It's Tuesday, and my room looks like an absolute pigsty. To be completely honest, I still have so many presents from Christmas just floating amongst the piles of clothes and wrappers and God-knows-what. Anyway, today I made a start at clearing the decks and found many empty product bottles and containers which inspired me to write this blog post... maybe my messy room was actually a blessing in disguise!

First up is the Boots Vitamin E Night Cream. This is extremely moisturising and sinks in really quickly - i'm not a fan of those creams that take forever and a day to absorb into the skin! I really can't fault this: it's nourishing, affordable and makes my skin feels super smooth and soft afterwards - an absolute winner!

Next is the Max Factor Lash Extension Effect Mascara. I absolutely LOVED this throughout the year of 2014. The wand was perfect at keeping those pesky clumps at bay and the mascara itself really elongated my lashes without making them feel dry and rock-hard. 

Another one of my favourites now - the No7 Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser. This is lovely for removing stubborn makeup and can even be used around the delicate eye area which means you don't have to each for a separate product. As you can probably tell, this isn't an empty bottle, but I have repurchased this twice since my old one ran out, promise! For a more in-depth review, please see an older blog post of mine here.

This is something I don't actually remember buying, the Dove Instant Hydration Nourishing Lotion. I'm a little bit lazy when it comes to body moisturisers, but this is wonderful. It's very runny - I'd describe its consistency to be similar to cleansing milks, but this means it's very light and sinks into the skin very quickly. 

Last of all is this Pantene Perfect Curls Hair Mousse, which I swear I've owned for years and years. I rarely use hair mousse as I do fear it may weigh my hair down, but this one was lovely and left my hair looking shiny and feeling lovely and soft. When wearing my hair curly I didn't particularly notice  any difference to how well-defined the curls were, but if you're only looking for a mousse to make your hair that little bit shiner and more manageable then I'd definitely recommend this one.

What are some of your favourite products that you've used up? Did you repurchase any?

Chloe 

x

There's nothing I like better than a mid-morning snack. 

..Well, there probably is, but for the sake of this blog post, we can pretend that rice cakes with almond butter and chopped banana are THE best things in the world. If there is such a thing as a Holy Grail snack, for me this would probably be it. I'm guilty of being that person who just loves to snack, but sometimes it can be difficult to find the right sorts of things to nibble on. I know that if I don't prepare snacks in advance, I'll sniff out the nearest chocolate bar before you know it. That's where these little babies come into play - they're so simple to do and are perfect for slaying that darn hunger pang you get at 11am!

It sounds silly, but a few months back I didn't even know almond butter was a thing. I discovered it after watching Niomi Smart's 'Healthy Snack Ideas' video  which totally inspired me to rush out to Holland and Barrett to buy some. I assumed it would have quite a sweet taste as almonds typically do, however I'd describe this as more of a savoury spread (probably because the only other spread i've tried is Nutella, haha) which has a slight grainy texture to it. 

That being said, it's delicious with some chopped up banana and in my opinion it makes the perfect mid-morning snack.

They honestly take less than 30 seconds to prepare and are sooo yummy.

So there you have it - no more excuses for not having time to make healthy food choices!

If you've been a loyal follower of mine for a while, you may have noticed that my blog has undergone a little makeover. I've switched up the design of my blog a couple of times before, each time feeling a little pleased with its new look but not 100% satisfied. I wanted something crisper and more professional looking, and after trawling the internet in search of a template and dabbling with some super brain-puzzling HTML, I think I may finally be happy with the way my blog looks... hooray!

Of course you can just buy a template and save yourself the hassle, but when you have to work on your design yourself you really become aware of how much work is put into each design, and trust me - it's A LOT. I started switching things up at around 10am this morning. 

It's now 7:20pm. 

I haven't  even left the house today and I feel like a zombie with square eyes.

But my blog looks pretty now, so it's worth it... right?

Have you ever attempted to delve into the deep, dark world of HTML?

I'm aware it's been, uh, forever and a day since my last blog post *sigh*. However, i'm determined to be more productive this year and I'd like to get back into the swing of writing regular blog posts. 

Aside from that, I've FINALLY decided to apply for my provisional driving license, wahoo! Last Monday I sat down and made myself complete the form online, and today I forced myself into the nearest photo booth to print some updated photos that I could send off to complete the application. 

To tell you the truth, it becomes a whole lot easier to be productive if you physically force yourself to do things. When given the choice, it's easy to sweep things to one side and say you'll do them later (when really, deep down you know you have no intention of doing them), so in order to actually get things done you must take control and tell yourself you're going to get these things done whether you like it or not so you can move on to the next task in hand.

As well as learning to drive, this year I'd like to become more active as a bid to feel fitter and healthier. To help make this happen, I purchased a cross trainer just before Christmas which I absolutely looove so far, as well as buying a lovely new pair of trainers to keep me motivated.

Aren't they pretty? I've always wanted to own a snazzy pair of Nike Free Runs and now I finally do! I believe these are the Free Run+3's in 'Fireberry Electric Green' (I love the names they use for the colours!) 

Apart from looking lovely, these trainers are so comfortable and extremely lightweight; two necesseties  if you're looking to take up running or exercise in general.

I always used to pick the plainest looking trainers and shy away from the jazzy, brightly-coloured ones, but now I like to embrace the brights! The pop of colour really brightens up your dark workout gear and makes exercising that little bit more fun.

I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas, what are your goals for 2015? 

                          ♡

P.S - sorry for the not-so-great quality of the photos, I used my iPhone instead of my DSLR! 

So far I've found the month of November to be a giant blur. To me it seems to have whizzed by... how scary is it to think that Christmas is only 35 days away?! (*gasp*) I certainly find myself having a love-hate relationship with this time of year. Part of me does secretly love wrapping up warm and digging out all of last year's woolly jumpers, scarves, gloves etc. but at the same time I despise waking up and finding it pitch black outside, and getting out of a toasty-warm bed to face plummeting temperatures is extremely difficult. Oh, and another thing - attempting to somewhat smooth down my hair when it's cold and drizzly outside is a nightmare.. talk about frizz-city! Luckily I have a few products that I've been loving so far this month which is making this time of the year just that little bit more bearable for me. It is a rather random bunch of favourites this month but I figured it'd be a nice change to include a few things that aren't beauty or skincare related, so lets begin!

First things first, obviously I have to mention this baby. I did get this over a month ago but didn't get to fully appreciate its beauty as it took a while to transfer everything over from my old laptop (which is incredibly borrrrring) but my, it's SO BEAUTIFUL. It was expensive, but I find it so much more fulfilling knowing that I bought this out of my own money that I'd earnt myself, and who doesn't like a little (or in this case, rather big!) treat now and again?!

A lip product I've enjoyed using this month is the Calvin Klein lipstick in 'Henna'. I bought this from Fragrance Direct for the bargain price of £1.99 as I was looking for a fairly inexpensive, good-quality lipstick. It was a bit of a gamble as I wasn't sure of the exact colour (the swatches on the website aren't too accurate at showing the true colour), but it's a really subtle light-pink shade that I've found to be extremely creamy and blendable.

I know everybody seems to go crazy over berry-toned nail polish and lipsticks during this time of the year, but I still like wearing fairly neutral, muted tones on my nails and the Rimmel 60 Seconds polish in 'Little Bo Peep' is one of my favourites at the moment. Although I disagree about it drying in 60 seconds and only needing one coat (I had to use three coats), it's still a lovely pale grey colour which dries with a light shine. The brush is also a good size too; it's wide enough to coat the nails properly which means you don't have to go over and over the same area so you can avoid the horrible sticky feeling you get when the polish hasn't had long enough to dry!

As somebody who uses straighteners or curlers on a daily basis, the ends of my hair are often left feeling incredibly dry - not to mention I already have ombré hair! I popped into Poundland a while back and while I was down the hair and beauty aisle, this product caught my eye. I know argan oil can be terribly expensive online, so I thought i'd give this a go as, of course, it was only going to cost me £1. I only apply the teeniest amount to the palm of my hand and then smooth it through the ends of my hair, and it really does make it feel so much smoother and healthier - absolute BARGAIN!

Another hair-related favourite of mine this month is my beloved Tangle Teezer. This is amazing for smoothing down hair to eliminate tangles and best of all, it doesn't yank all of your hair out in the process! I'm sure we've all been there where you try and run your fingers through your hair and they get stuck, so you use a hairbrush as an aid to brushing out the tangly mess you've just made and losing a trillion hairs as a result. This, however, is so gentle on your hair - it just glides through effortlessly and saves so much time in the mornings.

This is a fairly new addition to my skincare routine after discovering the queen of  skincare Caroline Hirons talking about facial spritzes on her blog. This one in particular smells super lovely and fresh and can be used before or after makeup to freshen up your face. I've mainly been using this at night after I've finished cleansing my face but I'd imagine it would be more effective to use before applying makeup in the mornings to give your skin a little bit of a glow.

Since buying the Real Techniques Travel Essentials Kit, the 'Multi-Task Brush' has been my go-to brush when applying my foundation. This brush really allows you to buff the foundation into the skin and leaves your complexion looking completely flawless. It's also extremely versatile; it can be used to apply foundation, bronzer, blush.. basically any kind of product!

The 'Miracle Complexion Sponge' by Real Techniques makes applying foundation a dream. I do believe it'd drink your foundation if you didn't soak it under a tap first, but it's a relatively small price to pay for achieving an amazing foundation base. You can really build up the coverage by pressing the foundation into any problem areas, and I believe it would do the exact same job as the Beauty Blender for a smaller price tag!

I rediscovered this necklace earlier this month which was given to me as a birthday present from one of my friends; it's so pretty! I love the different coloured flowers all clustered together with the tiny silver sparkles in the middle - and the gold chain makes a nice change from the usual silver jewellery I tend to wear :)

In case you can't tell, this is the Collection 'Lasting Perfection' concealer. Ahh, this has definitely been well loved! I bought this a while ago but only just rediscovered it in my makeup bag, and it's made a nice change from the Soap & Glory 'Kick-Ass' concealer I usually use. The coverage is brilliant for such an inexpensive product and it lasts a lot longer than I would've expected it to.

Case: Nicole Miller

Case: Case-Mate

Another random favourite of this month are pretty phone cases. I recently splashed out on a shiny new iPhone, which of course means you have to get shiny new phone cases! I decided to get the gold iPhone 5s as opposed to the 6 (mainly to save a bit of money), although I opted for the 64gb one to make sure I had enough space to store all of my music, pictures and apps.

My last favourite of my month comes in the form of music and is, of course, the new One Direction album.. how could I not include it?! My favourite song so far has to be Night Changes, but i'm yet to listen to the whole album in full!

What are you enjoying so far this month?

 x

Since starting my job in July, it may be hard to believe but I haven't had a single weekend day off. I'm contracted to work both Saturdays and Sundays, however I wasn't put down on the rota this Sunday which left me with the perfect opportunity to catch up on an old hobby of mine - baking. I was in the mood for something sweet but nothing too sickly, which was when I remembered I had a recipe for some oat & raisin cookies that I'd left lurking in the middle of an old baking book amongst many others all crammed onto the bookshelf. These are what I'd describe as the perfect 'sweet treat'; they're super tasty and don't leave you feeling guilty for over-indulging. I believe I found the original recipe for these on the BBC Good Food website, however I did do a bit of tweaking and decided to tailor this recipe to meet my needs :)

To make 6 large-ish cookies, you will need:

• 75g self-raising flour (I used wholemeal as it was the first thing i found in the cupboard, but any self-raising flour will do - even gluten free works well!)
• 75g sugar (I lessened mine to 60g and found them sweet enough)
• 75g oats
• 75g butter
• 1 tablespoon of milk
• 1 tablespoon of Golden Syrup
• 1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
• 1 handful of raisins
• Flaxseed (this is entirely optional - I just add a teaspoon or two to make them a little bit healthier!)

METHOD:

1) Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

2) Line a baking tray with baking parchment (that's grease-proof paper to me and you).

3) Sift the flour into a bowl. Mix in baking powder, oats & sugar.

4) Melt butter, syrup & milk in a saucepan. Stir until heated through.

5) Add to the premixed ingredients dry ingredients. Mix well combined.

6) Spoon onto the baking tray & shape into rounds.

7) Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

8) Leave to cool for 5 minutes before removing from tray.

And voilà! There you have six, super-tasty treats that are perfect for snacking on during the day. If you decide to make some yourself, I'd love to know how you get on and what you think to them!

Chloe 

-x-

When it comes to make up brushes, I always try and look for good quality ones that are also affordable -  a combination that is sometimes quite hard to come across (apart from Real Techniques brushes of course). A lot of the time it seems you have to make a compromise somewhere along the line by either paying a lot of money for a super-fancy brush or making do with a bog-standard, mediocre one to save a few pennies. This is where the Coastal Scents brushes come in. I first discovered these last summer when I was looking to start my brush collection. I hadn't owned any makeup brushes at this point so I was a bit sceptical about buying a complete set for under £20, but I decided to give them a go nonetheless.

Honestly, i'm so glad that I took the risk of buying these brushes because they are AMAZING. The quality is excellent and in my opinion they look and perform just as well as more expensive brushes on the market. The set consists of 12 brushes with both synthetic and natural hair bristles which all fit into the case provided. The case fastens with magnets and each brush has its own little pouch which keeps them separated and makes it easy for you to select which brush you want to use at a glance. The case also means that this set is perfect for travelling; it's roughly the same size as a small/medium sized clutch bag and it's fairly flat - definitely not bulky in the slightest.

My only teeny-tiny issue with these brushes is the amount of bristles I seem to lose from the powder brushes when I wash them, but in all honesty I don't consider this to be much of a problem and it is to be expected with the bristles made from natural hair. Both the synthetic and the natural hair bristles apply makeup effortlessly and are not scratchy in the slightest, which of course is a huge bonus when so many other brushes around this price range seem very artificial and feel rough on the skin.

In order from the picture above, the brushes included in this set are:

• Lash & Brow Comb
• Blush Brush (natural hair)
• Angled Blush Brush (natural hair)
• Foundation Brush (synthetic)
• Doe-foot Blending Brush (synthetic)
• Pointed Blending Brush (natural hair)
• Medium Shadow Brush (synthetic)
• Small Concealer Brush (synthetic)
• Pointed Detailer Brush (synthetic)
• Rounded Detailer Brush (synthetic)
• Small Angled Liner Brush (synthetic)
• Angled Liner Brush (synthetic)

As I mentioned above, this set is currently priced at £19.95 with free p&p and is available  from BeautyStore4U.co.uk: my ultimate go-to site for all things beauty and brush related!

What are your favourite, must-have makeup brushes? 

♡

**Disclaimer: This was not a sponsored post, I just wanted to share my genuine opinion on how fantastic these brushes are :) **