January ‘Valentines’ Glossy Box!

It’s the GLOSSYBOX time of the month again and this time its a very special ‘Valentines’ box!  It contains the most perfect products for that ‘me time’ to pamper and preen yourself in preparation to this romantic season.

This box is especially perfect for me, being a single lady and all – this helps me to concentrate on the most important person in my life – me! Haha! 

 
Davines ‘Moisturizing Balm’ – When I first saw this I was like ‘oh no not another hand cream’ (I have far too many) but after reading it I came to realise that its actually a multi-purpose balm.  I bloody love multi-purpose products so I can see myself using this ALOT.  You can either use it as a hair mask; rub it on damp ends and rinse out after a few minutes, a face cleanser; use it to take off makeup with a cotton pad and rinse off thoroughly afterwards, or a body balm; leave on and rinse off.  I slathered this all up my arms and hands when I first opened my box and even though it is really greasy at first, it does sink into the skin after about five minutes, leaving my skin really soft.  It has a essential oil kinda smell which is quite nice and is silicon and paraben free.  The packaging is a metal tube which is squeezy (like The Body Shop Hemp hand cream) which means it can get damaged easily so I’d keep this on my dressing table at home.


Davines ‘Cleansing Nectar’ – The second Davines product in my box and another multi-use product (I’m loving this!).  Its a hair and body oil cleanser, so you can either use it as a shampoo or a shower gel.  It smells identical to the balm and the packaging is adorable.

Eyeko ‘Skinny Eyeliner’ in Powder Pink – I’ve never tried an Eyeko eyeliner so I was exciting when I opened this – except the colour I got is a pale off-white pink.  I tend to only wear dark eye liners so I’m not exactly sure if I’ll get much use out of this, but its nice to own anyway.  This is the only full size product in the box so you should get a lot of use out of it.

Fab ‘Gentle Body Wash’ – From what I can gather, this is a body cleanser, but I think you can also use it as a face cleanser.  It says on the bottle ‘for sensitive skin’, ‘to relieve redness’ and ‘dermatologist recommended’ which makes me think its for the face but I’m not completely sure!  This has no fragrance so it really is perfect for sensitive skin, and the packaging again is super cute.

 
Murad ‘Hybrids Skin Perfecting Primer in Dewy Finish’ – Very excited about this product – an oil free primer which you can use under foundations or as a tinted moisturizer.  It has a slight colour to it which helps to add radiance when worn on the face.  This sample is 5ml – tiny, but hopefully it’ll last me long enough to decide whether I really love it or not.

What I think - Whether you are in a relationship or not this box is key for keeping you feel pampered and spruced up in the new year!

What do you think of this Valentines box?  Will you be ordering one?

xxx

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Giveaway – Win £200 Selfridges vouchers via Pinspire!

My Pinspire board starting clockwise top left – Amazing mermaid hair, the London Eye, the cheeky chappies from Misfits; Iwan Rheon & Robert Sheehan (looveee!), mint green Diana camera, incredible zebra diamond nails, gold glitter eye and Marie Antoinette!

Pinspire, if you hadn’t heard of it already, is quickly becoming a new (and addictive) internet sensation. It’s a great little website on which you can create your very own ‘inspirational’ pin boards. I myself have a few pin boards at home which I use to pin photographs, magazine & newspaper cuttings and event tickets – but with Pinspire it becomes so much more diverse – allowing you to ‘heart’ and pin photographs uploaded by users all over the world. It’s basically really similar to a tumblr, twitter, Google images or the instagram app, but without the words and statuses – focusing more on beautiful images. Pinspire is also free to sign up to and is open to everyone to use and browse.

I love this little inspirational web-space and have found it useful for many day-to-day tasks. For example I have created a pin board based solely on hair and beauty – which I look at for inspiration for which looks to create - whether it be for what colour to paint my nails or what hair-do to try out. The possibilities are endless; you could create pin boards of films/books/movies you want to watch, or even a pin board of cute guys to drool over (ha!).

GIVEAWAY - Pinspire are holding an exclusive competition on a few selected blogs around the UK, where you can be entered into a prize draw to win £200 worth of Selfridges vouchers (well jel!). All you have to do is sign up to the Pinspire website (before February 1st) and leave a comment on this blog post with an image that you have found on Pinspire whilst browsing. Please also leave your email address on your comment so that Pinspire can contact you if you win! (I will be passing all entries to Pinspire to enter into the prize draw and they will be choosing the winner randomly).

Sign up for free to Pinspire here to start creating your very own Pinspirational boards!

P.S - GLOSSYBOX are also holding a different giveaway with Pinspire - you can win either a Clarisonic Deep Cleanser OR a limited edition Nars set. You can find more details of how to enter at this link!!

Please note this is a sponsored post!

I’m looking forward to seeing your entries! Good luck!

xxx

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How to make your own lipstick palette!

My life long dream is to create my very own makeup range – choosing and creating the perfect shades of lipsticks, eye shadows and blushers (as well as to create my very own perfume – but that’s a different story).  Well, I had the genius idea last week of creating my very own lipstick palette and today I am going to show you how you can do it yourself.  (Video at the bottom of this post!)

Firstly – I have to thank Wild Kat Makeup for the idea of using the WHSmiths watercolour palette as the palette for the lipstick palette, I could not have found something as perfect without her youtube video!

 

GUIDES

Find the perfect empty palette to store your lippies! 
After intense researching on other blogs & youtube channels I considered buying a ‘japonesque’ empty palette to store my lippies (like Make up Geek here) but at around £30 they are just far too expensive.  So, after help from the Wild Kat Makeup’s video, I ran to my local WHSmiths to pick up this watercolour palette for £2.99.  Underneath the paints are 18 empty wells (for mixing paints I guess) but they are perfect for holding lipsticks!

How to crush into palette
- Choose your lipstick
- Slice half of the bullet off with a stanley knife or scissors (shown in the video below)
- Put the lipstick bullet into the well and use the back of a spoon to crush it down and smear it around until it is smooth!

How to melt into the palette
Melting is a lot more difficult and messy, but it allows you to mix shades of lippies so you can create your perfect colour – six of the wells in my palette are melted lipsticks.
- Light a candle
- Cut off the lipstick (or lipsticks if you want to create a custom shade) and put them on a spoon
- Hold the spoon over the lit candle until the lipstick has completely melted
- Poor the spoon into the well and wait for lipstick to dry

VOILA!

Little personal notes - I know that a lot of makeup artists create lipstick palettes to use out on jobs because it makes it easier for them to carry around many colours without weighing them down.  I am aware that I am not a makeup artist and I am doing this purely for my own pleasure!  Also – because I am using them only on myself, I have been only using a clean finger to apply the colour to my lips – although I should probably be using a lip brush.

Also – I filled this palette with colours that I do not wear often but want to start using more – I can’t imagine ever wanting to crush my MAC & Estee Lauder/YSL lippies into a palette because I love their packaging too much and prefer to carry them around in the tubes for touch ups through out the day.  But I think a palette is a good way to start loving old favourite shades and to experiment a little more!

(APOLOGY – for the terrible editing of this video – so many awkward pauses and me sorting my hair out! I was in a rush to edit it before work and didn’t re-watch before I published it! So SORRY and I will be sure to double check in the future! Bloopers at the end as usual)

I love these palettes as I can now see exactly what type of lipsticks I’ve got just by looking at the palette – they look beautiful and they do inspire me to try out different colours and mix them to create my own unique shades. 

Have you ever made your own customized lipstick palette?  Show me yours!

xxxx

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My Nail Varnish Storage!

I was going to save these photographs for a big room tour/makeup storage post, but I couldn’t contain my excitement any more, I just had to show you all!

Those who follow me on twitter (@katesnooks) will have noticed that over the Christmas holiday I was busy decorating my room.  My small attic room hadn’t been decorated properly since I was 16, so it was well over due.  After analysing all the space in my humble abode, my Mother and I brainstormed over the best ways to store my 147 nail polishes.  Yes – 147, I know I have a problem and I know that I do not have enough toes and fingers to use up that much polish, but I am a beauty blogger, and I can’t help it. 

I originally had all of my polishes in a drawer in my vanity table (photograph here), but it was so full that it wouldn’t shut anymore, so it was clear I needed to re-evaluate the best possible way of storing them, without taking up much room. 

ENTER SPICE RACK!

I have literally been dreaming about owning something like this for a few years now, but due to laziness I just hadn’t knuckled down to finding exactly what I wanted, but that’s where Mother Snooks came up trumps.  She is an eBay queen and managed to find the most perfect rack to hold my beloved polishes.

How to co-ordinate them was a hard task – the decision of whether to line in colour order or brand order was very difficult, but I decided in the end to put all the same brand polishes together, and then line them in colour order.  Depending on the size, you can manage either one or two rows of polishes – for example, my No7 polishes are skinny so I can fit two rows of polishes on one level, where as my Look Beauty/Models Own polishes are fat and I can’t possibly squeeze another row in behind.  This does mean that I still have around 60 polishes sitting in a box in my room, until I purchase another spice rack to store them in (I’m thinking a horizontal one to hold the others).

 
1st Row – Barry M polishes
2nd – Boots No7 Polishes
3rd – Models Own, Look Beauty, NuBar, OPI & China Glaze Polishes
4th – GOSH, Kiss and Bourjois Polishes
5th – Miscellaneous featuring Kiko, Deborah Lippman, Topshop, Sephora, Rimmel, NuBar and Ciate polishes

My current makeup storage area – I absolutely adore this corner of my room, its almost perfect!  I will be doing a proper post on each drawer of my makeup storage space once it’s completely organized!

As I said, I still have many more polishes needed to be stored so when I get another rack up then I’ll post more photographs.  I bought my one on eBay from this seller, for around £20 although you can always just search ‘spice rack’ and there are more options and varieties to choose from!

I hope you have enjoyed this post!

How do you store your nail varnishes?

xxxx

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Favourite Hair/Skin Products in 2011

This is a little long awaited but the time has finally arrived!  This post is all about my favourite general hair, skin and body products that I have used the most in 2011.  You can find the post on my favourite makeup products of 2011 here. 

I have also again recorded a short video, explaining why I have chosen each product.  I have decided to include BLOOOPERS at the end, for a laafff as well! 

Winners 2011

Runners up 2011-

1) Fake Tan Range – Beau Bronz  - I love my pale skin and embrace it as much as possible, but I used quite a lot of Beau Bronz throughout 2011 to give my skin a glow.  I adore this fake tan because its full of natural ingredients and because it gave me a nice, natural glow, without making me look orange and fake!
Runner up – He Shi Liquid Express Tan

2) Hair product – Batiste Dry Shampoo – I really wouldn’t have got through 2011 without Batiste, I ADORE it and will continue using it to freshen up my hair for my whole, entire, life!
Runner up: Swarfhkoph Light Finishing Miracle Treatment Oil

3) Hair shampoo & Conditioner – Clynol Colour Care range – After changing my hair colour in the Autumn I become obsessed with not loosing any of the rich, honey blondes that my hair had gained.   I have been using the Clynol Colour Care Shampoo and Conditioner ever since and it has held on to my new shade of blonde.  This also smells deeeeelicious!
Runner Up – Kevin Murphy Born Again range

4) Body Moisturizer – Welda’s Pomegranate Body Oil – I discovered this through Glossy Box and I adore it because it smells incredible and leaves my dry skin really soft.  It smells like Christmas spices and the packaging looks gorgeous on my dressing table.
Runner up – The Body Shop’s Cocoa Butter Body Butter

5) Skin care range – Paula’s Choice Clear range – I have gushed about how much I love this range in this post, so if you are curious then read it for full reviews.  This range really helped to clear my skin of blemishes this year and I’m now converted to Paula’s Choice skincare.
Runner up – The Body Shop Vit E

6) Spot Treatment – Quinoderm – This retails at around £2.50 in chemists and works wonders on acne and bad skin.  This is extremely drying on your skin but clears blemishes really quickly after a few uses, my whole entire family use this now (even my Dad) and we all love it. 
Runner up – Freederm

7) Favourite Hand Cream – Heathcote & Ivory Vanilla & Brown Sugar Hand Cream – I can’t get over how good this smells!  Because it is such a big tube I don’t take this out, but it sits on my dressing table for when my hands get dry. 
Runner up – The Body Shop’s Candied Ginger Hand Cream

8) Perfume – Lush’s Honey I Washed the Kids – This has now been discontinued but lives on to be my favourite perfume ever.  If you can get your hands on this solid perfume, then do, because it smells incredible; like chocolate, toffee, orange goodness.
Runner up – Miss Cherie Dior

Lip balm – The Body Shop’s Hemp Lip Butter – I have been using this all year round to keep my lips soft and kissable – ha!
Runner up – The Body Shop’s Cocoa Butter Lip Balm

A few extras -
Favourite High Street Beauty Range – Sleek MakeUP 
Runner up – Look Beauty

Favourite High End Beauty Range – MAC
Runner up – Estee Lauder

Favourite High Street Store – H&M
Runner up – New Look

What were your favourite hair, skin and body products of 2012? 

I hope everyone is well!

xxxxx

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Blink + Go Lash Extension Review!

I am not blessed with beautiful, long, impressive eyelashes.  Mine are pretty non-existent until I whip out my mascara and apply a few coats, so I’ve always been interested in other ways of accentuating my lashes. 

After becoming a Glossy Box ambassador I received two tokens which allowed me to receive a HD Brow AND a Blink + Go Lash Extension treatment which I quickly booked up with excitement, so that I’d be transformed and gorgeous for the Christmas party season.  I visited the Karen Betts clinic in 1 Harley Street to film and document the whole process of HD Brows & Blink + Go extensions with Glossy Box, which will be online soon to watch (I’ll post it here when its live)!

(I’m reviewing my whole HD Brows treatment in another blog post because it is quite lengthy, so stay tuned for that!) 

Before I start yapping away about the procedure, here are the before and after photographs with my brand new lashes and brows!

 
Blink + Go procedure – The whole procedure takes around 20-30 minutes and is pretty straight forward! 
You and your consultant talk through the look you want to achieve with your lashes, whether it be subtle or striking.  I chose to have relatively natural looking lashes because I hardly ever wear falsies and thought it would be quite a leap to have full on false-looking lashes.

You have to keep your eyes open throughout the whole treatment (to prevent the glue sticking your eyes together!) which does become slightly uncomfortable as your eyes do start to water (from the fumes of the glue & from not being able to blink often) but after a while your eyes adjust and it isn’t that bad.  Your consultant will hold your eye open and apply lashes one by one, building up a few layers until the desired affect is finished.  And voila – you are left with gorgeous, fluttery lashes.

I love that you can hardly tell that they are false in the photograph below – they are attached so well and beautifully that they look so real.

 

With makeup on -
 

Aftercare – You can’t use any oil based makeup removers whilst having the lashes as it loosens the glue so they will fall out quicker.  You can’t wet your eyes or go swimming for 24hours after treatment. 

One thing I loved about these lash extensions was that I couldn’t see or feel them – one thing I despise with falsies is how heavy they make my eyes feel and how I can see them when I wear them, but with these I hardly noticed I was wearing them until I touched my eyes.  The lashes did start irritating my eyes after a few days but only in the evenings when I was tired; when I opened my eyes and looked up I could feel them digging into my skin which was uncomfortable but not unbearable.  One or two also fell out every day after the treatment but because there were so many it wasn’t noticeable. 

The day before removal (14 days after application) -

Removal – The lashes last from 7-10 days but I kept mine in for two weeks (14 days).  You are supposed to get them removed at the salon you had them applied in, which I did, so that they are removed professionally causing as little damage to your natural eyelashes as possible.  If you can’t make it back to the salon, then apply an oil based makeup remover onto a cotton pad and leave it to soak on your lashes for a while. DO NOT try to pull them out – you will pull your natural lashes out too.  Then again, in the morning use an oil based remover and slowly pull away the cotton pad until all lashes are removed.  I’m pretty sure you could use Extra Virgin Olive oil to help get them off too (its a wonderful multi-use product, I used to use it as a makeup remover).  If you get them removed at the salon they will just use a heavy remover and they’ll be gone in a matter of minutes. 

What I think:  I absolutely ADORED having my lashes and I miss them terribly now.  I felt confident to go out of the house without NO makeup on and I still felt beautiful – this was a pretty big deal to me who normally covers my eyes with eyeliner and eyeshadow in order to feel pretty and for once I didn’t need to do anything to ‘improve’ myself. 
I will say now that I have never felt as vile looking as I did the minute they were removed, I literally felt bald, but you will get used to it.  I would have them again in a flash – but am giving my natural lashes a bit of a rest at the moment.  I am going to have them again very soon and think that the procedure would make a lovely gift as well!

You can read up on Blink + Go at their website here.  Prices start from £25 for the procedure but will vary at each salon.

Have you ever had eyelash extensions?  What do you think of my new look?!

xxx

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Bioderma Crealine/Sensibo H20 Review!

Ever since my adventure in Paris with my girlfriends in November, I’ve been on a hunt to get my hands on a bottle of Bioderma Crealine/Sensibo H20 solution.  My uni friend Jess stocked up on a few bottles whilst we were out there and gushed about how incredible it was at removing makeup and even mentioned that it is all that is used backstage at catwalk shows to remove the models makeup – so I couldn’t resist!

It sounded like a miracle cleanser so I popped it on my Christmas list, in the hope that Santa would bring me a few bottles of this magic water.



And he did! Santa (my Mum) bought this online (I gave her a few links to online French chemists & eBay stores where it was available) and I jumped for joy when I opened this pressie.  I was ridiculously excited to try this out and even considered putting loads of makeup on, just so I could take it off again (how sad!). 

I have been using it for two weeks now and I must admit that it is love.  I was very wary at first because the main ingredient is in fact water and it says H20 in the name, so I thought it might be a con because its practically just a bottle of water, but I was wrong.  Even though it has no fragrance or colour, it is more than water because it removes all of my eye makeup incredibly well, without irritating my sensitive eyes.  I squeeze out a splurge of this liquid onto a baby-wipe or cotton wool pad and soak my eyes in it for a few seconds and then gently sweep away.  It normally takes about five small squirts to remove one eye of heavy makeup (mascara, black eye liner, eye shadow, glitter) – if I’m just wearing mascara it takes about four squirts to remove both eyes. 

One thing I love about this is that it is so perfect for sensitive skin and how it literally does feel like water – I don’t feel like I’m using any harsh, pore clogging ingredients when I use this, yet it still manages to remove eye makeup better than any other cleanser that I have tried.  Normally my eyes feel quite sore and irritated after removing my eye makeup in the evening, but with this my skin feels really fresh and smooth. 

The only con I can find with this is that its only available in French chemists, which means that it is very difficult to get hold of – of course you can purchase it online, but for a price.  In France (I think) this retails at about 9 euros for two bottles (if you find a good, cheap chemist), but you are looking at about 15 euros per bottle if you buy online.  My advice would be to get a French friend to ship you some over, or stock up next time you visit on holiday.  My sister is going to France in March with her boyfriend so I am going to try and convince her to bring me back a few bottles for when I run out. 

Have you ever used Bioderma’s famous cleanser before?  What is your favourite eye makeup remover?

xxx

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Favourite Makeup Products of 2011!

I feel like I have been writing this post for weeks now and I started it early because I knew it was going to be a biggun!  I have rounded up my all time favourite makeup products that I have loved and enjoyed using through out the past year.  It was such a tough decision as my makeup collection more than doubled this year, but I think I have found some gems!

Below are my fav makeup products from 2011 and I have also filmed a video (below) of me explaining my choices and acting like a dork as usual.

(I have hyperlinked the names of specific products to a blog post if I have reviewed that product, so if you spot something you are interested, click on the link to be taken to the page – if it doesn’t have a link then it is still to be reviewed!).

Favourite Makeup Winners of 2011 -
(please note runner up photograph is at the bottom of this post!).

1) Lipstick – Sleek’s Barely There.  Barely there has been an absolute staple in my makeup bag since February 2011.  It is the most easy to wear and affordable lipstick I have come across and I adore it – a natural creamy pink that leaves the lips feeling soft and luscious!
Runner up – MAC’s Morange

2) Nail Varnish – No7’s So Simple.  I chose this as my favourite because its the most perfect nude nail varnish for my skin, it goes with any outfit and because it dries quickly.  I acquired this nail polish in March (?) and I’ve almost finished it and I’ve NEVER finished a nail varnish before.
Runner up – Look Beauty’s Bling

3) Liquid Eye Liner – The Body Shop’s Liquid Liner. This is no surprise because it was in my favourite’s last year, but this is the easiest liquid liner I have used and provides me with the most perfect black flick.
Runner up – MAC’s Fluidline Blacktrack

4) Kohl Eyeliner – GOSH’s Velvet Touch Eyeliner in Black.  Another old favourite which I can count on to give me my staple black smokey eye.  Affordable and pigmented, what’s more to love.
Runner up – Avon’s eyeliner

5) Mascara – Estee Lauder Double Wear – I’d been using a mini sample version of this mascara for a few months when I realised it was incredible and needed to own the full size.  I will do a proper review on this soon to show off its gorgeous packaging and what it does for my lashes. 
Runner up – No7 Double Intensity

6) Lipgloss - Sephora Ultra Shine Gloss in #11 – This was a hard choice because I don’t feel like I’ve worn a lot of ligloss this year, but I do love the colour of this one.  It gives my lips a gorgeous shine with a hint of pink, without being too sticky.
Runner up – Bourjois Effet 3D Les Nudes in #34

7) Blusher – Me Me Me Blush in Coral.  I can rely on this blusher to keep me looking glowing and cheeky with its peachy, coral shimmer.  I also love the fact that it comes with a mirror and brush. 
Runner up – Look Beauty’s Blush in shade - Sculpt

8) Bronzer – Rouge Bunny Rouge ‘As if it were Summer Still…’ Bronzer – This is the most expensive makeup item I own and I adore it.  At around £40, its not affordable, but its the only bronzer I’ve found to make my pale skin look naturally bronzed. 
Runner up – The Body Shop Honey Bronze Powder in 02

9) Brow Kit – HD Brows palette – I’d never used a powder to define my brows before using this and now it has transformed my face, my brows have never looked in better condition!
Runner up – New CID’s i-groom

10) Concealer – MAC’s Studio Finish Concealer – I’ve been using this for years and get through so many pots, I adore it.  The best concealer I’ve ever used! 
Runner up – The Body Shop’s Lightening Touch

11) Face Powder – The Body Shop’s All in One Face Base.  This also follows me everywhere I go – this matte powder blots away any shine and evens out my skin tone at the same time.
Runner up – Lily Lolo Mineral Foundation

12) Foundation – MAC’s Studio Foundation – This is basically a bigger version of my favourite MAC concealer (studio finish concealer, mentioned below).  It’s a thick, creamy foundation that looks best when applied with a stippling brush after using a primer/moisturizer.  This conceals any redness or blemishes. 
Runner up – L’Oreal Infallible

13) Palette - Sleek’s Storm Palette – This will probably be my favourite palette of the century, I have four back ups because I love it that much.  All of the colours are stunning and perfect for daily wear. 
Runner up – E.L.F 100 piece palette

Runners up Photograph – Please note that I haven’t spoken about why these products have been chosen as runners up in this post, but I have explained why for each one in the video, so if you are curious to hear more about them, then just watch it and enjoy!

I hope you have enjoyed this post!  I am aware that I did not mention my favourite eyeshadow – this is because I have far too many favourites and I couldn’t possibly choose between them!  Maybe I’ll do my top five fav e/s in a separate post.

(Following this post shortly will be a list of my favourite general beauty products, including hair, skin and body products of 2011!)

What have been your favourite’s of 2011?  Do we have any of the same favs?

xxx

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The New Year & Resolutions!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE AND ALL!  I can’t believe 2011 is now over!  I hope you all had a fantastic NYE, I celebrated with my uni friends in an old bunker/tunnel in South London, where we all drank a bit too much wine and had a good dance to some live bands (will post a photograph of how I wore my makeup if you are interested!).

One topic of conversation I love at this time of year are new year resolutions.  I am always curious to hear what other people want to change in their lives/about themselves, so I thought I’d share my top four resolutions with you all today.

New Years Eve – my last photograph of 2011.
 

1) STOP WORRYING!  I am the world’s worst worrier and I constantly worry about anything and everything and I just can’t help it!  I have about five ‘dilemmas’ daily and seem to find a worry in everything, I need to learn to just relax and see where the wind takes me instead of getting panicked and aggy.  For example – I worry about ‘nights out’ a lot, I worry how I will get home, whether I’ll enjoy myself, whether I’ll make a fool of myself or will be boring, what I will wear and about money!  This has to all stop in 2012.

2)  Be more sociable.  There is nothing I love more than having a quiet night in with my family.  I am a granny at heart and the idea of snuggling in my pjs, in bed with a good book and cup of tea is heaven to me.  BUT, this needs to change!  I am in the prime of my youth and need to be out in the world enjoying myself and meeting new people, experiencing new things.  Therefore I am going to try to say ‘yes’ to invites out more – and this means no worrying also!

3) Wear more colour!  There's no denying it, I think I might be a subconsciously unaware goth.  I wear black all the time, either that or grey, so I want 2012 to see me being more adventurous with colour.  I’ve recently acquired a bright orange lace top (a Christmas pressie from my sister) and I am determined to wear it out, confidently.  I will update you all on this colour mission as I also want to start taking more outfit photographs this year.

4) Write in my journal at least once a week.  I’m gutted that I didn’t document my adventures and daily life more over the past two years and so I want to write down everything so that I don’t forget a thing in 2012.  I have this resolution every year but I’m determined to complete this task this year.

Past year round up - 2011 was a rollercoaster ride for me – it started of terribly; trying to juggle my dissertation and final major project at university whilst also trying to cure a broken heart did not bode well for a good start, but after graduating and a bout of hilarious first dates in the spring, things finally started looking up!  I had a fabulous holiday in Marrakech, celebrated my 23rd birthday with my bffs and family, had a girly trip to Paris in the autumn and managed to land myself a paid photography internship, which I absolutely loved and enjoyed to bits. 

My greatest achievement of 2011 however, has to be my blog!  It has provided me with some incredible opportunities and experiences and I am so grateful for all the support I get from everyone who reads my blog.  I want to say a massive thank you for still being interested in what I have to say, haha!  I hope to continue to live up to your expectations in the coming year, thank you for sticking by me, guys!

I feel very passionately that 2012 will be a fantastic year and I’m excited for everything that the future holds for me and my little blog!

How did you celebrate New Years Eve and what are your resolutions for 2012?

xxx

Coming up in the next week – my favourite products of 2011!

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