Christmas!

Jem the Fireman, Baby Leo and the cat in the background.

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Christmas this year has had such a huge build up, yet it's gone by so fast! I love the festive season and the day itself was brilliant. We went to see family in Sheffield and ended up seeing my new baby cousin for the first time, aw! I felt so festive and absolutely loved seeing everyone's reactions to the presents they received. And of course, Christmas dinner was delicious! I hope you had a good Christmas.

Love Holly x

Christmas Baking.

I was inspired by Chloe's post last week to do some sort of festive baking, so I set some time aside after I completed mocks and decided to make Christmas biscuits. Now they are quite a simple idea, however I think with all the different food at Christmas, it's nice to have something simple mixed in.

For the biscuit you will need:
275g plain flour
100g unsalted softened butter
100g caster sugar
1 lightly beaten egg
1tsp vanilla extract

Method:
1) Cream together the sugar and butter.
2) Add in the egg and the vanilla extract.
3) Fold in the flour slowly until it all comes together as a dough.
4) Roll out the dough into your desired thickness (e.g 2cm)
5) Cut the biscuits into your desired shape and bake for 8-10 minutes.
6) Leave to cool and decorate as you wish!

I think they're perfect for a Christmas buffet and incredibly moreish.

I hope you enjoyed reading, 

Holly x

Its a Secret!

I don't think I've ever done Secret Santa before, so it's a first for me this year. I was really excited at the prospect and thought it would be fun to see what quirky gifts we could all find. However so far I've found it really hard to think of a good gift and something the recipient would like/use for such a small amount of money. So I thought I'd report on my top few findings. (They are mainly novelty considering anyone can buy a bath set)



1) Animals That Saw You Naked Book - £6.99
 When I saw this on ASOS I thought the idea was hilarious. I like the fact that they've turned the idea on the head that humans don't like it, but instead the fear of it lies with the animals. Genius.

2) Sculpt Your Own Boyfriend Set - £9.95
The principal behind this little set is so fun and the creativity element allows for you to theoretically design your ideal man. There are cute little props included in the set and I think it would be a fun little thing to do with friends to see what different tastes everyone has!

3) Ring For Tea Bell - £2.99
For someone who loves tea, or even hot drinks, a gift like this is so suitable and perfect. I thought something like this would be fab during the early mornings when you don't want to get out of bed, but still need a drink. As long as people know what the bell means, then you're all sorted!

4) The Little Bag Of Christmas - £5
When I saw this online I thought it was so adorable. I think its a nice sentimental little gift and is perfect to highlight the values behind Christmas. The aesthetics of this is also really nice.

5) Creative Therapy Colouring Book - £12.99
This is the least novelty themed one out of them all, but I still think it is a lovely gift to give to someone. I think something like this is a really calming idea and will help the recipient to relax.

What would you give as a secret Santa gift? I hope you enjoyed reading,

Holly x

Currently Craving

As Christmas is fast approaching, I've been thinking of things to buy for other people but had no idea of what I might like myself. That's not to say I don't have a wishlist as long as my arm, but I've been stuck with what to pick and what I may like as a gift. So after a long think I've come up with  few ideas.

1) Lorac Pro Palette
This is a palette that almost everyone knows of/talks about and has been in my US amazon basket for as long as I can remember. It has a gorgeous combination of shades and looks like it will create many different looks.

2) Hourglass Ambient Trio
After seeing the horrendous value for money that the drool-worthy Ambient Lighting Edit is I looked to the set of three powders instead. They are meant to be incredible and I like the idea of having powders/highlighter hybrids in one.

3)Asos Relish Cut Out Pointed Ankle Boots
For me ankle boots are a useful item to have all year round and these ones are simply gorgeous. The cut out adds a nice bit of detail without making them look cheap. They look like they'd go with anything and are of a good quality.

4) Adidas Stan Smiths
These aren't usually the footwear I would go for however there is something about them that really appeals to me. I think with some outfits they look quite good and I imagine they are good for everyday wear.

5) Zoeva
I bought my mum the Zoeva Rose Gold brushes and I really want my own brushes from there. I like the Classic Face Brush Set, the Bamboo Vol 2 set and the Cocoa Blend Palette.

So there is an insight into my current wishlist, what is on yours? I hope you enjoyed reading, 

Holly x 

Bold metals!

Real Techniques are renowned for their brushes and their collections never fail to impress with both variety and quality. They have recently released their Bold Metals collection which isn't a range I had previously tried so I thought buying the collection would be the best way to do so. Inside you get 3 brushes and a little clutch and the design is really chic.

The first brush is the 103 Angled Powder Brush. It is huge and very fluffy so is perfect for applying powder, especially as it's not dense so won't pick up to much product or leave the skin looking heavy. This is an exclusive brush to the collection and not available separately. The second is the 200 Oval Shadow Brush. Many people raved about this product when it first launched as it is perfect for covering the lid with colour in one swoop, but without going overboard. It isn't something I'd use for my crease, but it is perfect for adding colour. The last brush is the 300 tapered blush which is perfect for highlighting and applying blusher. It's domed shape means you can be really precise with the application which is great. The clutch bag is a lovey little edition and keeps the brushes from getting dirty. These brushes are brilliant and such a good set to have in my stash, I'm so happy I got my hands on them!

What's your favourite Real Techniques brush set? I hope you enjoyed reading, 
Holly x

Autumn: The Best Bits

Autumn is well and truly upon us in the UK and the weather is becoming more miserable, but there are some benefits. Autumn is a great season and I thought I'd share my five favourite things:

1) The nights draw in a lot more fast now and although this means I usually don't arrive home until it is dark, it means I have the excuse to go to bed much earlier which is always a bonus.
2) Jumpers. I love wearing jumpers and some days they work so much better than wearing a coat as we've been having quite a mild autumn so wearing jumpers have been enough. Being someone who gets cold very easily, I always layer up and autumn is a great time for that.
3) Enjoying a hot drink. I drink tea all year round, but the selection of hot drinks during a/w is even better than the rest of the year and always gives me a reason to try new tastes.
4) Walking through the leaves is another favourite - I love the crunch they make. The colours are also great and make walking very pleasant(unless it's pouring down)
5) The countdown to Christmas. By this time all the shops are stocked up with their christmas collections which makes me very excited. I love the whole atmosphere and I especially love getting wrapped up to go to all the events that happen during the autumn-christmas period.

What are your autumn favourites? I hope you enjoyed reading,

Holly x

Halloween!

On Friday (30th Oct) my family and 2 friends went to a Halloween event at a place called White Post Farm. As the name suggests it was based at a farm and all the staff acted and dressed up for the whole evening and there were lots of cool, spooky things to do. But also its just as nice to see all the animals they have!

We went through 2 dark, confined mazes in the evening which were hilarious. There were live actors within the 'corridors' and very realistic moving props which made everyone jump! We were submerged into complete darkness so it was a challenge to find our way around and there was lots of stopping and starting and screaming for that matter. At one point we were greeted my a man with a magic ball trying to guess the unfortunate fate of a member of each group, his attempts were a good laugh.

The main attraction was the Tractor and Trailer ride, which is pretty self explanatory. Our first stop around the farm was a Maleficent sketch with spooky dancers. As we made our way around the land the stops became more scary, (we went to the child friendly night so it wasn't too bad although my friends did jump out of their skin at some points!) with zombies running out of bonfires and humans who'd been chopped in half glued to a wall. One really good stop was a man trying to escape from his capturers only to be chased by someone with a chainsaw who then decided to target us! 

The actors and the whole set up made everything very believable and it certainly is good fun irrespective of age! The whole night never fails to impress me and we've been going since it began about 5 years ago. 

Have you been to a Halloween themed night? 

I hope you enjoyed reading, 

Holly x