What I Learned in 2015

 

The big 2016 is upon us, and tonight's celebration preparations are well under way - it's NYE, and what better way to celebrate than reminiscing over lessons learned in the past 12 months. It's been a crazy one, filled with heartbreak and happiness, and I can't believe how different I am to the girl that began 2015 naively. I did one of these posts last year if you want to check it out here.

 

1. Nothing calms the soul like a to-do list.

Literally if I'm having a crazy or stressful day, there is no better remedy than taking a few minutes, grabbing a hot chocolate and a notebook, and jotting down everything that needs to be done. The first time I did this I was super anxious about some exams and when I was going to fit time in to study everything, but I wrote it all down, sectioned it into times and days, and voila! A solution was born. Plus, is there a better feeling than looking at your list and being able to check off a few boxes? I don't think so.

 

2. You don't belong in just one box, and evolving is not a bit deal.

This one is slightly tricky to explain, but I'll attempt anyway. I think sometimes you reach a point where you feel a bit trapped; there's nowhere else to go in the current circle you're running in, and you have to make a change (however big or small) to find some peace of mind. It could be the colour of your hair, the sports you play, your friendships - I think I've learned that its completely fine to change things, as long as you take consideration when doing so. Once you've made the change, there's nothing to say that you can't go back either. We can dabble in so many different things without being restricted to just one or two. Expand your mind, and expand your horizons!

 

3. Nude lipsticks are dabomb.com

2015 has definitely been the year where I've moved on from dark lips (although I still love them, don't you worry), and onto the nudes. I adore them, and have spent a lot of $$$ this year picking them up wherever I go. My current favourites are the brown nudes from MAC and NYX, particularly 'Spirit' and 'Abu Dhabi'; I just find them perfect because there isn't as much fear of smudging, and they look downplayed and classy with a heavy eye makeup look.

 

4. Retainers come in a protective case for a reason.

I sat on mine. Explanation not needed. Big orthodontist bills to come.

 

5. Loving someone means nothing if they treat you badly.

I want to knock myself over the head with an umbrella when I think about some of the bad choices I've made this year. Just because someone says the three little words that every gal dreams of hearing, it doesn't automatically make you some kind of mindless robot that has to obey every wish that they command (you ain't no genie, you're a strong independent woman). Have you ever seen that quote that says "If he's making you cry all the time, you have to question whether you're dating a human or an onion"? If he's an onion - BOLT. If he says he loves you but constantly puts you down, or doesn't treat you the way you deserve to be treated, then it isn't the kind of love you need to be looking for. You deserve a partner that brings you toast when you're hung-over, who takes ridiculous selfies with you because he knows you secretly love it, and who shows you that they love you instead of just saying it like its a chore. Phewf - rant over.

 

6. Honey mustard dip is really something else.

Last year I harped on about BBQ sauce, now I've discovered honey mustard and my life has changed indefinitely. So nice, I can't even put it into words. Fave combos = honey mustard and pizza crusts, honey mustard and chicken strips, honey mustard and everything ever.

 

7. Sleep and water are hella important.

I've been taking care of myself so much better in the latter half of 2015; drinking about 2-2.5 litres of water per day has cleared up my skin, helped me to feel much more awake, and just in general resulted in me feeling better about myself. I've also been sleeping a lot more, which has lead to a definite increase in productivity and less-grumpy me (pretty sure all my family are thankful for this change as well.) It's almost time to board the train to adulthood, and since my parents no longer place drinks in front of me and give me a strict bedtime, I have to take control of the wheel and make sure my body is healthy and ready to take on 2016 (are you feeling motivated yet?)

 

8. Life in polaroids looks so much cuter.

One of my favourite things about my bedroom is the wall of polaroids I've taken this year with my instax mini. There's something so special about the little photos, and knowing that they're completely unique and not just a 100th copy from a digital camera. The apps that let you print polaroids from your phone are great as well - I'm honestly swimming in polaroid photos from the amount I've taken and printed off this year!

 

What lessons have you learned this year? Happy New Years Eve everyone!

 

Em xo



My Most Popular posts of 2015

2015 is nearly over, and I thought it was fitting to look back through a year of posts and see which ones were a hit. It surprised me how few fashion posts were in the top viewed, and its clear that lifestyle is the overwhelming winner of the top ten overall! I'll start with the least popular (of the ten), and work my way down to the most popular, to build up the anticipation and all that jazz.

10. 22 Lessons I Learned Through Blogging
The title for this one is pretty self explanatory - I feel like I've grown, and learnt a heck of a lot since I started blogging, so I decided to list it all in a post, and it went down pretty well! I guess its something we can all relate to; whether its a beauty hack, a bargain online store, a way to alter the quality of our photos - we've all learnt new things, right?

9. My London #Vlogpost
I took a November trip to London with my gal pals to celebrate some 18ths, and it was the cutest/most festive weekend I've ever embarked on. Ice skating, pizza and shopping always equate to a fab time, me thinks.

8. 13 Reasons to Be Excited About Autumn
For the seasonal enthusiasts among us, I grouped together the best parts of 'Fall'. Definitely the best season, and coincidentally, also one of my most popular posts (I think this is actually my post with the highest number of comments!)

7. NWMeet Goodies
In September I went to my first ever blogger event, and brought back a ton of generously given goodies. This post was basically a haul from that event, featuring lots of well known brands and some amazing treats *heart eyes*, including a light up letter 'E', a tarte mascara, and some Smith's Cult nail polishes.

6. NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams 
These babies have fast become my go-to lip product, I absolutely love them and in this post I wrote about first impressions and the three that I purchased. My collection has since grown and I reach for these everyday - if you're thinking about biting the bullet and picking out a few, this post is the one for you.

5. DIY Drinks
Oh my gosh did I enjoy writing and making the drinks for this post. I love experimenting with different flavours within drinks, and in this post I made a Cinnamon Roll White Hot Chocolate and a Caramel Apple Cider Float. These honestly taste out of this world (in particular the hot chocolate) - and revisiting this post has reminded me that I need to make these again!

4. NWMeet Experience
Another event post was popular, this time a general one about the experience as a whole, which was a overwhelmingly positive one. I'm a bit of a scaredy-cat when it comes to meeting new people and going to events without anyone familiar by my side, but I had the best time and made friends with the loveliest people. I'm glad I built up the nerve to go to NWMeet as it has majorly shaped my outlook as a blogger - thanks to Katy and Sam for organising!

3. VS Perfume Crayons Review
This is SUCH a random post to come in third - basically a review of some Victoria's Secret perfume sticks that I bought in Duty Free this Summer and absolutely loved. Despite the expensive prices for VS fragrance (although the crayons were quite cheap), I do genuinely think that they're worth it, since they smell so good.

2. Badlands by Halsey
I'm relieved that my first music review went down well! I was nervous to publish this one, but luckily feedback was great, and I feel encouraged that if I ever find an album that I fall in love with as much as this one, I can take to the interwebs to gush over it again.

1. Blogs to Watch Out For 
Who doesn't love a little bit of blog lovin' (pardon the accidental bloglovin' pun)? I wasn't surprised to see that this was my most popular post, since this is one of my favourite types to read - I love to see bloggers bringing each other up and spreading the compliments all over the show! I'm thinking about doing another one of these soon, and featuring five more blogs that I've been reading a lot.

Such a mixed bag of posts - do you ever look at your most popular posts, and if so, do they shock you?
Cheers to another year of blogging, and may it forever continue!

Em xo

What I Got For Christmas





 

I'm finally getting my 'What I Got For Christmas' post up! I was so lucky this year to be given such wonderful gifts, but honestly although I appreciate everything I was gifted, the best part of Christmas this year was being surrounded by my favourite people and feeling genuinely happy. Obviously (sorry to add in the cliché comment) I'm not bragging in the slightest, I just wanted to post it since I've enjoyed reading everyone else's, and also to take the opportunity to use my marble background for the first time.

 

My main gift from my parents was the outfit which I posted about here, consisting of a pair of black thigh high suede boots, a burgundy corduroy button-up skirt, and a velvet top. I went shopping with my Mum in early December to pick out the outfit, and I'm so excited to wear it again - I love it!

 



 

One gift I was so happy to receive from Santa was the 'Boudoir Eyes' eye shadow palette from TooFaced, which has been on my wishlist for a looong time. The shades are lovely, but I'm sure I'll do a post on it in the future once I've got to grips with how to utilise the colour combinations. My sister got me this 'Sugar Cookie' Baby Lips which she had heard me talk about obsessively once I knew that it existed, and in my stocking I got a set of Little Miss Princess magnetic bookmarks.

 

Harry got me this cute raspberry Frappuccino Starbucks phone case - I put it on my phone straight away! I got a couple of bottles of 'Whipped Clean' by Soap and Glory; my favourite shower cream EVER. I always stock up at Christmas because it's the luxury item I would never buy myself, but appreciate millions when other people buy it for me. Chocolate and sweets are overflowing in my house at the moment following the festive season, but by far the most interesting packet I found in my stocking was this little bag of Skittles - Dessert flavoured! I've never tasted these before, but I'm super excited to try them. 

 

 

Coincidentally, I saw these Christmas Popbands in Hallmark a while back and loved them, and without mentioning it to anyone these appeared in my stocking on Christmas day (Santa really must be magic!) They're so cute and I've already worn the red one, but to be honest I enjoy wearing them on my wrist as a bracelet just as much as I enjoy using them as a hair tie. As a surprise gift I received Benetint, a product I've been coveting for a good couple of years now. I didn't know what to expect when I first used it, but its even better than I expected. I was gifted two different Pandora charms for my bracelet; a little Rudolph from my Dad, and a beautiful purple sparkly charm from Harry, which is just the most pretty charm I've ever seen! 

 

The last of my gifts I wanted to show you are some of my favourites. This black and gold starry notebook is super cute (gotta love a good notebook am I right or am I right), and goes so well in this photo with this Xmas themed body mist from Victoria's Secret Pink. It's a very sweet smell, but I love it and have worn it every day since I got it. Lastly, I got this instax mini frame from Urban Outfitters, another stocking filler that appeared, despite me not mentioning it to anyone but secretly wanting! It fits a polaroid photo inside, and when you shake the frame silver glitter falls over the photo. LOVE.

 

I'm so grateful for all of these things, which were so well thought about and suit me to a tee.

 

What did you get for Christmas this year?

 

Em xo



Boxing Day OOTD

 

Hi guys!

Every year on boxing day we have a 'second Christmas' with the other side of my family, and I always get an outfit from Santa to wear. I thought I'd do an OOTD, since I've fallen completely in love with this pair of thigh-high black suede boots from Dorothy Perkins.

I remember searching everywhere during the black Friday sales to find a pair for my main Christmas present, but literally every single shop I usually go in was sold out of size 5. Good 'Ol Dottie Ps saved the day.

 

My Velvet stripe top is from Urban Outfitters (because what is a celebration without a little bit of UO to spice it all up) and my burgundy corduroy button-up skirt is from Forever 21. There was an almost identical one in UO and in Brandy Melville, but this one was a fraction of the price and still looks and feels just as lovely.

 



I know I'll get a lot of wear out of each of these gifts - thank you 'Santa'! This is a little sneak peek of my What I Got For Christmas Haul, which I'm planning to post tomorrow but it could be the 29th instead if the lighting is too crappy to take good photos tomorrow. I hope you are all still enjoying time with your family!

Em xo

A Very Merry Christmas (Vlogpost #3)

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you've had a wonderfully sparkly day, that all your festive wishes came true, and that you've spent a heck of a lot of time in great company with your nearest and dearest. I've had such a lovely day, possibly one of the nicest Christmases I've had in years - I'm so thankful for all the effort my Mum puts in to the festive season, it's only this year that I've even slightly been able to appreciate the amount of work that goes into it.

 

I spent the morning dining on tree-shaped marmite crumpets and testing out new makeup, followed by dinner with my closest family and a winter walk which was only made more hilarious by the ridiculous weather and the amount of times my umbrella bent out of shape. I got so many goodies, so I think I'll do a 'what I got for Christmas' post in a few days time, after my 'second' Christmas with other family on the 27th (I don't need to put the cliché bragging disclaimer in do I? You know I wouldn't do that lads.)

 

I apologise for some of the horrific lighting, but one doesn't like to spend too much time getting good lighting on the best day of the year. I was planning on getting this post up tomorrow, but since I'm sat here anyway scoffing a turkey and stuffing sandwich and listening to Chatty Man, I might as well just do it now. What did you spend the festive day doing?



 

 

You guys are so kind, and so I hope you've been treated as well as you deserve this season - let the Christmas festivities continue all week long (even though I'm in work tomorrow, snore!)

 

Em xo

Christmas Traditions

Hi Guys! Ever since I first thought about incorporating Christmas into my December blogging, I knew I wanted to do a post on traditions. It provides endless fascination for me to listen to tales of everyone else's 'typical' Christmas day, and I treasure my own little routine so close to my heart. I'm truly a festive person in the most over the top sense of the word, in some ways I feel as if I spend all year counting down until this special season, my most favourite of them all. I have vivid year 7 memories of pestering my best friends to recount their traditions to me on the way to school in the middle of July - I'm that girl.

For me, Christmas is getting up at 3am and creeping into my sisters bedroom, stocking in hand. With sleepy smiles and excitement we sort through the little collection of hair ties and chocolate, comparing with each other and sometimes having a little snooze before I sneak back into my own room, set the stocking exactly where it was and fall asleep until morning (when we would tactfully pretend we hadn't seen the same hair ties and chocolate just five hours before in the middle of the night.) It's about waiting for Dad to make the mugs of tea before we can enter the living room and see what 'Santa' left us, and then having a competition to see who can drag their present-opening out the longest. The afternoon food-snooze following the Christmas dinner, giggling at the sounds of our grandparents snoring, and watching How to Train Your Dragon and The Polar Express before making a quick turkey sandwich and then getting back to board games and general festive entertainment.

It's odd for me to think that next year I won't have the exact same traditions - a lot of them will be the same, but the majority of advent will be spent somewhere entirely new, with people I haven't even met yet. I know that I'll still be able to bake gingerbread and make Christmas cocktails, but it will be within a totally new crowd - which both scares and excites me a lot. It's even scarier to think that years into the future I'll most likely be hosting a Christmas event of my own (*prays that my husband can cook because I can't even boil an egg*).

I'm not even entirely sure what the point of this post was, but I guess what I want to know is; what are your Christmas traditions? The whacky and the wonderful - I'd truly love to know! Also, how do you feel about evolving traditions? For me, I've always been an apprehensive person about any kind of change; in my mind Christmas exists in this magical, untouchable bubble. When I look back at this post this time next year, what will have changed, and how will I be different (shall we play a game of spot the potential Philosophy student?) It's all scary and its all exciting, but it's still always comforting to know that wherever you end up, and whoever you are or are not with at the time, you can come home at Christmas and be secure in the knowledge that the things about Christmas that really matter will always be there.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Em xo

Make a Statement This Christmas!

 

*Bursts with excitement* GUYS. It's only FIVE sleeps until Christmas hits! I'm so excited and I'm actually prepared for once; cookies have been baked, presents are wrapped and underneath the tree, and Xmas jumpers have been worn. This last few nights are the best of the year, so full of anticipation and festivity - I decided to show you my favourite ways and products that I use to make a statement in the run up to the big day and right up to New Years. Every year since I turned 13 it has been about the red lip, partly because of my Taylor Swift obsession, but mostly because nothing says it's Christmas (and "look how bright my teeth are?!") like a lovely red lipstick.

2015 has also been the year where I've come into my own jewellery-wise. I've experimented with so much dazzle and shine and have finally cut down my collection to the prettiest pieces that sparkle up an outfit and make your confidence last all night (why have I turned into a advertising voice all of a sudden?)

 

The Red Lip:
Although my all time favourite lipsticks come in the form of nudes, I do have a soft spot for the reds and I've spent a lot of $$$ over the years trying to find my favourites. I'm not really a fan of orangey reds since they make my teeth look a little yellow, so I'm all about the blue and purple tones.

• Dragon Girl by Nars. This is my go-to red lip and I am completely in love with it. The crayon shape of the product makes it so easy to apply without looking like MirandaSings, and the blue tone to it makes my teeth look so white, which is always a bonus. It's the priciest out of the 5 though, so beware!
• Wine by Jack Wills. Oh gosh I must have talked about this on the blog a zillion times. I picked this up during the craze of having the trendiest bags (did your school ever have this? You'd literally go into a 'posh' shop like Jack Wills and buy the cheapest thing possible just to have the bag - fanciest PE kit ever all I'm sayin.) for literally £2 and it is here to stay. It's more of a berry red, the exact colour of a deep red wine, and it is the most moisturising lipstick I've ever come across.
• 107 by Kate Moss, the cliché blogger lipstick. Ever since it became a Zoella staple the sales of this lipstick have skyrocketed, and I totally understand the craze! Its pretty much your standard dark red, but the staying power is incredible and for £5.49 its definitely worth a cheeky purchase.
• Hot Passion by Covergirl. I purchased this when I went to LA, and it is AMAZING! It's the only fiery red in my collection, and despite the fact that it isn't a beloved blue tone, it still has a firm place in my make-up drawer. It isn't drying at all and lasts throughout the night - win win!
• Alarm by Rimmel - this is admittedly my least favourite of the five, but that isn't to say that I'm not a fan. It's a dark red, my favourite kind, and is very moisturising, but it does transfer easily to glasses (and to lips if you happen to find yourself under the mistletoe!) and smudges a bit.

 

 

Ah, the statement necklaces in all their glory. I know what you're thinking if you've been a reader for a while... this is where she waffles on and on about CloCloLondon. You know what? You hit that prediction spot on! My favourite statement pieces from their collection is the violet-blue beauty in the top right corner, perfect with a LBD. I'm also a huge fan of the black and gold chunky necklace that featured in my favourites a few weeks ago. The other pieces I always go back to is this simple gold necklace from Primark that honestly, I would say I've worn 100+ times (it goes with everything, literally every outfit), and this delicate silver beaded piece from Accessorise, which is so beautiful and one that I always return to, to spice up a cami or dress.

 

What is your favourite way to make a statement? 

Stay beautiful!

Em xo