Five Good Things

One.
Being given money to go choose your own Christmas presents from older relatives. I got loads of stuff for myself today the my grandparents are wrapping up and keeping me for Christmas, I still get suprises from my parents and my boyfriend, so its good to know that I'm getting stuff I want and need as well as suprises. Beats getting stuff you dont really like and having to do the fake "Thankyou I love it!" smile. Everyones a winner.

Two.
Saying Happy Chrismukkah and fellow fans of The OC lighting up at the memory of Seth Cohen.

Three.
Good make-up, clothes and hair days when you run into a certain someone in town who you just don't want to look like crap in front of, even if it is all in the past. You girls know what I mean. Its just a good feeling.

Four.
Recieving Christmas cards, proving its the thought that counts, I love getting and giving cards.

Five.
My advent candle is getting smaller by the day and its a cute kinda stumpy size now, which can only mean its getting closer and closer to Santy coming!

Can you tell I'm in total Christmas mode now?

xoxo



30 Day Challenge: Day 25

Today asks for a photo of my favourite shows. As it said shows, and not just one show I see this as an oppourtunity to put a few of my favourites instead of just one.

Anyone who has ever met me knows this is by miles my favourite show ever. I just can't get enough of it, I feel as though I'm best friends with the four girls.

I must have watched the boxsets about five times all the way through from beginning to end. I know its cheesy American drama but its soooo good. I am in love with Seth Cohen, and will marry him one day :)

Its pretty goofy I guess but I really enjoy Scrubs. My boyfriend used to watch it all the time and thats what got my into it. I like how its got the silly comedy parts but lots of the episodes have kind of a moral to them and can get quite deep and emotional too. I love all the characters, Dr Cox is hilarious, and people tell me Im like Elliot in every single way, and Im not sure if thats a compliment? Not so sure on the recent series, I prefer the orignal cast.

Oh my god, I was actually obsessed with this show. I know its a little controversial, some love it some hate it, but I couldnt get enough of watching the in's and out's of the daily lives of the L.A girls. I know its not really 100% real life, but I like to convince myself it is. It is real in some ways though as the careers the girls were getting into were so real, and all of the fashion side of it was very real and thats what I loved. Also the demise of Heidi was interesting in a wierd way to watch, I blame Spencer. I love Lauren Conrad and Whitney Port, and when they left I sort of lost interest in it, Kristin Cavallari ruins it for me.

And lastly, nothing really needs to be said on this one, everyone loves it, I LOVE Jennifer Aniston, and I wish Chandler was my best friend.

Sorry I babbled so much guys

xoxo

I have....

...found this post on sugar beauty-x and thought I would fill some time while I'm babysitting. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning a baby to blog, the ids are 10 and 13. I think I might do this post each month...

I have been buying - Christmas presents, it is December you know. 

I have been eating at - McDonalds, Toby Carvery and my local pizza place Donnatellos. Oops

I have visited - Middlesbrough, I was visiting some good friends, fabulous.

Best Bargain - fragrancedirect.com, genuine brand aftershaves for Christmas gifts for £10!

I have achieved - not much! Today I put up a Christmas card holder on the wall (yes, I used a drill and it all went well!), wrapped some presents and experimented with my make-up.

I've been listening to - Mumford and Sons, always.

I've been reading - Glamour and FHM, I encouraged my boyfriend to subscribe, best decision ever.

Next month I’m looking forward to - A new start. I say that now, come January 4th I'll be in my same old rut.

Next month I hope to splash some cash on - Myself, gone without new clothes for the past few months, Topshop is painful when I have to spend my money on everyone else. Selfish I know.

xoxo

Haul: Avon

My latest Avon deliver arrived about a week ago, and Ive given myself this time to try out the products before I posted this haul so I can tell you what I think of them rather that just saying "I just bought this, I don't know what its like".


I love the deals you can get in Avon, this time when I spent a certain amount on make-up I recieved a free gift set, the items that I got for free will be in blue italics.


First up, Avon Senses Winter Magic shower gel - currently £1 in a 50% off deal, bargain!

I used this shower gel for the first time this evening, and its nothing short of fabulous as far as shower gels go. It smells delicious, everything Christmas should smell like, spicey and gorgeous. Since I tried Avon's Bead Burst shower gel which promised clean and moisturised skin but left an awful oily coating on my skin, I was unsure whether buying another shower gel was a bad idea. This one has totally restored my faith, I feel squeaky clean and my shower felt rather festive.






Secondly I got the Spotlight Moisturising Shimmer Gel as part of my free gift. I dont think you can buy this on its own, on the website you can only get it as part of the Spotlight gift set with the perfume and some other bits.

Im not sure how to describe the scent, its just perfumy really, and quite floral. I've swatched it on my hand and its nice and sparkly but not too over the top, just a nice sheen. However I've had loads of these kind of things in the past and never really use them, I think I'll jsut be putting it away to give someone as a gift.


When I seen the free gift I noticed the gorgeous "luxe lace" packaging of the Supershock Mascara, and as I have already tried the mascara and loved it I had to spend enough to get it free. Kind of defeating the object I may aswell have just bought it. So I bought the eyeliner and lipstick too...and another cheeky little lipstick just for the hell of it. Heres the luxe lace things I got, bad Hayley for buying based on pretty packaging.

But its worth it as I absolutely love all of them, the Supershock mascara is an old favourite of mine, look at the nice big wand... It really ads volume and length just as well as more expensive mascaras. It currently costs £5, but is normally £8.

I bought the luxe lace lipstick for £5.00 in Instant Mocha to make the full set, I'm a little OCD like that...and I got one of the Mega Impact lipsticks in Really Rosy for £8.00, just out of curiosity because of the shape.

Theyre both fantastic quality and theyre really smooth and creamy. They leave a colour stain for ages but they do need reapplied every so often, but hey I wasnt expecting miracles. Instant Mocha is a great everyday colour for me, I'm not much of a "nude girl" and this is just a nice happy medium between nude and bright I think. Really Rosy is brighter than my usual lipstick, but I'm giving it a go and I'm liking it. Its more suited for an evening as its a nice reddy pink, I'll definately be putting it to good use.

Left-Right, Supershock Gel Eyeliner, Mega Impact Really Rosy, Luxe Lace Instant Mocha

Instant Mocha, photographs more orangey than it is in real life, its not "mocha-ish", more browny. Really rosy is pretty true to life. I dont know what I thought a swatch of the eyeliner would should, apart from its my new favourite eyeliner by miles, this swatch was from one light swipe up and down and it goes on jsut like that, a dream. It stays on forever, and its just amazing. Love it!


I also got the Nailwear Pro nail varnish in my free gift. I wont got too much into that as I just did a post on it in my latest NOTD post. I do quite like the colour, and I'm glad I got in in my gift as I would'nt have bought it normally on its own. The picture isn't very good, its a really pearly lilacy colour in real life.

Overall a rather successful haul I think :) Congrats if you actually made it this far through my babblings!

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Day 24

I went on a search through my facebook albums looking for a photo where my hair looks nice in, and really struggled. My hair always jsut looks average, I'm never particularly pleased with it. But I settled on this photo of me and my friends before a night out...

Left-Right: Natalie, Stacey, Me, Caroline.

My hairs nothing special here, just a bit more "groomed" looknig than normally I guess

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Day 23

Today requests my first celebrity crush. I feel as though I was a late bloomer on the boy front when I think back to this. The timings of it all seem to lead to me being around 8 or 9 years old, and I'm sure most of my friends were "in love" with boy bands a good few years before me. Nevermind, these were my huge celebrity crushes, and to be honest they probably still are...

I was obsessed with Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic, Romeo and Juliet and a few years later in The Beach.
Inm not too keen on his fresh faced look and his awful hair in the first too anymore, but I must admit he is still pretty beauitful in the beach. Mmm :)

...Romeo and Juliet

...Titanic

(Bless my little heart haha)

...The Beach ;)

My other obsession that continues still today is for Mr David Beckham. I must admit I've been disgusted by some of his hairstyles, but I still hold a place in my heart for him the same as I did 10 years ago.

Aww, I actually had this on my wall next to my bed.

Its quite possible my little girly crush has spiralled considerably since then...Its okay though, I think my boyfriend fancies him more than I do!

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Day 22

Hmm.. a photo of my favourite city. New York would definately be up there, but saying as I've never been I refuse to choose it. I love Paris and everything about it, but have only been once for 2 days.

Im torn between Newcastle, which is only a 30 minute drive from my house, and London, which I hold very close to my heart. I know Newcastles  not up there with the biggest capital cities of the world or anything, but it feels like home to me I know the ins and outs of every little street and where to get all the best bargains, and wheres nice to relax and have coffee, and where the good nightlife is. I feel as though I can really get the bes tout of this city just by knowing it so well, and for that, I pick Newcastle. Along with the fact I enjoy the Quay Side a bit too much, especially the morning markets on the weekends, just lovely.

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Day 21

I've completely failed this challenge, I am not on Day 24 I believe, and I'm only up to Day 21, got lots of catching up to do!

Day 21 asks for my everyday makeup, and for the last 3 days or so I havnt left the house and have been so ill, so didnt bother with any at all. Today I'm up and about and have managed to trowl some slap on. Sorry for the horrenouds photo, but its all in the spirit fo the challenge. I'm in my nanas house which explains the background, I was in front of the window (I'm not actually this washed out), and theres really no excuse for the state that is my hair. But nevermind, this is my make-up for today, which is pretty basic, and like most other days when I'm not doing anything special.

• L'oreal studio secrets resurfacing primer
• Maybelline dream creamy foundation
• E.L.F blush and bronzer duo compact
• Avon supershock mascara
• Avon supershock gel liner
• Cherry Carmex

So thats it, pretty basic as I was rushed out the door this morning and I'm only just feeling myself again. This photo makes me look worse than I am though, need to fix my camera!

xoxo

Update on me...

Ive been a rather poorly pup, and yes I am very good at feeling sorry for myself. Theres been an awful bug going around and I was unfortunate enough to catch it. Needless to say I havnt left the house for the past few days, and havnt had the energy to ever turn on my laptop.
   But I'm feeling loads better now I think its mostly out of my system, so I came on here to check my blog and I now have 40 followers, YEY! So thankyou to all you beautiful people, I never thought anyone would want to read me blabbering on but there we go :) 40 may not be a lot to others but to me its fantastic so thanks again!

I've just felt in the mood to blog, and went to do the few days of my 30 Day Challenge and the day I'm up to requests a photo of my every day make-up. Well is'nt it typical that this one would land on probably oe of the only days of the whole year when I'm not wearing a scrap of make-up. So that will just have to wait.

I've also got a few hauls I need to blog about which I'm excited about as I've discovered some lovely products that I neeeeeeeeed to share with you all. But the faff on that I go through to upload pictures is a nightmare. I wont bore you, but it basically consists on 2 laptops, a memory card, a memory stick and a card reader, in total taking around half an hour just to get picutres on to my good laptop. To be quite honest, I seriously can't be bothered with that now. But I wil get all caught up tomorrow as I'm sure I'll be right as rain after a good nights sleep.

That was a rather needless blog of nothing, but I do hope you're all having a nice week, and getting there with all the Christmas shopping. Not long now!

xoxo



I'm proud of my little tree...

In the last challenge post I promised to show you all my little tree when I put it up. Well I did it a few hours ago, and every year I always love it, my little bit of girlyness in my boyfriends room. Even though I only have my phone at the minute to take photos I got a bit camera happy....

Lights off

 

Lights on

Sugarplum Fairy

Santa

Snowman

Rudolph

I got these four ornaments from Accessorize a few years ago, they were a bit pricey at around £3-£4 each, but I really love them. The rest of my baubles, lights, tinsel, beads and tree were all very inexpensive from Asda, and probably cost around the same as these four little cuties alone.

My angel! :)

I absolutely love her, isnt she sweet? I also got her from Accessorize and I think she was somewhere between £8 and £12, I'm not too sure. I love all the little detailing on her, like the little sequins on the star she has, and her wooly hair, and all the different materials she's made up from.

I hope you guys enjoy decorating the tree as much as I do. My little one is only 3 foot tall bless it, I still think its really cute though.

xoxo

Santa Baby...#4

Good old St. Nick would really please me if he paid a visit to urban outfitters homeware section then placed a nice little suprise parcel under my tree.

I often find myself googling the site and heading straight to all the gorgeous home accesories. Although I do live at home with the olds, I cant wait to get my own place and express myself around the house in the way I would like to. Heres a few little things that I'd like, but really can't justify spending my own money on...

 Fairest Frame Set - £25.00

Pip Studio Floral Jug - £25.00

Don't have any real need for a jug, its just pretty.

Bunny Ring Holder - £10.00

I could write a huge list of basically the whole stock, but those are my little favourites :)

xoxo

NOTD

This NOTD comes a little late, as I have just removed this polish this morning actually. But here it is anyway, this is Romance from Avons Nailwear Pro range...

This is nothing at all like the kind of colours I go for. I'm normally a deep, warm coloured nails kinda girl. This is quite a frosty cold colour, and I got it free so I just had to try it anyway. It goes on a dream, and is rhas good staying power, with only 2 little chips after 4 days. The picture shows the colour very true to real life, and although its not what I would go for normally I do quite like it. What do you think? Too frosty or is it nice? I cant decide yet.

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Day 20

Day 20...Something I enjoy doing.

Well to keep in with the Christmas spirit which has taken over my life the pas few days I enjoy everything Christmas. Such as wrapping and buying gifts, baking christmas cakes and mince pies, putting up the tree, basically everything.

Ive already put up the trees at my mams house, she has three, its mad, and have done the one for my nana. I live at my boyfriends and I have a little tree to put up in his room just for us but I havnt done this yet because all of his rubbish is lying everywhere, and I dont know what to do with it. So when  finally get that tree up I'll have to show you guys a picture becuase its so little and cute and its mine so I love it :).

xoxo

In and Out

Just a little post, as Im in bed all day ill and cant sleep. *Feels sorry for self* So I just thought I'd do an easy post to keep me occupied, of things that I'm loving and hating right now...

IN

-Hot baths with a Lush bubble bar or Calm One Calm All bubble bath by Soap and Glory

 - My advent candle. A cute take on the whol counting down to Christmas thing. It has 1 - 25 written dwn the side so you burn a bit off each day, the shorter it gets the closer it is to Christmas. Its so cute with snowfales and little teddybears on it, my camera wouldnt pick it up properly though :( . So heres a basic idea of what one is, even though this isnt what mine looks like...

- The game 21 Questions. I got bored sitting with a few friends in our local pub while they were watching the football and made them play it with me. We eneded up sat there for a good few hours playing it. Simple but fantastic.

- Deliveries sat waiting for you when you get home from college, even if it is presents for other people.

- Sweet little independant homeware shops where I want to buy everything there have and mould my own home around it. Something I plan to do when I actually get my own home.

- Taking mother bear to MAC and choosing some longed for items to put away for my Christmas present :)

- Using a hairdryer. Yeh yeh its bad for my hair, but it kills 2 birds with 1 stone by drying it and warming me up all at the same time.

- My new floral wellies. My entire she collection, and my toes, thank them for protecting them against the winter weather.



OUT

- Snowing enough to be awkward and annoying, but not enough for my 8 hours in college to be cancelled tomorrow.

- Missing Loose Women due to college. Oh how I would love to be jobless and watch Loose Women every day. But at least I can see it today, even though I'd much rather be feeling well and have to go out.

- Idiots who throw snowballs off cars. Its not big, and it aint clever.

- AVON Bead Burst shower gel. I should have guessed when I read the description of the bursting beads filled with moisturising oil, that this would leave me feeling like I'd bathed in an oil slick rather than had a real wash. I'll be sticking to Soap and Glory when Ive finished the bottle I think.

- On that note, I hate how I cant just accept defeat when I hate a product and just bin it. I cant bare to waste it so I have to go through using it all up which is rather irritating and usually means using 5 times as much shower gel than I need each time to try and make it go away quicker.


Sorry this turned into a big long rant about nothing, I jsut wanted to post something and didnt have the resources to go taking photos and reviewing things right this minute

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Day 19

Day 19....My dream car. I'm not very in to cars, I dont know all the different types and models or whatever. But what I do know is I NEED this...

A white Audi TT Roadster Convertible. A girl can always dream.

xoxo

Beauty Questions

Apologies for the crappy blogging recently. I've been very busy indeed and have barely even been able to squeeze in time to complete my daily challenege posts. Which I must admit have become slightly tiresome, but I wont give up! Ive found a spare minute but had nothing prepared in the way of photos or anything so I thought I could pop in this little questionnaire style post...


SKINCARE


-How many times do you wash your face daily?
Once. Either morning or night depending on when I'm showering. Its bad I know, but I always still use a face wipe and toner on the opposite time when I'm not washing it properly, if that makes any sense.


-What skin type do you have?
Combination, I get some blocked pores and oily t-zone, but dry patches often around my eyebrows and jawline, is that wierd?


-What is your current facial wash?
Neutrogena Ppink Grapefruit Daily Facial Scrub, it smells so good and fruity and is a really cute pink colour :) it works well too


-Do you exfoliate?
Well my cleanser at the minute is a daily scrub, but i dont really scrub too hard with it most days. When I really want to exfoliate I have a mitt from The Body Shop which is amazing at exfoliating my face.


-What brand do you use?
Usually neutrogena.


-What moisturiser do you use?
Clinique Dramatically Different Lotion


-Do you have freckles?
No


-Do you use eye cream?
Nope, naughty Hayley.


-Do you or did you have acne prone skin?
I used to have really bad acne, espcially on my back, and nothing I did and nothing the Doctor gave me made any difference. I jsut had to wait it out...and gradually it has mostly gone. I still get the odd spot here and there but nothing like it was before.


MAKE-UP


-What foundation do you use?
Maybelliene Dream Creamy foundation


-How about concealer?
I dont use one most days


-Do you know your undertone colour?
Im unsure, I cant really tell sometimes i think im pinky and other times it looks more yellow.


-What do you think of fake eyelashes?
Love them if theyre good ones, some of them can look too fake and theyre just gross.


-Did you know that you are supposed to change your mascara every 3 months?
Yep, I dont really follow this rule oops!


-What brand of mascara do you use?
Maxfactor False Lash Effect


-Sephora or MAC?
MAC.


-Do you have a MAC Pro-card?
No


-What makeup tools do you use in make up application?
Brushes, and sometimes sponge tip applicators for packing on eyeshadows. Often I use my fingers to aply my foundation, I think they help it blend better than a brush


-Do you use make-up base/primer for the eyes?
Yep, Loreal Studio Secrets Smoothing and Resurfacing Primer and Benefits Lemon Aid Eyelid primer


-What is your favourite eye shadow (colour or shade)?
Right now, Woodwinked and All That Glitters by MAC


-Do you use pencil or liquid eyeliner?
Pencil


-How often do you poke your eyes with an eyeliner pencil?
Not all that often


-What do you think of pigment eye shadows?
Gorgeous, the mess is worth it.


-Do you use mineral makeup?
Yreh but Im not fanatical about it, if I like it and it happens to be mineral then I'll get it


-What is your favorite lipstick?
Cant decide!


-How about lip gloss?
Avons pout plumping one that makes your lips tingle, not sure of its real title but I lov eit in the colour Nectar.


-What is your favourite blush to use?
At the minute Im really just using my contouring blush and bronzer duo from E.L.F and I find the blush in that is really nice.


-Do you buy your makeup on eBay?
Too many rip-off bad experiences. Learnt from ym mistakes


-Do you like drugstore makeup?
Yep


-Are you clumsy in putting on makeup?
Nah Im quite good with it
-Name a makeup crime that you hate?
Over orange and/or streaky fake tan. Oompa Loopma is never good.


-Which celebrity always has great make up?
Gunna be obvious and go with Kim Kardashian, i want to look like her if Im honest.


-If you could leave the house using just ONE make up item, what would you use?
Mascara


-Could you ever leave the house without any makeup on?
Yeh, but I prefer not to, I feel like Im a mess without at least something.


-Do you think you look good even without any makeup on?
I think I look the same with or without it, the make-up just enhances wha Ive got. Cheesy?


-In your opinion, what is the BEST makeup line?
Cant pick just one, I like different brands for different items

30 Day Challenge: Day 18

A photo of your dream wedding. This is a tough one. Ive always struggled to think of what would be my poerfect wedding. I love the thoughts of going away to an exotic beach and having it there, but I also love the thought of a beautiful British wedding in a big old castle or stately home. Yeh, I dont want much do I!

What I do know is I want all of my friends and family around me, I couldnt bare to do the whole eloping to Vegas thing and coming back with a ring on my finger. It needs to be planned in every single detail for ages up until the big day. I would be the ultimate Bridezilla haha.

As far as wedding dresses go I think this is pretty amazing, although I don't know f I would suit it.

Haha, my boyfriend will get so freaked out if he reads this post!

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Day 17

Hmm my guilty pleasure...easy peasy. Ok so its cheesy, and horrendous in everyway and everything about it just scream"Hayley, you will HATE this". But for some reason, I absolutely love it. Ii think this will be a lot of peoples secret pleasure....just people are too scared to admit to it.

Enough said.

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Day 16

A photo of me at the last party I went to. The last time I went out was for my friend Joe's 20th birthday. We jsut had a bit of a house party at his and then went out in town. I had left my camera battery charging in the house and brought my camera with me, forgetting the battery. Typical. So the only two photos I have are from a friends phone, in the darkness of a bar. But here they are...

Me with my friend Natalie and the Birthday Boy himself.

Great eyes half closed shot from me. Otherwise its a nice photo.

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Day 15

Day 15, a photo of you and someone you love.

My obvious choice for this is a photo of me and my boyfriend. Here we are in Majorca last month. I wish I could go back to this, the snow here is awful.

xoxo

Santa Baby...#3

I absolutely LOVE benefit cosmetics. The packaging alone is enough to suck me in but it obviously helps that the quality of the products is amazing. Having said that, I'm a girl on a tight budget so can't often afford to splash out on benefit stuff. I currently own the Lemon Aid eyelid primer and Badgal Lash.


I seen Christmas as a chance to request something from benefit, as Im dying to try out more orf their products. So for Christmas I've asked for the Her Name Was Glowla palette. The name in itself has me singing the original song in my head, love it! This is what it looks like...

It contains...

• Coralista blush
• High beam
• Moon beam
• 5 shade eyeshadow palette
• BADgal lash mascara
• Life on the A lsit lipgloss
• Brush

It is priced at around £30, which I think is good value for what you get. It is perfect for travelling or anytime you dont want to carry around a huge make-up bag, you could do almost your full face of make-up just using this. I really like this :)

xoxo

Advent Giveaway!...Now Why Didn't I Think Of That

Firstly I'll let yous all know this isn't my giveaway but I am informing you all of a fantastic giveaway of fellow beauty blogger Kirsty. I recently came across her blogs and after reading a few posts I had to follow her. Shes a lovely girl and her blog contains a real good mix of reviews and insights to her life which I always love in a blog.

Kirsty must have her little santa hat on to come up with this one. Today she posted about her new advent giveaway. In which she opens a new door of her "giveaway advent calender" and she unveils a new item thats added to the things you will get if you're lucky enough to win. A new item is added each day running up to Christmas with the final one revealed on Christmas Day. I absolutely love this idea, and I'm already excited to see what is added to the list for the lucky winner each day. I really wish I 'd thought this one up its so sweet of her and a lovely way to count down to Christmas.

All you have to do to enter for a change to win all 25 prizes is become a follower of her blog and mention her giveaway in at least one of your psots and then link her to it. All the information can be found on her original blog post explaining all about it, and showing you December 1sts addition to the prize pot!

Click here for Kirsty's Advent Calender Giveaway!

Good Luck Everyone!

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Day 14

A photo of my favourite drink. On a day to day basis I'll have to day a nice cup of tea will do me nicely.

However if we're talking alcoholic drinks this is my drink of choice...

Malibu and coke..mmm. Its jsut delicious. Ive enver been a beer or wine drinker, and I dont see why i should have to train myself to like a drink jsut because other people do, so I stick to my sweet drinks that taste like pop and I'm quite happy that way.
If my purse allowed though I'd be a cocktail girl all the way. I love loads of the fruity ones, but Blue Lagoon has to be my favourite. I've never tried making it myself but I might have to find a recipe and give it a go.