Westonbirt Arboretum in Autumn.

Westonbirt Arboretum is a popular location for my family. We have our annual passes and enjoy many beautiful walks over the year. We walk our dogs, enjoy the stunning scenery and sometimes even have a cheeky hot chocolate too. The arboretum is always such a gorgeous place to be, but in Autumn it takes beauty to a whole new level. I could spend hours and hours just taking in all the vibrant colours and enjoying the view. A couple weeks ago, my mum and I went on a little autumn walk at the arboretum and of course I had to bring my camera. Here are some of my favourite photos from the day...

Autumn/ Winter Fashion || Oversized Tee

I can hardly believe that Autumn is coming to an end already! It seems to have flown by this year, even more than normal. As annoying as that is, I am so so SO excited for Christmas! Yes, I am one of those people who start getting excited for Christmas way back in September. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!

Anyway, on with today's post. Last week I decided to do a little bit of cheeky online shopping with my birthday money. I often prefer to shop in person as this way you know what you are buying and can get a better understanding of what it will look like on. But being under the weather at the moment, I resorted to a bit of online retail therapy. Thankfully, I love all of my purchases so you can expect some more posts on my purchases soon! One of the items I purchased from New Look was this oversized tee. 

I don't often go for oversized tee's but this one just looked so comfy and I thought it would be perfect for layering up over the colder months. It's a plain tee which makes it very versatile in terms of outfit options too. I seriously love mustard as an autumn colour so I think this will be perfect for the last of Autumn. I also picked up this tee in both green and red (they were on sale!) which will be perfect for the Christmas period!

I am a big fan of this oversized tee and can't wait to share my other purchases too!

Have a lovely day and I will speak to you soon.

Holly X

Awkward English Weather

I can't believe it is October already! That panics me because it means there are only 2 months left this year and that is terrifying. However, that also means that we are officially fully into the swing of autumn and that is pretty damn fabulous. It's no secret that I love the Autumn. I love the tea, the crunchy leaves, and fluffy blankets. I love it all! However, I always forget about that awkward transitioning stage in between summer and autumn. Now, of course, England seems to attract all things awkward in terms of weather and this is no exception. 

I am talking about the 'freezing in the morning and hot later on' kind of thing. For example, the other day when I woke for school it was 7 degrees Celsius (i.e- cold!). Yet by the afternoon it had over doubled and was 15 degrees (not particularly hot but quite the difference). So naturally in the cold morning, you layer up. Add your thick sweater, a coat and maybe even a scarf. Yet by noon you're sweating profusely. It is not a good look!

Now this is pretty annoying and makes choosing an outfit even harder than usual. However, despite my annoyance, I still love autumn and am super excited for the next couple of months! 

Thanks for reading and have a lovely weekend.

Does anybody else have this struggle or is it just me?

Holly X

Goodbye Summer

We are almost two weeks into September and as the temperature drops and the leaves begin to fall from the trees, it has become evident that summer has left. Despite how much I love summer, I am also so excited for Autumn to begin. Autumn brings cosy blankets, autumn walks and lots of tea! My favourite. Yet my absolute favourite thing about Autumn is the autumn candles, by far. So as the summer comes to an end, I thought I would look back to my summer and share just a few of my favourite pictures from my summer with you.

I had a lovely summer but am so excited for Autumn! 

Have a good day,

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

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

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

Yankee candle love

Over the years I have heard wonderful things about the Yankee candles. So finally I took it upon myself to go and purchase some Yankee candles. Now I am the kind of person that likes to redecorate every season. I love celebrating the seasons and I feel that candles are a must have for any season! As I ordered my candles from online, I decided to keep it safe and purchase three samples. These consisted of November Rain, Blissful Autumn and Apple and Pine Needle. 

The first one I tested was November Rain. I know that it is only September but I just couldn't resist. I adore that smell just after it's rained so when I came across this candle I had no choice but to buy it. This smells amazing. Although I must admit, it doesn't smell of rain. However, despite this, it still smells lovely and really makes my room feel cosy. I definitely recommend this candle and I will be purchasing it again. 

My next candle sample was Blissful Autumn. As soon as my eyes fell upon this name I knew I had to try it. As I was looking for some Autumn scents this seemed just perfect, and I was correct. This scent smells so lovely I could just eat it. Full of sweet fruity and woodland scents this is perfect for the season. I think it is safe to say this scent is addictive and completely worth it. I will defiantly be purchasing this again and I strongly recommend you try it too.

 The final scent I purchased was the Apple and Pine Needle. Now although I was on a search for autumn scents, when I came across this I figured why not get stocked up for winter. This scent is full of wintery pine smells crossed with a sweet apple twist. I personally really like this smell but I could see how it wouldn't be to everybody's taste. To me, this just smells so seasonal and I can't wait to use it properly during the winter months. Although I do like this smell, I would recommend testing before you purchase.

On top of this, the other day I came across a sale for another Yankee candle scent, 'Spiced Orange'.  Considering it was on sale I just went ahead and purchased it. Although I haven't officially trialled it yet, I can tell you that the smell is pretty strong. However, once I have officially trialled it, I shall get back to you on my thoughts.

Thank you for reading,

xxX Holly Xxx

Baby shower - OOTD

Hello everybody,

Today I got to go to my very first baby shower. In my fifteen years of existence, i have never been to a baby shower and I love babies and children so this was very exciting! It was a lovely afternoon BBQ and luckily it didn't rain. I don't usually get to see my extended family very often so I really enjoy getting to see them all. I also just love looking at all of the little gifts and getting to spend the afternoon with my family was lovely.

I only had an hour to get ready to go, including shower so I had to quickly put together an outfit and very quick and simple hair and make-up. Besides having to rush I really quite liked my outfit, so I figured I would share it.

For my hair, I tied up the sides with a hair-tie to keep my hair off my face. Then I added my bright orange laced bow from Claire's. For my makeup, I stuck to concealer, foundation, powder, a dash of eye shadow and a pinky nude colour on my lips.

For my outfit, i started with my black long sleeved t-shirt with a beige and orange patterns on. Then I added my light brown skirt with a waistband. Now that it's Autumn it's getting a bit chilly so I added a pair of black tights and my khaki utility jacket.

To finish off my outfit I put on my old brown boots. These boots are super comfy and great for Autumn. 

This outfit was super comfy and I felt very girly wearing it. This outfit is great for Autumn with the orange and brown colours, as well as the seasonal colours it was warm enough for the colder weather and I will definitely be wearing it again.

Thanks for reading, 

Xxx Holly xxX