Post-Christmas Beauty Gift Guide!

Hello all! Hope you're all having a lovely time in the lead up to Christmas - I cannot believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve!! This year I didn't do any sort of gift guide in time for Christmas itself, but what I thought might be fun would be to do a guide for things to look out for after Christmas! Let's face it - most of us end up doing a little bit of shopping in the sales when Christmas is over, and if you're as beauty daft as I am, you usually end up with a much wanted gift card for one of your favourite beauty outlets. So I thought I'd put together a little wishlist of sorts, of beauty bits and pieces I have added to my ''future purchases'' list, and I'd love to know what's on yours!

I also wanted to let y'all know - I have an exciting piece of beauty related news! House of Fraser got in touch to let me know that they're running a "12 Days of Christmas" offers event, starting tomorrow! It'll be running from Christmas Eve to 4th January, with some big beauty names being reduced each day. Keep your eyes peeled on their Twitter and Facebook accounts (and the House of Fraser website of course!) for more details :) A few of the bits and pieces on my current wishlist are available at HoF so I, for one, will be keeping a close eye on the 12 Days of Christmas deals!

1. Soap and Glory "The Perfect 10" Palette - Boots - £16.00

You know me - I'm a self-confessed eye makeup addict, and there's nothing I like more than a good eye-shadow palette. This one grabbed my attention in Boots yesterday, and I can't help but think it would make a smashing addition to my collection. Had to resist temptation when out shopping for my family and friends, but that won't be an issue after Thursday!

2. Lancôme Mascara Gift Set* - House of Fraser - £22.50

Isn't this a gorgeous gift set?! I'm a recent Lancôme mascara convert. You know how I only ever buy drug store mascaras? That has now changed thanks to trying the Hypnose mascara for the first time a few months ago! House of Fraser have these great gift sets which include one of the Hypnose range mascaras, a mini black kohl liner and a 30ml bottle of their Bi-Facil, all for just £22.50!

3. YSL Rouge Volupte Shine Lipstick in Shade 13 - House of Fraser - £25.00

I just can't deal with how gorgeous this colour is. I still don't own any of the Rouge Volupte lipsticks, but I just think they are stunning, and I hear consistently good things about them. So this little gem has most certainly caught my eye.

4. Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector - Space NK - £33.00

This is something I've wanted for ages and ages - I've seen many a YouTuber use this gorgeous skin perfector in tutorials and I've always mentally added it to my basket, I'm just yet to actually take it to the checkout. I think I've always just a little bit worried that it's a overrated? If you've tried it and have thoughts on this, let me know in the comments below!

5. Barry M Aquarium Nail Paint in Treasure Chest - Superdrug - £3.99

Isn't this stunning!! I mean, seriously, I love the Barry M nail paints as it is, but this gold glitter is just beautiful. I've already got one of the polishes from the Aquarium collection and it is gorgeous, I always get compliments on it, to this is definitely one I'll be hard pushed to walk away from (when it's just £3.99!).

6. MAC Teknakohl Liner in Risqué - House of Fraser - £14.00

Would you just look at that colour? I love experimenting with different eyeliner looks and honestly, I think this just looks so pretty.

7. Estée Lauder Pure Colour High Shine Gloss Collection - House of Fraser - £34.00

Gorgeous, glittery, shiny lipglosses - have you ever seen such a lovely gift set when it comes to lip products?! These are just stunning. Bravo Estee Lauder. Bravo.

So that's it for my little "treat yourself after Christmas" beauty guide! I'd love to know what's on yours!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have an absolutely fantastic Christmas.


*This is a collaborative feature but all comments and opinions are my own.

Christmas Gift Idea - The Book of Everyone*

With Christmas just over a couple of weeks away now, I'm sure most of you are in the process of getting your shopping done and picking out gifts for your nearest and dearest. I, for one, am a huge fan of personalised gifts - taking something ordinary and adding some individual little touches to make it extra special for your friend/partner/parent/child/insert appropriate terminology here...

So, when I was contacted by the lovely people at The Book of Everyone to tell me a little bit about what they do, I was instantly intrigued! The concept is really, really cool - you pop in a couple of basic details about the person you want to make it for (name, date of birth) and in minutes it creates an amazing, personalised book, full of fun facts about the year they were born. I decided to make a book* for my BFF, Emma, who you have all seen on here/in my videos on many occasions before! Hence the reason the photos don't show the full pages - keeping some of the personal information off the interwebz!

Apologies for the phone photos - having some technical problems with my Canon 600D this weekend!! #bloggerproblems

From details on world leaders and nobel prize winners, to technological advancements, popular films/tv shows/books and facts about their star sign, this book is a seriously interesting read. There is also the opportunity to personalise it further, by filling in the blanks on pages like "You're made of sterling stuff, but above all you're ---", and " You're not always an angel, in fact, you're partial to a bit of ---", and adding in your own photographs and quotes on some of the pages.

What I really love about this is the way it's written - this book could easily have read like a list of facts, but the tone is really lively and funny, some of my favourite comments in Emma's book being "riotous celebrations break out across the globe in honour of the birth of the legend that is Emma" and "1989 wasn't all about you, Emma". It takes what is already an interesting concept and injects it with a healthy dose of humour, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The other absolutely amazing thing about purchasing one of these snazzy customised books is that the lovely people at The Book of Everyone have teamed up with Age UK this Christmas, so "every book you buy, goes towards the "gifting" of a book for an elderly person who might not receive a gift". I just think this is a lovely idea - it's easy to forget, sometimes, when you're lucky enough to be spending the festive season with friends and family, that there are a lot of people out there who don't have anyone to share it with.

For more details on the book - which comes in four styles (digital, paperback, hardback and deluxe - an option for every budget!), visit their website at http://thebookofeveryone.com/. It is then dispatched to you in the space of a week, and the quality of the finished book is amazing!

What's on your Christmas gift wishlist?!

Thanks for reading!