December Favourites

This will be my last post of 2015 and I can't quite believe it. It doesn't seem five minutes ago that I was setting up this blog having not really having a clue what I was doing back during my long break in July, and now I'm back to the studious ways of sixteen-year-olds and indulging in way too much Christmas chocolate. I feel like a fitting way to round off 2015 would be to do a good old December favourites. I was lucky enough to receive very special gifts this year for Christmas, so many of them will be featured in today's post. Hope you all had lovely Christmases too and Santa was kind to you! On with the favourites...

Once again, I'm am ridiculously late to the party with this product. Benefit's They're Real mascara has been all the rage since it came out many moons ago and I've just recently caught up to the trend. My Uncle, Auntie and cousins kindly bought me a Benefit gift set for Christmas that included the mascara, and now I realise what all the fuss was about. Firstly, it looks pretty gorgeous in the shiny packaging. Secondly, with just a single coat, your lashes are curled, volumised and lengthened considerably, whilst still feeling light-weight on your eyelids. They may not look like fake lashes like they suggest, but they definitely look beautiful. One thing I would say is that it is a bit of a pain to get off. There is a remover specially designed for it, but my Garnier Micellar Water does do the trick, just a little longer than usual. Despite this, I think I've made it clear I'm completely head over heels for this little beauty. 

Another make-up favourite this month has been the Max Factor Colour Elixr Lipstick in the shade Rosewood. You may remember I spoke about this in my Autumn/Winter Edit - if you haven't read that post yet, you can get straight to it here. I must admit, when I wrote that post I had used the Rimmel one a lot more often. I had only recently bought this lipstick, not really expecting crazy things from it but thought it looked pretty on the back of my hand. When I brought it home, I thought that I had chosen a colour way too dark for my skin tone, but me being me, I wanted to get the most out of it, so I tried just dotting it onto my lips then patting it in. It works. It really works. It gives a nude/raspberry type colour that doesn't look too much but gives a lovely, subtle 'something'. For darker skin tones, it would work perfectly just as a nude lipstick, but when you're as ghostly pale like myself, this technique works wonders - the darker tones in it work especially well with my dark hair. The lipstick also feels smooth and moisturising on my lips and stays put for quite a while. This lipstick is all I've been wearing in December, so I'm sure I'll be checking out more of the range. 

Moving away from make-up, my next favourite comes in the form of during and post shower products. One of my best friends bought my the Lush Snow Fairy Shower Gel as part of my Christmas present, and now I'm obsessed. This is part of Lush's famous Christmas limited edition range, and probably one of the most highly-anticipated products, yet I have never tried it. Now I realise it's what my Christmases have been missing. It's not a particularly festive scent - it smells like bubblegum and candyfloss, similar to the scent of the bubblegum lip scrub and Creamy Candy and Magic Wand bubble bars, though more intense - but it has a shimmery sheen that makes it feel that extra bit more special, as well as being bright pink. I can understand why this extremely sweet-smelling shower gel isn't up everyone's street, but it's absolutely perfect for me and I'm so sad I can't replenish my stock any sooner than October. After that, I've been using another Christmas present from my Nan and Grandad. This is the Paco Rabanne Olympea Body Lotion. It was a sad, sad day when I had to bid a fond farewell to my beloved Chloe lotion, but this is a very good replacement. This one is a bit more pungent, so much so I can still smell it on my PJs and the last time I used it was Sunday, and has a scent with notes of green mandarin, ginger lily, jasmine and vanilla. It makes my skin feel silky-smooth too. If you're using this during the day, I doubt you'd really need to use a perfume. This duo is fab and I find myself looking forward to showers more often now I have these two. 

Another favourite of mine has been Magic Stars Hot Chocolate. Time and time again I have asked my mum to pick it up on our Tesco trips but never has it ended up in our trolley. Santa must have seen this struggle and on Christmas morning I found it in my stocking. The funny thing is, I  mentioned it so many times to friends at school that I got a packet from a friend too - thankfully, it'll be a while until I run out. The powder contains mini magic stars in it which melt when your pour in the hot milk, making it extra chocolate-y and extra tasty. I'm sure I'll be drinking way too many of these in the not too distant future.

 

Lastly but certainly not least, probably my favourite 'favourite'. My Christmas present from my mum and dad this year was this stunning Olivia Burton watch. It has a black leather strap and face, with flowers of different shades of pink on it. It also has silver Roman numerals/dashes, Olivia Burton logo and rim. The logo is also embossed on the back of the clock and on the strap. Olivia Burton do gorgeous vintage designs, which is what initially drew me too their range, but they are such great quality watches and make me feel super sophisticated when I'm wearing mine. If you're looking for unique designer watches that aren't incredibly pricey, Olivia Burton is a great place to start. I know I'm going to be holding onto to this watch for years and years to come.  

December favourites - and 2015 (pretty much) - done and dusted! Enjoy your New Year celebrations and I'll be back soon. 

From, 

Eleanor