Huge January Giveaway!!

Attention world! I'm holding another giveaway on my Youtube channel! Hooray!

I really want 2016 to be a fantastic year both for myself and for all you lovely people out there on the interweb. What better way to kick off the New Year than with a giveaway? Hopefully it will brighten up your January!

And you can enter right here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck everyone!

Terms, Conditions and General Boring Stuff:
1. This giveaway will be running until midnight on the 2nd February 2016. The winner will be announced on the 5th February 2016 in my weekly video as well as on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The winner will then be contacted via email on the 5th February and will have 5 days to respond.
2. If you are under the age of 16 please ask for permission from a parent/guardian before entering this giveaway.
3. This giveaway is international! I will happily post this package of goodies to wherever the winner lives. However, some countries may have import/duty taxes or fees (I am really not a international postage expert, as you can probably tell), which may apply. These potential fees will not be covered by the postage I will be paying to have the package shipped to you. I will be wrapping your prizes with love and care, but I cannot be held responsible for any damage once the package is out of my possession.

Stocking Stuffer Gift Ideas for Her

It's that time of year again! There's magic in the air and festive cheer and good will towards men have nuzzled their way into our hearts to brighten the bleak December nights. Oh, and men everywhere are frantically trying to work out what to buy their loved ones for Christmas.

Fear not! I have a fool-proof stocking stuffer guide to ensure you do not mess this up!

Of course, this guide isn't just for men. It's for anyone out there who could do with some inspiration for gifts for a sister/mother/girlfriend/daughter...or just some little treats for yourself! But I can't help thinking of my Dad last year. He genuinely thought talc was an acceptable gift to put in my mother's Christmas stocking.

So, to save women everywhere from a similar fate, here's a list of stocking stuffer gift ideas that you simply can't go wrong with.

Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge

I can confirm that the word 'miracle' is not an exaggeration. This has revolutionised my face! This little wonder makes for flawless makeup application and can be used to apply foundation, concealer and even powder products. A must-have for makeup bags everywhere!
Get it here!

Lush Magic Wand

Frankly, anything from Lush makes a fabulous stocking stuffer. Bath bombs, lips scrubs, massage bars...you cannot go wrong with something from Lush. The products smell divine, contain all natural ingredients and are the perfect little treat.

But, for the sake of narrowing things down, if I had to choose just one Lush product to wake up to on Christmas morning it would be the Magic Wand bubble bar. It's pink, it's sparkly, it's festive and it can be re-used so you get more bang for your buck.
Get it here!

Other stand-out Lush products include Santa's Lip Scrub, Snow Fairy Shower Gel and the Butterbear Bath Bomb.

Vanilla Cupcake Yankee Sampler Candle

The Vanilla Cupcake Yankee candles smell good enough to eat (I've seriously been tempted to take a bite a few times) and the sampler is the perfect size to pop in a Christmas stocking. And if she drives get her the car air freshener to go with it. It's like driving around in a giant cake!
Get it here!

Pandora Bracelet 

Yes, it's a little more pricey than some chocolate coins and an inflatable bath pillow, but a Pandora Bracelet is the stocking stuffer gift that keeps on giving. Get her a Pandora Bracelet for Christmas and you're sorted for anniversaries and birthdays too. If in doubt, just get another charm for the bracelet. Each one is sentimental and absolutely stunning. Who would say no to that?
Get it here!

Perfume Atomiser

Everyone loves to find a random gadget at the bottom of their Christmas stocking and a perfume atomiser is the kind of random gadget she'll actually use! She can just fill it up with her favourite perfume and have it on hand wherever she goes. Perfect for travelling or to throw in her handbag and take to work.
Get it here!

Makeup Bag

It doesn't take long for makeup bags to get a bit...grim. It's only a matter of time before a foundation leaks or a lipstick loses its lid and suddenly it looks disgusting. But a nice new makeup bag isn't something most women will treat themselves to so a pretty little makeup bag like this one from Cath Kidston is always a welcome Christmas gift.
Get it here!

Chocolate

Quite frankly it's not a Christmas stocking without chocolate. After all, 'tis the season to stuff your face and gain half a stone. Personally I love a tube of Milkybar Buttons and a Chocolate Orange in my stocking, but it all comes down to personal preference. Just make sure there's chocolate of some description in there!

Monthly Musings: November

And another month bites the dust.

Does anyone else feel like November was a bit of a 'meh' month? For one I can't remember the last time I saw so much as a streak of blue in the sky. Here in South Wales it has rained pretty much constantly since 4th November with brief intervals of gale force winds. I kid you not, I attempted to carry a large cardboard box from my storage lock-up to my car earlier today and I genuinely thought I was about to be swept off my feet like some kind of bedraggled, frizzy-haired Mary Poppins.

Here's me, hiding from the rain and praying for coffee

Maybe it was the murky weather or maybe it was the dull interlude between Halloween and Christmas, but my November was a bit grey all round. In fact, what even happened this month? Surely I must have been present for at least part of it!

Obsession of the month...

It's been a good while since I've had the time to sit down and binge-watch a TV show like I did back in my carefree uni days. But one day last month I was ill and suddenly found myself with an entire day to fill with nothing but lounging on the sofa under a duvet and catching up on my series links. It was glorious! You know, apart from the illness and whatnot.

Anyway, I finally got around to watching a show on Sky 1 called You, Me and the Apocalypse, which I quickly became totally obsessed with. 

It's about the oncoming end of the world (as you would imagine) and it follows various different characters from all over the place as they live out their final days. It's hilarious! The plot is totally off the wall and bizarre, but I am so hooked! There's just no way to guess what's going to happen next!

Now I just need to come down with the flu or something so I'll actually have the time to finish watching it... 

Accomplishment of the month...

I successfully applied winged eyeliner. Women everywhere will appreciate how huge this accomplishment is. 

Thing I am most ashamed of this month...

The shambles that was my Christmas shopping weekend. Don't get me wrong, it was a fabulous weekend. Roman Baths were visited, prosecco was guzzled, Big Rich Texas was binge-watched in the hotel room. But as far as actually making headway with my Christmas shopping goes...yeah, it was a total fail. I didn't buy a single gift. Unless you count gifts for myself...

Book of the month...

Do we really need to talk about it? Yes, I'm still reading *Middlemarch and yes I will still be reading it in 47 year's time.

Youtuber of the month...

Sarah Rae Vargas

This lady certainly does not need any additional promotion from little old me since she already has nearly 500,000 subscribers. And for good reason!

I've been subscribed to Sarah's channel for a while now and her videos are so different from anything else I've seen on Youtube. Her down to earth, no nonsense honesty is a breath of fresh air (and definitely leaning towards the risqué). She makes videos about body confidence, dealing with haters and sex alongside your standard hauls and outfit of the day videos. 

She also strikes me as the type of person who'd be great to go do tequila shots with.

Things ticked off the 2015 List...

Success! I actually accomplished something on the list this month!

26. Listen to classical music (in the vague hope that it will make me more cultured and stop my brain cells from fizzling out at such a high rate)

I had Radio 3 on in my car for an entire 4 days, which is a practically an eternity when you consider that I spend 4-6 hours of my work day driving. Listening to classical music definitely made me feel very cultured, but by day 5 I simply had to switch back to my beloved Radio 1. All the violins were starting to make me weirdly anxious. 

Next month I will aim to...

Soak up as much of the Christmas spirit as humanly possible...hopefully without inadvertently gaining 20lbs. Because, you know, Christmas chocolates...

Pssst! You can check out my favourite products of the month here:

(Affiliate links marked with *)

SaveSave

The Return of the Littlest Loon!

It's been just over a year since I managed to get my niece to take 10 minutes out of her busy schedule of pretending to be a cat and hiding Playdough under the sofa to sit down and answer a series of questions about her life. I published her bizarre little ramblings in a blog post, which was (inevitably) heavily focussed on unicorns and princesses.

Now Lauren is six years old and I couldn't help wondering just how much her answers to those questions had changed over the course of a year. I mean, sure, her favourite colour is no longer pink, she's cast aside Sleeping Beauty in favour of Princess Jasmine and you'll never catch her performing the once beloved 'Cutie Patootie' dance. But how much has that adorable little weirdo really changed in the last thelve months?

To answer that question I spent last Saturday afternoon delving into the mind of a teeny tiny loon again as she sat on my bed, munching her way through a packet of digestive biscuits. (When I got into bed that night there were crumbs everywhere!)

And here's what she had to say. Everything I said is in purple and Lauren's words of wisdom are in green.

Ok, you ready?

Yeah.

What makes you happy?

Having fun!

What kind of fun?

Umm...going to the park and going to the trips in school.

What makes you sad?

When people are mean to me in school.

What makes you laugh?

Telling me jokes and me being silly.

If you could do anything today what would you do?

*Long interval of biscuit munching*

Umm...go to Disneyland!

How old are you?

*Gives me a dirty look as if I am the worst auntie in the world for even daring to ask this*

Six!

How old am I?

*Shrugs*

Have a guess.

Thirty two?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Ump,,,,,nothing.

Nothing? What are you going to do all day?

Stay in the house and be lazy. And I'm not going to have a boyfriend either. I'm going to stay on my own and be lazy.

All on your own?

Well...some kids.

You're going to have some kids?

Yeah. But I'm not going to have anything in my house except a bed.

But you don't want a boyfriend. Children need a mammy and a daddy.

*munch munch munch*
....I'm going to be an auntie then. 

Ok.

I don't want kids. No! I don't want my own. But I want a grand-kid. I don't want my own kids. 

You don't?

No! ...How old are you?

Twenty four.

...Ok. What's the next question?

Who's your best friend?

Tommy. No, actually Tommy isn't my best friend. He's my boyfriend.

So who's your best friend?

Rex and Max.

I haven't heard of them before. Are they in your school?

No. *whispers* They're in the caravan.

What's your favourite animal?

Rainbow Dash.

What's your favourite song?

Bad Romance!

What's your favourite food?

Umm...broccoli?

Where is your favourite place to go?

Disneyland!

What are you really good at?

Maths.

What are you not very good at?

Nothing!

You're good at everything?

*giggles like a crazy person* 
I'm not good at making people! 

What do you want for your birthday?

A real friend Rainbow Dash pony! 

What did you do today?

Umm...played a game. I was in the caravan and then I played a game and then I came to Nanna's house and I played a game again and then I'm going home and I'm going to play a game agaaaiiin!!

Those were all the questions. Do you have anything to add?

I want to stick my tongue out!  

And there you have it!
You know, part of me wonders what a trained professional would make of some of that...

Monthly Musings: October!

Hello everyone and welcome to November! Yes, I'm aware everyone else has been here for a while, but you know me. I'm never on time!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, October is my favourite month. I love the feeling of the crisp autumnal breeze and the crunching sound of fallen leaves beneath my feet. But most of all I love Halloween! The pumpkins, the black cats, the gruesome latex decapitated heads...good times!

I can't help feeling sad that October is over, but the one consolation is that it's time for Monthly Musings! Hooray!

Obsession of the month...

As I mentioned in my Halloween Goodies post, I have recently developed a huge (some might say ridiculous) obsession with scented candles. Up until this point I have always found the worldwide fascination with scented candles bizarre. I mean, realistically, you may as well just set fire to your money and sprinkle it with pot-pourri. Same basic principle.
But all of a sudden I find myself with some kind of scented candle shrine taking over half of my dressing table and I can't walk into Debenhams any more without sniffing all the candles in the home-wear department.

It's becoming a problem...

Accomplishment of the month...

Have I actually accomplished anything this month? Surely I must have done something within the last month that I can be proud of!
I mean, I would say I accomplished breaking in my new work shoes, but even that would be a lie because I got my mother to break them in for me.
I am really judging myself right now.

Thing I am most ashamed of this month...

The sheer amount of Milkybar Ghosts I ate. Repeat after me: Halloween is not an excuse to up your calorie intake by 4000%.

Book of the month...

You guessed it! I am still making my way through *Middlemarch! I've really been struggling to find time to sit down and read since I started my new job and, with another 500 odd pages left to go and my workload set to increase even more during the run-up to Christmas, I'm worried that I'll be reading this book for the rest of my life.

I am really starting to get into it though. I mean, I still have absolutely no idea where the plot is going (if anywhere), but I really feel for Dorothea and her disenchantment with grown up-life. I feel you girl!

Youtuber of the month...

grav3yardgirl

I was drawn to Bunny's channel this month because she is just as much of a Halloween nut as I am. I was lured in by the Halloween makeup tutorials and "Follow Me Around a Halloween Store" videos and then proceeded to binge-watch her channel for the rest of the month. She is totally mental...and I love it!

Things ticked off The 2015 List...

Absolutely nothing. I'm close though! All I need to do if finish Middlemarch and I can cross off "read 12 more books from the BBC Good Reads list". But the way that's going, I could be waiting a long time for that small victory.

Next month I will aim to...

Start eating more fruit and veg. Like...one a day or something...

Psst! You can check out my October Favourites here:

(Affiliate links marked with *)

Must-Have Halloween Goodies!

It's my favourite time of year again! The ground is scattered with crunchy orange leaves, the morning air is crisp and fresh and, best of all, Halloween is just around the corner!

I've been in love with Halloween since I can remember. The musty smell of Halloween decorations that have been sitting in the attic for the last 12 months, the feel of pumpkin guts between my fingers, scaring the life life out of my niece and nephew, I love it all!

I thought it was totally necessary to write a Halloween themed post since the witching hour is almost upon us so today I'm going to share my must-have Halloween goodies with you.

The Lush Halloween Range - Lush

Yes, all of it! Every year Lush brings out a range of Halloween themed bath and body goodies that smell frightfully good. I am obsessed with Lush products all year round so it goes without saying that these spooky soaps just call to me.

I am particularly drawn to the Sparkly Pumpkin. Lush, Halloween and glitter all combined into a single product?! Yes, I'm all over that!
Grab it here!

Yankee Candles - Yankee Candle website

Ok, I'm going to be honest with you. I have never understood the worldwide obsession with Yankee Candles. £20 for something I am literally going to set fire to? Really?
But recently I've become totally obsessed with scented candles. Every time I leave the house I somehow manage to find a new candle to add to my collection.

And the candles I am most desperate to get my hands on right now are the Halloween Yankee Candles. I have no idea what Witches Brew could possibly smell like. I just know that I need it in my life!
Grab it here!

Hotel Chocolat Boo! Box - Hotel Chocolat

Let's be honest, one of the best parts of Halloween is stuffing your face with sweets at the end of the night. Usually goody bags are filled with cheap lollies and gummy bears, but now that I'm a fully grown adult (most of the time) I think it's acceptable to splash out on some posh treats from Hotel Chocolat.

Grab it here!

The Nightmare Before Christmas Jack and Sally Mug - The Disney Store

The perfect addition to your mug tree this Halloween...and all year round! I have a deep-rooted love for Disney Store mugs, which is slightly odd considering I don't drink hot drinks. They are just beautiful to look at. Is that weird? Probably.

Grab it here!

Hocus Pocus Wallet Phone Case - Etsy

The obsession is real! Hocus Pocus is one of my all time favourite films and I have always wanted to get my hands on The Book. I mean, how great would that look casually sitting on my nightstand?
This phone case is a slightly more practical size than the actual book and is absolutely adorable (in a creepy, bizarre kind of way). There are plenty of different sizes for different phone models too.

Grab it here!


Hopefully this post will inspire you to go out and bag some Halloween goodies. I for one have accepted that my bank balance is about to take a serious blow.
Have a happy Halloween everyone!

Monthly Musings: September!

Do you ever have one of those months that just feels like a brick in the face? That was how September was for me. Don't get me wrong, it was a great month. My birthday is in September and I got a new job, I finally managed to catch up on Game of Thrones (although I have no idea what I'm meant to do with my life until the next season comes out!) and the weather was uncharacteristically pleasant.   

But boy was it intense! One minute it was the first week of the month and I was happily knocking back Jack Daniels and blowing out birthday candles and now all of a sudden it's October and I've somehow become a sleep-deprived business woman who can barely account for the last three weeks of her life. 

But, whether I can make sense of it or not, September is over and it's time for some monthly musings!

Obsession of the month...

This month I have been obsessively listening to Charlie Puth and Meghan Trainor's new song, 'Marvin Gaye'. On repeat. Sometimes for hours on end. Of the 73 million views the video has had on Youtube, 10,000 or so of them are probably mine. Yes I'm aware that I could just download the song on Itunes, but that would be far too logical. That's simply not how I roll.

Accomplishment of the month...

This month my greatest accomplishment was getting myself a fancy new grown up job, which involves wearing blouses, pretending I know how to use an Ipad, and occasionally popping into London and getting utterly lost on the Tube. I never thought I'd end up in the corporate world (being more into rainbows and smiles than pie charts and firm handshakes) but I guess that's the beauty of my bizarre little life. There is absolutely no knowing where I'll end up next.

Thing I am most ashamed of this month...

As part of my fancy new job I got a fancy new company car. The low point of the month was definitely getting stuck outside Dominos Pizza for 15 minutes because I couldn't work out how to put the car into reverse. #epicfail

Book of the month...

The book I've been slowly but surely working my way through this month (and will no doubt be working my way through for a good few months to come) is Middlemarch by George Eliot. Now don't get me wrong, I love Victorian novels. I don't mind getting entangled in the enormous descriptive passages or trying to keep tabs on the seemingly never-ending cast of characters (yes, Dickens, that one was aimed at you). But so far Middelmarch hasn't really grabbed my attention and the next 636 are looking pretty daunting right now. Wish me luck.

Youtuber of the month...

I've been subscribed to Stepanka for a long time now, but for the last few weeks I've been binge-watching her videos like some kind of weird stalker. Maybe I find comfort in knowing there's someone out there who seems to end up in as many random and bizarre circumstances as I do. But if you enjoy my weird and wonderful annecdotes then you'll probably love her channel.

Things ticked off The 2015 List...

An accurate depiction of how I currently look/feel

This month I continued the theme of accomplishing absolutely nothing on The 2015 List. I'm nothing if not consistent after all.

Next month I will aim to...

Fit in some time to sleep! This month has been so hectic that the bags under my eyes have become a permanent feature, so deeply engrained that there's not enough concealer in the world to help me. Trust me, I've already gone through a whole bottle!