House Of Wonderland Jewellery Club Unboxing

We've seen plenty of different varieties of surprise subscription boxes over the past few Years; food, beauty, games... one of my favourites is definitely jewellery. I've always been a fan of cute and quirky jewellery and I just the love the thought of wearing a piece that not that many people will own. 

House of Wonderland is a handmade jewellery and accessory brand that sells some gorgeously cute pieces.  As well as stocking a wide selection of pieces on the main website, HOW also have a second website Jewellery Club, which is a surprise subscription service that every Month you receive a themed parcel of cute jewellery which is limited edition and not available on the HOW website. 

I was kindly sent Novembers package 'Pizza Party' - which as you can see, is fast food related! I just adore the pizza necklace, it is so funny and cute. The Fries before Guys earrings and party hat earrings are so sweet and I have had so many compliments when wearing them, with people always asking where I got them from! My favourite is the soda bracelet, it looks lovely layered with friendship bracelets and seeing the cute little soda cup popping out. I love that their were stickers included with all of this lovely lot too!

If you love cute and quirky jewellery or looking for a gift for someone that does, why not check out the website? 

*PR Sample*

Cath Kidston x Disney Haul Part 2: Minnie and Mickey

You've probably already heard the craze over the latest Cath Kidston x Disney collaboration.
I think Cath Kidston fans went wild over this collab, as the online pre-sale was absolutely insane! I spent far too long waiting and struggling to make an order, in the end just ordering the next Day. Most of the items I had wanted to buy had obviously sold out by that time, which is a shame. I'm glad I managed to pick up a few items from the collection anyway.

I picked up this cute pencil case in the print Linen Sprig. I don't use pencil cases these days, so I will probably use this as a small make-up bag. It is super cute. I already have a few of the Cath Kidston key fobs, so I thought it would be nice to add a Disney key chain to my keys. I love the cute ditsy print on Mickeys feet.

The last item on this order was the card holder in the print Minnie Mews Ditsy. I've been after a card holder for a while now for my store points cards, and never really got around to hunting a nice one down, so when I saw this Disney one I was super pleased it was still available to order.

Strangely enough, a few Weeks after pretty much everything had sold out, I received an email from Cath Kidston stating that they had managed to get back some items in stock. It didn't explain how or why, but a lot of the bags and purses had been added back to the site, so I went along and ordered the bag I wanted all along, which was the .Minnie Linen Sprig Small Boxy Bag.

I just adore the prints in this Disney Collection, I cant wait to hear which Disney characters will be part of the next collaboration with Cath Kidston!
You can check out what I bought from the first Disney and Cath Kidston collab in my blog post here.

Sleek Rockstars Collection

Sleek are one of the best budget beauty brands available in the UK, and always have something new up there sleeve that doesn't cost the earth and are also just as good as the top brands. They recently launched their Rockstars Collection, which includes some beautiful products: two I-lust palettes, two strobing souffle's, and two Lip VIP lipsticks. I have one of each products that I have been using over the past few Weeks, and it is safe to say I am more than impressed.

I wear quite a lot of Sleek's Lip VIP lipsticks, so I already knew that 'Superstar' would be long-lasting and pigmented. Its a beautiful shade of purple and is very striking, great for fans of vibrant and bold lips. This leaves a pearl fleck finish to the lips, which gives a metallic/glossy look. The lipstick almost looks two - toned once applied. I think this lipstick has a really beautiful undertone to the vibrant purple which makes it look really bright.

The I-lust palette 'Hidden Gems' includes six bright, pigmented and incredibly creamy shadows that are full of glitter and sparkle. There is a mixture of shades and has a great selection for a glam night out. I wanted to give a special mention to the shade Ruby Red, it is very pigmented which is something I rarely see in red glitter shades, it is beautiful and I want to wear it all of the time!

The strobing souffle is a very new concept for me, I'm definitely an amateur when it comes to highlight and contour, never-mind strobing. The shade 'Smoky Quartz' is a luminous gold and gives a great glow. I apply this instead of highlight near my cheek bones and it gives such a gorgeous shimmer when the light hits. I find this so easy to apply and it lasts pretty well throughout the evening.

Some of the products from the Rockstars Collection are currently reduced in price online at the Sleek website, so are well worth checking out.

*PR sample*

Why I Stopped Giving a F**k

For as long as I can remember, I have felt incredibly self-conscious, so much so it consumed me. This isn't something new; lets be real here, its easy to get sucked in to these conformations made by society.
Over the Years, my lack of confidence and self-doubt has ruled over anything else I have set my mind to. I've pretty much become a shell of the person I once was (quirky, a little bit weird, BUT happy). I stopped going to certain places and doing certain things because I thought that people would judge me. Not only on my appearance; but on my life choices, my opinions, my hobbies, my sense of humour, my lifestyle. I thought that there was something wrong with me. My mental health was at a tipping point and I didn't want to do anything, I didn't think I was good enough.

Why the f*ck do we let what other people think/what society thinks/what we think other people think stop us doing the things we enjoy? I think I have finally had that epiphany moment in life where I've realized how sh*t some people can be and how the pressures and demands of having a picture-perfect life is absolute trash.
I'm fully aware that I don't have a flat stomach. I have dark circles under my eyes and blemishes on my cheeks. I get words mixed up and make myself look stupid most of the time. My home decor would never been seen on the likes on Pinterest. I'm un-organised and messy and easily irritated and I hate kale smoothies and I don't like sexism nor find it funny. Most of the time my hair resembles the likeliness of a hedge and I'm not interested in fitting in. I'm certainly not anybodies idea of perfection. For Years I would have loved to have some form of validation by other people. Why did I care? Why on earth did I crave society's ideal of looking a certain way, dressing a certain way, acting a certain way. It made me incredibly miserable. Never being able to achieve that high standard of perfection made me feel down and now I'm wondering why I wanted that. Its not me. And that is okay.
You don't have to prove yourself to anyone. If they don't like you, f*ck 'em, you're you and you're an absolute babe living your life for you so its their loss. Do the stuff that you like and spend your time with the people that plaster a massive grin on your face.

I'm in my mid twenties and don't know what to do with my life.

Remember when we were young and full of ambition, hope and passion for the future? When I was younger I wanted the world. I wanted a great career, I wanted a nice car and a big house with a jacuzzi. An amazing married life, complete with a dalmatian puppy. That was it. I felt deep down that achieving those things would make me happy.
Fast - forward to my mid twenties and I'm now asking myself "What happened to those goals?"
Did I give up on them or did I change my mind? What happened to all of the ambition I had and why didn't I pursue things further? Am I a failure for not sticking at it or focusing on other things in life? Is there something wrong with me??

Right now, in this current moment, I'm uncertain on what I actually want to do with my life. I feel like this is common for a lot of millennials. A lot of my peers are getting mortgages, having babies or have just landed that promotion of their dreams. I've spent Months of feeling down about not achieving certain milestones in which society has drilled into us that we need to achieve by a certain age and time frame. I've felt crap about myself and have spent so much time worrying and stressing and comparing myself to other people, that I haven't even thought about if I actually want any of these things. I'm quite happy living with my family. I'm not even sure if having children is something I even want in my future at all.

What I have only just come to realize, is that it doesn't matter if you achieve these 'milestones' that the world would like us to, in the order it would like. In fact, it doesn't really matter if you don't achieve any of these milestones at all. As cliche as it may sound; as long as you are living your life the way YOU want to, and doing things that make YOU happy, there really is no need to get caught up in comparing yourself to others. There really is no time limit - you are never too old to start learning something new. To try something different. To do things that you want to do, and when you want to do them. Life is short, and I'm going to try my best to live the rest of mine happy, whether that means that I never have a six figure salary and 2.4 children - I'm trying to be happy, and live. I'm not trying to convince the world I have a perfect life.

Statement Purple Lip with Kat Von D

Kat Von D beauty being available online at Debenhams has kind-of been a huge deal in the beauty blogging world recently. From the look of other peoples videos and blogs, a lot of people have been making orders now that Kat Von D is readily available to order online with ease in the UK, thanks to Debenhams. I may or not have just made a cheeky little (huge) purchase myself. 

I really love a bold lip. Bright reds and corals, I find, are very difficult to pull off for me, so I do tend to choose bold pinks and purples as they seem to suit me much more. I love the whole vampy/gothic look with purple lipsticks, I just wish I was brave enough to wear very bright purples all of the time. I have actually discovered a purple which I feel comfortable and confident wearing any time, any occasion, which is this Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Ayesha.

The shade Ayesha a gorgeous vibrant and incredibly pigmented muted purple. It is quite a grey/nude purple and is such a unique and bold shade. A lot of the purple lip products I own are either very dark or quite lilac toned, so it is great to see an in-between shade.

I just love the staying power of this lip product. It stays put for hours, doesn't smudge or fade, I really do just love it. I'm not usually a big liquid lip product wearer, but this sets into a gorgeous matte lip and isn't sticky and my lips don't feel like I am wearing any product. It even stays put after drinking and eating. The Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks are made with natural moisturising ingredients which makes sense as to why they leave the lips feeling soft.

Have you ordered anything from Kat Von D beauty? Which are your favourites?

*PR Sample*

Christmas Lush Goodies

It seems a running theme over the festive period on my blog that I feature a lot of Lush products. There is just something about a lovely scented bath over the Autumn and Winter Months.
I'm super grateful to have received two lovely Lush gift sets as Christmas presents. The first one is Rudy. Silly old me did the unthinkable and didn't photograph the gift set when it was all wrapped up nicely (naughty blogger, tut tut) but I love the wrap gifts at Lush and I'm sure I will find a use for the cute Reindeer wrap. Inside Rudy includes two bath bombs: Butterball and Shoot For The Stars. Butterball is a good all-rounder bath bomb, it doesn't give an amazing display in the tub, but is very kind to the skin; leaving it smelling and feeling very soft. Shoot for the stars on the other hand; as you can see, turns your bath water a bright glittery blue and smells of orange and honey.

I also received the Jingle Bells gift set, that includes another two products; Father Christmas Bath Bomb and Peeping Santa Bubble Bar. I was so grateful to receive Peeping Santa as I have been wanting to try this for ages and my local store never seemed to have it in stock. The scent is very similar to fresh strawberries and gives a lot of bubbles, as well as a cute pink/red tint to your bath water. 

I've used Father Christmas before and it is one of the best Lush Christmas bath bombs ever in my opinion. This one turns your bath water into festive green and red swirls, and finally displays only a vibrant green tint to the bath. It is a very sweet scent and smells a little similar to Snow Fairy shower gel.

Small Christmas Sales Haul

Normally, I get up ridiculously early on Boxing Day, check out the sales online, as well as heading to my local shopping centre to pick up some bargains. For the first time in a really long time I passed on the sales shopping, and didn't really plan on doing any sales shopping at all, well, until I came across a few things online at Boots when I was buying my toiletries. In fairness though, I was very restrained, I could have gone crazy buying things but I think I did well and only picked up a few little bits.

I am always on the look out for small and reasonably priced perfumes to throw in my bag for work, and as this worked out at only £4 half price for three little perfumes, I thought it would be ideal. I really like the So...? fragrances too, especially So...? Kiss Me.

The only item I knew I really wanted to pick up from the Boots gift sale was the Zoella Lifestyle gift set with the travel mug and gloves. I really love the colours of the travel mug and I have somehow managed to lose my other one so I actually needed a new one! I like how her branding is really subtle on this. The gloves will come in handy too, I always need gloves.

I also picked up the Little Mix Wishmaker EDP gift set. I'm not ashamed to admit I am a fan of quite a few celebrity fragrances. I really liked the scent of this one, it is a very sweet and fresh scent; and I love that the gift set came with fluffy socks and bubble bath, which I thought was a little different than what is usually included in perfume gift sets.

Did you manage to pick anything nice from the sales?