What I Got For Christmas || 2014

 I don't know about you but personally my most favourite posts are what I got for Christmas or what I got for my birthday. I'm naturally a really nosey person so I love seeing what other people get and also it lets you see things that you might want to buy in the sales or with your Christmas money. I asked on twitter whether you'd be interested in seeing this post from me and I got a lot of positive responses so here it is. Of course I am not in any way bragging and am very grateful for all my gifts.

I'll start with my stocking gifts that I get from Santa Claus because obviously they are the most important. I got some underwear from Boux Avenue which came in a pretty box with fake rose petals in it and I also got a bra from Kelly Brooks New Look range which I love, The pants are the softest material I have ever felt and I now really want to buy more from there in their sale. 

Of course I got the standard Terry's chocolate orange to resemble the orange that we used to always get when we were little... we've moved up in the world!

The next thing I got in my stocking was a little Perry the penguin shower loofah thing and as you'll know if you follow me on instagram I have been loving the little Polar bear version of this. I'm super happy to have a second one to add to my little Body Shop family, these are the best things for gentle exfoliation in the shower especially if you wear fake tan and want to exfoliate but not remove it.

Everybody who knows me knows I absolutely love Frozen so I'm really happy to have a calender with lots of Frozen pictures in it.

My mum and dad got me this Pandora heart ring in my stocking which I love and wear every single day.

Another piece of jewellery my parents got me in my stocking this year was these pearl earrings which are from a jewellers in Edinburgh. They're really pretty and as my mum says "every girl needs a pair of pearl earrings".

 As you can probably see there was a slight penguin theme running through my stocking this year. I love animals and penguins are no exception!

This is one of my favourite things that I got in my stocking because my technology levels are super basic so hopefully this will help me get better and be able to improve my blog.

Everybody knows I love Yankee candles so it's no surprise that I got some for Christmas. These two came in a set but I had to rip them open instantly to smell them of course. Neither are scents that I've ever smelt before but they're both really fresh scents. Season of Peace reminds me of something but I can't think what it's like a mixture of fresh snow and peppermint maybe??

Recently I've had a little obsession with jars from Tkmaxx for storing my make-up in and beauty accessories etc. I was really happy to get a little small one that I can use for my cotton buds cause currently they're mixed in with my cotton pads and it's not good for the OCD.

Aussie hair stuff is my fave because it smells incredible so I'm happy to have two big bottles to keep me going. I always find it so strange that brands sell smaller bottles of conditioner than shampoo.. I can't be the only person who's conditioner runs out first every single time!?

Being a blogger I love my notepads for jotting down lists and ideas of things so this is a perfect pressie for me. Its a London themed notebook so that's even better.

My gran got me another Pandora ring and this one is the Princess ring and I love how pretty it is.

I got this gorgeous lantern from my friend Linzi and I've already been burning candles in it which looks super pretty. 

My cousin Emma made me this which I was pleased about because although this sounds really odd I've always wanted an 'A' for my room. I just think it will look really nice sat on my dressing table and would make a nice background for blog photos.

Linzi also got me this strawberry body set from the Body Shop and the strawberry scent is one of my absolute faves from the Body Shop so love, love, love that.

My friend Emma obviously knows me and my candle problem because she bought me a large Yankee candle yay, in the scent Christmas cookie. I'm sure most of you already knows what it smells like but if you don't it's really sweet, smells like a mixture of vanilla and sugar so quite like a cookie mixture. 

 My friend Robyn got me this amazing Soap & Glory set which has lots of my favourite bits and bobs in it. The righteous butter, scrub of your life, hand food and heel genius are a few of my faves. I'm really excited about the cosy socks too because they look really fluffy. 

I got lots of body butters, face masks, perfume, chocolates and winter things like a nice pink snood and some gloves. Another favourite thing is this snuggle fleece from Next it's basically a big fluffy hoody so it's perfect for lounging around in. I also got these Little Blossom post it note and tab set, it's really pretty and has lots of animals on it. I love things like that because it helps me be more interested in being organised and revising.

 My most favourite presents this year were from Gary, probably the most impressive was that he got me the Naked On The Run palette!! I have been after this since I went to the Debenhams event and I must have chuntered on about it enough that he took note and bought me it. I'm a Naked palette fan and I already have all three so obviously this is a must have for my collection. 

He was also very thoughtful and bought me a Michael Kors purse which matches the Michael Kors bag he bought me for my birthday perfectly. I also really like that this one comes with a slot for your phone so if I feel like travelling light or if I'm going out for a night out/nipping to the shops it will double up as a clutch bag.

He also got me the romance ring from Pandora which looks really lovely on it's own but I love wearing it with my little love heart one on the top of it but it looks beautiful on it's own too.

I was also very lucky to receive the Bobbi Brown Make-Up Manual which I have wanted for the longest time and I was so surprised to see that Gary had bought me this because I didn't think he was that knowledgeable about makeup. 

The last few things Gary got me was a giant Thorntons reindeer and some Lindor chocolate truffle things and this book. The story behind this was I seen one similar and was saying I thought it would be fun to do and he went to get it but it was out of stock so he bought the 'more' version of it. Basically it has lots of different things to write about and I love writing so it'll be perfect for inspiring my creativity. 

I also got lots of money and vouchers so no doubt there will be a haul post up soon on the things that I buy with them!

I hope you liked seeing what I got for Christmas! Let me know in the comments what your favourite presents were this year.

Lots of Love,

♥

Late October Favourites

 Firstly apologies for how late this favourites post is going up! I have had an absolute manic last few weeks that I've barely had a second to myself so have only managed to fire up a few blog posts that I already had the photos for. Now all my university coursework is done and dusted with and I have a little bit of me time before exams start so I can finally get around to my October favourites (before it's November...)

 The first thing I've loved this month is candles (obviously) but specifically this Simply Cinnamon one which is from Yankee candles simply home range. Its actually the first one I've tried from the Simply Home range and for some reason I didn't expect it to be as good as normal Yankee candles probably because they are slightly cheaper but I was totally surprised by this. It smelt just as strongly as any other Yankee candle I've tried and it has that gorgeous spicy cinnamon smell which I absolutely love at Christmas time. As you can see I've been burning this for far too long at a time which is why it has that horrible smoke around the edges but I was too lazy to scrub the jar clean before taking the photo, woops.

All Gone

 Another thing I become obsessed with in Winter is moisturising, my lips, my face, my hands, everything. I never really have a problem with dry skin but during the colder months I totally notice the difference in the way my skin feels so I've been putting lashings of this Crabtree & Evelyn hand cream on. It's super moisturising and makes my skin feel lovely and soft but I've also been loving putting this on my lips (weird, yes but it works) because sometimes lip balm just isn't moisturising enough.

 Along the moisturising lines I've also been loving applying my Eucerin night cream at night because it's so thick and moisturising that my skin drinks up all it's goodness overnight and is left feeling soft and supple again. (full review)

When it comes to nails at the moment I seem to always reach for more nude, classic shades which I've never really liked before, must be a twenties thing! My absolute favourite though has been Almond which is one of Barry M's gelly shades, it's almost a taupe shade and it just goes with everything. 

 My biggest favourite this month is vampy lips, reds, purples, berry's I'm all over them at this time of year. My two biggest favourites are both Kate Moss shades, although they both look identical they most definitely are not. One is shade 30 and the other is the famous 107. I couldn't decide between the two because honestly they've both been serious favourites during October. (review)

Left to Right:- 107, 30.

 The run up to the festive period would not be the same if Snow Fairy wasn't around. I actually still had some left over from last Christmas because I stocked up so much and mines is running out now because I've used it non stop. I will definitely be picking up another one of these because it's literally the best thing. If you like sugary, sweet smells then you will love this and it's pink and glittery so right up my street.

 My last favourite of October is my little baby Mac palette. It's still very small but I'm so happy with it. I have the shades All That Glitters, Amber Lights, Bronzed and Woodwinked. I think Amber Lights has been my biggest favourite because it just looks gorgeous with blue eyes but I've used them all equally during October (full post). I've also review both Amber Lights (here)and All That Glitters (here) in recent Mac Monday posts if you're interested in them.

Lots of Love,

♥ 

Candle Collection

Yankee Large Jar Candles

Hellooo my lovelies,

As you all know I'm a massive candle lover so I thought it would be nice if I showed you my candle collection because as I have stated before I have a ridiculous amount of candles in my bedroom!!

Firstly is this Winter Wonderland candle that I got for Christmas, it's actually from TkMaxx and I'd really reccomend going there if you're after a nice candle with a nice price tag attached to it. As Yankee candles are really expensive, TkMaxx is a great option and they usually from my experience have a large variety in. I have to be honest, it isn't my most favourite smell but it's okay for when I'm in the bath or if I have more than one candle lit. I just wouldn't really want my whole room to smell like it. It's quite a fresh almost woody smell and the name does suit it, it does smell like Winter which is stupid because what does Winter smell like??? I'm sorry my smell descriptions aren't amazing hahaha but it's just a really fresh smell which if you like fresh smells you'd probably enjoy!

Home Sweet Home Large Yankee Jar.

 Home Sweet Home is actually one of my all time favourite Yankee candles and it was the first big jar I owned. It's my all time favourite Christmas candle and I already have one stocked up for when this one runs out and I had one last year aswell. It smells quite strongly of Cinnamon and spices, I'm not sure what the exact smell is but it's very warming and as the name suggests, homely. It certainly always reminds me of home since everyday around Christmas time you'll find this burning in my room for sure! The large Yankee jars apparently last for 90 hours burning time but I'm pretty sure mines has lasted longer than that because I've burned this nearly every night for two months and it's still going strong! A top tip is to trim the wick when it gets really long as that avoids the black soot that gathers at the top of the candle (as you can tell mines needs trimmed) and it also makes the candle burn down slower, therefore last longer.

 These are my big Yankee candles that I have stocked up and ready to go, I've actually only used one of them so far which is Mango Peach Salsa. It's a sunny bright yellow colour and it smells so fruity and delicious that it's just great for Spring/Summer so I haven't burned it at all lately! I have another Home Sweet Home ready to go thanks to my lovely boyfriend and he also got me Summer Scoop. Which is a beautiful pink colour that matches my room perfectly! It smells of berries, ice-cream and sweeties and mmm, so summery! (why isn't smellivision invented??) If you're anywhere near a Yankee store, you should definitely pop in and give it a sniff because this one will be a hot smell for the Spring/Summer!! My last one is baby powder which I'm also keeping for Spring/Summer when I want my room to smell abit fresher. It smells exactly like babies and talcom powder so if you like the smell of that then this one's for you!

 Another candle I have is this Macintosh Apple one that's also from TkMaxx and it smells delicious, so delicious in fact that I had to buy two of them! If I find a candle I love in TkMaxx, I usually buy more than one because I can never seem to find them online, anywhere else or even in their store again so I stock up while I can! This again has lasted me a really long time, I've had it for about 6 months now and i burn it aloooot!

 I also have my Jewel Candle in Candy Floss which I have done a blog post on previously which I shall link below!

  Another Yankee candle I got for Christmas from my mum and dad was this 'Simply Cinnamon' one from their home collection. Like everyone else, they know I love the smell of cinnamon and I love candles so a cinnamon candle was always going to be a winner! I haven't burned this one yet as I still have a lot of Home Sweet Home left so I'll probably save it for next Winter!

 Yet another candle (I did tell you I had a lot) that I picked up from TkMaxx is this Birthday Cake one. I usually hate vanilla cakey smells in candles but I surprisingly really liked this one! It's a double wicked candle which is good because you're not left with lots of wax round the edges that you can't burn. However, one of my wicks on this candle doesn't work anymore so I can only use one side hahaha (just to explain the lopsided wax proportions!) Candles in TkMaxx are really cheap aswell and I think I got this for around £5!

 Lastly I have a selection of Yankee minatures that I've never got round to using up! I bought these two years ago now in bulk (I literally bought about 40 mini candles hahaha.. I have a problem I know) because I wanted to get a Yankee candle and thought the best way to try them out would be to buy lots of mini's. I didn't just go to the shop in town like a normal person would no hahaha. I wouldn't really recommend doing this unless you don't live near a Yankee shop and want to try out a few candles. If you know what you want though then these really aren't value for money as they cost around £2 each and they only last a few days burning time wise and don't give off a lot of smell. With Yankee candles I'd say go for a medium or a large as that way you're getting value for money (the small one's are tiny too). These do make a great gift though and last Christmas, I made up makeshift spa kits for my friends and added these into them which made a rather cute gift!

Top Tip:- With candles make sure you burn them right to the edge before blowing them out as this avoids tunnelling which is where the centre part of the candle burns down but there's loads of wax left at the edges. Large jar Yankee candles usually need a good few hours to burn to the edge so they're not one to light just before you run out the door!

Hope you enjoyed seeing my candle collection, What's your favourite Yankee candle? Have you tried any of these ones?

Jewel Candle Blogpost- http://whatabbyloves.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/jewel-candle-review.html
2013 Favourites- http://whatabbyloves.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/2013-favourites.html

Toodlepip,

A x x x