The Holiday Tag!

Ok Im sorry but I cannot resist ANOTHER christmas related blog post! I literally cannot think about anything else at this time of year, I am filled with the joys of the festive season. I saw Fleur from Fleur De Force recently do 'The Holiday Tag' on her YouTube channel and I just knew I had to give it a go too, minus the talking to a camera obviously!

1) What's your favourite holiday nail polish? 

I actually purchased this only today but already I can tell Barry M's 'Red Glitter' (LOVE the original name) is going to be a firm favourite of mine this Christmas! It is completely opaque glitter in just 2 coats and will be perfect for when I go out to my work Christmas party next saturday.

2) What is your favourite holiday movie?

I find this question pretty much impossible to answer with just one film so I am going to have to say it's a toss up between Home Alone, Love Actually and The Holiday; All of which I have already watched this year!

3) Share your favourite winter accessory.

I love fur collars this winter, just as I did last year as I think they add a bit of glamour to any outfit. I'll throw one over my coat for a smarter look or just over a cardigan for a bit of extra warmth and texture! I have 2; both bought from H&M recently!

4) Describe or show your favourite tree ornament. 

As most of you know, this is myself and Andrew's first Christmas in our house so we have had to buy all our tree decorations from scratch. We have bought loads of little individual ones I absolutely love but by far my most favourite are the beautiful personalised ones we ordered off Ebay. They add such a personal touch to the tree and we can bring them out year after year.

5) If you could have one wish come true this year, what would it be?

My one wish this year is that I can worry about money a little less; I know money isn't everything but it would be so nice to be able to have a little extra money left over at the end of the month to save for something special.

6) If you could kiss one celeb under the mistletoe who would it be?

Okay, this is literally IMPOSSIBLE for me to pick just one as I am a total psycho pervert so I am simply going to have to share with you all my celeb top 5. Brace yourselves...

1- Francis Boulle - He can take me for a ride on his skateboard any day.

2- James Arthur - His voice is like sugar.

3- Dougie Poynter - Probably the most beautiful human being to ever walk the planet.

4- Michael Cera - Supergood not Superbad. 

5- Justin Bieber - Have you seen him recently???

7) What's your new year's resolution?

It's the obvious one and everyone says it but I really want to lose some weight; I wish I was one of those people who just ate food to survive, alas I love food. I also want to have a bit more of a life, I don't really go out or do anything, mainly because of my lack of money, but it would be nice to get out and do more.

8) What keeps you going during the "holi-daze"?

Work, work, work. I am very lucky to be in a job I really enjoy and work with such a lovely group of people; I think it's rare to find a job where you like every person you work with and actually enjoy being at work. As you all know I work at Office Shoes and I really enjoy meeting the customers and obviously, buying shoes! It is our Christmas party next saturday, and after last year's occurances I can only begin to imagine what will happen this time! (Hi Lauren if you are reading this; BLOG STALKER.)

9) How do you celebrate the holidays with your family?

We all go to my Aunty's on Christmas day and I am sooooo excited this year as it is baby Lily's first ever Christmas! I cannot wait to give her all her pressies and have some Christmas cuddles!

10) Favourite holiday song?

All I Want For Christmas Is You. Obviously.

11) A childhood photo of you at Christmas.

Me and My Mum Christmas 1992

Me and My Mum Christmas 2010

12) What's your favourite winter candle scent?

My new favourite winter candle is 'Apple Cinnamon Wreath' by Yankee Candle. Some of them smell so sickly but this one is so yummy!

13) What's your favourite holiday candy?

It isn't really specifically a Christmas chocolate but I am completely addicted to M&S Creme Brulee white chocolate. It tastes like a posh Caramac if any of you remember those? So good!

14) What's your elf name? (Favourite nail polish + first pets name)

Red Glitter Steve. Wow. 

So that's the end of the tag! If you do it as well then please send me the link as I love reading anything Christmas related! I'd also just like to congratulate Hannah from Cosmetic Crave who won my Mac lipstick giveaway earlier this week. Thankyou to everyone that entered and I look forward to doing more giveaways in the future!

Becca.

Top 10 Nail Polishes for Autumn/Winter

Those of you who have been following my little blog since the start may remember that way back in June I did my 'Top 10 Nail Polishes for Summer' post. Now it's Autumn, my favourite time of the year don't you know, and I thought I'd do a similar post showing you my seasonal faves for these colder months. Since moving into the new house I haven't been able to afford many new makeup and beauty bits, hense the lack of beauty posts, so these are all from my old  faithful nail varnish collection!

(L-R Revlon  'Plum Night', OPI  'Romeo & Joliet', Essie 'Sew Psyched', OPI 'Warm & Fozzie', Rimmel Lycra Pro 'Beige Babe', Models Own 'Golden Green Beetle Juice', Sally Hansen 'Gray By Gray', Revlon 'Facets of Fuschia', OPI 'Stranger Tides', Nails Inc 'Queenstown Road')

1) Revlon 'Plum Night' - I love, love, love the colour of this polish. It is exactly what the name suggests, a true plum, very dark and rich. The only issue I have with this shade is that it does take a fair few coats to get it opaque and streak free as it is fairly watery but the colour you get at the end makes it worthwhile.

2) OPI 'Romeo & Joliet' - OPI are by far my favourite nail polish brand for their amazing shade range, their smooth application and their quirky names. 'Romeo & Joliet' is a dark burgandy/wine colour with shimmer to give it a metallic finish that is really on trend this Autumn/Winter. The colour is opaque in 1 coat as with most OPI polishes, although I always do 2 for good luck!

3) Essie 'Sew Psyched' - This is the perfect polish for this season's military trend. It is a khaki green and applies so creamy and even. This is by far my most worn Autumn/Winter polish so far this year. As far as I know this shade is now available in the diffusion line for Boots and Superdrug, however I ordered mine online from Fragrance Direct last year so it is the old formula.

4) OPI 'Warm & Fozzie' - Another favourite from the famous brand, 'Warm & Fozzie' came out in the Muppets Collection last year and is a beautiful bronzey-brown with multi coloured shimmer, seriously festive!

5) Rimmel Lycra Pro 'Beige Babe' - I'll be the first to admit this isn't the most exciting and glitteringly festive shade, but 'Beige Babe' is ideal for those times you're feeling lazy and want a colour that is going to go with everything. It is a creamy taupe and as I mentioned in the summer alternative to this post, Rimmel Lycra Pro polishes are by far my favourite formula.

6) Models Own 'Golden Green Beetle Juice' - This is a stunning duo-chrome polish that I've heard is a dupe for Chanel 'Peridot', although I don't have that to compare. This has a really complex shimmer to it and is one of the few nail varnishes to last more than 5 minutes on my nails without chipping, so for me it's a total winner!

7) Sally Hansen 'Gray By Gray' - This is actually a really versatile shade as you can get away with wearing it any time of year. Contrary to what the name would have you believe, 'Gray By Gray' is actually more of a tealy-blue and reminds me very much of a stormy sea at night (Im so deep). 

8) Revlon 'Facets of Fuschia' - This nail varnish excites me so much it is RIDICULOUS, it is just so god damn special! I'm not normally a massive glitter polish fan, they can look a bit tacky and are frankly, a total pain in the butt hole to get off but this is just so unique, it's like nothing I've ever seen before! 2 coats leave it looking like a black gel with different sized purple/fuschia glitter suspended within it, it really reminds me of the galaxy print that's so popular at the moment. Definitely get your hands on this!

9) OPI 'Stranger Tides' - This is a gorgeous pale pistachio shade that is perfect for when you want a nice Autumn/Winter polish but you don't want anything too dark. It is much, much lighter than Essie's 'Sew Psyched' and it has a similar affect to a nude polish.

10) Nails Inc 'Queenstown Road' - I am so gutted I only have the mini of this as it is the perfect Oxblood/Burgandy hue. It almost has a gel finish to it and is really dark and beautifully opaque in just 2 coats. I love matching this with a dark vampy lippy such as 'Dubonnet' by Mac which I featured in my similar 'Top 5 Lipsticks for Autumn/Winter'. 

So those are my 10 favourite nail polishes for these up and coming christmassy months, what are yours? Do you like to follow nail trends or are you still rocking the neons and pastels?

Becca.x

My Makeup Storage

Me and Andrew officially moved in to our house on Friday and we've spent the weekend unpacking, doing last minute DIY (badly) and welcoming our new home to its first guests. My pride and joy is definitely my new dressing table and having never had proper make-up storage before it felt lovely to put everything in its rightful place.

I am so in love with my dressing table and I am even more in love with the price I paid for it. The table itself cost me just £15 from a charity shop and whilst it was hard to see past the dark, old fashioned wood, I knew the shape of it and the beautiful fittings would make the perfect dresser when given a little TLC. The mirror cost me £8 from a car-boot sale and again, just needed a little love and attention to restore it and the chair cost me just £2 at the same boot fair. That's my dream dresser for just £25!

On top of my dresser I keep a few of my 'nicer' makeup and skincare items such as a Chanel foundation and lipstick to give it that luxurious boudoir feel. I use this really cute little plant pot to hold my makeup and the deliciously scented 'Sugared Vanilla' Yankee Candle finishes off the girly dressing table.

I got this really cute storage box from TK Maxx and it is perfect for storing my favourite lipsticks. As I must have mentioned a million times before, lipsticks are by far my most treasured makeup item and pretty much the only thing I ever change up so I love having them on top of my dresser so it's easy for me to chop and change.

Inside the dresser it is split into compartments which is perfect for storing make-up. I am going to bring my empty Glossy Boxes from my mum's house to divide it into sections a bit more clearly as I have with the blushes and bronzers to give the drawers a bit more structure.

My friend Sarah made me this cute floral printed cushion as a house warming present, who knew she was so crafty?! It's very Cath Kidston-y and looks adorable on my chair whilst adding much needed comfort for those lengthy beautifying sessions.

You may recall from a previous post that I got this cute little storage rack from a charity shop a month or so ago and I've hung it on the wall next to my dressing table to store all the beauty bits I don't want cluttering up the dresser. It's the perfect size for all my lotions and potions and the pink flowers adds a nice contrast against the pale blue wall.

So that's my make-up storage! I am so happy with how it's turned out, for £25 I have managed to make a real focal point in the spare room and I think it adds real character and femininity. How do you guys like to store your makeup? 

Becca.x