2015 Favourites | Blogmas Day 25

Firstly, MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you all have a lovely day filled with fun and food and spending quality time with family!

As it is the last day of Blogmas I have decided to share with you my favourites from 2015. Not just beauty though! As I tend to do monthly favourites some of these things have already been mentioned on my blog but I hope you enjoy reading this anyway.

Of course Roller Lash was going to be featured in this post! You all know how much I love Roller Lash.  I recently mentioned the Benefit They're Real tinted primer which I am loving more everyday. From my Benefit calendar I've found lots of Benefit products that I definitely want to get my hands on.  One of those being the Watts Up Soft focus highlighter.  I loove it.

I've been uncertain of the Lash Sensational, but I kept trying with it and it is now definitely a firm favourite of mine.  If I apply it right, it makes my eyelashes look so thick and long. 

You will of heard me mention the company Prairie Charms here and I just had to put them in my 2015 favourites as they are the loveliest company.  Their customer service is so so good and well, the products are wonderful.  I'm very glad I've had the chance to purchase products from them and be part of their blogging team and designing the Christmas box. 

If you didn't know, I love musicals.  Like, a lot.  The 'Now That's we Call Musicals' CD is literally perfect for me and I find myself listening to it most days haha.  My all time favourite musical is Billy Elliot.  I love it so much. I spend a lot of my time watching the DVD of it live.  I have seen it 4 times and I would happily go 44 more times, haha.  

I've also beeng loving my L'oreal bronzer which I have mentioned maaany times before on this blog! If you haven't picked it up and are looking for a new bronzer I definitely recommend it,

I know I've only had this estee Lauder eye shadow palette which is from the Makeup Artist Collection set (mentioned in my birthday haul) but it is too lovely for me to not mention. Same with the modern Muse perfume, I've only been using it a month but it is fast becoming my favourite scent. 

Vicktor & Rolf's Flowerbomb perfume is my favourite perfume, closely followed by Calvin Klein Euphoria and Modern Muse! I wear Flowerbomb most days and like the name suggests, its a very sweet and flowery scent.  

I wear Estee Lauder Double wear mostly everyday.  I think I have fiiinally found a foundation that works for me! I have also been loving the Urban Decay Naked Skin Finish concealer.  The coverage is so good and it doesn't go cakey, woo! 

I've also been LOVING Justin Bieber, who would ever have thought that?!

That's all my favourites from 2015 and this will be my last post of 2015! I have finally got to the end of Blogmas (YEEEES) I am sorry I didn't manage to post every single day, but you know, life gets in the way sometimes but lets not turn this into a negative post!
I really hope you have enjoyed what I did manage to post and thank you to everyone who left comments and read my posts.

Lastly, have an amazing day today.  Whatever you end up doing, just make sure you eat lots and everything will be fine!!

See you in 2016 

Jessica 

xx

My Christmas Decorations | Blogmas Day 24

In our house, we have a lot of Christmas decorations up and we have colour themes, but who doesn't right?!  Taking pictures for this post has been much harder than I had expected and they don't look great but I thought I'd share them all with you anyway. 

Our front room is a red/gold/green theme which I really love as it make the room feel all nice and cosy! 

 (spot the dog haha)

In the dining room we have a silver theme and this is where the Christmas Tree goes.  How I wish it was a real tree :( 

There is a on our tree and of course, my mum always has to put the decorations I made when I was like 5 on there, haha.

There are more than just this snowman, but you don't want to see all of those haha

 I'd love to see what some of your decorations look like, send me some on Twitter! (@bird_butterfly1)

There will be another post going up tomorrow and then that will be my last blogmas post! If you count what I've done as blogmas haha. Anyway, see you tomorrow with my favourites from 2015!

Jessica 

xx

Mental Health at Christmas | Blogmas Day 23

I'm a bit nervous about writing this post, but I feel like its something that should be talked about around this time of the year.  I'm only writing from my experiences, people may feel different about it to me, but that's mental health.  I wrote a post on mental health before (here) and it went down well and people seemed to find it helpful. 

I've seen lots of people write a post similar to this which inspired me to do my own.   This is just me writing about my experience with Christmas and mental health.

Living with a mental illness is never easy.  Some days will be ok, others will be awful. Its just the way it is with mental illness.  From experience I struggle with Christmas the most. Its so hard when everyone around you is excited and happy and looking forward to Christmas Day.  I find it hard because most of the time I will be feeling pretty awful and the thought of Christmas Day makes it worse.  I feel pressure to feel ok on the day and act happy in front of my family as to not disappoint them and things.  I'm not saying here that "oh I hate Christmas day, theres so much pressure" No, thats not what I'm saying.  I just find it hard because I want to feel happy and excited, but I just don't.

I was diagnosed with Depression a couple of weeks before Christmas 2 years ago and so I remember that being the worst Christmas.  I was tired and stressed with the medication and my body was getting use to it.  Last Christmas was better. Still hard, but better.  Hopefully this year it will be better still.  I'm not hoping for much though as I feel really pretty crap sitting here writing this, especially after some of the things that have happened this year.

All I try to tell myself is that this will only happen once this year and that if I don't make the most of it I my regret it as things might be completely different this time next year (hopefully not, but a lot can change in a year) Its so hard to not just want to go to bed and sleep through the day, but you can't really.  If you did, you would regret it.  I know I would anyway.

If you're in a similar situation to me this year, with any mental illness not just depression like me, be strong and brave and remember that even if you are feeling crap, at least you are surround by family and friends. Oh, and there is really good music playing haha.

Jessica 

xx

Blogger Love | Blogmas Day 22

Hi lovelies! 

I've never really shared other blogs that I love reading before and I think it is always nice to share the blogger love and let another blogger know that you are really enjoy their blog. 

I've been reading a lot of blogs at the moment so for today's post I have decided to share some of my favourites! 

Aisling's Beauty Bites - I have been loving Aisling's blogmas posts.  She has done a much better job at it than me! Haha.  I find she has a lovely writing style and her pictures always look nice.  Really enjoying this blog at the moment! This is definitely a favourite blog at the moment.

Skinnedcartree - This is blog I've recently discovered through Twitter and I love it.  I really like lifestyle blogs, its a nice change from all beauty.  Corinne shares really useful tips too.

Hannah Delacour - I've been following Hannah's blog since I first started blogging.  I love her blog so much and she is honestly the most lovely person I know.  I love her posts and I find myself checking her blog often to check for new posts haha.  Hannah, if you read this, LOVE YOU!

OliviaCheryl - This is another blog I've recently discovered. (How great is Twitter for finding new blogs!) I love this blog so much and I love the snow falling on it for Christmas, its so cute.  I'm very glad I discovered this blog, its so nice to read.

Amy's Thoughts  - Amy writes such good posts and I feel like they're a bit different to the posts I normally read.  They're written so well too and I love her blog design!

Hannah Gale - I discovered this blog through Aisling and it is fast becoming one of my favourites! I love reading Hannah's posts as I feel her personality really shows through on the blog which is always a good thing.  I don't enjoy reading blogs that show no personality. 

HaySparkle - Blogs with a nice design and nice pictures always catch my eye so Hayley's was definitely going to make me want to read it! Its not just the pictures and design I like about this blog, but her posts are always so good and like others I've mentioned, I love her writing style!

I definitely recommend you go and check out all these lovely people and their blogs!

Let me know what bloggers you're loving at the moment. 

Jessica 

xx

My Blogging Goals for 2016 | Blogmas Day 17

I am sticking to what I said yesterday!! After yesterday's post I thought I would think of some blogging goals for next year and then share them with you! 

Upload once a week 

When I wasn't doing Blogmas, you may have noticed that me uploading once a week regularly was a very rare occasion.  I seemed to have no schedule what so ever and just uploaded when ever I had a post.  Sometimes there would be a month from one post to another! (maybe I shouldn't admit this, but you can all see it so haha) I am determined to upload once a week next year. 

Do not focus on stats and numbers

As you all know from yesterday's post I am terrible at focusing on stats and numbers.  If my views go down or people unfollow me I get so disheartened.  That is not how I should be! Next year I want to make sure I don't pay too much attention to stats. 

Reach 300 Bloglovin followers

Saying that, it would be nice to have more followers.  NOT because numbers matter, but it is nice to know people enjoy what you're writing.  If I don't get that many followers, its not going to bother me!  I shall continue blogging because I enjoy it. Plus compared to some blogs I read, 300 followers is nothing haha. 

Improve my photography 

My pictures for my blog aren't great, but I really want to try and improve this.  I love photography, but I'm not any good at it.  I recently got a new camera so hopefully that should improve the quality of the images and if I use a different flat lay, hopefully the pictures on my blog will start to look better! 

Include more variety of posts
I feel like the majority of my posts are beauty related.  There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but I love reading lifestyle posts and when I've written them I've really enjoyed it.  I definitely want to try and include more lifestyle on this blog.  Baking is another thing I really enjoy so I want to include more of that on this blog!

So there are my blogging goals for 2016.  Lets hope I manage to complete them!

What are some of your blogging goals for next year? 

Jessica 

xx

I Will Get Back On Track | Blogmas Day 16

Just going to go right in with this post and admit that I am well and truly in a massive blogging stump at the moment.  I have been for about a week now, hence the no posts and one that I am not happy with, but I wanted to at least post something for you all to read.

I know that numbers and stats aren't important, but when you put lots of effort into something and it doesn't get much of a response it is hard to not be disappointed.  I try and try to ignore numbers, but it  is the thing I struggle with most (with blogging and everything else to be honest haha) Its not like I've had a bad response so I don't know why I've let myself get in such a stump with blogging, but I have! To make me feel even worse I've ended up getting so frustrated with myself for not sticking to blogmas, it makes me feel like a really crap blogger making it even harder for me to come up with blog posts, but there we go. 

I still love having a blog, don't get me wrong, and I'm so grateful for the amount of readers I do have and the amazing friends I've made via this little blog. I just need to remember to not get caught up in stats! I hope some of you can relate to how I feel about this?! 

Aaanyway, I think/hope I am out of this mindset now. I have had some good response to my blogmas posts and gained new readers and that is what is important, right? Its just nice to know that someone out there enjoys reading your tiny part on the internet.  

I have most of my posts planned now until Christmas, but please let me know if there is anything you'd like to read on here! Leave me a comment or tweet me at @bird_butterfly1

Jessica 

xx

P.S sorry this wasn't a very cheery post! 

What I Love About This Time of Year | Blogmas day 12

Hi again! 

There are a lot of things I love about this time of year so I thought I would share them all with you! I might do this as a 2 part post, what do you think?! 

Anyway, onto the list.. 

1.  The weather 

I really prefer the cold to the hot weather! I know a lot of people hate the cold but I like it, unless I feel freeeeezing because I haven't got enough layers on then not so much haha. But overall, I'd pick winter over summer all the time. 

2. Fashion 

Because it's so cold it's the perfect chance to wear warm jumpers and wrap yourself up in your scarf and big coats! I much prefer the fashion in winter to summer. I find myself all year just waiting to put a jumper on! 

3. Evenings

Ok this is a bit of a weird one. Sometimes I hate the way it gets dark so early but most of the time I love it (is that weird?) once it's dark I love having cosy nights in wrapped up in my throw with a hot chocolate and a DVD or Netflix. 

4. Christmas 

Obviously this had to go on the list! What is there not to love about Christmas? Everyone and everything is so festive and friendly and happy at this time of the year, I love it! Not so much the crazy busy shops though. 

You spend so much time with family and friends and it's so lovely 

Let me know what some of your favourite things are about this time of the year and if you'd like a second part to this!

Jessica 

xx

The Christmas Tag | Blogmas day 11

*lets ignore the fact I missed a post 2 days in a row ok. Thanks haha* 

Can you believe it's already Blogmas day 11 though?! This month is going so fast. Today I thought I would do the Christmas tag. I love doing tags as I feel it gives you all a chance to get to know me better and I love reading other people's tags! 

1. What is your favourite Christmas film? 

There's no way I could just pick one! I love too many. So my top two would be the polar express and elf! 

2. Where do you spend your holiday? 

I spend Christmas at home with my parents and nan. Boxing Day is just spent with my parents or sometimes we go and visit my aunt and uncle. 

3. What is your favourite Christmas song? 

Like Christmas films, I could never pick my favourite Christmas song. There's way too many I love to pick just one! Christmas lights by Coldplay is high up there and not many people know of that one which makes me sad. 

4. Do you open any presents on Christmas Eve? 

Nope! Never have and I don't think I ever would! We always wait till Christmas Day until about midday when my grandparents would arrive and we'd start opening them. Feels wrong to me opening them on Christmas Eve haha. 

5. What holiday traditions are you looking forward to most this holiday? 

This is a bit of hard question for me this. As I've said on my blog before my grandad passed away in the summer so Christmas will be very different things year. I suppose just spending it with my parents and nan and spending the weekend before Christmas putting the decorations up with my mum! 

6. Is your Christmas tree real or fake?

Fake. I've always wanted a real one but my dad says it's too much mess, I think that's a rubbish excuse! Every year me and my mum try to persuade him to get a real one, never works. 

7.  Be honest: Do you like giving or receiving gifts better? 

The questions says 'be honest' so really i love both. It's so nice seeing someone open a gift you got them and being so happy about it. It is so nice receiving presents too though, I really like surprises so that's why I like receiving gifts. I think giving them is my favourite though. 

8. What is the best Christmas gift you've received? 

Ah I always get so many lovely things. When I was younger though I got a bike that I had been asking for for AGES so when I saw that I got it I was an extremely happy child. I also got this train set once from my Grandad and we spent the afternoon building it and it was so lovely. 

9.  What made you realise the truth about Santa? 

During Christmas the boxes of wrapping paper is kept in my room and one morning when I was opening my stocking presents I had noticed that the wrapping paper matched my mums so I figured it out from there! Fair to say, I pretty upset! Haha. 

10. Most memorable holiday moment? 

I have SO many amazing memories of Christmas all spent with my family. I couldn't pick one! (There's a pattern in these "pick your top" questions haha. Sorry!) 

So that's the Christmas tag for you all! Hope you enjoyed reading this. I tag any of you reading this to do it! 

Jessica 

xx 

Prairie Charms, Prairie Pizazz Enchanted Edition | Blogmas Day 8

Bit of a long title for today's post but I promise you it is well worth the read!

I'm pretty sure most bloggers would of heard of the company Prairie Charms by now, but just in case you haven't, they're a lovely company that you should definitely check out (website here) As well as the individual things they sell, they also offer a monthly subscription box and I have purchased two of these.  Unfortunately I never got round to writing the blogpost on the first one I received but I loved it loads so when I had the opportunity to get this one I knew I wanted it right away! This box was the Enchanted Edition and it featured lots of lovely bits which I love!

Included was:
The Sweet Hostess Sugar Swizzle Sticks - I'm yet to try this yet but I can't wait! They smell so good.
Seraphina Velvet Knot Wrap - This is so soft and I love to use this when I need to push all my hair back off my face when I cleanse or do a mask! Its the prettiest pink as well.
Luna Leatherette Hair Bow -  In the last box, I got a lovely sparkly bow and loved it so I was very happy to see another bow in this box.  Its very cute!
Hazel Custom Knot Tie Pack -  I looove the patterns on these!

Hermonie Wand Necklace - This necklace is SO pretty and sparkly.  I love wearing it.

Anya Butterfly Head Band Duo - You can't go wrong with a glittery bow on a hairband can you? Its so pretty
Merida Candy Skull Wax Melts - These smell lovely.  I'm yet to use them though as I don't own a wax burner, but as soon as I get one, these will be the first things I burn!!
Rosalie Quote Card - I love a good quote and this is a very motivational one.  Good to read when you're not feeling very motivated!
Solace Midi Ring - This is so nice with the drop charm! Different to anything I own.

Pandora Evil Eye Bracelet - I love the purple on this and it goes really nicely with the gold chain.  Love it!

As you can see you get a lot of amazing things included in the boxes and for the money, I think it is well worth every penny! The company are so lovely as well.

I really recommend you try and get one of these boxes as they are well worth the money! The next one available is the Spring Edition Prairie Pizzazz coming out in the new year.  Now this would normally cost you £20, but the lovely people at Prairie are offering you to get this box for just £15.  If you are interested in this box and want to get it for £15 all you have to do is tweet Prarie telling them you'd like to sign up and mention my twitter (@bird_butterfly) and the hashtag #pizzazzsignmeup! Like this:
"@prairie_charms I would like to sign up for the Prairie Pizzazz via @bird_butterfly1 #pizzazzsignmeup"

Hope you enjoyed this post! 

Jessica 

xx

Christmas Cupcakes | Blogmas Day 7

The title of this post may be a little misleading, they're not really Christmas cupcakes.. They're just chocolate cupcakes with Christmas decorations so sort of Chrismas, right?! 

Unfortunately, they didn't turn out quite as I hope as they just look a bit of a mess but they taste good, so thats what matters! 

I bought these really lovely Chrismas fairy cake cases and decorations so I thought they'd be perfect for this. 

Ingredients (Makes 12)

110g Butter or Margarine

100g Caster Sugar

2 Medium Eggs

75g Self-Raising Flour

25g Cocoa Powder

For the Icing and Decoration
175g Icing Sugar
75g unsalted butter
5m Milk or Warm water
Holly and Berry Sprinkles (Waitrose)
Edible Glitter Flakes (Waitrose)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4 and then place the cupcake cases into the tin.  I used a muffin tin which worked well, but you can of course use a cupcake tin.
   
2. Next, cream the sugar and butter together.  It should become lighter and fluffy.  I put the butter in the microwave for a bit before doing this just to make it a bit easier. 

3. Once its all creamed together add the 2 eggs.  It is best to add one then beat it in and then add the other and beat the mixture again.

4. Then add the flour bit by bit and fold in using a metal spoon.  Once that's all folded in, sift the cocoa powder in and fold again.

(does not look too appetising here but it gets better!)

5.Finally, spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases.  I found filling them up about 2/3rds of the way up works well.

Put them in the oven for 15-20 minutes.  Mine took 15 minutes, but it all depends on your oven.  When they're cooked they should be well risen and firm when you gently touch them.  Leave them to cool on a wire rack!

I just made a basic butter cream icing by mixing the butter and icing sugar together.  I used a bit more than 5ml of milk as it needs to be spreadable, so I'd suggest just adding what every you think you need!
Decorating the cakes is where it all went a little bit wrong (i.e they turned out looking nothing like how I wanted them to!!)  I planned to pipe the icing on, but then my piping tube broke and I couldn't find anything to make a piping bag out go so I had to just spread it on.  I then just sprinkled the red and green glitter flakes all over while the icing was still wet enough so it would stick and then added the holly pieces on a few of the cakes.  This part of decorating them is entirely up to you!

They may not look like very neat but they taste so nice! I definitely recommend you make these if you like to bake as they are so easy to make.

See you tomorrow

Jessica 

xx

21st Birthday Haul | Blogmas Day 6

I really enjoy reading people's 'birthday hauls' and reading about all the things they received. Buuut, I've been really unsure about doing this post myself as I don't want to be seen as bragging or showing off which is, obviously, not my intention! However, as I enjoy reading them I thought that it would be a  good idea to post it on my blog as I like to blog what I enjoy to read.

My birthday was towards the end of November and I received lots of lovely things that I am extremely grateful for and very happy.  The only thing I asked for was the Benefit Beauty Calendar and so I was very surprised with everything else I got. 

From my parents and Nan I got a couple of '21' things which I love.  I hope I'm not the only one that loves getting gifts like this with their age on?! Also Me Too You bears are the softest things ever.

For my other presents I got the Benefit Party Poppers which, as I said, I had asked for so I was very happy with this.  It has got some lovely things inside and I am loving opening it each day! Carrying on with the beauty items, I also got the Estee Lauder Make Up Artist Collection.  I mentioned this in my Christmas gifts Set post (here) saying that I might get it for myself, so I'm guessing my Mum must have seen me looking at it online! If this is still available I'd definitely recommend you get it, its so lovely.

I also got the Estee Lauder Modern Muse Rollerball Trio and they all smell so nice! My favourite is definitely the Modern Muse.  I really love the little bows on this as they're very cute.

Finally, I got this lovely Michael Kors watch which I am in love with.  Rose Gold is my favourite so its safe to say, I will probably be wearing this watch forever more! I also got a gold bracelet which is just as nice as the watch.  I think its so nice to be able to think that I got these 2 beautiful things for my 21st. 

One last thing I got was a '21' pandora charm for my bracelet from my best friend at uni, so she gets lots of friend points! Haha.

I was also taken to a lovely Hotel in Suffolk with a spa so I had some lovely treatments with my mum.  We did have dinner at the hotel which was a disaster so lets not talk about and focus on the good time we had at the spa! 

Hope you enjoyed reading this post and please know I am not trying to show off or brag or anything! I'm very grateful for everything I received/did for my birthday :)

Jessica 

xx