Beauty | Glossybox November 2020

It's Glossybox unboxing time and boy do I love writing these posts each month. We've been treated with so many great products over the last few boxes so I have great hopes for this one. This months box has also reminded me that next months will coincide with the opening of the 2020 Glossybox advent calendar that I was lucky to get my hands on back in the summer. I will be unboxing this throughout various blogmas posts like I did last year so make sure you check those out if you're interested in seeing what's inside those! But onto this months box...

This month's box was titled 'Make up and magic' so I already expected great magical things! the idea was the box would include a variety of products that would prepare you for any upcoming celebrations that the end of year holds, albeit very different ones this year I'm sure! With this month being a magical theme I had thought it would come in a box that reflected this, it didn't but I'm not sad about it. I've always been a big fan of the classic pink, so this will be very useful down in my office as usual for storage once empty. Now, I won't lie to you at first glances of this box I am a little bit disappointed. I think I said something similar last November, but October's boxes are always very strong and November's just seem weak. I don't know if this is because budget and funds will be going into the December edition but there's just something about it. With that being said I do still like the products but maybe wouldn't have put them together! First up is the makeup palette from LA SPLASH COSMETICS £29. Now, this is a lovely palette and includes many shades that I would pick from a larger palette but in one that's more compact. I do think that it feels a little cheap and childish with 'Eyeshadow Palette' being written under the mirror because lets face it we know what it is, but I think I will get some uses out of it. I like that the darker shades are still wearable and that the black eyeshadow could double up as a liner if needed. Next up is the SPECTRUM COLLECTIONS Limited Edition B07 Brush £7.99. I love that they've included this brush in this months box as it's one that I was missing in my collection. I literally have a brush for everything at this point but have never found the right amount of fluffy blending brush. This brush is perfect and priced so reasonably! Then this is where it goes a little downhill... Next up is a QUE BELLA Recharge & Restore Moonstone Glitter Gel Mask £2.49. This face mask is applied to your skin with your hands where you wait for it to set then peel off. It looks nice and I look forward to using it one Sunday evening when prepping for the week ahead. Then I received GENERATION CLAY Ultra Violet Brightening Purple Clay Mask £19.32 mini deluxe sample. Yes you've read that right another face mask. Two in one box? I'm always a little confused as to why boxes do this as it's something that would often be done in Birchbox! I've read some good reviews about this product so I am looking forward to using it, just on a different day to the one above! On a side note this product actually spilt all over the box so there was that. Finally I received HASK Argon Oil Repairing Deep Conditioner Treatment £2. Another mask of sorts. I've tried a few of these masks in the past, but if I'm honest this one will be going to Emma as I'm currently using a Phillip Kingsley treatment to thicken my hair. This product is great though and would make the best stocking filler. 

So that's everything in this months box. What did you think of it if you're a subscriber too? Were you a little disappointed to have received 3 masks this month? I am so excited to see what December's box holds and what they have in store for the advent, I've heard it's meant to have some incredible brands in it! 

Until next time, 

Lifestyle | Cattitude Monthly Box Subscription *Gifted*

It's the first weekend in November which means the countdown to Christmas is now officially on! With lockdown 2 being in place across England, I've started to slowly add little hints of Christmas in different areas of the house, I wonder who the first to notice will be! 

I had an exciting email appear a couple of weeks ago that couldn't be more fit for me and my blog if it tried! Cattitude Box is a monthly subscription full of gorgeous goodies for both cat and owner alike! I was delighted to receive their November box with the theme 'Catflix and Chill', because let's be real our little furry four legged friends don't enjoy the fireworks as much as us humans this month. Inside the box was 9 unique products perfect for all the chill vibes and provided my little Alice and I with a pre-christmas treat! So let's take a little look inside shall we...

First of all we need to talk about how gorgeous the box design is. I'm a sucker for good packaging as you will know if you've read any of my Glossybox posts. It's always important for me to buy from companies that think outside the box, literally, so to receive something that will be reusable is a big tick for me before even seeing inside. After everything is taken out this box will take pride of place in Alice's corner with all her favourite toys! I love how this box is split with cat treats and a little something for us ladies too. Alice was very excited to sniff the box and smell some catnip delights and lucky her she received two of them! The Catnip Chill Pill toy is the perfect gimmick and is exactly what she needs after a crazy midnight run around. We also received a little elephant catnip toy too which I'm actually going to pop into her Christmas stocking but I know she'll enjoy playing with that too and will no doubt try to hide it as quickly as she can! Next for Alice was a bag of Beaphar calming cat treats with flower and herb ingredients to promote relaxation and relieve anxiety. Alice is a very anxious cat and gets frightened at her own shadow bless her, so it will be interesting to see if she will feel different with these. Alice's final treat in this box was a gorgeous cat bow tie in a rainbow print with little bell. She's going to look absolutely darling in this! Now for the cat mamas..

First up is a Rhubarb and Custard Toms Tea. I am VERY excited to give this a whirl as it sounds right up my street. I'm such a big tea drinker but do want to reduce my milk intake. This will be a good alternative I hope and with no caffeine or added sugars this could give me the chill I need right now! Next is an easy origami cat kit. I am always up to trying out new things and hope to have the patience for this. Let's just hope I can follow the instructions properly. Then there's this Cat Necklace by Innabox featuring a cat mandala. The different colours stand for different things. Red for strength, orange for creativity, yellow for happiness  green for healing, blue for inner peace and pink for love. Initially I thought this might be a cat toy, but now I know what it is and after reading the description of the different colours I am excited to have this in my office to look at each day as a little reminder of all those things. As soon as I saw the next product my heart had a little flutter of happiness. I am obsessed with sheet masks, especially with more evenings inside so this fits in perfectly. This Kitten face mask is the most adorable thing and will be one I will enjoy using! Finally was this gorgeous cat shaped vegan cookie. I can report it was delicious with my afternoon cup of tea and helped me to finish this blogpost perfectly! 

So there's everything from the Cattitude box. What did you think? Overall I was very very impressed with all of the products included and love the whole idea of being able to treat yourself and your little best friend at the same time. These boxes retail for £31.95 a month (with prices going down slightly if you're to do 3 months or 6 months subscriptions) and include a big variety of products that you would often look at in a shop to buy for yourself but never get around to it. You can tell that the box has been curated by cat lovers and include products that are high quality and full of character. A big thank you to the Cattitude team for sending this box and I look forward to seeing what else you have in store for your exciting Christmas box coming in December! 

Until next time, 

*This blogpost features a product that was sent to be in exchange for a review. All words, pictures and opinions are my own and are, as always, 100% honest. 

Lifestyle | Living in the new normal 2.0

I'll be honest with you, I had a completely different blogpost scheduled to go live today but it didn't feel right hitting publish on it. Since the news yesterday of England going back into a complete lockdown with non essential shops, pubs, restaurants and gyms closing, I've felt extremely anxious and worried about what's to come, especially when I lost my job through redundancy during the first lockdown. It's hard right now to look into the future and see a time where we will once again be able to spend moments with our family and friends in close proximity. I feel frustrated, nervous and sad that things seem to be heading in the wrong direction again and after a couple of tweets feel like perhaps I could have taken advantage of the looser restrictions throughout the summer and spent some of that time with those I wish to spend time with. But that's not who I am and I didn't feel comfortable doing so. I don't regret seeing friends at a distance and celebrating special occasions from a few metres away. I think we all know this could have been avoided, and I don't know about your social media, but I have certainly seen 'friends' hugging, drinking and holidaying together and felt annoyed over the last few weeks. I wish I could feel the same sense of freedom to be able to comfortably do the same but I don't and that's ok. How others interpret the rules is up to them, but I personally couldn't put my grandparents at risk. We now have four weeks to get it right, and I truly hope people do as they should and abide by the rules. If things are better by December I live in the hope we can once again spend time with family and that Christmas will feel 'normal', although what even is that anymore! 

So with that, what can I do differently this time that I didn't do back in March? 

Daily Exercise

I did exercise every other day during the first lockdown and even completed the Couch to 5K app! I noticed how positive I was during the days I would run and although I often felt knackered on the in-between days the adrenaline the day after worked wonders for my mental health. I'm going to try and do at least an hour a day of some form of exercise. Whether that's a Joe Wicks Youtube workout or a run in the garden I hope to get moving, If only to eat some sweet treats! 

Painting

I rediscovered my love for painting during the first lockdown and as things started to re open and my small business became my only job (curse you COVID for ruining my new 2020 job!) painting became less important. I have so many ideas how I can incorporate painting into my designs and I hope I can make some special pieces to potentially sell at Christmas! 

Christmas

Speaking of Christmas, what better time than to work on my Blogmas posts! I literally have no excuse now of not having the time considering we have ALL the time! I always loved doing the monthly blogmas posts throughout December but the stress of writing and posting can be a little daunting. Hopefully I can write, publish and schedule with ease before the 1st of December allowing me to enjoy the season in all it's glee. 

Christmas Presents

Finally, November can be the month I get everything done and dusted for Christmas presents. I love buying people gifts and I'm hoping to actually make lots this year. Being given the gift of time can be so useful for crafting. Plus, with my small business now becoming a true passion project of mine, a lot of what I make can co-exist with that! 

I hope you're all feeling ok with the latest news, I did mention it on Twitter but if anybody ever needs a chat then please reach out to me or someone you love. There was a quote I read that said 'Not everyone is in the same boat, but we're all battling the same storm'. So please don't feel alone. Things will get better, we've just got to ride it out. 

Until next time, stay safe x

My gorgeous Alice <3 

Lifestyle | Pumpkin Decorating tips!

 

Happy Sunday! 

It's the week before Halloween and I know what you're probably thinking if you read my post of the Hallotober tag. 'You don't celebrate Halloween why are you pumpkin picking'. Well the honest answer is, I don't really know! But it's become somewhat of a tradition over the last couple of years and something I wasn't going to let COVID ruin this year too! Unlike last year I wasn't able to visit a pumpkin patch as normal as annoyingly my local and favourite patch were working on a booking slot schedule and they sold out understandably very quickly. But I wasn't going to let that be the end of my mission and managed to get one in our weekly shopping from Tesco. I won't lie, it's not the best pumpkin in the world but let's be honest it does the job! 

Once you've got your pumpkin there's a couple of options for you to decorate. You can go old school like me and carve into it. Or you could go down the different route and decorate by painting, sticking or embellishing them. I've found a couple of great examples of this on Pinterest that you can find below! I've linked the ideas which you can view by clicking on the images! 

I decided to go for a classic design for my own pumpkin and used a pen to draw the rough shape of what I wanted it to look like. After some careful carving and scraping out of the insides I was left with a cute little pumpkin that lights up exactly how I had imagined it too. Next year I might try to be a little more creative, although I'm also hoping we will be able to easily get to a proper patch too! What do you think of my little creation?

Until next time, 

Beauty | Glossybox October 2020

I always get so excited whenever one of these gorgeous boxes lands on my doorstep. It's truly the best birthday present as it's a gift that keeps on giving. This month's box is probably the prettiest one I am yet to receive and I can't wait to repurpose it for other uses. Let's take a look into what was inside October 2020's Glossybox. 

This month's box was themed around a magical storybook 'The Beauty Tales' with two box designs, 'Enchanted Spirit' and 'Magical Fantasy'. The box I received was the gorgeous lilac design and I love it. I'm secretly chuffed to have got this style as I prefer it over the blue! This month's box includes 3 full sized and 2 delux mini samples which I think is always generous when the products are from well known brands. 

The products included in this month's box are, as always, super cute and very useable. I think I mentioned this before but I used to be a subscriber of Birchbox and as much as I enjoyed the treats received in that each month, it was getting extremely repetitive. Now don't get me wrong Glossybox has also had it's previous repeated products, but they usually get it right! Now onto this month's box...

First up is the Illamasqua Hydra Veil Primer. I've never heard of this product before but I love the information and the potential of it! It states that the primer hydrates and smooths skin by working together to help maintain skin hydration levels. The texture of the product on first swatch feels like it will do all of the claims, but we will have to see! Next, Bubble T Cosmetics Fairy Dust Foaming Bath Powder. There's nothing better than relaxing in a warm bubble bath, especially at the moment so any bath products are always greatly welcomed in a box! This product is lavender scented which is going to be perfect for the ultimate before bed chill. Then I received Luna By Luna Pixie Lipstick. If you're a long time reader of this blog then you know how much the name 'Luna' means to me, so whenever I see a product with moons, stars or the name included I'm always game. This lipstick is no different and I'm obsessed with the colour. It's not quite a deep red, but it's not quite pink either so it' a nice in-between! Next up is the Eyesential Under Eye Enhancer. I'll be honest, I'm not 100% sure whether this product is for me, or if it's one I will be likely in trying. I have very sensitive under eyes so I tend to be careful when applying any products in that area. Basically this product is applied to the under eye forming a 'web' like texture that smooths out and kind of glues your skin. I'll let you know how I get on with this one! The final product is The Beauty Crop Stargazing Blush Duo. I love a makeup palette that can be used for a variety of uses. This palette has a gorgeous pink blush and light brown shimmer for bronzer. I think the bronzer colour would also look gorgeous as an eyeshadow too! 

So that's this month's box - These posts seem to becoming more and more regular, so not sure what that means in terms of the weeks going quickly I know this year deffo has! Is there anything that you think stands out from this month's box? For me it would have to be the lipstick or blush as makeup products were one of the main reasons for joining glossy box in the first place! 

Stay safe! 

Until next time, 

Lifestyle | Hallotober Tag

Couldn't not include this photo of my gorgeous Luna! Still wish she was with us - Coming up to 2 years missing soon!

Happy Sunday - I'm loving getting back into a routine with posting on my blog! Such a shame it took a global pandemic and redundancy to get me back into the flow but here we are. 

This weeks post is something I am super excited to get involved in albeit a little different from my usual uploads! My lovely friend and fellow blogger Katie tagged me in the Hallotober post and I couldn't wait to get involved! (Make sure you go and give her post a little read as I loved her answers!) 

The Rules

1. Thank the person who tagged you and link to their post 
2. Put the rules at the beginning or after introduction
3. Answer the 13 questions 
4. Tag 13 people to do the tag 
5. Delete Question 13, add a new number one question of your own

The Tag!

1. What’s your favourite thing about October? - October has always been the month that I begin to feel excited about the weather turning cold and the autumn colours begin. Nothing makes me happier than being able to wrap up warm in a cosy knit, boots and winter coat and October is usually when you can properly do this. (It also means Christmas is just round the corner, kinda!)
2. Are you a big celebrator of Halloween? - Not at all. I feel in the minority with my next statement but I have never been trick or treating or ever dressed up during the Halloween season. I personally don't get it or see the attraction to it, but each to their own! Growing up my parents were very anti Halloween so I guess that's why it doesn't bother me much. I do however LOVE to decorate for any season and any excuse to put up some pumpkin fairy lights or burn some wax melts!
3. What’s your favourite horror movie? Ermmmmmmmm... Sorry to say but I don't watch scary movies! So if we could switch this question to favourite Halloween movie then it would have to be the classic Halloweentown! I'm too much of a wimp to watch anything scary!
4. Would you rather a cosy night in watching horrors or a big night out in a costume?-  This answer will probably come at no surprise whatsoever, especially in the current 2020 lifestyle, but cosy night in 100%. Add a takeaway, fresh pjs and a blanket and I'm there!
5. Which has been your most favourite costume to date? - I'm having to think back long and hard at any time in my life where I was to have dressed up for Halloween and can only think of one! I believe I was meant to be a witch but got scared of my costume aged 6 so ended up going to the Halloween school party as a Barbie wearing normal clothes and a witches hat. Original I know!
6. Bobbing for apples or pin the hat on the witch? - Bobbing for apples! Although again, this won't be happening this year lol! I remember the only other time bobbing for apples was at Disneyland Paris! So if we could go back to then that would be great!
7. How do you celebrate Halloween? - I read Katie's response to this question and couldn't stop laughing as my family are the exact same minus dad getting sweets for the incase knock scenario! My road doesn't tend to have anybody knock, but if they do we tend to ignore it. We're just not into it and would rather just let the night go by!
8. What’s your least favourite horror? - I can't pick a favourite! I'm scared of them all haha! 
9. Do you have a favourite trick or treating memory? - I can't comment on this question as I've genuinely never been trick or treating!  
10. What’s your favourite thing about Halloween? - I love all of the themed Halloween treats you can buy in store during the month of October! My faves are the spooky French fancies! So yummy!!
11. Scary costume or Silly costume? - I would probably try to do a mixture of the two! Perhaps a normal-ish looking dress with a scary makeup look? That counts right?!
12. What’s your favourite Halloween candy? - I kind of mentioned this already but the Halloween French fancies, love me a bag of Rainbow Drops and any sour sweet!
13. What are you most looking forward to this October? - This year is going to be much different from the last couple as I suddenly have lots of time on my hands due to furlough and redundancy! So it will be nice to be around to enjoy the evenings at home. Going for walks in the autumn weather, bobble hat and coat on. Also my brother has just got a new puppy and I am so excited to get to know him too! 

Tag People to Join the Hallotober Tag

I would like to tag the following people:

1. Izzy - https://www.lebellelavie.com 
2. Eloise - https://www.eloisewrites.co.uk

Share The Questions and Change Question 13!

1. What’s your favourite thing about October?
2. Are you a big celebrator of Halloween?
3. What’s your favourite horror movie?
4. Would you rather a cosy night in watching horrors or a big night out in a costume?
5. Which has been your most favourite costume to date?
6. Bobbing for apples or pin the hat on the witch?
7. How do you celebrate Halloween?
8. What’s your least favourite horror?
9. Do you have a favourite trick or treating memory?
10. What’s your favourite thing about Halloween?
11. Scary costume or Silly costume?
12. What’s your favourite Halloween candy?
13. What's your favourite Halloween inspired drink? - PSL, Hot chocolate etc...

And there we have it, that's the tag! What do you think about my answers? Let me know if you would like to be tagged and I can add you onto my list for others to go over to read! 

Until next time, 

Lifestyle | DIY Bedside table

There's nothing I love more than a little DIY project, especially if it means up-cycling something that needs replacing but can have a little bit of extra life squeezed out of it. I was watching Stacey Solomons Instagram story where she showed a complete renovation of her bedside tables from something plain to chic and fresh. Being inspired I decided that I too could do this, lol. I initially thought it would be harder to do but in reality it took a day, a few supplies and a lot of patience. 

What you need

• Marble vinyl
• White wood paint
• Silver wood paint
• Decorative drawer knobs

The steps for this little project are so easy and need little explanation, but I'll briefly let you know how I did it. First of all I cleared my side and gave it a complete wipe down. Depending on what material your side is made out of you might need to sand it down too, but I didn't need this step and was able to apply the vinyl directly to the top and paint to the surfaces. I would say the vinyl application was probably the hardest out of everything to do. My only advice to make it easier is to roll it onto the table whilst rubbing it down and smoothing. The great thing about vinyl is if you make a mistake it is relatively inexpensive to replace, or you could just pull off and try again. Next I decided what colours I wanted to use for the sides and drawers. I went for white and silver to match the jewelled drawer knobs I had found in TKMaxx. After removing the old drawer knobs I started to paint a couple of layers to the drawers until I was happy with the colour. The final step is to add the new drawer knobs and to put into place. 

Overall I was super happy with the outcome of this little project! I was planning to replace the unit completely but as money is now a little tight thought this was a great alternative for now.

Let me know if there's any other DIY's that you've been up to and are as easy as this one!

Until next time,