January random favourites!

Hello, so as we are approaching the end of January, I decided to flick through my Instagram to see what I've been loving this month, as Instagram is the place I tend to share the things I love most, I like to take pictures of everything I love! (It's becoming a lot more normal when I go out for food, for the people around to understanding why I feel the need to whap out my phone, Instagram problems...). I don't really like January that much, in fact, it's probably my least liked month of the year, mainly because it's grim, dull, everyone seems a little blue (hey, they don't call it the January blues for nothing), and just in huge need for an injection of sunshine! So as I try to enjoy as many months of the year as I can, January just isn't my favourite, but here are some things I've been loving, and have made January a little more fun.

The first little beauty is the Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream, wow, how did I live without this?! Excuse the battered tube, but I've had some use out of this! My other halves mother actually gave this to me, as I was curious about it, and after hearing some rave reviews, I really wanted to buy one, but before I did, she gave this to me, sweet! I use it on my lips particularly, as I always suffer from dry lips (even in the summer, no logical explanation, I'm just one of those ill/unfortunate, no explanation kind of people, LOL). This smells really strong, but you only need a small amount, as it works wonders for whatever you want it for, whether as a lip balm, hand cream, pretty much anywhere that needs moisturising, buy it NOW.

One word, ELF. Yep, I'm pretty addicted to ELF, and through the month of January, I've been building on my collection (above), and I LOVE IT! It's amazing how cheap the products are, and also how good quality they are, it may look like I've been a little crazy (I actually am, who cares), but all this probably cost under £30, even though it wasn't all bought it once, it's still an impressive amount of makeup to have, for such an amazing price. If you haven't jumped on the ELF bandwagon yet, do so.

Something I think I'm probably about 6 years late talking about, although I suppose it's shampoo...can you ever really be late for a hype about shampoo?! Anyway enough rambling, this is my favourite new colour shampoo range. As an avid user of the Herbal Essence Bee Strong, which definitely leaves my hair the way I like it best, I thought it was time I started using a colour shampoo, as Bee Strong doesn't protect my colour (as it's a strengthening shampoo, not colour protect), so I invested in this little trio, 3 for £10 in Boots.  There's a shampoo, conditioner and leave in conditioning spray, and considering they cost £4.80 each, that deal is pretty good! They smell like bubblegum, and I'm enjoying the idea that they preserve the colour of my hair (even if it is all psychological  I still like the idea...)

Random fav, Disney socks! I love Disney, and anything quirky, so when I saw these Adorable Alice in Wonderland socks in Primark, I knew I had to have them. I own pretty much all of the Disney socks from Primark, but these Alice ones are my favourite, as it's one of my favourite Disney films. They cost £2.50, cute!

This month I added two new Kate Moss lipsticks to my already well loved Kate Moss lipstick collection (01 is like my life), and I bought two shades I don't usually go for.  Now 22, does NOT look like that in the flesh, it's NOT orange, it's a vibrant cherry red, this picture doesn't do it the slightest bit of justice, I hate orange lipstick, so I'd never buy it, but yes, it's a lovely, vibrant cherry red, which will look lovely in the spring.

Shade 03 is a gorgeous pinky nude, that compliments my skin tone, without giving me that dreaded foundation/I've got no lips kind of look, it just looks really natural, like that old saying, "your own lips, but better"..well yes, it's a lovely lipstick, and looks really nice for an off duty kind of look, especially pared with a smokey eye.

Starbucks Frappucino's! This is an old favourite, that I've recently/randomly rekindled my love for, this past month I've bought a few of these! I love both the Raspberry and blackcurrant, along with the Mango and passionfruit, I've always loved them, but this past month, I've really been loving them again, and even though it has been freezing, I've shunned the hot chocolate in favour of these. (Yes those are my friends in the backgrounds, love them).

Lastly this month, I've been ADDICTED to the TV show Revenge. I'd heard about this before, but I never really bothered to think about what it was/what it was about, in fact, I knew so little about it, I actually though it was one of those shows equivalent to Glee, hahah, definitely shows how little I knew about it, it's the best Drama I've watched in a long time.  I only ever usually get addicted to Reality shows (Real Housewives anyone?) they are the only TV programmes I can actually watch back to back without losing concentration and flicking through my phone, and apart from Dexter, this is the first show I've actually sat down, put the phone down (good sign in my TV radar), and really got into. I'm nearly on series 2, I know the third series is currently on E4, it's my newest TV love.

All he wants to do is party with his pretty baby.

I've had a huge girl crush on the beautiful Lana Del Rey for ages now, and it's showing no signs of slowing down, I'm such a huge fan of her effortless retro style, and her classic sounding music, that makes me feel like I'm drinking a martini in a really cool, elegant, American bar.

She's probably my favourite modern artist to date (yeah, I'm usually stuck in the past), and I just can't get enough of all things Lana, everybody knows it, it's a fact, kiss kiss <3

(I do not own these pictures).

Hello, now here's something that I'm actually pretty surprised I'm blogging about, and that's the Natural Collection makeup range, available at Boots.  Now, it's not that I've got any particular reason not to, as in fact, I used to be obsessed with the Natural Collection body care products for years, but recently I've had little to do with the brand. That is until lately, after watching so many YouTube videos, I noticed that Natural Collection was creeping up in actually a good few of them, so I decided to actually go to the stall and have a look. I was amazed that there was a deal on "3 for £5", which I thought was pretty awesome.

I bought three things:

• Eyeshadow in the shade "Milk Chocolate"
• Blusher in the shade "Pink Cloud"
• Lip gloss in the shade "Caramel Shortcake"

If I'm being honest, I thought at first it was pretty average, cheap makeup...it's cheap, but only in price form! The Lipgloss is actually one of the best I've discovered, I was so shocked! I'm getting kind of obsessed with the gorgeous off duty, non shimmery pink for the daytime, for those kinda days when I don't want to wear a bright lip, and this is so good. It smells like vanilla, plus point, and it also reminds me so much of the Rimmel lip lacquers, and these smell better!  For £1.99 (if you want to buy it without the 3 for £5 deal), this is about a third of the price of the Rimmel versions. I definitely need to get more colours!

The blusher also looks really good on my pale complexion, and is just a good, reliable pink blusher that looks beautiful whenever you need it.  The eyeshadow in "Milk Chocolate" will be a reliable staple in my makeup bag, I love brown eyeshadows the best, and blended with either gold colours, or smokey eye colours, is definitely a useful product.

I am absolutely amazed by how much I like the Natural Collection makeup products, it proves, don't judge a brand before you try it! 

Incredibly late with this post, but happy 2014! I guess I'm not that late as it's still January, and this is my first 2014 post, and I've been incredibly busy with University essay writing, but I'm excited to start blogging again.

For Christmas, I received some amazing beauty/skincare products, and I feel incredibly lucky and grateful, so much stuff, especially Soap & Glory! My family and boyfriend know me too well, but it is something i'll definitely use, and was infact running a little low on, so Christmas was the best stock up! Also none of my gifts ever go without anything to do with Marilyn Monroe, cats, or polka dots, yay!

One of my favourite Christmas gifts was this amazing Laura Mercier warm chestnut candle, and honestly, this smells AMAZING. The candle is rather big, so I'm hoping this is going to last me a long time (I hope so, it's gorgeous!), it smells perfect for a cosy evening, and it's perfect for a relaxing bath.

As I mentioned I'd received a lovely stock up of Soap & Glory products, it seemed to rekindle my love of the "Righteous Butter", something which I'd used before, but now I own another pot of it, realise how much I actually love it. It smells like typical Soap & Glory, pretty and floral-like, and is the nicest, most luxurious moisturiser I've used in ages. I definitely love this as much as any of my other moisturisers, and will definitely be purchasing another pot of this after mine runs out.

I bought one of these for my boyfriend's sister as we are both huge fans of Soap & Glory, so I had to have one for myself, as I love eyeliners.  This set is amazing, it comes with 5 different coloured eyeliners in black, brown, purple, blue and green, which sounds a little scary (especially the last two!), but they are all very dark colours, and subtly have a hint of green/blue etc.  The eyeliners are very creamy and soft, easy to smudge, and look great alongside the three eyeshadows, that are brown, black and purple! This is the perfect set if you love smokey eyes.

I managed to get this amazing set, for half price in the sale! I got all this for £20, which is amazing, as the mascara alone is £10.50, so to get a highlighter, a bronzer, six eyeshadows, lip colours, a lipstick, a mascara, and three brushes is pretty awesome.  I didn't really need anymore Soap & Glory after Christmas itself, but when something so amazing is just there, looking at you, half price, it made me give in, and I can't wait to use it.

This powder set contains a highlighting powder, blusher, bronzer and a brush, which is all together in a cute palette.  Firstly, the highlighter is the nicest one I've found, it's not overly shimmery (I'm not a fan of a glittery face, and have never personally understood why anybody would be), but it's strong enough to define your cheekbones and make you look radiant. The blusher is a selection of pretty pinks all in one, and looks really well on my pale skin, and I'm yet to try the bronzer as I'm so afraid of anything bronze/orange, but the palest side looks like it may make for a lovely cheekbone definer, so fingers crossed!

Lastly, this little trio of lipsticks/balms is one of my new favourites.  These are a cross between a balm and stick, almost like the Revlon lip butters, but perhaps slightly less pigmented, leaving just a sheer, but noticeable colour on your lips. Nudist is a pinky nude colour, which surprisingly works as an "off duty" lip (I hate nudes on myself generally), and is a nice pair with a smokey eye, Fuchsia-ristic is a fairly bright hot pink, but due to its less pigmented texture, it looks really wearable, and Plum Jam is a gorgeous dark red, that is the perfect alternative for those who like red lipstick, but often find it a bit too much of a bold statement. They also smell like MAC lipsticks, sweet and vanilla like, yum!

Without realising how much this has turned into a Soap & Glory blogpost, it totally has, but I'm a huge fan of Soap & Glory, and receiving lots of their makeup in gifts sets was so nice, so I was excited to try them out!  

Happy 2014!