Saturday, December 26, 2015

Snapshots of Blogmas 2015


Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope you all are having a lovely time what ever you are doing!! 

Charlie xo

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Our Christmas Traditions




1. The Christmas Tree
We normal get the Christmas tree up around the first few weeks of December, however, since moving we have to think about when to put it up a bit more carefully. We now have under floor heating, a beautiful thing in the winter, however not so much for a live christmas tree... The under floor heating actually dries out the tree a lot quicker, it heats up the water, so it evaporates quicker and we are constantly having to check the water levels every few hours, the pins drop off faster and the tree just generally suffers. So this year we've put up the pencil artificial tree in the kitchen but are yet to buy a real one. If you you know of a way to protect a real tree from under floor heating please let me know!
To me a real Christmas tree is the heart of christmas.

2. Chestnuts
Roasting on an open fire! Well ok we don't have the fire any more but thats not stopping us! You can easily roast chestnuts under the grill! Alright its not quite the same, but its something my dad and I enjoy doing together on christmas eve so nothing will stop us.

3. Christmas Eve
Before we moved, we used to visit family and share a drink and pass out the presents. Now, being 400 miles away its a bit difficult. So unfortunately a tradition has changed. Instead we spend that family time, just a bit smaller than before.

4. Christmas Day Breakfast
Ok I don't wake up as early as I used too, a lye in is something I will enjoy on Christmas day. Dad is normally the first one up, he likes to enjoy salmon for breakfast with a bit of champaign on the side, after all is a day of no rules in our house! (I don't join in on the salmon but I won't say no to a bit of bubbly, but the best bit is seeing dad enjoy himself, thats my favourite bit)

5. Christmas Day Dinner
Christmas dinner is a step up from sunday dinner. My mum and dad pull all the stops for it, To be completely honest its the biggest thing we do on christmas day. Although it's always the same dinner as previous years, it is truly the best meal of the the year, hands down.

6. Films and a Kip
Breakfast and champaign, presents and sharing, Christmas dinner is then followed by Dr Who Christmas special, which usually then leads to mum and dad both falling asleep or otherwise known as a food comer, the rest of the day is spent relaxing and enjoying the day. I would love a big family Christmas but right now just the three of us is absolutely fine, maybe one day it will grow.

Christmas is without doubt my favourite holiday. Just seeing people forget their worries, smiles on faces and everybody is so happy to just chat with anybody. At work in particular, everybody has so happy to have a conversation and good wishes are every where. To me it feels like its that time of year people come together and moods are higher, whats not to love. Christmas is my favourite time of the year by far!


Happy Holidays!
Charlie xo

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Festive Candles

Yankee Candles have always been a firm favourite with me and my mum. If only they did a 'back to mac' sort of thing! We've had loads over the years all year round, but none have been as favoured as the Christmas time scents! The smells the candles give off cover the house and give a lovely, welcoming scent to a home. One of our most brought candle is Yankee Candles' Cinnamon Stick, you can not get much more christmasy!

Woodwick is a newer find, I've only had one Woodwick candle before, in comparison to Yankee I perfer the shape of the jar and the lid of the Woodwick candles, its a lot more simplistic and cleaner in the shape. The smell compares nicely with Yankee in my opinion, however my mum thinks that the Yankee Candle large jar doesn't keep the smell, almost like it runs out or gets weaker the more you use it.

This year I'm trying Woodwicks Cinnabark, but there are plenty of others to try if you don't like the smell of cinnamon, below are five different candles which I love the smell off and each and every one of them makes me think of Christmas!


Do you have any favourite Christmas scents? 
Charlie xo



Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Chapped Lips

This time of year there is one thing that really gets me down. The cold wind outside and the heating on inside creates all hell for my lips. They really do struggle with the change in temporature and I find myself always hunting for the best lip treatment to keep them soft and moisturised, instead of dry, cracked and sore, nobody wants that! So here are my top picks for lip care this winter.


For day to day care, I use my Blistex Happy Lips balm in Mango. Its nourishing, easy to apply, softens the skin and general makes me happy (the smell is good enough on its own).  The shape of the mango happy lips fits nicely into a pocket and because it's in a easy tube, it is tidy to apply. If you prefer a tin lip balm the Nivea Raspberry rose gives a subtle pigment to your lips, almost like a gloss and smells delicious! During the winter I need to take more time and care on my lips. If its been a particularly bad weather day and my lips are really sore I use Blistex Relief Cream over night to repair all the damage of the day. Over night my lips repair, and become soft and smooth again. The tube lasts a really long time as you really do not need much at all, a little bit goes a long way! 

Another thing you could add to your lip care routine could be one of LUSH's lip scrubs! I love the Mint Julips which is £5.50. The scrub is tough enough to get rid of any dry skin but not to tough to make your lips sore in return. It smells delicious, feels great and is a really treat to add to your lip care routines! 

Do you have any other techniques or product which are your holy grail of lip care? Please let me know, I'm alway up for trying new things!


Best Wishes
Charlie xo

Sunday, December 6, 2015

20/52

1. It snowed again on Sunday, huge, fat snowflakes drifting down from the sky! Theres something so beautiful about it, put a smile on every bodies face! (It didn't settle to well so there wasn't ice to worry about either, added bonus)

2. This is the first week of my new 12 Days of Christmas blogging series, I'm excited but nervous! Scheduling like crazy!

3. I'm only working two days this week which means I can focus more on my blog

4. The work Christmas Party, I've never been to one before but I'm so glad I went to this one. Getting to spend some time with people from work, outside of work was really nice, not to mention we all got dressed up)

5. Perhaps as a kid, a december birthday wasn't the greatest, but I always loved Christmas more than my birthday! However getting to spend it with family was really nice after not seeing them on the day for the last three years and you can't replace that feeling.

6. The weather has been a bit mental this week, the wind has been unbelievable at some points!

7. Getting back in touch with my cousins, we've all grown up a lot since leaving school and since moving I haven't liked not seeing them on sundays or sharing a TGI's dinner to celebrate our birthdays. I do miss them lots.

8. I've never been to a work's christmas party before, but this year I really wanted to go, and I'm glad I did. Sometimes you have to do things that make you feel in easy, but it's often worth the courage.

9. Saturday the 5th was my birthday! I can not believe how quickly time flies! I feel like It was my 18th birthday only a year or two ago, but no it was quite awhile ago!

10. Sunday we completely got into the swing of things for christmas and started putting up the decorations, so far we only have the kitchen decorated so we've still got the rest of the house to do!

Christmas Nails




Ever since finding my first gold nail polish in a Tesco no less, I loved the look and felt that it was perfect for summer and Christmas! Unfortunately my original gold polish dried up and I needed a new one, which was when I found Ciate's gold nail polish in 'Sand Dune'. Since it is now completely the festive season/month I decided to paint my nails with Ciates 'Sand Dune', but to make it a bit more festive I've also used Revlons 'Sequins' on my ring fingers. I didn't want to use any other colour beneath the gold glitter chunks so I only used Barry M's top and base coat nail polish.
I really do love the gold and the way in which the glitter catches the light so easily, a bit of sparkle never hurt anybody! Are you painting your nails for Christmas, are you going to do simple or extravagant and paint tiny christmas related things like snowmen or santa hats? I would never have the patience for that, too fiddly for me!

Best Wishes
Charlie xo



Friday, December 4, 2015

Christmas Party Makeup

Tonight is my Christmas party with work, I haven't been to one before so safe to say this is a new experience, one I'm a bit  nervous but excited for.
The party is at 7pm and I finish work at 6pm. With a 40 minute travel home I wouldn't get back in time. So the plan is to change and get ready at work. I don't really want to carry to much clothing into work with my so my idea is to do my makeup in a way that it makes up for the lack of dressiness.

I've decided to go with all black - easy enough - so I think the statement will have to be my makeup.


(There might be a few more photos to come, we'll see how the night goes) 

Charlie xo

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

10 Things I Love about Winter

1. Scarves
I do love a scarf, in fact it is probably one the things that I an addicted to buying! The added warmth that they actually provide is much needed up here in Scotland, and the fact that I can wear them at work pleases me to no end! Get yourselves a good scarf this winter, I personally like Accessorize's pashmina style scarves, light weight, keeps in the heat and available in so many difference colours and patterns.

2. Hot Chocolate
I'm no a coffee fan, I like tea but only really at home, but I will always say yes to a hot chocolate. Costa is my favourite and the moments and it is an added bonus to have one in their christmas cups!

3. Fairy Lights
I had fairy lights up all year round whilst I was at uni, but here at home we only really have fairy lights up around Christmas time. What is not to love about those twinkly lights?

4. Endless amounts of Films on TV
We get the Radio Times each month now, but I only really go through them throughly around Christmas time. Highlighting all the things we want to watch this season! There is always hundreds of films on, its gets a bit tricky to pick which one to watch!

5. Shop lights spilling out the windows.
Even is you aren't doing the late night shop, the sun is setting really early at this time of year, so by 4pm the lights of the shops spill out onto the street, making every shop look inviting.

6. Star Gazing on a Cold Clear Night
Its a lot easier to star gaze during the winter. For one it gets darker earlier, so you don't have to wait as long. There is something about the moon and stars that I love and I can't wait for summer to finish so I can start seeing those tiny specs of light in the night sky.

7. Spending more time with family.
We are quite a small family and although we see each other everyday, Christmas gives us the time we need to relax and enjoy each others company, to not take anything for granted and to appreciate what we have.

8. Wood Burners
Unfortunatly we don't have a wood burner in this house, so I am deeply missing the smell and the feel that it gave the room. Theres nothing quite like the atmosphere of a flickering fire and a light hearted film around this time of year!

9. All the little Christmas ink-naks in the garden centres
Okay well this tends to begin around the end of August and by the end of September all the garden centres are full to the brim with Christmas dec's

10. Christmas Time and all the winter Photos 
As is this needs explaining , Tis the Season to be Jolly!



What do you love about winter? 
Charlie xo