November favourites

My oh my, is it December already?

November has gone so fast, it's crazy! 

This past month despite having a wonderful birthday, has been pretty stressful. 

Therefore I am happily welcoming December. I hope this month consists of many happy memories and me simply just can't wait for Christmas. 

Anyway, without further ado, I present to you my November favourites. Enjoy!

My first favourite is my food favourite of the month.This has to be the Covent Garden Vegetable soup.
Soup is so perfect for the season. My absolute favourite flavour is the vegetable, especially this one!
This soup is just so yummy, I am addicted. It tastes natural and yummy and leaves me feeling great.
Definitely recommended.

My second favourite this month is my Soap and glory sugar crush body wash.
I got this as a gift from a sister for my birthday and I am pretty much obsessed. This smells
absolutely heavenly and I am in love. It smells like lime and sweetness. Super yummy!
I will definitely be looking into more soap and glory products and this has been fab.

My favourite songs this month have been 'Counting Stars' by One Republic and
'How long will I love you?' by Ellie Goulding. I love the artists and these songs are pretty much perfection.
I don't really have much to say about this section other than its fab and I recommend you go check them out.

Another thing I have been loving this past month is my Simple oil balancing moisturiser.

My final favourite for this month is my Yankee candle. I got this as a gift for my birthday and
I am obsessed.

 So there we have it, my November favourites. Now time for December and more
importantly Christmas!
I can't contain my excitement! :D

Thank you very much for reading,

xxX Holly Xxx

Lush relaxing bath

So the other day I decided to try out some of my gifts and have a Lush bath. 

I was very pleased with the result.

First of all, I lit up my 'fireside treats' candle. This smells so heavenly I could eat it. 

This is (in my opinion) a very autumnal smell and it was just perfect for my cosy lush bath.

Whilst my water was running I added my bubble bar 'the comforter'. I crumbled it under the water to produce bubbles. The only way I can think of describing the bubbles is fluffy and sweet.

As I didn't want to use it all up before I got another one, I still had this much left after using it. However, it still produced plenty of bubbles and well as leaving my bath smelling wonderful and looking rather pretty.

Next, I added my 'space girl' bath bomb. This looked amazing so I was very excited to use it.

The end result gave me a lush smelling bath and I loved watching it fizz away. The oils also left me feeling very relaxed.

I also used this opportunity to try my 'rub rub rub' shower scrub. This left my skin feeling hydrated and fresh. My skin feels so soft and smooth and I really enjoyed using this scrub.

The final products I used were my simple face wash and mango body wash from boots. I love this face wash for the bath as it is slightly thicker than my other face washes and reminds me a little of a mask. This body wash smells amazing and is also great for the skin.

This bath left me feeling relaxed, smelling great and with super soft skin. Overall very enjoyable!

Highly suggested!

Thanks for reading!

xxX Holly Xxx

Autumn walks

One of my favourite things about the season of Autumn is being able to go on walks and enjoy the scenery. 

I am very lucky to be living near to the Westonbirt Arboretum, and we as a family have season passes so we get to come here a lot. We often take our dogs here for walks and its a really nice place to go.

 We went around mid-afternoon and the weather was lovely. We had a very enjoyable walk and I took this opportunity to test out my new camera. I took quite a few snaps that I thought I would share. I really love the colours and this is one of my favourite places to be during the Autumn. This also makes it ideal for photos.

Enjoy!

My little brother hugging a tree.

Me looking rather tired.

Beautiful colour!

More lovely colours.

Alfie climbing trees again.

The colours reminded me of a traffic light.

Alfie with one of our dogs, Bella.

Me and Alfie with a stunning background,

Being artsy.

HOLLY!

I just love the colours in this!

Wonderful weather.

Alfie with the dogs.

We really do live in a beautiful world.

Thought this was pretty cute.

Trees. Trees. Trees.

More trees.

This colour is gorgeous.

Sunset on the way out.

After our little walk, we stopped at the cafe for a delicious hot chocolate before heading home.
I had a lovely afternoon and really enjoyed taking some lovely photos.

Thanks for reading,

xxX Holly Xxx

Non school uniform OOTD

Every year, for children in need my school, allow you to wear non-school uniform if you bring in £1, which then gets donated to Children In Need. 

Since I still had a full day at school, including a mock exam, my outfit needed to be practical as well as feeling happy in what I was wearing so I figured I would share what I decided to wear.

I wore a simple black strappy top from next and added my burgundy knitted sweater from New look. Then I paired that with my black skinny jeans from New Look and my brown boots from Next. I then added my khaki utility jacket from Asos with my tartan scarf which I actually got as a gift from Scotland. For my jewellery, I simply just added my big sister necklace from Claires with my granddaughter moon necklace that I got from my grandma.

This outfit was super comfy and practical for my day.

Thanks for reading,

xxX Holly Xxx

Lush 'cinders' review

As part of my birthday present, one of my friends gave me a Cinders bath bomb from Lush.

Now I have a bit of an obsession with Lush so this was perfect. 

This bath bomb is in their Christmas collection so I was very excited to try it.

One of the first things I noticed about this bath bomb was the smell.

It basically smells like Christmas. It's made with almond oil, sweet orange and cinnamon leaf oils, and this is one of my favourite scents yet. I can't wait to go and purchase another!

 As soon as I dropped it into my bath it immediately started fizzing away, filling my bath with colour.

As it continued to fizz away, the colour spreading, the wonderful scent started to fill my bathroom.

It kept fizzing and within minutes I had a wonderful yellow bath that smelt heavenly.

This bath bomb made my bath so relaxing and my skin felt so good afterwards. After a week of exams and mocks, this was exactly what I needed.

I defiantly recommend giving this bath bomb a go. 

To conclude.... It smells good, it looks pretty cool and it leaves you feeling great. 

I will unquestionably be purchasing it again.

Thanks for reading,

xxX Holly Xxx

Autumn OOTD

Today I thought I would share my OOTD. As autumn has hit I have really enjoyed starting to layer up my clothes. I am somebody who really does feel the cold and I can't stand it, so layering up is compulsory as the months get colder. This outfit makes me feel very autumnal and so I have decided to share it with you.

As a base, I wore a simple white strappy top. Then on top of that, I wore my white 3/4 sleeved collared top from Primark. As this top is rather thin I then added my navy hooded jacket from new look, followed by my khaki coat from Asos (which I love an awful lot). To top off the look I added my tartan style scarf from Scotland.

I also wore my red high waisted jeans from new look and paired them with my brown boots from next.

I then did a quick side braid with my hair to keep it out the way on a windy day. Then I just did minimal makeup.

This is just one of my outfits that I love for the Autumn time. 

Thanks for reading,

xxX Holly Xxx

October favourites

As October ends and November begins, I do believe it's time to review my October favourites.

October has come and gone super fast but I have still enjoyed using many products. I have narrowed it down to six items, so let's begin.

My first product is my baby lips hydrating lip balm by Maybelline. After hearing so many people rave about it I finally got around to trying it, and I have absolutely adored it! I suffer from dry lips all the time but it gets even worse around this time of year, which is why a hydrating lip balm is an absolute must have. This lip balm is super easy to apply and really moisturising. I cant wait to try them all.

My second favourite is the Tetley 'blend of both' tea. This tea has been my favourite tea for the past few months. It's half original tea and half green tea. As well as being a little healthier than usual tea, this tastes heavenly. I can't get enough of it! I haven't always liked tea but this tea has made me a bit of an addict. Oops.

One of my favourite foods/snacks lately is salted pretzels. I love them! Great snacks and super addictive, they are delicious. You can get these from pretty much any supermarket and I am in love with them so much. Yum.

 My next favourite is my hair clips from Primark. With 12 in a pack at only £1,  I figured I would give them a try and I have found them really useful. I tend to use these when clipping hair out of my face or when having my hair in a braid. These are really useful and stay in my hair the entire day.

Now for my skincare favourite of the month, the clean & clear foaming wash. As I was strolling around Superdrug earlier this month I came across this fairly new product. I, unfortunately, do suffer from breakouts that are pretty obvious and usually am left with scars. So my skincare routine is pretty crucial to me. I was in need of a new cleanser as my previous one was coming to an end so I figured, why not? This face wash leaves my skin feeling clean as well as soothing my skin. As someone with combination skin, this is very useful as well as helping to clear my blemishes.

My final favourite is the Elvive anti-frizz shampoo. I have naturally curly hair which I have learnt to love (most of the time) however, the one thing I absolutely hate about my hair is how frizzy it gets. This means that the majority or hair products I use are anti-frizz. My hair is never 100% frizz free but this defiantly helps and leaves my hair feeling lovely and soft.

That's all for my October favourites. Bring on November! 

Thanks for reading,

xxX Holly Xxx

Winter hot chocolate

One of my favourite things about winter is the hot drinks, especially hot chocolate.

As a fan of winter spices, I decided to try and incorporate them into some foods or in this case, drinks. To make this drink you just make a normal hot chocolate, but add a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon. In my opinion, this is just heavenly. It tastes so festive and is great for when you just want to snuggle up with a good book. 

This is a very short entry but I just felt the need to share my love for this drink. 

For another festive hot chocolate idea , perhaps try to incorporate some ginger.

Thanks for reading,

xxX Holly Xxx

Tenerife ~ Summer 2013

Sunrise from the airport just before we got onto our flight.

Amazing view from above the clouds.

First appearances of Tenerife.

As we arrived at our hotel.

The room I shared with my sister.

One of my favourite tank tops from primark.

 Blue skies. 

On Friday 23rd August, I and my family travelled out to Tenerife for a week. We were up at 2am on Friday to go to the airport. Due to past experiences we gave ourselves ample time before our flight to check in and get some breakfast. Of course me being me, I had pancakes. Finally, we set off on the way to Tenerife and after a 4-hour long flight full of hot chocolate and music we arrived. Once we collected our luggage we boarded our coach on our way to our RIU hotel. Our hotel was absolutely amazing and believe it or not the first hotel I had ever stayed in. The staff were so friendly , the hotel was huge and the facilities were fab! On the first day, we just relaxed by the pool trying to get a tan. However, I either look like a snowman or a tomato, never an in between so I found this task rather difficult. Later on in the evening, we went for a gorgeous meal before bed.

That's all for now, however, i will be writing more about the rest of my stay in Tenerife soon so be sure to come back soon!

Thank you for reading,

xxX Holly Xxx

Spiced Banana Bread

One of my favourite sweet treats to bake during the Autumn time is spiced banana bread. This is super easy to make as well as tasting delicious and is perfect for the season. Considering I class this as an Autumn essential I figured I would share how I make my banana bread.

First of all, I get all the ingredients.

(2 or 3 bananas, 1 egg, 100g caster sugar, 70g butter, 125g self-raising flour, 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice, ground ginger, cinnamon).

 Then I grease and line my baking tin. To do this I used oil and a brush to cover the inside of my tin, then I cut out some baking paper and pressed it into my tin. Butter will also work instead of oil.

Once I had prepared for my baking, I set the oven to 180 C. (fan oven)

Using my hands I then creamed together the sugar and the butter.

Once the butter and sugar are fully mixed, I then sieve in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and my spices. I then used an electric whisker to mix my ingredients, however, you can do this by hand using a wooden spoon. You decide how much spice you add. Personally, I like to add about 1 or 2 tsp mixed spice, 1 or 2 tsp of ginger and about 4 or 5 tsp of cinnamon. Then I beat the egg.

After this, I added in the beaten egg and the bananas. Then I mixed it using my electric mixer (a spoon is fine) until the mixture was smooth.

Then I poured the contents into my baking tin. Once all of the mixture was in my tin I placed it into the oven for approx an hour.

After an hour I took out my tin and let it cool.

Finally, I was left with my spiced banana bread.

I really love baking this for the Autumn and my family love to eat it. It's a great treat and very easy to bake.

Thank you for reading,

Xxx Holly xxX