The Ultimate Christmas Gift - Prestige Christmas Tradition Hamper Reviewed!

Hey beaut's!

Hands up who's started their Christmas shopping....I finally have! Usually by this time I have most of my Christmas shopping done but I'm quite behind this year, I'm not worrying though as I do have a plan. The most recurring thing that happens when most of us are Christmas shopping is how difficult it is to know what to get everyone, it really is hard isn't it! One thing that I've found to be an absolute winner though is a Christmas hamper! No matter what a Christmas hamper can suit everyone, in fact I think they make the perfect family gift because everyone can tuck in!

Prestige Hampers have absolutely loads of hampers to choose from, whether you want a mix of everything festive, just a cheese hamper, a chocolate hamper, something boozy, vegan, dairy free and even gluten free, they literally have a hamper that anyone and everyone can enjoy which I think is bloody amazing! I went for the Christmas Tradition Hamper* (£54.99) because it's packed to the brim with a great selection of festive food and drink, I'm talking everything from wine to have with your Christmas dinner to yummy chocolate orange biscuits you can leave out for Santa, and theres plenty of festive nibbles that can be put out of the table for everyone to enjoy! All of the yummy treats come beautifully arranged inside a vintage looking Prestige Hampers wooden chest which you can definitely keep and re-use for storage purposes! Personally I think it would make a fab bread bin, I think that's what I'm going to use mine for but obviously the choice is endless!

All of the items included within the hamper are....

Yorkshire Crisps Cheddar and Onion 100g

Luis Felipe Edwards Merlot 37.5 cl

Shortbread House Edinburgh Dark Chocolate and Orange Shortbread 150g

Mrs Bridges Tomato Salsa 100g

Valley Chocolates Milk Chocolate Raisins

Santa's Sack Chocolate Chip and Orange Biscuits 125g

Beech's Luxury Stem Ginger Chocolates

As you can see theres such a great selection of sweet and savoury items within this hamper and I literally cant want to tuck into everything nearer to Christmas! You can find the Prestige Hampers Christmas Tradition Hamper for £54.99 HERE, where you will also be able to fill out message card and select the delivery date you would like. You can also get the hamper sent directly to the person your gifting it to if you like which is a nice option to have!

*This post contains a gifted item, but all opinions are my own!

Festive Degustabox Review + £5 off Discount Code!

Hey beaut's!

I have a subscription box review for you all today but it's a subscription box with a difference.... it contains yummy food and drink, so say hello to Degustabox*. Degustabox works very much like how beauty subscription boxes work, for £12.99 a month (postage included within the £12.99 price) you will receive 10 to 15 surprise food/drink products, many that are completely new to the market! So if your a bit of a foodie like myself and you love subscription boxes your going to love this beaut's!

The shortlist for this months box is:

- NICK'S Coconut Bar £1.45
- Weetabix On The Go Kids £2.99
- Reese's Peanut Butter Snowman £3.00
- Amy's Kitchen Organic Chunky Tomato & Vegetable Soup £1.80
- Emily Veg Crisps Sweet Potato Sticks £1.00
- Jules Destrooper Almond & Belgian Chocolate Thins
- Tabasco Red Pepper Sauce £2.00
- Kallo Organic Vegetable Stock Cubes 
- The Bees Knees Non Alcoholic Sparkling Wine £1.89
- Jack Daniel's Whisky Cola + Light Cola
- Mallow & Marsh Cranberry Marshmallows

Overall I think this months box has a great variety of yummy treats to try, theres everything from Christmas chocolate, warming soups, alcohol for a festive tipple, crisps to snack on, stock cubes to help with festive dinners plus so much more.

If you like the look and sound of Degustabox you can grab your first box for just £7.99 with the code 039DB HERE.

December Beauty Favourites

Hey beaut's!

It's December beauty favourites time.....I still cant quite believe that December and Christmas is nearly over, it went far to quickly for my liking and I'm super sad about it, I think I'm going to cling on to the gold smokey eyes, red lips and glittery nails for a bit longer though he he. Anywhoo onto what I've been loving this month beauty wise!

For nails I've pretty much worn and re-painted my nails with the same two polishes all month long starting with Barry M's Glitter Gelly in Sparkling Ruby, its a gorgeous red glitter shade that has a subtle golden shimmer effect to it, and for my accent nails I've been obsessed with my Barry M Molten Metal Nail Paint in Copper Mine, these two have just gone so well together and have been so festive.

For lips this month I've been loving Rimmels The Only 1 Matte Lipstick in 610 High Flyer for everyday wear and for more of a dramatic festive red lip I've been wearing MAC's Viva Glam I. Speaking of MAC, their Extended Play Giga Black Lash Mascara crept back into my makeup bag this month and I've been obsessed again, it's amazing for precise application and grabs every lash even the tiny hard to reach lashes, I love it!

I know I've featured this in a lot of favourites but Zoella's Hungry Hands is still my favourite hand cream that I've been using daily, I've even got my boyfriend into it too he he, it's just so nourishing and the gingerbread scent is divine.

Skincare wise theres been one stand out product that I've been using a lot that I've actually been buying in bulk because I love it that much and that's Garniers Moisture Bomb Tissue Mask. These masks are super scary but super amazing, their just so good for my dry skin at this time of the year because they are drenched in serum which puts the moisture back in that this cold weather takes out, I love my skin after using one of these bad boys.

Finally for beauty, I've been obsessed with my YSL's Black Opium perfume during December, it's a dark, musky, sexy, warm scent that wears beautifully in the colder months, I love it so much!

I do have one fashion favourite that has snuck into my beauty favourites this month and that's my cute rose gold snowflake necklace from Jewellerybox.co.UK. I have been wearing it so much over the festive season, I just love how delicate it is any anything rose gold gets a huge thumbs up from me he he.  

What have you been loving this month beaut's?? I'd love to know.

Blogmas Day 11 - What's In My December Makeup Bag

Hey beaut's!

It's blogmas day eleven ....During December I always refresh my makeup bag, I like to glam things up a bit adding some more sparkle to my makeup looks and of course getting those red lippies at the ready, so today I thought I would share with you a few things I have recently taken out of my makeup storage and added into my makeup bag!

During the festivities I like to have quite a full coverage, dewy base and by using my Too Faced Born This Way Foundation and my NYX Liquid Illuminator mixed together that's exactly what I get, so those two have gone straight into my makeup bag. For eyes I'm all about glitter and sparkle in December so I've added my Collection Glam Crystals in Funk and my MAC Glitter Pigment in Reflects Bronze, these are both stunning golds that look beautiful on the eyes and add that twinkle that looks super festive. I also cant be without my trusty Charlotte Tilbury Dolce Vita Eyeshadow Palette at this time of year and I use my L'Oreal Super Liner for those big wings which look amazing teamed with a red lip. Talking of red lips I have two favourites at the moment, firstly my MAC Viva Glam I Lipstick and secondly my  Makeup Revolution Rose Gold Lipstick in Red Carpet, these are both gorgeous reds, the MAC one is matte and more of a deeper red and the Makeup Revolution one is a satin finish and more of a post box red, I love them both so much! I cant live without lip balm in my makeup bag at this time of the year, I always pop some on whilst I do my makeup to prep my lips ready for my lipstick and my Burt's Bees lip balm is perfect for this as it's so nourishing. Finally for nails, now I know we don't necessarily keep nail polishes in our makeup bags but I just had to share with you my current favourites that I'm obsessed with, firstly theres Barry M's Gelly Hi Shine nail paint in Sparkling Ruby, this one is a gorgeous red glitter shade that has a subtle golden shimmer effect running through it and the second polish is Ciate's nail polish in Sand Dune which is such a stunning true gold shade, both polishes are super festive.

What are your makeup bag staples at this time of year beaut's? I'd love to know.

Blogmas Day 4 - Christmas Tree Brownie Recipe

Hey beaut's!

It's blogmas day 4 and today I have a baking post for you all, it's no secret that I adore to bake and when I was planning all my blogmas posts I knew I wanted a few yummy Christmas treats to be thrown into the mix so today I have my Christmas Tree Brownies recipe for you all, you can actually find quite a few different variations of this recipe on pinterest but I tweaked it and created something a little easier for me he he. 

What You Will Need For The Brownies

100g Chocolate (plain or milk works well)

100g Butter/Marg

200g Self Raising Flour

200g Sugar (Soft brown sugar works best as it makes a fudgey brownie but caster sugar still works well)

3 Large Eggs

2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder

What You Will Need For The Brownies Icing/Decoration

1 Large Bar of White Chocolate

Green Food Colouring (coloured gels work best)

Christmas Sprinkles of Choice

White Chocolate Stars

Candy Canes

How To - Brownies

1. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a sauce pan over a low heat.

2. Once the chocolate and butter have completely melted turn off the heat and gradually stir in the sugar and eggs, it's best to let your chocolate and butter mixture cool ever so slightly first as you don't want to scramble you eggs.

3. Add the self raising flour and cocoa powder and blend with a hand whizzer until the mixture is completely smooth.

4. Pour the brownie mixture into a greased tin of choice, I actually used two circular cake tins because I thought this would be easier when cutting the triangle tree shapes.

5. Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes on gas mark 4/180C until the top of the brownies are slightly firm on top then let the brownies cool in the tin completely.

How To - Ice/Decorate

1. Once the brownies have completely cooled take them out of the tin and cute into triangle shapes to replicate trees, this is so easy if you have used round cake tins.

2. Once you have lots of triangle 'Christmas Tree' brownies you need to make their little trunks so I just chopped up some candy canes and carefully shoved them into the bottom of the brownies. 

3. To ice the brownies I simply melted a bar of white chocolate in the microwave in 20 second bursts and used green food colouring gel to get my desired green colour, be careful if your using liquid food colouring instead of the gel because if you add too much liquid you can water down the melted chocolates consistency and it will be far too runny to use.

4. Pop your melted-coloured chocolate into a piping bag (I actually used a sandwich bag and just snipped off the corner) and quickly pipe the melted chocolate onto the brownies from left to right, this can be a bit messy so I'd suggest popping all your brownies on greaseproof paper first.

5. After you've piped your melted chocolate onto the brownies add as many sprinkles as you like to act as baubles and top the tree with a little star, I found some white chocolate star sprinkles in Tesco so I just used those and voila!

 These Christmas Tree Brownies where so easy to make and I'm so pleased with how they came out, I actually surprised myself as I thought they where going to be quite difficult but actually they where so much fun to make. I'd definitely suggest giving these a whirl over the festive season, their easy, look great and taste incredible.

What will you be baking over the festive season beaut's? I'd love to know!

Zoella Gingerbread Village Candle Review

Hey beaut's!

When Zoella announced her lifestyle collection was going to contain candles I couldn't wait for it all to be released, you all know I'm a crazy candle lady after all. Out of all the candle scents Zoella launched there was one that really stood out to me and I just knew I had to have it straight away, that candle being Gingerbread Village! 

Zoella's Gingerbread Village Candle is actually a Superdrug exclusive and carries the same scent as Zoella's gingerbread Christmas Collection. If your into your sweet and spicy scents then this candle will definitely be for you, it contains fragrant scents of ginger, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and oh my it literally fills my house with that 'gingerbread men baking in the oven' scent, it's divine! Packaging wise....The candle itself comes in a weighty glass tumbler style jar which I really like, it matches the decor in my house perfectly and I'm so happy that this collection seems slightly more grown up than her other existing collections. 

Overall I'm so happy I picked this little beauty up, it's everything I want from a candle at this time of year and more, it's sweet, spicy, warming, has an amazing scent throw that fills my entire house within minutes and of course it makes the room I'm burning it in feel all cosy, it's definitly an Autumn and Winter essential in my opinion! I also think this candle in particular would make an amazing Christmas gift because it's so festive and would work well as either a stocking filler or as a secret Santa prezzie! 

You can buy the Zoella Gingerbread Village Candle on the Superdrug website for £10.00 HERE.

Christmas Movies That I Love! ♥

Hey beaut's!

Arhhh it's "the most wonderful time of the yearrrr" and it's fair to say that I'm super excited, I actually love the built up to Christmas as much as love Christmas Day itself ha ha. One thing that I really enjoy doing during the lead up to Christmas is watching all the festive movies, me and my boyfriend have always been big movies lovers ( we love a good ole movie night in with lots of treats, we do) but movie nights get even better when Christmas movies are involved and you can get all cosy and snuggled up whilst it's chilly and dark outside, so today I thought I'd share with you all SOME of my absolute favourites....

 1 & 2 - Home Alone 1 and 2 have been all time favourites of mine ever since I was little, I love them as much now as I did when I was growing up and still watch them over and over during the run up to Christmas, in fact I started watching them in September this year ( I just couldn't wait any longer he he). 

 3 - Arthur Christmas is amazing and became a favourite of mine from the very first time I saw it. Basically Santa misses a child, yup that's right he misses a child, he may have an army of one million combat-style Field Elves and a vast, state-of-the-art control centre under the ice of the North Pole, but how on earth could this incredible operation have MISSED one child?! Well, Santa's son Arthur, retired Grandsanta, a cute elf, an old sleigh and some untrained reindeer, set out on a crazy mission to deliver the last present to the missed child! It's cute, funny and definitely a Christmas classic!

4 - Elf is just amazing.... “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.” ,“I just like to smile. Smiling’s my favourite.”  Buddy's one liners and the things he does just cracks me up but if there’s one thing Buddy the Elf has taught us, it’s to enjoy the simple pleasures in life. This includes candy, candy canes, candy corn and syrup. He’s also all about spreading the Christmas cheer through smiles and singing, bless him.

5 - The Santa Clause is another absolute classic that I've loved since I was little. Tim Allen plays Scott Calvin who's a total scrooge and general misery when it comes to Christmas but is soon forced to take over the job of Santa Claus when he and his son Charlie witness the previous Santa Claus falling off a roof. There is actually a second and third Santa Claus which I do like but the original is my favourite.

6 - Love Actually... Arhhh romance, comedy and Christmas all in one film, now that's my kind of film ha ha. Love Actually explores the ups and downs of relationships in the weeks building up to Christmas, I just love it!

7 - Frozen isn't really a Christmas movie as such but with all the ice and snow it has a definite wintry feel and lets face it, it's an absolute corker of a film and the soundtrack ain't half bad either.

8 - The Grinch actually used to scare me when I was little and I never really got into it until a few years back but now I love it! It isn't your average, cheery Christmas movie as the Grinch hates happiness and hates Christmas and plans to steal all the decorations and all the presents from the town Whoville, but it's definitely one to watch at this time of year.

And there you have it beaut's, a few Christmas movies that I love! I could go on and on when it comes to festive movies but I have restrained myself some what he he.

What are your favourite Christmas movies?? I'd love to know!

Party Season Must Haves 2015! ♥

Hey beaut's!

Today I thought I'd talk about all things partyyyyyy! Yup... the festive season is upon us and it's time to get all glamed up for those Christmas parties. There's something so nice about going to Christmas/New Year's parties isnt there, I just love the fact that everything is all sparkly and covered in sequins, it literally takes glitz and glam to whole nother level which I absolutely love, so today Ive picked out a few of my favourite things fashion and beauty related for the party season!

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream £5.50 / Rose Gold Fine Vertical Triangle Ring £2.99 / River Island Black Glittery Box Clutch £40.00 / Plunge Fringe Sequin Mini Dress by Rare at Topshop £59.00 / Urban Decay Naked Palette £38.00 / Mac Cosmetic Pro Longwear Foundation / Cadence Platform Heels in Black Faux Suede by Public Desire £30.00 / Nails Inc Shake Me To Paint Me in Snowglobe £15.00 / Eyelure Party Lashes Snow Princess £6.95 / Models Own Colour Chrome Nail Polish in Copper £4.99 / Collection Contour Kit £4.19 / L Oréal Paris Colour Riche Collection Exclusive Red Lipstick

And there you have it beaut's, just a few of my Party Season Must Haves... What are yours?? I'd love to know.

Yankee Candle Simply Home 'Merry Berry' Review ♥

Hey beaut's!

A little while back I bought a selection of Simply Home Yankee Candles from Asda, I'm not really sure what the difference is between the original Yankee Candles and the Simply Home range is, they seem to be a bit cheaper which is always good and have a different range of gorgeous scent's which now include some festive/Christmas scents so of course I just had to buy a few.

The first festive 'simply home' votive I set my eyes on was Merry Berry , I'm a huge lover of berry scents and the fact this has a festive twang got me super excited so I just had to have it. As the name would suggest Merry Berry smells quite strongly of winter berries mixed with some spice which really adds a subtle touch of warmth which I love in candles at this time of year. The scent throw of Merry Berry is quite strong and fills my house quite rapidly, even though it is quite a strong scent I don't find it overpowering at all it's just very noticeable and very festive.

All of the Yankee Candle votive/samplers claim to provides up to 15 hours of fragrance, I find that Merry Berry is the type of candle you could burn for an hour or so then you could easily blow it out and be left with the scent lingering for hours which is so nice and means you get lots of uses out of it which is always a bonus. Overall Merry Berry is an absolute hit with me and I would highly recommend it if you love the smell of winter berries and spice.

Have you tried any of the Yankee Candle Simply Home candles?? What's your favourite?? I'd love to know beaut's!


Don't forget to to enter my GIVEAWAY to be in with a chance of winning a Halloween Candle Bundle! Click HERE to enter!

Yankee Candle NEW 'Cosy By The Fire' Votive Review ♥

Hey beaut's!

Yankee Candle have recently launched lots of new scents for Autumn and Winter 2015 so of course being the Yankee Candle lover that I am I just had to go and stock up. I quickly made my way over to my local garden centre which has a huge range of Yankee Candle's and found that all of their Autumn and  Christmas scents where out and my goodness they look amazing this year so I treated myself to a couple.

One of the first votives I set my eyes on was Cosy By The Fire which is a brand new scent for the Yankee Candle Christmas collection. The scent of Cosy By The Fire is described as 'A warm mix of ginger, clove, and orange combines with woody notes to give the snap of a crackling fire and the comfort of a hot aromatic drink beside it', now doesn't that sound so Autumnal and festive, even the picture on the front of the wrapper makes me feel all warm and cosy he he. I definitely get a warm, cosy vibe when I first light Cosy By The Fire and the ginger, clove and woody notes definitely come through, I also oddly get a slight fresh Christmas tree smell from this too, its not strong but the pine needle fragrance is definitely there. The scent throw for Cosy By The Fire I'd say is medium which is perfect for me, it quickly fills the house with it's warming festive scent and lingers for hours without being overpowering at all. Overall I really enjoyed this new scent from Yankee Candle and would highly recommend it to anyone who likes the really tradition festive scents such as the ginger, cloves, oranges, cinnamon and pine needle.

All the Yankee Candle votive/samplers claim to provides up to 15 hours of fragrance and Cosy By The Fire certainly lasted really well, I think because the scent really lingers you don't have to keep it alight for so long so you can certainly get a good few uses out of it that's for sure.


Will you be buying any of the NEW festive Yankee Candles this year?? Let me know beaut's!

Don't forget to to enter my GIVEAWAY to be in with a chance of winning a Halloween Candle Bundle! Click HERE to enter!

Essie Review | Autumnal Nails ♥

Hey beaut's!

As Autumn/Fall approaches its the perfect time to switch things up in your makeup and nail polish stash, gone are the days of pastel pinks and neon oranges, it's time to get those berry hues back out! I recently came across the perfect nail polish duo on the nailpolish.co.uk website that I think are going to be my staple/go to nail polish look throughout Autumn and going into Christmas. 

The first shade I picked was Essie's Thigh High* (£5.95) this is a gorgeous deep maroon red with a subtle, almost metallic shimmer effect finish, it's the perfect shade to wear throughout the Autumn/Winter months and in my opinion it's absolutely stunning. In terms of application Thigh High goes on evenly with no streaks or bubbling and is completely opaque with just two coats, the slight metallic finish makes the nails appear really glossy too which I really like. As for lasting power.... Thigh High didn't chip on me as such but it did start to wear/fade at the very ends of my nails after around 3 days, this was with no top coat at all so it's quite impressive really.

The second shade I chose had to be a glitter shade as I do love me some sparkle he he, and when I saw Essie's Summit Of Style* (£5.95) I just knew it had to be mine and would go with Thigh High perfectly. Summit Of Style is a stunning antique goldish/bronzish glitter top coat from Essie's Luxeffects range, it contains large hex shaped glitters and smaller flecks that are suspended in a clear base making it the perfect shade to use on your accent nails or as a sparkly top coat. I was expecting Summit Of Style to be quite difficult to apply because of the different sized glitters but actually it went on very well, you can even create a beautiful ombre effect on your nails with this shade too which I think looks so pretty, arrhhh I love it so much! 

Overall I'm absolutely chuffed with these two Essie nail polishes, they'll certainly see me through the Autumn/Winter months and I think adding the touch of glitter makes your nails not only look super pretty but so glam to, I'm going to get loads of use out of Summit Of Style during the festive season too, I'm already thinking of Christmas party nails ha ha. I'd highly recommend checking out the Nail Polish website too if your looking for higher end nail polishes that are slightly cheaper, the website offers over 1,000 colours and 100 treatments and are always adding exciting new products, brands and collections (with some huge brands being added in the next couple of months so I hear!) so it's definitely worth a look.

What are your favourite Autumnal nail polish shades beaut's?? I'd love to know.

NOTD | My Christmas Nails ♥

Hey beaut's!

I have a festive NOTD post for you all today, I thought I would share with you all how I have currently painted my nails ready for Christmas Day!

I started off by using the Essence Colour & Go nail polish in the shade Do You Speak Love, I actually received this in my December Glossybox recently and thought it would make the perfect base shade for my glitter polishes that I wanted to use. I then applied a thick coat of Barry M's Red Glitter, I absolutely love this nail polish, to me it's like Christmas in a bottle, my pictures do it no justice as it's so twinkly and sparkly in person. To finish off my Christmasy nails I wanted to add something on my accent nail so of course it had to be more glitter ha ha, I opted for Barry M's Jingle Bells which is just crammed full of little gold stars, gold hex glitters, red glitter flakes, gold flakes and minute gold glitters.

Overall I absolutely love how my Christmas nail turned out! What will you be wearing on your nails this Christmas beaut's? I'd love to know.

  

Appleyard London | Christmas Ruby Bouquet + 40% Discount Code

Hey beaut's!

Christmas is now well and truly around the corner so its time to get those decorations up and play around with that home decor and a great way to incorporate something festive in the home at this time of year other than Christmas decorations is a beautiful Christmas bouquet. I constantly have flowers in my house all year round but I particularly like the colours of flowers during this Winter/Festive season, I just love the deep reds and the forest greens, arrhhh sooo stunning!

Today I have a pretty amazing bouquet to share with you all from the lovelies over at Appleyard London, they have array of bouquets to suit any season and occasion and I instantly fell in love with their Christmas Ruby Bouquet* (£39.99) when I saw it. The bouquet arrived in a large, well padded upright box which I thought was great, not a single flower or even a leaf was out of place or damaged, they where also beautifully wrapped which certainly makes them look that extra bit special, especially if your gifting someone a bouquet and come complete with care instructions so you can get the most out of your bouquet. 
 

The Christmas Ruby Bouquet is available in 2 sizes, Standard which is the size I have and Extra Large, I think its nice to have the option of the 2 sizes, with the Standard option you get 1x Red Oriental Lily, 4x Grand Prix Rose, 3x Purple Eustoma, 3x Black Calla Lily, 3x Red Hypericum Berry, 3x Gold Eucalyptus, 3x Hard Ruscus and with the Extra Large you get 3x Red Oriental Lily, 8x Grand Prix Rose, 5x Purple Eustoma, 5x Black Calla Lily, 6x Red Hypericum Berry, 3x Gold Eucalyptus, 3x Hard Ruscus. Personally I think the Standard size is lovely but if you really want to impress, wow and woo someone then you just have to got for the Extra Large don't you he he. I have to add that the bouquet not only looks amazing but smells amazing too, I close my lounge door in the evening so my pooch doesn't get up to no good and when I open the door in the morning the smell is just divine, arrhhhh.

The delivery of this bouquet came insanely quick, I'm talking the next day at 8.30am quick! I love that Appleyard make it so easy to deliver and send the bouquets, you can add a personal message and select the exact date you wish you flowers to be delivered on, even on Christmas Eve, so if your thinking of buying your Mum or Gran some beautiful flowers at Christmas then Appleyard London have everything covered for you.

Appleyard London have kindly given me a discount code to share with you all today for an amazing 40% off a bouquet of your choice (The only bouquets exempt from the discount is the 'Flowers By Post' range, but this is a very small range) Your 40% discount code is BLOG40 .

Will you be buying a Christmas bouquet this year beaut's? I'd love to know!