Nina L'Elixir by Nina Ricci

Nina L'Elixir is an interpretation of the original Nina Ricci fragrance- which I love, and was one of my first premium branded fragrances. If you're a fan of the original Nina Ricci fragrance but fancy something a little richer and slightly more intense, Nina L'Elixir is probably the right fragrance for you. 

The fragrance starts off as citrusy with top notes of Caipirinha Lime and Calabrese Lemon, which then develops into a warm fruity, festive aroma of heart notes including Red Toffee Apple, Sembac Jasmine, and Red Berries. The fragrance then settles into a selection of aromatic base notes of White Cedar, Cotton Musk, and Warm Amber. 

James Bond 007 Fragrance review

If you're looking for the perfect Christmas gift for any man in your life, look no further. The original 007 fragrance is a cool and trendy gift that's great for any hardcore Bond fan- which I imagine, most men are.

First of all, the bottle is in the form of a black grenade-style object, which I love and it's just so 'James Bond'. A few people think that the bottle looks tacky but I think it's cool, and I think Bond fans will love it too.


Like James Bond himself, the fragrance is masculine yet a light, fresh scent which makes it perfect for everyday use. The scent does not smell cheap at all and the quality is similar to big branded fragrances, so at £31.50 for a 75ml bottle, it's a decent product for a decent price.

Festive Favourites | Barry M Christmas Nail Paints

Believe it or not, Barry M is the king of colour cosmetics and they're Nail Paints never fail to amaze me. They recently launched a few more shades of their Silk Nail Paints for AW14 as well as a Christmas top coat, and they're so festive and party-appropriate. I picked up three shades- the Christmas Tree top coat, and Silk Nail Paints in Poppy and Forest. 

The formulas offer smooth matte finish and dry incredibly quickly- I was surprised that by the time I finished painting my pinky finger, my thumbnail (which I painted first) was already completely dry! They're very impressive, especially considering that these only cost £3.99 each. Also, Superdrug have a deal on at the moment: if you spend £6 or over, you get a limited edition Christmas top coat free. 

Festive Favourites | 'Blake's Pure Red' by L'Oreal Paris

It takes a lot for a lipstick to impress me and I can safely say that L'Oreal Paris have amazed me with their new Exclusive Reds Lipstick collection. In my absolute honest opinion, these lipsticks are the best I have ever tried, and they put a lot of premium branded, overpriced lipsticks to shame. In this post, I'll be talking about Blake's Pure Red shade, which is one of my ultimate favourites for the festive season.

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Christmas Gift Guide | The Non-Beauty Edit

Beauty gifts aren't for everyone, and I appreciate that so here I've put together an edit of some of my favourite non-beauty Christmas gift ideas! Composing it has just made me want everything on this list! Are you hinting at anything this Christmas?

Costa Ceramic Christmas Cups - £7.95 

Every September/October, I start counting down the days to when the festive drinks launch at Costa- they're current range is fantastic! The Black Forest Hot Chocolate and Gingerbread & Cream Latte are absolutely divine and I wish they weren't limited edition... I think I've been to Costa about 15 times since the festive drinks came out last month and if you follow me on Instagram, you've probably drooled over my #CostaChristmas photos! So it's safe to say that I'm a huge Costa fan. 

These Christmas cups from Costa are so cute and they make great stocking fillers. The cups are ceramic which means that your drink stays warm and can be re-used. The cups are available in four fun and festive designs; Rudolph, Santa, Elf, and Snowman. My favourites are the Snowman and Santa ones! 

Available from Costa stores 

Christmas with Crabtree & Evelyn

I can't believe we're already in December (my favourite month of the year) and I'm so excited for Christmas! Crabtree & Evelyn do Christmas amazingly, and so I wanted to share some of their cute beauty Christmas gift sets with you. 

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Christmas Gift Guide | The Extravagant Edit

If you really want to treat someone this Christmas, why not go 'all out' on their gift and purchase something that's elaborate and significant in size? The festive season is the perfect time to show your love and appreciation to your family and friends, and what better way is there to do that than placing a nice big gift for them under the tree? 

I’ve put together an edit of the visually stunning, extravagant beauty gifts that are under £60, and are bound to put a huge smile on someone's face this Christmas. 

Crabtree & Evelyn Big Top Twelve Hand Therapy Musical Tin: £44

This musical tin from Crabtree & Evelyn looks fantastic and whilst playing music, the set also contains 12 Hand Therapy moisturising lotions of a variety of different scents. I love the elegant design it and what a lovely Christmas gift it makes. 

AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE HERE

Models Own Ice Neon Polish Collection

Models Own have made a few of their popular Ice Neon shades available as a gift set for Christmas this year. 

Okay- the shades aren't very 'Christmassy' but the word 'ice' slightly makes the collection appropriate for the Winter, making it finally acceptable to wear bright neons in the cold season! Plus, getting this for someone as a Christmas present will allow them to save the colours for when the Summer comes by. 

The set contains three Models Own polishes from the Ice Neon collection; Pukka Purple (a beautiful violet shade), Luis Lemon (a bright lemon yellow shade), and Bubblegum (a girly fluorescent pink shade), as well as a four-way buffer allowing you to file, buff, smooth, and shine your nails.

DKNY Fall Sparkling Apple fragrance review

DKNY launched a limited edition fragrance for the Fall season, named 'Sparkling Fall', and was fragrance was launched alongside DKNY's Sparkling Apple collection.

The fragrance starts off as a burst of fruitiness which is made up of top notes including Grapefruit, Blackcurrant and Plum, developing into a floral scent of Rose, Olibanum and Pink Pepper, which then dries down into warm notes of Tonka Bean, Benzoin and Patchouli.

Rituals Ancient Beauty Gift Set

When I saw the gorgeous Rituals Christmas gift sets in House of Fraser, I couldn't resist treating myself to one. I've been a fan of Rituals for ages, and I was very impressed  that they even bought out a Diwali Delight shower gel. I love Diwali and it's nice that they launched a product in celebration of another culture. 

If you haven't heard of Rituals before- it's a beauty, body and home brand (think scented candles, fragrances, make up, and bath products) who believe that happiness can be found in the smallest of things. I love this motto and I really am a believer of it myself. For me- the best aspect of Winter is having a beautiful scented candle warming and gently lighting up my bedroom in the cold, dark evenings.

Angel by Thierry Mugler fragrance review

Thierry Mugler took the world by storm when the highly popular Angel scent was launched in 1992-so it's just as old as I am :). Apparently, Angel is the most popular Christmas scent at The Perfume Shop- who knew?! 

Angel is perhaps one of the most interesting fragrances I've ever come across. I mean, look how bizarre the fragrance notes are! There's loads of them! 

Top Notes: Melon, Coconut, Mandarin Orange, Cassia, Jasmine, Bergamot, and Cotton Candy

Heart Notes: Honey, Apricot, Blackberry, Plum, Orchid, Peach, Jasmine, Lily-of-the-Valley, Red Berries, and Rose 

Base Notes: Tonka Bean, Amber, Patchouli, Musk, Vanilla, Dark Chocolate, and Caramel. 

Maybelline Colour Show 'Be Brilliant' nail polish in 'Skyline Blue'

With Christmas soon approaching, I was on the lookout for Christmassy colours in the make up aisles of Boots so as you can imagine, I was thrilled to find the new beautiful nail top coats from Maybelline. And they are absolutely fantastic!

Maybelline always come out with stunning nail shades that hit trends and seasons on the head, and this collection is probably one of my favourites.

The Body Shop Festive Shower Gels: Glazed Apple and Frosted Cranberry

I don't usually go crazy over shower gels but I do love a festive shower gel to smother myself in at Christmas time, and I recently came across the new Glazed Apple and Frosted Cranberry ones from The Body Shop's new seasonal range. 

The Body Shop is one of my favourite stores to visit for Christmas as they always come up with the most cutest gift sets and will even offer to create a bespoke gift hamper filled with products of your choice for you on the spot, which personally I think is an amazing service. 

DKNY MYNY fragrance review

DKNY launched their sensational new scent MYNY earlier this season which saw Rita Ora as the celebrity face for it, and I could not wait to get my hands on it!

DKNY MYNY fragrance bottle

The fragrance has been incredibly popular so far and before trying out the fragrance myself, I thought the huge success in sales was purely down to Rita being the face of it. But I love the fragrance so much that I now believe the success lies equally between these two factors. 

I absolutely love the advertising campaign for MYNY- Rita looks so gorgeous and it just makes me want to book a flight to New York this Christmas! New York has forever been one of my dream city destinations so this fragrance now holds a special place in my heart as it captures the trendiness and high adrenaline of New York, and I will be taking it with me on my first ever trip to New York!

Rita Ora for DKNY MYNY

Harajuku Lovers Pop Electric collection: Love fragrance review

I remember when I was given birthday money by my grandparents when I was 16 and I was adamant on the idea of using it to purchase my very own fragrance. So there I was in Debenhams Oxford Street roaming around the fragrance section when I came across a collection of small, quirky designed fragrances- Harajuku Lovers. I bought one and absolutely loved it and I kept it on my bedside table. 

Harajuku Lovers is a line of fragrances by multi-platinum singer, songwriter, and fashion entrepreneur Gwen Stefani, and she has recently launched a new limited edition collection of the Harajuku Lovers called 'Pop Electric' which consists of 5 different fragrances varying from a range of scents. The new collection makes great Christmas gifts. 

Harajuku Lovers: LOVE fragrance

BOSS Bottled and BOSS Bottled Collector's Edition

BOSS Bottled by Hugo Boss was launched in 1998, and it's still a very popular fragrance. So popular in fact that, they have recently launched a collector's edition of the fragrance encased in a velvet Black bottle. 

The fragrance notes of BOSS Bottled are quite interesting; apple, grapefruit and mint form the top notes whilst geranium, jasmine and patchouli altogether compose the heart notes, which then settle into a set of sensual of woody base notes. 

Onika by Nicki Minaj fragrance review

Nicki Minaj recently launched her third (main) fragrance, ONIKA and I actually think it's the celebrity fragrance to watch this Autumn/Winter, particularly around Christmas! 

On her new fragrance, Nicki Minaj said: “ONIKA is my birth name; I want to share this personal side with my fans, empowering them to wear the fragrance and flaunt their own uniqueness. Sexiness is powerful – it is about feeling confident, knowing who you are and loving it.”