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! 

(I am in no way a beauty expert/claim to be anything other than simply a beauty addict, who enjoys buying unnecessary amounts of makeup and then talking about it).

Favourite Beauty Range

My favourite beauty range talking Drugstore is Rimmel and Maybelline, and MAC and Benefit for a more expensive treat. Rimmel and Maybelline stock so many products that are staples of my everyday makeup routine, and MAC/Benefit have products I've treated myself to or been given as a gift, and I use these products when I want to feel that little bit more special.

Primer

Benefit's "That Gal" Primer.

Foundation

MAC studio fluid fix, Soap & Glory Show good face foundation in "The Fairest of them all", and Rimmel Stay Matte foundation in "Light Porcelain". 

Powders

Rimmel "Stay Matte" powder in translucent is my favourite for everyday use, it leaves my skin looking matte, but not dull, and then I love Benefit "Hello Flawless" powder in Ivory, a bit pricy for everyday powder, so I only use this when I'm going somewhere nice!

Concealer

The god sent Collection 2000's Lasting Perfection in Fair, myself and about 80% of the internet don't seem to have enough good things to say about this, it's literally one of the products I could NOT live without. I restock this immediately when I'm running low, and I'm not even bothered with finding a more expensive concealer as this does the trick perfectly!

Bronzer

...Not a lover of bronzer, I'm so pale it generally would just look terrible. However, I have recently discovered something that is a cross between a bronzer and blusher, perfect for my pale complexion, and that is Benefit's "Rockateur", the assistant tried it out on me, it made my cheekbones look highly defined, and give me a nice glow, not the slightest bit orange, result! I officially own a bronzer  (of some sorts...) that looks good.

Blusher

I love Rimmel's Mono blushers in "Santa Rose" which is a peachy shade that gives me awesome looking cheekbones, and a pink in the same range in the shade "Pink Rose" which is just a lovely pretty pink blusher. I love this blusher range as they extremely good value, and do exactly what you want from a blusher, costing just over £3.50!

Highlighter

I'm also highly sceptical of highlighter (just as I was bronzer), I hate my face looking glittery/orange/shiny, so anything like that is one of my worst nightmares, so I was mega happy when I discovered MUA's "Undress your skin" highlighting powder, which I just like to dust over my cheekbones, to give me a nice finish! It's another bargain product for £3.

Eyebrows

Soap and Glory's "Archery" and Seventeen's "Brow That" Eyebrow kit. I just like nice defined eyebrows, nothing too slug-like!

Eye primer

Elf's bargain eyelid primer (for £1.50), and Benefit's "Lemonaid". 

Mascara

I don't think you can go wrong with a good Maybelline or a Maxfactor mascara, I find High Street mascara is one thing that's probably a little overpriced, but my favourites are Maybelline's "Volume Express Mega Plush" and Maxfactor's "False lash effect", both give my lashes volume and make them look really long and glossy. 

Eyeshadows

Urban Decay "Naked 2" palette has pretty much all the eyeshadow colours I need, even though it cost about £35, it contains all the colours for a nude/smokey eye, so it's really worth it if you love wearing those colours, as you don't really need to own any other eyeshadows. I also like the MUA dupes which are Undress me and Undress me too, and Maybelline's colour tattoo cream eyeshadow in "Permanent Taupe". 

Eyeliner

Soap & Glory's "Supercat" felt eyeliner, and Maybelline's "Lasting Drama" Gel Eyeliner.

Lipstick

MAC''s "Ruby/RiRi woo" red lipstick, Kate Moss red lipstick in "01" and Kate Moss matte purple in "07". I also like the colour boost balms from Bourjois, and Rimmel's apocalips lip lacquers.  Carmex is also one of my swear by products, definitely can't live without it!

Shampoo and Conditioner

Herbal Essence "Bee Strong" shampoo and conditioner and TIGI red hair shampoo and conditioner. 

Styling products

Herbal Essence "Bee Strong" leave in conditioner, dry shampoo, hairspray and Vo5 backcomb in a bottle.

Perfume

Marc Jacobs Daisy, Miss Dior, Chanel No5 and Britney Spears Fantasy.

Nail Varnish shade

Berry and Nude, I never get bored of either!

Skincare products

L'Oreal Micellar water, Soap & Glory "Peaches and Clean" cleanser, and Simple foaming face wash.

Bath treats

Any bath bombs from LUSH, Soap & Glory and the Body Shop! I love bath bombs, body scrubs and bath bubbles!

Beauty trend you hate

Foundation lips, orange skin and slug brows!

Beauty trend you love

Red lipstick and eyeliner cat flicks.

Merry Christmas everyone, hope everyone had a good day! After feeling that it couldn't possibly be almost Christmas for ages, yesterday was such a lovely day!  I'm so happy and grateful for all my presents, with plenty of makeup and beauty products I'm so excited to try, yay!  None of my gifts for anything ever go without something Marilyn Monroe/50's related, Cat like, Polka Dot and Soap & Glory, I pretty much get something from each of those categories every birthday/Christmas, because I love them! I find it so lovely when I receive a gift I know someone's really thought of, and know how much i'll personally love it.  

This is my Christmas Gingerbread jumper, which is adorable! The gingerbread is actual material, which I find so cute! Christmas time definitely needs something fun and gimmicky. 

I painted my nails glittery red, if you can get away with glitter nails at any time of year, it's definitely at Christmas! I used two Rimmel nail polishes, the first being "Double Decker Red" which is a bright plain red, then I went over the top with the glitter polish, also from Rimmel, in the Precious Stones collection in "Ruby Crush". It's surprising how much more festive glitter on my nails made me feel.

I hope you've all had a good Christmas, and I hope to continue and expand by blog in the new year! :D

Merry Christmas!  I can't believe how close it is to Christmas, so I've been to LUSH, to get some of their Christmas bath bombs, which is so exciting! I've resisted for a little while, as I thought just before Christmas I would try some of their Christmas products, so yesterday I went and bought a few little bits and bobs, as I knew if I didn't try them soon, they'd all be gone, not good! I know the internet is FULL of LUSH hauls/reviews, and I'm not trying to do anything different, but as it's Christmas, and I've been enjoying blogging lately, I thought it would be a nice post, here's what I got!

Here's my Christmassy LUSH bag (5p of course..I live in Wales!)

Bomb number 1: Golden Wonder.

This is a super glittery, citrusy scented, present shaped bomb, phew what a mouthful! (Don't really have a mouthful, this looks pretty, but probably wouldn't taste as great as it looks). I get a really strong lemony scent from this, however, I'm describing the scents of these bombs from my own opinion, there may not even be any lemon in there, but that's a strong scent I definitely get. I love the obvious shaped Christmas present, and the gold glitter definitely makes it perfect for Christmas, can't wait to try this!

Bomb number 2: So White.

Now this may look like just a common, boring old bomb, the type you may walk straight past, as there's so many brightly coloured ones to catch your eye, but don't be fooled, this smells gorgeous! This smells exactly like an apple, it's fresh and light, almost like snow (?!), and definitely one of the nicest scented bath bombs.  It's not overpowering, and is just a lovely, fresh scent.

Bomb Number 3: Father Christmas.

I love this, it's definitely perfect for Christmas, obviously, it's Father Christmas! Now this particular bomb is actually pretty difficult to describe, as I can't quite put my finger on what I think it actually smells like. It's a lovely smell, and I guess it smells slightly orangey, but I think you'd have to sniff it yourself to see what I mean. It's so cute, and definitely a must for a Christmas time bath!

Bomb Number 4: Luxury LUSH pud.

This is so pretty and colourful, and definitely one I'm hoping will make my bath go a pretty colour! This seems like a before bedtime kind of bomb, I can imagine using this to relax before bed, as it's lavender scented, so it's perfect for relaxing.  I think it's a lovely take on the standard colours of a Christmas pudding, so much more colourful!

Bomb number 5: Snowman.

This is super cute, I love Snowman things, I think they're adorable!  This one smells exactly like Palmer's/Body Shop Cocoa butter, it's yummy! I adore cocoa butter, I find it so moisturising, especially in the Winter when your skin is drier, so this is perfect, as I'd imagine this would leave your skin feeling lovely and soft! I don't really want to use this bomb, I just want to keep it in my room, looking pretty :)

Santa's Lip scrub.

This is SUCH a gorgeous lip scrub, it smells exactly like cola bottles, and like the other lip scrubs LUSH stock (bubblegum, mint, popcorn), this one is also difficult to resist eating! It tastes exactly like fizzy cola bottle sweets!

I think LUSH lip scrubs are definitely the best, as they not only leave your lips soft, smell great, TASTE great, and this one even comes with pretty red stars inside, my favourite colour!

Happy Christmas, and hope you've enjoyed reading this!

This Winter, I've gone craaaaaaaaaaaazzzzzzy for Tartan, and it seems all the shops have gone along. I've been wearing at least one element of Tartan every day, even something simple, like a scarf or a pair of tights, I've definitely embraced my imaginary inner Scot (I'm not even Scottish...).   Here are some of my favourite tartan items:

It's a trend I'm pretty sure, seems to be going nowhere for a while, so get your tartan on!

Elf cosmetics review.

Hello, today I'm blogging about one of my latest discoveries, ELF makeup! Now I'd heard of ELF before, but never actually experimented/even knew where to buy it from, so when my lovely friend Florence told me one had opened in Cardiff, I was thrilled!

The shop literally looks like a professional makeup studio, honestly thought the products looked just as high end as a brand like NARS, but with the high street price tag, win!  The staff were very friendly, and just the correct amount of helpfulness, I hate those kind of shops that you go into, and you get dived on, with people trying to apply products to your face, or sell you something that costs like £100 (because I obviously just spend that on the off chance...).  Anyway, the staff were lovely, and gave me the help I asked for, but weren't in the slightest way pushy, which is always a plus point when I'm discovering new stores, I like friendly assistants.  

Onto the actual makeup! Firstly, the price is amazing. I had all of the above for under £20, which is very good, I couldn't even get one thing for that in NARS. I also think the packaging looks very high end, and professional, which gives the brand even bigger brownie points.

What I bought was:

• ELF eyelid primer - £1.50
• ELF blush in "Tickled Pink" - £3.75
• ELF single eyeshadow in "Pebble"- £3.75
• ELF tone correcting power - £3.75
• ELF power brush - £3.75  

I also discovered numerous other things that I didn't even know EXISTED in the makeup world, such as green face primer, and so many other things. I cannot wait to try more of their products, and I think it's my favourite cosmetic discovery of late!

Style crush of the week.

I love love love Alexa Chung's quirky style, I love her vintage/indie, yet classic twist she puts on things, especially her cute tea dresses, brogues and peter pan collars!