Late Christmas Wishes ♥

Heyy lovelies,
I know I've been slacking with my blog posts over christmas but I've been so busy over the last few weeks travelling here and there and just being generally festive that I haven't even had time to open my laptop!  I hope you all had a lovely christmas and that you got lots of lovely things off Santa! I had such a lovely time and was truly spoilt by my gorgeous family and friends!

Just before christmas I got to go to Hamburg to meet my boyfriend before he came home for christmas as he was studying at University over there. It was so lovely and the christmas markets were amazing! They sold loads of little goodies and it really got me in the festive mood! I was actually sad to leave even though I knew the festivities would carry on when I got home. One of my favourite little stalls was a chocolate stall which told all kinds of DIY tools. I don't even really like chocolate or do any sort of DIY but the detail was amazing and they were so well made that I was really impressed. Here they are in all their chocolatey glory...

x

MUST SEE's include: 1)The Christmas Markets (definitely a german speciality) these open late November early December and run right up until the weekend before Christmas, so lots of time to get a visit, but wrap up warm, it gets cold around then. 2) The Esplinade, it's so beautiful and although it was too cold in December to sit outside on the waterfront - I went in September and although quite chilly at times, sitting by the water is so relaxing 3) Alsterhaus - An amazing department store with all some amazing beauty concessions and floors upon floors of designer clothes, the food hall is also amazing with gorgeous deli counters, a cheese bar, a fish bar, and not forgetting the beautiful Veuve Clicquot Champagne bar which is lovely for a mid shopping treat!

I got some lovely presents for christmas and some of my favourites include my new lovely Cath Kidston make up bag and toiletry bag which I adore! I also got a lovely little make up bag to go in my handbag from River Island which is furry and beautiful. Some gorgeous Topshop Nail varnishes in gold and silver shades - they're beaut and apply so smoothly. Gucci Guilty perfume, Mark Hill heated rollers to add volume and curls to my hair, and finally my ultimate favourite -my Swarovski Necklace from my lovely boyfriend. I was treated to lots of other lovely things but I just thought I'd share some of my faves with you all. I'll do more posts soon about my other presents and OOTD'S :) I'm still yet to master the best way to use my rollers but I'm getting there and soon my hair will hopefully look much more 'voluminous' and luscious (I have high hopes!) I'll post my progress...

I'm also lucky enough to be going to New York on thursday to celebrate the BIG 21! And I'm so so excited! I'll definitely be doing a few posts about that with all my photos and little buys over there! And also what I am treated to for my birthday! As I won't be blogging until the New Year now I hope you all have a Happy New Year! :D See you in 2012!

x

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Leather loving ♥

So everyone knows that the leather trousers and basically anything leather is in at the moment, and after seeing lots of lovely outfits for inspiration, I thought I'd pull my leather leggings out of the wardrobe and start wearing them again. Then the worst happened...in my generous charity shop giveaway in the summer where I really did go to town and sent a lot of my things to make room for lots of new, gorgeous clothes, I SENT MY LEATHER PANTS! Terrible times I know.

I hadn't been able to stop thinking about all of the possible outfits I was missing out on wearing because of my lack of leather so I just needed wanted to get some new ones straight away. I decided I'd treat myself straight after a hard lecture and off to Topshop I went. I'd seen them on the internet and was originally going to get some from missguided.co.uk but they didn't have my size so I thought Topshop wouldn't let me down. There they were in all their leathery glory just screaming out to be bought! And so I did it, and now my bank hate again. Although - I did buy the cheaper pair at £22 because the £32 ones weren't in my size, so I wasn't totally naughty and spent a massive amount, AND I got student discount. Winner.

                                                         
So there they are looking lovely and here I am feeling pretty pleased with myself. I can't wait to wear them over the christmas period, especially as I think they'll go really well with my new coat and my heel boots! :) Exciting! (Even though I do have no will power when it comes to clothes!)

x

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What I'm LOVING right now..♥

'What I'm loving right now' is basically a list of all the things I'm really feeling the love for at the moment and things that are getting me excited...

1. Planning my trip to see my boyfriend in Hamburg after 6 whole weeks of being apart!! I can't wait to see his face and I can't wait to go to the German Christmas markets, and feel all festive.
2. My UGG boots - I know they aren't a blogger fave, but I seriously can't be without them at the moment, I've only had them a year, but while the weather is this cold, they're a saviour. 
3. Fur Stoles, I love anything with a little bit of fur on, as I feel it glams up any outfit at the moment and just makes everything look super cute and cosy
4. My black boot wedges - perfect for keeping my feet warm when they're out of the UGGS and spicing up my outfit a bit, plus you can't beat a wedge heel - thins the legs AND is easy to walk in. Winner.
5. My MAC tinted lip conditioner - just because this winter weather is trying to ruin my lips and my MAC saves them every time. I lost it for a couple of weeks and then found it again in my bag and have not been able to stop using it since.
6. Christmas songs! Every time I hear a christmas song on the radio it makes me feel so excited and all warm inside. I cannot wait to go home in 4 days. Time to get properly festive.
7. Planning my birthday meal which is basically just going to be a big reunion for all of my beautiful girlfriends! I can't wait to see them all as we have a lot of catching up to do, and planning the night is getting me so excited!
8. My new coat from Miss Selfridge with its fur collar and cuffs, although it's waiting for me patiently at home and I haven't been able to wear it here yet. It's gorge. I can't wait to wear it out and show off it's loveliness!
9. Urban Outfitters - besides all of their lovely clothes that I just want to buy all of, they have some really quirky gifts and jewelry for sale at the moment which are just PERFECT for christmas presents. I've been hinting at a lot of the stuff for presents myself recently so hopefully Santa's been listening!
10. The fact that I go to New York to celebrate my 21st birthday in only 18 DAYS!! Excited just isn't the word!!! :D 

What's getting you excited at the moment? 

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x

Bargain Buy of the Week #2 ♥

Heyy lovelies,

I've been really busy this past week with Uni work and my blogging has had to suffer because of it but I did find time to treat myself to some nice new bits and bobs and find a nice little bargain to try out. This week my bargain was from the Botanics range in Boots. When I ran out of my Clinique 'Take the day off' eye make-up remover, I was pretty gutted as it's been one of the best products I've used to take my eye-makeup off and I didn't want to go back to using face wipes until Christmas, as I always feel I have to scrub at my eyes to get it all off with those. So when I saw that Botanics did their own make up remover I was pretty happy, I've used their products before, and been quite impressed with them.

The eye make up remover says that it contains 'soothing Iceland Moss with high sugar content which helps to hydrate and calm skin as well as cleanse'. I used it for the first time last night and it really did make my skin feel hydrated and I didn't need to slather on loads of moisturiser afterwards which sometimes happens with make up remover. My waterproof mascara and black eyeliner came off really easily and left my eyes feeling so soft and clean. I was really impressed with the product, especially as it was only £3.05 for 150ml! - a bargain compared to my Clinique which is £14.50 for 125ml. I expected less from it I'm not going to lie, after falling in love with my Clinique I didn't think anything could beat that, but the Botanics one definitely comes close.

                                                Botanics Soothing Eye Make Up Remover £3.05

I'd definitely recommend this product to anyone who is struggling to find something that doesn't cost the earth but does take their eye make up off well. It's really made me want to try out some more of the Botanics range! So far, I've only found good bargain products, I wonder if I'll ever find any bad ones, or this will introduce a new way of shopping? We'll see!

x

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Bargain Buy of the Week ♥

'Bargain Buy of the Week' is a new update that I am going to post at some point during the end of every week to review different beauty products and tell all of you lovely people what great little bargains there are out there, for when the student loan isn't really stretching far enough, that definitely do and don't need to be purchased.

I'm usually someone who really follows the belief that 'you get what you pay for' and that the most expensive products do the best jobs out of any, but after being recommended a moisturiser from Superdrug by one of my lovely housemates, I thought I'd give it a try. I'd got nothing to lose and knowing that my Clinique moisturizing lotion wasn't really giving my skin the hydration it really needs in this cold weather, I thought I'd go for it! When I went into Superdrug to get it I also spotted an Exfoliating Facial Scrub and I thought I'd try that too as I'm going home this weekend to go to a party and I want my skin to look as flawless as possible and good exfoliators always do a nice little job of making your skin look cleansed and soft. My usual bargain go-to exfoliator is from the St. Ives range as they really feel like they're doing the job but I thought I'd be a bit adventurous since being recommended this collection.

The Vitamin E Skin Care range from Superdrug really is purse friendly. The Exfoliator cost only £1.99 down from £2.99 - a proper bargain!! I have to admit, I didn't have sky high expectations with only paying such a small price, but I was so impressed and my housemate even tried a bit and loved it just as much! The exfoliater uses oatmeal to scrub and soften the skin and it really feels like you're washing away all of your impurities, as well as smelling SO good, which is a bonus, as I can't stand products that don't smelly lovely! The scrub is recommended for Normal to Dry Skin and it has a lovely thickness that adds moisture to the skin straight away.

                                              Vitamin E Skin Care Exfoliating Facial Scrub - £1.99!!

                                                  Little bits of oatmeal to exfoliate the skin...

I'm definitely going to keep using this every time my skin needs a little freshening and I would recommend it to anyone with Normal or dry skin that just wants to give their skin a little boost without paying millions for it! For £1.99 it's definitely worth a try. :)

x

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Christmas Shopping. x

Shopping for Christmas presents is never the easiest job when you don't really have much of an idea what you're going to get people, but I just had the lovliest time with my mum today! It was so good to just have some proper girl time and retail therapy after a lot of work at Uni and you can't beat a bit of shopping to lift your mood! The little Christmas market stalls in Liverpool were so charming too, selling all sorts of yummy food and little crafts. I got some really nice presents for some of my 'giftees' and I was even treated to a gorge new coat from Miss Selfridge that I'm going to whip out to keep my nice and toasty in New York when I go there for New Year to celebrate the BIG 21! I'm actually feeling a little more festive now after feeling like a bit of a Scrooge for the last few days after being bogged down with so much work. I actually can't wait to give everyone their presents and spread a bit of joy. Whilst wearing my beautiful new coat. Only 26 days - and counting! :)

x

Little Topshop treats

Everyone knows that Topshop is a pretty reliable source when it comes to finding something that you DESPERATELY need to spice up an otherwise boring outfit or item of clothing. After taking myself on a little shopping trip to enjoy a bit of retail therapy I knew I had to get a few key items from Topshop such as the usual leggings and also a little black satin top to add to my mustard cable knit pencil skirt, what I didn't know was that I'd be tempted to buy any make-up...

I'd always seen the shop assistants looking gorgeous in a full face of the new(ish) make up brand and had been tempted but didn't want to risk buying it all to be less than satisfied. I knew the nail varnishes were all pretty good and I have some lovely colours, so when the cheeky shopping assistant spotted me trying to pick out a new colour, she grabbed her chance to give me the hard sell and persuade me to buy everything on the shelves. I eventually gave in after seeing how pretty her make up looked. I thought I'd try something new with it coming to Christmas and I'd treat myself. I found a little liquid eye liner in 'Tarnished' and was advised it looked best drawn thinly on over a black kohl pencil line on the upper eye lid, and I could imagine it looking pretty cute to jazz up any LBD over christmas and add a bit of subtle colour. I'm usually quite boring with eye liner and go for a safe thin black line bottom and top but I thought i'd be adventurous and for £8.00 I thought it was quite good as I imagined it would last a while as well! So far I've actually been pretty impressed, after wearing it on a recent night out I noticed that it didn't wear off at all and highlighted my eyes quite well. It does look quite dark when you apply it but it catches the light and shines quite nicely! Good find!

'Tarnished' Semi Permanent Liner - Topshop

Next, after still being mesmerized at this pretty ladys flawless skin, and knowing my reliable Touche Eclat had sadly run out and I was waiting for Santa to get me a new one, I was told that the Topshop version at only £7 was just as good (I wasn't completely sold on it being just as good but her persuasion skills got the best of me) and I thought there's no harm in trying - I could potentially just have found myself a cheap little version of a miracle...too good to be true, I know! The 'Brighten' concealer/highlighter in the 'Moonlight' shade prides itself on being a "Long wearing concealer to flawlessly disguise dark circles, gaining and even, seamless finish" - It doesn't do that for very long! I started wearing this straight away just for lectures and any other normal day to day activities, sadly it doesn't offer as good a coverage as I was hoping. It's not completely rubbish but it's not impressive! But I don't know, maybe just nothing can beat the Touche Eclat. I really can't wait for Santa to put it in my stocking on Christmas so that my late nights will no longer be shown to the world through my dark circles.

                                                            Brighten in 'Moonlight' - Topshop

Not a total unsuccessful trip, I did come away with a great little find to add a bit of glamour to my Christmas outfits (and I did get the top and leggings I wanted) I'll still probably treat myself to something else next time I go in! :)

x

Something old something new...

So...up to now i've been a blogging virgin; it's all pretty new to me and I'm still getting excited about making my page look pretty rather than what I write on it. But i've been inspired by lots of cute little blogs and I thought it's something i'd love to do myself. One that I especially love is dance with emily, not only because she's one of my best friends but because her beauty blogs just make me want to buy EVERY product that she writes about and I'm always interested in what she has to say and what little adventures she's been up to- and considering she lives in France at the moment they always make me super jealous and so keen to get on the next plane out there and go and play in Paris for the weekend!

I have many loves in life, including: clothes, beauty products, shopping, beautiful perfumes, being a little bit crafty and making cute little things, and reading. I also have massive amounts of love and respect for my beautiful family and friends and my gorgeous boyfriend who are there for me no matter what. They really are just the loveliest people :)

my lovely family x

my gorgeous boyfriend x

my beautiful friends x

I use this blog to write about all the pretty things I love in life and my travels and adventures to different parts of the world, as well as posts to do with fashion, beauty and shopping and little finds along my way etc. A little place for all my favourite things to be together. 

I hope you enjoy. Lots of love,

Zoe x