This last month has completely flown by- it feels like yesterday that I was writing my first guide at the start of the month!
Christmas is just around the corner (only 4 sleeps to go) and if you're panicking that you've either left your presents until the last minute or are looking for some last-minute stocking fillers then I've got a bumper guide for last-minute him & her gifts, so perfect for anyone like your mum and dad, boyfriend, girlfriend or any other family member.
Plus, I've got another fantastic giveaway for you at the end which I've been super excited to tell you about, so don't forget to enter after reading this.
If you need some inspiration for other members of your family or friends, take a look at my other gift guides for friends & sisters, fragrance lovers, grandmas & mothers-in-law and bookworms.
Seeing as I've been dedicating more of my time to reading over the past year, I couldn't do my gift guides without involving books.
I don't think I could tire of receiving books as gifts, and if you know someone who is exactly the same then hopefully this little collection I've put together might help you out.
I've also got an exciting giveaway at the end so don't forget to enter for your chance to win some of the books I'm talking about today.
I've also added all of these titles to my Amazon shop page so you can buy all of them in one place.
Be sure to check out my other gift guides for friends & sisters, fragrance lovers, and grandmas and mothers-in-law too.
Cracking on with my third gift guide of the season!
This time, we're covering grandmas and mothers-in-law - normally a tricky category to buy for, but I think I've found some great picks that would put a smile on their faces.
If you need some inspiration for other members of your family and friends, take a look at my other gift guides for friends & sisters, fragrance lovers and bookworms.
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Here I am with the second Christmas gift guide for this year! This time, I'm focussing in on fragrances and perfumes.
Be sure to check out my other gift guide for friends & sisters, grandmas & mothers-in-law and bookworms too.
Be sure to check out my other gift guide for friends & sisters, grandmas & mothers-in-law and bookworms too.
Perfumes are always a popular gift at Christmas but sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming with so many brands out there.
I've put together some of my favourites that I've been trying out over the past 6 months that I think would make great gifts for someone you love.
I've got all price points covered from budget fragrances all the way up to the high end (including the most expensive perfume in the world per ounce)!
Welcome to my first Christmas gift guide for this year!!!!
I have been trying to hold back the excitement (without much success) about getting stuck into these gift guides, as I enjoyed doing them so much last year.
It was great to hear your feedback too, how you were able to find presents for your loved ones that you may not have thought of getting for them.
I can't wait to show you what I've been keeping stashed in a massive box in my room filled with goodies, and I just want to say a huge thank you to any brands and PR's who have kindly helped me out this year! Your support means the world to me.
After the success of my last travel budget of how much it cost us to travel to New Zealand, I thought I'd keep going with the rest of the places that we backpacked to last year.
After a wonderful month in New Zealand, we jumped on a plane heading to Bali with our heads filled with drinking beers on white sand beaches and temples galore, and then after a couple of weeks, we hopped next door to Lombok and the Gili Islands for a visit.
If you want to see all the places that we travelled to while in Bali then check out this video, and they'll be another video about our time in Lombok and the Gilis coming soon.
Price-wise compared to other places in Asia, Bali isn't the cheapest. This is probably because of how popular it's become in the last couple of years, becoming a bucket list destination for many.
I would definitely agree with the notion that it's become quite touristy and even though it's still extremely popular, it's not as "desert island" like or laidback as you think it's going to be.
It's still a fab island to visit and if you have time, then making the trip over to some of the neighbouring islands is really worth your time and money as they are a bit cheaper than Bali.
When it comes to how much you get for your money, you still get a lot compared to New Zealand. We travelled around March/April 2017 and at the time, the Indonesian Rupiah was about 16,000 to £1, but it has since risen to around 19,000 at the time I'm posting this.
As before, I'll be breaking the pricing down into daily budgets with a round up for a month's stay at the end of the post.
So if you're saving for a getaway to Bali and Lombok, here's how much you'll need to budget.
Price-wise compared to other places in Asia, Bali isn't the cheapest. This is probably because of how popular it's become in the last couple of years, becoming a bucket list destination for many.
I would definitely agree with the notion that it's become quite touristy and even though it's still extremely popular, it's not as "desert island" like or laidback as you think it's going to be.
It's still a fab island to visit and if you have time, then making the trip over to some of the neighbouring islands is really worth your time and money as they are a bit cheaper than Bali.
When it comes to how much you get for your money, you still get a lot compared to New Zealand. We travelled around March/April 2017 and at the time, the Indonesian Rupiah was about 16,000 to £1, but it has since risen to around 19,000 at the time I'm posting this.
As before, I'll be breaking the pricing down into daily budgets with a round up for a month's stay at the end of the post.
So if you're saving for a getaway to Bali and Lombok, here's how much you'll need to budget.
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It's been a hot minute since I've been sat at my desk typing away at my laptop. I decided to take a short break away from being online to press pause and reset.
I go into this in more detail in this chatty video, as I've really missed doing those types of posts and videos along with my usual travel, beauty, fashion and lifestyle.
The break has done me good, as I feel full to the brim with ideas, and with the craziness of Christmas coming up, it was perfect timing to get myself back into the blogging mojo again.
That being said, let's crack on with some beauty talk!
I can finally say that I'm happy with my skincare routine and collection (again, something that I will go into more detail another time) but it can get a bit excessive on the bank balance if you love your high-end products.
With that in mind, I decided to take a look at my skincare collection for the gems that do the job all while being under £20. Over the past few months, I've really discovered the wonders of quality luxury skincare, but when I started out I was all about budget skincare.
My skin is currently going through a combination of being oily and sensitive so most of the products will be tailored for that.
My skin is currently going through a combination of being oily and sensitive so most of the products will be tailored for that.
If you're on a budget too but want to have products that work just as hard as the higher priced products, read on.
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| Preah Khan, Angkor Wat |
Cambodia, as a country, gave me a whole mix of emotions.
Some were positive and some were not, but when you're travelling around multiple countries at once there will always be one that doesn't match up to the others as much.
That being said, Cambodia is a fantastic country with a hell of a lot of culture and history (be it ancient or modern) to boot.
If you're looking for some travel inspo for Southeast Asia or have booked your plane ticket and are looking for things to do, these are some of the best things I got up to in Cambodia.
If you're looking for some travel inspo for Southeast Asia or have booked your plane ticket and are looking for things to do, these are some of the best things I got up to in Cambodia.
As much as I love travelling, it really can wreak havoc on your skin, especially if you don't look after it. When I came back from backpacking last year, I wrote this post about how I was fixing up my skincare to help my skin recover, but even while I was out there I tried my best to keep my skin moisture topped up.
The problem with that is, you can't bring your whole skincare cupboard with you in the attempt to keep your face and body covered in lotions 24/7. You're going to need a dream team of multi-tasking products that will keep your skin looking as fresh and glowing as before you stepped on that plane.
I've put together some of my favourite travel hacks and products to help tame your travel skin for your next trip away, whether it's to a sunny tropical island, humid city break or minus
degree temperatures skiing holiday.
degree temperatures skiing holiday.
If you've been backpacking around multiple countries or have travelled long-term, then you'll have probably asked this question yourself or to others at least once.
It's one of those travel questions that doesn't really have a definitive answer, leading you to panic that you could be turned away at the border or refused access to your plane.
I was definitely one of those people.
As someone who a) had never backpacked before and b) not flown longer than 4 hours to a destination, I felt completely clueless when it came to this.
When we were leaving for New Zealand, it wasn't really clear when I looked online about whether we would need a flight out of the country and so we decided to chance it. However, when we arrived at Heathrow at 5am for check-in, we were presented with the question, "Do you have onward travel out of New Zealand?".
Before we knew it, we were looking frantically on our phones to book a flight to Bali for just over a month later.
I haven’t done a favourites blog post or video in what seems like an age. I’ve just not been keen on the added pressure of putting together a bunch of stuff each month to talk about as I find it can feel a bit forced.
Sometimes I even question whether I’m featuring the product because I do actually like it, or if I feel like I should be featuring it to build up the numbers.
That being said, when I feel like I have a nice little group of favourites to share with you, I’ll go ahead and share them, normally in the form of a season's favourite series rather than a monthly favourite series.
So here we are. Summer.
This is a paid partnership with Boohoo.
Since returning from backpacking last year, it's been a bit harder to talk about fashion on here, mainly because I had no money to my name.
That happens unfortunately when you travel, but even once I started earning again I stayed in my money saving default even though I was home and didn't have to think about budgeting as much as when we were away.
However, in the last couple of months or so, I decided that I wanted to try having a capsule (ish) wardrobe.
I think one thing that travelling taught me was that if I was able to live on 10 or so outfits that I loved for 5 months, then my wardrobe could definitely learn a lesson from that.
After this realisation came a huge cull of clothing, shoes and accessories that either didn't fit or I didn't love, which were then sent to more loving homes.
If you want me to talk a little more about my wardrobe declutter or my capsule wardrobe that is coming along nicely, then do drop me a comment at the end of this post.
Once I had finished my clear out, I sat down and made a list of things that I need to replace or that I wanted to add to my wardrobe- both in the form of basics and trend-led pieces.
Two of the things on my list were bodysuits and leopard print.
As the British weather has been enjoying a bit of a (rare) heatwave at the moment, I've found I've started to have to deal with the type of beauty dilemmas that I would experience on holiday abroad.
One of those is dry and frizzy hair.
I was blessed with long thick hair which is really lovely to have, but as the temperature and humidity rises, my hair starts to resemble one big ball of craziness.
It can be a right nightmare to handle, but after much trial and error, I think I've managed to put together a routine and dream team of products that are helping me tackle my dry scalp and frizzy ends.
Take a peek below to see what I've been using to protect my dry and frizzy hair this summer.
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| Hoi An |
When people ask me about what my favourite country was when I was backpacking last year, it's always a tie between New Zealand, with its stunning scenery stretching for miles, or Vietnam with its kind people and incredibly cheap food.
Vietnam's charm won me over as soon as I stepped out of our hostel onto the busy streets of Hanoi. There was something about the bustle of this particular city that I was enthralled by, and from then on to every place we visit I was lucky enough to experience a variety of incredible landscapes and 'pinch me' moments.
It was really hard to narrow this down as I loved every minute of being in this beautiful country, but in my opinion, these are the 7 main reasons as to why you should visit Vietnam.
I've been a bit up and down with my skin recently. I have filmed a video all about this going up soon as well as this post about my battle with dry and eczema-prone skin. To say it's a pain is a mild understatement- it affects my confidence and turns applying my makeup, which is something I enjoy a lot, into a difficult task.
Part of what I do with this blog requires me to try out different beauty products, but sometimes those products don't agree with me. This leads me to battle eczema until it's settled down, and it can days or weeks at a time. I'm currently fighting a flare up around my eyes which I have been treating with steroid cream, as well as folliculitis on my forehead!
This means that certain makeup bases don't cut it anymore. If it gathers around any dry patches it's out of my makeup bag straight away, while if it slides off my face after a couple of hours due to the summer humidity and sweat, what's the point of even putting it on?!
I try not to be majorly fussy but when those hero products come along I hold onto them for dear life, especially in the warmer months. Recently I've been wanting to try out some new products to add to my collection of fail-safe makeup bases that I know will see me through any skin disaster- be it an eczema flare-up, a scorching hot day or a pesky spot.
Out of the many products I've tried over the years, these are my go-to summer makeup primers and foundations that I will be repurchasing again and again.
Singapore was one of those places that I'd always wanted to visit and experience, and originally when we were planning our trip, we didn't think we would be able to fit it in considering our time and money restraints. However, after we had to sadly cut out the Philipines from our 5-month trip because of New Zealand eating up more of our budget than we'd hoped, we realised we had the opportunity to hop over to Singapore after all!
After spending just over a month surrounded by rainforests and nature, we were craving a bit of bustling city life and Singapore certainly fulfilled that for us. This squeaky clean city (you can be fined for littering and chewing gum) whisked us away in our 4 days spent there, and even though at times it can feel a little too perfect, it certainly has buckets of character and culture if you look in the right places.
I will be doing a budget breakdown of how much we spent travelling Singapore but to give some reference with money, £1 = around $1.80 Singapore dollars, so compared to the rest of Asia it is on the pricey side. Spending less than a week here was the perfect amount of time for us as we were, of course, travelling on a budget, but it is totally doable to enjoy everything this city has to offer if you're backpacking.
Here's our itinerary of how we spent 4 incredible days exploring Singapore.
Ever since I was a baby, the main problem with my skin has been eczema. I would scratch my skin raw until my mum bought me some hand mitts, but even now I still get flare-ups. I get it in the normal places, like behind my knees and in the crease of my elbows, but when it hits my face, then the struggle really begins.
With my body I know I can just reach for my trusty Aveeno or Bioderma SOS Spray (the only products that soothe the itching while moisturising it), but with my face I feel like I need more than just those, seeing as I'm applying skincare products and makeup to it every day. Eczema on my face can get really itchy and irritated if I use the wrong products on it, so I've now started to look more into the products and ingredients I put on my face. One of those ingredients that have been helping me battle eczema a treat is hyaluronic acid.
If anyone asked me to try and choose between any of the places I visited in Malaysia, I know I wouldn't be able to decide as aside from one or two places, our time in Malaysia was pretty perfect.
Along with friendly people and cheap food, this country is also overflowing with a variety of different cultures and is truly unlike any country I've visited before. It's a destination that is so underrated, so try and get there now before everyone else realises how beautiful it is.
This huge country is split over two land masses but I've picked out 5 things to do in Malaysia that you may not have heard of or know about. If you're visiting Malaysia soon or looking at adding some places to visit to your travel bucket list, these 5 will hopefully inspire you.
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| Cameron Highlands, Malaysia |
We all go about our lives at 100mph busying ourselves with working, socialising and family all while being constantly connected to what's going on in the world through our phones. It can get so easy in this day and age to keep ticking over in our routine without really stopping and taking a breath. Even when we're on holiday and supposed to be relaxing, you'll normally be snapping away while thinking about which photo to post on social media later.
It wasn't until I went backpacking last year for 5 months that I fully stopped and looked at my life. It's funny how sometimes you need to take yourself to a desert island to fully open your eyes to what your life is like. We can get so blinkered with our daily life, but after I found myself sitting on a plane heading to the other side of the world, the veil was lifted and I really started to realise how incredible my life really is.
There are many factors that I've realised I'm so thankful for in my life, but I handpicked the top 5 to talk about today. If you've found yourself feeling down and uninspired lately, maybe it's time to take a trip stripped back to the basics? You'll be surprised how much travelling can affect you and make you realise what you're thankful for.
As the days get lighter and slowly start to get warmer, I normally find myself reaching for different makeup products than I did during the winter. My skin completely changes from season to season, and I have to tailor my skincare towards it- you can see how I treat my skin during the winter here.
Once I've sorted my skin out - because ya know, it can be a tad annoying trying to put beautiful makeup products on your face if your skin is running riot - I start looking in my makeup collection and at new releases for different coverage and colour schemes. I transition from wearing heavy foundations to lighter ones, my blushers and bronzer become warmer in colour, and I start to play around with coloured shadows and eyeliners a bit more. The lipsticks usually stay the same throughout the year but I end up pushing my darker berry tones to the back of the draw while bringing the lighter pops of colour to the front.
Seeing as I've been trying out a lot of makeup recently, I thought I'd showcase some new spring makeup releases that have been brought out, how I'm getting on with them and whether you should be popping them into your basket. I'm always on the hunt for new products, especially ones that I can take travelling with me, so I'll also be giving some of these a go in different climates as I go on my travels this year.
I've kind of missed talking about books. As a self-confessed bookworm, there's nothing more I love doing than ranting on about a book I'm currently reading or want to read. I think this comes from the fact that I started reading from about the age of two so by the time I went to nursery aged 4 I was devouring books like I now devour Oreos (obsessively). This love of books remains a strong part of my life right up until today, and I find relaxing with a good book for a couple of hours the idea of bliss.
I've spoken a couple of times on here and on my Youtube channel about my love for books and reviews on what I'm currently reading, but it kind of petered out when I went travelling. I was (of course) reading while I was out there, and even brought a few more books back with me, but I had gotten out of the habit of discussing it with other people and on my different outlets.
I'm resolving that today by coming to you with an update on what I've been reading lately, including the books I've read over the past couple of months, what I'm currently reading now, and what I want to read in the next few months. I'm on a mission to read a book a month this year, and with this lot, I'm certainly on the way to achieving that.
After leaving Christchurch in New Zealand, and a 9-hour layover in Sydney we were on a plane heading to one of my dream destinations- BALI.
Bali is one of those places that you picture when someone talks about a 'tropical paradise', so I had really high expectations. I have to be honest: I wasn't completely bowled over by it. Shock!!! Horror!!!
This may have been because we only spent just over a week there all in all, and also because we got to visit Lombok and the Gili Islands which have some really stunning beaches. But this wouldn't stop me visiting again as it still is a beautiful country.
I will go into detail in some later posts about things like costs and places to stay but here are 4 of the beautiful places we visited while in Bali.
If any of you have been travelling or backpacking for a long period time, then you'll know what I mean when I say you end up returning home in a bit of a dishevelled state. You've been on a plane for the past 12 hours, where you've tried to sleep (and failed), have been sitting in the same clothes for way too long and have had the air-conditioning slowly sucking all the moisture out of your skin.
I realised after going on a lot of long-haul flights that I wasn't the type of person to sit there with a sheet mask on, however good it may be for me. I can certainly manage to do a quick cleanse and then pop on a night moisturiser to keep as much moisture in as possible, but the idea of freaking out the flight crew and my fellow passengers while sitting there looking like the guy from Friday 13th isn't my thing. Plus I think Chris would disown me if I did that!
Once I get home, as well as tackling the mammoth task of unpacking and washing all my clothes, I also set about bringing my skin and hair back from the dead by giving myself a good old pampering. As well as helping me feel more human again, I also find it relaxes me after spending the past day manoeuvring around airports with a huge backpack.
Here are the main things I do after travelling to pamper myself back to normality.
After having the most amazing year of travel in 2017, I have well and truly caught the travel bug. About a month after we flew back in from 5 months away backpacking New Zealand and South East Asia, I was already back on Skyscanner looking at what deals there were for our next trip.
Since returning home I've made it my mission to get proactive with my income- pushing my blog more, taking up freelancing roles and not going too crazy on ASOS when new things drop. This is all in aid of building my savings back up and putting aside a bit to use for traveling.
The question is: where do I go next? There are so many amazing places to explore that it can be hard to know where to start, so I've put together a little bucket list of travel for this year that I want to try and tick off.
I feel for you if you struggle to get your other half a present on Valentine's Day. Some people love all the romantic gestures, but some people are just not fussed. It can feel like a challenge, but I promise that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
I give you, my Valentine's Day gift ideas.
These can be for your partner, family member or if you feel like treating yourself on the 14th, I've put together a little selection of gift ideas that might help you out. There are also some great cruelty-free and vegan choices in here too, and I've marked those words in bold to make your life a little easier in finding them in this long old post.
I find that in the winter months, my skin goes a bit berserk. Eczema comes back in full force, recently around my eyes which isn't exactly great when you're going to auditions. I'm very lucky in the fact that most of the time I don't get spots, but come the winter it's mini breakouts galore! Essentially, my skin hates winter.
Over the years I've tried to battle each and every problem my skin throws at me, and from a young age, I started a skincare checklist that helped ensure my skin was on it's best behaviour. It started off with my everyday skincare routine but has slowly expanded into things I tick off every week and month.
I've created a little winter skincare checklist that you can use if you're in the same boat as me and need to battle with your skin come the colder months.
January can always start off as a pretty gloomy month.
Christmas is over for another year, and all the buzz from New Year's Eve has vanished. It's back to the same routine, you're strapped for cash after buying presents and to top it all off the weather is as gloomy as you feel.
If you're looking for a way to cheer yourself up a bit this January that won't cost you the earth, then how about taking a little trip to the theatre?
As an actor, going to the theatre has always been a thrill, especially when going to watch something completely new to me.
In December I was lucky enough to go to the theatre 3 times in the space of a few weeks! If you want to know how I got cheap tickets and what other shows I saw, then let me know and I'll be happy to do a post about it.
One of those shows was Five Guys Named Moe.
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