Holiday Essentials

It's that time of year again when most people will be jetting off to somewhere sunny, warm and exotic. I, however, will be setting off down south to the usual holiday park with my family but that doesn't mean that I don't have those items that I have saved just for the week away. Here are some of the top essentials that I will be taking with me on my trip.

Even if you're not going on holiday this year, it's important to wear SPF. Yes, even if you live in the UK you gotta protect your skin from those rays! If you wear make-up then you will know the dilemma of whether to put sun cream on your face or not, but worry not as there are plenty of products available that contain SPF from foundations to moisturisers. I am an avid user of the Simple light moisturiser but instead of opting for my usual I thought I'd change it up a bit for the warmer months and go for one with SPF 30. My foundation also has SPF in it but over the past few months I have grown to prefer going out with no foundation so this will be perfect for when I just want to put on a bit of concealer and avoid a shiny sun creamed face. The warmer weather also brings with it the emergence of bare legs which brings with it the frustration of shaving them more frequently. I saw this Venus snap razor in Boots for half price and just had to pick it up. It's travel friendly and comes with a case! Another hair removal essential for me is the Nair facial brush on. Having dark hair means that I have been blessed with a moustache so gotta keep that in check. This is a new one with argan oil. I'm not too sure if there's much difference to the standard one but I thought I'd give it a shot.

I doubt I'm the only one who finds washing their hair a chore let alone washing it when on holiday, so dry shampoo is an essential for me. My go to brand is Batiste, specifically the tropical scent which smells like coconut! I also picked up a mini body scrub and mini body lotion from Soap & Glory. I am an absolute sucker for travel minis and it's probably one of my favourite things about going away. When I'm at home I am incredibly lazy when it comes to skincare and pampering myself. I'd much rather spend the evening catching up on YouTube videos and scrolling through Tumblr. Being on holiday means that I have zero wifi access in the evenings so I like to take the opportunity to spend some extra time on pampering myself and this year I will be trying this yogurt smoothie mask from Superdrug!

Restricted wifi access means that I must find other ways to entertain myself. I always make sure to take a new book with me on holiday and this year I have chosen 'How To Build a Girl' by Caitlin Moran. This has been on my 'to read' list for ages so I'm excited to finally read it! My inner child will also be kept happy with this beautiful patterns colouring book. Colouring for grown-ups has become a huge craze recently and both me and my sister have jumped onto the bandwagon.

Last but not least, what would summer be without a new pair of sunglasses? I had been on the hunt for the perfect heart shaped glasses for over a year and I finally found these beauties on the website CHOIES. They have a pink & blue ombre tint to them and they are just so cute!

Whether you're going away this summer or staying home, I hope you have a carefree, fun-filled time.

Feel free to let me know what some of your holiday essentials are!

Until next time,

Elijah xo

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March '15 Favourites

It's been a while since I've done a favourites post and for once it isn't down to the fact that I've just been too damn lazy. Believe it or not I just haven't had any new favourites, or should I say enough new favourites to write a decent post about. These past four weeks however I have discovered and also rediscovered my love for a number of things so I thought I would share them with you all.

Skincare/Fragrance

I'm going to hold my hands up and admit that I'm no skincare expert. I'm rather lazy when it comes to looking after my skin and I don't really have a regime that I follow religiously. Much to my skin's delight however, I have been loving three products this past month. The first is the Green Tea Cleansing Foam from the Korean brand, Etude House. You may remember this product from my YesStyle haul post a good few months back, but I had completely forgotten about this product and it was left sitting on my shelf gathering dust. I decided to try it out again and remembered why I loved it so much in the first place! It leaves your skin feeling fresh, clean and much more awake which is great on the days I'm up at 6am. 

From my face to hands, I have also been loving this chocolate vanilla scented hand cream. I usually stick with Soap & Glory's Hand Food but my friend got me this for my birthday and I can 100% confirm that the stuff smells amazing! I've been putting it on before I go to bed so I've been waking up not only with my hands feeling super soft, they also smelling like chocolate! 

My third skincare favourite is an oldie but a goodie: the Coconut Body Butter from the Body Shop. Their body butters go on really nicely. There's none of that sticky business. The coconut scent is my favourite scent from the Body Shop so this was obviously a winner for me. 

My final beauty favourite is the Vanilla Body Mist from the Boots Extracts range. I'm not usually the biggest fan of body sprays and body mists as I prefer to wear a fragrance that lasts all day and quite frankly I'm too lazy to spritz myself every hour, but this smells so good that it's definitely worthy enough of a mention.

Book/Music/TV

I'm one of those people that goes through phases with reading. I'll read a lot for about two months and then won't pick up another book for about five. Recently the latter stage has passed and my current read is a bit different from the usual books that I pick up. 'The Hourglass Factory' by Lucy Ribchester is about a young journalist who is trying to solve the case of Ebony Diamond, a trapeze artist who goes missing during a performance. It's set in London in the early 20th century and the novel also focuses quite heavily on the suffragette movement. Even if this sort of book isn't your usual cup of tea, I highly recommend that you give it a chance! 

Music-wise I have been obsessing over Marina & the Diamond's new album, FROOT.  Marina is by far my favourite female artist, but I was skeptical about how good this album would be. Surely nothing could live up to her previous record, Electra Heart. And I was right. Electra Heart is still her best album in my opinion, but FROOT comes in at a very close second. My favourite songs on the album would have to be Savages, Forget and I'm a Ruin. Another music favourite this month isn't so much of a new one. I've been listening to 5 Seconds of Summer for over a year now, but recently I have been listening to them non-stop. 

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not the biggest TV watcher. I usually just stick with anime and YouTube videos. One of the few shows that I do watch however is Pretty Little Liars and I have been absolutely obsessed with this last season. I'm not going to say too much as I don't want to spoil it for anyone who isn't all caught up yet but what I will say is that I cannot wait for the next season!

App

I don't usually include apps in my favourites but I couldn't not give this game a mention! What happens when you mix Disney with Japan? You get Tsum Tsum, that's what happens. Tsum Tsum is one of those games that you become addicted to the second you start playing it. All you have to do is connect the matching characters in order to make them disappear. You earn coins and with those coins you can buy new Disney characters to play with. Each character has a special feature that you can use to boost up your score! And it's not only the app that I've been obsessing over. I've recently also started collecting the mini plushies! I only have Marie, Eeyore and Pluto so far but I plan on collecting them all. You can find them in Clinton's for £3, and they also sell larger ones.

As I type this it is freezing cold outside and there was ice on the ground when I was walking to the bus stop this morning. You honestly wouldn't think it was Spring. Here's hoping that the weather will warm up soon. I am so over wearing jumpers and big jackets.

Until next time,

Elijah xo

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2014 Favourites

Apologies for the lack of posts this past month. I wish I could tell you that I was busy traveling the world or coming up with a spectacular new invention but the truth is that I was being lazy. But I plan on changing that next year. In 2015 I plan to post at least once a week. Let's see how long that lasts..

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying the last few days of 2014. Before we enter the new year I thought what better time to look back and talk about some of my favourite things of the past 12 months!

Beauty/Skincare/Fragrance

I'm not going to lie, 2014 hasn't been a big year of new discoveries beauty wise but I have discovered a few wonders that I will continue to love into the new year. First is the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water. Not only does it cleanse your face but it also removes your make-up. I spoke about this in one of my favourites posts a few months back and it's remained a skincare staple. Keeping on the topic of skincare I've also been loving the Simple light moisturiser. I'll usually apply this in the morning before I put on my make-up and it really does leave your skin soft and feeling fresh. My favourite perfume of the year would definitely have to be Taylor by Taylor Swift. I received this last Christmas and after a year the bottle is almost empty which does upset me a little. I'm no good with describing scents so I'm not even going to attempt it, but if you get the chance give this a good whiff. It's amazing. Finally, my last beauty fave of the year are these EcoTools make-up brushes. I seriously don't know what I had done before I bought these! Again, these were featured in a favourites post a few months ago. Not only do they apply make-up well, they're super cheap and eco-friendly!

Coconut
For me, 2014 was the year of the coconut. I have become obsessed with both the taste and the scent of the stuff and I just cannot get enough! For Christmas I was lucky enough to receive a number of coconut themed things including the Black Coconut Yankee Candle & a bunch of coconut stuff from the Body Shop.

Food
I made a lot of food discoveries this year, and it's no secret that my top new found love were nakd. bars. With a whole variety of different flavours, these bars can do no wrong. They're basically just fruit and nuts cold pressed together. I've tried every flavour (with the exception of Cocoa Orange since I don't like orange chocolate) and my favourites would have to be caffe mocha, cashew cookie, gingerbread, Christmas pud & pecan pie.

The Moomins
I've loved these Finnish hippo-like creatures ever since I was little and for years I had forgotten about them. That was until they started popping up again everywhere! Over the past few years Moomin merchandise has been appearing in high street stores such as Primark, Topshop and Waterstones and it's only fueled my obsession once again. 2014 saw my Moomin collection expand with me now owning Moomin themed pyjamas, stationary, figurines, a plush toy and I even had a Moomin birthday cake for my 18th birthday! I don't doubt that my love for these cuties will continue into the new year what with my 2015 calendar being a Moomin one.

Music
This year was filled with great new music discoveries such as 5 Seconds of Summer and a variety of new music from already loved artists including Twin Atlantic, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran & Union J. My favourite albums of the year would definitely have to be the Great Divide by Twin Atlantic and 1989 by Taylor Swift. I've also been hooked on the two newly released Marina & the Diamonds songs, FROOT and Happy. I seriously cannot wait for her new album which is set to be released next year! I've also of course been to a number of gigs over the past 12 months including Panic! at the Disco, Fall Out Boy, All Time Low, Twin Atlantic and more recently Nina Nesbitt and Against the Current. I don't doubt that 2015 will be another rad year for music.

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TV & Film
It's no secret that I'm not the biggest TV or film watcher but that doesn't mean that I don't have a few favourites to share with you. Just like the previous seasons, I've been hooked to American Horror Story: Freakshow. It's definitely one of my favourite seasons of the show. I can't wait for it to pick back up in the new year! I may not be a huge watcher of TV shows but I do love my anime and this year my favourite anime series would have to be YuruYuri. The first series of the anime actually originally aired in 2011 with the second series airing in 2012, but I watched both this year and loved it! It's one of those 'slice of life' animes which are my favourite.

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Finally, the one film that stuck out to me this year was of course the Fault In Our Stars. I'm a huge fan of John Green's books and had been itching to see the film adaption ever since it was first announced. And I wasn't disappointed! I can't wait to see the film adaption of one of John Green's other novels, Paper Towns.

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It seriously doesn't feel that long ago that we were saying goodbye to 2013. This year has been the fastest yet and I don't doubt that 2015 fly by even faster! Thank you so much for taking the time out to read this. Whether you've read every single blog post or this is the first one, I really do appreciate it! I hope you all have a wonderful new year and I'll see you in 2015.
Elijah xo

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