Victorian Christmas Market In Photos

December has arrived!

The atmosphere during the Christmas period is immense and utterly priceless. Most commonly known as the month where people eat their body weight in food, wear memorable Christmas jumpers and showcase their debatable singing.There is no better way to start this jolly month than with a delightful little trip to a Victorian Christmas market. I decided to go the Worcester one as it's very close to where I live. It was based right in the centre of the town, which was handy for the extra Christmas shopping I needed to do. There was Owls, fudge, roasted chestnuts, Christmas decorations, beautiful buildings and much more. Everyone looked ecstatic, as it was the perfect environment to be with your close ones.

My boyfriend and I had such a lovely day, it was cosy, cute and very picturesque. I love to have a dabble with my camera from time to time and seeing impressive results is always a bonus. 

I certainly hope you enjoy looking at the few snaps I manage to capture.

Don't forget to share all of your Christmas inspired photos! I would love it if you tagged me in them on instagram or twitter so I could have a look and get super Christmassy with you.

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What's your favourite thing about this oh so exciting time of year?

10 Beauty Hacks You Should Know

Beauty hacks 

that you wish you knew sooner

☺

The tips I am going to share with you are thoroughly tried and tested. They are so handy, cheap and you'll be kicking yourself that you have never tried them before. I'm sure there are so many beauty hacks out there but here are 10 I love.

• Blow dry your hair upside down for added volume.

• Make your eye make-up the first thing you do. You will save having to touch up your foundation because of eye shadow fall down and those oh so pesky mistakes we all make. 

• If you do make any mistakes, Cotton bud sticks/ Q-tips are an actual god send. Use them to wipe away any damage you may have done.

• After applying your lipstick, put your finger in your mouth and pull out. This will save any lipstick transferring onto your teeth.

• Personally I ALWAYS use shampoo (baby shampoo is usually the best but any will work) to clean my make-up brushes. It leaves them so clean, soft and smelling amazing.

• If you don't have a hair doughnut to hand, simply cut off the end of a sock and roll it down into the doughnut shape and you're ready to go.

• Ran out of shaving cream? Use conditioner.

• Now we all know spots are the bane of any girls life. Pop them and then put a bit of toothpaste on them.

• I always use a slightly damp eye shadow brush, as I find it gives a much better colour pay off.              
• Want longer, false looking lashes? Use a cotton bud stick/Q-tip to apply baby powder to your eye lashes between each coat of mascara. It really does work. 

Let me know if you try any of these and if they work for you too!

Do you have any tips?

Share them!

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The Naked Eye

I have always been a such a boring person when it came to make-up, my face consisted of foundation, eye liner and mascara. Blush, lipstick, and eyebrows never even entered my little brain, let alone eye shadow. It's really only in the last year I have started obsessing over all the different products and how they can transform my plain Jane face. My boyfriend bought me the Naked 3 pallet earlier this year and well...that was it really, It's been my holy grail every since.

In this divine autumn season I have been LOVING this look on my eyes. 1) Because It's simple 2) It's effective and 3) It takes no time what so ever. 

So my first tip would be to always start with your eye make-up, leave your foundation and concealer till after. This is so you can easily wipe away the fall down of the eye shadow, without ruining your flawless foundation. You can also use an eye primer to keep the shadow looking perfect all day, I recommend Urban Decay Primer Potion or Benefit Stay Don't Stray. 

After I applied my primer all over my eye lip, I moved on to filling in my eyebrows. I'm pretty lucky when it comes to my brows, they're dark and quite thick, so I didn't need to do much. I used Benefits Deep Charcoal eye shadow then brushed it through with an eyebrow brush. 

I then used the colour Liar from the Naked 3 Pallet and sweeped it over my lid using the flat side of the brush and then blended it out with the fluffy side. I also took Liar underneath my eye to add a bit of depth. After this I took the colour Trick and patted this over the top of Liar, I did this quite a few times as I wanted it very pigmented. 

Moving onto the eye liner, I used L'oreal Gel Intenza Eye liner in 01 Pure Black. It comes with an eye liner brush, which is so precise and helps to give great pay off. I took this close to my lash line and created a little wing at the end. I then put it on my waterline for a darker effect. 

Now for the Mascara, I adore this product, It's Benefit They're Real. I usually wiggle the brush around while moving it up my lashes, it helps to maximise and create volume. I then went on to put around 2 more coats to my lashes and applied it to the bottom, you don't have to do this step, not everyone is into the bottom lash mascara look.

You can then go onto doing the rest of your make-up!

My recommendations on the rest...

-Mac Match Master-

-Benefit dandelion blush-
-Any dark berry lipstick-

I hope you enjoy re-creating this look and you can find quite a lot of dupes for the products I've used. Find what's best for you.

Dear Diary... Anxiety Entry

"Dear Diary, 

Today was another bad day, I can't seem to shake off the negativity. I feel silly, abnormal and judged. The smallest things are getting to me, making me emotional and I'm just not able to concentrate on anything. 

I went for a meal earlier, I ordered Gammon and Chips without peas. God, how I hate peas, in fact, no, I fear having peas on my plate. Of course it came with them accompanying my meal, touching the chips. My body burned up, I felt hot. And sick. Sick to my stomach. 

My thoughts... What if the chips taste funny? I can't tell the waitress, she'll seriously think I'm a nut case. What if I don't eat it? Everyone will ask me why I have wasted food. Every ones looking at me. What if I have a panic attack?  

At this moment I was holding back the tears but it was overwhelming, I didn't know if I could stop the emotion. My hands felt the brunt of it, I couldn't stop scratching them. 

It happens so often, too often! I feel ridiculous, no one else I know gets like this and people do not understand. They tell me to snap out of it and to stop being silly. I wake up expecting to feel like this every day, and part of me just wants to avoid all social situations where I have to meet new people and face my every day pressures. I'm sure I'll get used to it... some day."

If you can relate to this in any way, you may have Anxiety. Don't worry... You're not alone. It's actually more common than you think and can be easily controlled. All the bad things you think are going to happen, usually amount to nothing and the situations are never as bad as it seems. I am in no way shape or form an expert on Anxiety or other Mental Health conditions, I'm just using my experience to hopefully help some of you. I hate the fact that sometimes my mind controls me a little too much and there's nothing I can do at that time. A few of the techniques that I have used, read about or been recommended are;

• Well firstly, seek the help of your doctor. Be persistent, and don't let them shrug you off. They may give you medication or refer you for therapy. 
• Talk to someone, doesn't matter who. Vent your worries and how your feeling. Try to make them understand.
• Gentle Exercise
• Plenty of sleep. You will tend to feel more vulnerable when your tired.
• Try meditation music or relaxation music. Just lay there for a while with your earphones in and shut out all your worries.
• It's also good to avoid coffee or alcohol.
• Don't run...Face it! Say yes! You will feel SO proud of yourself. (Oh and yes I did eat my meal... I managed to face the situation... eventually.) 
• If your having a particularly negative, unhappy day... Sit down and write down all the positives in your day and what makes you happy in your life. 

Never think that you're being silly or ridiculous. You're not, it matters to you and it affects you.

Don't suffer in silence, get help, talk to anyone, look on anxiety forums etc.

Click HERE for professional information on anxiety and other Mental Health conditions.

Be happy. Be positive. You can do it.

Chocolate Orange Fairy Cakes.

 I thought I'd share with you something I did today, it was a rather indulgent naughty thought of mine.

Terry's Chocolate Orange is possibly the best chocolate ever and who doesn't love cake? Mix them both together and you have yourself a gorgeous, cheap, quick and easy snack. Perfect for a lazy Sunday, children's lunch boxes, or even to share around at school/work.

It only takes around 30 minutes and doesn't cost the world.

Things you will need (To make 12 cakes)

• 100g Softened butter
• 100g Caster Sugar
• 100g Self-Raising flour
• 2 large eggs
• 1 level teaspoon of baking powder
• Fairy cake cases

For the icing;

• 100g softened butter
• 200g Icing sugar
• 100g of Terry's chocolate orange

Now get baking...

1. Preheat your oven to 200C or 180C for fan assisted ovens
2. Lay out 12 fairy cake cases on a baking tray.
3. Add in the butter, sugar, baking powder and eggs. Stir well.
4. Gently add in the flour and mix for 2 or 3 minutes to create a smooth, no lump mixture.
5. Spoon in your mixture into your cake cases, filling around half.
6. Whack them in the oven for approximately 15 minutes.
7. While the cakes are in the oven, get your chocolate and melt it. I used the microwave, I broke it up and did short bursts of 30 seconds, then stirring to prevent the chocolate from burning. Allow this to cool and try not to eat it. Mmmm.
8. Mix together the butter and icing sugar until you have quite a thick consistency then add in the chocolate.
9. You are ready to put your icing onto your cakes and decorate how you wish. I just grated some left over chocolate and sprinkled it all over the top. 

This is the best part...Tasting the cakes. You can't beat a bit of home baking, you feel somewhat satisfied and proud.

Let me know how to get on and share any tips.

Enjoy.

Battle of the foundations.

'Beauty is power,and make-up is something that really enhances that; its a woman's secret'

These products are my all time favourite high end foundations, they are my go to quick fix but which one rocks my world a little more...

Benefit Oxygen Wow

£26.50
The colour I wear is: 'Believe in me' Ivory

After being drawn in by the creative and extravagant displays of the benefit counter, I purchased my first item from them over a year ago. I have gone through 4 of their Oxygen Wow Foundations since then and without fault it has given me the perfect medium coverage without it feeling heavy on my skin and blends in amazingly well. I usually use just one pump with a big fluffy brush and this covers my whole face with ease. The end result leaves me feeling fresh and illuminated, as it seems to brighten my face without making it too oily. This is a perfect everyday foundation, and although it doesn't claim to have long lasting qualities, it really does.

MAC Matchmaster SPF15

£28.00

The colour is wear is: 1.5

Now what girl hasn't always dreamed about owning something from the MAC range, and like the benefit foundation this was my first purchase from the counter. This product is usually my 'going out' or 'covering up' foundation, as it has an excellent buildable coverage and hides away those pesky spots or blemishes. I wasn't all that convinced with the technology properties its supposed to have, I looked at the colour, then the make-up advisor and thought 'This can't be right', but it really does adapt to the undertones of my skin, providing me with the perfect colour foundation. Madness! I use 1-2 small pumps and apply using a clean flat foundation brush, this way I avoid wastage and it allows me to build on the coverage.

There's so many great qualities in these products that I love, but if I were to be stranded on a desert island...I think I would take the Benefit Oxygen WOW foundation, purely because of the lightweight, easiness of it.

What's your 'Go to' foundation?