What I got for Christmas 2017

Hey guys! I hope you are doing well and had a lovely festive period! I know I did, I am not looking forward to going back to reality now! I thought I would share with you what I got for Christmas! This is not to brag or anything like that, but I just wanted to share some of the lovely things I received for xmas this year!

So firstly, my main present this year was a new laptop! I'm actually writing my first ever blog post on it! It's a HP laptop, and I am so far really liking it! I had my previous laptop for about four years and although it was going fairly strong, it was slowing down a bit and I thought it was time for a change! I also got a blue mouse too which I love, I didn't have a mouse for my last laptop!

Then I was kind enough to receive some more little bits and bobs from my family that I thought I would show you!
I got this lovely diary and planner which will be so useful for planning blog posts1 I really like its big size to keep on my desk and it has a large section for monthly tasks. I also received this Italian food hamper bag! With pasta, a cake, biscuits and snacks and some tomato sauce and some truffle oil! It will be useful for next term at uni!

I also received some Lint chocolates, gourmet lollipops, and one of my fave presents, a new soap bag! I really like this soap bag because it fits in my toiletries and my makeup too! Perfect for weekends away.

Another present that I loved, was a new Pandora charm! This has infinity rings on it which I love as it matches another bracelet I have! Me, my mum and my sister all have this charm now so it's really special! You can see it up close in the previous picture! I also got this funny the student book and some cool tights.

Finally, from Santa I received the Beano 2017 annual which I always get! Some more chocolate and a Nivia lip balm set!

I was also lucky to receive some presents from my Sister. She got me this lovely Beauty and the Beast bag, with some Harry Potter footlets and a choker!

And from my aunt I got some bright coloured Nail polishes!

I was also very lucky to receive some presents from my boyfriend and his family!
From him, I got this lovely new perfume! Ellie Saab Girl of Now, I love it! And another lovely new pandora charm, this open works on which is gorgeous. He also got my the Sims 4 which is unpictured and city living, to go with my new computer!

From his sister, I received two new books which I am really excited to read! I'm sure I will be doing blog posts on them when I read them! From his parents, I got some lovely things. some sweets, a notebook and a mug! I also got some Pyjamas but unfortunately, they were too big so I am going to return them and get some others!

And from his Grandparents, I got a lovely snuggly pink dressing gown with racoons on it! I couldn't get a good picture of it so you will just have to take my word for it!

And last but certainly not least, my parents were very kind to get me and my boyfriend Luke tickets to go to the Harry Potter studios! Which I am very excited about!

And that's all the lovely things I was lucky enough to receive this Christmas!
I don't think I am going to get another post up before the new year, so I hope you have a nice few days in "Christmas limbo" before the New Year and have a lovely time welcoming in the new year! I will be back next week with a post all about the books I read in 2017 and my favourite 2017 beauty products.
Lots of love,
Eleanor x

The Christmas Tag

Hey guys! I can't believe we're so close to Christmas now I feel as though we still must have a few weeks left, not a few days! I have been tagged by the lovely Anna from Actually Anna  and by Bella from Life With Bella  to do this Tag! I feel like I haven't done a tag for a while so I thought I would do it to make me get into the festive spirit!

Tag Rules:
What to do:
- Mention and link back to the person who tagged you
- Nominate as many bloggers as you like
-You can change the questions if you like to suit your audience


Questions:
What is the traditional Christmas dinner like for you in your house?
My dad makes a traditional Turkey dinner with all the trimmings! I am dreaming of it already!

Have you ever bought a present for someone and kept it for yourself?
No! I've actually never done this, I'm so tight with my money I wouldn't want to have to buy something else!

Favourite Christmas song?
I love like most Christmas songs I never get sick of them. I like jingle bell rock, last Christmas, rocking robin and more!

Favourite part of Christmas? 
I love all of it, the food, the quality time with family, the presents, the relaxing atmosphere!

Would you prefer Christmas in the summer or winter?
Definitely the winter, I think it would feel really strange having it in the summer, it wouldn't be the same!

Christmas or New Years?
Christmas! I do love new years, but it comes with a bit of sadness too, but I love all things about Christmas!

Do you like Christmas Jumpers?
Yes I love them I really want another one actually.

Do you still get excited for Christmas day?
Definitely, although probably not as much as I did when I was younger.

Favourite Christmas film?
Mine is definitely Love Actually! I love it so much!

Did you/did you believe in Santa?
I must have done when I was a child but I don't remember

Do you enjoy wrapping presents?
Nope! I am the worst wrapper you will ever come across! My family can tell which presents I've wrapped because they are the worst ones.

Favourite colour of Christmas tree? 
Green! I do think the white ones are quite pretty though but I wouldn't want anything other than green in my living room.

I nominate:
Charlene - https://charlenemcelhinney.co.uk/ 
Meghan - https://notquitealicereads.wordpress.com/
Emily - http://www.drainedbeauty.co.uk/
Lizzie- https://lizzieflorence.com/


The next time I will be blogging is sometime next week with my what I got for Christmas post! So I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and eat lots of lovely food and relax!
Lots of love,
Eleanor x

My Christmas Party Essentials

Hi! I hope you are doing well! I am taking in a pause in my dissertation procrastination to write a little blog post, all about what my Christmas party essentials are. I love Christmas time, it's a time where there are lots going on and often a lot of parties are gatherings to be going to and I thought it would be fun to share with you the things I like to do before going to a Christmas party and the tools and products I use, and this is probably what I will use for NYE too!

Fake Tan:

I am not a massive fake tanner to be honest it's not something I do all that often and not something I pretend to be a master at, but in the winter I find I am looking pasty af and like to add a bit of a glow! I like to start off by shaving to make sure my tan goes on nice and smooth and exfoliating. I love this dirty works exfoliator! Then I like to use my beloved Garnier moisturiser which makes a nice base for a fake tan. Then my favourite fake tan is the Superdrugs own Solait dry oil which is really easy to use just spray and rub in with a mitt! It gives a lovely natural glow! Like I said, I'm definitely no fake tan guru but I find this works well.

Wash hair:

To make myself feel really good I always like to have freshly washed hair before a party! At the moment I am still loving my Palmers coconut oil shampoo which is really nice for the dry cold air and my John Frieda go blonder shampoo and conditioner. If I am curling my hair which I usually am, I like to wash my hair the morning of the day before so that my hair is not too soft to style, otherwise, my curls just drop out.

Curl Hair:

I have very straight hair which I never really do anything with, (I mean I don't even own a pair of straighteners!) but when I am going out I really like to curl my hair for a bit of a change. It can take quite a while to do my hair so I can only really be bothered for special occasions. I like to use heat protectant before I start and I'm never too fussy, at the moment I am using this loreal one. I then curl my hair using my Babyliss Pro Curling wand or the Babyliss tight curl wand if I want really tight curls for a different look! I'm not massively into my hair tools as I rarely do anything with my hair but I personally really like Babyliss hair tools because they are not as expensive as other brands and do a nice job with my hair! Basically, I separate my hair into sections in bobbles and wrap my hair around the wand and hold for 30 seconds and let go, then I like to hold the curl up to my head for a bit until it is cooler and then drop. Then when I complete a section I spray my hair. I love Elnett spray but I am not overly fussy and find this boots own one to be really good actually and not make my hair crunchy!

Nails:

I love to have Christmassy nails for a party! I am not very good at nail art or anything like that but I do have a few favourite colours for Christmas including these! I love the Nails inc red because red is so Christmassy and the Models own glittery green and Pink are really festive too! I also really love this Barry M glittery white top coat at Christmas time!


Makeup:

When I am going to a party there are a few different things I do with my make-up. I actually use contour blush and highlight when I am going to a party and I definitely take more time on my eye makeup too, maybe doing things such as a cut crease.

Eyelashes
I very rarely use fake eyelashes too, but when I am going to a party I really like to have some! I tried these Ardell Demi whispies out the other night and I really liked them! They gave just a right amount of drama.

A coat
Despite being a northern girl through and through I have to have a coat on in the winter! I get so cold so easily! I love to wear a leather jacket to keep my arms a bit warmer.

These are my Christmas party essentials!
I hope you enjoyed this post!
Lots of love,
Eleanor x

Nerve- Jeanne Ryan, Book Review

Hey guys! It's been absolutely ages since I have done a book review like this! I feel like I can barely even call myself a book blogger at the moment! Being at uni has meant I've barely had time to do much reading! But since I have broken up for Christmas now I am hoping to do some more reading. I just finished the book Nerve earlier today and I really had some thoughts on the book!

Okay, I am not going to lie, straight off the bat I did not like this book! I saw the film a few months a go and really liked it so I was looking forward to reading it but I have to say I was really underwhelmed and disappointed. This review contains spoilers.

Okay so firstly, I have to say the characters were really bland and unrelatable. None of the characters seemed to have any depth to them. Let's talk about Ian. He is way too nice, the fact that Vee and Ian are getting it on after knowing each other for all of 2 secs is ridiculous. I literally could not believe he was that nice it was unreal. It is hinted at that he has some home problems but they're never gone into detail about, and honestly there was just no substance there. There is no character development with Ian or Vee, again it is hinted that Vee has some problems but they're never really outrightly discussed. Also, I don't know if this was the writer's point but I found it weird that basically everything she did was for a boy, like first Matthew and then Ian? I think there was a lot of potential but unfortunately, it wasn't carried through and it seemed very unrealistic. Even the other characters in the game seemed too unrealistic and weirdly horrible and no one in the book had any common sense.

The same goes for the plot really. I thought the premise sounded so exciting and had so much potential but it just fell really flat for me. There were no twists or turns or anything, I was sort of begging for a twist or something exciting to happen. While it wasn't boring or anything like that, it was just a bit obvious. I really disliked the ending I have to say, I thought it was so anti-climatic, I mean what they did changed nothing? And honestly what was the point of the random cliff hanger ending? Also even the prologue was weird like they never really explained what happened to Abigale, the character in the prologue and she was never brought into it again which was so random really. 

Okay I really liked the film, so I want to talk about why the film was better:

- Way way more depth to Ian, really gave him a reason for wanting to be in the game

- Better reasons in general for the players in the film, like in the film Vee really wanted to help her mum but in the book she was just sorting of playing for presents like a new phone.

- I really enjoyed how in the film they actually overcame the watchers in the end and actually shut down the game, whereas in the book they did nothing to change anything.

- I actually enjoyed the plot a lot more in the film, I liked that there was more mystery to the film, I feel like the film took the premise of the book and then made it into something much better

There are some good parts in this book though, found it easy to read and engaging and I thought it was fast-paced and even hooking it just didn't go in the direction I hoped it would go in, which I assumed would be more like the film. Maybe I am biased because I had high hopes going into it after the film!

What did you think of the book?

Lots of love,

Eleanor 

Capture your style book review

Hey guys! I hope you are doing well. I didn't get a chance to get a blog post up last week, I've been so busy lately with essays and whatnot! But I am going to try hard to get two blog posts up this week to make up for it! Today's post going to be a review of Capture Your style, which is a book written by Insta guru Amiee Song all about growing your Instagram.

First of all, I love the look of this book. I love the baby pink cover and all of the gorgeous pictures inside. I personally would buy it just for the pictures! I included this in my stocking filler ideas and I do think it would make a lovely present for anyone you know who wants to grow their Instagram platform! I have to admit, I am a little bit clueless when it comes to Instagram, and this book really did give me some useful tips. Some of the tips were a little bit basic, such as how to make an account and things like that but I see why she included these tips to make the book accessible for everyone and to cover all basis, for people who are just starting and for people who want to improve.

Some things I personally loved that she included, was how she edits her photos and what apps she uses. She also gives some really good tips for taking photos and photography skills which is something I really want to improve on! Unfortunately, I guess I don't agree with all of her points which is too be expected with a book like this where we all have different opinions and that's fine! The pictures she takes and advises to take are all very clean and clear-cut and I personally prefer something that is a little bit different and personal so I definitely took her points with a pinch of salt! I also don't really work in pictures of 9 on my grid, to be honest, but that's nothing really on her part it's just that I have different opinions!

I think all the tips she gave are really useful for anyone and are little changes that we can all make to better our Instagram feeds! For business, blogging or personal use I think this book would be really useful, did I mention how gorgeous it is? I also think this book is really accessible for everyone and it she explains things in a really nice clear way.

I really like that at the end of each section, she includes a little "your turn" part where she challenges you to upload pictures using the tips she has given you which is a nice way to conceptualize the book and making it really practical and help you put her tips into practice.

This book covers a wide range of pictures too, outfit pics, selfies, food, flatlays and building pictures so there are some tips in here for whatever you like taking photos of!
Overall if you are into your Instagram and want to take it more seriously I would recommend this book.

Lots of love,
Eleanor