A break from tradition

Christmas this year was a little different for me.

A messy divorce (not mine!) earlier this year meant that after 23 years of traditionally celebrating at home, the day instead was spent dining in a pretty little hotel in a very picturesque English town.

Breaking from Christmas custom I opted for monk fish over turkey and shunned Christmas pud in favour of a lemon posset, yum!

My grandpa and youngest brother with lily!

Feeling festive I donned the sparkliest dress I own for the day by H&M which I nipped in at the waist with a brown leather belt and long cardi from Topshop, black tights and Kurt Geiger slouched ankle boots.

Lily's Christmas outfit was this gorgeous brown and black striped shift dress by Next, black tights and uber sparkly mary janes that Santa bought her, wink wink, nudge nudge.

Although Christmas day was spent away from home I did spend Boxing Day at my grandmas where I enjoyed a belated turkey dinner and gift opening!

I love Christmas trees and am a firm believer in the real deal, a little messy I know but you just can't get the look or the lovely smell from the plastic ones.

And this year mine survived until Christmas day,Hallelujah, last year I planted one in sand and it dried out within days, big mistake!!

Anyway onto the good stuff, what was under it? Apart from the usual satsuma, chocs and socks here's some gifts I received this year.

Nothing beats a classic Moleskine notebook/planner, I'm an avid note taker and bullet point maker.

If you follow me on Twitter you'll probably have guessed I''m obsessed with dental hygiene so I asked for this new Philips Sonicare brush which is AMAZING, much better than a traditional electric brush and is proven to whiten your teeth within two weeks (currently on offer for £47 from £120 at Boots).

The golden box is a back up of my favourite hair product of the moment, Kerastase's Elixir Ultime, an amazing multi-use oil enriched with Argan Oil which can be used as a mask, night treatment, detangler and serum! Review to come!

My favourite bits are the jewels of course, I love jewellery. The bff gave me these gorgeous Swarovski yellow stone studs and peach crystal filled pen while Lily cleverly bought me this beautiful gold filigree ring by Isharya.

Sods law that just when I get my hands on some great boots perfect for the snow it goes away but it's still cold so I've been living in these Uggs since Sunday.

I've had one pair of Uggs for about four years so it was about time for a new pair and the latest sturdier boot styles are much nicer, I chose these snuggly lace up ones.

I really never thought I'd wear a Barbour but some of their new styles are much more figure flattering and so well made.

My dad surprised me with this quilted wax biker jacket and I absolutely LOVE it, so classic.

I think it was the first Christmas I received NO make-up, this may be a hint from family and friends that I may have enough already, lol!

I did however receive a Clarisonic which is still on it's way to me which I cannot wait to use and review, exciting times!

So although most traditions did fly out of the window this year I did have a very enjoyable and special Christmas, it just shows change is not always such a bad thing!

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and have a very Happy New Year!!
xxx

Last chance friday

Tomorrow is your last chance to get your hands on Mac's latest collaboration lipstick Pink Friday so I thought I'd do a quick swatch and comparison post in case you were still undecided about purchasing.

Having ordered mine from Selfridges on the first Friday I've had it a few weeks now and to be honest the anticipation of it's arrival (still love getting post) was more exciting than the lipstick itself.

Don't get me wrong I like Pink Friday, it's not one you can wear every day or that often but it's nice to have and the most wearable out of all my blue toned pinks.

Top-bottom: Pink Friday, Saint Germain, Viva Glam Gaga, Colour Crafted, Lazy Day and Snob.

Although still bright it's a slightly darker pink with a deeper blue tint which I find easier to pull off and I think most others would too.

Top-bottom: Pink Friday, Saint Germain, Viva Glam Gaga, Colour Crafted, Lazy Day and Snob.

If you don't own any blue toned pinks but have always liked the idea of wearing them but the likes of Saint Germain and Gaga are too light and bright then Pink Friday is a great lipstick to have as it's a little more subtle.

Out of all the above it is the most similar to Snob which is permanent but personally Pink Friday is nicer as it has more pink to it and less of the greyish purple tone.

Overall it's nothing new or dramatically different as you can see from my collection but I do like it and will reach for it over the others any day!

Do you already have Pink Friday or will you be taking your last chance tomorrow to grab one?

xx

Laser cold turkey

I had been dependant on my Boots I-Pulse IPL machine for almost five months when I decided to go laser cold turkey!

Now before you jump to conclusions and think I had finished my treatment having at last accomplished fuzz freedom, this unfortunately was not the case.

It isn't that I didn't see results with it or didn't enjoy using it, quite the opposite in fact.

The machine is so easy and pain free to use I had no trouble with it at all and the results were seriously impressive.
After 12 weeks the hair was growing much slower and there were large visible bald patches, the razor was going to be a thing of the past until...

I decided to take the test.

At 18 weeks I stopped using the at home laser machine as I rarely got regrowth between my weekly zapping sessions and the sceptic in me wanted to see just how PERMANENT the results were.

The not so pretty results are below, look away now if horrified by hair!

For the first two weeks there was absolutely no regrowth leaving me stunned thinking I had found hair free happiness but then a little stubble did start to grow in the third week.

By the end of the month as you can see there is a little hair but admittedly not much of it.

If I'd let my pit hair grow prior to the I-Pulse I've no doubt it would have been a bush after that length of time!

So now that the experiment is over I can't tell you how happy I was to shave the other day and grab the laser again.

You may be wondering what prompted this little hiatus, well it was an event I attended at the beginning of November in the very swish Mayfair Hotel hosted by the team behind the I-Pulse.

There was champagne on tap, stunning surroundings, beautiful girls, use of their amazing spa and the chance to quiz the creators about the machine.



The main question I wanted to know the answer to was ' does the laser permanently remove the hair or just reduce it?'.

The answer from the Boots team was most definitely a yes, depending on the area the results are permanent and it is currently the only at home laser machine that gives these results.

If the hair does come back like mine did then I'm lead to believe it didn't technically 'come back' at all, the hair that grew within that month was new hair created by natural changes in my skin and hormonal balance.

So I assume a continuous use every few weeks is needed to keep hairs away,whats five minutes every fortnight compared to shaving daily!

The other question I was keen to know was ' why is the laser head so small?'.

I would love to do my legs but with the current head it would take days for me to do so.

The answer was that the size of the head is the biggest it can possibly be for the size of the machine meaning waxing is still a pain I'll have to endure for a while longer on my pins.

I hope this helped if you have been contemplating purchasing the I-Pulse, if you have any questions now I'm a little more clued up feel free to ask.
xx

Every girl needs a LBP

I'm no goth or punk, nor am I even a little partial to the dark side but since seeing my vast varnish collection I'm sure you all understand the dilemma I face when deciding which colour to wear.

Recently I've cut out all of the umming and ahhing by applying the same principle to my polish that I have towards clothes, 'if in doubt opt for the black', this motto is always a winner for me!

Black is timeless, sleek and oh so chic.

I've been wearing onyx on my nails non-stop for the past few weeks and I love it!

Nothing quite beats the shine, glossiness and classically simple look black polish gives, I have been converted.

Not so long ago I used to think that black nail varnish was best reserved for Halloween and Halloween only.

My polish of choice is not the infamous Chanel Les Vernis in Black Satin although I am now on a mission to get my hands on it but a considerably more affordable dupe by Sue Moxley.

Costing just £4 number 16 is great quality, super shiny and with two coats, perfect!

I now firmly believe that just as every girl needs that LBD (Little Black Dress) in her wardrobe she also needs a LBP( Little Black Polish) in her varnish collection too.

Are you a fan of onyx nails or a firm believer that it should only come out on October the 31st?
xx