Blogmas Day 1 // Introducing Blogmas

I've wanted to do Blogmas for the past two years now, but have just never got round to doing it. Blogmas is blogging everyday between the 1st December until the 25th and each post is dedicated to Christmas.

The first year I decided to do it, I was working in retail and I think I overestimated just how much spare time I would have leading up to the Christmas period.

Last year, I moved into my new house in the middle of November, so I had no time, and also no internet. This year, I'm determined to succeed though.

I love the idea of Blogmas, as I think people post a lot more personal stuff. I love reading about people's traditions, and what they get up to around the festive period.

If you are attempting Blogmas yourself, please let me know as I'd love to read your posts.

I've finished Blogtober!

Happy Halloween!

Today is the last day of Blogtober and I'm chuffed to say I actually stuck at it and managed to blog everyday in October. I'm not going to lie; I didn't find it easy. Even though I had the poor daylight hours to contend with, and was sometimes writing until 9PM to get a post out that night, I have to say the hardest thing I struggled with was writers block.

The first two weeks of Blogtober went fine as I had my trip to America to blog about, and beauty reviews I've been dying to write for ages. However, I have being repetitive, and I started to really struggle coming up with new content.

As a first timer, I would definitely say I'm not an expert at blogging everyday, however, the next big blogger challenge is Blogmas, and I can already feel myself coming up with ideas. I've decided to write a few tips for myself, and also anyone thinking of taking a blogger 'blog every day' challenge.

1) Plan! It may seem like the most obvious thing, but I really failed at planning my posts and sometimes ended up on the day, having no clue what to write about. I think having a brainstorm at the weekend, and jotting down ideas for the rest of the week is probably what I will do next.

2) Write 'diary' posts. I don't think I did any of these, but it's something I wish I took on. If you find yourself with bloggers block, I think a more personal post is perfect. You can't schedule these, as it almost a snapshot of that moment (but in writing.)

3) Bulk take photos. I have some studio lighting which I dragged out halfway through October after finding the normal light difficult to work with. I found taking all my photo's at once definitely helped, as I could then just write up the blog post without worrying too much.

Do you have any tips for blogging everyday?

My Halloween Costume // Nightmare Before Christmas

Going off my social media, I think most people celebrated Halloween yesterday, but if you have celebtrations planned for tomorrow, and are stick stuck for an idea, keep reading my post.

My outfit shouldn't have been last minute. We actually bought Halloween tickets for a Tim Burton themed Halloween party back in June. It was at the hotel were we got married at, and after an Alice in Wonderland themed New Year's, I knew the Halloween party would be amazing.

As usual, I leave everything last minute, but this partly because I didn't know what I wanted to be. Me and my husband decided on a new take of Jack and Sally, with him being 'Sally' and me being 'Jack.'

After seeing the female Jack costumes were ridiculously expensive, I eventualyl found a black and white playsuit on Missguided for less than £20.00. I actually really like this playsuit and will definitely wear it again on a normal night out. However, beware, it will require nipple covers, especially if you have a small cup size like me.

I paired them with some simple T-Bar heels, and an old Jack Skellington Necklace I had from my teenage years.

My makeup was relatively easy to do. I did have white face paint, but I don't like the feel of it, so I decided to just do my normal base. I used my Kat Von D Lock It foundation. After concealing and powdering, the actual 'Halloween' makeup went on.

My Makeup Revolution palette 'Give Them Nightmares' featured a lot in this look. I used the blue eyeshadows to contour my cheek bones and round my face.

I used the matte black in my Urban Decay Naked Basic's palette, but any would do. This of course went over my contour, on my nose and the eyes. I also used a Rodial Black Smokey Eye Pencil I received in a Glossy Box to make my eye makeup more intense. Normal mascara was used to finish off the eye look.

I used my MAC Painterly Paint Pot to whiten my lips, and back in with the eyeliner to draw the teeth on.

The finishing touch was the amount of highlighter I used. Becca's Champagne Pop is stunning and I was definitely glowing last night.

Hair was just a messy half bun on top of my head.

What did you dress up for on Halloween?

OOTD // Velvet Dress

You know when you see a dress for the first time and it's everything you could ever hope for; black, velvet with a floral pattern. I spotted this gem in the Scunthorpe Primark for just £10 and I'm in love with it. I've been obsessed with velvet for a couple of years now, buying a velvet dress from Boohoo back in 2014, but I feel in the last few months, it's really took off.

Even though I've lost a bit of weight this year, I'm still conscious of wearing bodycon dresses, especially from cheaper shops such as Primark, as I feel it doesn't take much to make them really unflattering. However, I bought this in a 10 (my usual size, though bordering on size 8 now) and it fits like a glove.

I like the quality of the dress and I think I will get quite a bit of use from it before it falls apart. I think this would look perfect with a pair of black Doc Martens ,but I neither own black Docs, or can drive in them.

My shoes are from Topshop last year, but you can get similar shoes anywhere. My coat is from Zara from a few years ago, but a quick search of 'cocoon coat' will bring up similar ones.

I bought my Kate Spade bag in America in Disney Springs and it's my favourite thing at the moment. Even though there's only room for my phone, a lipstick and my card (cannot get a purse in there, I'm afraid) I feel it goes with almost everything. Plus, if you have a coat with pockets, you don't need a big bag.

My makeup is relatively simple; it's most MAC's Cranberry on my eye and Milani's Black Cherry lipstick. I will do a full face of the day if people want to see it.

If you're wondering where I took these photos, it was The Priory Hotel in Louth where I got married and they have the most beautiful gardens.

Halloween Favourites.

With just three more days until Halloween, which is my favourite time of year, I thought I'd write a quick post on why I love Halloween so much.

1) It's my birthday! In case you didn't know (which I'm sure you will because I mention almost every blog post) my birthday is on Halloween. I always tell people there is always a party on my birthday and I love going out and seeing everyone dressed up. Plus everyone always buys me drinks so cheap night out.

2) Pumpkins! I've wrote a post about my favourite pumpkin recipes, and it really makes me sad that literally the day after Halloween, it's so hard to buy a pumpkin. I wish they were available all year because I actually do think they're really tasty.

3) It's acceptable to gorge on sweets. Much like Easter and Christmas, I find it's perfectly acceptable to gorge on chocolate and Haribo at Halloween. I know when I lived with my parents, they would buy way too many sweets for the trick or treaters, so we got lucky.

4) I like to show my love for Halloween by having Halloween props in my house all year round. I love TK Maxx at Halloween as they have some really quirky decorations. My collection includes a vampire salt N pepper shaker, Halloween candles, mugs, voodoo dolls and Winnie the Pooh in a pumpkin.

5) I love the weather around Halloween, even though this year, it's particularly cold. I find it's acceptable to wear scarfs, a lot of black and burgundy and dark lipsticks. There's just something around this time of year that's really nostalgic, and reminds me of walking to school in the fog, excited that it's nearly my birthday.

What do you love most about Halloween?

Disappointing High End Products

I think I've written a dissapointing products post before. They're a rarity as I usually do a lot of research on a product before I decide to purchase it. A lot of these are raved about products, but everybody is different, and this makeup just did not work on my skin. I feel like I need to write a disclaimer and state that just because I did not like the products mentioned below, in no way means that I think all products from the brand are bad.

The product that spurred this post on is the Kat Von D Ink Liner. I've used the Tattoo liner before and loved it, but I received this liner in a little set. You may have seen I recently hauled this, as I bought it in Sephora last month, but it's already dry and unusable.

I'm aware it's only a mini liner and bound not to last as long as the regular ones; however, I think I used this around 4 times before the ink started to fade. I found myself instantly not reaching for this liner as I like a completely black line, but I decided to give it a go this morning. It's so dried up already, creating a patchy grey line on my eyelid. It's a shame because the other Kat Von D liner is so good. Needless to say, I would not buy or recommend this liner.

Another product I've recently mentioned on the blog is my YSL Rouge Pur Couture lipstick. This lipstick is beautiful; the packaging, the shade, even the formula. But every time I wear it, it leaves a disgusting taste in my mouth. I know other people have had this problem before and it really puts me off. I would try other YSL lipsticks, but not from that range.

I bought a Makeup Forever HD Foundation in Paris last year, but it just does not work on my skin. It's so raved out that I'm actaully gutted, but everytime I put it on, it instantly seperates and clings to every dry patch I have. I'm still hoping I'll find a primer that will work with this foundation as it cost me so much.

The last thing on my list is the MAC False Lashes Extreme Black Mascara. To be fair, I've not found a mascara that I like as much as my Too Faced Better Than Sex, but I expected big things for this considering it was MAC. I don't think I'd ever buy a MAC mascara full sized, and luckily, this was only a sample.

I'm hoping I don't have to do another post like this is a while as I hate wasting money. Have you ever bought a High End product and found it disappointing?

Nivea Daily Essentials Hydrating Primer / Review

I didn't really get into makeup until about three years ago, and even though I mostly know what does and doesn't work for my skin, I'm still trying to discover what primer I need to use to get the most benefit out my makeup.

My ideal primer would make my makeup last all day, completely hydrate my skin, and also be brightening. I have primers that do one or two of these things, but I've yet to find one that does all three (if you have a recommendation, please let me know!)

The Nivea Daily Essentials Hydrating Primer intrigued me when I saw it in Boots. I've used Nivea skin care before and I really liked the idea of a hydrating primer. I think if I had to rate the above three things in order of importance; hydration would be number one. There's no use in making my makeup last all day if I'm going to have disgusting dry patches on my face.

The primer is usually £4.99 for 50ml but it's usually on some sort of offer. The packaging is plain, and typical of Nivea; quite medical looking. The primer itself is a lightweight gel texture which I find soaks immediately into the skin.

I can definitely tell this is hydrating. I wear it on top of a facial moisturiser, but I think it could be used on it's own.

In regards to it's other claims of helping your makeup stay put and creating a smooth base, I'm still undecided. I wouldn't say this prolongs my foundation wear in any way, but like I mentioned previously, it reduces the dry patches I get from my skin sucking the moisture out of my foundation. I do find it easier to blend my foundation into the skin after applying this. However, I wouldn't say it's smoothing in the way Benefit's Porefessional is.

Overall, I think this is definitely worth the money, especially for all day makeup usage like at work. I'm still on the hunt for the perfect primer, but this Nivea one will do for now.