I guess most people do this, but I started this years Christmas preparations feeling very organised. I knew what I was getting people, I even started ordering things in September, but somehow I was still Christmas shopping today! How does this always happen? Next year I’m starting in June!
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I hate being ill, I know everyone says that and it’s probably pointless saying it, but it always seems to happen when there are fun things happening. I’m used to having to cancel because f various health issues, but for some reason when it’s a virus or something that’s going round I find it more annoying. It seems like this year there’s even more going round than normal.
Anyway, basically I’ve spent the past week on antibiotics feeling sorry for myself so the past few days have been trying to watch Christmassy movies and listen to songs and get back into the Christmas spirit. It’s kind of working, definitely going to be trying to watch at least one Christmas movie a day in the lead up to Christmas as I have so many on my to watch list. Do you guys have any favourites you watch every year? Any less well known ones you love and would recommend? I love finding new holiday movies to watch.
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How is it already over a week into December? It feels like everything is happening at once and the last minute panic for the presents I haven’t got yet is kicking in. I felt so organised this year as well. Probably doesn’t help that I’m ill and all the family gatherings seem to be happening now so I’m sort of only half there all the time. I’m hoping the antibiotics kick in before this weekend for the big family meal as we don’t get to see each other very often.
I love family get togethers, or catching up with friends, seeing people you don’t see for most of the year and catching up with their lives. The best ones are when it doesn’t feel like a year ago you last talked. Though it feels like there’s less family get together as I get older, I guess that happens naturally anyway as everyone starts their own families and new traditions, but it does feel weird sometimes. Do you guys have family meals and meet ups this time of year, or catching up with friends you hardly ever see?
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I haven’t really been to many Christmas markets, probably only two before this one, but there was a Christmas market fair turning on the lights thing today in the local town so we went and had a wander round. I did end up buying some food, everything always looks so good I could ave bought way more, and I kind of wish I’d bought some of the tombola tickets, but it a definitely worth a wander round for an hour or so.
Do any of you go to Christmas fairs or markets? I tend to find with bigger ones you have so many stalls with exactly the same things being sold but this one was local companies, mainly food, with a few handmade crafts and drink stalls. Wasn’t the most Christmassy weather to wander round in but it was fun and getting there early, quite a bit before thee lights were turned on, was a good idea. Will definitely be going back next year if we’re around and they do it.
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Had a meeting today and realised it’s only three weeks until Christmas. I mean, I knew it would be soon because it’s December but at the same time it feels like it shouldn’t be that soon. Does anyone else feel like that? I’m not sure I’m that organised this year, I haven’t decorated completely, haven’t got my Christmas card list written and haven’t bought any Christmas presents for a while. It all started so well too. Oh well, looks like it’ll be panic buying at the last minute again.
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I mentioned this yesterday but I wanted to post a photo and I was wondering if anyone has done the whole DIY flocked tree with fake snow thing? I would say it was a success, except for the amount I thought I needed, but know it takes longer than I expect to dry. Last night it was still wet and wiped off easily, today it’s all crumbly and only comes off in pieces. Have any of you tried this? Is there a knack to it or is it just spray it on and leave it?
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I do love a good beauty box, they can be a great way to try new products in a way that’s larger than the tiny samples you get for free. Debenhams have a Beauty Discovery Box, with seven travel sized products in it, for £35. At the moment there is an offer where if you buy a beauty of fragrance product then it’s half price. I can’t find anywhere that says that it’s got a minimum spend and I spent just over £20 and got the offer.
The seven products included cover hair, skin and makeup and include products from Too Faced, Kat Von D, Clarins, Clinique, Smashbox, Murad and Aveda. I have to say that the Too Faced mascara and the Smashbox primer are the two that I wanted the most, and pretty much cover the cost of the box at half price, but I am looking forward to trying the others. As with any of these beauty box posts I do, this is pretty much first impressions, unless I’ve already used the product in the past, and I’ll add up the total of what everything would be worth separately to see if it’s worth the money.
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I have heard so many good things about the Mario Badescu Drying Lotion but it always seemed expensive to just give it a go even if it is some wonder product as I’ve had so many failed acne treatments that I thought it might just join the pile. Then I saw this set in the Beauty Bay sale with two Mario Badescu products, the Drying Lotion and the Buffering Lotion and thought I’d give it a go. Both of these products are cruelty and paraben free.
From the description on these two lotions they’re aimed at targeting different types of acne, or different stages in acne anyway. The Drying Lotion basically does what it says and uses a combination of ingredients, including clay, to sit on the skin overnight and dry out any spots. The Buffering Lotion is supposed to help large under the surface bumps, to calm them and reduce their appearance.
I was intrigued to see how these two would work and if the Drying Lotion was the wonder product everyone seems to say it is as, at nearly thirty, I still haven’t found the perfect products to help my acne prone skin when it’s having a bad time.
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I’ve been trying The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter for a while to see if, and how, it worked for me. I saw a lot of posts about this range when it was first released but not seen much since. It’s designed for sensitive skin and is a cleansing balm. I haven’t had the best luck with cleansing balms but I wanted to give this a go as it’s specifically for sensitive skin. As with all products from the Body Shop it’s cruelty free.
This is a fair sized tin, it contains 90ml, and is a lot flatter and wider than most of my skin care products. This costs £10 but the tin lasts ages, a little does go a long way and I can see this lasting beyond the twelve months it says it has for using it up, for me anyway. My skin is sensitive, acne prone and dry or combination and it isn’t normally a fan of cleansing balms but I was interested so thought I’d give it a go.
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I’ve always meant to do empties posts, I just tend to find that I go for ages without having any and then within a week everything I use regularly is finished. I love reading or watching them when other people do them as it shows what you actually use and like rather than a review of something you’ve been using for a few weeks or days.
As I’ve been organising my wardrobe, I’m only part way at the moment, I’ve ended up getting all the random stuff that got thrown into this basket I got for empties so now it can finally be used as I wanted it to be. I didn’t plan on it being overflowing before I did my first post though! I’ll try to keep them shorter, maybe after every ten empties, I didn’t realise how much was in there until I emptied it earlier! As there are so many I’ll try to keep them short and I’ll link to any I’ve done reviews on so you can see more about them.
Read more to see how much I actually finished this month…