens

Ok seriously - Emma Roberts, Ariana Grande.. Jamie Lee Curtis..! Have i caught your attention yet? If you haven't already then please go and watch the new series of 'Scream Queens' which is now on E4. Not only is this show hilarious (and slightly weird) it has the best wardrobe ever - think pink, fluffy, large sunglasses and tiny bags and your pretty much there.

Not only are the clothes and cast an absolute dream.. Emma Roberts seems to perfect the resting bitch face to perfection!

Below i have put together a 'Get The Look' with a few different bits and pieces inspired by this series!

Faux Fur Dusty Pink Coat // Simon Cateye Sunglasses // Pink Leather Tassell T-Bar Heels // Pearl & Bead Stretch Bracelets // Pink Fluffy Crop Top // Multi Beaded Collar Necklace // Mini Kate Pocket Across Body Bag // Boutique Tallulah Tulle Mesh Full Circle Midi Skirt // Mayal Shift Dress //

Have you seen Scream Queens? Who's your favourite character?!

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