Festive Polish Picks

It's December, which means if you haven't got glitter on your nails, I'm probably judging you. I'm having a really hard time making sure I get to wear every festive polish in my stash, so I figure if I share them with you, you guys can do a few for me?

Let's start with the full on glitter option, Butter London West End Wonderland, a full on gold glitter with flecks of red. This was basically designed for Christmas. It's just perfect, it makes your nails look like a glitter sea, in a very good way, and is something any glitter fanatic should have in their stash.

From one gold glitter to a rosy one, Essie Summit of Style deserved a mention, even though I feel like I've spoken about this a lot recently. It's just that good. Chunky and teeny rose gold glitter, perfect for on the tips of festive red polish. Enter stage right, Essie Dress To Kilt, the perfect festive red.

Also in the red family, Model's Own Rocket, which I'll admit I bought entirely for the name. This polish has different shape and size glitter in red, blue and gold, and it's really freaking pretty. I can't stop looking at it.

For a more silvery vibe, I love Ciaté Snow Queen, a gorgeous white and silver glitter topcoat, that basically looks like snow. I love this over a white nail, it's so chic and pretty.

And lastly, a combo that I think is pretty New Years appropriate (because yes, it's nearly 2015), Essie Bahama Mama with Jazzy Jubilant layered over the top. Bahama Mama is a beautiful rich purpley red shade, and Jazzy Jubilant is a gorgeous blue, red and silver glitter topcoat, together, it's party magic.

What are your favourite festive nail polishes?

22 Things It's Okay To Do In Your Twenties

1.  Eat McDonalds more than once a week. Nobody has to know. 
2. Get out of bed after noon. Even if you weren't out all night. It's okay.
3. To keep snacks in your bed. Keep your loved ones close, right?
4. To bail on plans with your friends for a long standing date with Netflix. Netflix is cheaper than a 3am taxi.
5. To get up before your new boyfriend to brush your teeth and put on a touch of concealer and mascara. And tinted lip balm. And blush. I woke up like 'dis? 
6. To buy new underwear so you don't have to do any laundry. We've all done it.
7. To try and save money by buying a £3 bottle of wine from Lidl. And then drink the lot, and complain about your crippling headache and stomach ache the next day.
8. To wear the same outfit three days in a row, just with different accessories. That counts as a new outfit, surely?
9. To spend three times as long perfecting your eyebrows, than you actually do on the rest of your makeup. We know they should be sisters, not twins, but we can't help but try, right?
10. To still wear your ratty old primark leggings, even though you know they're completely see through. It's only Asda, who are you going to see?
11. To only want to go out for drinks if it's in a Wetherspoons. There are more important things to spend your money on than alcohol, like Tom Ford lipsticks.
12.  To have been having your period for ten years, but still feel shocked at what is happening to your body, and to complain about it to everyone you see.
13. To lose ten hours of your weekend to a Gilmore Girls binge. 
14. To want to stamp on anyone who starts a mosh pit near you. Fighting to loud music is not fun.
15. To have a weekly standing order with Dominos.
16. To have more pairs of black ankle boots than your willing to admit to. Because their all different. Obviously.
17. To have more candles than you have rooms in your apartment. 
18. To accidentally spend three hours on Buzzfeed when you are meant to be trying to sleep.
19. To change outfits three times before going to the dentist, supermarket or the tip. You never know where you are going to meet Ryan Gosling.
20. To still not really like the taste of wine.
21. Constantly saying "I'm sure we didn't do that when we were that age".
22. To spend more time Pinteresting your dream apartment than earning money for said apartment.

The Review: My Little Box with Fleur de Force

I was lucky enough to get the chance last week to meet the wonderful Fleur de Force, and her equally wonderful husband Mike too, so I was super excited to see that this month's My Little Box was in collaboration with Fleur. I got a good ten minutes or so to chat to Fleur, and she's really one of the loveliest people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, so genuine and down to earth. She's definitely my favourite YouTuber, I just think she puts so much hard work into everything she does, and it really shows.

Anyway, on to the box! For me this month's box was a real knock out, I love every single bit, so read on to hear me gush a little.

I've said it before, but I really do think that My Little Box put so much thought into each box, all the products really feel theme-appropriate, the attention to detail is fantastic, and this one definitely feels festive! The whole box has a very pastel pink theme to it, it's so pretty!

As with every box, this one includes a copy of My Little World Magazine and a little illustration. I genuinely look forward to reading the magazine, the content is as well thought out and carefully curated as the box itself. It's got a whole host of beauty tips and tricks, recipes, DIY's, and interviews, including one with Fleur. It's a nice read and I'm definitely going to try some of the DIY's! The illustration is sweet as always, and will make a nice little festive decoration.

First up they've included some little Christmas gift tags and a roll of string to attach it with, a very cute little inclusion since pretty much everyone is in the midst of mad Christmas wrapping. The gift tags are gorgeous, had I seen them in a shop I definitely would have picked them up, and by a stroke of luck they match my wrapping paper perfectly! There's a fairly generous amount of string included too, so some fancy wrapping can definitely happen!

Also on the wrapping theme, they've included some festive printed masking tape, in a similar colour and pattern selection as the gift tags. These will be handy for wrapping, but will also look very good decorating my planner!

The last lifestyle inclusion is a little woolen headband, in a cute little gift box (which I may end up re-using!). It's a pretty peachy colour with a little bit of sparkle, and it's very handy for keeping your ears warm! I'd been thinking about purchasing one of these anyway so it was nice to see this in there, and it's only little so you could keep it in your handbag just in case your ears get a little chilly.

Moving on to beauty, as always the beauty bits are encased in a little drawstring bag. I forgot to photograph this months one, but it's my favourite so far, it says 'Do all things with love' and is festooned with polka dots. Very cute. In the box is a 100ml bottle of Cowshed's Wild Cow Invigorating Body Lotion, a welcome addition for my scaly dry skin. It's got a really festive scent of ginger and lemongrass, is packed with essential oils and is formulated without parabens which is a bonus. There was also a deluxe sample size of the L'Occitane Creme Precieuse Imortelle, a rich face cream that will be the perfect size for taking on my Christmas vacation. And lastly, a full size lipstick from My Little Box. It's a gorgeous sheer red with a hint of pink, it's long lasting and it's got a good moisturising formula, and the packaging is divine. The shade is unlike anything else I own but I love it, I'll definitely get a lot of wear out of it!

I really do think that My Little Box is the best subscription service on the market, and it'd make a great last minute Christmas gift! There's still time to get your hands on this box and I'd definitely recommend giving it a go. It's £14.95 inc delivery per month, and the lipstick in this months box is normally sold for £15, so it's a good deal!

What do you think of this months box?

Why It's Important To Share The Bad Photos Too

For me, 2014 has been the year of the Instagram. I've been obsessed with the damn thing, constantly seeing the world in squares of capturable detail, downloading editing app after editing app, and spending a full fifteen minutes editing every photo before posting. I can be ruthless, rejecting photos for not being well lit, or for an awkward facial expression, or a bad angle, or because someone really needs a haircut. But why?

Last week I got the chance to meet the gorgeous Fleur de Force, and at the end of the meeting, I got the chance to snap a quick photo with her. The photo? It was terrible. The lighting in the room was incredibly severe, turning the both of us yellow and shiny, and Fleur is so tiny and petite, I look like I ate a whole buffet next to her. I'm not big by any means, but next to someone so petite, I dwarf her. And I didn't want to post the photo. Even though, meeting Fleur was an amazing experience and I wanted to share that with my friends and followers, I didn't want to put the photo online.

But I did. Because life is not all about perfectly lit flat-lays of beauty products, or a perfectly manicured hand clutching a red Starbucks cup, or a perfectly edited selfie. Sometimes, life is about a grainy shot of a cosy night by the fire, or a glass of wine on a late Sunday evening, or a terrible selfie with someone you love. Life isn't perfectly lit and topped with a filter, so why should they be the only bits we share? 

Whilst I find it a little strange, I love this culture where we photograph everything. I like that when I look back in twenty years time, I'll get to see all the things I did and loved in such detail. Okay, so maybe it goes a little too far, like when I panic after I finish a meal and realise I forgot to photograph it, but I'm saving so many memories for the future. And I don't just want to remember the perfect moments.

So I encourage you all today to post a bad photo. Post a photo where you don't look your best, or where the lighting sucks, or where it just doesn't look all that great. If you felt the moment was important enough to capture it, then share it.

100ml

At the end of this week I'll be hopping on a quick flight out of Gatwick to head away for Christmas. Queue frantic present buying and packing hysteria. Our flight leaves pretty obscenely early in the morning (read 7am), which means I have to be up obscenely early, so the plan is to skip makeup in the morning, and just chuck a few beauty essentials in my in flight bag for touching up pre-landing. Since it's only a brief flight I'm forgoing a full in flight routine (see my What's in my Travel Bag video from my trips to LA and New York in the summer here to see that), and just taking the essentials to make me not seem dead upon arrival (*sings Fall Out Boy in head*).

So we have the essentials, my Dove Go Fresh Green Tea and Cucumber Deodorant, because it doesn't matter how long your flight is, you always feel a bit grim by the end. I've also decanted some of my current favourite body spray (Victoria's Secret Warm Ginger) into a little spray bottle from Muji, and this will probably end up doubling as my fragrance whilst I'm away. I've put in a deluxe travel size of the First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream, to slather all over my face pre take off and landing - am I the only person who gets super dry skin even on short flights? This again will double as my morning and evening moisturiser whilst I'm away, it's pretty non offensive, and it's super hydrating but still absorbs quickly. Also to help combat the plan taking all the moisture from my body, I've packed the Blistex Moisture Max Lip Balm, which is one of the most heavy duty lip balms I've ever tried, and this adorable sample of the L'Occitane Vanilla Bouquet Hand Cream, that I received in a My Little Box. Because I can still get a little nervous before take off, I've put in my trusty This Works Deep Sleep Stress Less Rollerball, which helps calm me down a whole lot. I'll also be putting in my Optrex Eye Drops, but they're in my handbag at the moment!

Makeup-wise, I'm keeping it short and sweet, because most of the day will be spent travelling. I'm taking the Soap and Glory Kick Ass Concealer, which is perfect for this because it works well on undereye circles and blemishes alike, and it's so easy to apply since it's a pencil, you just draw it on and blend with your fingers. I'm not taking a foundation, I'm just going to use this where I need it, and then add a dusting of the Chanel Les Beiges Powder, to set, mattify and give a little coverage. I've put in the Jouer Cheek and Lip Tint in Petal, to add a little hint of subtle colour to my cheeks and lips, to stop me looking super washed out. I'll also chuck in whatever mascara I decide to take, because I firmly believe that mascara is the key to looking at least a little put together.

What do you like to have on hand during a short haul flight?